Proposed legislation would eliminate restrictions that prevent school board members from hiring their relatives.

The bill, introduced by Del. Nick Rush, R-Christiansburg, cleared the House and is scheduled to come before a Senate committee on Monday.

Rush said the ban can discourage qualified people from running for school boards because they dont want to limit family members employment.

Rush said HB 2354 would hold school board members to the same standards as members of a county board of supervisors. If a school board members immediate family member was recommended for hire or promotion, the board member would recuse himself from the vote.

I dont want to prevent people from running for school board because their daughter or son works in the district, Rush said.

Rushs legislation would repeal the state law that makes it unlawful for superintendents to recommend hiring the father, mother, brother, sister, spouse, son, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law or brother-in-law of either a school board member or the superintendent.

There are exemptions for family who were hired before a school board member took office. The law allows their continued employment and puts no prohibitions on promotions or transfers.

In Roanoke County, the issue came up last year when the wife of a school board member was recommended for a promotion to assistant principal.

Tom McCracken originally intended to abstain from the vote to approve his wife Laurie McCrackens promotion but there werent enough votes in favor while he remained on the board. He resigned his seat, paving the way for her promotion.

McCracken later alleged the board had coerced his resignation, which the board responded to by accusing him of violating the states conflict of interest law. The issue was ultimately dropped on both sides.

In July, the county school board adopted stronger language specifically banning the promotion of school board members immediate family to leadership positions in the district.

McCracken said he was excited to see Rushs legislation, although he didnt think it would have made a difference in his situation since the issue was other board members concerns about the perception of a conflict of interest and not the law itself.

The proposed legislation is confirming and validating, McCracken said, added that he sees it as an advantage when board members have family who work for the district. It gave him an ear to the ground to see up-close how the boards policy decisions affected students and teachers.

For me, that was a selling point, McCracken said.

McCracken said the legislation would give school boards flexibility and he hoped it would convey that its a positive thing when school board members have close ties to schools.

Hopefully in a situation like mine, years from now, this will not be an issue, he said.

Staff writer Carmen Forman contributed to this report.
RICHMOND  Less than a week after the General Assembly fired the state inspector general over her investigation of a mentally ill mans unexplained death in a Hampton Roads jail, legislators are not much closer to finding and funding their own solution to an escalating problem in jails across Virginia.

A House Appropriations subcommittee approved a bill to redefine the Board of Corrections in the hope that including experts on mental illness and death investigations will spur the panel to take on the responsibility of investigating deaths of mentally ill inmates in local and regional jails.

But Senate Bill 1063 no longer directs the board to undertake such investigations and the proposed House budget doesnt include any of the $200,000 that Gov. Terry McAuliffe proposed to pay for it, while the Senate budget would provide $100,000 for the job.

Heres our dilemma, if we pass it and the money is not sustained in the budget, the board will have all this great language and have no way to implement it, Del. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Prince William, chairman of the public safety subcommittee, told the bills sponsor, Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, chairman of the Joint Subcommittee to Study Mental Health Services in the 21st Century.

But Deeds said the bill would set the stage for the corrections board to undertake jail death investigations that former Inspector General June Jennings claimed she lacked the authority to carry out to determine why Jamycheal Mitchell died in Hampton Roads Regional Jail after wasting away in plain sight.

In my mind, under existing law they do have that authority, he told the subcommittee. The question is do they have the tools?

Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle, who carried similar legislation that the House killed, succeeded in removing Jennings from a list of administration appointments last week because of his dissatisfaction with her offices investigation of Mitchells death in the Portsmouth jail in August 2015.

Mitchell, 24, died after losing 40 pounds during a 101-day stay on charges that he had stolen $5 of snack food from a convenience store. He had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, but a court order to transfer him to a state mental hospital in Williamsburg was lost and then stuffed in a desk drawer by an overwhelmed hospital worker.

Deeds called the inspector generals investigation of Mitchells death unsatisfactory, but he also agreed that the 2012 law that created her office is very unclear on the authority to investigate jail deaths and could be redefined to broaden its powers.

The McAuliffe administration proposed to direct the corrections board to oversee jail death investigations under its existing authority. All that remains of the legislation is the reconstitution of the nine-member board to include, among others, a public mental health expert and someone with experience in overseeing a correctional or mental institutions compliance with the law.

Deputy Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Victoria Cochran said the legislation will make a tremendous difference in the oversight of jails.

The subcommittee also agreed to work on potential amendments to two bills, Sen. Bill 1442, sponsored by Deeds, and Senate Bill 940, carried by Sen. John Cosgrove , R-Chespeake, that would require local and regional mental health agencies to screen and assess jail inmates for mental illness with 72 hours of admission.

The problem, again, was the price tag  $4.2 million that the governor included in his budget that the committees stripped out. The financial burden would represent a large, unfunded mandate on local governments, Lingamfelter said.

Deeds and Cosgrove, who agreed to combine their bills into one, said they could reduce the legislations fiscal impact by eliminating the 72-hour deadline and the requirement of a mental health assessment, leaving only screening.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe pushed legislative budget leaders today to restore funding to address mounting concerns about mentally ill jail inmates and unexplained jail deaths, as well as money he had sought to solve problems with the state's election system that Republican legislators identified last fall.

McAuliffe, in a letter to budget leaders and a briefing for media at the Capitol, said he's generally happy with the budgets that the House of Delegates and Senate adopted, but faulted them for refusing to support his proposed solutions to concerns they share - from the unexplained death of Jamycheal Mitchell in a Hampton Roads jail to funding for economic development priorities.

The governor took particular aim at the decision to cut $4.2 million he had proposed to screen and assess jail inmates for mental illness, as well as $200,000 to enable state corrections officials to investigate deaths in regional and local jails. Mitchell's death in Hampton Roads Regional Jail 18 months ago remains a mystery. Last week it cost Inspector General June Jennings her job at the hands of legislators who were dissatisfied with her office's handling of the case.

"We just lost our inspector general, who did not have the authority to investigate the death of Jamycheal Mitchell," he told reporters. "I sent down bills to correct the problem. Those bills died."

Two of the bills  both carried by Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, who chairs a joint subcommittee on mental health - remain alive in diminished form in the House. They could become vehicles in the final week of the General Assembly session to address the vexing dilemma of state authority over regional and local jails.

House Appropriations Vice Chairman R. Steven Landes, R-Augusta, said in an interview today "there's still a possibility related to funding," as well as Deeds' proposal to reconstitute the Board of Corrections to take responsibility for investigating deaths in regional and local jails.

"I think we're going to be looking at that closely," Landes said.

An Appropriations subcommittee is working with Deeds to possibly amend his other proposal for jail screening and assessment. The goal would be to reduce its scope and fiscal impact on local and regional mental health agencies that would have to carry it out.

McAuliffe also questioned why the Senate's proposed budget cut $4 million in funding to improve the state's balky voter registration system and replace disappearing federal funding for elections. "Inadequate funding of our election system will only give rise to problems and issues that none of us want," he said in a letter to House Appropriations Chairman S. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, and Senate Finance Co-Chairmen Thomas K. Norment Jr., R-James City, and Emmett W. Hanger Jr., R-Augusta.

"I'm putting money in to make the improvements; they took it out," the governor told reporters.

McAuliffe also said he was mystified that the Senate removed $400,000 in incentives for Air India to establish non-stop service between New Delhi and Washington Dulles International Airport. He made an announcement two weeks ago that the airline would begin flights in July that he estimated would have a $30 million economic impact on the region.

"The elimination of these funds jeopardizes this economic development opportunity," he told legislative leaders.

The governor also suggested several places to find money in the budget to pay for higher priorities, including a $10 million state subsidy for the 2019 commemoration of the Jamestown Settlement's historic "red-letter year" of 1619 and the $7.5 million that legislators restored for the GO Virginia economic development initiative.

Still, McAuliffe said he and budget leaders are "very close" on most budget issues, including a compensation package that would restore a 3-percent raise to state employees and other public employees instead of the one-time bonus he proposed in December.

The governor said that when he prepared his budget last fall state revenues still had not recovered from a shortfall that forced cancellation of the pay raises he and the assembly approved last year.

"I'm very happy now about the pay raises," he said. "When I did the budget in October, I couldn't do it."
21Virginia High School Seniors Will Shadow Bankers for a Chance to Win College Scholarship Money

On March 21, Virginia high school seniors will spend the day shadowing bankers at Bank of Botetourt as part of Bank Day, a statewide effort sponsored by the Virginia Bankers Association (VBA) Education Foundation and the VBA Emerging Bank Leaders. The purpose of the day is to expose students to the banking industry and provide an opportunity for the students to learn about banking, financial services and the vital role Bank of Botetourt plays in its community. For more information on how to participate please contact your schools Guidance Department or your local Bank of Botetourt Office.

The third Tuesday in March was declared Bank Day by the Virginia General Assembly in 1991 and Bank of Botetourt is proud to host students for this important program. From their experience, participating students will write an essay for the chance to win a scholarship. Six regional scholarships of $2,500 each will be awarded, and from those six winners an overall statewide winner will be chosen. The statewide winner will receive an additional $5,000 scholarship and receive $7,500 in total. There will also be six honorable mention scholarships of $1,000 each. In all, twelve students will receive scholarships totaling $26,000.

During their visit, the students will visit various bank departments and learn about the loan process, the importance of good credit, the profile of a qualified borrower, deposit products, bank income and expense, technology and IT security, E-commerce, how Bank of Botetourt is involved in the community, the Federal Reserve System, payments, etc.

"Bank Day is one of the best short-term, hands-on experiences that a classroom teacher can offer their studentsthe opportunity to go inside the bank vault, to watch customer/bank officer interaction, to learn about the many services that banks offer, and to start the networking that often leads to part-time and summer jobs, scholarships, and a start on a career path in the financial world, said Bruce Whitehurst, President & CEO of the Virginia Bankers Association.

At Bank of Botetourt, we take our slogan Taking Care of You seriously. We feel that the financial education of our youth is one more way the bank serves our communities. VBA Bank Day offers high school seniors the unique opportunity to experience community banking at its finest. They learn about banking, financial services and the vital role in their communities. We are proud to partner with the VBA to offer this scholarship opportunity, said Lyn Hayth, President & CEO of Bank of Botetourt.

About Bank of Botetourt

Bank of Botetourt was chartered in 1899 and now operates twelve full service offices in Botetourt, Rockbridge, Roanoke, and Franklin counties and the City of Salem, all in Virginia, and operates a mortgage division, Virginia Mountain Mortgage.

About the VBA Education Foundation

The Virginia Bankers Association Education Foundation was formed in 2007 with the objective of recognizing the importance of economic education and financial literacy in Virginia and supporting the banking industry as a key participant in these areas. Their mission is to advance personal financial literacy to students in all public and private schools across the Commonwealth.

--Mary Ann Miller
PC Hassan Ali

A NOVICE driver who hit a long-standing Rotherham police officer as he crossed the road to his home has been found not guilty of causing his death by careless driving.

Waqas Khan (23) was acquitted today (Friday) following a two-day trial at Sheffield Crown Court.

Hassan Ali (42), a neighbourhood police officer who had 18 years service, was hit by Mr Khan's car, on January 28, 2015  the same day he was placed on restricted duties by South Yorkshire Police due to an Inpendent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigation surrounding the Rotherham child abuse scandal.

The jury, who deliberated for more than five hours, was not told Mr Ali was a police officer or of any of the allegations surrounding him.

University of Sheffield student Mr Khan, of Balfour Road, Darnall, told the court of his horror at hitting Mr Ali, who he recognised as a community elder as he cradled his injured head.

Mr Khan, who passed his test six months prior to the crash, said he was driving his Vauxhall Corsa cautiously down Staniforth Road, Darnall, at around 20mph prior to the crash at 10.07pm because it was snowing.

Mr Ali, who was off-duty, had been eating at the Mirzas Spices restaurant with his nephew and friend Mohamed Yunis.



PC Hassan Ali

In a statement, Mr Yunis said that when they parted ways outside the restaurant they shared a few words and a joke before Mr Ali headed across the road to his home.

Mr Yunis said he then heard a sound and saw Mr Alis body in the air.

He ran over to the scene and exchanged some unpleasant words with Mr Khan, who replied: Brother, calm down, while Mr Alis nephew called 999.

Mr Yunis said: He (Mr Khan) then realised Hassan was the uncle of his best friend and asked if it was Uncle Hassan.

CCTV footage showed to the jury showed Mr Khans car initially driving in the correct position on Staniforth Road.

But as it approached nearer to where Mr Ali was crossing, his vehicle slowly drifted over to the other side of the carriageway.

Prosecutor, Mr Richard Thyne, said Mr Yunis and Mr Ali should have first been visible to the defendant as they walked between the two parked cars outside Mirzas.

Giving evidence on Thursday, Mr Khan said: I positioned my car towards the centre line (of the carriageway) because there were parked cars; I didnt see anything else.

I then looked towards my right at the junction near the social club as I wanted to check no other cars were pulling out.

Because of the harsh weather conditions, I thought I would be extra careful and check there were no other cars coming from that junction, so I looked at that junction for a few seconds  longer than I normally would in good weather conditions.

But by this point, the CCTV footage showed, Mr Ali, who was wearing dark clothing and had his hood up, was on the centre line and looking ahead as if he was talking to somebody, according to eye-witness Mohammed Maboob.

Mr Khan added: I was not aware of my position in the road because my focus was on the junction.

The first time I became aware a pedestrian was there was when I made contact.

He was just there in front of me.

Mr Khan said he flung his door open after the collision, rushed over to the pedestrian and realised he knew the injured man.

A roadside breath test showed the accounting and financial management student had no alcohol in his system.

Mr Ali suffered a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain and a broken leg - he died in hospital on February 6.

The cause of death was irreversible major traumatic brain injury as a result of the collision, the court heard.

PC Andrew Burgoyne, SYP forensic collision investigator, said the cause of the collision was a combination of adverse weather conditions, the failure to see pedestrians on the carriageway and pedestrians failure to see the driver.

The IPCC said it was still investigating PC Ali, along with 53 other named police officers over their handling of CSE in Rotherham.

A spokesman for the watchdog said this week investigations were extremely complex and once concluded it would consider how and when our findings will be published.

Read more on this story in next Fridays Advertiser.
A SUPERMARKET has announced it will slash free parking from two hours to 30 minutes - without getting planning permission.

Tesco Extra in Rotherham town centre said customers parking for over half an hour would need to spend at least 5 in the store.

But two hours free parking - for customers and non-customers - was included as a condition when the plans were passed in 2012.

The planned change from February 28 is in response to customer complaints about congestion in the car park, Tesco has said.

Store manager Michael Cooke added: Weve received lots of feedback from customers in store that theyre growing frustrated by the lack of available parking spaces.

The system will be really easy to use, generating a unique code for customers on their shopping receipts.



As long as they meet the minimum spend of 5 in store, customers will be able to park for up to three hours.

The new system will use technology which recognises vehicle number plates and machines which scan shopping receipts.

It is being introduced at 14 stores where the firm says congestion is a problem, a spokesman said.

Paul Woodcock, Rotherham Borough Councils assistant planning director, said: If Tesco wishes to amend the condition, they will need to submit an application.

The council will then consider the merits of the proposal in light of the reason the condition was originally imposed.

We have contacted Tesco and explained the process.

Last month, Aldi removed a banner warning non-shoppers not to park at its new Bramley store because it breached planning conditions.

UPDATE - Tesco submits bid to change parking policy at Rotherham store
AngloGold Ashanti mulls 30% reduction of carbon emissions by 2030 AngloGold Ashanti has come up with a new carbon emissions reduction target which seeks to achieve a 30% absolute reduction in its Scope 1 and Scope 2 Greenhouse Gas emissions by 2030, as compared to 2021. This will be achieved through a combination...

Lucara Q3 revenue, output drop Lucara Diamond, which wholly owns the Karowe mine in Botswana, realised $49.9 million in revenues in the third quarter of 2022 compared to $72.7 million in the comparative quarter. The revenue includes $46.5 million from the sale of 99,301 carats and...

Gemfields to auction 187,775-carat cluster of emeralds Gemfields is set to auction a 187,775-carat cluster of emeralds discovered at its 75%-owned Kagem mine in Zambia in March 2020. Viewing of the Kafubu Cluster commenced on 31 October and bidding will close on 17 November.

Tiffany jewellery pieces to highlight Jewels & Jadeite auction in Hong Kong Jewellery pieces by Tiffany & Co, including those by renowned designer Jean Schlumberger, are among the highlights of Bonhams Jewels and Jadeite auction in Hong Kong on November 26, 2022.
Lucapa Diamond said it sold a parcel of 2,946 carats of Lulo diamonds from Angola for $3.8 million to mark its first sale for the year.

The diamond miner, which owns Lulo together with Endiama and Rosas & Petalas, said the stones sold achieved an average price of $1,276 per carat.

The sale comprised diamond recoveries up to 31 December 2016, which included a 75 carat diamond that was recovered in November and a 55 carat diamond recovered in December, company managing director Stephen Wetherall said in a note.

He said the diamonds sold by Lulo alluvial diamond mining company Sociedade Mineira Do Lulo through the Angola governments SODIAM, were the first to be cleaned by the new diamond deep boiling facility installed at Lulo last December.



Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished




Diamond-grading group HRD Antwerp will launch an educational program in Iran to expand its presence in the Middle East.

HRD will start training certified diamond graders in a debut course in Tehran at the end of April in collaboration with a local consultant.

The move is part of a wider attempt to expand HRDs operations in the region, according to Katrien De Corte, its chief officer for education and industry. HRD will open an office in Dubai at the end of February, featuring a drop-off point for diamonds and jewelry for sending on to its laboratories. It also offers vocational courses in Bahrain, Qatar and Lebanon, and has operated a laboratory in Istanbul, Turkey, since 2010.

The organization plans to open a second drop-off point in the region, likely in Lebanon, De Corte added.

As for Iran, the potential exists for further business opportunities, De Corte pointed out. Well start with an educational center and evaluate what customers want, she said.

Offering HRDs services in Iran has only been possible since the European Union lifted nuclear-related economic and financial sanctions against the country in January 2016. This followed an agreement between Iran and six superpowers in July 2015.




Less than a week after the successful conclusion of the eighth edition of BrilliAnt - the Antwerp Diamond Trade Fair, the Organizing Committee announced the dates for the next edition: January 28-30, 2018.

"Both visitors and exhibitors need to be able to plan ahead," said Committee member Michel Nasielski. "Buyers' groups and industry organisations that coordinate overseas buying trips for retail jewellers are currently setting their agendas. They would serve their members well by including BrilliAnt - the Antwerp Diamond Trade Fair into their itineraries!"

BrilliAnt's eighth edition was the first to host international exhibitors. Six Indian diamond and jewellery firms exhibited and, across the board, expressed satisfaction with their exposure and an interest to return in 2018, asking for larger booth space. Other foreign companies also were positive.

First time exhibitors from the Antwerp diamond business community also were positive. "For us, BrilliAnt was a wonderful opportunity to meet new people from all over Europe and the Middle East in our own trading halls. The fair is well organized and the customers seemed happy to have a chance to explore all the different possibilities Antwerp diamond companies have to offer. A positive way to start the year," said Joy Lerner of Lerner Diamonds, a first-time exhibitor.

During the three days of the fair, a series of well-attended seminar programmes was held. Among them was a presentation by Jean Marc Lieberherr, CEO of the Diamond Producers Association (DPA), who provided his audience with a detailed update of the DPA's "Real is Rare" diamond consumer campaign.

"The unique character of the fair, its exclusive location in the heart of the Antwerp Diamond Quarter, and its unmatched services and security measures cannot not be emulated anywhere else, or by anyone else, for that matter" said Ya'akov Almor, the fair's long-time communications director. "BrilliAnt is traditionally held during the last week of January, and is a fixed landmark on the international trade fair calendar."

BrilliAnt - the Antwerp Diamond Trade Fair is a joint initiative of the Antwerp Diamond Bourse, the Diamond Club of Antwerp and the Antwerp Diamond Kring, and is powered by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC).



Alex Shishlo, Editor of the Rough&Polished European Bureau in Brussels




Namibias Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has reportedly dropped an investigation into whether the state-owned Namib Desert Diamonds (Namdia) deliberately sold the countrys diamonds cheaply to Dubai-based firms.

The Namibian newspaper had previously claimed that Namdia sold the country's diamonds for a song to the Arabs who then went on to sell the diamonds at a higher price in the Middle East.

It cited sources claiming that Namdia sold diamonds for US$500 per carat in Windhoek, but the same diamonds were then sold abroad for $2 500 per carat.

The countrys mines minister Obeth Kandjoze dismissed the allegations.

However, this did not stop the ACC to establish whether the diamonds were indeed deliberately underpriced.

I requested him (Kandjoze) to provide clarity (on Namdia), ACC director general Paulus Noa was quoted as saying by The Namibian newspaper.

The minister gave me all the answers I wanted. I am satisfied with the answer.

Although Noa said he was convinced that nothing fishy took place, the daily cited people with links to ACC as saying that the investigation into the new diamond company was still ongoing.



Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished




Russias Finance Ministry does not deem it possible to launch a new float of ALROSA in 2017

17 february 2017 News

(rns.online)  It is impossible to have another round of privatization for ALROSA in 2017, Alexey Moiseev, Deputy Minister of Finance said on Thursday.

"Not this year, for sure. There should be an agreement with the other shareholder (the Republic of Sakha - RNS). We have always said that the sale of the federal stake above 10.9% is impossible. On the part of the Russian Federation, we have now sold just enough to reach this level. Any further reduction of our shareholding will be done in parallel with Yakutia," he said.

According to Alexey Moiseev, the negotiations between the Federal Property Management Agency and the Republic of Sakha has not yet begun.

"I do not see any possibility this year. If it will occur, it will be later," he said.

The privatization of the 10.9% stake in diamond miner ALROSA was completed on July 11, 2016. ALROSAs President Andrey Zharkov called this floating operation satisfactory and stressed that he saw no need for further privatization.

Last December, Yegor Borisov, the head of Yakutia told RNS that he did not see any need for further privatization of ALROSA either. He noted that additional floating of the Russian Federations 8-percent stake in ALROSA was not discussed with the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The head of Yakutia reiterated the position that the republic will keep its stake of 25% plus one share, and its uluses (municipalities) will preserve their 8%.

"We believe that today the company is operating quite well. From the point of view of the companys efficiency ... there is no need to do this. Privatization is generally a way to find an efficient owner," he said.

However, the privatization plan for 2017-2019 received by the RNS news agency in early February 2017 included ALROSA among other companies.






In fact, their lawyers should procure the substances for their clients as long as they get them from a certified manufacturer or supplier but nobody can legally obtain these drugs or legally transfer them to the Department. Dale Baich, of the Federal Public Defenders Office told the media that this plan calls for actions that are both illegal and impossible. At the same time, this update to the states execution protocols has been slammed by critics as unprecedented, absurd, and even illegal. Under the federal Controlled Substances Act, we cannot imagine a way to obtain the drug. Those that obtain controlled substances illegally, go to prison, he added. Megan McCracken, a lethal injection expert at the University of California Berkeley School of Law, called this plan unprecedented, wholly novel and frankly absurd. It was not clear what will happen in the next step.
HNTB

Peter Gertler has rejoined HNTB Corporation as a senior vice president in a corporate and national strategic business development role, based in Oakland, Calif.

HNTB calls Gertler a nationally recognized rail and transit expert who brings three decades of infrastructure leadership to the firms clients across the country. He previously worked at HNTB from 2004 to 2014 as rail and transit market service leader and principal project manager. During that time, he served as national thought leader and subject matter expert on high-speed and intercity passenger rail, as well as serving in leadership roles for projects with a total construction value of over $100 billion.

Peter is a transportation and infrastructure expert with extensive global experience leading transportation and infrastructure businesses, projects and programs, said Doug Mann, HNTB corporate development president. Our clients truly value Peters proven ability to assist them in solving their most challenging issues. He brings a unique blend of hands-on experience and executive leadership that is rare in our industry.

Prior to re-joining HNTB, Gertler managed global business and strategic development for a technology firm, providing business and technology transformation advisory services to public infrastructure owners, including national governments, and state and local transportation agencies. In this capacity, he served as an industry expert on public transport and led major programs and projects in North America, Europe and the Middle East.

We are pleased to welcome Peter back to HNTB, said Darlene Gee, HNTB Northern California district leader and vice president. He is widely known throughout the industry and our region as a proven leader, innovator, strategist and trusted adviser.

He holds a Master of Science in transportation engineering and a Master of Arts in city and regional planning from the University of Pennsylvania, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in political economy from the University of California, Berkley.
Showtime is reportedly planning a theatrical release for their forthcoming new documentary about Eric Clapton. The network has reportedly acquired rights to the film, which is titled A Life in 12 Bars.

The film will be helmed by Lili Fini Zanuck but will also involve Searching for Sugar Man producer John Battse. In an official statement Zanuck says that Clapton's commitment to the blues tradition will be focal in the project.

"Clapton's music is the foundation of our film. His commitment to the blues, its traditions and originators, is absolute from his earliest days," Zanuck said. "He was also forever restless in his search of a suitable vehicle to shape and grow his artistic voice, often bewildering fans and the media with sudden changes in musical direction, bands, songs, guitar style, tone and physical $appearance."

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Entertainment News
Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with his Russian counterpart, Army Gen. Valery Gerasimov, in Azerbaijan capital Baku Thursday.

Dunford and Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces and the first deputy defense minister, discussed the current state of the military relationship between the United States and Russia.

This was the first face-to-face meeting between the two men, DoD News reported.

The military leaders also exchanged their views on the state of the international security situation in Europe, the Middle East, and other key regions.

The U.S. and Russian militaries have undertaken efforts to improve operational safety of military activities in order to decrease the prospects for crisis and avoid the risk of unintended incidents.

The leaders further agreed to enhance communications on such stabilizing measures.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Political News
AT&T (T) said Friday that it has reached a tentative agreement with the Communications Workers of America or CWA in negotiations covering CWA-represented former DIRECTV field services employees in four states.

The agreement covers nearly 280 employees in Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico and Oregon, and will place the employees into an appendix to an existing labor contract.

In addition to this agreement, AT&T has reached, and union-represented employees ratified, 17 different labor agreements in 2016 and 2017 collectively covering over 61,000 employees. That includes 10 agreements covering nearly 7,800 former DIRECTV employees.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward has turned down an offer to serve as President Donald Trump's next National Security Advisor.

Trump reportedly offered the position to Harward following Michael Flynn's recent resignation amid a controversy over his communication with Russian officials.

In a statement reported by CNN, Harward cited financial and family issues that would be challenging to address in the position.

"Like all service members understand, and live, this job requires 24 hours a day, 7 days a week focus and commitment to do it right," Harward said. "I currently could not make that commitment."

"My thoughts and prayers are with those that carry such heavy burdens and responsibility for taking care of our country's national security concerns," he added. "God bless this great country of ours."

However, an individual familiar with Harward's thinking told Politico he turned down the offer because he did not receive sufficient assurances about staffing and autonomy.

The "unwillingness of White House political team to be deferential to the White House national security team" was also cited by the individual.

In a post on Twitter on Friday, Trump indicated that the search would continue and suggested acting national security advisor Keith Kellogg is a possible choice.

"General Keith Kellogg, who I have known for a long time, is very much in play for NSA - as are three others," Trump tweeted.

Flynn's resignation has caused headaches for the White House, although Trump has claimed Flynn did nothing wrong and indicated he was only asked to resign for misleading Vice President Mike Pence.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
President Donald Trump's controversial nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency was confirmed by the Senate on Friday.

The Senate voted 52 to 46 in favor of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt's nomination as EPA Administrator, with the vote largely coming down along party lines.

Senators Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., and Joe Manchin, D-W.V., were the only Democrats to vote to confirm Pruitt, while Senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, was the lone Republican in opposition.

Democrats had sought to delay the confirmation vote after a federal judge ordered the Oklahoma Attorney General's office to release thousands of Pruitt's email communications with officials in the energy industry.

While Democrats argued the delay would provide time to review the emails, the motion failed in a party line vote.

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman John Barrasso, R-Wyo., accused Democrats of engaging in political theater.

"These delay tactics do nothing to protect our environment or the of Americans," Barrasso said. "They are wasting time, while the Environmental Protection Agency needs a new administrator."

"Attorney General Pruitt has protected the environment in his home state; he is endorsed by his peers, and has been thoroughly vetted for the job," he added. "He will make an excellent EPA administrator."

Environmental groups have been highly critical of Trump's nomination of Pruitt, a climate change skeptic who fought the EPA's regulations on carbon emissions.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., called it extremely dangerous and inappropriate for someone with such radical environmental views to lead the EPA.

(Photo: Gage Skidmore)

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Army continues targeting Saudi, mercenaries sites in several fronts

SANA'A, Feb. 16 (Saba)  The army and popular forces continued targeting Saudi enemy sites and its mercenaries in the past hours with missiles and artillery shelling, inflicting human and material losses to their ranks.







The artillery of the army and popular forces pounded sites and gatherings of Saudi army behind al-Muntazah site, al-Dukhan Mount, al-Khashal and al-Kars in Jizan region, a military official told Saba.







A Saudi solider was shot dead in al-Dukhan Mount by a sniper unit of the army and popular forces.







Meanwhile, the missile force of the army and popular forces launched a ballistic missile, medium range, on Abha regional airport.







In addition, the missile force and the artillery of the army and popular forces pounded airfield of Apache at al-Hagez military camp, Tabat Amer, Mustahdath site behind al-Araq telecommunication in Aser region.











The artillery of the army and popular forces targeted Saudi gatherings and their ordnance in al-Rabou'ah complex and at Nashma site in Aser, inflicting direct losses among them.







Meanwhile, the artillery of the army and popular forces pounded al-Daba'ah site in Najran, targeting Saudi gatherings in al-Kufash site.







The official confirmed that the army and popular forces launched a missile of Zelzal-2 on Saudi-paid mercenaries on Wahejah area in Mocha in Taiz province, causing killing and injuring among them.







The official said that six Saudi-paid mercenaries were killed when they tried to move towards sites at the front of al-Kindi street in the east of Taiz city.







Three Saudi-paid mercenaries were killed in Sala area in Taiz, the official said.







The army and popular forces targeted mercenaries' gatherings with a barrage of Katyousha rockets in Thubab.







In addition, the army and popular forces pounded sites of mercenaries in Usailan district in Shabwa province.







In the same province, the army targeted Saudi-paid mercenaries at al-Saaq area.







meanwhile, the army and popular forces pounded gatherings of mercenaries behind al-Qatab area in Nehm, inflicting human and material losses to their ranks.







Two military vehicles of mercenaries were destroyed with improvised explosive devices in Sberan area in Khab and al-Sha'af district of Jawf province.







Two mercenaries were killed in al-Makhdra area in Serwah of Mareb province.







A military vehicle of mercenaries in Kawfal area was destroyed by the army and popular forces.







HA





Saba

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[16/February/2017]
Despite the claim of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley that printing of new money was done efficiently after the November note ban and things were "normalised" in a few weeks, on Friday many ATMs here were found gasping for cash.

As media went around the ATMs in the national capital, it found that the situation had only marginally improved from what it was in the thick of turmoil that followed the demonetisation and that most of the cash machines still were bone dry.



Only one ATM in Laxmi Nagar of east Delhi was found dispensing cash out of a total of eight visited by media agency. Rest bore either a 'no cash' sign or were simply 'out of order'.





Similarly, in the Yusuf Sarai area of south Delhi, the ATMs of HDFC Bank, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank (PNB), Kotak Mahindra Bank and IndusInd Bank were found cashless. An Axis Bank ATM was the only one found with cash in the vicinity.



Same situation prevailed in top locations like Sansad Marg (Parliament Street), where none of the four State Bank of India (SBI) ATMs had cash, in addition to an Axis Bank machine near the YMCA nearby, which has not had cash since the demonetisation on November 8 last year.



One found the situation more telling in Connaught Place, the bustling market in the heart of the capital, where as many as eight ATMs were found to be either dysfunctional or without ash over a stretch of two blocks.



These included four ATMs of SBI, two of PNB, and one each of Bank of India and Bank of Baroda.



Speaking at the 11th Foundation Day function of the Security Printing Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL) on Friday, Jaitley said: "People used to guess it will take a year or seven months for remonetisation. But in a few weeks, things were normalised."



He also applauded the security printing presses for their efficiency.
A court in New Delhi on Friday sent TV actor and COO of Elder Pharmaceuticals, Anuj Saxena, accused of bribing former Corporate Affairs Ministry official B.K. Bansal -- who committed suicide -- to three days CBI custody.

Saxena had on Thursday surrendered before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge Gurdeep Singh.



Singh allowed the probe agency to quiz him till Monday.



Saxena was directed by the Delhi High Court on February 13 to surrender before the trial court.



The CBI has alleged that Saxena had contacted another co-accused Vishwadeep Bansal to negotiate with a senior Corporate Affairs Ministry official for not recommending the matter to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) for probe against his company.



The investigating agency has also alleged that Bansal was dealing with the violations by Elder Pharmaceuticals.



The court observed that Saxena's role was direct, as he was the beneficiary from the alleged offence.

Key accused B.K. Bansal and and his 31-year-old son Yogesh committed suicide on September 27, 2016, by hanging themselves at their house in east Delhi. His wife Satyabala, 57, and daughter Neha, 27, committed suicide on July 19 last year.



Bansal, an Additional Secretary-rank Director General in the Ministry, was arrested by the CBI on bribery charges on July 16. Later, he was granted bail.



He was accused of receiving Rs 9 lakh from Mumbai-based Elder Pharmaceuticals.
BJP leader Manoj Tiwari on Thursday attacked the opposition parties in Maharashtra after some unidentified people broke the looking glass of his vehicle, and vowed that nothing can deter him by the "cowardly attack".

"I will not be deterred by the cowardly attack on me...shows desperation of our losing opponents," Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Manoj Tiwari tweeted.

The BJP leader's remarks came after few people in Mumbai broke the side looking glasses of his vehicle threatening him to stop campaigning for the BMC polls later this year.

Soon after the incident, the BJP leader took to twitter and wrote: "Few people broke the right side mirror of my vehicle and threatened me to stop campaigning in Mumbai or elsde they shall break my jaw."

In another tweet, Tiwari, who also represents northeast Delhi parliamentary constituency, shared the picture of the threat letter, which read, "Manoj Tiwari, Mumbai me prachar band karo warna abhi shisha toda hai...aage muh bhi todenge (Manoj Tiwari, stop campaigning in Mumbai or else we shall broke your mouth instead of the mirror). You know us."

The Delhi BJP has condemned the attack on its President.
AIADMK General Secretary V.K. Sasikala on Thursday watched on television K. Palaniswami taking oath as the new Chief Minster of Tamil Nadu at Raj Bhavan in Chennai from the Central Jail on the city's southern outskirts, said sources.

"Sasikala watched live Palaniswami and 30 lawmakers taking oath as the Chief Minister and Cabinet ministers in the prison's woman barracks, along with her sister-in-law Elavarasi and other inmates," a jail official told IANS on the condition of anonymity.

Sasikala, 60, Elavarasi and her nephew V.K. Sudhakaran returned to the prison on Wednesday and surrendered to resume the four-year term they were sentenced to after being held guilty of corruption in the two-decades old illegal assets case.

The main convict -- late Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalathaa -- passed away on December 5 after a prolonged illness in a private hospital in Chennai.

"Palanaswami is likely to visit the prison on Friday along with his cabinet colleagues to take blessings of Chinnamma (Sasikala) before assuming charge," party's Karnataka unit Secretary V.A. Pugazhendi told reporters here.

Police stepped up security and put up barricades outside the jail complex at Parapanna Agrahara area to prevent the ruling party's factions from crowding and causing law and order problem.

"In view of Wednesday's clashes between the cadres of the party's two factions when Sasikala came from Chennai by road, we have decided to restrict the entry of people to the prison to prevent any untoward incident," said a police official.

Returning to the jail after 21-day stay from September 27 to October 18, 2014, as the apex court Tuesday upheld their conviction by the trial court, Sasikala had a hard time in the cell as she could not sleep and was said to be restless at night.

"Chinnamma could not sleep well and was restless as she had to lie down on the floor in a 10x8 feet cell in the women's barracks after jail officials denied her request for a mattress," lamented Pugazhendi earlier in the day.

As the trial court denied Sasikala's demand for some privileges, including home food, she refused to have supper on Wednesday though she was served two rotis, one ragi ball, 200 gm rice and 150 gm sambar (lentil) like all other inmates.

"When Elavarasi cajoled her to have food in view of her weak health, she took rice with sambar and butter milk," recalled the jail source.

The judge (Ashwath Narayana) also rejected Sasikala's request for a special room for prayers and yoga, A-class facilities and an attached toilet-cum-bathroom. She was given a plate, a tumbler and a blanket.

Before entering the cell, she deposited her valuables at the counter and recorded the three weeks she spent in the prison in 2014, as per the procedure.

Expressing anguish over her plight and harsh conditions in which women inmates live in prisons, Pugazhendi said Sasikala woke up early (5 a.m.), did yoga and walked in the barracks for a while.

"She also read a couple of Tamil newspapers, had tamarind rice for breakfast at 7.30 a.m. and a frugal meal (sambar rice) for lunch at 12.30," said Pugazhendi.

Saskiala, 59, surrendered before the trial court here on Wednesday evening and entered the jail premises before 6 p.m after the Supreme Court declined her plea for more time to give herself up.
Human rights activist Irom Sharmila plans to get married after the upcoming assembly elections in Manipur in March.

Sharmila made the announcement while speaking to reporters here on Thursday.

Sharmila had launched her fast-unto-death on November 4, 2000, demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958.



Desmond Coutanho, an NRI originally from Goa, and Sharmila have been in love for a long time. He used to rush to Imphal to be with her whenever she was presented before a local court where she was tried for attempting to commit suicide.



On one occasion, Coutanho was beaten up by the angry women activists on the court campus after he was seen holding Sharmila's hand inside the courtroom.



One woman activist said: "In Manipur it is socially not acceptable." Since then Coutanho had stopped coming here.



Manipur has been demanding the implementation of the Inner Line Permit system to restrict the entry and stay of non-locals.





Some sections questioned Coutanho's presence and also how Sharmila was provided cell phone and laptop inside her prison room and why.



After his manhandling in the court complex, Coutanho has been critical of journalists, human rights activists and many others who were extending helping hand to her during the protracted campaign.



Sharmila on Thursday apologised for Coutanho's rude behaviour.



She said: "On behalf of Desmond, I tender my apology and seek forgiveness."



Vitriolic attacks by Coutanho were posted in the social media which are expected to affect the upcoming polls here on March 4 and 8.



Sharmila is contesting the polls, among others, against Chief Minister Okram Ibobi. She has said that she plans to become the Chief Minister to repeal the AFSPA.



When Sharmila ended her fast on August 9, 2016, she had no place to stay here, as the womenfolk, including her mother, did not welcome her. In fact, she had to return to her "home" for 16 years -- the security ward in a hospital here.



There are no signs to suggest that the powerful women activists in Manipur have forgiven her.
Clashes erupted after Friday prayers between security forces and agitating mobs in Srinagar and north Kashmir areas.

A large number of youths gathered in Srinagar's Nowhatta and waved the Islamic State and Pakistani flags after which the security forces intervened to disperse them.





Clashes followed as the youths protested, chanted pro-freedom slogans and pelted stones at the security forces who used tear gas shells and charged with batons.



In north Kashmir's Sopore town, protestors, shouting anti-India and pro-Pakistan slogans, also indulged in stone throwing.



There was no call for protests or shutdown by any separatist group on Friday.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami is all set to seek a vote of confidence on Saturday in the state assembly -- that is likely to see some tight-rope walk, with the rival AIADMK faction led by O. Panneerselvam joined by opposition parties to vote against the government.

The southern state, that has not seen a day without hectic political developments since the past 10 days, is poised for another day of intense political activity with the scene shifting to the state assembly.

Palaniswami, 63, a senior leader in the ruling AIADMK of the V.K. Sasikala ' title=' V.K. Sasikala '>V.K. Sasikala camp, was sworn in on Thursday. He needs the support of 117 legislators to continue in the post.



The AIADMK party commands the support of 124 legislators, including the Speaker, while the breakaway group led by former Chief Minister Panneerselvam has 11 legislators.



The other opposition includes DMK with 89 members, Congress - eight, Indian Union Muslim League with one, and one seat is vacant. The DMK has said it will vote against the government, while the Congress has said it will wait for the party high command's directive. However, the Congress has indicated it will vote against the Palaniswami government.



The DMK (minus its President M. Karunanidhi who is unwell has 88 legislators to vote), Along with the Congress and Indian Union of Muslim League, the opposition group comes to 97.



The Panneerselvam camp has the support of 11, taking the tally against Palaniswami to 108. If there is some cross-voting to the tune of 10 legislators from Sasikala's camp then it could be the end for Palaniswami.



The assembly has a total strength of 234 of which one seat is vacant.



On Friday, the Chief Minister's support base suffered erosion by one legislator.



AIADMK legislator representing Mylapore constituency and former Director General of Police (DGP) R. Nataraj said he would vote against Palaniswami.



Following Nataraj's about-turn at the last minute, Palaniswami's support base is down to 124 legislators.

Meanwhile, a week after he was sacked from the AIADMK, former party Presidium Chairman E. Madhusudanan on Friday in turn "dismissed" General Secretary V.K. Sasikala, Chief Minister Palaniswami Deputy General Secretary T.T.V. Dinakaran, Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha M.Thambidurai, A. Navaneethakrishnan, Thangamani, N.Dalavai Sundaram, Valarmathi, R.B. Udhayakumar, C.Ve. Shanmugam and S. Venkatesh -- from the party's primary membership.



The vote of confidence is being held following a split in the AIADMK party after Panneerselvam revolted against General Secretary V.K. Sasikala ' title=' V.K. Sasikala '>V.K. Sasikala charging her of forcing him to quit.



Sasikala is now in a jail in Bengaluru after being convicted in a corruption case.



On Thursday, Palaniswami was sworn in as Chief Minister and 30 ministers also took oath.



Majority of legislators belonging to Sasikala camp are housed in a beach resort around 90 km from here and Panneerselvam hopes to get some votes from those legislators.



After holding hectic discussions at Panneerselvam's residence on Friday morning, a small group of AIADMK leaders met the Speaker in the Secretariat and demanded secret ballot.



Speaking to reporters, S. Semmalai, part of the Panneerselvam camp, said they have urged the Speaker for a secret ballot to decide on the motion of confidence.



"Panneerselvam and the legislators supporting him should openly vote against the motion of confidence and to build on the credibility in the people's mind space," K.C. Palaniswamy, a former MP of AIADMK, told IANS on Friday.



On the other hand if secret ballot on the confidence motion is allowed and a whip is issued the issue before the Panneerselavam camp is whether to abide by the whip or disobey.



"In case if they disobey, whether they could be disqualified as legislators under the anti-defection law is a point to ponder," an AIADMK leader said.



"The party whip has to take orders from the leader before issuing any whip on the way in which legislators are to vote. In AIADMK's case the appointment of Sasikala as General Secretary is under dispute and also the appointments made by her. So that question would have to be decided before any legislator can be disqualified," Palaniswamy said.



Sasikala had recently dismissed Panneerselvam and former Minister K. Pandiarajan from the primary membership of the party and both are outside the purview of the anti-defection law.



DMK General Secretary K. Anbazhagan has predicted the government will not survive.



On Thursday, MPs belonging to the Panneerselvam camp had met Election Commission officials and petitioned to disqualify Sasikala's appointment as General Secretary.
Terming the BJP as a party certified by Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the Congress on Friday demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the ISI-linked espionage ring busted in Madhya Pradesh.

The Congress said there should be a probe into the alleged BJP-ISI links as three out of 11 persons arrested in Madhya Pradesh had alleged links with the ruling party.



The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Thursday busted an espionage ring in Bhopal and arrested 11 persons allegedly working for the ISI and passing sensitive information of strategic importance across the border.



The ATS also unearthed several clandestine telephone exchanges, thousands of SIM cards and a large number of mobile phones used for establishing contact with ISI officials.



"The spy network has passed sensitive and strategic information to the ISI and other agencies in Pakistan. When they were caught, it was revealed that the network has spread nationwide. Telephone exchanges have been established in four big cities.



The links of these anti-national elements have been found with the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the first political party in the world to become an ISI-certified party. This is the true face and character of the BJP," said senior Congress spokesperson Jyotiraditya Scindia.



"The inquiry and investigation into the matter should be handed over to the CBI and the Supreme Court should monitor the probe. The BJP has compromised with the national security. There can't be any kind of compromise on the internal security of the country," he said.



According to Scindia, at least three out of the 11 arrested were associated with the BJP.



"Dhruv Saxena, who was caught from Bhopal, was a member of BJP's IT cell and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. He also had strong links with many BJP leaders. There are pictures of him with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and BJP's national General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya," said Scindia.





"Jitendra Singh, who was arrested from Gwalior, also has close links with many BJP leaders.



Balram Singh, who is associated with the Bajrang Dal, is the mastermind of the spy network. The fund flow to the spies was executed through him. He was also involved in transferring foreign currencies to the spies from the ISI accounts," Scindia said.



"The fourth person is Ashish Singh Rathore, who is a member of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). The VHP had recently expelled him," he added.



Hitting out at the BJP, Scindia said the ruling party which talks about nationalism, had been found providing shelter to anti-national elements.



"The Bajrang Dal, which talks about patriotism, its member has been found to be the mastermind of the spy network," he said.
Families of victims and those injured in the blasts in Delhi ' title=' 2005 serial blasts in Delhi '>2005 serial blasts in Delhi voiced deep disappointment after a trial court on Thursday let off all three accused in the terror attack case.

They said that justice was not served to them.



The October 29, 2005, bombings that came two days before the festival of Diwali, killed 67 people and injured around 210 others in three explosions in the capital.



Additional Sessions Judge Reetesh Singh on Thursday acquitted Mohammed Hussain Fazili and Mohammed Rafiq Shah of all the charges. The court convicted Tariq Ahmed Dar on terror charges, while acquitting him of the charges of waging war against the state, conspiring, collecting arms, murder and attempt to murder.



The court sentenced Dar to jail for the period already undergone, as he had been in jail since his arrest on November 10, 2005.



The victims of the blasts expressed extreme disappointment and dejection about the court's decision.



"What kind of a judgement is this? After a period of more than a decade, two of them have been released. They should have been hanged to death. It is really, really sad that that they were not," Kiran Saluja, wife of blast victim Lal Chand Saluja, told media.



Victim Vinod Poddar's son Karan died, his daughter was badly injured and he himself lost his leg during the blasts.



Poddar feels miserable and unprotected as the government helped him in getting an artificial limb 11 years ago but there hasn't been any support or aid since then.



"After 11 years, I need these prosthesis to be replaced but the authorities don't show any cooperation," he said.



"Those blasts bereaved me. I wasn't left with anything to live for. I lost my 7-year-old son. I myself got handicapped. My 12-year-daughter got badly injured but I can't do anything against the government or the terrorists."



Poddar doesn't see any point in questioning the judgement as he has "no expectations from the system or the court".



"How can we question the court's decision in this country? Nothing will change if we do.

I cannot challenge the system of this country," he said bitterly.



"The case has been on for past 11 years. The press has been interviewing me since then but I didn't get justice from today's judgement," he added.



DTC bus driver Kuldeep Singh threw a bag containing a ticking bomb out of a crowded bus in Govindpuri moments before it exploded. He saved the lives of 50 bus passengers but took the impact of the blast himself.



The brave man lost his eyesight and the fingers on his right hand. He is hearing impaired.



"I lost my eyes. My wife was 8-months-pregnant. I haven't ever seen my son's face. It is really sad but I also feel pride that I saved so many others."



"I wanted the accused to be hanged in public. Such people (terrorists) take some amount of money and kill innocents. I would have been satisfied if they were hanged. The court's judgement is very sad," he said.



Another victim, who lost her parents and her brother, also questioned the judgement, saying: "This is what we have attained after so long. Why were the two imprisoned for 12 years if they had to be ultimately acquitted?"



"There is huge disappointment with the system and the law. We hoped that the right amount of punishment would be given to the accused and had to wait for over 11 years for such a hopeless decision," 20-year-old Manisha Michael told media.



"We can't close the discussion here after this unacceptable verdict. We will appeal to the higher court now."
A dead rat was found in a midday meal served at a government school in south Delhi on Thursday, following which at least nine students who consumed the food were hospitalised. All of them were said to be out of danger.

According to government officials, the rodent was found at the Government Boys Senior Secondary School in Deoli area.



"A rat found in midday meal of a government school. Nine students (who had eaten food) were immediately rushed to hospital (Madan Mohan Malaviya). I have talked to doctors and the students are safe now," Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tweeted.



Sisodia also visited the hospital to enquire after the students and took stock of the situation.



He assured of strict action against those found guilty.

"An FIR is being lodged against the meal supplier. We will also blacklist him," Sisodia, who hold the education portfolio, said.



"The meals will now be prepared at the school kitchen in presence of our officers," Sisodia added.
Hyderabad police on Thursday arrested Telangana Excise and Prohibition Minister Padma Rao Goud's son for allegedly assaulting a trader.

Rameshwar Goud and his seven friends and aides were arrested by police on a complaint by Mohit Rathore, a businessman at Pot Market in Secunderabad. They were later released on bail.

The Market police on Tuesday lodged a case against Rameshwar Goud and others for assaulting and manhandling Mohit and his family.

The incident took place during the special drive by officials of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) against encroachments by shops in the area.

Rameshwar allegedly picked up a fight with the businessman after the latter raised an objection to the GHMC officials acting against his shop while ignoring the violation by the owner of the neighbouring shop.

The complainant alleged that the minister's son and his friends used foul language, pelted stones on his shop and assaulted him and his uncle.

The complainant moved higher police officials after the police station concerned failed to take action.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said he would prove his majority in the assembly on Saturday as asked by Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao.

The assembly is being convened on February 18 and Palaniswami has to prove his majority on that day.



Soon after taking oath on Thursday, Palaniswami went to Marina beach to pay homage at the memorial of late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.



Palaniswami was accompanied by AIADMK's Deputy General Secretary T.T.V. Dinakaran and other ministers.



A large number of AIADMK members were at the memorial at Marina beach and shouted slogans of "Chinamma Vazgha" (Long Live Chinamma), referring to AIADMK General Secretary V.K. Sasikala.



Sasikala is in jail in Bengaluru convicted in a corruption case.



Speaking to reporters, Palaniswami said he would prove his majority in the assembly as asked by the Governor.



V.N. Virugai Ravi, a legislator supporting Palaniswami, told IANS: "We have the support of 125 legislators and we will prove our majority."



Echoing him on the numbers, V. Alexander, another lawmaker in Palaniswami camp, told media: "Now Amma's (Jayalalithaa) government will continue in the state."



"With T.T.V. Dinakaran appointed as the Deputy General Secretary, the party is set to grow further. He is a nice person and moves well with all party men," Alexander added.



As of now the numbers are heavily in favour of Palaniswami with 125 legislators -including the Speaker - in his favour.



On the other hand, rival O. Panneerselvam's camp has the support of 10 lawmakers.



The opposition DMK has 89 members, Congress 8, Indian Union Muslim League-1 and one seat is vacant.



In another development, the AIADMK legislators supporting Palaniswami started going back to the beach resort where they have been staying since last week.



They were brought from the resort to attend the swearing in ceremony at Raj Bhavan.



Alexander said they are waiting for instructions from party senior leaders.



He said the assembly is being convened on Saturday and the floor test is expected to happen on that day.



"Rivals have been saying that we are being held in captivity at the resort which is not the case," he added.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Friday lashed out at the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh and called upon the people to vote for her party, so that the rule of law could be established in the state.

"There is seething anger among the people against the ruling party and they are looking with hope towards the BSP to change the situation," she said at a rally in Fatehpur.



Alleging atrocities on Dalits and women, the four-time Chief Minister also said that there was a sense of fear and insecurity among the people. This could be removed only by a BSP government, she later told a crowd of supporters at Allahabad.





Referring to the bitter feud within the Samajwadi Party (SP), Mayawati said at every step SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav had humiliated his younger brother Shivpal Singh Yadav in his blind love for son Akhilesh Yadav.



"This will ensure that the SP ship sinks faster," she predicted.



Warning people not to "waste" the votes by going for the BJP or the SP-Congress alliance, the Dalit leader urged them to ensure that the BSP candidates won everywhere with handsome margins.
Nepal's former Prime Minister and Chairman of CPN-UML K.P. Oli on Thursday said India is trying to corner Pakistan and Nepal should not support the move.

While opposing India's alleged strategy to corner Pakistan, he said some sub-regional forums are working to ensure fruition of India's anti-Pakistan scheme.

Presenting a political document at the party's politburo meeting here, he claimed: "India's strategy is clear -- corner Pakistan.

"In the backdrop of the postponement of Saarc summit and India's entry to other regional and sub-regional forums like BIMSTEC and BBIN, it is clear that India wants to corner Pakistan, but Nepal should not support such move."

The sub-regional platforms like the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) and the BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal Initiative) are going to be the tools for fulfilling India's interest, he said in his 10-page political document.

Oli, who became Prime Minister in October 2015 following promulgation of the new constitution and faced economic blockade along the Nepal-India border by Madhes-based political forces in Nepal, shared very acrimonious relations with New Delhi.

He resigned from the post in August last year blaming India for his fall and has been propagating a "nationalist and rightist" agenda in Nepal.

During his premiership, he had inked the landmark Nepal-China Transit and Transportation Agreement after Nepal-India border remained blocked for almost six months. This has given Beijing a huge leverage to exercise its clout in Kathmandu, which he denies.

"Some sections have been trying to overplay pacts reached with China, claiming that China's clout has increased in Nepal following the pacts related to trade, transit and connectivity, which is not true," he said.

Nepal should opt for an independent foreign policy and not be part or wheel of any power and should promote mutual cooperation and partnership with all friendly nations and neighbours, said the former Prime Minister.

"Regional avenues like Saarc and BIMSTEC may be the tools of powerful nations to fulfil their interests, so we should make all possible efforts to stop them," said Oli in his document.

Efforts are underway to keep Nepal within the clutches of India and make it fully dependent on its southern neighbour, he claimed, adding that "at this juncture, our party UML wants relations with India based on mutual benefit, non-alignment and respect for our sovereignty".
US President Donald Trump nominated a former member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for the labor secretary post, an announcement that comes a day after his previous nominee withdrew his name from consideration amid controversy.

If confirmed by the Senate, Alexander Acosta, a son of Cuban immigrants, would be the first Hispanic in the president's Cabinet, Efe news reported on Thursday.

The 48-year-old Acosta was not present for Trump's announcement at the White House, but the president said he had spoken with him and that he would be an outstanding labor secretary.

Trump also noted that the Senate on Thursday confirmed Mick Mulvaney as the White House's new director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Born in Miami, Acosta earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard College and a law degree from Harvard Law School.

Trump's nominee also was a member of the NLRB, worked as assistant attorney general for the US Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division during George W. Bush's presidency and recently was dean of the Florida International University College of Law.

On Wednesday, Andrew Puzder withdrew his name from consideration for the post of labor secretary after both Democratic and Republican lawmakers criticized him over personal and professional issues.

The 66-year-old Puzder's confirmation hearing before the Senate's Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions had been scheduled for Thursday.

But he removed himself from consideration after coming under heavy criticism from labor unions for his alleged mistreatment of low-wage workers during his more than 16-year tenure as chief executive of CKE Restaurants Holdings Inc., owner of the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's hamburger chains.

Spousal abuse allegations dating back to the 1980s (which Puzder's ex-wife, Lisa Fierstein, says now that she regrets making) also raised concerns about whether the Senate would confirm Puzder's nomination.

He also faced criticism for having hired an undocumented domestic employee.
A devastating explosion, claimed by the Islamic State, ripped through a Sufi shrine in Sehwan town of Pakistan's Sindh province on Thursday, killing at least 100 people, including 12 women and four children, and injuring over 200 others.

Assistant Superintendent of Police in Sehwan said a suicide bomber entered the Lal Shehbaz Qalandar shrine through its Golden Gate. The attacker blew himself up after throwing a grenade, which failed to explode, he said.



The explosion took place at the spot where the "Dhamaal" Sufi ritual was being performed within the premises of the shrine.



The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, the group's affiliated news agency reported.



A stampede followed the blast as a large number of devotee, including women and children, were present in the shrine.



Contingents of police reached the shrine that is situated slightly off the Super Highway in Dadu district of Sindh. Hundreds of people gather at the Sufi saint's shrine every Thursday for religious rituals.



An emergency has been declared in all hospitals of the area, with the injured being shifted to Liaquat Medical Complex Jamshoro and the sub-district hospital.



Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif decried the attack: "The past few days have been hard, and my heart is with the victims," Sharif said.

"But we can't let these events divide us, or scare us. We must stand united in this struggle for the Pakistani identity, and universal humanity."



Moments after the powerful bombing the Pakistan military issued a strongly worded statement to "hostile powers", saying it will respond to such attacks.



Director General Inter-Services Public Relations Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said: "Recent terrorist acts are being executed on directions from hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan. We shall defend and respond."



"Each drop of the nation's blood shall be revenged, and revenged immediately. No more restraint for anyone," the army chief was quoted as saying.



Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said he had directed rescue teams to reach the spot of the attack.



The last attack on a Sufi shrine took place on November 12, 2016, when a suicide bomber struck the shrine of Shah Norani in Khuzdar district of Balochistan, killing at least 52 people and leaving 102 injured.



The explosion had taken place where the Dhamaal was being performed. At least 500 people were gathered at the spot to observe the ritual.



The blast was the latest in a series of attacks to hit the country this week.



A suicide bomber targeted a government office in the Mohmand tribal area on Wednesday, while a separate attack on the same day targeted government employees in Peshawar. Six people were killed in total.



On Tuesday, two police officers were killed while trying to defuse a bomb in Quetta.



Sixteen people were also killed in a suicide bombing at a protest rally in the Lahore on Monday.
Hundreds of Afghans were on Friday stranded at Torkham since early morning as Pakistan sealed off the border crossing hours after a terror attack at a crowded shrine in Sindh province which left 75 persons dead.

"I have been waiting since early morning to take a patient to Peshawar city of Pakistan but the border gate is closed," Xinhua news agency quoted an Afghan citizen, Noor Gul, as saying.

Rahman, another Afghan citizen waiting to cross the border point to visit a doctor in Peshawar, said he was unaware of the border closure, which Pakistani officials said was due to security concerns.



Hashmatullah from Kabul, who was waiting to receive the coffin of a relative who died in a hospital in Peshawar, also grieved the situation.



Pakistani authorities late on Thursday sealed the border crossing with Afghanistan for an indefinite period after a bomb ripped through the shrine of Lal Shehbaz Qalandar in Sehwan town of Sindh province.



According to the authorities, the border crossing has been sealed for all kinds of trade and commercial activities.



Hundreds of Afghans cross the border point at Torkham daily to visit their relatives or take patients to Pakistan for medical treatment.



The Torkham border point connects Nangarhar province of Afghanistan to Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.



The Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack that also left nearly 300 persons injured.



Pakistan blames militants from Afghanistan for the attack and summoned Afghan embassy officials and handed over a list of 76 terrorists they believe are hiding in Afghanistan.
Here are 5 takeaways from Kansas' 37-16 win against Oklahoma State

The Jayhawks are bowl eligible for the first time since 2008. Kansas just topped Oklahoma State for that pivotal sixth win.
Hyderabad Feb 17 : This time, Telangana CM KCR will fly by a charter flight to Tirumala to present gold ornaments to Lord Venkateswara as part of paying obeisance to the god for fulfilling the dream of creation of Telangana state on February 22. He along with his family will reach the abode of Lord Venkateswara on February 21 night and will have darshanam on 22 nd. He will return Hyderabad on the same day.

Earlier, the CM used Chopper to travel long distant places. Now, all of his family members and a few ministers will accompany him during his visit to the Holy place. He will present a Saligrama Haram (lotus model golden necklace), weighing about 14.9 kg and a five-row Kante (carcanet), weighing 4.65 kg to Lord Venkateshwara. The total value of the ornaments is around Rs 5.5 crore.

During Telangana movement, KCR had vowed to present a golden crown to goddess Bhadrakali of Warangal, Bangaru Meesalu (golden moustache) to lord Veerabhadra Swamy at Kuravi in Warangal, Mukku Pudaka (nose stud) to goddess Kanaka Durga in Vijayawada and goddess Padmavathi in Tiruchanur.
Illegal logging

Forest Stewardship Council cuts ties with Austrian timber giant over illegal wood

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) dissociated from the Austrian timber trader Holzindustrie Schweighofer ( one of largest in Europe) because of its involvement in illegal logging in Romania. FSCs investigation was prompted by a WWF complaint following an investigation by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). The company is involved in illegal timber trade is contradictory to FSCs objectives (e.g. to exclude illegal logging and trade).

new investigation conducted by EIA in September 2016 shows that Schweighofer continues to buy and sell illegal wood. In a series of short videos, EIA documents illegalities linked to trucks that investigators witnessed delivering logs to Schweighofers Romanian sawmills.

For several years, WWF and other NGOs have raised alarm bells about HSs links to illegal logging in Romania. The allegations are so serious that the decision announced by FSC is the only correct consequence, said Johannes Zahnen, of WWF. It is our view that despite being given the window of opportunity to take responsibility and take concrete steps to change its practices, Schweighofer failed to properly acknowledge responsibility for irregularities and illegalities in its supply chain and convene a formal stakeholder engagement, both of which were part of FSCs pre-conditions.





Europes last great forest is under threat due to illegal logging, and Schweighofer has been the main culprit, said Alexander von Bismarck, of the Environmental Investigation Agency. With this decision, FSC is taking concrete action to avoid certifying trade in stolen wood.

The Romanian government has taken groundbreaking action towards increasing forest sector transparency and law enforcement, by creating a new website which allows public tracking of timber shipments and logging activities, by raising penalties for illegalities and by restructuring the forest law enforcement department.



Romania has taken amazing steps over the last two years to help expose whats happening in the forest, giving hope for a sustainable future, said von Bismarck. Now its absolutely critical for Romania to build on that progress.
PR - The Minister of Finance, Sili Epa Tuioti, has launched the new Unit Registry System and Website of the Unit Trust of Samoa (Management) Ltd.

On Wednesday, he logged into the website to view one of the current unitholders investment account.

He also spoke about the features of the new system and new services for unitholders of the Unit Trust of Samoa (U.T.O.S.) during his keynote address.

Since 2010, the governments initiative to set up the Unit Trust of Samoa as a vehicle for the ordinary investors to access investment opportunities from the privatization of the S.O.Es, government guaranteed financing facilities and equity/financing for private public partnership projects, has continued to grow and expand its coverage in the development of the local capital market.

This message was re-emphasized by the Minister during his keynote address. He encouraged the U.T.O.S. Management staff to continue to put more effort into accessing rural communities to invest in U.T.O.S.

U.T.O.S. has progressively improved in the last six years its framework to improve access of the general public to the lucrative investment opportunities in both the public and private sectors, which used to be beyond the capacity of the individual local small savers and investors.

The relatively attractive returns track record on investments in U.T.O.S. units to date has now made investments in U.T.O.S. units an increasingly attractive alternative to depositing savings in the commercial banks.

Since its inception on 1 September 2010, U.T.O.S. has been able to increase its total assets to $131.6 million as at 31st December 2016 funded from $64.8 million of investments by unit holders and $66.8 by debt.

Total net assets have reached $64.8 million as of end December 2016.

The total number of unitholders has continued to increase to 1,856 holding 42.3 million units at end December 2016, making U.T.O.S. one of the largest voluntary private sector investment vehicles in the country.

The significant growth in the pool of savers investing in the U.T.O.S. units has demonstrated that the small savers when given appropriate incentives do make rational saving and investment decisions.

The new Unit Registry System will replace the traditional Excel Spreadsheet that was used when the first units were traded in July 2010.

You can expect the processing of unit certificates to be fairly quick now. Staff efficiency will improve since a lot of the manual work for processing of unit sales and repurchases will be done automatically within the system.

With the new system coming live, unitholders can access their investment account in U.T.O.S. from anywhere in the world through the new and upgraded U.T.O.S. Management Website, as long as they have internet access.

With the implementation of new Unit Registry System and new website, unitholders will be able to:

 Check their investment balance online from mobile phones, ipads, tablets, laptops and other new and advanced technology that will allow internet access.

 Print statements online.

 View the history of transactions in your account.

 Download application forms and other publicly available documents such as the Prospectus.

 Get the latest news and information on U.T.O.S. events.

The new service is a cost benefit for unitholders because they do not have to physically come to the UTOS office to check their investment balance. It is also very cost effective for the staff of the Management Company in terms of reducing the use of paper, as well as reducing staff time input into the processing of new unit applications, sale and repurchase of units and printing of unit certifications.

There will be a second phase of the project that will give the ability for registered unitholders to purchase their investment online.

This will make it very cost effective, easy and convenient for overseas-based unitholders to top up their investment online without going through the rigmarole of a money transfer or bank to remit their funds to Samoa.

Of course, security will be strengthened to protect accounts of unitholders and protect against money laundering practices. This second phase is expected to be facilitated following the commissioning of the Tui Samoa submarine cable later this year.

A mobile application will be developed to allow unitholders to securely access their accounts online. This will put U.T.O.S. at the level of other international financial institutions where access to services and information online is fast, secure and very convenient.

A brief demonstration of the new system and its features was provided during the launch by Neil Hamlin, Managing Director of the software developer company. The new Registry system and website was designed and developed by a New Zealand based company, ZEST IT Ltd.
Hyderabad: Can a sarpanch be removed by the District Collector without conducting any inquiry into the allegations of corruption and misconduct? The High Court at Hyderabad has declared that the District Collectors can indeed do so.They, however, have to seek an explanation from such sarpanches regarding the allegations levelled against them.

The division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice Shameem Akhter made this pronouncement while disposing of an appeal filed by one Middela Yadi Reddy, seeking removal of K Mangamma, the sarpanch of Bowrampet gram panchayat under Qutbullapur mandal of Medchal district.A single judge of the High Court had earlier, on a petition filed by the Sarpanch, set aside the District Collectors order.

The Sarpanch had alleged that the District Collector, without ordering any sort of inquiry into the baseless allegations against her, removed her from the post. She had alleged that the Upa Sarpanch, who is with the ruling party, had levelled the allegations in order to grab the post. The present appeal was filed against this interim order.

Senior counsel S Satyam Reddy, who appeared for the Sarpanch, said that the ruling party Upa Sarpanch had been openly threatening that he would not allow the Dalit Sarpanch to continue in her post and he was instrumental in making trumped up allegations against her. The fact that the alleged misappropriation by the Sarpanch was initially pegged at Rs 2.05 crore and later brought down to Rs 35 lakh was a pointer to the trumped-up charges, he said.

Maintaining of the records pertaining to this amount of Rs 35 lakh is the responsibility of the Panchayat Secretary. However, in this case the Sarpanch was fixed up, saying those records were not available.The bench made it clear that it was not going into the merits of the case. It was intervening only because the single judge had not given the authorities a chance before setting aside the order of the District Collector.It also noted that under Section 249 (1) of the Panchayat Raj Act, it is clear that the Collector must only seek explanation from the sarpanch and there is no provision to conduct an inquiry.

In the current case that formality was fulfilled as the Collector sought the explanation of the sarpanch and she furnished it too, the bench said. It referred to the matter back to the single judge to decide after giving all the opportunity of being heard.
It has long been a nightmare scenario for Southern California: What would happen if a giant earthquake hit near the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS)?

And while the possibility of a quake is a constant source of concern, a geologist from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography offered some good news about seismic activity near the plant.

The seismic risks, based on our research are reduced, said Neal Driscoll, professor of geosciences at Scripps, during a break Thursday night at a packed meeting of the SONGS Community Engagement Panel, which meets quarterly to discuss the status of the plant where 3.6 million pounds of nuclear waste sits, hugging the Pacific.

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Many in the crowd in Dana Point did not sound reassured.

The Fukushima event was labeled as one-in-a-million, said Judy Jones of the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility, but it happened.

An estimated 8.4 million people live within a 50-mile area of SONGS, which has not produced electricity since January 2012, after a steam generator leaked a small amount of radiation.

Southern California Edison operates the plant, which is in the process of being decommissioned.

Driscoll delivered a presentation that ran just over one hour, highlighting new analysis of seismic faults near San Onofre he compiled along with a team of scientists, including Graham Kent, the head of seismology at the University of Nevada.

We spent 100-plus days at sea testing models and data at an unprecedented level, Driscoll said.

Driscoll said the San Andreas Fault does not pose the biggest danger to the area around SONGS because its more than 50 miles from the plant.

Rather, the line to concentrate on is the Newport-Inglewood/Rose Canyon system. Geologists have worried that a fault system called the Oceanside Blind Thrust might trigger a rupture on the system but Driscolls team did not find any evidence of that occurring.

Whats more, the data show the hazard of tsunami is not as great as other parts of the West Coast.

The largest historical tsunami in this region is 3.4 meters (just over 11 feet), Driscoll said. Our data show the sediment type here is not conducive to landslides.

A seawall 28 feet high has been erected at SONGS.

However, the Scripps team did produce findings that may show an increased potential of earthquake magnitude along the Newport-Inglewood/Rose Canyon system. Theoretically, Driscoll said, the system could rupture from one end to the other.

Were showing 7.3 to 7.4 maximum credible earthquake on the Newport-Inglewood/Rose Canyon system, Driscoll said.

Tom Palmisano, chief nuclear officer at Southern California Edison, said when the plant was operating it was built to withstand a quake with a magnitude of 7.5 but said when Units 2 and 3 were first designed, they were built to withstand a 7.0 quake.

Edison is in the process of transferring all the plants spent fuel to dry casks  concrete-encased steel canisters  that will remain on site until the federal government comes up with a destination to send the waste.

Palmisano said the casks can withstand an earthquake that Driscoll described.

We need to understand we could be in this range of 7.3 to 7.4 on the Richter scale, Palmisano said. The spent fuel pools have been analyzed and can withstand that, maintain their integrity, maintain their water, protect the spent fuel.

But nearly all of the speakers during the public comment period did not sound convinced.

Over and over we see the seismic people have been wrong, said Ray Lutz, founder of Citizens Oversight, a nonprofit that is going to court to try to overturn a decision by the California Coastal Commission that OKd Edisons plan to keep the waste on the beach.

Cant we design better cannisters? asked Laurie Headrick of San Clemente Green, a safety and sustainability group.

Charles Langley, executive director at Public Watchdogs, said, Were storing these casks in a tsunami zone, in an earthquake zone  What happens if one of those cracks?

Marni Magda of Laguna Beach sounded more upbeat.

Were making progress, she said. Weve got to keep pushing. Weve got to get this fuel out of here.

One of the Community Engagement Panels members, San Juan Capistrano city council member Pam Patterson, clashed with panel chairman David Victor and, later, with San Clemente city council member Tim Brown.

We are being shown one side by Southern California Edison, Patterson said. We need to see the other side.

This is not a litigation, Victor said.

Edison was directed to conduct the study by the California Energy Commission and Driscoll said the findings have been peer-reviewed.

We collected the data, weve interpreted the data, weve processed the data and well publish it in the scientific process, Driscoll told the Union-Tribune.

Business

rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1251 Twitter: @robnikolewski

ALSO

Group calls for moving San Onofre waste to Arizona

Why San Onofres nuclear waste stays on the beach

Issa and colleague aim to get waste out of SONGS, but urge patience
Attendance was down at some San Diego schools Thursday amid a nationwide day without immigrants protest of President Donald Trumps immigration crackdown.

The protests aimed to illustrate the impacts of those policies by showing what the absence of immigrants would mean to restaurants, schools and other institutions.

While some San Diego schools reported more students out than usual, it was unclear whether the absences reflected the protests, the upcoming holiday weekend, or some other factor.

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The difficult part of this is that nobody is really giving protest as an excuse for their child not being in school, said San Marcos Unified School District spokeswoman Anna Roybal, who said attendance was down at some San Marcos schools Thursday.

Escondido Union High School District reported that absences in its schools were more than double their typical rate of 5 percent during winter cold and flu season.

Before today we werent anticipating much of a response, to the day without immigrants protests, said district spokeswoman Karyl OBrien. Today, the schools are running 10 to 15 absences.

Mission Hills High School in San Marcos saw its absences triple on Thursday, from about 3.5 percent on a normal day to nearly 11 percent on Thursday, Principal Courtney Goode said.

However, he added, its difficult to tell whether thats due to the protests or to the long weekend.

I think weve seen a slight uptick in absences, but were also heading into a four-day weekend, and heading into extended weekends or breaks we normally do see an increase in absences, Goode said. So its hard to attribute it to one or the other.

The district prepared a statement for students urging them to stay in school, referring to a board statement affirming that the district welcomes all pupils regardless of their culture, beliefs or immigration status.

The San Marcos Unified School Districts Governing Board has directed our district to ensure that we safeguard and protect our students, as well as that our schools are sensitive locations where immigration actions are prohibited, according to the statement.

Goode urged students to come to school whatever their views on immigration.

While we want to affirm students rights to engage in free speech, we feel that can be done in more constructive ways than purposely missing school, he said in an interview.

More students missed class at other San Marcos schools Thursday, Roybal said, but she did not have numbers for the other campuses.

Oceanside Unified School District had mixed attendance results, based on figures from 13 of its 23 campuses. Absences were up slightly at elementary and middle schools on Thursday, spokeswoman Lisa Contreras said in an e-mail, but high school attendance was steady, based on numbers from one of its high schools.

San Diego Unified School District could not be reached about its attendance numbers Thursday. But Superintendent Cindy Marten sent a letter to families Tuesday, vowing that the district will not permit immigration raids or related activities that disrupt campuses. Other districts have issued similar assurances.

Most other districts said they wouldnt have attendance rates available until later Thursday or Friday.

At least one district, Sweetwater Union High School District, said, that it didnt see any change in attendance Thursday.

There was no real change in terms of student attendance or staff attendance, said communication director Manny Rubio. It seems to be business as usual.

deborah.brennan@sduniontribune.com Twitter@deborahsbrennan
Following the storms last month that wreaked havoc in Chula Vista, the city is advising residents to prepare for another round of rain and wind this weekend.

The National Weather Service has forecast 2 to 4 inches of rain through Saturday morning, with high winds expected Friday.

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The city closed all 58 parks at 2 p.m. in advance of the weather.

Last month Chula Vista experienced downed power lines and trees, flooding, gas leaks and blocked roadways caused by back-to-back storms Jan. 20-22.

The aftermath forced the closure of several city parks, with damage to about 700 eucalyptus, palm, Tipu and pine trees.

The trees were damaged across medians and parkways and also in some of the citys open-space areas.

Because of the extent of the damage, the City Council voted Jan. 26 to declare a local emergency and ask for any local, county, state and federal money to assist in the recovery.

Chula Vista officials estimated costs of more than $1.2 million for public safety response, cleanup and repair.

Chula Vista residents can get free sandbags (10 limit per household) while they last at the citys public works yard at 1800 Maxwell Road.

Identification and proof of residency may be required.

Residents who already have sandbags are encouraged to reuse the gravel or sand until the rainy season ends.

The public works yard is open Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Non-emergency problems can be reported via the Alert, Connect Track Chula Vista phone app and web tool, and by calling public works at (619) 397-6000.

Examples of non-emergencies are fallen trees, potholes, malfunctioning traffic signals, and broken streetlights.

These items can also be reported to the non-emergency police dispatch line at (619) 691-5151.

For power outages or to report fallen electrical lines, call 911 and SDG&E at (800) 611-7343.

Chula Vista residents can also sign up for Nixle, a free notification system that sends important city messages to your smart phone and/or email.

Text your ZIP code to 888777 or visit: www.nixle.com to sign up.
In observance of Black History Month, choral group Sacra/Profana is presenting Voyage: The Slave Journey, with the first of two concerts scheduled Friday at Maritime Museum of San Diego. The other concert will be held at 7 p.m. Feb. 26 at All Souls Episcopal Church in Point Loma. The choir, under the artistic direction of Juan Carlos Acosta, will explore the slave narratives that helped shape this countrys diverse voices. The concert will mark the San Diego premiere of composer Anthony Davis Voyage Through Death to Life Upon These Shores, with text by American poet and essayist Robert Hayden. The Martin Luther King Jr. Community Choir will be featured in this concert.

Sacra/Profana presents Voyage: The Slave Journey: 7:30 p.m. Friday. Maritime Museum of San Diego, 1492 N. Harbor Drive, San Diego. $30 reserved seating, $20 general admission, $10 student and military with valid I.D. sacraprofana.org

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Twitter: @outdoorlivingsd

michael.rocha@sduniontribune.com
And here we go again.

North Coast Repertory Theatre announced Thursday morning that it has signed an exclusive negotiating agreement aimed at developing a new performing-arts facility in Encinitas.

NCRT now becomes at least the fifth theater company to propose building a new home on the long-vacant Encinitas Ranch Town Center site, which was earmarked for a potential performing-arts operation when the shopping center along El Camino Real was developed in 1994.

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But NCRT, which has occupied its current 194-seat Solana Beach space since 1982, may well have a major advantage because its a long-established company with solid financials and a large subscriber base.

The theater had revenues of $2.4 million and an operating surplus of $258,000 for the fiscal year ending in 2015 (the most recent for which figures are available). Its budget has more than doubled since artistic director David Ellenstein came aboard in late 2002.

The news comes not quite two years after Intrepid Theatre entered into its own agreement with the city to move ahead on a new-theater proposal for Encinitas site.

Intrepid eventually bowed out after it became clear the company (now in residence at the Horton Grand Theatre in downtown San Diego) would not be able to raise enough money for the project.

NCRT has been the subject of more than one prospective move in the past, including a project that almost came to fruition near the Solana Beach train station, and the more recent possibility of moving into the One Paseo development in Carmel Valley. (The company also was previously interested in the Encinitas site about a decade ago.)

Todays announcement said the agreement involves negotiation of a long-term property lease in the Encinitas Ranch Town Center. In parallel, North Coast Rep will proceed with assessing the feasibility of design and construction of the new facility.

It added that NCRT envisions a facility to better match the high artistic quality of its productions, and to better meet the future needs of the broader San Diego community.

The agreement with the City of Encinitas represents the next step in this endeavor.

San Diego Theater  On Now Video: Bruce Springsteen's solo trip to Broadway On Now Video: Inside the rehearsal room of SDMT's Damn Yankees! 2:22 On Now Video: La Jolla Playhouse-bred shows earn key Tony nominations 3:05 On Now Video: Broadway moment has arrived for La Jolla Playhouse's 'Come From Away 0:33 On Now Video: Lamb's Players Presents "An American Christmas" 2016 1:21 On Now Old Globe's 'Grinch' ready to rumble again 0:52 On Now Little Miss Sunshine at La Jolla Playhouse On Now Working the Magic On Now San Diego Repertory Theatre presents "Federal Jazz Project" On Now An American Christmas

Twitter: @jimhebert

jim.hebert@sduniontribune.com
The Marine Corps general in charge of implementing a Pentagon plan to open ground combat jobs to women concluded there are benefits as well as significant risks to the proposal, and he outlined ways to eliminate most of an anticipated weakening of combat effectiveness during the transition, according to a document leaked Wednesday to The San Diego Union-Tribune.

The 14-page memorandum and 19 pages of enclosures by Brig. Gen. George Smith Jr., director of the Marine Corps Force Innovation Office, were submitted to the commandant to help the Marine leader decide how far gender integration should go.

The assessment states that integrating female troops into the ground combat arms will add some risk of reduced performance in combat, as well as cost. While this risk can be mitigated by various methods to address failure rates, injuries, and ability to perform the mission, the bottom line is that the physiological differences between males and females will likely always be evident to some extent, it says.

Although it does not make a specific recommendation about which units to keep closed to women, the risk is highest for infantry units, especially those with crew-served heavy weapons, and significantly lower for the non-infantry combat arms, it says.

Among potential benefits that women could bring to ground combat units that are cited in the Marine Corps assessment are enhanced decision-making in the field and fewer disciplinary problems.

The document signed and dated Aug. 18 has not been released by the Marine Corps, which did not dispute its authenticity but declined to comment on its contents. A senior Pentagon official who followed the Marine Corps research from the beginning said it accurately reflects the thinking of the Marine brass and previously undisclosed research findings.

Marine officials also declined to share details of Gen. Joseph Dunfords recommendation last week to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus asking to keep some front-line combat units closed to women, a decision that was informed by the Force Innovation Office assessment.

Mabus had questioned the premise and methodology of the Corps yearlong experiment on women in ground combat, saying the performance and physiological characteristics of female troops on average is not cause to bar all women from ground combat jobs.

According to a 4-page selection of results released by the Marine Corps on Sept. 10, researchers found that all-male units were faster and more lethal than mixed-gender units on most combat tasks.

The Corps has not released actual data from the experiment, only summaries. Mabus and other critics say it was not designed or executed in a way that would predict the effect on unit performance if women are allowed to compete against men for combat jobs. Outside of the task force experiment, the Corps highest-performing women theoretically would replace its lowest-performing men, potentially increasing overall combat effectiveness.

The Marine Corps is following guidelines from the office of the Secretary of Defense regarding the release of its gender integration research, said Capt. Philip Kulczewski, a Marine spokesman at the Pentagon.

Furthermore, the commandant provided his recommendation to the Secretary of the Navy in private and believes that his best military advice should remain private during the deliberation process until the Secretary of Defense has reviewed all inputs and made a decision, Kulczewski said.

The services are scheduled to brief Congress next Wednesday regarding prospects for eliminating all restrictions on women in combat by years end. The Marine Corps is expected to make an additional presentation afterward in a closed-door session.

Marine conclusions

Smiths internal assessment is much more comprehensive than information disclosed publicly by the Marine Corps, and more nuanced.

Much of his report focuses on the risk of reduced combat effectiveness if physically demanding ground combat jobs are opened to women, especially in the infantry, reconnaissance and special operations units. However, it also mentions areas where women excel.

Our female Marines very likely have more actual combat experience than any servicewomen in the world, the report says, pointing to the 422 combat action ribbons they earned for service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Those Marine women were responding to ambushes and IED attacks, and their mission was not to locate, close with and destroy the enemy as infantry must, it notes. (The report does not mention the female Marines who hunt and destroy enemy forces from near and far in air combat, who are subject to a different category of awards.)

The Marine Corps conducted its research to understand the unique physical requirements and associated performance standards within these occupations and units, while recognizing the unchanging nature of ground combat and the physiological differences between men and women.

Some would dispute those characterizations, pointing to technological advancements on the battlefield such as the use of surveillance drones and long-range weapons that have resulted in less frequent close-quarters combat and fewer Medal of Honor awards. The physical capabilities of women have also increased as activities such as weight-lifting have become more popular and socially acceptable.

All but 21 of the Corps 336 primary occupational specialties are open to women, the report notes. Those jobs represent a quarter of the positions in the Marine Corps, which has the highest proportion of male-only slots in the conventional armed forces, according to a July report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

The assessment states that its research methodology for the Ground Combat Element Integrated Task Force experiment was peer-reviewed by George Mason University and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Not all recommendations by those organizations were incorporated, however. For instance, the suggestion that the task force needed to compare the performance of women and mixed-gender combat groups against a set occupational standard was dismissed, the Union-Tribune previously reported.

A shortcoming cited by outside observers that is noted in the Marine report is the bias in height and weight standards for female troops that would exclude larger women who are more likely to succeed in the infantry. The body mass index standard for women is 25, stricter than the male standard of 27.5, which appears to be counterproductive, the report states.

In an apparent argument for an exemption to the new open-door policy even if the Army does not seek one, the assessment claims that Marine infantry is very different than Army infantry since the Army organizes its units around platforms such as Stryker light-armored vehicles. Marine infantry is of uniform organization  (and) must be fully capable of regularly moving dismounted for extended distances with heavy loads, it says.

However, both Marine and Army infantry include riflemen mounted on light-armored vehicles, Army soldiers march long distances under load like Marines, and both services spent more than a decade fighting largely from fixed patrol bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Findings

Female Marines demonstrated that they were capable of performing the physically demanding tasks, but not necessarily at the same level as their male counterparts, the report says, citing results of the experimental task force.

The internal assessment and its enclosures include a slightly different tally of performance than the one released by the Marine Corps. All-male groups performed statistically better than mixed-gender ones on 88 of 134 combat tasks, or less than 66 percent. Mixed-gender groups bested the men on five tasks, including a 30 percent better performance on two trials involving the M2 machine gun.

Among the 30 combat tasks with operationally relevant differences in performance, most fell in the infantry and provisional infantry platoons, with all-male teams typically performing better. The report does not state that the sample size of female troops for the entire infantry company was 29, as Marine officials previously told the Union-Tribune.

The only mention of a performance standard against which women in the task force were measured is a hiking standard of 4 kilometers per hour. Mixed-gender squads of infantry riflemen and women met the standard, while coed heavy weapons units did not.

The Marine Corps found that integrating women produced very little data differentiating performance within artillery, combat engineers, tanks, and amphibious assault vehicles.

It focuses on findings from the infantry company and especially the weapons company indicating a greater risk if women are allowed into crew-served weapons fields such as machine gunning.

Physiological differences between men and women are directly linked to the risk of reduced combat effectiveness, the Marine report says, because size matters when executing a dismounted movement under load.

Male advantages in average body mass, aerobic capacity and other factors are cited. These realities are clearly not insurmountable, but the strain on female troops would be cumulative during extended combat operations.

An enclosure from the University of Pittsburgh reports that men in the task force had better strength, power and agility on average, whereas women bested them on most flexibility, balance and biomechanical variables.

Females and mixed-gender groups excelled in terms of lactate threshold, flexibility and .50 caliber marksmanship, however, none of these formed strong predictors of overall improved mission performance or reduced injuries, the Marine assessment states.

Looking at physical performance in the ground combat task force, it is unknown how much a stricter (higher) physical screen would have improved the physical performance of female volunteers. The female task force participants were above average to well-above average among their peers in the Corps, whereas the men were simply average, the report says.

Among other findings:

At the entry-level schools, a stricter physical screening tool would have eliminated all the female Marines who sustained injury and were dropped during ITB (the Infantry Training Battalion course.)"

"When fitness is considered, female injury rates are similar/the same as male injury rates."

"Studies show that strength training, fitness, and calcium/vitamin D supplements decreases risk of injury to women.

On the plus side for the women, further integration of females into the combat arms brings with it many of the general benefits of diversity that we experience  both within the military as well as the private sector, the report says.

It cites a decision-making study the Marine Corps ran that compared all-male groups to mixed-gender groups that had to solve challenging field problems. Including women resulted in equal or better performance on cognitively challenging problems, the Corps found.

Other benefits cited include the likelihood of lower disciplinary problems after women join the unit, as seen previously in aviation and logistics fields.

Another argument in the public debate over adding women to all-male units is a potential loss of camaraderie, or unit cohesion. However, the experimental task force Marines reported medium to good unit cohesion after training together at Camp Lejeune, N.C., including nearly a third of men and women who said it was very good.

After the lengthy combat trials at Twentynine Palms and other California bases, cohesion dropped to medium and perceptions of combat effectiveness became less positive, which could be attributed to general fatigue over the course of the (task force) assessment.

Finally, the number of women entering the ground combat arms will likely be very small, less than the 7 percent of the Corps that is female. Thus the overall impact on unit readiness will be buffered by the dominant numbers of male Marines, and should not show a significant difference.

Canada is cited as evidence of the token number of women likely to be interested and qualify for ground combat jobs. More than 25 years after the Canadian armed forces were fully integrated, only about four in a thousand enlisted infantry are female.

Standards

The long-held assumption in the Marine Corps that being a man is sufficient qualification for serving in the infantry has led to a certain amount of wastage, or men who are not fit enough to fight in the units they serve in, the report says.

It concludes that the effort to identify what an individual Marine must do to be a fully contributing member of a combat unit is perhaps the most important result of its three years of research since the Pentagon scrapped the ground combat exclusion policy on women in 2013. More clearly defined individual performance standards  will ensure that Marines are assigned to (occupations) for which they are best and more fully suited, regardless of the outcome of the gender integration push.

Bolstered physical performance standards at different points in the accessions and entry-level training continuum will likely mitigate much of that risk (of wastage) in the future within newly opened MOSs (occupations.) This includes potential risks associated with the physiological differences between male and female Marines related to the physical demands of a particular ground combat occupational specialty.

For instance, the graduation rate for women in the Infantry Training Battalion, including research volunteers who dropped on request, was about 36 percent compared to the male rate of 98 percent. Better screening for entry into infantry training could potentially improve the female graduation rate to about 64 percent, the Corps estimates. Screening has also been shown to reduce the number of injuries in these schools, and it would help cull the lower-performing men in the combat arms.

However some level of risk for reduced combat effectiveness will remain in the infantry and special operations, the assessment concludes, because the physical demands of patrolling with a heavy combat load of gear cannot be fully accounted for, in the Marine Corps view, by stricter screening.

Implementation

The assessment includes a detailed plan for successful integration of women into Marine ground combat units, seemingly anticipating that the Corps may be forced to accept women in their ranks. The Corps was also forced to comply with the end of Dont Ask, Dont Tell restrictions on the open service of gays. It was the only military service to protest the change, but experienced relatively few problems afterward.

An unwavering adherence to high standards will be the primary driver in overcoming gender bias through clearly demonstrated performance standards, which is fundamental to a cohesive unit with high morale, the report says.

Leadership will be the most critical component to successful gender integration into ground combat arms occupational specialties and units. Fully invested and unwavering demonstrations of support by commanders and leaders must set the example for Marines of all levels.

If leaders dont fully embrace the change, the integration effort will very likely be fraught with friction and unduly protracted  potentially a greater drain on combat effectiveness and unit readiness, the assessment concludes.

Based on the experiences of other countries as well as Marine integration of air and logistics fields, Some of the initial negative impacts are likely to diminish over time. The very small number of women who join will eventually increase, the higher female rate of attrition from service will go down, and any initial detrimental effects on cohesion can eventually be mitigated with good training and solid leadership.

Tailoring physical training regimens is easier if recruits are segregated by gender, as they are today in the Marine Corps and the United Kingdom, but the Marine Corps should look for integrated training opportunities in order to prepare these young men and women to serve together in the near future.

With skillful implementation, the integration of female Marines into ground combat arms occupations to the fullest extent possible will expand the Marine Corps talent base and enhance our ability to place the best and most fully qualified Marines in the right occupations and increase the overall combat effectiveness and readiness of our MAGTFs (Marine Air-Ground Task Forces), the Marine Force Innovation Office concluded.

Moreover, many of the mitigation efforts identified in this report would serve the Marine Corps well and would help strengthen performance and reduce risks for both male and female Marines, regardless of the recommendation pertaining to integration.
On Thursday, thousands of immigrants skipped work and school to participate in a day without immigrants, a protest highlighting the contributions immigrants make to restaurants, businesses and the nations overall economy.

In Los Angeles, where immigrants are part of everyday life, the message resonated, but participation was lukewarm compared with places like Detroit, Washington, D.C., and some Texas cities. Many immigrant organizations said they had not been informed about the protest and were busy handling the needs of families threatened by President Trump s immigration crackdown plans. Many immigrants said they simply couldnt afford to miss a day of work.

After closing their restaurant for the day, Monica May watches while her partner Kristen Trattner hangs a sign above their Nickel Diner in Downtown Los Angeles in solidarity with a national Day Without Immigrants. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Patricia Ortiz from the Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project said her organization kept its doors open because its services were essential to the community.

The people who come today are coming because they have pressing needs and might be deported, she said. Im sure they would love to participate and they agree with the ideology, but its hard to do when youre worried about basic needs and issues.

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) said it decided to keep its doors open for business Thursday because it felt people needed its services now more than ever because of the instability and confusion spawned by recent ICE sweeps.

We decided we would be open for them, communications director Jorge-Mario Cabrera said. We have 29 people today waiting to become citizens. And we have about 35 other folks who are seeking legal counseling.

The protest was directed at President Trump and his plans to build a border wall, strip so-called sanctuary cities of federal funding and potentially deport million of immigrants in the county without documentation.

In the heavily immigrant communities of Maywood, Cudahy, Bell and Lynwood, business was as usual. Flower shops, beauty salons and taquerias were open, as were coin laundries and car washes.

Placing her mannequins outside her tiny store in Maywood, Ana Maria Aguilar, owner of Ruby's Alterations, said she had forgotten about the boycott, and then started closing her shop back down.

The co-owners of the Nickel Diner, Kristen Trattner (left) and Monica May closed their restaurant for the day in Downtown Los Angeles and hung a large sign over the door in solidarity with a national Day Without Immigrants. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

"I just came back from Mexico and totally forgot," she said. "We need to support this movement. We need to stay united."

She then began lifting the mannequins and placing them back inside the store.

"If we don't sell anything because we're closed today, it's OK," she said. "I want to send the president a message that he needs to have more self-awareness about what he says about immigrants."

Not far away, Maria Rios, 39, was standing in the driveway of her Maywood home talking to a neighbor. She said she and her husband already had the day off but planned to support the boycott by not purchasing anything all day.

"We're going to go the bank to make a deposit and that's it," she said. "This is something we have to support all the way."

In Bell, Richard Choi, 62, sat quietly reading a document behind the cash register of his pet store. He said he felt bad but he couldn't participate in the boycott because he couldn't afford not to open.

"I'm going out of business," Choi said in a soft voice. "I've been opening my store seven days a week. I'm exhausted."

"I can't close," he added.

Choi, who has owned his pet store for 17 years, said he supported the immigrant boycott, even if it hurt his business. He said he didn't like how the president wanted to aggressively go after Latinos in the country illegally.

Farther down, Rosie Garcia, 40, dragged two heavy trash bins. Her oversized blue gloves went past her wrists.

"I'm the kind of person that doesn't miss work," she said. "I show up because I want my boss to know I'm reliable."

She said missing a day of work was not an option for her. She could support the boycott, but she can't.

"I work out of necessity," she said. "I have three children.  [If] I don't work we won't have enough for rent and food."

A Mexican immigrant, Garcia, said she also made her kids go to school Thursday.

"I didn't agree with the notion that they shouldn't go to school," she said. "I mean, how does that benefit children? They're going to be sitting at home watching TV, doing nothing. It's like setting them back."

Garcia said she works seven days a week and has been a janitor at the business plaza in Bell for three years.

She and her husband came to the U.S. in the 1990s for a better life, she said.

"We struggled, yes, but we worked hard so that we never found ourselves in a position where we couldn't provide food or a roof for ourselves and our children," she said. "I'm poor, but we work. That's why I'm working today."
Ramona Rotary Club honored the January Students of the Month at a luncheon meeting in Amici restaurant on Feb. 7.

Those honored were Mountain Valley Academy sophomore Rhiann Glaudini, Ramona High School senior Trevor White, and Montecito High School senior Colton Englert. Attending with them were Ramona High School Advanced Placement U.S. Government & Politics teacher and Associated Student Body director Mona Snodgrass, Montecito High School Earth and Space Science teacher and yearbook adviser John Chan, and Mountain Valley Academy Spanish teacher Danny Paquette.
More than 500 students on 40 Winter Guard teams converged on Ramona High School Saturday for Winter Guard Association of Southern California competition hosted by the Ramona High Marching Band and Guard.

Ramona High Winter Guard members premiered their competition routine at the event and, according to supporters, performed their full show and stunned the crowd with their amazing skills.

Teams came from as far away as Palm Springs and El Centro and arrived throughout the rainy day to have their performance evaluated for competition classification. The event attracted more than 400 spectators.

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Winter Guard is a routine set to music of dance and tumbling while spinning and tossing flags, sabers, and rifles on a large vinyl mat covering the entire gym floor. It usually includes fanciful props. Some teams did not showcase their entire routine as Ramonas Winter Guard did.
The regions largest energy provider has been lobbying elected officials for months concerning an increasingly popular electricity program that would give residents and businesses an alternative to San Diego Gas & Electric  even though the company and its critics disagree on whether it has state approval to do so.

Officials with Sempra Energy said Thursday that they have been legally meeting with lawmakers to discuss community choice aggregation, or CCA, a state-sanctioned program that transfers the authority to buy and sell power from a utility to elected officials or their appointees for a particular jurisdiction  say a city, county or groupings of both. During a public meeting Wednesday, for example, they voiced concerns to the Board of Supervisors about a proposal to study whether the county should adopt a CCA program.

In California, a growing number of local governments have embraced or are exploring CCA as a way to limit use of fossil fuels in favor of renewable energy in the fight against climate change. These programs have routinely delivered more green power at prices equal to or lower than what utilities charge.

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After a bitter fight between Marin County and Pacific Gas & Electric over establishing the states first CCA, the Legislature in 2011 barred utilities from using ratepayer dollars to lobby on such programs.

State law does allow investor-owned utilities to set up shareholder-funded marketing divisions for this purpose, and last year, SDG&E and its parent company, Sempra Energy, became the first in the state to officially pursue creation of such an entity. They named their new division Sempra Services Corp.

The marketing arm cleared a key hurdle in August, but is still seeking final approval from the California Public Utilities Commission. State regulators have rejected multiple blueprints drafted by SDG&E for how the marketing division would remain independent from the utility. The CPUC is considering a third revision to the companys so-called compliance plan.

On Thursday, officials with the commission said Sempra Services has not received final clearance to lobby on CCA. They stopped short of making a judgment on whether the divisions activities in recent months have run afoul of state rules.

The CPUCs approved resolution (in August) on the creation of the marketing arm requires SDG&E to provide certain information to the CPUC for approval before marketing begins, said Terrie Prosper, spokeswoman for the commission. That approval is pending.

She added: We would need to look into the facts of the situation, but if Sempra is participating in activities that should only be covered by the marketing agent, they would be in violation of CPUC rules.

Frank Urtasun, a top official with the marketing division, said Sempra Services has been lobbying elected officials on CCA since September, citing the commissions resolution.

Weve not received any type of notification from the (CPUC) that overturns the decision that they made on August 18, he said Wednesday after speaking at a public meeting where a majority of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors blocked a proposal to study CCA. Thats why were here.

Supervisors Kristin Gaspar, Greg Cox and Bill Horn  who opposed efforts by Supervisor Dianne Jacob to move forward with a feasibility analysis of CCA  on Thursday referred questions to the CPUC or declined to comment on whether they had met with Sempra officials to discuss the alternative electricity program.

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and several of the citys council members said Thursday that theyve had conversations with Sempra about CCA. The city is considering CCA as part of its broad plan to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

The fact that Urtasun, as well as an independent contractor for Sempra, Lani Lutar, spoke publicly about CCA this week set off a firestorm among supporters of such programs.

Were very concerned that they are basically defying the state, said Nicole Capretz, executive director of Climate Action Campaign, which has advocated strongly for CCAs throughout the county. I dont know whats going on. As of today, they dont have authority to operate.

A statewide coalition of existing CCAs, known as the California Community Choice Association, filed a challenge Thursday to SDG&Es most recent compliance plan. It raised concerns that Sempra Services may be engaging in lobbying activities without the commissions green light.

We asked the commission to order them to cease all lobbying and marketing activities until they have a compliance plan thats actually approved, said Barbara Hale, one of the groups top officials and the president of San Franciscos CCA, CleanPowerSF.

SDG&E is supposed to be showing the regulators how they have their accounting rules and theyve trained their employees and all the systems are in place to make sure that Frank knows that when hes testifying at that county board, he cannot charge his time to ratepayers, she added. None of that is in place.

In response to questions about the legality of the lobbying in recent months, SDG&E spokeswoman Amber Albrecht said: SDG&E has filed a compliance plan with the commission to demonstrate how it complies with the law. That plan is in effect. A few discrete issues under the plan are continuing to be evaluated by the commission.

The commission hasnt disclosed what fines or repercussions Sempra and SDG&E could face if they are found to be in violation of the state rules.

Twitter: @jemersmith

Phone: (619) 293-2234

Email: joshua.smith@sduniontribune.com
San Diego VA officials announced Thursday that their health system has regained its four-star rating  after dropping to three stars several months ago  based on performance from October 2015 through September of last year.

This interim rating, out of a possible five stars, is being circulated internally in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Its expected to be formally released to the public in the fall.

But local VA leaders didnt want to wait until then to share their progress. Media coverage in December revealed that the VA had a previously private star rating program for its regional health networks, and the San Diego VA Healthcare System was one of a handful in nationwide that had suffered a notable drop in performance year over year.

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Dr. Robert Smith, director of the local VA, said Thursday that the public was shocked by last years news of the rating program and now deserves to promptly learn that his team has regained its four-star status.

The VA in San Diego has historically been a high-performing institution within the VA community, and we want everyone to know that we are here and doing our best to meet their needs, Smith said.

Jack Harkins, a member of the United Veterans Council in San Diego County, said news of the VAs three-star rating last year made his phone ring and ring  mostly with veterans calling to check on whether there was some mistake in the data.

Sure, there are exceptions sometimes. But the many people who we come in contact with in the veterans community, I would say, tell us they have had good care and find the VA in San Diego responsive, Harkins said.

On Thursday, local VA health officials shared a quality-assessment report with The San Diego Union-Tribune. That report shows the health system ranking among the top best-performing 20 percent of all VA service centers in terms of patient mortality rates and management of hospital stays, and in the top 40 percent for handling medical-care transitions, preventing harmful events and measuring the work of its doctors, nurses and other employees.

The same document continues to rank VA San Diego in the middle of the pack in terms of employee satisfaction and how patients rate the care they receive. The local networks mental-health services continue to be ranked among the bottom 20 percent. Efficiency, capacity and access to services also continue to be rated below average.

Though Smith acknowledged there is more work to do, he provided even more up-to-date statistics  beyond the end of September 2016  that show VA San Diego has made considerable progress in reducing the number of days veterans must wait for medical appointments. The improvement is most dramatic for mental health cases, in which the average wait time exceeded 20 days in late 2015 and early 2016. So far this year, according to the VA, that figure has dipped below five days.

The wait for specialty care appointments, which peaked at 15 days in late 2015, was most recently measured at fewer than 10 days.

Smith said a major key to improvement has been taking advantage of federal authorization to use resources outside the VA  say, clinics or hospitals in the private sector  when necessary.

That gave us the ability to send more patients to the community when we were not able to see them timely, he said.

Its an approach favored by David Shulkin, the new VA secretary. The executive has said he will work to open up capacity in the private sector when VA resources come up short.

Smith said he expects the local quality ratings for mental health to improve steadily as the four-quarter rolling average used to calculate star ratings gradually move beyond months when the new strategy was not yet fully implemented.

He also said boosting patient-satisfaction scores will be more difficult in the short term. At present, he noted, many patient rooms at the VA hospital in La Jolla hold two to four beds at a time when the industry trend is to have only one patient per room.

Thats just an unacceptable state to be in with current hospital design standards, Smith said.

In 2019 a new building on the La Jolla VA campus is expected to add 75 beds for patients with spinal-cord injuries and long-term care needs, he said. That in turn should allow the VA to convert some multiple-bed rooms in its hospital to single-bed spaces.

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paul.sisson@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1850

Twitter: @paulsisson
Republican Congressman Darrell Issa isnt bowing to growing demands from some constituents that he hold an in-person town hall in his district next week while he and other representatives are home on a congressional break.

The push for a face-to-face event is being led mostly by protesters concerned about the policies of President Donald Trump, and it echoes similar requests facing Republican leaders nationwide including Rep. Duncan Hunter of Alpine.

Some GOP congressmen whove held recent town halls have been met with angry crowds, including Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, who was booed by constituents at a Feb. 9 gathering, and Rep. Tom McClintock of the Northern California town of Roseville who on Feb. 4 was escorted by police officers from his standing-room-only town hall.

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In San Diego County, the focus on Issa has been especially pointed  hundreds of people have protested weekly outside his office, and have organized their own town hall in Vista set for Tuesday night, raising $6,000 for a full-page newspaper ad urging Issa to be there.

Issa spokesman Calvin Moore said Wednesday the congressman is busy that night with a long-standing obligation to tour a local homeless shelter. He said Issa held a recent telephonic town hall that drew 6,000 participants and that hes planning another one later this month, but no large in-person forums are planned in the 49th district in the near future.

Protesters say the phone meetings are ineffective, and that a face-to-face gathering is the best way for Issa to gauge whats important to his constituents.

We are not just Democrats trying to get a Republican to a town hall, said Ellen Montanari, one of the organizers of the Vista gathering. There are also people who ... dont like what they are seeing with immigration and Planned Parenthood and the environment.

Still, Issa may not be wrong to skip it, at least one expert said.

Carl Luna, a political science professor at San Diegos Mesa College, said in-person town halls can be a lose-lose situation for a politician.

If people are trying to push you in a direction you dont want to go, you dont show up and they attack you, he said. You do show up, and you get beaten up.

Gary Jacobson, a political science professor at UC San Diego, said even politicians in safe seats may choose to avoid town halls, fearing a tense event like Chaffetz faced even in his reliably red district.

You can imagine some Republicans saying Why bother? Those people are not going to vote for me anyway, he said.

But, he said, representatives brush off protesters and town hall requests at their peril.

They are whistling in the dark if they think this is all ginned up by left-wing organizations, he said, because it does represent that real people are really worried.

Issa may be especially vulnerable. In the Nov. 8 election, the nine-term congressman only narrowly defeated challenger Doug Applegate, winning re-election by just .6 points  roughly 1,600 votes. The National Republican Congressional Committee has already promised extra help in the 2018 campaign to help him retain his seat.

Moore said Issa very much wants to hear from his constituents, and works hard to reach out to them. In addition to the telephonic town halls, he holds live forums on Facebook and sends out email surveys to explore voter priorities, including healthcare and executive orders.

Like others in San Diegos congressional delegation, he said, Issa routinely visits with voters and appears at scores of events throughout the year, including touring businesses and attending festivals. Just before the November election, Issa participated in two town hall meetings in San Clemente and Oceanside that were focused on sober-living homes  though the audience was free to ask off-topic questions, Moore said.

But the political climate has become considerably more heated in the past two months, and McClintock is the only GOP representative in the state to have hosted an in-person town hall since the November election, according to a report by San Francisco public TV and radio station KQED. Meanwhile, nearly half of Californias 38 congressional Democrats have held in-person forums since the election, or are planning them.

Hunter, the 50th-district congressman from Alpine, will hold a town hall or several later this year, his spokesman Joe Kasper said  but it wont be next week.

.. Hell most certainly have a town hall, but itll be in accordance to a schedule that works for others, too, and not just a single group of folks, Kasper said.

Democratic Rep. Scott Peters  who is likely to face a more welcoming crowd  is hosting a small town hall Monday at the San Diego Islamic Center, and has another one planned in his 52nd district on March 13. The Monday event is in response to requests from new groups that have formed under Indivisible, a grassroots guide to advocacy created by former Democratic congressional staffers.

Because of the Trump election, there is a new demand for (town halls), Peters said Wednesday. We would (have been) doing them all the time if there was a demand for it. Now, it is clear that there is.

He and fellow Democrat Susan Davis, D-San Diego, will also team up on an event  coordinated and financed by their election campaigns, not congressional offices  on Wednesday night in response to a flood of requests from constituents who want to fight the Trump agenda but are new to politics. Reservations are already full for that gathering at a roughly 700-seat venue at Liberty Station.

Issas largest town hall in recent memory was in Vista was in 2009, as the tea party movement was starting to gel. A crowd of roughly 4,700 attended that gathering, which focused on healthcare and the then-proposed Affordable Care Act. Many of the attendees vehemently opposed the act, which came to be known as Obamacare, and much of the crowd cheered the congressman when he said the proposal should be tossed.

teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT
Sheriffs deputies kicked in a door, arrested four people and seized drugs, guns and cash at an apartment two blocks from San Diego State University Thursday, authorities said.

The four were not students, and an investigation is continuing into whether they were selling heroin and prescription drugs to students, sheriffs Sgt. Chris Galve said Friday.

He called the four street-level narcotics dealers.

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Detectives at the sheriffs Alpine substation got a tip a couple of months ago about drug dealing in the College Area, Galve said.

He said they pursued the case, rather than hand it over to San Diego police, because they can run investigations anywhere as county law enforcers.

They got a search warrant for an apartment on College Avenue, at the corner of Montezuma Road. SWAT deputies were brought in as a precaution because the renters were believed to have guns, Galve said.

About 4:30 a.m, the SWAT deputies lobbed flash-bang grenades at the apartment, called in an announcement to identify themselves, then broke down the door, he said.

A man and his girlfriend and two roommates were detained, then arrested.

Up to about two ounces of suspected heroin was seized, along with several dozen prescription pills, a handgun, a rifle, a box or two of ammunition, drug paraphernalia and more than $1,000 in cash, Galve said.

Investigators also seized some collector coins and watches that Galve said were likely either stolen or given in trade for drugs.

A 28-year-old man was jailed on a variety of drug sales and weapons charges. Another man, 32, was booked on possession of narcotics and paraphernalia.

Two women, ages 21 and 24, were booked on conspiracy charges, according to jail records.
Thirty-year-old Lyle Woodward was behind bars in downtown San Diego for a little less than a month before he was strangled and killed.

His Central Jail cellmate, Clinton Thinn, 29, pleaded not guilty last week to a first-degree murder charge in connection with the December slaying.

Thinn, an aspiring rapper from New Zealand, also faces 14 other charges stemming from a failed bank robbery in Chula Vista . He was arrested inside the bank in June.

Woodward, who lived in San Diego, was booked into jail by Chula Vista police on Nov. 8, accused of possessing methamphetamine, according to an arrest log.

Less than month later, on Dec. 3, Woodward was attacked in his cell, sheriffs Lt. Kenn Nelson said. He was taken to a hospital where he died a week later.

According to a GoFundMe page created for his mother, Woodward was taken off life-support after he was declared brain dead.

An autopsy determined he died of strangulation. Authorities have not divulged other details about the deadly attack.

Woodwards mother asked for privacy and declined an interview through a family friend.

Following the death of his cellmate, Thinn was booked into George Bailey Detention Facility near Otay Mesa. His bail was set at $2 million at his Feb. 6 arraignment.

The stepbrother of a prominent New Zealand parliament member, Thinn often posted videos of himself rapping on Facebook. Friends told the New Zealand Herald last week that Thinn moved to the U.S. to pursue a rapping career.

On Instagram, the earliest sign of his trip to the U.S. was a photograph of a freeway sign in Inglewood on May 25. Other photos in Universal City and Hollywood appeared in the days that followed.

Thinn was arrested by Chula Vista police on June 24 after an attempted robbery at the Bank of America on E Street at Third Avenue.

Police said the branch was about to close when an armed man walked in and loosely tied the doors with a rope. The man threatened to kill employees, fired two shots from a flare gun and used a hammer to try to shatter a bullet-proof partition that workers hid behind.

Officers arrived, forced the doors open and arrested the man, who later was identified as Thinn.

He was charged with attempted robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment and other charges.

Now accused of murder, Thinn faces 25 years to life in prison if he is convicted of killing his cellmate.

Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com

Phone: (619) 293-1876

Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez
San Diego police and the FBI asked the public Thursday to help identify a gunman who robbed three liquor stores in the Valencia Park and Webster neighborhoods last month.

In each Jan. 11 holdup, the man fired a round from a .40-caliber handgun as he demanded money from an employee. Authorities did not say anyone was injured.

The robberies occurred at:

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Perry Liquor on Federal Boulevard near 47th Street

Par Liquor on Federal Boulevard near Euclid Avenue

Green Cat Liquor on Imperial Boulevard near Euclid Avenue

The thief  dubbed the Short Fuse Bandit  was described as white or Latino, 6 feet tall, with a medium build. He was wearing a dark-colored hoodie, blue bandana over his face, black sunglasses and a glove on his right hand.

Authorities said he is considered armed and dangerous.

The FBI is offering tipsters a reward of up to $2,000. Anyone with information was asked to call the FBI at (858) 320-1800, San Diego police at (619) 531-2299 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

Breaking News

Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com

Phone: (619) 293-1876

Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez
A family of five and their dog were displaced when an oven fire spread in the kitchen of their Mission Hills home Friday, a San Diego fire official said.

No one was injured. The Red Cross was called to assist the two adults and three children.

The blaze was reported at 11:40 a.m. and spread from the stove into a wall at the house on Pine Street, off Fort Stockton Drive, San Diego Fire-Rescue Department spokeswoman Monica Munoz said.

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It took fire crews less than 15 minutes to knock down most of the flames.

No information was available about the cause of the fire.
They may be called the Dharma Bums, but it turns out they do know something about raising money.

Just over three months ago, the Buddhist group made a bid to buy the closed Swedenborgian Church on the corner of Campus and Tyler avenues in University Heights.

The nonprofit had about $7,000 in its bank account, and 108 days to raise about $490,000.

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On Valentines Day, the 108th day of the fundraiser, the final $3,000 donations came in to make their goal. More last-minute donations gave them $7,000 to spare.

Jeff Zlotnik, co-founder of the Dharma Bums Buddhist Temple in downtown San Diego and adviser to the Delta Beta Tau co-ed Buddhist fraternity at San Diego State University, had never run a fundraiser before, but had complete confidence.

I always believed we could do it because I knew the strength and the heart of this community, he said.

The goal was to raise one third of the churchs $1.5 million cost, enough for the down payment. Once they had that, Zlotnik said the Dharma Bums could make the monthly mortgage through regular donations from the community, sales from a planned gift shop and rent of residential rooms inside the building.

The Dharma Bums Temple at 541 2nd Ave. downtown and the affiliated shop Buddha for You near SDSU will close in the near future and be consolidated into the church.

Zlotnik said people have been calling asking for fundraising advice, but he can only tell them the success wasnt based on anything he did.

I believe 10 years worth of what weve done in the past is what made this happen, he said. Weve done everything for free for 10 years. Not that people feel they owe us, but they supported it because of the history weve built, and they believe in our mission.

Donations came from 1,123 people for an average contribution of $443, with actually contributions ranging from a few dollars to one $80,000 matching-funding donation.

Besides giving a new home to the Dharma Bums, the purchase saves the 90-year-old church, designed by Louis John Gill, nephew of famed local architect Irving Gill. Zlotnik said others who had their eyes on the site wanted to tear it down to build condos.

After the final donations came in Tuesday, members of the Dharma Bums community gathered in the church for a Valentine Days group meditation and quiet celebration.

The Dharma Bums can begin moving in after the official closing date of March 15. Zlotnik said the new church has more space than the old temple and will allow them to expand the programs it offers.

Were going to create a family sangha, or community, where well have classes simultaneously, with kids classes, teenage and parent classes, he said. A lot of parents raising kids now are really into Buddhism and meditation.

Programs for children will include classes in art, meditation compassion and forgiveness, he said.

Although he admits not knowing much about fundraising when he started the venture, Zlotnik said sometimes people who are inexperienced can be successful because they dont know their limits.

Or, as Zlotnik quoted from zen monk and teacher Shunryu Suzuki, In the beginners mind there are many possibilities. In the experts mind there are few.

gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

760-529-4939
Owning a home is considered by many to be an integral part of the American Dream. But if we continue with the same painfully slow and expensive process of housing expansion in San Diego, it is destined to remain just that  a dream.

Right now, San Diego is at a crucial point in determining the future of its regional economy.

According to a 2016 study by The Fermanian Business & Economic Institute (FBEI), 21 percent of San Diego County households are now priced out of the local market.

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In effect, these residents face two options, neither of which pans out favorably for the region. Either they endure the commute from Riverside, the Inland Empire and the like (which isnt helping our already-overcrowded freeways) or they just leave altogether, draining San Diego of talent and labor.

Contrary to widespread belief, these exorbitant prices stem from more than just the desire to live in a climatic wonderland.

Regulatory costs weigh in at about 40 percent of the overall cost of any new development. By the time developers jump through all of the required hoops, their only hope to turn a profit is building large, expensive homes that lead to the pricing-out scenario that we currently face.

In order to bring San Diegos workforce housing back to a state of affordability, we must take a more in-depth look at just what purposes these regulations serve and how they affect the regional economy.

Such regulations are generally thought to be environmental protections, which is an important and respectable cause. This is not an argument against accounting for climate change and wildlife conservation when planning for increased housing.

However, the sheer quantity of regulations has made it so that they now reach beyond their original intent of ensuring that people and the environment can co-exist in a healthy manner.

Rather, the regulations act as an excessive obstructionist, slowing or shutting down any and all development  even that which is done responsibly and has the potential to reduce traffic, drive down the outrageous cost of living, and keep talented employees in the region.

Numerous politicians from both sides of the aisle, including some longtime environmental advocates, have agreed that these regulations have become too burdensome.

Many recent legislation proposals have acknowledged that San Diego can work toward increased housing and infrastructure without sacrificing the health of our surrounding environment, but those proposals are yet to be converted into tangible policy change.

As long as we continue down this path of obstructionism, we will witness employers and the regional economy suffer. It is difficult to maintain a successful business model in which an employer has to pay their entry or mid-level employees an inflated salary to keep up with the cost of living, especially while competing with other regions in which fewer dollars go a much longer way.

Similarly, it poses a unique and unfortunate challenge to San Diego businesses when their staffs face an exhausting commute from a different county on each end of their workday. These employers must then deal with everything from unpredictable traffic patterns to employees lobbying for alternative work schedules, all while trying to run a business.

Meanwhile, our region continues to disregard many common-sense alternatives that are available to us. Many of the potential changes are not drastic additions of new policies, but just some simple adjustments to the existing ones.

A primary example is the streamlining of permits, a concept advocated by many legislators on both sides of the aisle. Instead of having builders apply for various permits through an assortment of government agencies and at different times throughout the process, all permitting could be assigned to a single agency and allow for one-stop shopping.

The same caliber of environmental protections could be maintained, yet the time and money currently devoted to this step would be significantly reduced, thus lessening the cost that must be passed along to homebuyers. This suggestion is just one piece of a much longer list, which includes items like required benchmarks for project approval times and improved communication between permitting agencies and developers.

San Diego must make way for more reasonable housing expansion if we want to keep our regional economy strong. Costs of living and the costs of doing business are fundamentally intertwined.

If we do not work to make housing more attainable for our workforce, we will inevitably be facing substantial employment challenges that impede economic growth and hurt San Diego families.

Rosen is president/CEO of North San Diego Business Chamber. Website: sdbusinesschamber.com
One in three women in the United States has been physically assaulted, raped and/or stalked by a husband or boyfriend, meaning more than 475,000 women in San Diego have experienced intimate partner violence. This number expands to more than 40 percent when we include victims of other forms of violence against women, such as psychological partner abuse, nonpartner sexual violence, or sexual exploitation and trafficking. This means you know at least one woman who has experienced abuse. She may be your mother, your friend, your daughter, or she may be you.

Violence against women is a serious public health problem and violation of human rights. It can negatively impact a womans physical, mental, sexual and reproductive well-being. Abused women are twice as likely to be depressed and/or have alcohol disorders. Close to 40 percent of all women murdered globally are killed by a male intimate partner. Children, too, are deeply impacted by witnessing their mother be abused. They have increased health risks and are more likely to engage in criminal activity and/or experience violence in their own relationships.

The impact violence has on individuals extends to larger negative consequences throughout society. Intimate partner violence alone costs the U.S. $5.8 billion per year. Being abused by a partner compromises a womans ability to meaningfully participate in her own life, let alone the lives of others, and results in lost employment and productivity, as well as capacity to be a fully present parent, caretaker, friend and employee. Violence also depletes resources from social services, the justice system, health care agencies and employers.

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To reduce the burdens of partner violence, stalking, sexual assault and other forms of abuse, Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994. In 1995, the Department of Justice established the Office of Violence Against Women (OVW) to provide technical assistance and administer grants to communities developing programs, policies, and practices aimed at ending all forms of violence against women. OVWs work over the past two decades has led to significant achievements, including national expansion of violence prevention programs and establishment of rape crisis centers; improved services for abuse survivors; partnerships between law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges; transitional housing for violence victims and legislation to hold perpetrators accountable.

Unfortunately, OVW and the grants it administers are at grave risk for being eliminated because of shortsighted plans to reduce federal spending. Many politicians argue against OVWs continued support due to misguided beliefs that family or relationship violence is a personal matter. It has been further suggested that legislation protecting women from abuse provides loopholes whereby immigrants can fraudulently claim violence victimization and be given easy access to the U.S. The science and evidence do not support these claims. To the contrary, research confirms that these protections contribute to healthy families and safer communities. Nonetheless, empirical findings are often discounted or challenged by decision makers, including our new Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who heads the Department of Justice. He was one of the senators who voted against reauthorization of VAWA in 2013 and has publicly opposed support for gender-based violence programs.

We have been working in the field of intimate partner violence prevention for more than 20 years and are deeply concerned about the potential direction our country is heading. Eliminating federal programs to prevent violence against women will take San Diego and the entire nation many steps back. However, it is not too late to do something to prevent this from happening. Your voice and opinion matter and we suggest you do the following to support those impacted by violence against women:

Call your representatives in Congress and ask them to maintain OVW funding to ensure San Diego and the U.S. continue to prioritize the importance of preventing violence against women and providing services to those victimized.

Support your local rape crisis centers and domestic violence service organizations, such as the Center for Community Solutions, through donations of money or volunteer time or by getting involved with the organization.

If you, your mother, friend, co-worker or child were experiencing violence, wouldnt you want to know that needed, quality services were available? You can make a difference to ensure they are maintained.

Wagman is assistant professor of medicine and global public health, associate director of the Center on Gender Equity and Health, UC San Diego; deputy director of the UC Global Health Institutes Center of Expertise on Womens Health, Gender and Empowerment. Griffin-Tabor is CEO of Center for Community Solutions, San Diegos largest agency serving victims of partner violence and sexual assault. Raj is professor of medicine and global public health, director of the Center on Gender Equity and Health, UC San Diego; board member of the Center for Community Solutions.
It took an unusual development  the slow-building outrage over decades-old domestic violence allegations aired on Oprah Winfreys show against fast-food executive Andrew Puzder, President Trumps nominee for labor secretary  but it looks like the Trump Cabinet will finally have a Latino. Puzders withdrawal Wednesday cleared the way for the presidents nomination on Thursday of Florida International University law school dean Alexander Acosta, a Cuban-American with a rich and varied background. Hes been a federal judge, assistant U.S. attorney general, member of the National Labor Relations Board and U.S. attorney.

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Latinos in America make up more than one-sixth of the U.S. population. Its not political correctness to think a group with 57 million members should have someone at the table when the White House makes profoundly important decisions.

If confirmed, Acosta will take a post that could gain more prominence in coming years. Robots, artificial intelligence and specialized software have the potential to wipe out millions of jobs. But while this possibility has been anticipated for decades, no administration has advocated policies to get people trained for new careers once their previous job fields were wiped out. Given that the Labor Departments mission statement says it fosters and promotes the welfare of the job seekers, wage earners and retirees of the United States, its time to address the economic challenge of the near future: jobs lost this way.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: UTOpinion
Following the discovery of elevated lead levels and other contaminants in the San Ysidro School Districts aging plumbing, The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board urged school districts across the state to test drinking water to ensure no students may have been exposed to lead, which can lead to cognitive problems. Some are testing now.

NBC 7 San Diegos Wendy Fry reported Wednesday that South Bay districts such as Chula Vista Elementary and Sweetwater Union High are testing water in their schools. A day later, she wrote on Twitter that the San Diego Unified and Cajon Valley school districts are also checking water for lead.

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We hope this list grows voluntarily. Theres no reason not to test, especially in districts with schools built before 1986 when an amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act banned lead plumbing  and especially since the state of California offers free lead testing. Under a new pilot program that ends in November 2019, public schools that request water testing will have it performed within three months and get results back within two business days.

For those that dont ask, theres this: Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, D-San Diego, whose district includes San Ysidro, introduced legislation this week to require districts that havent conducted voluntary testing to test for contaminants annually. Schools with lead problems would have to shut off their water systems and tell parents. That seems reasonable to keep California kids safe.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: UTOpinion
There appears to be growing bipartisan momentum in both Washington and Sacramento to approve major infrastructure improvements and repairs. It may be the only thing that President Donald Trump and Gov. Jerry Brown agree on. During his campaign, Trump said he wanted to build the next generation of roads, bridges, railways, tunnels, sea ports and airports, and spend up to $1 trillion to do so. That led Brown to send Trump a $100 billion wish list.

Whatever happens, this initiative should not turn into a Christmas tree bill. Every federal project must be vetted to be certain it would boost the economy by making transportation easier or significantly improve public safety or quality of life. On projects where specific industries would benefit, public-private partnerships make sense. An ambitious but smartly crafted and managed program has the potential to win over even some fiscal conservatives. The states and the nations needs are that real.

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But given this larger picture of needs, it is noteworthy that the most prominent project on Browns wish list  the state bullet train project  is one that independent vetting would quickly reject. Proposition 1A, the 2008 ballot measure providing $9.95 billion in state bonds toward a project then estimated to cost $43 billion, bans operating subsidies for the state bullet-train system. Yet as the Legislative Analysts Office pointed out way back in 2010, the rail authority was counting on such subsidies to attract private investors. Potential state partners want guarantees of ridership or revenue to reduce their vulnerability if projections dont pan out. Seven years later, the state still cant provide such guarantees and thus still has no project investors and thus still doesnt have remotely enough money to finish the $31 billion initial segment of a project now estimated to cost $64 billion.

But beyond the basic lack of money and beyond the evidence that the California High-Speed Rail Authority has been poorly managed, a strong reason to oppose the bullet-train project has emerged over the years: ever-increasing doubt about the states cost estimates. A confidential Federal Railroad Administration risk analysis obtained last month by The Los Angeles Times projects that the cost of building the rail line from Merced to Shafter in the Central Valley would be at least $9.5 billion, contrary to the rail authoritys assertions that it is on budget and that the link will cost $6.4 billion.

That lowballing is nothing new. In 2015, the Times obtained a 2013 analysis from Parsons Brinckerhoff, the projects main contractor, that predicted the $31 billion initial segment would instead cost $40 billion. The authority continues to use the $31 billion estimate.

And in 2014, the San Francisco-based engineering firm URS Corp. complained that it was being instructed by the authority to shift projected cost increases to a contingency account to hold estimates down.

This pattern of duplicity shouldnt just give everyone pause. It should bring the project to a halt so a full audit can be conducted.

A case can be made in both Sacramento and Washington that the time has come for a massive infrastructure measure that is well-crafted, well-budgeted and well-managed. Californias bullet-train project could never qualify for such a program.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: UTOpinion
A San Diego Country Estates homeowner who has repeatedly complained about the continued operation of a short-term vacation rental on her street is taking her complaint to court.

Its been a nightmare living next door to a mini hotel, Tammy Rozelle said in a February 2016 Sentinel article about the short-term rental at 15115 La Plata Court that is listed on online vacation sites such as Vacation Rental By Owner (VRBO).

Rozelle and Sean Studley live two doors away from the vacation rental. Their attorney, John A. Simpson, Esq. of Simpson Delmore Greene LLP in San Diego, filed their lawsuit with San Diego Superior Court on Dec. 21. Defendants named include Cheryl Williams, owner of the vacation rental, and the San Diego Country Estates Association (SDCEA).

According to the suit, Williams started operating the vacation rental in summer 2015 and it has been rented to large groups of people for periods of three to 10 days.

Among the complaints are nuisance and negligence  the plaintiffs say the vacation rental violates the Estates Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs) due to excessive noise and disturbances, traffic, and harassment by some of the guests.

The noise has been excessive to a point where the sheriff was called due to continued loud noise late into the evening, states the complaint.

It also says the Estates association has breached the CC&Rs and bylaws by failing to take action to abate and reduce the excessive noise and nuisance that at times pour into the common areas and into the plaintiffs property, and by allowing Williams to operate a business out of the house in violation of the CC&Rs.

We dont have distinct rules that address this issue in our bylaws, said SDCEA board president Jim Piva, referring to the documents that were written 40 years ago when the Estates was built. Our attorney (for the SDCEA) has advised us that this is a neighbor to neighbor dispute. We have no other neighbors who are complaining.

Williams told the Sentinel last February that she researched county regulations and had a legal team review the CC&Rs to see if renting her house on a short-term basis was within her rights and said she was not aware of any prohibitive regulations.

SDCEA has filed a demurrer/motion to strike that is scheduled for March 17, according to the courts website.

Short-term vacation rentals such as Airbnb have been a contentious issue for some San Diego neighborhoods, but a proposal to ban them was rejected by San Diego City Council late last year.
Support the people AND Trump

Mr. Patterson in his letter last week Support the people or Trump seems to have missed the point of Executive Order 13769. I stand with Congressman Hunter in supporting Trump, who IS SUPPORTING the people of America, all of them! Its not unconstitutional.

Suggestion: First, read the Constitution of the United States of America. Second, read the text of EO 13769. The Constitution will tell you that the president is the Commander in Chief. As such, he is responsible for the protection of the American people  all of them. EO 13769 says NOTHING about banning Muslims from America. It amazes me when someone like Mr. Patterson plays from their deck of cards: the religious card in this case; or is it the race card? Often it is the gender card, wage card you name it. And then he has the audacity to point the finger at others claiming they are dividing the people and fanning the flames of hate. Sorry buddy, were on to you.

Tom McKelvey

Ramona

Voters remorse

This year marks the beginning of the Trump Dynasty. In his first 30 days, Donald Trump has further destabilized the entire Middle East.

His executive order decrees are being overturned as unconstitutional in U.S. courts.

Hes all but declared war on Mexico, one of the top three U.S. allies. Mexico now has vowed to gridlock the federal courts with their challenges on our deportation of undocumented families.

Trumps top spokeswoman, Kellyanne Conway, is selling the office of the president by hawking Ivanka Trumps clothing line. Trump is still screaming about some five million votes that were illegally cast. Today, he hasnt offered a single shred of evidence. Trump does not have any humility. A million women march on Washington has had no effect.

President Trump has millions of groupies; women are infatuated with him. They see him as an Adonis figure. In a land where Trump could be king, he garnished nearly 80 percent of the vote in Ramona. As his term wanes on, more and more of the electorate will experience voters remorse.

Peter W. Quercia

Ramona

Politicians

Politicians are people who think big  mostly about their salaries and retirement.

Edalee Orcutt Harwell

Ramona
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By Peggy Kelly

Santa Paula News

One Billion Rising is a worldwide event including those in Santa Paula who on February 11 will share their stories, dance and speak out for justice while demanding an end to gender-based violence.

The 4th Annual Santa Paula One Billion Rising event will be held at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 427 N. Oak St. starting at 2 p.m. The program will be in Spanish with simultaneous English translation via headsets.

Those who would like to take part in the One Billion Rising event by dancing are welcome to free classes being held this weekend in Santa Paula, Saturday, February 4 at 2 p.m., at El Buen Pastor United Methodist Church, 1029 E Santa Paula St. and Sunday, February 5 at 12:15 p.m. in the Parish Hall of Universalist Unitarian Church of Santa Paula at 740 E Main St.

Participants will also have the opportunity to learn the Break the Chain dance at 1:30 p.m. before the February 11 event; choreography by famed dancer Debbie Allen specific for One Billion Rising is available on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRU1xmBwUeA

Participants at One Billion Rising are asked to wear pink, red or black to show their Solidarity to End the Exploitation of Women the theme of this years event.

Organizers of the Santa Paula event want all to imagine One Billion Women Rising around the world sharing their stories, dancing and speaking out for justice, learning about resources available in the community, and demanding an end to gender-based violence.

What does ONE BILLION look like? We are calling on our community to harness their power and imagination to rise for justice and join people around the world, 170 countries and growing, in making the world a better place!

The event is free and open to all.
By Peggy Kelly

Santa Paula News

An esteemed Santa Paula High School educator will be honored Saturday by LULAC at a special breakfast also marking the 88th anniversary of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

Richard Castaniero, of Santa Paula High School, will receive the 2017 LULAC Education Award for bringing education and leadership programs to Latino students.

We are very excited to celebrate LULACs 88th Anniversary and to acknowledge the work of three outstanding leaders in areas that LULAC supports: leadership, education, community involvement and advocacy. Their leadership is making a difference in education, the environment and the wellbeing of our Latino families, said Laura Espinosa of Santa Paula, LULAC District 17 Director.

The February 11 celebration will be held at La Fonda Del Rey Restaurant,

455 S. A Street, Oxnard, CA. from 9 to 11 a.m. The cost of the event is $25 per person at the door or by reservation (call Veronica Rodriguez at 805-816-6805 prior to February 8).

At its Annual Leadership Breakfast, LULAC District 17 will recognize three community members for their critical role in furthering LULACs mission to advance the economic condition, educational attainment, environment advocacy, health and civil rights of the Latino community.
By Peggy Kelly

Santa Paula News

Two early Sunday morning stabbings are being investigated by Santa Paula Police who are seeking a suspect.

Neither victim received life-threatening injuries, according to SPPD Sgt. Jeremy Watson.

The February 5 incident occurred shortly before 2:27 a.m. when SPPD Officers were dispatched to the Santa Paula Hospital Emergency Room where a stabbing victim was being treated.

Upon arrival a male juvenile, age 17 of Santa Paula, was found to have suffered multiple stab wounds to his torso and head. When officers questioned the juvenile about what occurred he was uncooperative, said Watson.

While investigating the incident, a 911 call was received reporting a screaming female in the area of Richmond Road and Encino Place.

Watson said While other officers were in route to the call, a black compact vehicle was observed traveling north on 10th Street towards Santa Paula Hospital at a high rate of speed, information that was relayed to the officers already at the hospital.

Shortly thereafter, noted Watson, a male adult, age 22 and also a Santa Paula resident, arrived at the hospital in the black vehicle with stab wounds to his legs and head.

Meanwhile officers who responded to Richmond Road and Encino Place for the report of a screaming woman located what appeared to be a crime scene containing a large amount of blood.

Through further investigation Watson said officers found the location was not the original crime scene and that the incident occurred in the area of 12th Street and Ventura Street.

Officers also checked that area and were unable to locate any evidence.

Both subjects were treated at the Santa Paula Hospital and later transported to Ventura County Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.
By Peggy Kelly

Santa Paula News

A classified employee that believes working at schools creates a wide-ranging family on campus was honored by the Santa Paula Unified School District.

Barbara Webster Elementary School staffer Brenda Gabby Camacho was honored as the Classified Employee of the Month during the January 18 SPUSD Board meeting.

Jeff Madrigal, principal of Barbara Webster Elementary School, said Camacho is always busy but nevertheless, always helpful to all that encounter her.

And, when she finishes requests, She says done with a kind suggestion of how we can do it better and more efficiently, in the future.

A front office is an ever changing environment but, much like a Swiss knife, Madrigal said, she can mold herself into any situation, and fix it all the while keeping her upbeat, kind attitude.

Gabby never flinches, he added, when we all go to work at Barbara Webster we know we have a steep mountain to climb everyday, and Gabby does not flinch no matter how high or challenging the mountain.

Im very grateful for the kind words, said Camacho. Jeff and the Barbara Webster family are family. When you spend eight or nine hours a day with them they do become family.
Santa Paula News

Reversing the Cycle of Poverty in Santa Paula is the focus of a Town Hall community meeting to be held Tuesday, February 21 at the Community Center from 5:30, when registration begins, to 8 p.m.

The free event will feature a discussion of how Santa Paulans can work together as a community to address current issues related to local poverty as well as new strategies to reduce poverty in our community.

Hosted by the Santa Paula Collective Impact Project (SPCIP) and Santa Paula Latino Town Hall (LTH), the meeting will focus on challenges associated with issues related to local poverty, which noted organizers, Continue to adversely impact the quality of life for our local residents.

More than 50 leaders from local organizations and the general public have been invited to the Town Hall meeting to assist in this endeavor; Santa Paula has one of the highest poverty rates in Ventura County and is among the lowest in median income.

Your participation, according to SPCIP and LTH, will help us gather community input on strategies and projects to address these challenges.

The SPCIP has been in the works for more than a year with the orientation meeting held in September to outline the goal and objectives of the SPCIP where city, education and community representatives were invited to engage.

According to SPCIP, participants were intentionally selected to represent a broad cross section of the community. The SPCIP approach or philosophy was founded on the belief that no single organization, however innovative or powerful, can accomplish social change alone via isolated impact. Large-scale social change requires broad, cross-sector coordination from a wide variety of backgrounds to ensure multiple perspectives via collective impact.

The foundation, according to SPCIP, of collective impact is to build relationships, capacity and trust among its collaborators. Many organizations across the country have attempted to solve social issues by collaboration for decades without results. The vast majority lack the elements of success that enable collective impact initiatives to achieve a sustained alignment of efforts.
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/17/2017 -- Vehicles using conventional fuelshas been predominantly used all over the globe. Apart from being expensive, these fuels are major cause of environmental hazards. Some of the major countries such as US and Italy are now focusing on the other form of fuels. The primary reason behind this shift is to reduce the import dependency on foreign countries, which is burdening the economy. The recent price fluctuations in fuels have affected the major world economies. Hence to avoid any adverse effect the countries are focusing on reducing the usage of conventional fuel especially crude oil. These factors have accelerated the growth in alternative fuel's market.



The alternative fuel is fast replacing the conventional fuels in transportation, chemical, agricultural and industrial sector. The transportation section consist of many companies offering vehicle altered to suit alternative fuels. The alternative fuel vehicle can be divided on the basis of fuel used such as biodiesel, biomass, propane, electricity, hydrogen, non-fossil methane, non-fossil natural gas, and ethane among others. On the end user basis this market can be segmented as government vehicles, private fleets, industrial transportation and domestic user's vehicle. The government vehicles and the private fleets have the largest share in the alternative fuel vehicle's market.



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Alternative fuel vehicles are majorly dependent on the fuel used for their performance and distinct advantages. Propane is widely used alternative fuel that has been an effective vehicle fuel for decades. The electricity based vehicle provides an attractive prospect by offering easilychargeable and noiseless urban transportation. It comes in three types as all-electric, hybrid electric, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Biodiesel is a domestically produced renewable fuel. Its physical properties are similar to petroleum diesel. However they provide a cleaner alternative through less emissions. Ethanol made from corn and other plant materials is used with gasoline for vehicles. Hydrogen is not a very widely known alternative, but can be one of the least emission causing fuels. The alternative fuel vehicle's market has slow growth, but is projected to pick up pace in the coming years as the natural gas and other alternative fuels reserves are being produced in abundant. The availability of fuel locally and the corresponding efficiency of engines provides a major advantage for the consumer. However the high cost of fuel, less availability of charging station and lack of awareness act as the major hindrance in the growth of alternative fuel vehicles.



North American region is the most attractive market for alternative fuel vehicle. The various regulation by US government to control the emissions and import of fuels has proved advantageous for the alternative fuels. The government of many countries such as US, China and Italy are providing the alternative fuel vehicles buyers various incentives to boost the sale. Asian manufacturers such as Toyota and Hyundai are among the pioneer companies in this market. Among the European countries, Italy has the major share in the sale of alternative fuel vehicles. The government and privately fleet vehicles are being converted to switch to alternative fuel at accelerated rate.



Most of the vehicle manufacturers are offering alternative fuel based vehicles today. Some of the major players in this market are Ford Motor Company, Jaguar Land Rover Limited, Toyota Motor Corporation,Hyundai Motor Company, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Shell International B.V., BYD Company Limited, Daimler AG, Honda Motor Co., Ltd., and Mitsubishi Motors, among others.
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/17/2017 -- Analog integrated circuit (IC) also known as linear integrated circuit is a solid-state analog device defined by a countless number of possible operating states. The analog IC works over a continuous range of input levels as against digital IC's having only two levels of input and output voltages  low and high i.e. binary. The circuit is used to process, receive and generate a various levels of energy as the device operates. Devices that require oscillators, DC amplifiers, audio amplifiers, and multi-vibrators always make use of analog IC, which is characterized by equal output and input signal levels. Linear IC's are used for different functions that require variable output signal for radio-frequency and audio-frequency amplifiers. The mostly used linear IC is an operational amplifier (op-amp), which is made up of conventional analog circuit consisting of resistors, transistors and diodes. Analog IC's are gradually being utilized in various LED lightning applications such as traffic light indicators, stadium displays, and data communication for managing power efficiency.



The global analog IC market can be segmented on the basis of its types, market environment, different industry verticals and geographical presence worldwide. On the basis of its types, the global analog IC market is divided into general purpose and application-specific IC's. General purpose analog IC's are utilized for multiple applications such as data converters, comparators, and amplifiers, among others. On the other hand, application specific analog IC's are used to perform specific functions such as radio frequency (RF) transceivers, display drivers, touch sensors, timing control, Serializer/Deserializer (SerDes) , and LED drivers, among others. By market environment, the market is segregated into merchant IC and small-scale IC fabrication companies. Merchant vendors implement a defined set of strategies to retain their legacy in the analog IC market such as competitive price, special product design skills and extensive range of product sets, worldwide distribution and extensive range of support network.



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The new entrants are small-scale IC fabrication organizations, focused on a particular product category they deal with. For example, Taiwan Semiconductor deals with discrete voltage regulators, semiconductors, and op-amps. Richtek Technology Corporation (power management and LED drivers) and Global Mixed-mode Technology Inc. (power management, audio and switches) are some of the major players concentrating on explicit domains. By different industry verticals, the market is classified into automotive, IT & telecommunications, consumer electronics and healthcare. Geographically, the analog IC market in North America is currently driven by the rising avionic, infrastructural, and various industrial applications. The analog IC market in Europe is anticipated to be accelerated by the different automobile manufacturers with their product units in Europe.



The global analog IC market is expected to continue its prominence with its advantages such as diverse functionality and small size. The market growth is fuelled by the use of analog IC's in dynamic application areas such as healthcare monitoring, LED lighting, collision prevention, and utility in automotive applications. Automotive leaders such as Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen, BMW and Renault are encouraging the use of analog IC's to bring better automation in their electronic circuitry. A huge range of opportunities for the analog IC market can be seen in Asia Pacific due to growing consumer electronics adoption by the tech-savvy customers. Moreover, the rising penetration of application-specific analog IC's can be seen in IC content of mobile devices and DVDs, among other consumer electronics products. Application-specific analog IC's are anticipated to be one of the attractive segments for different start-up companies in future.



Some of the major players in the market include Qualcomm Inc., Analog Devices Inc., Maxim Integrated Products Inc., Texas Instruments Inc., STMicroelectronics NV, Infineon Technologies AG, Richtek Technology Corporation, Global Mixed-mode Technology Inc., and Taiwan Semiconductor, among others.
Deerfield Beach, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/17/2017 -- Market Research Store has been recently published a fresh research report China Combustion Gas Analyzer Market by Manufacturers, Regions (Province), Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 . This added to the company's collection of research reports. This report offers a deep examination of the Combustion Gas Analyzer market for the period 20132023. As per the report, the Combustion Gas Analyzer market is estimated to grow at elevated CAGR recorded in 2017. The towering competitive Combustion Gas Analyzer market has been observing huge and whooping investments in development and research from government as well as private firms.



This report divides the market on the basis of regions, manufacturers, application, and type. It also showcases the growing factors, reasons for decline in the market, segmentations, and openings and breaks expected to power the market expansion during this time span. The primary factors such as revenues, supply chain management, product valuation and other crucial factors are also examined in the Combustion Gas Analyzer market report.



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Scope of the Report:



This report focuses on the Combustion Gas Analyzer in China market, to split the market based on manufacturers, Regions (Province), type and application.



Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers



General Electric

AMETEK Process Instruments

Emerson Electric

Dr?gerwerk

ABB Measurement & Analytics

TESTO

Honeywell International

IMR-Messtechnik

Bacharach

TECORA

Wuhan Cubic Optoelectronic

Fer Strumenti

Codel International

Kane International

KIMO

Seitron

Nova Analytical Systems

Adev

ENOTEC

Eurotron Instruments



Do Inquiry Before Purchasing Report: http://www.marketresearchstore.com/report/china-combustion-gas-analyzer-market-by-manufacturers-regions-105392#InquiryForBuying



Market Segment by Regions (Province), covering



South China

Southwest China

East China

Northeast China

North China



Market Segment by Type, covers



Portable

Stationary



Market Segment by Applications, can be divided into



Residential

Commercial

Industrial emissions



There are 18 Chapters to deeply display the China Combustion Gas Analyzer market.



Chapter 1, to describe Combustion Gas Analyzer Introduction, product type and application, market overview, market analysis by Region (province), market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;



Chapter 2, to analyze the manufacturers of Combustion Gas Analyzer, with profile, main business, news, sales, price, revenue and market share 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 China market by Regions (Province),covering South China,East China,Southwest China,North China,Northeast China,Northwest China and Central China,with sales, price,revenue and market share of Combustion Gas Analyzer,for each region,from 2012 to 2017;



Chapter 5 and 6, to show the market by type and application, with sales, price, revenue, market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;



Chapter 7,8,9,10,11,12 and 13 to analyze the key Province by Type and Application,covering South China,East China,Southwest China,North China,Northwest China,Central China and Northeast China,with sales,revenue and market share by types and applications;



Chapter 14, Combustion Gas Analyzer market forecast, by Regions (Province), type and application, with sales, price, revenue and growth rate forecast, from 2017 to 2022;



Chapter 15, to analyze the manufacturing cost, key raw materials and manufacturing process etc.



Chapter 16, to analyze the industrial chain, sourcing strategy and downstream end users (buyers);



Chapter 17, to describe sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers etc.



Chapter 18, to describe Combustion Gas Analyzer Appendix, methodology and data source



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Willow Grove, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/17/2017 -- Anyone searching for a fence company in Delaware County or any of its surrounding areas, can count on the highly trained technicians at Greenhill Fencing Inc. to get the job done right. Although there's a multitude of reasons as to why a homeowner might choose to install a fence on their property, this team of professionals has experience with installing a wide variety of fencing for many different purposes. As long as the customer is able to express all their needs and desires, Greenhill Fencing Inc. can draw up a proper design.



Perhaps a business owner in Willow Grove wants to install a fence to improve the security of their facility. Or maybe a homeowner in Abington is seeking more privacy by means of installing a tall fencing around along the perimeter of their property. Or let's say someone who has recently installed a pool is now looking for a crew specializing in pool fences. No matter the reason for someone wanting to install a fence on their property, the highly-trained technicians at Greenhill Fencing Inc. have the ability to provide all customers with long lasting solutions.



Whether a customer needs a company specializing in PVC, chain link, wood or aluminum fencing in Delaware County or any of its surrounding areas, the professionals have experience installing many different fencing styles. Plus, their expert designers can draw up layouts based on both their own professional experience and their customers' input. Where high-quality service and customer satisfaction exceed all else, there's no reason for any customer to look anywhere other than Greenhill Fencing Inc. Contact their crew by completing an informational contact form on their website, or by calling 267-329-3005 today.



About Greenhill Fencing Inc.

For over 25 years and 3 generations of family ownership, Greenhill Fencing Inc. has consistently met its goal of providing fast, affordable fence installations to their community. Located in Willow Grove, PA, the company hires the most experienced technicians and offers high-quality materials at competitive prices. Greenhill Fencing serves homes in Philadelphia as well as customers throughout Bucks, Montgomery, Chester, and Delaware Counties.



To learn more visit http://www.greenhillfencing.com/
Atlanta, GA -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/17/2017 -- Darwin Johnson, an auto accident and workman comp lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia, represents car accident injury victims, and brings to the table a winning track record. WIth nearly 15 years under his belt, Darwin Johnson has steadily solidified his title as one of Georgia's top personal injury attorneys, specializing in workers' compensation and auto accidents.



"Car accident injuries can feel overwhelming to deal with," said Johnson. "You may feel antsy from being unable to engage in physical activities, stressed out about medical bills, and frustrated that you can't go back to work."



Johnson is encouraging people in similar situations to the one he describes to give his office a call. Often, insurance companies will try to avoid paying out full funds to cover damages, and perpetrators at fault will go out of their way to deny responsibility. "Having a qualified attorney by your side will go a long way in your potential to receive the compensation you need to pay off debt acquired by your injury," said Johnson. "No lawyer can ever guarantee a certain outcome for his or her client, but those who fight with representation attain more funds on average."



In Johnson's time as a private practice attorney, his firm, The Law OFfices of Darwin Johnson, have won or settled over 2,500 cases and received over $25 million for their clients.



Johnson offers complimentary consultations to potential clients, and encourages them to act as quickly post-incident as possible. To learn more about the car accident and workers' comp lawyer in Atlanta, please visit his website or call 404-692-6482.



About The Law Offices of Darwin F. Johnson

The Law Offices of Darwin F. Johnson provide legal defense for individuals all throughout the greater Atlanta, Georgia area. He provides effective legal defense for individuals unjustly injured while at the workplace, and gets them the compensation they need. Clients of Darwin F. Johnson don't pay unless he delivers compensation.



Reach the Law Offices of Darwin F. Johnson today by phone at 404-692-6482.



For more information, please visit http://www.darwinfjohnson.com.
Charlotte, NC -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/17/2017 -- InVue, an innovative provider of sales enablement solutions for retailers, consumer electronic brands and commercial businesses, unveiled plans for EuroShop 2017, taking place March 5th through the 9th at the Exhibition Centre in Dusseldorf, Germany.



InVue will be on hand at booth #7OD19 to showcase how retailers can dramatically increase sales through product security and cross-merchandising opportunities. In addition, as retailers continue to leverage tablets in-store to improve customer service and serve as a mobile point-of-sale (POS) system, InVue will demonstrate how their complete tablet solutions can serve as powerful customer service applications.



WHAT: EuroShop 2017

WHERE: Exhibition Centre in Dusseldorf, Germany, InVue Booth #7OD19

WHEN: March 5  9, 2017



WHY: Perfecting the customer experience in today's dynamic retail environment has never been more important. Merchandising products effectively, keeping them secure, all while empowering store associates to deliver better service and increase sales opportunities is a difficult balance to achieve. Retailers need sales enablement solutions that can capitalize on the customer-centric nature of retail operations and allow the merchandise and store associates to shine. By doing so retailers can deliver the better customer experience the market requires and fuel an increase in sales and profits.



FEATURED PRODUCTS AT EUROSHOP 2017:



- IR Ecosystem: All of InVue's featured products are part of the IR Ecosystem, a storewide single key security system for high theft merchandise. The IR Ecosystem allows you to safely open and access your high theft merchandise on display and ensures that store associates always have the right key at the right time.



- Access Manager: An electronic lock security solution that provides auditing and zoning capabilities with an easy-to-use platform designed specifically for retail. Access Manager accurately provides data that logs every security interaction for every associate with key access. Helping you understand associate activity, through data collection and reporting, Access Manager works with a range of InVue products and allows for increased store performance and customer service.



- Cross Merchandising Solutions: The S1060 is the only security stand that combines security with cross-merchandising opportunities. The stand provides power not only to the device, but any accessory which allows retailers to dramatically increase their sales by pairing items together.



- Commercial Tablet Solutions: Tablets increase engagement and improve customer's shopping experience through multiple touch points. They present a wide range of opportunities to enhance the in-store experience, whether as a tool for associates to share information, conclude a sale or enhance a merchandise display. InVue provides the best products to display and protect tablets and enable quick mobility.



About InVue

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, InVue provides innovative sales enablement security solutions for global retailers, consumer electronic brands and commercial businesses. Our products balance the need for an exceptional customer experience and user interaction with tough security capabilities and high display aesthetics. Our focus is providing value to our customers by developing transformative solutions that decrease theft, provide business insights and increase profits.



InVue is a market leader with cutting edge facilities dedicated to developing innovative solutions that defy the status quo. Our commitment to inspired design and superior quality has earned us the trust of the world's top retailers, brands and businesses. To learn more about how we deliver a superior user experience, better associate performance, and an increase in sales visit www.invue.com or follow us on LinkedIn. With InVue, you can expect more from your security.
Sarasota, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/17/2017 -- Zion Market Research published new report on 'Fish Processing Market: Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecasts 20162024' in it's database



Global Fish Processing Market: Overview



The practice associated with fish and fish products is known as fish processing. The process begins with the catching of fish and continues until the finished product is reached to the consumer. This finished product is in the ready-to-eat form. It covers all aquatic organisms under fish processing. Fish processing is mainly followed to protect them from decaying. Fish is the extremely perishable food product and hence it needs proper preservation method to extend its shelf life & maintain its nutritional quality. Some dried seafood such as shrimps, dried fish, dried octopus, dried oysters, and many other are gaining popularity among people. Moreover, some of the well-known fish processes used to preserve fish include surimi, curing, salting, drying, and smoking. For example, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and SNV Ghana collaborated to introduce a new fishing technology in order to provide cleaner and healthier fist to meet local as well as international standards.



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Global Fish Processing Market: Growth Factors



This market is mainly driven by health benefits and high nutritional value of the fish and fish products. Growing health concerns and aquaculture industry are contributing for the global non-food processing application market growth. The introduction of modern techniques and motorization of fishing boats are expected to boost the global market in the near future. In addition, government support for fishing activities and technological advancement also fuel the global fish processing market.



Global Fish Processing Market: Segmentation



The global fish processing market is segmented on the basis of application as non-food processing application and food processing application. Of these, non-food processing application is the fastest growing application segment in the global market owing to increasing use in the industrial applications. Non-food processing application is further sub-segmented as fertilizers, fish oil, industrial uses, fish meal, and cosmetics. Based on the category, the global market is bifurcated as preserved, frozen, and others. The global market is further divided based on equipment as curing & smoking, slaughtering, deboning, scaling, filleting, skinning, gutting, and others.



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Global Fish Processing Market: Regional Analysis



Europe is the dominating region in the global fish processing market. It is accompanied with abundant facilities such as boats, advanced machinery, and others which are anticipated to boost the global fish processing market in future. In European countries, cold smoking and hot smoking fish preserving methods are used to the large extent. Import for varieties of fish and shrimp from Asian economies will contribute to the global fish processing market growth. Portugal is the fastest growing region in the European country with augmenting demand for sardine, turbot, hake, oysters, clams, and cod. Some European countries such as Spain, Portugal, Poland, and Denmark have fishery as their main occupation and thus they majorly contribute to the GDP growth. They are leading exporters to the North American and European countries.



Global Fish Processing Market: Competitive Players



Major players dominating the global fish processing market include Maruha Nichiro Corporation, Norway Pelagic ASA, Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL, High Liner Foods Incorporated, and Pescanova S.A. Other key players influencing the global market are Marine Harvest ASA, Thai Union Frozen Products PLC, Nippon Suisan Kaisha, Ltd., Leroy Seafood Group ASA, and Royal Greenland A/S.



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Global Fish Processing Market: Regional Segment Analysis



North America

U.S.

Europe

UK

France

Germany

Asia Pacific

China

Japan

India

Latin America

Brazil

The Middle East and Africa



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Full in-depth analysis of the parent market

Important changes in market dynamics

Segmentation details of the market

Former, on-going, and projected market analysis in terms of volume and value

Assessment of niche industry developments

Market share analysis

Key strategies of major players

Emerging segments and regional markets

Testimonials to companies in order to fortify their foothold in the market



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Seattle, WA -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/17/2017 -- The report "Gear Motors Market by Product (Gearbox & Gear Motor), by Gear Type (Helical, Planetary, Helical-Bevel, Worm, & Others), by Rated Power, by Torque (Up to 10,000 Nm, Above 10,000 Nm), by Industry & by Region - Global Trends & Forecast to 2021", The gear motors market is projected to grow from an estimated USD 18.08 Billion in 2016 to USD 23.94 Billion by 2021, registering a CAGR of 5.8% from 2016 to 2021. The increasing demand for power transmission equipment in industries, growing concerns regarding efficient power transmission, and increasing infrastructural development in developing regions are driving the global market for gear motors.



Browse 90 tables and 57 figures spread through 163 pages and in-depth TOC on "Gear Motors Market by Product (Gearbox & Gear Motor), by Gear Type (Helical, Planetary, Helical-Bevel, Worm, & Others), by Rated Power, by Torque (Up to 10,000 Nm, Above 10,000 Nm), by Industry & by Region - Global Trends & Forecast to 2021"



Get Sample Pages of this Report @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsample.asp?id=37526037



Early buyers will receive 10% customization on reports.



The wind power segment is expected to occupy the largest share of the gear motors market, by industry



Wind power is the largest end-use industry for gear motors, due to the large-scale application of speed-up gearboxes in wind turbines. Material handling and food & beverage are other major end-use industries that employ gear motors. The wind power segment of the gear motors market is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The report segments the gear motors market on the basis of end-use industries into metals & mining, cement & aggregates, automotive, power generation (excluding wind power), construction, chemicals, rubber, & plastics, marine, and other industries.



Gear motors rated up to 7.5 kW are expected to account for the largest share of the gear motors market, by rated power



Motors rated up to 7.5 kW are estimated to constitute the largest segment of the gear motors market, owing to the large number of applications that fall within this segment. Most major applications in industries such as material handling, food & beverage, and automotive employ motors rated within this range. Gear motors rated between 7.5 kW to 75 kW formed the second-largest segment in 2015, owing to the large percentage of motor-driven applications within this range throughout the production, transportation, and processing cycle.



Asia-Pacific is expected to dominate the global gear motors market



Asia-Pacific is estimated to be the largest market for gear motors, with China expected to lead the market in terms of growth rate from 2016 to 2021. The increasing investments in renewable energy, especially wind power generation, and industrialization in countries such as China, Japan, and India propels the growth of the market in the region. In this report, the gear motors market has been analyzed with respect to five regions namely, Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America, South America, and the Middle East & Africa. The gear motors industry is expanding in developing countries, owing to rising industrialization and infrastructural development activities. Increasing wind power installations and the low cost and compact nature of the equipment are major factors driving the global gear motors market.



To enable an in-depth understanding of the competitive landscape, the report profiles some of the leading players in the gear motors market, including SEW-Eurodrive GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), Siemens AG (Germany), Bonfiglioli Riduttori S.p.A (Italy), and Winergy (Germany). Other players in the market include Bauer Gear Motor GmbH (Germany), Watt Drive Antriebstechnik GmbH (Germany), Brevini Power Transmission S.p.A. (Italy), Elecon Engineering Company Ltd. (India), Eaton Corporation PLC (Ireland), Emerson Electric Co. (U.S.) and China High Speed Transmission Equipment Group Co. Ltd. (China). Major players in the market are trying to penetrate developing economies, and are adopting various methods to increase their market share.



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New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/17/2017 -- Owing to the increasing consumer consciousness regarding the appearance, the cosmeceuticals market is expected to witness a surge across the globe. Cosmeceuticals segment is expected to experience the fastest growth in personal care industry. Increasing demand from middle age and growing urban population are expected to drive the global cosmeceuticals market. Global cosmeceuticals market is further supported by various factors such as the presence of superior quality and premium priced cosmeceuticals products. Cosmeceuticals products are used for varied applications such as skin irritation, skin lightening, tooth whitening and others. Cosmeceuticals market is growing rapidly and expected to witness double-digit growth in the next four to five years. Although demand for cosmeceuticals is increasing significantly but various other treatment options are entering the market. These treatment alternatives are expected to increase the completion in the cosmeceuticals market and expected to hinder the growth of cosmeceuticals market to some extent.



A Sample of this Report is Available Upon Request @ http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/8938



Global Cosmeceuticals Market is segmented on the basis of product type, ingredient and region. Based on the product type segmentation includes hair care, skincare, lip care, tooth whitening, injectable and others. Of which skincare is expected to be the dominating segment, followed by hair care in the forecasted period. Among skincare, anti-ageing sub-segment is expected to contribute maximum revenue over the forecasted period. However, the injectable segment is expected to witness the fastest growth in the next four to five years due to the various advantages such as weight treatment and wrinkle reducer associated with it. Based on the ingredient used, cosmeceuticals market is segmented into antioxidants, proteins, peptides, botanicals, moisturizers and others. Of which antioxidant segment is the leading segment which is expected to contribute the highest revenue during the forecasted period. Global cosmeceuticals market is segmented on the basis of a region into North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, Middle East and Africa, and Japan.



The Global Cosmeceuticals market is expected to witness robust growth over the forecasted period due to the rising consumer awareness regarding the benefits of cosmeceuticals coupled with increasing number of premium quality cosmeceuticals products. Globally, among all regions, North America is expected to contribute the highest market share, followed by Europe over the forecasted period. However, Asia Pacific is anticipated to witness the highest growth owing to the rising disposable income of consumers in various countries. In Asia Pacific, Japan is anticipated to contribute highest market share and expected to grow with highest CAGR, followed by China.



Major factors that fuel the growth of cosmeceuticals market includes increasing consumer consciousness regarding the appearance and increasing number of urban population coupled with rising consumer awareness related to benefits of cosmeceuticals. Another factor that is driving the growth of cosmeceuticals market is increasing the affordability of consumers in the emerging markets such as China and India. A major factor that restraints the growth of cosmeceuticals market is growing consumer awareness related to harmful effects of ingredients used in cosmeceuticals.



To View TOC of this Report is Available Upon Request @ http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/8938



Major companies operating in cosmeceuticals market are Procter and Gamble, L'Oreal SA, Unilever, Active Organics, Allergan, Arch Chemicals, Inc., BASF SE, Bayer AG, Symrise AG. Companies operating in cosmeceuticals market are adopting a strategy by investing the huge amount in research and development (R&D) activities in order to launch new products and penetrate into emerging markets. Companies are developing new ingredients such as peptides and stem cells for cosmeceuticals products.
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/17/2017 -- Process safety system involves preventing fires, explosions, and accidental release of chemicals in chemical industries or the accidental release of hazardous materials in industries such as oil and gas and paints and coatings. The deployment of process safety systems is aimed at providing the necessary measures that are needed to minimize or overcome hazard to the environment or to personnel.



In oil and gas operations, the discovery of new oil fields leading to changing fortunes has high operational hazards that can be fatal as well. According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the oil and gas industry in the U.S. had fatality rate seven times higher than for workers in all other industries between 2003 and 2010.



Request a Brochure of the Report @ https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=362



The research report provides useful insights into growth trends, process innovation, and competitive landscape of the global process safety system market. This includes a detailed assessment of the vital market parameters such as market drivers, market restraints, and growth trends in the past and projections for the 2017-2025 period.



The report is compiled after gathering data from industry-centric databases and valuable insights received from industry experts about their viewpoint on the development trends in the global process safety system market. The report analyzes the market from a competitive standpoint as well. The leading companies are profiled for their distinguishing business attributes and indices of strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats of these companies are gauged until the end of the forecast period in 2025.



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Global Process Safety System Market: Trends and Opportunities



In oil and gas operations, measures to minimize social and economic damage combined with stringent governmental regulations are having a positive impact on the growth of the global process safety system market. This is because workplace safety is of paramount importance converting into higher revenue for any industry.



Global Process Safety System Market: Market Segmentation



The global process safety system market can be analyzed on the basis of end user and geography. The end-user segments of the market are oil and gas, chemical, pharmaceuticals, refining, and power generation. Other than these, process safety systems are displaying a significant demand from other industries that have potentially hazardous operations and have a considerable utilization of volatile compounds and toxic chemicals.



On the basis of geography, the regional segments of the global process safety system market are North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. The major countries that have process safety system capabilities are the U.S. and Canada in North America; Russia, France, Germany, and the U.K. in Europe, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, China, Australia, and India in Asia Pacific; Brazil, South Africa, Venezuela, and the Middle Eastern nations in the Rest of the World. These countries are identified based on their process safety systems capabilities installed for economic and social welfare predominantly in petroleum operations, manufacturing, and chemical industries.



Read Complete Report @ https://www.tmrresearch.com/process-safety-system-market



Major Companies Mentioned in Report



Some of the leading companies in the global process safety system market are ABB Ltd., Siemens AG, E.l.du Pont de Nemours and Company, Rockwell Automation Inc., Honeywell International Inc., Yokogawa Electric Corp, and Integraph Corporation.



About TMR Research

TMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todayas supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clientsa conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.



Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.
Lewes, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/17/2017 -- South Korea Medical Tourism Market is likely to reach nearly USD 2 Billion by the year end of 2022 growing at a CAGR of around 15% from 2017 to 2022.



Market growth can be attributed to factors such as technologically advanced treatments and medical procedures, pioneer in plastic/cosmetic surgery and dentistry, excellent medical practitioners & medical facilities, affordable medical costs and strong government support and initiatives.



Chinese medical tourists play a significant role in contributing revenue to the South Korea economy. China contributed more than 35% share in 2016. China is likely to maintain dominance in South Korea Medical Tourism revenue share by the year end of 2022. United States spot at second position in the revenue share with XX% share. Other countries such as Japan, Russia, Kazakhstan and UAE emerge as the largest revenue generators in the South Korea Medical Tourism Market.



The research report titled South Korea Medical Tourism Market Insights, Opportunity, Analysis, Market Shares & Forecast 2017  2022" provides detailed information on the South Korea Medical Tourism Market. This report analyzes market data and provides a better understanding of medical tourists flow and revenue to South Korea. Market outlook in value terms for the forecasted period for South Korea Medical Tourism Market has been detailed in the report. Key industry news and medical procedures cost comparision are analyzed with details. This report also entails a detailed description of growth drivers and inhibitors of the South Korea Medical Tourism Market.



Key Topics Covered in the Report



- South Korea Medical Tourism Market Environment & Trend (2009  2022)

- South Korea Medical Tourism Market Share & Forecast (2009  2022)

- South Korea Medical Tourism Market  Countrywise Analysis

- Medical Procedures  Cost Comparison Analysis

- Industry News from South Korea Medical Tourism

- Key Drivers and Inhibitors of the South Korea Medical Tourism Market



South Korea Medical Tourism Market  12 Countries Covered



1) United States

2) China

3) Japan

4) Russia

5) Mongolia

6) Vietnam

7) Philippines

8) Kazakhstan

9) Saudi Arabia

10) Uzbekistan

11) Indonesia

12) United Arab Emirates



Spanning over 220 pages "South Korea Medical Tourism Market Insights, Opportunity, Analysis, Market Shares & Forecast 2017 - 2022" report covers Executive Summary, South Korea Medical Tourism Market Environment & Trend (2009  2022), By Country  South Korea Medical Tourism Market Share & Forecast (2009  2022), Key Drivers and Inhibitors of the South Korea Medical Tourism Market, Medical Procedures  Cost Comparison Analysis, Industry News from South Korea Medical Tourism, South Korea Medical Tourism Market  Countrywise Analysis.



For more information Visit at: http://www.marketresearchreports.com/dpi-research/south-korea-medical-tourism-market-insights-opportunity-analysis-market-shares-forecast



Find all Medical Tourism Reports at: http://www.marketresearchreports.com/medical-tourism



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Market Research Reports, Inc. is the world's leading source for market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest market research reports on global markets, key industries, leading companies, new products and latest industry analysis & trends.



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London, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/17/2017 -- According to latest reports UK Contact Numbers which is a credible online telecom directory has introduced a new range of exclusive service that is equipped with the resource to connect all well known companies and government institutions and departments across the United Kingdom.



In an exclusive telephonic interview the Managing Director of the company stated that the niche service has been tailored keeping in mind the inconvenience and hurdles faced by the masses in finding important contact numbers of most well known companies and government agencies in times of urgent requirements. The particular service he said has been made available with the sole intent to save time and effort put into to source all important contacts across various avenues.



With the platform the company has provided and put in place it has been ascertained that one can effortlessly connect to all important helpline or support centre with ease and convenience. Once the number is retrieved in the portal in the click of a button it can be connected to the customer service of the company directly or dedicate helpline and in some cases on both the channels for communication purposes.



The developing team of the company cited that in order to improve user experience in the website the company has conveniently included quick menu features in the web pages to save the duration of time required while one is making a call. Additionally it has been reported that operating call procedures and protocols has been terminated in order to shorten the duration and get to the helpline directly without having to wait longer.



It has also been informed that all important metadata are also included along with the contact information to elevate the user experience more efficiently. On further query it was also ascertained to the staff reporters that the company also provided call recording features in case of client demand. This they stated can improve dealing with customer by keeping a track of all procedural routines of its employees and client end to end conversation.



The security team were quick to brief that confidential information are exempted from follow up recording to safeguard the privacy of its clients and users that is eventually in accordance with the UK PCI compliance. Furthermore in order to avail the recording facility it is mandatory for the end users to contact the company for further terms and conditions.



All calls made through the platform are reported to be fairly priced with charges as less as 7 to 13 pence depending on the type of network one is trying to access on a per minute basis. The company also highlighted that prompt request can be made for new companies to add their contacts through their website and make their presence felt across the online directory.



For more information on UK ontact Numbers click http://ukcontactnumbers.org/



About UK Contacts Number

The Company is equipped with the best online directory from across the UK and also provides end to end voice over internet protocol facility. With this platform one can conveniently connect to all crucial helpline numbers and support centre of all important companies and government agencies in the click of a button effortlessly on the go.



Contact Media:

Ukcontactnumbers

admin@ukcontactnumbers.org

England, London

http://ukcontactnumbers.org/
A NASA-funded website called Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 lets everyone participate in the search for the hypothetical Planet Nine and failed stars in the solar neighborhood by viewing brief movies made from images captured by NASAs Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE).

Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 has the potential to unlock once-in-a-century discoveries, and its exciting to think they could be spotted first by a citizen scientist, said Dr. Aaron Meisner, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, who specializes in analyzing WISE images.

The new website relies on human eyes because we easily recognize the important moving objects while ignoring the artifacts. Its a modern version of the technique astronomer Clyde Tombaugh used to find Pluto in 1930.

On the website, people around the world can work their way through millions of flipbooks, which are brief animations showing how small patches of the sky changed over several years.

Moving objects flagged by participants will be prioritized by the science team for follow-up observations by professional astronomers.

Participants will share credit for their discoveries in any scientific publications that result from the project.

There are just over 4 light-years between Neptune and Proxima Centauri, the nearest star, and much of this vast territory is unexplored, said Dr. Marc Kuchner, an astrophysicist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center.

Because theres so little sunlight, even large objects in that region barely shine in visible light. But by looking in the infrared, WISE may have imaged objects we otherwise would have missed.

The new website uses WISE data to search for Planet Nine, a hypothesized massive ice giant that may orbit in the outer Solar System, and more distant objects like brown dwarfs, balls of gas too big to be called planets but too small to be called stars.

If Planet Nine exists and is as bright as some predictions, it could show up in the data.

Brown dwarfs form like stars but evolve like planets, and the coldest ones are much like Jupiter, explained Dr. Jackie Faherty, an astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History.

By using Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, the public can help us discover more of these strange rogue worlds.

_____

This article is based on a press-release from NASA.
Hatzegopteryx, a flying reptile with a 10-m wingspan and a mass of 220 kg, was the dominant predator in what is now Romania between 72-66 million years ago, according to a study by paleontologists in the UK.

Dr. Mark Witton from the University of Portsmouth and Dr. Darren Naish from University of Southampton examined the recently discovered neck vertebra of Hatzegopteryx.

They believe the ancient creature was a formidable carnivore and major predator that terrorized dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals of the Late Cretaceous Romania.

Hatzegopteryx is a member of Azhdarchidae, a group of long-necked, long-jawed pterosaurs.

However, the researchers suggest Hatzegopteryx had a considerably shorter and stronger neck, and with larger muscle masses.

Other remains of Hatzegopteryx include a jaw joint indicative of a 50-cm wide skull and reinforced limb bones.

The proportions and structural reinforcement of all these elements are unlike those of any other azhdarchid species and would have made Hatzegopteryx a powerful and dominant predator, Dr. Witton said.

The difference in structural properties between giant azhdarchid neck bones is remarkable  theyre in different biomechanical leagues, with Hatzegopteryx many times stronger than anything else on record.

This, along with our calculations of neck length and muscle mass, suggests giant azhdarchids may have been radically different in appearance and behavior.

The large, reinforced skeleton and muscle power would have made it a formidable predator of other animals when stalking ancient prairies and woodlands.

It may have even been capable of attacking animals too large or vigorous for other flying reptiles, even the other giants.

Hatzegopteryx lived in a peculiar island ecosystem where many of the dinosaurs were dwarfed or belonged to relict lineages extinct in the rest of the Cretaceous world.

Ancient Transylvania was a strange place for a number of reasons, including the fact that weve yet to find evidence of large predatory animals that lived alongside Hatzegopteryx, such as giant carnivorous dinosaurs. This is despite centuries of sampling, Dr. Witton said.

This work thus potentially provides an answer to a mystery about life in Late Cretaceous Romania.

Perhaps without large predators to challenge them, this island provided an opportunity for giant pterosaurs  already formidable animals  to become the dominant predators, Dr. Witton said.

The finer details of ecology and lifestyle for Hatzegopteryx remain unknown because were still working from scraps of its skeleton, but the emerging picture of its lifestyle are fascinating.

In some respects our unexpected findings highlight how little we actually know about these animals.

Weve had these scrappy remains for years, but we need to ask the right questions, and perform the right tests, to realize their significance.

Future giant pterosaur research and discoveries almost certainly have many more surprises for us.

The study was published online Jan. 18, 2017 in the journal PeerJ.

_____

D. Naish & M.P. Witton. 2017. Neck biomechanics indicate that giant Transylvanian azhdarchid pterosaurs were short-necked arch predators. PeerJ 5: e2908; doi: 10.7717/peerj.2908
[NAIROBI] Mentoring girls and women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is, no doubt, viewed as one of the most central pillars for equitable and secure sustainable future of Africa.

But experts, governments and several institutions have been grappling with how best this can be executed to achieve the desired goals fully, and consistently.

These emerged as some of the vital issues during the 2nd International day for Women and Girls in Science forum held in Nairobi, Kenya, this month (11 February), which was organised by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation in Kenya and the African Women in Science and Engineering.

Science needs women [and] women need science. Alice Ochanda, UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa

A UNESCO-Government of Kenya online tool for mentoring young girls and women in STEM, which was launched at the event, was a shot in the arm for STEM education in Africa.

The tool aims to facilitate mentoring and tracking of mentored students at different levels of education in Africa. So far, 730 students in 80 schools have been mentored in Kenya.

Surely this will also enable upcoming women scientists, and students with interest in science, to highlight the issues that continue to sideline them in these important educational fields, and to also discuss future approaches vital for effective participation of women in science.

Experts speaking at the forum emphasised that there is a need for the participating schools to track the performance of those students who have been mentored.

The mentors, some of whom are women scientists, engineers and lecturers in universities, monitor admissions to see how many of the mentored students are admitted in the different STEM courses offered. They are also expected to analyse admissions figures for an indication of any increase in enrolment.

According to Alice Ochanda, programme specialist for gender and science at the UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa, the tool could boost visibility and recognition, serving as a voice for what is happening to women in science in Africa.

Science needs women [and] women need science, says Ochanda. The involvement of women in science will facilitate the development of the continent.

She adds that girls should be empowered to think for solutions for problems in their countries from scientific and engineering insights.

Ochanda notes that science clubs should be implemented in schools, to facilitate further mentorship and networking opportunities for the students.

One message emerging clearly from the meeting was that to close the gender gap in science, theres greater need to inspire girls to embrace the sciences through mentorship talks, laboratory demonstrations, linkages of STEM subjects to careers and showing their relevance to society.



This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.


The European Commission has given a "Final Warning" to the UK for its alleged breach of air pollution limits. 16 areas including London, Glasgow, Birmingham and Leeds have been identified to regularly exceed the prescribed limits of air pollution.

According to BBC, other than the UK, countries like Germany, France, Spain and Italy have also been warned over their emission levels of nitrogen dioxide. The most common source of the air pollution is nitrogen dioxide emitted from factories and vehicles run by diesel engines. The European Commission has warned the abovementioned countries to take action within two months to change the situation, or else they will be taking the matter to the court of law.

The commission has given an estimate of nearly 40,000 people dying due to the air pollution in the EU each year. More than a million people have also been suffering from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases due to the air pollution as well, it said. The EU law states that when the air pollution limits are breached, the member states are supposed to implement air quality plans in order to make the levels stable again.

According to The Independent, environmental activists have said that it is absolutely shameful for the UK to face legal action due to the failure to curb air pollution. Friends of the Earth has demanded to introduce "clean air zones" to tackle air pollution after "Brexit" as they can't rely on the European rules and courts to make the UK take action against the alarming levels of air pollution.

A Government spokesperson said that more than 2 billion pounds have been spent to improve the UK air pollution situation since 2011. An estimated 290 million pounds have also been spent to support electric vehicles, low emission buses and taxis, and alternative fuels, he said. There has also been an introduction of a "cleaner air zones" program for the eradication of the air pollution problem.

With the departure of UK from the EU, the air pollution problem has become serious than ever, according to the Green Party. It is also of the opinion that a latest "Clean Air Act" and a strict ban on diesel is what is needed to eradicate the current UK air pollution, without any help from the EU.
In a bizarre but not rare phenomenon, hundreds of whales got themselves stranded on a New Zealand beach last week. The 'beaching' as the incident is called, killed most of the whales despite the local volunteers trying their best to save the aquatic creatures.

Volunteers rushed in to refloat the whales back in the sea but found many of them re-stranding themselves at the beach. According to Forbes, Department of Conservation of New Zealand has said that at least 20 of the whales had to be put to death humanely. The country's South Island's Farewell Spit was crowded with more than 650 pilot whales beaching themselves. Reportedly the volunteers were able to put only a hundred of them back to the sea.

The unfortunate is not the first one in the history of New Zealand. In 1918, a group of more than 1000 whales got stranded in the Chatam Islands. The Farewell Spit is known for having a "trap" like feature where group beaching of whales has happened before also. The cause of this mass stranding is assumed to be the loss of a leader, a female in the case of pilot whales, which might have caused the whales to get repeatedly lost and get stranded at the beach.

According to The Conversation, in 2015, 337 sei whales got stranded and died in a Fjord in Chile. In February 2016, 29 sperm whales were stranded on the beaches of Germany, the Netherlands, eastern England and northern France. In most cases of beaching, long finned and short finned pilot whales are the prime casualties. Other than that, false killer whales, melon-headed whales, Cuvier's beaked whales and sperm whales become victim to the mass stranding.

The main reason of whale stranding is misguided navigation, they often enter unknown territory chasing after the prey. There are also evidences that whale' migration is interrupted due to sonar activities of naval ships that drive the whales into shallow waters. Another reason for the whales to sway away from their normal route is assumed to be the pollution and toxicity now found in the oceans. NASA is also inquiring of the fact that whether solar storms can mess up the whales' internal navigational system.

Many of the whales found dead on the beach will have to undergo a necropsy to determine the exact cause of their death and to prevent the corpse from exploding on the beach. The explosion of whale carcass due to pent up gasses is not an uncommon phenomenon. The environmental scientists are already worried about the unfortunate whale stranding incident and they are trying to find solutions to avoid such tragedy in the future.
Huawei Technologies Co. is up to compete with Apple Siri. The company now plans its own voice assistant for smartphone users.

The third-largest smartphone maker in the world, Huawei is now preparing to battle with its competitors. Huawei is opt to its plan on developing a voice assistant against Apple's Siri, Alphabet's Google Assistant, and Amazon's Alexa, MacRumors reported. Currently, Huawei have their more than hundred engineers for the new plan.

Accordingly, the said voice assistant is now in its early stages. This is for the main goal of easy communication in Chinese languages and domestic users. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that the company will continue to work with Amazon and Google outside China.

This plan of Huawei for a voice assistant will not only benefit the company on its sales and popularity, but also in other aspects. With its own voice assistant, Huawei will conquer its Chinese market where Google services are blocked. On top of this, Huawei is to its goal for the target sales of $33 billion this year. This could possibly soon be a big threat to Google Assistant on Google Pixel's smartphone.

Huawei is following the line of voice assistant production of development. Aside from Huawei, Samsung had already its Viv Labs as its voice assistant to be released this year. Likewise, Baidu Inc. also had its own voice assistant last 2015 as well as the Apple Siri which is on its peak of popularity.

To recall, Huawei is just a new Android manufacturer company compared to long-time and well-known companies in the world. But, over the past years, Huawei made it to be a third placer from Apple and Samsung Electronics Co. and now it pushes hard to compete. But, the company believes that this voice assistant will be a great help not only on their sales but with the Chinese languages and domestic users.
An international environmental group called EcoPeace Middle East organized the first-ever Dead Sea Swim to raise awareness on its receding waters due to Jordanian and Israeli mining. About 28 swimmers from different countries face the challenge of swimming in the salty waters of the historical Dead Sea.

TONIGHT on #DailyPlanet 1st ever attempt to swim across the Dead Sea to raise awareness about the loss of this historic wonder @CyprusIsrael pic.twitter.com/Jc5VDSdavU  Daily Planet (@dailyplanetshow) January 19, 2017

The Dead Sea or also referred to as Salt Sea is a Salt Lake that is bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and Palestine to the west. It is about 304 meters (997 feet) deep and is considered the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. It is also one of the world's saltiest bodies of water with about 34.2 percent salinity in 2011. This is about 9.6 times as salty as the ocean. Plant and animals cannot inhabit and flourish in the said sea because of its salinity, hence it got its name.

On the other hand, the Dead Sea has regressed by 80 feet (24 meters) in the past 30 years. The environmentalists fear that it might not be around much longer. This is the reason why the EcoPeace Middle East organized this first-ever Dead Swim to lift this issue. They are calling for government action regarding the Jordanian and Israeli mining that triggers the stagnation of waters in the Dead Sea, according to Science Alert.

These brave 28 swimmers from Israel, Kenya, U.K., South Africa and New Zealand were determined to cross the salty waters from Jordan to Israel. Kim Chambers, an open-water swimmer from New Zealand, said that the swim took incredible teamwork. She further said they had unprecedented diplomatic support from Israel and Jordan to make it happen.

So, how does it feel swimming into excessive salty waters of the Dead Sea? The swimmers, who conquered about 9 miles of salty waters, cannot sink nor digest the salty waters because of its toxicity. It can also irritate their eyes with its tiny drop and really be burning. They had this object like a helmet that protected their eyes and covered their faces. After finishing their swim, they washed the salty water off their skin.

Meanwhile, Gidon Bromberg, Israeli director of EcoPeace Middle East, stated that they see the life-threatening challenge of the swim as parallel to the challenges facing the Dead Sea. "That's what needed to bring attention to an issue that needs attention right now," Chambers concluded.
The World Government Summit 2017 was held in Dubai on Feb. 12 to Feb. 14, 2017. It was attended by 4,000 world leaders from 139 different countries. It involves more than 100 well-known speakers including Christine Lagarde, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and SpaceX founder Elon Musk.

The World Government Summit Organization is founded in collaboration with the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, United Nations, World Economic Forum, Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, OECD and CLAD. Together with this organizations, the World Government Summit Organization aims to commit itself in shaping the future of more than 7 billion people across the world. This global platform is dedicated to shaping the future of the government worldwide, in which the organizations utilize technology, innovation and opportunities to enhance and solve the problems facing humanity annually.

The first summit took place in 2013 and it was attended by former U.S. President Barack Obama, former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and other world leaders. The recent summit that was held in Dubai was supported by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, the vice-president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai. This was the fifth World Government Summit (WGS).

Mohammed Al-Gergawi, minister of Cabinet affairs and chairman of the WGS, said they believe that the tools to build the future are within their reach and they believe that making the best use of these tools will create a future that is suitable for their nations and the nations of the world. He further said that the path is clear for a better, more stable and flourishing future and the greatest doorway to this path is cooperation between governments of the world and their organizations and entities, based on innovation, knowledge and science, which will lead to developing solutions for imminent challenges. These include environmental sustainability, food security, social development and developing countries.

Meanwhile, Breaking Israel News reports that a replica of a Roman arch that once stood in front of the pagan Temple of Ba'al was erected for the opening of the World Government Summit in Dubai. A rabbi from Israel claimed that this signifies the dangerous union of Ishmael and Edom against Israel.

Rabbi Pinchas Winston stated that this Roman arch in Dubai symbolically ties them both together: Ishmael, the Arabs and Edom, which was characterized by Rome. "Just like the Romans, the Arabs are trying to control the world and succeeding," said Rabbi Winston. He further said that even though it is the Arabs against the Jews, it is truly the Arabs continuing the mission of Edom to conquer the world. He added that this connection between Dubai and Rome is showing that Edom never ended and it just put on a different mask.

"The push for one world government goes back to the Tower of Babel, trying to put the power in the hands of the wealthy, the powerful, and the arrogant," said Rabbi Winston.
A new study has found that the deep reefs contribute to the shallow reefs coral species. The researchers might just have unlocked the idea that the deep reefs can help reseed the shallow reefs.

A research Fellow at the University of Queensland, Global Change Institute and ARC Center of Excellence for the Coral Reef Studies, who is also the research lead author, Dr. Pim Bongaerts, said that "We argue that this concept of deep coral populations 'reseeding' their shallow-water counterparts may be relevant to some species but is ultimately unlikely to aid more broadly in the recovery of shallow reefs," according to The University of Queensland.

Phys.org reported that tracking the movements of the individual coral larvae on the reef is quite impossible. Understanding the connection between the deep and shallow coral population awaits on methods that determine the similarity between these coral populations.

The research team investigated the connectivity by focusing first on the isolated reef system of Bermuda in the Western Atlantic where they screened the genomes of more than 200 individual colonies of corals from the shallow part to the deep water. It belongs to the two coral species with the similar distribution of depth on the reef.

The research shows that the extent of the connection between the deep and shallow populations can greatly differ between the reefs' species. Also, it can be strongly affected by the natural selection processes that vary across the shallow and deep environments of the reefs.

The study co-author and the Director of the GCI, Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, shared that the deep coral reefs had been highlighted as a holding hope for the shallow reefs that are badly hit and damaged by the events of coral bleaching.

He added that, "Our results, however, contribute to a growing body of evidence, that the role of deep reefs in shallow reef recovery is likely to be very limited."

Dr. Bongaerts also added that their study has once again given emphasis that under the increasing disturbances faced by the coral reefs, it would be unlikely for them to just "sort themselves out."

He also mentioned that, "Instead, the responsibility for their future lies with us. If we want to have any chance of preserving these unique and diverse ecosystems, it is crucial that we start curbing our emissions and divest from fossil fuels."
NASA and the project managers from Lockheed Martin are discussing and preparing for Exploration Mission 1, which is the Orion spacecraft module's first journey to the Moon and in space. The mission will be the possible return of the space agency in lunar orbit and could be a stepping stone for Mars mission.

The Orion spacecraft is an exploration-class vehicle to send astronauts into the deep space and could eventually thrust humans to Mars. The Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) is slated for 2018 and will see an uncrewed Orion fly beyond low-Earth orbit on the most powerful rocket, which is NASA's Space Launch System (SLS). It will be launched from Kennedy Space Center and will orbit around the Moon, according to Observer.

Scott Wilson, NASA's Orion Production Manager, said that this is the first time they will have the operational human-rated version of Orion on top of the SLS rocket. He added it is a lot of work but a very exciting time for them.

Meanwhile, Mike Hawes, Lockheed Martin's Orion program Manager, said that EM-1 will take Orion and the Space Launch System into a high lunar orbit and that is the orbit that NASA has identified to do the asteroid retrieval mission that will bring a large boulder into that orbit. He further said that this will essentially be a dress rehearsal for that mission -- to go and prove the Orion systems and come home.

NASA's goal in returning to the Moon needs preparation including its budget and the duration of the flight. NASA astronaut Stan Love said that the Moon is roughly a thousand times further than the International Space Station. He further said that Mars is roughly a million times further than the space station so it is a long journey. He added that a lot of folks have the idea that the space station is kind of halfway to the planets. On the other hand, Mars is an enormous undertaking and not everybody realizes how enormous it is.

Meanwhile, TCPalm reports that the House hearing has been discussing the possible return of NASA to the Moon after 44 years. The Oklahoma lawmakers, who are considered the frontrunner for NASA's administrator, want the space agency to regain its dominance around the Moon. If this materializes, the mission would eventually boost America's space program, and it could be the major stepping stone for the Mars mission in the coming years.
President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he will issue a new immigration order by next week. Lawyers from the Justice Department asked a federal appeals court to hold off on taking action against the initial travel ban.

In a news conference as stated by The Washington Post, Trump said that the new order is set to "comprehensively protect our country," hinting that it might contain new vetting measures for travelers. He said, "Extreme vetting will be put in place, and it already is in place in many places."

This comment, as well as the Justice Department's request to the U.S. Court of Appeals, means that the administration is putting a halt on the battle to restore the travel ban. The administration indicated that it expects a revamped executive order that will eliminate judges' concerns.

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson wrote on Twitter that the Justice Department Filing recognizes the obvious fact that the current executive order violated the constitution. He shared, "President Trump could have sought review of this flawed Order in the Supreme Court but declined to face yet another defeat."

At this point, it is not yet clear whether or not the issuance of a new and narrower executive order will make the case before the Ninth Circuit moot, or if the court will agree to vacate the decision. However, as The New York Times did mention, in calling for a legal do-over as what President Donald Trump is trying to do now, the Justice Department managed to avoid a Supreme Court test of the original order that banned refugees of Muslim-majority countries from entering the country for 120 days.

If the court's active judges do vote to rehear the case, it is said to be considered by an 11-member panel made up of the circuit's chief judge, and the other 10 chosen at random.
Has anybody seen a black hole? Apparently, no one. Black hole is very dark that makes it impossible to photograph. On the other hand, thanks to the development of this new telescope, the Event Horizon Telescope could capture images of a black hole in April this year.

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) comprises of a global network of radio telescopes, which are located across the planet Earth including the U.S., French Alps, Chile and South Pole. It combines data from many very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) stations around the planet. VLBI is a technique in which the network of receivers will focus in on radio waves emitted by a certain object in space.

EHT's main target is to observe the Milky Way's supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A*. The network will be in operation between April 5 and April 14, 2017. It will examine the immediate environment around the black hole and could get sufficient resolution to see the black hole, according to Science Alert.

Sheperd Doeleman from the Harvard-Smithsonian center for Astrophysics was in great excitement. He said that in April they are going to make the observations that they think have the first real chance of bringing a black hole's event horizon in focus.

Event Horizon Telescope could only not take images of the black hole. The scientists could also update their algorithm including factors such as how the black holes change over time or their magnetic fields. One scientist said that it could ultimately make movies of materials being eaten by a black hole.

The researchers also expect EHT to provide data of what the black hole looks like. They speculate that it will look like a bright ring of light around a dark blob. This light is generated by gas and dust particles that are increasing in high speed before they are destroyed and eaten by a black hole. Meanwhile, the dark blob would be the shadow cast over the scenario. On the other hand, in Albert Einstein's theory, it could look like a crescent of light than a ring due to the Doppler effect that makes the material moving towards the planet appear much brighter.

Event Horizon Telescope ready to image black hole - https://t.co/v1vEDWlIzn  Pippa Jordan (@Nookipook) February 17, 2017

So, what could be the black hole look like? The answer remains to be seen as the Event Horizon Telescope will explore more of the black hole. Science enthusiasts could look forward to it in April this year.
Liberal Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg announced on February 6th that she would like to change the Electoral College requirement in the Constitution. Without that, no non-incumbent Republican candidate would have won the presidency in the last quarter century. Without the Electoral College, money alone would dictate the outcome in presidential elections.

There are enemies, foreign and domestic, to our United States Constitution . Some want to make our Constitution more globalist-friendly, some want to dilute the Second Amendment, and some want to eliminate the Electoral College. Some simply want to become important by rewriting our Constitution.

Suspect Funding in Pushing "Convention of States"

Why have billionaires been pouring millions into pushing a project deceptively named the Convention of States, which seeks an Article V convention that could rewrite our entire U.S. Constitution? These hidden donors may be connected with George Soros or with the Koch brothers, who are not socially conservative. Regardless of who the financial backers are, they secretly think they will rewrite our Constitution and they are spending millions to do so.

Big funders of the "Convention of States" must certainly be cognizant that Article V of our Constitution provides two methods of amending our Constitution. Congress either 1) Proposes amendments or 2) calls a convention to propose amendments if 34 States apply for it.

The first method was used for our existing 27 amendments: Congress proposed them and sent them to the States for ratification or rejection.

Under the second method, Congress calls a convention. We have never had a convention under Article V, for such conventions are extremely dangerous.

Might there be a reason why George Soros is pushing for a Convention of States? Could it be because George Soros, and Marxist law professors all over the country, want a Marxist Constitution in place by the year 2020.

Attempt to call for Article V rejected in Cleveland by Rep. National Platform

Last July in Cleveland, the Republican national platform committee resoundingly rejected an attempt to include a call for an Article V convention into the platform. Justice Antonin Scalia, in his final year before he passed away, explained at a public event in May 2015 that it was a horrible idea to hold an Article V convention to change the Constitution. Other conservative leaders throughout history, from Phyllis Schlafly to James Madison, have emphatically rejected this bad idea.

Yet Article V proposals are presently being considered in state legislatures, even Republican ones, where bill are being advanced seeking to launch a new constitutional convention that would undoubtedly be dominated by the liberal media, by Democrats, and by Republicans who have earned the title of RINOs (Republicans in Name Only). Most likely the big money behind the Article V project is with pro-immigration advocates and those who reject American-sovereignty, which could end border security. The first thing liberals would do in an Article V Convention is attempt to repeal the Second Amendment and further insert a right to taxpayer-funded abortion into the Constitution.

State Con Con Status in 2017

Fortunately, only eight states have enacted the Convention of States out of the 34 required to force a constitutional convention, some using different language different from others. They are: Alaska HJR 22, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana SJR 14, Louisiana HCR 52, Oklahoma, and Tennessee SJR 67. Each of these eight states should rescind its call. A recent example is the rescission by Delaware of all of its prior resolutions for a Con Con. Some efforts at rescission 2017 occurred in New Hampshire and New Mexico.

Seventeen states are being targeted in 2017 by promoters of a constitutional convention (also known as "Con Con" or "Convention of States"). They are: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas (Constitution requires a 2/3's super--majority vote), Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota,Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

As of Feb. 17, 2017, there have been five wins and no losses. Victories have been in Arkansas (Defeated by a 13-17 vote on Senate floor on 1/30/17); South Dakota (Despite COS having three paid lobbyists in 2016, S.D. voted against a COS in a 28-40 House Vote on 2/13/17); Virginia (Convention of States lobbied its Legislature on January 16 -- called "Lee and Jackson Day" in Virginia -- but the measure lost.); in Wyoming (COS Failed 18-42 on 1/30/17); and in Montana, with its victory on Feb. 17, 2017.

What is the Truth and who has the power to do what?

Our Constitution is not the problem! An Article V convention to change our Constitution cannot be limited as part of an application for one, such as inserting a Balanced Budget Amendment. The text of the Constitution expressly states that only Congress may call a constitutional convention. It would not be a convention of states, but instead it would be convened (called) under the direction of power-brokers in Washington, D.C.

It is prudent to remember that the original Constitutional Convention had three essential conditions that do not exist today: 1) secrecy from the media, 2) participants who fought in the American Revolution against tyranny, and 3) George Washington presiding. Today, instead of men of the caliber of Benjamin Franklin, we would have liberals like Barney Frank rewriting our Constitution.

Also of great concern, is that big liberal states like California and New York would have greater power at an Article V convention than most conservative states would. Why? Because the Supreme Court has required the one man, one vote rule since 1964; therefore, in calling a convention, the House of Representatives would also require voting based on population.

What are some of the myths that convention proponents are telling State Legislators?

States can bypass Congress in the amendment process.

Congress will play only a ministerial role in setting the time and place of the convention.

State make the rules for a convention, by custom, when there is no custom.

State voting power will be "one state, one vote."

A "Convention of States" is an "Amendments" convention, not a "constitutional convention", so the Constitution is not at risk.

An Article V convention can be "limited" to a topic or set of topics.

State Legislatures can control their delegates.

The ratification process ensures no bad amendments will be passed.

Why a Convention of the States and a Balanced Budget Amendment is No Solution

Adding amendments to the Constitution, which is not being enforced is no solution, as no new amendments of a conservative nature would be enforced either. Should a Balanced Budget Amendment pass the convention and be ratified by the states, it will do nothing but give the big-spenders cover to raise taxes to conform to the BBA in the constitution.

The convention would neither be a We the People convention, but instead a convention of state appointed legislators messing with our original constitution.

Instead, the focus should be on supporting Trump in his efforts to drain the swamp in Washington, D.C., which should dispel the notion that it's necessary to tinker with our Constitution. What could Mark Levin be thinking with his push for a Con Con?

To be rejected are the tactics of the Left that are being employed to try to pass a Convention of States" by using secret donors and hidden agendas. We should not allow the bait-and-switch tactics to prevail by pretending that an Article V Convention would result in changes in our Constitution that are pleasing. It might result in a Constitution more to the liking of those who are pushing for a Con Con, but not for those Americans who would have to live under it!

Other Con Con articles by Nancy Thorner:

http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2016/10/thorner-article-v-convention-supporters-are-delusional-new-rinos.html

http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2016/10/thorner-mark-levins-case-for-an-article-v-convention-challenged-.html

http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2017/01/thorner-misguided-conservatives-ramp-up-efforts-for-constitutional-convention.html#comments

http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2017/01/thorner-join-the-effort-to-preserve-the-constitution.html#more
Like many new technologies being applied to this New Space Age, 3D printing has the potential to transform our future in ways we can't yet imagine.

The idea of being able to one day arrive at an alien world and manufacture everything needed from the surroundings may seem like something from science fiction - but in some cases, science fiction could be renamed science prediction.

Last week, this new 3D-printing industry, made a quite unassuming but significant leap forward, with the manufacture of the first ever item for a private citizen. (Items have been printed on board the space station before - including basic tools during 3D-print demonstrations - this is the first private commission.)

The print is a gravity meter - a device that is used to give astronauts a visual cue when they've left a gravitational environment - designed in the style of a modern-day sextant, to symbolize our future in space. On one side is an image of Buzz Aldrin on the moon, and on the others are the Made in Space logo - representing the company that commissioned the piece and built the printer - and Henry Crown Fellowship Program logo - an organization that seeks to develop the next generation of community-spirited leaders.

RELATED: 3-D Printed Space Food For the Gourmet Astronaut

"This is incredibly significant because it shows that access to space is far more affordable and readily available now that there is an alternative to launching objects on a rocket," said Jason Dunn, co-founder and chief technical officer at Made In Space who printed the gravity meter using their Additive Manufacturing Facility (AMF) onboard the International Space Station. The AMF was installed on the ISS in 2016.

Prominent space investor and philanthropist Dylan Taylor, who worked with Made in Space on its design, commissioned the print for an undisclosed amount.

"I wanted to design something which symbolizes our new era in space," said Taylor, who plans to display the piece in the Museum of Science and Industry in back to Earth in April.

"My hope is that it helps start 'dinner table' conversations in people's homes," he told Seeker. "That non-space advocates will have their eyes opened by it and are inspired to better understand how space can positively impact humanity. It's just amazing to have a concept like this realized."
New analysis indicates that local weather conditions, not continental winds as previously thought, could be driving the rapid retreat of the Pine Island Glacier, the fastest melting glacier in Antarctica.

Scientists from the University of East Anglia used records between 2009 and 2014 to determine how local atmospheric conditions are directly affecting the ocean conditions that are rapidly melting the Pine Island Ice Shelf, part of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet that sits at the base of the South Pacific Ocean.

While previous studies suggested that winds coming off of the continental shelf - some 250 miles to the north - were pushing warm waters beneath the western Antarctic, warming the Pine Island Glacier and others from beneath, scientists from the University of East Anglia saw little evidence for that.

"People thought that it was the wind, at the edge of the continental shelf, that was determining how much water was pushed onto the shelf, warming the glacier from beneath," said Ben Webber, an oceanographer at the University of East Anglia and lead researcher on the study.

Instead, by analyzing a five-year set of records, Webber and his team found that local weather, rather than continental winds, were driving the ocean temperatures at a crucial depth between 1,150 to 2,300 feet, the range in which the base of the glacier comes into contact with ocean water.

"Most of the ocean data around Antarctica are snapshots of conditions - and many areas are only visited once every one or two years, if that," Povl Abrahamsen, co-author of the study and an oceanographer at British Antarctic Survey, said in a statement. "A five-year time series," he said, "lets us see what is happening between these snapshots, giving us insights into the processes driving the melting of Pine Island Glacier."
More than 100 archivists, environmentalists and data nerds will gather this weekend at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., to hold a digital barn-raising of sorts, downloading scientific data from several government data bases and uploading them to a secure server.

The idea is to protect the information from possible political pressure from a new White House that many see as hostile to science, especially environmental and climate science. This weekend teams will focus archiving data from the Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

"The will be chosen, scraped, harvested, matched for authenticity and reproducibility purposes, zipped, assigned a checksum or hash value, and stored in DataRefuge.org," said Meredith Claire Broadway, an organizer with the Data Refuge Project.

"It's a very thorough process, done with the intent this data be used by scientists in the future," she said. "For it to be used, it needs to have authenticity. Scientists aren't going to use data that looks faulty or unreliable."

The project has archived U.S. fisheries catches, studies of the benefits of wind power, toxic waste reports and satellite measurements of the Earth's atmospheric and ocean temperature. While the idea of government bureaucrats destroying or blocking this data may seem far-fetched, there are signs that the Trump administration is taking steps to alter the kind of information that the public can see on federal websites.

RELATED: Animal Welfare Data Purge at USDA Raises Alarm

This week, the US Department of Agriculture removed public access to inspection reports from animal breeders, reports that are used by both pet owners and animal rights activists to monitor so-called "puppy mills."

Trump administration and transition officials have said they might not continue to fund measurements that are used by some climate databases or they might transfer climate change research from NASA to NOAA, for example.

The EPA's new administrator, Scott Pruitt, who was confirmed Friday afternoon by the Senate, has cast doubts on the science of climate change. Pruitt sued the agency 11 times as Oklahoma attorney general.

It's this backdrop of hostility toward science, and climate science specifically, that has spurred the movement, according to Bethany Wiggin, co-director of the Data Refuge project and professor of environmental humanities at the University of Pennsylvania.

"Data refuge has regarded itself as an insurance policy," Wiggin said. "You operate with an abundance of caution, better safe than sorry."

RELATED: Senate Confirms Pruitt, Despite Questions Over His Fossil Fuel Ties

Wiggin says that some federal scientific data may be lost because of "link rot," a condition that affects websites that aren't maintained properly and embedded links begin to disappear over time.

Wiggin and others surveyed scientists after the election to find out what federal databases were important to their work. That survey helped identify agencies that are a high priority. While some universities already have copies of federal databases, others do not.

Workers at one federally funded super-computing center has started downloading a major federal climate database and won't be finished until mid-March, Wiggin said. She also worries that federal scientists who maintain databases might retire or be forced out.

"My fear is that people will be fired and through attrition of people that data will go away," she said. "The internet needs care and feeding or it rots."

The Data Refuge Project has already had download events in several U.S. cities and plans to continue, according to Michael Halpern, deputy director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

"There are all kinds of federal datasets that only live in the federal government," Halpern said. It's not a question of whether or not its going to be destroyed or thrown in rivers, it's also a question of public accessibility to the data so accessibility is not disrupted."

WATCH: The Difference Between Global Warming and Climate Change
Ornithology researchers from Gettysburg College put technology to the test, when they studied the effectiveness of drones as a means to assess songbird populations, and the machines were up to the task.

In a paper published in the journal The Auk: Ornithological Advances, the scientists reported on their recording of bird calls using pocket-sized digital recorders attached with fishing line to quadcopters.

Songbird surveys conducted by the team on game lands in Pennsylvania compared the counts acquired using the drones against traditional counts performed by surveyors on the ground.

The drones hovered and "listened" with the recorders, catching as many birds sounds as the recorder's "detection radius" would allow.

The ground surveys were performed using standard "point count" methods, in which observers count as many birds as they can see and hear at a given location over a set period of time.

Both methods were assessed at 51 locations.

According to the scientists, save for a few things the drones under-counted  mourning doves, with their low-pitched songs, were hard to pick up on audio; and there were too many gray catbirds to distinguish reliably  the two methods compared favorably.

Given the results, the researchers said bird surveys using drones could allow counts to be made in dangerous or inaccessible locations that would otherwise stymie ground-based surveyors. More broadly speaking, they said, drones with recorders attached are certainly good fits for counting songbirds.

RELATED: Migrating Songbirds Make Startling Altitude Adjustments

Any lingering questions revolve around the drones themselves. Do they affect bird behavior? The Gettysburg team did not observe a problem, but they urged further study on the matter.

Meanwhile, noisy things that dangle audio recorders can present a challenge to hearing what you're trying to record. "Excessive [drone] noise," the scientists wrote, "is a major hurdle to using [them] for bioacoustic monitoring, but we are optimistic that technological innovations to reduce motor and rotor noise will significantly reduce this issue."

Study lead Andrew Wilson said he came up with the idea for testing drones in bird surveys during a ground-based bird count of cerulean warblers. Gaps in the count, he noted, had been created by inaccessible locations.

"All of our survey work was done from roadsides or hiking trails for logistical reasons and to maximize survey efficiency," Wilson said in a statement, "but I was always aware that our sample locations were very biased and that we were missing key areas such as steep forested slopes."

Down the line, drones could significantly speed the entire counting process, offering up-to-the-minute readings of which birds are where.

"I have a vision that within a few years, quieter [unmanned aerial vehicles] will be surveying large areas of terrain within just a few hours, and that the technology will have advanced to the point where all bird vocalizations are automatically identified and plotted in real-time," Wilson told PLOS Blogs.

WATCH VIDEO: Why Birds Can't Stop Flying Into Things
Which doctor a person happens to see at a local emergency room can have long-term consequences when it comes to opioid use.

Within the same hospital, some doctors are three times more likely to prescribe an opioid than other doctors, and patients treated by high-prescribing doctors are more likely to become long-term opioid users, according to a study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Physicians are just doing things all over the map," says Dr. Michael Barnett, an assistant professor at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and one of the study's authors. "This is a call to arms for people to start paying a lot more attention to having a unified approach."

The study looked at how many opioid prescriptions emergency physicians gave to about 377,000 Medicare beneficiaries from 2008 through 2011. The lowest-prescribing quartile of doctors prescribed opioids to just 7 percent of patients, while the highest prescribed opioids to 24 percent - more than three times as often.

Patients who saw a high-intensity prescriber were about 30 percent more likely to end up with a long-term opioid prescription of at least six months within the year following their hospital visit. They were also more likely to return to the hospital in the next 12 months with an opioid-related fall or fracture, a risk factor for seniors who take the powerful painkillers.

Overall, about one in every 48 Medicare patients prescribed an opioid in the study were likely to become a long-term opioid user.

RELATED: Alcohol, Caffeine, & Opioids: What Happens When You're Hooked?

There is a growing consensus among doctors that opioids have long been overprescribed. In 2010, there were enough prescriptions written to supply every American adult with hydrocodone for a month, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Part of the problem, Barnett believes, is that there isn't enough guidance for doctors on when it's appropriate to prescribe an opioid. Much of the evidence for when they are appropriate comes from small studies sponsored by drug companies.

"It's kind of a grey area and there's not very clear evidence around what you should do, so we use our own judgement. And there's a huge gulf between what one doctor thinks and another," Barnett explains.

Take, for example, a patient who comes to the emergency room complaining of back pain. There's evidence that opioids are not necessary in that situation, but many doctors prescribe them anyway, said Barnett. "The world of pain treatment outside of opioids is limited and can take time to figure out. Opioids are an easy fix."

The problem, he said, is that "even one prescription for opioids carries risks with it, that from my own experience as a provider, we tend to underestimate and under-explain to patients."

"It is very, very plausible that well-intentioned but perhaps overly aggressive prescribing of opioids makes it likely that a patient will continue a medication long-term even if they don't truly need it," said Dr. David Juurlink, a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto. He was not involved in the study. "The doctors in the lowest quartile are the ones whose prescribing we should seek to be emulating."

RELATED: Heroin Use, Overdose Deaths Mount in U.S.

The study did not look at whether the opioids were correctly prescribed in each incidence. Dr. Carla Perissinotto, a geriatrician at the University of California San Francisco, worries that some of the doctors in the lowest quartile might be under-prescribing. "We have to be careful to not make assumptions too quickly and assume they're bad prescribers, because it could be the opposite," said Perissinotto, who also was not involved in the study.

Usually, a patient is prescribed just a handful of pills by a doctor at the emergency department to tide them over until the patient can visit his or her primary care physician.

But many primary care doctors simply refill the opioid prescription for another 30 days or longer, a phenomenon Barnett calls clinical inertia. "There's this cognitive bias to keep going with the flow especially if the patient still feels they're in pain."

That can have long-term implications: One-third of people who have taken prescription opioids for at least two months say they became addicted to or physically dependent on them, a recent Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation survey found.

"We know there is a population of people who will potentially get addicted if they're exposed to an opioid," said Dr. Lewis Nelson, chair of the department of emergency medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, who was not involved with the study. "It's a numbers game. The more people you expose, the more people you are likely to hit in that population likely to get addicted."

Some hospitals are starting to help doctors prescribe opioids more judiciously. Many of those efforts have taken place after 2011, and therefore any changes would not be seen in the New England Journal of Medicine study.

For the past year, St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in New Jersey has been instructing doctors to prescribe opioids only as a last resort, said Dr. Mark Rosenberg, who runs the hospital's emergency department and is on the board of the American College of Emergency Physicians. Rosenberg helped institute protocols that have doctors try other methods of pain relief first, such as a Novocain injection. In just over a year, the hospital has managed to reduce the number of opioid prescriptions written in the emergency room by 50 percent.

New York City and Washington state have also tried to introduce opioid prescribing guidelines into hospitals, and the ACEP expects to release new nationwide guidelines for emergency physicians in 2018.

This story was originally reported and produced by Kaiser Health News.

WATCH: The U.S. Consumes Nearly All The Opioids in The World
Fleeing conflict, famine and domestic oppression, the number of refugees has swelled to more than 20 million. Many are seeking refuge in countries like Turkey, Germany and the United States, but for many their lives are left in limbo, unable to build a new life. And with this challenge, the international community is reminding signatories of the UN Refugee Convention of their duties to help those in need. But Japan seems immune to this pressure, since in 2016, it took in only 28 refugees.

With less than 2% of its population being foreign-born, Japan has always shied away from the idea of a multi-cultural society. This is one of the reasons why it is so hard to become a Japanese citizen. It's even harder for asylum seekers, since the process requires a lot of paperwork and all of it must be submitted in Japanese. So why does Japan take in any refugees at all?

Learn More:

Reuters: Japan took in just 28 refugees in 2016, despite record applications



Financial Times: Japan accepted 28 refugees in 2016



Bloomberg: Japan Opens Up to Foreign Workers (Just Don't Call it Immigration)
Some of the world's biggest nerds gathered this week at the RSA convention in San Francisco to talk about a subject most people would rather never contemplate and probably don't fully understand: Cybersecurity. And there, the president of Microsoft issued a rather startling call for the world's governments to come together and form a digital Geneva Convention to protect private citizens from cyberattacks by nation states against private citizens.

"Let's face it," said Microsoft's Brad Smith in his keynote address, "Cyberspace is the new battlefield. The world of potential war has migrated from land to sea to air and now cyberspace." A spate of attacks - North Korea on Sony Pictures, the Russian hacking of John Podesta's emails, and others - in recent years by nation states on civilians in cyberspace make it clear, at least to those who understand what's going on, that something needs to be done.

The Geneva Conventions - the last of which was held in 1949 in the aftermath of World War 2 - established rules and protections from the horrors of war for civilians and medical workers who aren't actively fighting. They stipulate an attack against civilians is a war crime.

RELATED: 30 Years of Cyber Attacks: An Ominous Evolution

"Cyberspace is owned and operated by the private sector," Smith said. "It is private property, whether it is submarine cables or data centers or servers or laptops or smart phones." And the tech community - the Googles and Intels and Microsofts gathered at the RSA convention that made up the audience at Smith's keynote - are typically the first responders to these attacks. Microsoft, a major provider of email software and services where cyberattacks often begin, alone spends a billion dollars annually on cybersecurity.

Governments are still working out how to respond to attacks waged by governments in cyberspace because, as Smith points out, it doesn't exist in a physical space. So there aren't yet clear rules on whether an attack is actual warfare. When Russia attacks an American citizen with the goal of undermining an American candidate for president - as in the John Podesta email leaks - is that an act of war? What about the Sony case, where North Korea retaliated against an American corporation for making a movie the government didn't like?

While governments work this out, private citizens are under fire, Smith said.

"It is a sobering thing to think about," he said. "But consider this: For over two thirds of a century, the world's governments have been committed to protecting civilians in times of war. But when it comes to cyberattacks, nation-state hacking has evolved into attacks on civilians in times of peace."

There are others in the tech community - especially those ob the front lines - who agree it's time for governments to establish treaties that govern malevolent acts in cyberspace. Eugene Kaspersky, the CEO of Kaspersky Lab, a global leader in IT security wrote an op-ed in Forbes reacting to Smith's call to action and agreeing wholeheartedly.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" he wrote. "The world needs an international convention like this badly and urgently. One should have been adopted a long time ago, and I've been advocating such a thing for I don't know how many years. Ten? Fifteen? News that it's finally gaining traction and there are tech big-guns throwing their weight behind it is music to my ears."

RELATED: Sony Cancels Film Over Suspected N. Korea Hack



Nor is Smith the first to make this call to action. Joseph Cannataci, UN special rapporteur on privacy, made a similar call to action over a year ago, though his concerns were, then, more about government surveillance of private citizens than attacks on them by foreign powers. "Today there are many parts of the English countryside where there are more cameras than George Orwell could ever have imagined," he told The Guardian last year. "So the situation in some cases is far worse [than in Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-Four'] already."

Podesta, perhaps the most well known victim of a hostile cyberattack waged by a world power against a citizen, was surprised by how little assistance he got from the U.S. government. "I think to this day it's inexplicable that they were so casual about the investigation of the Russian penetration of the DNC emails," Podesta told TechCrunch. "They didn't even bother to send an agent to the DNC; they left a couple of messages at the IT help desk saying, 'You might want to be careful.'"

Smith suggests, in his speech, that tech companies need to act as a digital Red Cross and offer technical assistance once these treaties have been worked out. "As the Fourth Geneva Convention relies on the Red Cross to help protect civilians in wartime," he said. "Protection against nation-state cyberattacks requires the active assistance of the tech sector."

Photo: Defense Secretary Ash Carter (lef) and Microsoft President Brad Smith (center) in a Department of Defense file photo.

Watch: Building Digital Labyrinths to Hide Your Password
It's just like grandma used to say: When designing efficient wind-turbine prototypes, be sure to employ biomimetic synthetics inspired by dragonfly wings. Yes, grandma was a singular woman....

Encouraging new research out of Europe suggests that bio-inspired turbine blades - based largely on the flexible wings of insects - can improve wind energy production by up to 35 percent. That's a very big number in this context, and the research may well trigger a fundamental change in how we harvest wind power.

Published this week in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical and Physical Sciences, the research details a series of experiments in which flexible turbine blades were matched against traditional rigid blades in head-to-head tests.

The flexible blades were designed to mimic the motion of insect wings and, to a lesser extent, certain plant leaves. Due to a particular kind of structural flexibility, insect wings are able to redirect airflow in a manner that significantly increases the power they need for lift. For insects like the dragonfly, the redirected wind makes it much easier to fly, because they're not expending as much energy.

But it turns out that the same principles, when applied to the design of a fixed wind turbine, increase the ultimate power output the device. That's because flexible turbine blades can adjust to the pitch angle of incoming winds. By going with the flow, quite literally, flexible turbines can optimize the amount of torque applied to the generator.

RELATED: New Wind Turbines Mimic Hummingbird Wings

To get hard numbers for the phenomenon, scientists built three small turbine prototypes, each with a different configuration of blade flexibility. One model used completely rigid blades, another was highly flexible, and the third was somewhere in between.

Subsequent experiments showed that the highly flexible blade was too wobbly to produce proper torque, and in fact didn't generate as much power as the traditional rigid blade. But the moderately flexible blade consistently outperformed the rigid blade, creating up to 35 percent more power.

What's more, the flexible blades were able to function in a much wider range of wind conditions, generating power in instances when the rigid blades underperformed. Long-term testing also suggested that the flexible blades were much less likely to jam or break under severe wind conditions.

RELATED: California Offshore Wind Farm Will Float

In the study abstract, lead author Vincent Cognet of Paris-Sorbonne University said that traditional turbines are inherently limited because they're designed to operate within a narrow zone centered around their optimal working point. The new flexible blade approach would not only produce more efficient wind turbines, it could allow for more wind farms in more locations.

"This limitation prevents the use of sites with variable wind to harvest energy, involving significant energetic and economic losses," Cognet said. "Here, we present a new type of bioinspired wind turbine using elastic blades, which passively deform through the air loading and centrifugal effects."

If you really want to dig into the specifics, the full paper is available online at the The Royal Society website, along with some helpful graphs on the relevant elasticity mechanisms and aerodymanic lift coefficients. Gosh, grandma would have loved this stuff....

WATCH: Which Power Source Is Most Efficient?
The U.S. Senate confirmed Scott Pruitt as head of the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday, bringing to a close one of the most contentious battles over President Donald Trump's appointments for Cabinet-level departments.

Pruitt built much of his career on suing the agency that he will now lead. As attorney general in Oklahoma he filed lawsuits against the EPA 14 times, 13 of which were on behalf of industry. The lawsuits sought to strike down regulations targeting oil and natural gas drilling, seeking to reduce mercury poisoning, and aimed at curbing the carbon pollution that is the primary driver of global warming.

During his Senate confirmation hearing, Pruitt rejected the long-held consensus that human activities are driving climate change.

"Science tells us the climate is changing and human activity in some matter impacts that change," Pruitt remarked. "The ability to measure and pursue the degree and the extent of that impact and what to do about it are subject to continuing debate and dialogue."

The world's leading science organizations, as well as the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, agree that human activities are the primary driver of increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and that those gases are increasing global temperatures, which is causing more frequent and more intense extreme weather events, like downpours and droughts.

RELATED: Trump's EPA Nominee Rejects Scientific Consensus on Climate Change

A 2014 New York Times investigation found that during Pruitt's tenure as attorney general, he released on official letterhead a memo drafted by lawyers from Devon Energy that was critical of federal monitoring of air pollution from the oil and gas sector.

"Outstanding!" said William F. Whitsitt, who headed the company's government relations, in a 2011 note to Pruitt's office. "The timing of the letter is great, given our meeting this Friday with both EPA and the White House."

Pruitt's ties to the fossil fuel sector were the main point of controversy over his nomination, galvanizing opposition to his candidacy.

An Oklahoma judge issued an order yesterday requiring Pruitt to release thousands of documents related to his communications with the fossil fuel industry, which he had refused to disclose during the Senate confirmation process. The suit was brought by the Center for Media and Democracy. Senate Democrats sought to delay a vote on Pruitt until Tuesday, when he is required to meet the court deadline.

Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, said Pruitt "will be the worst, most dangerous administrator in EPA history."

"Make no mistake, Scott Pruitt is going to put people's lives at risk to help special interests pollute our air and water. This is new and this is dangerous," Suckling said in a statement. "We'll be drinking dirtier water and breathing dirtier air because of this disturbing decision, and our wildlife and climate will pay a terrible price."

Andrew Steer, president and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based World Resources Institute called Pruitt "one of the most controversial EPA administrators to enter office."

"EPA must be able to continue its crucial role in reducing the dangerous pollution that causes climate change," he said in a statement. "Congress and the Supreme Court have affirmed EPA's obligation to protect Americans from climate change and its dangerous impacts. As EPA administrator, Pruitt needs to stop politicizing science and undermining the measures that protect Americans."

Earlier this week, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) released suggested guidelines for preserving the integrity of government science under the Trump administration and launched a website where efforts to censor government science can be reported.

Following Pruitt's confirmation, UCS President Ken Kimmel published a blog post outlining the organization's concerns about the future of science-based decision making at EPA.

"We call on Mr. Pruitt to declare that scientific integrity is a core guiding principal for the EPA, that he will abide by the existing EPA scientific integrity policy, and even look for ways to improve it, as recommended by UCS," wrote Kimmel.

RELATED: Don't Politicize Government Research, Says Union of Concerned Scientists

The Senate vote to confirm Pruitt was 52-46, with Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican of Maine, voting against Pruitt, while Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, both Democrats from fossil-fuel rich states, voted in favor of his nomination.

Reuters reported yesterday that the White House is considering several executive orders related to EPA regulations, which could fulfill Trump campaign promises to significantly constrain the agency's regulatory reach, as well as its budget.

Trump cast doubt on the scientific consensus that human activities are driving climate change in his campaign for office, and has called global warming a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese in order to destroy the American economy.

Since taking office, Trump has reversed an Obama administration decision that temporarily halted construction of the Dakota Access pipeline, as well as the former president's veto of the Keystone XL pipeline. Trump also issued an executive order calling for the elimination of two federal regulations for every new regulation proposed by an agency, which could impact existing EPA provisions aimed at protecting clean water, air and soil.

Congressman Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican and chair of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, said Pruitt would be a "tremendous leader."

"I look forward to working with the Trump administration and Administrator Pruitt in bringing our country out of an era of red tape and into a more transparent age based on sound science," Smith said.

Scott Segal, director of the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, an industry group, welcomed Pruitt's appointment.

"The Agency has a mission of tremendous importance to human health and the environment and Scott Pruitt's dedication to the rule of law will be of material assistance to achieving these regulatory objectives," he said in a statement. "Responsible regulatory reform can make our shared environmental objectives all easier to achieve."

J. David Cox Sr., national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 9,000 EPA employees, said in a statement that, despite calls to rein in the agency's reach, the number of EPA staff is lower today than it was in 1999, "despite a significant growth in responsibilities."

"The biologists, scientists, lab technicians, engineers, and other civil servants who work at the EPA must be able to do their jobs without political interference or fear of retribution," said Cox. "Ensuring the independence of our career civil servants at EPA and all federal agencies is an essential part of our democratic government and something that we will fight to maintain."

Pruitt is expected to be sworn in early next week.
Bam on DOJ's case vs Sen. Leila de Lima

Without a paper or money trail and with only contradicting testimonies from some of the worst criminals in our country, the administration files charges and seeks to arrest its staunchest critic.

And while all of this is being done, government spends its resources trying to acquit the mastermind of the Pork Barrel Scam.

Clearly, there is something wrong with this picture. But it is our new reality.

This act of brazen harassment and perversion of our justice system should not be tolerated.
Press Release

February 17, 2017 Legarda: Manage Forests for Present and Future Filipinos Senator Loren Legarda said that sustainability of the country's forests is ensuring that both present and future generations would benefit from our natural resources. Legarda, a staunch environmentalist and Chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change, said that the government should develop and adopt a sustainable forest management strategy based on rational allocation of forestland uses and promotion of land use practices that increase productivity and conserve soil, water, and other forestland resources. "Our forests provide various ecosystem services, the most basic of which is production of food and supply of water. Certainly, we need to manage our forests in a manner that would ensure that these ecosystem services would be sufficiently provided to our people now as well as to the future Filipinos," she explained. "Aside from the rational allocation of forestland uses, we should protect existing forest resources and conserve biodiversity, rehabilitate or develop denuded areas to expand the forest resource base and promote food production activities," she added. Legarda has included these proposals in Senate Bill No. 402, the proposed Sustainable Forest Management Act. This bill seeks to establish a plan for sustainable forest management guided by several principles, principally through community-based forest management (CBFM) and watershed as the basic forestland management unit. The CBFM strategy is providing access rights and responsibilities to forest resident families, local communities, and indigenous peoples to undertake the management of appropriate forestland resources on a sustainable basis. Meanwhile, forestlands should be conserved, developed and managed, utilizing watersheds as the basic management unit and under the concepts of sustainable and multiple-use management, including biodiversity conservation. Other strategies include multi-sectoral participation in sustainable forestland conservation, management and development; protection of forestlands and natural resources as priority concern in order to ensure environmental stability, enhance biological diversity, increase productivity, and provide economic benefits; economic and ecological reforestation to rehabilitate denuded and degraded forestlands; security of tenure of stakeholders and equitable access to forest resources; and professionalism in forest service. "We must ensure that our forests meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs. We can only do so if we manage our forests sustainably," Legarda concluded.
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A City Hall rally followed by two hours of impassioned testimony that included a man on his knees begging and a sing-along to Give Peace a Chance failed to convince the San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission that it should allow a free 50th anniversary Summer of Love concert in Golden Gate Park.

By a unanimous vote Thursday, the commission upheld a staff decision to deny promoter Boots Hughston a permit for his planned June 4 event at the Polo Field in Golden Gate Park.

Because of concerns over public safety, traffic, lack of organization and a wildly fluctuating crowd-size estimate, Hughston was advised to find a partner with more concert promotion experience and submit a new application. This almost certainly means a free concert will not happen during the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love, he said.

Weve given them everything already, but Im willing to do it again, Hughston said after the vote. He promised to resubmit an application, but I dont see what difference that will make.

Hughston said he has spent nine months on the event and planned to pay the $200,000 city cost out of pocket. Because he had put on a 40th anniversary Summer of Love celebration in the park, he believed his permit probably would be granted and announced the concert a few weeks ago. Performers were to include Eric Burdon and War, and the original rhythm section of the Santana Blues Band.

But his permit application had not been approved, and on Feb. 7 Rec and Park sent Hughston a terse rejection letter.

Turns out the bands were no more agreeable than Rec and Park.

Michael Carabello, conga drummer with the original Santana band, read about the show in The Chronicle and called to say, This is the first Ive heard of it.

On Facebook, Burdons wife and manager, Marianna Burdon, wrote: This world is full of deluded characters spreading false information for their own opportunistic purposes. ... Eric was never confirmed, as I declined the appearance immediately and the fact is, War was never even mentioned in our discussion.

But Hughston had another Eric up his sleeve: Clapton. His name was bandied about, along with the Dalai Lama, at Thursdays hearing.

The day had started with great promise. After the rain, about 100 flower children  yes, they still exist  carried placards to the steps of City Hall.

After a rally, they checked their placards at the door and proceeded to a fourth-floor hearing room. The capacity of 63 was soon met. When commission President Mark Buell asked how many planned to testify, 63 hands went up. So he set a two-minute maximum for each speaker.

That should get us out of here by late tonight, he said.

When advised of these rules, Brian Rohan, who described himself as a hippie lawyer starting with client Ken Kesey, said, I understand what the rules are. Ive been breaking every rule in this city for 40 years.

But everyone calmed down and was nearly put to sleep by a long budget discussion that preceded the appeal. Many of the speakers, who overflowed into a secondary room, took their full two minutes just to give their Summer of Love credentials, though none could top Buells own.

Not only was he here, he said, but also his stepdaughter was born during the Summer of Love. Her name is Summer Tompkins.

One by one they lined up to vouch for the reputation of Hughston, 68, a real estate flipper living in Mill Valley who was a colleague of the late Family Dog promoter Chet Helms.

The whole world is watching us. How can we not have a Summer of Love concert? said Trina Robbins, 78. The worst thing that might happen is that a bunch of senior citizens get stoned on pot.

The thought of this reduced Ann Cohen, one of the founders of the San Francisco Oracle underground newspaper, to tears.

We are all in our 60s and 70s, she pleaded, and we want to do it again one more time.

But even tears could not stop Boots from getting the boot. Which is rare, because of the 55,000 Rec and Park permits sought each year, less than 1 percent are denied.

The commission did not deliberate for one second, said Kenneth Wine, attorney for Hughston. This was a setup from the get-go. Wine said he is advising Hughston to take the Summer of Love to Oakland.

Whatever heart was beating in San Francisco got put to rest by the Park Commission today, Wine said.

Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Instagram: @sfchronicle_art

See Boots Hughston pleads his case for a Summer of Love anniversary concert: http://bit.ly/2lpfqA6
His friends pushed and pulled Alvaro Silberstein in his low-slung orange wheelchair for five days as they scrambled around boulders, huffed up rocky paths above glacial pools, and soaked up heavy rain near the bottom of the world in Chilean Patagonia.

I couldnt believe I was there, said Silberstein, 31, a student at UC Berkeleys Haas School of Business whose spinal cord was severed by a drunken driver a dozen years ago in his native Santiago. Silberstein, who had just started college, became paralyzed from the chest down and lost the use of his fingers and triceps. But he continued his education, learning to use the knuckles of his pinkies to type.
An armed robber went to great lengths to disguise himself while holding up a Safeway in Pacifica on Wednesday, donning a full-head mask and glasses that made him appear to be a bald elderly man, police said Thursday.

We believe the whole thing is a mask, that hes wearing a mask over his entire head, said Capt. Chris Clements of the Pacifica Police Department.

Its pretty brazen and Im surprised more people didnt notice, [and say] Hey, thats weird; this guys walking around with a mask on, he added.

The man entered the Safeway at the Linda Mar Shopping Center, and barged into the stores safe room brandishing a firearm, police said. He took an undisclosed amount of cash and headed toward Highway 1 on foot.

Police were called to the Safeway around 9:40 p.m., just after the robbery, officials said.

When reviewing stores surveillance footage, police discovered the man may have been wearing a lifelike, full-head mask with eyeglasses, Clements said.

He also wore a gray or tan shirt and black pants, police said.

Lifelike masks have been used in several high-profile robberies, including the 2012 Valentines Day robbery of a Pay-O-Matic in New York that closely emulated a robbery shown in the 2010 Ben Affleck heist drama The Town.

The price of silicone and latex masks can run from around $40 for the most basic to thousands of dollars for more elaborate, handcrafted offerings and custom jobs.

Police asked anyone with information related to the robbery to call them at (650) 738-7314.

Filipa A. Ioannou is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: fioannou@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @obioannoukenobi
Google Maps / Google Maps

A case of active pulmonary tuberculosis was reported at a high school in Fairfield, according to a letter to parents from the schools principal Thursday.

Eric Tretten, the principal of Armijo High School, where the illness was reported, said that the Solano County Public Health Department was working with school officials to mitigate the risk to students and staff.
Ron Chapple/Getty Image

A woman and her daughter received some unwelcome attention at a Fremont Walmart on Monday when a man tried to run them over with a minivan full of garbage, police said.

The two women had just arrived at a Walmart on Albrae Street when the man angrily confronted the younger woman, apparently without provocation, the older woman told police.
A vehicle chase that began in Pleasanton ended with a fleeing man driving a stolen van into a Dublin creek and escaping on foot Thursday morning, police said.

Pleasanton Police began pursuing the van  a 2002 Ford Econoline reported stolen in Oakland in early February  in Pleasanton at 2:43 a.m. Thursday.

The driver of the van made an illegal U-turn and ran a red light doing it, said Officer Jerry Nicely of the Pleasanton Police Department. An officer tried to make a traffic stop and then it spiraled from there.

The chase wound through Dublin, San Ramon and Dublin again, according to police.

In Dublin, police said, the suspect drove into an apartment complex on Dublin Meadows Street  a dead end. Rather than resign himself to arrest, however, he then tried to escape by twice ramming the police vehicle pursuing him, officials said.

When that was unsuccessful, he drove forward, catapulting the van through a chain link fence, over an embankment, and into Alamo Creek, near the Iron Horse Trail, officials reported. With the van submerged, the man ran off, police said.

Dublin Police helped Pleasanton Police establish a perimeter, and a K-9 unit assisted in searching the area, but the man was not found, according to police.

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.

While searching the complex, police found clothing they believe the man discarded, police said. The man is estimated to be in his late 40s to early 50s.

Pleasanton police request that any member of the public with information on the case contact the department at at (925) 931-5100.

Filipa A. Ioannou is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: fioannou@sfchronicle.com
Oaklands assistant police chief ordered officers Thursday to immediately begin reporting unpermitted parties and illegally converted warehouses to their superiors  but in an erratic about-face, city officials rescinded the policy four hours later.

Assistant Police Chief David Downing sent a directive about 2 p.m. to the rank and file telling them to inform supervisors when they come across unsanctioned structures or events. In an email, Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson summarized the instructions as, Effective immediately, any member of OPD (sworn and civilian) who encounters an unlawful or unpermitted gathering (such as a rave, party, cabaret) or an unpermitted living space/structure within a warehouse, shall send an email message before end of shift to notify their supervisor and area captain.

But City Administrator Sabrina Landreth, who oversees the Police Department, sent a brief statement around 6 p.m. saying the directive was sent prematurely and that the city was still working on a policy.

Now, the police are back to having no policy on how to deal with potential hazards they see while on calls.

Questions over what officers do when they come across dangerous properties were raised last week after newly released city documents showed that officers had been in and out of the Ghost Ship warehouse on many occasions in the years before the building burned Dec. 2, killing 36 people during an unpermitted music event.

Code enforcers and fire inspectors had apparently never been told of the dangers inside the structure, ranging from a jury-rigged electrical system and makeshift kitchen to blocked escape routes and cluttered furniture. The art collective, home to about 20 people, had no sprinklers or smoke detectors.

Officers were repeatedly called to the warehouse for reports of fights, threats, weapons and other complaints, but whatever they may have seen inside was not passed along to those who could have shut down the operation or gotten it into compliance with city law.

Mayor Libby Schaafs spokeswoman, Erica Terry Derryck, said last week that officers are not trained to be building inspectors.

But a Chronicle report on Tuesday showed that three other Bay Area cities  San Francisco, San Jose and Richmond  have systems in place to ensure that police alert code enforcers when they come across properties with dangerous conditions. In those cities, police officers notify code inspectors soon after they come across potential hazards.

After the directive was pulled, Councilman Noel Gallo, who represents the Fruitvale district, commended Downing for his courage in sending it out. He said officers shouldnt have any doubts or questions about how to do their jobs.

Thats what the fire chief and all department heads should be doing in the first place because we are public servants here to provide public safety, he said. I dont know why the city administrator would challenge or question or take back that memorandum.

When I see a crime, if I dont report it, Im just as guilty as the guy committing the crime. The Ghost Ship was an example of a lack of cooperation and direction we have within the city of Oakland, he added.

Tony Ribera, a former San Francisco police chief and policing expert, said public safety necessitates that officers report dangerous conditions. Its unacceptable, he said, that they turn a blind eye out of eviction concerns.

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.

We are a country of laws, and if they are unreasonable or discriminate against poor people, change the laws, he said. I do understand the sensitivity of the housing situation. But its not a matter of not being compassionate.

But Schaaf told The Chronicle last week that she was hesitant to enact a new communications policy, saying she wanted to mitigate unintended consequences, like a chilling effect on people calling 911. Representatives for her office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Jonah Strauss of the Oakland Warehouse Coalition was glad the directive was rescinded, calling it a license for persecution.

We are being targeted, broadly and vaguely and without the slightest understanding, he said shortly before Landreth issued her statement. This is a blatant abuse of the Ghost Ship tragedy in order to clamp down on arts and music in the town.

Since the fire, Oakland officials have been working to deal with 18 other illegally converted spaces throughout the city that could pose safety risks while also aiming to avoid displacements and evictions. The city is sorting out how to improve its channels of communication that hadnt been used to tackle conditions inside the Ghost Ship before the inferno.

The city administrators statement Thursday evening read: We are in the process of developing communication protocols within the Oakland Police Department. The email sent at 1:57 p.m. to OPD personnel was distributed prematurely and has been retracted.

Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @kveklerov
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Republicans may just have found their next Export-Import Bank.

But instead of going after an obscure federal agency that helps U.S. businesses sell machinery overseas, the new target is a program highly prized by Silicon Valleys most powerful companies, including Google, Apple and Facebook, which want to hire highly skilled foreign workers.

Like the Export-Import Bank, the H-1B visa program is a small entity that finds itself in the crosshairs of a broader ideological battle rooted in antiglobalization populism. Where conservative House Republicans characterized the bank as a cronyistic tool of rich corporations, the tech community fears the Trump administration will see the H-1B visa as a government-sponsored effort to steal jobs from American workers.

Silicon Valley needs to watch developments very closely, Leon Rodriguez, the former director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at the the Department of Homeland Security, recently told me. No one is going to eliminate (the visas), but there is going to be a lot of focus on the program.

Established in 1990 as a way for companies to hire temporary foreign labor in specialized occupations, the program caps the numbers of visas at 65,000 per year, with another 20,000 for those with at least a masters degree. For perspective, that number represents .05 percent of the total U.S. workforce of nearly 160 million people.

Yet the program is vital to the U.S. economy. Some visa holders, especially people who studied at American universities like Stanford and Harvard, have eventually founded their own companies and created jobs after working at U.S. firms.

For example, Egyptian Amr Awadallah was vice president of engineering for product intelligence at Yahoo in Sunnyvale while earning his doctorate in electrical engineering at Stanford. He later founded Cloudera, a software firm valued at $4.1 billion by investors that employs 1,100 workers.

Eric Setton, a Frenchman who also earned his doctorate at Stanford, worked as a research scientist at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories before founding Tango, which makes a free mobile messaging app.

But for this president, such details are a mere speed bump.

Shortly after taking office, Trump, who campaigned on a platform of securing borders by restricting immigration, issued an executive order blocking entry into the United States for 90 days for citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. However, the administration botched the orders rollout and federal courts blocked it. Now Trump has vowed to come out with a revised order.

The manner of implementation was not good, said Rodriguez, who now serves as partner with the Seyfarth Shaw law firm in Washington. There was significant error.

Trumps spokesman, Sean Spicer, has signaled that the administration will also look at the H-1B program, though no policy order has been issued. Trump said last year during a debate that we need highly skilled people in this country, but he has yet to comment directly on the H-1B program as president. But many in the valley fear that H-1Bs will be addressed in an executive order.

Rodriguez said companies can expect more investigations, audits and penalties for perceived abuses.

One common abuse is that companies ignore rules that H-1B employees cant displace a U.S. worker, the heart of Trumps platform.

Data from the Department of Labor show that 41 companies, a relatively small number of total H-1B sponsors, are willful violators of H-1B rules and are banned from the program. Only one Bay Area business, EnterSoft Solutions in Redwood City, is on this list.

The feds could certainly tighten oversight of the program. A 2011 report from the Government Accountability Office said that agencies dont adequately monitor visa holders.

The total number of H-1B workers in the U.S. at any one time  and information about the length of their stay  is unknown, the report says, because data systems among the various agencies that process such individuals are not linked ... and H-1B workers are not assigned a unique identifier that would allow for tracking them over time  particularly if and when their visa status changes.

These problems can and should be fixed. But I fear that opponents will use such relatively minor flaws to severely crack down on the program in a way that essentially makes it useless. Just as the Trump administration tried to ban refugees in the name of national security  even though the majority of fatal attacks on U.S. soil since 9/11 have come from homegrown, right-wing extremists  the White House could severely restrict the H-1B program in the name of protecting U.S. jobs.

This is more about coming up with reasons to exclude people from the country, said Stuart Anderson, executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy think tank in Washington, which strongly supports the H-1B program. They want to use controversy to go after everything.

Thats why the H-1B program reminds me of the Export-Import Bank.

In 2015, Congress failed to reauthorize the bank, which helps U.S. companies finance exports to other countries. Though the agency enjoyed bipartisan support, many House Republicans want to eliminate the bank, which they accuse of using taxpayer dollars to benefit corporations.

Congress eventually allowed the bank to continue to operate but has not filled empty positions on the agencys board. Its not clear what Trump will do with the agency.

The Export-Import Bank was hardly a drain on taxpayers, but it generated big benefits. Since 2008, the bank has returned $3.5 billion to the U.S. Treasury and reported default rates of far less than 1 percent.

Criticism of the agency seems to be more philosophical: that the government should not subsidize large corporations, and that such financial support distorts a free market economy.

So it seems that some conservatives saw the bank as kind of low-hanging fruit: Eliminating it would be a modest but important step to achieve their overall goal of shrinking government and reducing spending.

Similarly, Trump appears to see the H-1B program as distorting our workforce. Restricting it would be a modest but crucial first step in realizing the the administrations top priority: keeping foreigners out.

Thomas Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle business columnist. Email: tlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByTomLee
Ive been vindicated, Ian Minto quietly told himself.

It was late September last year. Minto had just heard that then-CEO John Stumpf apologized in front of a Senate panel for a major scandal that rocked Wells Fargo. Employees had created up to 2 million fraudulent accounts in the names of real consumers. Senator after senator blasted Stumpf, many expressing disbelief that the San Francisco bank could do such a thing.

If only they had met Minto 15 years earlier.

In 2001, Minto was an assistant branch manager in San Rafael when he started to notice troubling behavior: Some employees were signing up unusually large numbers of customers. One particular banker recruited more than two dozen customers in a single day.

Suspicious, Minto said, he discovered the banker listed the same address for those 25 people. So he went to the address. It was a cemetery.

As it turns out, he said, employees were creating fraudulent checking and credit-card accounts so they could hit aggressive sales goals and earn more money.

Youre not just stealing from the customer, youre stealing from the shareholders, Minto told me.

Minto said he reported the fraud to his supervisor, as the bank had taught him.

He said Dont worry about it, Minto told me. Thats about as far as it went.

Not quite. A few months later, Wells Fargo fired him for not meeting sales goals. So Minto filed a wrongful termination lawsuit. But he lacked the money to pursue the case and ended up settling out of court.

Paul Chinn/The Chronicle

Since the scandal broke last year, critics have questioned whether the bank knew about the fraud but did nothing to stop it. Stumpf, who eventually resigned, denied he was aware of the wrongdoing. But several former employees have emerged in recent months to say that they reported such fraud to bank officials  some as as far back as 2005.

Mintos case, though, is the earliest Ive found. Just for perspective, Minto sued just three years after Norwest acquired Wells Fargo. Norwest kept the Wells Fargo name but took over management, launching its now infamous cross-selling strategy, which requires employees to sell multiple products to the same customer.

Wells Fargo spokesman Ancel Martinez said the bank is working hard to fix the problems.

Today, Wells Fargo is taking a series of steps to address improper sales practices, he wrote in an email. Our board is conducting an independent investigation and we are undertaking a top to bottom review of all sales practices throughout Wells Fargo.

We have made critical changes including eliminating all product sales goals for retail bank team members who serve customers in our branches and call centers to ensure that our culture aligns with our customers needs and values, he wrote. Employees are encouraged to report suspicious behavior immediately.

In November, the bank reported that new account openings fell 44 percent in October from the same period a year ago. Traffic to its branches and interactions with tellers fell, too, a sign of how damaging the scandal was to customers trust.

But if Wells Fargo knew about fraudulent accounts in 2001, why did it let more than a decade elapse before doing something about it?

The answer has as much to do with Wells Fargo as with the broader environment the bank operated under at the turn of the millennium.

Whistle-blowing in the United States goes at least as far back as the Civil War when Congress passed the False Claims Act, also known as Lincolns Law. The 1863 law helped the feds combat contractors supplying the Union Army with sick horses and mules, spoiled food and defective guns and ammunition.

Yet more more than 150 years later, whistle-blowing still carries big stigma. People who report wrongdoing are often portrayed as disloyal rats or troublemakers out for personal gain. Whistle-blowers in 2002, when Minto filed his suit, certainly didnt enjoy the same support from federal laws as they do now, said Eric Havian, a former federal prosecutor who represents whistle-blowers for the Constantine Cannon law firm in San Francisco.

The 2010 Dodd-Frank law instructed the Securities and Exchange Commission to reward whistle-blowers for information about securities fraud. And last year, Congress passed a bill that gives immunity to whistle-blowers who want to report fraud but need to disclose a companys trade secrets to authorities.

Those reforms didnt come soon enough for Minto, who had just joined the San Rafael branch in late 2001 when he discovered employees were opening accounts in the names of real people without their consent. One tactic, outlined in his complaint, was to target immigrants.

Employees would transfer customers into accounts with higher fees and then tell them that the old account was no longer available if they complained. The new accounts would count toward their sales quota, Minto alleged in his complaint.

Minto said he followed company policy and reported the fraud to his supervisors and the ethics department in December 2001. He also fielded complaints from affected customers and sometimes had to close four or five accounts a day.

But a few months later, Wells Fargo fired Minto, alleging he was not meeting his sales targets.

In a recent interview, San Francisco attorney John Brown, who represented Minto, said he relayed Mintos allegations to a Wells Fargo lawyer, who then hired an outside firm to aggressively contest the lawsuit.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Eventually, it was clear that Wells Fargo had superior financial resources and was going to draw the case out until Minto ran out of cash, Brown said.

Whistle-blowers are tough cases, Brown said. Ian didnt have the resources to stand up to Wells Fargo. They drove up fees instead of investigating the matter.

Minto said he did not receive any money in a settlement. Court records indicate both parties paid their own legal fees.

He wanted to make a point, Brown said.

It might be tempting to dismiss Mintos story as an aberration, one disgruntled employee in a giant corporation. So far, there has been no clear evidence that top executives at Wells Fargo, including Stumpf, directly knew of the fraud.

Banks have become so big that information might not reach the board or CEO until the (fraud) has gotten out of the proverbial bag, said Clifford Rossi, a professor of finance at the University of Marylands business school.

But nearly half of all global economic crimes now originate from financial firms, the most of any industry, according to a report last year by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Increased global competition and thinning margins have turned up the pressure on management to gain market share, the report said. Pressure to perform has spiked as a main contributor to internal fraud  up to 20 percent of economic crimes last year, compared with 12 percent in 2014.

Perhaps Wells Fargo didnt want to know about illegal behavior, just as long as employees were hitting sales targets. In Mintos case, the company seemed more interested in disposing of the matter rather than recognizing patterns of misconduct throughout the bank.

Maybe Wells Fargo could have stopped (the fraud) in 2002 if they had a different mentality, said Rossi, a former chief risk officer at Citigroups consumer lending unit..

The cross-selling strategy was so successful that everyone in the industry was trying to emulate Wells Fargo, he said.

In response to the scandal, new CEO Tim Sloan reportedly told employees in November that he would possibly make changes to how the bank handles whistle-blowers, including setting up a new ethics office and fixing the companys hotline.

But you have to wonder if Wells Fargo could have averted the worst scandal in its history had the company simply investigated Mintos allegations  accusations that ultimately foreshadowed a far larger fraud  instead of firing him.

Thomas Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: tlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByTomLee
Fake news is a term that flows from the presidents lips with such frequency that the term seems to have lost all meaning  a generic epithet for accurate reporting that inconveniences his administration. But the persistent parade of dubious reports ricocheting around the Web shows that online hoaxes and deliberate misinformation, spread without regard for its relation to the truth, continue to be a very serious problem.

While Internet companies grapple with their role in enabling the spread of falsehoods, theres another potential venue for redress: the courts. Yet Americas strong protections for publishers set a high bar for holding the creators and distributors of fake news to account.

The term entered the lexicon as it became apparent that completely fabricated or wildly distorted news stories were going viral on Facebook. As recently as Thursday, President Trump used fake news to describe reputable media companies that report news critical of the administration. The result is a muddle, with distrust sowed for all kinds of media.

Meanwhile, made-up news continues to run wild, with liberals and conservatives alike sharing stories that fit their political tendencies, even if the facts they assert dont stand up to a cursory Google search. Fact-checking organization PolitiFact on Wednesday gave a pants on fire rating to a story published by the website LiberalPlug.com. The site claimed that Republican Rep. Rob McCaskill tweeted that he couldnt wait for the next 9/11 to punish judges who ruled against Trumps immigration travel ban.

As PolitiFact reported, there is no Rep. Rob McCaskill, and the 37th District that his Twitter profile claimed he represented does not exist. The profile has since been shuttered. The website has not updated or corrected its article.

Whom to sue? The creator of the hoax Twitter account? The website, for reiterating its lies? A made-up congressman cant be defamed. The harm is widespread, to the public and its trust in political and media institutions. Good luck finding a court to take on that case.

And yet there should be consequences, the thinking goes, for misleading the public by cloaking hoaxes and lies in the guise of legitimate reporting and then spreading them over the Internet.

An array of legal and media experts say the avenues for pursuing a lawsuit against writers or publishers who spread cleverly packaged falsehoods are exceedingly narrow, for reasons both practical and principled. Acting on the impulse to use the courts to fight deception and misdirection, they say, would be deeply corrosive of the nations free-speech protections.

Its a tricky area because if you start regulating fake news and you start banning lies and misinformation, youre very much jeopardizing the free speech we all enjoy and rely on, said Gabriel Kahn, a professor at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

You essentially have two unequal things that rely on the same freedoms, and if you take it away from one, it will impact the other, he said.

Private citizens claiming a media outlet defamed them almost always have to point to explicit evidence that a false, published story was targeted at them and injured their reputation.

To be defamatory, the fake news must be something that impugns the reputation of another person or company in a specific way, said Mark Lee, an attorney at the firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.

That level of specificity, Lee and other attorneys said, is a big part of the reason why it can be so difficult to sue a fake news writer or publisher: They rarely target private individuals with enough specificity to cross that line.

Politicians face an even bigger burden in trying to prove that they were defamed.

Public figures have to show something called actual malice, which is the knowledge that something wasnt true or the reckless disregard for the truth, said Karl Olson of Ram, Olson, Cereghino & Kopczynski in San Francisco. People running for office hardly ever win a defamation case because of the constitutional protections for robust and uninhibited debate about public issues.

The fluid definition of what people call fake news can also make it challenging. Some publishers are able to post wildly inflammatory or misleading content while hiding behind the legal protections given to parody and satire.

The satirical news site Real News Right Now published a fictitious statistic in September 2015 suggesting that 250,000 Syrian refugees were to be given temporary amnesty in the U.S. Fox News anchor Sean Hannity referred to it on the air a month later.

The Onion is fake news, too, said Kahn, the USC professor. People have the right to create parody and fake news. They absolutely have the right to do it. But we have to label these things as what they are so your average Facebook user can tell the difference.

Online services like Facebook, Twitter and Google have been accused of being complicit in helping to spread falsehoods online. Yet they are almost entirely immunized from defamation claims thanks to the Communications Decency Act, which gives protections to websites that host content posted by third parties.

There are no known examples of a private individual or business suing over the modern-day version of fake news in the U.S., but attorneys agree that the now-infamous Pizzagate story represents the closest thing theyve seen to a false online story spurring a defamation suit.

In early December, a 28-year-old man walked into the Comet Ping Pong pizzeria with an assault rifle to investigate a bizarre rumor that Hillary Clinton and her campaign manager John Podesta were running a child sex ring out of the Washington, D.C., restaurant.

Rumors about the sex ring appear to have started on Internet message boards following the leak of Clinton campaign emails, in which the pizzeria was discussed as a possible location for a fundraiser. People became convinced that the emails were written in code to advertise the business to pedophiles.

The rumors were then picked up by a handful of partisan websites like Preppers World, a site for enthusiasts dedicated to preparing against natural disasters, war, terrorist attacks and world unrest.

The man, Edgar Welch, fired his rifle inside the restaurant and was arrested. No injuries were reported, but attorneys said it was possible for the restaurant to claim that its reputation was damaged as a result of its being swept up in the story.

Comet Ping Pong did not respond to requests for comment.

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As for Trump, hes facing one defamation lawsuit from former Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos, who said he falsely claimed she made up her allegations that he sexually assaulted her. But that was for something he said before he moved into the White House. As president, he enjoys broad protections from prosecution for official acts, which would seem to include statements  even false ones citing made-up stories, or dismissing accurate reports as fake news  made from a podium in the White House Briefing Room or the Twitter app on his smartphone. Theres little hope that the courts can block Trump from spreading Internet hoaxes if he chooses to.

With the courts largely out of the question, Andrew Bridges, an attorney at Fenwick & West, said that perhaps the only sure-fire way to combat lies on the Internet is simply to encourage news consumers to be more discerning about what they read and view online  and police their own social networks.

Friends dont let friends spread fake news, said Bridges.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Marissa Lang contributed to this report.

Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dfracassa

How to avoid spreading fake news

Read the URL

Many sites purveying falsehoods and hoaxes have a tell, lying in plain sight: their Web address. Bogus websites posing as a legitimate news source tend to have an extra suffix at the end of the address that isnt .com. Note the unusual endings, which can include .co, .info, .net and so on.

Go beyond the headline

Most people who share or like articles  real or fake  dont actually read them. Click on the authors byline to see who he or she is. Look up authors names to verify whether they really are who they say they are. A story with no byline or a name that sounds ridiculous should raise red flags. And check the date. Outdated news, real and fake, can often get a second wind on social media when a story is picked up again. But outdated information can also be inaccurate information.

Check the sources

Fake stories may quote official-sounding sources, but if you do a little digging, youll find that those sources dont exist or that the actual data doesnt match up with what the article claims.

Call in the experts

When in doubt, look to independent organizations that specialize in fact checking, including Snopes, Politifact and FactCheck.

 Marissa Lang
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When Google co-founder Sergey Brin wanted to make a splash with a new piece of technology in 2012, he orchestrated an elaborate display that landed skydivers on the roof of Moscone West, with the dome of the Westfield San Francisco Centre in the background. The citys urban landscape made the best possible backdrop for video-capturing Internet headgear that promised to change our lives.

Now, Google Glass is a footnote to tech history. And so, too, may be the big tech showcases that made San Francisco a mecca for Silicon Valley engineers and executives seeking to put their wares on display before the world. The Bay Areas largest tech companies  Google, Apple and Facebook  are all moving their developer conferences out of the city and farther south.

While developer events like Google I/O, Facebooks F8 and Apples Worldwide Developers Conference are targeted at a technical crowd, the companies also invite media from around the world and use keynote speeches to reveal new products and strategies. They also attract a host of events and parties thrown by other companies aiming to capitalize on the buzz and the crowds.

This kind of trend moving from San Francisco is going to hurt, said Rob Enderle with advisory services firm Enderle Group. San Francisco was perceived as very trendy at one time. It just isnt anymore.

Google moved I/O, an event with about 7,000 attendees, to Mountain View last year. It will remain there this year. This year, Facebook followed suit, moving its F8 conference with 4,000 expected attendees to San Jose. And on Thursday, Apple announced that after a 14-year run in San Francisco, its developer conference would return to San Joses McEnery Convention Center.

Analysts said a number of factors could play into the moves. The Moscone Center is undergoing an expansion that will close Moscone North and South from April until August. (Moscone West, which Apple and Google have used for past events, will remain open.) Besides the limited space, construction could be a turnoff to businesses. Also, the high cost of staying in San Francisco and snarled traffic could be factors.

San Franciscos loss has been a boon to other neighboring cities including San Jose. The McEnery Convention Center estimates that events like Apples can bring in $5 million to $7.5 million in direct spending .

Any time we have any large group in San Jose, there is a very large economic impact from that, said Karolyn Kirchgesler, CEO of Team San Jose, which aims to bring more tourism to the city.

In a news release Apple pointed to the close proximity of San Joses McEnery Convention Center to its headquarters in Cupertino. Roughly 25 percent of Apples Silicon Valley employees live in San Jose, making the commute much shorter for employees who plan on attending the event.

Facebook said it moved out of Fort Mason because it outgrew the space . Last years event drew more than 2,600 developers. This year, Facebook expects about 4,000 developers will attend. It too, is choosing San Joses convention center, which could better meet demand from both local and international developers, a Facebook spokeswoman said.

Google said it opted to bring its developer conference back to Mountain View because it wanted more freedom to create spaces that would best showcase its technology. Last year, the company was able to present its large Project Loon balloon at I/O, something that would not have been possible in a traditional enclosed convention space.

We were able to create spaces for the appropriate size for whatever it was we were explaining, said Lauren Dales, a product marketing manager for Google I/O.

Twitch, Amazons video-game-watching site, also moved its convention away from San Francisco in 2016 and hasnt returned. This years is in Long Beach. The amenities there resonate with our community, said Krystal Herring, director of TwitchCon. One of those benefits is excellent hotel rates, she said.

Cities outside of San Francisco said they were thrilled to have an influx of developers coming this summer  with some banking on the bragging rights that come with being the home to the companies headquarters, too.

Part of the reason the city of Mountain View is known worldwide has to do with the businesses we keep, said Alex Andrade, the citys economic development manager. Absolutely it adds to our brand. Our brand has gone from local-regional to now incredibly global in that respect.

San Francisco said that it hasnt seen an impact from the loss of the developer conferences. The estimated direct spending from conventions and meetings in San Francisco is $754 million for 2016 and it doesnt show signs of slowing down, according to San Francisco Travel Association.

John Reyes, the associations executive vice president and chief sales officer, says there already are inquiries from parties interested in the dates that Apple will no longer be using at Moscone.

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There was a big fight to keep (Apple) here, Reyes said. We take every booking or event in Moscone very seriously.

Moscone may face more competition for Apples business in the future: Apples new Cupertino campus, set to open this year, will feature a large theater space for unveiling its latest technology.

To be sure, San Francisco is still home to other large tech conferences, including Salesforces annual event Dreamforce and this weeks RSA conference, where people discuss the latest in cybersecurity.

Darin Andersen, who flew in from San Diego to attend RSA, said coming to conferences in San Francisco is always special.

Its more than the experience of the conference, but its also the context in which it happens, he said. It would be a different experience outside the city.

But for employees coming from the South Bay, a conference in their area is much preferred.

I had to wake up at 4 a.m., said Erika Borquist, a support engineer with Rayne Technology Solutions, a company based in Monterey.

It took Borquist and her colleague about three hours to get to San Francisco on Thursday morning. While there are certain perks to being in the city  such as the food, she said  dealing with parking and traffic is a hassle she would happily avoid.

Staff writer Benny Evangelista contributed to this report.

Wendy Lee and Trisha Thadani are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Emails: wlee@sfchronicle.com, tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thewendylee @trishathadani
Courtesy of the Fremont Police Department / Courtesy of the Fremont Police Department

A fugitive who had been on the lam for more than two weeks since giving deputies the slip in the East Bay, was captured when police found him hiding in the garage of a Fremont home, officials said Friday.

Shawn New, 27, escaped from Kentucky deputies on Jan. 31 as they sat idled in traffic on Interstate 880 in Hayward while on their way to San Francisco International Airport, police said. New was being taken back to Kentucky, where he faces fraud charges.
The reported kidnapping of the 13-year-old daughter of Milpitas City Councilman Garry Barbadillo never happened, authorities said.

The girl was cited for falsely reporting a crime and released to her parents, according to a statement by city police officials.

She was found safe the night of Feb. 7, less than an hour after she was reported missing. The girl told police she escaped from two men who abducted her from her home, officials said.

But police reported Thursday that an extensive investigation revealed the abduction report was unfounded. No further details were released.

Police did not identify the girl, but Barbadillo told the Milpitas Post last week that his daughter was kidnapped and forcefully taken from our house. Police recovered her after an hour.

No she did not know them, two hooded animals took her, the councilman said in an email. They cut her arm.

Police initially said a 13-year-old girl was reported missing from a residence on Edsel Drive at 8:23 p.m.

Capt. Daryl Sequeira said the victim called her family at 9:04 p.m. to report she had been kidnapped and had fled her captors. She was then roughly a mile away from home.

The victim had described her captors as two men who forced her to walk down the street while following her in a car, Sequeira said.

She told police they picked her up after about a mile. The girl reported she ultimately fled the car, described as a light-colored sedan with a bumper sticker for Mystery Spot, a tourist attraction in Santa Cruz.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno
Evan Sernoffsky/The Chronicle / /

A suspect was arrested in the killing of a 34-year-old man who was shot dead near Eddy Street and Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco early Wednesday, officials said.

Investigators quickly identified the alleged gunman as 37-year-old Dontae Allen and arrested him in Oakland around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday  less than 24 hours after the slaying, said Sgt. Michael Andraychak, a San Francisco police spokesman.
Berkeley Police Department / / Berkeley Police Department

A 48-year-old homeless man who struck a woman with a sword then used the weapon to slash through the tents of fellow homeless residents in Berkeley was arrested Thursday, police said.

Manuel Andrez Ayala was booked into Berkeley City Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, according to Berkeley Police Department.
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NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C.  When President Donald Trump took the stage Friday to mark the launch of Boeings newest aircraft, it was a scene reminiscent of his airplane hanger rallies during the presidential campaign.

Except, instead of his Trump branded Boeing 757 parked behind him, Boeings newest product, the Dreamliner 787-10, glittered in the sun and off to the side stood Trumps new ride, Air Force One.

Trumps somewhat unusual appearance at the launch event for the companys highly anticipated version 10 of the Dreamliner wasnt to roll out new economic policy or even push a specific economic agenda item. Instead, it seemed that Trump was there to boost the company with a presidential endorsement for its American-made fleet, and he in turn would be the face of a major milestone for one of the countrys largest job creators.

Were here to day to celebrate American engineering and American manufacturing, Trump said. Were also here today to celebrate jobs. Jobs!

Trumps visit to the Boeing plant also comes at a time when his administration is struggling to establish a greater sense of order and focus after weeks of distractions and negative headlines. The White House has aimed to structure his daily schedule with at least one jobs-focused meeting each day. But much of that has been overshadowed by a series of all-consuming stories, the most damaging of which was the ouster of Trumps national security adviser, Michael Flynn, on Monday.

Questions about the Trump administration and campaigns ties to Russia have only intensified after multiple media reports revealed that Flynn discussed sanctions with the Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, despite his statements to the contrary.

Fridays event on the manufacturing floor of Boeings South Carolina plant offered Trump a much needed opportunity to reset his administration and refocus an economic-based message.

You look at whats happening with jobs. You look at whats happening with plants moving back to this country. All of a sudden theyre coming back, Trump said.

As president-elect, Trump launched into a Twitter fight with Boeing and its chief executive, Dennis Muilenburg, over the cost of a new fleet of presidential airplanes that would be used as Air Force One. Quickly, Boeing relented, promising to bring down the planes costs after a series of meetings with Trump.

Less than a month into his presidency, Trump is back to Boeing on a decidedly more positive note.

On Saturday, Trump plans something of a repeat performance in what the White House is dubbing the first campaign event of his presidency, at an airplane hangar rally in Melbourne, Fla.

Abby Phillip and Max Ehrenfreund are Washington Post writers.
In the first solo press conference of his presidency, President Trump said Thursday that themedia doesnt get it and repeatedly said the press was out of control.

Shortly after he finished speaking at the White House, the Trump Make American Great Again Committee blasted out an email asking its followers to take a Mainstream Media Accountability Survey.

Trump mentioned the media repeatedly in his remarks, saying reporters are trying to attack our administration because they know we are following through on pledges that we made.

The committee is a joint fundraising venture made up of Trumps presidential campaign PAC, Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. and the Republican National Committee. It was composed to help fund Trumps general election campaign, and it now acts as a mouthpiece for the administration.

The survey contains 25 multiple-choice questions, leading off with, Do you believe that the mainstream media has reported unfairly on our movement?

Specific media outlets referenced were Fox News, CNN and MSNBC. All asked the same question: Do you trust (media outlet) to report fairly on Trumps presidency?

The survey also included:

A question on whether the media unfairly reported on President Trumps executive order temporarily restricting people entering our country

Do you believe that political correctness has created biased news coverage on both illegal immigration and radical Islamic terrorism?

Do you believe that contrary to what the media says, raising taxes does not create jobs?

Do you agree with President Trumps media strategy to cut through the medias noise and deliver our message straight to the people?

What we dont know:

 What Trumps presidential campaign PAC intends to do with the survey.

 How many people received the survey.

The Chronicle has published several stories on Trump slamming the news coverage of his administration's moves. Here are some links:

 Wild moments: Quotes from Donald Trump's press conference

 Trump criticizes 'fake media' on Flynn story

 President slams low-life leakers

 Trump repeats voter fraud falsehood to make himself look better

 Fake news versus junk news

Michael Bodley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @michael_bodley
I finally got the call Id been waiting for.

Since I observed a Jan. 25 protest outside of the Contra Costa County Sheriffs Office in Martinez, Ive been trying to get Sheriff David Livingston on the phone. He has drawn fire for operating a federal immigration detention center out of one of the county jails: the West County Detention Facility in Richmond.

And while other Bay Area cities have forcefully denounced the crackdown on immigrants living and working in the country without permission, Livingston has been quiet as the county continues its contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency commonly referred to as ICE.

I wanted to know: Is there an imminent immigration crackdown in Contra Costa County? And how closely is the Sheriffs Office working with ICE?

Ive been critical of Livingston, who met last week with Jeff Sessions, the recently confirmed attorney general who is as anti-immigration as I am antiolives on pizza. (I dont like the aftertaste.)

My conversation with Livingston wasnt what I expected. I surely didnt talk to the same person protesters have accused of violating the Trust Act, a 2014 law that restricts county jails from detaining people longer than necessary so custody can be transferred to ICE agents.

Livingston is no Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Arizonas Maricopa County, whose workplace raids and profiling traffic stops made him a hero for anti-immigration hard-liners. And Livingston isnt representative of the White Houses anti-immigration stance.

In fact, Livingston expressed compassion and support for the people in Contra Costa County whove been terrified since the country elected a bag of wind as president.

I get that the immigration laws in this country are subject to scrutiny, and probably should be, Livingston said. I dont support going after those that are basically here to work to support their families. I respect that.

When challenged, Livingston told me his deputies are not making immigration sweeps or unlawfully collaborating with ICE. But Livingston held firm on holding criminals accountable, even if that leads to deportation.

When theyre here undocumented and they commit crimes  especially violent crimes, serious crimes  thats where my empathy goes out the door, because I care more about the victims in that case than the offenders, he said.

Theres confusion in Contra Costa County about the Sheriffs Offices role in immigration enforcement. The county is paid $82 per day per detainee for holding people for deportation on the governments behalf. It holds about 200 immigrants a day, which adds up to $6 million a year.

Walking away from the contract would be irresponsible, Livingston said, because taxpayers would have to cover the budget hole.

And with Livingston pushing for a $95 million expansion of the West County facility, space he says he needs for mental health programming and re-entry services, public perception is that he will fill the jail with immigrants.

My policy is my deputies do not enforce immigration law, he said. We dont ask the immigration status of people we contact or that come into our jail. Thats not our role.

But what about last weeks meeting with Sessions, who opposes immigration reform that would allow immigrants in the country illegally to remain? I wrote that Livingston was schmoozing with someone hostile to sanctuary cities. Of course, Livingston disagreed.

It was a very formal meeting in his office with a number of sheriffs, he said. I think its part of my role as an effective sheriff to have relationships with whoever is in the attorney generals office. Its not about politics. Its about policy. It wasnt schmoozing.

On Feb. 23, Livingston has another meeting  this one with community organizers requesting public reassurances from the sheriff for the countys immigrant community.

This is an issue of deep emotion for a lot of people, and I respect that, Livingston said. I get where people are coming from here locally in Contra Costa and, frankly, nationally. I understand why theres strong feelings.

There are 1.1 million people in Contra Costa County, and Livingston has to answer to every single one of them.
California is already on the defensive in its battle with Donald Trump.

We need offense  now.

Trump is attacking our state as if it were just another political opponent. His strategy is not merely to push California; he wants to rob our state of its political legitimacy.

So the president of the United States has falsely claimed that Californias elections are fraudulent exercises involving millions of illegal votes. Hes accused our biggest cities of endangering our country by failing to assist with deportations. He has called California out of control and threatened to defund state programs.

Such attacks are so potentially damaging (because California is the worlds sixth-largest economy and a vital model of diverse peoples prospering together) that we need to be fighting Trump much more directly.

Put simply, California must delegitimize Trump before he delegitimizes us.

There are two ways California must go on offense. First comes the fist: Californians should aggressively question Trumps legitimacy as president. Second comes the outstretched hand: We must bolster our states own legitimacy by reaching out to the rest of America and reaffirming how proud we are to be a part of this country.

Any outrageous allegation Trump makes against us should be answered with greater outrage. If Trump wants to make up claims of fraud in our elections, we should target his own frauds  from questionable business dealings to the confidence game of Trump University. When Trump threatens the funds for state programs, Californians should point out that Trumps budget and tax plans could bankrupt the whole country.

When Trump alleges that California is out of control, California should press the president on those who control him. Why bother negotiating immigration or energy policy with you, Mr. President, when we can go to the Kremlin or Goldman Sachs, and talk with those who oversee you?

The most powerful line of attack against this president is to question his loyalty to the country. Trump has billed himself as an unapologetic nationalist, vowing to make America great again. But hes deeply vulnerable on nationalist grounds. He constantly slanders the country  lying about the murder rate, equating Americas leaders with the murderous autocrat Vladimir Putin, tweeting false insults against important American icons and businesses. Californians must convince our fellow citizens that Trumps attacks on this most American of states are an attack against our entire country.

To emphasize Trumps lack of patriotism, we Californians must put our American patriotism on full throttle. While Trump denigrates America on Twitter, California leaders should be meeting with counterparts across the country, looking for areas of cooperation. When another state faces an emergency, California should be the first to send help. And whenever another state celebrates a great triumph, our leaders should congratulate them in person.

In reaching out, we should deploy the words of Californias great communicator  Ronald Reagan  as weapons against the current president.

To explain our fight with Trump: When you cant make them see the light, make them feel the heat.

When we engage in protests: No weapon in the arsenals of the world ... is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.

As we counter Trumps war against immigrants: Any person with the courage, with the desire to tear up their roots, to strive for freedom, to attempt and dare to live in a strange and foreign place, to travel halfway across the world was welcome here.

In that vein, California should shift its energies from opposing Trumps sall  thats defense  and go on offense by demanding the removal of the California-Mexico borders existing wall, an ineffective eyesore that inconveniences tourists, businesses and residents of the San Diego-Tijuana and Mexicali-Calexico regions.

Opposing the wall should be part of a California effort to develop our own foreign policy with allies Trump is offending. Gov. Jerry Brown should convene summits with the leaders of Mexico, Canada, Australia and Germany, and sign environmental, trade and tourism agreements with them. Then Brown should ask: Why doesnt the president make deals like that?

Sun Tzu advised, If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. This offensive strategy  reaching out to Americans while attacking Trumps legitimacy  would irritate and isolate him. Thats the best way to weaken Trump  and protect our state and our country.

Joe Mathews writes the Connecting California column for Zocalo Public Square. To comment, submit your letter to the editor at http://bit.ly/SFChronicleletters.
President Trump is not alone in his frustration with Washington leaks. Every president runs into the reality that someone in the White House, or the vast bureaucracy it oversees, is going to have a motive for disclosing something the administration would prefer to keep secret. As President Harry Truman famously observed, If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.

At his bizarre 77-minute news conference Thursday, Trump came across as a president under siege who, to borrow from another Truman saying, could not handle the heat.

Here are two reliable rules of thumb in politics: When someone insists in mid-rant that he is not ranting and raving ... he is ranting and raving. Also, when a leader demands that the real issue is to go after the leaker  instead of the substance of the disclosure  its a telltale act of desperate deflection.

Trump escalated his self-proclaimed war on the news media to unprecedented, and unpresidential, levels last week when questioned about the ouster of national security adviser Michael Flynn and revelations of intelligence reports that phone records and intercepted calls showed that members of his 2016 presidential campaign and other Trump associates had a succession of contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials.

There was an inherent contradiction in Trumps position. He repeatedly suggested the leaks of classified information about his teams conversations with Russia were criminal acts. Were going to find the leakers and theyre going to pay a big price, he told reporters in the Roosevelt Room on Thursday.

Yet in Twitter blasts and in the news conference later that day, he claimed the reports were fake news.

He cant have it both ways. If they are not true, then they do not represent a breach of sensitive classified information. Incidentally, he never directly answered questions about whether members of his campaign communicated with Russia.

In the case of Flynn, Trump insisted his former national security adviser did nothing wrong in reaching out to the Russia ambassador just as President Barack Obama was ratcheting up sanctions on that country for its interference in the presidential election. Flynns sin, according to Trump, was misleading Vice President Mike Pence  who had gone on national television, based on Flynns word, to state that those conversations never involved sanctions.

A Pence spokesman said the vice president did not know he had been deceived until he read a Feb. 9 Washington Post story that nine current and former officials said Flynns version was untrue. That was two weeks after the U.S. Justice Department had alerted the White House counsel to the discrepancies.

If not for those leaks, not only would the American people have been left with a false narrative, so might have the vice president of the United States.

These issues cut to the integrity of our democratic process. What, exactly, is behind this curious coziness between Trump and his campaign and a heretofore adversarial nation? Was there collusion during the campaign? Were there nudges and winks from Team Trump as Obama tightened sanctions? These matters deserve robust and clear-eyed investigation.

Disturbingly, some of the powers in the U.S. House, notably Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Oversight Chair Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and Intelligence Committee chair Devin Nunes, R-Tulare, have suggested the main scandal to pursue is the leaks. A ray of hope emerged in the Senate last week when Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., chair of the Intelligence Committee, indicated that his concern was not the leaks  the FBIs job, he reminded  but the Russian meddling in the election and revelations of the Trump team contacts.

Trump is trying to delegitimize what he calls the so dishonest and out of control mainstream media with his rants about fake news. He also aims to intimidate whistle-blowers who want to alert Americans when their government is not telling the truth.

When the vice president learned the truth, it wasnt in the Oval Office. It was from the Washington Post. That says something about the value of the free press and the credibility of this White House.

John Diaz is The San Francisco Chronicles editorial page editor. Email: jdiaz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnDiazChron

Historic leaks: When the government said no, but Americans had a right to know

Vietnam, 1971

Official line: Four administrations, from Harry Truman to Lyndon Johnson, had seriously concealed and misrepresented the scale and the efficacy of U.S. military intervention.

Leaks revealed: A classified study of U.S. efforts in Vietnam, which became known as the Pentagon Papers, exposed a long history of secret bombings, military invasions and deliberate lies from government officials. The reports were leaked to the New York Times by Daniel Ellsberg, a military analyst who had become disenchanted with the war and the fabrications about it.

Postscript: Ellsberg was charged with theft and conspiracy under the Espionage Act, but the case was later dismissed because of government misconduct. The revelations had a profound effect on public opinion, and led to a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court which said there could be no prior restraint in conflicts between journalists and government.

Watergate, 1972

Official line: The Nixon White House dismissed the June 1972 break-in and attempt to bug the Democratic National Committee as a third-rate burglary. Nixon emphatically denied any knowledge of the crime or cover-up.

Leaks revealed: Deputy FBI Director Mark Felt acknowledged in 2005, shortly before his death, that he was the Deep Throat insider source who helped guide Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as they pursued the scandal that ultimately led to the president.

Postscript: President Richard Nixon resigned on Aug. 9, 1974, after the Supreme Court ordered release of tapes that showed his role in the attempt to quash the investigation.

Iran-Contra, 1986

Official line: The Reagan administration denied any association with the use of proceeds from the sale of weapons to the Iranian government (despite an arms embargo) to help fund the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua (also violating U.S. law).

Leaks revealed: A Lebanese magazine broke the story that the U.S. government had engaged in an arms-for-hostages exchange.

Postscript: President Ronald Reagan ultimately acknowledged the sale in a nationally televised address.

Warrantless wiretaps, 2005

Official line: Americans never were alerted that the government was monitoring international phone messages and phone calls of U.S. citizens without obtaining a court warrant.

Leaks revealed: The classified National Security Administration warrantless wiretaps, secretly approved by President George W. Bush shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, were disclosed by the New York Times.

Postscript: In 2010, a federal court found the program to be illegal.
Great gains in the tech sector are a direct result of the ability to employ a bright, vibrant, diverse and skilled workforce. But today, our colleagues at U.S. technology companies in San Francisco and elsewhere are adjusting to federal policy changes that could affect nearly 85,000 foreign workers. These restrictions on U.S. entry hinder access to the best and brightest talent and threaten technological achievement in the United States and across the Americas.

The Mexican state of Jalisco understands your concerns and stands ready to work with you.

Those on the front lines of tech innovation must protect all that has enabled leaps and advancement in the industry. Jalisco, one of Mexicos technology hubs, welcomes talent from around the world, and is eager to work directly with U.S. tech companies to ensure that the pathway to innovation gains remains open  an achievement of which the Americas can be proud.

We offer our U.S. counterparts an opportunity to collaborate and forge partnerships with tech companies in Jalisco. Through the North American Free Trade Agreement, Mexico has a well-defined framework of legal and intellectual property protections. We extend this offer to you and your partners with no discrimination of origin, religion or legal status.

Jalisco was once known only as the birthplace of hot sauce and Tequila. Today, the state is undergoing an economic revolution. It has become a digital creative center with a thriving technology industry worth $21 billion.

With a population of nearly 8 million people, Jalisco boasts a range of cultures, religions, ethnicities and languages. The state offers an enviable quality of life in a community that is enriched thanks to the diversity of our people. Guadalajara, Jaliscos capital, is a business and tourism travel destination with direct flights just hours from major U.S. tech hubs including San Francisco, San Jose, and Austin, Texas.

We also are proud of our homegrown talent. Each year, 10,000 engineering graduates, from Jaliscos 25 universities and 62 technical institutes, enter the states high-tech workforce.

Jalisco is also a breeding ground for 400 tech startups, with expertise in virtual reality, augmented reality, 3-D printing, data analysis, robotics, drone labs, cognitive computing, cloud computing, cybersecurity and open-source developers. Jalisco exports consumer and industrial products and services to 25 countries around the globe.

The worlds technology giants know that to stay competitive, they must not only attract and retain the best talent, but also foster productive, innovative partnerships. We believe that a healthy economic and sustainable technological future requires expanded thinking and open doors. It also requires a diverse workforce with the skills to bring cutting-edge ideas to life.

Jalisco looks forward to supporting U.S. tech companies and forging prosperous and exciting business ventures together. Los esperamos!

Aristoteles Sandoval Diaz is a Mexican politician. He has been governor of the state of Jalisco since 2013.
While a growing number of Republicans in Congress are calling for investigations into the Trump campaigns communications with Russia last year, the president himself Thursday dismissed the story as fake news based on illegal leaks.

And thats good enough for Trumps supporters.

Trumps approval ratings are at record lows for recent presidents in their first month in office, and hes continually criticized for repeating contradictions and falsehoods. But his hard-core supporters faith appears to be unshakeable; his support among Republicans is higher than than of President Ronald Reagan at a similar point. It is their support of the first-time officeholder that emboldens him to stiff-arm the media and castigate leaks from the intelligence community, as he did during his rambling, 80-minute news conference Thursday.

To Trumps base, the president is facing blowback for doing what he promised he would do: take action  quickly.

In my view, (the Russian story) is complete BS, said Richard Jones, the former president of the Sun City Conservative Club outside Las Vegas. So, somebody from the organization may or may not have spoken to the Russians. So what? It could be as simple as trying to establish relations with them.

We share (Trumps) shock and disgust at these leaks that are coming out of the intelligence community, said Mark Munroe, chairman of the Republican Party of Mahoning County, Ohio, which is near Youngstown in the heart of the Rust Belt.

It suggests that there are people inside the administration who are trying to undermine him, Munroe said. The fact that people are talking to each other isnt troubling. I havent heard anything about the content of those conversations that would give me pause. I think what it is is Democrats lost a bitterly contested election.

On Thursday, a Pew Research poll found Trumps job approval rating is much lower than those of prior presidents in their first weeks in office: 39 percent approve of his job performance, while 56 percent disapprove.

But what the poll found striking is the intensity of peoples feelings toward the new president, as fully 75 percent either approve or disapprove of Trump strongly, according to the polls authors. The only time voters felt like that about a president was in 2008, the last year of George W. Bushs presidency, after he led the nation into two unpopular wars and a recession, when his approval rating sank to 22 percent.

Yet many of Trumps supporters from swing states Ohio and Nevada and the more conservative areas of California are in lockstep with many of the things Trump said during his often contentious news conference Thursday.

Like him, they blame the fake news media for the criticism of his first few weeks in office and emphasize that Democrat Hillary Clinton would have been a much worse choice for president. Trump just briefly mentioned Alexander Acosta, his new nominee for labor secretary after fast-food executive Andrew Puzder withdrew his nomination Wednesday, but he did name-check Clinton a dozen times.

When Trump is in campaign mode, his supporters love it.

Hes doing what he said hes going to do, said Jessica Thompson, a two-time Obama voter from Ohio who backed Trump in November. Hes got his list and hes not messing around. People dont expect politicians to go in and check off all the boxes of what they said theyre going to do. People complain when they dont do that, and now theyre complaining when someone is actually doing it.

While Trumps core supporters believe deeply in him, the rest of America is far more dubious of him than they were of previous presidents. At this early point in their presidency, 76 percent of Americans found Obama trustworthy, 60 percent found Bush that way, and 63 percent trusted Bill Clinton. But only 37 percent view Trump as trustworthy. Only 39 percent find say Trump is well-informed, according to Pew. Nearly twice as many Americans found Obama to be well-informed.

While some Democrats are frustrated that Trumps voters havent yet turned on him, they understand why.

These people will not be disabused by the fact that this guy wouldnt recognize the truth if it smacked him in the face, said Leo Jennings, a longtime Democratic political consultant in the Youngstown area.

The only thing that will erode his support is when no jobs come back from Mexico. Or when people lose their health care. Or in two years, when coal miners in West Virginia see there are no new jobs there, Jennings said. Then maybe the light will go on, because no amount of yelling and screaming and calling the guy a liar is going to change things.

But, Jennings said, Democrats cant just be the party of no. They have to start proposing things.

Meanwhile, Trump moves ahead, unabated by either criticism or self-reflection.

On Thursday, he continued to blame the media for the departure of Gen. Michael Flynn as his national security adviser  even though Trump accepted his resignation this week after it was revealed that Flynn provided false information to Vice President Mike Pence about his communications with Russia.

The session was often contentious, as the president spent most of the time attacking the media and offered few specifics of what he planned to do to help the working people who were one of his pivotal voting blocs. He mentioned fake news nearly two dozen times, but barely touched on his proposed tax cuts.

Nancy Hinton, a Trump voter from Stanislaus County, would like to see the United States and Russia cooperate militarily against the Islamic State. She worries that that as long as the courts forbid the administration from enforcing its travel ban, the country will be vulnerable.

Now is the perfect time for ISIS to send their people, because we have open borders now. And thats more scary than Russia. said Hinton, who is semiretired. She is concerned that some Americans are already practicing Sharia law.

But, like many Trump supporters, Hinton said, I think we need to back our president. He isnt doing anything he didnt say hed do.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli
Daly City and Pacifica residents might want to keep their Chihuahuas and kitties indoors for a while. Danger may be lurking behind potted plants.

Stacy Perez of Daly City's Serramonte neighborhood was surprised to find a pair of soulful eyes staring back at her Thursday from behind a jade plant on the side of her home near the back entrance. There was no mistaking the critter  it was a small coyote.
A vehicle chase that began in Pleasanton ended with a fleeing man driving a stolen van into a Dublin creek and escaping on foot Thursday morning, police said.

Pleasanton Police began pursuing the van  a 2002 Ford Econoline reported stolen in Oakland in early February  in Pleasanton at 2:43 a.m. Thursday.

The driver of the van made an illegal U-turn and ran a red light doing it, said Officer Jerry Nicely of the Pleasanton Police Department. An officer tried to make a traffic stop and then it spiraled from there.

The chase wound through Dublin, San Ramon and Dublin again, according to police.

In Dublin, police said, the suspect drove into an apartment complex on Dublin Meadows Street  a dead end. Rather than resign himself to arrest, however, he then tried to escape by twice ramming the police vehicle pursuing him, officials said.

When that was unsuccessful, he drove forward, catapulting the van through a chain link fence, over an embankment, and into Alamo Creek, near the Iron Horse Trail, officials reported. With the van submerged, the man ran off, police said.

Dublin Police helped Pleasanton Police establish a perimeter, and a K-9 unit assisted in searching the area, but the man was not found, according to police.

While searching the complex, police found clothing they believe the man discarded, police said. The man is estimated to be in his late 40s to early 50s.

Pleasanton police request that any member of the public with information on the case contact the department at at (925) 931-5100.

Filipa A. Ioannou is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: fioannou@sfchronicle.com
A San Francisco firefighter was injured in a blaze that broke out Thursday afternoon in a three-story home in citys Bayview neighborhood, an official said.

While trying to put out the flames at the residence in the 100 block of Apollo Street just after 1 p.m., the firefighter fell down a flight of stairs, injuring his wrist and hand, said Lt. Jonathan Baxter, a spokesman for the San Francisco Fire Department.
Oaklands assistant police chief ordered officers Thursday to immediately begin reporting unpermitted parties and illegally converted warehouses to their superiors  but in an erratic about-face, city officials rescinded the policy four hours later.

Assistant Police Chief David Downing sent a directive about 2 p.m. to the rank and file telling them to inform supervisors when they come across unsanctioned structures or events. In an email, Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson summarized the instructions as, Effective immediately, any member of OPD (sworn and civilian) who encounters an unlawful or unpermitted gathering (such as a rave, party, cabaret) or an unpermitted living space/structure within a warehouse, shall send an email message before end of shift to notify their supervisor and area captain.

But City Administrator Sabrina Landreth, who oversees the Police Department, sent a brief statement around 6 p.m. saying the directive was sent prematurely and that the city was still working on a policy.

Now, the police are back to having no policy on how to deal with potential hazards they see while on calls.

Questions over what officers do when they come across dangerous properties were raised last week after newly released city documents showed that officers had been in and out of the Ghost Ship warehouse on many occasions in the years before the building burned Dec. 2, killing 36 people during an unpermitted music event.

Code enforcers and fire inspectors had apparently never been told of the dangers inside the structure, ranging from a jury-rigged electrical system and makeshift kitchen to blocked escape routes and cluttered furniture. The art collective, home to about 20 people, had no sprinklers or smoke detectors.

Officers were repeatedly called to the warehouse for reports of fights, threats, weapons and other complaints, but whatever they may have seen inside was not passed along to those who could have shut down the operation or gotten it into compliance with city law.

Mayor Libby Schaafs spokeswoman, Erica Terry Derryck, said last week that officers are not trained to be building inspectors.

But a Chronicle report on Tuesday showed that three other Bay Area cities  San Francisco, San Jose and Richmond  have systems in place to ensure that police alert code enforcers when they come across properties with dangerous conditions. In those cities, police officers notify code inspectors soon after they come across potential hazards.

After the directive was pulled, Councilman Noel Gallo, who represents the Fruitvale district, commended Downing for his courage in sending it out. He said officers shouldnt have any doubts or questions about how to do their jobs.

Thats what the fire chief and all department heads should be doing in the first place because we are public servants here to provide public safety, he said. I dont know why the city administrator would challenge or question or take back that memorandum.

When I see a crime, if I dont report it, Im just as guilty as the guy committing the crime. The Ghost Ship was an example of a lack of cooperation and direction we have within the city of Oakland, he added.

Tony Ribera, a former San Francisco police chief and policing expert, said public safety necessitates that officers report dangerous conditions. Its unacceptable, he said, that they turn a blind eye out of eviction concerns.

We are a country of laws, and if they are unreasonable or discriminate against poor people, change the laws, he said. I do understand the sensitivity of the housing situation. But its not a matter of not being compassionate.

But Schaaf told The Chronicle last week that she was hesitant to enact a new communications policy, saying she wanted to mitigate unintended consequences, like a chilling effect on people calling 911. Representatives for her office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Jonah Strauss of the Oakland Warehouse Coalition was glad the directive was rescinded, calling it a license for persecution.

We are being targeted, broadly and vaguely and without the slightest understanding, he said shortly before Landreth issued her statement. This is a blatant abuse of the Ghost Ship tragedy in order to clamp down on arts and music in the town.

Since the fire, Oakland officials have been working to deal with 18 other illegally converted spaces throughout the city that could pose safety risks while also aiming to avoid displacements and evictions. The city is sorting out how to improve its channels of communication that hadnt been used to tackle conditions inside the Ghost Ship before the inferno.

The city administrators statement Thursday evening read: We are in the process of developing communication protocols within the Oakland Police Department. The email sent at 1:57 p.m. to OPD personnel was distributed prematurely and has been retracted.

Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @kveklerov
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Pacific Gas and Electric Co. says it will not appeal its felony convictions for violating safety laws and obstructing a federal investigation of the deadly San Bruno gas pipeline explosion, a step the utility calls part of its renewed commitment to public protection.

The announcement brought the criminal proceedings to an end and represented a turnabout for Californias largest public utility, which previously had hotly contested prosecutors accusations that it put profits ahead of safety.

In August, a jury in San Francisco convicted PG&E of five charges of failing to properly inspect and repair its aging pipelines and a sixth charge of interfering with the federal investigation of the September 2010 explosion that killed eight people, injured 58 and destroyed 38 homes in San Brunos Crestmoor neighborhood.

The blast was caused by a defective seam weld in a transmission pipeline that PG&E records had depicted as seamless. Current and former PG&E employees testified at the trial that the company had used low-cost inspection methods that its managers knew could not detect flaws inside the pipelines.

Jurors also found that PG&E had obstructed the federal investigation by trying to conceal its practice of pumping gas through the lines at pressures up to 10 percent above legal limits.

The state Public Utilities Commission fined PG&E a record $1.6 billion for the explosion, and the company has agreed to pay $565 million in announced settlements, and additional amounts in confidential settlements, to victims and their survivors.

PG&E fought the criminal charges in a six-week trial, in which it was acquitted of six additional charges of knowingly failing to keep accurate records. The company then asked U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson to throw out the convictions, arguing that the federal safety standards were unclear and that employees had done their best to comply.

But Henderson ruled in November that there was ample evidence PG&E had ignored or concealed hazards and had known of the dangers of its cost-cutting practices.

Facing only a modest fine of $3 million, after Henderson excluded evidence prosecutors needed to support a potential $562 million penalty, PG&E changed its stance and negotiated most of the terms of the sentence that the judge imposed on Jan. 26.

Besides the fine, the sentence included an independent monitor of PG&Es safety practices, 10,000 hours of community service by employees  including at least 2,000 by high-level officials  and newspaper and television advertisements in which the company must acknowledge its guilt and describe its plans to avoid future wrongdoing.

PG&E lawyers said at the sentencing hearing they would not appeal the five pipeline-safety convictions. This week, the company said it would not appeal any of the convictions or the sentence.

We want San Bruno and all of the communities we serve to know that we at PG&E have committed ourselves to a goal of transforming this company into the safest and most reliable energy provider in America and to re-earning their trust through our actions, the company said in a statement Thursday. Of course, words are not enough, and we expect to be judged through our actions.

San Bruno City Manager Connie Jackson said Friday she was encouraged but would remain watchful.

It has been our experience too many times over the last 6 years that the actions fall short of the representations, Jackson said. Were committed to supporting and encouraging PG&E in the direction that their statement says theyre going.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
The woman who faced life imprisonment last year for swiping a prominent politicians cell phone saw her case take a dramatic turn in San Francisco Superior Court on Thursday: As those in the courtroom applauded, a judge set a June date for LaSonya Wells release from jail  and requested a copy of her poetry.

Even the prosecutor representing the victim in the case, former San Francisco supervisor turned state Sen. Scott Wiener, clapped after Wells delivered a spoken-word piece she developed through numerous incarcerations for mostly drug-related offenses. Standing before the court in an orange sweatsuit, Wells read portions of her lengthy poem, which ponders:

I wonder if sunset  better yet if sunrise  and sunset respect each other even though theyve never met. If volcanoes get stressed. If storms have regrets. If compost believes in life after death. I wonder. I wonder where the moon goes when she is hiding. I want to find her there.

Do you have a copy of that for those of us who would appreciate it? Or is it all in your heart and your brain? Judge Jeffrey Ross asked Wells. I hope that the insights youve shown in your poetry will guide you.

Ross then sentenced Wells, 41, to three years of custody on a felony extortion charge. Under the terms of a plea agreement and with time she has served, Wells is expected to be released from the San Francisco jail in a few months after serving a year and a half.

Wells was convicted of taking Wieners iPhone from him at the 16th Street Mission BART Station in December 2015, accompanied by her 20-year-old son. Wiener quickly negotiated with Wells to accompany him to a nearby Wells Fargo ATM, paying $200 for the return of the phone.

The stakes of the case grew last year when the district attorneys office charged Wells with kidnapping for ransom in the theft  a charge that could have sent her to prison for life. Wells public defender, Yali Corea-Levy, fought for weeks to have the charge dropped. The case was resolved last month with the plea deal that led to Thursdays sentencing.

In a text message sent to The Chronicle, Wiener said he was satisfied with the result of the case. Although Ms. Wells and her son robbed me, threatened to mace me, and implied they would shoot me, the two had taken responsibility for their criminal acts, he said. Damian Wells, who is also in jail, is scheduled to be sentenced in June.

Wiener praised Wells for earning her high school diploma while in custody and wished her the best. I hope Ms. Wells gets her life on track, stays sober, and stops victimizing people, he wrote.

Supporters of Wells who attended her sentencing described her case as a reflection of the citys deep divides in wealth and the justice system. Wells, an African American woman, has lived on the street in and around the Mission Street station where the crime occurred for most of her life. She struggles with addiction after suffering extreme childhood trauma and a life of poverty and domestic abuse.

African American girls and women make up 6 percent of San Franciscos female population but account for nearly half of all females arrested in the city, according to a 2015 report by the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice.

Advocates and religious leaders who have visited Wells in jail and written letters on her behalf say she has a remarkable willingness to engage in self-reflection and an ability to inspire others. One former inmate told Ross that Wells encouraged her to attend recovery and Bible meetings and credits her with her progress in a Salvation Army rehabilitation program.

But even some who have rallied around Wells worry about her prospects for housing and sobriety without proper support.

I would hope that somehow this interaction could lead to something positive for the city of San Francisco, for LaSonya, and for the thousands of addicts we have roaming the streets of our city, Ramna Brandt, co-founder of the City Church of San Franciscos jail ministry, wrote to Wiener last March. Addicts are human beings who long for a different life. If they arent provided with resources to assist them, going back out to the streets simply perpetuates the cycle of addiction, violence, and crime.

Karen de Sa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kdesa@sfchronicle.com
Pet stores in San Francisco can only sell rescue animals under new legislation passed on Tuesday by the city's Board of Supervisors.

The board unanimously voted to amend the health code "to prohibit pet stores from selling dogs or cats not obtained from animal rescue organizations or shelters." The amendment will also prohibit "the sale of puppies or kittens under eight weeks old."
Mark Zuckerbergs long-term vision for Facebook, laid out in a sweeping post on the social network, sometimes sounds more like a utopian social guide than a business plan. Are we, he asks, building the world we all want?

While most people now use Facebook to connect with friends and family, Zuckerberg hopes that the social network can encourage more civic engagement, an informed public and community support in the years to come. Facebook has nearly 2 billion members, which makes it larger than any nation.

His 5,800-word essay positions Facebook in direct opposition to a rising tide of isolationism and fear of outsiders, both in the U.S. and abroad. In a phone interview with the Associated Press, Zuckerberg stressed that he wasnt motivated by the election or any other particular event. Rather, he said, its the growing sentiment in many parts of the world that connecting the world  the founding idea behind Facebook  is no longer a good thing.

Across the world there are people left behind by globalization, and movements for withdrawing from global connection, Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook in a Harvard dorm room in 2004, wrote on Thursday. In times like these, the most important thing we at Facebook can do is develop the social infrastructure to give people the power to build a global community that works for all of us.

Today, most of Facebooks 1.86 billion members  about 85 percent  live outside of the U.S. and Canada. The company has offices from Amsterdam to Jakarta to Tel Aviv. (It is banned in China, though some people get around it.) Naturally, Zuckerberg takes a global view of Facebook and sees potential that goes beyond borders, cities and nations.

And that could allow the social network to step up as more traditional cultural ties fray. People already use Facebook to connect with strangers who have the same rare disease, to post political diatribes, to share news links (and sometimes fake news links). Facebook has also pushed its users to register to vote, to donate to causes, to mark themselves safe after natural disasters, and to go live. For many, its become a utility. Some 1.23 billion people use it daily.

Internet

Project Loon

hopes to soar

For its next trick, an Internet-beaming balloon factory spun out of Google believes it can outmaneuver the wind.

In doing so, the 4-year-old Project Loon says it will be able to bring remote parts of the world online more quickly with a smaller fleet of the balloons than it previously thought.

Engineers involved in the eccentric project, a part of the X Lab owned by Alphabet, say they have come up with algorithms that enable the high-flying balloons to do a better job anticipating shifting wind conditions so they hover above masses of land for several months instead of orbiting the earth.

The need for fewer balloons should lower Project Loons costs and accelerate plans to start selling Internet-services subscriptions to consumers and businesses.

Astro Teller, who runs the X Lab, declined to provide a specific timetable for when Project Loon might start selling internet access plans.

Meeting with reporters Thursday at Xs headquarters in Mountain View, Teller said the project hopes to team up with a telecommunications provider within the next few months to begin testing how well the balloons new navigational system will work. He likened the newly developed algorithms objectives to a game of chess with the wind.

If the algorithms prevail in their meteorological battle, Project Loon hopes to need only 10 to 30 beams floating about 60,000 feet above the earth to transmit high-speed Internet signals to a target market, instead of up to 400 balloons orbiting the globe. Keeping the balloons in smaller clusters will also make them easier to locate and retrieve once they descend back to land after several months, Teller said.

Autos

UAW eyes

Tesla plant

The United Auto Workers has sent organizers to help employees organize Teslas electric-car plant, a move that  if successful  would give the union the presence its long sought beyond legacy U.S. automakers factories.

Tesla workers have contacted the union to seek assistance organizing, and the UAW is in discussion with them, union president Dennis Williams told reporters during a roundtable Thursday in Detroit. He said organizers have received complaints about long hours and potentially unsafe conditions at Teslas Fremont plant.

Chronicle News Services
WASHINGTON  Top House Republicans unveiled a rough sketch of a massive health care overhaul to rank-and-file lawmakers Thursday, but a lack of detail, cost estimates and GOP unity left unresolved the problem thats plagued them for years: Whats the partys plan and can Congress pass it?

At a closed-door meeting in the Capitol basement, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and other party leaders described a broad vision for voiding much of former President Barack Obamas 2010 statute and replacing it with conservative policies. It features a revamped Medicaid program for the poor, tax breaks to help people pay doctors bills and federally subsidized state pools to assist those with costly medical conditions in buying insurance.
1 San Bernardino shooting: A California man who bought high-powered rifles used in the terror attack that killed 14 people pleaded guilty on Thursday as the father of one of the victims angrily denounced the plea deal as a slap on the wrist. Enrique Marquez Jr. appeared in federal court in Riverside with his hands cuffed and chained to his waist. He sounded choked up after the prosecutor described what he had done. Marquez told the judge understood the allegations and the consequences of the plea agreement with prosecutors that could bring him up to 25 years in prison while sparing him a trial.

2 Castle doctrine: A police officer wont face charges for fatally shooting an intruder at his suburban St. Louis home who had argued with the officer online over the Black Lives Matter movement, according to a prosecutors report released Thursday. Prosecutor Bob McCulloch concluded that the officer acted reasonably and lawfully when he shot Tyler Gebhard, 20, on July 9. McCulloch cited a Missouri law, known as the castle doctrine, that allows homeowners to use lethal force against intruders. Authorities have not named the officer, who was not on duty when the confrontation occurred. The officers wife, mother-in-law, 2-year-old daughter and 2-month-old daughter were in the familys home when Gebhard broke in by throwing a 50-pound concrete planter through a window. The officer confronted the intruder as his family hid in a bedroom.
1 Bomb plot: A Florida man is accused in a plot to blow up several Target stores in an attempt to acquire cheap stock if the companys market value plunged after the explosions. Mark Charles Barnett, 48, was charged in a complaint Thursday with possession of a firearm affecting commerce by a previously convicted felon, according to prosecutors. Barnett, a registered sex offender, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. A team of federal, state and local officials arrested Barnett on Tuesday in Ocala. According to an affidavit, Barnett offered to pay another man $10,000 to place at least 10 explosives disguised in food-item packaging on store shelves from New York to Florida.

2 Officer charged: An Amtrak police officer has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a man outside Chicagos Union Station, prosecutors said Friday. LaRoyce Tankson is charged in the Feb. 8 shooting of Chad Robertson, 25, who died Wednesday, the Cook County States Attorneys office said. Tankson, 31, surrendered to police Thursday. Robertson was taking a bus from Memphis to Minneapolis and was on a stopover in Chicago when the shooting occurred. Robertson and two friends went to Union Station to stay warm while they waited for their onward bus, Robertsons sister, Nina Robertson, has said. Officers confronted and searched them, Robertson ran, and one of the officers opened fire. Police said they found cash and narcotics on Robertson, but no weapon.
WASHINGTON  Donald Trumps nominee to run the Environmental Protection Agency, a climate change skeptic who has for years been an ardent critic of the department he will now lead, got final Senate approval Friday after a prolonged assault from environmentalists.

The nomination of former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt for the post has been one of the most bitterly fought since Trump took office last month, pitting a crusader for fossil fuel interests who has sued the agency 14 times against an environmental movement that is scrambling to preserve what it can of actions President Barack Obama took to curb climate change and protect natural resources.

Democrats held the Senate floor overnight into Friday urging colleagues to join them in opposing Pruitt  or at least to support their efforts to delay the vote. Their pleas came as a judge in Oklahoma issued an order for Pruitt to turn over thousands of email exchanges with oil and gas companies he has long kept secret. Those documents are to be made public Tuesday.

But Republican leaders would not delay the vote, which was 52-46. Pruitt was later sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

Republicans were eager to confirm Pruitt swiftly, following the collapse of Trumps nominee to run the Labor Department, Andrew Puzder, and the political fallout lawmakers endured from the rocky confirmation proceedings of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. The DeVos fight had caused the Capitol switchboard to light up with an unprecedented number of angry phone calls from constituents.

Democrats had spent the night detailing all of the ways Pruitt had worked to undermine mainstream climate science and crusade on behalf of the oil and gas industry. They paraded into the Senate chambers with charts and other presentations that detailed the effects of climate change. By Friday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., declared that Pruitt personified what he declared to be the worst Cabinet, I think, in the history of America. Certainly in my lifetime.

Evan Halper is a Tribune Co. writer.
CAPE CANAVERAL  For decades it has stood like a skyscraper on the Florida coast, its spire stretching more than 400-feet high. The kings and queens of the cosmos  astronauts from Apollo and the shuttle eras, including Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins  have zipped to the top of its tower to get one last view of the waves lapping the Florida coast before launching into space.

But in 2011, when the space shuttle was retired and NASA could no longer fly humans into space, NASAs Launch Complex 39A went dormant, a symbol of a once-great era rusting away in the salt air.

Now the venerable site is about to come back to life. If all goes according to plan, SpaceX, the commercial space venture founded by Elon Musk, plans to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from the pad on Saturday morning, the first since the shuttle era.

While SpaceX has plans to eventually fly NASA astronauts from 39A, Saturdays launch will have no passengers, and instead carry 5,500 pounds of cargo and experiments for the International Space Station.

The pad hosted six of the Apollo lunar launches, including Apollo 11, the first mission to land humans on the moon. And it was also the stage for many shuttle missions, earning it a place on the National Register of Historic Places.

In an interview last year, Musk said he was grateful to be able to lease the site from NASA.

I think its a great honor, and I have incredible respect for the hallowed ground that it is, he said. I would have never imagined that we would have the same opportunity to launch from the same launch pad as Apollo 11.

The resurrection of 39A, which SpaceX has spent years renovating, is yet another step in the transformation of NASAs Kennedy Space Center into what officials here call a multi-user space port. NASA and the Air Force, which operates the adjacent Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, have leased out large swaths of the area to commercial companies that are taking over roles that traditionally were the exclusive domain of the government.

In a statement, NASA said that SpaceXs launch from 39A will mark a turning point for Kennedys transition to a multi-user spaceport geared to support public and private missions, as well as those conducted in partnership with NASA.

About 10 minutes after the launch, scheduled for 10:01 a.m. Saturday, SpaceX will once again attempt to land its booster on a landing pad it has built here. Traditionally, the first stages of rockets were ditched into the ocean. But SpaceX has been able to successfully recover several of its boosters. Later this year it plans to re-fly one of its used boosters, which it calls flight proven, for the first time.

This year, the company also plans to launch the maiden flight of its Falcon Heavy, a much more powerful rocket that has been under development for years. SpaceX plans to use the Falcon Heavy to launch its Red Dragon spacecraft to Mars by as early as 2018 in an uncrewed mission.

SpaceX has another launch site here, pad 40. But it was damaged significantly when a Falcon 9 rocket exploded in September while being fueled ahead of an engine test.

Christian Davenport is a Washington Post writer.
WASHINGTON  President Trump said Thursday his administration has asked a New York-based private equity executive to lead a review of the U.S. intelligence community as he moves to crack down on illegal leaks of classified information.

Trump told reporters that Stephen Feinberg, co-founder of Cerberus Capital Management, is a very talented man, very successful man who has offered his services.

Trump added, I think that we are gonna be able to straighten it out very easily on its own.

Feinberg has been asked to make recommendations on improvements to efficiency and coordination between the various intelligence agencies, a senior White House official said earlier Thursday. Feinbergs position is not official until he completes an ethics review, the official said.

The news emerged as Trump seeks to replace national security adviser Michael Flynn, who resigned at Trumps request this week.

Feinberg was among the economic advisers for Trumps presidential campaign. Cerberus Capital Management, a firm with $30 billion in investments, is deeply rooted in the Republican establishment. Former Vice President Dan Quayle is the firms head of global investment, and former Treasury Secretary John W. Snow, who served under President George W. Bush, is the firms chairman.

Democrats were less enthusiastic than Trump about the choice of Feinberg.

While we must always be open to improving organization and coordination among intelligence agencies, taken in concert with the large number of troubling statements President Trump has made denigrating our nations intelligence professionals, I am extremely concerned that this appointment signals a desire by the administration to marginalize the role of the DNI or even take unprecedented steps to politicize intelligence operations, Warner said. The DNI is the director of national intelligence.

Many intelligence professionals are viewing this as another slight by the Trump White House, according to a former senior U.S. intelligence officer who spoke only on condition of anonymity out of concern for putting former colleagues at risk. They already are worried about politicization of the intelligence product and fear this could be a way to hinder their ability to provide information that might contradict the White Houses political views, the official said.

Michael Hayden, former director of both the CIA and the National Security Agency, said the White House can review inefficiencies within the intelligence community but should not attempt to exert control over the agencies findings.

Vivian Salama and Deb Riechmann are Associated Press writers.
WASHINGTON  President Trump said Thursday that he will nominate former Justice Department official Alexander Acosta as labor secretary after his first pick, fast-food executive Andy Puzder, withdrew.

If confirmed, Acosta would be the only Latino in Trumps Cabinet.

I think hell be a tremendous secretary of labor, Trump said in announcing the pick at a White House news conference.

The Miami native and son of Cuban immigrants was assistant attorney general for the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division under former President George W. Bush from 2003 to 2005. Acosta was the first Latino to serve as an assistant attorney general.

He then became U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, holding the job until 2009. Among his most high-profile cases was the prosecution of Washington, D.C., lobbyist Jack Abramoff on conspiracy and wire fraud charges. Abramoff pleaded guilty and served 43 months of a five-year, 10-month sentence.

Since 2009, Acosta has been dean of the law school at Florida International University in Miami.

Before joining the Justice Department, he served as a member of the National Labor Relations Board from 2002 to 2003. He began his legal career specializing in employment and labor issues in the Washington, D.C., office of the Kirkland & Ellis law firm.

He has had a tremendous career, Trump said, noting that Acosta has been confirmed by the Senate three times before.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which will consider Acostas nomination, praised the pick and promised to schedule a hearing promptly.

Mr. Acostas nomination is off to a good start because hes already been confirmed by the Senate three times, Alexander said. He has an impressive work and academic background.

Puzder, chief executive of CKE Restaurants Inc., parent company of the Carls Jr. and Hardees chains, withdrew the day before his Senate confirmation hearing after several Republicans opposed him because of a series of controversies, including admitting he had for years employed a housekeeper who was in the U.S. illegally and decades-old allegations of spousal abuse.

Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said the Senate needed to conduct a thorough review of Acosta after Puzders failed nomination.

Our next secretary of labor must fully respect our laws designed to protect American workers, Henderson said.

Jim Puzzanghera is a Los Angeles Times writer.
WASHINGTON  The combative attorney President Trump picked as his ambassador to Israel sought to repair the damage from past attacks on political opponents, telling Congress he deeply regretted using inflammatory language and promised to be respectful and measured should he be confirmed.

During his confirmation hearing Thursday, David Friedman said he deserved criticism for incendiary comments that targeted former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, liberal Jewish advocacy groups and others. Friedman had called one group, J Street, worse than kapos  a reference to Jews who helped the Nazis imprison fellow Jews during the Holocaust.

Apology is the first step to atonement, Friedman told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. I have profound differences of opinion with J Street. My regret is that I did not express my views respectfully.

The son of an Orthodox rabbi, Friedman has been a fervent supporter of Israeli settlements, an opponent of Palestinian statehood and staunch defender of Israels government.

The hearing played out along familiar party lines. Republicans largely sought to play to the Trump nominees strengths, while Democrats aimed for weak spots. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., vigorously defended Friedman and rejected the notion that he needed to distance himself from passionately held beliefs. Rubio argued the U.S. should be unashamedly pro-Israel, noting that the Jewish state is Americas staunchest ally in the volatile Middle East.

But Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., delivered a blistering assessment of Friedmans record, which the senator said is full of insulting comments and extreme views. Friedman labels anyone who disagrees with him, including the entire Obama State Department, as anti-Semitic, Udall said.

Udall referenced a letter from five former American ambassadors to Israel who called Friedman unfit for the post. The former envoys, who served Republican and Democratic presidents, cited examples of Friedmans extreme, radical positions, such as believing it would not be illegal for Israel to annex the occupied West Bank.

During the hearing, Friedman assured members he would not campaign for such an annexation. He also cautioned against the expansion of settlements in the West Bank. It makes sense to tread very carefully there, Friedman said, echoing words used by Trump.

The letter opposing Friedmans nomination was signed by Thomas Pickering, William Harrop, Edward Walker, Daniel Kurtzer and James Cunningham.

Friedman said he absolutely supports a two-state solution, but said hes skeptical such an approach can succeed because Palestinians havent renounced terrorism and have refused to accept Israel as a Jewish state. But he said he would be delighted if it were possible to reach a two-state agreement.

Friedman appeared before the committee a day after Trump and visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to endorse the two-state solution as the preferred outcome of Middle East peace talks. Their remarks at the White House effectively abandoned what has been the foundation of U.S.-led peace efforts since 2002. The Palestinians and the international community have long favored the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

But Trump declared he also could endorse a one-nation solution to the long and deep dispute between Palestinians and Israel.

Prior to the hearing, Friedman had called the two-state strategy a narrative and an illusory solution in search of a nonexistent problem.

Protesters interrupted Friedman during his opening remarks. Two men, minutes apart, stood and shouted pro-Palestinian slogans. They each held up Palestinian flags before being removed by the Capitol police.

Richard Lardner is an Associated Press writer.
OLYMPIA, Wash.  The Washington Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that a florist who refused to provide services for a same-sex wedding broke the states antidiscrimination law.

Barronelle Stutzman, a florist in Richland, Wash., had been fined by a lower court for denying service to a gay couple in 2013. Stutzman said she was exercising her First Amendment rights, and her lawyers immediately said they would ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Thursdays decision.

She had previously sold the couple flowers and knew they were gay. However, Stutzman told them that she couldnt provide flowers for their wedding because same-sex marriage was incompatible with her Christian beliefs.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson and the couple sued her, saying she broke state antidiscrimination and consumer protection laws, and the lower court agreed. The states nine high court justices upheld that verdict.

The case thrust the great-grandmother into the national spotlight, and she testified before state lawmakers in Indiana and Kansas.

Michael Scott, a Seattle attorney who worked with the American Civil Liberties Union to represent Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed  the couple denied the flowers  had previously told justices he didnt believe Stutzmans floral creations constituted speech.

By providing flowers for a same-sex marriage, he argued, shes not endorsing same-sex marriage. Shes selling what she sells.

Ferguson had said the states argument rested on long-standing principle, and uprooting it would weaken antidiscrimination law.

After the arguments in the Supreme Court case in November, at a packed theater at Bellevue College, a large crowd of Stutzmans supporters greeted her outside, chanting her name and waving signs that said Justice for Barronelle.

In a February ruling, Benton County Superior Court Judge Alexander Ekstrom found that Stutzmans refusal to provide flowers because of sexual orientation violated Washingtons antidiscrimination and consumer protection laws.

She has been fined $1,000, plus $1 in court costs and fees.

Stutzman entered the florist business 30 years ago, when her mother bought a flower shop and she started as a delivery person.

Rachel La Corte is an Associated Press writer.
Carlye Calvin/Associated Press

CHEYENNE, Wyo.  A new supercomputer in the top coal-mining state has begun critical climate-change research with support from even some global warming doubters, but scientists worry President Trump could cut funding for such programs.

The $30 million, house-sized supercomputer named Cheyenne belongs to a federally funded research center. It got to work a few weeks ago crunching numbers for several ambitious projects, from modeling air currents at wind farms to figuring out how to better predict weather months to years in advance.
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A man died after losing control of his sedan while driving along the Oakland estuary on rain-slicked roads Friday morning, an official said.

The man went off the road around 8 a.m. while headed north on Doolittle Drive just before Langley Street, near Oakland International Airport, said Battalion Chief Tracey Chin of the Oakland Fire Department.

Four people reportedly witnessed the crash, officials said.

The mans name was withheld by the Alameda County coroners bureau, pending notification of next of kin.

Along with the Fire Department, the Alameda County Sheriffs Office, the Oakland Police Department and the U.S. Coast Guard went to the scene to assist in the recovery effort, Chin said.

The response included two rescue swimmers from the Oakland Fire Department, one rescue swimmer from the Coast Guard, and a Coast Guard rescue boat from the San Francisco station, according to Coast Guard Petty Officer Loumania Stewart.

Drivers reported seeing the car plunge into the estuary, but the sedan had sunk below the surface of the water by the time first responders reached the scene, Chin said.

At 9:51 a.m., the car was located, a towline was attached, and the car was dragged from the water, Stewart said. All doors were closed, the windows were raised, and the driver was found inside and pronounced deceased.

It was the second such crash in a little more than a month on the same stretch of roadway. A San Leandro cab driver went into the estuary and died in early January in similar wet weather.

The stretch of roadway doesnt have a guardrail, but its not clear whether that would have made a difference in either case. The Oakland Police Department was conducting an investigation into the cause of the accident.

As with any wet weather driving, the big thing is to definitely proceed with caution, Chin said.

Filipa A. Ioannou and Michael Bodley are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: fioannou@sfchronicle.com, mbodley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @obioannoukenobi, @michael_bodley
A 27-year-old assailant  who nearly ran over a pedestrian in a San Francisco crosswalk only to pull a U-turn and come back to shoot the man  has been released from jail after taking a plea deal, officials said Thursday.

Easy Chang pleaded guilty to a felony count of assault with a firearm related to the Aug. 31, 2014, attack that left a victim with two gunshot wounds in the citys Western Addition, the district attorneys office said.

In exchange for the guilty plea, Chang was credited for the time hes served since his October 2014 arrest, said Alex Bastian, a spokesman for the San Francisco district attorneys office.

Chang was initially charged with attempted murder and assault with a firearm. The case, though, was complicated for prosecutors seeking a guilty verdict at trial because Changs brother was also identified as the suspect.

The brother, who was in the Bay Area for the Labor Day weekend, also had access to the vehicle used in the attack, Bastian said. Only one person was in the car at the time of the shooting.

More for you Arrest in shocking S.F. road rage shooting

Chang is a military veteran with no previous criminal record. No gun was ever recovered.

He will serve the remainder of his sentence under the supervision of the citys Veterans Justice Court. Chang was released from custody on Feb. 10, according to San Francisco County Jail records, and is due for sentencing on March 15.

The victim, who was not identified and was 37 years old at the time of the shooting, has since recovered.

The attack happened as the victim crossed Golden Gate Avenue near Broderick Street. He was nearly struck by Chang, who drove through the crosswalk without yielding, police said.

When the victim shouted at the driver, police said Chang stopped his car in a driveway about 30 feet away and opened fire. Chang then drove back toward the pedestrian and shot him again, officials said.

The victim was initially treated at a hospital for life-threatening injuries.

Investigators circulated a police sketch of the driver in the days after the shooting and later identified Chang as the gunman. He was arrested six weeks later, on Oct. 14, 2014.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky
San Leandro Police Department / San Leandro Police Department

Police in San Leandro on Thursday said they were searching for the driver of a white van that could have been involved in an apparent road rage shooting that left a father of two dead over the weekend.

As 45-year-old Wardell Taliaferro drove west on Marina Boulevard through Verna Court just before 10 p.m. Sunday with his girlfriend and two children inside, shots were fired, police said.
This op-ed originally appeared in The Daily Californian. It is reprinted here with permission and updates from the authors.

The fascists of the future will be called anti-fascists, said the great Huey Long long ago. On Feb. 1, we found out who the real fascists on this campus are, and they are not the Berkeley College Republicans.

Many have taken to the media to state that what happened Wednesday night was not representative of the Berkeley communitys values as a whole. We must disagree. The narrative has largely been that peaceful protesters were infiltrated by several dozen black bloc anarchists, thereby ascribing innocence to the hundreds of students who cheered as pandemonium unfolded on Sproul Plaza, and who cheered in elation when Milo Yiannopoulos speech was called off.

The Berkeley community is guilty by association. Students who exercised their right to free speech by protesting stood idly by as the black bloc destroyed their campus and surrounding areas; they stood idly by as Yiannopoulos fans were pepper-sprayed and beaten. No  by and large, the student protesters danced as the campus burned, putting the Roman Emperor Nero to shame.

Shutting down Milo Yiannopoulos is not some cute phrase that can bandied about without a second thought  it expressly indicates the use of violence to silence the free speech of others. Let us do what the administrators, faculty and your peers have all failed to do: inform you that you cannot legally shut down Milo Yiannopoulos. This is is not civil disobedience, this is not the principled defiance of laws in protest of some unjust arrangement  this is political terrorism. Keep this in mind the next time you decide to use the pen to justify the sword.

As evidenced by the slew of op-eds published by The Daily Californian, the use of violence to obtain power over ideological minorities such as the Berkeley College Republicans is by no means a fringe position here. The day after the chaos, an individual came up to the Berkeley College Republicans tent; smiling, he said it was perfectly acceptable to punch people he suspects of being white supremacists or those who support them. If this does not trouble you, then you too are part of the problem.

Let the Berkeley College Republicans also firmly rebut the conspiracy theory repeatedly espoused by Professor Robert Reich on national television, that Milo Yiannopoulos organized the black bloc anarchist attack for the sole purpose of giving President Trump an excuse to pull UC Berkeleys federal funding. Not only is this fanciful claim wholly unsubstantiated and incredibly irresponsible, it is beneath the dignity of an academic and so recognizable a UC Berkeley professor.

Professor Reichs ludicrous statements constitute an insult to the Berkeley College Republicans, who risked their personal safety to invite Milo Yiannopoulos to campus, and who continue to face harassment and abuse at the hands of the very anti-fascists Professor Reich so ardently attempts to absolve of all blame. It would be wise for Professor Reich to apologize and retract his statements on this matter, although that might be too much to hope for.

Groups such as By Any Means Necessary  whose leader recently called for more militant protests of the sort seen at Berkeley  labeled their protest a success. We beg to differ. Milo Yiannopoulos will, without qualification, return to Berkeleys campus, probably with Alex Jones of InfoWars in tow. The Berkeley College Republicans and conservative students on this campus have not and will never be silenced.

The more riots the black bloc incites, the more support we receive from across the United States in opposition to the fascist tactics of self-styled anti-fascists. The more abuse and harassment we suffer, the more controversial speakers we will invite to campus. We proceed fearlessly because we know we have the president of the United States and the United States Constitution on our side. The Berkeley College Republicans are the new Free Speech Movement. We invite you to join us.

Troy Worden is a member of the Berkeley College Republicans and Pieter Sittler is the internal vice president of the Berkeley College Republicans.
The French Laundrys most recent evolution began modestly enough four years ago. Chef Thomas Keller wanted to remodel the wine cellar.

Fast-forward about 1,460 days and the Yountville fine-dining destination is nearing the end of a multimillion-dollar renovation and expansion, anchored by a new state-of-the-art kitchen.

The projects price tag has surpassed $10 million, and the overall scope of the work encompasses a 2,120-square-foot annex, 9,000 square feet of landscape design and a rebuilt wine cellar capable of housing 16,000 selections.

Further portions of the revamp, such as the entrance, will not be finished or unveiled until the spring, according to the French Laundry team. But Saturday, Feb. 18, will be the restaurants first dinner service, with a $310 tasting menu, since the kitchen was completed.

All it took was four years and, according to general manager Michael Minnillo, some patience.

Were in our 23rd year, and were still that same group that wants to drive this profession, he said.

Keller collaborated on the project with Snohetta, an architecture and design firm with Norwegian roots and offices in Austria, New York and San Francisco. The joint effort led to aesthetics that showcase a sleek, stylish yet minimalist concept.

Prior to the French Laundry, Snohetta spearheaded the $305 million expansion of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Kellers new digs are steeped in functionality. For example, the restaurant is moving away from the walk-in refrigerators seen in most restaurants and toward smaller, more efficient coolers. The counters are elevated so kitchen staff wont have to stoop their shoulders while using a cutting board.

The improvements were the result of research. The Snohetta team spent time in Kellers kitchen, learning the needs of high-level chefs. The kitchen not only has more natural light and better acoustics for communication among team members, but its also lined with windows so guests can see the inner workings of the French Laundry operation.

Minnillo, who has been with the restaurant since the 1990s, said a key characteristic of the design is efficiency. Everything from the spacing of work stations to the height of cabinets plays a role, he said.

Executive pastry chef Elwyn Boyles, who oversees the dessert menus for both the French Laundry and New York sister restaurant Per Se, reiterated Minnillos sentiments  functionality is key.

Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

The old kitchen was great but we outgrew it as a staff, Boyles said.

Snohettas design increased the size of the kitchen by about 25 percent, according to the company.

The ceilings are reminiscent of flowing table cloths, both for aesthetics and practical use, as they obscure equipment on the kitchens ceiling.

The renovation, while planned years ago, is being completed at a unique time for both the French Laundry and the Bay Area dining scene, as storied dining destinations are no longer surviving on reputation alone.

Keller has said in the past he doesnt plan to distance the restaurant from its roots. The menu still changes daily and remains an amalgamation of French tradition and high-quality ingredients. Still, the project is wrapping up less than a year after New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells stripped Kellers Per Se of its perfect rating, instead describing a slow creep of mediocrity. In the aftermath, Keller expressed a renewed vigor for righting the ship.

Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

While the conversations about French Laundry are layered with story lines, Minnillo said outside influences have nothing to do with whats happening on the Yountville property. The changes are the result of progressive thinking, the heartbeat of French Laundry over the decades, he said.

Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

Were constantly changing everything everyday, Minnillo said. I tell the team all the time, were trailblazers. We have to do it for the profession. Were always cutting-edge, from concepts to food to designs.

Justin Phillips is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @JustMrPhillips
Q: I recently booked a flight through American Airlines website for my son to fly from Los Angeles to Madrid. Within 24 hours, I canceled the flight. My son spoke to American on the phone, and was told that the refund would be credited to my credit card soon.

Its been more than a month. My credit card payment is due in three days, and the charge still shows as pending review. Can you help?

Sampath Radhakrishna, Cupertino

A: Your sons reservation fell under the 24-hour rule, which says that if you cancel an airline ticket within a day of making the reservation, youre entitled to a full and prompt refund. (Certain restrictions apply for last-minute tickets.)

How prompt? Well, thats the problem. When a refund is due, the airline must forward a credit to your card company within seven business days after receiving a complete refund application, according to the Department of Transportation. But the credit may take a month or two to appear on your statement.

Your son was at about the one-month mark. Hed been left with the impression that the refund would be issued soon, and had interpreted that as less than a month. In fact, American would have been well within its rights to wait two months before returning the money.

Lets pause for a moment to consider the absurdity of this situation. An airline is allowed to keep your money for two months  can you say interest-free loan?  while the rest of us must pay our bills promptly. Oh, and how long does it take American to withdraw the money from your account? Seconds.

Something just isnt right with this. American should have returned the money  in seconds.

This isnt an American Airlines problem, or even an airline problem. Corporate America creates rules in its favor that allow it to benefit from holding on to your money for a few extra weeks. Ive asked executives about the sluggish refund process, and theyve told me, with a straight face, that the problem is exacerbated by credit card billing cycles and overly cautious accounting processes. I think thats nonsense. If they benefited from speedy refunds, they would have figured out a way to send you the money instantly. But they have no motive, so here we are.

A brief, polite email to one of Americans customer-service executives might have shaken a check loose from the accounting department. I list their names, numbers and emails on my consumer-advocacy site: http://elliott.org/company-contacts/American.

I contacted American, and it informed me that your refund has been processed  hopefully in time for you to avoid paying a big credit card bill.

Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine. Find travel tips at www.elliott.org. E-mail: chris@elliott.org Twitter: @elliottdotorg
ISLAMABAD  A brutal attack on a beloved Sufi shrine that killed 88 people raised fears that the Islamic State has become emboldened in Pakistan, aided by an army of homegrown militants benefiting from hideouts in neighboring Afghanistan, analysts and officials said Friday.

Pakistani security forces have carried out sweeping country-wide raids following Thursdays bombing of the shrine in Pakistans southern Sindh province that also wounded 343 people. The militarys public relations wing reported on its official Twitter account that more than 100 suspected terrorists were killed in the raids, while government officials lashed out at Kabul accusing the Afghan government of ignoring earlier pleas to crackdown on militant hideouts.

Zahid Hussain, an expert on militants in the region, said a toxic mix of violent Sunni militant groups, many belonging to banned groups that are flourishing under new names, have wrapped themselves in the banner of the Islamic State.

The Islamic State might not have a strong organizational structure in Pakistan but we have thousands of members of banned groups sympathetic to the (their) ideology, Hussain said. They subscribe to the Islamic State world view.

Thursdays terror attack  Pakistans deadliest in years  stunned the nation and raised questions about the authorities ability to rein in militant groups despite several military offensives targeting militant hideouts.

It also threatened to drive a deeper wedge between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Islamabad quickly lashed out at Kabul, saying the bombing was masterminded in militant sanctuaries across the border in Afghanistan, whose own security forces have been assaulted by Islamic State fighters.

Pakistans Army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa spoke by phone with U.S. Gen John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, to protest militant sanctuaries on Afghan soil, according to a statement on the militarys official twitter account. Bajwa said the Afghan government was not taking action against the hideouts and warned that its inaction was testing our current policy of cross border restraint, without further elaborating.

In Thursdays attack, the suicide bomber walked into the main hall at the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sehwan in southern Sindh province, and detonated his explosives among a crowd of attendees.

Kathy Gannon is an Associated Press writer.
RAFAT AHMAD/AFP/Getty Images

BEIRUT  The Syrian government and an opposition monitoring group condemned Friday what they called Turkeys crimes against the Syrian people in the northern town of al-Bab that is controlled by the Islamic State. Meanwhile, a top Turkish military official said most of the town is under control of allied Syrian opposition fighters.

Turkish troops and allied opposition fighters have been on the offensive in al-Bab for weeks trying to take it from Islamic State, a grueling battle that has killed hundreds of people so far. On Feb. 7, the Turkish offensive on the town intensified in an attempt to capture it from the extremists but the push has been slow because of fierce resistance from Islamic State fighters.
A Day Without an Immigrant

Santa Fe showed up strong to the more-or-less impromptu protest. Dozens of locally owned businesses around town closed their doors in solidarity with immigrant employees. Others stayed open, saying it was a way to make their own voice heard or that they planned to donate a portion of the day's proceeds.

Rep Wants More Answers from ICE

Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham says Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials aren't sharing enough about their

or who agents are apprehending. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus requested the meeting, though some of their members were

because they weren't on the guest list.

Tough Timing for Border Patrol

After Tuesday's raids in Las Cruces, the immigrant community was on edge. When the US Border Patrol

, many worried it signaled the start of a new enforcement effort in places previously considered off-limits. It wasn't. The school said the law enforcement vehicle was there for a partners-in-education event.

House Panel Passes Ethics Reform

A proposed constitutional amendment that would create an independent ethics commission with the power to investigate legislators and elected officials unanimously

a House committee. The measure is one of several that purport to be a way to hold public officials accountable. With the session in its second half, the resolution moves on to another committee.

Lying Water Systems Bill Blocked

A bill that would make it a felony for a public water system to lie to the state Environment Department was

yesterday, as Republicans rallied around Rep. James Strickler, who represents the district where the Animas Valley Water system operates. The state says the system gave it false water quality data to cover up serious problems.

Dam! Could It Happen Here?

That old standby story was in full effect as KOAT-TV looked at whether the government officials who monitor dam safety were worried about New Mexico's earthfill damswhich mirror the design of the compromised Oroville Dam in California. The short answer:

.

Delicious Designation

The annual James Beard Award nominations are out, and New Mexico has a

on the list, including Santa Feans Martin Rios and Colin Shane of

. In Albuquerque, Jonathan Perno of

made the list, too.

Rooms for Rent, Not for Lease

AirBnB, the online business that lets homeowners rent their rooms, apartments or houses by the night, says it has 60 percent

in New Mexico than just one year ago. And 120,000 people spent a night somewhere in the state. Santa Fe, where locals have decried the impact of nightly rentals on affordable long-term rental housing, saw $6.8 million in bookings last year.

Thanks for reading! The Word hopes you can get outside this weekend.

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Lion - Beer, Spirits & Wine (NZ), the local unit of Japanese brewer Kirin Holdings, will pay as much as $25.1 million for its newly acquired Panhead Custom Ales craft beer brand, which the local head has described as a "runaway train".

The Auckland-based brewer and winemaker paid $15.1 million in cash upfront for Brand Strong Ltd, the Panhead holding company, and will pay a further $10 million based on earnings over the next four years, accounts filed to the Companies Office show. The contingent consideration was discounted to a net present value of $7.8 million at the date of acquisition.

Lion agreed to buy Panhead in May last year from the family of founder Mike Neilson and New Zealand managing director Rory Glass this week said the brand had been a "runaway train" and the brewer had struggled to keep pace with demand. Lion bought Dunedin-based Emerson's Brewing Co for $8 million in 2012.

At the time of acquisition, Panhead had trade and receivables of $985,000 and $264,000 of inventory, with a further $2.1 million in property, plant and equipment and $5.6 million in intangible assets. Trade and other payables amounted to $1.5 million and the craft beer brewer had taken $100,000 of provisions.

Lion's net profit rose to $38.7 million in the 12 months ended Sept. 30, from $34.7 million a year earlier. Sales rose 5 percent to $561 million. Total volume sold rose just 1 percent in the latest year.

Glass cited sales growth for its craft beers and the trend of "premiumisation", where consumers seek out better and more expensive beers, for the company's 12 percent gain in profit in 2016. However, the brewer's gross margins shrank to 36.9 percent in 2016 from 38.8 percent a year earlier.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand, the hotel operator and property developer, nearly doubled profit in 2016, while CDL Investments, the residential property developer it controls, lifted net profit 55 percent in the year with housing in high demand.

The hotel operator lifted profit to $40.4 million in calendar 2016 from $21.7 million in 2015, on a 26 percent lift in revenue to $172 million. Strong sales at CDL contributed significantly to the results, offsetting the closure of the Copthorne Hotel in Auckland's Harbour City, the company said. The Millennium board declared a 5 cents per share dividend, with a May 12 record date, payable on May 19.

"2017 will be another exciting year for MCK as it will mark the opening of M Social Auckland in the second half after extensive refurbishment. The financial impact of having Grand Millennium Auckland for a full year will also be reflected in our results," the company said. "We expect to benefit from the growing tourism interest in New Zealand and the Lions Rugby Tour.

"We also expect strong sales activity at CDL Investments to continue which will also assist our profitability. Given all of these factors, we aim to exceed our 2016 trading results in 2017."

Listed subsidiary CDL lifted profit to $27 million from $17.5 million a year earlier, with property sales and other income up 57 percent to $74.5 million a year earlier. The board will pay a 3 cent dividend on May 19, with a May 5 record date.

Managing director BK Chiu said that in 2017 CDL would look to increase its sales activity and ensure that the company continues to grow by acquiring additional land for development in the future.

"Our recent land purchase in Westgate/Whenuapai West Auckland looks promising under the Auckland Unitary Plan," Chiu said. "We remain mindful and disciplined with regard to the fundamentals of land investment and its development in an environment of high land price expectations.

"In the meantime, the land development work established through 2015 and 2016, and moving into 2017 will better enable us to deliver profitable growth in 2017 from our existing subdivisions at Greville Road (Auckland), Magellan Heights (Hamilton), and Prestons Park (Christchurch)."

Millennium shares last traded at $2.95, up 1.4 percent today, while CDL shares rose 10 percent to 88 cents.

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Michael Hill International, the jewellery chain business founded by its namesake, posted a 3.4 percent increase in first-half profit as it opened more stores.

Profit rose to A$25.8 million, or 6.66 cents per share, in the six months ended Dec. 31, from A$24.9 million, or 6.48 cents, a year earlier, the Brisbane, Australia-based company said in a statement.

The jewellery retailer opened eight new Michael Hill branded stores in the period, taking the total to 305, and eight new Emma & Roe branded stores, taking the total to 24. That helped boost revenue 5.4 percent to A$327.5 million, while same-store sales for the group advanced just 0.8 percent to A$306 million. The company plans to open another 10 Michael Hill stores and six Emma & Roe stores in the second half of the year. Its gross profit margin fell to 63.8 percent from 64.2 percent.

"Overall this was a reasonable result for the group given the difficult and lumpy trading conditions across most markets," the company said in a statement.

Michael Hill will pay a first-half dividend of 2.5 Australian cents on March 31. It paid a dividend of 2.5 New Zealand cents in the year earlier period, before shifting its main listing to Australia.

The company paid NZ$22.6 million to the Inland Revenue Department to settle a long-running tax battle over the transfer of the groups intellectual property to Australia. That lifted its net debt 39 percent to A$36.6 million, and reduced its net cash flow from operating activities by 51 percent to A$15.9 million.

Chief financial officer Phil Taylor remains interim chief executive as the company searches for a replacement for Mike Parsell, who resigned in August last year, having worked for the company since 1981 and as chief executive since 2004.

The company's Michael Hill stores in Australia lifted earnings before interest and tax by 3.1 percent to A$33.7 million as revenue advanced 2.9 percent to A$182 million. The profit margin held steady at 18.5 percent, and the company noted it had experienced difficult pre-Christmas trading in November. It added four stores, taking the total to 170.

In New Zealand, the Michael Hill brand added one store, taking the total to 53. Ebit lifted 7.7 percent to NZ$16.5 million even as sales fell 1.5 percent to NZ$66.9 million, reflecting a focus on costs. The profit margin improved to 24.7 percent from 22.6 percent.

Michael Hill's Canadian unit improved ebit 26 percent to C$8.8 million while revenue jumped 17 percent to C$62.7 million, as it traded with an additional 7 stores, taking the total to 72.

The operating loss at its 10 US stores narrowed to US$1.11 million from US$1.58 million a year earlier, although revenue fell 6.3 percent to US$7 million. The company noted that despite "tough trading" in the period, the gross margin improved to a negative 15.8 percent from negative 21.1 percent as expenses were reduced.

Michael Hill restructured its US management over the period, appointing its Toronto-based Canada general manager Brett Halliday as North American president to oversee both markets.

"The company still views the US as a viable market with enormous potential but there is work to do on lifting brand awareness through effective marketing programmes, and from improved productivity of the teams," it said.

The retailer's fledgling Emma & Roe chain, which sells charm bracelets and accessories, widened its loss to A$2.2 million from A$1 million, and the negative margin widened to 25.4 percent from 20.4 percent. Revenue jumped 72 percent to A$8.7 million as the company benefited from an extra 13 stores, although it noted same-store sales were flat. Expenses jumped 74 percent to A$8 million.

"Additional infrastructure and resources were added to the division during the half to oversee the future growth of the brand," the company noted.

Dual-listed Michael Hill shares were recently up 1.4 percent to $1.42 on the NZX, and have jumped 50 percent this year.

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NEW DELHI: Continuing with the revival in exports for the fifth month in a row, Indian merchandise shipments overseas at $22.12 billion in January 2017 registered an uptick of 4.32 pct over the $21.20 billion exported in January 2015, official data showed on Wednesday.

Imports during the month in consideration at $31.96 billion also marked an increase of 10.70 pct over the $28.87 billion worth of imports in January last year.

Consequently, the trade deficit in January was higher at $9.84 billion, as compared to the deficit of $7.67 billion during same month of 2016.

"The growth in exports is positive for USA (2.63 pct), EU (5.47 pct) and Japan (13.43 pct), but China has exhibited negative growth of (-1.51 pct) for November 2016 over the corresponding period of previous year as per latest WTO statistics," a Commerce Ministry release here said.

Cumulatively for the April-January period, exports rose marginally by 1.09 pct in dollar terms at $220.9 billion, as against exports of $218.5 billion over the same period last year.

"Non-petroleum exports in January 2017 were valued at $19.42 billion against $19.11 billion in January 2016, an increase of 1.6 pct," a statement here said

Cumulative imports for April-January were worth more than $307.3 billion, which was a 5.81 pct fall from the over $326.3 billion worth imports recorded for the same period of the previous fiscal.

With global oil prices climbing back to nearly $55 a barrel, India's oil imports during January were valued at $8.14 billion, which was a massive 61.07 pct jump over oil imports valued at $5.05 billion in the corresponding month of 2016.

Non-oil imports in January were static, increasing by 0.01 pct to $23.82 billion, from $23.81 billion in the same month of last year.

The merchandise trade deficit cumulatively for April-January, however, declined by 19.82 pct to $86.39 billion, as against $107.7 billion in the same period of 2015-16.

As per Reserve Bank of India data on Wednesday, services exports during December 2016 were valued at $13.80 billion, while imports stood at 8.29 billion, resulting in a positive trade balance of $5.5 billion.

Taking merchandise and services together, overall trade deficit for April-January is estimated at $38.07 billion, which is an impressive 29.7 pct fall from the level of $54.19 billion during the same period last year.

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BEIJING: India and China should rejig their diplomatic strategy to improve relations during the strategic dialogue next week, as economic ties which served as a buffer to alleviate frictions are getting weakened due to intense competition in markets, a report in the state-run media said.

"As competition grows the function of economic ties as a buffer to alleviate trade friction between the countries is weakened, which requires the two neighbours to deal with a complicated political situation more carefully," an article in the state-run Global Times said today.

The article in the dailys website said the first India- China strategic dialogue is expected to be held on February 22 in Beijing and it would serve as a prime opportunity for the two countries to make a change in its diplomatic strategy.

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar would lead the Indian delegation at the talks during which the two sides are expected to discuss steps to address increasingly tense ties due to differences over a host of issues including China blocking listing of JeM leader Masood Azhar as a terrorist and Indias admission into Nuclear Suppliers Group.

"Sino-Indian relations are experiencing severe tests after a female parliamentary delegation from Taiwan paid a visit to India. Such issues should be handled much more carefully in the future," it said.

The report said that the economic ties no longer worked as a buffer as new study showed China has a relatively low industrial complementarity with India compared with other South Asian countries, resulting in intense competition in the global market for products made in the two countries.

Citing a new study by state-run think-tank - the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) - the article said "as more economic competition is expected, greater uncertainty is likely to be present in future Sino-Indian relations".

India-China trade and investments relations which made progress in the last two decades often regarded as a buffer to deal with complex issues like border and strategic competition between the two.

India-China bilateral trade progressed to over USD 70 billion while Chinese investments in India was USD 1.06 billion last year registering 7.5 per cent growth, as per Chinese official media.

The CASS report tends to challenge the idea that key elements for Sino-Indian ties are more complementary than competitive in economics and trade, the article said.

The idea that China and India are highly complementary should be abandoned in order to restore trust and promote economic cooperation, it said.

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BENGALURU: Lockheed Martin on Thursday said it is getting all support from the US government for its plan to move the production facility of its F-16 next generation fighters to India.

Randall L. Howard, F-16 Business Development head at Lockheed Martin, said at a press conference here that talks with the Indian government for the facility have reached a level where it is likely to turn into a government-to-government discussion.

"We have strong support from the US government. The discussions are at a point where it has become a government-to-government issue," Howard said.

Lockheed Martin has offered to move its production line of the latest version of fighter aircraft F-16 Block 70 to India from Texas to meet Indian and global requirement.

The Defence Ministry has said it is looking forward to start a line of production for both single engine and twin engine fighter aircraft in India. This will however happen only when India chooses the aircraft for the Indian Air Force.

Randy said so far the company has received a communication from India inquiring about single engine aircraft.

In October 2016, the Defence Ministry started issuing requests-for-information (RFIs) for a new single-engine multi-role fighter to replace the Indian Air Force's MiG-21 and MiG-27 fighters.

Saab's Gripen and Lockheed Martin's F-16 Block 70 have so far appeared to be top competitors for the deal.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar at a press conference on the first day of Aero India 2017 show here was asked if US President Donald Trump's 'America First' would come in the way of Make in India and stop US firms from participating in the programme.

Parrikar had said the question should be asked to companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

"...What I will say is what I want... I want you to Make in India, if someone wants to shift production to some place else, it is his choice," Parrikar had said.

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The way of the empty hands The Simi Valley Shotokan Karate Dojo recently hosted a two-day seminar at Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District headquarters featuring a trio of karate experts. The Oct. 22 seminar was...

Slide into winter fun at SnowFest The Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District is bringing snow to Simi Valley. SnowFest will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sun., Nov. 6 at Rancho Madera Community...
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Skidmores Honors Forum, for particularly ambitious and engaged students, is pleased to launch a series of policy debates that will bring distinguished thinkers to campus for conversations about political, philosophical, or ethical questions of public concern.

Inaugurating the series are Richard Reeves, a Brookings Institution fellow in economic studies and co-director of the institutionss Center for Families and Children, and Jason Riley, a Manhattan Institute fellow and Wall Street Journal columnist. They will discuss inequality and race in the U.S. on Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 5:30 p.m. in Gannett Auditorium. The debate, free and open to the public, will be moderated by Flagg Taylor, Skidmore political science professor.



Reeves Reeves



Riley Riley

Reeves oversees the Social Mobility Memos blog addressing socioeconomic mobility issues from public health to education to labor policy. A contributor to the Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and other publications, for Brookings he has written on the Horatio Alger idea of the American dream, parenting and later success, and other topics. Formerly a researcher and director of a political think tank in London, he has been named European Business Speaker of the Year.

Rileys books include Let Them In, about opening borders for a more free-market-oriented immigration system, and Please Stop Helping Us, arguing that liberal government programs make it harder for the black underclass to succeed. He has written commentary on liberals and the alt-right, immigration, school choice, welfare reform, black voters, and other issues. A frequent public speaker, he is a longtime commentator for Fox News.
By Press Trust of India: Indore, Feb 17 (PTI) Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan will inaugurate a two-day South Asian Speakers Summit on Achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) here tomorrow.

Besides Mahajan, Dr M Thambidurai, Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha; Saber Chowdhury, President of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU); Abdul Raouf Ibrahimi, Speaker of Afghanistans National Assembly; Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Speaker of Bangladesh Parliament; Jigme Zangpo, Speaker of National Assembly of Bhutan and Tshering Dorji, Deputy Chairperson of National Council of Bhutan, will take part in it, a Lok Sabha release said.

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Karu Jayasuriya, Speaker of Sri Lanka Parliament; Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed, Speaker of Maldives Parliament; Onasari Gharti, Speaker of Nepal Parliament, and members of Parliaments from the participating countries, will remain present, it added.

However, Pakistan and Myanmar will not take part in the summit, Mahajan had told reporters here yesterday.

Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly Speaker Sitasaran Sharma and other dignitaries will also attend the inaugural function, it said.

The Summit will have a Plenary Session on Identifying Resources for SDGs Implementation in South Asia: Opportunities for Parliamentary Cooperation, the release said.

The Session will inform the delegates about the implementation of SDGs in South Asian region and will discuss ways in which Parliaments can ensure that adequate financial and other resources accompany implementation of national and regional SDGs strategies, it added.

The Working Session on Gender Equality as a critical factor for Sustainable Development will discuss opportunities that the SDGs present to strike a better gender balance, and to determine the gender impact of sustainable development policies, it said.

The other Working Session on Dealing Effectively with the Challenge of Climate Change and Natural Disasters: Opportunities for Regional Parliamentary Cooperation will discuss how Parliaments of the region can cooperate and share resources to address the challenges of climate change and natural disasters, it added.

The Summit proposes to adopt Indore Declaration at the closing ceremony on February 19, the release said.

During the Summit, cultural programmes, highlighting the heritage of India, will be showcased for the delegates. The delegates and other representatives will leave for Mandu on a Post Conference Tour on February 20.

The foreign delegates have already started arriving here for the Summit. PTI HWP LAL NP DIP

--- ENDS ---
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By Press Trust of India: Shimla, Feb 17 (PTI) 25 children were injured when a school bus overturned and fell into a ditch while the driver was trying to overtake another bus near Dehar in Mandi district this morning.

The bus with around 30 children on board was on its way from Samlog village to Vivekananda Public School in Deharwhen the accident occurred in Sundernagar sub-division, about 130 km from here.

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The injured children were rushed to Sundernagar hospital and referred to zonal hospital at Mandi after first aid. All of them are under treatment and out of danger, chief Parliamentary Secretary, Sohan Lal, who visited the spot, said.

"Most of the students sustained minor injuries while half a dozen students had multiple fractures but none of them was in critical condition," he added.

The local administration has given immediate relief of Rs 5,000 to each of the seriously injured besides promising free treatment.

The driver of the bus is among the injured.

Eye-witnesses said that the accident took place as the driver tried to overtake another bus and it fell into ditch.

The roof of the bus was torn apart in the incident and the children were resued from the opening, they said.

Students from distant villages study in the school.

Meanwhile, a driver working for a construction company died when his truck fell into a gorge at Nihari, 70 km from here on Theog-Hatkoti national highway, police said.

The deceased was identified as Karan from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh. PTI/PCL RT

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: Motihari (Biahr), Feb 17 (PTI) Customs officials have seized 39 brass idols being smuggled to India from Nepal in the border town of Raxaul in East Champaran district.

Customs Inspector Abhisek Kamal today said the 39 idols, mostly of Lord Buddha and some of Lord Hanuman and Goddess Durga, after intercepting a car late last evening.

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The idols were valued at Rs 3.54 lakh.

The car has also been seized but its driver and the other occupant were let off after questioning, Kamal said.

As per rules, no arrests can be made if the value of the idols was less than Rs 25 lakh. PTI CORR AR NN LNS

--- ENDS ---
Then, just 11 days before the Nov. 8 election, Comey advised Congress that new emails potentially connected to the case had been discovered and would need to be reviewed. A follow-up letter nine days later said the email review had done nothing to change the FBI's original conclusion. Many Democrats and Clinton herself have suggested that Comey's actions so close to the election likely affected the outcome.
Police have linked a gang of Canberra teenagers, accused of blackmailing men using fake profiles on a gay dating app, to the suicide of an alleged victim of the scam in NSW, a court has heard.

Four males were behind bars on Friday charged with blackmail as part of an ongoing investigation into the extortion syndicate that allegedly preyed on men who used hook-up apps including Grindr during the past three months.

Four Canberra teenagers allegedly blackmailed people targeted through online dating apps. Credit:Leon Neal

ACT Policing launched an investigation into the alleged ruse after two men came forward to the AIDS Action Council in January.

The group had allegedly used the apps to set up meetings before they threatened and blackmailed victims, demanding up to $1000 cash.
While work is underway on the first stage of the new peacekeeping memorial on Anzac Parade, organisers are still seeking funding for the centrepiece - two large black monoliths.

Cranes have installed an inclined plane for wreaths and mementoes as well as a commemorative beam that will list every peacekeeping mission in which Australia Australia has been involved.

Workers have begun installing the first part of the memorial on Anzac Parade.

Organisers from the Australian Peacekeeping Memorial Project expect construction of stage one to be finished within two to three months after recent rain caused delays.

"The weather has made things a bit tricky," the project's vice chairman Alison Creagh said.
"From 2012 to 2015, student numbers decreased by over 20 per cent nationally. "A significant contributor to this decline is the widely reported reduction in Australian apprenticeship numbers since 2012, which is likely influenced by a range of factors such as the level of activity in the construction industry and the removal from 1 July 2012 of some of the Australian Government commencement incentive payments." Industry groups concerned Industry groups believe the ACT's falling VET completion rates are cause for alarm. The Productivity Commission found showed the ACT had an estimated qualification completion rate of 39.4 per cent in 2014, the most recent year of data available.

This was slightly higher than the national completion rate of 38 per cent but down 1.8 per cent on the previous year. "While we might be attracting a number of new apprentices to start apprenticeships, it's the completion rate which is a key indicator," Master Builders ACT deputy executive director Michael Hopkins said. "The construction industry is experiencing a shortage of apprentices in Canberra and has been for a few years. We're seeing strong demand from host employers wanting to employ apprentices at the moment. "There's been a large number of major projects announced recently and there's quite a lot of residential activity happening and all of this is only increasing demand for apprentices which industry is struggling to keep up with. "What we need to see is those completion rates lift across the road so that we're able to deliver more final year apprentices to the market."

National Electrical and Communications Association (NECA) chief executive Suresh Manickam said the "upward pressure" on the costs of a job is then passed onto consumers. "This is an ongoing concern for us because apprenticeships have a very long tail and lead time into the workforces. That means that those skills shortages we're facing are not being addressed in a quick enough fashion so that's a real concern," Mr Manickam said. University admissions to blame? David Miller of Skills Canberra said the participation rate for 15-19 year olds in Canberra's VET sector is "typically below the national average due to the very high retention rates in the senior years of schooling in the ACT". "The ACT has the highest school participation rate in the country, with 71 per cent of 15 to 19-year olds in school in Canberra in 2015, compared to a national average of 57 per cent," Mr Miller said.

Compounding this, Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said a "big expansion" in university enrolments had eroded the candidate pool for apprenticeships. National Centre for Vocation Education and Research national statistics and analytics manager Mette Creaser agreed people who might have previously gone down the apprenticeship or traineeship route are now taking up positions at universities. "We have seen university placements open up, so it might just be a shift in what people are getting into," she said. Mr Hopkins said many industries, including the construction industry, were failing to market themselves as attractive career prospects. "There is still a bias we see towards school leavers wanting to enter university rather than VET education so we need to promote the benefits of the construction industry more broadly, the fact that young people can earn good wages, have a good work life balance and a rewarding career, and that an apprenticeship VET training pathway is a really good opportunity for people coming out of school if they want to enter the construction industry," he said.

Government-funded VET numbers just part of the picture However Ms Creaser said the government-funded VET numbers don't show the whole picture. "Those numbers don't provide a picture for all the training that's being delivered in the ACT so it's a little bit difficult to say whether there are any potential gaps in service delivery," Ms Creaser said. NCVER's Total VET Activity report showed total VET delivery in Australia increased by about 15 per cent from 2014 to 2015, around 11 per cent in the ACT. Mr Hopkins said the Master Builders ACT had increased its intake of new apprentices by 32 per cent and had more than 200 enrolled in its group training program.
Long gone are the days when optometrist Mark Feltham's profession involved simply selling glasses at a corner shop.

Several years' training and coordination with other health professionals - including clinical psychologists - make it a more complicated matter today.

Optometrist Dr Mark Feltham with patient Patricia White of Bruce. The ACT has a shortage of new optometrists, according to the federal government. Photo: Jamila Toderas. Credit:Jamila Toderas

Dr Feltham's line of work has to tackle other challenges, listed as one of several industries facing a skills shortage in Canberra.

A federal government list last year named glaziers, hairdressers, motor mechanics, bricklayers and cabinetmakers among occupations needing more job applicants in the ACT.
The deaddication centre at AIIMS recently came across two cases of patients addicted to amphetamine type stimulants, a new category of expensive party drugs.

By Priyanka Sharma: AIIMS doctors fear that costly amphetamine type stimulants (ATS) may be gaining grounds among the Capital's youth as the newest 'high'.

Recently, the drug deaddiction department at premier medical institute received two patients who have been chronic users of ATS.

These stimulants are a new category of expensive party drug, which is available in black market. Consumption of ATS is highly active in Thailand, Malaysia and other SEA countries. These drugs rank as the world's second most widely abused drug type after cannabis, narcotics experts say.

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According to AIIMS doctor, the use of ATS drugs in the country may have its origins in the northeastern states, from where it has reached urban cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

CASES COULD RISE IN THE FUTURE

With two such cases, experts at AIIMS suggested that this culture of consumption of ATS is going to rise in the coming years in India.

"Cases are still rare, but in the coming years, it can shoot up in India. There was a time, when we used to read about ATS drugs in medical journals, but now, we have started seeing the cases too," said a senior AIIMS doctor.

Also read: Candy drug makes a comeback in Delhi; children in peril, parents warned

AN EXPENSIVE HABIT

A senior doctor at AIIMS' national drug dependence centre told Mail Today, "It is for the first time, that we have come across two patients consuming ATS drugs. These are most expensive drugs and it's not a cup of tea for all. Only highly educated, professionals with disposable income to them and belonging to the richer strata of the society have more accessibility to ATS drugs."

Requesting anonymity, a doctor said, "These two patients are a couple, who started taking tablets of ATS drugs for stimulation and enjoyment. They are working with a multinational company in the city. They themselves were not sure that what kind of drugs they were consuming, but they aware that the drugs were working as stimulants. This ATS is mostly common in South East Asian countries, like Malaysia."

Also read: Cheap alternative to cocaine, psychoactive drug Meow Meow takes Delhi by storm

"The couple revealed that some high-profile peddler in south Delhi used to provide ATS drugs to them. The boyfriend used to consume it for enhancing sexual excitement, while his girlfriend used to consume for excitement and during dancing in parties.

"Also, she got to know these drugs kill appetite, to control her body weight."

"Initially, both of them were occasional users of ATS drugs, but later they became dependant on it and started consuming every day.

"Those days when the couple did not consume the drug, they felt lethargic, weak and lack of motivation to the work," a doctor informed Mail Today. The couple is under medication and proper counselling to give up the habit, he added.

Also read: Popping painkillers: From liver damage to mental disorder, wounding consequences of taking common drugs

--- ENDS ---

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Foster parents looking to adopt their long-term charges are being forced to recount their stories over and over again in a system overburdened by child welfare complaints, a taskforce has been told.

Submissions from parents to the Review of the Domestic Adoption Process in the ACT, tabled in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, showed their frustration at a system described as "prolonged, repetitive and underpinned by duplication and inconsistent levels of support".

Does the adoption process take too long in the ACT?

"The process has involved unnecessarily writing up, again our life story and history," one foster parent wrote.

"The process to become a foster parent was rigorous and we continue to be monitored while we provide ongoing care."
The average time on the market for land in Melbourne's outer growth suburbs has dropped below 60 days, the lowest ever recorded.

At the same time Sydney land prices are now approaching $1000 per square metre as volumes of sales continue to rise.

Urban spread: The average time on the market for outer Melbourne residential land is less than 60 days. Credit:Brendan Esposito

Strong demand from Melbourne's booming population  about 123,000 people are pouring into the state each year  has resulted in higher prices for smaller size land lots.

The median price of land reached $239,000 in the final quarter of 2016, up more than 8 per cent from $221,000 in the September quarter 2016, according to property group Oliver Hume.
There would have been a few nervous people in Canberra on Friday when the Turnbull government announced its plan to finally make some sense of the Australian Public Service's IT debacles.

In pledging that his Digital Transformation Agency would review more than 100 tech projects, each valued at more than $10 million, minister Angus Taylor committed himself and his public servants to a Herculean task. The work is long overdue and desperately needed. A litany of disasters, revealed in this newspaper in recent months, only hint at the size of the problem.

Take the Defence Department's ill-fated garrison estate management sSystem: a $120 million project to manage contracts for businessesservicing the nation's military bases, $39 million over budget and not operational until 2017, five years late. Where else but Canberra would such a performance rate little more than a footnote? There are dozens of similar stories.

Observers will wonder why it took so long to get around to these reviews. It's understood the agency's predecessor, the Digital Transformation Office, was authorised to begin this project in August 2016.
Linda* lives in a rental property in Thornbury with her partner and two kids. She has a good job and so does her partner  but these days a good job doesn't mean you can buy a house.

Linda is 39 and has rented since she moved out of her parents' place 20 years ago. In that time, she has lived in more than 10 different properties around Melbourne.

Dozens lined up to view a Brunswick house for rent recently.. Credit:Ganesh Krishnan

The last time she had to move, she also had to move her son to a different school and say goodbye to the community she had become part of. Her landlord gave her a 120-day "no reason" eviction notice. She did nothing wrong and had never missed a rent payment.

In the Tenants Union office we have a wall of messages from people who came to us for advice and help. There is a common thread that runs through them  they are messages from people who have done nothing wrong but found themselves fighting for their homes due to dodgy or outright predatory practices by landlords and real estate agents.
Islam is a medieval religion that oppresses women, provides cover for forced marriages and honour killings, treats female flesh as shameful and allows Muslim men to treat their women as personal property.

But none of us can say so out loud in our so-called pluralistic society because political correctness has made people too scared to offend.

So runs the line of much anti-Muslim sentiment in this country and abroad, among people who are just smart enough to hide their naked prejudice behind some sort of veil  and the veil of choice has become concern for the rights of women.

The "fear of causing offence" has become, we are told, a powerful gag that impedes our freedom of speech and stops people from telling the truth about Islam.
"Some people," said Malcolm Turnbull, way back in 2011, "would say that as we have a vested interest in coal being burned, we should oppose action on climate change and ... muddy the waters on climate science in order to prolong the export billions from coal mining." Thus spoke the once principled pragmatist, now repurposed by the Liberal right as the ideologue-in-chief. Thus spoke a man now unable to resist taking pot shots at state-based renewables, or blaming South Australia's recent energy woes on the shift from coal to wind despite clear advice to the contrary.

What we're told by the New Malcolm  who has accused South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill of complacency in the wake of last week's blackout  is that "if anyone had a vested interest in showing that you could do really smart, clean things with coal it would be us". So when it comes to vested interests, our Prime Minister has come full circle. Some people.

Illustration: Jim Pavlidis

It's tempting, at this juncture, to quote former ABC Lateline host Tony Jones, who once reminded Turnbull ''you can't rewrite history. You can't un-say what you said". True enough. And the PM must certainly rue some of the things he said way back when he said what he meant. Like, for instance, when he told us in 2012 that "blatant misrepresentations, exaggerations or outright lies in politics should in theory be easily revealed"  as though warning us, from the past, about the mendacity of his future self.

Turnbull's warning, issued half a decade ago, is indeed self-relevant. Because it turns out that preliminary analysis of South Australia's statewide blackout, cautioning that the generation mix was "not to blame", was provided to the government within hours of the event. That didn't stop Turnbull, hot off the mark, from linking the blackout to South Australia's renewable target and then, in an act of breathtaking hypocrisy, accusing state governments of "political gamesmanship".
America's National Academy of Engineers ranks it as the 10th greatest engineering achievement of the 20th century, ahead of highways and the internet. Britain's Royal Society says the fridge is the most significant invention in the history of food and drink, ahead of pasteurisation and the plough. Even the height of the average human in modern societies owes a great deal to refrigeration. Refrigerated trucking and shipping revolutionised trade and, according to the US economist Robert Gordon, constitute one of the least appreciated yet most valuable additions to 20th century productivity. None of which might have happened if not for James Harrison of Geelong. In 1854 he invented a commercial ice-making machine. He expanded it into a vapour compression refrigeration system, the basis for modern refrigeration. "That's right  an Aussie invented the fridge and it's first real use was making beer," remarked the US technology website Gizmodo. "You have to love this country." So it would give the barbarians of Daesh the greatest satisfaction if Australia were to become so degraded that it couldn't maintain a stable power supply to keep its airconditioners running.

There is a blithe assumption that the recent blackouts and cutbacks in Australia's electricity system are a passing blip. That the summer heatwave is gone and now the system will somehow correct itself. Wrong. In the next few weeks 4 per cent of Australia's power supply will vanish when Victoria's big Hazelwood power station shuts down, clapped out after 50 years of turning coal into electricity. It'll be the ninth coal-fired power station to close in the past five years. New solar and wind plants are being built, but they are intermittent, and that means they are unreliable. "Taking out Hazelwood is taking out a big buffer," says Tony Wood, energy program director at the Grattan Institute policy research centre in Melbourne. And, as we've just witnessed, Australia's power system lacks buffers. "Managing intermittency is an increasing problem." Not only has South Australia suffered three major power failures in the last half-year, NSW last week ordered industry to cut power usage so that households could turn on their airconditioners on a hot day. The chief executive of the Tomago aluminium smelter, Matt Howell, who was ordered to cut electricity usage but is entitled to no compensation, says that "it's fair to say the way the energy system is working at the moment is dysfunctional." He told the Financial Review that last Friday was "a genuine system security risk." The Turnbull government blames South Australia's dependency on solar and wind for two of the three blackouts in that state. South Australia, with renewables making up 40 per cent of its power capacity, is vulnerable to the wind stopping and the sun setting.

But NSW depends on coal for nearly 90 per cent of its capacity, and it faced a critical shortage last week too. This is not a state-by-state problem. It's a national problem. "We need to be able to plan better, because nothing is getting built between now and next summer," says Wood, whose independent expertise is respected by both the federal government and the opposition. "This is a significant challenge. We have this system we've had for 100 years and we are trying to change it quite quickly. No one in the world has got this far  you can't take a system created around coal and gas and suddenly make 40 per cent of it renewable energy"  as it is in South Australia  "with the same system and the same rules." But it must be OK, right? Because we hear the Turnbull government, day after day, week after week, slamming Labor for the blackouts, so the government must have a policy to fix the situation. Doesn't it? No, actually. Wood summarises: "We have this policy introduced by Tony Abbott to cut carbon emissions by 26 to 28 per cent by 2030. The government told us how they weren't going to meet it. They weren't going to meet it by putting up electricity prices, and they weren't going to do it by increasing the renewable energy target," the target that requires electricity firms to install 33 gigawatt hours of solar or wind generating capacity by 2020.

"So how are you going to do it?" The answer, so far, is no answer  a grab-bag of speculations and possibilities. But no settled policy. Labor doesn't have an answer, either. All we have is tremendous clamour of blame and counter-blame. We have a national energy crisis and neither the government nor the alternative government has a policy to solve it. In an extraordinary moment of unity this week, the Business Council and the ACTU and 16 other groups including big investors and environmental groups came together to appeal to the political parties to stop arguing and to seek a shared solution. In a joint letter, they railed against "partisan antics". This coalition of groups from the real world complained that "the finger pointing will not solve our energy challenges. More than a decade of this has made most energy investments impossibly risky. This has pushed prices higher while hindering transformational change of our energy system." Did the political system respond to this plea? Of course not. It's too much fun to keep up the partisan antics. Turnbull won't stop because he's winning. He blames Labor's predilection for renewables  solar and wind  for the problems of SA while conveniently ignoring the larger systemic problems. Labor, he says, is "drunk on ideology."

He's winning according to the simple political rule that his former environment minister, now health minister, Greg Hunt, promulgated inside the government for this area of argument. If the debate is fought on environmental grounds, like climate change, then Labor wins. But if it's fought on electricity prices and electricity reliability, the Coalition wins. Why? Because the public broadly trusts Labor on the environment, and the Coalition on electricity. It's as simple as that. Among Labor's signs of mounting panic this week, we saw the WA Labor Party dump its policy of a 50 per cent renewables energy target. WA Labor is most sensitive because it has the most immediate problem  an election next month. And we saw federal Labor, too, started to get nervous about its plan for a 50 per cent target. Though Labor had never said this was a firm commitment, it suddenly became a lot more tentative this week. South Australian Labor says that the federal electricity operator is to blame, and that's Turnbull's fault. Bill Shorten says lots of things are to blame, but not Labor's renewables target. "There's always a little bit of truth in both sides, and little bit of falsehood in both sides," observes Wood. The Turnbull government says it's the South Australian renewables energy target; South Australia's Labor government says it's the Australian Electricity Market Operator. "The answer is it's both."
The government has dismissed reports that maverick Coalition backbencher George Christensen drafted a resignation letter and has threatened to "go rogue".

The Queensland MP, a conservative populist and avowed fan of US President Donald Trump, drew up the letter to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull when feeling frustrated over a tense sugarcane dispute in his electorate, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Mr Christensen's threat was that he would withdraw support for the government unless a code of conduct for the sugar industry was established. He has reportedly contemplated an arrangement where he would jump to the crossbench but seek to sit in on Nationals party room meetings.

Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce said Mr Christensen "has a strong belief in the National Party and the things that we fight for".
Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs has vigorously defended her handling of a controversial case at the centre of the push to overhaul Australia's racial discrimination laws, taking aim at "misinformation in some parts of the media".

However, in recommendations that are likely to inform future legal changes, Professor Triggs conceded the commission needed greater powers to dismiss race-hate complaints that were "not warranted" and to resolve disputes more quickly.

The complaint against Queensland University of Technology and seven of its students has become a centrepiece in the campaign to reform or scrap section 18c of the Racial Discrimination Act, with opponents arguing the case was vexatious.

The students were accused of making offensive remarks on a university Facebook page after a non-Indigenous student was ejected from an Indigenous computer lab. The complaint was thrown out of a Brisbane court in November.
The aircraft is ready to go, passengers are eager to reach their destination and pilot willing to fly, still the Air India plane has not taken-off for past 24 hours.

By Anindya Banerjee: A flight that has adequate fuel to fly, passengers are ready and pilots eager to move on. Yet it cannot take-off. Have you ever heard of such cases?

Over 200 passengers are stranded in Ankara flying in Air India Flight 130. They are experiencing the bitter circumstance every minute.

AI 130 flew from London for Mumbai but enroute encountered with a case of medical emergency on board. The pilot had to contact the nearest Air Traffic Control to make an emergency landing at Ankara.

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But, later a technical issue prevented it from taking off and flying to its destination.

The plane is a Boeing 787. And, since it was Boeing 787, it cannot take-off if it has made 'overweight landing'.

What it means is that when a Boeing 787 lands, it shall have minimum weight. But as it happened in the present case, the plane had additional 20 tonne of fuel left when it landed. This additional fuel made categorised it as 'overweight landing'.

Now, without a clearance from the engineering teams at the Ankara airport, the Air India flight cannot take-off again.

The 200-odd passengers on board are stranded in Ankara for over 24 hours.

Sources in Air India have confirmed the incident. They said an engineering team of Air India has been sent now to inspect the aircraft and give a take-off approval.

But till then it is a painstaking wait for the passengers.

--- ENDS ---
To balance out time spent away from her family, Morris would whisk them all off on holiday when she returned home. "I thought that if we're all swimming in a pool somewhere, we're all happy," she says. "Not only was work incredibly intense but then we would all fly somewhere. Every waking hour of every day was filled with work or high-pressure fun." Meanwhile, the family was still coming to terms with Thomas's breast cancer diagnosis in 2012 and subsequent mastectomy. Morris's professionalism is such that she thinks few people, apart from her husband, realised she was imploding from the pressure of trying to contain her rage. "I'm sure there would have been moments in Africa when [I'm a Celebrity co-star] Dr Chris would have thought, 'Ooh dear Lord'," she concedes, "but they would have been pretty rare." But by this time last year, Morris was close to breaking point. From deep in the steamy African jungle, where she was filming I'm a Celebrity, she made an SOS call to a good friend. "I think I'm going mad," she blurted out. "I think I'm having some mental health problems and I don't really understand why." It was a critical turning point. On the other end of the line, Morris's friend suggested she see a therapist to talk things through. But Morris has never been one for introspection  "Being self-employed for most of my life, there hasn't been any real time to take stock," she says  and her default response was, "Oh, I think I'm all right." "I just thought that there's no way talking to someone is going to stop me feeling like this," she recalls. Yet she agreed to give it a go, and sought out a psychologist when she returned from Africa. To her surprise, in 10 sessions she was taught how to control the "fury ball" which would rise up, unbidden, from her stomach. She learnt to keep things in perspective and refrain from buying into gossip.

She's since worked hard to rein in her people-pleasing, diverting that time and energy back into her family. Crucially, she now chooses to focus only on helpful thoughts, rather than the unhelpful ones which were clouding her mind. "Something that I've only really come to know, maybe in the last five years, is accepting who you are  not everybody likes you and that's okay," she explains. "And you don't have to help every single person who crosses your path." There's no sign of the wrathful Morris as we talk in this Surry Hills cafe. The woman who greets me is delightfully warm and engaging  she kisses me hello rather than shaking my hand, and plonks herself down next to me on the banquette, ignoring the chair opposite. She's sparkling and funny and, as our hour together flies by, I feel like I'm catching up with an old friend. But she's more reflective, and more self-aware  the experience has been so life-changing that Morris is determined to spread the love. She has become evangelical about the benefits of cognitive behavioural therapy and hands out the business cards of psychologists she trusts in Sydney and Melbourne to anyone she thinks could benefit from a visit. "Now that I've broken on through to the other side, I feel like, 'Oh my gosh, I got my happy self back.' "

Her family also has her back. While Morris was always around a lot, even with her high-octane work life, her husband observes that she's now engaged when she's at home. Her phone is set to silent and she has swapped her habit of permanently running late to arriving 15 minutes early, which creates a sliver of "me time" for breathing, meditating or making a quick phone call to check in with Thomas and the girls. She's also started a new ritual of devoting one day a term to each daughter separately (one child wanted to sit in an empty bath filled with soft toys, the other opted for blindfold makeovers). "It's sitting down together and laughing and spending time together, making cookies and doing all those things where I was like, 'I would love to do that, but I've just got to get this finished,' " Morris explains. "I got lost in 'How do I fit it in?' Now it's, 'Do I really want to do it?' I'm knocking back work left, right and centre. It's been hard, but as a result I've had a terrific year." And her kids have noticed the change. "They say, 'Mum, you're so happy.' " As a result, at the time of our interview Morris was looking forward to returning to South Africa's Kruger National Park for her eight-week stint filming this season of I'm a Celebrity. "It's a crazy amount of fun," she enthuses. "I get to go away with a dear friend, the darling docteur, and laugh my head off. My family comes over halfway  that lets a bit of steam out of my tyres. It makes me much more relaxed."

But as every working mother knows, some things have to give in the battle to achieve balance. In this instance friends have fallen by the wayside  Morris is lucky if she sees them once a month. In fact, her answering machine says (tongue-in-cheek): "I think we both know I'm not returning your call. Send me a text message. I know it's rude, it's something I'm working on with my psychologist." More has changed than simply her approach to work and family. Morris has also deliberately stopped the negative self-talk, mindful of the potential effect it could have on her daughters. "I used to say, 'I'm not doing anything right.' Or, 'Mummy's an idiot, I forgot to do such and such.' I hope I'm raising women with a strong sense of self. I don't need to show them by example that I'm the hardest person on myself." This includes quitting joking about her size or weight. Yet despite all the stress of the last few years, Morris has never looked better. When we meet, she's svelte in a grey marle jersey tube dress spangled with silver sequins (something she whipped up herself from a bolt of fabric from Spotlight, sewing being one of her favourite hobbies). Her hair is dyed its original chestnut brown, she has a slash of crimson across her lips, and her skin shows off a golden glow (apart from her right hand, which she very humanly forgot to fake-tan for our photo shoot). Although Morris's publicist has warned me she won't talk about her weight, nothing is off limits in our candid conversation. "I work hard on how I look, so I don't mind if somebody notices," she tells me. (This includes the odd shot of Botox.) "The way I look at 48, size 12, it takes not eating cakes during the day, not getting that Crunchie at the corner shop, not having another muffin. It's all day, every day. The moment you stop doing that you won't have the same results." This philosophy could equally be applied to Morris's career. Her work ethic has been phenomenal  from working for free for three months in the UK trying to get a start on the stand-up circuit, to cramming her diary to fit in every work request. But the newly enlightened Lady J-Mo is determined to ease back. "I've been working this hard my entire life," she says. "Now it's time to stop and reset. The first part of my life was very intense. The second part of my life is not going to be that intense  but the fun will remain the same."
Sure WikiLeaks is big, but the most exciting thing to happen to Julian Assange is the rumour he is dating Pamela Anderson.

Reports have been swirling for months now that the former Baywatch star has been a regular caller to the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where Assange, the Australian WikiLeaks founder, has been holed up for close to five years, avoiding extradition to Sweden over sexual assault allegations.

Pamela Anderson delivers lunch to Julian Assange at the Embassy of Ecuador in October last year. Credit:Getty Images

In October the former Mrs Tommy Lee  who is now a fervent environmentalist activist  was spotted dropping "a nice vegan lunch and some vegan snacks" to Assange.

Knowing the PR power that a high-profile relationship can give a cause  here's looking at you Kylie and Joshua Sasse  Assange was coy about "Assanderson" when pressed on his relationship status when he appeared on KIIS FM's Kyle & Jackie O Show this week.
"He leaves behind two relieved children ... and countless other victims including an ex-wife, relatives, friends, doctors, nurses and random strangers," read the death notice, which his adult daughter has acknowledged she wrote.

Leslie Ray Charping, a Texas man who died on January 30 at 74, made a public mark in passing that reflected the private marks - both figurative and literal - that he apparently left on his family. The obituary they wrote is a gloomy meditation on what appears to have been a cruel and useless life.

"This obit was intended to help bring closure because not talking about domestic violence doesn't make it go away." Credit:Stocksy

The brutally candid obit made headlines around the world and drew so many viewers that the attending funeral home's website crashed Friday. By the end of the weekend, the send-off had been replaced with a brief just-the-dates mention on the funeral home's tribute page.

It's tough to read and sad to imagine the raw hatred this man engendered.

Mr Charping's hobbies, the biting reminiscence says, included "being abusive to his family (and) expediting trips to heaven for the beloved family pets." At his death, from cancer, he had lived "29 years longer than expected, and much longer than he deserved."

"No services will be held, no prayers for eternal peace, and no apologies to the family he tortured."

Out there in the chattersphere, opinions varied as to the appropriateness of publicly excoriating the dead. Presumably, once gone to his reward (or just desserts), he is beyond criticism.
Centrelink's phone lines are about to get better no really, they're meant to, but you just have to wait a little longer for it to happen.

That's the line I'm getting from the Department of Human Services, which has copped a hammering in recent weeks over the government's controversial robo debt recovery scheme and its high error rates in clawing back overpaid welfare payments.

Centrelink is updating its "antiquated" telephone systems. Credit:Jessica Hromas

The department has also come under fire over Fairfax Media reports of blocked phone lines and excessive wait times, which are preventing people from accessing family benefit payments or the childcare rebate, myself included.

Indeed, I have Blondie's Hanging on the Telephone still ringing in my head.
Good photography is about passion  but any professional photographer will tell you it's the skills you pick up along the way that count.

Fairfax Media, in partnership with Nikon, has launched an exciting new program to cater for student photographers who want to hone their skills.

Run by the photography departments of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Student Clique's objective is to help new generations of budding photographers learn, shoot and share.

Student Clique will get members to share their work with the Fairfax community, including workshop opportunities with our award-winning photographers  some of the world's best in their field.
Australia's public hospitals are in a "constant state of emergency", with inadequate federal government funding failing to improve wait times, and forcing health workers to treat sicker patients with fewer resources, the Australian Medical Association has warned.

Overall wait times for emergency departments and elective surgeries have virtually stagnated, as hospitals face the pressures of a growing aging population, and more patients presenting with more complex, comorbid conditions, the AMA's latest Hospital Report Card shows.

"To put it bluntly, public hospital performance against these measures across all states and territories has been woeful," AMA president Dr Michael Gannon said.

More than one in four people who presented to an ED in 2015-2016 were not seen within the four-hour window, well short of the 90 per cent target, found the analysis of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Australian Hospital Statistics.
More than a dozen homes in NSW have been lost and a firefighter is injured after an out-of-control grass fire burnt through nearly 3000 hectares.

The blaze is burning at Carwoola, near Queanbeyan on the NSW-ACT border.

At least 15 properties are believed to have been lost with others under threat.

A firefighter was taken to hospital after suffering burns while battling the fire, Greg Allan from the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) said.
"That's just what this country needs: an actor in Max Factor on a tractor."

Dallas "Nova Gina" Webster's paraphrase of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert's deathless words are really quite in character.

Dreamtime Divas Dallas Nova Gina Webster, right, and Tim "Lasey Dunaman" Towns strut their stuff on Allan Prior's tractor outside Kempsey. The goat, Nick, looks away. Credit:Nic Walker

He is standing on a Massey Ferguson in full drag. His partner, Tim "Lasey Dunaman" Towns, similarly sequined, is perched in high heels on the roof. Farmer Allan Prior sits resolutely at the wheel staring straight ahead. A chained goat called Nick loiters behind.

Just another day at Bellimbopinni on the NSW Mid-North Coast outside Kempsey.
Residents will be able to ride the Parramatta light rail within five years, but one of the critical stops along the route has been excluded from the first stage of the project.

Unveiling the route for the first time on Friday, Premier Gladys Berejiklian defended the government's decision not to include Olympic Park, which suffers from major transport connection issues, in the first section of the light rail project.

Construction will start next year. The proposed route will span 12 kilometres with 16 stops connecting Westmead to Carlingford via the Parramatta CBD. It is expected to open in 2023.

"This all extremely exciting, something that is unprecedented in our state's history in terms of investment in Western Sydney," Ms Berejiklian said.
For years Parramatta's reputation as Sydney's second CBD has been an aspirational drum beat by politicians and business groups, but largely unmatched by reality.

But the gap between hype and actuality is projected to close, with Parramatta on track to outstrip the growth in Sydney's other major business centres including the city's CBD and Macquarie Park, according to projections by real estate consultants Knight Frank.

The new data reveals Parramatta CBD will grow by 32 per cent over the next five years, which will see it eclipse North Sydney to become the third largest office market in Sydney, while closely trailing second-placed Macquarie Park.

The growth is being driven by the $2 billion Parramatta Square project, where three office towers comprising a total of 180,000 square metres of office space will be built over the next few years, bringing thousands of workers to heart of Parramatta.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav speaks to India Today on a range of issues, from the fight within his family to the alliance he has forged with the Congress.

Shortly after the conclusion of campaigning for the second round of polling for the Uttar Pradesh assembly election, a confident and assertive akhilesh yadav met with Group Editorial Director Raj Chengappa, India Today (Hindi) editor Anshuman Tiwari and Ashish Misra at his residence in Lucknow. The UP chief minister spoke on a range of issues- from the fight within his family to the alliance he has forged with the Congress. Excerpts from the interview...

Q. After the first few rounds of polling, what kind of outcome are you expecting?

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A. It's much better than before. I'm sure the SP-Congress alliance will emerge number one with the maximum seats. Initially, there was confusion among voters. But the coalition has allayed their fears and we will get a consolidated vote. Our rivals earlier were talking about victory margins, now they are not sure they will win. It's evident in their reaction. Listen to the prime minister's speeches, and Amit Shah's, and Mayawati's. The BJP leadership sounds rattled. Just today, the PM said he wants to buy a ticket and ride in the metro. Arre, you are the prime minister, you should know the procedure. You have to follow a 90-day mandatory standard procedure after the train is put on track. If the railways gives us the NOC (no objection certificate), we will start transporting people in the metro from tomorrow.

At least, the public has faith that the Samajwadi Party delivers. Wide roads have been constructed in western UP, electricity is available 24 hours in homes. The ambulance service is trusted. A modern police control room has been established for the first time, the police are on call and can reach any spot in 10-15 minutes. Medical colleges have been built. The Samajwadi pension scheme is on. The laptop scheme has been a success. The improvements are visible to the people. It has created an environment in favour of the SP... and our getting together with the Congress has given us the image of being a progressive party. It has provided a strong, secular platform.

Q. Did it occur to you that before the election battle, you'd have to battle the family and the party?

A. I had no idea I would face such a situation. But I believe that, in politics, if your goal is big and you want to accomplish it, you need to be prepared for every situation.

Q. Was the humiliating defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha election a turning point for you?

A. The SP government began working with full responsibility from 2014, though preparations had begun earlier. It took us time to sort out the mess the previous BSP government had left. Since there was no industrial policy, there were no investments. More money was spent on monuments so the initial days of my government were spent arranging for money in the budget. We had huge liabilities. The previous BSP government had started many schemes; had I discontinued them, I would have been accused of stalling the previous government's work. There were huge liabilities in the roads sector, so an allocation was made for roads. Now I can say, the next Samajwadi government will start working from day one.

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Q. All is still not well in your family. Your uncle, Shivpal Yadav, has stayed away from canvassing. Will it have an impact?

A. Till February 19, he will be busy with his own election. After that, wherever he wants to go or wherever he is invited to campaign, he should go, I will not stop him. Because we have already put the party on the path it needs to be on.

Q. You cite the work in irrigation and roads in UP as an example of your achievements, but these departments were under your uncle Shivpal till six months ago...

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A. After becoming chief minister, the first thing I did was go to the Sharda barrage and direct authorities that it should not flood. It didn't. I had detected irregularities in the construction of bridges on the river Ghaghra. We were constantly monitoring these things, that is why we could provide results. But I do not reject the work of any minister.

Q. You are campaigning alone this time, whereas you had many SP leaders with you in 2012. Even your father Mulayam has mostly stayed away.

A. This is Netaji's (Mulayam Singh Yadav's) party, his cadre. He is campaigning in some places, many of our leaders are busy with their own elections. As they get free, they will join the campaign in the next round. I am myself a candidate and also president of the party. If the party loses, the entire blame will be on my head. If all goes well, then everyone will say all was anyway well with the party.

Q. Your father blames you for failing to realise his dream of becoming prime minister...

A. Mulayam Singh Yadav has been in politics for a long time. He has made many leaders prime ministers. He could have been prime minister, but didn't.

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Q. Has your relationship with your father changed since you took charge of the SP?

A. Both of us are busy campaigning. Our relations are fine. We talk on the phone. We will now build all relationships only after the elections are over on March 11.

Q. What issues do you have with Amar Singh?

A. Though Amar Singh was my uncle, he was close to Netaji. But now the matter is over. Today, the party is treading a new path. Why should we discuss him? If he is saying something, it is his viewpoint. In a democracy, you have to bear with these things. People in the party know who's wrong and who's right.

Q. Why are you not contesting?

A. Initially, I wanted to fight. In Hamirpur, it was proposed that I fight the election from Bundelkhand. Party leaders said as there had been no chief minister from this area, I should fight elections from Bundelkhand. Meanwhile, these developments unfolded in my family. That is when I decided I won't fight elections, I'll help people fight elections. I could have contested from any seat, but I would have been stuck there. My own election would have been on my mind. Now I am free and campaigning vigorously.

Q. You gave the Congress over 100 seats, despite some people in your party opposing it...

A. Friendship is fruitful only if it is done with a large heart; a miserly friendship will not last. The Samajwadis are large-hearted people.

Q. How will allying with the Congress benefit you?

A. What the Congress does or doesn't give does not matter. The coalition has given people the impression that together these people will think better. The BJP is saying this is an alliance of dynasties, I say it is the alliance of two youth, alliance of new thinking. Rahul and I think UP should move ahead.

Q. Is your alliance a sign of the SP's weakness?

A. Well, people were anyway saying the SP will do well this election, it will form the next government. We wanted to be absolutely sure, hence the alliance.

Q. What brought you and Rahul Gandhi together?

A. I have known Rahul Gandhi for quite some time. We are both the same age, we are both young. He has seen the world, so have I. Other countries in the world have moved ahead. Now, even we can dream of our state moving ahead and its people becoming better off.

Q. Barring Rahul Gandhi, senior Congress leaders are not putting much effort in the campaign. Even Priyanka has stayed away from campaigning so far.

A. That is not the case. Leaders of both parties are campaigning. No one would have done as many rallies as I have. Millions thronged my roadshows with Rahul in Lucknow, Agra and Meerut. Congress leaders are holding separate rallies so that we can reach out to the maximum number of places.

Q. What is the big issue you see in this election?

A. This is a period of transition in UP politics. Politics today has to be progressive and development-oriented. Last time, my election campaign was based on 'Umeed ki cycle'. This time, my campaign slogans are 'Umeedon ka pradesh, Uttar Pradesh', 'Roz naya ek kadam', 'Kaam bolta hai' and 'UP ko ye saath pasand hai'. Perhaps social media was not so active before this election. Which is why we are thinking of distributing smartphones to connect them to the government. In the coming days, only a political party which shows results will survive.

Q. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been criticising your government on the law and order situation...

A. The prime minister is saying Uttar Pradesh has the maximum number of rape and riot cases. What is a riot? We need to find out, as [even] a feud between two communities is being dubbed a riot. I also want to ask, you have been in power at the Centre for two-and-a-half years, what have you done for UP on the law and order situation? The previous UPA government used to give money to modernise the police which they have stopped. We have introduced 'UP-100', one of the most innovative initiatives to enhance police response, entirely with state money. I think the prime minister should try the Agra-Lucknow expressway once. After that, he too will vote the SP.

Q. You are soft in your response to the PM's attacks. Why?

A. I don't want to say it but I am compelled to: whoever is advising the prime minister is likely to lose his job after the elections. The SP government has worked for farmers. Sugarcane payments were made when sugar mills were in a crisis. Today, 95 per cent of the sugar mills have paid the farmers. Very few states in the country are offering Rs 280 per quintal as the price for sugarcane. The prime minister is saying that nobody can get one's blood pressure checked in Medanta hospital. He should know that only land is provided to private hospitals, they build the hospitals themselves. The SP government has built several medical colleges. The prime minister can get his blood pressure checked at any government hospital. After the elections, all the BJP leaders will require their blood pressure checked. The day passengers will start moving in the metro, we'll be sure to invite the prime minister.

Q. Do you think the BJP will raise Hindutva or Ram Mandir issues to counter your campaign?

A. They can try what they want, people won't listen to them. The issue in UP is development. Now they can't fool people with Hindutva and temple issues. On Dussehra day, the prime minister had come to shoot an arrow at the Lucknow Ramlila, but could not do it. No work should be done without practice. Practice makes a man perfect.

Q. In your father's time, the Samajwadi Party would connect with Muslims directly. You do not believe in doing so. Is this a planned strategy or an attempt to change the character of the SP?

A. In all our state-level schemes, we have given Muslims representation in proportion to their population: they've been given 20 per cent representation in laptop distribution, Lohia housing for the poor and Kanya Vidya Dhan. If we have given money to build the walls of a cemetery, we have also given money for the maintenance of Hindu places of worship. If we have regularised one-and-a-half lakh shiksha mitras [as assistant teachers], we have also regularised Urdu moallims. Beautification around the Imambara was done in Lucknow, 24-hour power is supplied to the state's religious sites. Nobody can accuse us of discrimination. Hence our slogan, 'Kaam bolta hai'.

Q. But the BJP accuses you of appeasing Muslims.

A. Whatever my rivals might say, I am giving people their rightful due. The BJP has not constructed roads, bridges. Therefore, they are raising issues of law and order, Muslim appeasement. We have built roads, bridges, restarted choked canals, worked for the betterment of tribals such as the Thaaru. The BJP has been pushed out of the battle of UP. Therefore, they are angry. The prime minister threw the word 'Scam' at us, saying the state has to be saved from the SP, Congress, Akhilesh and Mayawati. We said 'scam' means 'Save the country from Amit Shah and Modi'.

Q. BSP president Mayawati has fielded more Muslim candidates. Will it harm your party?

A. The BSP's strategy is to disperse the Muslim vote. Mayawatiji is helping the BJP. The Muslims understand this. They know whom to vote for.

Q. How do you plan to counter her Dalit support?

A. The Constitution itself provides for reservations for Dalits. So, they get help in each of our plans. Who else will help them more than us? I'm giving a Samajwadi pension of Rs 500 a month to 5.5 million women, of whom 27 per cent would be Dalits. I distributed food in Bundelkhand, and most of the poor in the area were Dalits. Now these Dalits will vote for us. We decide on the basis of ideology, not caste.

Q. What importance do you attach to caste in elections?

A. Such politics is practised in democratic countries all over the world. America too says it will seal its border with Mexico. Even in developed countries, there are local issues. We too have issues like caste and the Ram mandir.

Q. Which party is giving you the closest fight in UP?

A. From day one, I have said SP and Congress will take the number one and two positions. Who will be number three or four is for the BSP and BJP to decide.

Q. In case you win, a new kind of politics will emerge from the Hindi belt. Will Delhi be next on your agenda?

A. I don't dream of going to Delhi. I have read history well. I've found that he who lives in Lucknow rules. Whoever goes to Delhi cannot sustain his rule for long. I am happy here and do not want to go to Delhi.

Q. The last SP government was said to have five-and-a-half chief ministers. How many will the new SP government have, if you win?

A. The opponents don't have one chief ministerial face. My next government will have only one chief minister.

Q. How will your second term be different?

A. I'll give the state the world's best infrastructure. I built a 302 km long access control expressway in 23 months, I know how to do it. If I get the opportunity, I'll build a 350 km long expressway from Lucknow to Ballia in 30 months.

Q. What will you do if you lose?

A. I am still young. I'll have more time to work for the party. With age, will power, dreams and the right path on our side, the SP will return to power.

--- ENDS ---
The Premier Gladys Berejiklian has unveiled the route for the first stage of the new Parramatta light rail, which will stop at 16 places across the city.

The rail project will be built in two stages, with the first leg - a 12-kilometre route connecting Westmead to Carlingford via the Parramatta CBD - to open in 2023.

Announcing the route on Friday, Ms Berejiklian said the project confirmed the government's commitment to the city of Parramatta.

"This is a project that will not just connect major parts of Greater Parramatta but also revitalise communities and help create new ones," Ms Berejiklian said.
When it closes its doors next month, Jo-Jo's on Queen Street Mall will leave just a few "originals" from when the mall opened in 1982.

Brisbane hairdressing king Stefan Ackerie announced his landmark restaurant's impending closure on Wednesday, causing a flood of nostalgia from those who had dined there over four decades.

Jo-Jo's on Queen Street Mall will close on March 5. Credit:Cameron Atfield

Brisbane Marketing believed Jo-Jo's to be one of four retailers that predated the establishment of the Queen Street Mall, but could not be definitive in that belief.

The other three were Delahunty Chemist, which opened on July 13, 1932, Keri Craig Emporium (1969) and Wallace Bishop (1917).
Former Queensland MP Paul Lucas said Anna Bligh's appointment as chief executive of the Australian Bankers Association shows the ABA is keen for change, but unions say change won't happen without a royal commission.

"It's an incredibly clear signal from the banking industry that business as usual from an industry point of view is over," Mr Lucas said.

Former Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has been appointed as chief executive of the Australian Bankers Association. Credit:Jesse Marlow

"She wouldn't have accepted a job if they wanted the status quo."

Ms Bligh has already been questioned about her appointment and whether it conflicts with her Labor background, but she told ABC Radio that is not an issue.
Brisbane local Yue Lin lives for gelato. Every morning at 6am he arrives at his Hamilton gelateria to begin making a range of flavours to be offered up and devoured by his sweet-toothed patrons from 3pm.

His craftsmanship, honed since 2004 after a trip to Italy, shows after his dark chocolate gelato last week won not only the nation's best gelato, but also the grand champion dairy product (excluding cheese).

Dairy Australia awarded the 59-year-old Chinese native the grand prize, beating 470 other dairy products, including the winners of the milk, butter, cream, ice cream, yoghurt and dip categories.

Mr Lin said he was surprised by the win which, rather than see him rest on his laurels, would only encourage him to try even harder to perfect his gelato.
Leanne Linard has handed down the committee's report into the second abortion bill. The LNP members of the committee  Mark McArdle, Mark Robinson (who has been vocal in his opposition to any change) and Sid Cramp  said they could not recommend the bill be passed in a statement of reservation. They said the fact that one, neither or both of the bills could pass was concerning as no member could accurately predict the outcome. "That is an added complexity and worryingly places members in the position that their choices may not result in the outcome they want or worse, put in place laws that are conflicting and uncertain," the LNP members said. They also questioned whether the bills dealt with all issues, unintended consequences and amendments that would need to be made.

"We have a responsibility to pass clear and unambiguous legislation. We do not believe we are at that stage," it reads. The report points out that the second bill would not directly amend the current law about abortion in the Criminal Code, which could leave the potential for legal uncertainty. It would instead add to the Health Act, to set out who could perform an abortion, gestational limits, conscientious objection and protective zones. Professor Ben White of Queensland University of Technology's Australian Centre for Health Law Research said it could be difficult to act if legislation about abortion was both in the Criminal Code and the Health Act. If the first act  removing abortion from the Criminal Code  did not pass but the second one did, it could leave ambiguities in the law.

Fair Agenda executive director Renee Carr said the current laws were from the dark ages. "Queensland women deserve for decriminalisation of their healthcare decisions to be a priority," Ms Carr said. EARLIER: A parliamentary committee considering whether abortion laws in Queensland should be reformed could not agree whether to recommend that the bill be passed. Independent member for Cairns Rob Pyne introduced two private member's bills which, if passed, would decriminalise abortion. Abortion is the only medical procedure to feature in the Queensland Criminal Code.

It has sat there since 1899 but has been amended over the decades. The committee handed down its report into Mr Pyne's second bill late on Friday afternoon. Health, Communities, Disability Services and Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Committee chair Leanne Linard wrote that the issue attracted a high level of interest. "Community opinions about abortion are divergent, and often based on deeply held values," Ms Linard said. The committee received more than 1200 submissions to the inquiry into the second bill, and more than 2600 across the two bills.

Ms Linard said the committee carefully considered the views put to it in submissions and public hearings. "The committee has sought at all times to be respectful of the range of opinions presented to it," she said. Without a clear recommendation that the second bill should be passed, its success has been cast even further into doubt. In August, the committee recommended the first bill not be passed. The first bill  Abortion Law Reform (Woman's Right to Choose) Amendment Bill 2016 and Inquiry into laws governing termination of pregnancy  would remove abortion from the Criminal Code.

Missing from the proposal were details around gestational limits, conscientious objection and safe access zones. The second bill  Health (Abortion Law Reform) Amendment Bill 2016  set guidelines, such as the establishment of 50 metres "safe zones" and gestation limits. The bills are due to be debated on March 1, and every Wednesday night until they are either passed or fail. Labor has allowed it members to have a conscience vote. The LNP will allow a conscience vote on the first bill but was waiting to see the committee's report on the second bill before deciding whether to have a conscience vote.

Fairfax Media asked Queensland's 89 MPs how they would vote. Of those who answered, 14 were generally for change, 12 indicated they were unlikely to support change and 44 said they were undecided or declined to state their position. Earlier on Friday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she believed abortion should not be in the Criminal Code. "It is an incredibly complex issue and I think there would be a very strong view that it should not be a crime," she said.
A Senate hearing on Friday was told that the CSIRO should withdraw its recommended maximum acid emission levels for rock art on the Burrup Peninsula, as the science on which it is based "isn't appropriate".

The Senate environment committee also heard from a former CSIRO deputy divisional chief that the world's largest collection of rock art "will be destroyed" by current levels of acid emissions by local industry.

Johan Kuylenstierna from the Stockholm Environment Institute told the Senate that a paragraph using his research to set acid deposition levels at 200 milliequivalents per square metre per year "should be withdrawn" by the CSIRO.

Dr Melita Keywood from the CSIRO told the Senate committee that using Dr Kuylestierna's research in a 2008 report was "the best information we had at the time".
Boston: Woolly mammoths - or, at least, animals with very similar DNA - could be brought back from extinction within two years, say scientists behind a ground-breaking resurrection project.

George Church, a world renowned geneticist, has been working with his team at Harvard University to recreate a DNA blueprint of the mammoth for the past two years using material from carcases preserved in the Arctic permafrost.

They hope to isolate the genes that differentiate Ice Age mammoths from modern elephants - such as those responsible for its shaggy coat - then splice mammoth genes with the genome of an elephant embryo to create a hybrid with the recognisable features of a mammoth.

Laboratory tests show that cells function normally with mammoth and elephant DNA and the Harvard team plan to grow a mammoth embryo in an artificial womb, rather than use a female elephant as a surrogate mother.
A man on bail for possessing weapons was arrested at Highpoint by heavily-armed police after an alleged victim had a gun barrel shoved in his mouth.

Osama Elsayed was arrested by the special operations group at the shopping centre in Melbourne's west on Thursday night and charged with blackmail and assault.

Special Operations Group arrested a man at Highpoint Shopping Centre last night. Credit:Facebook

The 27-year-old faced the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday, where Magistrate Roslyn Porter refused a further application for him to be released and his bail was revoked.

Police claim Mr Elsayed went to a home in Melton West at 2pm on February 9 to recover a drug debt from a man in his 30s who owed between $10,000 and $20,000.
A man is fighting for his life after he was thrown from a van, which rolled after hitting a pole in Melbourne's south east on Thursday night.

It's believed the Ford "rent-a-van" was travelling north on Springvale Road, between Vermont Street and Waverley Road in Glen Waverley, when it hit a pole and lost control about 9.30pm, police said.

The overturned 'rent-a-van'. Credit:Twitter/@9NewsMelb

The vehicle rolled several times before it came to rest on its roof.

A 39-year-old Ferntree Gully man was the only occupant of the van and was found by paramedics "some distance from the van with serious head and chest injuries", an Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said.
Victoria's privacy watchdog has reportedly apologised for mistakenly releasing the email addresses of more than 300 people.

Radio station 3AW has reported the addresses were revealed when an invitation was sent out for an information security forum.

Victoria's Privacy Commissioner David Watts.

Those on the list reportedly included Emergency Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley and EPA Environment Protection Authority boss Nial Finegan.

Privacy Commissioner David Watts said most addresses on the list were internal government emails, according to 3AW.
Barely a month ago, the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections seemed like a cakewalk for the Bharatiya Janata Party, which was riding high after its 'strong' response to the Uri attack in September and the avowedly 'pro-poor' move to demonetise currency in November. The Samajwadi Party, in contrast, appeared on the verge of a split, with the young UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav embroiled in a battle with his uncle Shivpal Yadav and father Mulayam Singh Yadav. The Congress seemed clueless after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's khat sabha came to an abrupt end.

Then came the SP-Congress alliance in January, and the electoral wind changed direction completely. A classic game-changer, the alliance began dictating the campaign, with the BSP and BJP reduced to playing catch-up and scrambling for ways to counter the alliance.

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Polls in UP have for a long time now been four-cornered contests, which this pre-poll alliance has altered. In the past, parties would win polls with less than 30 per cent of the vote. The SP, for example, swept UP in 2012, winning 224 of the 403 seats, with only 29 per cent of the votes, just three percentage points more than the runner-up, Bahujan Samaj Party. In 2017, the minimum threshold would end up being over a third of the total vote, in the range of 35 per cent, for any party or combine to get a majority. The alliance has a higher chance of reaching that threshold than any individual party, unless there is a strong wave in its favour. And given that the fervour for Modi is not as strong as it was in 2014, it will possibly work to the alliance's advantage in 2017.

View from the Ground

On February 11, the day of the first phase of polling in UP, Akhilesh and Rahul held a widely televised press conference in Lucknow after the Varanasi roadshow was officially cancelled on grounds of security. Jointly releasing their common minimum programme, a list of 10 commitments including an employment guarantee to 2 million youth through skill development, distributing free smartphones to the youth, waiving farmer loans, cheap power, proper remuneration for crops, free cycles, Akhilesh used the occasion to take a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying they talked of "kaam ki baat" as opposed to his 'Mann ki baat'.

The same day, at an election rally in Badaun, the prime minister retorted, "Akhilesh Yadav says 'kaam bolta hai', (but) even a child knows it is your 'karnama' (misdeed) that is speaking."

Turning then towards the Congress, Modi said, "Lohiaji was against the Congress. Those who follow the ideals of Lohiaji are supporting the Congress." He even coined the acronym SCAM for the Samajwadi Party, Congress, Akhilesh and Mayawati, a barb Akhilesh effectively turned on the BJP saying it meant "Save the country from Amit Shah and Modi."

The alliance magic seems to be working. A week earlier, in Agra, batches of placard-carrying older Congress supporters, sporting tricolour scarves, had descended on Dayalbagh, the spacious and spectacular headquarters of the Radhasoamis, mingling cheerfully with younger SP activists in red caps. After Lucknow, Agra was where the alliance held its biggest roadshow. The SP has traditionally been on a weak footing here. In 2012, it was the rival BSP that won six of the nine assembly constituencies in Agra district, while the BJP got one seat.

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On February 3, the day of the roadshow, the loudspeakers blared: "Akhilesh nahin yeh aandhi hai, saath mein Rahul Gandhi hai (Akhilesh is a storm with Rahul Gandhi in tow)", "Ek haath mein Sapa ka jhanda, doosre haath mein lehraye Congress ka tiranga (SP flag in one hand, Congress tricolour in the other). Three in the afternoon, the timing was perfect as scores of college-goers came out on their cycles, the SP's election symbol, with laptops donated by the Akhilesh government.

All along the 12 km route, from Dayalbagh to Chhippitola and Bijlighar crossroad along the Mahatma Gandhi Road, connecting the four assembly constituencies of Agra north, south, cantonment and rural, colourful campaign posters proclaimed: "Yeh hui na baat bhaiyya, UP ko yeh saath pasand hai (UP likes this alliance)", "Kaam bolta hai, Anjaam bolta hai (Work and outcomes speak volumes)" and "Mann mein hain Mulayam, irade loha hain (soft at heart, but an iron will)". Hundreds of thousands of supporters threw rose petals at the two UP boys, dressed identically in white kurtas and black jackets. Overwhelmed supporters drew lofty comparisons with Karan and Arjun, Ram and Lakshman.

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The Agra roadshow was much bigger than the first roadshow, organised in Lucknow on January 29. About 14 such joint roadshows have been planned all across the state for the entire duration of the campaign besides individual rallies and regular election speeches by local leaders.

And if the crowds at their roadshows are any indication, it could be cause for worry for the BJP and BSP. Zaheer Rizvi is an orator and one of the patrons of the red brick 16th century tomb of the Shia jurist and scholar Qazi Noorullah Shustari. A BJP sympathiser, Rizvi admits that had it not been for the alliance, the BJP might have won a majority. But the situation has dramatically changed now, he says. Even if the BJP were to emerge as the single-largest party, it would not be able to form a government on its own. And who knows if the rising popularity of the alliance, as evidenced by the roadshow, might swing the tide? Why does he support the BJP? "The local BJP MLA candidate is my friend," he says, a rare simple answer in the churn of UP politics.

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The akhi-ra chemistry

The duo has certainly created a buzz. The UP boys do not have the chalk-and-cheese difference that Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad had in Bihar, though their UP gathbandhan is fashioned after the mahagathbandhan the Bihar chief minister and the RJD leader formed to defeat the BJP in 2015. The Bihari versus Bahari slogan that pitted locals Nitish and Lalu against outsiders Narendra Modi and Amit Shah is finding an echo in UP as well, where it is "UP ke ladke (UP boys) versus the Baharis".

The two also have a lot in common. Both are young-Rahul is 46, Akhilesh 43; both have studied abroad-Rahul in the UK and US, Akhilesh in Australia; both are GenNext scions of families with strong political roots. Both are emerging from the shadows of their respective parents, Akhilesh after a very public defiance of his father and uncles; Rahul taking over after mother Sonia's illness and gradual withdrawal from party affairs.

Both also share dreams of reviving a pan-India socialist party to combat the conservative BJP in 2019. Both are secular politicians, who believe in protecting minorities from the BJP brand of majoritarianism. Both share a visceral dislike of the saffron party, and are vocal critics of demonetisation. And most importantly perhaps, they share a chemistry their parents-Sonia and Mulayam-did not.

In April 1999, for instance, Mulayam had held Sonia Gandhi's Italian origin against her and refused to back her claim to form the government, forcing a mid-term election on the nation. Thereafter, he steadfastly refused to recognise her as the leader of the Opposition. He did not attend meetings she convened and communicated with Congress leaders only through the CPI(M)'s Somnath Chatterjee, a friend of Sonia's. Since then, Mulayam has always dilly-dallied on supporting the Congress and has ambiguous views on the Congress to this day.

Akhilesh and Rahul themselves were bitter rivals in 2009. SP was then part of the Fourth Front, not the Congress-led UPA. Later, however, the party provided the Manmohan Singh government outside support. "The real personal chemistry between Rahul and Akhilesh matured during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections," says Congress Legislature Party leader in UP and sitting MLA from the nearby Mathura and Vrindavan seats, Pradeep Mathur. "Rahul would exchange SMSes with Akhilesh."

The two have also refrained from attacking each other in public even in the days of their rivalry. Rahul, in fact, was sympathetic to Akhilesh throughout his fight with his father and uncles. Akhilesh too has publicly remarked that Rahul was a friend and "a good person" (see accompanying interview).

Need for an alliance

UP has a fierce tradition of anti-incumbency: no chief minister with the exception of the first, Gobind Ballabh Pant, has won two consecutive elections in the state-though some chief ministers have been elected a few times, including Mulayam, thrice. Could Akhilesh have bucked the anti-incumbency trend and won a second time on his own? Especially after openly taking on his father and uncles? The expulsions and counter-expulsions of senior SP leaders and the numerous official lists of candidates put up by the rival factions had made the party fractious and fragile. An alliance with the Congress, Akhilesh must have reckoned, would strengthen SP organisationally and improve its vote and seat arithmetic.

Likewise, Rahul too, as CLP's Pradeep Mathur says, "faced opposition from older Congress members like Madhusudhan Mistry, who were either in favour of rebuilding the party by contesting alone, or leaders like Rajiv Shukla, who were more inclined to build an alliance with the BSP rather than the SP". He says Rahul tried rebuilding the party from the grassroots by organising the khat sabha and kisan yatra from Deoria to Delhi in September 2016, but soon realised the enormity and the futility of the entire exercise, given that elections were so near. "I told Rahul Gandhi four months ago that 20-25 party MLAs will desert us if we do not build an alliance with the SP", says Mathur. For the Congress, which has been out of power in UP for almost 27 years, 2017 is a battle for survival. Given the impossibility of a revival in the short term, the alliance is their best bet.

Advantage Alliance

What advantage does the alliance have to offer voters? Former councillor Mohammed Suhail Qureshi of SP says "it has ensured that the minority votes will not get divided, will not get wasted. The Muslim youth who were earlier confused about which way to vote now seem to have got a totally new direction. Today, the minority vote is totally focused on the alliance".

"The Congress-SP coalition has youthful energy, a futuristic outlook and has set a new paradigm of development," says Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala. "This is the only coalition with a positive agenda of propelling UP forward as against the parochial visions of caste and religion both the BJP and BSP propagate."

When asked what the Congress will bring to the table, Surjewala said: "The fact that the party that came to power on its own in the last assembly elections has decided to shed over 100 seats for the Congress speaks volumes for the acceptance of the Congress among UP voters. The Congress brings a new awareness of the rights of the farmers and the youth, and a cohesive, cohabitative and composite outlook to the coalition."

To get a sense of where the SP-Congress alliance stands currently, it is pertinent to consider the performance of the various parties in 2012 in the seven regions of UP. In western UP, the SP won merely 10 out of 44 seats, with 20.5 per cent vote share. Its best performance was in Meerut district, where it won three out of seven seats (the BJP won the other four seats, and despite its sagging performance in the rest of the state, the BSP swept western UP, winning 17 of the 44 seats, with 29.2 per cent of the vote). The SP's performance was also weak in Bundelkhand, where it won just five out of the 19 seats, with 23.5 per cent votes.

However, in the five other regions of UP, the SP was ahead of its rivals. The party's best performance was in Awadh, where it won 55 of the 73 seats, with a vote share of 33 per cent. It won 52 of 81 seats and had a vote share of 32 per cent in Purvanchal, 32 of 61 seats with a vote share of 28 per cent in northeast UP (Terai belt bordering Nepal), 41 of 73 seats in Doab, which has the maximum concentration of the dominant OBC caste of Yadavs. In Rohilkhand, the SP won 29 of 52 seats.

"The alliance is bound to change the entire arithmetic of the 2017 assembly polls," says Adil Khan, 70, an SP leader from Agra. It is likely to bear fruit even in western UP, according to SP leaders, where the party base has traditionally been weak. The region has a strong concentration of Muslims (almost 22 per cent), Dalits (about 18 per cent) and Jats. This is where the alliance concentrated its road shows and rallies.

However, though the alliance has generated a buzz across UP, its success will rest on the quality of the campaign and the ability to transfer votes from one party to another. Traditionally, the SP is better at transferring votes to its allies compared to the Congress.

Going by pure arithmetic, if the SP and Congress had hypothetically tied up in the previous three assembly polls, the alliance would have secured a decisive majority in each of them. In 2012, the SP swept the polls on its own, forming a majority government. A Congress alliance would have turned that into a three-quarters majority. But even in 2007, when the BSP beat SP and Mayawati formed a majority government, the combined SP-Congress vote would have easily helped them form a government.

Moreover, pre-poll alliances tend to work geometrically in a first-past-the-post system of plurality vote. The seat share gets exaggerated algebraically once votes are combined. If the transfer of votes between the SP and Congress works smoothly, only a massive 7 to 11 per cent swing away from the SP-Congress alliance can ensure its defeat. Given the popularity of the Akhilesh-Rahul combine among the youth and the manner in which the alliance is dictating the agenda of the campaign, the alliance appears in more or less the same advantageous position as the Nitish Kumar-Lalu Prasad Yadav mahagathbandhan in Bihar in the 2015 assembly election.

--- ENDS ---
Levi Miller (Mick) and the young kelpie in Red Dog: True Blue. Credit:ROADSHOW FILMS My father was patient with him; gentle. Month after month. Eventually, he took to trailing Dad's heels wherever he went, tongue hanging out and ears pricked for the murmured command. The original: 2011's Red Dog We named him Dan.

My dad had several dogs named Dan during his long life. The name was reserved only for the best of them; those who'd run all day around a mob of sheep or a herd of cattle, who'd hypnotise a beast with a fix of the eye, who'd balance on the backs of sheep in a yard. We took a caravanning holiday and Dan came along  something that seemed incomprehensible. Dogs in our family were for working, not holidaying. Dan was ordered by my father at no-dogs-allowed caravan parks to lie flat and stay silent when the manager came sniffing around. It was love, my Mum whispered. Years later, when old Dan was dragging his hind legs, couldn't round up a lamb and the light was going out of his eyes, Dad couldn't bring himself to take him to the back paddock with the rifle as he did with his other dogs. He called the vet and we couldn't get a word out of him for days. We celebrate and memorialise and yes, mourn our dogs, privately and publicly. Most of Australia's news services ran the story this week of the death of Oddball, the maremma on which the film of the dog that saved Warrnambool's penguin colony was based. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten even put out a media release about Oddball's passing.

Two popular movies  Red Dog and Red Dog: True Blue  have been made about a kelpie-cattle dog cross that roamed the Pilbara in Western Australia, and Louis de Bernieres (famed for Captain Corelli's Mandolin) wrote a novel about him. Dogs slink through literature and song  Old Yeller, Elvis' Old Shep, Chekhov's The Lady With the Dog, Henry Lawson's The Loaded Dog, Bill Sikes' Bulls-Eye in Dickens' Oliver Twist. My father would likely have approved of Oddball because she was a working dog (the real Oddball was a female), protecting whatever flock was put in her care: chooks and then penguins. Down the track from Warrnambool at Portland, other Maremmas were used to guard Australia's only mainland colony of gannets. Right now, conservationists are using such dogs in western Victoria to protect eastern barred bandicoots, bringing them back from the edge of extinction. Free-range chicken farmers everywhere use them to keep foxes away. These are, after all, dogs bred originally to kill wolves that harass sheep in the hills of Italy.

My father professed to have no time for dogs that did not make their living by working. What, then, might he have made of the little schnoodle that leapt on my bed this morning, fixing me with shining eyes. Or the chocolate labrador that has kept my youngest daughter company for years, from England to Australia? Or the golden retrievers that weaved through the life of our family as the children grew? Having moved from the bush to the city, and currently finding myself in a suburb that appears to have almost as many dogs as people, I'm pretty sure my old Dad could have been persuaded to change his mind. Just about all dogs, one way or another, are working animals. Those poodles and terriers, pugs and bulldogs, spaniels and retrievers and all the rest straining against leashes and bounding around parks are working all the time.
A former Victorian child protection worker who fled interstate to allegedly avoid arrest over child pornography charges has been found.

Cameron Allan, 44, of Bendigo, was fired from his job, before he left the state earlier this month.

Police say Cameron Allan has been caught in South Australia.

Police found him about 11am on Friday morning in a town in South Australia's rural Riverland area.

He was arrested on outstanding warrants in Renmark, 254 kilometres northeast of Adelaide.
Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy Credit:Paul Jeffers Fairfax Media can reveal that senior party figures are overseeing a confidential vetting committee into Bastiaan's alleged branch-stacking aimed at removing non-genuine members and curtailing his influence. There are also claims that Bastiaan is an ideological wind-sock, prepared to point whatever way the political winds blow. On Saturday, his partner, ultra-conservative political aspirant Stephanie Ross, 25 - who believes that women who have been raped should be denied abortions - will challenge the oldest man in state parliament, 65-year-old Gary Blackwood, for the safe Warragul-based seat of Narracan. Blackwood won Narracan from Labor in 2006 and turned it into a safe seat. Former prime minister Tony Abbott. Credit:Rick Rycroft If Ross gets up, it will be the second Bastiaan group figure to win, with James Newbury being pre-selected earlier this year in the seat of Brighton, held by outgoing MP Louise Asher.

Like her partner, Ross believes that too many state MPs are unskilled and out of date. Bastiaan's allies point to the fact that Labor has been in state government for all but four years since 1999, and the Baillieu-Napthine government lasted just one term. Stephanie Ross, James Newbury and Marcus Bastiaan. Credit:Twitter Bastiaan's use of social conservatives to build his base have many scared about the damage to the Liberal brand in progressively minded Victoria, with concerns the Bastiaan group's insurgency is imperilling Guy's hopes of becoming the next premier. "Their plan is for Guy to lose the next election and then take over. Guy is furious," says one senior Liberal. Marcus Bastiaan with Stephanie Ross. Credit:Facebook

The divisions are coming at a testing time for the party in Victoria. In an unrelated development, a internal financial dispute has seen business community supremo and fundraising vehicle chairman Hugh Morgan withholding $500,000 from the state branch. In an extraordinary letter to president Michael Kroger, Mr Morgan says the board of Cormack foundation has identified "fundamental gaps" in the branch's governance. The governance dispute and the divisions sparked by Bastiaan are spot fires that insiders say risk destabilising the party at a time when the focus should be on exploiting Premier Daniel Andrews' bumpy start to the year. "We should be focusing on Labor rather than obsessing about our own internal problems," says an MP.

Old dog, new pup Twenty-five-year-old Ross hails from a conservative Catholic Church in West Gippsland and has made a name for herself campaigning against abortion. As the preselection date has drawn closer, so has pressure on her to withdraw from those in the party because of the damage she is causing. Critics highlight her lack of political, business or life experience. Like Bastiaan, she claims to be focused on returning the party to its members and challenging a parliamentary team that has abandoned its values and lost touch. To her supporter base, which includes a group from the St Thomas Aquinas community, she has rallied against the Safe Schools program "that is teaching radical gender theory and warped graphic sex education centred around promiscuity".

She has warned Gippsland locals that Australia was "seeing the destruction of religious freedom, free speech, a push towards gay marriage (which won't stop there!) and euthanasia". "There is a state/nation-wide push to bring conservative politics back into fashion! People like Corey [sic] Bernardi in SA, Andrew Hastie in WA, George Christensen in Qld and Kevin Andrews in Vic are all fighting and need our backing." Last year, Ross hosted a gala fundraiser for conservative MP Kevin Andrews where the main attraction was former PM Tony Abbott. The Bulleen dinner featured a latin grace and a rendition of God Save the Queen. She, like her partner Bastiaan, attack Guy's parliamentary team. Most recently, she lashed out at the Coalition's decision to support the Andrews' government ban on fracking and conventional gas exploration. The Bastiaan camp is privately talking down Ross's chances, perhaps mindful that many senior Liberals are running a furious behind-the-scenes campaign to deny her the prize, fearing Bastiaan would use it as proof positive of his theory that the party's future lies in arresting the decline in membership by proselytising views that resonate with a disaffected base.

But the challenge has sparked fears in the party establishment, with Guy throwing his weight behind Blackwood, pledging a new Warragul hospital (an announcement that would normally be reserved for the election campaign). MPs are lobbying preselectors and the Hawthorn-based shadow Attorney-General John Pesutto will serve as Blackwood's scrutineer. Bastiaan's ascension from just another wannabe glad-handing oldies at branch meetings to a figure of intense discussion and intrigue across the party has included a familiar rite of passage for many Victorian political aspirants  an alliance with veteran Liberal king-maker Michael Kroger. A federal cabinet member told Fairfax Media that Kroger, who is still regarded as a "political animal of real substance" even by his enemies, believed Bastiaan (currently on the state's powerful administrative committee) would help entrench the veteran's power, not least due to Bastiaan's membership recruiting prowess. If this is so, Kroger was only half right. Bastiaan has excelled at recruiting members  which equate to votes during key party battles, including those that decide pre-selection  but appears not to be wedded to Kroger. Bastiaan is forging his own path, with a focus on seizing greater control at state council.

"It's like Frankenstein's monster. Kroger has lost control," says an observer. Building an empire A three-time university dropout, Bastiaan got into business with the aid of his father, dabbling in an antiques dealership while at university, before moving into a software design business. He now spends his time leaping between an e-commerce start-up and politics. His party operation is under close scrutiny. In the seats held by former treasurer Kim Wells and shadow frontbenchers Nick Wakeling and Heidi Victoria, a vetting committee has been formed to scrutinise the surge in memberships in Melbourne's east that began in the middle of last year but have recently tapered off.

A well-placed source says the committee has identified a small number of members who say they did not pay their party fees or sign the necessary forms. There are many more cases of new members who have no interest in the party beyond casting votes when needed. The vetting committee's work has led to several prospective members being blocked. The powerful party administrative committee, of which Bastiaan is a member, is aware of branch-stacking claims but has not conducted a formal audit. With just 12,500 members, many of them "ageing", Kroger has on several occasions publicly praised Bastiaan's work to recruit fresh blood, despite the allegations of branch stacking. Another supporter, state party officer Paul Mitchell, says attacks on Bastiaan are factionally driven. "Marcus has not just talked about the membership crisis in the Liberal Party, he has gone out and done something about it and the overwhelming majority of party members respect and admire that," he said.

Bastiaan appears to have built his base by making use of membership discounts provided to students and couples. Ultra-conservative churches have also provided a fertile recruiting ground. "I've had people from different churches approach me and say I've had Marcus ask me to join up. I've got nothing against people who go to church, but this is a blatant stack," says a Liberal MP. A legitimate recruiter aligned with Bastiaan is medical doctor Ivan Stratov, who once ran for the Family First Party. A prominent member of the Mormon church, Stratov won't say how many new members he has recruited (there is no suggestion Stratov is doing any branch stacking) or how closely he is working with Bastiaan. But Stratov says some of Victorian's Mormons "are getting politically aware" and he's encouraging them to sign up. This is being made easier, he says, because of anger over the safe schools program, the push to legalise assisted euthanasia and other progressive policies. For instance, Dr Stratov says there is plenty of support for his views on abortions.

"I wouldn't agree with the vast majority of abortions in this country. I think there are far too many," he says. Supporters say concern about the growing influence of ultra-conservative church groups in the party is vastly overstated and serves as a means for underperforming MPs threatened by Bastiaan to create a sense of outrage and unease. Others see the Bastiaan group's efforts as a genuine "insurgency" that is using conservatives as a rallying point. Federal Assistant Treasurer and Deakin MP Michael Sukkar is another supporter of Bastiaan. "The most important take out from the Deakin campaign was the importance of grassroots members and supporters. Modern campaigning is labour intensive and with ageing and shrinking membership many in the party are grateful of Marcus' efforts to grow the party," Mr Sukkar said.

"I don't seriously believe anybody can seriously argue that Christians can no longer be welcome in the Liberal party." The Bastiaan group's emergence, championing of right-wing views and divisive nature reflects the battle playing out in federal party ranks, with Abbott and other conservative warriors keeping Turnbull on something of a leash. Next month, Abbott is the headline guest at a Liberal Party fundraiser organised by Bastiaan. Few doubt Abbott's commitment to long-held conservative values. But several Liberal MPs say Bastiaan's efforts to portray himself as a conservative warrior is more about political opportunism than any deeply held ideal. Some Liberals also say that Bastiaan has privately backed same-sex marriage, a view he wasn't prepared to challenge when quizzed by Fairfax Media.

Blackwood, the group's preselection target, is himself a socially conservative MP and other arch-conservatives including the outspoken Bernie Finn are also in the Bastiaan camps sights. The risk for Matthew Guy and the party in the long term is that while conservative views may energise some of the Liberal base and a new generation of members, they won't win an election in Victoria. The Narracan preselection battle will be a test of Bastiaan's success in organising numbers. Regardless of whether Stephanie Ross wins or loses, Bastiaan is expected to be appointed vice-president of the state branch in April, a key step to realising his ambition of becoming president. The most considered political observers say Bastiaan is not the problem.
Yahoo7 has been fined $300,000 and convicted of contempt of court for publishing an article that aborted a murder trial, with a judge saying that one of Australia's biggest media companies put profits before professional journalism.

Its employee, Sydney journalist Krystal Johnson, who wrote the article, has escaped with a good behaviour bond, the Supreme Court in Melbourne heard on Friday.

Yahoo7 reporter Krystal Johnson escaped with a good behaviour bond. Credit:Justin McManus

Johnson, who had not been in court in Melbourne to report on the case, copied details from an accurate report of an earlier hearing to use in her article.

She then bypassed subeditors to directly publish it on Yahoo's news website.
"There's trouble, they're playing a game I think," a man who did not want to be named said. "The last probably five years Margie wanted to get a job in the school but... the school won't allow it." Mr Samson, when questioned about the allegation, admitted he believed the school should employ more local people. "The system is you must have a police clearance for anyone, whether it's Margie or someone else... I wonder if the white staff actually have a police clearance as well," he said. "The main big thing in this community is unemployment and that's the reality.

"When you start coming out and looking at remote communities, closing the gap is not there for us... for someone [local] to be able to become a principal of the school down the track, or become a doctor... education is a key to that and it's not happening." But Mr Samson's fight to have more local people employed at the school has meant the educational outcomes of the community's children has begun to suffer. In 2015, the school was boasting its attendance rate had jumped as high as 80 per cent after long struggle with high truancy rates. It credited a new teaching method called direct instruction for the change  a new program championed by Cape York leader Noel Pearson, and supported by Mr Samson. Mr Samson told The Australian in March 2015 that before the new program was introduced, he had not stood foot in a classroom in his community in 20 years because he was so disappointed by the low standards reached there.

"A few years ago, in the last mining boom, we had talks with big mining companies and they were going to employ our young people but they came back and said, 'Sorry, their literacy and numeracy is not up to standard'," he said. "It was so disappointing and a big wake-up for a lot of us. I thought, 'This can't go on', and that's when we started looking for a new way." Since his comments, yearly attendance averages at Jigalong Remote Community School have dropped from 62.8 per cent in 2015 to 33 per cent in 2016. Department deputy director general of schools, David Axworthy said he would like to see families sending their children back to the school. "I understand there is unrest in the community and it's unfortunate that the operations of the school are being affected, along with a number of other community services," he said.

"The Department is working with the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Federal Government to organise a community meeting and find a resolution. "At the end of the day, children need to go to school. It's not only the law, it's also vital to children's personal development and future prospects." The anonymous community member, who has family members at the school, said the rest of the community had "had enough" and that the students wanted to go back to school. But Mr Samson has given no indication when he will let that occur. "You must remember these kids, they actually have a culture of authority by the elders... therefore if some elders decided to say this is what we're going to do, they respect it... because it's a cultural value," he said.

Jigalong's Martu people have one of Australia's most ancient cultures and hold dear the traditions of desert life. There are some Martu elders still alive who can recall the first time they saw a white man. However, the living conditions in many Martu communities are Third World. Some Martu children go hungry, rarely attend school and are at risk of abuse from alcohol-affected people. Since the Jigalong school's principal, Mr Wilson, was employed in February 2015, five staff members have come to the end of their remote teaching service contracts, while two have completed six months and decided to relocate to other remote communities. The transient nature of teachers in such a remote area is not unusual, but Mr Samson claimed it showed others were also unhappy with Mr Wilson. WA Labor MP and chairperson of the Martu Schools Alliance, Alannah MacTiernan, described the situation at the school as "tragic" and urged Mr Samson to allow the children to return to school.

"My strong counsel to Brian would be get the children back into school... but as a matter of principle in these remote communities, there must be regard had to very strongly held opinions about the appointment of a principal," she said. "The tragedy of all this is that Brian was the person that really pushed direct instruction because he was so unhappy with the lack of education that was being delivered to the kids across the Western Desert... he got the whole ball rolling." The Federal Government's ninth Closing the Gap report, released on Tuesday, showed Indigenous school attendance rates continued to decrease with remoteness. In 2016, the attendance rate for Indigenous students fell from 86.9 per cent in inner regional areas to 66.4 per cent in very remote areas. Loading
A coronial inquest will be held later this year into the cold case disappearance of a woman who went missing in Broome almost 18 years ago.

Petronella Albert was 21-years-old when she vanished in Broome in 1999.

A coronial inquest will be held later this year into the cold case disappearance of Petronella Albert. Credit:Crime Stoppers website

She was last seen leaving her home at 8.30pm on April 18, 1999. She has not been seen or heard of since and her body has never been located.

The WA Coroners Court has set a two day inquest in early July into the case. The hearing is expected to take place in Broome.
A Senate committee will inquire into possible breaches of environmental conditions at Beeliar Wetlands from Perth Freight Link construction after a Greens motion gained supported from senators.

WA Greens senator Scott Ludlam moved the motion on Thursday and said the project could be proceeding illegally due to breaching it's environmental conditions.

Alannah MacTiernan after securing the Roe 8 documents after three years of fighting. Credit:Alannah MacTiernan / Facebook

The $1.9 billion Perth Freight Link is the WA Liberal-National government's flagship road project and has become a contentious election issue as Labor will scrap the project and cancel the contracts if elected.

"The heavy handed response to peaceful community protest at Beeliar is in sharp contrast to the repeated obfuscation, indifference and dismissal of the conditions the government itself put in place," Senator Ludlam said.
President Donald Trump's choice for national security adviser, retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward, has turned down the offer, a senior White House official said on Thursday.

Harward was offered the job after Michael Flynn was fired by Trump on Monday for misleading Vice President Mike Pence over his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the United States.

The White House official said Harward cited family and financial reasons for opting not to take the job.

Harward was offered the job after Michael Flynn resigned on Monday for misleading Vice President Mike Pence over his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the United States.
Budapest: Russian state television aired an interview in 2014 with a woman who claimed the Ukrainian army, entering a rebel-held town, had publicly crucified a three-year-old boy. The woman, named as Galina Pyshnyak, said she saw soldiers "take a little boy in his underwear and T-shirt and nail him to a notice board like Jesus". The story was a complete fabrication.

War has always made truth its first casualty but distortion and lying are creeping into everyday life in the "post-fact" world.

White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway justified the recent Muslim travel ban by inventing a "massacre" in Bowling Green, Kentucky. She later admitted she had "misspoken" in a gross exaggeration of the reality that two terrorist suspects had been arrested there.

Fake news is not new  the yellow press has been deceiving us for decades  but with the decline of traditional journalism and the rise of the internet, "alternative facts" are everywhere going viral.
Former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il looks over to his son Kim Jong-un in 2010. Credit:Bloomberg Both women and a man police said was Ms Siti's boyfriend have been remanded in custody for a week, pending further investigations. Ms Siti's mother told Fairfax Media she is a "simple country girl" who had been working in a clothing shop in Batam, an Indonesian island near Singapore. An image from Siti Aisyah's passport. Indonesian officials say immigration records show her last departure from Indonesia was on February 2 when she travelled from Batam to Johor, a state in southern Malaysia.

Ms Siti's nephew, Iqbal, who goes by just one name, said Ms Siti had also been involved in filmed pranks in Jakarta. A CCTV image obtained by Malaysian police of one of the women arrested over Kim Jong-nam's death. Mr Iqbal said Ms Siti received about 2 to 3 million rupiah ($200 to $300) for each filmed prank, which he added never appeared on TV in Indonesia. He was quoted in news wire detik.com saying the producer had not allowed her to watch the filmed pranks. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, seated, in 1981. First-born son Kim Jong-nam is bottom right. Credit:Getty Images

"The producer said: 'Why would you watch it? If you watch it, then it would be useless'," Mr Iqbal said. Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla has also said Ms Siti had been a victim of some kind of trickery. Detik.com reported he did not believe Ms Siti was a North Korean agent because she stayed in Malaysia and did not escape. As of Friday night, the Directorate General of Immigration was yet to verify that the passport in the name of Siti Aisyah seized by Malaysian authorities was a real Indonesian passport or if the woman arrested was indeed Ms Siti. Spokesman Agung Sampurno told Fairfax Media Malaysian police had visited the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Friday. "It was to get the original passport of Siti Aisyah verified, to ensure that it is a real Indonesian passport," Mr Agung said.

He said the next step was to verify that the woman arrested really was the passport holder. "We haven't met her so far," he said. "We have to make sure that the woman is actually Siti Aisyah." Ms Siti's mother expressed their disbelief over her daughter's arrest on Friday. "That's impossible, my daughter is a good person," Ms Benah told Fairfax Media in a phone interview. Ms Siti's former father-in-law, Tjia Liang Kiong, also scoffed at suggestions that Ms Siti was an agent.

"I just laughed ... how can she be an agent? She doesn't speak any English and her highest level of education is only junior high school," Mr Kiong told reporters from his home in Tambora, West Jakarta. Diplomatic spat In the latest twist to the bizarre killing, a diplomatic row has broken out between North Korea and Malaysia over Mr Kim's body. In his first public comments on the assassination, North Korea's ambassador in Kuala Lumpur Kang Chol said his country would "categorically reject" Malaysia's autopsy report and demanded the body be released to North Korean officials immediately. "The Malaysian side forced the post-mortem without our permission or witnessing," Mr Kang told reporters outside a hospital.

"We will categorically reject the result of the post-mortem." Mr Kang accused Malaysia of "concealing something" and "colluding with outside forces". Mr Kang said North Korea rejected a post-mortem "because he is a diplomatic passport holder who is under consular protection of the DPRK (North Korea). He made no reference to Mr Kim by name. Malaysia's police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters that rules and procedures must be followed in the case. Malaysia has said the body would not be released until it receives DNA samples from Mr Kim's next of kin.

Results of forensic tests have not been made public. On Saturday, a senior Malaysian official said a second autopsy will be carried out on Mr Kim's body because the first one was inconclusive. The autopsy was expected to be carried out late Saturday. South Korea has pointed the finger of blame at North Korea, citing a "standing order" from North Korea's leader. Celebrations in Pyongyang to mark the birthday of Kim Jong-il, the men's late father, have gone ahead without reference to the death. Yoji Gomi, a Tokyo-based journalist who wrote a book about Kim Jong-nam, told Associated Press that he opposed his family's rule of the pariah state and wanted economic reforms.

Mr Gomi said Kim Jong-nam appeared nervous when he interviewed him in 2011. "He must have been aware of the danger, but I believe he still wanted to convey his views to Pyongyang via the media," he said. "He was sweating all over his body and seemed uncomfortable when he responded to my questions ... he was probably worried about the impact of his comments and expressions," he said. "The thought now gives me a pain in my heart." North Korean spies have a long history of assassinations and kidnappings in foreign countries.

One 14-year-old Japanese girl was kidnapped to teach Japanese to North Koran spies. In October 2012, South Korean prosecutors said a North Korean man detained as a spy had admitted involvement in a plot to stage a hit-and-run accident targeting Kim Jong-nam in China in 2010. The country's Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB) has had agents infiltrate Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia for decades, according to Malaysian intelligence officials quoted by The Star Asia News Network. Agents disguise themselves working in jobs like the construction industry and run restaurants, it said. Malaysia is one of a dwindling number of countries that have close relations with North Korea, which is under global sanctions over its missile launches. Indonesia's vice-president Jusuf Kalla, told reporters on Friday he was confident Siti was not a North Korean agent, saying if she was she would have disappeared by now.

Police arrested Ms Siti in a Kuala Lumpur hotel early Thursday after being led there by her 26-year-old Malaysian boyfriend. "Why would she go and stay in a hotel in the same city, so close to the airport," Mr Jusuf was reported as saying by Detik.com. On Monday at the airport one woman stood in front of Mr Kim to distract him while another came from behind and dabbed a handkerchief believed to contain poison in his face. Images of the women were captured on CCTV cameras. Mr Kim became unwell and died in an ambulance on the way to a hospital.
Akshay Kumar and Hrithik Roshan might just do a film together. The hype is strong here.

By India Today Web Desk: The two-hero film has virtually vanished from Bollywood. Up till 2000s, films with multiple heroes were, well, a norm. Not an exception. Amitabh Bachchan-Shashi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan-Rishi Kapoor, Akshay Kumar-Suniel Shetty, Sanjay Dutt-Govinda, among others, are some of the most well-known pairs of heroes that have consistently produced great entertainers.

Today, it will be difficult to get Ranbir Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Shahid Kapoor, etc to star together in a film. Films like Rangoon (Shahid-Saif), Padmavati (Shahid-Ranveer) and Gunday (Ranveer-Arjun) are some recent exceptions.

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But till now, we have not seen two big contemporary stars at the prime of their careers, coming together to do a film. Well that might change soon with Hrithik Roshan and Akshay Kumar apparently coming together to star in a film.

MOVIE REVIEW: JOLLY LLB 2

MOVIE REVIEW: KAABIL

A source, quoted by DNA, said, "They have found a great script which is perfect and they (Hrithik and Akshay) both have lead roles."

Akshay Kumar and Hrithik Roshan share a good rapport and frequently complement each other's work on social media. Expecting to see them together in a project is not that difficult.

When asked about doing a two-hero film, Akshay Kumar said, "I am open to doing a two-hero film. In fact, I have been approached for one and I am considering it.""

About ego clashes and insecurities on set, the Jolly LLB 2 actor added, "Why should I care about all that? If there are more actors, I will have to do less work to do in the film, so it's good for me in a way."

Hrithik Roshan, too, is apparently interested in a two-hero project. 'I am open to the idea. I would love to do a film with another actor friend. In fact, I have had a word with some of my colleagues in the industry. We were discussing and planning to do a two-hero film. So let's see what happens. It's only about finding the right script that does justice to both actors," said the Kaabil actor.

Well, if this eventually materialises, expect all box-office records to be broken for sure.

OPINION: What is Akshay Kumar's secret to success?

ALSO READ: Jolly LLB 2 still in the box-office race to cross the Rs 100-crore mark

WATCH: Jolly LLB 2 movie review

--- ENDS ---
Bangkok/Jakarta: Malaysian authorities believe four North Korean spies orchestrated the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the playboy brother of North Korea's leader, and remain in the country prompting tightened security at all border exit points.

In a major breakthrough in the case, police have obtained descriptions of the men from two young women, one from Vietnam and the other Indonesia, who were allegedly recruited to poison 46-year-old Mr Kim in the departure hall of Kuala Lumpur International Airport's low cost terminal on Monday.

Police have also arrested the boyfriend of the Indonesian woman identified as Siti Aisyah, born in 1992 in Serang, Indonesia. He led police to her in the early hours of Thursday.

Siti Aisyah left Batam in Indonesia to Johor in Malaysia on February 2 and there is no record of her returning to Indonesia since then, said Indonesian Immigration spokesman Agung Sampurno.
Washington: Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn denied to FBI agents in an interview last month that he had discussed US sanctions against Russia with that country's ambassador to the United States before President Donald Trump took office, contradicting the contents of intercepted communications collected by intelligence agencies, current and former US officials said.

The January 24 interview potentially puts Flynn in legal jeopardy, as lying to the FBI is a felony, but any decision to prosecute would ultimately lie with the Justice Department. Some officials said bringing a case could prove difficult in part because Flynn may attempt to parse the definition of sanctions.

A spokesman for Flynn said he had no response. The FBI declined to comment.

Flynn spoke to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak following Trump's election, and denied for weeks that the December conversation involved sanctions the Obama administration imposed on Russia in response to its meddling in the US election.
Trump's tendency to treat each leak as an attack rather than an attempt to influence policy has created an atmosphere in Washington of open institutional conflict. Credit:The New York Times Although the deep state is sometimes discussed as a shadowy conspiracy, it helps to think of it instead as a political conflict between a nation's leader and its governing institutions. That can be deeply destabilising, leading both sides to wield state powers like the security services or courts against one another, corrupting those institutions in the process. In Egypt, for instance, the military and security services actively undermined Mohammed Mursi, the country's democratically elected Islamist president, contributing to the upheaval that culminated in his ouster in a 2013 coup. Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has battled the deep state by consolidating power for himself and, after a failed coup attempt last year, conducting vast purges.

Although US democracy is resilient enough to resist such clashes, early hints of a conflict can be tricky to spot because some push and pull between a president and his or her agencies is normal. In 2009, for instance, military officials used leaks to pressure the White House over what it saw as the minimal number of troops necessary to send to Afghanistan. Leaks can also be an emergency brake on policies that officials believe could be ill-advised or unlawful, such as George W. Bush-era programs on warrantless wiretapping and the Abu Ghraib detention facility in Iraq. "You want these people to be fighting like cats and dogs over what the best policy is, airing their views, making their case and then, when it's over, accepting the decision and implementing it," said Elizabeth Saunders, a George Washington University political scientist. "That's the way it's supposed to work." "Leaking is not new," she said, "but this level of leaking is pretty unprecedented."

Institutional conflicts under Trump, she worried, had grown into something larger and more concerning. Trump, apparently seeking to cut the intelligence community, the State Department and other agencies out of the policy-making process almost entirely, may have triggered a conflict whose escalation we are seeing in the rising number of leaks. Culture of conflict Officials, deprived of the usual levers for shaping policies that are supposed to be their purview, are left with little other than leaking. And the frenetic pace of Trump's executive orders, which the agencies would normally review internally over weeks or months, has them pulling that lever repeatedly. They have leaked draft executive orders, inciting backlashes that led the orders to be shelved. And they have revealed administration efforts to circumvent usual policymaking channels, undermining Trump's ability to enact his agenda.

Trump's moves to consolidate power away from those agencies under his own authority also has them struggling to keep what they see as their crucial role in governance. "We're in a world now where the president is playing to the edge of his powers, and I think there are real concerns about the constitutional implications of some of the actions he's taken," said Amy Zegart, the co-director of the Centre for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. That has forced officials in agencies to ask how far they will go themselves. As each side begins to perceive itself as under attack and the other as making dangerous power-grabs, it will justify more and more extreme behaviour. "In President Trump, you have a president whose behaviour shocks even more than the content of his policies," el-Amrani said. "This was very much the case with Mursi," he said, which led the civil service to "leak aggressively" to oppose Mursi's disregard for bureaucratic norms and procedures. "You're seeing the same thing now."

Tit for tat Trump's tendency to treat each leak as an attack rather than an attempt to influence policy has created an atmosphere in Washington of open institutional conflict. Some leaks appear motivated by more than mere policy disagreements, such as the revelations concerning conversations between Michael Flynn, the national security adviser, and Russia's ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, which led on Monday to Flynn's resignation. This came after months of worsening relations between Trump and the intelligence agencies, which he frequently criticised during his campaign. Trump, in rejecting intelligence assessments that Russia intervened in the election to help him win, has risked implying that he will only accept intelligence bent to his political interests.

Trump plans to appoint Stephen Feinberg, a finance executive who was an early supporter of his campaign, to review the intelligence agencies. "It looks, sounds and feels like a political witch hunt," said Zegart. "It's like pouring gasoline on the fire." "What's happening here is that the president doesn't even want to hear intelligence that he doesn't agree with, and jumps to the conclusion that it must be politicised, and must be the result of people conspiring against him," Zegart said. By creating the perception of conflict, Trump may have made it more likely. Crossing the line

Flynn, in his short tenure, exemplified the breakdown between the president's inner circle and career civil servants. He kept the National Security Council largely shut out of policymaking and sought sweeping changes in foreign policy. For concerned government officials, leaks may have become one of the few remaining means by which to influence not just Flynn's policy initiatives but the threat he seemed to pose to their place in democracy. That has fuelled speculation that details of Flynn's contact with the Russian ambassador could have been leaked as much to undermine Flynn as out of concern for impropriety. Even if that was not the case, such practices are a hazard of officials' growing reliance on leaks and other tools of bureaucratic resistance. This risks entrenching a culture of bureaucratic warfare that is adversarial and dysfunctional by default  not quite a Turkish-style deep state but not a healthy democracy either. Officials are stuck in a difficult position: Even if each individual leak is justifiable, as insubordination becomes more sustained and overt, it inches deeper into the gray zone of counter-democratic activities. The distinction between deep-state meddling and acceptable protest is difficult to draw in the United States, Zegart said, because this degree of opposition is so unusual.

"I don't think you can say in advance what inappropriate deep-state activity would look like, because we haven't seen this before," she said. In countries like Egypt, el-Amrani said, the line is much clearer. There, "the deep state is not official institutions rebelling," he said, but rather "shadowy networks within those institutions, and within business, who are conspiring together and forming parallel state institutions." Trump, by treating these institutions as if they are already his political enemies, makes that harder to avoid. Bad for everyone

A lesson of deep states: Even minor decisions become the subject of political infighting, making basic governance difficult. "We saw in Egypt in 2013 that the result is complete decision-making paralysis," el-Amrani said. That is one of the milder outcomes. But when institutions with vast power to eavesdrop, fine, harass and detain see themselves as locked in a zero-sum struggle for survival, it is often basic civil liberties and democratic rights that end up in the crossfire. El-Amrani does not believe those worst-case scenarios are likely to come to pass in the United States. But there is still a risk that bureaucratic resistance against the president could become an enduring feature of US politics. Once trust is broken, it is difficult to rebuild. Zegart agreed. "There are no good long-term consequences here," she said. "This war between the intelligence community and the White House is bad for the intelligence community, bad for the White House, and bad for the nation's security."
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Admitted that they have made several mistakes and are busy cleaning up to enhance their services.

PHILIPSBURG: --- Management of USZV have started a nationwide campaign in an effort to inform the general public of all their rights and obligation while being insured at USZV. The staff of USZV has embarked on a mass media campaign, they are also going door to door and are prepared to meet with every stakeholder including the SHTA, to inform them that workers on St. Maarten must be insured regardless of their legal status, besides that every insured person must know what they are entitled to and as such USZV is committed to taking all action to fully inform the population.

Managing Director of USZV Glen Carty admitted that the health insurance company does have lots of problems that needs fixing, which he said will take a few years before they are up to par. Carty said St. Maarten (USZV) inherited a lot of their problems from the former SZV which was part of the Netherlands Antilles. He also made clear that policies are extremely old going back to as long as 70 years.

Parveen Boertje outlined the problems they have internally and the plans they have in place to fix the problems they have been encountering. In so doing USZV started a training program for their staffers which began in January and should conclude by February. She said through these training the staff of USZV will be more equipped to deal with their clients and even make their waiting time shorter. USZV also implemented an open door policy on Wednesdays where anyone can walk into their offices for information. Since the implementation of the open door policy Boertje said that they have seen a lot of progress.

She said that all workers have accident insurance which covers them from the time they leave their home to go to work and back.

Insurers traveling overseas not insured advised purchasing traveling insurance.

One of the main message USZV have for their clients is that they should know that insurers are not covered while off island. Carty said only about a year ago management of USZV discovered this even though the longtime workers had it in their head but not on paper.. He further explained that USZV insurers are advised to purchase travel insurance whenever they intend to travel overseas. Asked if and when this policy will change Carty said this will take time because they have to work on creating a new policy which has to also pass through all the organs of government. He stressed that persons working on St. Maarten and are insured through USZV must take note that they are not covered even if they travel to neighboring islands such as Curacao, and the BES islands.

USZV not interested in workers legal status... Efforts being made to have all workers insured.

Carty also stated that he wants all workers on St. Maarten to know that USZV is not interested in their legal status, because they are not immigration officers. He said that workers working on the island have been running when they see USZV inspectors, instead of working with the inspectors to get them insured through their employers. Carty said further stated that as long as a person is working five days per week they are entitled to medical insurance. He said USZV staff has encountered persons who approached them and even told them that they cannot contact their employers because the employers holds their passports. He stressed that as long as USZV has information on persons working and does not have insurance they will take it upon themselves to approach the employer in order for him to take up his full responsibility towards the workers.

The management of USZV made clear that they are not there to close down businesses but they have to ensure that everyone complies and pay their share if St. Maarten is to get a new hospital that can provide quality healthcare.

Carty and Elton Felisie said that they estimated their outstanding debts to be in the range of NAF200M. He made clear that the figure is not a sure figure it could be a bit lower or higher. These monies he said USZV through ATS has been collecting. Carty explained that in the past SZV would send a bailiff to the companies with their outstanding debts and as soon as those companies see the figures they would close their doors and move away. However, the management of USZV has changed that by allowing the businesses to pay up their current bills and make an agreement on how they will pay off their arrears. Carty they are not in the business of closing down businesses but they are working with the businesses and if they do not comply after a certain timeframe then USZV will have to use their legal jargons to get what is owed to them.

Besides all of that Carty said with the purchase of the Government Building USZV was able to clear up the debt government had. He said on Friday USZV and government will be signing their rental agreement for the building which would allow them to collect monies on the investment made.

As for the media, the management of USZV has decided to create more space for the media to obtain information, one being a media center on their website, where all press releases and other media-related items could be found, this would be in the form of press releases, audio files or video.

Asked what the insurance company intends to do with those workers that have been abusing the system by being on sick leave for years. Only Wednesday the Minister of Justice reported that a number of prison guards are on sick leave for months if not years, while there are other departments that have been haunted with workers who works half days for two to three years with USZV approval. Carty said that these workers claim they have stress or back pain and in most cases, their general practitioner would place them on sick leave. Asked if the doctors of USZV does not do their jobs by verifying if the workers are indeed sick or if some of these civil servants have special relationships with the USZV doctors that has been approving these lengthy sick leave. Carty agreed that the doctors at USZV have not been examining the patients that get long leave for stress and back pain but that too would change since USZV is doing everything possible to clean up the entire system. Carty made clear that while they have a plan of action the changes will improve slowly since it is a process that will take time. He said that he is hopeful that by 20/20 USZV will be where it wants to be and would be able to provide the services they need to. Asked about the medical referrals patients that go abroad Carty said USZV has a lot of challenges with this process because they have to work as travel agency, and even babysitters since the patients would misuse their funds and then approach USZV for more monies. He did indicate that USZV is busy signing contracts with COMEVA and their representatives in the Dominican Republic in order to structure the services that are given to patients while overseas.
GREAT BAY(DCOMM):--- Ministry of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Development and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI), announces that patch work and recapping of several streets will take place from February 21 to February 27.

These works will be carried out from 8.00pm to 5.00am and entail milling, excavation of the road and recapping.

The works will be carried out on sections of Cannegieter Street; the intersection of Walter Nisbeth Road/Percy Labega will be closed off completely.

At Octavius Richardson Street, a section after the entrance to Divi Little Bay Hotel up to the entrance of Belair Hotel will be completely closed off.

The road will be closed from One Tete Lohkay round-a-bout and all traffic going to Philipsburg will have to take Welgelegen Road and A.J.C. Brouwers Road. Traffic leaving Philipsburg will have to take the Walter J. Nisbeth Road.

The works will be carried out by Windward Roads.

Ministry VROMI apologizes for any inconveniences this may cause.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Mr. Jeffrey Greenip, Director of Enrollment Management and Admissions at Keiser University in Florida is currently on the island and hosted an information session at USM on Wednesday, February 15, 2017.

Mr. Greenip, a recruiter at Keiser University, attended the Study and Career fair in 2016 and visited various high schools for recruitment on St. Maarten. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Keiser University, which in details, established a tuition matching agreement to facilitate students wanting to attend Keiser University.

The agreement with Keiser University is for a duration of 5 years, which began on April 21, 2016.

Mr. Greenip provided information and answered questions from prospective students and parents at the open information session, held at USM, as well at various schools on the island.
Coalition Government seems to be in shambles --- unconfirmed reports

PHILIPSBURG:--- The USP candidate Minister Cecil Nicolas has failed the screening process SMN News understands. Reliable sources within the current coalition said that USP leader Frans Richardson was informed of the screening results on Wednesday. SMN News heard of the screening results on Wednesday but some members of the USP tried their best to derail the media when they were contacted by saying that the swearing will take place today (Friday, February 17th)

However, several calls made to Richardson for a confirmation on the screening results went unanswered. SMN News further learned that certain members of the current coalition are in talks with the United Peoples Party since they are not happy with the current Minister of Finance.

While Nicolas was never appointed and the screening process was not completed he was reporting to work every day.

SMN News understands that the leader of the USP Frans Richardson will nominate one of two candidates, one being Maurice Lake, the number three candidate on the USP slate who obtained 235 votes or Anna Rabess- Richardson, the number two candidate on the slate who obtained 163 votes at September 26th parliamentary elections.

According to well-placed sources, the USP leader will ask his board to decide which of the two candidates he will nominate for screening to occupy the TEATT Ministry. The USP will be holding a press conference on Sunday afternoon where the leader of the party will give more information on the current developments.
PHILIPSBURG Womens Health Services (WHS), headed by gynecologist Dr. Randall Friday, will host a free lecture entitled A Conversation about Infertility in the Grand Ballroom of Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort and Spa on Monday, February 20, from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm.

The lecture will be conducted by Dr. Mark Denker, an award-winning infertility specialist, who practices in Boca Raton, Florida, and has ties to patients on St. Maarten.

The lecture will cover the latest techniques available to help with conception including in-vitro-fertilization (IVF), tackling fibroids, low sperm count, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and pregnancy after tube-tying.

The doctor will hold free one-on-one consultations with interested attendees after the lecture.

Dr. Denker has decades of experience in this field of medicine and has been partnering with Dr. Friday to provide fertility treatment to patients on St. Maarten at affordable prices. Part of the fertility treatment can be carried out locally and the remainder is done in Florida.

Dr. Denker has reduced prices and packages for St. Maarten patients. His prices are comparable to those offered by fertility clinic in Barbados.

For further information, contact WHS in Yogesh Building at Phone-1721 521 5617
VPR Brands, LP is excited to introduce their new RIPPO brand vaporizer

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL  (Marketwired)  02/16/17  VPR Brands, LP (OTC PINK: VPRB) proudly introduces its new RIPPO brand handheld Vaporizer. An old school design packed with new school technology for the discerning vapor connoisseur. The RIPPO is a must have for anyone who enjoys quality, power, and concealment. The product features a high capacity 1500mah rechargeable battery, micro USB port, ceramic heater, a flip open top for concealment/cleanliness, and a rubberized textured grip for durability.

This is one of the coolest looking items we have ever launched into the market and at $99, its going to get everyones attention. It looks good plus it feels great in your hand, and once you experience the RIPPO you will understand where the name came from. This is a unit anyone would be proud to carry and pass around when they are out and about with friends or just want to be discrete anywhere at any time. Our Iconic design, new age technology, and quality were brought together by our winning team at VPR Brands which I am proud to be a part of, says Kevin Frija, VPR Brands CEO. The RIPPO stands true to its name and then some.

We have already pre-sold a large portion of the initial run and plan to build a full line around this concept. I actually took a handmade prototype to MJ Business Conference in Las Vegas and industry professionals offered $200+ for the unit on the spot! From that moment I knew we had to bring this unit to life, said Dan Hoff, VPR Brands COO. This piece was designed and built to feel solid in the hands of the beholder, have a feel and function familiar to many while outperforming the competition. This is one of the most powerful compact essential oils vaporizers on the market which provides larger than life hits and extraordinary taste.

The RIPPO will be available in stores, dispensaries and online starting March 1st. The Product will be distributed by Busy Bee distributing and featured product at Canna Daddys in Oregon as well as other local distributors and dispensaries in legal states.

We make it easy for retailers to stock their shelves with the products that loyal customers want. The idea is simple, order what your store needs and receive it in one shipment instead of dozens. Thats dozens of intakes you dont have to process, dozens of vendor payouts you wont have to manage and dozens of customers that get to work with your most knowledgeable staff members.

Were really choosy about who we partner with, our thorough application process includes interviews, site visits and product tests in addition to meeting all OHA testing regulations. Why do we bother with all of this? Not only because thats what will build your business, its also because its our families and friends who end up using our products. For more information on this company, please visit .

We work hand and hand with farmers allowing them to have an opportunity to be promoted and appreciated from our dispensary and from our patients. All of our farms have completed all regulations in testing the medicine that they bring to us to provide to the patient under ORS 333-008-1190. For more information on this company, please visit .

VPR Brands is a technology company, whose assets include issued U.S. and Chinese patents for atomization related products including technology for medical marijuana vaporizers and electronic cigarette products and components. The company is also engaged in product development for the vapor or vaping market, including e-liquids, vaporizers and electronic cigarettes (also known as e-cigarettes) which are devices which deliver nicotine and or cannabis through atomization or vaping, and without smoke and other chemical constituents typically found in traditional products. For more information about VPR Brands, please visit the company on the web at .

This news release contains statements that involve expectations, plans or intentions, and other factors discussed from time to time in the companys Securities and Exchange Commission filings. These statements are forward-looking and are subject to risks and uncertainties, so actual results may vary materially. The company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The company disclaims any obligation subsequently to revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.

VPR Brands, LP

Kevin Frija

CEO and CFO

(954) 715-7001
The former CM allegedly committed suicide on August 9, 2016. He was found hanging from a ceiling fan, days after being removed from the seat of power by the Supreme Court.

By Parbina Purkayastha: Former Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Kalikho Pul's eldest widow has demanded a fair probe into her husband's suicide. She has shared a 60-page-long suicide note and demanded CBI's intervention.

Talking to India Today, his widow Dangsimsai said, "A free and fair probe should be done. Itanagar Police isn't probing the matter with seriousness and the state government does not care. I request the honorable PM to intervene".

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The former CM allegedly committed suicide on August 9, 2016. He was found hanging from a ceiling fan, days after being removed from the seat of power by the Supreme Court.

"I spoke to him on 8 August, 2016 as I was returning to Delhi for my college. He evidently looked depressed though he didn't share it with us. Last few days of his life he spent alone and didn't speak to anyone and was busy writing his suicide note," said his son Ojingso Pul.

Also read | Kalikho Pul: From carpenter to chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh

Dangsimsai said her family was under constant threat and demanded security from the government.

"My family has been getting threats from state government to not release the 60 page suicide note, my son lives in Delhi and I need security for him," she said.

His son said, "the threats are not life threats but they are intimidating us. I have brothers and sisters who needs security".

SUICIDE NOTE

In the note written by Kalikho Pul titled 'Mere Vichar', the letter mentioned several "deliberate irregularities" by top law officers and state leaders over the years.

"I want all the names included in the suicide note to step down or else we cannot expect a fair probe while they are in power," said his wife.

Late Kalikho Pul had become Chief Minister on February 19, 2016, after he along with 29 (19 Congress and 11 BJP) MLAs had defected to the People's Party of Arunachal Pradesh (PPA), a state outfit, to form a new government, bringing down the existing Congress government, led by Nabam Tuki.

However, the Supreme Court reinstated Tuki's government on July 13, 2016, following which Pul and his supporters again supported Pema Khandu as CM.

When India Today asked what will the family's next step be, he son said they have moved the SC with a prayer for a CBI probe and are hopeful.

--- ENDS ---
Paragon Software Systems Announces Pennine Stone Implements fleXipod Proof of Delivery Software

Posted by Publisher Internet

DALLAS, TX  (Marketwired)  02/16/17  a leader in vehicle routing and scheduling optimization solutions, announces that Pennine Stone, the foremost manufacturer of architectural cast stone in the UK, has implemented Paragons proof of delivery system. fleXipod will be used to reduce delivery paperwork, increase operational data visibility and improve customer service. Pennine selected the to simplify data capture processes and provide a more professional and consistent on-site customer experience. It replaces a previous paper-based system that the companys mobile teams used to collect proof of delivery data, reducing manual data entry for office-based staff and improving overall operational visibility.

William Salter, CEO and President of Paragon Software Systems, said, For companies like Pennine Stone that need accurate real-time data about mobile activities, paper-based systems can be time-consuming, unreliable and frustrating for staff. Our advanced proof of delivery system has been designed to resolve some of these common headaches with immediate data transfer between the user-friendly mobile application and configurable central management console.

Richard Walsh, Managing Director at Pennine Stone, commented, Our commitment to producing and delivering quality stone within the timescales demanded by national housebuilders and major construction companies is a critical part of what differentiates the business. We wanted to reduce delivery paperwork and the amount of time it takes to obtain signatures when delivering goods, so we selected fleXipod as a user-friendly and cost-effective way of achieving these objectives.

With a complex operation including two-day routes and nationwide deliveries, Pennine needed a system to provide accurate data in real-time from the field. Mobile workers are now able to collect both delivery data and operational information throughout the day on the easy-to-use fleXipod mobile application, so the company can keep track of all activities and better meet the needs of its customers.

Pennine uses the to enhance its service offering and reduce the volume of inbound customer queries. The fleXipod system sends SMS notifications each morning to inform customers that their delivery is scheduled for that day and automatically emails proof of delivery reports when a job has been completed. All of the information collected on-site is also transmitted to the fleXipod central management console in real-time, allowing office-based staff to proactively address any service issues and if necessary contact the customer to quickly resolve delivery problems.

Our transport department is already finding the ability to view live data relating to what has happened in the field very useful and our customers value the immediate receipt of the digital proof of delivery document. The fleXipod system is helping reduce paperwork, save time and give us greater real-time visibility of our delivery information, added Walsh.

based in Dallas, Texas, is a leading provider of truck routing and scheduling software solutions. Paragons advanced planning systems have been proven to cut transportation costs and improve efficiency across a wide range of distribution operation types and industry sectors. Paragons North American truck routing software clients include Georges Inc., AgReliant Genetics, Linde, McLane, National Food Corporation, and many others. The software is used for the daily route optimization of transportation schedules; rationalizing fixed routes; managing transportation resources; strategic logistics planning; and managing home delivery orders with dynamic routing. Paragon Software Systems, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Paragon Software Systems plc, the UKs number one provider of transportation routing and scheduling software. Paragon has over 3,400 systems installed at more than 1,100 client sites in 60 countries worldwide. For more information, visit .

Image Available:

For More Information, Contact:

Becky Boyd

MediaFirst PR

(770) 642-2080 x 214

Kristel Jarvis

Paragon Software Systems

+44 (0) 1306 732600
Centrica, DTE Energy, Illinois Commerce Commission, Powerley, Toyota, and EPA to address demand response, distributed generation, and utility business models at Parks Associates Smart Energy Summit

DALLAS, TX  (Marketwired)  02/16/17  Parks Associates announced today that Centrica Connected Home, DTE Energy, Illinois Commerce Commission, Powerley, Toyota Motor North America, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will deliver keynotes and special sessions at the eighth-annual , February 20-22 in Austin, Texas. The conference focuses on strategies for utilities to leverage the smart home to develop compelling value propositions for their customers and expand adoption of demand response, energy efficiency, distributed generation, smart meter, and AMI deployments and offerings.

An increasing number of IoT products are changing the energy management industry and creating new opportunities in the smart home, said , President, Parks Associates. At Smart Energy Summit, we will address the intersection of these markets, which is creating new opportunities for energy providers, energy management companies, home control platforms and services, appliance and device manufacturers, and software and cloud service companies.

, Global Director of Strategy and Development, Centrica Connected Home, will present the events opening keynote  on Tuesday, February 21, at 10 a.m. He will address how utilities and energy companies can shift from being asset developers and operators to delivering unique experiences that customers will value.

Im delighted to be taking part in this years summit, which is always a stimulating event, Maitra said. By focusing on what customers need rather than the technology, Centricas Hive brand is leading the smart home market in the U.K. Were now building on that success and those customer insights to bring our unique end-to-end services to homes in new markets, including North America. I hope attendees will be encouraged by our own story of transition and inspired to do likewise.

, Vice President, Business Planning and Development, DTE Energy; and , CEO, Powerley, will deliver the joint keynote address  on Tuesday, February 21, at 4:15 p.m. Dimitry and Kumar will detail the pathway to utility-led smart home adoption, delving into the key obstacles discovered and the key insights uncovered to date.

Following the joint keynote, , Consultant; Former Commissioner, Illinois Commerce Commission; and , ENERGY STAR Program, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, will lead a pair of special sessions.

McCabes session  will begin at 4:45 p.m. and examines the role of regulators in driving innovation in both business strategies and technologies.

Dakens session  will start at 5:05 p.m. and examines thermostat products that save energy and the unique capabilities of emerging connected products.

, General Manager, Environmental, Toyota Motor North America, will present the events final keynote  on Wednesday, February 22, at 9:45 a.m. He will outline how Toyota is working toward a more connected future, through a multitude of collaborative and creative partnerships.

More than one-fourth of U.S. broadband households currently own a smart home product, said , Director, IoT Strategy, Parks Associates. This years Smart Energy Summit features influential industry speakers providing in-depth discussion on ways to leverage these smart home devices in order to expand the role of energy in the IoT.

include People Power Company, Austin Energy, Bidgely, Carrier, ecobee, EnergyHub, Hampton Products International, Honeywell, Jasmine Universe, Powerley, Trusource Labs, UtilityShield, The Weather Company, Whisker Labs, Xively, Z-Wave, Grid4C, ipCapital Group, MivaTek, and State Farm.

Parks Associates is accepting press pass requests for at . More information about the Smart Energy Summit is available at .

Parks Associates will also host a pre-conference research workshop, , on Monday, February 20, from 1:00-5:00 p.m. To speak with an analyst or request specific research data, contact Holly Sprague at or 720-987-6614.

examines new cross-industry opportunities in the expanding market for energy solutions, including connected devices, energy management, utility services, and home control platforms and services, as they evolve within the smart home and consumer-based Internet of Things.

Smart Energy Summit focuses particularly on the challenge of engaging consumers with energy-related solutions. Research analysts, thought leaders, and industry executives present and discuss business strategies, case studies, partnership opportunities, and consumer research that utilities, service providers, retailers, and manufacturers can use to expand and monetize their energy offerings.

The eighth-annual Smart Energy Summit will take place February 20-22, 2017, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin, Texas. The summit agenda features leaders from utilities, state and national regulators, telecom and security companies, retailers, and OEMs. Follow the event on Twitter at @SmartEnergySmt and #SmartEnergy17 and on the . For information on speaking, sponsoring, or attending Smart Energy Summit, visit .

Holly Sprague

Parks Associates

720.987.6614
MOBI724 Global Solutions (CSE: MOS) Invites Current and Future Investors to a Webinar for a Material Management Update

MONTREAL, CANADA  (Marketwired)  02/16/17  MOBI724 Global Solutions Inc. (MOBI724 or the Company) (CSE: MOS), a FinTech leader offering integrated EMV payment, Card-Linked Offers and Digital Marketing, hereby invites its current shareholders as well as the public to assist a webinar presided by Marcel Vienneau, CEO of MOBI724 to provide a material management update and to answer questions. In compliance with Canadian Securities Regulations, the Company advises that management has requested, on a voluntary basis, that the trading on the MOBI724 shares be halted temporarily due to the dissemination of material news and the presentation the management update webinar.

Interested parties may log in at the following web address:

Please register for Management update on Feb 16, 2017 1:00 PM EST

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Brought to you by GoToWebinar Webinars Made Easy

About MOBI724 Global Solutions

Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, MOBI724 Global Solutions Inc. (CSE: MOS), a leader in the FinTech industry, offers a unique and fully integrated suite of Card-Link Offers, Digital Marketing and EMV Payment solutions.

MOBI724 is innovating the market with a combined EMV payment, Card-Linked Offers and Digital Marketing Platform that works on any payment card and any mobile device. MOBI724 pioneered the addition of intelligence to all types of transactions benefiting banks, retailers and cardholders. MOBI724 succeeds in leveraging all available user and purchasing data to increase transaction volumes and spend.

MOBI724 provides a turnkey solution to clients to capture payment card transactions on any mobile device, at any POS or from any payment card. Our easy-to-adapt gateway switch is designed for simple integration with all payment protocols.

Within the same suite, MOBI724 combined its Card-Linked Offers solution and provided payment card issuers, banks and retailers with the ability to add offers and/or coupons, which can be redeemed directly at the POS in a seamless user experience for all the parties in the ecosystem MOBI724 provides its customers with full and comprehensive traceability and enriched consumer data through its offering. Its solutions enable card associations, payment card issuers, banks and retailers to create, manage, deliver and track and measure incentive campaigns worldwide to any payment card, to any mobile device and allow redemption at any POS.

MOBI724 s credit and debit EMV payment solutions allow banks to process end-to-end EMV transactions, focusing on authentication, PCI security and quick merchant adoption, which allows to process payments with a wide range of devices.

MOBI724 Global Solutions unleashes the true potential of both Card-Link Offers and smart payment transactions.

For more information, visit .

Certain statements in this document, including those which express managements expectations or estimations with regard 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. 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 x 413
Sigfox Selects LuxCarta for Global IoT Network Deployment Geodata Requirements

Sophia Antipolis, France  February 16, 2017  LuxCarta delivered its latest countrywide geodata data sets to leading low power wide area network (LPWAN) operator Sigfox earlier today. The company has provided geodata for over 50 countries in the past two years in support of the operators global network buildout.

LuxCartas Planner data sets, in particular its clutter and PopMaps products, are the perfect input to our design processes and RF planning software, said Michael Cantineau, head of Global Network Solutions for Sigfox. We trust the accuracy of their products and appreciate the global archive they have of data readily available to meet our requirements.

Sigfox is the worlds leading provider of connectivity for the Internet of Things (IoT). Its global network is available today in 30 countries representing a population of 486 million people, and is scheduled to cover 60 countries by 2018.

LuxCarta serves the needs of global operators and their vendors deploying wireless networks. The company is the leading provider of geodata  including terrain data, clutter/land use and 3D building polygons  used by engineers in RF planning software to deploy and optimize their networks. LPWAN operators such as Sigfox and others utilizing LoRa technologies are a growing new segment of the market attracted by LuxCartas product quality and on-the-shelf data catalogue.

We have a strong working relationship with Sigfox and look forward to supporting their expansion around the world, added Alberic Maumy, managing director of LuxCarta.

LuxCartas PopMaps are especially relevant for operators and vendors deploying IoT/LPWA technology that do not have an existing network or data statistics to determine where to expect their traffic demand. PopMaps assign population data from census or other available sources to clutter products that segment the Earths surface into land use categories. Its even possible to have the population data segmented by day or night location.

LuxCarta will be demonstrating its IoT/LPWAN operator and vendor offering later this month at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on stand 5G23.
drchrono and Physitrack Partner for Patient Engagement Initiative

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA  (Marketwired)  02/16/17  , Inc., the industry leading Electronic Health Record (EHR) platform on the web, iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch, serving over 100,000 clinicians in the United States, today announced the integration of Physitracks unique patient engagement toolkit inside its practice management platform. This will make Physitracks telemedicine solution easily available to drchronos providers, giving them the ability to offer high quality care and follow up programs for their patients.

Physitrack and drchrono are two of a select number of healthcare companies which closely collaborate with Apple as part of their groundbreaking Apple Mobility Partner Program, resulting in a very smooth iOS integration. drchrono was the first EHR to build a native app for iPad and iPhone, and brings that expertise and experience to this combined solution.

The digital patient engagement solution, developed by Physitrack and integrated with drchrono, will make it possible for healthcare practitioners to extend the scope of their work to offer smartphone, tablet and computer-based video consultations before, during or after in-patient treatments, while still being able to provide patients with clinical exercise programs, educational content or clinical outcomes tracking, all uniquely integrated into the video stream.

According to Michael Nusimow, CEO and co-founder of drchrono, This is the first time both therapeutic patient engagement and secure video consultations has been combined inside a practice EHR in this way. drchrono is excited to offer healthcare practitioners this innovative technology, which is designed to enhance the patient journey and improve their outcomes. Practitioners will be able to conduct patient consultations through Physitrack regardless of their location, and document those consultations, tightly intergrated with drchrono.

Henrik Molin, CEO and co-founder of Physitrack, commented, While digital in-practice and remote care are on the agenda of healthcare systems all over the world, very few organizations have managed wide implementation of easily accessible and working solutions. Our integration with drchrono provides this unique combination of digital home exercise prescription and telehealth technology, and we are very excited to be part of this historical move.

Starting in February, all of drchronos customers will have access to Physitrack through their drchrono EHR account, and will allow them to sign up for a Physitrack account at a discounted rate.

drchrono creates the best electronic health record (EHR), practice management, and revenue cycle management experience for physicians and patients; the platform was built for the iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch and web. Some features of drchrono include medical speech-to-text, real-time patient eligibility checks, EPCS, medical billing and patient credit card processing. The platform includes apps and a medical API, which practices can leverage. drchrono is ranked by Inc. 500 as one of the fastest growing private companies in America. Silicon Valley Business Journal designated drchrono as one of the fastest growing private companies and the platform was voted the #1 mobile EHR 4 years in a row by Black Book Rankings. For more information about drchrono, visit

Physitrack is a privately held UK company with offices in Houston, Santa Monica, Melbourne, London, Amsterdam and New Delhi. The company provides healthcare companies with an easy to use patient engagement solution for clinical home exercise prescription and patient education, patient outcomes tracking and secure Telehealth video consultations.

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Conductors Organic Market Share of Voice Report Reveals Missed Opportunity for Brands

NEW YORK, NY  (Marketwired)  02/16/17  Conductor, the leading global content intelligence platform, today released the first of its kind Organic Market Share report by industry for the 2016 holiday season. The report covers leading categories including insurance, finance, real estate, travel and retail and examines all top non-branded search terms. Across all industries covered in this report, the majority of the market share is still unclaimed and consists of thousands of brands trying to break through the clutter of content available to consumers. This is a clear signal that the search landscape is prone to change and creates an opportunity for late entrants to claim significant organic market share.

Top performers across all categories include established brands with significant marketing budgets to support their efforts. However, in each industry we see smaller brands with limited budgets rank among leading brands, as well as publishers. This is a clear indication that marketing budgets alone are not enough. Brands must create relevant content in order to succeed in organic search. Another clear insight across all categories is the shortfall of leading brands to claim a similar organic share to their share-of-wallet, indicating a missed opportunity and potential revenue.

To be successful in organic search brands must put customers needs ahead of their own, said Seth Besmertnik, CEO of Conductor. Search engine algorithms are so precise and human-like that the only sure-fire way to stand out and be found by customers is by creating valuable content. The report clearly shows that many established brands are missing out on engaging with customers at their times of need.

The report analyzes over 150,000 search terms and 300 million consumer searches. By using a weighted average of search result placement and search volume, the report gives a true indication of which brands and publishers are accessible to online users when they are seeking information. This report clearly shows which brands are adopting Customer-First marketing by focusing on consumers needs and providing high-quality content when they are seeking information.

Insurance  Smaller brands and publishers are able to stand out, while most of the top 10 insurance giants do not claim their expected organic market share. Online tools, such as loan calculators, are in high demand. Brands that create these online tools are able to positively engage with consumers.

Finance  This categorys leaders are predominantly publishers, with many top banks and all of the major credit card companies omitted. Video content and optimizing for answer boxes works extremely well in this category.

Real-estate  This categorys top performers are publishers and real-estate aggregators. None of the major real estate firms perform well.

Travel  Top performers are the travel aggregators, with a combined market share of 19%. Airlines, car rental companies and hotel chains  with the exception of Marriott  do not perform well.

Retail  A combination of traditional brick and mortar and online brands dominate the top ranks in this category. Product images and community-curated sites like Pinterest and Polyvore have a strong influence.

In addition to offering insights, the report includes key strategies for optimal success in organic search for each category.

the full report. To evaluate the performance of your brand, contact us .

Conductor
MOBI724 Global Solutions Inc. (CSE: MOS) Signs Agreement with CredibanCo Colombia to Provide Integrated Card-Linked Offers Platform

MONTREAL, QUEBEC  (Marketwired)  02/16/17  MOBI724 Global Solutions Inc. (MOBI724 or the Company) (CSE: MOS)(CSE: MOS.CN), a fintech leader offering integrated EMV payment, card-linked offers and digital marketing, has signed a partnership agreement with CredibanCo, Colombias largest payment cards network and processor, to deliver an integrated card-linked offers and digital marketing platform for card issuers and retailers in the Colombian market.

MOBI724s innovative card-linked offers patent-pending solution will allow Colombian card issuers to enable cardholders to redeem offers directly at the more than 172,000 CredibanCo points-of-sale  all within a seamless user experience for all the parties in the ecosystem: issuers, cardholders and retailers.

Cardholders will have the ability to receive relevant and targeted card-linked offers and rewards. With MOBI724s innovative card-linked offers solution, when a consumer makes a purchase with a debit or credit card and  once the transaction is authorized  the value of the offer or reward is credited to the cardholders account in real time. This platform gives card issuers the opportunity to increase spend and usage while fostering consumer loyalty and the ability to send real time personalized notifications.

Colombian card issuers will also benefit from MOBI724s other solutions and services, including data analytics and business intelligence.

MOBI724 and CredibanCo will go to market with a joint solution providing an integrated platform that helps card issuers offer new and innovative solutions with ease. Integration is underway.

We are thrilled to partner with CredibanCo, the largest payment-acquiring network in Colombia, to offer our state-of-the-art card-linked offers and business intelligence platform. We are looking forward to leveraging the full potential of our solution for the benefit of card issuers and cardholders, while adding more transactions for CredibanCos merchants, says Marcel Vienneau, CEO, MOBI724.

Luis Sierra, VP Corporate Business CredibanCo, stated: We are enthusiastic about this opportunity to add significant value to our merchant network, card issuing business partners and the end consumer through Mobi724s leading-edge proven solutions; we look forward to greatly invigorate the Colombian market around card-linked offers and electronic marketing.

About CredibanCo

CredibanCo is a Colombian corporation, facilitating and simplifying methods of electronic payments, transactions and digital information in the financial and retail areas. CredibanCo is the largest processor in the country and has more than 220,000 affiliated merchants and more than 172,000 points of sales for electronic payment acceptance. The company has been a pioneer in the launch of mobile payment solutions.

About Mobi724 Global Solutions

Mobi724 Global Solutions Inc. (CSE: MOS) is a fintech leader offering integrated EMV payment, card-linked offers and digital marketing. Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Mobi724 is innovating its market with technology solutions that interoperate seamlessly with any credit/debit card and any mobile device. Mobi724s solutions increase transaction volumes and average spend while benefitting financial institutions, merchants and cardholders.

For more information, visit .

Certain statements in this document, including those which express managements expectations or estimations with regard 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. 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.

Marcel Vienneau

1-514-394-5200 x 413
Digital transformation  evolution, innovation, disruption: The call for papers for the Software-QS-Tag 2017 is now underway

The Internet of Things offers a wide range of new opportunities to its users. In only a few years, various everyday objects will have the same capabilities like todays smartphones thanks to installed sensors. Every single digital product in the Internet of Things has to function reliably. QA experts face new contexts, new user stories and  last but not least  new potential defects.

In altogether more than 60 lectures, workshops, tutorials and scientific research reports, the Software-QS-Tag presents and discusses whats important in order to master the challenges of digital transformation successfully. Contributions about best practices, strategies, techniques and tools are sought. The topic areas will be amongst others requirements and architecture, test automation, test design and test management.

Applications can be sent till 12th May 2017. The presentations can be submitted and held in German or English. This year, the Software-QS-Tag best paper award is again distributed. The assessment takes into account the quality of content, depth and novelty of the contributions and the papers as well as the feedback of the conference participants about the quality of the speeches and presentations.

The Software-QS-Tag takes place on 19th and 20th October 2017 in 2017 in Frankfurt on the Main, Germany. The leading conference in the field of software quality assurance and testing in Germany celebrates its 25th anniversary this year with a big anniversary event. The challenging key issue runs like a golden thread through all slots of the conference.
Big-budget, concept-driven films like Baahubali, Enthiran and The Ghazi Attack are coming from down South and not Bollywood. Why?

By Devarsi Ghosh: Baahubali, a film with regional stars, not pan-Indian or global faces, is a Rs 400-crore project, the first half of which is the third highest-grossing Indian film of all time. It is a fantasy film with characters inspired by Indian mythology and has no star power as such to speak of.

Like Baahubali, the recently released The Ghazi Attack is an Indian war film banking solely on its story, visual effects and actors. Not stars, mind you. The film doesn't have a Khan, Kapoor or Roshan. Neither does it have a Vijay, Ajith or Rajini. The star cast comprises of Rana Daggubati, Kay Kay Menon and Atul Kulkarni, actors who play characters, not hero-prototypes. As such, the only thing going for the film is its concept.

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MOVIE REVIEW: THE GHAZI ATTACK

Adding to this list of South productions that are high on concept, doing spectacularly well all over India and the world, are Baahubali director SS Rajamouli's Magadheera and Eega, the Rajinikanth-starrer Enthiran, the upcoming 2.0, Suriya-starrer 24 and the Telugu film Gautamiputra Satakarni.

Not all of the aforementioned films have become global successes on the scale of Baahubali but all of them have been critically well-received with a cult following backing them months after release. Indeed, the South film industries are willing to experiment, not just on a narrative level (which Bollywood is doing as well), but also in terms of scale, effects and yes, concept.

Where is the big-budget high-concept Bollywood film?

In Bollywood, the biggest films are those which feature the biggest stars.

That is why hackneyed, tired, average scripts become the most-awaited films. What is special about Kaabil, Raees and Jolly LLB 2, three big Bollywood films that released this year? The first is a revenge drama with the slight twist being (eyeroll) a blind hero. Anyway, the blind person is played by Hrithik Roshan so inevitably, the hero, Rohit, becomes a Daredevil-like superhuman.

MOVIE REVIEW: KAABIL

The second film Raees is the usual rise-and-fall-of-the-good-gangster tale. Anything remotely brave in the film is its political undertones with Shah Rukh Khan playing a Muslim don who is opposed by a Hindu political leader - a story inspired from the real-life tension between gangster Abdul Latif and the Bharatiya Janata Party in early-'90s Gujarat.

MOVIE REVIEW: RAEES

Jolly LLB 2 is a spectacularly safe film. So is Salman's last film Sultan. Dangal here is relatively hatke considering that Aamir Khan does not play a traditional superhuman-hero character but a 50-year-old aging wrestler with a paunch. Nevertheless, once again, it is a hero-centric tale with a big star carrying the film forward.

MOVIE REVIEW: JOLLY LLB 2

Enthiran or 24 is no different, sure, but down South, once Rajamouli showed how big you can go with just concept (Magadheera and then, Eega), the rest followed suit. Eega, best-known to North audiences as Makkhi, is about a man reincarnating as a fly to seek revenge on the one who killed him and stole his ladylove. Can you see such a concept playing out well in Bollywood?

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But can you just blame the filmmakers? An entire industry of directors, distributors and producers are not too keen to back high-concept films unless some star is willing to carry it on his shoulders. For example, Irada, a film that released this week is a unique eco-thriller with a taut screenplay led by, well, Arshad Warsi and Naseeruddin Shah. Consequently, there hasn't been much promotion. Plus a bad release time. Hence, no fanfare.

Is the Hindi film audience to blame? Are the stars to blame? Who knows? Fact of the matter stands that perhaps, India's best war film till date, The Ghazi Attack came from down South, not from Bollywood. The rights to the Hindi version was brought by Karan Johar, good on him, but nevertheless, Bollywood needs to bank on quality, concept-driven scripts (not necessarily driven by stars), make them well and then market them with full force.

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Or as we saw in 2016, The Jungle Book grossed Rs 243 crore in India alone. Bollywood needs to pull its socks up or else, like everywhere else in the world, Hollywood will slowly begin to eat into the Indian film industry's market share, and consequently, our hearts.

(The writer tweets as @devarsighosh .)

ALSO READ: Baahubali wouldn't have happened with Bollywood stars, says SS Rajamouli

ALSO READ: I want to make Mahabharata, says Baahubali director SS Rajamouli

WATCH: Everything you want to know about India's most expensive film, Baahubali

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By Press Trust of India: Bhubaneswar, Feb 16 (PTI) The ruling BJD today said it would review its poor performance in the ongoing three-tier panchayat election in some districts of Odisha, although its overall show was better than rivals.

"We will certainly review the poor performance of the party in certain districts. Anyway, the BJD is still ahead of its rivals," BJD vice-president and spokesman S N Patro said after trends of the panchayat polls were known.

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Though the State Election Commission (SEC), Odisha, was yet to formally announce results of the panchayat polls, the parties in fray claimed victories after assessing information collected by polling agents at the counting booths.

"The SEC will announce results of the panchayat polls after completion of polling in all the five phases after February 21," commissioner Rabinarayan Senapati said.

In the previous panchayt polls held for 854 Zilla Parishad seats in 2012, the ruling BJD had captured 654 seats followed by Congress with 128 seats and just 36 seats for BJP.

The CPI had two seats while CPI(M) candidate could win in one ZP seat. JMM had bagged 11 seats while independents won in 22 ZP seats in 2012 panchayat polls.

However, the trend received from the two phases of the five-phase panchayat polls indicated that BJD had already lost about 86 seats. The party headed by Naveen Patnaik had in 2012 captured 290 out of 363 ZP seats in first and second phase. This time round, trend, however said that the BJD got only 204 seats, sources said.

As per the trend, te opposition BJP, on the other hand, secured nearly 121 seats in two phases against only 12 ZP seats in 2012.

Similarly, the trend indicated that Congress nominees could win in only 25 seats in the 2017 polls against 47 seats in 2012 polls.

The loss of about 86 ZP seats by two phases, has become a topic of discussion in the ruling BJD with party vice-president and Excise Minister Damador Rout suspecting sabotage befind the partys poor performances. PTI AAM MD MD

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When photography was invented in France in the 1820s, some artists predicted  even feared  that it would in time take the place of painting. That didnt happen, but photographers around the world consistently have recorded images that reveal...
Noie: That's what it all should look like in Notre Dame Stadium

First-year head coach Marcus Freeman kept insisting it was going to happen if Notre Dame kept working. On Saturday, it finally happened for the Irish
By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, Feb 17 (PTI) BJP today expressed confidence that it will lead the seat tally in the first phase of Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections in Maharashtra.

Around 69 per cent voters exercised their franchise for these polls yesterday as voting for 15 Zilla Parishads and 165 Panchayat Samitis took place. Results will be out on February 23, after the second phase of local body polls on February 21.

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"Considering the polling percentage and our internal reports, we are confident of gaining majority in nine of the 15 ZPs," state BJP chief spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said.

"People in Gadchiroli did not fall prey to the threat of Naxals and came out in large numbers to vote. This is a symbol of their support to the BJP-led government in Maharashtra," Bhandari said.

A total of 855 seats were in play for the Zilla Parishads polls yesterday while the Panchayat Samiti polls covered 1,712 seats.

Leaders have fielded their next generation in the Zilla Parishad polls. Dheeraj Deshmukh, youngest son of former chief minister late Vilasrao Deshmukh is contesting from Latur, while Sharad Pawars grandson Rohit Pawar is contesting from Baramati.

Aditi Tatkare, daughter of state Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sunil Tatkare, is contesting from Raigad. The BJP is not far behind either, with state unit president Raosaheb Danve fielding his daughter from Jalna.

BJP minister Babanrao Lonikar has fielded his son. In Beed district, warring Munde siblings Pankaja and Dhananjay are once again engaged in a battle for supremacy.

The second phase of ZP and panchayat samiti polls, along with the ten municipal corporations in the state, including the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), will be held on February 21. PTI VT DK DK BAS

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By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Feb 17 (PTI) BJPs Delhi unit and its youth wing today held protests in various parts of the city over "poor condition" of government schools and "failure" of the Aam Aadmi Party dispensation in fulfilling poll promises.

Scores of BJP activists led by Ramesh Bidhuri, MP from South Delhi, held a demonstration outside the Chief Ministers official residence in North Delhis Civil Lines area against "poor condition" of government schools.

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Addressing the demonstrators, Bidhuri said, "The mid day meal food poisoning mishap at Bachan Ram School at Deoli Bandh is not an isolated incident of mismanagement in schools, the condition of most government schools in South Delhis rural areas is very poor."

Bidhuri said there is a wide "shortage" of teachers in schools and basic facilities of commerce and science courses are "not available" in rural schools.

The activists of Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha too protested against AAP government by accusing it of "failing" in fulfilling poll promises.

The Yuva Morcha activists led by its president Sunil Yadav held a "Pol Khol" campaign at major roundabouts in New Delhi constituency. PTI VIT KIS

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Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
The western suburbs of Mumbai have turned into an interesting battlefield for the Shiv Sena and the BJP in the BMC polls. The BJP has 11 MLAs from the region, but Shiv Sena is trying hard to win over Gujarati and Marwari voters apart from its core base among Marathi ones.

By Mayuresh Ganapatye: As the date for polling comes closer for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections, all parties in Mumbai have intensified their poll campaigns.

The fight is tough this time between Shiv Sena and the BJP in western suburbs of the megacity. Mumbai's major population stays in western suburbs. Western suburbs start from Bandra and end at Dahisar.

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Another highlight of western suburb is that in the last Assembly elections, 11 MLAs of the BJP got elected from this region. But, this time, the Shiv Sena is leaving no stone unturned to emerge victorious in the region.

READ| HC asks BMC to remove all illegal hoardings before civic polls

BMC POLLS: FOCUS ON WESTERN SUBURBS India Today's team visited Khar Danda in the western suburbs. It is one of the oldest colonies of the fishermen in Mumbai. The main problem of this colony relates to the housing of fishermen. This coastal area falls under CRZ category, where civic authorities don't allow fishermen to construct the houses. "We are traditional fishermen. Since the days of my forefathers, we are staying here. But BMC doesn't permit us to construct our houses here. If we construct, they will call it illegal and demolish it," said Chintamani, a local fisherman. Drainage line in the area is also a problem. The area is not entirely covered under drainage line which makes the place very filthy during rainy season. Shiv Sena Candidate Sanjay Agaldare is heavily campaigning in this area. Sanjay Agaldare has promised that he will be solving the problems of Khar Danda if he gets elected. "I have a plan for these people and I am not promising them anything beyond the capacity. I will certainly raise the issue of houses for fisherman in the BMC if I get elected," said Sanjay Agaldare. In western suburbs another main problem is of bad roads, potholes on roads and traffic jams. "Proper and pothole-free roads are our main demand for which we are paying taxes. We will be voting for such candidate, who will be having developmental plans for us. How long will we have to bear these basic problems," asked Malad Malvani resident Shiva Patil. Having a stronghold in the area, the BJP senses an opportunity here. "Our leaders are talking about development. They have plans for development. Metro rail, extra coaches for suburban locals, pothole-free roads and non-corrupt and transperant BMC are the promises we have made to people. I am sure people will vote for development," BJP leader Krishna Hegde said. The Shiv Sena is trying hard to close the gap between Marathi and non-Marathi voters. The Shiv Sena has accommodated people from Gujarati and Marwari communities by appointing them as office-bearers in several wards. The fight seems direct between Shiv Sena and the BJP. The voting in the BMC polls will take place on February 21 while the counting of votes will be done on February 23.

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Georgetown, SC (29440)

Today

Some sun this morning with increasing clouds this afternoon. High 78F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Some passing clouds. Low near 60F. Winds light and variable.
Welcome to SwanseaOnline - your home for the best news, sports and what's on coverage of the city.

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Now, liquor will be banned only a day ahead of elections on February 20, on the day of voting February 21 and for half a day on February 23.

By Vidya : The Bombay High Court today ruled that there was no need to impose ban on the sale of liquor for two days before civic body polls (to be held on February 21) and for the entire day on February 23 when votes will be counted.

Now, liquor will be banned only a day ahead of elections on February 20, on the day of voting February 21 and for half a day on February 23.

WHAT THE BOMBAY HIGH COURT SAID Modifying the four-day ban on the sale of liquor in Thane district brought about by a circular issued on January 24 by the Thane collector and the State Excise department declaring dry days from the evening of February 19 to 21 and on February 23, the bench of Justice V M Kanade and Justice P R Bora said, "We set aside the circular to the extent of ban on February 19. We are also of the view that it is not necessary to impose ban on the sale of liquor after the results are declared on February 23." The court was of the view that as votes are cast through EVMs, counting gets over pretty early in the day. With this, the sale of liquor will not be allowed on February 20 and 21 and for half a day on February 23 until the counting of votes gets over. The same order will now be implemented across all those 10 cities where elections are going to be held on Tuesday. The division bench, which was hearing the petitions filed by the Hotel Owners Association of Thane, Mumbai, Ali Bagh and Nashik, said, "The four-day ban was imposed under provisions of the Representation of People's Act but the Act applies only to the Lok Sabha elections and not to local civic body polls. The petition termed the ban 'illegal and bad in law and perverse'." While reducing the ban on the sale of liquor from four days to two-and-a-half, Justice Kanade also quipped, "Anyway, these days all political parties have become wise enough to store liquor prior to the dry days."

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Also read | Maharashtra civic polls: BJP calls Shiv Sena ruled BMC corrupt, sneaky

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NASA's Most Historic Launchpad

NASA

Launchpad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida sent the first astronauts to the moon, supported dozens of space shuttle missions, and now serves as a commercial launch site.



Pictured here: An aerial view of Launch Pad 39A taken during the Apollo era in 1976.

Early Construction

NASA

Construction of the launch complex began in 1963. Pictured here is the early construction phase of Pad 39A in July 1964.

A Flame Trench is Born

NASA

By September 1964, the hardstand on both sides of the flame trench beneath Pad 39A begins to take shape.

Concrete in Place

NASA

By November 1964, most of the concrete has been poured at Pad 39A.

Near Completion

NASA

Construction of Pad 39A was nearly complete by January 1965.

Warning Lights

NASA

Launch Complex 39's warning system lights, pictured here on May 25, 1966, included a light for Pad C, which was originally planned but never built.

Apollo 4

NASA

The first flight of a Saturn V rocket lifted off from Pad 39A on Nov. 9, 1967.

Apollo 6 Rollout

NASA

Apollo 6, the final unmanned test flight of the Saturn V rocket, rolls out to the launchpad in this photo taken in 1968.

Apollo 8

NASA

The first crewed spacecraft to orbit the moon, Apollo 8, stands on the launchpad prior to launch in December 1968.

Apollo 11

NASA

The Saturn V rocket that would carry Apollo 11 astronauts to the moon stands on the launchpad in 1969.

Mobile Service Structure

NASA

The Mobile Service Structure approaches the Saturn V rocket on pad 39A before Apollo 11's launch in 1969.
This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

This article contains minor spoilers.

One of the greatest feats of human migration in history was the colonisation of the vast Pacific Ocean by Polynesian peoples. They achieved it thanks to their sophisticated knowledge of positional astronomy and celestial navigation.

The Disney film "Moana" has drawn attention to these accomplishments and helped inform a new generation about the complexity of Indigenous astronomy.

Polynesia forms a triangle across the Pacific, with Hawaii to the north, Rapa Nui (Easter Island) to the southeast, and Aotearoa (New Zealand) to the southwest, with Tahiti in the centre. But Polynesian voyaging extends beyond this triangle; there is strong evidence they reached the coast of South America and sub-Antarctic islands.

Moana touches on Polynesian voyaging, showing the eponymous main character using traditional celestial techniques to navigate across the sea.

During production, Disney created the Oceanic Story Trust  a board of experts, including Polynesian locals and elders  to advise on cultural accuracy. The film accomplished this reasonably well, especially in respect to celestial navigation, despite the producers facing criticism for cultural appropriation and commodification.

Navigating by hand

To navigate the wide expanse of the Pacific, voyagers need to map the stars to determine their position from our perspective here on Earth. Navigator and Polynesian Voyaging Society president Nainoa Thompson explains:

If you can identify the stars as they rise and set, and if you have memorised where they rise and set, you can find your direction.

Since 1976, the famous Hokule'a voyages have demonstrated how Polynesians used traditional sea-craft and navigational techniques to cross the expanse of the Pacific, from Japan to Canada.

The Southern Cross is visible throughout the southern hemisphere. (Image credit: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA)

So what are some of these navigational techniques?

To calculate their position on Earth, voyagers memorised star maps and used the angle of stars above the horizon to determine latitude. For example, the top and bottom stars of the Southern Cross are separated by six degrees. When the distance between those stars is equal to the bottom star's altitude above the horizon, your northerly latitude is 21 degrees: that of Honolulu.

When the bright stars Sirius and Pollux set at exactly the same time, your latitude is 18 degrees South: the latitude of Tahiti.

Voyagers measure the angles between stars and the horizon using their hands. The width of your pinkie finger at arm's length is roughly one degree, or double the angular diameter of the Sun or Moon.

Hold your hand with the palm facing outward and thumb fully extended, touching the horizon. Each part of your hand is used to measure a particular altitude.

In Hawai'i, the "North Star," Polaris, is Hokupa'a, meaning "fixed star." It lies close to the north celestial pole. The altitude of Hokupa'a indicates your northerly latitude.

In the film, we see Moana Waialiki using this technique to measure the altitude of a group of stars. Look closely and you can see that she's measuring the stars in Orion's Belt. The position of Moana's hand indicates the star above her index finger has an altitude of 21 degrees. Given that the movie takes place about 2,000 years ago near Samoa, the position of Orion indicates they are travelling exactly due East.

Moana measures altitude of Orion's belt stars. (Image credit: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

Later in the film, we see Moana navigating by following Maui's fish hook. In the various Polynesian traditions, the hook was used to pull islands from the sea. It is represented by the constellation Scorpius, which rises at dusk in mid-May. This indicates southeasterly travel.

However, the positions of the stars are not fixed in time. Over the 3,500 years that Polynesians have been exploring the Pacific, the stars have gradually shifted due to precession of the equinoxes.

From the latitude of Samoa, the Southern Cross has lowered from 60 degrees altitude in 1500 BCE to 41 degrees today. Those navigating by the stars must gradually adjust their measurements as the positions of stars slowly shift over time.

In his book Hawaiki Rising, Sam Low tells how navigators would develop new techniques.

Aboriginal knowledge

In Australia, colonists knew little about Aboriginal celestial navigation, with some researchers claiming Aboriginal people did not use it at all. However, collaborations with elders shows that Aboriginal people use celestial navigation and developed star maps to link the sky with the land.

Euahlayi Aboriginal star map route from northern New South Wales to the Bunya Mountains in Queensland. (Image credit: Starry Night Education)

Celestial navigation is an important component of Indigenous astronomy around the world. Try going out tonight and measuring the positions of the stars with your own hands. It's actually quite fun!

Duane W. Hamacher, Senior ARC Discovery Early Career Research Fellow, Monash University and Carla Bento Guedes, Cultural Astronomy & Cultural Competence Researcher, UNSW.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Follow all of the Expert Voices issues and debates  and become part of the discussion  on Facebook, Twitter and Google +. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. This version of the article was published on Space.com.
NASAs first Space Launch System rocket could fly as the "Cernan 1," named in honor of the late Apollo 17 astronaut Eugene Cernan, if a new resolution passes in Congress.

Two U.S. lawmakers have authored new legislation to name the first of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rockets after the last man to leave footprints on the moon.

Congressmen John Culberson (R-TX) and Robert Aderholt (R-AL) introduced a resolution on Wednesday (Feb. 15) to christen the first launch of the SLS the "Cernan 1 rocket" in honor of Apollo 17 astronaut Eugene Cernan, who died on Jan. 16 at age 82.

"Cernan was devoted to making America's space program the best in the world," Culberson said. "I cannot think of a more fitting way to honor his legacy than the first launch of the Space Launch System carrying Capt. Cernan's name." [Eugene Cernan Remembered: Photos of the Last Man on the Moon]

Culbertson and Aderholt introduced their bill in the House of Representatives on the same day that NASA said it was initiating a study to look at flying astronauts on its maiden SLS flight, presently known as Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1). The flight, which is currently scheduled for late 2018 as an uncrewed mission to orbit the moon, is likely to "require a different launch date" if flown with astronauts on board, according to NASA's acting administrator Robert Lightfoot, who acknowledged the additional work needed to fly safely with a crew in a memo to the agency's employees.

NASA is building the SLS and the Orion crew spacecraft ;to launch U.S. astronauts on missions beyond Earth orbit, to the vicinity of the moon and ultimately to Mars.

"The [SLS] represents an opportunity to forge forward with Captain Cernan's vision to push the boundaries of human space exploration," said Culbertson.

In addition to leading the final mission to land on the moon in 1972, Cernan became the second American to perform a spacewalk during NASA's Gemini 9 mission in 1966, and was lunar module pilot on Apollo 10, the "dress rehearsal" for the first manned moon landing, in 1969. He was one of only three astronauts to fly to the moon twice.

Artists rendering of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS). (Image credit: NASA)

After retiring from NASA, Cernan became an advocate for expanding human space exploration beyond Earth orbit. In 2010, he joined fellow Apollo astronauts Jim Lovell and the late Neil Armstrong to deliver testimony before Congress in support of returning astronauts to the moon.

"It is quite an honor to partner with astronaut greats, Neil Armstrong and Eugene Cernan, in fighting to preserve our nation's phenomenal space program," stated Aderholt after meeting with the first and last moonwalkers at the time.

Although Cernan titled his memoir and documentary "The Last Man on the Moon," it was not a distinction he desired.

"America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow," said Cernan before he returned home to Earth for a final time. "As we leave the moon and Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and God willing, we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind."

In 2010, the House of Representatives approved a bill that included a provision to rename the SLS through a student competition, but it did not become law.

If Culbertson's and Aderholt's resolution passes the House and Senate and is signed by President Trump, the "Cernan 1" would become the latest U.S. rocket to bear an astronaut's name. Blue Origin, the Seattle-based spaceflight company founded by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, named its suborbital and orbital vehicles the New Shepard and New Glenn after original Mercury astronauts Alan Shepard and John Glenn, respectively.

Orbital ATK, which has a NASA contract to deliver supplies to the International Space Station, has christened its cargo spacecraft after late U.S. astronauts, including David Low, C. Gordon Fullerton, Janice Voss, Rick Husband and Alan Poindexter.

"I'm proud to introduce this resolution," said Culbertson, "to ensure Cernan's role in making America's space program the best in the world is never forgotten."

Follow collectSPACE.com on Facebook and on Twitter at @collectSPACE. Copyright 2017 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.
The 305-meter telescope at Arecibo is just one of a collection that SETI will use to search nearby stars for electronic signals that could indicate intelligent life. If such a civilization was utilizing a similar dish to image exoplanets, SETI's team should be able to detect it.

With SETI  the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence  we use radio telescopes to search for signals from alien civilizations. This is a relatively passive system, where we sit back and listen for what signals might be out there. As of yet, the search has come up empty handed.

By contrast, "Active SETI" or what is now called Messaging Extra Terrestrial Intelligence, or METI, is a proactive system of sending a message to a specific place to say "hello" to let potential alien astronomers know we're here.

But the METI concept is a little controversial. Some scientists have warned the strategy could be dangerous, and famed theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking has said that alerting aliens to our existence might be asking for trouble. Hawking suggests that advanced aliens might only see us as annoying bacteria, or aliens stepping foot on Earth might be akin to when Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas, which "didn't turn out so well" for the native people.

However, claims of the dangers of METI are overstated, says Douglas Vakoch, a professor in the Department of Clinical Psychology at the California Institute for Integral Studies in California and president of METI International, an organization that looks to organize the efforts to send messages out into the cosmos.

RELATED: Sending Messages to Aliens: Could It Kill Us?

"When I talk with other scientists about the potential risk of METI, they agree that the public perception of the danger is overblown," Vakoch told Seeker. "And that's natural. We know that our brains are hard-wired to pay attention to vivid images of danger  even when the alleged risk isn't credible. So when Stephen Hawking warns that aliens could decimate Earthlings just as European explorers conquered the New World, that evocative image sets off our internal alarms  even if the scenario isn't logically consistent."

Vakoch says that when Hawking assumes that somehow advanced extraterrestrials will have the ability to travel between the stars, but they won't have the capacity to pick up our "leaked" TV and radio signals, that just doesn't make sense.

We've already had nearly 100 years of radio and television transmissions emanating from our planet as electromagnetic radiation. With those signals now having traveled almost 100 light-years, evidence of our existence is already spreading across the galaxy. With our growing database of known exoplanets, we now know that there are thousands of planets within a radius of 100 light-years. And it is quite likely that some of these worlds are Earth-like.

"Any civilization that has the ability to hear our message has likely already heard our 'leakage' so they already know we are here," said Vakoch.

An image on the METI International website suggests a good reason for messaging aliens. (Image credit: METI International)

So why bother sending messages at all? Because science.

When considering the pros and cons of METI, Vakoch reasons, it is important to use the tenets of science  and not emotional arguments  for several different reasons.

One principle of science is the importance of continually looking at the assumptions that drive our actions and if those assumptions are not warranted, being will to change course.

"I don't know of any astronomers who are actually engaged in SETI observations themselves who think it's dangerous to transmit," Vakoch said. "But when even the world's most brilliant cosmologist [Hawking] evokes images that just aren't plausible, creating fears that foreclose innovative scientific research, we need to step back and look for a more rational way to evaluate the situation. It's important to find a way to seriously consider the risks of METI, and not just rely on lurid images of alien conquest."

And in choosing the merits of specific METI projects, we should use a tried and true scientific method to help make logical judgments: peer review.

"When I talk with other scientists about making decisions about METI transmissions through the process of peer review, they say, 'That makes so much sense,'" Vakoch said. "Why create a whole new process for evaluating scientific projects when the normal way of doing science has that built in? Through the peer review process, scientists can dispassionately evaluate the specific proposal in front of them."

RELATED: Galactic Ecosystem Survival: Keep Your Head Down

Vakoch said peer review would also help scientists move beyond simplistic 'either/or' thinking, of either it's worthwhile to do METI, or it's not.

"It's critical to evaluate the specific METI project that's being proposed, to see whether it's worth pursuing," Vakoch explained. "For example, we could test one version of the Zoo Hypothesis, which states that extraterrestrial intelligence may be much more widespread than we had imagined  perhaps inhabiting even nearby stars, but that we're not hearing from them because they require that we take the initiative in making contact. Well, we can test that hypothesis by transmitting powerful, intentional signals to the nearest stars. In the course of a few decades, we can see, very concretely, whether we get replies."

Which leads Vakoch to point out that scientific practices and principles should be used in helping to determine the best methods in which to conduct METI.

Since the mid-1970's, there have been about two dozen intentional messages sent out to the cosmos. These have all been one message, sent to a specific target in space. Vakoch said that approach needs to be modified.

"In SETI, when we see a signal and we see it only once, that is not compelling," Vakoch said in anIdea City talk last year. If other civilizations have that same axiom that science needs to be repeatable and verifiable, "we should be transmitting repeatedly if it is going to be taken seriously," Vakoch said.

The ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) during observations, using the Laser Guide Star (LGS) Adaptive Optics system, which allows astronomers to remove the effects of atmospheric turbulence. (Image credit: Serge Brunier/ESO)

Additionally, proponents of METI say messages should be targeted to stars in our own neighborhood.

Why? For example, in 1974 a brief symbolic image was transmitted towards the M13 cluster of stars, about 25,000 light years away.

"Instead of sending messages where it would take 50,000 years to get a reply," Vakoch said, "we should send messages to stars that are closer so that, even if it takes a decade or two to get a reply, at least it would be in a person's lifetime. That way you may actually get to test your hypothesis."

Moreover, since the role of science is to test hypotheses, Vakoch said, through METI we could empirically test several ideas and theories, such as the previously mentioned Zoo Hypothesis and several other proposed explanations for the Fermi Paradox, which speculates that if the universe is full of sophisticated races and civilizations, why haven't we heard from anyone yet?

Answering that question  and getting an answer to our call to the cosmos  could be one of the most profound events in the history of humanity.

RELATED: SETI Eavesdrops on Nearby Star in Smart Alien Hunt

Vakoch and those who endorse METI are hoping to organize the first efforts to send strong, repeated and intentional messages to nearby star systems, but know they need additional scientific discussions to make it happen.

"At METI International, we're committed to encouraging broader debate about the pros and cons of transmitting intentional messages into space," Vakoch said.

He explained how METI International has recruited a distinguished Advisory Council of over 50 leading scholars from 16 countries, representing a broad range of disciplines in the sciences, humanities, and arts, to provide their insights. And there will be events and discussions available for the public.

On May 25, 2017, there will be a daylong workshop in St. Louis, Missouri, which will discuss two interrelated METI issues.

"First, how detectable is life on Earth already  either microbial life, or technological life as seen through our leakage radiation? In short, is it too late to be quiet?" Vakoch said. "Second, how do we balance the risks and benefits of METI, and what are the related policy and ethical issues? These are deeply scientific, technical matters, but they also have broader societal impact."

Would you send a message to alien civilizations? And if so, what would you say?

WATCH VIDEO: Can We Mathematically Prove Aliens Exist?

Originally published on Seeker.
Launch Complex 39A

NASA

NASA's historic Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida was first built to send astronauts to the moon and evolved into the departure point for space shuttles lifting off to Earth orbit. Now, the launch pad is entering its third iteration, supporting SpaceX launches of uncrewed  and eventually crewed  missions. Here is a look back at the milestones that defined Pad 39A's place in history, from its founding to today.

Early Construction

NASA

Construction of Pad 39A began in the early 1960s. It was one of two launch sites built specifically for launching NASA's new, moon-bound Saturn V rockets from the Kennedy Space Center. Shaped like an octagon, Launch Complex 39A measures 3,000 feet (915 meters) across. The pad itself is a smaller, square-shaped block of reinforced concrete at the center of the launch site measuring 390 by 325 feet (120 by 100 m) that stands 48 feet (15 m) above sea level.

Apollo 4

NASA

Apollo 4, also known as AS-501, was the first uncrewed test flight of NASA's Saturn V rocket and the first launch from Pad 39A. The maiden mission lifted off at 7 a.m. EST on Nov. 9, 1967. [Infographic: NASA's Mighty Saturn V Moon Rocket Explained]

Apollo 8

NASA

The first crewed launch from Pad 39A was Apollo 8, the first mission to send astronauts to orbit the moon. The Apollo 8 Saturn V rocket lifted off with Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders on Dec. 21, 1968.

Apollo 11

NASA

Perhaps the most historic mission in space history, the Apollo 11 first lunar landing, began with a launch from Pad 39A. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins lifted off on July 16, 1969. Four days later, Armstrong took "one small step for a man, one giant leap for all mankind" when he became the first person to walk on the moon.

The Last Saturn V

NASA

The last Saturn V rocket to launch blasted off from Pad 39A on a mission to put the United States' first space station in orbit. The Skylab orbital workshop lifted off without a crew on May 14, 1973. Three crewed Skylab missions followed, but those launched on Saturn IB rockets from Pad 39B.

Service Structures

NASA

During the Apollo program, NASA used mobile support structures and launch umbilical towers to service the Saturn V rockets on Pad 39A. For the space shuttle, the complex gained two permanent gantries: a 12-floor fixed service structure, equipped with three swing arms that gave workers access to the shuttle on the pad, and the rotating service structure that could be swung around to envelop the orbiter, providing access to the vehicle's payload bay. In this photo, the space shuttle Columbia arrives at Pad 39A on Dec. 29, 1980 in preparation for the first space shuttle launch.

STS-2

NASA

Space shuttle Columbia made history on Nov. 12, 1981, when the world's first reusable orbiter blasted off for its second flight. STS-2 crewmates Joe Engle and Richard Truly launched on Columbia from Pad 39A seven months after John Young and Bob Crippen did the same on STS-1.

S.S. Atlantis

NASA

July 8, 2011, marked the last time a space shuttle departed for Earth orbit. Space shuttle Atlantis blasted off from Pad 39A, carrying four astronauts on the STS-135 mission to the International Space Station. It was the orbiter's 33rd successful launch in over 25 years of spaceflight. In total, Pad 39A hosted 94 launches from 1967 to 2011, including 12 Saturn V rockets and 82 space shuttles.

Enter SpaceX

NASA

To prepare Pad 39A to launch SpaceX's Falcon family of rockets, the commercial spaceflight company modified the complex, removing more than 500,000 pounds (230,000 kilograms) of steel from the fixed service structure. SpaceX also added new propellant, data and power lines, modified the flame trench and installed new "rainbirds" to deluge the pad with water to combat acoustic damage at liftoff. [SpaceX's Falcon 9 Rocket Stands Atop Historic NASA Launchpad for 1st Time]



Robert Pearlman is a Space.com contributing writer and the editor of collectSPACE.com, a Space.com partner site and the leading space history news publication. Follow collectSPACE on Facebook and on Twitter at @collectSPACE. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
With 88 new shoebox-sized satellites now circling Earth, San Francisco-based Planet will be able to image every piece of land on Earth every day.

The latest flock of Planet's Dove satellites blasted off aboard an Indian PSLV rocket Tuesday night. The 88 newcomers expand Planet's constellation to 149 satellites in orbit, not including seven higher-resolution imagers it will acquire as part of its purchase of Terra Bella from Google's parent company, Alphabet.

The sale, announced earlier this month, is pending regulatory approval, said Planet chief executive Will Marshall.

Why so many satellites? Planet's business plan is to acquire daily imaging of the entire Earth land mass so companies, governments and researchers can better understand the changing planet, Marshall told Seeker.

"It's a massive change  a 1,000-fold increase in data rates," he said.

RELATED: Indian Rocket Prepares to Launch 104 Satellites at Once

The company, founded in 2010 by three former NASA scientists, already has contracts with more than 100 clients, exceeding its expectations for 2016.

Once the new satellites are operational in about three months, Planet will be able to offer daily imaging worldwide, a service the company suspects will be in high demand.

"It's hard to know exactly. It's a big bet in a way, but we have seen a lot of interest in this data set. We wouldn't have built the constellation if we didn't think there was a huge market," Marshall said.

So far, Planet is selling imagery to three main types of customers: agriculture, government and internet companies wanting more up-to-date pictures for consumer maps.

"We can tell crop yield on a pixel-by-pixel basis for every farm around the world," Marshall said. The data is being used to precisely manage where and what to grow and when to plant, water, fertilize and harvest crops.

RELATED: New Weather Satellite Shows Stunning View of Earth

Governments are interested in the images to support services ranging from disaster response to urban planning. Brazil and Mexico buy the data to track deforestation.

The company declined to disclose what it cost to build and fly the network.

Unlike traditional satellite manufactures, Planet is less interested in how reliable they can make each satellite than in getting as many as possible into orbit.

"We put the latest technology on and throw it into space," Marshall said. "We launch more than we need and if one or two fail it isn't the end of the world."

Planet is preparing another 48 more Dove spacecraft for launch this summer.

WATCH: Did Earth Always Have Water?

Originally published on Seeker.
An artist's impression of a Sun-like star close to a rapidly spinning supermassive black hole, with a mass of about 100 million times the mass of our Sun.

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Our love of black holes continues to grow as our knowledge of these celestial bodies expands. The latest news is the discovery of a rare "middleweight" black hole, a relative newcomer to the black hole family.

We already knew that some black holes are just a few times the mass of our Sun, while others are more than a billion times as massive. But others with intermediate masses, such as the one 2,200 times the mass of our Sun recently discovered in the star cluster 47 Tucanae, are surprisingly elusive.

So what is it about black holes, these gravitational prisons that trap anything that gets too close to them, that captures the imagination of people of all ages and professions?

'Dark stars'

As far back as 1783, within the framework of Newtonian dynamics, the concept of "dark stars" with sufficiently high density that not even light can escape their gravitational pull had been advanced by the English philosopher and mathematician John Michell.

Almost immediately after Albert Einstein presented his theory of general relativity in 1915, which supplanted Newton's description of our Universe and revealed how space and time are intimately linked, fellow German Karl Schwarzschild and Dutchman Johannes Droste independently derived the new equations for a spherical or point mass.

Although at the time the issue was still something of a mathematical curiosity, over the ensuing quarter of a century nuclear physicists realised that sufficiently massive stars would collapse under their own weight to become these previously theorised black holes.

Their existence was eventually confirmed by astronomers using powerful telescopes, and more recently colliding black holes were the source of the gravitational waves detected with the LIGO instrumentation in the United States.

A dense object

The densities of such objects is mind-boggling. If our Sun were to become a black hole, it would need to collapse from its current size of 1.4 million km across to a diameter of less than 6km. Its average density within this "Schwarzschild radius" would be nearly 20 billion tonnes per cubic centimetre.

The increasing strength and pull of gravity as you get closer to a black hole can be dramatic.

On Earth, the strength of the gravitational pull holding you to its surface is roughly the same at your feet as it is at your head, which is a little bit farther away from the planet.

But near some black holes, the difference in gravitational pull from head to toe is so great that you would be pulled apart and stretched out on an atomic level, in a process referred to as spaghettification.

In 1958, the American physicist David Finkelstein was the first to realise the true nature of what has come to be called the "event horizon" of a black hole. He described this boundary around a black hole as the perfect unidirectional membrane.

It's an intangible surface encapsulating a sphere of no return. Once inside this sphere, the gravitational pull of the black hole is too great to escape  even for light.

In 1963, the New Zealand mathematician Roy Kerr solved the equations for the more realistic rotating black holes. These yielded closed time-like curves that permitted movement backwards through time.

While such strange solutions to the equations of general relativity first appeared in the 1949 work of Austrian-American logician Kurt Godel, it is commonly thought that they must be a mathematical artefact yet to be explained away.

A video simulation of two black holes merging.

Black and white holes

In 1964, two Americans, the writer Ann Ewing and the theoretical physicist John Wheeler, introduced the term "black hole." Subsequently, in 1965, the Russian theoretical astrophysicist Igor Novikov introduced the term "white hole" to describe the hypothetical opposite of a black hole.

The argument was that if matter falls into a black hole, then perhaps it is spewed out into our universe from a white hole.

This idea is partly rooted in the mathematical concept known as an Einstein-Rosen bridge. Discovered (mathematically) in 1916 by the Austrian physicist Ludwig Flamm, and re-introduced in 1935 by Einstein and the American-Israeli physicist Nathan Rosen, it was later termed a "wormhole" by Wheeler.

In 1962, Wheeler and the American physicist Robert Fuller explained why such wormholes would be unstable for transporting even a single photon across the same universe.

Fact and fiction

Not surprisingly, the idea of entering a (black hole) portal and re-emerging somewhere else in the universe  in space and/or time  has spawned countless science fiction stories, including Doctor Who, Stargate, Fringe, Farscape and Disney's Black Hole.

Ongoing productions can simply claim that their characters are travelling to a different or a parallel universe to our own. While it appears to be mathematically feasible, there is of course no physical evidence to support the existences of such universes.

But this is not to say that time travel, at least in a limited sense, is not real. When travelling at great speed, or perhaps falling into a black hole, the passage of time does slow down relative to that experienced by stationary observers.

Clocks flown quickly around the world have demonstrated this, displaying time lags in accordance with Einstein's theory of special relativity.

The 2014 movie Interstellar played on this effect around a black hole, thereby creating a sense of travelling forward in time for astronaut Cooper (played by Matthew McConaughey).

Despite the strangely endearing name, the phrase "black hole" is perhaps somewhat misleading. It implies a hole in space-time through which matter will fall, as opposed to matter falling onto an incredibly dense object.

What actually exists within a black hole's event horizon is hotly debated. Attempts to understand this include the "fuzzball" picture from string theory, or descriptions of black holes in quantum gravity theories known as"spin foam networks" or "loop quantum gravity."

One thing that does seem certain is that black holes will continue to intrigue and fascinate us for some time yet."

Alister Graham, Professor of Astronomy, Swinburne University of Technology

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Follow all of the Expert Voices issues and debates  and become part of the discussion  on Facebook, Twitter and Google +. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. This version of the article was published on Space.com.
Six days after her birthday on January 15, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati called a press conference at the party's state headquarters on Mall Avenue in Lucknow. Here, she introduced Ambika Chaudhari, MLA from Ballia and till recently a minister in the Samajwadi Party government. A week later, on January 29, another ex-minister in the SP government who had been sidelined, Narad Rai, joined the BSP. Both were quickly given party tickets.

This open courting of leaders from other parties is a first for Mayawati. Sources say party general secretaries Satish Misra and Nasimuddin Siddiqui were expressly saddled with the task of identifying "disgruntled elements". Her plan is to get the Muslim vote on her side. Which explains the rapprochement with jailed don and politician Mukhtar Ansari (whom she had sacked in 2010) and his Qaumi Ekta Dal. The BSP is hoping the Ansaris' support base gives it an edge in districts like Ghazipur, Mau, Varanasi, Ballia, Chandauli and Azamgarh in eastern UP. Siddiqui, the man behind the alliance, says, "The Ansari brothers have a good reputation among Muslims in the state. It will help the BSP not only in eastern UP but also in Muslim-dominated sections of western UP."

advertisement

The BSP has fielded 100 Muslim candidates, half of them in the 140 assembly seats to be polled in the first two phases. Political scientist Dr M.M. Beg says, "The BSP is facing pressure to woo the minority community, as the popular sentiment is that the Muslims are with the Congress-SP." To counter this, the party has been circulating pamphlets and organising community outreaches to remind Muslim voters about the communal incidents during the SP regime.

The party has also revived the BAMCEF (Backward and Minority Communities Employees Federation), an organisation founded by Kanshi Ram even before he launched the BSP. A BAMCEF district president from Kanpur division says they "work in the same manner as the RSS does in helping the BJP". Workers are involved in monitoring strategy at the grassroots level, and taking feedback from the public back to the local candidate.

Even today, Dalit candidates are restricted mostly to their reserved seats (85 in UP). And among the Dalits, the Jatavs remain Mayawati's core support base; of the 87 BSP Dalit candidates, 80 per cent are Jatav. Which could cause grief among other Dalit sub-castes. Ashish Sagar, a social activist from Bundelkhand, says, "In Bundelkhand, Dalit subcastes like the Sonkar, Kori, Shankhwar have a significant population. Neglecting them could cost the BSP." How good is Behenji at math?

--- ENDS ---
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo ship stand atop NASA's Launch Pad 39A for a Feb. 18, 2017 launch. It will be SpaceX's first launch from the historic NASA pad, which saw launches for Apollo moon missions, Skylab and the space shuttle program.

SpaceX plans to launch an International Space Station (ISS) resupply mission from a historic NASA pad Saturday morning (Feb. 18), and you can watch the liftoff live.

SpaceX's robotic Dragon cargo capsule is scheduled to launch atop the company's Falcon 9 rocket Saturday at 10:01 a.m. EST (1501 GMT) from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. You can watch the spaceflight action  which will include an attempted landing by the Falcon 9's first stage about 9 minutes after liftoff  live here at Space.com courtesy of NASA TV, beginning at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT).

LC-39A once hosted launches of NASA's Saturn V moon rockets and space shuttle orbiters. SpaceX signed a 20-year lease for the pad in 2014, then began modifying it to support liftoffs of the Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy, a powerful booster that's scheduled to take to the skies for the first time this year. [In Photos: NASA's Historic Launch Pad 39A]

Saturday's cargo launch will mark SpaceX's first liftoff from LC-39A, and the pad's first spaceflight action since July 2011, when the orbiter Atlantis launched from the site on the shuttle program's final mission.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo ship stand atop NASA's Launch Pad 39A for a Feb. 18, 2017 launch. It will be SpaceX's first launch from the historic NASA pad, which saw launches for Apollo moon missions, Skylab and the space shuttle program. (Image credit: SpaceX)

Dragon is loaded up with about 5,500 lbs. (2,500 kilograms) of crew supplies, hardware and scientific gear, including a new lightning-studying sensor and a technology demonstration called Raven, which will test autonomous rendezvous capabilities.

If all goes according to plan Saturday, the Falcon 9's first and second stages will separate about 2.5 minutes into flight. The second stage will continue carrying Dragon into orbit, while the first stage will head down to Earth for an attempted landing at SpaceX's "Landing Zone 1," located a few miles from LC-39A on Florida's Space Coast.

Falcon 9 first stages have touched down at Landing Zone 1 twice before, in December 2015 and July 2016. Five other such landings have occurred at sea, on one of SpaceX's two "autonomous spaceport drone ships."

These landings are part of the company's quest to develop fully and rapidly reusable rockets, which SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk has said would cut the cost of spaceflight dramatically.

Dragon, meanwhile, will arrive at the ISS on Monday morning (Feb. 20). NASA TV coverage of the rendezvous is set to begin at 7:30 a.m. EST (12:30 GMT) Monday; Dragon's installation on the station, by astronauts using the ISS' huge robotic arm, will take place at around 11:30 a.m. EST (1630 GMT), NASA officials said. You can watch this action here at Space.com as well, courtesy of NASA TV.

Saturday's liftoff will kick off the 10th robotic resupply mission to the ISS that SpaceX has undertaken for NASA, and the company's first such cargo flight since July 2016. SpaceX was grounded for several months as it investigated the Sept. 1, 2016, explosion of a Falcon 9 rocket during a routine prelaunch test. The accident destroyed that Falcon 9 and the $200 million Amos-6 satellite aboard the rocket.

The Falcon 9 returned to flight on Jan. 14 of this year, successfully launching 10 satellites for the communications company Iridium from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base. The rocket's first stage came back to Earth for a successful drone-ship landing that day as well.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
High performance materials and structures are needed for safe and affordable next generation exploration systems such as transit vehicles, habitats, and power systems.

NASA will spend up to $30 million over the next five years to set up and support two new institutes dedicated to helping humanity extend its footprint out into the solar system.

The two Space Technology Research Institutes (STRIs)  each of which will receive up to $15 million of NASA funding over a five-year "period of performance"  will aim to develop new technologies in the fields of biomanufacturing and materials, agency officials said.

"These university-led, multidisciplinary research programs promote the synthesis of science, engineering and other disciplines to achieve specific research objectives with credible expected outcomes within five years," Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator for NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate, which is funding both STRIs, said in a statement. [NASA's Top 10 Innovations of All Time]

"At the same time, these institutes will expand the U.S. talent base in areas of research and development with broader applications beyond aerospace," Jurczyk added.

One of the new STRIs  the Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space, or CUBES  will focus on using microbes to make food, fuel, materials and pharmaceuticals. Such a biomanufacturing system could make astronauts more self-sufficient when they voyage through deep space or set up outposts on distant worlds, NASA officials said.

CUBES will be led by Adam Arkin, a professor of bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley. Utah State University; the University of California, Davis; Stanford University; Autodesk; and Physical Sciences Inc. will be partner organizations.

Advanced biological engineering techniques are rapidly emerging that can lead to innovative approaches for in situ biological manufacturing techniques using microbes and plants, and provide the means to create sustainable technologies for both future space exploration and terrestrial applications. (Image credit: NASA)

The other STRI, the Institute for Ultra-Strong Composites by Computational Design (US-COMP), will aim to develop a superstrong and extremely lightweight new aerospace material based on carbon-nanotube technology.

US-COMP will be led by Gregory Odegard of Michigan Technological University, in partnership with Florida State University, the University of Utah, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Florida A&M University, Johns Hopkins University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Minnesota, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Colorado and Virginia Commonwealth University. Nanocomp Technologies and Solvay are industrial partners, and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory will be a collaborator.

Though CUBES and US-COMP are devoted primarily to advancing space technology, the work of both institutes could find applications on terra firma, NASA officials said. For example, CUBES plans to use carbon dioxide as a base for its materials manufacturing; the technology may therefore prove useful for managing this greenhouse gas in Earth's atmosphere. And the new materials developed by US-COMP could make their way into a variety of products, agency officials said.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
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Chinese daily has appreciated ISRO's incredible efforts to create history but says we still don't have an Indian astronaut in space.

By India Today Web Desk: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) created history on February 15 when its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) carried 104 satellites to space in a single launch.

#FYI: || From 3 satellites in one launch to 104: All you need to know about ISRO's historic PSLV rocket ||

A Chines newspaper said that India deserves kudos for sending a record 104 satellites into the orbit at one go, when prior to this space mission, it was way behind China in space technology.

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An editorial in the state-run Global Times said that by smashing the previous Russian record of putting 37 satellites into the orbit in 2014, India's frugal space exploration offered "food for thought for other countries".

The newspaper mentioned that India did a good job but has a long way to go since there's still no Indian astronaut in space. And India's plan to establish a space station is yet to come true.

HERE'S WHAT THE DAILY PRINTED

"This is perhaps the first widely followed world record India has made in the field of space technology. Indians have a reason to be proud," the daily said.

"However, the space technology race is not mainly about the number of satellites at one go. It's fair to say the significance of this achievement is limited. In this regard, Indian scientists know more than the Indian public, who are encouraged by media reports."

"It's a hard-won achievement for India to reach current space technology level with a relatively small investment. It offers food for thought for other countries. India launched a lunar probe in 2008 and ranked first among Asian countries by having an unmanned rocket orbit Mars in 2013.

"Nonetheless, the development of a country's space technology is determined by the size of its input.

"The US space budget in 2013 was $39.3 billion, China $6.1 billion, Russia $5.3 billion, Japan $3.6 billion and India $1.2 billion.

"As India's GDP is about one-fifth to one-fourth that of China's, the share of investment in space technology in India's GDP is similar to that of China's.

"There is another figure that deserves attention. India's defence budget is about one-third of China's, a higher percentage of GDP than that of China.

"On the whole, India's space technology still lags behind the US' and China's. It has not yet formed a complete system.

"There is no Indian astronaut in space and the country's plan to establish a space station has not started."

Watch: ISRO's PSLV creates record, launches 104 satellites in single mission

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: Palghar, Feb 17 (PTI) A constable was severely injured today after he was allegedly assaulted and pushed down from a footover bridge by a group of drunk miscreants at Nalla Sopara railway station here, police said.

The incident took place in the wee hours around 1.30 AM when constable Suryakant Elhe, who was on duty spotted a group of drunkards quarrelling among themselves on the FoB, said PI Mahesh Bhagwe of Vasai Railway Police station.

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When Elhe asked them to vacate the place and tried to stop them from creating nuisance, he was allegedly pushed down from the bridge. The constable who sustained severe wounds was immediately rushed to the hospital and is out of danger, said the police officer.

Two persons from the group-- Salim Shaikh, 30 and Rajesh Devgadi, 32--have been arrested in connection with the incident. They have been booked under sections 353 and 333 of the IPC.

Further probe into the crime was being carried out by local Nalla Sopara police. PTI CORR DK DK BAS

--- ENDS ---
The alliance followed up its greatest success with a profound failure. NATO was unsuccessful in turning Russia into a partner. The fears harbored by the Baltic and Central European states are thus understandable. As are Russian suspicions of the alliance. Either way, an alliance whose sole justification is its opposition to Russia is out of date. America has long since viewed its most vital security interests to be in the Pacific region and the Middle East. And for Europe, North Africa and the Middle East are at least as important as Russia.

Europe Needs Stronger Defense

The era in European history when the Continent could delegate its security to a partner across the Atlantic has passed, irrevocably. That will remain true even after Trump is no longer in the White House. Trump, after all, is a symptom of the crisis in the West, not its cause. America remains a possible partner for Europe, but it is no longer a reliable one. Wolfgang Ischinger, head of the Munich Security Conference, rightly warned Europeans not to write America off as a partner. That would be premature. But it would also be reckless and naive if Europe were not to prepare for the fact that it can no longer unconditionally rely on the United States.
AIADMK chief Sasikala's new address makes her a neighbour of a hardened criminal, who is serving life term for killing seven women. She is called Cyanide Mallika.

Cyanide Mallika is serving life sentence in Bengaluru jail for killing seven women.

By Prabhash K Dutta: AIADMK chief Sasikala refused to go to Bengaluru jail in police van saying she was not a 'petty thief'. She is obviously not. But, crime resume of her neighbour in Bengaluru jail certainly makes Sasikala a 'petty criminal' in comparison (after having been convicted by the Supreme Court in a case of corruption).

Meet Sasikala's closest inmate in Bengaluru jail- KD Kempamma better known as Cyanide Mallika. The 46-year-old Cyanide Mallika is known as the first lady serial killer of India.

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Cyanide Mallika is a self-confessed fan of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. Cyanide Mallika had expressed her wish to meet Jayalalithaa, when the late CM was lodged in Bengaluru jail in 2014.

CYANIDE, THE SERIAL KILLER

KD Kempamma is serving life term for killing seven women by giving them cyanide capsule in temples. Her motive had been to decamp with gold jewelries that unsuspecting victims wore.

Cyanide Mallika killed all those women in various temples between 1999 and 2007.

Cyanide Mallika is from Kagglipura in Karnataka, where she worked as housemaid. She wanted to become rich overnight and resorted to stealing in homes she worked as maid.

Also read | DMK to vote against Palaniswami in tomorrow's trust vote in Tamil Nadu assembly: Stalin

She was convicted in one of the cases of theft. She was sentenced to one-year in jail following which her husband- a tailor - abandoned Cyanide Mallika in 1998.

After completing her sentence, Cyanide Mallika launched chit-fund company, which ran into losses leaving her in huge debts.

AIADMK chief Sasikala on her way to Bengaluru jail. (Photo: PTI)

MODUS OPERANDI

The loss in business forced Cyanide Mallika to adopt new ways to earn money. The easiest appeared to her was duping 'women in distress'. Cyanide Mallika target such women from well-off families who were in distress for some reason.

Cyanide Mallika would convince her victims to propitiate gods to get desired results. She would ask the victims to come adorned with all their jewelries to perform special sacrifice.

She would choose a desolate place, far away from the victim's home to perform the special prayer. She would make the victim eat various items mixed with potassium cyanide- the deadly poison.

Cyanide Mallika's first victim was a 30-year-old rich woman in the outskirts of Bengaluru in 1999.

Also read | O Panneerselvam vs E Palaniswami: AIADMK's fight to the finish after VK Sasikala is sent to jail

Mallika managed to get cyanide from jewelry shops, where the chemical is used to clean gold.

Cyanide Mallika kept picking her victims between 1999 and 2007 without being caught as she changed her name and identity each time she committed a murder.

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HOW CYANIDE MALLIKA WAS ARRESTED

In 2006, Cyanide Mallika killed Bengaluru-based Renuka, whose dead body was recovered from a guest house. Police investigation gave some clues about the killer, named Jayamma, who was actually Cyanide Mallika.

While police was trailing Jayamma, Cyanide Mallika picked Nagveni as her next victim. Nagveni was childless and fell prey to Cyanide Mallika's tricks.

Cyanide Mallika called Nagveni in a temple for special prayed and gave her poison in the offering. As Cyanide Mallika fled with the jewelries of Nagveni, police caught hold of her.

In 2012, Cyanide Mallika was convicted and awarded death penalty. Her death sentence has been turned into a life term, which she is serving at Bengaluru's Parappana Agrahara Central Jail as Sasikala's neighbour.

--- ENDS ---
SPIEGEL: Are you not being a little too optimistic about what Germany can do?

Glees: You won't find anyone in the UK who doesn't admire what Germany has become. The bilateral relationship between London and Berlin will become more important in the future, and the UK government wants Germany to grow stronger - for Europe's sake. It is in Britain's national interest that the EU succeeds, and Prime Minster Theresa May knows this.

SPIEGEL: At the moment, mutual wishes for success seem to be in short supply between the UK and the EU. On the contrary, they seem to be preparing for a messy divorce.

Glees: If there ever was a time for a cool, rational and unemotional series of responses on the part of people in Europe, it is now. One reason is that Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Trump are very similar: They are macho types, they are bullies - and they want the same thing: to weaken the EU, albeit for different reasons. Trump, for his part, isa protectionist of the first order , and he wants to make his vision work. He shows no interest in competition with others, but aims to go back to the 1930s.
Lyakh is the current mayor of Slovyansk and successor to the Russia-backed soap-maker. There are no longer men carrying Kalashnikovs in front of City Hall; now, a sign hangs there urging that people "Pray for Ukraine."

'Kiev Has Never Done Anything for Us'

The mayor says residents didn't receive any assistance from the government and that such support has only been given to those who have fled from the separatists in Donetsk or Luhansk. "That doesn't exactly help with the mood here," says Lyakh. "In the 25 years of Ukrainian independence, since 1991, Kiev has never done anything for us. The government hasn't built a single building in Slovyansk. Everything here is from the 1970s."

The water supply is poor, he says, and the streets are in a complete state of disrepair after three years of tank and artillery traffic. There is only one new piece of construction in the city, the mayor says: the radio tower on Karachun Hill. The government in Kiev wants to use it to win over the hearts and minds of the local population.

The small hill southwest of the city was hotly contested during the war. A chapel has been erected on the hilltop and dedicated to six elite fighters who fell here during the fighting. Next to it is a memorial to several generals whose helicopter got shot down by the rebels here. Then there's a massive scrap heap -- the remains of the old radio and television tower, destroyed by artillery shells on July 1, 2014. The new tower was christened in December. It is narrow, painted red and white and stands 183 meters (600 feet) tall. National broadcasters covered the event when it went into operation and even President Petro Poroshenko attended.

The Ukrainian leader wanted to turn the tower into a symbol -- but more for the people in the rest of the country than those in Slovyansk. He wanted to present himself as the father of the nation, focused on uniting a contested part of Ukraine. Indeed, it's not just military battles that are being fought in the eastern part of the country -- it's also a psychological war. After the shelling of the tower in Slovyansk, many in the area could no longer tune into Ukrainian radio.

The separatists in Donetsk, by contrast, control the second-highest radio and TV tower in the entire country along with a major television broadcasting center in Donetsk. They use it to broadcast into the non-rebel parts of Ukraine. The signal quality of their television channel Oplot, or "The Bulwark," is as good as that of Russian state television, which has been officially blocked in the rest of Ukraine. But Ukrainian officials are hoping to change the situation now with the new tower in Slovyansk.

Radio engineer Serhey Udovishenko, deputy head of the broadcasting facilities on Karachun Hill, has worked here for years. When the separatists seized the tower in April 2014, he acted on orders from Kiev to cut off the power. Now he is restoring broadcasting operations with a team of 18 people. Of the 13 radio programs that used to be broadcast here, eight are back on air, along with most Ukrainian television stations.

But has the tone of the broadcasts changed? Since the start of the war, they have been extremely disparaging of eastern Ukrainians. Only recently, the popular channel 112.ua described them as "degenerate zombies."

'We're Not Even Reaching Donetsk'

Udovishenko doesn't want to comment on what's being broadcast. He has relatives on the other side, in the Donetsk separatist republic, and it's better to keep quiet. But he does say that he believes Poroshenko's appearance at the tower's christening had merely been for "show." Before the president's visit, he says, he was asked to purchase 15 flat-screen TVs so that Poroshenko could demonstrate live how he turned each TV station on.

More critically, Udovishenko notes that the hill prevents the tower from even broadcasting the signal further than 68 kilometers. "With that, we're not even reaching Donetsk," he says. If you drive along the war-ravaged roads in the region, your radio will at times pick up independent Hromadske Radio from Kiev and at times the separatists' station. They are on the same frequency.

During their broadcasts, the Ukrainian stations explain how people can legally fight for property they had to leave behind in Donetsk or they present stories to listeners in the east of nationalists in Ukrainian history who became martyrs in the battle against Russia. The separatists, meanwhile, tend to focus in broadcasts on the alleged everyday fascism in Ukraine.

The intent is not to spread propaganda, they say at the National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting in Kiev. "We just give people the chance to hear alternative opinions." But is that really the case? Is the government serious about its intent to win back the hearts and minds of people in eastern Ukraine?

The doubts aren't limited to Karachun. They are also harbored in the studio of Do-TB ("all the way to you"), a television station for the Donetsk region. It's a kind of Donetsk broadcaster in exile. Because the Donetsk broadcasting center has fallen into separatist hands, this replacement broadcaster has been set up to reach the population of the Ukrainian-controlled areas of the Donetsk region. Do-TB broadcasts from a 200-square-meter (2,150-square-foot) book store in Kramatorsk, a city which neighbors Slovyansk. Initially, they didn't have even a single camera, the teleprompter is homemade and the editing desks were donated by Japan. And most of those who work there aren't journalists. The broadcaster is only able to fill four hours of airtime a day, making it unsurprising that most people have never heard of it.

The 5 p.m. news is playing on the monitor. One of the Ukrainian army commanders holding positions near Mariupol, south of Donetsk, is on screen. He complains that separatists are constantly using their heavy weaponry to trigger skirmishes.

He doesn't mention the fact that it was the Ukrainians who recently advanced into the area between the fronts to take back territory they had lost -- likely because the operation would represent a violation of the Minsk agreement. The news report also doesn't mention that men belonging to the volunteer battalions have been blocking the train line into the separatist areas for days, preventing coal deliveries from being made.

Resentment

The old men sitting in front of their houses in Slovyansk resent the incomplete information. They know that the reality on the front is often different than the reports delivered by the Ukrainian broadcaster and they also don't understand why Do-TB only broadcasts in Ukrainian, since the people of the region mostly spoke Russian. Of the 120,000 residents, 45,000 of them are retirees and many of them once served in the Soviet military. In their apartments, they often watch channels from Moscow, received via satellite.

They also haven't forgotten that once the separatists were driven out, the first thing the Ukrainians did was to rename the streets rather than provide jobs for the locals. They still demonstratively use the old name Rosa Luxemburg Street instead of the new name, Post Street, and refer to Karl Marx Street instead of Central Street. The furtive removal of the Lenin statue in front of city hall also remains fresh in their memories. Lenin is now lying in the city depot, next to kennels for stray dogs.

Almost two-thirds of the seats in the Slovyansk city council are occupied by the Opposition Bloc, the political coalition which succeeded the party of toppled pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych. Mayor Vadim Lyakh is also a member. He says that the mood in the city is no longer as hostile to Kiev as it used to be and that residents are searching for a new direction. For the most part, they are supportive of those who provide them the minimum necessary for survival, which, Lyakh says, represents an opportunity for Kiev leadership.

But 80 percent of the businesses in the city have closed, the mayor adds. "For as long as the war continues, no investors will be coming to Slovyansk, nobody will risk their money here." When asked if the Ukrainian president made any promises to the city when he came to dedicate the radio tower, the mayor laughs before saying that he hadn't even been invited to the ceremony himself. Poroshenko, Lyakh says, didn't want him there.

Locals Resent Arrogance in Kiev

It's not just the nearby war, the dire living conditions and the lack of money that is making life difficult for the residents of Slovyansk. It is also the arrogance of the government in Kiev, which considers everyone in eastern Ukraine to be disloyal, regardless of which side of the border to the separatist areas they live on. The country's leadership is uninterested in dialogue and is doing far too little to reconcile the different camps and unite the country. Infrastructure projects would be another way to win back popular support for the new government. But they first must be passed.
Too many of my countrymen prefer that we stay at home instead of support our longstanding allies. And in many of those allied nations, similar doubts are taking root.

A Secure and Stable World Order

Why am I alarmed, as an American state governor who is otherwise focused on domestic policies and the delivery of public services to 11.7 million Ohioans? It is because my state has been restoring our economy and creating jobs for Ohio workers by keeping pace with the demands and rewards of a global economy. A secure and stable world order, open to the free exchange of goods and technology, is essential to my state's well-being.
Washington, February 17, 2017 (SPS) - The Security Council will hold on 22 February a meeting on the situation in Western Sahara whose peace process is at standstill since 2012, the representative of the Frente POLISARIO at the United Nations Ahmed Boukhari told APS on Thursday.

The meeting, to be held behind closed doors, was scheduled at the request of Uruguay, non-permanent member of the Security Council, he said.

The Security Council invited, in this regard, the department of peacekeeping operations to assess the situation in occupied Western Sahara, a meeting which will take place in a context of blockade by Morocco of any initiative to reach a peaceful solution to the conflict.

The representative of the Frente POLISARIO called on the UN Secretary General Antonio Guteress to work, as soon as possible, for the settlement of this conflict to ensure the respect of UN resolutions and its Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). SPS

125/090/700
The Environmental Co-operation Action Fund (ECAF), which forms part of Scotlands Rural Development Programme (SRDP), has been suspended to allow for redesign to meet EU audit requirements with a view to relaunching in the future.

Ministers are currently considering reallocation the funds to initiatives and the Union has used a letter to the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity Fergus Ewing urging him to direct the funds towards the new entrants components of the SRDP 2014-2020  namely, the Young Farmers and New Entrants Start Up Grants Schemes and the New Entrants Capital Grant Scheme.

Around 7 million of the 10 million allocated to Young Farmers and New Entrants schemes has already be taken up, with 140 successful applicants. However, NFU Scotland is concerned that the budget allocation is being quickly used up and the number of unsuccessful applications is already high. Topping up funding levels from ECAF would increase the effectiveness of popular schemes that are already stretched.

This request from NFUS follows supportive comments made by Scotlands First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at NFU Scotlands AGM in Glasgow, where she recognised the importance of attracting new entrants into farming to the long-term health of the sector. In her address to AGM delegates, the First Minister indicated that the Scottish Government was looking at other ways to create further opportunities for new farmers and encouraging young people to take up farming.

In his letter to the Cabinet Secretary, newly-elected President Andrew McCornick said:

With some 10 million originally allocated to ECAF, we now have an opportunity for this funding to drive our shared objective of supporting new and young farmers.

We are in complete agreement with Scottish Government on this issue. Encouraging a new generation to the industry is vital if Scotland is to maintain vibrant farming and crofting sectors. Overcoming barriers to entry and attracting talented people to agriculture is a key priority for both the Scottish Government and NFU Scotland.
This will be the premiere of the innovated tractors of the FORTERRA model range with STAGE IV emission standard in the USA. The tractor was highly praised in Europe making the finals of the prestigious European competition Tractor of the Year 2017 hosted by professional journalists from the most respected farming magazines in Europe.

Representatives of its subsidiary ZETOR NORTH AMERICA, ZETOR will present the innovated FORTERRA HD the most sophisticated tractor to date. Visitors can also see other models of the ZETOR brand portfolio, including PROXIMA, PROXIMA POWER and MAJOR tractors. In addition to tractors, ZETOR will also be presenting mower and loader models, displaying them together with tractors.

The innovated FORTERRA range is being exhibited for the first time at the National Farm Machinery Show. In respect of total North American sales, FORTERRA is the most popular tractor, mainly due to its size, strength and versatility. Therefore, we believe that the innovations will attract visitors of the show, says Vladimir Blaskovic, President of ZETOR NORTH AMERICA.

At the ZETOR stand located at Booth #7401, the visitors can become familiar with the tractors and equipment plus learn more about the ZETOR brand.

ZETOR NORTH AMERICA, based in Jacksonville, Florida, has been responsible for sales in the USA and Canada since 2004 but Zetor tractors have been sold in these markets since 1993. Company strategy is to strengthen the position of the ZETOR brand in North America and the markets of Central and South America.

ZETOR NORTH AMERICA has primarily focused on the sale of ZETOR tractors in North America. In the recent year, however, we successfully expanded to South American markets. The ZETOR brand has entered the markets of Costa Rica, Bolivia, and Uruguay, says Robert Todt, Sales and Marketing Director of ZETOR TRACTORS a.s. as he specifies the business targets in the USA.
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STAMFORD  The presidency of Donald Trump defies traditional political boundaries.

The keynote speaker Thursday at the nonprofit World Affairs Forums Global Economics Trends Lecture argued for using a different ideological map to understand the rise of the new president and other populist leaders around the world.

The reason we were struggling to pin down Trumps politics is that we were working from what I would say is this familiar axis of left versus right, Greg Ip, The Wall Street Journals chief economics commentator, told an audience of about 170 in the Gen Re auditorium at the University of Connecticuts downtown campus. And yet Trump has made clear to us on quite a few occasions that hes operating along a different sort of axis. I would call this axis nationalist versus globalist. 

Trumps outlook represents the antithesis of the globalism ideology, which champions the free movement of people, goods and capital around the world. His point of view aligns in many ways with the perspectives of British Prime Minister Theresa May and French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, Ip said.

The nationalists like Trump, Le Pen and Theresa May define themselves in opposition to this ideology, Ip said. They believe that national identity and borders remain vital attributes of their countries. And globalists, they believe, are hell-bent on destroying those things and they must be stopped.

After reigning as a dominant economic ideology since the end of World War II, globalisms credibility has significantly eroded in recent years in the U.S. and western Europe in the wake of a number of crises and controversies, Ip said. In the past generation, lower middle-class citizens in the U.S. and western Europe recorded income increases that amounted to only a small fraction of the gains made by the worlds top 1 percent of earners and the middle class in Asian emerging-market countries, according to data cited by Ip.

But globalists have erred by looking at resistance to connectedness solely through an economic lens, Ip said. He cited research showing that changes in immigration levels, not stagnant wages, acted as a much more influential factor in British voters support last year for Brexit, the decision for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.

It is the case that some of these people are ethnically intolerant or racially intolerant, Ip said. But many ordinary people take comfort from things like shared and familiar customs, values and language. And they care about borders.

Despite nationalisms ascendancy, Ip asserted that Trump and his ideological peers have not yet presented comprehensive arguments for their beliefs.

Trump really hasnt yet explained how leaving these disastrous free-trade agreements that hes always complaining about is going to make American workers better off and what hes going to replace them with, Ip said.

Nor have globalists have put forth an entirely cogent case for their vision or fully recognized the enduring importance of the nation-state, the commentator said.

Throwing the doors open to the worlds downtrodden  it is a brave and noble humanitarian instinct, Ip said in his closing statement. But it may in the end do more harm than good to the cause if it triggers a broader populist backlash.

pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; twitter: @paulschott
State officials are making a push this week on open space preservation, including making changes to the states Green Plan and speaking out in support of a bill that would give municipalities the right to tax real estate sales to fund the purchase of more dedicated open space.

Dozens of elected leaders, residents and representatives from conservation groups testified on Wednesday in support of H.B. 6926. It would allow a municipality to add a buyers fee of up to 1 percent on real estate sales that would be used to acquire or maintain open space. It is being considered by the legislatures Committee on Planning and Development.

The bill wouldnt require a municipality to add the fee. It would allow cities and towns to pass an ordinance that would allow them to collect this revenue. It also exempts purchases of $150,000 or less, according to testimony from Lori Brown, executive director of the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters.

Amy Blaymore Paterson, executive director of the Connecticut Land Conservation Council, said a lack of funding is one of the biggest challenges for land conservation, but this bill could help and have no impact on the state budget.

In light of the current budget crisis  impacting both state and local economies  there perhaps has never been a better time to allow towns and cities the option to pursue alternative funding mechanisms to help them achieve their land conservation and community planning goals, she wrote in her testimony.

But Realtors say the bill isnt the best way to accomplish this funding goal.

Were for open space, we just think there are other ways to finance it, said Michael Barbaro, president of the Connecticut Association of Realtors.

He said legislators suggest it because one percent doesnt seem like a lot to those who arent involved in negotiations, but Barbaro said Realtors see firsthand how adding a one percent fee can make a house unaffordable.

Very often, were seeing people buy houses that are so close to their finances, he said.

The bill was introduced by state representatives Linda Orange, Kevin Ryan and Joseph Gresko, all of whom are Democrats.

I am pleased to join my colleagues in pursuing legislation that would further preserve, protect and allow for the acquisition of open space, Gresko, of Stratford, said in a press release. This legislation would aid local municipalities that wish to fund open space preservation but are faced with economic challenges.

The Comprehensive Space Acquisition Strategy, also known as the Green Plan, is designed to help the state meet its goal of conserving 21 percent of land, or 673,210 acres, as open space by 2023. Of that, 10 percent would be conserved by the state and 11 percent by municipalities, conservation organizations and water companies.

As of Dec. 31, 2015, about 501,330 acres were classified as open space, which is 74.5 percent of the total state open space goal, according to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

New elements of the Green Plan include a five-year action strategy that outlines acquisition priorities and targeted acres to protect land that can provide buffers to climate change, protect critical wildlife habitats and offer recreational trails.

DEEP Commissioner Robert Klee said the plan provides a framework to protect the states natural resources for future generations.

The goal of our Green Plan is to increase the amount of protected land and also to make certain we protect lands of the highest conservation value in the state, Klee said in a statement. Connecticuts great diversity in landscapes is fundamental to our high-quality of life.

The plan was developed by DEEP, municipalities and conservation groups. It is revised every five years.

The plan also notes that while the state has made progress in preserving open space, lands with high recreation or conservation value are still lost to development.

We owe so much of what we call Connecticut's quality of life to our diverse open and wild spaces that are preserved forever, Susan Merrow, chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, said in a statement. We all know, however, that it's only a small portion of Connecticut's habitat  for people, animals, and plants  that will ever be preserved. It's important that the state chooses wisely.

kkoerting@newstimes.com; 203-731-3345
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WASHINGTON  Connecticut lawmakers took a dim view of President Donald Trumps quip about national security at Thursdays news conference at the White House.

In the wake of a Russian spy ship cruising near Groton this week, Trump dismissed the threat to Connecticut and the United States.

The greatest thing I could do is shoot that ship thats 30 miles off shore right out of the water, Trump said during his roughly 80-minute meeting with the media.

So Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., borrowed a page from the presidents playbook and took to Twitter.

@realDonaldTrump just joked about blowing up a Russian spy ship off Connecticut's coast. Not okay  this is about our national security! DeLauro tweeted Thursday at 1:57 p.m.

The president also used the vessel as an example of a national security matter that he wouldnt normally tell the media about, saying that hopefully, I wont have to do anything, but Im not going to tell you.

Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., said that Trump made it seem like the best thing he could have done was start a nuclear war with Russia, and warned that statements like these could escalate situations unnecessarily.

Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-Conn., also responded, saying the fact that our commander in chief still fails to take this issue seriously is profoundly disturbing. She also said that it is important to act against Russias efforts to undermine our democracy.

A U.S. defense official confirmed that a Russian intelligence ship was approximately 30 miles from the submarine base in Groton.

The ship, the Viktor Leonov, did not break any international laws or enter American waters, but this was the furthest north the ship has sailed. Two years ago, it was spotted near Kings Bay naval base in Georgia.

Laura.Lindarte@hearstdc.com
The US President said the new order would seek to address concerns raised by federal appeals court judges, who temporarily blocked his original travel ban.

By Reuters: US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will issue a new executive order to replace his controversial directive suspending travel to the United States by citizens of seven mostly Muslim countries.

At a White House news conference on Thursday, Trump said the new order would seek to address concerns raised by federal appeals court judges, who temporarily blocked his original travel ban.

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"The new order is going to be very much tailored to what I consider to be a very bad decision," Trump said, adding: "We had a bad court."Trump gave no details about the replacement order. Legal experts said a new directive would have a better chance of withstanding courtroom scrutiny if it covered some non-Muslim countries and exempted non-citizen immigrants living in the US legally.

Also read: Trump, Trudeau express willingness to improve bilateral trade, but differ on immigration ban

The original order, issued on Jan. 27, triggered chaos at some US and overseas airports, led to international protests, complaints from US businesses and drew more than a dozen legal challenges.

In a court filing on Thursday, the Justice Department asked for a pause in proceedings before the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which sided with a federal court in Washington state to suspend the travel ban, while litigation over its legality according to the US Constitution played out.

The Justice Department asked the court to vacate that ruling once the administration has rescinded its original order and issued a new one. In an order later on Thursday, the 9th Circuit put proceedings over the ban on hold but did not say whether it would eventually withdraw its previous ruling.

Also read: Appeals court presses Trump administration on travel ban

The ban has been deeply divisive in the United States, with a Reuters/Ipsos poll indicating about half of Americans supported it shortly after the order took effect.

LEGAL UNCERTAINTY

Trump's decision to issue a new directive plunges court proceedings over his earlier order into uncertainty. Litigants around the country said they will carefully examine any new policy to see if it raises similar constitutional issues and will continue to pursue legal action if necessary.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who filed the case that produced the 9th Circuit ruling, claimed victory on Thursday.

"Today's court filing by the federal government recognizes the obvious - the president's current executive order violates the Constitution," Ferguson said, in a statement. "President Trump could have sought review of this flawed order in the Supreme Court but declined to face yet another defeat."

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Also read: Donald Trump vows to defeat radical Islamic terrorism, says ISIS on a genocide campaign

Trump has said travel limitations are necessary to protect the United States from attacks by Islamist militants. His original order barred people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the country for 90 days. Refugees were banned for 120 days, except those from Syria, who were banned indefinitely.

Trump said on Thursday that the widely criticized rollout had been "very smooth" and once again blamed the court for "a bad decision."The Justice Department court filing on Thursday said Trump's order would be "substantially revised" but provided no more details than the president did at his press conference. Last week an congressional aide who asked not to be identified told Reuters that Trump might rewrite the original order to explicitly exclude green card holders, who have legal permission to live and work in the United States.

Stephen Griffin, a professor of constitutional law at Tulane University, said adding non-Muslim countries could also help a new order withstand accusations that it discriminates based on religion. Given that the administration already identified the seven Muslim-majority countries as a threat, he said, it would be unlikely to remove any of those.

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"I'd speculate they would add to the list, as opposed to walk it back," he said.

Also watch: US Court revokes Donald Trump's travel ban order

--- ENDS ---
Two Danbury region towns were in the top five places to retire in Connecticut, according to SmartAsset, a financial technology company.

In a press release, SmartAsset puts Ridgefield at the top of their list of best retirement spots. New Milford comes in at No. 3.
DANBURY - After sharing space with the universitys boiler room for the past two decades, officials with the Western Connecticut University Police Department are looking forward to their new headquarters.

The building, which has been nearly a decade in planning, is currently under construction on the universitys midtown campus, and officials hope to have it completed this summer, in time for the next school year.

The building will be much larger and more elaborate than our current facility, said Luigi Marcone, the vice president for campus planning and chief facilities officer for the university. That doesnt mean the building is more than is needed, but its a testament as to how under-resourced the current facility is.

Western Police Chief Roger Connor, who has been with the department for more than two decades, said the move to the boiler building in 1994 was an improvement over previous offices, which were located in Old Main. But the station has outlived its usefulness, he said, and has significant space constraints.

Right now, our interview room is also where we eat lunch and do our roll calls, he said. Its also become a quasi-office for the parking ticket clerk. The situation is not ideal when you want to conduct an interview with a good deal of privacy.

He said the departments fingerprinting equipment is kept in a closet, while the records room is overflowing. Records are kept in boxes in corners, on top of filing cabinets, and in other secure locations at the university, he said.

None of the evidence or records areas meet current policing standards, said Marcone. The holding cells also arent up to code.

While the old station encompasses about 2,200 square feet, the new building, which is expected to cost about $8 million, will have 8,500 square feet and will include a new state-of-the-art communications, monitoring and dispatch center.

When we first moved into this building, our dispatch center included a phone, some radios and a scanner from Radio Shack, Connor said. Today, all our systems are much more advanced.

Besides handling police dispatch duties, Connor said, the communications center also monitors a number of safety systems on the university, including surveillance cameras, an emergency notification system for the staff and students, an access systems that controls hundreds of door locks on campus, as well as the fire alarm system.

Unlike the old headquarters, the new facility will be independent of the universitys power and heating grid so that it can continue to operate during an emergency.

The most important improvement is probably our communications center, Connor said. It will be state of the art and allow us to streamline all of our systems.

dperrefort@newstimes.com
Everyone wants to be treated with respect, whether that's in a professional context or within the realm of personal relationships. So it should come as no surprise that workers -- contract, freelance, full-time, part-time -- want to feel appreciated for the skills they bring to the job. They also are more productive when they hear phrases such as thank you, youre an important part of the team and we couldnt have done it without you! It's such a simple thing, yet too many companies neglect these easy-to-implement interactions between managers and employees.

According to a recent survey conducted by Appirio, 47 percent of workers are less than fully engaged in their current jobs. The same survey reveals that bonuses and extravagant compensations aren't enough to keep your workforce productive. As it turns out, top talent is looking for more: a human connection with employers and colleagues.

Related: 5 Powerful Ways to Give Thanks to Your People

Many 9-to-5 jobs aren't designed around human needs.

The desire for a human connection at work isn't new concept. "Generation X," published in 1991, popularized the idea of the McJob. The book described a typical cubicle -- the staple work environment of the then-emerging service economy -- as a veal-fattening pen.

This visual accurately describes many employees feelings even today. It's a powerful lamp to shine light on the inhumane nature of a 9-to-5 work environment that requires people to sit in a gray box between the hours they clock in and out. In truth, this model was designed and approved by executives who see workers as numbers. To them, each minute an employee spends at a desk converts into dollars.

The problem with this scenario is that time spent toiling on a project isn't necessarily a representation of the quality or efficiency of work. Out-of-touch executives dont realize that engaged employees can create better work at a faster rate than those who watch the clock.

Related: Is Poor Employee Engagement Management's Fault?

Technology makes workers more mobile.

While the need for human connection has been an overlooked problem for some time, technology brings heightened awareness to the topic. Through strength in numbers and access to smart devices, new generations are demanding more from their employers. Today's employees use Glassdoor to broadcast unfair treatment from an employer. They seek better job opportunities through LinkedIn and leverage the platform to sell their skills to companies with favorable employee reviews. Then, they use the site to quickly and easily find the right professional connections and make a career match.

Meanwhile, most companies continue to use outdated tools and processes for everything from human resources and finance to procurement and payroll services. This causes a disconnect that costs real time and money. The longer businesses wait to modernize, the harder it will be for them to stay relevant and competitive. When it comes to the ever-changing needs of workers and customers, executive-leadership teams can't afford to be inattentive.

Related: 4 Innovative Mobile Apps That Will Make Your Business Processes More Efficient

Employees deserve the same consideration as clients.

Job seekers have more power than ever before, and they won't wait on companies that can't -- or won't -- catch up. Many companies are starting to talk about employee engagement, but most still think it's solely a human-resources issue. It's not.

Engaging a workforce is a company-wide effort that must start at the top for any real change to occur. Digital initiatives already have revolutionalized how companies interact with external stakeholders. They'd do well to apply the same techniques in their relationships with internal stakeholders.

Considering the myriad ways our work lives have changed over the past decade or so, the timing is right (if not overdue) for drastic adjustments in how company leaders relate to workers. We spend more hours on the job than ever before. After hours, digital tools challenge our work-life balance by keeping us hyper-connected.

Related: This Is What Happens When Employees Find Meaning at Work

It's critical for employers to consider how they can show appreciation for workers' contributions on a daily basis. That starts in part by respecting team members' time and effort. Because in this market, there's nothing at all to keep good talent from leaving if they don't feel valued. Technology has opened up entirely new opportunities for workers to make rapid, strategic moves. Employers must bring more to the table than a competitive compensation and benefits package.

Related:

All Business Is Personal: Employees Need Human Connections at Work

10 Tips for Retaining Top Talent

3 Reasons the C-Suite Should Take Employee Disengagement Seriously



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
In the period historians call the Ancien Regime, the social classes of France were divided along three groups called Estates. The First Estate was the clergy, or Those Who Pray. The Third Estate was the merchants, laborers and tradesmen, or Those Who Work. The Second Estate was the nobility, or Those Who Fight.

As a kid this last explanation confused me. Werent these nobles just sitting around having huge feasts and playing polo? What did they know about fighting? For an explanation, we have to dig deeper into history.

During the Middle Ages, the nobles formed a warrior class that trained from age 7 to fight and kill enemies of the realm. The duties of these knights were to defend the people from raiders, protect the Kings peace and, in the words of historian Leon Gautier, (be) the champion of the Right and the Good against Injustice and Evil. In exchange for fulfilling these duties, knights were granted special privileges. They were exempted from taxes, they were not conscripted to construct the kings roads, and most importantly  for our argument today  they were allowed access to weapons. Under the Ancien Regime, the only people who could legally access force were the powerful and the privileged.

As we now know today, this system eventually broke down. Modern armies replaced elite bands of knights; and instead of fighting injustice and evil, the nobility of Old Europe became purveyors of it. When they were overthrown, the newly freed peoples of Europe committed to never let a powerful warrior class have full reign over their lives again. In America, this was interpreted as an inherent right to access force. In Old Europe only the nobility could own a sword. In this new, free country, every citizen could access the means to defend their life and liberty. This was an incredibly democratic idea and a huge step forward for the liberal values our nation was founded on.

Unfortunately, history is not linear, and whenever a step forward is taken its often accompanied by several steps backward. Such a backward step was announced by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy this past week when he declared his intention to raise pistol permit fees by a monstrous 400 percent. The permit program was designed to rightfully prevent dangerous people from purchasing weapons; effectively you cant buy a gun in Connecticut without one. So by raising the fees on permits, the governor is essentially limiting access to a civil right granted by the Constitution to the wealthy few who can afford it.

No matter how you feel about the Second Amendment, this prospect should scare you. Lets consider a few factors were changed here. The Constitution protects your right to freely worship. What would we say if the government decided to charge you every time you went to church? Would that be free worship? The Constitution says you have a right to an attorney. Does that right still count if we decide to charge the poor tens of thousands of dollars to access a public attorney? Are rights even rights if only a few people can access them?

By going down this road, Gov. Malloy is stating that poor people should not have access to force and thereby indirectly endorsing a system of privilege that took our forefathers generations to upend. If we are serious about protecting our civil rights, we need to protect all of our civil rights, not just the ones that fit into political agendas.

I urge the General Assembly to oppose Gov. Malloys undemocratic fee increases. Not because they disagree with the practice, but because they should disagree with the dangerous precedent this sets for all our rights. In these trying political times, thats one thing we should all be able to agree on.

Steven Kolenberg is a Republican member of Stamfords Board of Representatives.
STAMFORD  A former employee of a senior living facility has been accused of using the identities of patients  including one who died  to make thousands of dollars worth of credit card charges, police said.

Sabtiyu Abdulsalam, of Bronx, N.Y., who was a billing specialist at Edge Hill Senior Living in Stamford, charged more than $1,000 on a dead womans credit card and used the identity of another patient to make $1,300 worth of purchases, police said.

Police were initially notified in April 2016 when an Edge Hill manager reported that Abdulsalam stole a package addressed to a woman who died 10 days earlier, according to her four-page arrest affidavit.

Abdulsalam turned over the two gold necklaces from Saks Fifth Avenue that came in the box, which cost $1,050, when confronted by a manager, police said.

Abdulsalam told police an anonymous person called her that morning and told her to keep the package, praising her help and hard work, according to the affidavit.

Police determined the necklaces were paid with the dead womans credit card, the affidavit said.

The daughter of an Edge Hill patient suffering from dementia then told police someone opened Wells Fargo and Ann Taylor credit cards in her mothers name. The woman said two charges from Off Saks Fifth and Ann Taylor clothing store totaled $1,350, police said.

Police determined the email address registered to the computer used to open the accounts belonged to another patient at Edge Hill, according to the affidavit.

The computers IP address was traced to Abdulsalams home in New York, the affidavit said

Abdulsalam was charged last week with fourth-degree larceny, three counts of second-degree identity theft and four counts of taking more than $500 off a revoked credit card.

She was released after posting a $45,000 court appearance bond.

jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com;
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STAMFORD  A warehouse of weapons and live explosive devices were found during a raid of a North Stamford home, the culmination of a monthlong investigation by citys Narcotics and Organized Crime Squad, police said Friday.

The FBI is assisting the Stamford Police Departments investigation of a Craig Court home, near the border of Pound Ridge, N.Y., where narcotics officers and SWAT team members discovered six homemade bombs, 16 firearms and hundreds of knives, axes, hatchets, black powder guns and sharpened sticks, police said.

The weapons were all over the place, Stamford police Capt. Richard Conklin said Friday. It was a bizarre, bizarre type of thing. Black powder muzzle loaders, black powder pistols  even a crossbow. There were hundreds of these things all around.

The discovery comes following a tip that Alexander Braverman, 24, was growing marijuana in the 3,400-square-foot home he shares with his parents, and that there were about a dozen guns  including an illegal assault weapon  inside the home, Conklin said.

It was not immediately known if Braverman was planning to use the weapons or explosives, Conklin said.

Bravermans attorney, public defender Barry Butler, said he had not yet read the police reports and declined to comment on the case. Braverman was arraigned Friday at the Stamford courthouse, where Judge Auden Grogins ordered him held in lieu of $175,000 bond before transferring the case to the Part A docket, where the most serious cases are handled.

Conklin said officers found about six improvised explosive devices, including a live hand grenade, taped in containers, when they searched the home on Thursday night.

They appeared to be ready to go, he said.

The bomb squad secured the explosives before they were seized, and the grenade is being tested to determine if its real or a type of prop, Conklin said.

Charges regarding the explosives wont be filed until an analysis is conducted.

A grow room was discovered in the basement, containing about a half-dozen marijuana plants, Conklin said. Some were mature with buds and others much younger, he said.

Police also found an illegal large-capacity magazine attached to a rifle that could hold as many as 16 bullets, Conklin said. Magazines in Connecticut cannot legally hold more than 10 bullets.

Conklin said one of the firearms, a .22 caliber pistol, had its serial numbers removed.

In addition to the pistol charge, Braverman was charged with possession of a high-capacity magazine, illegally altering pistol identification numbers, cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to sell and operating a drug factory.
L ondon-listed consumer goods giant Unilever held talks with US behemoth Kraft Heinz over a possible mega-merger.

Kraft confirmed that it approached Unilever about a deal, but the Anglo-Dutch group rejected the initial proposal.

A deal would bring together Unilever's brands including Marmite and Ben & Jerrys ice cream with Krafts Heinz baked beans and tomato ketchup.

Kraft confirms that it has made a comprehensive proposal to Unilever about combining the two groups to create a leading consumer goods company with a mission of long-term growth and sustainable living, the company said in a statement.

While Unilever has declined the proposal, we look forward to working to reach agreement on the terms of a transaction.

It added that there can be no certainty of a deal being agreed.

Unilever revealed that the offer was a mix of cash and shares, valuing it at $143 billion (115 billion).

It said it "sees no merit, either financial or strategic, for Unilever's shareholders", adding: "Unilever does not see the basis for any further discussions."

Shares in Unilever jumped 15% to 3836p, valuing it at 116 billion  slightly more than Krafts value.

Any deal is likely to come under intense scrutiny from competition watchdogs.
By Press Trust of India: Melbourne, Feb 17 (PTI) A hidden realm as big as the Indian subcontinent that is submerged under the Pacific Ocean deserves to be recognised as a new continent Zealandia, according to a new study released today.

The 4.9 million kilometre region of the southwest Pacific Ocean is made up of continental crust, researchers said.

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The region is elevated relative to surrounding oceanic crust, has diverse and silica-rich rocks and a relatively thick and low-velocity crustal structure.

Its isolation from Australia and large area support its definition as a continent - Zealandia.

Today it is 94 per cent submerged, mainly as a result of widespread Late Cretaceous crustal thinning preceding supercontinent breakup and consequent isostatic balance.

According to researchers including those from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand and University of Sydney in Australia, the identification of Zealandia as a geological continent, rather than a collection of continental islands, fragments, and slices, more correctly represents the geology of this part of Earth.

Zealandia provides a fresh context in which to investigate processes of continental rifting, thinning, and breakup.

Earths surface is divided into two types of crust, continental and oceanic, and into 14 major tectonic plates.

In combination, these divisions provide a powerful descriptive framework in which to understand and investigate Earths history and processes.

In the past 50 years there has been great emphasis and progress in measuring and modelling aspects of plate tectonics at various scales.

There have also been advances in understanding of continental rifting, continent-ocean boundaries (COBs) and the discovery of a number of micro-continental fragments that were stranded in the ocean basins during supercontinent breakups

However, continents are Earths largest surficial solid objects and it seems unlikely that a new one could ever be proposed, until now, researchers said.

"The area of continental crust is large and separate enough to be considered not just as a continental fragment or a microcontinent, but as an actual continent - Zealandia," the researchers wrote in the study published in GSA Today.

"This is not a sudden discovery but a gradual realisation; as recently as 10 years ago we would not have had the accumulated data or confidence in interpretation to write this paper," they said.

Zealandia once made up nearly five per cent of the area of Gondwana. It contains the principal geological record of the Mesozoic convergent margin of southeast Gondwana and until the Late Cretaceous.

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Thus, depictions of the Paleozoic-Mesozoic geology of Gondwana, eastern Australia and West Antarctica are both incomplete and misleading if they omit Zealandia.

The importance of Zealandia is not so much that there is now a case for a formerly little-known continent, but that, by virtue of its being thinned and submerged, but not shredded into microcontinents, it is a new and useful continental end member. PTI MHN SAR MHN

--- ENDS ---
S weden and North Korea? Breitbart and The Guardian? Amnesty International and the CIA?

Im trying to imagine two more different cultures in the world than those of Unilever and Kraft.

Unilever has a hard-fought reputation, nurtured over many decades, as being a caring, sharing, touchy feely organisation. Journalists inboxes are packed with the press releases boasting of its eco friendly diversity empowerment policies in the developing world.

Kraft is the aggressive American predator which will never live down its broken promise to keep open the Somerdale Cadbury factory near Bristol. It was Krafts takeover of Cadbury  another company with philanthropic English roots - that triggered such an outpouring of grief about foreign companies buying beloved British businesses. Not only did the Americans shut our factory, but they changed the recipe of Dairy Milk to suit international tastes.

Sure, it has done the splits since then, with the demonised Irene Rosenfeld (who refused to be questioned by British MPs over the Somerdale row) now leading the Mondelez Oreo and Toblerone bit.

But if anything, the part now wanting Unilever is even less cuddly than Mondelez.

Kraft-Heinz is a private equity-funded behemoth which has grown through aggressive takeovers. Its brands include such delights as Jell-O and Kool-Aid. It is controlled by the Brazilian predators 3G and, of course, Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway. As a measure of their aggression, 3G has in the past seven years been behind takeovers of Heinz and the fast food chains Burger King and Tim Hortons. It was them who helped engineer Anheuser-Buschs megadeal for SABMiller.

So, could they add Unilever as the latest notch to their corporate bedpost?

The instinctive answer has to be: surely not. Unilever may be majority owned by the usual spread of anonymous international investment giants. But it is also steeped in a tradition and conservatism. Thats a boardroom culture that takes its lead from the Victorian founder William Hesketh Lever, whose Leverhulme Trust still holds a 6% stake  making it Unilevers second biggest shareholder.

Unilever does not like being told what to do, and will not have appreciated the banging on the door from the upstart Kraft deal machine.

From boardroom to factory floor, that culture goes through the company like the stripe in its Signal toothpaste. Smashing it together with Kraft would be a test to end all tests of management skills.

Having said that, money talks. BlackRock, Norges Bank, L&G and Vanguard  Unilevers other top five shareholders, arent cuddly types.

While they will support Unilever for rejecting Krafts first offer, they will clearly be expecting the companies to keep talking. And, if it can get the obvious slew of monopoly hurdles into a manageable shape  another Herculean feat  at the right price, Kraft may win them over.

Then would come another test: would Theresa May, who has set out her stall as the leader who stands up for old fashioned British values, let the deal go through? After the Cadbury debacle, the howls of protest in the popular press would be huge.

She will be faced with a two-way pull. On the one hand, she wants to make it clear that Britain is open for business in the post Brexit world, while on the other wanting to champion British patriotic feeling.

Pfizer felt the sharp edge of that popular mood when it tried to buy Astra Zeneca.

While it will clearly have the stomach for the fight, the odds are heavily stacked against it.


T he man who could lead the worlds largest food company once branded British food terrible and said the countrys women are unattractive.

Bernardo Hees  the chief executive of Kraft Heinz which is bidding to merge with Marmite owner Unilever  had to apologise on making the remarks to American students in 2011.

On recounting his youth studying for an MBA at the University of Warwick to an audience in Chicago, he said: "The food is terrible and the women are not very attractive. Here in Chicago, the food is good and you are known for your good-looking women."

Hees was then global boss of Burger King. The fast food chain said at the time: "Mr Hees apologises if his comment has offended anyone. It... was intended as a humorous anecdote to connect with his audience."

The 43-year-old was a railway executive in his native Brazil before finding his way to food, first as chief executive of Burger King and then as Heinz boss.

He arrived in 2013 at the ketchup and baked bean maker prior to its merger with Kraft, closed factories and consolidated offices, cutting thousands of jobs in an attempt to boost profits.

Kraft today confirmed that it approached Unilever about a deal, but the Anglo-Dutch group rejected the initial proposal.

Hees would likely be in the running to lead the combined group.

He sits on the companys leadership team below the main board, which features chairman Alexandre Behring and investment sage Warren Buffett.

A deal would bring together Unilever's brands including Marmite and Ben & Jerrys ice cream with Krafts Heinz baked beans and tomato ketchup.

Unilever said the offer from Kraft Heinz  at $49.61 a share, an 18% premium to yesterdays close  has no merit.

Shares in Unilever jumped 12.6% to 3766.5p, valuing it at 113 million.
B ritain's biggest pension funds are demanding super-majority votes on executive pay to stop companies shrugging off shareholder rebellions.

The UKs influential Pension and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), which speaks for 20 million pensioners and 1 trillion of assets, has called on the Government to raise pay-vote thresholds so boards face tougher consequences from investor insurrections.

The PLSA hopes the move will stop boards claiming victory if the vote passes with a slim majority and give active shareholders more clout in shaking up eye-watering pay packets.

Losing the pay award vote is quite rare, but significant levels of dissent are more common, said PLSA policy chief Luke Hildyard said.

Companies dont really take the votes against pay awards that seriously, theyre happy as long as they get through so they just put out dismissive boiler-plate statements noting the dissent.

Under the proposed rules, companies would need to get a super-majority of more than 75% approving chief execuitve pay awards or face a second irreversible vote on the overall pay policy.

If they lose that vote, held within 90 days of the first, boards could be forced to go back to the drawing board and restructure bonus and share award schemes.

The super-majority proposals form part of a consultation by Prime Minister Theresa May (pictured) on corporate governance reforms which closes today.

It has proposed stronger consequences for firms losing shareholders votes.

The International Corporate Governance Network  which represents investors such as Aberdeen Asset Management, Schroders, BlackRock and big Canadian pension funds  has also backed the plan although stopped short of calling for a super-majority.

Some form of escalation may be warranted when it is clear that the company may be insensitive to the concerns of a criticial mass of shareholders, executive director Kerrie Waring said.

More than 40 FTSE pay votes, including BP, Smith & Nephew, Shire, Babcock and Anglo-American attracted levels of dissent above 20% last year.

The PLSA, which represents 1300 pension schemes, said most of these boards failed to acknowledge any mistakes despite the opposition.

Shareholder pay votes are particularly sensitive in the wake of tobacco giant Imperial Brands decision to scrap a vote on chief executive Alison Coopers pay scheme when it emerged it would lose the poll.

Mays consultation has added to a growing drumbeat of shareholder anger against fat-cat pay in the run-up to AGM season, and many expect a re-run of 2012s shareholder spring.
Y our piece on drinking in the City was superbly researched and beautifully written [Lloyds of lime and soda: insurer bans its City workers from lunchtime drinking, February 14].

Londons drinking culture was already under threat when, 20 years ago, the American companies bought up British banks and brokers, got rid of ties and refused to drink at lunchtime. The famous three-hour boozy lunch morphed into 30 minutes with a mineral water and a saucer of calamari.

Business is still done face-to-face because email is useless for developing human relationships both in business and personal lives. But the drinking part is definitely on its way out, along with smoking.

Health and safety measures are a blight on the workplace, however, and the blowback is coming. Stand by for a revival of the drinking culture when people finally realise that the zero tolerance mindset of the snowflake generation is rebuffed in favour of the lunchtime gargle.

A dry City is not the place we want to work in. We do make the money, after all.

Henry Curtmantle



It is a long-held tradition in the finance industry that boozy lunches are held to help secure deals. These meetings can often go on for hours and if a few harmless alcoholic beverages can help move things along easier, it is surely welcome.

I know City workers who work long hours but choose not to drink during the day as they do not want anything to make them less efficient. After completing the deal, they usually celebrate by going out after work and only then would they drink.

However, to introduce a ban that says workers cant drink is a counter-productive move from Lloyds which is likely to alienate employees. If your superiors do not trust you to act professionally during work hours, what is the point in working there?

Josh Nichols



Your article lamented the passing of lunchtime boozing in the City, yet surely we should be incredulous it has lasted this long.

These are people paid staggering salaries to protect our homes, manage our pensions and decide the fate of companies that millions of us work for. Why on earth would it be acceptable for them to be intoxicated while doing such an important job?

D Chambers



Staff working in the transport industry are told not to have alcohol at least 12 hours before their next shift and are subject to random alcohol and drugs tests. It looks like the insurance industry is catching up, albeit slowly, to what has been imposed on the rest of society for the past 30 years.

Ben Goodman



School funding will soon become fairer

As the minister responsible for school funding in England I am determined to end the postcode lottery of the current system which means the amount of funding per child depends on where you live.

School funding is at its highest level on record and will be more than 40 billion in 2016-17. But the current system for distributing it is unfair, opaque and outdated. That is why we are proposing to introduce a national formula that will fund schools according to the needs of their pupils.

Under these proposals more than half of Englands schools will receive a cash boost. While some in London will see reductions as we bring the funding system up to date, no school will face a reduction of more than three per cent per pupil overall.

Over the past 10 years London has become more prosperous, with the proportion of children on free school meals falling to 18 per cent. But it still has the highest proportion of children from deprived backgrounds and the highest labour market costs in the country, so it will remain the highest-funded region under our proposals.

We recognise that schools are facing cost pressures and we will continue to help them use their funding effectively. It is important to get the formula right so that every pound has the greatest impact. Our consultation runs until March 22, and we are keen to hear from as many schools, governors, local authorities and parents as possible.

Nick Gibb MP, Minister for school standards

Timeless beauty: Jilly Johnson is campaigning for designers to use older models

Reflect real women on the catwalks

With the first event of London Fashion Week of 2017 starting today, the image of young models walking the runways reminds me again of the under-representation of my age group.

Season after season, designers send young girls with an average age of 17 down the catwalk in their latest fashions. I am 63 and it is unjust that older models are excluded from such events. That is why I was delighted when J D Williams asked me to be a part of its Grow Up LFW campaign and protest.

We need to see a fairer, more realistic representation of fashion consumers reflected on the catwalks. I find it hard to believe that teenagers are the sole market for these designs, considering my age group accounts for 50 per cent of consumer spending.

Women do not suddenly stop buying clothes after their twenties and they certainly dont stop being attractive, so why isnt this reflected in our fashion shows?

Jilly Johnson, Model and actress

Join the conversation: #esnewsviews



Surely it's time for Wenger to leave

Never in 30 years of going to watch Arsenal have I seen the club in such disarray.

Manager Arsene Wengers future has now divided the fans into two sections: those who are stuck in the early period of his reign when we were great want him to stay, while those fed up with recent results want him to leave.

The latest defeat, a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Bayern Munich, was humiliating to endure. Its time for Wenger to go.

Glenn Hodges

Join the conversation: #essportviews
Supermodels ditched haute couture for charity shop chic at Oxfams first ever London Fashion Week catwalk show.

Erin OConnor, Stella Tennant and Jessica Clarke joined Clara Paget on the runway in outfits styled from donated clothes at the Fashion Fighting Poverty event at the Oxo Tower.

Kiwi star Clarke, 23, said: Fashion has a big presence in the media worldwide and so its ability to fight poverty is huge.

This show proves that fashion is not the exclusive stereotype its made out to be. Everyday clothes can be as stylish as couture.

Super-stylist Bay Garnett, who styled the models and devised the show, said: Fashion doesnt have to be a 3,000 dress. Digging around charity shops and putting stuff together to make looks is what I do and love doing.

London Fashion Week kicked off the capital today at The Store Studio in The Strand. The five-day industry event will see brands including Christopher Kane, Preen and Gareth Pugh present their latest collections.

Burberry is also set to roll out its see-now-buy-now concept for a second time, allowing fans of the brand to get their hands on Christopher Baileys new collection straight off the runway.

Follow us on Twitter: @eslifeandstyle
The fashion world must put on a united front in the wake of Brexit and divisive politics around the globe to prove that London is a city of openness and multiculturalism, an industry chief urged today.

As the biggest names in fashion descend on the capital for London Fashion Week, Caroline Rush, head of the British Fashion Council, said while the weak pound had boosted shopping and spending, she was concerned about the wider impact the referendum vote could have.

She said she very much hoped London would remain a centre for fashion and creative arts but insisted unity was key in times of uncertainty.

The BFC chief executive said: I very much hope that Brexit will make no difference. London is very culturally open. We are known for that around the world. We have to, above all else, ensure that message of openness and unity is heard and resonates. As long as we continue to be culturally open, I hope we continue to attract the level of international talent we have done for years. Asked if London was an unstoppable fashion force despite Brexit, she said: I very much hope that is the case.

Five thousand guests  including press and buyers from more than 49 countries  are expected to attend Fashion Week, which runs until Tuesday at The Store Studios off the Strand. There will be 51 catwalk shows and 32 presentations, with 50 per cent of the designers on show born outside the UK.

Rush said unity was also an important way of standing up to the Trump administration, adding: Fashion wants to show that we are united and we are as one. London is one of the most diverse and multicultural cities on Earth. We want to show that off.

Opening London Fashion Week this morning Natalie Massenet, chairwoman of the British Fashion Council, announced the BFCs support of the Business of Fashions Tied Together campaign, calling on all involved in LFW to wear a white bandana on their wrist to show unity and togetherness in a time of political uncertainty.

Dame Natalie said: We are here to kick off London Fashion Week and to celebrate the collections and showcase creativity turning the wheels of our fashion business.

London Fashion Week 2017 Teatum Show 1 /20 London Fashion Week 2017 Teatum Show A model with a prosthetic leg presents a creation at the Teatum Jones catwalk show during London Fashion Week Alex Lentati A model presents a creation at the Teatum Jones catwalk show during London Fashion Week Alex Lentati A model presents a creation at the Teatum Jones catwalk show during London Fashion Week Alex Lentati A model presents a creation at the Teatum Jones catwalk show during London Fashion Week Alex Lentati A model presents a creation at the Teatum Jones catwalk show during London Fashion Week Alex Lentati A model presents a creation at the Teatum Jones catwalk show during London Fashion Week Alex Lentati A model presents a creation at the Teatum Jones catwalk show during London Fashion Week Alex Lentati A model presents a creation at the Teatum Jones catwalk show during London Fashion Week Alex Lentati A model presents a creation at the Teatum Jones catwalk show during London Fashion Week Alex Lentati A model presents a creation at the Teatum Jones catwalk show during London Fashion Week Alex Lentati A model presents a creation at the Teatum Jones catwalk show during London Fashion Week Alex Lentati Teatum Jones designers Catherine Teatum (R) and Rob Jones (L) appear on the catwalk after the presentation of their Fall/Winter 2017 collection during the London Fashion Week in London Hannah McKay/EPA Ella Eyre attends the Teatum Jones show during the London Fashion Week February 2017 collections John Phillips/Getty Images Georgia May Foote attends the Teatum Jones show during the London Fashion Week February 2017 collections John Phillips/Getty Images Zara Martin attends the Teatum Jones show during the London Fashion Week February 2017 collections John Phillips/Getty Images

In a time of political uncertainty, that creativity will be channelled into fashion statements of a different kind. It is an understatement to say that we are living in a time of upheaval. We are seeing seismic political changes, not just here with Brexit, but in the US and in Europe. Change can be challenging at times but in this time of extraordinary innovation, we will thrive.

She added: Putting a spotlight on creative businesses at London Fashion Week is essential. Creativity, innovation and business but also inclusiveness are at the heart of British fashion.

This is the start of London Fashion Week where all eyes are on London. We encourage the industry to show the world we stand for inclusivity and humility. Lets make some positive fashion statements together.
Spanish designer Johnny Coca didnt choose a career in fashion, his sisters chose it for him. As a child I loved cars, trains and planes, but my sisters had other ideas. They used to get me to make dresses for their Barbies, he says with a smile. At the age of six and seven, I was hand-stitching and crocheting outfits for their dolls. It was a very feminine environment to grow up in.

These days, almost two years into his reign as creative director of Mulberry, the slow-paced, family-centric life that was his upbringing in Seville is far removed from his daily reality. Not least because his aptitude for fashion is no longer childs play but the means through which he is remodernising Britains best-loved accessory brand.

Having cut his design teeth at Louis Vuitton and later at Celine, where he worked closely with Michael Kors and then Phoebe Philo, Coca, 41, came to Mulberry in 2015 tasked with tackling falling sales.

He unveiled his debut collection at London Fashion Week last February to strong reviews. In the months since, he has begun implementing a transformative reinvention strategy which includes a complete reworking of the Mulberry logo, a shift towards a more affordable range and the introduction of a ready-to-wear offering thats attuned to the zeitgeist. Having arrived at the house during troubled times  Cocas appointment followed the abrupt departure of Emma Hill and five profit warnings  he is currently enjoying the shoots of success with figures on the up.

We meet at the brands HQ, three weeks before he is due to show his latest collection. Coca, who speaks with a thick southern Spanish accent, claims to be relaxed about what lies ahead. I dont find the show stressful, if youre organised it need not be, he says  but in the same breath admits to being a self-confessed workaholic who lives around the corner from the office and spends almost every waking hour working on the brands reinvention.

Mulberry AW16 at London Fashion Week 1 /16 Mulberry AW16 at London Fashion Week Mulberry Models walk the AW16 runway Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Mulberry Models walk the AW16 runway Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Mulberry Models walk the AW16 runway Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Mulberry Models walk the AW16 runway Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Mulberry A model walks the AW16 runway Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Mulberry A model walks the AW16 runway Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Mulberry Models walk the AW16 runway Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Mulberry A model walks the AW16 runway Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Mulberry Models walk the AW16 runway Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Mulberry A model walks the AW16 runway Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Mulberry Models walk the AW16 runway Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Mulberry Creative director Johnny Coca greets his audience Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty

He has a quiet sense of self-belief that appears to have been instilled in him from birth. Having left Seville to study architecture at the prestigious Ecole Boulle in Paris  If you werent good at sport and didnt want to work on the farm, leaving Seville to study was the only option, he says  Coca got his first job at Louis Vuitton by going straight to the CEO Yves Carcelle. I just picked up the phone and did it. It was all a bit of a coincidence because not only was it the right number, but his PA was not there so an intern directed the phone straight to him. A job designing accessories under Marc Jacobs followed. It was a nice moment, he says.

Mulberry spring/summer 2017

But it was during his time working with Phoebe Philo at Celine  another brand to have benefited from major reinvention  that stood him in the best stead for Mulberry. Celine at that time was exactly what I was looking for. Phoebe had the freedom to do everything she wanted. She was starting at zero.

Citing the restrictions that are placed on those at big houses to design in a style that flatters the brands heritage, Coca believes it is the freedom to design in ones own way that is crucial to success. Once youre doing something with less compromises, the product immediately becomes stronger.

That isnt to say that his plans for Mulberry involve disregarding its iconic heritage but that Coca is dedicated to looking at it with fresh eyes. Im not here to destroy the brand, Im here to make it a success, he says.

Coca took an immediate dislike to the Mulberry logo, which he found, like the British weather, to be a depressing shade of grey. To have a brand with all this craftsmanship and leather, and then put on this grey logo seemed sad to me. And it felt like a copy of what everyone else was doing. So we tried to modernise it. The new one is more delicate, more British, its like something from Harry Potter.

Mulberry show, backstage, Spring Summer 2017 / Rex Features

Cocas outsider view of the UK is crucial to his vision for Mulberry  I love tartan, I love the kilt, I love bikers; for you its normal, for me its exciting, its unique, he tells me  notably because it forms part of a business strategy in which the brand hopes to boost its sales beyond the British Isles.

Just like Hermes in France or Delvaux in Belgium, Mulberry is part of this countrys heritage. Yet if you ask people from outside, they know very little about where its from. I see huge potential in that. We are strong in the UK, I want us to be strong outside it too.

Is this made more difficult by the British publics decision to leave the EU? I think its important to be positive. Life is difficult, all countries have their problems. For me, it means that its more important than ever that we defend the image of Britain outside of this country.

Mulberry spring/summer 2017

He also feels now, more than ever, that its crucial to safeguard Mulberrys position as a UK manufacturer. The brand currently operates two UK factories and employs more than 600 craftsmen who produce 55 per cent of its offering  a figure Coca would like to see rise, particularly when so many other British factories are shutting their doors. Clarks closed its factory because they wanted to make stronger revenue and develop in Asia, he says of Mulberrys neighbouring factory in Somerset, but its of huge value to the country to have a brand thats a success. In that respect, we have to make revenue, we are responsible.

Building a relationship with its factories and the people who work in them has allowed Coca to focus on improving the quality of Mulberrys remit as well as to change its pricing structure. While the bags remain reassuringly expensive, the house now offers more affordable options. We looked at each bag in terms of function and use. We want to give our customers freedom to choose what works for them and their lifestyle, he says.

While nods to the Mulberry of old remain in the likes of the Bayswater  an iconic bag which has been modernised on Cocas watch and still retails at 995  and in its continued appreciation for heritage fabrics, the cutesy details and celebrity tie-ins that defined Emma Hills five-year stint at the brand have been almost entirely eradicated.

Coca has reinvented Mulberry's iconic Bayswater bag

As proof of his determination to bestow on Mulberry a grown-up and credibl new direction, Coca works with of-the-moment Russian stylist Lotta Volkova on the finishing details of his catwalk collections. While such an association means little to the average consumer, it is undoubtedly helping to facilitate Mulberrys emergence as a credible global fashion player.

Coca is also working hard to gain the approval from fashion critics. We need the press to understand our direction  it is them who will educate our customers.

Marking another major change for the brand - which in its previous life, named one of its best-selling bags after Alexa Chung and reportedly paid Kate Moss to sit on its London Fashion Week front row - he is also cautious about the involvement of celebrity. Of course celebrity is important for any brand but its not a question of money. Im not going to pay someone to carry a bag, he says. I love to see girls with my product but I need to think and feel that they love what you do.

While Coca is reluctant to give too much away about his latest collection, to be unveiled on Sunday, the invitation  a leather-bound wallet embroidered with a woodland squirrel  serves as a clue. Its making me very happy, says Coca. Its an explosion of Britishness.

Follow Karen Dacre on Twitter: @karendacre
Designer Roland Mouret has urged the Prime Minister to safeguard the jobs of the foreign workers who are the backbone of the British manufacturing industry.

Ahead of his first show in the capital for a decade, he said Londons luxury fashion designers have an obligation to protect those who produce their designs and that British fashion would return to a dark age if it is unable to protect home-grown manufacturing.

The beauty of London fashion is its influence on production. One by one, we saved factories here, he said. We produce so much in Britain now. I hope Theresa May will understand. We have to take care of the people who work for us. They are part of the family. There are fears within the fashion industry that potential restrictions on foreign factory workers and designers after Brexit could harm business.

Mouret, who founded his business in 1997, is among a group of British designers credited with building a luxury clothing production industry in the UK. We have created a Made in Britain movement which has strength, he said. Its an astonishing achievement. We have created something which is more important than putting on a show.

A recent study carried out by the UK Fashion and Textile Association predicted the number of workers employed by the British-made clothing sector would grow by nine per cent in the next five years, with predictions that up to 20,000 more jobs could be created by 2020. A report conducted by the British Fashion Council in 2015 also found a 65 per cent increase in the demand for UK-made high-end products over the next five years. This would support an additional 1,700 jobs across the UK.

For Mouret, 56, who begins a yearlong 20th anniversary celebration this coming Sunday, his return to the London catwalk is an opportunity to showcase the craftsmanship available on UK soil.

London Fashion Week Men's AW17: street style 1 /24 London Fashion Week Men's AW17: street style London Fashion Week Men's Street style outside the Vivienne Westwood show Wayne Tippetts/Rex London Fashion Week Men's Street style: Gregory Emvy Dvora/Rex London Fashion Week Men's Street style: Tian Wei Zhang Wayne Tippetts/Rex London Fashion Week Men's Street style outside the Katie Eary show Christian Vierig/Getty Images London Fashion Week Men's Street style Dvora/Rex London Fashion Week Men's Street style Dvora/Rex London Fashion Week Men's Street style: Freyja Wayne Tippetts/Rex London Fashion Week Men's Street style: Darren Kennedy Dvora/Rex London Fashion Week Men's Street style Wayne Tippetts/Rex London Fashion Week Men's Street style: Betty Bachz Wayne Tippetts/Rex London Fashion Week Men's Street style: Yo Yo Lu Wayne Tippetts/Rex London Fashion Week Men's Street style Wayne Tippetts/Rex London Fashion Week Men's Street style Wayne Tippetts/Rex London Fashion Week Men's Street style: Nikita Andrianova Wayne Tippetts/Rex London Fashion Week Men's Street style Wayne Tippetts/Rex London Fashion Week Men's Street style: Betty Bachz Dvora/Rex London Fashion Week Men's Street style: Kelly Harrington Dvora/Rex London Fashion Week Men's Street style Dvora/Rex

While the French-born designer has previously chosen Paris Fashion Week to stage his biannual showcases, he is operates out of a head office in Mayfairs Carlos Place. He will showcase his autumn/winter 2017 collection at the National Theatre on Sunday.

It will be attended by press and buyers from across the globe and is to be followed by a trunk show staged for loyal customers. The collection is to include reworked pieces from Mourets archives and new additions. London women have changed, just like the city has changed, he said.
G iven the imagined life of a hard-partying electronic dance music star, Im not wildly surprised to find Alan Walker sleepily sipping Red Bull as I walk into the room for our interview. However, despite having just arrived in London after playing a Valentines night gig in Warsaw the previous evening, I soon learn that the 19-year-old DJ and producers tired state, perhaps disappointingly, has absolutely nothing to do with a 3am dive into a jacuzzi or a raided hotel minibar.

I was supposed to go to bed at 1am but my MacBook broke down at around that time, explains the boyish, Norwegian-British artist at his publicists St Johns Wood office. So I ended up staying awake trying to fix it. It took my whole night of sleep and I didnt even figure it out.

In no sense is this a tale that screams rock-star hedonism but, where Walker is concerned, its oddly fitting. In one way or another this internet-forged pop upstart owes his popularity to computers and  specifically  the world of gaming.

Less than three years ago Walker was just a precocious techno producer posting songs on his Soundcloud and YouTube accounts. But, as a devoted gamer, he scented an opportunity for exposure in royalty-free music  a booming, benevolent economy where instrumentals are provided to soundtrack the gaming footage that clogs YouTube. In summer 2014 Fade  at that time Walkers most recent free-use house track  was picked up by YouTube channel No Copyright Sounds and the rest has snowballed rapidly.

Faded is like a movie soundtrack  it wont distract you while playing games or working out

It was crazy, says Walker in his sing-song Nordic accent, and its a fairly accurate description of the head-scrambling figures racked up since then by Fade and Faded, the 2016 vocal version he released after signing a deal with Sony. The YouTube video for Faded has been viewed more than 930 million times and, at time of writing, was nestled in 13th place in the all-time likes chart (between Taylor Swifts Shake It Off and Katy Perrys Roar). Whats more, the song reached number seven in the official singles chart and has been streamed on Spotify more than 600 million times. Its also up for British Single at Wednesdays Brit Awards and is now so ubiquitous on gaming videos that Walker is used to seeing comments complaining about his annoying, overused song.

There are always going to be haters, he says with a smile. And hey, its not my fault people wanted to use a song I released for free. So does Walker have a theory as to why Faded struck such a chord with the gaming community and, ultimately, the wider world? Its so simple and melancholic, he reasons. Its kind of like a movie soundtrack because it wont distract you and you can have it on if youre working out or playing video games. This will resonate with people who have unwittingly dripped spin-class sweat to Fadeds whumping drums.

Walkers pragmatic approach is perhaps born of the fact that he doesnt have a traditional music background. Born in Northampton to a Norwegian mother who works with the elderly and a British father who is a baker (I make great brownies, he grins), Walker moved to Bergen in Norway aged two.

Initially drawn to computer programming and graphic design, he stumbled into the world of music after teaching himself rudimentary production and piano with the help of YouTube tutorial videos.

But despite his bedroom beginnings and former life as a self-described background guy, Walker is growing in confidence as a live performer. His shows feature the customary lasers and pulsing screens. He adds to the technophilia by taking to the stage in a mask and hoodie that makes him look like a Mr Robot extra. I want to enjoy not getting recognised while it lasts, he says, by way of an explanation. But the mask is a symbol of unity. Anyone can be a Walker.

Next up hell treat his fans (5.3million YouTube subscribers at the last count) to another single, called Alone, while also trying to fit in sessions playing Battlefield 1, his current gaming obsession. With Kanye-approved electro artist Hudson Mohawke having recently soundtracked the hit Watch Dogs 2, can he see himself fully uniting his twin passions by providing original music for a video game? Well, games are life, so Id love to, he says, somewhat enigmatically. Even more reason to hope he gets that laptop fixed.

Alone is out March 10 on Relentless/Sony
A aron Holland Broussard is the grandson of Hackberry Holland, the Texas Ranger whom we have already met five times. The 17-year-old rodeo rider has inherited his grandfathers Southern pride and politesse but, of course, not yet his survival skills.

He also shares something of his mothers fragile mental make-up but his spells  in which his memory blacks out and he becomes capable of anything, including extreme violence  have so far not required electric shocks.

Aaron, now an old man, takes us back to the Texas of his youth, keen to dispel the myth that the Fifties were any sort of golden age. They were in fact a blizzard of isms  racism, classism, sexism, imperialism  in which getting lost could prove fatal. Nevertheless, as a stout believer in right and wrong, Aaron plucks up the courage to rescue a Jewish girl from the clutches of an evil rich kid and immediately falls in love. He and his best buddy Saber (whom he now realises was in love with him), soon find themselves caught between warring families and the mafia.

A great many people get hurt. The story of a writer who escapes a place where folk didnt even have the vocabulary to describe the impulses that controlled their lives is a familiar one but has rarely been so well told. Burke, who has written more than 30 novels, considers The Jealous Kind one of his best  and hes right.

More book reviews 1 /24 More book reviews Recovery by Russell Brand Will Russells brand of self-help prove quite so addictive? By Nicholas Lezard. Read review A Life in Questions by Jeremy Paxman Paxo refuses to answer all the really good questions, says David Sexton. Read review Politics: Between: The Extremes by Nick Clegg The basis of this book makes it impossible not to warm to Clegg, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review Serious Sweet by A L Kennedy Thank heavens for London in this tale of self-obsessed lovers. Read review The Last Royal Rebel: The Life and Death of James, Duke of Monmouth by Anna Keay Born a kings b****** and destined for a traitors death. Read review Man Up: Boys, Men and Breaking the Male Rules by Rebecca Asher Getting to the bottom of why boys will be boys. Read review The Course of Love by Alain de Botton A philosophical novel that does run smooth, says Johanna Thomas-Corr. Read review The Tree Climbers Guide: Adventures in the Urban Canopy by Jack Cooke How I gave this book a proper test and ended up with a broken ankle. Read review Reader, I Married Him: Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre Brontes classic tale in the imaginations of other writers, says Claire Harman. Read review Moranifesto by Caitlin Moran Caitlin comes clean about politics  the world according to our funniest feminist. By Rosamund Urwin. Read review Spark Joy An Illustrated Guide to the Japanese Art of Tidying by Marie Kondo Theres no messing wih Marie, says Katie Law. Read review Cockfosters Stories by Helen Simpson After 50, a womans life gets better not worse. By Katie Law. Read review Stalins Englishman: The Lives of Guy Burgess by Andrew Lownie Joker in the spying pack. By Richard Bassett. Read review Even Dogs in the Wild by Ian Rankin The darkness that lies at the heart of the novel is offset by a lightness of touch, says Mark Sanderson. Read review Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink by Elvis Costello Elvis proves not quite so lyrical on the page, says Nick Curtis. Read review The Importance of Elsewhere: Philip Larkins Photographs by Richard Bradford His poetry paints better pictures than any camera, says David Sexton. Read review Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith Morality wins out over macabre murders, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review The Grownup by Gillian Flynn Calling all Flynnies: the con girl whos like gone girl. Read review

It is a quintessence of his lifes work. Epic battles  whether between nations or neighbours  are fought out against Technicolor skies. His sense of place  flora, fauna, landscape, culture, style (ducktails, drapes and needle-nosed stomps here)  can be overwhelming, along with his abiding fear of apocalypse, but this time they have been streamlined to produce a shorter, sharper race to the brink of destruction.

This tale of the getting of wisdom  terrific in every sense  is the perfect place to start enjoying one of the worlds finest (crime) writers.
An India Today investigation has shown that despite demonetisation, which led to severe cash crunch, the business of bringing crowds in election rallies and public meetings continues to flourish.

By Divyesh Singh, Saurabh Vaktania, Mustafa Shaikh: Election campaigns are lifeblood of any poll strategy- the most visible expenditures are the least of it. Candidates and parties don't spend much amount in transport, billboards, seats and refreshments for rallies.

The thumb rule to judge the success of any rally is to count the number of people attending it. Hence most of the spectators are paid.

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India Today investigation reveals that these groups work in an organised manner. They become active just before elections. There is a list of packages they offer- bike rallies, chowk sabha (public meetings) and door-to-door campaigns.

The people who are employed usually belong to lower middle class of society. The most important role is played by women, who are the driving force in gathering crowd. The woman we contacted demanded Rs 500 for each woman for a day.

Picture for representation. (Photo: AP)

HOW INDIA TODAY TEAM FOUND THE TRUTH: SCENARIO 1

For setting the background, we told the people that we both are friends of one independent candidate named Mushtaq Ahmed, who is contesting BMC polls from Pathanwadi area of Malad in Mumbai.

The India Today reporters told the crowd managers that as the candidate was contesting the polls for the first time, he needed sizeable crowd to have some impact.

HOW THEY DEAL FOR POLL RALLIES

The India Today team got in touch with one Bandra-based person identified as Farooq. The contact person claimed that Farooq can supply any number of people in any part of the city for a public rally. To make the gathering look genuine, Farooq can also arrange women for the rally.

India Today correspondent Saurabh Vakania posing as Mustafa- a person from Kandivali and whose friend is contesting the elections as independent candidate from Malad Pathanwadi area- made the phone call to Farooq.

We told Farooq that we don't have people to show up for rally. Farooq promised a handsome crowd for the rally. He said, "Haan ho jayega. Main tumko aadhe ghante mein call karta hun. Kaam ho jayega, Insha Allah (Yes, it will be done. I will call you back in half-an-hour. God willing it will be done.)

Later in the afternoon, we called Farooq again. This time we even spoke to his brother. During the conversation, Farooq told us that people walking in the rally is old thing and that there is new trend now.

Picture for representation. (Photo: PTI)

For election campaigns, people are now organising bike rallies, which are very appealing, Farooq would tell us. But, bike rallies increases the cost per person.

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Farooq told us to come and meet at Bandra KFC mall in the evening. In an hour, we went to meet Farooq. Here we found that Farooq owns one garment shop in the mall.

CONVERSATION WITH FAROOQ AT BANDRA KFC MALL

Reporter - Bhai apna phone pe baat ho gaya. (Brother, we had a chat over phone)

Farooq - Haan bataya na bhai ne tum ko. (Yes, brother has told you about this)

Reporter - Bhai apna candidate koi party ka nahi hai. Independent hai. Hum log ko utna funding possible nahi hai, reasonable hona chahiye. (Brother our candidate is not from a political party. He is contesting as independent candidate. We don't have huge funds. Rate should be reasonable)

Farooq - Nahi nola na tum ne independent hai. To samaj mein aa gaya mujh ko. (You didn't tell me that he is an independent candidate. Now I get you)

He now asks his partner) Kya bolte ho bhai kaam ho jayega kya? (What do you say brother, will it be done?)

Sufiyan - 40 to nahi hoge bhai. 40 he chahiye kya. Apne jo contact mein hai, jiske pass bike hai. Ladies bhi chalegi kya? (Forty is not possible. Do you need forty (bikers)? We have contacts with some bikers. Do you also need women?)

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Reporter - Ladies to main chahiye. (Women are the key)

Sufiyan - Kaha hai rally? Khar mein hai kya? (Where is the rally? Is it at Khar?)

Reporter - Nahi bhai Pathanwadi Malad mein. Highway se lekar rally shuru karege. (No, it is at Pathanwadi Malad. We will begin the rally from highway)

Sufiyan - Kabhi? Friday ke din? (When? On Friday?)

Reporter - Haan Friday ko dopahar mein rakho ya shaam mein rakho. (Yes, keep it during day-time or in the evening on Friday)

Farooq - Koi bhi ek time rakho. Dopahar ya Shaam mein. (Keep it fixed, either during the day-time or in the evening.)

Reporter - Aur tum batao bhai phone pe bata rahe the ki aaj kal bike ka zyada chal raha hai. (You were telling over phone that bike rallies are being preferred these days)

Farooq - Wo bhai apna bolega. Pura Andheri area mein woi karta hai. Take over kiya hai. Andheri mein pura bika wohe sambhalta hai. (My brother will talk about this. He handles this in the entire Andheri area. He has taken over it. He handles the entire bike thing in Andheri)

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Reporter - Bikes ka kya importance hai? (What is the importance of bikes?)

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Agaldare campaining in western suburbs of Mumbai. (Photo: Mayuresh Ganapatye/ India Today)

Farooq - Depend hai, kissi ko bike ki rally chahiye, kissi ko paidal rally. Wo hisab se. Lekin Malad leke jayege to mehenga pad jayega. Andheri se Malad hoga. (chahiye (It depends. Some people want bike rally, some other wish for door-to-door rally. But, if you go for a bike rally from Andheri to Malad, it will be costly for you.)

Reporter - Fir bhi kitna hoga. (Still, how much will it cost?)

Farooq - Kya bolte ho Sufiyan bhai ho jayega. (What do you say Sufiyan? Will it be done?)

Sufiyan - Mein puchta hu, baat karta hu abhi. (Let me ask, talk to people)

Farooq - Apne bhai ko bolta hu wahi Andheri mein rehta hai. Usko bol ke fatafat arrange karwa duga. Koi mushkil kaam nahi hai. (I will tell my brother, who lives in Andheri. I will get it arranged soon. It is not a difficult thing to do.)

Reporter - To kya hai apan do kara lenge. Subeha door-to-door aur raat mein bike wala kar lenge. Door-to-door chahiye. (Then, we will have two rallies. We will hold door-to-door rally in the morning and a bike rally at night. We need door-to-door campaign.)

Farooq -Lekin door-to-door ke liye bike matlab nahi hai. Bike ka use he nahi hai. (But, bike is irrelevant for door-to-door rally.)

Reporter - Phir bike rally ka kya fayda hai? (Then, what is the use of a bike rally?)

Farooq - Jo lambi rally hoti hai na uske liye bike beneficial hai. Choti moti rally ke liye paidal hi achchha hai. Bike bekar hai, kuch kaam ka nahin. (Bike is beneficial for long distance rallies. For small rallies, walkers are preferable. Bike is useless in such rallies. It doesn't help.)

Reporter - To tumhare bhi chhokre bike se aayege kaise hoga? (Then, your boys will come by bike. How will it work?)

Farooq - Jo tumhare ko chahiye waisa hoga. Tum ko paidal chahiye paidal mil jayega, bike wale chahiye bike wale mil jayenge. Uska kuchh wo nahi hai. Bike tum mere pass bologe to paidal rakhoge to zyada achchha rahega. Sasta bhi rahega aur fatafat kaam bhi ho jayega. (Whatever you want will be done. If you need walkers, you will get them. If you need bikers, you will get them. It doesn't matter. If you go for walkers, it will be cost-effective for you and it will be done easily.)

Reporter - Pura rally mein ladies agar 15-20 ho to achchha rahega. (If we can have 15-20 women in the rally, it will help us.)

Farooq - Mil jayega ladies jitni chahiye utni mil jayegi. (You will get as many women as you want.)

Reporter - To ek ka kitna padega? (How much will it cost per person?)

Farooq - Ek ka 1,000 tak padega. (It will cost Rs 1,000 per head.)

Reporter - Baki rate kya chal raha hai? (What is the rate these days?)

Farooq - Abhi 1000 he chal raha hai. Actually yahi time hai. Jitna wo mile utne mein jave, phir bhi main bhai se baat karuga aur phir bolta hun. Thoda idhar se thoda udhar se kar lege. (Rs 1,000 is the rate now. Actually, this is the time (of business). Whatever they get, they go for it. Still, I will speak to my brother and let you know. A little difference may be there in the final rate.)

Reporter - Main kya bolta hun bhai apan 25-30 bhi rakhe to bahut ho gaya. Kya bolte ho bhai. 40-50 ka aakda leke nahi chalna. (I am saying that we will keep at 25-30. That should be enough for us. What do you say? We don't want a figure of 40-50.)

Farooq - Wo bahot zyada ho jayega bhai. Maintain bhi karna padega na sabko. (It will be huge. We will have to keep a tab on them also.)

Sufiyan - Kal shaam tak final jawab dun? Abhi aaj raat mein baith ke meeting karege. List banayege ki kaun-kaun aane wala hai. (Should I give you a final estimate by tomorrow evening? We will sit tonight and hold a meeting to prepare a list of who is available.)

Farooq - 10-15 ladies, phir baki sab gents. 30 bhi hoge na bhai to bhi sahi hai. (There should be 10-15 women and rest male in the group. Even a crowd of 30 should do.)

Reporter - 20-25 bahot ho gaya. Baki unko kya-kya dena padega. (A crowd of 20-25 is also enough. What else do we need to give them?)

Farooq - Paisa hi main hai, baki to nashta dege bas ho gaya. Haan agar zyada time ka hai to khana rahega. Vada pav bhi rahega to bas ho jayega. Pani aur nashta. (Money is the key factor. About the rest, a breakfast will do. But, if it takes long, then they will need a meal. Vada paav will be sufficient for the meal. Water and breakfast should be there.)

Reporter - Do-teen ghante tak ho jayega. (It will take about two-three hours.)

Sufiyan - Aap teen ghanta karao, chaar bhi ho jayega usse zyada nahin. (You can stretch till three hours or four hours but not beyond that.)

Reporter - Payment kisko karna hai ya alag-alag. (Who do we have to pay, one person or individually?)

Farooq - Nahin ek jan rahega usko de dena. Jaise 40 jan hai, usme ek leader hoga usko de dena. Ek main rahega wo divide kar lega. (No, there will be one point-person, who will be paid. Suppose there are 40 people, then there will be a leader of the group who will receive money and divide it among the participants.)

Reporter - Bhai ek cheez puchta hun. Rate sahi hai na. (Brother, let me ask whether rate is reasonable?

Farooq - Main samajh gaya independent hai. Baki uske liye tension mat lo. Jo hai wahi le raha hun. Ladies ka bhi ho jayega. (I got it that he is an independent candidate. You don't worry about rate. I am charging only what is genuine. We will take care of women also.)

Reporter - Yahan par kiski hawa lag rahi hai hai? (Which party looks favourite here?) Sufiyan - Yaha par MIM aur Swabhimaan zyada lag raha. Ek Raja Raibar Khan hai. Zyada zor Nitish Rane ka hai. (MIM and Swabhimaan are here as forces. One Raja Raibar Khan is also there. Nitish Rane looks ahead here.)

Later Farooq explained that door-to-door and walking rally is best for us. He gave us proper rate that for walking rally Rs 1,000 and bike rally for Rs 1,600. He told us that for main road, bike is best suited but for slums and small areas walking rally is preferable. Farooq told us that everything would be arranged.

Picture for representation. (Photo: PTI)

MANAGING ELECTION RALLY: SCENARIO 2

We met the woman, who sources people especially women for rallies of a national party. She was in a rally organised for a woman candidate of the same party when our reporter approached her.

The conversation with her (here addressed as Aapa) is as follows:

Aapa - Ladies log aage badho. Ladies ke haath mein banner do. Kabhi hai aapka? (Ladies, move ahead. Give banners in the hands of women. When is your rally?)

Reporter - Jumma (On Friday)

Aapa - Jumma ko to humari bhi rally hai. Subah mein 11 baje rakhoge to main as sakti hun. Par mein ladies ko bhej dungi. Kaun si party se ho? (Even our rally is on Friday. If you hold your rally at 11 am, I can come. But, I will send women over there. Which party you are from?)

Reporter - Independent. Kitni log aa sakte hai? (How many women can come?)

Aapa - AAP bolo aapko kitni chhahiye. 40, 50, 100? (You tell me how many women do you need, 40, 50 or 100?)

Reporter - Kitna loge? (How much will you charge?)

Aapa - Aapko kya karna hai? (Why have you planned?)

Reporter - Door-to-door campaign.

Aapa - Door-to-door hua nahi aapka ab tak? (Haven't you yet done door-to-door campaign?)

Reporter - Shuru kiya hai. (Have just begun)

Aapa - Door-to-door mein hum log kya karte hain ki ladies ko building mein bhejte hain pamphlet ke saath. Pamphlet baantne ke baad humlog khud jaake milte hai. Aur uske baad humlog Chowk Sabha lete hain. Jisase logo ko humare candidate ke baare mein pata chalta hai. Uske baad rally karte hai. (In door-to-door campaign, we send women in buildings to distribute pamphlets. After that, we go to meet the residents ourselves. Then, we organise Chowk Sabha to make people familiar with our candidate. This is followed by a rally.)

Reporter - Kitna time lagta hai? (How long does it take?)

Aapa - Chowk Sabha ke liye police permission liye ho? (Have you taken permission from police for Chowk Sabha?)

Picture for representation.

NOW THE RALLY PART: SCENARIO 3

A meeting was arranged with one Anil Bawiskar, who arranges crowds for rallies and political processions, in a hotel room at Ulhasnagar.

Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation elections are to be held on February 21 along with the BMC and Thane Municipal Corporation elections.

Reporter: Did demonetisation have its effects? Rs 1,000 note has been banned and Rs 2,000 note has been brought in. Has it led to rise in the money being paid for these rallies?

Anil: I will tell you from start. People cannot take leave from their respective jobs. They lead a very ordinary life, stay in a rented house, and have number of children to feed. Salaries are less. For the first rally we organised- I will not name the candidate- we paid Rs 400 per woman. The women also thought that earning Rs 500 a month was a better option and they were getting Rs 400 in a day that too in an hour.

Picture for representation. (Photo: PTI)

Something very interesting happened here. While still in conversation with India Today team, Anil received a call. His friend handed over the phone to him. He walked out of the room.

When he returned into the room, Anil changed his version stating that he did not arrange crowd for election rallies.

Anil now said that he just received information about 150 people had participated in a rally. But, he said that the rate for bringing crowd in poll rallies is about Rs 1,000 per person.

--- ENDS ---
A n illegal immigrant accused of beating to death a carer from Chelsea in Hyde Park told the Old Bailey he was buying a six pack of pastries at the time of the murder.

Hani Khalaf, 22, allegedly punched, kicked, and stamped on Jairo Medina, 62, then stole his phone and left him for dead near to Speakers Corner in August last year.

However the homeless Egyptian, who snuck into the UK in 2014 posing as a Syrian asylum seeker, told jurors it could not have been him as he was at the shops when Mr Medina was fatal attacked.

He met Mr Medina, who was looking for someone to be friends with in Hyde Park that evening, he said, and they sparked up a conversation although he did not understand much as it was in English.

After walking and then sitting by a tree for 30 minutes as Mr Medina talked and listened to music, Khalaf said he asked for 5 and took the bus to a shop called Zam Zam in Edgware Road to buy some food, settling for a six pack of pain aux raisins and an orange drink.

He said when he returned to the park, he found Mr Medina lying face down on the ground in the spot where he had left him.

I approached him and tapped him and he didnt make any sound, he said on Friday. I held him on both of the shoulders and I turned him and looked at his face.

I found his face full of blood. When I found his head on his shoulders, I knew he was dead.

Khalaf told jurors with the aid of an interpreter he then fled in fear: I left Hyde Park, I was very scared and terrified  someone who did that to him was going to do that to me as well.

Khalaf is accused of killing Mr Medina, then emptying his wallet, rummaging through his rucksack, and stealing his mobile phone which he tried to sell on hours later.

The court has heard Khalaf entered the UK on the back of a lorry in August 2014, telling immigration officials he was an 18-year-old called Ali Nagieb Abu Mahir from Syria.

When in Egypt, I heard people saying that Egyptian people when they travel, they get deported back, he said explaining his decision to lie about his identity.

He said he was initially detained after being caught in the lorry as an asylum seeker, but then fled and lived rough for two years, stealing food and clothes to get by.

The day before the alleged murder, Khalaf was arrested for shoplifting in Superdry in Regent Street, but was freed on bail by Westminster magistrates the following day.

He said he met Mr Medina, who lived in Chelsea and worked as a carer, in Hyde Park and they agreed to go to the shops to buy cigarettes.

Khalaf said Mr Medina, who was single and gay and had a known preference for dark-skinned young men aged in their early 20s, did not make any advances towards him other than shaking his hand.

Questioned about stealing his phone, Khalaf said he grabbed it when he found the body, thinking he could call for help but did not think anyone would understand him.

I couldnt do anything with the phone, I put it in my pocket until the morning, he said.

Mr Medinas body was found in the early hours of the next morning by a Hyde Park groundsman on his way to work who sounded the alarm.

Khalaf was caught train fare dodging five days after the alleged murder and arrested for shop-lifting on August 18 when he was linked to the attack.

He denies murder. The trial continues.
A man has been cleared of raping a woman he met on a dating site after their relationship soured when his domineering sister moved in with the pair and violently assaulted her.

Colin Leacock was acquitted of two rape charges and two of assault against the victim who he met on Match.com by jurors at Southwark Crown Court.

He was cleared by the jury of eight women and four men in just under two-and-a-half hours of deliberations following a three-day trial.

The panel was told Mr Leacocks sister Mandy already admitted assault causing actual bodily harm, including pulling the woman's hair and using bleach on her.

Her actions caused the pair's relationship to break down, jurors were told.

The court heard Mandy Leacock treated the victim, who has depression, anxiety and a personality disorder, like a slave, ordering her to cook and clean as an "unpaid skivvy", punishing her by dousing her with bleach as she sat in a bath.

The victim overdosed in March and April 2015, the trial heard, partly in frustration at Mandy Leacock's controlling nature.

The court heard she met Colin Leacock - who has learning difficulties - online in March 2015 while she was living in a hostel on the South coast and quickly moved in with him in London.

A spokesman for the dating website said: "We are appalled by these crimes and welcome the conviction of Mandy Leacock.

"Sadly, there is a tiny minority of people who set out to harm others. While this is not confined to dating sites or even the internet, those who do so should be convicted. Our members' safety is our highest priority.

Mandy Leacock will be sentenced at the same court on Friday.
P olice have launched a manhunt after an elderly woman was held captive at her home in south London.

Scotland Yard released an image of Kinane Rose after a woman, in her 80s, was held against her will at her address in Norbury, Croydon, for two hours on Monday.

A man claiming to be a gas meter reader visited the woman at her home.

When she questioned him, he physically restrained her and bundled her to the floor, where she was kept for two hours, police said.

The man fell asleep and the victim was able to shout for help from the front door.

Her attacker fled.

The woman was left shaken but unhurt by the incident and nothing was stolen, detective confirmed.

Rose, 23, was last seen on Thursday on a route 133 bus from London Bridge heading towards Brixton. He is believed to have travelled to Croydon.

Members of the public are urged not to approach Rose, and should call 999 if they see him.

Anyone with any information on Rose's whereabouts is urged to call police on 101.

To give information anonymously Crimestoppers can be contacted on 0800 555 111 or by visiting crimestoppers-uk.org.
A disabled woman has spoken of her terror after her dog was snatched in an early morning mugging in west London.

Retired barrister Lyndsay Andersson, 58, was out walking Leon, a German Spitz, in Shepherds Bush Green on Wednesday when she was attacked outside a 24-hour convenience store.

The multiple sclerosis sufferer said she left the shop on Uxbridge Road at around 3am when she was pushed from behind before the thief fled the scene with Leon still on his lead.

Ms Andersson told the Standard she had cared for Leon for more than two years after he was recommended by a friend to help with her condition.

She said: It was so fast I could not believe the speed of it. I was pushed to the ground and the person grabbed Leon and ran off.

Missing: Leon was snatched outside a 24-hour shop on Wednesday / Doglost

Its despicable anyone could steal a dog let alone an assistance one. He is neutered and is of no use to anyone.

I havent been able to sleep or eat and have been crying hysterically. I just dont know what to do with myself.

He stops me from falling over whether it be stepping in front of me if I start to fall or walking by my side. Im struggling without him.

He is known to everyone in this area and some of my neighbours have said they will grab him if they see him but Ive said you have to be careful these people dont retaliate.

She reported the theft to police and said she has been made aware of a man carrying a dog on CCTV captured at a nearby Londis store but has yet to view the footage.

The Evening Standard has contacted police.

Missing posters emblazoned with Leons picture will be plastered across the Edward Woods Estate on Friday where she said the thief made off towards.

The appeal has also been posted on the Doglost website.

Paddy Driscoll from Teamwork Training said: This is not just a theft. Leon is Lyndsays constant companion and assistance dog.

He is well known in the area and local residents will be shocked at what has happened. Leon is not a possession and this is not just another attack.

He is Charlottes support and best friend. He needs to be returned to her.
P olice are hunting a pervert who sexually assaulted a 26-year-old woman on a bus in north London.

The victim was on a number 332 bus from Kilburn High Road when a man came and sat next to her.

Police said he moved very close and made her feel uncomfortable, before sexually assaulting her.

She got up to move to a different part of the bus but he allegedly sexually assaulted her again.

The suspect got off the bus at Cricklewood Broadway, while the victim went to Kilburn police station to report the incident.

Police have now released an image of a man they want to question in connection with the alleged sexual assault at around 5.30pm on Wednesday, 28 September last year.

Officers from the Roads and Transport Policing Command are appealing for anyone who recognises the man in the image to contact them as soon as possible.

Anyone who can help is asked to contact police on 07826536183, via 101 or @MetCC. Alternatively, to remain anonymous, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
P olice are hunting a tattooed man who absconded while on escorted leave from a mental health unit in north London.

Mark Peacock, 41, was last seen at 1.45pm on Thursday after being taken to Sainsburys in Arena Shopping Park, Green Lanes, Harringay.

Mr Peacock, who police warn should not be approached, is described as 5ft 9ins, slim, with close cropped light brown or blonde hair.

He has the words Made in London tattooed on the back of his neck, with swallow birds inked on his hands and a British bulldog on his right leg.

When last seen he was wearing a dark grey polo top, a light grey tracksuit top, a zipped grey jacket and black Nike trainers.

Police say he is originally from Essex and known to frequent London and the south of England.

Anyone who sees him should call 999 immediately.
N eighbours today told of frantic efforts to save the life of a BMW driver who was chased and stabbed in a vicious attack in broad daylight.

The 23-year-old man, named locally as Omar, knocked on a door begging for help before collapsing in a pool of blood on the doorstep in Wood Green, north London, at 2.20pm on Wednesday.

Detectives believe the man parked his silver BMW convertible in Ivatt Way before being ambushed and pursued into Downhills Park Road, a street of terraced family homes near Turnpike Lane station.

Paramedics battled to for 40 minutes to resuscitate him at the roadside before he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Pink flowers had been laid at the edge of the police cordon last night.

A resident said she returned home to see a trail of blood in the road, as a neighbour applied first aid to the victims stomach and chest wounds.

She said: Ambulance and police came running past. They took him out on a stretcher and treated him on the pavement outside.

They mustve been working on him for about 40 minutes. I saw theyd pulled a blanket over his head and they put up a tent right outside.

Residents say the estate has been a magnet for low-level drug dealing for several years, with postcode rivalries flaring up between different gangs.

A 23-year-old man was left in a life-threatening condition after being stabbed outside Turnpike Lane station on Christmas Eve.

A Met spokesman said last night that formal identification of the victim was yet to take place.

Anyone with information should call the Mets incident room on 020 8358 0400, contact 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
T his is the shocking moment a motorcyclist slammed into the side of a double decker bus as it turned in north London.

Footage posted on social media showed the biker hit the London bus head-on as he travelled down Archway Road, in Islington.

The smash appeared to happen as the out of service route 390 bus took right turn into Waterlow Road and crossed the bikes path around 2.40pm on Wednesday.

Chris Sparks, landlord of the nearby Charlotte Despard pub, said he heard the crash and ran to the victims aid before paramedics arrived.

Bus crash: The out of service double decker collided with a motorbike / Twitter

He told the Islington Gazette: I heard the brakes.

I ran outside and there was a young lad phoning 999. I held the guys hand and called his wife."

Scotland Yard confirmed a man, in his 40s, was taken to hospital following the crash.

His injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

A spokeswoman said: No arrests have been made and enquiries continue.

Tony Akers, TfLs Head of Bus Operations, said: An out of service route 390 bus was involved in a collision with a motorcycle on Archway Road.

Our thoughts are with the injured motorcyclist at this time. A full investigation into the incident is underway.
A n east London hospital porter who was fired after he allegedly stole a 4 breakfast has got his job back following an outpouring of support.

Aldren Tomlinson was dismissed by catering company Sodexo earlier this month after he was accused of taking a fried egg on toast and a cup of tea from the King George Hospital canteen without paying.

The decision sparked uproar among colleagues who threatened strike action unless Mr Tomlinson was immediately reinstated.

And Sodexo confirmed Mr Tomlinson, who had worked at the hospital for 15 years prior to his dismissal, will resume his duties next week after an appeal was lodged.

A spokesman said: "We received an appeal, reviewed the situation and offered the employee reinstatement, which he has accepted. We look forward to seeing him back at work on Monday."

Mr Tomlinson thanked the GMB union, friends and colleagues after his reinstatement.

He said: I am delighted at cleaning my name and getting my job back.

Michael Dooley, from the GMB, said: GMB welcome the common sense decision to reinstate Aldren to his job as hospital porter.
S adiq Khan today urged Londoners to ditch dirty diesel vehicles now as he announced that a new T-charge to price the filthiest models out of the city centre would start on October 23.

The new toxicity levy will mean the most polluting cars will have to pay a total of 21.50-a-day to drive into central London during weekdays.

It will apply to both diesel and petrol vehicles, though fumes belched out by the former are believed to be a bigger health threat.

Announcing the T-charge start date, the Mayor told The Standard: Londons air is toxic and a silent killer.

The T-Charge is a crucial step in tackling this public health emergency affecting the capital.

This will send a strong signal that now is the time to ditch the dirty diesel vehicles polluting our lungs.

The T-charge of 10-a-day will apply to the congestion charge area and would mean with the 11.50 C-charge an overall levy of 21.50. Both will apply Monday to Friday, 7am to 6pm.

The toxicity levy is expected to hit up to 10,000 vehicles with the worst emissions, including cars registered before 2006.

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Motorists can use an online vehicle checker on the Transport for London website to find out if they will have to pay it.

The new charge has come under fire as it is only expected to lead to a small cut in toxic fumes.

But the Mayor believes it is overwhelmingly backed by Londoners as part of his blueprint for the toughest emissions standards of any major city.

City Hall stressed nearly two thirds of 15,000 people who responded to a consultation on the T-charge supported it.

Pollution in London 1 /8 Pollution in London This image taken near the Royal Observatory in Greenwich shows a thick layer of smog hanging over London Anna Rolls This image, taken in December 2016, shows the smog over London Pete Buckney This shot taken in 2015 from Hampstead Heath shows smog hanging over the centre of London Getty Images Pollution: thick smog hangs over London's Docklands PA Pollution hanging over the City of London 2011 FILE IMAGE AFP via Getty Images Smog: A thick layer of smog visible above London's skyline William Smith/@williamsmithorg

Scientists estimate the death toll from toxic air in London is up to 9,400-a-year.

Steven Medway, managing director trading environment at the New West End Company added: We are extremely supportive of any measures that accelerate a shift towards electric vehicles and help price dirty vehicles off our street.

Mr Khan is also consulting on bringing in the central London Ultra Low Emission Zone a year early, in 2019, and later expand it up to the North and South Circulars.

In addition, he called on the Government to show real leadership by backing his demand for a nationwide diesel scrappage scheme.

He wants 3,500 grants offered to get up to 70,000 polluting vans and minbuses off the capitals streets, 2,000 through a credit scheme to help low-income Londoners scrap up to 130,000 cars and 1,000 payments to help ditch Londons oldest taxis.

More than 220 doctors, including at least 100 in London, signed a letter to Theresa May this week urging her to start phasing out diesel vehicles as soon as possible.

The European Commission also issued Britain with a final warning to tackle nitrogen dioxide pollution or risk being taken to the European Court of Justice where it could be hit with multi-million pound fines.

Ministers say they are committed to addressing air pollution and have spent more than 2 billion since 2011 including on increasing the uptake of ultra-low emissions vehicles and supporting greener transport schemes.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Feb 17 (PTI) The Environment ministry has ordered an enquiry into the incident of fire that had broken out in the garbage strewn around Bellandur lake in Bengaluru.

"We are enquiring into it. The report will come by evening. We will have to see what were the reasons behind the fire," Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave said.

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Thick smoke had enveloped Bellandur lake after the fire, which also triggered panic among motorists on the busy Sarjapur main road.

Residents hit out at the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials for their "lackadaisical" attitude in stopping garbage dumping.

Karnataka State Pollution Control Board Chairman Lakshman said notices have been issued to BBMP, Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewage Board and other agencies to stop the dumping.

He also said the board is in the process of inspecting sewage treatment plants in the area.

The lake has been in news for the last one year for spillover of froth and toxic fumes. PTI TDS NSD MVV

--- ENDS ---
P lans from Robert De Niros five-star hotel chain to open its first European venture in east London have sparked a furious row among residents.

Upmarket Nobu Hospitality, linked to swanky Japanese-style restaurant chain Nobu, plan to open a new hotel in Willow Street, Shoreditch, later this year.

The new 150-room venture, overseen by boutique London developer Meir Abutbul, was granted a licence for live music, dance performance and film screenings until 1am earlier this week, the Islington Gazette reported.

However, locals fear the opening of the trendy chain, which has establishments in Las Vegas, Miama, Chicago and Bahrain, will bring with it an influx of drunken revellers.

Stake: Actor Robert De Niro / Getty

Objections presented to Islington Council claimed residents were already at their wits end due to a constant barrage of revellers.

According to the Hackney Gazette, one person living close to the development wrote: Residents already find it difficult to achieve reasonable peace, quiet and the undisturbed sleep required to live a normal, functioning life.

We regularly have to deal with broken glass on our doorstep, people urinating feet from our front door, piles of sick on the pavement close to our home and abuse being shouted at us as we leave or return to our flat in the evening.

Swanky venue: Plans for the upmarket chain have sparked complaints among residents (Ben Adams Architects ) / Ben Adams Architects

Speaking about the hotels plans for a rooftop bar with a 10pm curfew, another neighbour added: Rooftop terrace? Dont these people understand there are established residents here?

The hospitality chains flagship hotel is situated in Caesers Palace, Las Vegas.

The company promises guests a fun-luxury experience.

In a statement posted on the chains website, Gigi Vega, general manager of Nobu Hotel Shoreditch, said: Expect imaginative food creations from Chef Nobu Matsuhisa and unforgettable guest experiences that will nurture Shoreditch.

Nobu Hospitality has been contacted for a comment.
L ondon boroughs spend the most to rid their streets of pigeons and gulls of anywhere in the country, it has been revealed.

Council spending on bird control across England has almost doubled over the last three years, new research shows.

The Borough of Southwark spent by far the most on bird control compared to other English councils, forking out 393,000 since 2013.

The next biggest spender was the Borough of Hackney which spent 162,000.

The third was the Greater London Authority which spent 137,000 on pigeon-proofing.

Analysis of data provided by the two thirds of English councils which responded to the BBCs Freedom of Information (FOI) request, found that overall spending rose from 452,000 in 2013-14 to 830,000 in 2015-16.

Most councils said they used spikes on buildings to deter pigeons and gulls from landing, others said they used hawks or trained marksman to control bird numbers.

The British Pest Control Association told the BBC they thought the increase in spending might be due to the greater understanding of the diseases carried by the birds.

Experts warn that while pigeon-proofing may be the most humane way to control bird populations it may just move the problem elsewhere, as they simply move to an adjacent building or street.

But the Royal Society of the Protection of Birds said it would always advocate non-lethal measures in the first instance.
B oris Johnson tore into Tony Blair for showing contempt to voters today after the former Labour premier launched a new campaign to halt Brexit.

Leading a counter-attack, the Foreign Secretary mocked: I call on the British people to rise up and turn off the TV when Tony Blair next appears with his condescending campaign.

He attacked Mr Blair as spectacularly wrong on the Iraq war and the European single currency in the past, adding: Now he has the bare-faced effrontery to tell the British people that they were wrong last June.

He is showing a contempt for the intelligence of the electorate. The Boris blast came minutes after Mr Blair said Brexit could and should be stopped. In a scathing speech delivered in the City of London, he condemned Theresa Mays Cabinet for being hijacked by Brexiteers and ignoring the perils of Brexit at all costs. He said the Government are not driving this bus...theyre being driven.

Boris Johnson: The Foreign Secretary launched a scathing attack on Mr Blair / PA

Mr Blair said Mrs May would trigger Article 50 next month not because she believed in it but because the politics of not doing so would alienate those driving the bus.

The ex-PM, blamed by many critics for failing to anticipate the surge of migrants from countries like Poland, agreed that immigration was the issue behind last Junes referendum result. But he said quitting the EU would barely affect the actual figures.

Tony Blair criticises Brexit at any cost

He dripped sarcasm as he attacked surreal U-turns by Mrs May and said: The PM says she wants Britain to be a great open trading nation. Our first step in this endeavour? To leave the largest free trading bloc in the world.

Controversially, he claimed the referendum result should be ignored because of growing evidence that the costs of leaving were greater than they had seemed. Frankly, I would question whether the referendum really provides a mandate for Brexit at any cost, he said. If we were in a rational world, we would all the time be asking: Why are we doing this? And, as we know more of the costs, is the pain worth the gain?

He said a cartel of media on the right was pushing Mrs May to the exit, helped by Labours debilitation under Jeremy Corbyn. Answering questions, Mr Blair said he expected a volley of abuse for speaking out, but added: You dont have to like the messenger. This is a free country.

Asked when he had last talked to Brexit voters he conceded: Its true I dont spend a lot of time on the doorstep ...all Im saying is, this is the beginning of the debate. This is the biggest decision since the Second World War. Debate cannot be shut down.

Mrs May today promised not to cherry-pick which parts of European Union membership the UK wants to keep as she went into Brexit talks with French prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve at No 10.@JoeMurphyLondon
T ony Blair is to tell pro-EU Brits it is their "mission" to keep persuading Brexit voters to change their mind about leaving the European Union.

In a speech today, the former prime minister will issue a rallying cry against the referendum vote which he claims was "based on imperfect knowledge".

He will urge Remain voters to "expose relentlessly" the Government's drive for a "Brexit at any cost", which will cause "real damage" to Britain and the embitterment of future generations.

In the speech for Open Britain, which is campaigning against a so-called "hard Brexit" outside the European single market, Mr Blair is expected to say: "The people voted without knowledge of the true terms of Brexit. As these terms become clear, it is their right to change their mind.

"Our mission is to persuade them to do so."

Theresa May has been accused of pushing for a 'hard Brexit' after revealing plans to quit the European single market / PA

The former Labour MP will say Theresa May is leading a "mono-purpose" Government "for Brexit, of Brexit and dominated by Brexit".

"Those driving this always wanted a hard Brexit. Indeed even the term hard Brexit requires amendment. The policy is now Brexit at any cost.

"Our challenge is to expose relentlessly the actual cost, to show how this decision was based on imperfect knowledge which will now become informed knowledge, to calculate in 'easy to understand' ways how proceeding will cause real damage to the country and its citizens and to build support for finding a way out from the present rush over the cliff's edge.

"I don't know if we can succeed. But I do know we will suffer a rancorous verdict from future generations if we do not try."

Brexit Bill backed: Theresa May allowed to start EU exit negotiations

He will rail against the Prime Minister's characterisation of a pro-EU metropolitan elite who are "citizens of nowhere", insisting: "This is not the time for retreat, indifference or despair; but the time to rise up in defence of what we believe.

"How hideously, in this debate, is the mantle of patriotism abused. We do not argue for Britain in Europe because we are citizens of nowhere. We argue for it precisely because we are proud citizens of our country who believe that in the 21st Century, we should maintain our partnership with the biggest political union and largest commercial market right on our doorstep; not in diminution of our national interest, but in satisfaction of it."

Mr Blair will acknowledge "genuine concerns" over immigration but claim that "for many people" the main worry is around entrants from countries outside the EU, "especially when from different cultures in which assimilation and potential security threats can be an issue".

He will say: "Nonetheless, we have moved in a few months from a debate about what sort of Brexit involving a balanced consideration of all the different possibilities; to the primacy of one consideration - namely controlling immigration from the EU - without any real discussion as to why and when Brexit doesn't affect the immigration people most care about.

"Yet we're told we have to stop debating it and just do it.

"This is a great country, with resilient and creative people. And yes, no one is going to write us off. But making the best of a bad job doesn't alter the fact that it isn't wise to put yourself in that position unless you have to."

Mr Blair will warn that the break-up of the UK is now "back on the table" but with a "much more credible" case for Scottish independence.

Reflecting on his own legacy, he will also highlight the "destabilising impact" of concerns over border arrangements on the Northern Ireland peace process.

"None of this ignores the challenges the country faces in common with many other countries: those left behind by globalisation; the aftermath of the financial crisis; stagnant incomes amongst a section of the public; and for sure the pressures posed by big increases in migration which make perfectly reasonable people anxious and feeling unheard in their anxiety," he will say.
G erman parents have been told to destroy a talking doll because of fears it can be hacked, authorities have warned.

A government consumer watchdog found that hackers could tap into a bluetooth devise embedded into My Fried Cayla allowing strangers to speak to children via the doll.

According to student Stefan Hessel, who raised the legal concerns, adults could spy on children playing with the doll through walls and within a radius of 10 metres.

The Vivid Toy group, the toys distributors, has said in the past that examples of hacking were rare but promised to take the information on board.

But experts from the Federal Network Agency, which overseas telecoms, warned families that the problem had not been fixed since concerns were first raised in 2015 and children were still vulnerable.

The agency is also concerned about data protection.

In Germany it is illegal to buy or sell banned surveillance, but it is not the only country to officially complain about the My Friend Cayla doll.

Complaints have also been filed in by US and European consumer groups.

The Evening Standard has contacted the doll's manufacturers for comment.
H olidaymakers were urged today to be wary of fake booking websites that are fleecing customers of significant sums of money.

Several new alleged scams have been detected this month after hundreds of travellers were taken in by similar sites last year, the boss of a leading holiday booking website today warned.

Nick Cooper, founder and co-owner of Villa Plus, said cyber-criminals were again targeting holidaymakers by fraudulently advertising homes and taking cash for bookings.

Villa Plus said it contacted police after discovering its properties were being advertised on websites without the owners knowledge or consent. Last year, fake sites conned hundreds of people and a police report said holidaymakers lost 11.5 million in 2015 in booking scams.

Mr Cooper said there had been a marked increase in the number of fake sites since August, claiming that it could take months for web hosting companies to shut them down. He said: Scam websites are promoting villa rentals, where there is seemingly no intention of providing any service other than to steal customers money, and more must be done by those responsible for hosting the sites to shut them down.

They are operating illegally, and it seems, with impunity. Our solicitors have attempted to get the host of the sites in question to take action but they have unfortunately refused to do so in the absence of a court order.

Mr Cooper said the scams could be very sophisticated, typically involving websites with search results showing plenty of peak season availability and professional photographs of villas copied from genuine websites.

Villa Plus contacted Action Fraud on February 7 to report the apparent deception.

In a letter, Pauline Smith, head of Action Fraud, the national centre for reporting fraud and internet crime, said the case would be sent to City of London Polices National Fraud Intelligence Bureau which would assess whether there was enough evidence for the police or Trading Standards to investigate your fraud.

A police source said two websites, luxuryrentalsvilla.com and cycladesrentals.com, were being shut down in response to an alleged fraud.

The source said: We are using the tools available to protect other holidaymakers from falling prey to the same scam websites. Any prosecution of the website owners will be a longer job to prepare.

A City of London police spokesman confirmed it had requested that two websites be suspended, meaning they will not be able to trade under those domain names.

He said: Following an allegation made to Action Fraud the City of London Police has requested the suspension of website domains suspected of being involved in fraud.

The Internet service provider has since taken down the websites.



City of London police commander Chris Greany, national co-ordinator for economic crime, said: When booking a holiday, it is vitally important you take your time and follow a number of basic checks designed to protect you from falling victim to a fraud.

These include researching the name of the company online you are considering using and ensuring it is a member of a recognised trade body. It is also key that you make sure the website is legitimate by carefully checking the domain name and pay with a credit card, rather than using a debit card or cash.

Last year City of London Police requested the suspension of 160,000 websites, bank accounts and phone lines used by fraudsters to commit crime, the spokesman added.

Policing fraudulent websites is notoriously difficult because site owners can make subtle changes to the domain names in order to keep operating and websites based outside the UK are much harder to control.

Last year, a report by the NFIB revealed fraudsters stole 11.5 million from holidaymakers and other travellers in 2015, a 425 per cent increase on the previous year.

The most common types of fraud related to accommodation, with scammers conning travellers by setting up fake websites, hacking legitimate accounts and posting fake adverts on websites and social media.

Luxuryrentalsvilla and cycladesrentals did not respond to requests for comment.
A kite mistaken for a stricken bird and a noisy rose bush are among the most bizarre call-outs received by the RSPCA.

The animal charity have released details of obscure calls from well-meaning members of the public in a bid to urge people to think twice before calling out stretched inspectors.

One caller reported that a bird had become tangled in an aerial in Enfield, north London.

However, it quickly became apparent to the officer that the bird was actually a childs kite.

In Battersea, collection officer Tom Goldsmith turned-out to rescue a yowling animal that had become trapped under floorboards.

Accidental error: A kite was mistaken for a trapped bird / Shutterstock

But, ACO Goldsmith soon realised the noise was coming from a rose bush scraping a window outside.

Plastic animals and childrens toys also sparked several false alarms with a homeowner in Yorkshire alerting officers to a plastic owl which had been sitting on a roof for four days.

Officers rushed out to reports of a baby crocodile abandoned on side of a road in Cheshire  only to find it was a plastic toy.

'Distressed animal': A rose bush made a similar sound to a yowling animal / Ian Waldie/Getty Images

Another confused caller mistook a childrens plaything for a snake discovered in a loft in Surrey.

In Leeds, Inspector Sarah Mason received a job from the RSPCA control centre asking her to visit a stray cat in Leeds that was reported to have an open wound under its tail.

But, before she could even get to the address, the caller rang back to report: Sorry, its actually its bum.

Assistant director of the RSPCA inspectorate Dermot Murphy says: We do get some bizarre calls. In one recent case we had a call from someone who was convinced there was a bird stuck in their loft - when the inspector arrived they heard a noise and found a smoke alarm beeping in the sitting room as the battery had gone flat.

On a more serious note, its important to remember that we are facing a huge rise in calls just at a time when our resources are under the most strain.

We know that people mean well and most of these calls are not made in malice, and although would like to be able to help everyone, we simply havent got the staff to personally investigate each and every issue that the public brings to us. We must prioritise to make sure we get to the animals most in need.

Last year, the RSPCAs 24-hour cruelty line received 1,153,744 calls  a three per cent more than in 2016.


A jealous pub chef and martial arts enthusiast has been found guilty of beating his student girlfriend to death in the flat they shared.

Jordan Matthews killed Xixi Bi in a vicious, sustained and prolonged attack after he discovered a phone message from another man, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

He claimed the couple had just had a "bicker" when he called 999 to say she was struggling to breathe.

In fact, Matthews, 24, who called the operator "darling" as he explained that he had been "really, really horrible" to his diminutive girlfriend, had rained dozens of blows on her, causing "massive bruising" and multiple fractures.

The court heard she went into cardiac arrest at 8.30am on August 19 last year because of complications from her injuries.

Matthews, who told police he was a black belt in karate, denied murdering Miss Bi, 24, but pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

The couple had been dating since 2015

On Friday, a jury rejected his claim that he had not intended to hurt Miss Bi, who was 5ft 1in tall, and found him guilty of murder after a 10-day trial.

Born in China, Miss Bi was educated in the UK from the age of 15 and was a post-graduate student at Cardiff Metropolitan University at the time of her death.

She met Matthews in April 2015 on the dating website Plenty of Fish and they moved in together soon after.

The couple were living in a flat in the Llandaff area of Cardiff at the time of the attack.

During their relationship, Miss Bi became "quiet, withdrawn and submissive", according to friends.

Her attendance on her university course dropped and she was forced to resit a year after missing a number of deadlines.

Matthews attacked Miss Bi over a text message from another man / South Wales Police

The polyglot, who spoke excellent English, French and Spanish, supported Matthews financially, paying for his clothes, food, accommodation and a car.

The jury heard messages sent between the pair, which included one where Matthews said to Miss Bi: "F*** you. Stop texting me you worthless piece of shit.

"You never do anything right. I can't be bothered texting you."

In another he said: "I have to hit you repeatedly in the head while screaming at you."

On the day before she was killed, Miss Bi, who weighed 7st 9lb, arrived back in Cardiff from a trip to London at around midnight and was picked up by Matthews.

They went for something to eat before returning home, where a neighbour was woken at 1am by the sound of a male voice shouting.

Paul Lewis, QC, prosecuting, said a post-mortem examination showed Miss Bi had suffered "numerous and widespread" bruises over her head, face, shoulders, chest, arms and legs, which indicated multiple "blunt impacts" by fist, knee or foot.

Other bruises were caused by a rod or stick-like weapon, he added.

"The defendant beat Miss Bi to death in her own home and in a vicious, sustained and prolonged attack that he launched upon her," he said.

As well as new injuries, which included a broken jaw and broken ribs, she was also found to have a number of healing injuries.

Matthews was arrested and told officers he became violent after he saw what he thought was a dating app message on Miss Bi's phone.

He has been labelled "selfish, mindless and gutless" by Miss Bi's family, who described her as an "intelligent and energetic person who had a very bright future and her whole life in front of her".

In a statement released by South Wales Police, they said she was a much-loved daughter, granddaughter, sister and friend.

"All this was taken away from her, and us, by the selfish, mindless and gutless actions of Jordan Mathews, who brutally killed her for no other reason than jealousy," they said.

Detective chief inspector Gareth Morgan, said Miss Bi "was enjoying her life living and studying in Cardiff, but that tragically changed when she met Jordan Matthews".

He will be sentenced by Mrs Justice Nicola Davies on Monday.
D onald Trumps second choice for national security adviser today claimed his decision to turn down the post was purely a personal issue as the US president denied the White House was in crisis.

Retired US Navy Vice Admiral Robert Harward rejected an approach to take over from Michael Flynn after his predecessor was forced to resign less than a month into the job because of his ties to Russia.

Mr Harward said: Its purely a personal issue. Im in a unique position finally after being in the military for 40 years to enjoy some personal time.

Asked if he had requested to bring in his own staff at the National Security Council (NSC), Mr Harward said: I think thats for the president to address.

The humiliating snub came after Mr Trump boasted during a bullish White House press conference yesterday that the existence of an outstanding replacement for Mr Flynn made it easier to see him go.

But it seems that the president had not asked Mr Harward how he felt about joining his team.

The president is eager to fill the vacant post in order to press home his campaign pledge to be tough on national security.

Officials said earlier this week that there were two other contenders in the running for the job - acting national security adviser Keith Kellogg and retired Gen. David Petraeus.

Following Mr Flynns departure, administration officials said his deputy, former Fox News analyst KT McFarland, would be staying on at the NSC.

Trump boasted he had an 'outstanding' replacement for Michael Flynn / REUTERS

At a rough-and-tumble press conference, Mr Trump bristled at claims that his new administration was in crisis.

It is running like a fine-tuned machine, he claimed, despite the fact that I cannot get my cabinet approved.

I turn on the TV, open the newspapers  and I see stories of chaos, chaos. Yet it is the exact opposite, he insisted.

To back up his claims that all is well, analysts say it is imperative the president appoints a national security advisor as soon as possible.

Mr Flynn was forced to resign over his close contacts with Moscow and his admission that he misrepresented the relationship to Vice President Mike Pence.

In the space of a few days, Mr Trump lost his top security advisor, had his controversial travel ban overturned by judges and faced claims that his campaign team was in regular contact with Russian spies during the election campaign.

The latest setback of being rebuffed by Mr Harward will only fuel claims from opponents that Mr Trumps presidency has gone off the rails.

In a bid to appease his critics from within his own Republican Party, Mr Trump is expected to announce today (Fri) that he is appointing Mike Dubke as his White House Communications Director.

Mr Dubke, founder of Crossroads Media in the US, is a party loyalist labelled a Trump sceptic during the election campaign.

Dubke and his Crossroads friends did everything they could to kill the Trump movement and failed, one source told CNN.

The appointment is likely to ease the burden for lightening rod White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who has also been serving as Mr Trumps communications boss. The roles are usually filled by two people.
T he editor of Elle magazine has claimed her two mixed-race children were branded dirty negroes by a racist thug in her native France.

Katell Pouliquen made the claim in an explosive Facebook and Instagram post, saying she had been in in Plerin, Brittany when a supermarket shopper made the racist slur.

Ms Pouliquen, 41, claims the man, aged in his 60s and with his mute wife, told her sons: Get out of here, dirty negroes.

She claimed the words felt like an uppercut and her account has caused a storm in France where tensions are high amid the rise of the far-right.

The editor said she had brought her children up knowing about black heroes like Martin Luther King and to believe their mixed race made them two times richer, stronger and more beautiful.

Quoting American writer Ta-Nehisi Coates Letter To My Son, she wrote: I feel the fear most acutely whenever you leave me. But I was afraid long before you, and in this I was unoriginal.

When I was your age the only people I knew were black, and all of them were powerfully, adamantly, dangerously afraid.

Which letter oo I write to my son? she asked. I'm angry. Violently. Adamantly.
The woman, who is from Chitrakoot, has alleged she was raped by Prajapati and others for two years on the pretext of getting a plum position within the Samajwadi Party.

By India Today Web Desk: The Supreme Court today ordered the Uttar Pradesh police to register a First Information Report (FIR) against Transport Minister and senior Samajwadi Party leader Gayatri Prajapati in a case of alleged gangrape of a 35-year-old woman.

The gangrape survivor had moved the apex court after the police in Uttar Pradesh did not register the FIR. Police in Uttar Pradesh must file a status report in the matter within eight weeks.

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The woman, who is from Chitrakoot, has alleged she was raped by Prajapati and others for two years on the pretext of getting a plum position within the Samajwadi Party. She has also alleged her daughter was sexually harassed too.

Prajapati, a close associate of Mulayam Singh Yadav, has been fielded from the crucial Amethi seat in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh election. 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.

WATCH:

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T hree members of the same family have been found dead inside a water tank at their rural Australian property.

The husband, wife and brother died after entering the concrete tank in Oolong on Thursday, local media reported.

It is believed the tank had filled with deadly carbon monoxide fumes caused by a petrol pump.

Andrew Basnett, 69, collapsed inside while using the pump to clean it, while wife Anne, 63, and his brother Richard 68, also died after going to help.

Yass Valley Council Mayor Rowena Abbey told the Canberra Times: "This is an extraordinarily sad day for many of us as their friends.

Andy and Annie were wonderful people, full of laughter and passion for life. They loved their farm, their friends and particularly their children and grand children.
R ichard Curtis has said that hes still not sure if Emma Thompson will be appearing in his Love Actually sequel.

The British filmmaker, who is reassembling the cast for a 10-minute film for Comic Relief, is still in talks to bring back Thompsons character Karen.

While stars including Liam Neeson, Hugh Grant and Keira Knightley have already been confirmed to star, it seems that Thompson is yet to sign on the dotted line.

Oddly, we're not quite sure [if she'll be in it], he told Victoria Derbyshire.

Filming: Liam Neeson and Thomas Brodie-Sangster on set / Sarah M Lee

It's all been done in a great rush and I think not but I'm now thinking again.

Thompson starred opposite the late Alan Rickman in the 2003 film, playing a heartbroken wife who discovers her husband has feelings for another woman.

Neeson and his on-screen son Thomas Brodie-Sangster were spotted shooting scenes for their segment in London earlier this week.

Love Actually - Trailer

Amazingly, nobody said no," said Curtis "Liam flew over yesterday from America and is going back to America tomorrow. There is a lot of affection for the film."

Curtis other half and script editor Emma Freud said that she had to do a lot of work on his draft.

Ive never been more useful as a script editor than I was on this because the first draft he did on this was so bad that I told him we absolutely shouldnt do this and we should abort the plan, she said.

And he rewrote it and rewrote it and its quite good now but its very much for Red Nose Day. Weve tried to hook it into that at every point and that felt a bit like a crowbar at the beginning but its working quite nicely now.


V icki Michelle and Sue Hodge joined mourners as British comedian and actor Gorden Kaye was laid to rest.

The actresses, who starred opposite the actor in classic sitcom Allo Allo, paid their respects as friends, families and fans gathered at Huddersfield Parish Church on Friday.

Michelle, who played Yvette, and Hodge, who played Mimi, arrived together for the service as fans lined the street in front of the church.

Kim Hartman, who played Private Helga in the show also attended the service.

Co-stars: Vicki Michelle and Sue Hodge share a hug / Anna Gowthorpe/PA

Kaye died peacefully in a care home last month at the age of 75, his agent confirmed.

Michelle, 66, led tributes to her friend and former co-star, on Twitter following news of his death, writing:

Gorden Kaye - In pictures 1 /13 Gorden Kaye - In pictures Gorden Kaye on stage in the 'Allo 'Allo' play (1987) Rex Features Just a humble cafe owner: Gorden Kaye as Rene in 'Allo 'Allo (1986) With onscreen wife Edith (Carmen Silvera) in 1986 Rene's life saw him torn between wife Edith and saucy waitress Yvette (Vicki Michelle) With Vicki Michelle on-set in 1986 Kaye with Michelle launch Sealink's Horsa ferry luxury lounges in 1986 In a cockpit of the Regionair's London-Paris service from Southend Airport in a 1989 publicity show Receiving an SOS Star Award with Phillip Schofield and Sarah Green in 1990 On Des O'Connor Tonight in 1991 Rex Features At John Inman's funeral in 2007 Rex Features

So sad to hear news of Gorden Kaye A brilliantly talented actor consummate professional, loved the world over There'll never be another Rene.

The pair starred opposite each other in the classic television show from 1982-1992 and both later reprised their roles for the touring stage show in 2008.

'Allo 'Allo! actor Gorden Kaye obit

Shane Allen, controller of BBC comedy commissioning said: "Gorden Kaye was a terrific comic actor whose signature role, Rene Artois, earned his place in the comedy hall of fame.

"He was instrumental in making 'Allo 'Allo! such a long running and well-loved series.

"His work lives on and thoughts are with friends and loved ones at this sad time."


By Press Trust of India: Seoul, Feb 17 (PTI) The gene editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 may be delivered directly into the eye to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD) efficiently and safely, a new study has claimed.

AMD is a form of blindness, common in Caucasians, which causes distorted vision and blind spots.

Scientists at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in Korea used CRISPR-Cas9 in performing "gene surgery" in the layer of tissue that supports the retina of living mice.

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The most common retinopathies causing blindness are retinopathy of prematurity in children, diabetic retinopathy and AMD in older adults.

In these diseases, abnormally high levels of the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) are secreted. In AMD, VEGF causes the formation of new blood vessels in the eyes but also leads to leakages of blood and fluid into the eye, damaging an area at the center of the retina called macula.

Injections of anti-VEGF drugs are the most common treatment against AMD, but at least seven injections per year are required, because VEGF is continuously overexpressed by the cells of the diseased retinal pigment epithelium.

Instead of such invasive treatments, scientists believe that gene therapy with the third generation gene editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 could improve the situation.

"The injections tackle the effects, but not the main cause of the problem. By editing the VEGF gene, we can achieve a longer-term cure," said KIM Jin-Soo, Director of the Center for Genome Engineering at IBS.

CRISPR-Cas9 can precisely cut and correct DNA at the desired site in the genome. The system works by cutting DNA at a target site, in this case, inside the VEGF gene.

Two year ago, IBS scientists proved that a pre-assembled version of CRISPR-Cas9, or Cas9 ribonucleoprotein (RNP), can be delivered to cells and stem cells to modify target genes.

The pre-assembled complex works rapidly and degrades before the body has time to build up an immune response against it.

In this study, the team successfully injected CRISPR-Cas9 into the eyes of a mice model with wet AMD and locally modified the VEGF gene.

Initially they found that the delivery of the pre-assembled CRISPR-Cas9 complex is more efficient than the delivery of the same components in a plasmid form.

Secondly, the complex disappeared after just 72 hours. Scientists assessed the whole genome of the animals and found the CRISPR-Cas9 complex modified only the VEGF gene and did not affect other genes.

The progression of the eye disease was monitored by looking at choroidal neovascularisation (CNV), the creation of new blood vessels between the retina and the sclera - a common problem of wet macular degeneration - and researchers found the CNV area reduced by 58 per cent.

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Moreover, a likely side effect, namely cone dysfunction, that takes only 3 days to show in these mice, did not occur a week after the treatment.

The study was published in the journal Genome Research. PTI SAR SAR

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The army chief's statement on the issue has already invited massive political reactions. While the PDP-BJP combine, which is ruling the state is completely mum, the Opposition has slammed the statement.

By Shuja-ul-Haq : As the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar comes out in support of Army Chief General Bipin Rawat's statement, the issue of protests around encounter sites has already snowballed into a major political controversy in Kashmir. The army chief's statement on the issue has invited massive political reactions. While the PDP-BJP combine, which is ruling the state is completely mum, the Opposition has slammed the statement.

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Some political leaders are terming it as a threat to people by the army.

Also read: Parrikar endorses Gen Rawat's warning: Army has free hand in dealing with Kashmiris aiding militants

Independent MLA Engineer Rasheed said, "General Rawat's warning is a confession that militants have mass support. General's threat may be his professional compulsion, but New Delhi must see and analyze it beyond that. While militancy is completing its thirty years, New Delhi has failed to consolidate its constituency in Kashmir."

The main Opposition party National Conference went on even further, when its senior leader called the statement as moral victory for militants.

Also read: Jammu and Kashmir security forces want defined 'red lines' to deal with stone pelting flash mobs

"The Army Chief Bipin Rawat's statement is the moral victory for the militants and for those who support and follow them. Army chief forgot that there are aspirations and sentiments and people want resolution to Kashmir issue," National Conference leader Dr Sheikh Mustafa Kamal said.

Even separatist parties have jumped in to criticize the army chief's statements. A statement from JKLF Chief Yasin Malik termed the statement as "political immaturity".

Meanwhile, the J&K police have already issued a circular asking people to desist from assembling around the encounter sites.

CRPF claims it's over ground workers of militants who organise protests

After the army chief's statement, now the paramilitary force CRPF has claimed that it is the over ground workers (OGW) of the militants who organize such protests around the encounter sites. The paramilitary force has said that it is a cause of concern when troops are disturbed while on the operations.

"In last few months, the input based operations are increasing. When such operations are being carried out, it is the OGW's who organize people and make them assemble and protests. It could be the strategy of the groups to distract the forces from their target," said Commandant Rajesh Yadav, PRO CRPF.

The force also said that the message sent by the army chief is clear and it should be seen as such. The paramilitary force feels that the distraction created in such situations is alarming and warrants action.

"Army chief has said it very clearly. If there are such incidents where distractions are created, then action should be taken," said Rajesh Yadav.

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The Army chief on Wednesday had very categorically warned protesters.

"We would now request the local population -- local boys, if they want to continue with the acts of terrorism, displaying flags of IS and Pakistan, then we will treat them as anti-national elements and go helter-skelter for them. If they do not relent and create hurdles, then we will take tough action," the army chief had said.

WATCH THE VIDEO:

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Feb 17 (PTI) Government today said it is keeping a close watch on some companies trying to create an artificial shortage of life-saving coronary stents and stringent action will taken against those engaging in unethical practices.

There are reports of shortages of stents in hospitals after the government reduced their prices by up to 85 per cent by capping rates of bare metal stents at Rs 7,260 and drug- eluting ones at Rs 29,600 on February 13.

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National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), Drug Controller General India (DCGI) as well as Health Ministry have been asked to ensure compliance of price capping and adequate availability of coronary stents in the market at the earliest.

"We are keeping an eye on all those who are engaging in unethical practices such as creating artificial shortage of stents, not abiding by the fixed ceiling price etc, against whom strict action will be taken," Pharma Secretary Jai Priye Prakash told PTI.

The government would take all steps to ensure that there is adequate supply of coronary stents for cardiac patients in the country, he added.

The Department of Pharmaceuticals has written separately to NPPA, DCGI and Healthy Ministry requesting them to take "necessary action" to curb artificial shortage.

"... NPPA on February 13 has fixed the ceiling prices of coronary stents. There are some reports regarding shortage of coronary stents in the markets/hospitals.

"It is, therefore, requested that necessary action may be taken under paragraph 21 of Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 (DPCO, 2013) to ensure adequate availability of coronary stents at the earliest," it said in its letter.

To implement the price cap, some manufacturers, distributors and importers are withdrawing cardiac stents from hospitals in the name of re-labelling, thereby creating an artificial shortage. PTI LUX ABM

--- ENDS ---
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A pilot meeting for Gering City Councils community conversations at the Gering Public Library Thursday afternoon proved intimate; one citizen showed up to voice concerns.

Ward II council members Pam ONeal and Michael Gillen, however, sat down to talk about infrastructure issues, tourism and community service.

 Infrastructure issues continue to be a top concern for the council

The half-cent sales tax was voted down last November leaving the City of Gering facing difficulties in the face of Federal mandates.

I was really sad that the half-cent sales tax didnt go through, ONeal said. We have a lot of infrastructure issues, especially in Ward II, the water mains are very old, so it would have been nice to have the extra to use for infrastructure.

Gillen agreed.

What the city is encountering  and again this is only my second month on council  are the fed-mandated fixes that the government doesnt say, Hey, in the next ten years you have to do this, Gillen said They say, This is a water quality issue and you have to fix it now, and it doesnt really give a municipality time.

Theres a lot of unfunded mandates, so you have to comply, ONeal said. But then the citizens are the ones that have to take it on their backs to figure out when the city does things.

Its become somewhat of a juggling act for the city.

Youll delay a project, like redoing a water main thats old in the system, Gillen said But now you have a mandate thats unfunded that we have to accomplish, so then you push that one off that much longer, and obviously construction costs dont get cheaper  its a delicate balance.

But the council members had nothing but praise for the City employees.

But our employees do a wonderful job, ONeal said. They take a look at what the most critical areas are and try to go from there.

 Tourism brings dollars to Gering

Nebraskas 150th anniversary, the coming solar eclipse this summer and year-round activities attract tourists to Gering, and ONeal and Gillen are for it.

Ive lived in a lot of different places, and its always interesting to me when you tell people youre from Nebraska, all they know is the I-80 corridor, ONeal said. Its nothing like that here, so its fun having people come here and show them all the things we have around here.

Most see Nebraska as a flat, open prairie, Gillen said. But then you come right into Gering and see the bluffs, and you think, This is home.

 Community service is important

As they waited for citizens to show up, ONeal and Gillen shared that civic mindedness is at the heart of their philosophies.

Council members are just citizens who live in the community too, Gillen said. We do our best to do whats best for Gering, and I dont know of any council member that Ive met that would do something that they didnt think was in the best interest of the community.

Were blessed with people who do so many things for the community and care about making it better, ONeal said. Its certainly not us, we just try, but there are a number of citizens who do fabulous things.

And thats one of the neat things about city council, because youre invited to so many public meetings, Gillen said. You see the same people at all these functions and its so neat to meet those people who are so civically minded, and it makes you think, Man, I need to do more.

 A lone citizen appears

Ward II resident Mike Hammack said he had seen something in the paper about the community conversation and decided to hurry back from a VA appointment in Denver to share a few concerns with council members. Hammack asked a question about trucks with city plates being used for commercial transportation and expressed concerns about streets and water mains.

In the P Street area the old water mains are breaking out and they arent doing anything until they see the water surface, Hammack told the council members. The streets are starting to drop before the water ever surfaces, and theyre taking a $1,000 job and making a $15,000 job out of it, because they have to replace street and gutter.

Its leaking underground, so maybe they can check the soil before it craters, Hammack said. Because theyre not watching it close enough as far as Im concerned.

During the council meeting Monday, council approved a bid for the O Street & 7th Street water main replacement, but Gillen echoed the concerns about infrastructure troubles.

We could have really benefited from the passage of the sales tax, Gillen said. There are so many capital improvements we couldve used that for.

My concern is that if theyd catch it early, theyd save the money to replace or repair part of the street too, Gillen said.

 The feelings neutral

Their first go-round wasnt bad or good, and ONeal and Gillen both said they hope to have more community conversations in the future.
By Press Trust of India: From M Zulqernain

Lahore, Feb 17 (PTI) The Chief Minister of Pakistans Punjab province today claimed to have arrested a handler who had brought an Afghan terrorist at Lahores Mall Road where he blew himself up last Monday killing 14 people, mostly police officers.

For the first time, Shahbaz Sharif, younger brother of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, alleged that Afghanistans land is being used for terrorism in Pakistan as terrorists are coming here from across the western border.

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"A Pakistani national of tribal area (Bajaur Agency) Anwarul Haq brought the Afghan terrorist on a motorcycle to the Mall Road Lahore where a protest demonstration was underway on last Monday and blew himself up," Shahbaz Sharif told a news conference here.

He said police have arrested those involved in the Lahore blast including its handler and his accomplices. Without naming Afghanistan-based banned Jamaat-ul-Ahrar he said: "A terrorist group based in Afghanistan has carried out this attack. The planing of the Lahore attack was made in Afghanistan and was facilitated by some Pakistanis. I will speak to PM Nawaz to speak to his Afghan counterpart."

Punjab police have detained more than 100 suspects into custody, mostly Afghans, after the Lahore attack, which killed six security men including Lahore Traffic Police chief Capt (R) AhmedMobeen and Senior Superintendent Police Zahid Gondal.

Shahbaz said: "Afghans living in Pakistan should not let black sheep hide in their ranks and inform police in this regard otherwise strict action will be taken against them."

The chief minister further said that some six terrorists (of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar) involved in the bombing at Lahores Gulshan Iqbal Park last year on the occasion of Easter, have recently been killed during a shootout with Crime Investigation Department of Punjab police.

More than 70 people were killed in the attack last year.

A video clip was also run during the press conference showing how the handler dropped the suicide bomber on the Mall Road who reached the police officers busy negotiating with the protesting chemists and blew himself up.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar had claimed the responsibility of the Lahore attack.

Founded in August 2014 by a former Tahreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar had staged several attacks in Pakistan targeting civilians, religious minorities, military personnel and law enforcement agencies. PTI MZ SUA AKJ SUA

--- ENDS ---
The man accused of kidnapping his Statesville son on Wednesday has custody of the teen and thought he had a legal right to transport his son north, his attorney said on Thursday.

The father, Rickey Thomas of Massachusetts, also turned himself in to police after returning home and learning of the warrants for his arrest, said Massachusetts-based attorney David Mintz.

On Thursday afternoon, after hearing details about the case, a Massachusetts judge decided to release Thomas from custody without a bond, Mintz said.

This wasnt a planned home invasion. This wasnt a planned breaking and entering, Mintz said. Mr. Thomas plan was, for lack of a better term, to rescue his son from an unsafe environment.

The Iredell County Sheriffs Office, which investigated the incident, said otherwise. In a release on Wednesday, Sheriff Darren Campbell said Thomas and four hired suspects arrived at the home of Thomas 17-year-old son on West Iredell Circle just before noon. The teen lived at the home with his mother, though it's not clear when he came to Iredell.

The suspects forcibly took the teen from the home and carried him into a van, Campbell said. The teen shouted for the suspects to let him go, according to a neighbor who called 911, the release said.

Afterward, Thomas left his son in the custody of the group, who attempted to drive the teen north to Massachusetts, while Thomas went to the airport to fly home, Campbell said.

The groups van was stopped by the Virginia State Police hours later after national law enforcement was notified of the alleged kidnapping. The boy was recovered without injury and placed into the custody of the Virginia Department of Social Services, the release said.

Those four suspects, Lorraine Colpitts, 59, Michael Warman, 38, and Mickey Mitton, 32, each of Maine, and Tony Winslow, 59, of Texas, were all charged with felony restraint and felony breaking and entering.

Each is being held without bond at the New River Valley Regional Jail in Virginia, pending extradition back to Iredell County.

Colpitts is the owner of Safe and Sound Youth Transport Inc., based in Maine, according to the companys website. The business specializes in safe and reliable intervention/transport of your teen from your home or your child's current placement to your chosen destination in the most professional, yet nurturing and efficient manner possible, the website says.

The site says the company helps parents transport at-risk youth to a facility or program. The company did not return calls or an email seeking comment.

Mintz said Thomas hired the company at the recommendation of a Massachusetts vocational program, where Thomas was planning on taking his son.

In Iredell on Wednesday, there was a bit of a scuffle when the transport crew approached the teen, and the employees restrained the teen with zip ties, to the surprise of Thomas, Mintz said.

Mintz said Thomas plans to fly back to North Carolina, hire a local attorney, and attend all court dates required of him after he was charged with felony breaking and entering and conspiracy to commit felonious restraint.
The following cases were heard in Iredell County District Court.

Feb. 14: Judge Thomas Church

Lee Ann Bell, shoplifting, 10 days.

Tavaris R. Ferrell, shoplifting, credit for 11 days served.

Justin D. Gallimore, possession of marijuana up to a half ounce, 20 days suspended, 24 months supervised probation.

Wyneke Nicole Lee, larceny, six months unsupervised probation and 20 hours of community service within 90 days.

Norman T. Morrison, possession of marijuana paraphernalia, six months unsupervised probation.

Dustin Wayne Nelson, two counts of possession of marijuana paraphernalia and simple possession of a schedule VI controlled substance consolidated for judgment with possession of marijuana up to a half ounce, six months unsupervised probation.

Amanda Rose Patton, failure to report accident, 45 days suspended, 12 months unsupervised probation.

Jordan Austin Reid, possession of marijuana paraphernalia, consolidated for judgment with possession of marijuana up to a half ounce, 12 months unsupervised probation and 20 hours of community service within 120 days.

David Michael House, no operators license, credit for 17 days served.

Christopher W. Jones, possession of drug paraphernalia, credit for 31 days served.

Tracey Lynn Krassow, driving while impaired, 12 months suspended, 24 months supervised probation.

Feb. 15: Judge Edward Hedrick

Tiffany Anne Brown, possession of drug paraphernalia, 45 days suspended, 18 months supervised probation.

Walter Preston Cline, second-degree trespassing, 20 days suspended, 12 months unsupervised probation.

Stacy Lynn Eberhart, larceny, 120 days suspended, 24 months supervised probation.

Andrew Martin Lundy, possession of marijuana paraphernalia, consolidated for judgment with possession of marijuana up to a half ounce, six months unsupervised probation.

Jonah Logan Mayberry, possession of marijuana paraphernalia, 20 days suspended, 12 months unsupervised probation.

Nicholas D. Ottone, injury to real property, six months unsupervised probation and 20 hours of community service within 90 days.

Ritzi M. Ramirezzelaya, reckless driving to endanger, 10 days suspended, 12 months unsupervised probation.

Saquan O. Sharpe, resisting a public officer, 30 days suspended, 12 months unsupervised probation.

Jeffrey A. Simonton, flee to elude, 75 days; larceny, 120 days.

Randolph C. Stevenson, possession of drug paraphernalia, five days.

David Agee, assault by strangulation, dismissed; assault on a female, credit for 63 days.

Austin James Houston, assault on a female, 12 months unsupervised probation.

Charity C. Sliger, driving while impaired, 60 days suspended, 18 months supervised probation and 48 hours of community service within 90 days.

Alan Wayne Yost, breaking and entering, consolidated for judgment with assault on a government official/employee, 100 days.
The Iredell County District Attorneys Office dismissed murder charges against an Iredell County man for the shooting death of a Charlotte man last month.

According to the Iredell County Sheriffs Office and the defendants attorney, there was not enough evidence to prove Jackson Suddreth Tyler, 21, of Troutman, didnt act in self defense. His charges were dropped on Friday.

The evidence does still suggest Tyler shot and killed Kelvin Ramona Velez, 20, of Charlotte, deputies said. Tyler still faces numerous drug charges.

Deputies responded to Tylers residence in the 200 block of Brook Creek Drive on Jan. 24 and found Velezs body inside.

Brook Creek Drive is off Perth Road, approximately three miles south of downtown Troutman.

Tyler claimed last month that Velez was a stranger who suddenly ran into his house and began shooting at him after a woman knocked on the door, and that he didnt know or see how Velez was shot, according to a press release.

Deputies were at first skeptical of this story and said that the evidence didnt support Tylers claims.

On Friday, however, Lt. Brian Boyd with the sheriffs office said Tyler may have been the victim of a home invasion as he claimed and investigators dont know why Velez was at the home. Boyd added that deputies believe Tyler rearranged the crime scene and removed evidence before calling 911.

He said that Tyler was not truthful to investigators during the investigation.

Tylers attorney, Ashley Cannon of Statesville, stood by her clients claim that he was the victim of a home invasion. Cannon said the evidence showed Velez broke into Tylers home wearing a black mask, black sweatshirt and sunglasses.

Velez fired his pistol several times before Tyler shot back in self-defense, she said.

In this state, every person has the right to defend him or herself and his or her home, Cannon said. We are happy that the state has reviewed the case and dismissed the murder.

Tyler is still charged with two counts of trafficking in ecstasy (MDA/MDMA), two counts of possession of stolen goods, two counts of possession of a stolen firearm, possession with intent to sell or deliver a schedule II controlled substance and maintaining a dwelling for the sale and delivery of a schedule II controlled substance.

He has also been charged with obstruction of justice.

Previously held without bond, Tyler now has a secured bond of $150,000, Cannon said.

Boyd said the investigation is ongoing and additional charges are expected.
Due to a potential conflict of interest, a prosecutor with the North Carolina Attorney Generals office will now handle the case of the Statesville man charged with accidentally shooting and killing his 18-year-old girlfriend.
Mayor of Timisoara Nicolae Robu stated on Friday, upon leaving the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) that he is considered to be a suspect in a case of corruption.

"Suspect. Everyone has this title. Suspect because I have signed these sale-purchase contracts, which were drawn up, but not by me, drawn up breaching the law," Robu stated, mentioning that he considers himself innocent.

He pointed out that, during his tenure, only two modest apartments were sold, one having two rooms and another one with just one room, to modest families, by observing the law.

"Timisoara City Hall sold apartments belonging to the state or owned by the city, based on the Law No.112/1995 (the Retrocession Law- e.n.). It looks like almost 1,000 apartments were sold by breaching the law, namely to tenants who signed the lease contracts after the Law No.112 entered into force. (...) There was a decision of the previous administration through which it was allowed for apartments to be also sold based on the lease contracts signed ulterior to the date when the law was enforced. It looks like the City Hall's specialized body also made sales, I don't know under what circumstances, I will look it up, during my tenure, and for that reason I was subpoenaed. It's about some modest houses, sold to some modest families, therefore, it's not about corruption or highly positioned persons and so on. I requested to the City Hall body and I have proof in this regard, through an internal note, to tell me if these transactions were made by observing the law and they reply 'yes', the law was observed. Therefore I consider myself completely innocent," Robu explained.

He mentioned that, since he was elected mayor, he recovered three buildings from certain clans and hasn't lost any.

"In 2013, a year after I have become mayor, I addressed to the Prosecutor's Office with the Timisoara Court and the Timis Police Inspectorate and I requested that all the transfers of the Romanian state or of Timisoara city towards different private (companies or persons - e.n.), including with the clans mentioned, to be investigated, because the local folklore spoke of many irregularities. (...) I have recovered from them three buildings and haven't lost any, since elected as mayor, so to be clear," Robu claimed.

Also on Friday, former Deputy Mayor of Timisoara Traian Stoian arrived at the DNA headquarters in order to be heard by the anticorruption prosecutors.

The DNA prosecutors are investigating the illegal retrocession of 968 houses in Timisoara, judicial sources stated for agerpres. According to these sources, the estimated damage would stand at approximately 40 million euros.
The plug has not been pulled on the regionalization project, but the revision of the Constitution is first needed in order to proceed with its implementation, Sevil Shhaideh, Vice PM and minister of Regional Development, Public Administration and European Funds said on Friday in Pitesti.

"The regionalization plan you know about was not halted, but the major change required for its implementation is the revision of the Constitution. So the legislation on the regionalization part is ready, but for us to be able to further debate legislation, we need a bill to revise the Constitution," Sevil Shhaideh told a press conference.

The Vice PM added that all the reorganization done in the past years on the local structures of ministries and government agencies was unrelated to the regionalization project.

"The organization of the central government apparatus stands in no connection to the regionalization project you have learned about in 2013. That was a completely different subject," Shhaideh said.

The minister of Regional Development, Public Administration and European Funds met on Friday in Pitesti with representatives of the Arges County public local authorities.

agerpres.
A wildlife guard was injured in the process of rescuing the big cat. The animal was finally caught with the help of a net and will be released into the wild after it is declared medically fit.

By Ajay Kumar: The wildlife department of Haryana managed to rescue a four-year-old male leopard after seven hours of effort in Palwal district Thursday.

The leopard strayed into highly populated areas at Krishna Colony of Palwal city around 7 am and entered into a house. Local residents immediately informed the district administration and the wildlife department.

"We have received the information about the leopard entering into a house in Krishna Colony and the wildlife department reached within half an hour at the spot," said Shyam Sundar Kaushik, divisional forest officer, wildlife, Gurugram range.

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WILDLIFE GUARD INJURED

Kaushik said as wildlife guard Kiran Singh Rawat was present in Palwal, he was immediately sent there to assess the situation. Rawat had initially tried to rescue wild cat from the two-storey building, but in the process, it had attacked him leaving him with severe injuries in head and back.

As soon as matter came into the light on Thursday morning, large number of people gathered at Krishna Colony.

"It is hard to believe how leopards come into highly human populated locality, even when Aravalli forest is 25 km and Yamuna is 15 km away from the place," said Surendar Singh, an eyewitness who called police on after seeing the big cat there.

Also read: Man-eating leopard on the prowl in Rajasthan; govt orders shoot at sight

FAMILY LOCKS ITSELF UP AS LEOPARD ENTERS HOME

The leopard initially stayed in a house and when people started assembling there, it jumped to another house, that belongs to R L Gujjar.

While sharing his experience with Mail Today, Gujjar said his wife and two kids were present at the time when the leopard entered into their house.

"They locked themselves in one room and prayed for their lives. The leopard kept roaming inside the house and even I was not able to help them from outside," said Gujjar.

The geographical location of the area was as such that the leopard did not get enough space to flee. Moreover, the presence of large number of local residents had worsened things.

Also read: Leopard enters school premises in Bengaluru

BIG CAT CAUGHT WITH THE HELP OF A NET

"It was by and large similar situation like Mandawar village incident when a mob killed a threeyear-old leopard on November 24, last year," Kaushik said.

"The leopard kept roaming in the Gujjar's house and hence wildlife officials were forced to stay in one corner of the house. We had placed a net in the surroundings and around 2 pm, the big cat was caught," he added.

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It was then taken to a veterinary hospital. It will be released in the Aravalli after doctors declare it fit.

This was the second incident in last three months when the wildlife department managed to rescue leopard successfully. On December 29, 2016, a leopard was rescued from Mallaka village in Tauru Mewat district.

As per the official figures, eight leopards died in last two year and half years in southern Haryana.

Also read: West Bengal: Leopard creates mayhem, injures locals in Dinajpur

--- ENDS ---
AWARDS

Enterprise Rent-A-Car won gold awards for Best Car Rental in the overall, domestic and fleet categories and silver in the international category at the 2017 Travvy Awards.

EXPANDING

HeplerBroom LLC announced the formation of its Cybersecurity, Data Breach & Privacy Protection Group.

GOING GREEN

Clayco earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys Energy Star certification for its St. Louis office.

HELPING OUT

Maryville University received a $124,710 grant from the Monsanto Fund for a new program designed to engage middle-school girls in computer coding.

Shop n Save announced it would donate $70,000 to the St. Louis Crisis Nursery, and the Supervalu distribution center would donate $40,000 to Nurses for Newborns.

First Bank employees raised $7,800 for Junior Achievement during a bowl-a-thon.

MORE BUSINESS

AKNO 1010 Market Street St. Louis engaged Colliers International for leasing and property management services for the 1010 Market Street office building.

OPENINGS

Bobs Discount Furniture opened two stores:

14250 Manchester Road, Manchester

990 Northwest Plaza Drive, St. Ann

PROJECTS

Holland Construction Services Inc. completed a $2.5 million, 11,000 squarefoot addition to The Homestead at Hickory View senior living community in Washington, Mo.

Knoebel Construction Inc. broke ground on the Shoppes at Mid Rivers, a $54 million project in St. Charles County.

RECOGNITION

Dr. Paul Hyland, owner and clinic director of Committed to Health Chiropractic Center, was named 2016 Outstanding Business Person of the Year by the Creve Coeur-Olivette Chamber of Commerce.

Dr. Donald C. Hofheins, of Midwest Oral Maxillofacial & Implant Surgery, and Dr. Joseph Osdieck, of Pediatric Dentistry of Sunset Hills, were recognized as Give Kids A Smile Heroes for their commitment to Give Kids a Smile, which works to provide free dental care to children of families who cant afford it.

Jonathan Ferry, financial analyst and project manager for St. Louis Development Corp., was named to Development Counsellors Internationals 40 Under 40 list.

Ellen OBrien, a Coldwell Banker Gundaker independent sales associate, was given the Missouri Realtors 2016 Good Neighbor Award for her work with the Realtors Housing Assistance Fund.

John Burse, principal and design studio leader at Mackey Mitchell Architects, was named to the American Institute of Architectures College of Fellows.
St. Louis Lambert International Airport is looking at a new source of air cargo  livestock.

As soon as next month, 200 head of cattle to be used as breeder stock could leave the airport aboard a charter flight to Pakistan, said Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge, the airports director, at a lunch this week hosted by the St. Louis chapter of the Commercial Real Estate Women group.

As we looked at what commodities are growing on the air cargo side, it became very clear that livestock was growing as an air-cargo product, she said.

Animal pens are set up in a 40,000-square foot building vacated by American Airlines in the Cargo City complex, and the airport is awaiting final approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Its hoped that livestock from Missouri, Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas and other states will be shipped from St. Louis. OHare International Airport in Chicago is the closest competitor for such operations.

We believe well be able to prove this is a very efficient, affordable operation, Hamm-Niebruegge said, which she hopes will spur some of Chicagos livestock shipping to make its way south to St. Louis.

Tony Clayton, president of the Jefferson City-based Clayton Agri-Marketing Inc. who has more than 25 years of experience in exporting livestock, met with Lambert officials about getting a cargo system in place in St. Louis.

Most of his livestock shipments by air leave from Chicago. He has pigs that could fly to Korea at the end of April, and pigs headed to China in June. Shipments to Central and South America leave from Miami.

Its going to open up some opportunity, Clayton said, but it will be a slow-developing project, and St. Louis must find ways to attract the cargo planes that call Chicago home.

The airport also is making plans for human passengers, inside and outside the terminals.

It is out of hangar space, and the airport is working on agreements to add a few new corporate hangars, Hamm-Niebruegge said.

Its a good source of revenue for us. Were just the landlords, she said. And the airport sees other benefits from more hangars, such as in fuel sales.

And for those flying commercial, four new gates are expected to open in the D Concourse, which connects the airports two terminals, for the June start of additional Southwest Airlines flights. The gates will be lettered E to tie in with Southwests other gates.

The closed D Concourse bustled when the airport was a hub for Trans World Airlines. It was reopened in 2011 for a time while the C Concourse underwent extensive repairs after it was damaged by an F4 tornado.

Southwest, the airports dominant carrier, has been moving some of its connecting traffic from Chicagos Midway Airport to St. Louis, Hamm-Niebruegge said. The airport saw a spike of 1.2 million passengers last year, and 700,000 of that was in connecting passengers.

The airport is looking to add another local restaurant to Terminal 2, as well as a private lounge that could open by this fall. The lounge would be for travelers who buy passes and memberships for entry.
Few companies have been as successful as Boeing Co. in building a cozy relationship with President Donald Trump. The question is, how close is too close?

The company found itself in an awkward position this week after Bloomberg reported that Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg had listened in on a phone call last month between Trump and the Air Force general managing purchases of Lockheed Martins F-35 fighter jets. The president, who visited a Boeing plant Friday, has repeatedly criticized the plane for its high costs while suggesting Boeings F/A-18 Super Hornet might be a cheaper alternative.

The call, made via speakerphone in Trumps New York office, appeared to catch Muilenburg off guard. Yet the unusual situation, raising questions of the integrity of the government bidding process, highlights the perils executives face in trying to navigate Trumps unorthodox style. By listening in, Muilenburg potentially could have heard information related to Lockheed that may not otherwise be available to Boeing, said George Brenkert, a professor of business ethics at Georgetown University.

In such a scenario in the future, Muilenburg may need to simply walk out of the room, said Brenkert, who called it an ethical test situation.

Representatives of Boeing and Lockheed declined to comment.

Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, who was on the other end of Trumps call, defended the discussion Thursday. After a hearing before a House subcommittee, Bogdan said there was nothing inappropriate about Boeings involvement because the things I talked about in front of Mr. Muilenburg were clearly publicly releasable information. The Jan. 17 call was primarily to discuss F-35 affordability, the capabilities of the jet relative to Boeings Super Hornet and the Air Force One program, Bogdan said.

Since the election, Trump has sought to capitalize on his master negotiator image to both criticize and praise individual companies for actions they take affecting American workers. At times he has called out manufacturers for shipping jobs overseas, praised automakers for building in the U.S. and even slammed retailer Nordstrom Inc. for dropping his daughter Ivankas brand.

Boeing was one of those targets. In December, Trump lamented the cost of new Air Force One planes in a tweet with the threat, Cancel order!

Much was at stake. Not only does Boeing make Air Force One but its also the second-largest U.S. defense contractor, behind Lockheed.

Since then, Boeing has managed to get on the administrations good side. Muilenburg was named to Trumps manufacturing council, establishing a direct line to the Oval Office. Boeing could earn another victory with the possible re-opening of the U.S. Export-Import Bank for financing large deals.

Muilenburg hosted Trump on Friday for the rollout of its 787-10 Dreamliner at a South Carolina factory, where the president said the U.S. was looking seriously at a big order of Super Hornets. Trump praised the company repeatedly, closing his speech by saying, God bless Boeing.

At this point, Muilenburgs rivals must be feeling kind of envious about the rapport hes developing with the president, said Loren Thompson, an analyst with the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va., and who has consulted for defense contractors such as Lockheed.

Still, the relationship can cut both ways, Thompson said. Trump is the most forceful president in recent memory, so whatever concerns that might create, companies dont have a choice, he said. You have to deal with him on his own terms.

Ethical considerations have been in sharp focus at Boeing since a 2003 controversy related in part to a potential tanker contract. That situation, involving an Air Force officials improper discussions with Boeing, led to the resignation of CEO Phil Condit and jail time for Michael Sears, then the chief financial officer, and the former official.

With Trump, Boeing has tried to connect the new administrations focus on U.S. manufacturing jobs to the planemakers burgeoning overseas jet sales, said Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst with Teal Group.

Navigating such a path could prove tricky, particularly if Boeings international operations conflict with Trumps America-first posture.

They are running the risk of cozying up to a man whose worst impulses dont agree with their best interests, Aboulafia said.
By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, Feb 16 (PTI) In a relief for advertising executive Barun Kashyap, whose account of harassment by cow vigilantes had created sensation, the Bombay High Court today said prima facie the offence of promoting enmity between two religious groups wasnt made out against him.

Mumbai police pressed this charge against him after finding that his whole story was allegedly fake.

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Division bench of Justices A S Oka and Anuja Prabhudessai was hearing a petition filed by Kashyap seeking to quash the case against him under section 153 A (promoting enmity between two groups) of IPC.

According to police, Kashyap cooked up the story that he was harassed by cow vigilantes in suburban Andheri on the suspicion that he was carrying a bag made from cow hide.

His account of the incident, shared on social media, went viral, but police probe later found holes in the story.

After hearing brief arguments today, the judges said, "Prima facie the offence alleged is not made out."

In an interim order, the HC restrained the police from proceeding with the probe, and adjourned the petition for final hearing on a later date. PTI SP KRK TIR

--- ENDS ---
The former leaders of the St. Louis regions economic development agency are back together.

Their new firm, Community and Economic Development Solutions LLC, is offering real estate, project management and organizational consulting to businesses, governments and nonprofits.

Two of the firms leaders spent decades at the forefront of the regions economic development efforts, leading the St. Louis County Economic Council and later its successor, the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership.

At the helm is managing partner Jacqueline Davis-Wellington, who spent almost 20 years at the St. Louis County Economic Council and the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership. She was chief operating officer when she left in 2015.

Our plan is to continue to provide the same kinds of services that we previously provided under the umbrella of the partnership, Davis-Wellington said.

Joining her as a co-founder and partner is Denny Coleman, who spent almost 25 years as the head of the County Economic Council and later the Partnership before also leaving in the summer of 2015. Coleman and his former team is credited with spearheading the merging of some city and county economic development functions under the St. Louis Partnership, which formed in 2013.

Elizabeth Noonan, who worked at the County Economic Council from 1998 until 2014, is also a partner in the new consulting firm, as is Andrew Ruben, the former general counsel at the County Economic Council and Partnership until the end of 2015. Ruben is also a partner at law firm Paule, Camazine & Blumenthal.

Davis-Wellington said the new firm planned to work with area municipalities that need support with major projects, building entrepreneurship networks, organizing management structures and other economic development activities.

The firm, with offices in University City and Clayton, says it will focus on regional collaboration strategies that promote cooperation, not competition.

The firms website touts its founders involvement in projects such as the cleanup of land to develop the River City Casino and the launch of the STL VentureWorks startup incubator system.

While the heads of the new group spent most of their time working at what was the St. Louis County economic development office, Davis-Wellington said she expected to work with clients within St. Louis as well. And she said they planned to work with the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership on future projects.

We feel we have expertise that we have used to do some of the major projects in St. Louis County, she said.
Like many farmers across southeastern Missouri and in states beyond, Steven and Dee Landers faced heavy crop damage last summer, losing nearly half of their yields and taking a financial hit that crept into six figures.

They think illegal use of the drift-prone herbicide dicamba is what afflicted their soybeans and corn. Now the couple near the tiny town of Lilbourn are spearheading a class action lawsuit against the biotech giant Monsanto, arguing that rampant herbicide drift was a predictable consequence of the companys rollout of dicamba-tolerant crop varieties before the appropriate herbicide was approved for use.

The suit, filed Jan. 26 in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau, is open to farmers across 10 states where dicamba complaints have been documented, ranging from Texas to Minnesota and as far east as North Carolina.

But Missouris Bootheel area and surrounding regions have been at the epicenter of the crisis.

The bulk of what was reported last year was in Missouri, said Bev Randles, a lawyer at the Kansas City law firm, Randles & Splittgerber, representing plaintiffs in the case.

The suit states that there have been nearly 200 drift complaints in Missouri since Monsanto first released dicamba-resistant seeds in 2015. Randles identified Arkansas and Tennessee as the other areas where damage was most pronounced, with the case citing 45 drift complaints in Tennessee and 26 in Arkansas.

The form of dicamba Monsanto developed for use with the crops  which is supposedly less prone to vaporizing and drifting off target  was not approved by the EPA until November. Without it available for two growing seasons, the lawsuit argues it was inevitable that some farmers would turn to unauthorized forms of dicamba when faced with the unenviable choice of allowing their fields of dicamba-tolerant crops to be overrun by weeds, or to illegally spray older varieties that would not harm their own fields but jeopardize nearby growers who planted nonresistant seed.

Monsanto maintains that the company is not liable for the wrongdoing of others.

This baseless lawsuit seeks an unprecedented expansion of the law by attempting to impose liability on a company that did not make the product that allegedly caused the damage, did not sell the product that allegedly caused the damage, and, in fact, warned against the very use of the product alleged in the complaint, the company said in a statement.
Native Bride

Designer  Anna Friss Taylor

Age  35

Home  Webster Groves

Family  Husband Jon; son, Simon, 8; seven weeks pregnant; dog, Trooper

What she makes  Rustic, bohemian farmhouse-style custom wooden signs (starting at $25.99) for weddings and homes and customized mugs ($13.97).

How to buy  Visit etsy.com/shop/TheNativeBride or TheNativeBride on Facebook

Baby scissor hands  Ive just always been good with my hands, says Anna Friss Taylor. When I was a baby, you know like less than a year, my mom says that she would prop me up on pillows and Id sit for hours with a stack of magazines, cutting out faces. Just faces? Yup, just faces. Who the hell knows why? But thats where I first honed my cutting skills, I guess. By the time she was a toddler, Taylor was wheeling a knife to cut and peel her own fruit. My grandmother would be yelling, Shes going to kill herself, but I was just really good with my hands.

Born entrepreneur  One of her first projects was creating a fashion magazine that 10-year-old Anna sold door-to-door with a friend. They were selling the magazines for $5 each and managed to sell one to a kind-hearted neighbor. Taylor said, I think he felt sorry for us, but he got his moneys worth. We even had contests in there for our one reader. Around the same time, she discovered that people went to the store to buy worms. Worms, she thought, but I have a yard full of those. This struck her as a business opportunity. She managed to sell a few bags before she gave up the venture. Its much harder to find the worms than Id thought, and you have to wait for it to rain; I was like forget this, she said. Later at around 12, she developed the sewing skills to make hair scrunchies. Taylor hosted a garage sale  but only sold scrunchies. It was a little ridiculous. I had like 300 scrunchies.

Whoa, Nelly  In high school, Taylor gained a reputation for making club clothing. She was 15 when she was referred to Nelly by a customer with connections. She started making jumpsuits and matching track suits for the emerging rap star and his crew. Taylor mom persuaded her to accept her admission to the Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago and get a good job. Taylor graduated with a degree in fashion design in 2003. Yeah, my mom told me, Dont worry, hell never be famous  yeah, I bring that up sometimes, Taylor said with an eye roll. I remember the first time I saw his video on TV, and I called my mom up. After she graduated, she drove from Chicago to Los Angeles. Within a week, she was working in production as a fabric buyer at BCBG.

West Hollywood chic  Still driven by the entrepreneurial spirit, she started Taylor Studio, a screen-printing shop operated out of her one-bedroom apartment. She developed a bit of a cult following on the gay night club scene because of her signature designs, but when she was expecting her son, she moved back to St. Louis for the lower cost of living and to be near her parents once again.

Am I blue?  Once she was back in St. Louis, she didnt wait long to launch a custom jeans business called Blue Bird Denim. She describes it as the biggest pain in the  that failed miserably, but she managed to keep her small production warehouse open for nearly six years and during that time, she secured spots in boutiques across the country. She sold her clothing online and shipped internationally. Taylor launched a clothing line to go along with the custom denim and says the clothing did better because it could be sold wholesale, but it didnt do well enough. In 2013, she even opened a store also called Blue Bird on Washington Avenue then moved it to Delmar Boulevard. That venture lasted a year.

Now  In addition to Native Bride, which made its first sale within days of launching on her Etsy page, she also launched Native Home because she figured that once she had a customer, she wanted to keep them by selling other goods that might fit their style. By day, Taylor works and travels to oversee overseas production for a local company that designs and manufacturers accessories for licensed and private label goods. But in her very limited spare time, when shes not filling Native Bride orders, shes enrolled in an intensive LaunchCode course for computer programming that shell complete in April.

Future  She dreams of buying farm land with a barn for events, weddings and retreats in Northern Michigan. Shed live by coding part-time, keeping up her Native franchise and hosting barn weddings on her property. And her husband could make as much noise as possible with his drum set. Originally from a city outside Tel Aviv, on the bustling Mediterranean coast, she said that shes ready for the quiet  maybe. Her family moved from Israel in 1999 because of her fathers work as a software developer and later computer architect. They expected to stay for six months. Its now 30 years later. They want to go back, but Im ready for something different. Land thats all my own to do what I want, she said.
Jeff Roorda introduced me to the margarita machine.

It was March 2010 and we were chatting at a hotel in Hannibal, Mo., during the annual Democrat Days celebration. Roorda was a state representative from Jefferson County. I was a political reporter covering the annual Democratic gathering.

Much like Republicans at their Lincoln Days, after the speeches, elected officials and political operatives wander the halls going from room to room, socializing. Roorda pointed out that the steelworkers union had the most popular room, where a self-serve machine produced icy-cold, flavored margaritas.

The tequila-infused concoction would later be the subject of infamous undercover video shot by Republican operatives of state Auditor Susan Montee talking about how she wished she owned such a machine.

I didnt blame her. Those margaritas were good.

It was a different time. Roorda was a minor Missouri political character recognized for his combative attitude toward Republicans on the floor of the House. Now hes the divisive business manager for the St. Louis Police Officers Association, known for his offensive diatribes on national cable television and social media. During the Ferguson unrest and since, Roorda has been the go-to guy for a racially divisive quote.

On Thursday, St. Louis mayoral candidate Lyda Krewson, who has the endorsement of the SLPOA, called on the police union to fire Roorda as its business manager, after he published a Facebook rant in which he called Treasurer Tishaura Jones, who is also running for mayor, lazy, a cop-hater, and a race-baiter.

Krewson, who is white, is late to the Fire Roorda movement. Jones, who is black, long ago called for the police association to get rid of the hostile spokesman, as did other black candidates for mayor. At a mayoral debate just two weeks ago, Jones cited Roordas since-deleted tweet in July when he blamed then-President Barack Obama for the deaths of five Dallas police officers, suggesting their blood was on the presidents hands.

That was a divisive and fearful week in this countrys history. The man who brutally ambushed the Dallas police officers, Micah Johnson, said he was motivated by the highly publicized killings of black men by other police officers. Just that week, Alton Sterling had died in Baton Rouge, La., and Philando Castille in St. Paul, Minn., both at the hands of police officers. Neither brandished a weapon.

After Dallas, Ballwin police officer Michael Flamion was shot and seriously injured by a black man during a traffic stop in west St. Louis County. The next day, 20-year-old Tyler Gebhard was shot dead by an off-duty police officer at his familys home in south St. Louis County. Gebhard, who knew the family, had been posting on Facebook explosive comments about ongoing national conflicts between black men and police.

This week, the day before Krewson called for Roorda to resign, St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch released a report clearing the off-duty police officer in the Gebhard shooting. The family, the report said, was fearful for their lives after Gebhard allegedly broke into their home after being asked to leave.

Fear is the common denominator that divides the nation.

African-American mothers are fearful their young sons wont return home alive in neighborhoods where violence and shooting is a daily occurrence. They are afraid of all the guns. They are afraid of the violence. They are afraid of police.

Police wives  and husbands  have a similar fear, hoping each day that their spouses get home safely, knowing there might be a gun in the car of every traffic stop, and that there are young men with guns unafraid to shoot at police officers.

Adding a voice like Roordas to the local or national mix of such racially and socially divisive issues does nothing to soothe the common fears shared by a divided America.

In the same way that the minority of activists who shout hateful epithets to police officers and threaten violence do a disservice to their fellow Black Lives Matter activists, when somebody like Roorda cant defend the daily work of police officers without purposefully hurling racially offensive invective, he does nothing to actually make police officers safer.

Division breeds more division. Trust remains elusive.

In another time, before Aug. 9, 2014, before the most recent presidential election, Roorda and the incoming mayor  be it Krewson, Jones or somebody else  would quietly meet at the margarita machine and discuss their differences over a drink, forging a path forward built on compromise and perhaps a touch of humility.

Its not another time. In 2017, compromise is a four-letter word. Reconciliation is a foreign concept. The mayor doesnt get to choose who speaks for police officers. But if those officers want their voices heard in City Hall in 2017, theyre going to need a new messenger.
Updated at 9:07 p.m. with more details

DELLWOOD  A Ferguson man was charged after an attempted robbery here early Thursday was thwarted when the would-be victim's neighbor pulled out a gun and shot him.

St. Louis County Police say Tre'von Johnson, 24, attempted to a rob a man in the 1700 block of Bradshaw Drive shortly before 2 a.m.

A neighbor saw Johnson pull out a handgun, point it at his would-be victim and demand money, police said. The neighbor pulled out his handgun and shot Johnson multiple times.

Johnson got in his car and fled, police said. Officers later found his car with bullet damage.

Johnson was found at a hospital, where he was in critical but stable condition as he was being treated for gunshot wounds, police said. He was wearing the same clothing he was in when he attempted to rob the man.

The St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney's Office charged Johnson with attempted robbery in the first-degree. His bail was set at $50,000.

Detectives from the St. Louis County Police Departments Bureau of Crimes Against Persons conducted the investigation.

Johnson lives in the first block of 100 Harneywold Drive in Ferguson.
JOLIET, Ill.  A 10-year prison sentence has been given to an Indiana semi-truck driver involved in a crash that killed five people in northern Illinois two years ago.

Francisco Espinal-Quiroz pleaded guilty in November to five counts of reckless homicide and falsifying entries in his logbook that tracks how many hours he was behind the wheel.

Will County Circuit Judge David Carlson handed down the sentence Thursday.

The 53-year-old Espinal-Quiroz was driving July 21, 2014 on Interstate 55 near Channahon when his vehicle slammed into vehicles stopped at a construction zone. The crash killed three people, including an 11-year old girl, in one vehicle and two other people in other vehicles.

Espinal-Quiroz is also blind in his right eye, but had a waiver to drive a truck through the state of Indiana.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Feb 17 (PTI) The Home Ministry today reviewed the functioning of paramilitary forces and discussed issues like raising new battalions, increasing womens representation and expansion of the air wing of the BSF.

At the high-level meeting, chaired by Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju and attended by Directors General of CRPF, CISF, BSF, NSG, Assam Rifles, SSB and ITBP, various issues related to the functioning of paramilitary forces were discussed threadbare.

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The issues discussed included raising of additional battalions, setting up of regional centres and hubs, housing issues related to paramilitary personnel, representation of women in forces, BSF air wing, training centres, filling up of vacancies, construction of roads in difficult areas and issues related to procurement of land, among others, a Home Ministry statement said.

Addressing the officials, Rijiju said the government appreciates the dedication of the forces and is making all efforts to boost the morale of forces and take care of them.

The minister said senior officers of the forces should visit the Border Outposts and Operational Headquarters on a regular basis which will have an effect of raising the morale of the personnel.

Reviewing various issues of the paramilitary forces, Rijiju said the Ministry of Home Affairs will look into the matters raised by the forces and try to do the best possible in each case.

He also emphasised on due representation of women in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and said forces should make efforts to meet the target of reservation for women set by the government.

An action taken report on the previous meeting held on April 19, 2016 was also discussed, the statement said. PTI ACB KUN

--- ENDS ---
ST. LOUIS  With a cellphone ready to record in one hand and her other hand held over her heart Melissa Chatman walked, sometimes climbed, over piles of trash, fallen drywall and plaster inside several abandoned homes in north St. Louis Friday.

The Spanish Lake woman, 41, was one of about 10 volunteers who, along with three police officers, searched vacant buildings in the citys Sixth and Fourth police districts in search of missing people, many of whom are young black women, Chatman said.

She didnt know whether to be disappointed or relieved that they didnt find any bodies.

Two of the missing, she said, are her cousins: Shemika Cosey, who went missing in 2008 at the age of 16 in Berkeley and Makayla Jones, 15, who had vanished Thursday evening. Hours after the search ended, Makayla was found.

Its just nuts, this is our youth and theres too many coming back to back, it has us wondering, Is it the same person doing this? Chatman said. Theres just so many of these buildings out there, all this room to dispose of bodies or do what you want to do with them.

Derk Brown, 29, of Jennings organized Fridays effort through social media.

There are just a lot of missing youth and adults right now, and if we can come together as a community with the help of police officers, maybe we can help, he said.

Brown said the effort was inspired by the discovery Jan. 13 by police of a 12-year-old girl, barely alive, left in a vacant building after she was kidnapped, assaulted and slashed across the throat. A 20-year-old man has been charged in that case.

A community outreach officer, Regiana Moore, along with officers Gary Ruffin and Eric Armstead, kept a watchful eye on the group as they moved in and out of buildings.

They searched about six buildings near Fairground Park, along the 3800 and 3900 blocks of Labadie Avenue and Greer Place.

This is your community, come on, help out, Moore said as she motioned to a group of onlookers who gathered in the streets to see what brought the volunteers and police to their community.

No one joined in.

Brown said he plans to search more buildings Saturday, and that he would post his plans to his Facebook page.

Alderman Jeffrey Boyd, who had gathered police and others to help in the search for Makayla, said he learned about 8 p.m. that she was back home.

I am just so excited that it ended peacefully, he said. The community had really come together  we were organizing a search when the calls came in. Im relieved shes back with her family.

A police spokeswoman said investigators were interviewing Makayla about her disappearance. No other information was released.

Nassim Benchaabane of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
ST. LOUIS  Few education institutions are speaking up about a Missouri House bill that narrows protections in the states workplace discrimination law.

Leaders from the University of Missouri System, which has almost 24,000 employees in the system office and the four campuses, testified in favor of the bill during a committee meeting this week.

The bill would make it impossible for employees to file discrimination lawsuits against other employees, forcing suits against employers themselves and capping damages for those who win. It would also require employees to prove that their protected status  race, religion, sex, etc.  was the driving factor behind their mistreatment rather than just a contributing factor.

The bills sponsor, Rep. Kevin Austin, R-Springfield, said the bill would align Missouri with federal standards.

That alignment is the key issue for the University of Missouri System, according to system spokesman John Fougere.

Federal anti-discrimination laws that are enforced nationwide provide sufficient protection and would allow us to continue to strongly combat discrimination without exposing the University to increased unnecessary liability and defense costs, he said in a statement.

In the statement, Fougere makes a point of touting the UM Systems discrimination rules for going beyond what is required. The university recognizes a few protected classes that the state doesnt, including sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. At a meeting last week, the systems governing board updated the schools sex discrimination rules to, among other things, bolster anti-discrimination training.

No other public four-year university or community college has taken a stance on the bill, though an assistant vice chancellor and associate general counsel for Washington University did testify in favor of the bill during the public hearing this week.

While the university lawyer, Joseph Sklansky, made a point of identifying where he works and what he does during the hearing, he said he was speaking on his own behalf.

Sklansky was a member of the schools former Coordinating Council for Diversity Initiatives who has dealt with past employment discrimination lawsuits on behalf of Washington University.

He told the committee Monday night that the bill would correct overreach from a 2005 court decision that changed criteria for such lawsuits.

The result of the court decision is a regime where allegations trump evidence, where proof that the defendant actually caused the alleged harm is no longer required and where defendants have no choice but to either pay money to settle baseless allegations or else expend substantial financial and other resources to defend such claims all the way through trial and appeal, he said.

Sklansky couldnt be reached for additional comment.

Washington University spokeswoman Jill Friedman said Sklansky took a vacation day to attend the hearing.

This legislation has been considered many times in recent years, Friedman said in a statement. Washington University never has advocated for the proposal and we have no intention of doing so.
WASHINGTON  Almost two out of three Navy F/A-18 fighter jets built in St. Louis are not flyable on any given day, a top admiral said, and there are indications the Pentagon is considering boosting the number of the St. Louis-built Boeing planes on its unfunded priorities list to two dozen.

The facts are that for our entire Hornet fleet, thats the Hornets and Super Hornet fleet, we have 62 percent (that are not fit to fly) on a given day, Navy Vice Admiral Bill Moran told a Senate Armed Services subcommittee last week.

He characterized the situation as part of an overall struggle in dealing with multiple global defense challenges with a much smaller Navy than existed on the day of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks

In a letter to Acting Navy Secretary Sean Stackley, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said she had learned that the planes have been effectively grounded because they are undergoing necessary maintenance.

She lauded defense industry reports that said the Navy is considering raising to 24 the number of new F/A 18s, which are built by Boeing in St. Louis.

Last February, the Navy said that 14 new F/A-18 EF Super Hornets were on its unfunded priorities list.

A Navy spokeswoman said, however, that reports of the Navy raising the number of Super Hornets on its wish list were premature.

We have only submitted one official unfunded priorities list, and that was last February with our budget submission, Lt. Kara Yingling said. That list included 14 F/A-18E/Fs. Any other numbers would be speculative and pre-decisional at this time. 

An updated number on the Navys wish list could appear when President Donald Trump unveils spending requests in the coming weeks. Trump has promised to bulk up the military, in part by negotiating new contracts more favorable to the government with defense companies such as Lockheed-Martin, maker of the rival F-35.

We have the greatest people on earth in our military, but they dont have the right equipment and their equipment is old, Trump said at his Thursday press conference. Its depleted. It wont be depleted for very long.

On Friday, speaking at a Boeing plant in South Carolina, Trump said of the Super Hornet: We are looking at a big order.

But, he added, Boeing President Dennis Muilenburg is a tough negotiator.

McCaskills letter to Stackley, obtained by the Post-Dispatch, said a high operational tempo in the use of the Boeing-built planes in the war against terror targets has placed an unexpected level of stress on the tactical aircraft fleet, which is now facing systemic maintenance issues that are nearing crisis levels.

Moran told the Senate subcommittee that the smallest Navy weve had in 99 years can only answer 40 percent of combatant commander requirements today.

On (Sept. 11, 2001) we had 316 ships and over 400,000 sailors. Today, we have 275 ships and nearly 90,000 fewer sailors, Moran said. And yet the world has become a lot busier place today.

McCaskills letter to Stackley asks that as you work to develop a budget, I hope you will take steps to address the shortfall in the Navy and Marine Corps tactical aviation fleet.
JEFFERSON CITY  Missouri's medical marijuana advocates say they've learned their lesson from last year's failure to get their issue in front of voters: start earlier.

The nonprofit New Approach Missouri began collecting signatures this week for its bid to change the state's constitution to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to people with conditions such as cancer, epilepsy and Alzheimer's.

They're a full year ahead of last cycle's schedule, when organizers had just three months to gather about 160,000 autographs  equal to 8 percent of registered voters in six of Missouri's eight congressional districts  to before the May deadline.

Despite a promising start, the group ultimately fell short when election officials threw out more than 10,000 names in Missouri's second congressional district, composed of Jefferson, St. Charles and St. Louis counties.

"That was a byproduct of having a very short window to collect the signatures," said Jack Cardetti, the group's spokesperson. "This year, by starting so much earlier, we'll avoid those problems."

And if organizers can get the signatures, Cardetti says they'll have no trouble with the votes.

He points to a July 2016 Public Policy Polling report as evidence: 62 percent of 959 Missourians polled said they would support New Approach's measure.

He also notes that most recent additions to the group of 28 states that have legalized medical marijuana aren't exactly liberal bastions.

"When you look at the 2016 election results and see that Florida, Arkansas and North Dakota approved this, that makes us confident that if we can get this on the ballot, it'll be approved," Cardetti said.

They'll also be well-funded. New Approach raised nearly $1.5 million in the last election cycle, according to documents filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission. Two $10,000 checks came in last month.

Under the measure, the Department of Health and Senior Services would regulate medical pot and charge fees on the medical and growing licenses it would issue.

The state would limit its growing licenses to no more than one for every 100,000 residents  so roughly 60 would be available at 2016 population levels  and track the pot from seed to sale. A 4 percent sales tax would be deposited into the state's Veterans Health Care Fund

The Department could also limit patients to buying to as little as four ounces a month, according to the petition, and restrict them from keeping more than a six months supply. Patients would be allowed to grow up to six plants in their homes.

The petition wouldn't impact laws against using marijuana in public or driving under its influence.

The Missouri legislature has launched several efforts to pass medical marijuana laws in recent years, to little effect.

Gov. Jay Nixon signed a bill authorizing the use of hemp oil for children with certain kinds of epilepsy in 2014, but broader measures usually stall in committee.
JEFFERSON CITY  Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens is headed back to Washington.

Greitens told the Pathway, a bi-weekly publication put out by the Missouri Baptist Convention, that he plans to meet with President Donald Trump next week.

Among potential discussion topics? The defunding of Planned Parenthood, a longtime priority for Missouri Republicans.

On Thursday, the U.S. House voted to repeal a rule imposed by the Barack Obama administration that prohibits states from denying funding to clinics for any reason beyond their ability to provide basic family planning services. Its now headed to the U.S. Senate.

Should the resolution succeed, it would be easier for states to deny federal family-planning funds to abortion providers, such as Planned Parenthood.

In his conversation with the Pathway, Greitens said he supported that effort.

He also said he would lead the fight against changes to the St. Louis anti-discrimination ordinance, which took effect this week and bans employers and landlords from discriminating against women who have had an abortion, use contraceptives or are pregnant.

We must protect people of faith and we must protect the unborn, Greitens said. We must win this and I am proud to lead the fight on this issue.

A spokesman for Greitens could not be reached for comment on meeting with Trump or his opposition to the bill updating the citys ordinance. A spokeswoman for the White House also declined to comment on a meeting at this time.

State lawmakers are considering legislation that would effectively block the updates to the ordinance on the grounds that it inhibits the free speech and religious rights of alternatives-to-abortion agencies, which counsel women against seeking abortions.

Greitens recommended more than $6 million in funding for those agencies  sometimes called pregnancy resource centers  in his 2018 budget proposal.

Greitens, a political outsider holding his first elective office, has already visited the nations capital twice since becoming Missouris chief executive.

Greitens attended Trumps inauguration. On another trip in January, he met with Vice President Mike Pence to discuss repealing the Affordable Care Act. Greitens also mingled at the Alfalfa Club dinner, an annual event typically attended by Washingtons elite.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Updated at 11:15 a.m. with more comments on McCaskill trip to Mexican border

WASHINGTON  Harry Truman slipped a spot to sixth in the latest C-SPAN rankings of the nations 43 presidents.

Barack Obama entered the rankings for the first time, at 12th. Abraham Lincoln and George Washington continued to dominate at the top, ending first and second. They both were in those positions in previous C-SPAN surveys taken in 2000 and 2009.

The Missourian Truman was in fifth in those previous surveys, but was passed by Dwight Eisenhower this year.

James Buchanan, Lincolns predecessor before the Civil War, was ranked last. President Donald Trump was not included in the rankings.

The survey of 91 historians was designed and conducted by historians Douglas Brinkley, Professor of History at Rice University; Edna Greene Medford, Howard University; and Richard Norton Smith, presidential historian and biographer.

McCaskill to the border

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., will tour the U.S.-Mexico border next week.

She is top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and her trip will include aerial, nautical and walking tours of the border in addition to nighttime border observation, said a statement issued by her office.

President Donald Trump wants to build a wall on the border between the two countries.

McCaskill "has a long history of support for border security measures, and is hoping to use this trip next week to get a firsthand look-perspective on what kind of plans would be the most effective at securing the border," her spokesman, John LaBombard said Friday.

In a hearing last month, Homeland Security Director John Kelly told McCaskill and other senators that "a physical barrier in and of itself will not do the job, and that "it has to be really a layered defense.

LaBombard said that McCaskill will "have more to share about her own perspective when she returns."

Michels passing mourned

Tributes were coming in Friday for former U.S. House Republican leader Bob Michel, of Illinois, who died at age 93. First elected in 1956, he served 38 years in Congress, where he developed a reputation as a calm and decent leader.

"He was the face of decency and public service," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in a tribute Friday on the Senate floor.

"Congress has never been the same" since Michel left in 1995, he said.

Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, said: Bob Michel was a war hero and one of the most respected members of Congress of all time. His 38 years of service in the U.S. House of Representatives and the incredible footprint he has left on Central Illinois and this country will never be forgotten. Bobs ability to reach across the aisle to make a divided government work for the people he represented was second to none  a trait we should all strive to emulate each day.

McCaskill, Democrats push for expanded probe of Russian influence

McCaskill joined the six other Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in calling for a probe of Russias attempts to infiltrate the U.S. presidential election last year.

The Democrats made that request in a letter Friday to the committees chairman, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.

The Senate Intelligence Committee is already probing that issue, and Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., told the Post-Dispatch earlier this week that it would take other committees or a special prosecutor six months to catch up to where he and other members of the committee are in their probe.

McCaskill and her colleagues argue that their committee has jurisdiction over U.S. elections. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said the Intelligence Committee, which normally meets in secret, should do the investigation, but Democrats want a broader and more open process.
ST. LOUIS  Mayoral candidate Lyda Krewson is calling on the St. Louis Police Officers Association to fire Jeff Roorda, the police unions business agent, citing vile and disgusting comments he has made toward city Treasurer and fellow mayoral hopeful Tishaura Jones.

Roorda blasted Jones on Facebook on Thursday, calling her lazy, a cop-hater and a race-baiter.

Tishaura and I are both candidates for mayor and are competing hard against each other but I absolutely reject his despicable characterization of her, Krewson said in a statement. She is a respected government official and does not deserve this abuse.

When I am mayor, he will not be welcome in my office, Krewson added.

The police union, which represents most of the officers in the city, endorsed Krewson last month. Krewsons campaign accepted the endorsement but has tried ever since to distance itself from Roorda, who was fired from his position as business manager by the St. Louis Countys police union last summer.

Roorda also attracted national attention in July when he blamed President Barack Obama for the deaths of five police officers shot by a sniper in Dallas. The now-deleted post showed hands dripping with blood. The caption read: THIS BLOOD IS ON YOUR HANDS, MR. PRESIDENT.

In his Facebook post Thursday, Roorda says one of Jones supporters has called him the worst person to occupy skin.

In the post, he also criticizes Jones attendance record when she was in the state Legislature, the roughly 50 publicly funded trips shes taken as treasurer since 2013 and her fathers time in prison over unpaid taxes. Specifically, Roorda refers to Jones as the daughter-of-a-felon, the laziest legislator-of-all-time, and a globetrotting-traveler-on-the-taxpayer-dime, cop-hater and race-baiter.

He then goes on to ask his Facebook friends to weigh in on who is a worse person between the two of them.

For her part, Jones has used Roordas reputation for controversial statements as part of her campaign. At a forum last month, Jones received a loud ovation when she told the audience that she neither met with the police union nor asked for its endorsement.

I did not seek the endorsement of the POA because anybody who stands with Roorda, I cant support, she said.

In calling on Roorda to be fired, Krewson, the citys 28th Ward alderman, showed a glimpse of support for Jones in a race where the two candidates have largely ignored each other. This is not the first time I have felt the need to repudiate Mr. Roorda for his statements, Krewson said. He justified todays repulsive remarks by claiming he had been attacked first by Ms. Jones. That excuse is not acceptable to me. I have seen police officers treated far worse by citizens on the street and still completely maintain their composure and civility.

Alderman Antonio French, another mayoral candidate, jumped into the fray on Twitter Thursday night, using a #FireRoorda hashtag and saying Krewsons comments were overdue. The silence of Krewson and others has enabled Roordas dangerous rhetoric for years, French said. We needed them to speak up long ago.

In all, there are seven candidates running in the March 7 Democratic primary.
(c) 2017, The Washington Post.

First the National Parks went rogue, sharing climate change data on Twitter. Now museums and libraries have taken up arms - or at least typing fingers - to fight on behalf of facts.

Using the hashtag #DayofFacts, more than 280 scientific and cultural institutions are devoting Friday to dropping 140-character truths on Twitter. Many of the facts seem pointedly political - like the National Museum of American Jewish History's tweet about a George Washington letter affirming religious freedom in the country, or a placard held up in a video by Chicago's Field Museum that stated "Climate change is accelerating the extinction of plants and animals."

The political undertone is the goal, according to Alli Hartley, a museum educator from Virginia who helped organize the campaign with her colleague Mara Kurlandsky.

"We're using facts to illustrate truth about the present moment," Hartley said.

By midmorning Friday, the hashtag was trending in the United States.

The idea for a "Day of Facts" came to Hartley a few weeks ago, just after President Trump took office. The National Park Service Twitter account had been temporarily shut down after it retweeted an image comparing inauguration crowd sizes. Then senior adviser Kellyanne Conway tried to explain the dust-up over the attendance by saying the administration had "alternative facts." Then an ex-employee at Badlands National Park briefly took control of the park's twitter account to fire off a series of factual tweets about climate change. The missives were quickly deleted, but other parks (and a cadre of "alt" twitter accounts) took up the cause.

That's when Hartley saw a post from Death Valley National Park noting that the park had hosted interned Japanese Americans during World War II.

"I thought it was brilliant in that there was no way an administration or anyone could question it, because on one level it wasn't political, it was just sharing factual content. But on another level it really resonated with the political moment," she said.

She reached out to Kurlandsky, who oversees digital engagement for the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, and asked for help organizing a social media campaign. Pretty soon they had a website, a twitter handle and a following that included the Newseum, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the National Aquarium, even the Encyclopaedia Britannica, along with dozens of smaller museums and public libraries nationwide and even worldwide.

"Given the political discourse and discussion about alternative facts and fake news, it's important for museums to remind people . . . w e're here as trusted sources of information and facts are important and truth is important," Hartley said.

She and her colleagues were wary about calling the Day of Facts a form of "resistance." Most museums rely partly on grants from federal agencies like the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, and neighborhood libraries depend almost entirely on public dollars. They don't want to put their funding at risk by running afoul of public officials. (This is why Hartley, who works for a public park system, asked that her employer not be named.)

And not all of the facts are political - some are simply cool.

For instance, Chicago's Field Museum tweeted, "Dimetrodon is more closely related to humans than to dinosaurs #DayOfFacts #FossilFriday."

But when Chicago Sun Times columnist Neil Steinberg asked Alex Teller, communications director for Chicago's Newberry Library, if this was a reaction to President Trump, Teller replied: "I would say . . . that . . . yes."

"But I also think a lot of institutions are participating in this," Teller added. "They would stress that standing up for the importance of historical truth, and standards of truth should not be perceived as taking a political stance. Standing up for truth and certain standards for verifying information shouldn't be politicized."

---

Youtube video: #DayOfFacts at the Field Museum

dayoffacts

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Keywords: twitter, day of facts, museums, museum resistance, climate change facts
The government has sent notices to at least 18 lakh people, out of which only 9 lakh have replied across the country. The department has planned a meeting at each of its regional office on February 21 to make a road map for crackdown on such people.

By Abhishek Anand: The Income Tax department has issued a final warning to those who deposited huge amounts of money post demonetisation. The department has opened its doors at all regional offices for such people where they can meet officers to reply to the notices before February 20.

The Income Tax department has issued an internal circular to all the regional offices asking them to give a final chance to those who have deposited heavy amount of money during demonetisation.

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"Those who have received notices from the government to either file the reply online or meet any IT officer at the nearest IT office, the department plans to launch a crackdown against such people after February 20," said a senior I-T official of Ghaziabad range.

CRACKDOWN ON DEFAULTERS

The government has sent notices to at least 18 lakh people, out of which only 9 lakh have replied across the country. However, the department has not received any reply from the defaulters, a large chunk from western UP region. It is estimated that over 50,000 people in western UP received notice from the government after depositing huge amount of money post demonetisation.

The department has planned a meeting at each of its regional office on February 21 to make a road map for crackdown on such people.

"Those who have not replied to the notices yet, will be in trouble as the government has all the details of their bank accounts. The Income Tax department can conduct surveys and raids at the residences and premises of the defaulters," said Vinod Jain, charted accountant.

He said if any person fails to give details of the money deposited in the banks then the amount will be consider as black money and the only option such people have is to pay 49.5 per cent of this money as tax and deposit 25 per cent for four years under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana.

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Young love in Missouri does not necessarily conform to the sweet image those words may conjure. Teens as young as 15 can marry here if they have parental consent, raising concerns about forced marriages and parents who may actually be trafficking their young daughters.

Missouri technically has no age floor for marriage because people of any age can appeal to local courts for an order to get a marriage license, provided a parent or legal guardian consents. Because of that permissiveness, Missouri is considered a haven for forced child marriages and potential child sex trafficking.

There is no sound reason to allow minors as young as age 15 to marry, even with the consent of a parent. That Missouri is viewed as a hot spot for such activity is a major concern and significant reason to raise the age of marriage eligibility.

Rep. Jean Evans, R-Manchester, recently introduced a bill raising the legal marriage age to 17, requiring parental consent until 18, and banning the court option for licenses. The Children and Families Committee of the Missouri House is expected to consider the bill on Tuesday.

Raising the age of consent and ending court appeals for marriage licenses will help end forced marriages and prevent possible child sex trafficking. If the parents of a child want her to marry because of pregnancy, they should consider adoption as an alternative.

The Post-Dispatchs Nancy Cambria reported that Unchained at Last, a nonprofit group that helps girls leave arranged and forced marriages in the United States, estimates that 248,000 minors, almost all girls and some as young as 12, were wed in the country in the decade ending in 2010.

Tahirih Justice Center, an abuse prevention group also opposed to forced marriages, says Missouri has one of the highest child marriage rates in the nation, with 7,342 teens under 18 married here from 2000 to 2014. About 85 percent of those teens were girls.

In 2007, for example, the group said 52 Missouri girls under 15 were married, and that only 15 of the grooms were younger than 18. In about 17 of those marriages the groom was over 21, with some as old as their 50s.

When Evans bill was heard in committee recently, Rep. Michael Moon, R-Ash Grove, said he did not want to discourage marriage as an option in teen pregnancy. While marriage may be an option, its not the only one.

Another reason to raise the threshold is cases in which parents sell their children into marriages. Jennifer Carter Dochler, public policy director for the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, says teen girls sold into marriages are often further victimized by domestic violence.

Successful marriages and families require skills and maturity beyond the grasp of many adults, let alone teens.
What has happened to our powers of discernment and our ability to see these people for what they are, which is that they care nothing for us?
When Ion Zanca left his native Romania for the United States, he said he went through a huge culture shock. He wasnt as fluent in English as he had believed he was. And then there was the casual clothes his classmates wore that he found very odd. Back in Romania, my sister would bring me clothes from Rome, so I was used to a certain style and level of fashion, said the founder, violist and composer for Dallas String Quartet (DSQ). But when I went to Louisiana State University, the students would wear pajamas to class and I thought it was so strange. In my early classes, they would even bring pillows! Now 42, the Dallas-based musician is enjoying the success of DSQs latest release Love Always, which debuted at No. 2 on two Billboard charts: Classical Albums and Classical Crossover Albums.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that it needs solid evidence to back India's move at the UNSC for sanctions against Pakistani terrorist Masood Azhar.

By Ananth Krishnan: Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar will hold a key strategic dialogue with a top Chinese official in Beijing on Wednesday the Chinese Foreign Ministry said, even as it claimed India had not sent "solid evidence" to sanction Pakistani terrorist Masood Azhar.

In talks with Chinese Executive Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui, Jaishankar is likely to raise India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and its on-going efforts to sanction the Pakistani terrorist Masood Azhar at the UN Security Council 1267 sanctions committee, with both efforts running into resistance from China.

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The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday reiterated its stand on both issues, but said it was "natural" to have differences with India and that both countries still had a wide range of convergence on other matters.

EXCLUSIVE: India will pursue resolution against Masood Azhar to its logical outcome, says Syed Akbaruddin

On next week's strategic dialogue, Geng said,"The two sides will have an in-depth exchange of views on the international situation and other regional and international issues of mutual interest. The strategic dialogue is an important communication mechanism between India and China. China hopes this will give a further boost to bilateral political mutual trust, strategic consensus and the strategic cooperative partnership between China and India."

On Masood Azhar and the NSG, Geng stated China's current stand, offering no new position. On the former issue, after China blocked India's application last year, the United States last month placed a fresh application, which was also placed on a six month "technical hold" by China. It will be revisited by the group when the hold expires.

'CHINA NEEDS SOLID EVIDENCE AGAINST MASOOD AZHAR'

"I known Indian journalists are very interested in the 1267 issue and India's entry into the NSG," he said. "I don't know how many times my colleagues and I have stated our position on this. Since you have raised it can I can state our position again. On 1267, the latest development is relevant countries have made another application with the committee. Relevant members of the committee are in consultation and relevant parties have failed to reach consensus so far," he said.

ALSO READ: BJP created Jaish-e-Mohammad by releasing Masood Azhar: Congress

"China upholds principles of objectivity, impartiality and professionalism and takes part in relevant discussions. Whether last years application by India or this year's by the relevant country our position is consistent. Our criteria is only one, we need solid evidence. If there is solid evidence the application can be moved. If there is no solid evidence there is hardly consensus."

He said China was "proceeding not from China-India relations but from the merit of the matter itself."

On the NSG, he repeated China's stand that it saw the issue as a "multilateral one" and that Beijing wasn't alone in questioning India's entry into the group. "As for India's entry into NSG we have said many times this is a multilateral issue. We stick to a two-step approach namely, NSG members need to arrive at a set of principles for the entry of NSG by non-NPT state parties and then move forward discussions of specific cases. Our position is consistent. Apart from India, other non-NPT state parties are also making applications. Our position on those applications is consistent."

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INDIA, CHINA DIFFER OVER NATURE OF ISSUES

On both issues, Geng said in China's view "they are in essence multilateral issues, not bilateral issues."

India, however, sees it differently, and has stressed to China that it saw both matters as certainly affecting the bilateral relationship.

Geng said, "Differences are only natural. Through all kinds of conversation and exchanges including the Strategic Dialogue, the two sides can step up communication to narrow differences and reach new consensus on achieving cooperation."

"China and India are the two largest developing countries. We have a wide range of of converging interest. China-India cooperation energises not only the two countries but the region and developing world. That can contribute to our solidarity."

WATCH: NIA nails JEM chief Masood Azhar's role in Pathankot airbase terror attack

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ALSO READ:

US move for a UN ban on Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar blocked again by China

After blocking India's move to ban Masood Azhar, China now wants action against global terrorists

--- ENDS ---
If youve experienced flight delays while traveling in Europe, you know the drill: At some point, an airline representative pushes a brochure into your impatient hands that promises you compensation under European law.

Thats what happened to Bjorn Bieneck after he flew from Copenhagen to Dulles International Airport on Scandinavian Airlines recently. The online travel agency he used, Travelocity, even sent him a reminder that the airline owed him money for the four-hour delay and offered him a way to collect up to $414 through a company called AirHelp. (Travelocity has a business relationship with AirHelp under which compensation claims are referred to AirHelp for mediation.) Little did Bieneck know that hed stumbled upon an emerging industry that should not have to exist  but does.

Is AirHelp legitimate? asked Bieneck, the chief executive of a marketing company in Fredericksburg, Va.

Short answer: Yes, the company is real, but you should think twice before using it. You might be able to file the claim yourself and keep more of your money.

EU 261, the law that allows travelers like Bieneck to collect compensation, was adopted in 2004. The regulation established common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding, flight cancellation or significant flight delays.

The fines, which range from 250 to 600 euros ($261 to $626) per passenger, are meant to discourage airlines from keeping their passengers waiting. They apply to flights within Europe and certain flights operating from Europe.

Airlines are not fans of EU 261  its a pricey rule. A recent estimate by the London office of the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright estimated that airlines pay well in excess of $209 million per year in EU 261 claims in Britain alone. The fee is so unpopular that one large European airline, Ryanair, added a $2.60 fee to the cost of its tickets to cover expenses related to EU 261 claims.

The regulation has a few loopholes. For example, it contains no explicit provision for a timely payment of claims. So some airlines have dragged their feet or created administrative obstacles to prevent consumers from filing successful claims, according to travel experts.

Enter the professionals, a collection of small companies that promise to cut through the red tape and secure your refund quickly  for a price. These services charge a contingency fee, payable only when you collect. Because the companies are privately held, its difficult to obtain audited financial information from them. AirHelp claims to have processed more than $85 million in total compensation for inconvenienced passengers since it was started in 2013, and helped more than 1.3 million people worldwide.

The airlines have notoriously made it difficult for people to claim the compensation that they are entitled to, says Henrik Zillmer, the co-founder and chief executive of AirHelp. Its easy to get the upper hand on people who dont know the law or their rights.

AirHelp uses a custom database of global flight disruptions to validate claims and then generates and submits claims electronically to make the process as smooth and fast as possible, Zillmer says. It charges a 25 percent commission for airline claims and automatically deducts the fee from the payment its customers receive, forwarding the balance directly to them.

While the process may be quicker, it is at times more convoluted. After Bieneck filed his claim, AirHelp sent him a notice that warned him it could be two to three months before he had an answer and that Scandinavian might try to contact him directly or lowball him with an offer of a voucher instead of the cash required by law.

We kindly ask you to ignore any approaches and forward all correspondence to us, AirHelp said in the letter.

That kind of email makes passengers like Bieneck suspicious. He should be, says Dan Clarke. As the owner of the British tour operator RealWorld Holidays, hes involved in hundreds of EU 261 claims a year, often on behalf of large groups.

In our experience, there is absolutely no need at all to use a third-party company to make your claim, says. The procedure is simple and straightforward, and following a series of court actions, airlines now have almost no get-out clauses.

None of this should be happening in the first place. The airlines should have come up with a reasonable way to compensate their own passengers without getting governments  or a group of entrepreneurs  involved in a private transaction between a company and its customers.

So how, exactly, do you file an EU 261 claim? Its simple. British Airways, for example, hasstep-by-step instructionsand an online claim form on its website. And while its true that claims normally go off without a hitch, you can run into problems. Thats where having a company like AirHelp can help.

When Dirk Schlenzig flew from Berlin to London on British Airways this summer, an engine failure caused a four-hour delay and created an opportunity to file an EU 261 claim. Schlenzig, who works for a marketing agency in Erfurt, Germany, applied for the 250 euro ($259) compensation to which he was entitled, but the airline ignored him. So he turned to a company called ClaimCompass, which retrieved the money  minus a 25 percent commission  within about a month.

Alexander Sumin, the chief marketing officer at ClaimCompass, says companies like his appeal to the public because seeking compensation is so often characterized by infinite administrative procedures, long waiting times and poor customer service. But the real problem, he adds, is that almost no one knows they deserve it.

Nearly 90 percent of passengers are completely unaware of what exactly they are entitled to, Sumin says. Airlines are not obliged to proactively inform them of their rights because of the way the law works; it is the claimants responsibility to ask for compensation.

A similar situation exists in the United States, which has fewer, but equally obscure, regulations regarding passenger compensation. Thats why European companies like ClaimCompass, AirHelp and others are eyeing the vast American market for lost-luggage claims made under the Montreal Convention or for oversold flights under United States law.

Bienecks case had a happy ending. Two weeks after he submitted a claim through AirHelp, Scandinavian accepted it and agreed to pay him.
By Press Trust of India: From K J M Varma

Beijing, Feb 16 (PTI) India and China should rejig their diplomatic strategy to improve relations during the strategic dialogue next week, as economic ties which served as a buffer to alleviate frictions are getting weakened due to intense competition in markets, a report in the state-run media said.

"As competition grows the function of economic ties as a buffer to alleviate trade friction between the countries is weakened, which requires the two neighbours to deal with a complicated political situation more carefully," an article in the state-run Global Times said today.

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The article in the dailys website said the first India- China strategic dialogue is expected to be held on February 22 in Beijing and it would serve as a prime opportunity for the two countries to make a change in its diplomatic strategy.

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar would lead the Indian delegation at the talks during which the two sides are expected to discuss steps to address increasingly tense ties due to differences over a host of issues including China blocking listing of JeM leader Masood Azhar as a terrorist and Indias admission into Nuclear Suppliers Group.

"Sino-Indian relations are experiencing severe tests after a female parliamentary delegation from Taiwan paid a visit to India. Such issues should be handled much more carefully in the future," it said.

The report said that the economic ties no longer worked as a buffer as new study showed China has a relatively low industrial complementarity with India compared with other South Asian countries, resulting in intense competition in the global market for products made in the two countries.

Citing a new study bystate-run think-tank - the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) - the article said "as more economic competition is expected, greater uncertainty is likely to be present in future Sino-Indian relations".

India-China trade and investments relations which made progress in the last two decades often regarded as a buffer to deal with complex issues like border and strategic competition between the two.

India-China bilateral trade progressed to over USD 70 billion while Chinese investments in India was USD 1.06 billion last year registering 7.5 per cent growth, as per Chinese official media.

The CASS report tends to challenge the idea that key elements for Sino-Indian ties are more complementary than competitive in economics and trade, the article said.

The idea that China and India are highly complementary should be abandoned in order to restore trust and promote economic cooperation, it said. MORE PTI KJV ZH AKJ ZH

--- ENDS ---

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By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Feb 17 (PTI) The National Regulatory Authority of India (NRAI) has been given the maximum ratings by global health body World Health Organisation for vaccine regulations.

WHO completed the assessment of the status of the Indian vaccine regulatory system against WHO NRA Global Benchmarking Tool (GBT) and measured the maturity of the system in India.

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"The assessment has been done in respect of 9 different functionalities and Indian NRA has been declared functional with a maturity level of 4 which is the highest level as per currently evolved definitions in respect of 5 functions, and maturity level 3 in respect of 4 functions," an official statement said.

While, maturity level 4 indicates good results and sustained improvement trends, level 3 reflects systematic process based approach, early stage of systematic improvements, data availability regarding conformance to objectives and existence of improvement trends, it said.

A fully functional NRA is a pre-requisite for WHO prequalification of vaccines and one of the requirements to become eligible and retain prequalification status is to have the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) assessed as functional against the WHO published NRA indicators.

WHO Prequalification Programme, as such, facilitates access to vaccines that meet the unified standards of quality, safety and efficacy as well as programme needs.

A WHO-led team of international experts from several countries came to this conclusion at the end of comprehensive review from 13-17 February 2017.

"The NRA and affiliated institutions meet WHO Global Benchmarking Tool requirements for a functional vaccine regulatory system," WHO said.

"This is indeed a great achievement and we would like to congratulate the Indian Health Ministry and its affiliated institutions - Central Drugs Standards Control Organization (CDSCO), Central Drugs Laboratory, Kasauli, Pharmacovigilance Programme and Immunization Division, and other relevant institutions engaged in the regulation, control and testing of vaccines," said Alireza Khadem, WHO Team Leader for the NRA Re-benchmarking.

Union Health secretary C K Mishra said India is one of the largest manufacturers and exporters of vaccines world-wide.

"This development further deepens our resolve to maintain the highest quality and efficacy of the products that are manufactured within our country and in this context, we look forward to strengthening our collaboration with WHO," the WHO statement quoting Mishra said. PTI TDS TIR

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Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz held a telephonic conversation with Afghan National Security Adviser (NSA) Hanif Atmar on Friday and expressed serious concerns over terrorist activities in Pakistan being operated from Afghan soil.

Sartaj Aziz also conveyed deep anguish and pain of people of Pakistan over recent terrorist attacks.

Read more: Each drop of the nation's blood shall be revenged: Gen Bajwa

He told his Afghan counterpart that banned terrorist group Jamat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), a faction of Tehreek-e-Taliban, was behind these barbaric acts of terrorism.

View more: List of 76 terrorists handed over to Afghanistan: ISPR

Advisers said it was imperative for the Afghan government to take strong action against such elements to reaffirm that its soil was not used for terrorism in Pakistan.

See more: More than 100 militants killed in operations: ISPR

However, the Afghan National Security Adviser expressed his governments condolences over the loss of lives in the recent terrorist attacks in Pakistan.
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, while addressing a press conference in Lahore on Friday, claimed that the suspects involved in planning and carrying out the Feb 13 suicide bombing on a protest at Lahore's Charing Cross belonged to Afghanistan.

During the conference, Sharif also announced the arrest of an alleged facilitator of the attacker, who he said belonged to Fata's Bajaur Agency, which neighbours Afghanistan.

Read more: Caught on CCTV: Lahore blast facilitator, other suspects arrested

The suspect's confessional statement was aired during the briefing.

Read also: Each drop of the nation's blood shall be revenged: Gen Bajwa

The suspect introduced himself as Anwar-ul-Haq, and said he hailed from a remote village in Bajaur Agency.

View more: Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine blast; 83 martyred, more than 343 injured

I was associated with Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and they trained me, said the suspect, adding that he has visited Afghanistan around 15 to 20 times.

View also: Torkham border sealed until further order

Shahbaz Sharif urged Afghan residents residing in Pakistan to call out any person they find suspicious.

See more: Peshawar: Two killed, 18 injured in Hayatabad blast

He said Pakistan had hosted Afghan migrants for more than 30 years, but some of them seemed to have turned their backs on the country.

"Please consider us your brothers and turn those you think are nefarious," he appealed.

Sharif voiced strong support for reviving military courts in the briefing, saying a lot of credit for curbing terrorism successfully in Pakistan went to them.

"PML-N government fully supports extending the tenure of military courts," he said, adding that it was "because of the fear of punishment that terror factions were hesitant before attacking".
New US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has met for the first time with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov amid turmoil in Washington over ties between the administration of President Donald Trump and Moscow.

In his first remarks to reporters since he became top US diplomat, Tillerson described Thursdays meeting with Lavrov as productive, saying that a range of bilateral issues were discussed.

The US would work with Russia when mutual cooperation is beneficial but stand up for American interests when the two sides disagree, Tillerson said in Bonn, Germany, on the sidelines of the 2017 G20 summit

Tillerson said Russia must abide by a 2015 peace deal aimed at ending fighting between Ukraines military and pro-Russian separatist forces in eastern Ukraine.

As we search for new common ground we expect Russia to honor its commitment to the Minsk agreements and work to de-escalate the violence in Ukraine, he said.

Relations between Washington and Moscow deteriorated during the administration of former President Barack Obama over the conflict in Ukraine and the crisis in Syria.

Washington and its allies have levied broad economic sanctions against Russia over its alleged support for the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine and Russia's reunification with Crimea in 2014.

Tillersons meeting with Lavrov is the highest level contact between Washington and Moscow since Trumps inauguration on January 20.

During his meeting with Tillerson, the Russian foreign minister said the situations in Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine were discussed.

Asked about the tumult in Washington at the start of the meeting, Lavrov replied, You should know we do not interfere in the domestic matters of other countries.

Former US national security adviser Mike Flynn resigned under pressure on Monday after he misled Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with Russias ambassador to the US.

The resignation of Flynn caps a remarkably turbulent first month for the White House that has burdened the early days of Trumps presidency with scandal, legal challenges, personnel drama and questions about his temperament during interactions with world leaders.
By Press Trust of India: Ranchi, Feb 17 (PTI) Jharkhand government and Microsoft India today inked an MoU to leverage cloud technologies to drive the states digital ambitions.

The MoU will support the state government to explore cloud, machine learning and mobile based solutions to improve citizen services and provide better facilities in the fields of education and agriculture, a Microsoft India release said.

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The MoU was signed at the Momentum Jharkhand: Global Investors Summit & Trade Exhibition.

Jharkhand government has been using an advanced IT infrastructure to provide citizen services and driving technology led programmes like Skill India and Digital India.

The MoU will help the government access the best of Microsofts technology and expertise for the improvement of digital services to citizens and drive digital inclusion in the state, the release said.

It said that Microsoft has been working closely with several state governments in the country to support their digital infrastructure, enhance their citizen services and drive efficiencies in their administrative and governance operations. PTI PVR NN LNS

--- ENDS ---
Delegates from the Syrian government and opposition groups have attended a fresh round of peace negotiations in Astana, Kazakhstan, in a new phase of the diplomatic process mediated by Iran, Russia and Turkey.

Thursdays discussions, which were held behind closed doors, are viewed as a warm-up in the run-up to a separate round of UN-led talks on the Syria crisis slated to be held in the Swiss city of Geneva on February 23.

A one-on-one meeting between Syrias warring sides seemed unlikely, but a plenary session involving all parties was on the agenda.

The Syrian government delegation was represented by its Permanent Representative to the United Nations Bashar al-Jaafari.

Read more: Astana talks more conducive to peace: Assad

Opposition spokesman Yehya al-Aridi said on Wednesday the opposition would be led by Mohammad Alloush, a leading figure of the Saudi-backed Jaish al-Islam militant group.

The Astana negotiations were expected to focus mostly on bolstering a Syria-wide ceasefire that has been in place since December 30, 2016.

The first round of Astana talks were similarly mediated by Tehran, Moscow and Ankara. They took place in January and brought together representatives from the Damascus government and opposition groups for the first time during nearly six years of conflict.

The trio agreed on the establishment of a mechanism to support the truce, underlined the importance of maintaining the national sovereignty of Syria, and stressed that there was no military solution to the conflict in the Arab country.

In a relevant development on Thursday, UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov exchanged views on the Syrian crisis during a meeting in Moscow.

Lavrov told the UN envoy that he hoped for progress at the upcoming Syria talks in Geneva.

He also hailed De Misturas efforts to implement UN Security Council Resolution 2254, which was unanimously adopted in December 2015 to help bring an end to the conflict in Syria.

Also read: Astana talks bolster Syrian governments legitimacy: Iran

"We tried to help by agreeing with our Turkish and Iranian colleagues on a ceasefire between the government and the opposition on a large part of the Syrian territory. We also tried to stimulate the process of implementation of resolution 2254 by introducing the political aspect in the meetings which have been held in Astana, Lavrov said.

The top Russian diplomat further underlined the need for armed opposition groups, who had signed the cessation of hostilities, to join the Syria political negotiations.

He also described Moscows introduction of a possible draft constitution for the Arab country as a stimulation for real genuine talks between all Syrians.

The UN envoy, for his part, expressed his support for the Astana initiative, saying it serves as a prerequisite for intra-Syrian talks.

"We were looking forward -- all of us -- to come here to discuss exactly what you mentioned: how to make sure that the Astana initiative -- which we strongly support, because we feel that focusing on the cessation of hostilities is the beginning of everything -- related to any negotiation in Syria, he said.

He added that the Astana initiative helps  the holding of the Geneva talks.

Read more: Delegates from Damascus, opposition groups begin peace talks in Astana

De Mistura also announced plans to meet Lavrov for further talks in the German city of Munich.

Since March 2011, Syria has been gripped by a militancy it blames on some Western states and their regional allies.

De Mistura estimated in August last year that more than 400,000 people had been killed in the crisis until then. The UN stopped its official casualty count in the war-torn country, citing its inability to verify the figures it receives from various sources.
PM Modi tweeted :"Warm birthday wishes to Telangana CM Shri K. Chandrashekar Rao Garu. May he be blessed with a long life and good health."

By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday greeted Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on his 63rd birthday.

PM Modi tweeted :"Warm birthday wishes to Telangana CM Shri K. Chandrashekar Rao Garu. May he be blessed with a long life and good health."

Modi also called up Chandrasekhar Rao to extend his greetings.

Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan also greeted the Chief Minister.

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Fresh intelligence inputs suggest that protesters in Kashmir are even likely to use petrol bombs to attack security forces, which can cause much greater damage to property and life.

By India Today Web Desk: As politics heats up after Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar backed Army chief General Bipin Rawat's remark that Kashmiri youths creating hurdles in counter-terror operations or displaying Pakistan or ISIS flags would be treated as anti-national, there are fresh intelligence inputs to suggest that protesters are even likely to use petrol bombs to attack security forces, which can cause much greater damage to property and life.

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It is learnt that Pakistan's ISI has directed its proxies in the Kashmir Valley to intensify their operations against the security forces. Women and youth are being instigated to resort to this more violent form of protest against the security forces.

On Friday, Parrikar had come out in support of Army Chief General Bipin Rawat's statement. Rawat had warned those attacking security forces during anti-militancy operations of "tough action". Rawat said, "Those supporting terror activities are being given an opportunity to join the national mainstream but if they continue with their acts, security forces will come down hard on them."

WHAT PARRIKAR SAID

Parrikar had said, "In CICT (Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorism) operations, government has given a total, free hand to the Army to crack down on terrorists. Anyone who obstructs is obviously trying to help terrorists."

"Those who obstruct the operations are trying to protect the terrorists and his (General Rawat's) comment is based on that. In these matters, the decision to act will be the commanding (officer) or the officer who is on the spot. It cannot be generalised," Parrikar told India Today.

Also read | Political row erupts in Kashmir as Parrikar supports General Rawat's warning

JAMMU AND KASHMIR GOVT ISSUES ADVISORY

Jammu and Kashmir government has issued an advisory for people of the state, asking them to stay away from encounter sites.

The purpose of the move is to prevent mobs, who indulge in stone-pelting to shield terrorists and hamper counter-terror operations, from assembling.

"Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code would be strictly enforced around encounter sites", Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir Baseer Ahmed Khan was quoted as saying.

CONGRESS, BJP FIGHT IT OUT

Replying to a query on the Army chief's remarks, Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said restraint should be adopted by security forces while dealing with people in the state.

After BJP accused Congress of speaking the language of separatists and playing politics over Army chief Bipin Rawat's remarks that affected the morale of jawans, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala hit back, saying, "Please tell if their morale wasn't affected as 188 jawans were martyred in 30 months in terror attacks but Modiji couldn't contain Pakistan".

DrJitendraSingh-Pl tell if morale of Jawans isn't effected as MPBJP members are caught teaming with the ISI & running a racket to spy onArmy Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) February 17, 2017

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The BJP had earlier accused the Congress of speaking in the voice of separatists and politicising the Army for "lowly political gains" while defending Rawat's statement on tough action against locals hampering counter-militancy operations in Kashmir.

VOICES FROM OTHER OPPOSITION PARTIES

Other Opposition parties have also slammed the Centre's handling of the situation in Kashmir.

CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said, "This government's Kashmir policy is a complete failure".

National Conference leader Mustafa Kamal said, "This wanton killing, licence to kill has hurt the psyche of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and will only serve to alienate them from New Delhi."

Also read | Parrikar endorses Gen Rawat's warning: Army has free hand in dealing with Kashmiris aiding militants

The development has even left the PDP and BJP, the two ruling parties in the Jammu and Kashmir government, speaking in different voices.

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PDP leader Sartaj Madani said, "The Army chief should not have said what he did. We are only interested in embracing those Kashmiri youth, who have drifted away from us and feel alienated."

BURHAN WANI'S KILLING TRIGGERED UNREST

This is likely to make it much more difficult for the Army to rein in protesters. The Army has been asked by the Centre to exercise maximum restraint after several Kashmiri youths suffered serious injuries by pellet guns in the wake of the unrest in the Valley following militant Burhan Wani's killing in July last year.

Following the unrest, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Burhan Wani Ghulam Nabi Azad had written an open letter to PM Modi, slamming the Centre for its 'indifference' towards the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Over a 100 people were killed in the unrest.

Azad had said, "7,000-8,000 civilians and security forces are injured in the unrest. Use of pellet guns has made hundreds of people blind. In such a situation, we don't have a statement from the central government, especially from the Prime Minister. All these force a person to think whether there is a government at the Centre."

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WATCH VIDEO

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Batten down the hatches as the MetService has issued a severe weather warning for the Bay of Plenty and Waikato.

Further significant heavy rain and isolated thunderstorms are anticipated this afternoon and Saturday, with the heaviest falls expected about the Eastern Waikato, Taupo, and Western Bay.

The cruddy weather is being caused by a trough of low pressure over the North Island, which is expected to extend down to central New Zealand today and then become slow moving during the weekend and gradually weaken.

In the 36 hours from 9am Friday to 9pm Saturday, expect 100 to 140mm on top of what has already fallen.

Rainfall intensities may reach 15 to 25mm per hour at times with localised downpours of 25 to 40mm per hour possible in any thunderstorms, especially this afternoon and again Saturday afternoon.

MetService warns this amount of rain will cause rivers and streams to rise rapidly and may lead to surface flooding and slips.

Severe weather watches and warnings have been issued for the majority of the North Island.

The New Zealand Transport Agency is urging all road users to take extra care this weekend and check the latest conditions in both the Bay of Plenty and Waikato.

NZTA Journey Manager Liam Ryan says with all this rain people may see some flooding or slips and they should take extra care.

All people who are using the roads should reduce their speed and increase their following distances.

As conditions can change rapidly, check the latest weather and road updates before you head out.

Keep up to date with the latest forecasts and any watches/warnings at metservice.com or on mobile devices at m.metservice.com.

You can also follow updates on MetService TV, on Facebook, @metservice and @MetServiceWARN on Twitter and at blog.metservice.com
A big step taken this week towards building a new clubhouse for the Papamoa Surf Life Saving Club is being welcomed by club chairman Andrew Hitchfield.

Tauranga City Councils approval of the clubs business case means the only major hurdle remaining before the club embarks on serious fund raising is the resource consent, says Andrew.

We submitted a business case last December, we met with them last Tuesday and the feedback I had from the Tuesday meeting is it went through and they unanimously supported it going through into the Annual Plan.

Its a big hurdle. The resource consent is in process, I think we are just about there with that.

The resource consent is a big factor for the club in terms of seriously moving ahead in terms of getting more detailed design and time frames.

The city councils cornerstone support of $1.2 million represents about 20-25 per cent of the total cost, says Andrew.

The current total project cost estimate is $3.9 million.

Having the confidence of the council supporting our business case allows us to go out to some of the bigger funders and seek funding from them, says Andrew.

With the addition of $400,000 from the Tauranga Energy consumers Trust, they are about a third of the way, but the club wont start building until it has full funding.

From a club perspective its pretty exciting, says Andrew. Papamoa Surf Life Saving Club now has 850 members up from 750 last year.

When the current clubrooms were built in 1990 the club had 90 members. In 2000 they added a big storage area to accommodate 150-200 members.

Now they have more than 800 members and a building that is basically falling down. The building has to have a warrant of fitness for its continued use by surf life savers.

The challenge to us is we really dont want to invest too much in the current building to keep it health and safety compliant, says Andrew.

Every year that goes past theres a risk that theres something major that we will have to fix immediately to keep it there.

The Councils Coastal Reserves Management Plan explicitly references the poor condition and inadequacy of present surf club facilities, as well as projecting that additional capability / facilities will be required 5-6km east of Papamoa in the foreseeable future.

The club is already patrolling at Papamoa East and maintains a flagged area over the peak periods. The club is looking at a satellite facility there in future, says Andrew.

Other background is provided in the business case report.

Taurangas population is projected to grow from 115,000 people in 2012 to an estimated 199,000 people in 2051 according to SmartGrowth population projections.

Papamoas population is expected to increase by 56 per cent from 20,091 in 2013 (census count) to exceed 30,000 by 2028. This compares to 28 per cent growth across the rest of the city.

Tauranga is one of the sunniest places in New Zealand. In 2013 Tauranga recorded 2,515 sunshine hours, a mean temperature of 15.8 degrees Celsius. In 2013 Tauranga was the sunniest of the six main centres and the second sunniest location in New Zealand after Whakatane.

Over time it is expected that the percentage of Asian, Maori and Pacific Peoples will increase, while European will decrease. This reflects a national trend due to differing birth rates and overseas immigrants to New Zealand. This is relevant in the context of providing enhanced surf lifesaving services in the Western Bay of Plenty, as these ethnicities are overrepresented in NZ drowning statistics.
By Press Trust of India: From K J M Varma

Beijing, Feb 17 (PTI) The relatives of Kim Jong-Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un, have been placed under protection in Macau after his murder in Malaysia, according to a media report.

The circumstances surrounding Jong-Nams death are still being investigated and both his family and local authorities are now grappling with the consequences of the killing, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

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The Macau secretary for security Wong Sio Chak said in a statement that he would not reveal any details about the case or the eventual security measures being taken to protect Jong-Nams relatives, but said that the authorities were paying close attention to the development of the case.

Over the past few days, there have been reports of the US and the South Korean government sources saying they believed North Korean agents murdered Jong-Nam.

Jong-Nam, who moved to Macau, a special administrative region of China, in the early 2000s and was a frequent traveller, had survived an earlier attempt on his life in 2012.

Jong-Nams second wife Lee Hye-Kyong along with two other relativeshave been living in the former Portuguese colony, whereas his first wife and son reside in Beijing.

"She is very simple, always in good spirits and a very open person...but we never talked about North Korea," a source was quoted as saying.

Both Han-sol, who studied in Bosnia and France, and Sol-hui were raised and educated in international schools in Macau.

"The kids had a very normal childhood, they were very active, attended activities...it wasnt like they we hiding or anything," she said.

"Until now, they had always felt safe in Macau," the source said.

In Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, had said China is keeping a close watch on the events unfolding about the murder of Kim Jong-nam. PTI KJV ASK AKJ ASK

--- ENDS ---
Joined by Paul Gonzalez Morgan of Gibraltar Shipping, we discover how its facilities continue to accommodate more and more members of the superyacht community and how the culture of yachting in Gibraltar is growing exponentially.

Connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, the rock, city and marina of Gibraltar is a major point in naval history and yachting culture.

With S/Y A, the world's most futuristic yacht, docking in Gibraltar this week we take a look at the rise of superyacht attendace over 2016/17 (spotted by Daniel Ferro).

Paul Gonzalez Morgan of Gibraltar Shipping states that the upturn in arrivals of superyachts is continuing to grow, as is the Governments focus on keeping them there. "Gibraltar is a consolidated Maritime Centre of Excellence, and is becoming increasingly popular as a port of call for superyachts.

Superyacht and regular yacht owners have access to a full range of competitive marine services, including bunker fuel, supply provisions, spare parts and high quality berthing, within a safe and regulated framework.

Superyacht calls have increased by 23% in 2016, generally driven by the demand for bunkers which has also increased over the last twelve months.

The Gibraltar Port Authority (GPA) is actively promoting these services, working closely with the private sector with a view to developing the infrastructure demanded by this selective customer base. The recently built Mid Harbour Marina offers over 500 metres of deep berthing space for superyachts who often use Gibraltar as a place for crew to rest, in/outbound transfers, as well as replenishing stores before transiting the Atlantic or moving back to the Mediterranean."

As Gibraltar continues to grow as a luxury hotspot, with new marinas and luxury developments updating the global perspective of the rock, superyachts continue to use the British overseas territory as a testing ground, berthing area and, in time, a hub for charter as the gateway to the Mediterranean.
Antonio Javier Lopez

Redactor

Malaga (1978). Antonio Javier studied Journalism and Advanced Studies at Malaga University. He joined SUR in 1999 and has specialised in Arts and Culture since 2004. He won the first Ciudad de Malaga Prize for Journalism.
The climate, the food, the quality of life: these are just some of the Spanish delights which attract Americans so much. At least, that is the perception that Marina Llorente has, after many years living in their country. The stereotype of wild Spanish nightlife, she says, is mainly among young people. For those who know better, the main attraction is the country's history.

It was Michelle Obama who placed Marbella on the map for Americans. Marina says that her hometown has become an interesting holiday destination for middle and upper class Americans ever since the former First Lady spent a few days there.

The picturesque historic town centre, the seafront, Puerto Banus, the 'pescaito frito' fried fish, the hotels and the cuisine hold a powerful attraction for those who long for a few days' relaxation, Spanish-style.
The Estepona and Manilva branch of Age Concern has a new president after Eileen Dry recently stood down due to ill health. The organisation's press officer, Tony Aldous, has been appointed in her place. The new president said of Eileen: "She has worked ceaselessly for the charity without thought for her wellbeing. So many people are grateful for the help and guidance she has given them."

The organisation has also announced that the Age Concern drop-in centre in Calle Zaragoza will be closing on 31 March. "The emphasis in the future will be about taking Age Concern to the people rather than expecting the people to come to Age Concern!" said the new president.
"I wouldn't hold out much hope. Just give him love." That was what Nicol was told just a few months after giving birth to her son Johann Sebastian, whom she named after the famous composer, almost as a premonition.

However this woman, who was born in Italy and lived in Venezuela until a little under two years ago, disregarded that advice and drove huge distances to take Johann to every specialist she thought might be able to help him overcome the endless problems with which he came into the world after an eight month pregnancy. Possible hydrocephalus, spasticity, tonic asymmetry, motor retardation, a cerebral cyst with the risk of growing and becoming malignant...

"At first I only paid attention to the physical and motor problems because they were the most evident and most urgent, so it wasn't until later that we saw some signs of autism, especially the selective mutism. He would only speak to people when he wanted to, and he would only communicate by singing. We encouraged that because we thought it would be good for him," explains Nicol, who continued to consult specialists because she was convinced that Johann was showing signs of improvement.

"We need to get used to growing up in an environment marked by diversity and coexistence"

At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with slight autism and a year or two later it was confirmed that he had Asperger's. "That gave me a certain tranquility, but no more than that. In Venezuela there are no special schools, the teachers don't really understand the disorder and nobody could help us in that aspect. Life there is complicated even for people without any disabilities or disorders, so for those who do the situation is infinitely worse.

"For example, for people with Asperger's it is very important to follow their normal routines, but how can you do that in a place where at any moment you might have to get off a bus because somebody's about to rob you? How do you explain that they have to stop reading because there is a power cut and you don't know when there might be light again?" she asks.

However, Nicol's academic training (she teaches physical education to children with special needs) and her positive attitude meant that she kept looking for the best way for Johann to overcome his social and affective problems. She channelled all her efforts into the talent that her little boy had shown for music, specifically opera singing.

A couple of years ago, when he was 19, Nicol was told that Johann could have a very exciting future in music, but it would mean leaving Venezuela. So, the family packed their bags and moved to Ocana (Toledo) from where this tenor in the making travels to Madrid to attend classes at the Escuela Superior de Canto, as well as to his performances with the JORCAM (Community of Madrid Youth Choir) and rehearsals with the choir for other people with Asperger's, whom he helps as a volunteer.

"Paradoxically, Johann adapted to a new life in Spain faster than we did. We are delighted and very grateful for the welcome we have received here," says Nicol, who also helps in group sessions for parents from the Asperger's Association of Madrid.

On 18 February, International Asperger's Day, that association and others will attempt to give visibility to a disorder about which there is a great lack of understanding. In many cases, it looks as if there is nothing wrong with the person. In less severe cases, they can just seem unusual, rude or a bit manic, but Asperger's always causes suffering and it can be a real handicap.

"We need to get used to growing up in an environment marked by diversity and coexistence, rather than just tolerance. There is room for everyone in this world and fortunately there are tools to make it possible," says Nicol.

Johann has been closely following our conversation, taking notes, clarifying and expanding on it when he thought it necessary.

"I don't want to seem egocentric, but I am living proof that everyone has a talent, but it has to be discovered and empowered. You can progress a great deal if you work at it. Before, I used to be cold and antisocial. I didn't like anyone to touch me. I found it hard at school because of the other pupils and even some of the teachers, but thanks to music, my mother, my brother, my mother's partner, who I think of as a father, and the teachers I have had recently, I started to improve my social skills and make friends. Now I know how to hug someone, I'm independent and I know what it is to fall in love. It's not easy, but nothing is in life and there are definitely people in far worse situations than mine," says Johann, giving us a fierce hug to say goodbye.

He starts to walk away and then comes back to remind us that we have promised to mention his girlfriend Ana.

She also has Asperger's and would have liked to have taken part in the interview, but she was unable to do so because she was sitting exams at university.
Every year in Spain about 1,100 children are diagnosed with cancer, of whom about 60 are in Malaga. The positive side of this is that nearly 80 per cent of them are cured. These figures were revealed recently in a moving event which took place on the steps outside the Materno Infantil hospital on the International Day against Child Cancer. Three girls (Deborah, Manal and Almudena) who have all recovered from tumor, read a statement in which they sent a message of hope to patients and their families and called for further research into treatments to beat the disease.

The event was attended by the provincial health delegate, Ana Isabel Gonzalez; the manager of the Carlos Haya regionalhospital, Emiliano Nuevo; the director of the Materno hospital, Hilario Lopez; councillors Julio Andrade and Estefania Martin Palop and representatives of the United Development against Cancer group, which is formed by several associations, among others.

When the girls finished reading the statement, there was a mass release of balloons.

Paediatric oncologist Guiomar Gutierrez said that last year 59 children were diagnosed with cancer at theMaterno hospital, 19 of them with acute leukemia and 40 with solid tumors. Dr Gutierrez explained that the survival rate for children with cancer ranges from 75 to 80 per cent, five years after being diagnosed. She stressed how important it is for pediatricians to be able to identify the symptoms which could indicate that a child may be suffering from cancer.

Meanwhile haematologist Pedro Ruiz pointed out that the rate of cure for lymphoblastic leukemia, which is the most common type in children, can be as high as 90 per cent. He said that children are better able to withstand chemotherapy sessions than adults.

The provincial Health delegate pointed out that thanks to advances in treatments and the quality of public health care, a high percentage of children with cancer have overcome the illness. She paid tribute to the work of the professionals who treat child patients.

The manager of the Carlos Haya hospital also stressed that it is essential to make life as pleasant as possible for children during the time they have to stay at the Materno.
Salvador Garcia, former regional director of cultural tourism for TUI, has retired after more than 40 years in the tourist industry.

Torremolinos town hall organised an event at the Hotel Don Pedro in Playamar to honour Garcia's outstanding achievements within tourism in the area. Personalities and friends came from as far as London, Paris and Mallorca.

Jose Ortiz, mayor of Torremolinos, presented the former director with a miniature replica of the Pimental tower - the Torre de los Molinos - the emblematic mill which gave the town its name.

In his speech, Ortiz said, "It is because of the continued work of professionals like Salvador that Torremolinos has the level of tourism that it has today."

Garcia, who has spent his entire working life promoting tourism in Andalucia, began his career at the age of seventeen.

In 1967, he joined the Ultramar Express agency, which had its offices in Calle San Miguel and was later assigned to the TUI headquarters in Malaga.

In 1986, he was appointed regional director of the Cultural Tourism Centre and he was fundamental in the promotion of tourism for Spain. Salvador was a member of the Torremolinos tourist board, and he was recognised as 'Tourism Personality' during the Tourist Day celebrations in Torremolinos in 2014.
Police continue to search for the driver of a hire car that was involved in a hit-and-run incident in Benalmadena on Sunday.

A 41-year-old Swedish man suffered multiple injuries, including a blow to the head and serious bruising, after his bike was hit by a car on Avenida del Sol at 7.25am. The driver failed to stop after the accident.

The victim, who was conscious the whole time, was rushed to Malaga's Clinico hospital after the accident to undergo tests.

The vehicle involved, a Nissan Note, which turned out to belong to a car hire firm, was located in Torremolinos on Monday. Its damage was consistent with the broken pieces of bumper and fog light found at the scene of the accident. Its occupant at the time, though, still hasn't been located. Information provided by the car hire company shows that the driver was a French national, of north African origin, but that the address he provided was both incomplete and false.
Despite only entering the competition days before it took place, three young scientists have worked their way into the final after they developed and presented their project in just 24 hours.

Competitors were told to create something that could accelerate interplanetary human evolution in a sustainable way. Therefore student Jose Maria Ortega Hernandez, biologist Gonzalo Rocada Romero and engineer Julian Serrano Arabal, all 23, who successfully designed a model which aims to study seed growth on the moon, have made it into the top 25 of approximately 3,400 entrants.

The only Spanish finalists, the Malaga trio's creation is apparently simple but would be crucial for the implementation of a human settlement on the moon. The prototype will essentially be composed of four test tubes, each containing different mixtures of 'soil' from both the Earth and the Moon. From this, they hope to be able to observe what the optimum conditions are for seeds to germinate on the Earth's satellite.

The young scientists are also receiving advice and support from numerous experts, including Professor Jesus Manuel Gomez de Gabriel from the University of Malaga and the DHVTechnology company from Techonology Park of Andalusia (PTA). With their help, the team intend to build the tin-sized prototype using 'Makerbeam' technology, which consists of small aluminium profiles that can be modified to adjust components.

The winner will be chosen in spring after competitors have completed the final challenge proposed by TeamIndus. This Google-funded Indian engineering company intends to land on the moon in January 2018 with the help of the country's space agency (ISRO). The three Malaga scientists hope to see their creation go to the Moon with them.

SUR contacted Paul Edward, an engineer with expertise in structures and mechanisms, who acted as a mentor to the young scientists, and also has connections at TeamIndus. "The project has truly great potential, due to the originality of the idea and the people involved. If it is well developed, they have a great chance of it being sent to the moon," he said.
By Press Trust of India: From M Zulqernain

Lahore, Feb 16 (PTI) Pakistans Punjab police today announced Rs one million reward for any information about the identity of suspected facilitator of the Lahore blast, even as elite commandos killed six militants belonging to a faction of the Taliban that claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.

"The facilitator is said to be the person who brought the suicide attacker to the bomb site," Punjabs Counter-Terrorism Department spokesperson said, announcing Rs 1 million reward.

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The name and identity of the person who shares the crucial information will be kept secret, the Express Tribune quoted the spokesperson as saying.

Police have released a sketch of the suicide bomber made with the help of eyewitnesses.

Senior police officers were among 14 people killed when the suicide bomber blew himself up targeting them during a protest rally on Monday outside Punjab assembly in Lahore that also wounded 73 others.

The Jamat-ul-Ahrar faction of the outlawed Tehreek-i- Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.

Lahore Traffic Police chief Capt (R) AhmedMobeen and SSP Zahid Gondal were killed in the attack.

The Crime Investigation Department of Punjab police along with the elite commandos raided a hideout of terrorists in Khanewal district yesterday and killed them in an encounter.

"Six militants have been killed. Four terrorists managed to escape," the spokesman said, adding the identity of the terrorists killed in the raid is being established.

According to the Counter-Terrorism Department spokesman, Jamat-ul-Ahrar terrorists were planning to launch attacks in Khanewal district and their targets were vital installations, government and law enforcement agencies offices.

Two hand grenades, as automatic rifles and pistols have been recovered from the hideout. He said the further investigation into the matter is underway.

The action of law enforcement agencies against Jamat-ul- Ahrar terrorists came three days after the suicide attack. PTI MZ UZM ZH AKJ ZH

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Miriam Gonzalez Durantez recently received an invitation to take part in an event to mark the International Day of Women on 8 March. She was not surprised to have been invited, as she has been very active in women's rights, but she was surprised that the invitation was addressed to 'Mrs Clegg'.

She is married to former Liberal Democrat party leader and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, but such was her displeasure at being addressed in such a way that she posted the invitation on Instagram and described it as "ironic".

A similar situation arose in Parliament recently, when prime minister Theresa May referred to the Shadow Foreign Minister Emily Thornberry, who is married to judge Lord Nugee, as 'Lady Nugee'. Thornberry was quick to protest, asking if it was correct for the prime minister to address a member of the House of Commons by her husband's surname instead of her own.

Miriam Gonzalez's objection aroused interest in the media. Some newspapers supported her, but an article in the Daily Mail accused her of being aggressively feminist and there were some very negative comments from readers.

The tradition of women adopting their husband's surname dates back to the Middle Ages and was introduced by the Norman invaders, and most British women follow suit. In Spain, women retain their parents' surnames.

However, one comment pointed out that women never have a surname of their own. If they want to swap their father's for their husband's, there really isn't much difference.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has received the overall backing of his Partido Popular party at its 18th conference held in Madrid. Rajoy was re-elected leader for the fourth time with almost 96 per cent of the vote. Speaking after the result the PM said: "This result is an honour for me as this party has been my whole life."

The vote was seen as a boost forRajoy, whose minority government is currently trying to negotiate parliamentary approval of its annual budget.
This week, Nick Clegg's Spanish wife Miriam Gonzalez Durantez remarked on the irony of being addressed as "Mrs Clegg" on an invitation to an event organised to mark international women's day.

Understanding surname acquisition is one of those issues that inevitably come up in a conversation between a Briton and a Spaniard, each finding it hard to digest the other's explanations. I was brought up with mums and dads, aunties and uncles, family units, all sharing the same surname. Today, I don't think I'm wrong in saying that the majority of women in the UK still take on their husband's surname when they marry.

It's one of those things that I took for granted and didn't give much thought to, until, that is, I found myself looking at my home country and its traditions from the outside, through the eyes of a foreigner. Some things then become very hard to explain.

The same thing happens though when the Spaniard tries to explain his or her two surnames to someone from the UK. Carrying both your father's and mother's surnames with you forever may appear further removed from the times when women were considered their husbands' possessions than the British system, however any superiority claims in the field of gender equality are dubious. Here the father's name comes first; changing the order was only made legal relatively recently and a minority actually take advantage of that possibility.

The important thing though is what's behind the name, whether the woman, labelled as "wife of" or "daughter of", is treated equally or not in society. Spain still carries the "machista" stigma, but neither country fares too well in the daily race to equality. Breaking the "glass ceiling" is a work-in-progress worldwide, but numerous scenes in everyday life show that certain ideas aren't changing. You only have to look into the car next to you at the traffic light. If it is occupied by a couple or family it's more likely that the man is in the driver's seat. The house is still considered a woman's responsibility, even when both have jobs, and men proudly claim they "help" rather than just get on and "do".

Miriam Gonzalez Durantez has drawn attention to a custom that remains in place out of tradition and inertia. But doing away with it wouldn't change the minds of those few who still think of a woman as a possession. Cases of domestic violence still fill the courts and the hospitals - whatever the surname.
In a crackdown on terrorists after attack on Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine, security forces in Pakistan have killed at least 37 terrorists. The counter terror operations have been launched across Pakistan.

By India Today Web Desk: Within hours of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine attack at Sehwan in Sindh province of Pakistan, the Nawaz Sharif government launched a crackdown on the terrorists early this morning.

The security forces in Pakistan killed at least 37 terrorists in encounters following the Sehwan bombing that killed about 100 devotees, who were present at the Shahbaz Qalandar shrine yesterday night.

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READ| Top developments: ISIS bombs Pakistan's Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine, kills 100 people

CRACKDOWN AFTER SEHWAN BOMBING: THINGS TO KNOW A statement from the Sindh Rangers said that the terrorists were killed in various encounters at six different places with the law enforcement agencies. Sindh Rangers said that maximum number of terrorists were killed in Karachi where at least 18 were eliminated. In other operations, six were killed in Orakzai, four in Bannu's Bakka Khel, two in a police encounter in Dera Ismail Khan, three others were shot dead in Peshawar during search operation while two were killed in Sargodha. Terrorist group Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the Sehwan attack, which was the eighth major terror attack in Pakistan in five days. Agencies quoted Pakistan government officials as saying that the federal and provincial agencies are working in tandem as the security forces started a countrywide crackdown on the terrorists. The counter-terror offensive is expected to continue for few days. At Sehwan, the Sindh police have cordoned off the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine of the 13th-century Sufi saint of the same name. A huge gathering of the devotees was there at the shrine when a suicide bomber attacked the place, where blood-stains can be seen, shoes, shawls and other belongings of the victims could be seen. More than 20 children were believed to be among the dead. The number casualties was high as there was not a single hospital in the radius of 50-60 kilometres. The provincial government has announced a state mourning of three days.

(With inputs from agencies)

--- ENDS ---
At least 100 people were killed and more than 250 were injured after a suicide bomber targetted Pakistan's holiest Sufi shrine.

By India Today Web Desk: More than 100 people were killed in the latest attack in a series of terrorist strikes that have targeted Pakistan this week. The so-called Islamic State, or ISIS, claimed responsibility for Thursday's suicide bombing in which more than 250 people suffered injuries.

The Pakistani administration responded strongly, with the country's army chief vowing immediate revenge and saying that restraint would not be shown for anyone. The attack came days after at least 16 people were killed in a suicide blast in the city of Lahore.

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Top developments from Thursday's attack: The suicide bombing attack targeted Sindh province's Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine, killing at least 100 people and injuring more than 250 others. The holy site, located in the town of Sehwan, is Pakistan's most revered Sufi shrine and is dedicated to Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, a 13th-century saint. The attack specifically targeted a spot inside the shrine where the 'Dhamaal' Sufi ritual was being performed. A local police officer said there were between 500 and 800 people inside the shrine at the time of the attack. Thursday evening is considered to be the holiest time to pray in the shrine. ISIS, via its news agency AMAQ, claimed responsibility for the attack. The terrorist organisation said a suicide bomber "exploded his vest in...Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Pakistan's south Sindh province." Following the attack, an emergency was declared in nearby hospitals. The Pakistani military's C 130 aircraft were pressed into service for air evacuations with the armed forces' spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor saying those injured would be treated at Pakistan Air Force hospitals as well. Referring to the recent attacks that have struck the country, including the one in Lahore where at least 16 people died, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said, "The past few days have been hard, and my heart is with the victims. But we can't let these events divide us, or scare us. We must stand united in this struggle for the Pakistani identity, and universal humanity." The Pakistani army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, vowed revenge for the attacks. General Bajwa told Pakistani citizens, "Your security forces shall not allow hostile powers to succeed. We stand for our nation." General Bajwa added, "Each drop of nation's blood shall be revenged, and revenged immediately. No more restraint for anyone." Blaming terror groups operating from Afghanistan soil, the Pakistani army sealed the Afghan-Pakistan border. Maj Gen Gafoor confirmed that the Pakistan-Afghanistan border had been shut with immediate effect. The European Union, United Nations and the United States were among the first international voices to condemn the deadly attack. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement, "The United Nations supports the government of Pakistan in its fight against terrorism in full respect of international and human rights norm." Mark Toner, the acting US State Department spokesman, decried the attack and said, "We will continue to work with the Government of Pakistan and our partners across the region to combat the threat of terrorism."

Click here to Enlarge Pakistani students lit candles to condemn the attack on the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (AP photo)

Also read: Suicide blast rocks Lahore's Mall Road, 16 including 2 senior cops killed

Watch video

--- ENDS ---
HOLLAND PATENT, NY - A suspicious package found on Elm Street in the village of Holland Patent prompted a shelter-in-place for students at Holland Patent elementary and middle schools this afternoon, police said.

When the suspicious package was discovered at 12:40 p.m. today, Holland Patent district officials used the shelter-in-place as a safety precaution because of the package's proximity to the school, according to Oneida County sheriff's deputies.

The area was secured, and a reverse 911 call made to advise nearby residents to stay indoors, deputies said.

Police have now determined nothing hazardous or explosive was found within the package.
Trump wines

Bottles from Trump Winery are pictured in Charlottesville, Virginia.

(facebook.com/TrumpWinery)

Did a threat to boycott Wegmans over products with President Donald Trump's name backfire?

The Rochester-based grocery store chain came under fire this week for carrying Trump wines at its 10 Virginia locations. The bottles come from the Trump Winery in Charlottesville, Va., bought by Trump in 2011 and given to his son, Eric Trump.

The National Organization for Women and other critics encouraged shoppers to take their business elsewhere, despite Wegmans' cult following and positive reputation. "Let's demonstrate through economic action that the residents and businesses of Charlottesville will not stand for the hatred espoused by Eric Trump and those like him," the protest group Stop Trump Wine said.

However, the attention may have encouraged Trump supporters to buy more of the wines.

"As of late yesterday, we had sold out many varieties in our (Virginia) stores, and in some cases, all varieties," Jo Natale, vice president of media relations for Wegmans, told the Democrat & Chronicle Friday. "For example, our two Richmond stores had completely sold out. Other stores had inventory of some varieties."

A liquor store owner in Henrietta, N.Y., told the newspaper that he was also seeing increased demand: "Some people, sight-unseen, would just buy bottles of it."

Wegmans Midlothian SOLD OUT of Trump wines pic.twitter.com/LhPC7tEW8X  TriciaChismerGustin (@ChismerTricia) February 15, 2017

Not all Wegmans stores are legally able to sell wine, but they can special order products for customers. The grocer's Virginia locations sell 237 different wines from 58 wineries in the state; the Trump Winery's bottles have appeared in those Wegmans since 2008, three years before Trump bought and renamed the Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard.

Natale said earlier this week that Wegmans would continue to stock products based on how well they sell, not politics.

"Our role as a retailer is to offer choice to our customers," she said.

"Individual shoppers who feel strongly about an issue can demonstrate their convictions by refusing to buy a product," Natale continued. "When enough people do the same, and sales of a product drop precipitously, we stop selling that product in favor of one that's in greater demand."

Nordstrom said it removed Ivanka Trump's line based on poor sales, but still drew attacks from President Trump and his aides. Other businesses have faced similar controversies if they support Trump -- like Under Armour and Uber -- or if they show any signs of opposition, like Nordstorm, Burlington Coat Factory, and Sears.
snowmobile racing.jpg

The ice thickness on the scheduled drag racing strip on Oneida Lake for this Saturday's competition was 19 inches earlier this week.

(Photo courtesy of Northeast Snowmobile Racing)

Feel the need for speed this winter?

A snowmobile racing circuit in Upstate New York may be the ticket.

Northeast Snowmobile Racing Inc., based in Central New York, has scheduled a series of 14 events across the Northeast this winter - including a hill climb competition beginning at 7 p.m. Friday night at Woods Valley Ski Slope in Westernville (just north of Rome, N.Y.) and one Saturday on Oneida Lake's eastern end at Sylvan Beach.

Saturday's event, the "Harpoon 500," which will have a drag-racing format. It's expected to draw 75 to 100 top-notch snowmobile racers with high-priced, powerful sleds from across the state and beyond, said Justin Hulsizer, of Onondaga Hill, who is president of Northeast Snowmobile Racing.

Hulsizer said there will be nine separate divisions of racers in Saturday's event, with winners potentially getting up to $1,000 each, depending on the entrants in each division. The entry fee is $100 for competing in a division.

"We're expecting sleds that can go up to 150 mph or more," he said.

The 660-foot ice strip that the snowmobilers will be racing on Saturday will be located on the lake in front of Harpoon Eddie's, a Sylvan Beach restaurant/bar. There's no charge for spectators.

Registration for those racing will open at 8 a.m., with qualifying heats starting at noon. The finals will begin at 1 p.m. Those attending can park on Park Avenue, any open spaces along the river and "if need be there is a parking lot between the beach and river that can be used," Hulsizer said.

The weather this winter hasn't been the best for snowmobile racing or snowmobiles in general on frozen waterways. There have been 10 fatalities reported this winter on frozen lakes. Hulsizer said he has already had to cancel three schedule races at other locales.

Temperatures are expected Saturday to rise into the 50s. Hulsizer, though, is confident the Oneida Lake event will go on.

He said the track where they'll take place is on ice that earlier this week proved to be extremely safe. It's over water that's 3 1/2 to 4 feet deep.

"We drilled several holes" and the ice was 19 inches thick, he said.

In addition, he added, "We had two, Chevrolet, 2,500-pound trucks on the ice with plows on them (clearing the track)." The track runs parallel to the shoreline.

Hulsizer stressed "safety is our number one concern. If it wasn't safe, I'd pull the plug immediately."

Northeast Snowmobile Racing Inc, he said, is two years old and this is the first event the series has held on Oneida Lake. In addition to drag racing on ice, Hulsizer and his partner, Rob Hughes, of Vernon ,have scheduled flat drags (drag races with snowmobiles on flat, snowy surfaces on land), hill drags on ski hills -- and during the warmer months, grass drag races.

For more about Saturday's event and the Northeast Snowmobile Racing schedule for the remainder of the winter, see group's Facebook page, "Northeast Snowmobile Racing."
Irene Aguilar,Christina Postolowski

State Sen. Dr. Irene Aguilar, D-Denver, left, stands with activist Christina Postolowski, of the group Young Invincibles, as supporters of the Affordable Care Act who are also opponents of Colorado's GOP-led plan to undo Colorado's state-run insurance exchange hold a rally on the state Capitol steps in Denver, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017.

(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Top House Republicans unveiled a rough sketch of a massive health care overhaul to rank-and-file lawmakers Thursday, but a lack of detail, cost estimates and GOP unity left unresolved the problem that's plagued them for years: What's the party's plan and can Congress pass it?

At a closed-door meeting in the Capitol basement, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and other party leaders described a broad vision for voiding much of President Barack Obama's 2010 statute and replacing it with conservative policies. It features a revamped Medicaid program for the poor, tax breaks to help people pay doctors' bills and federally subsidized state pools to assist those with costly medical conditions in buying insurance.

Lawmakers called the ideas options, and many were controversial. One being pushed by Ryan and other leaders would replace the tax increases in Obama's law with new levies on the value of some employer-provided health plans -- a political no-fly zone for Republicans averse to tax boosts.

"You have to legislate with a sense of political reality," said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., who said backing that proposal "would set up an ad against you from multiple directions" during upcoming elections.

The scant health care progress mirrors a lack of movement on other issues in a capital run by the GOP. No proposals have surfaced to pursue President Donald Trump's campaign promises to build a border wall with Mexico or buttress the nation's infrastructure, and Republicans have yet to coalesce around another priority, revamping the nation's tax code.

Senate Republicans have criticized a House GOP plan to change how corporations are taxed. Trump has said he will release his own proposal in the coming weeks, but nothing had been produced, drawing mockery from Democrats.

"At some point we need to move from imaginary made-up plans to things that you can read on paper," said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.

The health care outline was aimed at giving Republicans something to exhibit during next week's congressional recess, at a time of boisterous town hall meetings packed with supporters of Obama's law. Ryan told reporters that Republicans would introduce legislation voiding and replacing Obama's statute after Congress returns in late February, but offered no specifics.

Many Republicans took an upbeat tone after Thursday's meeting, with Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., saying, "We're only 27 days into the new administration, so we have time."

President Donald Trump speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. Republicans insisted Monday, Feb. 6, 2107, that they're moving ahead on their effort to void the health care law. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

But they have repeatedly failed for seven years to rally behind a substitute plan, and there are no guarantees of success in replacing a law that has extended coverage to 20 million Americans.

"We're not going to get out of this overnight," Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., said of the overall effort.

There are sure clashes ahead this time over crucial specifics that could jeopardize the entire effort. And lawmakers said they were awaiting official cost estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which could ignite other battles if the price tag is disconcertingly high.

Obama's law levied $1.1 trillion in taxes over a decade to finance its expanded coverage to millions. GOP leaders said some or all of those taxes could be repealed, with the revenue replaced by a new tax on health care that employees receive at work.

Two people familiar with the proposal said individuals would pay taxes on the value of such coverage above $12,000, and above $30,000 for families. Republicans would not confirm those amounts, though House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, told reporters "the vast, vast majority of Americans" would be unaffected.

According to documents distributed to members and obtained by The Associated Press, the expansion of Medicaid to millions of additional poorer people -- almost entirely financed by federal taxpayers -- would be phased out. In a compromise aimed at resolving a bitter dispute, extra Medicaid money would flow to the 31 states that accepted that expansion and the 19 that didn't, though it would end "after a certain date" left unspecified.

After that, states would get far more discretion to decide who would be covered by Medicaid. They'd also decide whether to receive federal Medicaid funds based on the fluctuating numbers of the program's beneficiaries or a set annual amount.

The tax penalties Obama's law levies on people who don't buy insurance would be abolished, as would federal subsidies for most people buying coverage on the online exchanges the statute established. They would be replaced by tax credits for people who don't have job- or government-provided health coverage and tax-advantaged health savings accounts. Republicans said decisions on amounts have not been made.
Mike Dubke.jpg

Mike Dubke is expected to be named White House communications director as early as Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. The veteran GOP media strategist is a Buffalo native and graduate of Hamilton College in Oneida County.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Donald Trump plans to appoint a Republican media consultant with strong ties to Upstate New York to serve as White House communications director, according to several reports today.

The appointment of Mike Dubke, a Buffalo native and Hamilton College graduate, could happen as soon as today, CNN reported.

Dubke has been involved in local, state and federal politics since 1988. He is the founder of Crossroads Media and Black Rock Group in Alexandria, Va., where he lives with his wife, Shannon, and two children. But he has never forgotten his Buffalo roots. He boasts on his Crossroads profile that he is a Buffalo Bills season ticket holder.

Dubke will take over some of the duties now handled by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who until now has also served as communications director.

The expected appointment has upset some Trump White House staffers, CNN reported, because Dubke worked during the 2016 presidential campaign to derail Trump's rise to become the GOP nominee.

Contact Mark Weiner anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751


Delaware Primary (K-2) and Delaware Academy (grades 3-5) celebrated National African American Parent Involvement Day with a special African American Living Wax Museum and student and staff performances.







National African American Parent Involvement Day is intended to promote relationships that foster educational, emotional and social support for parents and students in school.

The Delaware community welcomed Syracuse City School District staff, as well as community volunteers, who dressed to represent African American trailblazers including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Shirley Chisholm, Sojourner Truth, Jesse Owens and more.

A special guest included Pauline Copes-Johnson, the great great grand niece of Harriet Tubman.
The bus met with the accident at 8.20 am near Dehar in Mandi district in Himachal Pradesh.

By Manjeet Sehgal: Thirty one passengers, most of them school children, were injured on Friday morning when the school bus in which they were travelling in skidded off the road and fell into a 25-metre deep gorge, official sources told India Today.

The ill-fated school bus was carrying more than 31 passengers including the driver and a teacher. The vehicle met with the accident at 8.20 am at Samlehu village near Dehar, located 45 kms from the district headquarters, Mandi. The injured school children belong to Mandwayar and other villages and the bus belongs to a private school located in Dehar.

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"More than 30 people were travelling in the bus. A total 25 school children have injured in this accident out of which two seriously injured have been referred to Regional Hospital Mandi. 23 school children have been admitted to Sundar Nagar hospital. The rescue operation was carried out with the help of locals who also helped to transport injured to the hospital," Sundarnagar SDM Rajeev Kumar said.

The cause of the accident is not known, but eyewitnesses said the driver lost control over the vehicle while negotiating large pot holes created by the road widening work.

The district administration has ordered a probe to find out the cause of the accident.

WATCH THE VIDEO:

--- ENDS ---
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Dr. Weeks Elementary School Thursday held a rally in support of immigrants and refugees in the school community.

The fourth grade organized the rally and invited S

udanese native Chol Majok to speak about his experience as a refugee new the United States.

Dr. Weeks has a large immigrant population. About 25 percent of the school's approximately 800 students speak a language other than English.

The school is located on the North Side of Syracuse, where many refugees resettle when they move to the city.

At Wednesday's rally, students held signs saying "peace," "friends," and "refugees matter."

Reporter Julie McMahon covers Syracuse University and Syracuse city schools. She can be reached anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992
CoverGirl model James Charles drew outrage this week after tweeting he feared an upcoming trip to Africa would include exposure to the Ebola virus.

Charles, the company's first male model and an Upstate New York high school student, apologized and CoverGirl attempted to distance itself from his comments.

James Charles' tweet does not represent COVERGIRLs perspective.  COVERGIRL (@COVERGIRL) February 16, 2017

But that didn't stop an outpouring of backlash against Charles and the beauty company on social media.

His manager called and told us to take this down. We said NOPE. Please spread this. @COVERGIRL https://t.co/eqqsQHt0OS  Affinity Magazine (@TheAffinityMag) February 16, 2017

Charles on Thursday tweeted the following, according to the Albany Times Union:

"I can't believe we're going to Africa today omg what if we get Ebola. James we're fine we could've gotten it at chipotle last year...," he wrote.

He's since apologized.

I am extremely sorry. Regardless of my intentions, words have consequences. I take full responsibility and will learn and do better.  James Charles (@jamescharles) February 16, 2017

Charles is a teenage makeup artist who won over fans with his Instagram account. Last fall, CoverGirl and Katy Perry announced Charles would be the first ever CoverBoy.

He's a student at Bethlehem Central High School in the Capital Region.
Medallion.jpg

A medallion, like this one, will need to be found by a participant in order to win the treasure hunt.

The Post-Standard and syracuse.com have hidden a medallion somewhere in Onondaga County and will publish daily clues pointing treasure hunters to its location. Solve the clues and find the medallion, and you'll win $2,000. The winner will also be enrolled in the Driver's Village VIP Rewards Loyalty program and win a $200 value towards their next vehicle purchase at Driver's Village. To learn more about the Driver's Village Rewards Loyalty program, visit www.dvviprewards.com

The 2017 Treasure Hunt is underway. Follow the clues each day ...

On syracuse.com at

On the pages of The Post-Standard and the ePost-Standard

On Twitter

On Facebook at

On Snapchat at syracusedotcom

Clue No. 2

Fri. Feb. 17

"Let the good times roll... this hunt is good for the soul...you may have to search in a place where the treasure is cold."

This year's Treasure Hunt has been made possible thanks to Driver's Village. Driver's Village is proud to support the 30th Anniversary of this community event, as the Burdick Family celebrates their 80th Anniversary of serving Central New York.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Mark Zuckerberg helped create the modern world by connecting nearly a quarter of its citizens to Facebook and giving them a platform to share, well, everything -- baby pictures and Pepe memes, social updates and abusive bullying, helpful how-to videos and live-streamed violence.

Now he wants to remake it, too, in a way that counters isolationism, promotes global connections and addresses social ills -- while also cementing Facebook's central role as a builder of online "community" for its nearly 2 billion users.

The Facebook founder laid out his thoughts on Thursday in a sweeping 5,800-word manifesto that hews closer to utopian social guide than business plan. Are we, he asked, "building the world we all want?"

In a phone interview with The Associated Press, Zuckerberg stressed that he wasn't motivated by the recent U.S. election or any other particular event. Rather, he said, it's the growing sentiment in many parts of the world that "connecting the world" -- the founding idea behind Facebook -- is no longer a good thing.

"Across the world there are people left behind by globalization, and movements for withdrawing from global connection," Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook in a Harvard dorm room in 2004, wrote on Thursday. So it falls to his company to "develop the social infrastructure to give people the power to build a global community that works for all of us."

CONNECTING IN FACEBOOK'S INTEREST

Zuckerberg, 32, told the AP that he still strongly believes that more connectedness is the right direction for the world. But, he added, it's "not enough if it's good for some people but it's doesn't work for other people. We really have to bring everyone along."

It's hardly a surprise that Zuckerberg wants to find ways to bring more people together, especially on Facebook. After all, getting more people to come together on the social network more frequently would give Facebook more opportunities to sell the ads that generate most of its revenue, which totaled $27 billion last year. And bringing in more money probably would boost Facebook's stock price to make Zuckerberg -- already worth an estimated $56 billion -- even richer.

And while the idea of unifying the world is laudable, some critics -- backed by various studies -- contend that Facebook makes some people feel lonelier and more isolated as they scroll through the mostly ebullient posts and photos shared on the social network. Facebook's famous "like" button also makes it easy to engage in a form of "one-click" communication that can displace meaningful dialogue.

Facebook also has been lambasted as a polarizing force by circulating posts espousing similar viewpoints and interests among like-minded people, creating an "echo chamber" that can harden opinions and widen political and cultural chasms.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

Today, most of Facebook's 1.86 billion members -- about 85 percent -- live outside of the U.S. and Canada. The Menlo Park, California-based company has offices everywhere from Amsterdam to Jakarta, Indonesia, to Tel Aviv, Israel. (It is banned in China, the world's most populous country, though some people get around the ban.) Naturally, Zuckerberg takes a global view of Facebook and sees potential that goes beyond borders, cities and nations.

Equally naturally, he sees the social network stepping up as more traditional cultural ties fray. People already use Facebook to connect with strangers who have the same rare disease, to post political diatribes, to share news links (and sometimes fake news links ). Facebook has also pushed its users to register to vote, to donate to causes, to mark themselves safe after natural disasters, and to "go live ." For many, it's become a utility. Some 1.23 billion people use it daily.

"Our next focus will be developing the social infrastructure for community -- for supporting us, for keeping us safe, for informing us, for civic engagement, and for inclusion of all," he wrote.

LONG VIEW

Zuckerberg has gotten Facebook to this position of global dominance -- one that Myspace and Twitter, for instance, never even approached -- partly thanks to his audacious, long-term view of the company and its place in the world.

Last fall, Zuckerberg and his wife, the doctor Priscilla Chan, unveiled the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative , a long-term effort aimed at eradicating all disease by the end of this century. Then, as now, Zuckerberg preferred to look far down the road to the potential of scientific and technological innovations that have not been perfected, or even invented yet.

That includes artificial intelligence, which in this case means software that's capable of "thinking" enough like humans to start making the sorts of judgments that Facebook sometimes bobbles. Last September, for instance, the service briefly barred the famous Vietnam War-era photograph dubbed "Napalm Girl" because it featured a nude child, and only reversed its decision after users -- including the prime minister of Norway -- protested.

AI systems could also comb through the vast amount of material users post on Facebook to detect everything from bullying to the early signs of suicidal thinking to extremist recruiting. AI, Zuckerberg wrote, could "understand more quickly and accurately what is happening across our community."

Speaking to the AP, Zuckerberg said he understands that we might not "solve all the issues that we want" in the short term.

"One of my favorite quotes is this Bill Gates quote, that 'people overestimate what they can get done in two years and underestimate what they can get done in 10 years.' And that's an important mindset that I hope more people take today," he said.
While stressing that the Army has a free hand in dealing with locals who help militants, Parrikar clarified that the Army did not treat "every Kashmiri on the street as a terror sympathiser."

By India Today Web Desk: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has come out in support of Army Chief General Bipin Rawat a day after he issued a stern warning to civilians who obstruct military's anti-terror operations in Kashmir.

While stressing that the Army has a free hand in dealing with locals who help militants, Parrikar clarified that the Army did not treat "every Kashmiri on the street as a terror sympathiser."

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"Army can take decision based on the situation at the local level. Those who obstruct anti-terror operations...obviously are trying to protect terrorits. Army has a free hand for CICT (counter insurgency and counter terrorism) operations and the final decision rests with the local commander. Such operations are based on specific inputs," Parrikar told India Today.

Army chief Bipin Rawat on Wednesday warned those attacking security forces during anti-militancy operations of "tough action".

The stern message from Rawat came a day after three soldiers faced heavy stone-pelting at Parray Mohalla of Bandipore in north Kashmir when they were about to launch an operation against militants holed up there.

ALSO READ : Militants killed in Kashmir encounter were trained with Lashkar's top commander Bahadur Ali

Alerted by the stone-pelters, the militants got an opportunity to fire hand grenades and empty a few magazines from AK-rifles into the advancing troopers, leaving three jawans dead and some others, including a Commanding officer of CRPF, injured. One terrorist managed to flee the area.

General Rawat said security forces in Jammu and Kashmir were facing higher casualties due to the manner in which the local population was preventing them from conducting the operations and "at times even supporting the terrorists to escape".

ALSO READ: Jammu and Kashmir security forces want defined 'red lines' to deal with stone pelting flash mobs

"We would now request the local population that people who have picked up arms, and they are the local boys, if they want to continue with the acts of terrorism, displaying flags of ISIS and Pakistan, then we will treat them as anti-national elements and go helter-skelter for them," he said.

"They may survive today but we will get them tomorrow. Our relentless operations will continue," the Army Chief told reporters, sending out a stern message to those who support militants.

Rawat's assertion came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he paid last respects in New Delhi to three of the four soldiers, including a major, who were killed in two separate encounters in Kashmir earlier this week

(With inputs from PTI)

WATCH: 'Army has free hand in dealing with miscreants obstructing in anti-terror operations in Kashmir' ALSO READ:

Were trials for Israeli missiles manipulated? Parrikar orders probe

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PM pays homage to 4 army men killed in Kashmir encounters

--- ENDS ---
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Markets - VLCC rates holding

VLCC rates have held up on the back of steady February cargoes in the MEG, which have started to deplete the tonnage list and roll over into March.

March cargo volume in the MEG is so far thin but ships are being absorbed under coas, Fearnleys reported. A quiet start to this week was reported with rates coming off their highs.A few more quiet days will add pressure on rates. Earnings were still about $30,000 per day but a continued supply of West Africa/East cargoes are necessary to avoid a sharp decline in VLCC rates. The million barrel market was facing a prolonged period of potential stagnation. However, owners have battled their way back and managed to claw their way out of a corner. A week ago, rates were at WS72.5 for TD20, whereas currently they are around the WS82.5 level. A combination of vessels being fixed under the radar in various geographical areas and some key owners taking a strong stance by refusing last done levels, has forced charterers to concede ground. However, the Black Sea market has not found any respite thus far in the early first decade of March with levels steady at WS80 for TD6. The week ahead is potentially positive with charterers currently reaching forward on dates in West Africa much to the owners delight. North Sea and Baltic moved up quite a bit at the end of last week and are still looking interesting moving into March fixing. This was mainly caused by tonnage leaving the area in laden condition, and a rush of ex-North Sea cargoes in the 18th-25th February window. If we see a steady flow of fuel oil cargoes ex Baltic, Ice Class rates could easily strengthen by another WS5-10 points. In the Med and Black Sea, charterers have now covered all the Black Sea stems for the month and are well underway with the ex-Med cargoes. Last week, the rates moved up to WS105 for ex Black Sea. However for the week to come, the tonnage list is again looking fairly balanced, and we therefore expect the rates to remain stable at just below WS100, Fearnleys concluded. Elsewhere, The Asian Aframax market is currently stable but seems to be facing a more positive outlook on the back of short-term time charters, as well as an increase in third decade cargoes, Ocean Freight Exchange (OFE) reported. Rates for an Indonesia/Japan trip basis 80,000 tonnes are hovered around WS100-WS102.5, while rates for the AG/East route basis 80,000 tonnes stood at WS115. Reflecting firmer owner sentiment, TD14 inched up steadily week-on-week to WS100.78, which translates into daily earnings of around $8,700. At least three Aframaxes were taken by ST Shipping and Petrochina on short-term time charters of up to 90 days to potentially store fuel oil. As seen from the structure of the 380 cst fuel oil complex from March onwards, this does not seem to be a contango play but instead due to a lack of onshore storage facilities, OFE said. While prompt-month time spreads of 380 cst fuel oil recently flipped into contango at -$0.5 per tonne, the near-term market structure remains in backwardation. Singapores onshore fuel oil stocks expanded by 8% to reach 25.8 mill barrels last week, hitting an 11-week high. Despite bloated inventories, lower March Western arb volumes (down by 20% month-on-month), as well as steady bunker demand is expected to keep the Asian fuel oil market supported, OFE concluded. Broking sources reported a few fixtures during the past couple of weeks, including the 2011-built VLCC Chloe thought taken by unknown interests for six months at $30,000 per day, while SKE was said to have fixed the 2009-built VLCC C Prosperity for two years at $30,500 per day. Shell took another VLCC following last weeks business. This was the 2000-built Antonis I Angelicoussis fixed for 12 months at $19,000 plus a profit share of 50% if the TD3 goes above $31,000 per day. Staoil was said to have taken the 2016-built Suezmax Amber for six months at $24,000 per day, while Unipec was believed to have fixed the 2006-built Suezmax Montreal Spirit for 12 months at $22,000 per day. The LR2 Poseidon was reportedly fixed to Shell for 45-90 days at $11,750 per day with delivery SAouth Korea at the end of February. The 2015-built LR2 Densa Crocodile was taken by Vitol for six months at $16,500 per day, while the 2006-built LR1 Eternal Diligence was fixed to Shell for 12 months at $12,000 per day. In the smaller product tanker sector, Stena Bulk was said to have taken the 2011-built MR Miss Marina for six months at $12,750 per day, while ORL took the Handies Bentley 1 and Chrysopigi for 12 months at $13,000 and $11,500 per day, respectively. Concordia Maritime has confirmed that it is to sell the IMOIIMAX Stena Important to a Japanese financial institution on a sale & lease back basis for $36 mill. This represents the companys third such deal in a short period of time. Delivery is expected to take place take place at the end of March. Under the agreement, the vessel will be chartered back to Concordia on a bareboat basis for nine years, with a purchase obligation in year nine. Once again, we have successfully conducted a good transaction that creates significant values. Just as with the previous transactions in autumn, this is a way of preparing ourselves for a subdued market situation and the good business opportunities that may arise there. We are working actively on the fleets structure and disposition, and the leaseback arrangement enables us to continue employing the vessel in the successful Stena Weco pool, explained Kim Ullman, Concordia Maritime CEO. Fearnley Securities acted as broker and financial advisor to Concordia Maritime for this transaction. Other sales reported included the 2011-built VLCC Orthis thought purchased by TMS Tankers for $57 mill and the 2012-built MR sisters Nisida and Miseno to unknown interests for $22 mill each.




Shipping industry condemns EUs stance on ETS

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) expressed disappointment but not surprise by this weeks vote in the European Parliament to propose that international shipping (including non-EU flag ships) should be incorporated into the EU Emissions Trading System from 2023.

This vote for a unilateral, regional measure simply risks polarising debate among IMO member states, which have already agreed to develop a strategy for reducing shippings CO 2 emissions in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, said ICS director of policy & external relations, Simon Bennett. The vote completely ignores the real progress that has already been made by IMO  which under the Kyoto Protocol, to which EU member states are signatory, has a mandate to address CO 2 emissions from international shipping. Bennett added; EU member states, which are also members of IMO, now have a duty to reject these unhelpful proposals, as they are taken forward as part of the wholesale attempt to reform the EU Emissions Trading System. Trying to include thousands of small shipping companies  including thousands of companies not based in the EU  into a system designed for major EU power generating companies and steel and cement producers is only going to complicate this reform. Reducing CO 2 from shipping is a global problem which can only be addressed successfully at global level by IMO. As we saw when the EU unsuccessfully tried to impose the ETS on international aviation, non-EU Governments are not going to take kindly to being told that ships flying their flag, when visiting EU ports, may have to pay money into EU schemes designed to help subsidise the closure of European coal mines. he stressed. ICS said it is working closely with the European Community Shipowners Associations (ECSA) in order to persuade EU members and the European Commission to reject these proposals, in view of their support for a global solution at IMO. INTERTANKO also joined the condemnation. Technical director Dragos Rauta, said: INTERTANKO and its members consider the EU Parliaments ambition as totally counter-productive. This undermines the work undertaken by IMO and may upset the spirit of co-operation under which IMO develops global rules for a global industry. It is disappointing that, despite the IMO Secretary Generals recent appeal to EU leadership, they still fail to recognise the crucial importance effective regulations at global level will have in this domain, said Katharina Stanzel, INTERTANKO managing director. We can only achieve global goals through widespread buy in to international solutions for shipping. It is important to bear in mind that this is not the final text of the revised ETS Directive, which, originally, did not include shipping; it represents the European Parliaments position for negotiations with the EU Council (member states). These negotiations will start as soon as the Council have agreed on their own position, which is expected in the next few weeks. INTERTANKO said that together with other shipping organisations, it continued to convey members views to EU member states in order to inform their position on the inclusion of international shipping in the EU ETS Directive.




The Indian Army is looking to procure 8,350 anti-tank guided missiles in a deal expected to be worth more than Rs 4,000 crore.

By Ajit Kumar Dubey: Amid charges of manipulations in the field trials, defence minister Manohar Parrikar has formed a committee to probe the allegations in the procurement of anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) from Israel.

The deal is expected to be worth over Rs 4,000 crore for buying third generation ATGMs from an Israeli firm which has been in the making since 2009 and has been delayed many a times due to various reasons.

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"There were allegations that some manipulations had taken place when the Israeli ATGM was going through trials. The defence minister has formed a committee to probe the charges and it will submit its report shortly to him," senior government sources told Mail Today.

When asked about Parrikar's decision to form the committee, Army sources said they were not aware of the developments.

The Israeli firm has claimed to have maintained total transparency and probity in the whole tendering process.

DISCREPANCIES IN TRIAL REPORT

Sources said there have been allegations that the there is a mismatch between the actual performance of the Israeli missile in the trial process and the report which was filed by the officials later.

The missile was put to trials in all the possible terrains in Indian conditions including the high-altitude areas, plains and deserts. Earlier also, there were complaints which suggested that the main issue with the report is about the trials done in desert conditions.

At the time of the initiation of the deal, American firms were also in the race to supply the third-generation anti-tank missiles but were not considered while taking a final decision as they were not ready for sharing the full technology of the missiles.

ARMY PLANS TO BUY 270 ATGM SYSTEMS

The Army has plans of buying over 270 antitank guided missile systems with over 8,350 missiles which will have a range of over 2.5-km and fire-and-forget capabilities. The missile system would be used to equip all its 382 infantry battalions and 44 mechanised infantry units.

The deal also includes a technology transfer to India's state-owned Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) to build another 1,500 systems and around 30,000 additional missiles in the future as the Army increases its induction.

After the NDA government gave a 'go-ahead' to the project after coming to power in 2014, there have also been issues related to contract negotiations between the two sides. If the deal is signed, the deliveries will take 48-60 months to commence after which the BDL would come into play.

The Indian side might also include a private sector industry to participate in the deal for giving exposure and get the know how to work for an improved indigenous version of the missile in the future.

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At present, infantry units are making do with second-generation Milan (2-km range) and Konkurs (4-km range) ATGMs, produced by BDL under licence from French and Russian companies, which are wire-guided and do not have fire-and-forget capabilities.

Overall, the Army is sanctioned to keep over 81,000 different kinds of ATGMs, which are critical to stem enemy armoured attacks, but does not have even half of that number in its inventory due to delays in the procurement of new systems.

--- ENDS ---
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Contrary to the long-held assumption that life was slow to recover after Earth's worst mass extinction, known as Permian Period die off, the new evidence from fossils suggests that life bounced back faster from the catastrophe.

This follows the results of the fossil analysis of sharks, sea reptiles, and creatures looking like squids found near the Bear Lake area in southeast Idaho in the United States. The fossil assemblage known as Paris Biota challenges the old theory that the recovery of life after the crisis was slow and diversity skewed.

Idaho discovery indicated the existence of a vibrant marine ecosystem in the not so do distant aftermath of the ancient mass extinction. The fossil discovery showcased a diversified array of ancient animals.

The Idaho ecosystem flourished 1.3 million years later after the die-off that swept the Permian Period, 252 million years ago and wiped out 90 percent of the species.

The study has been published in Science Advances.

Permian Extinction

The Permian destruction has been massive and more catastrophic than the asteroid-led mass extinction that befell 66 million years ago and wiped out dinosaurs from the face of Earth.

Rebutting previous assumptions of a slower recovery of life after the calamity, the new study asserts that rebound of life has been rapid.

Paleontologist Arnaud Brayard of the University of Burgundy-Franche-Comte in France commented that it has been "rapid on a geological scale," while adding that the discovery was quite unexpected.

From the Idaho excavation, 30 different species of fossils were recovered reaffirming a rapid and dynamic rebound of the marine ecosystem despite the severity of extinction as a reassertion of the resiliency of life.

The Idaho ecosystem belonged to the early phase of Triassic Period where dinosaurs made their first appearance and produced many unexpected creatures including a sponge-like a creature that became extinct 200 million years ago.

From the Idaho site, the researchers also recovered bones of monster ichthyosaur, a marine reptile resembling dolphins that thrived for 160 million years.

"The Early Triassic is a complex and highly disturbed epoch, but certainly not a devastated one as commonly assumed, and this epoch has not yet yielded up all its secrets," Brayard added.

Thriving Marine Life

Evidence shows that the Idaho ecosystem hosted deadly predators such as sharks with a length of 7 feet, marine reptiles, bony fish, squid-like creatures with conical shells, coiled shells, a large-eyed crustacean with thin claws, starfish, sponges among others.

Even today, the cause of the Permian mass extinction is unknown. Some indicators, however, point to massive volcanic bursts in Siberia as the reason which spewed large amounts of greenhouse gasses and set off global warming. The changes in the chemical composition of oceans such as escalated acidification and oxygen deficiency hastened the ancient extinction.

Australian Tribute To Fossil

Meanwhile, South Australia has been hailed by famous naturalist Sir David Attenborough for choosing a wormlike creature that was featured in Life on Earth series as the new fossil emblem of the state.

South Australians voted to make the fossil their state's new emblem in an online poll.

David said the Spriggina's fame and importance made it a "very fitting" emblem.

"The Spriggina is one of the first known animals to have lived on Earth," he said.

The naturalist noted that its head and a segmented body with a rudimentary brain represented early evidence of intelligent life in the history of the planet.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A team of Harvard scientists believes they are a mere two years away from creating a hybrid embryo of the long-extinct woolly mammoth.

Through the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system, the team eyes coaxing the ancient animals traits out of elephant cells, developing a hybrid embryo into a fetus, and taking it to full term.

Fully a resurrecting a woolly mammoth, however, will likely take another few years.

How It Can Be Done

Geneticist George Church from Harvard University spoke ahead of the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting held in Boston this week, pointing to the de-extinction project.

Our aim is to produce a hybrid elephant-mammoth embryo. Actually, it would be more like an elephant with a number of mammoth traits. Were not there yet, but it could happen in a couple of years, the professor said.

The team will first add key genetic traits to the Asian elephants genome (thus the term mammophant), and these include shaggy long hair, thick fat layers, and cold-adjusted blood, according to the New Scientist. Since the project began in 2015, 45 mammoth-like DNA edits have already been spliced into the elephant genome.

The list of edits affects things that contribute to the success of elephants in cold environments, Church told the publication.

Next, they will produce a hybrid embryo, which would actually be more like an elephant embryo that carries a number of the mammoths genetic traits.

Church told the Guardian that they plan to perform the entire process ex-vivo or outside a living entity, saying it would be unreasonable to risk female reproduction in an endangered creature such as the Asian elephant. According to some, growing a hybrid animal inside an artificial womb is impossible within the decade, but Churchs laboratory is reportedly able to incubate a mouse embryo for 10 days or around 50 percent of its gestation period.

The Asian elephants status as an endangered species has made some experts warn that it is impractical and even unethical to use the living creatures as surrogates for the hybrid embryo. Church defended, however, that the move can actually help revive the elephant population through an alternative means.

Cloning is a tricky affair. Dolly the sheep, for instance, was the only lamb successfully born out of 277 attempts.

The woolly mammoth roamed Earth  particularly Asia, Europe, Africa, and North America  during the last Ice Age. They disappeared around 4,000 years earlier, likely due to a mix of climate change and human hunting. The Asian elephant is their closest living kin.

Ethical Considerations

Church helped devise the controversial CRISPR-Cas9 tool, which has exhibited a number of genetic engineering transformations since it was first shown in 2012. Obtained from a defense-system bacteria used for fending off viruses, the system allows cutting and pasting DNA strands with never-before-seen precision.

The ethical implications of gene editing emerged as one of the key issues at the Boston conference, where Church spoke and predicted that age reversal could be a reality in a decade as the fruit of new innovations in genetic engineering.

But should the mammoth be brought back to life in the first place?

Zoology professor Matthew Cobb explained that the mammoth being a social animal (just like the Asian elephant) can raise surprises on how the hybrid will be greeted by their living relatives.

Other researchers too worried that de-extinction efforts could actually endanger current conservation initiatives, as the knowledge that humans can always bring species back later could undermine the urgency of preventing extinctions from happening.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
By Press Trust of India: Berlin, Feb 16 (PTI) A new vaccine for malaria is up to 100 per cent effective when assessed at 10 weeks after last dose, according to the results of a clinical trial.

The vaccine called Sanaria PfSPZ-CVac incorporated fully viable - not weakened or otherwise inactivated - malaria pathogens together with the medication to combat them.

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Malaria parasites are transmitted by the bite of female Anopheles mosquitoes.

The Plasmodium falciparum parasite is responsible for most malaria infections and almost all deaths caused by the disease worldwide.

Most of the previous vaccines which have been tried involved the use of individual molecules found in the pathogen. However, they were unable to provide sufficient immunity to the disease.

The study by University of Tubingen in Germany in collaboration with the biotech company Sanaria involved 67 healthy adult test persons, none of whom had previously had malaria.

The best immune response was shown in a group of nine test persons who received the highest dose of the vaccine three times at four-week intervals.

At the end of the trial, all nine of these individuals had 100 per cent protection from the disease.

"That protection was probably caused by specific T-lymphocytes and antibody responses to the parasites in the liver," said Professor Peter Kremsner.

The researchers analysed the bodies immune reactions and identified protein patterns which will make it possible to further improve malaria vaccines, Kremsner added.

They injected live malaria parasites into the test subjects, at the same time preventing the development of the disease by adding chloroquine - which has been used to treat malaria for many years.

This enabled the researchers to exploit the behaviour of the parasites and the properties of chloroquine.

Once the person is infected, the Plasmodium falciparum parasite migrates to the liver to reproduce.

Malaria only breaks out when the pathogen leaves the liver, entering the bloodstream and going into the red corpuscles, where it continues to reproduce and spread.

As soon as the pathogen enters the bloodstream, however, it can be killed by chloroquine - and the disease cannot break out.

"By vaccinating with a live, fully active pathogen, it seems clear that we were able to set of a very strong immune response," said study leader Benjamin Mordmueller.

"Additionally, all the data we have so far indicate that what we have here is relatively stable, long-lasting protection," said Mordmueller.

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In the group of test persons who demonstrated 100 per cent protection after receiving a high dose three times, Mordmueller said, the protection was reliably still in place after ten weeks - and remained measurable for even longer.

The research was published in the journal Nature. PTI SAR SAR

--- ENDS ---
No entry-level smartphones from HTC will be produced this year.

HTC is retiring from the entry-level smartphone market, at least for the time being, as it reroutes focus to its midrange and higher-end offerings, with its full slate of smartphones for 2017 to belong in those categories exclusively.

No More Entry-Level Phones From HTC

The company announced this during its earnings call Wednesday, as reported by Phone Scoop. It will still sell low-end phones that are already at retailers  and it will continue supporting the said handsets  but it's officially yanking the category off its roadmap.

Cutting those devices means that HTC will pare back its smartphone volume for 2017, focusing on six or seven devices only. With plans to solely make headway in the high-end category, HTC will jostle for market space amongst top-rank phone manufacturers, such as Apple, Samsung, LG, and Huawei, among others.

HTC is aiming for profitability this year by presenting top of the line handsets instead of crowding the market with a plethora of smartphone offerings that run up and down the price spectrum. Specific pricing for these top-tier smartphones by HTC, however, remain to be disclosed. As for whether it'll eventually re-enter the entry-level smartphone market, presumably when it gets its groove back, remains nebulous.

HTC similarly reduced its smartphone output years ago; in 2012, the company pared back its handset output to focus on its lineup of top-tier smartphones. This year brings back that tactic.

Long story short, if you're looking for an inexpensive smartphone from HTC this year, it's best to look elsewhere.

HTC 11 To Be Unveiled Soon?

The company is expected to unveil its HTC 11 smartphone soon, which, as per word being passed around, will come with the hotly anticipated Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor. If its unveil window hovers by March or April, the smartphone could directly rival Samsung's forthcoming flagship, the Galaxy S8, and LG's G6.

Mobile World Congress

HTC recently announced the U Ultra and the U Play this past January during the Consumer Electronics Show, with a March release schedule. HTC may promptly reveal new handsets at this year's Mobile World Congress, happening late February in Barcelona, Spain.

HTC also recently posted losses for the seventh straight quarter, according to a report by Business Insider. The company reported a revenue of $721 million during the fourth fiscal quarter of 2016, a year-over-year 14 percent dip from its $833 million in Q4 2015.

Moving forward, HTC will focus on its virtual reality ecosystem, specifically around content creation and distribution, the report says. The HTC Vive is one of the most popular VR headsets among developers, as noted by the report, and this could translate to a favorable position for the device in that community.

In other VR-related news, HTC is reportedly developing a mobile VR headset that's poised to occupy a space between smartphone VR headsets such as Samsung's Gear VR, and higher-end rigs, such as HTC's own Vive.

Do you think HTC could bring the spring in its step? Are you disappointed about its divorce from the entry-level smartphone market? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below!

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The iconic Nokia 3310 has been hailed as an indestructible mobile phone in the 1990's, when cell phones were slowly becoming a reality. It has also been a part of many memes and posts online and holds a special place in the heart of every 90's kid.

Rumors have been around for a long time that Nokia 3310 will make a comeback at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017. The news has not only gotten tech enthusiasts excited but has also given designers motivation to create concepts of the much idolized mobile phone in its new avatar.

Early Concept Video And Images

Concept videos and images do not guarantee that the designs shown will completely or partly resemble the final design launched by the company. That said, Nokia 3310 has been subject to many concept videos and images till date.

The first concept image pertaining to Nokia 3310 surfaced online a few years ago courtesy CurvedLabs. Martin Hajek created a series of images showing renders of the new Nokia 3310. The concept images imagined that the new Nokia 3310 is likely to sport a Windows Phone touchscreen, as Nokia and Microsoft were business partners at that point of time.

Nokia 3310: Recent Concept Videos

Now a new concept video created by YouTuber Concept Creator, imagines that the new Nokia 3310 will retain its original design without many changes, barring the inclusion of a rear and front camera.

Two videos were released by the YouTuber back to back, one on Feb, 14 and another on Feb.15. The Feb. 14 concept video is 20-second long and shows only glimpses of the reimagined Nokia 3310. Going by the looks of it, the short video was meant to be a teaser, especially after the release of a much longer concept video on Feb.15.

The Feb. 15 concept video of the Nokia 3310, also created by Concept Creator, imagines the renders of the rumored feature phone in much more detail. The concept envisages that the feature phone could not only come in a dark blue like the original, but also in gray, light blue, red and gold.

The video also shows that the new Nokia 3310 may come with a rear camera, a paltry 1.5-inch display, in-built radio system, a microUSB port and 1650 mAh battery with a standby support of 55 hours to 235 hours.

The video also depicts the phone housing 8 GB of internal memory and reimagines it as featuring a larger body (4.45 x 1.89 x 0.55 inch) compared to the original.

Given that the original Nokia 3310 was lauded for being indestructible the concept imagines that the new model of the Nokia 3310 in the same vein. It depicts the handset having a Polycarbonate body with Linex coating to prevent scratches.

Check out the concept video of Nokia 3310 below to know more.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Your childhood dream of becoming an astronomer may finally come true.

On Feb. 15, NASA and the University of California, Berkeley launched a new website that allows anyone to help search for cosmic objects located beyond the orbit of Neptune, the farthest planet from Earth.

Known as Backyard Worlds: Planet Nine, the website contains several images, which were captured by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mission years ago, that have been turned into flipbook movies.

NASA wants the public to hunt for the mysterious Planet Nine, which scientists postulate might be the ninth planet of the solar system. The space agency believes releasing the images to the public will help narrow down the search for Planet Nine.

"There are too many images for us to search through by ourselves," NASA said.

Planet Nine: Mysterious And Elusive

Astronomers have long considered the existence of unknown planets beyond Neptune and the dwarf planet Pluto, but there has been no evidence to support this, until last year.

In early 2016, the alleged discovery of an elusive planet just beyond Neptune caused a buzz among scientists and space nerds alike. Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin, astronomers from California Institute of Technology, found indirect evidence of the existence of the still-unseen planet.

Since then, different theories that attempted to explain this mysterious trans-Neptunian object have surfaced.

According to Brown and Batygin's calculations, Planet Nine would be as big as Neptune and 10 times bigger than Earth, but its distance would be up to a thousand times farther from the sun. This planet, which might orbit the sun once every 15,000 years, would be so faint that it evades discovery.

Another theory is that Planet Nine might actually be a rogue planet caught by the solar system. In January this year, a study by New Mexico State University suggested that the planet might have been snatched by the sun's gravitational pull. It might be a rogue planet because it is not bound to any host star.

Citizen Scientists

Infrared images from WISE cover the entire sky about six times over, allowing researchers to search for faint, glowing objects. Physicist Aaron Meisner, an expert at analyzing images captured by WISE, has come up with a way to use computers to search for these objects, but he said such automated searches will not work in some regions of the sky.

Because of this, Meisner agreed when NASA scientist Mark Kuchner suggested asking the public to eyeball the WISE images.

As of writing, the existence of Planet Nine is still under debate. Meisner said it's likely that volunteers will detect brown dwarfs beyond Neptune. In fact, Planet Nine would appear blue in time-lapse animations, while brown dwarfs will appear red.

Still, Meisner, Kuchner, and the rest of the team are ecstatic over the project. They believe it could potentially uncover discoveries that appear once every century.

"It's exciting to think they could be spotted first by a citizen scientist," added Meisner.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
If you own a Samsung Galaxy S7 or S7 edge on T-Mobile, you should be getting a sweet treat really soon. The carrier has started rolling out its Android 7.0 Nougat software update.

Samsung is preparing to launch its highly anticipated 2017 flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus, and will reportedly reveal an exact launch date on Feb. 27 to kick off Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona. The company is reportedly feeling very confident with how consumers will respond to the handsets and has supposedly almost doubled first shipments of the devices compared to that of its predecessors, the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge.

Samsung Galaxy S7 And S7 Edge Android 7.0 Nougat Software Update

While Samsung is putting major focus on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus, the company is still devoting time and attention to its current flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge. In November, Samsung launched its Android 7.0 Nougat Galaxy Beta Program for the S7 and S7 edge to allow users to test out the new software and features before the update gets an official release from carriers and partners.

We reported in late January that all four major U.S. carriers; Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint were all planning to release an Android 7.0 Nougat update to Galaxy S7 and S7 edge customers on their respected networks, along with a time-frame of when customers could expect to receive the update.

It now appears that T-Mobile will be the first major U.S. carrier to release its Android 7.0 Nougat software upgrade for the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge.

T-Mobile First Out Of The Gate With Android 7.0 Nougat

Android Police is reporting that T-Mobile has begun rolling out its Android 7.0 Nougat software update to Galaxy S7 edge devices on its network that are running Samsung's Galaxy Beta Program software. It's assumed that the update will also be released to the Galaxy S7 as well. The publication reports that Samsung revealed the news through its "Beta notices" board in the Galaxy Beta app that T-Mobile models would be getting the official updates starting Feb. 16 via over-the-air.

The T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S7 Android 7.0 Nougat software update weighs in at 117 MB and also includes Samsung's latest February security patch. T-Mobile's official page for the Galaxy S7 edge does not reflect this update yet, but is expected to appear shortly. Galaxy S7 owners on the carrier should also expect an Android 7.0 Nougat software update in the near future.

Once we hear any news on Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint's Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge Android 7.0 Nougat software update release, we'll bring it to you. Have you received the update yet? Please let us and our readers know in the comments below.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Tesla's autonomous vehicles, especially Model S, have been the subject of both criticism and praise for its achievements in acceleration but if there is something Tesla co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk wants to send across, it is that the company takes safety seriously.

So when Manfred Kick, a Model S driver, acted heroically by sacrificing his vehicle to save someone's life, Musk was quick to react to it.

The Story

Forty-one-year-old Manfred Kick was driving on the Autobahn near Munich, Germany when he noticed a Volkswagen Passat moving erratically on the highway. Kick grew concerned because the vehicle not only swerved about but also collided with the guardrail multiple times, which could have meant car trouble, someone is driving under the influence, or something was very wrong with the driver.

What Kick did was to speed up his Model S and took a peek at what was going on inside the VW Passat and it was then he realized that the rogue car's driver seemed to be unconscious. Kick immediately accelerated his Model S, positioned it in front of the Passat, and allowed the erratic vehicle to collide with his car gently. Kick then slowed down his Model S, along with the Passat, until both vehicles came to a stop. Afterwards, he immediately approached the Passat and opened it to administer first aid on the unconscious driver.

The passers-by who saw the situation were quick to call for emergency services, and medical help soon arrived to take the man to the hospital. Due to Kick's quick action and willingness to sacrifice his Model S to save a stranger who suffered a stroke, police say the man is now stable.

The Good News

A road accident  regardless of intent  is still an accident so the German police still have a job to investigate the collision against Kick. The good news is that, since the man was saved and no other vehicles were involved, the police believe Kick will receive an award for his heroism instead of a fine.

The Hitch

Kick saved a life and he is most likely getting an award but there is one other thing to take care of: the bills. According to reports, the damages, though minor, total to about $10,700 (10,000) for both vehicles and that is most likely Kick's responsibility. Ouch!

The Better News

As the old adage says, "You reap what you sow," and Kick's heroism and compassion earned him a reward from Musk. On Feb. 15, the Twitter active innovator shared the story and announced that Tesla will cover the expenses for the damages to Kick's Model S.

Take a look at Musk's tweets below.

In appreciation, Tesla is providing all repair costs free of charge and expedited. https://t.co/D68HNJcCoQ  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) Feb. 15, 2017

That is definitely a huge load off our Good Samaritan's back and a good way for Tesla to prove why its vehicles' safety features can still be manipulated by the drivers.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
My Friend Cayla isn't really your friends, kids. She is actually is a spy working for hackers who are listening to the child's word.

A German watchdog is warning parents about the possible breach of their child's privacy for those who play with the Wi-Fi-connected smart doll, My Friend Cayla.

Its advice to parents? Destroy the doll.

The Federal Network Agency, an official telecommunications watchdog in Germany known as Bundesnetzagentur, issued a warning on Friday about the smart doll, revealing that hackers can listen in and even talk to the child through the toy's insecure Bluetooth connection.

As a result, the Cayla doll has been removed from the market and banned, marked as an illegal "concealed transmitting espionage device." The doll had to be pulled from shelves because according to German law, it is illegal to sell a banned surveillance device.

The same law says also makes it illegal to possess a surveillance device, with those breaking this law risking serving up to two years in jail.

But households who purchased the doll won't be penalized for having the now illegal device. Instead, the German watchdog is advising parents to destroy it.

Manufactured by Genesis Toys, My Friend Cayla is the interactive toy that can talk and play games with the child. The Wi-Fi-enabled doll connects to the Internet via Bluetooth to be able to answer question asked by the child, responding via microphone.

Flaws in the doll's software was uncovered back in January 2015. A law student who filed the original complaint found that any bluetooth-enable device could connect to the speaker and microphone system of the doll within a 33 ft radius, allowing someone to spy on the child or household.

Complaints were also reported to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in December regarding the doll's violation of privacy by allegedly collecting data that is sent to developers of the toy's app. Complaints have also been filed with watchdogs in the EU, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland and Norway.

With the amount of Bluetooth-enabled devices making its way into consumers' homes, it seems like it was only a matter of time before one of them was found to be a threat. It's scary to think that some creep could be spying and talking to children, making the doll turn all Chuckie on parents.

While parents should not pick up this toy for their kids, those who have already purchased it should get to smashing it.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Anubhav Mittal, the man accused of running one of the biggest internet scams, failed to achieve his dream of getting into an IIT.

By Shashank Shekhar: Anubhav Mittal, the man behind one of the biggest internet scams in recent times and accused of swindling Rs 3,700 crore from over 6.5 lakh people, was a genius at mathematics who missed out on his dream of making it to an IIT.

According to the investigating officer in the Ponzi scam, Mittal was the All-India topper in the Math section of the Joint Entrance Exam but was unable to secure admission in an IIT due to a low Chemistry score. From here, started his journey towards building the biggest ponzi scheme in the country.

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After failing to make it to the premier engineering institution, Mittal took admission in Skyline Institute of Engineering and Technology in Greater Noida. "It was here where he started weaving a web of his multi-level marketing business. While studying in the college he floated his company and his hostel room was first office from where he developed software," said a senior officer investigating the case.

STUDIED SPEAK ASIA MODEL

The officer claims that the initial years didn't bring him much money and he had an average lifestyle. But dreaming big, he started studying up on all the multi-level marketing business including Speak Asia, an online survey marketing company which sold web subscriptions and is also facing legal action now.

Also read: Delhi Police arrest Speak Asia scam mastermind Ram Sumiran Pal

"Mittal examined the business model and tried to fix it in his own venture. In 2015, he hit gold when he came up with the idea of 'online barter system' and a web address, socialtrade.biz. Later to cover-up his ponzi scheme, Mittal brought the idea of 'trade in likes' to the investors. At no point he thought he will be caught and was in process of launching a merchandise company as its online retail venture and a social media networking platform," the officer said.

Cops claim that Mittal was confident about his business model but failed as he lacked legal advice. They said that the 26-yearold may not have realized the severity of fraud done by his business as he dealt in thousands of crores.

Officers said that the company did not maintain proper book of accounts. When officials running his companies were questioned, they revealed that they cannot say how much money came into the companies. They could also not disclose profit or loss made by the companies. Nor did they have any information about any outstanding loans.

Also read: Noida ponzi scam: Anubhav Mittal did not maintain books of accounts

A LAVISH LIFESTYLE

Mittal had lived a modest life till 2015 but soon money started flowing in and his personal wealth grew exponentially. He owns three luxury sedans including an Audi. He also bought a lavish villa in Greater Noida and also owned a commercial property worth Rs 7 crore in Connaught Place in Delhi. Cops are still examining his wealth and bank accounts.

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Officials say he had started withdrawing money from the accounts in 2016 when the number of his investors had increased.

Also read: Noida ponzi scam: Authorities ignored complaints for two years

Pictures of Mittal with bollywood celebrity like Sunny Leone and Amish Patel went viral on the social media but Mittal only roped them for promotion of his business and attract more investors.

Investigators claim that it took Mittal more than five years to become what he is today, a conman for officials and a Robin Hood for his investors. His social media pages filled with inspirational messages. For his fellow-students at a private engineering college, he was Phunsukh Wangdu, a genius fictional character played by Aamir Khan's in 3 Idiots.

Also read: Enforcement Directorate registers case in Noida's Rs 3,700 crores 'like' scam

Also read: Facebook Like scam: Noida cops probe bankers' role in Rs 3700 crore ponzi scam

--- ENDS ---

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By Press Trust of India: From Sajjad Hussain

Islamabad, Feb 17 (PTI) In an unusual move, Pakistan Army today handed over a list of 76 "most wanted" terrorists to Afghan embassy officials and demanded "immediate action" against them, amidst a spurt in terror attacks in the country.

Pakistan Prime Ministers Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz also telephoned Afghan National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar and urged him to take action against militants involved in terrorism inside Pakistan.

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Aziz called the Afghan National Security Adviser after an unnamed official from the Afghan embassy was summoned to military headquarters in Rawalpindi and handed down a list of 76 "most wanted" terrorists for "immediate action" or extradition to Pakistan.

The Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement that Aziz underlined that the government and the people of Pakistan were in a state of deep anguish and pain at the recent terrorist incidents in various parts of Pakistan resulting into loss of precious human lives.

He conveyed to the Afghan National Security Adviser that terrorist group Jamat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) was behind these barbaric acts of terrorism in Pakistan.

Director General, Inter-Services Public Relations, Major General Asif Ghafoor said that the Afghan official was summoned to lodge protest against the use of Afghan soil by terrorists to carry out attacks in Pakistan, he said.

Afghanistan was asked to either take "immediate action" against the named terrorists or hand them over to Pakistan, he said.

The move comes two days after a senior Afghan diplomat was summoned to the Foreign Office in Islamabad to receive protest over the use of territory of his country for launching terrorist attacks in Pakistan, Dawn newspaper reported.

The Afghan diplomat was given a demarche containing details of the recent terrorist attacks and supporting information.

Pakistan army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa yesterday vowed to avenge "every drop of blood" spilled by terrorists in Pakistan.

"Recent terrorist acts are being executed on directions from hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan. We shall defend and respond," he had said.

Pakistan has been hit by a series of terrorist attacks since Afghanistan-based JuA announced its Operation Ghazi.

The current wave of terrorism sweeping the country took a turn for the worse yesterday when a suspected woman suicide attacker set off explosives at the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sindh province, leaving at least 80 devotees dead and over 200 injured.

Pakistan closed its border with Afghanistan after the shrine attack due to security concerns.

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On February 13, a suicide bomber had struck a protest in Lahore, killing 13 and injuring 85. The attack had happened right outside the gates of Punjabs Provincial Assembly. The attack was claimed by JuA.

On the same day, two personnel of Balochistans bomb disposal squad were killed as they attempted to defuse an explosive device planted under a bridge in Quetta, the provincial capital. PTI SH AKJ ASK

--- ENDS ---
Arce stressed that "this table has a vital importance to continue giving certainties and solutions, above the whims, subway agreements and political calculations". | Read More
Sources in the agency admitted that Dr Naik and IRF were involved in religious conversion in India and abroad.

By Virendrasingh Ghunawat: For the first time in the money laundering case of controversial Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik, Pakistan links have emerged. Sources within the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have confirmed IndiaToday.in exclusively that money has flown in IRF's bank accounts via Dubai, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and United Kingdom.

As of now, the agency has traced the money trail of about Rs 200 crore, which could go up by few more crores.

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Whether the money coming in has any direct links with Pakistan or Dr Naik has used the Dubai route, it is getting investigated. "As of now, the agency is not ruling out Dr Naik connection with Pakistan and few other countries, but investigation is on before coming to conclusion," the source told IndiaToday.in exclusively.

Also read | Money laundering case: Enforcement Directorate arrests Islamic preacher Zakir Naik's confidante

Meanwhile, in its first remand application before the special PMLA Court, the ED revealed that evangelist Dr Zakir Naik had created dummy companies and used it to camouflage the diversion of funds, which he had received by promoting videos of provocative speeches.

Sources in the agency admitted that Dr Naik and IRF were involved in religious conversion in India and abroad. "Statements recorded of some individuals in this case, told the agency that the money received by IRF were used in the activities of conversion," the source said.

NAIK CONTROLLED IRF

The preliminary investigation conducted by the agency, prima facie revealed that Dr Naik was at the helm of affairs completely controlling the affairs of the IRF. He was in complete control over such instrumentalities which were being run by him in close cahoots with his nominated or confidante trustees such as Dr Mohammed Abdul Karim Naik (brother of Dr Naik) and Aamir Gazdar.

Among the several entities created by Dr Naik for this purpose, Gazdar who has been arrested by ED on Thursday night, was one of the directors. These companies are - Universal Broadcasting Corporation, Lords Production Ltd, Harmony Media Pvt Ltd, Longlast Constructions Pvt Ltd, Majestic Perfumes Pvt Ltd and Alpha Lubricants Pvt Ltd.

Harmony Media has been used to produce videos of provocative speeches and was exported to Dubai for telecasting the same. Gazdar is one of the directors of Harmony Media.

GAZDAR'S LINK WITH DR NAIK

The investigation revealed that Gazdar had financial transactions with Dr Naik and his associated companies. Gazdar had given an amount of Rs 2.35 crore as loan to Harmony Media, which he received back subsequently. Gazdar had also loaned another amount of Rs 41.50 lakh, which has also been returned to him. "There was no agreement entered by him for the said transactions," the officials said.

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Interestingly, Gazdar is a marble trader involved in contracting and supplying business under the name of Gazdar & Company and with a turnover of Rs 25-30 lakh. "In year 2003-04, he got connected with Dr Naik and since then he has become the close confidante of Dr Naik in every activities and decision-making process," said the official.

The remand application said, "Investigations also revealed that huge amount of cash transaction (of about Rs 10-15 crore) without levying any trail of its origin or utilisation were conducted by Dr Naik through the present accused Gazdar. The cash amounts were collected and/or provided to the employees/officials of the IRF trust by Gazdar. However, Gazdar did not disclose any further details, it means, he is chewing more than is divulging."

With a remark that Gazdar has been misleading the investigation by making false statements and also not revealing his role playing along with Dr Naik, the ED has got his custody till February 22, for further interrogation and get specific details/documents pertaining to the companies in which he is the director and/or trustee; and also details of the functioning or financial activities.

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Meanwhile, the agency is collecting details of all properties created by Dr Naik through proceed of crimes, in India and abroad. Also, ED is likely to issue a letter rogatory (LRs) to Dubai, UK, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia seeking operational and financial details of Naik and IRF.

--- ENDS ---
Sonys 4K systems camera, the HDC-4300, is to be produced in Wales, the only country outside Japan to produce the camera.

The camera will be manufactured at Sony UK Technology Centre in Pencoed, South Wales from this month.



The Pencoed factory has been producing high-end broadcast technology in South Wales since 1999, manufacturing cameras and camera systems for worldwide distribution and shipping more than 13,000 units every year.



Sony UK TECs managing director Steve Dalton OBE said: For our facility to have been chosen as the only manufacturer outside of Japan to deliver these next generation cameras is fantastic news for Sony UK TEC. This is one of many new, exciting ventures for our facility and our highly skilled teams, and we welcome this extremely progressive period here at Pencoed. Sony UK TEC was specifically chosen to manufacture this next generation technology thanks to its world-class production capabilities and expertise in creating high-end, low volume, high-value products.



These cameras are setting the standard in what will be the future of broadcast technology, so this shows confidence in our skilled workforce and the factorys ability to produce high-end, quality, products for worldwide distribution. Our expert team members have been thoroughly trained in the latest manufacturing techniques making them ideally placed to produce these industry-leading products. At Sony UK TEC we have nurtured our skilled workforce of over 400 team members ensuring they are experienced, constantly innovative and always striving for improvement. We are delighted to bring this progressive technology into Wales, which will once again reaffirm our nations reputation as a significant manufacturing force on the global stage.



Sony UK TEC produces HD broadcast and professional camera systems aa well as products for external businesses, including energy efficient lighting.



The Pencoed facility also houses a Business Incubation Centre and a 30,000 sq ft filming facility  Sony Ffilm Factory 35.



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"In AIADMK's regime, there has been a complete breakdown of law and order in the state. So to show our opposition, we will participate in the assembly and vote against him", Stalin said.

By India Today Web Desk: DMK will vote against Chief Minister E Palaniswami in the trust vote in Tamil Nadu Assembly today, party's Working President M K Stalin has said.

As many as 89 DMK MLAs will vote against Palaniswami, he said.

Stalin said, "Palaniswami is supposed to show he has the numbers to prove his majority in the trust vote on the floor of the House. The AIADMK regime has been a failure on several fronts. There has been a complete breakdown of law and order in the state. So to show our opposition, we will participate in the assembly and vote against him."

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STALIN IN FAVOUR OF SECRET VOTE

The DMK leader added that he was in favour of a secret vote in the Assembly. Stalin said that there had been a lot of confusion in Tamil Nadu in the wake of the infighting in the AIADMK. Party cadres are now divided into 2 factions -- one backing Panneerselvam and the other supporting V K Sasikala.

Also read | O Panneerselvam vs E Palaniswami: AIADMK's fight to the finish after VK Sasikala is sent to jail

He said that just as AIADMK MLAs had celebrated Jayalalithaa's acquittal earlier, those siding with Panneerselvam had gone back to Kuvathur to celebrate Sasikala's conviction, leading to a complete political and administrative vacuum in the state.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President Su Thirunavukkarasar said the party would decide its stand on voting based on the advice of the Congress high command. He denied reports that eight Congress MLAs would vote against the government.

On the issue of secret ballot being used in voting, Thirunavukkarasar said, "A decision on secret ballot should be taken in tune with Parliamentary and Legislative practices, precedents and tradition."

Minister K.A. Sengottayan has been appointed as the floor leader of the Tamil Nadu Assembly ahead of Saturday's trust vote. Palaniswami needs 118 votes to remain Chief Minister.

Also read | Will Palaniswami win trust vote? 7 ways in which Tamil Nadu CM betrays nervousness

While DMK has a strength of 89, Congress has eight, IUML one in the Assembly and one seat is vacant.

The House has a total strength of 234 members, including that of Speaker.

AIADMK has a total of 134 legislators, including the O Panneerselvam camp followers.

SASIKALA GETS EC NOTICE

Poll panel notice to Sasikala.

Meanwhile, in another major political development in the state, the Election Commission has issued a notice to V K Sasikala on a petition filed by AIADMK MP Dr. V Maitreyan and others, challenging her nomination as the party's general secretary.

Sasikala has been asked to reply to this poll panel notice by February 28.

The O Panneerselvam faction of AIADMK met the Speaker ahead of the trust vote in Tamil Nadu assembly on Saturday and raised the issue of Sasikala's elevation. Panneerselvam has said he will continue his fight against the Mannargudi family.

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WATCH VIDEO

--- ENDS ---
Panneerselvam visited Jayalalithaa's memorial soon after Palaniswami took oath as Tamil Nadu CM and said that until the newly formed government is removed, they will 'not sleep or rest.'

By India Today Web Desk: If you believe the Tamil Nadu political drama has seen its end with VK Sasikala proxy Edapaddi Palaniswami being sworn in as the chief minister, you are mistaken. Rebel AIADMK O Panneerselvam has vowed to continue his war against Sasikala.

Palaniswami is likely to visit Sasikala, who is lodged at Bengaluru's Parappana Agrahara Central Jail, later today.

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The newly appointed CM paid a visit to Jayalalithaa's memorial soon after taking oath, moments later Panneerselvam arrived at the Marina Beach on Thursday night.

ALSO READ: Will BJP rope in Rajinikanth to form new party in Tamil Nadu? Wait and watch, says chief Amit Shah

Panneerselvam, who has challenged Sasikala's elevation as AIADMK general secretary before the Election Commission, paid floral tributes at Jaya's memorial and announced that his war against the Sasikala clan would continue.

"It is unfortunate that all those who were disowned by her (Jayalalithaa) are now in charge of the party," Panneerselvam said referring to Sasikala's decision to bring back her nephew TTV Dhinakaran in party. Dhinakaran, who was expelled from AIADMK by Jayalalithaa in 2011, was appointed as party's deputy general secretary just hours before Sasikala surrendered before the special Bengaluru court

"The government that has taken charge in Tamil Nadu is Sasikala's proxy and doesn't comprise Amma's true loyalists. Until this government is removed, we will not sleep or rest. The people don't want this government," Panneerselvam added.

PALANISWAMY TO PROVE MAJORITY ON SATURDAY

A special session of the state Assembly has been called on Saturday (February 18) where Governor Vidyasagar Rao for Palaniswami to prove majority on the floor of the House.

Political crisis in Tamil Nadu started after J Jayalalithaa's death on December 5 which triggered a massive succession war within the ruling AIADMK. Jayalalithaa had powered the party to a rare successive term in office in the state in the May, 2016 Assembly polls. She continued on the post through her grim 74-day battle for life.

SASIKALA WATCHES PALANISWAMI OATH TAKING LIVE ON TV IN JAIL

VK Sasikala watched on television Palaniswami taking oath as the new Chief Minster of Tamil Nadu at Raj Bhavan in Chennai from the Bengaluru jail.

"Sasikala watched live Palaniswami and 30 lawmakers taking oath as the Chief Minister and Cabinet ministers in the prison's woman barracks, along with her sister-in-law Elavarasi and other inmates," a jail official said.

Sasikala, 60, Elavarasi and her nephew VK Sudhakaran returned to the prison on Wednesday and surrendered to resume the four-year term they were sentenced to after being held guilty of corruption in the 21-year-old illegal assets case.

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WATCH: EPS wins numbers, OPS wins dharmayudh? Confidence vote on Saturday

ALSO READ:

What happens to Panneerselvam with Palaniswami swearing in as Tamil Nadu CM

Sasikala in jail but 'mafia from Mannargudi' is here to stay. Who are they?

--- ENDS ---
"When did Uttar Pradesh adopt him? For the sake of votes he is linking relations with every state. If PM has said that he is adopted son of UP then who is his father? PM should reveal name of the father also.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: RJD Supremo Lalu Prasad has reacted strongly to PM Narendra Modi's remarks made during Hardoi rally that he was the "adopted son" of Uttar Pradesh and the state was like his "mai-baap" whom he will never desert. Lalu said if PM Modi considered himself "adopted son" of Uttar Pradesh then he should reveal who is the father and what is his name?

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"When did Uttar Pradesh adopt him? For the sake of votes he is linking relations with every state. If PM has said that he is adopted son of UP then who is his father? PM should reveal name of the father also.

Reacting to Lalu's strong comments, senior BJP leader Sushil Modi said that using abusive and un-parliamentary language against opposition leaders is part of Lalu's culture which his sons are also adopting. He said that the people of Uttar Pradesh will teach Samajwadi party and Congress a lesson for whom the RJD chief is seeking votes.

"Lalu has always used abusive language and people do not take him seriously. It's a reality that voters are the real "mai baap". The language which Lalu has used against PM, people of UP will give a befitting reply. Lalu's comments are also a sign of desperation as he knows that BJP is going to sweep UP polls," said Sushil Modi, BJP leader.

--- ENDS ---
Gov. John Bel Edwards said Friday that, while Louisiana faces huge road and bridge problems, he is not ready to spell out how much he will recommend to improve transportation.

"You are going to hear from us soon," Edwards said in a 20-minute address to transportation and other groups.

"I want you to know my support for transportation is unyielding," he said. "We want to be bold."

A task force named by the governor in December recommended a $700 million yearly increase in road and bridge spending.

+2 Before funding for transportation overhaul becomes reality, three key questions must be answered While a special panel named by Gov. John Bel Edwards has called for $700 million a year in 

The panel also said an increase in the state gasoline tax is the most reliable way to raise the money.

The tax would have to rise by 23 cents to generate nearly $700 million annually, if that is the sole source.

The governor and lawmakers are embroiled in a special session to find ways to address a $304 million shortfall for the financial year that ends June 30.

Shawn Wilson, secretary for the state Department of Transportation and Development, told the group after Edwards spoke that issues surrounding the special session delayed an announcement on the administration's transportation package.

If the governor unveiled a sweeping proposal in the midst of arguments over spending cuts, including transportation, chances for passage could be crippled, officials at the meeting said.

The transportation debate will unfold in the 2017 regular session, which begins on April 10.

Edwards noted that Louisiana is ranked 8th worst in the U. S. for pavement conditions, 3rd worst on structurally deficient bridges and he said DOTD has closed eight bridges this year because of deficiencies.

"And that follows a record number of (closed) bridges last year," he said.

"We can point to 30 years of inaction that led to where we are today," Edwards said.

The meeting was held by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Louisiana, Louisiana Associated General Contractors and the Louisiana Asphalt Pavement Association, among others.

The governor said he has been surprised at partisan disputes over the need for road and bridge improvements.

He said he has kept transportation promises he made in 2015, including more capital improvement dollars for transportation, increased spending for ports and an end to transferring road and bridge dollars to State Police.

"I know that is not enough," Edwards told the group.

The state faces a $13 billion backlog of rank-and-file needs and a $16 billion list of "mega" projects, including a new bridge across the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge.

However, any tax hikes will require the support of two thirds of the House and Senate, always a tall order and especially so amid budget-related bickering in the past 13 months.

"It just doesn't have to be that way," the governor said.

Edwards is a Democrat. The Legislature is controlled by Republicans.

"I need your help," he said. "I need the help of everybody in this room. We can't just keep pushing it down the road."

Some lawmakers, including House Transportation Committee Chairman Kenny Havard, R-St. Francisville, have questioned whether taxpayers would back a major hike in the gasoline tax.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Neil Abramson, D-New Orleans, is skeptical about relying on a big tax increase to make transportation repairs.

That panel would be a key stop for any legislation to boost state aid for roads and bridges.

Motorists pay 38.4 cents per gallon in state and federal taxes, including 20 cents in state taxes.

However, five of those 20 pennies are used to pay off the debt from a 1989 bond issue called TIMED.
The state's plan for putting $438 million from Congress toward recovery from last year's historic flooding has won approval from the federal agency that administers the money.

Louisiana received word Thursday night that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development signed off on a detailed "action plan" that was needed before the state could draw down the money.

The state had hoped that HUD would agree to the proposal, which will largely go toward establishing homeowner rebuilding programs, by early March.

"We know we still have a long way to go, but this is reassuring for families and businesses who are ready to rebuild their homes," Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a statement. "We are extremely grateful to HUD for such a quick review of the action plan and their continued assistance."

It's possible that as few as 5,000 homeowners will benefit from the first round of funding the state received, but officials say that the programs will extend to more people as additional money comes in. Priority in the initial round will go to the poor and elderly or disabled.

Because the state still needs the federal line of credit to be authorized, it could still be several weeks before programs begin repairing or replacing homes damaged by catastrophic flooding across south Louisiana in August and north Louisiana in the Spring.

Homeowners who have major or severe damage; meet federal low to moderate income requirements; live outside the flood hazard zones; didn't have flood insurance and those with a household member who is elderly or disabled will be the first priority.

The plan approved by HUD outlines three programs for homeowners: a state-run construction program, a program that allows homeowners to select their own contractors that the state pays and a reimbursement program for homeowners who have already had work done.

The action plan's approval comes nearly a month ahead of anticipated schedule. If things continue to move at the quicker pace, programs could be up and running by April.

The action plan covers the funds that Congress appropriated to Louisiana in a September stop-gap spending measure. The state secured another round of $1.2 billion in aid in December. The state will submit the action plan for that tranche of money this month, after satisfying federal requirements on public comment periods.

That money will largely go toward expanding homeowner programs to those who won't qualify in the initial phase.

Edwards is seeking another $2 billion from the federal government to further expand recovery programs.

"Louisiana is still in need of additional assistance, and we will continue to work with the administration and congressional delegation to make it happen," Edwards said.

Several leaders had expressed frustration over the pace of the federal funds making their way to the state.

In its approval letter, HUD commended the state for its "commitment to increasing the speed of recovery."

"This is evidenced by the historically fast action plan submission," HUD General Deputy Assistant Secretary Clifford Taffet writes.

The letter also highlights the state's unmet needs for renters and others affected by the floods.

"The department acknowledges the state's intention with this initial allocation of funding is to provide the most immediate assistance to homeowners; however there is a concern that the needs of renters and individuals experiencing homelessness may remain unaddressed," Taffet wrote in the letter.

About $100 million in the plan for the next round of funding will go toward rental and homelessness prevention programs, on top of the $938 million set aside for the homeowner rebuilding programs to be branched out.
This was Priyanka's first appearance at an election rally in Uttar Pradesh where Congress has allied with the ruling Samajwadi Party for Assembly election.

By India Today Web Desk: Congress star campaigner Priyanka Gandhi finally hit the campaign trail for Uttar Pradesh Assembly election addressing a rally at mother Sonia Gandhi's Lok Sabha constituency Raebareli today along with brother Rahul.

ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2017: FULL COVERAGE

Addressing the rally first, Rahul Gandhi hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over demonetisation, farmers' death and other issues. But it was Priyanka who launched a blistering attack on PM Modi and labelled him an outsider.

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"Modi said UP has adopted him as a son. Does UP need to adopt anyone from outside for its development? UP doesn't need an adopted son to do good for the state. Rahul Gandhi and Akhileshji are two sons of UP," Priyanka said.

"Every youth of the state can become a leader and work for its development. Vote for the one who wants to work for you, not the one who makes false promises," she added.

Priyanka Gandhi with brother Rahul at Raebareli rally. (Photo: Twitter/@UPCC_Official)

HERE ARE THE HIGHLIGHTS:

I appeal to you all to identify those who make false promises: Priyanka

PM has done nothing for Varanasi: Priyanka

UP doesn't need an outsider: Priyanka

Ask people about development in Amethi: Priyanka

MUST READ: Why the Akhilesh-Rahul alliance is a gamechanger in UP election

UP doesn't need an adopted son when it has its own: Priyanka

PM ne kaha mujhe UP ne godh liya aur mein UP ka vikas karoonga. Kya UP ko vikas ke liye kisi ko godh lene ki zarurat hai?: Priyanka Gandhi

PM Modi ne aapse food park chheen liya, aapka rozgaar cheena. 'Made in Raebareli' chheena. Kyunki badla lena tha

We wanted to build a food park here and set up several factories in Raebareli.

On November 8, he appeared before you all and said he has a new idea and made you all stand in queues.

PM Modi is friends with industrialists and he talks about working for the poor.

Modiji did nothing for Varanasi. He says India is dirty...I am going to America you get into the cleaning exercise.

After notes ban, Modiji waived Rs 1,200 crore loan given to Vijay Mallya.

Imagine... you were shown Shah Rukh Khan in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayengey .... after two and a half years, it turned out it is Gabbar Singh in Sholay.

.... after two and a half years, it turned out it is Gabbar Singh in Varanasi se kiya vaade Modi ji ne poore nahi kiye, Bhojpuri film city banane ka, ganga safai ka: Rahul

Rahul Modi ji ne kaha UP mein BJP sarkar bante hi kisano ka karza maaf hoga. UPA ne bhi kiya tha, tab Congress ki sarkar thi UP mein?

The farmers said three things - rain, hail and Modiji doesn't give us compensations: Rahul

We took out a 30-day long yatra in Uttar Pradesh a few months ago. We spoke to the farmers: Rahul Gandhi

Interestingly, Priyanka was seen on the dias with Rahul a day after Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani targetted her, saying she will have to face questions from Amethi residents if she came visiting for campaigning.

"If she (Priyanka Gandhi) comes to campaign here, she has to answer the people's questions," Irani said when asked about Priyanka's reluntance to join election campaign in Uttar Pradesh.

Irani unsuccessfully contested the Amethi seat against Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Many campaign programmes of Priyanka had been made and cancelled in the past owing to the seat-sharing row between the two partner parties in the Gandhi family bastion of Amethi-Raebareli.

Sources said Priyanka said yes to campaigning only when the Samajwadi Party agreed to withdraw five of its candidates from the fray.

She was one of the main negotiators with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav when the alliance talks were on the brink of collapse.

While her name has been repeatedly appearing in the star campaigner list of the party, she is likely to restrict herself to Amethi-Raeareli only.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi is scheduled to address a rally on February 20. She has so far kept herself away from campaigning as she is reportedly not in "the best of health".

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Raebareli goes to polls on February 23 and Amethi on February 27.

ALSO READ:

Bhabhiji chunaav mein hain: Meet the 13 wives in Uttar Pradesh Assembly election fray

Uttar Pradesh: Polarisation could scupper Rahul-Akhilesh alliance in assembly elections

WATCH: Priyanka Gandhi takes jibe at Modi in Raebareli rally, says UP doesn't need to adopt sons

--- ENDS ---
A key report comparing public hospital performance between different states has been left without any ACT data, after ACT Health's failure to provide data to two key federal agencies last month.

The Australian Medical Association's annual national public hospital report card was released on Friday, showing few improvements across other jurisdictions around the country.

ACT Health's failure to provide data to key national agencies has left the AMA's annual public hospital report card without any figures on Canberra's performance. Credit:Getty Images

But a gaping hole was left in the report for the nation's capital, as the AMA's report relies on annual data reported by each jurisdiction to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

While Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris has promised an extensive review of the data problems in her directorate, it is unclear why issues continue after a series of reviews, audits and investigations of ACT Health's data systems in recent years.
Aaron Smith, 30, was in a hospital isolation ward for six days after contracting salmonella poisoning, losing 11 kilograms and fearing for the safety of his 10-month-old baby who also contracted salmonella.

Mr Smith, his fiancee Brooke Suitor, 23, and baby Tyler went for breakfast at Ricardo's Cafe on Tuesday January 31 where Tyler and his dad shared a mango smoothie.

Aaron Smith, 30, was hospitalised for six days for salmonella poisoning and lost 11 kilograms.

The owner of the cafe, now closed for alleged "serious food safety breaches", said on Thursday that ACT Health had identified problems with their smoothies and cronuts.

On Wednesday February 1 Mr Smith's temperature nearly topped 40 degrees but his teeth were chattering, with a health hotline Ms Suitor had contacted sending for an ambulance.
Shannon Griffith spends as many hours commuting as she does working on an average weekday.

She leaves her Murrumbateman home at 7.30am to take her daughter to childcare in Yass, her eldest child to Miles Franklin Primary School in Evatt and herself to her Civic office by 9.45am, before starting the journey in reverse 4.5 hours later.

Shannon Griffiths with her children Sienna 2 and Amelia 5, Murrumbateman mother, spends 4hrs a day commuting to and from work because there are no primary schools in Murrumbateman. Credit:Jay Cronan

Ms Griffith is one of several Murrumbateman families outraged at the NSW government's decision to exclude Murrumbateman from the dozen public schools the NSW government will build each year, until at least 2026.

The knock back will lead to more desperate parents lying about where their children live so they can attend Canberra public schools, according to a local community group.
Clive Palmer has filed $10 million lawsuits against Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Employment Minister Michaelia Cash over allegedly defamatory comments they made about the demise of Queensland Nickel.

Documents lodged in the Brisbane Supreme Court this week claim the Prime Minister and Senator Cash conveyed at a press conference on April 15, 2016, that Mr Palmer had used funds from the company for his own benefit.

It further stated the pair, who are being pursued separately, indicated Mr Palmer had acted to the detriment of QNI employees, their families and the Townsville community at large.

Their remarks conveyed the imputation that Mr Palmer is a "greedy self-serving entrepreneur who does not care for the welfare of his employees and ordinary Australians", the documents claim.
Office is the new black as counter-cyclical developers turn away from the saturated residential market to office projects.

Record low office vacancy rates combined with a crackdown on funding for locals and offshore apartment buyers have triggered a change in direction for local developers.

Boutique office developments like this one in Cremorne are being sold off the plan.

Peregrine boss Joe Chahin is planning an eight-storey 8500-square metre office project for his latest purchase, the Australian Retailers Limited site at 169 Burnley Street in Richmond.

Mr Chahin is understood to have paid more than $11 million for the two-level site between Bridge Road and Victoria Street on a 2.5-year leaseback to the retailing business.
Abacus Property Group led by industry veteran Frank Wolf has reported a substantial increase in profit of $191.7 million, 2.5 times more than the previous half-year result.

A large proportion of the rise $76.9 million was the result of valuation gains from the group's investment property portfolio.

Windfall: Abacus sold its 17.5 per cent share of The World Trade Centre in Melbourne. Credit:Nick Lenaghan

Abacus under Dr Wolf's direction has become known for canny investment choices in the commercial sector and has a growing portfolio of boutique residential projects across Australia.

Its most recent deal was the sale of a 17.5 per cent share of the World Trade Centre complex in Melbourne which was offloaded to a local purchaser with Malaysian interests for $267.5 million.
Seoul: The de facto leader of Samsung, Lee Jae-yong, was arrested on Friday on bribery charges, a dramatic turn in South Korea's decades-old struggle to end collusive ties between the government and powerful family-controlled conglomerates.

Lee, the vice chairman of Samsung, one of the world's largest conglomerates, was taken to a jail outside Seoul, the capital, soon after a judge at the Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant early on Friday.

Lee, 48, was accused of paying $US36 million ($47 million) in bribes to President Park Geun-hye's secretive confidante, Choi Soon-sil, in return for political favours from Park, like government support for a merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015 that helped Lee inherit corporate control from his incapacitated father, Chairman Lee Kun-hee.

Lee Jae-yong, who also goes by the name Jay Y. Lee in the West, is the first head of Samsung, a symbol of power and wealth in South Korea, to face corruption charges. Other charges against him include embezzlement, illegal transfer of property abroad and committing perjury during a parliamentary hearing.
Faysal Ishak Ahmed, who died on Christmas Eve after being flown from the Manus Island detention centre. In conversation with trauma worker Janet Galbraith, he had referred to himself at times as "Little Ali", who was 11 and good, and 12 and bad. "I asked if he wanted to tell me what happened when he was 11 and he said he couldn't," says Galbraith. It took Eaten Fish a while to tell Galbraith that something very bad had happened to him inside the Manus detention centre, too: he had been the victim of a prolonged sexual assault by several detainees and he was too scared to make a complaint because he did not trust the guards. Iranian refugee Behrouz Boochani. Credit:Michael Green "I could tell that something had happened as Ali was quite altered," Galbraith wrote in a private note last April. "His anxiety was extremely high and his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder also exacerbated. His showering was extreme and he was sending me messages saying he scrubbed and scrubbed until he bled."

It was Galbraith, who started the group called Writing Through Fences to give asylum seekers in detention a voice, who put Eaten Fish in touch with the Guardian Australia cartoonist First Dog on the Moon. And it was First Dog on the Moon, aka Andrew Marlton, who encouraged Ali in his art and helped introduce his cartoons to the world. "It was very strange to be mentoring someone who is essentially in a gulag," say Marlton, who was struck from the start by the naive immediacy of the work. "We have talked on and off on a regular basis over the last couple of years while he's wasted away, along with 900 other men on Manus Island. The cruelty he faces on a daily basis would have killed me two years ago, I can tell you." Last August, Eaten Fish was awarded the courage in editorial cartooning award by the Cartoonists Rights Network International, who praised his ability to "keep up a stream of cartoons documenting the unspeakable abuses and excesses of the guards and administrators of the camp". "I congratulated him and I remember that, for the first time, I saw great happiness in his face," says Boochani, whose work as a journalist, writer and advocate on Manus Island has also won international recognition.

But the joy was fleeting as a cup of tea. Ali's medical records chronicle his deteriorating mental health, his terror at the prospect of another sexual assault, the fear of harassment and bullying by certain guards and his difficulty living in an isolation unit, the only place his safety was assured. It was in May last year that Ali moved to the area reserved for those with acute mental health or protection needs, where his every move is monitored. The notes of consultants report how Ali continued to find his situation "perplexing and upsetting", and how he saw "escape or death as a realistic solution". In October came a removal order signed by Papua New Guinea's immigration minister, Rimbink Pato, followed by a notice from PNG's Immigration and Citizenship Service Authority that Ali had been determined not to be a refugee. This came as no surprise to Galbraith or Susan Ditchfield, a GP whose first contact with him was through Doctors for Refugees.

"Ali was unable to complete the refugee status determination process because of his illnesses and the panic attacks that were triggered each time he was expected to speak of what happened to him in Iran," says Galbraith. "Rather than being an indication of his not being a refugee, this was an indication of how unwell he is." Then, on Christmas Eve, came the news that Faysal Ishak Ahmed, a 27-year-old Sudanese refugee, had died from injuries suffered after he fell inside the isolation area not far from of Ali, who witnessed the frantic efforts of a doctor to save him. Ali saw Ahmed taken away and was asked to sign a statement about what he saw, but he did not know of the death until he received a message from Galbraith that night. An hour later he began working on four-part cartoon that told the "true story of Faysal", completing the task at 7am on Christmas Day. He called it "Happy Bloody Christmas", and told how helpless he felt ("I could feel the pain he had inside but I could not do anything to help him") and expressed his anger at the ambivalence of the guard who told the doctor Ahmed had been "doing fine" before he fell ("Why would he say he was doing fine? He was not fine.")

A couple of weeks later, Ali sent me a message introducing himself and offering a cartoon called 'How people die in Offshore processing centre' that attempted to sum up the utter hopelessness of the situation he and many other detainees face on a daily basis. Then, on January 29, he was told his allegations of sexual assault and abuse had not been substantiated and that he would be returned to the main compound where he says his attackers and harassers remain, prompting his decision to begin a hunger strike. "Eaten Fish has received a deportation order, but he wants people to know that he is not on hunger strike for that reason," the Greens' Scott Ludlam told the Senate this week. "He is on hunger strike because he has been the victim of sexual assault, chronic sexual harassment and abuse in Australia's immigration prison camp. He cannot bear the suffering anymore." Galbraith and First Dog are in daily contact with him, but so far have been unable to convince Eaten Fish to eat. In messages to me, Ali says he now weighs 46.7 kilos, which he says is close to the weight of Bobby Sands, the Irish nationalist, when he died in prison in 1981.

For First Dog, it is a bizarre experience, chatting on a messaging app to someone who is wasting away. "I tell him you'll get so weak that you won't be able to talk to me any more, and then you'll really be alone, so I want you to understand that that's coming," he says. "What am I to say? 'Mate, eat a sandwich, you'll be all right.'? I can't say you'll be all right. I want him to end the hunger strike, I really do, and I'm encouraging him to do that, but I'm not able to say it's going to be OK and you'll make it through because I don't know that." The best hope for Ali is that he is reassessed, his protection claim is upheld and he is included in the resettlement deal with the US, where a network of cartoonists have committed to help him access the services he will need to recover. But there are too many unanswered questions, there is too little time and Ali's reservoir of hope has run dry. On the messaging app, I ask Eaten Fish why he wants to die. He replies that he does not want to hunger strike and has "pain inside", but that this method of dying gave him the chance to tell his story of suffering to the world. "I think you should give me the right to die and stop this torture and suffers and pains," he said in one message. "I have no energy left to tell my stories to Australians any more."
He's not afraid to tackle the harsh realities of life or make political statements, but does Danny Boyle think a film on US President Donald Trump is worthy of his cinematic skills?

"It will be very interesting to see how his time emerges in culture. That will start to emerge quite soon," the Oscar-winning director told Fairfax Media from the orange carpet of the Sydney premiere of T2 Trainspotting last week.

When asked if he thinks the surge in resistance to the 45th US president and his administration might prevent the radical changes Trump wants to bring about, Boyle said he felt it was unlikely.

"I would say the culture looks like it's definitely about to change. The brake that there is on individual leaders, he just appears to be ignoring as much as he can.
Running Shaadi, directed by Amit Roy and starring Amit Sadh and Taapsee Pannu, is a romantic caper set in Punjab. Here is our Running Shaadi movie review.

By Devarsi Ghosh: Running Shaadi is the story of a bunch of small town entrepreneurs who start a website to help couples elope and marry. Here is our Running Shaadi movie review.

Running Shaadi Cast: Amit Sadh, Taapsee Pannu, Arsh Bajwa

Running Shaadi Direction: Amit Roy

Running Shaadi Rating: (3/5)

Running Shaadi, previously known as Runningshaadi.com but not anymore because Shaadi.com approached Bombay High Court protesting against the title, is a film that is great in patches but is mostly just about okay.

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The story of Running Shaadi involves Ram Bharose (Amit Sadh) and Nimmi (Taapsee Pannu), a boy and girl who grow up together in Punjab and after a fallout with his boss, Ram joins hands with his friend 'Cyberjeet' (the excellent Arsh Bajwa) to start a website called Runningshaadi .com that organises all that an everyday eloping couple from India would need. Nimmi joins the duo but soon enough, the romantic tension between her and Ram takes the story through unexpected turns.

MOVIE REVIEW: THE GHAZI ATTACK

Watch Running Shaadi trailer here:

Running Shaadi was ready two years ago, but the distributors could never find a suitable window to release it. That is unfortunate because within those two years, films like Dolly Ki Doli and Happy Bhag Jayegi released. As such, conceptually, the film seems dated. While watching the film, you would get shades of Band Baaja Baaraat (two unlikely small-towners getting together to become entrepreneurs), and of course, the aforementioned films because there's the entire 'runaway bride' angle.

Nevertheless, there is a lot that works for Running Shaadi. And that 'lot' is pretty much the excellent casting.

Amit Sadh as the ambitious and resourceful Ram Bharose gives a career-defining performance as the lead. He is what they call 'lambi race ka ghoda.' Amit gets to showcase a range of emotions in Running Shaadi and he never, ever falters. He is so good. Hopefully, he gets noticed in Running Shaadi for all his worth.

Then, there's Arsh Bajwa as the goofy but smart tech geek Sarabjeet AKA Cyberjeet. The scenes of him worshipping Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg and that funny-for-a-while red turban with the image of a Facebook 'Like' button on it seem forced but that does not take away from Arsh's grade-A supporting act.

Taapsee Pannu gets a very tricky, complicated character, Nimmi. Nimmi is the kind of girl who you will never want to make a team-member if you have to rob a bank. She cons Ram Bharose in the most unexpected manner right before the interval and one will be hard-pressed to sympathise or empathise with her. However, Ram, who has been established as a 'sorted' dude, for some reason, continues to willingly jump into near-fatal situations for her. Is love a good enough reason to justify unconvincing character development?

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Watch 'Mannerless Majnu' from Running Shaadi:

Three entire paragraphs are devoted to the film's actors because that is how much they hold the story together. Because without them, the plot falls apart. Running Shaadi is made of an err...running chain of unbelievable plot twists but we will suspend our disbelief simply because of the strength of its actors.

Debutant director Amit Roy, who has previously been a cinematographer for Ram Gopal Varma's very uniquely-shot movies such as the Sarkar films, Nishabd and Rann, has the potential to make a great second film. Running Shaadi on paper seems trite, but it is consistently engaging because newer and wilder plot developments get thrown at you (Roy is also the writer) and you cannot help but continue to run with its characters to find out what eventually becomes of them.

In a week packed with multiple Bollywood and Hollywood releases, will Running Shaadi get noticed, more so, by the right people? An extra star for Amit, Taapse and Arsh.

(The writer tweets as @devarsighosh.)

ALSO READ: It is unfortunate, Running Shaadi director Amit Roy says about the title change

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ALSO READ: Taapsee Pannu says the nepotism tweet was not about Varun Dhawan

WATCH: A peek into Taapsee Pannu's cover shoot for India Today Woman

--- ENDS ---
The sisters of murdered nurse Mary Louise Wallace say they are still haunted by thoughts of how she died, and not knowing the whereabouts of her body for more than three decades has worsened their suffering.

Robert John Adams, 64, was last year found guilty of strangling Ms Wallace, then 33, to death while attempting to have sex with her after meeting her at a wine bar in Crows Nest, on Sydney's lower north shore, in 1983.

Robert John Adams before he was found guilty of murder last year. Credit:James Alcock

Although Adams was a suspect at the time and had already spent time in jail for rape, he was charged with murder only in 2013 after two hairs collected from his car boot were matched with hair found on Ms Wallace's hairbrush.

Despite extensive searches of bushland and a lengthy police investigation, Ms Wallace's body has never been found.
Thanks for following our live blog through the afternoon.

The clean-up continues after thunderstorms hit Sydney, the Illawarra, Hunter and Central Coast, causing roofs to be ripped from homes, trees and branches to fall, and power lines to come down.

Buses are replacing trains on part of the Hunter and Central Coast line, after lightning strikes affected signals on the tracks, and planes had to be diverted from Sydney Airport as lightning struck.

Power is starting to come back on in some regions, but crews are expecting to work through the night to get power switched back on in the remaining areas.

More storms are expected for Sydney tomorrow afternoon, which have the potential to be as severe as today.

Read the full story here.
It will be known as Beth's Law, and if passed, a bill will be the first real shake-up of Queensland's parole system since the 1930s.

The Queensland government on Thursday announced sweeping changes to the parole system, following a review conducted by Walter Sofronoff QC.

Beth's Law has been introduced into Queensland Parliament, with a shake-up of parole to follow. Credit:Wolter Peeters

Among suggestions for GPS trackers and "no body no parole", Mr Sofronoff also recommended domestic violence victims receive stronger protections.

He recommended domestic violence orders should automatically pause while the offender was in prison  so they did not expire while the sentence was served  and victims be notified if an offender was approaching a parole release date or was preparing to apply.
The alleged reign of terror of Dimitrious "Jimmy" Gargasoulas lasted just minutes; his trial for multiple murders could stretch out beyond next year.

This, Supreme Court co-ordinator judge Lex Lasry argued on Friday, was "a very long time", considering the public interest in resolving the case as quickly as possible.

Dimitrious Gargasoulas.

On Friday, Justice Lasry took the highly unusual  and perhaps even unprecedented  step of calling the matter before his court to interrogate the Director of Public Prosecutions about how the case against Mr Gargasoulas was progressing.

Mr Gargasoulas' lawyers were also invited to attend the special hearing, but Mr Gargasoulas himself did not attend.
A man who reportedly hit another man in head with a hammer on Thursday has been charged over the serious assault.

The alleged assault, which left the victim fighting for his life in hospital, happened at an industrial estate on Macquarie Place in Boronia, about 11.30am.

Police tape at the scene of the incident. Credit:Twitter/9NewsMelb

"The male victim has attended here of his own volition, and the dispute has taken place inside the factory," Detective Sergeant Danny Taylor told media at the scene.

"The witness accounts are that we believe there's been a weapon used. The male victim, who is known to the offender, is currently in hospital undergoing surgery."
Almost a dozen Victorian state schools are being investigated for potentially misusing taxpayer funds earmarked for needy students.

It follows explosive findings that a corrupt ring fleeced more than $6 million from the state's schools, spending the money on overseas travel, alcohol and lavish lunches.

The Education Department is investigating 11 more schools who have have been used inappropriately as banker schools Credit:Andrew Quilty

In a report to the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission, the Education Department said it had identified 11 more schools which "may have been used inappropriately as banker schools".

A banker school was a school given large amounts of money by the Education Department's central or regional offices on the basis they would share the funds with nearby schools when needed.
A woman who sometimes goes by the name of "Nikita Lotus" faced court on Friday afternoon, charged with the murder of Joanne Martell, whose remains were found last month in bushland between a Sorrento car park and the sea.

Nicole Boroviak, 42, appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court charged with murdering Ms Martell at Dromana between January 18 and 19, 2015.

Police and SES near Diamond Bay in Sorrento, where Ms Matell's body was found last month. Credit:Paul Jeffers

Ms Boroviak is also known as Nikita Lotus, according to court documents.

Ms Boroviak wore a white T-shirt over jeans, and her ponytail appeared to be bleached blonde.
Led into cells, pinned down and allegedly punched and kicked in the face by prison anti-riot guards.

These are among the Don Dale-esque allegations of brutality against teen detainees at Victoria's Barwon maximum security adult prison that are being investigated by police and the Commissioner for Children and Young People.

The allegations, which have been detailed in sworn affidavits lodged on Thursday in the Supreme Court by the detainees' lawyers, follow the injuring of a prison guard and a riot involving several teen detainees on Monday night.

On Tuesday, the government publicly detailed the riot and the alleged assault of the guard. But the allegations of the subsequent brutality against young inmates have been kept confidential until Friday, after Fairfax Media learned that police and children's commissioner Liana Buchanan have launched investigations.
He has been arrested and the gold items were seized under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962.

By Virendrasingh Ghunawat: Mumbai Customs arrested one Saudi Arabian Airlines employee for smuggling gold worth Rs 63.7 lakh at airport on Thursday night.

As per the information shared to India Today, the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Mumbai Customs intercepted one Saudi Arabian national named Goya Ahmad Siraj A. He had arrived from Jeddah by Saudi Arabian Airlines flight.

During examination, the officials recovered two gold bars of 1000 grams each and one gold bar of 100 grams, totally weighing 2100 grams valued at Rs 63,71,400.

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"These gold bars were concealed in black coloured pouches kept in his jeans pockets," the official told India Today.

The man admitted that he was employed in Saudi Arabian Airlines Ground Services. He has been arrested and the gold items were seized under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962.

In his statement, Siraj admitted that out of the above 2100 gms of seized gold bars, 2000 gms of gold belongs to him and 100 gms belongs to his cousin Fahid Ali, a citizen of Saudi Arabia.

--- ENDS ---
A man was shot at about six times after getting out of his car at a popular Coburg intersection, following a pursuit through Melbourne's northern suburbs.

Detectives from Victoria Police's taskforce targeting outlaw bikie gangs are trying to piece together what happened on the evening of February 9, and it's not known whether the man was injured in the shooting.

The incident began in Campbellfield, about 8.30pm, where it's believed a black Holden Captiva was being pursued by a black Holden Cruze, a police spokeswoman said.

She said the two vehicles were seen driving west on Mahoneys Road before turning onto Sydney Road and then travelling south.
An outbreak of the potentially debilitating Ross River virus in Victoria has continued to worsen, with authorities warning that another 155 people have been infected

Last week the state's chief health officer issued a warning about unusually high numbers of infections, noting that there had been 857 recorded case since January 1

This week that tally has climbed again, to 1012.

The spread comes after heavy rainfall and warm weather across Victoria, which has created ideal breeding grounds for the mosquitoes that carry the virus.
A 42-year-old woman has been charged with the murder of Rosebud woman Joanne Martell's, more than a month after her body was found in bushland near Sorrento.

Homicide Squad detectives charged the woman from Ravenhall, in Melbourne's west, on Friday, following the suspicious disappearance of Ms Martell, 45, about two years ago.

Police and SES near Diamond Bay in Sorrento, where Ms Matell's body was found last month. Credit:Paul Jeffers

Ms Martell was the mother of a teenage daughter, and an adult son, who both live interstate.

She lived with friends, regularly moving from house to house, but never leaving the Mornington Peninsula, where she had lived for most of her life.
A Perth grandfather has been sentenced to 12 years behind bars for a string of horrific sex offences - including two rapes - committed more than 20 years ago.

Robert William Barry, 54, was jailed in Perth District Court on Friday after a cold case review last year uncovered new DNA evidence linking him to three sex crimes.

Court.

The court heard how his violent sexual offending escalated from an incident at Carousel Shopping Centre in 1991 when he masturbated in front of a young shop assistant, to the rape of a 17-year-old girl in the shopping centre car park less than two months later.

Barry approached the teenager in the car park, grabbing her from behind and strangling her when she tried to scream.
Auto Lab Radio Talk - LIVE From NYC Saturday February 18, 2017 7AM- 9AM







Auto Lab Talk Radio

The Auto Lab Radio Show is Broadcast every Saturday 7 to 9 AM On New York City's WNYM Radio AM 970 and Streamed Worldwide On The Auto Channel

This Weeks Show Broadcast Date: February 18, 2017

Car Question or Concern? Call Toll Free 888-692-7234

Auto Lab is a 28 year old interactive automotive-focused New York area radio call-in show hosted by Professor Harold Wolchok. Each week a cadre of experienced hands-on automotive experts are in-studio with advice for the New York area's 12 million people, providing listeners with honest, practical and street-smart car repair and buying advice.

Auto Lab is also about the automotive industry, its history, and its culture, presenting the ideas and advice of leading college faculty, authors, and automotive practitioners in a relaxed, conversational interactive format.

Listeners can hear the past 18 years of archived Auto Lab shows as simulcast on www.theautochannel.com.

Listen - Auto Lab Page (Includes Audio-on-Demand Archives, Auto Programs at Community College Database, Guests Pictures

This Weeks Show: February 18, 2017

Auto Lab In-Studio Experts Discuss: Repairs, Second Opinion, Regular Maintenance, How To's, Safety, Used and New Car Buying, Ombudsmen Suggestions

Harold Bendell- Major Auto

Fred Bordoff-Bronx Community College-Automotive Technology Department, CUNY

Ivan Anderson- Brookdale Community College

Tim Cacace-Master Mechanix

David Goldsmith - Urban Classics Auto Repairs

Jerry Pastore-D & J Diagnostic

Johanna Pastore-D & J Diagnostic

Joanne Porcelli, Esq

Michael Porcelli - Central Avenue Auto Repairs & I-CAR

Nicholas Prague- MTA and Rockland Community College, SUNY

Auto Lab Correspondents Report Auto Safety News, New Car Reviews, Technology and Latest Auto World Information That May effect You!

Broadcast Date: February 18, 2017

Robert Erskine, Senior European Correspondent, Suffolk England

GM'S DUD EUROPEAN ROCKET-OPEL

Stephen Colavito, Business Relationship Manager, Grant Associates

GRANT ASSOCIATES, WORKING WITH NYC DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO PROMOTE EFFCETIVE CAREER AND TECHNICAL (CTE) IN NYC PUBLIC SCHOOLS

John Russell Senior Correspondents

2017 TOYOTA PRIUS 2 ECHO
Honoring the helpers Awards recognize those who support autism community

Thirteen community members and providers were recognized for their resilience, passion and heart at the 2022 Awesome in Autism Awards ceremony. The 14th annual event, hosted by Autism Society Ventura County, was held Oct. 20 at Wood Ranch Golf Club...

Go purple to support those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer November is the busiest month of the year for cancer awareness campaigns. Im going to focus on one of thempancreatic cancer because its a type weve seen a noticeable rise in over the last few years. And because it remains...

Hospital offers safe option to dispose of meds, narcotics Los Robles Health System is working to crush the opioid drug crisis by raising awareness about the dangers of opioid misuse and the importance of safe and proper disposal of unused or expired medications. Crush the Crisis will take place...

Alzheimers Foundation to host free conference The Alzheimers Foundation of America will host a free virtual educational conference from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tues., Nov. 15. The event is part of the foundations 2022 national Educating America Tour. The conference, which is free and open...
"Are you mad, why will I do that, am not so dumb," said Indrani Mukerjea, when asked if she had indeed forged her husband and co-accused in Sheena Bora murder case, Peter Mukerjea's signature to get sole ownership over their joint bank accounts.

By Vidya : Indrani Mukerjea, the co-accused in Sheena Bora murder case, has denied that she had forged Peter Mukerjea's signature to get sole ownership over their joint bank accounts.

"Are you mad, why will I do that, am not so dumb," said Indrani Mukerjea, when asked if she had indeed forged her husband and co-accused in Sheena Bora murder case, Peter Mukerjea's signature to get sole ownership over their joint bank accounts.

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Also read: Indrani forges Peter Mukherjea's signature to grab fixed deposits

Indrani got to know about application made by Peter about forgery and the court order related to that only today. She is likely to tell the court her version of the story next week, when she will be brought to the court again.

Meanwhile, the special CBI court judge H S Mahajan ordered the jail superintendents of Byculla as well as Arthur Road jail where the accused of Sheena Bora case are currently lodged to deal with the documents that the accused want to sign.

Until now, all the three accused, former television head honcho Peter and Indrani and her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna, whenever they had to sign a document they would seek court's permission and sign the document. The accused are in judicial custody and the responsibility of the accused lies both with the jail authorities and the judge who is conducting the trial.

Also read: Sheena Bora murder case: Peter Mukerjea ready to divorce Indrani

The reason why this order was passed by the court was due to the allegation leveled by Peter's lawyers about Indrani having forged his signature. The document that is alleged to have been signed pertains to Peter relinquishing his rights over two bank accounts, one in Mumbai, the other in New Zealand, which is held jointly by them. When Peter's lawyers checked with Peter if he had signed such documents, he vehemently denied it.

The money and fixed deposits lying in both these accounts are hard earned money of both these people. However, to withdraw money from both these accounts, signatures of both these people Indrani and Peter are required. However, because the couple have been fighting amongst themselves since the start of this case, the money has been lying unused as Indrani refuses to sign the documents when Peter needs the money, and Peter does the same when Indrani proposes to withdraw it.

Also read: Sheena Bora murder: Former colleague and witness calls Indrani a manipulator, schemer

On 1st of Feb, Indrani took the permission of special CBI court to sign a few documents. CBI gave a no objection as in matter where an accused has to withdraw money for surviving or paying lawyers and others they don't create an obstacle. Following this, the special CBI court had granted Indrani the permissions on the 4th of Feb to go ahead and sign the documents.

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After Peter's lawyers filed application pointing out the forgery done by Indrani, the special court immediately took cognizance of the application and passed an order to the banks to not act upon them, but verify the signatures that are said to be of Peter's and follow due procedure.

While the judge on Friday asked both Peter and Indrani to "stop fighting. We have to start the trial fast and cannot delay it because of all this." The first witness in the case will be brought on 23rd Feb when the trial will begin.

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The Ghazi Attack, directed by Sankalp Reddy and starring Rana Daggubati, Taapsee Pannu, Kay Kay Menon and Atul Kulkarni is a war film based on the mysterious sinking of PNS Ghazi in 1971. Here is The Ghazi Attack movie review.

By Devarsi Ghosh: The Ghazi Attack starring Rana Daggubati, Taapsee Pannu, Kay Kay Menon and Atul Kulkarni is war film based on real events. Here is The Ghazi Attack movie review.

The Ghazi Attack Cast: Rana Daggubati, Taapsee Pannu, Kay Kay Menon, Atul Kulkarni, Rahul Singh, Om Puri, Nassar.

The Ghazi Attack Direction: Sankalp Reddy

The Ghazi Attack Rating: (4/5)

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Border stops being the benchmark. The Ghazi Attack is now the best Indian war film, ladies and gents.

Stripped of all the saturated fats that we associate with Indian war films (courtesy JP Dutta) such as sentimental backstories of soldiers, romantic subplots that only serve to bore and unrealistic heroism, The Ghazi Attack, helmed by first-time filmmaker Sankalp Reddy, deserves kudos for its smart, smart filmmaking.

WATCH The Ghazi Attack trailer here:

The Ghazi Attack is based on the mysterious sinking of the behemoth of a submarine called PNS Ghazi, pretty much The Nautilus of the Pakistan Army between 1964 and 1971. According to the Pak army, PNS Ghazi sank due to explosions caused by itself or the landmines it laid in the Bay of Bengal. However, the Indian Navy credits the destroyer INS Rajput for sinking PNS Ghazi. As of today, it is a mystery and was thus, a ripe subject for a filmmaker to base a war film on.

More so because 90 per cent of the action occurs within submarines and thus under water. As such, the setting is new to the Indian audience who have rarely seen the insides of a submarine on the big screen. It's all very contained. Shot in tight angles. Close-ups of actors. Sweating, bleeding, nervous, agitated and trying to keep calm under pressure in a claustrophobic environment where one wrong move can mean either death or a full-scale war between India and Pakistan.

ALSO WATCH: How India defeated Pakistan in the 1971 war

Writer-director Sankalp Reddy credits the fictional Indian submarine S-21 for torpedoing Ghazi and bringing the monster to its end. The film, a little over two hours long, has an exceptionally tight screenplay that does not stop for a minute to breathe. It is single-mindedly focused on the cat-and-mouse game between the players inside both the submarines, S-21 and Ghazi, which try to constantly locate and outsmart each other.

The action set-ups are brilliant. The unobtrusive background score is a loyal second-in-command. Above all, the Ghazi Attack's script-structure is beautiful. The first-half concentrates on the conflict between a hot-headed, trigger-happy but sincere Captain and a calm and composed 'Company Man' Lt Commander who has been specifically ordered to keep the Captain in check. The post-interval part witnesses a change in heart and methodology of the Lt.Commander after a tragedy and now the conflict shifts from personal to physical, from intimate to external, between S-21 and Ghazi itself.

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As for the performances, The Ghazi Attack belongs entirely to Kay Kay Menon and Atul Kulkarni. Rana Daggubati is an expressionless blank slate and the one thing he does well is to growl with a scowl, which indeed works once his character gets control of the submarine and becomes its de facto Captain. Taapsee Pannu has a screen-time of a little more than five minutes and basically, hangs around, for diversity. Rahul Singh plays Razzak, the villainous Pakistani captain of Ghazi, and he does a cartoon-ish Prakash Raj, sadly. Are Indian audiences not mature enough to comprehend nuance in our villains? Why do they have to be Mojo Jojo, Pakistanis or not?

(The writer tweets as @devarsighosh.)

ALSO READ: All you need to know about the mysterious sinking of PNS Ghazi

ALSO SEE: New pictures of Pak submarine Ghazi renew interest in cause behind blast on vessel

--- ENDS ---
President Trumps chosen replacement for ousted national security adviser retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn has turned down the job, the White House confirmed to The Daily Beast.

Robert Harward, a well-respected retired admiral and U.S. Navy SEAL, nixed the offer in large part because Trump would not let him bring in his own team, according to two sources familiar with the matter. They spoke anonymously in order to discuss sensitive personnel decisions.

A Trump administration official said Harwards offer was subject to overcoming financial and family commitments, after 40 years in the military. He came back today and said he could not overcome either (especially re: his wife), the official wrote in an email. The official requested anonymity to discuss personnel matters.

In a statement Thursday evening, Harward said: I spent the last 40 years as a Naval Officer where I was deployed and in combat for the bulk of my life. Since retiring I have the opportunity to address financial and family issues that would have been challenging in this position. Like all service members understand, and live, this job requires 24 hours a day, 7 days a week focus and commitment to do it right. I currently could not make that commitment. My thoughts and prayers are with those that carry such heavy burdens and responsibility for taking care of our countrys national security concerns. God bless this great country of ours.

According to CBS News, Trump insisted that Harward keep as his deputy K.T. MacFarland, a one-time Fox News commentator whose last stint in government was as a Pentagon public affairs chief in the 1980s. Harward refused.

The news, first reported by the Financial Times, was greeted with alarm in the Washington national security community, which hoped Harward would be able to steady the roiling National Security Council after it was buffeted by an ugly rollout of Trumps executive order on travelers from seven Muslim-majority nationsand a growing scandal surrounding Flynns contacts with the Russian government.

A friend of Harwards told CNNs Jake Tapper that the retired admiral called the offer to calm such a restive operation a shit sandwich.

National Security Council staff are all worried, they dont know whos going to come in, a White House official told The Daily Beast on Tuesday. But another NSC staffer said retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, currently the acting national security adviser, had been running matters smoothly.

And Deputy Assistant to the President Sebastian Gorka on Thursday told a special operations conference that the NSC was on track to deliver a new national security strategy soon despite the reports of chaos.

As a SEAL officer, Harward had worked in the NSC under President George W. Bush, as well as serving as second in command to Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis twice during his time in the military. Harward served as a former assault team leader in the Navys DevGrupopularly known as Seal Team 6. In later years, he led combined special operations forces in Afghanistan, launching dozens of missions in Afghanistan after 9/11. Years later, Harward ran detainee operations there and was credited with helping revamp the militarys often-troubled prison system.

Former U.S. officials who had backed Harward to lead the NSC said the White House erred in letting news leak of Trumps offer, because now the also-ran, retired Gen. David Petraeus, was unlikely to entertain taking the post after it was made clear he wasnt the first choice. The other known candidate is Kellogg.

Flynn resigned earlier this week after reports surfaced that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about the content of his phone calls with the Russian ambassador. (The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Flynn was not completely forthright about those conversations with the FBI, either.) During a press conference on Thursday, Trump said his decision to seek Flynns resignation was made simpler because he had an outstanding candidate in line to replace him.

He was doing his job, Trump said of Flynns contact with the Russian ambassador. I fired him because of what he said to Mike Pence.
Hillary Clinton was spotted breaking bread with her official Saturday Night Live surrogate, Kate McKinnon, before going to take in Oscar-nominated actress Glenn Close in the Broadway play Sunset Boulevard.

The pair was spotted by a spy for Page Six dining at Orso, the New York City Theater District staple, enjoying a pre-theater dinner Wednesday night ahead of the productionwhich left The New York Times Ben Brantley awe-struck.

Lots of laughter emanated from their table, said the Page Six source. The tabloid added that one rowdy diner in the restaurant adopted a modified Trump campaign slogan and began chanting, Lock him up!

Clintons evidently relaxed and amiable attitude to her SNL double stands in marked contrast to the presidents petulant complaints on Twitter about the show following Alec Baldwins impression of him.

In one tweet, the president attacked the show, saying, Saturday Night Live is the worst of NBC. Not funny, cast is terrible, always a complete hit job. Really bad television! Meanwhile, press secretary Sean Spicer said of Baldwins Trump impression: Alec has gone from funny to mean, and thats unfortunate. SNL used to be really funny. Theres a streak of meanness now that theyve crossed over to mean.

The show has, however, enjoyed a huge ratings spike over recent weeks as its take on the chaotic Trump presidency has connected with viewers. Baldwin has been a key part of that successas has Melissa McCarthy, whose bang on impression of Spicer has received rave reviews.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the show is having its best season ratings-wise in 22 years, thanks in large part to Baldwin and McCarthys skits. Through Feb. 11, the paper reported that first-run episodes of SNL have averaged 10.64 million viewersratings not seen since the 1993-94 season, which starred Phil Hartman, Chris Farley, Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, and more.

SNL is doing amazing work right now, comedian Jordan Peele told The Daily Beast. Dont tell people to think, tell people to feel and let them think for themselves.

Clinton has been maintaining a very low profile since her upset loss to Trump in the November election, but on Thursday, while honoring Oscar de la Renta as the U.S. Postal Service unveiled new stamps featuring the late designer, she appeared to take a shot at Trump, saying: Oscar de la Renta was an immigrant. What a fitting person to be chosen by our Postal Service, mentioned, by the way, in the Constitution, something we should all read and reread in todays times Let there be many, many more immigrants with the love of America that [he] exemplified every single day.
The Department of Homeland Security is roundly condemning an Associated Press story that broke Friday morning about considering the use of the National Guard to round up undocumented immigrants. The DHS says that isnt true, andcontra the APs reportingthat DHS Secretary John Kelly didnt write the draft memo.

The Department is not considering mobilizing the National Guard, said Gillian Christensen, the acting press secretary for DHS.

A DHS official told The Daily Beast that the memo the AP cited was an early, pre-decisional draft, that Kelly never approved it, and that the department as a whole never seriously considered it.

The AP reported that the draft memo suggested using National Guard troops to to perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension and detention of aliens in the United States.

The AP also reported that Kelly wrote the memo, but Christensen told The Daily Beast that that is absolutely incorrect.

Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, denied the APs report on Twitter shortly after it published.

Not true. 100% false, he tweeted.

The draft memo, which the AP published in full after putting up its initial story, discusses the possibility of using the National Guard for immigration enforcement. It directs the heads of Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to immediately engage with the governors of the border states and states that touch those states about using their National Guard troops for immigration enforcement. That would mean Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, California, Oregon, and Nevada.

The memo, dated Jan. 25, 2017, says that Trumps executive order on border security was issued on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day. But the president didnt issue any immigration-related executive orders that day, indicating the DHS memo was written before his inauguration and during the transition process.

A former Obama administration DHS official suspects memo was likely written by someone close to the Trump White House team, and who had detailed knowledge of the presidents planned immigration executive orderspotentially a member of the transition team who worked on DHS issues. It could have taken many days, if not weeks, to write the memo, the official noted, and said it was written by someone who had a detailed understanding of how DHS operates.

The official said its likely the author (or authors) of the memo worked closely with the team that drafted Trumps immigration executive orders.

Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto, a freshman Democrat from Nevada, issued a statement ripping the memo.

Regardless of the White Houses response, this document is an absolutely accurate description of the disturbing mindset that pervades the Trump Administration when it comes to our nations immigrants, she said. The Trump administration has wasted no time validating its deep-seeded contempt and disregard for Americas immigrant communities.

And Sen. Kamala Harris, a California Democrat, also released a statement decrying the memo.

The mere suggestion that the President would consider ordering 100,000 members of the National Guard to go door to door checking people's document status is deeply disturbing, she said. The National Guard's principal responsibility is to help people in distress after natural disasters and respond to rare instances of domestic unrest. Deploying them for any other purpose is a severe mismanagement of resources, an abuse of Executive Power, and conjures images of Japanese internment camps and mass deportations of Mexican immigrants under President Eisenhower. I challenge Republicans and Democrats, whether they are members of Congress or Governors, to condemn this plan and ensure it never sees the light of day.

Over the course of Trumps first few weeks in office, numerous news outlets have reported on drafts of executive orders that have yet to be signed or implemented. The New York Times reported on a draft that would have brought back CIA black site prisons, and The Nation reported on a draft executive order that would legalize discrimination against LGBT people. The president has not signed executive orders on either counts.
It is difficult to overstate just how enraged state Democratic activists and leaders are with Organizing for Action (OFA), the political and community-organizing army that grew out of Barack Obamas presidential campaigns.

The nonprofit, which functions as a sort of parallel-Democratic National Committee, was founded to mobilize Democratic voters and supporters in defense of President Obamas, and the Democratic Partys, agenda. Instead, the organization has drawn the intense ire, both public and private, of grassroots organizers and state parties that are convinced that OFA inadvertently helped decimate Democrats at the state and local level, while Republicans cemented historic levels of power and Donald J. Trump actually became leader of the free world.

These intra-party tensions arent going away, especially now that OFA relaunched itself last week to protect the Affordable Care Act, boost turnout at congressional townhalls, and train grassroots organizers gearing up for the Trump era.

This is some GRADE A Bullshit right here, Stephen Handwerk, executive director of the Louisiana Democratic Party, wrote in a private Democratic-listserv email obtained by The Daily Beast. Handwerk was reacting to news of OFAs post-election retooling, which was shared without comment to the group of state-level Dems by Crystal Kay Perkins, executive director for Texas Democrats.

It also to me seems TONE DEAFwe have lost over 1,000 seats in the past 8 years all because of this crap, Handwerk continued. Lets get through the next two weeksbut then we gotta figure this out and keep the pressure on. WOW.

Others on the thread shared these sentiments.

Yes, it sure is, Katie Mae Simpson, executive director for the Maine Democratic Party, replied. OFA showed up in Maine, organized a press conference on saving [Obamacare], with one of our Dem legislative leaders speaking, all without ever mentioning that they were in state and organizing. They hired someone I know, which is somewhat helpful, but my god, they dont have a very good alliance-building process.

Such grievances, though expressed privately, are nothing new among state Democratic Party leadership.

[With] all due respect to President Obama, OFA was created as a shadow party because Obama operatives had no faith in state parties, Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb told Politico last week.

I love and adore everything about President Obama except for OFA, South Carolina Democratic Party chairman Jaime Harrison (who is also running to chair the Democratic National Committee) said at a recent DNC future forum, according to The Washington Post.

President Obama, himself a proud community organizer, had long been credited with leading a savvy, vigorous grassroots campaign to win the White House in 2008. However, it wasnt long after he first stepped into office before state-level Democrats all around the country began sounding the alarm that his formidable grassroots army was being left to wither and rot.

Furthermore, just days after the second inauguration of President Obama, DNC members were still loudly expressing fear that OFA ran the risk of denting the national partys fundraising and (more importantly) diverting much-needed resources and organizing power.

Too many Democrats started seeing OFA as just another boogeyman. For instance, when reached by The Daily Beast for this story, two Democratic operatives independently referred to OFA as The Devil.

If we were having a conversation about state parties, I would say OFA hurt state parties badly, Handwerk told The Daily Beast, elaborating on his leaked email. It certainly had an undercutting effort. And there is a lot of work state parties do that isnt very sexy and that becomes incredibly difficult when budgets are cut in half because people are trying to curry favor with the president and his allies.

Perkins and Simpson did not respond to interview requests for this story.

Handwerk, who has worked in the red state for years, says his personal experiences with OFA werent bad, per seits that they were nonexistent.

Supposedly, Louisiana has had, on paper, a state director for OFA who has been in the role for what Im told is multiple yearsnone of us know who she is, he said. She only just followed me on Twitter [four] days ago. Thats how I know who she is.

This OFA state lead is Carolyn Sawyer, who told The Daily Beast that I really have not talked with [Handwerk]. Im sure hes aware of us. Im sure theyre aware of what were doing but there doesnt seem to be an interest to come together on what were working [on].

Sawyer, who says she has been in the position since as early as 2013, contended that we have reached out to the Louisiana Democrat Party [and] would be more than happy to come together to work on issues But [as to] why he doesnt know what were doing, we havent been secret. I cant speak to that.

When asked if she was aware of the tension between the state party and OFA, she said she was not quite aware, but I do know that it exists.

After Obama handily won re-election in 2012, Handwerk says that OFA came to town to present Louisiana Dems with a gameplan. The outside group was purportedly ready to send organizers down south, to help prop up and like-minded people in deep-red areas.

They told us this, so many of us didnt see them as a threat, Handwerk said.

Obamas second term passed, and Louisiana Democrats say they saw promises unfulfilled.

Nothing has really been done here, the executive director lamented. I have not seen any real evidence of OFA doing any real work, certainly not here in Louisiana.

Talk to Democrats across state lines, and you hear similar stories. I was never a fan of OFA, Marcel Groen, chairman for Pennsylvania Democrats said, tersely.

The decimation of the Democratic Party during, and leading up to, the Age of Trump is not, however, any single organizations fault. The DNC and Hillary Clinton campaign raised many times more money than OFA for the 2016 cycle, and that didnt stop President Trump, either.

To the defeated and angry liberal activists and operatives, OFA is just one of several devilsone that is emblematic of large-scale institutional problems.

Weve seen over the last eight-plus years a deterioration of permanent state infrastructure, one red-state Democratic operative, who requested anonymity, said. And OFA built an alternative infrastructure that was very top-down. OFAs actions were wasteful, duplicative, and it made no sense There were these tensions on the ground that we saw that all over the country. Local officials felt tossed aside. A lot of these red states were abandoned. The OFA model was never a 50-state strategyit was about the presidents agenda.

When asked if there was much confidence in the newly rebooted OFA, the operative simply said, Its like seeing an ex-girlfriend show up.

Members of OFA would, of course, strongly disagree with such assessments, and are quick to point to their track record during presidential races.

OFA is focused on investing in grassroots organizing nationwidewere engaging people who have never been involved before, connecting them to others in their communities, and empowering them to realize their own ability to enact change, Jesse Lehrich, OFA communications director, told The Daily Beast in an email. Building this kind of well-trained network of volunteers who can mobilize to win fights on key issues boosts the progressive movement in both the short and long term. Just look at Obamacare: OFA volunteers are organizing with their fellow constituents to ensure lawmakers hear exactly whats at stake for them if the law is repealed, and the tide is rapidly turning.

Also, OFA isnt completely without defenders at the state level. David Pepper, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, told The Daily Beast that the best thing a reeling Democratic Party can do right now is not censure OFA, but learn from its victories.

The president created something that did really good organizingit won states we otherwise would not have won, Pepper said. My attitude is learn everything there is to learn from its incredible successes. For state parties, we should mimic what made it so strong However, the strength of parties has obviously eroded because too much emphasis has been put on building out other organizations. In some ways, I think OFA becomes something of a scapegoat for the erosion of state parties.

And as Democrats struggle to navigate the uncharted, treacherous terrain of the Trump years, Obamas one time grassroots juggernaut will be right there fighting alongside them. Now, its a matter of the group convincing a host of skeptical progressives that it can still be a worthy ally.

I dont know what the mission is with the new OFA, what the purpose is supposed to be, Jaime Harrison told The Daily Beast. There are a lot of these various [outside] groups and if having all these other groups means diminishing the impact of state parties, thats where I have a problem. We need to figure out the best path forward. Now, that doesnt necessarily mean a world without OFA, but we have to focus on rebuilding the party across the board, not just focusing on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
The last major Russian spy arrested on U.S. soil was busted for seeking the kind of information retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn has been accused of dishing out.

During a White House press conference on Thursday, President Donald Trump defended Flynn, his former national security adviser, for talking about U.S. sanctions against Moscow with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak while Barack Obama was still in office. Its an act that may have put Flynn in legal jeopardy; The Washington Post reported Thursday that Flynn denied to the FBI having such conversations, despite evidence that he did.

Recently filed court documents show just how important information about sanctions was to Russian intelligence.

Those documents involve a two-year-old case against Evgeny Buryakov, a Russian bank employee who admitted to being an unregistered agent of Russian intelligence in the U.S. Buryakov pleaded out and the case never went to trial. But case filings show that the SVR, Russias foreign intelligence service, was keenly interested in the U.S. governments attempts to use financial sanctions to retaliate against Russian military aggression.

His handlers asked Buryakov to look for information on the effects of economic sanctions on our country, according to court documents, and he complied. The FBI sent an undercover operative to keep him interested.

In August 2014, an undercover agent showed Buryakov a document from the Treasury Department marked Internal Treasury Use Only, that contained information regarding Russian individuals subject to sanctions, according to court filings. (Its not clear whether the papers in question were actual internal Treasury Department memos.) Buryakov told the undercover that he wanted more information.

A few weeks later, the undercover agent and a confidential source fed him another document, telling him that the Treasury Department was using the document in connection with its deliberations regarding additional sanctions, which Buryakov promptly fed to his handlers at Russias foreign intelligence service.

That is exactly the kind of information that would be useful to foreign spies, said Zachary Goldman, a former Treasury and Department of Defense official whos now the executive director of the Center on Law and Security at New York University.

The U.S. authorized sanctions against Russia relating to its annexation of Crimea in March of 2014 and began a crackdown against individuals and a Russian bank. In the period Buryakov was fishing, then, his overseers would have wanted to know which entities or people would be sanctioned next.

In that period, the first half of 2014, the Russian government was very interested in figuring out what we were going to do, Goldman said.

When Flynn spoke to Kislyak, the Russian ambassador, in December 2016, the Russians wouldve been in much the same situation.

The sanctions announced by the Obama administration that month exercised a relatively new authority enacted by the president in April 2015. Obamas order on cyberattacks was originally in response to Chinese attacks on the private sector, and later broadened to be applicable to the Russian attempts to interfere in U.S. elections.

Finding out who was going to be targeted, and what the policy would be like under the next administration, would have been a top priority for all actors of Russian intelligence. They come in various categories: Some, like Buryakov, conduct espionage in secret while pretending to be an ordinary employee of a foreign company, while others construct alternate identities and lay in wait for years. The third category come here under diplomatic cover, having, in effect, a dual role as diplomats and spies.

It seems that the reports are that there was some kind of suggestion that Flynn gave Kislyak, along the lines of, dont worry about these sanctions, when we take office, things will improve significantly, Goldman said. And undoubtedly, thats something they would want know.

The point of sanctions is to change another countrys behavior, Goldman added.

If you were the Russians, you would want to know what the trigger for new sanctions would be, and what the catalyst for the removal of sanctions would be, he said. Whether thats what Flynn discussed with Kislyak, I have no idea.

Details about the conversations, and whom Flynn misled about their content, are still emerging. But we know that when the Obama administration exiled 35 diplomats and shut down a Russian compound on Long Island, Russian officials announced they would not be following suit.

At a press conference on Thursday, however, Trump backed Flynns right to discuss that matter.

Very simple. Mike [Flynn] was doing his job, Trump said. He was calling countries and his counterparts. So, it certainly would have been OK with me if he did it.

I would have directed him to do it if I thought he wasnt doing it, Trump added.
If ever there was a political event that deserved A Closer Look by Seth Meyers, it was Thursdays batshit crazy press conference from President Donald Trump full of false claims, grievances, and attacks on the media.

After literally shredding the script that Trump rendered completely meaningless with his afternoon presser, Meyers launched into his examination of the presidents deft ability to avoid answering questions about his campaigns ties to Russia. For instance, in his joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump simply drifted away.

This may come as a surprise to Donald Trump, but it turns out the demands of actually governing are a lot more strenuous than the free-for-all atmosphere of campaigning, Meyers said, which might explain why the president continues to relive the glory days every chance he gets.

Trump is so desperate for the adoration of screaming crowds, the host added, that this weekend hes holding a campaign-style rally in Melbourne, Florida, to kick off his 2020 re-election bid. No! Meyers shouted at Trump. We are not ready for another campaign. People from the last campaign are still wandering around in the woods.

Meyerss montage of clips from Trumps first solo press conference as president culminated in his insistence that he was not ranting and raving at the media. What president has not had to say, Im not ranting and raving? Meyers said, recalling Lincolns tirade at Gettysburg and FDRs fireside meltdowns.

In Meyerss estimation, Trump spent his entire press conference whining about perceived grievances and slights and pushing false claims with zero basis in reality. At one point Trump said everyone would say thats so great if he torpedoed a Russian ship. Nobody would say that, Meyers said. The only way everyones going to say Thats so great is if the Russian hooker tape is on Netflix this weekend.

Perhaps most bizarre of all was the pretty racist interaction Trump had with American Urban Radio Networks D.C. bureau chief April Ryan. Its racist to assume all black people know each other, Meyers said. You dont know all orange people, he added, asking Trump to set up a meeting for him with Snooki and The Lorax.
Donald Trump has done something truly amazing: He has inspired thousands and thousands of Americans to stand up for Muslims in opposition to his Muslim ban. Its such an astounding development that Im almost happy Trump won!

Ill be blunt: I never expected to see so many of my fellow Americans take to the streets in over 30 cities from New York to Los Angeles to even Omaha, Nebraska, to make it clear that they not only opposed Trumps Muslim ban but were standing shoulder to shoulder with Muslims. As a Muslim American, I found it hard not to get emotional seeing this outpouring of support for our community.

It was especially awe-inspiring to see so many protesters expressing solidarity with our community by holding up signs that read, We are all Muslims now. In fact, The Daily Shows Muslim correspondent, Hassan Minhaj, noted on the show recently the beautiful irony at play given Trumps fear of the spread of Islam. Minhaj then joked, Well congratulations, Mr. President, mission accomplished, as a protest sign that read We are all Muslims now appeared on the screen.

And this Sunday in New York City we may very well see the biggest gathering of all of people coming out to stand with Muslims. Thats when the I am a Muslim too rally will be held in Times Square organized by Russell Simmons, Imam Shamsi Ali, and Rabbi Marc Schneier.

Simmons explained via email, This rally is meant to focus on this attack on our Muslim brothers and sisters because an attack on them is an attack on all of us. He added, We can never truly be free until all of us are free.

The focus of the rally, as the invitation to faith and community leaders, states, is to protest Trumps Jan. 27, 2017 executive order. The three organizers are urging these leaders to lend your powerful voice to show that you oppose all types of discrimination against marginalized populations.

Rabbi Schneier, who has worked along with Simmons for years as leaders of the Foundation For Ethnic Understanding (FFEU) that strives to bring diverse communities together, shared why he believes the I am Muslim too rally was needed now. A people who fight for their own rights are only as honorable as when they fight for the rights of all people, he says. In this spirit, we stand in solidarity with the American Muslim community in the face of growing Islamophobia and Muslim bigotry in our country.

Imam Ali, one of the leaders of New York Citys Muslim community, has been working together with Simmons and Schneier for years now on increasing understanding between Jews and Muslims as well as countering bigotry. Ali explained that Sundays rally goes beyond just opposing Donald Trumps discriminatory policy of the Muslim ban. Its truly intended to be a celebration of the true spirit of America, which is caring loving and compassionate to refugees and immigrants.

Organizers have reached out to a range of elected officials, celebrities, and community leaders to speak a rally. A full list will be released by Saturday per the event team. On a personal note Im excited to be the co-emcee for the rally together with Jewish comedian Judy Gold.

The hope is for a massive turnout to make a powerful statement of unity with Muslims. But even if, say, 20,000 people or more attend, the sobering reality is that a recent CNN poll finds that just 53 percent of American oppose Trumps Muslim ban. It would be much more heartening to see 65 percent or more of Americans opposing what is clearly anti-Muslim bigotry cloaked in an executive order.

Plus a new report released this week by the Southern Poverty Law Center found that the number of anti-Muslim groups has nearly tripled from 34 in 2015 to 101 in 2016. Theres little doubt that Trumps campaign filled with anti-Muslim hate from lying that thousands of Muslims cheered in New Jersey on 9/11 to his jaw-dropping claim that Islam hates us has embolden people to feel more open about hating Muslims.

And the lurking concern for our community is how would Trump react if there were another ISIS terror attack on U.S. soil or even Europe? After all, Trump and his team are the most anti-Muslim administration in our nations history with people like Steve Bannon, former Brietbart writer Sebastian Gorka, and adviser Stephen Miller who in college teamed up with anti-Muslim activist David Horowitz for Islamofascism awareness week on his college campus. Nothing can be ruled out, from a Muslim registry to even internment camps.

With that said, however, we have simply never seen such an outpouring of support for Muslims in America than during the Trump campaign and even more so now in the weeks after his executive order implementing the Muslim ban. Its been exhilarating and inspiring to see that so many of my fellow Americans care enough to speak out and stand up for us. They truly epitomize the best of America. And given this avalanche of love to oppose Trumps hate, I actually on some level have to thank Trump. Without him we wouldve never known how many of our fellow Americans truly cared about us.
Blaming "dishonest media" for not giving his administration the credit it deserves, Trump said that companies are leaving America and jobs are going to Mexico and other places.

By Press Trust of India: President Donald Trump today said his administration has inherited "a mess" both domestically and abroad and blamed "dishonest media" for not giving his administration the credit it deserves.

"As you know, our administration inherited many problems across government and across the economy. To be honest, I inherited a mess. It's a mess. At home and abroad, a mess," Trump said, speaking at his first solo news conference.

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He said companies are leaving America and jobs are going to Mexico and other places.

"Jobs are pouring out of the country; you see what is going on with all of the companies leaving our country, going to Mexico and other places, low pay, low wages, mass instability overseas, no matter where you look. The middle East is a disaster. North Korea. We'll take care of it, folks. Were going to take care of it all," he said at the news conference.

"I just want to let you know, I inherited a mess. Beginning on day one, our administration went to work to tackle these challenges," he said.

'BEGAN PRODUCTIVE TALKS WITH FOREIGN LEADERS'

Trump said on foreign affairs, his administration has already begun "enormously productive" talks with many foreign leaders, to move forward towards stability, security and peace in the most troubled regions of the world.

"We have had great conversations with the UK, and meetings. Israel, Mexico, Japan, China and Canada, really, really productive conversations. I would say far more productive than you would understand," he said.

Accusing the media of being dishonest to him, Trump said, "The press has become so dishonest that if we don't talk about it we are doing a tremendous disservice to the American people. Tremendous disservice. We have to talk about it. We have to find out what is going on because the press honestly is out of control."

"Unfortunately, much of the media in Washington DC, along with New York, Los Angeles in particular, speaks not for the people, but for the special interests and for those profiting off a very, very obviously broken system," he alleged.

'MEDIA TRYING TO ATTACK OR ADMINISTRATION'

He said the steps he has taken in the four weeks since he was sworn in "should surprise nobody, especially in the media."

"In other words the media is trying to attack our administration because they know we are following through on pledges that we made, and they are not happy about it, for whatever reason," he said. "But a lot of people are happy about it."

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Asserting that ISIS has spread like a cancer, he said he has directed his Defence Secretary Gen (rtd) Jim Mattis to submit a plan to defeat the terror group.

"He is over there now working very hard to submit a plan for the defeat of ISIS, a group that celebrates the murder and torture of innocent people in large sections of the world. It used to be a small group, now it is in large sections of the world," said the US President.

"They've spread like cancer. ISIS has spread like cancer - another mess I inherited," Trump said.

ALSO READ | Trump: North Korea is a big problem, will deal with it very 'strongly'

Thousands march in Mexico to protest Donald Trump's immigration policies

Donald Trump can be a blessing in disguise for IT players: Mukesh Ambani

ALSO WATCH | Donald Trump becomes US President; what it means to India and the world

--- ENDS ---
One place from which no immigrant stayed home in protest on Thursday was the ceremonial courtroom at Brooklyn federal court, where 136 applicants were sworn as new citizens.

By 10 a.m., they had all turned in the laminated green cards that had been allowing them to live legally in the United States, though had seemed less a protection against deportation since the presidential election.

They each received in exchange a large white envelope containing a diploma-sized Certificate of Naturalization that put them just an oath, a pledge, and a signature away from becoming as American as anybody.

Up on the wall of this wood-paneled chamber on the second floor were panels from an outsize mural called The Role of the Immigrant in the Development of Industrial America that had hung in Ellis Island before it closed. Much of the 190-foot-long artwork had been severely damaged when a storm compromised the roof of the shuttered facility, and it was destined for the trash heap when Brooklyn federal Judge Jacob Mishler rescued it in 1970.

The restored sections depicted muscular immigrants laboring in a steel mill and laying railroad tracks and toiling in fields. Many of Americas steel mills have since closed and the railroads have been largely replaced by highways, but there are plenty of immigrants working on farms and many more lugging construction materials and washing dishes and scrubbing floors and performing other low-wage tasks that Americans largely shun. The idea behind Thursdays protest was for these often-unnoticed workers to stay home and dramatize their necessity with a sudden absence.

But this swearing-in was a venue where their presence put them at center stage of Americas central and ongoing drama, the one from which its true greatness arises, as even the grandson of German immigrant Friedrich Trump should attest. These most recent applicants sat row upon row beneath the mural, clutching their white envelopes, even the oldest of them with a youthful glint of expectation in their eyes.

Please take out your packet, an immigration officer named Nanotte Manoly instructed. Make sure you have this little white card inside.

They did as bid and took out a white card that was printed on both sides.

On the one side you have the Oath of Allegiance, on the other side the Pledge of Allegiance, Manoly told them.

Manoly informed them that everybody was expected to give actual voice to both in full.

We reserve the right to pull you out of this if you do not say the words, she warned. I have to see your lips move. If I do not, I can pull you out.

She was firm, but much closer to warm than icy. She offered some practical advice.

Do not laminate your certificate, she said. Please dont do it. If you do it, it is invalid.

The certificates were not meant to be carried in a wallet or purse like a green card. The presumption was that the holders would not have to be perpetually ready to prove they belonged.

A young woman from a nonprofit agency stepped up before the applicants.

I want to say congratulations, she said. Its a transition and its a transition youve worked very hard to earn. What is it you think the most important responsibility to have as citizens?

A remarkable number of the applicants immediately offered the same answer.

Voting!

The response suggested that a heightened awareness of the importance of the ballot may be one benefit of a presidential election that demonstrated the mind-bending difference just 30,000 votes in three states can make. The young woman distributed voter registration forms that many of the applicants filled out while they waited for the ceremony to commence.

I will collect them from everyone later, the young woman said.

The applicants families had been up in the third-floor cafeteria but were now admitted into the courtroom for the big moment. Muhammad Malik of Bangladesh had himself become a citizen in 2012. He now stood holding his 1-year-old son, Raseen Malik, waiting to watch his wife, Rajia Bedum, become a Bangladeshi-American, which is to say an American. The only voice in the room was the sons, in a language all his own that knows no nationality.

Mmmmmm-uh!

Manoly stepped up again.

Applicants, if you have to use the bathroom, please go now, she announced. Come back in two minutes. If the judge is here swearing the Oath of Allegiance and you miss one word of it, we have to reschedule you.

A few stepped out and hurried back just before Deputy Clerk Argentina Solorzano announced that the judge was entering.

All rise! Solorzano said. The Honorable Steven Gold presiding.

Gold entered in black robes that seemed only to brighten his smile.

Good morning, everybody, he said.

Good morning! the applicants said.

Gold looked on as Solorzano asked the applicants to raise their right hand and repeat after her. Most of them read along from the white card.

I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.

Manoly did indeed seem to be checking to ensure everybodys lips were moving. Nobody had been pulled out and all the applicants were fledgling citizens as Solorzano turned toward the American flag standing in the front left corner of the courtroom.

And now we are going to pledge allegiance to our flag, Solorzano said.

The flag truly was now theirs as well and with no prompting from the clerk, the new Americans who had raised their right hand to take the oath now placed it over their heart. Solorzano and the judge and Manoly and everybody else present did the same.

The judge spoke after the oath was done.

Well, everybody, congratulations, he began.

The courtroom erupted into applause.

Its really an honor and a privilege to be the one to welcome you today as the newest citizens of the United States of America, he continued.

Gold told them that no matter where they were from, America was now as much their country as it was his country, as it was the country of the first people who had settled it centuries before.

We embrace you and we bless you, he said.

He enumerated some of the freedoms they were guaranteed and urged them to become active citizens, to educate themselves about issues important to them, to vote for candidates who best seem to represent their views, to keep apprised of what is going on in their neighborhoods and schools, and to voice their opinions.

Freedom is like a muscle. When its exercised, it stays strong, he said.

Gold allowed that America has its troubles, but it is still the proverbial land of opportunity, where you can make a wonderful life for you and your family.

I hope all of you are excited and happy today, he said.

Gold was still smiling as he departed. The new Americans lined up at a table to confirm that the certificate bore the correct name and to sign it in front of a clerk. A good number of them stepped away holding the certificate in front of them, staring at their name and photo as if it were not quite real.

Marmee Cosico was beaming as she held Certificate of Naturalization No. 38774583. She is an actress who appeared in HBOs Too Big to Fail.

You can watch me in the Beijing scene, she said.

She also works as an interpreter for those who speak only the Tagalog of her native Philippines. She has worked in the courts and at hospitals. She interpreted at the Board of Elections when she was unable to vote.

I was active even before I became a citizen, she said. I am useful to the country.

Cosico had been happy enough with just a green card until she saw news reports of a speech that Donald Trump gave in August in which he included the Philippines among the terrorist nations. Trump had complained, We are letting people come in from terrorist nations that shouldnt be allowed because you cant vet them, adding, This is a practice that has to stop, and declaring, Were dealing with animals.

Trump subsequently apologized, but Cosico had decided by then that the time had arrived to become a citizen.

When Trump gave that speech, I got scared, she recalled.

Cosico was particularly worried about what deportation might mean for her because her mother died in America and is buried on Long Island.

I couldnt visit her in the cemetery, Cosico said.

That fear was gone. And, along with the other new citizens, Cosico had handed in her voter registration form on the way out of the courtroom. She will now be able to vote not just for the Screen Actors Guild Awards, but in elections for City Council, mayor, governor, Congress, Senate, and, of course, president.

Cosico continued down the courthouse hallway, passing framed copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. On another wall was a reproduction of a newspaper article about a mass swearing-in ceremony for 6,000 new citizens at Ebbets Field on Nov. 11, 1954, the first Veterans Day. The then U.S. attorney general, Herbert Brownell, had addressed the crowd, speaking of those who had previously arrived in America only to be turned away. He said prospective immigrants would now be cleared before they left their home country and thereby spared what he rightly termed heartbreak.

Two floors above Cosico was the courtroom where Judge Ann Donnelly presides. Donnelly was on call on the weekend in January when Trump issued his executive order banning travel to the U.S. by people from seven nations that are supposedly hotbeds of terrorism, though not including the Philippines. A number of legal visitors landed that Saturday only to be turned away and suffer the very kind of heartbreak that Brownell said would end more than a half-century before. Donnelly had issued a stay, meeting seeming chaos with calm logic based on the law and an unshakable sense of fairness.

The following Tuesday, Donnelly had the more welcome task of presiding over a swearing-in. She pronounced this the happiest and nicest of her duties.

Our country is at its best when we focus on the things we share, Donnelly said.

On Thursday, it was Golds turn for the happy duty. And nobody seemed happier than Cosico.

Its an American dream for me, she said as she departed.

Behind Cosico came 23-year-old Nusrat Jahan and her parents, the three of them now all suddenly Bangladeshi-Americans. Jahan will be making a contribution not contemplated by The Role of the Immigrant mural in the courtroom.

Biomedical informatics, she replied when asked what she had studied in school.

She added, Its really cool.

She now hopes to get a Ph.D. in microbiology.

I want to do research, she said.

And then came Muhammad Malik and little Raseen and the newest American in the family, Rajia Bedum. The boy had fallen asleep in his fathers arms during the happy ceremony and continued to doze as they started toward the exit.

Its his future, Malik said of his son.

He continued, We have some goals for him Maybe hell be making a doctor.

The father himself works in a restaurant, but he was taking Thursday off, and not because of the protest. He had something else to do, and no decent soul of any persuasion or political view could have rightly faulted him.

Celebrate, he said.
The Trump administration has been a rollercoaster for anti-LGBT groups on the religious right.

This Monday the State Department announced that Randy Berry, the Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons under President Obama, would keep his role under the current administration, as Foreign Policy first reported.

That move is the latest in a long line of mixed signals that the Trump administration has been sending on LGBT issues: First, Trump disappointed the anti-LGBT religious right in late January by refusing to reverse Obamas 2014 executive order protecting LGBT federal contractors from discrimination. Then, they hitched their hopes to a potential religious freedom executive order that was swirling around Washington but still has not been officially announced.

Finally, the Trump administration threw the anti-LGBT crowd a bone last Friday when the Department of Justice, now headed by Jeff Sessions, announced that it would not defend the Obama administrations guidance on transgender students. But now that news has got out that Randy Berry is keeping his job, opponents of LGBT equality are none too pleased.

They very much understand Randy Berry to be a leftover remnant of Obamas international 'homosexual agenda' and are deadset on effectively cleansing the State Department of all pro-LGBTQ, pro-reproductive justice elements, said Cole Parke, an LGBTQ and gender justice researcher for the small social justice think tank Political Research Associates, in an interview with The Daily Beast.

During the Obama administration, Berry focused his diplomatic efforts on countries like Uganda and Bangladesh where LGBT people are struggling to survive extremely hostile social climates. But some on the Christian right would rather have that work stop altogether.

Tony Perkins, president of the anti-LGBT lobbying group Family Research Council, who said this week that Berry keeping his job was a disappointing development. Just last week, though, Perkins had praised the Trump administration, calling the Justice Departments refusal to defend transgender students a welcome first step.

A similar whiplash occurred on LifeSiteNews, a highly-trafficked website for religious conservatives that emphasizes the social worth of traditional Judeo-Christian principles, according to its about page.

LifeSiteNews greeted the Justice Departments withdrawal from the transgender rights case with an approving article that went out of its way to deliberately misgender trans teenager Gavin Grimm. A few days later, though, a writer for the site railed against Trump for keeping an open homosexual like Berry on the government payroll to promote LGBT rights around the world.

It is another blow to pro-family advocates who oppose the LGBT agenda and are counting on Trump to root out homosexual and abortion activists from the foreign affairs bureaucracy after eight years of Obamas leftist policies, the article read.

As Religion News Service reported, Berry staying on board at the State Department is being perceived as the second blow to religious conservatives on LGBT issues, following the White Houses decision last month to keep Obamas 2014 protections.

But Parke, who researches and monitors anti-LGBT extremism on the religious right, doesnt believe that the Family Research Council and other groups will want to engage in full-blown criticism of Trump just yet.

Theyre not yet ready to be combative, Parke told The Daily Beast. I think theyre holding out until they get what they want, which is a complete redefinition of religious freedomso until theyve got the First Amendment Defense Act signed and into law, theyre going to continue to try to play nice with President Trump.

The First Amendment Defense Act, as The Daily Beast has reported, is the brass ring for anti-LGBT groups: a sweeping piece of legislation that would effectively legalize nationwide discrimination against LGBT people in the name of religious freedom. If signed into law, it would be even more powerful than the religious freedom executive order that was leaked to the press in early February.

LGBT opponents might be angry with Trump in the short-term, then, but as long as FADA and the religious freedom executive order remain possible, theyll likely keep coming to the table.

But the particular challenge with President Trump, Parke says, is that hes a wild card on LGBT issues. The White House has claimed that Trump is supportive of LGBTQ rights and yet he selected as vice president a governor with an anti-LGBT track record. He once held up a rainbow flag at a campaign event and promised to protect our LGBTQ citizens in his nomination speech but, more substantially, he made several cabinet picks that rightfully frighten LGBT advocates.

That leaves anti-LGBT forces on the religious right in the position of targeting Trumps closest aides, advisors, and allies rather than the president himself.

The reality is that Mike Pence is their guythat will be a relationship that they can continue to cultivate, said Parke. I dont think anyone believes that Donald Trump is someone that can be relied on. So theyll continue to cultivate relationships with those in power, those in the inner circle who can be swayed.

Indeed, Mike Pence gave an interview to James Dobson, founder of the evangelical group Focus on the Family, in October 2016 suggesting that he and Trump would redirect the transgender bathroom issue to the local level rather than keeping Obamas guidance in place. It didnt take long after the election for the Justice Department to withdraw its defense of that guidance in a crucial court case.

But if its true that Trumps daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner encouraged the president to keep Obamas 2014 protections in placeas reports suggestedthe inner circle could be less susceptible to anti-LGBT efforts than previously believed.

When Trump was first elected, anti-LGBT groups felt triumphant, as the Washington Blade reported. Tony Perkins called it a historic moment. The National Organization for Marriage dreamed about overturning Obergefell, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, and enshrining FADA into law. Michael Farris, president of the Christian anti-LGBT group Alliance Defending Freedom, said the election was a window of opportunity, as Pink News reported.

But so far, the Trump administration has been more of a bumpy ride for these groups than the history-changing revelation they wanted it to be. That doesnt mean anti-LGBT groups on the religious right will give up, says Parkeand besides, they have plenty of other options to pursue on the state and local level in the meantime.

The Christian right has inserted itself into every level of the government from the school board to the White House, said Parke. So even though they might be frustrated with Donald Trumps failure to come down hard on LGBTQ people right now, I dont think theyre feeling defeated at all.
By Press Trust of India: From Yoshita Singh

United Nations, Feb 17 (PTI) US supports the two-state solution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Americas top diplomat to the UN has said while indicating that the Trump administration is "thinking out of the box" to bring peace to the region.

"First of all, the two-state solution is what we support. Anybody that wants to say the United States does not support the two-state solution - that would be an error," US envoy to the UN Nikki Haley told reporters yesterday.

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"We absolutely support the two-state solution but we are thinking out of the box as well: which is what does it takes to bring these two sides to the table; what do we need to have them agree on," the Indian-American envoy said responding to questions on President Donald Trumps remarks, which he made during a joint press conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Breaking away from Washingtons long-held policy on the issue, Trump had yesterday said he would be open to "alternate solutions" that does not necessarily involve a two-state solution to the six-decades long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Haley, 45, said: what we support more is peace and stability and by bringing the two to the table to have them talk through this in a fresh way, to say we are going to go back to the drawing board, what can we agree on, that is what the US wants.

She added that Washingon wants to facilitate both the Palestinian Authority and Israel coming together, "being accountable" and moving forward for peace.

"The US supports the two-state resolution, thats never been wavered. What we are saying is let us not just talk about the old way of doing things, lets come to the table with all the fresh atmosphere perspective that we now have and see how can we move forward," she said.

"At the end of the day, the solution to what will bring peace to the Middle East is going to come from the Palestinians and Israelis. The US is just there to support the process," she added.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres had also cautioned that there is "no Plan B" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, warning against any action to undermine the possibility of the two-state solution.

In a separate address to students at Cairo University, the UN Chief stressed that there is no alternative to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but the two-state solution and that no actions should be taken to undermine that possibility.

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov, in a briefing to the Security Council, also stressed that the two-state solution "remains the only way" to achieve the legitimate national aspirations of both people. PTI YAS KJ AKJ KJ

--- ENDS ---

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By Press Trust of India: From K J M Varma

Beijing, Feb 17 (PTI) A US university headed by an Indian-origin academician has rejected call by Chinese students to withdraw invitation to exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama but assured them that his speech would have nothing to with politics.

Chancellor Pradeep K Khosla of the University of California San Diego (UCSD) met with three groups of Chinese overseas students, namely the Chinese Union, Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) and the Chinese Business Society, state-run Global Times reported today.

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The university in a meeting with Chinese overseas students refused to withdraw the invitation to the Tibetan spiritual leader for a graduation speech in June but assured them that his speech would "have nothing to do with politics" the report said.

"The university said that they would not disinvite the Dalai Lama but will stop using words like freedom fighter and spiritual head and leader of the Tibetan people to describe him," Fan Da member of the Chinese Union told the daily.

The chancellor promised that the Dalai Lama would not include any political content in his speech and the university would soon publish a notice about the issue.

"When we asked the chancellor if he knew that the universitys invitation to the Dalai Lama hurt Chinese peoples feelings, the chancellor said he only knew that the Dalai Lama is a religious activist but had no idea about what he did," Fan said, adding that it was not clear what actions the students would take to continue their protests.

The protests by Chinese students came after write ups in the state-run Chinese media warning overseas Indians.

"By calling the Dalai Lama "the exiled spiritual head and leader of the Tibetan people" and "a man of peace," the UCSD has shown admiration for the Buddhist monk," an article in the paper had said.

"What is laughable is that the person behind the infamous invitation was campus Chancellor Pradeep Khosla, an Indian- American. The campus website posted a photo of Khosla who met the Dalai Lama in Dharmsala, India, last October.

"This shows how some Indian-Americans agitate China-India and China-US relations," it said.

The UCSD announced on February 2 that it has invited the 14th Dalai Lama to give a keynote speech at the All Campus Commencement on June 17, as well as a speech on June 16 at a public event.

The university described the Dalai Lama, as "the exiled spiritual head and leader of the Tibetan people" in the announcement. PTI KJV AMS AKJ AMS

--- ENDS ---
All major parties contesting the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly election have their own share of ladies fighting the war. Have a look at some of them.

By India Today Web Desk: There are at least 40 wives contesting the high-pitched Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. They are either dynasts from major political families, or are fighting from the seats of their husbands, who are either no more, sacked from their parties, put behind bars or have criminal records which makes them ineligible to contest elections.

All major Uttar Pradesh parties, including the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party, the BJP and the Apna Dal have their own share of these wives out in the battle. Some of them are contesting as independents too.

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ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2017: FULL COVERAGE

Have a look at some of them:

1. Aparna Yadav (Lucknow Cantonment)

Arguably the most high-profile of all women in the Uttar Pradesh poll arena. The daughter-in-law of Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav is contesting from the prestigious Lucknow Cantonment seat against the Congress veteran now with the BJP, Rita Bahuguna Joshi.

Aparna, only 26, holds a postgraduate degree in international relations and politics from the University of Manchester. She made headlines last year when she clicked a selfie with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Aparna Yadav with husband Prateek in the much talked about selfie with PM Narendra Modi. (Photo: Facebook@Aparna Bisht Yadav)

2. Swati Singh (Sarojini Nagar, Lucknow)

Singh is the wife of the BJP's former UP vice-president Daya Shankar Singh, who was expelled from the party following his sexist remarks against Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati. She is also the head of BJP's womens wing in the state.

3. Madhuri Verma, Nanpura (Bahraich)

Former MLA Dilip Verma had launched his wife Madhuri in politics when he was in jail in Bahraich. She won on a Congress ticket in 2012 and this time is contesting on a BJP ticket from Nanpara seat in Bahraich.

4. Parmila Dhar Tripathi (Handia, Bhadohi)

Parmila is the wife of former state minister Rakesh Dhar Tripathi, who came out on bail last month after spending a few months in jail in a disproportionate assets case. He was expelled from the BSP after the 2014 Lok Sabha election which he unsuccessfully contested from Bhadohi.

Parmila Dhar Tripathi is contesting on an Apna Dal ticket. Incidentally, she is pitted against her son Prabhat who is in the fray as an independent from the Handia seat.

5. Alka Rai (Mohmadabad, Ghazipur)

In Ghazipur's Mohmadabad seat, Alka Rai is contesting on a BJP ticket. She is the wife of BJP leader Krishna Nand Rai, who was killed in 2005 allegedly by the Mukhtar Ansari gang.

Despite the party manifesto and promises, Alka's trump card in elections is the name of her husband, who was considered a political heavyweight of the area.

ALSO READ : Manipur: How elections are being held when petrol is selling @Rs250 per litre

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6. Jai Devi (Mahilabad, Lucknow)

BJP MP Kaushal Kishore has also managed a ticket for his wife Jai Devi from Malhihabad seat of Lucknow.

7. Sanju Devi (Tanda, Ambedkar Nagar)

In Amebdkar Nagar's Tanda seat, Sanju Devi is contesting on a BJP ticket. She is wife of Hindu Yuva Vahini leader Rambabu Gupta, who was killed in 2013 leading to communal clashes in the area.

Sanju is seeking votes in the name of her husband and is trying hard to carry forward the political legacy of her husband by representing the seat in the state Assembly.

8. Shobha Singh (Bikapur, Faizabad)

After RLD state president Munna Singh Chauhan's death, his wife Shobha Singh joined BJP and this time she is contesting from his traditional Bikapur seat on BJP ticket to carry forward his legacy.

ALSO READ : Uttar Pradesh: Women winning fewer elections, losing deposits in larger numbers

9. Pooja Pal (Allahabad West)

Pooja Pal, a sitting BSP MLA is again in the fray as her husband Raju Pal was killed due to political rivalry. Politician Atiq Ahmad's name figured in the case and Pooja during her campaigning recalls her husband's struggle in a bid to strike an emotional chord with voters.

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10. Neelam Karwariya (Meja, Allahabad)

In Meja seat in Allahabad, Uday Bhan Karwariya, having a number of cases against him, has passed on the baton to his wife Neelam Karwaria. She has been given BJP ticket from the seat and is contesting the polls with full vigour.

11. Ruaba Sayeed (Bahraich)

In Bahraich, Ruaba Sayeed, wife of sitting MLA Waqar Ahmad Shah's is contesting on a SP ticket. Waqar was minister in the Akhilesh government but due to health reasons, his son Yasir Shah, also an MLA, was included in the ministry in his place. This time on Waqar's seat, Ruaba is in the fray.

12. Rani Pakshalika Singh (Bah, Agra)

In Bah seat of Agra, Rani Pakshalika Singh is contesting on a BJP ticket in place of her husband Raja Mahendra Aridaman Singh, who was minister in the Akhilesh cabinet but opted out of contest this time.

13. Sarita Bhadauria (Etawah) In Etawah, Sarita Bhadauria is in fray on a BJP ticket. She is the wife of late Abhayveer Singh, who had also dabbled in politics.

WATCH: Elections on my plate: Who will win the throne in Uttar Pradesh?

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ALSO READ:

Uttar Pradesh Assembly election: Priyanka Gandhi to campaign with Rahul in Raebareli today

Uttar Pradesh: Polarisation could scupper Rahul-Akhilesh alliance in assembly elections

--- ENDS ---
Luxardo reveals Bitter Bianco to the UK

Luxardo has announced that it will release Luxardo Bitter Bianco in the UK this Spring. The product is an infusion of bitter herbs, aromatic plants and citrus fruits, all in a reimagining of the Italian aperitivo.

At 30% ABV it has a transparent ivory colour, which makes it ideal for mixing in a White Negroni. It is distributed by Cellar Trends, and the RRP for a 70cl bottle 16.

Similar to the creation of Luxardo Maraschino, the Luxardo Bitter Bianco also stands out as a liqueur which is unusually produced by distillation.

Luxardo global brand ambassador Gareth Franklin comments: Luxardo Bitter Bianco is a very modern style of distilled liqueur and works perfectly as an aperitif. It has classic Italian bitter notes and is blended to be soft, floral and aromatic; a very intriguing creation.

Marketing manager Craig Chapman adds: The Luxardo classic liqueurs and specialities have established themselves very successfully in top bars. This year, Cellar Trends will be backing Luxardo Bitter Bianco to join the line-up of Maraschino, Amaretto, Limoncello and the Sambuca range. They are authentic, full strength choices which bartenders can rely on to really deliver on taste.

17 February 2017 - Sam Coyne The Drinks Report, news editor
Whisky consultant Dr Jim Swan dies

Dr Jim Swan, the renowned whisky consultant, has died while at home on 14 February. His work covered all aspects of whisky production and was instrumental in the success of distilleries including King Car in Taiwan, Penderyn in Wales and many across Scotland.

His most recent work was with Lindores Abbey Distillery, Fife, which is due to open in the summer.

Dr Swan graduated from Heriot-Watt University in 1979 with a PhD in Chemistry and Biological Sciences. He authored numerous scientific research papers and managed various UK Government and European Union research programmes.

A Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Dr Swan was awarded Fellowship of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling.

His influence and knowledge is felt internationally.

Everyone at The Drinks Report sends condolences to his family and friends.

17 February 2017 - Sam Coyne The Drinks Report, news editor
By Press Trust of India: Melbourne, Feb 17 (PTI) You could soon walk with a dinosaur, and even pet it, thanks to scientists who for the first time are combining virtual reality and 3D printing to bring the prehistoric past back into life.

Researchers from the Deakin University in Australia are using technology to capture a paleontological dig in what used to be a Gondwanan riverbed.

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Using technology of the future to dig up the history of the past, students are taking part in a paleontological dig that will use 3D and virtual reality to create a dinosaur you can touch.

"Were looking at how we can use virtual reality and 3D printing to help with providing educational experiences in a museum context," said Ben Hornan, from Deakins Virtual Reality Lab.

"Dinosaurs are something that excites most people. So we thought 3D printing, dinosaurs and virtual reality would be a great combination," said Horan.

The work will be displayed at Geelongs National Wool Museum in what researchers believe will be a world first, ABC News reported.

The centrepiece of the exhibition experience will be a 3D-printed dinosaur, based on one of the most complete skeletons ever found in Australia.

"In the museum with the virtual reality headset, which will provide you with audio and video, you can see inside, look around and see the dinosaur dig and then reach down and touch the tactile 3D-printed dinosaur," Hornan said.

The dinosaur is a small wallaby-like ornithopod called the Leaellynasaura, which lived in Victoria 100 million years ago.

Palaeontologists believe the Leaellynasaura had scaly skin like an eastern blue tongue lizard. PTI MHN SAR MHN

--- ENDS ---
The Trump administration considered a proposal to mobilize as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorized immigrants, including millions living nowhere near the Mexico border, according to a draft memo obtained by The Associated Press.

Staffers in the Department of Homeland Security said the proposal had been discussed as recently as last Friday.

The 11-page document calls for the unprecedented militarization of immigration enforcement as far north as Portland, Oregon, and as far east as New Orleans, Louisiana.

Four states that border on Mexico were included in the proposal  California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas  but it also encompasses seven states contiguous to those four  Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Friday the document was "not a White House document."

"There is no effort to do what is potentially suggested," he said. Spicer called the AP report "100 percent not true, adding that there was "no effort at all to utilize the National Guard to round up unauthorized immigrants."

A DHS official described the document as a very early draft that was not seriously considered and never brought to the secretary for approval.

The AP had sought comment from the White House beginning Thursday and DHS earlier Friday and had not received a response from either.

Governors in the 11 states would have had a choice whether to have their guard troops participate, according to the memo, which bears the name of U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general.

While National Guard personnel have been used to assist with immigration-related missions on the U.S.-Mexico border before, they have never been used as broadly or as far north.

The memo was addressed to the then-acting heads of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It would have served as guidance to implement the wide-ranging executive order on immigration and border security that President Donald Trump signed Jan. 25. Such memos are routinely issued to supplement executive orders.

Also dated Jan. 25, the draft memo says participating troops would be authorized "to perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension and detention of aliens in the United States." It describes how the troops would be activated under a revived state-federal partnership program, and states that personnel would be authorized to conduct searches and identify and arrest any unauthorized immigrants.

If implemented, the impact could have been significant. Nearly one-half of the 11.1 million people residing in the U.S. without authorization live in the 11 states, according to Pew Research Center estimates based on 2014 Census data.

Use of National Guard troops would greatly increase the number of immigrants targeted in one of Trump's executive orders last month, which expanded the definition of who could be considered a criminal and therefore a potential target for deportation. That order also allows immigration agents to prioritize removing anyone who has "committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense."

Under current rules, even if the proposal had been implemented, there would not be immediate mass deportations. Those with existing deportation orders could be sent back to their countries of origin without additional court proceedings. But deportation orders generally would be needed for most other unauthorized immigrants.

The troops would not be nationalized, remaining under state control.

Spokespeople for the governors of nine of the states either declined to comment or said it was premature to discuss whether they would participate.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said his state had not had any contact about the proposal, but added, "I would have concerns about the utilization of National Guard resources for immigration enforcement. I believe it would be too much of a strain on our National Guard personnel."

A representative for Texas did not immediately respond to the AP.

The proposal would have extended the federal-local partnership program that President Barack Obama's administration began scaling back in 2012 to address complaints that it promoted racial profiling.

The 287(g) program, which Trump included in his immigration executive order, gives local police, sheriff's deputies and state troopers the authority to assist in the detection of immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally as a regular part of their law enforcement duties on the streets and in jails.

The draft memo also mentions other items included in Trump's executive order, including the hiring of an additional 5,000 border agents, which needs financing from Congress, and his campaign promise to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

The signed order contained no mention of the possible use of state National Guard troops.

According to the draft memo, the militarization effort was to be proactive, specifically empowering Guard troops to solely carry out immigration enforcement, not as an add-on the way local law enforcement is used in the program.

Allowing Guard troops to operate inside non-border states also would go far beyond past deployments.

In addition to responding to natural or man-made disasters or for military protection of the population or critical infrastructure, state Guard forces have been used to assist with immigration-related tasks on the U.S.-Mexico border, including the construction of fences.

In the mid-2000s, President George W. Bush twice deployed Guard troops on the border to focus on non-law enforcement duties to help augment the Border Patrol as it bolstered its ranks. And in 2010, then-Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer announced a border security plan that included Guard reconnaissance, aerial patrolling and military exercises.

In July 2014, then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry ordered 1,000 National Guard troops to the border when the surge of migrant children fleeing violence in Central America overwhelmed U.S. officials responsible for their care. The Guard troops' stated role on the border at the time was to provide extra sets of eyes but not make arrests.

Bush initiated the federal 287(g) program  named for a section of a 1996 immigration law  to allow specially trained local law enforcement officials to participate in immigration enforcement on the streets and check whether people held in local jails were in the country illegally. ICE trained and certified roughly 1,600 officers to carry out those checks from 2006 to 2015.

The memo describes the program as a "highly successful force multiplier" that identified more than 402,000 "removable aliens."

But federal watchdogs were critical of how DHS ran the program, saying it was poorly supervised and provided insufficient training to officers, including on civil rights law. Obama phased out all the arrest power agreements in 2013 to instead focus on deporting recent border crossers and immigrants in the country illegally who posed a safety or national security threat.

Trump's immigration strategy emerges as detentions at the nation's southern border are down significantly from levels seen in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Last year, the arrest tally was the fifth-lowest since 1972. Deportations of people living in the U.S. illegally also increased under the Obama administration, though Republicans criticized Obama for setting prosecution guidelines that spared some groups from the threat of deportation, including those brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Last week, ICE officers arrested more than 680 people around the country in what Kelly said were routine, targeted operations; advocates called the actions stepped-up enforcement under Trump.
A hearing in the El Paso County went from ordinary to "unprecedented" last week when half a dozen Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents showed up at a courthouse where an undocumented woman was seeking a protective order against the boyfriend she accused of abusing her.

The woman, a citizen of Mexico who was living in El Paso, Texas, had been driven to the courthouse by a victim's advocate from the Center Against Sexual and Family Violence, a shelter for victims of domestic abuse where she had been living.

She left under arrest.

"This is really unprecedented," El Paso County Attorney Jo Anne Bernal told The Washington Post.

It was the first time in her 23 years at the courthouse, Bernal said, that she can remember ICE agents making their presence known during a protective order hearing. The agents had come to stake out the woman, identified by her initials I.E.G., because, Bernal speculates, they likely received a tip from the only other person who knew the time and place of the hearing - the woman's alleged abuser.

The woman had a prior criminal record and had been previously deported, but, according to Bernal, had no current outstanding state warrants.

"It really was a stunning event," Bernal said. "It has an incredible chilling effect for all undocumented victims of any crime in our community."

It is county policy not to ask about citizen status, Bernal said, because officials want to make clear that all victims of crime in El Paso are entitled to the same protections within the criminal justice system.

The arrest of the domestic violence complainant comes at a time of considerable unrest and anxiety within the immigrant community nationwide as President Trump begins to make good on the strict immigration policies that defined his campaign. Since taking office just four weeks ago, Trump has threatened to cut off federal funding to so-called sanctuary cities and, he says, started the planning process for his Mexican border wall.

Already the policies have led to the deportation of an undocumented mother from Arizona who, rather than dodge her check-in with immigration officials, dutifully went and was detained. In Seattle, a 23-year-old man who had been living legally in the U.S. under the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was arrested and detained last week by ICE officials who claimed he was a gang member, something his lawyers deny.

And in Denver, an undocumented mother of four who had been living in the U.S. for 20 years sought refuge in the basement of a church this week rather than check-in with authorities, for fear she too would be deported.

In El Paso, Bernal said her office, which prosecutes criminal cases and represents alleged victims of domestic violence, like I.E.G., has felt the weight of this policy shift in recent weeks. Call volume has increased from concerned El Paso residents, she said, who have reported checkpoints in certain parts of town and the appearance of ICE agents at routine traffic stops.

What concerns her and other local officials most of all, though, is how last week's courthouse incident could have a greater impact on the way crime is - or isn't - reported within the immigrant community.

"An incident like what happened in the courthouse last week really puts fear in people," Bernal said. "One of the things that really worries me is that it only takes one isolated incident like this."

Whether the courthouse stakeout was indeed an isolated incident remains unclear. An ICE spokeswoman declined to comment Wednesday in response to questions from El Paso Times reporter Marty Schladen, who first wrote about the case.

Bernal is trying to mitigate the situation and ease anxiety, she told The Post, by reaching out to Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, an El Paso native. The county attorney asked Beto Wednesday to set up a meeting with her office and the local ICE director to get "assurance from ICE that this is an isolated incident and that this isn't going to happen again," Bernal said.

After the courthouse incident last week, Bernal's office launched an investigation, which unearthed a narrative of the day's events that differs from the one outlined in court documents filed by ICE.

Based on eyewitness accounts from several attorneys in Bernal's office, the judge who granted the undocumented woman's protective order and the victim's advocate assisting her, there were six ICE agents inside the courthouse that day - one inside the courtroom and others standing by the door and stairwells. They escorted her down the hallway, into the elevator and outside the building, where they detained her, Bernal said.

The narrative of the ICE affidavit, however, does not mention any contact inside the courthouse or the courtroom.

The affidavit claims that agents were "conducting surveillance" at the courthouse "in attempts of seeing" the woman. At 9:30 a.m., the affidavit says, agents saw the woman "exiting the El Paso County Courthouse and proceeded to walk along the side walk on San Antonio Avenue." Agents identified themselves and questioned I.E.G., who admitted to being a Mexican citizen who was in the U.S. without legal status.

According to the affidavit, I.E.G. has a criminal and immigration history that dates back to 2010 and includes numerous deportations and arrests for assault, violating probation, domestic violence, false imprisonment and possession of stolen mail.

Even so, Bernal said "it's hard to imagine how they would justify the rationale" for staking out a courtroom that deals in granting protective orders.

"If that person was that dangerous, state law enforcement would have been looking for her," Bernal said. "It doesn't make sense why the resources would be used to go after a victims of domestic abuse . . . it seems to be they are continuing to victimize our client."
A 39-year-old Bryan man arrested on charges of tampering with evidence and fleeing a police officer died unexpectedly Wednesday night while being booked into the Brazos County Jail, officials said.

Authorities say Johnny Dewayne Hall was taken to CHI St. Joseph Hospital around 11 p.m. and was pronounced dead in the hospital's emergency department just before midnight.

Just after 9 p.m., a Bryan police officer attempted to stop a car driven by Hall for failing to stop at a stop sign, police reports state. Hall did not heed the officer's signals and the car was pursued past the Mount Calvary Cemetery on Old Kurten Road, where police say Hall threw a plastic bag out of his window. Hall was eventually stopped off Texas 21 and complied with police requests.

A police report states additional officers examined the bag that was thrown out, which appeared to have been ripped open and contained trace amounts of cocaine. An officer checked Hall's clothes and examined his mouth, but found no evidence he was trying to hide drugs or consume them.

Once at the jail, the Brazos County Sheriff's Office said Hall began to appear to be in need of medical attention.

"[Hall] was sitting in an open area with other inmates in front of the booking desk," Sheriff Chris Kirk said.

Kirk said Hall did not indicate to anyone he was ill, but minutes after the booking process began, he appeared disoriented. The jail's medical staff was called in to attend to him.

"At night we probably had an EMT there," Kirk said. "Our nursing staff works when the doctor is in."

The medical staff felt Hall needed to be taken to a hospital and an ambulance was called, which transported him. Kirk said he is confident jail staff responded correctly.

Hall's body will undergo an autopsy this morning in Travis County, which is done any time a death occurs in the jail.

Several separate investigations have been initiated to determine Hall's cause of death. The Brazos County Sheriff's Office is performing an internal investigation, and the Texas Jail Commission has also been notified. The Texas Ranger division of the Department of Public Safety is conducting an investigation, and a custodial death report will be sent to the Texas Attorney General's Office.

"They'll talk to the inmates who were witnesses, talk to our staff at the jail and other officers," Kirk said. "They'll get all the video footage from our jail, as well as the patrol car video and body cam video from the officer."

The autopsy could be done in as little as a day, but may take longer. Once the autopsy is formally deemed closed, Hall's body can be taken to a funeral home.

Kirk said Hall's death will be difficult for many people -- his family as well as those who witnessed the incident. Counseling will be offered to the officers, medics and staff involved.

"Any time we encounter a death in our profession, it's traumatic," Kirk said. "We know it will be traumatic for the family, and it's traumatic for the staff who have to go through that."

In a Facebook message, Hall's cousin Zae Robertson told The Eagle that he was a hard-working man who loved his children.

"Dewayne (Kootie)you never let your family down. But at the end of the day, I love you, and may you rest in paradise, big cousin," she wrote.

Another Facebook user, Kashika Williams, posted to your page: I know [you] will be missed, Big Homie Dewayne Kootie Hall. To your family and kids, Im so sorry for [your] loss... my prayers go out to yall.
In humble facilities tucked away on the Bryan campus of Blinn College, three students have had the opportunity to help one faculty member in developing what could be a new method of delivering cancer-fighting drugs.

Chemistry professor Sameh Abdelwahed said during the fall 2016 semester, students Kevin Hernandez, Sarah Jarwan and Jonathan Ayala-Rosa helped him to synthesize the drug and assist in the creation of presentation materials for the research.

"I was very lucky to get three smart people working with me," Abdelwahed said. "We can meet whenever we like and we [treat] it like fun. We don't [treat] it like some kind of duty to finish."

Abdelwahed said the research is focused on using cancer cells' need for a large amount of thiamine -- also known as vitamin B1 -- as a way to deliver anti-cancer drugs into the desired cells.

"What we did was we took the vitamin B1 and we took the [drug] and we put them together so that the cell was getting the vitamin B1, but it was also getting the drug," Ayala-Rosa said. "It tricks [the cancer cell] into taking the drug."

Now that the compound has been developed, Abdelwahed said it will be sent to the National Cancer Institute in Maryland where officials will evaluate its effectiveness.

Hernandez said while working with Abdelwahed on a project with high potential was "intimidating," it has been an honor to see the professor put his skills into action, describing the meticulous way he conducts his research as "like an art form."

"Sometimes I think he's doing magic," Hernandez said with a laugh.

Looking forward, Abdelwahed said the research is scheduled to be presented in April at the 253rd American Chemical Society National Meeting & Exposition in San Francisco.

For Hernandez, Jarwan and Ayala-Rosa, each of the Blinn College students said they hope to take their experiences from the past semester and apply them to any new research opportunities they are able to participate in. "Research is so hard to get in your first couple years of undergraduate schooling," Jarwan said. "I'm passionate about [fighting] cancer, so being able to be hands-on with work that could be affecting people's lives already without being a doctor or anything -- it's nice to have that experience."
Making a return to our two favourite summer locations, Mount Maunganui and Nelson in early January 2023, we've got whiff of the first release lineup and me oh my, yes boy
On January 30, Britain's Vodafone Group confirmed it is in discussions to merge its Indian unit with Idea Cellular in an all-share deal to create the countrys largest telecom operator with 43 per cent revenue marketshare.

By Press Trust of India: Telecom watchdog TRAI today said it will look into the proposed Vodafone and Idea merger "as and when" regulatory issues crop up. "Thats (merger of Idea and Vodafone India) a business decision. I would not like to comment. As and when there is regulatory issue I will certainly give advise to the government," TRAI Chairman R S Sharma said on the sidelines of Momentum Jharkhand here today.

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On January 30, Britain's Vodafone Group confirmed it is in discussions to merge its Indian unit with Idea Cellular in an all-share deal to create the countrys largest telecom operator with 43 per cent revenue marketshare.

Also Read: Voda-Idea merger to create Rs 80,000 crore revenue firm

The combined entity is expected to pose formidable competition to the current market leader Bharti Airtel and aggressive new entrant Reliance Jio.

The merger of Vodafone -- the countrys second-largest cellphone network operator -- with the Aditya Birla Group firm -- Indias third-largest cellular operator would create a company with over 395 million users and form one of the largest telecom companies in the world. Lauding the IT policies of Jharkhand, Sharma said companies can come and invest here as right skill-sets are easily available. He also added that Jharkhand is the first state where TRAI is testing open duct policy in which any service provider can come in and take their fibre without digging again.

"Jharkhand is crucial for testing our new policies," he said, adding that Ranchi has the potential to become the Bangaluru of the East India.

--- ENDS ---
As a school social worker and mental health specialist, Sherry Scott knows the struggle endured by many Franklin County families living in poverty.

Families with elementary-age students living without electricity. A kindergartner who didnt know what he or she would eat that weekend because the family had run out of food stamps. A boy with blisters on his feet, crammed into shoes a size and a half too small. A child who divulged that his parents were making drugs in the house. All of these issues came before Scott in just one week. It left her feeling overwhelmed.

She met with a friend and pastor, the Rev. Derek Layman, to share her frustrations. Layman was shocked by what he heard; he knew there were people struggling, but not at that level or volume.

I just really felt like as Christians weve kind of dropped the ball, Layman said. Those are the things we should be about versus just coming and playing church on Sunday.

In his church and others throughout the county, Layman said, there are many people who want to help their neighbors going through a hard time, but they dont know how. They arent aware of the needs. After talking with Scott, Layman said he wanted to help and get his church, Cool Springs Christian Church in Penhook, involved.

Many churches in Franklin County support people who have fallen on hard times, Scott said, from backpack programs that send children home with food for the weekend, to clothes closets, to food pantries. But, Scott said, there is no collaborative effort.

So Scott decided to call a meeting, bringing together the faith community. She said it made sense to start there because I already know theres a willingness to help. The meeting was an eye-opener for many in attendance, Scott said.

For me, its a way of life because its what I do every day, she said. But for the leaders of the churches, they really seemed shocked that this was going on right here in Franklin County.

Between churches and nonprofits such as the local United Way and Helping Hands of Franklin County, there are many resources to help struggling families with immediate needs. But thats not enough, Scott said. These families need more than a quick fix  they need mentorship and someone to check on them.

But there is so much need, and resources are strapped, making it difficult to find time to follow up with a family after theyve been given assistance.

Were just kind of going around putting Band-Aids on situations, but no one is maintaining relationships with these families to kind of sustain them for periods of time, Scott said.

Programs that are most effective, Scott said, are those in which participants develop relationships. She points to Alcoholic Anonymous, in which participants are paired with a sponsor, as an example.

Being a mentor goes beyond writing a check. Its offering to give a ride, or call and make an appointment for counseling, or babysitting for the afternoon to give a stressed parent a rest  just really loving on some of these families, Scott said.

From an initial meeting came The Faith Network of Franklin County, a grassroots effort in addressing poverty and homelessness in the area. The group will provide mentorship, assist in emergencies and direct individuals in need to other resources in the county, which many say can be difficult to navigate.

During a Jan. 30 meeting, Scott outlined how the network will work:

It will have a 24-hour crisis hotline staffed in shifts by volunteers. Emergency situations, like a family living in their car in freezing temperatures, would be addressed immediately and an assessor would meet with the individual within eight hours. In a non-emergency situation, an assessor would meet with the individual in need within 48 hours.

Following the assessment, the individual would be referred to other agencies that can assist and assigned a mentor from the Faith Network.

Mentors are volunteers who will undergo training, including Ruby Paynes Bridges out of Poverty curriculum, which helps people who might never have experienced poverty to better understand and combat it. Mentors will be assigned based on location and the religious preferences of those being served may have. The mentor and client will meet in person at least once a week and also check in by phone or text. The network will ask for a commitment of at least three months. Mentors can help with a number of things, such as transportation, job applications, budgeting, looking for housing and spiritual leadership.

Scott and others involved in the network have stressed that, although churches are involved in the effort, no one is required to attend church. Their goal isnt to preach or convert, but to help, they said.

The group plans to obtain nonprofit status. Scott said she hopes the Faith Network will be up and running this spring.

Catina Wrights personal Facebook page is flooded with posts in which she asks her thousands of friends to help battle poverty in Franklin County.

She asks for food, refrigerators and other appliances, firewood, furniture and monetary donations for overnight stays at hotels for homeless families. Wright said she gets requests daily, the record being 26 in one day.

Wright knows what its like to be homeless. As a girl in Franklin County, she, her mother and sisters lived in a car.

Today, Franklin County lacks a homeless shelter. Wright said she and some volunteers transport several people a week to the Rescue Mission in Roanoke. Though the Rescue Mission is welcoming to Franklin County residents, Wright said, multiple families shouldnt have to be shuttled out of the community for help.

Wright said she has always had a heart for helping the downtrodden. But the need has grown so large that Wright, a real estate agent with two kids of her own, cant manage it herself. Shes the go-to person for help  even the county Department of Social Services has reached out to her  and its not an easy burden to bear.

Its an over full-time job, she said.

Wright said there are lots of great resources in the county, but it can be hard for people to figure out where to go for what, and many have limitations on what they can give when. But, Wright said, she is always available.

Thats what a lot of these families say: Im their constant, she said. Im their constant person that they know is coming. They might not know what day, they might not know what time, but Im coming.

Wright, who is involved with the Faith Network, said she hopes it will garner more volunteers and bring awareness to the issue.

Some people might not reach out to churches for help because they fear theyll be judged, Wright said. But thats not what the Faith Network is about.

You dont judge, Wright said. You get to know these families. And thats what will make a difference.

And once those people are stable, Wright said, they can pay it forward.

Thats what Jennifer Peters did.

A few years back, her family was struggling. Peters was studying for an associate degree in applied science when her husband lost his job. The couple and their son found themselves without a home. They reached out to Wright on Facebook, who put them up at the Comfort Inn. That same night, Peters said, someone from the community brought them a homemade meal and others showed up with clothes and toiletries. Wright helped the family to secure housing and get back on their feet. She even got a friend to drive Peters to and from her classes at Miller-Motte Technical College in Roanoke.

If it werent for Catina, I dont think I would have finished school, she said.

Peters finished  as valedictorian of her class.

Wright and Peters became close friends. Now when Wright is looking for help with another family, Peters steps up.

To know that people just took to us and wanted to help us in every way possible, I dont know how you can go through something like that and not feel like you need to give back, Peters said.

She plans to be involved with the Faith Network, too.

Susan Hughes, minister of community outreach at Redwood United Methodist Church, was eager to get involved with the Faith Network. Shes been zeroed in on poverty for the past few years, facilitating a program at her church called Getting Ahead, which helps people living in poverty to build their resources and develop plans for the future.

The class meets once a week for 15 weeks. Participants are given a $25 gift card each week for attending. Hughes said that helps to meet the immediate needs of people in the class and gives them an incentive to keep coming back. The church also offers child care and provides dinner for the participants.

The fifth installment of the class just finished in December, and this season, Hughes invited graduates of the class back for a follow-up course. Shes bringing in speakers to talk about adult education, budgeting, healthy eating on the cheap and writing a resume, among other topics.

While on probation, Donald Davis, 34, was attending Celebrate Recovery, a 12-step program to help people with hurts, habits and hang-ups, at the Rocky Mount church. There, he heard about Getting Ahead. He was skeptical at first but decided to give it a try.

He said the class gave him a better outlook on life, encouraging him to get out there and make things happen rather than dwelling on what he doesnt have. Hes been staying out of trouble, and will be off probation in March.

If it wasnt for that course, I dont know where Id be, Davis said.

After graduating from the class, he helped Hughes to facilitate the next installment. Davis said he wanted to help more people become empowered by the class.

The class is one way Redwood United Methodist Church is trying to attack the problem of poverty. Right now, Hughes said, everyone has their own little Band-Aid that were trying to put on to help. She said shes hoping that bringing people together through the Faith Network will make it possible to provide more than a Band-Aid.

Were really hoping to develop some type of network where we can really meet the needs of people who have fallen through the cracks, Hughes said. We have so many fantastic nonprofits in Franklin County, but not one central hub thats pointing people to these different areas.

n n n

Poverty and homelessness look different in a rural community. People arent standing on the highway seeking donations from passers-by or sleeping in the streets like they would in a more metropolitan area. Theyre more likely to be sleeping in their car, couch surfing with friends and family or even pitching a tent.

Pamela Chitwood, executive director of the United Way of Franklin County, said its easier for people to recognize the problem when they drive or walk by it regularly. In a place like Franklin County, thats rural, spread out and lacking a major city center, its not as obvious.

Were not able to see the problems as they exist in our community because we dont have to look at it every day, she said.

But the number of calls coming in to the United Way, which Chitwood said are increasing, make it clear poverty is an issue in Franklin County.

Chitwood said mentors with the Faith Network will be able to build relationships and follow up with the people who are being served, a crucial piece of the puzzle that most nonprofits simply dont have the time or manpower to provide because theyre too busy scrambling to cover emergent needs, she said.

So many times Band-Aids get put on things, emergency relief goes out, and thats it, theyre out the door, theyre gone and nobody talks to them again, Chitwood said. Some outcomes are not so good because of that.

The Faith Network will also serve as a way to educate the community on the problems that they might not see.

So many dont know that its happening in their backyard, she said. They do think its in Roanoke and they do think its in Martinsville, but they dont see it in Franklin County so they dont think it exists. And its here.
When crews demolished the power dam on the Pigg River in Rocky Mount during the fall, it became one of 72 outdated dams removed in 21 states in 2016, landing on a list released Thursday by the conservation group American Rivers, which tracks such efforts to restore flow to the nation's rivers.

The dam, which was only partially removed, was more than 100 years old and the last remaining on the Pigg River, said Bill Tanger, chairman of Friends of the Rivers of Virginia. It now flows freely.

"It opens up over 70 miles of the Pigg River to its natural flows and natural habitat," Tanger said.

The project has numerous positive environmental impacts, the most significant being the restoration of 2.2 miles of aquatic instream habitat for the endangered Roanoke logperch, a fish native to the Roanoke River watershed.

David Byrd, with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, said the fish landed on the federal endangered species list in the 1990s. The warm water fish is small, 6 inches in length at maximum, he said.

The Roanoke logperch has unusual feeding habits, Byrd explained: the fish uses its snout to flip pebbles over and scours for its food  small invertebrates  underneath.

"Its a pretty interesting and unique fish species that were lucky to have primarily in the state of Virginia," he said.

In addition to the environmental benefits, Tanger said, the breach of the dam provides additional recreational opportunities and protection of nearby infrastructure, such as the main sewer line for the town of Rocky Mount. It will also eliminate the safety issue posed by individuals going over the dam during a high water event, he said.

Though the demolition of the dam was completed by the end of 2016, the project isn't finished yet. For five years, the river's response to the demolition will be monitored. Crews have had to go in to remove trees that have fallen into the river as a result of the release of sediment, Tanger said.

There are plans to restore an old powerhouse at the site for historic preservation. Tanger said there's a possibility for FORVA to build a greenway along the edge of the river, and for Franklin County to extend its existing blueway on the Pigg River.

Duke Energy provided $1 million for the project. Tanger said the company got involved in the removal project as a result of the 2014 coal ash spill in the Dan River, which is in the same watershed as the Pigg River. The Roanoke logperch was one of two endangered species living in the watershed affected by the spill, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Tanger said the demolition itself cost around $500,000, but there are many other costs associated with the project, like the numerous studies done in advance of the removal and the five years of monitoring to come after. Others, such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, AEP, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Friends group have contributed to the project as well.

The 2016 project is the latest dam removal in the Roanoke Valley, but not the first. In 2013, another dam on the Pigg River located next to Rocky Mount's Veterans' Memorial Park was removed, as was the Wasena dam in 2009.
The Franklin County School Board will once again bring a request to the Board of Supervisors to move forward with a feasibility study for a new Career and Technical Education (CTE) facility for the high school.

In December, a school board stakeholders committee formed to explain the need for a new CTE facility and requested the Board of Supervisors to fund a feasibility study. Supervisors felt they were not ready to take that step and asked for a requirements document first that would provide more specifics.

A requirements document has been formed and school board members plan to present it to Supervisors at the Feb. 21 monthly meeting.

Weve been working diligently for the last several months and meeting with architects we were given approval by the Board of Supervisors to use, said Robbie Dooley, career and tech administrator at Franklin County High School. Weve been trying to meet all the requirements Supervisors have given us.

The requirements document includes extensive information about the schools current square footage, Department of Education recommendations for minimum square footage and comparisons from other states.

We also consulted with the Virginia Economic Commission to make sure our programs support whats going on in the community, Dooley said. And, weve been working closely with Virginia Western Community College to make sure our programs align closely with theirs.

The document still lacks a few tweaks, Dooley said But, weve defined our need very well as far as square footage.

The school system still plans to add more details to the document before the Feb. 21 meeting.

We need to go into further detail about our course listing and how overcrowded our classes are, Dooley said. We also need to talk more about what some of the alternate benefits would be.

Some of those benefits would include better alignment with VWCC courses, a safer campus and a very nice area for community civic events, Dooley added. Supervisors have asked us to include all this.

School board member Karen Hiltz questioned why the document mentioned specifics on the schools current library and administrative facilities.

I thought this was a CTE expansion, she said.

I dont think you can really look at the whole CTE picture unless you look at the whole picture of the school, Dooley said. Weve found out going through that many of our facilities are woefully inadequate. The library is probably a third of the size it should be. There are some things like the science labs that go hand in hand with the CTE. I dont see how we can update our CTE if we dont update our science labs, which roll right into our STEM labs.

The Board of Supervisors basically wants to know exactly why we need a feasibility study and that is what this requirements document includes, added School Board Chairman G.B. Washburn. They want to determine whether the current facilities can be updated or renovated, or whether it is impossible.

Washburns move in December to direct Superintendent Mark Church to send a request under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for the requirements documents of other county projects a day after the Supervisors last rejection of the school boards feasibility study, and without the knowledge of the entire school board, upset some Supervisors and several school board members.

School board member Penny Blue asked Dooley on Monday night if he felt the Supervisors would be satisfied with the latest document to be presented.

I wouldnt say satisfied, but I would say they are working with us and weve had some really good meetings where theyve guided us in the direction that I think they want us to present, Dooley said. At this point, all were asking for is to do the feasibility study. Weve asked them what information theyre looking for. Weve made the tweaks that some of the Supervisors have asked us to make and I think its time for them to make a decision.

This would be the second or third time weve presented this to the Board of Supervisors, so maybe the third times the charm, Washburn added.

The regular monthly meeting of the Franklin County Board of Supervisors is set for Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 1:30 p.m. in the Franklin County Government Building.
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 ...
Leistikow: Hawkeyes uncover much-needed star in Kaleb Johnson

After a 200-yard day, Johnson seems as surprised as anybody that he has a starring role for the Hawkeyes down the stretch.
Blogging has afforded me some pretty cool experiences, but Im pretty sure taking a culinary tour of Israel might be the coolest. A few months ago, Vibe Israel reached out to see if I wanted to participate in a foodie tour of their beautiful country. Since you guys know I have a deep love affair with Israeli food and have considered cheating on C with tahini, I jumped at the opportunity to partake in this experience. I had no idea I was in for one of the best trips of my life.

Before I jump into what we ate, I just want to thank Vibe Israel for bringing me on this trip and letting me share this experience with you. There is no doubt that Israel has had its fair share of publicity for reasons that I wont be getting into, but there is also so much more going on there besides the political landscape. The food scene is just one of the many cultural aspects that makes this country one of my favorite places in the world. I feel honored and privileged to highlight through this one lens and I hope one day you can get the chance to see it all for yourself.

Over the last few years Ive written a lot of travel guides. Most of them are just my personal opinion or an itinerary of my trip. They rarely cover everything or are based on anything other than my experience, but with this trip I can say confidently that this truly is the foodies guide to Israel. We basically ate our way across Israel and if we could have, we would have eaten Israel itself. This is to be expected when you go on a culinary tour, but combined with the fact that Israelis have an incessant need to feed, Im pretty sure we ate every dish in the history of Israeli cuisines. Needless-to-say, it was amazing.

I also filmed a video highlighting the best experiences and what you definitely shouldnt miss so check it out here!

Im going to go through and highlight restaurants and foodie experiences in each city we visited (Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Nazareth) as well as not-to-miss dishes and places in between. For my health-focused foodies, fear not! There were some dedicated healthy restaurants, but you should know that pretty much every place we ate at had many healthy options. Because there is an emphasis on local and vibrant agriculture, you would be surprised at how many different ways theyve come up with cooking vegetables. Each meal had at least 5 different types of veggies or salads so I was basically in heaven. Ill highlight the ones that are health focused but pretty much every single restaurant can cater to your needs without even trying.

Lets jump in

WHERE TO EAT IN JERUSALEM

Menza Restaurant  This was the perfect place to kick off our trip. The food is here is just plain good. Like so good I could have probably eaten there everyday. Theres an emphasis on fresh, local ingredients and the vibe is awesome. Do not miss the cocktails either!

MachneYuda Restaurant  This place is an experience! The food is tremendous and its not out of the ordinary that waiters are dancing on tables and passing around shots. At one point they put tinfoil down on our table and literally threw dessert across it  they call it the dessert jungle. Dont miss the polenta, fresh salads or pretty much anything on the menu since it changes so frequently.

Atalyas Place  By a landslide my favorite experience of the trip. Atalya is truly a gem and her food is fresh, local and full of so much love. Check out her website to see when shes hosting her next meal because it is so soooooo worth it. You can thank me later.

Machane Yehuda Market  If youre a foodie, you must visit the Machane Yehuda Market. This market is huge and covers pretty much every cuisine under the sun. Since theres so much going on, I highly recommend downloading the app BiteMojo which offers a culinary tour of the market. A must-stop place is Uzi-Eli juice bar and try their ghat and etrog juices.

Artisanal Food Tour of Ein Karem  Atalya (see above) took us on a tour of Ein Karem where we explored local artisanal food like Ein Karem Sweets and freshly made Kubana. Inquire on her website to set-up a tour.

WHERE TO EAT IN TEL AVIV

Cafe Europa  easy, and delicious food right in the heart of Tel Aviv. Theres pretty much something for everyone here, but their fresh salads were my favorite!

Hotel 65 Restaurant -Go here for breakfast or brunch! Israeli breakfasts are notoriously huge and Hotel 65 is no different. We actually stayed here, but everyone who heard where we were staying told us how epic the breakfast and brunch was. We discovered this first hand, but it was nice to know the locals felt similarly.

Quattro Restaurant  I never would have expected Id have the best Italian food in the middle of Tel Aviv, but hey! roll with it. Everything on the menu here is amazing, but save room for dessert because they are SO worth it.

Manta Ray Restaurant  Its hard to say whether the food or the ambiance was better here, because both were stellar. Situated right on the beach boardwalk, you can enjoy your mezze or brunch with an ocean view.

Carmel Market  Similar to the Machne Yehuda Market in Jerusalem, but on a much smaller scale. The perfect place to pick up a quick bite to eat and then head to the beach for a picnic.

Lewinsky Street Market  I LOVED this place. Its less of a market in the conventional sense, and more a street full of small artisanal shops with specialty goods. Rotten Lieberson (a local food blogger and culinary wiz) took me there to pick up ingredients for her shabbat dinner. We weaved in and out of little shops trying different foods and ingredients. This was where I fell in love with Tel Aviv.

Farma Cultura  Words cannot possibly describe how beautiful this place is. About 20 minutes north of the city center, this is a stunning organic farm serving up fresh ingredients, green smoothies and local CSA boxes to the surrounding communities. Stop in for a smoothie, pick up local produce or just take in the beautiful space.

WHERE TO EAT IN NAZARETH

If youre in Israel, its worth paying a visit to the food scene in Nazareth. I highly recommend going on a Saturday since most of the city is open when things are closed in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Shabbat. Let yourself get lost in the narrow streets and cobblestone walkways. Such a unique city!

Elbabour Galilee Mill  Find Tony and have him tell you the history of this 3rd generation spice market. Dont leave without picking up some homemade zaatar!

Deewan al saraya Restaurant Museum  Come meet Abu Sharaf right in the middle of the old city of Nazareth and try his famous cookies. Hes also an old antique collector so even if you dont stop for cookies (which you should), at least check out his shop!

Beit Seif Adin Zoubi  a beautiful home built in 1888 where Fatina will host you for a traditional Nazareth dinner. You need to email her to book, but the food is delicious and the home is a sight to see! The roof offers the best view in Nazareth.

NOT TO MISS

Go to a Shabbat dinner  We were so lucky to have been invited to Moshe Davids for a traditional Yemenite Shabbat Dinner. This was a super special experience for us, but if you can get connected to a local, its so amazing to feel the shabbat vibes in Israel. Check out Eat With, an app that connects tourists to locals who love to cook and host!

Al Arz Tahini  we had the chance to explore the Al Arz Tahini factory, but you can pick up this golden elixir all across Israel. Lana, whose mom runs the factory gave us the rundown on how they make the best tahini and you can totally taste the difference. FYI this is the only tahini Ottolenghi uses!

Hummuseverywhere!  everyone in Israel has their own opinions on the best hummus. Ask people their favorites and try it out. From spicy to creamy to chunky, youll be on an endless search for the best hummus!

Shakshuka  you guys know I love this traditional Israeli breakfast! If you cant make it to Israel, you can make at at home using my recipe, but when in Israel, you eat shakshuka!

Halva- This is a traditional middle eastern dessert made with tahini. Im working on a healthier recipe for you guys, but honestly, when in Israel go for the real stuff! Im a sucker for the pistachio but they pretty much have every flavor under the sun. Be sure to check out the Kingdom of Halva in the Machne Yehuda to see every single flavor!

The Bread -I swear I took the bread tour of Israel. We had some of the best food of our lives, but it was often the bread that stole our hearts. Because of the rich mix of cultural traditions, there are so many different types of bread to try. From pita, to spelt sourdough to yemenite kubana, its worth breaking as much bread as possible. I also decided that gluten is not a thing in Israel, and honestly, my stomach was a total champ about it. EAT THE BREAD.

One of the greatest takeaways from this experience is that everyone in Israel has a different take on what makes up Israeli Food. It is a culture made up of people from so many different backgrounds so the food is often an interpretation of these backgrounds but then all mixed together. Theres North African influence, Persian influence and European influence. What makes Israeli food so special is that there is no one identity. It is up for interpretation, which makes it ever-evolving and creative. I know that the next time Im in Israel, my foodie experience will be entirely different. I could honestly go on for days about this trip and the food scene in Israel, but I did my best to get as much info into this post as possible. Theres still so much I didnt cover, so stay tuned for more posts and recipes inspired by our trip!

Disclaimer: I was invited to explore Israels Culinary Scene by Vibe Israel. While the experience was gifted to me, all opinions expressed are 100% my own. This was truly a trip of a lifetime!

*All pictures taken by me or Amir Menachem Photography

Have you been to Israel? Did you know there was such a vibrant food scene there?
Diageo expects as many as 300,000 visitors annually for a tourist brewery it plans to build in Maryland, a manager reportedly told residents there Thursday.

Diageo is based in London and has its North American headquarters in Norwalk. Diageo aims to open the Relay, Md. facility by October to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Guinness beer sales in the United States. The Relay plants heritage dates back to 1933 as Marylands first legal distillery after Prohibition, according to the Baltimore Sun.
The experts at Travel + Leisure named the top 50 places to visit in 2017 after asking their "A-List travel specialists" to look at the most exciting hotel and restaurant openings from around the world.

The United States and North America as a whole represented well, with some from last year's list reappearing, such as Philadelphia.
NORWALK  Police arrested a Stamford man Thursday morning for his alleged role in a January armed robbery of a food delivery driver.

Jaiden Parker, 20, of Montauk Drive, Stamford, was arrested on a warrant at state Superior Court in Norwalk. Parker was charged with first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, and second-degree larceny. His bond was set at $250,000.

On Jan. 9, a 39-year-old male was making a delivery of Chinese food to a Rolling Lane residence when police say he was approached by two masked men, one of whom was armed with a handgun.

Police say the victim was robbed of cash, his cell phone, and the food that was being delivered. The two suspects then fled the scene in a vehicle. The delivery driver was not injured, police said.

The Norwalk Police Departments Detective Bureau then assumed the investigation into the robbery.

Lt. Thomas Mattera, commander of the Detective Bureau, commended detectives Daniel Fitzmaurice and Tomasz Podgorski for their work in making an arrest.

Mattera said that the investigation was a collaboration between Norwalk, Stamford, and Bridgeport police departments.

llake@hearstmediact.com
In Washington, D.C., well-known figures vocalized their support for the protest. Spain-born celebrity Chef Jose Andres and Busboys and Poets founder Andy Shallal, who is from Iraq, were among them.

Related: 40 Reactions (and Counting) to Trump's Travel Ban From Richard Branson to Sheryl Sandberg

While many are speaking out and standing in solidarity, not all in the industry agree with the sentiment behind the protests. In a statement to Entrepreneur, National Restaurant Association Vice President of Communications Leslie Shedd said, Restaurants welcome people from all backgrounds and cultures to dine with us and work in our industry. Legal immigrants are an important part of the restaurant family. We strongly encourage our members to follow all laws. By encouraging walkouts, these organizations disrupt the workplaces of hard-working Americans who are trying to provide for their families.

Restaurants both large and small have weighed in.

Jonathan Neman, Nicolas Jammet and Nathaniel Ru, co-founders of popular the salad chain Sweetgreen, told USA Today in a statement, "Our team members are the face of the brand, from the front lines to our kitchen -- they're the backbone of this company and what makes Sweetgreen special. And that's why we stand with them, today and every day."

Related: What Business Travelers Need to Know About Trump's Travel Ban

Some businesses that opted to stay open today showed their support in other ways. For example, in Boston, The Purple Cactus is donating all of todays sales to ACLU Massachusetts and LULAC Boston. Latitude 43 Restaurant and Sushi Bar is giving an entire days pay to workers who decided not to come in today.

As an immigrant to this country, I fully support A Day Without Immigrants and would love to close today, but our restaurants face substantial penalties from landlords if we don't open, which ultimately would hurt those whom we wish to support, Jimmy Shaw, Mexican-born founder and executive chef of Loteria Grill in Los Angeles, told Eater. We also respect all who decide not to come into work today and will not consider them a no-show. A percentage of the restaurant's sales today will be donated to organizations who support and fight for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
NORWALK  The Norwalk community is invited to a swearing-in ceremony to welcome the fire departments first female firefighter on Wednesday.

The swearing-in and promotional ceremony takes place on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at the Norwalk Fire Department, 121 Connecticut Ave.
NORWALK  A 19-year-old Stamford man was charged Friday in the January armed robberies of two food delivery drivers, including one in which a man was shot in the leg.

Tyreik Gantt, 19, of Connecticut Avenue, Stamford, was arrested at Bridgeport Superior Court on warrants and charged with two counts each of first-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery. He was also charged with first-degree assault and second-degree larceny. His bond was set $500,000.

In the Jan. 9 robbery, a 39-year-old male was making a delivery of Chinese food to a Rolling Lane residence when police say he was approached by two masked men, one of whom was armed with a handgun.

Police say the victim was robbed of cash, his cellphone, and the food that was being delivered. The two suspects then fled the scene in a vehicle. The delivery driver was not injured, police said.

Along with Gantt, a 20-year-old Stamford man, Jaiden Parker, was arrested on Thursday for his alleged role in that robbery.

On Jan. 14, a driver from another Chinese restaurant was robbed at gunpoint, shot in the hand and leg, and his vehicle was taken.

In that case an order to the restaurant requested delivery to a non-existent address on Kent Road.

After being unable to located the address, the delivery driver called the number the order was received from, and the person who answered said, "We're here in the red car, at the intersection of Kent and Derby roads.

The driver then apparently exited his car, at which point three people, described as males wearing ski masks, exited a red four-door sedan, brandishing handguns.

They shot the driver, then one of the men entered his drivers car and drove off, police said. The others took cash and the food from him, then fled.

The Norwalk Police Departments Detective Bureau assumed the investigation into the robberies.

We expect the arrests of more individuals in both of these cases, said Lt. Thomas Mattera, commander of the Norwalk Police Departments Detective Bureau.

Mattera commended detectives Daniel Fitzmaurice and Tomasz Podgorski for their work in making the arrests.

Mattera said that the investigation was the result of a continuing collaboration between Norwalk, Stamford, and Bridgeport police departments.

llake@hearstmediact.com
WILTON  Dedicated, passionate, heroic  these were but a few of the words that people overwhelmingly resorted to when describing the type of man Philip Reeves had been in life.

Reeves may have lost his battle to cancer last week on Feb. 7, but those who knew him best say that even in his direst of moments, Reeves managed to go out on his own terms.

He never felt sorry for himself. The way he dealt with his illness with dignity is something we could all aspire to, said Westport Deputy Chief Robert Kepchar, who had worked with Reeves in the 1980s.

He was a great guy and dedicated worker who certainly always told you what he thought, laughed Kepchar. He took his job very seriously  the kind of guy who always made sure that he did his best on every call he ever went out on.

This passion for firefighting was kindled in Reeves more than 40 years ago when he first joined the Wilton Volunteer Fire Department. It was as a volunteer that Reeves found not only his calling in life, but also a few lifelong friends.

Im just speechless, said Ralph Nathanson, the apparatus supervisor for the Wilton Fire Department, who was still trying to process the loss of his dear friend. Phil was the real deal. They dont come along too often, people like Phil. He was extremely brilliant, and its just a real loss.

As an Army aviator, Reeves constantly displayed the same dedication and passion for which he was remembered by his firefighting colleagues.

After completing his obligations to the U.S. Army, which included a tour in the Republic of Korea, Reeves transferred to the Massachusetts National Guard, where he remained until his death, achieving the rank of chief warrant officer 5 as the state aviation safety officer.

Never one to shirk an obligation, Reeves also later served two tours in Iraq as a MEDEVAC helicopter pilot.

In 1994, Phil joined the Bridgeport Fire Department, where he held various positions, from pumper engineer and fire lieutenant all the way to safety officer and battalion chief's aide, before retiring in 2016.

Reeves was a life member of the VFW, the United States Army Warrant Officer Association, the National Guard Association of the United States and the Army Aviation Association of America.

Reeves was member of Bridgeport Firefighter's Local 834, as well as a member on Wiltons Fire House 2 Building Committee, which he served on up until a few weeks before his death.

The committee was surprised and saddened by his resignation and his sudden passing. He lived a life of community service and brought his spirit of commitment, integrity and care for his communities to his work on the committee. We will miss his contributions and his friendship, said Richard McCarty, who heads the panel.

Reeves is survived by his wife Robyn Hapke, his daughter Rebecca of Keene, N.H. and son Isaac of Wilton. He is also survived by his mother Sarah of Walpole, N.H.; sister Leslie Kanerva of Springfield, Vt.; sister Cynthia and her partner Ray Ruseckas of Walpole, N.H. and brother Ted, of Springfield, Vt.

A funeral service will take place at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, 48 New Canaan Road, on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Bridgeport Fallen Firefighters Foundation, the USO or the veteran's service organization of your choice.
WILTON  Youngs Nurseries, a Wilton staple since the 1930s, is in the final stages of closing down and its Woodbury location is also up for sale.

The property at 224 Danbury Road is under contract to be sold, with an estimated closing date in July. A 90-unit assisted living facility with memory care will replace Youngs Nurseries, which has been the premier nursery and landscape company of Fairfield County for more than 80 years.

All remaining inventory is now being offered at half price.

Unfortunately, with property values still falling in the area, it's tough for people to justify planting trees. Trees are a luxury, said Scott Deniston, president and co-owner of Youngs Nurseries. In a single year, our sales went from $11 million to $5 million.

Although Deniston has to part ways with a company hes been with for 40 years, he said hes not ready to give up on landscaping just yet.

Im 61 years old and its what Ive been doing since I was 20, he said.

Deniston started a new business in 2016, called Youngs Legacy Landscaping, with two of his longtime employees, Tony and Anthony Medina.

The new business offers strictly landscaping services  including grading, drainage, planting and other related jobs  operated by a team of 8 to 10 people, as opposed to 75 who helped run Youngs Nurseries.

In their first year of business, Deniston said they finished more than a million dollars worth of installations.

Im cautiously optimistic because were a leaner, meaner machine without the overhead, he said. We still do high-end landscaping ... and we continue to serve the clients that we've developed for 40 years.

Sean McDonnell and Alison Luisi of Avison Young, a commercial real estate services firm, helped to close the deal. They said the new assisted living facility will meet current and future housing demands of an increasing aging population in Wilton and towns across the state.

By 2025, one in five people living in every Connecticut town will be older than 65, Luisi said, referring to data reported by the Connecticuts Legislative Commission on Aging and the CT Data Collaborative.

The demographics of Wilton showed that a facility for memory and assisted living care would suit that property, Luisi said.

Additionally, McDonnell, who lives in Wilton, said the new facility was approved with full support of neighbors.

Itll be a beautiful, well-landscaped site, he said. And even more exciting is the tax dollars that the property will be generating for the town of Wilton.

SKim@hearstmediact.com; 203-354-1044; @stephaniehnkim
Astros win second World Series title in six seasons behind dramatic moonshot

The Astros beat the Phillies in six games to win the World Series, thanks to Yordan Alvarez's 450-foot three-run home run in the clincher.
Four blood drives have been scheduled locally in March in observance of Red Cross Month.

Edwardsville-area donors have their choice of sites which include:

 Alhambra  3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on March 6 at Fireman and Legion Park, 610 West Main St.

 Collinsville  2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on March 14 at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 304 South St.

 Collinsville  10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on March 15 at the Illinois State Police District 11 Headquarters, 110 East Port Plaza.

 Hamel  2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on March 13 at the Hamel Community Building, 10 Park Ave.

To make a donation appointment at one of these blood drives, download the free Red Cross Blood Donor App, visits redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-Red Cross (1-800-733-2767).

During World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt first designated March as Red Cross Month and that tradition has continued with each president since 1943.

The Red Cross depends on donors to collect enough blood to meet the needs of patients in approximately 2,600 hospitals nationwide, according to a press release.

All blood types are needed, especially Type O.

External Communications Manager for Blood Services for the Missouri/Illinois Region Joe Zydio there is always a need for blood donations.

Every 2 seconds, someone in the country needs blood, Zydio said. We still need people to come out.

This past January, the Red Cross issued an emergency appeal for blood donations, following the double-whammy of the holiday season and some severe winter weather.

Zydio said the appeal has been cancelled, but blood supply levels could be a bit higher.

The supply level is better, but not exactly where we want it to be, Zydio said.

One thing that handicapped us was the ice storm (in January) that cancelled about 25 blood drives. That closed our donation centers for a couple of days, too. We were getting as many appointments as weve ever gotten. Its just unfortunate that happened, Zydio said.

In the Red Cross Month press release, blood donor Timothy Sheely gave his testimonial to the need for a constant supply as his wife required 12 units of blood during emergency surgery following the birth of their son.

If it had not been for blood donors, she might not have survived. Thanks to generous blood donors, I still have a wife and my kids still have their mom, Sheely said in the release.

I cant possibly thank those people in person, but I can give a little piece of me back with each donation for the greater good.
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Linkedin Dina Kurniasari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17, 2017

ASEAN will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year as a momentous milestone for the region after five decades of success and achievements. This remarkable year will be led by the Philippines as the new ASEAN chair country.

Proclaiming this years theme, Partnering for Change, Engaging the World, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte pledged to promote ASEAN, home to more than 640 million people at different stages of economic development, as the ideal model of regionalism and as a global player with the interests of its people at its core.

During the handover of ASEAN chairmanship from Lao at the ASEAN Summit last Sept. 8, the President promised to steer and guide the association to pursue initiatives and enhance cooperation with global partners, while retaining ASEANs centrality, unity and solidarity.

The 50th anniversary can become the starting point to prepare for new challenges that lay ahead in the region. As ASEAN chair and one of the founding members, the Philippines has the huge task of leading the region to better economic prospects, political stability and security amid major challenges within the country, within the ASEAN region and also in the wider world. Those challenges need to be faced and resolved simultaneously.

We can see that trade within ASEAN has been stagnant at between 20 percent and 24 percent over the last couple of years, even though the elimination of tariff barriers has been an important point on the agenda. Unimplemented measures and pending matters still exist in the second year of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), which started in 2015. These issues should be addressed more deeply, while ASEAN also tries to broaden its ambitions by endorsing the ASEAN Blueprint 2025 as a new milestone to be achieved.

Rising protectionism correlated with stagnating economic growth worldwide and growing unease over globalization creates a major setback to efforts of regional integration and could disrupt global supply chains.

In addition, business growth (for example in the digital economy) has lagged behind international commitments. Negotiations on a new global trade agreement have stalled. Progress on the Trans-Pacific Partnership has been abruptly ended after Trumps victory, creating greater pressure for ASEAN to conclude negotiations on a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement.

Adding extra weight to the chairmanship role, there have been problems in several member states (Indonesia is on that list) to abide by existing commitments or upgrade commitments made under the ASEAN and ASEAN+1 free trade agreements. The absence of an adequate dispute-settlement mechanism to address the problem makes matters worse.

The way to tackle these problems is by discussing them the ASEAN Way, which embraces solidarity rather than legal rigidity. Limited budgetary and human resources among all trade negotiators within the region are an additional burden to concluding talks in a timely manner.

ASEAN faces prominent economic challenges, such as the rising political and economic dominance of China, uncertainty and protectionism in the US under Trump, questions about Brexit and European stability as well as a possible global financial crisis.

Taking into account a global economic crisis and challenges within the region, can ASEAN reach a higher level of integration during the Philippine chairmanship?

To achieve that objective, the Philippine government has proclaimed nine main deliverables to be achieved this year. They are regional self-certification of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), an ASEAN trade facilitation index, a focused and strategic action agenda on investment, conclusion of the ASEAN Trade in Services Agreement, a peer review for the AEC, ASEAN inclusive business, the ASEAN Declaration on Innovation, Women and Youth Entrepreneurship.

With a gross domestic product of US$2.6 trillion, the AEC is the seventh-largest economic block. With a population of more than 620 million, it is the third largest in Asia, after China and India. In this regard, the Philippines will highlight ASEAN MSMEs as the main drivers of inclusive growth in the region.

Its very reasonable that the Philippines want to foster the development of SMESs, since this can help overcome development barriers and stimulate national and regional economies. SMEs as a key driver and contributor to the GDP of ASEAN economies account for 95 percent to 99 percent of all business establishments and for 51 percent to 97 percent of employment in many ASEAN members.

The GDP contribution of SMEs is significant at 23 percent to 58 percent, and their impact on exports ranges from 10 percent to 30 percent. By enhancing their market access, SMEs can take advantage of trade and investment opportunities and benefit from regional economic integration.

However, most SMEs on a domestic and regional scale still struggle in their operations, which limits their capacity and makes it difficult for them to compete internationally due to limited funds and resources, poor packaging, networking and marketing plans.

The question is, can those issues be solved? Quite simply, doubts still remain. In addition, there are growing fears about possible attempts to reject Dutertes programs. Nevertheless, strong leadership is actually more needed now to give the region direction into becoming stronger and more stable.

All members have to fully support the achievement of these deliverables. The responsibility to move forward with economic integration rests not solely with the chairman country; every ASEAN member country needs to share the burden to expedite process, support all agreed work plans and give supporting input to accelerate integration and resolve any remaining domestic and regional matters.

It is also crucial for all members to continue to find amicable solutions to remaining issues in order to prevent further gaps and establish a more effective dispute settlement mechanism to address future issues. All members should exploit all the foreseeable economic opportunities to avoid greater losses across the region. If these ideals can come be achieved, then surely we can rise to the next level.

***

The writer is the deputy director for investment, SMEs, competitiveness and issues in the ASEAN Directorate of ASEAN Negotiation, Directorate General of International Trade Negotiation. The views expressed are her own.

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Linkedin Florian Vernaz (The Jakarta Post) Singapore  Fri, February 17, 2017

Religion is one of the five pillars of Pancasila, the philosophical foundation of the Indonesian state. Indonesia is praised as the perfect example that democracy and religious faith are indeed compatible. Under the leadership of the countrys two largest religious organizations, Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), political Islam has historically rhymed with tolerance and integrity. The late president Abdurrahman Gus Dur Wahid is until today acclaimed for his efforts to uphold the rights of minority groups.

But hardliners have been monopolizing headlines. The eruption of religious fundamentalism into politics reached a high point ahead of the capitals gubernatorial election  with the campaign against incumbent Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama demanding his imprisonment for alleged blasphemy, resulting in a criminal investigation.

This anti-Ahok movement is often presented as a gathering of radical islamists and for-hire demonstrators. This would be a misconceived simplification of the movement, and a dangerous underestimation of the emergence of ultra-conservative populism in Indonesia.

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Linkedin Good Indonesian Food (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17, 2017 10:43 2088 a291276806121264c0bd211cde07826d 3 Food satay,sate-taichan,food,#food,trend,food-review Free

Indonesian cuisine has a multitude of takes on satay  from sate Madura (Madura satay) and sate Maranggi (marinated beef satay) to sate klathak (mutton satay). More recently, the world of Indonesian satay welcomed a new entrant: sate Taichan, which is served with sambal.

Sate Taichan has its roots in the Patal Senayan area, where three satay hawkers offering this variety have made a name for themselves that lives on to this day. Their names are Bang Ocit, Bang Amir and Bang Heri, and their respective businesses are located not far away from one another.

People have fallen in love with sate Taichan for its unique flavor and distinctive seasoning, which explains the increase in the number of its vendors in town.

Read also: Jakarta's 2017 dining forecast: 4 trends to look out for

The recipe for sate Taichan was actually devised by a Japanese man who happened to stop by at one of the aforementioned satay joints in Senayan once upon a time. He asked to have the chicken meat coated with lime and salt, and, once grilled, served with sambal rather than peanut sauce or sweet soy sauce. This was a method of cooking satay unlike any other in Indonesia that youve ever seen or heard of. When the satay seller asked the Japanese national for the name of his peculiar skewered masterpiece, he replied, sate Taichan.

While your common chicken satay takes a while to grill, sate Taichan requires just three to five minutes of preparation. Perhaps this is due to the thinner slices of chicken used. Despite the short cooking duration, its insides would still be fully cooked once the dish is ready. Its savory taste comes from the lime and salt daubed on the meat.

What makes it more interesting is the slosh of sambal ulek rawit (birds eye chilli paste sambal) that accompanies sate Taichan, which offers a very different and very spicy sensation to ones palate instead of the standard savoriness of peanut sauce or sweet soy sauce. You can ask the seller to either dip the satay into the sambal or have them served separately.

These days, sate Taichan is not just limited to chicken or beef, as a few purveyors have taken to serving shrimp, beef tongue and squid variants of the dish. Besides satay, you could also try gultik (curry rice). No, it is not short for gulai itik (duck curry); instead, it refers to gulai tikungan, or bend curry in English. According to a sate Taichan seller in Ampera, its name originates from the location of where it is sold, at a bend in some road. Unfortunately, the man did not know whether this referred to the celebrated gultik place at Blok M.

What we do know, though, is that sate Taichan has become a fixture worth celebrating in the culinary arena of Indonesia.

Explore more Indonesian cuisines here. (kes)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
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Linkedin Ni Nyoman Wira (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17, 2017 11:33 2088 a291276806121264c0bd211cde07a738 1 Lifestyle iims,indonesia-international-motor-show,pahami,blibli-com,automotive,automotive-exhibition,exhibition,#exhibition,events Free

The annual Indonesian International Motor Show (IIMS), to be held this year from April 27 to May 7 at the Jakarta International Expo (JIExpo) in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, will host a wide variety of events and more than 34 participating brands.

Organized by PT Dyandra Promosindo, the show is set to feature a car parade, a larger test-driving area, a discount day, a road safety campaign for children, a drift competition, blood donation and audio competitions.

In a bid to attract around 450,000 visitors, IIMS will also provide a designated spot in Hall C3 to cater to car accessories enthusiasts, dubbed Pahami Village, in cooperation with the Indonesian Car Accessories Business Association (PAHAMI).

Read also: Mercedes unveils most luxurious SUV to date

With online transactions becoming more and more popular, the show is partnering with e-commerce website blibli.com to allow automotive enthusiasts from across the country to purchase automotive products presented at IIMS through a website to be launched on March 27.

"The products that will be sold include cars, motorcycles, parts, accessories and services, said blibli.com merchandising manager Kwee Johanes Dede during a media gathering on Thursday. (kes)
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Linkedin Felicia Choo (The Straits Times)  Fri, February 17, 2017

A Russian model's daredevil photography stunt has drawn flak online, with many slamming her for taking unnecessary risks.

Viktoria Odintcova, 22, was filmed dangling over the side of a Dubai skyscraper, held only by a male assistant's hand and not wearing any safety equipment.

Her first video and photo posts of the stunt on Instagram in January had more than a million views, with some praising her for being daring.

However, many have also criticized her for not valuing her life.

Full video (link in bio)! @a_mavrin #MAVRINmodels #MAVRIN #VikiOdintcova #Dubai A post shared by Viki Odintcova (@viki_odintcova) on Feb 3, 2017 at 7:12am PST

Read also: Disney drops YouTube's PewDiePie over offensive videos

One user said: "Beauty fades, dumb is forever."

Another admonished: "You are complete crazy how you can play with life. Ridiculous. Many people are sick and they want to have a another chance."

The video was taken at the Cayan Tower, which at 306m-tall with 75 storeys was the world's tallest building in 2013.

Her Instagram account also has photos of her doing some extreme sports, such as bungee jumping in Russia, ziplining in Dubai and indoor skydiving in Bahrain.

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 Barbara Ortutay (Associated Press) New York, United States  Fri, February 17, 2017

Mark Zuckerberg's long-term vision for Facebook, laid out in a sweeping manifesto , sometimes sounds more like a utopian social guide than a business plan. Are we, he asks, "building the world we all want?"

While most people now use Facebook to connect with friends and family, Zuckerberg hopes that the social network can encourage more civic engagement, an informed public and community support in the years to come. Facebook now has nearly 2 billion members, which makes it larger than any nation in the world.

His 5,800-word essay positions Facebook in direct opposition to a rising tide of isolationism and fear of outsiders, both in the U.S. and abroad. In a phone interview with The Associated Press, Zuckerberg stressed that he wasn't motivated by the U.S. election or any other particular event. Rather, he said, it's the growing sentiment in many parts of the world that "connecting the world"  the founding idea behind Facebook  is no longer a good thing.

"Across the world there are people left behind by globalization, and movements for withdrawing from global connection," Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook in a Harvard dorm room in 2004, wrote on Thursday. "In times like these, the most important thing we at Facebook can do is develop the social infrastructure to give people the power to build a global community that works for all of us."

Zuckerberg, 32, told the AP that he still strongly believes that more connectedness is the right direction for the world. But, he adds, it's "not enough if it's good for some people but it's doesn't work for other people. We really have to bring everyone along."

It's hardly a surprise that Zuckerberg wants to find ways to bring more people together, especially on Facebook. After all, getting more people to come together on the social network more frequently would give Facebook more opportunities to sell the ads that generate most of its revenue, which totaled $27 billion last year. And bringing in more money probably would boost Facebook's stock price to make Zuckerberg  already worth an estimated $56 billion  even richer.

And while the idea of unifying the world is laudable, some critics  backed various studies  contend Facebook makes some people feel lonelier and more isolated as they scroll through the mostly ebullient posts and photos shared on the social network. Facebook's famous "like" button also makes it easy to engage in a form of "one-click" communication that replaces meaningful dialogue.

Facebook also has been lambasted as polarizing force by circulating posts espousing similar viewpoints and interests among like-minded people, creating an "echo chamber" that can harden opinions and widen political and cultural chasms.

Read also: Facebook videos about to get less office-friendly

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

Today, most of Facebook's 1.86 billion members  about 85 percent  live outside of the U.S. and Canada. The Menlo Park, California-based company has offices everywhere from Amsterdam to Jakarta, Indonesia, to Tel Aviv, Israel. (It is banned in China, the world's most populous country, though some people get around the ban.) Naturally, Zuckerberg takes a global view of Facebook and sees potential that goes beyond borders, cities and nations.

And that could allow the social network to step up as more traditional cultural ties fray. People already use Facebook to connect with strangers who have the same rare disease, to post political diatribes, to share news links (and sometimes fake news links ). Facebook has also pushed its users to register to vote, to donate to causes, to mark themselves safe after natural disasters, and to "go live ." For many, it's become a utility. Some 1.23 billion people use it daily.

"For the past decade, Facebook has focused on connecting friends and families. With that foundation, our next focus will be developing the social infrastructure for community  for supporting us, for keeping us safe, for informing us, for civic engagement, and for inclusion of all," he wrote.

LONG VIEW

Zuckerberg has gotten Facebook to this position of global dominance  one that Myspace and Twitter, for instance, never even approached  partly thanks to his audacious, long-term view of the company and its place in the world.

Last fall, Zuckerberg and his wife, the doctor Priscilla Chan, unveiled the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative , a long-term effort aimed at eradicating all disease by the end of this century. Then, as now, Zuckerberg preferred to look far down the road to the potential of scientific and technological innovations that have not been perfected, or even invented yet. This includes artificial intelligence.

"Looking ahead, one of our greatest opportunities to keep people safe is building artificial intelligence to understand more quickly and accurately what is happening across our community," he wrote.

Speaking to the AP, Zuckerberg said he understands that we might not "solve all the issues that we want" in the short term.

"One of my favorite quotes is this Bill Gates quote, that 'people overestimate what they can get done in two years and underestimate what they can get done in 10 years.' And that's an important mindset that I hope more people take today," he said.
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Linkedin Severianus Endi (The Jakarta Post) Singkawang, West Kalimantan  Thu, February 16 2017

Despite social tensions tainting this years mayoral election, community leaders in Singkawang, West Kalimantan, have pledged to maintain the citys image as a tolerant, multiethnic and multireligious society.

With a diverse makeup, Singkawang has long been known as a place of tolerance, where people have been able to live in peace with each other regardless of background.

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Linkedin Farida Susanty (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17 2017

Shi shi sheng yu xiong bian (actions speak louder than words), according to the Chinese proverb and more action is what Indonesia needs to realize its ambitious goal to attract 10 million tourists from the worlds second-largest economy by 2019.

The latest data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) show that even though there was a 25 percent annual increase in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Indonesia in 2016, the increase only resulted in 1.43 million tourists, falling short of the original target of welcoming 1.7 million Chinese tourists last year.

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Linkedin Farida Susanty (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17, 2017

Shi shi sheng yu xiong bian (actions speak louder than words), according to the Chinese proverb and more action is what Indonesia needs to realize its ambitious goal to attract 10 million tourists from the worlds second-largest economy by 2019.

The latest data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) show that even though there was a 25 percent annual increase in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Indonesia in 2016, the increase only resulted in 1.43 million tourists, falling short of the original target of welcoming 1.7 million Chinese tourists last year.

In addition to the Chinese tourists, the total number of tourists also fell short of its 12 million goal, standing at 11.5 million only.

With the latest result, the tourist industry under President Joko Jokowi Widodos administration has until now attracted 3.6 million Chinese tourists, making the 10 million benchmark difficult to achieve.

Indonesia must carry out extra efforts to lure more than 2 million Chinese tourists every year for the next three years, while at the same time, neighboring countries are also eyeing a bigger slice of the pie of the outbound Chinese tourist figure, which stands at more than 120 million globally per year.

The Tourism Ministrys AsiaPacific promotions director, Vinsensius Jemadu, said the problem was mostly related to a lack of flight access from China to Indonesian cities, beyond Denpasar in Bali and Jakarta, even though the visa requirement had been scrapped in 2015.

Our competitor, Thailand, can welcome 8 to 9 million Chinese tourists per year. Imagine, there are airlines that can connect 15 cities in China and Thailand, he said on Thursday.

(Read also: Chinese nationals account for most foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia)

Thailand is indeed a very attractive destination in Southeast Asia for Chinese tourists. Thailand welcomed 8.87 million Chinese tourists last year, an increase of 12 percent from 2015, dominating Thailands list of foreign tourists.

The Thai government expects to see 9 million Chinese visitors this year, boosting its tourist industry, which already accounts for 11 percent of Thailands US$395 billion gross domestic product (GDP).

Meanwhile, Singapore and Vietnam welcomed more than 2 million Chinese tourists last year.

In Indonesia, most of the airlines connecting Chinese cities and Indonesia are charter flights. The government plans to work with more airlines this year to provide wider access.

We can increase promotion, but if they dont know how to get here, it will be very hard. Even when we promote in the secondary and tertiary cities in China, they still need to go to Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai, which costs a lot. So they go to Thailand, Malaysia, Vinsensius added.

With 80 percent of foreign tourists arriving in Indonesia by air transportation, the ministry is gearing up to roll out a stimulus for airlines to open routes to destinations other than Bali and Jakarta.

Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) vice chairman for tourism Kosmian Pudjiadi voiced a similar concern, stating that the number of direct flights from China needed to be increased, with connections to at least 25 Chinese cities.

The government expects to welcome 15 million tourists in 2017, with 2.1 million tourists expected from China. Jokowi has signed an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping to attract 10 million tourists from China.

However, funding is also an issue for the ministry, as it faces a lower promotional budget as a result of state budget cuts, forcing it to cancel several sales missions and selling activities in China.

Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) chairman Hariyadi Sukamdani attributed the failure to reach last years target to a lack of sales despite heavy promotional efforts.

Our brand has improved, but to make more people visit, there needs to be actual selling, he said.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17, 2017

Security officials at Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Banten have detained three men for allegedly carrying 5.9 kilograms of methamphetamine on Thursday.

Ridho, 25, Hendra, 27, and Toro, 35, were part of a group of five about to board a flight from Jakarta to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan. Seven packages covered in white duct tape were found to contain drugs, Soekarno-Hatta Airport aviation security senior manager Tommy was quoted as saying by wartakota.tribunnews.com.

At first, the security personnel were reportedly looking for a missing wristwatch that CCTV footage showed to have ended up in the hands of Hendra.

The officers then called on Hendra to have his belongings scanned through the X-ray machine. He and the others in his group apparently raised the officers suspicion as they looked frightened. The officers then searched their bags and allegedly found the drugs.

The suspects were brought to airport police for further investigation. (dea)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17, 2017

The police will further their investigation into Azni Muzakkir, aka Abdul Zakir, a 44-year-old Indonesian citizen deported from Japan on Tuesday for his alleged connections to the Islamic State (IS) radical movement.



Azni was detained by immigration officers at Ngurah Rai Internal Airport, Bali, on Wednesday and was taken into Bali Police's custody.



National Police spokesperson Martinus Sitompul said at the National Police headquarters that Azni was currently in Bali but would be sent to Jakarta for further investigation. A team from the polices Densus 88 counterterrorism squad would be waiting for him at Soekarno-Hatta airport.



Martinus said that according to the information gathered by police, his connection to IS was still unverified, as he only might have had problems with documentation or overstayed his visit.



"The police takes terrorism seriously, and if there's an indication that he's related [to IS] we'll arrest him. If it's not proven he's [connected with IS], we'll release him through the Ministry of Social Affairs," he said.

(Read also: Indonesians deported from Malaysia over Islamic State link)

Currently, the Bambu Apus shelter in East Jakarta houses 75 people deported from Turkey, Singapore and Japan for allegedly trying to join IS in Syria.

Martinus said the police had been profiling individuals connected to terrorist groups, including IS, and had mapped and monitored arrivals and departures from the country. (dis/yan)
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Linkedin Grace D. Amianti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17, 2017

Bank Indonesia (BI) has revised down its current account deficit projection for this year as the global financial outlook remains uncertain, although the domestic economy is expected to grow at a healthy clip.

The central bank's latest assessment during its two-day board of governors meeting held on Tuesday and Thursday found that the country's current account deficit (CAD) for this year was predicted to reach 2.11 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), lower than the 2.4 percent listed in an earlier projection.

Despite the smaller figure, this year's prediction is still higher than the 2016 result, when the current account deficit stood at only 1.8 percent of GDP.

(Read also: Strengthening landscape for stability and growth)

BI Governor Agus Martowardojo said the central bank was preparing for expansive economic policies from the United States and a corresponding fund rate increase from the US Federal Reserve, which could attract capital outflows from emerging markets like Indonesia.

"However, the view of global [investors] toward Indonesia remains positive because the country is one of the best three emerging markets for investment," he told reporters at the central bank's headquarters on Friday.

Agus went on to say that the higher current account deficit projection this year also indicated optimism toward Indonesia's economy compared with last year due to improvements in prices of the country's main commodity exports, such as crude palm oil (CPO) and coal. (bbn)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17, 2017

Election watchdog Aceh Elections Observer Coalition (KPPA) says it found 19 alleged violations during the election of regional heads in 16 areas across Aceh from Feb. 14 to Feb. 15.

KPPA spokesperson Aryos Nivada said Bireun and Pidie regencies had the highest number of violations, recording four cases each.

Three violations were found in Aceh Besar while East Aceh recorded two cases. Meanwhile, six other areas, Banda Aceh, Langsa, Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, Pidie Jaya and West Aceh, recorded one case each.

Monitoring was conducted in 16 regencies and municipalities considered vulnerable to fraud and election violations. They were also among the areas most prone to security threats, said Aryos as quoted by kompas.com on Thursday.

Aryos said not all polling stations could be monitored because of limited personnel and funds. Among violations found were bomb threats ahead of the elections, intimidation of political rivals, local polling administrators (KPPS) attempting to influence voters, vote-buying, double voting and KPPS found to have not distributed C6 forms (invitations to vote).

Vote-buying attempts were suspected in Deah Ujong Baroh village, Trienggadeng district, Pidie Jaya regency, at 12:57 a.m. local time on Feb.15. At that time, several cars entered villages and visited campaign team members of the Aceh governor and deputy governor candidate pair number 5, said Aryos, referring to candidate pair Muzakir Manaf-TA Khalid.

The KPPA said it would report its findings to the Aceh Voters Supervisory Committee (Panwaslih) and called on the Integrated Law Enforcement Center (Gakkumdu), especially the police, to follow up on the reports. (ebf)
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Linkedin Tessa Randello (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17 2017

Comedy to horror, Brianne Howey is mastering the art of doing it all with the release of the second season of I Live with Models.

After many cameo roles in movies such as Horrible Bosses, Scream Queens and The Odd Couple, Howey found that she is able to break from one part to another with ease.

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Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17, 2017

State-run logistics firm Perum Bulog will still sell buffalo meat from India as the recent Constitutional Court (MK) decision allows the government to do so.

The firm has secured an import permit to bring 70,000 tons of buffalo meat from India late last year and thus far, only 49,000 tons of it has arrived in the country.

The Trade Ministrys foreign trade director Oke Nurwan said the firm will still import the remaining 21,000 tons of it.

[The 21,000 tons] will still go ahead. There is no problem with that because weve inspected the health requirements directly [related] to India prior to giving the import permit to Bulog, he said Friday.

(Read also: Buffalo slaughterhouses in India FMD-free: Govt)

However, after the 21,000 tons of meat arrives, the government will revise the mechanism should it decide to import more buffalo meats as ruled by the recent MK verdict.

On Feb. 7, MK annulled article 36 E in the 2014 Animal Health and Husbandry Law. The court demands that zone-based meat imports be accepted only during urgent conditions and with maximum security standards."

The decision has triggered various interpretations among businesspeople and government officials.

Previously, beef businesspeople and cattle breeders protested the law, saying it triggered cheap buffalo meat imports from India, which hampered their businesses as they could not compete with the low prices. (bbn)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17, 2017

Cambridge International Examinations education provider and Putera Sampoerna Foundation are working on a joint project that aims to develop the proficiency of Cambridges Indonesian school teachers.

The two-day training for 150 Cambridge school teachers will start this April, covering geography, mathematics, economics, entrepreneurship, physical education, art and design, as well as information and computer technology.

After signing an agreement in Jakarta on Friday, Cambridge and Putera Sampoerna expressed hope that the cooperation would continue beyond April with another program that would allow certified teachers to share their knowledge with other international school teachers across Indonesia.

(Read also: Study compiles top 50 universities attended by billionaires)

Gusman Yahya, head of the Sampoerna Foundations School Development Outreach, said the April joint effort would be a rare opportunity for local teachers to experience a professional development program.

The collaboration is expected to improve teachers proficiency so they can help prepare students to enter the global market, he said.

Catering to the high demand for international schools in Indonesia, Cambridge recently officially opened its 200th school, the Sampoerna Academy, in South Jakarta. (hol)
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Linkedin Viriya P. Singgih (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17 2017

State-owned electricity firm PLN has been urged to ensure the timeliness of its power plant projects to maintain the appetite of investors in supporting the implementation of the countrys electrification blueprint.

PLN aims to seal agreements for various power plant projects with a total capacity of 15,000 megawatt (MW) in 2017, including by holding tenders and signing a power purchase agreement (PPA) with appointed bidders amid the process.

However, 10,000 MW of the total capacity is a carryover from last year, with 6,000 MW of which comprises PPA with the private sector  technically called independent power producers (IPPs)  and the rest are PLNs engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts.

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Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17 2017

The effort to resolve the murder of human rights defender Munir Said Thalib has hit another stumbling block after an administrative court annulled on Thursday a Public Information Commissions (KIP) writ ordering the state to disclose an investigative report on the case.

The Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) has ruled in favor of the State Secretariat, which challenged the KIP writ.

The commission decided on Oct. 10, 2016 that the investigation report produced by a government-sanctioned fact-finding team into Munirs case submitted to the government in 2005 was public information that should be disclosed.

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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Medan  Fri, February 17 2017

Sole candidate ticket in the Tebing Tinggi mayoral election, Umar Zunaidi Hasibuan and H. Oki Doni Siregar, won this years election as the pair won 55.9 percent of the vote.

The victory was based on the recapitulation of the C1 forms in 289 polling stations in five districts, said Mulia Banurea of the North Sumatra General Elections Commission (KPU North Sumatra).

The final result will be announced during the vote recapitulation process slated to be held in Tebing Tinggi city from Feb. 22 to 24, Mulia told The Jakarta Post, Thursday.

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Linkedin Farida Susanty (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17 2017

Players in the transportation sector are considering whether to establish their own vehicle-roadworthiness test (KIR) facilities in an effort to reduce inefficiencies caused by a heavy reliance on government-run units.

Head of the Jakarta branch of the Indonesian Truck Business Association (Aptrindo), Mustadjab Susilo Basuki, said one Aptrindo member, PT Trakindo Jaya Bersama, had recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the local unit of Germany-based testing and certification services firm TUV Rheinland to establish a vehicle-testing unit in Jakarta with a joint investment of up to Rp 100 billion (US$7.5 million).

The facility, Mustadjab said, was expected to be built either in Marunda or Cakung Cilincing, both in North Jakarta, on a site of up to 3 hectares in size.

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Linkedin Viriya P. Singgih (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17 2017

Giant copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia has halted whole operations at the Grasberg copper mine in Mimika, Papua, as it runs out of storage to maintain output following a recent rule affecting its shipment.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said on Feb. 10 that it had approved Freeport Indonesias proposal to convert its contract of work (CoW) into a special mining license (IUPK) that would extend the firms permit to export its copper concentrate. However, it refused to sign the IUPK without the governments guarantee over its long-term investment in the form of legal and fiscal certainties and therefore, delayed its overseas shipment.

To make things worse, a strike has been staged at Freeports sole domestic copper smelter run by PT Smelting in Gresik, East Java, since Jan. 19.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17, 2017

After 9 hours of interrogation, the leader of the National Movement to Safeguard the Indonesian Ulema Councils Fatwa (GNPF-MUI), Bachtiar Nasir, said he did not know Islahuddin Akbar, a money-laundering suspect who regularly attended his religious teachings.

Bachtiar was questioned for the second time at the National Polices Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) on Thursday about how his organization funded mass protest rallies on Nov. 4 and Dec. 2 last year.

He was asked 37 questions on how the organization received donations and what they were spent on.

Earlier in the day, Bachtiar's lawyer Kapitra Ampera said his client did not know Islahuddin and also did not know about the disbursement of funds from a bank account belonging to a foundation called Justice for All.

On Thursday, Bareskrim officials investigated several witnesses related to a money-laundering case that implicates Justice for All founder Adian Husaini, secretary Tri Subhi Abdillah and treasurer Suwono. They also investigated GNPF-MUI treasurer M Luthfie Hakim.

As one of the hard-line groups initiating the rallies late last year and another in February, GNPF-MUI pushed for the prosecution of Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama over alleged blasphemy and called on Muslims not to vote for non-Muslim leaders in regional elections held last Wednesday. (dis/yan)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17 2017

A Ferrari and a BMW driven by college students crashed into each other on Jl. Bulevar Pagedangan, South Tangerang, on Thursday morning.

Martin, 23, and Barry, 25, drove the cars from Bumi Serpong Damai in South Tangerang early in the morning to buy fried rice in Kelapa Dua, Tangerang. It appears that the Ferrari, which was in front of the BMW, suddenly turned right without signaling and the BMW crashed right into it, Pagedangan Police chief Adj. Comr. Army Sevtiansyah told The Jakarta Post.

Nearby residents who witnessed the accident called the police. Thankfully, there were no casualties in the accident, said Army.

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Linkedin Tama Salim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17, 2017

A high-profile transnational murder case in Malaysia has taken a surprising twist after local authorities announced on Thursday the arrest of two suspects, including an Indonesian woman.

Malaysian authorities announced two more arrests on Thursday in connection with the death of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, whose assassination on Monday was said to be a contract killing in broad daylight by two female assailants.

Investigators are still piecing together the details of the case, including the widespread assumption that Kim Jong-un dispatched a hit squad to kill his half brother, just days after the isolated country successfully launched an allegedly nuclear-ready missile.

Kim Jong-nam had lived away from North Korea for years, and was recently residing in Macau.

Three suspects  two women and a man  were arrested separately on Wednesday and Thursday. The women were identified using surveillance video from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), where the victim Kim, who was 45 or 46, suddenly fell ill.

Malaysian officials said he died on the way to the hospital after telling airport medical workers that he had been sprayed with a chemical, Associated Press reported.

South Korean media reports, citing unidentified sources, said two women believed to be North Korean agents killed him with toxic spray before fleeing in a taxi.

One female suspect had Vietnamese travel documents and was picked up on Wednesday at the KLIA budget terminal.

The Royal Malaysian Police circulated press statements identifying the suspects, including 25-yearold Indonesian Siti Aisyah from Serang, Banten, and 26 year-old Muhammad Farid bin Jalaluddin, a Malaysian man that authorities identified as the boyfriend of the second female suspect.

Siti and Farid were arrested on Thursday and will remain in custody to assist with the investigation, according to the statements.

Several Indonesian officials confirmed the formers nationality and that her documents were listed in the database of the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, but refused to say whether she had been detained for her involvement in the murder case.

The ministry never confirmed [her] involvement in the alleged assassination, as it is the sole authority of Malaysian law enforcers after they conclude the investigation, said Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, director for the protection of Indonesian nationals and entities abroad.

Iqbal added that a team from the Kuala Lumpur mission had arrived in Selangor state on Thursday evening to verify the womans identity.

The Indonesian government has not explicitly named Siti, choosing to identify her with the acronym SI, as the legal process has yet to conclude.

Meanwhile, medical workers have completed an autopsy on Kim Jong-nam, but the results have not been released. The findings could reveal whether he was indeed poisoned.

North Korea had objected to the autopsy but Malaysia went ahead with it because no formal protest was submitted, said Selangor Police chief Abdul Samah Mat.

Kim Jong-nam, the son of Kim Jong-il, North Koreas previous leader who died in 2011, reportedly fell out of favor after he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport in 2001, saying he wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

He complained that Kim Jongun, the countrys new leader, had failed to treat him with respect and send him enough money, according to Cheong Seong-chang, an analyst at South Koreas Sejong Institute.

However, Kim Jong-nam refrained from openly criticizing the North and kept a low profile after Kim Jong-un ordered the execution of his uncle and former protector Jang Song-thaek, once considered the countrys secondmost powerful person, in 2013.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17, 2017

Migrant Care, an NGO that deals with migrant worker issues, has urged the government to gain access to and guarantee the safety of an Indonesian woman, identified as Siti Aisyah, who has been implicated in the murder of North Korean leader Kim Jong-uns half-brother, Kim Jong-nam.

Whatever her status is in the case, the government should try to get access to and guarantee her safety, Migrant Care executive director Wahyu Susilo said in a statement on Friday.

Earlier, the Foreign Ministry confirmed that the woman who had been arrested by Malaysian police was an Indonesian, saying it was trying to get access to the woman purportedly from Serang, Banten province.

(Read also: Family, friends describe 'nice girl' embroiled in Kim case)

Besides arresting Siti, the police reportedly apprehended Sitis boyfriend, a Malaysian, and another woman who held a Vietnamese passport. Siti and the other woman were apprehended after being identified by CCTV at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Kim died on the way to hospital on Monday after one of the women allegedly sprayed a poisonous substance on him while he was waiting for a flight at the airport. (jun)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Batam  Fri, February 17 2017

A Korean national, identified only as Gwansik, 26, died of natural causes at Lapangan Hospital in Palmatak, Natuna, Riau Islands, on Tuesday.

Gwansik, a member of the crew of a Panama-flagged cargo ship, was admitted to the hospital after falling seriously ill while en route to China from Malaysia.

The hospitals director Albar Heky said the critical condition of the patient was a result of high blood-sugar levels. He had been suffering from diabetes, he said on Thursday.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17, 2017

The Jakarta National and Political Unity Agency (Bakesbangpol) is calling on all residents to be more proactive in ensuring their inclusion on the final voter lists (DPTs) ahead of the second round of the gubernatorial election to prevent a shortage of ballots on the day of voting, scheduled for April.

Bakesbangpol Jakarta head Darwis Muhammad Aji said a shortage of ballots had been one of the key problems affecting Jakartas gubernatorial election on Feb.15. Many residents not yet registered on the DPT swarmed polling stations to vote by bringing their identification cards (e-KTP), recommendation letters from the Civil Registry and Demography Agency (Disdukcapil) or family cards only in the last minutes before voting ended at 1 p.m.

As a result, many of them could not cast their votes, because many polling stations did not have enough ballots to accommodate the additional voters.

(Read also: Jakarta voter list to be increased ahead of second round)

Darwis said Jakarta residents should be more aware of the need to register their participation in the election to ensure their names were on DPTs. Dont go to polling stations to cast vote only in minutes before they close by only bringing your e-KTP and family card. In that case, it is unlikely election committees can fully facilitate them, he said, as quoted by kompas.com at City Hall on Thursday.

Darwis said the number of additional ballots for unregistered voters was very limited, amounting to only 2.5 percent of the total number of voters registered on the DPT of a polling station.

In the first round of voting on Wednesday, he said, there had been a jump in unregistered voters who wanted to use the additional ballots. (ebf)
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Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17, 2017

Despite a recent ministerial decree to alter the status of the under-construction Kuala Tanjung Port to that of a domestic hub, the government has decided to reinstate it as an international hub.

Acting North Sumatra governor Tengku Erry Nuradi said President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo had stressed that the port should be an international hub to maintain investor interest in the project.

"The President emphasized that it must remain an international hub in order not to decrease investors' trust [in the project]," he told reporters following a closed-door meeting at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Thursday.

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.

(Read also: Land acquisition issues continue to hinder strategic projects)

The first phase of the project, estimated to cost Rp 34 trillion (US$2.5 billion), is slated to be finished this year.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi confirmed that Kuala Tanjung Port would maintain its status as an international hub.

"It was always going to be an international hub, [the recent ministerial decree] is temporary, because we are also in the middle of developing Tanjung Priok Port," he said after the same meeting. (bbn)
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Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17, 2017

Although it has not made an official decision, the National Mandate Party (PAN) has said it will support Anies Baswedan and running mate Sandiaga Uno in the second round of the Jakarta gubernatorial election.

Joining a coalition led by the Democratic Party, PAN endorsed the Agus Harimurti-Sylviana Murni ticket in the Feb. 15 election. Quick counts by several pollsters and real counts by the General Elections Commission (KPU) show Agus has been left behind Anies and incumbent Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama.

Were still waiting for the official result [of vote counting] from the KPU Jakarta, but well likely throw our support behind Anies-Sandiaga in the second round if the final result is like this [Agus loses], PAN deputy secretary-general Dipo Ilham said on Thursday.

(Read also: PKS, Gerindra work on coalition with Agus camp)

He said the party shared the same vision as Anies-Sandiaga and was of the opinion that the pair had more realistic programs. He stressed that the character and attitude of Ahok was not suited to PAN's ideals.

Dipo acknowledged that PAN had established communication channels with the Anies-Sandiaga campaign team.

Well immediately declare our support for Anies-Sandiaga, he said.

PAN executive Yandri Susanto also confirmed that the party would transfer its support to Anies-Sandiaga. The party has decided that we will back Ahoks rivals. Theres no way we would support Ahok because his character and attitude not match ours, he said. (ebf)
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Linkedin Nethy Dharma Somba (The Jakarta Post) Jayapura  Fri, February 17, 2017

While voters across the archipelago went to polling stations to cast their votes in the simultaneous regional elections on Wednesday, it was a different scene in Dogiyai regency, Papua.

Polling stations (TPS) set up in some areas appeared empty. No residents were spotted queuing at TPS, and only a few officials were seen.

Such a situation occurred as residents had already exercised their right to vote under the noken mechanism. In the noken system, residents conduct musyawarah, bringing everybody together to make decisions by consensus. Individual voters do not go to TPS to vote. Instead, tribal leaders visit the TPS to lodge votes to represent every member of their respective communities.

Every candidate was given a certain portion because each of them is the best representative from their region, said Dinan Anou, head of Dikiyouwa village in Kamu district.

[On election day] residents worked as usual. There were only some officials at the village center to count the votes, Dinan continued, adding that giving votes to each candidate was important to maintain harmony and peace in the village.

(Read also: 9 regions with sole candidates: Are any of the blank boxes winning?)

Four tickets ran for this years Dogiyai regental election, namely Yacubos Dumapa-Oskar Makai, Anton Yowau-Yanuaris Tigi, Fransesco Tebay-Benediktus Kotouki and Markus WayneAngki Goo. In total, there were 129,907 voters across 292 TPS in 79 villages or 10 districts.

In Dikiyouwa, the biggest portion was given to the TebayKotouki ticket with 1,039 votes, followed by Dumupa-Makai with 350 votes, Wayne-Goo with 196 votes and Yowau-Tigi with 100 votes.

Pak Tebay received the most votes because hes a point of pride for Kamu district. Other candidate pairs are neighbors so we gave them votes too. We did not forget our neighbors, said Dinan Anou.

The Tebay-Makai ticket similarly earned the most votes in Kimipugi village, also in Kamu, garnering 2,800 votes because Tebay was considered a point of pride for the district.

Voting through the noken system was held two to three days before election day set by the government on Feb. 15. As every resident voted during musyawarah, they did not have to visit TPS.

At around 6 a.m. officials from the TPS in Dikiyouwa were already at the village center, waiting for village heads to report their decisions. The officials later marked ballot papers based on residents decisions. Witnesses from each candidates campaign team also attended the recapitulation.

None of the ink usually used to mark voters fingers after voting was required. The ballots were later delivered to the Kamu Elections Committee (PPD), accompanied by villagers.

We have done this for a long time. The [election] officials already knew what they had to do. Residents have already made their decisions, said Dinan.

Dogiyai General Elections Commission (KPU Dogiyai) head Moses Magai said many villagers were in fact reluctant to go to TPS to perforate ballots as they were afraid of making mistakes, while others could not read.

Many elderly people can not read or see well so they are afraid of mistakenly perforating the wrong candidates pictures. This might lead to a problem, said Moses.

On election day, no security issues were reported in Dogiyai during voting hours, despite the area being considered prone to conflict.

Papua Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) coordinator Yacob Paisei said that although it differed from a one-man-onevote system as it was carried out through musyawarah, the noken mechanism still had democratic value as musyawarah was part of the countrys democracy.

It would take an intensive campaign to encourage residents to do a one-man-one-vote system at polling stations because it would be hard for them to move away from their traditions, Yacob said.

However, the noken system may be put aside if too many candidates run in an election as that could make it hard for villagers to reach a decision, said Dogiyai Customary Institution secretary Alexander Koga.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Depok  Fri, February 17, 2017

At least 36,400 low-income families in Depok, West Java, will receive coupons valued at Rp 110,000 (US$8.25) per month to buy staple food like rice and sugar at the administrations e-Warong electronic store.

Depoks Economic Secretariat head Dwi Rahma said Thursday that the city administration would cooperate with lenders to top up the coupons every month.

The program that distributes social assistance through an electronic system was initiated by the Social Affairs Ministry last year.

(Read also: Island focus: Poor families to receive business loans)

E-Warong is an official grocery store designed to serve social assistance beneficiaries, in which all commodities offered by the shop will be supplied by the State Logistics Agency (Bulog).

Coupons can be used at e-Warong to get about 10 kilograms of rice per month. It can also be used to purchase sugar and other commodities, she said as quoted by wartakotalive.com.

Dwi assured that every subdistrict in Depok would have an e-Warong. (vny)
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Linkedin Breanna Tirant (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17 2017

There was something different on Wednesday morning in Jakarta. A public holiday was declared, voting booths were seen in some areas, while residents gave up their free day to participate in helping decide the future of Jakartas democracy in this years Jakarta gubernatorial election.

Jakartans volunteering and working at polling booths across the capital saw this as an opportunity to understand the election process, not just as a day off.

I volunteered because I was curious about how the election activities work, Diana Wahyuningsih, 29, administration volunteer, said.

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Linkedin Dylan Amirio (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17 2017

German software giant SAP aims to strengthen its collaboration with the Indonesian government and data center providers this year to expand its business locally.

SAP Indonesias vice president and managing director Megawaty Khie said on Thursday that it expected to serve as the governments partner to deliver citizen-centric solutions in a bid to become the largest cloud solutions provider by 2020.

The business application and analytics software provider will rely on its data center business and also develop digital public infrastructure and cloud for universities to achieve its target.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17, 2017

Two state-owned companies  PT Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia (RNI) and PT Berdikari  have signed an agreement to develop the livestock industry, specifically cattle and chicken breeding, as well as the animal feed industry.

PT RNI president director B Didik Prasetyo and PT Berdikara president director Eko Taufik Wibowo signed the agreement in Jakarta on Thursday.

Our big mission is to develop the business and ensure the availability of protein resources from animals for the people. We see a great opportunity in this synergy, Didik said in a press statement, adding that the cooperation supported the governments program to boost protein consumption.

(Read also: Agriculture Ministry to prioritize Bali cattle breeding in 2017)

Citing data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), he said the consumption of animal protein in Indonesia amounted to just 53.91 grams per capita per year, below to the recommended minimum of 57 grams.

PT Berdikari is appointed by the government to develop the countrys livestock industry, while PT RNI also has experience in the industry and owns large farms.

The two companies, for example, will develop the cattle business, from the import and fattening of cattle to the breeding and selling of livestock. In the poultry business, the two companies plan to engage in activities from chicken breeding to sales of ready stocks, as well as develop chicken- feeding plants.

RNI has prepared 24 hectares of farm land in Cirebon, West Java, for the purpose, said Didiek. (bbn)
Voting at 52 polling stations in five regions failed to take place as scheduled on Wednesday, mainly as a result of extreme weather that delayed the arrival of election materials.

A total of 98,259 polling stations had been scheduled to serve 41.2 million voters in the regional elections in 101 provinces, regencies and cities on Wednesday.

However, nine polling stations in the outer areas of Sangihe Islands regency, North Sulawesi, for example, failed to hold voting on Wednesday after strong waves and extreme weather hindered the distribution of materials.

General Elections Commission (KPU) commissioner Ferry Kurnia Rizkiyansyah said voting at the stations was rescheduled for Thursday.

The voting ran smoothly with voter turnout reaching 75 percent, he said on Thursday.

Extreme weather also hampered voting at 26 polling stations in South Monokwari, West Papua.

A postponement was also caused by reported incompetence among election organizers.

In Karubaga subdistrict, Tolikara, Papua, for example, Polling Station Working Committee (KPPS) members were absent from some polling stations, leaving voters in limbo. Voting at the affected stations was rescheduled for Thursday.

In Wairu, Mappi regency, Papua, residents boycotted the election due to a lack of ballots.

Two polling stations in Buol regency, Central Sulawesi, also canceled voting because ineligible voters from other areas were found to have cast ballots.

In Kalibukbuk village, Buleleng, Bali, an election was repeated because witnesses found that two election officers had cast ballots more than once. A similar incident occurred in Kampar city, Riau, where the KPPS head voted four times.

KPU commissioner Hadar Nafis Gumay said the commission deplored such misconduct.

The problematic officers should be dismissed and should never be recruited again, he said.

On Wednesday, the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) highlighted several issues found during voting day including inaccuracies in the final voter list (DPT), which led to a shortage of ballots at some polling stations in Jakarta and West Sumatra.

Bawaslu commissioner Daniel Zuchron said the KPU had failed to thoroughly educate polling station officials on the mechanism to verify unregistered voters through electronic identity cards.

As an example, the KPU Jakarta misinterpreted the regulation by obliging unregistered voters to bring their family card to vote although it was not required by law. The KPU should have been alerted to this issue much sooner, he said.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which spearheaded a coalition of political parties supporting incumbent Jakarta gubernatorial candidate pair Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama and Djarot Saiful Hidayat, meanwhile, claimed election organizers had committed violations and had intentionally blocked Ahok-Djarot supporters from voting.

However, reports said many polling stations ran out of ballots.

We call on the KPU Jakarta and Bawaslu to take action because it was the KPPS that violated peoples constitutional rights, said PDIP legal and human rights division chairman Trimedya Panjaitan.

A Kompas quick count revealed that Ahok-Djarot secured 42.87 percent of the vote. Anies Baswedan-Sandiaga Uno received 39.76 percent while Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono-Sylviana Murni held 17.37 percent.

-----

Rizal Harahap contributed to this story from Pekanbaru, Riau.
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya and Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17 2017

Voting at 52 polling stations in five regions failed to take place as scheduled on Wednesday, mainly as a result of extreme weather that delayed the arrival of election materials.

A total of 98,259 polling stations had been scheduled to serve 41.2 million voters in the regional elections in 101 provinces, regencies and cities on Wednesday.

However, nine polling stations in the outer areas of Sangihe Islands regency, North Sulawesi, for example, failed to hold voting on Wednesday after strong waves and extreme weather hindered the distribution of materials.

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Linkedin Barbara Ortutay (Associated Press) New York  Fri, February 17, 2017

Mark Zuckerberg helped create the modern world by connecting nearly a quarter of its citizens to Facebook and giving them a platform to share, well, everything  baby pictures and Pepe memes, social updates and abusive bullying, helpful how-to videos and live-streamed violence.

Now he wants to remake it, too, in a way that counters isolationism, promotes global connections and addresses social ills  while also cementing Facebook's central role as a builder of online "community" for its nearly 2 billion users.

The Facebook founder laid out his thoughts on Thursday in a sweeping 5,800-word manifesto that hews closer to utopian social guide than business plan. Are we, he asked in the document, "building the world we all want?"

In a phone interview with The Associated Press, Zuckerberg stressed that he wasn't motivated by the recent U.S. election or any other particular event. Rather, he said, it's the growing sentiment in many parts of the world that "connecting the world"  the founding idea behind Facebook  is no longer a good thing.

"Across the world there are people left behind by globalization, and movements for withdrawing from global connection," Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook in a Harvard dorm room in 2004, wrote on Thursday. So it falls to his company to "develop the social infrastructure to give people the power to build a global community that works for all of us."

CONNECTING IN FACEBOOK'S INTEREST

Zuckerberg, 32, told the AP that he still strongly believes that more connectedness is the right direction for the world. But, he added, it's "not enough if it's good for some people but it's doesn't work for other people. We really have to bring everyone along."

It's hardly a surprise that Zuckerberg wants to find ways to bring more people together, especially on Facebook. After all, getting more people to come together on the social network more frequently would give Facebook more opportunities to sell the ads that generate most of its revenue, which totaled $27 billion last year. And bringing in more money probably would boost Facebook's stock price to make Zuckerberg  already worth an estimated $56 billion  even richer.

And while the idea of unifying the world is laudable, some critics  backed by various studies  contend that Facebook makes some people feel lonelier and more isolated as they scroll through the mostly ebullient posts and photos shared on the social network. Facebook's famous "like" button also makes it easy to engage in a form of "one-click" communication that can displace meaningful dialogue.

Facebook also has been lambasted as a polarizing force by circulating posts espousing similar viewpoints and interests among like-minded people, creating an "echo chamber" that can harden opinions and widen political and cultural chasms.

(Read also: The Zuckerberg manifesto: How he plans to debug the world)

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

Today, most of Facebook's 1.86 billion members  about 85 percent  live outside of the U.S. and Canada. The Menlo Park, California-based company has offices everywhere from Amsterdam to Jakarta, Indonesia, to Tel Aviv, Israel. (It is banned in China, the world's most populous country, though some people get around the ban.) Naturally, Zuckerberg takes a global view of Facebook and sees potential that goes beyond borders, cities and nations.

Equally naturally, he sees the social network stepping up as more traditional cultural ties fray. People already use Facebook to connect with strangers who have the same rare disease, to post political diatribes, to share news links (and sometimes fake news links ). Facebook has also pushed its users to register to vote, to donate to causes, to mark themselves safe after natural disasters, and to "go live ." For many, it's become a utility. Some 1.23 billion people use it daily.

"Our next focus will be developing the social infrastructure for community  for supporting us, for keeping us safe, for informing us, for civic engagement, and for inclusion of all," he wrote.

LONG VIEW

Zuckerberg has gotten Facebook to this position of global dominance  one that Myspace and Twitter, for instance, never even approached  partly thanks to his audacious, long-term view of the company and its place in the world.

Last fall, Zuckerberg and his wife, the doctor Priscilla Chan, unveiled the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative , a long-term effort aimed at eradicating all disease by the end of this century. Then, as now, Zuckerberg preferred to look far down the road to the potential of scientific and technological innovations that have not been perfected, or even invented yet.

That includes artificial intelligence, which in this case means software that's capable of "thinking" enough like humans to start making the sorts of judgments that Facebook sometimes bobbles. Last September, for instance, the service briefly barred the famous Vietnam War-era photograph dubbed "Napalm Girl" because it featured a nude child, and only reversed its decision after users  including the prime minister of Norway  protested.

AI systems could also comb through the vast amount of material users post on Facebook to detect everything from bullying to the early signs of suicidal thinking to extremist recruiting. AI, Zuckerberg wrote, could "understand more quickly and accurately what is happening across our community."

Speaking to the AP, Zuckerberg said he understands that we might not "solve all the issues that we want" in the short term.

"One of my favorite quotes is this Bill Gates quote, that 'people overestimate what they can get done in two years and underestimate what they can get done in 10 years.' And that's an important mindset that I hope more people take today," he said. (dan)
In a press conference on Tuesday, Alireza Jafarzadeh, NCRI U.S. Representative Office Deputy Director, provided new details on the IRGCs training activities. The main NCRI coalition member, the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), obtained this new data by the social network of pinpointing and providing further details on IRGC bases used for such purposes. By means of its Revolutionary Guards Corps, the mullahs regime creates or at the very least expands and strengthens extremist forces, both Shia and Sunni, he explained.

Two bills reintroduced recently in Congress designate the (IRGC) as terrorist organizations. To maintain peace and security across the Middle East, this is a necessary step for the U.S. administration.

The IRGC is a force of at least 120,000 armed men, and a one of the tactics used by IRGC generals is to repeatedly reinforce the threat they pose for the west and regional states. The appeasement policy regarding Ironed to senior IRGC commanders describing the U.S. as a paper tiger.

The Trump administration should remain focused on the very dangerous measures and actions practiced by Iran through the IRGC. This long slate includes Irans involvement in Syria and the region, the regimes nuclear program, ballistic missile aspirations and the horrific status of human rights in Iran, writes Shahriar Kia, political analyst and member of the Iranian opposition, the Peoples Mujahedin Organization of Iran. He adds, Parallel to these alarming trends, IRGC intelligence currently holds in custody a number of American citizens specifically detained in Tehran prisons, normally held under vague charges.

The IRGC devastates the Iranian peoples desire for freedom, through oppression. Repressive measures are routinely carried out against Iranian women and youth

by the IRGCs paramilitary Basij.

With the IRGCs growing involvement in Irans economy, blacklisting this entity will dissuade Tehran from financing support of unrest across the Middle East.

To make it simple, in developing its Iran policy, the Trump White House should take into consideration the fact that the IRGC leaderships words and actions are on par with that of those sitting on the throne in Tehran. In the meantime, the Iranian regime has to this day successfully deceived the West, with the support of the pro-appeasement camp, in depicting an image of IRGC-backed hardliners against so-called moderates/reformists. This weakened any possible response by the international community and emboldened the IRGC to in fact escalate its belligerent measures, writes Kia in an article for The Hill. He says further, And to those who claim the IRGC is of suicidal nature and will retaliate against U.S. administration action, they are completely out of the ballpark and most likely follow a specific lobbying effort. The IRGC fully safeguards the higher interests of the Iranian regime and a strong position adopted by Washington will most definitely result in a recalibration of their policies.

A sign of this was seen when Tehran called off a second ballistic missile test scheduled for February 3. The test involved the use of intercontinental ballistic missile components.

If Tehran is not challenged by the new U.S. administration, it will continue its efforts in the Middle East and beyond, which will threaten U.S. strategic interests. By designating the IRGC as an FTO those efforts may be thwarted, and America will stand with the Iranian people as they seek to establish freedom, democracy, and a non-nuclear Iran through peaceful regime change.
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Linkedin Hans Nicholas Jong and Eva Aruperes (The Jakarta Post) Manado  Sat, February 18 2017

Bangka Island is a tiny island situated just off the northern tip of Sulawesi. It lies at the heart of the Coral Triangle, a global hot spot for marine biodiversity with reefs and mangroves harboring rare species like dugongs and pygmy seahorses.

The islands approximately 2,700 residents traditionally made a living from fishing, cashew and coconut cultivation and, more recently, tourism.

The fate of the island and its inhabitants is now in jeopardy as mining company PT Mikgro Metal Perdana (MMP), which threatens the fertile waters that surround the island, plans to proceed with its operations despite an ongoing legal controversy.

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Each election year we pay special attention to first-time voters and those in far-flung areas or tense regions, while all eyes are also glued to major centers, especially the capital.

Meanwhile millions of us, the commuters working in Jakarta but living on the outskirts, are relegated to the fringes, to the point of neglect.

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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, February 18 2017

Bank Indonesia (BI) has revised down its current account deficit projection for this year as the global financial outlook remains uncertain, although the domestic economy is expected to grow at a healthy clip.

The central banks latest assessment during its two-day board of governors meeting held on Tuesday and Thursday found that the countrys current account deficit (CAD) for this year was predicted to reach 2.11 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), lower than the 2.4 percent listed in an earlier projection.

Despite the smaller figure, this years prediction is still higher than the 2016 result, when the current account deficit stood at only 1.8 percent of GDP.

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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, February 18 2017

Film director and producer Ifa Isfansyah has always encouraged new Indonesian filmmakers to also develop the local film industry.

I myself have a mission to discover new talents in filmmaking, Ifa said, as quoted by kompas.com, recently.

Ifa said he realized the importance of discovering young talented directors from his participation in various international film festivals.

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Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, February 18 2017

Various sanctions put in place against Iran by the United States and the European Union have not canceled out Indonesias interest in increasing trade ties with the Middle Eastern country, particularly in the energy sector.

Indonesia is in dire need of more crude oil supplies amid declining production rates due to aging wells and a lack of new discoveries. Iran seems to hold the answers to some of those woes.

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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Kupang  Sat, February 18 2017

Seven immigrants from Afghanistan detained at the Immigration Detention House in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, were rushed to SK Lerik Hospital on Friday. They needed serious medical attention after participating in a hunger strike for one day.

They were protesting against the International Organization for Migration [IOM] and the UNHCR, demanding that the organizations speed up their placement in destination countries, Effendi Saragih, head of the detention facility, said on Friday.

The hunger strike was called off after officials at the facility organized a meeting between the immigrants and representatives from the two organizations. Despite the meeting, the organizations remain unable to secure an agreement with any third countries to accommodate the immigrants.

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Linkedin M. Taufiqurrahman (The Jakarta Post) London  Sat, February 18 2017

In the wake of the surprise Brexit vote, there appears to be nothing but doom and gloom.

News coming out of the United Kingdom had led the world to believe that the UK, once a major political power, was finished, its economy experiencing a slump and the country set to be taken over by racists.

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Linkedin Tama Salim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, February 17, 2017

ASEAN member states must band together and make the most of existing mechanisms to stay relevant in an increasingly uncertain world, a discussion on regional stability has concluded.

In the face of a seemingly indifferent United States government and the ever-expanding economic patronage of a rising China, ASEAN must rely on its own unity and centrality and the commitment of its individual member states to avoid being pushed around by intervening powers, one panelist argued.

Multilateralism in an era of global economic hardship is often seen as an obstacle to achieving national interests and I see this trend continuing. At least until [US President] Donald Trump concludes his four-year term, international politics expert Philips Vermonte said.

Philips, who leads the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), urged ASEAN member states to remain pragmatic and rational amid such uncertainty and to seek out alliances that are sustainable.

He noted that Chinas stateled investments approach was prone to change along with the countrys leadership, as a result of its top-down political system.

Unlike China, ties with the US and Europe are business-to-business, so at least [...] we know that theyll always follow the money, he said.

ASEAN is often judged by the extent of its ability to remain united in the face of power struggles in its own backyard, especially as the world shifts away from a bipolar system of East versus West.

Critics have been vocal about Chinas ability to influence lessdeveloped ASEAN members through economic aid and investments, something the regions leaders have tried hard to reverse.

Jose AM Tavares, the Foreign Ministrys director general for ASEAN, insisted that ASEAN had so far succeeded in contributing to regional peace and stability. The challenge now, he suspected, was making ASEAN even more relevant for its people.

Meanwhile, Adriana Elisabeth of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) argued that stronger national resilience would in fact contribute to better regional resilience.

In dealing with the rise of China, the group still has enough influence to urge Beijing to partake in ASEAN-led mechanisms, the panelist asserted.

Adriana suggested the East Asian giant was trying to normalize its continued rise to power through the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative, but believed ASEAN would be able to face threat if it remained united.

Another speaker, Dewi Fortuna Anwar, underlined the importance of not being reactive about the current state of global affairs.

The only certainty is uncertainty, said the newly inducted member of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences (AIPI).

Dewi urged ASEAN to look at strengthening its existing mechanisms as a way to create its own certainty in a world full of doubt.

One way of increasing national resilience, she said, was to build a just, inclusive and participatory system.

As such, Dewi suggested that Indonesia lead the region in setting its own agenda and formulating its own responses, stressing the need to pick our battles.

Before the discussion, Dewi presented her inaugural lecture as a member of the AIPI, drawing attention to ASEANs overall role in maintaining peace and stability in the region, while also criticizing its slow pace in keeping up with the times and addressing emergent challenges.

This year, as the group celebrates its 50th anniversary, Dewi insisted that ASEAN needed to start speaking earnestly about improving its institutions and mechanisms to address difficult questions, such as continuing integration that is often at odds with its non-intervention policy.

ASEAN is at a crossroads, and it is our collective responsibility to make the most appropriate decisions as a basis for development for another 50 years to come, Dewi said in her speech.
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Linkedin liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Bangkok  Fri, February 17, 2017

Having been led by a military junta since 2014 and seen new King Maha Vajiralongkorn take the throne, Thailand is aiming to transform the country into an ASEAN financial hub through a state-driven innovation and value-based economic model.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chanocha said on Wednesday his administration would start this year with the national plan to be carried out over the next two decades.

The plan aims to establish a sustainable smart economy, dubbed Thailand 4.0.

Chan-ocha emphasized the new framework would stress on developing human capital and locally-driven industries, while at the same time opening up to foreign investment and experts to encourage growth.

We cannot just focus on the economy, but also prioritize society so that they can continue to develop and carry out innovation in the future, Chan-ocha said while opening a seminar titled Opportunity Thailand in Bangkok.

Speaking in front hundreds of public and private stakeholders, the prime minister said the transformation would focus from inside to outside to ensure locally driven development, as the government is laying down infrastructure, including developing its transportation sector, internet access, as well as human resource to achieve even growth.

Among the largest projects includes the Eastern Economic Corridor, which sees the construction of a major industrial area across 13,000 square kilometers, covering Rayong, Choburi and Chacoengsao provinces.

The government also aims to heavily invest in infrastructure and education to encourage growth in 10 focus industries, including agriculture, automotive, electronics, petrochemical, as well as food and tourism.

Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said funding for the development had been sourced from the government, public private partnerships, as well as the establishment of the 10 billion baht (US$285.8 million) Competitive Enhancement Fund.

The nations economy was in a pleasant stage, he noted, while expressing hope of achieving 3.5 to 4 percent growth this year, slightly higher than the 3.2 percent estimated by the World Bank. In 2015, the country experienced 2.8 percent growth.

Putting aside any uncertainty of the military junta under a new monarch after the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej in October, Jatusripitak assured the country was politically stable while inviting bilateral and multilateral cooperation. We need a partner who knows us [...] we welcome all nations in this world, he told the audience, which included foreign business players.

New investment promotions have been implemented, including incentives such as income tax exemption for 15 years and exemptions for imported goods, as the country aims for a big leap in the World Banks ease of doing business ranking this year.

Currently, Thailand sits at number 43 of the 190 countries listed by the global organization. In ASEAN, the country ranks third overall, after Singapore and Malaysia. Singapore remains the leading financial hub with the number 2 spot globally, followed by Malaysia at number 23. Neighboring Indonesia sits at 91, where the country experienced a whopping 15-spot jump from the previous year.

However, business players, who became panelists at the oneday seminar, expressed concerns over the nations capacity to realize the governments concept.

Kan Trakulkhoon, a member of the board of directors at the Siam Cement Group Company, said the country must invest more in research and development (R&D).

Investment must focus on knowledge, he said, adding that Thailand still fell short in R&D investment in order to experience real change.

In Thailand 4.0, it calls for knowledge, which is where this country is still lags behind in, Trakulkhoon said. (jun)
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Linkedin Olivia Zaleski and Gerrit De Vynck (Bloomberg)  Fri, February 17, 2017

Airbnb Inc. bought Luxury Retreats in its biggest acquisition yet as the apartment-rental website takes steps toward becoming a full-service global travel company.

Airbnb unveiled the acquisition of the Canadian manager of high-end rentals and services Thursday, declining to disclose financial terms. The cash and stock deal was worth roughly $300 million, people familiar with the matter said. Bloomberg reported the two were in talks last week.

Accor SA, Europes biggest hotel operator, and Expedia Inc., the global online travel giant, also bid for Luxury Retreats, people familiar with the matter said. Those companies cash offers were bigger, but Luxury Retreats decided on Airbnb partly because its founder, Joe Poulin, foresaw having more control than at those other firms, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions were private.

Airbnb, Luxury Retreats and Expedia declined to comment on the bidding process. Accor didnt immediately have comment.

(Read also: Annoyed neighbors can now complain directly to Airbnb)

Luxury Retreats, with more than 4,000 properties around the world, has built a concierge service that Airbnb will be able to offer to its customers. Premium vacation-home rentals are a key growth area for the travel industry, which seeks greater profit margins on properties rented to wealthy globe-trotters.

Luxury Retreats will remain based in Montreal, and Poulin will lead the San Francisco parent companys luxury homes division, reporting to Airbnb Chief Executive Officer Brian Chesky, the company said in a statement.

Accor said this month it was in negotiations to buy Travel Keys, a broker of private villas in the Caribbean, Florida and Mexico, adding to its 150 million euro acquisition of luxury home rental site Onefinestay last year. Expedia is expanding its vacation listings business HomeAway, which has its own high-end division called Luxury Rentals. The heads of HomeAway and Onefinestay both left their companies soon after they were acquired.

The purchase of Luxury Retreats is just one of many deals expected for Airbnb in 2017. The company is considering several acquisitions and partnership deals, people with knowledge of Airbnbs plans have said. Targets are in airfare aggregation, group payments and pricing tools to help homeowners make more money when listing their properties on Airbnb, the people said. The company, valued at $31 billion, is also focused on doing deals in China and India, they said.
According to Boroujerdi, any attempt by Trump to publish documents from the International Atomic Energy Agency that relate to Irans nuclear program will be considered a violation. Irans Fars News reported on Monday that Boroujerdi stated, If Trump wants to publish confidential documents exchanged between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency, it will in fact constitute a violation of the agencys obligations, because the agency has been committed not to make Irans confidential nuclear information and documents available to any country, including the US.

He further claimed that the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, the IAEA, promised not to allow any information about the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to be leaked.

The Daily Beast reported in December that Trump had considering publishing some of the secret side deals associated with the original agreement after his inauguration.
Several Lower East Side restaurants participated in yesterdays, A Day Without Immigrants, a protest of Donald Trumps policies and vitriol. One local business that attracted a lot of national attention for its decision to close for the day was Norfolk Streets La Contenta.

Co-owner Luis Arce-Mota talked to several news organizations about his decision to take part in the national boycott. A sign posted in the window of the restaurant read, We stand 100% with our team. Mota told the Associated Press, Everyone in the restaurant is an immigrant, so we have a duty to close. He added, Without them we are nothing.

La Contenta opened two years ago at 102 Norfolk St. In an interview with The Lo-Down in 2015, Mota talked about his roots. Originally from Mazatlan, Mexico, he moved to this country in 1992. Mota, a longtime resident of the Seward Park Cooperative, is now an American citizen.

You can watch the AP interview below and, by all means, pay a visit to La Contenta if you havent already. Its a great restaurant, one of our favorites in the neighborhood.
Our local congresswoman, Nydia Velazquez, has been keeping a high profile in the battle against the Trump Administration. Tomorrow morning (Saturday), shell be leading a rally on the Lower East Side to oppose any repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

It will be held at 11 a.m. at Gouverneur Health, 227 Madison St. Other members of Congress, city officials, patients and representatives of advocacy groups are expected to attend. The event coincides with a National Day of Action by House Democrats to oppose, Republican efforts to Make America Sick Again.

Yesterday, GOP House leaders presented a plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. Kenneth E. Raske, the president of the Greater New York Hospital Association,told the New York Times that the scheme would, put a huge amount of pressure on state budgets and put many Americans at risk of losing health care coverage. The proposal would also overhaul Medicare.
Evolution Enrichment Center (EEC) is a perfect one stop solution for parents looking for Preschool, Pre-K for All, Afterschool with extended hours and a Summer Camp in the same place.

Our Preschool offers ongoing enrollment for ages 2 to 5. Families with two or three children can always count on special discounts for siblings, even if one child goes to a free Pre-K For All and another is in a different program.

What makes Evolution Enrichment Center special? Why should parents looking for PreK for their 4 year olds absolutely come for a tour to check out what this school on the Lower East Side has to offer?



Heres what families can expect from the school and teachers when their child is enrolled in our Pre-K program:

Karina Reyes, PreK For All Teacher, Classroom #1:

Pre-K For All at Evolution surpasses the use of the units of study that teachers are supposed to follow, according to Pre-K Foundation for the Common Core Learning Standards. We go above and beyond the Pre-K for All program quality standards and any limits that have been set for us. At Evolution we integrate different progressive teaching techniques that allow multiple intelligence levels to engage. We are inviting families to build a strong and collaborative relationship with the preschool community. With our open door policy, families are encouraged to join in for group meetings, celebrations and experiments within the classroom.

Every year we take our students, families and relationships a bit further. If I had my own children, they would definitely be enrolled in Evolution. I would feel very secure knowing that they were in a warm, inviting and engaging environment.

Jacqueline Wong, Pre-K For All teacher, Classroom #2:

The Pre-K program at Evolution offers a school setting unlike any other in NYC. The bright, spacious classrooms are carefully designed to help encourage learning and growth for children of all different abilities. You will be hard pressed to find a more beautiful, child friendly classroom in NYC. The classroom layout helps enable children to become independent learners with carefully planned guidance from the teachers. Children not only grow academically from our enriching curriculum, but they also learn to love school and love exploring their world. We also incorporate G&T material into their daily classroom activities, allowing us to bring a childs education to the next level.

Families are also supported year round. We send weekly email updates on the learning in the classroom, including photographs of the children working. Free workshops are also held throughout the year on topics such as nutrition, G&T testing, and kindergarten admission. Teachers and staff are always available to help answer any questions and offer their support. My own daughter attends the Evolution preschool program, part time, and she has absolutely flourished. She went from being a timid, anxious child to a social butterfly thanks to the hard work and patience from her teachers. As a working mom, I love seeing photographs of her participating in different activities at Evolution. She comes home each night talking about what she learned. If I did not live in the Bronx, I would enroll her in the Pre-K program in a heartbeat.

Miho Fung, Mother of 3 Year Old Student at Evolution:

Our 3 year old son started attending the Evolution preschool about one year ago. We visited about 7 preschools and decided to enroll our son at Evolution Enrichment Center because 1) all students, teachers and staff look very happy there 2) excellent and clean facilities, with spacious classrooms and lots of natural sun light, many student restrooms, two gyms and an outdoor play space, which is very good for a very active boy like my son and 3)competitive tuition rates. Before attending Evolution, our son was very shy and had strong attachment to me, but now he looks very happy to enjoy playing and learning with friends there thanks to his teachers patience and hard work. Evolution school staff responds to our questions very quickly, and they have an open door policy due to which parents are always welcome to visit the school at anytime. Now, we chose PreK For All program for next school year at Evolution Enrichment Center after we visited 8 public PreK sites because 1) cultural diversity 2)no feeling of overcrowded facilities and 3) we trust the school very much. We feel so lucky that Evolution has Pre-K For All program!!

Parents love Evolution Enrichment Center. Recently, the preschool was awarded People Love Us on Yelp customer recognition reward. Because parents appreciation of Evolution Enrichment Center is the key to their continued success!

Evolution Enrichment Center

38 Delancey Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY, 1002

To schedule a tour, call 212-375-9500 or contact us online: EvolutionEnrichment.com/contact

*This is a paid advertisement.
The network of the Peoples Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK) obtained this important information.According to this new information, each month, hundreds of forces from Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan receive military training before being returned to their home countries, countries where the regime is involved in frontline combat.

Smaller groups are being trained for terrorist acts and operations in other countries where there is no open warfare. This includes Persian Gulf countries, such as Bahrain and Kuwait.

The NCRI further revealed that terrorist units of the Quds Force are trained in separate and secret units, and are dispatched to various countries.

The destructive role of the IRGC and its involvement in terrorism is beyond reasonable doubt under the highest standard of a court of law, wrote Farzin Hashemi, member of the NCRI. He adds, Right from its inception, simultaneous with its role in suppression of the Iranian people, it has been engaged in terrorist activities throughout the region. It created Hezbollah in Lebanon in early 1980s, which took Western hostages under IRGC direction. In 1990 the IRGC set up an extraterritorial Force called the Quds Force, which aimed to further expand its meddling in other countries and its support for terrorism. There was very little European response to hostage taking in the 1980s and to increasing numbers of assassinations of Iranian dissidents in Europe. Europe certainly failed to grasp the devastating consequences of its conciliatory policies. Those consequences included but were not limited to emboldening terrorist acts by the IRGC and its affiliates. Western neglect of the IRGC effectively encouraged Sunni extremists to counter Iranian influence by taking the same path and resorting to their own terrorism in pursuit of their objectives. After all, if Iran can force Europe to make concessions by resorting to terrorism and blackmail why wouldnt other extremists follow the same path? Today, where does Europe stand on the IRGC and its role in Syria? Where does Europe stand on the IRGCs role in formation of paramilitary terrorist groups in Iraq or its role in Yemen helping the Houthi? Are they still failing to recognize the connection between the IRGCs spread of extremism and terrorism and the negative impact of their own policy towards the heart of Islamic fundamentalism?

This week the Swedish Prime Minister headed a delegation to Iran. Hashemi wrote that, Female members of the delegation had agreed, perhaps voluntarily, to cover their hair while they were in Iran. The film of these women marching before Rouhani could only be seen as humiliating for Europeans, surrendering to the demand of a fundamentalist regime has rightly been recognized as the leading state sponsor of terrorism. It is also insulting to the true Muslims who are dismayed that their religion is being misrepresented by forcing other women to act against their conviction only to appease the mullahs in Tehran.

The European countries seem to be eager to get into the Iranian market despite the IRGCs conduct in Syria, and its role in domestic suppression.They are prepared to not only ignore Tehrans behavior and its consequence for Western interests and the Iranian people, but also to risk dealing with the IRGCs ownership of, or affiliations with, a large portion of Iranian businesses.

Hossein Dehghan, Minister of Defense, announced in early January that the government plans in regards to petroleum, gas, oil, transport, dams, water transfer, telecommunication and IT are currently assigned to Khatam-al Anbiya, which is a major corporation affiliated with the IRGC.

Reuters reported on January 19 that of nearly 110 agreements worth at least $80 billion that have been struck since the [nuclear] deal was reached in July 2015, 90 have been with companies owned or controlled by Iranian state entities.

A European businessman who recently visited Iran said that he could see that the decision makers are not those who were negotiating, but the quiet man in the meeting who was from the IRGC, so the Europeans are aware that they are dealing with companies affiliated with the IRGC.

The MEK has exposed the secret nuclear weapons program being run by the IRGC, as well as IRGC engagement in terrorism, missile program, as well as suppression, discrimination, and execution of the Iranian people, but so far Europeans have ignored these facts.

Europe should revise its approach to Iran and look beyond short term economic interests, and be aware of the negative consequences of helping, through business, the leading state sponsor of terrorism, and in particular, the IRGC.

Toward this end, according to Hashemi, the following steps must be taken:

1. Stop all business with the IRGC and its affiliate companies, and make all trade with Tehran contingent upon its halting executions and ending IRGC meddling in other countries and support for terrorism.

2. Call for immediate removal of the IRGC and its affiliates from Syria, or impose punitive sanctions if Tehran refuses to do so.
A former political prisoner under the shahs dictatorship, Mr. Mohaddessin is now a renowned author of several books on Iran and Islamic fundamentalism. He also chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee of the political coalition, National Council of Resistance of Iran, or NCRI. He spoke about the current situation in Iran, and gave a very interesting update and analysis of, and prospects for, a democratic change.

The moderate government of President Rouhani is said to have the highest number of executions in the world, per capita. Rouhani has commented on Iranian TV, that executions are either Gods commandments or laws made by parliament that belongs to the people and therefore must be implemented.

The seventeen MEPs from various political groups who spoke at the meeting, focused on human rights the violations in Iran, urging that the EU and European governments relations with this regime be conditioned upon progress on human rights and a halt to executions. The current policy of the EU and EEAS towards Iran, as economic interests are given priority over human rights, was criticized by the MEPs, who spoke about the growing role in the Iranian economy of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

They stressed that a large number of companies and business in Iran are either owned by IRGC or affiliated with the IRGC, so when European governments or Mrs. Mogherini, the EU High Representative, encourage investments in Iran, they risk dealing with IRGC.

The MEPs called for IRGC to be designated as a terrorist organization, and for their immediate expulsion from Syria, Iraq and other countries in the region. They said that IRGC has been active and fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and especially Syria, where they supported the Bashar Assad regime.

Support for the opposition PMOI and the political coalition NCRI, as well as for the opposition leader, Mrs Maryam Rajavi, whose 10 point plan calls for a secular democratic Iran and the abolishment of death penalty, was discussed as the alternative to the current regime.

They also talked about the victory of the successful transfer of Iranian dissidents from camp Liberty in Iraq to Europe.

The presidential elections in May, which in no way resemble any elections in democratic countries, as no opposition candidates are allowed to take part, were also examined.
As gender boundaries become more fluid, it comes as little surprise that fashion is following suit.

This seems like old news  of course gender is in flux in fashion! Just look at Yves Saint Laurents famous Le Smoking suit for women, or the increasingly popular Gucci pussy-bow blouses for men. Dressing against societys expectations is de rigeur nowadays  so much so that its almost expected.

But this begs the question: Why are mens and womens fashion shows still separate?

Every year the big four (New York, London, Milan and Paris) stage four separate fashion shows: Spring/Summer shows for menswear and womenswear, followed by Autumn/Winter collections for both again. Seems a bit exhausting, right? And dare we say it, a bit counterproductive?

(Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA)

It seems like designers are increasingly starting to agree with this sentiment. One of the biggest names in fashion recently did away with a separate menswear show, merging both genders. You might have heard of the brand: Its none other than Burberry.

From last September, Burberry combined its mens and womens shows into one uber-show, presented twice a year. Creative director Christopher Bailey told the Business of Fashion that the move was a no-brainer: As Im going through the process of creating a collection, I have a spirit in mind  I dont really ever think in terms of whats specific to a gender.

(Isabel Infantes/PA)

Having one complete show not only makes sense creatively, but its just plain good business. We often have women buying the mens coats and some of the mens pieces. Everything just feels a little bit more blurred, rather than having things in little boxes, Bailey said.

Even if the decision didnt come out of business, its definitely an added bonus. You can only imagine how much money a brand like Burberry would save by putting on two instead of four major shows a year.

(Isabel Infantes/PA)

Burberry has proven itself to be at the forefront of the fashion industry, paving the way in tech by being the first brand to live stream their show and again the first to shoot it entirely on iPhones. This tends to mean that wherever Burberry goes, other luxury brands tend to follow  so it looks as though the days of a separate menswear show could soon be numbered.

Men feature in the womenswear shows every year  Gucci has already come up, so lets take a look at some of Alessandro Micheles designs for SS17 last year.

No, your eyes dont deceive you, there are a whole lot of dudes in the Gucci womenswear show and yet Michele put on a separate menswear show as well. Why bother?

Long gone are the days that Vogue editors would storm out of Jean Paul Gaultiers fashion show when he put male models in skirts (as the story goes), as the fashion world and indeed the public have opened their arms to androgyny in fashion. As Gaultier himself says: Except for the medieval codpiece and the bra, garments have never had a gender.

(Myung Jung Kim/PA)

And given we doubt a medieval codpiece will be hitting the catwalks any time soon, there just seems to be no point to separate shows: both from creative and business perspectives. And dont worry, you dont have to wear a skirt if you dont want to.

Gender divides are as arbitrary in fashion as they are in life. So why bother separating the two?
Theres no denying that President Donald Trump has got peoples creative juices going.

ICYMI, anti-Trump graffiti and street art has been popping up all over the world.

The latest to be spotted in London mocks both Trump and Theresa May  titled Lie Lie Land, its been found in Islington, North London.

Street artist Bambi is behind the Hollywood-inspired piece  a parody of the promotional posters for the movie La La Land starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.

Huffington Post She replaced the stars dancing together with Trump and May and told the: A happy couple dancing without a care in the world, this film was released during a dark political time in our world.

Meanwhile, over in New York, an image of a pregnant Trump being embraced by Vladmir Putin was projected on buildings.

The picture went viral after it was shared with the hashtag #lovethroughhate.

The image appeared on Valentines Day, apparently as part of an ad campaign for dating app Hater.

No clue what Hater is? Dont worry, we didnt either. It works like Tinder, but you swipe concepts rather than people. It matches you with other people who hate the same things that you do  you can have your say on 3,000 topics, and you swipe down to hate, up to love, left to dislike or right to like.

Anyway, the installation definitely got a lot of people on Twitter talking
Tampon Talk Lancaster are the students looking to provide free tampons in public toilets in campus and across the city centre.

The group is aimed at addressing the so-called pink tax and how this pricing discrepancy affects women.

Focussing on Lancaster town centre and university campus, theyve launched a petition calling for the provision of free tampons in gender neutral toilets so that they can be accessed where and when they are needed, with no embarrassment.

In their website they draw attention to an often-forgotten plight  that of homeless women who are often forced to choose between buying sanitary products and food.

Lancaster University Students Union already provides free tampons at their front desk, but the group say that many students are too embarrassed to ask for them, especially in an emergency.

Tampon Talk met with David Whitlock, LUSU Vice President for Welfare and Community, to discuss the campaign, and explained that they hope to make the university provide sanitary products in on-campus toilets, and are pushing for Lancaster City Council to do the same around the city centre.

In the meantime, however, they are looking to collect and distribute themselves, and will soon be looking for donations.

Whitlock said that if they can show support from the student body the group has a good chance of success.

For more information, visit the Tampon Talk website, or follow them on Facebook or Twitter.

You can sign the petition here.

Lead image by The Period Blog.
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For many, the great American dream includes opening your own business or hanging your own shingle as a consultant or freelancer. If you have an idea for a company that you believe could be successful and want to pursue this dream, it is important to do your homework.

There are important steps that every small business owner must take  they include:

* Identifying an opportunity in the market.

* Researching your customers and competition.

* Preparing a detailed business plan.

* Choosing a company structure that is right for you.

Being financially prepared is another crucial prerequisite to becoming a successful entrepreneur and it starts with a solid financial plan.

Create a financial strategy

If youre serious about becoming a small-business owner, it should be considered a financial goal like any other, such as retirement. It is important to develop a strategy for funding the company over time. A business that lacks a sound financial base may have a higher risk of failing. For greater success, estimate not only your startup costs, but the amount of money youll need to fund the company for the next three to five years. Depending on your plans, these costs may be significant.

When striking out on their own, many self-starters optimistically believe that the business will generate enough income to meet their needs and expectations, and even help them expand their lifestyle one day. While this is a worthy goal, be conservative in your initial projections. It isnt unusual for a business to lose money in the early stages. You need to have sufficient cash in place to support your personal financial needs while you work to make the company profitable.

Where to find the money

It is important to establish a dedicated pool of savings to help finance your new venture. To start, consider setting money aside from each paycheck for this purpose. Determine how much you can afford to save each month and how long it will take to build cash to meet your goals. If anything, err on the high side when projecting how much money you need to save before you open the doors to your business. If its practical, consider establishing your business on a part-time basis before you quit your day job. This lets you test your ideas, make modifications and build a base of customers while also maintaining a stronger financial position.

As youre putting money away for your future business, make it a priority to continue saving for retirement as well as into your emergency fund. If you do, you will likely have stronger financial security in the event that anything happens to your new companys revenue.

If capital is required to finance your startup, you may need to borrow money. Be cautious as you consider your borrowing options. It adds another level of financial risk to your plan. You must be confident that you can stay current with your loan repayment schedule. A good place to learn more about borrowing options is the Small Business Administration website (www.sba.gov). Also be careful about using personal assets (such as your home) as collateral to fund your business ambitions. If possible, you want to keep your personal and business assets separate.

Remember that if you are financially prepared to make your entrepreneurial dreams come true, you will be in a better position to withstand the difficult periods and allow the business the time necessary to grow and prosper.

Shawn Bumgardner is a financial adviser and president of Clear Horizon Wealth Advisors, a private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Service Inc., in Southgate. He can be reached at 1-734-284-3700.
JINO's protest David Friedman's nomination to be US Ambaassador to Israel

As the Senate holds a confirmation hearing Thursday on the nomination of David Friedman, he could face grilling about his ties to Beit El, a community north of Jerusalem located in the heart of the occupied territory Palestinians demand for an independent state.

A bankruptcy attorney from the Five Towns area of Long Island, Friedman is a major donor to Beit El and serves as the president of the American Friends of Beit El Yeshiva, the U.S. fundraising arm of the settlements Jewish seminary and affiliated institutions, including high schools, an Israeli military prep academy, a newspaper for the religious Jewish settler community and the right-wing news site Arutz Sheva.

But even by Trumps new standards, Friedman appears to be extreme. Friedman is a fervent supporter of the settlements and an outspoken opponent of Palestinian statehood.

I have expressed my skepticism about two-state state solutions because of what I perceive as the Palestinians inability to denounce terrorism and recognize Israel as a legitimate state, Friedman said.

In Beit El, the Friedman Faculty House, which bears his and his wifes names on the facade, is built on private Palestinian land without permission from its Palestinian landowners, according to the anti-settlement watchdog Kerem Navot.

Several 'as a Jews' protested David Friedman's nomination as US Ambassador to Israel in a Senate hearing on Thursday.Let's go to the videotape.One of the things that upsets the JINO's is David's connection to the yeshiva in Beit El (a connection that is likely the result of one of his children studying there - that's usually how these connections are formed).They make the entire town sound like shnorrers (beggars). In fact, the 'American Friends' setup is entirely legal - nearly every school in Israel that raises money in the US has one in order for donors to qualify for 501(c)(3) deductions. Each of the other institutions likely has its own 'American Friends' with the likely exception of Arutz Sheva, which the last time I checked was a commercial venture.If that's 'extreme,' I don't many Orthodox Jews in the United States or Israel who aren't extremists.And now CBS is accepting claims by Israel's Hebrew 'Palestinian' daily as 'facts.' Prove it.PS Almost forgot to mention that David prayed at the Lubavitcher Rebbe's grave on Sunday. David is not a Lubavitcher chassid.Here's David's full opening statement. Let's go to the videotape.

Labels: Beit El, David Friedman, Donald Trump, Judea and Samaria, Orthodox Jews
Cops find tunnel in manhunt for wanted monk

BANGKOK: Thai cops have uncovered secret tunnels running underneath a space-age temple of the controversial Dhammakaya Buddhist sect, as their manhunt for an elusive elderly monk accused of massive embezzlement entered a second day.

crimelandconstructionreligion

By AFP

Friday 17 February 2017, 02:42PM

A Buddhist monk takes mobile photos of the police blockade through the closed gate in front of Wat Dhammakaya temple just north of Bangkok yesterday (Feb 16). Photo: AFP

Thousands of officers are involved in the search for the 72-year-old monk Phra Dhammachayo, who is believed to be holed up in the vast Wat Dhammakaya temple grounds on the outskirts of Bangkok.

The former abbot, who founded the breakaway Buddhist order in 1970 and has marshalled its prodigious rise, is accused of money laundering and accepting embezzled funds worth billions of baht from the jailed owner of a cooperative bank.

But in an increasingly bizarre cat-and-mouse game, cops were frustrated for a second day running as they were led by orange-robed monks through endless rooms and hallways in the 1,000-acre site.

Yesterday (Feb 16) police found a 1.5 kilometre tunnel  spilt into two routes  dug under the UFO-like temple that dominates the site, which may have been used by the ex-abbot as a place to hide.

It only has one entrance but it does not go outside of the temple, Col Worranan Srilum, deputy spokesman for the DSI  Thailands equivalent of the FBI  told reporters.

They also searched a sick bay used by the former abbot, but instead of finding their quarry, pulled back an orange robe covering several pillows arranged to look like a sleeping person.

The Dhammakaya temple area is sprawling so it will have to take time to search... we cant find him yet, but our intelligence insists that he is still inside (the) temple, he added.

The sweep of the powerful and ultra-rich Wat Dhammakaya temple comes after Thailands junta chief invoked special powers to put its sprawling compound under military control.

Temple officials say the ex-abbot is innocent and deny knowledge of his whereabouts.

Thailands secular authorities are normally reluctant to intervene in the affairs of the clergy in the Buddhist-majority country.

But the Dhammakaya sect has long been in the firing line. Critics accuse the temple of promoting a pay-your-way to nirvana philosophy, burnished with cultish mass shows of devotion and a sophisticated PR machine.
[February 16, 2017] Cocrystal Pharma to Present Clinical Data on its Potent Pan-genotypic NS5B Non-nucleoside Inhibitor CC-31244 at the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL) Annual Meeting

BOTHELL, Wash. and ATLANTA, Feb. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cocrystal Pharma, Inc. (OTCQB:COCP), a company focused on developing novel antiviral therapeutics for human diseases, announced today that it has been selected to give an oral presentation on Saturday, February 18, 2017, 3:45 PM Shanghai time (2:45 AM ET) entitled, Phase 1 Study to Evaluate the Safety, Pharmacokinetics, and Antiviral Activity of CC-31244, a Pan-Genotypic, Potent Non-Nucleoside NS5B Polymerase Inhibitor for the Treatment of Hepatitis C Virus Infection at the 26th Conference of the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL) held in Shanghai, February 15-19, 2017.

The interim results from the ongoing, randomized, double-blind, Phase 1a/1b study of CC-31244, a pan-genotypic, potent NS5B non-nucleoside inhibitor (NNI) will be presented by Sam Lee, Ph.D., President and co-inventor of the drug. CC-31244 monotherapy produced up to a 3 log drop in viral load with a slow viral rebound post treatment following a 7 day treatment suggesting that CC-31244 could be an important component in an all oral, shorter HCV combination therapy. Cocrystal Pharma's interim Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Gary Wilcox said, "We are pleased to be given the opportunity to present the interim data at APASL. The interim results show that CC-31244 had a substantial and durable antiviral effect with a favorable safety and tolerability profile in both healthy volunteers and HCV GT1 infected individuals. An archived edition of the presentation will be available on the Cocrystal website, www.cocrystalpharma.com, shortly after the event.



About CC-31244 CC-31244 is an investigational, oral, potent, pan-genotypic NNI with high barrier to drug resistance designed and developed using the Company's proprietary structure-based drug discovery technology. The molecule interacts with the NS5B RNA polymerase of all major HCV genotypes.

About Hepatitis C Hepatitis C is a viral infection of the liver that according to The World Health Organization in 2013 affects over 150 million people worldwide of whom only about 1% have been cured to date. The annual number of deaths due to Hepatitis C is estimated at 350,000 globally or nearly 1,000 per day. Most patients develop chronic infections, which can lead to fibrosis (scarring), cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer. The worldwide market for hepatitis C antiviral drugs was over $10 billion in 2016. About Cocrystal Pharma Cocrystal is a clinical stage biotechnology company seeking to discover novel antiviral therapeutics as treatments for serious and/or chronic viral diseases. Cocrystal employs unique technologies and Nobel Prize winning expertise to create first- and best-in-class antiviral drugs. These technologies, including our nucleoside chemistry expertise and market-focused approach to drug discovery are designed to efficiently deliver small molecule therapeutics that are safe, effective and convenient to administer. The company has identified promising, preclinical stage antiviral compounds for several unmet medical needs, including hepatitis, influenza and norovirus infections. Cocrystal has previously received strategic investments from Teva Pharmaceuticals, OPKO Health, Brace Pharmaceutical, LLC, and The Frost Group. For further information about Cocrystal, please refer to www.cocrystalpharma.com. Forward Looking Statements To the extent that the statements concerning the interim results from the ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial can be construed to imply that future results will be positive  which the Company does not comment upon  it is a forward-looking statement. This statement reflects the current beliefs and expectations of management including statements regarding development plans for treatments related to Hepatitis C. Forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause our clinical development programs, performance or future results to differ significantly from what is expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. With regard to this clinical trial, it is subject to completion and evaluation, full regulatory review, and the companys ability to raise additional capital to support operations. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of the Company in general, see filings Cocrystal has made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Contact: [email protected] Tel: 678-892-8825

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[February 16, 2017] Industrial IoT Dual Module Cellular VPN Router with Voice for Retail Stores and Branch Offices

MUNICH, Feb. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- No more poor network quality, high costs for network access, or extra telephone costs in retail stores or branch offices. Robustel's R2000 Ent router that will be launched at Mobile World Congress 2017 is an all-in-one solution for telecom operators including: -Voice functionality that allows telephone calls over the cellular network using a standard landline telephone. -Reliable internet connectivity with an embedded dual module that supports two SIM cards simultaneously. It supports cellular WAN, Ethernet WAN, Wi-Fi link backup, and ICMP detection. -Industrial-grade metal housing ensures reliable operation in a wide temperature range. The router is protected against humidity, dust, vibration, and EMC, and it comes with a PD power interface. Total Solution The complete solution offers the retail industry a customized cloud application system, uncompromised network connectivity with a router that is suitable for IoT environments, and the smooth integration of various edge devices for distributed sites. Management is facilitated by RobustLink, a private cloud management platform that helps you to configure, monitor and control your devices in real-time and visualizes the state of any device. This is especially important in large-scale applications. It enables quick response to events, supporting high availability. Service Level Improvement -Poor network quality in retail stores drives away customers. -High service levels and reduced network costs at the same time have led to an increased demand for wireless connectivity  and 3G is no longer enough to cover the bandwidth requirements. -Telephones are seldom used, but telephones lines seem to have too high costs. Robustel's all-in-one solution meets all of these challenges and improves service in the retail industry, at branch offices, convenience stores, quick service restaurants, digital signage applications, IP video surveillance, and video advertising. Strong Partnership "SORACOM is excited o partner with Robustel for this product launch. We believe this is a great fit for IoT use cases where several connectivity options are required. Customers do not have to look for separate devices and terminals as R2000 Ent allows multiple options for cellular connectivity as fall back. Consumer experience is very important for businesses today, and enriching it further with a product that offers more stable delivery of service is a great step ahead," explained Parag Mittal, SORACOM's Chief Commercial Officer.



Visit us at Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona from February 27 to March 1 and experience a live demonstration of our solutions together with our partner SORACOM at 4YFN in hall M8 at booth 15. R2000 Ent features:

 1 Voice/ RS-232/ RS-485 Port (RJ45): Voice functionality allows to make telephone calls over the cellular network using a standard landline telephone  4 LAN Ports, 1 WAN Port, 1 USB 2.0 Port  Optional 802.11 b/g/n WLAN interface  Supports cellular WAN, Ethernet WAN, Wi-Fi link backup, and ICMP detection  Embedded dual module supporting two SIM cards online simultaneously  Supports RobustLink, a centralized M2M management platform for remote monitoring, configuration and firmware upgrades  WAN  Static/PPPoE/DHCP Client; WAN port supporting PD feature, compatible with 802.3at  Wi-Fi supporting AP and Client mode  VPN tunnel  IPsec/OpenVPN/GRE/L2TP/PPTP/DMVPN  Supports DDNS, VRRP, DHCP Server, 802.1Q VLAN Trunk, APP importing  Management and upgrades via web user interface/ SMS/ CLI  Auto reboot via SMS/ Timing  Built-in Watchdog/ Timer  Wall or DIN rail mounting possible About Robustel Guangzhou Robustel Technologies Co., Ltd. is a leading industrial IoT and M2M hardware and solution provider. Since its establishment in 2010 in Guangzhou, China, Robustel has been providing industrial cellular routers, gateways, modems, cloud platforms, and E2E solutions to customers in more than 100 countries worldwide. The companys solutions aim at smart grids, oil & gas, the financial sector, security & surveillance, industrial automation, eHealth, and many other industries. Robustel has subsidiaries in Germany, Australia, Japan, and Hong Kong. Customers include leading mobile operators such as AT&T, China Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, Rogers, SingTel, Teliasonera, Vodafone, etc. About SORACOM SORACOM is a global IoT connectivity service provider. The company breaks down the technical barriers to IoT/ M2M and brings the technology to people everywhere around the world. Since its launch in September 2015, SORACOM's platform has been used by over 5,000 clients spanning the manufacturing through logistics industries and firms of all sizes, from start-ups to SMEs, to blue-chip corporations. With over 250 partners, SORACOM's clients have access to various products and services from one single, certified marketplace. Robustel Press Contact: Benny Huang

Phone: (+86) 13824485184

Email: [email protected] Related Links Robustel Website Mobile World Congress Website This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/industrial-iot-dual-module-cellular-vpn-router-with-voice-for-retail-stores-and-branch-offices-300408875.html SOURCE Guangzhou Robustel Ltd

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[February 16, 2017] General Micro Systems Receives Multi-Year, Multi-Million Dollar Award for Smart, Rugged, All-in-One Displays for Navy's Modernization

General Micro Systems, Inc. (GMS (News - Alert)) today announced that its SD19 rugged smart display is being deployed for use in modernizing select U.S. Navy ships. This smart, all-in-one display will be distributed throughout the Navy's fleet to replace an existing "dumb" display that had been facing end-of-life challenges. The award comes from a customer that turned to General Micro Systems (GMS) to combine two functions into one: a rugged, 19-inch LCD with special electrical, mechanical and environmental characteristics; and a rugged Intel (News - Alert)-based single-board computer running Microsoft Windows. GMS met the specification requirements in all cases and units passed rigorous qualification testing. From an RFQ first seen in 2013, the SD19 SmartView display system is now in the deployment phase. General Micro Systems has been awarded multi-year contracts to deliver tens of displays per ship, with volume of several dozen ships per year. "Combined, all programs will exceed several million dollars in revenue to GMS per year," said GMS CEO Ben Sharfi. "And it started with a long-time customer. They knew we were in the smart display business, and they knew we supplied VME-based single-board computers to the Navy's fleet of ships." Upon receipt of the system specification-which required not only backwards compatibility with the existing display but also incorporated a ship data-management computer function-GMS quoted a smart display system that combined multiple functions into one and was a fraction of the cost and thinner than competing products. The technical challenge was maintaining one hundred percent backwards compatibility with the existing display system while still adding the complete computer subsystem within the same physical space. "The other guys were over 8-inches thick, used a technology that isn't rugged, and required a fan," said Sharfi. "We are around 3.5-inches thin, passively cooled and run circles around the other options." Multiple Navy Systems and Programs Undergoing Modernization

According to the U.S. Navy, programs such as the "AEGIS Modernization Program (AMOD)...introduces computing system upgrades via the Advanced Capability Build (ACB) and Technology Insertion (TI) process for both cruisers and destroyers." In that example, COTS computer systems are specified in the AEGIS Baseline 9 (BL 9) development effort. More upgrades are planned across the 84 ships in service with the AEGIS Weapons Systems installed (22 Cruisers and 62 Destroyers). Other Navy programs similarly specify COTS upgrades including the GMS SD19. For the ships being equipped with GMS SD19 SmartView displays, many use multiple instances of the SD19 smartdisplay system and are installed inside or out on deck, depending upon the ship's configuration.



GMS Patent-Pending RuggedCool Technology for Reduced Size and Increased Reliability

The GMS SD19 SmartView is thin and rugged due to the company's patent-pending RuggedCool technology, which conducts the heat from the Intel 4th Generation Core i7 processor (Haswell) directly to the SD19 case where, depending upon the location in the ship, the heat is either radiated into the environment or conducted away from the SD19 unit. This innovative cooling technology alleviates the need for cooling fans, which are a reliability weakness. "Hammer-tested" Touchscreen with Night Vision Capability

The SD19 SmartView smart display has a hardened 4:3 aspect ratio touchscreen and night vision-capable LCD, with finely controlled, Navy-specified brightness settings from full-on to complete dimmed darkness. Other unique requirements for SD19 include multi-display operation that allows the SD19 to output to other shipboard displays, while other displays can output to SD19 simply with a bezel button push.

The SD19 has been proven to pass the "hammer test" per MIL-STD-901D, which simulates a projectile striking the ship while the ship's systems must continue to operate. As this video shows, the SD19 SmartView unit withstood well over 100G in all three axes while operating and successfully passed the test. Come See General Micro Systems and the SD19 SmartView at AFCEA West, San Diego, Booth #741 General Micro Systems Is Trusted and Deployed: On the Sea, in the Air and on Land For more information regarding GMS products, please visit: www.gms4sbc.com

Additional SD19 press materials can be found at: http://gms4sbc.com/press/2017/SD19/

High-resolution product photos available here: http://gms4sbc.com/press/SD19/

Link to the SD19 MIL-S-901 Shock Test video here: https://youtu.be/MtQ-UA2upGg

Reader Service Contact: Jonathan Malaney 772-266-4015 ext. 402, [email protected] About General Micro Systems:

General Micro Systems (GMS) is the industry expert in highest-density, modular, compute-intensive, and rugged small form-factor embedded computing systems, servers, and switches. These powerful systems are ideal for demanding C4ISR defense, aerospace, medical, industrial, and energy exploration applications. GMS is an IEC (News - Alert), AS9100, and MIL-SPEC supplier with infrastructure and operations for long-life, spec-controlled, and configuration-managed programs. Designed from the ground up to provide the highest performance and functionality in the harshest environments on the planet, the company's highly customizable products include GMS Rugged DNA with patented RuggedCool cooling technology. GMS is also the leader in deployable high-end Intel processors and a proud Intel partner since 1986. For more information, visit www.gms4sbc.com General Micro Systems and the General Micro Systems logo are trademarks of General Micro Systems, Inc. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. 2016 General Micro Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170216006300/en/

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How many people have already voted absentee in South Dakota ahead of Election Day?

elections
[February 16, 2017] BIGO LIVE Brings Greater Fan Experiences With International Live Events

SINGAPORE, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- BIGO LIVE is continually growing and one of its recent endeavours is to bring greater fan experiences for its audience with live events. BIGO LIVE has been actively supporting and promoting live events in many countries, serving not only as an international live-streaming platform but also as a portal to experience live events like you were there yourself. In Singapore, BIGO LIVE's LIVE HOUSE organized a non-profit outreach to a local nursing home to shower the elders with love and fun before the Lunar New Year. Under the lead of Jean, the program director, BIGO LIVE's LIVE HOUSE team invited a number of broadcasters, Amos, Freddy, Lala, Kylie and Samantha, to bring along care packages containing daily necessities and light snacks to the elders. Later on during the visit, the team put up a heart-warming talent performance at the nursing home, and spent an entertaining afternoon chatting with the elders. The whole event was broadcasted on the LIVE HOUSE channel, and it brought a whole lot of joy to the community, reminding the elders that they are not yet forgotten by society. In the meantime, BIGO LIVE has also been a key partner for a growing number of live events and activities like the EDM Ravolution Music Festival in Vietnam which has attracted over 900k fans all over the years. In December last year, BIGO LIVE had the honor of being the exclusive streaming partner of avolution which saw acts like international EDM DJ, Alan Walker, K&HMR, R3HAB and also famous Vietnamese celebrity, Ho Hgoc Ha. Part of the activities that BIGO LIVE streamed were face-to-face interviews with international DJ Alan Walker as well as other artists and event participants.



In Thailand, BIGO LIVE even created a program called BIGO STAR, in which famous Thai celebrities will be interviewed by the Chinese host Win Liao Bin and Thai comedian NES Natsantiz Kittikwangton. Last month, BIGO STAR interviewed the popular Thai comedian Nick Kunatip Pinpradab and his actor friend, Niew Kittipat Samarntragulchai. Many fans showed up in this event and those who didn't have the chance to attend could still interact with them on BIGO LIVE as the whole event was broadcasted on their platform as well. During the whole broadcast on BIGO LIVE that night, there were users from over 50 countries, including Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, China, and etc, that witnessed and joined the gathering. BIGO LIVE has also announced its expansion into Taiwan with its press conference last month that introduced the live-streaming platform to everyone. During the press conference, BIGO LIVE Vice President He Hong Jie went on to give a great speech to fire up the occasion. There were also BIGO LIVE streamers from Taiwan that shared their live streaming experiences and enjoyment on BIGO. Moreover, cosplayers were also holding their own streams to further celebrate the formal event and inviting everyone in the world to join.

Join the BIGO LIVE Community Having held and joined many trending events around the globe, BIGO LIVE has really outshined many other companies in the live streaming industry. Unrestricted to regions, BIGO LIVE enables iOS and Android users to broadcast themselves and capture audiences to share their life spontaneously via live stream with everyone around the world. Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=sg.bigo.live

iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/app/id1077137248

View More News at CyberMedia Press Center: http://www.cybermedia.com.tw/news About BIGO Founded in March 2016 and headquartered in Singapore, BIGO LIVE is a mobile Internet company focused on live streaming technology and platform services, and is committed to building a leading global community video broadcast platform. BIGO LIVE user interface is simple, a large number of users in Thailand on the line a month later won the Thailand App Store and Google Play social class list first. On-line only 10 months, the global membership of users exceeded 60 million, is the fastest growing live platform. Website: http://www.bigo.tv/new_index_pc.html Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170216/8521700935

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The state of Iowa is currently proposing to cut funding for sexual assault and domestic violence assistance programs. Budget cuts will dramatically impact the services available to survivors. Without adequate funding, not only would future on-campus Advocates lack appropriate training, but our parent organization, Crisis Intervention Services, would be unable to offer adequate shelter to women across the state of Iowa.

In response, Grinnell Advocates will be attending Lobby Day at the Capitol on February 21 in hopes of swaying our legislators. In the mean time, Advocates would like to offer our support to the campus community, and inform Grinnellians about the resources that we offer. Although the current presidential administration threatens to cut programs like ours, we are committed to ensuring the safety and security of all students.

***Trigger WarningThis letter contains information regarding sexual assault prevention and awareness.***

Who are Grinnell Advocates?

We are state-certified student-advocates for sexual assault response in the state of Iowa. Each advocate undergoes thirty hours of training with Crisis Intervention Services. We focus specifically on response and education. Unlike Residence Life and Student Affairs, every Advocate is strictly and legally recognized as a confidential resource. We work to uphold a mission of response to sexual assault and incidents of dating violence, to educate the campus and to promote inclusivity in our cause.

What do Advocates do?

Advocates service a 24-hour text and call line. When serving as an on-call Advocate, our goal is to listen to, support and inform victim-survivors of their options and resources. Our unique role is to be sure that they feel safe, heard and supported without pressure. We do not provide long-term therapy, but instead offer immediate emotional support and planning for continued assistance. We provide information about the medical, legal, mental health and campus systems to ensure that no survivor has to go through the process alone.

Who can call or text a campus Advocate?

Any member of the Grinnell campus community can reach out to an Advocate. We also offer the option of speaking with an Advocate not affiliated with the college program. This can be requested upon calling or texting our crisis line.

What is next for Advocates?

Along with the support of other campus groups, Advocates will host Sexual Assault Awareness Week (February 27-March 3). The weeks open events include informational tabling, a clothesline project, two coffee talks in residence hall lounges facilitated by Advocates on how you can support a friend, a student-athlete panel on preventing sexual misconduct and promoting sexual respect, and the set-up of the labyrinth in JRC 101 for a day of reflection and healing. Additional coffee talks on other topics will be held throughout the semester, as well as some other awareness events.

How can you get involved?

If you are interested in becoming a certified Advocate please email [advocates] and we will add you to our recruitment mailing list. If you would like to get involved with some of our upcoming events for Sexual Assault Awareness Week, we would love your helpemail us!

Thank you,

Grinnell Advocates

[Advocates]
By Steve Yang

yangstev17@grinnell.edu

In the current political climate, issues of safety and personal well-being have come up repeatedly in campus conversation. In this context, residents of the Mayflower Community, a retirement home situated approximately a mile from the College, expressed interest in meeting with Grinnell students and discussing conflict, difference and threats towards immigrants and refugees. Subsequently, a lunch was organized on Thursday in JRC 101, where students from the Multicultural Leadership Council, International Student Organization (ISO) and Posse had the chance to exchange their perspectives and stories with Mayflower visitors over lunch.

Due to many of our students feeling unsafe on campus and in the community of Grinnell (because of the current state of our country), we are having a (last minute) lunch with some residents of the Mayflower, organizer Katy Zart wrote in an email to The S&B. The residents have concerns and want to let students know that they want them to feel safe in Grinnell, and want to meet some of the students and offer their support/words of encouragement.

In support of those efforts, an estimated 15 Mayflower residents, including some retired professors and college alumni, met with approximately 20 students who signed up on a first-come, first-serve basis, faculty and staff. Jonathan Rebelsky 20, a Grinnell local, said that the chance to meet with members of a community whom he was familiar with through high school gatherings was a great opportunity to meet new people and hang out with old friends.

When I was growing up, interacting with people at Mayflower has been unanimously positive, Rebelsky said. They would sometimes just bring Mayflower people to just speak to our [high school] classes.

Rebelsky said that the engagement provided a valuable learning opportunity about the history of the town and the College, and how theyve gotten along.

Its really a problem when the town and the College feel like theyre different identities. The College is part of the town, Rebelsky said.

Rebelsky added that he participated in discussions examining the advancements that American society has made, on issues such as rights for transgender people and interracial marriage. He also learned about the history of self-governance at the College, and how thats changed as well.

One thing I learned  was that self-gov hasnt always been a thing at Grinnell. A person who graduated in 1950s said that it hasnt really been a thing, he noted.

As a representative of the Office for Intercultural Affairs and ISO, Takahiro Omura 17 said that he thought the meeting with Mayflower residents was a good step towards building bridges, feeling appreciated, and receiving reassurance from the community as an international student.

At the ISO, we thought we needed to reach out to the community more as a student body, given this political climate. I thought it was a perfect opportunity to go meet some of the residents and talk about these current issues that both the community and the students have been facing, Omura said.

Omura added that members of the community had participated in marches in 1964 for civil rights, which helped him feel more historical connections to the town as both a student and as a resident. However, he added that the responsibility of fostering a sense of inclusion should be a two-way street.

It was interesting because the residents were talking about how some community residents might not feel welcome on campus. Theres no activity not welcoming them, but theres some atmosphere preventing community residents from coming and participating in campus events, Omura recalled. So it made more sense for students to reach out to the community, to make it more of a two-way interaction.

The Colleges purchases of more properties around town was cast in a positive light in the conversations that Omura had as well. The Mayflower residents saw it as a first step in increasing interactions between the College and the community.

Students would go downtown more often, whatevers going to be built there, and so the community [would be] engaged with students more, Omura said. I think as a Grinnell College student, you are part of the Grinnell community as a whole. I feel that it is both interesting and our responsibility to really interact with the residents in the community, to get to know them as well as they get to know us.
By Jon Sundby

sundbyjo17@grinnell.edu

When President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 27 detailing a more aggressive stance on illegal immigration than his predecessor, both his supporters and critics realized that the President intended to follow through on his campaign promises. This realization motivated the board of directors for the Des Moines Public School District to pass two sanctuary resolutions on Feb. 7, which both reaffirm the districts support for students of all backgrounds and set up a protocol in case one of their schools ever encounters Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The school district is the first in Iowa to pass such resolutions.

Given the demographic profile of Des Moines Public Schools, we thought that it was critically important that we create the right sort of protocol and policy that would ensure that our students and their families would not only feel welcome, but protected, in our district, said Teree Caldwell-Johnson, Chair of the Board of Directors for Des Moines Public Schools.

The first resolution establishes a chain of command wherein if ICE contacts a school official, they should refer the agency to the Superintendent, who would be advised by legal counsel when speaking with the agency. Unlike many designations of sanctuary jurisdictions, this resolution does not advocate for non-compliance, but merely the streamlining of requests to one official who would have access to legal knowledge regarding what they can do to help their students.

We were very specific in our [resolution] that the Superintendent would serve as the clearinghouse for any requests, so that building level administrators and others arent put upon to respond or act. It is really more of a district level decision to allow the superintendent, supported by a general consul, to field all requests and manage those appropriately so that were consistent across the district, Caldwell-Johnson said.

But despite the practicality of the resolution, the board has already received pushback from one notable Iowa lawmaker  Congressman Steve King. Right after the board passed the resolutions, Caldwell-Johnson received a letter from the Congressman who claimed the school districts actions were in violation of two federal laws and the Constitution.

This resolution looks to violate constitutional law, civil law and criminal law, stated King in his letter to the school board. It behooves all parties contemplating this course of action to think deeply about the serious legal ramificationsIf there is a disagreement on immigration law, then all are free to attempt to change it through the political process. However, no one is free to act in violation of the law simply because they do not agree with it.

Caldwell-Johnson was puzzled by the letter, both because of its inaccuracies regarding the substance and legality of their policy, as well as the fact that Steve King does not represent Des Moines and has never shown interest in any previous issues regarding the district.

In response, Caldwell-Johnson and the Superintendent, Thomas Ahart, drafted a letter to King in which they pointed to their lawyers legal analysis, several other districts actions and pieces of ICEs own internal policy, which supported their stance. Caldwell-Johnson also mentioned that Kings letter completely ignored the Supreme Court ruling of Plyer v. Doe, which guaranteed the right of every child, documented or otherwise, to a public education.

It came as somewhat a surprise that you chose to write a letter that appeared to be an attempt to intimidate our school district from supporting our immigrant and refugee students or interfering with the long-established legal right that all children  regardless of immigration status  have to receive a free public education in the United States of America, wrote Caldwell-Johnson and Ahart in their response to King.

One of the driving forces behind the resolutions was school board member Robert Barron 02, a Grinnell alum and one of 16 elected Latino officials in Iowa. In an interview with the Des Moines Register, Barron emphasized that these actions were intended to help the whole system, not just undocumented students, as good ethical governanceputs the needs of the whole first by acting to improve outcomes for those with a pronounced disadvantage.

Des Moines Public Schools are most likely the first district to create a protocol to deal with ICE since they are the largest by student population and currently serve 4,000 students who were born outside of the United States. Caldwell-Johnson thought smaller districts, like Grinnell-Newburg, would not have to create such a protocol since their undocumented student population is smaller. Indeed, when asked about whether Grinnells school board was thinking of taking similar steps, Board Chair Barbara Brown said that the topic had never arisen.
By Mira Braneck

braneckm@grinnell.edu

Ever since the closing of Central Iowa Family Planning (CIFP), a Title X funded family planning clinic that provided feminist and LGBTQIA friendly health care, the Grinnell community has been lacking an important health resource. However, the medical community of Grinnell and the surrounding areas, in partnership with the College, is currently working to open a new clinic or provide the lost services to the community.

Primary Health Care (PHC), based out of Marshalltown, IA, worked in partnership with CIFP. PHC is currently considering purchasing a mobile unit as another option for care. This service would not be available until July 1.

PHC is also considering opening another Title X funded clinic in Grinnell. If a clinic were to open in Grinnell, the Grinnell Regional Medical Center has stated that they would help by providing space. The hospital has suggested that Primary Health Care may be able to use free clinic space, said Angela Voos, vice president for strategic planning. This space would be at the Light Center, the free clinic near the hospital.

PHC noted that their board is concerned about making a decision right now due to the potential changes with the ACA (Affordable Care Act) and cuts in funding, but noted that they are open to exploring all options, wrote Deb Shill, director of SHACS operations, in an email to The S&B.

With the funding in jeopardy in Iowa, and probably in the federal government  its really up in the air, and [thats] deeply disturbing, Voos said.

In the meantime, the College is working with PHC to extend their Saturday hours and provide a shuttle for both college students and community members. They thought that twice a month they could do a pick-up and take-back service, and we said, help us help you. Period, Voos said. If you have the transportation and you need funding to pay for that transport, please help us help you.

The College does not consider a shuttle service to be a permanent solution. Thats like a short-term fix until they can get things figured out, Shill said.

The opening of a mobile clinic or the transporting of Grinnellians to Marshalltown would not affect the local medical community in a negative way. My understanding is that this would not impede on their own practices. This is a population that is deeply underserved, and we are not over-supplied in medical care, Voos said. That was my understanding  that this would not be competition

The closing of CIFP left an important gap in resources for those that need confidential care or more affordable care. Voos worries about those populations. On this side, theres frustration that its taking forever. Im glad to know that a lot of people are taking advantage of the care thats here, she said. The remaining concerns are twofold: one, about high school students and middle school students, and indigent families here, because I dont know where theyre getting their care. And the second, the LGBTQIA community.  The family practice here, I think is great, but we want to make sure all those pieces, as community members, are picked up.

SHACS can provide a variety of care as well, including Plan B for 20 dollars, at cost, HIV testing, STD testing and safe sex supplies. Shill is also working on a contract for Ella, a weight-based Plan B.

SHACS also has funding set aside to help students make some medical payments, including the cost of pill packs.

Shill emphasized that she wanted students to use SHACS as an important resource. We want to encourage [students] to do that, to come and see the nurses.  We can look at their insurance plan, we can call and schedule the appointments, we can help with transportation, she said.

SHACS can also help students work through insurance issues. We can connect them to Medicaid resources.  If they dont have insurance and they dont want to College to know because every student is required, we would help them get connected with Medicaid  confidentially.

When CIFP closed, the only OBGYN at GRMC was on maternity leave. She is now back at work, and much of the care lost by the closing of CIFP can be found in town. Pretty much most of the care can be delivered here in the community through our local providers  they can do the STD testing, they can do the implants, Shill said. Its for those that have limited funding, and thats the community that we are trying to support in addition to all of our students, because of course funding is always a challenge when youre a college student.

While PHC considers applying to open a clinic in Grinnell, Shill and Voos are both working to help supplement the services available in the community.

In the interim, we need to still move forward, because the services are still needed here, Shill said.
Patricia Finkelman 80 is currently the Chair of the Board of Trustees at Grinnell College. She was an economics major who came to Grinnell from Pittsburgh and has served on numerous nonprofit boards throughout her career. When she returned to campus in early February for the boards quarterly meeting, she sat down with The S&Bs Philip Kiely and shared her thoughts about how the College has changed since her time as a student.

The S&B: How did you choose Grinnell?

Patricia Finkelman: I actually had my heart set on going to Middlebury, but I was waitlisted by Middlebury. The new president at Grinnell, at the time, had just come from Middlebury; he was the provost there, and he sent a letter to all accepted students quoting Robert Frost. I took that as a sign that I was meant to come to Grinnell.

The S&B: How did you become the Chair of the Board of Trustees?

PF: Thats a really long story. Ive been an active volunteer with the college since I graduated. I started doing admissions interviews and going to college fairs right away, I did that for years and years. I joined the alumni council in 1990 and by 1997, I was president of the alumni council. The president of the alumni council is an ex-officio member of the board. So for a year I was an ex-officio trustee, and it happened to be the year that we had a change in presidents, and there was a search going on, and I was on the search committee, so I got to know the trustees really well, better than a lot of alumni council presidents are able to. At the end of the year I was elected to the board.

The S&B: Aside from the board of trustees, what else do you do?

PF: My husband and I are semi-retired, were empty nesters  I serve on several other boards, I live outside of Columbus, Ohio and I serve on several other boards in the Columbus area. That has really been a career for me, Ive been involved in nonprofit governance, nonprofit fundraising pretty much my whole career, Im pretty much a very busy volunteer.

The S&B: How did your Grinnell education prepare you for that?

PF: My Grinnell education taught me a lot of things. It taught me how to think critically about issues, and I take that so for granted that Im always surprised when people dont or cant think critically and cant look at multiple sides of an issue because I think that at Grinnell I really learned how to do that, and I think that its a gift. Also, at Grinnell, even though we werent as diverse then as we are now, I learned to live with and work with people who came from different backgrounds than mine, who had different life experiences, and that serves me very well in the work that I do.

The S&B: What do you think has been the biggest change in Grinnell since you graduated?

PF: Thats a really interesting question because we talk so much about whats the same. I think the diversity of the student body, absolutely, both domestic diversity and international diversity.

The S&B: In your opinion, what is the role of the Board of Trustees? What is your most important mission for the college?

PF: Our role is to make sure that the college is living up to its mission. At the end of the day we are responsible. Some people would say that our role is very simple: we hire the President and we manage the endowment. Thats very simplistic, we do a lot more than that, but really the President runs the college, we make sure that we have the best person in that position, and then we have fiduciary responsibility for the colleges resources. Thats a pretty big responsibility, one we take very seriously. Our board is  probably 80 percent alums, maybe 90 percent, so we start out in board service with a passion for the institution.

The S&B: How can the board help shape Grinnells story?

PF: I think that the board, along with the administration and the faculty, are so intimately knowledgeable about Grinnells strengths that we can help craft the message. I think that we need the outside experts to help us finalize it, but we know the institution, we know its strengths, and were passionate about this place.

The S&B: What are some of the day-to-day things that you do?

PF: Leadership  is twofold. One is keeping things moving, and that requires a lot of communication, whether it is communication between the administration and the board members, communication within the board leadership, so theres a lot of communication. I spend a lot of time on the phone and a lot of time emailing. Theres a responsibility to make sure that the relationship between the board and the administration is strong and collaborative. The President and I, at the end of the day, its our responsibility to make sure that its working well.

The S&B: What do you see as some of the biggest challenges facing the college right now?

PF: I think that they are the same challenges that are facing a lot of institutions of higher education, college is increasingly expensive  weve been really fortunate at Grinnell that weve had the resources to be very generous with financial aid but costs are just going to continue to go up, so thats a challenge.

The S&B: What are the biggest opportunities for growth here at Grinnell?

PF: There are a couple of areas that I would focus on. One is my personal passion, which is around Careers, Life and Service. I think Grinnell has room not just to grow but really to lead in the field, to demonstrate  to students and families, that not only are we giving students a world-class education but were really helping them think about how to thrive in their life after Grinnell  and giving them the tools to get there.

I also think Global Grinnell  in some respects weve hidden our light under a bushel on that one. We are incredibly diverse, our students study abroad in great numbers, we have a great international curriculum, but we havent put all of that together and said to the rest of the world look what you can get here in the Iowa prairie. You take global, you take CLS and you take our individually advised curriculum  you might get one of those things somewhere else but I think that the combination of all three is pretty unique and pretty remarkable.
By Max Fenton 19

fentonma@grinnell.edu

An odd education policy debate has raged in state legislatures for the past year  whether or not computer-coding classes should be as treated a foreign language. After all, computers speak their own kind of language, and coding is a valuable skill both as a form of communication and as a practical tool. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Georgia and Rhode Island are expected to take up this debate during the 2017 legislative session, and the larger policy debate is very much unresolved.

But why has computer coding suddenly struck the fancy of education experts and politicians? The answer lies in a larger, more national obsession with the sciences that has colored national discourse on a variety of topics. If there is one thing that an increasingly divided America seems to agree on, it is the immediate relevance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and the immediate irrelevance of most social sciences and (especially) the humanities. Where science is infallible, the humanities are easily warped towards a particular ideology.

Science has become a catch-all term for knowledge, specifically of the natural world. But what does science actually mean? Though its definition is increasingly tortuous, the meaning of the word has its roots in method, the pre-ordained procedures and techniques of hypothesis and experimentation that organize how phenomena are meant to be investigated. But in the modern sense, science as we know it is both an incredibly broad and narrowing conception. It ranges from the hailed successes of NASA and SpaceX on social media to amazing new discoveries published in peer-reviewed journals to a broader, abstract notion equalizing science with progress (It is this latter type of science that I will denote with a capital S).

Science has become the catch-all term for rapid modernization, and at the same time, it has narrowed acceptable discourse, education and belief to a tiny sliver. If Science is ever questioned by religion, social criticism, the humanities, or even morality, those who do not automatically support Science fall on the incorrect side of history, a group of luddites determined to hamstring inevitable modernity.

Modern Science has thus totalized itself as the sole true way of describing reality. It has immunized itself of any criticism, and has been placed in our overriding quest for modernity as the source of truth. Along the way, proponents of Science have demonized critics and have attempted to regulate what is truly considered knowledge. Though meaningful social criticism is always healthy and should be encouraged, Science has been deemed as free of any potentially problematic values.

From its use as justification for racism in the 18th and 19th centuries, to the use of vivisection without anesthesia up until the 20th century and to the more modern concerns of animal testing, Science certainly should not be immune from righteous criticism. But our national discourse on Science has taken care to sweep these ethical concerns under the rug, doing the most die-hard Science proponents a favor in freeing them of responsibility to check their own beliefs.

Perhaps the most recognizable facet of this new dogmatic obsession with science is the elitism of scientists in the academy. Perhaps I am little more than a bitter humanities major preaching to the choir, but the obsession with STEM and Science-as-Truth has delegitimized entire fields of study and has propagated the easy major myth. Contrary to the worst myths of STEM elitism, my philosophy major is not easy. Like science, it requires the comprehension of specific processes, arguments and hypotheses. And for those who would argue that its all made up, consider that the scientific method is itself an entirely arbitrary construction, and that methods are themselves made up to help understand the world.

Furthermore, a common point I hear from other humanities and social sciences majors is on the real, raw, emotional labor that is poured in to writing a paper or book. Majors other than STEM require a considerable deal of effort, even if it is applied differently, and we are passionate about what we study, often for purely existential purposes. Entire fields  queer theory, gender studies, and various forms of ethnic and cultural studies are the product of a desire for recognition and ultimately survival.

If you still refuse to consider this work hard emotional labor, then you are missing the point. If the ultimate quest of education is to search for truth, the scientific or the humanistic are both valid pursuits. But holding the former over the latter, or worse, as its substitute, threatens to poison discourse and insulate critical thinking from necessary criticism.
[February 17, 2017] Hurricane Electric Completes Next Stage of Mediterranean Expansion with Third Italian Point of Presence in Enter Srl Milan

Hurricane Electric, the world's largest IPv6-native Internet backbone, today announced that it is continuing its European expansion with the launch of a new Point of Presence (PoP) in Milan, Italy at the Enter Srl data center. Located at Via Caldera 21 Building D2 Milan, Italy, this is Hurricane Electric's (News - Alert) second PoP in Milan and third in the country. Housed in Milan Caldera, the leading Italian technology campus, Enter Srl features a Tier 2 green data center that is interconnected with 4 major European POP's and offers cloud computing services. Built in 2007, the facility provides 24/7 security, automated fire suppression systems, and a dark fiber footprint that covers several major Italian cities, including: Milan, Turin, Genoa and Bologna. Th additional connections available with the launch of this new PoP will enable Hurricane Electric to improve fault tolerance, load balancing and congestion management in its IP connectivity services, which includes transit of next-generation IPv6 traffic. Additionally, tenants at the Enter Srl data center now have the ability to exchange IP traffic with Hurricane Electric's vast global network. Hurricane Electric has over 17,000 BGP sessions with over 6,000 different networks via more than 155 major exchange points and thousands of customer and private peering ports. The new Milan PoP will also provide access to the company's extensive IPv4 and IPv6 network through 100GE (100 Gigabit Ethernet), 10GE (10 Gigabit Ethernet) and GigE (1 Gigabit Ethernet) ports and as a result, both new and existing customers will be able to experience increased throughput, reduced latency and improved reliability.



"Hurricane Electric is delighted with the continued growth of our global network through this new Milan Point of Presence and we remain committed to further expanding into even more European countries this year," said Mike Leber, President, Hurricane Electric. "Italy has shown itself to be an important technological hub for the Mediterranean and beyond. Our newest Milan site will allow customers of Enter Srl to tap into the bandwidth and reach of Hurricane Electric's rich global network and we are grateful for the opportunity to support them." About Hurricane Electric

Fremont, California-based Hurricane Electric operates its own global IPv4 and IPv6 network and is considered the largest IPv6 backbone in the world as measured by number of networks connected. Within its global network, Hurricane Electric is connected to 155 major exchange points and exchanges traffic directly with more than 6,000 different networks. Employing a resilient fibre-optic topology, Hurricane Electric has no less than four redundant paths crossing North America, three separate paths between the U.S. and Europe, and rings in Europe and Asia. In addition to its vast global network, Hurricane Electric owns and operates two data centres in Fremont, California, including Fremont 2, its newest 208,000 square foot facility. Hurricane Electric offers IPv4 and IPv6 transit solutions over the same connection at speeds including 10 Gbps and 100 GbpsEthernet. For more information on Hurricane Electric, please visit http://he.net. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170217005182/en/

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[February 17, 2017] Internet of Things (IoT) In Retail Market Size Will Reach $94.44 Billion By 2025: Grand View Research, Inc.

The global IoT in retail market is expected to reach USD 94.44 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. This growth can be attributed to the merging of digital and in-store operations in retail stores.



Digital channels are becoming an important touchpoint for an Omni channel experience. Retailers are focusing on gaining a competitive advantage by installing smart shelves and RFID sensors, which detect low inventory and track products throughout the respective supply chain. The adoption of IoT also helps retailers to revolutionize the delivery operations and retail supply chain.







The increasing Internet of Things spending in retail sectors for the purpose of premises monitoring, product monitoring, supply chain monitoring, and customer monitoring is driving the demand for IoT-based solutions. Cloud-based IoT solutions are enabling retailers to monitor and analyze the existing processes to improve them with incremental investments in capital equipment. However, with the rising degree of IoT penetration, retailers are still struggling on capitalizing IoT-enabled capabilities.



The retail Internet of Things market is expected to witness promising growth as the industry is evolving from the passive approach of monitoring consumer behavior. Optimizing and automating supply chain is one of the key factors for the adoption of connected technology among retailers. However, fragmented technology standards and increasing security concerns are expected to hamper the industry growth.





Browse full research report on Global Internet of Things (IoT) In Retail Market: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/internet-of-things-iot-retail-market Further key findings from the report suggest:  The retail IoT software is expected to be the fastest-growing segment owing to the increasing adoption of retail analytics solutions  Beacons are expected to grow at a CAGR of over 24%. This growth can be attributed to its increasing adoption for enhancing customer in-store experience  Professional services are expected to dominate the market over the forecast period  Solution providers are focusing on providing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Payment-as-a-Service (PaaS) to retailers.



 Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is expected to witness the fastest growth over the forecast period as this technology is gaining prominence in pre-tailing, payments, and post-payments operations.



 Latin America is expected to reach a revenue share of over 12% by 2025 due to the demand for innovation in infrastructure technology in retail outlets  The key industry players include Intel Corporation, Impinj Inc., RetailNext Inc., Allerin Tech Pvt. Ltd., and Losant IoT Inc.



 Several vendors are offering connected ecosystems that provide retailers with a wide array of devices through a single platform Browse more reports of this category by Grand View Research: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry/emerging-and-next-generation-technologies Grand View Research has segmented the global IoT in retail market based on solution, hardware, service, technology, and region: IoT In Retail Solution Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2014 - 2025)  Hardware  Software IoT In Retail Hardware Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2014 - 2025)  Beacons  RFID tags  Sensors  Wearables IoT In Retail Service Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2014 - 2025)  Professional services  Managed services IoT In Retail Technology Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2014 - 2025)  Bluetooth low energy  Near field communication  ZigBee  Others IoT In Retail Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2014 - 2025)  North America o U.S.



o Canada  Europe o Germany o UK  Asia Pacific o China o India o Japan  Latin America o Brazil o Mexico  MEA 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.



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Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor, who plays a soldier of the British Indian Army in Vishal Bhardwaj's upcoming historical war drama Rangoon, says it is one of the most heroic characters he has ever played in a film so far.

Shahid said "My character Nawab Malik is a very different character from Tommy Singh ('Udta Punjab'), Charlie-Guddu ('Kaminey') and Haider ('Haider'), and that was the reason why I played the part Vishal sir always offers me something challenging and different."

"Nawab Malik is the most heroic character I have ever played so far, who is a soldier with a strong sense of duty and big patriot. It is a very inspiring character and I am glad to get the opportunity."

The film is set in a time when India was going through a political turmoil.

Asked about understanding the psychology of a character of that era, Shahid said: "Of course, the socio-political scenario of that time was quite different. The whole nation was aroused to achieve freedom. Nawab Malik symbolized that emotion in the film. But there is an emotional tussle as he was an Indian, serving for British Army and there come different dynamics that makes it interesting."

Considering how Shahid has delivered some of his best performance as an actor in collaboration with Bhardwaj, when asked about how their equation has developed over a period of time, he said: "I share a special bond with him. Since the film is a director's medium If as an actor I am the cake, he is the icing on the cake."

"So no matter how good I perform, the outcome is totally dependent on the imagination of the director How he conceived the scene, how he is capturing the nuances of my performance, camera movement. Every time when Vishal sir shoots me, I look better than what I am, I think."

The actor who became father to a daughter last year, says fatherhood has changed him as a person. Will it reflect in his choice of films, so that he can show all his films to his daughter in the near future?

Shahid said: "You see, having a child changes you as an individual for sure. But I do not think I will take up a film only so that I will able to show it to Misha. I know it will take some time for her to reach a point to watch certain kinds of films. Having said that, I think I feel a little more responsible of my choice. It will reflect on my performance, of my work."

Rangoon, also starring Saif Ali Khan and Kangana Ranaut, will release on February 24.
India is the second leading country from where students migrate to the US for higher studies.The major pull of the colleges is their globally acclaimed courses, state-of-the-art infrastructure and an opportunity to gain first-hand industry experience while learning. The Missouri State University offers courses with the right blend of academic and industry exposure that equips one with necessary skills and knowledge required to excel in a global arena.

The university offers flexible programmes to match ones interest with full accreditation at a competitive fee. The student-faculty ratio is excellently high, which increases ones possibility of having one-to-one interaction with the professors. Students pursuing programmes are exposed to a wide range of subjects that will lead them to multiple career opportunities depending upon the programme they have opted for. For example, candidates looking for a career in engineering and related fields can opt for mechanical engineering technology degree, which prepares them for a high skill, demand, growth and pay career. One with such degree can find themselves working with aerospace systems, automotive performance, mechanisms and devices, energy and sustainability, automation and control.

The training quality and course curriculum have always acquired an edge over the programmes offered by other international universities. The Career Centre of Missouri State University serves students, alumni and employers with counselling, internship and full-time job searches, and vocational and educational information. Whether a student needs assistance finding the first job after graduation or is ready to change careers, this centre has services available. It has a variety of options to employers and alumni who would like to be mentors to students.

Job shadowing is one such that enables one to gather information on careers even before deciding on a course of study. Students can visit work sites, during which they shadow, observe, and ask questions about individual workers. It provides the following opportunities:

Informational interviews: This allows one to learn more about possible career paths by meeting, talking to and interviewing professionals in the field.

Mock interviews: It helps build confidence in students to keep their nerves calm during an actual interview.

E-mail networking with student: This makes alumnus available to respond to students questions, concerns, or requests for information via e-mail.

Resume and cover letter reviews: The career center hosts an event resume madness for different colleges. Students bring their resumes for a quick review and receive tips and suggestions.

Speaking to student organizations: The centre provides professional development to student organisations on campus. At MSU a varied mix of people offer enormous learning outside the classroom, students interact and work with people coming from various corners of the world. This experience assists them to evolve and succeed globally.

The writer is Associate Vice-President for International Programmes, MSU
Turning down fresh plea of Haryana government for holding a meeting, Jat community leaders on Friday announced to intensify the ongoing agitation of the community after February 19.

Jat representatives who are heading the agitations at various places, on Friday held a meeting at Jassia village in Rohtak under the leadership of Akhil Bharatiya Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti (ABJASS) president Yashpal Malik, chalking out the further plan.

"Today we had a meeting at Jassia attended by our representatives from various districts. It was decided that the plan that was chalked out today to intensify the protest would be formally announced on February 19, Malik told The Statesman ober phone.

"Additional director general of police (ADGP) (law and order), Mohammad Akil approached us today for fresh talk, however, we declined the same as no meeting would be held before February 19. Any meeting in this regard would be fixed after coming Sunday," he added.

Agitating Jats have announced to observe February 19 as Balidan Diwas (martyr day) across the state in memory of the community members killed during the agitation last year. Keeping in view the situation, the state government today deputed senior IAS officers to guide and support the deputy commissioners in eight districts.

These senior officers have been asked to reach the respective district latest by the noon of February 18 and remain present there till the forenoon of February 20 to appropriately guide and support the Deputy Commissioners as per their needs and based on any input that might independently be received by them. Meanwhile, the ongoing agitation in 20 districts of the state led by Malik today completed peaceful 20 days.

The state government has put the civil and police administration in all the districts on high alert. Apart from heavy deployment of state police personnel, a total 37 companies of paramilitary forces and nearly 7000 home guard personnel have been put into positions in the state to avoid any untoward incident likewise the previous year.

The Jat agitation in February last year left nearly 31 people dead while more than 200 injured. During the violence erupted last year, government and private properties were damaged and set on fire.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Friday lashed out at the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh and called upon the people to vote for her party, so that the rule of law could be established in the state.

"There is seething anger among the people against the ruling party and they are looking with hope towards the BSP to change the situation," she said at a rally in Fatehpur.

Alleging atrocities on Dalits and women, the four-time Chief Minister also said that there was a sense of fear and insecurity among the people. This could be removed only by a BSP government, she later told a crowd of supporters at Allahabad.

Referring to the bitter feud within the Samajwadi Party (SP), Mayawati said at every step SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav had humiliated his younger brother Shivpal Singh Yadav in his blind love for son Akhilesh Yadav.

"This will ensure that the SP ship sinks faster," she predicted.

Warning people not to "waste" the votes by going for the BJP or the SP-Congress alliance, the Dalit leader urged them to ensure that the BSP candidates won everywhere with handsome margins.
Expressing grave concern over the latest incident of religious sacrilege in the state, Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh has asked the police to crack down heavily on anti-social elements while urging the people to maintain peace and harmony at all costs.

Referring to the reported defilement of the Sikh religious text in Amritsar, Amarinder called upon the district police to ensure that the culprits are arrested and brought to book without delay in order to prevent aggravation of the tension sparked off by the incident.

The growing incidence of desecration in the state is a cause of serious distress and a sign of the increasing polarisation on communal lines, which the Badal-led Akalis had tried to fan in the run-up to assembly polls in a desperate, though unsuccessful, bid to consolidate the electorate in their favour, Amarinder said.

In a statement issued here on Friday, the Congress chief ministerial candidate reiterated his pre-poll promise to throw behind the bars every single person found involved in all such incidents, beginning with the Bargari sacrilege of 2015, which had led to two innocent people being killed in unprovoked police firing.

Amarinder vowed that, once elected, he would ensure that not a single person found implicated in such cases is spared. He promised to take stringent action against anyone found guilty of involvement, including Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) supremo Parkash Singh Badal, who is known to have manipulated religious sentiment for political gains even on earlier occasions.
Police had to intervene to clear the traffic on roads after crowd thronged outside a cloth shop in Mahmoorganj here that offered 'a saree for a rupee note'.

The scheme meant to sell the old stock of the shop's sarees, attracted huge crowd of women yesterday, which led to a blocked traffic in front of the shop in Mehmoorganj area, said sources.

Police had to intervene to clear the crowd which had blocked movement on the busy Mahmoorganj Sigra road in the heart of city.

The news about the offer spread like a wild fire and hundreds of women had gathered at the shop. The shop owner had to withdraw the offer due to the huge crowd and police later pacified women and cleard the traffic movement, sources said.

They added that the scheme was applicable on a condition that one has to first shop for items worth over Rs 500 before availing the scheme and that had led to some confusion which resulted in the chaos.
BJP leader Manoj Tiwari on Thursday attacked the opposition parties in Maharashtra after some unidentified people broke the looking glass of his vehicle, and vowed that nothing can deter him by the "cowardly attack".

"I will not be deterred by the cowardly attack on meshows desperation of our losing opponents," Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Manoj Tiwari tweeted.

The BJP leader's remarks came after few people in Mumbai broke the side looking glasses of his vehicle threatening him to stop campaigning for the BMC polls later this year.

Soon after the incident, the BJP leader took to twitter and wrote: "Few people broke the right side mirror of my vehicle and threatened me to stop campaigning in Mumbai or elsde they shall break my jaw."

In another tweet, Tiwari, who also represents northeast Delhi parliamentary constituency, shared the picture of the threat letter, which read, "Manoj Tiwari, Mumbai me prachar band karo warna abhi shisha toda haiaage muh bhi todenge (Manoj Tiwari, stop campaigning in Mumbai or else we shall broke your mouth instead of the mirror). You know us."

The Delhi BJP has condemned the attack on its President.
Late Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Kalikho Pul's wife on Friday demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe to find the actual reasons behind her husband's suicide.

"We want a central investigation agency  the CBI or the National Investigation Agency  to investigate the case," said Dangwimsai Pul addressing the media here.

She also alleged that the state government did not probe the death of Pul properly, despite an FIR by the family.

Kalikho Pul allegedly committed suicide on August 9, 2016, at his official residence.

The 47-year-old leader was found hanging from a ceiling fan, weeks after being unseated as chief minister by a ruling of the Supreme Court.

Dangwimsai Pul said the family has also appealed to the Chief Justice of India against the four judges whose names were mentioned in Pul's suicide letter alleging corruption.

She said the current state government was threatening the family for demanding a CBI probe.

The Arunachal Police had found a 60-page letter written by Kaliko Pul near his body. Titled 'Mere Vichar' (My Views), the letter mentioned several "deliberate irregularities" by state leaders and Supreme Court judges over the years.

Pul had become chief minister on February 19, 2016, after he along with 29 (19 Congress and 11 BJP) MLAs had defected to the People's Party of Arunachal Pradesh (PPA)  a state outfit  to form a new government, bringing down the existing Congress government led by Chief Minister Nabam Tuki.

However, the Supreme Court reinstated the Tuki government on July 13, 2016, following which Pul and his supporters returned to the Congress and supported Pema Khandu as the chief minister.

Though Khandu became chief minister on July 16 last year, Pul was yet to vacate the official residence at the time of his death.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has emerged as BJP's face in Maharashtra civic bodies poll campaign-related publicity material, with a new video hitting the social media today that lauded the work initiated by him since assuming charge in October 2014.

The 2.43 minutes video titled "This is our Devendra" has been released in Hindi and Marathi and lists various developmental schemes under Fadnavis' leadership in the state, including those for women's security and employment.

Also out is a comic book like caricature strip, showing Fadnavis as the harbinger of water to drought-hit Latur last year, when the state government ran 'water trains' to the Marathwada town. The strip shows people of Latur thanking Fadnavis, who is seen peeping from clouds bringing rain.

There is also a Marathi audio jingle on local radio stations doing the rounds, which asks voters to remember the "surgical strikes by the Modi government and the good work by Fadnavis". The jingle is in the form of a powada, a kind of ballad written in an exciting style and used to narrate historical events in an inspiring manner.

Added to this are hoardings on city roads and memes and photos on social media.

Posters featuring Fadnavis and declaring "ha shabda maza ahe (this is my word)" have been put up all over the city to counter Sena posters, which claim credit for work done by the civic body. The BJP posters have the tagline as "parivartan tar honarach (change will happen)" denoting its resolve to dethrone the Sena in the BMC.

Besides the official BJP posters and social media accounts, animated videos depicting the Shiv Sena as a "corrupt tiger" being controlled by a "lion" are also making the rounds.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday said YSR Congress Party chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy will also have to go to jail like AIADMK General Secretary V.K. Saikala for corruption.

Addressing a meeting of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in his constituency Kuppam in Chittoor district, Naidu said Jaganmohan Reddy will have to go to jail one day.

"Sasikala has gone to jail in a corruption case after 20 years. Jagan, who illegally amassed Rs 40,000 crore, will also have to go to jail," said the TDP chief.

Drawing a parallel between the case involving late J. Jayalalithaa and her aide V.K. Sasikala, which the Supreme Court disposed of on Tuesday, and that of Jaganmohan Reddy, the ruling TDP has demanded expeditious trial of the illegal assets case against the Leader of Opposition.

TDP Spokesman S. Chandramohan Reddy said while Sasikala misused Jayalalithaa's position and amassed illegal assets through quid pro quo deals, Jagan did the same in Andhra Pradesh by misusing his father Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy's position between 2004 and 2009.

"If Sasikala got a four-year jail term for a scam of Rs 66 crore, Jagan should get many more years, as he illegally amassed about Rs one lakh crore," said Chandramohan Reddy.


West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday suggested the BJP that it should manage its own house as "no one" had voted for it in the Punjab elections.

She also accused the Narendra Modi government of threatening her with a probe by the CBI as she raised her voice against demonetisation.

"BJP should manage its own house. In the just-concluded Punjab (Assembly) election, none has voted for the party.

"Only because of mistakes committed by the Congress, the BJP had come to power at the Centre. It will not be repeated.

The Congress has weakened itself because of their own mistakes," she said.

The chief minister was speaking while inaugurating a booster pumping station at Harish Park in south Kolkata.

Accusing the BJP of using money and muscle power apart from using central agencies to threaten others and pull down governments, Banerjee said the saffron party should mind its own business before trying to harm others.

Banerjee held the Modi government responsible for "destroying the economy of the country".

"They have destroyed the country's entire economy. What the country had achieved in all these years have been destroyed totally because of this (note ban)," she said.

"And now when I am talking against demonetisation they are threatening me with the CBI You can set up 1000 CBIs against me but I will go on raising my voice for the people," she said.

Turning to the Congress, she said that it should look into its own mistakes and concentrate on Delhi before thinking about West Bengal.

"Congress, you were there in Delhi for a long time. But you could not run the government well there First you must govern at the Centre properly then talk about (West) Bengal

This will do good for you," she said.

Banerjee described the CPI-M as a "lost case" and a party with "no credibility" and asked it to stop practising destructive politics.
Fugitive movie director Roman Polanski plans to return to the United States, his lawyer said on Thursday, and is seeking assurances he will do no further jail time over the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl.

The award-winning director of "The Pianist" and "Chinatown" has been on the run for almost 40 years but claims he reached a plea deal in the case which would keep him out of jail, attorney Harland Braun told AFP.

Braun has written to Los Angeles County Superior Court judge Scott Gordon to unseal a secret transcript of the testimony of the prosecutor in the Polanski case.

The filmmaker was accused of drugging Samantha Gailey before raping her at a friend's house in Los Angeles in 1977.

He admitted having unlawful sex with a minor, or statutory rape, as part of a plea bargain and spent 42 days in Chino State Prison before being released.

He claims Judge Laurence Rittenband reneged on his deal and told prosecutors Polanski should spend up to 50 years in prison, and the filmmaker fled to Europe.

He spent almost a year in custody in Switzerland as authorities tried to extradite him back to the US but a Polish court ruled Polanski has served his time under the plea deal.

Braun believes the secret testimony supports Polanski's claim that had an agreement to serve just 48 days.

"After we confirm the contents, we will urge the court to recognise the Polish decision resulting from a litigation initiated by the (district attorney) and in which the DA participated," Braun said.

"If the court accepts the principle of comity, Roman can come to Los Angeles and to court without fear of custody.
A Mumbai-bound Air India flight AI 130 from London with over 200 people on board made an emergency landing at Esenboga International Airport in Ankara on Thursday, leaving passengers stranded.

AI 130 flew from London for Mumbai but enroute encountered with a case of medical emergency on board. The pilot had to contact the nearest Air Traffic Control to make an emergency landing at Ankara.

People have been stuck at the airport for more than 10 hours which led to chaos at the Ankara airport.

Many of the passengers travelling on the flight have complained to the Indian Embassy of Turkey and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

The passengers have complained that there are no crew members available at the airport and there has been no communication between the passengers and the crew members of Air India flight.

Meanwhile, sources at the Air India have confirmed the incident and said an engineering team of Air India has been sent to inspect the aircraft and give a take-off approval.

(With inputs from agencies)
Congress leader Randeep Surjewala on Friday slammed Union Minister Jitendra Singh for his remark over Army chiefs statement on Kashmiri youth and asked whether the morale of jawans was not affected when Prime Minister Modi landed in Lahore to have a feast with his Pakistani counterpart Sharif.

Dr Jitendra Singh, please tell if morale of our Jawans wasn't effected when Prime Minister Narendra Modi feasted with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif even as soldiers of the country were sacrificing their lives, Surjewala said in a series of tweets.

Questioning the NDA governments move to invite Pakistans spy agency ISI to probe the Pathankot terror attack, he asked whether the Armys morale wasnt affected after nearly 188 jawans lost their lives in last 30 months due to terror attack.

He also questioned whether the Armys morale was not affected when PDP-BJP government gave compensation to family of terrorists.

Earlier in the day, Union Minister Jitendra Singh came in support of Army Chief General Bipin Rawat and said that he was within his right to urge the people of the state and the youth to stay away from stone pelting in Kashmir.

He had also said that the Army should not be politicised in any manner as it might affect its morale.

(With inputs from agencies)
Bellandur Lake in Bangalore caught fire on Thursday and covered the city with toxic clouds, triggering panic among residents.

Garbage and debris that are dumped in the lake caused fire, sources said, adding,The residents have often complained about dump waste in the lake.

The state pollution board has also issued notices to various local bodies to stop dumping waste in the lake, according to reports.

"Usually, a pile of garbage strewn around the lake is set on fire, but yesterday (Thursday) it caused a scare among residents and motorists as the smoke started billowing and surrounding the lake in the evening," KU Ramesh, deputy director at Karnataka Fire Department, said.

Some angry residents of the city took to Twitter to express their anger at the condition of Bengaluru lakes.

Here's a tragic sight that sums up exploitation n killing of Bengaluru, Rajeev Chandrasekhar tweeted.

Wake up CM of Karnataka, You guys are killing the citizens of Bangalore, Kashyap, another Bangalore resident, wrote.

Supporting Chandrasekhar and Kashyap's concerns, another Twitteratti, Rahul Raj said, Fire, smoke, garbage and pollution around Bellandur Lake in Bengaluru. The city used to be so clean. We have become immune to slow death.

That smoke is not from a forest fire or even a blast. It is a Bengaluru lake ON FIRE. AGAIN, one resident Dhanya Rajendran tweeted.
The ruling BJP and the main Opposition Congress on Friday traded fireworks over Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat's recent remarks warning local people hampering counter-militancy operations in Kashmir of tough action.

Charging the Congress with allegedly speaking in the voice of separatists and "politicising" the armed forces for "lowly political gains", the BJP strongly defended Rawat, who had said on Wednesday that the locals preventing security forces from conducting their operations and even supporting terrorists in the Kashmir Valley will be treated as "anti-nationals" and will face "tough action".

The separatists and the National Conference, Jammu & Kashmir's principal Opposition party, have criticised the Army Chief over his stern message to the Kashmiri locals.

The Congress party has also said security forces should adopt restraint while dealing with common people and should only go after the wrong-doers.

Senior Congress leader and ex-Union home minister P Chidambaram has described the Army Chief's comments as "intemperate". He asserted that the government should change its approach and reach out to the people of J&K to address the situation there which, he added, required a political solution.

Chidambaram also cautioned the government that its current high-handed approach would only cause "more alienation" in Kashmir in addition to "more infilitration, more encounters, and more deaths, including those of security personnel and civilians".

The Union minister of state for PMO, Jitendra Singh, who hails from J&K, slammed the Congress leaders for criticising Rawat's statement, claiming that what the Army Chief said was "not a warning" but only "concern" over civilians' safety.

"It is appalling and a matter of concern that the Congress is falling to this temptation of politicising the Army Chief's statement This party can go to any extent for political benefits. It is speaking the voice of separatists for lowly political gains," Singh said.

Citing statements of Congress leaders, he said these were "unbecoming of a national party" and asked the Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to make his position clear on his colleagues' comments.

"What the Army Chief has said is not a warning but an expression of concern. He is worried that innocent people may be hit and become collateral damage (in anti-terrorist operation). He is saying that don't come in the line of fire," Singh said, defending Rawat.

The Army Chief's tough talk came after four soldiers, including a Major, were killed in two separate encounters in Kashmir in which four terrorists were also gunned down.

Hitting back at the BJP, the Congress asked whether the morale of Indian soldiers was not affected when 188 jawans were killed in terror attacks over the last 30 months of the Narendra Modi dispensation.

The Congress's chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala asked Singh whether this morale was not affected "when Modiji feasted with PM Sharief in Pakistan as jawans sacrificed for India" or "when Modiji invited the rogue ISI to investigate the Pathankot terror attack in India" or "when the BJP-PDP government gave compensation to the kin of dreaded terrorists in J & K".

On the question of the Army Chief's remarks, Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia reportedly said, "The issue of internal security of the country is a serious one and there can be no compromise on it. But atrocities should not be inflicted on innocents. Action should be taken against those involved in wrong-doings but there is need to adopt restraint."

He added that children were blinded and atrocities were committed against them during their agitation in Kashmir last year.

A slew of union ministers and BJP leaders, including Venkaiah Naidu, Prakash Javadekar and Kiren Rijiju, have endorsed and justified Gen Rawat's remarks.
Thick smoke enveloped Bellandur lake after a fire broke out when garbage strewn around it was set ablaze, a fire department official said on Friday.

The incident triggered panic among motorists on the busy Sarjapur main road.

"Usually, a pile of garbage strewn around the lake is set on fire, but on Thursday it caused a scare among residents and motorists as the smoke started billowing and surrounding the lake in the evening," K U Ramesh, Deputy Director at Karnataka Fire Department, said.

The fire was doused in half an hour, he said.

The area, for a while, was enveloped by huge clouds of smoke, he said.

Residents hit out at the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials for their "lackadaisical" attitude to stop dumping of garbage.

Karnataka State Pollution Control Board Chairman Lakshman said notices have been issued to the BBMP, Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewage Board and other agencies to stop the dumping. He also said the board is in the process of inspecting sewage treatment plants in the area.

The lake has been in news for the last one year for spillover of froth and toxic fumes.
In a significant development, the Himachal Pradesh cabinet on Friday decided to consider the request of Yoga Guru Ramdevs Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust to review its four-year-old order of cancellation of 28 acre government land allotted to it, provided the Trust withdraws the CWP filed in the high court.

The Trust, which had by then invested Rs.11 crore on the land allotted to it, had filed petition in the high court, alleging serious discrepancies in the state governments move to cancel the lease in February 2013. On this, the high court had stayed the government action at the facility created on the land allotted to the Trust and had stopped the police to take possession of the land.

The lease of land to Ramdevs Trust in Solan district by the previous BJP government was at the centre of state politics during the assembly polls in 2012.

The land was allotted in favour of Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust, Haridwar (Uttarakhand) for establishing a branch of Yog and Ayurved-related Medical Science Research and Health, Tourism and production of herbal medicinal plants at Sadhu Pul in Solan. The lease agreement for 99 years involved a payment of Rs.17 lakh by the Ramdev Trust, along with a token payment of Rupee one per annum during the lease period.

However, as soon as the Congress party came to power in the state in December 2012, its government cancelled Trusts lease agreement, causing furore in several sections of people, especially locals in surrounding villages.

The Congress party, while in opposition in Himachal, had listed this as a major point in its chargesheet against the then BJP government.

Cancelling the agreement in February 2013, the Congress government had claimed that the land rules were violated in the grant of lease to Ramdevs Trust.

Earlier this week, Chief Minister, Virbhadra Singh had taken a U turn, holding that no irregularity had been found in the allotment of land granted on lease to Ramdevs Trust.

Singh said the government had looked at the issue afresh and had reached on the conclusion that there was no violation.

The part of land where the Yoga Guru proposes to invest is barren. There is nothing wrong in it if the state gets some investment that benefits Himachal Pradesh and its people, Singh said, as he recalled that he (Singh) hosted Ramdevs yoga camp at Hamirpur at his personal expense and also attended it some years ago.
Amid marked strain in bilateral ties, India and China are likely to discuss a host of contentious issues, including Beijing repeatedly blocking a UN ban on JeM chief Masood Azhar and stymeing India's NSG membership, when Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar meets the Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui next week in Beijing.

Jaishankar will attend the first India-China Strategic Dialogue to be held in Beijing on February 22.

New Delhi is expected to try and persuade Beijing not to roadblock its bid for the NSG membership and as well as its proposal to have Jaish-e Mohamed chief Masood Azhar branded as an international terrorist.

On the other hand, China is likely to raise the issue of the Dalai Lama and India inviting Taiwanese lawmakers, among others.

"The two sides are expected to discuss all issues of mutual interest in the bilateral, regional and international domain," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said on Thursday.

Jaishankar is likely to voice India's displeasure over China repeatedly shielding Azhar from being branded as an international terrorist.

China blocked India's proposal at the UN to add Azhar to the international terrorists' list thrice in 2016, only to reject a fresh US proposal for the same this month, irking India.

India says Azhar is behind the terror attack on the Pathankot air base in January last year, in which seven security personnel were killed.

China put a technical hold on the recent US move to list the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief as a terrorist in the 1267 committee of the UN Security Council, apparently at the behest of its all-weather friend Pakistan.

Jaishankar is also likely to take up China's opposition to India's entry into the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group. The Pakistan factor comes into play here as well.

Beijing opposes New Delhi's inclusion into the elite bloc which regulates global nuclear trade.

Last June, China blocked India's application, citing New Delhi's non signatory status to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty for the membership.

China's argument is if India can be let in why not Pakistan, which also is not signatory to the NPT.

Besides, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is another vexed issued which could figure in the discussion.

The ongoing $46 billion Chinese-funded project links China's Xinjiang province to Gwadar port in Balochistan. This corridor is key to China's ambitious One Belt One Road Project.

India is dead against CPEC because the corridor passes through Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan and parts of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, which New Delhi considers as its territory.

Like New Delhi, Beijing has reservations too.

Indian President Pranab Mukherjee hosting the Dalai Lama at the Rashtrapati Bhavan last December has not gone down well with China. Beijing accuses the spiritual leader of secessionist activities in Tibet.

China is also likely to tell New Delhi not to mess with Taiwan whose lawmakers this week were on a visit to India.

On Wednesday, China warned India to be cautious in dealing with Taiwan and asked it to stick to One China Policy.

India has termed the visit of the Taiwanese lawmakers as informal and asked China not to read much into it.

The long-standing boundary dispute and the current trade deficit can also feature in the dialogue.
Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh on Friday accused the Congress and the National Conference of behaving like separatists for criticising Army Chief General Bipin Rawat's warning to protesters who try to rescue militants from shootout sites in Kashmir.

"The same political party, for example like the National Conference, is talking like this which as a part of the UPA was the one which even went to the extent of demanding bombardment of the terror camps in Pakistan," Jitendra Singh told the media.

The army chief's statement on counter-terror operations has led to a political furore in the Kashmir Valley.

General Rawat had issued a warning to Kashmir stone-pelters for interfering during anti-militancy operations saying that they will be treated as anti-nationals. A dangerous trend has emerged in the valley where youth carrying Islamist flags and stones flock to shootout sites during gun fights to help militants flee.

"We would request the local population local boys if they want to continue with the acts of terrorism, displaying flags of the IS (Islamic State) and Pakistan, then we will treat them as anti-national elements and go helter-skelter for them If they do not relent and create hurdles, then we will take tough action," the chief said.

The opposition National Conference in Kashmir expressed dismay over the "belligerent remarks" of the army chief that it said would "increase the hostility in the valley".

"Youth rushing towards encounter sites and incidents of stone-pelting on the forces during encounters are worrying and alarming signs of the sense of alienation and disenchantment in Kashmir," the National Conference said in a statement.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was on Friday reported by a section of the media as saying that the government was to blame for the worsening situation in the state.

He said threatening Kashmiri youth was "unjustified" and could be the central government's policy and "not the army's".

Jitendra Singh said the Congress statement was unfortunate and similar to that of Kashmiri separatists who have slammed the army chief's threat to stone-pelters in Kashmir.

"When they (the Congress and the National Conference) are in power, they swear by India and Kashmir as an integral part of India. The moment they are shunted out of power, they overnight become wiser and question the role of the army in Jammu and Kashmir," the Minister said.

"The Congress is also falling for the same separatist and semi-separatist jargon for short term electoral gains."
Welcome, Neighbor!

Thank you for sharing my journey with me. It's a bumpy ride, but hopefully you'll find it worthwhile! To reach out to me, send me an e-mail at jamesbradfordpate@yahoo.com.


Pakistan is boycotting the two-day South Asian Speakers Summit to be hosted by India at Madhya Pradeshs commercial capital of Indore from Saturday to discuss various social issues like gender equality, women empowerment and climate change.

The summit, being jointly organised by the Indian Parliament and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), will be inaugurated by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. Presiding officers of Parliament from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka will participate in it.

The Indore Summit provides an international platform to the parliamentarians of the South Asian region to collectively discuss the developmental concerns of the area, according to the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

Indian officials say Pakistan too was invited for the summit but it expressed its inability to attend the meet, saying National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq would be occupied with the ongoing session of Pakistans Lower House.

it is learnt that Pakistan decided to stay away from the summit in view of the current state of relations between the two countries and the fact that India had decided to boycott the SAARC Summit that was to be hosted by Islamabad in November last year, which eventually led to its indefinite postponement. Pakistan had also expressed its unwillingness to host a conference of Commonwealth countries speakers after India threatened to boycott it if Islamabad refused to invite the speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.

Pakistan has also been upset with India for the treatment meted out to Sartaj Aziz, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs Adviser on Foreign Affairs, when he visited Amritsar in December last year to attend the Heart of Asia conference on Afghanistan.

Earlier in January 2016, Speakers of Parliament from South Asia had met for the first time in Dhaka and discussed ways and concrete action for the Parliaments of the region to help implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Dhaka Declaration highlighted the importance of strong Parliamentary action on the SDGs and established the South Asian Speakers' Forum. It was decided that the forum should meet once a year to discuss progress and implementation of the SDGs.

Apart from Pakistan, Myanmar expressed its inability to participate in the summit.

The summit will lay emphasis on sharing experiences and increasing understanding about how Parliaments in the region institutionalise the global goals, capture synergies and build coherence at the policy level.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Friday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said PM Modi has made empty promises.

"PM Modi makes empty promises and government is not doing enough for farmers, Rahul said while addressing an election rally in Rae Bareilly.

The Congress vice president said that two crore farmers have asked PM Modi to waive their loans, but there was no response from him and he didnt speak about loans, about farmers.

They (BJP) has promised theyll waive off farmers loans. Congress had waived Rs.70,000 crore of farmers loans when it was in Centre, not UP. Modi can waive off loans in 15 minutes but no one does it, he said.

Modi had promised Varanasi about cleaning up the city, providing free internet, but hasnt delivered, he said and added that relationships arent made that way.

Priyanka joined her brother Rahul in Rae Bareli, a parliamentary seat held by her mother Sonia, and earlier by her grandmother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi.

Rahul and Priyanka are scheduled to hold multiple election rallies in Uttar Pradeshs Hathgaon Maharajganj districts on Friday.

Rae Bareli accounts for five assembly seats and goes to vote on February 23, the fourth of seven phases of polling in the state.
Joining a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with her brother Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday slammed Modi over his outsider remarks.

PM Modi said that UP adopted me. UP doesn't need any outsider. Every youth in the state has the capability to become a leader, Priyanka said while addressing a rally in Rae Bareli.

PM Modi says he is against women persecution, but still makes women stand in queues, she further added.

After weeks of delaying and cancellations, Priyanka campaigned with her brother for the ongoing Uttar Pradesh assembly elections in Rae Bareli, a parliamentary seat held by mother Sonia Gandhi. The party workers have long been demanding Priyanka to campaign, however she restricted her campaigning to Amethi and Rae Bareli.

Priyanka is among the 40 'star campaigners' that the party has listed for the polls.

Working as a silent spectator and carrying out backend work, Priyanka is said to be one of the key negotiators with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav when the alliance talks were underway.

The Samajwadi Party sealed its alliance with the Congress on January 22 after days of negotiation. The Congress party was allotted 105 seats out of 403 seats.

Rae Bareli is set to go for polling on February 23 in the fourth phase of the seven-phase UP election and Amethi on February 27 in the fifth phase.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi is scheduled to address a rally on February 20.

The Gandhi siblings who jointly campaigned in the previous elections were last seen campaigning together during the 2014 Lok Sabha election in Amethi, a seat which Rahul won.
Operational effectiveness, as always, will be determined by the realities of the situation on the ground. So only developments in the Kashmir Valley will testify to whether the stern caution from the Army Chief will deter sections of the civil populace from hampering the efforts of the security forces when tackling militant activity; or, whether they will provoke even more determined bids to hinder the troops in their bid to preserve national security by bringing the militants to book. There is reason to suspect that those master-minding the unrest (not necessarily from across the border) will exploit General Bipin Rawats no-holds-barred warning and observations to further the feeling of alienation that has spread across the Valley after the killing of Burhan Wani, and further the resentment against what they viciously project as an occupation army committed to denying the people of J&K the right to self-determination. The Chiefs use of soldier talk could also be cited as evidence that the security forces were hurting: further encouraging the recent trend of some locals complicating, possibly derailing, the anti-militant missions of the Army and paramilitary. It is also possible that the Chiefs warning will be used to sell the international community the mischievous theory that India was using excessive military force to subjugate the folk in the Valley.

It is rather apparent that once again has been exposed the vastly different interpretations that could be given to comments made in and outside the Valley. What is music in one place rankles in the other. Gen Rawats plain-speaking would certainly serve as a morale-booster to his men who have been facing severe difficulties in having to thwart militants, yet also having to keep an eye on what may be happening behind their backs. The increasingly jingoistic electronic media certainly played up the remarks. That Gen Rawats tough talk came at a homage ceremony also attended by the Prime Minister also lends itself to questionable interpretation. Since actions speak louder than words, the various counter-measures the Chief mentioned might have paid better dividends if implemented on the ground rather than articulated in New Delhi. The audience he was addressing could not hear him, and media accounts have hardly deterred those bent on keeping up the heat through a harsh winter. The larger question that keeps popping up is whether military action alone (restrained and professional though it is) can reverse the ugly trends in the Valley. There are few signs of a game-plan to turn the economic situation around, defuse tensions, foster peace and tranquillity, and win over minds and hearts. Gen Rawat and the men in uniform are paying a heavy price for the sustained incompetence and indifference of the political leadership in New Delhi and Srinagar.
The Centre intends to allow foreign universities to open campuses in India. Though the government allows 100 per cent foreign investment in the higher education sector through the automatic, the granting of degrees by foreign institutions is not permitted as that authority rests with the universities established through central or state acts. However, several foreign institutions have been offering various courses since 2000 through joint ventures in the form of twining arrangement, franchises, and online courses.

However, it is feared that the India-made foreign degrees may not be a genuine ticket to a global career and the institutes dispensing them will prove to be nothing more than dodgy degree shops selling fancy dreams.

The innovation of courses offered in India by foreign universities suffered a setback with a Madras High Court ruling in 1977. Responding to a petition, the court issued an interim injunction restraining foreign universities or institutions with offices in India from conferring degrees on students in this country. The court intervention showed that these institutions could expect such resistance from several quarters. This used to be the general pattern with most foreign and multinational initiatives in India during the 1990s ~ initial outrage and protests followed by gradual acceptance.

In order to regulate their operations, the government introduced in Parliament The Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operation, Maintenance of Quality and Prevention of Commercialisation) Bill, 2007. The objective was to provide an ideal regulatory frameworkin which reputed institutions are able to enter and operate in terms of Indias national policy, and at the same time check and control sub-standard or fly-by night operators. The revised version the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operation) Bill, 2010 was introduced to facilitate the opening up of the higher education sector to foreign investors as well.

Among provisions in the Bill is the requirement of setting up a corpus fund of Rs 50 crore and withholding of permission to repatriate any part of the surplus revenue. This might seem to be too restrictive to the foreign providers, and could make them opt for foreign direct investment through the automatic route. There would be no difficulty as such to offer training or vocational programmes leading to certificates of proficiency. At a time when there is a demand to delink jobs from degrees, the foreign providers would be able to exploit the situation.

The University Grants Commission Act states that only universities set up by Parliament or a state legislature, and those declared deemed universities by the government, can award degrees. The Centre can have the UGC Act amended to allow foreign campuses that will operate as full-fledged universities in India, or introduce a new bill allowing them to function as deemed universities. In 2010, the government unsuccessfully introduced a bill in Parliament to allow foreign campuses. However, in 2013, the UGC notified rules allowing foreign universities to set up campuses and award degrees. In 2014, the HRD ministry did prepare a bill in favour of foreign campuses, but it was not sent to the cabinet.

It should not be taken for granted that the foreign institutions can ensure quality. There are a large number of universities that are chronically suffering from mediocrity. It will be difficult for these centres of learning to face the competition with quality foreign universities in the most developed countries. The dynamics of foreign universities in India would lead to commercialisation without enhancing competitiveness.

Many of the renowned off-shore universities are willing to invest in campuses abroad, and, in practice, it is hard to replicate the standards of the home country in some other country. Other related problems are: returns from the investment made in establishing and running of campuses, non-repatriation of profits as mentioned, the regulatory mechanism of the host country in regard to the fee-structure, faculty salaries, curriculum to be offered, and issues pertaining to research and intellectual property rights etc.

The University of New South Wales had shut down its campuses in Singapore within months of being established. The John Hopkins Centre also packed up its activities as it did not meet the performance benchmark in Singapore. A foreign university cannot enter China without a local university as partner. In Malaysia, private institutions could enter into twinning and franchising arrangements with partners of their choice prior to 2000, but subsequently new foreign partnerships and branch campuses have been allowed to be set up only on invitation from the Ministry of Education to the foreign institutions.

In India, we have been in the process of encouraging FDI not only in the development sectors, but in retail segment as well in order to enhance foreign funds with incidental advantages of technology transfer, job opportunities and benefits to domestic firms and consumers. But since education is not a tradeable commodity, the implications of FDI in the higher educational sector call for reflection.

It should not be taken for granted that the number of students intending to go abroad can be brought down by setting up offshore-campuses in India. The motivation of the students in such cases is mainly towards getting jobs and migrating at a later stage. The presumption that the cost of foreign education at home will be cheaper is also not based on reason. The idea that the foreign programmes will reduce the outflow of Indian currency is not realistic because the lions share will go to the foreign partners. It is also doubtful whether the quality of the off-shore institutions will be better than many of our internationally renowned institutions. The highly reputed foreign institutions would be interested in investment for developing or fostering centres of excellence in joint research programmes, faculty exchange and the like.

The foreign universities are very likely to focus on the market-oriented and demand-driven professional and technical disciplines. No foreign provider has shown any inclination in introducing courses in Humanities and Social Sciences. This is a major area of concern. This may have a negative effect on the future of these disciplines. Also, they may employ Indian faculty offering more attractive pay packets that would enhance the shortage of faculty in our universities. This has been noted by a parliamentary committee.

The standing committee on human resource development in its 237th report on the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill, 2010 said that the entry of foreign universities into the country would aggravate the shortage of qualified teachers in Indian educational institutions both government and private. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in higher education is certainly harmful for home-grown institutions. It is an educational invasion on the principle that the superior party will win. The rational approach is to improve the standards of our institutions.

It is only reasonable that any foreign university that intends to set up a campus should undergo certain checks and balances. Strict norms for permitting them to offer programmes either on their own or in collaboration with Indian counterparts or through online or in the distance mode should be followed.

The fact that students make a beeline for degrees offered by foreign universities is a sad commentary on the state of higher education in our country. Professor Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, the 2009 Nobel Prize winner, has doubts as to whether foreign campuses in India would be able to reproduce the culture of the original place, as similar campuses in South-east Asia and the Middle East have failed to live up to the peoples expectations. If foreign universities with an indifferent record at home are allowed to set up shop in India, the whole process will be counter-productive.

The writer is former Associate Professor, Dept. of English, Gurudas College, Kolkata
It is hard not to wonder whether Michael Flynn, the National Security Adviser of the United States of America, is the sacrificial lamb for having played the honest broker between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin much to the consternation of the world. On the face of it, by putting in his papers he has acknowledged his suspected culpability, which scarcely condones the incumbents calculated flirtation with the Kremlin. Flynn has resigned because of his contacts with the Russian ambassador to Washington and his subsequent attempts to cover up the exact nature of those contacts. Tuesdays development in the wake of the Presidents serial debacles in the courts over the immigrants issue does not imply curtains on an embarrassing chapter of Trumps pre-election machinations. Rather it could deepen suspicions that he had played footsie with Putin to ensure the defeat of Hillary Clinton. It is the Russian intervention in US Elections 2016 that has been enormously damaging for the Trump presidency. The crisis of the Presidents legitimacy over its relationship with Moscow is likely to persist. That relationship has already had an impact on Trumps cabal. On closer reflection, Flynn has resigned after the new administration assumed office.

He is in fact he third Trump acolyte who appears to have been forced out over links to the Russian government on an issue so sensitive as the presidential elections. It bears recall that Paul Manafort, the former campaign manager, and Carter Page, a businessman who doubled up as Trumps adviser, had resigned last summer in the face of reports that they were in contact with the Kremlin. It is Trump and no other who will have to answer for the post-Cold War trans-Atlantic electoral coordination, and the spate of resignations shall not airbrush the fundamentals though the apple-cart has been rocked fair and square. The equation with Putin had hung over Trumps campaign and the Republican convention; the presidency per se is now under a cloud.

Flynns resignation validates the suspicions of many in Washington that something is seriously amiss with regard to President Trumps ties to Russia. This is the third member of Trumps circle to be pushed out over Russia-linked scandals, was the immediate summing up by Susan Hennessey, a former NSA lawyer, of yet another jolt that the administration has suffered in less than a month in office. Well might Trump imagine that he has got Flynn out of harms way; but the resignation will only ramp up the pressure from both the public and Congress, with both demanding a full account of the nature of Trumps connections to Russia both now and during the campaign. Much has been revealed to the world; much also alas has not. Which precisely is the inherent puzzle of Americas 45th presidency.
In these times of social media, travelling to Australia has emerged as a more inviting option for outbound Bengal tourists, who are looking for adventure and the fascination of self-drives, romantic holidays, culinary trails, wildlife and theme parks. In its latest initiative to pull a large number of Bengal tourists, Tourism Australia is working with its airline partners to roll out special low-cost airfares for flyers travelling to Australia in the summer months of April and May.

Nishant Kashikar, country manager, India and Gulf, Tourism Australia informed, We are working with eight airline players like Air India, Scoot Airlines, Air Asia, Singapore Airlines, Silk Air, Malaysian Airlines, Thai Airways and Cathay Pacific. We intend to offer airfares to holidaymakers lower than the prevailing ones. In fact, we have an agreement with Air India and Malaysian Airlines to come up with special offers for Indian flyers jetting away to Australia.

There has been a surge in the flow of outbound tourists from Bengal to Australia in recent times. Kashikar said, Nearly 7,100 travellers from Bengal touched down in Australia contributing as much as Rs 145 crore to the economy of the country with an average spending of about Rs 2.06 lakh per person. There has been around 29 per cent growth in Bengal tourist arrivals to Australia last year. We are targeting to have around 10,000 tourists from these parts in the current period. We are expecting around 2, 75,000 Indian travellers in Australia this year.

Tourism Australia has bolstered its marketing campaign that has paved the way to achieve a double digit growth in Indian tourist footfall. Kashikar further said, We have signed an agreement with the department of immigration, Australia and leading global travel companies like Thomas Cook and, Cox and Kings Limited for facilitation of trans-visa. We have our online training session called Aussie Specialist Programme and we have imparted training to travel groups in Bengal. There are around 350 Aussie specialists in Bengal now.

The tourist market in Bengal is rapidly growing and figures as a vital source market for Australia. Kashikar added, Next to New Delhi and Mumbai, West Bengal ranks in the third position in terms of number of affluent households in the country. With rising affluent households and the propensity of well-to-do families to travel, the tourism market is gaining momentum. We are working closely with 12 travel groups from Bengal like Club 7 Holidays, Gainwell Holidays, Pristine Travel and Vensimal World Travel Agents Private Limited to entice travellers from the state. Bengal occupies the eighth position in terms of Indian tourist arrivals to Australia.

Maharashtra and New Delhi contribute the most number of Indian tourists to Australia. We are promoting Australia as a destination for special occasions for honeymoon couples and leisure tourists. It is also a favourite with the corporate sector and companies like Honda, Asian Paints and Suzuki are organising trips for their employees to Australia this year, further added Kashikar.

Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Cairns and Adelaide are the chief attractions for Bengal tourists. India will soon emerge among the five leading tourist source markets for Australia, signed off Kashikar.
Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar has proposed creation of G20 working group on terrorism and called for a people-centric approach by the grouping for Africa.

Akbar, who was on a three-day visit to Germany starting Feb 15 to attend G20 foreign ministers' informal meeting, discussed issues relating to rule-based international order.

A press release from the Indian Embassy in Berlin said that the ministerial meetings are being convened by the German G20 presidency for holding deliberations in various areas.

It said the themes of the meeting were 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, maintaining peace in a complex world and cooperation with Africa.

"They exchanged views on crisis prevention, addressing global imbalances and poverty, and help build peaceful, fair and sustainable world order. The need to reform institutions of global governance like the United Nations to reflect the contemporary realities was also discussed. (The) Minister proposed creation of a G20 Working Group on Terrorism," the release said.

Akbar said focus of countries should be on the 'African' rather than on Africa only.

He called for a people-centric approach for Africa by G20, and concentrating on education, skill development and gender empowerment as priorities.

On the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals, the minister said that the key question was the crisis of poverty.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made poverty elimination rather than poverty-alleviation as the principal goal of governance.

The minister also held several bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the G20 meeting.
Ahead of its strategic dialogue with India, China on Friday said "solid evidence" was needed for it to back efforts to get JeM chief Masood Azhar banned by the UN.

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and China's Executive Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui will hold a new round of strategic dialogue in Beijing on February 22, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang told a media briefing here.

The two sides will have an in-depth exchange of views on the international situation and other regional and global issues of mutual interest in the strategic dialogue which is an important communication mechanism between India and China, he said.

Commenting on reports of "friction points" in the bilateral relationship, including the Azhar issue and India's admission into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Geng said "differences are only natural".

"Through all kinds of conversation and exchanges, including (the) upcoming Strategic Dialogue, (the) two sides can step up communication to narrow differences and reach new consensus on achieving cooperation," he said.

On the Azhar issue, over which China has put a technical hold on the recent US move to list the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief as a terrorist in the 1267 committee of the UN Security Council, Geng said China will support the move if there is solid evidence.

"China upholds principles of objectivity, impartiality and professionalism and takes part in relevant discussions.

Whether last year's application by India or this year's by (the) relevant country, our position is consistent," Geng said.

"Our criteria is only one, we need solid evidence. If there is solid evidence the application can be approved. If there is no solid evidence there is hardly consensus," he said.

Stating that China has reiterated its stand several times, Geng said, "On (the) 1267 committee, the latest development is relevant countries have made another application with the committee. Relevant members of (the) committee are in consultation and relevant parties have failed to reach consensus so far." .

China last year put a technical hold twice on India's application to get Azhar banned by the UN.

This year, the US moved the proposal in the UNSC to designate Azhar, the mastermind of the Pathankot terror attack, as a terrorist. China once again has put a technical hold on the move.

On India's entry into the NSG, he said, "We have said many times this is a multilateral issue".

"We stick to two-step approach namely, first NSG members need to arrive at a set of principles for the entry of non-NPT state parties into NSG and then move forward discussions of specific cases," Geng said.

"Our position is consistent. Apart from India, other non-NPT state parties are also making applications. Our position on those applications is consistent," he said.

Whether the Azhar issue or the NSG issue, they are in essence multilateral issues and not bilateral ones, Geng said.

"We hope India can understand China's attitude and position on the two matters," he said, adding that China and India are the two largest developing counties having a wide range of converging interests.

"China India cooperation benefits not only two countries but the region and developing world which can contribute to our solidarity," he said.
Pakistani security forces on Friday killed more than 24 militants in a nationwide crackdown, a day after an ISIS suicide bomber blew himself up in Sufi shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sindh's Sehwan, claiming 76 lives.

Paramilitary Sindh Rangers today said they killed 18 terrorists in overnight operations in the southern province.

According to Rangers, seven terrorists were killed in a shootout after they attacked a convoy of the paramilitary troops on the Super Highway near Kathor, Sindh.

The convoy was returning from Sehwan town after taking part in rescue operations. A soldier was also injured.

Another 11 terrorists were killed in a raid carried out in Manghopir area of Karachi, according to Rangers.

Separately, police in northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa said they have killed 11 extremist in the restive province.

According to a security official, police killed three terrorists in Reggi area of Peshawar, while army targeted and killed four militants in Orakzai tribal region.

Another four militants were killed in exchange of fire in in Bannu area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Official said the crackdown would be intensified in the coming days as government had resolved to eliminate militancy.

The crackdown was launched simultaneously by the federal and provincial governments after at least eight terror attacks rocked Pakistan since the weekend, killing dozens.

A high-level meeting this week chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif agreed that militants posing threat to national security should be "liquidated".

Several persons injured in shrine blast are in critical condition and they will be shifted to Karachi, officials said.

The army said that the armed forces had placed all required resources to facilitate the rescue effort. Pakistan Army and Rangers assisted with rescue efforts at the site.

The ISIS had claimed responsibility for the attack on their Aamaq news agency, saying a suicide bomber had targeted a "Shiite gathering" at the shrine in Sindh.

The shrine has been sealed and police have collected initial evidence and secured CCTV footage.

The fresh wave of terror attacks started when a suicide bomber attacked a protest rally outside the Punjab assembly in Lahore on Monday killing 14 people and injuring dozens.

On the same day, a terrorist attack was foiled in Quetta but two officials of the Bomb Disposal Squad were killed diffusing a bomb under a bridge in Quetta.

Terrorists also carried out attacks in Mohmand agency and Peshawar followed by shrine blast in Sindh.
Vice Admiral Robert Harward has rejected US President Donald Trump's offer to be the new National Security Adviser, a media report said.

Sources close to the situation told CBS News that Harward and the administration had a dispute over staffing the security council.

Harward demanded his own team, and the White House resisted, they added.

Trump told Deputy National Security Adviser KT McFarland that she could retain her post, even after the ouster of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Harward refused to keep McFarland as his deputy, and after a day of negotiations over this and other staffing matters, Harward declined to serve as Flynn's replacement.

Harward, a 60-year-old former navy officer, served as deputy commander of US Central Command under now-Defence Secretary James Mattis.

He previously served as deputy commanding general for operations of Joint Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

Harward has also commanded troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan for six years after the September 2001 attacks. Under former President George W Bush, he served on the National Security Council as director of strategy and policy for the office of combating terrorism.

Flynn resigned from the post amid questions about his contacts with Russian officials, CBS News said.

Law enforcement sources confirmed earlier this week that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents had interviewed Flynn last month.

According to the Defence Intelligence Agency, Flynn's security clearance has been suspended as investigators look into his ties to Russian officials.
In this Dec. 14, 2016, file photo, Bill Cosby departs after a pretrial hearing in his sexual assault case at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa. A federal judge in Massachusetts on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, dismissed a defamation lawsuit against Cosby, although he still faces criminal charges in Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)


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Police cordon off an area with tape for a police reenactment with a suspect in the North Korean murder at the KLIA2 budget terminal at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, in Sepang, Malaysia, early Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. Malaysian authorities announced two more arrests Thursday in the death of the North Korean leader's half brother, whose apparent assassination this week unleashed a wave of speculation and intrigue: a pair of female assailants, a broad-daylight killing and a dictator-sibling out for blood. (China Press via AP Photo)
BRISTOL: Names that offend in the age of the Internet
EFFINGHAM  Citing an effort to assist existing industries, The City of St. Charles Economic Development Department has unveiled a cutting edge workforce recruitment program for 2017.

On March 28, the city, EDC Business & Community Partners and the St. Charles County Workforce Development Office will be joined by several St. Charles businesses to host a special career fair at the Keller Convention Center in Effingham, Illinois.

This unique program was developed as a retention tool to aid existing St. Charles businesses.

There is no doubt this is a different venture, stated Leezer, However, due to the fact St. Charles County is near full employment, we must take a new perspective in recruiting workforce for our local industries.

Leezer stated the Effingham region was chosen because of its close proximity to St. Charles. That part of Illinois is about 60 to 90 minutes away, so commuting to our region should not be a problem.

The effort is also focused on gaining the attention of pending college graduates in the region.

We are also recruiting Eastern Illinois University, Indiana State University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Lake Land College students. St. Charles offers the career and lifestyle these key population sectors need and want.

Leezer added political and economic conditions in the state also play a factor in the campaign. Southern Illinois University  Carbondale recently issued a report stating nearly 50 percent of Generation X and Millennials want to leave Illinois.

Two prominent reasons were the considerably high tax structure and the extreme dysfunction in the state. By contrast, Missouris reputation for stable government operations and low taxes  both at the state and local levels  is an attractive feature for these individuals, Leezer added.

Leezer stated that a number of St. Charles industries will be participating in the recruitment fair offering a very competitive salary and benefits package.

To find out more, go to www.DiscoverYourFutureStCharles.com.
Patnaik's close aides say that to understand him, one has to understand his empathy

By Pratul Sharma/Photos Sanjay Ahlawat
MATTOON - John Hedges, senior executive Vice president and chief credit officer for First Mid-Illinois Bank & Trust, retired Dec. 31, after devoting more than 15 years of service.

He will remain a part of the First Mid team as a consultant overseeing strategic projects.

Eric McRae, executive vice president and senior lender at First Mid, replaced Hedges as the new chief credit officer. In this role, McRae is responsible for loan growth and quality, portfolio risk management, as well as managing all credit analysis functions. Hedges and McRae together have consistently grown First Mids credit portfolio above industry averages year-over-year and maintained industry leading asset quality.

It has been my pleasure to be a part of the First Mid team and have the opportunity to build relationships with our clients over the years, as well as contribute to the credit policies of the bank, said Hedges. Eric and I have worked together for over 20 years. I am confident in his ability to successfully guide the organization forward.

McRae is a graduate of the University of Illinois and joined First Mid-Illinois Bank & Trust in 1999 as regional manager and Decatur Community President. His involvement in the Decatur community includes membership on the boards of non-profit and civic organizations including current leadership roles with the Macon County Mental Health Board, Decatur Public Building Commission and Community Bankers Association of Illinois.
On March 10, 2016, the Union health ministry came out with a notification banning 344 fixed-dose combination (FDC) drugs. The pharmaceutical sector went into a tizzy, patients panicked, chemists tried to compound the matter with their own combinations, but confusion reigned. The notification was a buzzkill for junkies like Ajmal Sheikh, too. In 2013, the 20-year-old Mumbai resident had been prescribed Corex cough syrup for his persistent cough and cold. But soon, he started abusing Corexa combination of chlorpheniramine maleate and codeine phosphate developed by Pfizerdowning two-three bottles in a day with friends. Doctors say codeine, which is an opiate drug, is highly addictive and is very commonly misused by people. The cough syrup was one of the banned FDC drugs.

Before the ban, says Sheikh, he would buy Corex cough syrup without a prescription from his hometown in Uttar Pradesh. In Mumbai, it was difficult to get it without prescription, but not impossible. I discovered I could buy it for twice the rate in the black market, he says. After the ban, his codeine addiction only became more expensive. A 100ml bottle of Corex cough syrup costs around 190 and I would buy it for 1200 from my dealer, who sells prescription drugs right behind a police station next to my house. After the ban, the price shot up to 1300 for a bottle, he says.

While Sheikh claims that he was able to buy the cough syrup illegally for a few months following the ban, Pfizer had discontinued the manufacture and sale of the cough syrup, which had been around in the market for nearly two decades, in March 2016 itself. Sheikh, who was forced to drop out of junior college owing to his codeine dependency, underwent a de-addiction treatment in December 2015, but had a relapse a few days after he was discharged from the hospital. Following the ban, he started working at his familys grocery store and continued guzzling bottles of the cough syrup over the next few months. In November 2016, he was admitted to the hospital for the second time. My mother finally put her foot down. I was admitted to hospital for two weeks. I feel like I can finally kick my habit. I want to stay clean and I also plan on completing my education for a better life, he says.

Dr R.K. Singal, chairman, internal medicine, BLK Hospital, Delhi

Drug abuse, perhaps, was one of the reasons that prompted the government to enforce the ban on FDC drugs. Corex apart, the ban affected the sales of other popular brands like Procter and Gamble (P&G)s Vicks Action 500 Extra, Reckitts DCold, Piramal Healthcares Saridon, Abbotts Phensedyl cough syrup and Glenmarks Mucaryl cough syrup. The government's decision came after an expert committee, headed by Professor Chandrakant Kokate, vice chancellor of KLE University, Belgaum, found several FDC drugs were irrational or unsafe. The committee was set up on September 16, 2014. The final report recommended banning 1,083 FDCs after examining 6,214 FDCs, stating that they were irrational combinations. The report further recommended a study on other FDC drugs that were found to be rational owing to lack of adequate data on their safety and efficacy.

While this report was submitted to the Union government on February 10, 2016, the health ministry passed a notification banning the sale and manufacturing of 344 FDC drugs a month later. In the ban notification, the government stated that these drug combinations were likely to involve risk to human beings whereas safer alternatives were available.

On March 14, 2016, the Delhi High Court gave interim relief to pharma companies by staying the ban till March 28. The court said that other than stating that the use of the drug is likely to involve risk to human beings, the notification did not disclose any grave urgency. In April, the Karnataka High Court also granted interim relief to pharma companies based in the state.

Apart from pharma companies, the Delhi High Court's order was music to the ears of anxious chemists and druggists. However, on March 19, the Kerala High Court informed members of the All Kerala Chemists and Druggists Association (AKCDA) that they would have to return the banned drugs to their distributors within two weeks.

We stopped purchasing the 344 banned FDCs and returned the existing stock over the next seven days. However, after the Kerala High Court order, there was no inspection from the state drug department. Pharma companies started sending us circulars that they got interim relief from the Delhi High Court and, in April, we continued selling these drugs, says Thomas Raju, AKCDA general secretary. The stock of banned drugs that was returned was approximately 11 crore, he adds.

On March 22, the Madras High Court also refused to stay the ban notification. But the banned drugs were still available in several medical shops owing to delays by the Tamil Nadu State Drugs Control Department in implementing the ban. In March, we returned our existing stock of the 344 banned FDCs to the distributors. We estimate that a stock of around 6,000 drugs worth Rs 100 crore was returned, says S. Ramachandran, president, Tamil Nadu Chemists and Druggists Association. However, following that, the drug manufacturers and distributors quoted the stay orders by the Delhi and Karnataka High Courts and started selling these drugs again. While the Tamil Nadu State Drugs Control Department issued a circular to all drug inspectors to freeze the sale of banned drugs in the second week of November, the Delhi High Court revoked the ban on December 1. After that, the petition was pulled out from the Madras High Court and the banned drugs continue to be sold in Tamil Nadu, says Ramachandran.

The ban notification was set aside after Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw allowed 454 petitions to be filed by several major pharma companies including Cipla, Glenmark, P&G, Pfizer and Dr Reddys, challenging the governments ban notification.

Murlidhardas Subramanian, a diabetes patient | Janak Bhat

The court set aside the ban on the grounds that the government had failed to consult the Drugs Technical Advisory Board and the Drugs Consultative Committee, set up under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. The bench noted that the government had not properly implemented Section 26A [power to prohibit manufacture of drugs and cosmetics in public interest] of the act. Also, the court observed that a drug can only be banned following a three-month notice to the licence holder of that drug.

Soon after the ban, chemists and druggists associations went into panic mode as they werent given 90 days time to return the banned drugs. Under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, following the ban notification, we should have had 90 days to return the stock of banned drugs, says Hukumraj Mehta, general secretary of the Maharashtra State Chemists & Druggists Association. Also, one batch of drugs that we buy from a distributor is enough to sell for six months. We were not given any dates or batch number when we were told to return the banned drugs. There was a lot of confusion and the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] officials themselves didnt know which drug combinations were banned. But once pharma companies got interim relief from the Delhi High Court, he says, they started selling the banned FDCs again.

While the medical fraternity strongly supported the ban, many doctors were deeply disappointed after it was quashed by the Delhi High Court. Many of the banned drugs were back in the market thanks to the stay order by the court, says Dr R.K. Singal, chairman, internal medicine, BLK Hospital, Delhi. As far as the public was concerned, there was no change following the ban and nor was there any hullabaloo among patients. Chemists and druggists didnt want to lose money, so many of them first exhausted their stock instead of returning it. Entero-vioform, an antidiarrhoeal drug, was withdrawn from the market nearly two decades ago since it is unsafe. However, it is still freely available in Ghaziabad and smaller towns and villages. The government, he says, did not complete its procedures with due diligence as it relied mainly on the Kokate committee report for passing the ban. Also, they didnt have any data nor did they conduct any study to prove that the drug combinations were irrational.

Agrees Dr Urmila Thatte, head of clinical pharmacology at KEM Hospital, Mumbai: While not all FDC drugs are bad, the problem in India is that there are no patents on drugs, so drug manufacturers have the liberty to make their own FDCs. No one knows how many FDCs are currently available in the market. Not even the Drug Controller General of India.

Following the ban, other than a few popular over the counter medicines, several antidiabetic combination drugs were also unavailable in pharmacies for around a month. Murlidhardas Subramanian, 57, who has type 2 diabetes, was on Glizid MV by Panacea Biotec Ltd for six months before the ban. When Glizid MVa combination of voglibose, metformin and gliclazidewas banned, he says he first approached his pharmacist instead of his doctors after doing some research online. I knew I was taking a three combination drug and after it was banned, I ran a Google search and got the names of the three drugs. I then approached a local pharmacist and gave him the details. He then gave me a two-drug combination medicine and a single dose one, says Subramanian, who runs a marketing firm in Mumbai. I would like to know why these 344 combination drugs got banned and how they are unsafe for patients since I was using one of them. Despite following the news on this issue, it is still unclear how these FDCs can affect my health.

Subramanian is not the only patient who chose to approach a pharmacist to find an alternative medicine following the ban. Doctors say only a handful of patients approached them for a new prescription. Following the ban, we made attempts to call patients on three-drug combinations and change their prescription, says Dr Sruti Chandrasekaran, endocrinologist, Gleneagles Global Hospital, Chennai. However, the problem is that many patients on three-drug combinations dont come back for a follow-up for months on end. It is difficult for us to keep track of how many patients are on a three-drug combination.

Chandrasekaran says she has seen several cases where patients medicines were changed by pharmacists following the drug ban without first consulting a doctor. I had a 53-year-old diabetic who was on a three-drug combination for almost a year. After the ban, the pharmacist recommended that she could take a two-drug combination and the third one separately. After one year of refilling her medicines without a doctors supervision, she finally approached me to verify if the medicines given by the pharmacist were right for her or not, she says.

S.V. Veerramani, president, Indian Drug Manufacturers Association

This is a worrying trend, say doctors. Many diabetic patients continue taking three-drug combinations twice or thrice a day, which causes diarrhoea. To get rid of that side effect, they have to be taken off that FDC completely. I was trained in the US where combination drugs are rarely prescribed. While using single dose medicines, I know which drug is causing a side-effect, which makes it easier to adjust the doses. For example, pioglitazone, a popular anti-diabetic drug, is known to cause weight gain, says Chandrasekaran.

While doctors complained that the drugs ban had no impact whatsoever, pharma companies were forced to make some changes to their popular brands to recover the losses they suffered during the first two months of the ban. For instance, Pfizer announced that it would discontinue the manufacturing of Corex cough syrup, which had sales of 1244.48 crore from 2015-16. The cough syrup had been off the shelves of pharmacies since the ban was passed. In a statement, the company said it would be launching a series of products as extensions under the Corex brand name.

We are fully supportive of any process that aims at weeding out medicines that are irrational or not duly approved by the central and state regulators, a Pfizer Indias spokesperson tells THE WEEK. It is important that such a process of identification allows all stakeholders to participate. Pfizer India did at that stage receive an interim injunction by the Honorable Delhi High Court that allowed us to continue the manufacture and marketing of Corex. Later, of course, the court has also made a definitive ruling in the matter.

Pfizer India also undertook a comprehensive review of their respiratory offerings to be able to better cover a broader range of indications through an expanded product portfolio. As a result of this, we decided to discontinue the manufacture of certain SKUs [stock keeping units], including the erstwhile Corex cough syrup, says the spokesperson. At the same time, we have decided to launch a series of line extensions of the Corex brand that will address specific sub-therapeutic areas under the broad respiratory segment. We will soon start bringing these products to market. Each product will have all due approvals from the central and state regulatory authorities.

Following the ban, certain medicines that contained the banned FDCs were reintroduced into the market after changes were made to the ingredients. For example, P&Gs Vicks Action 500 Extra used to contain caffeine, paracetamol and phenylpropanolamine (PPA), which was one of the banned drug combinations. Following the ban, it was reintroduced in the market after PPA was removed as one of the active ingredients, say pharmacists. P&G is yet to reply to the email sent out by THE WEEK. Pharma companies like Dr Reddys, Piramal Healthcare, Cipla, Sun Pharma and Wockhardt refused to comment on the issue.

Meanwhile, Abbott started promoting variants of cough syrup like Phensedyl LR which is non-codeine and doesnt contain any of the banned drug combinations. In an email reply, Abbotts spokesperson says, Abbott welcomes the Honorable Delhi High Court's order, which has allowed our writ petitions. The judgment provides thousands of patients continued access to Abbotts doctor-prescribed products, which have the necessary regulatory approvals for manufacture, distribution and sale in India.

It is estimated that the pharma industry incurred losses worth around Rs 15,000 crore in a span of just five months following the ban notification, says S.V. Veerramani, president, Indian Drug Manufacturers Association. Once the ban was passed, drug manufacturers decided to move away from the banned combinations, he says. Though it was done in a hasty way, they opted for drug combinations approved by the government so they have now recovered from the losses they suffered during the first five months of the ban.

Doctors, however, are concerned that the banned drugs will find a way back into the market as the ban has been revoked. Nimesulide, a fever and pain drug, was banned in India a few years ago but it is still available and patients continue to use it. Patients will continue using a banned drug if it is available as long as they dont suffer from any noticeable side effects, says Dr Om Shrivastav, head of infectious diseases department, Jaslok hospital, Mumbai. The government and the FDA should come up with a process where defaulters are penalised.

For now, the matter is back in court. Last month, the Union government approached the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi High Court order. It had earlier sought transfer of petitions pending before the various High Courts to the apex court. Despite several attempts to contact K.L. Sharma, joint secretary, health ministry, he remained unavailable.
The Karnataka government would soon seek a reimbursement of Rs 12.4 crore from the Tamil Nadu government for handling the Disproportionate Assets case against late chief minister J.Jayalalithaa, AIADMK chief V.K.Sasikala and two others. The case was tried in a special court in Bengaluru and then in the Karnataka High Court and later in the Supreme Court.

The case was transferred to the Prappana Aghrahara special court in Bengaluru by the Supreme Court in 2003 as it felt that a fair trial might not take place if the case was conducted in Tamil Nadu courts. The expenses include the setting up of a court hall, payment of translators, salaries of the judges and the lawyers fees.

While Rs 5 crore is the cost of litigation, other expenditures include maintaining law and order, providing security to Jayalalithaa when she came in 2014 and when she was arrested, security to Sasikala when she was arrested and taken to jail on Wednesday and other logistics.

In June 2015, after Jayalalithaa was convicted by the trial court, the Karnataka government had asked for reimbursement of Rs 5 crore. However, the amount was not settled by the Tamil Nadu government and the cost has escalated to Rs12.4 crores as of now, according to sources.

We have spent a huge amount and we will soon write to the TN government to reimburse the amount. Once the cost is calculated, we will write to the chief secretary of Tamil Nadu for reimbursement, Karnataka Law Minister T.B. Jayachandra said.
With Sasikalas proxy Edappadi K. Palanismay sworn in as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu on Thursday, he will have to go for a confidence vote in the state assembly to prove his majority.

As Palanisamy is all set to move the confidence motion on Saturday when the special session is convened, it is a D-day for him and former chief minister O. Panneerselvam. Both the leaders would not have anticipated such a turmoil even on the day Jayalalithaas sandalwood coffin was lowered into the watery grave at Marina on December 5, 2016. When Panneerselvam took over as the chief minister for the third time, the ruling AIADMK seemed to be together and the power transition looked smooth.

However, Tamil Nadu politics witnessed a major turmoil when OPS went to Jayalalithaas memorial on February 8, two days after he stepped down as the chief minister, and launched an open revolt against party chief V.K.Sasikala. The party seemed heading to a major split when OPS accused Sasikala, who was elected the legislative party leader, of forcing him to resign from the CM post.

Now, with Supreme Court declaring Sasikala as a convict in an assets case, Palanisamy was elected as the chief minister and sworn in with 30 members in his cabinet. At a time when the state assembly is all set to go for a confidence voting, THE WEEK brings you the earlier instances of confidence voting in Tamil Nadu Assembly

It was in 1952, during C. Rajagopalacharis regime, the state assembly first witnessed a vote of confidence. In 1988, M.G. Ramachandrans wife Vaikom Narayani Janaki also went for confidence voting. While in 1952, Rajaji won the trust vote, in 1988 the assembly saw a pandemonium and Janaki lost in the trust vote and the state went under Presidents rule.

In fact, the constitutional crisis, numbers game, horse trading, unelected chief ministerial nominee seeking confidence vote and violence related to all these are nothing new in the six-decade-old history of Tamil Nadu Assembly.

In 1952, Rajagopalchari took charge as the first chief minister of the state after the constitution was adopted. The state was then called as Madras Presidency. The Congress regime led by Rajaji went for confidence vote as it was a minority government with the support of just 152 out of 375 members. This was when Congresss popular faces like Kamaraj, Kumaraswami Raja, Bhakthavatsalam, Madhava Menon and Bezwada Gopala Reddy were defeated. As the Congress did not have the numbers, the then governor Sri Prakasa, had two optionseither bring in the Presidents rule or ask the single largest partyINCto prove the majority in the house. Though most of the Congressmen were for the first option, Sri Prakasa asked Rajaji to prove the majority and gave him more than two months time to convene the assembly to seek a vote of confidence.

This was when the state set a precedence for political games in the country as it witnessed all political twists and turns and horse trading. With just 152 members out of the 375-member assembly, Congress was nowhere near the halfway mark. Thirteen independent members supported directly and 30 members from other parties were made to support from outside. Rajaji proved his majority in the house with the support of 200 MLAs and continued to stay in power and rule the state.

The assembly witnessed the same scenario in 1988 when Janaki moved the trust vote. Janaki, 64, tried hard to retain chief minsters chair, but all in vain. The government lasted only for a week and she lost the confidence vote. As many as 98 MLAs, who were supporting her, were made to stay in the then party president's hotel on the Radhakrishnan Salai at Mylapore in Chennai. Thirty-three others, who supported Jayalaithaa were taken to Bombay, from there to Rajasthan and then made to stay at a spinning mill of the then MLA K.K.S.S. Ramachandran in Sattur. Ramachandran later defected to the DMK.

Governor Khurana asked Janaki to prove majority and the house led by Speaker P.H. Pandian, who is with Panneerselvam faction now. Pandian wrote a surprising chapter in the history of the state assembly when dismissed the maximum number of MLAs under the anti-defection law even before they disobeyed the order of the party whip.

And when the house went for division voting, there was an extraordinary pandemonium with MLAs running for cover to save themselves from being hit by others. Steel helmeted policemen entered the assembly to control the situation. The house witnessed the maximum dramatic scenes like floor-crossings, meetings, etc on January 28, 1988. Finally, after the entire ruckus, the score for Janaki stood at 99 in the 235-member assembly. Eight party MLAs voted against her. Three MLAs abstained from voting. 10 MLAs were expelled. 63 MLAs of the Congress voted against her.

The assembly met at 9.30 am in the morning, but the ruckus followed. Speaker adjourned the session to noon. By then more private parleys took place and the AIADMKs then chief strategist R.M. Veerappan tried to bring more numbers for Janaki. When the house went to vote, speakers chair hurled down and his table was pushed to the well of the house. Things went even worse with outsiders, mostly hooligans, coming in escalating the violence. Policemen came in. Several Congress MLAs were injured in lathi charge.

Now, exactly three decades later, it remains to be seen if Palanisamy will prove the majority even when he has the numbers or if the house will witness violence and pandemonium as it did in 1988.
A series of interactions between the Indian government and the US officials that started this week and would continue into the next will provide India with several opportunities to put across its concern regarding the proposed cap on H1B visas by the US.

Representative image | Reuters

Two delegations of record 27 US congressmen are visiting India this month. A delegation of 19 Congressmen are brought by Aspen Institute from February 20 to 25, and significantly, they will visit Delhi and Hyderabad. Hyderabad is one of the nodes from which several techies head to the US to work largely in technology outsourcing units in the Silicon Valley. According to figures provided by the United States India Educational Foundation, India corners the lion's share of the total H1B visas (in 2015, of the 1,19,952 visas issued, Indians got 1,72,748).

Another delegation of eight Congressmen led by Bob Goodlatte, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, will visit Delhi and Bangalore from February 20 to 23. Bangalore is another hub of techie export. While the visits are meant to showcase India's political vibrancy and economic energy, they will provide appropriate platforms for putting across India's stance that the H1B visa export is of mutual benefit to both the countries.

The ministry of external affairs said that Indian ambassador to the US, Navtej Sarna, too is on the job of conveying India's concerns. The India caucus in the US Congress is a large body, and another appropriate point to tap. Meanwhile External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and US secretary of State Rex Tillerson have already had a telephonic conversation where they emphasised that their close and strong relations were not just mutually beneficial but important for global security, too. Earlier Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had had a similar talk with his American counterpart, US Defence Secretary James Mattis, where they agreed to sustain the momentum on defence and strategic ties.

The one positive sign in the visa issue is that there have been no further developments at the US end. The three bills that have been tabled are yet to be taken up and the Executive Order that the White House has reportedly drafted has not been issued as yet. A status quo may be worrisome, but at least it still leaves routes open for dialogue. US President Donald Trump has had to face the backlash of the courts against his seven country visa ban. Perhaps that's why he may be going a little slow on the H1B visa issue.
AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala, who not so long ago was eyeing the chief ministers chair in Tamil Nadu, is geared up for a tough life at the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru. Sasikala, along with co-accused and sister-in-law J. Elavarasi, is being treated like any other prisoner. They are being served the usual food meant for regular prisoners. Sasikala, it is learnt, has not started wearing the prisoners saris and blouses which were issued to her.

Sasikala, who was refused class A accommodation at the prison, lives in a 10 feet by 8 feet cell which she shares with Elavarasi. The cell has a fan and a semi-enclosed partition with a toilet. Sasikala and Elavarasi were given a pillow, a blanket and a plate soon after they arrived. Later, a cot was provided to Sasikala, who is a diabetic patient, following the advice of doctors. On the first day Sasikala was denied home-cooked food, so she refused the dinner provided by the jail authorities. Next day, she woke up early morning, took a walk and did yoga. At the prison, Sasikala is expected to make candles, for which the jail authorities will pay her Rs 50 per day.

Sasikala, who was earlier convicted and lodged in the same prison with former Tamil Nadu chief minister, J. Jayalalithaa, had thought she would be given the facilities that she had earlier got. But the court rejected her plea.

Sasikala looked disturbed most of the time at the jail.

In Sasikalas neighbouring cell is Cyanide Mallika, the countrys first woman serial killer, who is convicted of poisoning women for gold in temples in and around Bengaluru. Mallika, 52, used to pose as an ardent devotee at temples and track women in distress. She would listen to their tales and make them drink water mixed with cyanide. After the victims died, Mallika vanished with their jewellery. Mallika is a diehard fan of Jayalalithaa, but Sasikala has ignored her efforts to make friends with her.

At the prison, Sasikala will have access to the library and is entitled to two newspapers a day.

Said Satyanarayana Rao, DGP, Karnataka Prison, to THE WEEK, Sasikala is being treated like any other inmate. There is no special treatment being given to her. As far as I know, she is cooperating well. As days progress, she will get used to it.

The new Tamil Nadu chief minister, Edappadi Palaniswami, who was slated to meet Sasikala in Bengaluru, has postponed his visit. A special session of the Tamil Nadu assembly has been called on February 18, where Palaniswami will have to prove majority.
Winter is not over yet; there are chill and rain planned for this weekend. The Meteorological Department has issued a warning of 'heavy snowfall and rain' on January 18 and 19 over Kashmir valley which has witnessed record-breaking snowfall in this season.

It has also issued a warning of heavy snow and rain in Jammu and Himachal Pradesh on February 19. The hills of Uttarakhand, which surprisingly have seen less than normal snow this season, are expected to see scattered to widespread rainfall during this spell while the north western plains of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh might see some rain.

This inclement weather is the outcome of a western disturbance that will be active from the night of February 17 to February 21.

Winter precipitation in north India is the result of western disturbances which develop around the Mediterranean seas and then proceed eastwards to the subcontinent. Since they are high altitude phenomena, unlike monsoon depressions, they cause snow in the hills, and often hail along with rain in the plains. In a season around seven to ten such systems develop. They are the sustenance on which the rabi crop is traditionally dependent.

This season, snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir has notched records, with some areas getting the heaviest snow in a decade during earlier spells in January. In Gurez, a two decade record was broken on the Republic Day with seven to eleven feet of snowfall.
CHARLESTON -- Eastern Illinois University and the thousands of students that flock there influence the local and state economy substantially, according to a recent study evaluating the financial impact the university has on the area.

In a 16-page study conducted by Coles Together, a local economic development agency, they concluded that when more money is funneled into the university, more local and state economic growth follows suit.

The economic impact of Eastern Illinois University on the local economy is remarkable in its breadth and depth, the study reads. The institution outperforms the economic impact of most industries in Coles County. For every dollar spent by the university, additional employment, revenue, and wealth are created in the county.

The figures from the study depicted the positive impacts the university makes on the local and state economy excluding the cultural, philosophical or intellectual impact the university makes in Charleston and the surrounding areas.

According to the studies findings, for every 100 persons employed by Eastern, an additional 71 jobs are added to the region and a total of 79 are added in Illinois.

Additionally, they calculated that for every $100 the university spends in operating costs, an additional $83 in economic output is generated in the region and a total of $99 is generated within the Illinois economy.

Despite these numbers, and others included in the study, the appropriations from the state have dwindled, even before the budget impasse.

According to Eastern figures dating back five years, there has been a continued decline in state financial support to the university. In fiscal year 2012, the university received near $47 million, however in 2015, the university got a full appropriation, they received almost $43 million.

Angela Griffin, Coles Together president, said the idea to conduct such as study was percolating for a while before actually pulling the trigger on the study, starting in fall 2015. The organization was wondering if it had been measured or quantified in a while.

It turns out it had not, Griffin said.

An internal study done by Eastern in 2000 was the last time a comparable study of the universitys impact on the area had been conducted.

For Griffin and Coles Together, it became clear there was a need for the study after the start of the budget impasse that still has yet to waver between lawmakers in Springfield.

At that point (in 2015), we were just exploring that idea, Griffin said. Then the budget crisis occurred and Easterns funding was in jeopardy, and so then it became even more clear that we as a community should understand the economic impact Eastern has.

The study was run through a couple of modeling programs, IMPLAN 3.1 and Regional Economic Modeling, to reach the figures reached in the study. Griffin said the funding for the study came from local investors in Coles Together who earmarked their funding for this study.

A lot of people in the county wanted their resources to go to this project to find out the exact impact the university has on its surrounding areas, she said.

Griffin said Coles Together saw it as information tool not only for the community, but specifically for Eastern to use to make their case when seeking more state support.

It will help (EIU President David Glassman) build a case for funding for EIU, she noted. I think this will give (state lawmakers) a very clear picture that an investment in higher ed is a substantial return on investment for the state of Illinois at a time when the state is struggling with revenue.

Glassman sees the report of the study as an opportunity to show hard numbers on what the university means to the area financially.

This report is very important to share with our legislators as it presents hard data that documents the value of investment by the state to supporting EIU, Glassman said.

Other state universities communities have done similar studies depicting their impact to their economy as well, Griffin said.

A study showing Eastern's impact on the local economy would be good to have, but the university's success with academics is a better selling point, state Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, said.

It's not Coles Together's role to address academics but any economic impact "has to be in tandem with what we're doing for students," Righter said.

"The view people here have is whether Eastern and all the institutions of higher learning are best using their resources in the most efficient way to prepare students for the 21st Century economy," he said.

Outside of sharing it with legislators, Glassman said the report will be used for marketing purposes, in grant proposals, and to assist Cole County in recruiting businesses into our area.
Islamabad's newly-appointed envoy to the US, Aizaz Chaudhry, on Thursday said the Taliban had entered Pakistan as migrants, who had been told to steer clear of militant activities if they wanted to stay in the country.



Chaudhry, whose career as a foreign service officer spans over 36 years of multilateral and bilateral experience, was speaking at a seminar at the Air University Islamabad on matters of national security.



"We will not tolerate that the Taliban operate from here to carry out terror attacks across the border. The unrest in Afghanistan will not be allowed to infiltrate into Pakistan," Chaudhry was quoted by Dawn, when asked for a comment on the supposed distinction between "the good and the bad" Taliban.



The newly-appointed ambassador to the US said that the state wants Afghanistan and Taliban to enter into dialogue.



"Billions of dollars have been spent on establishing peace in Afghanistan, but to no avail," Chaudhry added, saying that terrorism from Afghanistan is now spreading into Pakistan where elements are trying to destabilise the country and sabotage major events like the Pakistan Super League.



"We will not be pressurised by this so-called 'Do more' ideology being pushed on us. We're working on full capacity to counter terrorism and we will continue with our efforts in full force," he added.
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...
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When the United States suddenly issued a ban on entry by nationals from Iran and six other countries, sending the worlds airports into chaos, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani gave a muted response.

Lets help neighboring cultures, not build walls between nations, the moderate leader posted on Twitter. Lets not forget what happened to the #BerlinWall.

The comment, typical of Rouhanis soft diplomacy, became fodder for critics ahead of his reelection bid this spring.

President Donald Trump will not understand the references to walls, the conservative Ezzatollah Zarghami, a potential challenger to Rouhani, fired back. You should speak to [Trump] the same way you to speak to your critics, Zarghami said.

A burgeoning crisis between Iran and the United States has threatened to undermine the pragmatic Rouhani, who was elected four years ago on promises to end the countrys isolation from the West. But now, amid new tensions with the Trump administration, Rouhanis pro-dialogue approach is under attack. The shift  from detente with the Obama administration to open hostility with the White House under Trump  has left Rouhani particularly vulnerable as he gears up for a presidential vote in May.

In the few weeks since Trump took office, the two sides have sparred over Irans ballistic missile program, the ban on Iranian nationals entering the United States and new White House sanctions targeting Irans weapons systems. Trumps then-national security adviser, Michael Flynn, announced that the United States was putting Iran on notice over its ballistic missile tests, which the White House said defied a U.N. Security Council Resolution. Iran responded with more military exercises and a threat to rain down missiles on its enemies.

The conventional wisdom is that if the U.S. really begins to crack down  to put Iran on the defense, keep it under threat, and take away some benefits  that it will work against Rouhani, said Gary Sick, who was the principal White House aide on Iran during the 1979 revolution and subsequent holding of U.S. Embassy personnel as hostages.

Irans conservatives have yet to field a viable candidate to oppose Rouhani, said Sick, who is now a research scholar at Columbia Universitys Middle East Institute. But in Iranian election campaigns, which normally last just a few weeks, things happen very fast, he said.

Rouhani, a cleric turned politician, has the political advantage of an incumbent. And, despite disagreements over policy and ideology, he appears to still have the support of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose broad power can make or break candidates. Khamenei recently nudged Rouhanis chief rival  former president and right-wing firebrand Mahmoud Ahmadinejad  out of the race, after rumors swirled of a dramatic political comeback.

It strikes me as unlikely that the regime will switch horses at this stage or that a rival can offer a compelling alternative to the electorate, said Suzanne Maloney, senior fellow at the Brookings Center for Middle East Policy. But making predictions on Iranian elections is a fools game.

Given the uncertainty and the Trump administrations more-hawkish policies, Irans election, scheduled for May 19, will not be an easy one for Rouhani, said Abas Aslani, world news editor at Irans Tasnim News Agency. Irans Guardian Council, a clerical oversight body, will vet the contenders and announce the approved candidates in late April. Candidate registration has not yet opened, meaning there is still time for a conservative front-runner to emerge.

But if voters think that Rouhani has failed on key promises, such as bringing economic growth through the careful diplomacy of the nuclear deal, it will shake the presidents popularity ahead of the polls, Aslani said.

Indeed, the trouble for Rouhani started when Iranians, sick of a sluggish economy, grew sour on the 2015 nuclear deal he said would boost investment and ease poverty. That agreement  between Iran, the United States and five other nations  was hailed as a diplomatic achievement and promised sanctions relief if Iran halted its nuclear enrichment program.

Since then, some restrictions have been lifted. But others, such as those targeting Irans alleged financial support of terrorist groups, remain in place, sanctions experts say.

Foreign banks have also continued to avoid transactions with Iran, where corruption and money laundering are rife, said Richard Nephew, former principal deputy coordinator for sanctions policy at the State Department. Iran also resumed selling oil on the international market, but low prices stunted what many Iranians hoped would have been a swift economic recovery.

Residual sanctions, particularly those associated with Irans support for terrorism, continue to hamper [Irans] economic performance, but so, too, did Irans poor business climate and low oil prices, said Nephew, who also served as Iran director on the National Security Council under President Obama.

As a result, the majority of people are not satisfied with the economy, said Ali Omidi, professor of international relations at the University of Isfahan.

Unemployment reached 12.7 percent in the second quarter of 2016  up from 10.9 percent the year before  according to the latest data available from Irans central bank, and oil and non-oil-sector growth remained at 3 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.

According to a poll published by the University of Maryland in January, a majority of Iranians now believe that Iran has not received most of the promised benefits of the nuclear deal. They also say that there have been no improvements in peoples living conditions as a result of the agreement.

People are following the recent tensions [with the United States] with worry, Omidi said.

Iranians think Trump is an unusual person who may deliberately start a crisis, he said.

On this point, Iranians might rally behind Rouhani. But it will depend on how aggressively the White House censures Iran, and on how Khamenei responds. The Trump administration has already floated a proposal to designate Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps, the countrys most powerful security institution, a terrorist organization. Such a move would have destabilizing effects around the region, where the Guard Corps is active.

This administration will likely really be ready to take risks to oppose Iran. Its just a matter of how risky they are prepared to get, Sick said.

It also depends whether the Supreme Leader is going to walk away from Rouhani as the Americans get tougher, he said. He might decide to abandon his president or to stick with him. Its difficult to predict.

(c) 2017, The Washington Post  Erin Cunningham
[PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Mr. & Mrs. Batya and Tuvia Margalit, 75, were killed in the fatal motor vehicle accident on Wednesday 19 Shevat in southern Israel. The couple were traveling to the IDFs Base 1 in Mitzpei Ramon to attend officers school graduation of their grandson but they were killed enroute.

A French tourist was also killed in the accident and his companion sustained serious injuries. The injured victim, Chavah Smith from Holon explains three women were on a tour of the south.

The preliminary investigation into the accident shows the vehicles were traveling from Mitzpei Ramon to Beersheva as another vehicle was approaching from the opposite direction. One of the vehicles appears to have lost control and veered, resulting in a head-on collision.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photos: Media Resource Group)
Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz on Thursday 20 Shevat spoke with Kol Chai Radio. Katz commented on Wednesdays first meeting in the White House between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump.

He explained that the US policy under President Trump will be different and Israel will resume construction in areas in which a building freeze was observed under former US President Barak Obama. Katz feels there should be construction without limitations throughout Yerushalayim, Yehuda and Shomron.

Katz favors revitalizing the law that was buried about a decade ago, in favor of annexing Maale Adumim, Gush Etzion, Betar Illit and Pisgat Zeev, a move that would add a minimum of an additional 200,000 residents to the capital. He favors this plan, which he explains significantly adds to the Jewish presence in the capital without moving a single Arab.

Regarding ongoing investigations into PM Netanyahu, Katz wishes him well. He added it is known that Bezras Hashem, after Netanyahu steps down as party leader he will be among the contenders vying for the slot.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
For the families expelled from Amona, there is pessimism regarding government promises to build a new community for them. The families on Wednesday sent a letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Bayit Yehudi party leader Minister Naftali Bennett expressing their fears, citing the so-called temporary area allocated for them in Ofra may become permanent as there does not appear to be progress on building a new community.

The letter came as PM Netanyahu was in the White House for his first meeting with President Donald Trump.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Israels right-wing has been euphoric since the election of President Donald Trump, confident the new administration will be a friendlier one towards Israel than its predecessor, as well as regarding renewed construction throughout Yehuda and Shomron. There have been calls to annex Maale Adumim and all of Yehuda and Shomron. Bayit Yehudi party leader Naftali Bennett calls for widespread renewed construction throughout Yehuda and Shomron and the end of the so-called two-state solution.

In fact, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was received respectfully and warmly when he arrived at the White House on Wednesday, unlike the cold shoulder diplomacy exhibited by President Barak Obama. During Mr. Netanyahus later visit to the White House, the former president made certain that his disdain for many was visible to all.

However, on Tuesday, a day before the grand White House meeting, CIA Director Mike Pompeo met in Ramallah with PA (Palestinian Authority) Chairman Abu Mazen, PA sources report. Also present for the meeting was PA Chief of Intelligence Majid Faraj. In fact, it is reported the meeting was to have been secret but the PA apparently decided to leak it before the White House meeting via its Mann news agency.

Pompeo heard PA concerns of Israeli dialogue of annexing Yehuda, Shomron and continue construction as well as the PAs major concern, Americas announced intentions to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move that would have resounding diplomatic impact.

According to the Mann report, Abu Mazen explained moving the embassy would all but doom any chance of a peace agreement with Israel and implementing the two-state solution, as well as resulting in regional instability.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Cofix has become a well-known entity in Israel, credited by many for breaking the marketplace and compelling many cafes to lower the price of a cup of coffee and many other items. It is also in the process of moving into the chareidi communities around the country. Cofix, which was established in Israel in 2013 by Avi Katz now boasts 161 branches. Before it entered the cafe scene, coffee would sell in excess of NIS 10 a cup, and as high as 15 to 20. However, when its 5 shekel menu was introduced, many stores reacted in the hoping of remaining competitive.

The company announces that due to the increase in the costs of ingredients and the economy, all items will be increased to 6 shekels beginning on Sunday 23 Shevat. The increase however will not impact Super Cofix grocery stores which sell 800 items at NIS 5 each.

Katz explains The price revolution that we led in three and a half years is indisputable. We rely on our customers to stand with us and assist in continuing the revolution. Even at six shekels, Cofix remains the most affordable chain of stores.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Former President of Mexico Vicente Fox announced as Featured Speaker at the 2017 HOPE Global Forum

We are pleased to welcome one of the most relevant voices today on financial inclusion and opportunity for the underserved to the 2017 HOPE Global Forum  former president of Mexico, Vicente Fox.

His unique perspective, international leadership and advocacy for positive change in the world and eradicating poverty will bring great impact to our dialogue and actions as we work to reimagine the global economy by uplifting the Invisible Class. President Fox spent his career engaging both the public and private sectors to increase opportunities for all of our citizens.

As President of Mexico, Foxs administration signified the end of a 71-year dominion by one single political party, leading to a more open, participatory, and transparent government. During that time, about half of Mexicos population lived in poverty, and about three-quarters lacked access to financial services, according to a report by the Center for Global Development. Unlike past governments, Foxs administration understood the clear correlation between poverty and lack of access to financial services.

This realization prompted the government to initiate what the World Bank has described as the most ambitious effort to massively scale-up access to financial services for poor and marginalized people in the world.

Factoid : Mexico is the third-largest trading partner of the U.S. and is the second-largest export market for American-made goods, according to the U.S. Trade Representative.

The reality is that legal immigration is good for the U.S. economy. Illegal immigration stops when jobs are created in Mexico. Its a win-win for the U.S., Mexico, and the global community when the economics of immigration are examined and addressed.

Foxs presence at the 2017 Annual Meeting will provide an opportunity to engage in authentic dialogue with passionate leaders, like Fox, and address some of the questions worth asking.

Join us  REGISTER TODAY for the 2017 HOPE Global Forum!

About the HOPE Global Forums Annual Meeting.

With over 3,200 leaders from 25 countries, the HOPE Global Forums | Annual Meeting is now the largest gathering in the world on behalf of empowering the poor. Our purpose is to reimagine the global economy so the benefits and opportunities of free enterprise can be extended to everyone.

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox, MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga, PayPal Co-Founder Max Levchin, MNSBC President Phil Griffin, Arianna Huffington, Ambassador Andrew Young, SunTrust Banks CEO Bill Rogers, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Whole Foods Co-CEO Walter Robb, WNBA President Lisa Borders, Henry Ford III and Gallup CEO Jim Clifton will help lead a provocative and compelling program.

The event will be broadcast by our Media Partner MSNBC with coverage by prominent outlets including Telemundo, CNBC and Financial Times. Best-in-class sponsors include Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Charles Schwab, Delta Air Lines, UPS and Capital One.

Registration is now available here. For additional information, please contact info@hopeglobalforums.org or visit HopeGlobalForums.org
The Senate on Thursday confirmed President Donald Trumps pick to run the White House budget office, giving the Republicans tea party wing a voice in the Cabinet.

Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., squeaked through on a 51-49 vote in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Arizona Sen. John McCain, who is emerging as perhaps the most vocal GOP critic of the Trump administration, opposed Mulvaney for the nominees past House votes supporting cuts to Pentagon spending.

Mulvaney has spent his last six years in the House of Representatives pitting the national debt against our military, said McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Senators then gave a tentative 54-46 procedural green light to Trumps choice to run the Environmental Protection Agency, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt. It was a signal that Pruitt should sail through on a final vote scheduled for Friday, despite being opposed by Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a GOP moderate.

Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, two of the partys more moderate members, backed Pruitt.

Mulvaneys confirmation promises to accelerate work on Trumps upcoming budget plan, which is overdue. Thats typical at the beginning of an administration. But there is also the need to complete more than $1 trillion in unfinished spending bills for the current budget year, as well as transmit Trumps request for a quick start on his oft-promised U.S.-Mexico border wall and tens of billions of dollars in emergency cash for the military.

In the past, Mulvaney has routinely opposed catchall appropriations bills, which required Republicans to compromise with the Obama White House. The upcoming measure is also going to require deals with Democrats.

Mulvaney brings strong conservative credentials to the job, and hes likely to seek big cuts to longtime GOP targets such as the EPA and other domestic programs whose budgets are set each year by Congress.

Trump has indicated, however, that he not interested in tackling highly popular benefit programs such as Social Security and Medicare and wants a major investment in highways and other public works. The House Freedom Caucus, a group of the most conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill, issued a statement saying that the presidents pick of Mulvaney sends a strong message that the Trump administration is serious about tackling our national debt.

Democrats opposed Mulvaney over his support for curbing the growth of Medicare and Social Security and other issues, such as his brinksmanship as a freshman lawmaker during the 2011 debt crisis in which the government came uncomfortably close to defaulting on U.S. obligations.

He said to me in a one-on-one meeting how he would prioritize the debts he would pay if he defaulted on the debt, said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. Wouldnt that be a great addition to the chaos we are all feeling right now?

The vote came a day after Trumps pick to head the Labor Department, Andrew Puzder, abruptly withdrew his nomination in the face of Republican opposition. Puzder faced questions over taxes he belatedly paid on a former housekeeper not authorized to work in the United States.

The Senate has been slow to confirm Trumps Cabinet in a break with the traditional deference shown to incoming presidents. Mulvaneys vote means that 13 out of 24 Trump Cabinet or Cabinet-level picks have been confirmed. Nominees to key Cabinet departments such as Interior, Housing and Urban Development, and Energy remain unconfirmed.

Mulvaney has managed to survive questions about his failure to pay more than $15,000 in payroll taxes for a nanny more than decade ago. He has since paid the taxes.

(AP)
[PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Wednesday, November 30th the Eve of Rosh Chodesh Kislev more than sixty Rabbis in the New York metro area gathered at the home of Rabbi Yehoshua Balkany, the Menahel of the Bais Yaakov of Brooklyn, to partake in the monthly Seudas Rosh Chodesh and Torah convocation organized by the Rabbinical Alliance of America the Igud Horrabonim.

The host Rabbi Yehoshua Balkany offered inspiring words of Torah and insight. Rabbi Mutty Solomon presented a most informative presentation on the topic of teenage anxiety and how Rabbis may recognize the problem and the protocols to help alleviate the problem.

Chairman of the evening was Rabbi Yehoshua S. Hecht, member of the RAA Presidium and Rav of Beth Israel of Westport/Norwalk Connecticut.

Rabbi Solomons presentation was part of the Rabbinical Alliance of America/Igud Horrabonims ongoing focus on professional Rabbinic and development.

Rabbi Solomon is a prominent psychotherapist and has his private practice in Boro Park treating anxiety disorders. He also was Director and Rabbi in Ivdu Boys School for special education. He is chief clinician at Hamaspik of Kings County. Over the years, he has been involved in many community organizations helping people in need including working close with Rabbis and Community leaders helpin teens at risk.

Photos by JDN
Immigration officers in western New York have detained 30 people accused of being in the country illegally. Among those detailed this week is a convicted offender who had previously been deported.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection says Thursday the sex offender was among seven men from Mexico and Honduras detained by Border Patrol agents on Grand Island, north of Buffalo, on Tuesday.

A day earlier, 23 people were arrested in the Buffalo suburb of Hamburg.

Authorities say the previously deported man was from Mexico and had been convicted in North Carolina in 2008.

Federal agents say the arrests in Hamburg grew out of the detention earlier this year of 16 people suspected of being in the country without legal permission. They are from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua and Brazil.

(AP)
Confronting a cascade of controversies, President Donald Trump on Thursday angrily denounced the criminal leaks that took down his top national security adviser after less than a month and revived questions about his own ties to Russia. But he offered only a lawyerly denial that his campaign aides had been in touch with Russian officials before last falls election.

Nobody that I know he said in the first full-length press conference of his presidency.

Rather than a wide-ranging question-and-answer session, the 77-minute event amounted to an extended airing of grievances, the new president attempting to find his footing after the rockiest launch in recent memory. Trump slammed a bad court of appeals judges for blocking his refugee and immigration executive order and denied that his White House was paralyzed by chaos and infighting among top advisers.

This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine, he boasted.

With his signature hyperbole betrayed by reality, Trump said there has never been a president who in this short period of time has done what weve done. He blamed any problems on the outgoing Obama administration  I inherited a mess at home and abroad  and the news media.

Standing in the stately, chandeliered East Room, Trump lambasted the out of control media  long his favorite foe. He appeared to delight in jousting with reporters, repeatedly interrupting their questions and singling out stories he disagreed with, well aware his attacks were sure to be cheered by loyal supporters who share his views.

Despite Trumps declarations, his first month in office has been chaotic by any measure  a flurry of self-inflicted wounds and poorly executed policy. On Monday, Trump asked for the resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn following revelations that the Flynn misled Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Russia. The next day, The New York Times reported that multiple Trump advisers were in touch with Russian intelligence advisers during the election campaign.

Trump panned the report as fake news and said he had nothing to do with Russia.

To the best of my knowledge no person that I deal with does, he added.

That answer, couched with a caveat similar to one routinely used by witnesses on a trial stand, appeared to give him wiggle room.

The president more clearly defended Flynns calls with Russias ambassador to the U.S. during the transition period after his November victory. He said that while he did not tell his adviser to discuss sanctions with the envoy, I would have directed him if he didnt do it.

The president said that while Flynn was just doing his job, he was not happy that the adviser had misled the vice president. Trump knew that Flynn had given Pence an inaccurate accounting of his discussions with Russia, but the president did not tell his No. 2 for about two weeks, according to a timeline supplied by the White House.

The president is expected to soon announce Flynns replacement, with Vice Admiral Robert Harward topping his list. Harward was to meet with Trump aides at the White House Thursday afternoon.

Trump repeatedly tried to steer questions away from his and his advisers potential ties with Russia, saying attention should rather be focused on why a steady stream of classified information is making its way into news reports. He said the leaks are real but the news is fake, never explaining that.

The president took questions from 17 reporters, far more than at most presidential news conferences. His answers were often unwieldy, almost stream of consciousness, and some of his responses were startlingly strange.

He said the greatest thing he could do was shoot a Russian spy ship lingering off the East Coast of the United States. He asked an African-American reporter whether she could help set up a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus. He wrongly stated that his Electoral College victory had been the largest of any president since Ronald Reagan, then dismissed the inaccuracy, saying hed been given that information.

But, though hes now president, the former reality TV star often appeared to be in his element. He jousted with reporters, particularly those he knows by name from his constant consumption of television news. He jokingly told CNNs Jim Acosta that he had checked whether he was related to Alexander Acosta, the dean of the Florida International University law school who is his new pick to lead the Labor Department.

Acostas nomination was ostensibly the purpose of the news conference, though Trump dispensed of the announcement in a few brief sentences. The presidents original choice to head the agency, Andy Puzder, withdrew his nomination on Wednesday, another blow to the new administration.

Trump vowed to move forward next week on his stalled plans to enact extreme vetting measures for people coming to the United States. He said he would sign a new and very comprehensive order next week aimed at addressing legal issues in the initial directive, which temporarily halted the entire U.S. refugee program and all entries from seven Muslim-majority nations while the government worked on new vetting procedures.

A federal appeals court rejected the measure earlier in the month, and Trump said during the news conference that his administration would be appealing that decision. Shortly after, the Justice Department announced that it did not want a larger appellate panel to review the ruling and would instead replace the ban.

(AP)
A federal jury Thursday convicted a Tennessee man of planning to attack a mosque in New York.

Media outlets report that 65-year-old Robert Doggart was found guilty of solicitation to commit a civil rights violation, solicitation to commit arson of a building and making a threat in interstate commerce.

The jury told U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier that it was deadlocked Wednesday. Collier didnt declare a mistrial and told jurors to return Thursday for more deliberations.

Prosecutors said Doggart stockpiled weapons and communicated with others about plans to attack a Muslim community called Islamberg. An FBI agent showed jurors an M-4 rifle seized from Doggarts home and prosecutors played a series of conversations Doggart had with a confidential informant in March 2015.

Doggarts attorneys argued that he never had a consistent plan in place, he was entrapped by a confidential informant and he only wanted to conduct reconnaissance on Islamberg.

Attorneys for Islamberg said Doggart was not charged with terrorism because the federal government doesnt have a catch-all law punishing domestic terrorists, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported. The attorneys said prosecutors used non-terrorism charges for Doggarts case because current statutes are largely aimed at foreign radical groups.

Doggart, of Signal Mountain, ran for Congress in 2014 in East Tennessee and finished with 6 percent of the vote.

(AP)
Teach NYS, a project of Orthodox Union Advocacy, called for increasing security funding for nonpublic schools from $15 million to $80 million in the wake of rising hate crimes.

According to the New York Police Department, there were 56 hate crimes reported in New York City for the year  compared to 31 crimes during the same time period last year. This increase was partly fueled by an increase in anti-Semitic crimes.

According to CNN, in January of this year, 48 Jewish Community Centers in 27 states and one Canadian province received bomb threats, forcing thousands of children, parents, and seniors to evacuate in winter weather.

Teach NYS has been on the front lines of the fight to increase security funding for nonpublic schools, many of which are religious and face a disproportionate threat.

In 2013, Teach NYS led the fight to include $4.5 million in security funding for nonpublic schools in the SAFE Act. In 2016, Teach NYS successfully encouraged the New York legislature to increase that allocation to $15 million, or $30 per student spread out over New Yorks 412,000 nonpublic school students. This year, Teach NYS is asking the legislature to approve $80 million to meet the security needs of the nonpublic school student population.

Every child deserves to go to school in a safe environment, regardless of the type of school the child attends, said Maury Litwack, executive director of Teach Advocacy Network. The latest report from the New York Police Department confirms the rising threat faced by many Jewish schools today. We urge the legislature to meet this threat head on, and make sure all children can go to school in a secure environment.

(YWN Desk  NYC)
Agudath Israel of America continued its months-long effort on behalf of New York States nonpublic students with a day of advocacy in the states capitol this past Tuesday. These meetings were part of an ongoing campaign in advance of the legislatures upcoming budget negotiations.

A team of Agudath Israel activists spent a full day in Albany building support with legislators for tuition relief and other education-related bills that would greatly benefit the Orthodox Jewish community. These include a Tax Education Credit bill for struggling parents; enhanced government funding for immunization record-keeping in nonpublic schools; reimbursement for mandated services; monies for expansion of handicap accessible facilities; and increased funding for safety and security equipment.

The Agudah team consisted of Rabbi Shmuel Lefkowitz, Agudath Israels Vice President for Community Affairs; Mr. Chaskel Bennett and Mr. Leon Goldenberg, Agudah Board members and leaders of the organizations Government Affairs Committee; Rabbi Yeruchim Silber, executive director, Boro Park JCC; Rabbi Boruch Rothman, Yeshiva Darchei Torahs director of institutional advancement; and Rabbi Shai Markowitz, director of Agudath Israels Lefkowitz Leadership Initiative.

With the yeshiva population of New York State exceeding 140,000, education concerns are our top priority; we consistently emphasize that with legislators, noted Rabbi Lefkowitz.

Over the course of an intensive day of advocacy, the group met with Assemblymembers: Peter J. Abbate Jr. (D-Brooklyn); Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Queens); Rodneyse Bichotte (D-Brooklyn); Robert C. Carroll (D-Brooklyn); Michael Cusick (D-Staten Island); Steven Cymbrowitz (D-Brooklyn); Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn); Walter T. Mosley (D-Brooklyn); Felix W. Ortiz (D-Brooklyn); Amy Paulin (D-Scarsdale); Nily Rozic (D-Queens); and Helene E. Weinstein (D-Brooklyn).

In the Senate, the activists spent considerable time with Senators: Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn), Martin J. Golden (R-Brooklyn), Terrence Murphy (R-Westchester) and Elaine Phillips (R-Manhasset).

Tuesdays one-on-one discussions were part of a broader landscape of meetings between Agudath Israel representatives and elected officials. Both in the halls of government and in the home districts of various legislators across the state, the growing team of Agudah advocates continues to cultivate the relationship between Agudath Israel and lawmakers.

The high regard for Rabbi Lefkowitz and the Agudah was demonstrated as he was invited by presiding Senate officer, Senator Elaine Phillips, to open the Senate session with an invocation, noted Mr. Chaskel Bennett.

After remarking that the highlights of the Torah Portion Jews read this week are the Ten Commandments, Rabbi Lefkowitz offered his prayer that these traditional values will continue to provide the framework for the auspicious work of this dedicated group of Senators May you all be blessed with the ability, strength and good health to continue to lead us.

His words were greeted with a resounding amen.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Days before taking office, President-elect Donald Trump made two surprise calls to the Air Force general managing the Pentagons largest weapons program, the Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 jet.

Listening in on one of those calls was Dennis Muilenburg  the CEO of Lockheeds chief rival, Boeing Co.

Trump, who has repeatedly criticized the $379 billion F-35 program as out of control, made the highly unusual calls to Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan on Jan. 9 and Jan. 17. Muilenburg, whose company makes a fighter jet Trump has suggested might be an alternative to the F-35, was in the president-elects New York office for a meeting during the second call. He appeared caught off-guard but was able to listen in on the call, according to two people familiar with the calls, who asked to remain anonymous discussing sensitive information.

I would consider the calls to be very straightforward. He asked a lot of very, very, very good questions because he was in the learning mode, Bogdan said of Trump. Speaking to reporters Thursday after a congressional hearing on the F-35, Bogdan said that Muilenburg listening to the call was not inappropriate. The things I talked about in front of Mr. Muilenburg were clearly publicly releasable information. I understand the rules.

After speaking with Trump, Bogdan wrote two three-page memos, titled phone conversations with President-Elect, dated Jan. 10 and 18th and stamped For Official Use Only, to limit distribution, according to the people. The memos outlined Trumps questions about the capabilities of Boeings Super Hornet fighter and how it might compete against Lockheeds F-35C. About a dozen Pentagon officials were alerted to the calls after they occurred, the people said.

It Creates Chaos

Since winning election, Trump has emphasized his experience in real estate negotiations as evidence he can get taxpayers a better deal on expensive Pentagon programs. Boeing, too, faced Trumps wrath when he criticized potential spending on a new version of the Air Force One presidential airplane. But Trumps calls to a uniformed program manager to discuss a contract that was completed 16 years ago were unprecedented and potentially disruptive, said a defense analyst.

When a president ignores the chain of command by going directly to a program manager, it creates chaos in the system, said Loren Thompson, an analyst with the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Virginia, whos followed the F-35 program since Lockheed beat Boeing in the winner-take-all contract in October 2001.

Behavior that looks decisive in the business world can unhinge a military organization that depends on order and discipline, said Thompson, who also consults for Lockheed.

Following his Jan. 17 meeting with Trump, Muilenburg said he made some great progress in his talks with the president-elect.

We discussed Air Force One, we discussed fighter aircraft, Muilenburg told reporters at Trump Tower in New York.

Boeing spokesman Todd Blecher said in an email, I have nothing to add to what Mr. Muilenburg said to reporters after his Trump Tower meeting.

Lockheed declined to comment. The White House didnt respond to a request for comment. Bogdans spokesman, Joe DellaVedova, declined to provide Bogdans memos, which Bloomberg News has requested under the Freedom of Information Act.

Bogdan first met Trump Dec. 21 at his Palm Beach resort during an official visit by 11 military officers. He said Thursday that he wasnt surprised by the calls from Trump, who had made it clear after that meeting that hed be reaching out with more questions.

Bogdan defended the F-35 Thursday before a subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee. In a statement to the committee, he said the jets operating costs are decreasing, making the F-35 more affordable each and every day.

Trump has shaken the defense industry  and put all large U.S. companies with government contracts on notice  with his frequent Twitter posts about business issues ranging from the F-35 to sales of his daughter Ivankas brand at Nordstrom stores. Trumps phone calls to the Pentagon came after a December tweet: Based on the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35, I have asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet!

Theres probably not much Boeing could do to make its jet comparable to the F-35. The two aircraft have different capabilities and mission requirements. Moreover, in an effort to drive the fighters costs down, the F-35 has been marketed to allies around the world, with production and maintenance contracts spread from the U.K. to Australia.

The U.S. Air Force, which plans to buy 1,763 of the F-35A model jets, wouldnt fly Boeings minimally stealthy fourth-generation Super Hornet, which is designed for aircraft carrier operations. As a so-called fifth-generation fighter, the F-35 is stealthier and is equipped with more advanced radar, sensors and communications systems.

The Navy version of the F-35 is easier to target because its not scheduled to be operational until August 2018 at the earliest. The service plans to buy only 260 carrier models of the plane; the Marine Corps will buy 80 of the Navy model and 340 of a version capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings, according to the Congressional Research Service. Lockheed has delivered 26 of the Navy jets to date, with four more on order, according to spokesman Mike Rein.

Aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia said in an email that Trump seems to really like interfering in the requirements process but hopefully, he realizes that the Super Hornet/F-35 battle only impacts a very small part of the F-35 program.

Nevertheless, Trump is not the first person to suggest that the F/A-18E/F could replace some F-35s. The Pentagons first Quadrennial Defense Review in May 1997 said that should Joint Strike Fighter development be delayed additional F/A-18E/Fs beyond planned quantities may be added later as appropriate to sustain planned forces.

Defense Secretary James Mattis in a memo last month translated Trumps tweet into action when he asked Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work to oversee a review that compares F-35C and F/A-18E/F operational capabilities and assesses the extent that F/A-18E/F improvements (an advanced Super Hornet) can be made in order to provide a competitive, cost effective, fighter aircraft alternative.

Under current plans, the Pentagon is scheduled to increase overall purchases of the F-35 in the coming fiscal year to 70 from 63 this year. Purchases would grow to 80 aircraft in fiscal 2019, and theres a pending block buy of 450 aircraft after that.

(c) 2017, Bloomberg  Tony Capaccio
Making his debut on the world stage, Vice President Mike Pence will seek to reassure skeptical allies in Europe about U.S. foreign policy under President Donald Trump, who has made his America First mantra a centerpiece of his new administration.

Pences trip to Germany and Belgium, his first overseas trip as vice president, is aimed at reassuring European and Middle Eastern partners about the U.S. commitment to trans-Atlantic institutions like NATO and the European Union, White House advisers said ahead of the trip. The visit comes amid concerns in Europe about Russian aggression, and lingering questions about Trumps relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and whether the new president may promote isolationist tendencies.

The dismissal of Trumps national security adviser, retired Gen. Michael Flynn, has also put Pence and his stature within the administration under new scrutiny. Flynn was forced to resign Monday following reports he misled Pence about contacts with a Russian diplomat, which the vice president learned about through media accounts.

Pence was arriving in Germany on Friday to attend the Munich Security Conference, where he will deliver a speech Saturday and then meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Pence is also scheduled to sit down with the leaders of the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko  countries facing the threat of Russian aggression  along with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.

These are pretty blunt-spoken people and they are very nervous. Pence is looking like an adult, said James Jeffrey, a U.S. ambassador to Iraq during the Obama administration and a distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The question is will Trump listen to him?

Pence was also expected to meet with the leaders of Iraq and Afghanistan, where the U.S. is embroiled in two separate wars. In the earliest days of his presidency, Trump declared his intention to fight and defeat the Islamic State group. But he also remarked that the U.S. may get a second chance to take Iraqi oil as compensation for its efforts in the war-torn country, a notion rebuffed by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who will be meeting with Pence.

Trumps immigration and refugee ban has also ruffled feathers with a number of Muslim-majority countries affected by the order currently tied up in court, including Iraq  a close ally in the fight against IS.

The American allies will be seeking clues from Pence as to how the Trump administration plans to deal with Russia in the aftermath of Flynns departure, U.S. inquiries into Russias involvement in the presidential election and Trumps past praise for Putin.

European countries along Russias border were rattled about deeper U.S.-Russian ties after Trump suggested sanctions imposed after Russias annexation of Crimea could be eased in exchange for a nuclear weapons deal and the president referred to NATO as obsolete in an interview before his inauguration.

NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is a military alliance of European and North American democracies created after World War II to strengthen international cooperation as a counter-balance to the rise of the Soviet Union. In 2014, the 28-member alliance created a rapid-reaction force to protect the most vulnerable NATO members against a confrontation with Russia.

But Trump cast doubt as a candidate about whether the U.S. might fulfill its NATO obligations if he won the White House, saying in a July interview that he would decide whether to protect the Baltic republics against Russian aggression based on whether those countries have fulfilled their obligations to us.

Pence will travel to Brussels, Belgium, on Sunday for meetings related to NATO and the European Union. His Monday itinerary includes face-to-face meetings with EU Council President Donald Tusk, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

As part of his message, Pence is expected to press allies in Europe to raise their defense budgets to NATOs target of 2 percent of GDP. Germany has been wary of the costs and pointed to its expenditures from supporting refugees and investing in international development.

As Indianas governor, Pence led a number of foreign trade missions, and he traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan as a member of Congress. But he is just beginning his relationships with foreign leaders and aides said the trip was also aimed at establishing personal relationships with U.S. partners.

Theres considerable concern, but because they dont know (Pence) theyre willing to give him a chance, said Julianne Smith, a former deputy national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden. This is the opportunity for the administration to reassure very skittish allies across the European continent and beyond.

(AP)
By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times

You know that your product has made it when Yeshivos begin to ban it. Not only is the product a source of Bitul Torah, but the new craze has become a hilchos Shabbos issue.

What is it and why is it so appealing to young people?

The putty is similar to the old silly putty that many people grew up with, but with a lower viscosity. Most importantly, however, it has magnetic and luminescent components in it that cause it to behave in fascinating ways.

The product was invented by Aaron Muderick, a former software engineer who is now a mechanical engineer and a, not uncreative chemist. It seems that there is a new field of putty chemistry which it seems has given birth to a new field of halacha that we can call, Putty Halacha.

Mudericks factory makes tons of putty each year, packing it in four-inch tins that have now found their way into yeshivos, day schools, and even Bais Yaakovs.

There are different types: Super Magnetic putties contain micron-sized micro magnets and come to life when it is around a magnet. The magnet charges the putty, then, as it develops magnetic poles, the putty repels. After a few seconds, it is attracted again and moves toward the magnet. The magnetic putties come in blue, black, silver and raspberry red.

There is the Super Illusion putties which come in three luminescent colors that shift depending on the angle of light. The Phantom putties react to ultraviolet rays and can be drawn or written on with a backlight keychain that come with these putties.

There is also a crystal clear putty, putties that change color with heat and glow-in-the-dark putties.

These putties cannot be used on Shabbos for a number of reasons.

There is the issue of memarayach, a sub-category of smoothing  memachaik. In the Mishkan the hides of the rams (ailim) needed to be smoothened to process them into the coverings of the Mishkan. Scraping or sanding any surface can be memachaik. Memarayach is a sub-category of Memachaik. It means smoothing a softer more pliable substance, such as wax. It refers to something than can be molded into a shape.

Regarding this softer concept of Memarayach  there are three categories:

Deoraisha  biblically forbidden smoothing  A pliant and easily moldable semi-solid such as wax, tar or fat. It must, however retain its shape to be considered deoraisah.

It should also be known that according to the Chayei Odom, if it retains its shape  it also violates Kosaiv. The Chayei Odom rules in regard to the laws of baking on Yom Tov that keeping a challah shape is considered writing. Poskim have ruled like this Chayei Odom.

Derabanan  if it does not retain its shape, smoothing it is forbidden by the Rabbis. Skin cream is a prime example of this, as is any thick salve or ointment. If it pours, however, it is permitted.

Permitted: If the item actually pours out then it is not forbidden even Rabbinically, and it is permitted.

There is another issue of Boneh  building. Forming a shape.

Another issue is cleaning clothing with the Thinking Putty. This is often a problem of Melabain, laundering. For the record, thinking putty also kills clothing. If it gets on clothing, it does not come off. This is different than silly putty, which can come off clothing.

As far as the issues of the magnet are concerned, they would have been permitted would the other issues have not been problematic.

One last thought: One teacher remarked, I actually allow one of my students to play with the thinking putty, for some students  it can keep them focused.

The author can be reached at [email protected]
A federal investigation into the police chokehold death of Eric Garner is moving forward in New York, but its future could be up in the air as a new U.S. attorney general with a law-and-order bent takes over the Justice Department.

Two people with inside knowledge of the probe say a grand jury in Brooklyn met as late as last week to hear evidence in the deadly confrontation between Garner and police on Staten Island in 2014. Garners dying words, I cant breathe, became a slogan for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Both people were not authorized to discuss the secret proceedings and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

New Attorney General Jeff Sessions had accused the Justice Department under the Obama administration of overstepping its authority and undermining police.

(AP)
[VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

A group of IDF officers, led by Deputy Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Yair Golan, visited the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77) in the Mediterranean on Tuesday, February 14, for a day of familiarization and discussions with American naval personnel.

US Embassy Charge daffaires Leslie Tsou also took part in the visit. While on board the vessel, the visitors received a briefing on the ships various combat capabilities and observed flight and maritime operations from the deck of the carrier. The tour and demonstration included an up-close view of aircraft catapult launches, arrested landings, and a tour of the ships vast aircraft hangars, flight squadrons, operation center, bridge, and flight control tower.

The purpose of the visit was to demonstrate the capabilities and firepower of USS George H. W. Bush and Carrier Strike Group 2, and to support cooperation between the US and Israeli navies, as well as ensuring interoperability between the US and its Israeli partners. Such visits are a means of sustaining the USs long-standing alliance with Israel.

The group was hosted by the ships commanding officer, Capt. Will Pennington, and the commander of the Carrier Strike Group, Rear Adm. Kenneth R. Whitesell.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
British business lobbies and employers' groups have united in condemning the government's 'outrageous' changes to business rates in England.

They have clubbed together to condemn a clause they say is aimed at stopping firms appealing against rate rises, even if they can prove they are wrong.

Organisations representing retailers, SMEs and pubs have signed a letter written by law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner that questions the legality of the proposed changes.

Firms will be hammered by the shake-up of a rates regime that will earn the Treasury 1billion more next year

The effect of the modification could mean 'businesses could fail to gain backdated reductions in rates even if a reduction in rates was found to be justified', it says, citing a House of Commons briefing paper.

Roger Cohen a signatory at BLP said,'This is a fundamentally unjust proposal which flies in the face of assessing rateable values with accuracy.

'In our letter, we challenge the lack of clarity in the draft regulations and question the legal authority of the Minister to make this change.

'We are asking a Joint Committee of both Houses of Parliament to stop the proposal in its tracks.'

The letter comes as businesses are being forced to stump up billions more as part of a revaluation that comes into force in April.

Some pubs, shops and nurseries face 300 per cent hikes

Signed by 13 trade bodies, four professional bodies and 10 private practice firms - including the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB)  the letter claims the proposals 'require elucidation' and that if published, they could be 'intra vires' (beyond the powers).

Businesses wishing to appeal against a decision to push their rates up can only do so in restricted circumstances under an amendment tabled by the Government.

It notes the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has not published comments on or reaction to the consultation - despite the draft regulations being due to come into force on April 1.

HELEN DICKINSON CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE BRITISH RETAIL CONSORTIUM 'Given the growing burden of business rates, it is essential that each ratepayer pays its fair share. However, the plans for the new appeals process would mean that a business rates valuation determined to be inaccurate by the independent Valuation Tribunal for England, would only be corrected if it is deemed 'outside the bounds of reasonable professional judgement'. This would be unfair to ratepayers and create additional uncertainty for local government. Instead, a collaborative working relationship between the Valuation Office Agency and ratepayers, where information and evidence can be shared and appeals avoided, should be sought.'

'However, the plans for the new appeals process would mean that a business rates valuation determined to be inaccurate by the independent Valuation Tribunal for England would only be corrected if it is deemed 'outside the bounds of reasonable professional judgment'.

'This would be unfair to ratepayers and create additional uncertainty for local government.

A Government spokesman responding to the letter said: 'These claims are simply false. We are not preventing anyone from appealing their bills, or setting any margin of error for appeals being heard.

'We're reforming the appeals process to make it easier for businesses to check, challenge and appeal their bills, while at the same time generous business rate reliefs mean thousands more businesses are seeing a reduction.

'From April, 600,000 businesses will pay no rates at all.'
Ministers were facing a growing revolt over the business rates shake-up last night as leading bodies claimed it could be illegal.

Thirteen business groups signed a letter warning small firms could be blocked from appealing against big rises in their rates.

More than 500,000 cafes, shops, hotels, nurseries, schools and hospitals will pay up to 300 per cent more from April, following the first revaluation of business rates for seven years.

But under the reforms, they could be prevented from appealing against the bills if they are within a 'margin of error' which experts have claimed may be as high as 15 per cent.

The revaluation sparked uproar after it emerged online giants such as Amazon would benefit while small stores would lose out

The business groups, including the British Retail Consortium, the Confederation of British Industry and the Federation of Small Businesses, say this could be illegal under local government finance laws.

Experts said the Government's message was, 'Pay up, don't appeal, and shut up'.

Figures show it is still dealing with 280,000 appeals against business rate hikes from the last change in 2010  a total which is likely to soar in the coming weeks.

Last night there was anger in Whitehall that the 'Where's Wally' search for Mr Javid was happening again

Yesterday questions were being asked about Communities Secretary Sajid Javid's leadership amid the crisis, after officials said he had stayed on holiday despite the uproar. As the backlash intensified, it was revealed that:

More than 100million of UK foreign aid has been spent on malls and retail chains around the world despite shops facing tax hikes here;

Three in four small firms said the prospect of business rate rises was now their major worry;

Two parliamentary committee leaders called for a review of the entire business rates system;

Even the Queen will be hit  with a potential 60,000 increase in bills for Buckingham Palace;

The Federation of Small Businesses said London firms could be driven out of business by the rises;

Mr Javid said thousands of businesses in the North and Midlands would benefit from falls in rates.

The revaluation sparked uproar after it emerged online giants such as Amazon would benefit while small stores would lose out. Money Mail has launched a Save Our Shops campaign calling for an rethink of how rates are calculated.

But yesterday it emerged many firms will face a double hit thanks to a tightening of the appeals regime.

Even the Queen will be hit  with a potential 60,000 increase in bills for Buckingham Palace

Under current law, all appeals must be considered. But new rules due to be passed before April would mean only businesses that claim their rate is wildly inaccurate would have it rectified.

If the disputed amount is within a 'margin of error' the appeal could be rejected. Experts understand this will be around 15 per cent but the Government denies there is a specific limit and insists officials will use their professional judgment.

The move was seen as a bid to reduce the seven-year backlog of appeals, which is expected to balloon from April when businesses can appeal against the new rates.

The 13 business groups called on Mr Javid to withdraw the loophole before it is put before Parliament. James Lowman, of the Association of Convenience Stores, said the plans 'will leave retailers powerless to challenge their bills unless they are wildly inaccurate'.

The Government's Valuation Office Agency (VOA) will be able to block appeals on the basis of 'reasonable professional judgment'. Officials say allowance must be made for the fact official valuers and private valuers hired by firms sometimes disagree slightly over rates.

But business groups say appeals cannot be blocked under the Local Government Finance Act 1988. The law says the Government can make regulations on appeals, but does not say it has the right to ban appeals on the basis of accuracy, or to define what accuracy is.

Debbie Warwick of property specialists Daniel Watney LLP, which co-signed the letter, said: 'This change is not just morally but legally wrong. It's the equivalent of making it illegal to challenge an incorrect income tax bill.'

The appeals process is also due to become more complicated from April, with three stages instead of two. Jerry Schurder, of rates specialists Gerald Eve, said firms were facing 'an obstacle course'.

The powers would allow the VOA to refuse to adjust a rate when a valuation tribunal has judged it inaccurate  unless it is deemed 'outside the bounds of reasonable professional judgment'.

The British Retail Consortium's Helen Dickinson said: 'This would be unfair to ratepayers and create additional uncertainty for local government.' John Webber of rates specialists Colliers International said: 'The Government are short-changing business by overseeing a system that has more appeals outstanding today than it has in its history.'

He said the reforms would make appeals 'harder, more expensive, more time consuming and will still provide no justice. The Government's message is clear  pay up, don't appeal, and shut up.'

Mark Rigby of CVS Business Rent & Rates Specialists said: 'VOA staff are having to contend with a leaky bucket of 280,000 unresolved cases, a third less resources by 2020 and a new complex appeals process  Government continues to ignore their cries.'

A Government spokesman said that claims the clause was illegal were false, adding: 'We are not preventing anyone from appealing their bills, or setting any margin of error for appeals. We're reforming the appeals process to make it easier for businesses to check, challenge and appeal .'
U.S. investors have a new pure-play opportunity in China's restaurant industry.

Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell parent company Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) recently divested its Chinese business from the rest of its sprawling global enterprise. The new company, Yum China (NYSE: YUMC), became an independent publicly traded company on Nov. 1, 2016. Here are three points for investors to consider regarding this international business.

Yum China is huge

A few years ago, Yum Brands' operations in the world's most populous country had grown to represent half of its total revenue. Chinese diners loved the company's KFC and Pizza Hut chains, so much so that they became the largest ones in China's large restaurant industry.

The newly formed Yum China still holds that title, with over 7,500 restaurants in operation. While Yum Brands will continue to control the rest of the world, Yum China owns exclusive rights to KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell in its home country. It has over 5,000 KFC and nearly 2,000 Pizza Hut locations, with the balance made up of other chains like the wholly-owned East Dawning fast-food and Little Sheep Mongolian hot pot brands.

Opportunities in China keep on coming

With 1.4 billion people and the second largest economy behind the U.S., about 60% of the population lives in urban areas, where Yum China has chosen to locate its restaurants. At last report, the company operated in over 1,100 cities across the country.

Operating in densely populated urban centers has helped Yum broaden its reach, and those markets are getting larger. In the next five years, China's urban population is expected to grow by another 75 million people, bringing more people into contact with its popular brands.

China's middle class is also growing. While cities expand, transportation hubs like airports, train stations, and bus routes are set to double in number, and 1,200 more shopping malls are slated to be opened. All of those developments help increase the number of potential diners at Yum China's restaurants.

Growth is in the air

Yum is celebrating its 30th anniversary in China this year, and the company isn't content with its current footprint in the country. Now that Yum China is free to operate on its own, a big expansion is planned over the next few years.

As the aforementioned transportation hubs and shopping malls get built, the company is planning to put a new restaurant in each one, and the growing cities will also get new stores as needed. This plan is already in motion, as 575 new locations cut ribbons in 2016, an 8% increase in the company's store footprint. Taco Bell is also just getting started, with the first location opening in Shanghai.

The company is also looking to pursue growth in existing stores and through delivery -- 75% of restaurants have been remodeled within the last five years, and Yum China celebrated independence with new digital marketing campaigns featuring Chinese celebrity endorsers and popular cartoon characters like Kung Fu Panda.

Signs of life for Yum China

These encouraging developments come after Yum! Brands had seen growth stall in the region. A food scare several years ago gave the brands a black eye, and same-store sales were in full retreat.

Now separated from its former parent company, Yum China has more flexibility to make fast, strategic decisions tailored to its local market. Revenue grew 5% year-over-year in 2016, and same-store sales increased 3% at KFC and were flat across all chains.

While much work remains to be done, the company is showing early signs of progress. For investors interested in the restaurant industry, this one is worth keeping an eye on.

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Sir,



It gives me a great pleasure to be given an opportunity to share my views about the fraternal solutions for the people of Swaziland.

The people of Swaziland need to come together and work on continued efforts to create themselves a new a better way of life.



We are facing most of the problems that were faced by our grandfathers back in the days of colonisation.

Our hopes and aspirations which we share derive from the same essential beliefs in the nature and destiny of men.

It is thus inevitably true that there should exist between those two great people, strong and lasting ties of friendship and understanding.

The two great people I am talking about are the banned political parties and the current ruling system called Tinkhundla.



The manner in which we as representatives of the people have long been a matter for learned discussion among philosophers and political analysts.

The world of the developing nation is creating new problems for the scholars to ponder, as new societies are emerging to deal with the complexities and explosive questions of national and institutional governments.



Is a representative responsible only to a constituency or to the particular group at which he has been chosen or appointed?

The answer is a big no!



However, it is happening in Swaziland and there is a need to announce an end to it because it is the reason why the country has not reached the level of development that is expected. Obstacles to sectional, cultural and political affiliation often pose a major obstacle to national development. In their expanded sense, as narrowly national and ideological interest, they threaten unity and progress.



Democracy is believed to be the only system which can survive because it accepts or is prepared to tolerate dissent and criticism.

It accepts these as useful and any case inevitable aspects of all social and political relations.



The tolerant of dissent and criticisms within a government proceeds from a single essential premise; that the government exists to serve the people generally, government servants, whether designated as representative or not, have trust to work for the general welfare.

The same trusts exist among member States affiliated to international organisations.



The members of such organisations must adhere to some tacit or expressed conception of international welfare.

As I extend my hand of universal brotherhood to all, without regard to race or political affiliation, I call upon all Swazis to be tolerant.



This is the time for the people of Swaziland to come together and work for their own government that will have their interests at heart.

If we allow the views and contributions of all citizens regardless of their political affiliations we will definitely achieve First World Status.



Sbhamu Mamba
MALKERNS  Life has become tough for an unpaid security guard as he sleeps in a wheelbarrow and is fed by vendors.



Boy Boy Ndzinisa (26) of Nhlangano in the Shiselweni Region left his hometown about half a year ago to look for a job in the urban area so that he could take care of himself and his family. He is responsible for the welfare his girlfriend and two-year-old son. In July 2016, he was employed by a security company which won a tender from one of the government parastatals. However, the name of the security company will not be revealed as its director could not be reached for a comment as he was reportedly out of the country.



However, off late, things did not turn they way he had anticipated as from February 11, 2017, he has been sleeping in a wheelbarrow inside a tattered house near his locked rented flat and survive on boiled mealies he gets from vendors.



Ndzinisa, who was found in deep sleep in the wheelbarrow inside the tattered house at Esithomo in Malkerns opposite Sibuyeni, said he found his house locked with a padlock on February 11, 2017 when he came back from work in the morning.

The landlord demanded that I pay rent for the month of January or else I will have to forfeit my belongings and I should find another flat to stay in.



He said he had an agreement that he would pay rent at least by the 10th of every calendar month since that was his pay day as per the agreement with his employer. He said this was not the first time he failed to pay rent on time because his employer rarely paid them on time.

As you can see, I was only left with the uniform I was wearing and I sleep with it as I cannot be naked since I rest during the day. This is also because I sleep on a hard surface (wheelbarrow), he said.
MBABANE  It didnt rain but it poured. According to data from the Swaziland Meteorological Services Department, 50 millimetres of rainfall was collected at Nyonyane in six hours yesterday.

Nyonyane is situated near Lomahasha, one of the places where the effects of Cyclone Dineo was felt in the country.

It was revealed that Mhlume and surrounding areas also received a lot of rainfall yesterday, as it was situated near where the cyclone showed a lot of strength.



According to Dumisani Sithole, from the Swaziland Meteorological Service, Lomahasha may have received more rainfall than Nyonyane, but the data had not been collected by yesterday at 4pm.

He said they had only been able to collect data between 8am and 2pm yesterday from their automatic stations, and data from their manual station would be collected this morning.



On another note, Sithole said the country was not affected by strong winds, as no area recorded winds of above 50 km/hr.

Sithole said Cyclone Dineo was now in its dying stages, but it still had potential to bring good rains. He said the rains should be expected last night and today.



Dineo is now abating, but this is happening at a gradual rate, and the cyclone still has the potential to give us more rainfall later today (yesterday) and tomorrow (today), he said. Meanwhile, Sikhuphe received the highest rainfall between Wednesday at 8am and yesterday at 8am.

A total of 59.5 mm of rainfall was collected in the area yesterday morning. Sithole said they had not yet collateral the amount of rainfall which was received yesterday from the area, as they had a manual station.

Other areas which have manual stations are Mhlume and Matsapha.
MBABANE  Looking for something and then noticing its in your hands is humiliating, says the Englishman.



The adage may be relevant to current happenings in the country, with particular reference to the divisive issue of the top-up fees.

Stakeholders are searching for answers to the question of how to charge top-up fees yet they (top-up fees) are legal in terms of Section 12 of the Free Primary Education Act of 2010.



Top-up fees are additional school related fees that are charged by public schools, over and above the grants they get from government.

It is provided in law that schools can ask parents to pay additional fees over and above the yearly grants paid to the school by government. It was previously reported that government was bringing back top-up fees.



It was said Phineas Magagula, the Minister of Education and Training, had submitted a proposal to cabinet to reintroduce the additional fees which schools charged over and above government grants.



However, this newspaper can reveal that the law does set out procedures for implementing top up fees.

First, a public school is required in terms of the law to submit a formal request to the minister of education and training, stating its intention to ask parents to pay additional fees.



The public school can only implement the extra school fee charges after it had received the ministers approval.

There is no provision which empowers the minister to turn down the request.



Reads Section 12 (1) of the Act: A committee of a public primary school intending to ask parents to top up school fees over and above the fees paid to the school by the government shall submit a written request, with justification to the minister for his approval before implementing such top up.

. . .
University of NebraskaLincolns Glenn Korff School of Music named Sergio Ruiz, professor of music and chair of the Georgia College Department of Music, as its new director.

He will begin his new position on July 1.

He replaces John W. Richmond, who left the university last year to become of the dean of the College of Music at the University of North Texas in Denton. Peter Lefferts has been interim director of the Korff School since July.

"(Sergio Ruiz) has the vision and experience to build upon the successes of the school and continue their trajectory to become one of the finest music schools in the nation," said Chuck OConnor, dean of the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts.

Ruiz, a Steinway artist, has been chair of the Georgia College Department of Music since 2013. Prior to that, he was director of keyboard studies from 2004-13 and director of the Institute of Latin American Music Studies from 2007-2013 at Sam Houston State University School of Music in Huntsville, Texas.

He earned a doctorate of musical arts in piano performance from Rice University, his masters degree in music from Cleveland Institute of Music and his bachelor of arts from Santa Clara University.

It is a great honor to be named director of the Glenn Korff School of Music, Ruiz said. Id like to thank the remarkable faculty, staff, administration and students for placing their trust in me. Im thrilled to join a great team of world-class artists and scholars and look forward to a very bright future together.

His performances on Spanish-speaking radio broadcasts have aired throughout South and Central America. Most recently, he performed concerts in the Czech Republic, Belgium, Germany, Bolivia, Ecuador and Mexico. Ruiz studied piano in Barcelona under the tutelage of the late pianist Alicia de Larrocha. He has prepared an edition of the piano chamber music of Spanish composer Enrique Granados (1867-1916). He recently completed a recording project of the chamber music of South American composer Gustavo Navarre (1931-2006).
Nebraska residents with major or multiple felony drug convictions could qualify for federal food assistance under a bill that would repeal the current lifetime ban.

Sen. Adam Morfeld of Lincoln said Thursday that his proposal would help recently released prisoners return to society and reduce their odds of reoffending.

"This bill removes a barrier to successful reintegration while also reducing hunger for individuals and their families that are affected," Morfeld said in testimony to the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee.

If it passes, Nebraska would join 18 other states that have opted out of a federal ban for drug offenders. Neighboring Iowa, Kansas and South Dakota have already lifted their bans, Morfeld said.

Nebraska prohibits people from collecting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits if they were convicted of three felony drug possession charges or one felony distribution charge.

Morfeld said the bill (LB311) would ultimately save the state money because the benefit is federally funded and cheaper than incarcerating someone who commits a new crime.

Incarcerating an inmate in Nebraska costs the state an average of nearly $36,000 a year, while providing them with SNAP benefits costs an average of $258 monthly for working households. On average, new enrollees spend about a year in the program.

The Department of Health and Human Services opposes the measure, arguing that the prospect of losing SNAP benefits encourages drug users to seek treatment. Removing all restrictions could also allow those who are actively using drugs to qualify, said Doug Weinberg, director of the department's Children and Family Services Division.

"The department cannot support a bill with the potential consequences of using tax dollars to support those who choose to sell and distribute addictive drugs to the children and families in our communities," he said.

Some lawmakers noted that, if convicted of selling drugs again, a SNAP recipient would likely go back to prison.

Advocates for low-income residents said the current policy punishes families with parents who are affected by the ban, because they collectively wouldn't receive as much in food assistance.

"There are many unintended victims of Nebraska's SNAP ban," said Ken Smith, an attorney with the group Nebraska Appleseed.

Nebraska denied food assistance to an average of 649 annually between 2015 and 2016, according to the department.

Lawmakers advanced a similar bill last year, but it was defeated by a conservative filibuster during second-round floor debate. Morfeld said he is working on a compromise with one of the leading conservative opponents.
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By Patrick Donachie

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown and elected officials pushed for the state Commission on Forensic Sciences DNA Subcommittee to consider authorizing the use of familial DNA searches to help find suspects in unsolved cases during a hearing last Friday.

Brown said he was inspired to advocate for the practice after the murder of Karina Vetrano, a Howard Beach woman who was killed while jogging on Aug. 2, 2016 in Spring Creek Park. The investigation failed to uncover a suspect for months, even after trying to match DNA in databases to DNA recovered at the scene.

On Feb. 4, police announced they arrested Chanel Lewis, 20, for Vetranos murder. Police said Lewis voluntarily offered a DNA sample that matched the DNA evidence police had previously found.

In addition to Brown, state Assemblywoman Stacy Pheffer Amato (D-Howard Beach), Vetranos family, and others supported the procedure, which allows authorities to search DNA databases for potential relatives who match a recovered DNA sample. Brown said he was grateful for the NYPDs diligent work in apprehending a suspect.

But there are countless other horrible cold cases that remain unsolved, Brown said. Those victims and families continue to suffer and to live in fear and the public remains at risk of the perpetrators striking again. That isnt right.

Brown cited several instances in California where he said the practice had helped capture suspects, but organizations like the Legal Aid Society and the New York Civil Liberties Union expressed caution about the practice. The Legal Aid Society argued familial searching could put family members of suspects not involved with crime in the cross hairs of a DNA search.

Because the database disproportionately holds the genetic profiles of people of color, the suspects generated will be disproportionately people of color, Legal Aids public comment said. Therefore, when there are false positives, when the family members of convicted offenders are wrongly targeted, those innocent targets of police action will be disproportionately people of color.

Brown said regulations could be put in place to satisfy the concerns of civil rights advocates.

In my judgment, familial DNA searching represents sound public policy, Brown said. Prudent, appropriate, limited safeguards can be put in place to ensure that familial searching is used thoughtfully  not indiscriminately  and that information generated by these searches is handled with sensitivity.

If the subcommittee makes a recommendation on familial DNA searching, it must be sent to the commission for action as well, according to the commissions website.
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By Adam Sackowitz

It was heralded as New Yorks worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, and a St. Johns University graduate had the opportunity to change it for the better. The St. Johns graduate was Hugh Carey, who was elected governor of New York in 1974.

Carey inherited a New York City, which was $5 billion in debt, and state agencies, municipalities, and school districts which were on the brink of insolvency. In 1975, the newly elected governor would warn New Yorkers that the days of wine and roses are over.

In his tenure as governor, which lasted for two terms between 1975-1982, Carey made the necessary and difficult decisions to get New York back on track.

Matt Schudel of The New York Time wrote on Careys death in 2011 that Mr. Carey maneuvered the state through a series of tough choices that led to increased taxes, reduced government services and lower state and city budgets, but he managed to keep the city and state afloat.

The late Mayor Koch would also credit Carey with rescuing New York City, He saved the city and the state in 1975, Koch told The Times in 1982. If the city had gone down, the state would have been two days behind. He did it by bringing together the best minds and making everyone work together.

A World War II Veteran who received his bachelors degree and law degree from St. Johns in 1942 and 1951, Carey is not memorialized on campus. I call on the St. Johns University president to allocate $35,000 for a bust of Hugh Carey and an art piece to be displayed on campus.

Governor Carey was someone who brought all New Yorkers together, was admired both by Democrats and Republicans and shared the values of St. Johns University as a devout Catholic, and the father of 14 children. It is time for St. Johns University to honor Gov. Carey.

Adam Sackowitz is a graduate student at St. Johns University studying history and a member of the College Republicans.
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By Bill Parry

Eight days after the U.S. Senate Republicans silenced Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren from reading a letter from Coretta Scott King, the women of the New York City Council stood in solidarity with the Massachusetts Democrat before a Council meeting Wednesday.

City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras-Copeland (D-East Elmhurst), Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Public Advocate Letitia James and the remaining women of the Council read the civil rights leaders letter that was highly critical of the new U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions record on civil rights in 1986 when he was seeking an ill-fated confirmation to a federal judgeship.

Warren was stopped by Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who called the Senate to order under Rule XIX, which prohibits debating senators from ascribing to another senator or to other senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a senator. Warren said she was surprised that the words of Coretta Scott King are not suitable for debate in the United States Senate and continued to read from the letter.

McConnell objected once again and Republicans backed up McConnell in a party-line vote 49 to 43. Warren was not allowed to speak on the Senate floor for the remainder of Sessions confirmation hearings for attorney general.

Contrary to the Senate, the New York City Council is a place where the voices of women thunder and reverberate, as weve seen in our speaker and public advocate, Ferreras-Copeland said. Today, we gave voice to those who have been silenced all over our city and all over our country. In spite of, and perhaps because of, the confirmation of Jeff Sessions as U.S. attorney general, together we too shall nevertheless persist. I thank all of my colleagues for their participation and for the respect they extend to the women of the Council.
Public power representatives and some of their customers lined up Thursday to oppose legislation that would open the door to private electric suppliers, ending Nebraska's status as the nation's only wholly public power state.

Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha, sponsor of LB660, told the Natural Resources Committee that Nebraska is not responding to "significant changes in the market" that could allow Nebraskans to benefit from lower electrical rates.

The purpose of his bill, Wayne said, is to "start a conversation about public power and the role it will play in the future."

Robert Hanson, founder and CEO of Monolith Materials, told senators that his California-based company is building a carbon black manufacturing plant near Hallam that will be the largest electric customer in the state and the company chose Nebraska because of its low electric rates.

"That's our biggest cost," Hanson said, and the company discovered after surveying sites across the United States that Nebraska has "current rates that are unmatched in the country."

"Public power has a lot to do with that," Hanson said. His company believes it can rely on "low-cost electricity for the next 30 years" by locating here, he said.

Phil Young, speaking for Americans for Electricity Choice in supporting the bill, said Nebraskans should position themselves to be able to "buy the cheapest power available."

The market has changed, Young said, and "we don't control our electricity anymore," having ceded much of the decision-making authority to the Southwest Power Pool, a regional electric transmission organization.

Private energy executives and supporters told the committee that Nebraskans are missing out on a competitive market.

Public power has "become a cult" in Nebraska, said Michael Matheson, associated with Americans for Electricity Choice.

"Citizens have become indoctrinated," he said, partly because public power supporters are "good at propaganda."

John McClure, vice president and general counsel of the Nebraska Public Power District, told the committee that many of the retail-choice states are high-cost states for electric consumers.

Kevin Wailes, CEO of the Lincoln Electric System, said "we're interested in saving our customers money (while) private power is interested in making their shareholders money.

"My wife and family will be surprised to learn tonight that I'm the leader of a cult," Wailes said.
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By Mark Hallum

Fresh Meadows teen, Skye Azhar, 15, is back with his family after disappearing Jan. 31, according to his mother.

Skye is safe and with us now. We would like to thank everyone for their tremendous love and support, Azhar wrote on Facebook.

She could not be reached Wednesday for more details about his return.

His disappearance mystified his mother, who had last heard her son rustling around downstairs in their Fresh Meadows home around 4 a.m. the morning he went missing. Kitty Azhar began looking for answers after he did not come home that night. She found her son had made the bed before he left, an unusual occurrence, and the next morning she filed a missing person report. A search of her sons bedroom revealed a bundle of school work stuffed tightly under the bed and his cell phone hidden deep in a drawer with all data wiped from it.

Police from the 107th Precinct were given the abandoned phone after Azhar reported him missing, but she complained that they had taken the phone early in the day only to get it to the right department late that evening.

I feel that  I dont know  I think he was just getting bored and not applying himself, Azhar said, describing the way her son had been failing classes in school and often wandering the city on the trains.

Azhar had little idea of where her son traveled on the trains he was riding during the day, but believes he mainly wandered aimlessly to keep himself busy. Other times, he traveled to Midtown Manhattan, where his father worked to visit him and ride the train back with him.
Strong defense, pair of goals from Shaye Bailey hands Freedom WPIAL Class 1A championship

A shutdown defense and a pair of second-half goals from junior Shaye Bailey led the Freedom Bulldogs to a convincing 3-0 win over Springdale Friday.
The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday denied the latest appeal of death row inmate Marco Torres Jr., who was sentenced to death in 2009 for killing two Grand Island men.

Torres was convicted of first-degree murder in the killings of roommates Timothy Donohue, 48, and Edward Hall, 60, in March 2007.

Torres and Donohue were involved in drug trafficking together, according to the Supreme Court's order.

Grand Island police found Donohue and Hall's bodies on March 5, 2007. Hall was bound, gagged and shot at close range, and Donohue was shot in the head and chest.

In 2009, a jury convicted Torres, whose DNA was at the crime scene and who had used Hall's debit card two days before his body was found.

His first appeal was denied by the Supreme Court in 2012, and Torres filed for post-conviction relief the next year.

He claimed he had ineffective counsel because his attorney did not call certain witnesses at trial and allowed the home where the men were killed to be destroyed, among other contentions.

Hall's home was destroyed in a firefighting exercise shortly after the murders, according to the Supreme Court ruling. Torres alleged that constituted prosecutorial misconduct.

The state isn't required to preserve the home, the justices said. And Torres' attorney's decision not to inspect the house wasn't unreasonable because he was able to look at photos of the crime scene and evidence.

His lawyer's decision not to call witnesses at trial to testify about the robbery and kidnapping of another drug associate was a reasonable trial strategy, the court said.

Torres is one of 10 men on death row at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution.
Washington

Not even a month into his presidency, Donald Trump is moving to dismantle seven decades of American policy built on trade deals and multinational alliances that help fuel the U.S. and global economies.

And no one is sure what will replace them.

The void risks intensifying uncertainty at home and abroad. Without knowing whether trade will be disrupted, business people in the United States and abroad could be forced to rethink their plans.

"The big problem comes when there is uncertainty," says Marcus Moufarrige of Servcorp, a company in Sydney, Australia, that sells office space and technology services abroad. "Uncertainty stops businesses from making decisions. It stops everything."

For now, stock prices are soaring as investors focus on Trump's pledge to cut taxes and business regulations. But his radical break with the past is raising worries. Fitch Ratings, for instance, warns that the uncertainty surrounding Trump's policies poses global risks  from disrupted trade relations to confrontations that unnerve investors.

The president's hostility toward exiting trade deals and suspicion of long-term allies is also leaving a vacuum in global leadership  one that China seems eager to fill. President Xi Jinping last month became the first Chinese head of state to attend an annual gathering of business elites in Davos, Switzerland. Xi used the occasion to declare China a champion of free trade, usurping the traditional U.S. role as the leading booster of globalization. China, the world's leading exporter, wants to expand its global influence.

Trump has offered few details of his trade plans, beyond pressuring U.S. companies to keep or create jobs in America, taking a tougher line in forging deals and slapping tariffs on nations that are deemed to exploit the United States.

"There's not a lot of substance to his policies," says Gordon Hanson, director of the University of California San Diego's Center on Global Transformation. "It consists of two things: Jaw-boning corporate America  "create more jobs here or else"  and across-the board trade protectionism."

Companies heavily involved in imports or exports can't easily develop their business plans without knowing what specific moves Trump will embrace or achieve.

Among the uncertainties:

Will Trump insist on taxing imports if he doesn't get the concessions he wants from America's trading partners?

If America abandons existing agreements, would allies trust it to adhere to any new trade deals?

Would Trump risk igniting a trade war whereby other countries impose retaliatory taxes and sanctions on U.S. goods? Will America's old alliances endure? If not, what replaces them?

Gone, for now, is the long-standing principle that what's good for its allies is usually good for America. As Trump declared in his inaugural speech, "From this day forward it's going to be only America first."

Trump, of course, sees things differently. He argues that the existing order has short-changed America  especially blue-collar U.S. workers  exposing them to unfair competition with low-wage foreign laborers and to unjust trade practices by China and others.

The result, he said in his inaugural: "Rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation."

His words resonate among communities that blame low-wage foreign competition for the loss of 4.8 million US. factory jobs since 2000 and among families whose incomes have stagnated.

Trump has pulled the United States out of a 12-nation Asia-Pacific trade accord negotiated by the Obama administration. He's intent on renegotiating a pact with Mexico and Canada  and dumping it if he can't improve the version in place since 1994. He's questioned NATO's usefulness, considered slashing America's financial contribution to the United Nations and bickered with allies Mexico and Australia.

Critics are confounded by Trump's zeal to tear down an international system that nurtured peace after World War II, encouraged global commerce, lifted much of East Asia out of poverty and empowered the United States to become the world's leading superpower.

"This is the terrifying thing," says Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a think tank that promotes free trade. "This is the biggest reversal we've had since World War II. It does have echoes of the '20s and '30s, when the U.S. said, to its detriment, that everyone else is ripping us off."

In Roseville, Illinois, a soybean and corn farmer named Ron Moore had expected to benefit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership with 11 Asia-Pacific countries. The TPP would have pried open Japan's market to more U.S. farm exports, thereby benefiting U.S. cattle and hog farmers. Moore provides feed to those livestock producers.

"It was going to add value to my soybeans," says Moore, whose soybeans are shipped down the Mississippi River to New Orleans and often on to China and other foreign markets. "We're a little disappointed."

The TPP had stalled in Congress. But Trump officially pulled out of the deal, saying he could do better by negotiating with countries one on one. Some critics backed his argument. They argued that the TPP would have killed American jobs by exposing U.S. workers to low-wage competition in Southeast Asia.
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Detroit

The United Auto Workers union is preparing an ad campaign that urges consumers to buy U.S.-made cars and trucks as it tries to tap into President Donald Trump's efforts to rebuild the country's manufacturing sector.

President Dennis Williams said the ads could be similar to 1970s garment workers campaign with a catchy jingle that told people to look for a union label on clothing.

Williams told reporters Thursday that the union wants to take advantage of what it sees as a movement in the U.S. to bring back manufacturing jobs lost to cheaper-labor countries such as Mexico. "If it's not built in the United States then don't buy it," Williams said Thursday at the UAW's headquarters in Detroit.

He urged consumers to buy union-made vehicles first, then those made at non-union factories in the U.S. In essence, he's telling people to buy a U.S.-made Toyota Camry over a Mexican-made Ford Fusion, which may put him at odds with Detroit automakers.

Trump used the slogan "Make America Great Again" in his campaign to defeat Hillary Clinton. He also campaigned on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he blamed for the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs to Mexico.

The simplicity of a 'Buy American' campaign might work for a short time with part of the U.S. population, but the message could become muddied because foreign automakers build some models here and Detroit automakers build some in other countries, said Allen Adamson, founder of BrandSimple consulting in the New York area.

"If there ever was a time to give it a try, that time is now," he said. "I don't think it will turn into action because it's too complex and confusing for the average consumer."

Williams, whose union endorsed Clinton, didn't say when the ads would start.

He also told reporters the UAW is willing to work with Trump to redo the trade deal. It's still researching the border tax Trump has talked about on goods imported from Mexico.
Here is J.D. Vance, a long way from Middletown, Ohio, arriving at the gilded Fifth Avenue temple of the University Club in New York City, a massive pile of excess born of robber-baron lucre and standing in the shadow of its glass-and-steel successor, Trump Tower.

Vance has no tie. The club requires that he wear one. He is offered a scrawny, wrinkled navy number, possibly a Brooks Brothers reject, that looks as though it has collected lint through several society seasons.

That Vance is the night's honored speaker, at a benefit for socioeconomically disadvantaged students, which he himself was not a decade ago, makes no difference. Rules are rules.

None of this is lost on Vance, 32, a proud product of Appalachia, the Marines, Ohio State and Yale Law. The son of a mother who married five times and took to hard drugs. Whose father left the home by the time his son had started walking and gave him up for adoption when J.D. (for James David) was 6, to be raised by his mother, his maternal grandparents and a parade of stepfathers. (She's clean now, and he's back in Vance's life.)

Seven months ago, Vance's "Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis" exploded into the national political conversation. Although Donald Trump gets not a solitary mention in the book, the novice author's timing proved exquisite.

The memoir describes the plight of poor, angry white Americans in Appalachia and the Rust Belt, a tinderbox of resentment that ignited national politics. His family roots on his mother's side run deep in Kentucky, specifically Breathitt County, before his grandparents settled in Middletown. "Hillbilly Elegy" crested the bestseller list, tumbled slightly, only to spike again after the presidential election. Late last week, it was the No. 2 bestseller on Amazon behind George Orwell's dystopian classic, "1984."

The book, with an initial printing of 10,000, has sold half a million copies in hardcover and 280,000 digital and audio editions, according to the publisher, HarperCollins.

CNN hired Vance as a paid commentator. He has become a regular contributor to The New York Times opinion page. He's in high demand as a lecturer, being offered what he deems "a preposterous amount of money." His schedule is such a circus that he recently had to hire a personal assistant.

The Trump whisperer, they call him. Also, J.D., the Rust Belt anger translator.

A weird place to be, he concedes. "It's an indictment of our media culture that a group that includes tens of millions of people is effectively represented by one guy," he says. "I feel sort of uncomfortable being the guy."

But for now, he is.

Vance and his family  his mother and sister and whichever man his mother was with at the moment  moved constantly, chaos their credo, until, as a teenager, he'd had enough. In high school, he chose to live with his beloved maternal grandmother, Mamaw, a profanity-spewing hill woman  "a violent nondrunk," he calls her  who never spent much time in high school but was armed with an unwavering belief that her grandson could do anything.

Vance understands the rarity of his journey, that if the Ivy League didn't festoon his resume, he probably wouldn't be addressing the evening's benefit, surrounded by degree-laden liberals in America's pulsing blue border.

Several guests at the event, clutching copies of "Hillbilly" to their chests, beseech Vance, believing that he's a fellow progressive: "What are we going to do? We Democrats need to figure this out."

Vance is a conservative Republican. He's a contributor to the National Review and has interned and clerked for Republicans.

"It's very interesting, right?" he says later of the political presumption. "It seems to me an indictment of the Republican Party that if you talk about issues of poverty and upward mobility, people assume you're a Democrat."

"This country is segregated by race, geography and income in a way that it hasn't been in a very, very long time," he says. "The person in New York City is showing too little empathy for the Trump voter. The Trump voter is showing too little empathy for the person who's very worried about the refugee ban. They're not spending enough time with each other to have a meaningful conversation."

For the record, Vance is not a Trump fan. Trump, he says, "ran an angry, very adversarial campaign that in tone matched the frustrations of the people I wrote about. He certainly ran a pretty cynical campaign, and got a lot of votes from people who are feeling cynical about the future." Vance voted for Evan McMullin.

On this night, a long way from his family's origins in a Kentucky holler, Vance will feast on a $46 steak, drain a $19 martini, slumber in a $700 hotel room and shake his head at the absurdity of it all.

Vance lives in San Francisco  the antithesis of his hometown of Middletown  where he works as a principal in an investment group co-founded by Silicon Valley poobah Peter Thiel. But Vance and his wife, Usha, are moving to Columbus, possibly within the next few weeks.

There, he plans to run a small nonprofit organization "to work on battling the opioid crisis and bringing durable capital to the region," he says. "I actually care about solving some of these things."
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Two red-headed young women disappeared in the early 2000s from mobile home parks in Milton. Years later, hunters found their remains less than five miles apart, hidden deep in the woods of Greenfield. Neither slaying has been solved.

Investigators do know one thing: their deaths are most likely related.

Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo said the similarities are uncanny. "They lived in close proximity of each other," he said. One was 18 years old, the other was 19 when they disappeared on summer days two years apart. Zurlo declined to say how the women died, saying investigators want to see if tips match their facts.

The cold cases resurfaced Friday after the sheriff's office published the details of unsolved homicides online in the hopes to generate new leads. "Any little thing helps," Zurlo said.

The web page states "there is a strong possibility" the 2003 and 2005 deaths of the two young women are related.

Eighteen-year-old Jennifer "Moonbeam" Hammond was reported missing on Nov. 2, 2003. She was last seen in August selling magazine subscriptions door-to-door at the Creek and Pines mobile home park on Middleline Road in Milton.

Co-workers with Atlantic Circulation Inc. had dropped off Hammond by herself. Two hours later, she did not show up at their designated pickup spot.

Hammond was from Littleton, Colo., but had been staying in an Albany hotel with five other co-workers. All of her belongings were left there when she vanished. She'd made arrangements for a bus ticket home but the ticket was never picked up and she had no further contact with her family.

Six years after her disappearance, a hunter found human skull fragments and three teeth on the ground deep in the woods near Lake Desolation in Greenfield on Oct. 25, 2009. A State Police forensic expert confirmed the remains were Hammond's.

Nineteen-year-old Christina White was reported missing in 2005. She was last seen by family members the night of June 30 leaving her home in Saratoga Village mobile home park in Milton. Witnesses told police they saw White walking along the road near Geyser Road and Rowland Street.

A year later, on March 10, 2006, a hunter found her skeleton remains in the Daketown Forest in Greenfield. Authorities believe she was stabbed to death.

Zurlo said he hopes that by publicizing the women's cases, and the other three unsolved homicides, his office will motivate someone to come forward with new information. "We're hoping ... this can stir some activity," he said.

Saratoga County investigators are also probing these three unrelated cold cases:

On July 6, 1988, a passing truck driver found 28-year-old Pamela Ann Devizzio's body in a ditch on the side of Putnam Road, just east of Jacob Drive. He called the sheriff's office at 9:45 a.m.

Devizzio's father Tony had reported her missing to Saratoga Springs police the day before her body was found. He told police his daughter hadn't returned his phone calls, wasn't at the 78 Court St. apartment she shared with another woman and hadn't shown up for work at Mangino's Restaurant.

Devizzio worked at the Malta restaurant as a waitress and was known to enjoy Saratoga Springs nightlife. She regularly partied with other food services employees and she was last seen leaving a bar on Caroline Street by herself in the early morning hours of July 5.

Devizzio was bludgeoned to death, with the blows primarily landing on her head. Police believe she'd been dead for about 30 hours when her body was discovered. The remains were damaged by the heat, insects and a dog.

On July 8, 1993, police found 37-year-old Betty Conley dead, with a single gunshot wound to the head, at about 3 a.m. inside a Charlton Xtra Mart. Conley worked at the Route 67 shop as a clerk. Cash had been stolen from the register.

Witnesses told police a mid-1980s white sedan, with a rust spot partially covered in primer on the driver's door, had been parked in the lot. Witnesses also said a white man in his early-to-mid-30 wearing a peach-colored tank top had been at the store. He was described as a clean shaven, 6-foot-2 man with a medium build and blond shoulder-length hair.

On Aug. 6, 2001, family members reported 28-year-old Peter Lorang missing after a week without contact.

Lorang lived alone on Cook Road in Charlton. His 1994 Chrysler convertible was missing and his dog was home alone without food or water.

Almost two weeks after he was reported missing, on Aug. 18, his car was towed from a private parking lot in Albany. It had been parked there for two to three days.

His disappearance has not been ruled a homicide but investigators have labeled the circumstances as "suspicious."

Anyone with information on any of these five cases is asked to call county investigators at (518) 885-6761.

The website can be found through the sheriff's department's official site at: http://www.saratogacountysheriff.org

emasters@timesunion.com  518-454-5467  @emilysmasters
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Troy

An Albany man who was the focus of a multi-county investigation of phony property deeds pleaded guilty to forgery and falsification of business records on Friday.

Zarak O. Ali, 43, is expected to be sentenced to 3 to 9 years in state prison as part of the plea deal reached by his attorney and the Rensselaer County District Attorney's office.

Ali pleaded guilty to the charges after state Supreme Court Justice Andrew Ceresia outlined the parameters of the deal in court.

Prosecutors said it was expected that Ali's sentence would run concurrently with the sentence he receives for an expected plea in Albany County. But the judge said there was no guarantee that judges in Saratoga, Schenectady and Columbia counties would adhere to such a sentencing agreement.

Ali of Maiden Lane, Albany, was accused of forging deeds to five foreclosed properties in Brunswick, Rensselaer and Troy from January to March and filing them with the clerk's office, according to the indictment.

Ali listed his business address as 40 Wall St., New York City, the location for The Trump Building, in leases provided to tenants.

The State Police Special Investigations Unit uncovered evidence of forged deeds in Rensselaer County, as well as the Capital Region and Hudson Valley counties extending back 18 months. Authorities said the forged deeds affected people who believed they were getting a deal on buying a home or renting an apartment. The status of the other cases could not be immediately learned on Friday.

Ali was indicted in Rensselaer County in October on 20 counts charging that he forged deeds for properties around the county. He was charged with second-degree forgery and criminal possession of a forged instrument and first-degree falsifying business records and offering a false instrument for filing.
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Menands

Puerto Rico is in economic free fall and its financial turmoil has affected the lives of dogs, which are being abandoned at an alarming rate that has outpaced the capacity of animal shelters to provide care for thousands of strays.

Accelerating impoverishment has grown so dire that scores of dogs whose owners could no longer afford to feed them have been dumped on forlorn beaches. The situation has even spawned the nickname "dead dog island," according to a recent CNN report.

The island territory has a population of about 3.5 million people and as many as 300,000 stray dogs, although nobody knows the exact number.

More Information For information on the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society's "Sister City" program with Puerto Rico or to contribute to its new animal care center, go to its website https://www.mohawkhumane.org or call 434-8128. See More Collapse

Help is on the way.

On Tuesday, Brad Shear, executive director of the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society, and Todd Cramer, vice president of operations, will travel to the island's largest shelter in Penuelas, Puerto Rico to lend their expertise. The local group is one of nine U.S. shelters participating under the auspices of The Humane Society of the United States and they will partner with nine shelters in Puerto Rico.

It's called the "Sister Shelter" project.

"They're overwhelmed by the scale of the problem and we're going to lend support and try to help them through the crisis while helping them address the root causes of the problem," Shear said.

Shear and Cramer will spend two days to assess the needs as part of an ongoing collaboration. The plan is to bring Puerto Rican shelter officials to the Menands facility later this year.

"We'll get a hands-on look at the problems they're dealing with and get a better idea of where to start helping them," Shear said. "We know their shelters are dealing with tens of thousands of strays and they're in a very difficult spot."

Shear is not unfamiliar with the feeling. When he arrived at the Menands facility 10 years ago  after working in animal control in Boulder, Colo. and an animal shelter in Atlanta  he found dilapidated structures and overcrowded conditions.

He has led the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society into new partnerships and programs and a transformative project, construction of a new $7.2 million animal care center. It is scheduled to open in June and the 32,000-square-foot facility will have room for 200 additional pets and upgraded treatment spaces.

"It's designed primarily around creating a low-stress, healthier environment for all our animals," Shear said.

About $3 million is left to be raised and the board is in fundraising mode. Shear has been leading potential donors on tours of the new facility.

In addition, Shear was honored last week at a gala banquet for Unity House in Troy in recognition for his creating Safe Haven, a program that cares for the pets of domestic violence victims while they are in shelters.

"As a feminist and animal advocate, it was a wonderful honor for Brad, who was one of the first shelter directors in the state to start a program to help victims of domestic violence," said Libby Post, co-chair of the capital campaign and former president of the board.

She noted that surveys have determined that the two main reasons battered women do not leave their abusers is because of their children and their pets.

"They can take their children to shelters, but shelters are not set up for animals," Post said.

Shear brought the Safe Haven idea from a similar program he created in Atlanta.

The Menands shelter has partnered with Unity House's domestic violence program for the past eight years and for the past two with the domestic violence program at Equinox in Albany.

Safe Haven provides food and shelter for the victims' pets, as well as veterinarian care. There is no charge. The Menands shelter averages 30 to 35 animals they care for each year, with an average stay of about three months while victims are in a shelter.

"People are so deeply connected to their animals, they told us they stayed in the abusive situation because they didn't have anywhere to take their pets and they were terrified because the abuser had threatened to kill the dog and cat," Shear said. "By letting us care for the animal, they can get away from the abuser. It helps solve one piece of the complex problem of domestic violence."

Although most of the animals they take in temporarily are dogs and cats, the Menands shelter has cared for birds and a ferret in past years.

"Brad gets it. He had a vision for Safe Haven and also for the new animal care center. His presence in this community is a gift," Post said.

pgrondahl@timesunion.com  518-454-5623  @PaulGrondahl
Bethlehem High student and the first ever male CoverGirl cover model James Charles is getting national attention again after tweeting Thursday that he fears an upcoming class trip to South Africa would expose him to the ebola virus. He has since apologized.

"I can't believe we're going to Africa today omg what if we get Ebola. James we're fine we could've gotten it at chipotle last year...," he wrote.
The Legislatures Appropriations Committee will recommend a softer cut to the University of Nebraska in the first year of the biennial budget ending in 2019 than that proposed by Gov. Pete Ricketts.

But an identical-sized cut proposed in the second year of the two-year budget cycle would put NUs base funding at a level nearly $1.7 million below the target identified by the governor in his January State of the State address.

According to a Feb. 10 budget document shared with the Journal Star, the Appropriations Committee will propose a 1.2 percent reduction  roughly $7 million  from NU's current funding level of $583 million for both the 2017-18 and 2018-19 fiscal years.

The rest of the Appropriations Committee's budget proposals will be released next week.

Ultimately, the committees proposal would keep $3.4 million more in NUs budget over the next two years, but it would set the university further behind its current funding level when lawmakers convene to craft a biennial budget beginning in 2019.

Under the Appropriations Committee's proposal, NU would end the biennium with $576 million in state funds.

Under Ricketts' proposal, the university would finish the biennium with $577.6 million in state funding.

Ricketts put forth a proposal in January to cut NUs budget by $12.2 million in the first year of the next biennium, a 2.1 percent reduction in its current funding.

Some of that funding would be restored in the second year, when the university would see a $6.8 million, or 0.9 percent, reduction, according to the governor's plan.

Any future cuts approved by the committee and debated by the full Legislature will come on top of a $13.3 million cut imposed on NU by Ricketts for the remainder of this fiscal year ending in June.

NU President Hank Bounds told the Appropriations Committee at a hearing last month that the university would manage the budget adjustment stemming from a projected revenue shortfall.

Making future cuts would be more difficult, Bounds told the committee, as expense increases tied to health insurance premiums, collective-bargaining agreements and utility costs would create a budget gap potentially exceeding $58 million.

To manage the cuts, NU will have to make vertical cuts  meaning cuts to staff and programs  rather than across-the-board cuts to each department, he told the Board of Regents and faculty and staff in a series of recent meetings.

The university convened a budget response team in January to begin looking for cuts in 10 areas tied to services such as facilities management, information technology, human resources and others in an effort to avoid directly affecting the academic mission of NU.

At the same time, NU would look at increasing its other revenue stream  tuition paid by students  to close the gap, although tuition wont be set until state funding is locked in by a vote of the Legislature and the signature of the governor.

NU will take its case to the Appropriations Committee in early March.

Bounds is expected to testify then, along with Board of Regents Chairman Bob Whitehouse, campus chancellors, students and others with ties to NU in business and ag sectors.
Nenagh traders and businesses are being encouraged by the town's Chamber of Commerce to get involved in this year's St Patrick's Day parade.

Thousands of people lined the streets of Nenagh last year for the colourful spectacle and Denis Finnerty, Chamber president, is calling for people to get involved in the annual showcase.

It's a very good day. The weather has been good to us for the past number of years. Anything that showcases the town is good, he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Finnerty is calling on people to come out and support the town traders this Saturday when they celebrate St Valentine's Day and the week of love.

This Saturday there will be a Love Your Town day as a follow-up to St Valentine's Day, he said. There will be facepainting and music and we are encouraging people to come out and have a look, he said.

The Kenyon Street pharmacist was echoing a call by Cllr Hughie McGrath of the Nenagh St Patrick's Day committee urging community and voluntary groups as well as sporting organisations to take part in next months parade, which, will once again be held on the day itself, Friday, March 17.

The committee is delighted with the support coming from the locality, he said.

The parade is run with the support of Nenagh Municipal District Council and Tipperary County Council, and Cllr McGrath thanked Nenagh MDC for ensuring that the eighth consecutive parade can be facilitated in 2017.

Cllr McGrath restored the annual parade following a six-year absence during his first term as Mayor of Nenagh under the former Nenagh Town Council.

The parade will feature a mix of bands, vintage motors and farm machinery and floats with entries coming from the town and surrounding areas. There are also plans for street performers, art displays, and facepainting.

Cllr McGrath said that Nenagh will be looking its best on the day, with flags and bunting, and shopkeepers are again being encouraged to have their premises looking extra colourful and festive as they have in past years.

We had a great array of entries in last years parade, representating interests from music and dancing to art and motors, sports, food, serious and humorous displays, all firmly establishing Nenagh as the place to be to celebrate St Patricks Day, said Cllr McGrath.

He urged participating groups to be creative with their floats as business had the potential to reach 7,000 people along the parade route from Summerhill to the railway station.

The committee is inviting entries and appealing for volunteers to help on the day.

Entry forms can be downloaded from the Nenagh Municipal District Council website at www.tipperarycoco.ie or by contacting Cllr McGrath on 087-2559323.
The parents of students at one of Ireland's last remaining monastic boarding schools have vowed to fight its closure, starting with a meeting this Wednesday (Feb 22) in the County Arms Hotel, Birr, at 8pm.



The Trustees of Cistercian College Roscrea made the shock announcement on Friday that with sadness and regret they will have toclose the 112-year old boys boarding school at Mount St Joseph Abbey, an alma mater for some of the country's top politicians, and captains of industry.



However, a campaign by word of mouth and social media has kicked off to save the school, and Sinead Lawlor - Chairperson of the Parents Assocation at Cistercian College, has asked all interested stakeholders who wish to look at the viability of the school going forward to attend tomorrow evening's meeting.



The school says a significant fall off in student numbers due to a general decline in demand for boarding facilities is the principal reason for the decision to close down the school on phased basis.



This is a very sad day for the staff, the students and their families, the many thousands of past pupils and of course the monks of Mount St Joseph Abbey, said said Dom Richard Purcell, Abbot of Mount St Joseph Abbey.

The decision to close was an extremely difficult one for the community to make. The school has witnessed a 45% drop in enrolment in the past 10 years with just nine 1st Year students enrolled for September 2017. Clearly this is unsustainable and the school is simply no longer financially viable. We were sadly left with no option but to conduct what we anticipate will be a phased closure of the school over the next 16 months.

Cistercian College is a fee-charging 7-day boarding school for boys run by the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists). Founded in 1905, the college has been educating students for 112 years and currently has 167 pupils enrolled from around Ireland and abroad. The school has a long and illustrious history and is very much part of the fabric of the midlands community.



The monastery at Mount St Joseph Abbey is not affected by todays announcement. Cistercian College will cease taking any new enrolments immediately and will end the majority of student services at the conclusion of this years Junior and Leaving Certificate exams in June.



However, in an effort to minimise any distress to existing mid-cycle students facing the State examinations in 2018, the schools management will consider the continuation of Junior and Leaving Certificate cycles for current 2nd and 5th Year pupils, after consultation with parents and families of the years concerned and subject to sufficient demand. The Department of Education and Skills has been informed of the schools closure and will support the transition process for students.

All staff, parents and students have been informed that next June, Cistercian College will discontinue its existing 1st, 3rd, Transition Year and 6th Year classes. A consultation will now commence with parents and guardians of the current 2nd and 5th Year pupils to gauge demand for the possible continuation of classes and boarding facilities for these year groups up to June 2018.



The lack of demand for boarding facilities for boys has also been a significant contributing factor to the closure of Cistercian College. There are currently only five religious-run Catholic schools in Ireland that offer boarding facilities today, compared to more than 30 such schools in 1990.

Cistercian College is currently just one of two remaining boys boarding-only schools in the country.

The Trustees of Cistercian College have been forced to subsidise the school over the past number of years, in the expectation that student numbers would eventually return to pre-recession levels in line with the economic recovery nationally. However, the anticipated uplift in enrolment failed to materialise. Many initiatives have been introduced in an effort to increase student enrolment but with little or no effect.

A range of alternative options was also considered for Cistercian College with a view to generating additional student numbers at the school. These included 5-day boarding, the introduction of day students, more overseas pupils and making the school co-educational. However, none of these were considered feasable given the Colleges geographic location and its current operating model. The school will immediately initiate the aforementioned consultation with parents of current 2nd and 5th Year pupils to determine demand for a continuation of these year groups. A final announcement on the overall outcome of that process will be made in due course.



The Bishop of Killaloe Fintan Monahan expressed his sadness at the news. For over a century the contribution, and now the legacy, of the Cistercian College in the areas of Catholic education, in sport, in politics and public service, in business as well as in other key facets of Irish life, has been immense and is deeply appreciated throughout the Diocese of Killaloe and much further afield.



The closure of Cistercian College will be deeply felt in our diocese. May I offer my best wishes, thoughts and prayers to Abbot Richard, College President and Principal, to Mr Brendan Feehan and to all the staff, students and school community in the difficult process of the gradual closure of the school.
Members of Tipperary County Council have requested permission from the HSE to visit Our Ladys Hospital, Cashel.

Cllr. Tom Wood said the hospital, which has had over 20m invested in it in recent years and come under scrutiny for having no, was in a state of the art condition and was under utilised.

Cllr. Wood said Our Ladys had been described as a phantom hospital in the Dail recently and he agreed that it was a serious apparition to have in the town.

He believed that the members would benefit from touring the hospital and see the potential for its use.

Cllr. Martin Browne said now was the time to get something done for Our Ladys .

It is absolutely crazy that it is sitting idle and there are so many people on trolleys at South Tipperary General Hospital.

The members agreed to the proposal and officials said they would write to the HSE to try and arrange such a visit.
HARRISBURG  There are a few signs of progress, a week into the three-week period established by the state Supreme Court for lawmakers to prod
[February 17, 2017] Provision Data Services Launches Dallas Data Center

DALLAS, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Provision Data Services (Provision), a provider of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions, announced today the opening of its first data center located in Dallas' downtown Central Business District (CBD) located at 2020 Live Oak St. Currently, a Fortune 500 telecommunications company serves as the anchor tenant for the 137,000-square-foot data center, occupying 10,000 square feet within the 12-story structure. The executive team fueling Provision's strategy and vision is principal founder and Chief Executive Officer, Clay Hill, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, David Tordoff, along with Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, David Marlow. Prior to launching Provision with Tordoff, Hill was a co-founder of Clearview Management Consultants, later branded Clearview International, LLC. With more than 28 years of experience, Hill has advised companies worldwide on transforming their businesses while gaining maximum value from their IT investments. Hill's focus on innovative solutions and more efficient operations led to the significant growth of Clearview and its subsidiary, Waco Data Partners. As CEO of Provision, he oversees the company's corporate direction providing clients with leveraged technology and agile business operations. In his career, Tordoff has led many data center initiatives, from ground-level build outs to re-engineering facilities into state-of-the-art infrstructures. As co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Provision, he ensures the company's corporate strategies are aligned with overall market dynamics, customer needs and operational requirements. His extensive knowledge of network-centric data centers provides the team with long-term leadership and management expertise.



Marlow is a 32-year industry veteran with experience in rapid market growth cycles, competing in global markets and overseeing the successful sale of a $35 million manufacturing company. Marlow brings versatile expertise in electronic/semiconductor manufacturing and SAAS/cloud computing driving Provision's new market development and sales. "Our vision for Provision Data Services is to provide best-in-class infrastructure technology for Fortune 500 enterprises to small independents," said Clay Hill, chief executive officer of Provision Data Services. "Dallas-Fort Worth is the hub of connectivity for U.S. bandwidth with users and cloud providers seeking flexible environments with access to internetworked connectivity and reliable operations."

Provision is the only large-floor space provider with wholesale availability in the Dallas CBD offering users: Oncor delivery is a double-contingency system that serves the high-density load in the CDB. Five separate networks serve Provision.

Double-contingency design assures uninterrupted service in the event of the loss of one or two network feeders or transformers.

14 MW of utility power is available with scalability to increased capacity.

Tier 3 conformal and SAS 70 Type 2, SSAE 16 SOC I, SOC II compliant facility.

Flexible colocation space for single tenant floors; private, locked cages and suites; build-to-suits for independent data centers; two separate Meet-Me-Rooms; up to 10,000 square feet of contiguous space with wholesale colocation options.

24x7 on-site personnel with 12-foot perimeter wall and multi-factor security fencing enclosing generator yard. The Dallas-Fort Worth market is one of the top data center markets in the country, and the fourth largest MSP in the U.S. The North Texas region offers reliable, cost-effective electricity with high-speed connectivity provided by multiple services providers, as well as attractive tax incentives and a large pool of qualified technical talent. About Provision Data Services

Provision Data Services provides secure and scalable data center, colocation and interconnection solutions with Tier 3 reliability for enterprise users. Provision's managed data center services are anchored in densely connected, strategically located facilities. Headquartered in Dallas, the company's customized IT solutions offer customers advanced IT infrastructures to allocate company resources more efficiently. For more information, visit Provision Data Services' website at ?www.provisiondataservices.com. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/provision-data-services-launches-dallas-data-center-300409317.html SOURCE Provision Data Services

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[February 17, 2017] TriLinc Global Impact Fund Approves TransAsia Private Capital Ltd. as a Sub-Advisor for Impact Investments in Southeast Asia

TriLinc Global Impact Fund ("TriLinc") announced that it has approved a new Investment Manager, TransAsia Private Capital Ltd. ("TransAsia"), to act as a sub-advisor on term loan investment opportunities in Southeast Asia. TriLinc is an impact investing fund that provides growth-stage loans and trade finance to established small and medium enterprises ("SMEs") in developing economies where access to affordable capital is significantly limited. Impact Investing is defined as investing with the specific objective of achieving a competitive financial return as well as creating positive, measurable impact in communities across the globe. TriLinc complements its global macroeconomic portfolio optimization and management with investment services from experienced sub-advisors that have solid track records in target asset classes and geographies, and ample access to high-quality investment pipeline. Established in 2013, TransAsia is a Hong Kong based asset management firm focusing on extending short-and long-term trade finance to mid-sized private companies in South and Southeast Asia, such as trading companies, agricultural producers, and manufacturers, who sell directly to overseas buyers. Since its inception, TransAsia has deployed approximately $350 million in over 850 Asian trade finance transactions with no default losses. TransAsia's extensive in-country network allows the firm to leverage its reputation in the region to strengthen historical relationships and develop new relations with prospective clients. TransAsia's competitive advantage is supported by its sophisticated institutional investor base. TransAsia has recognized that over the past five years, the demand for Asian trade finance, particularly for longer-dated transactions, has outpaced supply due to changes in regulatory capital requirements. TransAsia aims to reduce the widening gap in the lending market, created in large part by banks that have reallocated credit lines to larger borrowers. TriLinc's partnership with TransAsia will provide lnger dated trade finance and term loans to borrowers in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Cambodia, and Thailand, matching the demand of target borrower companies in the region, and helping them achieve sustainable growth through more flexible financing options.



TransAsia's three managing partners are well-versed in Asian debt asset management with 90 years of combined experience in banking, private equity, and private debt. Each partner has robust experience in Asian markets developed at leading global financial institutions such as Lloyds, Chase Bank, Income Partners Asset Management, MeesPierson/Fortis Bank, and HypoVereinsbank. TransAsia's strong credit analysis and structuring expertise is further supported by an in-house credit scoring system that is used for risk structuring, management, and monitoring. "Recognizing the unprecedented investment and impact opportunities in Southeast Asia, TriLinc has partnered with TransAsia to further develop its longer-dated trade finance and term loan capabilities," said Gloria Nelund, TriLinc's CEO. "TransAsia's longstanding borrower relationships and institutional quality approach to portfolio management will extend our activity in the region and enable us to generate competitive risk-adjusted returns for U.S. investors while meeting the financial demands of local SMEs."

"We are delighted to be partnering with TriLinc in Asia on impact investing within a defined Environmental, Social, and Governance framework," stated TransAsia's Managing Partners. "This introduces an important new source of capital which will go a long way in promoting responsible business practices within the SME sector in the region." About TriLinc Global Impact Fund TriLinc is a non-traded, externally managed, limited liability company that makes impact investments in SMEs in developing economies that provide the opportunity to achieve both competitive financial returns and positive measurable impact. TriLinc invests in SMEs through experienced local market sub-advisors, and expects to create a diversified portfolio of financial assets consisting primarily of collateralized private debt instruments. TriLinc's investment objectives are to generate current income, capital preservation and modest capital appreciation. In addition, the Company aggregates and analyzes social, economic, and environmental impact data to track progress and measure success against stated objectives. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws and regulations. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "project," "should," "will" and other similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions and forecasts of future results. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated at the time the forward-looking statements are made. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that the expectations will be attained or that any deviation will not be material. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement contained herein to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the Company's expectations. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170217005552/en/

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[February 17, 2017] Wolters Kluwer Converts 175 Customers, Migrates Nearly 1 Million Procedure Notes from EndoWorks to ProVation MD in 2016

The Health division of Wolters Kluwer, a leading global provider of information and point of care solutions for the healthcare industry, announced today that its roster of EndoWorks conversions to ProVation MD for Gastroenterology (GI) continues to grow exponentially in advance of Olympus' departure from the endowriter market. Among the 175 healthcare organizations that moved from EndoWorks to Wolters Kluwer's gastroenterology structured reporting software in 2016 was Tampa General Hospital, whose 25 GI physicians are benefitting from streamlined documentation and accelerated workflows. More than 260 healthcare organizations have transitioned to ProVation MD for GI-including successful migration of nearly 1 million historical procedure notes-since being named by Olympus as a preferred replacement for its endowriter software. That designation makes Wolters Kluwer one of just two vendors able to license an Olympus-developed export utility to seamlessly migrate data from EndoWorks to ProVation MD, which played an important role in Tampa General's decision. A 1,011-bed private not-for-profit hospital, Tampa General is one of the largest hospitals in Florida and serves a population of more than 4 million. It is the primary teaching affiliate of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. Approximately 8,000 procedures are performed at its GI facility every year. "That recommendation from Olympus swayed us toward ProVation, as did the recommendation from several of our doctors who used it at another outpatient facility who said it was easy to use and manage. We also took a hard look at other vendors and found that ProVation was the market leader, especially for GI reporting and image capture," said Tampa General Systems Analyst AJ Venezia. "ProVation provides us with everything we wanted, ease of use, ease of structured reporting, and content that is highly reportable." He added, "The field engineer that came on site was extremely helpful and followed up after he left to make sure our hardware was working, and the trainers who came on site during go-live worked side-by-side with our physicians and made everyone feel very comfortable with ProVation MD." ProVation MD will be featured among Wolters Kluwer's point of care solutions in Booth #1543 at the 2017 HIMSS Annual Conference and Exhibition, taking place February 20-22 in Orlando, Fla. It is the only dedicated structured reporting and coding solution that provides clinically relevant, intuitive software for more accurate and complete documentation of procedures. It allows physicians to efficiently capture robust detail from even the most complex procedures,then automatically generates clear, complete procedure notes and appropriate reimbursement codes, quickly, easily and without dictation. By automatically applying the reimbursement codes and disseminating critical procedural information, ProVation MD ensures appropriate payment, reduces costs and streamlines quality reporting while improving clinical communication and care coordination.



ProVation MD offers more precise reporting, which for Tampa General translates into the capture of a greater number of billable codes. Further, because the software can be customized to suit physicians' specific needs, documentation and patient through-put are accelerated. "Anytime you can make a doctor's workflow faster, they will appreciate it," said Venezia, adding that the hospital will also be leveraging the export utility to migrate about 47,000 records representing seven years' worth of data from EndoWorks to ProVation MD. "That is important because it will give our physicians access to historical data, which lets them see things like the number of procedures that were done at certain times of the year. That is critical for our Fellows because it's part of their credentialing process."

"Access to the export utility is key to a comprehensive and disruption-free transition to ProVation MD that accelerates clinician adoption by speeding access to truly advanced procedure documentation," said David A. Del Toro, President & CEO of Clinical Software Solutions at Wolters Kluwer. "Those benefits, combined with our 20-year commitment to improving procedure documentation for better clinical outcomes and accelerated ROI, world-class customer service and superior end user training, are why Tampa General Hospital and many other EndoWorks customers have turned to ProVation MD." For more information on ProVation MD, visit Wolters Kluwer at HIMSS17 in Booth #1543. Click here for more information on converting to ProVation MD from Olympus EndoWorks. Follow ProVation on Twitter and LinkedIn. About Wolters Kluwer

Wolters Kluwer N.V. (AEX: WKL) is a global leader in information services and solutions for professionals in the health, tax and accounting, risk and compliance, finance and legal sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with specialized technology and services. Wolters Kluwer reported 2015 annual revenues of 4.2 billion. The company, headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands, serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries and employs 19,000 people worldwide. Wolters Kluwer shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices. Wolters Kluwer has a sponsored Level 1 American Depositary Receipt program. The ADRs are traded on the over-the-counter market in the U.S. (WTKWY). Wolters Kluwer Health is a leading global provider of information and point of care solutions for the healthcare industry. For more information about our products and organization, visit http://www.wolterskluwer.com/, follow @WKHealth or @Wolters_Kluwer on Twitter (News - Alert), like us on Facebook, follow us on LinkedIn, or follow WoltersKluwerComms on YouTube. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170217005484/en/

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The citys bill for the fire and police pension fund will top $8 million, but thats good news compared to what it could have been.

The city could have been facing a more than $12 million pension fund cost for fiscal year 2017-2018 had the City Council not merged two pension funds in late June, council members were told this week. The merger was a recommendation from a pension review committee.

On paper, the merger of the main police/firefighters pension fund and a secondary fund used to pay a cost of living adjustment-type benefit allowed the actuarial company monitoring the pension plan to change its estimates.

The defined benefit pension plan fund, which was valued at $213.9 million on Aug. 31, pays monthly benefits to retired police and firefighters.

The fund earned a 7.3 percent return last year, slightly below the target 7.5 percent return that is used to look at the financial health of the fund long-term, according to the annual actuarial report from Cavanaugh Macdonald Consulting on the pension plan.

Employees contribute about 7 percent of their pay, on average, to the fund and last year contributed about $2.8 million.

The city is putting about $7.856 million into the fund this fiscal year and has $7.960 million earmarked to go to the pension fund next fiscal year.

The actuarial report recommends the city contribute $8.165 million in fiscal year 2017-18, slightly higher than the budgeted amount, with contributions increasing slightly every year to more than $9.2 million in fiscal year 2021-22.

The defined benefit pension plan guarantees monthly benefits to retirees based on their salaries and is part of the union contract for firefighters and police, who do not participate in Social Security. More than 1,100 current and retired workers are covered by the plan.

Other Lincoln city employees have defined contribution pension plans, much like private company 401(k) plans and they are part of the Social Security system.

A bill (LB30) being considered by the Legislature's Nebraska Retirement Systems Committee would end the defined benefit plans for future employees. It would require the cities to swap their defined-benefit pension plans for cash-balance plans, which include features of a 401(k), for future police and fire employees.

The city has struggled with the pension fund since the 2008 stock market crash, when the fund lost about 31 percent of its value.

The merger of the two funds last year also improved the long-term financial health of the pension plan, based on actuarial studies, returning it to an 80 percent funded ratio, one measure of its health.
[February 16, 2017] U.S. Coast Guard Awards Meritorious Public Service Medal to Hunton & Williams for Firm's Pro Bono Work

Hunton & Williams LLP today received the U.S. Coast Guard Meritorious Public Service Medal for the firm's pro bono legal work on behalf of Coast Guard members. Managing Partner Wally Martinez and several lawyers and paralegals who have participated in the project accepted the award on behalf of Hunton & Williams at a ceremony at the firm's New York office. Presenting the award were Staff Judge Advocate Capt. Christopher Mooradian and Coast Guard Legal Assistance Attorney Benjamin McCarty, who are based at the First Coast Guard District Legal Office in Boston. "While we are honored to receive this prestigious award, it truly has been our privilege to serve the Coast Guard and its families, and we look forward to continuing and expanding our partnership," said Martinez, a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, who helped start the pro bono legal assistance program and is among the program's most active participants. Martinez also received a Meritorious Public Service award for his personal contributions. Begun in 2012, the Coast Guard partnership has involved about 30 of the firm's lawyers who have contributed nearly 1,800 volunteer hours in five states. The firm assists Coast Guard members and their families with legal issues involving real estate, estate planning, bankruptcy, immigration and other matters. Lawyers from thefirm's New York, Miami, Norfolk, Richmond, Atlanta and Washington offices have all been involved in the partnership.



The Meritorious Public Service Medal is given to recognize substantial contribution to the Coast Guard that produced tangible results and specific individual accomplishments that provide unique benefits to the public. Hunton & Williams continues to lead the way in community service in the United States, and the firm's tradition of pro bono service is well recognized. Since 2009, 100 percent of the firm's full-time U.S. lawyers have worked on pro bono projects. The firm has neighborhood offices in Richmond, Charlottesville, Va., and Atlanta dedicated to pro bono services for low-income individuals.

About Hunton & Williams LLP Hunton & Williams is a global law firm of more than 750 lawyers serving clients in the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia. The firm handles transactional, litigation and regulatory matters for a diverse client base, with significant experience in retail and consumer products, energy, financial services, real estate, and privacy and cybersecurity. Visit www.hunton.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170216006378/en/

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[February 16, 2017] eCobalt Announces an Increase to the Previously Announced Bought Deal Financing

/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES/ VANCOUVER, Feb. 16, 2017 /CNW/ - eCobalt Solutions Inc. (TSX: ECS; OTCQB: ECSIF) (the "Company" or "eCobalt") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an amending agreement with a syndicate of underwriters led by Canaccord Genuity Corp. (collectively, the "Underwriters") to increase the size of its previously announced bought deal financing. Pursuant to the revised terms of the offering, the Underwriters have agreed to purchase, on a bought deal basis, 15,000,000 units of the Company (the "Units"), at a price of C$1.00 per Unit (the "Offering Price") for aggregate gross proceeds to eCobalt of C$15,000,000 (the "Offering"). Each Unit shall consist of one common share of the Company (each a "Share") and one-half of one common share purchase warrant (each whole common share purchase warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant shall entitle the holder thereof to purchase one Share at an exercise price of C$1.50 for a period of twenty-four (24) months following the Closing Date. The Warrants are subject to an acceleration clause such that, if the closing price of the common shares is equal to or greater than C$1.80 per share for a period of ten consecutive trading days, the Company shall have the option, but not the obligation, to effect for an accelerated expiration date that shall be 20 calendar days from the issuance of a notice of acceleration. In addition, the Company has granted the Underwriters an option (the "Over-Allotment Option"), to purchase up to 2,250,000 additional Units at the Offering Price for a period of 30 days after and including the closing date. In the event that the option is exercised in its entirety, the aggregate gross proceeds of the Offering to the Company will be C$17,250,000. The Units to be issued under the Offering will be offered by way of a prospectus supplement (the "supplement") and an accompanying short form base shelf prospectus of the Company, in all of the provinces in Canada, other than Quebec, in certain offshore jurisdictions, and in the United States on a private placement bsis pursuant to applicable exemptions under the U.S Securities Act of 1933, as amended.



The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the Offering for advancing the development of the Company's Idaho Cobalt project and for general working capital purposes. Closing of the Offering is expected to occur on or about February 28, 2017 and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals including the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange and the securites regulatory authorities.

About eCobalt Solutions Inc. (www.ecobalt.com) eCobalt Solutions is a well-established Toronto Stock Exchange listed company committed to providing a unique opportunity for consumers to acquire an ethically sourced, environmentally sound, transparent supply of battery grade cobalt salts, essential for the rapidly growing rechargeable battery and renewable energy sectors, produced safely and responsibly in the United States. eCobalt Solutions Inc. "J. Paul Farquharson"

J. Paul Farquharson

President & CEO Cautionary Statement on Forward Looking Statements Cautionary Statement on Forward Looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Statements in this news release pertaining to expected financings, filings, uses of proceeds or project completion dates are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such projections are and will inevitably always be dependent on assumptions about future mineral prices and development costs which will be subject to fluctuation due to global and local economic and industry conditions. Further information regarding risks and uncertainties which may cause results to differ from those contained in forward-looking statements is included in filings by the Company with securities regulatory authorities and is available at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, 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. Although the Company has disclosed that the Idaho Cobalt Project remains the sole, near term, environmentally permitted, primary cobalt deposit in the United States and offers a unique potential for North American consumers to secure an ethically sourced, environmentally sound supply of battery grade cobalt chemicals, there is no guarantee that the Company will attain commercial production of such cobalt chemicals for use in the rechargeable battery sector. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are contained herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. The statements contained in this news release in regard to eCobalt Solutions Inc. that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including eCobalt Inc.'s beliefs, expectations, hopes or intentions regarding the future. All forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and are based on information available to eCobalt Solutions Inc. as of such date. It is important to note that actual outcome and the actual results could differ from those in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include risks and uncertainties such as technological, legislative, corporate, commodity price and marketplace changes. SOURCE eCobalt Solutions Inc.

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[February 17, 2017] Xsolla (USA), Inc. Launches $30 Million Xsolla Capital Royalty Investment Fund Focused On Independent Video Games

Xsolla's latest venture will serve the fast-growing yet underserved niche of self-publishing premier video games LOS ANGELES, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Xsolla (USA), Inc. is excited to announce its newest venture, the $30 million Xsolla Capital royalty investment fund, which will provide independent video game developers with much needed capital to complete their games and access to innovative tools and markets worldwide to launch them in. The fund will reduce capital risk with quarterly royalty dividends from a diverse portfolio of games. With this unique business model that leverages the critical combination of Xsolla's industry access, global reach, technology infrastructure, and deep market expertise, Xsolla Capital grants unparalleled opportunities to drive creativity and success within this untapped market. Game developers and interested investors can visit www.xsolla.com/capital to apply for funding or receive more information on investing in the fund. Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_Il6vXSepM

"I am so pleased to launch Xsolla Capital as I have always been passionate about the gaming industry and finding ways to help smaller, independent game developers and publishers succeed," said Aleksandr Agapitov, CEO and founder of Xsolla and Partner in Xsolla Capital. "By partnering with Xsolla Capital, independent developers will have the capital to finish their potentially industry-chaging titles, and reaching diverse gaming audiences. In turn, investors will gain from the video games' successes and grow this niche within the lucrative industry as a whole."



With the unprecedented success of independent titles like Minecraft -- with well over 100 million copies sold since 2011, and the growth of video game market revenues reaching $100 billion in 2016 -- the consensus is that the market value will increase in revenue by 6 to 8% yearly for the next three years. Xsolla Capital will focus on the largely underserved independent game development and self-publishing sector as they cultivate unique and innovative properties with the exciting potential to shape the industry at large. Along with capital, the developers will have access to all of Xsolla's menu of services from user acquisition, payment solutions, game store building and management and the #1 fraud protection in the gaming industry to international year-round customer support, marketing worldwide and in-depth data analytics/visualization. About Xsolla

Xsolla is an e-commerce platform for video game publishing and distribution, providing comprehensive storefront management, fraud protection, user acquisition, payment and billing services for conducting business on a global scale. Headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in Seoul and Perm (Russia), Xsolla has been helping video game companies achieve financial success since 2006. With a majority of Free2play PC games using Xsolla products and services to maximize their international sales and better serve their paying customers, the company is also the merchant of record for major gaming entities like Valve, Twitch, Ubisoft, Epic Games, and Nexon. Xsolla was founded by self-made Russian-born businessman Aleksandr Agapitov, who has consistently been named one of Russia's top young entrepreneurs since 2012. Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/468869/Xsolla_Capital_Announced.jpg

Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/468870/Xsolla_Capital_Partners.jpg Logo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/468887/Xsolla_Logo.jpg

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[February 17, 2017] ELLKAY Completes Acquisition of CareEvolve Laboratory Portal and Connectivity Platform

MIAMI, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ELLKAY, LLC announced today that it has completed the acquisition of predominantly all of CareEvolve's assets including its platform, connectivity, and customers. CareEvolve, a division of OPKO Health, Inc., was founded in 1999, to serve the laboratory and hospital connectivity market. As ELLKAY has continued to grow, CareEvolve will strengthen ELLKAY's presence in the regional and hospital outreach markets with its full portfolio of solutions targeting these markets. The CareEvolve portal and interfaces power routine clinical, advanced pathology, genomics, toxicology, and other types of laboratories, providing the electronic clinical workflow support between the point of care and laboratory. CareEvolve provides its laboratory customers with a broad range of features supporting the needs of physician offices, hospital clients, long-term-care facilities, prisons, and patient-service-center workflows. "We're extremely excited to welcome the CareEvolve team and customers to ELLKAY," said Lior Hod, President of ELLKAY. "We already share customers and partners in the laboratory industry and are now able to offer these great companies a more tightly integrated ofering."



"ELLKAY is an exemplary company in the healthcare connectivity market," Richard Faherty, EVP Administration, BioReference Laboratories, Inc., remarked. "They have been a great partner to BioReference and CareEvolve for many years and will ensure our long-term customers receive the highest levels of service and an active product roadmap of comprehensive and innovative solutions. We will continue to partner with ELLKAY in providing BioReference solutions through our own BioPortal and we look forward to leveraging their excellent connectivity solutions." Integrating solutions and interoperable technologies are fundamentally altering and simplifying laboratory, hospital, and practice workflows. The combined teams and technologies will strengthen ELLKAY's platforms by providing laboratories and EHR vendors with one partner to service all of their outreach and connectivity needs.

Since 2002, ELLKAY's 'client-first' focus has positioned ELLKAY as one of the most respected healthcare IT companies in the nation. Together with the CareEvolve team, ELLKAY will continue to empower customers with innovative solutions that are on the leading edge of healthcare technologies. ELLKAY will exhibit in booth #4973 at the 2017 HIMSS Conference & Exhibition in Orlando FL from Feb. 1923, 2017. Call (201)-791-0606 or email [email protected] to schedule a meeting with ELLKAY's team during the 2017 HIMSS Conference & Exhibition. About ELLKAY ELLKAY is a recognized healthcare connectivity leader, providing solutions and services nationwide. With 15 years of industry experience, ELLKAY empowers diagnostic laboratories, EMR/PMS companies, ACO and HIE companies, hospitals, and other healthcare organizations with cutting-edge technologies and solutions. With over 40,000 practices connected, ELLKAY's system capability arsenal has grown to over 550+ EMR/PMS systems across 900+ versions. Contact: Shreya Patel, 201-808-9185 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ellkay-completes-acquisition-of-careevolve-laboratory-portal-and-connectivity-platform-300409445.html SOURCE ELLKAY, LLC

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[February 17, 2017] Harris Corporation Helps Tallahassee Team Compete in the Florida Astronaut Challenge Finals

A Tallahassee high school team is competing this week in the finals of the Florida Astronaut Challenge at the Kennedy Space Center, thanks to their skills and some help from Florida-based Harris Corporation (News - Alert). This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170217005476/en/ Trent Walker (left) and Justin Golabek simulate the landing of a Space Shuttle at Kennedy Space Center as part of the Student Astronaut Challenge at the KSC Visitors Center Feb. 16. The students were part of a team from St. John Paul II Catholic High School in Tallahassee, Florida, which was sponsored by Harris Corporation. Te team was among 15 finalists to take part in the high school division of the competition that promotes Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. (Photo: Business Wire)



Harris is sponsoring the St. John Paul II Catholic High School's Aerospace Engineering Club, which is competing among 14 other Florida schools in four space-themed events Feb. 15-17. The Florida Astronaut Challenge is an annual event that enables high school students to show off their Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills through team-based challenges, particularly in aerospace science.

Harris sponsored the team as part of its STEM outreach. To help foster the next generation of innovators, Harris invests heavily in time and resources to support STEM education at all levels. Over the past 10 years, Harris has contributed more than $22 million to educational institutions in support of STEM-related education, and employees have volunteered more than 11,000 hours in STEM-related outreach - impacting 37,000 students. About Harris Corporation Harris Corporation is a leading technology innovator, solving customers' toughest mission-critical challenges by providing solutions that connect, inform and protect. Harris supports government and commercial customers in more than 100 countries and has approximately $6 billion in annual revenue. The company is organized into three business segments: Communication Systems, Space and Intelligence Systems and Electronic Systems. Learn more at harris.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170217005476/en/

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[February 17, 2017] Lake Oroville water elevation as seen from space: Airbus SPOT 6 and SPOT 7 satellites witness the increased water level of the Oroville Reservoir in California

Due to recent and heavy rainfall, the water level of Lake Oroville in Butte County, California, has drastically increased, reaching a dangerous peak that led to the evacuation of over 100,000 people as a precaution, in case there was a dam failure. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170217005524/en/ Lake Oroville water elevation as seen from space by Airbus SPOT satellite on February 14, 2017. (Photo: Airbus) The Airbus SPOT 6 and SPOT 7 satellites constantly acquire imagery at 1.5m resolution on any point of the Earth, and are capturing this water level elevation in Oroville. You can see here an image acquired by SPOT on February 14, 2017, and can compare it to a previous image, acquired by SPOT 6 on June 27, 2016, where the lake banks are clearly visible.



Visuals High resolution images are available for download at: Image 2/14/17 and Image 6/27/16.

For screen shots and media license details please go to http://bitly.com/airbus-oroville.

About Airbus Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2015, it generated revenues of 64.5 billion and employed a workforce of around 136,600. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners from 100 to more than 600 seats. Airbus is also a European leader providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as Europe's number one space enterprise and the world's second largest space business. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide. (Arial 9) View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170217005524/en/

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[February 17, 2017] Girls Who Code & Sheryl Sandberg Convene First-Ever Female Governors' Summit to Address Closing the Gender Gap in Technology

MENLO PARK, Calif., Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Girls Who Code, Deloitte and Facebook join Governor Gina Raimondo, Governor Mary Fallin, and Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds for the first-ever female Governors' Summit to identify new state-led policies aimed at closing the gender gap in technology. The day-long working session among governors and their staff was formed to share best practices among states and identify new policies and programs that increase young girls' interest and participation in the field. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg hosted the Summit at Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park, California. The 2017 Female Governors' Summit is the first summit of its kind to bring together state leaders to work together and identify meaningful policy solutions that address how to best drive interest and participation in computer science among girls of all ages. While computing skills are the most sought-after in the US job market, with demand growing three times the national average, there are over 500,000 open computing jobs in the United States and only 40,000 annual graduates in computer science to fill them. "I am thrilled to welcome leaders from across the country to work together on a critical issue that will affect an entire generation of young girls," said Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. "Women remain dramatically underrepresented in technology fields. They're missing out on opportunities and the world is missing out on their ideas. We need to harness the full talents of our population and this summit is proof that our female governors are committed to addressing and closing the gap." Women represent one of the single largest untapped sources of talent in the technology field and according to new research, only 24% of technology jobs are held by women today. Solving this challenge demands a tailored and sequenced series of actions starting in junior high school that are sustained throughout high school and college. It also requires a renewed effort on the part of state and national leaders to ensure equitable interest in and access to computer science education among girls.



The gender gap in technology reflects billions of dollars in untapped income. Despite unprecedented attention and momentum behind the push for universal computer science education, the gender gap in computing is getting worse with women expected to hold only 22% of technology jobs in 10 years. "The fact that we are joined here at Facebook today by Governors Raimondo, Fallin, and Lieutenant Reynolds sends a clear signal that our elected officials recognize that computer science and computing skills are a critical path to success in today's economic landscape," said Reshma Saujani, Founder and CEO of Girls Who Code. "We've made tremendous strides helping tens of thousands of girls learn about computer science in our after school programs, but there are multiple areas where governors can continue to expand the number of girls in this field. I look forward to working with the leaders here today to strategize on how we can make real progress on closing the gender gap in technology and ensure that our daughters have access to the economic opportunities of the 21st century."

"The work done by Girls Who Code and its partners is helping to address technology skill gaps that are essential to a healthy economy and the future workforce," said Janet Foutty, Chairman and CEO of Deloitte Consulting LLP. "Together we can ensure that the next generation of young women has access to tech education in a way that challenges their thinking and gets them excited about using and advancing world-changing technologies." Watch a live stream of the Girls Who Code Female Governors' Summit Summit beginning at 10 AM PST here: https://www.facebook.com/girlswhocode About Girls Who Code Girls Who Code is a national non-profit organization working to close the gender gap in technology. Through its Summer Immersion Program and Girls Who Code Clubs, the organization is leading the movement to inspire, educate, and equip young women with the computing skills to pursue 21st century opportunities. Additional information is available at http://www.girlswhocode.com/. Media contact:

Michaela Balderston, 703-405-5895

[email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/girls-who-code--sheryl-sandberg-convene-first-ever-female-governors-summit-to-address-closing-the-gender-gap-in-technology-300409596.html SOURCE Girls Who Code

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A look back on all of our reporting of the Delphi murders since 2017

crime
Light the Way for Refugees, a show of support for Lincolns refugees, will be Monday outside the offices of Lutheran Family Services, the states largest resettlement agency.

Anyone is welcome to attend the event, at which participants will hold candles along O Street as a way to show refugees that they are accepted and welcome in Lincoln, said Lacey Studnicka, program development officer for the agencys refugee program.

The event will be at 5:30 p.m. outside 2301 O St., lining both sides of the street to see how long they can stretch the light.

Studnicka said the agency alerted its affiliates across the state -- and country -- about the plans and she expects similar events in North Platte, Kearney, Grand Island and Omaha.

She stressed Mondays event is not a political protest.

This is for everybody, she said. People love refugees and immigrants across party lines. This is an opportunity for people to show immigrants and refugees theyre welcome.
Events and exhibitions happening this month in Tokyo and beyond

Teppei Kaneuji, 'White Discharge (Public Garden)' (20162017) at Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2017 Photo: Jennifer Pastore

Blockbuster exhibitions underway this month include Physicatopia at Watarium, where the improvisational martial arts quartet Contact Gonzo has taken up residence, holding live performances and showing videos and installations of their action-charged creative feats. Ends Mar. 26. Still Life at the Hara Museum surveys the expressive and emotionally charged work portrait artist Elizabeth Peyton, who has personally selected some 40 paintings to represent her career profiling celebrities, artists, and friends. Through May 7. N.S. Harsha: Charming Journey at the Mori Art Museum tours the universe of this prolific Indian artist in a sprawling exhibition of paintings, installations, and interactive displays that take a playful approach to pondering the place of nations and the individual in a globalized world. Until June 11. All three of these shows are eligible for discounts with the MuPon museum coupon app, on sale for 720 (regularly 1080) through Feb. 19.

Among smaller-scale exhibitions that should not be overlooked is The Forest That Leads To You. Mika Aokis dazzling sculptures of lampwork glass resembling delicate life forms can be seen at Pola Museum Annex through Feb. 26. Another intriguing gallery show is Ei Arakawas Tryst, which reworks the performance artists See Weeds in which Gutai paintings on wheels danced to music. Bringing in a new musical score, Arakawa imagines these works from the postwar art movement exploring physical engagement with objects as images viewed through handmade LED screens. At Taka Ishii Gallery Tokyo until Mar. 11.

February and March offer a slew of festivals. The Franco-centric media arts extravaganza Digital Choc at Institut francais du Japon and partner venues around the city hosts art exhibitions, live performances, talks, and other events considering the relationship between humans and machines. Highlights include a computer music concert, an exposition of art bots, and Samuel Bianchinis code-generated, photo-like images in All Over. Digital Choc ends Mar. 20. Theres also MOT Satellite reminding us that while the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo is currently closed for renovations, theres still a vibrant creative scene in the Kiyosumi-Shirakawa area. Check out exhibitions by cultural figures like poet Gozo Yoshimasu and award-winning installation artist Yuko Mohri, plus talks, tours, workshops, and strolls around coffee shop-dotted neighborhood. Until March 20th.

This years Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions

(a.k.a. Yebizo) contemplates our diverse realities while recognizing that the future is something we face together. Once again the heart of this 15-day event is a free exhibition of photography and video work by international artists at TOP Museum. Contemporary creatives like Yasumasa Morimura, Teppei Kaneuji, and Tomoko Sawada are featured along with displays tracing the evolution of the moving image. Movement itself is also a focus this year, with live performances, dance films, and a photographic tribute to the late great contemporary dancer Mika Kurosawa. The second part of the program is made up of films with intellectual, experimental, and socially conscious bents. Through Feb. 26.

Yebizo also involves umbrella exhibitions in the Ebisu area. One of the most promising is NADiffs Shashin Bunriha The Unethics of Photography  Distance and Angle presenting an evolving movement in contemporary Japanese photography. Addressing the moral complications of photographys prerogative to turn complex realities into neat frames through judgment calls of distance and angle, the photographer and critics group Shashin Bunriha (Photo Secessionists) includes Taiji Matsue, Ryudai Takano, and Risaku Suzuki, three of Japans most serious and gifted practicing photographers. See Matsues landscapes, Takanos portraits, and video work by curator and critic Shino Kuraishi in this show coinciding with a new book of Shashin Bunrihas work since 2012. Ends March 26.

Taiji Matsues Tokyo Hashima is another exhibition photography fans will not want to miss. The Kimura Ihei Award winner is known for his urban and natural landscapes rendered in spectacular textural detail through special attention to light. Taimatz in Bakurocho is showing his photographs of the deserted industrial island Gunkanjima (Hashima), the battleship island off the coast of Nagasaki holding a special place in the imagination modern ruin explorers. Through Mar. 4.
"We still believe there is always room for improvements with next generation controllers. Only the paranoid survive."  Pua Khein-Seng (KS), CEO of Phison Electronics Corporation

Introduction and History

Phison is a NAND flash controller and solutions provider. In late 2016, we visited Phisons headquarters in Zhunan, Taiwan. During our visit, we sat down with the Phisons driven CEO, marketing, and two R&D department leads to learn about the companys past and future. In 2015, Phison had $1.17 billion in sales and shipped 600 million integrated circuits (ICs). The company has 1,200 global employees, and 70% of them are dedicated to research and development.

In May of 2000, the IT industry changed. Until that point, the primary method of transporting data was the floppy drive. It was then that a Malaysian-born graduate from National Chiao Tung University developed the first system-on-chip (SoC) flash controller. The first pen drive came to market a year later with investments from M-Systems and Toshiba.

Phison gained consumer recognition in 2010 with design wins that put flash in OEM Ultrabooks products. Around the same time, partners began shipping system-upgrade SSDs with the S5 controller that offered users a low-cost alternative to SandForce- and Marvell-based products shipping at the time. The S8, and later S9, controllers also appeared in low-cost consumer upgrade SSDs--with varying success, depending on the market.

Present Day

Phison broke out of the value-focused segment with the PS3110-S10 8-channel controller that powered several performance-orientated flagship products from partners like Corsair. The S10 was designed to be the last of a dying breed of high-performance 2-bit per cell SATA controllers while simultaneously working as a controller for mainstream 3-bit per cell flash. The diverse controller is currently at the heart of many products shipping today.

Phison doesnt plan on replacing the S10 anytime soon, even though many competitors have removed 8-channel SATA controllers from product lineups. Phison has released S10 reference designs to manufacturers for use in enterprise environments, and that has allowed the controller to retain a presence in the consumer space. It's one of the few remaining 8-channel SATA controllers still shipping today.

A year has passed since Phison began shipping the PS5007-E7 8-channel controller to partners running the NVMe protocol. The controller first appeared in the Zotac Sonix add-in card SSD and has surfaced across the industry in different designs. Apacer, Corsair, MyDigitalSSD, and Patriot, among others, have chosen to bring retail products in the M.2 2280 form factor. Over the last several months, weve seen mock displays of add-in card form factor products that include more features, like host power failure protection, and we expect to see the more advanced cards come to market soon.

At CES 2017, Phison unveiled a new low-cost PCI Express NVMe controller called the E8. This is a "lite" version of the E7, with less controller-to-NAND channels but with new features added via programming. The E8 will significantly reduce the cost of entry-level and mainstream NVMe products by lowering controller and R&D costs for Phisons retail partners. A second variation of the E8, called the E8T, will also come to market and could be the first DRAMless NVMe SSD supplied to OEM and system integrators.

Office Tour

Phison's Zhunan headquarters houses several departments. We found a mix of sales, operations, and support personnel in the office. Most of our time was spent in the research and development sections of the facility. There, we learned about industrial specifications like Mil-i-46058C and iPC-610 Class 2 Standard. We saw firsthand the type of hardware used to test for corner cases and industry-specific tests that, in some cases, are requirements by law.

Phison builds products for several markets, and the consumer side is easy compared to the demands of industry and military, but some of the lessons learned cross different markets. In December 2012, the NHTSA imposed new rules for an event data recorder (EDR) to come in every passenger car to record data. The record media must withstand harsh conditions that range from extreme vibration to wide temperature fluctuations. In this instance, Phison's experience in other markets carried over and allowed the company to ramp up automotive-focused products quickly. Phison plans to attack the automotive market aggressively as demand for robust products ramp up. These products require a significant amount of storage space but also place heavy demands on reliability and robustness.

Image 1 of 8

Discussions

During our visit, we had the pleasure of sitting down with two research and development department managers. Alson Chu is currently the manager of R&D Division II, System Department 2. He joined the company in 2004 and leads a team of 38. Mingren Liang is also a manager of R&D Division II but heads System Department 7. He has 13 years with Phison after joining the company in 2003. His team has 27 members.

Both teams have come a long way from early products to the current NVMe solutions coming from the company. Chu's team started with LBA NAND, a specialized product introduced in 2004, and simple SD card technology. His team is also responsible for the current PS5007-E7 SSDs shipping today. Between 2009 and 2015, Department 2 also developed three SATA-based controllers, including the PS3108-S8 that shipped in several Ultrabooks and brought the company into the aftermarket space.

Liang's Department 7 started with parallel SATA solid-state devices before moving to SATA SSDs. The most notable is the PS3110-S10 that powers the Corsair Neutron XTi and other high-performance consumer SSDs. His team is currently developing the successor the PS5007-E7 controller that is scheduled to come to market in 2018.

Image 1 of 2

We asked about the early challenges from an engineering perspective of building early flash-based products.

Alson Chu: The PS3103 was Phisons first SSD controller that combined different IPs (Flash/DDR/ SATA/AES) with a much bigger SRAM size (compared to the design of memory cards and LBA NAND). There was a learning curve for both hardware and firmware developments, so the project was more like the stepping stone for the later SSD controllers. The challenge was to re-design from block mode to page mode architecture. The transition was needed for better random performance at the time.

Mingren Liang: PS3006 is Phisons 1st controller that we worked with Tier-1 customers for compact and low-cost netbooks. The challenge of the project was the large scale of firmware verification at the customer manufacturing sites, which was to verify firmware stability and correctness with 200  300 platforms. This introduced unforeseen corner cases and error handling issues that we did not encounter during internal verification. There was also time constraints coming from our customers because storage elements were the last gating item before shipments during Chinese New Year of 2008. The PS3107 introduced NCQ and TRIM implementations, which were not defined for PATA environment. Also, the market called for better random performance, so we switched from block mode to page mode architecture with the DRAM table management. The changes were fundamentally new to the team, so there was a learning curve.

Tom's Hardware: Most of our readers were introduced to Phison though the PS3110-S10 and the more recent PS5007-E7. Both products have had a positive impact on the SSD market over the last three years. Phison had to realize that moving into the high-performance space would increase the brand recognition with power users and enthusiasts. What challenges did you encounter with developing the first high-performance products designed for the upgrade market?

ML: There are significant architectural difference between S7 and S10. The synch/unsynch mechanism for instance. With PS3107, multiple tasks cannot be performed during the operation of a command issued to data ready for read/write. However, since PS3110 has 4 cores, multiple tasks can be handled at the same time. Thus, by looking at a single time frame, S10 can handle much more workload than S7, achieving better system efficiency. This is the unsynch mechanism for S10. The early challenges with the multicore design was the CPU-to-CPU handshaking and debugging to identify which CPU went wrong in an operation.

AC: The PS5007-E7 controller is designed with 8 CPUs inside. There was no previous experience with the 8-core design, so CPU-to-CPU handshaking was the main challenge at the early development stage.

TH: Both the S10 and E7 controllers also target the enterprise market. Your teams have already started building the firmware and making changes needed to cross over. What challenges do you coming in the future?

AC:Latency under PCIe based environment: High bandwidth means high performance but latency could be easily magnified and cause a significant performance drop within the PCIe environment.

ML: QoS: It is becoming an important indicator for SSD benchmarking, especially enterprise-level applications. How we plan to design our new SSD controllers will determine if we can continue to stay head-to-head with competitors in the flash market.

TH: What are your most memorable moments in your 10+ years at Phison?

AC:The team work when debugging an issue. The work could be demanding but everyones attitude makes the situation less difficult.

ML: The first positive review from Toms Hardware. It felt like winning an Oscar because we had a bumpy start with S10. Seeing that review from Toms Hardware made the entire team feel fulfilled after the seemingly endless nights and weekends at Phison. It was very encouraging

The CEO

Over the years I've spent a little time with Pua Khein-Seng (KS), CEO and founder of Phison. Until this trip we had never sat down to discuss any topic of substance--only introductions and pleasantries. I already knew he was well respected and well loved by his employees. KS, as he is affectionately called by those around him, has an engineering mind. He sees problems as something to overcome and move past without spending a great deal of time celebrating the achievements.

KS is playful while remaining focused on business. He spends most of his time working at the office and then taking the work home. There are many stories of him staying up most of the night to make progress on a project. He isn't afraid to get hands on. In one instance during our visit, he chimed in on a future product with intimate detail as if it was the only thing on his mind. As quickly as he emerged, he was off again to work in another area of the facility. It's difficult to pin him down for a long period of time.

KS has a big heart and that is why most Phison employees have been with the company for several years. Here's an intriguing anecdote: Early in his time in Taiwan, KS had a difficult time finding authentic food from his homeland, Malaysia. At some point, he met an older Malaysian women who made home-cooked-style food from his native land, so he built her a restaurant that is still in business today.

The Future

Phison sees a bright future in the embedded and industrial markets. IoT, factory automation, automotive, video surveillance, and other growing markets all fall under this umbrella. Phison expects extensive growth in healthcare and military/aviation applications, as well. The company has already dedicated extensive resources to these markets and plans to continue development as opportunities arrive. The company finished a new R&D center in China and continues to invest, nurture, and grow talent at that facility while retaining the core group of engineers based in Taiwan.

I don't see anyone buying a car based on the SSD inside, but Phison does have several new products and designs that our readers will care about, such as two innovative PS5007-E7 designs. The first we've talked about for several months, and we expect to see a retail product with the design in the coming months: an NVMe E7 paired with a double dose of DDR buffer space. We call this drive the E7 Double-DDR, but it's an unofficial name.

At Flash Memory Summit (FMS), we learned that Patriot has auditioned the add-in card design. The second, but much less likely to land on a consumer retail product, uses the E7 NVMe controller with 1TB of Toshiba 15nm MLC flash programmed to 512GB SLC. The drive takes the idea of pseudo-SLC beyond cache and utilizes all of the flash in one-bit per cell mode. It's a high-performance product that many will want to see, but paying for 1TB of flash to get 512GB of space works against the current trend of reducing SSD prices.

Phison will release an E7 replacement in 2018. We don't have many details on this product, but expect to see low-density parity check (LDPC) error correction code, a high-speed interface like PCIe 3.0 x4, and the NVMe protocol. This product will be optimized for next-generation 3D NAND flash technology and will incorporate new features that increase reliability, performance, and endurance.

Closer on the timeline is the new E8 controller designed for entry-level and mainstream users. This is a 4-channel NVMe controller that rides on a PCIe 3.0 x2 bus. Phison had a working demo at CES 2016, and we saw the drive churning sequential data at 1,130 MB/s read and 1,056 MB/s write speeds. The drive was described to us as a "functional sample phase," but we were told to expect more information in March 2017. The new E8 controller increases the number of features over the E7.

We look forward to testing the new E8 and other products from Phison in the future.
Talking point that doesn't make a lot of sense and deserves to be fact checked . . .There's always a bit of Conservative backlash when the Mexican flag comes out at a Kansas City protest . . .Not too long from now St. Paddy's day festivities will feature more than a bit of Irish liberation protest from a group of immigrants who also seek to influence U.S. policy . . . Just look closely, it's always there and always fun to see politics creeping into every local festivity . . .Like it or not, Irish nationalism is a proud tradition among a FEW locals. To be fair, it doesn't gather much interest or media coverage BUT it's still the subject some interesting debate and also really fun to watch locals of Irish descent tap-dance about that notion thatis so much different from current allegations targeting Muslim community support for terror . . . Again, to be fair,. . . Even afterBut I digress . . . And only want to conclude that I'm willing to be a shiny new quarter that the arrests at the protest yesterday were probably from "anarchist" wannabees and not anybody who has real issues with La Migra.Take a look:You decide . ..
"Mike Shanin interviews KCMO Councilwoman Jolie Justus about KCI, the convention hotel and the infrastructure bond. Then Annie Presley, Jon Stephens, Pat McInerney and Steve Rose discuss the probability of a new airport facility in Johnson County, the debate over legislative salaries in Kansas and Missouri and Visit KC's top three priorities for 2017 which include the airport, streetcar and hotel."

Mostly Kansas City airport conversation begins thisglimpse at the local discourse for the week as the chattering class considersabout the airport that's never gonna happen . . .Take a look:You decide . . .
The CEO of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), Klaus Regling believes Greece can regain the markets trust and return on a path of economic growth if it implements the agreed reforms. Speaking to a convention in Munich on Thursday, Mr. Regling sent a clear message to the embattled country that it could succeed in exiting the deep economic depression, if it showed the required determination to follow through on a series of harsh reforms provided in the bailout deal with its creditors. Mr. Regling said the ESM had funded 5 countries with 254 billion euros so far, four of which had managed to disentangle themselves from their financial woes after following the prescribed reforms.

After lauding Spain and Portugal as examples of success, he went to say Greece was a special case. Greece is a special case. Nowhere have there been so many extensive problems and weak public administration as in Greece, he stressed. Commenting on the state of the EU he objected to those saying it was in a crisis, claiming that was far behind us. The CEO of the ESM warned the rise of Euro-skepticism was one of the major concerns in the eyes of the global markets in the wake of national elections in Germany, France and the Netherlands. Mr. Regling admitted that more should have been done to avoid the rise of populism in Europe and the west, adding that income inequality had rose leading to people questioning whether Europe could deal with the great challenges it faces such as the immigration crisis and security.

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
In an article under the title Give the Greeks their freedom the newspaper compares the German Minister of Finance with the Bavarian Catholic first king of the liberated Greek state, that was imposed on Greece by the Great Powers in 1832.

Greece back then was in debt to the Great Powers after the War of Independance in 1821. Since then, the countrys independence has arose many times. So now, the French newspaper wonders, the question comes back again: what does it take to lift the Greek curse? This country never was actually financially independent.

Life sentence

Klaus Regling, head of the ESM that has lent 175bn Euros to Greece, describes this slavery-like situation very well: A cynical analysis of the facts indicates that we shouldnt worry about the Greek debt and that because, as he explained, the interest for this money is just 1%, something that allows Greece to save 8 bn Euros every year, which is 4,5% of the GDP. Also these loans are of long maturity, an average of 30 years, something that neutralizes the IMFs argument that based on 10-year estimates, considers the Greek debt non viable.

For him, the Greek debt is viable as long as the Greeks remain under the control of the Europeans and adopt the reforms dictated to them from Brussels for the next 30 years

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
Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci has left early from a meeting with President Nicos Anastasiades on Thursday.

President Anastasiades remained at the negotiating table, but has since returned to the Presidential Palace, where he said that he would release a written statement later in the day.

SigmaLive has learnt that Akincis move was premeditated from the last round of talks specialists had in Mont Pelerin, a few weeks ago.

Akinci is holding a press conference in the occupied areas, after his decision to leave todays round of negotiations.

CNA has learnt that there is no issue of ending negotiations on the part of the Greek Cypriot side.

Sigma TV at the Presidential Palace has learnt that Akincis actions occurred without any warning and without any reason.

According to Sigmas information, Turkish Cypriot media have reported that Akinci has not left from the discussions completely, but that the meeting ended early, due to the fact that the only issue that would be discussed was parliaments vote to pass an amendment to refer to the unofficial enosis referendum held in 1950.

In statements to the Turkish Cypriot press, Akinci said that the idea of enosis was responsible for all the tragedies in Cyprus.

He added that the UN Secretary General Special Adviser Espen Barth Eide asked that the decision of the parliament be corrected. Akinci also said that now the correction needed is in the hands of the Greek Cypriot side.

During his statements to the press, the Turkish Cypriot leader noted that the community does not want a future leader that is working hand in hand with an extreme nationalist, such as ELAM.

Underlining the need for establishing a culture of peace, particularly at schools, Akinci said that the fact that the decision had been approved by Anastasiades own party DISY at the committee level and later indirectly in the parliament by voting in abstention had caused great disappointment and anger within the Turkish Cypriot society.

Akinci said that Anastasiades read out a five-page document highlighting the Greek Cypriot sides views on the issue, referencing events marked by the so called TRNC, which are of great discomfort to the Greek Cypriots.

He added that the occupied areas do celebrate those events, but the difference is that these events as carried out as a tradition. They were not introduced by me.

More importantly I acknowledged in speeches delivered on those days that the Greek Cypriots too experienced great suffering in the past, he said.

The Turkish Cypriot leader also denied reports that he left the meeting.

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
Panteion University professor Angelos Syrigos was rushed to hospital after he was assaulted and beaten just outside the university on Wednesday afternoon

Panteion University professor Angelos Syrigos was rushed to hospital after he was assaulted and beaten just outside the university on Wednesday afternoon. The attack was carried out on Syngrou Avenue at 14:00, by unidentified individuals who then fled the scene.

Syrigos, an associate professor of international law and foreign policy, was admitted to the Asklipiio Hospital in Voula, where police later visited to investigate the incident.

Commenting on the attack by marginal elements, Greeces main opposition New Democracy party expressed its strongest condemnation and said it was yet another incident of violence that makes the citizens not feel safe.

We call on the police to act promptly to locate and prosecute the offenders. We call, above all, on the euphemistically named Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Toskas to assume his responsibilities, the party announcement added.

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

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Wikijens License: CC-BY-SA
US President Donald Trump is considering offering the job of White House national security adviser to Vice Admiral Robert Harward.

Robert Harward, a former deputy commander of U.S. Central Command who has Navy SEAL combat experience now works as an executive for defense contractor Lockheed Martin, with responsibility for its business in the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East.

It is not clear yet if he has accepted the offer.

Vice Admiral Robert S. Harward, commanding officer of Combined Joint Interagency Task Force 435, greets an Afghan official during his visit to Zaranj, Afghanistan, January 6, 2011. Photo courtesy of Sgt. Shawn Coolman/Department of Defense/Handout via REUTERS

To many he is just ideal for the job, as he gathers some unique elements in his resume. Harward, a Rhode Island native, went to school in Tehran before the Shah was toppled in 1979 and has already done a tour on the National Security Council under former Republican President George W. Bush as a counterterrorism specialist.

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
Stockholm's vintage ambiance is not only a result of its long street of 19th-century buildings. It's also the unique specialty stores that have been there for several years which most people visit to search for treasures like rare books or antique furniture. Here are five shopping destinations in Stockholm that would make every shopaholic's dream come true.

Ronnel Antikvariat. If books are your first love, this haven is for you. This bookstore is the largest in the Nordic World with an estimated 75,000 rare collections and transcripts. It offers a diversity of subjects that would surely be a treat for somebody wanting to be surprised.

Jacksons. If it's historical pieces are what you're looking for, Jackson is the place for you. Be engrossed with this 3-decade old furniture shop that has collections from the 1910's. The artistic taste of their antiques is also very picture-worthy.

Svenskt Tenn. According to The New York Times, this popular store is where most Stockholm residents hunt for trendy home goods, may it be furniture, textiles or even lighting designs. Aside from that, it maintains its creativity and style since it annually holds exhibitions for Stockholm designers.

Lisa Larsson. If fashion is your fancy, a must visit is the Lisa Larsson. This established 2-decade boutique is perfect for those looking for the next style inspiration since it has the best collection of fashion treasures. You might find an interesting inexpensive piece to complete your ensemble or even the rare collectable items.

Skivhogen. Conde Nast Traveller reported that this store has the best and biggest collection of the 1950-1990's music. You will be fascinated not only by the fantastic album covers but also with the pristine condition of the records. They have a variety of jazz, rock and pop which you would enjoy listening for hours.

There is more that Stockholm can offer and it offers a wide range of products from music, jewelry, fashion, interior and books. This is the perfect destination for a shopping spree because it doesn't only have eye-catching pieces but it also has an equally unique collection.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
Actor Ashton Kutcher in his teary speech shares horrific child sex abuse scenarios before the Senate Committee on Monday. He briefly discusses how offenders use technology as a tool for modern slavery. At the same time, the actor-philanthropist calls for a much more advanced technology to eradicate sex trafficking.

The actor was "visibly emotional" as he delivers his speech according to The Telegraph. The "Beauty and the Geek" producer is an anti-sex-trafficking activist and promotes charitable aid for children exploited by sex offenders. Kutcher co-founded Thorn organization which combats sexual exploitation of children through software.

"I've seen things that no person should ever see", the father of two said in an emotional voice. Kutcher went on and recounts a moment where he has seen the video content of a girl he described as the same age as her daughter being raped by an American man in Cambodia. "The child was so conditioned in her environment that she thought she was engaging in a play", the actor added.

Kutcher also recalls a devastating another incident where he received a phone call from his team asking help for a 7-year-old girl who was videotaped and sexually abused. To make it worse the content was being spread on Dark Web.

"They'd watched her for three years and they could not find the perpetrator, and were asking us for help. We were the last line of defense. An actor and his foundation were the last line of defense!" , Kutcher said choking up with tears.

The actor claimed how the incident devastated and haunted him for life."For the next three months I had to go to sleep every night and think about that little girl that was being abused and the fact that if I built the right thing, we could have saved her," he added.

According to a study conducted by the University of Southern California, the extensive knowledge on digital technologies like social media, smartphones specifically the Internet provide opportunities for the offenders to commit human trafficking. Dark Web, mentioned by Kutcher in his speech, exemplifies how those involve in child exploitations use the Internet as a tool to facilitate their unlawful act.

Prior to his experience, Kutcher promotes the use of a software called "Spotlight". The tool as claimed by Kutcher speeds up investigations by sixty percent. Kutcher believes the use of the software will get better in time. The 39-year-old appeals before the US legislators to support the development of the new technology.

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Scientists have recently discovered what seems to be the 8th continent of the world--with 94 percent of the land is submerged underwater. It's called Zealandia, after it has been revealed that it comprises New Zealand and New Caledonia islands.

Located in the southwest of the Pacific Ocean, the continent ranges around 3 million square miles and is believed to have connected the islands by a submerged continental crust. Moreover, Zealandia, as many scientists put to claim, is considered as the youngest, thinnest and most submerged land among other continents.

After Zealandia's split from the supercontinent Gondwanaland around 83 million years ago, it might have caused the continent to stretch and thinned, therefore, reducing its buoyancy and sunk. Campbell believed that Zealandia is the son of Gondwanaland, father of New Zealand.

This is not the first time Zealandia was placed in the limelight of news headers. In 2007, one of the researchers of New Zealand's geoscience agency, Hamish Campbell, theorized that Zealandia was a massive continental crust where New Zealand is only the tip.

But, he and his team cannot guarantee if there were any lands left from Zealandia. "The geological evidence at present is too weak, so we are logically forced to consider the possibility that the whole of Zealandia may have sunk," Campbell told Stuff New Zealand.

If the continent is believed to have remnants of its islands, it will have included the Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands, Bounty Islands, Campbell Islands, and the Chatham Islands in its territory. Another theory of the newly discovered continent is that it is thought to have no fauna and flora growing there. However, the notion was debunked in 2006 upon the discovery of a fossil mammal jaw during the Miocene period in the Otago region of the continent.

Earlier this month, researchers at the South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand has found evidence of an ancient continent called 'Mauritia,' after discovering it under the island of Mauritius by the Indian Ocean.

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Writing is not an easy task. Writers need an amazing space to channel their inner self and escape into another world -- or at least a world that is ideal for their stories. Quiet and silence are both necessary and a stimulating environment a must. These five locations all over the world are measured based on these parameters guaranteed to inspire writers.

Colombia has been a haven for many writers because of the solitude it brings when one is in a foreign place, friendless and is free to explore his or her entire being. While the writer's circle in Colombia is primarily Spanish speaking, the lush environments and affordable food and lodging can guarantee a writer a good stay -- and a good environment to explore scenes and dialogues.

Russian writers were inspired mostly by social events occurring in their country but most writers found themselves inspired by St Petersburg's tranquil urban and chilly setting. Russian architecture is amazing in St Petersberg. Explore the culture a bit and find inspiration among a foreign culture where most writers criticized and labored to inform its formerly troubled public.

The amazing castle-high Favelas of Valparaiso in Chile is a testament to the resilience and dedication to life shown by Chileans. According to Lonely Planet, it was Pablo Neruda who wanted to have his readers tour the amazing scenery featured consistently in his works because he loved his home and his country's culture. Indeed, writer or not, Valparaiso can strike the right chords for great inspiration.

Scotland is a quiet place -- perfect enough for writers, noisy enough to create an impact. Jamey Stegmaier writes in his blog that Scotland's Queensferry -- also recommended to him by his readers -- is a test of willpower because of its erratic weather and the feeling of complete isolation. Combine this with the cold temperatures and indeed, South Queensferry becomes a colorful place for total imagination.

Franz Kafka always saw something odd or different in Prague. It must be because of Prague's strange isolationism felt centuries ago. While things fare better now for most travelers, Prague's eerily charming environments could inpsire writers to write better than its literary giants including Milan Kundera and Kafka

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The Indian Association Of Tour Operators or IATO said that any travelers heading to India could get Indian network SIM cards easily in the country. Previous troubles of having to go through "red tape" that could eat up an entire day for tourists to receive a single SIM card for instant communication and smartphone Internet access in the country.

When arriving in the Indira Gandhi International Airport, the IATO said travelers who have their e-visas ready could receive a SIM card once they are about to exit the airport. BSNL -- the local Indian telecom operator -- would provide the SIM cards immediately. As soon as travelers present their e-visa and their actual passport's identification page, they could receive a SIM card that activates immediately.

E-visas have been India's way of boosting tourism in its country. It allows foreign visitors from 150 countries apply their visa for only a week if they provide the necessary qualifications from their home countries.

According to India.com, the SIM Card facility is available in the T3 Terminal of the Indira Gandhi International Airport. The SIM is to include the new Mobile Service where travelers could get any assistance regarding information about certain locations, reservations and security concerns.

India.com adds that the Ministry of Tourism in India is trying to improve its tourism by further optimizing trouble areas as most travelers would want to use their phone and access the Internet on the go. Most resort to using calling cards and depend heavily on hotel and lodging WiFi to access information and social networks.

According to Tourism Minister Dr. Mahesh Sharma, the free SIM cards would help travelers communicate with everyone in their smartphones for their needs and other necessities. Sharma said his inspiration was Sri Lanka -- whose government readily handed visa holders a free SIM card during their stay.

According to Mashable, India was the 38th most visited place in 2014 and a small fraction of its economy rests on Tourism. Planning to increase tourism revenue, the free SIM card program aims to make India a safer and tech-oriented travel destination.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
The world is strange. Vast regions of the world are strange. But this strange quality -- this particular uniqueness is what most travelers crave -- but some of them can be beyond perception just like these five.

In the United Kingdom is one strange hobby -- one a little over the bedroom if you will. In Leicester began an interesting idea that one first did in their backyard outdoors. Nowadays, according to The Mirror UK, "Extreme ironing" has become a manly art of making sure your clothes are properly addressed after wash -- everywhere from rivers, mountains and helicopters.

Sounding like a cow to make a toddler laugh or entertain friends in a drinking game is normal. But not if there's a $1,000 award for the one who makes the best cow moo ever. In the native soil of the United States sprouts the Wisconsin tradition of imitating cows for a grand, a golden cowbell and even a cow print jacket. Mooing pays, truly.

From hobbies come restrictions -- and some of them are quite controversial. According to New York Daily, Russian authorities once passed a proposal -- which is likely doing its rounds in the bicameral still -- to ban a cultural epidemic they claim as "emo." The subculture was likened to a "threat to national stability" due to its "encourage of suicide" according to New York Daily.

In Japan's land of the strange, nothing could be stranger, or could it? Fork bending is still a psycho-powered activity that has yet to reap any successful fruit. But young Japanese are obsessed with their possible telepathic capabilities they spend hours at it.

If this list of strangeness does not get to you, then Ethiopia cannot either. The country believes in its alternate calculation of Jesus Christ's true year of birth. The Christian Orthodox Church uses the Coptic or Egyptian calendar, which according to New York daily is delayed by seven years.

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After the immigration ban ordered by US President Donald J. Trump barring people from the seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US borders, American travellers are already doing precautionary measures as they start to cancel their scheduled flights to Mexico.

The recent survey conducted by MAST Travel Network among travel agents all over the US reveals that eight percent of them are currently experiencing cancellation of flights or adjustment to other destinations by clients who are originally booked for flights going to Mexico. The survey was conducted during the previous week and has involved a total of 166 travel agents.

In a report by Travel Weekly, President and Chief Operating Officer of MAST Travel Network John Werner said, "The intensifying issues of immigration, the border wall, and trade are, in my view, going to cause some customers to think twice about a vacation in Mexico if they feel they are not welcome. I don't believe anyone should feel that way, but based on our member survey, agents are hearing concerns from their clients."

Travel and Leisure also reports that 52 percent of the respondent of the survey claim that they have clients who directly speak out that they actually did not want to go to Mexico for reasons still unknown. However, for MAST Travel Network, Mexico is still undisputed as one of the most in-demand destinations for tourists and travellers of all sorts.

Travellers are said to be afraid of not being able to go back to America if the odds will lead Trump to ordering an immigration ban in Mexico in the near future. For the record, millions have been relatively affected by the travel ban issued by Trump just recently - from the business entities, scholars, professionals, overseas workers, tourists and all other travellers who were stranded in the affected countries for almost a week or two.

It can be recalled that aside from the immigration ban recently imposed by the president, Trump has also been noted to be continuously pushing for the formation of a border wall between the United States and Mexico even during his campaign for the 2016 US Presidential Elections last year. As of this day, despite the temporary restraining order issued by a Seattle judge over the said travel ban, it is still feared that Trump will once again order an immigration ban in the next few weeks.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
Recently, Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon introduced a bill relating to refugee resettlement. The stated intent of the Refugee Resettlement Notification Act is to make Nebraskans safe. Sadly, the bill wont make Nebraskan safer; it is simply another piece of bureaucratic red tape and largely symbolic.

Refugees are the zombies of the world who lost everything, watched merciless mass murders, survived atrocities, wrongful imprisonment, death, rape, torture and witnessed or were forced to participate in gruesome human rights violations. For them, because of this context, safety and security is not just an abstract. It is the reason they fled from their homes and families and risked their own lives. Some left behind successful businesses; others abandoned luxuries and professional careers to seek refuge in a foreign land. They embarked on a journey not knowing what to expect but on the prospect that generous, kind human beings will help them to salvage their lives.

Brewers bill mandates the creation of an unnecessary database to track refugees, which will not make Nebraskans safe. This approach mirrors the Muslim registration rhetoric we have been hearing from the Trump administration. Further, the bill is redundant, requiring, for example, that personal data be collected of those refugees who access state benefits such as food stamps and Medicaid. This information is already accessible through the Department of Health and Human Services, and the State Refugee Coordinators Office. The senator's intent, through this bill, is transparent: Rather than to make Nebraskans safe, as he claims, it is aimed at making the lives of refugees even more challenging.

The bill states that refugees pose potential future security risks. However, according to the CDC and world life expectancy, "terrorist attack" is not even among the top 50 leading causes of death in the state of Nebraska. The public is much more threatened by the paranoid schizophrenic with an automatic weapon than by starving refugees.

Beyond the heated political rhetoric, the bill is not practical, because refugees have the right to relocate anywhere in United States upon resettlement. Many refugees never seek services from resettlement agencies after moving to Nebraska as secondary immigrants, hence, it is impractical to track them. Ironically, the bill does not make a legitimate connection between accessing public benefits and the safety of Nebraskans.

The bill is also bad for business. Our state relies on refugees to perform the menial labor that most of the labor force will not touch. A significant portion of the thousands of employees who work in meat plants in Omaha, Hastings, Nebraska City, Grand Island, Lexington, Sioux City, Schuyler and other small rural cities are refugees.

According to U.S. Census Bureau, immigrants comprise about 8 percent of the state's workforce. In addition, according to the American Immigrant Council, spending by refugees and other immigrants accounted for $1.6 billion worth of total production in Nebraskas economy and generated roughly 12,000 jobs for the state in 2006," according to a study from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Are they stealing jobs from other Americans? No! Ask a plant operator and they will tell you they are fortunate to have anyone willing to do this grotesque, demanding work. Are these refugees sucking benefits from the system that could be used for other Americans? No! In aggregate, refugees add far more to the economy than they receive. They pay millions of dollars in federal, state and sales taxes. Refugees belong here. They work hard. They ask for nothing except safety and security and are thrilled in a society where the rule of law prevails. And they deserve to be appreciated by the honorable senator, instead of being racially or ethnically profiled. Nebraska has a long history of welcoming refugees and aiding the most marginalized members of our communities; this bill is a direct contradiction to this principle.

As co-chair of Omaha Refugee Task Force, a member of the refugee community and a working class American, I am determined to work closely with elected officials to educate the public -- and our elected officials -- about refugee resettlement. I look forward to working with Sen. Brewers and his colleagues in helping the Legislature to make informed decisions that will benefit all Nebraskans, including these vulnerable and underrepresented taxpayers.
For people whose relationships didn't end well, or had heartbreaking experiences that you want to forget, there is actually a museum dedicated for you. The Museum of Broken Relationships is a unique museum that caters to physical possessions, or any memento that are products of past, hurtful relationships with lovers, friends or family.

Located in the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in Los Angeles, the owner, John Quinn, got the inspiration for this unique museum during a recent trip to Zagreb, Croatia last 2015. He was so moved by the museum's idea that he immediately asked the proprietors if he could set up a similar concept in Los Angeles.

The exhibits feature a wide array of mementos from past relationships, and they all come from different donations all around the world. They don't cater to specific types of relationships. You could be straight, gay, Christian or Muslim and the museum would accept any kind of stuff you want to donate along with its backstory.

During an interview, Alex Hyde, director of the museum, said: "It's important for us to put ourselves in other people's shoes and work those empathy muscles. It's reassuring to know you aren't alone when you are going through a difficult time in your life. It's nice to know that other people have the same issues across the world, that we are all stumbling when looking for human connection."

"People leave feeling profoundly connected and courageous to go out and try again, or be kinder to the people they are with. There are definitely tears and some down times for people, but they always follow up and say in a cathartic way, like how a good sad movie can be a release."

Some items on display are weird like an ex-lover's belly button lint and fake breasts. Some are more profound and moving like a promise ring and an apology card.

So how about you? Do you have stuff from past relationships you want to donate?

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
arriott Executive Apartments MayfairBangkok today announced it has been recognized as a winner in the Top 25 Hotels for Families - Thailand category of the 2017 TripAdvisor Travelers Choice awards for the third consecutive year.



(TRAVPR.COM) THAILAND - February 17th, 2017 - Bangkok, Thailand  Marriott Executive Apartments MayfairBangkok today announced it has been recognized as a winner in the Top 25 Hotels for Families - Thailand category of the 2017 TripAdvisor Travelers Choice awards for the third consecutive year. In the 15th year of the awards, TripAdvisor has highlighted the worlds top properties based on the millions of reviews and opinions collected in a single year from travelers around the globe. Winners were identified in the categories of Top Hotels, Luxury, Bargain, Small, Service, B&Bs and Inns, Romance and Family. The Hallmarks of Travelers Choice hotels winners are remarkable service, value and quality.

TripAdvisor relies on the experiences and opinions of our travel community to determine the winners of the Travelers Choice awards for hotels, said Barbara Messing, Chief Marketing Officer for TripAdvisor. Travelers planning 2017 trips can find inspiration for some of the best places to book around the world from this diverse group of outstanding accommodations.

This award is a great honor, says Supap Sirins, General Manager of the Marriott Executive Apartments Mayfair. Our team works tirelessly throughout the year to provide guests with the best experience possible. We are delighted that our guests truly experience our brand and its service, family-oriented facilities, and our professional team of staff.

Marriott Executive Apartments Mayfair was opened in 2003 as the first property in Thailand, with 162 suites ranging from 54 to 186 sqm. Facilities in the apartment include a fitness center, rooftop saltwater pool, restaurant and bar. The apartment is well known for its location as in the most prestigious residential area in Bangkok, Soi Langsuan.

For more information about the property, contact + 66 (0) 2 672 1234 or email mea.bkker.rsvn2@marriott.com or visit http://www.marriottmayfairbangkok.com

To see TripAdvisor traveler reviews and opinions of Marriott Executive Apartments Mayfair go to http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g293916-d299780-Reviews-Mayfair_Bangkok_Marriott_Executive_Apartments-Bangkok.html

For all of the 2017 Travelers Choice Hotel winners, visit https://www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice-Hotels.

Travelers can also follow the conversation on Twitter at #travelerschoice

# # #

About the Marriott Executive Apartments Mayfair- Bangkok

At Marriott Executive Apartments Mayfair Bangkok, an extended stay doesnt mean sacrificing comfort, style or service. Located in a prestigious residential area of the business district, near shopping, restaurants and markets, this hotel is a top choice for both business and leisure travellers. Elegant one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments offer a dedicated office area, safe, large LCD TV, DVD player and high-speed Internet access. Guests also enjoy the convenience of a fully equipped kitchen with grocery delivery service, daily maid service and 24-hour security. Those whod rather leave the cooking to someone else can dine with friends or colleagues at this Bangkok hotels Mayfair Bistro restaurant, offering all-day dining, or head to the 25th floor Bar M for cocktails and panoramic city views. Relax at the 24-hour health club, featuring a rooftop saltwater pool, spa and kids area, or take a stroll in nearby Lumpini Park, Bangkoks first public park. With the Skytrain nearby, exploring top attractions including Erawan Shrine is easy, and those attending meetings in the hotels boardroom can arrive without the hassle of facing traffic.

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It's only happening in half the world. The rest of us can keep using plastic sticks. (Don't they know about ocean currents?)

This week, in response to consumer pressure, pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson changed its outdated recipe for cotton buds (also known as cotton swabs). From now on, some of them will be made with paper sticks, instead of plastic. This is an important change because there is no proper way to dispose of cotton buds. They cannot be recycled, so after use theyre either tossed in the trash or flushed down the toilet, ultimately ending up in waterways and along shorelines  forever.

According to the Marine Conservation Society, which conducts annual beach clean-ups in the UK, plastic cotton buds were the sixth most common plastic waste item found on British beaches in 2016.

Johnson & Johnson has recognized the unnecessary damage caused by its plastic sticks. Group marketing manager Niamh Finan told The Independent:

We recognise that our products have an environmental footprint, and thats why were working hard to continually improve and champion best practice in sustainability, in line with our companys founding principles.



Scottish environmental group Fidra, which has long campaigned against plastic cotton buds, heralds the decision as a great success. Stated in a press release published on its Cotton Bud Project website:

The fact that cotton buds continue to be flushed down the toilet and escape through sewage works into the environment means it remains a problem. Switching cotton bud stems from plastic to 100% paper could provide a solution to this problem, combined with campaigns to raise consumer awareness about correct disposal methods. Paper stems should not be flushed, but those that do reach the sewage system will become waterlogged and settle out of wastewater, never reaching our beaches.



Hillary Daniels /CC BY 2.0

There is something extraordinary, however, about Johnson & Johnsons decision. The company is only switching from plastic to paper sticks in half the world. So stores in Europe will get paper-only sticks, but it seems that Australia, North America, and Asia will continue to stock plastic. Currently, there is no mention of whether or not the change will be happening elsewhere.

It is an oddly localized response to a serious global crisis. Ocean plastic pollution is a problem of the commons  something for which we all must take responsibility, no matter where we live. Responding naively by region doesnt even work because places like the UK receive plastic trash from all parts of the globe. (Watch A Plastic Tide documentary to learn the tragic story of a community in Scotland where Asias garbage washes up daily.)

The other irritating thing is that cotton buds, whether plastic or paper, are an example of an utterly superfluous product  something we dont even need to manufacture in the first place. Doing away with them all together would be a better way of professing concern for the planet  not only for the oceans but also for the cotton fields that soak up most of the worlds agrochemicals.

Ocean plastic pollution is a problem of the commons  something for which we all must take responsibility, no matter where we live.

One good thing to come out of the decision is reducing plastic production overall. Fidras press release cites research by British supermarket chain Waitrose, estimating this change will save 21 tons of plastic a year. But seriously, thats a mere drop in the ocean compared to the 4.8-12.7 million tons of total plastic waste that researchers calculate are entering our oceans every year.

I havent bought cotton buds in nearly a decade; I suspect its similar for most people who care deeply about avoiding single-use disposables. Suffice it to say; this regional corporate decision doesnt impress me all that much. Why can't Johnson & Johnson, at the very least, make the transition to all-paper buds worldwide? That would be some real progress.
SAN DIEGO -- Liberals and conservatives share a common tic when it comes to immigration enforcement: They each want to deport as many illegal immigrants as their cold hearts desire -- Democrats to protect union jobs, and Republicans to reverse what they see as the Latinization of America. But then, because neither wants to come off like the bad guy, they feel compelled to go out of their way to cloak the removals in boogeyman language.

Former President Barack Obama claimed that his record number of deportees was made up largely of "gangbangers" -- 3 million of them. Who knew that America was so gang-infested? Those of us who covered this story know that -- after eroding the discretion of local and federal officers -- Obama deported scores of housekeepers, farm workers and old ladies selling tamales without a permit.

Now President Trump, who prefers the scary term "bad hombres," is borrowing Obama's falsehood and insisting that, of the 680 illegal immigrants rounded up in a dozen states and slated for deportation by his Department of Homeland Security, most were criminals. The administration claims that some even had criminal convictions. But in a disturbing development that reveals a profound misunderstanding of immigration law, a DHS official also said that the mere act of being the country without documents was enough to characterize someone as a "criminal alien." Wrong, it isn't. Immigration statutes are based in civil law.

"Waitress, may I please have a double order of baloney?"

Apparently, the messy and heartbreaking business of deportations -- with all those divided families, public protests and crying children -- is where "Hope and Change" intersects with "Make America Great Again."

Lefties got offended and pushed back against that comparison. But the facts were not on their side.

CNN aired what must have been a parody where Univision's Jorge Ramos -- a partisan Democrat impersonating a journalist -- told Anderson Cooper that Trump changed the rules. According to Ramos, Obama only deported those who were "convicted of crimes."

That's loco. Ramos -- whose daughter worked for Hillary Clinton's campaign -- needs to get out of Miami and go to the front line of America's immigration debate: the Southwest. When he gets to San Diego, I'll pick him up at the airport, buy him tacos and introduce him to the retired police lieutenant in a suburban city who told me that his squad room had a special desk for Obama's immigration agents. Suspects would be brought in for other crimes and, if they couldn't prove legal status, they would be scooped up by the feds and shipped out. No paperwork, no mugshot, no nada.

Jorge, this was Obama's America. Get it straight. Otherwise, you're only creating more fog.

So let's clear some away. When you hear about these immigration raids and how immigrants feel terrorized, even if they're here legally, remember three things.

* We don't know and we may never know if these were raids or targeted apprehensions as the administration claims, and whether they were the result of Trump pulling some trigger. David Marin, director for enforcement and removal operations in the Los Angeles field office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told The Associated Press that the agency carries out such operations every few months. Marin said the California operation was planned "before the administration came out with their current executive orders."

* The United States has the right to protect its borders, enforce the law and deport the undocumented. For crying out loud, this is what Border Patrol agents -- about half of whom are Latino -- do for a living! Many of the undocumented are good people who make a big contribution. Still, some have become way too comfortable living somewhere they shouldn't be. They can't be surprised about what's happening.

* That said, as former ICE Director John Morton once told me, we can't deport our way out of our immigration woes. Just because we have the right to remove the undocumented doesn't mean we should always exercise that right. Mass deportations make lousy public policy. Our immigration problem has many components: a porous border, labor shortages in industries such as farming, lazy teenagers who won't do the jobs grandpa did, 11 million undocumented people, the fact that American employers are addicted to illegal labor, etc. Enforcement, however justified, isn't the cure-all.

Beware of the spin. America's immigration policy is under new management. But, below the masthead, it's pretty much business as usual.
Your recent editorial on public and private schools was not well researched ("Dont siphon money from public schools," Feb. 3). Parents who send their children to private schools in Nebraska pay property taxes that fund public schools. Right now, the average cost to educate K-8 students in Lincoln Public Schools is nearly $10,000 per pupil, per year. That $10,000 is not being spent for students who attend a private school; it is a savings to the public school. The average cost to educate our K-8 students in Lincoln-area Catholic schools is just over $4,500 per pupil, per year. I suspect the difference is the generous "benefits" public school teachers receive, among other things.

I respect the many hard-working dedicated teachers in our community and I realize teachers do not receive the credit they deserve. However, right now, every private school student is saving public schools thousands of dollars per year. Why not allow some, or all, of those dollars to follow the student? The charter school systems, which allow the parents a tax-credit for tuition in other states, have been highly successful, with a few rare exceptions.

A public-funded private/charter school system allows families at all income levels to choose the best school for their children. It lowers the cost to public schools by reducing the number of students. It also creates competition, which may improve our public schools. I suggest you look at successful private schools here in your backyard before reaching a conclusion.

Anna Sullivan, Lincoln
As renewable energy development continues to surge across the nation, states like Nebraska are building more local renewable energy to meet consumer needs ("100-kilowatt array to be used solely to sell energy to LES," Feb. 7). Nebraska has significant renewable energy resources, ranking 13th for solar energy potential but still relies heavily on fossil fuels like coal to generate our power. While we continue to import coal from other states, residents are missing out on the opportunity to develop energy locally.

Developing local renewable energy can help save consumers money and keep energy dollars in our state. A 5 kW rooftop solar system could save the average household $683 per year on their energy bills. As of 2015, Nebraskas solar industry has already supported 776 jobs, including installation, manufacturing, distribution and development of projects and parts.

One way of ensuring that more Nebraskans have the ability to invest in solar power is to clear the way for shared community solar projects. These projects allow members to buy in, receiving credit for part of the output on their electric bills. State residents have already seen several projects spring up recently and a legislative bill would allow customers to request their local utilities create these programs.

LB626, which is currently under consideration, would help open up solar investment to more Nebraskans. To fully embrace this opportunity, we must allow consumers and communities to work hand-in-hand with their utilities, identifying projects that will best serve them.

Lu Nelsen, Policy Program Associate, Center for Rural Affairs, Lyons
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 17

The city witnessed four snatching incidents in the past 24 hours in which foreign tourists and a restaurant owner was looted by unidentified miscreants.

Sukhwinder Kaur, a businesswoman and a resident of Ludhiana, stated to the police that she used to export seeds and she along with her buyers Robit Persyn and Maria van pouche of Belgium had come to pay obeisance at Golden Temple. She said when they were going to the shrine on an e-rickshaw after parking their car in the parking, two motorcycle-borne youths snatched the purse of Maria. She was having a mobile phone, banking cards and foreign currency in the purse. The police have registered a case in this regard.

In another incident, Satpal, a restaurant owner, was robbed by armed persons when he was returning home late in the night. He stated to the police on Wednesday night that when he reached near Gokul Avenue, armed motorcycle-borne youths looted Rs 85,000 besides a mobile phone from him.

Similarly, an unidentified youth snatched a mobile phone from a local resident Ramji who was standing outside a barber shop. In another incident, unknown persons robbed cigarettes worth Rs 20,000 from a supplier, identified as Vinod Kumar.
New Delhi, February 17

British telecom major Vodafone has brought in Martin Pieters, former Managing Director and CEO of its Indian arm, to work on proposed merger of Vodafone India with Idea Cellular, sources said.

Vodafone Group chief executive Vittorio Colao is also likely to brief all business heads of the Indian arm over a conference call next week about the proposed merger.

Martin Pieters has reached India to oversee proposed merger of Vodafone India with Idea Cellular. Vittorio (Colao) will brief all business heads of Vodafone India over a conference call on the merger on February 24, said a source. Vodafone declined to comment.

Pieters, the longest serving CEO of a telecom firm in India, stepped down on April 1, 2015 to be succeeded by present Vodafone India MD and CEO Sunil Sood.

If the deal is successful, the combined entity will create largest telecom player in the country with revenue share of around 40% and over 380 million subscribers base, as per India Ratings and Research.

However, given the present spectrum holding, revenue and subscriber base, both the companies need to work on synergy to comply with rules.

According to the merger and acquisition rules, an entity should not hold more than 25% spectrum allocated in a telecom circle and 50% on spectrum allocated in a particular band in a service area.  PTI
Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 17

Not obeying the orders of the UT State Consumer Commission is proving costly for builders as in yet another case, the commission awarded three-year jail term to Unitech Chairman Ramesh Chandra and two Managing Directors (MDs)  Ajay Chandra and Sanjay Chandra  in two cases here yesterday.

The company and the convicts were also fined Rs 10,000 each in both cases. The commission, presided over by Justice Jasbir Singh (retd), issued non-bailable warrants against the convicts, returnable for March 6, for their arrest to undergo the sentence.

....the Managing Director or Directors of the company can be proceeded against as they were in-charge of the management and in control of the affairs of the company. In view of the judgments referred to above, for non-compliance of orders, passed on the consumer complaints, which have attained finality, punishment under Section 27 of the Act can be awarded.., said the order.

Complainants Amandeep Singh Kanwar and his wife Simmarpreet Randhawa, residents of Sector 22, were attracted by many tall promises by them and they had purchased a plot in the project of the opposite parties, known as Aspen Greens, Sector 107, Uniworld, Mohali. On March 17, 2011, they were allotted a plot for a total sale consideration of Rs 71,60,160.

They were promised possession of the unit within a period of 18 months and had paid Rs 66,53,109. Requests were made, but neither the possession of the plot was given nor the penalty amount for the delay paid.

The duo approached the commission, which directed Unitech to refund the paid amount along with interest at the rate of 15 per cent and Rs 3.50 lakh as compensation and the litigation cost. Similar was the case of the other complainant, Sanjeev Dhir, a native of Fatehgarh Sahib. However, in both cases, the realty firm did not implement the directions, thus they filed execution petitions.
Suraj Bhan Bhardwaj

THE recent vandalism on the sets of the Bollywood movie Padmavati at Jaipur's Jaigarh fort has again pushed history into spotlight for all the wrong reasons. The members of the obscure Rajput Karni Sena, self-styled custodians of Rajput history and defenders of Rajput honour, assaulted the director in protest against the "distortion" of history that allegedly offended their community.

Predictably, the incident garnered considerable coverage in the print, electronic and social media. Opinions have been expressed in terms of defending the freedom of creative expression, condemning the sub-nationalistic tendencies behind the attack, calling for sensitivity to collective historical memories of communities, debating the links between academic history-writing and cinematic representation of historical narratives, and questioning the very historicity of source of the film. Written from the standpoint of a professional historian, this write- up, while touching upon some of these issues, focuses on the story of Padmavati and its transmission in some select sources throughout history.

The tale was first narrated in Padmavat, a long Awadhi poem written in 1540 by Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi.

The ideals of love, courage and sacrifice in the tale that appeared in several renditions through the centuries. It captured the public imagination to the extent that it came to be regarded as historically true. However, some of the adaptations of the legend added an unfortunate communal colour to it by characterising Padmini as a Hindu Rajput queen who defended her honour against a Muslim invader. The perception of this legend as history has been continually reinforced not only by bards through oral narrations since pre-colonial times, but also by several novels, plays, television serials and movies in modern times. State initiatives for promoting tourism in the Chittor fort too have led to using the site for historicising the story and its central character. Light-and-sound shows in the fort vividly enact the story, and a small, relatively modern-but-dilapidated structure on a lake within the fort is designated as Padmini palace, where a small mirror on a wall is described by the guides as the one in which Alauddin saw Padmini's reflection and became lovesick. The historicity of this popular story when subjected to scrutiny is found to be suspect at the best. Nevertheless, this historically dubious association of the site with an otherwise long and remarkable history dominates the public mind. Creating dominant, at times exclusive historical imagination of sites with multiple histories renders their rich past as rather one-dimensional. While constructed historical perception/memory of a site, event or a person has its own significance for understanding why and how it was cultivated and became popular. It still needs to be distinguished from factually verifiable history. Alauddin Khilji's invasion of Chittor in 1303 AD is a historical event described at length by prominent contemporary Indo-Persian chroniclers, Amir Khusrau, Ziauddin Barani and Khwaja Abu Malik Isami, who neither attributed the invasion to Alauddin's desire for Padmini, nor mentioned Padmini or her jauhar at Chittor. Notably, even Khusrau who accompanied Alauddin in his campaign did not mention the Padmini episode in his eye-witness account. On the other hand, Padmavat was written 237 years after the siege and 224 years after Alauddin's death (1316 AD). Noting the absence of any reference to Padmini in the accounts prior to Jayasi's poem, eminent historians such as KS Lal and Gauri Shankar Ojha, respectively, experts on the history of Khiljis and Rajasthan, dismiss the episode as a figment of Jayasi's imagination and explain the invasion of Chittor, as well as other states in the north and Deccan as a part of the Khilji ruler's ambitious expansionist policy, driven by political, economic and strategic considerations. Historically, wars were and still are a result of complex interplay of several factors, and cannot be reduced to a ruler's personal whims and fancies.

Seventy years after appearance of Jayasi's poem, the story surfaced in Muhammad Qasim Firishta's Tarikh-i-Firishta, with some significant variations. The most notable variation is the depiction of Padmini as Ratansen's daughter not wife. In this version of the story, Alauddin imprisoned Rai Ratansen in Delhi and ordered him to surrender his daughter Padmini. Instead, Ratansen asked her to rescue him. As in Jayasi's story, Padmini came to Delhi, accompanied in palanquins by brave Rajput soldiers disguised as her attendants. They killed Alauddin's soldiers and rescued Ratansen. This version of the story may have been author's own innovation or sourced from a version other than Jayasi's, since the legend probably would have been circulated widely enough to generate several versions. In an early 19th-century colonial ethnographic account, Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan (1829-32), James Todd offers another re-telling of the legend based on the oral traditions of bards (charan-bhats). In Todd's version, Bhima Singh, the ruler of Chittor, married Padmini, the daughter of Hamir Singh, the ruler of Simhala-dvipa. Alauddin Khalji attacked Chittor to obtain her, but could not conquer it and wished to return after having a glimpse of her in the mirror. When Bhima Singh went outside the fort to see him off, he deceitfully captured him and took him to Delhi, asking Padmini to join his harem as a condition for his release. The rest of the story more or less coincides with Jayasi's version. In the early 20th century, the story was shaped into a popular musical narrative (saang) by a Haryanvi poet and performer, Pandit Lakhmichand. His version, like that of Jayasi, is imbued with a strong element of beauty and love, though both belonged to different traditions, Lakhmichand belonged to the rural bardic tradition and Jayasi to the Sufi tradition. Metaphors drawn from natural phenomena dominate the poetic imagination employed in describing the love of Ratansen (named as Ranveer Sen in Lakhmichand's saang) and Padmini. Unlike Jayasi's poem, Lakhmichand's saang omits the reference to the key historical event, Alauddin's siege of Chittor. Instead, it exclusively focuses on the blossoming love of the two protagonists, their trysts and conversations. Further, it does not describe Padmini as a Ceylonese-princess-turned-loyal-Rajput queen; it ends up as happy union of lovers, not in her self-sacrifice. Tales such as Padmavat have undergone retelling number of times in different cultural settings throughout history. Bhansali's movie, like other movies or literary works on historical themes, can be considered just another re-telling targeted at a certain kind of audience. Those who criticise or support the depiction of history in the movie based on a historical fantasy would be better advised to rationalise their approach to creative media.

The writer is Associate Professor of History at Motilal Nehru College, University of Delhi & the author of Contestations and Accommodations: Mewat and Meos in Mughal India.
London, February 17

The Changing of the Guard Ceremony at Buckingham Palace here will take place against the backdrop of AR Rahmans Oscar-winning Jai Ho later this month to mark the official launch of the UK-India Year of Culture.

The Band of the Grenadier Guards will a play a selection of Indian-themed music, including tracks from the 2009 box-office hit Slumdog Millionaire, on February 27, when the UK-India Year of Culture will be officially launched.

Later that evening, Queen Elizabeth II will be joined by husband Duke of Edinburgh, grandson Prince William and his wife Kate as they host a special reception to celebrate the launch.

The reception will bring together the best of British and Indian culture and creativity, represented through a range of high-profile guests with an interest in both countries, a Buckingham Palace statement said today.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley will be representing the Indian government at the reception along with a delegation of Indian parliamentarians, actors and sportspersons.

The attendees will include guests from the fields of performing arts, fashion, food, literature and sport such as Kunal Nayyar, Neha Kapur, Ayesha Dharker, Kapil Dev, Rio Ferdinand, Anoushka Shankar and Joe Wright.

A highlight of the evening will include a special Indian themed menu of canapes prepared by Royal Chefs working alongside chefs from Veeraswamy, the UKs oldest Indian restaurant. There will also be a display from the Royal Collection including items from previous Royal Visits to India, and Indian gifts and manuscripts from the Royal Library, the palace statement said.

The 2017 UK-India Year of Culture, announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to the UK in November 2015, is aimed at celebrating the deep cultural ties and the 70th anniversary of Indias Independence through a year-long programme of events and exhibitions in India and the UK.

The events are being organised by the British Council, together with the Indian High Commission in London, UK cultural institutions and their Indian counterparts.

The aim is to connect and inspire people to celebrate the long-standing relationship and vibrant cultural history, the palace said.  PTI
Washington, February 17

Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi today demanded a full investigation into former national security advisor Michael Flynn and the Trump Administration's interactions with the Russian government.

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"In light of these revelations, I'm calling for a full investigation into General Flynn and the Trump Administration's interactions with Russian intelligence services," Krishnamoorthi said in a statement.

President Donald Trump had asked for Flynn's resignation after reports surfaced that the latter has not briefed properly the Vice-President Mike Pence on his interaction with the Russian Ambassador before the swearing in ceremony.

"More than half the country already has serious concerns about the relationship between the Trump Administration and the Russian government," the 43-year-old Congressman said.

"Fundamental national security questions remain unanswered, including whether General Flynn went rogue in discussing sanctions with Russian agents, or whether he was directed to," he said.

"We need to know what was discussed, what the Russians learned, and what they may have offered in return. The American people deserve answers," Krishnamoorthi said.

Earlier, Krishnamoorthi and Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher announced their creation and launch of the Middle Class Jobs Caucus.

The group will work to find bipartisan solutions to the key issues facing America's middle class and working families such as job creation, wage increases, and economic growth.

"Every era of prosperity in our history has been built on a thriving middle class. In the plainest terms, middle-class jobs mean a strong America," he said.

"This caucus will help to create those jobs through focusing on key issues facing working families, such as strengthening our job training and infrastructure," Krishnamoorthi added.

"Addressing the needs of our middle class and working families is not a partisan issue and it urgently requires a common-sense, bipartisan solution," Gallagher said. PTI
The countryside of Sindh has its own problems of repressive feudalism and rapacious dacoits but terrorism is not one of them. Militants sworn to the intolerant Takfiri creed had spared Sindh from the brutal and almost-daily assault on the lives of civilians elsewhere. It is also to the credit of its people that they did not lend themselves to the dubious temptations of this ideology that seeks to homogenise society by eliminating every Sufi, Shia and Ahmediya Muslim. The suicide bombing of the shrine of the 12th century Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar or Jhule Lal was part of a pattern that has reasserted itself after being beaten back by the Pakistan armys Operation Zarb-e-Azb. There have been six back-to-back attacks this week in different parts of Pakistan that have claimed over 200 lives.

It is a sad commentary on the reflexes of the Pakistani state that it took an incident like this to swing into action. Within 24 hours, various arms of the Pakistani state claim to have gunned down nearly 40 militants in locations as diverse as Karachi, Orakzai, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan and Sargodha. Assuming that all those killed had their hands dipped in the blood, did the authorities have to wait for the tragic assault on a tolerant, mystical practice of Islam? The question is especially pertinent because military and civilian leaders alike had been crowing that Zarb-e-Azb had broken the back of militancy.

The immediate closure of the Torkham border with Afghanistan suggests that the blame game on hostile foreign powers may have begun. But the core problem was and remains with the Pakistan states tolerance towards extremist groups that back its policy towards India and Afghanistan. The people are bound to give a befitting reply to the assault on the unique Indo-Islamic brand of spiritualism by continuing to turn up in large numbers at the shrine. Long after the Wahabis and their minders are gone, Jhule Lal will continue to provide spiritual sustenance to millions. But the Pakistani state needs to make a beginning by repairing its relations with neighbours and admitting that this is primarily a home-grown problem.
Tribune News Service

Rewari, February 17

At least six persons, including a woman, were killed and 17 others injured when a bus rammed into a truck near Salhavaas village on the Delhi-Jaipur Highway (NH-8) today. The impact of the collision was so strong that the bus turned into a mass of scrap.

Two of the deceased have so far been identified as Mohan of Sangwari village and Hasina of Delhi .

The mishap took place around 2 pm when the bus carrying 30 passengers was on its way to Delhi from Jaipur. As it reached near Salhavaas village, a truck going ahead applied brakes. The bus overturned after hitting the truck.

Passersby extricated passengers trapped in the bus. Rewari DSP Gajender Singh and Civil Surgeon BK Rajora reached the spot. The injured were rushed to the trauma centre. Mohan, Hasina and another passenger were declared brought dead at the trauma centre while nine others were referred to the PGIMS in Rohtak.

Sources said three of the injured passengers succumbed to their injuries in the PGIMS while condition of others was critical.

Inspector-General (South Range) Mamta Singh and Deputy Commissioner Yash Garg reached the trauma centre.

The district authorities also released helpline numbers (7056666127, 7056666146, 9812522168, 01274-223779, 225246, 256769) to provide information about the deceased and injured persons.

Civil Surgeon Rajora said 10 were under treatment in the trauma centre.
Tribune News Service

Panipat, February 17

Agriculture Minister OP Dhankar held a meeting with members of various Jat bodies and khap leaders at the Panipat Thermal Power Station here today.

While interacting with mediapersons, Dhankar said the government was having a serious view of the demands. He said the three-hour meeting concluded in a peaceful manner.

Members of Jat associations, who came from across the state, raised their demands and offered suggestions for maintaining peace and harmony.

Om Prakash Mann, state president of All India Jat Mahasabha; Sube Singh Samain, spokesperson, Sarvkhap; Surender Dahiya, president, Dahiya Khap; Dalbir Jaglan, president, JBRJST Sangharsh Samiti; Bhale Ram Narwal, president, Narwal Khap; Rajender Kundu, president, Kundu 12 Khap, along with other representatives of various khaps were present in the meeting.

Surender Dahiya said the talks were positive and it seemed that the government was serious about our long-pending demands. He said the government was ready to have a dialogue with those on dharna.

Our main demands include cancellation of criminal cases against youths and permanent jobs to the dependents of persons killed during the agitation last year, he added.

We demanded that the government make Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu agree to withdraw criminal cases registered by the CBI. We discussed reservation for Jats in Central jobs, he maintained.
FREMONT -- Millie got a second chance.

Fremont firefighters rescued the Labradoodle on Thursday after the dog fell through the ice at the Fremont Lakes State Recreation Area.

Fremont Fire Department Capt. Pat Tawney said the incident occurred at about noon at Victory Lake on the west edge of Fremont.

Firefighters went to the scene with ice equipment.

You could see where the dog fell into the water and it paddled for close to 30 yards or so, Tawney said. As it was paddling and trying to get up on the ice, the ice kept breaking under it and finally the dog just wore out.

When the guys got on scene, they said (the dog) was just hanging on the ice, Tawney said.

Firefighters Nick Morris and Wyatt Schwartz got into their ice rescue suits, and Morris was able to grab the dog's collar.

Schwartz, also on the ice, pulled a rope tied to a sled and brought Morris and the dog back to dry land.

Tawney said the owner took the dog to the veterinarian.

I think its a good thing the crew went, because Im not sure the outcome would have been the same if we didnt respond, Tawney said.
Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra, February 17

Four armed men looted about Rs 7 lakh from the Punjab National Bank branch near Pehowa subdivision in the district on Friday afternoon.

Police authorities in the adjoining districts have been alerted and surveillance cameras on the bank premises were being scanned by the police to identify the culprits.

The bank is located at Asmanpur village, on the outskirts of Pehowa town.

Three bank employees were overpowered by the robbers during the lunch hours and money from cash counter and strong room was looted.

Three accused were wearing helmets while one had covered his face with a piece of cloth.

Police said the accused were on two motorbikes and fled towards Kaithal after the crime.

Sources said the three accused had country-made pistols while another one was carrying a double-barrel gun.

Abhishek Garg, the Superintendent of Police, said the bank did not have a security guard.

He said the police were working on certain clues from the spot.

Presence of a security man may have certainly avoided this crime. On the past several occasions, banks have been advised to depute armed personnel. A meeting with banks would be called in soon to maintain guards at their respective branches, said the SP.
Pradeep Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 17

With spectre of violence looming large over Haryana against the backdrop of Balidan Divas of the agitating Jats on February 19, the government today pressed into service eight senior IAS officers to monitor the situation.

Apparently learning from last years large-scale violence when senior officers were sent to the field after February 18-22, the government moved quickly this time. These officers would be mandated to appropriately guide and support the DCs as per their needs and on the basis of any input that might independently be received by them, official sources said.

They will reach the respective district by February 18 and remain in the district headquarters till February 20. The deputed IAS officers, all in ranks from principal secretaries to additional chief secretaries, included Dhanpat Singh (Rohtak), PK Das (Jind), RR Jowel (Jhajjar) and Anurag Rastogi (Hisar), Anand Mohan Sharan (Kaithal), Anil Malik (Sonepat), Shrikant Walgad (Bhiwani) and AK Singh (Panipat).

Official sources said coordination with field officials would be the main priority of the officials to maintain law and order in all eight protest-hit districts of the state. In the wake of Intelligence reports that some anti-social elements might indulge in violence, the deployment of officials will provide much-needed on-the-spot supervision and guidance to the junior district-level officials, a senior official said.
Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Mandi, February 17

Thirty students were injured on Friday morning as the private school bus they were travelling in skidded off the road at Dehar near Sundernagar in Mandi district.

The accident took place around 8.40. The police team rushed to the spot to rescue the injured, who were admitted to the civil hospital at Sundernagar.

According to police, the students were on their way to school, when near Dehar the bus driver tried to overtake another vehicle and lost control, due to which the bus fell down the road.

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All victims are students of Vivekanand Public School, Dehar, and the school authority provided travelling facility to the students coming from distant places.

Mandi DSP Hitesh Lakhan Pal said a case had been registered under the Motor Vehicle Act.
Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Mandi, February 17

An Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi student drowned in the Uhal river on Thursday while allegedly taking a selfie.

The deceased was identified as Deep Prakash Singh, a native of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

The victim was a student of B. Tech 1st year in electrical engineering.

Yesterday the victim left the campus around 4 pm and did not return till evening.

Thereafter IIT authorities complained to the police at Kamand and led a search operation for the missing student.

The body was recovered midnight and has been sent for postmortem at regional hospital Mandi.

DSP Mandi Hitesh Lakhanpal confirmed the report and said the investigation was underway.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the victim might have slipped off in the river while clicking a selfie.
Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 17

Two days after stone-throwing youth had interfered with Army operations in Handwara, a high-level review committee has laid down fresh guidelines to deal with stone-throwers.

The review committee that met on February 15 has circulated a fresh set of rules for all stakeholders  Army, Central forces like the CRPF, J&K Government and the J&K Police. This comes against the backdrop of Army Chief General Bipin Rawats warning that people obstructing Army operations would face tough action.

Top sources confirmed to The Tribune that a four-step procedure had been laid down.

First, a joint control room (located within an armour protected vehicle) will be set up at the encounter site. Encounters, mobilisations to end mopping up can usually last for few hours. The joint control will ensure greater coordination between the Army, CRPF and the J&K Police.

Second, Deputy Commissioners of the state have been asked to prevent the assembly of people at the encounter site where the security forces engage with militants. In Handwara, where four soldiers, including Major Satish Dahiya, lost their lives, a huge crowd pelted the Army convoy with stones. This aided the terrorists, who opened fire on the soldiers. In the ensuing melee, two terrorists escaped.

Third, the police will pro-actively start identifying people who are providing shelter to militants in urban areas. Due to the severe snowfall and cold in the Valley, militants cannot remain holed up in their jungle hideouts and take shelter in villages and towns.

Fourth, the police will earmark and identify the stone-throwers and further action under law will be taken.
Amir Tantray

Tribune News Service

Jammu, February 17

Senior Peoples Democratic Party minister Bashrat Ahmed Bukahari resigned on Friday.

Although there is no official word yet on his reasons for having quit his position, the development comes after Chief Minister Mehbooba Muftis Cabinet underwent a reshuffle. Bukhari, who had previously headed the Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Ministry, was given horticulture instead.

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Mufti expanded her Cabinet earlier on Friday by inducting senior PDP leader Syed Altaf Bukhari, who was dropped when she took over the government 10 months ago when her father, the late chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, died.

Syed Bukhari is the legislator from Amira Kadal constituency in Srinagar and the Roads and Buildings Minister when Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was chief minister in 2015. (With inputs from agencies)
Nonika Singh

It begins on a dramatic and refreshing note; what with the hero standing up for a girl who has had sex with another boy. To be honest, the end is somewhat quirky too.

Without a doubt on the surface, the films core premise is unusual. A website to make lovers elope - in a country where marriage as an institution is imposed on millions - is indeed a wacky thought. The subject by itself had a whole lot of potential. Alas, despite the novelty factor and a fairly talented cast this romcom lacks spark, both on the romantic front and the comic. What can the actors do in a film that tries to be a mad-caper and singularly lacks the energy so needed to make it so?

Well, Amit Sadh, as an ordinary Bihari salesman, Ram Bharose, who gets the brainwave to launch a site to make lovers run, holds his ground. However, Taapsee Pannu seems miscast and fails to capture the effervescent spirit of Punjabi lass ready to defy conventions. To be fair, her character is somewhat complicated and doesnt draw the best out of her.

Our very own Jalandhar lad Arsh Bajwa has a meaty part and some moments too, but is not as impactful as the length of the role that is almost parallel to the main lead could have ensured.

Set in Amritsar, the Punjabi flavor, which could have been the films USP, too is bereft of its real full of life essence. A pity! For the right peppering of the robust Punjabi humour and liveliness can propel even a staid subject. Rather the film gets its nuances right only when it lands in Bihar, where Bihari English of one of its interesting cameos by Pankaj Jha and mamajis( Brijendra Kala) joyous demeanour bring some cheer and mirth. But that ebullience too is shortlived and not enough to make the film sail through choppy waters.

And then the beep sounds further stifle the film. No, no dont get us wrong, its not the sanskari censor board at work. Sure enough, a couple of abuses have been beeped out too. But the real axe has fallen on the word .com, thanks to a matrimonial site that dragged the makers to the court. Thus the word .com has been expunged not only from the title, but also the dialogues. Each time its uttered (ahem not allowed to) it strikes a rather disharmonious note. Of course, as the director Amit Roy says that it made no difference to the content. After all, whats there in a name?

Thus with or without .com the only goalpost that the film with several contrivances and conjectures in tow reaches is boredom.

Love tales of ordinary people can tug at your heartstrings...sadly, this love story that tries to pack several in between makes for a tedious watch. Avoidable fare.
Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 17

While the India-Pakistan deadlock continues over hardcore political issues, visible signs of detente have begun to emerge in areas of cultural and soft diplomacy.

Diplomatic sources confirmed to The Tribune that three Indian authors will be attending the Lahore literary festival starting February 24. The three-day event will see the participation of a number of celebrated writers and thinkers from all over South Asia.

British journalist Anita Anand and historian William Dalrymple will also be in attendance to discuss their new book Kohinoor. Interestingly, the International Advisory Committee for the Lahore Fest 2017 comprises Maina Bhagat of the Apeejay Kolkata Literature Fest and Namita Gokhale of the Jaipur Literature Festival, among others. This comes close on the heels of the previous ice breaker in the relationship with the Indian Council of Cultural Relations sponsoring four Indian authors to the Karachi literary festival held from February 10-12; known Indian author Urvashi Butalia was among those present.

The indications from both India and Pakistan seem to veer towards more positivity. With Sharif now in charge of the foreign policy, the next step in the arrangement is the likely appointment of a new Pakistan envoy to India. Basit has already completed three years and will head back to Pakistan soon. His successor, sources indicate, is likely to be Pakistans ambassador to Turkey, Sohail Mahmood.
Our Correspondent

Tarn Taran, February 17

A four-and-a-half-year-old boy was mauled to death by stray dogs at Kairowal village, 6 km from here, late on Thursday.

The victim, Maninder Singh, the only son of a Dalit, along with his uncle had gone to a shrine on the village outskirts when a pack of stray dogs attacked him.

Ranjit Singh claimed before he could rescue his nephew, the dogs had badly mutilated him. The stray dogs inhabit the area on the village periphery where carcasses are dumped.

The family took the victim to the civil hospital where the doctors declared him dead. The body was later cremated.

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Sarpanch Kulwinder Singh said villagers had been living under constant fear of stray dogs with some having stopped venturing out after dark. Deputy Commissioner DPS Kharbanda said the Sub-Divisional Magistrate had been asked to inquire into the incident. The Deputy Director, Animal Husbandry, had been ordered to sterilise the dogs, he added.

Animal Husbandry Departments Deputy Director Dr Rajesh Kumar, however, said they were finding it hard to catch stray dogs but if someone brought these to the veterinary hospital, they would sterilise the canines.

The stray dog population in Amritsar stands at 25,000. The MC had last year given the go-ahead to sterilisation of stray dogs as well as registration of pets at Rs 500 each. The money was to be spent on sterilisation of dogs. But the plan did not take off.
New Delhi, February 17

After weeks of dilly-dallying, postponements and cancellations, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is set to campaign for the Congress in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh state Assembly elections on Friday.

According to senior Congress leaders of Uttar Pradesh unit, Priyanka will be showing up with brother Rahul Gandhi in Rae Bareli, a parliamentary seat held by her mother Sonia Gandhi.

In a taunt clearly directed at the Congress top brass, BJP leader and Union Minister Smriti Irani had on Thursday said that Priyanka Gandhi was not campaigning in Uttar Pradesh because of the unfulfilled promises.

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She is avoiding peoples questions, Smriti had said.

The Congress said that Priyanka will decide where she will campaign, not Smriti.

Congress leader PC Chacko raked up Irani's education qualification row, saying that if not answering queries was an issue, then the Union Minister had a lot to answer for herself.

When Irani was the HRD minister, there were so many queries about her wherever she went. There is a case pending about her educational qualification in the court. She herself gave a direction to a department that her education details should not be given to the RTI. If she does not want to answer these queries then she shouldn't be in politics at all, he said, adding that it was none of Irani's business where Priyanka decided to campaign.

The Samajwadi Party said Priyankas presence will make a lot of difference as far as the votes are concerned.

Raebareli goes to polls on February 23 and Amethi on February 27.

The Congress will be contesting on 105 seats in the state with the Samajwadi Party are fighting 298 out of a total of 403 seats. Agencies
Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, February 17

The Enforcement Directorate has found a money trail of more than Rs 200 crore between controversial preacher Dr Zakir Naik and various donors in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries, sources said on Friday.

The revelations were made during interrogation of Aamir Abdul Mannan Gazdar, a man who handled finances for Zakir Naiks NGO Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), an NGO that has been banned under Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act.

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Naik, a Mumbai-based Islamic preacher whose discourses have been criticised for fomenting hatred, left the country last year when his name began to be connected to a terrorist attack in Dhaka on July 1 last year and has since remained abroad.

Sources in the Enforcement Directorate, which is investigating the NGOs funding, said Gazdar was arrested on Thursday under the Prevention of Corruption Act, a move that comes after several rounds of questioning.

Documents taken from Gazdar and IRF indicate that funds routed from various donors in the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, have been invested in real estate in different parts of the country. Residential and commercial buildings have been purchased in the names of Dr Naik's relatives, an official said.

A real estate company called Long Last Constructions  owned by Gazdar and Naik's sister Nailah Noorani  is being investigated for its land purchases made in several parts of the country, ED officials said.

Gazdar, who was produced before the special PMLA court on Friday, has been in touch with Naik since his flight from India, sources said.

Gazdar was questioned on Thursday about the identities of some well-wishers who had donated crores of rupees to trusts controlled by the IRF. Investigators said he was uncooperative and had to be arrested to continue the questioning.

The central government banned Naiks NGO for five years for his provocative speeches that propagated terrorism  allegations the preacher has denied  in November.

The Islamic preacher has not responded to officials summons to have him brought back to the country for questioning.

Naik left the country after investigation suggested that some militants involved in the attacks that killed 23 people, an Indian girl among them, last year may have been inspired by his sermons.

He is banned in US, Canada and Malaysia.

His preaching, although controversial for provoking denigrating other religions and encouraging Islamic sectarianism, is popular in Bangladesh.
Lucknow, February 17

ED has ordered freezing of 12 bank accounts holding deposits of Rs 519.59 crore in connection with its PMLA probe in the alleged Rs 3,700 crore ponzi scam perpetrated by seeking fraud social media likes from lakhs of gullible investors by a Noida-based firm.

Widening its probe, Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigators have also come across a bank account, of the firm, where 19 lakh credit entries totalling a whopping Rs 800 crore have been made in a span of just nine months.

The agency has also identified a villa priced at Rs 3.6 crore purchased by the main accused in the case Anubhav Mittal in Noida last year, officials said.

The agency will soon attach these properties, both movable and immovable, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Apart from issuing freeze orders, under PMLA, on 12 bank accounts having deposits worth Rs 519.59 crore, the agency is expected to take custody of Mittal and two others arrested in the case, from a court tomorrow.

ED, on January 5, had registered a criminal case under PMLA based on an FIR of the Uttar Pradesh Polices Special Task Force (STF) which had first unearthed the alleged illegal ponzi or multi-level marketing scam.

It had subsequently raided multiple premises of the accused in Uttar Pradesh.

Describing the modus operandi by the accused to perpetrate the ponzi scam, ED said an analysis of the bank statements of the companies involved reveals a phenomenal increase in the number of transactions since March, 2016 and during a period of around one month a turnover of more than 40 crore was achieved.

The central probe agency had said the fraudsters allegedly cheated about 6.5 lakh gullible investors of an estimated Rs 3,700 crore, a fraud many more times in value than the infamous Saradha chit fund scam of West Bengal and Assam which is pegged at Rs 2,500 crore.

UP STF had arrested Mittal and two others on February 2, and the fourth accused, a private bank manager, was arrested by them last week in this case.

ED said one of the firms involved in the case claimed to be engaged in providing IT services including development of customised software solutions, computer and mobile applications and providing technical support but they were merely accepting subscriptions ranging between Rs 5,750 and 57,500 for their so-called Social Trade Product (STP) IDs against which a user was offered certain webpages/URLs for clicking/liking and that the company would pay the user on per click/like basis at the sole discretion of the company.  PTI
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 17

The BJP today claimed that none of the accused arrested in Madhya Pradesh for allegedly being part of a Pakistan-run espionage racket were ever the members of the party.

Responding to accusations by the Congress, which released photographs of some accused in the company of BJP leaders, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said such pictures did not have any evidential value. Will photographs showing Congress leaders with BJP leaders make them our members? he said. The state unit, he said, had already issued a clarification.

Eleven persons were arrested from various places in Madhya Pradesh on February 9 for being part of an alleged espionage racket being run from Pakistan to collect strategic information on important Indian establishments.

Cong for CBI probe

Accusing the BJP of sheltering anti-nationals, the Congress sought an SC-monitored CBI probe into the spy racket. It has been revealed that this pan-India spy racket involves people with BJP links the BJP has compromised national security, Congress Jyotiraditya Scindia said.
New Delhi: Wife of former Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Kalikho Pul, who committed suicide last year, on Friday demanded a CBI probe into his death. "It is essential that an FIR be registered on the basis of allegations contained in it (suicide note) and the case be investigated by the CBI since the primary allegations are of corruption of judges at the highest level," Dangwimsai Pul said in her appeal to the Chief Justice of India, a copy of which she made public at a press conference here. She alleged her family is getting threats from the state government and she was advised not to hold the press conference. PTI

Naiks Rs 200-cr trail traced to Middle East

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate has unearthed a money trail of more than Rs 200 crore between controversial preacher Zakir Naik and various donors in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries, according to sources here. The revelations come after the interrogation of one Aamir Abdul Mannan Gazdar, who handled the finances of Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), NGO founded by Naik that has been banned under the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act and Naik is cuurently on the run. Sources say Gazdar, who has been questioned several times, was formally arrested on Thursday evening. TNS

First pilgrimage train flagged off in Assam

Guwahati: The Astha Circuit Train, which connects major pilgrimage spots of Eastern India with the Northeast, was on Friday flagged off at Kamakhya railway station in Assam. The first-ever tourist pilgrimage train was flagged off by state Railway Minster Rajen Gohain in the presence of Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal. The train will take tourists to popular religious destinations such as Gangasagar, Sri Swamy Narayan Temple, Kalighat, Birla Temple, Sri Jagannath Temple, Konark Temple and Lingaraj Temple. The six-night-seven-day tour will cost Rs 6,161 per person. TNS

NHRC for rights panels in UTs

New Delhi: Batting for the State Human Rights Commissions, NHRC head Justice HL Dattu (retd) on Friday said the commission had taken up with the PM and CMs to strengthen them. More powers to the state commissions have been a long-standing demand of the human rights activists. The NHRC has also asked the government to amend the Protection of Human Rights Act, making way for setting up SHRCs in Union Territories also, Justice Dattu said. TNS

Rs 39 lakh looted from SBI in Bihar

Patna: Some unidentified armed men looted Rs 39 lakh from Chanan branch of the State Bank of India in Banka district of Bihar on Friday and managed to escape from the spot. In the guise of customers, the gunmen entered the branch soon after the bank was opened and held the staff captive at gunpoint before forcing the accountant to unlock currency chest containing about Rs 39 lakh. An SIT has been set up to probe the case. TNS
Rae Bareli, February 17

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra both criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modis claim of being Uttar Pradeshs adopted son, as they addressed their first rally together in their mother Sonia Gandhis Lok Sabha constituency on Friday.

Sharing the campaign stage with his sister  Congress partys star campaigner Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of making "empty" promises.

He (Modi) makes relationships wherever he goes...He went to Varanasi and termed Ganga as his mother and said he was the son of Varanasi...In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, he promised to change Varanasi," the Congress vice-president said.

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"Modiji, rishtey bolney sey nahin, nibhaney sey bante hain (relationships are not developed just by talking but by nurturing)," Rahul said, as he accused Modi  who fought the 2014 general elections from Varanasi)  of being wont of making promises without fulfilling them.

"In Bihar (elections), he promised to give special package, was it given? I have a list of things that he promised for Varanasi  clean Ganga, ghats, ring road, free WiFi, Bhojpuri Film City. Modiji, you have not fulfilled the promises you made to your mother," he said.

In a payback to the Prime Ministers remark at a recent rally that Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav and Gandhi  who are fighting the state assembly elections together  were like rivals that befriend each other after the interval", Congress vice-president accused Modi of pretending to be a hero while really playing the villain.

"You must have seen the movie 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'? Do you remember it? In the film there is a promise of 'achhe din' (good days)," he said drawing applause from the audience who lapped up the banter.

"Like Shah Rukh Khan, Modi too made a film like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and promised 'Acche Din' but after two- and-a-half years, Gabbar of Sholay has come (sic)," he said.

He mocked Modis Swachh Bharat (Clean India campaign) as he accused Modi of handing people brooms while he went jet setting.

The Prime Minister says 'India is dirty. You clean up. I have to go to America and meet Obama. I'll check when I'm back.

Criticising Modi for his sudden decision to invalidate high value banknotes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000  a shake up that unleashed chaos in the country for several days  Gandhi said the poor were made to queue up in front of the banks while he continued to favour the rich.

'UP doesnt need outsiders

Making her maiden speech in the ongoing campaign, Vadra wondered if the state really needed a leader from outside when it had its own sons.

"PM Narendra Modi had earlier too said Varanasi has adopted me and I am like a son for it and will develop it...I felt, does UP need to adopt anyone from outside," she said to a cheering crowd.

"Modiji, does the state need to adopt anyone from outside? Is there no youth here? You have two such youth in Rahulji and Akhileshji before you who have UP in their hearts and mind," Vadra said in a brief but forceful speech.

"No outside leader is required. Every single youth of the state can become a leader.... Every single youth here will work for UP and make the state progress by leaps and bounds. This is the wish of Rahulji and Akhileshji."  PTI
Amaninder Pal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 17

The yawning gap between the crop loan availed by Punjab farmers last fiscal and the maximum crop loan that can be given annually against the states entire cultivable land is posing a riddle to banking experts and

agricultural economists.

According to National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) experts, Rs 47,708 crore is the maximum loan that the entire farming community in Punjab can collectively avail of in a year. This amount, they say, is for both sowing seasons  rabi and kharif.

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What is intriguing is that last fiscal, crop loan amounting to Rs 74,093 crore was given to Punjab farmers, which is at least Rs 26,385 crore (35 per cent) more than the states maximum loan potential. There is a difference of Rs 26,385 crore. The question is into what has this amount been ploughed? It is likely that most of it has been used for non-farming and non-productive purposes, further worsening the farmers economic plight, said a senior NABARD officer.

Experts blame the loan diversion to the prevalent practice of multiple borrowing, whereby an individual raises loan from various financial sources against the same piece of agriculture land. This is a serious issue, pointing to a massive diversion of crop loan for non-agriculture purposes, even as borrowing from multiple sources is pushing the small farmer into a debt trap, said a senior economist.

As per the report of the State-Level Bankers Committee (SLBC), that coordinates with the state government, crop loan was taken by at least 25.6 lakh account-holders during last fiscal whereas there are in all 19.35 lakh cultivators in Punjab. The number of active KCC bank accounts is about the same (19.63 lakh).

This indicates that a large number of farmers are resorting to multiple borrowing, which is deterimental to their fiscal health, and that loans taken to raise crops is being used for other purposes, said Dr PM Ghole, Chief General Manager, NABARD, Regional Office.
Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

Bengaluru, February 16

Russia has upgraded its offer to India on reviving the stalled fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) project by putting on table joint design and development of a brand new fighter jet with a new engine.

Viktor N Kladov, Director International Cooperation and Regional Policy, Rostec, speaking to a select group of mediapersons on the sidelines of the ongoing 11th Aero-India here, said: We are talking of new design and jointly developed fifth generation fighter jet. It will have a new engine with fifth generation features.

We are not talking about the PAK-FA (a Russian built prototype of the FGFA), Kladov clarified. At present the Russians are flying a plane called the T-50 built under the PAK-FA (Prospective Airborne Complex of Frontline Aviation) programme. India had some issues with the engine of the T-50. The project has been stalled for the past two years despite India having paid $295 million for a preliminary design.

Kladov said: We have met Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar yesterday in Bangalore and he has promised to resume negotiations soon.

Parrrikar had on February 14 said the ministry had constituted a team to look into various aspects of the FGFA and it was likely to submit its report within a month. Kladov said the engine being used on the PAK-FA (T-50) was not fifth generation, adding the new jet will not be copy of the T-50.

The IAF was not happy with the AL-41F1 engines being used on the existing T-50. New Delhi had told Russia in 2016 it wanted a new engine and the plane must have super-cruise ability, a 360-degree radar ability, added stealth features among 40-odd other modifications.

All clear for US parts on Gripen

Sweden says has it an initial clearance from the US for selling its Gripen fighter jet to India with American-built general electric (GE) engines, said Jan Salestrand, State Secretary in the Ministry of Defence. Manohar Parrikar had earlier said foreign firms competing for deals under Make in India need to get clearances from respective governments to set up manufacturing units in India.

Dassault-Reliance JV

French Company Dassault Aviation has tied up with Reliance to form the Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited (DRAL), a joint venture for the Rafale fighter jet programme. Eric Trappier, chairman of Dassault Aviation France, will be its chairman and Anil Ambani will be the co-chairman of DRAL.

Helicopter ambulance

Airbus has unveiled its dedicated helicopter-ambulance, fully kitted with specialised emergency medical care equipment. The helicopter can be put to use for medical missions only and has specialised equipment for emergency transportation of patients, organs, neonatal and other time critical medical missions. It can accommodate a stretcher and seat three attendants or para-medical staff in the cabin.

DG flies HAL copter

Director General Army Aviation Corps Lt Gen Kanwal Kumar flew the Light Combat Helicopter at the Aero India. The LCH is indigenously developed by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and 114 such copters are to be inducted into the Army.
Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 17

The SC today refused to direct the authorities to extend the visa of a Pakistani Sufi cleric who has been living in Mumbai since 2010, saying it was for the government to take a call on such issues.

On behalf of petitioners Syed Waseem Ur Rehman and his wife Sayeda Saima Waseem ur Rehman  whose visas expire tomorrow  senior counsel Meenakshi Arora said Sufism faced serious threat from Islamic terrorists in Pakistan.

The petitioners had challenged Bombay HCs February 3 order dismissing their plea against the November 11, 2016, order of the Foreigner Regional Registration Officer, Mumbai, refusing to extend their visas without assigning any reasons.
Chennai, February 17

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for congratulating him on taking up the state's top post.

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"I thank you for your greetings and good wishes on my being sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu," he told the Prime Minister in a letter.

"I look forward for your kind co-operation and support for the development of Tamil Nadu as envisioned by our revered Leader Puratchi Thalaivi Amma (Jayalalithaa)," Palaniswami added.

The Prime Minister had on Thursday called Palaniswami, a V K Sasikala loyalist, hours after he was sworn-in as the Chief Minister, ending 10-day political uncertainty in Tamil Nadu, which had begun with caretaker CM O Panneerselvam's revolt against the AIADMK general secretary. PTI
Shahira Naim

Tribune News Service

Maharajganj (Rae Bareli), Feb 17

Why will Uttar Pradesh adopt anyone from outside? Is there no capable youth here? questioned Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, ripping apart Prime Minister Narendra Modis claim that he was UPs adopted son as he was voted to the Lok Sabha from Varanasi.

Addressing her maiden election meeting in the 2017 assembly election along with brother and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi at Baburiya Ground in mother Sonia Gandhis parliamentary constituency of Rae Bareli, Priyanka said: You have two such youth in Rahulji and Akhileshji who have UP in their hearts and mind.

She said: No outside leader is required. Every single youth of the state is capable enough to become a leader Every single youth here will work for UP and make the state rapidly progress. This is the wish of Rahulji and Akhileshji.

Urging the crowd to make the Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance a success, Priyanka wondered what Modi had done for his constituency Varanasi in any case.

You would remember what Rajiv Gandhiji as the PM did for Amethi. If a PM wants, he can do a lot. What has Modiji done for Varanasi? she asked. Hitting out at the PM for claiming to be against exploitation of women, Priyanka accused him of doing exactly that with his decision of demonetisation. She said it had deprived women of their hard-earned savings and also made them stand in queues.

Earlier, Rahul accused Modi of depriving Rae Bareli of the proposed food park which was to generate employment. He took away the opportunity of Made in Rae Bareli out of vengeance, said Rahul, adding that the Congress wanted to bring in 40 factories but the PM didnt let it happen.

Modiji talks about Make in India but not a single youth got employment last year. Why? Because the PM instead gave the money to 50 corporate families of this country, Rahul alleged. He condemned Modis notebandi for hitting the small businesses, shopkeepers and farmers the hardest.

Promising bank loan for women and loan waiver for farmers if the SP-Congress alliance comes to power, Rahul asked what was stopping Modi from waiving farmers loans right away. Modiji has said that if there is a BJP government in UP, he would waive farmers loans. UPA had done this. Was there a Congress government in UP then? he said. Rahul addressed two meetings in Rae Bareli where sister Priyanka shared the dais and another at Hathgaon in Fatehpur district.
Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 16

The Centre-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) has filed chargesheets in only four of the 59 anti-Sikh riot cases taken up for further probe. Almost 3,000 people were killed, most of them in Delhi, in the riots that broke out after the assassination of then PM Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.

In a status report filed in the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has said while 38 cases have been closed, 17 are under investigation. It is being ensured that the investigation is carried out expeditiously and thoroughly, the report, filed on the directions of the apex court, says.

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The MHA, which extended the SIT tenure till August 11 this year, has written to the Delhi Government and the Delhi High Court for designating a single court to hear the cases. The SIT has been notified as a police station with jurisdiction over the entire Delhi.

Also, of the 293 cases taken up for scrutiny, 199 have been closed with preliminary enquiries (PEs) held in 35 cases. A large number of representations related to these cases were received from the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee and private persons/bodies, which are being examined by the SIT, says the report.

The SIT has recorded statements of more than 1,000 witnesses, including one from New York.
Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, February 17

The PSEB has announced direct bank payments for employees who will conduct duties in the PSEB Classes X and XII board exams this year. Over 25,000 staff to be deputed on exam duties across government schools in the state for the PSEB board exams will receive payments directly into their bank accounts.

This is the first time that the state government has announced a cashless payment for the staff on exam duty as payments being made during the previous boards were being done manually or through bills.

While Class XII exams will be held from February 28 to March 24 and Class X exams from March 14 to 29 in the state, the staff on duty during the board examinations will include observers, superintendents, invigilators, controllers, deputy superintendents and flying squads.

The PSEB has already announced the deputation of 4,512 observers for all centres where the board exams will be held. While the bank accounts and IFSC codes of all teachers had been linked with their respective Aadhar cards in the past two years, the database of the same has already been uploaded on the department website by DEOs.

While in the district, 1,700 staff members will be deputed on exam duties, DEO (secondary education) Harinder Pal said a list of all lecturers and other teachers who might be deputed for duties has already been sought by the Education Department.

PSEB chairman Balbir Singh Dhol said, Inspired by the Centres cashless economy model, we have decided to make direct payments into the bank accounts of all teachers. Following exams of both classes, verification of duties made by each staff member will be made. On the basis of the number of duties by each staff member, money will be credited directly into their accounts.
Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 17

The Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has sought a 20 per cent hike in the power tariff for 2017-18, citing a total revenue deficit of Rs11,575 crore (including Rs5,998 crore carried forward from the previous years).

Sources in the Power Department told The Tribune that another concern for the state power utility was the gap of Rs1.16 per unit between the average cost of supply and the average revenue realised for 2017-18. This time, the tariff is to be announced for three fiscals  2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20. This gap for 2018-19 and 2019-20 is Rs1.22 per unit.

The revenue gap for 2018-19 has been worked out at Rs6,130 crore and for 2019-20 at Rs6,406 crore.

Over the past three years, the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) has not allowed the power utility to hike the tariff.

Department officials said the annual revenue requirement (ARR) had been submitted to the PSERC earlier this week. They are hoping that political compulsions will not rule out a tariff hike once the new government takes charge.

Sources said the next fiscals power subsidy bill for the agricultural sector, below poverty line (BPL) consumers, backward classes and small power consumers was likely to go up to over Rs6,000 crore, mainly because over 1.75 lakh new tubewell connections had been released.
THE following notification appears in the Government Gazette dated the 16th instant: The Chancellor of the University of the Punjab, in exercise of the powers vested in him by section 5 of the Punjab University, Act., 1882, is pleased to appoint the Honble Mr. H.J. Maynard, C.S.I.,C.I.S., a Fellow of the University of the Punjab, as Vice-Chancellor, with effect from the 10th February, 1917, vice the Reverend I.C.R. Ewing, D.D., L.L.D. There can be but one opinion as regards this appointment, and that is that Mr. Maynard is the nearest equivalent of an Indian. It almost looks that the Punjab Government does not yet believe in the reality of Hindu-Mahomedan entente, and, therefore, it finds a substitute for an Indian Vice-Chancellor in Mr. Maynard. Well, be it so this time. The compact signed at Lucknow by the Congress and Muslim League, is real so far as the popular party is concerned.
Saibal Chaterjee

It is easy to see why journalists are fixated on the likes of Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra. These girls possess undeniable star power. Fair enough. But why do high-calibre actresses, who ride solely on their talent alone, receive comparatively limited play in the media?

Alternative films appear to be thriving in Mumbai, so these off-mainstream actresses have enough work going around. Casting directors rope them in whenever the demand for something more than superficial glamour arises. Nandita Das, for her second film as director (Manto), zeroes in on Rasika Dugal for the role of the wife of the maverick writer who redefined the Urdu short story. Similarly, Chennai-based filmmaker Mani Ratnam picks Aditi Rao Hydari as the female lead of his latest film, the Tamil-language Kaatru Veliyidai. Rasika demonstrated her subtle skills in Anup Singhs critically acclaimed Qissa  Tale of a Lonely Ghost, while Aditi has consistently come up with the goods as an actress since making her Bollywood debut in Delhi 6 (2008). The latters next film: Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Padmavati. Beauty pageant winner Sobhita Dhulipala, who made her debut last year in Anurag Kashyaps Raman Raghav 2.0, is already a busy actress. Her smouldering presence in what was out-and-out a male-dominated film left an indelible impression.

Sayani Gupta is another actress making the right career moves. Cast as the widow of a fake encounter victim in Jolly LLB 2, she has limited footage. But the impact she makes far outweighs the minutes she has on the screen. Sayani was first noticed two years back in Shonali Boses Margarita With a Straw, as a feisty blind activist of Pakistani-Bangladeshi descent. Since then, she has appeared in films like Fan, Parched and Baar Baar Dekho. Sayani is part of the cast of Anurag Basus upcoming Jagga Jasoos. Hindi movie fans, their appetite whetted by her showing in Jolly LLB 2, will be watching out for Sayani, even as talk around the film will understandably hinge on the two leads, Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif.

At least four other actresses  Radhika Apte, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Swara Bhaskar and Shweta Tripathi  have been there, done that  proving their mettle repeatedly with fine performances in small but big-hearted films. Radhika and Tannishtha, seen together in Leena Yadavs applauded Parched, were outstanding as two women battling deeply entrenched misogyny and patriarchy in rural India.

Separately, the two actresses have, of course, scripted several memorable turns in recent years  Radhika in films like Shor in the City and Phobia, Tannishtha in Chauranga and Angry Indian Goddesses. Swara Bhaskar, who broke into commercial Hindi cinema with Tanu Weds Manu six years ago, had a career-defining break in 2016 in the form of the leading role in Ashwiny Iyer Tiwaris Nil Battey Sannata. Avinash Das Anarkali of Arrah is Swaras next release, while films like Aditya Kripalanis Tikli and Laxmi Bomb and Shashanka Ghoshs Veere Di Wedding, top-lined by Kareena Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor, are in the works. Shweta Tripathis big screen breakout was in Neeraj Ghaywans Masaan, which got her great critical notices. Her second release Haraamkhor has proved emphatically that Masaan wasnt a flash in the pan. Playing the complex role of a conflicted schoolgirl sexually exploited by her married teacher, Shweta captured the characters bafflement and anguish in a remarkably nuanced manner. Taapsee Pannu was cast in the multiple National Award-winning Tamil film Aadukalam (Arena) before she made her Bollywood foray in the comedy Chashme Baddoor. She then had a starring role in the Neeraj Pandey thriller Baby, but came into her own in last years Pink.

In 2017, Taapsee has a trio of releases lined up  Runningshaadi.com, The Ghazi Attack and Naam Shabana, a follow-up to Baby in which she dons the guise of an action heroine. None of these wonderful actresses are in the Bollywood big league. Not as yet at any rate. And that is probably just as well. It allows them the freedom to operate and thrive in a creatively different zone.
Vaibhav Sharma

When the race to the moon was at its greatest, the general publics interest in space exploration was at its peak. While the interest among the masses was high the world over, it was especially boosted by feelings of national pride in the USA and the USSR, with both super powers trying to outdo each other. Then in 1969 man set foot on the moon, and the rest, as they say, is history. With that monumental achievement in the bag, peoples interest began to turn away from aspirational curiosities to real world problems of education, hunger and disease.

The governments responded by tightening the belts for agencies such as NASA. The argument was loud and clear  we have enough problems here on Earth, why go looking for more elsewhere. Another hurdle was the fact that the next milestone in Mars was a much bigger challenge than even the moon, and the costs astronomical.

Space exploration is not just about exploring the far reaches of the solar system, it also entails launching new satellites, maintaining the ones in orbit, restocking and sustaining the International Space Station. These are all avenues that private players like SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic have entered into. Everyone wants a satellite these days  universities want them for research, governments for spying, weather mapping and positioning, private companies for communication and so on. For example, the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) called NAVIC is being setup by the government to cover the Indian mainland as well as an area of 1,500 kms around it. So far we have relied upon GPS data pulled from the USAs satellites, but given its requirement in sensitive military operations as well, a government cannot always trust another. The satellites are being launched using ISROs highly cost effective PSLV program, which also has a number of other clients. ISROs global clientele includes EADS Astrium, Intelsat, Avanti Group, WorldSpace, Inmarsat, World Sat, DLR, KARI, Eutelsat and several other space institutions across Europe, West Asia and South-East Asia. ISROs advantage so far has been its cost and reliability, but private companies are gunning for a piece of this multi-million dollar pie.

A satellite launch with Arianespaces Ariane-5 rocket costs about $140 million and, after subsidies, the cost comes down to about $100 million, whereas the cost aboard the Falcon-9 rocket of SpaceX falls to about $60 million. But the real coup is the price aboard ISROs PSLV rocket which is no more than a third of Falcon-9s. India also put a satellite into orbit around Mars, the Mangalyaan mission, in 2014 for just $74 million. In June 2016, ISRO also launched 20 satellites in one go, one of which belonging to a Google-owned company. Google itself is an investor in SpaceX. But Indias growth story is not without challenges.

Indias PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) can launch satellites up to a weight of only 1,800 kg. The operational MK-II version of GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) can handle payloads weighing 2,500 kg, but for anything heavier ISRO doesnt have a solution yet. The GSLV MK-III, is still under development and will be capable carrying satellites weighing 5,000 kgs. But all these solutions do not come with re-usable rockets, and that is something that both SpaceX and Blue Origin are pioneering. SpaceX has developed a technology of soft-landing its rockets first stage at either land or sea after a satellite launch. This allows a re-utilisation of the rocket, and all that is needed is to reassemble it with another second-stage unit, refuelling it and sending the assembled rocket on a second-launch mission into space with a minuscule turnaround time. Once the company can perfect this technology, space launches will cost a small fraction and even ISRO will struggle to compete at those price points.

The idea of letting private entities take the lead is tempting, primarily, because it saves taxpayers money. This money could be spent elsewhere, and bring far greater tangible benefits to society. However, it is also important for us as a species to realise that we do not necessarily have a hunger problem, nor are we really running out of resources in a manner that threatens humanity. While it is true that we have our set of challenges, but more than any, we have a distribution problem. Unequal distribution of wealth, of power, and sadly of food as well. Too many have too little. We are careless and we are wasteful, but were also explorers. History is replete with stories of men doing the unthinkable, going out to the edges of the oceans when they thought that the Earth was flat, risking everything in the pursuit of the next frontier. That spirit is alive and well, and we all must go all in.
Karachi, February 17

Grieving worshippers on Friday thronged the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar Sufi shrine and performed daily rituals, sending a strong message to the terrorists who killed at least 88 people in a suicide attack there.

The famous Sufi shrine at Sehwan in the Sindh province was closed due to security reasons following the deadly attack by an Islamic State suicide bomber yesterday.

The white marble floor at the shrine was still marked by blood and a pile of abandoned shoes and slippers was heaped in the courtyard, many of them belonging to victims.

The devotees performed Dhamal, a spiritual dance, after the sunset prayer.

Security was tightened in an around the shrine after yesterdays attack.

Undeterred by the tragedy, the custodian of the shrine, Syed Mehdi Raza Shah, turned up at the designated place at 3.30am and stood amidst the remains of the carnage to defiantly rung a traditional bell, which is a daily ritual.

We will never bow before the terrorists, he said.

Shah told PTI from Sehwan that the devotees came despite the shrine being sealed off by the security forces for examination and collection of forensic evidence.

Such cowardly terrorist attacks will never deter thousands of devotees of spiritual Sufi saints all over Pakistan from going to shrines to pray, he said.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa have also visited Sehwan and met the injured in the hospital.

Lal Shahbaz Qalandar was a Sufi philosopher-poet of present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Earlier in the day, angry protesters today took to the streets against the Pakistan governments failure to provide security at the shrine.

They damaged vehicles and set a police van on fire and burnt tyres to block roads.

There is only one scanner at the shrine for thousands of devotees who come to the shrine and even it was not working properly, a protester, who lost his brother and friends in the blast, told a television channel.

Relatives of the injured people complained about improper medical care facilities at the civil hospitals in Sehwan and Nawabshah.

Initial investigations said that there was no proper electricity at the shrine when the attack took place.

Investigations point to the fact that the attacker came dressed in a Burqa and entered the shrine from the golden gate amidst the heavy crowd of devotees, DIG Hyderabad range Manzoor Rind said.

Hyderabad is the largest city closest to the town of Sehwan where the shrine was attacked.

Rind said the CCTV footage at the shrine was being examined to identify the attack.  PTI
Islamabad, February 17

Pakistan Army on Friday handed over to Afghanistan a list of 76 wanted terrorists hiding there, demanding immediate action or their extradition.

Military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said that an official of Afghan embassy was called to the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi, the seat of military power.

Afghanistan Embassy officials called in GHQ. Given list of 76 terrorists hiding in Afghanistan. Asked to take immediate action/be handed over to Pakistan, Ghafoor tweeted.

However, the military did not disclose the name of terrorists in the list.

The move came after a wave of terrorist attacks in Pakistan within a week, including a suicide bombing by the Islamic State group that killed 76 worshippers at a Sufi shrine in southern Pakistan.

Pakistan closed its border with Afghanistan to press Kabul to take action against militants hiding across the border.

The Pakistan-Afghanistan border closed with immediate effect till further orders due to security reasons, Ghafoor said.

Official said that movement of all sorts of goods, transport and people has been stopped with Afghanistan.

Pakistan and Afghanistan often accuse each other of nurturing militants who operate across the porous border between the two countries.  PTI
Islamabad, February 17

Pakistan Army on Friday claimed to have killed more than 100 suspected terrorists in retaliation to an Islamic State suicide bombing at a crowded Sufi shrine in Sindh province that claimed 88 lives.

The media wing of the army, ISPR, said a sizeable number of suspects have also been arrested since last night, when a Islamic State bomber blew himself up at the popular shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan in the southern province.

The statement did not specify where the militants were killed or about the arrests and said details will be shared.

The blast was one of the deadliest in Pakistan in years and a continuation of several terrorist strikes in the country this week, despite the armys offensive against militants.

Pakistan Army has launched combing operations across the country, including Punjab province.

Intelligence agencies are making progress to unearth networks behind recent (terrorist) incidents, military spokesman Major Gen Asif Ghafoor said, without providing details.

Immediately after the blast, Pakistan claimed the bombing was planned in militant sanctuaries across the border in Afghanistan, threatening renewed hostilities between Kabul and Islamabad.

The army claimed it has found linkages to militant support networks operating from Afghanistan and it has closed the border due to security reasons after the bombing last night.

Pakistan Army began an operation in Shalman area near the Pakistan-Afghan border, using heavy artillery fire, reports said. The border with Afghanistan at Torkham has been shut.

No cross-border or unauthorised entry will be allowed into Pakistan from Afghanistan, it said.

Afghan diplomats were earlier today summoned to General Headquarters in Rawalpindi by the Army, which lodged a protest over the use of Afghan soil by terrorists to carry out attacks in Pakistan.

The Afghan officials were also handed over a list of 76 terrorists hiding across the border and directing or supporting terrorist activities in Pakistan, the statement said. Afghan government has been asked to target them and hand them over to Pakistan.

Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa assured the people, saying the hostile agenda will not be allowed to succeed whatever it may cost.

Army is for security of people of Pakistan against all types of threat. Nation to stay steadfast with full confidence in their security forces, he was quoted as saying in the statement.  PTI
Washington, February 17

Vice Admiral Robert Harward has rejected US President Donald Trumps offer to be the new National Security Adviser, a media report said.

Sources close to the situation told CBS News that Harward and the administration had a dispute over staffing the security council.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Harward demanded his own team, and the White House resisted, they added.

Trump told Deputy National Security Adviser K.T. McFarland that she could retain her post, even after the ouster of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Harward refused to keep McFarland as his deputy, and after a day of negotiations over this and other staffing matters, Harward declined to serve as Flynn's replacement.

Harward, a 60-year-old former navy officer, served as deputy commander of US Central Command under now-Defence Secretary James Mattis.

He previously served as deputy commanding general for operations of Joint Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

Harward has also commanded troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan for six years after the September 2001 attacks. Under former President George W. Bush, he served on the National Security Council as director of strategy and policy for the office of combating terrorism.

Flynn resigned from the post amid questions about his contacts with Russian officials, CBS News said.

Law enforcement sources confirmed earlier this week that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents had interviewed Flynn last month.

According to the Defence Intelligence Agency, Flynn's security clearance has been suspended as investigators look into his ties to Russian officials.

IANS
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Washington/San Francisco, February 16

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will issue a new executive order to replace his controversial directive suspending travel to the United States by citizens of seven mostly Muslim countries.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

At a White House news conference on Thursday, Trump said the new order would seek to address concerns raised by federal appeals court judges, who temporarily blocked his original travel ban.

"The new order is going to be very much tailored to what I consider to be a very bad decision," Trump said, adding: "We had a bad court."

Trump gave no details about the replacement order. Legal experts said a new directive would have a better chance of withstanding courtroom scrutiny if it covered some non-Muslim countries and exempted non-citizen immigrants living in the US legally.

The original order, issued on January 27, triggered chaos at some US and overseas airports, led to international protests, complaints from US businesses and drew more than a dozen legal challenges.

In a court filing on Thursday, the Justice Department asked for a pause in proceedings before the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which sided with a federal court in Washington state to suspend the travel ban, while litigation over its legality according to the US Constitution played out.

The Justice Department asked the court to vacate that ruling once the administration has rescinded its original order and issued a new one. In an order later on Thursday, the 9th Circuit put proceedings over the ban on hold but did not say whether it would eventually withdraw its previous ruling.

The ban has been deeply divisive in the United States, with a Reuters/Ipsos poll indicating about half of Americans supported it shortly after the order took effect.

Legal uncertainty

Trumps decision to issue a new directive plunges court proceedings over his earlier order into uncertainty. Litigants around the country said they will carefully examine any new policy to see if it raises similar constitutional issues and will continue to pursue legal action if necessary.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who filed the case that produced the 9th Circuit ruling, claimed victory on Thursday.

Todays court filing by the federal government recognizes the obvious - the presidents current executive order violates the Constitution, Ferguson said, in a statement.

President Trump could have sought review of this flawed order in the Supreme Court but declined to face yet another defeat. Trump has said travel limitations are necessary to protect the United States from attacks by Islamist militants. His original order barred people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the country for 90 days.

Refugees were banned for 120 days, except those from Syria, who were banned indefinitely.

Trump said on Thursday that the widely criticized rollout had been "very smooth" and once again blamed the court for "a bad decision."

The Justice Department court filing on Thursday said Trump's order would be "substantially revised" but provided no more details than the president did at his press conference.

Last week an congressional aide who asked not to be identified told Reuters that Trump might rewrite the original order to explicitly exclude green card holders, who have legal permission to live and work in the United States.

Stephen Griffin, a professor of constitutional law at Tulane University, said adding non-Muslim countries could also help a new order withstand accusations that it discriminates based on religion. Given that the administration already identified the seven Muslim-majority countries as a threat, he said, it would be unlikely to remove any of those.

"I'd speculate they would add to the list, as opposed to walk it back," he said.

Reuters
United Nations, February 17

The US supports the two-state solution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Americas top diplomat to the UN has said while indicating that the Trump administration is thinking out of the box to bring peace to the region.

First of all, the two-state solution is what we support. Anybody that wants to say the United States does not support the two-state solution--that would be an error, US envoy to the UN Nikki Haley told reporters on Thursday.

We absolutely support the two-state solution but we are thinking out of the box as well: which is what does it take to bring these two sides to the table; what do we need to have them agree on, the Indian-American envoy said responding to questions on President Donald Trumps remarks, which he made during a joint press conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Breaking away from Washingtons long-held policy on the issue, Trump had on Thursday said he would be open to alternative solutions that did not necessarily involve a two-state solution to the six-decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Haley, 45, said, What we support more is peace and stability and by bringing the two to the table to have them talk through this in a fresh way, to say we are going to go back to the drawing board, what can we agree on, that is what the US wants.

She said Washington wanted to facilitate both the Palestinian Authority and Israel coming together, being accountable and moving forward for peace.

The US supports the two-state resolution, thats never been wavered. What we are saying is let us not just talk about the old way of doing things, lets come to the table with all the fresh atmosphere perspective that we now have and see how can we move forward, she said.

At the end of the day, the solution to what will bring peace to the Middle East is going to come from the Palestinians and Israelis. The US is just there to support the process, she added.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres had also cautioned that there is no Plan B to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, warning against any action to undermine the possibility of the two-state solution.

In a separate address to students at Cairo University, the UN Chief stressed that there is no alternative to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but the two-state solution and that no actions should be taken to undermine that possibility.

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov, in a briefing to the Security Council, also stressed that the two-state solution remains the only way to achieve the legitimate national aspirations of both peoples. PTI
Photo via Rush Enterprises

Dealer group Rush Enterprises opened a Rush Truck Center in Farmington, New Mexico, to strength the companys service capabilities in the region.

The 14,000-square-foot facility features a parts showroom with a parts inventory and eight service bays with the latest technology. This is the third Rush location in New Mexico, joining more than 100 total Rush Truck Centers in 21 states.

We are proud to extend our nationwide presence to Farmington, New Mexico, said W. M. "Rusty" Rush, chairman, CEO, and president of Rush Enterprises. With this one-stop parts and service location, we can continue to support our customers in New Mexico and keep them up and running.

Rush Truck Center in Farmington is located at 1111 Madison Lane, Farmington, N.M., 87401. For more information, call 505-599-8900 or click here.
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 ...
Figuring out how to show solidarity with immigrants while also being available to serve them was the conundrum faced by staff at the Community Health Connection.

The Day Without Immigrants movement took hold Thursday in Tulsa as it did across the nation to demonstrate immigrants contributions economically and culturally.

It was also a response to President Donald Trumps immigration agenda, which includes increasing deportations, building a wall along the Mexican border and banning people from certain Muslim-majority countries. He has blamed low wages and unemployment on immigration and his loss of the elections popular vote on undocumented immigrants.

The grassroots boycott encouraged immigrants to stay home, not to work or make any purchases.

The Community Health Connection, 2321 E. Third St., provides health care on a sliding fee scale, and about 80 percent of patients request services in Spanish. To meet the need, about 80 percent of employees are bilingual.

CEO Jim McCarthy said he found out about the boycott on Wednesday and supports the sentiment.

Unless you are a full-blooded Native American, then you are an immigrant of this country. No two ways around that. This is a concerning issue for me personally, McCarthy said. There seems to be some sense that if you are under the category of white or Caucasian, somehow that makes you not an immigrant. You would think that would be heightened in Oklahoma.

Staff decided to self-select who would remain home, and those employees were not penalized for missing work. About 20 out of 72 employees did not work.

It is a very cohesive effort trying to strike a balance because of the relatively unique situation we find ourselves in, McCarthy said.

Nearly all the Hispanic-owned businesses in Tulsa were closed, often with a note on the door explaining the reason. For those open, it was a skeleton crew. That includes Super Mercado Las Americas and all the stores in the Plaza Santa Cecilia.

In Tulsa Public Schools, about 1,800 more students were absent than usual. In a statement released on social media:

As educators, our job is to prepare children for the greatest success in college, careers, and life, and this preparation starts in the classroom. Attendance matters, and students can fall behind even after just one day.

We also support the rights of individuals to protest peacefully in the ways that are most meaningful to them, and this includes the participants of todays Day Without Immigrants. We are committed to working together with Tulsans from all walks of life to bring about sustainable change, and that work will sometimes be challenging and disruptive.

Drawing attention: The outcry comes after several high-profile incidents have occurred during the 1-month-old administration.

Last week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested about 680 people in raids, claiming 75 percent had criminal history. But, lawyers and activists for the detained disagree, saying some had no criminal pasts and others had minor infractions such as having a pending administrative deportation order.

An undocumented immigrant in El Paso, Texas, was arrested in a courthouse last week by six ICE agents after she obtained a protective order for domestic violence. Agents allegedly were tipped to her whereabouts by the person she accused of abuse.

In Arizona, the deportation of a 36-year-old mother of two, who has been in the U.S. since age 14, attracted a throng of protesters and international attention.

For immigrants and their supporters, the episodes erode trust because they illustrate a lack of prioritizing criminal deportations. Also, they say it gives the impression that hateful speech and bigotry toward immigrants is OK.

Taking a stand: Boycotts are as American as pageants and pickup trucks. Nothing hits home more than an economic boycott.

The first major immigration protest  known as the the Great American Boycott  was organized on May 1, 2006. That coincided with May Day, which is also the International Workers Day holiday in Mexico, Asia and most of Europe. Reports estimated between 1 million to 2 million participated.

It was prompted by an immigration reform bill in Congress that would have built a Mexican border wall and toughened penalties on undocumented immigrants. It did not provide more legal pathways to residency. The measure died in the Senate.

Immigration reform has been discussed for more than 20 years in Congress with little to no movement. The Dream Act, which would provide residency pathways to law-abiding undocumented immigrants arriving as children, has been pending since 2001.

In Tulsa and Oklahoma, the only significant demographic growth is among Hispanics, largely due to immigration. Two-thirds of undocumented adults have lived in the U.S. for more than a decade, and that length of residential time is rising.

Its not clear if the Great American Boycott or Day Without Immigrants made an economic dent, but Thursdays action certainly serves as a powerful symbol of a diverse community.
OKLAHOMA CITY  Oklahoma Republicans began to publicly turn their backs Thursday on Gov. Mary Fallins proposed plan to tax 164 services.

Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb announced he was resigning from Fallins Cabinet, saying he could not support her plan. The move drew support from a group of conservative legislators, including a half dozen from the Tulsa area.

Earlier this month, Fallin proposed revenue-raising measures that include applying the sales tax to services, ranging from cable television to legal and lawn services. She also has proposed increasing the tax on gasoline and diesel as well as cigarettes.

Officials expect to have $868 million less in crafting a fiscal year 2018 budget, and the proposed extension of sales taxes to services was made in an effort to close that gap.

Gov. Fallin deserves to have someone in her Cabinet who can be a strong advocate for her agenda, and that is something I am unwilling to do, Lamb said in a statement. While I respect the determination with which Gov. Fallin met her obligation to present a balanced budget to the Legislature, I cannot support her proposed tax increases.

This proposal will adversely harm Oklahomas small businesses and families, especially those in our service industry. While Gov. Fallin and I have disagreed on issues from time to time, our differences on this important topic are so significant they preclude me from continuing to serve on her Cabinet.

The decision to resign as the states small business advocate does not affect Lambs role as lieutenant governor.

Lamb, a former Republican state senator, is considering a run for governor in 2018.

Additionally, 14 legislators issued a statement pledging to do what they can to stop the tax increase from becoming law.

Saying that by the governors estimate her proposals would result in a massive tax hike, Rep. George Faught, R-Muskogee, said in that statement: Those of us in the Legislature who are small business owners understand the devastating impact this would have on small businesses, the backbone of the Oklahoma economy, and on consumers. We need to fight for those we represent and stop this tax increase dead in its tracks.

Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, said in the statement that putting a massive, 1.7 billion dollar tax increase on Oklahomans will serve to hurt our economy just as it is beginning to recover. This approach is fundamentally flawed.

Mike Ford, chairman of the Republican Party of Tulsa County, also issued a statement criticizing Fallins proposal.

This plan not only defies one of the foundational pillars of Republicanism, but it also defies the basic fundamentals of economics, Ford said. Oklahomans are already burdened with some of the highest taxes in our region; and yes, fees, permits, licensing, tolls, and other regulatory burdens on our businesses and families are indeed taxes.

Fallin said she was disappointed and surprised to learn the news of Lambs resignation from a press release.

The governor said she values Lambs viewpoint and is not afraid to have dissenting opinions at the table.

There will always be a seat at the table for his independent voice, she said.

Leading a state is never easy, especially when there are so many challenges and we are faced with a prolonged economic downturn. But through ideas, hard work, long hours and making tough decisions, we can find solutions to those challenges our state faces. We have to.

As governor, I have provided a reality check of doing the same thing over and over with the structural deficits of our budget and expecting a different outcome, Fallin said. If we want to educate our children, (provide) a teacher pay raise and ensure the health and public safety of our citizens as well as improve our roads and bridges, we must fix the structure of our budget so we dont keep having budget shortfalls and uncertainty.

Some, including House Minority Leader Scott Inman, D-Del City, have tried to tie Fallins tax increase proposal to Lamb.

Inman is also considering running for governor.

Today, we learned that the Lieutenant Governor Todd Lamb has decided to completely abandon the governors plan to balance the budget, Inman said. He has left her Cabinet and abandoned plans to try to work together to try to solve the crisis that he and she and the rest of the Republican majority helped create.

Lamb was not involved in crafting Fallins proposed budget, said Keith Beall, Lambs chief of staff.

His decision to resign was made after yesterdays Cabinet meeting in which Gov. Fallin maintained her support for taxing 164 services affecting every Oklahoma small business and family, Beall said.

Beall said he met with Fallins chief of staff, Chris Benge, on Thursday morning to discuss the resignation.
See additional events in "Party Planner" and "Upcoming Performing Arts Events" in this website's Around Town section.

Feb. 24 and March 24

 Lincoln Artists Guild (LAG) fourth Friday receptions, 5-8 p.m., Out of the Box, 366 N. 48th St., lower level. Original artwork by LAG member artists. Featured artists: Feb. 24, Roxanne Shires; March 24, Association of Nebraska Art Clubs. Live music. Details: lincolnartistsguild.org.

Nominations due March 1

 Do you know an outstanding nonprofit board member? The Community Health Endowment (CHE) seeks nominations for the Michael J. Tavlin Leadership Award, which recognizes exceptional and visionary commitment to board and community service by a board member to a nonprofit organization in Lincoln or Lancaster County. The recipient will be recognized at the CHE annual meeting in June, and a stipend of $1,000 will be given to the agency of his/her choice to be used for board training and education. Nominations are due to CHE by 5 p.m. March 1. Details/nomination form: chelincoln.org/about-us/community-awards/tavlin-award.html.

March 3

 Join the Sheldon Museum of Art from 5-7 p.m. as it kicks off PhotoFest 2017, a month-long celebration of photography. Interact with students and community members as you create and share your own stories through pictures. Details: lincolnphotofest.org.

March 10

 Pioneer Park Nature Center trip to central Nebraska for a guided viewing tour of the sandhill crane migration, noon-11 p.m., starting at and returning to the Wild Bird Habitat Store, 56th and Nebraska Highway 2. Details/registration: 402-441-7895 or naturecenter@lincoln.ne.gov.

March 14

 League of Women Voters lunch and learn, The Shortage of Skilled Workers in Nebraska, presented by Dr. Dan Hohensee, Career Academy director, noon at the Marriott Courtyard, 808 R St. Public welcome. Reservations: 402-475-1411 or lwv-ne@inebraska.com.

March 15

 Farewell reception for artist-in-residence Margaret Berry, 4:30-6:30 p.m., Cornhusker Marriott, 333 S. 13th St. Berrys legacy piece, created for permanent display at the hotel, will be unveiled at the event. Free admission. Details: 402-474-7474.

March 18

 Immanuel Church will host the Heritage of Helping quilt show as part of its 125th anniversary celebration, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., 941 Charleston St. More than 60 quilts, some dating back to the turn of the 20th century, will be displayed in the historic church. Admission is one personal care item for Fresh Start. Details: ImmanuelchurchofLincoln.org or 402-475-2592.

Through March 25

 The Bridges: Sharing Our Past to Enrich the Future traveling Nebraska sesquicentennial exhibit with winning contest photos from all 93 counties will be displayed at the Great Plains Art Museum, 1155 Q St., through March 25. More details: Kim Einspahr at keinspahr@windstream.net.

March 28

 Lincoln Public Schools learning lunch, Visual Art: Enriching the Human Experience, presented by Lorinda Rice, curriculum specialist for visual arts at LPS, 12:15 p.m., LPS District Office board room, 5905 O St. Bring your lunch; LPS provides dessert. Details: 402-436-1609 or mkroth@lps.org.
The Australian today has questioned a lack of disclosure by Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes to three board members who joined in June 2015.

According to the article Jeff Kennett, Shirley McGregor and Michael Millett only learned of Tim Worners relationship with Amber Harrison when she went public with her story on December 18th.

The affair lasted from November 2012 to July 2014. Stokes had known about it since mid-2014, when it is understood Tim Worner offered his resignation, it suggests. He became SWM CEO in mid-2015.

The trio were reportedly also not told of Sevens subsequent deeds with Ms Harrison, once executive assistant to then-Seven magazine boss Nick Chan, or her claim against Seven in the Australian Human Rights Commission.

So far Shirley McGregor, a lawyer and partner at Gilbert + Tobin, has refused to outline publicly her reasons for resigning from the SWM board, a day before an investigation cleared Worner of misconduct.

On Wednesday Kerry Stokes was asked in a media phone conference if he had instructed her not to comment on the matter?

Thats outrageous, he told Australian journalist Will Glasgow. Are you seriously suggesting I or my board would tell a director what they can and cant do? How dare you! Sheila McGregor is a very forthright person wholl make the comments she deems appropriate when she thinks theyre appropriate. Thank you.

Jeff Kennett defended the boards actions in an article this week, claiming reportage had been too one-sided.

A Seven spokesman said: This issue was fully considered by directors at the time and since has been fully considered by the board and detailed in a number of public statements over the past two months and canvassed during our results presentation. The board has considered the findings of the recent independent investigation and made a public statement on those findings. We have nothing further to add.
On Monday night Four Corners features a story by ABCs Middle East correspondent, Matt Brown from the battlefields of Iraq and the fight to take back the city of Mosul.

Thats rocket fire. Were getting very close now to the frontline. There are civilians here, plenty of them, but this is obviously an active combat zone. Matt Brown

Weve been told theres IS in a car and four IS fighters on motor bikes that are supposed to be coming to attack were a bit on edge right now. Matt Brown

In this gripping film, Matt Brown and cameraman Aaron Hollett, capture the fight to take back the city of Mosul from the IS forces which overran the city two years ago, shocking the world with the speed and the ferocity of their victory.

Mosul is the biggest battle anywhere on the planet this century. David Kilcullen, Former Chief Strategist, US State Dept

The filming for this story began in October last year when Iraqi forces, backed by US and Australian air power, began their offensive to reclaim Mosul. Over the course of three journeys to the frontline, Matt and Aaron recorded the experiences of the soldiers fighting to liberate their home towns, and the civilians caught in the crossfire.

They (IS) would target us and we would lie out on the ground so that bullets would not reach us. Shelling was like rain over our heads. Mosul refugee

I feel gutted. I am exhausted. We couldnt treat her. We tried everything. We dont have enough medical equipment. We dont even have emergency assistance, not even ambulances for emergency. Iraqi doctor



Despite the grief, there are moments of happiness and relief as families are reunited when the IS fighters are pushed back.

I was running fast just to see (my mother) again. When I saw her it was a great moment. I am very happy and relieved. Kurdish soldier

After months of fighting, government forces enter the suburbs of Mosul. But the city was far from secure, with the pair coming under fire.

Weve been hearing sniper rounds come in overhead  the distinctive crack or zing. Matt Brown

And in interviews with the former commander of the Multi-National Force in Iraq, General David Petraeus and his then advisor, former Chief Strategist for the State Dept, David Kilcullen, they outline just how hard it will be to truly claim victory against IS.

The liberation of Mosul from the Islamic State will be a very, very important achievement and a milestone in the battle against the Islamic State. But it will not mark the end of the Islamic State in Iraq or certainly in Syria. General David Petraeus (Retd).

Monday 20th February at 8.30pm on ABC.
You do get the feeling watching My Year 12 Life that you are given intimate access to the private lives of Australian teens in 2017.

With 14 young teens from around Australia given cameras to film video-diaries and snapshots of their lives, this is a raw and sometimes-frenzied insight into a seminal year in their lives.

After all they are on the cusp of adulthood, they are learning to drive, forming relationships and pinning their hopes on their final year of high school.

The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) score could make or break their future.

I dont want to be a family failure, says one.

If I dont (get a high score) Im dead. My mum will run me over, says another.

But for most it is a year of unrelenting stress.

All this study, its so ridiculous, one girl suggests.

There has to be something wrong with the system to make kids feel this way, adds another.

Why do we have to study every single day, every single hour? another agrees.

Its slowly killing me and they dont even care.

The teens come from various socio-economic groups and family units around the country: inner city private schools, Central NSW high schools and even public schools in rural Western Australia.

They are 14 of 200,000 others who will be experiencing similar feelings across the same year.

All I can think about is schoolies and my 18th, says Alfie from Sydney. His islander family is heavily religious. My number 1 priority is my family and friends.

Kayla, from Inner Melbourne also has a close family unit. You can trust friends, some of them, but you can really trust your family, she says, noting, Your reputation is everything.

Trianna from Melbourne explains that most of her peers are teens from immigrant-based families, whose

parents gave up a lot to give them an education.

Alex, rejects mocking about learning through the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning. You dont do VCAL because youre stupid, you do it because you want to learn a trade, and you want to learn hands-on.

Jess, also from Melbourne works at Woolworths. She really wants to join the army.

You will also meet Shianna who loves collecting new clothes; Angela, who has black belt in taekwando; and Tom, whose relationship with his girlfriend, gets edgy during the pressures of Year 12.

There are candid, humour moments amid the up close and personal lives of the 14 teens. The pace of this editing hell is fast, and it frequently feels like a montage on speed. A little more room to breathe would not go astray.

But Princess Pictures and ABC are to be applauded for affording such trust and access to young lives, unfiltered for the rest of us.

I dont get how your ATAR when youre 18 should define the rest of your life, Eden laments.

Oh Eden, you will eventually learn thats up to you. But we hear you.

My Year 12 Life airs 7:30pm Monday  Wednesday on ABC ME.

6:30pm Sundays on ABC.
The annual Antique Flea Market at the Lancaster Event Center will again be the place to find the Lincoln Area Retired School Personnel's (LARSP's) large collection of donated books for sale Feb. 25-26. Book sale hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 25 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 26 at the Lancaster Event Center, 84th & Havelock Ave.
Zahrah, a widow and mother of eight displaced by war, sits in a makeshift shelter in Sana'a, Yemen.  UNHCR/Mohammed Hamoud

GENEVA  People in war-ravaged Yemen are dying of famine and lack of medical attention in a situation now beyond any humanitarian catastrophe, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, said today, warning that the crisis would likely worsen as humanitarian needs are acutely underfunded.

There is significant famine, there are people dying because of lack of medical attention, there are people who are out of schools simply because the schools are being used as shelters for displaced people, said UNHCRs Representative in Yemen, Ayman Gharaibeh.

We used to say last year that we were in a catastrophe. Now weve said that it is beyond any humanitarian catastrophe that weve seen, he said, speaking on the sidelines of a news briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

"It is beyond any humanitarian catastrophe that weve seen.

War reignited in the country of 27 million people in March 2015, creating a situation where fully two-thirds of the population  or some 18 million people  are now dependent on external aid in order to survive.

The situation facing many of the three million people displaced from their homes in Yemen is essentially a struggle for survival  food, water and shelter are priority.

Many are now enduring miserable and inadequate conditions living in overcrowded or makeshift shelters for months on end and without sufficient protection.

UNHCR's Representative in Yemen highlights impact of funding shortfall

Providing an effective response is currently being hindered by an acute funding shortfall that has left UNHCR with just one per cent of the US$99.6 million it needs to continue its vital relief operations in the year ahead, Gharaibeh said.

We are at the beginning of the year  were in mid-February  and its important that we have contributions in a timely, phased manner, with the pace to allow us to plan in a way that will continue to provide that same level of assistance throughout the year, he said.

Whereas in 2016, UNHCR spent US$76 million in its emergency response to different waves of displacement and stockpiling relief items in Yemen, Gharaibeh said it has started this year with just US$600,000 in its bank account.

Having a fully funded operation gives us the opportunity to have different options, be it for shelter, be it for cash programming, he added.

Without resources it really means that we will have more and more people languishing in the streets."

In an example of the impact the funding shortage was having, Gharaibeh said UNHCR would not be able to follow through with financial assistance to some 2,000 vulnerable widows identified as in need.

There have been assessments done in terms of vulnerability, but since that has not been matched with funding, it undermines our credibility, and the credibility of the response.

Without resources we are not useful at all in Yemen. We need to be able to identify needs, identify who is deserving and make sure we are able to respond.

The current situation has been compounded by decades of neglect, which has left weak institutions, poor government, and a feeble economy.

Every aspect of life is impacted and without this, it really means that we will have more and more people languishing in the streets. An unstable Yemen is not going to be a stable region, and thats not in the interest of any of its neighbours.
Artist Nicole Shulde will teach "Fun with Texture in Abstract Painting," a three-hour workshop, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. next Saturday (Feb. 25) at St. Marks on the Campus Episcopal Church and Student Center, 1309 R St.

"Fun With Texture in Abstract Painting" will provide a hands-on experience in blending texture media with acrylics to produce original art. The workshop is open to ages 8 and older. All experience levels are welcome.

The cost is $10 (payable at the door). Participants will need to wear paint-appropriate clothes (or bring an apron) and bring an 8" x 10" canvas. Shulde will provide all other tools and materials. St. Mark's will provide light refreshments. Works by Shulde are on exhibit at St. Marks on the Campus during the month of February.
RACINE  The Illinois man accused of robbing a couple of banks in Racine and Kenosha on Feb. 12 had his initial appearance in Racine County Circuit Court Friday.

Jason A. Crawford, 34, of the 7900 block of Dada Drive in Gurnee, Ill., was charged Monday with robbery of a financial institution, a felony.

According to the criminal complaint:

Crawford allegedly was observed on video surveillance Sunday robbing a teller at the Tri City National Bank branch located inside Piggly Wiggly, 3900 Erie St., and a Guaranty Bank branch in Kenosha. Crawford received the cash by allegedly passing a note to the teller stating he was armed and seeking money.

His vehicle was spotted and he was arrested the same day in the 4000 block of Main Street at the Caledonia/Wind Point border. Investigating officers found several items in a nearby trash bin allegedly related to the Tri City robbery including: two black jackets; black shoes; and a small plastic bag containing U.S. currency that was stained with red dye.

Police also found several items in his vehicle, including: A brown paper bag with U.S. currency; a bag containing three plastic bags of capped needles, which police said are similar to those used to take heroin; a 9mm semi-automatic handgun; multiple ammunition magazines; and a folding knife.

As of Friday, Crawford remained in the Racine County Jail, 717 Wisconsin Ave., on a $7,500 bond.

Crawford is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Feb. 22.
A new research found that children with ADHD have smaller brain structures compared to the usual volume.

The largest brain study review in ADHD published in The Lancet Psychiatry suggests that there is a difference in brain volume between an ADHD patient and those without the diagnosis, Washington Post reported.

Researchers studied the MRI brain scans

The experts studied ADHD reports taken from 23 research sites and re-examined them. There were 1,713 patients with ADHD and 1,529 individuals without the disorder (4-63 years old)

Each participant's brain volume was measured based on the MRI scans. There were seven regions analyzed, those that are associated with ADHD - Amygdale, caudate nucleus, hippocampus, putamen, palladium, thalamus, and nucleus accumbens.

Due to the large size of the research, the team was able to collect the specific differences; and found that in the caudate nucleus, putamen, nucleus accumbens, amygdala and hippocampus regions - the volumes were smaller in patients with ADHD. The largest difference was spotted in amygdala region responsible for emotion.

New study finds children with ADHD have several brain regions that are smaller than usual. By @mylcheng https://t.co/ehMJMduASl  AP Health & Science (@APHealthScience) February 16, 2017

What other experts have to say

The neurological condition, according to Graham Murray, lecturer at Cambridge University, does not mean that having less brain is bad but it is in fact a benefit for teens in term of intellectual growth, Time reported. Murray continued to explain that the smaller brain structures do not mean that the child can't function well as they mature.

Furthermore, the review has shown an insignificant difference in the brain volumes. Dr. Jonathan Posner, Psychiatrist at Columbia University, said that the study gives a vital contribution with such a substantial amount of data. However, more researches need to be done for a more robust result.
A student of Massachusetts University was convicted for randomly punching his fellow students and is now placing the blame on Endicott College for being lax in enforcing underage drinking laws.

Dillon DeStefano, 22, of River Vale, filed a lawsuit against private college in Beverly, Mass., and president Richard Wylie, New York Post reported. According to DeStefano, it was because of the school's implicit approval of underage drinking on campus that he became overly drunk that he lost control of himself and lost the capacity to conform his actions to the requirements of the law.

The lawsuit was filed February 1 by Salem attorney Stephen Lovely, three years to the day after DeStefano's crimes occurred at the college without provocation, according to Salem News.

DeStefano, who is now 22, pleaded guilty in 2014 after randomly punching his fellow students one night in the campus which left one with a broken and dislocated jaw, another student with a broken orbital bone and sinus and another one with a spit lip.

During his sentencing hearing, DeStefano blamed the alcohol he had consumed that night at a party on campus as well as the performance-enhancing drugs he was taking. His sentence was a total of four years in jail on assault and battery, and witness intimidation charges, but he was paroled last year and returned to New Jersey.

Before the attacks, DeStefano had a record of being "quiet, peaceful, sociable and caring individual." But the police officials were not able to intervene after DeStefano and other students had heavy drinking at the dorm parties.

The suit seeks damages for the loss of DeStefano's reputation. DeStefano's attorney, Endicott College and Wylie had not been served with the complaint and they also refused to give any comment.
Four University of Pennsylvania students were able to successfully sell a startup that they created out of a PennApps hackathon three years ago. The company's former CEO now wants to help college students launch their own business even while they are still studying.

Tech Crunch reported that ThirdEye, initially an add-on developed for Google Glass, has been acquired by TheBlindGuide for an undisclosed sum. Today, it is known as a mobile app.

The app created by UPenn students utilizes Google's Cloud Vision API to be able to recognize objects and read their descriptions aurally. Users also have the ability to takes photos of text which ThirdEye converts to speech.

UPenn students Rajat Bhageria, Ben Sandler, Daniel Hanover and Nandeet Mehta invested a lot of their time to leverage their student status and build relationships with organizations that support the visually impaired. They also spent a lot of time in developing their business plan and, ultimately, settled on a freemium model of $8 per month after a free trial and released a free model for international users.

According to Philly Voice, Bhageria is planning to launch his own venture fund named Prototype Capital. The company will be focused on college students across the nation who want to launch their own businesses.

He revealed that there are 10 universities in the network including Penn, Cornell, UCLA, Stanford and Berkeley, among others. He argued that current leaders in the market like Dorm Room Fund and Rough Draft Ventures are not adding much value to student founders.

The former ThirdEye CEO believes that very few resources are being given to student founders who are not from prestigious universities. He admitted that he understands the things that students need, especially with funding and legal help, because they have been there.

He cited Dell and Reddit, which were developed from the University of Texas - Austin and the University of Virginia, respectively, as prime examples of innovation that his competitors may miss if they did not establish a wider network of participating universities and colleges.
Milo Yiannopoulos is notorious for being vocal about his far-right views. The Breitbart News editor has faced a lot of backlash and protests in U.S. universities and colleges for his opinions.

Last month, Milo Yiannopoulos' event at the University of California - Davis was canceled after protesters became rowdy. President Trump even threatened to cut UC Berkeley's federal funds after the Breitbart News editor's speaking engagement in campus was canceled.

According to CNN, Yiannopoulos has made it his goal to visit American universities and colleges who are "traditionally left-leaning." He admitted that he wants to go to campuses because he believes that "bad ideas," to which he cited progressive social justice, feminism and the Black Lives Matter movement as examples, are "so cancerous and toxic to free expression."

The Breitbart News editor became infamous for his "Dangerous Faggot" bus tour. Throughout his campus visits, he has made known his opinions on Muslims, minority students as well as members of the transgender community, among others. This was all done for the sake of free speech and in his battle against political correctness.

A lot of people criticized him for his no-filter approach. However, Milo Yiannopoulos believes that he is providing an important perspective which has been missing in universities and colleges with unchallenged liberal ideas.

Moreover, he also encourages other far-right speakers to visit U.S. campuses to get their message out there. The controversial speaker has gone on stage to slam Black Lives Matter activists and even argued that rape culture on campuses is inexistent.

Quartz noted that universities and colleges should do all that they can to make sure that a speaker is not silenced due to audience reactions. It is, after all, indicted by the First Amendment that all views and ideas can be expressed - no matter how offensive they are.

University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce also agreed to this that she believes that it is important not to have American campuses become "gated communities in order to try to maintain safety." She added that the most important thing that universities and colleges need to do is to emphasize the mission of promoting diversity and inclusion as well as equipping students with strong analytic tools that they can use to do critical analysis.
The Trump travel ban controversy is still making its rounds. With immigration news sprouting all over the country, picking up notes from current United States President Donald Trump's administration to capturing students and staff protesting on the streets.

But amidst all the immigration news, a University of Minnesota-Morris professor has probably shocked the whole school through his anti-immigrant Facebook rant. His rant on the social media is making its rounds in the school campus.

His Trump travel ban rant has pushed an upcoming rally, a teach-in and a discussion panel, as reported by City Pages. In his rant, Professor Dan Demetriou says that they can scrap the education system if America can't produce better average children than the average refugee.

Demetriou, a professor who specializes in ethics, political philosophy and philosophy of law, considers himself an authority in the matter. Unable to comment on his post because he is currently on a sabbatical in Sweden, psychology professor Heather Peters, who is a colleague, explains that Demetriou's views are based on the thoughts that are out there.

Peters had her students fact check Demetriou's arguments and they found ample peer-reviewed research about how immigration affects the American workforce and public schools.

However, his words has reportedly hurt some students. With the spike of immigration news running around the country, Demetriou acknowledged that his words can harm and demoralize some students who disagree with his opinions. But he concludes that his post will bring an intellectual diversity to the university to help avoid ideological monocultures.

While that is happening at University of Minnesota-Morris, other immigration news has picked up Vanderbilt University as an institution that does not support Donald Trump's travel ban and his executive orders on immigration. WKRN reports that there are 16 other universities who have announced that it does not support Trump's immigration policies.

Want to know more about University of Minnesota-Morris? Check out the greeting promo video below:
Cambridge University's 300-year old tradition of posting "class lists" is in danger of being eliminated because of the ultra-sensitive snowflake generation wo thinks it is demeaning and damaging.

The 300-year old tradition allows the posting of the list, which includes the names, degree, and grade of students, in front of the university's main building Senate House. However, a new EU data protection law which will be enforced next year is likely to end this tradition.

The law, General Data Protection Regulation, will take effect in May 2018. The GDPR emphasized that there should be consent from the person before releasing the information in public.

This move came after a campaign called for the demolition of Cambridge University's 300-year old tradition saying that it is not only damaging but that it also triggers depression and promotes a culture of shaming.

Another campaign called "Our Grade, Our Choice" suggests that students should be given an opt-out without providing any evidence why they don't want to be included in the list.

In the impending demolition of the tradition, a referendum was made last November 15 and 55 percent of Cambridge University students vote to retain the tradition.

Those who are in favor of the list said that they are tough enough to take failure. Many think that the snowflake generation, young adults who can't take criticisms or offense, are making a big fuss over a tradition that has endured for centuries.

Nicholas Taylor, one of the founders of the campaign "Save the Class List," said that it is a fantastic tradition adding that since it is a public examination, the results should also made public.

As for the argument that the class list further aggravates stress and mental health problems, some students declared that instead of getting stressed or depressed, it has helped him cope up with it after realizing he is not alone in his misery.
RACINE  In a news release Friday, Mayor John Dickert confirmed that Allentown, Pa., Mayor Ed Pawlowski will no longer visit Racine to talk about Allentowns downtown arena.

However, Racine city staff will make Pawlowskis presentation for him at the scheduled 6 p.m. Monday meeting of the City Councils Committee of the Whole. The meeting will be held in room 205 at City Hall, 730 Washington Ave.

Pawlowskis City Hall staff has been under FBI investigation since July 2015 for alleged pay-to-play schemes involving local developers.

Dickert announced Pawlowskis visit Thursday morning. In Fridays release, Dickert expressed his displeasure at the way the hometown paper chose to characterize, not the visit, but the visitor.

Dickert said: It was very disheartening how quickly the purpose of his visit and presentation turned into political mudslinging. The integrity and economic benefit of this project is too important to allow it to be politicized.

The mayor also confirmed that Racine city staff will make Pawlowskis scheduled presentation for him. On Thursday, Pawlowski said he would present on how Allentown bounced back from being a city with no economic vitality because of the citys PPL Center and resulting investment.

Mayor Pawlowski has been kind enough to share the economic benefits and outcomes with us, Dickert said. We will present these findings to the council Monday evening.

Under the spotlight

According to Allentown City Council Vice President Daryl Hendricks, six city employees have pleaded guilty to offenses related to the FBI investigation, which began with a raid of Allentown City Hall. Hendricks said the six admitted to acting in concert with Public Official No. 3, someone who matches Pawlowskis description.

Theres only one person it could possibly be, Hendricks said.

Still, Pawlowski has not been indicted or charged.

The investigation has been going on for almost two years and theres been no charges filed against me, Pawlowski said.

Dickert preferred the focus of Mondays presentation be placed on Allentowns success, not its mayors possible political transgressions.

I believe the council and the public deserve the right to see what kind of a positive impact a project of this caliber can have on a city like Racine, Dickert said.
RACINE  A day after news broke of an alleged job offer and plan to take over large school districts  including Racine Unified  two state superintendent candidates disputed the details and circumstances surrounding the proposal.

Lowell Holtz and John Humphries sparred at a Racine Taxpayers Association candidate forum Thursday night at Gateway Technical College, 1001 S. Main St. They are running against incumbent Tony Evers, who did not attend the forum, in Tuesdays primary.

The otherwise quiet race got louder Wednesday when details emerged about a meeting the two had in December. Humphries has said Holtz offered him a $150,000-per-year Department of Public Instruction job if Humphries dropped out and sought the same for himself if he exited the race.

Under the plan, according to documents provided to the Wisconsin State Journal, the position would also include complete authority over school districts and school boards in Racine, Milwaukee, Kenosha, Madison and possibly Green Bay.

Humphries said Thursday he found the proposal quite odd and not consistent with whats possible in state government. He got together with Holtz for what he thought was a talk about possible ways to work together, he said, adding he made it clear he did not want to work for Holtz.

I thought it was very inappropriate, Humphries said.

Holtz, though, called Humphries account a gross misrepresentation of what took place.

A suggestion they work together came from Milwaukee business people, said Holtz, who did not name the people. He said Humphries goal was for Holtz to leave the race so he could have a clear path to take on Evers, but he declined.

If you look at my plans, the last thing I (would) talk about is ever taking over a school. I talk about going in to work with them, said Holtz, who also denied seeking a $150,000-a-year job.

Evers campaign cited scheduling reasons for his absence at the forum. But in a phone interview after the forum, Evers said he was disappointed about the alleged plan and called it one of the strangest things Ive ever seen in a campaign.

It just lowers the rhetoric, Evers said. It reminded me of two guys sitting at a bar figuring out on the back of a napkin what theyre going to do to school districts. Im just very disappointed.

The top two vote-getters in Tuesdays primary will advance to the April 4 general election.

Evers has held the post since 2009. Humphries is a former Dodgeville school administrator, while Holtz is a former Beloit superintendent.
KENOSHA  The United Way of Kenosha County has appointed Tara Panasewicz as its chief executive officer.

Panasewicz, a Kenosha native who has volunteered extensively in Racine County, is renowned for giving back to the community through volunteerism and education. With banking and management experience that spans two decades, she most recently served as vice president at Southport Bank in Kenosha, a United Way release stated.

She spent 14 years of her career in Racine working in various roles at Johnson Bank. It was during this time that Panasewicz first realized her strong commitment, and true passion, for volunteerism.

Panasewicz has served on the board of directors in various capacities for Family Service of Racine, Racine Founders Rotary, Racine YMCA, Young Professionals of Racine, Lakeside Curative Services, and Band of Blue. She chaired Bark for Life of Racine and the Racine Policemans Ball and served as volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, Tiny Paws Small Dog Rescue as a foster mom, and a Big Sister for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Kenosha County.

She attended Kenosha schools including St. Joseph High School and Holy Rosary and obtained her bachelors degree in business administration from Concordia University. In 2006, she graduated from the Leadership Racine Program, the release stated.

In recognition of her volunteer and fundraising efforts, Panasewicz was honored as the 2013 Young Professional of the Year for Racine Area Manufacturers and Commerce, the 2012 Community Service Award winner for Johnson Financial Group and was a 2016 Community Trustee Honoree for The Journal Times Positively Racine Publication.

Educating our community on programs and volunteer opportunities leads to a deeper dedication and contribution to the success and betterment of our community. This is the true meaning of taking care of our own backyard and was what attracted me to United Way of Kenosha County. Thank you for allowing me to live out my dream and passion every day in the community I care so deeply about, Panasewicz said in the release.

Panasewiczs knowledge, background, expertise and reputation in southeast Wisconsin will complement United Way of Kenosha Countys commitment to the communities it serves and will give the organization greater opportunity as it continuously works to meet the needs and goals of Kenosha County, the release stated.


The Las Vegas community is invited to a day of live music, delicious food and the opportunity to support American civil liberties, during American Dream Concerts inaugural Rock 4 Freedom Concert and BBQ at Hooters Casino Hotel Las Vegas on Monday, February 20, 2017, beginning at 1 p.m. (Pictured: Jarrett & Raja).

The show will feature live performances from artists including Grammy Award winner and former The Voice contestant Will Champlin, Hollywood Roses, Kimberly Barnhill, 80s station, Rock Fantasy, Jarrett & Raja, Comedy Daredevil and others.


Morphy Auctions, the finest auction destination for fresh to the market collections, is pleased to announce the results of this world-class event, which was held on Saturday, January 28th and Sunday, January 29th, 2017 at the companys Las Vegas auction gallery (Pictured: 1895 Charles Fey Liberty Bell slot machine sold for $174,000).

All sales prices noted include the 23% buyers premium.

Its no gamble to say that this sales offerings of countertop slot and poker machines generated enormous interest amongst buyers from all over the world. Lot #155, a Charles Fey Liberty Bell slot machine and shipping crate, rang true to realize $174,000. This 1895 example, in working, all original, untouched condition, is considered the apex of all coin-op gambling machines ever manufactured.

Lot #903, a circa 1905-1910 5 Caille Liberty package gum slot machine, believed to be the only known surviving example, made $126,000. It was designed to sidestep the gambling laws of the time by dispensing a pack of gum with every play.

Lot #156, an early 1900s 1 Caille Hy-Lo poker machine, took the high road to realize $36,900.

And lot #5, a late 1930s 5 Mills Novelty Co. Hoke Snake slot machine, featuring a distinctive serpentine motif on the upper and lower castings, more than doubled its low estimate to make $60,000.

Now lets hit the ground running with some floor slot machine sales highlights. Lot #306, an extraordinarily rare circa 1905 5 Mills roulette slot machine in phenomenal, all original condition with nickel plated iron castings and a handsome quarter sawn oak cabinet, spun its way to $289,050.

Collectors took a double take on lot #902, a rare 5 & 25 Pace Royal Comet Twin Slot Machine, which realized $25,200  more than three times its low estimate. This double console machines mechanisms can be used separately or together with the center pull handle. Bidders found lot #304, a 5 Mills The Judge musical cabinet slot machine, guilty of being remarkably desirable. This unusual example, featuring an oak cabinet with recessed panels and carved applique details and ornate cast iron elements, realized $29,520. And one buyer struck gold with lot #307, a 1949 life-sized carved wooden 5 Pace 8 Star Bell Frank Polk miner slot machine. This signed rarity made $39,600.

This events outstanding selections of trade stimulators left nothing up to chance. Collectors were certainly feline groovy over lot #253, a 1920s era 10 Lukat The Lucky Cat trade stimulator. This pretty kitty, which realized $27,060, rewards winning players with a gumball and cigars. Lot #191, an early 20th century cast iron 5 Watling Color Match trade stimulator, with its unusual and original side vendor, realized $30,000. Lot #937, an early 1900s 5 Mills Bulls Eye Counter Wheel trade stimulator featuring ornately detailed castings affixed to a matching cast iron rotating base and a near-mint tin litho color wheel, hit $36,900. And lot #1049, a circa 1935 5 Superior Vendomat cigarette vender trade stimulator, met its match at $33,210, more than twice its high estimate.

According to Dan Morphy, President of Morphy Auctions, It was especially thrilling to be at this auction in person. The energy and excitement in the room from start to finish was simply amazing. It was an honor to handle the Barry Goldfarb collection and I am certain that buyers will be extraordinarily happy with their purchases from this fine grouping. Please mark your calendars for our next premier coin-op sale, which will be held on May 27th-28th, 2017 at our Las Vegas gallery. We continue to accept fine consignments for this sale through mid-March, 2017.
Giang Kim Dat (front, second from right) and his father Giang Van Hien (front, first from left) at the trial

This is one of the major corruption and economic-rule-violating cases that were ordered to be brought to trial as soon as possible by the Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption.

Three defendants are charged with asset embezzlement as regulated in Article 278 of the Penal Code, who are Tran Van Liem (born in 1955, former General Director of Vinashinlines), Tran Van Khuong (born in 1951, former Chief Accountant of Vinashinlines), and Giang Kim Dat (born in 1980, former acting head of Vinashinlines sales department).

Meanwhile, Dats father  Giang Van Hien, born in 1950, is charged with money laundering under Article 251 of the Penal Code.

According to the indictment of the Peoples Procuracy, from July 2006 to March 2007, Liem signed contracts to buy three ships  the Vinashin Summer, Vinashin Island and Vinashin Phoenix - and assigned Dat to negotiate the purchase.

During negotiations, Dat reached an agreement with intermediary firm Marvin Shipping Ltd on buying Vinashin Summer from Panama at 6.25 million USD, and Vinashinlines would receive 2 percent of the total value of this vessel purchase and sale contract. The intermediary kept 10 percent of the 2-percent sum while the remaining worth more than 1.9 billion VND (over 83,400 USD)  was transferred to an account owned by Giang Van Hien.

The ship Vinashin Island was purchased at 5.95 million USD from Croatia. Dat also made a deal with Marvin Shipping Ltd to get 3.75 percent of the contract value and paid this firm 10 percent of the commission. More than 3 billion VND (131,800 USD) was transferred to Hiens account after the transaction.

In the contract to purchase Vinashin Phoenix from Greece at 21.55 million USD, Dat took 2 percent of the contract value. Marvin Shipping Ltd transferred nearly 6.5 billion VND (285,600 USD) to his fathers account.

Hien received a total of almost 11.5 billion VND (505,300 USD) in illegal money from the vessel purchase and sale contracts of Vinashinlines.

From May 2006 to June 2008, via intermediary companies, Liem, Dat and Khuong also negotiated with ship owners to wrongly declare the hire charges in the leases of nine vessels, misappropriating 249 billion VND (over 10.9 million USD).

The indictment said Liem and his accomplices abused their position and power to appropriate more than 260 billion VND (11.4 million USD) of Vinashinlines. Of that sum, Liem took 3.1 billion VND (136,200 USD), Dat over 255 billion VND (11.2 million USD), and Khuong 110,000 USD.

The Peoples Procuracy also found that Hien withdrew the money transferred to his account and gave it to his son, Dat. He also purchased 40 properties and traded 13 cars in the name of himself and relatives.

The first instance trial is set to last four days.
Passengers queue to clear immigration checkpoints at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang. (Photo: AFP/Mohd Rasfan)

Selangor police chief Abdul Samah Mat said the measures include tighter surveillance at passenger entry-exit points at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2).

This is to prevent other suspects in the case from fleeing the country, he told Bernama on Thursday.

He said the authorities were looking at the case from all angles, including trying to find out if others were involved.

"We are also waiting for a response from the North Korean Embassy in Malaysia on information we requested to help in the investigation into the case," he said.

Abdul Samah, however, refused to comment when asked if there was a possibility that other suspects were still in the country, but said police were still investigating.

An Indonesian woman, her Malaysian boyfriend and another woman holding a Vietnamese passport have been arrested so far in connection with the murder of Kim.

When approached, a security officer at KLIA2 said the killing had not disrupted procedures as security at the terminal was constantly monitored.

"Every passenger is tightly checked before being allowed to go through the departure point, whether for domestic or international flights," he said.

At the National Institute of Forensic Medicine at Kuala Lumpur Hospital, 20 local and foreign journalists were seen waiting for the latest developments in the case which has attracted international attention.

A post-mortem was done on Kims body on Wednesday and, so far, it has not been determined if anyone had claimed the body.

Kim was reportedly at KLIA2 at 8am on Monday to catch a flight to Macau when a woman covered his face with a cloth laced with poison.

He died on the way to hospital.
Leaders of state veterans groups say they like Daniel Zimmerman, the new Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs chief, even though they had never heard of him until a short time before Gov. Scott Walker placed him in charge of the agency.

Walker and other Republican politicians had more opportunities to become acquainted with the retired Army officer because of work he is doing with state and national GOP organizations as leader of an effort to build a National Republican Party History Museum in his hometown of Ripon.

In his resume, Zimmerman also says he fostered effective liaison with fellow board members who are current and past state legislators, state supreme court justices, and other influential state and national leaders as deputy chairman of Ripon Colleges Center for Politics and People, a political science forum.

Walkers office didnt respond when asked how Zimmerman came to the governors attention. The retired Army officer wasnt on a list of applicants veterans groups were asked to review in December.

Republican state Sen. Luther Olsen has known Zimmerman for several years because they live in Ripon, but he said Zimmerman applied for the job independent of him. Olsen said he found out Zimmerman was a candidate when the governors office called a few weeks before the Feb. 2 announcement.

They wanted somebody from the outside, Olsen said. In fact I said that was imperative, that we get some new blood, fresh from the outside, I wont say to clean house, but to take a look and assess.

Zimmerman is the second veterans affairs secretary to be appointed by Walker since the Legislature and the governor took hiring and firing authority away from a semi-autonomous citizens board in 2011.

He succeeds John Scocos, who resigned in January after months of controversy over reports of inadequate care for residents of the King veterans nursing home.

Scocos came into the Department of Veterans Affairs job with GOP connections, too. Republicans appointed him to a half-dozen positions going back to the 1990s. The last two WDVA secretaries  Scocos and Ken Black  both worked in the department before running the agency.

Outsider a plus?

Advocates for veterans said having someone like Zimmerman coming from the outside could be a good thing for the department, which provides funding to several veterans organizations.

Were very excited to move forward, said Joe Aulik, president of the County Veteran Service Officer Association of Wisconsin. Its a fresh perspective. No preconceived conceptions. Just assess what needs to be done and do the right thing.

The CVSO association has been unhappy over the last year with changes the state made in its funding and organization. In a statement announcing Zimmermans appointment, Walker said he instructed him to immediately assess conditions at King and schedule meetings with the CVSO association and other veterans groups.

Aulik said Zimmerman visited him the next day for more than two hours in his offices in Winnebago County.

I emphasized to him that what has happened to the CVSO/WDVA relationship will never be allowed to ever happen again by the leadership of the (CVSO Association,) as it negatively affected not only our offices but, more importantly, our fellow veterans and their families whom we serve. Aulik said in a Feb. 5 email to CVSO officers in other counties. He completely agreed.

In a Dec. 21 memorandum to Walker, the association echoed desires expressed by other veterans advocates, saying it hoped Scocos successor would be honest, even-tempered, transparent, open-minded, a strong advocate for veterans, and  at the top of the list  apolitical.

Thats what we wanted, Aulik said. Veterans issues, its not Democrat or Republican. Aulik said Zimmerman told him he didnt have plans to run for political office.

The Wisconsin State Journal made several requests for interviews with Zimmerman, but a WDVA spokeswoman said he wasnt available last week.

When asked if Walker was looking for someone from outside WDVA and state veterans groups, the governors spokesman said only that Zimmerman got the job because he is highly qualified and the right fit for the job.

Zimmerman graduated from New Berlin West High School in 1983, and spent 25 years in the Army before retiring as a lieutenant colonel. He was vice president of the Ripon Area School District, taught military science classes at Ripon College and at Marian College in Fond du Lac, and worked for the state emergency management division.

His resume also listed him as chief operating officer for the Madison office of Pax Americana Institute, a conservative think tank, from 2008 to 2010. He has served since 2011 on a board that recommends applicants for Sen. Ron Johnson, an Oshkosh Republican, to nominate for admission to military service academies.

Museum project seeks support

As president of the National Republican History Museum Foundation, Zimmerman recruited Ripon College graduate, former Republican state Assembly representative and former state Supreme Court justice Jon Wilcox to serve on the foundation board.

The Republican Party of Wisconsin and the Sixth District Republican Party of Wisconsin have passed resolutions supporting the museum.

Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff who grew up in Kenosha, gave his personal support to the project in 2015 when he was chairman of the Republican National Committee, and the RNC contracted with the foundation to archive historical materials it was storing in a warehouse, said foundation development director Renee Jaeger.

The foundation may announce its first major donations in the next few months, but fundraising goals havent been disclosed publicly, Jaeger said. Ripon bills itself as the birthplace of the Republican Party.

King nursing home issues loom

Last year, during a successful campaign for reelection to his state senate seat, Olsen took heat over conditions at the King veterans home, which are the target of an ongoing legislative audit.

Olsen said Zimmerman has qualities that will ensure improved conditions at King.

Zimmerman is setting up an office on the grounds of the facility and he plans to spend two days a week working there, Olsen said.

He said the new WDVA secretary is an effective leader who will be a strong advocate for veterans, even if that means pushing for funding or other items that Republican elected officials are reluctant to deliver.

Knowing Dan, that will not be a problem, Olsen said. Hes not going to be shy about standing up for what he believes in.
In the extraordinary general meeting on February 16, shareholders have dismissed many members of the board of directors and management.

Specifically, the attendees have agreed to replace Vu Quang Hai by Nguyen Thanh Nam, current deputy general director of Sabeco. Chung Chi Dung, member of the management board in 2013-2018, was also replaced by Nguyen Van Minh.

In the middle of June 2016, Vietnam Association of Financial Investors (VAFI) has called attention to Hais wrongful appointment.

Hai, 29 years old, is the son of Vu Huy Hoang, former Minister of Industry and Trade. Hai used to be the leader of PetroVietnam Finance Corporation (PVFI), deputy general director of Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency, and inspector of Vietnam National Tobacco Corporation before finally being moved to Sabeco.

His appointment was blamed on the lack of transparency and was found to have violated the Vietnam Anti-Corruption Law.

In November 2016, the Secretariat of the Central Committee ordered disciplinary action against Hoang on charges of nepotism. Hoang, who then already retired from his post as the minister, was deprived of the former minister title.

After this scandal, Vu Quang Hai has submitted a letter to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, asking for work at Sabeco at any other position. A representative told local media that his request will be considered later.

Nguyen Thanh Nam, who will be taking over the position of Hai, is now the representative of the State's holding of over 141 million Sabeco shares, which is equivalent to the chartered capital of the company. Besides, he holds 1,800 Sabeco shares himself, and his wife and brother hold 7,200 shares.

Despite the huge scandal, Sabeco reported an all-time record profit in its 2016 consolidated financial report. According to experts of Viet Capital Securities, Sabecos profit margin is 11 per cent and it has potential to further flourish in the future. Moreover, the experts also recommended a line of action for Sabeco, such as increasing its ownership in the factories, cutting down on transportation costs, and diversifying its products. Economist Le Dang Danh added that by avoiding nepotism and enhancing human resources management, Sabeco could cut down 20-30 per cent of its costs.

On January 3, insurer Bao Viet Holdings sold 500,000 shares of Sabeco at the negotiated price of VND190,000 ($8.5) apiece. The state also announced plans to divest of the entirety of its shares. This divestment plan is projected to be executed in April 2017. Many foreign investors have expressed interest in buying stakes in Sabeco, including big international beverage makers Kirin, Asahi Group Holdings, Heineken, Singha, ThaiBev, and AB InBev.
Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida (L), US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (C) and South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se (R) shake hands before a meeting at the World Conference Centre in Bonn, Germany. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP)

"The United States remains steadfast in its defence commitments to its allies, the Republic of Korea and Japan, including the commitment to provide extended deterrence, backed by the full range of its nuclear and conventional defence capabilities," Tillerson said in a joint statement after meeting the foreign ministers in Bonn.

North Korea has carried out repeated missile launches despite UN sanctions and last year conducted two nuclear tests in a bid to develop a weapons system capable of hitting the US mainland.

Pyongyang said the latest missile tested on Sunday could carry a nuclear warhead.

Seoul said the rocket travelled some 500 kilometres before it came down in the Sea of Japan (East Sea).

The joint statement said Tillerson, South Korea's Yun Byung-Se and Japan's Fumio Kishida "condemned in the strongest terms" the test which was carried out in "flagrant disregard" for multiple UN Security Council resolutions.

The three countries would work together to ensure that further violations would be "met with an even stronger international response," it said, demanding that Pyongyang abandon its nuclear and missile programmes.

Shortly after the missile test, President Donald Trump said North Korea was a "a big, big problem ... and we will deal with that very strongly."

Earlier this month on a trip to Seoul and Tokyo, US Defence Secretary James Mattis warned that "any use of nuclear weapons would be met with a response that would be effective and overwhelming."

The United States has had a major military presence in both Japan and South Korea for decades but its defence commitment also complicates relations with China, North Korea's main ally.

Washington's recent decision to install a sophisticated THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea especially angered China which sees it as a potential threat to its own security.
Dominant APEC investors

The Bac Ninh Peoples Committee will soon issue the investment certificate to expand Samsung Display in Yen Phong Industrial Park. With the addition of this project, South Korean FDI in Vietnam has reached $53 billion, a number unthinkable a few years ago.

The great speed at which Samsung has increased its investments in Vietnam has attracted other South Korean companies to follow in suit. FDI from South Korea has made up a significant portion of FDI from APEC countries.

According to numbers from the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, as of the end of 2016, apart from Peru, Papua New Guinea, and Chile which do not yet have any projects in Vietnam, the other 17 APEC members have already entered the country, registering a total of $230 billion, making up 78.5 per cent of the total FDI flows into Vietnam in the past 30 years.

Notably, of the Top 10 biggest investors in Vietnam, besides British Virgin Islands ranking 5th, the remaining nine spots belong to APEC members.

(Source: the Foreign Investment Agency)

Together, the nine top FDI providers from the APEC provided $209.3 billion, accounting for 91 per cent of the total APEC investment in Vietnam, and 71 per cent of total FDI in the country.

Not only ranking top of the chart in terms of value, FDI projects from APEC countries, such as projects by Samsung (South Korea), Intel (US), Honda (Japan), and Sembcorp (Singapore) have also made big contributions to the socioeconomic development of Vietnam.

Visiting the complexes of Samsung in Bac Ninh, Thai Nguyen, and Ho Chi Minh City, and Vietnam Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIP) from north to south Vietnam, the factories of Honda, Microsoft, and General Electric, along with other big names, one can see the strong economic ties between APEC members and Vietnam. Vietnam has gained huge benefits since becoming a member of the APEC in 1998.

Opening opportunities

On February 18, the first Senior Officials Meeting (SOM1) will open in Nha Trang. The meetings, to be held between February 18 and March 3, are the first official activities of APEC 2017.

Hosting the conference, Vietnam is looking at a rare opportunity to push FDI from APEC members to grow even faster. In 2006, when Vietnam also hosted the APEC, tens of agreements and contracts were signed with other member states, valued at billions of dollars. A good example would be the 10 cooperation agreements with China, valued over $3 billion.

At the Trade and Investment Promotion Forum in 2006, eight cooperation agreements and contracts between Vietnamese companies and foreign counterparts were signed, with a total value of almost $2 billion.

In the following years, FDI from APEC jumped both in terms of amount and quality.

Truong Dinh Tuyen, former Minister of Trade, said he placed a lot of hope on APEC 2017. APEC 2006 was nothing short of a miracle to trade and investment activities in Vietnam, changing the country for the better and has become the basis for Vietnam to continue attracting investments from APEC members, he said.

APEC 2017 is a golden opportunity for Vietnamese companies to connect more with APEC partners, said Vu Tien Loc, chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

FDI into Vietnam from APEC countries is expected to continue growing because many APEC companies have come to Vietnam looking for opportunities.
Cambodian officials have said they are drafting a new law governing surrogacy after shutting down the service last year.

They have not confirmed whether the practice will be legalized by the new law.

The draft law was initiated after the authorities arrested an Australian woman and two Cambodians last year who were arranging surrogacy services in Cambodia.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court remanded the trio into pre-trial detention at Prey Sar prison.

Mam Bunheng, the health minister, told VOA Khmer declined to comment on whether the practice of surrogacy would be legalized by the new legislation.

The most important thing is to prevent human trafficking and to do whatever we can to curb the trafficking, he said.

Chum Sounry, foreign affairs spokesman, told reporters after Prak Sokhon, minister of foreign affairs, met a representative of the United Nations Population Fund last Thursday that the new regulations would in fact legalize surrogacy.

However, when contacted by VOA Khmer he would not confirm the statement.

Chou Bun Eng, secretary of state at the ministry of interior, said the new law aimed to address the gaps in the law identified when the arrests were made last year.

As for legalization, we have to wait until the law is enacted. But this would not mean that we would give full rights to the so-called surrogacy services in Cambodia to export babies, she said.

Tammy Davis-Charles, the founder of Fertility Solutions PGD Clinic, moved her surrogacy business from Thailand to Cambodia after the Thai junta closed the service down in 2015.

Her clinic charged customers some $50,000, paying surrogate mothers between $10,000 and $12,000.

Ros Sopheap, director of Gender and Development for Cambodia, said she opposed the legalization of surrogacy because it would make Cambodian women vulnerable to exploitation.

If we look at the surface, we see that women benefit from this. But if we look and analyze deeper, they do not receive anything because we figure it out when they deliver the baby. Khmer people say delivering the baby is very risky. It is life and death, she said.
A lawyer has been assigned to defend the alleged killer of popular social analyst Kem Ley ahead of his trial on March 1.

Yong Phanith, said he was considering requesting the hearing be postponed to provide more time to review the evidence against his client, Oeuth Ang, 43, who stands accused of killing Ley in broad daylight on July 10.

Ang claimed he killed Ley over a $3,000 debt, but evidence has mounted to support the widely held belief that the killing was a politically motivated assassination.

If the case is complicated, I will request the court to postpone the hearing in order to offer some time to review the case, Phanith said.

Ang, who originally gave his name as Choub Samlab, which means Meet Kill in Khmer, has been charged with premeditated murder and possession of an unlicensed weapon.

He could face a life sentence if he is found guilty.

General Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said there would be no further investigation of the case, which would be left in the hands of the courts.

Sous Vichea Randy, City Hall spokesman, declined to comment.

Phanith, who has 20 years of legal experience in Cambodia, said he would examine all of the evidence and facts, including reviewing footage from the gas station where Ley was killed, which has not been released to the public.

Heurn Hort, Angs wife, said she would not be able to attend the hearing. Neither will Leys brother or other relatives, who have said they will not attend unless more evidence and witnesses are presented to the court.

The court in December decided to end its investigation into the incident, while pressure has continued to grow on the court to release the security camera footage.
The assassination of well-known social analyst Kem Ley took place in broad daylight in the center of Phnom Penh, but the mystery surrounding the murder and those involved may be revealed in a U.S. court.

The killing took place at a gas station owned by Caltex, a subsidiary of the California-based oil giant Chevron.

Kem Ley was loved and respected by many people inside and outside of Cambodia because of his staunch criticism of the Hun Sen government on many issues, such as illegal logging, corruption, and territorial integrity.

His last commentary before he was gunned down was on a Global Witness report on Prime Minister Hun Sens familys wealth.

Ley was shot and killed while drinking his morning coffee on July 10. Police arrested Oeut Ang, 44, who claimed his nickname was Chuob Samlab, which means Meet Kill in Khmer.

Ang claimed that Ley owed him $3,000 and failed to pay him back, which prompted the revenge killing. Few believed his story, including Sam Rainsy, the former president of Cambodias main opposition party, who called the killing an act of state terrorism.

In August, Prime Minister Hun Sen filed a defamation complaint against Rainsy for the comments, which he posted on his Facebook page.

This gave Rainsy enough grounds to file a request at a U.S. court for Chevron to release the surveillance video footage from that day and any documents pertaining to possible government coercion.

The case is based on a statute called a section 1782 discovery, which stipulates that if an American company is involved in a legal proceeding outside the U.S., a litigant can apply to an American court for evidence that could be used in that proceeding.

The request was made by law firm BraunHagey & Borden to a court in the Northern District of California on behalf of Rainsy and other Cambodians.

Now the truth has been covered up because those who did the bad things, especially killings, try to hide the truth, Rainsy told VOA Khmer. If it is revealed they would go to jail. Therefore, I have to reveal the truth and if the court in Cambodia is blind, doesnt want to see the truth, and works to cover it up, I have to turn to a court in a democratic country that is independent and willing to find the truth for the victims.

The requested documents and footage will also be used in a case where victims filed to the International Criminal Court in October 2014 for crimes committed by senior government officials, including crimes against humanity, serious human rights violations perpetrated by senior government officials, army officers, and government-connected business leaders.

On February 9, the court granted the firms request, allowing Chevron 30 days to object.

The discovery sought does not appear to be unduly burdensome and appears to be appropriately tailored, Judge Donna M. Ryu said in the order.

Chevron said as Chevron was not in possession of the footage there was no point in requesting they release it.

The digital video recorder along with the recording it contained was removed by the police shortly after the incident, said Chevrons spokesman, Gareth Johnstone, in an e-mail to VOA Khmer. And Chevron Cambodia Limited has no copies of the video recording.

Eva Schueller, a lawyer at BraunHagey & Bordern, disagreed.

It seems improbable that none of the stations digital surveillance files were backed up in any way, she said. And were instead all entirely removed from the premises together with all of the recording equipment itself.

Schueller said a subpoena was served to Chevron on Tuesday to seek multiple other materials, such as communications between Caltex employees and government officials, or with Chevron staff about the shooting, as well as information from any Caltex/Chevron employees or managers who may have reviewed the footage before handing it over to police.

Sam Rainsy, who has now resigned from the leadership of the Cambodia National rescue Party, maintained his stance on the governments alleged involvement.

The killings of Chea Vichea, Chhut Wutty, and Kem Ley have many things in common, said Rainsy. They were like a state-sponsored act of terrorism. Unless there is a participation from the authority, such a terrorism act would not be borne.

If the authority is involved in committing such an act of terrorism, it is very serious, he added. The situation in Cambodia is deteriorating; people are suffering because the authority takes part in committing terrorism on their own people.

Richard Rogers, a lawyer who represents the Cambodian filers at the ICC, shared similar sentiment on the government.

"We suspect very strongly that the killing of Kem Ley was another example of political assassination, he said in an e-mail. Kem Ley spoke the truth about the human rights abuses perpetrated by the Ruling Elite. He was a hero amongst the poor and dispossessed. The Ruling Elite therefore had every reason to silence him."

The Phnom Penh court is scheduled to hold a hearing on Oeut Ang on March 1. But Kem Leys brother, Kem Rithsith, said he would not attend it if Ang is the only one to stand trial.

Id go if there are other witnesses or evidence released from security cameras to the public, he said. This is because my brother received lots of support and admiration from people, both in and out of the country.

Leys spouse, Bou Rachana, will also not be able to attend the hearing because she has fled the country with her five children, fearing for their safety.
Moderator Barbara Slavin, Washington Correspondent for Al-Monitor.com, David Rennie, Washington Bureau Chief and Lexington Columnist for The Economist, and Tom DeFrank, Contributing Editor at National Journal discuss President Trumps relationship with the US intelligence officials, General Mike Flynns resignation as National Security Adviser, the Trumps administration shift away from a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, and the assassination of North Koreas Kim Jong Uns half-brother.
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Iraqi farmers returning home after their region is liberated from Islamic State find their fields devastated and their agricultural machinery ruined. The destruction of Iraq's agriculture heartland has exacerbated the country's food security problem which began during Saddam Hussein's rule. VOA's Zlatica Hoke reports on efforts to rebuild Iraq's once thriving agriculture.
People on the streets of Bucharest are exposing a darker side of the government's anti-corruption efforts that have been much lauded by the United States and the European Union. To many of the demonstrators, the anti-corruption fight itself has become corrupt. VOA's Luis Ramirez reports.
National parks traveler Mikah Meyer continued his journey in the southeastern state of Florida with a visit to Dry Tortugas -- a chain of small islands in the Gulf of Mexico. The remote Dry Tortugas National Park is home to beautiful coral reefs, a vast assortment of bird and marine life, and a magnificent 19th century fort. The young traveler, whos on a mission to visit all of the more than 400 NPS sites, shared highlights with VOAs Julie Taboh.
Local Islamic State affiliates have attacked and killed at least 18 government soldiers in eastern Afghanistan, officials confirmed Friday.

The deadly clash occurred in Dih Bala, a district in the border province of Nangarhar, where Afghan forces have recently launched a counter-IS offensive with American air support.

Provincial security sources said that a large group of IS loyalists staged the surprise assault against Afghan National Army outposts from three directions, which triggered heavy fighting that lasted for several hours.

At least eight Daesh fighters were also killed and 12 others wounded, the sources claimed, while confirming the death of 18 soldiers. Afghan officials use the Arabic acronym for the Middle East-based terrorist group.

Late Friday, Islamic State's media wing claimed the group carried out the attack, saying it killed the 18 Afghan soldiers.

Nangarhar borders Pakistan and is the only Afghan province where IS has succeeded in establishing its bases in several districts.

Pakistani officials said that IS is using its Afghan bases to plot deadly terrorist attacks on their soil, including Thursday's suicide bombing of a shrine in the southern Sindh province.

IS claimed responsibility for the violence that Pakistan officials say left around 90 people dead, including women and children, and wounded over 200.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, has condemned the killing of 12 civilians in Thursdays bomb blast in the southeastern province of Paktika on the Pakistani border.

Eight children were among the victims who were returning home from school for the weekend when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb, according to a UNAMA statement issued Friday.

The number of child casualties in Afghanistan rose by 24 percent last year, which marked the highest recorded civilian casualties since 2009 when UNAMA began systematically documenting such figures in the conflict-torn country.
The United States is becoming an increasingly attractive destination for African immigrants, with their numbers more than doubling since 2000. Although many are coming from war-torn countries, the immigrants also include large numbers of highly educated professionals.

According to a new study from the Pew Research Center, as of 2015, there were nearly 2.1 million people living in the U.S. who were born in Africa. That number is up from 880,000 in 2000 and only 80,000 in 1970.

Monica Anderson, a research associate and the author of the study, said the numbers are doubling approximately every decade and she sees that trend continuing.

"In 1980 only 1 percent of refugees admitted to the U.S. were from an African country and today that share is about 37 percent. That is one major factor that is driving the growth of African immigrants but it doesn't tell the entire story," she told VOA in an interview.

Anderson says various clusters of vibrant immigrant populations are reshaping places like Minnesota, which is home to 25,000 people of Somali origin, about one-fifth of the foreign-born population in the state.

Nigerians make up the largest African diaspora population in the U.S. at 327,000, followed by Ethiopians at 222,000 and Egyptians at 192,000, Pew found. The top destinations for African immigrants to the U.S. are Texas, New York, California and Maryland.

"Many of these places in the U.S. are ...having a larger share of African immigrants than they had before," Anderson said. "In different clusters in the U.S., African immigrants are really reshaping the immigrant population there."

Still small portion of immigrant population

Despite the increases, African immigrants still make up a relatively low percentage of the total immigrant population. Randy Capps, director of research for U.S. programs at the Migration Policy Institute, said there are both historical and geographic reasons for that.

"It's a long distance from Africa and the number of people in Africa with sufficient incomes to migrate that far has been relatively small," he said. "And secondly we didn't really open up channels for legal African migration to the U.S. substantially until the 1965 Immigration Act and so, like Asian immigrants, there just weren't very many African immigrants here until starting at that time."

The Immigration and Nationality Act signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson, ensured that quota systems based on national identity were eliminated and allowed the acceptance of immigrants of all nationalities equally. Immigrant families were able to reunite due to this act, also known as the Hart-Celler Act, and skilled immigrants were encouraged to migrate easily.

Today's African immigrants include tens of thousands of refugees from Somalia, Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Eritrea. But it also includes highly-educated doctors, engineers and others immigrating to the country in search of a better life.

Capps said that, as of 2013, 38 percent of sub-Saharan African immigrants had a bachelor's degree or higher compared to 28 percent of all U.S. immigrants and 30 percent of the U.S.-born population.

Will Trump Stop the Flow?

It remains to be seen how changes in U.S. immigration policy could affect the flow of immigrants from Africa. An executive order signed by President Donald Trump halted immigration from three African countries and paused the U.S. refugee resettlement program.

That executive order was halted by a federal court, but the Trump administration has promised a revision.

Another proposal by U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., would reduce the number of green cards issued by the U.S. from 1 million to 500,000.

"I see it as more of an open question as to whether fewer students will come, fewer visitors will come, or whether it will be harder for people to sponsor their relatives. I think it's just too soon into the Trump administration to know if that's going to be the case," said Capps.

But barring a major change, African immigration is likely to continue to rise since the U.S. continues to have a strong economy offering opportunities to immigrants.

"The U.S. has a pretty open job market, a strong job market now," says Capps. "It's a large job market relative to a lot of other countries that African immigrants might go to and a lot of the African immigrants here are doing quite well. So I think without something more drastic, a bigger change in U.S. immigration policy, there are still going to be very strong pull factors to come to the United States."
After two nuclear tests and multiple missile launches in 2016, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un tested a new intermediate-range missile Sunday. The rocket flew about 500 kilometers before splashing down in international waters between South Korea and Japan. The missile is believed to have used solid fuel, a type that would make future launches more difficult to detect.

The United Nations Security Council met Monday at the request of South Korea, Japan and the United States. The 15-member council unanimously condemned the launch.

North Korea rejected the U.N.s statement, saying the test was defensive in nature. So will the Security Councils latest rebuke make a difference in how North Korea behaves?

The North Koreans are very afraid of imposed regime change by the United States or [an] outside power, says Harry Kazianis, director of defense studies at the Center for the National Interest.

They are extremely afraid that the United States someday will make the determination, [as in] the case in Iraq or Afghanistan or Libya, that it is time to impose some sort of regime change. So this is why you could have all the U.N. Security Council resolutions that you want, you can have toughest language that you want.  Quite frankly, its not going to work, Kazianis said.

Jonathan Miller, senior fellow for the China, East Asia and United States program at the EastWest Institute, agreed. Within the past six years or so, the North has conducted so many missile tests and nuclear tests with little to no change to their strategic calculus," he noted, that "this kind of statement from the U.N. Security Council, while welcomed, I dont think it will fundamentally change the course for Pyongyang.

Is international pressure sufficient?

A goal of the international community has been to create an environment where North Korea decides to denuclearize, but is there adequate international pressure for Kim Jong Un to abandon his goal of building a nuclear arsenal?

Kazianis does not see a scenario where North Korea gives up its nuclear weapons program. While countries like the United States, South Korea, and Japan outman and outgun North Korea, he says, the only thing that brings sort of an equalizer to the situation is North Koreas, quite frankly, crude nuclear weapons program.

Miller says while North Korea may not abandon its goals in the foreseeable future, there are other unknowns.

I think the wild card here is how the Trump administration will approach the North. I really dont believe they really have that figured out yet. You can kind of clearly see that the U.S. fully articulated its thoughts on how it will approach North Korea, having [Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo] Abe speak first and the president in the background just echoing those thoughts, Miller said, referring to an impromptu news conference by the two leaders in Florida after news broke about Pyongyang's missile launch.



What's price of abandoning nuclear work?



I dont know that the North is in a position where they feel they can barter their program for almost anything, Miller said. "Its become that ingrained into the policy and to the legitimacy of that regime. ... It becomes very difficult to move toward that road of denuclearization.

If North Korea wont abandon its programs, how should the international community respond?

Kazianis says there are two things the international community should do. First, he says, is to further isolate and limit North Koreas nuclear and missile capabilities. This can be accomplished with the United States Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system (THAAD), but also with additional defenses in Japan.

The second item Kazianis suggests is talking to North Korea. We dont want to get into a situation where we have these endless cycles of North Korean missile testing ... because eventually one of these tests could go wrong, and it could cost peoples lives, and thats how wars start, the analyst added.


U.S. President Donald Trump was wasting his time deriding the media over their coverage of his administration, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Friday, citing the example of British wartime leader Winston Churchill.

Trump has repeatedly described media criticism of him as "fake news" since taking office last month, labeling the media as the "opposition party".

On Thursday, he dismissed a growing controversy about ties between his aides and Russia as a "ruse" and a "scam" perpetrated by a hostile news media.

Turnbull, whose relationship with Trump got off to a rocky start earlier this month, said the 45th American president should stop focusing on the media.

"A very great politician, Winston Churchill, once said that politicians complaining about the newspapers is like a sailor complaining about the sea," Turnbull told reporters in New Zealand on Friday.

"There is not much point. That is the media we live with and we have to get our message across and we thank you all in the media for your kind attention," he said.

Turnbull is speaking from experience as he faces a constant stream of questions from domestic media about his leadership, with opinion polls showing the popularity of his center-right government sinking to its lowest in more than a year.

Relations between the United States and Australia hit a low point this month when Trump said on Twitter that a planned refugee swap between the two nations was a "dumb deal".

That followed a Washington Post report about an acrimonious telephone call between the two leaders that attracted headlines worldwide.

Asked about his dealings with Trump, Turnbull said: "President Trump and I have had several calls now, very constructive calls. It was frank and forthright and it was very valuable."

Australia is a staunch U.S. ally and is currently flying combat missions in Syria. It has also said it was open to stepping up its military commitment against the militant Islamic State group.

With his promise to put "America First", Trump has also scrapped or promised to renegotiate trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the North American Free Trade Agreement since coming to office, but Turnbull warned against a more protectionist U.S. trade stance.

"Protectionism is not the ladder to get you out of the low growth track, it is the shovel to dig it deeper and deeper and deeper," he said.
The mystery surrounding a politically-connected Chinese billionaire's sudden removal from a hotel in Hong Kong  and Chinas silence about the case  is perpetuating a state of fear among investors and businesses, analysts say.

It is still very difficult to say with any certainty why Xiao Jianhua was suddenly seized from the Four Seasons Hotel late last month and taken to China. But his case highlights both the necessity of having political connections when doing business in China and the risks that go hand in hand with such ties.

Political ties

Xiao is the head of a holding company called Tomorrow Group, which has stakes in real estate, insurance, coal and cement firms. His rise to a position of influence began early on when he was admitted to Chinas prestigious Peking University in the late 1980's. During Chinas pro-democracy demonstrations in 1989, he was loyal to the party where he served as head of an official student organization.



After his graduation, Xiao gradually rose to prominence and in more recent years has served as a banker for Chinas politically connected and wealthy families. In 2014, Xiao told The New York Times that he helped the family of Chinese President Xi Jinping dispose of their assets.

Xiaos company, however, in that same year denied that political connections were the key to his companys success, instead arguing that they merely followed Warren Buffetts value-investing strategy. That statement was made in a rebuttal to The New York Times story on the billionaire.

Crucial time

His rendition from Hong Kong, as some reports have described, comes at a crucial time. His disappearance occurred just months ahead of a once in five-year power reshuffle in China that is seen as crucial for President Xi to solidify his power. Because of that, some have seen his removal from Hong Kong as a political move.

"Hes a rich guy, he stays in Hong Kong. Hes very well-connected, very mysterious and people always want to understand him more because they know he is well connected with Chinese government officials," said one venture capitalist who did not want to be identified because of the sensitive nature of this story.

The source added that while many things are unclear, it is clear the move was politically motivated.

In China, "money and politics are always linked with each other. They interfere and influence each other," the source said.

Chinese authorities have yet to clearly state where Xiao is or why he was scurried away from his de facto headquarters in Hong Kong (his company is based in Beijing), and that is feeding speculation about his disappearance.

Some have said he was previously free to speak with family and friends and was in Beijing, but in recent days, even that connection has been cut off. Earlier this week, The New York Times reported that members of his company have been barred from leaving the country.

Given the upcoming Communist Party power reshuffle, some have speculated that factions opposing President Xi were behind the move, while others suggest Xi himself stepped in to minimize any possible damage.

But, without any official comment on the matter, it has been difficult to draw any clear conclusions.

"No matter which [political] faction is trying to use him to weaken the other rival faction, there will be a slew of many others who will be involved or implicated. His arrest wont be the end of the story," says one political scientist based in Hong Kong. "The more people involved, the more developments and possibilities there will be."

Environmental risks

Xiao is not alone, nor are his circumstances entirely new. Unlike most, however, he has amassed a large amount of wealth. According to the Hunrun Report, which tracks the wealth of Chinese billionaires, Xiao has an estimated worth of about $6 billion.

Economists note it is difficult for businessmen operating in China to expect to make profits without maintaining close connections with politicians. And with political situations always changing, those businessmen are always at risk.

"No matter which side you bet on, you will be put in an awkward position when the table is turned among different [political] forces," one Chinese economist tells VOA. "That means your business may be affected by the role you play."

One country, two systems?

In Hong Kong, Xiaos disappearance has created a climate of fear, and some are already reportedly looking to move their assets elsewhere. One big question for many is why Xiao decided to remain in Hong Kong instead of moving elsewhere given the increasingly tight political environment in China under Xi Jinping.

Hong Kong, a special administrative region, was long seen as a safe haven from China. After its return to China from Britain in 1997, the port city was guaranteed basic rights that are not commonplace on the mainland in a formula called "one country, two systems." But, over the past few years, concerns that those rights are beginning to erode have blossomed.

Just last year, five men linked to a Hong Kong book publisher that focused on gossip about Chinas leaders were abducted; three of them in China, but two others were taken against their will to the mainland. One of the abducted booksellers was seized in Thailand and another in Hong Kong.

Without any clarity about the incident, even those who may think it is a positive move will begin to raise questions about the rule of law in China, how the Chinese government treats dissidents and even the "one country, two systems" model.

"As long as there is no solid evidence available to clear up any doubts (about the case), the incidents spillover effect will only get worse and exaggerated since many tend to let their imagination run wild," one analyst in Hong Kong said.

Get physical

What is clear, the venture capitalist told VOA, is that Xiaos disappearance is likely to further fuel an ongoing exodus of capital from the county.

"I think it is going to trigger some global asset allocation," the venture capitalist said. "More money will be going toward these globally well regulated, liquid and transparent places."

Over the past few years, China has seen a dramatic rise in capital outflows. The venture capitalist said that despite the rhetoric about U.S. President Donald Trump, there are likely to be more investments in places such as the United States and Britain.

In the past, the rich may have viewed countries such as Switzerland or Luxembourg as safe places to park their money, but now increasingly they are seeing that it is better to invest in physical assets, be it infrastructure in Britain, companies in the United States or real estate in Australia.

"Xiao Jianhua case shows that even if you are sitting in a Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong, you are still not that safe," the venture capitalist said.
Hundreds of protesters marched in the hand-clenching cold Thursday in Washington to mark the Day Without Immigrants, a national movement that prompted some businesses to close their doors in solidarity with immigrant workers.



The demonstrations follow a series of executive orders and immigration enforcement operations around the country under the new Trump administration that have left the immigrant population -- those with the proper documents, those without, and those in between -- skittish about their future in the U.S.

The Trump administration has said that enforcing immigration laws is "critically important to the national security and public safety of the United States."



Among the protesters Thursday, was Marcos. The 34-year-old restaurant worker held up flags large enough to wrap around his 12-year-old son, who marched beside him along the 3-mile route. He stitched together the sky blue and white flag of his native Guatemala on one side, and the red, white and dark blue of the United States, where he has lived for the last 12 years on the other to form one.





The undocumented cook took a risk some of his colleagues didn't. Unlike high-profile restaurateurs in the D.C. area who closed their businesses for the day so their workers could participate in the strike and demonstrate how substantial foreign-born workers are to the U.S. economy, managers of the restaurant where Marcos works didn't support them.



"Other (workers) wanted to come, they were told if they did they would be fired" he said. "I like to be here showing support. If they fire me, I'll find another job."



He felt that standing up for immigrants' rights was worth it, and with his son's mother, they agreed that the three of them would march together.



A largely Latino crowd walked from Washington's historically Latin American neighborhood of Mount Pleasant south to the headquarters of the city's government, shouting slogans like "A people united cannot be divided" in English and Spanish.





At an estimated 14 percent, the city has a slightly higher concentration of immigrants than the country as a whole



Andy Shallal, an Iraq-born businessman, is among them. He's one of dozens of Washington restaurant owners who supported his employees by shutting down the six locations of his local chain, Busboys and Poets.



"We have to stop thinking of immigrants as just pawns in a bigger picture for political gain. We have to think of them as human beings like all of us are," Shallal said.



Around the country, businesses closed and pro-immigrant protesters took to the streets to challenge a series of decisions by the government that targeted foreign-born residents.



But not all immigrants agreed that a Day Without Immigrants showed how important foreign-born workers are.





Esther Shadare, 35, a Nigerian-American family physician who lives in neighboring Maryland, said she hadn't heard of the protest, but felt differently about how to prove the same point that immigrants are integral to the county.



"With the job that I do, I'd be hurting people more than I'd be hurting the government" if she took the day off, the doctor explained. Instead, the idea that she's showing up, every day, to care for others, best demonstrates how important she is to the U.S. It conveys a message, she explained: "I'm here. I'm treating you. I'm diagnosing you. You need me."



VOA's Arash Arabasadi contributed to this report.
The first lady of Zimbabwe says President Robert Mugabe, who turns 93 next week, will be a candidate in next year's elections even if he passes away.

Addressing a rally of the ruling ZANU-PF party, Grace Mugabe said, "Even if the president dies before the election, millions of Zimbabweans will vote for his corpse next year.

The Shona-language speech Friday was broadcast on Facebook Live and monitored by VOA's Zimbabwe service.

Mugabe was not present for the rally in the Buhera district in central Zimbabwe. The president, who has ruled Zimbabwe for nearly four decades, has been rumored to be in poor health for years but remains firmly in control of ZANU-PF and the government.

ZANU-PF recently selected him as its presidential candidate for the 2018 elections.
Too many women die in childbirth, and too many babies die during delivery.

Dr. Flavia Bustreo at the World Health Organization (WHO) says it's hard to believe that in 2015, almost 6 million children under age 5 and more than 300,000 mothers died from complications of childbirth.

Bustreo heads a new program to reduce these deaths by half within the next five years, and to end preventable infant and maternal deaths by 2030 in nine high-risk countries  Bangladesh, India, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda. This will be done through a new Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. It will have support from UNICEF and WHO, where Bustreo is the assistant director-general for family, women's and children's health.

The dynamics we are trying to create is to have the partners and players within each country to create their targets, so that they own those targets, and they are also responsible and accountable to their own population for delivery, Bustreo told VOA in a Skype interview from Geneva.

Countries are committed

The countries will provide training to health professionals so they can intervene in an emergency, whether it's suctioning out amniotic fluid from a newborn's airway so the baby can breathe, or stopping a women who has just given birth from hemorrhaging. Bustreo said a third of maternal deaths are linked to post-partum hemorrhaging, and most of the babies die on the day of their birth.

The countries in the network have high maternal and infant mortality rates, but Bustreo said they are fully committed to achieving these goals.

They need to build or modernize health care facilities so there's a consistent supply of running water and electricity. A number of facilities lack these necessities. These vital resources mean babies can be incubated and kept warm and mothers who need cesarean sections can have this surgery.

Well-trained staff a priority

Health care facilities have to be upgraded or built with their own sources of electricity, and the people who staff these facilities need training so they can perform lifesaving procedures expertly. If you have a woman who delivers in a health care facility, but that facility does not provide well-trained health care workers or does not provide good quality care, you don't see mortality reduction, Bustreo explained.

In some regions, women traditionally give birth at home. The challenge is to get these women to give birth in clean, well-equipped health facilities. Bustreo said some of these women are afraid they will get infections or contract diseases.

The goal is ultimately to end preventable deaths of mothers and babies. But first, these countries are focusing on reducing maternal and infant death by half within the next five years.
Donald Trump used his first solo press conference as president Thursday to deliver a broad defense of his turbulent first month in office, denying reports of chaos within the White House and insisting his administration is running "like a fine-tuned machine."

The press conference, which lasted over 75 minutes, was at turns combative and comical, with Trump alternately joking with and then lecturing the media gathered in the White House East Room.

Watch: Trump Defends Accomplishments, Attacks Media at Press Conference

Trump touted a long list of what he said were accomplishments, including withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, implementing a federal government hiring freeze and eliminating government regulations.

"We have made incredible progress," Trump said. "I don't think there's ever been a president elected who in this short period of time has done what we've done."

But Trump insisted he could have accomplished more were it not for what he termed the "mess" left by his predecessor, former President Barack Obama. "I inherited a mess. It's a mess. At home and abroad, a mess," he said.

WATCH: Trump Says He 'Inherited a Mess'

Fake news

In what has become a standard part of the president's public appearances, Trump also took aim at the news media, which he accused of downplaying his accomplishments and making up "fake news" in order to damage his administration.

"The press honestly is out of control. The level of dishonesty is out of control," he said.

At one point, Trump played media critic  praising Fox & Friends as the "most honest morning show." He also downgraded CNN from "fake news"  his usual label for the news channel  to "very fake news."

Not all of Trump's statements during the press conference were factual. At one point, Trump incorrectly claimed his November election victory was the "biggest Electoral College win since [former President] Ronald Reagan," a claim he has made repeatedly in recent days.

When a reporter pointed out that the assertion was inaccurate, Trump replied: "Well, I don't know. I was given that information. I've seen that information around. But it was a very substantial victory, do you agree with that?"

WATCH: Trump Talks About Information Leaks

Early setbacks

Trump's first month as president has been rocky and unpredictable. On a near-daily basis, reports emerge of sharp internal divisions within the White House, with senior officials leaking information to the media, apparently to gain an advantage.

This week, national security adviser Michael Flynn was ousted after it was revealed that he had misled White House officials about the nature of his conversations with Russian officials during the presidential transition period.

Trump has also suffered a steady stream of legal setbacks related to his executive order temporarily banning immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries and shutting down the refugee program.

But on Thursday, Trump downplayed those setbacks.

"I turn on the TV, open the newspapers and I see stories of chaos," Trump said. "Yet it is the exact opposite. This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine."

Trump also vowed to investigate the "criminal leaks" that led to the ouster of Flynn, even while acknowledging that it was he who requested that Flynn resign.

"Mike Flynn is a fine person, and I asked for his resignation," Trump said. "He respectfully gave it."

Flynn's conversations with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. may have violated a federal statute that prohibits private citizens from conducting foreign policy without the permission of the U.S. government.

But Trump said that he didn't see anything wrong with Flynn's communications.

"What was wrong was the way that other people, including yourselves in this room, were given that information, because that was classified information. That's the real problem," he said.

WATCH: Trump Calls Russia 'Fake News'

Role of Russia

Trump also dismissed news reports suggesting members of his campaign were in touch with Russian officials during the presidential election.

"Nobody I know of" was in contact with the Russian government, Trump said. "I have nothing to do with Russia. To the best of my knowledge, no person that I deal with does."

Some U.S. intelligence officials have concluded Russia intervened in the 2016 presidential election, possibly with the intention of helping Trump win. Trump has rejected those claims, instead attacking the credibility of U.S. intelligence services and slamming the media for focusing on the issue.

"I just want to tell you, the false reporting by the media, by you people, the false, horrible, fake reporting makes it much harder to make a deal with Russia," he said.
"Hello, this is New York calling." The words, in Russian, hit Russian airwaves on Feb. 17, 1947  the first Russian broadcast of the Voice of America.



The broadcasts were an integral part of the United States' propaganda campaign against the Soviet Union, which was seen as the new threat once World War II was over in 1945.



VOA, which began during the war as a way to convey American news and policies to occupied areas, told its Russian listeners it was meant to "give listeners in the USSR a picture of life in America." Like its other services, VOA's Russian service meant to give its audience the "pure and unadulterated truth" about life beyond Soviet borders.

News, music, human interest

The first programs contained a mix of news, music and human interest stories, with programs skewing more and more toward music, particularly jazz, a distinctly American musical innovation that gained considerable popularity in Russia and elsewhere overseas.

VOA broadcasts by jazz expert Willis Conover, known as Voice of America Jazz Hour, were especially popular. Conover also helped produce jazz concerts at the White House and is credited with helping to desegregate Washington, D.C., jazz clubs.

But the Soviet government fought back. In April 1947, just over two months after the broadcasts started, the Soviets began jamming the radio signal electronically.

Critics of VOA complained that the signal interference made it very difficult to gauge the effectiveness of the American broadcasts.

Elez Biberaj, chief of VOA's Eurasia division, said the Soviet efforts to block VOA's influence went even farther than that.

"Russians caught listening to VOA faced various forms of punishment, including imprisonment," Biberaj said.

Regardless, defectors from the Soviet Union, as well as Western embassies in Moscow and travelers who visited the area, reported that the VOA broadcasts were well-received by their Russian audience.

"For decades," Biberaj said, "VOA served as an outlet for Russian dissent and provided an alternative source for the flow of information and ideas, helped discredit the official Communist propaganda, and encouraged democratic elements. There is ample evidence that demonstrates the impact of VOA's Russian broadcasts and the important role that these broadcasts played in the demise of Communism."

VOA continued to play an important role in the region after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Biberaj said while Russia made significant progress on the road to democracy in the 1990s, it has since slid backward with media largely under state control, and the suspicious deaths of journalists and human rights activists.

"The lack of truly alternative voices in the media has had serious consequences for the democratization of the Russian society," Biberaj said. "And it is here that VOA comes into play, filling an important vacuum by serving as an alternative voice and meeting the audience's informational needs."

Programming changes

In 2008, VOA was denied placement on Russia's media outlets, so the online service was expanded. It now reaches its Russian-speaking audience with video streaming, social media products, expert blogs, and user-generated content and feedback. In addition to that, Biberaj said, VOA increased its Russian-language television programming.

As a result, VOA's Russian service now reaches 3.1 percent of Russian adults each week, and the number of adults who consider VOA's content "trustworthy" grew from 56 percent in 2015 to 65 percent in 2016. Last year VOA's Russian website registered nearly 15 million visits.

"The Russian service debunks the Kremlin's strident anti-American propaganda with fact-based content; offers in-depth coverage of issues vital to U.S. national interests; gives an accurate and comprehensive portrait of America and its policies and institutions; and targets potential change agents in Russia," Biberaj said.

Those agents include "opposition figures, business leaders with a strong stake in integrating Russia into the global economy," he said, "and the many Russians  now largely silent  who favor putting Russia back on a path that embraces democracy, civil society, and rule of law, and respect for human rights."
The mayor of Miami-Dade County, Florida, is an immigrant, and more than half its residents are foreign born.

But unlike many other areas with large numbers of immigrants, there's no sanctuary for people living illegally in this county. A recent decision by Mayor Carlos Gimenez requires local authorities to cooperate with federal officials to enforce immigration law.

The decree by Cuban-born Gimenez has roiled the area, drawing criticism from the mayors of the cities of Miami and Miami Beach. The county's commissioners called for a special meeting Friday to confront the mayor on the issue.

They're not the only ones who are unhappy with the mayor. Immigration advocates and others opposed to the shift have filled the streets in protest, and a long-standing divide between Cuban-Americans and other Latinos has reappeared. Meanwhile, farmworkers who have lived in the area for years to plant and harvest vegetables on vast commercial farms fear they'll be deported

'I would be lost in Mexico'

"I have four children. To get picked up like that would break me," said Itzel, 23, who arrived as a baby from Mexico, works in nurseries near the city of Homestead and whose children were born in this country. She spoke on condition that her surname not be used because she feared deportation.

"I would be lost in Mexico. I've never been there. I've never traveled out of here," she said.

Gimenez said his order to end Miami-Dade's status as a sanctuary city, where policy forbids local police from enforcing federal immigration laws, was a financial decision. President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order that would cut federal funds to local governments that did not fully cooperate on immigration enforcement. But immigration advocates said Gimenez's decision sent the wrong message at a delicate time.

Watch: Miami's Decision to Cooperate With Trump Administration Angers Community

"To be fair, in a community where 50 percent were not born here, it sends an erroneous and a somewhat negative image of our community," said County Commissioner Xavier Suarez, who was born in Cuba.

The divide, however, is also rooted in immigration policy that gave preferential treatment to Cubans fleeing the island's communist government. For more than 50 years, Cubans arrived to open arms in the U.S. and were able to become citizens much more easily than people from other countries.

"Cuban families, in a general way, haven't been as aware of what it means to be undocumented in this country," said Michael Bustamante, a Florida International University expert on contemporary Cuban history. "They have had a different process to achieve legal status. Not to say that they haven't faced other difficulties."

Majority born abroad

Miami-Dade is the only U.S. county where a majority of residents  51.7 percent  were born abroad. But the share of immigrants living there illegally is lower than it is in places like Houston or Atlanta, precisely because Cuban immigrants could quickly get employment authorization cards and a Social Security number and become legal residents.

But that's changed. Former President Barack Obama in January announced that Cubans without residency or visas would be treated as any other immigrant with similar status.

Many of Miami's Cubans have openly embraced Trump's ideas on immigration. Hillary Clinton may have won 63 percent of the vote in Miami-Dade County, but Trump drew more votes than Clinton in the three heaviest Cuban-American neighborhoods.

Ibrahim Reyes, a retired furniture salesman who was having coffee and reading a newspaper in Miami's Little Havana recently, said he supported the president's efforts to deport criminals and his actions toward Mexico, noting the country supported Fidel Castro after Cuba's revolution.

"It's bad, what is happening in Mexico," Reyes said. "But they didn't show solidarity toward us when we were refugees."

In 2013, Miami-Dade commissioners passed a resolution saying local law enforcement officers would comply with federal immigration officials only in cases of serious charges or convictions and only when the federal government agreed to reimburse the county for holding an offender in jail for more than two days. Longer detention while awaiting deportation was costing local taxpayers, Miami-Dade officials said.

The move put the county on a list of sanctuaries in a 2016 Justice Department report. Gimenez contested the designation, and then on January 26, a day after Trump announced he would strip federal funding from sanctuary cities, Gimenez sent a memo instructing the corrections director to honor all immigration detainer requests.

No active pursuit

Gimenez defended his decision on local TV and said the county's police were not actively chasing suspects in the U.S. illegally or asking for their immigration status  they were only agreeing to hold people flagged by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"I'm an immigrant. I believe in comprehensive immigration reform. I believe that the vast majority of undocumented immigrants in our county are law-abiding citizens  never had a run-in with Miami-Dade police," Gimenez said.

He acknowledged that immigration authorities had already requested 27 people be held during the first week of the order, and, reading from his smartphone, said they were wanted on charges including murder, domestic violence, petty theft and drug trafficking. County officials later said an additional seven immigrants had been arrested as of February 9, bringing the total to 34.

Marina, a 34-year-old Mexican woman who arrived in Homestead in 1999, said she wished the mayor would recognize the contribution migrants make to the region's agriculture and construction industries and protect families like hers.

"All of us," she said, "We are Latinos."
People here in Mojave County, Arizona, don't trust surveys.



So they are not moved by recent polls that show President Donald Trump has a national favorability rating of 44 percent on average, rising to 52 percent, depending on whom is being surveyed. Much of that support comes from states like Arizona and their rural communities. In Mohave County nearly three in four people voted for Trump, more than any other Arizona county.



And by and large, residents of Mojave County say that President Trump is doing good job after less than a month in office. They echo the President in saying the stream of negative stories comes from a biased media, disgruntled Democrats and critics who benefit from the status quo.



Sam Scarmardo is an ardent Trump supporter. With a thick white mustache, shaven head, and military demeanor, Scarmardo owns a gun shop and shooting range called Sam's Shooters Emporium in Lake Havasu City. Shoppers can buy a silencer for their handguns or rent a high-powered rifle or machine gun.



"Sometimes he's a little bombastic," he says of President Trump, "but behind the bombast and show, there's a whole lot of thought on what will make American great again, and America does need to be great again."



Scarmardo has 158 fully automatic machine guns for rent and a million rounds of ammunition for sale, and at his indoor shooting range, visitors can try a World War II Thompson submachine gun or the more lethal M60. "The workhorse of the Vietnam War" shoots in excess of 600 rounds a minute. Historic machine guns like this are legal in many states, and adult Arizonans can carry weapons openly or concealed without a license.



Scarmardo trusts Donald Trump to support gun rights and more.



"Immigration's number one" he says. "We have people in this town that are out of work or underemployed, totally unemployed, that can't feed their own families and we have a terrible influx of illegal aliens."



Understanding American business



Lake Havasu, a haven for water sports, became a tourist mecca in the 1970s, drawing visitors from neighboring California, as well as "snowbirds" fleeing the harsh winters of the north-central US states and Western Canada. The city is best known for the transplanted London Bridge, a 19th century structure that once spanned the River Thames and now crosses a section of Lake Havasu, a dammed up reservoir on the Colorado River.



Since the economic crash of 2008, however, the community has struggled to rebuild its once vibrant economy.



Scarmardo attends a weekly breakfast of Republican men voters, joined by several women, where talk shifts from local issues like public spending to President Trump. These people are among the president's strongest supporters.



Jeanne Kentch, the Mohave County Assessor, questions why those who criticize Trump's temporary ban on persons from seven largely Muslim nations  now placed on hold by the courts  call conservatives like her homophobic and sexist, but she says they are ignoring that conservatives don't support the legal discrimination against gays and women in many Muslim countries.



"What is wrong with trying to protect the people from terrorists entering our country?" asks a woman named Diane Klostermeier at the breakfast meeting. "They do need extreme vetting," she said.





Some here worry that the United States, divided by politics and culture, is on the brink of a civil war, this time hopefully without the guns or violence that marked the 1860s conflict.



Another attendee hopes that Trump is vetting those around him to weed out those who are pursuing their own agendas.



One supporter hopes that Trump, an international businessman, repairs relations with Mexico, on Arizona's southern border. He says the relationship has been tense since Trump insisted on the campaign trail that he will build a wall on the southern US border and make Mexico pay for it.



"It implies strained relations with the entirety of the Western hemisphere through Latin America," said Gordon Groat, a member of the Lake Havasu City Council who has worked in international trade. He says the tension "creates a great entree point for countries like China, who then exert their financial power in the region." He trusts that President Trump, as a skilled businessman, can maneuver those treacherous waters.



These voters say that Trump understands American business, and American values, and while others may criticize, they applaud what they see as rapid change in Washington.
Iran sits on what are thought to be the worlds largest gas reserves, yet can barely supply its own domestic demand.

Since the United Nations-backed deal over Tehrans nuclear program spurred the lifting of international sanctions, the country has strived to attract foreign investment in developing oil fields and upgrading its aging infrastructure.

The Ministry of Petroleum helped to convene the CWC Iran Gas Conference this week in Frankfurt, Germany, to bring together government figures and private investors.

Watch: Energy Giants Say Iran Needs $100 Billion for Gas Upgrade

Industry experts: $100 billion needed

Industry estimates suggest Iran needs to invest $100 billion in order to fully exploit the reserves. The nuclear agreement removed some sanctions on Iran, but mainly in Europe. It remains extremely difficult for American companies to do business, according to Reiner Jahn, vice president of the German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce and expert on financing deals with Iran.

Unless its licensed by OFAC, the U.S. sanctions authority, there is no way for an American to negotiate any transaction with an Iranian, he said.

So Iran is looking elsewhere.

Indian demand for gas is forecast to grow rapidly, and Tehran sees it as a key market. The private consortium South Asia Gas Enterprise, or SAGE, has advanced plans for the worlds deepest underwater pipeline connecting the two countries.

Our reconnaissance survey was performed between Oman and India. Unfortunately at that time the leg that went to Iran couldnt be surveyed because of sanctions. SAGE is expecting to perform the remaining leg of the survey to Iran this year, project director Ian Nash told delegates at the conference.

The 1,300-kilometer, $5 billion pipeline would lie on the seabed, more than 2,500 meters below the oceans surface. The viability of such investments depends on the price of gas, currently difficult to predict, says Vincent Groote of Dutch engineering firm Twister Supersonic Gas Solutions.

An OPEC for natural gas

You get [the price] floating up and down, which is not what investors would like. So I can imagine that as a natural development, similarly as OPEC for oil, in the long future we could think about a GPEC  lets say a Gas-Producing-Exporting Country type of infrastructure.

Iran likely would wield considerable power in such a cartel, though there are clouds on the horizon.

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the nuclear deal, and he has imposed new sanctions on Iran following a recent missile test. History shows that the United States could still intervene to disrupt foreign investment, says Jahn.

The U.S. invented secondary sanctions, where they sanction European companies that acted in complete accordance with EU law, but not in accordance with U.S. law. Therefore. I think they have an impact in our market, he said.

The French bank BNP Paribas was fined $8.9 billion by U.S. authorities in 2014 for breaking such sanctions.

The nuclear deal may have lifted some restrictions, but analysts say Trump has introduced new uncertainty just as foreign investment in Iran starts to build.
President Donald Trumps administration has been plagued by leaks of confidential information since before Trump was sworn into office, but the nature of the unauthorized disclosures is somewhat different from the leaks that have annoyed or enraged other U.S. presidents.

Leaks themselves, the premature, unofficial release of confidential policies, executive actions or plans, are nothing new, according to Louis Clark, executive director of the Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit group dedicated to protecting whistleblowers.

What's different

What is new, Clark told VOA, is the motive of the leakers, those who divulge the information, usually to journalists.

Clark said leaks coming from a U.S. administration generally are intended to push a particular political or policy decision.

Whats different about the leaks coming from the Trump administration, he added, is the impression many people have that the leaks are intended to harm the president and his reputation.

Direct criticism of a president in that way is somewhat unprecedented, Clark told VOA.

Jesselyn Radack is a former U.S. Justice Department lawyer experienced in national-security and human-rights issues who now works for the Whistleblower and Source Protection Program, established by the Institute for Public Accuracy. She contends there is something more dangerous about the Trump leaks than those that bedeviled former President Barack Obama, whose administration was hit by the largest leak of state secrets in U.S. history.

Oftentimes, administrations leak trial balloons to push policy ideas, Radack told VOA in an interview. Trumps leaks seem much more dangerous. Theyre all over the place. They dont seem like strategic leaks.

Watch: Trump: Flynn Treated 'Unfairly' by 'Fake Media'

Flynn resigns under fire

Those leaks claimed their first victim this week when Trumps national security adviser, General Michael Flynn, resigned under pressure.

In a series of tweets Wednesday morning, Trump said the leaks that brought down Flynn resembled tactics used in Russia, and he accused fake news media of using confidential information to fuel their conspiracy theories and blind hatred.

The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by intelligence like candy. Very un-American! Trump wrote.

The Flynn controversy arose before Trump was inaugurated, while the Obama administration was still in power, when The Washington Post reported on telephone conversations last year between Flynn and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. They included a chat just before the United States announced the expulsion of dozens of Russian diplomats and intelligence agents as a sanction against the Kremlin for Russias computer-hacking operations connected to the U.S. elections.

The question was whether and to what extent Flynn and Kislyak discussed the full range of sanctions against Russia, which Obama ordered in response to Russias annexation of Ukraines breakaway Crimean territory and for other reasons.

The supposition was that Flynn may have overstepped his role by urging Russia to avoid immediate tit-for-tat expulsions against American diplomats  the tactics the White House and the Kremlin have used in such disputes since the beginning of the Cold War  and instead wait for the incoming U.S. president to review and possibly reconsider the entire issue of sanctions against Russia.

Were calls legal?

If that was what Flynn said to Kislyak, it would have been illegal, because the retired general did not yet have an official role in government and would have been usurping the role of diplomats representing Obama.

Flynn denied last month that he had discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador, but later changed his story and said he could not remember whether sanctions were discussed. By this time, some details of the Flynn-Kislyak conversations had been leaked to The New York Times as well as The Post.

He resigned late Monday night.

Benefit to the public

The whistleblower advocates VOA spoke with said government employees generally allow confidential information to become public if they believe knowledge of that information would benefit the general public, what they called public interest leaks.

Radack said exposing the conversations between Flynn and Kislyak fit that definition on some level.

To the extent that leaks about Flynn revealed government misconduct, that would count as whistleblowing, she said.

Similarly, Clark told VOA: When theres a leak that involves a false statement, then I dont think you can assume that the agents are engaged in a conspiracy to oppose the president.

Constant stream of leaks

Several other high-profile leaks have shaken Trumps transition team and his young administration.

The president has previously accused unnamed members of the U.S. intelligence community of leaking unsubstantiated information about his reputed personal conduct on a visit to Moscow years ago, long before he ever contemplated a career in politics.

A 35-page dossier summarizing allegations of salacious activity by Trump was published in full last month by Buzzfeed News. The report, compiled by a former British spy, did not include specific evidence against Trump but suggested that Russian intelligence agents had compromising material that could be used to blackmail the president.

It was disgraceful, Trump said of the leaked dossier, disgraceful that the intelligence agencies allowed [out] any information that turned out to be so false and fake. Disavowing the allegations against him completely, the president declared at a news conference last month: Thats something that Nazi Germany would have done and did do.

Telephone disputes aired

Embarrassing and unflattering details also have emerged over the past four weeks about some of Trumps telephone calls with foreign leaders, a traditional task for a new U.S. president.

Among those conversations was one with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, which turned from cordial to less than friendly, according to The Washington Post, after Trump bragged about the size of his election victory and denounced a deal struck between Canberra and the White House under Obama, calling for the United States to accept thousands of refugees that Australia had been unwilling or unable to resettle.

Trump disputed all of the colorful reports about his alleged spat with Turnbull as fake news, tweeting: Thank you to Prime Minister of Australia for telling the truth about our very civil conversation that FAKE NEWS media lied about. Very nice!

Another controversial conversation, between Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, was leaked to The Associated Press, which reported that Trump had threatened to send U.S. troops across the border into Mexico to deal directly with bad hombres there if Nieto could not control them. Both the White House and the Mexican government denied that account.

Calls for investigation

Since Flynn left this week  he said he resigned, Trump said he was fired  leading Republican lawmakers have called for an investigation of the repeated leaks, which House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz said raise serious concerns.

In a letter to the Department of Justices internal investigator, Inspector General Michael Horowitz, Chaffetz and the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Bob Goodlatte, asked for an immediate probe to learn whether classified information [about Flynn] was mishandled.

During a lengthy news conference Thursday in which he repeatedly assailed White House reporters for fake news, Trump said he wanted to track down and punish criminal leaks.

I dont want classified information getting out to the public. ... Whats going to happen when Im dealing on the Middle East? Trump said. Whats going to happen when Im dealing with really, really important subjects like North Korea? Weve got to stop it.

These developments have sounded alarm bells, Radack said, along with concerns that Trump will continue or even expand the Obama administrations really unfortunate efforts to uncover government whistleblowers. That really does open a Pandoras box of problems.

Obama cracked down on leaks

The Obama administration aggressively investigated suspected leakers and the journalists who worked with them. At least eight whistleblowers were prosecuted under the Espionage Act, compared with only three other cases since the law was passed in 1917.

Two of the countrys most high-profile leaks cases, involving hundreds of thousands of classified military documents and details of super-secret surveillance programs, occurred during Obamas time in office:

Chelsea Manning, a former Army private (known at the time as Bradley Manning), handed over the secrets he stole in 2009 to the group WikiLeaks, which published them all online in what was considered the largest leak of state secrets in U.S. history. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison, a much harsher penalty than anyone else prosecuted under the Espionage Act received, but Obama reduced the sentence before leaving office, and Manning is now due to be set free in a few months.

Edward Snowden, a contractor for the National Security Agency, stole enormous quantities of classified information a few years later, including details of previously unknown surveillance programs that gathered private information from government officials and ordinary people worldwide. He now lives in Russia, where he sought and was granted political asylum, but faces two serious criminal charges if he ever returns to U.S. jurisdiction.

Others prosecuted under the Obama administration include former CIA analyst John Kiriakou, sentenced to 30 months in prison for revealing the CIAs secret torture program, and Shamai Leibowitz, a former FBI translator who got 20 months in prison for telling a blogger about U.S. spy operations against Israeli diplomats.

Will the leaks continue?

Both whistleblower advocates interviewed by VOA, Louis Clark and Jesselyn Radack, said they believe the leaks will continue to hamper Trumps presidency, even though, as Clark said, There has been an extraordinary amount of leaking from this administration in just the first month.

Radack said the leaks are meant to serve a corrective purpose for people in government who disagree with Trumps policy decisions.

To the extent that Trump continues to operate in excess of his authority and outside the normal boundaries of the presidency, I think the leaks will keep coming, she said. Leaks are the American way. They go all the way back to Benjamin Franklin; theyre a time-honored tradition in America.

Trump, who has offered several conflicting theories about who leaks information and their motivation during the past month, has his own take on the problem. He blames government employees who are holdovers from the Obama administration, and adds: I think youll see its stopping now [that] we have our people in.
U.S. defense company Lockheed Martin says talks are being held between the American and Indian governments on its proposal to manufacture F-16 fighter jets in India.



The comment by Lockheed's head of F-16 business development, Randall Howard, came at an air show in the Indian city of Bengaluru amid questions whether the company's proposal to produce fighter jets in India will run counter to U.S. President Donald Trump's opposition to American companies moving jobs and manufacturing overseas.



Lockheed Martin's F-16 and Saab's Gripen fighter plane from Sweden are regarded as the front-runners in getting a lucrative, multi-billion dollar contract for 200 to 250 jets for the Indian air force that New Delhi is expected to finalize sometime this year.



India has insisted that any foreign firm awarded the deal will have to collaborate and manufacture in the country with a local partner to boost its drive to build a domestic air production base. It is part of an initiative by the world's biggest arms importer to link its defense purchases, which could top $200 billion over a decade, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Make in India" pitch.



Lockheed Martin last year offered to set up a manufacturing base for F-16s in India provided it is awarded a contract for the fighter jets that India wants to buy - a proposal supported by the former Obama administration. In fact, the company had proposed to make India the sole producer of the single-engine combat aircraft, which is being phased out in the United States, but for which it is seeking markets in other countries.



Amid uncertainty about the new U.S. government's policy, Lockheed Martin has said in Washington that the Trump administration will want to take a "fresh look at some of these programs" and that it is "prepared to support that effort to ensure that any deal of this importance is properly aligned with U.S. policy priorities."



Inaugurating the air show earlier this week, Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar said no exceptions will be granted to setting up a facility to produce planes in India, and it is up to companies making proposals to get clearance with their governments. "That is my requirement," he said.



India, once heavily dependent on arms purchases from Russia, has diversified its purchases in recent years and defense imports from the United States have grown quickly in recent years.



India's huge appetite for defense purchases to modernize its armed forces attracted the world's top defense companies to the air show.



Among them was Sweden's Saab, which showcased its fighter jet at the air show, and which reiterated its commitment to establishing what it called a world class aviation facility in India to manufacture the Gripen both for India and the global market.



Pitching for its Gripen aircraft, sales director Kent-Ake Molin told reporters ahead of the air show that "what we are offering is a futuristic, new generation plane and not one that is reaching the end of its life."



Besides manufacturing, India has insisted on transfer of technology as part of its efforts to build a domestic production base and end its dependence on costly defense imports.



That was not expected to be a roadblock with the F-16 as American and Indian defense ties have grown in recent years.



Anit Mukherjee, assistant professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore said the deal "will be an important topic of conversation between senior defense officials in both countries in the next few months." He points out that although "there is a general element of unpredictability around President Trump," it is widely believed that U.S.-India defense ties will be marked more by "continuity than disruptive change."



While that may be the case, defense analysts in India believe uncertainty clouds the future of the proposal to make F-16s in India. "This is going to be in direct conflict with (Trump's) America First," says Amit Cowshish with the New Delhi-based Indian Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, who was a former financial adviser to India's Defense Ministry.



From India's standpoint, he says any deal for fighter aircraft will have to be contingent on local manufacturing. "For this government to go back on it and say that we are just going to buy it off the shelf, or go with some screwdriver technology, it is not going to go down well either with their own philosophy or with the services."
U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis has told European allies that American security is tied to that of Europe, describing NATOs principle of collective defense as a bedrock commitment.



He made the comments at the Munich Security Conference, where heads of state and delegates from across the world are gathered at a time of global uncertainty.



Transatlantic unity buttresses European unity. A fact we recognize in the context of cooperation between NATO and the European Union, Secretary Mattis told delegates, adding that American security is permanently tied to the security of Europe. Done correctly, European initiatives and NATO unity are mutually reinforcing.

Watch: Mattis Reassures NATO on Collective Defense





U.S. President Donald Trump last month labeled NATO as obsolete. But Mattis said the president had now thrown his full weight behind the alliance  although he repeated the demand that Europe shares more of the financial burden.



Preserving international order

Standing on the bedrock of our NATO alliance, 28 democracies help preserve the rules-based international order, Mattis said.



It is that international order that many delegates in Munich say is at risk  and many pin the blame mainly on Moscow.



Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will speak at the Munich conference Saturday. NATOs Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed further dialogue.

"Russia is our biggest neighbor and especially in times with more military activity along our borders, with high tensions, I strongly believe that there is the need for dialogue between NATO and Russia, he told reporters Friday.



More U.S. troops and military hardware arrived in Latvia and Romania this week, part of the biggest NATO reinforcement since the end of the Cold War.



European allies have been reassured by the warm words that Secretary Mattis had for the transatlantic alliance. But many delegates also say that they would like to hear those same words from President Trump himself.
Almost all undocumented immigrants are fair game for arrest and deportation, Congressman Joaquin Castro told reporters after meeting with the government's top immigration enforcement official.

Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Thomas Homan met with 10 Democratic representatives Thursday on Capitol Hill.

Afterward, Castro, a Democrat from Texas, said it was hard to leave the meeting and believe the Trump administration is not going to target as many immigrants as possible.

Castro said the only exception was Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients  immigrants who came to the United States at a young age and have been protected under a program established by former President Barack Obama.

The only hesitation they seem to have was whether they would go after DACA recipients.  Aside from that, everybody else is fair game for them, Castro said.

Trump calls for broader enforcement

President Donald Trump issued an executive order in his first week in office that set the stage for broader immigration enforcement.

Many aliens who illegally enter the United States and those who overstay or otherwise violate the terms of their visas present a significant threat to national security and public safety, the order says.

Members of Congress from Thursday's meeting said out of the 686 undocumented immigrants arrested during last week's round-up, 120 did not have criminal records.

Ten Democrats allowed at meeting

ICE said during targeted enforcement operations officers frequently encounter additional suspects who may be in violation of federal immigration laws. Those persons will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and, when appropriate, arrested by ICE, the agency said.

They said that we can, and should, expect many more arrests and removals this year, Rep. Linda Sanchez, a California Democrat, said.

The group of 10 Democrats said they were allowed to attend the meeting with ICE's acting director, but several others were asked to leave.
Mexico's nominee to be its next ambassador to the United States said Thursday that the two countries' relationship is at a critical juncture with the new administration of President Donald Trump.

Ahead of high-level talks scheduled for next week in Mexico City, ambassador-in-waiting Geronimo Gutierrez Fernandez said Mexico must pursue a good relationship with Washington but that should not come at all costs nor under just any conditions, or in a way that is to the detriment of national interest.



The relationship between Mexico and the United States and more specifically between their governments is at a critical point, Gutierrez said. In my judgment there is a possibility of a major derailment. In my judgment there is also, and it is within reach, the opportunity to construct a far more mature relationship.

Relationship is tense

Gutierrez's remarks came in a private meeting with senators from the opposition Democratic Revolution Party as the Senate prepares to consider his nomination. A recording of the encounter was provided to The Associated Press by a Senate official who was not authorized to release the audio and agreed to so only if granted anonymity.



Relations between Mexico and the United States have been tense since the election and inauguration of Trump, who has vowed to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and to build a wall along the countries' shared border and force Mexico to pay for it. Mexico has also bristled at Trump's promises of more aggressive deportation policies and past remarks denigrating migrants who enter the United States illegally.



A planned recent visit to Washington by Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto was canceled after Mexico's government said it wouldn't abide Trump's demand that it pay for the wall.

'Extraordinary situation'

Gutierrez said Thursday that relations are currently in an atypical and extraordinary situation, and he sought to highlight how U.S.-Mexico ties have evolved and improved in recent decades.



Without a doubt it is in the interest of both countries to build a relationship that is of mutual advantage, that is stable, that is lasting, Gutierrez said. I think naturally there will be many questions about what is the best way to achieve that, particularly under the current conditions.



Gutierrez, the chief of the North American Development Bank, was nominated January 13. If confirmed he will be the fourth ambassador to Washington appointed by Pena Nieto during his 4-year-old administration.



He outlined a five-point plan for Mexico's embassy in Washington: playing a key role in bilateral negotiations; launching an unprecedented'' public diplomacy effort; working closely with the U.S. Congress and state and local governments; consular protection for Mexicans in the United States; and management of the border relationship.

Tillerson, Kelly to visit



It would be delusional to consider or present ... a traditional agenda for an ambassador because I am not going  in the event that I am ratified  under normal conditions, Gutierrez said. On the contrary, there are extraordinary conditions.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly are expected in Mexico City on February 23 for meetings with Mexican officials. Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said this week that the talks aim to promote a respectful, close relationship between the two governments.
Two documentaries on the plight of refugees off the Italian coast and the Greek coast, respectively, have received Oscar nominations this year.

Fire at Sea by Gianfranco Rosi has been selected in the Documentary category and 4.1 Miles by Daphne Matziaraki has been nominated in the Short Documentary category.

Rosi's stunning camera frames the island of Lampedusa as one of the characters in his film. Remote and rather desolate, its rocky shores are forbidding to any who would attempt to swim ashore. But over the past 20 years, this tiny Italian island, 120 kilometers off the Sicilian coast and 70 kilometers off the coast of Tunisia, has become a gateway to Europe for close to half a million refugees from Northern Africa and the Middle East. Twenty-seven thousand people have lost their lives there.

WATCH: Documentaries highlight refugee crisis

Constantly searching

The Italian Coast Guard is constantly searching the open sea for makeshift boats overflowing with hundreds of souls, most of them women and children.

Rosi's documentary captures the drama. In one instance, one member of the Coast Guard receives a desperate call from a woman who is pleading for help. Time is of the essence; if the Coast Guard does not get to them immediately, they will drown.

Rosi's documentary shows the migrant drama unfolding next to the quiet lives of unassuming islanders.

In an interview with VOA, Rosi said that these two communities, the islanders and the migrants, never meet. He says he wanted to show Lampedusa not only as an actual place of migration but also as a metaphor of what's happening in the world. "Two forces that barely touch each other, and they never meet," he says.

Samuele is the focus

He centers his film on Samuele, a Sicilian boy living on the island. A professed hunter among seafaring people, Samuele is hunting birds, pointing his imaginary automatic rifle to the skies and shooting unseen enemies, training his expert slingshot on hapless cacti. Rosi likens him to a humanity that has not yet reached maturity. Samuele is exuberant and destructive but also tenacious and introspective when he is called to train his lazy eye by covering the good one.

"Samuele is a constant metaphor. The little kid is a coming-of-age film, the capacity of this little kid to face life. The anxiety of Samuele is our own anxiety. The wonder of Samuele is our own wondering. The lazy eye of Samuele is our lazy eye."

Voice of reason

On the other end of the spectrum is a doctor, Bartolo. As the only physician on the island, Bartolo is the person in which the two worlds meet. He examines every single refugee coming to Lampedusa and confirms the dead. Bartolo is the film's voice of reason and compassion. He decries the indifference of the world toward such humanitarian crises.

"All this leaves you so angry. It leaves you with emptiness in your gut, a hole," he says.

The refugee crisis is also at the center of Matziaraki's 4.1 Miles. The film chronicles around-the-clock rescue missions off the Greek island of Lesbos. Kyriakos, a member of the Greek Coast Guard and the main character in the story, says that he and his team are called to rescue 200 people per hour.

Kyriakos a quiet hero

According to the film, in 2015 and 2016, 600,000 migrants crossed the 6.1 kilometers  4.1 miles  of water between Turkey and Lesbos.

Matziaraki's documentary is visceral. Often shooting with cameras attached to rescuers' heads so that we experience the moment-to-moment rescue, she conveys how every second of pulling someone out of the water makes a difference between life and death.

Kyriakos is a modern-day hero, quiet, collected, but also dismayed by what he has witnessed. The camera often closes in on his tired face, describing what we cannot see. 4.1 Miles is also more openly critical than Fire at Sea of the world community that, as the inhabitants of Lesbos say, has abandoned both islanders and refugees.

I was proposing Lampedusa and Lesbos for the Nobel Prize, you know, says Rosi during his VOA interview. These two special islands in the middle of nowhere that welcome migrants from all over the world.

Focus on refugees' ordeal

He has arrived in our Los Angeles studio straight from the airport, after a 17-hour flight from Japan. Talking about the recognition of his film by the Academy, Rosi says, "The idea that we brought the Sea of Lampedusa to the desert of California was an incredible arrival for me because ultimately migration is a transverse tragedy. The Sea of Lampedusa is the desert of California. People here die in the desert as much as people die crossing the water in order to reach freedom."

Rosi hopes Fire at Sea helps bring awareness about the refugees' ordeal.

There is a voice in my film, at a certain point, of migrants. They ask for help: 'Please help! Help!' They are dying in the middle of the sea, and the Coast Guard asks, What's your position? What's your position? This is a very important moment. I wanted to reverse this and have people ask themselves, What's my position towards this tragedy? Where do I stand? This is what I want the film to do."
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence left Friday morning for Europe, where he will spend the next several days meeting with world leaders in Munich and Brussels.

This will be Pence's first overseas trip since being sworn into office last month.

A senior White House foreign policy adviser says the trip is "an opportunity for the vice president to reassure our allies and our partners and also to lay out our U.S. priorities for the transatlantic relationship on behalf of" President Donald Trump.

European leaders have been concerned about the Trump presidency because of the U.S. president's repeated expressions of admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump's description of NATO last month as "obsolete."



The European concern will not be so much about an isolated America but rather the risks of American unilateralism, and I think that is one of the key points where European leaders will seek reassurance from this administration. Whatever the direction of American policy in the world, that its not going to be unilateral and that it will still place value on partnerships in Europe," said Ian Lesser, senior director for foreign and security policy at the GMF research organization.



Trump has voiced his support for more protectionist economic measures. TTIP, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is unlikely to be agreed upon between the U.S. and EU, despite years of negotiations.



EU Commissioner for Economic Affairs Pierre Moscovici told journalists earlier this week that the U.S. is the single most important source of uncertainty and that the EU is looking to ensure a spirit of cooperation.



The Americans remain our partners and our allies," Moscovici noted. "We need to get to know some of the policy orientation they take on banking regulation and corporation on fiscal and banking standards in the context of G20.



Joser Janning, a senior policy fellow at the European Council of Foreign Affairs said that Europes best approach to strengthen ties with the U.S. would be by increasing the continents ability to act.



The Trump factor merely makes the necessary adjustment more urgent. Both in the area of NATO and of the EU, the precondition for partnership with the U.S. can no longer be the inability of Europeans to protect and secure themselves, but their ability to do so," Janning said. "Autonomy has become the essence of partnership, and needs to replace dependence.

Munich Security Conference speech



Pence will address the Munich Security Conference on Saturday where, the adviser said, Pence is "going to reassure our allies of our commitment to our European partners and the reassurance for the transatlantic alliance."

The adviser said Pence will deliver the message that "we are the most secure and most prosperous when both the U.S. and Europe are strong and united."

Pence is expected to show the U.S. support for NATO, while echoing calls from Trump and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis for other countries to contribute more financially to the partnership.

On Wednesday, Mattis warned NATO ministers that Washington would moderate its commitment to the alliance if allies do not commit a minimum of two percent of their GDP to their defense budgets.



America will meet its responsibilities, but if your nations do not want to see America moderate its commitment to the alliance, each of your capitals needs to show its support for our common defense, Mattis reportedly told the ministers Wednesday during a closed-door meeting.

Mattis did not say how Washington might alter its commitments to the 28-member alliance.

Trump has, in the past, suggested the United States might not defend NATO allies who did not spend their share on defense.





Meetings with foreign leaders



In Munich, Pence will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and several Eastern European leaders. He also will meet with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Iraqi Prime Minister Hiader al-Abadi.

In Brussels, Pence will meet with several European Council and NATO leaders, including European Council President Donald Tusk and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin confirmed with VOA's Ukrainian Service that President Petro Poroshenko also will meet with Pence in Brussels.

Klimkin told VOA that he expected the White House and European allies to continue pressuring Russia over its past aggressions in Ukraine.

"I absolutely expect that the U.S. will play a more proactive role, along with our European partners, in pressuring Russia to fulfill their obligation according to the Minsk agreement," he said.

Russia

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met Thursday in Germany with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for the first time, and he left the meeting with expectations that Russia will adhere to the agreement.

"As we search for new common ground, we expect Russia to honor its commitment to the Minsk agreements and work to de-escalate violence in the Ukraine," Tillerson said in Bonn, where foreign ministers of the G-20 nations are meeting.

Under the 2015 Minsk agreement, Ukraine, Russia and Russia-backed separatists agreed to end the crisis in Ukraine, beginning with the withdrawal of heavy weapons.
Pope Francis, who was reunited Friday with one of the Syrian refugees he brought home with him from Lesbos, Greece, said migrants don't pose a danger to Europe's culture but rather a challenge for societies to grow.

Francis made the comments during a visit to the Roma Tre University, one of the main public universities in the Italian capital. There, he met with Nour Essa, who along with her husband and child flew back to Rome with the pope after his April 16, 2016, trip to Lesbos.

Since then, Essa has won a government scholarship to finish her biology studies at Roma Tre and has become something of an activist for refugee rights in her new country.

During a question-and-answer session in a courtyard at the university, Essa asked Francis about fears expressed by many Europeans that Syrians and Iraqi migrants threaten Europe's Christian culture.

Francis responded by noting that his native Argentina is a country of immigrants, and that ending wars and poverty would trim migration flows.

"Migration isn't a danger, it's a challenge to grow," he said, adding that European countries must not only welcome migrants but integrate them into society.

"They bring to us a culture, a culture that is rich for us. And also they have to receive our culture and there has to be an exchange of cultures," he said. "Respect. And this removes fear."

Essa and her family fled to Lesbos from Syria and lived in a refugee camp for a month until Francis visited. After meeting with refugees, Francis flew back to Rome with three Syrian families, all of them Muslim, in a tangible sign of solidarity.

"Our lives changed in a day thanks to you," Essa told Francis on Friday.

The Sant'Egidio community, a Catholic charity, took responsibility for settling the dozen refugees, getting the children enrolled in school and finding housing, jobs and language classes for the parents.

Essa recently was on hand at Rome's airport to welcome a group of 41 Syrian refugees brought to Italy by a joint program of Sant'Egidio and a Protestant church that organizes "humanitarian corridors" for migrants to legally migrate to Europe. There, Essa told reporters that refugees aren't terrorists. "We are refugees fleeing from war," she said.

During Friday's event, Essa and Francis chatted warmly with one another. She smiled when Francis recalled that in Lesbos the refugee families  already aboard his plane for the trip to Rome  didn't want to come back down the stairs to the tarmac to bid a formal farewell to Greek authorities who had accompanied Francis to his aircraft.

"They didn't want to get off," Francis said. "They were afraid they'd have to stay."
Vice Admiral Robert Harward has turned down an offer to be President Donald Trump's new national security adviser.

Harward would have replaced retired Gen. Michael Flynn, who resigned at Trump's request Monday after revelations that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about discussions he held with a Russian diplomat.



A senior White House official says Harward turned down the offer due to financial and family commitments. Harward is a senior executive at Lockheed Martin.

Two sources familiar with the decision said Harward had wanted to bring in his own team.

That put him at odds with Trump, who had told Flynn's deputy, K.T. McFarland, that she could stay.

The sources spoke anonymously because Harward's decision has not been publicly announced.
Samsung Group chief Jay Y. Lee was arrested early on Friday over his alleged role in a corruption scandal rocking the highest levels of power in South Korea, dealing a fresh blow to the world's biggest maker of smartphones and memory chips.

The 48-year-old Lee, scion of the country's richest family, was taken into custody at the Seoul Detention Center after waiting there overnight for the decision. He was being held in a single cell with a TV and desk, a jail official said.

Lee is a suspect in the influence-peddling scandal that led parliament to impeach President Park Geun-hye in December, a decision that if upheld by the Constitutional Court would make her the country's first democratically elected leader forced from office.

Shares in flagship Samsung Electronics Co Ltd fell 1.1 percent, while shares in Samsung C&T Corp, the de facto holding company of Samsung Group, were down 2.8 percent compared with the wider market's drop of 0.2 percent.

Prosecutors have up to 10 days to indict Lee, Samsung's third-generation leader, although they can seek an extension. After indictment, a court would be required to make a ruling within three months.

No decision had been made on whether Lee's arrest would be contested or whether bail would be sought, a spokeswoman for Samsung Group said.

Samsung and Lee have denied wrongdoing in the case.

"We will do our best to ensure that the truth is revealed in future court proceedings," the Samsung Group said in a brief statement after Lee's arrest.

The same court had rejected a request last month to arrest Lee, but prosecutors on Tuesday brought additional accusations against Lee, seeking his arrest on bribery and other charges.

"We acknowledge the cause and necessity of the arrest," a judge said in his ruling.

The judge rejected the prosecution's request to arrest Samsung Electronics president Park Sang-jin.

Sensitive time

While Lee's detention is not expected to hamper day-to-day operation of Samsung firms, which are run by professional managers, experts said it could hinder strategic decision-making at South Korea's biggest conglomerate, or chaebol.

Samsung has been in the midst of an ongoing restructuring to clear a succession path for Lee to assume control after his father was incapacitated by a heart attack in 2014.

Decisions that could be complicated by Lee's arrest include deliberations over whether to reorganize the group under a holding company structure, as well as its plan to abandon its future strategy office, a central decision-making body that came in for criticism during the scandal.

Staff moves have also been in limbo. Samsung, which employs around half a million people, has yet to announce annual personnel promotions and changes, which it typically does in December.

One employee at Samsung Electronics chip division said colleagues were unsettled that prosecutors had singled-out Samsung.

"The mood is that people are worried," said the employee.

However, another Samsung Electronics employee described the situation as business as usual.

"It wouldn't make sense for a company of that size to not function properly just because the owner is away."

Both declined to be identified, given the sensitivity of the matter.

Lee's incarceration comes as Samsung Electronics tries to get past the disastrous rollout last year of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, which were prone to fires. It is under pressure for the upcoming launch of its next flagship phone, the Galaxy S8, to be a success.

Major business groups criticized the decision, worried about the impact on Samsung.

"A management vacuum at Samsung, a global company representing the Republic of Korea, will increase uncertainty and undermine global confidence, posing a big burden on the already struggling economy," the Korea Employers Federation said.

Zeroing in

Lee's arrest gives a boost to prosecutors who have zeroed-in on Samsung Group to build their case against President Park and her close friend Choi Soon-sil, who is in detention and faces charges of abuse of power and attempted fraud.

Both Park and Choi have denied wrongdoing.

Prosecutors have focused on Samsung's relationship with Park, 65, accusing the group of paying bribes totaling 43 billion won ($37.74 million) to organizations linked to Choi to secure government backing for the controversial 2015 merger of two Samsung units, a deal that was seen as key to smoothing Lee's succession.

If parliament's impeachment is upheld, an election would be held in two months. In the meantime, Park remains in office but stripped of her powers.

Her would-be successors praised the decision to arrest Lee.

"We hope it marks a beginning to end our society's evil practice of cozy ties between government and corporations and move toward a fair country," said Kim Kyoung-soo, a spokesman for Moon Jae-in, a member of the liberal opposition Democratic Party who is leading opinion polls in the presidential race.
United Nations aid agencies warn they have a two-month window of opportunity in drought-stricken Somalia in which to scale-up emergency assistance for millions of people and avert a catastrophe.

The United Nations estimates that half of Somalias population, or 6.2 million people, are threatened by the drought, which is spreading from the hard-hit northern regions.

Over the past week, representatives from the World Food Program and the U.N. Childrens Fund, visited some of the worst affected areas in the northern Puntland region.

They describe scenes of utter devastation, where people have reached the limit of their abilities to cope. In one village, the team found about 500 women and children living in precarious conditions in makeshift huts with little inside and surrounded by dead livestock.

Although these are pastoralists, said Laurent Bukera, WFP country director, "they had for the whole village one goat and one camel that did not look in good shape."

That is an area where normally pastoralists have hundreds of sheep and large swaths of camels.

He said the men had left the village, moving around in search of grazing land and water for the cattle that were still alive.

Short window of opportunity

Speaking on a telephone line from Nairobi, Bukera told VOA that there was a short window of opportunity for aid agencies to scale up emergency operations and prevent the worst from happening.

"The severity, the spread of the drought and of the situation this time around is bigger, is larger geographically than what happened in 2010-11."

Therefore, if we do not respond fast enough, if we do not respond at scale, he said, we can prepare ourselves for a catastrophe, which is at least to the size and the intensity of the situation we experienced over there in 2010-11.

Nearly 260,000 people, half of them children under five, died during the famine in Somalia between 2010 and 2012. UNICEF projects the number of severely malnourished children in Somalia could reach 270,000 over the coming months.

UNICEF warned that children are among the worst affected by the current drought and that many, once again, are at great risk of dying from malnutrition-related causes.

The agency noted that 944,000 children would likely become acutely malnourished this year, including 185,000 severely malnourished.

UNICEF spokesman Christophe Boulierac said these children will need urgent lifesaving support. It is very likely that the number of children severely malnourished will increase 50 percent to 270,000.

He said that by April, 4.5 million people will need water, sanitation and hygiene assistance and that four million people will be without health services due to the planned closure of health centers due to a funding shortfall.

$450 million needed

UNICEF and WFP said they required more than $450 million to provide urgent assistance in the coming months.

The needs are expected to grow as the drought in Somalia is set to worsen.

The Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum has predicted below average rainfall between March and May, which is the main cropping season for many parts of the Greater Horn of Africa.

Claire Nullis, spokeswoman for the World Meteorological Organization said this was alarming because it follows two consecutive poor rainfall seasons in 2016 and the likelihood of depressed rainfall persisting into the March to May 2017 rainfall season remains high.

WFPs Bukera said aid agencies probably have a couple of months in which to scale up their emergency response to the drought and to take measures to prevent food prices from soaring.

I think it is extremely critical for us to not only provide assistance to the most vulnerable immediately, but it is also absolutely critical that we make sure that we do not let the market go significantly high as that will be a trigger for an additional catastrophe.

Though the situation was extremely grave, he told VOA that Somalia had a better chance of averting a catastrophe this time around because the international community had been alerted to this crisis well in advance.

2011 was a reaction in the summer. It was not an action based on early warning, he said. We have today a number of early warnings that let us respond all last year and was making it possible for us to scale up operations this year.

So, I think this is a huge difference.
The head of the organization monitoring South Sudan's shaky 2015 peace deal has sparked controversy by saying rebels who fought the administration of President Salva Kiir should return to Juba, South Sudan.

Former Botswana president Festus Mogae chairs the Joint Evaluation and Monitoring Commission, or JMEC, which oversees the deal between President Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar.

Mogae recently told the British Broadcasting Corporation that Machar, a former South Sudanese vice president, should not return to the capital, Juba. Machar fled South Sudan in July during clashes between the government and opposition forces that killed some 300 people.

Remarks draw criticism



Mogae's comments drew a sharp reaction from Remember Miamingi, a South Sudanese activist and international human rights expert on the faculty of the University of Pretoria's law department.



Miamingi, a lecturer, told VOA the remarks by Mogae show favoritism toward the government of South Sudan.



He called on the other parties to the agreement who are fighting right now in South Sudan to surrender, come to Juba and ask the president (Kiir) to grant them amnesty. Now this will indicate to me that JMEC has taken sides with the government, he said.

However, JMEC Strategic Communications Advisor Richard Bailey told VOA Saturday "President Mogae did not, and would never, use the word "surrender" in any South Sudan context. Any accusation to the contrary would be entirely false."



Rejection of bias charges



Miamingi said by echoing the position of the government of South Sudan on the current conflict, the peace monitoring body risks its credibility. JMEC then can no longer be a neutral, impartial and an objective referee in a process where it has already taken sides, he said.



But the JMEC spokesman rejected that assertion of bias.



"JMEC entirely rejects any accusation of bias or partiality in its role in South Sudan. JMEC reports fairly and clearly, attributing responsibility wherever it is appropriate," Bailey said.



"In the BBC interview to which Mr. Miamingi refers, President Mogae clearly stated the position of the International Community and IGAD with regard to Dr. Riak Machar - not any personal view. He also clearly stated that JMEC believes the representation of the Opposition within the current political process to be "inadequate," the JMEC spokesman added.



The peace deal brokered by the Intergovernmental Authority for Development. or IGAD, stipulated institutional reforms to address the root cause of the power struggle within South Sudan's ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) party, which resulted in bitter fighting between supporters of President Kiir and his former deputy, Machar, in December 2013.

Decisions questioned

JMEC succeeded in pushing the parties in the conflict to form the Transitional Government of National Unity after the peace deal was signed in August 2015. Mogae convinced rebel leader Machar to return to Juba eight months later.



But Miamingi said JMEC has no moral grounds to make decisions on behalf of the South Sudanese people.



When we have not heard from AU (African Union), when we have not heard from IGAD, that the region has decided that one of the main parties to the agreement led by Dr. Riek Machar is barred from returning to South Sudan, is that in the interest of the peace agreement? he said.

The way forward

President Kiir has been telling both local and international reporters since the deadly July fighting in the capital that he will only allow Machar to return to Juba if the rebel leader denounces violence.



Miamingi said JMEC has failed in its obligations to identify the main guilty party violating the peace agreement, and suggested Mogae leave the country.



The most honorable thing for (former) President Festus Mogae to do and JMEC, is to tell the South Sudanese people and (the) international community that we have tried our best, we have failed and therefore resign and leave, he said.

However, the JMEC official said,"There is no interpretation of this (BBC) interview (with Mogae), nor any public JMEC statements that can substantiate claims of bias."
A top South Sudanese government official, Minister of Labor Gabriel Duop Lam, has resigned from his position, accusing the Kiir administration of failing to address the country's problems.

In his resignation letter, seen by VOA's South Sudan in Focus, Lam said he has been frustrated for some time by President Salva Kiir's inability to restore peace and stability across the war-torn country.

Lam said he is leaving the government to rejoin a faction of the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement. The SPLA-IO faction (SPLA in Opposition) is loyal to former First Vice President Riek Machar, the leader of rebel forces that have fought Kiir's government since December 2013.

Information Minister Michael Makuei emerged from a Cabinet meeting Friday to confirm Lam's defection.

"The minister of labor, public service and human resource development, Mr. Gabriel Duop Lam, has defected," Makuei said. "And earlier, his deputy has defected," he said, referring to former Deputy Labor Minister Nasike Allan Lochul, who resigned in December.

Makuei said it was Lam's job to fix the country's public service problems.

"He is the minister of public service, and if he is the minister, if he is seeing that there are any shortcomings or any defects in the public service, then he is the right person to fix it," Makuei said.

Lam was appointed a Cabinet minister last April following formation of the Transitional Government of National Unity, established under a 2015 peace deal intended to resolve South Sudan's bitter factional divides.

Machar resigned from the transitional government last year and went into exile, but some of his SPLM-IO colleagues  Lam among them  had remained in the government.

The labor minister stepped down just days after Lieutenant General Thomas Cirillo Swaka, a senior official in South Sudan's army, the SPLA, resigned from the military and his position as deputy chief of staff for logistics and operations.

Information Minister Makuei said the recent defections do not threaten the stability of the Kiir administration. "Defection of A or B, defection of one or two [officials] does not mean anything. It will not have any impact and it is just individual behavior," he said.

Makuei said Lam left Juba for the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, shortly before his resignation letter was tendered.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is calling on the governments of Kenya and South Sudan to reveal the fate of two South Sudanese men who were abducted last month in Nairobi.

No one has heard from South Sudanese human rights activist Dong Samuel Luak, who had been granted refugee status in Kenya, or Aggrey Idri Ezibon, chairman of the SPLM-in Opposition's Humanitarian Affairs Committee, since the two disappeared.

A U.N. group of experts believes their abduction involved security personnel from both Kenya and South Sudan.

South Sudan denies role in abductions

South Sudan Information Minister Michael Makuei denied the government played any role in their abduction, saying, "If they have disappeared in Nairobi or they are there, we don't know. What I know is they are rebels."

When pressed about their whereabouts by VOA's South Sudan in Focus program, Makuei responded, Are we in charge of rebel South Sudanese? They are South Sudanese, yes, but they are rebels.

Makuei maintained that the government of South Sudan has no idea where the two men are being held.

Whether they are there or not is for the Kenyan government to answer, not us, Makuei said. There has been no response from the Kenyan government.

Call for protection

Dong Samuel Luak was on his way to board a bus in Nairobi when he was abducted on January 23. Aggrey Idri Ezibon was last seen on the morning of January 24 in Nairobi's Kilimani neighborhood.

In a statement released on Friday, an OHCHR expert group called on authorities in Kenya and South Sudan to guarantee the safety and protection of the men and afford protection to witnesses who can help establish their whereabouts.

The working group said any return of the activists or deportation to South Sudan would be in violation of Article 8 of the 1992 U.N. Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. The measure prohibits the return of a person to any state where there are substantial grounds to believe that he would be in danger of enforced disappearance.

Missing men said to be in Nairobi

While Makuei said South Sudan's government is not aware of the men's exact whereabouts, he said he knows that they remain in Nairobi.

Makuei did not say how he knows the two men remain in Kenya's capital.

He added that the government of South Sudan does not guarantee the safety of a rebel.
The number of short-term university students from China has declined in Taiwan this academic year in what some fear is retaliation by Beijing against a president who takes a guarded view toward relations.

The number of university students from China to Taiwan for non-degree programs, often lasting a single semester, fell from 34,114 in the 2015-2016 academic year to 32,648 the current year, according to Taiwan Ministry of Education figures. The number had risen steadily from 823 just 10 years ago, and it more than doubled from 2011 to 2013.

At Ming Chuan University in northern Taiwan, enrollment from China dropped by two-thirds between September of last year and the semester starting this month. A private technology university in southern Taiwan received 10 students in September, down from an expected 200, the Taipei-based China Post newspaper reported.

Political motive?

Chinese officials do not acknowledge a role in pushing down the number, but academics in Taiwan suspect a political motive. China has bristled toward Taiwan since President Tsai Ing-wen took office in May. Tsai disputes Beijings view that the two sides belong to a single China, making any talks impossible.

Educational exchanges are political for China, said Lai I-chung, former vice president of Taiwan Think Tank.

Its always used by China as a political tool or something for their political statement, Lai said. The student exchanges and the youngsters are able to come to each others countries to study, to feel the culture and the different sentiments.

That will be helpful to better understand each other, he said.

Warm relations now cooling

China has seen self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s. Public opinion polls indicate most Taiwanese oppose Beijings steadfast goal of eventual unification.

Relations with China surged from 2008 under former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou. His government of eight years signed 23 agreements with China, and during his term students began studying en masse at Taiwanese universities.

Officials and analysts in Taiwan say China wants to resist Tsai in ways that will pressure her government into holding talks with Beijing without fanning anti-Beijing hostility among Taiwanese people.

Since Tsai took office, the number of Chinese tour group arrivals from the mainland has also declined, eroding another program that the Ma government had arranged and hurting elements of the local service sector.

In December, the Taiwan government says, China paid African country Sao Tome and Principe to switch diplomatic allegiance from Taipei to Beijing.

That month and in January, China passed its sole aircraft carrier through waters near Taiwan. Tsai was preparing then to visit the United States after a December 2 phone call with then President-elect Donald Trump.

Policy officially unchanged

Chinas central government agencies have told Taiwanese recruiters its policy on university students has not changed, said Nathan Liu, dean of Mainland China Education and Exchange for Ming Chuan University. His school normally receives one of Taiwans highest head counts for mainland Chinese students.

But Chinese provinces are permitting fewer Taiwan-bound students because they are unsure about broader political relations, Liu said, though provincial officials point instead to parents worried about Taiwan itself or to loss of interest among students.

This is basically influenced by this bigger political environment or tension across the Taiwan Strait, Liu said. Students are still keen to study in Taiwan, he said, since they learn about its scenic attractions from elementary school.

Almost all individual Chinese, whenever they get opportunities, they like to come to Taiwan because its something they read (about) from childhood, Liu said.

Students quickly fit in, as they share a language with Taiwanese students and instructors. Some also use their time in Taiwan to sightsee.

Parents from China do worry about Taiwans safety, one mainland student said. In July, a bus caught fire and killed 24 mainland Chinese tourists. Another bus flipped on a freeway off-ramp this month, killing 32 locals. Questions about Trumps relations with China and Taiwan also cause a lot of panic, she said.

But mainland students still come, said Chiu Chui-cheng, deputy minister with the Taiwan governments Mainland Affairs Council. Degree program students reached 9,327 for the 2016-2017 school year, up from 7,813, according to the Ministry of Education.

Chiu did not comment on why exchange student numbers were down, but said Taiwan wants more to study here.

In the future the government will patiently continue to steadily promote mainland students coming to Taiwan for studies, Chiu said. We welcome more mainland youth to come for opportunities to receive an education with Taiwanese students and share their experience of mainland Chinese development.

We also hope both sides will value maintaining achievements in university educational exchanges over the years, he said.
The president of CNN said Thursday that neither the network's journalism nor its business had been hurt as a result of President Donald Trump's attacks.

Jeff Zucker, president of CNN Worldwide, spoke at the same time Trump was holding a news conference in Washington in which he continued his barrage against media coverage of the administration.

Zucker said he was worried enough about Trump's labeling of CNN as "fake news" through the campaign that he ordered a study last month to see whether it had damaged the network's reputation with viewers. He said it hadn't, although CNN did not immediately release details of the survey.

"The CNN brand has been as strong as it has ever been," Zucker said. Network executives said CNN had its most profitable year in 2016 and was on pace to do even better this year.

The administration has reportedly banned its officials from appearing on CNN, although there have been sporadic exceptions. The dispute has been most apparent on Sundays, where on two weekends Vice President Mike Pence and presidential aide Stephen Miller were guests on other network political affairs shows but not on Jake Tapper's CNN show, "State of the Union."

Zucker, who said he had not spoken with Trump since December about this or other issues, said the administration's ban hadn't affected CNN's ability to tell the political story.

"We don't feel it's hurt us in any way," he said.

Angered by the Pence snub, CNN said that it declined an administration offer to instead have aide Kellyanne Conway on Tapper's show, saying she had credibility issues. Conway has said she wasn't available that day. But Tapper interviewed her two days later. "Saying that we have questions about her credibility does not mean that we would never interview her," Zucker said.

Like its rivals, particularly Fox News Channel, CNN has benefited from extraordinary interest in the new administration. CNN's ratings are up 51 percent this year compared with last, he said. That's unusual, because news network ratings usually tumble after a presidential election.

Trump's lengthy news conference on Thursday was filled with media criticism, but he took questions from a range of reporters. Many White House reporters, including CNN's Jim Acosta, had been concerned over the past week when Trump bypassed the mainstream media in three separate news conferences connected to visits by foreign leaders, instead calling on representatives from more friendly news outlets. On Thursday, Trump even took questions from Acosta, but also specifically criticized some of CNN's coverage of him.

The president said that CNN's 10 p.m. EST news show, hosted by Don Lemon, "is almost exclusive anti-Trump."

"I would be your biggest fan in the world if you treated me right," Trump said. "I sort of understand there's a certain bias, maybe by Jeff or somebody, you know, whatever reason. And I understand that. But you've got to be at least a little bit fair and that's why the public sees it. They see it. They see it's not fair. You take a look at some of your shows and you see the bias and the hatred."

Acosta told the president that "just for the record, we don't hate you. I don't hate you."

After the news conference, CNN's Tapper said the president was "unhinged." He said that Trump's performance might play well among people who voted for him, but "a lot of people are going to say, 'That guy isn't focused on me. I don't know what he's focused on.' "

A few minutes later on Fox, Bret Baier said that Trump's "mesmerizing" performance was an illustration of why people had supported him.

"There are people who are going to say that it was unhinged, or their heads are going to explode at something he said, but this is Trump being Trump," Baier said.
In daily visits to Senate offices, Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch has tried to make clear to Democrats that he's an independent thinker.



Gorsuch told senators that he found President Donald Trump's attacks on the judiciary disheartening and demoralizing after Trump had lashed out at a federal judge who issued a stay on his refugee and immigration ban. On Tuesday, Gorsuch told Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin that he hopes to be half the nominee as Merrick Garland, the judge nominated by President Barack Obama last year, only to be blocked by Senate Republicans.



Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, also said Gorsuch indicated support for criminal justice reform  a Durbin priority  and disavowed a 2005 National Review article he'd written criticizing Democrats and liberals.



He said it was probably one of the biggest mistakes he ever made, Durbin recalled Thursday. It's a terrible article. He wishes it would just disappear.''

Democratic senators uncomfortable with rulings

Though Democrats who have met with him have almost uniformly said that the perfectly pedigreed federal appeals court judge is impressive, Gorsuch's overtures may not be enough to win him an easy confirmation. Liberals are pressuring Democrats to strongly oppose Trump's pick. Several Democratic senators say they are uncomfortable with some of Gorsuch's judicial decisions.



A year after Justice Antonin Scalia's death created the vacancy, Democrats are still furious that Republicans refused to consider Garland. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said voters should have a say in the choice via the presidential election.



Republicans would like to see Gorsuch take the ninth spot on the court by the time they leave for a two-week recess April 10 and in time for the court's arguments that start a week later.



Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, said Thursday that the committee will hold at least three days of hearings starting March 20. That would give the Senate two weeks for committee approval and confirmation votes on the floor.

Needed: Eight Democrats

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said earlier this month that he has serious, serious concerns about Gorsuch, and Republicans will likely need the support of 60 of the Senate's 100 members to move to a confirmation vote on Gorsuch. Republicans have a 52-48 majority, so at least eight Democrats will need to vote with Republicans.

Much of the focus has been on 10 Democrats up for re-election next year in states that Trump won in the 2016 presidential election. While at least two  Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown and Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin  have said they will oppose Gorsuch, many of the others have said little as conservative groups are already spending money to pressure them.



Montana Sen. Jon Tester spoke to reporters for less than a minute after his meeting with Gorsuch earlier this month, saying he is open to voting for the judge. Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill won't comment at all on the nomination after she was criticized online for a tweet saying Gorsuch should get a hearing and a vote.

North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp issued a statement saying she discussed several local issues with the judge and it is our job as U.S. senators to perform this function and not play politics.

Connecticut's Murphy wary



Other Democrats have been more open with concerns. Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy says he's wary of Gorsuch's sharp criticism of the Chevron doctrine, which holds that judges should defer to federal departments and agencies to fill in the blanks of certain laws, including on immigration and the environment.



The framers, Gorsuch wrote last year, intended for lawmakers to make the laws, executives to execute them and judges to decipher their meaning.

Murphy says Gorsuch's comments on Trump's tweets are irrelevant to his confirmation.

It would be a story if he wasn't disheartened by the president of the United States openly attacking federal judges, Murphy said.



Delaware Sen. Chris Coons said after his meeting that Gorsuch is an engaging and well-educated person but that he has concerns about some cases in which Gorsuch has written a dissent or concurrence on an issue that wasn't before the court, along with several of his decisions.

Hearings may be deciding factor

Democrats will likely seek to tie Gorsuch to chaos in Trump's White House and controversy over his immigrant ban, noting that some of his executive actions could end up before the court. When the judge was nominated, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine said the actions of the Trump administration raise the stakes to an even higher level.



Asked whether he could see himself supporting Gorsuch, Durbin said, Of course I'm not ruling that out, but he says he awaits the hearings.

Senate Republicans have universally praised Gorsuch as they face questions about many of Trump's other decisions.



He gives us an opportunity to talk about an issue that matters a lot to people across the country, and where we're very much in sync with what they want to see on the court, said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota.
Key U.S. intelligence agencies insist they will continue to provide President Donald Trump with the best intelligence possible, but there is growing concern among former officials and analysts that ties between the agencies and the White House are being strained like never before.

Fears of a deteriorating relationship were magnified Thursday, following a more than hourlong news conference during which Trump repeatedly promised to go after any official or analyst leaking information about his administration.

Ive gone to all of the folks in charge of the various agencies, Trump told reporters. Its a criminal act.

Ive actually called the Justice Department to look into the leaks, he added.

Watch: Trump: Information Leaks are 'Criminal'

Media reports

Trump also shot down media reports that some agencies have been withholding critical intelligence from him, calling such reporting disgraceful.

He cited a statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that was issued late Wednesday in response to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

Any suggestion that the U.S. intelligence community is withholding information and not providing the best possible intelligence to the president and his national security team is not true, the statement read.

Following the presidents news conference Thursday, the Central Intelligence Agency issued a statement of its own.

The CIA does not, has not, and will never hide intelligence from the president, period, it quoted CIA Director Mike Pompeo as saying. We are not aware of any instance when that has occurred.

Former intelligence officials and analysts who spoke with VOA agreed it was highly unlikely current officials would withhold critical information. Still, they said it is hard to imagine that the presidents, at times, combative rhetoric would be seen as anything but a swipe at the agencies and their employees.

The current animosity is overriding, said Paul Pillar, a veteran CIA officer now with the Center for Security Studies at Georgetown University.

Watch: Trump Defends Accomplishments, Attacks Media at Press Conference

Fractious relationship

Pillar said that while it would not be the first time there was friction and ill will between a president and the U.S. intelligence agencies, it was difficult to think of any precedence for the type of fractious relationship that has developed between Trump and members of the intelligence community.

However much they have to hold their nose while doing their job, theyre going to do their job, he said of the intelligence officers and analysts. But he warned concern about the president would linger.

There are all kinds of doubts already, Pillar cautioned. Weve passed that point long ago.

Pillar and others say ongoing talk of the need to reform and possibly streamline the U.S. intelligence community is likely not helping. And officials say there has been talk of possibly bringing in an outsider to help, including private equity billionaire, Cerberus CEO Stephen Feinberg.

On Thursday, the president denied reports he was planning to bring in Feinberg to lead the charge, though he declined to completely rule out some role.

I think that we are going to be able to straighten it out without using anybody else, Trump said, adding Feinberg is a very talented man, very successful man and hes offered his services and its something we may take advantage of.

Even if such an effort is not in the works for now, there are fears the administration may be embarking on a potentially dangerous path.

They could politicize the way that the intelligence community does their jobs, said Nada Bakos, a former CIA analyst and senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

They could silence portions of it that they dont trust or feel are continuing to toe their view or ideology and amplify others that they think just agree with them, Bakos said. Weve been down this road before and it gets us into a lot of trouble.

Conflict over Russia

Yet even without a potential overhaul or reformation, other issues continue to eat away at the relationship between Trump and the countrys key intelligence agencies, none more so than Russia.

Its not unusual for an administration to have tensions with the agency [CIA] or intelligence community over a specific incident, former intelligence officer Patrick Skinner said. Its unheard of for there to be this kind of warfare not over an issue but an entire systemic long-running issue like Russia and disinformation.

In a January 6 report, the U.S. intelligence community assessed with high confidence Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign designed to to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process. The report also concluded that during the presidential campaign, Russia developed a preference for then-candidate Trump and aspired to help him win.

After repeatedly criticizing that assessment before taking office, President Trump took aim at the assessment again during his news conference, describing it as fake news.

The whole Russian thing, thats a ruse. Thats a ruse, he said. You can talk all you want about Russia, which was fake news, fabricated deal, to try and make up for the loss of the Democrats.

Skinner, who now works with the Soufan Group, a provider of strategic security intelligence services, called such open disdain for the intelligence agencies finding unprecedented and dangerous.

These statements have real world consequences, he said. Keep saying that the IC [intelligence community] is basically evil and policies and votes and worse happen.

WikiLeaks

Other former members of the U.S. intelligence community also questioned Trumps defense of WikiLeaks, an anti-secrecy group that has released leaked U.S. diplomatic cables and other classified material on its website.

That is beyond comprehension, said former CIA analyst Aki Peritz, now a senior fellow at George Washington Universitys Center for Cyber and Homeland Security.

During the U.S. presidential campaign, WikiLeaks also released emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee regarding Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton.

In its report earlier this year, U.S. intelligence concluded with high confidence that after hacking into the emails, Russian military intelligence relayed material it acquired from the DNC and senior Democratic officials to WikiLeaks.

Our entire system of government runs on trust, and if the trust between the president and the intelligence community declines, the whole system starts falling apart, said Peritz, warning it could leave the U.S. vulnerable.

When you see a real break down occurring like I think were seeing right now, maybe our adversaries can take advantage of that or maybe they cant, but it gives them an opportunity, he said.

VOAs Aru Pande contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump visited a Boeing aircraft factory in South Carolina on Friday, just days after workers there rejected a bid to join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

Trump saw the rollout of a new version of a wide-body jetliner, the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner. Boeing announced Thursday that Singapore Airlines had committed to buying 10 of the huge planes, which can seat more than 300 passengers.



During remarks to Boeing employees, the president said companies that fire American workers and move overseas "will pay a heavy penalty." Trump also said the U.S. military is looking at "a big order of F-18 Super Hornets."

He also said the U.S. military might buy Boeing fighter planes rather than those of rival Lockheed that he has called "overpriced."

WATCH: Trump remarks at Boeing

Trump told thousands of Boeing workers that he was elected to take care of "jobs, jobs, jobs" and pledged to push companies to keep work in the United States.

"Our goal as a nation must be to rely less on imports and more products made here in the U.S.A., right here in the U.S.A."

The nearly 3,000 workers who build Dreamliners at the North Charleston facility were eligible to join the union, but three-quarters of them voted against the measure after a long and hard-fought campaign pitted union organizers against the company.

Each side accused the other of lies and distortions in a campaign fought on television, online and in the workplace.

WATCH: Trump tours factory

Joan Robinson-Berry, vice president and general manager of Boeing South Carolina, wrote that Boeing workers "will continue to move forward as one team" and have "a bright future."

Union leader Mike Evans expressed disappointment that workers will "continue to work under a system that suppresses wages, fosters inconsistency and rewards only a chosen few.

Union strategy seen as key

An expert on labor relations from Cornell University, Kate Bronfenbrenner, said her research showed "that union victory or loss depends most on the union's strategy." She said most companies follow similar, usually very tough steps in their fight to avoid unionization. The machinists, Bronfenbrenner said, needed an "all-out campaign" that was "really organized right" in order to win.

South Carolina has the lowest level of union representation in the nation, at 1.6 percent. State officials say businesses are more likely to bring jobs to an area where companies don't have to cope with unions.

Boeing says it's the largest aerospace company in the world, with 148,000 employees. Published reports said Trump might try to help Boeing sell planes overseas by supporting the U.S. Export-Import Bank, a government agency that guarantees loans and gives technical advice to U.S. exporters.

The Ex-Im Bank has been under political attack by conservative Republicans in Congress, who say the bank gives out unfair government subsidies, mostly to large companies that do not need help.

The bank's supporters say the agency's services are paid for by the firms that use them, and that the Ex-Im makes a profit that goes to the U.S. Treasury. They also argue that killing the Ex-Im Bank would leave the United States as the only major trading nation that does not offer such help to its companies.

After the speech, Trump flew to his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, for the weekend.

Watch: Trump Celebrates New Boeing Plane; Pledges Focus on Jobs

On Saturday, he is scheduled to hold a big rally in central Florida.

The South Carolina appearance comes just one day after the president held a free-wheeling, marathon news conference where he defended the sometimes tumultuous first four weeks of his campaign.
Last week's arrest of Daniel Ramirez Medina, a 23-year-old Mexican father, set off a flurry of uncertainty and fear regarding the future of one of former President Barack Obama's executive actions: the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, commonly known as DACA.

Approximately 750,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States at a young age  nicknamed "dreamers"  depend on the program to live and work in the U.S. without fear of deportation. Ramirez, who was arrested in Seattle, was the first known recipient of the program to be arrested and detained in an immigration raid.

During a Thursday press conference, President Donald Trump vowed to deal with DACA "with heart," a subject he called "very, very tough."

"You have some absolutely incredible kids, I would say mostly," Trump said. "I find it very, very hard doing what the law says exactly to do, and you know the law is rough."

The president also said he was planning to issue a new executive order by next week to replace the order that suspended travel from seven Muslim-majority countries and temporarily barred most refugees. He said it would be tailored to last week's federal court ruling suspending his travel ban, a decision he called "very bad."

Legal challenges

There are many unknown factors in the case of Ramirez's detention, including whether this was an isolated incident. The action, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), was routine. In a statement to Reuters, ICE spokeswoman Rose Richeson called Ramirez a "self-admitted gang member" and a risk to public safety.

But Ramirez's lawyers, who have unequivocally denied the allegation, filed a petition Monday in a Seattle federal court, calling his detainment unjustified and a violation of his Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution.

"There's the questionability of the arrest itself: [ICE] didn't have a warrant for his arrest," Camille Mackler, director of legal initiatives at the New York Immigration Coalition, told VOA, based on the court document filed on Ramirez's behalf. "So there is some Fourth Amendment issue here at play of unreasonable search and seizure."

DACA applicants must have clean criminal backgrounds in order to benefit from the program. Victor Nieblas, immediate past president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told VOA that Ramirez's vetting determined he was a suitable candidate for the program.

"That he was a qualified beneficiary proves that there is something going on here," Nieblas said. "There is something systematic going on, and the fact that the attorney makes allegations that [Ramirez] was coerced into admitting that he belonged to a certain group or groups falls into line with some of the conduct from the Department of Homeland Security."

Assuming the worst

New York City, a hub for pro-immigrant activist communities, has seen protests against Trump's immigration orders almost daily. Pending the outcome of Ramirez's case, immigrant rights groups have begun to assume the worst.

"Donald Trump's executive orders have made everyone a priority for deportation," Greisa Martinez, a DACA beneficiary and advocacy director of United We Dream, said in a press release. "Donald Trump and Republicans must say in no uncertain terms that DACA recipients are safe."

But after this week's events, many activists wonder whether a politician's word is enough. During a CNN-hosted town hall meeting last month, U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, reassured an undocumented mother and DACA recipient, Angelica Villalobos, that she would not be targeted for deportation.

"I see that you love your daughter and you are a nice person who has a great future ahead of you, and I hope your future is here," Ryan said to Villalobos. "If you're worried about, you know, some deportation force coming, knocking on your door this year  don't worry about that."

In a statement released Monday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said that more than 75 percent of the more than 680 individuals arrested last week were criminal aliens, suggesting that 25 percent were not, a break from policy under Obama.

"They will continue targeting our communities," said Antonio Alarcon, an immigrant youth organizer at Make the Road New York, during a protest outside New York's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services building. "We are going to have four years to fight back."

"Obama was a deporter-in-chief, but we know that things can get much more violent under Trump," added Nelini Stamp, membership director of the progressive Working Families Party. "We are going to do everything possible  I'm going to do everything possible  to protect my community."
U.S. allies said after a meeting Friday with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson they were encouraged the United States would support a political solution to the Syrian conflict.

"All the participants want a political solution because a military solution alone won't lead to peace in Syria," German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel told reporters in Bonn, where the G-20 summit is under way.

Tillerson met for the first time on the sidelines at the gathering with about a dozen Western and Arab countries as well as Turkey.

U.S. Syria policy



Before the meeting, diplomats were seeking clarity on whether the new U.S. administration of President Donald Trump had changed its policy on Syria, particularly regarding the future of President Bashar al-Assad.

Under the previous administration of President Barack Obama, the U.S. insisted Assad had to go, putting the U.S. at odds with Russia - which supports the Syrian leader.

Trump has emphasized closer cooperation with Russia in combating Islamic State in Syria.

Russia, whose influence in the conflict has grown, hosted separate peace talks in Kazakhstan with Turkey, brokering a fragile six-week truce between Syria's warring factions.

German Foreign Minister Gabriel said "like-minded" nations agreed to increase pressure on Russia to support a political solution and reaffirmed there could be no alternative to United Nations-led talks. A new round of the talks involving the Syrian regime and rebel representatives has been scheduled for February 23 in Geneva.

Secretary of State Tillerson also met Friday with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi for the first time and urged China to help assert more control over North Korea after a series of nuclear and ballistic missile tests.



North Korea nuclear threat



Acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Friday in Bonn that Tillerson "highlighted the increasing threat posed by North Korea's nuclear and missile programs and urged China to use all available tools to moderate North Korea's destabilizing behavior."

Wang told Tillerson that the U.S. and China have joint responsibilities to maintain global stability, according to a statement form China's Foreign Ministry. Wang also said common interests between the two countries far outweigh their differences.

Ukraine



After meeting Thursday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Tillerson said the U.S. could collaborate with Russia if it honored its commitment to help end the crisis in Ukraine.

Tillerson is attending his first G-20 meeting, hosted by Foreign Minister Gabriel, who has been a vocal critic of some of Trump's policies.

The G-20 countries account for about 85 percent of the world economy and two-thirds of the global population.

The Bonn meeting is a precursor to a G-20 summit scheduled for July in Hamburg in what may be the first time Trump meets Putin in person.
Russia has reacted defensively and cautiously this week after the resignation of President Donald Trumps national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who was considered among the most Kremlin-friendly in the new administration.

Russias initial euphoria when Trump took office is fading after Flynn's resignation and Trumps call for Russia to return Crimea to Ukraine. Russia considered Flynn key to promoting improved relations with the United States.

In 2015, Flynn controversially celebrated a Kremlin-funded propaganda TV channel with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

"I think that it worries Russian lawmakers and Russian policymakers because he has been considered to be one of very few pro-Russian American politicians, said Pavel Sharikov, with the Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies.



While the Kremlin called Flynns resignation a U.S. internal matter, Russian lawmakers described it as politically motivated against Russia.



"Yes, Flynn wrote in his report that he did not tell the president about his contacts with the leadership of the Russian embassy in the USA., said the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee at Russias State Duma Leonid Slutsky. But this may be some sort of political and informational action, which was prepared in advance."

Ruffling feathers with Ukraine

Trumps shifting this week to a tougher stance on Crimea also ruffled feathers in Russia.



Russian officials bluntly dismissed the Trump White House calling on Russia, for the first time, to de-escalate violence in Ukraine and return the Crimean peninsula that Moscow annexed in 2014.

"We do not give back our own territory, said Russias Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. Crimea is territory belonging to the Russian Federation. That is it."

During his election campaign, Trump hinted he might recognize Crimea as part of Russia. Trumps comments raised hopes in Moscow he might move to lift sanctions imposed over Crimea and for Moscows military support for separatists in east Ukraine.

U.S. lawmakers critical of Trump are not taking any chances; they introduced a bill this week to block the president from lifting sanctions against Russia over Ukraine without first getting congressional approval.

Issue of Trump aide contacts

Some are calling for a deeper inquiry into White House ties to Russia amid ongoing investigations into former Trump aids.

A Kremlin spokesman denied a New York Times report of contacts between Trumps presidential campaign and Russian intelligence agents.

|

"This is purely a newspaper report which is not based on any facts. And which does not point to any real facts, said Dmitry Peskov.

Trump also dismissed the allegations as nonsense.

On the streets of Moscow, Russians are still hopeful that relations with the United States will improve under Trump, but they also are increasingly cautious as the controversy and political turmoil play out.

We do not know what line he will choose, but Crimea is Russian for sure, said accountant Alexandra. I do not know how he will carry on, but I hope for the better. I hope that we will have good relations with America.

Controversial deployments

Adding to tensions are allegations the Kremlin violated the U.S.-Russia Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) with a recent deployment. Peskov rejected the concern, saying no official complaint had been lodged by the U.S.

Russia, likewise, dismissed reports it positioned spy ships off the U.S. East Coast and that Russian jets buzzed a U.S. Navy ship in the Black Sea.

President Trump at a Thursday press conference acknowledged the spy ship and said some of his critics might think it would be great if he were to attack it, but he said, thats not great. He went on to say, But hopefully, I wont have to do anything, but Im not going to tell you.

When asked if he thought Russian President Vladimir Putin was testing him with the recent moves, Trump said No, I dont think so. I think Putin probably assumes that he cant make a deal with me anymore because politically it would be unpopular for a politician to make a deal.

Now, I dont know that were going to make a deal, Trump added. I dont know. We might. We might not. But it would be much easier for me to be so tough  the tougher I am on Russia, the better. But you know what? I want to do the right thing for the American people. And to be honest, secondarily, I want to do the right thing for the world.
Pakistans security forces claim to have killed more than 100 suspected militants in a massive nationwide security operation Friday in the wake of a deadly suicide bombing at a Sufi shrine that left more than 80 dead.

The spokesman for Pakistans military, Major General Asif Ghafoor, tweeted that the killings, along with many arrests, were a result of intelligence-based or combing operations.

The attack Thursday night in Sindh province at the shrine of a famous Sufi saint, Laal Shahbaz Qalandar, was one of the biggest in a series of attacks the country has faced during the past week.

The militant group Islamic State took responsibility for that attack.

Another militant group called Jamaatul Ahrar, a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed to have carried out most of the other attacks in the country last week, including one at a protest in the heart of Pakistan's second largest city, Lahore, that left more than a dozen dead.

Through its social media platforms, the group announced that the attacks were the beginning of an operation against the state and its security agencies.

The wave of attacks has shattered the perception that the country has its terrorism problem under control.

Muhammad Amir Rana, a security analyst, said this is a technique to create a perception of chaos.

In my view the group is following the same strategy as other terrorist groups in the region. They collect all their resources and then they try to trigger a wave to achieve the maximum impact of the violence.

Nonetheless, this is a blow to Pakistans claims that its military operation called Zarb e Azb, to clear its lawless tribal areas in the north, along with intelligence based operations throughout the country, have managed to dismantle terrorisms infrastructure.

Michael Kugelman, senior associate for South Asia at Washington-based research organization the Wilson Center, said the country would not be able to overcome its terrorism problem without a change in its long-term strategic thinking.

Pakistans war on terror has essentially been an effort to go after terrorists and not to go after the ideologies that drive terrorism and terrorists, he said.

Watch: Wave of Terrorist Attacks Leaves Pakistan on Edge

The society in Pakistan, he added, was conducive to hateful narratives against India, the United States, or religious minorities inside Pakistan that was often perpetuated by significant influencers including some religious leaders, media personalities, even the state itself.

Meanwhile, Pakistan blamed the wave of terrorism on hostile powers, an often-used euphemism for India.

It also claimed that the attackers had sanctuaries in Afghanistan.

The leadership of the Pakistani Taliban and Daesh Khorasan, the local chapter of IS, is supposed to be hiding in Afghanistan.

The chief minister of Pakistans most populous Punjab province, at a press conference Friday, showed a video of a man he claimed was an abettor of the attack in Lahore. The man in the video confessed that he had come from Afghanistans Kunar province.

In response, Pakistan has, for the time being, closed the busiest border crossing with Afghanistan at Torkhem as well as handing a list of 76 terrorists to Afghan officials, demanding immediate action.

Afghan presidential spokesman Shah Hussain Murtazavi told VOA that the Afghan government considers Daesh and other terrorist groups common enemies of Afghanistan and Pakistan and is sincerely fighting terrorist groups. He also said that closing borders was not the answer.

Regional experts say Afghanistan, in turn, blames Pakistan for providing sanctuaries to the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani group, that have wreaked havoc on its soil. It might not be inclined to help Pakistan until it sees action from the other side.
Zambian President Edgar Lungu says he is ready to use draconian means to ensure the country remains peaceful after next weeks presidential, parliamentary, local and referendum elections.

Lungu from the ruling Patriotic Party says he has intelligence that members of the main opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) plan to cause havoc if the party is unable to win the polls.

But in an interview with VOA, Canisius Banda, deputy leader of the UPND, says Lungus statement is unfortunate and regrettable. He says the president has the backing of the constitution to ensure the unity of Zambia.

Banda, however, says the president would rather plunge the country into tension, violence and chaos if he uses draconian means to enforce peace.

President Lungu is speaking out of turn. Going the draconian way by its very definition is breaching peace. There is relative peace in this country at the moment and the president just has to uphold the constitution that he swore to uphold on his inauguration," he said. "There is no provision in the republican constitution for him to begin to be illegal and to go the draconian way as he says. That is illegalIts repugnant [and] we do not expect a sitting head of state to behave in such a manner.

All we are calling for are free and fair electionsIf they are free and fair, even if President Lungu won, we would hold our peace. We would say look democracy has prevailed. But there is perversion of democracy here., he added.

Banda says supporters of the governing PF party are to blame for the escalating violence in the ongoing campaigns in the run-up to next weeks elections and referendum. He says the UPND has evidence of PF cadres attacking members of the opposition party and tearing down its campaign posters in various parts of the country.



The PF supporters deny the accusation. They said it is the UPND that is to blame for the violence, and that the opposition party wants to use violence as a means to win the presidential vote.

No need to clamp down

Both the PF and the UPND have traded accusations of carrying out violence against opponents.

Lungu says he has given strict instructions to the security agencies, including the police, to clamp down on those who want to cause trouble ahead of the vote. He also warned political leaders to stop using hate speech with the aim of scoring political points to win votes during the elections.

He accused the UPND of using its Operation Watermelon to create tension in the country to ensure the country is ungovernable if the party loses the polls.

Banda disagreed.

The UPND is using Operation Watermelon for survival purposes," he said. "If you wear a UPND shirt openly you would be attacked So now we have told our members you can even wear PF green, but inside your heart you know that you are read.Its got nothing to do with violence, we are peaceful, we are law abiding, we want Zambia to remain united, peaceful and focused on national development.

He shouldnt be using words like clamping down, there is no need to clamp down on anything. All he needs to do is to respect the constitution," he added. "There are laws provided for, for crimes anybody that beats another that is an assault, its a crime. So, let the police operate professionally. The police in this country have been politicized, they are getting instructions from President Lungu and his cabinet.

Lungu faces a stiff challenge from main opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema from the UPND in the upcoming August 11 presidential election.
Mark Zuckerberg helped create the modern world by connecting nearly a quarter of its citizens to Facebook and giving them a platform to share, well, everything - baby pictures and Pepe memes, social updates and abusive bullying, helpful how-to videos and live-streamed violence.

Now he wants to remake it, too, in a way that counters isolationism, promotes global connections and addresses social ills - while also cementing Facebook's central role as a builder of online community for its nearly 2 billion users.



The Facebook founder laid out his thoughts on Thursday in a sweeping 5,800-word manifesto that hews closer to utopian social guide than business plan. Are we, he asked in the document, building the world we all want?



In a phone interview with The Associated Press, Zuckerberg stressed that he wasn't motivated by the recent U.S. election or any other particular event. Rather, he said, it's the growing sentiment in many parts of the world that connecting the world - the founding idea behind Facebook - is no longer a good thing.



Across the world there are people left behind by globalization, and movements for withdrawing from global connection, Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook in a Harvard dorm room in 2004, wrote on Thursday. So it falls to his company to develop the social infrastructure to give people the power to build a global community that works for all of us.



Connecting in Facebook's interest



Zuckerberg, 32, told the AP that he still strongly believes that more connectedness is the right direction for the world. But, he added, it's not enough if it's good for some people but it's doesn't work for other people. We really have to bring everyone along.



It's hardly a surprise that Zuckerberg wants to find ways to bring more people together, especially on Facebook. After all, getting more people to come together on the social network more frequently would give Facebook more opportunities to sell the ads that generate most of its revenue, which totaled $27 billion last year. And bringing in more money probably would boost Facebook's stock price to make Zuckerberg - already worth an estimated $56 billion - even richer.



And while the idea of unifying the world is laudable, some critics - backed by various studies - contend that Facebook makes some people feel lonelier and more isolated as they scroll through the mostly ebullient posts and photos shared on the social network. Facebook's famous like button also makes it easy to engage in a form of one-click communication that can displace meaningful dialogue.



Facebook also has been lambasted as a polarizing force by circulating posts espousing similar viewpoints and interests among like-minded people, creating an echo chamber that can harden opinions and widen political and cultural chasms.



Community support



Today, most of Facebook's 1.86 billion members - about 85 percent - live outside of the U.S. and Canada. The Menlo Park, California-based company has offices everywhere from Amsterdam to Jakarta, Indonesia, to Tel Aviv, Israel. (It is banned in China, the world's most populous country, though some people get around the ban.) Naturally, Zuckerberg takes a global view of Facebook and sees potential that goes beyond borders, cities and nations.



Equally naturally, he sees the social network stepping up as more traditional cultural ties fray. People already use Facebook to connect with strangers who have the same rare disease, to post political diatribes, to share news links (and sometimes fake news links). Facebook has also pushed its users to register to vote, to donate to causes, to mark themselves safe after natural disasters, and to go live. For many, it's become a utility. Some 1.23 billion people use it daily.



Our next focus will be developing the social infrastructure for community - for supporting us, for keeping us safe, for informing us, for civic engagement, and for inclusion of all, he wrote.



Long view



Zuckerberg has gotten Facebook to this position of global dominance - one that Myspace and Twitter, for instance, never even approached - partly thanks to his audacious, long-term view of the company and its place in the world.



Last fall, Zuckerberg and his wife, the doctor Priscilla Chan, unveiled the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a long-term effort aimed at eradicating all disease by the end of this century. Then, as now, Zuckerberg preferred to look far down the road to the potential of scientific and technological innovations that have not been perfected, or even invented yet.



That includes artificial intelligence, which in this case means software that's capable of thinking enough like humans to start making the sorts of judgments that Facebook sometimes bobbles. Last September, for instance, the service briefly barred the famous Vietnam War-era photograph dubbed Napalm Girl because it featured a nude child, and only reversed its decision after users - including the prime minister of Norway - protested.



AI systems could also comb through the vast amount of material users post on Facebook to detect everything from bullying to the early signs of suicidal thinking to extremist recruiting. AI, Zuckerberg wrote, could understand more quickly and accurately what is happening across our community.



Speaking to the AP, Zuckerberg said he understands that we might not solve all the issues that we want in the short term.



One of my favorite quotes is this Bill Gates quote, that `people overestimate what they can get done in two years and underestimate what they can get done in 10 years.' And that's an important mindset that I hope more people take today, he said.
Zimbabwes First Lady, Grace Mugabe, says her 92-year-old husband is so popular that millions of people will vote for him even if he dies before the forthcoming crucial presidential election.

Speaking in what is believed to be a kick-off of the campaign for the ruling Zanu PF ahead of next years local government, parliamentary and presidential elections, the 51-year-old first lady told thousands of party supporters in Buhera, Manicaland province, that her husband, who turns 93 next week, is an enigma.

The ruling Zanu PF party has resolved to field him as its presidential candidate and at 94 Mr. Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, will be the worlds oldest president - if he wins.

The first lady, who has become increasingly visible in politics, also accused some ruling Zanu-PF party officials of plotting to take over from her husband and said that if he dies supporters should put his name on the ballot to show their love for him.

She said, Millions of people have in the past voted for President Robert Mugabe and millions more are going to vote for him in the 2018 general elections. Even if God decides to take away Mugabe we will have his name on the ballot and millions of people will vote for his corpse. I tell you, this will be a way of showing how popular Mugabe is. So, let us not fool ourselves by trying to get rid of him now.

Obert Gutu, spokesperson of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change formation led by Morgan Tsvangirai, said Mrs. Mugabes remarks are not surprising as the race to succeed 92 year-old President Mugabe is intensifying in the faction-riddled ruling Zanu PF party. He told VOAs Blessing Zulu the first lady is trying to even strike fear in the hearts of Zimbabweans, who want political transformation in the country.
Conspiracies being hatched to overthrow agendas of change: Minister Sharma

Minister for Energy Janardan Sharma has accused the old political parties of hatching conspiracies to overthrow the agendas of change in the country.
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

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Laura Dern on Big Little Lies. Photo: HBO

Moms. Intrigue. Murder. Wine. More moms. More wine. Thats pretty much all you need to know about HBOs latest A-list mini-series Big Little Lies, which stars Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, and Shailene Woodley as a group of Monterey super-moms whose seemingly perfect lives unravel to the point of murder at an alarming speed. (Its adapted from Liane Moriartys popular 2014 novel of the same name.) Because it would only be right to watch this delicious drama with a bottle or two of your own  personally, we recommend a flinty California white  we went ahead and put together an unofficial BLL drinking game thats bound to get you white-mom wasted before the opening credits even finish.

For as long as the screen is filled with the sight of waves crashing against the rocks and sand. Sigh. Montereys beautiful, isnt it? Drink!

Someones being interrogated at the police station! Sip and contemplate who might be behind this terrible murder.

Wait, these first-graders listen to David Bowie, Alabama Shakes, and Leon Bridges? Take a sip when the music begins.

Drama is a-brewin at the elementary schools drop-off or pick-up. Take another sip.

You find yourself sighing dreamily at yet another gorgeous Monterey home. Finish your drink.

Shailene Woodley goes for an angry run on the beach. Drink. Rage against society. Drink again.

If you see a gun. Drink. If it goes off, finish your drink. Thats Chekhov!

Every time Reese Witherspoons young daughter calls her woman. Giggle and drink.

Every time Laura Dern talks about how rich she is. We get it, you own companies, Renata! Drink.

Whenever Reese Witherspoon says the words Avenue Q. Is this musical appropriate? Finish your drink.

Is Zoe Kravitz implying that Reese Witherspoon should be nicer to her children? How dare she! Keep drinking until she stops.

Nicole Kidman looks off into the middle distance with an air of distinct melancholy. Take a sip, but make it small. This happens a lot.

A mom gazes into the ocean from her patio. Take another small sip. This, too, happens a lot.

You get distracted by Adam Scotts voluminous beard and forget what hes saying. Dont you want to touch it? Drink!

The ladies gather for a coffee date at that gorgeous Pacific Oceanadjacent cafe. Finish your drink and wish you had a cute waiter on hand to give you a refill.

Someone makes an ominous reference to the night of the fundraiser. Drink in honor of a plot point that, in perfect mom-thriller style, combines both charitable giving and murder.
Fifty Shades Darker. Photo: Universal Pictures

It may sound like cinematic blasphemy to suggest this, but one of the best movies of the year, the Sundance sensation Call Me by Your Name, has a whole lot in common with one of the most critically derided, Fifty Shades Darker. Both films are romantic stories about a sexual neophyte who falls for a wealthy, wary hunk, and even the way that Call Me by Your Names Oliver (Armie Hammer) exits every situation with a blithe Later recalls the impossibly dorky sign-off of Fifty Shades Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan), Laters baby.



Theres one key difference, though. One of these films presents its coming-of-age story in a way thats actually sensual, and the other is Fifty Shades Darker. Or, to put a finer point on it, Call Me by Your Name was made by a European and Fifty Shades Darker was directed by an American. The latter never stood a chance.



There has always been a gulf between how American directors present sex and how their ostensibly more liberated colleagues across the pond do it: At the end of the last century, when major studios still green-lit sexually forthright films, they were often directed by envelope-pushing Europeans like Adrian Lyne and Paul Verhoeven. Lately, though, that gap between American and foreign tastes has grown even wider. It isnt just that American studios and directors seem less interested in sex these days, though the evidence would certainly bear that out. Its also that when they do portray lovemaking, theyre not very good at it.

Call Me by Your Name puts forth a young protagonist, Elio (Timothee Chalamet), who hasnt quite figured out yet which gender hes more attracted to, so during one sexually significant summer, he samples both. We watch as he takes a comely local girl up to the attic of his parents Italian villa, an encounter where both parties are sussing out the others commitment up to and past Elios deflowering. Its real, awkward, and more than a little sexy. Even hotter are the scenes where Elio and Oliver peacock for one another, which director Luca Guadagnino shoots with a seductive languor that lets the audience drink in their bodies and desire. Just like in the Fifty Shades movies, theres a fantasy element at play here  were watching beautiful actors cavort in stunning Italian locations, after all  but Guadagnino doesnt overdo it: The sexiest scenes often play out in long takes unencumbered by score, letting the viewer act as an invited voyeur.

Fifty Shades Darker, on the other hand, edits each encounter between Christian and his lover Anastasia into oblivion and slathers their sex scenes in so much oppressively loud music  the volume level increases so precipitously when they fuck that youll think Dakota Johnson just sat her pert behind on the remote control  that its like watching a commercial break instead of a sensual commingling. The first film, Fifty Shades of Grey, was no masterpiece, but at least British director Sam Taylor-Johnson understood the value of foreplay: There was real tension between Christian and Ana, and the film teased out their many firsts together in much the same way that a confident dominant might tease his submissive. Fifty Shades Darker hits those sexual beats more frequently but in a rote, obligatory way; the toys that make cameo appearances in Christian and Anas lovemaking are, by leaps and bounds, more memorable than the actual sex.

For further evidence of the continuing American downturn, just compare those encounters to the all-time great sex scene that Fifty Shades Darker director James Foley gave us two decades ago: In the thriller Fear, Mark Wahlberg fingered the virginal Reese Witherspoon on a well-edited roller coaster ride that beautifully simulated the cresting waves and giddy stomach-drops of a sexual deflowering. If Foleys Fifty Shades Darker mimics the rhythms of a roller coaster, its one thats comprised only of loops and a B-list pop star screaming at you while you ride it. Thats not hot.

I suspect the volume level is turned up so high on those encounters to mask the giggling that Fifty Shades Darkers sex scenes are sure to provoke. Its been a long time since mainstream movies offered sex on a regular basis, and Americans are now more used to watching sexual encounters  simulated or not  in the privacy of their own homes rather than as part of a communal experience. Even in this age of premium-cable boundary-pushing, the MPAA will slap a far harsher penalty on a stray nipple or thrust than an action movie full of graphic casualties.

But even beyond that, American directors just dont seem keen on sex. International directors present sex very matter-of-factly, often incorporating it into films that dont expressly deal with sex and romance simply because its an everyday part of life. American directors, on the other hand, very rarely make a consistent career motif out of sex, and when they do, its in a leering, juvenile way. (I once heard from someone in the know that in a draft of Suicide Squad, writer-director David Ayer referred to Harley Quinn as a boner babe, which exemplifies the kind of arrested development that typifies these projects.) Its a problem common to our prestige films, too: The last five years of Best Picture nominees have offered nude scenes and sexual assault, but aside from the furtive hand job in Moonlight, nothing close to a satisfying consensual sex scene between two people.

So thank goodness for international directors like Luca Guadagnino, Andrea Arnold, and Pedro Almodovar, whose acclaimed films double as sex ed once they land on our shores. Theres a sensuality to their works, and a real interest in what sex can reveal about character, that American films cant seem to match. I wish Fifty Shades heroine Anastasia all the best with her boring Seattle beau and dutiful American director but someday, I think shell see: Europeans just do it better.
A Cure for Wellness. Photo: 20th Century Fox

20th Century Fox would like to apologize for corrupting your already fragile hold on fact versus fiction. The studio is offering a mea culpa for its A Cure for Wellness promotional stunt, wherein it partnered with fake news sites to run false political and pop-culture stories alongside ads that linked to the horror movies website. The ploy was resoundingly slammed for its bad taste considering the damaging role fake news has played in the present political climate, and Fox is now copping to that criticism. Of the scheme, a Fox spokesperson said, The digital campaign was inappropriate on every level, especially given the trust we work to build every day with our consumers. We have reviewed our internal approval process and made appropriate changes to ensure that every part of a campaign is elevated to and vetted by management in order to avoid this type of mistake in the future. We sincerely apologize. And so movie studios take a stand as the last bastion for truth in advertising. What a world.
Well, that escalated quickly. April Kepner is now the interim chief of general surgery and the attendings are not enthused.

The ones we get to see, at least. Meredith and Alex are completely sidelined for this surgery-heavy episode, which seems like a misstep for Greys Anatomy. Especially since Aprils predicament has so much to do with Mer. Are Mer and Alex at home eating waffles in bed? One can only hope.

Meanwhile, April is doing her best to assert her new authority. Shes pretty pumped about her promotion, and she should be. I mean, sure, the day before accepting the job she did seem pretty gung-ho on the Stop Minnick front, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do. In previous recaps, weve discussed how polarizing April Kepner is. Im Team April. Shes unabashedly herself  a Goody Two-shoes who strives to be taken seriously. I get that. Also, she bagged Doctor Hotface (and also Smart Person, obviously). Give the girl props. I get that she can be grating, but she adds a nice mix to the goings-ons at Grey Sloan.

Anyway, Aprils first task as chief of general surgery is to help Eliza Minnick roll out the next phase of her teaching plan: two randomly chosen residents will become lead surgeon, and see their cases through while an attending assists. Minnick is overseeing Stephanies surgery, and April has to find someone to assist Ben Warren. She lands on Webber. The ask goes about as well as youd expect, if you were expecting April to have to beg and Webber to agree only after throwing some savage snark. Its the sure thing, Chief heard round the world.

Aprils taking flak from all sides. Her esophageal-cancer patient is constantly comparing her to her former doctor, Meredith Grey. She only refers to April as Not Doctor Grey! Her friends are either ignoring her or giving her crap. She has to eat lunch alone at the Grey Sloan High cafeteria. When Jackson finally confronts her about the situation, he insults her by implying that she only got the job because his mother manipulated the situation. Shes left screaming in the middle of the day-care room that she earned the position. That she is a good surgeon. Yeah, its a rough day for our farm girl.

The adversity fuels April. Once it dawns on her that she is, in fact, the boss lady, she starts acting like it. She starts doing her job. She kicks Maggie out of the esophageal-cancer case because Maggie made it clear she thinks April is a traitor. After April kicks that cancers ass, she doesnt gloat  she simply appreciates that her patient finally asks for her name. A boss lady should always be classy.

If April wasnt already feeling better about being the woman in charge, a nice chat with Catherine Avery  who, for the record, did not tell Bailey to give the job to April  does the trick. The other doctors, Jackson included, are angry that April gave up the cause. That shes an opportunist who shouldve known to say no. And yes, it could look like that from the outside. Catherine, however, reminds April that people like Jackson are not like the two of them. (April getting giddy over being compared to Catherine is precious.) They had to work for what they have. Jackson doesnt know what its like to live without a safety net. If he did, hed know April had no choice but to take the job. It is a lovely little conversation that leads to a lovely little glass of wine because neither of the girls really wants to return home to their angry dudes. Remember when Catherine first showed up and made April pump a penis implant? Man, times have changed.

Since being a part of Minnicks phase two is what gets April an overabundance of side-eye from her friends, lets talk about how that goes down. Neither chosen resident has the smoothest of times.

Bailey wants to observe Bens surgery with Webber, even after her husband has told her to back off. The surgery goes swimmingly, but with no help from Webber or Bailey, who devolve into a heated argument. Bailey wants to know why Webber is helping this hospital fall further behind. Webber wonders when Bailey, whose first solo surgery was also with him, forgot that he knows how to teach. Things have gotten so bad between these two because of how much they care for one another. (Webber later tells Catherine that Bailey was his start to finish. Aww.) Still, Ben is right to call them out for spending time arguing about teaching instead of actually, you know, teaching. This was his first solo surgery and it was ruined. Hell never get his first time back.

Neither will Stephanie, whose first time is infinitely worse. She is obviously pumped to be getting a chance to run a case on her own. She is Eliza Minnicks No. 1  and, well, only fan. The two end up with a 9-year-old patient named Matty. He is very cute and his parents are very cute while talking about a family cruise and you just know this is going to end badly.

Matty has gallstones and an inflamed bladder, so he needs surgery. No family cruise for cute Matty today. Arizona is livid that Minnick would allow a resident to perform her first lead surgery on a child. YOU DO NOT EXPERIMENT ON TINY HUMANS. But Eliza has complete faith in Stephanie and in her teaching methods. Arizona 100 percent disagrees. Which is how Stephanie, Eliza, and Arizona end up in the O.R. with blood gushing out of Mattys abdomen. Very quickly, Matty dies.

Stephanie is beside herself and asks Minnick what she did wrong. Did I kill that boy? Oof, you guys. It is rough stuff. Even worse, Minnick cant answer her. She cant even speak. The teaching guru runs off in tears.

With nowhere else to turn, Stephanie seeks guidance from her greatest teacher: the always-dependable Richard Webber. Still shaking, she walks him through the surgery, determined to find out where she went wrong. Richard stays calm and tells her that doctors arent able to fix what they cant see  and how was she supposed to know there was a bleed? Arizona and Minnick didnt catch it either. You lost. Its not your fault, but you lost. Every good surgeon does, he says as he brings her in for a patented Richard Webber healing hug. Its the most moving scene of the episode, and it proves, once and for all, that Webber is right. He has always been an excellent teacher.

Elsewhere in the hospital, Arizona tracks down Minnick to tell her that she is pretty much the opposite of Webber. A good attending has to be able to teach her resident more than just the how-tos of surgery; she has to teach her resident how to handle the consequences of surgery. Minnick cries and cries and admits that she cant teach Stephanie what to do in this situation because shes never been in it. Shes never lost a child in surgery.

I guess this is an attempt to make Minnick a little more sympathetic? Or at least shade in some character details. Okay, sure. It does make Minnick seem a little more human, but I am still not onboard with the increasingly imminent Minnick-Arizona love affair. Even if Arizona does pull out Minnicks horn wires. Thanks, but no thanks, Greys.

Laughter Is the Best Medicine, Except for Real Medicine

 Okay, it doesnt turn out so great, but Stephanies excitement to take a surgery from start to finish is just one more example of why shes the best. Mamas gotta go do surgery. Yes, lady. YES.

 Ben Warren gets called Mrs. Bailey and refers to himself as Mirandas First Lady. How are either of those things insults?

 April shrieking about being the nicest is peak April.

 Im unsure what this says about me, but I could totally watch a good 30 minutes of the attendings snacking on baby carrots and talking about Switzerland. They have good banter, what can I say?

 Bailey used to have Hansons MMMBop on her surgery playlist. Ill just leave that right there for you all.

 Did anyone else cheer when Jo called April a badass for telling off Maggie and April told her to shut up? Even April Kepner cant handle Jo Wilson.

The Sob Scale: 5/10

Who among us can watch Richard Webber take a weeping resident into his strong, caring arms and walk away dry-eyed? We are but mere mortals, after all.
Hillary Clinton and Hillary Clinton. Photo: NBC

Its been a sad long while since Hillary Clinton had occasion to stop by Studio 8H, so, like any work associates making the awkward transition to real-life friendship, Clinton and her Saturday Night Live counterpart Kate McKinnon got a bite to eat this week. Per Page Six, the two dined at Orso in New York City, where lots of laughter emanated from their table. Clinton followed up the dinner with her celebrated trip to Sunset Boulevard because, wilderness expeditions aside, the lady knows how to make a night on the town count. Between the realities of Donald Trumps presidency, Saturday Night Lives subsequent interpretations, and the ever-wobbly distinction between the two, Clinton and McKinnon undoubtedly had conversational fodder enough to last them a meal, but were still slightly shocked that they didnt just head straight to the bar.
Eels! Photo: Twentieth Century Fox

Spoilers ahead for A Cure for Wellness.

Gore Verbinskis A Cure for Wellness is chock-full of nightmarish imagery, but some of it looks so real, you might well wonder, How the hell did they do that? Three scenes in particular got under our skin, probably because they tap into some of our most common phobias  one where dentistry is used as an act of torture, another where our hero is force-fed something truly nasty, and one where he nearly drowns in a sensory-deprivation tank. When Vulture ran into Verbinski and star Dane DeHaan earlier this week at a screening hosted by the Cinema Society and Prada, we had to ask what actually happened during the shoot. As it turns out, Verbinski says a lot of what we see onscreen is sleight of hand.



The sensory-deprivation tank scene turns out to have been the most involved to shoot, taking about ten days total. One of the necessary steps to prep was to give DeHaan some scuba training so that he could handle being underwater for up to 30 minutes at a time. In the film, the tank is very slowly filled with water, with DeHaan eventually being submerged just as his character starts to realize hes not alone in the tank. As a precaution, the actor wore a harness that was bolted into the side of the tank with cables, and the production had a safety diver on standby, with an underwater speaker in the tank so DeHaan could hear the director. They also worked out a few hand signals so he could communicate how he was feeling while underwater, breathing through an oxygen hose. We just had three, DeHaan said. If I did this [motions thumbs up] that means everything is okay. If I did this [motions both hands waving slightly], that meant something is kind of wrong, and can we please stop. And if I did this [motions both hands thrashing upwards] that meant, Get me the hell out of here! This is wrong!

Even with the underwater speakers and the hand signals, though, Verbinski says communication was very difficult. When I was on the microphone talking to Dane on the underwater speaker, I sound like Im gargling, he recalled. Another issue? Some of the local German safety divers didnt know English, so on the few occasions where DeHaan did have a problem  if the water was rising too quickly, if the pressure was building  it was hard to get the crew to understand he needed them to abort. I heard Gore on the speaker going, Hey, hes making a weird gesture with his hand. Whats he saying? Is he okay? Keep rolling. Finally, the crew figured out that DeHaan was in distress, and the diver dove in, cut his cables, and helped him get out of the tank. Dane couldnt equalize, so that was tricky, Verbinski said. There were a few times where we would have to stop.

All of that was tricky enough on its own, since it took 90 minutes to set up each moment that would only last two seconds onscreen. The original plan during storyboarding was to include real eels in the tank with DeHaan, but once they started shooting, that was quickly nixed. We realized that [the eels] would have to be CGI; this was going to have to be all performance, Verbinski said.

In a separate scene, DeHaan is force-fed some of those ever-present eels through an tracheal tube. This time, while the eels are real, not all of DeHaan is. According to Verbinski, it was an elaborate process. First, they made casts of DeHaans head with his mouth held in different positions  a dummy for every emotion. (It looked just like me! DeHaan says.) That was used for the moment that actor Jason Isaacs shoves the tube down his throat. We didnt use much of that, except for the sound, Verbinski explained. It made the most creepy crackle as it went down the models head. A wet-celery crackle, and that sound was really devastating. Anytime the tube was actually in DeHaans own mouth, it had a stopper that prevented any of the eel-water from shooting into his mouth. Then they made a composite of the shots, with the celery sound selling the feeling that sea creatures were really swimming into DeHaans mouth.

Those head-cast dummies also came in handy for the movies most memorable torture scene, when DeHaans character gets his teeth drilled without anesthesia. The actors body was strapped and restrained in a dentists chair and a metal gag pried his mouth open wide. The resulting panic was real. I didnt have to act much for those moments, he laughed.

That scene was mostly done with practical effects, Verbinski said. Its a very simple one-shot composite, and we just got as close as possible to DeHaans teeth, using a rubber drill. You know what its like in the dental chair, we all do. When the metal hits our tooth, and it makes that tink! sound. And then the smoke comes out when they drill. The smell of your tooth burning from the drill. Its all very sensitive, and you want to look away.

Adding to that sensation is a shot the team pulled with the sound design in that moment, using a technique called phase cancellation. Its an uncomfortable tone that pushes in on your head, explained composer Benjamin Wallfisch. Its a physical phenomena in sound, and most of the time, you avoid it at all costs, because it sounds really, really bad, and it makes the audience have a physical reaction, and feel extremely uncomfortable. You never want it. But here, we unleashed it deliberately for the reasons you normally avoid it.

When added to the drill sound, its horrific enough to make you think the drill has made an impact on DeHaans tooth, although it never really does. We shot that for two days, and it was terrifying, the actor said. I wasnt scared of going to the dentist before, but Im overdue for an appointment now, and I think maybe thats the subconscious effect the movie has had on me. Maybe Im avoiding it now!
I dont know how this damn show did it. After a season of twists and turns that grew more unbelievable and more boring each week, my God, I am thrilled. I cant tell whats coming next or which preposterous theory is right. At this point, if you told me Wes faked his own death so he could live in Mexico and compete on Top Chef, Id believe you. Who knows how this is going to end up? And guys, Laurel wasnt totally annoying this episode.

Annalise is out on bail, shes got a new wig, and shes ready to play. And by play, I mean find Nate under a bridge for a covert meeting. Nate plays her a blue-tinged flashback that reveals he was in the house with Wes. In the flashback, Nate warns Wes that Annalise only looks out for herself, then Wes snaps that Annalise knew his mother. Okay, Wes, relax. Nate knows that Annalise has been looking out for Wes for a long time and Wes says that hes done bad things too. OKAY, WES, RELAX. Nate gets a phone call from the detective looking for Wes and Nate lies to protect him.

Back in the present, Nate tells Annalise that he feels guilty for leaving Wes there. Maybe the police can track Nates phone and find out that he was at Annalises house on the night of the fire  they can do that, right? Annalise promises Nate that shell fix it and she tries to rub his inner thigh and he pushes her away.

Annalise gathers up whats left of the Keating Gang to reassure them. Her version of reassurance is, well, different: She reminds them that the D.A.s office might be coming with a deal, so if they wouldnt accept that, that would be great. Annalise knows the D.A. wants to take her down, so whatever they offer will be very enticing. Half of the gang seems loyal, but Laurel is upset that Annalise isnt trying to find out who killed Wes and Connor is a little sneakier about his dissent. When he gets home that night, he gives Oliver the flash drive that has Annalises data on it and tells him to hack it. Connor manages to convince Oliver by telling him if theres something on that drive, the world needs to know. Anything else is fake news. Period.

Meanwhile, Laurel is printing out enough newspaper articles about the Mahoneys to assemble a Carrie Mathisonstyle evidence wall and Annalise is lying in bed remembering the conversations she had that day. The episode is now flashing back within itself. Its folding in on itself, and in those folds, Annalise finally finds her spine. She jumps out of bed and starts writing a letter to the attorney general, recommending a grand jury investigation into the DAs office for straight-up losing a body and trying to frame her. Laurel compiles all her evidence and hands it to a guy named Howie and pays him. Hes a private investigator and she wants all the information she can get on the Mahoneys. The big envelope of money says so.

Annalise meets the attorney general in her office to demand a grand jury investigation. She says shed hate if anything happened to leak to the press, but the attorney general will not tolerate threats. Bonnie is meeting with the D.A.s office to basically repeat the same information while adding in a little threat to go to the FBI. The D.A. says that there are files on everyone and they shouldnt go down this road. Bonnie says theyre already down this road. Finally, some backbone from Bonnie!

Michaela goes to meet Annalise in her car and Annalise wants to make sure no one is getting a little antsy or bitter, if you know what I mean. Michaela reminds Annalise that shes been working overtime trying to hold everyone together. Michaela will not have her time wasted. She was in the middle of studying and would like to get back to it. How is it possible that the Keating Gang are passing any of their classes? Is this a Dead Man on Campus situation? Do they all get straight-As because Wes died?

After Annalise fields a very angry call from Nate where he chews her out because the attorney general is starting to ask questions about his signature on the form to transfer Wess body, Annalise goes to see Oliver. Yknow  just to check on him. Annalise thanks him for his loyalty and ask him for one little favor. Oliver leaks information about Wess body going missing and the conspiracy theory. Laurel actually proves herself useful and manages to find out that the matriarch of the Mahoneys had Wess DNA tested, so they must know that Wes is the patriarchs son.

The gang heads over to see Annalise to give her this information. She warns them that the Mahoneys are dangerous and they should all be careful, then reveals everything about the baby and how the most important thing is to be safe right now. President LaGuerta calls Annalise to congratulate her on getting out on bail. If she ever needs to talk about her case, she can always ask President LaGuerta.

Oliver went through Annalises phone and when Connor starts asking questions, Oliver cracks and tell him that he found out Annalise called him the night of the fire and left a voice mail. Bonnie goes over to Laurels house to offer her the steps to get a procedure in case she needs it. Laurel acts like this is the most outrageous thing in her life. Her body, her choice, I guess. Annalise gets a late-night phone call from Frank at the prison, telling her hes willing to do whatever he needs to do to help. She hangs up and gets another call from the attorney general, who threatens her about threatening the attorney general. Its a complicated web these high-powered lady lawyers weave. The attorney general also threatens Annalise with the death penalty, which is a little much.

Annalise finally agrees to go for coffee with President LaGuerta and tries to bond with her  but she has more flashbacks to conversations she had during the episode and realizes that it wasnt Connor who had leaked to the D.A.s office. IT WAS PRESIDENT LAGUERTA! The D.A. offered her help with her custody battle in exchange for information on Annalise. Annalise schemes with Bonnie to slip a file to Frank before he heads to court.

Frank asks the judge to subpoena all of the A.D.A.s correspondence because she lost all the evidence and the signature on the release form for Wess body was her lovers! The D.A. accuses Keating of feeding Frank a legal strategy and Annalise looks on with a cute lil grin as he charms the pants off the court. The Sixth Amendment! Bias! Conflict of interest! Frank is crushing it. The judge grants the subpoena and Frank wins the day! The D.A. suspends the A.D.A. because she basically put the entire case on the line because she wanted to get it in with Nate.

Annalise meets with Nate and she apologizes for going ahead with her plan, but it got the A.D.A. to admit that she moved the body. Annalise goes to visit Laurel and tells her that Wess body was cremated. She tries to convey to Laurel just how shocked she is over Wess death, even if it really doesnt seem that way. At the same time, Bonnie, Michaela, and Asher confront Connor about his suspicious behavior. Asher lays it all on the line and accuses him of being the anonymous source who went to the police. Wait  but dont we already know that? Ah, yes, this is what the Greeks called dramatic irony. Connor says that he got Oliver to go through Annalises phone and hes gonna find some evidence, damn it. He stomps home and Oliver tells him that he was scared to check Annalises phone because she might be hiding something. But Connor is the one with the secret. He checked his voice mail and couldnt be accounted for on the night of the fire. What was he doing?

Giving Wes CPR in the basement, thats what.
Photo: Niko Tavernise/Summit Entertainment

Hollywood action stars are often tied to a sense of time and place. From early figures in this canon, like the dashing Errol Flynn in 1938s The Adventures of Robin Hood to the oiled-up stoicism of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1980s and 1990s, theyre intrinsically linked to the eras theyve born into and the Western tradition they work within. The same cant be said of Keanu Reeves.

Reeves was born in Beirut, moved around the world frequently in his youth, and was raised in Toronto. His background (he has a mix of white, Native Hawaiian, and Chinese ancestry), along with his upbringing, mirrors how difficult it is to pinpoint his place in action-movie history. That hes endured over the years in ways many of his 1990s contemporaries havent is a testament to his unique skills as an action star. From the unabashedly ridiculous Speed to the laconic cynicism of Constantine, Reevess work is most informed by two very different influences: Hong Kong action flicks and classic Hollywood. His return to the action genre with John Wick: Chapter Two, now in theaters, is perfect timing  the genre needs him now more than ever.

The best way to understand how Hong Kong action films influence Reeves is to look at his directorial debut, Man of Tai Chi. The film is anchored by a performance by Tiger Chen, a martial artist and fight choreographer who met Reeves in the late 1990s training him for The Matrix. As critic Priscilla Page notes in her appraisal of the film, There are no stunt doubles. Like John Wick, the action is fluid, a pleasure to watch  no frenetic, Bourne-ripped shaky cam, most of the fighting was filmed with Steadicam. It has a great understanding and reverence for the visceral kung fu films Reeves watched in his youth, particularly Enter the Dragon, whose ethos snakes through Reevess career as an action star particularly post-Matrix. (Reeves has also pointed to Fist of Legend, Twin Warriors, 5 Fingers of Death, and The Matrix, a film that synthesizes a variety of different inspiration, as influences on Man of Tai Chi.) Take this scene from the 1973 film:

Once the fight starts between Lee (Bruce Lee) and OHara (Robert Wall), there is little dialogue. The way the actors move and fight informs the animosity between them. Its entirely different from the way American action stars, who make time for quips between blows, interact in such moments. The best sequences in Enter the Dragon are when the film operates in wide shots, finding a kinetic energy as Lee dances around his opponent. Man of Tai Chi and John Wick: Chapter Two adopt a similar philosophy, which speaks to both the intelligence of their directors and the skill of their stars. For fight scenes in films like these, the men at the center need to be well-trained, charismatic, and understand the relationship between their bodies and the camera. Its something thats largely missing in the performances of modern action stars, who are most regularly seen in superhero epics. The problem with how superhero films are crafted and acted is they often rely on the mythology of the source material without giving audiences who know nothing about these characters enough of a reason to care about them. Theyre poorly shot and overedited in ways that make what should feel like grand action scenes forgettable. (DCs recent critical failure Suicide Squad is the most damning example of this trend.) The men at the center, like Chris Hemsworth and Chris Pratt, often lack an understanding and reverence for the genre they are moving within, which shows in their surface-level performances. Theyre charming, sometimes even charismatic, but its hard to say theyre memorable in the way Bruce Lee is in Enter the Dragon or Reeves himself.

John Wick: Chapter Twos director Chad Stahelski spoke to Empire about the films influences: You go watch any of the great Hong Kong guys. [Youre watching] wider shots; youre watching an extremely talented individual. If youre using fast editing to hide things, I call bullshit, he said. Thats cheating. Luckily, we have a cast member that can do it. Reeves been doing martial arts for 25 years. Hes been trained by us, hes been trained by Yuen Woo-ping. Hes been trained by Chen Yen. Reeves is not an actual martial artist like the men who center many of the works he names as inspiration. But he has a work ethic and respect for the form that John Wick: Chapter Two takes advantage of. His dedication and love of the genre puts him more in the lineage of Asian and Asian-American martial arts stars like Bruce Lee, Jet Li, and Jackie Chan than it does Western action stars. An extravagant mirror scene climax in John Wick: Chapter Two, for example, in which Wick and his opponents crash through glass, is a direct reference to Enter the Dragon. But this isnt the only classic Hong Kong film the sequel draws on. The gun-fu in John Wick: Chapter Two, and Reevess handling of it, owes a debt to films like 1992s Hard Boiled starring Chow Yun-fat. Gun-fu is a style in which the gunplay in a fight scene is choreographed to make it feel balletic and graceful. Director John Woo can be credited with popularizing this style in films like 1986s A Better Tomorrow, which also starred Yun-fat:

Watching John Wick: Chapter Two next to films like this, we can see the influence  wider shots, longer takes, unfussy editing. This gives the action room to breathe and amps up the tension. Violence takes on a soulful quality. But for this to work, you need an actor like Reeves who has the presence to make such scenes be more than just an exercise in physical prowess. Watching Reeves, I am reminded of what director John Woo said about Chow Yun-fat in an interview: I wanted to create a new kind of hero, a hero who can stand for me, can speak for me, and also can speak for the audience, someone close to the audience, not like a superhero. That Woo later compared Yun-fat to classic stars like Cary Grant and Paul Newman isnt a coincidence. It speaks to the way Western and Eastern films have always influenced each other, as well as the brand of stardom necessary for action films to have meaning beyond the craft that goes into them.

Reeves is particularly unique as an action star because hes also able to use physicality to communicate story outside of action sequences in ways that Lee, Chan, and Li often werent. Part of the reason for this is the constraints of the Hong Kong industry itself, which had no tradition of acting schools like its British, and to a lesser extent, American peers (even Keanu, for example, has been onstage in Hamlet), as well as these films interest in visceral action over emotional plot dynamics. Even within John Wick: Chapter Twos dazzling, over-the-top world, Reeves keeps his character grounded by communicating his exhaustion, pain, and grief simply in the way he walks through the frame, never letting you forget how bruised John Wick is physically and emotionally.

Reeves in John Wick: Chapter Two. Photo: Niko Tavernise/Summit Entertainment

At the very beginning of John Wick: Chapter Two, projected onto a New York building is a clip of a Buster Keaton film. It appears so briefly you could easily miss it. But it nods to the other tradition Reeves is working within: silent film and classic Hollywood stardom. This is evident in Reevess relationship with the camera, which embraces his object-of-desire status without making it seem self-involved or an outright punch line. While in many action films the weaponry takes on a near fetishistic glow, Reeves becomes the cameras main interest, as lovingly shot as the glamorous starlets of classic Hollywood.

The language of the body is one that American audiences, no matter how far removed we are from this countrys Puritan beginnings, may not know how to speak. Its a language that was far more common in classic cinema because the industry saw beauty not only as a selling point, but a thematic tool worth exploring. The Hong Kong action stars that Reeves drew from for Man of Tai Chi, the John Wick films, and The Matrix trilogy understood how to convey the bliss and beauty of a fight scene, making violence into a dance. The greatest classic Hollywood actors, on the other hand, understood how to make every moment a dance within itself. They used their bodies to convey character and presence in a way that enriched the film. As actor Mitchell Fain said in a conversation about Joan Crawford, The stars were the architecture [and] their shape meant something to a camera. For all of cinemas growth over the last several decades, modern stars lack the same sort of intimacy with the camera you saw in classic Hollywood that can elevate even the most slapdash film into something watchable, even entrancing. These were people who knew their angles, how the light hit them, and used stillness as a profound storytelling tool. Its these stars who can rise above being engaging and charismatic to become an elemental force. Reeves is one of them.

What makes Reeves different from other action stars is this vulnerable, open relationship with the camera  it adds a throughline of loneliness that shapes all his greatest action-movie characters, from naive hotshots like Johnny Utah to exuberant, chosen ones like Neo to weathered professionals like John Wick. The best way to understand how Reeves expertly deploys this strategy is to compare him to his action contemporaries from the 1990s and today. Turn the films on mute and study how these actors move. This isnt meant to insult Reevess line readings, which many still cant seem to separate from his Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure beginnings. Half of what makes John Wick: Chapter Two work as a sequel is its surprising humor, anchored by Reevess deadpan delivery and notes of exhaustion. But watching him on mute, its clear how much hes able to communicate without saying a word. A downcast glare, a clenched jaw, the sudden sloping of his shoulders in the rare moments he relaxes in the sequel say more than any of the dialogue. Compare this to his fellow 1990s action heroes, who ranged from the overwrought machismo of Arnold Schwarzenegger (Terminator 2) to brutal everymen with a joke for every situation they find themselves in like Bruce Willis (the Die Hard franchise) to the more purely comedic like Will Smith (Bad Boys, Independence Day). Nineties action stars represent the physical peak of the male body taken to, at times, cartoonish limits. Theyre strong jawed and overmuscled. Their very bodies harden them to the world and shield them from any hint of emotional vulnerability you might glean from watching them move across the screen. Reeves isnt masculine so much as he is beautiful. His work throughout the years in films like Speed, Point Break, and even the much maligned Johnny Mnemonic, have a sort of sweetness, approachability, and vulnerability that stands out from the work of his peers.

Action stars, past and present, speak profoundly to the American id (or at least Hollywoods conception of it). In many ways, the shifts in how masculinity is presented in action films also speaks to the kind of men this country seeks to uphold. By and large, action heroes espouse the ethos of traditional masculinity, arguing for a fairy tale time in American history when men were men. The action stars we see today typically mix swagger, quips, and time-honored sexism along with their heroics (chart the arc of any character Chris Pratt has played recently). There are a few examples to the contrary like Chris Evanss kind Captain America, who is nearly moralistic to a fault. But his vulnerability lacks the nuance and intimacy that Reeves excels at. The closest parallel to Reeves is perhaps Tom Cruise, considering how his career as an action star has stretched from the late 1980s and shows no signs of slowing down. But unlike Reeves, hes never allowed his characters to be vulnerable in quite the same way. For Cruise, his charm is a weapon to deploy, not a human quality that entices.

By and large, Hollywood action heroes revere a troubling brand of American masculinity that leaves no room for displays of authentic emotion. Throughout Reevess career, he has shied away from this. His characters are often led into new worlds by women of far greater skill and experience (Point Break and The Matrix being great examples). There is a sincerity he brings to his characters that make them human, even when their prowess makes them seem nearly supernatural. From his everyman hotshot in Speed to his isolated occult detective in Constantine to his transcendent work in John Wick: Chapter Two, Reeves is at once vulnerable, lonely, yearning, and endlessly watchable. Hes an actor who bridges divides  between masculine and feminine, visceral action and human emotion, classic Hollywood grace and Hong Kong action-film brutality  in a way Hollywood would do well to learn from.
Photo: Craig Barritt/Getty Images for PEOPLE En Espan

Who cares about Lin-Manuel Mirandas EGOT status after the Oscars next week  hes spending time talking about his favorite accents with Meryl Streep, so hell be fine. Now that the two are starring in Mary Poppins Returns, Disneys upcoming Mary Poppins sequel, Miranda oh-so-casually told the New York Times that he consulted Streep while perfecting his dialect. Cockney accents have evolved over time, so Miranda had to get a handle on exactly what kind of dialect hed do. I asked Meryl Streep, whos in the film, what her favorite British accent is, he said. She said Thatcher. Thatcher was a self-created persona. [Thatcher] took elocution lessons, and made up her own accent. (Of course Streep, the accent savant, would go for the hard stuff.) Miranda said hes aiming for just shy of Cockney east: Im watching British stand-up comedy  East End guys  and Im also listening to a lot of music, like Billy Bragg.
Duo held with 2 kg hashish from Dhalku

Police on Thursday arrested two persons in possession of two kg hashish from Dalkhu, KMC-17, Nepal Police said.
The Twilight Drive-In, Jugheads place of employment, is closing down. Its been purchased from the town of Riverdale by an anonymous buyer  a tragedy our aspiring writer equates to the gruesome murder of Jason Blossom, a human teenager. That seems about right.

Betty tells her diary that she suspects that something (namely, statutory rape) is going on between Archie and Miss Grundy. After Archie and his dad take in a cello performance by his music teacher slash paramour, Fred obliviously invites her to dine with them. When two generations of horny Andrews men and the predatory object of their affection arrive at Pops, Betty pulls Archie outside to chat. (If youre keeping track of Bettys mental state as represented by milkshake orders, note that this week saw her upgrade from old-fashioned vanilla to strawberry. How many episodes until shes pouring in a double shot of vodka?)

Betty is direct: Are you and Miss Grundy, like, together, like, romantically? Archie admits the truth, and Veronica overhears. To Veronica, having a booty tutor sounds scandalous. To Betty, it sounds like jail time.

Meanwhile, Cheryl is displeased that fellow cheerleader Veronica is sending an unappealingly tolerant message about the River Vixens  because her mom is a waitress. (Cheryl is by no small margin my favorite character  watching her is like freebasing Regina George.) When the only surviving Blossom twin spies Hermione Lodge having a tense conversation with a sketchy character behind a dumpster at the diner, she snaps a photo to torment Veronica. This guy turns out to be a Southside Serpent, a member of a notorious local gang of bikers. (Ah yes, the kind all idyllic riverside towns have.) When Veronica asks her about this meeting, Hermione says that she went to high school with some of the Serpents, but the assurances she offers arent very convincing.

Betty, a member of the dishonest mainstream media hashtag fake news, abuses her school newspaper power by interviewing Grundy for the Blue & Gold. Not only is Miss Grundys employment history spotty at best, but she lets slip that shed worked with Jason Blossom in an independent study the previous year. Hmm, so she has a penchant for underage redheads  one of whom, to review, was killed  and a life-ruining secret to protect by any means necessary. Interesting! Bettys internet research digs up even more troubling details about Grundy. Or rather, a total lack thereof: Theres no online record of her life prior to her arrival in Riverdale one year ago, and the only other Geraldine Grundy was an elderly woman who died seven years earlier. (Her obituary photo looks a lot like the original Archie Comics version of Miss Grundy, low white bun and all.) Archie is nevertheless frustrated by Bettys investigation, insisting she let it go.

Unsurprisingly, she does not. Betty and Veronica  well, Betty, with Veronica following reluctantly in her wake  break into Miss Grundys tiny Volkswagen Beetle. (Surely if you plan on having a bunch of sex in your car, you should invest in a more spacious vehicle.) Inside, Betty jimmies open a lockbox with a bobby pin and finds a drivers license with Miss Grundys picture, but in the name Jennifer Gibson  along with a revolver. Confronted by Archie, Grundy explains she was in a violent, abusive marriage. When she got a divorce, she changed her name. He buys it.

After dragging her husband to the Andrews front door to demand that Archie and Betty stop spending time together  cool, normal neighbor behavior  Mrs. Cooper takes a break from inexplicably terrorizing the town to put away laundry in her daughters room. There she discovers Grundys gun in a dresser drawer, and in a panic, she grabs for Bettys diary. Two discussion questions for the class:

1) With a crazy-ass mom such as this one, why wouldnt you make more of an effort to hide your diary?

2) What was Betty planning on doing with the gun?

Most of Riverdale has gathered for the drive-ins last-ever feature, a screening of Rebel Without Cause. Looking like rockabilly-influenced Jets from a community-theater production of West Side Story, the Southside Serpents get rowdy in the back. Veronica stands up and takes it upon herself to silence them: You know what happens to a snake when a Louboutin heel steps on it? Shut the hell up or youll find out. A perfect Dont Tread on Me flag for the 21st century. Ive dealt with worse in the East Village, Veronica quips, and I can only imagine she is referring to drunk brunchgoers.

But Veronica loses her nerve when she spots her mother paying off a Serpent. Hermione finally reveals she was handling unfinished business for Veronicas father, whod hired the gang to decrease the property value of the theater so he could snatch it up at a discount. Thats why she was paying them, and thats who the anonymous buyer is. He snuck every last penny that we had into this deal, Hermione explains, which is weird, because I thought the Lodges were richer than that? This family lived in Upper West Side luxury, but cant comfortably afford a run-down plot of land in a town with exactly one diner to its name?

At least one good thing happens at the drive-in: Kevin makes out with a hot young Serpent, Joaquin. Kevins father (who is very supportive of his sons sexuality, but not so much of criminals) probably wouldnt be thrilled, but I am. Unfortunately, the Kellers soon have more pressing concerns: Their place has been trashed.

At school, Archie brings Miss Grundy a thank-you gift, a new bow for her cello, that doubles as a good-bye gift. They agree to end their lessons, musical and otherwise. But just then, Mrs. Cooper, Mr. Andrews, and Betty burst in. I feel like the show wants me to feel bad that they got caught, but, um, good. When Alice Cooper rails that Grundy is a child predator who should go to jail, she is the only person in the room reacting appropriately. (Then again, the fact that shes more interested in turning her daughter against Archie than actually seeking justice is not super great in and of itself.) Yall need to recalibrate, Riverdale.

Faced with what should be a very easy decision, Betty instead exercises the nuclear option in her friends defense: If her mom brings this to the authorities, shell tell everyone that she broke into Miss Grundys car, robbed her, and lied about everything. People will assume she had a breakdown just like her sister. The tactic works, and they come to an agreement: The cops wont be called, but Grundy will leave Riverdale at once.

Later that night, Betty spots Archie through her bedroom window and texts him that shes sorry. He understands. But the damage is done, in more ways than one. The next morning, Miss Grundy makes eyes at passing young hotties as she prepares to drive away in her packed-up car. (Are you a sexual predator wholl need to skip town at a moments notice and fit all of your earthly belongings in your backseat? Thats another point against a VW bug.)

Jughead bids farewell to the drive-in for the last time, leaving behind a slept-in cot in the projection booth. The Southside Serpent who Hermione paid off approaches him outside. So where you gonna live now? he asks. Ill figure it out, Dad, Jughead responds. I always do. Its hard to stay mad at Riverdale when every episode really sticks the landing.
Another day of political insanity, another glorious installment of A Closer Look on Late Night With Seth Meyers. Seth Meyerss staff had all but finished crafting a take on the GOPs repeal of Obamacare when they had to scrap it in favor of covering the batshit crazy press conference Trump held on Thursday. As if digging in to Trumps series of rants and raves (despite Trumps claims to the contrary) werent exhausting enough, Seth warns that the presidents proposed campaign event in Florida this weekend simply cannot be true, for if the winning-obsessed Trump is already campaigning again, then that CNN ticker is coming back, and, well, when does it all end?

Here are the wildest moments from the press conference:
Photo: NBC/Getty Images

When The Golden Girls debuted earlier this week on Hulu, scores of fans  most of us no doubt wearied by the constant worrying news out of Washington  turned to the streaming service in search of some comforting, familiar slut jokes and St. Olaf stories.

Even after having studied the show for a decade while writing my book, Golden Girls Forever, I still couldnt resist some fresh viewings, as well. And once I tuned in, I was reminded of one of the things that had first made me want to invest so much time in heralding these four ladies from Miami; they were brilliantly, and sometimes even eerily, ahead of their time.

The Girls consistently tackled taboo subjects and found a way to make them funny. How the show accomplished the humor is now obvious; The Golden Girls was created by the legendary Susan Harris, and spawned the writing careers of so many of todays TV comedy giants, including Desperate Housewives Marc Cherry, Arrested Developments Mitchell Hurwitz and Modern Familys Christopher Lloyd. But why did the show take somewhat of a risk in talking about sensitive topics?

The answer, as I learned from these writers and producers and three of the shows brilliant stars, Bea Arthur, Betty White, and Rue McClanahan, was that the Girls were beloved not just for the barbs theyd trade, the outfits theyd work or the cheesecakes theyd share. These were four strong women who had lived through both the toughest and most rewarding parts of anyones life: having babies, struggling to stay afloat, losing husbands. Along the way, theyd gained not just wisdom, but also license with a TV audience to deliver shocking truths that a 30-something character couldnt get away with saying on any other sitcom. And so, perhaps even a little bit selfishly, the Golden Girls writers realized early on that their show could have certain subject areas all to themselves.

In 22-minute increments over the course of seven seasons, the Girls raised issues of sexism and age discrimination as they faced off with chauvinistic plumbers, skeptical bosses and doubting doctors. They highlighted the plight of the homeless, and of elders like Sophias friend Lillian, receiving substandard and underfunded nursing-home care. They received their LGBT friends and relatives with open arms  well eventually, in the case of Blanche and her baby brother Clayton. When Sophias friend Martha wanted to end her life, they agonized over euthanasia; as Dorothys prized pupil faced deportation, they raised issues about our policies on immigration. And when Rose received a letter saying that she might have been exposed to the HIV virus, The Golden Girls capitalized on its political license once again, becoming one of the first sitcoms to mention HIV and AIDS at all, and further to suggest that the epidemic was a problem for everyone, not just the gay community.

In the Golden Girls Forever excerpt below, about the fifth-season episode 72 Hours, writers Tracy Gamble and Richard Vaczy, stars Betty White and Rue McClanahan, and other members of the shows crew talk about the making of the historic episode  one of the first, following an episode of CBS Designing Women, to bring humanity to the AIDS epidemic, and to bring that crisis to our attention in our living rooms.

72 HOURS

Written by: Richard Vaczy & Tracy Gamble

Directed by: Terry Hughes

Original airdate: February 17, 1990

Rose receives a letter from the hospital where she had her gallbladder removed warning that during her transfusion she might have been exposed to blood containing HIV antibodies. As the ladies accompany her to the hospital for an AIDS test, Blanche comforts a very frightened Rose by explaining that she too had the test and knows what her friend is going through. But after checking out fine physically, Rose is surprised to learn she must wait three days for the test results.

Unable to sleep, Rose begins to become hysterical, leading the ladies to realize how traumatic waiting for the results can be. They discuss times when theyve had to wait and were afraid, then vow to help Rose through whatever comes along  even though, as Sophia points out, its scary when the disease is so close to home. The seventy-two hours finally over, the girls all breathe a sigh of relief as Rose finds out that shes fine.

RICHARD VACZY: Tracy and I really loved the idea of showing what must that time be like between knowing something might be wrong and finding out what it is. And with the theater backgrounds of everyone on the show and the people they knew with HIV and AIDS, we thought everyone would appreciate and therefore love it. We guessed wrong. It turned out to be the darkest week I ever experienced on that stage, because the material hit so close to home.

BETTY WHITE: Not only were people understandably afraid of AIDS, but a lot of people wouldnt even admit it existed. So this was a daring episode to do, and the writers went straight for it. Its interesting that they picked Rose for that situation. Blanche was such a busy lady, but if it had been her story it would have taken on a whole other color. But with Rose being Miss Not-Always-With-It, it came as a real surprise.

DAVID A. GOODMAN: When Richard and Tracy were pitching the idea for this episode, I have to admit I didnt really get it. Rose is going to have an AIDS test? I didnt see how that could work. Now, of course, having had a career on Family Guy making AIDS jokes, I cant really point a finger.

There was a running joke in the episode where Sophia would follow Rose around, washing everything she touched. Estelle, who was already a big AIDS activist, was not happy. She didnt like the jokes, and so she really tanked them at the table read. In general, I remember that table read being very scary, because it didnt score. And The Golden Girls was a show where otherwise, table reads had always gone very well.

RICK COPP: I was only twenty-four when I was hired on the show, a baby writer. I was semi-closeted  and I think part of the reason is that I was petrified about AIDS. This episode happened only a few years after Rock Hudson had died, and Elizabeth Taylor was among only a few people who were making a big effort to get the word out about the disease. There wasnt a lot of information out there like there is now.

PETER D. BEYT (editor): It was while I was working on The Golden Girls when we found out my partner, Dean, was HIV positive. Estelle Getty was the first person I told. Her nephew was HIV positive, so she and I now had a connection. This was a new, scary world we both had to face. News stories would show the hospital room no one would go into, except in full hazmat suits. For six months, a family member  who works in infectious diseases  wouldnt let me go near his children, because they didnt yet know how HIV spread. It was a lot to go through. And when I would get to work, and be carrying all this baggage, Rue and Betty and Estelle, and occasionally Bea, were friends I could talk to.

Later on, I would start directing Golden Girls episodes. But when I was an editor, I would sit with the footage every Monday after tape night, and of course watch everything very closely and carefully. And I often felt like the episodes were really relevant to my life. In Old Boyfriends, Dorothy has a moment where she tells the dying woman, Sarah, The only time youre wasting is the time you and Marvin should be spending together. That really hit home with me, and was one of the things that inspired me to take a year off to care for Dean. In a later episode, Home Again, Rose, which I directed, the Girls cant get in to see Rose after her heart attack because theyre not immediate family; well, Id just had the same experience with Dean, after hed had a seizure in a restaurant.

But it was really 72 Hours that for me showed what TV can do, and how far a sitcom can reach. I hadnt gone to the taping of the episode, but I was set to edit it. I hadnt read the script, and I had no idea what it was about, or what was coming. This was in early 1990, a time when there was still so much shame about the disease. Having grown up in Louisiana, I already was feeling shame about being gay. My partner was dying, and now I was ashamed about that, too, and feeling on some level like I deserved this.

So here I was, editing away, watching the episode for the first time. And I got to the point where theres an argument between Rose and Blanche. I looked up at the screen in time for Blanche to say, AIDS is not a bad persons disease, Rose. It is not God punishing people for their sins!

My heart stopped. All of a sudden, unexpectedly, here was this woman on a sitcom I was cutting, talking about what I was feeling. I always admired Rue as a star and a friend anyway, but now a character Id come to know so well was saying what I needed to hear. I broke down, of course. I had to stop working. And then I pulled myself together  and from that point, right in the middle of my partners battle, I no longer thought I was a bad person. The show changed me in that moment of desperation. And my God, did the world ever need that to be said!

TRACY GAMBLE: This episode was based on a true story that had happened to my mother. She got notified that if you had had a transfusion in this certain period of time, you had to get checked. She and my dad were scared to death. It ended up fine, and she knew that the odds were against there being anything wrong. But it was hell to sweat out those seventy-two hours until she got the results.

My writing partner, Richard Vaczy, and I thought it would be a good storyline for Rose, partly because the audience might view her  and she views herself  as the last person who might have to worry about HIV. After all, shes just a Goody-Two-Shoes from Minnesota. We also liked how with the four characters, everyone could have a different opinion about the subject, which would be a good way to raise issues we wanted to raise while still being entertaining. So, Rose had the common reaction of thinking, Ive never been bad  why did this happen to me? She then lashes out and says to Blanche, You must have gone to bed with hundreds of men. All I had was one innocent operation! When Blanche responds, Hey, wait a minute; are you saying this should be me and not you? it raises questions of what is good and what is bad, and what does it matter, anyway? As Blanche reminds her that AIDS is not a bad persons disease, shes saying that just because Im promiscuous, that doesnt mean Im a bad person.

Before we started writing, Richard and I talked to HIV experts at UCLA and asked what information theyd like us to put across. At that time, there was a cottage industry of testing centers where people could walk in, and then would call up days later for the results. And while it was good that people were getting tested, the UCLA people stressed that there needs to be counseling for people when they get their results, whether positive or negative. So we were happy that this episode became an opportunity to get the message out there that either way, people need support  which is what we have the doctor say to Rose when he says that shes fine. In Roses case, she has the built-in support system of Dorothy, Blanche, and Sophia. They are the ones to help her make it through the three-day waiting period and all of the denial and panic. And they do it by letting her know that no matter what Roses test results might be, she is going to be okay because she is loved.

From the book Golden Girls Forever: An Unauthorized Look Behind the Lanai by Jim Colucci. Copyright  2016 by Jim Colucci. Published on April 5, 2016, by Harper Design, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Reprinted by permission.


Fun fact: Tom Hiddleston and Eddie Redmayne both went to Eton College, a very posh British school that educated nearly all the famous pasty white British guys you can think of. An even more fun fact: On The Graham Norton Show, Hiddleston revealed that he and Redmayne even appeared in a play together. The play was an adaptation of E.M. Forsters A Passage to India (sure), starring Redmayne as Adela Quested, the female lead, and Hiddleston as the front-right leg of Adelas elephant. Boarding school, man, those scars never heal.
Post-Quake Reconstruction: Education of thousands of students in jeopardy

Even almost two years after the devastating earthquake, the government is struggling to generate resources to rebuild schools, which could deprive hundreds of thousands of children of education.
The following movies are showing at first-run theaters Regal Jewel 16 (RJ16), Starplex Galaxy 16 (SG16) and the Waco Hippodrome (WH).

New in theaters

THE GREAT WALL 

A multi-layered mess of a film has Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal as medieval mercenaries caught in a Chinese battle against hordes of wall-attacking monsters. Rated PG-13. Sequences of fantasy action violence. 1 hour, 43 minutes. SG16, RJ16.

JACKIE 

Natalie Portman delivers an emotional, intense and Oscar-nominated performance as a Jackie Kennedy navigating between grief and public duty in the days after her husbands assassination. Rated R. Some profanity, brief strong violence. 1 hour, 40 minutes. Premiere Cinemas 6.

Also showing

A DOGS PURPOSE 

A slobbery, wet kiss for dog lovers, but a bit corny and sentimental story following a dogs spirit through five successive incarnations. Rated PG. Thematic elements, some peril. 1 hour, 40 minutes. SG16, RJ16.

FENCES 

Nominated for three Oscars including Best Picture, Best Actor (Denzel Washington) and Best Supporting Actress (Viola Davis). Rated PG-13. Profanity, some sexual references, mature thematic elements. 2 hours, 19 minutes. RJ16.

FIFTY SHADES DARKER 

Ana and Christian, the sex-playing couple of Fifty Shades Of Gray, come back for more thats part steamy, part silly and not so much dark. Rated R. Profanity, strong erotic sexual content, some graphic nudity. 2 hours, 6 minutes. SG16, RJ16.

HIDDEN FIGURES 

Nominated for three Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress (Octavia Spencer). Rated PG. Brief profanity, thematic elements. 2 hours, 6 minutes. SG16, RJ16

.JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 

Relentless hitman John Wick (Keanu Reeves) returns in a deliriously action-packed film that spoofs B-movies while relishing in their excesses. Rated PG-13. Some profanity, brief nudity, strong violence. 2 hours, 2 minutes. RJ16, SG16.

LA LA LAND 

Musical story of a wanna-be actress and wanna-be jazz pianist logs 14 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Emma Stone) and Best Actor (Ryan Gosling). Rated PG-13. Some profanity. 2 hours, 7 minutes. SG16, RJ16.

THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE 

Gleefully witty and delicious sequel to The Lego Movie that assembles considerable fun from superhero satire, action and affection for its characters  and audience. Rated PG. Rude humor, some action. 1 hour, 45 minutes. RJ16. SG16, WH.

LION 

Moving account of an Indian boy separated from his family, who tries to reconnect decades later as an adult. Nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture. Rated PG-13. 2 hours. RJ16, SG16.

PASSENGERS 

Rated PG-13.1 hour, 56 minutes. Sexual content, violence. SG16, RJ16.

RESIDENT EVIL: THE FINAL CHAPTER 

Milla Jovovich steps up again to defend humanity. Rated PG-13. Violence. SG16, RJ16.

RINGS 

Nothing new or scary in a Ring sequel where a young woman tries to save her boyfriend from a lethal videotape. Rated PG-13. Some sexuality, thematic material, some drug use, violence and terror. 1 hour, 42 minutes. SG16, RJ16.

SILENCE 

Director Martin Scorseses slow, but compelling look at Christian faith and martyrdom in 17th century Japan. Rated R. Some disturbing violent content. 2 hours, 41 minutes. RJ16.

SING 

Animated, clever American Idol send-up with animals. Rated PG. 1 hour, 50 minutes. RJ16.

SPLIT 

M. Night Shyamalans psychological thriller about a kidnapper with multiple personalities. Rated PG-13. Some profanity, disturbing thematic content and behavior, violence. 1 hour, 57 minutes. RJ16, SG16.

XXX: THE RETURN OF XANDER CAGE 

Action sequences skate the edge of out-of-control, but its enough to entertain as government operative Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) returns. Rated PG-13. Profanity, sexual material, extended scenes of gunplay and violent action. 1 hour, 47 minutes. SG16.

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

ALLEGIANCE

Broadway production of George Takeis musical about the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. 12:55 p.m. Sunday. RJ16.

NEWSIES: THE BROADWAY MUSICAL

Broadway production of the Disney stage musical Newsies. 12:35 p.m. Saturday and 7 p.m. Wednesday. SG16, RJ16.

IS GENESIS HISTORY?

Del Tackett, a former Focus on the Family Institute executive, looks for evidentiary support of the biblical book of Genesis. 7 p.m. Thursday. RJ16.

WIENER

Documentary about the former U.S. Rep. Anthony Wieners 2013 run for New York City mayor, which was doomed by a second sexting scandal. 7 p.m. Monday. WH.

DEEP IN THE HEART FILM FESTIVAL

10 a.m.-midnight Friday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday, 10-11 a.m. Sunday, Waco Hippodrome, 724 Austin Ave. Tickets are $100 for an all-festival pass, $32 for a six-pass package, $8 per individual film or short film block; available online at www.deepintheheartff.com.
Girl, 16, raped by two men posing as police

Two middle-aged men from Belbari of Morang district have been arrested on charge of raping a 16-year-old girl by posing as policemen on the night of February 10.
Nepal Investment Summit: IBN to show 8 projects as potential ventures

Investment Board Nepal (IBN) will be showcasing eight large infrastructure projects as potential ventures at the Nepal Investment Summit slated to be held from March 2-3.
A former Waco Center for Youth employee who served prison time for having improper sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl at the center 16 years ago is headed back to prison.

Judge Matt Johnson of Wacos 54th State District Court revoked Ernest James Boggess probation Thursday and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.

Boggess, 45, admitted at the contested revocation hearing that he has made mistakes in the five years he has been on probation. But he told the judge he has made positive changes in his life and has made honest efforts to abide by the terms of his probation and sex-offender treatment.

Probation officers filed a motion to revoke Boggess probation in August, citing 26 alleged violations since August 2013.

Boggess was convicted in 2002 on five counts of sexual assault and one count of indecency with a child by contact. The jury returned two-year verdicts on the first five counts and recommended that Boggess be placed on probation on the sixth count.

Then-Judge George Allen stacked the five prison terms, ordering Boggess to serve the terms consecutively for a total of 10 years in prison. He also ordered him to begin his 10-year probation term once he was released.

Boggess served almost 10 years in prison before he was released, beginning his probationary term in February 2012.

The 14-year-old girl testified at Boggess 2002 trial that she was sent to the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation facility because of a troubled past.

She said she had improper sexual contact with Boggess in her room and in an office. She also said she had sex with Boggess at a Weatherford motel while home on furlough over Thanksgiving in 2000.

Probation officers alleged that Boggess violated his probation by breaking curfew, going within 1,000 feet of child-safety zones on at least three occasions, admitting that he had contact with minors, admitting that he viewed sexually explicit materials and falling $1,440 behind in paying his court-ordered fees.

Boggess attorney, David Hudson, argued that the judge should continue his probation or modify it because many of the violations alleged were technical in nature or had valid explanations.
Petroleum Storage Plants: Indian Oil Corp ready to extend technical support to Nepal

The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has agreed in principle to provide technical support to the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) for building petroleum storage plants in all seven provinces.
Protesters at last weeks fundraiser starring Gov. Greg Abbott are complaining that Waco police violated their First Amendment rights by attempting to push them back, and Wacos police chief agrees that the police actions went too far.

Waco attorney David Schleicher sent a letter this week to Chief Ryan Holt saying police actions disrupted a peaceful protest in a public park on Feb. 9 and interfered with protesters right to be seen and heard.

I have come to the regrettable conclusion that Texas and U.S. constitutional rights to free speech were violated under the watch of your officers, wrote Schleicher, a former McLennan County Democratic Party chairman who was contacted by protesters.

Schleicher said Holt called him and assured him the department was committed to the situation not happening again.

I believe he is committed to that, Schleicher said.

The protesters had a constitutional right to protest at Fort Fisher Park, which surrounds the event center where Abbotts speech took place, Holt said during an interview with the Tribune-Herald on Wednesday.

On Thursday night, the protesters were initially put too far away, he said, adding that police ultimately allowed the protesters to move in closer to the event.

I dont think theres going to be issues going forward, Holt said. We will redouble our communications with the protesters and try at every reasonable opportunity to ensure the desires on both sides are met.

About 60 people showed up Feb. 9 to protest during a Republican Party of McLennan County fundraiser held at the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museums Knox Hall. Groups represented included the Centex Action Network, Friends of Peace and Waco Immigration Alliance.

Protesters said law enforcement initially allowed them to set up about 200 feet behind the museum in Fort Fisher Park, but police soon afterward asked them to move back to 600 feet, almost to the parking lot of the Baylor University Law School.

That set in motion a polite standoff that lasted about an hour, as protesters asked police to clarify their legal basis for moving the group. Some protesters moved back, but as others arrived, a cluster of protesters formed again at the 200-foot zone, according to several eyewitnesses.

Later, police relented and told the protesters they could stay, but several activists said their demonstration was ruined by the distraction and lack of visibility.

They squashed it, said Cheryl Foster, a member of Centex Action Network. We argued with the police for at least an hour. They argued, cajoled and escalated. People in the crowd also escalated. I was scared, because no one wants to go to jail. They were very intimidating.

Videos taken on phone cameras show a police officer and a commander, Chris Kinlaw, engaging in a peaceful dialogue with protesters. They asked the demonstrators to move back but stopped short of issuing an order.

In the video, Kinlaw said he respected the right to protest but said police were concerned about their safety.

My job is to protect yall, not the governor, he said.

He raised the specter that someone would plant a car bomb in the governors vehicle or any vehicle in his entourage, and that a 600-foot radius would protect against such a bomb.

A young protester responded: Many of us are willing to put our lives at risk. How close can we get and not be breaking the law? Were fine if we get killed by an IED.

Kinlaw also characterized the area as both a public park and as private property that is owned by the city of Waco.

This is a public park, so the hours of operation are regulated, he said in the video. Occupation at all is regulated. I checked with parks and recreation, and no one had obtained a permit to be in the park today.

At one point, he also described the area as a campground and suggested the group needed camping permits. Fort Fisher Park was an RV park until 2000 but is now protected from development because it sits on the old First Street Cemetery.

Holt and city legal officials said this week that no permit was needed to demonstrate in the park. Holt agreed with Schleicher that courts have long upheld parks as a free speech zone, where government control is extremely limited.

The U.S. Supreme Court established that principle as far back as 1939, with the decision in Hague v. CIO.

Wherever the title of streets and parks may rest, they have immemorially been held in trust for the use of the public and, time out of mind, have been used for purposes of assembly, communicating thoughts between citizens and discussing public questions, the court wrote in its Hague ruling.

Schleicher said he reviewed court cases that allow police to set up a buffer zone of 10 to 35 feet in cases not involving a private residence or a U.S. president.

In his letter, he asked Holt to agree to guidelines, including a requirement for police to give protesters the name of their commanding officer when they are required to move back more than 35 feet.

Ongoing training

In an interview, Holt said hes not planning to issue new guidelines but he will ensure officers get ongoing training in how to deal with protests. He said he and other local law enforcement officials have extensive experience in handling protests, including ones staged during the George W. Bush administration.

Its a constant battle to weigh security and safety of people of both sides with the constitutional rights for everyone, Holt said. What we normally do is try to establish a relationship before the actual protest so we can take into consideration the desires of both sides and balance those with First Amendment rights, and sometimes Second Amendment rights.

Holt said he heard no complaints about the behavior of protesters at the Abbott event, and he said he thinks its healthy for people to publicly disagree with each other.

Foster, the Centex Action Network member, said she expects to see even more protests in the next four years because of the controversial positions of President Donald Trump.

If you look at whats happening in the country, people are organizing more and more, Foster said.
AUSTIN  Its close to midnight, more than five hours since police officers came through the door of Sarahs motel room. She is just starting to pick french fries out of a fast food bag that has sat untouched in front of her.

We want you to feel safe, a female police officer is telling her. Thats why Detective Watts came and found you the first time, and thats why he came right back in and got you the second time.

Sarah nods. Shes small, even in her puffy winter jacket with the fur-lined hood. Her hair is tied in a top-knot; tracks of smudged mascara darken her eyes.

Shes there because she exchanged text messages with an undercover police officer earlier that afternoon. He asked the price for full service. She responded like she was supposed to: $120 for oral and vaginal sex. Then she gave him the number of a room at a Motel 6 on Interstate 35.

It was January 2014. This was the second time in 30 days Austin police had retrieved the 16-year-old from a roadside motel.

The month before, officers found Sarah when she was staying at the Super 8 across the highway. A housekeeper called 911 after finding bloody towels in the bathroom. Police discovered her with a 35-year-old man named Chris.

Sarah said the towels were bloody because she sometimes cut herself when she was upset. When police asked her whether Chris was forcing her to prostitute, she said no. Without evidence to arrest him, he went free. Sarah, a troubled kid whod been in and out of police custody, went back to juvenile detention for breaking probation.

Opening up

It was during her short stay there that she finally opened up about Chris.

An Austin police detective named Trent Watts began visiting her. He brought her favorite snack: hot fries and Gatorade.

Sarah told him shed been staying in motels with Chris for weeks, mostly in Austin but also in Dallas and San Antonio. To make money for Chris, she had sex with men who responded to ads he posted online  five to 10 times a day.

By the time kids like Sarah get picked up by police, theyve already endured a lot.

Theyve most likely suffered repeated physical and sexual abuse, both in their homes and on the streets. Theyre often deeply bonded to their pimps and so entrenched in their lifestyle that they believe theyve chosen it. Anger and mistrust  the very qualities that helped them survive such dangerous conditions  have put them at odds with the caseworkers and care providers who tried to help.

Then theyre thrown into juvenile lockups that either dont recognize their trauma or dont have the resources to treat it.

Most of their stories dont end well. But for a brief moment, Sarahs looked promising: The system worked like it was supposed to.

Austin police officers had enough training to recognize her as a potential victim and to alert their departments specialized trafficking team. A probation officer knew to call them when Sarah went missing again. In part because of the skilled detectives working the case, Chris pleaded guilty, so Sarah never had to go through the ordeal of testifying against him in court.

She also had access to the only specialized treatment center Texas offers child sex-trafficking victims: Freedom Place, a rare facility that has raised enough private dollars to care for up to 20 of the states estimated 80,000 child sex-trafficking victims at any given time.

Watts, a veteran police detective who started his career two decades ago investigating child abuse cases, allowed himself a rare moment of optimism.

Maybe shell be the one who gets to go in a different direction, he said, who has enough of a platform, enough of a support, enough anchors to where she wont need to go back to the only thing that she knows.

In the police interview room after the undercover sting, Sarah nervously swivels her chair. She slowly begins to volunteer information about what has happened since she left juvenile detention.

She moved back into her mothers Austin home. Within days, Chris reconnected with her through a friend. He wanted to meet up at a nearby motel. At first she said no. Then he grew threatening, texting her the address of her mothers home and a picture of her little sister and brothers lifted from her Facebook page.

He wants me, fine. He wants to hurt my family, nuh-uh, Sarah says, shaking her head. I mean, I know what to expect from him. They dont know what to expect from him.

More details come pouring out.

There was the time Chris learned Sarah had made a plan to escape, so he stripped her naked and took away her clothes. The time she woke up disoriented after a client drugged her  and Chris told her to shake it off and take a shower. The time she didnt want to have sex with Chris and he raped her, saying he shouldnt have to ask.

Sarah eventually says shes willing to take a sexual assault exam to help collect evidence against him.

When theyll run

People who care for sex-trafficking victims have a common refrain: Its not if theyll run away, but when.

Theyve been brainwashed. They have to be un-brainwashed, said Angela Goodwin, the director of investigations for the Department of Family and Protective Services, the states child welfare agency. They run and they run and they run. Sometimes the most you can hope for is, the times in between runs, theyll be shorter.

A crucial element of what clinicians refer to as trauma-informed care is helping victims build healthy, trusting relationships  ones that allow them to battle the deep shame and helplessness that trigger the impulse to flee.

They come across as a bad street kid because thats what theyve had to do to survive, said Chuck Paul, a former Texas child welfare investigator who is raising money to build a new shelter for trafficking victims in San Antonio. These kids are like, Everybody Ive ever trusted in my life has always written me off. How are you any different? 

Trafficking victims have learned to operate in constant survival mode, which throws the decision-making part of their brains into chaos. Confronted with the challenge of processing whats happened to them, that mindset can be volatile. Every aspect of their treatment requires a carefully considered approach.

You are disrupting their continuity and their connection, said Angela Ellis, a Harris County juvenile judge who leads a specialty court for trafficking victims. Maybe you and I can look at it and say, Thats a really unhealthy connection to have. But its what they have, its what they know, and you are in some ways disrespecting their entire life and what they believe are their choices and their experiences.

Pimps enforce rules through punishment and reward. So Shandra Carter, Freedom Places executive director, said she doesnt use that tactic when rehabilitating victims. If a girl starts acting up or pushing boundaries, everyone at Freedom Place  from counselors to cooks to maintenance workers  is trained to be a calming presence, not to shout or lecture.

Freedom Place

After her second run-in with Austin police, Sarah heads back to juvenile detention. A few weeks later, she has landed at Freedom Place.

At the former summer camp, on 110 acres in a confidential location outside of Houston, girls have single bedrooms or a double they share with a roommate. They go to an in-house school. There are horses and dogs, a lake surrounded by tall pine trees.

The facility is designed to keep girls secure  both from their attempts to run away and from the pimps who may be trying to find them. A 10-foot-tall fence surrounds the property. Before they go to bed at night, they take off their shoes and place them in bins outside their rooms. Staff monitor who goes in and out of the campus 24 hours a day.

There, Sarah is surrounded by other girls who identify with her experiences. Though she tells her mother she misses her friends and family in Austin, in phone calls and letters she seems happier than shes been in years.

But then Sarah tries to run, her mother says. She breaks the rules by asking her friends to come pick her up, giving them the address of whats supposed to be a confidential location. Between six and nine months after she arrives, her mother says, Sarah is forced to leave because she has become a safety risk to the other girls.

With Freedom Place off the table, theres nowhere for Sarah to go but back to juvenile detention, where she remains until her 18th birthday.

Sarah is now 19. Since she left juvenile detention, she has been arrested once for prostitution in Harris County, a charge that was later dismissed. The Texas Tribunes attempts to reach her have been unsuccessful, but her mother says they keep in touch. Sarahs living in Houston with a boyfriend, she says, and trying to start a modeling career.

For Watts and the dozens of other police officers, prosecutors and caseworkers the Tribune interviewed for this series, cases like Sarahs are the rule, not the exception. Reminding themselves that the recovery process operates on its own timeline, theyve learned to redefine success for kids like Sarah in different, more qualitative ways.

Did she come visit a caseworker between arrests? Did she call a familiar detective when she needed help in the hospital? Has she stopped cutting herself as much? Did she get that job at the convenience store?
The outlook for bidding the entire Interstate 35 widening project through Waco in a single project has become more uncertain as state leaders prepare to make a recommendation on the project next week.

The Texas Transportation Commission will issue a proposal Feb. 23 for how it will use its discretionary money for projects across Texas, including the widening of Interstate 35 through Waco.

Metropolitan Planning Organization director Chris Evilia said Thursday that Waco-area leaders are continuing to push for the full $433 million to rebuild the interstate between Robinson and Bellmead.

But Evilia told the MPOs technical committee Thursday that revenue forecasts have dimmed for the new highway funding streams created by voter-approved propositions. One of the initiatives, Proposition 1, is funded by oil and gas revenue. The other, Proposition 7, is funded by state sales tax.

Evilia said Proposition 7 was expected to yield $2 billion in the next biennium, but if sales tax trends hold, the fund may only get $500 million.

With less revenue, the Texas Transportation Commission may have little choice but to cut the Waco I-35 project into two or three phases, he said.

The Texas Department of Transportation has looked at a two-phase project, starting with 12th Street to North Loop 340, followed by 12th Street to South Loop 340. Such a project would cost a total of $492 million.

A three-phase project could cost $520 million and result in a construction project lasting from 2019 to 2027.

The (MPO) policy board is not too enthusiastic about that three-phase plan, and its not thrilled with two phases either, Evilia said.

But, that may be the best possible option.

If you dont have the money, you dont have the money, he said.

The MPO policy board, which sets priorities for state transportation funding in the Waco area, meets at noon Tuesday at the South Waco Community Center, 2815 Speight Ave.

Evilia said theres also a danger of missing the opportunity for funding altogether.

The thing that concerns me is, if we do wait on that, have we missed our opportunity to see that funding? he said. Then we have to go through the same battle to get it funded. The commission is sensitive to our situation and wants to help, but their ability to help may be less than theyd like it to be.

The competition for state discretionary funding will be fierce, said Michael Bolin, director of transportation planning and development for the TxDOT Waco district.

Every time Ive seen draft numbers theyve gone down, Bolin said. For this current distribution in March, theyre trying to satisfy a lot of needs through the state.

In addition to the Texas Transportation Commissions discretionary money, the MPO is expecting an allotment from TxDOT averaging $20 million a year in the next decade for local projects.

The MPO has signaled that it would contribute some of that money to Interstate 35, but it is committed to also funding a $35 million interchange at Speegleville Road and Highway 84, starting in late 2018.
Its a Watergate-era cliche that the cover-up is always worse than the crime. In the Mike Flynn affair, we have the first recorded instance of a cover-up in the absence of a crime.

Being covered up were the Dec. 29 phone calls between Flynn and the Russian ambassador to Washington. The presumed violation was Flynn negotiating with a foreign adversary while the Obama administration was still in office and, even worse, discussing with Sergey Kislyak the sanctions then being imposed upon Russia (for meddling in the 2016 elections).

Whats wrong with that? It is risible to invoke the Logan Act, passed during the John Adams administration, under which not a single American has been prosecuted in the intervening 218 years. It prohibits private citizens from negotiating with foreign powers. Flynn was hardly a private citizen. As Donald Trumps publicly designated incoming national security adviser, it was perfectly reasonable for him to be talking to foreign actors in preparation for assuming office within the month.

Worst case: He was telling Kislyak that the Trump administration might lift sanctions and therefore, comrade, no need for a spiral of retaliations. How different is this from Barack Obama telling Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, on an inadvertently open mic, during his 2012 re-election campaign: This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility.

Flynn would have been giving the Russians useful information that might well have contributed to Russias decision not to retaliate. Im no Russophile. But again: Whats wrong with that? Turns out, the Trump administration has not lifted those sanctions. Its all a tempest in an empty teapot.

The accusations of misbehavior by Flynn carry a subliminal echo of a long-standing charge against Richard Nixon that he interfered in the Paris peace talks in October 1968 to prevent his Democratic opponent from claiming a major foreign policy success on the eve of the presidential election.

But that kind of alleged diplomatic freelancing would have prolonged a war in which Americans were dying daily. The Flynn conversation was nothing remotely of the sort. Wheres the harm?

The harm was not the calls but Flynns lying about them. And most especially lying to the vice president who then went out and told the world Flynn had never discussed sanctions. You cant leave your vice president undercut and exposed. Flynn had to go.

Up to this point, the story makes sense. Except for one thing: Why the cover-up if there is no crime? Why lie about talking about sanctions? Its inexplicable. Did Flynn want to head off lines of inquiry about other contacts with Russians that might not have been so innocent? Massive new leaks suggest numerous contacts during the 2016 campaign between Trump associates and Russian officials, some of whom were intelligence agents. Up till now, however, reports The New York Times, there is no evidence of any Trump campaign collusion or cooperation with Russian hacking and other interference in the U.S. election.

Thus far. Which is why there will be investigations. Speculation ranges from the wildly malevolent to the rather loopily innocent.

At one end of the spectrum is the scenario wherein these campaign officials  including perhaps Flynn, perhaps even Trump  are compromised because of tainted business or political activities known to the Russians, to whom they are now captive. At the benign end of the spectrum: the easily flattered Trump imagines himself the great dealmaker who overnight becomes a great statesman by charming Vladimir Putin into a Nixon-to-China grand bargain  we jointly call off the new Cold War, join forces to destroy the Islamic State and reach a new accommodation for Europe that relieves us of some of the burden of parasitic allies.

To me, the idea is nuts, a narcissistic fantasy grounded in neither strategy nor history. But that doesnt mean Trump might not imagine it  after all, he maintains that if we had only stayed in Iraq to steal its oil, we wouldnt have the Islamic State.

I believe neither of these scenarios but Im hard put to come up with alternatives. The puzzle remains. Why did Flynn lie? Until we answer that, the case of the cover-up in search of a crime remains unsolved.

Charles Krauthammer is also a commentator for Fox News.
We suspect many fellow Central Texans agreed with Republican Congressman Bill Flores when in a Monday night tweet he welcomed the abrupt departure of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, surely one of the loosest cannons in a Trump administration full of such cannons. Flynn was reportedly involved in inappropriate discussions with a high-ranking Russian official about possibly pulling punishing sanctions on Russia. Flores tweet: Glad Michael Flynn is gone from White House. We need more sanctions on Russia, not fewer!

That said, some local skeptics pounced on Flores, questioning his relative silence as the questions mounted about a White House demonstrating at times an unusual fondness for Russian President Vladimir Putin. One constituent replied to Flores tweet about Flynn: You didnt do a thing to stop him. You stayed silent. You dont get credit now. Another questioned Republican resolve in the face of foreign infiltration into our government.

To be fair, the Trump White House has sent conflicting signals when it comes to the Russians. President Trump was right Wednesday when he blamed the Obama administration for weakness after Russia annexed Crimea by force (though, again to be fair, Ukraine is not a NATO member). And we cheered new U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haleys hardline approach about the Russians at the United Nations this month. Haley, presumably with Trumps backing, stated sanctions against Russia would not be lifted so long as the Russians remain in Crimea.

Nonetheless, Flynns questionable, possibly illegal contact with a Kremlin official only fuels new and disturbing reports about repeated contact between Trump campaign aides and Russian officials that arose about the same time Russians aggressively pursued efforts to disrupt the 2016 presidential election by hacking into the Democratic National Committee.

If thats not enough, how smart is it of a president  and someone who stresses his businessmans logic  to allow his vice president to go uninformed about Flynns misconduct to the outrageous extent that Mike Pence unwittingly stated falsehoods on TV in defense of Flynn and Trump? Yet Trump and senior aides kept Pence in the dark for two weeks. And Pence has been nothing if not loyal to Trump.

Blame the press and our nations intelligence community if you must. But the Trump administration is veering into dangerous territory by failing to address this intrigue and dubious behavior while ranting about imaginary waves of voter fraud, fanciful inaugural-crowd figures and fictional, Muslim-led massacres in places like Bowling Green, Kentucky. We support calls by Republican Sens. John Cornyn, Roy Blunt and Lindsey Graham to broaden bipartisan investigations to include the apparent subterfuge involving Flynn, the Trump White House and transcripts of Flynns calls with the Russian ambassador to the United States. Given the tenor of our polarized nation, such questions  unless answered fully  will only work to delegitimize the Trump presidency. Surely such allegations are at least as important as former Secretary of State Hillary Clintons unsecured emails.
Our one true aim

I think we should do away with the terms pro-life and pro-choice. They are inaccurate, inadequate and create false dichotomies. I propose we all unite for our common goal, which is to decrease the abortion rate.

Statistics from around the world show abortion rates are lowest wherever education, medically accurate information and access to contraception is highest. If we want to decrease the abortion rate, we should employ these methods. Quite simply, these methods work to achieve the common goal of reducing abortion rates.

On the other hand, obstructionist legislation, as seen proposed repeatedly by our Texas legislators who identify as pro-life, hurts women and families by creating unreasonable and undue hardships for those seeking abortion. Further, the intent of such legislation is to punish and shame women for their choices.

If you believe that the reasonable, demonstrably successful way to reduce the abortion rate is with information and education, please speak out and inform your representatives of your opinion. It matters. Perhaps this group could be renamed pro-education. On the other hand, if you prefer that your lawmakers continue inventing ways to make circumstances difficult or impossible for clinicians, practitioners, providers, families and women making choices about their reproduction, perhaps this group could be renamed pro-punishment.

This renaming of terms would change the conversation to more accurately define the reality of the abortion debate. Which term would best define you? Pro-education or pro-punishment?

Rebecca Fox, LPC, Waco

A few ideas

While I still do not understand the bathroom issue, I do have a solution that will eliminate the who-can-use-which-bathroom issue. Eliminate mens and womens restrooms altogether. Just have one large bathroom for all to use.

No more lines either.

As for illegal immigrants and this business of building a wall, we can solve that easily too. Have all those protesters on these marches review and vet everyone at the border. They seem to have so much free time on their hands protesting, appearing on the news and writing blogs, op-eds and social media complaining about it. Then make those who get cleared actual citizens so they have to pay taxes like the rest of us.

Let them build the wall as their first paying job to get them on their feet and not on our free hand-out programs.

Karl Lauritzen, Waco

Osler cast out!

That distinguished legal scholar, author and former Baylor University law professor Mark Oslers invitation to speak at Baylor Chapel should be rescinded for the reasons given is unconscionable. What has happened to the Baylor that 100,000 alumni knew and loved?

Bette McCall Miller, BA 1967, Pittsburg
AUSTIN  Numerous former government officials convicted on corruption charges, ranging from a former Texas attorney general to local mayors and district clerks, are still eligible to collect lucrative public pensions, a Texas Tribune investigation has found.

The Tribune identified more than two dozen former elected officials with prior felony convictions who are potentially collecting retirement payouts. They include former Attorney General Dan Morales, former state Rep. Joe Driver and the former sheriff of Hidalgo County, Lupe Trevino. State Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, is facing felony abuse-of-office charges and could soon join the list.

But a veil of secrecy over the state and local pension systems in charge of the retirement payments makes it impossible to find out whether individual government employees-turned-convicts are receiving them or how much they receive.

The Tribune investigation drew from news accounts and records obtained from the office of Sen. Van Taylor, R-Plano, who authored Senate Bill 14  a sweeping ethics bill filed last month  in part to revoke pensions from law-breaking lawmakers. Taylor requested information on politician-convicts from the states public pension systems and provided the Tribune with a list of names in response to a public information request.

The thought of a corrupt and criminal politician sitting in a jail cell collecting a government pension is appalling, Taylor said in an email. Through a series of inquiries, I uncovered evidence that elected officials convicted of felonies while in office receive taxpayer funded pensions in prison.

Taylor said he couldnt provide details on which convicted former officials received retirement pay or the amount they receive.

The Tribune obtained a list of 45 elected officials who might be qualified to receive pensions despite prior felony convictions. Of those, the Tribune has identified 29 government officials who have fulfilled the minimum requirements to collect retirement pay, despite convictions for crimes ranging from drug trafficking to extortion.

Among the former officials eligible to collect retirement pay either now or when they reach retirement age are:

Morales, who pleaded guilty in 2003 to altering government records to give lawyer friend Marc Murr more than $500 million from the $17.3 billion settlement that tobacco companies paid the state to alleviate health care costs for damages caused by smoking. After serving eight years as attorney general and six years as a state representative, Morales served three years in federal prison. Morales could not be reached for comment.

Former state Rep. Jim Solis, D-Harlingen, who in 2011 pleaded guilty to helping former state District Judge Abel C. Limas with his racketeering scheme; an attorney at the time, Solis admitted to paying Limas $8,000 for more favorable rulings. He served three years in prison, while Limas is still serving a six-year sentence in federal prison. Solis could not be reached for comment.

Starting in the late 1990s, state lawmakers began closing off public access to their own retirement benefits records  and those of state employees. In a state that pays its legislators only $7,200 per year, pensions constitute a legislators biggest payday: after eight years of service, they are eligible for $25,760 per year in retirement pay by age 60; after 25 years of service they can net $80,500 per year.
The Ashland Historical Society is a non-profit corporation open for membership to all interested persons. It receives no federal, state or county money for its support. No admission is charged but donations are appreciated as is volunteer labor. The mission of the Society is to collect, care for, exhibit, interpret and demonstrate items that will serve to illustrate the history of the Ashland area. In October, 1996 a group of Ashland residents met to organize a historical society. Officers were chosen and meetings are quarterly with an annual meeting held in October. In February, 2015 the City of Ashland rented the Carnegie Library building to the Historical Society for use as a museum. Artifacts have been collected and are displayed on a rotation basis. Biographies of Ashland citizens, histories of homes and businesses, and photographs of the area are on file. Our thanks to all who have contributed to this collection.
WAHOO  The beginning of the new year greeted a familiar face in a new position at Saunders Medical Center in Wahoo.

Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, Family Nurse Practitioner Abby Chase is in the orientation phase of transitioning to her new role as an emergency care provider.

Ive always been interested in the emergency facility because it deals with pediatrics through the lifespan, Chase said.

Chase was a registered nurse who worked in the emergency room at SMC.

It has been a nice transition because this already feels like home, Chase said.

Once her orientation is complete, Chase will be working fulltime during the day and be in the on call rotation during evenings and weekends.

But some days are busier in the emergency room than others, Chase said.

While her emergency services will take priority, Chase will continue to provide acute care to clinical patients. These patients wont have scheduled a routine appointment, but are in need of immediate care, even though their conditions may not warrant admittance to the ER.

I have to be ready to see patients in the emergency room or in the hospital, she said.

While there are other emergency care providers, Chase will be informed of the triage of emergency room patients and will visit each patient before being dismissed.

The Ashland resident said she does not mind the unpredictability of the job, as shes able to do what shes passionate about where she considers a top-notch facility.

Chase, who has also worked as a registered nurse in the emergency room at the Nebraska Methodist Health System in Omaha, said she prefers working in rural health care because of the active role providers get to play in a multitude of departments and patient needs.

In her new position, Chase said she will continue SMCs longstanding priority to meet the needs of the ever changing health care industry.

Wahoo is wonderful to look to improve technology, she said. Ill always look how we can improve patient care.

Improving patient care begins with her, as she has plans to further her capabilities and become a certified trauma care provider.

With a doctorate degree and master degree in education, Chase keeps busy when shes off-call as a clinical adjunct at Nebraska Methodist College and College of St. Mary in Omaha.

She currently teaches nursing students from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays. However, after this rotation, Chase said she plans to take a break from teaching so she can focus solely on her new role.

I love to teach, but I get to teach my patients here everyday, she said.
Maoists for pushing polls, charter revision together

Leaders of the ruling CPN (Maoist Centre) have said the government should take forward both the date of the local polls and the constitutional amendment bill simultaneously.
BRAINARD  The East Butler School Board of Education opened two sealed bids for the vacant Prague facility during the Feb. 8 monthly meeting.

The first bid was from George Duncan of Meadville, Mo. The $11,100 proposed amount was for the entire school facility without stipulation.

Duncan is the owner of Gold Nugget Properties LLC., a commercial property redevelopment company.

The second bid was from Dan Havlovic of Prague. The $30,000 proposed amount, which included a $3,000 down payment, was for the facilitys elementary, gym and shop, with the stipulation the district demolish the remaining old portion of the school.

Havlovic and his wife, Annie, were in attendance. The couple had prepared and attached a statement with the bid.

It is with heavy hearts that we ask this, but it would just not be feasible for us to keep the older part of the school building in place, the statement read.

Havlovic cited liability and costs associated with keeping that portion of the building.

Havlovic proposed building a memorial made from salvaged bricks and masonry slabs which include writing and the year the building was built to honor where the building once stood.

According to his proposal, Havlovic intends to house two of his companies in the facility: a ceramic coating business operating out of the schools shop and all-terrain mobility chairs for disabled.

The gym would remain intact for community members to utilize upon reasonable request.

Memorabilia will stay intact with the knowledge they do not belong to us but rather the patrons the Prague Public School district, the statement read.

The Havlovices and their children graduated from the Prague School District.

During the Feb. 8 meeting, Havlovic told board members operating his businesses is not the only intent for purchasing the facility.

Ive got a grandson that wants to practice his three-point shot and a granddaughter that wants to practice spiking the volleyball, so theyre pretty pumped, he said.

He added that while his business insurance will not insure a community event, events could still be hosted in the gymnasium under the villages or Prague Sentential insurance.

You guys have to decide whats best for the district, and we totally understand that, he said.

During discussion of the bids, Superintendent Sam Stecher said each bid had rationale.

Were not in the business of just numbers  were in the business of people, Stecher said. Financial capital wise and human capital wise you have rationales, but (human capital) is not as concretely quantifiable.

Board members asked the superintendent if he had more information on Duncan.

Stecher said per telephone conversations, to his knowledge, Duncan had not seen the property and that he submits bids on other vacant school buildings across the country.

Board member Kim TePoel

said she had concerns about the vagueness of Duncans proposal.

Is it going to become a glorified junk shop, she asked. I dont think its fair to the Prague community to sell it without some kind of background.

Board Member Marlene Wade agreed. She said that her opinion was in favor of tearing down the old portion with the certainty the remaining facility would not become an eyesore.

Board President Megan Kozicek wanted to know a finite demolition cost of the old portion of the building, before reaching a decision.

Stecher has received an estimate of $300,000, but would need to create a request for proposal should the board decide to pursue Havolvics bid.

The funds would come from the schools special buildings fund, which Stecher reported will have $1.4 million by the time all taxes are collected for the year.

The board unanimously voted to table the matter and make a decision after receiving demolition bids.

The board will reconvene discussion about the Prague facility during its 6:30 p.m. March 8 monthly meeting in the East Butler library in Brainard.
WCM Workshop Schedule: Six half-day classes on topics of interest to warranty professionals and service contract practitioners are scheduled for Tucson in early March, during the day before the beginning of the main conference.

In less than three weeks, warranty professionals will gather in Tucson, Arizona, for the 13th annual Warranty Chain Management Conference. And as always, the opening day is taken up by a series of pre-conference workshops.

Many times, at past conferences, people arrive too late to attend any of the workshops, but wish they had. So while there's still time for attendees to switch to an earlier flight, we wanted to provide some detail about what's on offer.

This year, there will be six workshops -- three in the morning and three in the afternoon on Tuesday, March 7. They'll be followed by a welcome reception in the evening, and then the main conference proceeds on Wednesday and Thursday.

What these workshops provide is a deep dive into a single topic, such as avoiding lawsuits or customizing service contracts. They're run by experts in the field, but the attendees are from all levels. And what they all know is the fundamental value of conferences like these: none of this material can be learned from books.

Morning Workshops

There are three workshops scheduled for 9 AM to 12 noon:

"Limited Warranty and ESP Program Warranty Analytics: How to Unleash New Profitability and Customer Loyalty," "Transforming Warranty Management Into Improved Customer Satisfaction and Revenue Generation," and "Product Pricing and Development 101."

The first one on the list, "Limited Warranty and ESP Program Warranty Analytics: How to Unleash New Profitability and Customer Loyalty," will be presented by three industry executives from After Inc.: Paul Swenson, Executive Vice President of Business Development; Scott Morrison, Executive Vice President of Business Development; and Dan Adelsberg, Group Director, Analytics.

After Inc., a longtime sponsor of this newsletter, is a spin-off from a research company called Fulcrum Analytics Inc. It specializes in helping manufacturers, retailers, administrators and underwriters understand the income, expenses, and profitability of their aftermarket sales and extended warranty programs, through the use of warranty analytics and quantitative methods.

Swenson is one of only a handful of people who have been to all 12 of the WCM Conferences held to date. At most of them, he and the After Inc. team have made well-attended presentations during the main conference, at the workshops, or both. He said they're asked back primarily because the reviews collected from previous attendees have always been very positive. And based upon personal experience, we can confirm that their room is usually quite full until the very end of the workshop.

Swenson said he really enjoys this chance to discuss some of the arts and sciences that underpin the product protection industry. "Understanding risk and accurate loss cost analytics are at the very core of limited warranty and service contract management, and ultimately the customer experience. And it's probably the least understood fundamental," he said. So he's very happy to be asked back to explain it to a new group each year.

This year, the team added the words "Customer Loyalty" into the workshop's title for a specific reason, Swenson said. "This isn't just about cost management. It's also about the customer experience, and how do you make sure that your forecast cost per unit for a particular liability or term takes into account the type of customer experience that you want to have."

It's not just a repair, he said. It's a question of what else you want to do for the customer to keep them coming back? What additional benefits might be offered? And what would they cost?

Swenson said a wide range of people have come to the workshop in years past. "We get a lot of different types coming in. We have actuaries who come to it. We have service contract program managers. We have claims administrators, and those who are responsible for managing claims costs. We have a lot of extended service contract managers, because they're trying to come to grips with outsourcing and how they can make improvements to their programs," Swenson explained.

"Other times, we have controllers who come in. We have marketing managers, service managers, and so on, all trying to come to grips with how they can do a better job of forecasting losses and claims, and how they can do a better job of claim management." It doesn't require any advanced knowledge of mathematics, he added.

This workshop covers both limited warranties and service contracts, Swenson noted. He said they share a lot of the same actuarial and analytical methods, with of course the main difference being that warranties are given away as a benefit of a product purchase while the other is an optional add-on, sold separately. But they also share the same disadvantage, in that product technology and designs are changing so fast that past history is not always a good predictor of future behavior.

"So we've developed some specific analytic techniques for the forecasting of frequency and severity that have proven to be highly accurate," he said. Many of After's clients use these techniques to double-check the figures of the insurance underwriters they work with. And some of those insurance companies, rather than using their own methods, have now instead adopted the After techniques, he said.

Raising Customer Satisfaction Levels

Another possibility for the morning timeslot is a workshop entitled, "Transforming Warranty Management Into Improved Customer Satisfaction and Revenue Generation," to be presented by Bill Pollock, President of Strategies for Growth, a consulting firm based in Westtown, PA.

Pollock, who is also a repeat presenter of WCM workshops, said he's aiming this year's presentation at managers and executives who need to improve customer satisfaction, drive revenues, and gain competitive advantage through improved warranty management.

"The perfect attendee would be anyone who deals both internally and externally with customer satisfaction, revenue generation, revenue management, or sales and marketing," he said. "They're the people who have the mandate -- all their merit increases, their bonuses, are going to be dependent on how efficiently they run their part of the warranty management organization."

Pollock said companies want to see both a contribution to the bottom line and an improvement in customer satisfaction levels. "But they're almost diametrically opposed to one another," he said. Deny more claims and satisfaction drops. Approve more claims and profits drop. So there has to be another way: increase revenue.

"One of the best things you can do to improve your revenue stream and to satisfy customers is to focus on warranty management, contract renewals, and attachment rates," Pollock said. "You're going to have increased revenues, and they're going to be more predictable."

Once the revenue increases, the money can be invested in automating and improving processes, which will ultimately raise customer satisfaction levels, Pollock explained. The goal is to turn a warranty claim into a more pleasant encounter for the customer, rather than adding insult on top of the injury.

"If you can't make them feel better virtually immediately, then you're going to allow a bad situation to get even worse," he said. "What you need to do is build a warranty management program that can generate increased revenue, then take that revenue and spend it on improving the processes."

Pollock said his advice is backed up by surveys he's conducted both recently and in years past. "The first part of the workshop is going to be me presenting what best practices organizations are doing that are different from what the average organization is doing. But we also introduced some new questions into the survey this year," he said, such as whether your organization has recently upgraded its warranty management solution. "What we're finding is that there's a big difference," he said, in metrics such as claims processing time, service profitability, and supplier recovery rates.

More basically, Pollock said, the companies that recently upgraded their warranty management solutions are better not only at measuring themselves, but also at reporting the improved metrics. "Now, through more automated processes, through the cloud, powered by the Internet of things, you can build algorithms that allow you to more quickly identify than ever before, what's really making a difference," he said.

The third offering of the morning is "Product Pricing and Development 101," to be presented by Trish Myers, a Senior Director at EFG Companies. Founded 40 years ago, EFG provides vehicle service contract administration, training, and compliance services to automotive dealers and manufacturers. Myers is also presenting an afternoon workshop that focuses on product pricing and data analytics.

Afternoon Workshops

At 2 PM, three more workshops will convene in the Hilton:

"Warranty Claims Handling 101," "Service Revenue Maximization: Key Strategies for Increasing Extended Warranty Attachment and Renewal Rates," and "Product Pricing: Data Analytics."

The first gives warranty professionals a chance to spend three hours with a defense attorney who wants to keep her clients out of court. The second is a deep dive into the realm of business-to-business service contracts. And the third is another chance to learn about warranty analytics and forecasting methods.

"Warranty Claims Handling 101," presented by Amanda Heitz, an Associate Attorney with Bowman and Brooke LLP, is not so much about how to handle claims as it is about how to handle claims in a way that reduces the need for lawsuits.

"I do a lot of product defense work," she said. "A lot of times, people will claim there's a defect in a product, and that it hurt them, or it caused them some sort of financial loss, and we are hired to represent the manufacturer." She said she would rather that those defects were handled properly as warranty claims, minimizing injuries and losses, and maximizing customer satisfaction.

Heitz said she is driving down to Tucson for the day from her firm's office in Phoenix. At last year's WCM Conference, Justin Niznik, a colleague of hers from the Orlando office, made a similar drive to Jacksonville, Florida, to present an identically-titled WCM workshop that also focused on warranty and the law. But like he said last year, it's not for lawyers. It's for claims handlers who want to avoid lawyers.

What she's doing, in essence, is showing potential clients how to eliminate the need to hire a product defense attorney like her in the future, by improving the way that warranty claims are handled from the outset. If she does a good job, she will effectively be reducing her future income. But she predicted that there won't be any reduction in the number of plaintiffs any time soon, because in some states they can make the defendant pay their attorney fees if they prevail.

"This can be a very complex area of law, and there can be a lot of traps for the unwary. And there's an entire cottage industry that's grown up that specializes in suing manufacturers for breach of warranty," she said.

Closing Legal Loopholes

One thing those plaintiff's attorneys seem to love, she said, is a poorly-written repair order. "Sometimes these repair orders don't do a good job of explaining what's really going on, and they create loopholes that cause problems later on."

For instance, most manufacturers ask the repair technicians to write down whatever the customer tells them is the problem. But they don't ask the technician to also write down whether or not they agree. And they don't write down whether the problem is a defect, or whether it's completely normal. So a customer can later claim that the technician couldn't fix the defect described in the repair order, when there was never anything wrong to begin with.

"It's good to have some information in the hands of the people responsible for doing this warranty work, of how they can best protect themselves," Heitz said. "I see my presentation helping people stay out of my office. I would rather have my clients happy with how things are being managed, rather than us dealing with poorly-written repair orders, or not handling a customer situation correctly, or writing something inappropriate in an email."

Heitz said she asked some of her clients to make a list of some of the things that drive them nuts. "I work hand-in-hand with in-house counsel, or their paralegals, and they see all these statements from the customer service representatives on the phone, or from the dealerships."

So she and they are very familiar with what not to do. But she also plans to pass on some best practices tips about what they should do, what they should say, and what they should write down.

"We're going to do an intro to the law," she said, and what not to do. Some of the basics, such as an overview of the MagnusonMoss Warranty Act and some aspects of the various state-level lemon laws, will be included. But it will be done at an introductory level, hence the "101" in the title.

Heitz said she also plans to go over what information claims handlers would need to give to an outside counsel such as herself, if things do someday end up in court. That can get very expensive, very quickly.

"At the end of the day, it isn't just about replacing a $5,000 transmission. If we have to fight about it, this becomes a $100,000 problem. And it's not just my fees. It's having to pay the other person's fees."

Commercial Extended Warranties

Another possibility for the afternoon is a workshop entitled, "Service Revenue Maximization: Key Strategies for Increasing Extended Warranty Attachment and Renewal Rates," which will be presented by Ron Giuntini, President of Giuntini & Company Inc.

Giuntini said he was originally scheduled to co-present the workshop with Michael Blumberg, President of the Blumberg Advisory Group Inc. But Blumberg can't make it to Tucson, so Giuntini said he will do it alone.

The pair just finished a major survey on the subject of commercial extended warranties, Giuntini said. They had over 200 responses, and a presentation of the results will take up the first half of the workshop, he said. Everybody who attends gets a copy of the results.

The central topic of the survey, and the premise for this workshop, is to look at how the manufacturers of business-to-business products, such as trucks, telecom equipment, aerospace, construction, and industrial automation systems, can sell more extended warranties and entice customers to keep renewing them. The secret, he said, is to allow the contracts to be highly customized to fit the client's situation.

"We came up with over a dozen different ways people are dealing with it," Giuntini said. For instance, one manufacturer found that some customers weren't renewing their service contracts because they wanted only parts, since they had their own repair technicians. And they said repairs under warranty took longer than if their own staff had done the work, resulting in more downtime. What they wanted was a parts-only service contract.

In the aerospace industry, he said, jet engine extended warranties are called "power by the hour," which provide both preventative maintenance and repair services to keep the unit in service as constantly as possible. The phrase was coined by Rolls-Royce Holdings, but it's spread across the industry as airlines praised the value of these kinds of programs.

"Performance is much more demanding in the commercial sector," Giuntini said. Downtime is the biggest problem, not the cost of repairs. So extended warranties in the commercial sector have to specify response times, and sometimes they're specified in hours, not days.

Not Like Retail

"Sometimes, we're talking about multi-millions of dollars worth of machinery, where you have hundreds of thousands of dollars of contracts," he said. Sometimes the manufacturer's repair technicians are stationed on-site, so they can respond immediately. "It's not like the retail business."

Giuntini said one of the biggest challenges manufacturers have with commercial extended warranties is trying to predict the risk based on a small number of units, and then pricing the service contracts appropriately. "Especially when they're introducing a new product that may be a little leading edge," he said, they're likely to be wrong about the loss cost -- either too high or too low. "You just don't have the numbers to distribute the risk over a large population."

Meanwhile, customers also know the risk of being pioneers, so they will insist on coverage. But if it's priced too high, that sends a signal that even the manufacturer is uncertain about product reliability. So it might be appropriate for a manufacturer to sell the contracts at a loss, as part of the cost of a new product introduction.

Another suggestion is for commercial product manufacturers to increase renewal rates by gradually dropping the price of service contracts from one year to the next. "It shows that I want to work with you," he said.

The survey asked specific questions about who in the organization actually configures and prices the extended warranties, Giuntini said. "Every company is a little different."

It also asked questions about whether most of the extended warranties had standard terms and conditions, or if they could be customized. "But then we asked them where they wanted to head, in regard to increasing your sales. And a plurality were to increase customized offerings," he added.
NA protecting officials in Mainas case: Lawyers

Thirteen months after the Kavre district courts order, the Nepal Army has not sent the dossiers of its officials in the Maina Sunar case, lawyers said.
Nepal requests EC to unban Nepali airlines

Nepal has asked the European Commission (EC) to remove Nepali airlines from its air safety list in which they were included three years ago for their poor safety record.
ANZ Banking Group chief Shayne Elliott says his overhaul of the business is starting to pay off, after a strong first quarter in which profits rebounded by nearly a third to $2 billion compared with a weak period last year.

Mr Elliott on Friday also upgraded his outlook for bad and doubtful debt charges, after a stronger December quarter and first six weeks of 2017.

In a trading update on Friday, ANZ said its cash profit rose 31 per cent, after the same quarter last year experienced heavier loan losses and write-downs.

Excluding some one-off items, it said earnings were still up 20 per cent year on year, although that was boosted by the sale of a property at 100 Queen Street in Melbourne's central business district.
Large hailstones as wide as 50 pieces lashed Sydney on Friday afternoon as severe storms hit the city.

Flights at Sydney Airport were affected by the storm, with passengers told in an announcement that flights had been delayed.

The announcement was made in the domestic terminal just before 3.30pm, one passenger said.

Qantas baggage handlers were called inside the terminal and had a coffee as they waited for the storm to pass.
Isabel Lucas may be softly spoken and resemble a real-life woodland fairy, but when it comes to business she's more James Packer than pushover.

The former Home & Away star  who splits her time between Byron Bay and Hollywood  is the new face of Sante skincare. The range is an environmentally friendly make-up removing system by Enjo. Yes the cleaning mitt sensation your mum probably still has somewhere after being ambushed at the Avon-like parties in the '90s.

Isabel Lucas is the new face of Sante by Enjo.

Founder Barb de Corti was grilled like a salty haloumi by Lucas, a staunch environmental and social activist, after approaching her to represent the brand. Before she signed on the dotted line, the company had to provide information about packaging and sustainability to the actor.

Lucas, who gained international attention after starring in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, is still keen on Hollywood but has lately been channelling her energy into worthy causes. She just appeared in an Australian-first television campaign calling on the end of dolphins in captivity, which is something she protested against with Heroes star Hayden Panettiere back in 2007. The duo risked arrest in Japan when they attempted to "honour the spirits of the over 25,000 dolphins" killed in a tiny fishing village.
Washington: The White House has flatly denied an Associated Press report that as many as 100,000 National Guard troops could be mobilised to make immigration arrests.

An 11-page memo obtained by the news wire calls for the potential deployment in 11 states, including California and others that border Mexico, as part of a plan to implement President Donald Trump's January 25 executive order directing federal agencies to "employ all lawful means to enforce the immigration laws of the United States".

White House press secretary Sean Spicer dismissed the report to reporters on Air Force One, as the president was preparing to travel to South Carolina.

"That is 100 per cent not true. It is false. It is irresponsible to be saying this," he said. "There is no effort at all to round up, to utilise the National Guard to round up illegal immigrants."
Members of the media raise their hands to ask a question to US President Donald Trump. Credit:Bloomberg "I fired him because of what he said to Mike Pence. Very simple," said Trump. "I didn't direct him [to make the call], but I would have directed him because that's his job ... I didn't direct him, but I would have directed him if he didn't do it. OK?" He was asked repeatedly whether he could say no members of his campaign team were in contact with Russian intelligence agents during the election - something he prevaricated on at first, with answers such as: "Russia is fake news. Russia, this is fake news put out by the media." US President Donald Trump answered detailed questions on Michael Flynn's resignation. Credit:Bloomberg But then he seemed to deny the specific allegations in the Times story: "I have nothing to do with Russia. To the best of my knowledge no person that I deal with does."

However, the overwhelming theme of the day, the one he himself kept returning to, was his war on the mainstream media, their "dishonesty" and "lies", and the repeated assertion that so many outlets were publishing, in his view, "fake news". This is clearly the fight he came to have, and where he wanted to keep the focus. US President Donald Trump continued his attack on the media. Credit:Bloomberg During the press conference he variously attacked The New York Times ("failing"), CNN ("so much anger and hatred"), the BBC ("just like CNN") and The Wall Street Journal ("almost as disgraceful as the failing New York Times"). For the second time in two days, he heaped praise though on Fox News' breakfast chat show, Fox & Friends ("they're very honourable people"). Pushed on how he could condemn reporting on leaked information - thus suggesting it was true - while also calling the news "fake", the President expressed no problem with this contradiction. "The leaks are absolutely real," he said. "The news is fake because so much of the news is fake."

The open format did give journalists a chance to challenge him on some falsehoods directly. During his lengthy preamble, he once again repeated the lie that his electoral college victory was "the biggest since Ronald Reagan". An MSNBC reporter took him up on that, telling him his tally was lower than both Barack Obama and George Bush snr, and asked: "Why should Americans trust you?" Trump replied curtly: "I don't know, I was given that information." As the press conference moved past the one-hour mark, there were several extraordinary exchanges with individual reporters that raised eyebrows in the room. Becoming irritated with the repeated questions on Russia and Flynn, he scouted around for a "friendly reporter". He settled on a journalist from Ami, a weekly Orthodox Jewish news magazine published in New York, who rose out of his chair and asked the President about rising anti-Semitism in the US and recent bomb threats made against 48 Jewish community centres.

The President grew visibly irritated, putting up his hand to cut off the reporter and complaining: "He said he's going to ask a simple easy question, and it's not, not a simple question, not a fair question, OK sit down," before going on to say he was "the least anti-Semitic person". In another strange exchange, April Ryan, a black reporter, asked if Mr Trump was going to meet with members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). "Do you wanna set up the meeting?" he replied. "Are they friends of yours?" He went on to say a meeting had been set up and then cancelled. The CBC tweeted soon after that they had written to Trump in January and he had never replied.

The faces of some news anchors in the wake of the conference captured the disbelief that many might have felt watching this rambling, pugnacious display. It was "wild" and "unhinged", said CNN's Jake Tapper, adding "it was an airing of grievances, it was Festivus" - the fictional Seinfeld holiday where George Costanza's father rants about his grievances from the preceding year. Even over on Fox News, the moderate daytime anchor Shepard Smith declared the display was "crazy". But to other sections of the media, and perhaps the country, that ferociously back Trump, the event was a ringing success. The Drudge Report's headline declared "Trump eats the press", while Fox News host and Trump cheerleader Sean Hannity called it "amazing" and a "beatdown" of the media. Here, they saw a return to the good old days of the election campaign, where Trump would repeatedly taunt the media from the stage while a crowd cheered. Loading Trump has scheduled a campaign-style rally in Florida this Saturday - an unconventional move for a President just a month into office. He loves the crowds, and knows that they loved the rousing, chaotic, pugnacious campaign that he ran all the way to victory last year.
Nepali boatwomen row against tide of discrimination

Batuli Bhujel weaves deftly through the colourful wooden boats and paddles into the shore of Phewa Lake in west Nepal, stepping lightly out of her boat and steadying it as she helps her young passengers off.
At the request of the Central African Republic Customs Administration, the World Customs Organization (WCO) conducted a mission from 16 to 26 January 2017 in Bangui, Central African Republic.

The mission was led by an Ivorian Customs expert accredited in Customs modernization, a Malian Customs expert pre-accredited as a Mercator Programme Advisor at a 2016 workshop funded by the African Union, and an expert from the WCO Secretariat in the field of security research.

Its main objective was to carry out a brief diagnostic of the current state of affairs within Central African Republic Customs and, based on the findings, to draw up a 2017-2019 Strategic Plan for the Administration.

The conclusions drawn from the mission show that Central African Customs, largely due to various socio-political crises suffered by the country over the past few years, has not made significant progress since the 2008 needs assessment phase. Despite some headway noted, the previous recommendations made by the WCO and different partners remain valid.

In tandem with the reform team, the mission consequently worked on identifying priority areas for strategic planning and on drawing up a draft three-year Strategic Plan (2017-2019). It also helped devise a recovery plan with specific projects to be implemented in the short and medium term.

The WCO welcomes the projected progress and restates its readiness to support the Central African Republic with its Customs modernization process.

In parallel, the mission of the WCO Research Unit in the Central African Republic focused on two main aspects :
Preparations for Shivaratri in full swing

Preparations are in full swing for the Mahashivaratrithe biggest Hindu festival dedicated to the Lord Shivawhich falls on February 23 this year.
Sajha Prakashan to be given book printing responsibility: Education Minister

Education Minister Dhaniram Poudel has said preparations are on to entrust the responsibility of printing school textbooks, which the Janak Education Materials Centre Limited (JEMC) has not yet managed to print, to the Sajha Prakashan.
Studying abroad

In recent years, the ever-increasing trend of Nepali students leaving the country for higher education has been in the spotlight.
WSU Invites Parents to Bring Their Child to Work For a Day

February 17, 2017

OGDEN, Utah  Some of Weber State Universitys youngest Wildcats will join their parents on campus for Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, Feb. 23 beginning at 8 a.m.

Participating employees will get to show a child, ages 8-18, the work they do every day. Various departments around campus will offer interactive activities for parents and children to complete together. Participants will have the chance to tour the Dee Events Center and meet athletes, engage in a fire simulation and extinguish fires, view a robotics demonstration from the College of Engineering, Applied Science and Technology or choose from other options.

This program goes beyond shadowing a mother or a father, said Cherrie Nelson, assistant vice president for Human Resources. Having these children on a university campus plants the seed to attend college and shows them the value of education. We expose girls and boys to many different activities and careers and its a lot of fun.

About 200 employees and children are expected to participate in the event. During their campus visit, children can gain a better idea of the responsibilities involved in a job or even gain inspiration for what they want to be when they grow up.

Last year, 80 employees brought a child with them to work. Andrea Jensen, director of eLearning at WSU, brought her 9-year-old daughter Audrey.

She loves Weber State and was very excited to spend the day here, Jensen said of her daughter. In addition to sharing information with her about my own job, we also took some time to tour the facilities used by a colleague who teaches in the Communication Department. She learned about jobs that she never even knew existed. It was very eye-opening.

Schedule of events:

8-9 a.m. | Breakfast, activities, check-in and prizes in the Swenson Gym

9-9:30 a.m. | Welcome address from Norm Tarbox, vice president for Administrative Services

9:30 a.m.-noon | Department activities and tours

Noon | Lunch and job shadowing with employee and child

Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day is observed nationwide in April. WSU celebrates the day early since faculty and staff are typically preparing for spring commencement in April.

To register your child for Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, visit weber.edu/bringyourchildtowork.

Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University.
The Louisiana Counterdrug Aviations Operations provided command and control support to the Louisiana State Police by utilizing the UH72 Lakotas enhanced communications and specialized technology. This allowed law enforcement to safely conduct the counter drug operation leading to the seizure of nearly $2 million dollars worth of drugs and the arrest of Derrick Felton, 37, of Alexandria, Louisiana, Jan. 27, 2017. (Courtsey Photo by Chief Warrant 2 Jeffrey Ballew)
Trump says four people under consideration for national security adviser

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he is considering four people to serve as his national security adviser, including Retired General Keith Kellogg.
Fort Polk, LA (71446)

Today

Mostly cloudy...isolated thunderstorms developing during the afternoon. High 81F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to considerable cloudiness and fog after midnight. Low 68F. Winds light and variable.
All clear after semi crashes blocked I-24 Caldwell County; semi crashes also blocked detour route
By WestKyStar & Friends of McCracken Co. Library Feb. 17, 2017 | 04:46 PM | PADUCAH, KY

The Friends group was organized in 1992 by 25 civic-minded residents of McCracken County to be the library's advocate in the state and local community. Today, more than 390 people belong to the organization.





Since its inception, the Friends of the McCracken County Public Library has donated more than $350,000 to support the library's programming and collection development. The Friends also sponsored the fundraising campaign that generated the needed $10,000 to secure a mural featuring Paducahs Carnegie Library on the Wall to Wall: Portraits of Our Past flood wall.





Friends' President Paula Franklin stated that the organization is proud of the support offered over the last 25 years and looks forward to more opportunities of support in the future.





For more information about the Friends of the McCracken County Public Library, like their page on Facebook or visit the Friends page on the library's website at www.mclib.net.





McCracken County Judge Executive Bob Leeper has signed a proclamation declaring February 22nd to be Friends of the McCracken County Public Library Day. The proclamation begins a yearlong celebration of the Friends 25 years of supporting the local public library.
Advertisement

By West Kentucky Star Staff

Feb. 17, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY

By West Kentucky Star Staff Feb. 17, 2017 | 04:01 PM | PADUCAH, KY

With McCracken County Schools Superintendent Quin Sutton set to retire at the end of June, school officials have begun the process of finding his replacement.



At their meeting Thursday, the McCracken County Board of Education began the process of finding a new Superintendent, which will involve advertising for applicants, selection of a screening committee and the screening of applicants by both the screening committee and board members. The school system is partnering with the Kentucky School Board Association, an organization that has assisted in the selection process of all superintendents hired since 1992.



KSBA Executive Director Mike Armstrong addressed the board, saying he is confident that a suitable candidate will be found. "Good school systems attract even better applicants," Armstrong said. "I am very confident McCracken will attract quality applicants to be the next superintendent."



KSBA's fee for its assistance is $6,000, plus travel expenses for the district's appointed consultant.



Sutton's last day will be June 30.
Two women killed as truck hits scooter

Two women died when a truck hit a scooter they were riding near Balaju Machhapokhari in Kathmandu on Friday.
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Richard III is probably the most monstrous of Shakespeare's creations. With his limp, hunchback and drive to kill anything getting between him and the throne  including his two young nephews  he has become the quintessential villain: one we love to hate. And in Thomas Ostermeier's production for Berlin's Schaubuhne Theatre, he's definitely a monster. But it's actually quite hard to hate him.

That has a lot to do with Lars Eidinger's explosive, sharp-edged portrayal of Richard. Oddly enough, his Richard is kind-of sexy  it's something about his confidence, the way he revels in his nastiness. He shares his dark plans with the audience as he edges closer and closer to becoming King of England. And we like him for that. Part of him is a clown  he wears a classic clown shoe on his club foot (it's black, of course). But that joker quality comes together with a sociopathic rock-star aspect which means his treatment of those around him is both chilling and compelling. The audience eggs him on.

Ostermeier directs Marius von Mayenburg's slimmed-down, prose version of Shakespeare's original over two and a half hours with no interval. For British audiences, not used to these European customs infecting' our theatre, it might sound like a daunting prospect. But this Richard III does not let up. The production rockets through the play, keeping most scenes short (although the pace does dip in the middle) and the humour, much of it coming direct from Eidinger, at the forefront throughout.

Von Mayenburg starts by laying out the backstory in surtitles and the action begins, not with a lone Richard, but in the new court as the courtiers and politicians party after their win. Quietly, in this throng of salacious drinking and fornicating, in stoops Richard, keeping a cool eye on the celebrations. In the middle of the stage hangs a microphone and Eidinger grabs it and delivers "Now is the winter of our discontent." In this first scene he throws the microphone back and forward like a pendulum all over the stage. At one point he hangs onto it and swings out over the audience. He's putting on a show and he knows we're enjoying it.

Punk infuses Ostermeier's production, which places a drummer and drum kit to the side of the stage and loud raucous drum solos burst into life throughout the show. Towards the end, when Richard is finally king, things quieten and Laurie Anderson's "O Superman" rings out, clear like a bell. It is a turning point for Richard, where his self-obsession and paranoia begins to take over. Eidinger has ensured that so far Richard has taken the audience with him as he manipulates and murders those around him. It's then, alone at a dinner table, wearing only a corset and Y-fronts, his face covered in white paint, he begins to crack. The final battle scenes are fought, not by hordes but by Richard himself, alone, dreaming, haunted and hunted by his demons.

Jan Pappelbaum's designs provide the perfect playground for Richard, with the stage covered in mud, sand and mess from the off. Ostermeier really lets us see the sheer audacity of this character's actions - just how nasty he is. It is a superb, corruscating ride and one which implicates the audience in the king's rise whilst also making his darkness feel horribly human. The rest of the cast have trouble finding space for their roles in the expanse of Eidinger's performance: it's really a one-man show. But what a man, and what a show.

Richard III runs at the Barbican Centre until 19 February.
UML launches a broadside against government

The main opposition CPN-UML has criticised the government for its recent activities against the independent foreign policy, national security and national interest.
Will comply with intl laws: PM

Reiterating his position on the transitional justice process, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that it will follow the international laws and practices.
What It Is

KauaiEclectic is a collection of observations, images and writings about Kauai  Kamawaelualanimoku  and the world as seen, felt, experienced and interpreted by me.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/02/2017 (2088 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

More than 150 artists on 17 stages over 10 days  while music isnt the main focus of Festival du Voyageur, it certainly plays a large part.

The annual winter festival kicks off today and, as usual, the musical lineup is bursting with local francophone and anglophone talent representing all genres.

Opening night features everyone from indie-pop artist Micah Visser and Celtic punk band the Dust Rhinos to the kings and queens of soul, the Retro Rhythm Review.

Along with the Manitoba acts, a handful of imported artists will also perform, including Quebec electro-trad group Melisande, who will play Voyageur Parks Sugar Shack next week, on Feb. 24, and bring with them their sophomore record, which is set to be released in early March.

The core duo of the band, namesake Melisande Gelinas-Fauteux and her partner in crime, Alexandre de Grosbois-Garand, merge traditional Quebecois music with elements of electro and pop.

Their new record, Les millesimes (translated to the vintages), has a unique concept  its a collection of carefully curated traditional French songs the pair have designated with a vintage, based on the year in which the source versions they used were recorded.

If, for example, the version we listened to that made us want to do that song was in 1942, we gave the song the millesimes 1942, says Gelinas-Fauteux. Like good wines, we like to say good songs age well, so thats kind of the whole concept of the album, to apply that principle to songs, rather than to wine.

To cement that theme, numerous tracks on the 11-song record include references to wine, including the opener, Plantons La Vigne (millesimes 1576), which explores the tradition of vine-planting in the wine regions of France. Gelinas-Fauteux pulled lyrics from two sources, while Grosbois-Garand modified the melody and composed a piece of mouth music and petit reel to go along with it.

As part of their research, the pair spent some time in francophone archives at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., after Gelinas-Fauteux won the Henry Reed Award, which provided a small stipend to support activities directly involving folk artists, especially when the activities reflect, draw upon or strengthen the collections of the American Folklife Center, which is in the Library of Congress.

From there, they also listened to and selected material from the archives of the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que., and the Universite Laval.

Once their collection was complete, they began the process of recreating and rearranging the traditional songs, morphing them into exciting, multi-layered pop-influenced interpretations.

Theres no non-groovy song, says Gelinas-Fauteux, laughing.

Alex is very good at arranging songs I would choose a song and say, I want to do that song  we say its arrangements, but its mainly, I think, composition as well, because for the melody sometimes we have to recreate part of it, or even create it, so its more like creation.

Albert Zablit photo Melisande Gelinas-Fauteux (right) and Alexandre de Grosbois-Garand

But Alex is very good and very inspired, and does an arrangement that is super-cool, she says of her musical partner.

We went to the team that were producing the album and they would build on our ideas. Its funny how the two songs they were uncertain about ended up being their favourite songs, she continues. So we had conversations sometimes about what we wanted  its just a matter of convincing other people that this is the right thing or that yes, it can be done, so it was a very, very cool process

It turned out to be something we are really proud of. Were very happy and we cannot wait to release it to the world.

Festival du Voyageur begins today and runs until Feb. 26. All schedules, ticket information and festival site hours can be found at heho.ca.

erin.lebar@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @NireRabel

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The most expensive movie ever made in China is a historical-fantasy-action saga directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Matt Damon, Jing Tian and a horde of ravenous CGI beasts.

Is it good? Well, no. But at times it possesses the kind of nutty magnificence you might expect from Chinese master Zhang lending his practiced, elegant hand to what is essentially a hyper-inflated B-grade monster-movie.

UNIVERSAL PICTURES Matt Damon

Zhang, who has helmed such wuxia films as House of Flying Daggers and Hero, as well as dead-serious dramas like Raise the Red Lantern and To Live, does what he can with this massive American-Chinese co-production, which, like many recent international blockbusters, is less about global culture and more about global capital and the pragmatic mixing of Asian money and Hollywood stars.

This relationship may be financially practical, but it can also be awkward and unwieldy (like that point in Transformers 4 when the action suddenly and arbitrarily moves east). In the case of The Great Wall, its a shotgun-movie marriage not helped by a strained script and stiff epic-style acting.

Damon plays European mercenary William, who is first seen traversing the dangerous Gobi Desert with fellow fighter Tovar (Pedro Pascal of Game of Thrones). Drawn to Song Dynasty China by rumours of the terrible power of gunpowder, they are hoping to make their fortune as medieval arms dealers when they are captured by the Nameless Order, a fearsomely armed and ferociously skilled military force tasked with protecting the Great Wall from attack by what, exactly?

UNIVERSAL PICTURES Junkai Wang as The Emperor.

In a violent, gorgeously preposterous action sequence, we watch through William and Tovars amazed eyes as the soldiers prepare to battle the taotei, basically insatiable and extremely ugly dragons that periodically try to swarm the Wall, eating everything in their way.

William, who starts out as a not-my-fight loner, is eventually won over by the stern  and very beautiful  example of Commander Lin (Police Story 2013s Jing Tian).

There have been charges of whitewashing: Why should the Chinese need Matt Damon to defend the Great Wall, after all? And Damon himself seems a little abashed. No matter what hes doing, the Bourne star tends to retain a certain all-American captain of the lacrosse team vibe, and he struggles to play a period character in a large-scale saga in which people say things like Die well, brother.

UNIVERSAL PICTURES Willem Dafoe as Ballard.

Damon does get a lot of screen time, but this is not exactly a white saviour narrative. From the viewpoint of the Nameless Order, William and Tovar are basically barbarians. They arrive at the Wall filthy, smelly, greedy and lacking in any kind of moral code, having fought under the flags of a dozen masters for food or money.

Though the films scripters are American, its made clear that the battle against the taotei will be won not with Williams Western-style individualism but with the traditional Chinese values of teamwork, duty, self-discipline, sacrifice to the greater good and all-round technological awesomeness.

The cast is also more balanced than the Damon-centric movie posters suggest. While the European characters speak English, theres also a lot of dialogue in subtitled Mandarin, spoken by such Asian stars as Zhang Hanyu and Eddie Peng, as well as Chinese-born K-Pop star Lu Han.

Ultimately, though, the characters, European and Chinese alike, are flat and predictable. While the battle scenes will offer some compensations, especially for anyone missing the orc action from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Great Wall doesnt really hold up.

This is a humongous movie built on flimsy foundations.

alison.gillmor@freepress.mb.ca

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

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Three people who shared a Waverley Heights home with a woman whose decomposing remains were found in a barrel on the property, face charges in her death and the shocking effort to destroy the body.

Jennifer Barrett, 42, was beaten to death over several days in August, and her body was put into a 45-gallon drum barrel along with several chemical agents which hastened the decomposition, police said about the homicide, which was not made public until Friday.

Perez Adaryll Cleveland, 43, a Canadian citizen born in the United States, has been charged with first-degree murder. His former common-law wife, Jessica Elizabeth Reid, 34, of Winnipeg, and Holley Alyssa Sullivan, 28, of Calgary, have both been charged with accessory after the fact to murder.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The home where the human remains were found.

Police know little about Barrett, who arrived in Winnipeg from Ontario.

She was not known to police prior to this, Const. Rob Carver said, adding its not clear how long shed been in Winnipeg. She was not reported as a missing person, and no one appears to have been looking for her, he said.

Police executed a search warrant on Dec. 1 after being tipped off about human remains in the backyard of the house at 38 Forest Lake Dr., which has been vacant since the end of November, he said. The victim and three accused lived there together for a time in 2016. Carver said police are not certain about the relationships between the others involved.

This was a difficult and complex investigation, he said, adding police chose not to report the homicide publicly until after Thursday arrests. As well, they were waiting for the results of forensic tests that identified Barretts remains.

Police said Cleveland was charged while in custody at Headingley Correctional Institution. He is accused of committing violent assaults from Aug. 14 to Sept. 27 and was arrested in the North End in December. Hes charged with numerous offences, including assault causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon.

Reid was arrested at a residence in Winnipeg, and Sullivan was arrested by Calgary Police Service. They face charges of being accessories after the fact to the murder because police believe they were both involved at the time of the murder or immediately afterward.

On Oct. 18, Reid, Clevelands common-law wife, applied for a protection order for her and her 11-year-old son. The order was granted, banning Cleveland from being within a city block of her home or workplace.

In September, police asked for the publics help locating Cleveland.

The protection order wasnt served until his arrest on the assault charges in December. In the order, Reid wrote of an incident on Sept. 26 when he threaten to kill me and beat me.

He had a homemade weapon in his hand and swinging it towards me. I ran out of the house because he has really hurt me before and I was scared I called the police with neighbours that help me.

Reid also wrote that Cleveland had been assaulting her for six months and, has pulled a gun and different types of weapons on me. I have been burnt by vice grips and a blow torch.

In a 2012 Canadian Press article that appeared in newspapers across the country, Reid said she went from foster care to drug addiction, to having her son cared for by others before finding a happy ending that she traces back to one loving soul.

Reid, who at the time was studying child and youth care at Red River College while raising her then-six-year-old son, credited a respite worker she met in Gimli when she was 13 for helping to turn her life around.

She actually cared, Reid was quoted as saying. I want to be that person for somebody else. She was there for me.

CANADIAN PRESS files Jessica Reid, the former common-law wife of Cleveland, is charged with accessory.

She said she never knew her biological father and when she was seven, her mother left her and three siblings with a boyfriend, causing her to spend most of her childhood in foster care.

She gave up drugs while she was pregnant, but lost custody of her son when he was 18 months old. After battling addiction for two more years, she was able to get him back.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.caalexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca
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Lawyers overcharged more than 2,500 people who were compensated for abuse they suffered in residential schools, say documents revealed by Ottawa.

Fifty-six of the lawyers had their fees reduced on more than 10 separate occasions and one lawyer had fees reviewed 257 times and paid back more than $2 million.

The Law Society of Manitoba disbarred Howard Tennenhouse in 2012, who fought Indian Residential Schools Adjudication Secretariat rulings to return $960,000 in extra fees he charged 55 clients, many of whom lived on Sandy Bay First Nation.

FREE PRESS FILES Ray Mason, head of the National Indian Residential School Survivors, and a residential school survivor from Manitoba said he wasn't surprised by the data Ottawa revealed.

They have all been reimbursed, secretariat spokesman Michael Tansey told the Free Press Thursday, adding the Tennenhouse files are the only lawyer overcharges the federal agency is aware of involving a Manitoba lawyer.

A spokeswoman for the Law Society of Manitoba says other lawyers were investigatedfor their conduct on residential school matters. Two other lawyers were charged and convicted of professional misconduct, but the concerns were more in the nature of quality of service and responses to the adjudicator. However, Mr. Tennenhouse is the only Manitoba lawyer that has been charged with professional misconduct for misappropriating funds from residential school survivors.

The case against Tennenhouse dragged on for almost a year, even after Tennenhouses bid to the courts to dismiss the societys investigation against him failed to win him a reprieve.

At one point, he was mortgaging land he owned in Israel in order to repay his clients.

Many survivors were not aware that they had been victims of misappropriation by Mr. Tennenhouse. Accordingly, we located and contacted the survivors, assisted them in completing the reimbursement application form and compensated them, said Lean Kosokowsky, the law societys director of regulation.

Tennenhouse has not been charged criminally, although the law society has forwarded its paperwork on Tennenhouse to police twice after making its ruling in 2012.

In 2016, a senior Crown attorney at Manitoba Justice asked the licensing body for the same information, as well as detailed case files.

Ray Mason, head of the National Indian Residential School Survivors and a residential school survivor from Manitoba, said he wasnt surprised by the data Ottawa has revealed.

Im aware of the stuff that is going on, he said.

Ive always resented that, from any lawyer across Canada  and Im aware of some of them, Mason added. At least people will not be subject to being re-victimized.

Mason, who is originally from Peguis First Nation, was among the first to campaign for settlements and said hes still meeting with survivors who feel they were tricked into signing away their rights in the years before federal compensation was set up.

About 85 elderly survivors in western Manitoba were left out of the settlement process entirely.

Those poor people, they trusted their lawyers, he said.

The federal Justice Department released the documents detailing the excessive charges over the past decade to MP Charlie Angus, the NDPs critic for indigenous affairs.

What disturbs me is this process was supposed to protect people who had been so badly victimized and the (federal government mandated Independent Assessment Process) has failed them again and again and again, Angus said.

Youre dealing with people who, because of the abuse theyve suffered, have survived mainly on the margins. They were told to trust the process, he said.

The simple question is, what does the oversight body of the IAP actually do?

If people can serially abuse the system and overcharge people who have been so badly victimized, then go back into the hearings and do it again, what kind of process is there to protect survivors? Thats the question, Angus said.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca
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EMERSON  The rumour spreading like wildfire through this tiny border town was that a woman walked into her garage Friday morning on her way to work and saw eight strangers staring back at her.

In reality, the woman said she and her husband were out for their usual early morning walk when they came across eight asylum seekers.

The woman, who asked not to be identified, wanted to make clear that nothing was broken into. The couple invited the asylum seekers back to their heated garage.

.WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS A total of 77 migrants have now crossed the border near Emerson this year, the RCMP said. In 2015-16, there was a total of 340 who crossed.

I am not afraid of these people whatsoever, she said. The ones Ive run across have been only very grateful to be in Canada.

In fact, its the sixth group of asylum seekers she and her husband have come across in the past four years, she said. They gave the latest arrivals bottled water and waited about 45 minutes for RCMP to arrive.

Since Jan. 1, 77 asylum seekers have crossed the border and there have been at least 480 in 2016-17 with still more than a month to go before the end of the fiscal year. There were 340 in all of 2015-16.

With the arrival of warm temperatures, it could be the most active weekend yet for migrants arriving in Emerson, residents say.

The process for border-jumping now follows a pretty basic routine. Asylum seekers obtain transportation to drop them off at the former Noyes border station that closed about two decades ago.

Noyes, now a ghost town in Minnesota, sits across from Emerson. Abandoned red-bricked customs buildings for Canada and the U.S. face each other across the invisible border. The asylum seekers usually walk through the deep snow of bush property on the east side of the former port station, and walk out onto Dennis Street in Emerson. Its a five-minute walk at best, allowing for the deep snow and forest.

Typically, the first words out of their mouths are to ask if they are in Canada, said RCMP. Then they state that they are seeking asylum.

RCMP Commanding Officer Scott Kolody called it a high priority for RCMP to learn more about how asylum seekers are being transported to the border. He said people are arriving by bus, in the back of semi-trailers, and even by hitch-hiking.

These are people who are sometimes desperate and have hope for a better life, he said.

Many of those arriving at the border are not prepared for the winter conditions, and in some cases have children, he said. These people are making dangerous treks over unknown terrain, Kolody said, who met with media at the border for a press conference Friday. We want to ensure their safety and well-being. He stressed theres a legitimate process for entering Canada.

One resident showed the Free Press the trail through the snow made by asylum seekers who arrived last weekend. Once in town, the trail branched off into the yards of various houses. The migrants will sometimes just go and just knock on peoples doors seeking help.

Kolody said the asylum seekers are predominantly from African nations initially but that is expanding. Kolody also informed that a United States border control officer has been working out of RCMP headquarters in Winnipeg for about a year, helping with border intelligence, but not just on the migrant issue.

Kolody would not talk about staffing and how RCMP is preparing for what could be another busy weekend.

A total of 21 asylum seekers arrived in Emerson the previous overnight Friday, Feb. 10, the largest number so far.

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca
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A Winnipeg man convicted of sexual assault will get a new trial after the provinces highest court ruled his lawyer gave him ineffective assistance.

Robert Zamrykut was sentenced to 30 months in prison after being convicted of forcing intercourse on a woman he met at a bar and took to a friends residence. But the conviction was quashed Thursday in an unanimous ruling by three Manitoba Court of Appeal justices.

Justice Holly Beard, in a nine-page written decision, said Zamrykut convinced them he had been the victim of a miscarriage of justice because of the ineffective assistance of lawyer Dan Manning during his trial in June.

While the trial counsel had a trial strategy, it was a strategy that was doomed to fail from the start, could only be described as unreasonable and did not fall within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance,' Beard wrote.

But Beard added a ruling of ineffective assistance against a lawyer doesnt mean the lawyer was incompetent.

Even the best counsel can, over the course of a career, fall into error in a particular case, such that he or she has provided ineffective assistance in that case that undermined the reliability of the verdict and resulted in a miscarriage of justice, Beard said.

Justices Michel Monnin and Freda Steel agreed with the decision.

Defence counsel Richard Wolson, who was hired by Zamrykut after he was convicted, but before the sentencing took place, said his client is relieved.

He has always maintained his innocence, Wolson said. He will have a new trial and well strongly litigate his case.

Manning could not be reached for comment.

But in the Appeal Court decision, Beard noted Manning filed documents explaining his strategy at the trial, included avoiding cross-examination on inconsistencies, not calling Zamrykuts friend to testify in case he said something to hurt the case, and not questioning the alleged victim on inconsistencies between her initial statement to police  when her boyfriend was there  and other statements she made in court.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
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OTTAWA  A Winnipeg Liberal MP is advocating for the office building housing the Prime Ministers Office in Ottawa to be stripped of the name of a man who helped build the residential schools system and renamed after Louis Riel.

Robert-Falcon Ouellette is one of several indigenous MPs who held a news conference Thursday to ask the government to rename the Langevin Block. The building, which sits directly across from the main Parliament buildings in Ottawa, is named after Hector Louis Langevin. He was the public works minister in the cabinet of Canadas first prime minister, John A. Macdonald, and is considered to be a father of confederation.

Langevin was also an architect of the residential schools system. In a speech in the House of Commons in 1883, he proposed the budget for the first three schools arguing for assimilation.

JUSTIN TANG / THE CANADIAN PRESS The federal government is facing mounting pressure, including from within the Liberal caucus, to change the name of the building that houses the Prime Minister's Office, the Langevin Block, located across the street from Parliament Hill.

If you wish to educate these children you must separate them from their parents during the time that they are being educated, he said. If you leave them in the family they may know how to read and write, but they still remain savages, whereas by separating them in the way proposed, they acquire the habits and tastesit is to be hoped only the good tastesof civilized people.

Independent MP Hunter Tootoo said Thursday the residential school system devastated the lives of thousands of indigenous people and the consequences are still being felt in our communities today.

The Truth and Reconciliation Report described residential schools as a cultural genocide.

Residential schools were run for more than a century by the churches on behalf of the government. An estimated 150,000 indigenous children from across the country were forced to attend the schools where they were not allowed to practice their culture or speak their own language. Many suffered from horrific physical and sexual abuse and neglect, and the schools are behind many of the social problems indigenous communities continue to suffer from today.

Saint Boniface  Saint Vital Liberal MP Dan Vandal said he fully supports the push to rename the building.

I think it would be an incredibly powerful symbol for reconciliation, he said.

Ouellette said Thursday he read that Langevin was actually one of the few people who fought against having Louis Riel executed, and said it would be fitting to rename the building after Riel.

I know it would go a long way to ensuring that many people feel included in this country, that they would see their heros and our young people would have a hero they can look up to, he said.

Langevin has already lost one monument. In January, Calgary city council voted 14-1 to rename Langevin Bridge in that city to Reconciliation Bridge.

Heritage Minister Melanie Joly indicated Thursday the government would consider the suggestion to rename the building, though she wasnt specifically asked about Riel.

The government is really committed to having a process of reconciliation with aboriginal communities, she said in French before question period. In all our mandate letters it is written that there is no relationship that is more important to our government than to the aboriginal communities. And under the circumstances, we are ready to study all the scenarios.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca
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The Pallister government would not say unequivocally Thursday that cost will not be a factor in weighing a decision on a potential public inquiry into corruption allegations over the police headquarters and other major city projects.

Mayor Brian Bowman is asking city council next week to request a wide-ranging public inquiry into allegations about members of council, city staff, and persons doing business with city hall.

Neither Justice Minister Heather Stefanson nor Finance Minister Cameron Friesen would declare Thursday that cost will not be a consideration. The deficit-and-debt-plagued government has vowed to control spending.

TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The Winnipeg Police Headquarters building.

Previous public inquiries have cost millions of dollars, sometimes more than $10 million, in a few cases tens of millions of dollars.

A prepared statement from Stefansons staff said: As this issue requires, we will ensure appropriate and full consideration within the parameters of all applicable departmental processes and policies.

Bowman proposed an inquiry with an exhaustive terms of reference to examine conflict of interest and public disclosure between elected members of council and senior civic staff and those individuals and firms doing business with city hall.

Justice officials said Thursday that the Hughes inquiry into the death of Phoenix Sinclair beginning in 2011 had cost more than $14 million. The Thomas Sophonow inquirys hearings ran from October 2000 to June 2001, at a cost of approximately $4.3 million, the Driskell and Taman inquiries, $2.9 and $2.4 million respectively.

But published reports say that the Charbonneau inquiry in Quebec cost more than $45 million.

A justice official said that, The length and cost of an inquiry will vary based on many factors, including the scope of the issues that will be addressed. This is set out by the province in its (cabinet decision) and in the terms of reference.

All costs of an inquiry, including court resources and inquest counsel, are the responsibility of the province. However, some parties may choose to retain their own counsel and would be responsible for those expenses, said the official.

Under section 83 of the Manitoba Evidence Act, the provincial cabinet appoints one or more commissioners and determines the terms of reference.

For the Hughes inquiry in 2011, no dollar amount was specified by cabinet, but the justice minister could request the finance minister to pay travelling and other incidental expenses that the commissioner incurs conducting his inquiry; fees and salaries of any advisors and assistants employed or retained for the purpose of the inquiry; any other operational expenditures required to support the inquiry.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Manitoba Minister of Justice Heather Stefanson.

NDP justice critic Andrew Swan urged the Tories to commit to a public inquiry when the ongoing police investigation is concluded.

We are deeply concerned by the news of recent developments surrounding the construction of the city police headquarters. The investigation into this matter is open and ongoing, and it is important to allow the authorities to pursue and conclude their investigation, Swan said by email. If criminal proceedings are warranted, they should be the top priority.

When the criminal investigation is concluded, we would support any and all steps, including a public inquiry, necessary to properly determine all the facts and give Manitobans confidence in municipal government tendering. The provincial government should show leadership and give Winnipegers confidence that they will respond to this important matter, Swan said.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca
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While the number of refugee claimants streaming over the border at Emerson has grown, so have the Immigration and Refugee Boards hearing rooms in Winnipeg.

On Feb. 1, the number of refugee board hearing rooms at the historic Victory Building at 269 Main St. doubled.

Up until last month, there was one tiny board hearing room that could seat half a dozen observers in addition to the claimant, lawyers for both sides and the TV monitor for the hearings held via teleconference with a board member in another city, usually Vancouver.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS files Malaysian university student Hazim Ismail at his packed Immigration and Refugee Board hearing in April. His claim was accepted that day.

It was standing-room-only at the refugee protection division hearing last spring for Hazim Ismail, a gay university student facing persecution if he was returned to Malaysia, where homosexuality is outlawed. His supporters and observers spilled out into the reception area. The year before, it was a similar, crowded situation at the hearing for Yahya Samatar, with reporters and observers packed cheek-to-jowl in the tiny space to hear his case. The aid worker forced to flee Somalia after running afoul of Al Shabaab terrorists made international headlines when he swam into Canada via the Red River. Both Ismail and Samatar were granted protection on the same day as their hearings in that tightly packed room.

Now, there are two larger hearing rooms with larger reception areas down the hall from the original space on the seventh floor of the Victory Building. The expansion to two hearing rooms from one was approved back in 2015, said Immigration and Refugee Board spokeswoman Anna Pape in Ottawa. The former space, she said, did not meet our operational needs.

Pape said the hearing rooms in Winnipeg are not only for refugee protection proceedings and are shared by three refugee board divisions: the refugee protection division, the immigration appeal division and the immigration division.

The refugee board is an independent administrative tribunal that decides refugee protection claims made in Canada and certain other immigration matters referred to it. Each claim is decided by an independent decision-maker on its own merits and in accordance with the evidence and submissions made at the hearing.

Refugee claimants such as Seidu Mohammad, the Ghanaian who lost his fingers to frostbite crossing into Canada on foot Dec. 24, will have his refugee protection hearing in the new space.

Somalis Mohamed Mualim, Farhan Ahmed and Mohammad Kosar  who were among a group of 20 who walked into Emerson the first weekend in February  told the Free Press they planned to move on to Toronto, where their refugee protection hearings will take place.

Welcome Place, which helps refugee claimants in Winnipeg file their refugee claims, says most of the asylum seekers are staying in Winnipeg and their refugee board proceedings will take place here. An immigration lawyer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he thinks about half of those arriving in Emerson are moving on to other Canadian cities.

The Canada Border Services Agency says the total number of refugee claimants showing at Emerson has been on the rise for several years  from 68 in the 2013-14 fiscal year to 430 in the first three months of the 2016-17 fiscal year.

Pape said the new space for refugee board proceedings in Winnipeg isnt yet fully booked, but its getting there.

However, based on current volumes, we expect to hold hearings four to five days per week moving forward, she said.

Pape did not confirm reports a local board member is being hired to hear cases in Winnipeg.

Winnipeg immigration lawyer Bashir Khan said two Manitoba candidates were examined for the position of board member of the refugee protection division. The refugee board is in the process of hiring and training a member who will be permanently based in Winnipeg and most likely will be a Manitoban, said Khan.

Finally, Friendly Manitoba will have one of its own, a Manitoban, as an adjudicator in adjudicating refugee claims, Khan said. Up until now, either Albertans or British Columbians were making decisions concerning the lives of refugees in Manitoba Now, finally a Manitoban will get to have a say in whether refugees will be allowed to stay here.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
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The union representing Winnipeg Transit drivers is holding a rally Friday morning in the court yard at city hall to raise awareness about the dangers faced by drivers and to honour Irvine Jubal Fraser, who was killed in a senseless attack earlier this week.

John Callahan, president of Local 1505 Amalgamated Transit Union, said the event is important to transit workers.

Its an opportunity to bring people together to heal, Callahan said. To pay tribute to a fallen brother.

GREG GALLINGER / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS A photo of Irvine J. Fraser near where he was killed at The University of Manitoba.

The rally is set for 10 a.m. Friday.

Callahan said he expects a strong turnout from Transit employees and other union members from across the city. ATU Canada president Paul Thorp is scheduled to appear, he said, as well as labour leaders from across the country.

Transit driver safety has been a recurring issue for the transit union for several years and Callahan said he hopes one of the results from the rally is to see concrete action to deal with the issue.

Safety has been an issue for a long time, Callahan said. Were hoping this gives it the shot in the arm it needs.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion

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OTTAWA  It is a video that should make your stomach clench at least a little.

A man, his black balaclava and blue jeans caked with frost, crouches on the snow. As he is approached by a CBC reporter who was waiting along the U.S. border near Emerson, he raises his arms in the air as if he is about to be arrested. He has been walking for 21 hours across farm fields in North Dakota, aiming to make it into Canada, where he hopes a refugee claim will be granted.

When the reporter, Nick Purdon, tells him he is in Canada, the man blinks hard.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Tracks can be seen in the snow close to the United States border at Emerson, Man. Refugees are risking freezing temperatures to cross from the U.S. into Canada.

Hollywood couldnt write a better tale  except this is no movie. Its real.

The idea so many people are choosing to walk for so long, in such treacherous conditions, to get out of the United States and into Canada has made international headlines. One hears of people taking risks to flee oppressive regimes in faraway places, but America?

The climate in the U.S. has changed, and its not just because of President Donald Trump. People started fleeing for Canada years before Trump even announced he was running for president, but the numbers are growing. In 2013-14, it was 68. The next year, 136. In 2015-16, 340. Since April 1, its at least 470, including about 70 in the last seven weeks alone.

Many of those escaping to Canada have already been rejected by the U.S. as refugees. They are hoping Canada might be more open to their plight.

At least some of them go on to receive refugee status when they apply here, which suggests Canada and the U.S. do not have the kind of integrated refugee policy that lay beneath the assumptions of the Safe Third Country Agreement.

That agreement, signed more than a decade ago, says both countries are considered equally safe for refugees and whichever country a claimant lands in first is where they must make their claim. If the claimants stop at the border crossing, the guards will escort them back to the U.S. However, once they are on Canadian soil, even if they got here illegally, Canada is obliged to hear their case.

The response of the people of Emerson to this influx of refugees, some of whom knock on their doors in the middle of the night, freezing and desperate for help, is a testament to their generosity and compassion. The softness with which Mohamed was greeted by an RCMP officer in that video is heartwarming.

This issue, however, is a growing problem for the federal government,and could get worse if the spring thaw brings the proof some fear  that not everyone who has tried to make this trek has survived.

The NDP are among those who want Canada to suspend the Safe Third Country Agreement. Doing that should end the risks people are taking to make it to Canada because they can then go right to the border office. B

ut it wont stop the flood. In fact, it likely will make it bigger because it will eliminate the risky journey.

Some think Canada could stop the flood by simply sending anyone who comes across back to the U.S., but we cant. International law prevents us from doing that once the claimants are on Canadian soil.

Thus far, Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen has been firm the Safe Third Country Agreement is not affected by Trumps attempt to bar people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S.

Hussen said this week that executive order has been suspended by the courts and an asylum claimant in the U.S. will still get a fair hearing, which is what Canada expects under the agreement.

The problem here really isnt that people are trying to make refugee claims in Canada. Almost 9,000 people have arrived in Canada to make an asylum claim in this fiscal year, according to statistics from Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

The problem is the Safe Third Country Agreement has people putting their lives at risk to make a claim.

Last month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and every Canadian premier spoke out to say Canada is open to refugees and will welcome them. Suspending the agreement would prove Canada is listening to asylum seekers who say they would rather be in Canada.

Perhaps we should trust that if any of these claimants are illegitimate or a security risk, our protocols and screening will ferret them out and send them back home.

By opening our doors and letting them plead their case, Canada is standing up as the nation all those premiers proclaimed it to be.

And to those who will believe the people crossing the border to look for help are just trying to beat our system and get to the front of some undefined immigration line, I ask you this: would you walk for 21 hours in -17 C in order to get to the front of a line just because you wanted a job?

Or would you do it because you are hoping to finally find safety and peace after spending most of your life fleeing persecution and fear?

Mia Rabson is the Winnipeg Free Press parliamentary bureau chief.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @mrabson
Authorities have released the name of the man who died in an apparent kayaking mishap on the Mississippi River Thursday night.

The body of Timothy Carl Heim, 56, who lived in Weaver, Minn., was recovered from the riverbank near the Minneiska boat landing after a nearly four-hour search.

A Minnesota Department of Natural Resources employee contacted the Winona County Sheriffs office just before 9 p.m. Thursday to report a vehicle parked at the Minneiska boat landing, Sheriff Ron Ganrude said.

Deputies investigating the situation determined that the owner of the vehicle likely had gone kayaking on the river, had not returned, and attempts to reach him by cell phone were unsuccessful. Area game wardens, sheriffs deputies, the Winona dive/rescue team and the Minnesota State Patrol helicopter were called out to search, Ganrude said.

Searchers located Hiems body, clad in a wetsuit, at 12:42 a.m., Ganrude said. His body was found onshore, about 10 feet from the river, about 50 feet from where his truck was parked. There were cuts on his hand and the kayak was no where to be found, Ganrude said.

Investigation into the incident continued Friday morning, with searchers seeking Heims kayak and other evidence that may help explain the circumstances of his death. Heims body was taken to Rochester for autopsy to determine the cause of death.
A 56-year-old Weaver, Minn., man is dead in an apparent kayaking mishap on the Mississippi River.

A Minnesota Department of Natural Resources employee contacted the Winona County Sheriffs office just before 9:00 p.m. Thursday to report a vehicle parked at the Minneiska boat landing, Sheriff Ron Ganrude said.

Deputies investigating the situation determined that the owner of the vehicle likely had gone kayaking on the river, had not returned, and attempts to reach him by cell phone were unsuccessful. Area game wardens, sheriffs deputies, the Winona dive/rescue team and the Minnesota State Patrol helicopter were called out to search, Ganrude said.

Searchers located the mans body, clad in a wetsuit, at 12:42 a.m., Ganrude said. His body was found onshore, about 10 feet from the river, about 50 feet from where his truck was parked. There were cuts on his hand and the kayak was no where to be found, Ganrude said.

Investigation into the incident continued Friday morning, with searchers seeking the mans kayak and other evidence that may help explain the circumstances of his death. The mans body was taken to Rochester for autopsy to determine the cause of death.

The mans name has not been released, pending notification of family members.
Winona

Thursday

7:33 a.m.  A BB hole was reported in the drivers side window of a vehicle parked on Lenox Street.

3:41 a.m.  A 16-year-old Winona girl was taken to Winona Health with possible injuries after she was unable to stop the vehicle she was driving and struck a vehicle stopped in the lane of traffic from behind near Gilmore Avenue and Cummings Street. No citations were issued.

11:11 p.m.  Jacob Lee Kalister, 20, Shawno, Wis., was cited for public urination, and underage drinking after an officer observed him urinating on a tree near West Mark and Johnson streets.

Friday

2:04 a.m.  Officers responding to a report of a tailgating driver located and stopped the vehicle on the 50 block of East Lake Boulevard. Missael Ramirez Leon, 29, Des Moines, Iowa, was cited for 4th degree drunken driving. His BAC was 0.15. Passengers in the vehicle had been drinking and agreed to walk to a local motel.

2:27 a.m.  An officer observed a passenger in the vehicle stopped on the 50 block of East Lake Boulevard, return to the vehicle, get into the drivers seat, and prepare to drive off. Jordan Kyle Welch, 24, Des Moines, Iowa, was cited for fourth degree drunken driving. His BAC was 0.08.
The Winona Area Public Schools are on track to have a new superintendent on board for the next school year well before Easter.

Charles Kyte and Eric Bartleson of Peer Solutions, the firm hire by the board to conduct the search to fill the districts superintendents chair on a permanent basis, brought an upbeat message to the school board Thursday night.

Weve been in contact with, or spoken with about 40 people, Kyte said. We are having quite a few people contacting us.

Since the boards last meeting, Peer Solutions has placed advertising in professional publications and other appropriate media targeting school administrators in Minnesota and Wisconsin. In addition, Kyte said, weve sent a personal email to every superintendent and assistant superintendent in Minnesota.

The firm will continue actively recruiting and doing preliminary reference checks through March 8, Kyte said, then we have to turn interested people into full blown applicants and candidates.

Board members will be asked to review and rank qualified applicants from March 12 through 16, with first round interviews set for March 22-23. The board will interview three finalists March 27, with a decision expected that evening and a signed contract in hand by April 6.

Kyte said the firm was pursuing a very tight application and interview schedule for two reasons.

First, he said, candidates are already employed and dont want to have a lingering uncertainty hanging over their current position. A short period of public candidacy provides a comfort factor for candidates.

Second, there are a lot of districts in the market pursuing a limited pool of quality administrative talent. We dont want to lose a candidate to the competition, Kyte said.

Bartleson said that in preparation for screening applicants, he had spent six days at the end of January meeting with district teachers, staff and administrators, as well as parents, high school students and community members to learn what qualities and qualifications they were looking for in the next superintendent.

We talked with 70 to 80 people, Bartleson said. The parent and community groups really came together to offer a lot of good suggestions.

Bartleson said that raising district test scores, closing the achievement gap, and improving district-wide morale. Facilities came up with every group in many ways, he said.

We had a great time doing this, and people really appreciated it, Bartleson said.
Winona legislators are following through on promises to end the ban on Sunday liquor sales, with both the House and Senate looking at the legislation next week.

Sen. Jeremy Miller, R-Winona, introduced two bills with different language for the repeal, both of which would allow liquor stores to open Sundays.

The first would completely repeal the ban and allow them to operate as if it were any other day.

The second would repeal the ban with two conditions: the stores can only be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and they cant receive deliveries.

Miller said that he had been talking to people who were opposed to the bill, which included liquor store owners, some unions and distributors, to work past some of the issues.

Im not sure that this addresses all the concerns, Miller said. But it makes it more acceptable.

The Senate will begin looking at the legislation Wednesday, and the House will be voting on their version Monday.

Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, introduced legislation in the House in mid-January to make Sunday just like any other day for liquor stores.

Repealing the ban would bring Minnesota into the majority across the nation. Only 12 states still have so-called blue laws on the books, which in Minnesota ban Sunday liquor sales, as well as selling cars on Sundays.

Supporters say that the antiquated post-prohibition laws limit consumer choice and drive business across state lines, primarily in border counties like Winona, Houston and Wabasha. Opponents, including smaller liquor stores, argue against the higher overhead of being open for another day, which they say they would be forced to do in order to stay competitive against larger shops.

While the Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association has lobbied against a change, the Distilled Spirits Council urged lawmakers Friday to repeal the law.

The national trade organization represents distillers and marketers across the U.S.

Distilled Spirits Council vice president Dale Szyndrowski said in a press release that the change would only make it easier for consumers and small businesses.

Ending this archaic prohibition-era alcohol law benefits consumers and generates new revenue without raising taxes,Szyndrowski said. Minnesota lawmakers should pass Sunday sales legislation to benefit consumers, small business owners and the state treasury.

If the bill makes it through both the House and the Senate, and the language between the Senate and House bills can be reconciled, the bill would likely pass; Gov. Mark Dayton has indicated hell sign it into law or allow it to become law without his signature.

Miller said he wanted to give consumers and businesses the choice to sell on Sundays, which he said have become a popular day for errands and shopping.

Im hopeful this is the year we can get it done, Miller said.
The Port Authority approved the transfer of control of the citys commercial dock Thursday, but CD Corp will remain in place with current management.

Dan Nisbit, owner of CD Corp, will be transferring his stock to Enstructure, LLC, a Massachusetts-based company which manages shipping terminals.

Nisbit will remain as president, and said that one of the draws of the arrangement was Enstructures intention to keep both the trucking and barge sides of the operation and maintain the goals he had for the business.

Nisbit said it was the first time hed been approached by a company whose interests aligned with his.

Weve been working on this a while, Nisbit said. They bring some expertise to the table and they will bring some capital to the table for some larger port projects.

Ken Budrea, CEO of Enstructure, said they were attracted to the business by the established management and the variety of commodities that came through.

They focus on terminal logistics businesses and work with many smaller terminals like CD Corp.

Our business is bringing many of these businesses together in many places, Budreau said.

They are expecting to take control of the business by the end of February or the beginning of March, prior to shipping season.

CD Corps diversification has helped them in the past several years, with large amounts of distillers grain keeping the numbers up even after frac sand shipments dropped off drastically.

The company has also partnered with a gypsum pelletizing company to build a plant near their dock, and is hoping for an increase in demand for the gypsum to restart stalled production.

Last year the weather even cooperated with their shipping season, starting earlier than usual in March and continuing into December.

The port recorded 20 commercial barges in December 2016. In December 2015, by comparison, there were 10 barges recorded  the first time there had been barge traffic in December since 2009.

The change in the company was approved unanimously by the Port Authority, with Mary Glubka abstaining.

Commissioner Al Thurley said the agreement seemed to benefit both companies and could provide growth opportunities.

I see this as a good fit, Thurley said.

The Port Authority also will be involved in forming a committee to review proposals for development of the parking lot at 60 Main St.

The city put out a request for proposals last summer, and the lot was identified for development as far back as the comprehensive plan formed in 2007.

The lot is currently owned by the Port Authority of Winona, and it is expected that site excavation and fill will be necessary prior to development, as was found in earlier assessments the Port Authority conducted to pave the way for new developments.

Port Authority president Michael Cichanowski said they plan to have sessions in April to examine the four proposals they received, and that it will be a public process.

Prior to that though, Cichanowski said they will be keeping it under wraps to be sure everyone gets a fair shake in our process.

Were quite excited about these proposals, Cichanowski said.
U.S. Rep. Ron Kind has announced his first local meeting of the current session next week in La Crosse.

The La Crosse Democrat will hold a listening session at 3 p.m. Wednesday at American Legion Post 52 at 711 S. Sixth St. Kind also plans a second session on the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse campus, although details of that event have not been announced.

Many Republican lawmakers have been met with crowds of angry constituents who are showing up at town hall meetings to protest GOP plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act and voice displeasure with the Trump administration.

Rep. Tim Walz, a Mankato Democrat who represents southern Minnesota, has announced a listening session Thursday in Rochester.
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In the coffee shop where I am typing, The Band is playing over the speakers (first Atlantic City, then The Weight). On the wall across from me, there is a framed piece of muslin sackcloth printed with the words Cafe de El Salvador. Baristas hand out wooden chips for customers to deposit in one of four jars, casting votes for which charity theyd have the shop donate money to this month; choices include a food bank and a center for mentally ill adults. Near the ceiling, there is a strip of black paint on which is chalked this quotation: There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.  William J. Clinton.

This coffee shop is called Blue State Coffee.

Independent coffee shops everywhere tend to have a liberal vibe, but Blue State, which began in 2004 with the location where I sit in New Haven, Conn., and has expanded to eight branches in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, makes its politics explicit. Conservatives can drink here, of course, but while their money is welcome, their politics are not.

Blue State Coffee is a prime example of the politicization of commerce. Where once upon a time profit-minded entrepreneurs were terrified of being identified with one political camp or another, thus alienating potential customers from rival camps, today, theyre embracing partisanship as a strategy. What they lose in mass appeal, they seem to think, they gain in fierce loyalty.

We saw this gamble two weeks ago, when, in response to President Trumps travel bans applying to seven Muslim-majority countries, Starbucks pledged to hire 10,000 refugees over the next 10 years. There was nothing subtle about CEO Howard Schultzs move; in his letter announcing the plan, Schultz praised trade with Mexico and seemed to express support for the Affordable Care Act. In effect, Schultz was saying that Starbucks had joined the resistance.

The same week, Uber canceled surge pricing on rides to JFK Airport in New York City, a move that seemed to undercut a strike called by taxi drivers to protest the detention of foreigners denied entry to the U.S. Sensing an opportunity to stake out turf to Ubers left, rival car-share company Lyft announced a $1 million contribution to the American Civil Liberties Union. But Uber wouldnt let that stand. Faced with numerous deletions of its app, and a vente-sized cup of bad publicity, the company announced a $3 million legal fund for immigrant drivers. It also asked Trump to cancel his temporary travel ban.

Commerce has, of course, always been political. Businesspeople, more often than not conservatives, have networked and lobbied to fight government regulation, unions and other perceived evils. But the politics used to be conducted on the down-low. The National Prayer Breakfast, for example, began in 1953 as the bipartisan, public face of Methodist minister Abraham Vereides right-wing activism. (He got his start organizing businessmens opposition to the New Deal.) The U.S. Chamber of Commerce was organized by President Taft to fight the labor movement, but then went through a long period of bipartisanship before returning in recent years, under CEO Tom Donohue, to an open allegiance with Republican business interests.

All of this was largely invisible to most consumers. Now it sometimes seems as if every company in the strip mall has a political brand. I instinctively recoil every time I drive by the Hobby Lobby near me  I cant disassociate it from its evangelical owners successful Supreme Court fight, in 2014, to deny employees coverage for contraception in their healthcare plans. The new Chick-fil-A off Exit 9? Right wing, by virtue of its owners anti-gay political donations.

If I am going to be stuck in traffic, Id always rather be stuck behind a Subaru, because at least I can assume Im near likeminded folk  Subaru being an early, aggressive seeker of lesbian customers. Later that night, Ill console myself with a movie from gay-friendly Disney and a pint of ice cream from the reliably liberal Ben and Jerrys. (Sometimes too reliable  they got suckered by the scientifically suspect anti-GMO panic). Then Ill brush the sugar off with environmentally friendly Toms of Maine toothpaste. Which also will scrub off the stains from my Blue State coffee. And so the circle of virtue is complete.

Self-satisfied as my shopping choices make me, I am not sure they are good for the country, even if they are better for the planet. Third places like coffee shops  to use sociologist Ray Oldenburgs term for places that are neither home nor work  are crucial for organizing social movements. But they also should function as sites of unexpected conversation, the kind that might change our lives  as when we meet our soulmate over an extra-hot non-fat mocha  or, perhaps, our political views.

As a progressive, I am cheered by what the Starbucks and Lyft cases tell us about the country: that people who agree with me have buying power, and thus clout. You have to believe that CEOs at Starbucks, Disney and elsewhere have run the numbers and concluded that our country resembles the popular vote, not the electoral college. There are more of us than there are of them. And thus our capitalist system will be one check on Trumps retrograde policies.

But if conservatives avoid Starbucks, then something is lost  for me, anyway. And maybe Im losing something by never patronizing Hobby Lobby. Im not sure what they sell, but there are no doubt some mighty fine people buying it.
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP)  An Islamic State suicide bomber struck inside a famed shrine in southern Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least 75 people in the deadliest attack in the country in more than two years.

The bomber entered the main hall of the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan and detonated his payload amid dozens of worshippers, according to three security officials, who said at least 20 women and nine children were among the dead.

Fazal Palejo, a senior health official in Sindh province, confirmed the toll.

The Islamic State group claimed the attack in a statement circulated by its Aamaq news agency, saying it had targeted a Shiite gathering. The Sunni extremist group views Shiites as apostates and has targeted Pakistans Shiite minority in the past. It views Sufi shrines like the one targeted Thursday as a form of idolatry.

Thursdays attack was the deadliest in Pakistan since Dec. 16, 2014, when militants assaulted an army-run school in Peshawar, killing 154 people, mostly schoolchildren.

Pakistan has been at war with the Taliban and other extremist groups for more than a decade. In recent years it has launched major offensives against militant strongholds in the tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan, but insurgents have continued to carry out attacks elsewhere in the country.

The Islamic State group has been expanding its presence in Pakistan in recent years and has claimed a number of deadly attacks, including a suicide bombing at another shrine in November 2016 that killed more than 50 people.
A kind of carbo-licious porridge made from dried and coarsely ground corn, grits are to Southern cuisine what potatoes are to Northern cuisine  a deeply satisfying staple. Like squash, tomatoes and deep-pit barbecuing, grits came to define Southern cooking via the cuisines of such southeast American Indian tribes as the Caddo, Choctaw and Seminole.

These days were starting to see grits all over the country. Often theyll show up at breakfast seasoned with salt and pepper, topped with a pat of butter and nestled alongside some bacon and eggs. Theyre also a signature element in Shrimp and Grits, one of the succulent delights of the cuisine of coastal South Carolina and Georgia, which has also migrated widely.

But wonderful as they are, grits can be a chore  if not slightly dangerous  to make. Im speaking of regular old-fashioned stone-ground grits, which trump quick grits and instant grits in both flavor and texture. Made the usual way, old-fashioned grits need to be stirred relentlessly to avoid clumping. You also have to handle with care; this hot mush has a tendency to bubble up and burn the cook.

Heres a way to avoid those problems: Make it in the oven instead of on the stovetop. You simply combine the grits and the liquid in a ceramic pie dish (a total of 10 minutes hands-on time) and pop it into the oven for 45 to 50 minutes. Then stir in the flavorings  sharp cheddar cheese, in this case  and its done. How easy is that?

One note, though. The ceramic pie plate (or any shallow ceramic baking dish with the same capacity) is key. Pie plates made of metal or glass do not conduct heat as effectively.
A Plain man was sentenced Thursday to three years probation and fines for burglarizing a gas station, stealing guns from a vehicle and fleeing an officer.

Other charges against Corey Forrester, 24, were dismissed as part of a plea agreement his attorney reached with prosecutors. Hell serve no more time behind bars than the 42 days he already spent in the Sauk County jail, unless he violates the terms of his probation.

Its embarrassing, Forrester told the court. Im sorry for the trouble Ive caused.

Last month a Cenex station employee reported a burglary after noticing that the front door glass was smashed. Sauk County deputies who responded found no one inside the store, but the burglary was captured on a surveillance camera. Investigators later identified Forrester, a former gas station employee, as a possible suspect.

Authorities arrested Forrester after investigators found stolen cash in his possession. They also recovered three firearms that had been stolen from a vehicle in Plain days earlier.

Forrester was charged with burglary, criminal damage to property and two counts of theft. He pleaded no contest to the theft charges. The burglary and vandalism charges were dismissed, but read into the court record.

A pair of pending traffic charges against Forrester were rolled into the burglary case. He was charged with fleeing an officer and driving with an open intoxicant in a vehicle. He pleaded no contest to the flight charge. The open intoxicant charge was dismissed.

Circuit Judge Wendy Klicko accepted a plea deal proposed by Assistant District Attorney Michael Albrecht and Forresters lawyer, Leonie Dolch. That called for Forrester to serve three years on probation and pay nearly $2,000 in fines, fees and restitution costs. He is to undergo counseling and have no contact with victims of his crimes.

This was really stupid. Hes very aware of that, Dolch said of her client, who has spent the days since in the jail. Mr. Forrester has had a lot of time to think about whether thats the place for him.

One count of theft, a felony for stealing guns, will be expunged from his record upon successful completion of probation. He wont be able to vote or possess firearms in the meantime, but officers of the court agreed a young defendant with little criminal history deserved an opportunity to have the felony expunged. Mr. Forrester will have to be on the straight and narrow for three years, Klicko said.

Forrester was out on a bail in a Dane County case before his arrest in Plain. In December, Dane County prosecutors charged him with burglary, theft, criminal damage to property, resisting or obstructing an officer and bail jumping. Theres also an open Dane County case against him involving an alleged second drunken driving offense, filed last June.

He also was fined over a snowmobiling incident in January.
NORTH FREEDOM  An arbitrator has ruled Mid-Continent Railway Museum owes one of its members more than $200,000.

Hired to resolve a decades-old dispute between the museum and Roland Skip Lichter over the lease of his steam locomotive, arbitrator William Parker found Mid-Continents board of directors to be in the wrong. The museum had agreed to reimburse longtime member Lichter for his restoration work, and to lease it for operation for 15 years afterward.

Parker ruled Monday that Mid-Continent must immediately reimburse Lichter $200,000 for restoration work he conducted on the engine, plus interest. The museum also must pay Lichters legal fees and pay to have his engine, the Saginaw Timber Co. No. 2, moved anywhere its owner chooses in the continental U.S.

The arbitrator wrote that the 2003 lease allowing the museum to use the engine was favorable to Mid-Continent: Unfortunately for Lichter, although he has clearly done most of what was expected of him, and more, (Mid-Continent) has not.

The museum, dedicated to showcasing vintage steam locomotives and wooden passenger cars from the golden age of short-line railroading, hasnt regularly operated steam engines since 2000, when Lichters engine went out of service. While the sight of a steam engine chugging down the tracks is considered a powerful draw, the museums board of directors voted in December not to run Lichters 1912 engine this summer, even though its ready for the rails. The board cited liability and cost concerns.

Its unfortunate that Mid-Continent didnt realize that what they tried to do, and how its gone down, was not a good move, Lichter said.

Museum board president Jeff Bloohm declined to comment on the arbitrators decision.

Parker found the museum didnt act in good faith, and that the dispute is rooted in strained relations between Bloohm and Lichter. The arbitrator notes the museum made no significant attempt to raise funds while Lichter devoted his time and money to overhauling the engine. The lease stated $100 per run would be set aside for maintenance. Mid-Continent appears to have forgotten or ignored the fact that the obligation to overhaul the locomotive had arisen from their previous use of it, Parker writes.

The arbitrator rejected the boards contention that it wouldve been on the hook for repairs, as the lease states the museum could reject the engine if it were found to be in unsatisfactory condition. He also faults the board for attempting to unilaterally alter the lease, which was very favorable to Mid-Continent. Clearly Lichter was not trying to obtain a financial advantage.

Parker takes Bloohm to task for claiming he was forced to sign the lease, as documents state it was agreed upon without coercion. The arbitrator calls the agreement a resolution of the dispute resulting from (Mid-Continents) failure to overhaul the No. 2 after using it rent-free for 15 years. Far from being coercion, this was then seen as a favorable solution to a serious problem.

The dispute has attracted significant attention among rail buffs. Lichter said news of the arbitrators ruling generated 15 inquiries from sites interested in housing his engine. He plans to pick one and move from North Freedom. Lichter has owned the locomotive, originally used by timber haulers in the Pacific Northwest, for more than 40 years. If you knew how many across the country have asked, youd be awed by it, he said.

Parker writes that museum leaders have claimed the award may pose a financial burden. He writes they have only themselves to blame, as the dispute couldve been headed off years earlier.

The museum addresses the matter in a statement posted on its website. The Board of Directors primary concern is the potential large financial liability in running the Saginaw No. 2 as the museum is immediately responsible for all repairs to the engine during the term of the lease, the statement reads. The lease does not require the lessor to give any warranties on the workmanship of repairs made to the engine. In addition the board of directors is committed to running museum owned engines, not privately owned engines, and at the present time does not believe, with the high cost of maintaining and running steam locomotives, that two engines can be run at the same time.

Mid-Continent plans to get back into the steam engine business without Lichters help. Its own steam engine, the Chicago & North Western No. 1385, hasnt operated since 1998, but museum leaders plan to have it back on the rails in 2018.
A Jamaican citizen will spend three years in jail and another three on extended supervision after pleading no contest Thursday in Sauk County Circuit Court to possessing child pornography.

Jermayne S. Webley, 28, also must pay about $2,000 in fines, register as a sex offender and have no contact with minors. After completing his sentence, Webley may face deportation.

Webleys home was raided by state investigators in May. The Department of Justices Division of Criminal Investigation entered his Grand Canyon Drive apartment near Lake Delton and confiscated several hard drives and a computer. Investigators found on those devices videos and images that depicted young boys engaged in sex acts.

Two of four felony counts of possession of child pornography against Webley were dismissed but read into the record. Webley pleaded no contest to the other two. The sentence, negotiated by Webleys attorney and the Sauk County District Attorneys Office before being accepted by Circuit Judge Wendy Klicko, is the minimum allowed under state law.

Assistant District Attorney Rick Spoentgen credited Webley for owning up to his crime, rather than attempting to hide it from investigators. He was straightforward with them, honest with them, Spoentgen said.

Webleys attorney David Susens said his client has been a model employee at multiple jobs, and has no criminal record. Webley has spent his entire adult life in the U.S. and married an American woman. Webley had hoped to become a naturalized U.S. citizen and join the military, but a felony conviction will prevent that.

Ill be doing my time and Ill be coming out better than I went in, Webley told the court.

Klicko credited Webley for admitting his offense, but expressed concern about his comment to investigators that its a victimless crime because he didnt produce or distribute the illegal material. She said consumers of such material play a role in the mistreatment of children, and said she was dismayed by the disturbing nature of the materials Webley possessed. Child pornography only exists because people download it. Its supply and demand, the judge said.
Two University of Wisconsin-Baraboo/Sauk County geology students will head to El Paso, Texas this summer for a paid opportunity to study earth sciences in the southwestern United States.

UW-Baraboo sophomores Dan Emerson and Shannon Brink are two of eight students from across the country who were accepted into the University of Texas at El Paso-Research Opportunities for Community College Students program. The course is funded by the National Science Foundation and invites two-year college students interested in the geological sciences to conduct research at the university.

Its giving the students a variety of topics to practice researching with and getting the experience doing hands-on research, said UW-Baraboo geology professor Melissa Hage. Thats not very common for two-year college students.

Hage said Emerson and Brink could study anything from the effect of igneous rock intrusions on ground water to tectonic plate boundaries and how the earth works.

Its more about learning the techniques to answer the geological questions in the field rather than trying to really answer one specific question, she said.

The students will depart for four weeks of field research in El Paso at the end of May, and conduct an additional five weeks of analysis from UW-Baraboo after they return.

They also will have the opportunity to present their findings at a poster session at UW-Baraboo during the fall semester, and return to El Paso the following spring semester to present a poster at the universitys annual student research colloquium.

While Hage commended her students for earning spots in the research program, both Emerson and Brink credited their professor  who approached them with the opportunity  and the universitys geology department for their success.

Im fascinated by rocks, and Im fascinated by research, Emerson said. But shes also very dedicated to her students  shes challenged me, shes treated me like a college student, shes challenged me academically and pushed me to want to be a geologist.

After UW-Baraboo, Emerson plans to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison to pursue a degree in geochemistry. Brink said shes still undecided as to what branch of geology she would like to pursue a career in, but plans to attend the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse next year.

I will be doing something within the field of geology, she said. Its just a matter of refining it down to what exactly that will be.

Out of all the opportunities that may be available through the research program, Brink said shes most looking forward to the chance to conduct independent research.

Im excited to find the resources so that Im able to find that information on my own, she said.

Emerson said hes motivated by the opportunity to use geology as a means for problem solving.

Im excited about the unknown, he said. I love being given a rock and being told to figure out what this is. I love puzzles, the challenge  I love just putting pieces together and trying to make a complete picture of something so I can tell other people what it is.
Gov. Scott Walker has made it a priority to take actions to control the cost of higher education. He froze tuition for four consecutive years at all UW System schools, resulting in an average savings of $6,311 per student over that time. He has increased grants to technical colleges, increased accessibility to internship programs for college students, and backed creation of a scholarship program for high school students who lead their classes in technical education courses. And in his recently announced budget, Walker wants to cut tuition for all UW System resident undergraduates by 5 percent, saving an average student $360 per year.

The governor also approved the creation of a college affordability/student debt specialist to be housed in the Office of Financial Literacy at the Department of Financial Institutions. As part of this effort, DFI last fall unveiled a new website, www.lookforwardwi.gov, to provide resources to students and parents who are seeking information about student debt and ways to make college more affordable.

There is no denying this is a hot topic. Total student debt in the United States now stands at about $1.3 trillion. The vast majority  about 81 percent  is held by the U.S. Department of Education and other federal agencies. The remaining 19 percent is held by non-federal financial services providers such as banks, credit unions and other entities.

For a variety of reasons, in recent decades more students have had to resort to student loans to pay for their education. Nationally, 68 percent of college graduates in 2015 had student debt. The average debt load was $30,100, up 4 percent from 2014 (Wisconsin graduates averaged $29,460).

This rise in student debt has caused some people to adopt a sky is falling mentality that leads them to the conclusion there is only one possible remedy to the problem: More government. Here in Wisconsin, some people are insisting that state intervention is the only panacea that will address student debt. This proposal is very costly  and unnecessary.

The proposal would require Wisconsin to establish a new state authority to offer refinancing opportunities to student borrowers. It would require building a significant bureaucracy and staffing it with lending experts and legal and investment advisory personnel to underwrite student loans and access securities markets to sell bonds to fund the program. This is a huge new government undertaking with many unknowns and risks.

Supporters of the concept point to a handful of other states  including Minnesota  that offer state-run student debt refinancing programs. What those supporters do not tell you is that not every student borrower automatically qualifies for refinancing. The borrowers must meet certain credit standards in order to qualify because funding for the program comes from private-sector investors who are seeking a return on their investment.

For example, Minnesota requires a FICO score of at least 720 and a debt-to-income ratio of no more than 45 percent for a borrower to qualify for refinancing. These credit standards are more stringent than what you would find at some private-sector financial institutions.

Instead of creating a new and expensive layer of state government, Wisconsin would be better served by leaving this matter in the hands of existing programs and our private-sector institutions, both of which have the resources and well-established expertise to address it.

For example, the federal government currently offers at least five types of student loan repayment plans and at least nine student loan forgiveness programs. More information about these plans can be found on the Look Forward website at www.lookforwardwi.gov/resources.

In addition, a list of Wisconsin credit unions and banks that may offer refinancing options  some at terms more competitive than those offered by state-run refinancing agencies  can also be found on the Look Forward website www.lookforwardwi.gov/wisconsin-loan-providers.
Five towns that surround Beaver Dam Lake have come to an agreement on a new 3-year contract that pulls the city of Beaver Dams fire and EMS services under one roof.

I think its amicable for all parties involved, Tom Stebbins, association president said.

The towns of Beaver Dam, Calamus, Lowell, Westford, Trenton and the city of Beaver Dam make up the Beaver Dam Community Fire and Rescue Association.

The new fire and EMS contract will put all services provided by the Beaver Dam Fire Department into one contract. Beaver Dam Fire Chief Alan Mannel has previously said that this will get rid of cherry-picking specific services that the city can provide. This way a town would be unable to contract with a private service.

The annual readiness fee for EMS services provided by the city of Beaver Dam is also seeing adjustments. The new billing is based on actual historical average charges from 2002 through 2017 for each municipality. Ambulance calls will still charged on call volume.

Water/ice rescue contribution agreement

The association also approved an agreement to help the city of Beaver Dam buy new water/ice rescue equipment.

The towns will pay for a quarter of the total cost for new ice and water rescue equipment. The total cost for new rescue equipment is more than $222,000 with the towns covering more than $55,000 total.

The ice and water rescue equipment includes a new Hovercraft, boat and SCUBA rescue gear. These items havent been purchased.

According to the agreement, the towns of Beaver Dam, Calamus, Westford and Trenton are paying for 22.5 percent of the total share. Lowell will pay 10 percent. The payments will be made in equal annual installments over five years starting in 2018.

This was a point of contention for the town of Beaver Dam as Jeff Schmitt said he wants to see the Dodge County get on board.

Sometimes they are the first ones on the ice, he said.

Town of Beaver Dam Chairperson Neal Stippich added that he is disappointed with Dodge County.

Back in August, Mannel and Clyman Fire Chief Eric Howlett attended the Dodge County Board of Supervisors Executive Committee meeting to present a proposal for the county to contribute to the expense of water rescues in the area.

At that time, there was no agreement, but Dodge County Administrator Jim Mielke told them that the soonest it could be added to the countys budget is 2018 and the request would be reviewed with other capital project funding requests as well.

Last year, the town of Beaver Dam pushed back against paying for new ice rescue equipment. Representatives from the town of Beaver Dam previously said the cost should fall on the Dodge County Sheriffs Office. The town focused on a Wisconsin statute that indicates a sheriffs department is responsible for water rescues, which would include equipment, training, personnel and support.

Stebbins said that donations toward the water/ice rescue equipment or if Dodge County does decides it wants to chip in for some of the costs associated with the equipment those funds would be redistributed back to the towns based on its percentage share.

He added that the association will not know if Dodge County will offer to fund some of the costs until the 2018 budget cycle begins.

The 3-year contract was approved with 11 yes votes and three no votes.
Local voters will have only one state race on the ballot when they hit the polls for Tuesdays primary election as four candidates vie for two spots in the state superintendent election.

Voters can decide the future of the director of public instruction race, which became a lot more interesting this week. Incumbent Tony Evers, elected in 2009, will be seeking his third term. In the primary, Evers faces challengers Lowell Holtz, John Humphries, and Rick Melcher. Holtz is a former superintendent of the Beloit School District, while Humphries is a former administrator for the Dodgeville School District. Melcher, a high school math teacher in the Racine Unified School District, is running as a write-in candidate.

On Wednesday, Humphries said he met with Holtz in a late-December breakfast meeting where Holtz allegedly offered Humphries a guaranteed position with the Wisconsin Department of Instruction if he suspended his campaign, assuming Holtz defeated Evers. The three-year position would pay $150,000 annually, along with benefits, a personal driver, and the authority over some urban school districts in the state.

Holtz did admit to meeting with Humphries, but said the job offer was more of suggestion than a formal proposal. In a radio interview, Holtz said a group of business leaders requested the two conservative candidates work together to defeat Evers, but that it was only an idea. But, compared to Humphries, Holtz said he is on totally opposite ends of the political spectrum.

The state superintendent of public instruction is a nonpartisan position elected every four years.

On Thursday, One Wisconsin Now, a progressive nonprofit organization, filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission to investigate the meeting between Holtz and Humphries. The organization claims the two candidates violated campaign finance laws because the position offered by Holtz could be seen as an election bribe. In interviews on Thursday, Evers said Holtz and Humphries should provide more insight into their discussions.

The two candidates who receive the most votes on Tuesday will advance to the spring election in April. Several local municipal and school board positions will also be decided on April 4.
Through a small gesture of kindness and compassion, a Mauston dentist is hoping to help local children in need.

Dr. Marcie Yang, who started her practice in early 2016, felt the drive to help local homeless students after reading an article in the Star-Times. The story, which ran in January, documents the high percentage of homeless students in the Mauston School District. Based on data from the 2014-15 school year, about 5.5 percent of students in Mauston are homeless.

Through a fundraising effort called Kindness for Kids, Yang is accepting monetary donations through April for children in need. Residents can drop off donations at Yangs office at 510 E. State Street in downtown Mauston. The fundraiser coincides with National Dental Health Month in February and National Prosthodontics Awareness Month in April.

Ive been here over a year now and besides the daily grind of going into work, we havent really participated in anything that could really make a difference besides doing dental work, Yang said.

Along with her work in dentistry, Yang also specializes in prosthodontics, which focuses on replacement of missing teeth. Yang, moved emotionally by the story of Maustons homeless, thought it would be an ideal time to raise awareness. The local dentist is hoping other area businesses will join her fundraising drive this spring. Donation jars will also be placed at local banks in the Mauston area.

I thought this was a good opportunity to really help out local kids. Especially kids who dont have the means to get basic necessities to learn, get a good education and go to school, Yang said. We wanted to have a long timeframe to work with to collect money.

Yang, who was born in Thailand, was raised in a family of 11 children. Money was tight at times, and Yang and her siblings always pitched in to help the family.

Theres a special place in my heart where I feel kids deserve food and clothes so they can focus on getting a good education, Yang said.

Shes a compassionate person who is always looking for ways to help others, said Mary Beth Preuss, Yangs office secretary.

Yang hopes to raise at least $1,000 through the fundraiser and plans to hold it every year. Even a few dollars from a patient can help a local child.

I know poverty is pretty high in this area, Yang said. But especially with kids, because they are the future, its sad to see them battle homelessness.

Preuss said there is a misconception that homelessness only affects people in large, urban areas. However, plenty of residents in Juneau County grapple with the problem every day.

Residents can also contact Michele Yates-Wickus, the homeless liaison director for the Mauston School District, to donate clothes and supplies at 608-847-5451, ext. 6602.

People who wish to donate can also send checks to Dr. Yang at 510 E. State Street, Mauston, WI 53948. To contact the dentist, call 608-847-5614.

If youre not our patient, thats okay, the biggest thing is we just want you to make a donation, even if you go to other businesses, Yang said. Whatever is more convenient for you.
Mauston residents will likely see some significant changes in city parks as a new outdoor recreation plan was approved Tuesday.

The Mauston Common Council unanimously approved the plan, which runs from 2017-2021, at its regular meeting at city hall. In a resolution, the city states the plan is designed to provide quality park facilities and a variety of recreation opportunities and experiences to meet the needs of the communitys residents.

Through the plan, the city will be eligible to obtain state grants from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). To receive these grants, the DNR requests municipalities to amend or update outdoor recreation plans every five years. The plan received feedback from a community survey and was approved by the citys board of park commissioners.

The city has discussed several popular plans for its parks in the past year, including a splash pad and dog park. Community members also formed a group called Friends of the Park to advocate for park improvements.

Our park board has spent several months receiving comments from the community, planning out next projects for our park system and, overall, I think its a good plan, said City Administrator Nathan Thiel.

New owners for Dry Gulch

The council approved a liquor license transfer to Gerald L. Smith and Danial Hunkins, new owners of The Dry Gulch tavern on Tuesday.

The bar, located at 112 E. State Street in downtown Mauston, has been vacant for several months. The license is good through June 30, 2017 and allows the establishment to serve alcohol in the first floor and basement of the property.

Council members approved the license unanimously on Tuesday.

ADRC to receive help from city

Juneau Countys Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) will receive financial assistance from the city to fund its senior meal program.

The city agreed to give $3,000 from its general contingency fund to the program. In December, ADRC Director Char Norberg told the council the program faces funding cuts and is vital to seniors in Mauston and across Juneau County.

Public works purchases

The city approved the purchase of a bucket truck and lawn mower for the public works department, and gave the green light on a contract for a company to provide asphalt and concrete crushing services.

In his report to the council, Director of Public Works Rob Nelson said the winter has provided challenges to his department.

Were getting low on road salt and weve had three broken water mains this year, Nelson said. Weve also done 32 tree removals so far this winter.
Student leaders are demanding that the University of Wisconsin-Madison open its doors to more black students by changing admissions policies and increasing need-based financial aid.

A resolution adopted Wednesday by the Associated Students of Madison student council calls for:

Creating a task force by March 10 to study making standardized tests optional in applications and giving preference to students from city high schools;

Increasing need-based financial aid to 10 percent of gifts to the campus;

Free and full access to UW-Madison for all black people.

ASM representative Tyriek Mack, sponsor of the legislation, said in a statement that it is time the university acted on its declarations on diversity and inclusion.

The universitys rhetoric suggests that it is committed to diversity and inclusion, so this legislation compels the university to move towards action  which is imperative, Mack said. If no one challenges the universitys empty promises, then the racial composition will remain stagnant.

Black students currently make up about 2 percent of Madison enrollment. University spokeswoman Meredith McGlone told the Associated Press that the proportion of students of color has grown from 11 percent to 15 percent over the last decade. McGlone said the school supports the spirit of the resolution, but that its unclear whether the methods it proposes are legal or the best way to accomplish those goals.

The lengthy resolution adopted Wednesday references a chilling effect of the use of SAT and ACT scores on low-income students who want to apply to UW-Madison; the disparate representation in campus applications of students from suburban high schools; an achievement gap between majority and minority students dating back to enslavement.

The resolution concludes by demanding: Reparations for the systemic denial of access to high quality education opportunity in the form of full and free access for all black people (including undocumented, currently and formerly incarcerated people) to UW-Madison."

Free access means free tuition, free housing and no fees, Mack told the AP.

Chancellor Rebecca Blank has proposed giving first-generation transfers from two-year schools free tuition for a year, contingent on funding in the upcoming state budget, and a recent $10 million donation will be invested in expanding the Chancellors Scholarship Program, which supports minorities, McGlone said.

Minority students have been pressing campus administrators to improve the climate on campus, following a series of bias incidents last semester and the arrest of a black student for spray-painting anti-racist messages on campus.

Campus administrators have approved a black cultural center, and have expanded ethnic studies courses and diversity training for all faculty and staff.

Representatives of the state Legislatures budget-writing committee did not respond to an email seeking comment on the idea of free tuition and housing for black students, AP reported.

But Mike Mikelsen, an aide to state Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, one of UWs most outspoken critics, called ASM a waste of student fees.

Gov. Scott Walkers proposed budget would make optional a portion of fees paid by students, including those supporting student organizations like ASM.
On Tuesday, the Senate Committee on Education will consider the nomination of Betsy DeVos to serve as Donald Trumps Secretary of Education. Anyone who cares about public schools should contact their lawmakers in Washington and tell them to vote against her confirmation.

DeVos is a former Republican chairwoman and Michigan billionaire. Neither she nor her children ever attended a public school. She never taught school, hasnt even been on a school board and has no qualifications to be in charge of an education department with a $73 billion annual budget. She has no experience in any of the functions the department oversees.

So why was she chosen? Could it possibly have something to do with the fact she and groups she leads have donated around $200 million to candidates in the Republican Party, including Gov. Scott Walker, and even to some who have the power to confirm her nomination? Gee, I wonder.

She proved her lack of credentials and even fundamental knowledge of the department when she was questioned by the committee last week. I almost felt sorry for her as she struggled to answer many questions about important federal education programs and laws  answers any qualified candidate would know immediately.

For instance, she said the states should determine how students with special needs were educated. When reminded that the Individuals With Disabilities in Education Act was a federal law, she seemed surprised. When she was asked if she agreed that all schools should be equally accountable, she waffled for a while and then said, No.

In the end, there was no vote because committee members hadnt had a chance to review the Office of Government Ethics report that lists her financial disclosures and possible conflicts of interest. It appears she may have several.

After reviewing the newly-released report, I gave up trying to count the number of pages that list the investments she has in more than 100 corporations and non-profit organizations, several of which are connected in some way to private, for profit schools. Its also interesting that her investments in many of them are worth between $1 million and $5 million. Apparently, backing private education can be very profitable.

DeVos is a huge supporter of private, for-profit and religious schools. For decades shes lobbied for bills that support them with taxpayer voucher money. At the same time, shes fought for bills that protect those same schools from laws requiring disclosure of how the taxpayer money is spent while opposing legislation intended to hold them accountable in the same ways public schools are held accountable. She was very successful at all of this in her home state of Michigan. So, how did that work out?

The Detroit Free Press has been covering Detroits schools for years and frequently has reported on the failure of many of the charter schools that were created as a result of DeVoss lobbying and donations to certain Michigan legislators. The paper also spent a year investigating these charter schools and detailed its findings in a June 22, 2014, article, Michigan spends $1B on charter schools but fails to hold them accountable. This is what it discovered:

Wasteful spending and double-dipping. Board members, school founders and employees steering lucrative deals to themselves or insiders. Schools allowed to operate for years despite poor academic records. No state standards for who operates charter schools or how to oversee them.

It also found that a record number of charter schools she lobbied for were run by for-profit companies that take taxpayer money, but will not say how they spent it, claiming theyre private, so they dont have to disclose anything.

On Jan. 16, the same paper reported on her nomination, DeVos also found criticism from an unlikely source: the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association, which sent a letter to (U.S. Sen. Elizabeth) Warren, saying it is concerned about her critical role in creating a charter system in her home state of Michigan that has been widely criticized for lax oversight and poor academic performance.

In other words, she has never done anything to improve public schools, but has spent millions in campaign donations to influence legislation that promotes private voucher schools. Those schools rely on taxpayer money while siphoning much-needed funding from public schools. Laws passed here in Wisconsin that do the same thing are most likely the result of DeVos campaign donations to Gov. Walker and his Republican cronies in the Legislature.

The voters wanted a president who would drain the swamp. Instead, hes filling his cabinet with the same kind of people he ranted about during his campaign. But, whos surprised?
Aaron Carter, the singer-rapper who began performing as a child and had hit albums starting in his teen years, was found dead at his home in Southern California. He was 34. Representatives for Carters family confirmed the singers death Saturday. They did not provide any immediate further comment. A sheriff's official says deputies responding to reports of a medical emergency found a person deceased at the home in Lancaster. Aaron Carter, the younger brother of Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys, performed as an opening act for Britney Spears as well as his brothers boy band, and appeared on the familys reality series, House of Carters.
Garvin Kowalke of Baraboo was flying as copilot on a B-29 airplane in World War II. The mission was to firebomb Tokyo.

Kowalkes plane was getting ready to drop its bombs at around 11,000 feet, and it was suddenly hit by searchlights. The Japanese fighter pilots could then fly up the beams and attack the B-29s.

We hung tight and dropped the bombs, said Kowalke, But then instead of pulling out and headin home, he takes a look at [the rising smoke] and the command pilot, he said, Hey, were going to duck those guys. So, hes going to turn into the smoke thats built up from the fire and then they [the Japanese Zeros] cant see him. So he did. And we got the wildest damn ride Ive ever had in a bomber like that. Well, what happened is theres this smoke rolling up and the air is coming down to feed it and whoosh, like that, its just suckin in. Well, thats what we hit, that air thats being sucked in. So down we go. I pulled back all I could to pull the nose back up, taken the power up, because we went to maximum speed and nose down. We got down to where you could see the flames and everything and now the wind was being built up from the fire and we hit that.

Kowalke said that thats when the B-29 went right over. It flipped. We went right straight up and we went right on over, and we just kept her steady and came out 2,500 feet over Tokyo. We just hung loose there, and climbed out a little bit and headed right straight for Tokyo Bay to get the hell out of there. That unorthodox maneuver so surprised the Japanese gunners that they were hardly shot at from there on out.

On his 10th mission over Tokyo, the ground fire was intense, and one of the four engines of the B-29 was knocked out. Protocol dictated that they head for Iwo Jima for an emergency landing, but the pilot decided he could make it back to the Guam and continued on. Two-hundred-fifty miles north of Guam, a second engine failed. A B-29 would have a great deal of difficulty flying on two engines, so the decision was to ditch in the ocean.

Buck [the pilot] kinda lost it then. He jammed those two throttles forward and we were descending towards the ocean, and he puts on the power like that and he pulls her up and she starts to shudder and roll and hes just sittin there. I took the airplane away from him and I pulled the power back, got her straightened out and I alerted the crew that were going to have to ditch this bugger.

In order to lighten the aircraft, the pilot had opened the bomb bay doors to jettison the extra fuel tanks, and one of the doors didnt close again.

I took over and set her up for ditching, said Kowalke, I picked me out a nice big wave, and sat her on top of it. Thats when she crapped out. Because the bomb bay doors were open, that made the airplane break in half, right at the edge of the bomb bay doors so the tail section sinks and the other section just sits there, because the wing tanks are open.

The nose was sinking, and Kowalke opened his side window, and swam out. He had on a life preserver, but was submerged and didnt know if hed make it up alive. He thought, drowning is an easy way to die, your lungs just fill up and theres no pain.

Im at that stage where, am I going to make it or not? And suddenly he had a vision of his wife, I can see her, and shes calling my name. And all of a sudden, I had all the strength in the world!

After checking on his crew  11 of the 12make it out OK. We were just paddling around looking, and as we turned, there was a body in the ocean and I paddled over to that and got ahold of it, and it was that squadron navigator. No dingy, and his Mae West [life preserver] was not even inflated, so he didnt have a chance. So I checked his pulse, yeah, he was gone, so I removed his dog tags and put them in my pocket so they would go to his family, and then said the prayers and punctured the other dingy and punctured the Mae West, and buried him right there.

The next morning they were rescued and returned to their base. The pilot was dismissed for not using better judgement when he neglected to land at Iwo Jima. Kowalke captained his own B-29 after that, and named it The City of Baraboo, and his crew decided to stay with him.

Two of the missions he flew were weather reconnaissance flights the days before the Hiroshima atomic bombing, to find out what the weather was like. They wanted to know, Is it storming over Hiroshima?

The day after [the bomb was dropped], we got a radiologist and got all the radiation detection equipment and hung it from the airplane, we looked like a porcupine. Then we took off and went right over Hiroshima, changed altitude and made sure what the [radiation] levels were there, so if it was necessary to put anybody in there, they would know what was going on. I took pictures of the bombing drop, and of the damage and all that.

Shortly thereafter, Japan surrendered, and WWII was over.

Kowalke went on to serve in the Korean War, and in Vietnam, and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, four Air Medals and the Purple Heart. He retired in 1970 as a Lieutenant Colonel, and moved back to Baraboo, where he lived until his death in 2011.

Compiled from a 2005 interview by Bill Schuette and Peter Shrake.
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RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. provides reinsurance and insurance products around the world. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Bermuda with offices in Ireland, Australia, Switzerland, Singapore, and the US.

The company operates through two segments that include multiple underlying businesses and investment vehicles. The two main segments are Property and Casualty & Specialty. The company operates through intermediaries that include DaVinci Resinsurance Inc, Top Layer Reinsurance LTD, and RennaisanceRe Syndicate 1458 among others.

Top Layer Re is the first major venture and was started in 1999. It is a joint venture with State Farm targeting high layers of the US reinsurance business. DaVinci Re was formed in the wake of 9/11 to assist with capacity and it was given added capacity in the wake of hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. Medici was formed in 2009 and is an open-ended fund intended to spur investment in the catastrophe bond market.

The Property segment writes catastrophic insurance policies to insure insurance and reinsurance companies against natural and man-made catastrophes. These include but are not limited to hurricanes, floods, freezes, and terrorism.

The Casualty & Specialty segment provides a wide range of consumer products including business insurance, malpractice insurance, liability insurance, workers' compensation, mortgage insurance, and health insurance among others.

Among RenaissanceRes Specialty businesses is capital management. The firm offers 6 investment vehicles and has more than $11 billion under management making it the #1 ILS or insurance-linked asset manager in the US. In regards to its credit ratings, the firm and all of its vehicles carry an A or better rating from every credit rating agency.
Conservation paleontology: Hints from the fossil record on how to re-oyster the Chesapeake

The old shell game: Joshua Zimmt '17 helps paleontologist Rowan Lockwood sort through the many, many shell fossils recovered from ancient oyster reefs. Lockwood presented ideas for re-oystering the Chesapeake based on conservation paleontology principles. Photo by Stephen Salpukas Photo - of - Hide Caption

Rowan Lockwood is extracting pearls of data from long-dead oysters.

Lockwood, a professor in William & Marys Department of Geology, has strung those data pearls together to craft a set of suggestions for the re-oystering of todays Chesapeake Bay. She discussed her findings in Boston on Feb. 17 at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the worlds largest general scientific society.

The presentation, Oysters Past and Present, and the Future of the Chesapeake Bay, drew on the study of more than 4,000 fossil oysters that lived between 80,000 and 500,000 years ago. The work is an example of an emerging subdiscipline known as conservation paleontology.

Conservation paleontology is just like conservation biology, only with older stuff, Lockwood explained. The idea is to use the fossil record, the archaeological record  maybe even the historical record  to help us restore biodiversity, to understand why some organisms and populations are currently struggling.

In situations such as oyster restoration in the Chesapeake Bay, a conservation paleontology approach is necessary to establish a true baseline for the restoration of an ecosystem. Lockwood said that most ecological managers establish baselines based on what the Chesapeake looked like 100 or 200 years ago.

A better baseline

As a paleontologist, thats way too young for me, she said. I want to understand what the Bay was like before humans started having an impact, maybe 10,000 years ago. I want to look back and see how the ecosystems functioned for thousands and tens of thousands of years. And I want to see how the ecosystem responded naturally to things like climate change and sea-level rise.

Lockwood offers some tangible evidence of what a prehistoric Chesapeake was like. She shows one of her specimens, an enormous half-million year old oyster, saying, It could serve as a doorstop.

Oysters of such a size were the rule, not the exception, in the prehistoric Chesapeake, and Lockwood says that her studies show that the Bay was full of such mammoth oysters. A conservation-paleontology approach provides the necessary context to understand the true baseline ecosystem, she explained.

We live in the modern times, and we are trapped in the mindset of thinking that what we see today is natural, when in reality humans have been affecting the earth now for thousands of years, Lockwood said. A manager of the Chesapeake Bay has never seen a healthy oyster reef. Theyve never seen anything close to a natural oyster reef. The only way to understand how oysters are supposed to function is to go back in time.

{{youtube:medium:left|zgA9DxBgLhI, Oysters and the future of the Chesapeake Bay}}

Lockwoods conservation-paleontology time machine reveals more than large numbers of large oysters. Working with a set of William & Mary undergraduate researchers, she has used a set of laboratory techniques to extract a number of interesting data points on the ancient oysters of the Chesapeake. They learn how long each oyster lived through a process known as sclerochronology. Sawing the fossil shells in half allows researchers to count growth bands, much like tree rings. But the gray and white growth bands in oyster shells are more complex than tree rings.

Its not enough to simply count the bands, because oysters stop growing when it gets cold, Lockwood said. In some places they stop growing when it gets too warm. In some places they stop growing when they get too much fresh water.

How to age an aged oyster

Lockwood took some oysters to the lab of collaborator Fred Andrus, a geoarcheologist at the University of Alabama. Andrus had instrumentation that allowed her to drill into the white and gray growth bands, taking samples.

I can put those samples in a mass spectrometer, and that lets me measure the isotopes of oxygen. Those isotopes of oxygen allow me to reconstruct temperature through time, she explained. So I can tell you how cold the winters were and how warm the summers were 400,000 years ago.

Lockwood found that the size of her ancient oysters is solely a function of a long life; the growth rate is no different than the oysters in todays Chesapeake. Her study includes a range of oyster fossils from Delaware down to North Carolina.

She said that a modern oyster in the Bay lives five or six years, on average, before being harvested or dying of disease. By comparison, her Chesapeake Bay fossil specimens lived particularly long lives. Were talking 30, 35 years old, she said. These are big, honkin grandma oysters.

There are no big, honkin grandpa oysters. Oysters are sequential hermaphrodites, she explained: They all are born male, then change sexes as they grow to a certain size. Lockwood stressed that individual oyster size has enormous conservation implications.

Because, if youre an oyster, the bigger you are, the more offspring you have, she said. As these things grow in size, and grow in age, theyre having more and more offspring.

Lockwood added that contemporary research on oysters, including studies done by faculty at William & Marys School of Marine Science at VIMS, suggest that larger oysters are developing some degree of tolerance to MSX and Dermo, diseases that have killed off many native oysters in the Chesapeake. Additional evidence shows that some of the oyster populations are evolving disease tolerance through natural selection.

Lockwood told her AAAS audience that what the Chesapeake Bay needs is reefs covered with these old female oysters, happily filtering the water and producing lots of spat  oyster larvae. She acknowledges that its unrealistic to think that the Bay will ever regain its prehistoric oyster population, but evidence points in the same direction: If you want to boost the oyster population of the Chesapeake, the bigger oyster is the better oyster.

More older breeding oysters

She offered a set of recommendations for improving the Chesapeakes oyster stock through increasing the size of individual oysters. Oyster fishing targets the larger specimens, which Lockwood said are precisely the fertile shellfish that a conservationist would want to protect.

One idea is to institute maximum-size or slot-limit regulations designed to preserve the big female breeders. Lockwood noted such rules would be effective where the shellfish are harvested by hand at low tide, less so in areas where dredging and other larger-scale fisheries are used.

Current fisheries regulations have a minimum-size limit, protecting the younger oysters. Lockwood suggests maximum or slot limits could be part of a rethinking of regulations and other conservation actions to encourage protection of the breeding grandma oysters.

When you look at where we spend our conservation dollars on Chesapeake Bay oysters, we spend it all on their early life stages, she said. We put a lot of shell on the bottom of the Bay, hoping that larva will settle there. We also raise larva in the lab, then release them in the Bay.

Worthy as such spat-centric initiatives are, Lockwood points out that the odds for the survival of any one oyster larva are in the neighborhood of one in 10,000  under the best of conditions.

So would you rather put your money into the survival of one in 10,000, or would you rather put your money into the preserving of the larger, older oyster who has already lived 10 years and who has already earned her place in the survival of the fittest? she asked.

Lockwood suggested increasing the numbers and sizes of oyster sanctuaries in the Bay. She also advises siting sanctuaries and replanting sites with regard to anticipated sea-level rise.

Oyster preserves, off-limits to harvesting, would not only allow the residents to grow to their full potential, but might also help to mitigate the effects of the two diseases plaguing native oysters in the Chesapeake.

If you look in the areas of the bay where people are not fishing  usually because those are areas where the pollutant loads are too high for the oysters to be eaten  we have really large oysters, she said. And they are starting to evolve disease tolerance.

She said that the disease tolerance is a result of natural selection. Oysters in protected grounds could be expected to not only grow to grandma size, but also to pass on to their multitudinous offspring some of those genes that convey disease tolerance.

Lockwood pointed out that there has been a great deal of success in protect the adult strategies applied to other species. She cited the example of sea turtles, where populations have rebounded more quickly when conservation strategies were switched from a focus on nest sites and hatching events to protecting adults from poaching and boat strikes.

But Chesapeake Bay oysters are part of a much more complex system, she said. There are so many variables at play here, including the socio-cultural aspects. But from a purely ecological standpoint, I would say were not doing a great job. Oysters are really struggling, and I would like to see us shift our funding into approaches that quantitatively appear that they would yield a lot more success.

Lockwood is one of two William & Mary researchers who presented work at the AAAS meeting. The other is Anne Charity Hudley, who spoke on Educator Linguistic Ideology About African-American English in STEM Contexts in a Feb. 19 session.

Lockwoods presentation was part of a three-scientist panel. The session was organized by William & Mary alumna Susan Kidwell 76, whom Lockwood described as one of the preeminent paleontologists in the world and a pioneer of conservation paleontology concepts. The third member of the panel is Jacquelyn Gill of the University of Maine.

The AAAS conference staff has shown a great deal of enthusiasm for Lockwoods presentation. She is being featured in a podcast and was asked to give a Clams and Catastrophes stage show presentation at Family Science Days, the weekend outreach program thats a part of the AAAS meeting.
Theatre professor explores struggles of Pakistani transgender communities in play

Giving voice: Told through song, dance, and narrative, Teesri Dhun (The Third Tune) explores the contemporary challenges of hijra and trans* individuals in a 90-minute dramatic enactment. Photo courtesy of Khalifa Tayyab Saqib

Giving voice: "[Theatre] has the power to open up people's hearts, minds, and bodies to new ways of thinking, feeling, and being in the world," said Claire Pamment, assistant professor of world theatre and co-director of the play. Photo courtesy of Khalifa Tayyab Saqib Photo - of - Hide Caption

Claire Pamment, assistant professor of world theatre at William & Mary, believes theatre can change lives. It cliche but I really do believe that it can, she said. It has the power to open up peoples hearts, minds and bodies to new ways of thinking, feeling and being in the world.

That is precisely the reason Pamment created Teesri Dhun (The Third Tune), a documentary theatre production which celebrates the lives, struggles and culture of contemporary Pakistani transgender  or trans*  individuals, also known as hijras or khwajasaras. The play, which is the culmination of Pamments years of research on the subject and was co-directed with Iram Sana, founder of Pakistans Olomopolo Media, was devised with hijra and trans* actors, many of whom contributed personal narratives to the production. Pamment will deliver a presentation and discussion of the performance as part of the Global Film Festival on Friday, Feb. 24 at noon in Swem Librarys Reeder Media Center.

{{youtube:medium|P7MN7Btsrkc, Pamment and The Third Tune}}

Research papers often take months to publish and then often dont reach the people who need to hear the information most, said Pamment. Performance reaches a larger public community. For marginalized Pakistani trans* individuals who struggle against a rigid gender binary, performance is a formidable site of resistance, enabling them to express their female souls, and speak back to a regimented gender binary.

Path to Pakistan

Pamment, whose international upbringing brought her from England to Fiji, first landed in Pakistan in 2003 through a one-week program that aimed to connect Muslim and non-Muslim individuals in theatre and encourage future collaborations. She was eager for a new understanding of performance that challenged the representations of South Asian theatre she had experienced on the British stage.

I had just finished my masters degree and was working with South Asian theatre communities in London at a time when multiculturalism was sort of embraced, but I felt we were producing rather stilted stereotypical representations of South Asian Muslim communities and playing to a primarily white middle class audience, said Pamment.

In Pakistan, Pamment discovered rich repertoires of theatre and performance, from a range of marginalized groups, including the male comic duos known as bhands in the Punjab wielding their slapsticks against forces of class oppression and political chaos, to hijra communities with a longstanding tradition of performance that bristled against the gender binary and sexual norms, she said. Widely discriminated against both socially and politically, these communities became a focus of Pamments work in Pakistan, ultimately leading to the creation of a documentary theatre production called Teesri Dhun (The Third Tune).

A storied history

Told through song, dance and narrative, Teesri Dhun explores the contemporary challenges of hijra and trans* individuals in a 90-minute dramatic enactment. The play debuted in Lahore, Pakistan, in 2015, has been shown in the U.S. at Yale University and the University of Texas at Austin and was revived in Lahore in December 2016.

A repeated narrative I heard while interviewing members of the hijra community is that their struggles really begin the first time theyre caught dressing up in their mothers clothes or the first time theyre caught dancing, said Pamment. The antagonism is usually from the father or the brother, but those forces usually put the mother in this compromising role. Thats often the point of departure from the house for a hijra individual.

In a heartfelt moment of the play, one of the performers tells the real-life story of the first time her mother allowed her to use her closet to dress as a woman, under the condition that she would dress as a male to a family wedding. As the actress finishes getting ready, she realizes that her mother is no longer there.

She screams out to the audience Ama, where are you? said Pamment. But any of us could be her mother  shes putting the responsibility back to us. She could be any of our children.

Trans* children often leave their paternal families and join hijra communities, where elder hijra gurus take on the roles of mothers and teachers, said Pamment. Often denied formal education, hijras typically earn wages through begging, prostitution or performance.

The hijra community occupies a hypervisible presence through badhai, which are the blessings at births, weddings and other occasions for celebration, said Pamment. These are ritualistic performances involving a group of hijras going to somebodys house, sometimes with a group of musicians, clapping, dancing, joking and singing devotional Islamic poetry. Their performances, while marginalized, exemplify modes of social and religious acceptance.

These performances participate in long genealogies of gender fluidity in South Asian Muslim culture, said Pamment. Khwajasaras once staffed not just harems at court but also key political roles. Devotional Sufi poetry often depicts the male devotee in feminine terms seeking re-union with her lover, God. It wasnt until the mid-1800s  when India came under British colonial rule  that hijras became viewed as abnormal and targeted as criminals.

The road ahead

Though the stigma is still a force to contend with, hijras experienced a minor victory in 2009 when the Pakistani Supreme Court officially recognized the group as a third gender. Thanks mostly to NGOs, more opportunities are now available to hijra individuals  though Pamment notes theres still a long way to go.

In what has been described as the transgender tipping point and much foreign policy hanging on issues of Muslim sexualities, there has been an exponential increase in foreign funded NGO initiatives concerning these communities. While this is bringing hijras into the purview of the elite and opening a dialogue transnationally, it is also important to recognize those pockets of acceptance that have kept hijra culture alive over the centuries and to grow from there, said Pamment.

I hope Teesri Dhun contributes to this struggle by importantly celebrating the power of performance to negotiate spaces beyond the gender binary.

Pamment's research with the hijra/trans* community is ongoing. In the fall, Indian hijra/trans* activist/author/performer Laxmi Narayan Tripathi will come to W&M as part of the COLL 300 IN/EXclusion theme to share her experiences of battling for hijra rights, from legislation to recognize a third gender identity in India's Supreme Court to performances and street activism with hijra sex workers.




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Interview with Georgia Hunter

How did you come across this story? What inspired you to write about it?

I discovered this piece of my family history at fifteen, when my high school English teacher tasked our class with interviewing a relative about our ancestral pasts. My grandfather had died the year before and with his memory so fresh, I decided to sit down with my grandmother. It was in that interview that I learned I was a quarter Jewish, and that I came from a family of Holocaust survivors. Six years later, at a family reunion, I was introduced to pieces of the greater Kurc sagato stories unlike any Id ever heard before. Nearly a decade would pass, however, before I gathered the courage to unearth and record my familys remarkable Holocaust history.

What were your main sources for your research? How did you organize everything? (That is, got any tips for fellow writers?)

My research began in 2008 when I set off with a digital voice recorder to interview a relative in Paris. From there I flew to Rio de Janeiro and across the States, meeting with cousins and friends and strangersanyone with a story to share. I saved all of my recorded interviews to iTunes and referred back to them frequently. The familys narrative took shape, at first, in the form of a timeline, which I peppered with historical details and color-coded by relative to help keep track of who was where/when. Where there were gaps in my timeline, I looked to outside resourcesto archives, museums, ministries, and magistratesin hopes of tracking down relevant information. I was amazed at what kinds of information I was able to find. Once my timeline was complete, I plotted an outline and chapter summaries and from there, began the terrifying task of putting my story to paper!

*For more tips on how to conduct your own ancestry search, you can check out the Ancestry Search Tips page on my website.

What were the biggest challenges you faced either in the research, the writing, or structuring the plot?

The Kurc family scattered at the start of WWII  their paths to survival spanned five continents over six years. Once I realized the (enormous!) scope of my story, the idea of telling it in a cohesive, digestible narrative was daunting, to say the least. The Kurcs diaspora meant that my chapters would have to be written from different perspectives. I thought long and hard on how to differentiate each of my characters, and how to convey thought long and hard on how to differentiate each of my characters, and how to convey those differences on the page in a way that would allow readers to remember who was who as they bounced between storylines. I also created a family tree, which appears at the front of the book, as a tool to help readers remember the characters and relationships.

Every writer has to leave something on the cutting floor. Whats on yours?

Uncovering my family history required so much digging that I was tempted to use every morsel of information I could find! That said, one element of the narrative I opted to omit out where the storylines of a handful of extended family members  great aunts and distant cousins  who also managed to survive the Holocaust. I felt it was already a lot to ask of my readers to keep track of a set of parents, five children/their significant others, and a grandchild. And so, in the end, I decided to narrow my cast of characters to those dozen or so in my grandfathers nuclear family in order to keep the story focused  and believable.

Hunter penned her first novel when she was four years old, and titled it Charlie Walks the Beast after her fathers recently published sci-fi novel, Softly Walks the Beast. When she was eleven, she pitched an articlean Opinion piece on how shed spend her last day if the world were about to come to an endto the local newspaper. Since that debut in the Attleboro Sun Chronicle, her personal essays and photos have been featured in places like the New York Times Why We Travel, in travelgirl magazine, and on Equitrekking.com. A graduate of the University of Virginia, Hunter has worked in branding and marketing and is currently a freelance copywriter in the world of adventure travel, crafting marketing materials for outfitters such as Austin Adventures and The Explorers Passage. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and their five-year-old son.

Missed our previous Five for Friday? Find last weeks interview with Anna Mazzola here. Want to binge read our interviews with fantastic authors? Check out our interviews with Essie Fox, Ami McKay, and Eva Stachniak.
EU, IAEA agree to bolster cooperation

17 February 2017

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The European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) agreed to strengthen their cooperation in a range of nuclear activities, including nuclear science applications, during a meeting in Brussels this week.

The fifth annual senior officials meeting was held at the headquarters of the European Commission (EC) on 15 February. The meeting was co-chaired by Cornel Feruta, IAEA chief coordinator and Marco Giacomini, EC deputy managing director for human rights, global and multilateral issues.

The meeting provided a forum to exchange views on enhancing collaboration in nuclear safety, security, safeguards, sustainable development, nuclear energy research and innovation, and nuclear science applications. Discussions were also held on mechanisms to strengthen regional cooperation, including for the environmental remediation of uranium legacy sites in Central Asia.

In a joint statement, the EC and IAEA said nuclear safety "is a key priority that will remain at the centre of cooperation" between them.

The EC said issues such as decommissioning and radioactive waste management "should receive additional attention, and benefit from increased stakeholder involvement with a focus on increasing transparency on funding and processes leading to national and/or shared repositories".

Talks also focused on EU support for IAEA activities in the areas of nuclear security, strengthening the security of nuclear and radioactive materials, and building on the results of the 2016 International Conference on Nuclear Security. Progress on construction of the IAEA's low-enriched uranium fuel 'bank' in Oskemen, Kazakhstan, including continued support from the EU, was also discussed.

On the side lines of the meeting, practical arrangements on cooperation in the field of nuclear science and applications for sustainable development were signed by IAEA deputy director general Aldo Malavasi and Vladimir Sucha, director general of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre.

Giacomini said, "The EU continues to attach great importance to the IAEA's core responsibilities in the field of non-proliferation, nuclear energy, nuclear safety, nuclear security and technical cooperation." He added, "The strong political support by the Union and its member states is backed also financially and technically."

Feruta said the meeting was a good opportunity to review progress in cooperation between the EU and the IAEA and to discuss next steps in priority areas. He said these included providing support to EU member states in implementing the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

Related topics
Poroshenko: Ukraine increasing nuclear share to 60%

17 February 2017

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Nuclear energy's share of Ukraine's electricity mix is "rapidly approaching" 60%, President Petro Poroshenko said at a meeting of the country's National Security and Defence Council yesterday, according to a statement on the presidential website. The president did not give a date by which the increase would be achieved.

Ukraine has 15 nuclear units in commercial operation at four sites - Khmelnitsky, Rovno, South Ukraine and Zaporozhe - which are all operated by state-owned Energoatom. The units comprise 13 VVER-1000s and two VVER-440s with a total capacity of 13,835 MWe. Ukraine receives most of its nuclear services and nuclear fuel from Russia, but is reducing this dependence by buying fuel from Westinghouse, the US-headquartered subsidiary of Japan's Toshiba.

"I am pleased to inform [you] that we have increased the share of nuclear energy in the overall energy balance. From 47% we are rapidly approaching 60%. This is [equivalent to] millions of tons of coal that Ukraine no longer needs," Poroshenko said.

A large share of primary energy supply in Ukraine comes from the country's uranium and substantial coal resources. The remainder is oil and gas, mostly imported from Russia. Total electricity production in 2014 amounted to 183 TWh, with 8 TWh net exports to Europe. In 2014, 88 TWh was from nuclear, 71 TWh from coal, 13 TWh from gas, and 9 TWh from hydro. Electricity consumption was 134 TWh after transmission losses of 20 TWh due to old grid. Peak demand is about 28 GWe. Total capacity is about 52 GWe, including 22 GWe coal-fired, 13.8 GWe nuclear, 5 GWe gas and 4.8 GWe hydro. Much of the coal-fired plant is old and with unconstrained emissions, and nearly half of it is due to close down. In 2014, 48.6% of electricity was from nuclear, and in 2015, 82.4 TWh comprised 56.5%.

Poroshenko also said he welcomed plans to upgrade the generating capacities of power plants fired by anthracite coal, which is made almost entirely of carbon.

Work to significantly increase the efficiency and improve the operation of all types of power plants in the country "must be started immediately" as it will take two to three years, he said.

The president also mentioned cooperation with Poland and China in the "modernisation" of Ukrainian energy companies. "I have discussed attracting financing with my Polish colleagues and the opportunity of using Chinese loans with President of China Xi Jinping," he said.

In March 2015, Energoatom, Ukrenergo and Polenergia signed a memorandum of understanding on a project to export electricity via European grids.

Ukrenergo is a Ukrainian state-run power distribution company, while Polenergia is a vertically integrated group of companies working in energy generation, trading and distribution. Polenergia is part of Kulczyk Investments, a privately-owned Polish investment company.

Energoatom said then the agreement would make it possible to use all its available nuclear capacity and attract funds for the completion of the third and fourth reactors of its Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant. In July the same year, the Ukrainian government approved a pilot project, named the "energy bridge", to transfer electricity from unit 2 of the Khmelnitsky plant to the European Union.

In November last year, Energoatom agreed to enhance its cooperation with Chinese, Argentinian and Spanish companies - respectively, China National Nuclear Power, Nucleoelectrica Argentina SA and IDOM Nuclear Services.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

Related topics
Freedom of the press guarantees freedom of media and expression through mediums such as such as electronic media and printed material. Press freedom is construed as the absence of interference by any outside entity such as the government, religious groups, or any other independent organization, rather than the rights of the author to have his material published. Freedom of the Press guarantees the printer or publisher exclusive control over what they choose to publish and also the right to not print anything for whatever reason they choose. The preservation of the press freedom can be sought through constitutional or other legal protection. The philosophy of press freedom is accompanied by legislation which ensure that various degree of freedom of scientific research. Freedom of the press is critical for the democracy of a country in which the government is accountable to the people.

What Is The Press Freedom Index?

The World Press Freedom Index is a publication by the Reporters without Borders (RSF) as an advocacy tool based on the principles of emulation between states. RSF has been ranking countries according to the degree of the freedom of the press since 2002. The influence of the RSF report is growing with many heads of states and governments taking note of the publication. The index ranks countries based on the evaluation of pluralism, independence of the media, the legislative framework in the country, and the safety of journalists. The degree of freedom is determined by analyzing the response of experts to the questions devised by the RSF. The data gathered is combined with the number of abuses and acts of violence meted on journalists. The complete tally of abuses and violence on journalists and media houses are kept by experts who are assigned to the different regions. In the interpretation of the freedom index result, the higher the figure, the worse the situation

Ranking Of Countries By The Press Freedom Index

According to the 2016 RSF report on press freedom released on April 2016, most of the Nordic countries have higher press freedom. Finland was the country where freedom was most free with an underlying situation score of 8.59 followed by Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, and New Zealand. Other countries with good freedom of press index include Costa Rica, Switzerland, and Sweden. The degree of press freedom was least in Eritrea which had an underlying score of 83.93. North Korea, Turkmenistan, Syria, and China also have least degree of press freedom with a score of more than 75.

Analysis Of The 2016 Press Freedom Index

The report by the RSF is an indication of a climate of fear and tension combined with an increasing control over the media by the government in most countries. Media violations seem to be high in Africa with most of the African countries such as Eritrea, Sudan, Djibouti, and Equatorial Guinea scoring highly on abuse of journalist. The civil unrest and clashes in these countries may be a possible cause for the media violation. The Middle East is also one of the worlds dangerous regions for journalists. Countries such as Syria have been characterized by wars with journalists trapped between the rival factions. Although India has the worlds largest democracy, it continues to report high cases of media violation because of the lack of a model for a free press.
A school district operates to serve the purpose of education. A school district area consists of primary and secondary schools and can be found in many states. In the US, public schools belong to school districts that are governed by school boards. A district is an independent special purpose government, or dependent school system, which is under the regulation of the each US State government or local school boards. As of 2002, the US had 13,506 school district governments, 178 state-dependent school systems, 1,330 local dependent school systems, and 1,196 education service agencies.

Largest School Districts in the United States

School Districts in the United States

In the US, a public school district refers to a geographical unit for the local administration of elementary and secondary schools. They are government entity with a special purpose that could be administered independently or dependently on the local government like a county or a city. In the US all school districts educate more than 55 million students. A school district holds legal rights and obligations making them more like local governments that have the same powers as that of a county or town which includes taking up private property for public use and taxation except in Virginia were they have no taxation authority.

The governing power of a school district

A school district is governed by a school board, board of education, the board of trustees or a school committee. The governing body is directly elected by popular vote. However, they can also be appointed by other government officials. The school district's governing body is responsible for appointing a superintendent who is a public school administrator who is experienced. The main objective of the superintendent is to make the day to day decisions and implement policies in the capacity of a district's chief executive. The school board may also act as a judicial entity if there is a serious student or employee discipline issue.

New York City department of Education

The New York City department of education is the governing body of the school district which manages its public school system. New York Citys school district is the largest school system found in the entire US with an estimated enrolment of 995,336 students in more than 1,800 different schools. The school district of New York is administered by the New York Schools Chancellor and the Panel for Educational Policy.

Los Angeles Unified school district

The Los Angeles Unified school district, is not only the largest public school system regarding the number of students but also the second largest public school district in the entire US. The school district has an estimated enrollment of 667,273 students and is the second largest employer after the county government in the county of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles school district consists of its school police department which provides police services to the schools. The school district is run by a Board of Education which is made up of seven members.

Puerto Rico Department of Education

The department of education of Puerto Rico is the governing body of the country's school district which is responsible for the management of the country's education system, curricula, and its public schools. The department of education of Puerto Rico is the largest department of the Puerto Rico's executive branch with an estimated enrolment of 437,202 students, more than 72,000 staff members which consist of more than 41,000 teachers. The department of education of Puerto Rico is the third largest school district in the US with more than 1,500 schools.

The importance of school districts

School districts are important, particularly when matters of student achievement are concerned. School districts tend to have better funds, and they can, therefore, afford better teachers, better facilities and a wide array of coursework and activities. School districts also have high-quality schools since all of them get equal amounts of attention from the governing body.
Ice cream is a frozen dessert that is made from dairy products like cream and milk often combined with different flavors, fruits or other ingredients. Ideally ice cream is a frozen dessert, but not all frozen desserts can be classified as ice cream. Ice cream is Below are the best selling ice cream brands in the world according to the 2015 Forbes list.

1. Magnum

Magnum is a brand of ice cream that is owned by the British/Dutch Unilever Company whose products are sold globally. Magnum is an ice cream bar that is drenched in chocolate and is marketed as an adult indulgence normally with a sense of sex appeal. The ice cream was developed in Belgium and released in January 1989 in Germany. According to the 2015 Forbes list Magnum was the top selling brand of ice cream in the world with $2.54 billion sales during that year. The sales increased by 8% from 2014 and were projected to grow in the coming years.

2. Cornetto

Cornetto is an Italian brand of ice cream whose name is Italian word for little horn and it is manufactured by Unilever but sold under different secondary names. For example, Cornetto is known as Frigo in Spain, Wall's in the United Kingdom and HB in Ireland among others. Cornetto is an ice cream cone that is usually topped with a chocolate disk. In 2015, Cornetto a paper wrapped wafer cone that contains crunchy toppings made an estimate of $1.59 billion in sales. In 2015, Cornetto was the third largest ice cream brand in the world.

3. Breyers

Breyers is an American brand ice cream whose company was established by William Breyer in 1866. Breyer sold his ice cream by using his horse and wagon in the entire Philadelphian streets. Breyers is owned by Unilever and sold throughout the United States and Canada. In 2015, Breyers raked in $960 million in sales. Breyers was the fifth biggest ice cream brand of 2015.

4. Dreyer's/Edy's

Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream is a branch of Nestle and a United States ice cream brand established in 1928 by William Dreyer and Joseph Edy in Oakland, California. Eventually, the partnership was dissolved in 1947, and six years later the name was changed to Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream by William Dreyer Junior. In 2015, Dreyer's was the seventh biggest brand of ice cream in the world with $773 million in sales.

5. Klondike

Klondike is a brand of vanilla ice cream which is square shaped and coated with a lean layer of chocolate which is commonly known as Klondike bar. The Klondike bar was created in the early 1920's by Isaly Dairy Company in Mansfield, Ohio. The product has s silver-colored wrapper that depicts a mascot in the form of a polar bear for the brand. Good Humor-Breyers a part of Unilever eventually bought rights to the name Klondike. In 2015, Klondike was the ninth biggest ice cream brand in the world and recorded a $652 million in sales.

The Other Popular Ice Cream Brands In The World

According to the 2015 Forbes list of biggest ice cream brands in the world, there are a total of ten brands that make up the top list. The five brands are among the ten with the others brands being Haagen-Dazs with $2.08 billion sales, Ben and Jerry's with $1.23 billion sales, Carter d'Or with $827 million sales, Blue Bunny with $723 million sales and Mihan with $575 million sales.
Cars, refined petroleum, crude petroleum, pharmaceuticals, gas, turbines, diamonds, and aircraft top the list of the top exports from the UK. The country was one of the first nations to industrialize, and it remains a global industrial powerhouse till date. The countrys economy heavily benefits from international trade. In 2015, exports from the UK were valued at $674 billion. The UK is a member of various trade organizations including the European Union, World Trade Organization, and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OEC).

The Largest Exports of the United Kingdom

Economy Of The UK

The currency in circulation in the country is the Pound Sterling which ranks as the third most-held currency as a reserve globally. The countrys GDP is $2.906 trillion which ranks 5th while the PPP is $2.733 trillion to rank 9th. The GDP recorded a +2.0% growth in 2016. The GDP per capita stands at $43,770 to rank 13th and 27th by PPP at $41,158. The services sector in the country contributes the most to the GDP at 78.4% followed by production at 14.6% and construction and agriculture at 6.4% and 0.6% respectively. The UK boasts many industries, and the major ones include aerospace, consumer items, electronics, chemicals, telecommunications, tourism, industrial equipment, and automotive. The unemployment rate is 4.8%, and the services sector employs nearly 80% of the 31.75 million people who make up the countrys labor force. Foreign reserves held by the UK are estimated at $159.34 billion.

Top Exports Of UK

The UK is home to a highly developed automotive industry complete with global manufacturers including Nissan, Toyota, Ford, McLaren, Jaguar, and Land Rover. Cars exported out of the country are valued at $35,424 million. Vehicle parts and combustion engines further account for $5,961 million and $4,294 million of the exports respectively. Construction vehicles shipped are valued at $3,507 million while trucks exported are worth $3,255 million. The UK is an exporter of refined petroleum and crude petroleum, the former at $30,125 million and the latter at $24,318 million. Top manufactured exports are pharmaceuticals ($22,058 million); gas turbines ($14,141 million); aircraft panels ($8,863 million); hard liquor ($8,463 million); petroleum gas ($6,217 million); computers ($4,039 million); telephones ($3,730 million); jewelry ($3,680 million); valves ($3,417 million). The top natural resources exported from the UK are diamonds, gold, and platinum at $9,983 million, $3,328 million, and $3,256 million respectively. The country also exports human and animal blood at a value of $4,129 million.

Top Export Partners Of UK

The UK has established good trade relations with members of the European Union who import an estimated 53% of the countrys exports. Leading the pack is Germany accounting for 10.1% of the exports followed by Switzerland at 7%. The rest of the European countries by exports share are France (5.9%), Netherlands (5.8%), Ireland (5.5%), Belgium (3.9%), Spain (2.8%), Italy (2.8%), and Sweden (1.4%). Outside Europe, the US is the largest importer of goods from the UK at 14.5%. The two countries enjoy good bilateral trade relations and benefit from substantial foreign investments between each other. China is the largest importer of the UK exports in Asia at 6% followed by Hong Kong (2.1%) and South Korea (1.5%). The UAE and Saudi Arabia are the largest export partners of the UK in the Middle East at 2.2% and 1.5% respectively.

Future Prospects

In 2015, total exports from UK accounted for 17.3% of the countrys total output and 53% of exports were delivered to the European Union while about 22.5% of exports were destined to the Asian countries. Other exports from the UK were shipped to the North America and about 2.6% were destined to Africa. Since the UK exited the EU, it is expected the exports to the world would increase and a slight decline to the EU countries.
The Pacific Islands Forum is an intergovernmental organization formed by 16 nations of the Pacific Ocean. The organization is mandated to promote intergovernmental relations between member countries and to come up with solutions to collectively tackle common issues such as climate change and eradication of diseases. The Pacific Islands Forum which was founded in 1970 was initially known as the South Pacific Forum but revised its name to a more geographically accurate one in 1999. The Forum has its headquarters in Suva, Fiji, and has annual meetings in alternating locations where the leader of the government in the host country acts as the chair. These countries which do not share a border are in talks to develop a free trade zone among the member countries to promote free movement of people and commodities.

Membership

The member countries and territories of the Pacific Islands Forum are 16 nations located in the Pacific Ocean and include Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands among others. Other countries are listed as observers who do not enjoy all the privileges that come with membership. These nations include American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands among others. Some global institutions and organizations such as the United Nations, the Commonwealth, the Asian Development Bank, and the World Bank are also observers.

The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat

The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat is the core institution of the Forum and is headed by the Secretary-General. The Secretariat has the mandate to implement various decisions made during the annual meeting of the leaders of the member countries as well as implementing technical programs in trade and economic development. The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat has offices spread around the globe from Auckland to Sydney and Beijing that work independently and is collectively called the Pacific Islands Trade and Invest. The Secretariat has an office in Switzerland which is also the Permanent Delegation of the Pacific Islands Forum to the World Trade Organization. The Secretary-General also acts as the permanent Chairman of the Council of Regional Organizations in the Pacific also known as CROP.

Expulsion And Readmission Of Fiji

The island nation of Fiji had failed to hold a general election which had been scheduled for March 2009. This prompted the Pacific Islands Forum annual meeting to give Fiji an ultimatum to hold the general elections giving a deadline of May 1, 2009. Failure to comply would necessitate tough decisions from the Forum. After Fiji failed to meet the set deadline, the Forum suspended Fijis membership indefinitely. This was the first time a nation was suspended in the Forums history and set a precedent for similar issues in the future. However, after five years, Fiji conducted a general election on September 2014 after which the Forum readmitted Fiji on October 2014.

The Pacific Union

The Forum has been deliberating to form a union of all member nations which will have common institutions, use a common currency and have a free trade zone with free movement of commodities and people. The existing similar integration is limited to New Zealand and Australia but aims to be rolled out to all members of the Forum. However, no timeline has been given to this effect.
Chemical producing companies use raw materials which are primarily minerals and convert them into various end products. These companies have seen a spike in production due to the recent growth of the construction industry in Asia and the Middle East. The most popular of the end products include plastics and polymers which have a huge demand globally in all sectors of the economy from health to agriculture. The chemical industry and chemical producing companies have existed throughout history in leather tanning and glass making but saw large scale production and specialization during the 18th-century industrial revolution in Europe. The earliest company during this period was the Leblanc Company whose founder, Nicolas Leblanc, had invented a way to produce alkali from sea salt. Chemical companies have grown in scale and numbers since the industrial revolution, and chemical companies are among the biggest in the world.

BASF

BASF is the biggest chemical producing company in the world with annual sales reaching $69.1 billion. The German company, headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany is focused on industry-grade chemicals used in the automotive, construction, and pharmaceutical industries. Founded in April 1865, the company was formerly known as Badische und Soda Fabrik, a German word meaning Baden Aniline and Soda Factory. BASF was founded by Friedrich Engelhorn in Mannheim. In its early days, BASF became renowned for producing dyes. During WWII, BASF along with other chemical companies such as Hoechst and Bayer merged to create I.G. Farbenindustrie AG. The new company was engaged in the production of various weapons and became infamous for the manufacture of Zyklon B, a lethal gas used in the Holocaust during WWII. The company experienced many industrial accidents and explosions which led to numerous causalities and tarnished its reputation. So in 1952, BASF was rebranded and took on its original name. In 1990 the company dropped all its consumer product lines and focused on industrial products only.

DuPont

DuPont was formed in 2017 from a merger between the Dow Chemical Company and DuPont. Dow Chemical was founded in 1897 by a Canadian-born chemist Herbert Henry Dow, who was the inventor of a new method of extracting bromide underground in brine at Midland, Michigan. The company initially sold only potassium bromide and bleach achieving 72 tons a day in 1902. The merger between the two companies created the world's second-largest chemical company.

Hazards Associated With Chemical Companies

Chemical producing companies have a reputation of causing large scale environmental pollution. These chemical producing companies are also prone to disasters such as explosion which can lead to loss of life. The BASF Company had such an explosion occur in 1948 where 207 people lost their lives.
ExxonMobils refinery in Singapore

LONDON, UK: ExxonMobil said that it is expanding its Singapore refinery to support the production of the companys EHC Group II base stocks. This which will strengthen the global supply of these products and enhance the Singapore facilitys competitiveness.

Construction is expected to begin during the second quarter of 2017 with completion anticipated in 2019.

ExxonMobils EHC product line has been designed to maximise the performance of all major automotive engine oil grades and to enhance the performance of finished lubricants used in multiple industries.

The expansion project represents the latest in a series of recent ExxonMobil investments in base stock production, including a previous expansion of capacity at the Singapore refinery in 2014, a recently commissioned project at the companys major integrated facility in Baytown, Texas, and introduction of Group II base stocks into European markets ahead of the anticipated completion of the new Rotterdam hydrocracker unit in 2018.

Work also continues on a previously announced cogeneration project at the Singapore refinery, expected to be completed by the end of 2017, which will improve the facilitys energy efficiency and reduce emissions.

Our new investment in Group II base stocks will enable our customers to blend lubricants that satisfy more stringent specifications, help reduce emissions, and improve fuel economy and low-temperature performance, said Ted Walko, global basestock and specialities marketing manager.

This project, combined with the companys construction of a hydrocracker unit currently under way in Rotterdam, demonstrates ExxonMobils commitment to delivering value to our customers through industry-leading, globally consistent base stock quality and supply reliability, added Walko.

Our latest investment affirms our confidence in Singapore, where we have a strong manufacturing base and operate ExxonMobils largest integrated refining and petrochemical complex. We continue to invest in our Singapore facility to improve supply to customers and the competitiveness of our manufacturing assets, all with a focus on long-term business growth in Asia Pacific, concluded Gan Seow Kee, chairman and managing director of ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte Ltd.

 Worldofchemicals News
Wrexham Maelor Specialist Contributes To Game Changing Prostate Cancer Study

This article is old - Published: Friday, Feb 17th, 2017

New research has proved to be a game changer when it comes to diagnosing prostate cancer, says a leading North Wales Urologist who contributed to the study that took place in Wrexham.

The Alan de Bolla Wrexham Urology Unit at Wrexham Maelor Hospital was one of 11 units from across England and Wales which took part in the Prostate MRI imaging study (PROMIS) trial to discover improved ways of diagnosing prostate cancer.

Currently, a Trans-rectal Ultrasound (TRUS) biopsy, which identified high prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels in the blood, to diagnose the cancer. However, because of its random sampling, it may lead to inaccurate results, and can result in serious side-effects such as pain, bleeding, infections and problems urinating.

The PROMIS clinical trial discovered that carrying out a MP-MRI (Multi-Parametric MRI) scan first can help a significant number of men to avoid having a biopsy altogether.

The results from the study showed 27 per cent of men who had a negative MP-MRI did not need a biopsy at all. Crucially, 93 per cent of aggressive cancers were detected by using the MP-MRI scan to guide the biopsy, compared with just 48 per cent where only a TRUS biopsy was carried out.



(Mr Iqbal Shergill with his urology team at Wrexham Maelor Hospital. (l-r) Mr Iqbal Shergill, clinic healthcare assistants Sarah Jones and Nigel Hammond and research officer for Health and Care Research Wales, Claire Watkins.)

Mr Iqbal Shergill, a Consultant Urologist based at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, said: It is quite clear that the results of the PROMIS study are a potential game changer for men with prostate problems.

The results showed that one in four men who had a negative MP-MRI scan result could have potentially avoided having a biopsy.

The problem with a biopsy is that it can be associated with complications and also false results, so using a non-invasive method like a MP-MRI scan could potentially change how we practice in the future.

Other partners that took part in the study included University College London, Imperial College and Oxford University.

Mr Shergill, on behalf of the whole research team, said: My research team was delighted to be part of this ground breaking study and I know that all of the North Wales patients also felt the same way and felt honoured to be taking part in something that could change so many peoples lives, for the future.

I would like to thank all the patients who took part. They have helped us answer an important question about how to diagnose prostate cancer.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and Prostate Cancer UK are now looking at the results of the study and will decide whether to recommend changes in the way patients are treated based on the findings of the study across the UK.
The deadline for the elimination of the second shift at the General Motors Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant is fast approaching with workers expressing anger and concern over their fate as the United Auto Workers collaborates with management to throw some 1,300 workers into the street.

GM workers contacted by the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter said that the UAW is now indicating that March 3 will be the last day for the second shift at the plant. These job cuts follow the layoff of some 2,000 workers at the GM Lordstown plant outside of Warren, Ohio and the GM Grand River plant in Lansing, Michigan. The cuts point to a broader slowdown in the auto industry as the sales boom of the past several years winds down.

This week the Toledo Blade announced that 3,200 workers at the Fiat Chrysler Jeep complex would be laid off for six months while the plant is retooled for a new version of the Jeep Wrangler. The changeover is part of a restructuring process, whose long-term effect on employment is still not clear. It involves FCA ending passenger car production in the US while the company concentrates on more profitable trucks and SUVs. Workers at the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant north of Detroit remain on long-term layoff after FCA ended production of the Chrysler 200 passenger car previously built at that facility.

GM Hamtramck Assembly interviews

A Jeep worker contacted by the Autoworker Newsletter said that while permanent employees affected by the layoff at Jeep are covered by Supplemental Unemployment Benefits (SUB) that can provide up to 95 percent of their standard wages, some 1,500 Temporary Part Time (TPT) workers at the facility are only eligible for state unemployment benefits.

While doing nothing to defend the jobs of autoworkers, the UAW in a statement Thursday praised President Donald Trump and said that the union wanted to work with him to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. UAW President Dennis Williams also said that the union plans to resurrect its nationalist Buy American campaign. Were seeing a trend in this countrythe boycott may be coming back, adding that the Buy American push is gaining steam for the first time in many, many years.

This has nothing to do with defending jobs. Instead it is a ploy aimed at diverting the justified anger of workers over layoffs against their brother workers overseas just as the UAW did in the 1970s and 1980s as it was collaborating with the auto bosses in the destruction of workers jobs and living standards. The racism and anti-Asian chauvinism promoted by the UAW reached such a pitch that it led to the 1982 beating death of 27-year-old Chinese-American Vincent Chin by a Chrysler manager and his laid-off son.

Not only is the Buy American slogan reactionary, it is also absurd. Given the globally integrated nature of capitalist production, every vehicle produced, whether assembled in America or overseas, is the product of the coordinated efforts of workers in many different countries.

A GM Detroit Hamtramck worker contacted by the WSWS said that despite her 34 years at the plant, the job cuts felt scary.

A worker on second shift said, We just hear bits and pieces. People are still quitting and they have temporary workers filling in for those jobs.

Another worker described a situation of near chaos with the company firing some workers while others quit in anticipation of being laid off. We are so short-handed they are having people stay over from day shift and working 12-16 hours a day.

They are telling me I wont be transferred. My only option is to sit back and hope to be recalled.

Its bogus. It is not fair. People come to work every day and do their jobs and then are treated like this.

A second-shift worker who is slated to be laid off in March noted that temporary workers were not eligible to receive profit-sharing checks. Union workers are getting $12,000 but were not getting anything because were temps. Absolutely nothing. Give us $1,000, or something! But no, they said we dont get anything. But we helped them perform to get that.

They [the UAW] told us they would help us go to school, which is all well and good. And while were going to school we can get unemployment up to two years. $300 a week can help a little while youre going to school, but a lot of these schools dont help you get a job. So what are we supposed to do without SUB pay too?

A skilled trades worker from the GM Tech Center in Warren, Michigan spoke to the Autoworker Newsletter. He said that at his facility management was bringing in a lot of subcontractors to do skilled trades work. He also said that it appeared that temporary workers at the tech center might be laid off to provide openings for full-time workers laid off at the Detroit Hamtramck facility.

They are working them 10, 12, 14 hours a day. But GM brought in 80-90 temporary workers since last year, knowing they are going to use and get rid of these people. Its a sticky situation because lots are losing their jobs.

"I feel for my brothers and sisters at the Detroit plant. The UAW doesnt defend us. We have to get workers together to protect all our jobs.

The cuts at GM will have an impact throughout that Detroit area, which over the decades has been decimated by the shutdown of the auto industry. While Detroit Democratic Mayor Michael Duggan loses no opportunity to boast about the supposed comeback of Detroit and the upscale development taking place in downtown Detroit, he has said nothing about the cutting of 1,300 jobs at GM.

Dan, a street maintenance worker for the City of Detroit who works near the GM Detroit-Hamtramck plant, spoke to the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter. My thought is that here they are having these layoffs at the same time they are talking about investing hundreds of millions of dollars in the city. I dont understand it. Its also affecting people in Lansingmy friend works at GM in Lansingand 800 people are losing their jobs out there.

I know its a business. But they need to be more responsible for the lives they disrupt with this hiring and firing. These workers gave up their livelihoods to work at GM, and now they are being laid off."

He said that workers employed by the city of Detroit face a management no less ruthless than that at GM. We took a 10 percent pay cut, he said, referring to the 2013-14 Detroit bankruptcy. Now most of us are living paycheck to paycheck. We are making about $2-$3 an hour less than at comparable jobs at other cities.

The city has these rehabbed houses that they are offering, but we cant afford to take advantage of it. Nothing is affordable for us, not even our insurance. People are losing their houses and hiding their cars to keep them from being repossessed.
In a major blow to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), employees at Boeings Commercial Airplanes plant in South Carolina overwhelmingly rejected the IAM in a union recognition vote Tuesday. The National Labor Relations Board reported that 74 percent, or 2,097 of the 2,828 workers who cast ballots at the North Charleston plant, voted against joining the IAM.

Despite threats of layoffs and cost-cutting by Boeing and a years-long campaign by the IAM, the union was incapable of generating support from the workers who build Boeings new 787 Dreamliner jet. The IAMs treacherous record of collaborating with Boeings attack on jobs and living standards did far more to repel workers than the well-funded campaign against the IAM by Boeing and South Carolinas right-wing politicians.

President Donald Trump is expected to appear at the South Carolina facility on Friday to celebrate the rollout of its first 787-10 jet liner, the largest version of its Dreamliner.

The North Charleston site has grown rapidly since the bitter 58-day machinists strike in 2008, which shut down Boeings plants in Washington State, Oregon and Kansas, and delayed production of the companys 787 jet liner, which was deemed critical to compete with Airbus. In 2008 and 2009, Boeing bought fuselage subassembly facilities from former suppliers Vought and Italian-based Global Aeronautica, investing $750 million to expand the facility as insurance against future strikes.

Boeing spent $1 billion more to expand aircraft engine casing and interiors production, increasing its employment in South Carolina to 8,400 in 2014. According to the local Post and Courier, Boeing is one of the Charleston regions largest employers, with an overall workforce of 7,565 people. Its local payroll has declined by 700 jobs since last year, and the company in January offered voluntary layoffs to hundreds of engineers company-wide, including in North Charleston, the Charleston newspaper reported. Boeing has said involuntary layoffs could be announced if financial goals are not met.

The key issue in the 2008 strike was the companys outsourcing to nonunion suppliers in the Carolinas and elsewhere and the ongoing reduction of the 30,000-strong workforce at Boeings Puget Sound locations, near Seattle, and in Renton, Washington. The deal reached by the IAM did nothing to stop outsourcing and accepted wage and other concessions.

In 2007, several hundred Vought workers voted to bring in the IAM at the North Charleston plant. The IAM then reportedly signed a sweetheart contract with Boeing that contained sweeping concessions, so that the union would be retained as the bargaining agent under the new owner. Disgusted with the loss of benefits and the job cuts, the Vought workers voted to decertify the IAM in September 2009. A month later, Boeing announced that line 2 of its 787 production would be transferred to Charleston. The company also received $1 billion in state and local incentives.

In 2010, the IAM filed a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) complaint charging that the companys decision to move production to the nonunion plant was in retaliation for the 2008 strike. Obamas labor board, in April 2011, moved to prevent Boeing from utilizing the 787 Dreamliner production line in South Carolina.

By this time, responding to pressure from Airbus, Boeing launched a new large-size 737 MAX jet liner. After executives announced that no decision had been made on where to assemble it, the IAM agreed again to accept deep concessions, including the extension of the contract expiration date to 2016, and then proceeded to drop the NLRB complaint.

In 2013, the company threatened to move production of its new 777X airliner from its Everett factory, north of Seattle, to South Carolina, and eliminate 10,000 to 20,000 jobs in Washington and Oregon. Working behind the backs of the rank and file, IAM Local 751 and IAM International officials concocted a deal with Boeing that stripped workers of the right to strike, ended company-paid pensions and imposed higher health costs and inferior medical plans in line with Obamas Cadillac Tax on supposedly overgenerous health plans. The contract, which would be extended to 2024, also imposed poverty-level wages on new workers and a de facto 10 percent wage cut on current workers.

Rank-and-file workers rebelled against this blackmail by Boeing, the IAM and the state's Democratic governor, Jay Inslee. They voted down the deal by a two-to-one margin in November 2013. Before the vote, hundreds of machinists marched inside the plant, some carrying signs, some blowing whistles and chanting Vote no. Workers denounced the union for selling them out.

All the forces arrayed against the workersthe company, the union, the media, the politiciansthen ratcheted up their threats. At the same time, the local union officials repackaged basically the same dealadding $5,000 to the signing bonus and retaining six years for new hires to reach top pay scale, instead of 22 years. The IAM International essentially took over and ordered a new vote during the holidays, when fewer workers would be around. With minor protestations, Local 751 officials went right along. Amid denunciations of vote fraud and demands for a recount, the IAM claimed the deal was approved by 51 to 49 percent, or only 600 votes.

The IAM cancelled an earlier organizing drive at the South Carolina plant in 2015, complaining of interference by South Carolinas Republican governor, Nikki Haley, now Trumps ambassador to the United Nations. It was clear then that they did not have the required votes. The latest resultonly 26 percentwas a decline from the 30 percent of workers who signed cards expressing interest in the union, which triggered the vote.

Following its defeat at the South Carolina plant Wednesday, IAM lead organizer Mike Evans said: Were disappointed the workers at Boeing South Carolina will not yet have the opportunity to see all the benefits that come with union representation.

In fact, the vote was a verdict by workers on the benefits of union representation, i.e., the record of miserable betrayals that have cost workers their jobs and livelihoods. Why should any worker pay $78 a month in union dues to an organization that does the bidding of corporate management?

The International Socialist Organization, Solidarity, Socialist Alternative and other pseudo-left groupswhose members hold leading positions in the union apparatusinsist that the unions are the only genuine working class organizations. But workers are increasingly rebelling against these right-wing, pro-capitalist outfits that are allied with the corporations and increasingly with the Trump administration.

The unions chiefly still exist only where they have the support of the corporations and the state, which see their utility in crushing worker resistance and imposing managements dictates. Even with the backing of Volkswagenwhich signed a secret deal with the United Auto Workers to gain recognition in the plantworkers at VWs Chattanooga, Tennessee plant defeated the UAW in a 2014 vote. Like the South Carolina workers, many VW workers were well aware of the string of betrayals by the UAW.

Workers need to be organized to fight, but not through the IAM or any of the other anti-working class organizations in the AFL-CIO and Change to Win federations. New rank-and-file committees, democratically controlled by workers themselves and committed to the methods of the class struggle, must be built.

A call to the IAM organizing headquarters from the World Socialist Web Site asking for their explanation for the defeat was not returned. A clear explanation, however, was given by a veteran Boeing worker from Everett, Washington, who spoke to the WSWS.

The IAM is the best union that Boeing could buy, Frank said. Its worthless. The outcome of the vote in South Carolina was not a surprise. Boeing and the state officials worked in concert to keep it a nonunion state. But the unions are nothing more than corporations upon themselvesthey are not for the workers.

What did they have to offer the South Carolina workers? The IAM was only looking to fill its bank accounts with dues money. They make you pay a flat rate of $78 a month even if you are a Pay Grade 1 worker making $15 an hour. Here in Seattle, the union has allowed the consolidation and elimination of so many classifications. The higher pay grades are displaced with lower pay grades. The younger generation is getting screwed, and the company is cleaning house and getting rid of the higher-paid workers with early retirements.

Workers have no rights on the shop floor. The IAM business reps dont want grievances, and if you stand up for whats in the contract, they treat you like a pariah. They got rid of the pensions, and you pay progressively more out-of-pocket for health care.

The United States is a class system. Whether its Democrats or Republicans up there, theyre telling us poor workers, this is your lot in life, youre not a member of our club.
Canadas ruling elite has responded with a collective sigh of relief to Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus successful first meeting with US President Donald Trump. At the conclusion of last Mondays meeting, the two leaders reaffirmed the indispensable Canada-US alliance in a joint statement that commits the two countries to partnering in a US-led protectionist trade bloc and to expanding military-security collaboration so as to aggressively assert the interests of US and Canadian imperialism.

In its editorial on Trudeaus trip, the Globe and Mail, the traditional mouthpiece of Canadas financial elite, applauded the prime minister for doing the country a favour by practicing diplomacy at its finest. Canada, continued the Globe, got what it wanted out of the meeting: the reassertion of our special friendship, a firm commitment to free trade across the 49th parallel, and recognition that an open border and the fight against terrorism are not mutually exclusive.

Chantal Hebert in the liberal Toronto Star said that the meeting went about as well as could be expected, before noting, many in this countryparticularly in corporate Canadawill take comfort in the notion that Canada is not on the Trump administrations hit list.

Since the day after Trumps election, Trudeau and his ostensibly progressive Liberal government have mounted a full-court press to secure close cooperation with the new administration. Trudeaus White House visit was preceded by almost two dozen high-level meetings between Canadian officials and senior Trump advisers. On Monday he was joined in Washington by Canadas foreign affairs, defence, public safety and transport ministers. The governments approach has been endorsed by the official opposition Conservatives, who have called for bipartisan collaboration in championing and deepening the Canada-US strategic partnership.

To advance its own predatory imperialist interests, the Canadian bourgeoisie is eager to secure and strengthen its alliance with a US administration led by a cabal of billionaires, generals and ultra-conservative ideologues and that is committed, in the name of America First, to intensifying US aggression around the globe. Less than 48 hours after Trudeau met Trump, US Defense Secretary James Mad Dog Mattis delivered a blunt ultimatum to NATO members, saying Washington would moderate its commitment to the alliance unless other states spent more on defence.

This will have been music to the ears of Canadas ruling elite, which has long been pushing for a major hike in Canadian military spending from its current level of $20 billion per year, or about 1 percent of GDP. A recent National Post editorial said Trump would have truth on his side if he criticized Canadas defence budget. We do underfund our military, intoned the Post, we do understaff units ... and our military remains, as it long has, too small for a country of our size and global responsibilities.

Asked yesterday about Mattis ultimatum, Defence Minister Hajit Sajjan criticized the previous Harper Conservative government, which was notorious for its celebration of Canada as a warrior nation, for its low military spending. Sajjan promised the Liberal government will soon announce significant defence investments.

The Canadian ruling elite is also anxious to collaborate with Washington in implementing Trumps trade war policy, with the Globe forthrightly declaring Trudeaus task is to ensure that Canada is behind Trumps walls. The Liberal government has welcomed the reopening of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and signaled it is ready to throw Mexico to the wolves to ensure Canada continues to enjoy privileged access to the US market. Yesterday the Globe reported that Trudeau has been successful in convincing the Trump administration to hold bilateral Canada-US talks on revising NAFTA before Washington confronts Mexico with its demands.

At Mondays joint press conference, Trump said he is looking only at tweaks to the trade arrangements with Canada, before stressing that he views the problems with US-Mexico trade to be much more severe.

To cement the ties the Trudeau government has forged, large parliamentary delegations are expected to leave Ottawa for Washington in the coming month. Representatives of the foreign affairs, defence, trade, agriculture, industry and environmental parliamentary committees already have trips scheduled to meet with their US counterparts.

From within the political establishment the only real criticism of Trudeaus trip has come from the trade union-backed New Democratic Party (NDP), the third largest party in parliament. Since Trumps inauguration, caretaker party leader Thomas Mulcair has repeatedly described the US president as a fascist.

On the eve of Trudeaus departure for Washington, Mulcair addressed a letter to the prime minister in which he urged Trudeau to speak out against Trumps discriminatory and authoritarian executive order banning refugees, immigrants and others from seven Muslim countries from entering the US. Canadians, wrote Mulcair, are resoundingly opposed to Mr. Trumps travel ban and you are therefore duty-bound to express Canadas opposition to these policies.

Mulcairs pose of moral indignation lacks any credibility. This is, after all, a man who is an avowed admirer of hard-right British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and who oversaw the NDPs right-wing, Harper-lite campaign in the 2015 federal election.

The NDPs campaign was explicitly directed toward forming an anti-Conservative coalition government with Trudeaus Liberals, the very party now pushing for close collaboration with Trump. For years prior to the 2015 election, Mulcair and the entire trade union bureaucracy worked to suppress a working class challenge to the Conservatives and to channel opposition behind the Liberals, who they praised as fellow progressives.

The NDPs criticism of Trudeaus courting of the Trump administration is, to say the least, extremely limited. It has said nothing about the plans for intensified Canada-US military collaboration, including the expansion of NORAD and Canadas potential participation in the US-led ballistic missile defence shield.

Meanwhile, the NDPs trade union allies, like Unifors Jerry Dias and the United Steelworkers Leo Gerard, have welcomed Trumps call for the renegotiation of NAFTA, seeing it as a means to push job losses onto Mexican and other foreign workers. Union officials have been meeting with Liberal government representatives to formulate a strategy to advance Canadas interests in the coming trade talksthat is to bolster Canadian big business and pit workers in Canada against their class brothers and sisters in the United States and Mexico.

Rachel Notley, the NDP premier of Alberta, the only province where the NDP currently forms the government, has been holding a series of meetings to strategize with the oil barons and other big business leaders as she prepares her own trip to Washington to meet with senior Trump administration officials. Under the headline Canadian politicians and business leaders unite in face of trade threats, the Globe published a column Tuesday which effusively praised Notleys consultations.

On Trudeaus return, the NDP criticized Trudeau for failing to criticize Trumps travel ban. Speaking in parliament, Vancouver East MP Jenny Kwan accused Trudeau of letting down the country, and added, From Vietnam to Iraq, Canada has a proud history of standing up to the US on issues of principle. Now that he is back safe and sound on Canadian soil, will the prime minister summon the courage to denounce Trumps immigration policies?

In reality, Canadas proud record is anything but.

The claimspromoted by the NDP, no less than the Liberalsof a country open to people fleeing war and persecution are belied by the tiny number of Syrian refugees Canada has accepted over the past two years and by the deplorable conditions confronting those that have been let in. Many are now dependent on food banks and handouts from volunteers and charities.

As for the Canadian governments opposition to the Vietnam war, it was utterly hypocritical. As Washington rained death on the Vietnamese people, Canada remained a central pillar of the US-led Cold War alliance and Canadian big business made handsome profits supplying the US war machine.

During the past quarter century, Conservative and Liberal governments alike have repudiated the myth that Canada has a special peacekeeping vocation and joined virtually every US war of aggression, from the Balkans to Afghanistan, Libya, and now Iraq-Syria. These imperialist wars, which the NDP supported, have destroyed entire societies and are the principal reason the world now faces the worst refugee crisis since the end of the Second World War.
Just 16 months after Michigan Governor Rick Snyder admitted that the state was responsible for poisoning Flint residents in a man-made poisoned water disaster, his office has declared that those same residents are now fully responsible to pay for their still undrinkable water. Flint officials have responded by announcing the resumption of water shutoffs for delinquent accounts.

A week ago Tuesday a letter was sent to the citys acting financial officer, David Sabuda, formalizing that the state-issued credits for water bills would end on February 28a month earlier than the states previous commitment.

The early cutoff is a clear signal that the ending of water subsidies is meant to be permanent.

Tthe results of recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) water sampling are the pretext for the state action. The EPAs numbers show that over the last six months among sampled homes in Flint, the amount of lead has fallen below the 15 parts per billion (ppb) action level set in the EPAs Lead and Copper Rule (LCR). The 90th percentile figure for the period from between July and December was 12 ppb.

Water system experts, however, such as Virginia Techs Dr. Marc Edwards, who led the team that exposed the lies of state water authorities that Flint water was safe to drink, are still warning residents that the water is unsafe without filters. In addition, the LCR is outdated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has determined that there is no safe level of exposure to lead.

After being fed one lie after another, Flint residents are rightfully distrustful of state officials. Now they are being told that they have to pay their billsat the highest rates in the countryfor water that is undrinkable! The anger among Flint residents is palpable. Continuous demonstrations are being held against paying for poison.

Mayor Karen Weaver arranged a meeting with Snyder at his office in Lansing on Tuesday, hoping to get the governor to reconsider the cutoff. Snyder declined, afterward telling the media, I reaffirmed that we are following through on what we said we would do, which is basically (continuing the credits) until the water was deemed to be at acceptable standards.

Weaver, who was elected in November 2015 on her promises to address the water crisis, is now facing opposition from residents. Three recall campaigns have been launched and there is widespread dissatisfaction with her decision to go along with the Karegnondi Water Authority (KWA) pipeline plan. The decision by the city to switch its water source to the KWA pipeline set in motion a chain of events that led to the poisoning of Flints water.

At a press conference Wednesday, Weaver reported on her meeting with Snyder the day before.

She said she told Snyder that many people dont feel they should have to pay for the water at all until its deemed safe to drink without a filter. I wanted him to know that I was disappointed to hear of his decision to end the water credits  We were hoping this assistance would remain in place until at least March 31, so we thought we had more time to prepare.

The state has applied more than $40 million in water relief credits. Many residents, even with 65 percent taken off their already exorbitant water bills, have been refusing to pay.

At her press conference, Weaver said, He stated that Flints water now meets the same quality standards as other communities in Michigan and meets the federal quality standards and in his opinion the water is good. And I told him that I disagree.

David Sabuda, Flints interim chief financial officer, who attended the Lansing meeting, told the press on Monday that with many residents still not paying their bills, the citys ability to satisfy its creditors was in jeopardy. He said, Whens the water good? Its when you dont have a filter at the end of your tap. It was after Wednesdays press conference, however, that Sabuda told the Detroit Free Press that the city would be resuming water shutoffs.

The decisions being made in Lansing have an ominous character. Richard Baird, Snyders senior adviser, longtime friend and political crony, has been working out of an office in Flint during the water crisis in order to manage the political fallout from the disaster. It was Baird who signed the February 7 letter informing the city of the cutoff of water subsidies.

Baird oversaw the Flint Water Town Hall held January 11, where residents responded angrily to the stage-managed character of the event, which had originally been planned to exclude the public, the day after a Data Summit in Chicago, where water experts reported on the results of their latest testing. The plan was to have a meeting in Flint with city water and public health authorities to discuss moving forward with the so-called recovery of Flint.

When word got out about the planned meeting, however, residents and local media protested that the same agencies that were responsible for poisoning the water should not be allowed to have a closed-door meeting to decide the publics fate. Michigan officials were forced at the last minute to arrange a public venue. They called the event the Flint Water Town Hall.

The irony of this gathering didnt escape Flint residents. Less than a year-and-a-half ago, Edwards was being vilified by representatives of MDEQ as a panic-monger for exposing the lead-in-water crisis in Flint and warning residentsespecially pregnant and nursing mothersnot to drink the water. In that same period, the only one inside the EPA, Miguel Del Toral, who was, through proper channels, seeking to alert the public to the dangers in Flint tap water, was silenced by his superiors.

Del Toral was on the panel at the town hall reporting on the improved results of water sampling in Flint. Edwards reported improved sampling results via Skype.

Throughout the 2014-2015 crisis, the MDEQ, the agency primarily responsible for insuring the safety of drinking water, worked might and main against any public suggestion that the water from the Flint River, which was being pumped into homes, was unsafe. Soon after the citys water source was switched to the Flint River, protesters with bottles of brown and discolored water complained that the water stunk, tasted bad and was unfit to drink or bathe in, and demanded a return to their original water source. Now, they are being asked to trust that same agency.

The Snyder administration continues to pursue its reactionary agenda. On the one hand they are proclaiming that Michigan will now be setting the highest standards in the country for water quality. What Snyder deems to be safe water in Flint, however, is based on meeting the same quality standards as other communities in Michigan, even though water and health experts have warned not to drink it. Residents are correct not to trust them!

The human disaster caused by the conspiratorial and reckless switch to Flint River water interrupted the flow of revenues from water bills. With all their talk of a Flint recovery, it is the stream of money that is most important to the political operatives of capitalism.
Renowned for playing outsiders and commoners, British actor John Hurt died January 25, three days after his 77th birthday. With a gravelly voice, nondescript looks and a generally gentle demeanor, Hurt was not the leading man of his day and yet his recent passing is a sad occasion.

There are different sorts of actors. Some insist, rightly or wrongly, on bending as much as they can a given work or production to the strength (or weakness) of their personality. Hurt belonged to another school, those who apparently surrender themselves entirely to the material at hand. An incredibly versatile and lively performer, with more than 200 film and television credits (along with numerous stage appearances), he seemed to throw himself headfirst into each role and fully convinced audiences whether he was playing a diabolical hitman, a bookworm, a desperate drug addict or a wily, corrupt politician.

John Vincent Hurt was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a dozen miles south of Sheffield, on January 22, 1940 to Phyllis, an engineer and one-time actress, and Arnould, a mathematician and Anglican clergyman. His father served as vicar for a time in nearby Shirebrook, a coal-mining village.

His was a strict religious upbringing. Hurt would later recall, My parents lot had literally crawled away from the Second World War, taking with them two vital commodities by way of a survival mechanism: respectability and security. It was odd, coming from a Christian household, but the big thing was about not being what they called common. I got all that, Dont play with him, hes common.  My mother was desperate I should be properly influenced, have a proper, received accent, be sent away to school at eight. So all you can do is go into yourself, immerse yourself in your own life.

Although the family lived across from a cinema, he was not allowed to see any of the films there. When he was eight, Hurt was sent to the Anglican St. Michaels Preparatory School in Otford, Kent, where he was sexually abused by the headmaster.

He would describe St. Michaels as one of those very rarefied, very Anglo-Catholic establishments where they rejoiced in more religious paraphernalia and theatricality than the entire Vatican.  Three times a day they played the Angelus. When you heard it, you had to stop whatever you were doing, do the Hail Marys in your head, and then return to what you were doing. Like it would come in the middle of a Latin class. Im just conjugating the love verb, amo, amas, amat, and doingggg! you have to stand up, go through the whole Angelus, mother-of-God thing and then crack on with amamus, amatis, amant. Sir! Because, if you didnt, Whack! Cane. Belt. Education by fear.

Hurts parents did not take his acting ambitions seriously and wanted him to become an art teacher instead. When his headmaster asked him what he wanted to do with his life and Hurt replied acting, the former laughed and told him he wouldnt stand a chance in the profession.

In 1960, Hurt was accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, on a scholarship, and made his stage debut in 1962. His first film role was in the Young and Willing (Ralph Thomas, 1962), an entry in the Angry Young Man genre of British films and plays.

Hurt achieved greater recognition as Richard Rich in A Man for All Seasons. The film was released in 1966 and was directed by Fred Zinnemann (of High Noon and From Here to Eternity fame). The film is based on Robert Bolts play of the same name. It tells the story of Sir Thomas More (author of Utopia, 1516) and his refusal to sign a letter asking Pope Clement VII to annul the marriage of King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.

Hurt plays Richard Rich, a villain who perjures himself to become Attorney-General for Wales, to whose perfidy More responds, Why Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world  but for Wales? The film notes in the end that Rich died in his bed, while More died for his principles.

In the 1970s, Hurt was able to take on a series of varied roles such as the gay writer and raconteur Quentin Crisp in the 1975 television movie, The Naked Civil Servant (Jack Gold). He also played the infamous Roman emperor Caligula in the 1976 television film, I, Claudius (Herbert Wise), based on the books by Robert Graves.

In 1978, he was unrecognizable as a tortured Turkish prison inmate in the overrated Midnight Express (Alan Parker), but audiences of a certain generation are more likely to remember him as the spaceship crewmember Kane, whose body becomes host to a parasite in 1979s Alien (Ridley Scott). The much parodied scene where the eponymous alien bursts out of his chest over the dinner table may not have been worthy of the Old Vic, but it is unforgettable all the same.

On television he also played the starving, murderous student Raskolnikov in a 1979 BBC adaptation of Dostoyevskys Crime and Punishment (Michael Darlow) and played the Fool to Laurence Olivier in the lead in Shakespeares King Lear (Michael Elliott, 1983).

One of Hurts most endearing and memorable roles was as John Merrick, a horribly deformed man living wretchedly in Victorian England in David Lynchs 1980 film, The Elephant Man. Coming on the heels of Lynchs surreal, Eraserhead (1977), this was a straightforward telling of a true story, but executed with considerable compassion and humanity.

Hurts Merrick is confined to a cage and exhibited as a monster in a traveling freak show before being taken in by London high society. We learn in the film that he is not a brute but a sensitive soul, who screams in the films climax, I am not an animal! I am a human being! I  am  a man! Hurt was able to transform a forgotten and hideous creature into something capable of respect and decency.

New York Times critic Vincent Canby wrote in 1980 that what we eventually see underneath this shell is not the study in dignity that Ashley Montagu wrote about, but something far more poignant, a study in genteelness that somehow suppressed all rage.  Throughout the film one longs for an explosion. He added, Mr. Hurt is truly remarkable. It cant be easy to act under such a heavy mask.

It should be noted this was on the eve of the full-blown Reagan-Thatcher era, before the blockbuster phenomenon and the precipitous cultural decline still with us. Significantly, the very next film Hurt would make was Heavens Gate (Michael Cimino, 1980), the extraordinary work that marked the virtual end of a certain trend in independent Hollywood filmmaking.

Lynch would go on to make the interminable Blue Velvet (1986), his olive branch to the forces of law and order and conformity, while Hurt would have to make do for the most part with Hollywood dreck. One can only imagine what art he might have created or participated in under different social and cultural conditions.

Unfortunately, younger audiences will only know of Hurt from his roles in the Harry Potter films (Chris Columbus, David Yates), Hellboy (Guillermo del Toro, 2004), the most recent incarnation of the Doctor Who television series, V for Vendetta (the Wachowski brothers, 2005) and a host of even lesser movies. However, in the same period he also took on interesting roles in the film version of George Orwells 1984 (Michael Radford, 1984), Contact (Robert Zemeckis, 1997) and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Tomas Alfredson, 2011), as well as the remake of Graham Greenes Brighton Rock (Rowan Joffe, 2010).

He also lent his vocal talents to such animated films as Watership Down (Martin Rosen, 1978) and documentaries like Human Planet (2011).

A partial list of the film directors Hurt worked with is indicative of the breadth and heterogeneity, probably unique during his working life, of his career: John Gilling, Zinnemann, Tony Richardson, John Huston, J. Lee Thompson, Richard Fleischer, Jacques Demy, Freddie Francis, Gold, Clive Donner, Robert Fuest, Parker, Jerzy Skolimowski, Scott, Lynch, Cimino, Mel Brooks, Delbert Mann, James Burrows, Sam Peckinpah, Stephen Frears, Jim Sheridan, Roger Corman, Raoul Ruiz, Gus Van Sant, Chris Menges, Jim Jarmusch, Walter Hill, Richard Kwietniowski, Zemeckis, Bob Swaim, Atom Egoyan, John Madden, Lars von Trier, del Toro, Jane Birkin, Steven Spielberg, Jay Roach, Alfredson, Billy Bob Thornton, Bong Joon-ho, Pablo Larrain and Joe Wright.

True to his independent spirit, Hurt was contemptuous of fame and celebrity, telling an interviewer in 2011, Im not interested in awards. I never have been. I dont think they are important. Dont get me wrong, if somebody gives me a prize, I thank them as gratefully as I know how, because its very nice to be given a prize. But I dont think that awards ought to be sought. It encourages our business to be competitive in absolutely the wrong way. Were not sportsmen; were not trying to come in first.
The news conference given by Donald Trump Thursday afternoon was extraordinary and unprecedented. The event took on a surreal character as, for more than 75 minutes, the US president traded insults with journalists and otherwise engaged in a bitter battle with his nemeses in the media. It is not comparable to anything seen before in modern American history, even at the height of the Watergate crisis.

In witnessing such a spectacle, it is always necessary to uncover the rational content, the underlying political dynamic. In this case, the press conference gave expression to a vicious conflict within the American ruling class over foreign policy as the United States hurtles toward war.

The news conference was initially called to announce Trumps new pick for labor secretary, but this took up only one minute of the event. Trump began with a litany of achievements and actions he has taken since his inauguration, which was largely directed at the ruling elite in an appeal for support. The stock market has hit record numbers, corporate regulations are being eliminated, immigrants are being targeted for deportation, and Trump has ordered a massive rebuilding of the US military, among other right-wing measures.

However, from the media, channeling the US intelligence apparatus, questions focused almost exclusively on the ties of the Trump administration to Russia and the circumstances behind the forced resignation earlier this week of Trumps national security advisor, Michael Flynn, over his pre-inauguration telelphone conversation with the Russian ambassador.

Trump responded with a diatribe in which the media served as a stand-in for his real opponents in the US ruling elite, comprising the bulk of the permanent military-intelligence apparatus that really runs the government, regardless of which party controls the White House or majorities in Congress. He repeatedly denounced what he called illegal leaks to the media from sources within the intelligence agencies.

It was remarkable that when Trump directly denounced the media as a mouthpiece for the intelligence agencies, there was no attempt to rebut him. Everyone knows it is true. Likewise, when he flatly denied any contact between his campaign and Russian intelligence agencies, not a single reporter could cite evidence to the contrary.

In the course of the press conference, Trump blurted out a number of astonishing comments that point to the extreme dangers facing the entire world.

Responding to questions about what he would do about a Russian ship conducting surveillance operations in international waters off the coast of Connecticutthe same type of operations US warships conduct on a much larger scale off the coasts of Russia and ChinaTrump said, The greatest thing I could do is shoot that ship thats 30 miles off shore right out of the water. Everyone in this countrys going to say oh, its so great. He continued, If I was just brutal on Russia right now, just brutal, people would say, you would say, Oh, isnt that wonderful.

Trump pointed out the implications of such a clash, given that Russia and the United States have the two largest nuclear arsenals in the world. Were a very powerful nuclear country and so are they, he said. I have been briefed. And I can tell you one thing about a briefing that were allowed to say because anybody that ever read the most basic book can say it: a nuclear holocaust would be like no other. In other words, there are ongoing discussions, at the highest levels of the American government, about a potential nuclear war with Russia, for which preparations are well advanced.

When challenged by one reporter on why there was no response by the US government to a series of what he called provocations by Russialargely consisting of incidents provoked by US and NATO war maneuvers along Russias bordersTrump replied, Im not going to tell you anything about what response I do. I dont talk about military response.

He expanded on this theme, declaring that he would not talk about military operations in Iraq, North Korea, Iran or anywhere else. You know why? Because they shouldnt know. And eventually, you guys are going to get tired of asking that question.

Such conflicts within the ruling elite over foreign policy are usually fought out behind the scenes, as with discontent within the military-intelligence apparatus over Obamas retreat from a direct military intervention in Syria in 2013, when he failed to enforce his so-called red line against the government of Bashar al-Assad.

This time, however, the conflict has exploded into the open. Aside from the specific form that the debate within the US state apparatus has taken, it is an expression of an underlying crisis of the entire capitalist order. Twenty-five years of unending war are metastasizing, with extreme rapidity, into a major conflict involving large nation-states. National security journals are full of articles in which there is open discussion about war with Russia, in which the question is not if, but when and how. Trump, on the other hand, has focused his attention on China. In either case, the consequences are incalculable.

What was perhaps most striking is how remote the entire press conference was from the sentiments and concerns of the vast majority of the American population. There was virtually no questioning at the press conference about Trumps war against immigrant workers or the nationwide day of protest by immigrants and their supporters that was taking place at the same time.

Those participating in the mass protests that have erupted since Trumps inauguration are not motivated by a desire to launch a war with Russia, but by hatred of Trumps authoritarian, anti-democratic policies and the oligarchic government that he has set up.

Trumps critics in the Democratic Party and media, however, are responding to powerful sections of the US ruling elite who welcome Trumps ultra-reactionary domestic policiestax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, deregulation of corporations, attacks on democratic rights, persecution of immigrantsbut regard his posture of seeking better relations with Russia as intolerable.

The Democrats have responded with passive handwringing while Trump has assembled his cabinet of billionaires, ex-generals and right-wing fanatics, and issued a series of reactionary and unconstitutional executive orders. But when given the opportunity to attack Trump as soft on Russia, they engage in savage witch-hunting that recalls nothing so much as McCarthyism.

There is no faction with the American ruling class that is opposed to imperialist war. In the struggle to prevent war, it is up to the working class to intervene independently, opposing both factions in the US ruling elite, both Trump and the line-up of the CIA, the media and the Democratic Party.
ATLANTA (AP) - Licensed gun owners could carry concealed handguns on public college campuses under legislation advancing in the Georgia House.

A panel approved the bill on Thursday after about an hour of testimony, sending it to the House's full Public Safety Committee. The measure would allow anyone age 21 and up to carry a concealed handgun on campus with a state-issued permit.

Georgia's Republican Gov. Nathan Deal last year vetoed similar legislation. The University System of Georgia also has opposed past efforts.

This year's bill from Republican Rep. Mandi Ballinger of Canton adds an exemption for on-campus preschools, one of Deal's concerns. She says people on campuses have a right to protect themselves.

Opponents fear the change would endanger students and staff.

Georgia is among 17 states banning concealed weapons on campus.

(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
MIAMI (AP) - Defense lawyers say the Alaska man accused of fatally shooting five people and wounding six at a major airport in Florida is mentally competent to stand trial.

Attorneys for 26-year-old Esteban Santiago told a federal judge Thursday that he understands court proceedings and can assist in his defense.

Santiago is accused of flying from Anchorage, Alaska, to Florida on Jan. 6 and opening fire at a baggage claim area of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

Santiago told FBI agents after the shooting that he was under some form of government mind control. Later, he said the shooting was inspired by the Islamic State extremist group.

Santiago previously was briefly treated at an Alaska hospital after telling authorities he had been hearing voices.

(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
LANTANA, Fla. (AP) - President Donald Trump's weekend visits to his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort are costing flight schools and other small companies at a nearby airport thousands of dollars in lost revenue.

The Secret Service is closing Lantana Airport this weekend because it is 6 miles from Mar-a-Lago, where Trump has a home. It's the third straight week the airport businesses have had to close because of the president's visit.

Airport operator Jonathan Miller says everyone agrees the president needs to be kept safe but hopes that some kind of compromise can be found to keep the facility open during Trump's visits. Otherwise, he fears that some of the airport's 28 businesses will go under.

The Secret Service declined comment.

Trump flies into Palm Beach International Airport, which remains open during his visits.

(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
CAIRO, Ga. (WTXL) - Cairo High School is set to make history this month by holding its first-ever black history program.

According to the high school, The Black History Month Celebration will celebrate the achievements of African-Americans throughout history.

Teachers say, students and community members will perform through song, dance, poetry, speeches and artwork.

The school is extending an invitation to the community to come join in this event on February 24th at 10 a.m. in the school's gym.
MOULTRIE, Ga. (WTXL) - A Colquitt County man who was shot by police following a domestic dispute call has died.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigations has confirmed that Peter Torres has died from his injuries.

On February 4, the Colquitt County Sheriff's Office was called to Torres' home at 135 Blackberry Lane. When deputies arrived, Torres was in the backyard.

Prior to their arrival, deputies said that he had assaulted others in the home and destroyed property inside.

Investigators said that Deputy Joshua Luke tried to speak with Torres, but said that he began charging at Luke, refusing to stop when told to do so.

Eventually, the Luke ended up shooting Torres in the chest.

They said that Torres was transported to a hospital in Macon for his injuries while the deputy was uninjured.

GBI said that Torres died Thursday morning.

Luke started with the Colquitt County Sheriff's Office in October 2016, after transferring from another law enforcement agency.

GBI investigators say they're working to complete their investigation and will then had it over to the district attorney's office for review.
MADISON COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - A Madison man has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for sex trafficking of a minor and selling flakka.

The United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida said that Joseph Michael Elias McFarland, 22, was sentenced to 11 years behind bars on Thursday.

The Madison County Sheriff's Office said that back in September 2015, they discovered that McFarland was involved in sex trafficking of a minor.

They said that at some point a confidential source had met with him to buy drugs. During the meeting, McFarland told the source that he was prostituting a girl he claimed was either 17 or 18 years old.

However, investigators said that he knew the girl was only 16. They said that the drugs the confidential source had bought had all tested positive for Alpha-PVP or flakka.

McFarland also contacted the source to discuss prostituting the victim and also sent pictures of the victim.

When deputies searched the house where McFarland was selling drugs, they found the teenage victim hiding in a closet. They also found guns, ammunition, digital scales, and drug paraphernalia.

Officials say that McFarland plead guilty on May 9, 2016.

MCSO said that they will continue to work closely with our Federal Law Enforcement and Prosecuting partners as well as all local Law Enforcement Agencies to ensure that all persons who choose to victimize the citizens of Madison County are investigated, arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
QUINCY, FL (WTXL) -- It was another large turnout Thursday night for the second of seven community meetings in Gadsden County about the district's proposal to consolidate.

St. John Elementary School is one of two schools the superintendent has suggested closing at the end of this school year.

"Leave them here where they belong," said resident Queen Thomas. "They've done a great job. If it ain't broke, why fix it? Leave it alone."

"You put us on the back end," said Quincy mayor Derrick Elias. "You put us on the back end, and we should've been on the front end.

"Safety-wise, discipline-wise, it's not good to put those young kids with the middle school kids," said resident Jimmy Collins.

Board member Charlie Frost represents this district. He's made it clear he'll vote against closing Gretna and St. John.

"The only people that I have run across that have said this was a good idea are people that don't have any kids out here -- and they don't live here," Frost said. "The people in Midway and Havana, I don't think too many of them are here tonight, because it don't affect them."

Most speakers addressed concerns with transportation, student safety and community pride, but a few said they're open to change, given limited funding and dropping enrollment.

"We still operate using the same number of schools -- and a lot of schools are operating with subs. So, we really need to make some changes," said resident Sandra Joseph.

"This is an awesome responsibility, and I can tell you it's not an easy decision," said Gadsden County School Board member Steve Scott. "No one is going to be happy about it, no matter what the decision is."

While the communities of Gretna and St. John are in clear opposition to their schools closing, board chair Isaac Simmons offered an interesting alternative: build a brand new school in between those two schools.

The crowd seemed very supportive of that option. Simmons said he'll bring that up with the board.

The next community meeting will be held Monday, February 20 at 6 p.m. at Chattahoochee Elementary School.
GADSDEN COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - Tonight, another school on the chopping block will get a chance to address the Gadsden County School Board and if it's anything like Monday's meeting in Gretna, we're expecting another big turnout with some very strong opinions.

We're here at St. John Elementary in Quincy. The superintendent has proposed this school and Gretna Elementary to close at the end of the school year.

Once again, the superintendent will explain why he's calling for change and how he plans to make it happen.

The school board has said repeatedly that nothing has been decided and these meetings are an opportunity to get the public's feedback.

Here at St. John, the proposal would move fourth and fifth graders to shanks middle school and grades pre-k through three to George Munroe Primary School.

For the most part, residents we've talked to said they're against closing some of these schools, but others say something has to change to improve the district and keep students from leaving.

The meeting starts in less than an hour. We'll have more coming up in your news at 11.
VALDOSTA, Ga. (WTXL) - The Georgia State Patrol said alcohol may have contributed to a crash that killed a man in Valdosta.

Troopers said that around 7:25 p.m. on Tuesday, 25-year-old Luis Alejandro Segundo of Statenville was driving west around the curve of Howell Road when his car traveled off the north side of the road.

They said that Segundo overcorrected, causing the car to rotate counterclockwise and travel off the south side of the road. The car continued off road, going through a ditch, where its front smashed into a tree.

After hitting the tree, Segundo and his 25-year-old passenger Justin Ty Holifield of Valdosta, were ejected from the car. According to troopers, neither had a seat belt on.

GSP said that the car kept going through a creek before stopping off the south shoulder of Howell Road facing west.

They said that Segundo was transported to South Georgia Medical Center by ambulance while Holifield was transported to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital via Air Med.

Unfortunately, troopers say Segundo died from his injuries Wednesday evening.

Troopers suspect alcohol to be a contributing factor in this collision but say no charges will be filed.

Next of kin has been notified.
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 While we dont believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace, the construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal. .The Trump administration has not taken an official position on settlement activity and looks forward to continuing discussions, including with Prime Minister Netanyahu when he visits with President Trump later this month.

The White House, Office of the Press Secretary. February 2, 2017.

After eight long Obama years, it is heartening to hear the White House declare that it does not see existing settlements as an obstacle to peace . This substantial statement acknowledges the often-forgotten fact that the century-old conflict with the Palestinians began well before the 1967 Six-Day War, and the subsequent settlements built on the biblical landscape of Judea and Samaria (aka the territories). The White Houses concern, however, that new settlements or the significant expansion of existing ones may not be beneficial for the prospects of peace also has merit and should be addressed appropriately.

Trump and Netanyahu. The US president should understand that Israel considers Judea and Samaria part of the historic Jewish homeland just as the Palestinians view the West Bank as part of a future Palestinian state (Photo: Reuters)

The rationale for limiting Israeli construction in the territories is clear: Such new settlement construction or expansion of existing ones may jeopardize the final border to be set between Israel and its Palestinian neighbors. Yet such a suggestion has yet to be demanded of the same neighbors: If Jews are expected to limit construction in the territories, Arabs should be expected to do the same.

The first step in resetting negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians is not a freeze on Jewish settlements, but rather a basic and candid declaration by both sides to recognize one another (ie Israel as the Jewish state) and to reinstate reciprocity into the process. A term Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rightfully takes pride in introducing to the process during his first term as prime minister now needs to be a cornerstone in catalyzing the stagnant peace process.

Before establishing his policy, US President Donald Trump should understand that Israel considers Judea and Samaria part of the historic Jewish homeland just as the Palestinians view the West Bank as part of a future Palestinian state. That premise is problematic since the West Bank and Judea and Samaria are one and the same. Jews have a right to live and have lived in Judea and Samaria for millenniajust look to the Bible, history, and indisputable archaeological evidence. However, those in the Israeli political Right who contest Netanyahu and complain about his lack of lust to annex territories should note that Menachem Begin rightfully annexed the Golan Heights and officially reunited Jerusalem only after completely withdrawing from the Sinai. Today, there is no ripeness for further unilateral withdrawals or substantial annexations.

On the Palestinian side, over a million Arabs living in the West Bank regard it as their home. The question is whether Arab rights to build in a village called Ras Atia near the Israeli town of Rosh Haayin outweigh Jewish rights to build in ancient Shilo not far from Nablus. Do Arab building rights in Naalin, near Modiin, outweigh Jewish building rights in Beit El, near Ramallah? Not if reciprocity is to be applied objectively.

Most of the disputed land in the territories is barren and unpopulated by either Jews or Arabs. The title to that territory needs to be negotiated and finalized. Until then and for the sake of reciprocity, if Jews are asked to stop building homes, Arabs should be required to do the same; limiting Jews while giving Arabs a free hand is not reciprocityits racism.
A decision by the High Court of Justice instructed the Shin Bet to strike a balance between individual rights and public safety, pushing them to change their inquiry procedures for political demonstrators.

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The decision followed a petition by The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) against the Shin Bet's policy to summon political activists for informal talks, ones the Shin Bet calls "inquiries" but are called "warning talks" by the petitioners.

The petitioners claim that political activists that protest about something that is considered outside the consensus are summoned by the Shin Bet, usually via a police summons and without being informed that they are under no obligation to present themselves.

Jewish and Arab demonstrators during Operation Protective Edge (Photo: AFP)

The petitioners also claim that the activists are questioned about their and their acquaintances' political activities and are then asked to provide details about their family and acquaintances. After that, they are warned from participating in similar political activity in the future lest they harm public safety. Sometimes the inquiry is accompanied by a bodily search.

All this, the petitioners claim, harms the right to a proper legal proceeding and the individual's right of protest and expression and are a deviation from Shin Bet authorities.

The Shin Bet has denied that the inquiries target those who partake in legal political activity or protest, claiming that they are intended for those who are involved in subversive and malicious activities that could endanger public safety. They claim that the inquiries are often based on intelligence that raised suspicion of a committed or about-to-be-committed felony that is under Shin Bet jurisdiction, and that the inquiries' purpose is to verify or refute the suspicion and to also expand Shin Bet intelligence.

The Shin Bet also claimed that they are not doing this to prevent social protest, but in some cases concerns are raised that the protest will devolve into disorderly conduct and violence, with emphasis on racially based riots, and in those cases inquiries are justified. They finished by saying that, in any case, they are taking necessary precautions.





Head of the Shin Bet Nadav Argaman

The petitioners contradicted the claim that the inquiries target only those who are suspected in activities that could endanger public safety and complained that during the deliberations they were prevented from fully presenting their case for the face that due to security considerations the Shin Bet got to exhibit their claims in a one-sided manner.

The judges' ruling on the case clarified to the state that it must adjust its procedures in the matter in a way that will better balance individual rights and public safety. According to their instructions, summoning a person for an inquiry for "subversive activities" that are not related to terrorism or espionage will be done only after consultation with the Shin Bet legal advisor, who will consider the potential harm of the individual's rights against the potential harm for public safety.

In addition, after the legal advisor gave his approval, the Shin Bet must notify the person summoned that this is a voluntary inquiry and not a legal investigation and so he is under no obligation to attend. Also, in case the person does decide to accept being inquired, the Shin Bet must inform him that whatever he says cannot be used against him in court.

After the Shin Bet changed their procedures according to the court's instructions, the court rejected the petition, though not before the judges clarified that if their instructions will not be internalized and implemented, this debate may very well come up again in the future. AT the end of the deliberations the court ordered the Shin Bet to pay 15,000 shekels to ACRI for legal fees.
The Air Force published the results of the investigation into the death of F-16 pilot Maj. Ohad Cohen-Nov , who was killed while abandoning his aircraft during a botched landing at the Ramon airbase last October.

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Cohen-Nov attempted the landing after returning from a sortie in the Gaza Strip, and it was believed that uneven weight distribution resulting from munitions caused an asymmetrical difficultly, which resulted in the crash.

Maj. Ohad Cohen-Nov

The investigation concluded that the F-16's crew followed all the proper procedures and guidelines and decided to abandon the jet after losing control. Furthermore, no technical failure was discovered in the aircraft.

The investigation highlighted two central lessons that the IAF will take forward. The first being that pilots will undergo asymmetric traning simulations during their instruction and the second, that in future situations, pilots may jettison munitions into the sea in order to balance out their aircraft.

Photo: EPA

Representatives of Lockheed Martin took part in the investigation, including in the analysis of asymmetric landings that Israel has conducted in the last eight years with F-16s.

Commander of the IAF Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel accepted the results of the investigation and termed the crash a tragic accident. Eshel further ordered new training simulations, exams, test flights and qualifications for pilots in an attempt to increase safety.
Two Israeli brothers were arrested overnight Wednesday in Bulgaria on suspicion of having murdered a 26-year-old Israeli citizen in the country before throwing his corpse from their car, according to local media reports.

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The two suspects arrived in the eastern European country on Thursday. According to an eyewitness, the two brothers were arrested with their car nearby the town of Samokov, 40km from the capital of Sofia.

Bulgarian police investigate. (Photo: BTV)

The corpse of the dead man, Eliad Prag of Tel Aviv, had signs of bruising and abrasions.

The two fled the scene where Prag was found, according to eyewitness reports to the local police, who set out on a manhunt after the suspects.

The police believe the incident to be a murder or possibly an overdose, and the Sofia district prosecutor will handle the case. Those close to the suspects, however, disagree with the possibility that this was a murder.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented that local authorities were handling the investigation and that the MFA and its embassy in Sofia were "providing assistance to the family at this difficult time."
The European Union recently awarded 7.7 million to the international NanoPack Project, led by the Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology, to develop a solution for extending food shelf life.

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NanoPack is funded as part of HORIZON 2020, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.

Packaged food that could benefit from the NanoPack Project (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

According to Dr. Ester Segal, NanoPacks coordinator and associate professor at Haifas Technion, NanoPack is working to introduce nanotechnology-based antimicrobial packaging solutions to further food safety. NanoPack will demonstrate a solution for extending food shelf life by using novel smart antimicrobial surfaces, applied in active food packaging products, said Dr. Segal in a statement.

NanoPack will enhance food safety for consumers by significant growth inhibition of food-born microbes, which in turn will prevent food-borne illness outbreaks and early spoilage, Dr. Segal explained.

Subsequently, NanoPack would help reduce the staggering 1.3 billion tons of food wasted each year, which cause major economic loss and significant harm to the worlds natural resources according to Dr. Segal.

We intend to present better performing, safer and smarter products that will position Europe as the leader in food nanotechnology and smart antimicrobial packaging while increasing competitiveness and growth, said Dr. Segal.

The active polymer films, developed by NanoPack, exhibit broad-spectrum antimicrobial properties unmet by existing state-of-the-art materials, which include nanomaterials such as silver particles that are currently used and have raised health concerns of toxicity and microbial resistance.

Applying the power of nanotechnology, the project will employ polymer composites based on natural Halloysite Nanotubes (HNTs) as reliable and safe carriers, capable of tailored release of bioactive payloads. Maximizing safety, HNTs in the NanoPack food packaging slowly release minute amounts of potent, volatile, natural and EU-approved essential oils into the packaging headspace. The oils exhibit both antimicrobial and anti-fungal properties and can be tailored to inhibit growth of most food-borne microbes.

The NanoPack consortium is comprised of 18 partner organizations that include leading industrial and research institutes from Belgium, Austria, Germany, Spain, Israel, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Portugal, France, and the Netherlands.

NanoPack recently held its opening conference at the facilities of Bio Base Europe (BBEU) in Ghent, Belgium from January 2426, 2017.
An Israeli national has been extradited from Poland to the US to face drug trafficking and money laundering charges in Boston.

Acting US Attorney for Massachusetts William Weinreb said Thursday that 33-year-old Jalal Altarabeen conspired to transfer $2.5 million worth of cocaine from Colombia to Israel via Boston.

Altarabeen was detained after his initial court appearance Thursday. He faces one count of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and six counts of international money laundering.

The Boston Globe reports Altarabeen hasn't been arraigned and hasn't entered a plea yet. His lawyer declined to comment after Thursday's hearing.

A Jordanian national, whom authorities have declined to name, also was indicted but remains at large. The indictments are the result of an undercover operation that began in October 2015.
A flight with 90 units of plasma intended for an ailing Israeli in Peru has landed in Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, Peru.

The blood was successfully delivered for the treatment of 22-year-old Zohar Katz, who left Israel for a post-army backpacking trip in South America four months ago, and contracted a violent bacterial infection near its completion.
A senior Hamas official countered the Israeli defense minister's message on Thursday night by saying that his organization would only consider returning three Israeli civilians and the remains of two IDF soldiers in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.

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Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahar, one of the founders of Hamas, was responding to Avigdor Lieberman's Arabic-language message of earlier that day aimed at the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip. The right-wing minister of defense had offered to help improve Gazan infrastructure, including permitting the construction of a seaport , an airport and an industrial zone in Gaza, as well as helping create 40,000 jobs in the strip.

Al-Zahar and Lieberman (Photos: AFP, Alex Kolomoisky)

In exchange, the leader of Yisrael Beytenu insisted that Hamas demilitarize Gaza and remove an article in its charter calling for the annihilation of the State of Israel, in addition to releasing the Israeli civilians and remains.

Al-Zahar replied to Lieberman, "Release the heroic Palestinian fighters from all factions so that there will be a reason to release the Israeli soldiers."

Lieberman's recorded message was posted on the website of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) in an effort to encourage the civilian population of Gaza to put pressure on its leadership to accede to Israel's demands.

He had said in his message that Israel was ready to help "turn Gaza to a Singapore of the Middle East, but for that, the residents of Gaza must remove the Hamas leadership."

Al-Zahar replied, "If we want to turn Gaza into Singapore, we'll do it with our own hands and not as a favor from anyone."
In an interview with MSNBC's Greta Van Susteren, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu answered the question of whether he supports the two-state solution by saying: "I've always said that the labels are not important; it's the substance that's important."

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"Peace requires that the Palestinians finally accept the Jewish state and give up their ideas and fantasies of destroying it and that Israel retain the right to the security control of the area west of the Jordan River," Netanyahu explained, adding that "otherwise we'll just get in the Palestinian regions Islamist dictatorships that will explode peace and the Middle East."

Benjamin Netanyahu on MSNBC

Regarding the settlements, Netanyahu said: I think its an issue, but I dont think its the issue, because the real core of this conflict between us and the Palestinians is not this or that settlement, or this or that community, its the persistent and enduring refusal to recognize a Jewish state in any boundary.

"We left the Gaza Strip, where half of the Palestinians live. We went back to the 1967 border, uprooted all of the settlements and even dug up graves. But they didn't use the land to build a state of peace. They fired 25,000 rockets on our heads, and dug tunnels used for terrorism."

The prime minister said the settlement issue has been ingrained in the public mind as the central obstacle to peace. "Mind you this is an issue we agreed to discuss. Weve set up a mechanism to discuss a way to reach an understanding," he added, referring to the Israeli and US governments.

When asked, Netanyahu declined to compare Trump to former US President Barack Obama: Im not going to start rating presidents. I will tell you though that I had a very, very warm meeting with President Trump. There was a great sense of kinship and friendship and I think that this is something the people of America feel toward the people of Israel. And, I assure you, the people of Israel feel deeply about the people of America, he said.





Netanyahu with MSNBC's Greta Van Susteren

In his interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, Netanyahu commented on his meeting with Trump: "I think it was a historical meeting. It was a meeting of the minds and a meeting of the hearts," he said, later adding: "I knew him from the time that I served as Israel's ambassador to the UN. We would sort of bump into each other here and there in New York City. We got to know each other over the years, and most recently obviously. We've always had a great alliance between Israel and America through successive presidenciesI feel we have now, as the president says, 'an even stronger alliance.'"





Netanyahu & Trump (Photo: MCT)

Netanyahu spoke of the change in the relationship between Israel and its neighbors driven by a shared concern about the rise of radical Islam: "I think there is a change, and the change is coming because of the rise of radical Islam. Radical Islam has two fountainheads," Netanyahu explained. "One is the radical Sunnis led by ISIS and before that by Al Qaeda, and the radical Shiites led by Iran. The Arab countries are threatened by both.

And when they look around they say 'whos going to help us against these twin threats?' And they say 'theres one country in the region thats powerful, thats determined, thats resolved to fight this common enemy, and thats Israel.' So they dont view us any more as their enemy, but increasingly they see us as their ally, against the common threat."

On the Iran deal, Netanyahu said: "The deal essentially said thisit said 'no bomb today, 100 bombs tomorrow, in 10 years,'" Netanyahu said. "And Iran doesnt change its attitude Were all prey to this militant Islamic regime that will arm itself with nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles that can reach you."
As he stood on the podium next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump said he was open to new ideas that would bring Middle East peace. With that, he opened the door to a whole new maze of complexity and risk.

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By uttering the phrase "one-state"rather than a two-state solution to the conflict, the bedrock of international diplomacy for two decadeshe went where past presidents and most leaders feared to tread, knowing the loaded implications.

The creation of a binational or single state that encompasses both Israel and Palestinian territories is not a viable option for most Israelis and Palestinians for religious, political and demographic reasons.

The leaders in the Oval Office following the press conference (Photo: AP)

"I'm very happy with the one that both parties like. I can live with either one."

The problem is the partiesIsraelis and Palestiniansmay find it just as hard, if not harder, to live with a one-state solution as two states side-by-side, depending on how it is defined and what ideals underpin it.

While not the taboo it was a few years agoIsrael's president is an advocate and many younger Palestinians discuss the conceptthe idea of one state is freighted with questions of identity, ethnicity, religion and democracy that cut to the essence of the conflict.

Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian chief negotiator, suggested the overriding risk was that Israel ended up holding the upper hand, creating one state with two separate systemsone for Jews and one for Arabsmirroring South Africa's apartheid.

One secular state?

With efforts to forge a two-state solution having largely gone nowhere in the last 20 years, despite exhaustive international effort, it is natural that leaders and diplomats begin to examine other possibilities. In that respect, one state can seem a simpler, cleaner and more elegant solution.

But at the heart of Israel's identity, from before its creation nearly 70 years ago, is the idea that it is a nation for the Jewish people. One of Netanyahu's core and unwavering demands is that Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

If one state is created from the estimated 16 million people now living in Israel, Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, it would be extremely difficult for it to remain both Jewish and democraticnearly half the population is Muslim or Christian, and the Palestinian birthrate is rising more rapidly than the Israeli one.

Academics and free-thinkers on the left and the right often circulate proposals for a single, binational state, or some similar formulation, but in opponents' minds that quickly raises questions about the primacy of law and language, and whether the Palestinians, who have so long lived without a state, would have equal billing within a binational structure.

Beyond the many profound issues of identity lie simple-sounding but thorny questions: What would the single state be called? Could it be secular and Jewish? Would Muslims from other states be free to visit? Which legal system would apply? Would Arab or Muslim countries recognize the new entity?

Different meanings

To many settlers on Israel's right, the term "one state" can mean Israeli sovereignty over the entire West Bank, while to some on the left in Europe and the United States, it can be a euphemism for a binational state with no Israel, said David Makovsky, director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at the Washington Institute.

"Whoever uses this term needs to be very careful in how it is used since it means opposite approaches," he said. "Polls show only a minority of Israelis and Palestinians favor either definition of one state."

A poll on Thursday showed exactly that. The survey of 2,400 Israelis and Palestinians conducted by the Tami Steinmetz Center at Tel Aviv University and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah showed 55 percent of Israelis and 44 percent of Palestinians favor a two-state solution

The survey showed far lower support for a one-state outcome.

That is perhaps one reason why Netanyahu was careful not to reference a one-state solution at the news conference. He knows that buried behind the one-state label are concepts that could undermine the essence of an independent Jewish state, while not being attractive to the Palestinians either.

Briefing reporters after meeting Trump, Netanyahu did not rule out two states, saying his language on it had been consistent since 2009, when he made a landmark speech accepting the objective, albeit with conditions.

On Thursday, Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, told reporters , "We absolutely support the two-state solution but we are thinking out of the box as well."

Trump may not have known quite how loaded his mention of a one-state solution was, but he also emphasized it was not up to him in the end. The parties must agree.

"I'm happy with the one they like the best," he said.
Minister of the Interior Gilad Erdan has nominated Brigadier General (res.) Dedi Simhi for the position of Fire and Rescue Commissioner.

The last commissioner, Shahar Ayalon, retired on May last year and wasnt replaced due to delays following the legal proceedings against the nominated commissioner, Moshe Swisa's.

Swisa was later charged and sentenced last month and was reprimanded and demoted. Simhi was nominated in his place as the second-in-line allegeable for the position.
Top world leaders, diplomats and defense officials are getting their first opportunity to meet with members of the Trump administration amid concerns over the new president's commitment to NATO and posture toward Russia.

Vice President Mike Pence, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly are leading the US delegation to the Munich Security Conference opening Friday. The annual weekend gathering is known for providing an open and informal platform for allies  and adversaries  to meet in close quarters.

Trump set off alarm bells last month by calling NATO "obsolete," though has subsequently told European leaders he agrees on the "fundamental importance" of the military alliance. He has emphasized the need for all members to pay a fair share for defense, an issue that NATO leaders themselves have pushed for years.

Mattis told the alliance's 27 other defense ministers in Brussels on Wednesday that Trump has "strong support for NATO" and assured Stoltenberg that "the alliance remains a fundamental bedrock for the United States."

However, Mattis also told fellow NATO members they need to increase their military spending by year's end or risk seeing the US curtail its defense support.
Minister of Defense Avigdor Lieberman met with his American counterpart in Munich on Friday morning for the first time since former Gen. James Mattis assumed the role of secretary of defense.

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The two said that they intended to maintain open and frank dialogue and to cooperate to strengthen Israel's security and to preserve US interest in the region.

During the meeting, the men discussed a series of matter, but Iran was first and foremost among them. The Israeli minister even stated that the three central problems that need to be dealt with were "Iran, Iran and Iran."

Mattis (Photo: AP)

He added that a real and effective coalition needed to be built to deal with the terrorist that the Islamic Republic was spreading throughout the world. This includes missile development and Iran's working towards a nuclear weapon.

Lieberman said that North Korea and Iran are the two poles of the axis of evil that includes Hezbollah and the Assad regime in Syria, with Iran being the common thread, apparently mixing his metaphors. The secretary and the minister agreed that they must act decisively against Iran.

During their meeting, they also discussed additional security issues related to developments in the Middle East and ways to strengthen cooperation between the US and Israel in dealing with them.

They concluded that the two countries are true allies, and they agreed to meet again soon.
Eva Zifkina, only 21, has been through enough life experiences to last the rest of her days. She was born in Ukraine to a Christian family, discovered she was the granddaughter of Jewish Holocaust survivors and consequently set off on a journey of self discovery that brought her to immigrate to Israel and to enlistment in the IDF as a lone soldier.

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Her parents understand, but they prefer to continue their lives as Christians. Eva, on the other hand, is preparing to go through a halachic conversion course to Judaism in the army. Until then, she is adapting to her new life as an Israeli soldier. On Thursday, she was one of 1,500 soldiers without family in the country who have come from all over the world to elnist in the IDF, who decided to enjoy a special Yom Siddurim (the name translates as "Errands Day") at Beit Hachayal in Tel Aviv. The event was hosted by Nefesh B'Nefesh and Friends of the IDF (FIDF) in the US and Panama in conjunction with the IDF"s Manpower Directorate.

Eva Zifkina

Nefesh B'Nefesh explains Yom Siddurim as "the days allocated to lone soldiers to leave base and take care of their personal business, be it going to the bank, getting new glasses, or working through the process of converting their driver's licenses."

At the special annual Yom Siddurim, representatives from government ministries and authorities, academic institutions, financial bodies and others come to provide information, advice and help sort out personal matters that the soldiers were unable to handle from their bases.

Surprising roots

"I definitely want to become familiar with Judaism because it's a part of me, and it's important to me," Zifkina said. Her story began in the city of Kharkiv in Eastern Ukraine, where she was born.

Her grandfather, Fyodor Zidkin, stunned his son and daughter-in-law when he told them that he was Jewish. During the Second World War, when he was only 12, he disguised himself as a Muslim rather than as a Christian due to his circumcision. He thus survived the war while the rest of his family perished, and he chose to continue his life as a Christian.

He refused to reveal his Jewish name or the historical roots of his family, and not too long after his revelation, he died. Eva's parents decided to continue their lives as Christians, but they wanted their young daughter to know the Jewish tradition, so they sent her to a Jewish school.

"I finished high school at 16, and I starting studying pharmacy at an academy," Zifkina explained. "In my free time, I tried to find information about my Jewish roots. I contacted my grandfather's friends and people who worked with him, but I didn't manage to get any information. After a year, I stopped my studies because I wanted to focus on my search and immigrate to Israel."

But here her problems began. "I was told that because I didn't have proof that my grandfather was Jewish, the only way to immigrate to Israel would be to convert, so I started a conversion course. Later, I found my grandmother and grandfather's marriage certificate, and they married in a synagogue. This was proof that my grandfather was Jewish, and I was found to be eligible to immigrate to Israel."

'I live in a Jewish state, and it's important to me to connect to Judaism'

Even though her parents and sister chose to live their lives in Ukraine, Zifkina immigrated to Israel with the Garin Tzabar program. This placed Zifkina in an immigrant absorption center in Ra'anana with other lone soldiers.

She is scheduled to complete her mandatory service in a year, but she nevertheless decided to attend the Yom Siddurim event to look into the possibility of studying psychology of sociology after her discharge. She wanted to find out what rights she had as a new immigrant and also to see if she could get a driver's license.

"Even though I managed to immigrate to Israel, according to halacha, I'm not Jewish, and it's very important to me to go through the conversion process after discovering that there's a Nativ course that facilitates conversion during military service," she said.

Asked if she knows that passing the conversion course requires a religious lifestyle, Zifkina replied, "It really isn't easy because I didn't grow up in those conditions. But I live in a Jewish state, and it's important to me to connect to Judaism. It interests me, and it may be that during the course, it will influence me, and I'll decide to be religious."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Friday that he intends to appoint Minister of Regional Cooperation Tzachi Hanegbi to be the interim minister of Communications.

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Hanegbi is expected to hold the position for the next three months until Netanyahu decides on a suitable replacement.

Hanegbi and Netanyahu (Photo: Amit Shabi)

Netanyahu gave up the Communications portfolio at the beginning of February after the High Court of Justice announced that it would consider the petitions against him to relinquish the portfolio due to his involvement in what police have named "the 2000 case" , in which Netanyahu was reportedly recorded negotiating on the phone with Yedioth Ahronoth owner Arnon Mozes on mutual benefits.

The petitions were filed by Leader of the Opposition Isaac Herzog and the Movement for Quality Government, who demanded that he relinquish the ministerial portfolios for both Foreign Affairs and Communications.

In a court order following the petitions, Netanyahu was ordered to give valid reason to keep those portfolios in light of the current investigations against him.

He has until February 20 to reply to the court. Following that, a hearing will be held on the subject in March.
Pope Francis, who was reunited Friday with one of the Syrian refugees he brought home with him from Lesbos, Greece, said migrants don't pose a danger to Europe's culture but rather a challenge for societies to grow.

Francis made the comments during a visit to the Roma Tre university, one of the main public universities in the Italian capital. There, he met with Nour Essa, who along with her husband and child flew back to Rome with the pope after his April 16, 2016 trip to Lesbos. Since then, Essa has won a government scholarship to finish her biology studies at Roma Tre and has become something of an activist for refugee rights in her new country.

During a question-and-answer session in a courtyard at the university, Essa asked Francis about fears expressed by many Europeans that Syrians and Iraqi migrants threaten Europe's Christian culture. Francis responded by noting that his native Argentina is a country of immigrants, and that ending wars and poverty would trim migration flows. "Migration isn't a danger, it's a challenge to grow," he said, adding that European countries must not only welcome migrants but integrate them into society. "They bring to us a culture, a culture that is rich for us. And also they have to receive our culture and there has to be an exchange of cultures," he said. "Respect. And this removes fear."
ISIS attacked a battalion of state-sponsored militia southeast of Tikrit on Friday, killing at least eight militia members, an intelligence official said.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted by its Aamaq news agency. The statement said ISIS fighters had struck the 9th Battalion of the Popular Mobilization Forces, "killing its commander and 13 soldiers."

The statement also said that ISIS fighters blew up the battalion's headquarters and other nearby positions and destroyed two Humvees that had arrived to assist the battalion.
US President Donald Trump referred to his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his weekly address on Friday.

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"The United States also reaffirmed our unbreakable bond this week, with our cherished ally Israel. It was an honor to welcome my friend, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House. I affirmed to the prime minister America's commitment to working with Israel and our allies and partners toward greater security and stability," said Trump to the American people during the address.

Trump's weekly address

X

"The threat of terrorismand believe me, it is a threatmust be confronted and defeated, and we will defeat it. We share with Israel a deep conviction that we must protect all innocent human life."

Netanyahu and Trump during their joint press conference (Photo: Reuters)

During their joint press conference on Wednesday, Trump mentioned Israel's building in the West bank. "I'd like to see you pull back on settlements for a little bit," Trump told Netanyahu. The Israeli leader later insisted that Jewish settlements were "not the core of the conflict" and made no commitment to reduce settlement building.

Netanyahu, for his part, said during the press conferrence that there is "no greater supporter of the Jewish people and the Jewish state than President Donald Trump." The prime minister was addressing a question from Israeli media about fears the administration "is playing with xenophobia and maybe racist tones."
The Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. Scott Pruitt was approved on Friday by a vote of 52-46.

Pruitt served six years as Oklahoma's attorney general and was closely aligned with oil and gas companies in his home state, whose executives backed his political campaigns. He filed 14 lawsuits as attorney general challenging EPA regulations, including President Barack Obama's plan to limit planet-warming carbon emissions.

Pruitt's nomination was strongly opposed by environmental groups that predict he will roll back EPA's enforcement efforts.
More than 100,000 Palestinians have sent US President Donald Trump letters, imploring him not to withhold US support from the idea of founding a Palestinian state. Arab media website Al-Monitor reported that the wide scale campaign was organized by Youth Centre for Development and Innovation Arab in the West Bank city of Nablus, and that the center had gathered the letters for 11 days, starting on January 20the day of Trump's inauguration.

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The initiative had collected the letters of young Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as from Syrian refugees and Lebanese nationals. "All of the letters focused on the Palestinians right to freedom and self-determination, putting an end to the occupation as well as implementing the international law resolutions and international conventions and treaties related to the Palestinian cause," said the center's director, Mohammed Abu Ras.

A young Palestinian man writes to Trump

"The letters call on Trump to stand by the principles of democracy and human rights, all the while committing to and defending international legitimacy by finding a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian cause," added Abu Ras.

Ahmed Jamil Azam, who runs the Faculty of Arts and International Studies at Birzeit University near Ramallah, said the letters aim "to explain to President Trump the positive and political position that Palestinians have of the peace process. Additionally, they aim to show the president that position that lean in favor of Israel will have consequences on the peace process, the two-state solution and the region in general."

The campaign, as stated, had gathered letters for Trump prior to his meeting last Wednesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netnayahu, in which Trump had declared that he is not committed to a two-state solution. Rather, the American leader broke with his predecessors by saying that while such an accord may have once appeared to be the "easier of the two" options he would be open to alternatives if the two sides propose something better.

The Arab League issued a sharp response to Trump's statement on Thursday, spelling out its unshakeable commitment to a two-state solution to resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and warning of the dire consequences involved in moving the US embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict required a two-state solution after Trump was less emphatic about the prospect for such a conclusion to the conflict and the USs unwavering commitment to Palestinian statehood.

"It requires a comprehensive and just settlement based on a two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on ... 1967 borders with its capital in Jerusalem," Egypt's state news agency quoted Aboul Gheit as saying after meeting the UN chief Antonio Guterres in Cairo.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had also warned against abandoning the idea of a two-state solution following Trump's joint press conference with Netanyahu. "There is no alternative solution for the situation between the Palestinians and Israelis, other than the solution of establishing two states, and we should do all that can be done to maintain this," Guterres said on Wednesday during his Cairo visit.
The leaders of the largest branch of American Judaism are declaring their opposition to David Friedman, US President Donald Trump's pick to be his ambassador to Israel.

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The liberal Union for Reform Judaism says has declared its opposition to Friedman on Friday. The union stressed in its statement that it has never before opposed the nomination of an ambassador to Israel. But the group, the largest association of synagogues in America, said David Friedman's extreme views and lack of foreign policy experience make him the wrong person for the job.







Friedman at his Senate confirmation hearing (Photo: Reuters)

The Union for Reform Judaism thus joins others who have voiced their disapproval to Friedman's nomination as ambassador. On Thursday, five previous US ambassadors to Israel raised similar concerns over the nomination, signing a letter asking that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee thoroughly evaluate his qualifications.

The ambassadors, who served Republican and Democratic presidents, referred to Friedman's reported past accusations, in which he called former president Barack Obama and the entire State Department of anti-Semitism.

They also referenced his characterizing supporters of J Street, a liberal, left-wing Jewish group, as "kapos"the name given to the Jews who cooperated with Nazis during the Holocaust.

Friedman testified on Thursday before the Senate committee and sought to repair the damage done from his caustic statements against those who don't share his hard-line, pro-Israel views. While appearing before the committee, Friedman was repeatedly heckled by a Palestinian whose parents had immigrated to the US from the Palestinian territories.

Friedman being heckled during Senate hearing by pro-Palestinian protestor (Photo: Reuters)

Friedman has publicly apologized and pledged to be "respectful and measured" should he be confirmed as Trump's envoy to the Jewish state.
YORK  Its been about a year since theres been much of a mention of the Keystone XL pipeline in the York County board room.

The talk was quieted after former president Barack Obama rejected TransCanadas permit.

Now, words are being spoken again as President Donald Trump says he wants to see the project move forward.

This week, a local landowner made brief comments to reiterate her stand against the project  which would run across her property  and several county board members vocalized opinions on the topic as well.

Susan Dunavan revisited her feelings about the proposed pipeline, saying it would not provide benefit for York County residents, there would only be tax benefits for the county for 15 years and there are great concerns about water and land quality should the pipeline be constructed and someday leak.

Later in the meeting, Jerad Reimers, community liaison for Congressman Adrian Smith, met with the commissioners to hear their questions and concerns about any topics they chose.

A number of issues were discussed, and eventually the KXL project became part of that conversation.

Earlier, we had someone (Dunavan) talk with us about the Keystone XL pipeline, Commissioner Randy Obermier said to Reimers. Where is Adrian (Smith) on that? Does he think this pipeline would be good for Nebraska? And is he good with the route?

Generally speaking, he thinks pipelines are the safest way to transport petroleum products, Reimers responded. As far as this particular route, he hasnt come out with anything new that I am aware of.

TransCanada will need to apply with the Nebraska Public Service Commission, which could take 6-12 months, so there is plenty of time for him to tell us how he feels about that project, said Commissioner Bill Bamesberger.

It should be noted that this conversation happened on Tuesday  and on Thursday morning, TransCanada made its application with the NPSC.

The executive order opened the conversation (about the Keystone XL pipeline), Reimers said, again noting that he didnt have any specific information as to Smiths stance at this time. We will have to come back to you on that.

When it comes to the Keystone XL pipeline, my opinion is that no foreign company should be allowed eminent domain here, said Commissioner Paul Buller. Thats bull and Im not happy with that. And a second thing about the pipeline, why cant the counties where the pipeline will run through, why cant they have a running fund, paid for by the company (should the project happen) that will help pay for damages, because our roads will get beat to crap (during construction). A lot of the things surround the Keystone XL pipeline project involves giving away the cow for free.

I think its time that our representatives get their heads out and quit listening to big corporations who are funding their elections, Bamesberger said. Its time to change that and to eliminate lobbyists on the state and federal levels.

We arent bashing you, Buller said to Reimers.

Well, yes, we are a little bit, Bamesberger interjected.

Thats why I am here, Reimers said, to keep open the line of communication.

And then the president said he wants the pipeline to be made of U.S. steel, but then we find that TransCanada already has it stockpiled and its not American steel, said Commissioner Jack Sikes. And then theres the issue of the jobs  we hear thousands will be created for how long and in the end, there will be just three people working in Nebraska after its built. You could open a small private business and create more jobs than that.

Are you still glad you came? Bamesberger asked Reimers.

Absolutely, Reimers responded. It shows you care and are working for your county. Id rather speak with a county board that voices their concerns and comments that I can take back (to Smith).

I have more respect for that lady back there, Buller said, pointing to Dunavan, than I have for our elected officials, who took funding for their campaigns and she has been paid nothing . . . shes taken no money and has continued to stand up against the pipeline going across her land.
YORK  A trial has been set for McLean Christiansen, 23, of York, in a case in which he is accused of possessing methamphetamine.

Christiansen, who remains in custody of the York County Jail, has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

According to court documents, York police officers went to Christiansens home on Ninth Street to serve a warrant. The nature of that warrant was not included in the court documents.

When they entered the house, they discovered that he was inside a locked room and they ordered him to unlock the door. When he didnt comply, they ordered him to lie on the floor with his hands behind his back  he complied and they were able to take him into custody.

It is alleged that while they were gathering his clothes, in order for him to get dressed before going to jail, they found multiple clear capsules containing a crystal-like substance. Investigators say, in court documents, that the substance testing positive as methamphetamine.

This past week, in York County District Court, Judge James Stecker told Christiansen that he could be facing a possible maximum sentence of two years in prison if he is found guilty.

A jury trial was set for mid-June.
YORK  Agriculture, the business community and public education have turned the corner from thinly-veiled adversaries a few short years ago to pulling the wagon together in 2017.

Time was, farmers thought public school districts cared little about how their spending impacted agriculture while at the same time administrators and school boards had the sense farmers didnt care if school was kept or not.

Turns out, We were both wrong, said York Superintendent Dr. Mike Lucas. Thats the power of this coalition  we want the same thing.

The same issue that served as a wedge then  property taxes on the square miles of farm ground in Nebraska  is the glue that increasingly binds them all together now.

Major ground will be broken in the state next Tuesday at 10 a.m. in the Capitol Rotunda when 10 organizations from ag, education and business convene a press conference to announce themselves as colleagues in a new coalition entitled Nebraskans United for Property Tax Reform and Education.

Lucas has carried the torch on this topic for the entire state and is walking point again on formation of this widely diverse group in which Nebraska Farm Bureau, the Nebraska Corn Growers Association and Nebraska Farmers Union are standing together with the Nebraska State Education Association, the Nebraska Rural Community School Association and the Nebraska Council of School Administrators.

Nebraska Fair, explained Lucas, is a group led by York area farmers Doug Nienhueser, Jerry Stahr, Dennis Scamehorn and Dennis Richters.

Lucas said board of education members, not just public school administrators, from Scottsbluff to Omaha are involved in the coalition along with ag and business interests across that same territory, too.

Its the whole state, said Lucas. This coalition understands that property taxes are out of whack across the entire state.

The group invites one and all who have a dog in the property tax fight to attend Tuesdays roll out in Lincoln.

We are working, said Lucas, to support high quality K-12 education and finding better ways to fund high quality education with less reliance on property taxes. We want lawmakers to know this isn't just about education, he added, which is why this unprecedented cooperation between strange bedfellows in a common cause is so important and also impressive.

Lucas said the participation of NCCSA and STANCE brings 86 percent of districts and school board members in the state into the fold.

Lucas will be a prominent speaker Tuesday in Lincoln along with school board members and partner spokespersons.

There will be some state senators there, he added.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP)  Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts has approved more than $137 million in cuts from the state budget in the fiscal year that runs through June 30.

Ricketts signed the budget bill into law on Wednesday surrounded by members of the Legislatures Appropriations Committee. The governor says its an important step toward addressing the projected $895 million state revenue shortfall.

Lawmakers still have to pass a two-year budget to cover expenses through June 2019. Ricketts says officials should consider the interests of taxpayers before special interests and balance the budget without raising taxes.

Sen. John Stinner of Gering, the Appropriations Committee chairman, says senators have already begun work on the upcoming budget and expect a vigorous debate in the Legislature.
AF Reserve celebrates 20th anniversary as major command

The Air Force Reserve is celebrating 20 years as a major command this month. On Feb. 17, 1997, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman presided over a ceremony in Washington, D.C., that established Air Force Reserve Command as the Air Forces ninth major command. Prior to that date, the Reserve functioned as a field operating agency or a separate operating agency.



Dr. James Malachowski, Air Force Reserve Commands historian, said elevating the Reserve from a field operating agency to a major command was a key milestone in the organizations history.



Becoming a major command was huge for the Reserve, but if you want to talk about why we became a MAJCOM, you really have to go back to the Gulf War, he said. The Gulf War fundamentally changed the way the Reserve operated.



Malachowski said that before the Gulf War in 1991, the Reserve was primarily focused on organizing, training and equipping its people and units for possible contingencies. With the start of the war, the Reserve began providing combat-ready forces to fly, fight and win directly to the warfighter while still paying close attention to its responsibility of organizing, training and equipping.



By the mid-1990s, Congress started to see the difference in the way the Reserve was operating and understand that the Air Force needed more reliable access to the Air Force Reserve, he said.



On Sept. 23, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the fiscal year 1997 National Defense Authorization Act into law. This act included language that directed each of the military services to establish reserve commands. The act further directed the secretary of the Air Force to assign to the Air Force Reserve Command all forces of the Air Force Reserve stationed in the continental United States other than those assigned to the unified Special Operations Command.



U.S. Rep. Greg Laughlin of Texas led the call for Congress to grant major command status to the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine reserve components. And while Laughlin lost his seat before this idea became law, it was largely his concept and terminology that appeared in the FY 1997 NDAA.



Since the Reserve had been acting as an operational force for several years before achieving major command status, the transition to a major command had very little effect on the internal organization or the day-to-day operation of the headquarters, located at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia.



In fact, Maj. Gen. Robert A. McIntosh, AFRC commander in 1997, said most people wouldnt notice any changes.



The Air Force has always, in effect, treated the Reserve as a command, he said. However, this action formalizes in law our role as a proud partner in the total force.



The law did require realignment of the Air Reserve Personnel Center in the commands structure. ARPC was realigned from the Office of Air Force Reserve in the Pentagon to AFRC and, in the process, the status of ARPC was changed from an Air Force field operating agency to a major command direct reporting unit.



AFRC did get a new emblem when it became a major command, but the change was minor. The wording on the emblem changed from Air Force Reserve to Air Force Reserve Command, but the basic design stayed the same.



Before AFRC became a major command, Reservists wore the patch of their gaining major command on their flight suits and battle dress uniforms. Some people hoped that the new AFRC patch would replace those gaining major command patches. McIntosh said no.



We will continue to wear the gaining major command patch on the front of flight suits and fatigues, he said. If we stop wearing the patches of the gaining commands, there will be a perception that the seamless daily operations enjoyed today have somehow changed. Our reputation as unquestionable team players is extremely important as we compete for resources into the next century.



While the elevation to major command status didnt have much of an impact on the day-to-day operation of the Air Force Reserve, Malachowski said he believes Feb. 17, 1997 is a seminal moment in Reserve history.



The whole way of American warfare from Colonial times was to have a small standing army and volunteers ready to fill the ranks during times of need, he said. That all changed with the first Gulf War when we became a Reserve force that was operational as well as strategic. Weve continued to operate that way to this very day. By elevating the Air Force Reserve to major command status, the National Defense Act of 1997 cemented a major change in the way the Reserve operates.


This has been a long time in the making, but in our continuing pursuit to bring only the best of firearms, 2nd Amendment and defence related news to our readers, we are very excited to announce the next step in our evolution as a company.

As of 2020, Minuteman Review is now the proud owner and operator of Your Defence News, a website with a long history of breaking huge news stories and investigative journalism.

We hope you are equally as excited as us.

This means that now the teams of Minuteman can combine with the firepower of Your Defence News to stay at the absolute forefront for our readers.

Keep an eye. Big things are coming soon. We couldn't be more excited.

In the meanwhile, here are some of our most popular posts and categories to keep you busy.

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Atut: Dodatkowe dochody z paczkomatow InPostu, a juz niedugo i z myjni samoobsugowej.



Tradycyjny zakup nieruchomosci, mozliwosc wykupienia uzytkowania wieczystego.
They have found the molecules in the well-known glacier mummy "Otzi". A number of facts have been scientifically proven about the glacier mummy, known as "the Iceman" or "Otzi," found in the Otztal Alps (South Tyrol) in 1991. Through imaging techniques, we know about degeneration in his lumbar spine and a fatal arrow wound in his left shoulder. DNA analyses showed that Otzi was lactose intolerant, and had brown eyes and blood type 0. Now a study of Otzi's microRNAs has also been completed. MicroRNAs are very small pieces of ribonucleic acid (RNA) and play a central role in the regulation of genes.

Although these molecules are very stable in tissues, prior to this study it was unclear whether they could still be found in human tissues after thousands of years. Therefore, Professors Andreas Keller and Eckart Meese of Saarland University, Stephanie Kreis of the University of Luxembourg, and Professor Albert Zink and Frank Maixner of Eurac Research in Bozen took on the challenge. They analyzed not only tissue samples from the Iceman, but also those from a mummy of a soldier fallen in World War I. "Our investigation provides evidence that we can analyze microRNA even after thousands of years," explains Andreas Keller, Professor of Clinical Bioinformatics at Saarland University, who coordinated the study.

The scientists took samples from Otzi's skin, stomach, and stomach contents. "It was a challenge to extract this genetic material in significant quantities and sufficient quality from the mummified tissue samples, and to measure and quantify it with the newest, very precise methods," reports Stephanie Kreis, who isolated the microRNAs at the University of Luxembourg. Some molecules were found that were present predominantly in the ancient tissues. Conversely, some of the biomarkers that are well-known today were not found in Otzi. According to Professor Zink from Eurac Research, the microRNAs are the next important class of molecules from Otzi to receive intensive examination.

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Professor Meese, head of the Institute of Human Genetics at Saarland University, claims that the stability of these biomarkers is also important for people today. "It is vital for clinical applications," explains Meese. "It's evident that the potential of microRNA is much greater than we previously thought. We still don't know enough about how these molecules influence specific genes, entire gene families, or biochemical reaction pathways. When we investigate this further, it's possible microRNAs will become new stars in therapy. Until then, however, there is a lot more work to do," concludes Professor Keller.
Compiled by David Kugonza

To determine where expats might find the best success of fitting in fast, global community network InterNations recently conducted their annual Expat Insider survey of more than 14,000 expats from 191 countries, asking residents to rate a number of aspects about life abroad, including how easy it was to settle in, a countrys friendliness and ease of making friends.

Uganda received the highest marks for friendliness. According to the InterNations report, 57% of expats in Uganda gave general friendliness the best possible rating (the global average was 26%). Not only that, not a single respondent ranked this factor negatively.

Charlotte Beauvoisin, a British expat who writes about living in the capital Kampala at Diary of a Muzungu, said that welcoming all nationalities is an intrinsic part of the culture, and residents are quick to offer smiles to newcomers.

InterNations Ambassador Nadya Mileva, originally from Bulgaria and now living in Kampala, agrees, saying that the people are amazingly friendly.

The country has a lot to offer, from breathtaking landscapes to high-end restaurants and bars to year-round summer, she added.

Uganda isnt without its problems, however, including the occasional power outage, pollution from old cars and infrastructure growing pains that can make traffic come to a complete standstill. But the overwhelming majority of visitors to Uganda love the place. Many of us extend our contracts; many of us decide to settle here, Beauvoisin said.

The majority of expats live in Kampala, where English is common and international restaurants abound.

The country is also very affordable for food and labour  meaning that expats are usually able to maintain a high standard of living.
By Rita Kemigisa

This comes as the country prepares to join the rest of the world to commemorate the International mother tongue day due on the 21st February 2017.

Addressing journalists in Kampala, state minister for gender Peace Mutuuzo said the mother tongue is one way of preserving culture and contributing towards development.

She argues that continue punishing of children for speaking the language will only serve to destroy Ugandans identity.

The international theme of the celebration is towards sustainable futures through multi lingual education
Former Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly Margaret Nantongo Zziwa wants the incumbent Daniel Kidega evicted from office, following her battle in the East African Court of Justice.

The court early this month delivered a judgment in the case in which Zziwa was challenging her removal from office, declining to grant the orders to reinstate her to the position of Speaker.

The Court also declined to grant her orders on damages in form of loss of earnings of a salary of USD 6,700 per month and housing allowance of USD 3,000 per month, plus other allowances and financial benefits.

It however declared that the sitting of the Assembly on 26th November 2014 presided over by a temporary Speaker, contrary to the Treaty and the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly was unlawful and violated Article 56 of the Treaty.

Now, while addressing a news conference in Kampala this morning, Zziwa, said she wants to resume business and serve for the remaining four months.

The current EALA term ends in June this year with new members expected to be elected by March.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde leads the list of YEREVAN BESTSELLER project of ARMENPRESS.

Dorian Gray is the subject of a full-length portrait in oil by Basil Hallward, an artist who is impressed and infatuated by Dorian's beauty; he believes that Dorians beauty is responsible for the new mode in his art as a painter. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, and he soon is enthralled by the aristocrat's hedonistic worldview: that beauty and sensual fulfillment are the only things worth pursuing in life.

Edgar Harutyunyans The Art of Devotion or Ode to the Rose is the 2nd in the bestseller list.

Stefan Zweigs Collected Stories is ranked 3rd in the list. Zweig was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist and biographer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most popular writers in the world. The book was translated by Ara Arakelyan and Margarit Arakelyan.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is 4th. It is a 2006 Holocaust novel by Irish novelist John Boyne. Unlike the months of planning Boyne devoted to his other books, he said that he wrote the entire first draft of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas in two and a half days, barely sleeping until he got to the end.

Spencer Johnsons Who Moved My Cheese this week is ranked 5th in the list. Published on September 8, 1998, Who Moved My Cheese is a motivational business fable. The text describes change in one's work and life, and four typical reactions to those changes by two mice and two "little people," during their hunt for cheese. A New York Times business bestseller upon release, Who Moved My Cheese? remained on the list for almost five years and spent over 200 weeks on Publishers Weekly's hardcover nonfiction list. It has sold more than 26 million copies worldwide in 37 languages and remains one of the best-selling business books.

The next book in the bestselling list is American writer Francis Scott Fitzgeralds "The Great Gatsby", which was first published in 1925, and is considered one of the typical works of American literature of the "jazz era".

"1984" by George Orwell is ranked 7th in the list. The book is labeled as banned in many countries of the world.

Steppenwolf by German-Swiss author Hermann Hesse this week is ranked 8th in the bestseller list. Combining autobiographical and psychoanalytic elements, the novel was named after the lonesome wolf of the steppes. The story in large part reflects a profound crisis in Hesse's spiritual world during the 1920s while memorably portraying the protagonist's split between his humanity and his wolf-like aggression and homelessness.

The Fault in Our Stars is the sixth novel by author John Green, published in January 2012. The book is ranked 9th. The title is inspired by Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, in which the nobleman Cassius says to Brutus: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in ourselves, that we are underlings." The story is narrated by Hazel Grace Lancaster, a sixteen-year-old girl with cancer.

The Grapes of Wrath concludes this weeks list. This is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962.

Set during the Great Depression, the novel focuses on the Joads, a poor family of tenant farmers driven from their Oklahoma home by drought, economic hardship, agricultural industry changes and bank foreclosures forcing tenant farmers out of work. Due to their nearly hopeless situation, and in part because they are trapped in the Dust Bowl, the Joads set out for California. Along with thousands of other "Okies they seek jobs, land, dignity, and a future.

The following bookstores took part in a survey for the bestseller project : Bookinist (53-74-13), Narek (51 91 36), Zangak (23 26 49), Antares (091 90 01 23) and the 7th Bookstore ( 077 24 54 81).

Yerevan Bestseller project presented by Angela Hambardzumyan
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. The preparation works of the constitutional referendum in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) are at the final stage, the last clarifications are being made, Secretary of the NKR Central Electoral Commission Sergey Melkumyan told Armenpress.

All polling stations are established, they are 280, 279 of which are in Karabakh, the one in our permanent representation in Armenia. Our citizens while in Armenia will be able to vote that day. The voting ballots are printed, currently they are distributed to the regional commissions of the referendum, after which, they will be distributed to the polling stations in accordance with timeframe, Sergey Melkumyan said.

He said currently it is the active stage of registration of observers. At the moment the local observers are being registered. The political forces have big groups of observers such as the Democratic party of Karabakh, Free Fatherland, National Revival, Federation parties. As of now, the number of registered local observers reaches to 70.

There are a number of invitations for abroad, numerous figures, organizations expressed a wish for participation. They are both from the post-Soviet countries and other states. The international observers will arrive starting from February 18. International journalists will also arrive to cover the referendum, he stated.

President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan on January 19 signed a decree on putting the NKRs draft Constitution on a referendum. According to the decree, based on the consent given by the NKR Parliament to the NKR President's initiative for putting the draft Constitution on a referendum, the date for the referendum was appointed February 20, 2017. The polling stations will be opened at 08:00 on February 20, and will be closed at 20:00.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. An increase of ceasefire regime violations was recorded on February 16 and overnight February 17 in the Nagorno Karabakh-Azerbaijan line of contact.

The defense ministry of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR) told ARMENPRESS Azerbaijani forces made 85 ceasefire violations, firing more than 800 shots at NKR posts from D-44 cannons, mortars, grenade launchers and various caliber machine guns. In particular, Azerbaijani forces used D-44 cannons, 60mm and 82mm mortars, SPG-9 and RPG-7 grenade launchers in the eastern and northeastern directions, firing a total of 21 shells.

The Defense Army of NKR took countermeasures in case of necessity and continued carrying out their service confidently.

As of this moment the situation in the frontline is calm.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. The OSCE MG co-chairs issued a statement on their meetings on February 16 with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Munich.

The statement says:

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France and Richard Hoagland of the United States of America) met yesterday with the Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian and the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov, separately and then jointly.

The Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, also participated in the meetings. The Co-Chairs discussed with the Ministers the current situation along the Line of Contact and the ArmeniaAzerbaijan border. The Co-Chairs reiterated that there is no alternative to a peaceful solution to the conflict and that war is not an option, and called upon the sides to exercise restraint on the terrain as well as in their public communications and to prepare their population for peace and not for war.

The Co-Chairs also urged the Sides to adhere strictly to the 1994/95 ceasefire agreements that constitute the foundation of the cessation of hostilities. The Co-Chairs recalled the May 2011 joint statements of their Presidents in Deauville emphasizing that the use of force would only bring more suffering and devastation and would be condemned by the international community. The Co-Chairs shared their views with the Sides on the steps which should be taken toward implementing decisions from the 2016 Summits in Vienna and St. Petersburg aimed at stabilizing the situation in the conflict zone.

The Co-Chairs stressed to the Ministers the need to demonstrate greater flexibility and to resume comprehensive negotiations on reaching a lasting settlement as soon as possible. The Co-Chairs recognized that the Armenian authorities recent decision to return the body of an Azerbaijani serviceman was a helpful humanitarian gesture. The two Ministers reiterated their commitment to strictly observe their international humanitarian obligations including those of the Astrakhan Declaration of October 2010 issued by the Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Russian Federation. The Co-Chairs are aware that a so-called constitutional referendum is scheduled to take place in Nagorno-Karabakh on February 20, 2017. Although the Co-Chairs note that the de-facto Nagorno-Karabakh authorities view the use of such a procedure as an effort to organize the public life of their population, they underscore again that no countries, including Armenia and Azerbaijan, recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent and sovereign state.

Accordingly, the Co-Chairs do not accept the results of the referendum on February 20 as affecting the legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Co-Chairs also stress that the results in no way prejudge the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh or the outcome of the ongoing negotiations to bring a lasting and peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The Co-Chairs plan to travel to the region in March."


YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. Larisa Alaverdyan, executive director of the Against Legal Arbitrariness NGO, former Human Rights Defender of Armenia, recommends Marian Mirzoyan, sister of Russian citizen Marat Ueldanov-Galustyan, who is arrested in Azerbaijan, to apply to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over his brothers case since certain norms are violated, reports Armenpress.

I was in contact with his sister Mariana Mirzoyan, and as a result of our pressure the representatives of the international Red Cross started their visits. We see that even now the situation is not the same as it was in the 90s when the Red Cross was more respected in Azerbaijan, she said.

Larisa Alaverdyan said Armenia as a third side must try to find ways to be involved in the process of Marat Ueldanov-Galustyans case. The national identity of this person allows this: this is not a secret for anyone, Alaverdyan said.

Asked how can Russias such passive behavior be explained in case when Ueldanov-Galustyan is a citizen of Russia, Alaverdyan said this is not only surprising but also it must be condemned. I am really concerned over the calming statements the Russian side makes. Here we must also understand that the talk is not over the violations of this or that norm in the civilized world, rather, the talk is about the regress from the civilization to barbarism, she said, adding that not only the state structures, but also public, legal structures must take actions.

Marat Ueldanov-Galustyan has been arrested on June 9 under the Article of 234.4.3 of the Azerbaijans Criminal Code which proposes punishment for illegal preparing, producing, acquiring, maintaining and transferring large amount of drugs. His sister Mariana Mirzoyan insists that false charge has been accused against his brother.

Earlier the Russian MFA told Armenpress that necessary measures are being taken towards the protection of rights of the Russian citizen.

We are taking measures towards the Russian citizens protection of rights set by the law regardless of his nationality within the framework of the international law and bilateral agreements, the Russian MFAs statement said.

Russian MFAs official representative Maria Zakharova said the Russian side does not consider the issue of arrest or providing support to Russian citizen Marat Ueldanov-Galustyan in Baku in the context of national issues.

Recently it became known that Marat Ueldanov-Galustyan called his family members and said goodbye.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. Based on substantial suspicion, officers of the Nubarashen correctional facility searched an inmate after the latter had a brief visitor on February 14.

The Justice Ministry told ARMENPRESS officers discovered 0.6g white powdery substance from the inmates shoe, and later on February 17 officers found another 0.6g green substance and one mobile phone in a cell.

The substances have been sent for laboratory analysis.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. Business forums are being held in various countries by the efforts of the Development Foundation of Armenia.

Through these forums, Armenias economy, business environment, legislation, even history, cultural life and natural world are being presented to the foreigners.

Armenpress talked with Executive Director of the Development Foundation of Armenia Karen Mkrtchyan on the topic whether the foreign investors are not repelled from the fact that the Nagorno Karabakh issue is still unresolved for Armenia.

The Executive Director said investors know about it, but they also know that this issue is in relative stable condition.

On the other hand, when we are asked about this, we answer that we are adapted to this situation. In other words, we have selected such fields that we can develop them even in the semi-blockade situation. Those are diamond cutting, jewelry, pharmaceuticals, information technology, and etc. Firstly, when we are asked about the border tension, we answer that our people are adapted to that and managed to develop during 25 years despite certain tensions. Even we bring the example of Israel, that they managed to develop despite greater risks, Mkrtchyan said.

He also said that the international investments are not being made without risks. He brought the example of certain African countries where there is an internal instability, however it doesnt hinder the investors. Karen Mkrtchyan said the foreign investors see risks in every country and make comparisons between the risks and profit after that they make their decisions. They cannot avoid risks, but they need to correctly assess the situation, their profit and further actions, he stated.

Vahe Hakobyan
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. The topic of the Armenian Genocide again appeared in the political-election agenda of France, reports Armenpress.

This is mainly linked with the statement made by leader of En Marche! movement, former Ministry of Economic, Industry and Digital Sector of France, current Presidential candidate of France Emmanuel Macron.

During his visit to Algeria, in an interview with Echourouk News he characterized the colonization years of France in Algeria as a crime against humanity.

Such statement received a heated reaction among the French political figures.

Another presidential candidate, Republican Francois Fillon blamed Macron for showing disrespect to his own history.

French MP Valerie Buaye also reacted to Macrons such statement. Macron equalizes Shoah, the Armenian Genocide and Algerias victims and insults France by showing that this is not an act of a state figure, she said on Twitter.

Commenting on the criticism, Macron said by saying a crime against humanity he didnt want to compare Shoah or the Armenian Genocide with what had happened in Algeria during the years of war.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. The Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office conducted a regular monitoring in the Armenian-Azerbaijani border zone, near Chinari village of Armenias Tavush province on February 16, press service of the Armenian Defense Ministry told Armenpress.

Field Assistants to the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Irji Aberle and Khristo Khristov took part in the monitoring from the Armenian side.

After the monitoring, during a briefing in Chinari village council, the OSCE representatives were introduced on the current situation in the border, the statistics of ceasefire violations by the Azerbaijani armed forces. The OSCE officials attention was drawn on the fact that the Azerbaijani side regularly keeps under fire the bordering settlements, agricultural lands and fields.

No ceasefire violations and incidents were registered during the monitoring.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. French Ambassador to Armenia Jean-Francois Charpentier says the normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations is important in terms of Armenias development, as well as the regional stability, reports Armenpress.

This is one of our priorities in the region. For a long time, the Armenian-Turkish dialogue has been impossible, however, already starting from 2000s the situation changed little by little both at inter-state and civil society levels, the Ambassador said at a discussion on the topic of What is the future of the Armenian-Turkish dialogue from the perspective of Turkey, Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora of France.

The Ambassador said there is no need to become the hostage of the past, to be closed in the past, the best way of doing this is to express. We appreciate exchange of ideas: we wanted the representatives of the Armenian Diaspora of France, Turkey and Armenia gather and speak over this dialogue in order all can exchange their views on issues that are at the crossroads of international relations. In the context of normalization of relations, I can say the same in case of Germany and France: we decided to listen to each other, to speak about our wounds, historical pains, otherwise the EU would not exist today, Jean-Francois Charpentier said.

In 2008, at the initiative of the President of Armenia a new stage of Armenian-Turkish relations launched as a result of which on October 10, 2009 in Zurich the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the two countries signed the Protocol on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey and Protocol on development of relations between of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey. However, after the Protocols were signed, Turkey abruptly changed its position and rejected to implement the agreements on the normalization of the relations within a reasonable timeframe and without any preconditions, linking the ratification of the Protocols in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey to the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

Taking into account the situation created by Turkey, as well as the call of the Political Council of the parties-members of the ruling coalition, on April 22, 2010 the President of Armenia signed a decree on the suspension of the process of ratification of the Protocols.

President Serzh Sargsyan on February 16, 2015 sent a letter to Parliament Speaker Galust Sahakyan informing about his decision on retracting the Armenia-Turkey protocols from the Parliament of Armenia.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. The short-term observation mission of the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy consisted of 18 members will visit the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) on February 20 to observe the referendum on constitutional changes, Bedo Demirdjian, liaison of the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy, writes on Twitter, reports Armenpress.

Earlier it was reported that the Parliament of Armenia will send an observation mission to follow the referendum on constitutional changes in the NKR. The citizens of NKR who are in Armenia can take part in the voting in the NKRs Permanent Representation in Armenia.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian on February 17 had a meeting with Foreign Minister of Oman Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah in Berlin, press service of the MFA told Armenpress.

The Armenian FM said he warmly remembers his visit to Oman in 1993 as a first special envoy of the President of Armenia and the meetings in Muscat. He stated that the intensification of cooperation with the Arab states has an important place in Armenias foreign policy agenda.

The Minister of Oman emphasized that Oman is interested in developing mutually beneficial cooperation with Armenia in various sectors.

The two officials agreed that it is necessary to make the maximum efforts to boost cooperation in economic and trade spheres. They highlighted the need to develop the legal framework.

Issues related to holding regular consultations between the two Foreign Ministries, as well as cooperation in international organizations were also discussed during the meeting.

Edward Nalbandian and Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah discussed urgent international issues as well, highlighting the necessity to solve all issues exclusively through peaceful means and negotiations.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. Kazakhstans mutual trade with the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) decreased by 16.8% in 2016, said in a report by Kazakhstans Economy Ministry, reports Armenpress.

In January-December, 2016, the mutual trade of Kazakhstan with the EAEU states comprised 13 billion 583,5 million USD, which decreased by 16.8% compared to January-December, 2015.

The export comprised 3 billion 917.6 million USD, decreasing by 23.5%, and the import was 9 billion 665.9 million USD, dropping by 13.7%.

Kazakhstan exported goods of 0,280 million USD to Armenia, which decreased by 60.9% compared to January-December, 2015. It imported goods of 2 million 993 thousand USD from Armenia, which is a decrease of 29.8%.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. Board Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) Tigran Sargsyan was received by Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong.

As Armenpress was informed from the press service of the EEC, the main issue of the discussion was the signing of the TFA between the EAEU and Singapore.

Tigran Sargsyan reminded that a memorandum on this issue already existed between the EAEU and Singapore, and a working group has been set for its implementation. I am glad that the EAEU member states support launching negotiations on this issue. In my opinion this is the first important step for developing and increasing trade volumes and investments between the two entities, Tigran Sargsyan underlined.

The Prime Minister of Singapore stressed that he is ready for a constructive dialogue and hopes that the FTA will be signed by the end of 2017. We are very happy that the businessmen of the EAEU member states are interested in doing business s with us, Lee Hsien Loong said.

Cooperation opportunities between the EAEU and the ASEAN were also discussed at the meeting.
MONTREAL, CanadaJones Exposed, a new gay porn studio based in Montreal, is the latest endeavor from French-Canadian porn performer Brandon Jones.

After years of being in the industry, Jones has decided to take the leap into creating and collaborating in an effort to make his vision a reality.

Five years ago I enter into the wonderful world of porn productions, Jones said. I always been fascinated in the sex work and have been present on and off screens a little bit around the world. [Now], with an incredible production team, we created scenes based on my sexy sex life and the fantasies I was dying to live. With new camera technology and cutting-edge editing we are bringing back class to the adult industry. We want to show the softer and more romantic side of porn production. Extreme close ups, slow motions, drone shots will bring a more cinematographic point of view to sex.

The studios first release, Desire, is set to street March 7. With an array of scenes based on Joness single sexy sex life spawning from his sexual fantasies, travels, experiences, events and adventures, it is sure to draw viewers into his exotic world.

Jones also collaborates with Darius Ferdinand, Jessie Colter, Trenton Ducati, Dominic Pacifico and more for the studio.

Jones said his intention is to bring sexy and class back to the adult industry. We want to show the softer and more romantic side of porn production.

Jones Exposed wants to redefine the quality and set new standards in the world of gay porn, Jones said. We want to be as present as possible within the blogs and promise to give you great content and high quality pictures/tools to promote the scenes the best way possible.

Desire will debut March 7 exclusively on AEBN and HotMovies.com.

Jones Exposed DVDs are available wholesale exclusively through Pulse Distribution. For more information, contact Andrew Quaintance, vice president of sales, at [email protected].
LOS ANGELES  Whitney Wright appears in the latest release from Tiny4K.com, called "Dirty Little Girl."

In the scene, Wright realizes she has no clean clothes, so she sets off to do her laundry. Half way through, she gets distracted when Xander Corvus comes in... and that's when things really get dirty.



Tiny4K.com offers its members exclusive content, shot in the highest quality, 4k ultra-def, featuring stars including Elsa Jean, Dillion Harper, Dakota Sky, Rebel Lynn, Alex Grey, Jill Kassidy, Adria Rae, Piper Perri, and others.

An avid traveler, Wright has been all over the world. She just returned from a trip to Paris with a short stop in Madrid and plans on taking a trip to Egypt in mid March. Originally from Oklahoma, Wright began her career in porn in 2016. She was nominated this year as AVN's Hottest Newcomer and is working on filming new content to launch her official website.



Follow Whitney Wright on Twitter @WhitneyWrightX or her official blog at WhitneyWrightxxx.com. Producers and directors interested in working with her can book her through PlushTalent.com.

"Dirty Little Girl" can be downloaded from Tiny4k.com anytime after Thursday.
The city of Paris has installed "anti-refugee boulders" beneath a highway overpass in Porte de La Chapelle in a bid to stop Syrian refugees from sleeping in the flyover's shelter while they wait for space to open up at a nearby humanitarian relief center operated by Emmaus solidarite.

Migrants, lacking other options, continue to contort themselves into the spaces between the rocks when they need to sleep.

"It's difficult to sleep here," one migrant told Le Parisien newspaper after the boulders were brought in. This isn't the only piece of so-called "hostile architecture" Paris authorities have installed to stop migrants from making camps in the city. After the camps at Stalingrad Metro was cleared, metal grills were erected blocking off areas where refugees had set up camps, such as along Avenue de Flandre and the Place de la Bataille-de-Stalingrad.

Centre humanitaire: apres les grilles, des pierres pour dissuader les migrants [Iris Peron/L'Express]

Paris deploys 'anti-migrant boulders' to thwart makeshift refugee camps

[Rose Trigg/The Local]





(Image: P'tit Dej' a Flandre/Facebook)

(via JWZ)
Is the siren song of warmer climate and lower costs enticing you to retire abroad? Are you planning to relocate to another country for work? No matter the reason, before packing up, take the time to determine the fate of your government retirement benefits and registered savings plans if you move abroad. What you discover could affect your decision to relocate.

Once you become a non-resident of Canada, you no longer earn Old Age Security, Canada Pension Plan or Quebec Pension Plan credits. You will be eligible for OAS if you are at least 65 years old, were a Canadian citizen or resident when you left, and resided in Canada for at least 20 years since the age of 18. Any CPP/QPP benefits you receive will be based on the standard CPP/QPP calculation method which incorporates your total CPP/QPP contributions and how long you contributed.

You may be able to combine your periods of contribution/residency in Canada and another country to meet the minimum qualifications for a pension benefit in one or both countries, if Canada has signed a social-security agreement with the other country. Your Canadian benefit amount will be based on your Canadian contributions/residency only. These agreements vary by country. Service Canada International Operations will provide details on the rules in place with a particular country.

If you qualify for OAS and/or CPP benefits, Service Canada will deliver your monthly payments to your home abroad. No matter the country, payments are issued at the same time as they are in Canada, usually during the last three banking days of the month. If you retire in the U.S., Mexico, Costa Rica or any of the countries which appear on Service Canada's list, your pension cheques will be sent in the currency of the country where the cheques are mailed. Otherwise, payments are made in Canadian currency. Where a foreign country has suitable financial systems in place, direct deposit to your local bank account in the local currency is possible. The Quebec Pension Plan will also send payments abroad, and direct deposit is an option for certain countries.

Story continues

Withholding tax may be deducted from your government benefits and other Canadian income if you reside outside Canada. The default tax rate is 25%, but this could be reduced or exempted if Canada has a tax treaty with your country of residence.

If you close an RRSP or a registered retirement income fund (RRIF) when you become a non-resident of Canada, the proceeds will be subject to a departure tax. Since there is no obligation to close such plans, it may make sense to keep them in place while you live abroad. Earnings in these accounts continue to be tax-deferred in Canada, but they may be subject to tax in your new country of residence. The accounts could also trigger information-reporting requirements. For example, according to the accounting firm Grant Thornton LLP, a U.S. resident with an interest in a financial account held outside the U.S. may be required to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Account Form annually.

After relocating abroad, you can continue to make RRSP contributions if you had outstanding contribution room when you left Canada, but the tax deduction applies only to Canadian income. If you borrowed from your RRSP under the Home Buyers Plan (HBP) or Lifelong Learning Plan (LLP), any money still owing when you become a non-resident of Canada must be paid back within 60 days of departure, or it will be treated as taxable income in the year you depart. As of Jan. 1, 2008, a locked-in retirement account (LIRA) owner of any age who is a non-resident of Canada may apply to unlock and withdraw all the money in her account two years after departing Canada.

Tax-free savings account (TFSA) contributions can be made only by Canadian residents. Any contributions made by a non-resident are heavily taxed by the Canada Revenue Agency: 1% for each month any part of the contribution remains in the account; and a separate tax of 1% per month if any of the same contribution creates an excess amount in your TFSA. Because of the tax rules, the contribution room created by a TFSA withdrawal by a non-resident is only of value to those who plan to re-establish Canadian residency at some point.

There is no tax due if you close your TFSA before leaving Canada. If you keep the account open after relocating, your TFSA earnings will not be taxed by the Canadian government, and you can make tax-free withdrawals. However, TFSA earnings could be taxable in your new country of residence and the account may be subject to reporting requirements.

A registered education savings plan (RESP) subscriber who gives up Canadian residency can keep the plan open, but can no longer make contributions. She may be required to pay taxes to her new country of residence on any RESP earnings and grant or bond money received. This could result in double taxation as the student beneficiary will pay tax on the same money when it is withdrawn for education. These drawbacks can be avoided, before moving abroad, by naming a new subscriber who is a Canadian resident. Note also that if a beneficiary becomes a non-resident of Canada, RESP contributions can no longer be made, and government RESP grants/bonds will not be available.

Canadian ex-pats can continue to hold investment accounts located in Canada, including registered plans, but are not permitted to buy Canadian-based mutual funds for these accounts. Any funds owned on departure can be kept. Allowable investments include stocks, bonds, GICs and exchange-traded funds.

Relocating abroad is a complex undertaking which encompasses many issues beyond the fate of government retirement benefits and registered savings plans. Seeking the advice of professionals with appropriate expertise early on in the process will minimize costly and/or time-consuming missteps and facilitate a successful transition to your new home.
TUESDAY, Feb. 14, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Gene research may offer a glimmer of hope for men challenged by that bane of aging -- male-pattern baldness.

In the largest such study to date, a Scottish research team said it has identified close to 300 genetic regions tied to baldness. Previously, only a handful had been identified, the scientists said.

The University of Edinburgh researchers stressed that their findings don't mean a cure for shiny pates is coming tomorrow.

"However, these results take us one step closer," said study principal author Dr. Ricardo Marioni.

He spoke in a news release from the journal PLOS Genetics, which published the findings Feb. 14.

Marioni, who's with the university's Center for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, believes "the findings pave the way for an improved understanding of the genetic causes of hair loss."

In this study, the research team analyzed genetic data from more than 52,000 men and pinpointed 287 genetic regions linked to severe hair loss.

Many of the identified genes are associated with hair structure and development. The genes could provide targets for the development of drugs to treat baldness some day, the researchers said.

"It was interesting to find that many of the genetics signals for male pattern baldness came from the X chromosome, which men inherit from their mothers," study co-leader Saskia Hagenaars said in the news release. Hagenaars is a Ph.D. student in the university's Center for Cognitive Aging and Cognitive Epidemiology.

"In this study, data were collected on hair loss pattern but not age of onset; we would expect to see an even stronger genetic signal if we were able to identify those with early onset hair loss," added study co-leader David Hill, a statistical geneticist at the university.

More information

The American Academy of Dermatology has more on hair loss.
robert harward

The retired admiral whom President Donald Trump wanted to replace Michael Flynn as national security adviser turned down the job, he said Thursday. The Financial Times first reported the news.

Trump offered the position to retired Adm. Robert Harward on Monday, according to Tom Ricks at Foreign Policy. At the time, the former Navy SEAL commander told the president he'd need some time to "think it over."

"It's purely a personal issue," Harward told the Associated Press on Thursday evening. "I'm in a unique position finally after being in the military for 40 years to enjoy some personal time."

CNN's Jake Tapper reported on Twitter that a friend of Harward said Harward was reluctant to take the job since the Trump White House seemed so chaotic and called the offer a "s--- sandwich."

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Two administration officials confirmed to The Washington Post that Harward was at the top of Trump's three-person short list to replace Flynn, who abruptly resigned from the role after it became public that he had discussed sanctions with Russia's ambassador to the US before Trump's inauguration. Flynn reportedly urged the ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, not to overreact to the latest round of sanctions imposed by the Obama administration, indicating that incoming administration might be more inclined to roll them back.

Harward, who rose to deputy commander of US Central Command before retiring in 2013, wanted to bring in his own staff for an overhaul of the National Security Council, according to Ricks.

One of FT's sources said Harward was concerned about whether he could carry out such a "housecleaning" of NSC workers, many of whom were loyal to Flynn.

As national security adviser, Harward would have had a close ally in Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, whom he served under at Central Command. He also has NSC experience, having served on the council during the George W. Bush administration.

Weiterlesen

Retired Army Gen. Keith Kellogg is serving as acting national security adviser. Trump tweeted Friday morning that Kellogg was "very much in play for NSA  as are three others."

NOW WATCH: These are some of Putin's most menacing military machines





More From Business Insider


Walter James Bolton

Walter Bolton was the last man to be hung in New Zealand before capital punishment was repealed.





The trap door opened. His body fell.





On this day 60 years ago [February 18, 1957], Whanganui farmer Walter James Bolton became the last person in New Zealand to be hanged after being found guilty of murdering his wife of 43 years, Beatrice Bolton, by poisoning her with arsenic.





Bolton, 68, was hanged at the gallows in Auckland Prison, now known as Mt Eden Prison, at 6.30pm for the part he played in the crime.





Stuff reports show the prosecution alleged Bolton killed Beatrice because he was in love with another woman - his sister-in-law Florence Doughty - with whom he had a sexual affair.





Lawyers for the Crown claimed Bolton had concocted a potion of arsenic from sheep dip and laced his wife's tea with it on several occasions, requiring hospital treatment, before killing her with a large dose on July 11, 1956.





His execution was made controversial by the suggestion that his wife had not been murdered at all.





Bolton and his wife were married for 43 years and had 6 children and a relatively close relationship, journalist Bernie Steeds wrote in an article on the couple.





In the 15 months before she died, her mystery illness was never diagnosed, but an autopsy identified arsenic as the cause.





It was suggested Bolton had put the poison in her cups of tea, though no trace of the poison was ever found.





Steeds said sheep dip may have found its way into the house's spring and Bolton also had traces of arsenic in his hair and fingernails.





Active people get rid of arsenic more quickly, and Beatrice had been unwell, and had rested a lot before the poisoning was alleged to have begun, he said.





But an all-male jury in Bolton's hometown found him guilty, and despite his claims of innocence, he lost his Court of Appeal case.





In a book written by Sherwood Young, Guilty On The Gallows, a police officer who attended Bolton's execution was interviewed.





Only 20 at the time, the officer described what it was like.





"When the sheriff gave the signal, the hangman moved the lever. There was a loud metallic clang as the trap door opened. Bolton disappeared from sight behind the tarpaulin.





"A prison warden released the rope while I supported the body. It looked about 7 feet long, hanging there. The toes were almost touching the ground. The tongue was out of his mouth. When the rope was removed it slurped back into his mouth.





"I will never forget this experience."





Other stories later claimed Bolton's execution had gone horribly wrong.





Rather than having his neck broken the instant the trapdoor opened, they alleged Bolton slowly strangled to death.




The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals held on Friday that death row inmate John Ward's attorney's failure to file an appeal on time was egregious unprofessional conduct.





John Ward was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in 1998. In July 2002, his family hired a lawyer to file a petition in state court to challenge Mr. Ward's conviction and sentence. The petition was due on August 1, 2003. The lawyer assured Mr. Ward that he would file the petition on time, but without telling Mr. Ward or his family, he decided not to file a petition in state court as he was hired to do.





Mr. Ward wrote dozens of letters and called his attorney multiple times about the status of his petition. When he couldn't reach his lawyer, he wrote to the court, which notified him that no petition had been filed. Mr. Ward asked the court for more time and a new lawyer to file his petition, but it was already too late.





In 2005, a different lawyer finally filed Mr. Ward's petition in state court, but it was dismissed because it was filed long after the deadline. On appeal, the Alabama Supreme Court acknowledged that a late filing can be excused if the attorney's actions are "far enough outside the range of behavior that reasonably could be expected by a client that they may be considered 'extraordinary.'" The court ruled that Mr. Ward should have a chance to prove that the late filing was not his fault and should be excused because of his lawyer's unprofessional conduct.





On Friday, the Alabama Court of Criminal appeals agreed that his attorney's conduct was sufficiently egregious to excuse Mr. Ward's late filing. "Ward instructed his retained attorney to file a postconviction petition in the circuit court," the court explained. "Instead, the attorney disregarded his client's express wishes . . . thereby violating one of his basic obligations as an attorney - the obligation to defer to his client's wishes on major decisions." Further, the court found that "Ward did not sit on his rights but that he repeatedly sought help in both state court and federal court."





The failure to provide adequate counsel to capital defendants and death row prisoners is a defining feature of the American death penalty. There is no statewide public defender office to provide legal assistance to people on Alabama's death row, and the United States Supreme Court has detailed the deficiencies in the state's death penalty system.

 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com



Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!

Source: Equal Justice Initiative, February 16, 2017
NCRI - Selling unclaimed corpses in Iran has been widely noticed in recent weeks after it was found that medical colleges are paying up to $3,000 per corpse in the black-market, according to new reports.





The state-run Rokna news agency reported on February 15 that the lack of deceased bodies has forced medical students to seek help from the black markets to buy corpses to use as cadavers for medical research purposes.





The report said around 100 unclaimed corpses were found in Tehrans streets, with doctors urging that they should be handed to medical schools so that students may benefit from them.





Rokna quoted Niousha Mohammadzadeh, a practicing doctor, as saying that her college had purchased three bodies, one of which belonged to a man who was executed in prison and who didnt have immediate relatives. His corpse cost 10 million toman ($3,000), she said.





The second body belonged to a homeless person and the third body was of an unidentified person.





Trading human organs is currently legal under the Iranian regimes law.





The poor are often exploited to sell body organs such as kidneys, a practice that has spread widely in recent years in Iran.





Source: NCRI , February 17, 2017

 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com



Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!
Lawmakers, faith leaders and activists convened at the Kansas state capitol to hear testimonies both for and against the death penalty on Feb. 13. Kansas is currently deliberating on House Bill 2167, which was introduced - with bipartisan support - in the House on Jan. 25 and aims to abolish the death penalty in the state and replace it with life imprisonment without parole.





The Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice heard seven people testify their support for the bill, as well as accepted the written testimonies from more than 20 other individuals to support it. Some of the individuals writing their support for the bill included exonerees Floyd Bledsoe, Eddie Lowery and Darryl Burton - all men who were wrongly convicted of murder in Kansas and Missouri. 5 different families of murder victims also wrote in their support for the bill.





Donna Schneweis, board chair of the Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty, represented the coalition at the hearing and reported that the room was "packed" with supporters of the bill.





"It is quite impressive how many Kansans from so many backgrounds came forward to speak up for abolition," Schneweis told NCR following the hearing.





Schneweis said that she was particularly moved by the testimony of Msgr. Stuart Swetland, president of Donnelly College.





"Opposition to the death penalty in no way lessens one's awareness of the evil that some are capable of committing. It does say that there is a better way. Death should never be seen as a solution to our problems; and it is not the solution to violent crime," Swetland was quoted as saying at the hearing.





No persons testified in person either against the bill or expressing neutrality to it. However, a few provided their written testimony to the committee. Kim Parker, the former chief deputy district attorney for Sedgwick County, provided the only neutral testimony. Those providing testimony against the bill were Derek Schmidt, Kansas attorney general, and Larry Heyka and Amy James, both murder victim family members.





Members of the Committee did not take a vote following the hearing.





This isn't the 1st time such a bill has been brought to the floor of the Kansas state government. In 2010, the senate was 1 vote short of replacing the death penalty with life without the possibility of parole according to the Catholic Mobilizing Network.





The current proposed bill was introduced and sponsored by eight Republican and seven Democrat representatives early this year. Robert Dunham, the executive director of the non-profit Death Penalty Information Center, sees the bill as a reflection of the emerging trends in terms of death penalty legislation.





"The only states that are left that are seeking to abolish the death penalty require bipartisan support for abolition efforts to succeed," Dunham said. "Opponents of the death penalty are moving away from the traditional, moral, economic and racial fairness issues to making arguments based on government overreaching. Do we trust the government to get the policy right?"





"The Kansas approach with Republicans taking the lead in a bipartisan effort is what we would expect to see ... in the new landscape," he continued. "That is, as fiscal and philosophical conservatives view the death penalty pragmatically instead of ideologically, they are concluding in greater numbers that the death penalty is a failed public policy. It's costly and ineffective for purposes of sound fiscal management, as well as because of the inability to fairly administer it and the risk to innocent lives."





If the bill were to pass, it would not be applied retroactively, leaving the 10 inmates currently on death row still eligible for the death penalty. However, the state hasn't executed anyone since 1965.





Kansas' relatively small death row and lack of executions "shouldn't be a surprise," Dunham said.





"The single most likely outcome of a capital case is not that they'll be executed," he added. "The single most likely outcome is that the sentence will be overturned. Kansas sends relatively few people to death row, and there continues to be significant issues in those cases. So we can expect that the majority of Kansas cases will continue to be overturned."





"Now that's where Kansas gets another one of the patterns that we see in states that have gone to abolition. States that abolish the death penalty typically have small numbers of death sentences resulting in few, if any executions. And after a certain period of time the death penalty begins to look like it doesn't serve any purpose."





Dunham compared the proposed bill to the bill that was successfully passed in Nebraska in 2015 - which was later repealed in a referendum vote Nov. 8, 2016 - and a bipartisan bill that is currently moving through the Washington state senate. When asked about the chances that the Kansas bill will pass, Dunham said he doesn't "think you can predict that."





"What you can say is that there are a number of similarly situated states and there are bills moving forward, or bills that are introduced in a number of them," he said. "There will be close votes and it is impossible to predict what the results will be. Montana is another state that fits the profile that Kansas does. There was no opposition to the bill in the course of the public hearing. ... It was a close bill but the bill did not move forward."





"Whether [the Kansas bill] succeeds will depend on local factors. Individual legislatures decide after their constituents talk to them," he said.





Source: National Catholic Reporter, Kristen Whitney Daniels, February 16, 2017

 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com



Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!
By Jun Ji-hye

Speculation is rampant on why North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's older half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, was killed in an apparent assassination suspected of having been ordered by the young leader.

One of the mounting rumors is that Kim Jong-nam was killed because of a conflict with his younger brother over money the former had inherited from their father, Kim Jong-il, as well as secret funds controlled by their uncle and former No. 2 man, Jang Song-thaek.

"North Korean trade workers in China have called Kim Jong-nam a big player in Macau," a source was quoted as saying by Yonhap New Agency, Thursday. "After Jang was purged in December 2013, his secret overseas fortune was handed over to Kim Jong-nam."

The source also said the oldest son of the late leader had also inherited "no small sum of money" as the father felt pity for Kim Jong-nam who had been living in foreign countries for years after being ousted from the race to succeed him.
Daniel Bablo and his fiancee Taiwo are getting married this year and for their pre-wedding photos, they decided to mirror former US President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama.

Who is cuter? The Obamas vs The Bablos.

WANT MORE? Download Legit.ng Wedding app for android to get the latest posts

The photos they copied were of The Obamas when they were about to greet President XI Jinping of China and Madame Peng Liyuan at a State Dinner. See how well The Bablos got the pose:

If Taiwo loves him like Michelle loves Obama, Daniel is one lucky man!

READ ALSO: Amidst celebrity marriage crisis news, Annie Idibia and 2baba are still happy and in love (photos)

The couple also took regular photos of themselves in matching blue outfits:

Taiwo said a while back: "We met in church and he vowed to make me his wife the night of our first date. 7 years late and here we are anticipating our wedding day."

PAY ATTENTION! Never miss a single gist! Download Legit.ng news app for android

We can't wait to see what creative photo ideas they will come up with on their wedding day. Congrats to them!

Source: Legit.ng
English Finnish

Sp Mortgage Bank Plc's IFRS financial statements and Board of Directors' report for 2016 have been published

Sp Mortgage Bank Plc

Stock Exchange Release

17.2.2017 at 08.00 AM (CET +1)



Sp Mortgage Bank Plc's IFRS financial statements and Board of Directors' report for 2016 have been published.

The IFRS financial statements and Board of Directors' report for 2016 in pdf format is attached to this release and also available at http://www.saastopankki.fi/debtinvestors.

SP MORTGAGE BANK PLC

Additional information:

Harri Mattinen, CEO

Sp Mortgage Bank Plc

+358 40 8492 559

harri.mattinen@saastopankki.fi

Sp Mortgage Bank is part of the Savings Banks Group and the Savings Banks Amalgamation. The role of Sp Mortgage Bank is, together with Central Bank of Savings Banks Finland Plc, to be responsible for obtaining funding for the Savings Banks Group from money and capital markets. Sp Mortgage Bank is responsible for the Savings Banks Group's mortgage-secured funding by issuing covered bonds.

Read more at http://www.saastopankki.fi/debtinvestors, www.saastopankki.fi
Highlights for the year 2016 -excluding exceptional items-:

A dividend of EUR 1.05 (2015: EUR 1.00) per ordinary share, payable in cash, will be proposed during the Annual General Meeting on 19 April 2017.

Exceptional items:

CEO statement :

Performance 2016

2016 was a year in which we celebrated our 400-year history. A milestone for our company. Instilling a sense of pride in all of us. Our 2016 results show that we are on the right track in our pursuit of leadership in our industry. We operated the Group's network above 90% occupancy levels, accomplished better safety performance levels, higher customer satisfaction scores and an employee engagement score at par with high performance companies in the survey database. Regretfully, the new year started with a fatal accident involving a contractor at one of our terminals in Belgium. This tragic incident reminds us again that ensuring a safe workplace for all, is our first priority.

Following the outcome of our business review in 2014, we worked hard on the further alignment of our global network. As a result, we initiated a divestment program, which we finalized in 2016 with the sale of the development project in Dongguan (China) and the terminals in Japan. We also successfully completed the sale of our UK assets. At the same time, we executed our strategy in line with the updated portfolio criteria. In 2016, we started activities in Panama, expanded in the United Arab Emirates and opened a new LPG facility in Singapore.





Vopak improved its EBITDA -excluding exceptional items- from EUR 763 million to EUR 822 million in the 2014-2016 period despite the missing contributions of the divested terminals. This has positively impacted our EPS development from EUR 2.31 in 2014 to EUR 2.56 in 2016, making it possible to raise dividend for two consecutive years, while maintaining financial flexibility to set direction towards further growth. We are currently developing new projects in among others Panama, Houston and announced today to double our capacity in South Africa. We also aim to expand our business through regasification assets as indicated with the Exmar transaction. The finalization of this transaction is subject to consent and cooperation of multiple stakeholders. These projects result in the redeployment of proceeds from divestments in new growth markets.

Outlook 2017

For 2017, we are confident that Vopak will again achieve an average occupancy rate of at least 90%. We expect to make additional investments in disciplined capacity growth, technology and innovation projects and replacement of IT systems to drive productivity improvements. The majority of these investments will contribute to the results in the period 2019 and beyond. Taking into account the timing difference of the to be realized efficiency benefits and the missed contributions from divestments in 2016, we expect that the 2017 EBITDA will not exceed the 2016 result.

Strategic direction for 2017 to 2019

The Strategic direction of Vopak is set towards disciplined growth and productivity improvement:

Vopak is well-positioned to take several investment decisions in the 2017-2019 period to capture growth.

In addition to growth capex and in line with the previous 2014-2016 capex program,

Vopak aims to spend a maximum of approximately EUR 750 million on sustaining and service improvement capex for the period 2017-2019.

To support margin developments, Vopak aims to drive further productivity through organizational and operational efficiency resulting, among others, in a reduction of the cost base with at least EUR 25 million by 2019.

Vopak has decided to invest approximately EUR 100 million in the period 2017-2019 in new technology and innovation programs as well as replacing its IT systems.

Growth

After carefully assessing the likelihood and timing of new expansion projects, we have clarity on our ability to take several investment decisions in the 2017-2019 period and thereafter. Based on extensive market studies, and as explained during the 2016 Capital Markets Day, we see clear growth opportunities resulting from the growing global demand for plastics, chemicals, food and agricultural products, as well as an increasing demand for energy, particularly in non-OECD countries. We will continue directing our business development efforts even more on chemical (industrial) terminals and gas markets, through regasification assets, while pursuing oil related opportunities in emerging markets. Regions of specific interest for growth include the Americas, Middle East and Asia.

Productivity improvement

In the last years Vopak has focused on effectiveness of its organization, processes and assets. With this foundation in place, Vopak seeks now to further improve its efficiency. New technologies will enable this by speeding up operations, increasing safety and improving services for our customers. We will accelerate investments to experiment with new technologies and, if attractive, scale these capabilities to our network. We aim to leverage on the maturity levels of our enhanced functional capabilities to increase productivity and improve organizational efficiency to support margin developments.

Looking ahead

During the period 2017-2019, Vopak anticipates volatility in energy, commodity, financial markets and unpredictable geopolitical developments. Notwithstanding inherent short-term effects, Vopak believes it will be able to continue its long-term growth journey and positive EPS development while maintaining a Cash Flow Return On Gross Assets after tax (CFROGA) between 9% and 11%.

With a solid foundation we are overall well-positioned to successfully set out in our strategic direction for the period 2017-2019 towards disciplined capacity growth and productivity improvements.

Eelco Hoekstra

Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Royal Vopak

For more information please contact:

Media contact:

Liesbeth Lans, Manager external communications

Telephone: +31 (0)10 400 2777

E-mail: global.communication@vopak.com

Investor Relations contact:

Chiel Rietvelt, Head of Investor Relations

Telephone: +31 (0)10 400 2776

E-mail: investor.relations@vopak.com

The analysts' presentation will be given via an on-demand video webcast on Vopak's corporate website www.vopak.com starting at 11:00 AM CET on 17 February 2017.

Annual report 2016 and financial statements

The Annual Report 2016 and financial statements, prepared by the Executive Board and to be presented to the Annual General Meeting of 19 April 2017 for adoption, are published on Vopak's website (http://www.vopak.com/investors/reports-and-presentation).
BROOKFIELD NEWS, Feb. 17, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brookfield Office Properties Inc., a subsidiary of Brookfield Property Partners L.P., announced today the completion of its previously announced Cumulative Minimum Rate Reset Class AAA Preference Shares, Series EE (the Preferred Shares, Series EE) issue in the amount of C$275 million. The offering was underwritten by a syndicate of underwriters led by Scotiabank, CIBC Capital Markets, RBC Capital Markets and TD Securities Inc. On February 9, 2017, the syndicate agreed to purchase 11,000,000 Preferred Shares, Series EE at C$25.00 per share.



The Preferred Shares, Series EE will yield 5.10% annually for the initial period ending March 31, 2022. The net proceeds of the issue will be used by Brookfield Office Properties for general corporate purposes which may include the redemption of existing preferred shares.

The Preferred Shares, Series EE will commence trading today on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BPO.PR.E.

The Preferred Shares, Series EE may not be offered or sold in the United States or to U.S. persons absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements under the U.S. Securities Act.

About Brookfield Office Properties

Brookfield Office Properties Inc. is a subsidiary of Brookfield Property Partners L.P., one of the worlds largest commercial real estate companies, with approximately $65 billion in total assets. Brookfield Office Properties owns, develops and manages premier office properties in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe. Its portfolio is comprised of interests in 116 properties totaling 88 million square feet in the downtown cores of New York, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa, London, Berlin, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, making Brookfield Office Properties the global leader in the ownership and management of office assets. Landmark properties include Brookfield Places in New York City, Toronto and Perth, Bank of America Plaza in Los Angeles, Bankers Hall in Calgary and Darling Park in Sydney.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian provincial securities laws and applicable regulations. Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, include statements regarding our operations, business, financial condition, expected financial results, performance, prospects, opportunities, priorities, targets, goals, ongoing objectives, strategies and outlook, as well as the outlook for North American and international economies for the current fiscal year and subsequent periods, and include words such as expects, anticipates, plans, believes, estimates, seeks, intends, targets, projects, forecasts, likely, or negative versions thereof and other similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as may, will, should, would and could.

Although we believe that our anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements and information are based upon reasonable assumptions and expectations, the reader should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond our control, which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from anticipated future results, performance or achievement expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and information.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated or implied by forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: risks incidental to the ownership and operation of real estate properties including local real estate conditions; the impact of general economic, political and market factors in the countries in which we do business; the ability to enter into new leases or renew leases on favorable terms; business competition; dependence on tenants financial condition; the use of debt to finance our business; the behavior of financial markets, including fluctuations in interest and foreign exchanges rates; global equity and capital markets and the availability of equity and debt financing and refinancing within these markets; uncertainties of real estate development or redevelopment; risks relating to our insurance coverage; the possible impact of international conflicts and other developments including terrorist acts; potential environmental liabilities; changes in tax laws and other tax related risks; dependence on management personnel; illiquidity of investments; the ability to complete and effectively integrate acquisitions into existing operations and the ability to attain expected benefits therefrom; operational and reputational risks; catastrophic events, such as earthquakes and hurricanes; and other risks and factors detailed from time to time in our documents filed with the securities regulators in Canada.

We caution that the foregoing list of important factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive. When relying on our forward-looking statements or information, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward- looking statements or information, whether written or oral, that may be as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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Thats what photographer Akhil Suhas was thinking when, while planning his 6-month trip across the country after university, he packed a Gandalf costume just for fun, Joinfo.com reports with reference to PetaPixel.

I wanted a recurring subject in my photos and with so many photographers visiting the country, I figured that I needed to do something to set me apart! Akhil said.

I was watching the LOTR for the 5th time when I figured New Zealand is famous for 2 things: its landscapes and the LOTR + Hobbit Trilogies. So why not combine the two by having Gandalf in the landscapes?

It took him 2 months to hunt down an appropriately accurate costume, but before long, he was on his way15,000km with both camera and a Gandalf costume at the ready.

At first, the idea was to create self-portraits, but it didnt take long for Akhil to realize that this was a lot harder than it sounded.

I tried the camera on a tripod with a timer shot, didnt work for me, he said over email. So, I started asking the people I met along the way if they wanted to put on the outfit.

Surprisingly, man gladly said yes because, in Akhils words, who doesnt want to dress up as Gandalf!? Thats how a silly idea turned into a beautiful small-person-big-landscape tour of New Zealand.

Have a look for yourself:



See also: Wiki Loves Earth Contest: Fabulous Carpathian Mountain in Ukraine Among Top 15 Photographs.
On 3-5 October 2017 Kyiv is going to host the Space and Future Forum to network international experts and youth, many of whom will also participate at the first CosmoHack in the world. Joinfo provides media coverage of the Forum, and some of its topics were already discussed ...
Diplomatic sources at the Algerian Foreign Ministry have denied Algierss support for the Leader of the Tunisian Islamist movement in his efforts to unite Gaddafis loyalists and Muslim Brotherhood movement in Libya, reports say.

Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the Tunisian Ennahda party, has been trying to bring together the two Libyan sides. He claimed that he received the endorsements of the Tunisian presidency as well as that of Algiers.

Over the Algerian so-called backing, Algerian diplomatic sources debunked Ghannouchis claims adding that Algeria does not need help of anyone to re-unite opposed Libyan brothers, Algerian media Algerie Patriotique reports.

The diplomats also argued that the Islamist leader is trying to make a name for himself by making use of some high profile contacts he has in the Algerian regime to build a reputation in Tunisia and in the Islamist Maghreb world.

The sources further argued that Ghannouchi, himself member of Muslim Brothehood, is trying to use Libya to upgrade his political image and to prove to the international community that the Muslim Brotherhood movement is still an important stabilizing force in the Maghreb and in the Arab world.

The Algerian media notes that Ghannouchi who enjoys good ties with Algerian President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika and Turkish President Erdogan is striving to polish the image of his Islamist movement at a time the US Republican congressmen have blacklisted the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organization.

At its congress in May last year, Ennahda distanced itself from its Islamist agenda to embrace a political line.
Judith Schmitz and Sebastian Ocklenburg are interested in right-left differences. Credit: Ruhr-Universitaet-Bochum

It is not the brain that determines if people are right or left-handed, but the spinal cord. This has been inferred from the research results compiled by a team headed by private lecturer Dr Sebastian Ocklenburg, Judith Schmitz, and Prof Dr H. C. Onur Gunturkun. Together with colleagues from the Netherlands and from South Africa, the biopsychologists at Ruhr-Universitat Bochum have demonstrated that gene activity in the spinal cord is asymmetrical already in the womb. A preference for the left or the right hand might be traced back to that asymmetry.

"These results fundamentally change our understanding of the cause of hemispheric asymmetries," conclude the authors. The team report about their study in the journal eLife.

Preference in the womb

To date, it had been assumed that differences in gene activity of the right and left hemisphere might be responsible for a person's handedness. A preference for moving the left or right hand develops in the womb from the eighth week of pregnancy, according to ultrasound scans carried out in the 1980s. From the 13th week of pregnancy, unborn children prefer to suck either their right or their left thumb.

Arm and hand movements are initiated via the motor cortex in the brain. It sends a corresponding signal to the spinal cord, which in turn translates the command into a motion. The motor cortex, however, is not connected to the spinal cord from the beginning. Even before the connection forms, precursors of handedness become apparent. This is why the researchers have assumed that the cause of right respective left preference must be rooted in the spinal cord rather than in the brain.

The influence of environmental factors

The researchers analysed the gene expression in the spinal cord during the eighth to twelfth week of pregnancy and detected marked right-left differences in the eighth week  in precisely those spinal cord segments that control the movements of arms and legs. Another study had shown that unborn children carry out asymmetric hand movements just as early as that.

The researchers, moreover, traced the cause of asymmetric gene activity. Epigenetic factors appear to be at the root of it, reflecting environmental influences. Those influences might, for example, lead to enzymes bonding methyl groups to the DNA, which in turn would affect and minimise the reading of genes. As this occurs to a different extent in the left and the right spinal cord, there is a difference to the activity of genes on both sides.

More information: Sebastian Ocklenburg et al. Epigenetic regulation of lateralized fetal spinal gene expression underlies hemispheric asymmetries, eLife (2017). Journal information: eLife Sebastian Ocklenburg et al. Epigenetic regulation of lateralized fetal spinal gene expression underlies hemispheric asymmetries,(2017). DOI: 10.7554/eLife.22784
Pills. Credit: Public Domain

The researchers from Imperial College London analysed 20 pharmacies that were available for UK citizens to access online. This is one of the few studies to have examined the online availability of antibiotics and to have explored the potential effects on public health. The research is published in Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.

Antibiotics are classed as prescription only medicines in the UK, meaning they cannot legally be sold to consumers without a valid prescription. In the study, the researchers found that although online versions of UK high street pharmacies were compliant with prescription regulations, 80 per cent of the online pharmacies surveyed let customers choose their dosages, the duration and choice of antibiotic treatments. This can lead to serious side effects in patients and increases the risk of antimicrobial resistance.

Antimicrobial resistance is one the biggest threats to global health, food security, and development today, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).The study was carried out by academics from Imperial College London's NIHR Health Protection Research Unit for Healthcare Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance, and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

The team carried out their research by entering the search term 'buy antibiotics online' into Google and Yahoo. The team recognise that the study is a 'snapshot' of the online pharmacy industry, but it does provide insights into how it operates. The 20 pharmacies at the top of the search were analysed by the team.

Dr Sara Boyd, a co-author and NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Infectious Diseases and Microbiology at Imperial, said: "These findings are a real concern, and raise several important issues regarding antibiotic resistance and patient safety with online pharmacies."

All online medicine vendors selling to UK consumers must by law register with both the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the General Pharmaceutical Council (or the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland). However, the researchers found that 75 per cent of online pharmacies included in the study lacked evidence of the appropriate registration status required by law.

In other findings, the researchers discovered that 45 per cent of the online pharmacies analysed did not require a prescription from the patient.

Only 30 per cent of websites in the survey asked consumers to complete a health questionnaire prior to purchase.

Seventy per cent of the websites provided information on the safe usage of prescription medications, including potential side effects or adverse reactions when combined with other drugs.

Professor Alison Holmes, of Imperial's Department of Medicine, added: "Improper use of antibiotics can mean that infections are not being treated appropriately, or that people are being unnecessarily exposed to antibiotics. This allows bacteria to become resistant to drugs that once killed them. As a result, it is essential that antibiotics are prescribed only when they are needed."

Although a small study, the authors say that the research offers insight into the increasing use of the internet for a variety of purposes, including buying antibiotics. Dr Boyd said: "The way patients interact with healthcare is constantly evolving, and shifts in consumer behaviour mean more people are purchasing their goods online. Our study paves the way for larger, more thorough research into this worrying new trend so that we can ensure patient safety and promote the responsible use of antibiotics in all areas of healthcare provision."

Martin Astbury, President of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said: "Unnecessary antibiotic use can result in serious side effects in individuals and has a major impact on wider public health by increasing antibiotic resistance. We cannot support access to antibiotics through a web form until the standards for prescribing by private providers reflect the standard of face to face consultations in the NHS. Those involved in supplying medicines online should ensure their processes are as robust as possible."

All online pharmacies identified as illegally selling antibiotics to patients within the UK were reported to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), who promptly responded. The researchers are working together with numerous stakeholders to improve patient safety and antibiotic stewardship in this area. Anyone with a concern concerns about an online pharmacy should contact the MHRA directly.
Few Armed Forces personnel seek help for mental health disorders and novel approaches will be needed to encourage personnel at risk of PTSD, anxiety and alcohol abuse to seek treatment.

A trial testing a potential post-deployment screening programme for UK Armed Forces personnel, based on a computerised assessment and tailored mental health advice, found it was not effective in reducing symptoms of mental health disorders or encouraging personnel to seek help, compared to the general mental health advice which is the standard of care in the UK military.

This type of screening was tested because it was deemed the most likely way that a UK screening programme could be introduced, because there are too few mental health professionals and resources to carry out face-to-face appraisals.

The trial, published in The Lancet, suggests that other approaches to encourage personnel with mental health disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression or alcohol abuse to seek help will be needed.

Between 2001 and 2014, the UK deployed more than 220550 Armed Forces personnel to the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts. Among personnel who were deployed, an estimated 4% developed PTSD, 20% developed psychological distress and 16% developed alcohol misusesimilar rates to personnel who were not deployed. Personnel who were deployed in combat roles have higher rates of probable PTSD and alcohol misuse.

In the UK, mental health support and treatment for Armed Forces personnel consists of psychoeducational briefings, peer support programmes to assist with traumatic stress, decompression before returning home from deployment and clinical services comprising a mixture of uniformed and civilian healthcare professionals. However, approximately half of military personnel with a probable mental health disorder do not seek help. Additionally many delay seeking help or do not finish treatment.

Screening has therefore been proposed as a way to identify those at risk of mental health problems on return from deployment and prompt them to seek help. Various forms of post-deployment screening exist and are used in the US, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands.

In the study, led by King's Centre for Military Health Research at King's College London (UK), researchers aimed to assess the effectiveness of a particular type of screening. On return from deployment, all 10190 personnel involved in the trial were asked to complete a computerised mental health assessment.

Personnel in the screening group were then offered the opportunity to view tailored mental health advice based on their likelihood of having a mental health disorder. If they agreed, they were told what mental health issue they probably had, and were urged to seek help by speaking either to a unit welfare officer (for moderate symptoms), a medical officer (more severe symptoms), or told that no professional support was needed if no risk was identified. Personnel in the control group were offered the general mental health advice offered in the UK militaryas they would have been if they had not undergone screening. They were told that there were many ways to seek help and were given examples of support provided. All participants were then followed up between 10 and 24 months later.

Two-thirds (65%; 3619/5577) of personnel who were offered tailored advice agreed to see it, while the remaining 35% declined. Higher ranks and older personnel were more likely to see the tailored advice, and personnel with probable PTSD, anxiety or depression were more likely to view it compared to people who did not have any mental health symptoms.

At follow-up, there were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of the prevalence of PTSD (11%), depression or anxiety (6%) and alcohol abuse (12%) (table 4). There was also no difference in the rate of health seeking or pharmaceutical use between the two groups, with 12% (496/3996) of personnel in the screening group using a mental health service in the follow-up period, compared to 13% (318/2369) in the control group (table 5).

At follow-up, about a third of personnel who had probable PTSD, depression or anxiety (excluding alcohol misuse) at the start of the study had sought mental health care over the past 12 months, with no difference between the control and screening groups (35.8% (53/148) in the control group vs. 32.9% (82/249) in the screening group) (appx p.5). Help-seeking behaviour among personnel with probable PTSD, depression or anxiety was similar irrespective of whether personnel chose to view the tailored advice or not.

"Different countries use different approaches to post-deployment screening and our study looked at one particular type of screening, as it was the form that was most likely to be introduced in the UK military. We found no evidence to support the idea that post deployment screening via a computerised assessment followed by tailored mental health advice helped improve the mental health of personnel over and above general mental health advice. Countries that have already introduced post-deployment screening are not able to assess effectiveness via a randomised controlled trial as they cannot generate a no-screening group, but they should consider monitoring the outcomes of their programmes," says lead author Professor Roberto Rona, King's College London.

The authors note that the findings from the trial may not be entirely generalizable to other screening programmes, because other programmes use approaches such as repeated assessments over time, or face-to-face interviews (as is the case in the US screening programme).

"Understandably, military forces are keen to protect the mental health of their personnel who carry out highly challenging duties on behalf of their countries. The question is what can be done to make a positive difference by protecting the mental health of personnel and decreasing the burden of mental illness on individuals, their families and UK society as a whole. More research is needed to improve the mental health of UK Armed Forces personnel and other approaches could include good leadership training, peer and family support programmes and further improving the quality and accessibility of military mental health services," says co-author Professor Neil Greenberg, King's College London.

Writing in a linked Comment, Dr Alexander C McFarlane, University of Adelaide, Australia, notes that "a potential confounding issue with this study design is the fact that by filling in the self-report measures, both groups had the opportunity to reflect on their obvious levels of symptomatic distress... which might have minimised the ability to find differences between groups." He also highlights the importance of ensuring adequate care is available when personnel do seek help: "Even if an individual did present to mental health services in the UK military as part of (this) study, this did not guarantee that an evidence-based intervention was offered, even when a general practitioner was consulted."
The 2016 Zika virus outbreak, along with recent outbreaks of SARS, bird flu, H1N1 and Ebola, underscore the importance of being prepared for and responding quickly to infectious diseases. Zika, in particular, poses unique challenges, since its associated birth defects and lack of preventive treatment currently threaten over 60 countries.

During pandemics, scientists must race to investigate infection mechanisms, facilitate early detection and apply effective mitigations. Resources and policies for scientific, clinical and technical advances must be coordinated to enable rapid understanding of all aspects of an outbreak in order to minimize damaging impacts.

Eva Lee, professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial & Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech and director of the Center for Operations Research in Medicine and Healthcare, has developed a biological-behavioral-operational computer model to help policy makers choose the best intervention strategies to rapidly contain an infectious disease outbreak. Her analysis covers the dynamics of disease transmission across different environments and social settings. The modeling system gives on-the-ground policymakers critical information about how to mitigate infection, monitor risk and trace disease during a pandemic.

Lee presented findings and policy implications from her research on Feb. 16, 2017, in a briefing at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Boston, Mass. The research has been sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Lee's presentation gave the results for Zika using her model, described by public health experts as "a digital disease surveillance and response" tool. The tool, ASSURE, can use many types of data, including biosurveillance, environmental, climate, viral, host, human behavior and social factors. If genetic information for the disease carriers are available, they also can be incorporated. Lee explained how the modeling system provides the ability to predict disease spread, assess risk and determine effective containment methods. In addition, it can help public health leaders optimize deployment of limited resources to help prevent and reduce the extent of future outbreaks.

"The containment of pandemics is fundamental to preventing a global epidemic," said Lee. "ASSURE is a computational modeling tool designed for real-time support. By accepting real-time data, the model produces predictions that are customized to reflect a specific environment, policy and human behavior on the ground."

Referring to data related to the Zika outbreak in Brazil, Lee discussed which containment approaches are most effective there. Her model shows that the easiest and most productive way to contain the outbreak in Brazil is to the reduce the biting rate of mosquitoes by using insect repellents/mosquito-wristbands, wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants, and employing air conditioning and window/door screens to keep mosquitoes out. The result is practical. For example, the model demonstrates that only 20 percent compliance can reduce the total infection by half. This strategy is more successful than just widely applying insecticide and lasers to kill mosquitos. The model offers policymakers a decision-support framework to estimate the cost-effectiveness of each prevention measure.

The modeling system also underscores the importance of early intervention by revealing the timing of different interventions and associated outcomes. "Knowing when to respond and how it affects the outcome is essential," Lee said.

Lee has shared some of these findings with federal officials, who recommended implementation of her resulting policies and strategies for Puerto Rico. She is also working with public health leaders in Houston, Texas, to identify high-risk areas and to optimize local surveillance and intervention.

Lee's system can be applied to help contain a wide variety of epidemics, including not only Zika but also dengue, Ebola, and many other types. "The modeling framework accommodates various transmission mechanisms. This allows public health officials to adapt rapidly to changing disease environments and different emerging epidemics," said Lee. As part of a continuing research effort, Lee is working with vaccinologists on vaccine immunity prediction to permit faster design and evaluation of new and emerging vaccines and to identify individuals either most likely or least likely to be protected by a vaccine.

An applied mathematician and modeling innovator, Lee has traveled to hot spots around the world as an advisor in response to public health catastrophes. She has long partnered with the CDC on medical preparedness and emergency response. Since 2015, she served on the National Preparedness and Response Science Board (NPRSB), the federal committee that provides advice and guidance to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Credit: University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston

A multidisciplinary team from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston has uncovered the mechanisms that the Zika virus uses to alter brain development. These findings are detailed in Stem Cell Reports.

There are currently 70 countries and territories reporting active Zika transmission, according to the World Health Organization. While a Zika infection typically results in mild or symptom-free infections in healthy adults and children, the risk of microcephaly in the developing fetus is an alarming consequence that has created a worldwide health threat.

Babies with microcephaly can have a wide array of problems including a small brain and head, developmental delays, seizures, vision and hearing loss and feeding difficulty. Scientists are trying to determine how a Zika infection triggers these defects.

Since a normal brain develops from simple cells called stem cells that are able to develop into any one of various kinds of cells, the UTMB team deduced that microcephaly is most likely linked with abnormal function of these cells.

There are two main lineages of the virus, African and Asian. Recently, the UTMB team found that only the Asian lineage has been linked with microcephaly. So, what is it about this particular form of the virus that inflicts such damage?

The researchers established a method of investigating how Zika alters the production, survival and maturation of brain stem cells using cells donated from three human fetal brains. They focused on the impact of the Asian lineage Zika virus that was involved in the first outbreak in North America in late 2015.

"We discovered that the Asian lineage Zika virus halted the proliferation of brain stem cells and hindered their ability to develop into brain nerve cells," said Ping Wu, senior author on the study and UTMB professor in the Department of Neuroscience & Cell Biology. "However, the effect that the Zika virus had on the ability of stem cells to develop into specialized cells differed between donors. This difference seems to be linked with a Zika-induced change in global gene expression pattern, it remains to be seen which genes are responsible.

Wu further stated, "the unique system containing stem cells from three donors will allow us to dissect molecular mechanisms underlying Zika virus-induced brain malformation."

Senior author and UTMB associate professor in the Department of Pathology Nikos Vasilakis said that they discovered that two weeks after the cells had developed into a certain type, the Zika infection was mainly found in glial cells, which provide support and insulation for the brain.

More information: Erica L. McGrath et al. Differential Responses of Human Fetal Brain Neural Stem Cells to Zika Virus Infection, Stem Cell Reports (2017). Journal information: Stem Cell Reports Erica L. McGrath et al. Differential Responses of Human Fetal Brain Neural Stem Cells to Zika Virus Infection,(2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2017.01.008
Three men have been arrested in the Dominican Republic after two radio journalists were fatally shot during a Facebook Live broadcast on Tuesday, according to local news reports.

Gunmen opened fire while one journalist, Luis Manuel Medina of Milenio Caliente, was reading the news at the FM radio station 103.5 in a shopping center in San Pedro de Macoris, east of Santo Domingo, the capital.

In a video uploaded to YouTube, shots can be heard in the background as Mr. Medina keeps reading. A woman is heard yelling off camera: Shots! Shots! Shots!
WASHINGTON  President Trump jettisoned two decades of diplomatic orthodoxy on Wednesday by declaring that the United States would no longer insist on the creation of a Palestinian state as part of a peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians.

Hosting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel for the first time since becoming president, Mr. Trump promised a concerted effort to bring the two sides together, suggesting a regional effort involving an array of Arab nations. But he said that he was flexible about how an agreement would look and that he would not be bound by past assumptions.

Im looking at two-state and one-state formulations, Mr. Trump said during a White House news conference with Mr. Netanyahu. I like the one that both parties like. Im very happy with the one that both parties like. I can live with either one.

At the same time, Mr. Trump urged Mr. Netanyahu to temporarily stop new housing construction in the West Bank while he pursues a deal, echoing a position past presidents have taken. Id like to see you hold back on settlements for a little bit, he told Mr. Netanyahu.
The preliminary cause of the Yerevan-bound bus accident in Russia is known.

Armenian News-NEWS.am has learned that the bus driver had driven the vehicle so close to the truck that he was unable to hit the brakes of the bus on time, and therefore the collision had occurred.

We also have learned that this accident is being investigated, and an examination has been commissioned.

According to preliminary data, information was received from the Crisis Management Center of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, on Wednesday at 5:05pm, that an accident had occurred in Kushovskaya region of Russia.

A bus, which was en route from Moscow to Armenias capital city of Yerevan, had collided with a truck.

There were nine passengers in the bus, and two of them had suffered injuries and were hospitalized. They are Armenian citizens Robert Petrosyan (born in 1953), and Kyaram Mamoyan (born in 1968).
The Bangor Village Board considered holding an advisory referendum to fund a fourth police position at Tuesday nights meeting.

For the last two budget cycles, Bangor Police Chief Scott Alo has asked to board to consider adding a fourth position to address adequate coverage throughout the day; however, village officials say the budget cant support the additional expense.

According to Village Administrator Shelly Miller, approving a fourth police officer for the 2017 budget would have put the village over its levy limit.

Miller said in order to afford the fourth position the village would either have to cut roughly 28 percent of its budget or pass a referendum and raise taxes.

She added that the villages financial advisor, Shawn Lenz, had recommended against a referendum and instead to focus on building up its fund balance.

Village President Gary Althoff referenced Lenzs reports, which described the position as unsustainable.

I dont see how you can afford it, he said.

Board member John McCue suggested holding an advisory referendum to get a better feel for what Bangor residents would be willing to support.

We dont know the opinion of the base of our voters, he said.

Board member Jeff Radtke said he agreed that an advisory referendum might give the village a better idea of what the village would support.

He said when the village held the referendum on the siren a few years back it received widespread attention from people as far north as Minneapolis.

However, board member Amanda OHeron wasnt sure a referendum would be useful.

Even if everyone in the village comes back saying they support it; we would still come back to the same financial decision, she said.

While she would like the police department to get the fourth officer they need, she said, from what shed heard that wasnt possible.

I dont know why we are going to bang our heads against the wall, OHeron said. Its already been determined we cant afford it right now.

The village could also face time constraints if it tried to get a referendum before the next budget cycle.

Miller said she wasnt sure the village had time to organize a referendum.

April is the only chance. I dont think we have the means to put something together, she said. Even if we were to OK a referendum, we would have to OK a selling package.

She said the village board understands the need but so do the voters.

The village could vote to hold a special election later this year at additional cost or return to the issue in April 2018.

McCue suggested a nonbinding advisory referendum might be a better alternative.

Id be really interested to hear from the electorsfrom the people of the village of Bangorwhat they think of this, he said.

Alo, who was away at a conference, was not available for comment this week.

No decision was made and the topic was tabled until the next meeting in March.
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When U.S. President Donald Trump signed his executive order halting refugee admissions last month citing national security, he made it a point to say that religious minorities, especially Christians, would be given priority.

But some Christian refugees have been unable to enter the U.S. in the aftermath of the presidential order, even though the travel ban has been suspended for now by federal courts, reported KPCC Southern California Public Radio.

One Armenian family bound for Los Angeles is among the refugees held up in Iran.

George Haratoonian, a business owner who lives in Glendale, California, and arrived himself as a refugee nearly three decades ago, was expecting his brothers family to fly into Los Angeles on Feb. 4. They were planning to live with him until they got settled.

But just as the presidents order took effect in late January, the family received disappointing news: their visas to Austria, the first leg of their journey, had been canceled. Haratoonian was with them in Tehran when they got the news.

The Haratoonians are Armenian Christians, a religious minority in Iran. The family was traveling to the U.S. through what is known as the Lautenberg program, which benefits religious minorities. The program was originally enacted in 1990 to assist refugees from the former Soviet Union. Today, the program mostly benefits Christian, Jewish, Bahai and other religious minority refugees from Iran.

Haratoonian said his family has lost much more than visas. They had quit their jobs, left school, moved out of their home and sold all their belongings.

Now, theyve lost everything. And now they are living like homeless. Its ridiculous, he said.

The family is being resettled by the International Rescue Committee, one of a handful of government-authorized refugee resettlement agencies.

Martin Zogg, director of the agencys Los Angeles office, said the organization has 155 refugees who are held up in Iran with canceled visas.

He said those refugees who had already made it to Austria when the executive order took effect were allowed to travel on to the U.S. once a federal district court temporarily stayed the ban. But those in Iran have no way out without Austrian transit visas.

An Austrian official told the KPCC by email that his government was currently in contact with the U.S. authorities to determine the way to proceed.
The Co-Chairs of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group on Friday issued a statement with respect to the results of their talks in Munich, Germany, with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France and Richard Hoagland of the United States of America) met yesterday with the Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian and the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov, separately and then jointly. The Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, also participated in the meetings.

The Co-Chairs discussed with the Ministers the current situation along the Line of Contact and the ArmeniaAzerbaijan border. The Co-Chairs reiterated that there is no alternative to a peaceful solution to the conflict and that war is not an option, and called upon the sides to exercise restraint on the terrain as well as in their public communications and to prepare their population for peace and not for war. The Co-Chairs also urged the Sides to adhere strictly to the 1994/95 ceasefire agreements that constitute the foundation of the cessation of hostilities. The Co-Chairs recalled the May 2011 joint statements of their Presidents in Deauville emphasizing that the use of force would only bring more suffering and devastation and would be condemned by the international community. The Co-Chairs shared their views with the Sides on the steps which should be taken toward implementing decisions from the 2016 Summits in Vienna and St. Petersburg aimed at stabilizing the situation in the conflict zone.

The Co-Chairs stressed to the Ministers the need to demonstrate greater flexibility and to resume comprehensive negotiations on reaching a lasting settlement as soon as possible.

The Co-Chairs recognized that the Armenian authorities recent decision to return the body of an Azerbaijani serviceman was a helpful humanitarian gesture. The two Ministers reiterated their commitment to strictly observe their international humanitarian obligations including those of the Astrakhan Declaration of October 2010 issued by the Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Russian Federation.

The Co-Chairs are aware that a so-called constitutional referendum is scheduled to take place in Nagorno-Karabakh on February 20, 2017. Although the Co-Chairs note that the de-facto Nagorno-Karabakh authorities view the use of such a procedure as an effort to organize the public life of their population, they underscore again that no countries, including Armenia and Azerbaijan, recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent and sovereign state. Accordingly, the Co-Chairs do not accept the results of the referendum on February 20 as affecting the legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Co-Chairs also stress that the results in no way prejudge the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh or the outcome of the ongoing negotiations to bring a lasting and peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Co-Chairs plan to travel to the region in March, the statement reads.
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STEPANAKERT.  The ceasefire violations along the line of contact between the Karabakh and Azerbaijani opposing forces increased from late Thursday night to early Friday morning, and the adversary breached the truce more than 85 times.

During this time the Azerbaijani armed forces fired more than 800 shots toward the Armenian position-holders, and with various weapons, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR/Artsakh) Defense Army informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

In particular, the adversary fired a total of 21 shells from a cannon, mortars and grenade launchers, in easterly and northeasterly directions of the line of contact.

But the NKR Defense Army vanguard units took actions in response when necessary, and confidently carried out the military task set before them.
YEREVAN.  An information campaign has been already launched against Ohanyan-Raffi-Oskanian alliance, former defense minister Seyran Ohanyan told reporters.

The smear campaign involves media, individuals as well as parties and blocs, said a member of the alliance that was formed ahead of parliamentary elections.

The alliance involves former defense minister Seyran Ohanyan, leader of Heritage party Raffi Hovannisian, former foreign minister Vartan Oskanian, and their supporters.

It is naive to think that we have not expected such a campaign and have taken no measures. We are doing our job. We will give a reasoned response that will have nothing in common with gossip, he said.
La Crosse County Board members are considering giving municipalities a share of proceeds from a proposed new half-percent sales tax for road funding in an attempt to sway urban voters to support an April 4 advisory referendum.

But its a move that wont sway at least one prominent city dweller  La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat.

In an attempt to bring in more funding for road projects, the county is pursuing a Premier Resort Area Tax, a special sales tax that applies to designated tourism-related businesses. Municipalities and counties can establish this tourism tax without state approval if tourism-related businesses make up at least 40 percent of the equalized property value.

The county falls far short of the 40 percent mark, so it needs approval from the Legislature and Gov. Scott Walker. As a first step in that approval process, the county has an advisory referendum on the April 4 ballot asking voters to weigh in on the tax. Resounding approval of the referendum would give the county a better chance of gaining state approval, which is far from a given.

The state Department of Revenue originally estimated that the county would take in about $5.6 million per year from the half-percent sales tax. County officials figure they could make significant progress on nearly $90 million in road rehabilitation needs without having to borrow money if they could come up with $5 million per year in new funding.

The county got an updated estimate of $6.6 million in annual proceeds, and at Mondays county board planning meeting, board Chairwoman Tara Johnson pitched the idea of sharing 20 to 25 percent of the special tax proceeds with the countys municipalities.

We, as a body, have been extraordinarily cooperative, Johnson said, pointing to neighborhood revitalization in La Crosse, support for the Fred Funk Landing on Lake Onalaska and a joint county/village tax increment financing district in West Salem. The idea is to demonstrate La Crosse Countys values put into action.

Johnson credited state Rep. Steve Doyle, also a county board member, with suggesting the idea, which had general support among county board members who spoke up Monday.

The residents of the city certainly would be very encouraged that there would be funding to help city of La Crosse taxpayers, said board member Andrea Richmond, who is also a member of the La Crosse Common Council. Were always looking for extra funding.

Another board member from La Crosse, Sharon Hampson, didnt oppose sharing, but she didnt think it would go very far in swaying voters. Im not sure how meaningful it would be in actuality, Hampson said. I dont think theres enough in this formula to help the city of La Crosse. I just dont think its going to be as good as it sounds.

Reached Tuesday, Kabat called the countys pursuit of the Premier Resort Area Tax an ill-conceived idea, even with municipalities getting a share.

Ive got some real reservations about looking at this type of tax to fund what the county is doing, said Kabat, adding that the county seems to be rushing into it in a way that would make it hard to revisit this funding mechanism if it doesnt pass. If its a no (in the referendum), youve taken that option for any kind of future discussion or analysis off the table.

Kabat said the city of La Crosse comes closer to meeting the 40 percent threshold than the county does and looked into trying the tourism-related tax about eight years ago, before he was elected mayor. City officials decided against the tax, and Kabat said he wouldnt be interested in pursuing it for the city now.

Its not something weve discussed in any detail or depth, he said.

Kabat noted that if the city did have the tourism-related tax, hed want to use the proceeds for things that actually promote tourism, such as improvements in the La Crosse Center, building a new bandstand in Riverside Park or other kinds of public park enhancements.

While Kabats assertion that the city is closer than the county to meeting the 40 percent threshold is true, both city and county are far short, with the city at 6.1 percent and the county at 5.3 percent. The city has 40.3 percent in total equalized property value in commercial use, while the county has 26.3 percent, according to 2015 figures.

If the county were granted the authority to levy the tourism-related tax, no municipalities in the county would be allowed to do so.

With in-person absentee voting starting in less than five weeks, county officials are working on a strategy to get information out to the business community and to voters. A presentation on the sales tax is planned for Feb. 22 before a joint meeting of the La Crosse Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Mainstreet Inc. and the La Crosse County Convention Visitors Bureau, and its likely the county will offer several information meetings in March.

County officials hope to have a better handle on what businesses will be required to collect the tax before they conduct these meetings. State Revenue Department estimates indicate more than half of the countys businesses would be designated as tourism-related, but county officials want to have a specific list of businesses.

The county will likely spend between $15,000 and $20,000 to get information out to voters ahead of the referendum. Approval for the voter education spending is on the agenda for the county boards Thursday meeting, which starts at 6 p.m.
YEREVAN.  The Armenian armed forces during the March 1, 2008 events were protecting important facilities in Yerevan, the rest is a matter of the authorities, former defense minister Seyran Ohanyan told reporters.

During the tragic post-election events in March 2008 he was heading the General Staff of the Armed Forces.

Ohanyan said the current authorities are taking measures in this direction, and a fact-finding group is working.

And if attentive, we can see that the army did not participate then. The army was protecting important facilities of our capital city, the rest was up to authorities. If we are found liable, we will bear this responsibility in full, Ohanyan said.

Eight demonstrators and two employees of the internal troops were killed during the March clashes.
YEREVAN.  We can achieve international recognition of the fact that the people of Nagorno-Karabakh have the right for self-determination, former foreign minister Vartan Oskanian told reporters.

This suggests either independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic or recognition of its unification with Armenia.

I am inclined to the second option and I am sure that this will become a reality, said Oskanian. According to the former Foreign Minister of Armenia, a serious negotiating process is needed.

Vartan Oskanian referred to his own experience and a good knowledge of the functioning of international organizations.
Office of the Personal Representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Chairperson-in-Office (OSCE CiO) on Thursday conducted a regular monitoring on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, nearby Chinari village of Armenias Tavush Province.

Jiri Aberle (Czech Republic) and Khristo Khristov (Bulgaria), Field Assistants to the Personal Representative of the OSCE CiO, took part in the monitoring from the Armenian side of the border.

Ceasefire violations, or incidents, were not recorded during the monitoring.

And at the subsequent briefing, which was held at Chinari village hall, the OSCE representatives were informed about the situation along the border, and the statistics of ceasefire violations by the Azerbaijani armed forces.

Also, the OSCE officials were notified that the Azerbaijani side keeps the border settlements, pastures and fields under fire, on a regular basis.
A NATO Defense Education Enhancement Program (DEEP) international advisory group, which is set up to assist in the military education needs of Armenia, was in capital city Yerevan, from Monday to Friday.

The objective of this visit was to sum up the 2016 cooperation projects with the Personnel and Military Education Department of the Ministry of Defense (MOD) of Armenia and the military education institutions of the country, and to coordinate the 2017 project and the avenues for further cooperation.

In addition, the DEEP international advisory group members visited several military education institutions of Armenia, and met with their administrations and those in charge of their education process.

The NATO advisory groups visit to Armenia was summed up during a meeting at the MOD, with representatives of the respective divisions.
YEREVAN.  The Ministry of Economic Development and Investments of Armenia has introduced a new website for investment projects in the country: investmentprojects.am.

Head of the ministrys Investment Programs Division, Aram Vardanyan, on Friday told reporters that more than 30 governmental projects are posted so far on this website, but the private sector also can introduce its projects.

The state and business interests coincide on this matter, added Vahagn Lalayan, head of the Investment Department at the ministry. We are introducing projects which we consider promising for the country. And businesses wish to involve partners in their new work.

Even though this website has been launched in English, several other language versions will be added.

Both new and old projects are introduced on this website.
We can have free economic zone operator in Armenia on the border with Iran as early as April, told the Head of Investment Policy Department at Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Armenia Vahagn Lalayan.

The law "On free economic zones" envisages, that after the operator has been officially approved, it will begin the construction of infrastructures on the spot. " Both the Iranian and Western companies showed an interest in the free zone management ", he added.

According to the expectations of the Ministry, 100 - 120 companies will be involved and $ 350 - 400 million invested into the free zone in 10 years.

It is expected that these companies will increase the export of Armenia for $ 100 - 120 million per year, mainly to the countries of the Eurasian Union, Iran, the Middle East, and Central Asia, including Turkmenistan.

The free zone will be located near the border with Iran  along 35 hectares, with a possibility to expand to 10. Presumably, the overall costs of the free zone organizer for 10 years will amount to 32 million, whereas the income will make 52 million.
Soon a La Crosse County Circuit Court judge will rule in a high-stakes case involving frac sand mining and private property rights. Three property owners seeking to stop a frac sand operation opening in their neighborhood in Jackson County say their lives will be devastated by the operations noise, lights, blasting and dust. The company says the home owners have no right to block their business.

The losing side in this legal confrontation will surely be disappointed, angry, maybe outraged. But the judges ruling will be respected, regardless of their reactions, pending a possible appeal. In a society that respects and lives by the rule of law, thats the way it works.

But with the growing amounts of money in judicial elections, that trusting scenario may be at risk, according to a group of retired judges.

Some 54 retired Wisconsin judges have petitioned the Wisconsin Supreme Court to require judges and justices to step aside in cases when they have received campaign contributions in certain amount from those involved in the case.

The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign points out that conduct rules approved by the Supreme Court in 2010 allow justices to stay on cases involving campaign donors who give them thousands of dollars and outside special interest groups that spend millions of dollars in judicial elections. The decision to stay on a case is up to the judge.

The judges petition said the fundamental purpose for the proposed rule is to insure the publics confidence in the ultimate fairness and integrity of the entire Wisconsin judicial system.

They added, As money in elections becomes more predominant, citizens rightfully ask whether justice is for sale. The appearance of partiality that large campaign donations cause strikes at the heart of the judicial function, which depends on the publics respect for its judgments.

Retired La Crosse County Circuit Judge John Perlich said on the Wisconsin Public Radio Newsmakers program Feb. 9: I think the credibility of the judicial system has suffered. He cited the importance of the appearance of impartiality as well as being impartial. We have to make sure that the litigants before us trust us. Perlich was one of the judges who signed the petition.

The judges petition noted that in a 2014 study by the Center for American Progress only three states ranked lower than Wisconsin in their ability to address the real or perceived conflicts created by campaign contributions to a judge.

The petition by the retired judges comes at a time when the credibility of judges and the courts has faced another challenge: the disparagement of judges and court decisions by the president of the United States.

President Donald Trump has launched Twitter attacks on judges who blocked his immigration order to the extent that his Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch called Trumps attacks on the judiciary disheartening and demoralizing.

Trump said the federal judge in Seattle, James Robart, who blocked the order barring entry to refugees and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim nations, was a so-called judge who had made a ridiculous ruling. He subsequently said, Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. If something happens blame him and court system. People pouring in. Bad! He has also characterized judges as so political.

I asked Dale Pasell, retired La Crosse County Circuit Court judge, to comment on Trumps disparaging remarks about judges. He said he agreed with the Supreme Court nominee that Trumps comments were disheartening and demoralizing. Pasell is also one of the retired judges seeking reform in Wisconsin.

He acknowledged Trumps First Amendment right to speak his mind. But, he added, as president he has an obligation to respect the role of the court as an independent and separate branch of government. He needs to respect that function. The judges are not his subjects.

Theres no doubt that the 54 judges need public opinion behind them if their petition is to result in the changes it seeks. Pasell suggested citizens could let elected officials know of their concern.

This is one of those grass roots actions where citizens can have an impact on strengthening our democratic institutions  especially critical now because of forces undermining the credibility of our courts whether its the presidents intemperate tweets or the states lack of adequate curbs on conflict of interest.
Updated from Feb. 15 with additional information.

The extended saga of Verizon's (VZ) purchase of Yahoo (YHOO) may finally be nearing a close.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal and others on Wednesday, the companies are close to agreeing to a price cut of as much as $350 million in Verizon's original offer of $4.8 billion for Yahoo's core Internet business, citing sources familiar with the matter. Verizon and Yahoo declined to comment on the report.

Shares of Yahoo were down 0.4% to $45.46 on Thursday morning, while Verizon was up 0.2% to $48.19. On Wednesday, when news of the price cut was first reported, Yahoo shares rose nearly 1.4%, while Verizon's gained close to 0.2%.

Since the companies first agreed to the sale back in July, Yahoo! has disclosed a pair of massive cyber breaches. In September, the struggling internet company disclosed a 2014 hack of 500 million user accounts, while in December, it announced that another one billion accounts had been hijacked in 2013.

In addition to a price cut, re/Code reported that the company's that left after the sale, Altaba, would assume liability for any as-yet undiscovered hacking attacks. Buyers frequently negotiate earn-out clauses that tie compensation to performance following the completion of a deal; the Yahoo provision would represent what could be termed a hack-out clause.

Filing the revised deal would restart the process to closing the acquisition. "The next step could be Yahoo filing a revised proxy statement that includes the amended purchase terms and potentially, a date for the shareholder vote," SunTrust analyst Kunal Madhukar wrote in a Wednesday report.

Yahoo's revised proxy will be required reading for M&A lawyers. The hacks have highlighted the importance of cyber security in due diligence.

Since the revelations of the hacks, Yahoo investors have fretted over the possibility that Verizon could lower its price -- or even abandon the deal altogether.

As Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Youssef Squali observes, the majority of Yahoo's value still resides in the company's stakes in Alibaba (BABA) and Yahoo! Japan. The Alibaba stake accounts for $34.50 of Squali's $51 target share price for Yahoo, while Yahoo! Japan position gets a $6 per share valuation. Yahoo's core business makes up just $5 per share of the total value, while the company's cash holdings and investments add $6 per share.

A $300 million haircut for Yahoo shareholders could be a relief, given that previous reports had said Verizon wanted a $1 billion price reduction in the deal price.

As growth in its wireless business drags, Verizon has been positioning itself as a mobile media and ad tech company. The company hoped to plug Yahoo! into a digital media technology unit that includes AOL and is one of the telecom's growth niches. The unit generated more than $1 billion in revenues in the second half of 2016. Verizon has not disclosed sales for the entire year.

Verizon also teamed with media conglomerate Hearst Corp. to invest in millennial-minded digital media companies AwesomenessTV and Complex Media last year. Verizon has also cut deals with the NFL and NBA to provide content for its go90 wireless product.
Shakira performed for Pope Francis at the UN today (Friday), Shakira - Imagine (Live at the UN's General Assembly 2015) : The text a...
Poland's capital Warsaw is shrouded in a thick layer of smog on January 9, 2017 as coal and waste-fired home furnaces drive up air pollution to the highest levels recorded in years

Polish environmental groups on Friday filed a complaint with the European Union against national and local authorities for failing to fight lethal levels of smog.

The European Environmental Agency (EEA) blames air pollutioncaused in large part by the burning of coalfor an estimated 50,000 premature deaths per year in the country of 38 million people.

Seventy percent of Polish households burn low-quality coal or rubbish in old stoves for heating.

Antiquated coal-fired power plants generate nearly all of Poland's electricity, giving it some of the most toxic air in the 28-member EU.

"Poland has Europe's highest air-borne concentrations of the carcinogen benzopyrenenorms are exceeded four-foldbreaching both Polish and EU laws," Piotr Cykowski, an activist with the Action Democracy NGO told AFP at the European Commission branch office in Warsaw.

"This is why we're filing a formal complaint to the European Commission which could formally sanction Poland for inaction in fighting lethal smog," he added.

"We were expecting the introduction of a ban on the sale of the lowest quality coal for domestic heating purposes. However, new draft regulations change nothing," said ClientEarth Poland lawyer Agnieszka Warso-Buchanan, noting that the government admits that "a ban would harm the coal industry."

Poland's current rightwing Law and Justice (PiS) government and previous administrations of all political stripes have based energy policy on plentiful domestic coal, while taking little action to mitigate pollution.

Smog has spiked to record levels nationwide in recent years, with windless days this winter causing particularly acute pollution.

A public petition signed by 24,000 Poles backed the formal complaint filed by the NGOs, including global environmental groups Greenpeace and ClientEarth as well as activists from the local Action Democracy and the City is Ours groups.

The European Commission said in an environmental review of Poland published this month it was already "launching infringement procedures" against Poland and other members over "persistent breaches of air quality requirements... which have severe negative effects on health and the environment.

"The aim is to put in place adequate measures to bring all zones into compliance."

The report also estimated that "the health-related external costs from air pollution in Poland are above 26 billion euros ($28 billion) per year.

"These direct economic costs include the 19 million workdays lost each year due to sickness related to air pollution."

It urged Warsaw to "establish emission standards for coal-fired individual heaters" among other measures "in order to mitigate risks."

 2017 AFP
Credit: University of Reading

A stalagmite collected from a remote cave in the Middle East has revealed climate models may be underestimating the severity of droughts likely to hit the region in future years.

A research team led by the University of Reading travelled to Iraq to collect the stalagmite and used it to present the first ever detailed climate reconstruction for the eastern part of Middle East's most important region for agriculture  the Fertile Crescent  extending back 2,400 years.

The new and detailed rainfall record, published in Geophysical Research Letters journal, reveals that the catastrophic droughts in 1998-2000 and 2007-2010 were the most severe in around 1,100 years. Many scientists believe they were an important contributing factor to the turmoil witnessed in Syria in recent years.

The researchers also found the effects of these droughts were made worse by the climate having become steadily drier since the 10th century, something climate models failed to identify when simulating rainfall over the last 800 years.

Project leader Professor Dominik Fleitmann, from the University of Reading's Archaeology department, said: "Using stalagmites formed below the Earth's surface to study the climate above appears to be strange, but stalagmites are formed from precipitation above the cave.

"By taking measurements from the layers of minerals that form the stalagmite, changes in the amount of rainfall can be reconstructed from year to year back to several hundred thousand years.

"We found the recent droughts, in combination with the increasing demand for water in Syria and Iraq by a fast-growing population, created the perfect storm for societal turmoil. Our new and unique stalagmite record has also exposed flaws in the complex climate models currently used to predict droughts in the Middle East."

Window into the past

The Middle East now has the largest water deficit in the world due to population increase, added water demands and climate change. The devastating droughts between 2007 and 2010 caused the displacement of more than a million people and have been argued to be a contributing factor to the ongoing Syrian civil war.

Understanding the nature of droughts in this region is therefore vital to prepare for ongoing and future climate change, and to convince governments to prepare more effectively for future droughts. However, current knowledge about the frequency and duration of droughts is very limited, as meteorological records go only 50 to 100 years back in time.

An international team, including paleoclimatologists and archaeologists from the University of Reading, carried out nearly 25,000 tests on the 38cm-long stalagmite collected from Gejkar Cave in northern Iraq to reconstruct fluctuations in rainfall within the eastern Fertile Crescent (Iraq and Syria). The area, covering parts of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and Palestine, is where farming started and the first civilizations emerged several thousand years ago.

The team used state-of-the-art chemical analysis, including critical isotope measurements in Reading, to learn more about the timing, duration and severity of droughts in the recent past in unprecedented detail. Studying this data will allow them to learn how to better predict future climate in the region.

They discovered that the Middle East has experienced a long-term trend towards drier conditions, unseen by climate models and tree ring records, which began at the latest around 940AD. Comparing the data from the stalagmite with that produced by simulations showed they did not match, suggesting the climate models currently used to predict droughts may be producing inaccurate results.

The continuous decrease in rainfall coincides with a general decline in settlement density since the Medieval times, indicating that societies in the Fertile Crescent endured a long strife against climate.

Corresponding Reading author Dr Pascal Flohr said: "Unlike tree rings and current simulations, this stalagmite shows us the bigger and more complete picture about climate trends in the Fertile Crescent. It reveals droughts lasting several decades, which can have a cumulative and devastating effect on vulnerable societies.

"We hope that our results will help to improve our predictions and lead to a more responsible water management policy in the region to mitigate the effects of future mega-droughts."

More information: Pascal Flohr et al. Late Holocene droughts in the Fertile Crescent recorded in a speleothem from northern Iraq, Geophysical Research Letters (2017). DOI: 10.1002/2016GL071786 Journal information: Geophysical Research Letters
A new automated system developed at Purdue University detects cracks in the steel components of nuclear power plants. Here, the system accurately distinguishes between cracks and other features, outlined in red-colored boxes. Credit: EPRI

A new automated system detects cracks in the steel components of nuclear power plants and has been shown to be more accurate than other automated systems.

"Periodic inspection of the components of nuclear power plants is important to avoid accidents and ensure safe operation," said Mohammad R. Jahanshahi, an assistant professor in Purdue University's Lyles School of Civil Engineering. "However, current inspection practices are time consuming, tedious and subjective because they involve an operator manually locating cracks in metallic surfaces."

Other automatic crack detection algorithms under development often do not detect cracks in metallic surfaces because the cracks are usually small, have low contrast and are difficult to distinguish from welds, scratches and grind marks. The new system, called CRAQ, for crack recognition and quantification, overcomes this limitation by using an advanced algorithm and a powerful "machine learning" technique to detect cracks based on the changing texture surrounding cracks on steel surfaces.

Findings are detailed in a research paper published this week in Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering.

The automated approach could help improve the state of the nation's infrastructure, recently given an overall grade of D+ by the American Society of Civil Engineers, he said.

"One reason we have a grade of D+ for the infrastructure is insufficient inspection," said Jahanshahi, director of Purdue's Smart Informatix Laboratory. "So we want to have more frequent inspection using robotic systems to collect data."

Credit: Purdue University

The nation operates 99 commercial nuclear power plants, which account for about 20 percent of total U.S. electricity generation. Aging can result in cracking, fatigue, embrittlement of metal components, wear, erosion, corrosion and oxidation.

"Cracking is an important factor in aging degradation that may cause leaking and result in hazardous incidents," Jahanshahi said. "For instance, the Millstone nuclear power station in Connecticut had an accident in 1996 that was caused by a leaking valve, and the accident cost $254 million. In 2010, the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant had an accident where deteriorating underground pipes leaked radioactive tritium into groundwater supplies, resulting in $700 million in damage."

Complicating the inspection process is that nuclear reactors are submerged in water to maintain cooling.

"Consequently, direct manual inspection of reactor internals is not feasible due to high temperatures and radiation hazards," Jahanshahi said. "So remotely recorded videos at the underwater reactor surface are used for inspection. However, recent testing has identied a need for increased reliability associated with identifying cracks from reviews of live and recorded data. The results indicate that this capability is degraded by human involvement in identifying cracks, even when identication should be easy."

Other automated crack-detection systems under development are designed for processing single images, whereas the new method processes multiple video frames, providing more robust results. Findings show the system outperformed two others under development.

"In contrast to other methods that only focus on detecting cracks in one image, we propose a method called Bayesian data fusion that tracks detected cracks in video frames and fuses the information obtained from multiple frames," Jahanshahi said. "Moreover, we can lter out falsely detected cracks and increase the reliability and robustness of crack detection by using Bayesian decision theory," which determines the probability that an object is a crack or a false alarm.

Mohammad R. Jahanshahi, left, an assistant professor in Purdues Lyles School of Civil Engineering, and doctoral student Fu-Chen Chen review results using the new system. Credit: Purdue University image/Erin Easterling

The system assigns "condence levels" automatically assessing whether the detected cracks are real, outlining the cracks with color-coded boxes that correspond to these confidence levels. For example, if the algorithm assigns a high confidence level to a crack, the box outline is red. The processing procedure takes about a minute.

"Then, a technician could do a manual inspection to confirm that there is a crack," Jahanshahi said.

The research paper was authored by doctoral student Fu-Chen Chen; Jahanshahi; doctoral student Rih-Teng Wu; and Chris Joffe, technical leader for Non-destructive Evaluation at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a nonprofit organization funded by the electric utility industry.

Researchers recorded videos using an underwater camera system scanning 304 stainless steel specimens containing cracks and also features such as welds, grinding marks and scratches.

Future research will include work to develop a more accurate and more fully automated system using advanced simulations and computational software.

"We are currently working on the second version of the software by developing deep learning algorithms to detect cracks for this application where we have significantly improved the performance of the system using Constitutional Neural Networks," Jahanshahi said.

More information: Fu-Chen Chen et al. A texture-Based Video Processing Methodology Using Bayesian Data Fusion for Autonomous Crack Detection on Metallic Surfaces, Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering (2017). DOI: 10.1111/mice.12256
Verbal recognition of performance works, but perhaps in a somewhat unexpected way: Recognition motivates individuals who were not praised rather than those in the limelight. This is the message of a recent study done by Nick Zubanov, a professor of business economics at the University of Konstanz, and Nicky Hoogveld from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, which is forthcoming in the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics.

The researchers conducted an experiment with a cohort of more than 300 first-year students in the Netherlands who attended microeconomics tutorials in 15 pre-selected and stable groups. The top 30% students in 8 randomly chosen groups were unexpectedly praised for their performance on the first of the two midterm exams in front of their peers. Compared to similarly good students in the "control" groups, where no such recognition was given, they did no better on the second midterm. However, and, again, compared to their likes in the control groups, the students whose grade fell just a little below the top 30% of their group improved their second midterm grade significantly.

Nick Zubanov sees these findings as evidence for conformity to the performance norm: "Human behaviour is influenced by the individual's personal understanding of the norm. This applies for academia as well as business environments. Student performance is influenced not only by personal benefits, such as grades or passing an exam, but also by the existing performance norms." The verbal recognition of performance serves here as an instrument by which the norm is communicated. If an individual is praised, chances are he or she fulfils the performance norm. On the other hand, those not recognised will learn that they may have been too optimistic about fulfilling the norm and will hence work harder. There are of course other, more powerful, reasons why people work or study hard, but the very existence of these reasons makes Hoogveld and Zubanov's findings all the more remarkable. One lesson to learn from their study is that a simple "well done" said in the right way makes some people feel better and others work harder.

More information: Nicky Hoogveld et al, The power of (no) recognition: Experimental evidence from the university classroom, Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (2016). DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2016.11.001
Credit: Public Domain

It's no wonder titans of tech are locked in an epic battle of the bots, racing furiously to produce the best virtual assistant.

Their respective help-bots - Apple's Siri, Google's Assistant, Amazon's Alexa and Microsoft's Cortana - promise consumers one of the most valuable commodities in the world: free time.

Thanks to the sudden acceleration of artificial intelligence and advancements in speech recognition and big-data storage, the technology behind virtual assistants is rapidly spreading from phones to cars and homes, and the truly useful helper is approaching fast. The four giants are fighting for the biggest share of a market expected to grow to $12 billion by 2024.

"There's a tremendous amount of promise for these agents to help and assist with many different tasks that we face every day," said Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research. "The more the agent can help you with, the more value it holds."

The ultimate goal is our own personal genie in a bottle that awakens with a word or touch to liberate us from all our mundane tasks, organize our days and nights, and free us from the stress of lives that have become so terribly busy. But that's not going to happen quite yet.

Today, the aid these virtual assistants provide remains limited. Most users of Google Home and Amazon Echo devices - which host Assistant and Alexa, respectively - stream music, play audio books, and control smart-home devices, according to surveys by San Francisco analytics firm VoiceLabs.

Still, the virtual agent's foundation in AI means the more it learns about a user's preferences and behaviors, the better job it can do. So while experts predict a handful of firms will dominate in this field - most agree Apple, Google and Amazon will be major players, with Microsoft in a lesser role - they're split on whether consumers will be served best by one bot, or more.

"People want one assistant, they don't want two," said Jan Dawson, chief analyst at Jackdaw Research in San Jose. "You want one assistant, to be very readily available wherever you are."

However, the various assistants will likely end up somewhat specialized in their expertise, with Google's Assistant, for example, excelling in providing knowledge and managing schedules, and Microsoft's Cortana leading on gaming, said VoiceLabs CEO Adam Marchick. In a few years, many people will use two or three different assistants, Marchick predicted.

The industry stands at a critical moment, because the first highly effective help-bot to get a foothold in a consumer's home, phone or car will likely stay, creating a barrier to competitors, Marchick said.

In order for a virtual helpmate to run your life, it needs to engage with the providers of all the services you rely on, from your calendar app to your Uber ride. Those providers must either partner with the company operating the assistant, or design their app to integrate with the assistant. So Spotify will stream music upon request via Alexa, and Honeywell's smart-home thermostat, via Assistant, will bump up the temperature 15 minutes before Grandma's expected arrival.

For providers, "if there is a competitive advantage to be gained, then absolutely they will do it," said Brett Sappington, senior director of research at market research firm Parks Associates.

For all the major players, virtual assistants provide important data that fuels the AI that powers and improves them, making both the assistants and the products they live in ever more marketable. For Amazon, Alexa is an enthusiastic purchasing agent for the e-commerce that drives the firm. For Google, Assistant is a turbocharged vacuum for the data the company collects to sell ads targeted directly at users.

Underlying the projected expansion of virtual assistants is the "voice first" approach to personal technology, said Brian Roemmele, a Los Angeles tech entrepreneur and expert in voice computing. Voice operation keeps hands free and it's faster, he noted, because speaking conveys information more quickly than typing.

So far, both Google and Amazon have focused largely on home-based assistants. Google's new Pixel phones host Assistant, but it has an uphill battle because Apple has far more phones equipped with Siri on the market, said Tim Bajarin, an analyst with San Jose market research firm Creative Strategies.

The popularity of Amazon's Echo and Alexa notwithstanding - the company has sold more than 8 million Echo devices since rolling them out in late 2014, according to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners - most people want their virtual assistant on their phones, Bajarin said.

"When you're driving, that's critical, or if your hands are busy," Bajarin said. "The phone will continue to dominate as the vehicle for delivering the virtual assistant."

Putting these robo-helpers into cars' onboard systems has become a priority for major firms, including Microsoft, which seeks to extend the reach of its PC-based Cortana through the "connected-vehicle" platform it announced this year.

In January, Nissan announced it would integrate Microsoft's platform into its cars. Siri already can be used in a car via a phone or Apple's CarPlay system, or in cars sold with Siri integration built in. Hyundai is bringing Alexa and Google's Assistant into some of its cars so, for example, an owner could start their car from their living room.

While building the supreme help-bot is clearly a priority for many major tech firms, experts say the software today lacks the knowledge base to take the next big leap: to enable virtual assistants that can predict our needs to serve us better.

"Some of it is just raw amounts of data and understanding about how the world works and what humans expect," Reticle's Rubin said.

Which companies rise to dominance depends both on the capability of their bots and the draw of the gadgets that house them.

"The story has not been written on what success is going to be in this space," Sappington said.

2017 The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The Trump administration is considering a proposal to mobilize as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorized immigrants, including millions living nowhere near the Mexico border, according to a draft memo obtained by The Associated Press.
Artists view of the quantized thermal conductance of an atomically thin gold contact. Credit: Enrique Sahagun

The precise control of electron transport in microelectronics makes complex logic circuits possible that are in daily use in smartphones and laptops. Heat transport is of similar fundamental importance and its control is for instance necessary to efficiently cool the ever smaller chips. An international team including theoretical physicists from Konstanz, Junior Professor Fabian Pauly and Professor Peter Nielaba and their staff, has achieved a real breakthrough in better understanding heat transport at the nanoscale. The team used a system that experimentalists in nanoscience can nowadays realize quite routinely and keeps serving as the "fruit fly" for breakthrough discoveries: a chain of gold atoms. They used it to demonstrate the quantization of the electronic part of the thermal conductance. The study also shows that the Wiedemann-Franz law, a relation from classical physics, remains valid down to the atomic level. The results were published in the scientific journal Science on 16 February 2017.

To begin with, the test object is a microscopic gold wire. This wire is pulled until its cross section is only one atom wide and a chain of gold atoms forms, before it finally breaks. The physicists send electric current through this atomic chain, that is through the thinnest wire conceivable. With the help of different theoretical models the researchers can predict the conductance value of the electric transport, and also confirm it by experiment. This electric conductance value indicates how much charge current flows when an electrical voltage is applied. The thermal conductance, that indicates the amount of heat flow for a difference in temperature, could not yet be measured for such atomic wires.

Now the question was whether the Wiedemann-Franz law, that states that the electric conductance and the thermal conductance are proportional to each other, remains valid also at the atomic scale. Generally, electrons as well as atomic oscillations (also called vibrations or phonons) contribute to heat transport. Quantum mechanics has to be used, at the atomic level, to describe both the electron and the phonon transport. The Wiedemann-Franz law, however, only describes the relation between macroscopic electronic properties. Therefore, initially the researchers had to find out how high the contribution of the phonons is to the thermal conductance.

The doctoral researchers Jan Klockner and Manuel Matt did complementary theoretical calculations, which showed that usually the contribution of phonons to the heat transport in atomically thin gold wires is less than ten percent, and thus is not decisive. At the same time, the simulations confirm the applicability of the Wiedemann-Franz law. Manuel Matt used an efficient, albeit less accurate method that provided statistical results for many gold wire stretching events to calculate the electronic part of the thermal conductance value, while Jan Klockner applied density functional theory to estimate the electronic and phononic contributions in individual contact geometries. The quantization of the thermal conductance in gold chains, as proven by experiment, ultimately results from the combination of three factors: the quantization of the electrical conductance value in units of the so-called conductance quantum (twice the inverse Klitzing constant 2e2/h), the negligible role of phonons in heat transport and the validity of the Wiedemann-Franz law.

For quite some time it has been possible to theoretically calculate, with the help of computer models as developed in the teams of Fabian Pauly and Peter Nielaba, how charges and heat flow through nanostructures. A highly precise experimental setup, as created by the experimental colleagues Professor Edgar Meyhofer and Professor Pramod Reddy from the University of Michigan (USA), was required to be able to compare the theoretical predictions with measurements. In previous experiments the signals from the heat flow through single atom contacts were too small. The Michigan group succeeded in improving the experiment: Now the actual signal can be filtered out and measured.

The results of the research team make it possible to study heat transport not only in atomic gold contacts but many other nanosystems. They offer opportunities to experimentally and theoretically explore numerous fundamental quantum heat transport phenomenona that might help to use energy more efficiently, for example by exploiting thermoelectricity.

More information: Longji Cui et al. Quantized thermal transport in single-atom junctions, Science (2017). DOI: 10.1126/science.aam6622 Journal information: Science
A pair of aquarium-held cichlids of the species Telegramma brichardi. Credit: Oliver Lucanus

New DNA-based research provides compelling evidence that a group of strange-looking fish living near the mouth of the Congo River are evolving due to the intense hydraulics of the river's rapids and deep canyons. The study, led by scientists at the American Museum of Natural History, the City University of New York, and Fordham University, reveals that fishes in this part of the river live in "neighborhoods" that are separated from one another by the waters' turbulent flow. In some cases, the researchers found that fishes living less than a mile away from their relatives are actually exchanging very few genes. Many represent distinct species, according to the new study now out in the journal Molecular Ecology.

"In this very short section of the Congo, we find a tremendous diversity of fishes," said Melanie Stiassny, Axelrod Research Curator in the Museum's Department of Ichthyology and an author on the study. "We also know that this part of the river is relatively young, originating only about 3 to 5 million years ago. So what is it about this system that makes it such a pump for species?"

For the last 10 years, Stiassny and her colleagues, including hydrologists and geologists, have studied the lower Congo Riverthe final 200-mile stretch of the freshwater river before it empties into the Atlantic Ocean. Exceptional in depth, speed, and turbulence, the lower Congo is home to the world's most extreme rapids. The region is also remarkable for its biodiversity; scientists have identified more than 300 species of fish living there.

That diversity has long seemed puzzling to scientists because the lower Congo appeared to lack physical barriers which, if difficult to traverse, are understood to drive speciation by preventing animals from either side from breeding. Over time, this causes each group to develop separately.

The new study, which focuses on a group of freshwater, rock-dwelling cichlid fishes of the genus Teleogramma, adds weight to a theory long proposed by Stiassny and other experts: that the dynamic forces of the river itself are acting like barriers, generating diversity by isolating certain fishes from others for so long that their populations travel down different evolutionary paths.

"The genetic separation between these fishes show that the rapids are working as strong barriers, keeping them apart," said lead author Elizabeth Alter, from The City University of New York's Graduate Center and York College. "What's particularly unique about the lower Congo is that this diversification is happening over extremely small spatial scales, over distances as small as 1.5 kilometers. There is no other river like it."

The researchers analyzed the genomes of more than 50 individual fishes representing each of the different Teleogramma populations found in the lower Congo. They found that their species ranges correspond to geographic regions broadly separated by major hydrological and topographic barriers, indicating that these features are likely important drivers of diversification.

The authors also note that there are important conservation implications to this work: about 25 percent of the fish in the lower Congo are endemic, or only found in this particular location. But the area is currently being proposed as a site for major dam development.

"Activity like that would majorly interrupt the evolutionary potential of this system," Stiassny said. Jason Munshi-South, from Fordham University, was also an author on this paper.

More information: S. Elizabeth Alter et al, Genomewide SNP data reveal cryptic phylogeographic structure and microallopatric divergence in a rapids-adapted clade of cichlids from the Congo River, Molecular Ecology (2017). DOI: 10.1111/mec.13973 Journal information: Molecular Ecology
Gender differences is a concern across the OECD, but is there a reason to be concerned? Credit: University of Stavanger

In reading tests at school, girls tend to be ahead of boys, in all age groups and in all countries. But in young adults, there is suddenly no longer any difference between men's and women's reading skills. Why is that? Could the answer be in the way the tests are designed?

Girls are often said to be better at reading than boys. At least, that is what international reading studies like PIRLS and PISA show. The differences are clear in Norway, in the other Nordic countries, and right across the OECD. The gap is apparent amongst the 10 year olds measured in PIRLS, and it is even wider in the group of 15 year olds who take part in PISA.

The reading tests measure whether the pupils can extract information from the text, whether they can draw simple conclusions, interpret and compare information, and assess language, content and literary devices in the text. And regardless of which of these aspects is being measured, girls perform best.

The differences disappear in adults

But something happens when we measure the reading skills of adults. When the reading skills of 1624 year olds are tested, the gender differences have suddenly become imperceptibly small  or have disappeared altogether. This has been shown in studies including the major PIAAC study, which tests adults' skills in literacy, numeracy and ICT.

And while being able to read well is an important factor in enabling participation in education, work and society, there are no major gender differences in the Nordic region in these areas  which we might expect, if girls leave school with better skills than boys in reading, which is a fundamental skill. Although more women than men gain higher secondary or tertiary qualification, women are not ahead of men with regard to employment rate, participation in society or income  it is actually the reverse. Norwegian men are more likely to hold managerial positions than women, they are more involved in local politics, and Norwegian men earn more than Norwegian women, according to Statistics Norway.

Several hypotheses

Several hypotheses have already been put forward to explain why girls' reading skills appear to be better than boys' at school age. A difference in intelligence has been rejected, since girls obviously do not have higher IQ than boys. The same goes for the theory that the difference could have something to do with specific teaching methods, since reading is taught using a variety of methods. Some researchers claim that girls are subject to different requirements and expectations than boys, and that this could explain why girls appear to be better at reading. However, if this is the case, it cannot fully explain the differences. And we still do not have the answer to why this difference seems to disappear when the pupils leave secondary school and move into adult life.

Is the answer in the tests?

Literacy researchers Oddny Judith Solheim and Kjersti Lundetr of the Norwegian Reading Centre, University of Stavanger have investigated whether the design of the tests themselves can provide at least a partial explanation as to why the differences that become more pronounced as children progress through school, then disappear in 1624 year olds. The researchers studied the PIRLS (5th grade), PISA (10th grade) and PIAAC (adults) tests. They compared the tests in terms of the way they are designed, the way in which they measure reading, and the manner in which they are implemented.

All the tests apply the same definition of 'reading literacy': It is about being able to understand and use written text, and PISA and PIAAC also assess the ability to reflect on and evaluate texts.

To obtain a sufficiently extensive picture, the researchers at the Norwegian Reading Centre have examined the results of schoolchildren and adults in all of the Nordic countries. These countries are very similar, and have a high level of equality. But with a few exceptions, the gender differences in tests that measure reading tend to be equally great in Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway. The differences are apparent by the 5th grade, are greatest among 15 year olds, but then become imperceptibly small or completely absent in 1624 year olds.

"Based on earlier research, it appears that PIRLS and PISA  i.e. the tests used in schools  are designed in a way that may favour girls. PIAAC is designed differently. This could be one explanation as to why we are seeing gender differences in the results," says Solheim.

Continuous texts in the school tests

One of the characteristics of PISA and PIRLS is that these tests contain numerous 'continuous texts'. This means long texts, which may be descriptive, narrative, explanatory, etc. Previous research has shown that girls and women are generally better at reading such texts than boys and men. Boys and men are better at reading 'non-continuous texts', such as graphs, forms, advertisements, etc. A number of studies also show that the differences are greater in favour of girls when pupils have to read fictional texts, than when they read factual texts.

In PIRLS, i.e. the tests for 10 year olds, the vast majority of texts are continuous, and the distribution of fictional texts and factual texts is the same. In PISA, 60 per cent of the texts are continuous, and 15 per cent of the texts are fictional. However in PIAAC, there are equal numbers of continuous texts as non-continuous texts, and the participants only have to read factual texts.

"Since we know that it is an advantage for girls to read long, fictional texts, it could be giving them an advantage to provide them with this type of text in the reading tests, which could affect the results in terms of measuring pupils' skills," says Solheim.

Measuring reading through writing

Although there are no differences between young adult men and women when their reading skills are measured, several international studies show that girls and women are better at writing than boys and men. Some of the questions in PISA and PIRLS are multiple-choice, where pupils must select what they believe to be the correct answer. However, in recent years, more of the questions have been open-ended, requiring the pupils to provide a written answer. It is believed that this achieves a better picture of what the pupils have understood from the text, and how they reflect on it and assess it. Reading is then being measured through writing  which gives girls an advantage. In PISA, where the difference between girls and boys is greatest, 65 per cent of the exercises involve writing. In PIAAC, on the other hand, the participants do not need to write, and instead have to select words, sentences or extracts from the texts.

Several studies have shown that the gender differences are greater in written exercises than in multiple-choice questions, and that boys have a greater tendency to skip the written questions. For this reason, the two literacy researchers believe that we may say that in this aspect too, PISA and PIRLS are more girl-friendly than PIAAC.

Motivation

Motivation is an important element when we look at how reading skills are measured in these tests. Motivation to do one's best, to read the texts thoroughly, and actually to take the trouble to answer difficult written exercises. Differences in motivation to do the tests could explain a great deal of why girls appear to read better than boys at school, but not when they reach adulthood.

For example, earlier research shows that it is more difficult to motivate boys to be interested in a text than girls. The gender of the protagonist, the subject of the text and attitudes to the text or general subject play more of a role for boys in how well they perform when they have to read than for girls. For this reason, the researchers at the Norwegian Reading Centre believe that the test designers should take into account boys' motivation to read the texts they are given in the tests.

We also know that girls are more likely to do what is expected of them than boys. Boys are more likely to ask whether there is a point to what they have been asked to do, such as a test. We see the biggest differences in the tests that are performed in the 10th grade. This is a period during which pupils are facing many other challenges from their school.

"Since we know that boys are more critical about doing things that have no direct significance for them, it is conceivable that they are more likely to avoid expending energy on a test that will not affect their qualifications. Motivation could also explain part of the reason why the differences are greater at lower secondary school than primary school, since it is well known that teenagers are more likely to question authority, such as the school, than younger children," says Solheim.

While the pupils performed the tests at school, the adult participants in PIAAC were invited to do the test in their own home, supervised by a PIAAC representative. The participants in PIAAC were also rewarded for their contribution once they had completed the test.

The researchers suggest that when a person comes home to you and stays with you while you answer questionnaires and sit tests, and is offered an incentive to participate, it is reasonable to assume that you might feel more obligated to do your best, than someone sitting in a classroom who will not receive any particular reward for doing the test as well as they can. Is it therefore conceivable that the boys and men who underwent PIAAC were more likely to show the full extent of their reading ability, than the boys who took part in PISA.

Reason to be concerned?

The difference in reading between girls and boys has been highlighted as an educational challenge in most OECD countries, including Norway. Lundetr and Solheim believe that their findings must be taken into consideration in the design of tests aimed at measuring reading skills, and in the interpretation of the results of these reading studies.

"Reading is described as a skill, which we have the potential to achieve. We may question whether the various tests, in their current design, give boys and girls, and men and women, an equal basis for achieving their potential as readers. We now know that reading tests in schools are designed in a way that affects girls positively. We also have to question whether PIAAC reflects men's reading skills more accurately than PIRLS and PISA, or whether the adult tests may be giving the men an advantage. This means that the challenge now is to find out how we can create reading tests that accurately demonstrate the actual skills of all boys and girls, and men and women, in terms of reading. That would give us a better basis for saying whether there really is reason to be concerned about boys' reading skills," says Solheim.

More information: Oddny Judith Solheim et al. Can test construction account for varying gender differences in international reading achievement tests of children, adolescents and young adults?  A study based on Nordic results in PIRLS, PISA and PIAAC, Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice (2016). DOI: 10.1080/0969594X.2016.1239612
A specimen of Plantago rugelii collected in 2015 for comparison of heavy metal accumulation with historical specimens from the Brown University herbarium collection. Credit: Sofia M. Rudin, David W. Murray, and Timothy J. S. Whitfeld. From Rudin, Sofia M., David W. Murray, and Timothy J. S. Whitfeld. 2016. Retrospective analysis of heavy metal contamination in Rhode Island based on old and new herbarium specimens. Applications in Plant Sciences 5(1): 1600108. doi:10.3732/apps.1600108

Humans have long had a knack for concentrating heavy metals that would otherwise remain at low concentrations within the environment. These human-produced pollutants can be found going back as far as one million years ago with fires in caves during the Paleolithic Era, to industrial development in the 19th century, to increased concentrations of contaminants like cadmium and lead in the 20th century.

Because of the effects of heavy metal pollution on environmental and human health, measurement is criticalboth in determining current levels and in documenting historical levels. It can be challenging, though, to gather and analyze retrospective data, with methods including chemical analyses of archeological sites and comparison of historical records to sedimentary cores. In a recent article published in Applications in Plant Sciences, researchers at Brown University have demonstrated a unique resource that has been under our feet for decades: pressed herbaceous plants, labeled and stored as herbarium specimens.

Herbaria have long been a valuable resourcetraditionally to aid in identification of local florabut more recently to address ecological questions including invasive species and the effects of climate change. Likewise, plants have been used for decades as indicators of heavy metal pollution. This is one of the first studies, however, to demonstrate the efficacy of using herbarium specimens of herbaceous plants to track changes in heavy metal concentrations over time.

Using herbaceous plant specimens from Brown University's herbarium collected from 1846 to 1916, Dr. Tim Whitfeld, senior author of the study, and his colleagues extracted and quantified heavy metal concentrations including copper, lead, and zinc. The plant specimens used were collected from different areas around Providence, RI. Looking both across time and around a bustling industrial town at the turn of the 19th century, the authors were able to show that zinc and copper concentrations remained relatively consistent across time, and that lead concentrations reduced significantly from historical records compared to collections from the same areas in 2015.

The lead author on the study, Sofia Rudin, an undergraduate at Brown University, was the main motivation for the study. "While working as a herbarium assistant, digitizing our collection, she noticed many of the specimens had specific locality information for various sites around Providence that she knew were former industrial areas. This prompted her to ask whether these specimens could be used for the study we eventually completed," recalls Dr. Whitfeld.

Different plant species accumulate heavy metals in unique ways, which makes it challenging to take a broad swathe of plant samples for a simple side-by-side comparison. To control for this variability, it was important to match the species of historical samples with those found in the same area today. In a few instances this was not possible, and therefore the researchers were limited to sampling within the same genus. Additional challenges arose because of the nature of utilizing historical collections.

Whitfeld explains, "Sofia encountered particular problems with the analysis of mercury concentrations because of the historical use of mercuric chloride as an insecticide in herbarium collections. It was impossible to accurately assess Hg [mercury] concentrations in the plant because the insecticide treatment saturated the sensor. This was unfortunate because documenting changes to Hg [mercury] through time was originally one of our research goals."

Despite these challenges, the authors were still able to emphasize broader trends in heavy metal accumulation in the Providence area, namely decreases in lead concentrations due in part to Environmental Protection Agency regulations but also to targeted remediation efforts in a historically active industrial area.

Whitfeld and his colleagues aren't finished yet. According to Whitfeld, "Sofia is building on this project with a more detailed analysis of heavy metal concentrations at one of our study sites. Her work includes analysis of pond sediments, soils, and more collecting to document plant diversity... We're also hoping to cast a broader net across Providence with an analysis of historical specimens of Plantago [plantain] in an attempt to match terrestrial trends in heavy metal concentration with measurements taken from nearby marine sediments in Narragansett Bay [south of Providence]."

In addition to the study's goal of demonstrating the usefulness of herbarium specimens to measure levels of heavy metal concentrations, the study had a second, equally important goal. As Whitfeld explains, "We wanted to highlight the relevance of herbarium collections for a wide variety of ecological questions, in order to highlight their importance across the biological and environmental sciences."

The list of ecological questions that herbaria can target is long, and includes biogeography, ethnobotany, tracking invasive species, plant diseases, and studying the impact of climate change on flowering times. The impact of herbaria on research doesn't stop there though. As Dr. Whitfeld elaborates, "Herbarium collections are particularly valuable tools in undergraduate science education. It's been my experience that students are especially motivated to contribute to the collections and including opportunities for collecting and offering field experience for this to happen is an effective way to engage students in botany. Therefore, if universities invest in maintaining their herbarium collections there is a great payoff in terms of increased educational opportunities."

In addition to the benefit to educational opportunities, investments in herbaria result in increased potential for further retrospective studies. "The many online herbarium portals that compile digital images and label data from across different collections are useful for any type of study that requires more specimens than contained in the researcher's home collection," notes Whitfeld. "It's especially important for smaller herbaria to be able to search and access collections from larger institutions in order to broaden their studies."

More information: Sofia M. Rudin et al, Retrospective Analysis of Heavy Metal Contamination in Rhode Island Based on Old and New Herbarium Specimens, Applications in Plant Sciences (2017). DOI: 10.3732/apps.1600108 Journal information: Applications in Plant Sciences

Provided by Botanical Society of America
The gig: David Glickman, 51, is co-founder and chief executive of Ultra Mobile, a prepaid mobile carrier that provides low-cost, no-contract SIM cards with a focus on immigrants living in the U.S. The company, headquartered outside Los Angeles, leases wireless telephone and data infrastructure from T-Mobile.

The pitch: Glickman said Ultra draws customers who can't afford the high cost of overseas calls or who don't want the complications of using a calling card. The customer provides the phone and buys an Ultra SIM card from independent wireless stores or other retailers including Target, CVS and 7-Eleven. Plans start at $19 a month for, as Glickman puts it, "unlimited everything" in the U.S. and internationally.

Fast starter: Ultra Mobile topped Inc. magazine's 2015 list of the nation's fastest growing private companies, based on the firm's 2014 revenue of $118 million after only three years of operation. Glickman also ran Inc.'s fastest growing company of 1998, a telecom operation called Justice Technology.

Affluenza vaccine: Growing up among children who seemed to have an endless supply of things, including cars, Glickman said he felt like "the poorest kid in Beverly Hills." But his father, Albert, a real estate developer, and his mother, Judy, a homemaker for four children, were adamant. "If I wanted it, I had to work to go get it. I learned at an early age to be an entrepreneur," Glickman said. Some of the teens who "were receiving anything they ever wanted kind of thing ended up with afflicted with affluenza. It kills motivation."

Birdman: In addition to getting part-time work at a grocery store as a teenager, Glickman realized that pet stores were selling him the birds he loved for $20, but paying him $4 for their offspring. He wound up buying birds from importers for $2 each and selling them to pet stores for $4.

His calling: Glickman earned a bachelor's degree in entrepreneurship from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a master's degree in educational psychology from UCLA. "When I went to business school it was the easiest education of my life," he said. "It was professors giving names to exactly the way that I thought about things."

Express education: After college, Glickman backpacked through South American for a few months, enough to become fluent in Spanish. He landed in Argentina, working for American Express. "I did three months in every department," he said, "and so now I'm learning how big business works and every aspect of it through American Express."

Expat blues: Perhaps nothing motivates problem solving better than personal experience. For Glickman, it was phoning home to the U.S. at shocking expense because the Argentine phone service was a monopoly - $4 a minute to call the U.S., but just 50 cents a minute when the call originated in the U.S.

"I came up with a little system where I would call a little box, let it ring once and let it hang up," Glickman said. "The box was programmed to then call my phone number back in Argentina. Then I would answer it, and then I would from there do a three-way call and call whoever I wanted. I was paying U.S. rates while living in Argentina. I said, 'You know what? Why don't I do this for businesses?'" Glickman said it saved American Express about $25,000 a month in long-distance calling.

Multitasking: The idea led him to start his own telecom company, TelePacific, in 1993. Just five years later, he had hired a new CEO, moved over to the TelePacific board and started Justice Technology. Other startups followed, with Glickman sometimes overseeing two companies at once. He's doing it again now, having launched a company called Primo Connect in 2006.

Serial formula: Asked how he does it, Glickman makes it sound simple. "I went to Wall Street, I raised a few hundred million dollars, and started a company," he said, referring to how he began TelePacific, his first telecom company, and went on to create others.

Practicing psychology: That master's degree, Glickman says, has helped him understand that "what the other party wants is probably the most important lesson that I've learned. Not trying to manipulate them or convince them or tell them they want something that they don't know that they want. It's more about providing a solution to what they're already looking for."

Hands off: Glickman said his father had a way of telling someone not only what to do but precisely how he wanted it done. Glickman's rebellion was to develop a different leadership style. "I will say, 'This is the result I want, and I don't really care how you do it. I don't really get involved with the details of how you get the job done, just the result.'"

Team builder: "I might have a great idea, but if I don't have really great people in the company implementing those ideas, then the company will not be as standout as these companies have been." Ultra Mobile has about 150 employees in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Personal: Glickman lives in Los Angeles County with his wife of nearly 19 years, Paige. They have four children ages 8 to 16. Glickman served for 11 years on the board that oversees the LA Philharmonic and the Hollywood Bowl. "My wife and I love the Hollywood Bowl. You'll find us there maybe two to three times a week in the summer," he said.

2017 Los Angeles Times

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Top: Diacamma ant. Diacamma ants show no physical differences between the worker and reproductive castes, and each individual has the potential to reproduce up to early adulthood. Bottom: Representing the more typical condition, Wasmannia auropunctata queens are surrounded by much smaller worker ants. Differences between queens and workers are fixed in early larval development. Credit: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology

Social insects, such as ants, bees and wasps, display an organizational complexity, called eusociality, where individual members of a colony act more like parts of a whole rather than independent organisms. In their colonies, each individual performs specific tasks based on which caste they belong to: either the reproductive caste or the worker caste. In many species, the reproductive role is determined in early development  by the time they are adults, queens and workers have set roles, complete with distinct appearances and functions. Remarkably, although ants, bees and wasps all evolved eusociality separately, all of their societies display this caste distinction. This begs the question: in these different organisms, have the same, or similar, genes evolved to differentiate social castes?

One way to answer this question is to look at exceptions to the general rule. In many ant species, queen ants are much larger than their worker counterparts. However, in some species, such as the native Okinawan Diacamma species, there are few differences in appearance between the worker caste and reproductive caste. These species are called "queenless ants" as a result, though a social hierarchy that includes both reproductive and worker castes exists within their colonies.

The lack of physiological differences between the different castes makes Diacamma a particular intriguing ant to study. "Unlike most ant species, where the ability to reproduce is determined during early development, Diacamma display an unusual biology in that every ant has the potential to become part of the reproductive caste until early adulthood," explains Prof. Alexander Mikheyev, leader of the Ecology and Evolution Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST). When adult female Diacamma ants first emerge from their pupal case, they have a pair of wing-like structures called gemmae. Every female who retains her gemmae can reproduce, but horrifyingly, the reigning reproductive female, called a gamergate, attacks these young ants and mutilates the gemmae. This violent mutilation prohibits these females from developing ovaries, causing irreversible sterility. The sterile females then become part of the worker caste. However, if no gamergate is present, young females retain their gemmae and become part of the reproductive caste.

The scientists wanted to determine how this mutilation affects the ants at the molecular level. To do this, the Ecology and Evolution Unit at OIST collaborated with researchers at the University of the Ryukyus and the University of Tokyo to collect Diacamma colonies from different locations on the island of Okinawa and study their gene expression patterns. In every organism, genes can be turned "on" or "off" depending on how they are regulated. Organisms with identical DNA can have different appearances, abilities, or functionalities based on which genes are turned "on", or expressed.

"We wanted to compare gene expression between the mutilated and non-mutilated ants at the same stage in development to see which genes determined caste differentiation." Mikheyev describes, "from there, we could compare the gene expression patterns between different castes in Diacamma ants to those of other species to elucidate the evolutionary origins of eusociality." This research revealed that only a small number of genes differentiated the reproductive caste from the worker caste, primarily in genes related to nutrition. This hints that increased energy requirement of reproduction may be a factor in the evolution of eusociality.

Some of these genes have also been found to affect caste determination in other species, such as bees, wasps and other ants, though typically during development. The Ecology and Evolution Unit at OIST plans to use the results, published in Molecular Ecology, from this study to further investigate the evolutionary origins of eusociality. "We are in the process of conducting a follow-up study, comparing developmental profiles of gene expression in ants and honey bees, to explore parallels in how castes repeatedly evolved" says Mikheyev.

More information: Yasukazu Okada et al. Social dominance alters nutrition-related gene expression immediately: transcriptomic evidence from a monomorphic queenless ant, Molecular Ecology (2017). DOI: 10.1111/mec.13989 Journal information: Molecular Ecology
A dramatic plume sprays water ice and vapor from the south polar region of Saturn's moon Enceladus. Cassini's first hint of this plume came during the spacecraft's first close flyby of the icy moon on February 17, 2005. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

On Feb. 17, 2005, NASA's Cassini spacecraft was making the first-ever close pass over Saturn's moon Enceladus as it worked through its detailed survey of the planet's icy satellites. Exciting, to be sure, just for the thrill of exploration. But then Cassini's magnetometer instrument noticed something odd.

Since NASA's two Voyager spacecraft made their distant flybys of Enceladus about 20 years prior, scientists had anticipated the little moon would be an interesting place to visit with Cassini. Enceladus is bright whitethe most reflective object in the solar system, in factand it orbits in the middle of a faint ring of dust-sized ice particles known as Saturn's E ring. Scientists speculated ice dust was being kicked off its surface somehow. But they presumed it would be, essentially, a dead, airless ball of ice.

What Cassini saw didn't look like a frozen, airless body. Instead, it looked something like a comet that was actively emitting gas. The magnetometer detected that Saturn's magnetic field, which envelops Enceladus, was perturbed above the moon's south pole in a way that didn't make sense for an inactive world. Could it be that the moon was actively replenishing gases it was breathing into space?

Thus began a hunt for clues that has turned out to be Cassini's most riveting detective story. "Enceladus was so exciting that, instead of just three close flybys planned for our four-year primary mission, we added 20 more, including seven that went right through the geysers at the south pole," said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.

Credit: Jet Propulsion Laboratory

By following the trail of scientific breadcrumbs, Cassini eventually found that Enceladus harbors a global ocean of salty water under its icy crust, possibly with hydrothermal vents on its seafloor. The trail of clues that began with a puzzling magnetometer reading led to an understanding that the moonand perhaps many small, icy moons like it throughout the cosmoscould potentially have the ingredients needed for life.

"Half the excitement of doing science is that you sometimes find yourself going in a totally different direction than you expected, which can lead to amazing discoveries," said Spilker. "That little anomaly in Cassini's magnetometer signal was unusual enough that it eventually led us to an ocean world."

Launched in 1997, the Cassini mission is currently in its final year of operations, performing weekly ring-grazing dives just past the outer edge of Saturn's rings. In April, the spacecraft will begin its Grand Finale, plunging through the gap between the rings and the planet itself, leading up to a final plunge into Saturn on September 15.

Cassini has been touring the Saturn system since arriving in 2004 for an up-close study of the planet, its rings and moons, and its vast magnetosphere. Cassini has made numerous dramatic discoveries, besides the activity at Enceladus, including liquid methane seas on another moon, Titan.

More information: For a timeline of Cassini's Enceladus discoveries, visit go.nasa.gov/2k0CRP3
High performance materials and structures are needed for safe and affordable next generation exploration systems such as transit vehicles, habitats, and power systems. Credit: NASA

NASA has selected proposals for the creation of two multi-disciplinary, university-led research institutes that will focus on the development of technologies critical to extending human presence deeper into our solar system.

The new Space Technology Research Institutes (STRIs) created under these proposals will bring together researchers from various disciplines and organizations to collaborate on the advancement of cutting-edge technologies in bio-manufacturing and space infrastructure, with the goal of creating and maximizing Earth-independent, self-sustaining exploration mission capabilities.

"NASA is establishing STRIs to research and exploit cutting-edge advances in technology with the potential for revolutionary impact on future aerospace capabilities," said Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator for NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington. "These university-led, multi-disciplinary research programs promote the synthesis of science, engineering and other disciplines to achieve specific research objectives with credible expected outcomes within five years. At the same time, these institutes will expand the U.S. talent base in areas of research and development with broader applications beyond aerospace."

Each STRI will receive up to $15 million over the five-year period of performance. The selected new institutes are:

Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space (CUBES)

As NASA shifts its focus from low-Earth orbit to deep space missions, the agency is investing in the development of technologies that will allow long-duration mission crews to manufacture the products they need, rather than relying on the current practice of resupply missions from Earth.

The CUBES institute will advance research into an integrated, multi-function, multi-organism bio-manufacturing system to produce fuel, materials, pharmaceuticals and food. While the research goals of the CUBES institute are to benefit deep-space planetary exploration, these goals also lend themselves to practical Earth-based applications. For example, the emphasis on using carbon dioxide as the base component for materials manufacturing has relevance to carbon dioxide management on Earth.

Advanced biological engineering techniques are rapidly emerging that can lead to innovative approaches for in situ biological manufacturing techniques using microbes and plants, and provide the means to create sustainable technologies for both future space exploration and terrestrial applications. Credit: NASA

The CUBES team is led by Adam Arkin, principal investigator at the University of California, Berkeley, in partnership with Utah State University, the University of California, Davis, Stanford University, and industrial partners Autodesk and Physical Sciences, Inc.

Institute for Ultra-Strong Composites by Computational Design (US-COMP)

Affordable deep space exploration will require transformative materials for the manufacturing of next-generation transit vehicles, habitats, power systems, and other exploration systems. These building materials need to be lighter and stronger than those currently used in even the most advanced systems.

US-COMP aims to develop and deploy a carbon nanotube-based, ultra-high strength, lightweight aerospace structural material within five years. Success will mean a critical change to the design paradigm for space structures. Through collaboration with industry partners, it is anticipated that advances in laboratories could quickly translate to advances in manufacturing facilities that will yield sufficient amounts of advanced materials for use in NASA missions.

Results of this research will have broad societal impacts, as well. Rapid development and deployment of the advanced materials created by the institute could support an array of Earthly applications and benefit the U.S. manufacturing sector.

US-COMP is a multidisciplinary team of 22 faculty members led by Gregory Odegard, principal investigator at the Michigan Technological University, in partnership with Florida State University, University of Utah, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Florida A&M University, Johns Hopkins University, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Minnesota, Pennsylvania State University, University of Colorado and Virginia Commonwealth University. Industrial partners include Nanocomp Technologies and Solvay, with the U.S. Air Force Research Lab as a collaborator.

These awards are funded by NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate, which is responsible for developing the cross-cutting, pioneering, new technologies and capabilities needed by the agency to achieve its current and future missions.

More information: For more information about STMD, visit www.nasa.gov/spacetech

Provided by NASA
A worker dries coffee beans at Las Nubes processing plant in Waswali Community, in Matagalpa, some 130 km from Managua

With climate change threatening crops in many parts of the world, Nicaragua is turning to a robust variety of coffee bean to protect one of its key exports.

The appropriately named robusta coffee comes from the Coffea canephora plant, which is being increasingly planted in the Central American country under government authorization.

The sturdy variety is easier to care for, higher in caffeine, faster to produce fruit and more disease-resistant than the more popular Arabica sort Nicaragua traditionally growsalthough it is of lower quality, fetching a lower price.

However, its advantages make it better suited to ride out climate change and bring benefits to smaller producers, industry groups say.

"Robusta coffee production has proven its profitability through its high productivity, low production costs and high potential," says Luis Chamorro, an executive with the Mercon group, which plans to plant the variety on 7,000 hectares (17,300 acres) it owns on the eastern side of the country.

Lower 'prestige'?

But not everyone is convinced.

Some producers worry that the new focus on robusta could affect Arabica production and prestige.

"If we change to a variety that damages our coffee-growing sector and the prestige of quality, that would be an error we shouldn't make and it could cost us dearly," warns Leonel Lopez, a coffee farmer in the northern Nueva Segovia region.

Robusta coffee comes from the Coffea canephora plant, which is being increasingly planted in the Nicaragua under government authorization

The stakes are high for Nicaragua, a poor country that depends on its coffee sector, which brings in $400 million in export revenues and employs hundreds of thousands of people.

However, a lengthy drought over the past two years and a blight that has affected most of the coffee plantationsruining hundreds of smaller outfitshas prompted the diversification to robusta.

Keeping varieties separate

More bitter and acidic, the robusta bean is often mixed with other varieties, especially for instant coffee.

The government authorized its planting in the eastern lowlands five years ago. Last December, the agriculture ministry decided to expand the order to some fields in the west.

To stop robusta coffee plants from invading Arabica-producing fields, they are planted at least 30 kilometers (20 miles) apart.

More bitter and acidic, the robusta bean is often mixed with other varieties, especially for instant coffee

"We believe both varieties can exist alongside each other, as already happens in Brazil and in Vietnam," says Michael Healy, president of the UPANIC farmers' association.

The 2016-2017 robusta harvest should yield more than 1,800 tons, Chamorro said. That's around two percent of the total coffee volume produced in the country.

 2017 AFP
Climate change from political and ecological standpoints is a constant in the media and with good reason, said a Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist, but proof of its impact is sometimes found in unlikely places.

"Discussions of climate change usually are focused on changes occurring in polar and temperate zones, but tropical regions also are expected to experience changes in regional precipitation," said Dr. Kirk Winemiller, AgriLife Research fisheries scientist and Regents Professor in the department of wildlife and fisheries sciences at College Station.

Winemiller and his Brazilian colleagues analyzed a long-term database, 1999-2014, of fish survey statistics and hydrology in the central Amazon and discovered a direct correlation between water quantity and quality with the types and number of fish species found.

"The change occurred following the severe drought in that region in 2005, and the hydrologic regime and fish assemblage have not returned to their previous states since," Winemiller said.

The research report, "Simultaneous abrupt shifts in hydrology and fish assemblage structure in a floodplain lake in the central Amazon," was published recently in Scientific Reports.

"The Amazon region is showing evidence of altered rainfall patterns," Winemiller said. "Until this study, with few exceptions, studies of potential effects of climate change in the Amazon have focused on forests and other organisms on land.

"Since the drought, many fish species are less abundant within the study area, while others have increased. Smaller species with high reproductive rates have increased, while large species, including those with the highest consumer market value, have become less prevalent."

As an example, Winemiller cited the relative abundance of the tambaqui, Colossoma macropomum, one of the region's most valuable species in Amazon fish markets, declined in relative abundance within the study area after the 2005 drought and has not increased its numbers since. He said the species feeds on fruits and seeds in flooded forests and is sensitive to changes in the annual flood regime hydrology.

Winemiller said the changes within the fish species appeared to be associated with how the fish species respond differently to changes in habitat quality and the connectivity of the river channel with aquatic habitats in the floodplain at various water levels and times of the year.

"The study reveals that climate change is impacting tropical regions with consequences not only for terrestrial ecosystems, but for aquatic ecosystem dynamics, biodiversity and fisheries as well," he said. "It shows that future fisheries management in tropical regions will need to account for how changes in precipitation and hydrology influence ecological factors affecting fish stocks."

More information: Cristhiana P. Ropke et al. Simultaneous abrupt shifts in hydrology and fish assemblage structure in a floodplain lake in the central Amazon, Scientific Reports (2017). DOI: 10.1038/srep40170 Journal information: Scientific Reports
Fresh market produce farmers and marketers of farm products are invited to attend a fresh market growers educational meeting series that will focus on a number of topics for beginning market growers, specifically for farmers markets and road-side stand marketers of fruit, vegetables and other farm products.

Topics will include tips for product display and presentation, best practices for creating and retaining a customer base, pricing considerations, post-harvest handling recommendations and more. Speakers include market vendors from across the state who will share what they have learned from customers and years of direct marketing produce through farmers markets and road-side stands.

The first meeting in the series will take place on Friday, Feb. 17 from 10 a.m.  2:30 p.m. at the Jackson Electric Cooperative community room, N6868 County Rd F, Black River Falls. Kristin Krokowski, farmer market grower and Waukesha County commercial vegetable agent will discuss marketing techniques for farmers markets and road-side stands from 10 - 11:30 a.m. and considerations for implementing EBT machines at farmers markets from 11:30 a.m.  noon.

Trisha Wagner, Jackson County UW-Extension agriculture agent, will introduce a new online mapping tool for local farm marketers offered free of charge through UW-Extension at 1 p.m. The WI Local Food Locator mapping tool is an effort to connect rural local food producers to local food consumers. The tool also generates professional marketing materials for farms including business cards and flyers. In addition, a new grant available for Jackson County farmers to conduct basic and specific nutrient soil testing will be presented to participants.

Programs are open to all area market vendors and $10.00 includes all materials, lunch and refreshments. Registration is appreciated for each program for material and lunch count.

Contact the Jackson County UW-Extension to register or for more information call 715-284-4257.
Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., gets into a car to leave after attending a hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. The billionaire heir to Samsung, South Korea's most successful and best known conglomerate, made his second attempt Thursday to block efforts by prosecutors to arrest him on bribery and other charges in connection with a corruption scandal that has engulfed the country's president. (Choi Jae-koo/Yonhap via AP)

South Korea was taken by surprise Friday with the arrest of the scion of the country's richest family and de-facto leader at Samsung over his alleged involvement in a massive corruption scandal that engulfed the president and riveted the nation.

Prosecutors believe Lee Jae-yong, 48, a vice chairman at Samsung Electronics and the only son of the ailing Samsung chairman, gave bribes worth $36 million to President Park Geun-hye and her close friend to help win government support for a smooth company leadership transition, including a contentious merger of two Samsung companies.

A look at how his arrest affects the electronics giant:

LITTLE IMPACT ON PHONE, TV BUSINESSES

Some conservative commentators are worried that Lee's arrest could hurt Samsung's businesses and therefore the economy, which relies on such companies for exports and jobs.

But others dismiss such concern as exaggerated. "What would affect its businesses are the Galaxy phone's success, the performance of the semiconductor sector and how fast Chinese rivals are catching up, not whether Lee Jae-yong is arrested or not," said Park Sang-in, a professor at Seoul National University.

Chiefs of companies such as Hyundai Motor Group and SK Group have been jailed before but still ran their companies from behind bars.

Lee Jae-yong, center, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., leaves after attending a hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. The billionaire heir to Samsung, South Korea's most successful and best known conglomerate, made his second attempt Thursday to block efforts by prosecutors to arrest him on bribery and other charges in connection with a corruption scandal that has engulfed the country's president. (Choi Jae-koo/Yonhap via AP)

Samsung Electronics, which is the world's largest maker of mobile phones, TVs and computer memory chips, has three separate chief executive officers each overseeing its electronic component, mobile phone and television divisions.

But long-term business decisions, such as appointing executives and deciding on mergers and acquisitions, may be put on hold. Samsung normally announces personnel reshuffling and promotions each December, but postponed those announcements in 2016 as it was dragged deeper into the political scandal.

Lee is not the first in his family to face criminal charges. His father was convicted in 2008 and 2009 for embezzlement and tax evasion related to business dealings designed to pass down wealth to his son. Lee Kun-hee, the ailing chairman, stepped away from his role at the company when prosecutors indicted him in 2008. The younger Lee will likely follow a similar course and stay away from leadership role once investigators formally bring charges against him.

___

FAMILY SUCCESSION HITS SNAG

As he stepped up his role in the absence of his ailing father, Lee was seen as the new face of Samsung, fluent in foreign languages and educated oversees. Since Lee assumed a bigger role, Samsung promised to inject the company's top-down hierarchy with a nimble, startup-like attitude. Corruption allegations similar to those that took down his father may mean the damage to Lee's reputation is irreversible.

Prosecutors were able to secure Lee's arrest in their second attempt, thanks to new evidence showing President Park's broader involvement in Samsung's family succession plan. Initially, prosecutors focused on their argument that Samsung offered bribes and in return, the government backed a controversial merger of two Samsung companies in 2015, which was a key step in the leadership transition.

Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., gets into a car to leave after attending a hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. The billionaire heir to Samsung, South Korea's most successful and best known conglomerate, made his second attempt Thursday to block efforts by prosecutors to arrest him on bribery and other charges in connection with a corruption scandal that has engulfed the country's president. (Choi Jae-koo/Yonhap via AP)

But after the initial request was dismissed, additional evidence from a notebook that belonged to a top presidential adviser showed that the government gave favors to Samsung in other areas related to the Lee family's father-to-son succession, said Lee Kyu-chul, a spokesman for the special prosecution team.

Thanks to the family's decadeslong succession plan, the 48-year-old heir to Samsung was able to amass enormous wealth even before starting his own business.

Lee's net worth is estimated at $6 billion. Here's how: In 1995, the elder Lee gave his only son, then in his 20s, 6 billion won ($52 million), which became the seed money to purchase unlisted stock in several Samsung companies. And during the next two decades those unlisted Samsung companies saw increased revenues based on lucrative deals done with other Samsung firms. The shares could then be sold when the companies went public. Some Samsung securities were sold at illegally cheap prices to Lee before he sold them off with huge returns, which later led to the conviction of his father.

___

OPPORTUNITY FOR REFORM?

With the Samsung scion's arrest, others saw an opportunity to change a business community long criticized for poor corporate governance and a lack of transparency.

Even though Lee has less than a 1 percent stake in Samsung Electronics and his father owns a 3.5 percent stake, the family's influence on the consumer electronics giant and other Samsung companies exceed other shareholders thanks in part to the way they control the business empire through a complicated web of cross-shareholding.

In this Feb. 13, 2017 file photo, Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, arrives to be questioned as a suspect in a corruption scandal at the office of the independent counsel in Seoul. A South Korean court approved on Friday, Feb. 17 the arrest of a billionaire heir to Samsung accused of bribery and other charges in connection to a massive corruption scandal, a stunning decline for the princeling of South Korea's richest family. (Jung Yeon-Je/Pool Photo via AP)

The merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries in 2015 was one example showing how the Lee family could exert an outsized influence on Samsung Group.

Opponents of the merger, mostly minority shareholders, said the deal unfairly benefits the founding family while hurting other shareholders by devaluing the price of one company.

Samsung narrowly won the shareholder approval thanks to the support from the National Pension Fund, its key investor. Lee became the majority shareholder of the merged entity and he gained control over Samsung Electronics stock owned by Samsung C&T before the merger. If Lee had bought more Samsung Electronics stock, it would have cost him billions of dollars. But by merging two companies, he did not have to spend a penny.

"The arrest of Lee Jae-yong should provide a momentum for fundamental changes to end the collusion between the government and businesses, and reform the chaebol," said Park, referring to the family-controlled business conglomerates that dominate the economy.

 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Credit: University of Virginia

Shakespeare's Juliet famously asked, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet." She argued that Romeo's surname, Montague  that of her family's rival house  was a mere title with no real bearing on his "dear perfection" to her.

New research shows that public policy may benefit from the same untethering. A recent study by the University of Virginia's Craig Volden suggests that lawmakers are more receptive to new policy proposals when they've been scrubbed of references to the rival "house," or political party.

Volden, a professor of public policy and politics and associate dean for academic affairs at UVA's Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, says that ideologically similar states and localities often adopt similar policies, but he and his colleagues began to question whether that was due solely to like-minded preferences.

"I wanted to know, 'Is this really taking place because policymakers are ideologically predisposed to some policies? Or is it because they actually refuse to learn from other policymakers who are ideologically diverse?'" he said.

Volden and his fellow researchers devised a way to study if local officials, even before reading about the structure and effectiveness of a policy, were inclined to dismiss it, if that policy was associated with members of the opposite party.

Together with colleagues from Washington University in St. Louis, Brigham Young University and Georgetown University, he created survey questions to gauge policy bias in municipal governments. They recently published an article on their findings, "Ideology, Learning and Policy Diffusion: Experimental Evidence," in the American Journal of Political Science.

"The way we were describing it was, 'This is a policy that was adopted in another city. Would you like to learn about it?'" Volden said.

Craig Volden is a professor of public policy and politics and associate dean for academic affairs at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Credit: Dan Addison, University Communications

To some respondents, the policy was described primarily as a success or a failure. But to others, it was described as a proposal from a specific party. Researchers plugged these scenarios into the American Municipal Officials Survey and found that while ideological differences negatively impact willingness to learn about outside policies, the biases that might turn officials away from new policy ideas can be overcome.

The survey results suggested that placing the emphasis on the success of a policy, or on the fact that it was a co-partisan policy experiment, and de-emphasizing any link to the opposing political party significantly increases policymakers' willingness to learn about it. In other words, officials are more likely to try a new idea if they know it only as a proven success, or if they know other members of their party have tried it.

For this particular study, Volden and his colleagues focused only on the local level and tested policies that had to do with zoning and home foreclosures.

"This time the policies we discussed were government interventions, so they did have something of a liberal bend to them, but we would expect the same results for policies that traditionally align with conservative views," Volden said. "There's no evidence to suggest that bias affects conservatives more than liberals or vice versa."

He explained that the ultimate goal of the study was not to expose bias in one side or the other, but to show strategies to overcome it so that policymakers might be more willing to experiment and learn from their peers about practices that have worked. This new data is especially important for "policy entrepreneurs" pushing for experimentation and improvements in government.

"Policy entrepreneurs can be any number of people or groups. One example is the National Association of County and City Health Officials," Volden said. "They are trying to come up with a campaign to limit children's use of sugar-sweetened beverages. They're talking to a variety of cities and counties and saying, 'Here are some policies you could try out.' They don't know what will work exactly, but they would like there to be broader experimentation and learning."

To Volden, the essential result of using strategies to overcome bias is to spur more conversation. A greater willingness to discuss policy on its merits is good for both sides of the aisle, especially among local government officials who can have more leeway for trial and error.

"Since there's so much partisanship, polarization and gridlock at the national level, a lot of policymaking and implementation falls to the local and state levels," Volden said. "We did find that they were polarized somewhat also, but that those biases could be overcome through this learning process."
- A Court of Appeal judgement declared Ali Modu Sheriff as the national party chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),

- The PDP Governors Forum and Board of Trustee has kicked against the judgement

- The Governors Forum has promised to seek judgement further by taking the case to Supreme Court

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum led by Governor Ayo Fayose and the Board of Trustee of the party have spoken against the judgement of a Court of Appeal declaring Ali Modu Sheriff as the national party chairman.

Ayo Fayose who spoke on behalf of the Governors Forum said: The outcome of the Port Harcourt Court of Appeal that reinstated Sheriff against the will of the people, is nothing but a violation of our democracy.

PDP leadership battle: Governors Forum and Board of Trustee against Court of Appeal ruling

READ ALSO: APC behind seized Ekiti allocation - PDP

If the people truly symbolizes what a party is, then the machination of our detractors and the anti-democratic organs will not prevail at last.

We commend the minority judgment of the lower court and we believe the truth will prevail. Thank God we have another opportunity to seek justice at the Supreme Court, which I believe will not be delayed or denied.

The party will appeal the judgement as we believe in the ability of the judiciary to do justice, however we plead with our members, leaders and supporters to calm down as we keep hope alive.

If this is a price to pay, to keep our democracy alive and opposition strengthened, we are prepared to go the whole hug.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the latest News on Legit.ng News App

Chairman of the BoT, Senator Walid Jibrin, also said the BoT, and other organs of the PDP are behind Makarfi and its committee. 

Meanwhile, former aviation minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, has also criticised the Appeal Court verdict which confirmed Ali Modu Sheriff as the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The former minister described the verdict as absurd, saying it was time for party members who shared his line of thought to leave the party for Sheriff and form a new party.

Source: Legit.ng
Following a Court of Appeal ruling declaring former Borno state governor, Ali Modu Sherrif as the national party chairman of Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP), his supportesr in Delta state took to the street to celebrate him amidst songs and praises.

Ali modu Sheriff became the national party chairman of People's Democratic Party (PDP) after a Court of Appeal set aside a Federal High Court judgement delivered Justice Mohammed Liman which recognised Senator Ahmed Makarfi as the chairman of the party.

PDP members in Delta celebrate Ali Modu Sheriff's emergence as national party chariman

His supporters in Delta state took to the street waving PDP's flag as they danced to the PDP secretariat in the state.

READ ALSO: Appeal Court verdict is a victory for Buhari  Fani-Kayode

PDP members in Delta celebrate Ali Modu Sheriff's emergence as national party chariman

There are pictures of Ali Modu Sheriff drinking and reportedly singing praises of Sheriff's victory over Markaffi.

PDP members in Delta celebrate Ali Modu Sheriff's emergence as national party chariman

PDP members in Delta celebrate Ali Modu Sheriff's emergence as national party chariman

PAY ATTENTION: Get the latest News on Legit.ng News App

Meanwhile, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum led by Governor Ayo Fayose and the Board of Trustee of the party have spoken against the judgement of the Court of Appeal declaring Ali Modu Sheriff as the national party chairman.

Ayo Fayose who spoke on behalf of the Governors Forum said: The outcome of the Port Harcourt Court of Appeal that reinstated Sheriff against the will of the people, is nothing but a violation of our democracy."

Source: Legit.ng
The race for Nigeria's presidency might begin sooner than expected, as major actors have started aligning their interests for the role ahead of the next general elections in 2019.

This would be so if the rumours making the rounds that President Muhammadu Buhari might not contest for another term in office.

Though some of these politicians have not openly made their interests known, there are strong indications that they may be discreetly melting loose wall with foes and strengthening existing relationship with friends and allies.

Legit.ng brings you the 6 Northerners who may replace Buhari in 2019:

1. Atiku Abubakar (a former vice-present of Nigeria and a former presidential candidate)

Atiku Abubakar

Abubakar was the second elected vice president of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007, on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

READ ALSO: Prophet Predicts Atiku Will Be Nigeria's Next President

The former vice president left PDP to join the All Progressives Congress (APC) on February 2, 2014. There are reports that Atiku will be seeking to contest for the Nigerian presidency in 2019, on the party's platform.

This would be making it his fourth attempt as he had contested for presidency 3 times in 1992, 2006 and 2011.

2. Nuhu Ribadu (a former EFCC chairman and a former presidential candidate of the ACN)

Nuhu Ribadu

Ribadu was the former chairman of the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and former presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

He lived in exile until 2010 when he returned to Nigeria and declared his intention to run for president 2011.

The former EFCC boss defected to the opposition, PDP, in 2014 with the intention to run for governorship of Adamawa state.

3. Nasir El-Rufai (a former FCT minister and the current Kaduna state governor)

Nasir El-Rufai

The incumbent Kaduna state governor is rumoured to be the unofficial vice president of Nigeria.

A member of the APC, El-Rufai was the former director general of the Bureau of Public Enterprises. He was reportedly in self-exile during the administration of former President Umaru Yar'Adua.

El-Rufai was with President Buhari during the days of struggle in the now defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). He is a close ally of Buhari. During the build up to the 2015 general election, it was learnt that the president practically forced him on Kaduna APC as there were other candidates in the party that could have clinched the ticket.

4. Sule Lamido (the two-time governor of Jigawa state)

Sule Lamido

The former Jigawa state governor served as the foreign minister of from 1999 to 2003 under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

He was elected the governor of Jigawa state in April 2007. He is a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He ran successfully for reelection on April 26, 2011.

5. Rabiu Kwankwaso (the two-time governor of Kano state and the current senator)

Former Kano state governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso

Source: Facebook

Kwankwaso served as the governor of Kano state from 1999 to 2003 and from 2011 to 2015. He lost his re-election bid to Governor Ibrahim Shekarau who was in office from 2003 to 2011.

In 2015, he ran for president on the APC platform but had lost the partys presidential ticket to Muhammadu Buhari, ending in second place.

He then successfully contested the senatorial election to represent Kano State Central Senatorial District at the expiration of his tenure.

6. Aminu Masari (the current Katsina state governor)

Aminu Masari

He is quiet politician but very effective. Masari is a very experienced in the intricacies of the Nigerias political firmament. He is President Buharis kinsman and the present governor of Katsina state. He is also a former speaker of the House of Representatives. The governor was able to lead the house successfully without rancour between 2003 and 2007.

In the build up to the 2011 general elections, he ran unsuccessfully for his present position on the platform of the defunct CPC. Being President Buhari kinsman might be an advantage for him if he decides to launch his presidential ambition. He may through his calm disposition win the heart of Nigerians in the run up to 2019 general election.

Source: Legit.ng
The Jackson County UW-Extension office will host the latest in a series of farm succession programs entitled Long Term Care: Planning for My Future Needs held Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017, at various University of Wisconsin-Extension offices across Wisconsin.

This webinar is the sixth in a series of webinars from UW-Extension that will focus on a variety of farm succession topics. This two-hour webinar begins at 1 p.m.

Farm business owners looking to the future of their farming operations have many issues to consider. Succession planning includes planning for the owner generations later years; business planning to ensure the operation has financial capacity; developing the successors management skills; and estate and tax planning.

One important planning step that can be overlooked or may be avoided because its an uncomfortable topic is planning for long-term care needs. Careful consideration of your goals and the options available is important to develop the right plan for care in your later years.

This webinar is for both the owner and successor generations to learn about long term care options and how to evaluate long term care insurance. Steve Shapiro, a Medigap Insurance Counselor for the State of Wisconsin, Medigap Helpline, will lead the webinar.
News

Microsoft, AWS Move To Comply with Revamped EU Privacy Law

As they each expand their cloud footprints in Europe, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are touting their support for the European Union's newly revamped data privacy regulations.

This week, both cloud providers issued announcements related to their compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which represents the first major overhaul of the EU's aging data privacy laws in two decades. The GDPR aims to "harmonize data privacy laws across Europe, to protect and empower all EU citizens data privacy and to reshape the way organizations across the region approach data privacy."

Approved by EU lawmakers last spring, the GDPR will begin to be enforced on May 25, 2018.

Microsoft on Wednesday said that it is taking steps to ensure that its entire cloud services portfolio is fully compliant with the GDPR in time for its enforcement. Companies will be able to "leverage our broad portfolio of enterprise cloud services to meet your GDPR obligations for areas including deletion, rectification, transfer of, access to and objection to processing of personal data," wrote Brendon Lynch, Microsoft's chief privacy officer, in a blog post.

Microsoft also plans to update its licensing agreements and security notification processes to comply with the new GDPR requirements.

"As the fast-approaching GDPR deadline draws closer, we look forward to working in close partnership with you on GDPR compliance. We will continue to share the resources, tools and solutions you need to help develop your own compliance plan. In March, we will announce the details of our contractual commitments in accordance with GDPR rules. In the coming months, we will hold workshops, and host webinars for all customers and partners," Lynch wrote.

For its part, AWS on Monday announced that it has joined the Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE), a group of roughly 20 cloud infrastructure providers whose goals include establishing industrywide compliance with the GDPR through its Code of Conduct.

"One of CISPE's key priorities is to ensure customers get what they need from their cloud infrastructure service providers in order to comply with the new EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)," wrote Stephen Schmidt, AWS vice president and chief information security officer, in a blog post. "With the publication of its Data Protection Code of Conduct for Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers, CISPE has already made significant progress in this space."

On the service level, six of AWS' cloud products -- Amazon EC2, Amazon S3, Amazon RDS, AWS Identity and Access Management, CloudTrail and Amazon EBS -- are certified to be compliant with the CISPE Code of Conduct.

"This provides our customers with additional assurances that they fully control their data in a safe, secure, and compliant environment when they use AWS," Schmidt said.

AWS is the arguably the largest cloud provider in the CISPE's roster by market share. Neither Microsoft nor Google -- AWS' two closest competitors in the public cloud market -- is a member.

These announcements by AWS and Microsoft come as the two companies rapidly expand their cloud footprints in Europe, where laws related to data sovereignty can be especially stringent. A recent report by Canalys concluded that "[s]trict data sovereignty laws and customer demand are pushing cloud service providers to build data centers in key markets, such as Germany, Canada, Japan, the UK, China and the Middle East; where personal data is increasingly required to be stored in facilities that are physically located within the country."

AWS currently has datacenter regions in Ireland, Frankfurt and, as of late 2016, London, with plans to open a region in Paris later this year. Microsoft also has regions located throughout Europe, including the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and, most recently, Germany. Like AWS, Microsoft also plans to launch a Paris region in 2017.
Peace talks between the rival leaders on divided Cyprus broke up in acrimony Thursday over a 1950 referendum, but the UN envoy said the process was still on track. UN envoy Espen Barth Eide said that although the meeting "was not a very happy one" and "ended up abruptly" the next round would still go ahead as planned next week. "I am glad to convey to you that both leaders are committed to the process and nobody sees this process as over, terminated or even suspended," said Eide. "There have been no cancellations as of now... no change to the programme," he said, stressing the next round would take place as scheduled on February 23. Tensions have soared over the approval by the Greek Cypriot parliament for schools in the south of the island to mark the 1950 referendum on "Enosis," or union with Greece. Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci said that when the issue of scrapping the decision came up, his Greek Cypriot counterpart Nicos Anastasiades said there "was nothing else to say, slammed the door and left". "At that point there was nothing more to do as this meeting needs to be conducted in an atmosphere of respect so we also left the meeting," he told reporters. But Anastasiades said the Turkish Cypriot side left the talks first. Akinci's walkout was "unwarranted and without cause or reason", he said on television, adding that Eide, chairing the meeting, had also been "unaware of what happened". - 'Emotional meeting' - Anastasiades said Eide had tried to persuade Akinci to return but he was "adamant" and left. Eide himself later explained what happened. "The meeting ended abruptly, which is unfortunate," said the UN envoy. "At some point in an emotional meeting that was difficult for all participants, Akinci himself said that he left this meeting." The 1950 referendum -- before Cyprus won independence from colonial ruler Britain -- overwhelmingly approved Enosis but had no legal value. Almost 96 percent of the island's majority Greek Cypriots signed up in favour of union between Cyprus and the "motherland" Greece in the unofficial referendum held in churches and coffee shops across the island, according to its organisers, the Cyprus Greek Orthodox Church. The new schools legislation, sponsored by the far-right ELAM party, essentially calls for secondary students to mark the referendum anniversary by learning about the event and reading leaflets dedicated to understanding the Enosis cause. - Some 'don't want reunification' - In a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday, Akinci warned the move would cause "great damage" to the peace process. Turkey has criticised Anastasiades for trying to make light of the referendum and demanded the Greek Cypriots change their "mentality" when it comes to accepting Turkish Cypriots as "co-owners of the island". The two sides have been engaged in fragile peace talks since May 2015 that observers have seen as the best chance in years to reunify the island. In January, the UN hosted talks in Geneva bringing both sides together for the first time with the three "guarantor powers" of Britain, Greece and Turkey. Much of the progress until now has been based on the strong personal rapport between Anastasiades and Akinci, leader of the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus who was born in Limassol which is now in the south. "The Greek (Cypriot) leader has acted from time to time hot-headedly," said Akinci. "In the past we tolerated it until the last drop. It was not possible to tolerate this now." Eide said there were "a number of people who want this process to fail and who don't want reunification on these terms" and "those who want it to fail will be a bit more active". "We must be aware that this is happening," said the envoy. The eastern Mediterranean island has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded the northern third in response to an Athens-inspired coup seeking Enosis.
The body of Kim Jong-Nam, the assassinated half-brother of North Korea's leader, will not be released until his family have provided DNA samples, Malaysia said Friday, despite a request from Pyongyang. Detectives in Kuala Lumpur are trying to get to the bottom of the cloak-and-dagger murder that South Korea says was carried out by poison-wielding female agents working for their secretive northern neighbour. Forensic specialists on Friday began testing samples from the dead man's body to try to determine the toxin that was apparently sprayed in his face as he readied to board a plane earlier this week. North Korean diplomats objected to the post-mortem examination, Malaysian officials say, but Kuala Lumpur has stood firm, and said Friday it would not release the body until procedures were complete. "So far no family member or next of kin has come to identify or claim the body. We need a DNA sample of a family member to match the profile of the dead person," Selangor state police chief Abdul Samah Mat told AFP. "North Korea has submitted a request to claim the body, but before we release the body we have to identify who the body belongs to," he said. DNA from a child, sibling -- or even half-sibling -- would be enough to provide a "kinship match" and confirm the identity, a Malaysian forensic investigator told AFP. Police were meanwhile questioning two women -- one travelling on a Vietnamese passport and the other on an Indonesian document -- as well as a Malaysian man. - Pyongyang silent - The drama erupted on Monday morning as Jong-Nam, the estranged elder brother of Kim Jong-Un, readied to board a plane to Macau. Malaysian police say the chubby 45-year-old was jumped by two women who squirted some kind of liquid in his face. Jong-Nam told staff he was suffering from a headache and was taken to the airport clinic grimacing in pain, according to Malaysian media citing CCTV footage from the airport. One of the women walked to a taxi rank immediately after the attack, according to the same footage. He was rushed to hospital suffering from a seizure but was dead before he arrived. South Korea has pointed the finger of blame at the North, citing a "standing order" from Jong-Un to kill his sibling and a failed assassination bid in 2012 after he criticised the regime. A Japanese journalist who knew and wrote a book on Jong-Nam on Friday said he was a courageous man who sought to reform his country. "Even if it put him in danger, he wanted to tell his opinions to Pyongyang through me or other media," Yoji Gomi said in Tokyo. Pyongyang has made no comment on the killing, and there has been no mention of it in North Korean media. AFP correspondents in Pyongyang say celebrations to mark the birthday of Kim Jong-Il, the late father of both men, have gone ahead without reference to the death. - Woman in 'LOL' top - Malaysian police on Wednesday arrested a 28-year-old woman carrying a Vietnamese passport which identified her as Doan Thi Huong. Local media said she was the woman seen in CCTV images from the airport wearing a white top with the letters "LOL" emblazoned on the front. Officers later arrested Muhammad Farid Bin Jalaluddin, a 26-year-old Malaysian man. He led them to his girlfriend, a 25-year-old Indonesian national named Siti Aishah. Aishah's family in Jakarta expressed their shock over her arrest, with her former father-in-law saying there was "no way such a nice person would do that". "I could not believe it because she was a good person," said Tija Liang Kiong, 56. Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said Aishah appeared to be the "victim of a scam or a fraud" who thought she was taking part in a reality show involving hidden cameras. Indonesian embassy officials said they were providing Aishah with legal assistance. Selangor state police chief Abdul Samah earlier told AFP he was looking for several more suspects, but declined to say how many were being sought. First-born Jong-Nam was once thought to be the natural successor to his father, but on Kim Jong-Il's death in 2011 the succession went to Jong-Un, who was born to the former leader's third wife. Reports of purges and executions have emerged from the current regime as Jong-Un tries to strengthen his grip on power in the face of international pressure over nuclear and missile programmes. The most notable of these was the 2013 execution for treason of the young leader's influential uncle, Jang Song-Thaek.
(Bloomberg) -- Who you gonna call? For the citizens of four NATO countries asked which military power theyd want fighting on their side if attacked, the answer was simple -- Russia.

That was among the findings of a multi-nation Gallup poll published just ahead of Fridays annual gathering of the transatlantic security community in Germany that appeared to map out shifts in the post-Cold War security alliances which have come under renewed strain and scrutiny since Donald Trumps election to the U.S. presidency.

By far the largest number of countries polled by WIN/Gallup International chose the U.S. for their go-to defense partner, suggesting that it remains the worlds only military power with truly global reach and alliances.

At the same time, however, China and Russia picked each other, war-torn Ukraine and Iraq split down the middle, while those four members of the U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization -- Bulgaria, Greece, Slovenia and Turkey -- plumped for Russia.

As U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis tours Europe delivering a message of tough love to NATO allies -- increase spending or see the U.S. moderate its support -- the poll shows the worlds gradual political reorganization around different security poles, according to Kancho Stoychev, vice president of WIN/Gallup International.

It isnt surprising that Russians and Chinese chose each other, but it is new, said Stoychev. It shows us something very important -- that U.S. policy over the last 20 years has driven Russia into the arms of China, which is quite strange because Russia is fundamentally a part of Europe.

Moving Beyond

At the same time, some of the results in European NATO countries showed how their fundamental security choices were moving beyond the alliance, he said. Bulgaria and Greece, for example, see their biggest security threat coming from Turkey. Although Turkey is also a NATO member and so theoretically an ally, its invasion and occupation of Northern Cyprus in 1974 showed that these countries cannot rely on NATO to protect them, so they look to Russia.

Story continues

Similarly, in Western Europe, some NATO members are increasingly looking to other Europeans for security, according to Stoychev. Although 30 percent of Belgians chose the U.S. in the survey, more chose European partners -- 25 percent France and 12 percent the U.K. -- while almost as many Swedes chose the U.K. (29 percent) as the U.S. (31 percent).

Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is due to address the Munich conference on Saturday, warned the U.S. against retreating from its global role and insisted that NATO has been a source of American strength. Speaking to reporters in Berlin, she said that Germany is committed to eventually reaching the 2 percent of gross domestic product target, yet questions of development aid, crisis prevention and others are just as important.

While political and economic realities mean it will take years for most NATO allies to meet the 2 percent target that Mattis is demanding, the Europeans are scared to death by the possibility that NATO might crumble at a time when Russia has become increasingly assertive, said James Davis, dean of the school of economics and science at Switzerlands St. Gallen University, speaking in the margins of the annual Munich Security Conference.

If you know anything about the history of the last 200 years in Europe, this weeks announcement that the Romanians and Czechs are going to put core military units under German command is kind of shocking, said Davis.

Orthodox Christian

Yet while those fears should drive NATO members together, there are so many different threat perceptions and other forces pulling it apart that it may not happen, said Davis. He noted that the Gallup poll also broadly reflects a divide between the Orthodox Christian world and Western Christianity, with Orthodox Greece and Bulgaria opting for Russia, while Ukraine and Bosnia Herzegovina -- which are also religiously divided -- split down the middle.

Catholic Slovenia, which largely escaped the brutal wars that accompanied the dismembering of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, was an exception in narrowly opting for Russia. So was Romania, a mainly Orthodox Christian nation that picked the U.S. But these shifts and fractures are spreading well beyond the Balkans, according to Davis.

When I teach I have 18 year old students in front of me and I can tell you that the good old days when there was solidarity in the face of a Soviet threat is ancient history to them, said Davis. He added that acceptance in European populations that the U.S. should play a leading global role had eroded badly as a result of the Iraq war and could well erode further with Trump in the White House.

WIN/Gallup International polled about 1,000 people in each of 66 countries around the world, between October and December 2016. The surveys margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 to 5 percent.

(Updates with Merkel comment in ninth paragraph.)

--With assistance from Michael Winfrey

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Marc Champion in London at mchampion7@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: John Fraher at jfraher@bloomberg.net, Alan Crawford, Flavia Krause-Jackson

2017 Bloomberg L.P.
The fourth edition of the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards (Malaysia) was recently launched to honour the countrys latest innovations in real estate development, sustainability and design...

Last years winners at the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards (Malaysia).

The fourth edition of the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards (Malaysia) was recently launched to honour the countrys latest innovations in real estate development, sustainability and design.

The international event, organised by PropertyGuru Group and presented by Kohler, recognises the top developers and real estate projects in Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Malacca and Iskandar.

The awards scheme this year features destination-focused categories, to represent the growing importance of Malaysias economic zones and investment destinations.

New categories have also been added for Best Mass Market Development (Condo) and Best Mass Market Development (Landed) to reflect the changing consumer preference and evolving property landscape in Malaysia.

The shortlisted nominees, comprising one winner and up to four highly commended in each category, will be revealed in the third week of July. The awards gala dinner will take place on 17 August at the InterContinental Kuala Lumpur.

The top winners will go on to compete in the grand finals of the Asia Property Awards, which is held annually in Singapore during November.

What the Asia Property Awards give local developers is a credible and internationally-recognised platform to aim high and continue producing world-class developments designed for Malaysian property seekers. The Awards are truly a showcase of what Malaysia real estate has to offer, said Terry Blackburn, Founder and Managing Director of the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards.

Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP)  Geert Wilders, the Dutch anti-Islam lawmaker who is at the vanguard of a wave of European far-right populists aiming to take power at elections this year, vowed Thursday to push ahead with his platform to "de-Islamisize" the Netherlands  despite lawyers saying it could breach the Dutch constitution  and to quit the European Union.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Wilders insisted that his plans, which include closing the country's borders to asylum seekers and migrants from Islamic countries, shutting all mosques and banning the Quran, are legal.

And he hinted he could even seek to change the constitution, if necessary.

"A constitution is not something that is (set) in stone and can never be changed," Wilders said. "It's alive as a society is alive and we are now being threatened by mass immigration and Islamisization and what I see as the toxic combination of mass immigration from Islamic countries and at the same time a total lack of demanding for people to assimilate and to integrate."

After decades of immigration, around 5 percent of the Dutch adult population is Muslim, according to the Central Bureau for Statistics.

Changing the Dutch constitution is a convoluted process that involves  among other legislative steps  getting approval of a two-thirds majority in both houses of Parliament.

Wilders' Party for Freedom, or PVV, is riding high in polls less than a month before parliamentary elections set for March 15, but has slipped in recent weeks as the vote nears.

He is the first of Europe's right-wing populists to go to the voters in a critical year for what he describes as the "Patriotic Spring" on the continent. Marine Le Pen, leader of France's far-right National Front, is among the top contenders in her country's April-May presidential vote. In September, Frauke Petry's four-year-old Alternative for Germany party hopes to enter the German parliament in a national election, riding sentiment against German Chancellor Angela Merkel's welcoming policy toward refugees.

Story continues

Those votes all follow the election last year of President Donald Trump to the White House.

Wilders, who has often been described as the "Dutch Trump," said he didn't believe his popularity was suffering, as some observers have speculated, from the turmoil engulfing the Trump administration.

"I don't think that the problems of Mr. Trump would make people not vote for me so much," he said. Rather, he believes that his political isolation in the Netherlands' political landscape may be costing him support.

Mainstream parties, most recently and notably the right-wing party of two-term Prime Minister Mark Rutte, have ruled out working with Wilders because of his strident anti-Islam platform.

Rutte has often clashed with Wilders, while at the same time moving to the right in an attempt to woo PVV voters. Last week, he called Wilders "totally tasteless" for tweeting a photo-shopped picture of an opposition lawmaker at a demonstration of Islamic radicals.

Wilders said: "If there would be any effect which I'm going to fight in the next few weeks  it ... would more be that for instance our prime minister is saying to the people 'if you vote on that party it's a lost vote because they will never govern, we will never govern with them.'

"So people more or less might be afraid to vote for us because they know, 'hey what will happen to my vote?'"

Wilders has been close to power before. In Rutte's first administration, the PVV wasn't part of the ruling minority coalition, but propped it up on important votes. But Wilders effectively torpedoed that Cabinet by walking away from tough negotiations on an austerity package.

Since then, the PVV has been in opposition and currently has 12 lawmakers in the 150-seat lower house of Parliament. Wilders spoke to the AP in his party's meeting room in the heavily guarded parliamentary complex in The Hague, its rear wall dominated by a giant red, white and blue Dutch tricolor and the party's logo.

The popularity of the anti-immigrant, anti-Islam party in this nation of 17 million is part of the ongoing erosion of the country's long-held reputation as a free-wheeling beacon of tolerance.

"I don't want to get rid of the typical Dutch tolerance," Wilders said. "But it's cultural suicide that we, at the end of the day, keep on being tolerant to the intolerant. That should stop as soon as possible."

Another thing he wants to stop is Dutch membership of the European Union, saying he wants to take back his country's sovereignty, just as Britain did last year with its Brexit vote.

"I don't want a wall being built around the Netherlands. If we would leave the European Union first and for all we would be autonomous and sovereign again," he said.
Bosnia will ask the United Nations' top court to review its 2007 ruling which cleared Serbia of genocide during the country's civil war, Bosnia's Muslim leader said Friday. The move announced by Bakir Izetbegovic, the Muslim member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, could spark a new political crisis in the Balkans country which remains deeply divided along ethnic lines since the 1992-1995 war. Serb presidency member Mladen Ivanic said Tuesday that such a decision by Muslim officials would "threaten peace and stability in Bosnia." Izetbegovic said the request for revision would be forwarded to the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) next week -- just a few days before a 10-year deadline expires. "Everyone needs the truth, even those who oppose it, a truth that will be written by international judges, experienced and impartial," Izetbegovic told reporters after meeting with some 50 Bosnian Muslim politicians, legal experts and representatives of war victims' associations. - 'New arguments' - Bosnian Serb officials say such a request cannot be made without consensus within the tripartite presidency. But Izetbegovic insists it can and said it would be done by a lawyer the presidency appointed in 2002. Bosnia's legal team has "new arguments," notably those presented during the trial of Bosnian Serb wartime army chief Ratko Mladic who is awaiting judgement at a UN tribunal, Izetbegovic said. In Belgrade, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic labelled the decision "difficult and bad" for ties between the two neighbouring countries. "Despite everything, I'm convinced that we will manage to preserve our national interests," Vucic said quoted by the Blic paper online edition. "However, we will continue to talk with Bosnian officials, wishing to assure a lasting peace in the Balkans." Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik called ethnic Serb politicians to "challenge the legitimity" of the demand for revision with the ICJ. In the original case launched in 1993 by Bosnia's then Muslim-dominated government, Sarajevo accused Belgrade of masterminding a genocide through widespread "ethnic cleansing" during the war which killed more than 100,000. On February 26, 2007, the ICJ found only one act of genocide -- the massacre of nearly 8,000 Muslim males by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica -- and said there was not enough evidence to suggest Belgrade was directly responsible. But it did find Serbia, which politically and militarily backed the Bosnian Serbs, had breached international law over the Srebrenica slaughter. Serb forces captured the eastern town in July 1995, in the final months of the war, then summarily killed its men and boys in Europe's worst single atrocity since World War II. Since the war ended Bosnia has consisted of two semi-independent entities -- the Serbs' Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation. The two are linked by weak joint institutions.
Colombia's ELN guerrillas have kidnapped a mayor's father, the army said Friday, calling it an act of terrorism that damages peace talks with the country's last active rebel group. Army commander Alberto Mejia blamed the leftist guerrillas for the disappearance of Cristo Contreras, whose son Edwin is the mayor of the town of El Carmen in the restive northwestern region of Catatumbo. He said the rebels had also bombed an oil pipeline in the same region, the scene of frequent ELN attacks. "We are reporting two acts of terrorism by the ELN in Catatumbo," the general told a press conference. "Such messages do a lot of damage to the (peace) process and of course cause it to lose legitimacy. The government is reaching out a hand to them, and this is how they respond." Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is trying to negotiate a peace deal with the ELN to match the historic accord his government sealed last year with the FARC guerrillas. Both the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, and the ELN, or National Liberation Army, launched uprisings against the state in 1964. The multi-sided conflict has killed 260,000 people and left 60,000 missing. Peace talks with the ELN opened on February 7, but have gotten off to a rocky start over the rebels' refusal to renounce kidnapping -- a tactic they have used to get ransom money and exact revenge on political enemies. The talks were originally due to open in October, but the ELN's refusal to release its most high-profile hostage -- ex-lawmaker Odin Sanchez -- made Santos call them off. A flurry of behind-the-scenes negotiations followed, leading to Sanchez's release on February 2 in exchange for two ELN prisoners. The latest kidnapping allegation -- which drew no immediate response from the ELN -- could place new pressure on the talks. Mejia said Contreras disappeared Thursday from his ranch in Catatumbo, a remote region near the Venezuelan border. The attack on the Cano Limon-Covenas oil pipeline ocurred the same night, he said.
By Michele Kambas ATHENS (Reuters) - Face-to-face talks between both sides of divided Cyprus broke off on Thursday, sources at the meeting said, after the Greek Cypriot parliament angered Turkish Cypriots by honouring a 1950 plebiscite seeking union with Greece. The meeting between Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart, Mustafa Akinci, ended abruptly about an hour after it started, after which a go-between had to shuttle between the two to keep the peace process on track. "Both leaders very strongly said they are committed to this process, and nobody sees this process as over, or terminated, or suspended," said Espen Barth Eide, the United Nations special envoy who is overseeing the peace negotiations which have been ongoing for almost two years. The talks aim to end the division of the island, for decades a source of tension between NATO allies Greece and Turkey and an obstacle to Turkey's bid to join the European Union. Cyprus's parliament, comprised solely of Greek Cypriots, adopted a resolution on Feb. 9 commemorating a 1950 unofficial referendum where more than 95 percent of that community voted for "enosis", or union, with Greece. The anger that caused among Turkish Cypriots reflects the historic sensitivities on the island which was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek Cypriot coup by elements of the military seeking union with Greece. The two sides gave differing accounts of what happened on Thursday. Anastasiades said he took a short break and returned to find Akinci gone. Akinci said Anastasiades walked out, slamming the door. "Enosis" has always been a deep source of resentment among Turkish Cypriots, and was partly the cause of inter-communal clashes in the 1960s shortly after the island gained independence from Britain. The notion of unification with Greece has, officially at least, been abandoned as a concept for decades. The Mediterranean island has been a member state of the EU since 2004. Last week's vote was proposed by a small nationalist party. Anastasiades's conservatives abstained and the left-wing party voted against it. (Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
Reginald Dwayne Betts knows the power of books first hand.

Ernest J. Gaines A Lesson Before Dying was the first book a 16-year-old Betts read cover to cover during his nine-year incarceration for committing an armed carjacking. During his keynote address for the La Crosse Reads effort at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse's new student union, Betts spoke about how the book resonated with him and gave him a desire to leave prison as somebody rather than let that one act define his life.

A Lesson Before Dying was chosen for La Crosse's Big Read, in a partnership between UW-L, Western Technical College, the La Crosse Public Library and others to come together to read and discuss a work of literature. The program is part of a $14,000 National Endowment for the Arts Big Read grant and is designed to foster conversations about social justice and the criminal justice system.

"Dwayne is someone for whom literature proved transformative," La Crosse Reads coordinator and UW-L English professor Kate Parker said at the beginning of his talk Wednesday evening. "He is an example of the best the Read has to offer."

Betts visited La Crosse for two days, meeting with UW-L creative writing students and participating in several book and poetry readings. He also spent much of Thursday morning meeting with inmates in the La Crosse County Jail's literacy program.

The program brings professors in every other week to read poems and short fiction. About a dozen men and a dozen women participate in the enrichment program, Parker said.

Parker said Betts and the participants shared stories about his experience in prison. Prisoners asked how Betts transitioned back into life after being locked up.

"He's allowed us to connect in personal ways with experiences of someone who has this unique perspective," she said. "It was great. We had wonderful conversations."

During his talk, Betts spoke about the previous Big Read he was a part of in Washington, D.C., soon after an especially violent drive-by shooting in a suburb. He read some of his poetry and the first few pages of the book chronicling his time in prison, "A Question of Freedom: A Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison."

He also spent a lot of time conversing with the audience and fielding questions. The first question he fielded asked why someone who was gifted and talented committed a carjacking, and he responded by saying he lived in an environment where these things took place.

"I had the opportunity and wasn't wise enough to avoid it," he said.

When fielding questions, Betts also spoke more about how books have affected his life. He met his wife at a bookstore, and the two have had two sons together.

One of his first jobs after he finished his sentence was at a bookstore, where founded a book club for youths. That program got him attention in the Washington Post, attention that allowed him to write his memoir and become an advocate for criminal justice reform.

During a Thursday morning interview, Betts reflected on his visit so far and said he had enjoyed the people and experiences in La Crosse. Conversations have run the gamut from racial issues to his thoughts about being a student and a father.

"I think this has been a good experience," he said. "I'm impressed with how La Crosse has used the book ('A Lesson Before Dying') to connect people. They have been really thoughtful about it."
An Indonesian woman arrested over the assassination of the North Korean leader's half-brother was "duped" into believing that she was taking part in a TV prank show, officials said Friday. Siti Aishah is among three people detained over the Cold War-style killing of Kim Jong-Nam in a Malaysian airport on Monday that South Korea says was carried out by female agents armed with poison working for Pyongyang. Malaysian police say that Kim Jong-Nam, the estranged elder brother of Kim Jong-Un, was preparing to board a plane to Macau when he was jumped by two women who squirted some kind of liquid in his face. But Indonesian Police Chief Tito Karnavian said that Aishah, 25, was tricked into thinking she was simply taking part in pranks for a TV show like "Just For Laughs", a popular hidden camera series. "Probably she was just used -- she did not realise it was an assassination attempt," he was cited as saying in local media. He said Aishah was persuaded to carry out similar pranks -- spraying a substance into someone's eyes -- with another woman on three or four previous occasions in exchange for money. But on the final occasion, it involved an attack on Kim Jong-Nam with "hazardous materials", he said. Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that she "was duped to believe she was playing a game", which he described as "a reality show" where people use "hidden or remote cameras". "If she really was an agent I believe she would not have been found," he added. Police arrested Aisha after detaining her 26-year-old Malaysian boyfriend, and a 28-year-old woman carrying a Vietnamese passport. Earlier Friday, the Indonesian woman's family and former neighbours in Jakarta expressed disbelief that she could be linked to the dramatic murder. In the Jakarta neighbourhood of Tambora, where Aishah used to live with her then husband, her former father-in-law Tija Liang Kiong, 56, said he was "shocked" at the news. "There's no way such a nice person would do that. I could not believe it because she was a good person," he said. "She was kind -- if she was not kind I would not marry her off to my son." She married the son after meeting him while working for Kiong's business and they had a baby then went to Malaysia to find work. They got a divorce in 2012 but the child they had still lives with his family and Aishah last visited her son on January 28, Kiong said. Indonesian immigration authorities said she flew to Malaysia on February 2. One of her former neighbours, 25-year-old Nihayah, also expressed surprise at the news. "I was very shocked because she was very normal, I could not believe it at all," the neighbour, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told AFP. "The family was nice and friendly, but she (Siti) was quiet. She only answered when asked. She was quiet and polite."
Israeli Prime Minister Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington during his visit to the United States this month. Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta/Associated Press

UPDATE at 5.23pm: The Israeli embassy has removed its reference to Netanyahus visit to Singapore on its website, which now says the Consular section will be closed on Monday.

UPDATE at 3.00pm: According to the Israeli embassys website, its Consular Section will be closed on Monday, 20 February, in lieu of Prime Minister Netanyahus official visit to Singapore.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be meeting the Jewish community in Singapore next week, following several media reports about his upcoming visit to the Republic.

Yahoo Singapore was shown an email invitation for an event on Monday afternoon (20 February), organised by the Jewish Welfare Board. The event is to mark the unique, historical event of the first state visit by a VVIP from Israel to Singapore, according to the Jewish Business Forum.

The invitation did not state the name of the VVIP (Very Very Important Person).

Strict security measures will be put in place for the event. While the exact venue is unknown, the Jewish Welfare Board is located at Waterloo Street, alongside the historic Maghain Aboth Synagogue.

A screnshot of an invitation from the Jewish Welfare Board.

Last October, Netanyahu told his cabinet that he was planning to visit four countries in the new year, including Singapore. This was again reported in January by media outlets such as Jerusalem Post and Times of Israel, which said that Netanyahu is scheduled to leave Israel for Singapore on 19 February.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited Israel as part of a week-long visit to the Middle East in April 2016, where he and Netanyahu met for the first time as heads of government.

Numerous Israeli leaders have visited Singapore over the years, such as president Reuven Rivlin, who attended the funeral of former PM Lee Kuan Yew in 2015. Yoav Gallant, Minister for Housing and Construction, also visited Singapore in the same year.

Screenshot of Israeli embassy website

Then Defence Minister Ehud Barak, a former prime minister, came calling in 2012, but Netanyahus visit will be the first to Singapore by a sitting Israeli PM.

Story continues

In 1986, the visit of then-president Chaim Herzog to Singapore sparked protests in Muslim-majority countries in the region, including Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

Israel and Singapore have a long-standing relationship dating back to the 1960s, when the Israel Defence Forces played a key role in training the then-nascent Singapore army.

Yahoo Singapore has reached out to Singapores Foreign Ministry and the Israeli embassy about the visit, and has yet to receive confirmation.
Lithuanian prosecutors said Friday they had opened a probe into who was responsible for spreading false allegations of a rape committed by German troops freshly deployed to the Baltic NATO state. Police have described as fake an email sent this week to the speaker of parliament and national police claiming that German-speaking men in uniforms raped an underage girl near a barracks in central Lithuania. Several hundred German soldiers arrived this month as part of a multinational NATO battalion in Lithuania, one of four the alliance is providing on a rotational basis to eastern flank members to deter a militarily resurgent Russia. "An email was sent from a country outside the EU and we are currently working with this information," Darius Valkavicius, chief prosecutor for the central Kaunas region in charge of the probe, told AFP. "An initial investigation was launched into a report of a crime known to be nonexistent. The information was checked and we see today that the crime did not happen." Without naming the specific incident, German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen on Friday warned about fake news "undermining the credibility of democratic institutions and in particular the accurate coverage by the independent media". Lithuania's defence ministry said Friday the allegations were completely false. "It's a provocation against NATO efforts to increase security on its eastern flank," defence ministry spokeswoman Vita Ramanauskaite told AFP. Lithuanian and German defence ministers discussed the issue during their meeting earlier this week, she added. NATO and EU countries have recently repeatedly accused Russia of launching disinformation campaigns to influence local politics, a claim strongly rejected by Moscow.
FILE - In this Nov. 7, 2009, file photo, a crane hovers above the site of a new shaft under construction at the Oyu Tolgoi mine site in Khanbogd village, Umnugobi province, Mongolia. Mongolian lawmakers have told the government to take over a large, privately owned copper mine, prompting the president to warn they might scare away investors as this impoverished country tries to reverse an economic slump. (AP Photo/Ganbat Namjilsangarav, File)

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (AP)  Mongolian lawmakers have told the government to revoke a private company's purchase of a stake in a major copper mine, a move the president warned could scare away investors at a time when the economy is already struggling.

The move highlights the political sensitivity of Mongolia's copper, gold and other mineral wealth, the source of more than 90 percent of the North Asian country's export revenues.

Legislators approved a resolution Friday calling on Prime Minister Jargaltulgyn Erdenebat to revoke a Mongolian investor's $400 million purchase of a Russian state company's 49 percent stake in Erdenet Mining Corp. They want the government, which owns the rest of Erdenet, to take full control.

Complaints that too little of Mongolia's abundant mineral wealth makes its way to the poor majority have long complicated the role played by foreign mining companies.

Weak global demand for Mongolia's minerals dragged down growth to a 1.6 percent contraction in the latest quarter, adding to those pressures.

Mongolia's national debt stands at about $23 billion, or twice the annual economic output, and a $580 million payment to foreign bondholders is due March 21. Mongolian leaders are deciding whether to pursue a potential emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund.

Last week's vote followed a change of government in June elections and a parliamentary inquiry that concluded the real buyer was a Mongolian bank that violated lending rules by hiding how much money it put up. It was the first time parliament has called for the government to take over a company since the end of Soviet-style communist rule in the early 1990s, when Mongolia sold off state assets.

Approval of the Erdenet sale was announced June 28 by then-Prime Minister Chimediin Saikhanbileg. But the next day, his Democratic Party lost control of parliament to the rival Mongolian People's Party in national elections.

Story continues

It was unclear whether Erdenebat was obliged to act on parliament's demand, but President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, a Democratic Party member, warned the vote might hurt the economy.

"The resolution could drive away foreign investors and entrepreneurs" and "further isolate Mongolia," Elbegdorj said in a statement.

Still, Elbegdorj said authorities should root out the "hidden and illegal business operations" of Erdenet.

Earlier, global miner Rio Tinto Ltd. delayed development of a gold and copper mine, Oyu Tolgoi, due to disagreements over revenue sharing and the foreign role in mining.

After that dispute was settled, Rio Tinto announced last May it was ready to go ahead with a $5.3 billion expansion. Saikhanbileg said that showed Mongolia was "back to business."

Erdenet, Mongolian for "Treasure," operates a mining complex about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northwest of the capital, Ulan Bator. Until last year's sale, it was one of Russia's biggest assets in Mongolia.

Controversy over the sale was fueled by complaints a Mongolian bank, Trade Development Bank LLC, was the real buyer and violated lending rules by financing the acquisition.

The purchase was led by a 28-year-old lawyer, Tsooj Purevtuvshin, owner of Mongolian Copper Corp. Purevtuvshin, also known by the nickname Tush, said MCC bought Erdenet using financing from a group of investors.

However, a report by parliament concluded the money came from TDB, which put up $354 million, and a bank owned by a TDB shareholder, which put up $55 million.

That violated rules that should have limited TDB to lending about $70 million, according to Jargalsaikhan Dambadarjaa, an economist and journalist.

Parliament also found the central bank lent money to a company in Purevtuvshin's investment group without official approval. The central bank governor at the time was a former TDB board member.

Purevtuvshin denied violating financial rules and said only about $75 million came from TDB.

"We strongly reject these findings and action by parliament," he said in a phone interview.

TDB's chairman and CEO, Orkhon Onon, also denied wrongdoing. In a written statement, he said his bank's role was limited to "partial financing" and investment advice.

"All the allegations made against TDB by the parliamentary working group are misleading, baseless, politically motivated and deliberately fabricated," said Orkhon's statement.

Dambadarjaa opposed the Erdenet sale but criticized parliament's latest action as a possible threat to property rights.

"The government must protect both private and public property," he said.

___

AP Business Writer Joe McDonald in Beijing contributed.
MANILA, Philippines  The Makabayan bloc has expressed dismay over the Solicitor Generals recommendation to acquit alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles of serious illegal detention.

ACT Teachers party-list Representative Antonio Tinio said, it is quite surprising that Solicitor General Jose Calida suddenly expressed interest in the case.

For his part, Bayan Muna Partylist Representative Carlos Zarate argues that SolGen Calida should have acted instead on other important cases such as those of the political prisoners.

Alam ng lahat na ang nasa sentro nito ay si Napoles, yung pinakaguilty. Paano mo gagawing least guilty (Everyone knows that at the center of all these is Napoles  the most guilty. How are you going to turn her into the least guilty), said Rep. Tinio.

Very curious talaga tayo. Hindi lamang naman ito ang kaso ng SolGen, bakit nagkaroon ng special interest dito sa conviction ni Napoles ( We are really very curious. This is not the SolGens only case, why the special interest in Napoles conviction)? asked Rep. Zarate.  UNTV News and Rescue

WATCH: SolGen moves to acquit PDAF Scam queen Janet Lim-Napoles in illegal detention of Benhur Luy

The post Solons suspicious of SolGens special interest in Napoles case appeared first on UNTV News.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his supporters are increasingly demonising voters thinking of rejecting a plan to grant him greater powers in an April referendum, raising fears of a further polarisation of society. Turkey will on April 16 vote in a referendum on constitutional changes to create a presidential system which Erdogan argues is needed for better governance but critics fear will lead to one man rule. Polls are indicating a tight race with approval for the plan by no means a foregone conclusion, opening the way for the kind of no-holds-barred campaign in which Erdogan revels. Erdogan, who Friday kicked off his campaign in the eastern city of Kahramanmaras, has already accused those who plan to vote 'no' of siding with the failed July 15 coup plot blamed by the authorities on the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen. "To be honest those who say 'no' are on the side of July 15," he said in a speech this week. "Who are the ones saying 'no'? Those who want to break up the country. Those who are opposed to our flag." Prime Minister Binali Yildirim meanwhile has said a 'no' vote is what is wanted by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the group of Gulen, which Ankara terms the Fethullah Terror Group (FETO). "The terrorist groups are campaigning in chorus for the 'no' vote," he said. "My citizens are not going to stand alongside terrorist groups." - 'Deep polarisation' - Analysts say the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is falling back on a tried and tested strategy of stigmatising those who vote against its domination. Samim Akgonul, researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), said this strategy had proved the AKP's "winning machine". "The AKP leaders will do all they can to make sure the campaign does not focus on the content of the changes but on the supposed identity of those voters who vote 'yes' or 'no', he said. Analysts say the referendum will be largely about Erdogan, the leader who has dominated Turkey for nearly one and a half decades, first as premier from 2003-2014 and now and president since 2014. Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute, said Erdogan had proved a matchwinner in elections by increasing incomes but also by demonising sections of society unlikely to vote for him. "The latter has resulted in deep societal polarisation," said Cagaptay, author of the forthcoming "The New Sultan: Erdogan and the Crisis of Modern Turkey". "While nearly half of Turkey adores Erdogan, the other half, demonised by him, loathes the Turkish president and will never fold under him." - 'Clever strategy' - Prominent Turkish novelist Asli Erdogan -- no relation of the president -- said the referendum was not about the constitution but being for or against Erdogan. "If you say 'no' you are a demon. This is the essence of their strategy and it is clever," Asli Erdogan, who was this month released after four months in prison, told AFP. The head of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu vehemently criticised the tactics of the government: "They don't know how to convince the people to vote 'yes'." Even the word 'no' has itself been stigmatised, with popular TV series Hayat Sarkisi (Song of Life) accused of carrying a subliminal message when a family votes 'no' around a table over whether to visit a relative. Satirists have derided these excesses with satirical weekly Penguen producing a memorable cover showing a woman rejecting a man's proposal to marry her. "I will denounce you," says the suitor. Well-connected Hurriyet daily columnist Abdulkadir Selvi said that the authorities were seeking to strike a careful balance between linking a 'no' vote to Turkey's enemies and not alienating voters with a negative message. The referendum is coming with tens of thousands awaiting trial on charges of assisting the putsch, in an unprecedented crackdown. The authorities however insist citizens are free to vote as they wish. "If a single person is detained or arrested for saying vote 'no' in the referendum then I will resign today," said Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag. "There is nothing of the sort."
Any type of motion  even a few minutes of the minuet  can qualify people to participate in Gundersen Health Systems annual Minutes in Motion activity challenge, with registration starting Monday.

Minutes coordinator Linda Larson is jazzed for the sign-ups to begin, after finally passing the 5,000-participant goal that had eluded the program for years. Indeed, the record registration total of 5,977 last year crushed the previous high of 4,761 that had been set in 2015.

The goal this year is within easy reach, with Larson saying, My goal is 6,000. I want to highlight the classroom participation, which was very successful last year.

The push to enlist teachers to enroll their entire classes last year pulled 1,581 students in 80 classrooms into the fold, and it was such a right thing to do, said Larson, who also is a wellness education specialist at Gundersen.

The challenge, in which participants are asked to engage in physical activity for at least 30 minutes a day, will begin March 20 and end April 30. The activity can range from simply walking to lifting weights to pulling weeds to dancing  even the 18th-century minuet  or whatever gets your blood pumping.

One person who is at least as jazzed as Larson to begin the six-week challenge is Alyssa Gray, a teacher at Spence Elementary School in La Crosse.

Gray, who taught second graders last year, said she ran across the Minutes in Motion activity on Facebook.

I told the kids about it, and they said, Lets do it, said Gray, whose class of 16 won a $100 gift card for participating.

I gave each one a calendar to take home and logged their activities, she said. Im a teacher who doesnt assign homework homework but wants them to read and go outside to play.

She also incorporates movement throughout the school day, saying, We do songs, dances and movement activities within our daily learning.

Spence is a neighborhood school, and a lot of students return to the playground for exercise during evenings and weekends, said Gray, who moved on up to third grade with 15 members of that class, which has added five more.

Im biased, of course, but our green space is the best, she said of the schoolyard.

Class members are primed for Minutes again this school year, having voted to spend the gift card on yoga balls to sit on during classes and other times, providing another option for exercise, Gray said.

Grays classroom includes flexible seating options, including hokey stools, which are designed to wobble, forcing movement that strengthens the body core, standing desks, couches, comfy chairs and yoga mats. Students often choose a different option daily, she said.

We find that having choices and different options for seating helps us move while learning. Many of us need to move while we read, learn, ask questions and collaborate, Gray said.

The students enthusiasm springs in part from Grays style of encouraging students.

Its the perspective of approaching them, she said. Say Hey, its super nice out. What can we do?

Instead of harping, you present it as, You get to do this, instead of telling them they have to, she said. It creates intrinsic motivation, and they say, I get to do this.

Minutes in Motion also attracted participation last year from 115 businesses that used it for physical and team-building exercise, Larson said. A nonprofit in Boston used it as a worksite project last year.

Entering its 11th year, MIM has attracted more than 41,000 participants, ranging in age from 5 to 100, from 15 states and three countries and awarded prizes totaling more than $20,000, Larson said.

The top three benefits participants have chronicled each year are more energy, improved moods and increased productivity, she said.

Although MIM is not billed as a weight-loss program, participants have averaged losses of 5.8 pounds in logging a total of 47.5 million minutes, Larson said.

Topping the list of rewards is a $500 grand prize donated by the Ho-Chunk Nation, which is one of the challenges sponsors. Ten classrooms will win $100 gift cards, two team captains will win $100 gift cards and several $50 and $25 prizes will go to random winners.

Participants must have at least 1,260 minutes during the six weeks of the challenge to qualify for prizes.

Sponsors besides Gundersen and the Ho-Chunk Nation include the La Crosse Area Chamber of Commerce, Mid-West Family Broadcasting, WXOW News 19, the La Crosse Tribune and Gundersen Medical Foundation.
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The head of Turkey's Diyanet religious authority denied on Friday that any of its imams had ever been involved in illegal activities and said investigations into them over alleged espionage had defamed the organisation. Mehmet Gormez was speaking after German police on Wednesday raided the apartments of four imams suspected of spying for Turkey's government on followers of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of organising a failed coup last July. The raids in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate were a fresh strain on relations between two NATO allies which are already being tested by issues ranging from militant Islamist attacks to Europe's migrant crisis. "No religious official has ever been allowed to turn towards any activity outside their job description, and no incident that could be deemed illegal has ever taken place," Gormez told a news conference. The four imams were members of Ditib, Germany's largest association of mosques, which brings clerics from Turkey to serve the community of some three million people with a Turkish background who live in Germany. "Our authority, our religious officials, and DITIB, which carries out religious services in Germany, have been the target of defamation and their followers have been offended," he said. Germany's Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (GBA) has said the imams acted on an order issued last year by the Diyanet, which said the Gulen movement was behind the putsch attempt. Last month, the GBA opened an investigation into Turkish intelligence operations on German soil after a lawmaker filed a criminal complaint. Austria is also investigating whether Turkey has been operating an informer network targeting Gulen followers on its soil, via its embassy in Vienna. Turkey says Germany harbours militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and DHKP-C far-leftists, who have carried out attacks in Turkey. German officials reject the accusations. Turkey says Gulen was behind the abortive coup, in which at least 240 people were killed, and wants the United States to extradite him. Gulen denies any involvement in the coup attempt. Since July Turkey has arrested tens of thousands of people over suspected ties to Gulen in a wide-ranging crackdown criticised by Germany and other European Union nations. (Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Ece Toksabay and Dominic Evans)
By Tulay Karadeniz and Angus McDowall ANKARA/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Turkey's military said on Friday it was close to taking Syria's al-Bab from Islamic State, but a war monitor said the jihadists still controlled 90 percent of the town itself and that shelling and air strikes had killed dozens of civilians in recent days. Al-Bab, an Islamic State stronghold 30 km (20 miles) from the Turkish border, has been a prime target since Turkey launched an incursion last August to push the jihadists from its frontier and prevent gains by a Kurdish militia also fighting them. Taking control of the town would deepen Turkish influence in an area of Syria where it has already effectively created a buffer zone and allow Turkish forces to press on towards Raqqa, Islamic State's de facto capital in Syria. "The operation to gain complete control of the al-Bab region has neared its end and the resistance of the Daesh terror group has largely been broken," the Turkish military statement said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. However, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based organisation that monitors the war using a network of contacts, said Turkey's "Euphrates Shield" forces had not made much progress. Islamic State still controls 90 percent of al-Bab town itself and Turkish shelling and air strikes had killed 45 civilians, including 18 children, during the past 48 hours, the Observatory said. Turkish officials have repeatedly said that the al-Bab operation was taking longer than anticipated because of numbers of civilians still in the town and the care being taken not to harm them. It dropped leaflets on the town as long ago as December urging civilians to seek shelter. Turkey believes a string of Islamic State gun and bomb attacks, including a mass shooting at an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Eve, were planned from al-Bab and Raqqa, and has said clearing the town of militants is a national security priority. STRAINED ALLIANCE The military statement came as U.S. Marine Corps General and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Joseph Dunford visited the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, used by the U.S.-led coalition in the fight against Islamic State. Turkey is part of that coalition but relations with NATO ally Washington have been strained by U.S. support for the Kurdish YPG militia in the fight against Islamic State. Turkey views the YPG as a hostile force and an extension of the PKK, a Kurdish militant group that has waged an armed insurgency against the Turkish state for over three decades. "It is time the U.S. leadership made clear who they are cooperating with in their Syria policy," a senior Turkish government official told Reuters, when asked about the possibility of U.S. combat troops being deployed to Syria under President Donald Trump. "U.S. soldiers are present in Syrian territory, and we saw the results. They trained the PKK-YPG, which we call a terrorist organization, gave them weapons and supported terrorist groups." President Tayyip Erdogan has said the next target for the Turkish offensive should be Raqqa but that Arab forces, not the YPG, should be involved. The Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance dominated by the YPG, is in the middle of a multi-phased operation to encircle Raqqa, backed by air strikes and special ground forces from the U.S.-led coalition. (Additional reporting by Orhan Coskun and Ece Toksabay; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Daren Butler and Angus MacSwan)
By Ned Parker UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Thursday the United States still supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a day after President Donald Trump suggested he is open to new ways to achieve peace. "First of all, the two-state solution is what we support. Anybody that wants to say the United States does not support the two-state solution - that would be an error," Haley told reporters at the United Nations. "We absolutely support the two-state solution but we are thinking out of the box as well: which is what does it take to bring these two sides to the table; what do we need to have them agree on." Haley's comments came after Trump said on Wednesday that he was open to ideas beyond a two-state solution, the longstanding bedrock of Washington and the international community's policy for a settlement between Israel and the Palestinians. "I'm looking at two states and one state, and I like the one both parties like," Trump told a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "I can live with either one." Trump said that the United States would work toward peace but said he was leaving it up to the parties themselves ultimately to decide on the terms of any agreement. He said such a deal would require compromises from both Israelis and Palestinians. Trumps announcement appeared to loosen the main tenet of U.S. Middle Eastern policy dating back three administrations and stunned the international community, which has crafted it diplomacy based on the premise of a Palestinian state co-existing alongside Israel. Haley also echoed Trump in her remarks Thursday, stressing that a peace deal was not for Washington to impose but could only come from the parties themselves. "The solution to what will bring peace in the Middle East is going to come from the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority," Haley said. "The United States is just there to support the process." Haley, a Republican who previously served as South Carolina governor, also criticized the United Nations and the Security Council on Thursday for what she called a bias against Israel. She described the day's scheduled Security Council meeting on the Middle East as "focussed on criticizing Israel, the one true democracy in the Middle East." Haley said the United States would not support any U.N. resolutions like the one approved by the Security Council in December calling for an end to Israeli settlement building, that passed only after the administration of former President Barack Obama chose not to wield its veto. "I am here to say the United States will not turn a blind eye to this anymore," Haley said. "I am here to emphasise that the United States is determined to stand up to the U.N.'s anti-Israel bias." French and British diplomats also repeated their longstanding support of the policy, in a show of how Trump's remarks on Wednesday had caused confusion. "The UK continues to believe that the best solution for peace in the Middle East is the two-state solution," said British ambassador to the United Nations, Matthew Rycroft. On Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had warned during a visit to Cairo that was no viable way to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict other than the establishment of a Palestinian state co-existing alongside Israel. (Reporting by Ned Parker; Editing by Dan Grebler and Lisa Shumaker)
Robert Gilpin, R.I.P. - The Washington Post : His greatest book was written in 1981, but the main theory in it is perhaps more trenchant now...
Slovakia would like to finance the construction of the Eastring gas pipeline and a so-called government city project from the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), said Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico after meeting European Commission Vice-president Jyrki Katainen in Bratislava on June 15.

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Slovakia will contribute 400 million towards Commission President Jean Claude Junkers investment package. Fico noted that the crisis in recent years has reduced the volume of investments in Europe by 15 percent when compared to 2006 and 2007.

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According to Fico, the EFSIs aim is to mobilise all possible investments, including private ones, with the aim of increasing the share of investments in central Europe, thereby stimulating economic growth, combating unemployment and creating new jobs.

Slovakia is now among seven EU-member countries that have decided to contribute towards creating this fund," said Fico, adding that the 400-million contribution will be made via Slovak Investment Holding.

The Slovak government wants to create a good reservoir of projects. These should not compete with the standard market environment, but should serve for spheres that would have much difficulty in obtaining funds. At the same time these projects must be viable.

The Slovak project reservoir now includes the construction of the Eastring natural gas pipeline which should serve as a substitute solution if Russia halts gas transit through Ukraine, and the creation of a government city that should make the running of ministries more efficient.

Slovakia further proposed to the Commission that it would serve as a mediator in coordinating various financial mechanisms aimed at boosting investments. For example, China has offered countries from central and eastern Europe a credit framework of $10 billion.

Katainen believes that Slovakia will be able to draw benefits from the new fund, as its economic indicators are very favourable.

Public finances are in an excellent condition, and this is a precondition for trust in a state and is also necessary for attracting public investments, said Katainen, adding that the investments will go mainly to large infrastructure projects and small and medium-sized companies.
THE EUROPEAN Commission has noticed that Slovakia has not been fulfilling its duties stemming from the EU quotas on re-distribution of refugees among member states. It is, however, tight lipped about sanctions against the country.

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Slovakia has still not installed liaison officers tasked with selecting from among refugees in Greece that are to be handled as asylum seekers in Slovakia. Meanwhile the one originally designated for this role in Italy has been re-authorised to help with asylum requests, according to the Interior Ministry and the European Commission (EC)  although originally reported as a liaison officer.

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By the end of October, Slovakia was obliged to state how many refugees it can accept and accommodate by the end of this year. In the first phase, 802 people should come to the country according to the approved quotas. Slovakia has reacted by saying that it will accept a maximum of 200 refugees which it agreed to take on voluntarily.

When approached by the Slovak Spectator the EC refused to say when its patience with Slovakia will wear out and what duties Slovakia could ignore and thus draw sanctions from the EU.

The Commission expects that every member country including Slovakia will fulfil its duties, the spokesman for the EC Representation in Slovakia Andrej Kralik stated.

Looking for an officer

As a part of the refugee relocation system, the EU wants each member state to appoint liaison officers in Greece and Italy which are initial contact countries most affected by the migration crisis. Officers match the destination country with refugees qualifications, language skills, family, cultural and social ties, to help integration.

The first representative of the Slovak Migration Office arrived in Italy on October 13. The Interior Ministry claimed that his task is to pick a number of the 200 refugees whom the Slovak government wants to voluntarily accept, the Sme daily wrote on October 15.

Read also:

Read also: Slovakia selects refugees while sending police to assist in Hungary Read more

The presence of an officer was approved even then by Kralik. Later, however, the Interior Ministry stated that it is still preparing such officers. The aforementioned expert from the ministry who went to Italy is there to assist local officers to determine the EU member state responsible for examining an application for asylum seekers seeking international protection based on the Dublin Convention.

The officer could be theoretically re-authorised to choose refugees in the future, according to ministry spokesperson Ivan Netik.

No member state of the EU has an obligation to appoint liaison officers, ministry spokesperson Marta Fabianova told the Slovak Spectator. There is only possibility to do so and its up to each member state to decide whether it will do so or not.

Unclear steps of the Interior Ministry regarding the migration crisis were previously criticised by foreign policy analyst Alexander Duleba, as he referred to the upcoming general election in March 2016 as behind this kind of activity.

I will say it clearly: the government acts in a way that it is few months before elections and all statements abroad are meant for the domestic audience, Duleba told The Slovak Spectator on October 21. Fico has a problem to convince the public that there are solutions beyond what the average Slovak thinks about.

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Read also: Slovaks oppose accepting refugees Read more

How many will come

The European Commission called on its member states to provide an exact number of refugees they are able to accept by the end of 2015. Based on a decision of the European Unions interior ministers on September 22, Slovakia should accept 802 refugees in total  190 from Italy and 612 from Greece in the first stage of relocation.

The Interior Ministry responded that Slovakia plans to relocate 60 people from Italy and 40 people from Greece. Additionally, it will take 100 migrants particularly Syrian refugees from Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. The ministry presumes that it will be able to move 50 refugees in 2016 and 50 refugees in 2017 making it 200 refugees in total which is less than EC demands.

Sweden and Finland have already started to relocate their refugees, while France and Spain should also begin as well, according to Kralik.

Even though Slovakia has publicly refused to take as many refugees as the EC has dictated, the commission has not noticed any violation of rules when it comes to the migration crisis, Kralik said.

Sanctions are unclear

Even if Slovakia rejects the quotas on redistributing refugees and the EC takes legal action against it, the country will still be able to receive EU funds. The European rights to draw EU funds and the partnership agreements with member states do not allow such cuts in EU funds for such a reason. In order to do so, it would be necessary to change the whole framework for the 2014-20 period, according to Kralik.

Read also:

Read also: Slovakia to file suit against immigration quotas by December 18 Read more

The Justice Ministry has meanwhile confirmed it is preparing a lawsuit against the EU Council which it wants to submit by the first half of December.

A legal representative for Slovakia is beginning to draw up the lawsuit that will be filed before the prescribed time expires, said PM Robert Fico in mid-October, as quoted by the TASR newswire. Weve no reason to change our opinion on this issue.
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The Slovak Spectator, in cooperation with the Finstat company, has been bringing the professional and general public a more comprehensive picture of law services in Slovakia for more than 10 years.

This year we prepared rankings for 13 categories based on areas of law or based on number of countries in which the evaluated firms are located,said Jan Pallo, publisher of The Slovak Spectator, who is in charge of the methodology of the rankings.

In this article, we are bringing the results in the main categories, while the articles with the results for partial categories are the following: M&A , Banking & Finance , Real Estate & Development , Intellectual property, Litigation & Arbitration , Labour law, Restructuring & Insolvency, Regulation, Competition law and Commercial law . Reporter Adam Valcek has summed up the most significant deals in 2020-2021. Find more details about the ranking methodology here .

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The law firm SOUKENIK  STRPKA placed first in the general ranking with the highest number of lawyers working for the company. The most important deals with which this law firm dealt with in 2020/2021 include:

Ministry of Transport and Construction: Co-representing a client in international arbitration under ICC rules related to the largest PPP project in Slovakia (1.9 bn).

National Highway Company: Co-represented a client in international arbitration under ICC rules related to the construction of a highway tunnel (245 mil.).

Construction projects (HAUSBERG and Milton House II): Providing complex legal services related to the construction of luxury apartments and office premises in Bratislavas centre (45 mil.).

Private sector (energy, agriculture, development): The client's structure included companies with a total gross asset value of 212.5 mil. The client sold the entire structure to the investor (212.5 mil.).

Private sector - public bus transport services: Providing legal advice to a client in the public procurement process (urban public transport, or suburban bus transport) (33.1 mil.).

LARGEST LAW FIRMS IN SLOVAKIA 2021

SOUKENIK  STRPKA Allen & Overy Advokatska kancelaria RELEVANS RUZICKA AND PARTNERS HAVEL & PARTNERS TaylorWessing e/n/w/c Dentons Europe CS LLP Kinstellar White & Case PETERKA & PARTNERS

Law firm RELEVANS had the highest growth in sales and RUZICKA AND PARTNERS in profit. In 2020, the 10 largest law firms saw a 3.8-percent increase year-on-year in revenues. The aggregate net profit of the first 10 law firms rose 8.3 percent compared to profits in 2019.

The annual Investment Advisory Guide 2021/22 published by the English language newspaper The Slovak Spectator provides more detailed data with published results of the analysis as well as complex ratings.

When looking at partial criteria used for setting up the general ranking, Allen & Overy Bratislava once again achieved the highest sales revenues in 2020 out of all assessed law offices, while SOUKENIK  STRPKA dominated in the number of law graduates (54) as well as attorneys (25) and RELEVANS had the highest profit in 2020.

The position of law firms in the ranking of local and international attorneys is interesting when considering whether they have most of their lawyers in the Czech and Slovak republics or not.

LARGEST LOCAL LAW FIRMS 2021

SOUKENIK  STRPKA Advokatska kancelaria RELEVANS RUZICKA AND PARTNERS HAVEL & PARTNERS Barger Prekop Skubla & Partneri HKV Law Firm Bartosik Svaby PRK Partners Hillbridges

Allen & Overy Bratislava placed first among international law firms operating in Slovakia. The most significant cases in which the law firm provided legal services in 2020-2021 were:

Representing of Zero Bypass Limited (D4R7 project) in arbitration, arising out the delay of the project and related time extension and cost increase (1.9 bn).

Represented Cisco Systems, Inc. in the acquisition of Sli.do, s.r.o. from the founders and private investors of Slido.

Assisting Epic Games, Inc. in the acquisition of Capturing Reality, s.r.o. (CR) from the individual founders of CR.

Advising Tatra banka on its 3 mld. Debt Securities Issuance Programme update and the first syndicated issue of 300 mil. Green MREL Notes in CEE (3.3 bn).

Assisted club of lenders on refinancing of Aupark Bratislava. This record acquisition on the Slovak real estate market was a landmark transaction (229.5 mil.).

LARGEST INTERNATIONAL LAW FIRMS IN SLOVAKIA 2021

Allen & Overy TaylorWessing e/n/w/c Dentons Europe CS LLP PETERKA & PARTNERS Kinstellar White & Case bnt attorneys-at-law CMS Slovakia BDO Legal Noerr

More complex information was published in the yearbook about the investment environment Investment Advisory Guide 2021/22.

Financial data on profits and revenue has been provided by the company FinStat.sk, which is published along with other details concerning Slovak companies. This data helps companies analyse business partners, competitors, and the whole general market. It also leads to potential new deals and the development of new business.

A few law firms decided not to provide information and were not analysed in this ranking. Based on the calculations of The Slovak Spectator, their potential involvement this year would have had a minimum impact on the ranking of the top positions.

Investment Advisory Guide

The yearbook on the business environment, published yearly since 2000 by The Slovak Spectator, gives an overview of investors either from Slovakia or abroad. This years edition was published thanks to the cooperation of the Investment Support Association (ISA). The general partner of the guide is the law firm SOUKENIK  STRPKA. The content provides well-arranged information on the economy, labour market, investor support, legislation, and real estate, as well as investment opportunities in Slovakia. This guide also contains a large analysis of the law firm market, providing more detailed information on the most important ones. Within this section, rankings of the largest law firms in Slovakia are also published. The yearbook traditionally contains a wealth of statistics, including the regional comparison of wages, unemployment rates, industrial structure and an overview of the largest companies in individual regions.
The Slovak Spectator offers the basic information a foreigner needs to know about education possibilities in Slovakia.

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Q: How does the Slovak education system look?

Q: What do I do when I want to place my child in a kindergarten?

Q: What are my options if I dont want my kids to go to Slovak schools?

Q: What are the options for kids who dont want to go to international schools?

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Q: When do primary school students typically start deciding which secondary school they want to attend?

Q: When do they take entrance exams and when do they know if they've been chosen?

Q: What do I do if I want to study at a university and how much does it cost?

Q: Where can I learn Slovak?

Q: What are my opportunities to requalify in Slovakia?

Do you have more questions about studying in Slovakia? Please let us know at spectator@spectator.sk.

Q: How does the Slovak education system look?

A: Pre-schools are comprised of nursery schools and kindergartens. Nursery schools provide care for children up to three years of age while kindergartens are assigned for children from three to six years of age. Their main function is to care for children and prepare them for primary school.

Primary schools provide general, health and physical education as well as religious studies. Primary school lasts for nine years and the curriculum varies, mainly in the higher grades. Primary schools are comprised of nine grades, with compulsory education lasting 10 years. After graduating from primary schools, students must apply to secondary schools.

Secondary school education is comprised of three types of schools: gymnasiums, secondary specialised schools and secondary vocational schools. Applicants must pass selective exams for all types of secondary schools.

Secondary grammar schools, called gymnasiums, provide general secondary education and prepare students for studying at higher education institutions. The studying lasts four or eight years and ends with the maturita examination.

Secondary specialised schools prepare students mainly for occupations in the technical and economic sectors, pre-school education, medical nursery care, and fine arts and design. Students in specialised schools must pass the maturita exam in both general and specialised subjects.

Conservatories provide education in fields like music, dancing and the dramatic arts. It generally takes four years to complete ones education at a conservatory.

Secondary vocational schools prepare students for various occupations and work activities, which may or may not require training and the maturita exam. The general and vocational sections involve education and training. Studying at those schools takes two to four years to complete.

Special schools use special educational and training methods and tools to teach students with mental, sensory or physical handicaps.

Post-secondary education: Many secondary vocational schools offer graduates the option to continue their education for two or three more years. This form of education results in an upgrade of an already received qualification. After completion, graduates obtain a certificate which entitles them to become a certified specialist in the respective field.

Institutions of higher education can be divided into universities and colleges, depending on the nature of the programme and amount of work involved. Universities and colleges are divided into public, state, private and international institutions.

Q: What do I do when I want to place my child in a kindergarten?

A: People who want to place their child in a Slovak kindergarten have to fulfil several conditions. The enrolment takes place in May and it is up to kindergartens how long it will take (whether it will be the whole month or just one week). Parents need to bring an application, which contains a doctor's confirmation that the child can visit the kindergarten.

Some kindergartens require also other documents, but they need to inform about it. After submitting the application, the kindergarten has one month to decide whether it will accept the child or not. The kindergartens preferentially accept children one year before they are supposed to start visiting primary school, but it also depends on the capacity. There are also private kindergartens, where it is easier to find a place for the child, but the fees are higher.

There are also bilingual and trilingual kindergartens in Bratislava with English, Spanish, Russian, German and Chinese languages, and English bilingual kindergartens in Nitra, Senec, Kosice, Pezinok, Banska Bystrica, Zilina and Samorin.

A list of some international kindergartens can be found at: greenpages.spectator.sme.sk

Q: What are my options if I dont want my kids to go to Slovak schools?

A: There are International schools in Slovakia, where the whole education is held in a foreign language. They are, however, private and parents have to pay an annual tuition.

A list of some international schools can be found at: greenpages.spectator.sme.sk

Q: What are the options for kids who dont want to go to international schools?

A: Parents who do not want their children to visit international schools can try to enrol them in a bilingual school. There are several primary (in Bratislava and Trnava), but mostly secondary bilingual schools in Slovakia, including private and religious ones, offering some subjects in Slovak and some in foreign languages.

The most frequent type is bilingual grammar school where the studies take five years. They are open for pupils of eighth or ninth grade of primary schools, but applicants need to pass entrance exams. During the first year pupils usually learn mostly the foreign language and then pass the exams at the end of the school year.

Q: When do primary school students typically start deciding which secondary school they want to attend?

A: It depends on what type of school they want to apply to. Those who want to continue their education at a Gymnasium take entrance exams in the fifth grade. Otherwise, they can apply in the ninth grade, the last year of primary school.

Every pupil may apply for two high schools. Primary schools will collect the applications from every student and then send them to high school.

Q: When do they take entrance exams and when do they know if they've been chosen?

A: Talent tests take place in March and April. Other entrance exams take place in May. The results are known shortly after; the high school will usually publish them on the Internet and also write an official letter to each applicant.

Q: What do I do if I want to study at a university and how much does it cost?

A: According to the Education Ministry data, there are currently 28 universities and colleges in Slovakia which offer courses in a language other than Slovak, mostly in English. Foreign students, however, have to pay for the studies held in languages other than Slovak. This stems from the law on universities adopted in 2002. The price lists are published on the websites of the universities.

The popular schools among foreigners are:

- Comenius University's Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin

- Comenius University's Faculty of Medicine in Bratislava

- Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice's Faculty of Medicine

- University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Kosice

- Comenius University's Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences in Bratislava

- Academy of Performing Arts Bratislava's Theatre Faculty

- Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava's Faculty of Civil Engineering

- Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava's Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology

- Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava's Faculty of Architecture

- Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava's Faculty of Mechanical Engineering

Q: Where can I learn Slovak?

A: The Comenius University offers courses of the Slovak language for foreigners. Its Centre for Continuing Education organises every year the Summer University of Slovak Language and Culture. The target groups are foreign applicants who are interested in studying Slovak language, history and culture; compatriots living abroad; descendants of Slovaks living abroad; friends of Slovakia and Slovaks; Slovakists and students of Slavic studies; university workers and students of Slovakistics and Slavic studies at foreign universities; teachers of Slovak language at foreign schools of all types; and foreign workers at various governmental and cultural institutions.

Moreover, Comenius Universitys Faculty of Arts also organises summer courses for foreigners, within its summer school of Slovak language and culture Studia Academica Slovaca. Its target groups are Slovakists and Slavists abroad, cultural workers, managers, language teachers, translators and all those interested in studying Slovak language and culture. The faculty also offers evening courses of the Slovak language.

Foreigners can also learn the language online, at Slovake.eu, which is the only multilingual free-of-charge website. The lectures focus on various areas and situations and also explain the differences in pronunciation.

Q: What are my opportunities to requalify in Slovakia?

A: The requalification courses, whose aim is to increase the chances of people to find employment, are offered by the labour offices and also the educational agencies.

The labour offices offer the requalification courses only to registered jobseekers, via the RE-PAS project. Jobseekers who struggle to find work in their profession can apply for the course, whose main aim is to obtain new knowledge and skills in a selected profession. Jobseekers, however, cannot attend the same requalification course for five years after the course ended. All costs are covered by the labour offices.

The educational agencies have a wider offer of requalification courses, but people have to pay for them on their own.

Sources: the Education Ministry, the websites of universities in Slovakia, the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family, The J. W. Fulbright Commission webpage, The Academic Ranking and Rating Agency report
CHICAGO  A longtime Chicago police officer was fired Thursday night for shooting 16 times at the wrong car during an off-duty incident more than five years ago.

In an 8-0 vote, the Chicago Police Board voted at its monthly meeting to dismiss Officer Francisco Frank Perez for the 2011 shooting outside a Mexican restaurant in the East Ukrainian Village neighborhood. One board member, John OMalley, did not vote because hes new to the board.

Lori Lightfoot, who heads the Chicago Police Board, said the board found Perez at fault for not identifying the appropriate target and not taking reasonable precautions before firing his gun at the wrong car. But he was not dismissed for allegations that he made false statements to IPRA investigators about how the shooting unfolded.

The case marked the first time since its inception in 2007 that the Independent Police Review Authority, the citys much-maligned police oversight agency, had recommended that a Chicago police officer be dismissed for a shooting.

Perez, an officer since 1999, could appeal his firing to Cook County Circuit Court.

The driver of the car that Perez fired at was wounded.

Perezs firing comes weeks after the U.S. Department of Justice issued a scathing report on Chicago police that, among other things, faulted officers for resorting to force too often and criticized officer training as woefully inadequate.

According to authorities, the shooting occurred shortly before 4 a.m. Nov. 5, 2011, outside the La Pasadita restaurant in the 1100 block of North Ashland Avenue. Perez was off-duty and working security for the restaurant when an occupant of a red Mitsubishi Galant opened fire after pulling up beside a blue Chrysler 300M that was double-parked in front of the restaurant.

Three people standing outside the restaurant were shot, one fatally.

The evidence against Perez hinged largely on video obtained from a surveillance camera outside the restaurant.

After the Mitsubishi had sped from the scene, the footage showed Perez moving toward the Chrysler and firing his weapon at the rear of the vehicle, according to IPRA. Perez continued to fire as the Chrysler took off, IPRA said.

Yet even after viewing the video in 2015, Perez continued to maintain that he had fired at the red car.

In testifying before a Police Board hearing officer last year, Perez did not dispute that he mistakenly shot an occupant in the Chrysler but said he was aiming at the red car seconds after the drive-by shooting.

A lawyer representing the Police Department contended that Perez should be fired for lying and shooting an innocent bystander.

But Perezs lawyer, Daniel Herbert, described his client as a hero and dismissed the allegations against him as preposterous.

John Farrell, who testified as an expert on use of force on behalf of Perez, defended the off-duty officers decision to open fire because the gunman in the red car had just committed a forcible felony and was attempting to escape.

Farrell also criticized the quality of the video as not top notch. He said the video did not depict what Perez saw that night because the camera captured the scene from a different angle than what the off-duty officer viewed. It also gave a limited view of what took place that night, he said.

In addition, Farrell testified that outside factors, including tunnel vision and an inability in the poor lighting to distinguish the colors of the two cars, could have played a role in the incident.

But the Police Department lawyer, Special Assistant Corporation Counsel James Fieweger, told the hearing officer that he was skeptical that Perez intended to fire at the Mitsubishi because the car was a full block and a half away when he opened fire. The odds that Perez would be successful in hitting the moving vehicle in the dark at that distance were minuscule, he said.

I think Officer Perez was trying to do the right thing, but he was ill-informed and made a horrible mistake, Fieweger said. Hes been offered multiple opportunities to correct his story. If an officers gonna lie to cover that up, what else is he gonna lie about?
A month before the Brexit referendum, UK citizens expect few changes in their personal lives.

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With the Brexit vote approaching there are some sleepless nights ahead for the EU, including Slovak leaders who will take on the council presidency just days after the referendum.

Both sides would lose from Britain leaving, therefore, we all have to work harder to strengthen peoples enthusiasm for the European project, Peter Javorcik, who heads Slovakias Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels, told The Slovak Spectator.

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UK voters will take to the polling booths on June 23, while Slovakia will take over in presiding over the EU Council from the Netherlands on July 1. Even if the UK voted to leave the EU, it would not mean much change in the practical life of Brits living in Slovakia or Slovaks living in Britain, at least initially, experts say.

Slovakias Brits would remain

For most Brits living around the EU, including Slovakia, the Brexit is not an appealing prospect. Andrew Gibson, a secondary-school English teacher living in Bratislava, says that many people like him left the UK to start lives on the continent.

We didnt do this with the idea that one day the UK would let us down and back out of the deal leaving us in the dark and without the guarantees we had when we made those decisions, Gibson told The Slovak Spectator.

Having said that, however, Gibson believes there should be more democracy within the EU. He mentioned the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25), which was launched in 2015 by former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis which aims to reform the EU to a union of people ruled by democratic consent.

The EU is vital to all European countries bringing us together and making us stronger, Gibson said.

Another English teacher based in Slovakia, Jonathan Hill, believes the opposite.

I think a lot of people in the UK have generally had enough of Brussels dictating the rules and regulations, Hill told The Slovak Spectator. It goes back to the old days when we were very much a seafaring nation unlike today.

None of the Brits living in Slovakia that The Slovak Spectator spoke with consider leaving Slovakia and going back to the UK a viable option for them at the moment, and do not expect the hypothetical Brexit to force them take such a step  although it might bring complications.

Ill be spending more time at the foreign police, Hill said.

Losing EU citizenship?

Neither the British nor the Slovak laws are ready for the situation when a country leaves the EU. Some EU citizen rights are derived from EU citizenship, Vladimir Bartovic, director of the Europeum Institute for European Policy (Europeum) think-tank, said.

The legal question arises whether it is possible to take some rights of individuals who have acquired them in good faith, he told The Slovak Spectator.

The restriction of labour migration from the EU is among the most discussed topics. Radovan Geist, the founder and publisher of the Euractiv.sk website, pointed out that such a model might limit the access for EU citizens to some social services or jobs. The EU could respond with restrictive countermeasures.

The EU would require at least one concession for every one [concession] given to the UK, Geist said.

Hill expects the potential Brexit-induced changes will affect UK business rather than UK citizens in Europe.

In the long run we would be much better out of the EU, however, the short term may have a negative effect both on Europe as a whole and the UK, Hill said.

A long process

Though Britons with permanent residency in Slovakia need not worry anymore, their families do, Bartovic said.

European law grants quite extensive rights to family members of EU citizens, Bartovic said.

The process will most likely take three to five years, thus there is a lot of time for personal planning if need be, said James Buchanan, a recent addition to the British community in Slovakia.

The position of Slovaks living in the UK will not change, according to analysts.

I cannot imagine that the EU would suddenly ask for additional work permits from those who are already there, Bartovic said.

The current special status of the UK in Europe gives Brits the best of both worlds, said Monika Holeckova, press officer of the British Embassy in Slovakia.

Brits are stronger, safer and better off in a reformed EU than out on their own, she told The Slovak Spectator.

Would Brexit mean end of EU?
Feb 17 (Reuters) - Anglo American PLC (LSE: AAL.L - news) will temporarily suspend operations at its El Soldado copper mine in Chile (Stuttgart: 704599.SG - news) after failing to receive regulatory approval to redesign the mine, the company said in a statement on Friday.

The company wants to redesign the mine, which produced around 36,000 tonnes of copper in 2015, due to engineering issues. It said Chilean mining regulator Sernageomen had not approved the company's request to obtain permission for the plans. (Reporting by Luc Cohen; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
* Austria accuses Airbus of wilful deception, fraud

* Relates to 2 bln euro order for Eurofighter jets

* Airbus says denies accusations vigorously

* Austria sees potential damages of up to 1.1 bln euros (Adds Airbus statement, details from press conference)

By Kirsti Knolle and Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich

VIENNA, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Austria sued Airbus and the Eurofighter consortium on Thursday, alleging wilful deception and fraud linked to a near 2 billion euro ($2.1 billion) jet order in 2003.

The defence ministry said that following an investigation it believed Airbus and Eurofighter had misled Austria about the purchase price, deliverability and equipment of the jets.

The incurred damage could amount to 1.1 billion euros, Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil told a news conference in Vienna.

Airbus said it denied the accusations vigorously. "The publication of criminal charges against a listed company by means of a press conference ... is not acceptable for Airbus and can only be described as unprofessional," said a spokesman.

Eurofighter did not reply to requests for comment.

Austrian and German prosecutors have been investigating the case for years and Munich prosecutors have said they expect to complete separate preliminary proceedings by mid-year.

"As defence minister, I consider it my duty to report facts relevant for criminal prosecution and to claim compensation for the Austrian taxpayers' damage. This is what we did today," Doskozil said.

Austria had initially ordered 18 Eurofighter jets but reduced the order to 15 in 2007. It then ordered a review of the purchase four years ago following bribery allegations.

The deal was controversial from the outset and allegations surfaced almost immediately that money was pocketed by politicians, civil servants and others via brokers for side deals accompanying the purchase.

ILLEGAL CHARGES

The defence ministry said it had found Airbus and the consortium illegally charged nearly 10 percent of the purchase price of 1.96 billion euros for so-called offset deals.

Story continues

While such deals, which involve work being given to local companies, were part of the agreement, their cost should have been reported separately, it said in a report.

"Offset deals are obviously an ideal launcher for corruption, misery and money laundering," Doskozil said.

The Eurofighter is built by a consortium comprising Britain's BAE Systems (LSE: BA.L - news) and Italy's Leonardo as well as Airbus, which represents the other two nations in the European project: Germany and Spain.

BAE and Leonardo did not reply to requests for comment.

Airbus and Eurofighter, which coordinates the production of the aircraft and is headquartered in Munich, also deceived Austria about its ability and desire to deliver the planes, the report said, because the deal was not economic for the planemakers.

Wolfgang Peschorn, president of the legal advisor of the Austrian Republic, said the incurred damages of up to 1.1 billion euros related to extra costs paid for the Eurofighters compared with jets from rival bidder SAAB (LSE: 0GWL.L - news) , as well as higher operating expenses.

A special committee will examine options for future jet purchases, the defence minister said. The aim was to buy jets more cheaply, though Doskozil did not rule out buying new Eurofighters.

Airbus, Europe's largest aerospace group, has said it is co-operating with a separate German probe into the fighter sale to Austria, as well as three probes into suspected irregularities in defence or security markets, including a UK investigation into a $3.3 billion communications deal with Saudi Arabia.

($1 = 0.9400 euros) (Additional reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris and Shadia Nasralla in Vienna; Editing by David Holmes and Mark Potter)
By Marta Nogueira

RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Rising output from Brazil's sub-salt offshore oil fields is allowing state oil company Petrobras to export record volumes of oil and import less light crude for its refineries, a senior executive said.

Claudio Mastella, executive manager for refining and natural gas logistics, said the move is helping to reduce Petrobras' operational and logistical costs because lighter oil is easier and cheaper to refine into products like gasoline and diesel.

Rising output from sub-salt, an area off the coast of Rio de Janeiro which has lighter oil than the Brazilian average, helped Brazil cut its crude imports to the lowest level since the 1990s last year while exports set a record in January.

Brazil's sub-salt production rose to 1.26 million barrels per day (bpd) in December, equivalent to 46 percent of the country's total output - up from 34 percent a year earlier.

Mastella said that as a result the percentage of Brazilian oil used in Petrobras' refineries had reached 91 percent, up 10 percentage points over the past five years.

"The properties of the oil from the sub-salt encourages both its use in Petrobras' refineries in Brazil and for exports, as it has a higher commercial value," Mastella said in an emailed response to questions.

Brazilian imports fell to their lowest level in 19 years in 2016, data from the Trade Ministry showed this month.

Crude imports fell to roughly 65 million barrels in 2016, nearly half of their 2015 level, the data showed.

Part of that was due to a 4.5 percent fall in domestic fuel consumption amid Brazil's worst recession on record.

Meanwhile, rising sub-salt production helped Brazil significantly increase exports.

The Paris-based International Energy Agency expects Brazils 2017 output to rise 230,000 bpd on the year to 2.84 million bpd.

While Petrobras has forecast its output will slip by 3.5 percent this year to around 2.07 million bpd due to delays in projects coming online, that should be compensated by rising output from other producers.

Story continues

The government does not produce a forecast for annual oil output.

Figures from energy regulator ANP showed that oil exports from Brazil set a monthly record in January of roughly 1.26 million bpd.

Reuters Trade Flows data showed that total shipments of Brazilian crude - including barrels shipped from the Uruguayan shore - averaged 1.3 million bpd since August, versus 1 million bpd in the first half of 2016.

The Reuters Trade Flows data showed Petrobras and other Brazil producers - including Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: 0LN9.L - news) , Repsol (Amsterdam: RP6.AS - news) , Petrogal and PetroChina (HKSE: 0857-OL.HK - news) - are competing more aggressively to gain export market share in the U.S. East Coast, China, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Spain. (Reporting by Marta Nogueira in Rio de Janeiro; Additional reporting by Marianna Parraga in Houston; Writing by Stephen Eisenhammer; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Leslie Adler)
* Oil from Nigeria, Libya and Kazakhstan gives a boost

* Margins average 50 percent higher than Q1 2016 - http://reut.rs/2lPOGtN

* Fuel oil crack strengthens http://reut.rs/2kNZxAf

By Libby George and Ahmad Ghaddar

LONDON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - A global deal to cut oil production has had the unintended consequence of aiding Europe's older refineries by bolstering supplies of light crude while curbing shipments of the heavier grades favoured by more advanced plants in other continents.

These European units, long thought doomed by competition from state-of-the-art refineries in the Middle East, Asia and the United States, are in the right place at the right time - enjoying good demand and oil availability that is, for them, growing.

"European refiners are well positioned versus the OPEC cuts," said David Wech, managing director of consultancy JBC Energy. "The supply that is taken out of the market hits primarily the Asian market."

A deal between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-member producers to cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) has held oil prices roughly 20 percent above the low just before they sealed the pact late last year.

Pricier crude often saps refiners' earnings. But refinery margins, a measure of profit, stood near $7 per barrel for a simple plant processing Brent crude in Rotterdam, Reuters data showed, 50 percent above the first-quarter average last year.

Part of the benefit is that most of the oil cut by OPEC was heavy crude preferred by the more complex refineries, which by and large are not in Europe.

European refineries are in general older and less complex than the newest units, such as the giant Jamnagar plant in India. Simpler refineries often prefer easier-to-process light oil, which is in abundance in Europe's backyard as OPEC producers Libya and Nigeria were exempt from the cuts. Crude from Kazakhstan's Kashagan field is also pumping away.

Meanwhile, while Russia has cut overall production, exports of its Urals crude are pushing higher in the first half of this year.

Story continues

As a result, the likes of Italy's Saras, Greece's Hellenic Petroleum (LSE: 0K9U.L - news) and majors that run refineries in Europe such as BP, Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: 0LN9.L - news) and ENI (Euronext: ENI.NX - news) have access to a range of crude cargoes.

"In general, the more locally grown crudes ... were not included as part of the (supply-cut) agreement," said Steve Sawyer, head of refining at FGE Energy.

The forecast for margins is so good that some refineries, such as Turkey's Tupras, have postponed maintenance shutdowns that were scheduled for the spring, industry sources told Reuters.

SWING PRODUCERS

Still-strong demand for fuels, and refinery woes elsewhere, are also helping.

The International Energy Agency raised its 2017 forecast for growth in global oil demand to 1.4 million bpd. But at the same time, refineries in Latin American oil producers Venezuela, Mexico and Brazil have grappled with fires, unplanned shutdowns and lower production - leaving little surplus refining capacity.

"Europe's refineries are the world's marginal refineries. They are the swing capacity," Sawyer said.

Lower Latin American production has also slashed the availability of sulphur-rich fuel oil, making it more profitable.

Although fuel oil usually costs refineries money to sell, simple plants that lack desulphurisation capacity - such as those in the Mediterranean - have no choice but to crank out what is normally seen as a byproduct.

All these factors are likely to keep refining margins "robust and healthy" for at least the first half of the year, Gunvor's chief economist David Fyfe said at a recent conference in Antwerp.

"It's a confluence of factors. It's crude availabilities and it's strong (fuel oil)," Fyfe said.

(Reporting by Libby George; Editing by Dale Hudson)
(Corrects to remove quotation marks in paragraph 12)

By Terrence Edwards

ULAANBAATAR, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Mongolia plans to nationalise a 49 percent stake in a copper mine sold to a domestic private firm last year, bringing one of Asia's biggest copper producers under full control in a move its former Russian owner said could deter foreign investors.

The country's parliament voted to nationalise the Erdenet mine last week after a probe by lawmakers concluded the June 2016, $400 million sale by state-owned Russian holding company Rostec to little-known Mongolian Copper Corp (MCC (HKSE: 1618-OL.HK - news) ) was unconstitutional as it was agreed without lawmakers' approval.

Erdenet, which produces 530,000 tons of ore annually, is one of Asia's biggest copper and molybdenum mines and a top tax contributor to the country's $12 billion economy. The sale to MMC was sanctioned by former prime minister Chimed Saikhanbileg.

The parliament's intervention comes as Mongolia, sandwiched between Russia and China, struggles to take advantage of vast mineral wealth, with investors deterred by inconsistent laws and tax rules. Russia has been involved in the mine since 1978, but sanctions imposed after its annexation of Crimea have encouraged it to liquidate overseas assets.

The country has been involved in a spat with miner Rio Tinto (Hanover: CRA1.HA - news) over the giant Oyu Tolgoi copper deposit. Mongolia was also forced to pay $70 million compensation to Canada's Khan Resources (Frankfurt: KHR.F - news) after international arbitration ruled it had illegally revoked a uranium licence.

A parliamentary working party concluded the sale violated financing laws because of the involvement of multiple shell corporations controlled by Mongolia's largest private lender, Trade and Development Bank (TDB), and its staff.

The working party said the deal placed too much risk on the bank, violating banking laws, and also used borrowed funds from the central bank.

Story continues

Both MCC and TDB deny wrongdoing.

The bank's chief executive officer Onon Orkhon said it only provided underwriting services, in addition to "partial financing" referring to a $75 million bridge loan to MCC.

M. Munkhbaatar, MCC's chairman, said in a statement emailed to Reuters that no domestic or international laws had been violated during the purchase. The parliament's actions represented "increased state intervention in the economy," he said.

Meanwhile a letter addressed by Sergei Chemezov, the chief executive of Rostec, to the country's prime minister said any decision to intervene in the sell-off could damage Mongolia's reputation, warning any move to challenge his firm's sale could end up in court.

Any efforts to change the deal could result in claims for damages and court costs in the Singapore international commercial court, Chemezov wrote in the letter, dated the day before last week's vote and reviewed by Reuters.

A Rostec spokeswoman would not confirm or deny the veracity of the letter when contacted by Reuters. The spokeswoman said the deal was completed in accordance with international law and the firm had already received payment.

A spokesman with Mongolia's Foreign Affairs Ministry denied knowledge of the letter, adding that a visit to Moscow by foreign minister Tsend Munkh-Orgil this week had no connection with Erdenet. (Reporting by Terrence Edwards in ULAANBAATAR; Additional reporting by Gleb Stolyarov in MOSCOW; Editing by David Stanway and Kenneth Maxwell)
BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Big companies are selling better food in Austria than they sell in Hungary, even thought the brands are supposed to be the same, the Hungarian government said on Thursday. Hungary's food safety authority, NEBIH, looked at 24 products sold in both Hungary and Austria by international retailers like Lidl and Aldi. It found, among other things, that the local version of Manner wafers was less crunchy and the domestic Nutella not as mellow as the Austrian counterpart. "I was dismayed upon reading this brief report," Janos Lazar, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff, told a news conference. "I think this is the biggest scandal of the recent past." Lazar said the government would begin a large-scale review of more products available in Hungary. He declined to say what specific action Budapest might take. Hungary is not alone in its concern. Neighbouring Slovakia's food quality watchdog said this week it had found differences in taste, looks and composition in nearly a dozen products sold locally and in Germany and Austria. (Reporting by Gergely Szakacs, editing by Larry King)
The Winona Mall will be under new management after its purchase early this week.

Local landlord John Alexander bought the building from the Winona Mall Inc., based in Clear Lake, Iowa, for $5 million.

Alexander said he hadnt initially planned to make the purchase but had been looking into the building and the opportunity presented itself.

It kind of just happened, Alexander said. Everything fell into place.

Alexander said the business has a number of positive aspects that can be capitalized on  such as the number of young families frequenting KidSport and the indoor playground, and several health oriented businesses, including a gym.

Restored Blessings, a Winona thriftstore, will move into a 7,000-square-foot space in the mall, a move that will allow it to expand and offer more furniture.

Alexander said he has been exploring a variety of business, including a real estate company and insurance provider, and expects to fill the spots by spring.

He is focusing a number of different locally owned and operated businesses, moving away from the larger franchises he said have not been as successful in the Winona Mall.
The glorious peculiarity of the Oscar-nominated German comedy Toni Erdmann resists easy categorization, and you cant really tell whats up, or why you should see it, judging from the coming-attractions trailer put out by its domestic distributor, Sony Pictures Classics. SPC boasts some of the savviest stewards in international film, and even they cant figure out how to sell this movie. What is it? Something about a tightly wound businesswoman and her relentlessly practical-joking father. But what?

I suggest you find out the old-fashioned way and actually see it. Writer-director Maren Ade has created a story, a profoundly complicated relationship and a uniquely bracing black comedy of unusual depth of feeling. Toni Erdmann offers a wealth of casual, wickedly funny insights into what makes parents and children, women and men do the things they do under duress. Watching Ades film, I had zero idea where it was going scene to scene, even moment to moment, and Ade pushes her characters into ever-stranger directions. I only knew I was in the hands of a fascinating, tonally ambitious filmmaker working at a very high level.

Plotwise: pretty simple. Returning from Shanghai, business consultant Ines reunites in Germany with her recently retired music teacher father, Winfried. Shes about to scoot off again to Bucharest, Romania, where she advises an oil firm on how best to downsize a few hundred employees.

This father-daughter relationship has been strained for years, maybe forever. Winfried is exasperating, always pulling someones leg, popping in a pair of screwy false teeth, plopping a black fright wig on his head. The opening scene of Toni Erdmann (the title comes from the name of Winfrieds alter ego) sets up the picture beautifully, as Winfried receives a package at his modest apartment and calmly informs the delivery man that it probably contains the mail-order bomb ordered by his pretend brother, Toni.

Much of the picture takes place in Bucharest, as Winfried takes up Ines on her halfhearted offer to host him there. She reluctantly takes dad to a party at the American Embassy; shes astonished and somewhat hurt that he proves more socially savvy, in his outlandish fashion, than she. This is a woman not comfortable in her own skin. Shes something of a hollow log emotionally, and her only release comes in the role of sometime lover of one of her mansplaining, patronizing male colleagues.

The film takes a wild left turn at the halfway point, with an explicit sex scene, cold as ice. Later its her fright-wig father who helps Ines reconnect with her better instincts. In the second half of Toni Erdmann, two major sequences  a karaoke version of The Greatest Love of All, sung by Ines at her fathers urging at an Easter egg party, and a nudist birthday gathering that plays like a sex farce edition of a corporate team-building exercise  takes the characters to the brink, and pulls them back just in time. Ines realizes, deep down, she must do something drastic to save herself. And that something is allow her father to be the genial crackpot he was born to be.

Running over 2 hours and worth every minute, Ades film showcases the brilliant whip-crack of an actress, Sandra Huller, as Ines, and the veteran Austrian actor Peter Simonischek as her father, aka Toni Erdmann. The movie has a lot to say about the endless, free-floating BS women must contend with in a capitalistic patriarchy. (After one supervisor insults and flatters Ines in the same instant, while describing her dismissively as a feminist, she replies, curtly: Im not a feminist or I wouldnt tolerate guys like you.) At the Cannes Film Festival last year, the jury ignored Ades film altogether. But it has found a considerable, gratefully discombobulated audience all around the world, and it deserves one here.

4 stars

Toni Erdmann

RATED: R (for strong sexual content, graphic nudity, language and brief drug use)

WHEN: Opens today

WHERE: High Ridge
Growing up in southeastern Texas, Chef Matt Schnooberger was exposed to the staple foods of Louisiana through friends he made from the neighboring state. Now Schnooberger is bringing those Louisiana flavors to New Mexico as part of a Mardi Gras-inspired dinner featuring Louisianas Abita Brewing beers.

Growing up in Houston, I had so many friends who were from Louisiana so I ate boudin and alligator and jambalaya and all this stuff, Schnooberger said. It wasnt comfort food, but it seemed like comfort food growing up just because I would go to a friends house for dinner and they would be having jambalaya for dinner or gumbo for dinner. Those flavors move into Houston so much because they share a lot of the same seafood, both being on the Gulf and everything.

Schnooberger, who is the head chef at Freight House Kitchen + Tap, also has visited New Orleans on many occasions and has gained an appreciation for Abita Brewing beers.

So Ive had their beer, really enjoyed it and kind of thought if were going to do a beer dinner and it happens to be on Fat Tuesday, lets do something from New Orleans, he said. Abita first came to mind.  I just kind of like the sound of all the different beers that they have and all the different flavor combinations that they have in their beers.

Schnooberger teamed up with Katixa M. Mercier, sales representative for Favorite Brands, which distributes Abita, to create a pairing menu.

The Abita Beer Dinner on Feb. 28 begins with a reception featuring cheese and Mardi Gras Bock. The bock has a rich malt flavor and full body. It is brewed with pale, pilsner and caramel malts and German Perle hops, according to tasting notes provided by Mercier.

The first course begins with smoked alligator rib with Alabama white sauce paired with Abitas Andygator, Andygator is a classic Helles Doppelbock made with German Perle hops, which gives it a slight edge, according to Mercier. Next up is sweet corn bisque with shrimp served with Wrought Iron IPA, which is not an intense India Pale Ale but will satiate the palate of the IPA seeker, according to Mercier. The fourth course consists of fried green tomatoes with New Mexicos Old Windmill Dairy goat cheese.

Schnooberger enjoys having fun with his food, which is apparent on his fourth course that he deemed Surf + Turf Jambalaya.

Were calling it a surf and turf but were using frog and duck with it, Schnooberger said.  I kind of just wanted to have fun with that especially for Mardi Gras. So I went online and found some different flavors that they use in New Orleans and kind of took some of the stuff that I remember (growing up).

The Surf + Turf Jambalaya will be paired with Two Boots, which is a collaboration beer between Abita and Italys Birrificio del Ducato. Two Boots is made with pilsner and wheat malts and hopped with German Perle hops, according to the tasting notes.

Two Boots is a saison with addition of lemon balm, peppercorn and honey, Mercier said.

The dinner sweetly wraps with bananas Foster king cake served with cinnamon ice cream and spiced rum drizzle. It will be complemented with Bourbon Street Maple Pecan.

Abita Beer Dinner

WHEN: 5:30 p.m. Feb. 28

WHERE: Freight House Kitchen + Tap, 200 S. Camino del Pueblo, Bernalillo

HOW MUCH: $60 per person. Reservations, call 588-2143. Information, visit facebook.com/FR8HOUSE. For those who cannot make the dinner there will be Abita Brewing Tap Takeovers at ONiells Nob Hill and Heights locations, as well as Geckos Heights location, on Feb. 28.
Police have taken a suspect into custody after a deploying a gas irritant near Broadway and Roma NE Thursday afternoon, according to a post on the Albuquerque Police Departments Twitter page.

They havent said what the suspect was wanted for, and officer Fred Duran, a spokesman for the Albuquerque Police Department, did not respond to requests for more information.

He hasnt said if the suspect is a man or a woman.

SWAT standoff had lasted a couple hours before the suspect was arrested.

APD warned residents nearby to keep their windows and doors shut for the next hour in order for the gas to dissipate.
DENVER  Denvers school board has passed a resolution aimed at protecting students who might be affected by President Trumps efforts to strengthen immigration policy.

Board members Lisa Flores and Rachele Espiritu introduced a resolution Thursday night that calls on the district to continue its practice of not collecting any information about students immigration status. It also says the district will not grant access to students without a search warrant.

Superintendent Tom Boasberg says its important to address students fears that have been caused by the relentless series of scapegoating and stereotyping. He also called recent actions by the federal government rash, poorly though out and potentially unconstitutional.

The resolution was introduced on the same day that immigrants across the country stayed home from work and school to show their importance to the economy.
Albuquerque has been recognized again as a force to be reckoned with when it comes to craft beer.

VinePair, a popular online blog where people learn about beer, wine and spirits, has named Albuquerque as one of six best upcoming beer cities to visit in 2017. It specifically names Bosque Brewing Company, La Cumbre Brewing Co., Marble Brewery and Tractor Brewing Co. as must sees. The other mentioned beer destinations are Charlotte, N.C.; Des Moines, Iowa; Miami, Indianapolis, and Birmingham, Ala.

New Mexico is coming into its own as a beer state, and Albuquerque will soon be one of the next hot beer cities to travel to (no pun intended). There are now 21 breweries in the city, and while not all are worth traveling to, most of them are conveniently located along I-25. Must-see breweries: Bosque Brewing Co., La Cumbre Brewing Company, Marble Brewery, Tractor Brewing Co., the post reads.

Were all working toward something really special here, Marble Brewery president and co-owner Ted Rice said. Its great to be recognized.

Tractor Brewing Co. also is excited to be recognized.

Its an honor to be named along with these other breweries as a top six new beer city, Tractor brand manager Jeremy Kinter said. We love what we do and we love our community, and I think that shows in our product. Its not surprising we were named top six, because pretty soon Albuquerque will become a premiere destination for craft beer lovers around the world.

Bosques director of operations Jotham Michnovicz is happy to see Albuquerque being acknowledged on a good note and having its beer appreciated on a larger scale.

The beer scene in Albuquerque is gaining notoriety but is still often overlooked on the national level, Michnovicz said. There are many world-class beers being produced here and were fortunate to be able to drink the upper echelon of beers day in and day out. In a time where we often get a bad rap, its great to see our hometown making positive waves.

La Cumbres founder and president Jeff Erway is not taken aback by the kudos Albuquerque continues to receive for its beer.

It is no surprise to those of us that have been living craft beer in this town for years that our great city and our brewery continue to get recognition on the national stage, he said.

Go here for the full blog post.
Retired Vice Adm. Robert Harward has turned down President Donald Trumps offer to become his new national security adviser, according to two people with knowledge of the decision.

Harward would have replaced Michael Flynn, who announced his resignation late Monday amid allegations that he discussed U.S. sanctions with a Russian official before Trump took office and then misrepresented the content of that conversation to Vice President Mike Pence and other administration officials.

One factor in Harwards decision was he couldnt get a guarantee that he could select his own staff, according to someone close to Trump with knowledge of the discussions.

Other officials said his decision was motivated by financial concerns about leaving his job at aerospace firm Lockheed Martin, where he now a senior executive, and the impact it would have on his family.

One senior U.S. official said that family considerations changed his mind. A friend of Harwards added the former Navy SEAL was also not fully comfortable with the quickly moving process. All requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.

The news of Harwards decision was first reported by The Financial Times.

The administration had hoped to name Harward to the position this week, in an effort to soothe the turmoil rolling through the White House. Even before Flynn resigned, the administration was quietly wooing Harward. The hard-charging former Navy SEAL was at the White House on Feb. 8 and then again this week, according to an administration official. Harward commanded high-risk operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and later parachuted into his own retirement ceremony from high altitude.

Trump suggested at a news conference Thursday that one of the reasons he felt he could let Flynn go was because he had a good replacement in mind, without naming that person.

I have somebody that I think will be outstanding for the position, he said. And that also helps, I think, in the making of my decision.

Harwards decision not to take the job leaves the White House scrambling to find a leader for the security council, which is struggling to get its bearings.

Most NSC staffers are traditionally on temporary duty from the Defense and State departments and the intelligence agencies, but as many as 60 slots are vacant, according to senior officials who denied reports that the White House was having trouble recruiting to fill them. They said the vacancies are due to rotational and turnover delays in what are normally two-year assignments.

The White House hires about 75 of a total of more than 200 staffers on the council. The staff chosen by Flynn is heavily weighted toward the small world of military intelligence officials or strategists who rotated through Iraq and Afghanistan with him over the past decade.



The Washington Posts Robert Costa, Karen DeYoung and John Wagner contributed to this report.
It wasnt just sex, drugs and rock n roll.

The counterculture, according to Jack Loeffler, was about a whole lot more than that.

The modern environmental movement came out of the counterculture, said Loeffler, who co-edited a book, Voices of Counterculture in the Southwest, published by the Museum of New Mexico Press and recently released to book stores.

Meredith Davidson, curator at the New Mexico History Museum, co-edited the book with him and they both curated an exhibition on the theme that will open May 14 at the History Museum.

I feel good about this book, Loeffler said. This is a subject I have lived for the last 60 years.

He was a breakfast chef and meditation teacher at what became the Esalen Institute at Big Sur in California, an environmental activist fighting the Black Mesa coal mine in the Four Corners area, a gatherer of what he calls aural histories from interview, and a recorder of indigenous and Hispanic folk music in the Southwest, as well as ambient sounds in the wilderness.

Loeffler said he donated about two-thirds of his aural history collection to the History Museum and the upcoming exhibit will include a number of those voices.

And while he wrote a number of the essays in the book, he also recruited friends he had made along the counterculture journey to tell the stories of the New Buffalo and Lama communes, and the Hog Farm in northern New Mexico, the experiments with straw bale building and organic farming, the backlash against hippies invading the Taos area, the importance of Native American and Eastern spiritual teachings, the music and poetry of the movement.

Then theres the issue of eating peyote and other psychedelics, which Loeffler said was related to development of a new type of consciousness  or maybe a discovery and understanding of what he calls the indigenous mind. Its a way of seeing the relationships among living beings and the planet, of understanding the long-ranging consequences of our actions and relating to the flow of nature.

Plant and animal life  we are all cousins, he said in an interview.

While many people remember those years with affection and even some longing, there was a dark side.

Writer, activist and actor Peter Coyote made that point in an essay he wrote in the book.

While he credited the counterculture with moving the needle on culture with contributions to womens rights, the environmental movement, alternative medicine, organic food and expanded spiritual practices, he added that idealistic young people discovered that love is not all you need.

Our imperfect knowledge of the greed, hatred, and delusion that shape the world, along with our imperfect awareness of our own muddy, contradictory intentions and desires, Coyote wrote, made us believe that we could create a world without shadows, a simpler, more understandable world in accordance with our simplistic understandings, better than the one we had failed to master as children.

He said he wanted to balance out self-congratulatory memories that fail to include sexual disease, death by overdose and murder, and the careless spending of lifes energies on personal indulgence and occasional twaddle.

Multi-generational Taos resident Sylvia Rodriguez added in her essay: It is easy for aging boomers to wax nostalgic about those days. But one must also look back with irony and a touch of skepticism because, contrary to their (our) youthful sensation of accelerating through some kind of Aquarian evolutionary process toward an egalitarian, spiritually enlightened, peaceful, and ecologically balanced society, the country soon veered sharply to the right in an overall trajectory that hasnt stopped yet.

And in her introduction, Davidson noted: Fifty years after the Summer of Love, the youth of todays world are facing similar issues of racial prejudice, global violence, and environmental challenges.

Loeffler said he sees a resurgence of the conditions and concerns that launched the counterculture.

The level of disgust with the political arena right now inevitably is going to result in a huge tsunami of counterculture, he said. An awful lot of young people are particularly distraught with the way it is now.

And maybe because of that, Loeffler said of the book and exhibition, Boy, it couldnt come at a better time.
SANTA FE  Santa Fe is known for its restaurants. They are part of the appeal of a town that relies heavily on tourism.

But on Thursday the citys visitors and residents had to pass up many of the towns most popular eateries.

Dozens of restaurants  including several in the historic Plaza area  were among businesses that closed in recognition of A Day Without Immigrants, a national protest intended to highlight the contributions of immigrants to the U.S. economy and culture.

In solidarity with all immigrants we are closed today, read a sign outside of The Shed, a nationally known restaurant just off the Plaza. May we all reflect on the vital role they play in our day to day lives.

Some businesses in Albuquerque also joined in the protests.

Jose Lopez, the owner of La Michoacana Del Sur restaurant in the South Valley, said it was important to demonstrate how vital immigrants were to the country. Popular Albuquerque Mexican restaurants Taqueria Mexico in downtown and Los Compadres on the historic Route 66 also were closed.

Nationally, shopping centers in immigrant enclaves sat largely empty on Thursday as businesses posted signs in support of immigrants opting to stay home from work and school.

An Albuquerque Public Schools spokeswoman provided numbers that appeared to show that absences were up, although no direct comparisons with the same date last year could be made because there was no school on Feb. 16, 2016. Compared to attendance on Feb. 18 of last year, there were about 800 more students missing from elementary classes and about 1,500 more absentees recorded at middle and high schools.

Santa Fe Public Schools reported much lower attendance rates Thursday, particularly at the south-side schools that serve much the citys immigrant population, although elementary schools werent in session because of parent-teacher conferences.

At Capital High School, Principal Channell Wilson-Segura said about 600 of the 1,400 students werent in attendance. She also knew of about three teachers who also didnt come in as a form of protest, she said.

It was very quiet, eerily quiet, she said. We all felt it. It was a day of reflection for everybody.

The protests were a reaction to President Donald Trumps plans for stricter enforcement of immigration laws and construction of a wall on the Mexican border.

Immigrants provide chefs, cooks and other employees for much of Santa Fes hospitality industry. The list of restaurant closures in Santa Fe also included La Boca, the Burrito Company, Counter Culture Cafe, Tune up Cafe, La Choza, Tia Sophias, Burrito Company, The Pantry and Jambo Cafe.

Empty parking lots

Just east of the Santa Fe city limits, the parking lot at Harrys Roadhouse was uncharacteristically empty Thursday morning. Those phoning the restaurant got a message informing them Harrys was closed due to the Day Without Immigrants protest. We support their voices and their actions. We look forward to seeing you Friday, it said.

The parking lot was also nearly empty at another locals and tourist favorite, The Pantry, on Cerrillos Road.

A single pickup truck was parked next to the building at what normally would have been the lunch rush. Inside the truck were Juanita Spencer and a friend, of Portland, Ore., who were passing through town.

We Googled and found this place. It had a good rating and was not too far off the highway, Spencer said.

But a sign on the door said The Pantry was closed. So we went across the street (to El Parasol) and got a burrito. Its really good, she said between bites.

There were still plenty of dining choices to be had in Santa Fe. The Plaza Cafe on the Plaza was pulling diners as usual. We gave consideration (to closing Thursday), Jared Razatos, manager of the store, said. We talked to the staff. They wanted to work, which is cool with us. Razatos said one or two people who work in the kitchen didnt come in Thursday. The Plaza Cafe Southside, owned by the same family, did close for the day.

The Santa Fe Reporter weekly newspaper was keeping track via Facebook and other means of local businesses that were closed and posting them on its website. By 5 p.m. 43 businesses  some with multiple locations  were listed. Businesses as varied as Mobil Clean Car Wash, Goler Fine Imported Shoes, Santa Fe Guitar Academy, and Southwest Plastering had shut down.

Ten Thousand Waves, an upscale Japanese-themed spa and hotel, was offering free use of its communal baths to all Spanish-speaking immigrants.

On Airport Road on the south side, away from businesses that cater to the tourism industry and where most of the citys immigrant population resides, the day of protest was obvious.

At the Chamisa Center strip mall, about half the businesses were shut. Next door at Latinos Unidos mini-market, signs posted all around the building printed in Spanish said the store were closed in support of its Latino brothers. The signs also noted that undocumented residents and immigrant citizens shop in stores, eat at restaurants, and buy gasoline.

One of the few people parked in the west end of the Chamisa Centers parking lot early Thursday afternoon, Rafael Rodriguez, was there to visit a tax preparation firm to have his taxes done. Rodriguez was born in Mexico, but has lived in Santa Fe for many years. He said hes not a U.S. citizen yet, but is working on it.

Donald Trump, he wants to take all the immigrants out of here, he said. But without immigrants, there is no business here. Theres no nothing.

The signs posted at Latinos Unidos also had a message for Trump: Mister President, without us and without our contribution this country is paralyzed, it said in Spanish. Were prepared not to leave; we will lose a day of work but we could win much more.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.
NEW YORK  Lets not mumble or whisper about the central issue facing our country: What is this democratic nation to do when the man serving as president of the United States plainly has no business being president of the United States?

The Michael Flynn fiasco was the entirely predictable product of the indiscipline, deceit, incompetence and moral indifference that characterize Donald Trumps approach to leadership.

Even worse, Trumps loyalties are now in doubt. Questions about his relationship with Vladimir Putin and Russia will not go away, even if congressional Republicans try to slow-walk a transparent investigation into what ties Trump has with Putins Russia  and who on his campaign did what, and when, with Russian intelligence officials and diplomats.

Party leaders should listen to those Republicans who are already pondering how history will judge their actions in this wrenching moment. Senators such as John McCain and Lindsey Graham seem to know it is only a matter of time before the GOP will have to confront Trumps unfitness. They also sense that Flynns resignation as national security adviser for lying about the nature of his contacts with Russias ambassador to the U.S. raises fundamental concerns about Trump himself.

The immediate political controversy is over how Congress should investigate this. Republican leaders say attention from Congress intelligence committees is sufficient. Democrats (with some GOP support) argue it would be better to form a bipartisan select committee that could cross jurisdictional lines and be far more open about its work.

In fact, those pushing for the select committee are right to fear that keeping things under wraps in the intelligence panels could be a way to bury the story for a while and buy Trump time. Letting Americans in on what went on here, and quickly, is the only way to bolster trust in this administration, if that is even possible. And lets face the reality here: It could also hasten the end of a presidency that could do immense damage to the United States.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in the meantime, must immediately recuse himself from all decisions about all aspects of the Russia investigation by the FBI and the intelligence services. Sessions should step back not simply because he is an appointee of the president but, more importantly, because he was a central figure in the Trump campaign. He cannot possibly be a neutral arbiter, and his involvement would only heighten fears of a cover-up.

In this dark moment, we can celebrate the vitality of the institutions of a free society that are pushing back against a president offering the country a remarkable combination of authoritarian inclinations and ineptitude. The courts, civil servants, citizens  collectively and individually  and, yes, an unfettered media have all checked Trump and forced inconvenient facts into the sunlight.

It is a sign of how beleaguered Trump is that his Twitter response on Wednesday morning was not to take responsibility but to assign blame. His villains are leakers and the press: Information is being illegally given to the failing @nytimes & @washingtonpost by the intelligence community (NSA and FBI?). Just like Russia.

It is notable that in acknowledging that the news reports are based on information, Trump effectively confirmed them. At the same time, he is characteristically wrong about Russia, whose government prevents transparency and punishes those who try to foster it. Theres also this: Kremlin agents stole information from a political party in a free country. That is very different from the actions of the medias informants inside our government who are holding our own officials accountable for their false denials and fictitious claims.

It will be said that Trump was elected and thus deserves some benefit of the doubt. Isnt it rash to declare him unfit after so little time?

The answer is no, because the Trump we are seeing now is fully consistent with the vindictive, self-involved and scattered man we saw during the 17 months of his campaign. In one of the primary debates, Jeb Bush said of Trump: Hes a chaos candidate and hed be a chaos president. Rarely has a politician been so prophetic.

And this is why nearly 11 million more Americans voted against Trump than for him. His obligation was to earn the trust of the 60 percent of Americans who told exit pollsters on Election Day that they viewed him unfavorably. Instead, he has ratified their fears, and then some.

As a country, we now need to face the truth, however awkward and difficult it might be.
A diverse collection of northern New Mexico groups is asking that the 100,000-acre Valle Vidal unit of the Carson National Forest be declared a special Geographic Area to protect its scenic beauty, watersheds and wildlife under an ongoing revision of the Carson Forest Plan.

A land management proposal for the vast area between Cimarron and Costilla was released Tuesday by a coalition of groups, including the Trout Unlimited and Taos-based Amigos Bravos watershed conservation organization.

The Valle Vidal, just south of the Colorado border, is more than one-eighth the size of Rhode Island. The Valle Vidal Protection Act of 2006 closed the Valle Vidal from mineral extraction and drilling.

The U.S. Forest Service is working on a revision to its management plan for the Carson that will update current management practices in this vital northern New Mexico resource that attracts hunters, anglers, hikers, campers, horseback riders and wildlife viewers from throughout the state and across the country, says a news release from the coalition, which also includes the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, The Wilderness Society, New Mexico Sportsmen and others.

The Forest Service is soliciting public comment and in March expects to release a preliminary draft plan on its website with alternative themes for public review. The draft Forest Plan and draft Environmental Impact Statement will be available for public comment in late fall or early winter.

Valle Vidal was donated by Pennzoil to the American people in 1982, but has never been officially incorporated into the current Forest Plan, said the news release.

The Forest Service will include the area in the new plan in some form or another during this planning process, said Rachel Conn, projects director for Amigos Bravos. This proposal is about ensuring that it is incorporated in a way that protects and enhances the values that have made the Valle Vidal a beloved part of the Northern New Mexico landscape.

National Forest spokeswoman Kathy DeLucas said in an email that citizen comments will be taken into consideration as we develop the plan and potential alternatives.

We are thankful that they (Amigos Bravos, et al) have taken the time to develop such a thoughtful plan, but were still early in the process, DeLucas added.

A lengthy draft document from the environmental and hunting and fishing groups includes requests that Valle Vidal be managed for the benefit of all of the people, that various watersheds, wetlands and fisheries be protected, that ground-disturbing military maneuvers not be allowed and that the scenic integrity of the Valle Vidal landscape be retained.

The groups are asking that watersheds be returned to functioning condition through restoration efforts and that foraging for wildlife and livestock be increased through restoration of the rich wet meadow complexes that exist across the Valle Vidal. The natural biological diversity of the area should be restored and maintained, including by efforts to bolster return of the Rio Grande cutthroat trout, says the proposal.

The groups statement also asks that opportunities for primitive and semi-primitive recreation are emphasized. Their proposal calls for no net new construction of permanent roads, no new construction of motorized trails and removal of temporary roads, with the restoration of the waters and lands on which they are located.

The groups are asking that summer and winter motorized cross-country travel for recreational purposes is not permitted and that recreational use of off-road and over-snow vehicles is limited to designated roads. Limited use of off-road vehicles for grazing purposes and implementing restoration projects would be allowed on a permit basis.

Vehicle camping, under the groups draft document, would be allowed only at developed campgrounds, with parking only in designated parking areas and camping facilities would be avoided within riparian areas.

The importance of the areas wildlife is highlighted in the document. A critical wildlife habitat, the Valle Vidal is home to an array of wildlife, including mountain lion, bear, wild turkey, the native Rio Grande cutthroat trout and one of the states largest herds of elk.
Airbnbs business is booming in New Mexico, according to new data from the online vacation rental marketplace.

The Land of Enchantment is now home to about 2,300 active Airbnb hosts, 60 percent more than a year ago. Those hosts recorded 119,900 guest arrivals in 2016. That marks a 110 percent jump from 2015.

Airbnb, which enables individuals to use their own residences as vacation rentals, said its typical New Mexico host is making $5,100 a year by renting out his or her property for an average of 37 nights, according to a news release.

Figures detailing Airbnbs New Mexico growth come amid discussions about the role and responsibility of such accommodation services within the larger hospitality industry landscape, particularly when it comes to paying taxes.

The New Mexico Hospitality Association says a loophole in New Mexico law exempts many short-term rentals  including those offered online through Airbnb, VRBO and HomeAway  from paying lodgers taxes, though Airbnb already has begun collecting and remitting taxes in some New Mexico communities.

State statute currently grants the tax exemption if the vendor does not offer at least three rooms within or attached to a taxable premise for lodging or at least three other premises for lodging or a combination of these within the taxing jurisdiction.

Two state lawmakers  Rep. Carl Trujillo, D-Santa Fe, and Sen. John Sapien, D-Corrales  have introduced bills to nix that exemption.

New Mexico Hospitality Association President and CEO Jen Schroer said removing that language would provide parity because short-term rental hosts who dont pay the same taxes as traditional hotels and lodging operations are getting a 12 to 15 percent competitive advantage.

Charlie Gray, executive director of the Greater Albuquerque Innkeepers Association, said he could not quantify the impact the growing short-term rental market has had on the hotel industry, but I think we all know that there is business being lost.

He said he could better determine the impact if the short-term rentals paid into the lodgers tax system  a move he said would benefit both industries since the tax revenue helps advertise the state to potential visitors.

There will be more money for marketing the state and if more people come to the state, theyll stay not only at hotels, but Im sure theyll stay at short-term rentals as well, said Gray, whose membership includes about 50 metro-area hotels.

Albuquerques lodgers tax rate is 5 percent. The city collected a record $11.8 million in lodgers taxes in fiscal year 2016, the highest since the tax was imposed in 1969. At least half of that revenue must go toward tourism-related marketing and promotion.

Schroer said some short-term rental hosts already pay the tax; in fact, Airbnb last year began collecting lodgers tax from its hosts in Santa Fe and Taos after forging an agreement with each municipality.

The city of Santa Fe has collected $158,000 in lodgers taxes from its Airbnb community since the agreement went into effect last August, according to a letter Tourism Santa Fes Randy Randall wrote to legislators this month. He said 2017 collections should top $500,000.

An Airbnb spokeswoman said the company is looking to do the same at the state level.

Our community of hosts want to pay their fair share. Right now, tax rules are written for big hotels with teams of lawyers and accountants, not everyday people sharing the homes in which they live. This makes the tax remittance process challenging for our host community. We hope to reach an agreement with the state of New Mexico to be able to voluntarily collect and remit this tax on their behalf soon, like we do in more than 220 communities around the world, to make this process easier for everyone and ensure the state is getting 100 percent of this revenue, spokeswoman Laura Rillos said in a statement.

Airbnb said its New Mexico hosts made a total of $16.5 million in 2016. The Santa Fe contingent saw the most action among New Mexico communities, collecting a total of $6.8 million. Albuquerque hosts made $3.2 million.

But Airbnb is not the only player in the short-term lodging market. According to a study commissioned by the New Mexico Hospitality Association, the state currently has 4,076 active short-term rentals with a combined 9,296 bedrooms. Thats the room equivalent of nearly 50 hotels the size of Hotel Albuquerque.

The study estimates the state could make an additional $6.9 million from the short-term rental market if all the hosts paid lodgers taxes and gross receipts taxes.

One of the bills in the Legislature has been recommended for approval by the House Taxation and Revenue Committee, and the other is pending in committee.

By the numbers

New Mexico has about 2,300 active Airbnb hosts, 60 percent more than a year ago.

Airbnb hosts in the state recorded 119,900 guest arrivals in 2016, a 110 percent increase over the year before.

The typical Airbnb host in New Mexico earns about $5,100 a year by renting out his or her property for an average of 37 nights.

New Mexico hosts made a total of $16.5 million in 2016. Those in Santa Fe made a total of $6.8 million, while Albuquerque hosts collected $3.2 million.
In 2014, Rio Arriba County settled with a high-ranking employee who threatened a whistleblower lawsuit alleging shed been removed as the countys human resources director in a political dispute.

That dispute reportedly began with a skirmish over summer jobs for the teenage daughters of County Commissioner Barney Trujillos political rivals.

Documents recently obtained by the Journal include an attorneys letter that also raises the issue of whether there was a quid pro quo when Trujillo got a $50,000 marketing contract from Espanola Public Schools and about two weeks later a school board member was hired for the county HR director position that was held for 10 years by Jessica Madrid.

Madrid had been demoted and transferred to a new, lower-paying job as an administrative assistant at the county jail, leaving the HR position open before Annabelle Almager was hired to fill it.

The quid pro quo for Trujillos contract with the school district appears to be the selection of (an) Espanola School Board member, Annabelle Almager, as the new HR Director for the County, says attorney Diane Garritys Oct. 3, 2014, letter to the countys attorney on behalf of Madrid.

Almager, who didnt run for re-election to the school board in the election held earlier this month, still holds the county HR post, with a salary of $56,098, county records show. She was among the school board members who voted to give Trujillo the marketing contract, according to a 2014 report by the Rio Grande Sun, Espanolas weekly newspaper.

Rio Arriba County officials acknowledged in a letter that Trujillo was initially upset that the daughters of candidates who ran against him for County Commission were being offered summer jobs in 2014.

But the county manager and the countys attorney have vehemently denied the rest of Madrids allegations.

The dispute was settled  essentially by the county agreeing not to cut Madrids pay, using an $11,000-a-year supplement to her regular salary at the jail  without going to court.

County leaders maintained in a 2014 letter that Madrid had done a poor job as HR director. In a recent email statement to the Journal, County Manager Tomas Campos said that Madrids allegations are false and were not in any way a basis for settling, and the only factor was weighing the expense of litigation versus the expense of fighting the case.

Ms. Madrids conduct at the time was egregious enough to have terminated her employment , said Campos in another email. This being a small town, I knew she was the only caretaker of her elder father, so I decided to demote and transfer (her) from HR to another position.

Once I met with her and informed her of this, the accusations and falsehoods raised by her and her attorney began.

In apparent reference to the suggestion of a quid pro quo involving Trujillos contract with the school district and school board member Almager getting the HR job at the county, Campos said, It is also a prime example of the outlandish claims made by Ms. Madrid and her attorney.

In the November 2014 settlement agreement signed by Campos, Madrid and attorneys, Madrid accepted the transfer to the detention center  but without a pay cut.

A page on the Rio Arriba County website that lists employee salaries indicates that Madrid now is making $23.10 an hour, or $48,048 a year. But because of the settlement, she receives an addendum that makes her annual pay actually $59,529, Campos said in an email.

No comment

Efforts to reach Trujillo via telephone and email for this story were unsuccessful. The commissioner likewise did not return numerous messages last spring as the Journal prepared a standard pre-election story on his Democratic primary race against longtime Rep. Nick Salazar, D-Okhay Owingeh. Salazar defeated Trujillo, who is serving in his second term as a county commissioner.

In January, there were two search warrant raids by investigators from the New Mexico Attorney Generals Office involving Trujillo  one at the Espanola School Districts offices with a warrant listing Trujillo as a target and one at Trujillos Chimayo home. The Attorney Generals Office has declined to confirm or deny an investigation.

The AGs office also has made a records request to the school district for thousands of documents, including 16 categories of records relating to Trujillo or his company, formerly known as 2Smooth Marketing, seeking such items as invoices, purchase orders, work logs and bank statements.

Last year, a public records request by the AGs Office also sought various records from Rio Arriba County, including documentation of any funds expended by the County Commission or individual commissioners that are not standard operating expenses and County Commissioner Barney Trujillos County related activities.

Almager was reached by telephone this week and was asked for comment, ended the call and didnt call back. Officials at Espanola Public Schools also did not respond to Journal inquiries.

Implosion, cursing alleged

The October 2014 letter from attorney Garrity on behalf of Madrid threatening a whistleblower suit describes an implosion by Trujillo on May 28, 2014, when Trujillo called County Manager Campos office and the summer jobs program was discussed with Madrid present. This was about five weeks before Madrid was transferred from HR director to the jail.

The letter says Trujillo was so loud over the phone that Campos had to hold the phone away from his ear and Trujillo could be heard using sexist obscenities to describe the two girls, who were daughters of candidates who ran against him, and demanding they be fired immediately. Trujillo said he also wanted Madrid fired and used the same obscenities to describe her, the Garrity letter states.

Garrity wrote, It is clear from the documentation and recordings provided to me that Commissioner Barney Trujillo forced the County Managers hand over a political issue with individuals who ran against him for his seat. It is also clear that Commissioner Barney Trujillo was motivated by providing another resident with Ms. Madrids position.

The letter says Madrid told Campos that county commissioners dont have authority to make hiring and firing decisions, and alleged that background-check rules were being ignored for Trujillos chosen participants for the summer youth program. The letter concluded, If Rio Arriba County does not resolve this matter amicably, all pleadings are public information, and Ms. Madrids full story will be told.

The county challenged Madrids allegations, with then-county attorney Ted. J. Trujillo stating in a response that there were numerous examples of Ms. Madrids poor performance, emotional and erratic personality and failure to correct her behavior that both justified her transfer.

Attorney Trujillos letter says Madrid threw temper tantrums and was prone to emotional meltdowns, created a bottleneck in the HR department, started a malicious rumor about Commissioner Trujillo, didnt keep regular office hours and resisted County Manager Campos encouragement that she get a bachelors degree. Madrid has an associate degree from Eastern New Mexico University according to her resume.

The Ted Trujillo letter on behalf of the county acknowledges that Commissioner Trujillo was initially upset that the daughters of his political rivals were hired. But he never sought their dismissals nor did he ever use foul language regarding them or Ms. Madrid, says the response letter. Both teen applicants were eventually offered jobs, but only one accepted, the letter says.

Efforts to reach Madrid for this story, both at her workplace and her home, were unsuccessful.

Attorney Trujillo also wrote that it was common knowledge that commissioners choose summer youth program employees. In fact, when a former Commissioner chose Ms. Madrids two daughters as Summer Program employees for at least four consecutive summers, Ms. Madrid did not seem to mind or feel that this was improper, says the letter.

Almager, the school board member who replaced Madrid as county HR director, held a professional position at Los Alamos National Laboratory and has a bachelors degree, attorney Trujillo wrote.

The Rio Grande Sun reported in 2014 that Almager had been a program administrator responsible for hiring contractors at LANL. On the web, on sites like LinkedIn, she had identified herself as a web administrator for the lab.

Garrity responded with a Nov. 7, 2014, letter saying that any complaints about Madrids poor job performance as HR director were never documented or brought to Madrids attention. In fact, we have a recording of Mr. Campos declaring the transfer was not related to Ms. Madrids job performance, but was political,' Garrity wrote.

Recorded conversation

The Journal obtained a copy of a recorded phone conversation between Madrid and Campos. The county manager says to the often-sobbing Madrid, Im doing my best to save you. This is the best I can do and you got to know that. He adds, Danny agreed to save you. Danny Garcia is one of three county commissioners, but no last name is used on the recording.

Campos tells Madrid, Youd be protected and nobody would bother you working at the detention center. The jail position is a classified job, with civil service protections. The HR directors job is a so-called exempt position, where the job holder serves at the pleasure of supervisors.

When Madrid protests that her forced transfer isnt fair, Campos says, Its not fair, Jess. Thats the whole point about being an exempt, it doesnt matter, Jess. You know that. When Madrid asks if Barney and Danny want me gone, Campos replies that he is not going to go down that road in the conversation.

The county and Madrid settled with a document signed on Nov. 18, 2014. In addition to keeping Madrids pay at the jail the same as she had received as HR director, the county agreed to pay $3,500 for her legal fees. Both sides agreed to keep the settlement confidential.
SANTA FE  Santa Fe is known for its restaurants. They are part of the appeal of a town that relies heavily on tourism and the City Different typically ranks among the national leaders for dining spots per capita.

But, on Thursday, the citys visitors and residents had to pass up many of the towns most popular eateries.

Dozens of restaurants  and not just those that cater to immigrant diners and including several in the historic Plaza area  and other businesses were closed in recognition of A Day Without Immigrants, a national protest intended to highlight the contributions of immigrants to the economy and culture.

In solidarity with all immigrants we are closed today, read a sign outside The Shed, a nationally known downtown restaurant just off the Plaza. May we all reflect on the vital role they play in our day to day lives.

Also Thursday, hundreds of Santa Fe students stayed away from classes. Santa Fe Public Schools reported much lower attendance rates Thursday, particularly at the south-side schools that serve much of the citys immigrant population, although elementary schools werent in session anyway because of parent-teacher conferences.

At Capital High School on the south side, Principal Channell Wilson-Segura said about 600 of the 1,400 students enrolled at the school werent in attendance. She also knew of about three teachers who didnt come in as a form of protest, she said. It was very quiet, eerily quiet, she said. We all felt it. It was a day of reflection for everybody.

A school district spokesman said the absences would be treated as excused if parents called in or students brought in a note and unexcused if they didnt, as per district policy.

The protests were in reaction to President Donald Trumps plans for stricter enforcement of immigration law and a wall on the border with Mexico. The list of restaurant closures in Santa Fe also included La Boca, the Burrito Company, Counter Culture Cafe, Tune up Cafe, La Choza, Tia Sophias, Burrito Company, The Pantry and Jambo Cafe. A sign at La Boca, an upscale Spanish-style tapas restaurant, said it was joining the protest of Trumps aggressive and fascist immigration policies.

Just east of the city limits, the parking lot at Harrys Roadhouse was uncharacteristically empty. Those phoning the restaurant got a message informing them Harrys was closed due to the A Day Without Immigrants protest. We support their voices and their actions. We look forward to seeing you Friday, it said.

The parking lot was also nearly vacant at another locals and tourist favorite, The Pantry on Cerrillos Road.

A single pickup truck was parked next to the building at what normally would have been the lunch rush. Inside the truck were Juanita Spencer, of Portland, Ore., and a friend, who were passing through town.

We Googled and found this place. It had a good rating and was not too far off the highway, Spencer said.

But a sign on the door said The Pantry was closed. So we went across the street (to El Parasol) and got a burrito. Its really good, she said between bites.

There were still plenty of dining choices to be had in Santa Fe. The Plaza Cafe on the Plaza was pulling in diners as usual. We gave consideration (to closing Thursday), Jared Razatos, manager of the store, said. We talked to the staff. They wanted to work, which is cool with us. Razatos said one or two people who work in the kitchen didnt come in Thursday. The Plaza Cafe Southside, owned by the same family, did close Thursday.

The Santa Fe Reporter weekly newspaper was keeping track via Facebook and other means of local businesses that were closed Thursday and posting them on its website. By 5 p.m., 43 businesses  some with multiple locations  were listed. Businesses as varied as Mobil Clean Car Wash, Goler Fine Imported Shoes, Santa Fe Guitar Academy and Southwest Plastering had shut down.

Ten Thousand Waves, an upscale Japanese-themed spa and hotel, on Thursday was offering free use of its communal baths to all Spanish-speaking immigrants.

Mayor Javier Gonzales has been outspoken against Trumps immigration policies. He supported the protest, although it may have put a dent in the citys gross receipts tax revenues.

A day like today sends a powerful message of what this means for the people who live here and brings a loud voice about fixing a broken immigration system, he said in an interview. It serves as a reminder that, if the president is successful, our economy will be disrupted in a very negative way.

Obvious impact on south side

At Capital High, principal Wilson-Segura said, an announcement was made Wednesday in both English and Spanish mentioning the protest. Students were told that one way they could protest was to wear white, and many students and teachers did, she said.

She said that, clearly, many students and their parents are anxious over what might happen under the Trump administration. I was born and raised here, and Im even feeling it, she said. As a wife, mother and daughter, if my family was torn apart by a policy, it would break my heart. It rattles everybody to think what could happen.

On nearby Airport Road, the day of protest was obvious. At the Chamisa Center strip mall, about half the businesses were shut. Next door at Latinos Unidos mini-market, signs posted all around the building printed in Spanish said the store was closed in support of its Latino brothers. The signs also noted that undocumented residents and immigrant citizens shop in stores, eat at restaurants and buy gasoline.

One of the few people parked in the west end of the Chamisa Centers parking lot early Thursday afternoon, Rafael Rodriguez, was there to visit a tax preparation firm to have his taxes done. Rodriguez was born in Mexico, but has lived in Santa Fe for many years. He said hes not a U.S. citizen yet, but is working on it.

Donald Trump, he wants to take all the immigrants out of here, he said. But without immigrants, there is no business here. Theres no nothing.

The signs posted at Latinos Unidos also had a message for Trump: Mister President, without us and without our contribution this country is paralyzed, it said in Spanish. Were prepared not to leave; we will lose a day of work but we could win much more.
The number of auto thefts in the City Different grew at high speed over the past three years.

On the bright side, the Santa Fe police say theyre recovering a lot of the stolen cars, often after theyve been used in the commission of other crimes.

There were 223 cars stolen in Santa Fe in 2016, according to data provided by the Santa Fe Police Department, nearly double the 117 cars that were stolen just two years before, 2014. There were 170 auto thefts in 2015.

But last years high number of auto heists was not off the charts when the rate over the past decade is taken into account.

Police Chief Patrick Gallagher said an average of 198 cars were stolen annually in Santa Fe over the past 10 years, suggesting that 2015s total of just 117 was something of a low ebb.

And he said that, of the cars stolen in 2016, 80 percent have been recovered by police. Thats unusual, he said, because stolen cars are typically taken to chop shops and stripped down for their parts.

A lot of times, your car is stolen and never seen again, Gallagher said.

The chief said the upward trend in auto heists over the past couple of years can be attributed to criminals adapting.

Drug dealers, for example, will use a stolen car to go about their illegal business because they know that police may be tracking the car they normally drive. Then theyll ditch the stolen car somewhere. But while police are recovering more cars, the suspects are still getting away. Weve recovered more cars than weve made arrests, Gallagher said.

The high numbers in 2016 also can be attributed to an auto theft ring that police busted last spring, which Gallagher said was responsible for an 80 percent increase in stolen cars in a short time span.

Eighty-eight cars were stolen in the first four months of 2016. But then police arrested Reyes Garcia and Jeremy Chavez in April, and said they were connected to several stolen vehicle cases and responsible for four high-speed pursuits around the city, one of which seriously injured a woman.

Gallagher said he doesnt have evidence to support the claim that stolen cars have a higher probability of being involved in collisions  a claim made in a recent lawsuit connected to Chavez.

Arlena Jackson, the 78-year-old woman who was hit by a stolen car Chavez was driving at the intersection of Agua Fria Street and Lopez Lane April 7, is suing city government and the police department because she claims that officers didnt have probable cause to initiate the chase and that they didnt know the Tacoma driven by Chavez had recently been stolen off the lot at Toyota of Santa Fe.

In the collision, Jackson suffered a fractured sternum, eight fractured ribs, a fractured pelvic bone, a fractured sacrum, multiple fractures in her left foot and bleeding in her lungs.

She is also suing Toyota of Santa Fe for allegedly not doing enough to secure the cars in its lot and because of what the suit calls the well-known fact that stolen cars are more likely to be involved in accidents.

Anyone driving a 90s-model Honda sedan may need to take extra precautions to protect their car. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, the most stolen car in New Mexico in 2015  the last year for which the bureau has data  was a 1998 Honda Civic. That was followed by the 2006 full-size Ford pickup and the 1994 Honda Accord.

Gallagher said 90s Hondas are typically easier to steal and their parts are in high demand as the Japanese makers older models keep going.

Go to YouTube and search for how to hot wire a Honda Accord, he said. You can do it pretty easily. Newer cars typically arent targeted because theyre hard to steal and their parts arent in as high demand because the models arent that old, he said.

Gallagher said the department intends to try some new tactics to combat car burglars.

An SFPD policy for a new bait car program has just been finalized and he said he hopes it will be used soon. The bait car, left for thieves to take, can be remotely disabled when its stolen, but Gallagher said officers will do that only when its safe to do so.

Seventeen cars were stolen in Santa Fe in January, SFPD spokesman Greg Gurule said.

There are a couple of bills circulating in the Legislature that are aimed at car theft crimes.

House Bill 328, introduced by Rep. Bill Rehm, R-Albuquerque, would make it easier for prosecutors to charge someone with murder if they recklessly crash into someone with a stolen vehicle and kill them. This comes after a mother and her 14-year-old daughter were killed by suspected car thieves in a collision in Albuquerque last month.

Senate Bill 139, introduced by Sen. Howie Morales, D-Silver City, would require auto recyclers to report any vehicle purchases to the Taxation and Revenue Department within 48 hours of the close of the business day when the car was purchased.

The recycler would have to report the name, address and contact information of the purchaser and seller, the make, model, year and current odometer reading of the car, as well as a statement of whether the car will be disposed of or sold. The bill would also require the Taxation and Revenue Department to establish and maintain an electronic system that would allow auto recyclers to verify if the car has been reported stolen.
The Daniels Fund last year provided $58.8 million in grants to nonprofit organizations and scholarships to students throughout Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, including $6.8 million to the Land of Enchantment.

New Mexico was very important to Bill Daniels since he grew up in the state and attended New Mexico Military Institute, said Linda Childears, president and CEO of the Daniels Fund. Because of his fondness for the state, he directed the Daniels Fund to support programs that have a positive impact on the lives of its citizens.

New Mexico organizations that received $4.6 million in grant funding in 2016 include: CHI St. Josephs Children (First Born), Communities in Schools of New Mexico, Excellent Schools New Mexico, New Mexico Center for School Leadership, Ngage New Mexico, Santa Fe Community Foundation (Birth to Career Collaboration), Teach for America New Mexico, United Way of Central New Mexico (Mission: Graduate), and United Way of Santa Fe County.

In terms of scholarships, the Daniels Fund provided $2.2 million in scholarships to students in New Mexico through two distinct programs: the Daniels Scholarship Program, which provides college scholarships to deserving high school seniors, and the Boundless Opportunity Scholarship program, which provides funding to participating colleges to offer scholarships to nontraditional students.

The Daniels Funds New Mexico grantmaking strategy focuses primarily on education-related initiatives, often by inviting grant requests from nonprofits with an ability to improve education, from cradle to career, the organization said in a news release.

The Daniels Fund also provides grant funding to the University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University for ethics education through the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative.

The Daniels Fund, established by cable television pioneer Bill Daniels, is a private charitable foundation dedicated to making life better for the people of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming through its grants program, scholarship program and ethics initiative. For more information, visit DanielsFund.org.

We welcome suggestions for the daily Bright Spot. Send to newsroom@abqjournal.com.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia  Malaysia performed a second autopsy on the estranged half brother of North Koreas leader because the first procedure was inconclusive, piling on the intrigue surrounding what appeared to be a well-executed assassination at an airport in Kuala Lumpur, an official said Saturday. Police arrested a fourth suspect, identified as a North Korean man.

The second autopsy clearly enraged North Korea, which has vowed to reject the results of any post-mortem and demanded that Malaysia turn over the body immediately. Speaking to reporters outside the morgue late Friday, Pyongyangs ambassador said Malaysian officials may be trying to conceal something and colluding with hostile forces.

A Malaysian official with knowledge of the investigation confirmed the second autopsy started Friday night and said that the results of the first one were inconclusive. He asked that his name not be used because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

The inconclusive autopsy results raise all sorts of questions about the mysterious death of Kim Jong Nam, but a lack of closure and a lingering sense of the unknown arent unusual when it comes to North Korea. While South Korea has blamed North Korea for a slew of notable assassinations or attempted killings in past decades, the North often denies involvement or simply doesnt comment.

The death of Kim Jong Nam, the exiled half brother of North Koreas powerful and mercurial ruler, has unleashed a torrent of speculation, tales of intrigue and explosive, unconfirmed reports from dueling nations.

Malaysia has arrested four people so far, the lastest a man carrying an ID that identified him as 46-year-old Ri Jong Chol. He was picked up Friday night.

Authorities were still trying to piece together details of the case.

Kim Jong Nam, who was 45 or 46 and had lived in exile for years, suddenly fell ill at the Kuala Lumpur airport on Monday as he waited for a flight home to Macau. Dizzy and in pain, he told medical workers at the airport he had been sprayed with a chemical. He died while being taken to a hospital.

South Korea has accused its enemies in North Korea of dispatching a hit squad to kill Kim Jong Nam at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, saying two female assassins poisoned him and then fled in a taxi.

On Friday, Indonesias police chief said an Indonesian woman arrested for suspected involvement in the killing was duped into thinking she was part of a comedy show prank.

Indonesian police chief Tito Karnavian, citing information received from Malaysian authorities, told reporters in Indonesias Aceh province that Siti Aisyah, 25, was paid to be involved in Just For Laughs style pranks, a reference to a popular hidden camera show. He said she and another woman performed stunts which involved convincing men to close their eyes and then spraying them with water.

Such an action was done three or four times and they were given a few dollars for it, and with the last target, Kim Jong Nam, allegedly there were dangerous materials in the sprayer, Karnavian said. She was not aware that it was an assassination attempt by alleged foreign agents.

Malaysian police were questioning four suspects  Aisyah, another woman who carried a Vietnamese passport; a man they said is Aisyahs boyfriend; and the North Korean man.

North Korea broke its silence on the case Friday night. Speaking to reporters gathered outside the morgue in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, North Korean Ambassador Kang Chol said Malaysia conducted the autopsy on Kim Jong Nam unilaterally and excluding our attendance.

We will categorically reject the result of the post-mortem, Kang said, adding that the move disregarded elementary international laws and consular laws.

Kang said the fact that Malaysia has yet to hand over the body strongly suggests that the Malaysian side is trying to conceal something which needs more time and deceive us, and that they are colluding with the hostile forces towards us who are desperate to harm us.

Malaysia is one of just a handful of countries to have full diplomatic ties with North Korea, with each country having an embassy in the others capital. Malaysia has also been a key place for quiet, semi-official track 2 diplomatic talks between North Korea and with the United States.

Malaysia said Friday it wants DNA samples from Kim Jong Nams family as part of the post-mortem procedure and that officials were not yet willing to hand the body over to the North Koreans. Although Kim Jong Nam is believed to have two sons and a daughter with two women living in Beijing and Macau, police in Malaysia say none has come forward to claim the body or provide DNA samples.

If there is no claim by next-of-kin and upon exhausting all avenues (to obtain DNA), we will finally then hand over the body to the (North Korean) embassy, said Abdul Samah Mat, a senior Malaysian police official. He would not say how long that process might take.

Kim Jong Nam was estranged from his younger half brother, the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He reportedly fell out of favor with their father, the late Kim Jong Il, in 2001, when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

___

Associated Press writers Niniek Karmini and Ali Kotarumalos in Jakarta, Indonesia, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Tim Sullivan in New Delhi contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  Vice President Mike Pence is making his debut on the world stage with a trip to Germany and Belgium designed to reassure European and Mideast partners about U.S. foreign policy.

Allies have been concerned about U.S. commitments in the wake of President Donald Trumps America First mantra. There are also lingering questions about Trumps relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and whether the new president may promote isolationist tendencies.

Pence is scheduled to arrive in Germany on Friday to attend the Munich Security Conference, where he will deliver a speech Saturday and then meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other European leaders.

On Sunday, Pence will travel to Brussels, Belgium, for meetings related to NATO and the European Union.
WASHINGTON  Thomas Jefferson railed against newspapers as polluted vehicles of falsehood and error. Richard Nixon tangled with reporters in the toxic atmosphere of Watergate, considering them the enemy. Bill Clinton publicly condemned purveyors of hatred and division on the public air waves.

Historians can point to plenty of past presidents who have sparred with the press. But theyre hard-pressed to find anything that approaches the all-out attack on the media that President Donald Trump seems intent on escalating at every turn.

There has never been a kind of holistic jihad against the news media like Trump is executing, said Rice University historian Douglas Brinkley. Trump is determined to beat and bloody the press whenever he finds himself in a hole, and thats unique.

Trump, who has long had an adversarial relationship with the media, opened a 77-minute East Room news conference Thursday by saying he hoped to get along a little bit better with the press going forward  if thats possible.

Maybe its not, and thats OK, too, he added.

Clearly, hes fine with that.

The president proceeded to circle back to the press time and again during the news conference to complain about fake news purveyed by dishonest reporters. He called out individual news organizations, reporters and stories, labeling them disgraceful, discredited and a joke. He lamented the bias and the hatred directed at him.

Its all fake news, its all fake news, he said of reports that members of his team were in regular contact with Russian officials during the campaign.

Trump said he was determined to take my message straight to the people because the press honestly is out of control. The level of dishonesty is out of control.

The president posted a pre-dawn message on his Twitter account Friday expressing gratitude to his supporters for all of the nice statements on the Press Conference yesterday.

Rush Limbaugh said one of the greatest ever, Trump said in his tweet, referring to the nationally-known conservative radio talk show host. Fake media not happy!

The performance Thursday was part of a calculated strategy by Trump to discredit those who are reporting on the chaos and stumbles of the administrations opening weeks and to boost enthusiasm among the presidents core supporters.

But Princeton historian Julian Zelizer warned that while Trump may shift attention away from his problems with the drama of such a press conference, there are some signs that Republicans are getting tired of this.

Zelizer said all presidents have had their moments of tension with the press, but the scale and scope of this is unlike anything that weve seen in the past.

Nixons increasingly difficult relations with the press during the unfolding of the Watergate scandal may be the closest parallel, Zelizer said, with the embattled president famously telling reporters at a 1973 news conference that I am not a crook.

But at least publicly, Nixon was more circumspect about going after individual reporters and news organizations, even while privately musing about how to discredit CBSs Walter Cronkite and other correspondents, says Brinkley, author of a book on the Nixon tapes. Nixons men wiretapped the phones of reporters who were considered hostile or whose conversations might reveal the sources of damaging leaks.

The press is your enemy, Nixon told the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in a taped conversation written about by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in a retrospective of the scandal they exposed in The Washington Post. Enemies. Understand that?  Because theyre trying to stick the knife right in our groin.

More recent presidents have more episodic difficulties with the press.

George W. Bush, during his 2000 presidential campaign, was overheard using an epithet to describe a New York Times reporter.

After the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995, Clinton condemned loud and angry voices on the airwaves that inflame the public debate. Limbaugh complained of irresponsible insinuations and accused the president and liberals of trying to foment national hysteria.

The bad blood between presidents and the press stretches back to the nations early years.

Jefferson is often remembered for his stirring defense of the press, when he wrote in 1787 that, Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.

But two decades later, as president, Jefferson had a different take on the press that sounds something like an early version of Trumps complaints against fake news.

Jefferson wrote to a newspaper editor in 1807: Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle.

Brinkley said Trumps tactics reflect a broad cultural shift away from news to entertainment, as the former reality TV star tries to keep his supporters engaged.

Hes trying to show that hes King Kong and the press are little gnats, says Brinkley. That has box office appeal to a certain segment of the population.

___

Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nbenac
The White House distanced itself Friday from a Department of Homeland Security draft proposal to use the National Guard to round up unauthorized immigrants, but lawmakers said the document offers insight into the Trump administrations internal efforts to enact its promised crackdown on illegal immigration.

Administration officials said the proposal, which called for mobilizing up to 100,000 troops in 11 states, was rejected, and would not be part of plans to carry out President Donald Trumps aggressive immigration policy.

If implemented, the National Guard idea, contained in an 11-page memo (http://apne.ws/2l1Dj0k ) obtained by The Associated Press, could have led to enforcement action against millions of immigrants living nowhere near the Mexican border. Four states that border on Mexico were included in the proposal  California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas  but it also encompassed seven states contiguous to those four  Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Despite the APs public release of the document, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said there was no effort at all to utilize the National Guard to round up unauthorized immigrants. A DHS official described the document as a very early draft that was not seriously considered and never brought to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly for approval.

However, DHS staffers said Thursday that they had been told by colleagues in two DHS departments that the proposal was still being considered as recently as Feb. 10. DHS spokeswoman Gillian Christensen declined to say who wrote the memo, how long it had been under consideration or when it had been rejected.

The pushback from administration officials did little to quell outrage over the draft plan. Three Republican governors spoke out against the proposal and numerous Democratic lawmakers denounced it as an overly aggressive approach to immigration enforcement.

Regardless of the White Houses response, this document is an absolutely accurate description of the disturbing mindset that pervades the Trump administration when it comes to our nations immigrants, said U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.)

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he would have concerns about the utilization of National Guard resources for immigration enforcement, believing such a program would be too much of a strain on our National Guard personnel.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert would have serious concerns about the constitutional implications and financial impact of activating the National Guard to round up unauthorized immigrants, the governors office said in a statement.

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval questioned the legality of the plan described in the draft memo and said it would be an inappropriate use of guard resources.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), said, This administrations complete disregard for the impact its internal chaos and inability to manage its own message and policy is having on real peoples lives is offensive.

The AP had sought comment from the White House beginning Thursday and DHS earlier Friday and had not received a response from either. After the AP released the story, Spicer said the memo was not a White House document and said there was no effort to do what is potentially suggested.

Governors in the 11 states would have had a choice whether to have their guard troops participate, according to the memo, which bears the name of Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general.

At a maximum, approximately 100,000 Army National Guard and Air National Guard personnel would be available for stateside missions in the 11 states, according to statistics and information provided by the National Guard Bureau.

While National Guard personnel have been used to assist with immigration-related missions on the U.S.-Mexico border before, they have never been used as broadly or as far north.

The memo was addressed to the then-acting heads of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It would have served as guidance to implement the wide-ranging executive order on immigration and border security that President Donald Trump signed Jan. 25. Such memos are routinely issued to supplement executive orders.

Also dated Jan. 25, the draft memo says participating troops would be authorized to perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension and detention of aliens in the United States. It describes how the troops would be activated under a revived state-federal partnership program, and states that personnel would be authorized to conduct searches and identify and arrest any unauthorized immigrants.

If implemented, the impact could have been significant. Nearly one-half of the 11.1 million people residing in the U.S. without authorization live in the 11 states, according to Pew Research Center estimates based on 2014 Census data.

___

Read draft memo here: http://apne.ws/2l1Dj0k

AP writers Allison Noon in Carson City, Nevada, Lindsay Whitehurst in Salt Lake City, Utah and Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas, contributed to this report.

The AP National Investigative Team can be reached at investigate//www.ap.org/tips

Follow Garance Burke on Twitter at @garanceburke
BEIRUT  The Latest on the war in Syria (all times local):

5:15 p.m.

Turkeys military says the Turkish and U.S. military chiefs of staff have confirmed the need to fight terror groups in Syria and Iraq, including the Islamic State group and Kurdish militants.

A military statement said Gen. Joe Dunford met with his Turkish counterpart, Gen. Hulusi Akar, on Friday at Incirlik air base, which is home to warplanes of the U.S.-led coalition that is battling the extremist group. Turkey also carries out airstrikes against Kurdish militants bases in northern Iraq.

The military statement said Akar told Dunford that Turkey and Turkish-backed Syrian fighters had to a great extent taken control of the IS-held Syrian town of al Bab.

It made no reference to a possible joint operation to retake the IS stronghold of Raqqa, which Turkeys defense minister said would be discussed.

___

5 p.m.

The Russian military says that its strategic bombers have struck the Islamic State group in eastern Syria. The Defense Ministry said in a statement that the Tu-95 bombers that flew from their base in Russia launched long-range cruise missiles Friday at the IS facilities near the groups main stronghold of Raqqa.

It added that the missiles successfully hit the IS training camps and a control facility of one of the militant units. The ministry said fighter jets from a Russian air base in Syria escorted the bombers.

The raid followed other missions flown by Russias long-range bombers against the IS targets in the past weeks.

Russia has conducted an air campaign in Syria since September 2015, helping Syrian government forces to reverse the tide of the nearly six-year-old conflict.

___

3:30 p.m.

The Syrian government and an opposition monitoring group have condemned what they call Turkeys crimes against the Syrian people in the northern town of al-Bab that is controlled by the Islamic State group.

Turkish troops and allied opposition fighters have been on the offensive in al-Bab for weeks trying to take it from IS, a battle that has killed hundreds of people so far.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Turkish shelling and airstrikes have killed 45 people in al-Bab since Wednesday.

Turkey wants to clear the area near its border of IS militants.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Friday condemned what it called Turkeys violations of Syrias sovereignty.

The condemnation was expressed in two letters addressed to the U.N. Secretary-General and President of the Security Council.
DENVER  Residents who oppose a $1.2 billion project to widen Interstate 70 through northeast Denver say they will continue to fight the project despite the fact that it has gained federal approval.

The Denver Post reports (http://dpo.st/2lSGuZB ) that a Thursday community meeting presented by the Colorado Department of Transportation devolved into shouting as people voiced their disapproval of the I-70 project.

Four or five years of construction along 10 miles of I-70 could start as soon as early next year now that the controversial project has gained approval from the Federal Highway Administration. The project will gobble up 56 homes and 17 businesses, where added lanes and new frontage roads will triple the interstates footprint.

Opponents of the project say it will negatively affect the neighborhood and question the moral implications of taking away homes and businesses.

___

Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com
FRANKFURT, Germany  A German newspaper correspondent in Turkey has been taken into police custody in connection with his reporting on a hacker attack on the email account of Turkeys energy minister, his employer said Friday.

The Welt daily said on its website that Deniz Yucel, who has both Turkish and German citizenship, went to police offices in Istanbul to face questioning and that his apartment had been searched.

The paper said police accused him of membership in a terrorist organization, misuse of data and terrorist propaganda.

Yucel, 43, had reported on emails that were obtained by the leftist hacker collective RedHack from the private email account of Energy Minister Berat Albayrak and made available on WikiLeaks, the paper said. Subjects included influencing public opinion through fake Twitter accounts and the control of Turkey media companies. Other journalists have also written about the emails.

Albayrak is a son-in-law of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Editor-in-chief Ulf Poschardt said Yucel does excellent work and that we trust that fair proceedings will prove his innocence.

Germanys Foreign Ministry said Yucel has been in police detention since Tuesday in connection with a criminal investigation.

We hope the ongoing investigation by Turkish authorities against Mr. Yucel respects the rule of law and he is treated fairly, in particular with regard to the press freedom thats guaranteed by the Turkish constitution, the ministry said in a statement, adding: Of course we are doing everything we can to support Deniz Yucel.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a nonprofit press freedom group based in New York, at least 81 journalists were imprisoned in Turkey last year  the biggest number worldwide.

Many of the arrests came following a July 15 coup attempt that prompted a government crackdown on alleged anti-government activists that included the closure of at least 100 news outlets.

___

This story corrects Erdogans title from prime minister to president.
KINGMAN, Ariz.  Mohave County authorities say an 87-year-old man who had been reported missing has been found alive in extreme northwestern Arizona about 25 miles south of St. George, Utah.

The Sheriffs Office says Leroy Fitzell was flown to a hospital in St. George on Thursday after being found semi-conscious about 75 yards from where his car was found on a rural road.

Search and rescue crews found Fitzell in heavy brush after an aircraft deployed by Utahs Washington County spotted his car on a Bureau of Land Management Road on the portion of Arizona known as the Arizona Strip.

He was last seen Tuesday.
EUGENE, Ore.  A reserve police officer from southeastern New Mexico has pleaded not guilty to charges he shot his brother-in-law in the leg while in Oregon.

The Register-Guard newspaper reports (http://bit.ly/2lfr0Mk ) 44-year-old Charles Pressburg entered the pleas Friday in Eugene. Hes charged with misdemeanor assault and negligently wounding another.

Police wrote in court documents that Pressburgs blood-alcohol level was 0.25 percent about an hour after last weeks shooting  more than three times the legal limit for a driver.

According to investigators, the victim said the men were drinking when Pressburg pulled out the gun. He said he didnt know why he was shot. Pressburg and his wife allegedly told police the shooting was accidental.

The court filing says the victim suffered broken bones in one of his legs.

Pressburg has been released on bail. Hes a reserve officer in Lake Arthur, New Mexico.
NEW YORK  The early weeks of the Trump administration have widened divides between liberal and conservative Jews, setting off quarrels over anti-Semitism, Israel and the Holocaust.

Well before the 2016 election, discussion over Israel had become so barbed among Jews that Jewish groups began organizing civility training so relationships and holidays wouldnt be ruined. But those disputes have erupted with a new intensity since Donald Trump won the presidency.

They were on display most prominently this week, during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus first visit to the Trump White House and a pair of news conferences during which the president would not directly address questions about anti-Semitism. On Thursday, in one of the most remarkable moments of a riotous back-and-forth with reporters, Trump shut down a Hasidic reporter from an Orthodox magazine who had taken pains to preface his question by saying he knew Trump wasnt anti-Jewish.

Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish civil rights group that has been highly critical of Trump, called the presidents response mind-boggling.

But Mort Klein, president of the hawkish Zionist Organization of America, who has championed Trump as a great ally of Israel, said Trump must have been frustrated by the relentless and outrageous allegations of anti-Semitism against him and his White House strategist Steve Bannon. If there was a hint of anti-Semitism, I would be at their throat, Klein said.

American Jews have been especially on edge because of a surge of anti-Semitic harassment over the course of the presidential campaign and continuing this year. Last month, Jewish community centers and other institutions in 27 states and Canada received what is being investigated as a coordinated series of telephone bomb threats over a period of days, according to the Secure Community Network, formed by Jewish organizations to protect their institutions.

Many Jewish groups and others had seen animus in the White House statement last month on International Holocaust Remembrance Day that did not mention Jews. The presidents aides defended the statement as inclusive of all who were killed by the Nazis.

At a news conference with Netanyahu last Wednesday, Trump opened by calling Israel a symbol of survival in the face of genocide. But when an Israeli reporter asked Trump about the rise in anti-Semitic harassment during the campaign and since his election, he responded by touting his Electoral College total and promising peace in this country. Netanyahu then took up the question, saying he had known the president, his family and some of his aides for many years and there is no greater supporter of the Jewish people and the Jewish state than President Donald Trump. I think we should put that to rest.

The response rankled some American Jews. Alana Newhouse, editor-in-chief of Tablet, the online Jewish magazine, addressed the prime minister: I wont tell you what to be afraid of in your country, and you dont tell me what I should fear in mine.

The next day, a confirmation hearing was held for David Friedman, the combative attorney Trump chose as U.S. envoy to Israel. Friedman, who has deep ties to the Israeli settler movement, had said the Anti-Defamation League sounded like morons for accusing Trump of anti-Semitism, and he had called supporters of the dovish pro-Israel lobby J Street worse than kapos, a reference to Jews who helped the Nazis imprison fellow Jews during the Holocaust.

At the hearing, Friedman apologized for using inflammatory language in the past, and said he regretted not expressing his views of J Street in a more respectful manner. Greenblatt said he had spoken with Friedman about his remarks regarding the ADL and had accepted his apology.

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, head of the liberal Union for Reform Judaism, the largest American Jewish movement, said he met for 90 minutes with Friedman at the nominees request, He simply wanted to have a conversation directly, Jacobs said in a phone interview. He knows how offensive it was.

On Friday, Reform Jewish leaders announced they opposed Friedmans nomination, the first time the movement had ever opposed a presidents choice for the position. The ZOAs Klein, meanwhile, said Friedman has the potential to be the greatest U.S. ambassador to Israel ever.

Jewish issues came to the fore again in a remarkable way during Trumps question-and-answer session on Thursday.

The reporter from the Brooklyn-based Orthodox Ami Magazine, Jake Turx, sporting curly sidelocks and a skullcap embroidered with his Twitter handle, rose to ask his question. While Hillary Clinton won 71 percent of the Jewish vote, Orthodox Jews who backed Trump have taken comfort in his support for Israel, his many Jewish friends and advisers, and especially his Orthodox Jewish daughter, Ivanka, who converted, and her husband and close presidential aide Jared Kushner. Turx opened his question to Trump by noting the president was a zayde  which is Yiddish for grandfather  then started to ask about the increased reports of anti-Jewish harassment and hate crimes.

But Trump quickly interrupted, saying not a fair question, and when Turx tried to continue, said quiet, quiet, quiet  I find it repulsive. I hate even the question.

The internal Jewish debate will likely rage on in the coming weeks as Trumps policies on Israel, refugees and immigration take shape.

At Friedmans hearing, three young Jews who belong to the activist group IfNotNow, which opposes Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, stood up to interrupt the proceedings. They shook groggers, or noisemakers, used on the holiday of Purim to drown out the names of enemies of the Jewish people.
WAXAHACHIE, Texas  A former North Texas police chief has been convicted of sexual contact and sexual assault counts relating to his online enticement and sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl.

The Waxahachie Daily Light (http://bit.ly/2lTJt41) reports an Ellis County jury deliberated just over two hours before finding ex-Maypearl Chief Kevin Coffey guilty of both counts of an indictment accusing him of sexual contact and sexual assault of a minor on Jan. 1, 2015.

Coffey testified that although he may have texted and touched the girl inappropriately, he did not have sex with her.

The sentencing phase of the trial begins Tuesday morning. Coffey could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison for each of the two counts.

Maypearl, a town of about 900, is 30 miles southwest of Dallas.

___

Information from: WAXAHACHIE DAILY LIGHT, http://www.waxahachiedailylight.com
CHICAGO  The Cook County states attorneys office moved quickly to charge an Amtrak police officer who fatally shot an unarmed man during an on-duty incident near Union Station last week.

A lawsuit filed on behalf of the victim, Chad Robertson, 25, alleged that the officer calmly dropped to one knee and shot Robertson once in the back after he had taken off running following an allegedly illegal search.

The officer, LaRoyce Tankson, 31, opened fired in fear for his life after he said Robinson turned toward him and pulled something from his pocket, according to Tanksons lawyer, William Fahy. He has been an Amtrak officer for 1 1/2 years, the lawyer said.

Prosecutors had asked that Tankson be held without bail, but Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil set bond at $250,000 during a hearing Friday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.

An autopsy by the medical examiners officer found that Robertson, of Minneapolis, had been shot in the back.

The shooting took place bout 8:40 p.m. on Feb. 8. Robertson was taking a bus from Memphis, Tenn., to Minneapolis and was on a stopover in Chicago, police have said.

Prosecutors on Friday said Tankson found Robertson and two others smoking marijuana outside Union Station but that the group had stopped at his request and Robertson apologized.

Later, Tankson and his partner stopped the three to search them. As he did a pat-down on one of the others, he felt what he thought was a hard metal object, said Assistant States Attorney Ahmed Kosoko. When Tankson asked what the object was, Robertson took off running, Kosoko said.

According to the prosecutor, Tankson assumed a crouching firing stance and fired once, striking Robertson from about 75 to 100 feet away.

Tanksons partner told authorities he saw no weapon on Robertson, Kosoko said.

Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi has previously said Robertson was unarmed and had cash and narcotics on him.

Robertsons family filed a federal lawsuit in Chicago on Tuesday that alleged that Tankson had followed Robertson and his travel companions to a restaurant near Union Station during the layover.

The suit said Tankson and his partner illegally detained Robertson and his companions and began to conduct illegal searches of them.

Tankson was very aggressive, disrespectful and again used a great deal of profanity during the illegal search, the suit said.

The suit alleged Robertson feared for his life and took off running.

According to the suit, Tankson calmly dropped to one knee, removed his gloves, unsecured his weapon and fired twice while Robertson was less than 30 feet away.

Tankson announced no commands, saying only, Its a gun out. Its a gun out, according to the suit.

He handcuffed the collapsed Robertson as he lay in the street clinging to life, the suit alleged.

The shooting left Robertson paralyzed, and he died a week later, at 11:20 p.m. Wednesday, according to the medical examiners office.

Following the shooting, Amtrak said the officers involved in the incident had been placed on administrative assignment, standard practice following a shooting. On Friday, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said that status remained unchanged after the filing of murder charges against Tankson. He could not say if Tankson continues to be paid by Amtrak.



2017 Chicago Tribune

Visit the Chicago Tribune at www.chicagotribune.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The Gunn Report for Media, the global evaluation of media innovation and success, has released its 2016 Media Report, summarising the overall media performance in the year January to December 2016 based on the results of the most important global, regional and national Media creative award contests spanning 40 markets.

Most Awarded Media Agencies in the World 2016

Starcom USA Mindshare India PHD New Zealand OMD USA OMD UK

Most Awarded Countries in Media 2016

USA United Kingdom India China UAE

Most Awarded Media Agency Networks in the World 2016

OMD Starcom MediaVest PHD Mindshare Mediacom

Most Awarded Advertisers in Media in the World 2016

1. Heineken

2. Coca-Cola

3. McDonald's

4. KFC

5= Microsoft

5= Samsung

Media Campaigns of the Year 2016 (not ranked)

Always, Girl Emoji  Starcom MediaVest Group (London)

Ariel, Removing The Stains Of Social Inequality. Share The Load  Mediacom (Mumbai)

Burger King, McWhopper  Y&R Media New Zealand (Auckland)

DB Export, Brewtroleum  PHD New Zealand (Auckland)

Louis XIII Cognac, #NotComingSoon  Fred & Farid (New York)

Manulife, The Price Of Living 2040  PHD (Hong Kong)

Microsoft, Tomb Raider Survival Billboard  EMT/Dentsu Aegis (London)

Sainsburys, Starting The Gift Of Reading At Christmas  PHD (London)

Swedish Tourist Association, The Swedish Number  Ingo (Stockholm)

The Art Institute of Chicago, Van Gogh BnB  Starcom Mediavest Group (Chicago)

Untold Festival/ National Institute for Blood, Pay With Blood  UM Romania (Bucharest)

Journalist Isabelle Musnik, Editor of The Gunn Report for Media, said, The outcome of The Gunn Report for Media 2016 shows that while technology and data are fundamental to achieving results, insight, strategy and innovative ideas are essential to delivering them as well as bringing positive results which can be measured. Creativity and efficiency are not antithetical.

She added, Good and creative media ideas have diverse sources, have widely different budgets and come from all over the world. 2016 has been the year of data, mobile, apps, programmatic advertising, life video, new formats, social media, virtual reality, artificial intelligence and the emoji, all of which enable consumers to experience brands like never before.

The Gunn Report Book and Showreel of the Year 2016 DVD will be available in mid-March and will include The Gunn Report for Media 2016. Additionally there will be messages to the industry by guest essayists Mike Cooper, CEO of PHD Worldwide, who will share his thoughts on how Artificial Intelligence will propel media to the forefront of the process; and Nils Andersson, Creative President of TBWAAsia, who will address the art and craft of creative in an era of machines.
The last decade has seen the birth of remarkable new age startups in India. The startup scene in the country is undergoing a rapid transformation. Budding entrepreneurs are receiving support not only from the government in the form of special policies but also from investors who are constantly on the look-out for new prospects. In this exciting entrepreneurial environment, Pulse The Venture, a joint initiative of Network18 and DS Group is scouting for the next big entrepreneurial idea that is yet to be born.

With an objective to reach out to aspiring entrepreneurs, Pulse The Venture is an exclusive platform where the best of business ideas meet the greatest of inspiration, in a high impact televised reality series on CNN-News18 & CNBC-TV18. The winner of the series will receive seed funding of INR 1 crore as an investment in the winning idea.

Speaking about the initiative, Radhakrishnan Nair, Managing Editor, CNN-News18 said, In a country where the startup scene is still in infancy, a number of ventures with extraordinary ideas have not prospered due to lack of investment and resources. With Pulse The Venture, we aim to provide these budding entrepreneurs not only with funding but also the necessary expertise to help them turn their business ideas into reality.

Ritesh Kumar, Promoter, DS Group said, The story of DS group is hinged on entrepreneurship and innovation. Entrepreneurship is necessary for a country as it not only creates job but also nurtures a culture of enterprise. The Indian startup ecosystem definitely needs a strong back up from the investor community. Pulse, The Venture aims to provide aspiring entrepreneurs with the opportunity to pitch their business ideas and win seed funding for their venture.

The rigorous selection process will involve shortlisting of the Top 100 ideas by a screening jury including an independent process partner, interviews through video conferencing with the Top 100 contestants, zonal selection events in 4 cities and a televised battle of minds between 24 of Indias brightest ideators, in the presence of a grand jury.
Those that may be looking for a new smartphone will want to check out this LG V10. Especially since it is a great smartphone that still stands up with 2016s flagship devices, and it costs a fraction of what those do. The LG V10 is currently available for just $189. Now this is a refurbished model, which is why its so cheap, so do keep that in mind. Additionally, this is a Verizon model, but it is unlocked which means it will work with GSM carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile. Youll just have to put up with the Verizon branding and bloatware, which isnt a big deal considering a brand new LG V10 is still selling for around $400-500 right now.

The LG V10 has an enormous 5.7-inch Quad HD display, powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor. There is also 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. LG did keep the removable battery here as well as the micro SD card slot, so theres plenty of storage available here. The LG V10 is also a big of a rugged smartphone, so youll be able to toss it around without worrying about damaging it at all. You can grab the LG V10 from the link down below.
Googles ex-CEO and current chairman of Alphabet, Eric Schmidt, says that his preconceptions about artificial intelligence have been shattered in recent years, and current CEO Sundar Pichai is the one who has mostly been responsible for that. During his time as the CEO of Google, Schmidt admits that he vastly underestimated the potential of artificial intelligence, the advancements it would experience in the very near future, and the huge amount of use cases it could be applied to. Schmidt said that he initially thought that AI could be used quite effectively for specialized tasks, but would not scale out to a more general roster of possibilities, and especially not out into the consumer space. He went on to say that we are still in the very early days of teaching AI to learn and expand as human minds do, and that such a development is likely still many years away.

Current CEO Sundar Pichai paints a different picture. He sees AI as not only an incredible, and quickly developing technology, but as a mission-critical tool of the modern tech world. Pichai hasnt just stated his vision for AI, though; he has backed his words up by having Google massively expand their AI efforts during his short reign as CEO thus far, to great effect. Google Assistant is one of the most obvious examples, but specialized training for machine learning and the rise of the neural Google Brain both stand as strong proof of Pichais commitment to AI, as well as a show of just how far the nascent technology has already come.

Pichai believes that we are already in the midst of an AI-first age, and he may very well be right. AI is shaping the face of new and old technologies, such as self driving cars, how people interact with their smartphones, and even personal computers. The notion that AI will start to beat humans at basic tasks and take jobs in the near future has been thrown around, and recent advancements give no reason to think that wont be the case. For what its worth, Schmidt is now completely on board with an AI-centric future, and Pichai is poised to have Google lead us there.
The Huawei MediaPad T3 tablet has just paid a visit to TENAA, Chinas equivalent to the FCC. As its usually the case when a smartphone or a tablet visits TENAA, we now have plenty of MediaPad T3 specs to work with, not to mention that the listing also revealed the design of Huaweis upcoming tablet. This tablet was certified under the KOB-L09 model number, and that very same tablet received its Wi-Fi certification last month. Now, do keep in mind that this tablet was actually certified under the Honor brand, which is kind of Huaweis subsidy, even though it operates as a separate company. This suggests that the tablet could be released as the Honor Pad 3 outside of China, and could even make an appearance at this years Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, even though the companys press event will probably be reserved for the Huawei P10 and Huawei P10 Plus.

If you take a look at the provided images down below, youll get to see the Huawei MediaPad T3 aka Honor Pad 3 in the flesh. This tablet is made out of metal, and it comes with some considerable bezels all around. All of its physical keys are placed on the right, and so is the tablets SIM card tray, which suggests this tablet will offer 4G LTE connectivity. The Huawei MediaPad T3 will, according to TENAA, sport an 8-inch 1280 x 800 IPS display, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable internal storage. The device will be fueled by a quad-core SoC clocked at 1.4GHz, which could be the Snapdragon 425 processor. A 5-megapixel camera is placed on the back of this tablet, and a 2-megapixel shooter can be found on its front side. Android 7.0 Nougat comes pre-installed on this tablet, and on top of it, youll get the companys Emotion UI (EMUI) 5.0. A 4,650mAh battery is also a part of this package, while TENAA also reports that the tablet will be available in Gold and Gray color variants.

That is basically all the info that TENAA shared this time around. As already mentioned, this tablet could be announced during MWC 2017, though it definitely wont be Huaweis main announcement, thats for sure. On the other hand, Huawei / Honor might introduce this tablet during a separate event in the coming weeks, well see.

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Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi has appointed Mr. Manu Kumar Jain as the companys new Vice President. The post fell vacant earlier this year when Xiaomis former VP of global operations, Mr. Hugo Barra, left the company for Facebook, where the former Googler is expected to lead the social networking giants VR division. With this promotion, Mr. Jain, who was the head of Xiaomis India operations up until now, will assume the title of Vice President, although he will continue to remain the Managing Director of the companys Indian unit. His promotion comes in the wake of Xiaomis stellar performance in the country over the past couple of years, even as the company continues to struggle against newer rivals such as OPPO and Vivo in its own backyard.

Xiaomi, under the leadership of Mr. Jain, has become the second-largest smartphone brand in India, earning over $1 billion in revenues and accounting for 10.7% market share last year in a highly fragmented market that continues to be led by South Korean consumer electronics giant, Samsung. Xiaomi also became the largest-selling smartphone brand online in the country last year, thanks largely to the massive popularity of the companys mid-range phablet  the Redmi Note 3. Although that particular device has now been discontinued, its successor, the Redmi Note 4, has already received a rapturous welcome in the country, selling over 250,000 units in just ten minutes when it went on sale for the first time late last month. It will be interesting to see, though, whether the fourth-generation Redmi Note phablet will be able to emulate the massive success of its predecessor in the long run.

With India already the second-largest market for Xiaomi ahead of countries such as Brazil and Indonesia, it is easy to see why Mr. Jain is held in such high regard by the Xiaomi leadership. He joined the company in 2014 from Jabong.com, an online fashion retailer he had co-founded two years earlier. His promotion is also being seen as a signal that India will continue to remain an important market for the Chinese tech company in the years to come. Mr. Jain has already received congratulatory messages from his colleagues, with @XiaomiIndia twitting @manukumarjain, congratulations from the entire Xiaomi family on your promotion to Vice President of Xiaomi!.
Canadian carrier Telus and its subsidiary, Koodo, have started rolling out the Android 7.0 Nougat update to the Moto G4 Plus devices on their networks, according to reports coming out of the country earlier today. This is the first major update for the fourth-generation Moto G devices, which were originally launched last year with Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) out-of-the-box. The latest update is expected to bring a number of new features to the Moto G4 Plus, including native multi-window support, as well as a newly-designed notification shade. The detailed changelog, however, doesnt seem to be available on Telus support page for the device, and nor is there any detail available about either the size of the download or the exact build number.

Kodoo had announced last month that it will roll out Android Nougat to the Moto G4 Plus devices on its network in February, so it is nice to see the carrier finally making good on its promise. The rollout, however, has been a long time coming, seeing how Lenovo had originally released the update last year itself. As has been reported already, unlocked models of the Moto G4 as well as the Moto G4 Plus originally started receiving Android 7.0 Nougat last December, with India believed to be one of the first major markets to have received the new software. Motorola is one of the very few vendors to roll out timely updates to its Android devices, and has long rolled out Android Nougat to many of its smartphones including, the Moto Z-series handsets, the Moto X devices, as well as the Nexus 6.

The Verizon-specific Moto Z Droid and Moto Z Force Droid have also received the update last year itself, so it must be a relief for many Moto G4 Plus users in Canada to finally get the new software on their devices. While Android Nougat is only a minimal upgrade over Android Marshmallow for the most part, it does come with some notable improvements over Android 6.0 in terms of battery optimization and security features. Motorola has also introduced an all-new boot animation with Android 7.0 that is also expected to come to the Moto G4 Plus on Telus now that it has already been rolled out to unlocked versions of the device around the world.
Motorola India is celebrating its 3rd anniversary and the third year of collaboration with local retailer Flipkart. To commemorate the event and reward Motorola enthusiasts and prospective customers alike, Motorola India has announced new discounts for a variety of its smartphones available on Flipkart, including the Motorola Moto Z, Moto M, and Moto G. The so-called Moto Days Sale discounts will be available for a limited period of time between February 20th and February 21st.

Motorolas Moto Days Sale will not only slash the prices of a number of Motorola smartphones on Flipkart, but the anniversary will also allow customers to exchange their existing smartphones for a new Motorola device along with a hefty discount. Furthermore, IndusInd Bank credit card users in India can also take advantage of a 10% discount, while Axis Bank Buzz credit card users can benefit from a 5% discount on a smartphone purchase. As for the rest of the offers between February 20th and 21st, both the Moto Z and Moto Z Play will be available for purchase on an exchange program which will allow customers to cut up to 20,000 Indian Rupees (roughly $298) off the original prices. The Moto M will take advantage of a similar deal, offering discounts of up to Rs. 15,000 ($223) when exchanging an older smartphone for a new purchase.

Motorola will also offer a handful of smartphones on flat price cuts unrelated to exchange programs and other discounts. With that in mind, the Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen) with 3G connectivity will be available for Rs. 4,999 (down from Rs. 5,999), whereas the 4G counterpart will cost Rs. 5,999 as opposed to Rs. 6,999. The Motorola Moto G (2nd Gen) with 16 GB of on-board memory will be available for Rs. 6,999 down from Rs. 8,999, whereas the Moto G (3rd Generation) will cost Rs. 7,999, as opposed to the usual price of Rs. 9,999. In addition, the Motorola Moto E3 Power will take advantage of an Rs. 500 discount for a final price of Rs. 7,499, whereas the Moto G Turbo Edition will cost Rs. 8,999 after a flat Rs. 1,000 price reduction. Last but not least, the Motorola-made Nexus 6 will get an Rs. 4,000 price reduction, which means that the 32 GB model will cost Rs. 19,999 while the beefier 64 GB variant will have a new price tag of Rs. 25,999. Once again, its important to note that the aforementioned deals and discounts will be available only in India through Flipkart between February 20th-February 21st.
The Really Blue variant of the Google Pixel and the Google Pixel XL is now available for purchase in the United Kingdom from EE. The wireless carrier says the regular Google Pixel will ship within a week of your order, while the Really Blue model of the Pixel XL is currently only available for pre-orders. Unfortunately, EE is apparently only selling the 32GB models of both devices in Really Blue, while the 128GB models are only available in Quite Black and Really Silver. Both phones are available on EEs 4GEE plan that starts at 40.99 (approximately $50.99) per month for the Google Pixel and 45.99 (approximately $56.99) per month for the Google Pixel XL. Theres still no word on when EE will start shipping the Really Blue variant of the Google Pixel XL, but seeing how customers can already pre-order the device, its reasonable to presume theyll get their Google-made smartphone by early March. You can find out more details about this deal by following the source link below.

The release of the Really Blue models of the Google Pixel and the Pixel XL in the United Kingdom coincides with the Canadian debut of both phones where theyre currently available for pre-orders exclusively from Rogers. While the Mountain View-based tech giant originally released its pair of Nexus successors back in October, the Really Blue version of both devices was available exclusively in the United States until recently. As that color proved to be a popular choice among consumers, Google is now rolling it out to more territories in hopes of generating some additional sales before its competitors launch their new flagship devices this spring. Coincidentally, Rogers is also only selling the 32GB models of the Google Pixel and the Pixel XL in Really Blue.

Seeing how the Really Blue variants of Googles latest Android flagships are now available in three out of five countries where the company is currently selling the devices, its possible that theyll also make their way to Australia and Germany in the coming weeks. Overall, if youre a fan of the color blue thats living in the UK and is on the lookout for a new smartphone, Googles Pixel phones are definitely worth considering.
SoftBank may actually give control of Sprint to Deutsche Telekom, to merge T-Mobile and Sprint, at least according to a report coming out of Reuters this afternoon. SoftBank had tried to purchase T-Mobile after they picked up Sprint, back in 2014. However, they were told by regulators that this would not happen, and thus they decided to back off and wait for the new administration to take over, which has now happened. However, T-Mobile is now in a much better position than they were nearly three years ago. In fact, Deutsche Telekom isnt even willing to give up control of T-Mobile like they were in 2014. Which has led to some people saying that SoftBank may give up control of Sprint to Deutsche Telekom, which is a bit of an interesting turn of events, to say the least.

Currently, SoftBank owns 83% of Sprint, and they could give a controlling stake of that over to Deutsche Telekom if they were able to make a deal to merge the third and fourth largest carriers in the US. However, SoftBank has not spoken to Deutsche Telekom about a merger since the Incentive Auction is currently ongoing. FCC auction rules state that no merger or acquisition talks can take place during an auction. This could make things unfair for other companies in the auction, so the two will have to wait until after the auction finishes in April. But its clear that SoftBank is getting a game plan together, especially now that there is a new FCC in place, as well as a new Department of Justice, under President Trump.

Sprint and T-Mobile have both had trouble competing with Verizon and AT&T, and thats largely because Verizon and AT&T are twice the size of both carriers. Making it tougher to compete with them in terms of cash and customers. But Sprint and T-Mobile have made the industry a whole lot more competitive. In fact, they forced AT&T and Verizon to bring back unlimited data, after eliminating it almost five years ago. A combined Sprint and T-Mobile company could spell a lot of trouble for AT&T and Verizon, they would still be third place, but they would have a ton of cash and spectrum at their disposal.
A new report has just surfaced on the Wall Street Journal, and if it is accurate, Samsung is actually planning to source Galaxy S8 battery packs from Sony as well. The Galaxy Note 7 fiasco hurt Samsung quite a bit, not only did the companys reputation suffered, but theyve also lost a lot of cash because of it, and as you probably already know, batteries were to blame for Galaxy Note 7s issues. That being said, it seems like Samsung is looking to diversify their battery supply chain in order to avoid such issues moving forward, read on.

Both Samsung SDI and ATL supplied batteries for the Galaxy Note 7, and it seems like all those batteries had some sort of unwanted defects, which ultimately hurt the Galaxy Note 7 and Samsung in general. Well, it seems like three companies will supply batteries for the Galaxy S8, Samsung SDI will remain one of the suppliers, as that is Samsungs very own company, and in addition to it, Japans Murata Manufacturing and Sony will as well, at least if rumors are to be believed. Murata Manufacturing is a Japan-based company which was mentioned in this context a couple of weeks ago, and now Sony seems to be a part of the picture as well. It is possible Samsung will reveal more information about this moving forward, though do keep in mind that companies usually dont reveal such info. This is a rather odd situation, though, due to the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, all eyes will be on Samsung when they announce the Galaxy S8, and people will probably pay special attention to the phones battery, so Samsung may opt to share more details beforehand this time around, well see.

The Samsung Galaxy S8, and its larger sibling, the Galaxy S8 Plus, will not launch during Samsungs press conference at this years Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. Samsung had confirmed that recently, and the two devices will probably launch in late March or early April. In any case, Samsung is rumored to announce the Galaxy S8 launch date during MWC 2017, so well at least get some info during the tradeshow. These two phones will ship with Android Nougat, while theyll be fueled by the Snapdragon 835. The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus will probably ship without a physical home key, which is something were not used to seeing when it comes to Samsungs smartphones.
A new Xiaomi Mi 6 rumor has just surfaced in China, seemingly sharing more info about the companys upcoming flagship. According to this rumor, Xiaomi will introduce two variants of the Xiaomi Mi 6, which is a somewhat different info that what other sources have been reporting. In any case, if this rumor is to be believed, the company will introduce a base model of the device which will ship with a fullHD (1920 x 1080) display, while a premium variant will sport a QHD (2560 x 1440) panel. The higher-end model will offer support for Googles Daydream VR platform, and both devices will run Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box with Xiaomis MIUI 8 OS on top of it.

The source did not mention what SoC will the Xiaomi Mi 6 ship with, though most rumors have been reporting that it will arrive with the Snapdragon 835 64-bit octa-core processor. As you probably already know by now, Samsung is reportedly planning to grab the whole first batch of Qualcomms flagship SoCs, which means other manufacturers will either have to wait when it comes to releasing their flagships, or will have to opt for a different SoC, like last years Snapdragon 821, for example. That might actually happen to Xiaomi as well, depending on when the company plans to announce the device. Xiaomi will not make an appearance at this years Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, which means that the phone wont launch before the end of this month, but it could arrive in March or April, though nothing has been confirmed just yet.

That being said, previous rumors have been suggesting that the company will announce three variants of the Xiaomi Mi 6, and that the most affordable one will ship with MediaTeks Helio X30 64-bit deca-core processor, while the most powerful one will pack in Qualcomms Snapdragon 835 SoC. A ton of Xiaomi Mi 6 rumors surfaced in the last couple of weeks and its really difficult to judge which rumors are legitimate, and which are not, so well just have to wait for the company to release some official info, though well probably see quite a few more rumors / leaks before that happens.

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YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 16, ARMENPRESS. British lawyer Ramute Remezaite has been detained in Baku airport, and then was deported from Azerbaijan, Contact.az reports.

My turn came to understand that from now on I am also a persona non grata in Azerbaijan, she wrote on Facebook.

Member of the European Association of Lawyers for Human Rights, Remezaite got a visa from the Azerbaijani Embassy in London. She arrived in Baku with two colleagues at the invitation of a foreign embassy, however in the border control she was informed that there is a problem with her entry to Azerbaijan despite the existence of visa. Later she was sent back without receiving any comment.

All this means that I am a persona non grata in Azerbaijan and cannot return there in the nearest future. This also means that you will not be allowed to enter that country if you defend human rights and are not silent when that countrys regime puts pressure on rights and freedoms, she writes.

Lawyer Ramute Remezaite is an author of several articles about the topic of human rights violations in Azerbaijan.
The latest update regarding the so-called Trackhawk comes from Motor Authority , whose reliable source has confirmed that Jeep will indeed bring the Trackhawk to New York. With less than two months to go until the Javits Center opens its doors to the public, the timing couldnt be better considering what we already know. Mike Manley , the head honcho of the Jeep brand, once told the automotive media that the Grand Cherokee Trackhawks launch date is set for July 2017, a date thats roughly three months after the New York Auto Show. We also heard from more or less official sources that the upcoming Trackhawk will arrive as a 2018 model year vehicle, so there you have it.From a technical standpoint, the 6.2-liter supercharged V8 will be matched with a TorqueFlite eight-speed automatic and a go-faster all-wheel-drive system . It remains to be seen if Jeep engineers will dial back the output of the blown powerplant to ease the burden on the all-wheel-drive system, but one thing is sure: the Trackhawk has all the makings of a mind-bogglingly quick sport utility vehicle.The baddest Jeep of them all isnt the only performance offering Fiat Chrysler will debut in the Big Apple, though. Over at Dodge, the Challenger SRT Demon will be crowned the new king of the muscle cars. Essentially a harder-launching take on the Hellcat, the Demon is expected to blow every drag strip junkies socks off.Not only will the Demon get more ponies out of the 6.2-liter HEMI V8, but it also boasts a squared stance coming courtesy of 12.6-inch wide Nitto NT05R drag radials. The cherry on top is a 3.09 final drive ratio, which should help the SRT Demon begone like a bat out of hell (Meat Loaf pun intended).




First up, Joe Biden is thinking about dropping tariffs against China. But theres a spy in prison this morning that helps us understand why he shouldnt. Ill explain.





Your second brief, If youre looking for a good paying job, you might consider being a CEO for a health insurance company. One executive made $142M dollars last year. Let's talk about that.





And as always, Im keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put this one on your radar. Mexican cartels are grooming American kids online and paying them cash to traffic illegals or run drugs across the border. Ill share details.





If you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief, remember to subscribe and listen daily at podfollow.com/pdb.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Facebook said on Thursday a legal challenge against the way it transfers EU user data to the United States was "deeply flawed" and should not be referred to the EU's top court because ample privacy protections were already in place.

The challenge by the Irish data regulator is the latest to question whether methods used by large tech firms such as Google and Apple to transfer data gives EU consumers sufficient protection from U.S. surveillance.

The issue of data privacy came to the fore after revelations in 2013 from former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden of mass U.S. surveillance caused political outrage in Europe

Facebook says the case could lead to a breakdown in transatlantic data transfers that could knock EU economic output by up to 1.3%.

Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner, which regulates Facebook as its European headquarters are in Dublin, found in May that a complaint about privacy protections in mechanisms Facebook uses to transfer data were "well-founded."

It is asking the Irish High Court to refer the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which would then decide whether to ban the use of "model contracts" - common legal arrangements used by thousands of firms to transfer personal data outside the 28-nation bloc.

A lawyer representing Facebook told the High Court that the case by the Irish regulator was flawed because it did not take into account the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield agreement that came into force last August to address earlier concerns about U.S. surveillance.

Under the agreement, the replacement for the Safe Harbour agreement struck down by the CJEU in 2015, the United States agreed to limit the collection of and access to Europeans' data stored on U.S. servers.

"How could you have a well founded concern about the protections that are available without having looked at it (privacy shield)," Paul Gallagher, representing Facebook, told the High Court.

"There should be no reference because the (Data Protection Commisioner's) decision has been overtaken by events," he said. "The decision is deeply flawed."

Gallagher said that the level of transparency and the variety of protections in the United states "match anything in Europe" and said the court had not heard expert arguments on the quality of U.S. privacy protections.

The Irish commissioner's office initially became involved after Austrian law student and privacy activist Max Schrems made a complaint in Dublin about Facebook's handling of his data in the United States.

Schrems and other privacy campaigners contend that alternative arrangements such as model clauses don't offer Europeans any means of redress either.

A lawyer representing Schrems, James Doherty, told the court that a referral to the European Court was "unnecessary or at least premature" as the Irish regulator had not fully investigated the complaint and had not used all tools in its power to restrict data flows where consumers' rights were threatened. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Vancouver, British Columbia - The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, P.C., Q.C., M.P., Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, announced the establishment of the new Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound Glass Sponge Reefs Marine Protected Area to safeguard the globally unique and important aquatic environment that provides key habitats for marine wildlife.

The Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound Glass Sponge Reefs Marine Protected Area is located between Haida Gwaii and the mainland of British Columbia, within the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area (PNCIMA), and is home to several globally unique ancient sponge reefs. The four reefs are made up of large colonies of glass sponges estimated to be 9,000 years old and once thought to be extinct worldwide. The glass sponges are highly fragile in nature, taking up to several hundreds of years to recover from damage, and are at risk of significant impacts from human activities in and around the area. They also offer a vital water filtration service, and provide refuge, habitat and nursery grounds for many aquatic species, including rockfish, finfish and shellfish.

Minister LeBlanc was joined by Kim Conway from Natural Resources Canada and Manfred Krautter from the University of Stuttgart, two of the scientists who participated in the exploration of the reefs while mapping the seafloor. Also present were the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), the B.C. Seafood Alliance and other stakeholders who have been working together to preserve this unique ocean feature.

This is another step forward for the Government of Canadas domestic and international marine conservation targets of protecting 5% of marine and coastal areas by 2017 and 10% by 2020. In November 2016 the new Anguniaqvia niqiqyuam Marine Protected Area was designated in Darnley Bay in the Northwest Territories, and in December 2016, the government proposed the designation of St. Anns Bank as a Marine Protected Area.

As part of Canadas plan to reach its targets, the Government of Canada will continue to establish Marine Protected Areas in both offshore areas and areas currently under pressure from human activities, as well as identify existing and new other area-based measures that play an important role in conserving our oceans. The Government of Canada is also exploring ways to update the Oceans Act to facilitate the designation process for Marine Protected Areas, without sacrificing science, or the opportunity for stakeholders, Indigenous people and the public to provide input.

Photo Legend: On February 16, 2017, Minister LeBlanc announced the designation of the Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound Glass Sponge Reefs as a Marine Protected Area.
Modified On Feb 17, 2017 05:45 PM By akas

The popularity of petrol-powered cars over diesel is growing day by day. According to ET Auto, only 27 per cent of the total passenger vehicles sold in India during April 2016 to September 2016 was powered by diesel engines. This figure was close to 47 per cent four years back. Currently, only one in five popular compact cars sold in the country has a diesel engine. Petrol cars account for the most of the sales in the entry-level hatchback segment.

Although diesel cars initially cost more than petrol cars, they are considered economic to run and recover the additional initial cost easily, thanks to the significant difference between the price of petrol and diesel. However, over time, the government subsidies have been decreased and now the price difference between petrol and diesel isn't that notable anymore. Nowadays, a price conscious, entry-level car buyer who uses his/her car for short trips in the city doesn't want to pay extra for a diesel engine.

Customers are also changing their preference in the utility vehicles segment where the majority of the vehicles are powered by diesel engines. Earlier, only three per cent of the utility vehicles sold in 2012-13 were petrol-powered, however, now that figure has increased to 16 per cent.

Moreover, new rules and regulations force automakers and customers to give priority to petrol cars. The Delhi diesel ban, implemented in the beginning of 2016, didn't allow automakers to sell passenger vehicles which had 2.0-litre or larger diesel engines in the National Capital Region. To overcome this, while some automakers like Mahindra introduced smaller-sized diesel engines, other automakers like Mercedes-Benz introduced petrol versions of their popular SUVs. Also, the National Green Tribunal has issued an order to all RTOs in Delhi and NCR region to deregister diesel vehicles that are 10 years or older. SUVs like the Toyota Fortuner and Innova, which didn't offer a petrol engine earlier, do offer now.

It is likely that the BS VI emission rules will be implemented by 2020, skipping the stage V. If this occurs, automakers will have to make significant changes in their diesel cars to make them BS VI-compliant. This would further widen the price gap between the petrol and diesel versions of the same cars.
Call it the Oval Office virus. After less than a month in office, President Donald J. Trump, who as a candidate embraced WikiLeaks and a torrent of leaks about his rival Hillary Clintons campaign, has become a champion of government secrecy. In a rowdy, 77-minute press conference Thursday, Trump said that he had personally instructed the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into the leak of embarrassing information about his conversations with foreign leaders and former National Security Adviser Michael T. Flynns contacts with Russia. While it is unusual for a president to ask for such a criminal investigation, or to discuss it publicly, no law prevents him from doing so. It could be perceived as a political witch hunt, warned Susan Hennessey, a scholar at the Brookings Institution and former intelligence agency lawyer.

Trump launched his war on leaksand leakerstwo Saturdays ago at a charity dinner at Mar-a-Lago, his winter White House in Palm Beach. When I interviewed him at the Red Cross ball, Trump denounced the leaks of transcripts of his phone conversations with leaders of Australia and Mexico as disgraceful and very dangerous . . . for this country, and blamed the unauthorized release of the information on Obama people. Political holdovers from the previous administration still serving on the White House and National Security Council staff, he said, were being replaced.

When leaks continued this week, Trump and top aides expanded the category of likely culprits to include the intelligence communitymore specifically, the NSA and FBI? as he asked in a tweet. Just like Russia, he fumed. White House spokesman Sean Spicer then chimed in, adding Justice Department officials to the legion of suspected loose lips.

Trump is hardly the first president to rail against leaks. Barack Obama vowed to run the most open and transparent government possible but wound up overseeing at least nine leak investigations and prosecuting more whistleblowers than all his predecessors combined. David Sanger, my former colleague at the New York Times and a veteran Washington insider, called Obamas White House the most closed, control-freak administration Ive ever covered.

Over-classification of often mundane information is rampant in Washington. History has taught that some leakssuch as those surrounding the Watergate inquiryare not only useful in a democracy but also an indispensable check on government misuse of power. As a journalist who went to jail for 85 days to protect my sources, I know that it is harder than presidents may think to identify, deter, and punish those who leak. Though technology and expanded government surveillance power have made it easier for the government to identify leakers, journalists know that officials leak for many reasons, some of them purely personal. In Washington, where knowledge is power, officials sometimes wish to inflate their own importance by demonstrating that they are in the loop. The current president has managed to alienate a range of potential sources of information. Many now wish his administration ill.

As a candidate and as president-elect, Trump repeatedly challenged the findings and motivations of the federal governments 17 intelligence agencies. For months, he refused to accept their high confidence conclusion that Russia had attempted to meddle in the 2016 election, as well as a later estimate that Moscow did so to help Trump become president and undermine public faith in democracy. During an October presidential debate, Trump questioned whether the hacking had even occurred, adding, they always blame Russia. In December, he complained about the intelligence communitys public track recordtweeting about the erroneous determination that Saddam Hussein possessed unconventional weapons before the 2003 Iraq war: These are the same people that said Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. In January, he accused intelligence officials of leaking an unsubstantiated report that Russia had damaging personal information about him, comparing the leak with living in Nazi Germany. Trumps harsh attack on the intelligence community prompted an unusually sharp rebuttal from John Brennan, the outgoing Central Intelligence Agency director, who said he doubted that Trump understood the threat posed by Russia, and that he took personal umbrage at the comparison of intelligence officials with Nazis.

When hundreds of career officials at the State Department signed a so-called dissent cable objecting to Trumps executive order temporarily banning entry visas for people from seven predominantly Muslim countries, White House spokesman Sean Spicer urged them to quit. Arguing that the executive order runs counter to American values and might intensify the terrorist threat, many signatories fumed when Spicer denigrated them as bureaucrats and urged them either to get with the program or they can go. Given the hostility among so many career civil servants, the White House should not have been surprised that veterans of the Washington policy processand not just at the State Departmentwere angry about a visa halt promulgated and unveiled without their input.

While Trump prefers to blame reporters and career civil servants for disseminating what he calls fake news about him and his team, his White House is said to have deep personal rifts and policy divisions. Members of the GOP establishmentand such traditional Republicans as White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and Vice President Mike Pencehave chafed at the influence of such advisers as Steve Bannon, who have championed the need for a revolution in Republican ranks. The upstarts also favor massive infrastructure spending to spur growth, protectionist measures like import tariffs, and working closely with Russia to combat terrorism. Mistrust between Trump, Pence, or their respective aides may also help explain why senior White House officials failed to inform the vice president for more than two weeks that Flynn had misled him by saying that he and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak had not discussed the lifting of sanctions against Russia, when transcripts of their conversations show that they apparently had.

Chris Cillizza, of the Washington Post, has another explanation for the leaks. As senior Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway acknowledged during the campaign, Trump is heavily influenced by what he hears and sees on TV and in the media. As a result, aides may be trying to influence his decision-making by getting policy disputes aired on cable TV or through newspaper articles. Its uniquely possible that these leaks are aimed at reining him in, showing him that when he acts like this with, say, world leaders, it makes him look bad, Cillizza recently wrote. His second theory is even less flattering to Trump. Some senior officials have concerns about the presidents judgment and fitness for office. Cillizza thinks that they may be trying to use selective leaks to let people know what is really going on inside the White House.

My reporting suggests that there is no shortage of civil servants who are offended and alarmed by the steady stream of alternative facts being advanced by Trump and his senior aides. In less than a month in office, Trump has issued a series of whoppersvirtually none of which he has retracted. He insisted that the crowds at his inauguration were larger than at Obamas. He claimed that he would have won the popular as well as the electoral vote had millions of illegals not voted. He said that Americas murder rate is the highest its been in 47 years, that terrorism in the U.S. and Europe has become so mundane that the press no longer reports attacks, and that only 109 people out of hundreds of thousands of travelers were affected by his immigration refugee executive order. Such exaggerations and misstatements of fact rattled even some supporters.

Some of Trumps press conference outrage was politically calculated. He would undoubtedly prefer that the media focus on leaks rather than on his early missteps or lingering questions about Russian hacking. Though the New York Times reported this week, based on leaks, that FBI officials have found no evidence thus far that Trumps aides and the Kremlin colluded to sway the election, an independent inquiry of some kind now seems inevitable.

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images
CNN's Will Ripley, Justin Robertson and Tim Schwartz are the only Western broadcasters reporting from North Korea since it conducted a ballistic missile test on Sunday, the first one of 2017.

We'll keep updating this story to bring you their latest dispatches as they document their trip on television and Instagram.

Welcome inside the world's most reclusive country.

Thursday

On Thursday, millions of North Koreans are marking what would have been the 75th birthday of late leader Kim Jong Il.

Many will remember their former leader at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the Kim and his father Kim Il Sung were laid to rest.

The Day of the Shining Star is a two-day celebration packed with concerts, fireworks and military displays.

Here, a North Korean female soldier stands guard at the Mansu Hill Grand Monument, as her fellow soldiers pay respects.

While military service for women has long been voluntary, it was reportedly recently made mandatory in a bid to bolster the nations armed forces. North Korean men are required to serve for 10 years beginning at age 17.

Wednesday

The crew were in Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung square -- the location of many of the country's large and widely broadcasted military displays and parades -- and some of the surrounding areas.

On Wednesday, the team also talked to some North Koreans and asked them about recent missile launches.

Sunday's missile launch has been covered extensively in North Korean media.

The crew visited some of Pyongyang's most important landmarks.

At the monument, flowers were on sale to commemorate the birthday of the former leader Kim Jong Il, who would've turned 75 this week.

In North Korea, Thursday is a public holiday, known as the Day of the Shining Star.

Nearby, people in Pyongyang were moving around the city by bus and taxi.

CNN photojournalist Justin Robertson captured this scene over the Taedong River.

It's a struggle to get connected in Pyongyang as Will noted.

Here's one of his first reports of the day for television.

Tuesday

On Tuesday, the crew captured moments from their journey to Pyongyang.

There's only one flight a day and the plane isn't the biggest.

Here's the view from the window before the crew arrived in Pyongyang.

Follow Will, Justin and Tim on Instagram to get their updates. CNN's Joshua Berlinger contributed to this report
Dave Kreskowiak wrote: Also, you don't seem to have a grasp of the basics of C# or debugging techniques. True?

Yes you are right. I'm beginner, I self study at home(1 month so far) and this little application I am doing for my self study. Please help where should I give that "if section". Images of program here: http://i.imgur.com/7ncQt2m.png http://i.imgur.com/1XNUPeh.png



modified 20-Feb-17 13:15pm.



"SelectedIndices" in the constructor of the form. The constructor gets executed once at the very start of showing the form - and then never again. At that point you couldn't possibly have changed the selections of the controls Material and Thickness . And after you have changed the selections they're never checked again. You need to move the if -checks to a "better" place that fits the (presumed) requirement that they're executed each time you click the calculate-button.



You might also want to take a look at ComboBox.SelectedIndex Property (System.Windows.Forms)[^]

(assuming Material and Thickness are of type System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox)

If the brain were so simple we could understand it, we would be so simple we couldn't.  Lyall Watson



I created a RESTful WCF Service and made sure that the data returned from it is of type JSON by setting its ResponseFormat property equal to WebMessageFormat.Json in my WCF Service as follows:

C# ResponseFormat = WebMessageFormat.Json

I checked to ensure that data returned from the WCF Service is indeed JSON by using Fiddler.



What I don't understand is if the return type of the data is JSON then why do I need to convert it to a JSON string using JSON.stringify() in my jQuery AJAX call.







Also, the only purpose of JSON.stringify is to serialize the objects, if you are going to render the objects or their properties on the screen, there is no need to serialize the object at all. It would be a good idea to see the output of this, JavaScript success: function (response) { alert(response); } This will either show [object Object], or some valid JSON document. That will give you an idea of the type of data that is being passed here.

The sh*t I complain about

It's like there ain't a cloud in the sky and it's raining out - Eminem

~! Firewall !~



increment a file path if already exists using mediafire,conversion options and mega data while saving a video in c#



here is my code



try

{



String path = open.FileName;

var inputFile = new MediaFile { Filename = path };







using (var engine = new Engine())

{

engine.GetMetadata(inputFile);



do

{



newLocation = "C:\\Users\\" + server + "\\Videos\\Matchbox\\keeper starts(" + filecount.ToString() + ").mp4";

filecount++;



if (!exists)

{

System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(folderLocation);

MessageBox.Show("Folder doesn't exist, Matchbox folder created!!");

}



var outputFile = new MediaFile { Filename = newLocation };

var options = new MediaToolkit.Options.ConversionOptions();



Difference = outTime - inTime;



options.CutMedia(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(inTime), TimeSpan.FromSeconds(Difference));



string message = "Please wait a few minutes while converting a file";

string title = "Warning!!!";

MessageBoxButtons buttons = MessageBoxButtons.OK;

DialogResult = MessageBox.Show(message, title, buttons);





engine.Convert(inputFile, outputFile, options);

MessageBox.Show("Success");

} while (File.Exists(newLocation));





// inTime = outTime = Difference = 0;

}

}

catch (Exception ex)

{

MessageBox.Show("" + ex.ToString());

}







C# newLocation = " C:\\Users\\" + server + " \\Videos Sorry, that is not a server, but a user.



..if I understand you correctly, you want to convert the next file in that folder? Get a list of files, and loop through those.



If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] Bastard Programmer from Hell







We do not do your HomeWork.

HomeWork is not set to test your skills at begging other people to do your work, it is set to make you think and to help your teacher to check your understanding of the courses you have taken and also the problems you have at applying them.

Any failure of you will help your teacher spot your weaknesses and set remedial actions.

So, give it a try, reread your lessons and start working. If you are stuck on a specific problem, show your code and explain this exact problem, we might help.



As programmer, your job is to create algorithms that solve specific problems and you can't rely on someone else to eternally do it for you, so there is a time where you will have to learn how to. And the sooner, the better.

When you just ask for the solution, it is like trying to learn to drive a car by having someone else training.

Creating an algorithm is basically finding the maths and make necessary adaptation to fit your actual problem.

Patrice



Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler. Albert Einstein







"C:\\Users\\" + server + "\\Videos\\Matchbox\\keeper starts(" + filecount.ToString() + ").mp4";



I am developing an English vocabulary related project. Is there any open source service available, where I can consume that to get the meanings for words.

Srinubabu Ravilla





I'd suggest you post it as a QA question: [^] where it will reach a wider audience.

Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...





Srinubabu Ravilla







As for open source code that provides exactly that - the answer is "probably not". A webservice is quite simple to write, and you are basically asking for a lookup service. Most tutorials will already give you that basics.



Only thing you'd need to acquire is a free dictionary. You could use the wiktionary for that.



You'd be getting defintions of the words by the way; meaning of the word may vary by locale and context and cannot yet be determined by machines.



If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] Bastard Programmer from Hell



I have an application that creates an Excel workbook from a template. After the workbook is created I populate each Worksheet. I'm attempting to make the cells that contain headers and other data describing text read only.



Here are my latest two attempts:

Worksheet ws = m_wkbk.Sheets[1]; ws.Activate(); ws.Range[ " A1" , " E1" ].Style.Locked = true ; Range range = (Range)ws.get_Range(ws.Cells[1, 1], ws.Cells[1, 5]); range.Locked = true ;







Every cell has the Locked attribute set on new sheets, you unlock cells you want to allow users to change then set a password on the sheet to protect the locked cells.





There are two kinds of people in the world: those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.



There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.





Patrice



Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler. Albert Einstein





C# ws.Range[ " A1" , " E1" ].Locked = true ;

Patrice



Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler. Albert Einstein


Axon Enterprise, Inc. develops, manufactures, and sells conducted energy devices (CEDs) under the TASER brand in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, TASER, and Software and Sensors. The company also offers hardware and cloud-based software solutions that enable law enforcement to capture, securely store, manage, share, and analyze video and other digital evidence. Its products include TASER 7, TASER X26P, TASER X2, TASER Consumer devices, and related cartridges; on-officer body cameras, Axon Fleet in-car systems, and other devices; Axon Evidence digital evidence management software; Axon Signal enabled devices, as well as hardware extended warranties; and Axon docks, cartridges, and batteries. It sells its products through its direct sales force, distribution partners, online store, and third-party resellers. Axon Enterprise, Inc. has a strategic partnership with Fusus, Inc. to expand the capabilities of Axon Respond and the Fusus Real Time Crime Center in the Cloud solution to provide agencies real-time operations situational awareness, including streamlined investigative workflows. The company was formerly known as TASER International, Inc. and changed its name to Axon Enterprise, Inc. in April 2017. Axon Enterprise, Inc. was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.
UnCruise Adventures announced an updated wine itinerary aboard the 88-guest S.S. Legacy with additional departures for 2017. The week-long river cruises depart round-trip from Portland, Oregon, along the Columbia, Snake and Willamette rivers.

The updated "Rivers of Wine" itinerary adds a day of wine tasting in the Willamette Valley, an area with more than 500 wineries and known for world-class Pinot Noir. A visit to the Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center has also been added.

With seven departures scheduled between April and October, oenophiles visit wineries and vineyards in five leading Washington and Oregon wine regionsWalla Walla, the Columbia Gorge, Red Mountain, Columbia Valley and the Willamette Valley. A sommelier and local wine expert sail aboard the ship for a week of special wine tastings, pairings, and presentations.

The Pacific Northwest is one of the countrys best wine regions and combines award-winning wineries with a gorgeous natural setting, said Captain Dan Blanchard, CEO. Theres no better way to experience this area than by cruising down the river with a wine expert on board.

In addition to winery visits and tastings, guests are treated to an exclusive lunch at Terra Blanca Winery and Estate Vineyard and private wine production and cave tours at Archer Vineyard and Maryhill Winery. Along the seven-night journey, guests also have the opportunity to take in the regions natural beauty with visits to the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Multnomah Falls, and Palouse Falls canyon.
NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger discussed credit unions top concerns and the associations priorities for 2017 with House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., on Thursday.

NAFCU Senior Associate Director of Legislative Affairs Chad Adams also attended the meeting.

Berger and Scalise also discussed lawmakers plans for tax reform, and Berger emphasized the importance of protecting the credit union tax exemption. A recent independent study commissioned by NAFCU found that the credit union federal tax exemption creates a $16 billion benefit to consumers per year.
So were already on month 2 of the New Year. When you sat down to plot out the course of your credit union and how you will grow your membership this year, did you look at other successful organizations?

No, not other credit unions.

Im talking about looking at how successful companies and leaders in unrelated industries got to where they are.

Lets take a big one. Look at Apple. Have you ever thought about Steve Jobs? I dont mean whether Ashton Kutcher or Michael Fassbender gave a better cinematic portrayal of the iconic businessman. Have you ever considered how Steve Jobs might have run a credit union? Jobs learned how to launch and run a company under the guidance of investor Mike Markkula.

Markkula stressed the importance of a complete and comprehensive knowledge of your customers needs. He wrote that Apple would succeed because they would truly understand their (customers) needs better than any other company. It could be fair to say Jobs took that so literally that he was able to anticipate his customers needs. Perhaps, others might argue, even create them.

Are you that confident when it comes to your members? Is your credit union serving every aspect of their life? A good credit union has to provide more than just a place for members to keep their money. There are plenty of those. To create a lifelong relationship with a member, to foster the kind of loyalty demonstrated by so many Apple devotees, can you give them what they need before they know they need it?

Do you have an app that offers them total convenience and ease to manage their money remotely?

Are you set-up for tokenized payment methods such as Apple Pay, Google Wallet, or Samsung Pay? Okay, given the theme well move past that third one, for now.

Do you have a solid, lower-interest credit card program in place, so when they need to make a purchase, or an emergency strikes, they dont have to deplete their share draft accounts?

These arent just additional products or services you can sell your members. These are future solutions you can deliver before theyre actually needed.

Easy for the staff, very easy for the members, said Randy Icelow of Rolling F Credit Union in Turlock, CA, who needed an affordable credit card option to meet growing needs of their membership. Rolling F ultimately chose the EZ Launch program from LSC and it has been an additional benefit to their membership. (EZ Launch) has been valuable for the members, and very valuable for the balance sheet.

Think beyond deposits and shares. Offer more than auto loans or mortgages. Look beyond what your members need today or might need tomorrow. Consider how you can serve them for their entire life-cycle. That is the goal, isnt it?

Anticipating needs. Creating trends. Thats what made Apple. Its ok for you to run your credit union that way as well, regardless of asset size. Apple started in a garage. Steve Jobs famously said Heres to the crazy ones. Think a little crazy, if it helps. Think different.
Credit unions just may have a powerful weapon in their battle for market share  but a lot dont fully appreciate it, said Paul Stull, CEO of the Credit Union Association of New Mexico.

He elaborated  Banks often have ready access to capital to fuel growth. Credit unions dont. But, according to Stull, they have access to something just as good: Credit unions have access to the power of the cooperative. They can share ideas, technology, employees. They can enjoy great value through cooperation.

Cooperation is critical to survival, especially for small credit unions, said Tom Kane, CEO of the Illinois Credit Union League.

When Stull talks of cooperatives, he means more than just other credit unions. He pointed to everything from rural, electric co-ops to food stores and agricultural cooperatives.

The affinities are enormous. A credit union is about its community. Ditto for a rural, electric co-op and an agriculture co-op. A big bank or electric utility, first and foremost, is in business to profit its shareholders. The cooperatives that compete with them have entirely different DNA, where community service is at the essence of the organization. Thats huge.

And thats why hunting for ways to work more closely with cooperatives is good for a credit union, also for its community.

Just as it is good for other cooperatives. We are always talking about this, looking for more ways to cooperate with other co-ops, said Martin Lowery, Executive Vice President of Member and Association Relations at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. We encourage partnerships, said Lowery, who added that his organization works with CUNA and also CUNA Mutual, on shared interests.

Some of the best cooperation are barebones business practices. Stull said he knows of cases where multiple credit unions share the same CEO  and, in the bargain, they have access to a more seasoned executive than they might otherwise have.

As another case in point, in Illinois, Kane said his organization sponsors various peer groups where credit union executives get together to brainstorm issues and solutions, involving everything from marketing tactics to compliance issues.

It can still get more exciting. Last November Greensboro, North Carolina, in a section of town classified as a food desert because it had been without a grocery store for years, brought the Renaissance Food Cooperative. Self-Help Credit Unions Venture Fund played a central role in making this happen, said Jeff Hardin, Director of Cooperative Initiatives at the Carolinas Credit Union League.

Then it got better still. Jerry Wise, CEO of Greensboro Municipal Credit Union, said his institution decided to get involved in the same neighborhood. Our involvement came as a result of conversations that RCC and Self-Help Credit Union had with the city of Greensboro. After personally seeing the overall lack of access to financial services in the community, coupled with hearing about day-to-day issues faced by residents, like the lack of transportation, it made sense to site a branch in the community.

Now Greensboro Municipal Credit Union is opening a branch in the same shopping center. It is also offering membership to employees of the food co-op. Said Wise: Some of the employees are unbanked, and RCC has pledged to cover the $25 share deposit that will help their workforce gain financial service access.

Thats win-win-win.

Hardin stressed that these kind of alliances have to make good business sense for the credit union  but he stressed that in many instances, the business logic can be found.

Yet if all this is so good, a big question has to be asked: Why arent many credit unions taking advantage of the cooperative difference, asked Stull. Many credit unions forget the bonds they have with other co-operatives. The power of the bonds are underappreciated.

Hardin, in North Carolina agrees that awareness can be raised and his league uses an idea that is brilliant in its simplicity. At an annual conference, the league put out a snack table that was entirely filled with nibbles from co-operatives, such as Cabot Cheese, Blue Diamond Almonds, Land oLakes Butter. We want people to understand there are fundamental differences between cooperatives and other kinds of businesses and this help gets the message across.

He added that he also wants people to think before they shop and use cooperatives wherever possible.

Carlos Calderon, CEO of the OAS Staff Federal Credit Union, said an idea he has been mulling over is putting together a task force  involving credit unions and cooperatives  to explore how to work together for mutual benefit. He envisioned a cooperative offering credit unions a small discount on their purchases, for instance. We need to sit down and come up with a practical pilot.

Chris Roe, Senior Vice President at CUNA Mutual, talked about the importance of cooperatives banding together to get across  to the public as well as legislators  how cooperatives are different and why that matters. We all have the same model and the same principles. We need to advocate for that.

All of this becomes highly personal. Are you using cooperatives in your personal and business life? Can you use more? Do you talk up the benefits of buying, say, Cabot or Tillamook cheese  precisely because they are not only good cheese, they are products of cooperatives?

Thats where change begins  at the personal level. But in this sphere, small steps can lead to big gains  for credit unions in particular, and cooperatives, in general.
WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 17, 2017 -- The recent announcement that Merck is halting a Phase II/III study for a promising Alzheimer's treatment (verubecestat) was another setback in the continued and intensive effort to deliver an innovative therapy by 2020. UsAgainstAlzheimer's, which works collaboratively with industry partners to see near- and long-term progress against this destructive disease, applauds the vast investment of Merck, the diligence of the many principal investigators involved in the study and the courage of the clinical trial participants, as well as their caregivers, for their deep commitment to the fight.

"The spirited work of Merck and other drug companies that are concentrating vast resources into a cure for Alzheimer's is not underappreciated. Each outcome, while assuredly disheartening, builds our knowledge and leads us closer to a solution for the millions of people with Alzheimer's or related dementias," said UsAgainstAlzheimer's Co-Founder and Chairman George Vradenburg. "Just as we have before, we will keep working incessantly, passionately and strategically so that the next round in this fight goes to us."

Similar to Eli Lilly's recent negative Phase III trial of the once-promising therapy solanezumab, verubecestat was assessed by an oversight committee as having "virtually no chance of finding a positive clinical effect" on people with mild to moderate symptoms. Verubecestat, like other drugs in the pipeline, targets the beta amyloid protein that forms most of the plaque that builds up in the brains of Alzheimer's patient.

"The drug will continue to be studied on people with a very early form of Alzheimer's disease where we are hopeful for a better outcome," Vradenburg said.

Following the solanezumab news, Vradenburg issued a letter, acknowledging lessons learned in the aftermath of negative trials and providing a blueprint for moving forward on the path to a cure. His guidance, directed at policymakers, advocates and researchers, rings true following the verubecestat news. It includes these pivotal next steps:

Obtaining a minimum of $2 billion in annual U.S. federal funding for Alzheimer's research, with an insistence that, in the near future, every government in the world provide funding equivalent to one percent of their Alzheimer's care costs (which, in the United States would equal $2.3 billion, according to 2016 figures).

Calling upon President Trump to exercise global leadership in this effort.

Building a high-speed specialized Alzheimer's trial network to enable the more rapid and efficient testing of therapies.

Utilizing "big data" to enable doctors to detect Alzheimer's disease at the earliest possible moment when prevention therapies now in testing could have their greatest effect.

Achieving greater racial, income and educational diversity among clinical trial participants, realizing that, by 2030, a majority of Americans with Alzheimer's are expected to be members of what are today called "minority" populations.

Despite the recent news, there is hope, as there are more promising innovations on the horizon. An analysis of the Phase III Alzheimer's drug pipeline, conducted by ResearchersAgainstAlzheimer's (RA2), shows that there are now 21 Alzheimer's drugs in Phase III clinical trials, 19 of which may be on track to launch in the next five years. In addition, RA2 reports that 10 drugs are scheduled to have trial completion dates in 2017 and 2018.

"UsAgainstAlzheimer's was founded because we wanted to turn the pain we experienced with this disease to drive our shared purpose to boldly break down the barriers to a cure," Vradenburg said. "We are grateful to the researchers and clinical trial participants, as well as the enormous financial contributions of Merck and other industry leaders, who have a similar passion to eradicate this disease."

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UsAgainstAlzheimer's is an innovative non-profit organization demanding - and delivering - a solution to Alzheimer's. Driven by the suffering of millions of families, UsAgainstAlzheimer's presses for greater urgency from government, industry and the scientific community in the quest for an Alzheimer's cure - accomplishing this through effective leadership, collaborative advocacy, and strategic investments.

Founded in 2010, UsAgainstAlzheimer's has worked across sectors to: (1) secure the national goal of preventing and effectively treating Alzheimer's by 2025 and help secure nearly $500 million in additional public funding for Alzheimer's research over the past few years; (2) drive global efforts that resulted in the leaders of the world's most powerful nations, the G7 group, to embrace a similar 2025 goal and to call for greater levels of research investment and collaboration; and (3) forge industry commitments to improve efficiencies for an expedited drug discovery and approval process.
A team of lemur biologists and computer scientists has modified human facial recognition methods to develop a semi-automated system that can identify individual lemurs. The new technology, dubbed LemurFaceID, is reported this week in the open access journal BMC Zoology.

According to the research team from The George Washington University, University of Arizona, Hunter College, and Michigan State University, USA, this is the first time that facial recognition technology has been applied to any of the over 100 lemur species endemic to Madagascar. The researchers showed that LemurFaceID can correctly identify individual lemurs with 98.7% accuracy, given two face images of the individual.

Dr Rachel Jacobs, the corresponding author from The George Washington University said: "Using photos we had taken of wild red-bellied lemurs in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar, our co-author Anil Jain and members from his laboratory were able to adapt a facial recognition system designed for human faces so that it recognizes individual lemurs based on their facial characteristics. We were surprised with the high degree of accuracy that we achieved, which shows that facial recognition can be a useful tool for lemur identification."

For short-term studies of lemurs, researchers often rely on unique, individual identifiers to recognize individual lemurs, such as differences in body size and shape or the presence of injuries and scars. However, relying on variations in appearance can make it difficult for different researchers to identify the same individual over time. This and other factors mean that long-term, multi-generation studies of lemur populations are limited.

Stacey Tecot, senior author of the study said: "Studying individuals and populations over long periods of time provides crucial data on how long individuals live in the wild, how frequently they reproduce, as well as rates of infant and juvenile mortality and ultimately population growth and decline. Information like that can inform conservation strategies for lemurs, a highly endangered group of mammals."

The researchers suggest that the new technology could remove many of the limitations associated with traditional methods for lemur identification.

Dr Jacobs explained: "Capture and collar methods are a common practice for the identification of wild lemurs but these methods can pose risks to the animals, such as injury or stress, as well as costs for veterinary services and anesthesia. Our method is non-invasive and would help reduce or eliminate some of these costs."

To address the challenge of developing a non-invasive method for identifying individual lemurs that can facilitate long-term research, the researchers modified and tested human facial recognition technology specifically for lemur faces, using a dataset of 462 images of 80 red-bellied lemur individuals, and a database containing a further 190 images of other lemur species. Many lemur faces possess unique features such as hair and skin patterns that computer systems can be trained to recognize.

In addition to expanding longitudinal research on lemur populations and assisting conservation efforts, the researchers believe that the face recognition methods developed for LemurFaceID could be useful for identification of other primate and non-primate species with variable facial hair and skin patterns, such as bears, red pandas, raccoons or sloths. The authors also point out that in non-captive settings, where unknown individuals might enter a population, the system's accuracy was lower and further testing involving larger datasets of individuals and photographs is needed.

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Media Contact

Anne Korn

Press Officer

BioMed Central

T: +44 (0)20 3192 2744

E: anne.korn@biomedcentral.com

Notes to editors:

1. Images and videos are available from Anne Korn at BioMed Central.

2. Research article:

LemurFaceID: a face recognition system to facilitate individual identification of lemurs

Crouse et al BMC Zoology 2017

DOI: 10.1186/s40850-016-0011-9

During the embargo period, the article is available from Anne Korn at BioMed Central.

After the embargo lifts, the article will be available at the journal website here: http://bmczool.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40850-016-0011-9

Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.

3. BMC Zoology is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of zoology, including comparative physiology, mechanistic and functional studies, morphology, life history, animal behavior, signaling and communication, cognition, parasitism, systematics, biogeography and conservation.

4. BioMed Central is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Nature, a major new force in scientific, scholarly, professional and educational publishing, created in May 2015 through the combination of Nature Publishing Group, Palgrave Macmillan, Macmillan Education and Springer Science+Business Media. http://www.biomedcentral.com
Humans have long had a knack for concentrating heavy metals that would otherwise remain at low concentrations within the environment. These human-produced pollutants can be found going back as far as one million years ago with fires in caves during the Paleolithic Era, to industrial development in the 19th century, to increased concentrations of contaminants like cadmium and lead in the 20th century.

Because of the effects of heavy metal pollution on environmental and human health, measurement is critical--both in determining current levels and in documenting historical levels. It can be challenging, though, to gather and analyze retrospective data, with methods including chemical analyses of archeological sites and comparison of historical records to sedimentary cores. In a recent article published in Applications in Plant Sciences, researchers at Brown University have demonstrated a unique resource that has been under our feet for decades: pressed herbaceous plants, labeled and stored as herbarium specimens.

Herbaria have long been a valuable resource--traditionally to aid in identification of local flora--but more recently to address ecological questions including invasive species and the effects of climate change. Likewise, plants have been used for decades as indicators of heavy metal pollution. This is one of the first studies, however, to demonstrate the efficacy of using herbarium specimens of herbaceous plants to track changes in heavy metal concentrations over time.

Using herbaceous plant specimens from Brown University's herbarium collected from 1846 to 1916, Dr. Tim Whitfeld, senior author of the study, and his colleagues extracted and quantified heavy metal concentrations including copper, lead, and zinc. The plant specimens used were collected from different areas around Providence, RI. Looking both across time and around a bustling industrial town at the turn of the 19th century, the authors were able to show that zinc and copper concentrations remained relatively consistent across time, and that lead concentrations reduced significantly from historical records compared to collections from the same areas in 2015.

The lead author on the study, Sofia Rudin, an undergraduate at Brown University, was the main motivation for the study. "While working as a herbarium assistant, digitizing our collection, she noticed many of the specimens had specific locality information for various sites around Providence that she knew were former industrial areas. This prompted her to ask whether these specimens could be used for the study we eventually completed," recalls Dr. Whitfeld.

Different plant species accumulate heavy metals in unique ways, which makes it challenging to take a broad swathe of plant samples for a simple side-by-side comparison. To control for this variability, it was important to match the species of historical samples with those found in the same area today. In a few instances this was not possible, and therefore the researchers were limited to sampling within the same genus. Additional challenges arose because of the nature of utilizing historical collections.

Whitfeld explains, "Sofia encountered particular problems with the analysis of mercury concentrations because of the historical use of mercuric chloride as an insecticide in herbarium collections. It was impossible to accurately assess Hg [mercury] concentrations in the plant because the insecticide treatment saturated the sensor. This was unfortunate because documenting changes to Hg [mercury] through time was originally one of our research goals."

Despite these challenges, the authors were still able to emphasize broader trends in heavy metal accumulation in the Providence area, namely decreases in lead concentrations due in part to Environmental Protection Agency regulations but also to targeted remediation efforts in a historically active industrial area.

Whitfeld and his colleagues aren't finished yet. According to Whitfeld, "Sofia is building on this project with a more detailed analysis of heavy metal concentrations at one of our study sites. Her work includes analysis of pond sediments, soils, and more collecting to document plant diversity... We're also hoping to cast a broader net across Providence with an analysis of historical specimens of Plantago [plantain] in an attempt to match terrestrial trends in heavy metal concentration with measurements taken from nearby marine sediments in Narragansett Bay [south of Providence]."

In addition to the study's goal of demonstrating the usefulness of herbarium specimens to measure levels of heavy metal concentrations, the study had a second, equally important goal. As Whitfeld explains, "We wanted to highlight the relevance of herbarium collections for a wide variety of ecological questions, in order to highlight their importance across the biological and environmental sciences."

The list of ecological questions that herbaria can target is long, and includes biogeography, ethnobotany, tracking invasive species, plant diseases, and studying the impact of climate change on flowering times. The impact of herbaria on research doesn't stop there though. As Dr. Whitfeld elaborates, "Herbarium collections are particularly valuable tools in undergraduate science education. It's been my experience that students are especially motivated to contribute to the collections and including opportunities for collecting and offering field experience for this to happen is an effective way to engage students in botany. Therefore, if universities invest in maintaining their herbarium collections there is a great payoff in terms of increased educational opportunities."

In addition to the benefit to educational opportunities, investments in herbaria result in increased potential for further retrospective studies. "The many online herbarium portals that compile digital images and label data from across different collections are useful for any type of study that requires more specimens than contained in the researcher's home collection," notes Whitfeld. "It's especially important for smaller herbaria to be able to search and access collections from larger institutions in order to broaden their studies."

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Rudin, Sofia M., David W. Murray, and Timothy J. S. Whitfeld. 2016. Retrospective analysis of heavy metal contamination in Rhode Island based on old and new herbarium specimens. Applications in Plant Sciences 5(1): 1600108. doi:10.3732/apps.1600108

Applications in Plant Sciences (APPS) is a monthly, peer-reviewed, open access journal focusing on new tools, technologies, and protocols in all areas of the plant sciences. It is published by the Botanical Society of America, a nonprofit membership society with a mission to promote botany, the field of basic science dealing with the study and inquiry into the form, function, development, diversity, reproduction, evolution, and uses of plants and their interactions within the biosphere. APPS is available as part of BioOne's Open Access collection.

For further information, please contact the APPS staff at apps@botany.org.
In 2014, more than 93,000 people in the United States died from Alzheimer's disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The complex nature of Alzheimer's makes it difficult to understand and predict, until it's too late. Boston University professor and neuropsychologist Rhoda Au is trying to change that. Through the use of wearable digital devices, Au is collecting an enormous amount of data on people over time with the hope of finding the minute physical changes that correspond with the slow mental decline of Alzheimer's.

Au, who discussed her research at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Boston in February 2017, says that what she really wants is to never do another Alzheimer's test in the lab again. "It's really labor-intensive to bring people [into the lab]," she says, and it doesn't give a full picture of an illness. Cognitive decline can change day-to-day or even hour-to-hour, but lab tests are just a snapshot and don't provide the important nuances. Instead of lab tests, Au wants to use wearable devices to try to detect cognitive decline through how people live their daily lives.

It's what she calls her e-cognitive health initiative--the official title is "Precision Monitoring of Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease: Framingham Study of Cognitive Epidemiology"--and she recently received funding from private industry partners, including Pfizer, for 2,200 people to participate in the initiative over three years.

This will hopefully provide valuable information on how Alzheimer's and dementia progress. Right now, it is difficult to detect early preclinical Alzheimer's, a term for a progressing mental decline that does not yet meet the strict definition of Alzheimer's.

"The idea of preclinical Alzheimer's disease is that, for people who are destined to develop dementia due to Alzheimer's disease, in the years before they become overtly cognitively impaired, there might be subtle things that change in their daily behavior that, if we knew what to look for, would disclose who might be at risk," says David Knopman, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who specializes in Alzheimer's disease, dementia, and cognitive impairment.

Besides her position at BU, Au is the director of neuropsychology at the Framingham Heart Study (FHS). Since 1948, the FHS has followed over 5,000 participants from Framingham, Massachusetts, throughout their lives. Volunteer participants came in for regular checkups, and, over the years, scientists saw for the first time how cardiac problems progress in populations--what role lifestyle plays in heart disease and the signs leading up to diagnosis. Since then, the FHS has widened its focus to include all chronic diseases and taken on even more participants, including the children and grandchildren of the original 5,000.

Au is now giving wearable devices to that second generation of 2,200 participants--although she doesn't know if every one of them will participate--and she has partnered with tech companies like AnthroTronix and Shimmer, an Irish-based company that creates wearables for detecting biophysical data. Over a three-year period, various wearable devices from these companies will measure everything from sleep to balance and fall risk to heart rate. Au even has smartphone apps to test cognitive ability at home. While all this data may hold vital clues to Alzheimer's and dementia, having so much information can present its own challenges.

"We always need more terabytes," says Brynna Wasserman (ENG'15), Au's research assistant at the FHS. The digital devices project is only one of many pieces to Au's research--all of which are data-heavy. The neuropsychology group at the FHS has a shared hard drive, says Wasserman. "It has 10 terabytes on it. You'd think that would be enough." It's not. Wasserman says that they are constantly asking for more data storage, a problem that will only get more challenging as the lab collects additional data from the wearable devices. And analyzing the data presents an even bigger hurdle. Right now, Au is focused on how to collect the data, and digging through the information to find the clues to cognitive decline is something she is working on. But, she wrote in an email, that is another reason to partner with private companies. "I look to the academic community to help work through computation barriers that will lead to next-generation tools, but I look to the private companies for much more horsepower in using what is known/available now."

Eventually, Au wants to move the e-cognitive health initiative even beyond wearables to in-home devices like the Amazon Echo and Google Nest, which she hopes will give her the most accurate look on what parts of a person's life may lead to dementia in the future.

Au says that she has faced some pushback from the research community, not only because she is partnering with private industry but because she is bucking conventional science techniques--she doesn't yet have a hypothesis on what predicts dementia, just a lot of data.

"I'm pretty sure that I have collected data that is not useful," she says. "But I am equally sure that I have collected data that is useful...it is very much about figuring it out as you go along."

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U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) high-performance computer sites have selected a dynamic fusion code, led by physicist C.S. Chang of the DOE's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), for optimization on three powerful new supercomputers. The PPPL-led code was one of only three codes out of more than 30 science and engineering programs selected to participate in Early Science programs on all three new supercomputers, which will serve as forerunners for even more powerful exascale machines that are to begin operating in the United States in the early 2020s.

The PPPL code, called XGC, simulates behavior of the ions, electrons and neutral atoms in the transport barrier region-- or "pedestal" -- between the ultra-hot core of the plasma that fuels fusion reactions and the cooler and turbulent outer edge of the plasma. The pedestal must be high and wide enough to prevent damage to the divertor plate that exhausts heat in doughnut-shaped tokamaks that house the fusion reactions. "How to create a high edge pedestal without damaging the divertor wall is the key question to be answered," said Chang. "That is a prerequisite for achieving steady state fusion."

Among the team of nationwide experts developing this program are PPPL physicists Seung-Ho Ku, Robert Hager and Stephane Ethier.

Selection of the PPPL code could help ready it for exascale development. "Computer architecture is evolving rapidly and these new pre-exascale computers have features that are quite different from some of the earlier petascale supercomputers," said Amitava Bhattacharjee, head of the Theory Department at PPPL. Petascale machines operate in petaflops, or one million billion (1015) floating point operations per second.

Bhattacharjee heads a PPPL-led Exascale Computing Project that will integrate the XGC code with GENE, a code developed at the University of California, Los Angeles, to create the first simulation of a complete fusion plasma. Exascale supercomputers will perform exaflops, or a billion billion (1018) floating point operations per second.

The three new pre-exascale supercomputers:

Cori, now fully installed at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Cori, named for biochemist Gerty Cori, the first American woman to win a Nobel Prize in science, has a theoretical peak speed of 30 petaflops per second on scientific applications using Intel Xeon "Haswell" and Xeon Phi "Knights Landing" processor nodes.

Also selected to participate in Cori's NERSC Exascale Science Applications Program (NESAP) is the PPPL-led M3D-CI, an extended magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) code focused on simulation of plasma disruptions led by physicist Stephen Jardin, with support from physicists Joshua Breslau, Nate Ferraro and Jin Chen.

Two more PPPL-led codes, in addition to the 20 that included XGC and M3D-CI that were previously selected, will participate in the Cori NERSC program. These programs are GTC-P and GTS codes that model plasma turbulence in the plasma core and are headed by physicists William Tang and Stephane Ethier. Principal developer of the GTS code is PPPL physicist Weixing Wang. The GTC-P code is PPPL's version of the GTC code led by the University of California, Irvine.

Summit, to be operational at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 2018. Summit features a hybrid architecture consisting of IBM Power 9 processors and multiple NVIDIA Volta graphic processing units and will be capable of performing up to at least 200 petaflops for a wide range of applications. The facility's Center for Accelerated Application Readiness (CAAR) program has selected 13 projects that will participate in the program to optimize their applications codes and demonstrate the effectiveness of their applications on Summit.

Aurora, scheduled to be deployed in 2018 at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF) at Argonne National Laboratory, will be comprised of third generation Intel Xeon Phi "Knights Hill" many-core processors. Ten projects have been selected for the ALCF Early Science Program, which is expected to be capable of performing up to 200 petaflops on a wide range of scientific applications.

PPPL, on Princeton University's Forrestal Campus in Plainsboro, N.J., is devoted to creating new knowledge about the physics of plasmas -- ultra-hot, charged gases -- and to developing practical solutions for the creation of fusion energy. The Laboratory is managed by the University for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, which is the largest single supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.

###
A novel, effective, more targeted approach for the surveillance and control of dengue fever

Contact tracing, combined with targeted, indoor residual spraying of insecticide, can greatly reduce the spread of the mosquito-borne dengue virus, finds a study led by Emory University.

In fact, this novel approach for the surveillance and control of dengue fever -- spread by the same mosquito species that infects people with the Zika virus -- was between 86 and 96 percent effective during one outbreak, the research shows. By comparison, vaccines for the dengue virus are only 30-to-70-percent effective, depending on the serotype of the virus.

Science Advances published the findings, which were based on analyses from a 2009 outbreak of dengue in Cairns, Australia.

"We've provided evidence for a method that is highly effective at preventing transmission of diseases carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito in a developed, urban setting," says the study's lead author, Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec, a disease ecologist in Emory's Department of Environmental Sciences. "We've also shown the importance of human movement when conducting surveillance of these diseases."

"The United States is facing continual threats from dengue, chikungunya and Zika viruses," says Sam Scheiner, director of the National Science Foundation's Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases Program, which funded the research. "For now, the response is to intensively spray insecticides. This research shows that a more targeted approach can be more effective."

While the method would likely not be applicable everywhere, Vazquez-Prokopec says that it may be viable to control Aedes-borne diseases in places with established health systems and similar environmental characteristics to Cairns, such as South Florida or other U.S. states at risk of virus introduction.

"The widespread transmission of dengue viruses, coupled with the birth defects associated with Zika virus, shows the dire need for as many weapons as possible in our arsenal to fight diseases spread by these mosquitos," he says. "Interventions need to be context dependent and evaluated carefully and periodically."

During the dengue outbreak in Cairns, public health officials traced recent contacts of people with a confirmed infection - a surveillance method known as contact tracing. This method is commonly used for directly transmitted pathogens like Ebola or HIV, but rarely for outbreaks spread by mosquitos or other vectors.

Using mobility data from the known cases, public health workers targeted residences for indoor residual spraying, or IRS. Walls of the homes -- from top to bottom -- and dark, humid places were Aedes mosquitos might rest, were sprayed with an insecticide that lasts for months.

The method is time-consuming and labor intensive, and health officials were not able to reach all of the residences that were connected to the infected persons.

The researchers found that performing IRS in potential exposure locations reduced the probability of dengue transmission by at least 86 percent in those areas, in comparison to areas of potential exposures that did not have indoor spraying.

"The findings are important," Vazquez-Prokopec says, "because they demonstrate one of the few measures that we have for the effectiveness of an intervention to reduce the transmission of dengue."

Many times, he says, in the face of a dengue outbreak public health officials end up using trucks to spray insecticide -- despite the lack of scientific evidence for the effectiveness of fogging from the streets to control Aedes aegypti mosquitos.

Quantifying the effectiveness of existing methods, and the context within which they work, can strengthen the vector-control arsenal. "We need to develop plans for outbreak containment that are context-specific," Vazquez-Prokopec says.

He is researching ways to scale up this intervention. While it now takes approximately half-an-hour to conduct indoor residual spraying in a single house, he would like to cut that time to as little as 10 minutes.

"We are evaluating how we can scale up and improve IRS for 21st-century urban areas," Vazquez-Prokopec says.

###

Co-authors of the study include researchers from Queensland Health, the Rollins School of Public Health and James Cook University, Cairns. In addition to the NSF, the research was funded by the Emory Global Health Institute, the Marcus Foundation and the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Boulder, Colo., USA - In bitter cold regions like northwestern Canada, permafrost has preserved relict ground-ice and vast glacial sedimentary stores in a quasi-stable state. These landscapes therefore retain a high potential for climate-driven transformation.

In their open-access GEOLOGY article published online on 7 Feb. 2017, Steven Kokelj of the Northwest Territories Geological Survey and colleagues write that climate-driven renewal of deglaciation and potential postglacial permafrost landscape evolution has major implications for predicting the nature and trajectories of northern landscape change and the cascade of downstream impacts.

They show that mapping across 1.27 million square kilometers of northwestern Canada points to large thaw-induced slope disturbances (thaw slumps) that delineate the margins of former ice sheets. Recent intensification of this thaw slumping has mobilized primary glacial sediments, triggering a cascade of fluvial, lacustrine, and coastal effects.

###

FEATURED ARTICLE

Climate-driven thaw of permafrost preserved glacial landscapes, northwestern Canada Geology, doi: 10.1130/G38626.1, OPEN ACCESS, http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/early/2017/02/06/G38626.1.abstract.

Authors: Steven V. Kokelj, Northwest Territories Geological Survey, Government of Northwest Territories (GNWT), Box 1320, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories X1A 2L9, Canada; Trevor C. Lantz, School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, Box 1700, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 2Y2, Canada; Jon Tunnicliffe, School of Environment, University of Auckland, Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand; Rebecca Segal, School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, Box 1700, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 2Y2, Canada; and Denis Lacelle, Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, University of Ottawa, 60 University, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada

GEOLOGY articles recently published ahead of print are online at http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/early/recent. All GEOLOGY articles are online http://geology.gsapubs.org/. Representatives of the media may obtain complimentary articles by contacting Kea Giles at the e-mail address above. Please discuss articles of interest with the authors before publishing stories on their work, and please make reference to GEOLOGY in articles published. Non-media requests for articles may be directed to GSA Sales and Service, gsaservice@geosociety.org.

http://www.geosociety.org/
A minor planet in the Solar System will officially be known as Bernardbowen from today after Australian citizen science project theSkyNet won a competition to name the celestial body.

The minor planet was named by the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) in honour of their founding chairman Dr Bernard Bowen.

Bernardbowen sits in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and takes 3.26 Earth years to orbit the Sun.

The minor planet was discovered on October 28, 1991, and until now has been known as (6196) 1991 UO4.

Based at ICRAR, theSkyNet has been running since 2011 and sees citizen scientists donating their spare computing power to help Australian astronomers uncover the mysteries of the Universe.

Its 50,000-odd volunteers entered an International Astronomical Union (IAU) contest to name planets beyond our Solar System.

Project founders ICRAR also won the right to name a minor planet within our Solar System.

Bernardbowen was one of 17 minor planets to be christened today.

Other newly named minor planets include Kagura, after a traditional Shinto theatrical dance, and Mehdia, which is equivalent to the Arabic word for gift.

Dr Bowen is renowned as one of the country's finest science administrators and has presided over scientific advances ranging from the oceans to the skies. He was instrumental in the establishment of ICRAR in 2009, and helped bring part of the Square Kilometre Array telescope to Western Australia.

###

A full list of the citation of the minor planets can be found at the IAU Minor Planet Circular. http://bit.ly/2lGgktg

Bernardbowen on the Minor Planet Centre site, including an interactive showing its position in the Solar System. http://bit.ly/2kYXs72

Contacts:

Pete Wheeler

Communications Manager, ICRAR (Perth, UTC+8)

M: +61 438 361 876 E: pete.wheeler@icrar.org

Sze-leung Cheung

IAU International Outreach Coordinator (Toyko, Japan, UTC+9)

M: +81 80 92742454 E: cheungszeleung@iau.org

Images:

Images of the orbit of minor planet Bernardbowenare available at http://www.icrar.org/planet_bernard

About Minor Planets:

A minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is neither a planet nor exclusively classified as a comet. Minor planets can be dwarf planets, asteroids, trojans, centaurs, Kuiper belt objects, and other trans-Neptunian objects.

About ICRAR:

The International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) is a joint venture between Curtin University and The University of Western Australia with support and funding from the State Government of Western Australia. http://www.icrar.org

About theSkyNet:

By connecting 100s and 1000s of computers together through the Internet, it's possible to simulate a single machine capable of doing some pretty amazing stuff. That's what theSkyNet is all about - using your spare computing power to process radio astronomy data. http://www.theskynet.org

About the IAU:

The IAU is the international astronomical organisation that brings together more than 10 000 professional astronomers from almost 100 countries. Its mission is to promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects through international cooperation. The IAU also serves as the internationally recognised authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and the surface features on them. Founded in 1919, the IAU is the world's largest professional body for astronomers. http://www.iau.org
The researchers from Imperial College London analysed 20 pharmacies that were available for UK citizens to access online. This is one of the few studies to have examined the online availability of antibiotics and to have explored the potential effects on public health. The research is published in Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.

Antibiotics are classed as prescription only medicines in the UK, meaning they cannot legally be sold to consumers without a valid prescription. In the study, the researchers found that although online versions of UK high street pharmacies were compliant with prescription regulations, 80 per cent of the online pharmacies surveyed let customers choose their dosages, the duration and choice of antibiotic treatments. This can lead to serious side effects in patients and increases the risk of antimicrobial resistance.

Antimicrobial resistance is one the biggest threats to global health, food security, and development today, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).The study was carried out by academics from Imperial College London's NIHR Health Protection Research Unit for Healthcare Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance, and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

The team carried out their research by entering the search term 'buy antibiotics online' into Google and Yahoo. The team recognise that the study is a 'snapshot' of the online pharmacy industry, but it does provide insights into how it operates. The 20 pharmacies at the top of the search were analysed by the team.

Dr Sara Boyd, a co-author and NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Infectious Diseases and Microbiology at Imperial, said: "These findings are a real concern, and raise several important issues regarding antibiotic resistance and patient safety with online pharmacies."

All online medicine vendors selling to UK consumers must by law register with both the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the General Pharmaceutical Council (or the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland). However, the researchers found that 75 per cent of online pharmacies included in the study lacked evidence of the appropriate registration status required by law.

In other findings, the researchers discovered that 45 per cent of the online pharmacies analysed did not require a prescription from the patient.

Only 30 per cent of websites in the survey asked consumers to complete a health questionnaire prior to purchase.

Seventy per cent of the websites provided information on the safe usage of prescription medications, including potential side effects or adverse reactions when combined with other drugs.

Professor Alison Holmes, of Imperial's Department of Medicine, added: "Improper use of antibiotics can mean that infections are not being treated appropriately, or that people are being unnecessarily exposed to antibiotics. This allows bacteria to become resistant to drugs that once killed them. As a result, it is essential that antibiotics are prescribed only when they are needed."

Although a small study, the authors say that the research offers insight into the increasing use of the internet for a variety of purposes, including buying antibiotics. Dr Boyd said: "The way patients interact with healthcare is constantly evolving, and shifts in consumer behaviour mean more people are purchasing their goods online. Our study paves the way for larger, more thorough research into this worrying new trend so that we can ensure patient safety and promote the responsible use of antibiotics in all areas of healthcare provision."

Martin Astbury, President of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said: "Unnecessary antibiotic use can result in serious side effects in individuals and has a major impact on wider public health by increasing antibiotic resistance. We cannot support access to antibiotics through a web form until the standards for prescribing by private providers reflect the standard of face to face consultations in the NHS. Those involved in supplying medicines online should ensure their processes are as robust as possible."

All online pharmacies identified as illegally selling antibiotics to patients within the UK were reported to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), who promptly responded. The researchers are working together with numerous stakeholders to improve patient safety and antibiotic stewardship in this area. Anyone with a concern concerns about an online pharmacy should contact the MHRA directly.

###

The study was partially funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance at Imperial College London, in partnership with Public Health England and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
In a series of papers over the past 10 years, MIT Professor Cesar Hidalgo and his collaborators have argued that the complexity of a country's exports -- not just their diversity but the expertise and technological infrastructure required to produce them -- is a better predictor of future economic growth than factors economists have historically focused on, such as capital and education.

Now, a new paper by Hidalgo and his colleagues, appearing in the journal World Development, argues that everything else being equal, the complexity of a country's exports also correlates with its degree of economic equality: The more complex a country's products, the greater equality it enjoys relative to similar-sized countries with similar-sized economies.

"When people talk about the role of policy in inequality, there is an implicit assumption that you can always reduce inequality using only redistributive policies," says Hidalgo, the Asahi Broadcasting Corporation Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab. "What these new results are telling us is that the effectiveness of policy is limited because inequality lives within a range of values that are determined by your underlying industrial structure.

"So if you're a country like Venezuela, no matter how much money Chavez or Maduro gives out, you're not going to be able to reduce inequality, because, well, all the money is coming in from one industry, and the 30,000 people involved in that industry of course are going to have an advantage in the economy. While if you're in a country like Germany or Switzerland, where the economy is very diversified, and there are many people who are generating money in many different industries, firms are going to be under much more pressure to be more inclusive and redistributive."

Joining Hidalgo on the paper are first author Dominik Hartmann, who was a postdoc in Hidalgo's group when the work was done and is now a research fellow at the Fraunhofer Center for International Management and Knowledge Economy in Leipzig, Germany; Cristian Jara-Figueroa and Manuel Aristaran, MIT graduate students in media arts and sciences; and Miguel Guevara, a professor of computer science at Playa Ancha University in Valparaiso, Chile, who earned his PhD at the MIT Media Lab.

Quantifying complexity

For Hidalgo and his colleagues, the complexity of a product is related to the breadth of knowledge required to produce it. The PhDs who operate a billion-dollar chip-fabrication facility are repositories of knowledge, and the facility of itself is the embodiment of knowledge. But complexity also factors in the infrastructure and institutions that facilitate the aggregation of knowledge, such as reliable transportation and communication systems, and a culture of trust that enables productive collaboration.

In the new study, rather than try to itemize and quantify all such factors -- probably an impossible task -- the researchers made a simplifying assumption: Complex products are rare products exported by countries with diverse export portfolios. For instance, both chromium ore and nonoptical microscopes are rare exports, but the Czech Republic, which is the second-leading exporter of nonoptical microscopes, has a more diverse export portfolio than South Africa, the leading exporter of chromium ore.

The researchers compared each country's complexity measure to its Gini coefficient, the most widely used measure of income inequality. They also compared Gini coefficients to countries' per-capita gross domestic products (GDPs) and to standard measures of institutional development and education.

Predictive power

According to the researchers' analysis of economic data from 1996 to 2008, per-capita GDP predicts only 36 percent of the variation in Gini coefficients, but product complexity predicts 58 percent. Combining per-capita GDP, export complexity, education levels, and population predicts 69 percent of variation. However, whereas leaving out any of the other three factors lowers that figure to about 68 percent, leaving out complexity lowers it to 61 percent, indicating that the complexity measure captures something crucial that the other factors leave out.

Using trade data from 1963 to 2008, the researchers also showed that countries whose economic complexity increased, such as South Korea, saw reductions in income inequality, while countries whose economic complexity decreased, such as Norway, saw income inequality increase.

###

Additional background

PAPER: Linking economic complexity, institutions, and income inequality

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X15309876

ARCHIVE: Quantifying urban revitalization

http://news.mit.edu/2016/quantifying-urban-revitalization-1024

ARCHIVE: 3 Questions: Economies as computers, products as information

http://news.mit.edu/2015/3-questions-economies-computers-products-information-0609

ARCHIVE: How information moves between cultures

http://news.mit.edu/2014/network-maps-global-fame-different-language-speakers-1216

ARCHIVE: Why do some countries' economies grow faster?

http://news.mit.edu/2011/profile-hidalgo-0207
BOSTON - Even those who follow science may be surprised by how quickly international collaboration in scientific studies is growing, according to new research.

The number of multiple-author scientific papers with collaborators from more than one country more than doubled from 1990 to 2015, from 10 to 25 percent, one study found. And 58 more countries participated in international research in 2015 than did so in 1990.

"Those are astonishing numbers," said Caroline Wagner, associate professor in the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University, who helped conduct these studies.

"In the 20th century, we had national systems for conducting research. In this century, we increasingly have a global system."

Wagner presented her research Feb. 17 in Boston at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Even though Wagner has studied international collaboration in science for years, the way it has grown so quickly and widely has surprised even her.

One unexpected finding was that international collaboration has grown in all fields she has studied. One would expect more cooperation in fields like physics, where expensive equipment (think supercolliders) encourages support from many countries. But in mathematics?

"You would think that researchers in math wouldn't have a need to collaborate internationally - but I found they do work together, and at an increasing rate," Wagner said.

"The methods of doing research don't determine patterns of collaboration. No matter how scientists do their work, they are collaborating more across borders."

In a study published online last month in the journal Scientometrics, Wagner and two co-authors (who are both from The Netherlands) examined the growth in international collaboration in six fields: astrophysics, mathematical logic, polymer science, seismology, soil science and virology.

Their findings showed that all six specialties added between 18 and 60 new nations to the list of collaborating partners between 1990 and 2013. In two of those fields, the number of participating nations doubled or more.

The researchers expected astrophysics would grow the most in collaboration, given the need to use expensive equipment. But it was soil science that grew the most, with a 550 percent increase in the links between research groups in different countries in that time period.

"We certainly didn't expect to see soil science have the fastest growth," she said.

"But we saw strong increases in all areas. It appears that all the fields of science that we studied are converging toward similar levels of international activity."

The study found that virology had the highest rate of collaboration, with the most countries involved. "They aren't working together because they need to share expensive equipment. They're collaborating because issues like HIV/AIDS, Ebola and Zika are all international problems and they need to share information across borders to make progress."

Wagner has started a new line of research that attempts to determine how much nations benefit from their scientific work with other countries. For this work, she is looking at all the scientific articles that a nation's scientists published with international collaborators in 2013. She is looking at each article's "impact factor" - a score that measures how much other scientists mentioned that study in their own work.

"How much recognition a study gets from other scientists is a way to measure its importance," Wagner said.

She compared each nation's combined impact factor for its international collaborations to how much money the same country spent on scientific research. This is a way to determine how much benefit in terms of impact each nation gets for the money it spends.

The United States has the highest overall spending and shows proportional returns. However, smaller, scientifically advanced nations are far outperforming the United States in the relationship between spending and impact. Switzerland, the Netherlands and Finland outperform other countries in high-quality science compared to their investment. China is significantly underperforming its investment.

Wagner said this isn't the only way to measure how a country is benefiting from international science collaboration. But it can be one way to determine how efficiently a country is using its science dollars.

In any case, Wagner said her findings show that international science collaboration is becoming the way research gets done in nearly all scientific fields.

"Science is a global enterprise now," Wagner said.

###

Contact: Caroline Wagner, 614-292-7791; Wagner.911@osu.edu

Written by Jeff Grabmeier, 614-292-8457; Grabmeier.1@osu.edu
ST. LOUIS -- With new funding from The Mayday Fund, a Saint Louis University researcher will leverage her discovery of a pain pathway to determine if either of two key molecules can be used as biomarkers for pain associated with four debilitating health conditions: chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), endometriosis, interstitial cystitis and vulvodynia.

SLU scientist and principal investigator Daniela Salvemini, Ph.D., will use the $363,000 grant to advance her work to understand pain in order to develop new painkillers.

"It is exciting to reach the moment when you can take your research from the laboratory to the clinic," said Salvemini, who is professor of pharmacology and physiology at SLU.

Approximately 100 million American adults suffer from chronic pain, costing society around $600 billion annually. This burden will grow with an aging population suffering from diabetes, stroke and cancer.

Further, chronic pain offers a difficult choice for many patients and their doctors: opt to take opioid pain medicines that carry a risk of addiction and severe side effects that can decrease quality of life, or suffer terribly.

The medical community recognizes an urgent need for safer, non-addictive pain medications.

In previous work, Salvemini discovered pain pathways - the molecular series of events that lead to pain - that helped researchers understand how pain occurs. The pain pathways are dependent on two molecules: S1PR1 and A3AR (sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor subtype 1 and A3 adenosine receptor subtype). By modulating these molecules, scientists were able to block and reverse pain. This finding is particularly encouraging because a drug that modulates S1PR1 is already on the market and one that modulates A3AR is in advanced clinical trials.

Salvemini's next goal is to see if S1PR1 and A3AR can serve as biomarkers in the clinic.

A biomarker is something that can be measured -- a scientific yardstick to see who is suffering from pain via this molecular pathway and, in the future, may be able to tell us if medicines can work to stop or limit this pain. Identifying biomarkers is an important step in the scientific process to find a new painkiller; without a biomarker, it would be difficult to know if a medication is easing pain or if pain is subsiding for another reason. This will also allow doctors to select those patients that will be more likely to respond to the medicine in a personalized approach.

Based on her previous work, Salvemini believes that higher levels of S1PR1 and/or A3AR correlate with chronic pain incidence and intensity and predict the development of chronic pain syndromes, suggesting these receptors may be good targets for new drugs that target these pathways to treat or prevent chronic pain syndromes.

"Our goal is to take this exciting basic science work a step further and study to see if these molecules can serve as biomarkers in people, helping us to identify patients who would and who would not benefit from drugs that target this pathway and providing a more personalized approach to pain treatment," Salvemini said. "This study focuses on high impact, high potential chronic pain-associated conditions."

In the newly funded study, Salvemini and her team will partner with Saint Louis University clinicians in the SLUCare practice to study patients with four different conditions that cause pain: chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain (CIPN), with Jack Lionberger, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of hematology and medical oncology; endometriosis with Patrick Yeung Jr., M.D., associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and women's health; interstitial cystitis with E. Cristian Campian, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and women's health; and vulvodynia with Cherie LeFevre, M.D., associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and women's health.

"The direct and indirect economic costs of endometriosis, which is mostly from pain and lost productivity, is estimated to be upwards of $20 billion annually in the US alone. Having a better way to treat endometriosis-related pain that does not just treat symptoms and without the negative side effects of high-dose anti-inflammatories or narcotics, is long overdue. We must do better do better for women, and this research collaboration has great potential," Yeung said.

Similarly, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy is a debilitating burden for patients undergoing cancer treatment.

"The problem of chemotherapy-induced pain is a critical unmet need that severely impacts our patients struggling with cancer and their ability to receive potentially life saving treatment. While SLU has had an enduring commitment to managing chronic pain, Dr. Salvemini's work represents an important, innovative approach that will directly benefit the population that our Cancer Center serves. This 'bench to bedside' project is central to the clinical research mission of our hematology and oncology division, and I am excited to be a part of this work," Lionberger said.

If patients suffering pain have a correlating high level of these molecules in their blood or tissue, these markers may be able to serve as useful measurements to know that the pain pathway is activated and that patients might benefit from a drug that specifically targets these molecules.

In future research, Salvemini aims to expand this work to other study sites and to include patients with multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, fibromyalgia, diabetes and temporomandibular joint and muscle disorders (TMJ).

If one or both of these two molecules does prove to be a useful biomarker, researchers will have laid the groundwork for a proof-of-concept trial to test a drug that interferes with the molecular pathways engaged by these molecules and could serve as a new non-narcotic painkiller.

###

Established in 1836, Saint Louis University School of Medicine has the distinction of awarding the first medical degree west of the Mississippi River. The school educates physicians and biomedical scientists, conducts medical research, and provides health care on a local, national and international level. Research at the school seeks new cures and treatments in five key areas: cancer, liver disease, heart/lung disease, aging and brain disease, and infectious diseases.

The Mayday Fund is dedicated to alleviating the incidence, degree and consequence of human physical pain. The fund was established in 1992 to further Shirley Steinman Katzenbach's commitment to social and medical causes. The name Mayday commemorates the date of her birth and is the international word signaling a cry for help, taken from the French "m'aidez" or "help me."
Few Armed Forces personnel seek help for mental health disorders and novel approaches will be needed to encourage personnel at risk of PTSD, anxiety and alcohol abuse to seek treatment.

A trial testing a potential post-deployment screening programme for UK Armed Forces personnel, based on a computerised assessment and tailored mental health advice, found it was not effective in reducing symptoms of mental health disorders or encouraging personnel to seek help, compared to the general mental health advice which is the standard of care in the UK military.

This type of screening was tested because it was deemed the most likely way that a UK screening programme could be introduced, because there are too few mental health professionals and resources to carry out face-to-face appraisals.

The trial, published in The Lancet, suggests that other approaches to encourage personnel with mental health disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression or alcohol abuse to seek help will be needed.

Between 2001 and 2014, the UK deployed more than 220550 Armed Forces personnel to the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts. Among personnel who were deployed, an estimated 4% developed PTSD, 20% developed psychological distress and 16% developed alcohol misuse -- similar rates to personnel who were not deployed. Personnel who were deployed in combat roles have higher rates of probable PTSD and alcohol misuse.

In the UK, mental health support and treatment for Armed Forces personnel consists of psychoeducational briefings, peer support programmes to assist with traumatic stress, decompression before returning home from deployment and clinical services comprising a mixture of uniformed and civilian healthcare professionals. However, approximately half of military personnel with a probable mental health disorder do not seek help. Additionally many delay seeking help or do not finish treatment.

Screening has therefore been proposed as a way to identify those at risk of mental health problems on return from deployment and prompt them to seek help. Various forms of post-deployment screening exist and are used in the US, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands.

In the study, led by King's Centre for Military Health Research at King's College London (UK), researchers aimed to assess the effectiveness of a particular type of screening. On return from deployment, all 10190 personnel involved in the trial were asked to complete a computerised mental health assessment.

Personnel in the screening group were then offered the opportunity to view tailored mental health advice based on their likelihood of having a mental health disorder. If they agreed, they were told what mental health issue they probably had, and were urged to seek help by speaking either to a unit welfare officer (for moderate symptoms), a medical officer (more severe symptoms), or told that no professional support was needed if no risk was identified. Personnel in the control group were offered the general mental health advice offered in the UK military--as they would have been if they had not undergone screening. They were told that there were many ways to seek help and were given examples of support provided. All participants were then followed up between 10 and 24 months later.

Two-thirds (65%; 3619/5577) of personnel who were offered tailored advice agreed to see it, while the remaining 35% declined. Higher ranks and older personnel were more likely to see the tailored advice, and personnel with probable PTSD, anxiety or depression were more likely to view it compared to people who did not have any mental health symptoms.

At follow-up, there were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of the prevalence of PTSD (11%), depression or anxiety (6%) and alcohol abuse (12%) (table 4). There was also no difference in the rate of health seeking or pharmaceutical use between the two groups, with 12% (496/3996) of personnel in the screening group using a mental health service in the follow-up period, compared to 13% (318/2369) in the control group (table 5).

At follow-up, about a third of personnel who had probable PTSD, depression or anxiety (excluding alcohol misuse) at the start of the study had sought mental health care over the past 12 months, with no difference between the control and screening groups (35.8% (53/148) in the control group vs. 32.9% (82/249) in the screening group) (appx p.5). Help-seeking behaviour among personnel with probable PTSD, depression or anxiety was similar irrespective of whether personnel chose to view the tailored advice or not.

"Different countries use different approaches to post-deployment screening and our study looked at one particular type of screening, as it was the form that was most likely to be introduced in the UK military. We found no evidence to support the idea that post deployment screening via a computerised assessment followed by tailored mental health advice helped improve the mental health of personnel over and above general mental health advice. Countries that have already introduced post-deployment screening are not able to assess effectiveness via a randomised controlled trial as they cannot generate a no-screening group, but they should consider monitoring the outcomes of their programmes," says lead author Professor Roberto Rona, King's College London [1].

The authors note that the findings from the trial may not be entirely generalizable to other screening programmes, because other programmes use approaches such as repeated assessments over time, or face-to-face interviews (as is the case in the US screening programme).

"Understandably, military forces are keen to protect the mental health of their personnel who carry out highly challenging duties on behalf of their countries. The question is what can be done to make a positive difference by protecting the mental health of personnel and decreasing the burden of mental illness on individuals, their families and UK society as a whole. More research is needed to improve the mental health of UK Armed Forces personnel and other approaches could include good leadership training, peer and family support programmes and further improving the quality and accessibility of military mental health services," says co-author Professor Neil Greenberg, King's College London [1].

Writing in a linked Comment, Dr Alexander C McFarlane, University of Adelaide, Australia, notes that "a potential confounding issue with this study design is the fact that by filling in the self-report measures, both groups had the opportunity to reflect on their obvious levels of symptomatic distress... which might have minimised the ability to find differences between groups." He also highlights the importance of ensuring adequate care is available when personnel do seek help: "Even if an individual did present to mental health services in the UK military as part of (this) study, this did not guarantee that an evidence-based intervention was offered, even when a general practitioner was consulted."

###

NOTES TO EDITORS

This study was funded by the US Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs.

[1] Quotes direct from authors and cannot be found in the text of the Article.

IF YOU WISH TO PROVIDE A LINK FOR YOUR READERS, PLEASE USE THE FOLLOWING, WHICH WILL GO LIVE AT THE TIME THE EMBARGO LIFTS: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)32398-4/fulltext
University of British Columbia microbiologists have found a yeast in the gut of new babies in Ecuador that appears to be a strong predictor that they will develop asthma in childhood. The new research furthers our understanding of the role microscopic organisms play in our overall health.

"Children with this type of yeast called Pichia were much more at risk of asthma," said Brett Finlay, a microbiologist at UBC. "This is the first time anyone has shown any kind of association between yeast and asthma."

In previous research, Finlay and his colleagues identified four gut bacteria in Canadian children that, if present in the first 100 days of life, seem to prevent asthma. In a followup to this study, Finlay and his colleagues repeated the experiment using fecal samples and health information from 100 children in a rural village in Ecuador.

Canada and Ecuador both have high rates of asthma with about 10 per cent of the population suffering from the disease.

They found that while gut bacteria play a role in preventing asthma in Ecuador, it was the presence of a microscopic fungus or yeast known as Pichia that was more strongly linked to asthma. Instead of helping to prevent asthma, however, the presence of Pichia in those early days puts children at risk.

Finlay also suggests there could be a link between the risk of asthma and the cleanliness of the environment for Ecuadorian children. As part of the study, the researchers noted whether children had access to clean water.

"Those that had access to good, clean water had much higher asthma rates and we think it is because they were deprived of the beneficial microbes," said Finlay. "That was a surprise because we tend to think that clean is good but we realize that we actually need some dirt in the world to help protect you."

Now Finlay's colleagues will re-examine the Canadian samples and look for the presence of yeast in the gut of infants. This technology was not available to the researchers when they conducted their initial study.

###

This research was a collaboration with Marie-Claire Arrieta, a former UBC postdoctoral fellow and now an assistant professor at the University of Calgary, and Philip Cooper, a professor at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

VIDEO: Yeast linked to asthma in Ecuador https://youtu.be/tC-cO_Z9Bz8

This research was presented today at the 2017 annual meeting for Association for the Advancement of Science: https://aaas.confex.com/aaas/2017/webprogram/Session15097.html. Finlay is in Boston for the conference and is also available by phone.
The University of Connecticut has joined the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute as a partner for the purpose of sharing its revolutionary human tissue and limb regeneration technologies.

The institute, which is headquartered in New Hampshire, aims to speed the growth and use of engineered human tissues and organs to meet the increasing health needs of the nation and its citizens, especially soldiers.

"We need to develop 21st-century tools for engineered tissue manufacturing that will allow these innovations to be widely available, similar to how a 15th-century tool - the printing press - allowed knowledge to spread widely during the Renaissance," said the chairman of ARMI, inventor Dean Kamen.

ARMI is the 12th Manufacturing USA Institute, a national network of public-private partnerships intended to nurture manufacturing innovation and accelerate commercialization.

With public-private investment funding approaching nearly $300 million, ARMI brings together a consortium of nearly 100 partner organizations from across industry, government, academia, and the non-profit sector to develop next-generation manufacturing processes and technologies for cells, tissues, and organs.

"We are excited to collaborate with ARMI to lend our expertise to our country and push our regenerative engineering discoveries and breakthroughs closer to the bedsides of soldiers and Americans in need of vital medical care," said Dr. Cato T. Laurencin, an internationally acclaimed surgeon-scientist who is chief executive officer of the Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (CICATS) at UConn, and director of the Institute for Regenerative Engineering and The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Center for Biomedical, Biological, Physical, and Engineering Sciences at UConn Health.

UConn is currently working toward regenerating a human knee within six years and an entire limb by 2030. Laurencin's brainchild is the HEAL Project - Hartford Engineering A Limb - which was launched in November 2015 and is the first international effort for knee and limb engineering. Laurencin, whose laboratory research successes include the growth of bone and knee ligaments, is known as a pioneer in the field of regenerative engineering and material sciences.

At UConn, collaborators making the partnership with ARMI possible include innovative regenerative engineering scientist Lakshmi S. Nair, known for her research advances in growing musculoskeletal tissue at the Institute for Regenerative Engineering at UConn Health. The new ARMI initiative at UConn benefits from strong support by Dr. Bruce T. Liang, dean of the UConn School of Medicine, Kazem Kazerounian, dean of the UConn School of Engineering, and Jeff Seemann, UConn's vice president for research.

"In joining ARMI, UConn will contribute to the program's mission to bring together the country's most talented researchers to accelerate the advancement of tissue bioengineering and regeneration discoveries, while helping bring these promising, much needed breakthroughs to patients in their clinical care," said Seemann.

###
Mothers who want the benefits of breast milk for their babies but can't produce the substance often turn to milk-sharing networks.

A new study from the University of Central Florida found that although not a recommended practice, those who participate in milk-sharing networks generally follow good hygiene, which is critical for keeping milk free from bacterial contamination.

"Peer milk sharing is a growing practice despite warnings from the FDA and the American Academy of Pediatrics," said Beatriz Reyes-Foster, lead author and an anthropology assistant professor. "Our findings suggest that parents who engage in these networks are taking precautions to make sure their children don't get sick and that's not something we knew before this study. But there is room for improvement."

Reyes-Foster, sociology associate professor Shannon K. Carter and assistant professor Melanie Sberna Hinojosa, published their findings in this month's edition of the Journal of Human Lactation.

The team of researchers surveyed 321 Central Florida peer milk-sharing parents who did not exchange money for milk. They asked:

Do you freeze milk for more than six months?

Do you leave the milk at room temperature for more than 8 hours?

Do you use ice to transport?

Do you sanitize pump equipment?

Do you wash your hands before handling the milk?

The team found that 35.4 percent of recipients reported using all five safe practices and another 40.6 percent reported using at least four of the five. No recipient reported using only one or none of the safe practices. Results for donors were similar with nearly 80 percent confirming they sanitize pumps use to extract the milk.

The team also found that the behavior didn't change even when sociodemographic characteristics did.

The research was conducted in 2014, before a Human Milk Banking Association of North America bank was established in Florida. This organization provides donors with milk-handling guidelines. The researchers suggest that the numbers may change now that the organization is in the state.

The researchers also warn that more study is needed and that the findings don't extend to online classifieds where milk is exchanged for money. The prevalence of safety practices in those kinds of exchanges is unknown and deserves study, Reyes-Foster said.

###

The University of Central Florida, one of the largest universities in the nation with more than 64,000 students, uses the power of scale and the pursuit of excellence to make a better future for our students and society. Described by The Washington Post as demolishing "the popular belief that exclusivity is a virtue in higher education" and credited by Politico with creating a "seamless pipeline of social mobility," UCF is recognized as one of the best values in higher education. UCF aligns its teaching, research and service with the needs of the community and beyond, offering more than 200 degree programs at more than a dozen locations, including its main campus in Orlando. Faculty and students are creating innovations in areas as diverse as simulation and training, optics and lasers, hospitality management, video game design, business, education and health care to solve local and global problems. For more information, visit http://www.ucf.edu.
The researchers conducted an experiment with a cohort of more than 300 first-year students in the Netherlands who attended microeconomics tutorials in 15 pre-selected and stable groups. The top 30% students in 8 randomly chosen groups were unexpectedly praised for their performance on the first of the two midterm exams in front of their peers. Compared to similarly good students in the "control" groups, where no such recognition was given, they did no better on the second midterm. However, and, again, compared to their likes in the control groups, the students whose grade fell just a little below the top 30% of their group improved their second midterm grade significantly.

Nick Zubanov sees these findings as evidence for conformity to the performance norm: "Human behaviour is influenced by the individual's personal understanding of the norm. This applies for academia as well as business environments. Student performance is influenced not only by personal benefits, such as grades or passing an exam, but also by the existing performance norms." The verbal recognition of performance serves here as an instrument by which the norm is communicated. If an individual is praised, chances are he or she fulfils the performance norm. On the other hand, those not recognised will learn that they may have been too optimistic about fulfilling the norm and will hence work harder. There are of course other, more powerful, reasons why people work or study hard, but the very existence of these reasons makes Hoogveld and Zubanov's findings all the more remarkable. One lesson to learn from their study is that a simple "well done" said in the right way makes some people feel better and others work harder.

###

Facts:

Study on the effect of recognition on motivation

Original publication: Hoogveld, N. Zubanov, The power of (no) recognition: Experimental evidence from the university classroom, Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (2016)

Online under: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2016.11.001

Contact:

University of Konstanz

Communications and Marketing

Tel.: +49-7531-88-3603

Email: kum@uni-konstanz.de

uni.kn
COLUMBIA, Mo. (Feb. 17, 2017) -- Of all racial minorities, Native Americans have the most dramatic health inequalities in the U.S., including significantly higher rates of cardiovascular disease, cancer, Type 2 diabetes and substance abuse. Melissa Lewis, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the MU School of Medicine, led the first project in the nation to develop a mandatory medical school curriculum about indigenous health.

"Given the breadth of health inequality for this group, I believe health care providers would benefit from learning how to effectively work with indigenous patients and communities," Lewis said. "I suggest medical schools embrace and gather knowledge from their local underserved communities on the content that should be included in their curricula to improve the health of their minority populations."

Lewis, a former professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School's Duluth campus, recognized Minnesota's unique position to better serve indigenous populations, a racial group with the highest mortality rates in the state. Lewis defines indigenous populations as people who are the first people of that land, sometimes called Native Americans, First Nations, Aboriginals, and Alaskan and Hawaii natives. She said that indigenous people represent the largest minority group in some rural regions of Minnesota.

In 2013, Lewis organized a retreat with first- and second-year medical students, medical school faculty and leaders from the indigenous community to discuss the development and implementation of the new curriculum. In addition, the retreat attendees were asked to complete a survey on what should be included in the curriculum. Outcomes from the project included the addition of indigenous content for first-year, first-semester students taught primarily by indigenous faculty from a variety of fields.

University of Minnesota Medical School's Duluth campus implemented the new curriculum for medical students in 2014. Lewis recently gave an update on the success program and recommendations for other universities attempting to update their curricula to include similar content, in a new blog post by Academic Medicine.

While Lewis' project focused on tailoring medical school curriculum to the indigenous population, she said that all medical schools could follow her model for developing curricula tailored to the local minority population in their respective states.

###

Lewis' project, "The Development of an Indigenous Health Curriculum for Medical Students," was published in Academic Medicine, the peer-reviewed journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges.
(PHILADELPHIA) - Adult stem cells collected directly from human fat are more stable than other cells - such as fibroblasts from the skin - and have the potential for use in anti-aging treatments, according to researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. They made the discovery after developing a new model to study chronological aging of these cells. They published their findings this month in the journal Stem Cells.

Chronological aging shows the natural life cycle of the cells - as opposed to cells that have been unnaturally replicated multiple times or otherwise manipulated in a lab. In order to preserve the cells in their natural state, Penn researchers developed a system to collect and store them without manipulating them, making them available for this study. They found stem cells collected directly from human fat - called adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) - can make more proteins than originally thought. This gives them the ability to replicate and maintain their stability, a finding that held true in cells collected from patients of all ages.

"Our study shows these cells are very robust, even when they are collected from older patients," said Ivona Percec, MD, director of Basic Science Research in the Center for Human Appearance and the study's lead author. "It also shows these cells can be potentially used safely in the future, because they require minimal manipulation and maintenance."

Stem cells are currently used in a variety of anti-aging treatments and are commonly collected from a variety of tissues. But Percec's team specifically found ASCs to be more stable than other cells, a finding that can potentially open the door to new therapies for the prevention and treatment of aging-related diseases.

"Unlike other adult human stem cells, the rate at which these ASCs multiply stays consistent with age," Percec said. "That means these cells could be far more stable and helpful as we continue to study natural aging."

ASCs are not currently approved for direct use by the Food and Drug Administration, so more research is needed. Percec said the next step for her team is to study how chromatin is regulated in ASCs. Essentially, they want to know how tightly the DNA is wound around proteins inside these cells and how this affects aging. The more open the chromatin is, the more the traits affected by the genes inside will be expressed. Percec said she hopes to find out how ASCs can maintain an open profile with aging.

###

Funding for this study was provided by the National Institutes of Health (K08 AG042496).

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 findings are key to unraveling the mysteries of why the Zika virus causes birth defects

A multidisciplinary team from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston has uncovered the mechanisms that the Zika virus uses to alter brain development. These findings are detailed in Stem Cell Reports.

There are currently 70 countries and territories reporting active Zika transmission, according to the World Health Organization. While a Zika infection typically results in mild or symptom-free infections in healthy adults and children, the risk of microcephaly in the developing fetus is an alarming consequence that has created a worldwide health threat.

Babies with microcephaly can have a wide array of problems including a small brain and head, developmental delays, seizures, vision and hearing loss and feeding difficulty. Scientists are trying to determine how a Zika infection triggers these defects.

Since a normal brain develops from simple cells called stem cells that are able to develop into any one of various kinds of cells, the UTMB team deduced that microcephaly is most likely linked with abnormal function of these cells.

There are two main lineages of the virus, African and Asian. Recently, the UTMB team found that only the Asian lineage has been linked with microcephaly. So, what is it about this particular form of the virus that inflicts such damage?

The researchers established a method of investigating how Zika alters the production, survival and maturation of brain stem cells using cells donated from three human fetal brains. They focused on the impact of the Asian lineage Zika virus that was involved in the first outbreak in North America in late 2015.

"We discovered that the Asian lineage Zika virus halted the proliferation of brain stem cells and hindered their ability to develop into brain nerve cells," said Ping Wu, senior author on the study and UTMB professor in the Department of Neuroscience & Cell Biology. "However, the effect that the Zika virus had on the ability of stem cells to develop into specialized cells differed between donors. This difference seems to be linked with a Zika-induced change in global gene expression pattern, it remains to be seen which genes are responsible.

Wu further stated, "the unique system containing stem cells from three donors will allow us to dissect molecular mechanisms underlying Zika virus-induced brain malformation."

Senior author and UTMB associate professor in the Department of Pathology Nikos Vasilakis said that they discovered that two weeks after the cells had developed into a certain type, the Zika infection was mainly found in glial cells, which provide support and insulation for the brain.

###

Other authors include UTMB's Erica McGrath, Shannan Rossi, Junling Gao, Steven Widen, Auston Grant, Tiffany Dunn, Sasha Azar, Christopher Roundy, Ying Xiong, Deborah Prusak, Bradford Loucas, Thomas Wood, Yongjia Yu and Scott Weaver, as well as Ildefonso Fernandez-Salas from the Centro Regional de Salud Publica in Mexico.
You may not realize it but alien subatomic particles raining down from outer space are wreaking low-grade havoc on your smartphones, computers and other personal electronic devices.

When your computer crashes and you get the dreaded blue screen or your smartphone freezes and you have to go through the time-consuming process of a reset, most likely you blame the manufacturer: Microsoft or Apple or Samsung. In many instances, however, these operational failures may be caused by the impact of electrically charged particles generated by cosmic rays that originate outside the solar system.

"This is a really big problem, but it is mostly invisible to the public," said Bharat Bhuva, professor of electrical engineering at Vanderbilt University, in a presentation on Friday, Feb. 17 at a session titled "Cloudy with a Chance of Solar Flares: Quantifying the Risk of Space Weather" at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston.

When cosmic rays traveling at fractions of the speed of light strike the Earth's atmosphere they create cascades of secondary particles including energetic neutrons, muons, pions and alpha particles. Millions of these particles strike your body each second. Despite their numbers, this subatomic torrent is imperceptible and has no known harmful effects on living organisms. However, a fraction of these particles carry enough energy to interfere with the operation of microelectronic circuitry. When they interact with integrated circuits, they may alter individual bits of data stored in memory. This is called a single-event upset or SEU.

Since it is difficult to know when and where these particles will strike and they do not do any physical damage, the malfunctions they cause are very difficult to characterize. As a result, determining the prevalence of SEUs is not easy or straightforward. "When you have a single bit flip, it could have any number of causes. It could be a software bug or a hardware flaw, for example. The only way you can determine that it is a single-event upset is by eliminating all the other possible causes," Bhuva explained.

There have been a number of incidents that illustrate how serious the problem can be, Bhuva reported. For example, in 2003 in the town of Schaerbeek, Belgium a bit flip in an electronic voting machine added 4,096 extra votes to one candidate. The error was only detected because it gave the candidate more votes than were possible and it was traced to a single bit flip in the machine's register. In 2008, the avionics system of a Qantus passenger jet flying from Singapore to Perth appeared to suffer from a single-event upset that caused the autopilot to disengage. As a result, the aircraft dove 690 feet in only 23 seconds, injuring about a third of the passengers seriously enough to cause the aircraft to divert to the nearest airstrip. In addition, there have been a number of unexplained glitches in airline computers - some of which experts feel must have been caused by SEUs - that have resulted in cancellation of hundreds of flights resulting in significant economic losses.

An analysis of SEU failure rates for consumer electronic devices performed by Ritesh Mastipuram and Edwin Wee at Cypress Semiconductor on a previous generation of technology shows how prevalent the problem may be. Their results were published in 2004 in Electronic Design News and provided the following estimates:

A simple cell phone with 500 kilobytes of memory should only have one potential error every 28 years.

A router farm like those used by Internet providers with only 25 gigabytes of memory may experience one potential networking error that interrupts their operation every 17 hours.

A person flying in an airplane at 35,000 feet (where radiation levels are considerably higher than they are at sea level) who is working on a laptop with 500 kilobytes of memory may experience one potential error every five hours.

Bhuva is a member of Vanderbilt's Radiation Effects Research Group, which was established in 1987 and is the largest academic program in the United States that studies the effects of radiation on electronic systems. The group's primary focus was on military and space applications. Since 2001, the group has also been analyzing radiation effects on consumer electronics in the terrestrial environment. They have studied this phenomenon in the last eight generations of computer chip technology, including the current generation that uses 3D transistors (known as FinFET) that are only 16 nanometers in size.

The 16-nanometer study was funded by a group of top microelectronics companies, including Altera, ARM, AMD, Broadcom, Cisco Systems, Marvell, MediaTek, Renesas, Qualcomm, Synopsys, and TSMC

"The semiconductor manufacturers are very concerned about this problem because it is getting more serious as the size of the transistors in computer chips shrink and the power and capacity of our digital systems increase," Bhuva said. "In addition, microelectronic circuits are everywhere and our society is becoming increasingly dependent on them."

To determine the rate of SEUs in 16-nanometer chips, the Vanderbilt researchers took samples of the integrated circuits to the Irradiation of Chips and Electronics (ICE) House at Los Alamos National Laboratory. There they exposed them to a neutron beam and analyzed how many SEUs the chips experienced. Experts measure the failure rate of microelectronic circuits in a unit called a FIT, which stands for failure in time. One FIT is one failure per transistor in one billion hours of operation. That may seem infinitesimal but it adds up extremely quickly with billions of transistors in many of our devices and billions of electronic systems in use today (the number of smartphones alone is in the billions). Most electronic components have failure rates measured in 100's and 1,000's of FITs.

"Our study confirms that this is a serious and growing problem," said Bhuva. "This did not come as a surprise. Through our research on radiation effects on electronic circuits developed for military and space applications, we have been anticipating such effects on electronic systems operating in the terrestrial environment."

Although the details of the Vanderbilt studies are proprietary, Bhuva described the general trend that they have found in the last three generations of integrated circuit technology: 28-nanometer, 20-nanometer and 16-nanometer.

As transistor sizes have shrunk, they have required less and less electrical charge to represent a logical bit. So the likelihood that one bit will "flip" from 0 to 1 (or 1 to 0) when struck by an energetic particle has been increasing. This has been partially offset by the fact that as the transistors have gotten smaller they have become smaller targets so the rate at which they are struck has decreased.

More significantly, the current generation of 16-nanometer circuits have a 3D architecture that replaced the previous 2D architecture and has proven to be significantly less susceptible to SEUs. Although this improvement has been offset by the increase in the number of transistors in each chip, the failure rate at the chip level has also dropped slightly. However, the increase in the total number of transistors being used in new electronic systems has meant that the SEU failure rate at the device level has continued to rise.

Unfortunately, it is not practical to simply shield microelectronics from these energetic particles. For example, it would take more than 10 feet of concrete to keep a circuit from being zapped by energetic neutrons. However, there are ways to design computer chips to dramatically reduce their vulnerability.

For cases where reliability is absolutely critical, you can simply design the processors in triplicate and have them vote. Bhuva pointed out: "The probability that SEUs will occur in two of the circuits at the same time is vanishingly small. So if two circuits produce the same result it should be correct." This is the approach that NASA used to maximize the reliability of spacecraft computer systems.

The good news, Bhuva said, is that the aviation, medical equipment, IT, transportation, communications, financial and power industries are all aware of the problem and are taking steps to address it. "It is only the consumer electronics sector that has been lagging behind in addressing this problem."

The engineer's bottom line: "This is a major problem for industry and engineers, but it isn't something that members of the general public need to worry much about."

###
Home to an immense diversity of marine life, the deep ocean also contains valuable minerals with metals such as nickel, copper, cobalt, manganese, zinc, and gold, and rare-earth elements used in electronic technology like smart phones and medical imaging machines. As demand for these resources increases and supplies on land decrease, commercial mining operators are looking to the deep ocean as the next frontier for mining.

What are the risks and environmental impacts of deep-sea mining on fragile marine ecosystems? Would seafloor mineral resources be enough to keep up with the evolving demands of modern society?

A panel of scholars including Stace Beaulieu, a deep-sea biologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), will discuss these and other questions during the symposium, "Should We Mine the Seafloor?" scheduled on Saturday, February 18, at the AAAS meeting in Boston, MA. A news briefing for science journalists will be held at 4 p.m. on Friday, February 17, in room 103 of the Hynes Convention Center.

The speakers will examine the pros and cons of seafloor mining, its engineering feasibility, and its legal and societal implications with the goal of providing the best available, objective, scientific evidence to inform ongoing policy efforts on this important and timely topic.

"Our panel is unique in that we bring together knowledge of the demand for critical metals and the potential supply from known and yet-to-be-discovered seafloor mineral resources, and an understanding of deep-sea ecosystems, including a new perspective on ecosystem services that contribute to human well-being," Beaulieu says.

Currently, there's no mining occurring in the ocean deeper than the continental shelves, but the industry is moving forward quickly. Many of the engineering challenges associated with working in the deep sea have already been addressed by the offshore oil and gas industry. Different types of machines for mining have been built and the components for mining systems are currently being tested in deep-sea deployments.

About 27 countries have already signed contracts to explore for deep-sea resources with the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the organization that controls mineral exploration and exploitation in the area beyond national jurisdiction. And the first deep-sea mining project --Solwara 1 within the jurisdiction of Papua New Guinea--is scheduled to begin in 2019 by Nautilus Minerals.

Beaulieu's talk will address potential environmental impacts from deep-sea mining and highlight new research on the vulnerability and resilience of deep-sea ecosystems. She's also been working with social scientists to address the question of economic impacts from lost and degraded ecosystem services, such as the potential for new medicines from deep-sea, biological resources.

The symposium will also feature talks by experts Thomas Graedel, an industrial ecologist at Yale University, and Mark Hannington, a geologist at GEOMAR-Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research.

Graedel will examine how the demand for metals might evolve in the next few decades. Hannington's talk will focus on estimates of the abundance of seafloor deposits targeted for mining.

The symposium will be moderated by Mindy Todd, a radio producer and journalist at WCAI - The Cape & Islands NPR Station.

###

Should We Mine the Seafloor?

Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017, 8 a.m. -9:30 a.m.

Room 313- Hynes Convention Center

https://aaas.confex.com/aaas/2017/webprogram/Session15154.html

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.
Thursday, February 16, 2017

More than 20,000 people will attend the 16th annual Frozen Dead Guy Days (FDGD) festival in Nederland, Colorado, 17 miles west of Boulder, March 10-12, 2017. Readers Digest and readers of USA Today named FDGD one of the top five winter festivals in the country.

This quirky celebration of all things dead and frozen receives national media coverage every year. The event features coffin races, a parade of hearses, costumed polar plunging, frozen t-shirt contests, The Newly-Dead Game by Gail Rubin, lots of music, and much more. And yes, there is a real frozen dead guy at the center of the celebration. Check out the full schedule of events.

Frozen Dead Guy Days honors Grandpa Bredo Morstoel from Norway, who died from a heart condition in 1989. His grandson Trygve, a strong advocate for cryonics, had Grandpa packed in dry ice and shipped to a U.S. cryonics facility for preservation and possible future reanimation. In 1993, Trygve, who hoped to start his own life extension facility, moved Grandpa to his bomb-proof home in Nederland, Colorado. Then things got really weird. You can read the entire story here.

Pioneering death educator Gail Rubin, CT, shows the documentary Grandpas in the TUFF Shed at FDGD. The film tells the strange but true story of the Frozen Dead Guys origin. The 25-minute film is shown from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the bar at the Black Forest Restaurant, 40 Big Springs Drive in Nederland.

She also emcees The Newly-Dead Game, which she created and debuted at FDGD in 2011. Game sessions will take place on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. and on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Couples sign up in advance to claim the coveted four slots available for each game, which is free for participants.

Check out a video from last year:

[embedded content]

The showings of Grandpas in the TUFF Shed and The Newly-Dead Game are sponsored by Passages International, leaders in environmentally-friendly and green funeral products, and their educational website, www.AGreenerFuneral.org.

Passages provides funeral and burial products that are environmentally friendly, so you can create a meaningful farewell for those you love. Learn more at www.PassagesInternational.com.

AGreenerFuneral.org is a guide to creating a farewell thats more meaningful for you, those you love and the planet.

Learn about biodegradable caskets and urns, choices for greening your final arrangements, greener cemeteries and embalming, and other eco-friendly information.

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The National Farmers' Union (NFU) has issued a call for farmer feedback after the government announced a consultation on the safe use of drones in the UK, with many agreeing stricter controls need to be in place.

As drone use on farm is multi-dimensional and can improve production efficiency for farm businesses, farmers and landowners have been responding to the consultation to emphasise that the professional and responsible agricultural use of drones must be protected to enable farms to continue to use them safely.

Proposed measures being consulted on include mandatory registration of new drones over 250g, a theory test for users, increased penalties for misuse of the technology and potential new criminal offences to deter and address misbehaviour.

NFU Vice President Guy Smith said: There are exciting developments in the pipeline for on-farm done use, such as crop applications, which could keep British farming at the cutting edge and internationally competitive.

However, we are also very aware of instances of irresponsible use of drones by members of the public and have already seen the first instances of sheep worrying by drones. We are calling for government to address this and are hopeful that any new legislation will introduce measures to protect farmers and landowners from this behaviour.

In any instance, we would stress to drone owners the importance of not flying near livestock, who react in very unpredictable ways. There is risk of causing distress to the animals, sometimes fatal, and it can lead to trampling. These actions impact greatly on farm businesses and we urge that care is taken when flying in areas of farmland in particular.

Any drone owner should be responsible with its use and ensure the safety of people, animals and land. We would stress to any owner that they are familiar with the rules so they fly this machinery within the law.

'Tremendously exciting, but need regulations'

The CLA, which represents landowners, farmers and rural businesses, are also concerned that current regulations are not robust enough to ensure that privacy is maintained.

CLA President Ross Murray said: The use of drones both commercially and for recreation is growing fast. The potential for a wide range of industries, not least agriculture, is tremendously exciting, but we do need regulation to keep pace.

The growth in the availability of drones with high resolution cameras for leisure use, rather than industry, presents a significant risk to privacy and requires action. We need reassurance that drones being flown over private property or land are being done so legally, professionally and safely. We must also address the potential for damage to property and injury to livestock.

The global commercial drone industry is growing at an unprecedented rate, with industries from agriculture to mining tapping into the real business benefits that drones can deliver.

The global commercial drone industry is growing at an unprecedented rate, with industries from agriculture to mining tapping into the real business benefits that drones can deliver.
Recent rises in sheep worrying cases caused by dogs has led one farmer in Herefordshire to say that he won't 'hesitate in shooting in future'.

Posted on a Facebook page after another incident involving a black Labrador, farmer William Laurie said the issue has been a 'constant problem'.

He said: "We keep having incidents of dog worrying in the field adjacent to Kington Park.

"This morning a black Labrador was loose in the field amongst ewes and young lambs. It ran back through the southern corner in to Estate. Please keep your dogs secure as I won't hesitate in shooting in future. This problem is getting worse! Thank you.

"People have suggested not putting sheep out there, but that is really not an option," he said.

"Four sheep had to be put down and others were maimed. The flock was absolutely terrorised. When we went in amongst the sheep, they grouped around us for safety, they were terrified."

Anxiety

Twitter

Sheep worrying by dogs is causing around 85% of affected farmers to experience elevated levels of anxiety and stress, a survey conducted by the National Sheep Association (NSA) revealed.

The questionnaire of 233 sheep farmers across the UK shows just how serious the repercussions of dog attacks on flocks can be, with 85% of respondents listing stress as one of the main impacts on them and their flock.

While the cost and extra time needed to deal with attacks was also highlighted, a worrying trend about the personal impact was revealed  46% of farmers surveyed listed anxiety about spending time away from their farm.

Phil Stocker, NSA Chief Executive, says: "Highlighting and raising awareness of this issue is a major remit for NSA, which is why we have gathered this evidence.

"In no way do we want to discourage people from getting out and enjoying the Great British countryside, but it is vital that everyone appreciates any dog is capable of carrying out an attack on livestock if it is off the lead or left to roam unsupervised.

"The impact attacks have on the welfare of sheep is huge, but what this survey has revealed for the first time is the wider implications on farmers and their families."

Twitter

A Welsh farmer used Twitter to share a graphic photograph depicting a dog in the process of attacking livestock.

The farmer wanted to raise awarness over the severe problem many farmers face in the countryside with dogs off their leads.

Fiona Davies, who farms at Llanberis on the foothills of Snowdon in Wales, said sheep worrying has become an increasing problem for farmers in the area.

She said she has seen at least one attack every weekend.

The photograph was taken by a member of the public, and was passed onto Mrs Davies with permission for it to be published on Twitter.
British farmers may be happier to have agricultural policy centralised to avoid differences between devolved parts of the union, National Farmers' Union Vice President has said.

Speaking to the EU Energy and Environment Sub-committee on the implications of Brexit on agriculture, Vice President Guy Smith said farmers up and down the country need to 'sing from the same song sheet.'

Mr Smith said: "Primarily, we would be happier with a more homogenous UK policy, rather than having vast differences between the borders, between Scotland, England and Wales.

"However, I fully recognise that what Scotland and Northern Ireland do have is key differences in terms of factors such as topography and a land border with the Republic of Ireland, in the case of Ulster, that has to be recognised in this process.

"We recognise over the next few years, key decisions will be taken that may well determine the future pattern of agriculture for a long time."

Wales doesn't have 'the capacity'

Last year, Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies said Wales doesn't have the 'capacity' to formulate its own agricultural policy.

But Rural Affairs Secretary Lesley Griffiths said there was a real opportunity to adopt a 'made-in-Wales' approach for the future of the industry.

With farming fully devolved, Ms Griffiths said it was a chance to create policies and regulations "tailor made for Wales' unique needs".

'Huge issue'

Ulster Farmers' Union chief executive Wesley Aston also spoke to the same committee, he said the land border issue with the Republic was a 'huge issue'.

"We consume only a quarter of our own food produced in Northern Ireland.

"The GB market takes 44% and the remainder goes for export, of which 55% goes to the Republic of Ireland.

"That means around 15% of our total food product goes over the land border and they, in return, send a lot of products back our way.

"We also need Government to remember that between 25% and 33% of our milk crosses the border for processing  thats a huge proportion," he said.
Winners of the 2016 Premier Pedigree Herd Competition, The Birkle family, are inviting guests to visit their farm in Leicestershire as they host the Holstein UK Premier Herd Open Day on the Thursday 15th June 2017.

Andrew Birkle, together with his wife Mimi and two sons Sean and Leo, farm at Dungehill Farm near Loughborough.

The farm open day comes following Andrew and his familys great success on winning the Premier Pedigree Herd Competition 2016.

Andrews Whinchat Holsteins were crowned 2016 Champions at UK Dairy Day in Telford back in September.

200-acre farm

The Birkle family will open their 200-acre farm; an opportunity for Holstein UK and other all dairy farmers to view the Whinchat herd and learn about their production system, husbandry, feeding, breeding and management techniques.

The 220 head Whinchat herd consists of 104 EX and 102 VG, averaging 10,700kg, 3.88% butterfat and 3.2% protein, with the most prominent cow families including: Farrah; Savoire Fare; Molli; Pamela; Sara; Inka Ideal; and Beaujolais.

The Birkle family are renowned for their meticulous management; they have a clear focus on breeding practical, hard-working Holstein dairy cattle, which perform well in a commercial environment, with the main breeding emphasis being on type.

Andrew, 2016 Premier Pedigree Herd Champion, said: Were extremely looking forward to welcoming Holstein UK members, and other farmers, to our farm on the 15th June.

My view is that the best way to implement new farming methods and innovations, to improve herd performance, is by learning from others.I gain the greatest insight by visiting other farms and seeing how they do things!
Marts to donate Scotch Lamb for St Andrew's Day campaign




Haiti - Environment : Mayor Chevry Continues the major cleaning of the Capitale





Wednesday, the town hall of Port-au-Prince was entering a new phase of its campaign against illegal unoccupation of the public domain in the capital. This new phase, led by Juan Carlos Chevalier, Director General of the City Council, accompanied by, among others, Justice of the Peace Delia Fritz and agents of the Special Forces of the Departmental Order Maintenance Unit (UDMO) and Brigadiers of the own Hall took place at the Street of Enterrement and to the Street Dehoux.



In addition to the evacuations carried out during this operation, City Council officials cleared the roadway of all vehicle carcasses, garbage and scrap and any other material and objects that could hamper the public space.



Juan Carlos Chevalier explained to residents the correctness of the initiative of the city council in order to have a clean, safe and welcoming city.



On the margins of this operation, Ralph Youri Chevry, the Mayor of Port-au-Prince, reiterated firmly that his administration will do its utmost to clear the streets and clean up the public spaces of any commercial occupation not provided for in the occupancy plan of the public domain and allow the Commune to offer another image.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20028-haiti-technology-inauguration-of-a-solar-power-plant-for-the-champ-de-mars.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20018-haiti-environment-operation-against-wild-display-in-port-au-prince.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19998-haiti-flash-arrests-closures-of-establishments-the-mayor-of-pap-in-action.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-19855-icihaiti-justice-me-danton-leger-supports-the-mayor-of-pap.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19788-haiti-notice-rain-of-prohibitions-on-the-area-of-the-champs-de-mars.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19586-haiti-environment-port-au-prince-declares-war-to-the-rubbish.html



HL/ HaitiLibre




















The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested a close confidante of Zakir Naik, Aamir Gazdar, on Thursday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Gazdars arrest is the first in the case and he has apparently been in constant touch with the televangelist even after Naik fled the country.

ED sources stated that Gazdar, 55, managed the transaction of illegal cash for Naik. A lot of the money that came to India from abroad was managed by Gazdar. He has been actively involved with Naik. He pretended to be the director of six firms that were used as dummy companies, said a senior ED officer.

Investigations revealed that Gazdar was constantly in touch with Naik even after the latter fled the country, said sources. He has been arrested but he is not co-operating with the probe, said the senior officer. Gazdar will be produced before a special PMLA court on Friday.

The central agency has filed an enforcement case information report (ECIR) against Naik. The agency is probing whether his funds came from those who were inspired by his speeches or not. Gazdar also hold 10% shares in Longlast construction, the firm that was used to purchase several properties in the country. Ninety percent of its shares are owned by Naiks sister Nailah Noorani, said the officer.

After a ban on the foundation, the NIA registered a case against Naik and the IRF on charges of inciting Muslim youth to indulge in violence and promoting enmity on the basis of religion and race. The FIR has accused him of delivering speeches that spread communal harmony. The agency also charged Naik with indulging in activities that are prejudicial to national integration.

Naik has not been in the country ever since reports emerged that his sermons influenced a few of the Bangladeshi attackers who targeted an eatery in Dhaka on July 1. Bangladesh has banned Naiks Peace TV stating that it incited the attack in which 22 people were gunned down.

Source : Hindustan Times
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 humble beginnings of the Sacred Stone Camp in April 2016. The efforts of LaDonna Brave Bull Allard and Native youth turned the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline into a worldwide phenomenon. Photo: Camp of the Sacred Stone



The Bureau of Indian Affairs is moving to evict the original #NoDAPL encampment at the direction of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe

LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, a tribal citizen, established the Sacred Stone Camp on her allotment on the North Dakota portion of the reservation in April 2016. The tribal council was aware of it, and supported the move at the time, according to an account she provided at a recent #NoDAPL forum.

But the tribe, which also owns an interest in what is described as the Lean Warrior Allotment, has since changed course. Citing financial and other challenges in dealing with the thousands of people who have come to and from Standing Rock over recent months, the council concluded that it can no longer host opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline

"One of the key tenets of any movement is being considerate about how we treat the community in which we bring our voices and respect the places where we are visitors. The community of Cannonball has every right to choose how it wants people to help them," the tribe said in a February 4 statement . The Lean Warrior Allotment, or Allotment 2275-B, is located in the Cannonball District of the reservation.

Officers from the Bureau of Indian Affairs are seen presenting a notice of trespass to LaDonna Brave Bull Allard and her husband regarding the presence of the Sacred Stone Camp on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota. Photo: Standing Rock Rising



Allard blasted the shift that same day on her camp's website . She said neither the council, nor the BIA, have a right to "evict me from my homeland."

"The Indigenous nations of Turtle Island had united as never before," Allard wrote of the movement that swept across Indian Country last year. "But as division grows, it is very difficult to see a path forward."

A couple of days later, Allard scaled back her criticism of both the tribe and the BIA after she said both appeared willing to work with her on various issues. "Our enemy is not ourselves but the Black Snake," she wrote on Facebook on February 6.

But allies are now rushing to her side after the BIA delivered a notice of "trespass" to Allard. The document, which was dated February 15 and signed by Sheila White Mountain, the superintendent of the Standing Rock Agency , states that the tribe has not approved of the camp's presence on the allotment.

From left: Robert Taken Alive, council member for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe; Jackie Pata, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians; Eryn Wise of the International Indigenous Youth Council; LaDonna Brave Bull Allard of Sacred Stone Camp; and Brian Bowers, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, at a #NoDAPL forum at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., on November 16, 2016. Photo by Indianz.Com / Available for use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License



"As a majority owner, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe must consent to any permit or lease which authorizes possession or occupancy of this land," the notice, a copy of which was shared on Facebook , states. "At present, the Standing Rock Agency has received no authorization from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe that would allow individuals to take possession or occupy this property."

According to the BIA, the tribe holds a 66.67 percent interest in the allotment but there are other owners, at least five but no more than nine others. Multiple owners of Indian allotments are common as the land become fractionated through successive generations of ownership.

Based on a section of the U.S. Code cited in the letter, a lease or agreement on an allotment that has between six and 10 owners requires the consent of 80 percent of the owners . The notice takes the position that the threshold hasn't been reached because of the tribe's stance on Sacred Stone.

"No Indian owner of Allotment 2275-B may authorize a third party, who does not own an interest in the property, permission to take possession or occupy without consent from at least 80 percent ownership interest in the property," the document states.

The BIA is giving anyone 10 days to "show cause" why they think the notice has been issued in error. The notice itself cannot be appealed, according to the document.

But in the event the agency issues a "finding of trespass," that decision can be appealed, the notice states.

LaDonna Brave Bull Allard addresses the #NoDAPL Day of Action rally outside of the White House in Washington, D.C., on November 15, 2016. Photo by Indianz.Com / Available for use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License



Copies were handed out at Sacred Stone on Thursday, according to videos broadcast on Facebook. The move came as shock to residents and visitors, many of whom believed their presence was secure even after the tribe decided it couldn't host people who were living at Oceti Sakowin , a much larger #NoDAPL camp. At one point, the Cannonball District was offering a place for them until the change in course earlier this year.

Oceti Sakowin, or Seven Council Fires, is located on land managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers . Although it falls within territory promised to the Sioux Nation by treaty, the agency has called for its removal.

Organizers, residents and other activists have been cleaning up the site in anticipation of flooding in the spring. Those efforts have been proceeding smoothly, Chairman Dave Archambault II said on Wednesday.

"I think the Creator is blessing us," Archambault told attendees of the winter session of the National Congress of American Indians in Washington, D.C. After a harsh December and January, he said warmer than expected temperatures have prevented the buildup of ice, and that should lessen the effects of flooding.

"We're doing everything we can to clean the area because we don't want to be the contaminators of the Missouri River," he said.

Standing Rock leaders, including Archambault, have embraced the #NoDAPL campsites as a sign of the worldwide movement against the Dakota Access Pipeline. During a public forum in Washington, D.C., on November 16, 2016, Allard said she informed the tribal council about her plans for Sacred Stone and received encouragement.

Robert Taken Alive, a council member who represents the Little Eagle District, also appeared on the panel, which took place at George Washington University on the day after a successful rally and march to the White House . He did not dispute Allard's account of the origins of Sacred Stone and noted that he helped welcome delegations from other tribal nations to the encampments last summer.

"Again, it comes to peace and prayer," Taken Alive said of the fight against the pipeline.

The tribe is hoping to stall the pipeline through legal action. A motion filed on Tuesday seeks to set aside the Trump administration's approval of the final portion of the controversial project.

Standing Rock is also backing a request for an injunction sought by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe . A hearing takes place in federal court in D.C. on February 28.

Federal Register Notice: Notice of Termination of the Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement in Connection With Dakota Access, LLC's Request for an Easement To Cross Lake Oahe, North Dakota (February 17, 2017)

Prior Federal Register Notice: Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement in Connection With Dakota Access, LLC's Request for an Easement To Cross Lake Oahe, North Dakota (January 18, 2017)

Dakota Access Pipeline Approval Documents:

White House Documents: Presidential Memorandum Regarding Construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (January 24, 2017) Presidential Memorandum Regarding Construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline (January 24, 2017) Executive Order Expediting Environmental Reviews and Approvals For High Priority Infrastructure Projects (January 24, 2017) Presidential Memorandum Regarding Construction of American Pipelines (January 24, 2017) Presidential Memorandum Streamlining Permitting and Reducing Regulatory Burdens for Domestic Manufacturing (January 24, 2017) Press Release: President Trump Takes Action to Expedite Priority Energy and Infrastructure Projects (January 24, 2017)

Join the Conversation

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The Oglala Sioux Tribe just southwest of you has declared its reservation a nuclear free zone, the tribes Natural Resources Regulatory Agency Director Reno Red Cloud said a public meeting held February 7, 2016, to discuss plans for a deep borehole test in Lakota treaty territory. We have a deep concern because we know everything around nuclear is radioactive, he said. Photo by Talli Nauman



Deep borehole test in Lakota Territory stirs deep concern

By Talli NaumanNative Sun News TodayHealth & Environment Editor

PHILIP  After tribal authorities and other public meeting-goers roundly questioned proposals for drilling deep boreholes to test nuclear waste disposal technology here in 1851 Ft. Laramie Treaty territory, the company with the federal contract to gain acceptance of the idea announced another meeting on the subject in Midland.

The proposals the company first laid out to the public at the Philip meeting on February 7 are to drill an 8-inch-diameter hole to a depth of three miles in Haakon County, and if the results of the experiment are promising, to drill a 17-inch-diameter one, the width needed to sink casks of high-level radioactive waste to a granite bedrock tomb.

Consultants from the nuclear engineering firm Respec, which has the contract with the U.S. Department of Energy, travelled here from their base in Rapid City to convince neighbors of the chosen 20-acre site in Haakon County that the Deep Borehole Field Test is, in proponents terms: ... a unique, one-of-a-kind opportunity for the people of South Dakota to be on the forefront of solving some of our world's greatest scientific challenges.

Community acceptance is the first step in Respecs feasibility study contract. If the community consents, the project would be a test to see if the rock in the area is appropriate for nuclear waste disposal, the staff of the employee-owned company said.

Respec President and CEO Todd Kenner emphasized, There is no waste involved with this project. This site will never be used for storage or disposal. We will have a legal obligation to plug and abandon both those holes and restore the site.

Kenner said drilling the first hole and analyzing rock from it alone would provide paid research opportunities for 10 South Dakota School of Mines & Technology students. Respec was founded in 1969 by professors from the school in Rapid City.

The site would be in unceded 1851 and 1868 Ft. Laramie Treaty territory, between the nearby Indian reservations of the Oglala, Rosebud, and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes, which, like the rest of the tribes in the state, have legislated nuclear-free zones in the totality of their jurisdictions, federally recognized under the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act.

Three-time elected Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Councilor Bryce In The Woods spoke at the meeting about the violation of the treaties as a reason for mistrusting the companys promise to keep radioactive waste out of the picture.

Once the School of Mines learns a lot of good things, nuclear waste disposal will follow, he warned. This is what they are going to do. Youre going to be looking at leaking out, he said. From the point of view of our treaties with the United States, theyve broken all of them, he told a standing-room-only crowd of at least 100 people assembled in Philip at the meeting that Respec billed as the first of a number.

Midland resident Jen Jones echoed his concern over the federal involvement, saying, This is not Respecs project. Theyre going to do the research and its going to look good for them and the School of Mines and South Dakota. But it is the Department of Energys project to find a disposal repository for nuclear waste, and that is the end game of the feasibility study.

Jones group Citizens United for a Non-Nuclear South Dakota urged meeting participants to help stop the drilling before it starts by vocally opposing the DBFT in Haakon County to our commissioners, city council members, state legislators, and federal representatives through phone calls and emails.

Read the rest of the story on the Native Sun News Today website: Deep borehole test in Lakota Territory stirs deep concern

(Contact Talli Nauman at talli.nauman@gmail.com)

Copyright permission Native Sun News

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Hopefully on the other side, they are doing time.



Looking at the faces on Mount Rushmore on Presidents Day

By Native Sun News Today Editorial Board

There was once a painting by a young Indian woman that was exhibited at an Oklahoma art show. The title of her painting was Your heroes are not necessarily our heroes and the painting advised white people to try to see that Indians do not accept all of their heroes as our heroes.

This painting is especially poignant this year as America celebrates Presidents Day, a day that honors all of Americas past presidents.

There are four faces of past presidents carved in the side of a hill in the Sacred He Sapa (Black Hills). As we have done in the past it is important that some of the warts on those faces be known.

If ever we are constrained to lift the hatchet against any tribe we will never lay it down til that tribe is exterminated, or driven beyond the Mississippi . . . in war they will kill some of us; but we will destroy all of them. Adjuring them, therefore, if they wish to remain on the land which covers the bones of their fathers, to keep the peace with a people who ask friendship without needing it, who wish to avoid war without fearing it. In war, they will kill some of us; we shall destroy all of them.

-- Thomas Jefferson, August 28, 1807 I suppose I should be ashamed to say that I take the Western view of the Indian. I dont go so far as to think that the only good Indians are dead Indians, but I believe nine out of every ten are, and I shouldnt like to inquire too closely into the case of the tenth.

-- Theodore Roosevelt, January, 1886

What the faces on Mount Rushmore said about Indians:

Authorities in Minnesota asked President Lincoln to order the immediate execution of all 303 Indian males found guilty. Lincoln was concerned with how this would play with the Europeans, whom he was afraid were about to enter the war on the side of the South.

He offered the following compromise to the politicians of Minnesota: They would pare the list of those to be hung down to 39. In return, Lincoln promised to kill or remove every Indian from the state and provide Minnesota with 2 million dollars in federal funds. Remember, he only owed the Sioux 1.4 million for the land.

So, on December 26, 1862, the Great Emancipator ordered the largest mass execution in American History, where the guilt of those to be executed was entirely in doubt. Regardless of how Lincoln defenders seek to play this, it was nothing more than murder to obtain the land of the Santee Sioux and to appease his political cronies in Minnesota.

Abraham Lincoln carried out these actions against the Dakota Indians of Minnesota in order to appease the white citizens. 1862

While many Indians aided the Americans in their struggle for independence, in 1779 George Washington sent 5,000 American troops under the command of General John Sullivan to destroy the villages of the Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca as punishment for aid which they had supposedly given to the British. Washingtons orders are for the total destruction and devastation of [the Indian] settlements and capture as many prisoners as possible. George Washington  1779

It is important that Americans remember that until the December 29, 1890 massacre of Lakota men, women and children at Wounded Knee, America was at war with several of the Indian tribes of the Western United States. In prior years America and the states placed bounties upon the heads of Indian men, women and children and many were hunted down like animals and slaughtered. Their skin, scalps and oftentimes other body parts were turned in as evidence of their kill in order to collect the bounties. Thus the terminology redskins.

We simply named the four presidents whose faces are carved on Mount Rushmore. If our readers would study the history of several past presidents and their dealings with American Indians you will find many more examples of the ruthless treatment Indians received at their hands.

Find more news and opinion on the Native Sun News Today website: Looking at the faces on Mount Rushmore on Presidents Day

(Contact the Editorial Board of Native Sun News Today at editor@nsweekly.com)

Copyright permission Native Sun News

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Microsoft have announced plans to hire 600 people at its Irish operations.

500 jobs will be created in a newly established Microsoft EMEA inside sales (selling remotely by phone or online) centre in Dublin. Recruitment starts immediately, with all jobs to be filled within six months.

A further 100 jobs will be available across Microsoft's existing operations - openings are in areas including finance, operations, engineering and sales.

The company has four units in ireland: an EMEA operations centre, its European development centre, the Irish sales and marketing subsidiary and its EMEA data centre. A new 134m campus is being built by the company in the South County Business Park in Leopardstown

Dublin will now host one of Microsoft's four international sales centre.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny was at the announcement in Sandyford.

"Ireland and Microsoft have enjoyed a long and prosperous history since their establishment in Ireland in 1985 and I'm delighted that this relationship continues to bloom with the announcement of 600 new jobs in Dublin," he said.

"The Government has worked hard in recent years to make Ireland an even more attractive place to invest and growth substantial European operations. Today's announcement underlines the strong commitment of Microsoft to its Irish operation and the strength of leadership of its Irish management team."

The expansion is supported by IDA Ireland.

Microsoft first opened its doors in Ireland in 1985 with a small manufacturing facility employing just over 100 people.

The expansion of operations at its Sandyford campus takes its workforce in the capital to about 1,800 with new staff taken on mainly in sales roles.

The investment follows 500 roles being announced midweek for job recruitment site Indeed and on the back of a major blow in Kildare with HP Inc set to shut down its facility in Leixlip with the loss several hundred jobs.
Irish Examiner Political Editor, Daniel McConnell, looks at the top three contenders to be the next Fine Gael leader.

Leo Varadkar: Darling of the party; messiah for the media

Age: 38

Constituency: Dublin West

First elected to the Dail in 2007, Leo Varadkar has been touted for the leadership almost from day one.

A qualified doctor, he is an unconventional politician. Outspoken, rebellious and somewhat aloof , he is the darling of the younger Fine Gael TDs to whom he can do no wrong.

Young, handsome, articulate, and yes gay, Mr Varadkar, they feel, is the complete package needed to succeed Kenny. He wants it too.

Every move made in the past 18 months ago has been viewed in the context of his journey towards the leadership.

His lack of success in the Department of Health between 2014 and 2016 was forgiven by sections of the media who too believe he is the messiah.

We have heard countless stories in the past year about him hanging out with TDs, inviting them to race meetings, and opening constituency offices to build his support base.

Such glowing profiles have allowed him open a lead within the parliamentary party over Simon Coveney.

His coming out as gay in early 2015 was seen as a seismic moment, in the months ahead of the marriage equality referendum.

Making his announcement, Mr Varadkar said: I am a gay man. It is not a secret. Its not something that defines me. It is part of my character. Mr Varadkar said his decision to come out was driven by personal and political reasons. He revealed his sexuality saying he didnt want anyone thinking I have a hidden agenda, I always tried to be honest with people. He said he wants to be an equal citizen in a country of which he is a minister.

His attraction as a potential leader comes from his ability and willingness to speak his mind, even if it got him into trouble with his party leader, Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Breaking ranks on the issue of Garda whistleblowers in 2014 where he described them as distinguished led to a sea change in the stance of government vis-a-vis Sgt Maurice McCabe.

Support base: Most Dublin TDs including Eoghan Murphy and Noel Rock, John Paul Phelan, Jim Daly, Pat Deering and many others are card-carrying members of Team Leo.

Bookies odds: 4/11

Simon Coveney: Safe pair of hands if a little bit too cautious

Age: 44

Constituency: Cork South Central

Thrust into political life after the tragic death of his father Hugh in 1998, Simon Coveney has been written off for being too cautious and too boring, and for not being all that approachable to backbenchers and councillors.

Dealt a very difficult hand by Enda Kenny after being given responsibility for the Department of Housing, he has had to contend with the thorny issues of water, housing, and homelessness.

Even his biggest detractors will admit he has performed admirably in the role. In the wake of the budget, he made a point of selling his successes to the Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting, and by all accounts was his usual composed and assured self.

Since securing a key victory over Fianna Fail before Christmas on the issue of rent controls, Mr Coveney has seen his stock rise considerably.

This month, he oversaw the launch of the latest national planning report, and displayed a poise and confidence in the detail which portrayed someone who takes his job seriously. That is what you get with Mr Coveney. Having delivered the wallop to Barry Cowen and Fianna Fail, his workhorse approach has won him newly found respect of his colleagues. Serious Simon versus Lightweight Leo is what it will come down to. Workhorse versus show horse is how one TD put it.

On winning the seat, the raw and fresh-faced Mr Coveney paid a brief but emotional tribute to his family from the dais at the count centre in the Neptune Stadium, Cork, fighting back tears.

I wont say much about my family apart from the fact they have been hugely supportive of me, my mother and my eldest brother in particular, he said. I hope they are very proud today and Ill say nothing else.

That reluctance to open himself more, or to show passion or humanity, is still a feature of the Simon Coveney we see today. Very methodical, very cautious, and very earnest but not always exciting.

Support base: Damien English, Pat Breen, Joe Carey, Senator Tim Lombard (school friend), Maria Bailey and most TDs in Munster and south Leinster.

Betting odds: 3/1

Paschal Donohoe: Heir apparent to the Kenny wing of the party

Age: 42

Constituency: Dublin Central

While he has repeatedly ruled himself out of the race, Paschal Donohoe, has found himself being cast as a likely compromise candidate.

His rise towards the top has been swift, to say the least. Having left a big sales job at Proctor and Gamble, the amiable Phibsborough-based minister only entered the Dail in 2011.

His gentle demeanour and warm open approach has won him admirers across the floor in the Dail, but he is not shy at putting the boot in when required, as shown during his aggressive if focussed attack on Sinn Fein the other night. One of the Dails few intellectuals, Donohoe is an avid reader and music lover.

In his early days as a TD, he had to try and recover from the fact he opposed Enda Kenny in the 2010 heave and was available for every tough media assignment like appearing on the Tonight Show with Vincent Browne during some rough times.

He soon got his reward. He replaced Lucinda Creighton in 2013 as junior European Minister.

Promoted to the senior Cabinet less than a year later to Transport, he displayed a steady hand during the sale of the Governments stake in Aer Lingus and various public transport strikes.

Retaining his seat against the odds, he played a leading role in the Government formation talks and is now Public Expenditure Minister.

Under trying circumstances, he oversaw the passage of his first Budget last October and has fought hard to contain mounting public sector pay demands at a time of great uncertainty.

Support base: Has been touted as the heir apparent to the Kenny wing of the party, who may feel isolated under Coveney or Varadkar, and as such still has a shout worthy of listening to in this race.

Betting odds: 12/1
Shares fell more than 6% following Norwegians warning that costs were rising faster than expected as it expands worldwide.

The airline is building up its transatlantic operations, has up to 29 Dreamliners on order from Boeing for 17bn and is considering ordering more.

Norwegian Air, which is Europes third-biggest budget airline by passenger numbers, defended the higher cost expectations, saying it had to build capacity.

Its underlying unit cost, which excludes fuel, was down 1% year-on-year, a lower-than-expected reduction for some analysts.

CEO Bjorn Kjos said it was necessary for the airline to build up as it received Dreamliners during a presentation for investors.

CFO Frode Foss said: We are guiding upwards on costs as we have to consider our growth and what our ramp-up implies. We are recruiting 2,000 people in 2017. And those who will fly the Dreamliners, we have to train up ourselves.

A spokesperson for Norwegian told the Irish Examiner the rising costs would have no bearing on plans by its subsidiary Norwegian Air International to fly from Cork to New England from July and that the finalised routes would be announced in the coming weeks.

He said the Cork flights were not a factor of the rising costs as they would be using Boeing 737 aircraft, suitable to take off from Cork Airports shorter runway.

The spokesperson said the Dreamliners were used for existing transatlantic routes from other European airports like Gatwick, Paris and Oslo.

We will continue to use our new and existing Dreamliners to deliver new routes through 2017 and beyond.

Well see a total of 50 new global routes launched in 2017. This includes a 55% increase in our Dreamliner transatlantic routes from Gatwick, for example.

Norwegian will fly direct to the east coast, with New Hampshire and Rhode Island, near Boston and New York, the most likely airport destinations, because of their lower landing charges compared to Logan and JFK international airports.

The airline received the go-ahead from the US Department of Transport for a licence to fly from Ireland to the US in the last weeks of the Obama administration, following a protracted battle.

Opposition came from Democrats and Republicans, as well as the biggest labours union in the US, who claimed Norwegian would hire staff cheaply from Asia and undermine American jobs. Norwegian vehemently deny the claims.

President Donald Trumps administration has also signalled that it had no objections to the plans.

Meanwhile, a resilient start to 2017 from Air France-KLM and a better- than-expected operating profit lifted shares in the airline to their highest level since July.

Shares rose up to 7% in response to the 34% jump in 2016 operating profit to 1.05bn.

We are not euphoric, we are cautious, thats why were continuing to work on costs, said chief financial officer Frederic Gagey. n Additional reporting by Reuters.
People are still cautious; there is still demand for bonds and people are not ready to move into the more risky equity space, Nolting said in an interview. The perception is that there are a lot of risks out there and a lot of uncertainty.

Markets have been reeling from unexpected events including Britains vote to leave the EU and the election of Trump. Populist candidates in the Netherlands, France and Germany are stoking fears of a breakup of the EU, adding to the uncertainty.
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12 (4) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (3) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (4) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (5) Aug 04 (3) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (3) Jul 20 (3) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (3) Jul 16 (3) Jul 15 (4) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (3) Jul 12 (3) Jul 11 (3) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (3) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (3) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (1) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (5) Jun 24 (4) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (3) Jun 15 (3) Jun 14 (3) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (3) Jun 11 (4) Jun 10 (3) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (3) Jun 06 (4) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (4) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (3) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (4) May 27 (6) May 26 (3) May 25 (3) May 24 (3) May 23 (3) May 22 (5) May 21 (3) May 20 (3) May 19 (3) May 18 (4) May 17 (3) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (4) May 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11 (6) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (3) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (6) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (6) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (3) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (6) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (4) Jan 27 (5) Jan 26 (4) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (3) Jan 23 (3) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (4) Jan 19 (3) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (3) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (4) Jan 12 (3) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (4) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (3) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (5) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (7) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (5) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (6) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (7) Dec 10 (7) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (4) Dec 04 (4) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (5) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (5) Nov 28 (4) Nov 27 (5) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (4) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (3) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (5) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (3) Nov 14 (4) Nov 13 (5) Nov 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13 (6) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (4) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (5) Jul 28 (5) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (6) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (5) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (6) Jul 15 (4) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (3) Jul 10 (5) Jul 09 (4) Jul 08 (3) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (3) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (4) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (5) Jun 11 (5) Jun 10 (6) Jun 09 (5) Jun 08 (4) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (4) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (5) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (5) May 27 (3) May 26 (4) May 25 (3) May 24 (6) May 23 (4) May 22 (5) May 21 (5) May 20 (4) May 19 (5) May 18 (6) May 17 (6) May 16 (4) May 15 (4) May 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(6) Nov 15 (4) Nov 14 (11) Nov 13 (11) Nov 12 (9) Nov 11 (6) Nov 10 (9) Nov 09 (9) Nov 08 (7) Nov 07 (7) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (8) Nov 04 (6) Nov 03 (4) Nov 02 (7) Nov 01 (5) Oct 31 (7) Oct 30 (6) Oct 29 (7) Oct 28 (4) Oct 27 (7) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (7) Oct 24 (4) Oct 23 (7) Oct 22 (7) Oct 21 (6) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (7) Oct 18 (6) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (8) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (6) Oct 13 (7) Oct 12 (5) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (8) Oct 09 (8) Oct 08 (7) Oct 07 (7) Oct 06 (7) Oct 05 (8) Oct 04 (6) Oct 03 (8) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (10) Sep 29 (7) Sep 28 (10) Sep 27 (10) Sep 26 (11) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (6) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (5) Sep 21 (8) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (6) Sep 18 (6) Sep 17 (7) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (6) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (6) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (10) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (3) Sep 08 (8) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (7) Sep 05 (8) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (6) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (6) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (4) Aug 28 (5) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (5) Aug 25 (9) Aug 24 (7) Aug 23 (8) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (9) Aug 20 (8) Aug 19 (7) Aug 18 (6) 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An inquest into the death of Tadgh McGinley, aged 82, of Letterkenny, Co Donegal, heard he died of spinal chord injuries from a crash 11 days before.

However, because of an oversight, the coroner, Denis McCauley, was not informed of the death until after Mr McGinley had been buried.

Mr McGinley, of Larkins Lane, died in Letterkenny University Hospital on October 31, 2015, 11 days after he was involvedn in a road traffic collision near Woodlands national school in Letterkenny.

The inquest was told that Mr McGinley only had one remaining relative, a son, and that he lived somewhere in Canada.

However, garda attempts to contact him and to tell him about his fathers inquest, had not been successful.

Dr McCauley said Mr McGinleys death was considered an unnatural death, but, due to the oversight, he was buried without an autopsy taking place. However, Dr McCauley said it was a situation that would not happen again.

He said he had the right to order an exhumation of the body, but said, in this case, it served no good purpose, as he had details of the injuries Mr McGinley received.

Witness John Friel said he was driving his Tesco van on a delivery at 11.20am when he was stopped at temporary traffic lights near the school. He felt a significant impact to the rear of his van.

When he got out, he saw a red Opel Corsa wedged under the back of his van and then it reversed back onto a grass verge.

There was one female passenger, who was uninjured, and Mr McGinley, the driver, who complained of a sore neck.

Mr Friel said he did not notice if Mr McGinley was wearing a seatbelt.

Teresa Boyce, the passenger, said she was a neighbour of Mr McGinleys and she was getting a lift to a medical appointment on the day of the crash. She said she warned Mr McGinley to slow down as they approached the van, but that he was driving at normal speed.

Garda Paul McGuire said that there was a reasonable amount of damage done to the car, but that Mr McGinley remained conscious and coherent until brought to hospital.

Dr McCauley said an X-ray showed Mr McGinley fractured two vertebrae at the top of his neck and this affected his spinal cord, which, in turn, affected his respiration.

Over the course of a number of days, he began to deteriorate and was eventually s unable to breathe by himself and died on October 31, 2015.

Pathologist Gerry ODowd, who was at the inquest, said his opinion was that the spinal cord damage was the critical injury.

The jury returned a verdict of death from a spinal injury, as the result of a road traffic accident.
The Fine Gael-Independents coalition lost the vote, which also included calls for Northern Ireland to be given special status within the EU, by 77 to 61 amid claims the Government is throwing in the towel on hopes of preventing a hard border.

The vote to create a Brexit minister means the Government will now be asked to do so, contradicting the long-held view by Taoiseach Enda Kenny that there is no need for a specific minister to have responsibility for the issue.

However, while the ballot places fresh pressure on the coalition, it does not mean the Government will be forced to create the role.

The vote result came as Fianna Fail public expenditure spokesperson Dara Calleary warned the Government is throwing in the towel on hopes of preventing a hard border.

Speaking during the Dail debate, Mr Calleary cited an Irish Examiner article earlier this week by saying Revenue is scouting for customs post locations along the border.

The situation was rejected by Education Minister Richard Bruton, who said it would be a huge backward step.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny told the finance committee yesterday he was not aware of the situation until the report emerged and did not request.

However, Mr Calleary said that the issue shows the Government is now accepting the possibility that a hard border may occur, saying this shows the need for a Brexit minister.

Meanwhile, at a separate event in Dublin last night EU agriculture commissioner Phil Hogan said that political parties must put on the green jersey in order to adequately tackle the Brexit hammer blow.

Brexit came as a hammer blow, and while Ireland finds itself in an invidious position, it is taking to the challenge with steel in its spine.

If ever there was a time for all politicians and parties to put on the green jersey, this is it, he told an Institute of International and European Affairs.

Reinforcing old coalitions and building new ones is the correct way to proceed.

The EU Brexit negotiators are mandated to pursue the broader European interest.

The challenge for Ireland therefore is to, wherever possible, ensure that our national interest is built into the negotiating positions outlining the European interest, he said.
The advice came in an email sent by an area manager in Dublin on Wednesday to over 150 recipients.

It came just five days after a similar message was issued to staff by Tusla chief executive Fred McBride concerning the scrutiny in the media and public circles that the agency is facing in the wake of the Maurice McCabe scandal.

In the email, the area manager acknowledged that there were serious issues in respect of how the McCabe case was handled and advised staff to report any incidents they feel may warrant attention.

Clearly there are serious issues in respect of our handling of the current case, but I know, and you know, that this is not representative of the way we do our work on a day to day basis with families.

We do need to recognise when we make mistakes and apologise. If there is practice with families in our own local area that do not come up to the high standard we set ourselves I want to address these.

Please talk to your managers or me if there are such situations that you think need to be addressed. We also have a Protected Disclosures Policy, details available here [website address].

Lastly our reputation is important to me and all the managers in Tusla, because it is important in improving outcomes for children. We will work hard to repair any damage that has been done and it that end (sic), if there is any way I can assist locally in meeting particular groups, please let me know, states the email.

On 10 February, Mr McBride also addressed staff in an internal memo where he acknowledged the negative attention the agency was receiving.
Photo credit: A still frame from Incoming, Richard Mosses current work at the Barbican in London. Pictures courtesy of Richard Mosse, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York and carlier|gebauer, Berlin.

WHEN I meet Kilkenny native Richard Mosse, hes directing the finishing touches to the paint-scented exhibition space of The Curve in the Barbican Centre, London.

Along with collaborators Ben Frost and Trevor Tweeten, theyre ensuring Incoming, their three-year project on refugee and illegal migration, is just as he envisaged back in his warehouse studio in New York, which involves tinkering with the backlight of panoramic stills of refugee camps and adjusting sound levels of the three-screen film, hampered only slightly by the London Symphony Orchestra rehearsing next door.

The four-piece project follows Mosses Deutsche Borse Photography Prize-winning exhibition of The Enclave in 2013, which used a defunct military camera that turned camouflage-green into a trippy pink to create surreal and striking imagery of the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. For Incoming, the military equipment used was a high-spec thermal camera with such accuracy that it is able to identify faces from 6km away, day or night.

In a way, the two works are in dialogue, he explains, after one of the final run-throughs of the 52-minute film. If The Enclave was looking backwards at a part of photographic thats extinct, then Incoming is looking forward.

Richard Mosse

I was using this military technology against itself. Im trying to use it to meditate on the refugee crisis, to reveal aspects of it that maybe would be overlooked. Its a good space to reveal how our governments regard the refugees. Its really about western subjectivity - thats why I titled in Incoming, because there are significant meanings to that word.

Part documentary, part political statement, and always beautiful in its delivery, it depicts journeys from either the Middle East or from Africa, where nationals flee danger, persecution, or climate change as their lands are no longer arable. To capture the various stages of migration, Mosse and his crew travelled across three continents to find key points of their journey.

The Sahara Desert was the most dangerous place, because of Al Qaeda, he explains. But we had 18 soldiers as escorts  it felt like a whole platoon.

We wanted to film in Mali, but there was a full-scale war there, so instead we intercepted the refugees in Niger, which isnt particularly safe either.

Between almost voyeuristic glimpses of everyday life, a choice few scenes shock their way into memory: a smiling face with eyes made soulless by the heat-detecting camera. The Jungle refugee camp in Calais set alight, looking like a raging inferno through the lens. Two children in a refugee camp playing near a patrolling security guard, a reversal of the invisibility-dynamic between refugees and the West. A medics handprint as they attempt to warm up a body rescued from the sea. A key scene in a morgue, where the femur bone is extracted from putrefying body of an 11-year-old girl for its DNA.

Safe From Harm, 2012, one of a series of pictures Mosse, right, took in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Pictures courtesy of Richard Mosse, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York and carlier|gebauer, Berlin.

That was pretty horrific to film, Richard recalls. The smell was mortifying. The camera neutralised the gruesomeness in a way that was effective for communicating that narrative  had it been shown in colour, would have been too much for an exhibition.

I expected to come out and vomit, but actually I came out feeling somehow lifted by the humanity of these Greek pathologists who treated the bodies with the utmost care. Of course, Greece doesnt have to do this. Its a bankrupt nation, these people are stateless.

Interest in this exhibition is palpable; it will be shown in the Barbican before moving to Australia later in the year. The million dollar question: Will it be shown in Ireland?

Its not scheduled but Id like to show it, especially as Im spending more time in Ireland, he says.

His family isnt the sole reason for his more frequent visits; last year, he bought a home in Co Clare as a retreat from New York life.

Its very special, its a tiny stone cottage in a national park, says Mosse. Its very modest and isolated, and I spend about a quarter of my time there now.

Pool at Udays Palace, which Mosse took of American soldiers in 2009 at the former home of Saddam Husseins son. Pictures courtesy of Richard Mosse, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York and carlier|gebauer, Berlin.

New York is great for making work and its arguably the epicentre of the art world, but its great to be able to recharge your batteries, to be able to think, sleep and walk on the hills. The best ideas are when youre retreating from the world.

The son of Nicholas Mosse of the pottery empire, and from a long lineage of sculptors, stone-carvers, and painters, 37-year-old Mosse remembers an art-filled childhood in Kilkenny.

We had artists come in and out the house, poets too, they were a crazy crew, Mosse recalls. But no one I knew was a photographer, so that was my way of carving out a niche.

He studied in prestigious places such as Kings College, Goldsmiths, and the Yale School of Art, before finding a niche as a documentary photographer, trying to inhabit the contemporary art world.

It was with his pink period, as he describes, that his work began to make a global impression, so much that it seeped through to popular culture with Netflix film Beasts of No Nation. This, in addition to exhibitions in Ireland, Florence, Berlin (where he also lived), Amsterdam, Iceland, and the world-famous Venice Biennale

In the last few years, hes made New York his base, but proving that you can take the man from Ireland etc, he underplays the move.

A still frame from Incoming, showing refugees in the Mediterranean through a high-spec thermal camera. Pictures courtesy of Richard Mosse, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York and carlier|gebauer, Berlin.

New York isnt going to make you a better artist, its just that you have to play a different game, he says. Some people dont like that game and they find it ridiculous, and theyre probably right.

I enjoy all that, but I dont spend too much time in New York anyway, because of my field work Im on a plane every week. So I dont go to openings or hob-nob with curators as much as I should. Most of the time Im out there making my work.

Indeed, its a determined artist that spend months flying to hard-to-reach places; not only the Democratic Republic of Congo, but in three continents for this piece alone.

Especially when you travel a lot, you compromise on the rest of your life, he says, as our conversation wraps up. But I refuse to change that because Im committed to my work. I believe in it.
Asia UN Wants to Negotiate with US, Canada to Resettle Refugees from Burma

Refugee children look on at Leda Unregistered Refugee Camp in Teknaf, Bangladesh, Feb. 15, 2017. / Reuters

COXS BAZAR, Bangladesh  The UN refugee agency has asked Bangladesh to allow it to negotiate with the United States, Canada, and some European countries to resettle around 1,000 Muslim refugees living in the South Asian nation, a senior official at the agency said.

Tens of thousands of Rohingya live in Bangladesh after fleeing Buddhist-majority Burma since the early 1990s, and their number has been swelled in recent months by an estimated 69,000 escaping an army crackdown in northern Arakan State.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) would push for resettlement of those most in need, despite growing resistance in some developed countries, particularly the United States under President Donald Trump, UNHCRs Bangladesh representative, Shinji Kubo, told Reuters on Thursday.

UNHCR will continue to work with the authorities concerned, including in the United States, Kubo said.

Regardless of the change in government or government policies, I think UNHCR has a clear responsibility to pursue a protection-oriented resettlement program.

Kubo said 1,000 Rohingya refugees had been identified as priorities for resettlement on medical grounds or because they have been separated from their family members living abroad.

Resettlement will always be a challenging thing because only a small number of resettlement opportunities are being allocated by the international community at the moment, Kubo said in an interview. But its our job to try to consult with respective countries based on the protection and humanitarian needs of these individuals.

H.T. Imam, a political adviser to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said the resettlement proposal was unrealistic due to reluctance in the United States and Europe to take further Muslim refugees.

Reuters reported this month that officials at an Australian immigration center in Papua New Guinea were increasing pressure on asylum seekers to return to their home countries voluntarily, including offering large sums of money, amid fears a deal for the United States to take refugees had fallen through.

Canada, Australia, and the United States were the top providers of asylum to Rohingya Muslims who came to Bangladesh from Burma before Dhaka stopped the program around 2012. A Bangladesh government official said it was feared the program would encourage more people from Burma to use it as a transit country to seek asylum in the West.

Canada has said it would welcome those fleeing persecution, terror, and war, after Trump put a four-month hold on allowing refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries into the United States, an order since suspended by a U.S. district judge.

The UNHCR supports around 34,000 refugees living in two government-registered camps in the Bangladesh coastal district of Coxs Bazar, but a greater number of Rohingya live in makeshift settlements nearby, unregistered and officially ineligible to receive international aid.

Kubo said he had asked Bangladesh to give the UN access to all the refugees who have recently arrived, adding that UNHCR and other international agencies were also willing to provide aid to poor Bangladeshis living near the refugee settlements to counter local resentment at the influx.

Hasina adviser Imam said providing aid to the new refugees and its citizens was the responsibility of the government.

Were now hoping for immediate access to the affected areas in northern Arakan as soon as possible with our resources, our protection expertise, Kubo said. That will also have a positive impact on what is happening in Bangladesh at the moment.
Burma More Than 100 Rapes Reported Across Burma in January

A policeman locks law enforcement facilities. / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  A total of 125 rape cases were reported in January across Burma, including 81 rape cases involving children, according to police records.

State media reported on Wednesday that in Rangoon, there were a total of 25 rape cases, 20 of which concerned the rape of underage victims.

In Irrawaddy Division, 21 rapes were reported, with 14 committed against minors.

Daw Kyi Pyar, a Rangoon regional lawmaker from Kyauktada Township, said that the high number of reported rapes could be attributed to increased public awareness of sexual abuse, and better access to legal advice due to the work of rights groups and legal aid organizations.

Parents need to provide awareness to their kids, and courts also should make fair decisions by respecting rules and regulations, she said, calling for offenders convicted of child rape to be sentenced to at least 20 years in prison.

Currently, the child rape cases are charged under Article 376 of Burmas Penal Code, which states that offenders of rape cases shall be punished with up to 20 years imprisonment or for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to a fine.

The Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Minister U Win Myat Aye said last year in November that the ministry had revised the 1993 Child Law to increase the punishment for such offenses against minors.

The Child Law did not previously mention offenses or punishment regarding sexual abuse cases, the minister pointed out.

In the recent revision we added a set punishment for child rape cases of 10 to 20 years, along with a fine, U Win Myat Aye told The Irrawaddy.

A total of 1,100 rape cases were reported to authorities across Burma in 2016, with 671 of those crimes committed against minors.
Burma Arakan State Plans to Complete Border Trade Zone

Boats are tied up on the Naf River close to the No. 1 Border Trade Post in Maungdaw Township. / Moe Myint / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  The Arakan State government has earmarked 1.5 billion kyats (US$1.1 million) of its 2017-18 fiscal year budget to complete construction of the Kanyin Chaung border trade zone in the outskirts of Maungdaw Township, according to a regional minister.

The cost of the full projectto include warehouses, trade showrooms, government offices, and transportation between Kanyin Chaung and downtown Maungdawcould ultimately total about 2 billion kyats ($1.5 million), said U Kyaw Aye Thein, the regional minister for finance, taxation, planning and economics.

To provide the needed funds, the Arakan State cabinet will make adjustments to the states budget allocation before the 2017-18 fiscal year begins on April 1, said U Kyaw Aye Thein.

The Kanyin Chaung project has been under construction for several years. A government administration building, trade showrooms, and two boat jetties have already been built. But the compound and traffic road have not yet been constructed.

Local businesses are ready to move into the Kanyin Chaung border trade zone, but they are waiting for the project to be completed, according to commerce ministry official U Kyaw Khin Myint.

In 2016, the government spent 600 million kyats ($441,000) on jetties and the administration office. Maungdaw merchants contributed 400 million kyats ($294,000) to build showrooms, U Kyaw Khin Myint told The Irrawaddy.

Minister U Kyaw Aye Thein said the finalized budget will be announced in April, and the state government will then invite interested developers on an open tender system. Once the finances are worked out, full-time construction is expected to resume in late May.

Vice President U Myint Swe met with Maungdaw businessmen on Thursday and discussed how the Kanyin Chaung project would be completed before the end of 2017, according to U Aung Thein, a Maungdaw Border Trade Chamber of Commerce member.

During the 2015-16 fiscal year, the Ministry of Commerce reported that $5.44 million worth of imports and exports passed through the Maungdaw border trading post. Border trade has been lower during the current fiscal yeartotaling $4.7 million through Januaryas a consequence of the Oct. 9 attacks on border posts and the security operations in the area which followed.

In those attacks, Muslim militants hit three border outposts in Maungdaw Township, killing nine police officers, and looting firearms. The Burma Army implemented a lockdown on the region, and border trade was temporarily halted.

Trade resumed on Dec. 24 after the region was said to be stabilized.

The situation of Maungdaw is stabilizing now, and the Muslims from the northern part of Maungdaw regularly travel to the downtown area in their cars, said commerce official U Khin Kyaw Myint.
Burma Fresh Clashes Break Out Between Burma Army and MNDAA

MNDAA soldiers. / Lachid Kachin

RANGOON  Renewed clashes have erupted between the Burma Army and the Kokang rebels of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in Kon Kyan and Maw Htike in the Kokang Self-Administered Zone.

A brigade commander of the MNDAA told The Irrawaddy on the condition of anonymity that it had been almost one month since government troops had last launched attacks on MNDAAs Brigade No. 211, based in Kon Kyan.

Clashes are fierce. The Tatmadaw has been using air strikes, artillery fire and so on. Clashes were quite serious both yesterday and today, he said.

Information about casualties and injuries from the two sides, as well as involving civilians, are still unknown, he said. It is very likely that clashes may continue.

When asked by The Irrawaddy about the clashes, director Maj-Gen Aung Ye Win of the Directorate of Public Relations and Psychological Warfare under Ministry of Defense said: For the time being, we have no plan to release news. But we will if necessary.

The Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA), which is allied with the MNDAA in the four-member ethnic coalition known as the Northern Alliance, has urged the government to find the solution through peaceful negotiations.

If Burmas government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi can not stop Burma Armys ongoing offensives, Daw Aung San Suu Kyis words of peace will just be lip service. It wont succeed, Col Tar Bone Kyaw, TNLA spokesperson, told The Irrawaddy.

He said that there have been ongoing clashes between TNLA mobile troops and government soldiers in Nam Phat Kha in Kutkai Township.

MNDAA has not signed signing Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), but it has said that it would like to attend the 21st Century Panglong peace conference.

In 2009, the Burma Army attacked the MNDAA in Laukkai in connection with drug and weapon production, and took control of the Kokang area. In Feb.

2015, MNDAA troops attacked Burma military outposts in an attempt to retake the Kokang Self-Administered Zone. The clashes went on for around four months and there were heavy casualties.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko
Burma Tatmadaw and NMSP Meet to Discuss Seized Mon Checkpoints

Burma Army troops and police raided an NMSP office in Ye Township on Feb. 15, 2017. / Bayar Hongsar / Facebook

RANGOON  The Tatmadaw and the New Mon State Party (NMSP) met on Thursday to address the conflict surrounding Burma Army troops seizure of two small NMSP bases and the raiding of the organizations liaison office in Ye Township, Mon State.

At the Southeastern Commands compound in Moulmein, representatives from the Tatmadaws Southeastern Command and the New Mon State Party discussed the Tatmadaws actions against the NMSPs military wing, the Mon National Liberation Army (MNLA). On Wednesday, the Burma Army took control of two MNLA checkpoints, typically used to collect taxes: Zee Hna Pin base in Thanbyuzayat Township and Phayataung base near Three Pagodas Pass on the Burma-Thailand border.

Gen Myo Win, the commander of the Burma Armys Southeastern Command and the Mon State security and border affairs minister, represented the government in the meeting and the NMSP delegation was led by its general secretary, Nai Aung Min, and head of NMSPs internal affairs department, Nai Win Hla.

Nai Win Hla said there is no current tension, but that the two bases have not yet been returned to them by the Burma Army.

We were told that these bases would be returned, as is described in our bilateral ceasefire agreements, so we could say that the military tension is over, he added.

Nai Win Hla said that they both agreed to hold further discussions on the current issues and that the Tatmadaw also urged the NMSP to sign the countrys nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA).

We think it is [about] pressuring us to sign the NCA, said Nai Hong Sar, the vice chairman of the NMSP. He recalled that his organization ordered its troops to abandon the two bases in question, due to the Tatmadaws force. However, he added that they also left partly they because those bases were not as strategic as other bases under the groups control.

We could abandon them as long as we could avoid military engagement [by doing so], as we do not want to harm the current peace process. But we wouldnt [abandon them] if the intimations had affected our key military positions, he said.

Nai Soe Myint, the secretary of the Mon National Party, said that he heard the Phayataung checkpoint [near Three Pagodas Pass] would not be returned, but the rest would be, because of the bilateral agreements.

He said that the NMSP chairman Nai Htaw Mon also shared a letter with the general in which he said he hoped for the tension to subside, and that they are trying their best to be able to take part in the upcoming 21st Century Panglong peace conference.

Nyein Nyein contributed to this report.
Burma Ukraine Wants Closer Military Ties with Burma, Expert Says

President U Htin Kyaw receives Mr. Pavlo Klimkin, the foreign affairs minister of Ukraine, in Naypyidaw on Jan. 12, 2017. / Presidents Office

CHIANG MAI, Thailand  Ukraine will export new armored vehicles to the Burma Army, and the Eastern European nation is enthusiastic about boosting its military cooperation with Burma, according to a prominent Ukrainian military expert.

The Ukraine and Burma indeed have intensified their military cooperation recently, said Sergiy Zgurets, who is the director of the Center for Army Conversion and Disarmament Studies based in Kiev.

Ukraine fulfilled the obligations of their previous military contract, which was signed in 2013, he said. Now the countries have a second contract.

Zgurets stated that Ukraine will deliver new armored vehicles to the Burma Army, but he would not name the exact model of the vehicles or their number.

Its a sensitive issue because Ukraines army also needs these armored vehicles, but the state-owned arms company, Ukroboronprom, is selling them to Burma to earn money, Zgurets told The Irrawaddy.

In May 2016, the Ukrainian blog site Military Navigator reported that the Burma Army was interested in buying more BTR-3U armored personnel carriers. The BTR-3U is a modern 8-wheeled vehicle armed with a 30 millimeter canon and capable of carrying anti-tank missiles.

According to Military Navigator, the Burma Army already operates about 50 BTR-3 vehicles and has plans to acquire more. The website posted photos of Burma Army soldiers conducting training exercises alongside the BTR-3 armored vehicles.

On Jan. 12, Burma President U Htin Kyaw said that his government would promote a stronger bilateral relationship with Ukraine after meeting with Mr. Pavlo Klimkin, Ukraines foreign affairs minister, at the presidential palace in Naypyidaw.

Mr. Klimkin also met with Burmas military chief, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, during his visit to Naypyidaw.

The Presidents Office website announced on Jan. 13 that Burmese and Ukrainian officials discussed matters related to bilateral relations and cooperation, promotion of people-to-people relations, the tourism sector and investment opportunities in Myanmar [Burma].

In a sign of the two nations growing relationship, Ukraine also opened its first consulate in Rangoon on Jan. 11, a day before the Ukrainian foreign minister paid his visit to Naypyidaw.

Although Burma and Ukraine established diplomatic relations in 1999, until recently Ukraine conducted most of its Burma-related affairs through the Ukrainian embassy in Thailand.

Oksana Grytsenko, a Ukrainian journalist at Kyiv Post reported from Kiev, capital of Ukraine.
Concerto-Aria Concert to Feature Student Soloists

Feb. 2, 2017

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. The Illinois Wesleyan Symphony Orchestra (IWSO) will present the annual Henry Charles Memorial Concerto-Aria Concert Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. at Second Presbyterian Church, 404 N. Prairie St., Bloomington.

Blake Miller '18 Grace Ricks '18 Jacob Taitel '18 Justin Li '19 Kelsey Maka '17 Ryan Andersen '17 John McHugh '17 

The concert will feature seven students who were chosen as winners of the School of Musics Concerto-Aria competition. This years soloists are Ryan Andersen 17 (Franksville, Wis.), cello; Justin Li 19 (Hong Kong), violin; Kelsey Maka 17 (Mokena, Ill.), soprano; John McHugh 17 (Palatine, Ill.), baritone; Blake Miller 18 (Arthur, Ill.), bass-baritone; Grace Ricks 18 (Murphysboro, Ill.), trombone; and Jacob Taitel 18 (Deerfield, Ill.), tuba.

Being a soloist with a full orchestra has been a dream of mine since I watched the Concerto-Aria concert my sophomore year and saw one of my best friends absolutely shine while singing her aria, said McHugh, a voice major. I was fortunate enough to sing with the IWSO during this years production of Le Nozze di Figaro, and now, I get to sing with them again! I never thought this could happen to me.

This program includes McHughs vocal selection, Madamina, il catalogo e questo from Mozarts Don Giovanni; Maka singing Senza mamma from Puccinis Suor Angelica; Miller singing Quand la flamme de lamour by Georges Bizet; Taitel performing Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra I. Allegro Moderato by John Williams; Li performing Beethovens Violin Concerto in D Major Op. 61 III. Rondo: Allegro; Ricks presenting Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra, I: Maestoso  Allegro Molto by Gordon Jacob; and Andersen performing Pezzo Capriccioso in B Minor, Op. 62 by Tchaikovsky.

Maka also felt that all of her practice paid off when she was selected for the Concerto-Aria Concert. I felt very happy that all the hours I spent practicing and preparing came through in my audition, she said. It really means a lot to be chosen as a Concerto Aria soloist because the level of talent at IWU is exceptionally high.

The Illinois Wesleyan Symphony Orchestra is conduced by Lev Ivanov, visiting assistant professor of music. The Feb. 24 program will also include Ballet Music from The Perfect Fool by Gustav Holst. The concert is free and open to the public.

By Reilly Kasprak '17
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Feb. 17, 2017) - Advantage Lithium Corp. (the "Company" or "Advantage Lithium") (TSX VENTURE:AAL) is pleased to announce the closing of its previously announced private placement financing of 26,667,000 subscription receipts of the Company ("Subscription Receipts") for aggregate proceeds of approximately $20 million (the "Offering"). The funds will primarily be used to develop the advanced Cauchari asset, including its large defined exploration target, and five other wholly owned (100%) Argentine assets comprising ~85,543 hectares. The Cauchari project lies close to Orocobre's lithium production facility and has the potential for fast-tracked, low cost production.

News Highlights

$20 Million financing complete.

Drilling expected to start at Cauchari as early as March, 2017, focusing and expanding both laterally and at depth on area of the inferred resource estimate as well as drill testing the large exploration target defined with a range of 0.25 to 5.6 mt of lithium carbonate and 0.9 mt to 19 mt of potash (KCl). 1

Cauchari hosts an inferred resource containing an estimated 230 million cubic metres of brine at ~380 mg/l Li and 3,700 mg/l K. This is equivalent to 470,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate (~88,000 tonnes lithium metal) and 1.62 million tonnes of potash (KCl - equivalent to ~840,000 tonnes of potassium).

The project is adjacent to Lithium America's Cauchari project. Lithium Americas recently proposed a combined equity and debt financing of USD $286M investment by Bangchak Petroleum Public Company Ltd. and GFL International Ltd. to put its project into production.

David Sidoo, CEO and President, of Advantage Lithium, commented, "With this $20M financing complete, we intend to move forward rapidly with Orocobre to close the Acquisition, and begin drilling at Cauchari, by the end of March, focusing on the large exploration targets. As the recent $286M investment in LAC's adjacent Cauchari project has shown, this is one of Argentina's premier lithium districts. The Cauchari project that Advantage Lithium and Orocobre will jointly own, is in close proximity to Orocobre's lithium production facility, which is on track to produce 15,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate this year. With a 27,771 hectare land package and initial, near-surface resource already in place, we're looking forward to the upcoming work programs to advance and develop Cauchari."

The Offering was led by Eight Capital (formerly, Dundee Capital Partners) and Canaccord Genuity Corp. (the "Agents"). The Agents were paid a cash commission equal to 6% (2.5% cash fee on the President's List) of the gross proceeds of the Offering, 50% of which was paid on closing of the Offering and the other 50% of which will be payable upon satisfaction of the escrow release conditions applicable to the subscription receipts (the "Escrow Release Conditions"), which require among other things, the completion of the Acquisition with Orocobre by March 31, 2017. The Agents were also issued 1,131,896 compensation warrants (the "Agent's Compensation Warrants"), 50% of which will be cancelled if the Escrow Release Conditions are not met. The Agent's Compensation Warrants will otherwise have the same terms described in the Company's January 24, 2017 news release. Other finders (the "Finders") were paid finder's fees totaling $154,184.59, 50% of which was paid on closing of the Offering and the other 50% of which will be paid upon satisfaction of the Escrow Release Conditions. The Finders were also issued 352,422 finder's warrants, 50% of which will be cancelled if the Escrow Release Conditions are not met. The finder's warrants have the same terms as the Agent's Compensation Warrants. The Offering is subject to the final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Further details regarding the Offering are contained in the Company's news release of January 24, 2017.

Further to the Company's news release of January 24, 2017, the Company is actively working with Orocobre to complete all tasks and finalize the definitive agreements under which the Company will acquire up to 75% of Orocobre's Cauchari project and a 100% interest in five other lithium brine projects, comprising a total of 85,543 ha, located in the northern provinces of Jujuy, Salta and Catamarca in Argentina's lithium triangle (the "Acquisition"). Completion of the Acquisition is expected to occur before March 31, 2017.

About Advantage Lithium Corp.

Advantage Lithium Corp. is a resource company specializing in the strategic acquisition, exploration and development of lithium properties and is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. The common shares of the company are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "AAL". The company has signed an LOI, subject to definitive agreement, with lithium producer, Orocobre, to acquire 100% interest in five projects in Argentina and a 75% interest in a sixth, called Cauchari. Cauchari is host to a near-surface resource of 470,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) and 1.62 million tonnes of potash (KCL), and a large exploration target of 5.6mt to 0.25mt of LCE and 19mt to 0.9 of KCL. Cauchari is located just 20 km south Orocobre's flagship Olaroz Lithium Facility. The Company is also earning an interest from Nevada Sunrise Gold Corp., in a portfolio of five lithium brine projects in the Clayton and Lida Valley regions of Nevada, USA, including 70% in Clayton NE. In addition, the Company has acquired 100% of the Stella Marys lithium brine project, immediately adjacent to Orocobre's Salinas Grandes project that hosts an inferred, near-surface resource, in Argentina's Lithium Triangle.

Further information about the Company can be found at www.advantagelithium.com.
ROAD TOWN, BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS--(Marketwired - February 17, 2017) - Talon Metals Corp. ("Talon" or the "Company") (TSX: TLO) is pleased to provide an update on the Tamarack Nickel-Copper-PGE project ("Tamarack Project"), located in Minnesota, USA. The Tamarack Project comprises the Tamarack North Project and the Tamarack South Project. Talon owns an 18.45% interest in the Tamarack Project.

2017 Winter Exploration Program

Kennecott Exploration Company ("Kennecott") has commenced an approximately US$3-million exploration program at the Tamarack Project, with three drill rigs working in different areas of the Tamarack Intrusive Complex.

Whereas the successful 2016 Summer Exploration Program primarily focused on stepping away from known mineralization (see the Company's press releases dated December 13, 2016 and December 19, 2016), the 2017 Winter Exploration Program is mainly focused on testing new targets. Many of these new targets have been identified from the expanded gravity and magnetotelluric ("MT") surveys completed during 2016.

The primary objectives for the 2017 Winter Exploration Program are to:

Test new targets based upon interpretations from geophysical survey results, located southwest of the 480 Zone, northwest and southeast of the 221 Zone and west of the 164 Zone;

Follow-up with step-out drilling in the 480 Zone north of the Tamarack Zone, where previous drilling identified an intrusion hosting shallow mineralization; and to

Test a modeled depression in the Fine Grained Peridotite ("FGO") located along the intrusion axis or 'keel' in the 164 Zone. This target has a similar geological setting as the Tamarack Zone and the 138 Zone and is located approximately 900 meters south of the 138 Zone.

As of February 14, 2017, six drill holes have already been completed and three drill holes were in progress (see Figure 1). Results will be released upon receipt of QA/QC'd assays.

Figure 1: Plan showing locality areas of proposed drill holes for the 2017 Winter Exploration Program



Corporate Update

In late January, the Company received US$2-million from Resource Capital Fund VI L.P. in accordance with the terms of the amended loan agreement dated November 25, 2017 (see the Company's press release dated January 18, 2017). These proceeds are being used by the Company to fund, among other things, its 18.45% share of the 2017 Winter Exploration Program at the Tamarack Project.

Talon has already advanced its share of the cost of the 2017 Winter Exploration Program to Kennecott. Following the 2017 Winter Exploration Program, it is expected that Kennecott will utilize all of the data accumulated from the Tamarack Project to date to make a decision in regards to the next steps at the Tamarack Project.

As discussed in the Company's press release dated December 19, 2016, Kennecott has until September 25, 2017 to make an election whether to grant Talon Nickel (USA) LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Talon, the option to either purchase its interest in the Tamarack Project or form the Mining Venture Agreement. The Company will keep shareholders abreast of any material developments in respect of this subject matter.

Quality Assurance, Quality Control and Qualified Person

The locations and distances highlighted on all maps in this news release are approximate.

James McDonald, Vice President, Resource Geology of Talon is a Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-101. Mr. McDonald is satisfied that the analytical and testing procedures used are standard industry operating procedures and methodologies, and he has reviewed, approved and verified the technical information disclosed in this news release, including sampling, analytical and test data underlying the technical information.

About Talon

Talon is a TSX-listed company focused on the exploration and development of the Tamarack Nickel-Copper-PGE Project in Minnesota, USA (which comprises the Tamarack North Project and the Tamarack South Project). The Company has a well-qualified exploration and mine management team with extensive experience in project management.
VANCOUVER, Feb. 17, 2017 /CNW/ - Mirasol Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: MRZ, OTCPK: MRZLF "Mirasol") has received notice from Cerro Vanguardia S.A. (CVSA), a majority owned subsidiary of AngloGold Ashanti, of termination of the Exploration and Option (JV) Agreement signed February 29, 2016 for the Claudia Gold-Silver Project, Santa Cruz Province Argentina. The Claudia project adjoins the southern border of CVSA's Cerro Vanguardia mining operation.

Mirasol exploration at the Claudia project identified five epithermal gold and silver (Au+Ag) prospects which are separated by areas of no sampling due to post-mineral gravel cover. The prospects lie between 15 and 35 km to the south of the Cerro Vanguardia mine. CVSA has completed a combined 7,525 m of reverse-circulation (RC) and diamond core (DDH) drilling at the project during the 11 month JV period, and reported to Mirasol cumulative JV expenditures of US$ 1.89 million to end of January 2017.

The majority of the CVSA JV drilling has been focused along a 2.2 km section of the Io vein, one of six trends identified to-date in the 15 km long Curahue prospect. The Io drilling has outlined a 600 m long, open-ended body of Ag+Au mineralization that starts from a few metres below surface and has been tested to depths of 135 m (see news release December 16, 2016). Drilling intercepts report to thin, high-grade epithermal veins which occur within thicker vein and veinlet zones defining broader composited intervals of lower-grade mineralization, such as:

High-grade vein : 0.6 m at 11.72 g/t Au and 1,224 g/t Ag (0.6m at 32.13 g/t AuEq60 * ).

: 0.6 m at 11.72 g/t Au and 1,224 g/t Ag (0.6m at 32.13 g/t AuEq60 ). Vein and veinlet composite: 9.3 m at 1.40 g/t Au and 134.6 g/t Ag (9.3 m at 3.65 g/t g/t AuEq60).

In a number of areas, CVSA conducted "scout drilling" of other multi-kilometre long structures within the Curahue Trend with the best intersection from an RC drill hole on the Europa vein returning an assay of 2 m at 4.90 g/t Au and 14.2 g/t Ag, starting from surface. CVSA also drilled three DDH holes at the Rio Seco prospect. The three holes intersected multiple downhole intervals of epithermal veining between 0.5 and 5.75 metres wide returning anomalous assays of Au+Ag mineralization. Vein textures in the Rio Seco holes are consistent with those occurring at the top of a epithermal precious metal system, suggesting the potential for higher Au+Ag grades at depth. Further exploration drilling at these scout initiatives at Curahue and Rio Seco is warranted.

Mirasol also notes that CVSA has left untested the multi-kilometre long Themisto vein trend (Figure 1) at Curahue as well as the Laguna Blanca, Alien and Cilene prospects. At these prospects Mirasol has identified indications of mineralization with trench channel and surface rock chip samples, returning assays of up to 1.2 m at 5.74 g/t Au and 42.7 g/t Ag, and 10.17 g/t Au and 49.0 g/t Ag respectively, reporting to epithermal veins.

Mirasol expresses its appreciation to CVSA for their commitment to the initial phase of drill testing at the Claudia project. Mirasol remains fully committed to advancing exploration at the Claudia Project and will undertake a comprehensive review of all new technical information generated by CVSA before reporting on further plans for the project.

Stephen Nano, President and CEO of Mirasol, has approved the technical content of this news release and is a Qualified Person under NI 43 -101.

* AuEq60 Gold Equivalent (AuEq) is calculated using following formula: assays in g/t Gold + (Silver / 60)

Under the terms of the Claudia-CVSA Agreement, all exploration is managed by CVSA. All previous exploration on the projects was supervised by Mirasol CEO Stephen C. Nano, who is the Qualified Person under NI 43-101. All information generated from the Claudia-CVSA Joint Venture program is reviewed by Mirasol prior to release. The technical interpretations presented here are those of Mirasol Resources Ltd.

CVSA applies industry standard exploration methodologies and techniques. All geochemical rock and drill samples are collected under the supervision of CVSA's geologists in accordance with industry practice. Geochemical assays are obtained and reported under a quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) program. Reverse circulation samples are collected at the drill rig either with a dry or a wet hydraulic splitter and diamond core samples are a 50% split of HQ core. All samples are collected on 0.5, 1 and 2m intervals decided upon by the site geologist. The reverse circulation samples and selected diamond core samples are split into two samples at the CVSA mine laboratory where one split is assayed by the mine laboratory for quick turnaround of results to provide feedback for the program. The other split and remaining diamond core samples are dispatched to an ISO 9001:2000-accredited laboratory in Argentina for analysis. CVSA supplied to Mirasol the independent accredited laboratory analysis results only and these are reported here. Au is assayed by 50g Fire Assay with an AAS finish. Ag is assayed by a multi-acid digest with an ICP finish and results > 200 ppm were reassayed by 50g Gravimetric method. Assay results from drill samples may be higher, lower or similar to results obtained from surface samples due to surficial oxidation and enrichment processes or due to natural geological grade variations in the primary mineralization.
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Feb. 16, 2017) - Yamana Gold Inc. (TSX:YRI)(NYSE:AUY) ("Yamana" or the "Company") herein provides 2017, 2018 and 2019 production, and 2017 cost guidance.

Yamana concentrates its efforts on six producing mines which beginning in early 2018 will increase to seven with the start of production from Cerro Moro. The following table presents mine by mine production expectations for 2017.

(Gold oz.) (Silver oz.) 2016 Actual 2017 Guidance 2016 Actual 2017 Guidance Chapada 107,301 110,000 259,444 260,000 El Penon 220,209 140,000 6,020,758 4,150,000 Canadian Malartic (50%) 292,514 300,000 - - Gualcamayo 164,265 145,000 - - Minera Florida 104,312 105,000 429,048 330,000 Jacobina 120,478 120,000 - -

The following table presents the Company's total production expectations for its mines for 2017, 2018 and 2019.

2016

Actual 2017

Guidance 2018

Guidance 2019

Guidance Total Gold Production (oz.) 1,009,079 920,000 1,030,000 1,100,000 Total Silver Production (oz.) 6,709,250 4,740,000 10,000,000 14,500,000 Total Copper Production (lbs.) (Chapada) 115,548,437 120,000,000 120,000,000 120,000,000

Yamana expects that certain mines, based on historical performance and potential, may achieve higher levels of production that would increase the overall production level. Total gold production as shown in the table below includes attributable production from Brio Gold Inc. ("Brio Gold") based on their production guidance, and assuming Yamana's 84.6% ownership of Brio Gold remains unchanged for the guidance period. Potential production increases from the commissioning of C1 Santa Luz have not been included in these expectations.

The following table presents the Company's total attributable production expectations for 2017, 2018 and 2019.

2016

Actual 2017

Guidance 2018

Guidance 2019

Guidance Total Gold Production (oz.) 1,198,741 1,140,000 1,250,000 1,320,000

For comparison purposes, 2016 production in the tables above excludes 70,274 ounces of gold and 326,876 ounces of silver from Mercedes, the sale of which closed on September 30, 2016. Total consolidated 2016 production including Mercedes was 1,269,015 ounces of gold and 7,036,126 ounces of silver. Production of all metals in 2016 met or exceeded guidance expectations (refer to the Company's press release issued on January 11, 2017 for information comparing 2016 production to guidance expectations).

(All amounts are expressed in United States dollars unless otherwise indicated.)

The following table presents consolidated cost expectations for 2017.

Gold

(/oz.) Silver

(/oz.) Copper

(/lbs.)

(Chapada) 2016 Actual, excluding Brio Gold Consolidated total cost of sales per unit sold $ 991 $ 13.79 $ 1.92 Consolidated co-product cash costs per unit produced (1) $ 650 $ 8.96 $ 1.58 Consolidated co-product AISC per unit produced(1) $ 897 $ 12.65 $ 2.03 2017 Guidance Consolidated total cost of sales per unit sold $ 945 - 965 $ 14.20 $ 1.70 Consolidated co-product cash costs per unit produced (1) $ 665 - 675 $ 10.55 $ 1.60 Consolidated co-product AISC per unit produced (1) $ 890 - 910 $ 14.30 $ 2.00

Refers to a non-GAAP financial measure or an additional line item or subtotal in financial statements. Reconciliations for all non-GAAP financial measures are available at www.yamana.com/Q42016 and in Section 14 of the Company's fourth quarter 2016 Management's Discussion & Analysis, which has been filed on SEDAR.

The following table presents cost of sales, co-product cash costs and co-product AISC guidance by mine for gold and silver for 2017.

2016 cost of sales per unit sold 2017E cost of sales per unit sold 2016 co-product cash costs(1) per unit produced 2017E co-product cash costs(1) per unit produced 2016 co-product AISC(1,2) per unit produced 2017E co-product AISC(1,2) per unit produced Gold (oz.) Chapada $ 489 $ 395 $ 359 $ 340 $ 478 $ 445 El Penon $ 1,019 $ 985 $ 678 $ 740 $ 893 $ 915 Canadian Malartic (50%) $ 1,025 $ 945 $ 606 $ 560 $ 795 $ 730 Gualcamayo $ 1,038 $ 1,240 $ 796 $ 960 $ 847 $ 1,010 Minera Florida $ 1,046 $ 1,040 $ 735 $ 705 $ 955 $ 935 Jacobina $ 1,072 $ 1,035 $ 692 $ 785 $ 988 $ 985 Silver (oz.) Chapada $ 7.05 $ 4.00 $ 3.20 $ 3.20 $ 4.20 $ 4.10 El Penon $ 13.84 $ 14.60 $ 9.14 $ 11.00 $ 12.04 $ 13.60 Minera Florida $ 13.81 $ 15.45 $ 9.90 $ 10.60 $ 12.73 $ 13.90

Refers to a non-GAAP financial measure or an additional line item or subtotal in financial statements. Reconciliations for all non-GAAP financial measures are available at www.yamana.com/Q42016 and in Section 14 of the Company's fourth quarter 2016 Management's Discussion & Analysis, which has been filed on SEDAR. Mine site AISC includes cash costs, mine site general and administrative expense, sustaining capital and exploration expense. Consolidated co-product AISC incorporates additional non-mine site costs including corporate general and administrative expense.

The following table presents sustaining capital and exploration spend expectations by mine for 2017.

(in millions) 2016 Sustaining Capital Actual 2017 Sustaining Capital Guidance 2016 Total Exploration Actual 2017 Total Exploration Guidance Chapada $ 61 $ 58 $ 5 $ 8 El Penon $ 60 $ 35 $ 30 $ 14 Canadian Malartic (50%) $ 51 $ 51 $ 8 $ 11 Gualcamayo $ 7 $ 7 $ 12 $ 8 Minera Florida $ 23 $ 24 $ 7 $ 10 Jacobina $ 35 $ 23 $ 5 $ 6 Cerro Moro - - $ 5 $ 8 Other $ 5 $ 6 $ 12 12 Total $ 242 $ 204 $ 84 $ 77

The Company expects approximately 75% of exploration spending will be capitalized in 2017. For 2017, there is an additional discretionary and generative exploration spending budget of approximately $21 million that is available and expected to be allocated based on results at Yamana's various mines and assets. This would bring spending on exploration to $98 million for 2017.

The following table presents other consolidated expenditure expectations for 2017.

2016 Actual

(excluding Brio Gold) 2017

Guidance Total sustaining capital (millions) $ 242 $ 204 Total expansionary capital (millions) $ 117 $ 270 Total exploration (capitalized and expensed) (millions) $ 84 $ 98 Total Depreciation, depletion and amortization ("DDA") (millions) $ 395 $ 339 Total general and administrative ("G&A") expense (millions) $ 86 $ 91 Cash based G&A $ 82 $ 82 Stock-based G&A $ 4 $ 9

The preceding cost expectations relate to Yamana's mines and exclude any attribution from Yamana's interest in Brio Gold.

STRATEGY

Over the years, the Company has grown through alternating phases of strategic acquisitions to upgrade its portfolio and pursuing organic growth within its portfolio to increase production and cash flow. The Company is currently in an organic growth phase, whereby it is focusing on the numerous internal opportunities under evaluation.

The key operational objectives in the next two years include:

Focus on operational execution including advancing near-term and ongoing optimizations at Yamana's six producing mines;

Advance Cerro Moro to production in early 2018;

Advance the Company's organic pipeline through exploration targeted on the most prospective properties, including The significant potential at Minera Florida, Chapada and Gualcamayo as a result of new discoveries at site, and Further delineation and infill drilling at Minera Florida, Gualcamayo, Chapada, and Jacobina with the objective to increase mine life and, in the case of Chapada, Minera Florida and Jacobina, to deliver potential production increases;

Improve the efficiency of mining narrower veins at El Penon while advancing exploration of ore bodies with wider veins and higher grades; and

Evaluate monetization initiatives, which may include dormant assets or other optionality within the portfolio, to further strengthen the Company's balance sheet.

The key operational objectives in the next five years include:

Focus on operational execution and advancing medium-term optimization and possible expansion opportunities at Yamana's producing mines;

Mature the most prospective exploration discoveries and projects for inclusion in and/or upgrading of Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource status;

Advance such exploration discoveries or projects to a construction decision and/or production contribution, in particular Bring one prospective property, potentially Agua de la Falda (see below) or one or more deposits at Kirkland Lake, to a development stage; and

Re-evaluate portfolio of producing mines and projects to consider possible upgrades.

Consistent with the above objectives, the Company foresees a hiatus in significant expansionary capital spending after the completion of Cerro Moro and the Barnat extension at Canadian Malartic in 2018. Given the technical nature of the projects in Yamana's pipeline, the Company is not expecting to begin development of any major projects in the next five years. With the expected reduction in capital spending and increase in production over the guidance period, the Company expects to generate significant increases in cash flow and free cash flow beginning in 2018.

Yamana remains a growth focused company and, in particular, is focused on incremental growth from existing producing mines or from the prudent development of high quality projects. The objective is to have a manageable number of mines in a select number of jurisdictions. More specifically, the Company has established an optimal portfolio size of between six and ten producing mines, all in jurisdictions where Yamana currently operates. By focusing on disciplined growth in Canada, Brazil, Chile and Argentina, the Company is better able to lever existing infrastructure and jurisdictional expertise.

Further, the Company is targeting mines that have the potential to produce at least 130,000 ounces of gold per year (approximately 10% of total attributable metal production on a gold equivalent basis), and this will be a key criterion for evaluating any mine or project in future years. The Company has not set a specific long term objective for consolidated gold production as it continues to believe that prudent growth, which balances increasing production and decreasing costs, is a better driver to create value.

Yamana predominantly produces gold. However, it also produces a significant level of silver and copper. While copper production is expected to be relatively consistent over the guidance period, silver production is expected to increase significantly. The production of silver and copper reflects a greater scale to the Company's operations and potential to generate cash flow than is suggested by headline gold production taken on its own. The Company envisages an increase in the relative percentage of precious metals production as part of its plan to increase cash flow while continuing to benefit from steady state non-precious metals production.

The Company's ownership of Brio Gold is held for investment purposes. Yamana believes there is considerable value yet to be surfaced from this portfolio of assets and that this value will be better realized with Brio Gold operating as a standalone public company. Yamana takes a long-term view of its ownership of Brio Gold; however, the Company will evaluate various monetization opportunities for its holding from time to time. Brio Gold offers a compelling growth opportunity with a portfolio of three producing mines with expected increasing production and one development project that could add significantly to the production platform.

OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL COMMENTARY

Gold production is expected to increase in the guidance period in each of 2018 and 2019 mostly as a result of increases in production at Chapada (with the addition of production from Suruca in 2019), at Canadian Malartic, and with new production from Cerro Moro.

Silver production is expected to increase more significantly, in percentage terms, than gold production almost entirely as a result of the ramp up of Cerro Moro production.

Copper production, all of which is from Chapada, is expected to remain constant throughout the guidance period.

With improvements in productivity and/or increasing grades at several operations, most notably El Penon, Chapada, Jacobina, Canadian Malartic and Cerro Moro, Yamana's costs are expected to decrease from 2017 levels into 2018 and 2019. Over this period, Yamana expects significant increases in cash flow overall driven by increases in production and improvements in costs with disproportionate cost improvements coming from El Penon, Canadian Malartic, Chapada and Cerro Moro, the Company's most significant cash flow contributing assets.

Commentary on specific mines is as follows.

Chapada: projected cost improvements and increases in gold production are attributable to mine optimizations presently underway and production from Suruca beginning in 2019. Production for gold is expected to increase to over 130,000 ounces in 2019.

Canadian Malartic: projected cost improvements and production increases are attributable to increases in grade, which are expected continue into 2018 with the contribution from the Barnat extension. Production is expected to increase to approximately 325,000 ounces on a 50%-basis beginning in late-2018.

El Penon: production is expected to remain consistent throughout the guidance period although with the opportunity for production increases as more recent discoveries of extensions of larger ore bodies are evaluated.

Cerro Moro: the largest single contribution for overall production increases for both gold and silver is expected to come from Cerro Moro which is in development and is expected to begin operating in the first half of 2018, with a full year contribution in 2019. Production in 2019 is estimated at approximately 130,000 ounces of gold and 9.9 million ounces of silver. Cerro Moro is expected to be a significant contributor to cash flow as a result of the expected cash costs and AISC that are well below the Company's current average cost structure. Average co-product cash costs and co-product AISC for 2018 and 2019 are expected to be below $500 per ounce gold and $7.50 per ounce of silver, and below $600 per ounce of gold and $9.00 per ounce of silver, respectively.

Jacobina: production is expected to be consistent throughout the guidance period with possible upside from grade improvements which could increase production and lower costs.

Minera Florida: production is expected to be consistent throughout the guidance period with possible upside from contributions from recent discoveries at Minera Florida which could increase production.

Gualcamayo: production is expected to be consistent throughout the guidance period with possible upside from contributions from recent near mine oxide discoveries. Costs in 2017 are estimated based on lower recoveries as there is more reliance on underground material than the preceding year. Costs should improve throughout the guidance period as recent oxide discoveries are developed and as the costs related to underground sub-level stoping improve after initial one-time upfront costs.

Yamana refers to its press release issued on February 14, 2017 which provided an exploration update relating to significant discoveries at its Minera Florida, Gualcamayo, El Penon and Chapada mines. These discoveries will be evaluated this year to determine further contributions to mineral resources and mineral reserves, and possible increases in production. Production in the guidance period does not include possible further production contributions from these discoveries.

Among other efforts this year, Yamana will evaluate generative opportunities in its portfolio mostly related to advancing exploration assets in its Kirkland Lake camp and to dormant assets such as La Pepa, Suyai and Jeronimo.

Agua de la Falda, which is a joint venture ("JV") with CODELCO and covers a broader area that includes Jeronimo, provides exceptional gold and copper exploration opportunities which will be evaluated this year. Yamana and CODELCO have been evaluating the possibility of re-processing historical heaps and other known near to surface oxide ore through the existing plant and facilities on site at Agua de la Falda, which could provide medium term production opportunities with minimum investment and serve as a platform for further increase in value of the JV. Subject to further detailed review, preliminary production estimates from this initiative are upwards of 40,000 ounces of gold per year for an initial 5 years. This could potentially more than fund all exploration and possible development efforts at Agua de la Falda.

In respect of El Penon, as previously indicated, Yamana has reflected on the impact of new narrower vein discoveries and more recent discoveries of extensions of larger, higher grade ore bodies. In light of this, and given the already long life of El Penon, which began producing in 1999, a more deliberate and reflective approach has been taken at El Penon in relation to production. The objective has been to create a steady state operation with a more achievable production platform that is less dependent on very high levels of exploration and development spending. Exploration and development spending per year has been reduced significantly with a corresponding decrease in work force.

The following table compares exploration and development spending at El Penon for 2016 with estimated amounts for 2017. A more complete description of the exploration strategy for El Penon is provided in the previously referred to exploration update press release dated Febraury 14, 2017.

2016

Actual 2017

Estimated Exploration (millions) $ 30 $ 14 Development (millions) $ 60 $ 35

Overall, the objective has been to allow El Penon to contribute meaningful levels of gold and silver production over a longer period, and to remain a very significant cash flow contributing mine. The revised plan for El Penon establishes a platform that is more sustainable and that will deliver more consistent production going forward.

A significant portion of the expansionary capital budgets for 2017 and 2018 relates to Cerro Moro which, as previously noted, is expected to begin operations in 2018, and to the Barnat extension at Canadian Malartic which is expected to also begin to contribute to production in late-2018. Yamana's expansionary capital is expected to decline significantly after completion of Cerro Moro and the Barnat extension beginning in late-2018.

In 2016, expansionary capital, not including Cerro Moro, was $58 million. Going forward, by 2019 as these projects are completed, Yamana expects its annual expansionary capital to decline significantly for several years to levels in the range of $50 to $75 million, absent any new projects moving into the development stage.

In early 2016, the Company stated the objective of reducing debt by at least $300 million between 2016 and 2017. Over the course of 2016, the Company reduced its net debt by approximately $160 million through various initiatives, including a going public event for Brio Gold, the sale of its Mercedes mine, the monetization of share purchase warrants of Sandstorm Gold Ltd., the early repayment of senior debt notes, the scheduled repayment of senior debt notes and a net repayment on its revolving credit facility. Only cash proceeds are reflected in debt reduction levels as non-cash consideration raised through the sale of Mercedes has not been monetized. As a longer term objective, the Company continues to target a Net Debt/EBITDA ratio of 1.5 or better, which it believes to be consistent with its prudent financial policy and planning.

The Company expects to more formally showcase a number of its mines throughout 2017. Specifically, more information is expected to be provided to the investment community through one or more dedicated investor day presentations and mine tours.

The Company expects to host mine tours to El Penon, Minera Florida and, later in 2017 or early 2018, Cerro Moro. All materials relating the Company's investor day and mine tours will be available on Yamana's website, and while attendance at the events will be by invitation, the investor day presentation will also be available by webcast.

2017 foreign exchange rate assumptions are presented in the table below.

2016 Actual 2017

Assumptions Spot C$/US$ 1.32 1.32 1.31 BRL/US$ 3.48 3.25 3.10 ARS/US$ 14.77 16.50 15.40 CLP/US$ 675.95 675.00 640.00

2016 exchange rates shown in the table above are the average realized exchange rates for the 12 months ended December 31, 2016. The exchange rates shown above are as at February 15, 2017 and were compiled from Bloomberg.

As at December 31, 2016, the Company had zero-cost collar contracts totaling 170.0 million Reais equally split by month covering January 2017 to April 2017 with Brazilian Real to United States Dollar average call and put strike prices of 3.40 and 4.13, respectively. In October 2016, the Company entered into zero-cost collar contracts totaling 400.0 million Reais with Brazilian Real to United States Dollar average call and put strike prices of 3.25 and 3.79 respectively, allowing the Company to participate in exchange rate movements between those two strikes. These contracts are evenly split by month covering May 2017 to December 2017. All contracts have been designated against forecast Reais denominated expenditures as a hedge against the variability of the United States Dollar amount of those expenditures caused by changes in the currency exchange rates.

About Yamana

Yamana is a Canadian-based gold producer with significant gold production, gold development stage properties, exploration properties, and land positions throughout the Americas including Canada, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. Yamana plans to continue to build on this base through existing operating mine expansions, throughput increases, development of new mines, the advancement of its exploration properties and, at times, by targeting other gold consolidation opportunities with a primary focus in the Americas.
VANCOUVER, Feb. 17, 2017 /CNW/ - Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (TSX: NDM; NYSE MKT: NAK) ("Northern Dynasty" or the "Company") today responded to misleading criticism of its Pebble copper and gold project in the February 14, 2017 report by Kerrisdale Capital Management LLC ("Kerrisdale" or the "Short Seller1").

The Company and its board have evaluated each of the Short Seller's claims and believe they are unfounded, contain numerous errors and unsupported speculation and demonstrate a lack of understanding of the Company's business. The Company will consider and vigorously pursue any and all actions and remedies available to it to protect the interest of its shareholders.

Summarizing the Short Seller's Claims

The Short Seller, Kerrisdale, would apparently have you believe that Pebble, as one of the world's largest deposits of copper and gold, is worthless despite the fact that mining companies are profitably mining lower grade ore within a few hundred miles of it as well as at other operations around the world. The Short Seller would apparently have you believe that Anglo American, a major mining company which spent some US$600 million on Pebble, but was ultimately unwilling to spend the full $1.5 billion required to earn a 50% interest in Pebble, thinks the project is "worthless". The Short Seller would apparently have you believe that Pebble's challenges from the US Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") are deserved, or that it is the first mining project to face regulatory challenges, despite what has been described by the Wall Street Journal as the EPA's regulatory "lawlessness" which they based on "sham" science (January 23, 2017, WSJ). The Short Seller would apparently have you rely on anonymous hearsay, supposedly from employees of Anglo American, who are making comments at odds with the public statements of the major mining company's own senior executives.

Investors who read the Short Seller's report should consider the following:

Kerrisdale stands to realize significant gains in the event that the price of the Company's stock declines.

Kerrisdale is not a mining company and does not disclose any record of success in mining investments or issuing mining valuation or investment reports. On the contrary, Kerrisdale has a track record of aggressive short selling and activism. In contrast, Northern Dynasty's Pebble team has extensive experience in mining and a formidable track record of success in developing and operating mines internationally.

Kerrisdale relies on anonymous co-authors whose mining credentials, if any, Kerrisdale has not disclosed and who likewise may hold or have held short positions in Northern Dynasty. Specifically, Kerrisdale has not disclosed if these anonymous authors have any requisite technical qualifications or practical mining experience to substantiate the claims of the short report. In contrast, Northern Dynasty publicly files technical reports which have been certified by named, independent, experienced and reputable Qualified Persons (as defined by securities laws) who have certified the accuracy and completeness of these reports. An internationally recognized engineering firm conducted and compiled an extensive and independent Preliminary Assessment (also referred to as a Preliminary Economic Assessment, or "PEA") of the Pebble Project on behalf of Northern Dynasty. This PEA, published in 2011, showed the project possesses significant value. While the analyses of this assessment now require updating, it remains a source of much useful information and is available for download at www.sedar.com. The PEA shows the large mineral endowment and potential of the Pebble Project.

Kerrisdale's short report purports to develop a zero value thesis without requesting or having had access to the necessary and extensive technical, analytical, geological and economic information that Northern Dynasty's Qualified Persons used. No Kerrisdale personnel have visited the Pebble Project or had discussions with Northern Dynasty's technical team or executives.

Kerrisdale is apparently a troubled organization, which has recently been in the news for major client and staff defections and alleged senior staff personal misconduct.

Consider the Reaction to the Short Seller's Report by Independent Analysts2:

From TD Securities:

Following the election of President Trump, [NDM] shares have outperformed the broader base metal market on the view that the EPA will withdraw its preemptive objections to Pebble, allowing the project to go through the formal NEPA permitting process. It is important to note that even prior to Trump's election, the company had announced planned mediation discussions with the EPA to resolve its dispute over the FACA case. Our view is that EPA will withdraw its objections, allowing the project to proceed to permitting by late-2017 or early-2018.

In terms of the project economics, the Short Seller's report cites that work completed by Anglo American and third-party engineers indicated that the upfront capital cost of Pebble would be roughly US$11-13bln. Importantly, no context around the project's size and scale was provided with the estimate, which we view as misleading. The estimate compares with the US$4.7bln in upfront capex outlined in Pebble's 2011 PEA for a 200,000tpd operation. We assume US$6.5bln of capex, with a 10%NAV estimate of US$1.24bln.

Assuming a resolution with the EPA in H1/17, the next critical step, in our view, will be the re-establishment of a partnership, which management is confident can be achieved this year. We expect the establishment of a partnership to be followed by the publication of a PFS, which could target a smaller higher-grade mine development scenario reducing both the capex and permitting objections.

We maintain our C$5.00 target price and upgrade our rating to SPECULATIVE BUY from Hold to reflect our return-to-target of 49%.

- Craig Hutchison, P. Eng, TD Securities Inc. February 16, 2017

From Stansberry's Investment Advisory:

Kerrisdale offered no new technical or scientific evidence. On the call, they labeled themselves as market generalists with no background in the mining industry. They made vague references to engineers, but would not disclose their names or credentials.

One of their main arguments is that mining giant Anglo American and other large miners walked away from the project because Northern Dynasty's resource is worth nothing. We disagree.

We think investors should be very skeptical of investment research that's published by any entity whose business depends on promoting a position (long or short) after establishing one  whether it's a hedge fund manager with a history of drug abuse or an established industry titan. The fact is that having a bunch of money on the line (like Bill Ackman with Herbalife) tends to warp investors' judgement.

- Stansberry's Investment Advisory. February 2017

From Very Independent Research:

The short seller report was neither a mining technical report nor very much new.

- John Tumazos Very Independent Research, LLC. February 15, 2017

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

Pebble is One of the World's Largest Undeveloped Copper and Gold Resources

The Company will continue this discussion by reconfirming that the Pebble Project is one of the world's most important mineral resources, when measured by aggregate contained metals. The current estimate of these mineral resources at a 0.30% copper equivalent (CuEQ)3 cut-off grade comprise:

6.44 billion tonnes in the combined Measured and Indicated categories 5 at a grade of 0.40% copper, 0.34 g/t gold, 240 ppm molybdenum and 1.66 g/t silver, containing 57 billion pounds of copper, 70 million ounces of gold, 3.4 billion pounds of molybdenum and 344 million ounces of silver; and

at a grade of 0.40% copper, 0.34 g/t gold, 240 ppm molybdenum and 1.66 g/t silver, containing 57 billion pounds of copper, 70 million ounces of gold, 3.4 billion pounds of molybdenum and 344 million ounces of silver; and 4.46 billion tonnes in the Inferred category at a grade of 0.25% copper, 0.26 g/t gold, 222 ppm molybdenum and 1.19 g/t silver, containing 24.5 billion pounds of copper, 37 million ounces of gold, 2.2 billion pounds of molybdenum and 170 million ounces of silver.

How does this compare to other similar assets?

The Short Seller's contention that Pebble is a "low grade" deposit is not supported by the data. Pebble has an average CuEQ grade of 0.71%. Figure 1 shows Pebble in comparison to other major producing and non-producing copper projects. It shows that Pebble is in the top quartile of these deposits when ranked based on CuEQ grade.4

Further, the sheer scale of this immense copper/gold asset has attracted major mining company interest and continues to do so. Pebble is the world's largest undeveloped copper and gold resource in terms of contained metal. The deposit hosts the 9th largest copper resource and the 2nd largest gold resource in the world, as shown in Figure 2. The contained metal of this one deposit matches the reported reserves of many of the largest mining companies in the world. Bringing Pebble into production will be transformative for its shareholders.

Mine Planning and Economic Assessment

Like many large mining projects, the Pebble Project has had various owners, partners and major investors over the years such as Teck Resources, which owned Pebble before the big exploration successes at Pebble in 2004 to 2007 massively expanded the resource. Teck Resources continues to hold a royalty interest in part of the deposit after its 2002 sale of Pebble. With each such party came different priorities and interests, including with respect to mine development, timelines, scale and approach. What has never been denied is the potential and quality of this unique asset, nor Northern Dynasty's full commitment to work with interested parties to develop it.

Northern Dynasty's 2011 PEA demonstrated based on certain assumed mining design parameters (mine plan, mill through put etc.) that Pebble has a potential net present value measured in the billions of dollars and a mine life of 40 to 80 years. This long-lived mining project did not even deplete the full Pebble resource. The PEA was prepared by Wardrop Engineering Inc., now an affiliate of Tetra Tech Inc., an internationally recognized engineering group. The PEA showed that the commercial potential of a mine at Pebble is good at many commodity price and cost assumptions. Like all resource extraction projects, commercial viability is largely dependent on the outlook for the price of the commodity. This is especially true where the outlook has to span a period measured in decades due to the immense size of the mineral deposit. Northern Dynasty believes in the long-term demand for copper and gold and is highly confident that Pebble's viability will be demonstrated when it files the final mine design (as it evolves through the iterative permitting process) after the permitting process has been completed.

Contrary to the Short Seller's report, no mine planning scenario with a US$13 billion capital estimate was ever finalized, approved or adopted by Northern Dynasty or Anglo American as its 50% partner in the Pebble Limited Partnership ("Pebble Partnership"). In fact, Pebble Partnership staff, led by secondees from Anglo American, recognized the flaws with this work and continued studying development alternatives. Further, a review of a preliminary draft US$13 billion mine planning scenario by an independent engineering firm commissioned by Northern Dynasty identified issues with that study and identified savings that reduced the preliminary capital estimate by US$4 billion. As is well-understood by those with technical knowledge of the industry, there are a large amount of analyses conducted on very different assumptions of mine scale and costs to test development scenarios. The conclusions to be drawn from such work are used to inform mine planning and design and such work is not intended to represent the "most likely outcome" case for a mine. It is important to note that the Pebble Partnership has considered hundreds of preliminary mine design scenarios with different design components, operating parameters and scales.

The 2011 PEA is the only formal published report of the Pebble Project which assesses economics at a preliminary level.

The 2011 PEA was based on an internal Pebble Partnership study, known as the 2010 Value Seeking Phase study ("VSP") that used similar mining parameters as the PEA. The PEA projected Pebble to have significant asset value. Based on the development alternatives identified in that study, Anglo American, following completion of the VSP, continued to invest some US$320 million between 2010 and 2013 in Pebble until its withdrawal from the project in 2013.

Anglo American's Termination

During the 2013 mining downturn, Anglo American announced that it was reconsidering its development project pipeline in light of market conditions and was unwilling to invest another $900 million to earn a 50% interest in the Pebble Project and therefore terminated its earn-in option. At the time, Anglo American faced well-known capital constraints as a result of the commodity downturn and negative capital market conditions. In regards to that termination, newly appointed CEO Mark Cutifani cited a need to manage capital investment on its pipeline of long dated projects, while publicly referring to Pebble as "a deposit of rare magnitude and quality".

Even after its decision to withdraw from the project, Anglo American maintained a positive outlook on Pebble. "Our views on Pebble as a mining project are unchanged.  We wish the project well, and express our thanks to those who have supported Pebble. our decision to withdraw from the project is the result of an internal prioritisation of the many projects that we have in our portfolio," Anglo American spokesperson James Wyatt-Tilby told Bloomberg on September 30, 2013.

The Short Seller also claims that the Pebble Project was "pushing the boundaries" of engineering. That is simply untrue.

While the scale of Pebble engenders a significant, multi-component project, the scale and the engineering concepts incorporated in its development are not unique and are based on multiple similar mine developments around the world. Pebble sits at approximately 1,000 feet above sea level in rolling terrain, 60 miles from tide water that is ice-free 11 months of the year. After more than a decade of detailed investigation and analysis, no critical engineering issues have been identified with mine development, ore processing, and infrastructure. Thus, in fact, the conditions at Pebble are far less challenging than that faced by mines successfully developed in South America (high elevations, precipitous valleys, limited water supply), the Canadian Arctic (temperature extremes and severe logistical challenges), southeast Asia (massive precipitation and excess water balance conditions), and in northwest Alaska (permafrost, logistics challenges due to short shipping seasons and temperature extremes). The 2011 PEA work was based on customary and proven mining technologies.

Permitting the Pebble Project

Every mining project has opponents. However, Pebble enjoys considerable support for its efforts to advance the Pebble Project in Alaska today, including among elected officials, business interests, and regional and Alaska Native communities. The Short Seller tries to focus attention on the project's opponents while deliberately neglecting to mention the significant support the Pebble Project has had in Alaska, including opposition to what has been widely regarded as unfair efforts by the EPA to stall the project. Importantly, the State of Alaska was a co-plaintiff in PLP's 'statutory authority' case against the EPA.

Permitting and developing Pebble will be a multi-year process with multi-decade or multi-generational payoff. We are entirely committed to advancing the political and public consensus necessary to support a positive permitting outcome. The Company is advancing a comprehensive strategy to address EPA actions and stakeholder concerns through potential changes in project design, enhancing strategic partnerships with key constituencies and ensuring the project delivers significant benefits to the people of Bristol Bay and Alaska. What is absolutely clear is that many Alaskans are concerned about the EPA's pre-emptive actions, and they want the project to be fully but fairly evaluated through a comprehensive federal/state permitting process under the US National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA").

The Company believes it will have the opportunity to appropriately respond to concerns raised by regulators, and to demonstrate that its final design will satisfy all federal and state environmental regulations and permitting requirements.

The EPA

Northern Dynasty and its technical advisors will provide full support to the lead federal regulatory agency to ensure that the Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS") completed at Pebble will be a rigorous scientific assessment of the environmental impact of a mine design that will incorporate robust engineering and environmental approaches and technologies. This will clearly demonstrate to the agencies and stakeholders that Pebble meets and exceeds all relevant federal and state environmental standards.

The Short Seller has no basis to predict that any future Democrat administration would seek to veto the Pebble Project, before or after the Pebble Project has received a positive Record of Decision following a comprehensive EIS process.

Northern Dynasty's financial position

Northern Dynasty is in a strong financial position having recently completed a C$47 million oversubscribed bought deal financing, contrary to the claim by the Short Seller.

The Company believes that its Pebble Project has a high likelihood of success. The Company further believes the Short Seller report is misleading as it contains numerous misstatements, comments attributed to "anonymous sources" and deliberate inaccuracies. It demonstrates that the Short Seller has no understanding of or experience in the mining industry or the development process of a mining project.

As typically results after a short report, various law firms have announced investigations into, or lawsuits against, Northern Dynasty. Management believes any such suits will prove equally baseless and they will be vigorously defended against.

Endnotes 1. Short selling is the practice of selling borrowed shares and subsequently repurchasing them. In the event of an interim price decline, the short seller will profit, since the cost of repurchase will be less than the proceeds which were received upon the initial short sale.



2. Permission to quote from the reports was neither sought nor obtained. The Company does not necessarily adopt the statements and opinions set forth by the analysts, and investors should review all information available to them.



3. Copper equivalent (CuEQ) calculations use metal prices of US$1.85/lb for copper (Cu), US$902/oz for gold (Au) and US$12.50/lb for molybdenum (Mo), and recoveries of 85% for Cu, 69.6% for Au, and 77.8% for Mo in the Pebble West zone and 89.3% for Cu, 76.8% for Au, 83.7% for Mo in the Pebble East zone. Contained metal calculations are based on 100% recoveries. The estimate includes 527 million tonnes of Measured resources grading 0.33% Cu, 0.35 g/t Au, 178 ppm Mo and 1.66 g/t Ag and 5.9 billion tonnes of Indicated resources grading 0.41% Cu, 0.34 g/t Au, 245 ppm Mo and 1.66 g/t Ag. David Gaunt, PGeo., a Qualified Person who is not independent of Northern Dynasty is responsible for the estimate. For further details see the December 2014 Technical Report which is available at www.sedar.com.



4. Resource and reserve data informing this chart, which is for illustrative purposes only, is based on public and third party sources believed to be accurate but this cannot be warranted, and it may contain information which in some cases may be several years old. Where available, proven and probable reserve grades have been used to calculate copper equivalence values. For those projects which have not declared a reserve, measured and indicated grades have been employed. Copper equivalence has been calculated by summing the revenue for all payable metals and dividing this figure by the revenue of 1% copper. Commodity prices used in this calculation are: Cu = 2.88/lb, Au = 1200/oz, Ag = 18/oz, Mo = 10/lb (all prices in US$).



5. Notes on Mineral Terminology: Mineral Resources and Reserves are defined terms derived from Canadian Institute of Mining definitions. Similar terminologies are in use in elsewhere and are being considered for adoption in the United States. Mineral resources do not have demonstrated economic viability, but have reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction. They fall into three categories: measured, indicated and inferred. Measured and indicated mineral resources can be estimated with sufficient confidence to allow the appropriate application of technical, economic, marketing, legal, environmental, social and governmental factors to support evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit. For measured resources: we can confirm both geological and grade continuity to support detailed mine planning. For indicated resources: we can reasonably assume geological and grade continuity to support mine planning. Mineral reserves are the economically mineable part of measured and/or indicated mineral resources demonstrated by at least a preliminary feasibility study. The reference point at which mineral reserves are defined is the point where the ore is delivered to the processing plant. Mineral reserves fall into two categories: a) proven reserves: the economically mineable part of a measured resource for which at least a preliminary feasibility study demonstrates that economic extraction is justified; and b) probable reserves: the economically mineable part of a measured and/or indicated resource for which at least a preliminary feasibility study demonstrates that economic extraction is justified. Northern Dynasty does not classify any of its mineralized material as reserves at this time. United States investors are advised that while "Measured" and "Indicated" resources are recognized and required by Canada and other countries, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission does not recognize them. United States investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of Measured or Indicated Mineral Resources will ever be converted into Mineral Reserves.

Qualified Persons

Stephen Hodgson, P.Eng., is an executive of Northern Dynasty and the Qualified Person who assumes responsibility for the scientific and technical discussion in this document.

About Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.

Northern Dynasty is a mineral exploration and development company based in Vancouver, Canada. Northern Dynasty's principal asset is the Pebble Project in southwest Alaska, USA, an initiative to develop one of the world's most important mineral resources.

For further details on Northern Dynasty and the Pebble Project, please visit the Company's website at www.northerndynasty.com.

Figure 1 - Comparison of Grades (% CuEQ) of Copper Deposits






On Feb. 2, the Oklahoma Justice Reform Task Force, created by Gov. Mary Fallin to perform a comprehensive review of Oklahoma's criminal justice system, released its recommendations. The task force proposed many good ideas about how to reduce corrections costs while maintaining public safety, but one important criminal justice issue was conspicuously absent: what we and other analysts have dubbed overcriminalization.

Overcriminalization refers to the exploding number of crimes covering conduct that is not intuitively wrong. Because such crimes often lack traditional criminal-intent requirements  and because the sprawling criminal laws are all but unnavigable  overcriminalization places ordinary citizens, small-business owners, and family farmers in jeopardy of being hauled off in handcuffs for conduct they sincerely believed was lawful.

Oklahoma should repeal unnecessary and duplicative criminal laws, make the criminal law more intuitive so that citizens can navigate it more easily, and return all criminal lawmaking power to the elected Legislature, where it belongs.

Oklahoma's vast criminal code contains more than 1,200 sections, significantly more than any of its neighboring states. And looking at the code would give an Oklahoman only a very partial picture of what's illegal: 91 percent of the new crimes created by the Legislature since 2010 are codified outside the criminal code.

How many new crimes are we talking about? On average, Oklahoma has been adding 26 new criminal statutes to the books each year  crimes that must have escaped the minds of prior legislatures in the state's 110-year history.

These new criminal statutes only tell part of the picture; many more criminally enforceable regulations continue to be created by administrative agencies. In essence, legislators have been delegating criminal lawmaking power to unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats  a phenomenon we call criminalization without representation.

For example, we examined Oklahoma's rules governing the sale of pets  where the Legislature in 2012 took praiseworthy steps to scale back regulatory abuses. Even after those reforms, the law continues to delegate broad criminal lawmaking authority to the state's Agriculture Department. Anyone hoping to comply with the rules would have to peruse more than 20 pages of regulations, broken out into 43 sections. All the regulations can be criminally enforced. Only two have a traditional criminal-intent requirement. So if you want to sell your dog's litter of puppies: beware.

Regulatory codes like this one can ensnare regular folks like Colin Grizzle, an Oklahoma City bartender hauled off to jail last year for serving vodkas infused with flavors like bacon and pickles. The practice, though popular with patrons, violated Title 37, Chapter 3, Section 584 of the Oklahoma Code.

Oklahoma should repeal unnecessary and duplicative criminal laws, make the criminal law more intuitive so that citizens can navigate it more easily, and return all criminal lawmaking power to the elected Legislature, where it belongs. The Legislature should also follow the lead of 14 other states and enact a default criminal-intent requirement to protect well-meaning citizens from unknowingly violating obscure rules governing seemingly innocent conduct.

In focusing on Oklahoma's overcriminalization problem, we don't mean to trivialize the issues raised by the Justice Reform Task Force. Reorienting incarceration to deal principally with violent crimes has worked well in our home state of New York, and the state should carefully consider how it deals with drug offenders and others guilty of nonviolent crimes. The task force deserves two cheers, but proper criminal justice reform requires focus on overcriminalization, too.

This piece originally appeared in The Oklahoman

______________________

James R. Copland is a senior fellow and director of legal policy at the Manhattan Institute. Rafael Mangual is the project manager for legal policy.
Were excited to announce that metalbulletin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com.

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Ghana will on 6th march 2017 mark Its 60th anniversary of independence from the British.

The celebration marks a milestone in the history of the country especially since it was the first to gain independence from its colonial masters and had a visionary leader called Dr. Kwame Nkrumah to be the first president of the country.

On Friday 10th March 2017, Akwaaba Holland, an event management company based in Ghana and Holland will mark a massive celebration at Egoli 1, AMSTERDAM. with Nero X, award winning Ghanaian hiplife sensation with hit songs like Osey, Nipa Nua, Frema and many more.Also supporting him includes Kuejo Blaq, Bright Kwame and No-Way the Comedian.the time is 7pm and the rate is 15 euros presale and 20 euros at the gate

The Ghanaian community is specially invited to come with friends, family and loved ones as together we mark this 60th anniversary milestone on Peace,Freedom and Justice.

You cannot afford to miss this after party on the 10th of march 2017. Come let us party hard as we celebrate to an "ONAAPO" year.
17.02.2017 LISTEN

From the ancient city of Zaria, Kaduna Nigeria BUSH HOUSE MUSIC presents a brand new single "Kilimanjaro" by PlaymiQ.

He his here with a banger, a trap-like Arewa rap style that you can resist to get on your playlist, here is something to bump and Dab to, I cant but tell you that this sound is guaranty to feed your musical Hunger, listen and enjoy this tune. Mixed by 16 Studios. Download enjoy and share.

DOWNLOAD: Kilimanjaro - Playmiq

DOWNLOAD LINK

https://my.notjustok.com/track/download/id/183312
17.02.2017 LISTEN

Yamaha Music Gulf FZE which is a 100% subsidiary of the Yamaha Cooperation in Japan is set to hold a workshop in Accra with Katsunori Ujiie, a world renowned composer, arranger and keyboardist. This free event is scheduled to take place at 9:00 am this Saturday, 18th February at the Alisa Hotel.

The Yamaha Montage keyboard is the latest edition in the Yamaha line of Synthesizer products and highly considered as one of the best musical instruments ever to be produced in the world.

Katsunori Ujjie who will facilitate this event is an experienced composer and sound designer for Yamaha keyboards. The event will see sessions that will explain to patrons how to optimize the use of the new Yamaha Montage as well as previous models, that is, the Motif series and PSR series. There will also be an interactive session that will address all issues faced by users as well as providing value for potential users. Speaking to the media, Katsunori Ujjie expressed great joy being in Ghana for this seminar. He said Yamaha Music, over the years, has produced some of the best musical instruments and we feel the need to incorporate seminars as well as trainings sessions on the use of Yamaha musical instruments in Ghana and Africa as a whole. He also encouraged all musicians and stakeholders to join this free seminar.

The Yamaha Music Gulf delegation to Ghana includes Mr. Keizuke Suzuki, Sales & Marketing Manager, Mr. Opoku Sanaa, Sales & Marketing Coordinator-Sub Saharan Africa, Mr. Thomas Garcia, Combo Products Department and Mr. John Oben, Professional Audio Coordinator is expected to embark on working visits to some specific areas in the country as well.

A significant objective of YMG FZE is to make products and provide services that suits client needs with considerations to international trends and technology development. They offer a line of Yamaha equipment including digital pianos, guitars, basses, synthesizers, and drums among others. YMG FZE is responsible for sales in Africa, the Middle East and CIS.

The event is organized by Melcom Ghana, distributors of Yamaha products in Ghana. It is also supported by Reverb Studios.
16.02.2017 LISTEN

HIS EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT AKUFFO ADDO

DR. MATTHEW OPOKU PREMPEH

DR. OWUSU AFRIYIE AKOTO

REINTRODUCTION OF AGRICULTURE SCIENCE AS A SUBJECT IN BASIC SCHOOLS WILL BOOST ONE VILLAGE, ONE DAM AND PLANTING FOR FOOD AND JOBS PROJECTS IN OUR FUTURE GENERATION

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am deeply sad to pen down this letter. I am sad because Agriculture which used to be the backbone of the Ghanaian Economy is now being relegated to the dustbin as far as our current Junior High School education is concerned. The situation has also transcended to Senior High Schools and the Universities as well. Current intake of students to study Agriculture in the Senior High Schools has declined drastically and even few Senior High Schools are running agriculture programmes which is even impose on the students not their own choice. It is not surprising that recent figures on growth of Agriculture are very abysmal.

The growth of Agriculture sector for 2015 is 0.04% according to 2016 budget presented by the Minister of Finance, Hon Seth Tekper and growth rate of crops hit negative (-1.7%). This figures blatantly points towards a retrogressing agriculture sector in Ghana.

The Agricultural Sector has suffered massive neglect. As compared to 2008 when nearly 600 million USD was spent on food imports; in 2014, nearly 1.5 billion USD was spent for importing basic food items including tropical crops such as rice, tomato, palm oil and sugar. In 2013, a whooping 374 million USD was spent alone on rice import.

The 2016 Budget Statement with theme Consolidating Progress towards a brighter medium term further inflicts mores woes to the sector.

Key Observations:

1. Decline in contribution to GDP

Between 2000 and 2008, Agriculture contributed an average of 39% to GDP compared to 26 % for industrial sector and 31% for service sector.

In recent times, however, the sector has become a pale shadow of itself, with a myriad of challenges that have made it highly unattractive and unproductive.

The unattractiveness is reflected in the slump in its contribution to GDP over the last five years. In 2010, the sector contributed 29.9 per cent to GDP; it declined to 25.6 per cent in 2011 and further dipped to 22.7 per cent in 2012.

The dwindling fortunes continued in 2013, with the sector contributing 22.4 per cent to GDP. In 2014, it dipped further to 21.5 per cent.

2. Insignificant Share in Budget

In 2016, a total of 50 billion GHS, the Ministry of Agriculture was allocated equivalent of 1% of the entire budget. The consistency percentage of budget here to are as follows: 2009 (3%), 2012 (1.9%), 2013 (1.03%), 2014 (1.07%), 2015 (1.1%) and 2016 (1%).

3. Decline in Growth Rate

There has been decline in growth rate from 7.4% in 2008 to 0.04% in 2015. The percentages are as follows: 2009 (7.2%), 2010 (5.3%), 2011 (0.8%), 2012 (2.3%), 2013 (5.7%), 2014 (4.6%) and 2015 (0.04%)...Source: IMANI Ghana, December 8, 2015.

The re-introduction of agricultural science in our Junior High Schools to be studied as a subject is of paramount importance in the growth and development of the economy of our country Ghana which is endowed with natural resources that need to be harnessed judiciously for the satisfaction of mankind. Readers will undoubtedly agree with me that this discipline of study had been in existence in our school curriculum since the era of colonies. The study of agriculture science is not a new subject that needs to introduce in our school curriculum. We need to question ourselves the factors responsible for the sluggish progress in agricultural production in our country Ghana.

Let's have a glance on some of the role of Agriculture in Economic Development:

Source of Food Supply: Agriculture is the basic source of food supply of all the countries of the worldwhether underdeveloped, developing or even developed. Due to heavy pressure of population in underdeveloped and developing countries and its rapid increase, the demand for food is increasing at a fast rate. If agriculture fails to meet the rising demand of food products, it is found to affect adversely the growth rate of the economy. Raising supply of food by agricultural sector has, therefore, great importance for economic growth of a country.

Source of Foreign Exchange for the Country: Most of the developing countries of the world are exporters of primary products. These products contribute 60 to 70 per cent of their total export earnings. Thus, the capacity to import capital goods and machinery for industrial development depends crucially on the export earning of the agriculture sector. If exports of agricultural goods fail to increase at a sufficiently high rate, these countries are forced to incur heavy deficit in the balance of payments resulting in a serious foreign exchange problem.

Pre-Requisite for Raw Material: Agricultural advancement is necessary for improving the supply of raw materials for the agro-based industries especially in developing countries. The shortage of agricultural goods has its impact upon on industrial production and a consequent increase in the general price level. It will impede the growth of the country's economy. The flour mills, rice shellers, oil mills, bread, meat, milk products, sugar factories, wineries, jute mills, textile mills and numerous other industries are based on agricultural products.

Contribution to Capital Formation: Underdeveloped and developing countries need huge amount of capital for its economic development. In the initial stages of economic development, it is agriculture that constitutes a significant source of capital formation.

Agriculture sector provides funds for capital formation in many ways as:

(i) agricultural taxation,

(ii) export of agricultural products,

(iii) collection of agricultural products at low prices by the government and selling it at higher prices. This method is adopted by Russia and China.

Based on Democratic Notions: If the agricultural sector does not grow at a faster rate, it may result in the growing discontentment amongst the masses which is never healthy for the smooth running of democratic governments. For economic development, it is necessary to minimize political as well as social tensions. In case the majority of the people have to be kindled with the hopes of prosperity, this can be attained with the help of agricultural progress. Thus development of agriculture sector is also relevant on political and social grounds.

The importance of agriculture is too vast to be covered in one discussion. However, the few mentioned above are vital ones to convince our audience particularly those in the education sector to spur young ones to concentrate on agriculture as a vocation and income generating activity. As we are in the era of Education for All (EFA), it is incumbent on us as educationists to bring to the fore the importance of this vital sector of the economy which is scrapped from our curriculum. We certainly deal with adolescents whose minds are ready to absorb good ideas and interpret things on their own with some or little guidance. It is sad that Agriculture Science has been removed from the list of subjects being taught in our Junior High Schools and also in a majority of our second cycle schools Agriculture is being taught theoretically and no practical is given. What is the problem with our education system? Should we not introduce the children to the subject which is the backbone of our economy at their tender ages to see for themselves the beauty of Agriculture?

This is a major concern and a worry to the production and increase of food crops in the country. We can only achieve this when Agriculture Science is re-introduced in our Junior High School, this will help the adolescents to understand the significance of such ventures and the utilization of the land and natural resources around.

This will also help the schools to embark on micro agric industries within their premises, skillful youths will certainly shore case and schools will generate money to venture in other economic activities and to help those students whose parents find it difficult to meet the cost of their school fees. It will also help to eradicate beggars, dependents, thieves and liabilities in the society.

The Ministry of Education, Curriculum Research and Development Division, Ghana Education Service and the Ghana government should re-introduce Agricultural Science subject and make it as core subjects in Junior High Schools and reinforce practical aspects of it more vigorously as a skill subject for all without drawing a dichotomy in the study of the subject.

I will want to go over the current Integrated Science Syllabus for Junior High School. I am doing this because I know the first reaction of many will be that the Agriculture Science has been infused into the current Integrated Science. An analogy which is not supported with facts on the ground. Here are the topics in the current Syllabus:

SECTIONS JHS 1 JHS 2 JHS 3 DIVERSITY OF MATTER Unit 1: Introduction to Integrated Science Unit 1: Elements, Compounds and Mixtures Unit 1: Acids, Bases and Salts Unit 2: Matter Unit 2: Metals and Non Metals Unit 2: Soil and Water Conservation Unit 3: Measurement Unit 3: Chemical Compounds Unit 4: Nature of Soil Unit 4: Mixtures Unit 5: Hazard Unit 5: Water CYCLES Unit 1: Life Cycle of Flowering Plants Unit 1: Carbon Cycle Unit 1: Life Cycle of Mosquito Unit 2 : Vegetable Crop Production Unit 2: Climate SYSTEMS Unit 1 : Respiratory System of Humans Unit 1: Reproduction and Growth in Humans Unit 1: Solar System Unit 2: Farming Systems Unit 2: Heredity Unit 2: Dentition in Humans Unit 3: Diffusion and Osmosis Unit 4: Circulatory System in Humans ENERGY Unit 1: Sources and Forms of Energy Unit 1: Photosynthesis Unit 1: Heat Energy Unit 2 : Conversion of Energy Unit 2: Food and Nutrition Unit 2: Basic Electronics Unit 3: Basic Electronics Unit 3: Electrical Energy Unit 4: Light Energy Unit 4: Basic Electronics INTERACTIONS OF MATTER Unit 1 : Ecosystems Unit 1: Physical and Chemical Changes Unit 1: Magnetism Unit 2: Infections and Diseases Unit 2: Science Related Industries Unit 3: Pests and Parasites Unit 4: Force and Pressure Unit 5: Machines

SOURCE: INTEGRATED SCIENCE SYLLABUS, SEPTEMBER 2012, CRDD/ GES/ MOE

Recent review of the syllabus in September 2012 saw the scraping of the following topics from the Integrated Science Syllabus.

Unit 3: Fish Culture

Unit 3: Digestion in Animals

Unit 2: Animal Production

Unit 2: Technology and Development

Unit 3: Machinery

Unit 4: Entrepreneurship

So as it stands, from the table above, the Agriculture component of the current Integrated Science Syllabus are:

Unit 4: Nature of Soil

Unit 3: Pests and Parasites

Unit 1: Life Cycle of Flowering Plants

Unit 2: Vegetable Crop Production

The effect is that, students in Junior High School barely have negligible knowledge in Agriculture.

This situation will not motivate a student to choose Agriculture Science as a programme to study at the Senior High School. I want us to take a look at the Junior Secondary School Agriculture Science which was scrapped off in 2008. It was grouped into five sections.

SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION TO AGRICULTURE SECTION 2: SOIL SCIENCE 1. Development of Agriculture through the ages 2. Land and its uses 3. The effects of climate on agriculture 4. Origin and types of rocks 1. Soil composition and properties 2. Plant nutrient 3. Maintenance of soil fertility 4. Soil and water conservation SECTION 3: CROP SCIENCE SECTION 4: ANIMAL SCIENCE 1. Generalized life history of flowering plants 2. Vegetative propagation in plants 3. Agricultural systems 4. Field machinery 5. Sources of farm power 6. Principles and practices of crop cultivation 7. Crop improvements 8. General accounts of plant diseases 9. Pest of plants and stored products 1. Ecological distribution of livestock in West Africa 2. Animal nutrition 3. Reproduction in Farm Animals 4. Reproduction in Poultry 5. Fish Culture 6. System of Poultry Management 7. Animal Improvement 8. Pest, Parasites and diseases of livestock SECTION 5: AGRICULTURE BUSINESS

A critical look at the topics shows by the end of the above lessons for three years, the student will be in a good position as to what to study at the Senior High School.

Apart from just the knowledge, such students is likely to involve himself or herself in Animal rearing, fish farming and crop production, especially for those students who are unable to further their education at the Senior High School due to poverty and lack of access.

The 2008 Educational Reforms sought to improve Science and Technology, and therefore, introduced subjects such as Information Communication Technology (ICT) at the expense of Agriculture Science.

The big question is, Agriculture in its own is technology. So why was it scrapped? And can we eat computers? The answer is a big no. Developing technology does not mean we should collapse the foundation of Agriculture in the country which was the Backbone of our Economy.

The fact still remains that, without quality human resource to develop Agriculture sector, the future of our country is doomed, and you cannot get such human resource when our children and siblings are, right from the start, made to believe that Agriculture Science is not so significant in the country.

After discovery of oil in commercial quantities in this country, it was proposed that effort should be made to encourage livelihood empowerment programme and that Agriculture should be developed especially for coastal communities whose livelihood like fishing is going to be impeded due to oil exploration.

Following establishment of fisheries campus by the University of Cape Coast in the Central Region, effort must be made to develop all aspect of Agriculture especially at the Junior High School. This can be achieved if Agriculture Science is re-introduced at Junior High School.

We must work hard to resurrect collapsing Agriculture. And Education is the key to development of such Agriculture. We must therefore, as a country, go back to re-introduce the Agriculture Science as a subject once again in the Junior High School.

Let's make the best use of our environment for the progress and development of our beloved nation by educating the minds of the young ones on issues affecting us socially, economically and so on.

Francis Mike Eshun ( [email protected]/ 0203961833)

Bsc. Agriculture Science, U.C.C-2009, Dip in Ed, U.E.W-Kumasi-2014.

Enoch Cobbinah ( [email protected]/[email protected]/ 0540603892)

Bsc. Agriculture Science Education, UEW-Mampong-Ashanti-2015.
Chief Executive Officer of Seaweld Engineering Ghana Limited, Alfred Fafali Adagbedu, is appealing to the government to waive the customs duties on items imported for charity purposes.

He was speaking with Adom News at the ceremony where Seaweld donated hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of medical equipment to 22 hospitals and clinics in the country.

The equipment came from Geneva Cantonal University Hospital through the effort of Gertrude Nimako-Boateng, a Ghanaian International Trade Lawyer living in Switzerland.

They include incubators, digital automatic blood pressure monitors, patient monitors, Ophthalmometer, Pump IV Infusion Pilote C, Refractometers, External Ultrasound Probes, Ophthalmic Pendulum Tables, Sphygmomanometers, Electronic Chairs, Gynecological Chairs and many others.

Alfred Adagbedu said Seaweld had to pay over GHC50,000 in customs duties to bring in the items even though they are for charity.

There are lots of items waiting abroad to be shipped into the country for charity purposes but because of the high import duty, we are unable to bring them, he said.

The Seaweld Boss said he is aware some people have abused the tax waivers on good imported for charity and they use such items for their private benefit, but he believes government can vet such imports properly and give waivers to genuine ones.

Gertrude Nimako-Boateng also told Adom News she chanced on the items while she was on admission at the Cantonal University Hospital in Geneva.

I first brought in several wheel chairs for Saint Josephs Hospital and then these items worth almost a millions dollars came in with the support of Seaweld, which paid for the shipment and import duties, she said.

She expressed her profound gratitude to the Cantonal University Hospital, saying they were kind enough to include some new items and have even told her of some more beds ready for shipment to Ghana.

When I return I will arrange and bring those items to Ghana as well, if only Seaweld would be willing to pay for the import like they did, she said.

Meanwhile, representatives of some of the beneficiary hospitals also told Adom News the equipment will solve their dire needs because these are very important but very expensive equipment and our internally generated funds are not enough to buy them.

Dr. Amenuveve from the Legon Hospital hospital was full of gratitude to Seaweld and Madam Gertrude Nimako-Boateng for the gesture, saying that the equipment will save the beneficiary hospitals loads of money and also help them to save more lives.

A representative of La General Hospital said the CTG Machines, in particular, will help them a lot because they had often referred patients to other hospitals to go do CTG but now that they have one, it will save them the hustle.

Finance Director at UQ Specialist Medical Services in Takoradi, Linda Nana Donkor, said some of the equipment they are getting for free from Seaweld are equipment they had needed for a long time but did not have the money to import.
Ghana has ended its second and final round of arguments at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in Hamburg, Germany, accusing its neighbour Cote dIvoire for intentionally turning a blind eye to Ghanas legal arguments.

According to the legal team from Ghana led by the Ms Gloria Akuffo - Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Cote dIvoires arguments lacked merit as they have no evidence to back its claims that Ghana had moved into Cote dIvoires maritime space.

Ms Gloria Afua Akuffo closing arguments

The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Ms Gloria Afua Akuffo, has officially ended Ghanas oral arguments at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) with a call on the ITLOS to reject Cote dIvoires claims that Ghana has moved into its maritime boundary.

And finally, we ask you to reject Cote dIvoires attempts to argue that an oil field built up and developed over decades should have been abandoned overnight in 2009 when Cote dIvoire decided that a different boundary would suit it better.

The cynicism here is all that of Cote dIvoire, I am afraid to say, not of Ghana, the Attorney-General noted.

She prayed the Special Chamber to apply well-established legal principles to a clear and consistent body of evidence.

We submit that the law and the evidence point inexorably to the maritime boundary observed by both parties for half a century  the line, which we have termed the customary equidistance boundary. We say: You must uphold that line either as a result of the parties tacit agreement or by way of an adjustment to the provisional equidistance line to achieve an equitable solution, Ms Akuffo prayed.

She said the duty of the Special Chamber was to bring finality to the dispute with what she termed as a most valued neighbour and establish certainty of legal rights and entitlements of the parties fortune in the conduct of their affairs in the future.

According to her, it would be most unfortunate, should a contrary outcome, characterised by renewed and disruptive disputation between our two states and extending to third parties, be triggered by the decision of this Special Chamber.

Ghanas requests

The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice is praying the Special Chamber to declare that Ghana and Cote dIvoire mutually recognised, agreed and applied an equidistance-based maritime boundary in the territorial sea, Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and continental shelf within 200 Miles.

She is also praying the chamber to hold that the maritime boundary in the continental shelf beyond 200 Miles follows an extended equidistance boundary along the same azimuth (azimuth is a horizontal angle measured clockwise from any fixed reference plane or easily established base direction) as the boundary within 200 Miles to be the limit of the national jurisdiction.

Further to that, Ms Akuffo wants the Special Chamber to hold that Cote dIvoire was in accordance with international law, estopped from objecting to the agreed maritime boundary.

Another order being sought by Ghana is a declaration that, The land boundary terminus and starting point for the agreed maritime boundary is at Boundary Pillar 55 (BP 55).

She said the chamber should also hold that, The customary boundary between Ghana and Cote dIvoire in the Atlantic Ocean starts at BP 55, connects to the customary equidistance boundary mutually agreed by the parties at the outer limit of the territorial sea, and then follows the agreed boundary to a distance of 200 M. Beyond 200 M, the boundary continues along the same azimuth to the limit of national jurisdiction.

Ghana is also asking the Special Chamber to reject Cote dIvoires claim that Ghana violated the Special Chambers April 25, 2015 order, as well as claims that Ghana violated Article 83 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and Cote dIvoires rights.

Ghanas lead international lawyer, Professor Philippe Sands

Also addressing the Special Chamber hearing the dispute concerning the delimitation of the maritime boundary between Ghana and Cote dIvoire, Ghanas lead international lawyer, Professor Philippe Sands, according to the Mabel Aku Baneseh of the graphic, said: Our friends offer you a cloud of smoke and a few lines: bisecting lines, regional problems, unequal access to resources and so on.

We have noticed  as have you, certainly  the many points on which they have remained, for the most part, silent, he said, stressing that in particular they have found nothing to tell you about Cote d'Ivoire's respect for a customary border along an equidistance line, from its accession to independence until 2009.

Professor Sands noted that his colleagues on the other side made copious arguments without bothering to pay attention to the replies made by Ghana at the beginning of last week to the Ivorian rejoinder.

He said Cote dIvoires prayer to the Special Chamber hearing the dispute to adopt its bisector line argument had no basis in the present case and particularly when it had not been able to undo Ghanas bountiful evidence before the Special Chamber.

Cote dIvoires basin

Turning to the picture of the basin provided by Cote dIvoire in 2005 and titled: Deepwater Opportunities in Cote dIvoire, Prof. Sands argued that they have most of the hydrocarbons, but that is not enough, and now they want more.

He further accused Cote dIvoire of being selective in the matter of geology and denied claims by that country that there would be total deprivation of its natural resources should the Special Chamber give effect to the existing boundary or an unadjusted other equidistance line.

Highlighting Cote dIvoires oil activity since 2005, he said: more than 178 wells, for exploration and development, have been drilled in Cote dIvoires sedimentary basin, leading to a cumulative production of 90 million barrels of oil and 400 billion cubic feet of gas. Ninety million barrels is a lot more than Ghana had at that time.

Production in Cote dIvoire

Touching on the scale of oil production in Cote dIvoire over the years before the dispute arose, Prof. Sands said: Oil production in Cote dIvoire was around 20,000 barrels a day in 1996, rising to about 60,000 barrels a day in 2006 and reaching a peak of 70,000 barrels a day in 2009. To reach that level of production, Cote dIvoire brought in foreign investors, and they came, among other reasons, because Cote dIvoire was able to offer and rely on a stable, agreed boundary, one it knew to be fully respected by Ghana.

Responding to the assertions by Mr Adama Kamara, one of Cote dIvoires lawyers, that Cote dIvoire could not address issues of maritime delimitation, as well as be able to protest the activities of Ghana in granting concessions, authorising exploration and drilling; Prof. Sands said the claim is not credible, and it is unsupported by the evidence of intense petroleum-related activity in that very period.

He then took the Special Chamber through what he termed impressive activity in the same period during which Mr Kamara told the chamber that Cote dIvoire was in such a deep crisis.

As you can see, from 1995 until the period when the dispute began in early 2009, Ghanaian production was minimal, less than 10,000 barrels a day. In the decade before 2009, with the benefit of an agreed boundary, Cote dIvoire was producing roughly between two and six times as much oil as Ghana: every day, 365 days a year, for more than ten years, he noted.

Prof. Sands said Ghana did not make a fuss about the agreed boundary, adding that Ghana respected the geography, the geology and the boundary. Yet now Cote dIvoire seeks to present itself to this Special Chamber as, somehow, a poor relation of Ghana, a resource-deprived country for which equity requires that it should have access to petroleum resources located on Ghanas side of the existing boundary.

Legal begging bowl

He noted that despite Cote dIvoires vast oil reserves, its lawyers had come before the Special Chamber with a legal begging bowl, pleading with the Special Chamber to make what he termed a massive change to the existing boundary, so that it can add to what it already has in the Tano-Ivorian basin.

Ghanas lawyer noted that the principles identified by the Barbados-Trinidad and Tobago Tribunal were applicable to this case, which operated entirely in favour of maintaining the status quo in support of the existing boundary.

He noted that the consequences would be very significant and dire if the Special Chamber departed from the existing maritime boundary.

The concessions that have been granted by Ghana will be undermined, and issues may arise under the contracts that underpin them and which have been entered into in consequence of them. How would that add to certainty and stability?

How could it be an equitable solution for Cote dIvoire, having known about, accepted and never protested Ghanaian concessions and related activity based on an agreed maritime boundary to now turn around and say that it no longer recognises the boundary it had previously and long accepted as existing? How could it be equitable when Cote dIvoire has relied on the same boundary to develop its own oil industry? We submit that the question answers itself, Prof. Sands pointed out.

He denied Cote dIvoires claim of Ghana violating its sovereign rights, adding: Cote dIvoire has failed to point to any conduct by Ghana which could conceivably jeopardise or hamper the determination of the boundary.

Mr Fui Tsikata

Addressing the tribunal on whether or not there had been a tacitly agreed maritime boundary between Ghana and Cote dIvoire in the past five decades and more, Mr Fui Tsikata, one of Ghanas lawyers, said Cote dIvoire deliberately ignored or misrepresented facts before the tribunal.

He said they rather resorted to alternative facts and noted that out of the 15 maps that were shown last week, seven were produced by five ministries in Cote dIvoire, ministries which, to counsel, had not been privatised.

Mr Tsikatas response to the issue of the maps coming from Ivorian government agencies that had not been privatised was in answer to claims by Cote dIvoire that Ghana had tendered in evidence maps produced by oil companies.

He said Ghana had provided many maps, which explicitly show that the Ivorian authorities had acknowledged the existence of a maritime boundary between the two countries for more than five decades.

He said Cote dIvoire failed to produce evidence that it first put up protest in 1988 and later in 1992.

Nothing in the material before you support the contention of Cote dIvoire that it protested to Ghana on even a single occasion against the use of the customary equidistance boundary on even a single occasion between 1956 and 2009, he said, adding: Last week Monday, Prof. Sands posed the question: Where is the evidence of the constant opposition alleged by Cote dIvoire?

Counsel noted that Ghana was still waiting for that answer from Cote dIvoire, adding that Cote dIvoire appeared to have a problem with the word customary.

He stressed that the word captures the idea of an accepted practice, evolved over time and with normative implications.

Cote dIvoire

Cote dIvoire will advance its final oral argument tomorrow, Thursday, February 16, 2017.

The President of the Special Chamber constituted to deal with the dispute, Judge Boualem Bouguetaia, is presiding over the hearing.

Background

After 10 failed negotiation attempts, Ghana, in September 2014, announced that it had instituted arbitration proceedings at the ITLOS to ensure a resolution of its maritime boundary dispute with Cote dIvoire.

In accordance with Article 3(a) of Annex VII, Ghana appointed Judge Thomas Mensah, a former President of the ITLOS, as a member of the tribunal.

Despite several years of good faith negotiations, including at least 10 rounds of bilateral meetings, Ghana and Cote dIvoire have been unable to agree upon the location of their maritime boundary, then Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong, announced at a press conference in Accra on September 23, 2014.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta has stated that government will not finance the Free Senior High School (SHS) promise it made with the Heritage Fund.

This, is in sharp contrast with earlier assertions made by the Senior Minister; Yaw Osafo-Maafo that government will finance the Free SHS with the Heritage fund.

Soon after Mr. Osafo-Maafo made the assertion, there were some responses from a section of the public, warning the government not to touch the funds since it is meant for the future generation.

But Speaking to Citi Business News after an event organized by Achimota School as part of its 90th anniversary, Mr. Ofori Atta insisted that government will not finance the project from the Heritage Fund, but promised that details for funding it will be provided in the budget.

We are financing the Free SHS education without looking at the Heritage Fund. As far as I know the Senior Minister did not say we will finance the Free SHS with the Heritage Fund. He alluded at looking at other options for us to be able to finance the Free SHS, he said.

Mr. Ofori Atta stated that the government's economic team has not considered the Heritage Fund as source of financing the Free SHS since there are many financial options opened to government to undertake the project.

We are not considering using the Heritage Fund. I think we have enough resource envelopes to be able to do it without touching the Heritage Fund. We will not touch the Heritage Fund for the Free SHS, he stressed.

He assured that details of how government intends to finance the project will be provided in the budget which will be presented in March before parliament.

There is going to be a budgetary allocation for that and it does not include the Heritage Fund. We have to wait for the budget. There is still a lot of work to be done before March 2, or so when the budget will be read, he noted.



By: Lawrence Segbefia/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
The BBC has begun the search for Africa's next journalism star - launching the 2017 BBC World News Komla Dumor Award in Blantyre, Malawi.

Journalists from across the continent are invited to apply for the prestigious prize - which aims to uncover and promote fresh journalism talent from Africa.

The award was set up to honour the memory of Komla Dumor, an exceptional Ghanaian broadcaster who died unexpectedly at the age of 41 in 2014. In his short life Komla made an extraordinary impact  in Ghana, in Africa and across the world  on Joy FM and at the BBC. Through his tenacious journalism and compelling storytelling, he worked tirelessly to bring a more sophisticated African narrative to the world. The BBC is committed to continuing Komlas legacy and, through this award, aims to empower a new generation of journalists from Africa to tell African stories to global audiences.

Previous winners of the BBC World News Komla Dumor Award are Nancy Kacungira  who worked as a prime time news presenter for KTN in Kenya - in 2015 and Didi Akinyelure - a Nigerian journalist who started out as an investment banker - in 2016. Both winners used their time at the BBC to hone their journalism skills through training, workshops and mentorship. Working closely with leading talent within the BBC, the winners undertake a final project, travelling to Africa to report on a story they have researched.

During her placement, Nancy Kacungira travelled to Ghana to report on diaspora Ghanaians who had decided to return to their roots. The following year, Didi Akinyelure went to the Ivory Coast to investigate new opportunities for the local chocolate manufacturing industry.

Didi said: I very much admired Komla Dumor, as did many people across Africa. He was, and continues to be, such an inspiration to journalists from across the continent, so it was an honour to be selected as last years award winner to continue his remarkable work. What was truly great about my placement at the BBC was how I was given the opportunity and freedom to tell African stories in the way Komla did; with integrity, impartiality and impact.

Didi Akinyelure will take part in the launch event for the 2017 prize, which will take place in Blantyre, Malawi, alongside Francesca Unsworth, Director, BBC World Service Group and Deputy Director of News and Current Affairs.

Francesca said: The BBC is committed to continuing Komlas legacy of reporting on Africa by launching his award for the third year. We have already awarded and hosted two exceptionally talented journalists, who were given the opportunity to train with us and report from Africa for our audiences across the BBC. It has been a pleasure getting to know both Nancy and Didi. It has also been great to learn from both our award winners, improving our engagement with local audiences. Were looking forward to finding the next rising star in African journalism and welcoming them as the next BBC World News Komla Dumor Award winner.

Now open for applications, entrants have until 23.59GMT on 15th March 2017 to submit. The winner will spend three months at the BBC headquarters in New Broadcasting House in London, gaining skills and experience.

For more information on how to apply, entry criteria, and terms and conditions visit http://careerssearch.bbc.co.uk/jobs/job/komlaaward/19947 and use hashtag #BBCKomlaAward.
The newly elected Greater Accra representative on the Council of State, Nii Kotei Dzani, has rubbished allegations that he bribed delegates at Thursdays election to vote for him.

Two delegates have accused Dr. Dzani of bribing delegates after he won the race in the region, by polling 20 votes, against his closest contender, Nene Kanor Attiapah who had 12 votes.

But speaking on the Point Blank segment of Eyewitness News, Mr. Dzani dismissed the bribery allegation , saying even if a government wins the election, they say opposition rigged the election, so I am not bothered by these claims.

Mr. Dzani's comment agrees with that of the Head of Communications at the Electoral Commission, Eric Dzapasus account of the election, as he also stated that nothing untoward happen during the election.

I didnt see people taking pictures of their ballots. One person was going into the booth with his phone but his attention was drawn to that. The press, delegates and election officials were all there, nothing untoward happened at the election, Mr. Dzapasu said.

The Greater Accra Region poll was an area of interest as the former National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Enoch Teye Mensah, was scheduled to take part in the election, but later withdrew at the last minute, citing personal reasons.

The NDC executives of the Ningo-Prampram constituency had prior to his withdrawal expressed their disappointment with the former MP's decision, saying it would send wrong signals to the grassroots members of the party, since they would think that t he has defected to the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).

A total of 113 candidates between the ages of 23 and 84, contested in the election, which took place in all regional capitals across the country.

The elected regional representatives are:

Eunice Jacqueline Buah, Western Region

Kwadwo Agyenim Boateng, Brong Ahafo Region

Yakubu S. Nantogmah, Northern Region

Agona Akrofosohene Nana Owusu Achiaw, Ashanti Region

Richard Babini Kanton IV, Upper West Region

Dr. Nii Kotei Dzani, Greater Accra Region

Robert D. Mosore, Upper East Region

Obrempong Appiah Nuamah II, Central Region

Francis Albert Seth Nyonyo, Volta Region

Nana Somuah Mireku- Nyampong, Eastern Region



By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @EfeAnsah
Following allegations of vote-buying during the election of a representative for the Greater Accra Region to the Council of State, one of the defeated contestants has called for an expansion of the electoral college in order to curtail vote-buying during the election.

The defeated contestant, Desmond Decker, said expanding the college would stop the influence of money in the elections, since according to him, the number of delegates are only few.

This was in response to the allegations of vote-buying, by him and other defeated contestants in the elections, which produced business mogul and President of Groupe Ideal, Dr. Nii Kotei Dzani as the winner.

Dr. Nii Kotei Dzani

That is why we are calling for the expansion of the Electoral College. If the Electoral College is expanded, some of these things cant happen. Lets say if you are given 33 people, it is easy for you to give 33 people GHc 1000 or GHc 2000, Mr. Decker explained on Eyewitness News.

But it if you have an electoral college of 2,000 or 3,000 people, you cant be giving GHc 5,000 to all of them, and that will be curtailed. So what we are asking for is the expansion of the electoral college, and they [the EC] should expand the electoral college and make sure that we open it up for the people to vote for the person they want to represent them at the Council of State.

Delegates were taking pictures of ballots

Mr. Decker also alleged that there were some irregularities during the voting process, that suggested vote-buying as some delegates were taking pictures as proof of their ballot to favour of a particular candidate.

I must say that I am really disappointed in the outcome of the results today. I must put it on record that the Electoral Commission's (EC) Communications Director, Mr. Dzakpasu prevented some delegates from taking pictures while they were voting.

Although Mr. Decker did not have any concrete evidence to back his claims, he insisted that it doesnt mean it didnt happen.

Clearly, the delegates knew the people they were going to vote for. Clearly, the delegates have received some money though we don't know the amount and clearly, the delegates showed that they didn't vote in the interest of the people the Greater Accra Region.

No pictures in booths

The EC's Director of Communications however denied making any intervention as indicated by Mr. Decker, insisting nothing like that happened during the elections.

Director of Communications at the EC, Eric Dzakpasu

Also speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Dzakpasu recounted that there was only one gentleman who was going to vote and we saw that he was holding a phone and the delegates drew his attention. It came to our notice and we made sure that he didn't go into the booth with the phone. Beyond that, I didn't see anything.

Mr. Dzakpasu stated that, there was no complaint to him, or the returning officer or any of the polling assistants.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Abidjan, Cote dIvoire, February 16, 2017  In a major speech delivered before the diplomatic community in Abidjan, African Development Bank Group President Akinwumi Adesina stressed that the Bank is stronger than ever before. The lending and disbursements are at record levels, while the institution has made significant efficiency gains.

Adesina was addressing diplomats accredited to Cote dIvoire and whose countries are members of the Africas premier financial institution. The discussion took place in the context of the Banks annual Ambassadors Luncheon.

The leader of the AfDB gave an overview of the evolution of the Banks situation in 2016. We are stronger than ever before. We have improved institutional efficiency, effectiveness and delivery, he said. Looking at the Banks activities, he stated that the Bank achieved record levels of loans and disbursements of US $10.7 billion and $6.4 billion, respectively.

At the end of 2016, the volume of the active portfolio of the Bank grew by more than 23%, reaching a new peak at US $44 billion, and the proportion of projects at risk declined during the year by 22%, he continued.

Adesina stressed that the now, more than ever, there are real reasons to be optimistic about the future of the continent. I am proud to be Africas Optimist-in-Chief, he said, because my optimism comes from strong conviction that Africa, our continent, is facing the future with strength, conviction and confidence.

Africa is dynamic and on the move, the President of the AfDB said. Economic projections show that growth will improve to 3.2% in 2017.

Adesina also reaffirmed the importance for partners to support the implementation of the Banks High 5 development priorities given their alignment with other global targets. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) recently confirmed that, according to its analysis of the alignment between the High 5s, the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063 of the African Union Commission, the High 5s cover about 90% of the objectives and strategies of the two programs combined.

In his words of thanks, the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, the Archbishop Joseph Spiteri, Apostolic Nuncio of Cote dIvoire, recalled the importance of inclusive growth in Africa by referring to the impatience of African populations to achieve well-being.

All classes must walk together. The AfDB should not lose sight of its mission of serving African people. It must support the weakest countries, Spiteri said. The implementation of the High 5s must aim at this goal.
My father, Memudu Adigun, died of stroke when I was barely two years into my secondary education. Before then, like many others at my age, I have heard stories of angels, ghosts and spirits having conversations with people. Some even claim they "see" one of their grandparents days after they were dead. Since, I never met my grandparents while they were alive, I couldn't make such fantastic claims since I never even know how they look. With this, I was left to wonder what it was like interacting with ghosts!

So when my father died, since I was still a small boy, I thought he would come around to be "talking" to me. He never came so I gave up on the fruitless search for any other opportunities at seeing ghosts. All that I have left of my dad, are the things I can remember him say or do while he was alive. How people talk to ghosts is still a mystery to me!

For a while now, there has been heated debates on both the traditional and new (social) media on the state of President Buhari's health. There are those who are still in "election mode" according to Femi Adesina, who will not want to hear any other news contrary to "Buhari is dead." To these ones, the President died the day he traveled to London. There are others, which I will call, the Hailers. No matter what, even if, God forbids, the corpse of the President is sent home, they will never believe. Both camps, as we can see are living in a state of denial which can only become clear how the President returns home, dead or alive.

One thing is sure and to say it in pain, undiplomatic language, all is not well with the President's health. Anyone can fall sick. I have a cousin who died at 6 years old of jaundice. My dad died at 85 from complications arising from stroke. I knew people who were not as old as he was that died before him of diseases that are not so acute. Anyone can can fall sick and die. The problem I have so far is the manner in which the whole thing is handled. I guess that is where the opponents of the administration are gaining an upper hand!

On St Valentine's day, there was a piece of news that US President, Donald Trump, was scheduled to speak with two African leaders: Jacob Zuma (South Africa) and Muhammadu Buhari (Nigeria). Even though, the announcement was public, many doubted the President's number will go through since, according to New York Times, no one has seen Buhari in months. This raised doubts as to whom President Trump spoke. Not even a State House Press Release signed by the President's spokesman, Femi Adesina, will be good enough for chronic doubters. Some pseudo media stations also mentioned, citing no credible sources, that Trump never spoke with Buhari even though they acknowledged the US leader spoke to Zuma on the same day. As far as these ones were concerned, Buhari is just a ghost that can appear and disappear anything he likes!

Perhaps, to "convince" the doubting Thomases that the President's "hale and hearty", the President's men went on a picture war. The president's media team aggressively pushed out pictures of prominent Nigerians visiting Buhari in London. The pictures of two chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Chief Bisi Akande were first sent out. As usual, doubters went to work again claiming Tinubu "denied" visiting the President in London. Tinubu, in a swift statement by his media aide, has referred to his "denial" as "crazy".

Also, Senate President, Bukola Saraki; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakub Dogara and Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan were pictured visiting Buhari in London. I remember asking if the three men also visited a ghost!

On Trump's telephone conversation with Buhari, one notorious blog came up with a misleading headline, WHITE HOUSE "DENIES" SPEAKING WITH BUHARI. Many who did not even bother reading the first paragraph of the piece, went agog in vilification, "I no tell you?" I told a friend that night who sent me the link to the piece that it is nothing but trash. I asked her which "White House" the blog was taking about because I know of one White House (Faculty of Science Building) at Ife University. I asked her if that was the one they meant. We laughed over it and I taught her how to detect when a piece is fake. There is a big difference, I told her between a completed action ( DENIED) and a continuous one (YET TO CONFIRM). The blog claimed: "The White House is yet to confirm President Trump spoke to Buhari..."

In their desperate attempt to do a dirty job of making us believe Trump spoke to a ghost, they murdered professionalism, the humanity we share and decorum!

Olalekan Waheed ADIGUN is a political analyst and independent political strategist for wide range of individuals, organisations and campaigns. He is based in Lagos, Nigeria. His write-ups can be viewed on his website http://olalekanadigun.com/ Tel: +2348136502040, +2347081901080

Email: [email protected], [email protected]

Follow me on Twitter @adgorwell
17.02.2017 LISTEN

His Excellency the president read us an inaugural speech on the 7th of January this year. A speech full of wisdom. It talked about the need for every Tom, Dig and Jane to be part of nation building. I ask you to be citizens, citizens not spectators. " I ask you to be citizens, citizens not subjects". The Speech in its wisdom call on the average Ghanaian like my ilk to always contribute his or her quota for the country to continue soaring on the tenets of democracy. Many people said it was a plagiarized disquisition but thats not a point of interest here. I am tempted to mind the engine and not the body! He said we should not just sit and watch things unfold and I think he deserved a hi five for that. It is because of this admonition that I also want to put these pieces of sentences together about the ongoing ministerial vetting.

The exercise began well. We have seen politicians all of a sudden assuming the demeanor of panhandlers before the committee. Some became apologetic when there was a need. So far, among the nominees, Hon. Ken Ofori Atta is the one who has displayed a character of humility and the attitude of down-to-earth. He said yes to questions that he could say yes to and said no to questions that deserved no. The man is simple affable! I was so much elated with this attitude of honesty by a minister appointed by a president having so much hatred for corruption and the need to uproot it with a claw hammer, at least, as we were made to believe during the campaign era. Some nominees like Dr. Anthony Akoto, Dan Botwe and Joe Ghartey kept the feeling intact. How amazing!? A person whom many described as a cobra and that whenever she speaks, her words is likened to the venom of a cobra will shock everybody and made those who were brainwashed by her words on political dais disappointed, Hon. Ursula Owusu. She kept my mood about the vetting on a "comfortable lead" as though it was cruising to eternal victory. Disastrously, this mood of satisfaction and elation entered a comatous state by the bribery saga and subsequently joined the silent majority by the vetting of a certain minister designate for Women, Children and Gender Protection, Madam Otiko Afisah Djaaba. Her demeanor and posture before the vetting committee didnt only troubled the only living Ghanaian but even lifeless objects came alive because my computer just power up and started putting these pieces of words together as it also wanted to register its displeasure!

Madam Otiko failed to realized that apologies can still be rendered and if rendered, can be reciprocated with words of forgiveness. For some time now in Ghana, I have come to the notion that politicians behave like functional alcoholics in periods closer to elections. Competition of insults kickstarts and name calling takes center stage. The political temperature if it was going to be measured with a thermometer will have yielded a value that cannot be read! Because everyone is eyeing the golden stool. So in this period, one could say words to footsoldiers to have chooboi as a response only to get to the house, shower, eat fried rice and chicken and immediately regret after few minutes he or she had turned the bulb off to enjoy a sound sleep. You labelled the president as evil and a person with a devil heart anchored on the fact he failed his own people with a development policy meant to bridge the gap between the north and the south, Savanna Accelerated Development Authority. I must side with you on that because the levels of abject poverty in that region of mine is so clear to even the blind but I disagree with your choice of words. Evil is a hatred word and same is devil not to even draw a line of similarity between a humans heart and a devils heart. Yes! You spoke with conviction as at then for the electors to realise how mismanaged was Ghana, nevertheless, you went overboard with the choice of your diction. The unapologetic attitude of yours before the committee contrasted the teachings of the north. You made the whole country believed that you were a woman with innate of unapologetic genes in your DNA!

Also, for you to join the breed of people who speak without evidence like Kennedy Agyepong is even mindboggling . How on earth do you think your colleague womans sweat cannot earn her an appointment to any higher office? Per your logic and Agyepongs, a womans gifts are the only magic wands. A woman can only get what she want by using what she has. Kennedy of all people alleged that the EC chair traded sexual favours for her current position being occupied. It was wrong to side with such a person back then and even now. Above all, for you to still call for a probe on the matter as if there was an iota of truth in it on the day of your vetting is totally thunderstriking! You still hold the view that women are not brilliant and fit for higher offices when men have labelled themselves as feminist activists to fight for women. Is it a case of self-abnegation or you were just a politician who wanted to see Akuffo Addo end his presidential drought? Spare us of that mentality because we are in 2017, mum!

I love those who are law abiding. Why didnt you undergo national service when the laws of Ghana demanded so? It occurs to me that you did not pass through the Third Trimester Field Practical Program by the university you had your first degree from, University For Development Studies. The alumnus of this university know what this program means to the school. Before you can graduate, you must pass through it. It is compulsory ! Lets talk about the national service because it came up on the day of the vetting. Section 7 of the national service act (Act 426) states that a Ghanaian who does not do his or her national service cannot work in Ghana, for others, or for themselves and that, all the directors of any company, that employs them should be fined, jailed or both. I think one does not need an LLB certificate to decipher this. Madam Otiko, you breached the law and the law even prescribed a punishment for your employers, so why should heads break loose on this? I vehemently disagree with anybody who is trying to chip in a comparison of political equalization in this by refreshing our memories about the case of Oti Bless. We should forget about the wrongs of yesterday by righting the wrongs today. Thats how a nation should be built. I was one of those against the appointment of Oti Bless. How should a person who heaped insults on the chief justice merit an appointment as a deputy minister if not for political expediency? Kaman how?  to wit I mean, how?

The minority were right for kvetching on this Otiko matter. I was happy that they decided not to vote. After that what did we see, she was approved with a majority decision unlike some of her colleagues making the outcome of the vetting committee a complete joke! I harbor no ill-feelings against Madam Otiko. I will be delighted to see the alumni of the university of which I am currently a student occupying such a higher office especially when the occupant is a woman but it is equally important I express my opinions on the entire vetting process of hers.

I wrote without a partisan lens. I urge you also read without same as we are citizens and not spectators! Kudos to the aldermembers of the minority who have sent this issue to the highest court of adjudicature for a finality!

The writer is a BSc. Computing-with-Accounting student at UDS, Navrongo campus, who loves to contribute on issues of national concern even when he is having difficulty in understanding programming.

Writers email: [email protected]
Following US President Donald Trumps inauguration, George Orwells classic dystopia 1984 jumped to number one on Amazons list of best-selling books, just the latest sign of the genres current popularity.

But Nigerian-American World Fantasy Award winner Nnedi Okorafor said 1984 is not the dystopia that feels most relevant to her at this point in history. After everything that happened, Im not reading 1984, Im not reading Fahrenheit 451, Im not reading A Handmaids Tale. Im reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. I feel like if were looking for any answers or where were going, its definitely in Octavias work.

Speaking to The Stream on Al Jazeera, Okorafor read from the African-American novelists 1998 sequel, the Nebula-winningParable of the Talents, which features a presidential candidate, Andrew Steele Jarret, who rises to power by promising, like Trump, to make America great again, and whose supporters are known to form mobs to burn and feather and tar those who dont quite match Jarrets version of Christianity.

Okorafor added that the definition of dystopia depends on the group of people. The Stream host, Femi Oke, used the regular power cuts in Nigeria as an example, saying, Not having regular power could be the end of civilisation if you live in Brooklyn but not if you live in Abuja.

New York Times bestselling Chinese-American author Marie Lu agrees. She lived in Beijing at the time of the Tiananmen Square protests, a period most in the West would have described as dystopian, but says during her time there it felt like thats just everyday life.

Utopias for some are normally dystopias for others. Ron Charles, the fiction editor for The Washington Post, recounts a conversation with a professor of American-American literature. She said whats so interesting to her is that white people always think of dystopias as looking forward into this scary future, but black Americans can look back. Theyve already come through their dystopia. They had 200 years of horror and slavery. All the kinds of things we imagine the future dystopia being like are what black Americans already went through.

Lu takes this further, saying, There has never been a time in which we have not been living through a dystopia.

Okorafors novels have been described as both dystopian and Afrofuturism, but she doesnt see a contradiction in the terms. Afrofuturism isnt always upbeat, she says. A lot of it is in response to the darkness and trying to show the light but a lot of it goes dark Afrofuturism is very diverse, so pinning it down to being focused on upliftment and being positive is a little short-sighted.

Asked about what shes currently working on, Okorafor said she is editing a not so dark novel called Remote Control,set in the future in Ghana, dealing with both technology and mysticism.

Watch the full discussion, which also features Dakar-based photographer Fabrice Monteiro, at

.


Born and bred in Nima, a suburb outside view with fascination and disbelief, Mr. Abdul Salam Mohammed has grown to redefine the word, ambassador, to the extent that one does not need to be a diplomat to be able to represent ones country and bring substantial benefit to the country.

A senior nursing officer at the National Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Center at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Mr. Mohammed, who is popularly known as Daaru among his peers, used a recent trip he made to Akron and Cleveland Ohio in the United States to create a beneficial partnership between his hospital and Ghana as a whole, and several public and private entities in the US.

One of such important benefit of his trip was securing health equipment for the Pamela Bridgewater Projects resettlement center and clinic located at the Kejetia market and lorry terminal at the heart of Kumasi. The center caters for disadvantaged girls and market women.

Mr. Mohammeds social works first caught the eyes of the US State Department and he was subsequently invited under the auspices of the International Research and Exchange (IRES) for a professional fellowship program on education and cultural affairs, where he proudly represented Ghana.

The Assistance Secretary of the bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs at the State Department, Mrs Evan Ryan, praised Daaru for being an outstanding fellow due to the impact he made during the fellowship program.

As part of the program arrangement, he worked with the Global Ties Akron, an international organization in Akron-Northeast Ohio- with over 40 years track record in leadership and international diplomacy.

Mr. Mohammed also visited the US capital, Washington DC, New York City and Columbus, Cleveland, and Berea all in Ohio, were he never missed an opportunity to share Ghanas rich heritages including the countrys national parks, the Cape Coast and Elmina castles, the sandy beaches, the rich cultural heritages and the numerous festivals.

He also made it clear to his hosts that Ghana has shined as a model of democracy in Africa and he is reported to have described Ghana as the gateway to Africa and the most peaceful part of the African continent.

The young and passionate Daaru, who is also a peace activist and the lead researcher for an organisation known as Past, Present and Future (PPF), which works towards the promotion of inter-religious dialogue, conflict resolution and the development and reorganization of Zongo communities in Ghana, delivered presentations in top universities in Ohio on effective strategies for peace building and fighting global terrorism by using Ghana and his experiences as case studies to admiration of the audience.

The worthy ambassador that he became, he took the opportunity to present the twin city programs to the Mayor of Akron, Mr. Daniel Horrigan, for cities and towns in Ohio to adopt their counterpart in Ghana. He also submitted proposals to promote business ties between Ghana and Ohio for the mutual benefits of the two countries.

Mr. Mohammeds great campaign for Ghana in the USA will see delegations from Ohio visiting this country to explore business opportunities this year and beyound. Indeed how can one describe Abdul Salam Mohammed if not as an Ambassador of Ghana?
Food Sovereignty appeared before our committee and we gave them the opportunity to prove that the bill is about GMO. They couldnt. They actually apologized and withdrew. And yet the day after, they went and issued a statement. So, for me it is important that we clarify these things, rather than misleading various agencies for them to issue statements which are totally out of place.

- Hon. Joe Osei Owusu

Food Sovereignty Ghana (FSG) is deeply concerned about utterances from the Chairman of the Appointments Committee, and First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Joseph Osei-Owusu, when the issue of the Plant Breeders Bill was raised during the vetting of Hon. Dr. Owusu Afiriyie Akoto as Minister-Designate for Agriculture. We are left with the distinct impression that Parliament is keen on passing the Plant Breeders Bill without addressing the fundamental questions raised by Ghanaians from all walks of life, which prompted the former Speaker to call for consultations with the public. FSG condemns the attempts at ignoring all other objections to the bill, with the refrain that it has nothing to do with GMOs! We consider them as indicative of the Parliaments insensitive decision to ignore ALL other objections to the bill.

Giving the impression that all opposition to the Plant Breeders Bill is because of its connection with GMOs is completely dishonest. Indeed, Parliament is actually in possession of petitions against the Plant Breeders Bill that do not even mention GMOs! Equally misleading is the impression that FSG is the main body that stands in opposition to the UPOV model for the Plant Breeders Bill. It is not too difficult to understand the intentions behind such pronouncements against FSG, but it is difficult to understand why Parliament is not being transparent in reporting its consultations with civil society, faith-based organisations, and other entities on this important issue.

The right question we expect the media to ask our Parliamentarians is whether the only thing they see in the petitions on the Plant Breeders Bill is the linkage with GMOs? What about farmers rights? What about Clause 23? What about biopiracy? What about smuggling in UPOV under WTO TRIPPS rules which call for simply a sui generis Plant Variety Protection that can also adequately protect our local plant breeders?

Publish Report On Consultations

FSG has been calling on Parliament for some time now, to come out with a report on their consultations with various organisations and entities over the Plant Breeders Bill. We have similarly called for the publication of the proceedings of our meeting with the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, as far back as Wednesday, 4th December, 2013. FSG believes this will be the best way to ensure transparency and assure the public that the right things are being done on their behalf by our Parliament, so far as the Plant Breeders Bill is concerned.

To date there is no public record of this encounter. This has allowed some MPs to provide distorted versions of what actually took place, whenever they please, without any challenge, as we saw in the false claims by the Chairman of the Appointments Committee, and First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Joseph Osei-Owusu before the Appointments Committee:

Food Sovereignty appeared before our committee and we gave them the opportunity to prove that the bill is about GMO. They couldnt. They actually apologized and withdrew. And yet the day after, they went and issued a statement. So, for me it is important that we clarify these things, rather than misleading various agencies for them to issue statements which are totally out of place.

His statement is patently false and offensive. It is also mischievous as it seeks to create the impression that the only matter discussed was the link between the Plant Breeders Bill and GMOs! The statement is nonsensical and malicious because at the said meeting, the link between the Plant Breeders Bill and GMOs was indeed raised, but no apologies were given. There was disagreement on both sides until Professor Walter Sando Alhassan, the man the Committee had invited as one of their own experts on the subject, confirmed there was a definite link. That was how the matter ended. There was no need for apologies to be provided, no apology was called for, and none was given. The FSG account of what actually took place has been made public in a Communique since December 8, 2013. It was even published on the Parliaments own website until it was redesigned! See: COMMUNIQUE: FSG Meets Parliament Over Plant Breeders Bill | Food Sovereignty Ghana, December 8, 2013: http://foodsovereigntyghana.org/communique-fsg-meets-parliament-over-plant-breeders-bill/

FSG finds it unacceptable, that there is no official record of our meeting with Parliament available, but MPs stand on official platforms to peddle misinformation. We have been here before. On November 19, 2014, FSG asked, Why is his Committee refusing to make public the records of the proceedings of our meeting with them? Is he suggesting that our fundamental objection to the UPOV-compliant plant variety protection (PVP) regime was relaxed?  See: Investigate Bagbin Over Plant Breeders Bill! | Food Sovereignty Ghana https://foodsovereigntyghana.org/744/

If we cannot even trust our own elected representatives to accurately report their encounters with civil society organisations, then there is something fundamentally wrong with our democracy. It remains our legitimate expectation that elected representatives of the people report accurately to Ghanaians about their meetings with civil society organisations. We therefore demand unqualified apologies from the chairman of the Appointments Committee, and a publication of the proceedings at the said meeting by Parliament.

GMOs And The Plant Breeders Bill

We also find it strange that the chairman of the Appointments Committee even deviated from the issue of GMOs to discuss the Plant Breeders Bill, when we had not even mentioned the Bill even once in our memorandum to the Appointments Committee. See: Memorandum Calling for the Rejection of Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, Minister-designate for Food and Agriculture | Food Sovereignty Ghanahttp://foodsovereigntyghana.org/memorandum-calling-for-the-rejection-of-dr-owusu-afriyie-akoto-minister-designate-for-food-and-agriculture/

Indeed our actual petition to Parliament on the Plant Breeders Bill bears eloquent witness to the fact that it is patently false and mischievous to create the dishonest impression that our fundamental concern with the Plant Breeders Bill is because of GMOs! See: PETITION TO PARLIAMENT ON THE PLANT BREEDERS BILL, 2013. | Food Sovereignty Ghana, November 24, 2013 http://foodsovereigntyghana.org/petition-to-parliament-on-the-plant-breeders-bill-2013/

On the contrary, as a summary of our opposition to the Plant Breeders Bill states in our last call on Parliament to publish the report on consultations over the Plant Breeders Bill, dated here Mar 31, 2016, there is not even a single mention of GMOs! To date, there has been no response.Parliament appears to be deliberately diverting attention away from what we have always considered to be the fundamental flaws in the Bill. Our MPs appear to have conveniently developed a mantra to drown out any opposition to the Bill, irrespective of what it is about, with the refrain, the Plant Breeders Bill has nothing to do with GMOs! Never mind the burning issues concerning biopiracy, or the criminalisation of farmers! Why are these other issues not being addressed by our MPs?

For clarity and emphasis, we reproduce the relevant part of the statement, Publish report on consultations over Plant Breeders Bill! |Food Sovereignty Ghana, Mar 31, 2016, Pambazuka News. https://www.pambazuka.org/food-health/publish-report-consultations-over-plant-breeders-bill, here:

On Tuesday, November 11, 2014, the last time the Bill came up on the floor of the House at the Consideration Stage, the Speaker ruled: I would urge for further consultation, he said to Hon. Alban Bagbin, Majority Leader and then Chairman of the Constitutional, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs Committee. This call for further consultation was key to the unprecedented suspension of a Bill that was already at the Consideration Stage. The reason the Speaker gave for this unprecedented move was: This is because it is important to inform the people of Ghana. http://www.parliament.gh/publications/30/906

It therefore behoves the Committee to produce an official report detailing the consultations they claim to have done for all to know why Parliament still refuses to heed the demands of Ghanaian civil society groups and faith-based organisations that have formally petitioned them. The minimum courtesy one expects is at least a report detailing why their objections have not been taken into consideration. We particularly demand responses to these fundamental objections to the Plant Breeders Bill. All of these objections apply equally to the ARIPO Arusha PVP Protocol, a treaty version of the exact same Bill.

1. Ghana can protect plant breeder rights without necessarily opting for UPOV 91. The Bill is modelled on the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants of 1991 (UPOV 1991) which is a rigid and an inflexible regime for plant variety protection (PVP). It is worth noting that today out of the 71 UPOV members, only a fraction  about 22 developing countries are members of UPOV. Most of these developing countries (e.g. Brazil, China, Argentina, South Africa) and even some developed countries (e.g. Norway) are not members of UPOV 1991 but rather UPOV 1978, which is a far more flexible regime.

Ghana has full flexibility under the World Trade Organization (WTO) to develop an effective sui generis system for plant variety protection, i.e. to develop a unique system that suits its needs. In view of this, it is truly unfortunate and even irrational that instead of designing a PVP regime that reflects the agricultural framework and realities of Ghana as some other countries have done (e.g. India, Thailand, Ethiopia), Ghana is choosing to adopt and be bound by UPOV 1991 without any concrete evidence or impact assessment of the necessity and impacts of adopting such a regime.

Ghana is a member of the World Trade Organization and the rights and obligations concerning intellectual property are governed by the WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement). According to Article 27.3(b) of the TRIPS Agreement, Ghana has to provide protection of plant varieties by an effective sui generis system. Sui generis means unique system of protection. This provision allows Ghana maximum flexibility in the design of plant variety protection (PVP). This is what many developing countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, India have done. The African Union Ministers have also recommended a unique Model Law for Plant Variety Protection. See: Ghanas Plant Breeders Bill Lacks Legitimacy! It Must Be Revised! | http://foodsovereigntyghana.org/ghanas-plant-breeders-bill-lacks-legitim

The public has a right to know why our Parliament is insisting on the UPOV-91 model for Ghana!

2. As a member of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources (ITPGRFA) we expect Ghana to take steps to realise farmers rights to use, sell, save and exchange farm-saved seeds, to protect their traditional knowledge and to allow their participation in national decision-making.

It is thus extremely disappointing to see that the Bill is heavily tilted in favour of commercial breeders and undermines farmers rights. The Bill does not allow farmers to sell and exchange seeds. A farmers use of farm-saved seeds on his own holdings is limited to personal use and regulation by the Minister and may be subject to payment of royalties.

3. The Bill also contains a presumption whereby a plant breeder is considered to be entitled to intellectual property protection in the absence of proof to the contrary. Usually the onus is on the applicant to prove that he or she has complied with the necessary requirements and is thus entitled to protection. But in this case there is a presumption in favour of the plant breeder. This presumption provision and the lack of an explicit provision that calls for the disclosure of origin of the genetic material used in the development of the variety including information of any contribution made by any Ghanaian farmer or community in the development of the variety creates opportunities for breeders to misappropriate Ghanas genetic resources using the PVP system and to exploit smallholder farmers. Ghanas farmers must not be criminalized by Ghanas laws for practising traditional farming.

It is important to note that Ghana is a member of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) and the Convention on Biological Diversity and both these instruments champion fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources. Including a disclosure of origin provision in the Bill is critical as it is widely recognized as an important tool to safeguard against biopiracy. Several countries have included such a provision in their PVP legislation and there is no reason why Ghana should not do the same.

4. The Bill also lacks provisions that will ensure that intellectual property protection will not be granted to varieties that adversely affect public interests.

5. Amend or repeal Clause 23! The offending clause reads: 23. Measures regulating commerce. A plant breeders right shall be independent of any measure taken by the Republic to regulate within Ghana the production, certification and marketing of material of a variety or the importation or exportation of the material.

FSGs position on this is that it is important for the Bill to be coherent with Ghanas sovereignty plus other legislation and national interests such as the protection of the environment, health, prevention of misappropriation of genetic resources etc.https://www.modernghana.com/news/507270/food-sovereignty-ghana-meets-par

The inclusion of Clause 23 hinders the ability to achieve such coherence as it views the grant of PBR as being independent from all other regulations. In certain cases it may be important to refuse to grant PBR over a variety, particularly where national interests are at stake. Such situations include not granting PBR on varieties that are injurious to public health, environment etc., or where the application does not disclose the origin of the genetic material.

There is a huge difference between plant breeder right shall be INDEPENDENT OF any measure taken by the Republic to regulate within Ghana the production, certification and marketing and plant breeder right shall be SUBJECT TO any measure taken by the Republic to regulate within Ghana the production, certification and marketing of material of a variety or the importation or exportation of the material! The language must be amended to: plant breeder right shall be SUBJECT TO any measure taken by the Republic to regulate within Ghana the production, certification and marketing of material of a variety or the importation or exportation of the material.

6. Any PVP law in Ghana must protect Ghana from biopiracy. We recommend language such that: any entity or individual who provides germplasm resources to any foreign entity, organisation or individual in cooperation to conduct research, shall make an application and submit a national benefit-sharing plan.

It is amazing that, apart from our Honourable Member the rest of the world can see that none of these six points enumerated above even makes mention of GMOs! Is this probably because Parliament has no reasonable response to these questions? In that case, what is preventing them from heeding to these calls? Above all, we call for a full transparency regarding the consultations with various organisations and entities consulted so far by Parliament, the specific objections raised and the response of the committee to these objections. Is that too much to ask over a controversial issue where some observers including MPs even suspect money must have changed hands? See: MPs take bribes Bagbin confirms in Koforidua What Bagbin said (text and audio)  YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUb2N7Nb7eo

FSG is totally in support of the recent call by the Ghana Integrity Initiative to have an independent probe into the bribery allegations in Parilament and we shall be repeating our call for investigations, this time, at a press conference to be organized soon.

For Life, the Environment, and Social Justice!

Edwin Kweku Andoh Baffour

Communications Directorate, FSG

Contact FSG Communications:

Tel: +233 207973808

E-mail : [email protected]

Website: http://foodsovereigntyghana.org/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FoodSovereignGH

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FoodSovereigntyGhana

Cc

Rt. Hon Speaker, Parliament of Ghana

First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Joseph Osei Owusu,

Clerk To Parliament

Media Houses
17.02.2017 LISTEN

The period between pregnancy and childbirth is usually full of anxiety, understandably so for several reasons. Labour has always been seen as a period when the life of an expectant mother hangs between life and death. However if we remember that in every situation in life we are at risk of death, many may become more relaxed and regard labour as a normal physiological process that must be experienced before a new life is brought into this planet.

In the womb, the baby's source of life (calories, proteins, fluid, oxygen and some other necessities of life) are supplied by the mother. This is through the umbilical cord which attaches the baby to the mothers' placenta on the womb through the umbilicus. The umbilicus has a network of vessels (arteries and veins) which transport these nutrients to the baby and also gets rid of the products from the baby in the reverse direction to the mothers' system. These by products are then excreted through the mothers' various excretory system.

At the end of labour, the baby's system is detached from the mothers' and the baby now has to learn to live an independent life. A lot of readjustments have to be made to achieve this and failure in any of these leads to some of the problems experienced by some babies shortly after or sometime after birth. Inability of the baby to breathe well (or cry) after birth may lead to lack of oxygen supply to the brain; a condition referred to as asphyxia. Asphyxia can also affect the kidneys, the heart and many other organs of the body. The duration of asphyxia in most cases determine the result or outcome of asphyxia. Permanent damage can occur in some cases especially in the brain and some people we see in the streets incapacitated especially mentally and physically may be as a result of this problem. This is referred to medically as cerebral palsy. The baby affected may not be able to sit, crawl or walk in good time leaving the parents very worried about their development. A number of them that survive become mentally handicapped and are slow in most areas of mental development. They will usually at school age need to attend special schools or care centres that are specialized in taking care of them. Needless to say, some of these babies die during delivery because of the problems earlier mentioned.

It is very important to note that the most effective way of avoiding this problem is prevention. Mothers should attend antenatal clinics when they are pregnant so that any problems that may arise during delivery will be anticipated and steps taken to avoid them. Many of the babies that develop asphyxia is because the baby is either too big to pass through the birth canal, or the mothers' birth canal is too narrow to allow the baby pass through making normal delivery difficult or even impossible. An operation or some other form of medical intervention is therefore needed to deliver the baby alive and well. We will continue next week.

Dr. Adimora is the medical director of Favouredchild Clinic, Enugu. A Consultant Paediatrician with the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu and Senior Lecturer in the department of paediatrics, college of medicine, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Nigeria. He is the author of the book 'Anxieties of a young mother'. Authors website: www.authorsden.com/gilbertadimora E:mal: [email protected]
In an attempt to reduce poverty, increase enrollment as well as retention among some basic school children in Ghana, the then government of the day in partnership with the Dutch government started a program in Ghana known as the "School Feeding Program". With reference to www.schoolfeeding.gov.gh , the school Feeding is described as an initiative of the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program with ( CAADP) pillar 3which seeks to enhance food security and reduce hunger as in line with the United Nations Millennium Development Goal which seeks to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger (Millennium Development Goal 1).

As a policy measure, the government of Ghana piloted the School Feeding Program in the year 2005 to provide food to basic school children with the specific goal of reducing hunger, malnutrition, increasing enrollment and boosting domestic food productions among deprived communities in Ghana. As years went by, the School Feeding Program chalked a number of success stories due to the number of beneficiaries by then. The program helped increased enrollment among some basic schools in the country. It also helped in preventing students absenteeism as well as increasing retention among some of the pupils.

Eventhough the program recorded all these successes,it encounted shortfalls and challenges as well. An encounter with some headteachers and caterers from selected schools revealed that politicization of the program was a big challenge to them. According to the headteachers, some caterers behave with impunity due to the perceived political clouts, they went to say the caterers do whatever they like such as reporting to work late and stealing some of the food stuffs as well. In some cases, some District Chief Executives (DCE 's) also ban monitors from coming to their districts for monitoring because of their political power. Some DCE's also try all means to make the monitors feel uncomfortable in their districts as well.

Indepth investigations also showed that some of the headteachers as well As the some school teachers in wanting the downfall of the program intentionally urge the pupils to refuse the foods being served to them by caterers and complain about the quality and the nutritious states of those foods that have been served. Due to political interference, some caterers are even contracted without them even undergoing the required procurement process.

It is even sad to note that in some areas, it is the wives of the District Implementation Officers who are the caterers on board. A caterer who agreed to speak to me on the basis of anonymity said from May 2016 till date, not even a pesewa has been paid by the School Feeding Secretariat to them, with this,it means that the caterers will have to be borrowing the food stuffs from local customers to be cooking for the pupils and be waiting till the School Feeding Secretariat pays them before they also pay their customers. She further stressed that each pupil is been fed on GH0.84 per day. According to her, the money is been paid through MTN mobile money. With this,the secretariat deducts tax from this meagre amount and upon withdrawal too, the Mobile money vendors also deduct tax leaving them with only GH0.54 per each pupil.

How then will this amount be used to feed a child?. Checks at the School Feeding Secretariat revealed that the caterers are being owed an amount of GH140,000.00 and various efforts by the caterers to get this amount from both the secretariat as well as the Gender and Social Protection Ministry have proved futile.

In conclusion, there's still hope whilst the sunshine, I will urge the government to completely de-politicize the program in order to serve all beneficiaries equally.

Also, irrespective of the status of any personality, the required procurement processes should be strictly followed before contracts are being awarded to caterers.Ti

I will also plead with the Gender and Social Protection Ministry as well as the School Feeding Secretariat to review their existing policies and increase the daily amount of money spent on each pupil per day.

GOD BLESS OUR HOMELAND GHANA AND MAKE OUR NATION GREAT AND STRONG.

ASANTE RICHARD,

TECHIMAN MUNICIPAL HEALTH DIRECTORATE.
KIGALI, Rwanda, February 17, 2017 -/African Media Agency (AMA)/- Innovative research released today by The MasterCard Foundation is making the case for a new approach to youth employment training strategies in Africa. Invisible Lives: Understanding Youth Livelihoods in Ghana and Uganda, released today at the Young Africa Works Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, sheds light on the working lives of African youth.

The report, produced in collaboration with Low-Income Financial Transformation (L-IFT), argues that international development programs favour skills training for formal sector careers over training that can be applied to multiple jobs in the informal sector. The result is that their efforts fall short of reaching the millions of unreached youth on the continent who engage in mixed livelihoods.

"To reach a critical mass of young people, fundamental shifts in our approach to skills-building, access to finance and entrepreneurship support are necessary," says Lindsay Wallace, Director of Learning and Strategy, The MasterCard Foundation. "Development efforts must strengthen social, education and economic systems, and promote inclusive growth that will provide the most vulnerable and marginalized young people with opportunities to improve their lives."

Invisible Lives set out to explore how young people integrate mixed livelihoods into their working lives, what challenges this approach poses, and how best to design interventions for young people in the informal sector. The research used a diaries methodology to document the working lives of 246 youth ages 18-24 from Ghana and Uganda over a one-year period, honing in on questions around behaviour, income, economic activities, and time management. While these data speak to the realities of employment in Ghana and Uganda, the research suggests that these also reflect emerging trends across Africa.

Invisible Lives highlights the extraordinary lengths that young people go to in order to achieve sustainable livelihoods. Findings of the Invisible Lives research indicate that:

* Young people in Africa diversify their livelihoods, undertaking a mix of informal sector employment, self-employment, and agriculture-related activities to sustain their livelihood.

* Agricultural production is central to young people's livelihoods, but agricultural incomes were meagre. Many young people run small enterprises that can be easily started, stopped, and restarted as needed. The most successful young people in both Ghana and Uganda diversified their income and risk by growing multiple crops, raising a variety of livestock, and pursuing a wide range of additional activities.

* Both formal and informal wage employment is rare and sporadic, or elusive. While the informal sector, which constitutes about 80 percent of Africa's labour force, provided more wage employment opportunities for young people, they were by no means abundant.

* Support networks are critical for young people and they play an extensive role in their lives, not only providing support in the form of advice regarding where to look for and how to find employment, skills development, and business guidance, but also proving instrumental in accessing financial resources needed.

"Respondents who participated in this study generously shared experiences from their lives over the course of a full year," explains Anne Marie van Swinderen, lead researcher on Invisible Lives from Low-Income Financial Transformation (L-IFT). "Data from the study shows us that these young people readily take up all opportunities that come their way, with enormous energy and positive spirit. Through the L-IFT diaries methodology, these young respondents and the young researchers who interviewed them, also grew a great deal, simply through the act of asking and answering questions about their diversified livelihoods."

In addition to providing new information on the employment and risk-mitigation strategies of young working Africans, the research maintains that youth who participated in this study were largely invisible to both development organizations and their own governments, and did not have any access to support services, training or finance capital.

To follow the conversation at the Young Africa Works Summit, follow the Foundation on Twitter @MastercardFdn and the event hashtag: #YAW2017. Summit materials can be found at www.youngafricaworks.org.

The full Young Africa Works Summit agenda and list of speakers can be found here.
 Former Black Panther chairperson dismisses the distinction between this individual president and that individual president in the USA

 Author Naomi Wolf calls Obama the pawn of globalized interests; adds, Whoevers in the White House has very little room to move

 Obama also failed to drain the swamp following 2008 crisis, appointing Wall Street insiders

 Obama used Espionage Act against whistle-blowers a record nine times  three times more than all other administrations combined



Former Black Panther chairperson Elaine Brown dismisses the distinction between this individual president and that individual president in the USA. For her, they are all there to protect the interests of the American government as it exists in service to the American corporations. They are the spokespersons for the big rich man who have control of this country.

Far from being an agent of change, even past president Barack Obama was the pawn of globalized interests, according to author Naomi Wolf. The problem is not left or right. The problem is that whoevers in the White House has very little room to move.

Brown and Wolf speak out in the second and final episode of Al Jazeeras The Big Picture series, The People vs America, which provides a critical look at both George W Bush and Obamas presidencies and how they contributed to the growing distrust of established authority in the USA, paving the way for the election of Donald Trump.

American historian Michael Kazin recalls the initial optimism that greeted Obama. He was eloquent. He was African American. He was an intellectual and professor He seemed like the harbinger of something really new.

Brown adds, It didn't occur to anyone that one of the reasons that Obama could even get this far was that he had to be totally, totally immersed in and protected by a very big cartel of rich people.

As Pulitzer Prize winner Chris Hedges points out though, the warnings were there for anyone who looked. Obama spent two years, only two years, in the Senate. His voting record, which is the only thing that should have counted, was one corporate giveaway after another.

Obamas presidency began with the fallout from the 2008 credit crash. In dealing with this, he turned to established stalwarts linked to Wall Street, such as former US Treasury Secretaries Lawrence Summers and Robert Rubin, rather than independent experts. Similar establishment figures and Wall Street insiders were appointed to investigate the reasons for the financial crisis, leading former Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer, Gary Aguirre, to state, So any progress against Wall Street is dead on arrival. According to the senate investigations committee, the financial fraud crimes of the crisis cost the US $21 trillion. Nobody from Wall Street goes to prison. Nobody. No-one.

Voters promised Change We Can Believe In instead discovered it was business as usual under Obama. We saw how it was rigged with the crash, says sociologist Juliet Schor. The people who caused the problem got bailed out to the tune of billions and billions and billions, where the ordinary homeowner - no help for them whatsoever. And that fueled so much anger.

The People vs America also highlights Obamas crackdown on whistleblowers, such as Edward Snowden, who in 2013, was charged under the Espionage Act for revealing the extent of secret domestic surveillance of US citizens by the US secret services. Obamas administration would invoke the Espionage Act against a further eight US citizens accused of leaking classified information  three times more than all previous administrations combined.

Obama also signed into law Section 10-21 of the National Defense Authorization Act, enabling the indefinite military detention of US citizens without trial, with no charges against them and no evidence of a crime having been committed. Hedges sued Obama over this, winning the initial case in the Southern District Court of New York before the decision was overturned on appeal, a reversal supported by the Supreme Court.

Wolf says she was in the courtroom in downtown New York and heard with my own ears Judge Forest ask Obamas lawyers, Does this mean that you, the President, can arrest a reporter for interviewing a member of al-Qaeda? Right, just interviewing, which is what reporters are supposed to do. The lawyer said, Yes, we can arrest Chris Hedges. We can hold him forever without charge or trial.

Like Trump, Obama came to power in response to a will for change, but the critical voices in The People vs America claim both presidents actions suggest rather a continuation of a traditional order, decades in the making.

Watch and embed part one, which documents how appeals to race and populism are old strategies used by Presidents from Richard Nixon to Bill Clinton, a

Watch part two of The People vs America tonight, Friday, 17 February 2017, at 2000 GMT/2100 EAT / 2200 CAT / 2300 EAT, after which the full episode will be available on YouTube.

For more information, visit http://interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2017/the-people-vs-america/index.html.
H.E. Sun Badhong, Chinese Ambassador to Ghana shaking hands with President Akufo-Addo

President Akufo-Addo seems happy with what he has been able to achieve barely five weeks in office.

Addressing members of the diplomatic community in Ghana at the presidency Wednesday evening during which they presented their New Year message to the president, he was elated about the fact that though he is still in the process of forming his government, his administration is gradually taking shape.

I've been in office barely five weeks but so far so good, he articulated to a loud applause from the gathering.

Delight

President Akufo-Addo said Parliament has approved all my 36 ministerial nominees who have been sworn into office; the 10 regional ministers are currently being vetted and shortly, I will announce my nominees for the positions of deputy ministers.

The president stated, The various metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives will soon be announced and already, a number of heads of state institutions and agencies have been appointed, albeit in acting capacity, pending the constitution of the Council of State.

He also talked about the fact that he has appointed 11 eminent Ghanaians to the Council of State and the names of two distinguished former leaders of the security services to parliament for approval to the Council as required by the Constitution.

Expectation

I expect that by the middle of next month, God willing, the full complement of the Akufo-Addo administration will be in place, so we can mobilise all our forces to deliver on the mandate entrusted so emphatically on our shoulders by the Ghanaian people on 7th December, 2016, President Akufo-Addo expressed optimism.

He was particularly touched that he became Ghana's president in the 60th year of its independence, describing it as a symbolic year.

He expressed the hope that the remembrance of the sacrifices and efforts of our founding fathers  those who gave their lives to achieve our independence  will guide and motivate me in the discharge of this high office, whiles praying for God's support.

Support

On her part, the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Pavelyn Tendai Lusaka, Zimbabwe High Commissioner, who spoke on behalf of members of the diplomatic community, expressed confidence in President Akufo-Addo.

She underscored, The diplomatic community looks forward to government's articulation to national development plans over the next two months and stands ready to align its support to emerging national priorities on agricultural transformation to drive jobs and growth, private sector development, good governance and domestic resource mobilization in line with Ghana's needs and expectations as a middle income country.

We applaud the government's intention to continue dialogue on constitutional reforms, political decentralization and bringing accountability for development closer to communities.

She commended the government's efforts at completing the national identification and land registration.

By Charles Takyi-Boadu


An amount of money, thought to be in the thousands of Ghana Cedis, which was in one of Mr Kofi Adams two SUVs that were seized, has been stolen, the NDC National Organisers Aide Yahya Ibrahim has said.

One of the SUVs had its windscreen cracked, one of the cars too has been ransacked, he [Kofi Adams] had some few monies in his car and some other logistics in the vehicle, which have all been taken away, but according to the police, when they brought it and they took inventory, those things were not in the vehicle, Mr Ibrahim told Moro Awudu on Class91.3FMs Executive Breakfast Show on Friday, 17 February when he was asked about the condition of the five cars after the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service, in whose custody the vehicles were, returned them on Thursday.

The vehicles include two Toyota Land Cruiser V8s with registration numbers GS 7451-12 and GN 7796-16, respectively and three Nissan Hardbody Pick-Ups with registration numbers GM 842-16, GM 823-16 and GM 846-16, respectively.

On 1 February, 15 armed men dressed in military fatigues, suspected to be army personnel, stormed the private residence of Mr Adams and seized all his vehicles in the company of four alleged National Security officers and personnel from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA).

According to Mr Adams, who said he was in Dubai during the incident, the soldiers ransacked his Tema Gulf City home and drove away the five cars.

The cars, according to the soldiers, were suspected to belong to the state and were taken to the Flagstaff House.

National Security Minister Albert Kan-Dapaah later called Mr Adams to apologise to him saying the action was not sanctioned by officialdom. Mr Kan-Dapaah ordered the return of the cars but Mr Adams insisted they be taken to the police for inspection and an inventory taken before he could take them back. The CID, however, held onto the cars until Mr Adams was compelled to write to the IGP to demand his vehicles back.

The Pick-Ups are in the name of Japan Motors while the two Land Cruisers are in the name of Mr Adams.

Mr Adams aide told Moro Awudu he suspects those who stormed his boss home for the cars, stole the alleged money, even though he refused to disclose the exact amount.

Indeed, they are responsible because things were in the vehicles that are missing as we speak and we are going to lodge a formal complaint to the police and well pursue it legally, we will not leave it in the hand of the police to say they are going to prosecute them, no, we will pursue it legally, he said, adding: The one who took it knows the money does not belong to him so when we go to court he will refund it.

Also, Mr Ibrahim said: The military man involved, Captain Adjei Tandoh, we are going to pursue him legally and take the Ghana Armed Forces on in the coming days.

He added that one of the Pick-Ups has also been damaged.  Im sure when they were reversing, they did not reverse well so it hit something, so, there is a small damage at the back of which we notified the police.
Vice president of policy think tank IMANI Ghana, Kofi Bentil says government must close down some social intervention programmes and use monies invested in them to finance the free education policy.

He said the free education policy is more important than any social intervention programme and if government can mop up some monies it will be able to guarantee free education at the day school level.

Speaking on Joy FMs Super Morning Show, Mr Bentil said, although it will not be easy, it is theoretically possible for this to be done.

It makes sense. It is better to close down MASLOC, GYEEDA, LEAPif you weigh all the options, education is the most important thing you can do in this country.

And closing some of these things and using the money in education will lead to a situation where 10 years down the line, we will not even need those things.

He added that government has to look very hard and weigh its options because although it may be difficult, it is the best way to go.

President Akufo-Addos announcement of the commencement of free senior high school education from September this year has generated a lot of discussion in the public domain.

Many people were especially excited by the fact that the new policy as announced, will cover both day and boarding students and will be completely free.

But a suggestion made by Senior Minister, Osafo Maafo that part of the Heritage Fund could be used to finance the project , which is expected to cost GHS3.6 billion yearly, caused some panic.

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Attah has, however calmed tensions. He said the Heritage fund will not be touched and that the fund has never been part of options to finance the policy.

On the back of all these, however, Mr Bentil believes that a lot more thinking needs to go into how the policy will be approached.

He said it was unfortunate that the Akufo-Addo-led administration seems to be towing the line of the previous government who were shambolic at delivering what they called the progressive free education.

For him, both governments are not treating the policy like they should, they are only making big promises when they should be thinking.

I think we want free education, but our leaders must do the intellectual heavy lifting, sit down, plan through this thing and get a sense of how it is going to be done before we start talking. There should be a white paper on how government intends to prosecute this plan.

Until then, we will all be talking and talking. We need to do a lot of thinking and come out with a plan that works, he added.

Mr Bentil also believes that boarding education should not be made free. He says all the things that President Akufo-Addo listed can be done within the construct of day senior high school.

In his view, education is not equal to boarding school and providing free senior high school education is not the same as giving everybody free boarding school education

It is just one of the options that we have. The government can decide that free SHS is free for everybody who is not going to boarding school and if youre going to go to boarding school, please pay for yourself and we can feed every student once in a day and it will work. A chunk of the expenditure comes from the boarding school system.

While he will not fault the president for announcing the policy, he said it is time for the technocrats to sit down and work out the nitty gritty and come out with exactly how this will be achieved.

They have to sit and get us a good plan that can achieve this purpose. Free education is possible, but it would have to take some heavy lifting intellectually and we would have to make sacrifices but it is doable.

This he believes should have been done before the announcement was made.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Naa Sakwaba Akwa | [email protected]
This week, Ghanaians have been discussing an announcement by the government that free Senior High school education will begin in September of 2017.

The debate has largely been whether it should be free for all or that government must employ targeting, meaning only those who cant genuinely pay for secondary education must be sponsored.

By free SHS, we mean that in addition to tuition which is already free, there will be no admission fee, no library fee, no science centre fee, no computer lab fee, no examination fee, and no utility fee; there will be free text books, free boarding and free meals, and day students will get a meal at school for free, President Akufo-Addo said.

Just before that debate settles, Senior Minister Osafo-Maafo has hinted that the government may want to finance the free education policy with a portion of Ghana oil revenue being kept for future generation. So, who are the future generation?

Merriam-Websters dictionary defines future generation as the average span of time between the birth of parents and their children, so roughly we are looking at 30 years.

Ghana passed the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011 (Act 815) into law in 2011. Literally speaking, those who qualify as the future generation will be any person born immediately after the bill was passed into law up to say 2041.

This is logic. But what does the law say?

Section 10 (2) of Act 815 provides;

The object the Ghana Heritage Fund is to;

(a) Provide an endowment to support the development for future generations when the petroleum reserves have depleted; and

(b) Receive excess petroleum revenue.

Now, section 10 (4), may interest you. It provides that;

Despite section 20, Parliament may by a resolution supported by the votes of a majority of members of Parliament at intervals of fifteen years from the date of commencement of this Act, review the restriction on transfers from the Ghana Heritage Fund and authorise a transfer of a portion of the accrued interest on the Ghana Heritage Fund into any other fund established by or under this Act.

Section 20 then states that;

Within one year after petroleum reserves are depleted, the monies held in both the Ghana Stabilization Fund and Ghana Heritage Fund shall be consolidated into a single Fund to be known as the Ghana Petroleum Wealth Fund after which the Ghana Stabilization Fund and the Ghana Heritage Fund shall cease to exist.

From the law, it is clear that the framers intended the heritage fund to operationalize ONLY after depletion of the petroleum reserves-more like an annuity.

How long will Ghana's oil reserves last? 30 years? 40 years?

The then presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party-NPP and now President, Nana Akufo-Addo, on Thursday 3rd February, 2011, made the following statement in reaction to suggestions by the then ruling NDC to collateralise the oil revenue.

He said; Ninth, the party supports the establishment of a Heritage Fund as proposed in the bill and encourages Parliament to provide the necessary precautions to ensure that its value is not eroded over time. It is important to remind ourselves that the principle underpinning the creation of a Heritage Fund is to provide for future generations whereas the principle of collateralisation is to make hay while the sun shines or to have your lunch and dinner at breakfast.

The two concepts are diametrically opposed. We believe that whatever resource we have as a nation should be sustainably utilised to allow future generations also to benefit.

President Akufo-Addo succinctly laid down the underlying principle behind the Heritage Fund which is to allow future generation to benefit.

But, three years after the law came into operation, some Ghanaians thought that, it was an unwise decision to set funds aside for persons yet unborn-when the current generation who will produce the future are suffering.

The lead proponent was the General Secretary of the opposition NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia.

A Citi FM news portal in May 2014 read Let's 'chop' Heritage Fund now  Gen Mosquito.

Mr. Asiedu Nketia suggested that the government can ease the economic plight of Ghanaians if it begins utilizing the fund.

In this current situation that we find ourselves in, it doesn't make economic sense to be keeping any money called Heritage Funds, he explained.

He was sharply criticised for daring to suggest this. May be legitimately so. The fear the funds could be misappropriated was suggested by president of IMANI, Frankline Cudjoe.

A Facebook post of Mr. Cudjoe read Actually, I agree with the NDC general secretary on the suggestion that we use our heritage oil fund to fix infrastructure gaps, something IMANI advised government to do 4 years ago, but will I trust the government to use the heritage fund prudently? Not in the face of how flagrantly it has abused the other oil receipts, he pointed out.

Although some NPP members did disagree with Mr. Asiedu Nketia, the literature by some heavy weights in parliament suggested the contrary.

The current Minister for Planning for instance, was of the opinion that Ghana should not have established the heritage fund all together-when you have a deficit in developmentyou don't go and put some money, stash it in an account somewhere and bureaucrats actually feed on that money. And when 30 years down the road, you go and then tell your grandson or your children that I have some money sitting in some account for you. Then they will ask you; 'are you stupid?' And you didn't use that money to build the roads for us, you didn't educate us

He went further to accuse the NDC of a cut and paste law which had fallen flat on their face.

He was of the view that changing the law which had not stood the test of time was unwise, as its utility is destroyed from the word go, he noted.

Another stalwart, Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei, now Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation, in 2014, also spoke against the state turning its attention to the Heritage Fund.

He suggested, the government should rather deal with corruption and will have enough money at its disposal.

Today, these two ministers must be in cabinet. It's interesting to know what they make of the suggestion to turn to the Heritage Fund. It is even more interesting to know what President Akufo Addo makes of his stance in 2011.

When Asiedu Nketia first raised this issue, the sense was about whether we trust government to make judicious use of the funds in building infrastructure and fixing the economy, however small it is!

Do we still think that way now?

Do we think that funding education instead of say build roads is a more prudent way to use the fund?

The now, the future debate reminds me of Ghanas pre- independence struggle- a clash of slogans  the CPP's radical Self-government now! against the UGCC's conservative Self-government within the shortest possible time.

In the end, the NOW won.

Ironically, the decadents of J.B. Danquah, who now champion NOW, and that of Kwame Nkrumah, who wants the future.



By: Sammy Darko/Ghana

The writer is a Media Professional, Lecturer, Consultant and an educatee (Law), a former BBC Correspondent to Ghana.

Visit: www.sammydarko.com
Tension is gradually mounting within the Ashaiman Municipality ahead of the governments declaration of who becomes the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for the area.

Confusion rocked the Ashaiman NPP youth office at Tulaku, a suburb of Ashaiman when a group of young men angrily disrupted a scheduled press conference at the party office over the matter.

The angry youth who are alleged to be loyalists of the defeated NPP 2016 Parliamentary candidate Alhaji Yakubu Labarran stormed the party office few minutes to the start of the press conference and disrupted the exercise.

They kicked the chairs and tables arranged for the exercise and manhandled the organisers before locking up the office.

The disrupted press conference was organized by a group called Concerned Grassroot Members of the NPP in Ashaiman.

According to the well-built young men, there was no way they would allow such a press conference to hold anywhere in the constituency since such events are geared towards the promotion of other candidates vying for the position of MCE in the constituency.

We shall not allow anybody in Ashaiman to organize any press conference anywhere in Ashaiman because it is an agenda to promote other potential candidates. The people of Ashaiman want Alhaji Labarran so we will not allow anybody to come and thwart our effort

They angrily chanted that Alhaji has done a lot for the party and we shall not allow his efforts to go waste

They further noted that they will only agree for another person to become the MCE for Ashaiman if Alhaji Labarran is given another appointment elsewhere.

If Alhaji is not given any appointment, we shall not allow anybody to get the position of MCE in Ashaiman. No Alhaji, No MCE

They warned the party against the selection of a one-time former MCE Albert Okyere as the suitable nominee since they shall fiercely oppose his nomination.

We dont want Okyere and if the party dare brings him, we shall create total chaos in Ashaiman they threatened.

The intended press conference which sort to call on the party hierarchy at both the constituency, regional and national level to be circumspect with their choice of candidate to be nominated as MCE for the area due to tension in the constituency was however truncated due to the confusion.

The press statement which was made available to Citi News stated that We here believe that, in the selection of who becomes the MCE for Ashaiman, the party hierarchy must not just select anyone for the sake of it, but with all humility consider the inputs of those of us the downtrodden, the foot soldiers and the polling station executives since we are also stakeholders of our great Party the NPP

It continued that: We as Concerned Grassroot Supporters of the NPP in Ashaiman have heard of several names that are flying about in the constituency as potential MCES. But we are of the view that the party should not be in haste in its declaration but must try and do due diligence and consultation ahead of the selection in order not to lost touch with the grassroots and floating voters by announcing the wrong nominee.

Among the names we have heard, there are some who have really been with the party from its inception, some who have been with the party through thick and thin, some who have really suffered for the party and have helped to boost the image of the party in this constituency and continues to do so.

All these people deserves worthy of naming as MCE, but above all, we think the party must nominate a unifier who has worked with the party and can highly identify and recognize the grassroots members who also played diverse roles in the victory of the party

The group argued that the selection of the MCE is not about self-interest, but about service to the people of Ashaiman and adding to the infrastructure base of the Ashaiman

They appealed to the party to be guided by competence, hard work, dedication, and loyalty to the party as they choose who should become the MCE for the area.



By: Elvis Washington/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @jnyabor
Managers of the country's economy have been asked to put in place measures to help check widespread corruption in the country.

Kenneth Kwamina Thompson, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Dalex Finance, who gave the advice, said the canker had robbed the country of resources that would have been used to improve the lives of poor Ghanaians.

He disclosed this while delivering the keynote address at the launch of an online portal of Smartbid Company in Accra recently on the topic: 'Using Technology to Fight Corruption' in Accra.

According to him, state agencies, including the National Service Secretariat (NSS), the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA) and Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), were rocked by scandals, adding that those robbed the nation of several millions of Ghana cedis.

He stated that monies that could have been utilised to provide quality healthcare to the less-privileged children have been wasted, children are dying of malaria because they are living in filth and we must deal with it.

''There are many committees constituted to investigate those corrupt deals in the public sector, what has been done to those implicated? he asked.

''As a country we must face reality and ensure transparency in the procurement and financial management processes, therefore we need value for money and ensure that the monies go to the right places and the best people get the job,'' he said.

Simon Annan, Co-founder of Smartbid Company Limited, said without transparency in the procurement process, Ghana's agenda for industrialisation would be fruitless, adding that the One-District, One-Factory Policy would be realised only when the government ensures transparency in the procurement process to engender development.

Mr Annan said about 70 percent of the national budget went into government procurement.

There must be a national procurement strategy to ensure that certain quota of government contracts goes to the local enterprises for them to remain competitive and grow.

He noted that the cost of government procurement was huge because most of the bidding processes were manua.

The CEO therefore called for activation of the electronic-procurement clause in the Public Procurement Act, (Act 914) promulgated in 2016.

He said the country's procurement structure was fragmented and gave the assurance that the portal would create a common point for businesses to apply for government contracts and advertise their products.

By Samuel Boadi
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia (middle) and Shirley Ayorkor Botchway (right), Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration escorting King Mohammed VI after arrival in Ghana. Picture by GIFTY AMA LAWSON.

The King of Morocco, King Mohammed VI, arrived in the country yesterday for a three-day working visit.

He arrived at the Kotoka International Airport at 4:20 pm and met on arrival by a government delegation led by Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia together with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway; Education Minister, Dr Mathew Opoku-Prempeh; Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid and Director of State Protocol, Hassan Ahmed.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the King moved straight to the Movenpick Hotel in Accra where he has been lodging with his entourage.

King Mohammed is expected to meet with President Akufo-Addo at the Flagstaff House this afternoon for discussions bordering on issues of mutual benefit to their respective countries, after which his host would treat him to lunch.

He is also expected to meet the business community to explore possible business opportunities for Ghana and Morocco.

Later in the day, the King would visit the Bank of Africa for some discussions with management of the bank.

King Mohammed leaves Ghana for Morocco on Saturday, February 18.

He's the second child and oldest son of King Hassan II and his second wife, Lalla Latifa Hammou.

On the day of his birth, Mohammed was appointed Heir Apparent and Crown Prince of Morocco.

His father was keen on giving him a religious and political education from an early age; and so at the age of four, he started attending the Quranic school at the Royal Palace.

Mohammed completed his primary and secondary education at Royal College and attained his Baccalaureate in 1981, before obtaining a bachelors degree in law at the Mohammed V University, Agdal in 1985.

His research paper dealt with The Arab-African Union and the Strategy of the Kingdom of Morocco in matters of International Relations.

He has also frequented the Imperial College and University of Rabat.

Mohammed was later appointed President of the Pan-Arab Games, and was commissioned a Colonel Major of the Royal Moroccan Army on 26 November, 1985.

He served as the Coordinator of the Offices and Services of the Royal Armed Forces until 1994.

In 1987, Mohammed obtained his first Certificat dEtudes Superieures (CES) in political science, and in July 1988, he obtained a Diplome dEtudes Approfondies (DEA) in public law.

Later in November 1988, he trained in Brussels with Jacques Delors, then President of the European Commission.

Mohammed obtained his PhD in law with distinction on 29 October, 1993 from the French University of Nice Sophia Antipolis for his thesis on EEC-Maghreb Relations.

On 12 July, 1994, he was promoted to the military rank of Major General, and that same year, he became President of the High Council of Culture and Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Moroccan Army.

He speaks Arabic, English, Spanish and French.

From Charles Takyi-Boadu, Flagstaff House
The paramount chief of the Twifo Traditional Area, Nana Appiah Nuamah, has been elected to represent the Central Region on the Council of State.

He polled 11 votes out of the 38 votes cast to beat Prof Ato Essuman; Neenyi Ghartey, paramount chief of Effutu and Nana Butler.

The Director in-charge of Administration at the Electoral Commission, Mr Christian Owusu Parry, who supervised the election, noted that 19 out of 20 districts voted since injunction was placed on the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam (AEE) District.

In his victory address, Nana Nuamah thanked the delegates for the confidence reposed in him.

He promised to help promote effective development in the region.

From Sarah Afful, Mankessim

Email: [email protected]


Chief of Agona Akrofonso, Nana Owusu Achiaw Brempong, was yesterday elected the Ashanti Regional representative on the Council of State.

Sixty delegates drawn from 30 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) cast their ballot.

The traditional ruler, who is also a nurse, polled 45 votes out of the 60 valid votes to beat Otumfuo's Mawerehene, Baafour Ossei Hyeamann Brantuo VI and the others.

The Mawerehene, who received the backing three other candidates, managed to secure paltry five votes.

Robert Owusu Amankwah, former Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), polled 10 votes in the election supervised by officials of the Electoral Commission (EC).

In a brief speech after his triumph, Nana Owusu Achiaw Brempong, pledged to support President Akufo-Addo to implement the One-district, One-factory policy and work in the interest of the region.

According to chief, he has a team of investors that has plans to set up businesses that would create jobs for the teeming unemployed youth to boost Ghana's economy.

There were wild jubilations at the Regional Coordinating Council Conference Room and beyond immediately after the EC's Director of Elections, Samuel Tettey, announced the results after 1:00 pm.

From Ernest Kofi Adu, Kumasi


The police administration has condemned instant justice by a section of the public in recent times.

A statement issued and signed by Superintendent Cephas Arthur, Director of Police Public Affairs, said the police have observed with grave concern, the resurgence of the menace whereby suspected persons are attacked by mob and sometimes killed in the process.

One of such cases is an incident where a lady suspected to have stolen at Kejetia, Kumasi, was caught, stripped naked and brutally assaulted by a mob.

He warned the perpetrators of this unlawful practice to desist from the practice and rather report all suspected criminals to the police for the necessary action to be taken.

It must be noted that no one is deemed guilty of any offence until so proven by a competent court of jurisdiction.

Superintendent Arthur hinted that the police have commenced an exercise to employ the use of modern technology, including cameras, to arrest and prosecute all persons who take the law into their hands and exact instant justice.

Members of the public, who witness such incidents, are entreated to call the police on MTN and Vodafone short code 18555 or 191 on all network for prompt response.

By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey

([email protected])


Former Rector of the Kumasi Polytechnic, Professor Nicholas N.N. Nsowah-Nuamah, has been sworn in as the new President of the Regent University College of Science and Technology.

The experienced professor of statistics takes over from the founder and immediate-past president of the premier private science and technology university college, Rev. Professor Emmanuel K. Larbi.

Prior to his appointment as the new president of the Regent University College of Science and Technology, Prof. Nsowah-Nuamah served as the Chairman of the Governing Council of the University.

He has also served in various capacities in various local and international organizations.

The new Rector is a member of American Statistical Society, Fellow, Royal Statistical Society, UK, Member, International Association of Official Statisticians, among others.

Speaking at Prof. Nsowah-Nuamah's investiture on Thursday in Accra, Prof. Larbi expressed optimism that the new president would help develop the university which continues to make remarkable strides.

According to him, Our new president who has served with us as the Chairman of the Governing Council and has a lot of inspiration to draw from.

In spite of the challenges facing private tertiary institutions in the country, which he said include low enrollment and undue competition from state-owned universities, Prof. Larbi stressed the need for private universities and colleges to work hard to become reputable institutions.

According to him, There is no reason why private universities in Ghana should not aim at developing to become huge and reputable institutions in Ghana where anyone who needs quality education should turn to as first choice of decision.

This is possible because this has been achieved in other countries, he added, saying Regent is committed and determined to winning and conquering all odds.

In his acceptance speech, Prof. Nsowah-Nuamah, outlined his vision for the growth of the university under his stewardship.

According to him, he would help to position the university to ensure the socio-economic development of Ghana and Africa.

Prof. Nsowah-Nuamah indicated that he would work hard to secure a Presidential Charter, increase enrollment in the university, among others.

He pledged to adopt the open-door policy in achieving the set targets of the university.

By Melvin Tarlue


Major General Obed Akwa handing over the staff to Major General William Ayamdo as the incoming chief of army staff

Major General Obed Boamah Akwa, the outgoing Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), who is also the acting Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), has officially handed over to Major General William Ayamdo, the new Chief of the Army Staff.

Major General Akwa, who was appointed as the Chief of the Army Staff on July 7, 2016, took over from Major General Richard Opoku Adu.

He was recently appointed as the Acting CDS by President Nana Akufo-Addo and will be taking over from Air Mashall Samson Oje.

At a colourful handing over ceremony, Major General Akwa told officers and personnel of the Army that he was leaving them in the hands of a true professional, colleague and friend.

He said as Acting CDS, he would make sure that problems confronting the garrisons are solved.

When I took over as the Chief of Army Staff, I had the opportunity to visit all the garrisons and took note of all your problems, including accommodation, sanitation, water, power and others, and I assure you that as the acting CDS, I will put in pragmatic steps to address all these issues.

I am leaving you in the hands of a true professional, great soldier, and the president and commander-in-chief could not have appointed a better person than him and so I ask for your cooperation for him to succeed.

He advised personnel to endeavor to constantly sharpen their military skills to make them ready for the task ahead, project the image of the Army in all places and manage the scarce resources prudently at all times.

Major General William Ayamdo trained together with the Acting Chief of Defence Staff at the Ghana Military Academy and the Royal Military Academy in the United Kingdom.

He has held various appointments, including the commanding officer of the infantry and the director general in charge of Defence and Intelligence.

Prior to his appointment, he was the commandant of the Ghana Military Academy and Training School.

( [email protected] )

By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey




The European Union (EU) in collaboration with the Adentan Municipal Assembly (AdMA) in the Greater Accra Region, the Centre for Local Governance Advocacy (CLGA) and Local Government Network (LoGNet), has launched a mushroom farming project dubbed, PROMUSH Project.

The project, which is under the theme, Promoting Mushroom Industry in Adentan Municipality, was launched on Wednesday at the forecourt of the Assembly in Accra.

According to the Deputy Executive Director of CLGA, Gladys Naadu Tetteh, the project is being funded by the three partners at a cost of 820,000 Euros.

The EU is contributing 660,000 Euros and counterpart funding of 160,000 Euros from the three other partners.

Ms Gladys Naadu Tetteh, who is also a Steering Committee member of the PROMUSH Project, claimed that it was expected to generate employment for about 5,500 youth, especially persons with disabilities (PWDs), among other beneficiaries living in the municipality.

Ms. Gladys Tetteh explained that the project, which has a three-year life span, is a local economic development initiative which seeks among other things, to improve the income levels of both the assembly and the farmers involved in the mushroom production.

She further mentioned that annual farmer income would also increase tremendously from the current GH4,000.00 to about GH30,000.00 by the year 2020  which represents a production increase of about 20%.

Speaking on strategies to sustain the project, the deputy director stated among other methods, that they intend to construct a modern spawn laboratory under Public/Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements where farmers can source spawns and key inputs for the cultivation of the mushrooms.

Farmers on PROMUSH have nothing to worry about as managers of the project have established an outfit for extension services, processing of the products and packaging, marketing and public education so that farmers will have little to worry about, she assured.

A representative of the EU, who is head of Governance, Maria-Luisa Troncoso, averred that decentralization is regarded by the EU as a way of promoting local democracy and local development outcomes.

She indicated that such outcomes have the potential to reduce as well as eliminate inequalities in society, create wealth and jobs among other benefits.

The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Hajia Alima Mahama, lauded the assembly and its partners in the PROMUSH Project for initiating such a programme which according to her, ties in with government's agenda to create more jobs for the people.

By Solomon Ofori


President Akufo-Addo, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia in a photograph with the newly sworn-in Hajj Board members

President Akufo-Addo yesterday swore in members of the newly constituted Hajj Board and charged them to live up to expectations.

I'm anticipating that with the caliber of people that has been assembled on the Board this year under the leadership of a well known public figure: a man who has distinguished himself in the service of our country, the problems associated with the annual pilgrimages will be a thing of the past.

We will see a smooth seamless movement of people to and from Mecca as a regular occurrence.

The 11-member board is chaired by Sheikh Ibrahim Cudjoe Quaye, former Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayawaso Central and Greater Accra Regional Minister under the erstwhile Kufuor administration.

Composition

The members are Abdul Malik Adams Gariba, Farouk Hamza, Sheikh Amin Bonsu, Alhaji Inusa Amadu and Kamal-Deen Abdulai as members.

The rest include Ismaela Ibrahim, Mohammadu Osmanu Alidu, Mohammed OsumanuYunusah, Braimah Adams and Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim Mohammed.

Dr. Seidu Zakaria, Alhaji Abdul Rahman Alhassan Gomda and Dr Sani Abdulai were also sworn in as heads of Medical, Communications and Information Technology (IT) for the Board respectively.

The Board is mandated by law to organize Ghanaian pilgrims to the holy sites in Mecca on an annual basis.

In swearing in members of the newly constituted Hajj Board, President Akufo-Addo expressed concern about the sometimes poor organization of Hajj.

According to him, There have been several occasions in our history when that organization has not been as well as it should be.

Charge

The President charged members of the Board to live to expectations, saying the nation expects a good job from you and I'm confident that you are going to do that for the Ghanaian people.

On behalf of his colleagues, the Board Chairman of the newly constituted Hajj Board, Sheikh Ibrahim Cudjoe Quaye, thanked the President for the opportunity given them to serve the government and people of Ghana.

But that was not without the usual jokes that have often characterized his speeches.

Appreciation

Expressing appreciation to the President for his decision to appoint them to serve on the Hajj Board, he was like Ei, the President has done it oo, throwing the entire hall into a state of laughter.

On a more serious note, he stated we shall always cherish your good memories for this that you have done for us, we will continue to pray and pray that you succeed in the governance of this country.

On behalf of the members of the Board and on my own behalf, I promise to uphold you, hold your good name and to cooperate with all Muslims so that pilgrims will go to perform the Hajj with ease and comfort, he noted.

We promise and hope that this year's Hajj will be a Hajj of difference Insha Allah.

On his part, the National Chief Iman, Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu, who was present at the occasion, tasked the Board to do whatever is humanly possible to ensure an incident-free Hajj this year and successive years to come.

You have to abide by the rules and regulations of the country and also abide by what you've promised to do; you have promised almighty Allah, you have promised Prophet Mohammed, you have promised the President that you are going to work so hard to ensure that this year's hajj is going to be free of any challenges.

He consequently charged all Muslims to pray for the President, his government and the nation when they get the privilege to go to Mecca.

The Chief Imam took the opportunity to pray God to help the President and his government to lead the nation to prosperity.

Moments later, the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu and Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, toured the site of the new national mosque which is still under construction at the Kawukudi Junction in Accra.

Dr Bawumia thanked the government and people of Turkey for their support in the construction of the mosque, expressing hope that the project would be completed by the end of the year.

By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Jubilee House


Harare (AFP) - A Zimbabwean pastor who led a popular protest movement last year against strongman President Robert Mugabe said Friday that he might stand in the 2018 general election.

Evan Mawarire was publicly threatened by Mugabe, 92, after starting the "This Flag" internet campaign that triggered the largest surge of anti-government street protests in many years.

Mugabe has vowed to run again and has already been chosen as the candidate for the ruling ZANU-PF party, which has been involved in brutal violence and vote-rigging in past elections.

Mawarire, who is on bail, faces charges of subverting the government and inciting public violence after he was arrested earlier this month at Harare airport.

"If the need arises or if it becomes necessary for me to participate in the elections I really want to be available for that," he told reporters outside court on Friday.

"I believe it is my duty as a citizen to serve my nation in that way... I haven't made that decision as yet but certainly I don't want that door to be closed."

Mawarire fled the country in July in fear for his life, and was arrested on his return.

The evangelical pastor, 39, emerged as an opposition figurehead after posting a Facebook video in which he wore Zimbabwe's flag on his shoulders as he condemned the country's worsening economic crisis.

Following Mugabe's intervention, security forces crushed the series of protests and work strikes organised by the "This Flag" movement and other groups.

In the last election in 2013, Mugabe easily defeated the opposition Movement for Democratic Change in a vote widely seen as not credible.

The court case against Mawarire was postponed until March 16.
Auckland (AFP) - Veteran spinner Imran Tahir was the destroyer as South Africa began their tour of New Zealand with an emphatic 78-run victory over the Black Caps in a one-off Twenty20 on Friday.

Tahir claimed five wickets as the Proteas skittled New Zealand for 107 with five overs to spare after batting first and scoring 185 for six in their 20 overs.

"It's a very special feeling," Tahir said after his man-of-the-match performance at Eden Park, only the third five-wicket haul by a South African in a T20 international.

Paceman Andile Phehlukwayo also claimed three wickets and opening bat Hashim Amla scored 62 in a match that South Africa utterly dominated.

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson conceded his team was outplayed and must improve with five one-dayers and three Tests against the Proteas looming.

"It's frustrating from our perspective, we didn't really fire a shot," he said.

"It's important we learn from this and move on."

After losing the toss, South Africa made a flying start with the bat then backed it up with a strong bowling performance.

Amla made the most of Eden Park's short boundaries to smash 62 off 43 balls, receiving support from skipper Faf du Plessis (36) and JP Duminy (29).

They looked set to make 200-plus but Trent Boult and Colin de Grandhomme put the brakes on with two wickets apiece.

Boult was the one standout for New Zealand, conceding only eight runs in his four overs.

But with dangerman Martin Guptill injured and Ross Taylor controversially omitted from the T20 side, the Black Caps woes with the bat were apparent.

Hashim Amla of South Africa (R) bats as New Zealand wicketkeepter Luke Ronchi looks on during the Twenty20 international at Eden Park in Auckland on February 17, 2017

Chris Morris made a perfect start with two wickets in his first two balls for South Africa, coaxing an edge of debutant Glen Mitchell then skittling Colin Munro with his next ball.

Phehlukwayo then took Williamson's wicket with a short delivery and dismissed Corey Anderson in his next over.

Not to be outdone, Tahir dispatched Tom Bruce (33) and Luke Ronchi (0) in succesive deliveries, before wrapping up the tail.

The first one-dayer will be played in Hamilton on Friday.
In a public space in Accra, a 'no parking' sign has done nothing to discourage a couple of taxi drivers from doing exactly the opposite.



Story by Ghana|myjoyonline.com
A saint is a person with good actions and intent who has nothing wrong recorded in his past or present. In Ghanaian politics, we do come across politicians who ascribe to themselves qualities of 'saints' before gaining office of political power. The moment they assume the mantle of leadership however, the word "saint" becomes an illusive description of their character.

The NPP government in the year 2000 criticized the incumbent NDC government of corruption, which led to the NPP winning the General Election at the time. Within the period from 2000 to 2008, under the leadership of ex-president John Agyekum Kuffuor, the NPP was bedevilled with corrupt activities such as; numerous cocaine deals, Macmillan textbook printing saga, extortion of money accrued for [email protected] celebration, unfavourable sale of lands to ministers and cronies, renovation of the president's private residence at the cost of 40million, acquisition of government bungalows by specific ministers, Ghana International Airline(GIA) Saga, amongst others.

It is an obvious truth that the NDC exposed these practices, criticised the incumbent, and promised Ghanaians a 'change'. This wave of change occurred in 2008. It ended with a change in governing bodies while government actions remained constant and unchanged, and the economy suffered stagnation.

Is change just an expression of words to cajole voters? Do politicians really cry for change or cry for an opportunity to also "chop some"?

During the NDC administration from 2008 to 2016, corrupt activities such as; siphoning of tax payers' money into Woyome affair, GYEEDA and SADA scandal, Brazil 2014 fiasco, excessive loans from friendly nations, ford gift saga, amongst others were engaged in.

In 2016, politicians again called for a change and it was once again met with a loud cry of assent from the majority of Ghanaians, as the NPP exposed corrupt activities of the incumbent. Yet, a few weeks after gaining power, it was repeating mistakes of the NDC by appointing ministers based on party interest and not on country's interest and using the foul precedent of the out-gone government as an excuse for repeating these mistakes.

Is it possible for Ghanaians to experience the change they so much want? Are politicians ready to sacrifice their stomachs for the people? *Are all politicians 'saints' after all?* Would the new NPP administration fulfill their promise to the people or fulfill their promise to their personal accounts?

#Ghana needs help

Rachael omeife

(Department of Political Studies)

KNUST

[email protected]
Madrid (AFP) - Hundreds of migrants stormed the border between Morocco and Spain at Ceuta on Friday, days after Morocco warned the EU of fresh migrant trouble following a row over a trade deal.

The Spanish civil guard -- or paramilitary police -- told AFP that "several hundred" migrants had stormed the border fence into the Spanish North African territory and that some had been injured.

Three officers were hurt while trying to keep the migrants back, a civil guard spoeksman said.

Footage shot by the local Faro de Ceuta television showed dozens of euphoric migrants wandering the streets of the seaside enclave, ecstatic to have finally crossed into a European Union state.

"I love you Mamma, long live Spain," shouted one young African draped in a blue EU flag. "Libertad, libertad" (freedom), shouted another.

Row over trade deal

Ceuta and Melilla, also a Spanish territory in North Africa, have the EU's only land borders with Africa, so are entry points for migrants who either climbing the border fence, swim along the coast or hide in vehicles.

Emergency services said on Twitter that 400 people were receiving assistance from the Spanish Red Cross.

The massive entry, one of the biggest since the border barrier was reinforced in 2005, comes amid a dispute between Morocco and the EU over the interpretation of a free trade farm and fishing deal.

In a late 2016 ruling, an EU court said the deal did not apply to the Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony controlled by Rabat where the Polisario Front is fighting for independence.

Migrants flood into Spanish Ceuta

The court said this was because the status of the disputed territory remained unclear according to the international community.

The 28-nation bloc did not recognise it as part of Morocco.

The ruling opened the way for the Polisario Front and its supporters to contest trade in products from the Western Sahara between Morocco and the 28 EU states.

The decision angered Morocco, which in a warning on February 7 suggested it could lead to "a new flow of migration" towards Europe and place the continent "at risk".

The last such massive attempt took place on New Year's Day when more than 1,000 migrants tried to jump a high double fence between Morocco and Ceuta in a violent assault that saw one officer lose an eye.

The enclave has been ringed by a double wire fence that is eight kilometres (five miles) long. The six-metre (20-foot) high fence also has rolls of barbed wire.
Accra, February 17, 2017  AngloGold Ashanti Limited has reiterated its commitment to playing a key role in unlocking the huge potential that exists in the mining sector to propel national growth and development.

The Managing Director of AGA Obuasi, Eric Asubonteng stressed this is in line with one of the companys cherished values of making the communities in which it operates better off.

Mr Asubonteng was speaking at the installation of Prof. Horace G. Campbell as the third occupant of the Kwame Nkrumah Chair, which is sponsored by the company at the Institute of African Studies (IAS), University of Ghana in Accra on Tuesday. The event also witnessed the delivery of the chairs inaugural address. The chair has previously been occupied by Prof Kofi Anyidoho who was installed in February 2011 and Prof Jacob Gordon, installed in February 2013.

He said the company was proud to be supporting the chair, which has contributed not only to academic discourse, but also to policy discourse at various levels..

Touching on the inaugural theme, he stressed the need to build bridges around the Africa unification discourse by focusing more on trade, culture and technology among others, taking advantage of the continents unique strengths.

Professor Campbell, whose lecture was on the theme, Reconstruction, Transformation and the Unification of the peoples of Africa in the 21st Century: Rekindling the Pan African spirit of Kwame Nkrumah, called on African scholars and activists to rethink the basic ideas of Pan Africanism as the current educational structure lacked the inspirational ideas of Dr Kwame Nkrumah and other African visionaries.

He explained that the effects of the convergence of multiple forces such as environmental, financial, health pandemics, militarism as well as geo-political changes in the global space required new analysis and ideas to enable the African continent become productive in every sector.

According to him, the reconstruction of Africa would require a whole transformation of relevant sectors such as political, economic, gender relations as well as culture that would chart a new direction offering exciting possibilities for African renewal in the 21st century.

Professor Dzodzi Tsikata, Director of the IAS, said the institute has a robust infrastructure for knowledge expansion, indicating that they expect the new occupant to, among others, deepen appreciation and understanding of the important role played by the social sciences.

She also paid glowing tribute to the late John Owusu, former Corporate Affairs Manager of AGA for playing a tireless role in the establishment of the chair.

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Ebenezer Owusu, who chaired the ceremony, described the Kwame Nkrumah Chair as the most visible in the University and commended AGA for its continuous support.
On behalf of the good people of the Nadowli/Kaleo constituency, we, members of the Network of Young Mentees of Bagbin (NYMB), congratulate you for being a recipient of the National Peace Awards. These include the Governance Peace Award, the Parliamentary Peace Award, the Community Spirit Peace Award, and the Humanitarian and Service Peace Award. These are awards you well deserve. Naturally, your political persona is one of a widely admired peaceful resonance that is in perfect harmony with your whole embodiment, your work and your environment. Your welcoming smiles and soft spoken words through to your lovely interaction with many people all radiate peace. During political campaigns, whiles others are busy insulting opponents and inciting their followers to riot, you always campaign for and champion peace. We thank the organizers for recognizing your unyielding sacrifices in contributing to the maintenance of peace and unity within and outside Ghana.

We also wish to use this opportunity to congratulate you on your assumption of office as Second Deputy Speaker of the Seventh Parliament of the fourth Republic. With your rich experience in the business of the House, we are very confident that you represent a well-stocked vault of knowledge for Parliament to immensely benefit from. It will be an understatement to reckon that you are an institution of parliamentary democracy in Ghana.

In 2015, you won for us the overall best MP of the year with an outstanding score of 97.3 percent. The African Watch Magazine rated you A+ in two different years. You won the overall best Minister of the year in 2012. At the international level, you won the 2015 Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Award. As enthusiastic youth learning from you, we cherish and treasure these achievements as a heritage. These awards do not come to us as a surprise because you have adequately demonstrated that your political persona is one of discipline, hard work, diligence, and principles. Your resolve to always strive for the best while setting new standards makes you a unique leader. This inspires us to never settle for less. We wish to use this opportunity to officially bring to your attention that you have such a network of young Ghanaians who are closely monitoring and learning from your impressive exploits.

In Conclusion, we note with impressions that beyond these charming and enviable laurels, your vision and foresight has brought the Nadowli/Kaleo constituency from zero to hero in terms of development. From only one Day Senior High Technical School that operated from a dilapidated pavilion to a record of five established Senior High Schools and a Teacher Training College, the constituency can now boast of self-sufficiency in education. Before 1993, the constituency virtually had no health facility, clean drinking water and electricity. Today, due to your hard work as a Member of Parliament, the constituency now boasts of the best District Hospital in the Upper West Region, over fifty functioning CHPS compounds and clinics, over six hundred working boreholes and small town water systems, and over eighty percent electricity coverage. We say thank you. You have adequately demonstrated that you indeed have the blue print for the development of the Nadowli-Kaleo Constituency and mother Ghana at large. We once again pledge our support and partnership to help you achieve your vision for the Constituency and this Country at large.

We wish you the very best in your quest to establish a just and free society in the provision of equitable development in the Constituency.

NYE TI BAGBIN, NYE TI MAALA!!

..signed...

Dabaga James

(National Coordinator)

Tel:0241377973

Biekpe Sylvester

(National P.R.O)

Tel:0248532234

Yennah Nantamba Rufus

(National Chairman)

Tel:0266873734
The Centre for Local Governance Advocacy (CLGA), has said that the Council of States mandate must be reviewed to make its decisions more binding on the President.

Some civil society groups have questioned the relevance of the Council over its apparent insignificant role in the countrys governance structure, following recent developments, and have thus called for it to be scrapped.

But the centre believes the council is still relevant and their functions must be strengthened by Parliament to influence the President on key national decisions.

Regional representatives for the Council of State were elected on Thursday [17th February, 2017], but some persons have questioned their relevance especially after allegations of vote buying during the election.

The Deputy Executive Director of the Center, Gladys Gillan Tetteh in an interview with Citi News, also called for an expansion of the Electoral College as a way to prevent vote-buying.

We all know currently what is happening with respect to the council of state. It lacks credibility because a lot of Ghanaians believe that it does not influence the central government in its operations. People think that they have outlived their usefulness but we have a different opinion. They are still relevant. We only need to come up with certain laws to ensure that their operations are relevant to the current state. Parliament can come up with laws to allow them to have more powers in terms of their decision being binding on the president.

She added that, the current law allows the President to ignore the advice of the Council at his will, and that was not beneficial to Ghanaians.

I also believe that we need to expand the electoral college to allow all assembly members to vote. Currently, there is this impression that people are paying money for people to vote for them. For us, this is not good enough so we expand the electoral college, and the vote buying issues will be addressed.

Council of State useless

Meanwhile, the President of policy think tank, IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has described as needless the role of the Council of State in the country.

Speaking on Citi FMs news analysis program, The Big Issue, he said, I don't subscribe to a council of state, I think it is needless,.

He said although he does not seek to bastardize institutions set up by the constitution, several precedents had shown that the Council of State is usually sidelined by presidents during decision-making time.



By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @jnyabor
17.02.2017 LISTEN

News circulating purports government will use The Heritage Fund to fund The Free SHS Policy. But Wait a minute,What is the The HERITAGE FUND? The Heritage Fund is set up to support the country's future generations when the oil reserves are depleted.

The heritage fund receives eight percent of revenue accrued from Ghanas crude oil proceeds and reserved for future generations.

The question now becomes is it adviceable to use this future reserve for the Free SHS Policy?

What happens to the future generation?

But who are the Future leaders ?

Is it beneficial to save for the FUTURE whiles the PRESENT suffer?

Is it even a wise decision to save for FUTURE GENERATION??

Well, if Free SHS Policy is going to take off, I believe there should be carefully thought out plan.

Whichever FUND will be Used we must understand as a country ., We need to safeguard today for a better tomorrow.

Hence any and every resource needed should be used wisely.

We must understand that as a nation there's no time for errors no time for delays and setback

Clocking the age of 60 we have no time to waste

Heritage Fund or not Ghana what must be done should be done

The Ghanaian Heritage must be safeguarded! !!

God Bless Our Homeland Ghana

And Make Our nation Great

(Her Excellency)
17.02.2017 LISTEN

Even as the dust is beginning to settle in the Gambia, it is not lost on Africans and people of good will that the manner in which ECOWAS resolved the standoff following recent elections there remains a great example of applying African solutions to African problems. ECOWAS took a principled position that the will of the Gambian people had to be respected by all the means necessary and acted with such steely but decorous resolve it restored order, peace and democracy to the West African nation without a drop of blood. Being able to do so with a good dose of African etiquette and without the usual dictates and bombs of vested foreign powers is a credit worthy of record and celebration.

The December 2016 elections resulted in victory for the opposition. It was a shocker in Gambian history, the kind of shocker that flips into the league of Brexit in the UK or Trump in the US. It was certainly not one the ruling government ever imagined and it will remain on record as the first time ever any Gambian leader lost elections. Yahya Jammeh, who had until then won every election since the country returned to democratic governance in 1996 had been in charge of the Gambia for 22 years having first come to power in 1994 through a military putsch. He was stunned beyond belief and in the stupor of the loss he matched the shock with an even greater thriller. He conceded and left the pundits scratching their heads for rationale albeit not for too long.

Within days of conceding, Jammeh made a complete U-turn and rejected the election results in their entirety. For some this was incredible if not alarming, for others Jammeh was only being true to character. Whatever the case might be, it cut short the euphoria and celebration that greeted the opposition victory and instead plunged the smallest country in mainland Africa into chaos and anxiety. The insecurity thus generated caused Adama Barrow, the President elect, to pitch camp in Senegal and demand his rights and the rights of the Gambian people from outside his own country. The Gambia suddenly became big international news for all the wrong reasons, not least as a country with two presidents when Barrow took the oath of office in Senegal.

Democracy was clearly at stake in the Gambia. The people had spoken loud and clear they wanted change. The onus remained with Jammeh to do the honourable thing and deliver the change they voted for by handing over power to the duly elected President. He declined and stood by his guns rather stubbornly like the child who doesnt want anybody playing with their doll. In response ECOWAS refused to fence sit or equivocate. They stuck with the Gambian people and called on Jammeh to step down honourably. When he refused to budge, they pursued an au fait negotiation process and continued to dangle the carrot even as Jammeh dug his heels in despite a chorus of appeals from within and outside Africa.

If Jammeh took the etiquette of negotiating as a parody of sorts by his colleague West African heads of state he counted wrongly for once. The regional organisation was so determined and dead serious they kept a stick within his view by massing up combat ready troops in the Gambia. Much as ECOWAS possibly never intended to fire one bullet, it was clear there were no ifs and buts about their resolve or what they wanted to happen in the country. As a former army officer himself, Jammeh needed no telling that armed troops do not mass up needlessly, at least not when they are a coalition of forces from otherwise fraternal neighbours. He could read the writing on the wall as ECOWAS stood up to be counted. Jammeh had no leeway other than to negotiate his exit and exile. He cowed.

Gone are the days of military men parading as heads of state and chairmen of so-called revolutionary councils in West Africa. The mood in the sub-region has been firmly aligned to democracy for quite some time now and the appetite shows no sign of abating, not yet. Constitutionally backed civilian rule has taken sway and come to stay for good as people like to turn out in their numbers, rain or shine, to cast their vote and express their will. The entire region has embarked on a project of weaning itself off the instability of the early post-independence years and is now fast becoming symptomatic with stability and good governance. The Gambia has been no exception and not even the likes of Jammeh can stand in the way of the people ad infinitum.

In fact Jammeh might have been the last residue of military strong men who came to power by the bullet and retained it by the ballot. While some have credited him with measured economic successes over the 22 years in power, intimidation and repression blighted Jammehs Gambia. It is not unlikely he will be better remembered as the despot who punished dissent with disappearances, summary executions and many other unspeakable human rights abuses. Or the eccentric who claimed he had found a cure for AIDS and infertility without a background in medicine. Or the vainglorious who liked to baptise himself with titles and appellations such as His Excellency Sheikh Alhaji Doctor Yahya AJJ Jammeh Babili Mansa without submitting to any meritorious process for earning them.

Jammeh is a familiar story of betrayal and nemesis. History has it that he was once a mentee of Dawda Jawara who led the country into independence in 1965 as Prime Minister and duly elected President when the Gambia became a Republic in 1970. It may be appropriate to acknowledge him as the founder of the modern Gambia especially because of his reputation for good sense of inclusive governance and practice of electoral democracy. He transformed the country into an oasis of peace for the 30 years he was in power. Tourism flourished and brought in the much needed hard currency that lack of natural resources could not afford. For 8 years Jammeh served as security for the President, purposefully mastered the art of intelligence and subsequently applied it in the coup detat of 1994 that consigned Jawara to exile for years. The coup was roundly condemned around the world and Jammeh pledged to clean up corruption and return the country to civilian rule within 3 months.

Time quickly proved the 3 months story was economical truth at best or a palpable lie at worst. On the contrary, Jammeh reckoned he could rule the Gambia for a billion years and did everything to perpetuate a lifelong grip on power in reality. But as early as 2011 his image and legitimacy were all but tattered when ECOWAS and his West African peers refused to endorse his victory in the elections of that year. Before then he was already infamous for lip service to the rule of law where elections were only as good as they validated his perpetuity in office. It was the beginning of the slippery ride into villainy but Jammeh just kept riding on as if he was doomed to end up ingloriously. While the terms and conditions of his exile to Guinea remain rather foggy, the ultimate aim of ECOWAS has been to achieve a peaceful transition from Jammeh to Barrow and this they achieved with high marks.

The Gambia is at peace today with its democracy thanks to the will of the Gambian people and the ethos of ECOWAS finding common ground. Clearly, Africa does not and should not need foreign powers or their guns in finding peaceful solutions in any troubled part of the continent. In his own parting words, Jammeh finally conceded belief in the importance of dialogue, and in the capacity of Africans to resolve among themselves all the challenges on the way towards democracy, economic and social development. Incongruous as it may seem coming from him the words ring true per se.

What happened in the Gambia must be a clear, strong and signal message to any other Jammeh in the sub-region or elsewhere in the continent that no leader can toy with the will of the people willy-nilly by counting on the complicit silence of their peers or the ill-fated principle of non-interference. Barrow must therefore have his work cut out for him as many are those expecting him to distance himself from the leadership style of Jammeh and restore civil liberties, the rule of law and equal opportunities for all Gambians. The hand of destiny is certainly upon his shoulders and ECOWAS and the rest of Africa will be right to have great expectations of him moving forward.

Long live the Gambia, long live ECOWAS, long live Africa and long live democracy and the will of the African voter!

The writer is the International Spokesperson for Humanitas Afrika
The Gold Coast! Africas black star and pacesetter. A country rich in culture, heritage and tradition. Groomed in all modesty, peace and love. They call it Ghana , we call it home. A country that opens its doors to the outside world for business and tourism. A great place to come on a vacation. Very importantly the industry that drives this great country to such heights is tourism. It only comes 4th after the major GDP contributors like gold, cocoa, and oil.

However, this industry with all the enormity in potential has often been stalled by a few challenges and lack of action. A lot is being done already but here are some basic steps to drive the industry forward. Jumia Travel , a major stakeholder in this booming industry identifies these steps as the keys for the much desired progress.

When people think about travelling , the first point of call is usually, accommodation. Amazingly, where will I stay? comes before how will I get there?. The quality of accommodation and how close it is to various points of interest is also very much considered when deciding on a destination country for a vacation. In Ghana, there are numerous historic and beautiful tourist attractions to visit. Great stories, myths, and many eye catching scenes to behold. Many people want to visit them yet they are often pegged back by how far these tourist destinations are and how bad some of the connecting roads are. To solve this long lasting problem, it is expedient to build ultra modern hotels, motels, and guesthouses on site at certain key tourist sites. This makes it very easy for tourists to fully enjoy the sites, not be in a hurry to leave because their bed is a few steps away. They may even spend more money on site when they stay there because they have to buy food, airtime and other things they may need. This generates extra revenue for the country. The accommodation, if present on site, also makes the sites attractive to group visits from foreign and local institutions. Arguably, getting a lot of people at once to book accommodation, buy food and shop on site is more beneficial that getting occasional one time visits because tourists have to travel long distances to go see a much advertised monument or site .

Alternatively, these accommodation facilities can also be built very close to these destinations or even at a central point that can serve 3 to 4 tourist sites. Since transportation and accommodation walk hand-in-hand, it is also highly imperative that good roads are constructed to give easy access to these sites. Travel to these tourist destinations should be as smooth and comfortable as possible. The facilities that are already existent should also be refurbished and improved. What about feeding? What does a tourist eat when he/she decides to spend all day on a tourist site? The provision of good quality, wholesome food on site also makes these tourist sites very attractive to tourists. A good restaurant that serves both continental and local dishes is just the best option. Those who are not too comfortable and adventurous can just go with the usual continental dishes while the much braver adventurists can try some local fufu, banku or waakye. It helps create a better on-site experience and makes them stay longer there thus spending more and increasing revenue.

Picture : The Village on Stilts, Nzulenzu

Taking a close look at the fares charged at various tourist destinations makes one wonder whether it is an invitation for foreigners to come and experience the greatness of Ghana or a strategy to prevent them from coming. Many tourist sites charge very high fares at the gates and often fares are doubled or tripled at the mere sight of a foreigner or a group of foreign tourists. Wont it be better to create a platform where we charge a small fee at the gate to attract them and then have other services on site that will compel them to spend even more? Think about a cultural dance troupe drumming and dancing, a kente weaver teaching tourists how to make kente, some locals teaching them how to make beads and a compiled movie about Ghana and its history. Confidently, one can say that many tourists will be interested in paying for such services in addition to accommodation, food and other things if they are available.

In the end, its the basics that get us where we want to go. Lets work on putting the fundamentals in place and work even harder on having a strong maintenance culture. The only way for this industry is up! Tourism is ripe and a big industry with so much potential. Lets develop it and impact Ghanas economy massively.
Every time government changes hands the new government makes wild allegations blaming the previous government for turning the public purse into a basket of water, for putting the national economy in a chokehold of bleeding incontinence.

The verdict is that, according to the new government, the national economy is choking on the stinking vomit of institutional corruption.

Yet the same new government that mourns the walking-dead obituary of the public purse goes ahead to suck it dry.

A rich country that is thirsty in perpetuity in the abundance of water!

A country ruled by a gang of schadenfreude, hypocritical moirologists!

Ghost names on government payroll. Ghost names paid regularly for absolutely no work done.

But the legitimate demands of the school child who eventually dies in deathtraps and graveyards called classroom are ignored.

Nurses go for months without pay. Teachers go for months without pay. National Service Personnel go for months without pay

But the useless wealthy politician is paid on time without ceasing, and heavily, so to speak, in addition to his unceasing plunder of the public purse and stealing of state properties, both with reckless abandon.

Dont even bother to factor in the underserved humungous ex-gratia payments made out to this lazy political milquetoast.

Open-defecation democracy and galamsey-polluted politics everywhere, overseen by this Ghanaian politician.

When the Ghanaian politician is not lying in the demoralizing stench of moral stupidity he is of course stealing everywhere, abusing incumbency for partisan political advantage, exercising arrogance of power and of coercive power, selling what remains of the country to themselves and to their cronies and to their foreign interestsand he ironically calls this shameful behavior the national interest.

Murderous bovarist thieves, these wicked and cold politiciansall of them.

Political bastards and scarlet prostitutes with no pedigree of political morality, no teachable bones and blood of conscionabilityin their amorally cancerous bodies.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Party (NDC) seesawing with Ghanaians.

Is it any wonder that the NDC and the NPP fundamentally see themselves as spitting images of each other?

They say to each other: You scratch my back, Ill scratch yours.

Helping out to clean the others derriere after open defecation in the mouths of Ghanaians, these politicians.

Seesawing. Merry-go-round. Vicious cycle of political stupiditythis bloodsucking schadenfreude duopoly.

Murderous thieves!

Professional liars!

Political thieves!

Organized criminals!

Thieves in law!

Professional criminals!

Enemies of progress!

Unpatriotic milquetoasts!

Politicians known only for their unbidden schadenfreude tears. Car thievesthese wicked politicians with no sense of moral compass.

Why must politicians be allowed to buy cars at uncompetitive prizes, that is to say luxury cars bought and paid for by the sweat of the hardworking taxpayer, when the curtain is drawn on their terms of public service?

Ask the wicked and cold politician: How many ambulances and other emergency medical services vehicles does Ghana have?

Instead of buying more luxury cars for these shameless car thieves, why dont we buy more ambulances and other emergency medical services vehicles, say?

Or use the money earmarked for the purchase of these luxury cars to service, maintain, or build quality networks of roads to ease the staggering frustrations of farmers and to assist them distribute perishable farm produce to all corners of the country?

The idea that the taxpayer will buy luxury cars for the exclusive use and benefit of these negrified idiots and buffoons, who continue to under-develop the country and to barter our vast natural resources for stupidity, is the height of stupidity.

What did these luxury cars do for P.V. Obeng at the point of death?

Question is, didnt Angel Obinim ask Ghanaians to come to his church if they wanted cars? Are our politicians cursed to love or be infatuated with luxury cars?

Why then is Owusu Bempah reportedly advising Akufo-Addo to shun this fleet of luxury cars?

Could that have come about on the advice of Bempahs angels who came down from heaven to vote for Akufo-Addo?

What car(s) did Akufo-Addo use during and after his presidential inauguration?

Are these political mystery and conundrums about missing state cars a staged malicious soundtrack to potential public and moral battles between the NPP and the NDC, a calculating political stagecraft meant to discredit the NDC and Mahama?

Why do these arguments and counter-argument, claims and counter-claims, and such occur whenever and every time the two main parties change hands at the presidency?

With profuse availability of advanced, sophisticated inventory technologies in this age and time, are our technocrats and politicians saying these missing cars cannot be accounted for?

These overly doted-upon politicians seem to be fighting over, gossiping and griping about cars when the manufacturers of these cars are polluting our environment and stealing our natural resources.

We can only hope that the political robot at the center of the disgraceful jejune inaugural-speech plagiarism, Eugene Arhin is not merely parroting a plagiarized allegation and canard meant to discredit the out-gone government.

Missing cars?

What are the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) doing about this problem that, from all indications, Chinese, Japanese, South Korean, and Indian children can easily solve for us?

Kandahar Boys?

Azoka Boys?

Bolga Bull Dogs?

Invisible Forces? Or, is it Invincible Forces?

Calling men boys!

Indeed!

Calling men boys.

Fools!

No wonder post-Nkrumah Ghana has fallen into a cesspit of leadership crises. From K.A. BusiatoAkufo-Addoall boys disguised as men.

Again, one wonders how these boys are paid and who pays these unemployed boys, urchinsbulls, boys, and dogs, trained for political turf wars at the expense of national security and social stability?

Akufo-Addo should be spreading out his Invisible Forces across the length and breadth of the country to clean up the disgraceful mountains of mess we call open defecation, but, no, his strong desire to control and define the new power dynamics is dictating his trademark politics of intimidation.

Instead of celebrating, or shall we say, mourning, our paralyzing frustration as to why open defecation has become an albatross around our necks, why we have become slaves and habituated to widespread national filth, and so forth, we are investing humungous sums of money in chasing after a fata morgana called independence.

Oh these foolish, shameless zhilaohu politicians! Oh these foolish, shameless paper-tiger politicians!

A zhilaohu politician called Akufo-Addo. A paper-tiger politician called Mahama.

Eventually Akufo-Addo has assumed the titular infamy of a Don Corleone at the headship of the Akyem Mafia at the presidency, hiding behind a frosted glass of political theology to subvert the rule of law and to impose his bitter dose of jungle justice upon his real and perceived political enemiessuspected car thieves.

Thus the presidency has become a status symbol of mob rule, of mob justice. We are directly referring to the newly created Assets Confiscation Task Force (ACTF), a criminal organization, at the presidency with its knack for futile, abortive Rambo-style seizure of suspected state cars through vigilante justice.

No due diligence. No warrants. Abuse of incumbency. Arrogance of power. Subversion of the rule of law by a political party that prides itself on the rule of law.

A political party led by an All-Die-Be-Die and Yen-Akanfuo politician who secretly imported Serbian and South African mercenaries to train political terrorists called The Invisible Forceson the blind side of the security forces and the intelligence community, to cause mayhem in post-election Ghana in the event that the NPP failed to wrest political power from the NDC.

Now the chickens have come to roost.

But, as expected, the Invisible Forces will not go around the country and seize our minerals and oil/gas reserves which our politicians have given away to foreign interests and investors practically on the cheap!

Instead the Invisible Forces is after public toilets!

Yes, its members feed on toilets, stinking feces, digesta, just like the Dung Beetle does.

And, yes, if we can put it otherwise, we will also say members of the Invisible Forces are infatuated with the paralyzing stench of human fecesour stinking open-defecation democracy. They are just addicted to the artificial aroma of open defecationthat is.

Yet, the same Invisible Forces does not even care that open defecation places Ghana as the seventh dirtiest country on the planet.

The Invisible Forces could not care less whether or not our politicians are even in control of their mental faculties!

Panama Papers co-author John Kufuor said acting on every single corruption allegation will collapse his government. Mahama said the same thing.

And, surprisingly, Akufo-Addo has given strong indications to follow in their footsteps, Mahamas and Kufuors.

Akufo-Addo has seen fit to, as it werereportedlychoose his crony, confidant and party loyalist lawyer Akoto Ampaw, rather than Martin Amidu, as Special Prosecutor-designate.

Now members of the NPP can go ahead and steal and even do as they wish. Special Prosecutor Ampaw will borrow Angel Obinims wings to protect them from investigation and criminal prosecution.

No government official has to bother looking over his or shoulder.

Akufo-Addo appears to be running from his approaching mirage, his incoming shadow, although Amidu is in an in-situ posture, already transfixed by the moral squalor of the Akufo-Addo presidency.

Do you, Dear Reader, remember Akufo-Addos plagiarized inaugural speech and the high-rise magnitude of international disgrace Ghana and Africa incurred on the basis of academic or intellectual honesty?

In other words, barely two months into his hopeful presidency and Akufo-Addo is already showing serious signs of early symptoms of moral, intellectual and political fatigue.

Scheming crazy-baldhead political animals, who only feed on alternative facts and post-factual politics.

The partisan political face is merely a mask, a Janus-faced status symbol of first-order political criminality.

In the final analysis, then, it really does not matter the true content of the partisan political face the presidency wearsthe national narrative is still the same.

And thus, Ghana, our beloved country, will forever remain in a vegetative state of arrested development with these political sickos, unpatriotic milquetoasts, political pedophiles and rapists, ghost writers of childrens deaths and obituaries, and slimy political bastards in positions of authority.

We shall return
The Deputy General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Obiri Boahene, is outraged that the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), released the five vehicles it confiscated from the National Organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Kofi Adams.

Mr. Obiri Boahene believes the police were not thorough enough in their investigations of the true ownership of the vehicles.

The vehicles; two land cruisers and three pickups, were confiscated in the wake of allegations some officials of the previous government were in possession of state assets.

The CID, however, confirmed it had released vehicles on Thursday after investigations indicated they did not belong to the state.

But Mr. Obiri Boahene, who has been threatened with a lawsuit by Mr. Adams, rubbished the conclusions the police came to describing their investigation into the ownership of the five cars as inept.

It is believed that some personnel from National Security seized the cars, and the NPP Deputy General Secretary said the CID erred by concluding its investigation without taking statements from the persons who seized the cars in the first place.

I am saying they did shoddy work and a lot will follow with what has happened. I am not treating it as an isolated case. All over the country, you hear people complaining about the lackadaisical attitude of policemen and policewomen.

A lot of us are very much worried about the level of professional ineptitude. Common sense dictates that those boys who went for those vehicles ought to have been invited. Perhaps they may be in possession of some documents.

Kofi Adams

At what point in time did they do the investigations and then they drew the conclusion and arrived at the final position that the vehicles be released to Kofi Adams without taking statements of those who went in for the vehicles, without giving them opportunity to present their side of the case. What kind of shoddy work is that?

Mr. Obiri Boahene concluded his scathing assessment by alleging some political bias on the part of the police.

This is not the end of the matter. We will pursue it to its logical conclusion. If the policemen want to be professional politicians, they are welcome, he stated firmly.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
The United Kingdom government has announced that it has reviewed its decision to cut aid to Ghana.

In an exclusive interview with JOYBUSINESS, UK foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson said his government would rather increase financial support to Ghana after a working visit to fresh fruit exporting firm, Blue Skies,

The UK High Commissioner to Ghana, Jon Benjamin last year disclosed to JOYBUSNINESS that the UK government has cut budget support to Ghana because of its middle-income status.

According to Benjamin being classified as a lower middle-income country is no longer a least developed country and Ghana's economy is still developing.

"Budgetary support to Ghana is no longer on the cards because the government of Ghana is supposed to provide its own basic services," he said.

However, he said the UK will still provide technical service and support private sector particularly SME's to grow and develop so they can become the motor of employment creation and growth in the future.

However, Mr. Johnson said the UK government is committed to extending the needed financial support to Ghana adding as you know, the UK package to Ghana is around GBP130 million and we are determine to keep that going as part of its global vision.

Some of the countrys donor partners have already hinted at plans to scale down or even cut financial support to Ghana because of countrys new economic status.

Some economic analysts have said that this move to cut aid would put a lot of pressure on government to look for an alternate source of income to finance its budget.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Joy Business
Ghana police personnel supported by heavily armed military as though they were going to war in Afghanistan or Syria, have made Kumawu-Bodomase their congregating ground since Sunday, 12 February 2017. This prompted me to put out a series of publications on Ghanaweb and Modernghana, two of the leading Ghana internet news portals, alerting the public to their dubious mission which bordered on bias and perpetration of lawlessness.

The intelligence I gathered from far away United Kingdom, indicated that they had gone there with the sole intent to disrupt the funeral of the late Kumawu Akyempemhene Nana Okyere Krapa II and also, to prevent Kumawuhene Barima Tweneboa Kodua V from attending the funeral in the capacity of Kumawuhene.

On the afternoon of Thursday, 16 February 2017, when Kumawuhene Barima Tweneboa Kodua V, and his sub-chiefs and supporting mourners were in a long traditional procession to the funeral grounds to pay their last homage to, and also swear the traditional oath to, the remains of Nana Okyere Krapa II which was laid in state, before its burial in the late night, they were not only accosted but also, brutally attacked by the police cum military personnel. The police forcibly penetrated the crowd surrounding Barima Tweneboa Kodua V, seized the kingly umbrellas which were over his head and broke them up.

The armed police cum military personnel started firing warning shots with both rubber and live ammunitions. In the process, they injured themselves and the public.

I had intended to wait until Monday, 20 February 2017 to place a detailed publication on what exactly transpired in Kumawu-Bodomase with the facts and video-recorded evidence I have obtained, but for a quick rebuttal to the irresponsible lies told over the airwaves which I picked up on my smart phone last night and this afternoon by Kwame Sampson Nyamekye of Hello FM Kumasi, and the Ashanti Regional Police spokesman Tango, respectively, I cannot wait to come out with the other true side of the story hence this short rebuttal.

The video evidence will be published on Monday and I shall beg Ghanaweb and Modernghana to show them but not only the link that will be provided.

I wonder why this misfit in his own journalism profession called Sampson Kwame Nyamekye of Hello FM has that absurd infatuation with propagating lies. A journalist is supposed to report nothing but the truth when he/she goes to cover an occasion, be whatever its nature. However, this guy has a penchant for twisting the story to suit his own evil intentions.

His deplorable and unprofessional news coverage compelled me to lambast him for correction in an article I published on both Ghanaweb and Modernghana under their Feature Article column of Monday, 6 April 2015 titled, Who Is This Greenhorn Journalist at Hello FM in Kumasi? The publication could be read by interested public readers via the underlying web link provided.

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/Who-Is-This-Greenhorn-Journalist-At-Hello-FM-in-Kumasi-353235

I heard Sampson Kwame Nyamekye last night when contacted by Peace FM evening newscaster to brief them on the events at Kumawu-Bodomase say that the supporters of Kumawuhene Barima Sarfo Tweneboa Kodua V, were the first to start firing gun bullets at the police and that three police officers had sustained various types of gun shot injuries. He was not at Kumawu-Bodomase himself or if he were, he as usual twisted the truth.

The police were the first to attack Barima Tweneboa Kodua V and his sub-chiefs and their supporting mourners. This is proved by the attached audio interview granted to Nhyira FM by a female news reporter who went to Kumawu-Bodomase to cover the funeral. This goes to reveal the diabolic nature of that sub-standard so-called journalist called Sampson Kwame Nyame who poisons the minds of Ghanaians with his blatant lies and bogus journalism only tolerated in Ghana.

Additionally, the Ashanti Regional Police spokesperson, Tango, was heard saying this afternoon on Peace FM that the supporters of Kumawuhene Barima Sarfo Tweneboa Kodua V, were the first to fire bombs at the police. He said they had gathered intelligence that a person conducting himself as Kumawuhene was intending to attend a funeral of one of his sub-chiefs and that if he did, it would bring troubles to Kumawu. Therefore, the police moved in to stop him from doing that because on their official records, they know of only one Omanhene of Kumawu and it was not the person self-styling himself as Kumawu Omanhene. This intervention by the police led to five police officers sustaining various degrees of injuries and they have been taken to hospital.

Let me ask Police Commander Tango a few questions.

1. How did he come by the conclusion that Baraima Tweneboa Kodua V, the so-called self-styled Kumawuhene, attending the funeral in the capacity of Kumawu Omanhene, would bring troubles to Kumawuman and what could be the troubles?

2. Was the so-called Kumawuhene that they know of, thus, Barima Sarfo Tweneboa Kodua, attending the same funeral? If he was, who had invited him to it and if he wasnt, how did he, Tango, and the security operatives, concluded that Barima Tweneboa Kodua attending the funeral was a recipe for disaster in Kumawuman?

3. Who tipped them off with his so-called intelligence that the police received subsequent upon which they moved heavily armed police cum military personnel to inflict purposeful injuries on the innocent people of Kumawu-Bodomase?

4. Does he know how and when one becomes Kumawuhene and does he know about the court cases pending against the bogus enthronement of Dr Yaw Sarfo by the colluding Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, as Kumawuhene?

I will reserve my tough questions for Monday, 20 February 2017s envisaged publication. However, I want the public to note this particular underlying information which will involve His Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo Addo. The Divisional Police Commander in Ashanti Effiduase ordered two of the police officers to shoot and kill Barima Tweneboa Kodua V. When they were hesitating, he said, shoot and kill him because this is an order from above. As they both cocked and pulled the trigger of their rifles, the rifles failed jammed. He then pulled his own pistol to shoot Barima Tweneboa Kodua V but he himself ended up suffering injuries. Praise be to God who has designated Barima Tweneboa Kodua V as Kumawuhene hence all the forces rising up against him are failing and falling to his right and left hand sides.

Now, I shall be publishing articles to find out from His Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo if he did issue that order from above to kill Kumawuhene Barima Tweneboa Kodua V. Which order in Ghana could be higher than the one coming from the President? I want an explanation for that Order from Above nonsense that has become the favourite phrase to employ by lawless security personnel or individuals to sometimes justify or facilitate their committed acts of lawlessness. Could that order have come from the Minister of Interior, the Inspector General of Police, the transferred Ashanti Regional Police Commander COP Nathan Kofi Boakye or Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II? Wherever that silly and murder-intended order came from, I shall take it upon myself to find it out, first starting from the doorsteps of the government.

We shall not sit down for lawlessness to overwhelm innocent Ghanaians and mother Ghana.

Until then, please listen to the news reportage by a female news presenter who went to cover the occasion that ended up with the police destroying Barima Tweneboa Kodua Vs umbrellas, injuring innocent persons and causing malicious commotion in Kumawu Bodomase.

Finally, readers should disregard the lies being announced on, and by, Peace FM, in relation to the incident that occurred in Kumawu-Bodomase yesterday. It was the police that started it but not as distortedly being reported by Peace FM to probably suit their selfish interests.

Rockson Adofo

(Written on Friday, 17 February 2017)
The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), has said it will take a back seat on investigations into the bribery allegations against some Members of Parliament's Appointments Committee.

The Commission has however said it would not completely recuse itself from investigating the matter, but would hold an investigation in abeyance.

CHRAJ has decided not to exercise its discretion to decline investigating the allegations altogether; but rather, at this stage, to hold its investigation in abeyance awaiting the outcome of the committee's findings.

CHRAJ in its assessment of the petition brought before it by one Nana Kusi-Poku Listowel, explained that its decision was premised upon section 13 (1) (a) and (b) of Act 456, 1993, which allows the Commission to decline to investigate a complaint if there is adequate remedy for the complaint or it is deemed unnecessary.

The Commission has thus deferred to Parliament, which has set up a five-member committee to investigate the bribery allegation following a petition by some Minority Members of Parliament who levelled the bribery allegation against the Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko.

CHRAJ in its report said it was satisfied with Parliaments investigative committees work so far, which is holding public sittings as a means of ensuring transparency.

But the commission noted in its report that it would not hesitate to assert its broad constitutional mandates should circumstances after the committee's proceedings and after perusing its Report warrant further investigation into the matter.

CHRAJ reminded that these corruption allegations that have rocked Parliament fall within its purview.

The Commission is mindful of the fact that the crux of the allegations under enquiry touch and concern the conduct of Constitutional Public officers which ultimately falls within the ambit of Chapter 24 of the 1992 Constitution thereby making CRAJ the relevant constitutional forum for redress as affirmed by the Supreme Court in the Ablakwa (NO. 2) v Jake Otanka Obestsebi-Lamptey (2012) 20SCGLR 846.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Sorry, we can't find the content you're looking for at this URL.
It is remarkable how health facility regulation at the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency has improved over the last year  You clearly see Professionalism, Openness, Competence and Strong Leadership.

Daasebre Dr. Amankona Diawuo II, Omanhene of Berekum

The regulation of health facilities in the country has recorded significant improvements over the last couple of years thanks to the establishment of the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency.

This is gradually leading to greater access and equitability in terms of health service provision especially in areas that hitherto did not have quality health facilities, especially in times of emergency.

The primary activity of most regulatory bodies is to protect the public. Regulatory bodies exercise functions that include imposing requirements, restrictions and conditions, setting standards and securing compliance or enforcement.

Regulatory bodies in the health sector currently operating in Ghana include the Medical and Dental Council, Nurses and Midwives Council, Health Facilities Regulatory Agency, Allied Health Professions Council, Pharmacy Council, Food and Drugs Authority, amongst others.

With the introduction of the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency some few years ago, the body has ensured that for example licensing of some health facilities that had stalled for over five years has been progressed to ensure that quality health care is accessible to individuals especially in the rural and peri-urban areas to prevent loss of lives.

It is pleasing to see that monitoring and inspections of facilities under the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency continues vigorously in an attempt to reduce quackery, ensure that healthcare facilities are legally registered and have competent and accredited health professionals at work.

In addition, the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency checks that facilities are well designed and operate within an external environment conducive to the provision of quality health care delivery.

Although a fairly new Agency, the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency was set up in 2011 to regulate public and private healthcare facilities in Ghana. Its work supports the Ministry of Health's objectives.

According to the words of Kate, a maternity owner and midwife in Jirapa quote, the regulatory processes for licensing are so much clearer and transparent now, adding: Indeed, the Chief Executive, Dr Sylvia Anie, has transformed the place in a matter of six months. Unquote.

A six member delegation of Chiefs of the Berekum Traditional Council in September 2016 visited the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency in Accra to proffer appreciation to the Chief Executive for doing the seemingly impossible in enhancing quality care in a collaborative and personable manner.

The delegation included the Omanhene of Berekum, Nana Buamaa Asantewaa-Twafo hemaa, Nana Ofori Mensah-Oforikromhene, Nana Baffour Gyau-Akyeamehene, Nana Kusi Yeboah-Nifahene and Nana Amotima Gyan  Twafohene.

Many well-wishers including private health facility owners, practioners and public health staff have remarked on the improved processes of applying for a license.

These achievements, within a short period of time, has been made possible due to the excellent leadership and drive of the current Chief Executive who has decades of experience as a public health and development expert within both international and national organisations. Comments from senior officials in the sector both home and abroad bear testimony with several endorsements illustrating how the current leadership of the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency has positively steered the activities of the institution.

"More encouragement to Dr Anie and her team as they continue to sanitise Ghana's health delivery processes. Undoubtedly, there will be challenges and opposition but they must continue to work towards the common goal of progressing quality healthcare.
Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), David Asante Apeatu, has made yet another changes in the top police hierarchy less than a month after his appointment.

This is the third in series of major changes made in the Service since he was appointment on January 25 by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

In a statement signed by Mr Apeatu, Ashanti Police Command PRO, ASP Yusif Mohammed Tanko has been sent to Tamale to head their Communications Department as PRO.

Read full list below:



Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com |
17.02.2017 LISTEN

[Published in the February, 2017 edition of the New African magazine]

I was probably the only journalist in Ghana who refused to be wowed by Presidents Obamas beautiful speech in Accra, during his July 10-11, 2009 trip to Ghana. In the article I wrote to welcome him, Welcome, Emperor Obama, I said: It is true that things have changed, and that the United States now boasts a black president, but, given its history of violence against the non-white world, the onus is upon the U.S. to prove its sincerity. Africa has been treated very badly by the U.S., and this is a fact that must be strongly brought home to the visiting Emperor.

It remains both a mystery and an irritation why Western commentators always omit the role the West played (and continues to play) in the morass in which Africa presently finds herself. Our continent was just emerging from the serious dislocations of four centuries of slavery when European cartographers sat down in Berlin and sundered our societies into colonies. And just seven years after independence, the West (led by the U.S.) ganged up to remove all the progressive leaders in Africa - Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah, Congo's Patrice Lumumba, et al. In their places, they placed reprobate Quislings who sold Africa down the drain. Today, they deride us as non-achievers.

Our leaders ought no longer be satisfied with smiles and sanctimonious and totally meaningless platitudes, even if offered by a US president who happens to be black.

It is true that President Obama is handsome, urbane, very articulate, and has a wholesome family, but does he truly represent a paradigm shift in US thinking vis-a-vis the non-white world? His record so far in Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan does not suggest that there is going to be any radical shift in US imperial and arrogant dealings with the non-white world.

The truth is that the worst enemy of the U.S. is its foreign policy, and our leaders should demand a total reassessment of our neo-colonial relationship with that imperial power.

It is true that Brother Obama brought a whiff of inviting, cool and fresh air, necessary to purify the nauseating and very odious effluence of Bush and his nasty gang of neocons, but the only changes that Obama has wrought so far are cosmetic at best. Zimbabwe continues to be sanctioned, even after it has satisfied demands for an inclusive government. Afghans, Pakistanis and Yemenis continue to be needlessly massacred by American war machines. The rape of our resources by American corporations continues unabated.

Instead of dancing for joy because the US Emperor came to town, Ghanaian leaders should have presented the American leader with a long list of demands. These should have included demand for reparation for slavery, of which the U.S. remains the biggest benefactor. It should also have included demand for reparation for the February 24, 1966, coup that the Kennedy and Johnson regimes instigated and financed to topple Kwame Nkrumahs government. It should have included demand for the return of Ghanas Atomic Reactor that the Americans took away after the coup. Electricity blackout would have been a thing of the past in Ghana, were the ambitious atomic energy programmes of Nkrumah not truncated by agents of the US government. It should have included a threat to drag the U.S. before the International Criminal Court for the overthrow of a legitimately-elected government of Ghana, if adequate compensation is not paid. It should have included demand for the return of the oil rigs the Americans took away from Ghana - also after the 1966 coup. It should have included demand for compensations for families of the victims of the CIA-instigated coup. Our leaders should boldly demand that Emperor Obama apologize to us for the crimes of slavery his nation committed against us. Thy also should insist that reparations be paid to us the way it was paid to the Jews. They should demand from Emperor Obama pledges that his country will stop negatively impacting our lives through its selfish interventions and policies.

I ended my article with a caution: We shouldn't lose sight of the fact that Emperor Obama did not visit us as a brother from the Diaspora: he visited us in his capacity as the president of the United States of America. His was not an emotional or sentimental journey to reunite with us. Were that to be the case, he'd have chosen Kenya, where his father was born, and where his step grandmother still lives.

As a cultured African, I welcomed Barack Obama's visit to our shores because our culture demands that we warmly welcome visitors, but I am not naive to believe that his visit will do Ghana or Africa any good.

Few men in history enjoyed the same overwhelming adulation that welcomed Barack Hussein Obama into the White House. All over the Globe, people danced for joy when the Man who campaigned to effect a Change we can believe in, swept into office on January 20, 2009. TV screens showed grown-up men and women openly shedding tears, as they witness what they thought was a Miracle - A Black Man in the White House! Even veteran stalwarts like Jesse Jackson and Oprah Winfrey wept like babies.

So much was the global expectation for a peace in our time under president Obama that the Nobel Prize Committee awarded him the peace Prize in 2009.

As Mr. Obama entered the twilight of his political career, it is only fair to assess his performance, and try to answer the central question of why he chose to squandered all the global goodwill he had, and ended up leaving the world in much worse shape than he met it.

Obamas compatriots in his country are the best judge of his domestic policies, so we shall confine our analysis to his foreign policy.

Although we in Africa claimed and welcomed him as our brother, even the most rabid Obama-admirer among us will be hard-pressed to name a single thing our half-brother in the White House did for our continent in his eight years in office.

Although we do not ask or beg for handouts, it nevertheless hurt to remember that our brother failed to render a helping hand when he was the most powerful human being on earth.

Although he delivered high-falutin rhetoric in his travels across the continent, Obama leaves no enduring legacy for which we shall fondly remember him by. We can contrast his lamentable legacy with those of his immediate two predecessors.

Thousands of Africans still reap benefits from The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) signed into law on May 18, 2000 by President Bill Clinton. AGOA was an initiative to help African businesses gain entrance into the US market. And, as they travel on the Georg Bush Highway, Ghanaians will give praises to the much-maligned President George Bush jr. who donated it to them.

It does not make us cheerful to note that while the Chinese are all over our continent building railroads, highways, air and seaports and other economic infrastructure to lift our people out of poverty, our brother in Washington, along with his Western allies, continue to invest in the militarization of our continents  see New African excellent coverage of the militarization of the Sahel region in the magazines January 2017 edition.

It is also instructive that the single largest US infrastructure built in Africa under Obama was the US$100million Drone facility in resource-rich, but impoverished Niger  source: https://theintercept.com/2016/09/29/u-s-military-is-building-a-100-million-drone-base-in-africa/

It is also perhaps not a co-incidence that it was under our brothers rule that the US Military made its most significant inroad into Africa. From a few bases few years ago, AFRICOM today ringed our continent with more than 60 outposts  source: http://www.blackagendareport.com/node/4844

It is probably in the case of Libya that history will be most harsh on Barack Obama. We will never be told what led Obama to join France, Britain and the Netherlands to abuse a UNSC resolution to invade and destroy the most prosperous of African nations  Libya.

Obamas Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton was shown on TV gloating like a demented hyena over the killing of a de jure and de facto leader of an African nation: We came, we saw, he died.

That is an image that will forever blemish Mr. Obama, even though he called his misadventure in Libya the greatest folly of his administration.

Ok, granted that we are all capable of making mistakes, but what condemn Obama in perpetuity is his not making amends for his grievous error in killing Muammar Ghaddafi, and rendering Libya a Failed State.

Ordinary people across the world, who were totally fed-up with the social, economic, ecological and environmental devastations neocons and neo-liberalisms engendered, believed and trusted the man with a beatific smile, who promised us a change we can believe in.

Sadly, the expectations for a better world under President Obama were misplaced. For reasons best known to him, he chose not do anything different from his warmongering and murderous predecessors. Obama actually upped the ante in the amount of sheer ruthlessness he brought into killing perceived enemies of his country. The New York Times informed us that Obama maintain a secret kill list: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/world/obamas-leadership-in-war-on-al-qaeda.html

And the man to whom the Nobel Prize was awarded, with the hope of bringing peace to a war-ravaged world, approved more drone attacks than all his predecessors combined. As a result, the number of estimated deaths from the Obama administration's drone strikes is more than four times what it was during the Bush administration -- somewhere between 1,494 and 2,618. - http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/05/opinion/bergen-obama-drone/index.html

According to investigative journalist, John Pilger in his documentary, The coming War On China, Obama spent more money on modernizing American nuclear weapons than any president in history. Obamas geopolitical thinking is clearly spelt out by his Secretary of Defense Ashley Carter who bluntly stated that the: US policy is to confront those who see Americas dominance and want to take that away from us - http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/12/02/the-coming-war-on-china/

Although the United States is technically not at war with any country, Obama continue to keep the Military-Industrial Complex on a nice roll: In President Obamas last year in office, the United States dropped 26,171 bombs in seven countries. This estimate is undoubtedly low, considering reliable data is only available for airstrikes in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Libya, and a single strike, according to the Pentagons definition, can involve multiple bombs or munitions. In 2016, the United States dropped 3,027 more bombsand in one more country, Libyathan in 2015. - http://theantimedia.org/nobel-peace-26000-bombs-2016/

That was the from a man who told the world in his speech at the University of Cairo on the 4th June 2009: The people of the world can live together in peace. We know that is Gods vision. Now that must be our work here on Earth. Thank you. And may Gods peace be upon you. Thank you very much.

Sadly for those that believed in him, Barack Obama betrayed their trust. To the eternal regret of his well-wishers, Obama reacted to foreign policy challenges exactly the same way his predecessors did  by continuing with deploying American military power to solve problems.

Those who touted Obama as a brilliant scholar will have to answer the question of how the Russian leader, Vladmir Putin, managed to make him look like a clumsy, clueless, unimaginative amateur in all their encounters in the international arena.

Take the case of Syria. Obama drew a line in the Syrian desert over the use of chemical weapons. When it came to actuating his threat, he managed to peeve even his Western allies. Putin came to his rescue with an imaginative masterstroke  agreeing to ship the chemicals out of Syria.

That was the beginning of the end of US relevance in Syria. Today, Mr. Putin is emphatically calling the shots in Syria, so much so that a critical meeting to settle the Syrian crisis is going ahead without US participation.

Obama might not be the architect of the US debacle in the Middle East, but it was under him that Russia, and to a lesser extent China, become major player once again in the region once considered the exclusive preserve of the US.

Observers also cannot but note that under Obama, the US lost the respect of many once considered solid allies. The Philippines shifted their gaze to China with his president using very foul languages in describing Obama. Turkey and Egypt have pivoted towards Russia. Even the leader of a client-state like Israel treat Obama with utter condescension.

Outwitted, outclassed and outplayed by the Russian leader, Obama was reduced to sulking and acting like a petulant schoolyard bully.

It will take years before social scientists will be able to unravel the mystery of why Obama managed to scam so many people. There is no denying the fact that he faced many obstacles, but, were his mind to be on it, he could easily have accomplished a lot more for those who believed in him. Sadly, the Obama illusion left the Black world reeling from huge disappointment, and vividly recall the lamentations of the Great Sociologists W.E.B Du Bois, in his Classic, The Souls of Black Folk: The Nation has not yet found peace from its sins; the freedman has not yet found in freedom his promised land. Whatever of good may have come in these years of change, the shadow of a deep disappointment rests upon the Negro people, - a disappointment all the more bitter because the unattained ideal was unbound save by the simple ignorance of a lowly people.

It is probable that Obama did not set out to create any enduring legacy for himself in the world at large, but the election of Mr. Trump ensures that whatever domestic legacy he wishes to be remembered for will be speedily repudiated. At least, that much the erratic Trump has promised us.

About the Author

Femi Akomolafe is a passionate Pan-Africanist. A columnist for the Accra-based Daily Dispatch newspaper and Correspondent for the New African magazine. Femi lives in both Europe and Africa, and writes regularly on Africa-related issues for various newspapers and magazines.

Femi was the producer of the FOCUS ON AFRICANS TV Interview programme for the MultiTV Station.

He is also the CEO of Alaye Dot Biz Limited Dot Biz, a Kasoa-based Multimedia organisation that specialises in Audio and Video Production. He loves to shoot and edit video documentaries.

His highly-acclaimed books (Africa: Destroyed by the gods, Africa: It shall be well, 18 African Fables & Moonlight Stories and Ghana: Basic Facts + More) are now available for sales at the following bookshops/offices:

Freedom Bookshop, near Apollo Theatre, Accra. The Daily Dispatch Office, Labone  Accra WEB Dubois Pan-African Centre, Accra Ghana Writers Association office, PAWA House, Roman Ridge, Accra. African Kitchen in Amsterdam Bijlmer

Where to buy them online:

On Lulu Books:

18 African Fables & Moonlight Stories https://goo.gl/Skohtn

Ghana: Basic Facts + More: https://goo.gl/73ni99

Africa: Destroyed by the gods: https://goo.gl/HHmFfr

Africa: It shall be well: https://goo.gl/KIMcIm

Africa: it shall be well

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Africa: Destroyed by the gods

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My Lulu Books page: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/FemiAkomolafe

Get free promotional materials here:

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A FREE Chapter of Africa: It shall be well could be downloaded here: http://alaye.biz/africa-it-shall-be-well-a-free-chapter/

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A FREE Chapter of Africa: Destroyed by the gods could be downloaded here: http://alaye.biz/africa-destroyed-by-the-gods-free-chapter/

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Kindly help me share the books links with your friends and, grin, please purchase your copies.

Comradely,

Femi Akomolafe
What are the best names one can choose for his Igbo children? What are the trendy Igbo names and their meanings? Learn more about them from this article.

Igbo names for twins

Picking a name is a serious challenge every parent has to go through. It is not just that they want their baby name to be unique and outstanding, they also want it to be beautiful and have a great meaning. It is commonly believed that a name can define the destiny of a child. Thus, instead of randomly picking a well-sounding name, parents search for their meanings and only agree on those they want their kids to be associated with.

READ ALSO: How and why I stopped mispronouncing my Igbo name

That is why it usually takes time, and most parents search for good names everywhere. We have decided to save you some time and help with finding the best and most famous Igbo names for baby girls, unique Igbo names for boys as well as their meaning. So, if you are waiting for a baby soon, or maybe even for twins and need a name (or maybe you are just curious about the popular trends these days), then this article has all the answers you want to hear.

We have divided our article into several sections, and well start with the Igbo names for twins.

Igbo names for twins

Igbo names for twins

Achebe and Dike.

The first one means to protect while the second one is a brave man. This can be a great set of names for your kids.

Nebolisa and Kanayochukwu.

Among other names and their meanings, you can also check out these two which basically mean look up to God, and Lets keep begging God. If you are religious, this might be your best choice.

Gbolibe and Okwudilichukwu.

These two are great names for believers as well given that the first name means rejoice while the second stands for let the word be to God alone. Pretty amazing, dont you think?

Ifesinachi and Osondu.

These two have a great meaning as well: the first name can be translated as things are from God, while the other one stands for running life's race.

Chikaima and Kamtochukwu.

These ones mean It's God alone we know and Let me praise the Lord.

Kelechi and Chigozie.

These ones literally translate to 'praise God' and 'God bless'.

Igbo names for twins

Igbo names for baby girls

Next on our list of names and their meanings are Igbo female names. We have selected only the best ones as well as those we could define the meaning of. So, meet our list and pick the names you like the most.

Udo

This name is among our favorite ones, as it means peace. We all need it at times!

Chibuzor.

This name is a religious one, as well as all the other ones which contain Chi standing for God in it. Thus, this name, in particular, means God is first

Akachi.

Again, from one of this words derivatives, we can guess that it has something to do with God. In fact, it means the hand of God.

READ ALSO: Kerry Washington Reveals Her Igbo Name

Ebele.

This name can also be a characteristic of a kind-hearted girl with a big heart and good attitude to people. It stands for kindness and mercy.

Igbo names for twins

Anuli.

This one is simple  it means joy. Igbo girls get this name quite frequently, as it is both beautiful and meaningful.

Ndidi.

This one is for patience. It has Igbo origin and is still quite popular among this people.

Chioma.

The Lord is good, and this name will help you remember it.

Ogechukwukanma

It might look like this name is hard to pronounce. However, you can easily make it shorter (Ogechi) or (Ogechukwu). However, the meaning is entirely worth it. It says that Gods timing is always best.

Nkeiruka.

This name is for a real optimist, as it means that the best is yet ahead of us. or "the best is yet to come".

Chinecherem.

For those of you who keep forgetting that God is always in control, choose this name for your baby girl and keep this truth in mind at all times. It means "God thinks for me" or "God has me in mind".

Onyekachi.

It is another fantastic name for a baby girl with Igbo origin. It means that there is no one greater than God Himself. It is usually pronounced like a question "who is greater than God?"

Amarachi.

By calling your child this way, you give her a name which means Gods grace.

Oluchi.

Finally, this name means Gods work, as He is always at work in your child.

Unique Igbo names for boys

This list can also be very helpful for parents who are looking for ideas on Igbo names for their newborn baby boys. So, lets see what names are among the best ones you can opt for.

Chijioke.

This baby boy name stands for God holds my share. It can also mean "God holds my talents".

Chidi.

This name means that God exists, and also that He is amazing.

Chike.

This male name means Gods power.

Ngozi.

You can also opt for calling your child with this name as it means blessing.

Uchechi.

This name is also quite unique, as it means Gods will" also means "God's thought"

Igbo names for twins

Funmanya.

If you call your baby boy with this name, he will constantly remind you that he needs you to love him, as thats what the name means.

Obi.

If you love your boy dearly, then you can call him this way, for this name means heart.

So, if you are looking for good Igbo baby names for boys, girls, or even twins, this article can help you a lot. Save it now and share with your friends. And good luck in picking the perfect name!

Source: Legit.ng
Im about to go crazy on them this election: Wizkid speaks on upcoming 2023 pr...
After what has been a very crucial day in terms of news, Legit.ng team has gathered the most important news that hit the headlines this Thursday, February 16.

1. Buhari has a right to his vacation - Femi Adesina

Buhari with Bola Tinubu, APC leader

Femi Adesina who is the special adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity has said that the president will not speak to Nigerians as he has a right to his vacation.

The presidents extended vacation in the UK has caused a stir in the country with many speculating about his state of health.

2. Breaking: Diezani Alison-Madueke loses N34billion to FG

Diezani Alison-Madueke

A federal court in Lagos has ordered the final forfeiture of N23.4 billion, N9.08 billion, and $5 million (about N34 billion in total) linked to Nigeria's former petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, Premium Times reports.

Justice Muslim Hassan, on Thursday, February 16, gave a final forfeiture order on the funds.

3. Political tornado: 6 PDP lawmakers defect to APC, as ruling party consoles Ekwueme

Speaker Mudashiru Obasa with some of the defectors

A wave of defection has swept across the camp of the Peoples Democratic Paarty (PDP), carrying off 6 of the 8 PDP members of the Lagos state House of Assembly, and dropping them off in the camp of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The defection was announced on Thursday, February 16.

NAN reports that the lawmakers spoke after the Acting Clerk of the House, Mr Azeez Sanni, read a letter dated February 16 and signed by the defectors, indicating that they had decided to join the APC.

4. Scores of B'Haram members killled as sect attacks Air Force helicopter in Gwoza

Some arrested Boko Haram suspects

One person sustained injury as a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) helicopter conveying personnel on medical outreach programme at Gwoza in Borno state on Wednesday, February 15, came under attack by Boko Haram members.

This was disclosed by the Nigerian Air Force spokesman, Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa in a statement on Thursday, February 16.

5. President Buhari vows to end corruption in Nigeria

President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to end corruption in all ramifications in Nigeria.

Buhari made the promise at the launch of an anti-corruption campaign, tagged The Value Project in Abuja on Thursday, February 16.

6. Governors dare EFCC over alleged probe of Paris fund spending

Ibrahim Magu, chairman of the EFCC

The Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF) has dared the Economic and Finance Crimes Commission (EFCC) and its chairman, Ibrahim Magu, to go ahead and probe them over the scandal rocking the N552.74 Paris Club loan refunds.

There are allegations that the governors diverted the funds instead of paying salaries and engaging in infrastructure development.

Source: Legit.ng
Governor of Bauchi State, Mohammed Abubakar has given marching orders to religious in the state

The governor has directed them to commence prayers for President Muhammadu Buhari

The prayers are for the quick recovery of the president

Governor Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi state has directed religious leaders in the state to commence prayers for President Muhammadu Buhari quick recovery.

Governor Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi state

The governor said they should direct Jumaat Mosques and Churches in their domains to commence the prayers as soon as possible.

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The governors order was contained in a statement signed by the secretary to the Bauchi state Government, Bello Ilelah, which was sent to journalists yesterday, February 16.

The statement stated that Jumaat Mosques are to conduct special prayers today, Friday, February 17 while Churches are to do same on Sunday, February 19

In the same vein, the special prayers should include the need for continued peace and harmony among the people of the state and the country, and for God to bless the people of the state and the country with abundant resources, part of the statement read

In a related development, youths under the auspices of 'I Stand for Buhari' in Kano on Wednesday, February 15 held a prayer session for the quick and full recovery of the president.

There was also a solidarity held for the president in the city. Watch the video below:

READ ALSO: Don't compare Yar'adua's situation to Buhari's vacation - APC chieftain

President Buhari has been in London since January 19. The presidency had first announced that he was there for a 10-day leave. But he has since extended the leave on medical grounds.

Source: Legit.ng
- The presidency has revealed how it will receive President Muhammadu Buhari on his arrival from London

- The current administration says there will be no special reception for the president when he eventually returns

- This was made known by the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Femi Adesina

The presidency has revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari will not be received by any special reception when he arrives from London after his medical vacation.

Femi Adesina says President Muhammadu Buhari will be home soon

This was disclosed by the spokesman to the president, Mr Femi Adesina during an interview with Arise Television in Abuja on Thursday, February 16.

Adesina urged Nigerians to be on the alert as the president might soon arrive the country after a medical vacation in London.

The presidential spokesman however failed to give a definite time frame for his principals return, despite being asked repeatedly.

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When asked why there had been no video evidence to support claims the president is indeed in good health, Adesina said it was not necessary, given that Buhari recently had a telephone conversation with United States President, Donald Trump, and the fact that he had just received the National Assembly officials led by the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki in London.

His words: The fact that the president is receiving visitors, the fact that he has spoken with the American president and the fact that he has asked us to tell the world that hes fine. I think thats just enough.

I wish I could give you a definite date, I really wish but then we just have to hang on to what the president has told us.

In the letter to the National Assembly, he said as soon as his doctors rule out some things.

I will just tell Nigerians to stay on the alert and watch and before they know it the president is back. It could be anytime.

Asked if there were any special preparations to receive the president, Adesina said: You dont need much preparation; I will tell you what will happen.

He continued: On the morning of a certain day, we will just receive an alert from protocol that the president is on the way. And six hours later, theyll be here. The president is a simple man.

President Buhari has been in London since January 19. The presidency had first announced that he was there for a 10-day leave. But he has since extended the leave on medical grounds.

READ ALSO: Deputy Speaker Lasun to join Saraki, Dogara in London for Buhari's visit

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari thanked all Nigerians after his meeting with the National Assembly officials.

I thanked them for visiting. I'm also grateful to Nigerians, Christians and Muslims alike, for their prayers and kind wishes for my health, the president tweeted.

Source: Legit.ng
Nigerias showbiz entrepreneur, Charles Oputa also known as Charly Boy as spoken on the state of the nation

Charly Boy who is also known for his activism says the future of Nigerian youths has been stolen

He said President Muhammadu Buhari is not the problem of Nigeria

Nigerias showbiz entrepreneur, Charles Oputa also known as Charly Boy has expressed his anger at the ruling class in Nigeria.

Charly Boy starts youth movement, absolves Buhari of blame

Charly Boy, 65, accused Nigerian politicians of ruining the future of Nigerian youths through their actions in governance.

He declared that the youths were at a disadvantaged position as a result of several years of misrule by the political class.

He also blamed the youths for allowing this to happen through their complacence and inaction over the past years.

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He told The Punch: Reality bites. I hope Nigerians can now see the disadvantage of waiting for my turn to chop. We are all guilty. The youths have been corrupted by their docility, inaction and fear.

The future of the youths has been stolen by very wicked, vile and insensitive politicians whose sole purpose of governance is to enrich themselves.

If the youths cant rise to the challenge, then its a shame. If we cant pull ourselves together, millions of us will eat sand before the end of the year.

Reacting to President Muhammadu Buharis continued absence from the country; Charly Boy said that although Nigeria had been down this route before, the presidents absence might really be due to ill-health, after all.

His words: I pray for him and I wish him well. However in my opinion, Buhari is not our problem. We have a fundamental problem, which we must address. It is our miracle mindset.

As for me and my followers, we are ready to defy the odds and challenge all constituted authorities in Nigeria, beginning from now. The battle line is drawn.

We are ready to ensure that all Nigerians enjoy governance. We are willing to give up our lives for the good of our country and peace in the heart of poor Nigerians.

I believe in Nigeria because I can see that its time for the exceptional youths of this country to come forward and fight to retrieve our stolen future.

READ ALSO: Charly Boy declares support for 2baba's protest

Like always, Charly Boy was one of front-liners for the Charly Boy was one of front-liners for the 'I Stand With Nigeria' protest held on Monday, February 6 across the nation.

See the video below:

Source: Legit.ng
The National Economic Council (NEC) is composed of all the 36 state governors, the minister of the Federal Capital Territory and the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Yemi Osinbajo

The Council met on Thursday, February 16 for the first time this year in Abuja and it was presided over by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.

The NEC approved the nomination of six Nigerians for the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).

The NSIA is the manager of Nigerias Sovereign Wealth Fund. It was established as independent agency by an Act of the National Assembly in May 2011.

The then President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on May 26, 2011 assented to the Bill and the subsequent gazette on June 3, 2011.

Also the injection of a fresh $250 million capital into the Sovereign Wealth Fund was approved by NEC.

The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, while, updating the Council on the board appointments into NSIA, reported that a member each from the six geo-political zone has been nominated.

Below is the list of nominations:

1. North-East  Mrs. Halima Buba

2. North West  Mr. Bello Maccido

3. North Central  Ms. Lois Laraba Machunga-Disu

4. South West  Mr. Babajide Zetilin

5. South East  Mr. Urum Kalu Eze

6. South-South  Mr. Abue Ighodalo

READ ALSO: Open letter to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo; Time to release Nnamdi Kanu

The NSIA was set up to receive, manage and invest in a diversified portfolio of medium and long term, revenue of the federal government, state government, Federal Capital Territory, local government and area councils.

Meaanwhile, Prof Osinbajo seems to be easing in into his job as Acting President, as he recently called for an urgent review of the Forex policy.

Governor Tanko Al Makura of Nasarawa, who briefed journalists at the end of the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja said the council, which was presided by acting president Yemi Osinbajo, expressed serious concern over the current situation of the exchange rate, especially the gap between inter-bank and the parallel market rates.

Source: Legit.ng
The wife of the Nigerian president, Aisha Buhari, has never failed to wow Nigerians with her beauty and charisma. The cosmetologist and beauty therapist is considered to be the mother of the nation even though the office of the First Lady is not functioning for some reasons.

Aisha Buhari with Zahra, her daughter, on her wedding day.

Aisha Buhari is known as many things to people across the nation and outside it; she is the president's wife, a mother, humanitarian, beautician and a member of the UK Vocational Training and Charitable Trust and International Health and Beauty Council.

Having bagged a Bachelor of arts degree in public administration from the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University and a master's degree in international affairs and strategic studies from the Nigerian Defence Academy in kaduna, Aisha Buhari can be regarded as a complete package.

Aisha Buhari, wife of the Nigerian president.

The beautiful wife of the Nigerian leader has a diploma in beauty therapy with a specialty in permanent makeup, micro-dermabrasion and mesotherapy. She also has a post-graduate diploma in cosmetology and beauty from a reputable institute in France.

Mrs Buhari is the founder and managing director of Hanzy spa and the principal of Hanzy Beauty Institute in Kaduna and Abuja. She closed her beauty salon when her husband became the president of Nigeria.

President Muhammadu Buhari and wife, Aisha. at a function.

She is resource person on beauty therapy and cosmetology to the National Basic Technical Education (NBTE). Aisha Buhari is the author of the book 'Essentials of Beauty Therapy: A complete Guide for Beauty Specialists.' This book is a recommended text for the NBTE curriculum.

Check out some of the unique and mind-blowing facts you need to know about Aisha Buhari:

1. She was born in Adamawa state

The gorgeous and ever stunning wife of President Buhari.

Aisha Buhari was born and raised in Adamawa state where she had her primary and secondary education. She grew up with her siblings and nieces.

READ ALSO: 6 ways the Federal Government helped fuel death rumours about President Buhari

2. Aisha Buhari is the grand-daughter of the first Nigerian minister of defence

Alhaji Muhammadu Ribadu, the first minister of defence in Nigeria, was Aisha Buhari's grandfather. Her father was a civil engineer while her mother stemmed from a family known to be farmers and textile giants.

3. Fulani inclinations

The wife of the Nigerian president was educated in a school where Fulani traditions and culture were observed and guided.

4. Fluency in English and Arabic

While many hold the opinion that many Hausas do not know how to speak English, Aisha Buhari is very fluent when it comes to speaking English and Arabic languages.

5. She is the second wife of President Buhari

President Buhari and Aisha chatting at an event.

Aisha Buhari got married to her husband on December 2, 1989. As at that time, President Buhari had been married to Safinatu Yusuf who bore him five children. President Buhari divorced his first wife in 1988; and got married to Aisha a year after.

Safinatu Buhari died from complications arising from diabetes in 2006. Aisha is the current and only wife of the Nigerian president at the moment. She is no doubt a stunner.

6. President Buhari impregnated Aisha when she was a teenager

Aisha Buhari was said to have been impregnated by President Buhari when she was young, she eventually got married to him when she was 18.

7. She is a creative person

The sassy, classy and fashion conscious woman we all know as President Buhari's wife is a talented person. She is highly creative and uses her skills to promote her brand. She is a successful entrepreneur.

8. She is a women's rights activists

Aisha Buhari believes strongly in women empowerment and does everything she could to support that gender. She is also a child righnt advocate.

9. Aisha Buhari does not support child marriage

Aisha Buhari spotted at some event with her granddaughter.

The wife of the Nigerian leader is against the girl-child marriage and openly criticizes all forms of abuse on the girl child.

This was a point she dwelt on during her husband's election in 2015. Aisha stressed the need for young girls to be educated before getting married as she said girls should not be allowed to get married before age 17. She said there is a need for a law to be passed against early marriage.

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10. She is a devoted Nigerian

Aisha Buhari met with some members of the abducted Chibok girls in 2015; she had alwayss shown interest in meeting them. As her own way of supporting them, she donated the proceeds from the sales of her book to the parents of the Chibok girls and the children suffering from malnutrition.

She stated that she would not support her husband in the next election if does not get a grip of his government. It was at that time the president said she belonged to his kitchen, living room and the other room. An issue that became a national joke.

11. Buhari's wife is a fashionista

Aisha Buhari reportedly spotted wearing a Salvatore Ferragamo designer cloak.

Aisha Buhari has eyes for good things. She was once spotted rocking an expensive wristwatch said to be about 340,500.

She also carried some expensive bag that made people question the declaration of asset launched by her husband, the president. The mother of five keeps glowing with each passing day and it is not surprising to see that her daughters are beautiful too.

Source: Legit.ng
Editor's note: Olalekan Waheed Adigun, the Legit.ng partner blogger, in this piece, explains why some media organizations maliciously denounced President Trumps conversation with President Muhammadu Buhari in London.

Mr. Adigun could be reached via: http://olalekanadigun.com/

More details in Legit.ngs step-by-step guide for guest bloggers.

My father, Memudu Adigun, died of stroke when I was barely two years into my secondary education. Before then, like many others at my age, I have heard stories of angels, ghosts and spirits having conversations with people.

Former Acting National Chairman, APC, Chief Bisi Akande and ex-Lagos state governor, Bola Tinubu, during their visit to President Buhari in London.

Some even claim they "see" one of their grandparents days after they were dead. Since, I never met my grandparents while they were alive, I couldn't make such fantastic claims since I never even knew how they look. With this, I was left to wonder what it was like interacting with ghosts!

READ ALSO: Buhari, death rumour and the scuttled protests

So when my father died, since I was still a small boy, I thought he would be coming around to "talk" to me. He never came so I gave up on the fruitless search for any other opportunities at seeing ghosts. All that I have left of my Dad are the things I can remember him say or do while he was alive. How people talk to ghosts is still a mystery to me!

For a while now, there has been heated debates on both the traditional and new (social) media on the state of President Buhari's health. There are those who are still in "election mode" according to Femi Adesina, who will not want to hear any other news contrary to "Buhari is dead."

To these ones, the President died the day he traveled to London. There are others, which I will call, the Hailers. No matter what, even if, God forbids, the corpse of the President is sent home, they will never believe. Both camps, as we can see are living in a state of denial which can only become clear how the President returns home, dead or alive.

One thing is sure and to say it in pain, undiplomatic language, all is not well with the president's health. Anyone can fall sick. I have a cousin who died at 6 years old of jaundice. My dad died at 85 from complications arising from stroke.

I knew people who were not as old as he was that died before him of diseases that are not so acute. Anyone can fall sick and die. The problem I have so far is the manner in which the whole thing is handled. I guess that is where the opponents of the administration are gaining an upper hand!

On St Valentine's Day, there was a piece of news that US President, Donald Trump, was scheduled to speak with two African leaders: Jacob Zuma (South Africa) and Muhammadu Buhari (Nigeria). Even though, the announcement was public, many doubted the president's number will go through since, according to New York Times, no one has seen Buhari in months.

This raised doubts as to whom President Trump spoke. Not even a State House Press Release signed by the president's spokesman, Femi Adesina, will be good enough for chronic doubters.

Some pseudo media stations also mentioned, citing no credible sources that Trump never spoke with Buhari even though they acknowledged the US leader spoke to Zuma on the same day. As far as these ones were concerned, Buhari is just a ghost that can appear and disappear anything he likes!

Perhaps, to "convince" the doubting Thomases that the President's "hale and hearty", the President's men went on a picture war. The president's media team aggressively pushed out pictures of prominent Nigerians visiting Buhari in London.

The pictures of two chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Chief Bisi Akande were first sent out. As usual, doubters went to work again claiming Tinubu "denied" visiting the President in London. Tinubu, in a swift statement by his media aide, has referred to his "denial" as "crazy".

Also, Senate President, Bukola Saraki; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakub Dogara and Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan were pictured visiting Buhari in London. I remember asking if the three men also visited a ghost!

On Trump's telephone conversation with Buhari, one notorious blog came up with a misleading headline, White house "denies" speaking with Buhari. Many, who did not even bother reading the first paragraph of the piece, went agog in vilification, "I no tell you?" I told a friend that night who sent me the link to the piece that it is nothing but trash.

I asked her which "White House" the blog was taking about because I know of one White House (Faculty of Science Building) at Ife University. I asked her if that was the one they meant. We laughed over it and I taught her how to detect when a piece is fake.

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There is a big difference, I told her between a completed action (Denied) and a continuous one (Yet to confirm). The blog claimed: "The White House is yet to confirm President Trump spoke to Buhari..."

In their desperate attempt to do a dirty job of making us believe Trump spoke to a ghost, they murdered professionalism, the humanity we share and decorum!

Olalekan Adigun

Olalekan Waheed Adigun is a political analyst and independent political strategist for wide range of individuals, organisations and campaigns. He is based in Lagos, Nigeria. His write-ups can be viewed on his website http://olalekanadigun.com/ Tel: +2348136502040, +2347081901080

Email: olalekan@olalekanadigun.com, adgorwell@gmail.com

Follow me on Twitter @adgorwell.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily represent the editorial policy of Legit.ng.

Legit.ng welcomes writers, bloggers, photographers and all sorts of noise makers to become a part of our Bloggers network. If you are a seasoned writer or a complete newbie  apply and become Nigerias next star blogger.

Send us some info about your career, interests and expertise and why youd like to contribute to the Blogger Network at blogger@corp.legit.ng Also, please send us the link to your blog and three examples of your work.

More details in Legit.ngs step-by-step guide for guest bloggers.

Source: Legit.ng
- Senator Dino Melaye, in a lengthy article obtained by Legit.ng, has exposed how the governor of Kogi state, Yahaya Bello, allegedly wasted huge sums on staff verification exercise

- Melaye, the senator representing Kogi West at the National Assembly, said he is not against the exercise, but maintained that it did not follow recommended standards and that the governor had a personal intention

Just a year after becoming the governor of Kogi state, Yahaya Bello is currently enmeshed in a N1.5 billion scandal exposed by his former friend, Senator Dino Melaye.

Dino Melaye accuses Governor Yahaya Bello of wasting N1.5 billion on staff verification exercise

Source: UGC

Melaye released a very long article detailing how the money was spent by the governor on a staff verification exercise that died on arrival.

But at the time of filing this report, the state government had not officially reacted to the allegation from Melaye.

The article obtained by Legit.ng stated: Investigations have shown that over N1.3 billion was callously lavished on the staff verification and auditing exercise while N270 million was used just to write the report of the exercise that obviously seemed to have died on arrival.

Melaye said the result of the verification exercise is that some law-abiding citizens have been sent to their early graves while some others have been subjected to robbery, kidnapping and r*pe.

READ ALSO: Senator Dino Melaye steps out in his red convertible car

But what is now news is the amount of tax pays money allegedly used in fostering the pain-inflicting exercise of the cruel confused Direction Team of Governor Yahaya Bello.

After assuming office on January 27, 2016, Governor Bellos administration inaugurated a staff verification and auditing committee on February 22, 2016, aimed at curtailing leakages, sanitizing the states civil service and weed ghost workers from the governments pay rolls but since then, more than three other committees headed by different people have been inaugurated to undertake the same responsibility given the manner the various committees saddled with the responsibility of fighting corruption in the civil service were on their own caught in the act they were paid to fight, he added.

He said the first committee headed by a retired army general, Paul Olushola Okuntimo could not justify the confidence reposed on it adding that after it was disbanded, its chairman was subsequently replaced by Dr Jerry Agbaji, a candidate largely believed to be supported by the states chapter of Nigeria Labour Congress.

Senator Dino Melaye was a friend of the governor, but the relationship has since gone sour

Governor Bello and his bamboozled team still went ahead to install another back-up committee headed by the states Auditor-General Alhaji Yusufu Okala to work from the backend simultaneously with the Agbajis committee," he said.

Agbajis report was submitted on Wednesday, 22nd June, 2016 according to Melaye and the report was far below average as it was reported to be marred and doctored so as to please the wishes of a few corrupt individuals within Bellos administration.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: Senate to probe Osinbajo's official residence with alleged N250m gatehouse

Following the allegation of the sharp practice associated with Agbajis report, 12 members out of the total 29 members of the panel declined appending their signatures on the final reports and distanced themselves from whatever was the outcome.

This further led the government to disband the Agbajis panel and empowered the Okalas back-up panel to fully take charge of the verification exercise.

The senator disclosed that the Okala committee swung into action and later revealed that out of the 88,973 people it screened at the state and local governments, 18,211 were discovered to be ghost workers and unintended beneficiaries, adding that the state will enjoy a monthly saving of N1.3 billion from the exercise.

He said Bello immediately set up another committee to review the final report of the committee which worked almost throughout 2016 while their feeding, hotel lodge, sitting allowances and even transport bills were footed from tax payers money.

As far as this staff verification and audit is concerned, there is no end to formulation and inauguration of Governor Bellos amoebic and amorphous committees as he is allegedly bent on fighting vendetta and scoring voodoo political goals while subjecting the states workforce to begging, indebtedness and all form of in human treatments.

As at the time of writing this piece, another committee was also said to be in place and were still doing almost everything claimed to have been done by the previous committees, a clear indication that there is an unwavering confusion in the so-called New Direction camp and it is an empirical proof that Governor Bello and his handlers lack the 21st century initiatives needed to upgrade the workforce and place it on a productive pedestal.

Melaye, who said he was not opposed to staff verification exercise, noted that he was not happy with the way the process went as he compared the exercise with globally accepted standards.

READ ALSO: Melaye blasts Gov Bellos administration

Bellos staff verification and auditing exercise is in all standards and judgments politically motivated and was never meant to better the states fortunes so that, despite the directive of the state House of Assembly to suspend the exercise while asking members of the panel to appear before it, but for the reign of executive impunity, Governor Bello never gave a dime, he said adding that Bello intends to glue himself to the seat of power ahead of 2019.

Source: Legit.ng
Prophetess Nkeiru Ihezuo also known as Mummy Apo has called for special prayers for President Muhammadu Buhari

The world acclaimed seer and prayer warrior has urged Nigerians to eschew bitterness, embrace peace and love for one another

She also called for national reconciliation and development

Abuja-based world acclaimed seer and prayer warrior; Prophetess Nkeiru Ihezuo also known as Mummy Apo has called for special prayers for President Muhammadu Buhari., The Authority reports.

There have been calls for prayers for President Buhari all over the nation

Mummy Apo also urged Nigerians to eschew bitterness, embrace peace and love for one another, adding citizens should work amongst others towards national reconciliation and development.

The seers clarion call came on the heels of controversies surrounding the health status of the president alongside the dwindling economic challenges engulfing the country.

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In a special prayer session for the nation in her country home Eziachi, Orlu in Imo state, the prophetess committed the nation's leaders to God almighty.

Prophetess Ihezuo presides as the spiritual leader of Gods Divine Answering Prayers, Solution Ground aka (Mighty Jesus) Apo, Abuja.

She expressed regret that lack of unity amongst the respective ethnic nationalities and non-adherence to the things of God remains a bane to the nations socio-economic advancement.

According to her, President Buhari, alongside other political office holders as compared to every other citizen requires the populace support towards good health and wisdom in running the affairs of the country.

Meanwhile, Governor Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi state has directed religious leaders in the state to commence prayers for President Muhammadu Buhari quick recovery.

The governor said they should direct Jumaat Mosques and Churches in their domains to commence the prayers as soon as possible.

READ ALSO: Don't compare Yar'adua's situation to Buhari's vacation - APC chieftain

In a related development, youths under the auspices of 'I Stand for Buhari' in Kano on Wednesday, February 15 held a prayer session for the quick and full recovery of the president.

There was also a solidarity held for the president in the city. Watch the video below:

Source: Legit.ng
Nigerians are starting to get used to the fact that President Buhari is hale and hearty contrary to the news being spread about his death. Things are calmer now that the Nigerians are assured the president is doing well.

Nigerians think Osinbajo will be a better president than Buhari.

Although the role played by the Nigerian government is widely faulted, the drama Nigeria and her people were subjected to helped many people get rid of the scales covering their eyes. Many Nigerians were highly disturbed by the wild-spread rumour of President Buhari's death and this affected the nation too.

Before the president left the country on vacation, he designated all duties to his vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, who handled all the affairs of the nation with all zealousness. The vice president tried his best possible in ensuring that the country remained stable despite the rancour caused by the prolonged absence of the president.

The news of president Buhari being well brought relief to thousands of Nigerians. However, some people think Osinbajo should be allowed to hold the position forever since he has impressed them within the short period of time he has ruled as the president.

Check out some of the reasons Nigerians think the Osinbajo would be a better president than President Buhari below:

1. Osinbajo is younger

File photo of Vice-President Osinbajo.

The second in command to President Buhari is younger than him, he is agile and appears to be physically stronger than the president. Nigerians are tired of being ruled by old leaders who ought to have retired.

If civil servants are made to retire after thirty-five years of being in active service, this law should be extended to Nigerian leaders too. Osinbajo is not only young age wise, he is young at heart too.

READ ALSO: 11 unique facts you need to know about Aisha Buhari

2. The vice president is healthier

The health status of President Buhari has been a major point of concern for a while now. It is hard for the president to travel without some sort of rumour being spread about his health.

The age of the president often makes Nigerians think there is something wrong with him even though he is well. This is not surprising as people who are advanced in age often nurse one ailment or the other.

Osinbajo has remained active ever since he became the acting president. Nigerians have total faith in him.

3. His ability to move around

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo is physically fit and able to move around.

Nigerians are starting to wonder what the travelling schedule of the vice president looks like with the rate at which he moves around.

He is strong and appears physically fit. Nigerians want a president that will be able to stand on his own without being supported. From the look of things, Osinbajo will not disappoint Nigerians on this note.

4. More educated

The vice-president will no doubt win the heart of Nigerians if education is being used as a yardstick in measuring who will be better off between him and President Buhari.

Before the 2015 presidential elections, the news of President Buhari not having a certificate was everywhere. Even after he sworn in as the president, Nigerians did not put the issue to rest as he was asked to provide proofs.

The vice-president on the other hand is a professor who is vast and well-travelled. Nigerians know that he is more educated than Buhari and would do a good job giving the nation the facial lift she requires.

5. His visit to the Niger Delta

Prof Osinbajo visited Niger Delta for peace talks.

President Buhari for some reasons has been avoiding going to the Niger Delta regions. The crisis in that part of the country is enough to shake the president as the militants inhabiting the zones are not a fan of the present administration.

However, Vice-President Osinbajo has been able to douse the anger of the people there. This has changed the impression of the people who think the government is ignoring them while laying their natural resources to ruin.

6. Osinbajo has moved round the nation more than Buhari

Within the few weeks that Osinbajo has held on to the reins of this nation, he has moved round the states. He has covered states Buhari has not visited within this period even though Buhari has been the president for more than a year now.

Nigerians feel like the president has gone round the continent while Osinbajo has made a landmark visiting the states within the country. He was recently spotted in the eastern part of the country.

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7. Osinbajos approach to boiling national issues is epic

Prof Yemi Osinbajo knows how to handle Nigerians.

During the short period of time Osinbajo acted as the president, Nigerians discovered he has a unique manner of approach. He can restore calmness to an outraged community by speaking to them.

The way he spoke to the NLC protesters changed the outcome of the protest. It is intriguing that Nigerians will mellow when spoken to by this humble RCCG pastor.

The video below reveals Nigerians' thoughts on the issue:

Source: Legit.ng
Former aviation minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, has criticised the Appeal Court verdict which confirmed Ali Modu Sheriff as the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The verdict was delivered on Friday, February 17 in Port-Harcourt, Rivers state by the three judges who a unanimously agreed that Modu Sheriff is the chairman of the PDP.

READ ALSO: Appeal Court confirms Ali Modu Sheriff as PDP chairman

However, the decision has not gone well with some members of the party who were expecting the decision to go in the favour of the Ahmed Makarfi led faction.

One of those opposed to the ruling is Fani-Kayode, who said the decision of the Court of Appeal to recognise Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the national chairman of the PDP is a victory for President Buhari.

READ ALSO: Political tornado: 6 PDP lawmakers defect to APC, as ruling party consoles Ekwueme

The former minister described the verdict as absurd, saying it was time for party members who shared his line of thought to leave the party for Sheriff and form a new party.

Meanwhile, the faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chaired by Senator Ahmed Makarfi has resolved to head to the Supreme Court to challenge the verdict of the Court of Appeal which granted the authority of the party to the Senator Ali Modu Sheriff faction.

The defeated faction, which had been making frantic moves to reconcile the party and unite its members in recent time, also accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of being behind the appeal court ruling.

It said the judgement showed that the APC wanted a one-party state for the country.

The ruling was the outcome of a long-drawn battle between the two factions which saw the party secretariat shut down for many months.

Source: Legit.ng
Borno state governor, Kashim Shettima on Friday, February 17, visited seven members of civilian JTF injured in multiple bombing on Maiduguri-Gamboru road.

Shettima made cash donations when he visited the victims at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, where they are being treated.

Borno state governor, Kashim Shettima, giving cash donation to one of the seven members of civilian JTF injured in the multiple bombing on Maiduguri-Gamboru road Photo credit: Borno state government

He urged the hospital management to provide proper treatment to the victims to ensure their speedy recovery.

Governor Shettima also visited the visited the scene of the multiple bomb attacks at Mafa local government area and directed those whose trucks were burnt to meet with their chairman, liase with their State House of Assembly member and come with full true details unfailingly to meet him afterwards.

The scene of the multiple bomb attacks at Mafa local government area in Borno state last night Photo credit: Borno state government

While at the scene, he commended the military for repelling the attacks.

There was tension around Maiduguri city in Borno when suspected Boko Haram terrorists detonated three powerful bombs in an attempt to attack an IDP camp.

According to multiple sources on Facebook living in the metropolis, the attack was carried out in the night on Thursday, February 16 when the terrorists tried to invade the newly constructed Customs House where IDPs from Mafa LGA are being camped.

Borno state governor, visited the scene of the multiple bomb attacks at Mafa local government area in Borno state Photo credit: Borno state government

They however met still resistance as soldiers engage them in a gun battle that lasted for an hour.

Meanwhile, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) spokesman Sani Datti in a statement in Maiduguri has confirmed that eight suspected female bombers were involved in the attack on Maiduguri-Gamboru road.

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He said that only the bombers were killed in the attack.

See more photos below:

Source: Legit.ng
Boko Haram terrorists have launched a surprise attack on motorists plying the Maiduguri-Biu highway killing one person.

According to Sahara Reporters, the terrorists ambushed the motorists on Friday, February 17 in Borno state.

It was reported that six other persons were injured in the attack.

This is coming a day the terrorists launched an attack in the same state and detonated three powerful bombs in an attempt to attack an IDP camp.

According to multiple sources on Facebook living in the metropolis, the attack was carried out in the night on Thursday, February 16 when the terrorists tried to invade the newly constructed Customs House where IDPs from Mafa LGA are being camped.

They however met still resistance as soldiers engage them in a gun battle that lasted for an hour.

It was reported that an unconfirmed number of civilians lost their lives while the terrorists including some bombers were all killed.

According to Zanna Yakub Lawan many people were also injured in the surprised attack.

He wrote: "Alhamdulillahi for being alive. The attack was defeated. Boko Haram (BH) tried to storm into Maiduguri metropolis, but our gallant soldiers defeated them.

They tried to storm into Yerwa through the newly constructed Customs House where internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Ajiri & Anadua in MAFA Local Government Areas were camped. A privileged information from a friend (a Captain in the Army) indicates that all the dreaded BH boys were killed by our gallant soldiers including many s*icide bombers who also tried to infiltrate into Yerwa.

However, many lost their lives as many also got serious injuries. As I'm posting this update, we are right now beside our residential gates at 505 [Housing Units here in Maiduguri]; security agencies and ambulances could be seen conveying those affected from Muna-customs camp to hospital.

Source: Legit.ng
Grace Mugabe, wife of Zimbabwe dictator, Robert Mugabe has warned oppositions to stop wishing her husband death because even if he dies, his corpse will contest for Presidency.

Grace Mugabe, the first lady of Zimbabwe and wife of 92 year old dictator Robert Mugabe, has said her husband wont be leaving power anytime soon.

According to The Guardian, Grace Mugabe accused some ruling Zanu-PF party officials of plotting to take over from her husband and said that if he dies supporters should put his name on the ballot to show their love for him.

READ ALSO: Photos: How President Buhari attended 27th Africa-France Summit in Bamako

Grace told thousands of supporters at a rally in Buhera, eastern Zimbabwe that her husband is beloved by many who will vote for him even in death.

Robert Mugabe's corpse will contest for presidency - Wife

Grace who spoke in Shona, a native language reportedly said: If Mugabe dies, we will field his corpse as a candidate for elections to prove that people love him.

A media house in Zimbabwe later tweeted the first lady speech for those who arent fortunate enough to be present at the rally.

Grace Mugabe warned associates of her husband from the era of the guerrilla war against white rule that they were also too old to take power.

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Grace said: Anyone who was with Mugabe in 1980 has no right to tell him he is old. If you want Mugabe to go, then you leave together. You also have to leave. Then we take over because we were not there in 1980.

Robert Mugabe became the prime minister of Zimbabwe in 1980 and became the president in 1987. He has ruled the country since then and would be 93 years next week.

Source: Legit.ng
Senator Ike Ekweremadu, the deputy senate president, Friday has assured members and supporers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that there is nothing to worry about over the ruling of the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt, Rivers state on the leadership tussle in the party.

Ekweremadu has assured that the court order declaring Ali Modu as PDP chairman will not derail the opposition party

The Nation reports that Ekweremadu said this in his reaction to the court judgment that declared Ali Modu Shariff authentic chairman of the PDP on Friday afternoon.

READ ALSO: Makarfi's PDP accuses APC of influencing appeal court judgement in favour of Sheriff

This was contained in a statement by the Special Adviser (media) to the Deputy Senate President, Uche Anichukwu.

Ekweremadu said, There is no cause for alarm. The party leadership will meet as soon as possible to take a decision on the best way forward.

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I enjoin party faithful to remain steadfast as we will surely emerge stronger from the present challenges. Those dreaming about the death of the opposition in Nigeria will have to sleep much longer, and still wake up to meet us much stronger because a vibrant opposition is the beauty of democracy.

Reactions have been trailing the Appeal Court ruling of Friday, February 17 that declared Ali Modu Sheriff the rightful chairman of the opposition party.

One of those that have reacted is top PDP stalwart and former aviation minister Femi Fani-Kayode.

Fani-Kayode said the decision of the Court of Appeal to recognise Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the national chairman of the PDP is a victory for President Buhari.

Source: Legit.ng
The Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) has donated 15 tactical vehicles and 30 motorbikes to the Multinational Joint Task Force in order to enhance the troops movement in the battle against Boko Haram insurgents.

PHOTO FILE: More tactical vehicles like these have been handed over to the MNJTF

This followed a visit by the Commission to the MNJTF headquarters in Ndjamena, the capital of Chad on Friday, February 17.

READ ALSO: NEMA, police give detailed reports of Boko Haram attack in Maiduguri

The visit was made by a delegation of Council of Ministers from Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) and Commissioner for Peace and Security African Union (AU) which was led by The Executive Secretary and Head of Mission LCBC Engineer Sanusi Imran Abdullahi.

A statement posted to PRNigeria by military public information officer Colonel Mustapha Anka said MNJTF deputy force commander Brigadier General Moussa Mahamat Djoui received the delegation on behalf of Force Commander (FC) Major General Lamidi Adeosun who was on operational visit to Baga and Diffa.

Nigeria's Major-General Lamidi Adeosun is the Force commander of the MNJTF which comprises of troops from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Mali.

Also present was Nigerias minister of water resources Engineer Suleman H Adamu, who expressed his appreciation for the fantastic brief on activities and achievements of the MNJTF in bringing Peace and Security in the Lake Chad region.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the latest news on Legit.ng News App

This comes just as at least eleven people were feared dead as Nigerian troops and civilian self-defense fighters repelled a Boko Haram attack on the key northeastern city of Maiduguri on Friday, February 17.

According to witnesses, soldiers and police nine bombers and two civilians were killed, .

There was tension around Maiduguri city in Borno when suspected Boko Haram terrorists detonated three powerful bombs in an attempt to attack an IDP camp.

Source: Legit.ng
The rate at which religion tends to find its way into virtually all that we do has become very alarming. However, the issue is not with the various religions, but with those who believe and follow these diverse believes.

It is no news that everyone is free to practice whichever religion suits him or her, but it is sad to note that that freedom has been abused and to a great extent has become man's captivity.

People, especially Africans, tend to always throw away rationality in their dealings with religion and issues regarding belief. Some go as far as terming their irrational as "faith". For instance, one is sick but because his/her religious leader has spoken on exercising faith by not using medications, he/she follows the rule dogmatically and the end result is not palatable.

The great German philosopher, Immanuel Kant noted that"the autonomous man, insofar as he is autonomous, is not subject to the will of another. He may do what another tells him, but not because he has been told to do it. He is therefore, in the political sense of the word, free."

It is in trying to address this issue of freedom and rationality that this article has been written. For this piece, Christianity will be the focus and the major reason is because Christianity is the most populated in the world. Bringing it back home to Africa, and narrowing it down to Nigeria, statistics show that Nigeria has the largest Christian population of any country in Africa, with more than 85 million persons belonging to various denominations.

Some major examples of rather controversial Christian practices will be presented, as to help draw the line between religion and rationality. For all the examples that will be highlighted below, the basic rule or yardstick of judgement will be if the practice or act by these preachers, pastors or prophets follow any biblical principle.

It is only rational that if one says he/she is a Christian, then the Bible is the perfect book by which his/her actions would be measured. One would find out that most of the examples do not borrow from the Bible, nor follow any rational principle. Hence the question, "why are many people still deceived?"

1. Pastor makes members eat grass

A certain Pastor Lesego Daniel, who is the founder and Head Pastor at Rabboni Centre Ministries, said that he was basically trying to prove that humans can be controlled by "the spirit" and they can eat anything to feed their bodies.

This clearly is a case of debasing humans to the level of ruminants. And of course some will defend the act by saying there was a time when a certain king was made to live among lower animals for about seven years.

A pastor made his congregation eat grass to prove the potency of the holy spirit

Then the question becomes how does it relate? In the Bible story, the act was a punishment, but here was a full congregation being used for a so called "spirit experiment".

It is still a mystery how the South African pastor got to convince adult members of his church to resort to eating grass.

2. Holy ghost foot mats

The same pastor made headlines again when, in a bid to deliver members of his congregation, he used them as "holy ghost foot mats".

Pastor walking on his members during deliverance service

The pastor in question was practically walking on his members and one would be forced to ask, where in the Bible was such a miracle module presented?

3. Drink petrol-pineapple juice

The thought behind this action is rather simple, Jesus is said to have turned water into wine, hence this same man of God thought it wise to turn petrol into pineapple juice.

A viral video showed the clergyman praying for a bottle which, according to him, contained petrol, to be turned into pineapple juice.

He then offered it to his congregants to drink. Some of them were exclaiming how sweet and nice it tastes, some said it tasted like the blood while some others begged for more. The blood?

4. Human-donkeys and fake messiahs

Controversial Prophet Penuel was not satisfied with having fed his followers live snake, asking them to take off their underwear and eat them; the man of God called one of his members simply identified as Thabiso, he commanded him "by the power of God" to turn into a horse and according to the churchs Facebook update, indeed it happened.

The man of God was said to have ridden on the horse, a perfect replica of Christ's triumphant entry. And again if your righteous mind has not been totally lost, you will want to question the rationale behind this miracle. Why continue to debase ourselves all in the name of religion?

Only recently, a church was discovered in Tanzania where the pastors feet must not touch the ground until he finishes his preaching. According to a Facebook user who posted it online, the able-bodied brothers in the church have to carry him on their back one after the other until the end of the service.

Pastor whose legs does not touch the floor until his sermon is ended

5. Don't drink rat poison for healing, even if your prophet says it is okay to do so

Pastor Light Monyeki of the Grace Living Hope Ministries commanded his congregants to drink rat poison as a demonstration of the power of faith.

The police are investigating the case of five chuch members' death shortly after visitng such a deliverance session.

Conclusion

The Christian holy book warns that in the "end time" there will be so many fake pastors, preachers and prophets. Many of them will come well prepared to deceive, however, if Christians can just be rational a bit and think twice before leaping-in-faith, then perhaps certain issues will not rear-their-ugly heads.

Experts have said timelessly that religion is not the problem, but the people who practice these religions are. If Christians can do more of operating according to what the Bible says in conjunction with what is rational, then they won't be swayed by just any wind of doctrine that blows by.

Source: Legit.ng
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In contrast to the treeless plains that dominate Kyrgyzstans topography, Arslanbobs main attraction is arboreal: a relic walnut forest said to have been planted by the villages eponymous founder. Now, in harvest time, its golden canopy filled with the shouts of daring locals shaking branches and the percussive thud of walnuts crashing to the ground. The only problem I had experienced was making any kind of progress, so often had I been importuned by offers of tea and nuts from another smiling villager.

Yet for all its singularity, my experience of this magical place  the traditional homestay, the English-speaking host, the hand-drawn town map  relied on the same laudable enterprise that had shaped my journey. My expansive lunch mate, Hayat, a kind of sustainable tourism prophet, headed the local branch of the C.B.T.

At first, some people were suspicious, thinking that visitors were spies, but now there is no opposition, he said later, as we strolled back to the musty anteroom that serves as his office. Ive been telling them to think of tourism as an extra, because if something happens politically then it will be over. We are trying to develop ecological tourism, and we want the developers to stay away.

So later that afternoon, on a dirt road leading steeply uphill, the sight of something ugly  a drab Soviet-era resort of yesteryear  didnt faze me. Because I was already looking beyond, to the ubiquitous highlands, where rumors of waterfalls and holy lakes promised more high adventure. The mountains drew me forward.
DAKAR, Senegal  Nearly every year, the West African desert nation of Niger faces a food crisis, and nearly every year the international aid agencies, including the United Nations, send out urgent appeals for funds to feed the countrys starving millions. This year is no different. Niger, where women pick bitter green berries off scrubby trees to stave off starvation, cannot feed itself.

That unchanging reality is buttressed by another one, equally stubborn and deeply frustrating to demographers. With an average of nearly eight children per woman, Niger, by some measures the poorest country in the world, also has its highest birthrate. At current rates, the population will double in the next 15 years, to 35 million from over 17 million.

Does that make sense for a country that is perennially on the brink of mass hunger  one that is far from having the resources to feed its current population, let alone one twice as big? Obviously not, say the demographers. And yet precious little is being done about it, they say. A lack of commitment by aid agencies and officials to family planning means that birthrates and contraceptive use are hardly budging.

Elaborate plans have been drawn up over the years, but little has changed, said Jean-Pierre Guengant, an emeritus research demographer at the Sorbonne in Paris who has specialized in the Sahel region for many years.
A Glance at Madagascar.

That was the title of the pamphlet that Hilary Bradt, a British guidebook publisher and tour operator, wrote about the island nation in 1984. And what an ambitious task she took on: to glance at a country that split from mainland Africa, then India, tens of millions of years ago and evolved in relative isolation. According to the World Wildlife Fund, 92 percent of its mammals exist nowhere else on Earth.

In the decades since, Ms. Bradt has traveled extensively to Madagascar, so you could call the Bradt Travel Guides 11th edition book about the country, published this month, more a deep examination than a glance. Recently Ms. Bradt took time to talk about Madagascar and how it has changed. Following are edited excerpts.

Q. What fascinated you about Madagascar on your first trip, in 1976?

A. Just the otherness of it. I was living in Cape Town at the time, and we had spent already six months traveling in southern and East Africa. And here the people looked completely different, the landscape and wildlife totally different. I loved the way the wildlife is small. Because its been separate from Africa for so long, none of the big animals made it over here. Mammals had only just started evolving, so no big cats, nothing fierce and frightening. You could walk anywhere, whereas in most game parks in Africa you had to keep in your vehicle. You could pick anything up  not that wildlife is for picking up, but its approachable.

Image Hilary Bradt. Credit... Ray Cottrell

Like what, for example?

There are no venomous snakes. And the chameleons are utterly wonderful. Of course, the big attraction for most tourists is lemurs. Youre not supposed to touch them, but they sometimes touch you, and theyre very gentle.
THE CHECKUP The one complaint that I heard repeatedly was this one: Given the hopscotch manner in which students take on debt each year, loan by loan, it is much too easy to lose track of your running total. Shannon Doyle, a financial counselor with Lutheran Social Service in Minneapolis, says families often come into her office with no idea how much a student owes and with mistaken ideas about how parent loans can be combined with student loans after graduation.

She advises students and families to keep score on three pages of a spreadsheet that they update each term. The first one should have federal student loans, divided into subsidized ones (where the government covers the interest while the student is enrolled) and unsubsidized ones (where the interest accrues during school). The second page is for private loans, if any, from entities like Sallie Mae, and the third is for any loans the parents take out themselves. Sites like tuition.io can help with this sorting task.

My conversations with Ms. Doyle ended with a plea of sorts to the schools: Please, do your best to provide a running total of debt on the financial aid statements you send out each year. There should be no barriers to students knowing how much they have borrowed, she said.

THE DAILY INTEREST Before Kim Liaos enrollment at Georgetown, the story of her family had been one of downward mobility. Her father had died, the family had struggled and there was pressure on her to work part time as an undergraduate  not to pay her way but to send money home.

She considers herself lucky to have graduated with just $22,500 in student loan debt in 2006, but that didnt sit well with her. What really flipped the switch in her head was when a phone representative at her loan servicer told her that she would be paying $2.23 in interest each day. So you start out with zero dollars to your name, and youre going negative by that amount every single day, she said.

For people repaying their loans, it may be worthwhile to confront that figure when they make their daily spending decisions. The calculators will tell you how much interest youll accrue over 10 or 20 or 30 years, said Ms. Liao, who paid her debts off much faster than that and now works for the Federal Reserve. But the fact that I was spending $2.23 each day without actually buying anything for myself resonated with me so much more.
As a researcher who has interviewed him half a dozen times over the past decade, I can attest to his striking capacity, born of a career in intelligence, to say what his listener most wants to hear. It is easy to leave an initial interview convinced that he is the peacemaker and democratizer Guatemala needs. But as you measure his words against his deeds over time, you figure out that Mr. Perez Molina is a master of manipulation.

He is playing the United States now. It is nonsensical to assume that a president who has tolerated, if not reaped the benefits of, a thoroughly corrupt administration is suddenly willing to purge it.

Furthermore, it requires a tremendous leap of imagination to accept that the president has no ties to the scheme involving the customs fraud. That network initially emerged during Guatemalas 36-year civil war, and its key players include several members of the military with close ties to Mr. Perez Molina.

American support for Mr. Perez Molina has bought him time to consolidate an unholy alliance with the equally, if not more corrupt, major opposition party, which has set its sights on winning the coming elections. The criminal networks that control politics also seem to have reaffirmed their influence over the judicial system: Last week the Constitutional Court blocked an investigation into whether to strip the president of immunity from prosecution.

Whats needed, and is unlikely to happen under Mr. Perez Molina, is real reform: banning private funding for political parties, guarantees of equal media access and the establishment of quotas for candidates who are indigenous people or women. Absent reform, elections would hand-deliver a mandate to the opposition and usher in another four years of Guatemalan politics controlled by a criminal mafia. The only real chance for such reform lies with a minority in Congress, outsider candidates for election and the demonstrators themselves.

Guatemalans have long historical memories. Their vision of the United States continues to be shaped by the C.I.A.-sponsored coup in 1954 that interrupted an initial democratic spring and triggered decades of armed conflict. After years of painstaking efforts to repair relations between the United States and Guatemalan society, Guatemalans are angrily pointing their fingers at the United States, which they see as either propping up an increasingly illegitimate Guatemalan government or treading with excessive caution, refraining from using its substantial influence to move democracy forward.

Second chances rarely happen. Yet the United States is being offered one now. By publicly aligning itself with the diverse coalition of Guatemalan citizens seeking immediate democratic reforms, the United States has an opportunity to bolster a democracy that Guatemalans deserve and lay the foundation for a constructive relationship with an emerging Guatemalan political class. In helping regenerate a Guatemalan democratic spring, this time the United States can unequivocally stand on the right side of history.
A few miles away, a fresh barrier had been erected at a gap in the border fence where thousands of migrants had walked into Hungary in recent weeks, and new arrivals encountered only razor wire and a line of police officers pointing them back toward Serbia.

Image Migrants in Horgos, Serbia, on Tuesday, by the newly built fence on the A5 highway that is stopping people from entering Hungary. Credit... Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times

The migrant crisis that has rattled Europe and fractured its already shaky unity  producing heart-rending images of squalor, death and the joyful celebration of those who made it through  has now found fresh focus on this flat, forested border at the edge of the European Union.

Just one day after European leaders failed to find a substantial collective approach to the crisis, and two days after Germany, Austria, Slovakia and the Netherlands instituted new border controls, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Chancellor Werner Faymann of Austria called for an urgent summit meeting next week in Brussels to again try to come up with a unified strategy.

With refugees, fleeing from war, and migrants, weary of poverty, pouring in from the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Africa, any obstruction quickly creates growing pools of the desperate. That is what happened last week at Budapests Keleti train station when Hungary temporarily cut off access for migrants to westbound trains.

And it is what is beginning to happen now in northern Serbia.

We hope that the messages we have been sending migrants for a long time have reached them, said Gyorgy Bakondi, an aide to Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary. Dont come. Because this route doesnt lead where you want to go.
On Thursday, Dr. Diallo abruptly changed course and isolated the boy and his siblings. With the governments blessing, they were taken to a fenced-in Ebola treatment center in the capital for monitoring.

After the first death here in September, aid workers bombarded the victims relatives with questions: Who cared for her? With whom did she share a meal, a bed, or a car?

So many questions had been asked that it was almost predictable who would test positive next: first the healer who treated her, then his assistant, then the healers wife and later the girls sister. The disease was spreading, but in anticipated fashion.

Then, out of nowhere, on Oct. 13, the corpse of a woman in a village down the road, who had not been identified as having been close to any of the new victims, tested positive for Ebola. No one had mentioned her to workers, let alone sought medical help from the troupe of top doctors camped out less than a mile away.

Something escaped from the team, said Dr. Diallo, whose tenure in Guinea stretches from the initial case in the outbreak. We are not quite sure what happened.

It was also unclear whether the heavy-handed approach wielded by the prime minister would be effective. Some aid workers were appalled at tactics like imprisonment and threats to force a respected village chief to step down.

Ms. Camara has been missing now for just over two weeks. At this point, considering the contact she had with someone with Ebola, health workers said she is most likely very sick, perhaps even dead. Or maybe she never contracted the virus, they said. Maybe she is one of the lucky ones.
When I awoke one recent morning in Prague from unsettling dreams, I found myself changed into a tourist on a mission. Changed, anyway, from the traveler I had been when I lived in Prague for three years in the 1990s.

Back then, whatever associations I had between the city and the writer Franz Kafka, a native son, were negative. I loathed the commercialization of Kafka, his face scrawled across coffee mugs and T-shirts in souvenir shops, his name emblazoned on awnings of Old Town cafes and restaurants.

Yet there was always something nagging at me about never having explored the Kafka trail in Prague, an integral part of the citys cultural history. On top of that, Kafkas novella The Metamorphosis, in which the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, finds himself transformed into a bug, was first published in book form this month a century ago.

And so, I thought, what better time to finally explore the writer and the city with which he is inextricably intertwined. In doing so Id talk to a fairly diverse group of people about how this city may have influenced one of his most famous works  and how it may have shaped the famously tortured writer himself.
Not far from the Place des Vosges in Paris, on a side street called the Rue Elzevir, there is a restaurant called Le Petit Dakar. Its where I first tasted thieboudienne, the soul-warming national dish of Senegal, a rich, spicy and deeply flavored mix of rice, vegetables and fish. I loved the complexity of the dish and the atmosphere of the place. It made me want to hop the next plane to Dakar.

I still havent made that visit to Senegal, but my interest in its cuisine has been reignited lately as I cook my way through the chef Pierre Thiams latest book, Senegal: Modern Senegalese Recipes From the Source to the Bowl.

Image Husking the black-eyed peas. Credit... Evan Sung for The New York Times

For years, Mr. Thiam, who grew up in Dakar, had a restaurant in Brooklyn called Le Grand Dakar, which became a cultural gathering spot for West African New Yorkers. While he obviously cherishes the traditional comfort foods of his youth in Senegal, he likes to bring in bright elements from elsewhere: Asia, North Africa, the Middle East and Brooklyn.
One of the models starring in Alexander Wangs show on Saturday on West 146th Street  a model who, with her I-dare-you blue-eyed stare and power stomp, is one of the most familiar faces on the runway  recently took on a new daytime gig. Not actress. Not brand ambassador.

Intersex advocate.

Hanne Gaby Odiele, a favorite of Mr. Wang who has appeared in his labels campaigns and is regularly booked for Chanel, Givenchy, Prada and more, revealed that she is intersex in late January through her Instagram account and articles in USA Today and Vogue magazine.

Though she has been a highly successful model since 2005, it took her over 10 years to decide to tell her story. When she did, the announcement was the pinnacle of a plan almost a year in the making.

Hanne is making people aware of intersex, in a way thats like what Caitlyn Jenner did for the trans movement, said Elizabeth Reis, author of Bodies in Doubt: An American History of Intersex.
A Massachusetts federal judge on Thursday dismissed a civil defamation lawsuit brought against Bill Cosby by a woman who said he raped her in a hotel room in Detroit in 1974.

Mark G. Mastroianni, the United States District Court judge, said Mr. Cosby was within his rights to defend himself against the accusation made by the woman, Katherine Mae McKee, when one of his representatives in 2014 wrote a widely published letter questioning her credibility.

Ms. McKee filed the defamation suit in December 2015, saying the rebuttal had damaged her reputation. But in his ruling, Judge Mastroianni said the statements were protected by the First Amendment.

Individuals publicly accused of misconduct cannot be held completely incapable of issuing any statement in response to the allegation, other than no comment, he wrote. They cannot be entirely chilled from navigating, at their own peril, what may be viewed as a web of defamation law to produce a responsive statement that does not subject themselves to liability.
David Axelrod, a producer, arranger and composer who in the 1960s and 70s was one of the pre-eminent figures bridging and expanding the worlds of jazz and R&B  and whose career was given new life beginning in the 90s thanks to hip-hop producers who sampled his ornate compositions  died on Feb. 5 in Burbank, Calif. He was 85.

The cause was lung cancer, his wife, Terri, said.

Mr. Axelrods signature sound mixed the flexibility of jazz and the lusciousness of soul with the influence of composers like Wagner and Stravinsky and a penchant for psychedelic flights of fancy. His compositions were expansive and majestic, but also a little testy and tense, as if messy eruption were imminent but being held at bay by beauty.

David Axelrod was born on April 17, 1931, in the area that became known as South Central Los Angeles, to Morris George Axelrod and the former Pearl Plaskoff. He began frequenting the jazz and R&B clubs on Central Avenue, Los Angeless vibrant musical hub, at a young age.

I was raised by blacks, he told Big Daddy magazine in 2001, discussing his upbringing in a city with fast-changing racial dynamics. For a while I thought I was black.
After centuries of relative neglect, Handels operas have come into their own. Many of them lengthy affairs, weighed down by the potentially numbing repetitiveness of streams of da capo arias, they have benefited greatly from the modern early-music movement, with its emphasis on crisp textures and brisk pacing, and its encouragement of quasi-improvised embellishment in repeats to vary the tunes and heighten the drama.

The works are still not exactly commonplace, though every once in a while, surprising juxtapositions occur. On Saturday afternoon, Juilliard Opera presents Agrippina as part of Carnegie Halls Venice festival, La Serenissima. And on Saturday evening, Dorian Baroque will offer Orlando at the National Opera Center, a few subway stops away.

Those of us with long memories inevitably hark back to the Handel tercentenary year, 1985, and an epochal trifecta mounted by Pepsico Summerfare in Purchase, N.Y.: radically varied productions of Teseo (directed by Nicholas McGegan), Giulio Cesare (Peter Sellars) and Tamerlano (Andrew Porter). Remarkably, on one Sunday the three came together under a single roof at Purchase College, though no one could have attended them all that day.

Not that anyone might have wanted to. But two in a day is a possibility, and a few hardy operagoers will undoubtedly join me in the double feature on Saturday. I can already vouch for the musical qualities of Juilliards Agrippina, since it was presented in a concert version last Saturday at Alice Tully Hall. Laurence Cummings, a Baroque specialist, conducted the period band Juilliard415 and a talented cast of students from the schools vocal arts program.
At a time when many Republicans are urging President Trump to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal judge has now upheld its authority to issue a subpoena in a housing finance investigation.

Judge Nancy G. Edmunds of Federal District Court in Detroit has ruled that one of the nations largest providers of seller-financed homes must comply with a demand for documents and other information from the consumer agency.

The bureau has been looking into whether the terms of some of these sales violated federal truth-in-lending laws. In recent years, these kinds of deals have ballooned in poorer neighborhoods as lower-income Americans have found it harder to obtain mortgages and as private investment firms have stepped in to offer alternative financing since banks often will not lend to them.

The agency filed a lawsuit in November after one such provider, Harbour Portfolio Advisors of Dallas, refused to comply with an administrative subpoena.
Well, that was a downer. Not President Trumps recent blame-the-press conference; the Marc Jacobs show.

Maybe we should have expected it. This designers singular skill, after all, is discerning which way the wind is blowing and capturing that moment in cloth.

On Thursday, Mr. Jacobs brought New York Fashion Week to a close with a disconcertingly depressing if very well-merchandised ode to the documentary Hip-Hop Evolution and a moment in time when everything changed.

(Speaking of dress, of course.)

In the cavernous 67th Street Armory, empty but for two long lines of folding chairs set up to form a corridor-cum-runway, Mr. Jacobs turned off the sound: The show was absent both music and the clicks of cellphones. Guests had been asked not to take pictures, because the chief executive, Sebastian Suhl, said before it all began, Marc wants everyone to experience the show with their own eyes, as opposed to through the eye of the camera. Mostly, everyone complied.
A plainclothes team of two officers and a sergeant from the 75th Precinct went out on patrol and, near the intersection of Fountain and Blake Avenues, spotted a man running from the Cypress Hills Houses, Chief Monahan said.

The officers followed him in an unmarked patrol car. After about two blocks, increasingly concerned about the man, the officers got out of the car, he said.

When the sergeant and one officer exited the vehicle, the suspect drew a revolver and fired on the officers, the chief said. The officers returned fire and the subject fled on foot with the officers in pursuit.

From his home down the block, Elijah, 26, said he heard a burst of six or seven gunshots, and then saw the man run off as officers followed in their car. Elijah asked to be identified only by his given name out of concern for his safety.

The officers then chased the man down an alleyway between two homes to the back of a property on Belmont Avenue. The man was still armed, Chief Monahan said.
On Tuesday, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey had a meatloaf lunch with President Trump at the White House amid talk, once again, that he was on his way to a job in Washington.

By Thursday, though, Mr. Christie was on the menu of a municipal court in Fort Lee, N.J., where a citizen had lodged a criminal complaint against him over the George Washington Bridge lane-closing affair and a judge ruled that the case could proceed.

Perhaps other events this week overshadowed the presidents meal with Mr. Christie, and the already thoroughly chewed-over political scandal of the traffic jams.

Just since Sunday, the presidents national security adviser resigned a) voluntarily, although he enjoyed the presidents full confidence, as the White House said on Monday; or b) under pressure, as the White House said on Tuesday; or c) because he was fired, as the president said on Thursday. The nominee for labor secretary withdrew from consideration as the bottom was falling out for him politically. And a confidant of the president went almost straight from a meeting with Mr. Trump at Mar-a-Lago to a television interview where he said that the White House chief of staff wasnt up to par.
Melissa Mark-Viverito on Thursday delivered her last State of the City address as the speaker of the New York City Council, peppering the speech with policy, Spanish and invocations of immigrant contributions  and lacing it with allusions to, but no direct mention of, President Trump.

The 58-minute speech was delivered in the towering King Theater in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, and included topics central to Ms. Mark-Viveritos three years as speaker: criminal justice reform, immigration, gender equity and diversity in city programs. She repeated her desire, first articulated in her speech last year, to close the jail complex on Rikers Island.

In perhaps the most consequential moment, she announced that the Council would work with four of the citys five district attorneys  Staten Island being the lone holdout  to do away with outstanding warrants for low-level summonses that were more than 10 years old. Hundreds of thousands of such warrants exist, with the potential to result in the arrest of New Yorkers who have had no contact with the police for years, or even decades.

The punishment must fit the crime, Ms. Mark-Viverito said, recalling her efforts to create a new system for handling low-level offenses like drinking in public and public urination.
The two police officers returned from an arrest describing the kind of encounter that officers fear most, prosecutors said. A man had threatened someone with a gun, and when the officers confronted him, they later told prosecutors, the weapon was loaded and resting in the waistband of his pants.

But more than two years after the episode, the case against the man has been dismissed after an investigation by the Police Department and prosecutors concluded that the officers had fabricated details about the circumstances of the arrest in 2014.

The officers, Detectives Sasha Cordoba and Kevin Desormeau, were arrested on Thursday and appeared in State Supreme Court in Manhattan. Both were charged with first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, and Detective Cordoba was also charged with first-degree perjury and making a punishable false written statement. The two detectives, both 33, pleaded not guilty to the charges and were released without bail.

Prosecutors said the detectives had made the false claims to prosecutors and in official paperwork. Detective Cordoba is also accused of repeating the account in a Criminal Court complaint, a search warrant application that was signed by a judge, and before a grand jury, which led to the indictment of a man in connection with the arrest in question.
A state court on Thursday dealt a setback to Mayor Bill de Blasio, ruling against his plan to give some homeowners a $183 credit on their water bills.

The ruling came three days after Mr. de Blasio, in his State of the City speech, predicted a court victory on the issue, and criticized what he called the landlord lobby for being behind the legal action and a separate court challenge to a rent freeze approved by the Rent Guidelines Board.

The water dispute began last spring when Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, announced that owners of one- to three-family homes would get the credit, along with an accompanying rate increase of 2.1 percent.

The decision was challenged by three Brooklyn real estate companies and the Rent Stabilization Association, a group that primarily represents owners of rental apartment buildings that would have to pay the higher rate but would not receive the credit.
The question put to President Trump at a White House news conference on Wednesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was pretty straightforward. An Israeli reporter wanted to know about the rise of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States and concerns that the new administration was encouraging xenophobia and racism.

For a normal American politician, the moment offered a perfect opportunity for a home run. Condemn the behavior and make a sincere pledge to do everything possible to stop it. There is no question that hate crimes and malicious speech have accelerated since the presidential campaign, with Jews among the prime targets. The Anti-Defamation League says anti-Semitic talk in the United States has reached levels unseen since the 1930s. And there have been bomb threats against Jewish centers across the country.

Mr. Trump, alas, is not that politician. He lacks the principles and moral understanding that most Americans want to see in their presidents. In fact, his answer summed up just how far we have traveled from normal. As is so often the case, he began with a focus on himself and skirted the issue.

Well, I just want to say that we are, you know, very honored by the victory that we had  316 Electoral College votes, Mr. Trump said. We were not supposed to crack 220. You know that, right? There was no way to 221, but then they said theres no way to 270. And theres tremendous enthusiasm out there.
After a while it began to make sense: Of course, Mr. Trump craves a break from the White House caldron for the familiar escape to another hyperbolic campaign stop at an airport hangar full of zealous supporters. He needed the press to play the punching bag that so delighted his political base. Aides filed for re-election on Inauguration Day, an extraordinary step that lets Mr. Trump raise campaign funds for what will be a state of endless campaigning.

The news conference proved to be another signature recapitulation of himself by himself  Mr. Trumps relentless superlatives of self-congratulation, his paint-ball putdowns of any and all critics, his swaggering dismissal of controversies already occurring in plain sight.

Viewers may wonder why the president returned repeatedly to his media attacks. But the news workers who thrive on information more than insult already know the answer  theyre a perfect distraction from real events hatched in Mr. Trumps new administration, like the embarrassing retreat of his labor secretary nominee from Senate scrutiny, the dismissal of his national security adviser for secretly buttering up Russian adversaries and the courts unceremonious spiking of Mr. Trumps unconstitutional attempt to choke off Middle East immigration with a photo-op stroke of his pen.

The press honestly is out of control, was Mr. Trumps reaction to fake news and illegal leaks  shocking news stories that originated with trusted news sources alarmed at what has been happening in less than a month of the Trump era.

Hed better get used to it. American history shows theres no reasonable alternative to the power of human curiosity in a democracy, especially when a president dares to claim exclusive ownership of reality.
In preparing Mr. Bradys appeal, Mr. Bamberger noticed that while Mr. Boblit had made five statements to the police, only four had been given to the defense. The fifth had not been admitted as evidence because it had not been signed by Mr. Boblit.

When Mr. Bamberger got hold of it, he discovered that it held a confession: Mr. Boblit said that he, not Mr. Brady, had twisted his shirt sleeve into a garrote and strangled Mr. Brooks. It was his idea to strangle him, Mr. Boblit, who remains imprisoned, said. I wanted to shoot him.

An appeals court granted Mr. Brady a new sentencing hearing but not a new trial. The Supreme Court concurred.

They did not reverse the court, Mr. Bamberger said, but in the course of writing the opinion, they wrote the Brady rule.

In a 7-to-2 majority opinion, Justice William O. Douglas wrote that failure to provide defendants with favorable evidence when it existed violated the 14th Amendments guarantee of due process. He compared that failure to the conscious use of perjured testimony.

Mr. Bamberger, in an interview with the National Equal Justice Library in 2002, said of the ruling: What it stands for is that the state is obligated to make available to the defendant evidence even that is exculpatory of the defendant. When I say to public defenders that I argued the Brady rule, they genuflect.

Mr. Brady was paroled after 18 years, married and became a truck driver. I think that the only crime he ever committed was robbing this guy, Mr. Bamberger said. I dont know who killed the man, and I dont think either of them know.
SEATTLE  A florist who refused to sell flowers for a same-sex wedding cannot claim religious belief as a defense under the states anti-discrimination laws, Washingtons high court said Thursday, in a case that has been watched around the nation by religious and civil rights groups.

The unanimous ruling by the nine-member state Supreme Court, which a lawyer for the florist said would be appealed to the United States Supreme Court, addressed sweeping questions about public accommodation, artistic expression and free speech.

But at its heart was a very human story about Arlenes Flowers in the small city of Richland, in southeast Washington, and what happened there in 2013 when Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed started planning their wedding. The shops owner, Barronelle Stutzman, knew that Mr. Ingersoll and Mr. Freed were gay and had sold them flowers for years, but then refused to provide flowers for their wedding. Her Christian faith, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman, created a line, she said, that she could not cross.
WASHINGTON  President Trump, smarting from a series of crises, moved his surrogates aside on Thursday and assigned the rescue of his month-old presidency to the only spokesman hes ever really trusted  himself.

For days, a frustrated and simmering president fumed inside the West Wing residence about what aides said he saw as his staffs inadequate defense and the ineffectiveness of his own tweets. Over the objections of some top advisers who wanted to steer him away from confrontation, Mr. Trump demanded to face the media, determined to reject the narrative that his administration is sinking into chaos, scandal and incompetence.

In a rowdy, free-for-all news conference hastily staged in the East Room, Mr. Trump attempted to deflect attention from news coverage about Russian intelligence, the resignation of his national security adviser, the defeat of his labor secretary nominee, and deepening questions about his ability to govern.

I turn on the T.V., open the newspapers and I see stories of chaos, Mr. Trump said as he attempted  with little discipline  to read from prepared remarks listing his accomplishments since being inaugurated one month ago. Chaos. Yet it is the exact opposite. This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine.
President Trump said Thursday that he had personally directed the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation and determine who was responsible for what he said were illegal leaks that have unfairly damaged his fledgling administration.

Ive actually called the Justice Department to look into the leaks, Mr. Trump said during a contentious, 75-minute news conference at the White House. Those are criminal leaks.

No law forbids a president from making a criminal referral to the Justice Department, but it is unusual for a president to direct the agency to open a criminal investigation into his perceived opponents or to talk publicly about having done so. The White House, under presidents of both parties, has generally restricted direct contact with the Justice Department about prospective investigations to avoid the appearance of politicizing law enforcement.

Typically, if an agency believes that classified material from its own records was improperly disclosed, it will make a referral to the Justice Department, which decides whether to open an investigation.
WASHINGTON  Robert S. Harward, the retired vice admiral and former Navy SEAL who was President Trumps top choice to replace his ousted national security adviser, on Thursday turned down the post in the latest setback for a White House already in turmoil.

This job requires 24 hours a day, seven days a week focus and commitment to do it right, Mr. Harward said in a statement. I currently could not make that commitment.

He added that since retiring from a 40-year military career, he now had the opportunity to address financial and family issues that would have been challenging in this position.

Two senior administration officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter, confirmed that Mr. Harward cited family and financial considerations in turning down the post.
WASHINGTON  When President Trump said Wednesday that he would not insist on the creation of a Palestinian state as part of a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, was he breaking with decades of American policy?

Or was he just thinking out loud?

Those have become recurring questions during the turbulent early weeks of this unorthodox presidency. Mr. Trump has delighted in bringing his deal makers style to the diplomatic arena, challenging established principles and flouting time-tested formulations.

But he has just as readily reversed himself, sowing confusion among allies and adversaries and raising questions about how seriously to take any of his pronouncements.

In December, as president-elect, Mr. Trump declared that the United States should no longer be bound by the one China policy, the 44-year-old diplomatic principle that underpins Americas relationship with the Communist government in Beijing. He said he proposed to use it as a lever to extract a trade deal or more cooperation on North Korea.
Federal officials said that they arrested a South Carolina man this week after he bought a handgun from an undercover agent and told the agent that he wanted to commit an attack inspired by Dylann S. Roof, the avowed white supremacist who killed nine black churchgoers in June 2015.

The suspect, Benjamin T. S. McDowell, was arrested Wednesday in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm. He is in federal custody pending a detention hearing next week.

In an affidavit, Grant Lowe, a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, described Mr. McDowell as a felon who, according to the police in Horry County, had developed ties to white supremacist groups.

The document says that in recent weeks, Mr. McDowell wrote on Facebook about what appeared to be his frustration with white supremacists for not taking more actions like those of Mr. Roof, who was convicted in the attack in Charleston, S.C., and sentenced last month to death.
Mr. Trump, apparently seeking to cut the intelligence community, State Department, and other agencies out of the policy-making process almost entirely, may have triggered a conflict whose escalation we are seeing in the rising number of leaks.

Culture of Conflict

Officials, deprived of the usual levers for shaping policies that are supposed to be their purview, are left with little other than leaking. And the frenetic pace of Mr. Trumps executive orders, which the agencies would normally review internally over weeks or months, has them pulling that lever repeatedly.

They have leaked draft executive orders, inciting backlashes that led the orders to be shelved. And they have revealed administration efforts to circumvent usual policymaking channels, undermining Mr. Trumps ability to enact his agenda.

Mr. Trumps moves to consolidate power away from those agencies under his own authority also has them struggling to keep what they see as their crucial role in governance.

Were in a world now where the president is playing to the edge of his powers, and I think there are real concerns about the constitutional implications of some of the actions hes taken, said Amy Zegart, the co-director of the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University.

That has forced officials in agencies to ask how far they will go themselves. As each side begins to perceive itself as under attack and the other as making dangerous power-grabs, it will justify more and more extreme behavior.

In President Trump, you have a president whose behavior shocks even more than the content of his policies, Mr. El Amrani said.
QUITO, Ecuador  The drug trafficker was sitting in a Colombian prison cell, but he claimed to have a very valuable connection  the interior and justice minister of Venezuela.

The trafficker did not make that boast quietly. In 2010, he told a Colombian television network that the minister, Tareck El Aissami, was a friend, and that one of Mr. El Aissamis brothers would do whatever favor I needed.

More accusations against Mr. El Aissami, 42, came to light this week, but this time it was not a criminal making them, but the United States Treasury Department, which said that Mr. El Aissami was involved in narcotics rackets from Colombia to Mexico.

The department said that one of his underworld partners was that drug trafficker, Walid Makled Garcia. It imposed sanctions on Mr. El Aissami and froze his assets in the United States, which American officials said amounted to tens of millions of dollars.
HONG KONG  In the winter of 1967, a group of Chinese space experts trudged across a desert in Chinas western borderlands in search of a crashed test rocket.

The cold crept into their sheepskin coats, one of the experts, Ma Zuoxin, recalled in a 2014 documentary film. It chilled us to the bone.

But they kept walking for days, he said, trailing their leader, Ren Xinmin. And at dusk on the fifth night, Dr. Ren at last spotted the rockets blackened wreckage poking out of the ground.

For Dr. Ren, who died on Feb. 12 at 101, the desert odyssey was just one gambit in a lifelong quest to develop Chinas space program.
STOCKHOLM  A former Syrian rebel who took part in the mass killing of seven captured Syrian soldiers in 2012 was sentenced to life in prison in Sweden, where he had traveled and applied for asylum, officials announced on Thursday.

The former rebel, Haisam Omar Sakhanh, 46, was arrested last March in Karlskoga, Sweden, and charged with a crime against international law.

According to prosecutors, Mr. Sakhanh was among a group of rebels who took part in the killings of the soldiers, in Idlib Province in northwestern Syria, in 2012. A former rebel, horrified by the atrocities, provided a video of the killings to The New York Times, which revealed them in September 2013.

To justify the prosecution of an international law violation in Sweden  a country that had nothing to do with the killings  the prosecutors extensively researched the conditions of the civil war in Syria, and in particular in Idlib.
Louise Mirrer, the Historical Societys president, said in a statement that the museums relationship with Mr. Cunningham dated back to his first donation of 88 gelatin silver photographs representing his Facades series, and continued to the end of his life. She added, It is with great pride that the New-York Historical Society becomes the new home for his earthly belongings.

Mr. Cunninghams library contains more than 200 books stuffed with clippings, notes and photographs. Other items include a helmet covered with images from his Times column  a gift from Bergdorf Goodman  and his New York Living Landmark presentation plate made by Cartier in 2009. His tools, millinery supplies and feather collection were also donated.

Details about which things the Historical Society will exhibit, and when they will be on view, are to be announced at a later date.
It takes a special kind of masochist to willingly endure the horrors of performing stand-up at New York City open mikes. And yet, because it is New York City, it isnt surprising that there is no shortage of exactly this type of person: someone with a high tolerance for awkwardness, embarrassment and insecurity, combined with a tenacious craving to make people laugh and hopefully, if the chips fall exactly right, to do this for a living.

On any given night, there are dozens of open mikes in the five boroughs. They are often in basements and back rooms, tucked out of sight, and there is no compensation. Many times, the comics  most of them male  must pay a small price to get a few minutes  a tight five.

These sets serve as the birthplace of jokes that will someday make paying crowds guffaw and as the graveyard of those that dont. The open mikes draw comedians of all experience levels, and many do more than one per night, testing whether a joke should be nurtured or laid to rest.

The material features a wide collection of topics: heartbreak, the mundane, race, gender, heartbreak, religion, more heartbreak. At a time when most late-night comedy shows and stand-up professionals are focusing on President Trump, these open mikes can be a refuge from politics  a reminder that modern American humorists have not been entirely consumed by the 24/7 news cycle.
Feb. 17, 2017

THAT DECISIVE MOMENT

A Chord Vanishing Into Eternity: The 8 Best Classical Music Moments This Week

In addition to reviews, features and news published during the week, our critics and reporters collect the best of what theyve been hearing: the notes that sent shivers down their spines, the memorable voices, the set changes that left them breathless, the quotations that cut to the heart of the story.

Read the rest of our classical music coverage here.
It was Mr. McLeans focus on small, quotidian events in his later work as a journalist that led him toward writing fictional tales about the owner of a secondhand record shop, known only as Dave, and his family and neighbors. They became the heart of The Vinyl Cafe.

The program rested almost entirely on Mr. McLeans slow-paced storytelling. He read essays about the various communities where the show was recorded along with his fictional tales of Daves life. In between, he spotlighted live and recorded music performances by Canadian artists, most of them young and little-known folk or acoustic musicians. For many of its fans, the program helped define Canada.

The show was first broadcast in 1994 as a summer replacement; when production was halted in late 2015 because of Mr. McLeans cancer diagnosis, it went into reruns. The 11 books of stories from the program were all best sellers in Canada, and several won awards.

Vinyl records, the product sold by Dave, the protagonist of most of the stories, already appeared headed for extinction when the show made its debut. While well intentioned, Dave was generally misguided and bumbling  a gentle, anger-free version of John Cleeses Basil Fawlty. Morley, Daves wife, was the sensible family member.

Like the characters family names, the location of the stories was never revealed, but, at least in the early seasons, it appeared to be Toronto.
Quotation of the Day

This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine.

 President Trump defending his first four weeks in office, during a news conference on Thursday.

The event was ostensibly organized to announce the new nominee for labor secretary, R. Alexander Acosta, a law school dean with deep experience in labor relations who would be the first Hispanic in Mr. Trumps cabinet.

But it became a contentious event during which the president gave a raw and angry defense of his administration and his character.

To be honest, I inherited a mess, Mr. Trump said. He dismissed reports about his associates contacts with Russia, and berated the news media.

He also said that he would ask the Justice Department to open an investigation to determine who was responsible for what he said were illegal leaks that unfairly damaged his fledgling administration.
None of this is lost on either company.

In its statement acknowledging the offer, Kraft Heinz extended an olive branch of sorts to Unilever, saying it wanted to create a leading consumer goods company with a mission of long-term growth and sustainable living.

The last two words of that statement are the essential ones. Unilever calls its overarching corporate strategy the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan. The goal is to cut the companys environmental impact in half by 2020 from 2008 levels, improve the health of one billion people and double revenue.

Unilever struck the predictably disinterested posture of any company surprised by a takeover offer. Unilever rejected the proposal as it sees no merit, either financial or strategic, for Unilevers shareholders, the company said in a statement. Unilever does not see the basis for any further discussions.

That may buy Unilever some time, but 3G is nothing if not determined. Anheuser-Busch InBev, another 3G creation, pursued SABMiller for a year before finally sealing the deal, raising its price and shedding assets along the way. SABMiller finally relented.

That deal, which closed only late last year, offers perhaps the closest analog to Kraft Heinzs $143 billion offer for Unilever. During the negotiations, the specter of 3Gs famous cost cutting hung over the deal. And already, Anheuser-Busch is reducing head count in South Africa.

Whatever comes next will be a test for Unilevers charismatic leader.

Paul Polman has been out there as a leader on sustainability for over a decade, said Ms. Lubber. Hes accomplished extraordinary things, setting higher standards for how corporations should look at sustainability, as well as affirming that it is a core business imperative. Hes setting new standards every day while hes keeping his company profitable and ahead of the curve.

Aron Cramer, chief executive of BSR, an organization for companies that promote sustainable business practices, said much of Unilevers success in recent years was the result of Mr. Polmans leadership.
Donald J. Trump redrew the electoral map with his rousing economic nationalism and evocation of a lost industrial age. It was a message that drew many union members to his cause. And now it is upending the alliances and tactics of the labor movement itself.

In early November, workers at the Momentive chemical plant in upstate New York went on strike to beat back pension and health care concessions. By January, the workers were invoking some of Mr. Trumps populist campaign themes  but with a twist. They planned to picket outside the Manhattan home of the billionaire Stephen A. Schwarzman, whose private equity firm until recently owned a share of the company, and whom Mr. Trump has appointed as an outside adviser on jobs.

We used that angle  hes one of the richest men in the country, has been appointed by Mr. Trump as the so-called jobs czar, said Darryl Houshower, vice president of the local. We were pressuring him, hoping he would put some pressure on the company.

Whatever happened behind the scenes, they got the result they wanted. The day before the protest was originally planned this month, the company backed off a number of key demands. The workers ratified a new contract several days later.
His remarks caught the notice, and the ire, of a longtime San Antonio-area journalist and commentator, Rick Casey, who hosts a weekly public affairs program Texas Week on KLRN. He ends each weeks show with his own commentary, which also runs in The San Antonio Express-News.

Mr. Casey has been able to work for 40 years as a professional smart ass, he told me, because Im not really a bomb thrower  Ive watched politicians for so many years that I know how to be strong about something without being unfriendly.

But Mr. Smiths comments bothered him enough that he wrote up a stemwinder of a closing commentary. Smiths proposal is quite innovative for America, it went. Weve never really tried getting all our news from our top elected official. It has been tried elsewhere, however. North Korea comes to mind.

All set to go, the commentary was mentioned in a Facebook promotion for the show, which in turn caught the eye of Mr. Smiths office, which called the station to inquire about the segment.

Forty minutes before the show aired, the stations president and chief executive, Arthur Rojas Emerson, left a message for Mr. Casey saying he was pulling the commentary and replacing it with an older one. Mr. Casey told me he missed the call, but saw what happened with his own eyes.

At a meeting the next Monday, Mr. Casey said, Mr. Emerson expressed concern that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was under attack and that this would add to it. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting provides financing for public stations, including KLRN, and Mr. Trumps election has heightened fears that its financing will be cut.

It also happens that Mr. Emerson had left journalism for several years to run his own advertising firm and that Mr. Smith had at one point been a client.
We are shocked and deeply worried, the Korea Employers Federation, a pro-business lobby, said in a statement about the arrest.

Samsung is the global company that represents South Korea, and we fear that the vacuum in its management will weigh heavily on the economy by increasing uncertainty and hurt international credibility.

But the power of the chaebol is coming up against rising public anger over the perception of corruption and favoritism. Among those 10 biggest chaebol, six of their leaders have been convicted of white-collar crimes. Many have been pardoned or had their sentences suspended or reduced. Chaebol leaders face broader questions as well about whether their economic dominance squelches small business and innovation, accusations that their lobbyist denies.

Reflecting the public mood, the governing  and usually pro-business  Liberty Korea Party said it respected the courts decision to arrest Mr. Lee and expressed regrets that the people have been again disappointed by the deep-rooted collusion between politics and business.

Mr. Lee is accused of bribery, embezzlement and perjury as part of an investigation into a confidante of the countrys president, Park Geun-hye. Ms. Park now faces impeachment. Samsung has said Mr. Lee will work to clear his name in court.

The police arrested Mr. Lee and took him into custody, an unprecedented move for a major Samsung official. But in terms of accusations of wrongdoing against a top executive, Samsung has been there before. Mr. Lees father, Lee Kun-hee, Samsungs chairman, has twice been convicted of bribery and tax evasion.

Still, the elder Mr. Lee never spent time in prison. The fate of the young Mr. Lee, critics of the chaebol say, will be a test of the countrys young democracy and judicial system.
From the moment she learned how to walk and talk, Jazz Jennings gravitated toward dresses and dolls. They were among the earliest signs that Jazz, born male, identified as female.

Now Ms. Jennings, 16, who rose to fame as one of the youngest people ever documented as transgender, will have a new doll to call her own  one modeled after her.

Ever since I was little, I always loved playing with dolls, she said in an interview on Thursday. It was a great way to show my parents that I was a girl, because I could just express myself as I am. So this really resonates with me, because it was something so pivotal in my own journey.
I loved teaching and mentoring students, but I also realized that I had the ability to make a difference in terms of creating communities that were more inclusive and that helped advance the institutional mission.

What were some early leadership lessons?

One takeaway was that I really needed to listen to people more carefully, however much I might think I knew what a situation required. I would see people getting in their own way and realize there was a different way to do this  that it would be useful to ask questions rather than just tell people what I thought at the outset.

I see a lot of situations as puzzles. I tend to be a good listener and very observant. Maybe that goes back to my experience of having grown up younger than my peers and trying to figure out how to read the room.

Other lessons?

Its important to me to create an environment within my leadership team where people feel that they can trust each other and feel confident sharing their ideas, even if they seem unusual or seem to run counter to the way things typically have been done. I want them to feel that they can noodle ideas together, and can imagine alternate scenarios.

So how do you set that tone?

Its important for me to be willing to make myself vulnerable, to put a crazy idea out there, and let people poke holes in it, just to let them know that its O.K. for us to be out on the fringe a little bit. I also am very clear that I dont have all the answers, and so I try to be as open as I can to other peoples ideas.

Any surprises about the job of president?

I knew intellectually that I would need to be on pretty much all the time, especially in a small college in a small town. The neighbors want to get to know you, and thats really important and great.

But what I did not expect is that role of the president in a small, liberal arts college is often sort of an emotional, symbolic center as well.
The tailored jackets springing up on the runways during New York Fashion Week took on brashly generous proportions. Variations ran from perceptibly slouchy to squared and aggressively overscale (aggressive being the operative word).

Quite a few of these cheeky variations on the 1980s power suit were an overt nod to the deliberately supersize suit coats seen last fall at Balenciaga, Celine and others, which may have been pinched from an ultra-hunky boyfriends wardrobe.

In New York, Alexander Wang worked this subversive look in a smart glen plaid; as did Raf Simons, who seemed to take style cues from his recent mens wear wear line.
It was the fifth day of New York Fashion Week, and Laura Brown, the new editor in chief of InStyle magazine, had to be at the Zimmermann show on West 46th Street in five minutes.

Unfortunately, she, her driver and her S.U.V. were stuck behind a Prince Lumber truck that could not seem to maneuver out of its parking spot on Washington Street.

What are you trying to do, lumber man? she said. Weve got fashion to go to!

Wearing an animal print dress from Ganni and Saint Laurent stiletto boots, Ms. Brown was perched on the edge of her seat. The truck finally pushed out of the spot.

And immediately began trying to get back in. Dont try to get back in there, buddy, Ms. Brown said. Prince Lumber, its not your day.
While too discreet to identify individual clients, Ms. Ilincic suggested that a reason high-profile women may warm to her clothes is because her aim is always to make a wearer feel powerful yet protected. I think a lot about duality in my designs: How a piece can simultaneously make a statement but also offer a sense of shelter, she said.

A constant consideration during the design process, she added, was physical comfort; any hard or crispy fabric must have a soft lining; corsets or tailoring should never feel too constraining. My clothes are like an armor  but a soft, intimate armor. I want a client to feel shielded from society, her confidence boosted, more self-assured because she is in that dress, Ms. Ilincic said. And thats important when we tackle moments of intense attention or are in difficult surrounding environments. All women encounter those moments, whoever they are and wherever they are in life.

She is speaking from personal experience. The designer is married to Philip Bueno de Mesquita (also her business partner), whom she met at St. Martins in 1999 after she left her home in Belgrade to study there; they have a 6-year-old daughter, Efimia.

I always wanted to come to London. My dream was to be taught by Louise Wilson, Ms. Ilincic said of the celebrated St. Martins professor, who died in 2014. I read all these articles when it came to choosing where to go to school; I suddenly had this moment, back in Serbia, that virtually every designer that really inspired me had done her course. And that was it. I went to London and never looked back.
Elena Sarkissian had plenty of time to figure out whether she wanted to marry Demetrios Orfanoudis before their wedding on Jan. 21. First came five years of long-distance dating. Then, just before the wedding itself, came an unexpected stretch of time with nothing to do but sit and think.

I ended up spending 45 minutes circling the cathedral, said Ms. Sarkissian, 44, a real estate broker with Douglas Elliman in Manhattan. Alone in the back seat of a rented Bentley in her Anna Maier couture wedding gown, with only the cars driver for company, I had no phone, and no watch, she said. And I knew we were running more and more late for the ceremony. It was such a stress. But we just kept circling.

Ms. Sarkissian was not falling prey to cold feet. What she was experiencing instead was the pandemonium of Manhattan in the grip of the Womens March, held one day after President Trumps inauguration, a protest that drew hundreds of thousands, choking the city with traffic.

About 60 of the 150 guests invited to Ms. Sarkissian and Mr. Orfanoudiss wedding had gotten stuck on a rented bus, inching through the protest to get them to the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity on East 74th Street for the 4 p.m. wedding. The bus, carrying friends and family, who came from as far as Athens and who were staying at a Midtown hotel, did not make it for 40 minutes or more.
Work at the high-security government lab that handles deadly pathogens like the Ebola virus has been suspended since Feb. 16, when it was discovered that nylon hoses used to pump air into the scientists protective suits had not been designed or tested for breathing safety, officials said on Friday. The hoses have been in use since 2005.

The problem, at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, involved about 100 lab workers, said Steve Monroe, the associate director for Laboratory Science and Safety there. But there is no evidence that anyone has become ill as a result, he said. There is no risk to the public.

The hoses are used with protective gear that looks like a spacesuit, fully enclosing the wearer and providing its own air supply to avoid any possible contact with pathogens, some of which may be airborne.

The potential worry is not that germs could have invaded the air the workers were breathing, but that chemicals released into the air supply from the hose material might have been unsafe to breathe. Air samples from the hoses are being tested to see if any harmful chemicals are present. Results are expected next week.
Several months ago, my editor sent me to the Ukrainian front lines to write an article about the volunteer medics working there. I have covered the Ukrainian conflict since the Maidan uprising in Kiev in 2013. I was in Crimea when the little green men appeared there, and I took photographs during the siege in Debaltseve. Over time, I heard a lot about the organizations that send doctors, medics and medicine to the eastern provinces to tend to the wounded in the war with Russian-backed separatists. I had lobbied to do photo reportage on these brave civilians, so when I finally got permission, I didnt delay in flying from Budapest to Kiev. My plan was to travel to Kostyantynivka by train and meet the volunteers at the rail station.

They are a little bit paranoid, my fixer told me as he put me on the train, but he said it wouldnt be a problem. It took six hours to get to Kostyantynivka. With its concrete buildings and World War II monuments, the city looks as though you have returned to the 1950s. But the soldiers and armored carriers remind you that war is being waged only 25 miles away.

I got off the train carrying my green military duffel bag and my blue helmet. A woman named Katya was waiting for me, along with a 40-something Ukrainian brute by the name of Anatoly who was nearly 6-foot-6. Anatoly got behind the wheel of their jeep and immediately asked for my military press credentials. They both studied them carefully, then handed them back to me. Anatoly stared at me suspiciously as he started the engine.

No photo, he said when he saw me taking out my camera. I did my best to explain that I was a photographer, but he did not understand a word. Katya was fluent in English, but she shared Anatolys worries and told me not to take photographs, especially at the checkpoints.
The Syrian stars of two Oscar-nominated films will travel to the Academy Awards after all, representatives said, now that President Trumps travel ban has been lifted.

Raed Saleh  the leader of a Syrian civilian rescue group and a subject of the documentary short that bears the groups name, The White Helmets  will be on the red carpet and attend the ceremony on Feb. 26. With him will be his fellow rescuer Khaled Khatib, who also worked as a cinematographer on the film, which has been nominated for best documentary short. Financed by Western governments, the White Helmets have saved the lives of more than 75,000 Syrians, pulling them from the rubble of bombed-out buildings and administering emergency first aid.

Hala Kamil, a Syrian refugee and mother of four now living in Germany, will also be attending the awards now, too. Mrs. Kamil and her children fled Syria after her husband was kidnapped by the Islamic State. Their ordeal is captured in Watani: My Homeland, which is also up for best documentary short.

In a statement, Mrs. Kamil said she would be attending the ceremony with a heavy heart, as she and her husband, who is presumed dead, made a ritual out of watching the Oscars each year. But to be reminded of what I have lost is also a reminder of what I have held on to: my children, she said.
LOS ANGELES  A lawyer for Roman Polanski has asked a judge here to unseal testimony from a former deputy district attorney who handled his case from the 1970s.

Harold Braun, Mr. Polanskis lawyer, said the testimony was essential to proving that Mr. Polanski had already served the time necessary after a 1977 guilty plea to unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.

Mr. Polanski, now 83, fled the United States in 1978 when he thought the judge in the case was withdrawing a plea bargain and would sentence him to up to 50 years in prison.

The California court has ruled that Mr. Polanski  who has remained abroad, in Switzerland, Poland and elsewhere  must return to Los Angeles to resolve his case. Despite repeated requests from prosecutors, foreign courts have ruled that they would not extradite him.
The trailers and teasers for Oscar hopefuls shoulder an extra burden: They dont just need to fill seats in theaters; they have to position themselves for lengthy awards campaigns and convince audiences and academy voters that their films are worthy.

Despite vast differences in style, setting and substance, this years nine nominees for best picture tackled that challenge in remarkably similar ways. Heres a look at what they did:

Push the Pedigree

One thing that Oscar-nominated movies frequently have in common: casts and crews with awards-studded resumes. Trailers use this both explicitly and through clever editing; either way, they try to brand themselves as Oscar movies by connecting to past honors.

The most recent trailer for Fences, for example, focuses on the stars, Denzel Washington, who also directed, and Viola Davis. Most of the trailer emphasizes their performances. Those shots may be as much a reflection of the movie as it is a promotional strategy; Fences is a fairly confined domestic drama.

Close to the end of the trailer, title cards remind us that Mr. Washington has two Academy Awards and that Ms. Davis is a past nominee. The interruption feels excessive. We know these actors well; theyre renowned for their talent. But the trailer breaks its rhythm just to connect the film to the Oscars, to denote its quality and to label itself a contender.
When an applicant to the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health got an email on Wednesday saying it was delighted to welcome her, she said she was overcome with euphoria.

She began sobbing, and her body shook.

I couldnt even control my body, said the applicant, a 23-year-old for whom Columbia was the No. 1 choice. My teeth even started chattering. I didnt even know that could happen.

That jubilation lasted only about 75 minutes, however, as a second email arrived informing her  and 276 other prospective students  that the acceptance notices had been sent in error.

When the applicant got the follow-up email, she said she had the same physical reaction as before  but for opposite reasons. She said that when she called the admissions office, a person who answered the phone apologized but could shed no light on why it happened.
When his mother, Kiana Ashburn, 32, found the letter buried at the bottom of his backpack, she waved off his pleas to go to the karate camp she had signed him up for. You need to get a good education so you can get a good job and have a good future, she told him that afternoon in their sparely furnished rowhouse in the Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx.

She was all the more certain on the Friday before the program started, when the world awakened to a Facebook Live video of an unarmed black cafeteria worker in Minnesota, Philando Castile, bleeding to death in his car after being shot by a police officer.

She often made Jonathan repeat what he was to do if he were ever stopped: Just do what he says, and like, dont try to resist, he recited.

She thought of math as a field that usually Asians dominate, she said. It would not protect him from police violence, she knew, or the other things she feared. Her brother had spent time in prison.

But it could act as a buffer, she remembers thinking.

Ms. Ashburn, a postal clerk who graduated last year with a business degree from Monroe College in the Bronx, left before dawn for work on the first day of camp. Jonathans sister, Jasmine, a year older than him, was headed to summer school after dropping off their younger brothers at karate camp. Jonathan walked himself around the corner at 7 a.m. to meet his subway group in what would become a daily routine.

Omar Pineda Jr. was the counselor assigned to escort them, but it was Emyr Willis, 11, who broke the ice. Hello, he greeted them with the formality they would come to see as his trademark. I am the both the emissary and ambassador from my school.

Thays Garcia, also 11, was the groups third member.

I love math, she said, her face lighting up when asked why she had agreed to spend her summer doing math problems.
It will also allow many students to transfer in up to eight credits from other schools, like local community colleges where they can take inexpensive classes over the summer  in the past, this has been allowed on a case-by-case basis. In addition, the university has trained advisers to help students create schedules that will get them to their three-year goal.

But some who study education wonder what students will miss if they rush through their undergraduate years, and they worry about who will feel pressure to make those sacrifices.

Sara Goldrick-Rab, a professor of higher education policy at Temple University, said that shaving time off college as a way to make it more affordable could raise some troubling questions. In college, she said, there is academic learning, but there are also important experiences outside the classroom, like the social networks students build, study abroad programs and internships  assuming students do not have to hold down jobs that crowd out those things in the first place.

While some students can get what they need academically in three years, Dr. Goldrick-Rab said, packing in all those credits can take away from the time they can spend on other things.

We agree that the price of college is a problem, she said. But she questioned whether the solution was to essentially have less college, or less time in college.

Its interesting, she said of accelerated schedules, but it worries me.

Michael S. Roth, the Wesleyan president disputed the idea that there was something uniquely effective about an eight-semester undergraduate education.
Mr. Sperazza offered Rachel a winter coat.

I dont want to take it if someone might need it more than me, she said.

Maybe Boris could use it, Mr. Sperazza said. You can put that right over what hes wearing.

She accepted the coat on Boriss behalf.

On Second Avenue near St. Marks Place, a rough-looking man with a black-and-white pit bull beside him sat at a long table with books and records for sale.

How you doing? asked Mr. Sperazza, a big, solid guy in a black Guardians hoodie. He looked a lot like a plainclothes cop, though he is actually an electrician for the New York Mets. He explained his mission to the man. The man introduced his dog, Sasha. She was shivering. It had started to snow.

I got a high-end coat, Mr. Sperazza offered.

Anything for Sasha, said the man, Gregory Roosa, 44. She had saved his life, he said. A year ago, I was in Tompkins Square Park, Id had enough, I was sick of everything. I was going to walk in front of a car. And this dog comes up to me and jumps on my chest and starts kissing my face. Shed been eating out of garbage cans in the park.

Mr. Sperazza noticed that one of Sashas ears was puffed up like a balloon.

Its a hematoma, Mr. Roosa said. Ive been wanting to get her to a vet.
LOS ANGELES  In a courtroom here on Friday, the defense attorney Dick DeGuerin went on the attack on behalf of his client, the New York real estate scion Robert A. Durst, who is accused of murdering a close friend, Susan Berman, 17 years ago. Prosecutors say Mr. Durst shot her in the back of her head to prevent her from revealing what she knew about the disappearance of his first wife, Kathleen Durst.

Confronting Mr. Dursts former friend Nick Chavin, who in sensational testimony on Thursday said that Mr. Durst had admitted the killing to him, Mr. DeGuerin quickly set the tone: It took seven months for you to come up with the story about Bob Durst confessing to you? he said.

Mr. DeGuerin was referring to conversations between Mr. Chavin and Deputy District Attorney John Lewin during seven months in 2015, when Mr. Chavin has said he was grappling with whether to tell Mr. Lewin what Mr. Durst had told him.

The actual trial is still as much as a year away, and Mr. Chavins appearance in Los Angeles Superior Court was part of an unusual proceeding known as a conditional examination. In such an examination, prosecutors can question witnesses before a trial if they are 65 or older and in danger of dying or being killed before the case is heard.
President Trumps disturbing Russian connections present an acute danger to American national security. According to reports this week, Mr. Trumps team maintained frequent contact with Russian officials, including senior intelligence officers, during the campaign. This led to concerns about possible collusion with one of Americas principal strategic adversaries as it tried to influence the election in Mr. Trumps favor. On Monday, Mr. Trumps national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, was forced to resign after details of his communications with the Russian ambassador emerged.

Republican leaders in Congress now bear the most responsibility for holding the president accountable and protecting the nation. They cant say they didnt see the Russian interference coming. They knew all along.

Early in 2015, senior Republican congressional leaders visited Ukraine and returned full of praise for its fight for independence in spite of Russias efforts to destabilize the country and annex some of its regions. And in June, coincidentally just before Mr. Trump announced his campaign for the Republican nomination, they met with Ukraines prime minister in Washington  one of many meetings I attended as a senior aide to the House Republican Conference.

As the presidential race wore on, some of those leaders began to see parallels between Russias disinformation operations in Ukraine and Europe and its activities in the United States. They were alarmed by the Kremlin-backed cable network RT America, which was running stories intended, they judged, to undermine Americans trust in democratic institutions and promote Mr. Trumps candidacy. Deeply unsettled, the leaders discussed these concerns privately on several occasions I witnessed.
In light of the stunning events of the past week, the question is not whether the Trump administrations ties to the Russian government need to be investigated immediately and fully  clearly they do. Its who will be in charge of that investigation?

The Republicans in Congress cant decide whether they would rather act like a responsible, independent branch or just the friendly legislative arm of the White House. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House oversight committee, would sooner investigate a cartoon character named Sid the Science Kid than any allegations relating to President Trump.

The prize for partisan candor goes to Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who said on Tuesday, Well never even get started with doing the things we need to do, like repealing Obamacare, if were spending our whole time having Republicans investigate Republicans.

James Comey, the embattled F.B.I. director, cant be trusted to be a neutral investigator, either  not after his one-sided interference in the 2016 election compromised the bureaus integrity and damaged Hillary Clintons campaign in its final days. Anyway, Mr. Comey reports directly to the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, who was not only Mr. Trumps first and most ardent supporter in the Senate, but the chairman of the Trump campaigns national security advisory committee.
A lot of people seem to be questioning President Trumps mental health. This month, Representative Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, went so far as to say he was considering proposing legislation that would require a White House psychiatrist.

More controversial is the number of mental health experts who are joining the chorus. In December, a Huffington Post article featured a letter written by three prominent psychiatry professors that cited President Trumps grandiosity, impulsivity, hypersensitivity to slights or criticism, and an apparent inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality as evidence of his mental instability. While stopping short of giving the president a formal psychiatric diagnosis, the experts called for him to submit to a full medical and neuropsychiatric evaluation by impartial investigators.

A practicing psychologist went further in late January. He was quoted in a U.S. News and World Report article titled Temperament Tantrum, saying that President Trump has malignant narcissism, which is characterized by grandiosity, sadism and antisocial behavior.

I dont doubt that these experts believe they are protecting the country from a president whose behavior they  like many of us  see as dangerous. A recent letter to the editor in this newspaper, signed by 35 psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers, put it this way: We fear that too much is at stake to be silent. It continued, We believe that the grave emotional instability indicated by Mr. Trumps speech and actions makes him incapable of serving safely as president.
To the Editor:

Re Life Along the U.S.-Mexico Border (news feature, Feb. 9):

I have traveled the roughly 2,000 miles of the border and have witnessed every section of the wall up close. I have visited with dozens of people along the way and crossed at every crossing. I have learned these truths:

The border wall is ineffective except for killing the poorest migrants and wildlife. It is a colossal waste of money and does little to prevent violence or curtail drugs. There is nothing beautiful about it.

Instead of keeping us safe, our wall sends a message to our southern allies that we have closed off all communication. Any talk of a new wall serves only to underline our lack of imagination for solving problems collaboratively. I reject this symbol for the land of the free.

CHARLES D. THOMPSON Jr.

Durham, N.C.

The writer, a professor of cultural anthropology and documentary studies at Duke University, is the author of Border Odyssey: Travels Along the U.S.-Mexico Divide.

To the Editor:

As the mayor of Imperial Beach, a California beach town that borders Mexico, I read your article after returning from Tijuana for a meeting with Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum.
You just came out of a yearlong coma, and youre trying to catch up. The unimaginable is real. The Cubs won the World Series. California has been drenched with so much rain that its biggest dam may fail. And in the first month of a new presidency, the leader of the free world has:

Told a stunning and easily disproved lie on his first full day in power. He then sent his spokesman out to repeat that lie, and said the press would pay a big price for refusing to do the same. The pattern of taxpayer-financed mendacity continued nearly every day under the new regime, with lies about everything from the murder rate to the weather.

Threatened to defund the most populous state in the nation he governs, California, the worlds sixth- largest economy, which contributes more than $350 billion in annual tax money to the federal government. California is, in many ways, out of control, he said.

Insisted, with no evidence, that three to five million people had voted illegally  which, if true, would constitute a huge crime, and one of the biggest election scandals ever. When pressed, a top counselor coined a term that came to define the new administration: alternative facts.

Told the Mexican president that he might send the worlds most powerful military across the border to take care of some bad hombres, prompting the cancellation of a planned meeting. Hung up on the leader of a nation, Australia, that has long been one of the United States most reliable allies.
Its also true that his choice pleased the plastic bag manufacturers, whose lobbyists have pushed hard to block New Yorks measure, and it frustrated the City Council and Mayor Bill de Blasio.

At the bill signing, Mr. Cuomo blasted the nickel fee as a $100-million-per-year windfall to merchants. He had a point there: A better measure would allocate enough revenue from the fee to retailers to cover the cost of the bags and then commit the remainder to some public purpose.

The governor said that the problem shouldnt be tackled at all until it could be tackled statewide  and announced the creation of a task force to develop a uniform state plan for addressing the plastic bag problem. Were all in favor of a statewide solution. We look forward to one. But, while were waiting for it, billions more bags will be piling up in the landfills. Why not let New York start working on this problem right away, however imperfect its approach? Other cities have done this; it works.

By kicking the bag down the road, with little reason to hope that the Legislature will be any more supportive of this issue a year from now, Mr. Cuomo looks more than a little inconsistent. Hes not exactly known for letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. And isnt he the governor who likes to say, In this state, with all our diversity, there is no one size fits all, so we work region by region? So why does New York City have to wait while the state government finds some bag plan that applies to Malone and Elmira, too? Why punish New York City but not Suffolk County (population 1.5 million) and the city of Long Beach, which have passed similar bag fees? Does Long Island inhabit some special zone exempt from the logic of Albany?
GAMBIER, Ohio  When I was a child, my family traveled with a single, totemic toilet articles bag. With its Pan Am logo, it hinted at the international life my parents had lived before my sisters and I came along. Now their only travels consisted of vacations to Lake Champlain in Vermont or Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. While my mother was in charge of packing the paisley, non-rolling suitcases, the toilet articles bag was my fathers domain. Into its navy blue plastic he put all those brands I associate with my childhood  Sea and Ski, Bayer aspirin, Noxzema.

My father used the Dry Look to keep his comb-over in place, the neutral, masculine name allowing him to use what must have been hair spray. He believed in Vicks VapoRub for chest colds and Desitin  a fishy-smelling ointment meant for Norwegians and diaper rashes  for everything else. He spent long hours in our only bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and a Q-tip stuck in each ear, shaving with Gillette foam and gargling with Listerine, finally emerging in a cloud of humidity and the fluorocarbons from his Right Guard aerosol deodorant.

To me, my father was the castle on the Kent cigarettes he smoked. He drove a Beetle with a similar castle on the steering wheel; the clangorous sound of it pulling into the garage meant that he was home from work at the C.I.A. and it would soon be dinnertime. He had his first heart attack pushing that car; whenever it stalled he would aim it downhill, running alongside, then hop in and pop the clutch.
I liked watching her speak then. I watched her the way a person might stand at the kitchen window and watch a raccoon abscond with the first tomato of summer. I didnt agree with what she was doing, but I admired her chutzpah.

Once she took the reins of Donald Trumps campaign, though, she went from smooth to slippery. Shed hammer Hillary Clinton for talking too much about gender and duck behind her femininity in the face of legitimate criticism. If she succeeded, it was because she was Kellyanne. If she failed, it was because she was a woman.

In the months leading up to the election, Ms. Conway generously lent her womanhood as a smokescreen to the Trump campaign. She tried to insert a watered-down version of feminism into the candidates platform, despite the fact that no mainstream feminist-leaning organizations supported him. When her boss was caught on tape bragging about sexually assaulting women, Kellyanne Conway as a woman-ed her way out of it. Confronted about Mr. Trumps chauvinism, she snapped back that women who were in poverty were not served during the Obama years, as though that somehow undid her bosss history. I gasped so frequently when she spoke that after each interview was over, Id feel faint, like Id spent the last several hours blowing up balloons.

When Ms. Conway breached federal ethics laws by hawking Ivanka Trumps stuff in the press briefing room, she got off with no immediate penalty besides being counseled on the subject. She told Fox News that the president supported her, that she was lucky to have a nice boss like Donald Trump and that every woman in America should hope to have a boss like him. She made it sound as though declining to punish a woman for ethics violations was somehow feminist, and as though all that matters to women is how their bosses treat them personally, not how their bosses impact the lives of other women.

If I werent too exhausted to feel insulted, Id have felt insulted.

As Kellyannes once-forceful cable news denials have disintegrated into whimpers, I cant say I feel anything for her at all. I dont mind when people point out how tired she looks. I simply cannot dredge up any sympathy for a person who has acknowledged the structural problems most women face only when she is personally facing them, or used them as derailing tactics when shes losing an argument. I cant mourn the downfall of a fair-weather feminist, a woman who has used her power to hurt other women.
ATHENS  For decades, a large bomb sat under a gas station in a densely crowded neighborhood near the heart of Thessaloniki, Greeces second-largest city. Last Sunday, the authorities evacuated some 72,000 residents from the area so a military explosives disposal crew could defuse the 550-pound bomb and take it away. It was reported to have been dropped in an Allied raid in World War II, when Greece was under German occupation and members of Thessalonikis ancient and flourishing Jewish community were being murdered in camps in occupied Poland.

In Greece, the wounds of history are never far from the surface. And this small country on Europes periphery sits squarely on the fault lines of the many difficulties that face Western democracies today. For seven years now, Greece and its creditors have failed to defuse the European Unions first great crisis since the euro was adopted, despite the biggest bailout of a debtor in history. Donald J. Trumps election, the Brexit vote and the inexorable rise of anger and aggression in the politics of many nations further undermine the European Union and threaten the achievements and promise of liberal democracy itself.

The last time a political system was under such stress was in 1989, when the collapse of the Berlin Wall revealed the bankruptcy of the Communist system. What liberal democracy and the open economy face today is not the failure of their promise of stability and prosperity for ever greater numbers of people  it is not the system that is exhausted but those who should protect it from its failings and from its enemies. Nowhere is the array of problems and the lack of leadership more evident than in the case of Greece.

Even as the Thessaloniki bomb was being dismantled, Greek officials and the representatives of foreign creditors were stuck in the latest of a seemingly endless series of talks aimed at releasing bailout funds in return for Greece carrying out more economic reforms and imposing further austerity. Failure to reach a deal could mean Greece defaulting in July on debt payments to the European Central Bank, other creditors and investors. This could prompt the countrys exit from the eurozone, something that previous talks were believed to have settled. But the Greek crisis is even more significant: It reveals the dangerous rifts among major players and the lack of leadership and vision at the European Union level.
There was plenty not to like in President Donald Trumps joint appearance with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. But before I get to that, lets entertain the notion that there was some merit in Trumps agnostic punt on whether a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians should involve one state or two.

The two-state idea has become a fantasy divorced from the reality of Israels half-century occupation of the West Bank. No basis exists today for believing its achievable. American adherence to that goal has become an exercise in mental laziness allowing leaders to do their worst behind the peace process fig leaf.

So Trumps trashing of two-state doctrinal orthodoxy  Im looking at two-state and one-state and I like the one that both parties like  at least had the merit of constituting a break with a sham. (I say this with great reluctance as a longtime two-state advocate.) It places Israel and Netanyahu before the choice they face.

As Netanyahu knows, the only one state that Palestinians are going to like  let alone accept  is one in which they are full and equal citizens who get to vote. Demographics dictate that this, in turn, will spell the end of the Jewish state  unless Israel wants to be an undemocratic pariah state ruling over a vast disenfranchised Palestinian population.
The story so far: A foreign dictator intervened on behalf of a U.S. presidential candidate  and that candidate won. Close associates of the new president were in contact with the dictators espionage officials during the campaign, and his national security adviser was forced out over improper calls to that countrys ambassador  but not until the press reported it; the president learned about his actions weeks earlier, but took no action.

Meanwhile, the president seems oddly solicitous of the dictators interests, and rumors swirl about his personal financial connections to the country in question. Is there anything to those rumors? Nobody knows, in part because the president refuses to release his tax returns.

Maybe theres nothing wrong here, and its all perfectly innocent. But if its not innocent, its very bad indeed. So what do Republicans in Congress, who have the power to investigate the situation, believe should be done?

Nothing.

Paul Ryan, the speaker of the House, says that Michael Flynns conversations with the Russian ambassador were entirely appropriate.
President Trump can push all the pretty buttons on the command deck of the Starship Enterprise, but dont expect anything to actually happen, because they are not attached.

Second, this will probably become a more insular administration. Usually when administrations stumble, they fire a few people and bring in the grown-ups  the James Baker or the David Gergen types. But Trump is anti-grown-up, so its hard to imagine Chief of Staff Haley Barbour. Instead, the circle of trust seems to be shrinking to his daughter, her husband and Stephen Bannon.

Bannon has a coherent worldview, which is a huge advantage when all is chaos. Its interesting how many of Bannons rivals have woken up with knives in their backs. Michael Flynn is gone. Reince Priebus has been unmanned by a thousand White House leaks. Rex Tillerson had the potential to be an effective secretary of state, but Bannon neutered him last week by denying him the ability to even select his own deputy.

In an administration in which promoted beyond his capacity takes on new meaning, Bannon looms. With each passing day, Trump talks more like Bannon without the background reading.

Third, we are about to enter a decentralized world. For the past 70 years most nations have instinctively looked to the U.S. for leadership, either to follow or oppose. But in capitals around the world, intelligence agencies are drafting memos with advice on how to play Donald Trump.

The first conclusion is obvious. This administration is more like a medieval monarchy than a modern nation-state. Its more The Madness of King George than The Missiles of October. The key currency is not power, its flattery.

The corollary is that Trump is ripe to be played. Give the boy a lollipop and he wont notice if you steal his lunch. The Japanese gave Trump a new jobs announcement he could take to the Midwest, and in return they got presidential attention and coddling that other governments would have died for.
WASHINGTON  Standing next to Israels prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, at a news conference Wednesday, President Trump inveighed against the nuclear agreement with Iran, declaring it one of the worst deals ever made. On this matter, Mr. Trump has been consistent  he has called the deal terrible, a disgrace, stupid and catastrophic, and said his No. 1 priority as president would be to dismantle it.

So it was striking last week when senior administration officials told the European Unions foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, that President Trump was committed to fully carrying out the accord. The administration officials told the press the same thing in tamping down a fiery statement about Iran from Michael T. Flynn, when he was still Mr. Trumps national security adviser.

Maybe President Trumps bluster masks a growing recognition within the administration that the deal is a good one for Americas security and that of our allies. It reaffirms and strengthens Irans commitment, under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, to never acquire a nuclear weapon. It imposes powerful constraints on Irans ability to quickly amass a stockpile of fissile material for a bomb. It includes an inspections regime perhaps more rigorous than any other. And it pays for all of that with Irans own money.

According to Adam Szubin, who until recently was the Treasury Departments sanctions supervisor, Iran has regained access to about $50 billion in frozen funds (not $150 billion, as critics allege), far less than Iran requires for more than $500 billion in unmet economic needs  like government salaries, pensions, debts and infrastructure investment  and to support its currency.
I turn on the TV, open the newspapers and I see stories of chaos, President Trump said at his hastily organized news conference on Thursday. Yet it is the exact opposite. This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine.

The stories President Trump sees on the TV and in the newspapers are of repeated communication between his campaign team and Russian intelligence officers. Hes seeing federal judges blocking his executive order on immigration, the abrupt withdrawal of his nominee for labor secretary and  the biggest of all  the resignation of his national security adviser, the retired three-star general Michael Flynn.

Trump sees a version of his presidency that he does not like.

That view of the press brings us, and the rest of the media, to this room in the White House on Thursday afternoon, where President Trump is standing behind a podium.
The news coming out of Washington this week has been a whirlwind to follow, in keeping with the past month. A top White House official was out, a cabinet nominee got the boot, reports surfaced that Trump campaign aides were in regular contact with Russian intelligence officials throughout the race, and President Trump took a national security briefing in the open at Mar-a-Lago, to name a few of this weeks stories. Journalists have been left struggling to keep up, as a Times article illustrated on Thursday. Still, some readers complain that The Times is overcovering the capital.

Of course its important and newsworthy when we have a new president and change of administration, but lately it seems Trump news absolutely dominates the first section and the front page. Surely there are other important stories happening in the world, but they seem to be taking a back seat to the overwhelming proportion of Trump stories, relegating them to a seemingly lesser status no matter how important they are. Chas. Schwartz, Los Angeles

I know it is still early days, but Im struggling to get a sense of perspective in the Timess coverage of the Trump administration. What I see now feels like: Here is the latest bad thing Trump has done. But some nuance would be useful to more easily understand what was bad, really bad or even worse. Maybe if  or when  hed done something good too, I wonder how that might be covered? I realize that The Times has become the de facto opposing voice after the recent election, but it often feels Im being screamed at day after day. Greg Neilson, Sydney, Australia

Yet, as one reader pointed out on Twitter, not only is there an appetite for such news  the ten most-read stories on the Times site Wednesday afternoon were all Washington related  the stories are some of the most significant of the day.

Image

The public editors take: A Trump overdose is a potential hazard to all of us, but this week offered some pretty exceptional journalism. Cheers to the Washington scribes.

Sticking with the president, several readers wrote in in a continued effort to push The Times to qualify Trumps statements.

Todays Times has one particularly bad headline: Trump Vows Quick Action to Stop Terrorism After Setback in Court. The Times usually gets headlines right. And as a former reporter and editor Im well aware of headline constraints. But Stop Terrorism? How about something a little more accurate like Trump Vows Quick Action After Court Setback on Immigration Ban or, if ban is too strong a word for your headline writers, how about just leaving that word off (Trump Vows Quick Action After Court Setback on Immigration) or like Trump Vows Quick Action After Court Setback on Executive Order. Joan Abramson, San Francisco

Another reader complained about the language used to summarize the same article, on new border security measures being pursued by Trump.

A bullet point on the home page that described the article said: President Trump promised to introduce new measures by next week to prevent terrorists entering the United States. (The first time I noticed this description of Trumps order was the first description of the appeals court decision.) But many of us (including national security experts who wrote briefs supporting the stay of the order) would argue that Trumps measures make us LESS safe, by supporting the ISIS recruitment claim that there is a war between Islam and the West. Therefore, it is irresponsible to describe the order using Trumps claim, as one to prevent terrorists from entering when it is preventing peaceful people from entering and may actually have the effect of turning people into terrorists. Wouldnt it be more accurate to say that Trump claims are designed to prevent terrorists? Lynn Caporale, Manhattan

The public editors take: The life of a headline writer is not easy. In this case, I think these readers make a good point. Its one thing for Trump to assert that his initiatives will stop terrorism, but these headlines could easily be seen as The Times thinking so too. I spoke to Jill Taylor, the head of the copy desks, about this issue, and she agreed that both the headline and the bullet summary lacked the necessary clarification of Trumps intent. Though the tight space makes doing so difficult, she said, it is necessary nonetheless.
Attendees wanted to know what would happen if they were deported. Would they have access to their money in banks? Should they set up a power of attorney for their children? They also had questions about how to deal with subway harassment and school bullying. The mood was a bit tense at first, said Ms. Meyer, 32. Its a little awkward to go to a strangers house. But as the evening went on, people relaxed. On the way out, some attendees hugged.

The dinners have also helped forge closer bonds among neighbors, like the one that has blossomed between Ms. Meyer and her next-door neighbor, Reba Frankel, 37, after the two hosted a December dinner with their spouses in their Sunset Park co-op. We had traded bread recipes and they cat-sat for us when we went out of town, Ms. Meyer said. Now we are going to protests together and organizing together and email every day.

Even the youngest participants have noticed a change. Our children are bonding, said Ms. Castillo, who has two young daughters. My daughter said to me, The only good thing about Trump winning is that you formed Love Trumps Hate and I get to make all these new friends.

In late January, Ms. Khan-Cullors, a founder of Black Lives Matter, and about a dozen other activists held an emergency meeting in a two-bedroom house in Santa Monica, after protesting the immigration executive order at Los Angeles International Airport all day. In a gathering that lasted until midnight and grew to 40 people, a legal adviser broke down the implications of the order for the guests. I need to be with people right now, Ms. Khan-Cullors, 33, said in a telephone interview. I need to know that we have each others back. Were not just going to live online in the social media world.

For a younger generation that has come of age in an era of telecommuting, a living room makes for a more natural venue than a sterile office conference room or a church basement. In the early days of Black Lives Matter, Ms. Khan-Cullors hosted many gatherings at her home in St. Elmo Village, an artists community in Los Angeles, where she lived until 2015. Many of us in this generation are not interested in having our thoughts, our intellectual property or our organization inside of traditional building spaces, she said. The home is where were generating a lot of ideas.
Mike Tauber, a photographer, shoots luxurious homes for architects, real estate companies and developers. Most of his pictures show elegant interiors, but hell also turn his back on a sunken living room or paneled library and point his camera out the window. More than 200 of his multimillion-dollar panoramas are collected in Vista Manhattan: Views From New York Citys Finest Residences, recently out from Schiffer Publishing ($45). Mr. Tauber, who lives in Rye, N.Y., spoke about his King Kong perspectives, the magic of twilight and the best places to live and look.

What will readers find in this book that they cant see from an observation deck or very high hotel lobby?

There arent a lot of public places in Central Park where you get to look over the reservoir the way you can from the Ardsley, at 320 Central Park West. There are a zillion places where you see the Empire State Building, but at 845 United Nations Plaza  Trump World Tower  theres a great perspective where the Chrysler Building and Empire State Building look like theyre the same height because the Chrysler Building is closer. And you wouldnt necessarily be in any of those places at that magical period 20 to 30 minutes after sunset, when its not absolutely dark, and lights are beginning to shine through the windows, and theres that glow. The time of day plays a large role in how a view looks. After shooting an apartment during the day, sometimes well return to shoot at twilight.

With so many buildings going up, are New Yorkers losing their views?

In one of my shots you see the south side of the Essex House hotel and Hampshire House building on Central Park South reflected in 157 West 57th Street, one of the new, supertall condo towers. You get the sense that the view the people had in those buildings is no longer there.
Some microscopes today are so powerful that they can create a picture of the gap between brain cells, which is thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair. They can even reveal the tiny sacs carrying even tinier nuggets of information to cross over that gap to form memories. And in colorful snapshots made possible by a giant magnet, we can see the activity of close to 100 billion brain cells talking.

Decades before these technologies existed, a man hunched over a microscope in Spain at the turn of the 20th century was making prescient hypotheses about how the brain works. At the time, William James was still developing psychology as a science and Sir Charles Scott Sherrington was defining our integrated nervous system.

Meet Santiago Ramon y Cajal, an artist, photographer, doctor, bodybuilder, scientist, chess player and publisher. He was also the father of modern neuroscience.
The quiet young man had come to me looking for love, ideally at first sight. I asked my usual questions about his work, where he lived, how he spent his free time. I asked about his great loves of the past, what had worked, or not worked, in those relationships. Then I asked how he felt about being jumped on, slobbered on or getting mud all over his couch.

Im O.K. with that, he said. Can I meet Chance?

Ah, Chance. The young lab-mix, with a puppys zeal for life, who loved to chew on the shelter volunteers hands as we leashed him.

Behave yourself for once, I urged Chance as I opened the kennel.

He was quiet as I slipped on a harness, but when we turned to leave he began to buck wildly. My heart sank. Then I saw the face of the young man waiting by the door. Hed gone all moony. He only had eyes for Chance.

Much to my surprise, I have become a matchmaker. On Saturday afternoons I pull on my gray T-shirt and head to the Animal Rescue League of Boston, where I help people find their canine soul mates amid the barky din. Doing this work, Ive not only learned how to pair up people and canines, I have received a master class in the expansiveness of the human heart, a lesson that I very much needed.
That dichotomy was in evidence in his MA collection, which was inspired by the glamour and showmanship of horse diving: Models came down the runway looking like glamorous creatures of the night in sequined polo necks worn over flares and satin bustier-and-miniskirt combos with asymmetrical trains. The collection was a study of contrasts  with Halpern sourcing horrific, disgusting fabrics from Shepherds Bush and Walthamstow markets and elevating them by pairing them with delicately hand-sewn paillettes and luxurious silks and satins. Despite his technical skill, Halpern revels in imperfections in his work: seams that overlap, paillettes that dont quite match, a corset with exposed darts in the lining. If its too pristine and too perfect  its not believable, he says. I like having everything a bit off and moved  it makes it cooler. I want you to be able to move and breathe in my clothes but still feel glam.

The collection caught the eye of Sarah Mower, chief fashion critic for U.S. Vogue and the British Fashion Councils Ambassador for Emerging Talent, who introduced Halpern to Donatella Versace. The designer recruited Halpern to work for Atelier Versace, her couture division, only a few days after he graduated from the MA. When I saw Michaels work, I immediately picked up the phone to get in touch with him, Versace told T. I never saw anything like it before. His sense of color is brilliant; his craftsmanship is incredible. The admiration was mutual: Ive loved Versace for so long, Halpern says. Shes incredible and has a point of view. She lives the brand and knows exactly who Versace is. Its really exciting to see someone like that work.

With star collaborators (the stylist Patti Wilson and the hairstylist Sam McKnight) on hand for his debut showing this weekend, expectations are high, but Mower is confident that he will remain grounded in the process. It is alarming that a star can be born before he even has his first selling collection on a runway in these insta-times, but I am very hopeful Michaels character means he will be able to go slowly and size his business the way he wants it to be, she says. Gone are the horrific fabrics from the markets in his MA collection  replaced by more recognizably luxe materials like tulle, organza and duchesse satin. His two seasons working at Atelier Versace have also translated into an increased sense of refinement in his own work. You learn techniques and see things being done there that dont exist elsewhere, he says. Perhaps most of all, he is seeking to return to a spirit of loucheness and decadence of the disco years. He would love it if fashion could return to a more innocent, joyful time; he recalls watching a Christian Lacroix show in his teenage years where the models would be smoking, smiling, laughing. It was so exciting and so pure in a way. That escapism is important in really dark times.
In 1982, Saint Laurent declared I am no longer concerned with sensation and innovation, but with the perfection of my style. From then until his retirement in 2002, he would refine personal signatures and push his creations, specifically within haute couture, to new heights. He often did so through garments created to echo major works of art  there were evening ensembles created in tribute to Pierre Bonnard, capes alluding to Braque, and a pair of evening jackets thickly embroidered with Vincent Van Goghs irises and sunflowers, which cost more than $100,000. His spring/summer 1990 haute couture collection featured a series of homages  to his mentor Christian Dior, to the inspiration he found in Coco Chanels work, and to his couture house itself. This jacket was titled Hommage a ma maison  Tribute to my couture house  and its rock-crystal and gilt embellishments superficially resemble the mirrors and chandeliers of Yves Saint Laurents couture salons at 5 Avenue Marceau. The homage, however, was more to the people inside the house than the building itself. The embellishments of rock crystal were hand-embroidered by Francois Lesages ateliers. This piece represents 700 hours of work on the embellishment alone.
Cayla is a blond, bright-eyed doll that chatters about horses and hobbies. She plays games and accurately answers questions about the world at large. She could also be eavesdropping on your child.

Thats the stark warning parents in Germany received on Friday from the countrys telecommunications watchdog, the Federal Network Agency, which said hackers could use the doll to steal personal data by recording private conversations over an insecure Bluetooth connection.

The watchdog said it was pulling the doll off store shelves and banning them in Germany.

Objects that have concealed cameras or microphones that can send information endanger the private sphere, said Jochen Homann, the agencys president. The Cayla doll is forbidden in Germany, he added, citing a German telecommunications law.

Mr. Homann encouraged parents to deactivate the doll, which is manufactured by United States-based Genesis Toys and distributed by the Vivid Toy group. This is also about protecting the rights of the weakest in society, he said.
We dont want to provoke and feed a kind of paranoia among our nationals here, Mr. Garcia said in an interview. There is a kind of psychosis, people are really scared. Up to now we havent seen anything that is really different than the last several years, but the environment is making people panic and they are completely fearful. They want to know what is going to happen and how to protect themselves.

In the last week, the Mexican government has created a 24-hour hotline to help answer any questions for Mexicans in the United States. Last month, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto announced that he would spend $50 million to pay for lawyers at every consulate to help people facing deportations. And consulates have been distributing fliers detailing what to do if someone is approached by deportation agents  advising them not to open their doors without proof of a warrant or speak to officers without a lawyer.

What we consider before using anonymous sources. Do the sources know the information? Whats their motivation for telling us? Have they proved reliable in the past? Can we corroborate the information? Even with these questions satisfied, The Times uses anonymous sources as a last resort. The reporter and at least one editor know the identity of the source. Learn more about our process.

Foreign service officers who have spent decades in the United States said in interviews that they had all encountered increased anxiety among undocumented immigrants, as several states have passed their own laws to deal with illegal immigration. But they said this was the most hostile national atmosphere for Mexicans in recent memory, making their jobs both more difficult and more urgent.

Scared by rumors and rhetoric, some consulates have heard of immigrants taking drastic steps to avoid the authorities, like keeping their children home from school, quitting their jobs or selling their homes for cash. And many immigrants may not immediately consider turning to the Mexican government for help.

There is an inherent feeling of vulnerability that comes with being undocumented in this country, and that vulnerability moves you to get away of anything that is official government, said Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez, the consul general in Austin, Tex., who estimates that about half of the 200,000 Mexicans living in the region are undocumented. The first challenge for us is to make sure that immigrants understand that the consulate is a safe place where they can get accurate information.

Like other consuls, Mr. Gonzalez has tried to assuage fears by appearing frequently on Spanish-language television and radio, offering information that American officials may not be willing to share. He has been careful to emphasize that the operations appeared to be targeted, not widespread raids as some feared, but also pointed out that several people without criminal records had also been arrested.
Who is he? Heres what we know:

Naturalized American citizen

Mr. Gorka is an American citizen who was born in Britain to Hungarian parents. He earned a Ph.D. in political science from Corvinus University of Budapest and has made his living as a national security expert with a focus on Islamist extremism.

He wrote a best-selling book, published last year, called Defeating Jihad: The Winnable War. In his Breitbart articles, he has criticized foreign policy under the Obama administration and trumpeted the threat of the Islamic State group.

Breitbart veteran and friend of Bannon

Mr. Gorka, 46, is a former editor for the far-right media outlet Breitbart News and a friend of Stephen Bannon, the former Breitbart chairman who is now a powerful assistant to Mr. Trump.

Until recently, Mr. Gorka was not well known to Washington policy makers. But his increasing visibility has brought headlines, some less welcome than others.

He has appeared in a number of television and radio interviews as a representative of the Trump administration and a member of a White House team called the Strategic Initiatives Group. The Daily Beast called it a think tank within the White House that was set up by Mr. Bannon and the presidents son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner.
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C.  President Trump, seeking to reset his stumbling presidency, hit the road for a photo op and returned to the simple economic message that got him elected, telling aircraft factory workers that were here to celebrate jobs.

The president toured a sprawling Boeing complex here, next to the airport, en route to a weekend in Florida that includes a stay at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, and a Saturday rally in Melbourne. Both are the kind of campaign-style events he has often turned to for a political and personal jolt in times of turmoil.

Were going to fight for every last American job, said Mr. Trump, adding that his focus was on jobs. He spoke after slowly walking in front of a gleaming new Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner at a slickly produced event that erased the lines between corporate and political branding.

God bless Boeing, Mr. Trump said after offering a similar benediction for the nation.

Swerving from the script loaded into the teleprompter, he joked with Boeings chief executive, Dennis Muilenburg, about continuing negotiations over the cost of building a new fleet of Air Force One jets (the current models are more than three decades old).
Mr. Turx tried to interject, realizing how the encounter had turned. He said he had wanted to clarify that he in no way meant to accuse Mr. Trump of anti-Semitism but instead intended to ask what his administration could do to stop the anti-Semitic incidents.

But Mr. Trump would not let him speak again, saying, Quiet, quiet, quiet. As Mr. Turx shook his head with an incredulous look on his face, Mr. Trump accused him of having lied that his question would be straight and simple.

Mr. Trump said, I find it repulsive. I hate even the question because people that know me. 

He went on to say that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, during his visit to the United States on Wednesday, had vouched for Mr. Trump as a good friend of Israel and the Jewish people and no anti-Semite.

Mr. Trump concluded that Mr. Turx should have relied on Mr. Netanyahus endorsement, instead of having to get up and ask a very insulting question like that.

Just shows you about the press, but thats the way the press is, Mr. Trump said.

At the news conference, Mr. Turx was referring to a rash of incidents that have shaken many American Jews since Mr. Trump was elected. On three separate days in January, Jewish synagogues, community centers and schools across the country received what seemed to be a coordinated wave of telephone bomb threats that led to evacuations and F.B.I. investigations. Other Jewish institutions have seen an uptick in vandalism and graffiti in the last few months.

It was the second time in two days that Mr. Trump was asked to denounce anti-Semitism and offer American Jews a dose of reassurance. In his joint news conference with Mr. Netanyahu, Mr. Trump responded to a question about anti-Semitism by breezily recounting the size of his Electoral College victory and then reminding the reporters that his daughter, Ivanka, his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and their three children  Mr. Trumps grandchildren  are all Jewish.

The Anti-Defamation League issued a statement on Thursday that said, It is mind-boggling why President Trump prefers to shout down a reporter or brush this off as a political distraction.
An award-winning police sergeant in Missouri has filed a discrimination lawsuit against his employer, alleging that he was told he would not be promoted unless he toned down his gayness.

The sergeant in the St. Louis County Police Department, Keith Wildhaber, said that over the years his performance reviews have said he exceeds standards or is superior in all categories. But in 2014, the suit says, after Sgt. Wildhaber became one of nine top candidates eligible to move up to lieutenant, he and another officer, who had disciplinary and performance issues, were the only ones denied promotion.

That same year, the lawsuit says, the sergeant was told by John Saracino, a member of the St. Louis County Board of Police Commissioners, which supervises the department, that the command staff has a problem with your sexuality.

If you ever want to see a white shirt (i.e., get a promotion), you should tone down your gayness, Mr. Saracino said, according to the suit.
For thousands of desperate sub-Saharan Africans, it is a foreboding but tantalizingly close passage to a better life: A 20-foot-high fence guarding the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, one of only two land borders between Europe and Africa.

Early Friday morning, as many as 600 African migrants stormed a gate in the five-mile-long barrier that separates Morocco from the seaside city of Ceuta on the tip of Morocco  some of them cutting themselves on the fences barbed wire or fracturing bones.

Even though some of the migrants were exhausted, bloodied and bruised as they gathered near a short-term immigration center in Ceuta, a city of about 85,000 people, they were jubilant.
They lived with suffering, physical suffering, she said in an interview. But now there is a psychic suffering, and often they say, Take me back there.

Because of their past they are all presumed guilty and it is unlivable for all of them and their families, she added. The families are being threatened and harassed. Parents in particular fear the Tunisian security forces and say they think their sons would be safer in Guantanamo, she added.

Raids have often been needlessly violent, she said; police officials break down doors and wake a suspect with a gun to his head, often in front of his wife and children. Everything is being done to create aggression in a person, she said. They do not need to raid the house at 2 a.m.

One of her former Guantanamo patients was harassed so relentlessly by police that he became suicidal and ran off to Syria, where he was killed. He was such a gentle person, she said sadly. By treating these people like this you create a climate of revenge and the sense that they have no place at home.

There is no doubt that Tunisia has a terrorism problem. It has been grappling with attacks from Al Qaeda-linked groups since 2013. The violence escalated to spectacular attacks in 2015 and 2016 that killed more than 70 people, many of them foreign tourists at a national museum and at a beach resort hotel.

Moreover, Tunisians reportedly make up the largest number of foreign fighters to have joined the Islamic State and other extremist groups in Syria and Iraq, and some have been encouraged to conduct attacks when they return home.

After an attack killed 12 members of the presidential guard in November 2015, the government imposed a state of emergency. At least 139 Tunisians have been placed under house arrest since, according to Human Rights Watch, which documented the cases in a report released in September. The sanctions have been justified in the context of countering terrorism but have left people facing stigmatization and unable to pursue studies and work, it stated.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia  A man from North Korea has been arrested in the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half brother of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the Malaysian police announced Saturday.

The man, identified as Ri Jong Chol, 46, was arrested Friday evening, the police said, but they provided no further details.

The police had been searching for four men, including at least one North Korean, who they believed had been involved in the attack on Mr. Kim on Monday at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Two women suspected of being involved in the attack, one from Indonesia and one from Vietnam, were arrested earlier in the week. A Malaysian man, described as the boyfriend of the Indonesian woman, was arrested and is said to be assisting the police in the investigation.
The ceremony aboard an Italian Navy ship in the port of Valletta, Malta, had all the trappings of a European Union affair. But the cadets being awarded certificates on a recent morning were an unusual group  89 Libyans who the European Union hopes can help solve its migrant problem.

Officers in the Libyan Coast Guard, they were trained by the Italians to intercept and rescue migrant boats near the Libyan coast before they reach international waters. Normally, European forces intercept migrant boats and must take them to Italy.

But if the migrants are picked up by the Libyans in their own waters, they can be taken back to Libya instead.

For European leaders, training the Libyan Coast Guard is in many ways an attempt, against long odds, to shift the answer to Europes migration crisis off its shores, and deal with it at the source.
POTSDAM, Germany  As the far right rises across Europe, its ascent in Germany has seemed among the most alarming and puzzling.

For decades, Germany was thought to be inoculated against far-right politics by its history with Naziism and the Holocaust. But today, Germany is experiencing a resurgence of the right  driven, at least in part, by its effort to overcome past misdeeds by suppressing any vestige of nationalism.

Since World War II, trying to define the German national identity, much less celebrate it, has been taboo. Doing so was seen as a possible step toward the kind of nationalism that once enabled the Nazi regime. Flags were frowned upon, as was standing for the national anthem.

But spurred by a sense of lost control over the countrys borders, economy and politics, many Germans are reaching for a shared identity but finding only an empty space. Into that vacuum slipped the Alternative for Germany, known by its German initials, AfD, the nations fastest-growing party with recent polls showing support at 12 percent, ahead of some mainstream parties.
European diplomats breathed a sigh of relief again, until Mr. Trump held a prolonged and chaotic news conference a few hours later in Washington.

Lets put it this way, the discrepancy between the presidents news conference and the way his cabinet is trying to reassure Europeans couldnt be wider, said Michael Werz, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, who was at the Munich conference.

Volker Perthes, the head of SWP, a policy research group based in Germany, said: Mattis speaks of defending the rules-based international order. I hope he can explain this to his boss.

What appeared to rattle people the most about Mr. Trumps news conference on Thursday were his attacks on members of the news media assembled before him. Several diplomats said they worried that Mr. Trump was trying to discredit a tenet of American democracy  a free press  and in so doing, might embolden despots around the world into further challenges to freedom of the press.

Struggling to explain how to assess the seeming chaos coming out of Washington, Michael Fallon, Britains defense minister, told reporters, You know, new administrations, you know, can take time to settle down.

In the crowded lounges and refined tearooms of Munichs Hotel Bayerischer Hof, where leaders and top officials were mingling, much of the talk on Friday was not about the panels on issues like the future of the European Union: united or divided, or the future of the West: downfall or comeback?

Instead, it was about Mr. Trumps Thursday news conference, which appeared to deeply unnerve a number of officials. Overheard conversations included one in which one European official said that the United States was now on the list of risk factors for Europe, echoing a concern expressed two weeks earlier by Donald Tusk, head of the European Council. German officials joked that American diplomats and civil service organizations could now qualify for German democracy funding  money designated for countries with struggling democratic institutions.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan  Hundreds of protesters  enraged, inconsolable and demanding justice  converged outside a revered shrine in southern Pakistan on Friday, one day after an Islamic State suicide bomber killed more than 80 people in the countrys deadliest attack in years.

As families held the first funerals for the victims, many of them women and children, protesters clashed with the police and set fire to a car before the authorities dispersed the crowds using tear gas and batons.
There was no mention on Thursday of President Trump on Russias state television, which suddenly went silent about the American president after months of fawning coverage. At the BBC, a prominent host found himself facing down charges of fake news by a Trump aide. And in China, one sarcastic commenter predicted on social media that Mr. Trump might be a Communist Party agent who would bring down the United States.

Around the world, observers reacted with anxiety, disbelief and humor to Mr. Trumps 77-minute news conference on Thursday, which occurred as his top diplomat and defense chief were in Europe trying to reassure Americas allies. Here is a sample of the reactions.

Russia

The Russian news media appears to be taking a step back from the brouhaha after Mr. Trumps national security adviser resigned over telephone conversations with Russias ambassador to Washington and the countrys intelligence efforts.

Rossiya 24, the cable news channel, halted its usually glowing coverage of the American president in an apparent sign of displeasure by the Kremlin. After months of heralding Mr. Trumps election as a new era in relations, the Russian government is facing the new administrations fidelity to established policies like demanding the return of Crimea to Ukraine.
The man told Mr. Canada that he had grown rich by buying and renovating foreclosed homes in another state. He invited Mr. Canada to invest, promising double-digit returns. Mr. Canada sent a cashiers check for $40,000  but has since been unable to contact the man. Mr. Canada has hired a lawyer and a private investigator, and he has written to the state authorities, but isnt optimistic about getting his money back. Hes a con man, Mr. Canada said. I was gullible, and I fell for it.

Some scams  gold investing, real estate schemes, and even one involving leases on A.T.M.s  may sound improbable after the fact, Mr. Shadel said, but victims report being persuaded  sometimes, because of word of mouth from friends or family.

Recognizing that you may have a predisposition toward risky behavior, like being open to pitches, may help you avoid being taken in, Mr. Shadel said. You can at least be aware of your psychological mind-set, he said. Consumers can take a quiz, based on the studys findings, on the fraud watch website.

Mr. Shadel urged consumers to deal only with regulated brokers and investments, and to ask and check: If you get a call from a broker, ask if he or she is registered with state and federal securities regulators, he said, and then check to see if its true.

You can check a brokers background though Finra, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, using its online BrokerCheck tool at www.finra.org, or by calling 800-289-9999.

Maggie Flowers, associate director for economic security with the National Council on Aging, said that older people should be skeptical of any offers, particularly unsolicited ones. Always ask for things in writing, she said, so you can think it through and talk through the options with a loved one or peers.

Here are some questions and answers about older people and fraud:

Are older people at risk for fraud only if they are wealthy?

No, Ms. Flowers said. Scam artists know that many older people have fixed incomes, which may make them vulnerable to fraud because they are open to hearing about ways to make money and pay their bills.
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Donald Trump's muslim ban

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Well, yes, despite the protestations of the Trumpites to the contrary, the Ban was intended to be a Muslim Ban. Giuliani gave it away when he said that of course Christians from the Seven Countries would be exempted. Trump's xenophobic, Islamophobic base knows exactly at whom it was aimed. And so, do the far-Right acolytes like Frank Gaffney, who have their own followings. Trump wanted to make sure that they would be on board with him, about the Ban as well as other policy initiatives. And of course, the Ban had nothing to do with "security."

I, as well as numerous others, have said that Trump is a fascist, of the 21st century variety to be sure. Here is my current definition of the term, in the Trumpian context:

A politico-economic system in which the Executive Branch of the Government: regards the Constitution as in place only on paper; disregards the Judiciary as a co-equal branch of government and accepts the Legislative Branch as a co-equal only when Executive Branch policies are supported by it; demonizes and then criminalizes all political, religious, and ideological opposition to its policies and programs; redefines the words "truth," "science," "data," "fact," and "reality" through the use of the Big Lie technique; regularly uses the Doctrine of White Supremacy/racism, xenophobia in general and Islamophobia in particular, and homophobia, to achieve political ends; suppresses the free vote by challenging the legitimacy of the electoral system; casts "the media" as a principal enemy, with the aim of suppressing dissent and promoting distrust in it and its reporting; all in service of creating and maintaining the control of State Power by the economically dominant sector of the capitalist ruling class: manufacturing, fossil fuels, agriculture/food, pharma/health services, retail, transportation, and banking/investment/financial services.

And so, the Ban can be seen very much in the light of this Administration very much intending to move along the road to the eventual institution of fascism.

First, if a fascist party has control of the Executive Branch of government and effective control of the Legislative branch, it has only two major checks on its authority and its forward movement to take control of the government as a whole, with authoritarian rule: The Judiciary and the independent media.

Stephen "non-reviewable" Miller, is a 31-32-year-old far right-winger has been on the anti-immigrant kick since his college days. His previous experience in government has been as a political flack for the likes of Michele Bachmann and Jeff Sessions. He became a front man for Trump during the campaign. These were apparently his principal qualifications for becoming a senior (sic) advisor in the White House. He was apparently the primary author of the Ban. It is too early to say whether or not he actually had in mind the possibility/probability that the Ban would meet with strong resistance in the Federal courts, and was salivating at the possibility of such a confrontation. But whether he, and Steve Bannon, set the case up precisely to get the judicial response that they did, it plays right into their hands: "We know what's best for the country, particularly when it comes to 'security,' and no court should stand in our way." Now that one has a clear 20th century fascist ring to it. They also had to know that the mainstream media would react the way that it did: with general condemnation. Furthering that confrontation that Bannon announced several weeks ago as well: all the better to serve the drive for fascism.

Then, what do fascist regimes, or regimes that want to become fascist and implement an authoritarian mode of government with Executive Branch dominance, need, at large in the population? They need a designated enemy and they need to cultivate fear. Well this one is perfectly designed to achieve those ends. Again, it is a Muslim Ban, regardless of what the Trumpites say publicly (and even regardless of what revised language that might put into the current Ban or might put into a substitute). The objective here is clearly to intensify Islamophobia at home. One can only wonder. Is a domestic Muslim Registry, which Trump did talk about for a bit on the campaign trail (here comes the yellow crescent), what is really on their agenda? "You know, it's the Muslims, both at home and abroad who are the cause of all of our troubles. Any of them might be, might become, or might harbor, a terrorist. We've got to know who and where they are." What an irony it would be if the U.S. Muslims became Trump's Jews.

And then, the cultivation and maintenance of fear. No fascist regime has ever gotten into power and remained there without it. There has not been a foreign "terrorist" attack in the United States since 9/11 (and of course the actual origins of that one are entirely uncertain ). There have been plenty of domestic ones. And of course, some of them were perpetrated by Muslims, except that they just happened to be U.S. citizens. It's the "foreign-born terrorists" about whom the fear must be generated (and who knows when the next false-flag attack might occur). (And of course domestic hate groups, of which there are hundreds , many of them potentially violent, cannot be a target. Why many of them support the Trump Agenda.) The Ban serves achieving that end perfectly.

And so, there are two ways that the Ban can be seen: either as a direct move towards fascism now or as a clear indication that making that move sometime in the not-too-distant future is exactly what the Trump-Pence Administration is in the midst of planning to do. Take your pick.

P.S.: Is an Emergency Powers Act next on the agenda, especially if there should just happen to be a "foreign terrorist attack"? After all, the Enabling Act, which gave Hitler his dictatorial powers, followed the Berlin Reichstag Fire, which indeed was a false flag attack.
It is quite predictable that the current group of Republican Trump supplicants, unaccustomed to caring for the public good as they are, will try to keep any investigation "in-house" where they can protect their politically pubescent boss. No matter how much Mr. Trump knew before his inauguration, no matter how involved he and his campaign may have been with the Russians, the current assortment of party hacks, as a group, will certainly defend him. Perhaps, under severe national pressure, a special investigator may be appointed. Unfortunately, if the Bush "Justice Department" is the model for the modern Republican law enforcement agency, instead of someone like "Pretty Boy" Patrick Fitzgerald, he of the Blagojevich fiasco (nailing the governor on one charge, of lying to a federal prosecutor, while his more competent successor succeeded on more than 30 other counts) and his non investigation of Dick Cheney, I would personally prefer someone who can read and write and maybe even count.

The fact that Trump and Secretary Tillerson have had questionable business dealings with the Russians which is de facto with the Russian government, that Flynn is an award winning Putin supporter and that frothing at the mouth Trump voters and cowardly Republican protectors are afraid to have any actual facts revealed, should send a chill down the spine of all American citizens. Consider the fact that Donald Trump is the only president in the last forty years who has been deathly afraid to release his tax information. The fact that he blatantly lied, stating that he would release them after his audit and then, after being elected, admitted he was lying the whole time, did not bother any of his fawning congressmen and senators.

Now, after revealing that Flynn and the Russian ambassador talked about U.S sanctions, the Russian press claims that the two actually did not do so. Whatever they talked about, the whole affair is a Russian propaganda coup by the master KGB agent, Vladimir Putin, incidentally the bromance interest of both Rex Tillerson and Donald Trump. Putin, of course, gets a pass from the Donald for all the Russians and Eastern Europeans that he may have killed during his (according to Trump) innocent KGB career as well as his equally "innocent" rise to power. This, according to the Donald, is because American leaders have done worse things. What he really means is either that W had more people killed in Iraq in the war (that Trump approved of before he disapproved) without stealing any oil or he's listening to "Trump's Brain," the schizoid Steve Bannon and his alternative right proposed globalist conspiracy supposedly led by Papa Bush and his cohorts, Blacks, Jews, Hispanics, Asians, gays, and especially women of all shapes, sizes, and substance.

At the rate this cowardly Republican Congress seems to be decompensating, it is an even bet as to whether they will end up as Americans or fascist followers. They have thus far virtually rubberstamped, a whole cotillion of cabinet members, over half of whom are completely unqualified or unfit for their jobs, something which history will certainly remind the few Republican senators that seem to still have a conscience. I wonder what they and their infantile president will say after they completely dismantle Dodd-Frank and plunge the country into another recession. Actually, I don't really wonder, do I. Mnuchin, Tillerson, DeVos and other billionaires can make "new" fortunes off of the misery they cause and begin buying up all of those failed business and corporations they purposely destroy. Just ask them! After you've had them for a while, "old" fortunes are so boring, you know. As for Donald, I can hear him now: " What, me lie? Kellyanne, where the hell is my binky and my Mad Magazine?"
Chalk up a big environmental win for the Cherokee Nation. On Friday, Feb. 10, the largest tribe of the Five Tribes and the largest Native nation in the country, legally acting in conjunction with the State of Oklahoma, was granted a restraining order against Sequoyah Fuels Corporation near Gore, Okla., to stop this corporation from dumping radioactive waste near the Arkansas and Illinois Rivers.

In the early days of Trump, this is indeed a big win. He has been aggressive, dangerous, and reckless in signing executive order after executive order, and he's stated that he's not concerned about environmental regulations. Industry, even big, dirty industry that emits poisonous byproducts, are Trump's golden chips. He could care less about pollution. Trump and his kakistocracy seem to want to make mass pollution 'the new normal'. Maybe strength in numbers helped, too, as far as the Cherokee Nation is concerned. Where smaller tribes and bands of American Indians seem to be getting stalemated by Uncle Sam - even by having established treaties ignored and trampled on by the ruling elites - the largest grouping of American Indians country-wide stopped a noxious werewolf right in its path and sent it running back into the woods.

"The Cherokee Nation is a staunch defender and protector of our natural resources," said Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker, as quoted in Earth First and Native News Online. "We will not stand idly by and allow the Arkansas River, one of our most precious resources, and the Cherokee community of Gore to be polluted. The Cherokee Nation will fight for the rights of our people to live safely in their communities, and for the rights of our future generations to inherit an environment free of hazardous pollution."

"Sequoyah Fuels Corporation was opened by Kerr-McGee in 1970 to convert yellowcake uranium into uranium hexafluoride, a compound that produces fuel for nuclear reactors. The company switched hands several times over the years before closing in 1993 after several releases of hazardous chemicals. In January 1986, one worker was killed and dozens more were injured after a cylinder of uranium hexafluoride ruptured. It has since been in the decommissioning process, under the authority of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission," a Feb. 10 posting of Earth Firstreads.

"During the decommissioning process, Sequoyah Fuels collected approximately 11,000 tons of uranium-contaminated sludge in several basins, lagoons and ditches at the site. In November of 2004, the state of Oklahoma, the Cherokee Nation and Sequoyah Fuels entered into a settlement agreement wherein Sequoyah Fuels agreed to spend up to $3.5 million to responsibly dispose of the waste off-site," the article continues.

According to official statements issued by the Cherokee Nation, the Sequoyah Fuels facility, which converted yellowcake uranium into fuel for nuclear reactors, left tons of uranium-contaminated sludge in many basins, lagoons and ditches at the site when it closed its operations here in 1993. The order will temporarily keep the company from disposing of the waste at the site and court records indicate that tribal and state officials want their own experts to review options for off-site disposal.



It's rather commonplace to see this seal displayed on the bumper stickers of cars in the Sooner State. The largest tribal grouping of American Indians live in Okloahoma, with nearly 190,000 enrolled members there and almost 300,000 members the world over.

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Well, as far as this writer sees things, all I can say is: Bravo, Cherokee Nation! Kudos to the State of Oklahoma, too! Although the site in question is already horribly polluted with radioactive waste, at least the rogue company responsible for this hellish mess has agreed to foot the bill for the cleanup of the site. Things won't be able to get worst, either, with further dumping of radioactive waste prohibited.

It's good to know that there are valiant vanguards out there, still, in America, to fight the ridiculous manifest destiny of environmental disaster that the Trump Administration seems to have set free on America. And although Trump cannot be implicated in any way with this toxic nightmare, this despotic lunatic doesn't care about pollution or its effects on the country, our people, our watersheds, lands, flora and fauna. Lord knows what the outcome would have been if it was up to him to decide on this issue. How would the two major river systems be effected if more dumping was allowed to continue?

All this dim-witted bully seems to be concerned about is making money. And if it was about making money for the parochial and provincial people in America's never-never lands - or, to put it bluntly, the very folks who voted Trump into office because they bought into his lies about the creation of 25 million high-paying jobs during his Presidency - this is still a dirty deal. When someone's livelihood is placed on a higher order than the well-being and the lives of others, it is time for the worker whose work poses a dangerous threat to others to find another line of work.

In the words of Native American Activist Wnona LaDuke, "Mother Earth needs us to keep our covenant. We will do this in courts, we will do this on our radio station, and we will commit to our descendants to work hard to protect this land and water for them. Whether you have feet, wings, fins, or roots, we are all in it together." And to use another voice from Native American Traditionalism and its antiquity: "When the last tree is cut down, the last fish eaten, and the last stream poisoned, you will realize that you cannot eat money." So in the meantime, until we have another healthy, pristine, wonderful planet where life can thrive to just skip off to at a moment's notice, let's try to keep this blue, green, and brown ball flying around in the Milky Way Galaxy as clean as we can. And Trump's ridiculous assumption that climate change was some myth started by the Chinese, well, that's just ridiculosity at its worst. Isn't that Trump's default blame button? If all else fails, I'll just blame the Chinese.

In all actuality, the only people who make money from industries like radioactive harvesting, Big Oil & Gas exploration, and a host of other noxious industries ranging from uranium mining to fracking to harvesting rare metals like gold, silver and copper, are a handful of top leaders in these industries. Owners of such heavily-polluting corporations, along with their cronies, have the biggest stake in the lion's share of profits. Why do you think Trump wants to be a good pal with Vladimir Putin? It's all about that Russian oil, baby, and that new Secretary of State we have who is also a Big Oil & Gas fat cat who will put his Exxon label, most likely, or some derivative of this brand, on all that untapped oil lying underground in the former USSR - well, Rex Tillerson wasn't chosen by Trump to be Secretary of State out of happenstance. No, Tillerson joined ExxonMobil in 1975 and served as the chairman and chief executive officer of the company from 2006 to 2016 and he got appointed under Trump so as to work with the Russian government on harvesting energy. Tillerson knows Putin well, along with other major players in the Russian oil and gas structure. There is a vast supply of oil in Russia, too, and with Tillerson, Trump, and Putin in cahoots together, that old song "Oil Always Love You" will be blaring far and wide throughout the Siberian forests and other outlying Soviet outbacks where a good portion of that black gold lies.

Trump's voting base thinks his promise of better jobs through a rebirth of heavy industry, which he's also said that he will see come to fruition under his rule, will increase their quality of life and add a big boost to their lifestyles. Sadly, this is also a lie. In comparison to the windfall profits enjoyed by the leaders of these industries, even the "high-paying jobs" being boasted by Trump and the fat cats in these noxious, dangerous, heavy pollution industries, well - the empty promises equate to mere peanuts for rank and file workers - as compared to the top dogs who manage and run things, especially in the energy sector. The work of extraction of fossil fuels and minerals is very dangerous. Workers must live in harrowing, lonely places for extended periods, far away from their spouses and their families. The high cost of living, the proclivity of workers to become lonely and depressed and turn to mind-altering chemicals to cope with such a dauntingly spartan life, along with the low quality of life experienced by those stuck in very remote villages located near oil rigs, fracking wells, radioactive mines, and mineral-extraction outposts, is enough to at least make many consider taking up another line of work. And a large majority take up other work after a time, as well, even for much lower wages. Because money can't buy happiness. Even sadder, nixed or renegotiated trade deals like NAFTA and the TPP have led to some economic reports by those who track the world's job markets that warn that most jobs created for Americans under the insane Trumpian promises will go to robots, not people. Have you ever witnessed a robot walk into a bank to cash a paycheck?

Still, the Native American community must savor this win with much relish. Just like those old movies where the cowboys always won and the Indians always lost, in the economics of the U.S.A.'s history, Native Americans and their bands, tribes, and nations have also come out as big losers. Uncle Sam has reneged on each and every one of about 500 treaties signed with a plethora of Indian tribes throughout history. And the land you're standing on right now? If you're standing on land in the 50 states known as the United States of America? Well it's Indian land. It always has been and always will be - as far as any Native American is concerned. This land was stolen by Europeans from Native Americans. Continuing this bipolar Eurocentric disease, Donald Trump set the wheelhouse back in motion for the further construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Keystone XL Pipeline just a few weeks ago, much to the chagrin of Native Americans everywhere in the country. After President Obama put an end to the further construction of these two venomous, crude-pumping snakes, "The Donald" gave his okay to both pipelines on Tuesday, Jan. 24, by scribbling his name on two executive orders. Influential Native American attorneys have set the legal wheelhouse in motion to sue Trump and the U.S. government over continuation of these pipelines.

Before signing these executive orders, I wonder if Trump knew that the crude carried from in or very near Hardisty, Alberta, Canada, will be some of the dirtiest crude oil in the world. I wonder if Trump knew that all pipelines leak and they cause environmental problems for the Indian reservations, cities, villages, along with lonely homes with not a neighbor within miles, and farms the pipeline will pass through, or near, along their pathways. And I also wonder if Trump knew one of the biggest things the Standing Rock Sioux are concerned about is that this pipeline, the Dakota Access Pipeline, is being planned to run underneath the Missouri River, a major source of the tribe's water supply, and also, the river is a water source for innumerable municipalities along its course. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe also relies on hunting buffalo to feed their families. The Missouri River is used to transport dead buffalo kills downstream since the carcasses of the heavy beasts are so heavy and hard to haul. Who wants to eat meat tainted with crude oil? What could possibly go wrong? Why in the world would the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe not vehemently oppose the further construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline?

Tribal leaders have also cautioned their people about the dangers of protesting, since who knows what kind of retaliatory measures peaceful water protectors will face under the Trump regime. Even though water cannons, trained attack dogs, rubber bullets, and exploding tear gas canisters are far from being safe and can leave lasting scars, live ammo from M-16s, tanks, and rocket launchers are much more dangerous. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is also interested in getting Trump and the federal government at the place where injury hurts the most - their pocket books and revenue lines. Civil suits are very good ways to negotiate things, after all. According to accounts, Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault, II, writes that it is "vitally important for his tribe to have our rights be heard by this Court before Dakota Access drills under Lake Oahe."

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Let us imagine two things. First, that the United States Voters' Rights Amendment has been enacted and ratified as the result of a mass, nonpartisan, political movement, and that we can take a time trip into the future to see the results. Let's visit that not-so-distant time and observe what the People have been able to accomplish--once they took control of their own government.

The Present Crisis. Standing amidst the shambles of the most divisive, least inspiring, and nastiest presidential election in American history--wondering what the future holds in a society increasingly dominated by corporations and the wealthy elite--it is difficult for many of us, particularly our young people, to imagine a bright and happy future.

The two-party electoral system of the United States has completely failed. The two major political parties no longer represent the great majority of the People, and they do not produce viable candidates for the presidency. Candidates do not address the most critical issues facing the Nation, nor do they offer solutions that benefit the People. Without a meaningful choice, voters are forced to select the lesser of two evils, or they give up and don't vote at all.

Having been sold to the highest bidder by its representatives, the government does not represent the People. The government and those seeking elective office deliberately deceive the People into acting contrary to their interests. Truth, honor, and fair dealing have no place in the political process--only raw power and the benefits it confers on the rich and powerful.

Many different initiatives to repair various elements of the electoral system have been proposed, including the curtailment of corporate constitutional rights. While the elimination of corporate personhood and control of campaign financing would be beneficial, they would not ensure the right to cast effective votes--which is the sine qua non of a democratic republic.

The Remedy. The United States Voters' Rights Amendment (USVRA) is a comprehensive electoral solution that not only provides the right to vote, but also addresses the various issues that interfere with the ability of the People to vote effectively. These include voter registration and suppression, paper ballots, voting holidays, popular elections, campaign financing, gerrymandering, and conflicts of interest; however, the USVRA goes much further. By requiring the government to tell the truth to the People and by providing the means to educate voters about their civic responsibilities, the Amendment allows the People to make political policy for themselves and to select responsible representatives who will implement their policies.

As a new Bill of Rights for voters, the USVRA will transform the United States government into a true representative democracy--one which will again serve as a model for other nations around the world.

The USVRA will reorient the government to the People and their society, and it will provide the means to make the government work for their benefit. It will nurture, rather than oppress, and it will help, rather than harm those who formed the government and to whom it belongs.

Humans have the inherent ability to evolve in order to meet new challenges. The only question is whether the American People have the collective strength of character and flexibility of mind to endure the process of change. If we believe strongly enough in ourselves, and if we are prepared to think for ourselves, we will do what is required to allow our children to survive and thrive in the new millennium.

The Vision. It is always difficult to accurately predict the future. At the time of those born only 20 years ago, Ipads, Ipods, smartphones, digital cameras and video recorders, fiber optic cables and satellite television, Facebook, YouTube, NetFlix, personal GPS systems, drones, Uber, and self-driving cars would have been considered by most to be pure fantasy. We have now witnessed all of these marvelous creations--plus many more--come true. What then of the future in just another 20 years? Will the world be a bright and happy place, or will it be dark and dismal? What's in store for those born today?

The year is 2037, and the government has come to care for and nurture the people who elect it. Knowledge is widespread, women participate equally, and the individual rights of everyone are protected and defended, irrespective of race or status.

The government tells the truth to its citizens, and it ensures that all students are educated about their government and their civic responsibilities. The University of the United States oversees the military academies and other service academies, such as justice, education, health, nutrition and agriculture, energy, transportation, economics, science, technology, government, and diplomacy. Students are allowed to specialize after first being instructed in the essential values and processes of a free and democratic government.

Rather than having to choose among policy platforms proposed by political candidates, the people more directly make their own policies through referenda, and they very carefully select representatives they trust to implement their policies.

Paid election holidays honor the voters, as they celebrate the most vital part of their political life. Informed voters demonstrate their power over their governments, as they thoughtfully answer the policy questions on their paper ballots and carefully write in the names of the candidates they choose.

Corporations, labor unions, and other fictitious legal entities no longer enjoy the constitutional rights of individuals. They are closely controlled and reasonably taxed to ensure they fairly share the burden of their existence, and they are not allowed to become so powerful as to threaten the rights and safety of individuals or the sanctity of self-government.

Freed from the corrupting influence of special interests and burdensome income taxes, the government is almost entirely supported by a slight toll tax on every financial transaction, including currency speculation, interbank loans, trade in stocks and bonds, and the payment for all goods and services throughout the economy.

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Senator Al Franken makes a connection with the actions of the Trump administration and the terrorization of people. It is important that Americans understand precisely the importance of what Franken said.

Jake Tapper is quick on his feet and heard the connection that Al Franken was making between what terrorists do and what Trump and his administration are doing.

The definition of terrorism is "the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims." The order between violence and intimidation doesn't matter; just that they occur.

Al Franken appeared on CNN's State of the Union with Jake Tapper. The following exchange excerpted from this video clip is important and must be understood.

Al Franken: I agree with Senator McCain and Senator Graham that, actually, this kind of ban is -- makes us less safe, because it gives a recruiting tool to ISIS and to other jihadists saying that America is anti -- is anti-Muslim. The Syrian refugees, they are fleeing terror. This -- you know, terror is -- the whole point of terror is to make you afraid. Jake Tapper: Right. Al Franken: I think that Trump and his group are trying to make Americans more afraid. I think that's part of how they got elected: Just make us more afraid. Jake Tapper: You're accusing the president -- president of terrorism by making -- by scaring people? Al Franken: Just because the purpose of terrorism is to make you afraid and the president has tried to make people afraid doesn't mean he's involved with... Jake Tapper: Right. OK. I just wanted to define the language. That's all.

Many people especially people of color are in fact petrified. They see the writing on the walls. Trump is attempting to make Americans afraid of the other. From his Muslim ban based on a false assertion that terrorism is growing in the U.S, a provably false statement to the fallacy that there is a crime epidemic, to the statement that crime is a huge growing problem in America, also provably false.

The intent is to make many afraid which will justify the violent crackdown on many communities, specifically those of color who are not inherently supporters of the Republican Party's distorted view of America and the world. These communities feel terrorized. And those who terrorize communities must be called out for what they are. Al Franken came close. Democrats, Independents, and empathetic Republicans need to finish the job.
From Mike Malloy Website

Any day now, Trump is going to be compelled to use those nuclear codes and launch ICBMs toward ... well, it depends. He and Steve Bannon and the too-young-to-drink Nazi, Steve Miller, and Reince and maybe even Pence will emerge from a secure room at Mar-a-Lago's gorgeous restaurant (the best ever built! truly!) with the name of the hapless, but necessarily disposable land mass.

It might be a small country in Africa or maybe one of those stupidly redundant "stans" (Turkmenistan? Tajikistan? Kyrgyzstan?). But, the Trump Inner Party will produce "irrefutable evidence" that the small country is preparing to send "dirty" bombs via FedEx directly to our nation's heartland. And off go the nukes to "keep America safe!" The depending factor will be what sort of dossier on Trump they possess and whether or not it includes video.

The missiles will also change everybody's focus from the lying, corrupt, deranged, unhinged day-to-day actions of this mob of skinny-tie usurpers who now use the White House for their hand-to-hand combat to see who eventually wins control of Trump's limited mind. (Bet on Bannon.)

Forgotten instantly will be the backed-up sewer that is our nation's "leadership" and all this pissy media-generated nonsense that National Security Adviser Michael Flynn is really a Kremlin mole in addition to being a lunatic. Right?

This, my fellow Americans, is called "wagging the dog" and it means to purposely divert attention from what would otherwise be of greater importance, to something else of lesser significance. And which is of the greater importance?

"Dirty bombs" going off in the Heartland? Or this silly nonsense about Michael Flynn's deep involvement with the Rabid Russian Bear, Vlad Putin?

No contest, actually. Forget about everything going on in the Fascist Trump's Inner Party. Think, instead, of the horror of "dirty bombs" in downtown Omaha.

See? No contest.

Happy Valentine's Day!
From WSWS

The Trump administration is facing an escalating political crisis following the Monday evening resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. There are growing calls from the media and sections of the political establishment for congressional investigations into Flynn's contacts with Russia prior to Trump's inauguration, and demands that Trump explain what he knew about the contacts and whether Flynn was operating with his knowledge and approval.

On Tuesday afternoon, it was reported that the FBI interviewed Flynn soon after Trump's inauguration about his telephone conversation with the Russian ambassador to Washington, Sergey Kislyak, on December 29, 2016. The call was secretly monitored and recorded by the National Security Agency.

The Washington Post revealed that Justice Department officials informed the White House several weeks ago that Flynn had discussed US sanctions on Russia with the ambassador, and that his repeated denials of that fact were false. A transcript of the Flynn-Kislyak conversation is reportedly circulating at the highest levels of official Washington.

In the corporate-controlled media, a series of commentators, serving as conduits for material provided by the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, have begun to raise the specter of impeachment or a Nixon-style forced resignation.

A raging conflict within the US ruling elite has erupted to the surface of American political life. The battle involves the major institutions of the capitalist state -- the White House, CIA, NSA, FBI and Pentagon -- as well as the leaderships of both the Democratic and Republican parties. At the center of this conflict are divisions over foreign policy and concerns within the military-intelligence apparatus that the Trump administration is not taking a sufficiently aggressive line against Russia.

The campaign against Trump is no less reactionary and militaristic than the new administration itself. It has a definite logic, leading to an escalation of the political and military confrontation with Russia, with potentially catastrophic consequences for the entire world.

This campaign is the central preoccupation of the Democratic Party. Throughout the final months of the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton repeatedly attacked Trump as a political stooge of Russian President Vladimir Putin, while presenting herself as the more reliable defender of American imperialism.

The issue was raised again during the post-election transition, with claims that "Russian hacking" was responsible for Trump's surprise victory. Following Trump's inauguration, the theme has been taken up once more, with congressional Democrats and a section of Senate Republicans acting as the political spearhead of the CIA and Pentagon.

Congressional Democrats seized on Flynn's resignation to raise the Watergate-era question, "What did the president know and when did he know it?" Their contention is that when Flynn telephoned Kislyak on December 29, the same day President Obama imposed new sanctions on Russia, Flynn was conveying assurances from Trump that those sanctions would be relaxed or discarded outright once Trump entered the White House.

The most strident comments came from Eric Swalwell of California, a member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, who declared that Trump aides "have improper relationships with Russia" and that Trump himself was implicated. "The Republicans may have the majorities in Congress and their candidate may have won the White House, but [the Democrats] are not helpless," he said. "We have the American people, and the American people will not be satisfied until they know whether the president is with us or with Russia."

Swalwell would have been more truthful if he had said the Democrats "are not helpless" because they have the CIA, the NSA and much of the Pentagon behind them, powerful sections of the state apparatus that have made an enormous strategic investment in preparing for war with Russia.

The Democratic Party oozes complacency and passivity when it comes to Trump's cabinet nominations and his issuance of anti-democratic and unconstitutional executive orders. This is because, whatever their tactical criticisms of these elements of Trump's policy, they are in line with the interests of the corporate and financial aristocracy that both parties represent. But when given the chance to wage a McCarthy-style campaign claiming that Trump is a Russian stooge, they charge into battle frothing at the mouth.

It is significant that sections of congressional Republicans, as well as Democrats, have distanced themselves from Trump over this issue. It is not just warmongers like John McCain and Lindsey Graham. The Senate Republican leadership has agreed to investigate alleged Russian interference in the US elections and to include Flynn's contacts with Russia within the scope of the inquiry.

US imperialism seeks to counter its declining world economic position by exploiting its unchallenged global military dominance. It sees as the principal roadblocks to its hegemonic aims the growing economic and military power of China and the still-considerable strength of Russia, possessor of the world's second-largest nuclear arsenal, the largest reserves of oil and gas, and a critical geographical position at the center of the Eurasian land mass.

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This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.



Syrian refugee crisis: We're failing to do our part - ABC News ...

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Recently, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote on Facebook and twitter,

To those fleeing persecution, terror and war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith " Diversity is our strength.

The rhetoric obscures the fact that whereas Canada seeks to present itself as a Saviour to refugees, the reality is that Canada's criminal foreign policies are creating the refugees in the first place.

Canada and its allies have stuck a knife into Syria, and they are vainly trying to decapitate its leadership -- using proxy terrorists -- and as cover they are cleaning up the blood from the wounded target, and pretending that they are saviours.

No, accepting refugees is not the solution. Ending the war and the illegal sanctions are the answer.

A study by The Lancet titled "Syria: end sanctions and find a political solution to peace" indicates that by the end of 2014, the cost of illegal sanctions imposed on Syria stood at US $143.8 billion and that 80 per cent of the population was living in poverty.

Moreover, in "National Agenda for the Future of Syria", Dr. Justine Walker explains that "the combined effect of comprehensive, unilateral sanctions, terrorist concerns and the ongoing security environment have created immense hurdles for those engaged in delivering immediate humanitarian aid and wider stabilization programmes."

But of course Canada is currently interesting in destabilizing Syria rather than stabilizing Syria, so the "hurdles" mentioned by Walker are intentional. Canada's publicly announced goal is to impose illegal "government change" on Syria, and to do so it is part of an orchestrated plan to "destabilize" Syria. Destabilization means "destroy". Canada is actively trying to destroy Syria with its support for terrorists and its support for illegal sanctions.

Syrian Hospital Director, Dr. Munir Rothman explained the on-the-ground results of unilateral illegal sanctions against Syria:

"We have seen the photos of Omran. It is sad, but there are many more Omrans. We have seen the maggots under the skin of injured children simply because of a lack of basic medical supplies. Children are dying from simple milk shortages in certain areas "." Importantly , he added that,

MSF (Doctors without Borders) supply nothing at all for government hospitals. I have colleagues in Europe who tried to raise funds for our hospital. They are not allowed to do so, yet doctors who support the so-called "rebels" have no such restrictions imposed on them.

Sanctions are so comprehensive, that they even restrict Syrian hospital attempts to replace equipment. Investigative reporter Vanessa Beeley explained in a Facebook commentary that, "Thanks to the US/EU sanctions it is becoming almost impossible to replace equipment. Research facilities have stopped altogether. Banks in France that worked with the hospital (University Hospital, Latakia) prior to 2011 will be sanctioned by the US if any medical equipment is allowed into Syria from France."

If Canada were to lift its criminal sanctions against Syria, then Canada would be taking a first step towards being part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

Instead of furthering the causes of peace and justice, however, criminal Western mainstream media outlets will likely continue to accept the government's degenerate lies and distortions, Canada's fake "left/progressives" will continue to embrace the toxic narratives, and the only one's providing a real solution to the on-going tragedy will continue to be Syria and its allies.

Tulsi Gabbard Video:

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The Washington Post proclaims: "Protesters mob provocative Va. governor candidate as he defends Confederate statue." Six seconds of video of the incident involved is likely to show up eventually here or here.

I was there on Saturday shouting down the "provocative" celebrator of racism and war, together with my kids and some friends. The only hostility I saw came from supporters of keeping the giant statue of Robert E. Lee in the park here in Charlottesville.

This was an email I had sent around the night before:

"Republican Candidate for Governor Corey Stewart is coming to Charlottesville Saturday to do a Facebook Live event at 10:00 AM in Lee Park to denounce the Charlottesville City Council for voting to remove a symbol of racism and war. Here's a report on his efforts to deport immigrants. Here's an announcement of Saturday's event. Please show up at 9:45 and bring posters. Here are some ideas:

Black Lives Matter

Celebrate Racism and War Somewhere Else

Love Beyond Flags

Love Trumps Hate

Welcome Refugees, Not Bigots

make up your own!"

These were the chants that were chanted and which I joined in on:

"Hey Hey Ho Ho White Supremacy Has Got to Go!"

"You take Lee. We'll take freedom!"

"Well what are you?" demanded a bewildered elderly white man of me when I opposed white supremacy and failed to be impressed by his showing me an American flag and shouting "This is an American flag!"

Presumably he didn't suppose you could look at someone and tell that they were a white supremacist. Presumably he just didn't make a distinction between being white and being a white supremacist. What am I? I'm a human being. You can put whatever antiquated labels you like on my appearance, but I'm not on your team if everyone isn't.

"But he wasn't a racist!" a woman explained to me about General Lee. Is that the point? To arrive at the mental state of the dead guy depicted in the sculpture? This monumental soldier on a horse was put in a whites-only park by a wealthy racist in the 1920s. And if that urban "benefactor," too, was "not a racist," that hardly impacts the fact that thousands of people are offended by the statue and its glorification of war -- and of war for the maintenance and expansion of slavery.

"You don't want war? Well, this statue makes people think before they go to war?" I was told.

"Yeah, a glorified giant on a horse does that?"

"Yes, look at how he's contemplating."

"A realistic depiction of war would show missing limbs and screams of agony."

"Why in the world would you want to do that?"

"To make people think before they go to war."

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From The Guardian



Free Chelsea Manning

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To those who have kept me alive for the past six years: minutes after President Obama announced the commutation of my sentence, the prison quickly moved me out of general population and into the restrictive housing unit where I am now held. I know that we are now physically separated, but we will never be apart and we are not alone. Recently, one of you asked me "Will you remember me?" I will remember you. How could I possibly forget? You taught me lessons I would have never learned otherwise.



When I was afraid, you taught me how to keep going. When I was lost, you showed me the way. When I was numb, you taught me how to feel. When I was angry, you taught me how to chill out. When I was hateful, you taught me how to be compassionate. When I was distant, you taught me how to be close. When I was selfish, you taught me how to share.

Sometimes, it took me a while to learn many things. Other times, I would forget, and you would remind me.

We were friends in a way few will ever understand. There was no room to be superficial. Instead, we bared it all. We could hide from our families and from the world outside, but we could never hide from each other.

We argued, we bickered and we fought with each other. Sometimes, over absolutely nothing. But, we were always a family. We were always united.

When the prison tried to break one of us, we all stood up. We looked out for each other. When they tried to divide us, and systematically discriminated against us, we embraced our diversity and pushed back. But, I also learned from all of you when to pick my battles. I grew up and grew connected because of the community you provided.

Those outside of prison may not believe that we act like human beings under these conditions. But of course we do. And we build our own networks of survival.

I never would have made it without you. Not only did you teach me these important lessons, but you made sure I felt cared for. You were the people who helped me to deal with the trauma of my regular haircuts. You were the people who checked on me after I tried to end my life. You were the people that played fun games with me. Who wished me a Happy Birthday. We shared the holidays together. You were and will always be family.

For many of you, you are already free and living outside of the prison walls. Many of you will come home soon. Some of you still have many years to go.

The most important thing that you taught me was how to write and how to speak in my own voice. I used to only know how to write memos. Now, I write like a human being, with dreams, desires and connections. I could not have done it without you.

From where I am now, I still think of all of you. When I leave this place in May, I will still think of all of you. And to anyone who finds themselves feeling alone behind bars, know that there is a network of us who are thinking of you. You will never be forgotten.
Reprinted from theintercept.com

LEADING CIVIL RIGHTS groups who for many years have been heavily bankrolled by the telecom industry are signaling their support for Donald Trump's promised rollback of the Obama administration's net neutrality rules, which prevent internet service providers from prioritizing some content providers over others.

The Obama administration's Federal Communications Commission established net neutrality by reclassifying high-speed internet as a regulated phone-like telecommunications service, as opposed to a mostly unregulated information service. The re-classification was cheered by advocates for a free and open internet.

But now Trump's new FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, a former Verizon attorney, is pushing to repeal the net neutrality reform by rolling back that re-classification -- and he's getting help not only from a legion of telecom lobbyists, but from civil rights groups.

In a little-noticed joint letter released last week, the NAACP, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, OCA (formerly known as the Organization for Chinese Americans), the National Urban League, and other civil rights organizations sharply criticized the "jurisdictional and classification problems that plagued the last FCC" -- a reference to the legal mechanism used by the Obama administration to accomplish net neutrality.

Instead of classifying broadband as a public utility, the letter states, open internet rules should be written by statute. What does that mean? It means the Republican-led Congress should take control of the process -- the precise approach that is favored by industry.

None of the civil rights groups that signed the joint letter responded to a request for comment.

It's not the first time civil rights group have engaged in lobbying debates seemingly unrelated to their core missions, but in favor of their corporate donors. At a time when OCA received major funding from Southwest Airlines, the group filed a regulatory letter on behalf of the airline in support of Southwest's bid to open flights at Houston airport. The NAACP, after receiving financial backing from Wal-Mart, helped the retail chain during its contentious bid to open stores in New York City.

Telecom issues, however, are a particular specialty. Last week's letter was organized by the Multicultural Media, Telecom & Internet Council (MMTC), a group funded by the telecom industry that has previously encouraged civil rights groups to oppose net neutrality. MMTC in previous years reported receiving about a third of its budget from industry-sponsored events; its annual summit, which was held last week, was made possible by $100,000 sponsorships from Comcast and AT&T, as well as a $75,000 sponsorships from Charter Communications and Verizon.

read the rest of the article at theintercept.com
From The Nation

Impeachment is not a legal mechanism, it's a political act. The founders intentionally employed the catch-all phrase "high crimes and misdemeanors" to give guardians of the American experiment leeway for holding presidents, vice presidents, cabinet members and other errant officials to account. An impeached official is not charged by a prosecutor and tried in the courts; nor is he or she jailed or fined if found guilty. An impeached official is charged by the House of Representatives, tried by the Senate, and removed from office if convicted.

That is a sufficient remedy, as the point of impeachment is to protect the republic, to preserve the rule of law, to maintain proper checks and balances and to respect the US Constitution.

Congressman Mark Pocan, D-Wisconsin, has been explaining this essential premise of the American experiment as he has begun talking in recent days about impeachment. Pocan has spoken, as members of Congress should, with an eye toward "keeping every option open to try to get this administration to function like any other administration in the past -- Democrat or Republican. Clearly," the congressman says, "one of those remedies is the power of impeachment."

The Trump White House is rattled by any criticism, any expression of dissent. So it should come as no surprise that Trump aides have attacked the very mention of "impeachment" as "extreme rhetoric from a completely out-of-touch party." But there is nothing extreme about noting that impeachment was fashioned as a tool for holding members of the executive branch to account.

Using a map of the Middle East to illustrate "another round of questions about President Trump's potential conflicts of interest over his business holdings," Pocan pointed to the countries that were targeted by Trump's executive order restricting travel from predominantly Muslim countries. "These seven countries do have at least one thing in common," he noted. "According to Bloomberg News, the Trump Organization does not have business or pursued business deals in any of them."

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"He's the most sanctimonious student I think I ever encountered," said John Burness, Duke's former senior vice president of public affairs and government relations. "He seemed to be absolutely sure of his own views and the correctness of them, and seemed to assume that if you were in disagreement with him, there was something malevolent or stupid about your thinking. Incredibly intolerant."- Duke University Vice President on President Donald Trump's top policy advisor Stephen Miller. [New York Daily News February 13, 2017]

In other words the young man, now 31 years old, is a pompous jackass whose arrogance may portend a looming embarrassing disaster for the Trump Administration. And don't take my words for it. MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, host of the "Morning Joe" TV program recently blasted Miller as a "very young person in the White House on a power trip thinking that you can just write executive orders and tell all of your Cabinet agencies to go to hell."

Ah, yes, this guy who believes that Donald Trump is a resurrected reincarnation clone of Julius Caesar and Caligula, the new overlord of the American people and the world, only claim to fame is that he is a rabid, right wing blowhard, who wormed his way into Donald Trump's inner circle and toadied up to the mercurial United States President. As Trump's key policy advisor, bereft of any policy crafting experience or understanding of United States constitutional law, international diplomacy norms or relations between people, Miller is a square peg in round hole. A person breadth-takingly unqualified for this important position.

But he's loyal to Trump and is obviously prepared and well suited to be the president's mouthpiece as recent events proved so conclusively. On a recent Sunday edition of Face the Nation Stephen Miller got to loudly, and in a military-style voice, tell America and the world that, "the powers of the president to protect our country are very substantial and will not be questioned." Looking at Miller I immediately experienced mixed feelings of anger that "we the people" should be "talked down" to so bluntly, and a pang of genuine sorrow for so misguided and delusional a young man while still being surprised at his condescending tone and arrogance. The man's a supercilious jerk I concluded.

I quickly regained my composure and realized with some degree of alarm that Miller is just one of many of President Trump's White House staffers who lack both experience and education in quite a number of areas. From his education secretary who hates public education to his EPA pick who once wanted to abolish this department or could not remember that he wanted to kill it. Indeed, the most educated secretary in the Trump Cabinet is a man knows how to perform brain surgery. Incredibly, he's now the Secretary of Housing.

So understanding a young man at the very height of his short career in politics we might want to be charitable to both his ignorance and arrogance. But the danger here is that he's promoting President Trump's adversarial and troubling relationship with the United States Constitution and with the notion of truth telling itself. Miller's grandiloquent and pompous statement about Trump's powers is not only misleading but runs counter to the constitution and is patently untrue. It's a categorical lie, plain and simple.

But let me digress here a bit. Imagine, if you will, that someone in President Barack Obama's Administration would go on national television and ascribe to the former president the dictatorial powers that Miller gave to Trump, and the Republican outrage would have been swift and loud. Infact, Republicans and their supporters demonstrated all over the place when they were told that Obamacare was too much big government and that a government mandated insurance marketplace was way too much power for the federal government.

Yet there was hardly a whisper for a guy giving near monarchial powers to the President of the United States in DIRECT violation of the United States Constitution. And the same media has been almost apolegetic about a president who turned his dinner table in Florida into a Situation Room to discuss North Korea's rocket launch and its implications for United States and allied national security. Could you imagine the uproar had President Obama done that?

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From To The Point Analyses

Part I -- Dysfunction

There is something both horrifying and fascinating about the behavior of President Trump, as we watch him fail to cope with -- or perhaps even recognize -- the differences between the no-holds-barred world he created for his campaign and the much more polite and temperate world expected of leaders of a constitutional government.

As a result, the present White House appears to be a dysfunctional place. Apparently neither President Trump, nor most of his staff, have considered that there are real differences, different rules of behavior, between private and public life. Maintaining the model of the abusive boss, the know-it-all CEO (Trump's preferred modus operandi), has, in quick order, proved both inappropriate and self-defeating. Here then are some of the consequences:

-- The president has refused to stop being the avaricious businessman and relinquish control of his assets. As a result he will soon be facing an increasing number of lawsuits brought by various ethics organizations charging that his refusal to place his holdings in a blind trust violates the "emoluments clause" of the Constitution. The contention is that this can only lead to "scandal, corruption and illegitimacy."

-- The rush to impose a ban on immigration into the United States from seven predominantly Muslim countries -- imposed by executive order within 10 days of inauguration -- proved a sloppy piece of work. Trump simply assumed public opinion to be on his side and that that opinion could stand in for legal legitimacy. It didn't work. The ban caused chaos and hardship, and quickly the courts temporarily set it aside as unconstitutional. The Justice Department lawyers, who had largely been kept out of the loop by the White House, did not have evidence that there was any real danger, historically or immediate, from immigrants of the countries cited in the ban. Pending a "total rewrite" or an appeal to the Supreme Court, Trump's immigration ban is at a dead end.

-- In the meantime, Trump has, in a manner that has become typical for him, attempted to delegitimize judicial opposition -- opposition that anyone who is constitutionally savvy knows is solidly lawful. Thus, his "so-called judge" statement. It may be an indication of the president's enduring immaturity that he believes that anyone who stands in his way is a target for bullying and slander. And, indeed, in the private sphere where Donald Trump has been able to use his money to make his own rules, this tactic, apparently, did sometimes work. So, as if by habit, he has carried it over to the public sphere, where it is completely out of place and only makes him look childish. Except to those adoring fans who were so visible on the campaign trail, his loose verbiage also makes Trump look like a "loser." Trump's own nominee for the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, has described the president's bad-mouthing the appeals court judge who suspended the immigration ban as "disheartening" and "discouraging."

There is one other point that is to be made about this "so-called judge" episode. It has turned the judge involved, James Robart (who is himself a "mainstream" Republican), into a potential target for violence. Having used abusive language throughout his campaign and seen the emotions it aroused, Trump is very likely to be aware that he is risking incitement to violence.

-- There are many other moments of Trumpian bluster, such as his yelling at the Australian Prime Minister during an official phone call, or his threatening to send troops across the Mexican border during a call to the president of Mexico. All of this might reinforce his image as a tough guy, but in the political and diplomatic world that now holds him in a spotlight, he starts to remind people of other past cases of bullies in power, most of whom happen to be fascists of the 1920s and '30s.

Part II -- A Shift in Protest Personnel

As a result of Trump's bravado, there has been a rapid shift in public activism from Right to what in the U.S. passes for the Left. Just as is the case with the populist Republicans, there is a segment of the Democratic Party base that feels disenfranchised. Some of them tried to do something about this by backing Bernie Sanders. But that was unsuccessful. However, with Trump's victory, right-wing populism abated, and almost immediately, it was replaced by the inchoate mass of "Left" populists you see hitting the streets today. It is the Sanders folks plus a whole array of special interest groups who feel very threatened by an empowered Right. There is no reason to believe that the anti-Trump array is going to be intimidated and give up. Indeed, the Left activists' challenge is to coalesce into a real united front.

That should be made easier if Trump stays true to form, lurching from one outrageous move to another. And all the signs point down that road. The "so-called president" has ratcheted up his deportation efforts, allowing individual immigration officials discretion to go after any immigrant without proper documentation no matter of what age or the length of time they have been here. This is the equivalent of giving an army open-ended marching orders, and it is bound to result in abuses of power.

He has begun his wall project for the southern border -- an effort modeled after Israel's infamous and illegal "separation (aka apartheid) wall." He has begun the gutting of environmental and consumer safety regulations, a move which will poison the air and water for the sake of greater corporate profit. He has started to deregulate the banks -- a strategy that, historically, has always eventually led to economic crisis. And, of course, attacking abortion and LGBT rights is also on his agenda. There is enough here to keep millions agitated for at least the next four years.

Part III -- Opportunities and Risks

Thus, even though we are still early in his administration, there is no sign that anyone can control the President's addiction to gaffes. He is an immature, thin-skinned egotist, and in the end, this may well cost the Republicans dearly.

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Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams, the top prosecutor with a tarnished reputation for turning a blind-eye to following ethics rules, has clearly seen the proverbial handwriting on the wall.

Williams, a few days ago, announced that he would not seek reelection to a third term. That surprise announcement evidenced belated recognition by Williams that his quest for reelection would be an uphill struggle if not an impossible mission thanks to fallout from his many ethical failings and questionable practices, as well as ongoing criminal investigations into his finances by the FBI and IRS.

That DA career-ending announcement by Williams came weeks after Philadelphia's Ethics Board slapped this once promising and popular politician with a $62,000 fine for his failure to file mandatory financial disclosure forms for five years. His fine -- the largest ever levied by Philadelphia's Ethics Board -- faulted Williams for not reporting over $160,000 in gifts that included fancy vacations and expensive jewelry, including from attorneys with clients prosecuted by Williams' office.

Williams claimed, improbably, that he merely forgot to file the mandatory disclosure forms from 2010 to 2015.

But that claim fails the laugh test because Williams once served as Philadelphia's Inspector General, the post tasked with ethics rule enforcement. During his announcement about withdrawing from reelection, Williams apologized for the embarrassment and shame he brought on the District Attorneys Office.

Williams' re-election prospects were already in doubt due to erosions of support among his core constituency in the black community and his calculated ultimately unsuccessful effort to cultivate support from Philadelphia's police union. That labor organization, the Fraternal Order of Police, has a history of reflexively backing police brutality and misconduct that primarily impacts blacks in the so-called City of Brotherly Love.

In recent weeks the FOP launched attacks on Williams arising in part from his decisions not to prosecute civilians who had questionable confrontations with police officers. Those FOP attacks included an anti-Williams billboard on the major interstate highway that runs through the center of Philadelphia.



Williams and Philly FOP prez in better times.

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Meanwhile, Philadelphia's NAACP branch recently blasted Williams for failing to prosecute three white men involved in a fatal building collapse while gaining the convictions of two poor black men connected with that incident. A civil trial jury in that building collapse recently found that the men Williams refused to prosecute were most responsible for that fatal incident. That jury verdict produced a settlement providing nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in damages to victims of that collapse.

Williams was already under fire in Philadelphia's black community for his prosecution of five black state representatives for their failure to report gifts on financial disclosure forms --- the same failure that Williams committed which led to his record-setting Ethics Board fine.

The total value of all 'gifts' received by those five legislators was less than half of the value of just one gift Williams received in 2013: $45,000 worth of roofing repairs on his home.

Autopsies of Williams' fall from grace in Philadelphia's news media fail to note a failing that produced international condemnation of this top prosecutor: his repeated, gratuitous assaults on imprisoned Philadelphia journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal, a Philadelphia journalist widely considered to be an American political prisoner because of how politically corrupted his trial and appeals process has been.

One such assault came in early 2014 when DA Williams, a Democratic, aligned himself with Tea Party Republican Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Pat Toomey to help torpedo President Obama's nomination of a respected lawyer to head the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department.

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In December 2001, a little over 15 years ago, I was on the small five-person team that reopened the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. Now 15 years later, the same questions we asked almost two decades ago are being asked about the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and we are getting many of the same answers.

The questions are: why have we been in Afghanistan for 15 years and where are the billions of dollars the U.S. put into Afghanistan?

And the answers are the same year after year -- the U.S. is in Afghanistan to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda, (and now other extremists groups) so they can't attack the United States. For 15 years, the most advanced and well-funded military in the world has attempted to defeat the Taliban and Al Qaeda, arguably the least funded and least equipped militia forces in the world, and has not succeeded.

Where has the money gone? Much has gone to Dubai for apartments and condos for Afghan leaders and to contractors (U.S., Afghan and others) who have made millions off the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan.

At the February 9, 2017, Senate Armed Services committee hearing on Afghanistan, John Nicholson, the commanding General of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, answered questions for two hours in the Senate hearing about U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. He also submitted a 20-page written statement on the current situation in Afghanistan.

In response to one Senator's question, "Is Russia meddling in Afghanistan?" Nicholson responded: "While Russia has counter-narcotics about Afghanistan and terrorist attack concerns from the extremist groups in Afghanistan, since 2016 we believe Russia has been helping the Taliban in order to undermine the U.S. and NATO mission. The Taliban is the medium through which other extremist groups operate in Afghanistan. We are concerned about the increasing cooperation between Russia and Pakistan that continues to provide a sanctuary for Taliban senior leadership. Russia and Pakistan have held joint military exercises in Pakistan. We and our Central Asian allies are nervous about Russian intentions."

Nicholson said, "progress continues to be made on the U.S. mission of training, advising and assessing (TAA) the Afghan security forces." No Senator asked why after 16 years the U.S. has to continue to do the same training -- and how long this type of training had to go on to train forces capable of defeating the Taliban and other groups.

Nicholson said that U.S. and NATO had committed to a minimum of four more years in Afghanistan at the NATO conference in Warsaw, Poland in July 2016. At a donor's conference in Brussels in October 2016, 75 donor countries offered $15 billion for the continued reconstruction of Afghanistan. The U.S. will continue contributing $5 billion per year through 2020.

In his written statement Nicholson added that 30 other nations pledged more than $800M annually to fund the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) until the end of 2020 and that in September, India added $1B to the $2B it already committed to Afghanistan's development.

Since 2002, the U.S. Congress has appropriated more than $117 billion for Afghanistan's reconstruction (training Afghan security forces, standing up the Afghan government, providing health care and education to the Afghan people, and developing the Afghan economy), the largest expenditure to rebuild any country in the history of the United States.

Nicholson said the 8,448 U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan now must remain to protect the U.S. from extremist groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan where 20 of the 98 designated terrorist groups in the world are located. He said there is no cooperation between the Afghanistan Taliban and ISIS, but that most ISIS fighters come from/through the Pakistani Taliban.

A year ago, as of March 2016, there were approximately 28,600 Department of Defense (DOD) contractor personnel in Afghanistan, compared to 8,730 U.S. troops, with contract personnel representing approximately 77% of the total DOD presence in country. Of the 28,600 DOD contractor personnel, 9,640 were U.S. nationals and approximately 870, or about 3%, were private security contractors.

Since the military troop levels have remained the same in the past year, one would extrapolate that the number of civilian contractors is about the same for 2017 for a total of about 37,000 U.S. military personnel and DOD contractors in Afghanistan.

The largest number of U.S. military in Afghanistan was 99,800 in the second quarter of 2011 and the highest number of military contractors was 117,227 of which 34,765 were U.S. nationals was in the second quarter of 2012 for a total of approximately 200,000 U.S. personnel in the country, excluding State Department employees and contractors. Data on the numbers of State Department personnel and contractors each year in Afghanistan is not available.

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By Dave Lindorff



NSC chief Michael Flynn was brought down by a monster he helped create

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There's a delicious irony in the downfall of Michael Flynn, President Trump's National Security Advisor, who resigned his post just 24 days after his appointment.

A retired three-star Lt. General, Flynn had previously been director of the Defense Intelligence Agency during the Obama administration. In that role since 2012, he was a key player in the leadership of the sprawling $50-billion US intelligence apparatus that has increasingly been spying not just on Americans but on US allies and, to the extent possible, on the entire world. Flynn, as DIA director, was the top guy in charge of the so-called "Five Eyes" group of intelligence agencies-- all English-speaking nations including the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada -- which has coordinated spying on citizens of those nations as well as on the citizens and leaders of such supposed NATO allies as Germany, France, Italy, Spain etc.

Knowing all this, it's simply astounding to learn that Flynn himself was using apparently un-encripted email, phones and texting to communicate with, of all people, the Russian Ambassador to the US, discussing such issues as potentially lifting sanctions imposed on Russia by the sitting president of the United States, Barack Obama.

His political implosion is doubly ironic because Flynn was one of those who was loudly condemning Trump's presidential opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, for her use of a private server for her official State Department business, and for her general lax security standards (he actually led a "Lock her up!" chant at one Trump rally!). Because clearly Flynn was not using secure communications in his own conversations with the Russian ambassador -- communications that are now widely circulating in complete transcript form courtesy of US spy agencies like the National Security Agency.

Talk about someone being hoist upon his own petard!

You'd think that seeing the kind of trouble the NSA's "collect it all" motto can wreak even for the powerful and seemingly invincible, Washington's elite might rethink what the NSA is doing?

But nah, I wouldn't count on that happening. There's more likely to be a lot of schadenfreude among those, both Democrats and traditional Cold War Republicans, who want to see Trump and his band of bozos go down, but hubristic to a fault, they're not going to go so far as to think, "Hey, this could as easily happen to me!"

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Friday, February 17, 2017

The North Dakota Supreme Court rejected the assertion of an attorneys' lien because the former client had no interest in the subject real property.

DeWayne Johnston, individually, and as registered agent of Johnston Law Office, P.C., appeals from a judgment invalidating a notice of attorney lien recorded against Johnston's former client and ordering Johnston Law Office and Johnston, individually, to pay $1,330 in costs and attorney fees. We modify the judgment to relieve Johnston of personal liability and affirm the judgment as modified.

Wayne and Janel Nusviken acquired real property from Johnston's former client Barbara McDermott on October 2, 2013. On October 8, 2013, Johnston recorded a "notice of attorney lien" against McDermott. The notice of attorney lien included the legal description of Nusviken's property and stated McDermott owed Johnston nearly $66,000 in attorney's fees relating to Johnston's representation of McDermott in earlier matters unrelated to the sale of the property.

The Nusvikens petitioned the district court to invalidate the notice of attorney lien, arguing McDermott no longer owned any interest in the property. The court issued an order to show cause directing Johnston to appear and show why the notice of attorney lien should not be declared void. At the hearing, Johnston argued the notice of attorney lien was not a nonconsensual common-law lien but a valid attorney's lien under N.D.C.C.  35-20-08, and therefore, the court did not have jurisdiction to invalidate the lien. In response Nusviken's attorney stated the notice of attorney lien was invalid because McDermott no longer had an interest in the property and no attorney-client relationship existed between Johnston and the Nusvikens. The court concluded the purported lien was a nonconsensual common-law lien and not a valid attorney's lien because it failed to satisfy the statutory requirements for an attorney's lien under N.D.C.C.  35-20-08. The court invalidated the lien and ordered the Johnston Law Office and Johnston, individually, to pay the Nusvikens $1,330 in costs and attorney's fees.

No lien on thee

We agree with the district court's analysis. The notice of attorney lien recorded by Johnston against McDermott referenced two cases in which Johnston represented McDermott. Johnston did not submit any evidence indicating a judgment was awarded in favor of McDermott or that she was due any money in those cases. McDermott no longer had an interest in the real property when Johnston recorded the notice of attorney lien, nor did Johnston represent McDermott in the land sale to the Nusvikens. Johnston appears to argue it had a valid attorney's lien simply because the document is titled "notice of attorney's lien." As the district court noted, however, the document on its face failed to meet the requirements of N.D.C.C.  35-20-08. The district court did not err by invalidating Johnston's "notice of attorney lien."

Johnston argues the district court lacked jurisdiction because under N.D.C.C.  35-35-05(1) only those who have property subject to nonconsensual common-law lien may petition the court to invalidate the lien. Johnston also argues that before entering the order to show cause the court was required to make a finding that the Nusvikens were subject to a nonconsensual common-law lien...

Here, there was no attorney-client relationship between Johnston and the Nusvikens. We decline to extend Amundson to an attorney's improper or unethical actions toward parties who are not clients. We therefore modify the judgment to relieve DeWayne Johnston of personal liability.

(Mike Frisch)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2017/02/the-north-dakota-supreme-court-rejected-the-assertion-of-an-attorneys-lien-because-the-former-client-had-no-interest-in-the-s.html
From Reader Supported News

If Michael Flynn was forced to resign, it was a foregone conclusion that the Trump/Bannon/Miller-run White House would distance itself from "Flynn's" actions. Appearing telephonically on MSNBC, retired four-star general Barry McCaffrey, however, said he could not imagine a scenario in which Flynn could have communicated with Russian officials regarding sanctions without then-President-elect Trump being on-board. If true, that leaves one dangerously irresponsible individual separated from the national security apparatus and at least one other in total control of it.

Russia does not appear to be on-board.

Multiple reports circulating today indicate a substantial increase in provocative military acts by Russia toward US assets: a Russian spy ship (in international waters) off the Delaware coast, the deployment of a ground-launched cruise missile in violation of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, and reports of Russian war planes "buzzing" a US destroyer operating in the Black Sea.

It should be noted that these acts, taken individually, don't necessarily indicate impending conflict, and as always the US is at least as guilty as the Russians, particularly in the Russian view. But the timing is strange. We have a newly sworn-in president who is virtually effusive in his praise for Russian president Vladimir Putin and seemingly giddy at the prospect of improved relations. So why the saber-rattling?

If we are looking at conditions that have changed, the ostracizing of Michael Flynn is at the top of current events programming. The interesting thing here is the now-viral out-take from the Justice Department warning to the White House that Flynn could be vulnerable to Russian blackmail. Presumably, Flynn was reticent about admitting to transition-team leaders that he had discussed US sanctions with Russia prior to having the official capacity to do so. But that doesn't add up.

That would have required Flynn to be making commitments for Trump without Trump's knowledge or consent. Neither Flynn nor his Russian counterpart would have shown up for that meeting. He had to have been, as McCaffrey pointed out, acting under authority. So if that did not make Flynn susceptible to blackmail, what did -- and is it causing increasing US-Russian tensions?

It also bears noting that blackmail is not now mentioned for the first time in this saga. Blackmail as a concern for Trump himself was at issue in considering the much-maligned Christopher Steele dossier. In retrospect, one might wonder whether the dossier was the iceberg or the tip.

Donald Trump has spent his entire life being very, very sure that he is in total control of events around him and impervious to failure. But that's not what his CV says. A closer look at Trump's less than exemplary past includes an alarming history of train wrecks that he walks away from, but others do not.

What if Putin ... is not our friend?

Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.


Netanyahu and Trump at joint news conference at White House Wednesday

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Emboldened by Trump's victory, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is dramatically expanding settlements in occupied territory, in defiance of international law.

Until recently, the U.S. and Israel's long-stated goal was having Jewish and Palestinian states existing side-by-side. But at a joint news conference at the White House Wednesday, Trump and Netanyahu changed course.

Trump was nonchalant about a two-state versus one-state solution. "I like the one that both parties like," he said. "If Israel and the Palestinians are happy, I'm happy with the one they like the best."

"He has no idea what's going on," Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour said at a protest outside the White House Wednesday evening.

There was one moment at the news conference when Trump attempted to push back on Netanyahu. "I'd like to see you hold back on settlements for a little bit," Trump said. The prime minister offered no commitment to do so.

"There has been no U.S. administration that has been able to hold Benjamin Netanyahu and his government accountable for freezing settlements," said Sarsour. "I don't believe that... Trump is going to be able to do it."

Providing few specifics, both leaders expressed optimism that peace could be achieved by bringing in neighboring Arab countries. But Trump's month, and Netanyahu's years, in office call into question their ability to bring together a diverse coalition.

One of Trump's first major acts as president was to ban travel to the U.S. from seven majority-Muslim countries. The ban was met with mass protests and overturned in court. But Netanyahu was in full support.

"President Trump is right," Netanyahu tweeted. "I built a wall along Israel's southern border. It stopped all illegal immigration. Great success. Great idea."

Trump and Netanyahu are meeting at a time when both leaders plagued by scandal. Perhaps hoping to prop each other up, the two have gone out of their way to support one another.

Even before occupying the Oval Office, President-elect Trump lobbied for the U.S. to veto a U.N. Security Council vote condemning Israeli settlements. But President Obama, ignoring Trump and Netanyahu, broke with the past practice of shielding Israel from international condemnation. The U.S. abstained on the measure, which passed 14-0.

"As to the U.N.," Trump promptly responded on Twitter, "things will be different after Jan. 20th."

Things aren't just different at the U.N.

For U.S. ambassador to Israel, Trump tapped an extremist with limited experience -- apart from serving as Trump's personal bankruptcy lawyer and fundraising for an illegal Israeli settlement.

"Bankruptcy law and involvement with settlements are not normally seen as... appropriate qualifications for the job," former U.S. ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk told the New York Times.

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On February 10, 2017, Medical Whistleblower Advocacy Network provided to the Organization of American States--InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights information about human subjects and medical experimentation in the U.S.A. The human-rights issues presented by Dr. Janet Parker DVM were about the use of human subjects in medical experimentation and the prescription of off-label medications and unapproved medical devices. The human-rights issue is the patient's right to free prior informed consent for medical treatment. The OAS-IACHR has not previously explored the subject of human rights as it pertains individuals in the U.S.A. who are subjects of medical experimentation and the use of non-FDA approved medical treatments. These non-FDA approved medications and medical devices have not met the standards of safety or efficacy set by the Food and Drug Administration. This issue potentially impacts every patient in health care in the U.S.A. and impacts the human rights of every patient worldwide who is prescribed medications and devices developed by US corporations.

The Inter-American Commission on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities states in Article II that "The objectives of this convention are to prevent and eliminate all forms of discrimination against persons with disabilities and to promote their full integration into society."

The prohibition of torture is one of the few absolute and nondisputable human rights. Medical interventions can become inhuman and degrading treatment. They might arguably meet the criteria for torture, which is prohibited by international law. The United States of America has a duty to have to prevent, prosecute and redress abuses in health care. (Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture.)

There are many more cases of torture and ill-treatment in health-care settings than are officially reported to US authorities. Victims/survivors of this kind of abuse often are unable or unwilling to report what has happened to them. Thus, official reports represent only a small fraction of this problem. Ill treatment is not justified by health-care system inadequacies or lack of medical resources. Individuals have the right to an adequate standard of health care ("right to health"). The right to be protected from torture and ill treatment also provides objective restrictions on certain kinds of therapies.

Crucial to the protection of the human rights of vulnerable patients are:

1) Right to Legal Capacity (right of recognition of juridical personality and civil rights)

2) Right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent

3) Right for an individual to choose a surrogate decision maker or Guardian that will best represent his/her wishes

4) Protection for Human Subjects in medical, social and behavioral research

These rights have been delineated in multiple international human rights documents and in the relevant case law, but unfortunately color of law, and color of official right violations of these rights routinely happen within mental health institutions, prison and correctional institutions, long term care facilities and in the provision of health care to financially disadvantaged populations such as foster children.

The doctor-patient and doctor-human subject relationship is a relationship in which the doctor has great power and authority. In this imbalance of power, ethical violations of human rights can and do occur. The persons most vulnerable to exploitation as human subjects of medical research are those who are already marginalized and disadvantaged. Groups such as migrants, prisoners, children, people with disabilities, Native Americans, racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to be targeted by researchers.

Medical research and the approval of prescription drugs are global concerns. Much of the research done by U.S. pharmaceutical companies is happening worldwide. Africa and other nations who are economically disadvantaged have been targeted by large international pharmaceutical companies to be sites of clinical testing. However, as human-rights violations of corporations become known, people in the developing world are less willing to become guinea pigs -- and for good reason. This fundamental distrust lies in the paradox of Hobson's choice "Experimental medicine or no medicine at all". Often the medical research offered does not fully protect human rights nor provide to those participating in the research the full benefits of the findings. This leads to another concern regarding the "Right to Life". In that persons in the developing world are often denied innovative therapies and important research developments regarding diseases and conditions important to their communities. Even within the U.S.A., there are impacts of the withholding of the potential benefits of research while at the same time exploiting those same vulnerable populations as research subjects. This leads to unequal access to treatment modalities as well as treatment that is not inclusive of the specific needs of those vulnerable populations.

Human-subject research includes experiments and observational studies in basic biology, clinical medicine, nursing, psychology, and all other social sciences. There are various codes for the proper and responsible conduct of human experimentation in medical research; the best known of these codes are the Nuremberg Code of 1947, [i] and the World Medical Organization's Helsinki Declaration of 1964 (revised in 1975). [ii]

In the U.S.A., the Nuremberg Code and the related Declaration of Helsinki delineates what is considered ethical conduct for human-subjects' research and forms the basis for the US Code of Federal Regulations - Title 45 Volume 46 (The Common Rule). The Nuremberg Code's influence on global human-rights law and medical ethics has been profound. Its basic requirement of informed consent, for example, has been universally accepted and is articulated in international law in Article 7 of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966). ICCPR Article 7 states "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In particular, no one shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or scientific experimentation."

The US Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects or the "Common Rule" was codified in separate regulations by 15 federal departments and agencies. The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regulations 45 CFR part 46 governs all federally-funded research in the United States. The Right to Informed Consent is delineated in the federal regulation Protection of Human Subjects, 45 CFR 46 also known as the Common Rule under the authority granted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. There are also Welfare Codes for the conduct of social and behavioral research such as that published by the American Psychological Association in 1973.

Informed consent is consent obtained freely, without threats or improper inducements, and after appropriate disclosure to the patient of adequate and understandable information in a form and language understood by the patient. Engaging in an informed-consent process between a clinical doctor and a patient should be an essential part of the standard of care in medicine. Informed consent is a process, not just a formality, and engaging in that process is of the essence of good medical care. Information must be provided to the patient in a timely manner and in accordance with the accepted standard of practice among members of the profession with similar training and experience. A health-care professional may be legally liable if a patient does not give "informed consent" to a medical procedure and it results in harm to patient even if the procedure is properly performed. [iii]

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28 days into the Trump regime it's worse than expected. Here's what we've learned.

1. Trump's not an executive. On November 8th, undecided voters opted for Trump because they were impressed by his business credentials; many commented, "He knows how to get things done."

Trump's (probably) a billionaire so it would seem that "he knows how to get things done" but, if he does, he hasn't applied this skill to his job as America's CEO.

Everything about his first 28 days suggests that Trump is in over his head in his new job. For example, after an (initial) week full of executive orders, Trump now appears to have no overall plan for domestic or foreign policy. As another example, Trump's White House is understaffed and Trump doesn't seem to be good recruiter.

2. His thought pattern is chaotic. It's hard to view Trump dispassionately but his impromptu speeches and press conferences are cringe-worthy. On Tuesday (February 14th) during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Trump was asked about rising anti-semitism. He responded by boasting about his election victory and then said the Trump administration is "going to do everything within our power to stop long-simmering racism and every other thing that's going on."

3. He doesn't appear to read briefing papers. The New York Times reported that for national security briefings, Trump wants "a single page, with lots of graphics and maps."

It's hard to imagine that Trump is as dumb as he has appeared the last few days but, to say the least, he's not an intellectual and is not informed on most major issues.

4. Trump has very thin skin. As his lack of focus wasn't bad enough, Trump seems to spend a disproportionate amount of time watching cable news -- time where he should be reading briefing papers -- and takes negative reporting very seriously. He may have a sense of humor but it's not evident. For example, he continues to be outraged by the satirical skits on Saturday Night Live.

5. Trump detests the mainstream media. In his rambling Thursday (February 16th) press conference, called ostensibly to introduce his new candidate for Secretary of Labor, Trump spent most of his time attacking the mainstream media. (For example, stating that CNN hates him.) As a result he has created the most hostile White House press environment in modern times.

6. He doesn't understand the Federal bureaucracy. Perhaps it wouldn't matter that Trump doesn't prepare adequately and has anger management problems, if Americans believed that he really understood the Federal government and, therefore, was prepared to "drain the swamp." But there's no indication that Trump understands the government or has surrounded himself with people that do. For example, his January 27th immigration wasn't adequately vetted by the Justice Department and wasn't discussed, beforehand, with Republican congressional leaders or Trump's newly-appointed Secretary of State.

And, of course, Trump doesn't appear to have any intention of "draining the swamp." Many of his cabinet appointments are billionaires -- such as Education secretary Betty deVos -- and appear to be part of the problem rather than a path to the solution.

Trump's biggest negative is that he is not, inherently, a team player. When confronted his basic instinct seems to be to run over his adversary rather than seek a way to collaborate.

7. Trump doesn't have a legislative agenda. He prevailed over Clinton because he promised jobs and an alternative to Obamacare. So far, Trump hasn't produced anything remotely like a plan -- other than to say that what is coming will be "phenomenal." When Trump's January 27th immigration order was blocked by the 9th Circuit, he promised, "See you in court!" So far, nothing.

Trump promised to build a wall along the southern border and to have Mexico pay for it. Since, he has waffled about the "have Mexico pay for it" part but hasn't said what he proposes as an alternative.

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When one was a little kid, someone most probably their mother said, "Don't play with matches".

In the context of today the appropriate analogy is to say, "Don't play with fire" something neo-cons, R2P responsibility to protect liberals and their neo-liberal fellow travelers never learned or since have forgotten.

Today that "playing with fire" involves inflammatory rhetoric, unsubstantiated allegations, accusations and lies, demonization, military provocations, threats of blockade-all unnecessary and without merit-by the dangerous fools listed above-against Iran, Russia and China.

As to Iran which recently conducted conventional missile tests-all legal by the way and permitted under the nuclear agreement it signed with the P5&1 last year- the Trump administration has blasted as "violating the nuclear treaty with its missile tests", "put on notice" and threatened with new sanctions.

The new administration has threatened to implement a blockade against China in the South China Sea preventing China from continued use of the militarized artificial islands its built on the shallow shoals there as a defensive measure. A blockade would be an act of war which China will never accept and force it to retaliate.

With Russia the ongoing, relentless demonization of Russian President Vladimir Putin by the corporate US and western MSM over his alleged annexation of Crimea, his support for the mostly Russian speaking eastern Ukrainian's against the post coup government in Kiev, the Russian military presence in Syria as exacerbating the civil war, even though the legitimately elected government of Bashar Assad in Syria legally requested Russia to intervene-something permitted by the UN as a countries right when it's been attacked as Syria has been since 2012 when western backed Islamist jihahist mercenaries entered the country which soon co-opted the indigenous opposition forces against Assad forcing him to eventually ask for Russia's intervention.

Need it be repeated; Russia and China are nuclear powers capable of annihilating the US in a nuclear strike while Iran is capable of disrupting absolutely the world's economic order by blocking the oil transported through the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf if it were attacked by the US, Israel or NATO.

Russia, China and Iran are strategic economic and military allies. An attack on one could likely bring the others to their defense. If the attack were nuclear, retaliation would surely obliterate the US and the world.

Is this somehow ignored or dismissed by the US "full spectrum dominance" crowd, the "deep state" military/industrial/political surveillance forces in the Pentagon, CIA, NSA, 17 intelligence agencies, National Security Council, Homeland Security et al plus high level committee chairmen in Congress? Apparently so.

Maybe it needs to be said in terms even a child would understand. It is absolute madness to threaten China, Russia and Iran. And that doesn't even include nuclear armed North Korea, a circumstance that arose by threats of attack from South Korea as well as the US.

Any talk of "winning" a nuclear war is insane. Has insanity now gripped the powers that be in the US?

Where are the voices in the US and western MSM that could clearly explain in terms everyone could understand we're heading for Armageddon in the present course we're taking.

Any voices in the alternative media-such as this one-don't reach a wide enough audience-an audience that could begin to understand what is really being undertaken by the US military, special ops and their mercenary forces worldwide and rally to end the current insanity.

In all the protests and demonstrations against President Trump personally, his attacks against Muslims, women, et al where are the protests against the illegal US wars, occupations, engaging in torture, drone strikes that kill innocents, and the potential end of the world in a nuclear conflagration?

There aren't any, or too few to notice.

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The much-respected Public Policy Polling group in a recent poll blared the headline "Americans now evenly divided on Impeaching Trump." This is no surprise. The presidential election results were barely finalized in November when the furious talk, speculation, and outright calls began for Trump's impeachment. Since then, not a moment has passed without an article, a petition, a constitutional or ethics expert, or a Democratic congressperson musing about or demanding impeachment. Trump hasn't committed any act yet that even remotely rises to the high bar of impeachment offenses. And even if he had, or in the future does, the GOP controlled House and the GOP controlled Senate would have to approve it and then try and convict him. The chances of that happening are slim to none--at this point.

If the point is ever reached where Trump is deemed expendable by the GOP the presidential succession is clear; you get VP Mike Pence. Now some of the more conspiratorial minded think that this was the GOP game plan all along. Elect Trump, let him stumble, and bumble, make a complete buffoon of himself, and then trip over some shady business deal or blatant obstruction of justice or some falsehood that endangers national security, and then he's toast. At that point, Pence who knows the legislative process through and through, is tightly connected to the GOP establishment, and is a proven administrator steps in.

The conspiracy angle is a colossal stretch. However, the desirability of Pence running the White House show is not. Pence in fact would be the ultra-conservative's dream come true. Every major civil liberties, civil rights, and education, and environmental groups have consistently given him straight Fs on their report cards for elected officials. While every conservative and ultra-conservative group has given him straight As on their legislative report card.

The checklist of Pence positions on the issues reads like a what's what of the Heritage Foundation and ultra-conservative think tank positions. His anti-position on same sex marriage, public school emphasis, union protections, hate crimes laws, corporate checks, and equitable corporate taxing, separation of church and state are well known and were well-honed during his stint as Indiana governor. Unlike Trump in the White House, he was able to translate his fixed-in-stone believes into law and public policy. He did it because he knew how to skillfully work the levels of political power, made no wildly inflammatory statements, and was personally pleasant and affable. In other words, he worked stealthily, quietly, and largely under the media and public radar scope to do his political dirty work. Pence's crafty, under public view style was on full display when with no fanfare, public statements, or defiant tweets, cast the tie-breaking voted to confirm the atrocious Betty DeVos as Trump's Education Secretary.

On issues, such as building a border wall, immigrant restrictions, Obamacare, and public education, Pence would not do or say anything inflammatory to stir tens of thousands to immediately sprint to the streets in anger, or have Hollywood celebrities thundering at him from nationally televised film award ceremonies, or have legions of advocacy groups furiously taking out ads and sending out action alerts on something outrageous that came of his mouth. However, the result would be the same. He'd figure out a way to get the money and the congressional support to build a border barrier. He'd institute tighter immigration controls with the full support of Congress. He'd come up with a plan that the GOP and maybe even some Democrats could agree on to dump Obamacare. He'd gradually increase funding and resources, and shape policy directives for vouchers, religious schools, and charter schools. He'd get rid of the Common Core requirement along the way.

He'd do it all very quietly and with a bland smiling face. He'd do what Trump only talks about doing, and that's manipulate the political process to get rid of political enemies while changing the policies of his they oppose. A textbook example was his spat with Indiana's Superintendent of Public Instruction during his tenure as Governor. She opposed many of his education policies. So, what did he do? He simply created a new education agency, funded it, and then reworked the Superintendent position to where the superintendent had to be appointed by the Board of Education. Now guess who appointed the members of the Board? That person was not someone not named Governor Pence.

President Pence would not instantly and perpetually mobilize millions here and abroad against his policies. There would be no juicy, media pandering, sensational sound bites. His speeches would be tightly scripted, carefully calibrated, and strictly on policy emphasis. He would be continually closeted with the GOP House and Senate leadership to insure the smooth and coordinated radical administrative, judicial and legislative changes that ultra-conservatives have long pined for on everything from abortion to climate change to unlimited Wall Street and Corporate giveaways to public education to the SCOTUS.

So, remember, impeach Trump, and you get Pence. But, unlike Trump, he'd do it all with a bland poker face, and a smile.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. He is the author of In Scalia's Shadow: The Trump Supreme Court ( Amazon Kindle). He is an associate editor of New America Media. He is a weekly co-host of the Al Sharpton Show on Radio One. He is the host of the weekly Hutchinson Report on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles and the Pacifica Network.
Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"Rob Kalls Bottom-Up: Tapping the Power of the Connection Revolution takes a very holistic view of bottom-up thinking and action, from changes in our psychology to our systems of work, living and governance. As someone who's been working to make bottom-up economics a reality for over 30 years, this book reinforces the need for and potential of redirecting our priorities-- and resources--from the few at the top to the many at the bottom."



Anthony Flaccavento, author of Building a Healthy Economy from the Bottom Up
See original here

"I think Snowden is a terrible threat, I think he's a terrible traitor and you know what we used to do in the good old days when we were a strong country, you know what we used to do to traitors right?" Trump has said

By Common Dreams staff

Whistle-blower Edward Snowden has spoken on a report suggesting Vladimir Putin is considering sending him back to the US as a "gift" to President Donald Trump, claiming the story proves he is not a spy.

"Finally: irrefutable evidence that I never cooperated with Russian intel," Snowden said. "No country trades away spies, as the rest would fear they're next."

Late Friday NBC News reported:

U.S. intelligence has collected information that Russia is considering turning over Edward Snowden as a "gift" to President Donald Trump -- who has called the NSA leaker a "spy" and a "traitor" who deserves to be executed.

That's according to a senior U.S. official who has analyzed a series of highly sensitive intelligence reports detailing Russian deliberations and who says a Snowden handover is one of various ploys to "curry favor" with Trump. A second source in the intelligence community confirms the intelligence about the Russian conversations and notes it has been gathered since the inauguration.

Snowden's ACLU lawyer, Ben Wizner, says they are unaware of any plans that would send him back to the United States. "Team Snowden has received no such signals and has no new reason for concern," Wizner told NBC News.

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Duluth, Minnesota (OpEdNews) February 15, 2017: The conservative columnist Ross Douthat, a convert to Roman Catholicism, has published a column titled "The Trump Era's Catholic Mirror" in the New York Times (dated February 15, 2017), downplaying the connection between Stephen K. Bannon, President Donald J. Trump's influential adviser, and Cardinal Raymond L. Burke of the Roman Catholic Church. I do not think that the connection between the two men should concern liberals and progressives.

The connection between the two men was reported by Jason Horowitz in "Steve Bannon Carries Battles to Another Influential Hub" in the New York Times (dated February 7, 2017), and commented on by the liberal columnist E. J. Dionne, a practicing Catholic, in the Washington Post (dated February 8, 2017).

Birds of a feather flock together, right? Both Cardinal Burke and Steve Bannon come from an American Catholic background. When the thrice-divorced Bannon covered Pope Francis' canonization in 2014 of former Pope John-Paul II for Breitbart News, Bannon met Burke. (Burke is based at the Vatican.)

JPII famously declared that ordained priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church is rightly restricted to males, and Pope Francis has not reversed JPII's ruling on this matter. So it is not surprising that Pope Francis rushed to canonize JPII.

Moreover, Pope Francis has not reversed the church's anti-abortion zealotry, not even concerning legalized abortion in the first trimester in the United States. Basically, he is doctrinally conservative.

Now, 60 percent of white Catholics voted for Trump, perhaps because Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic Party's 2016 presidential candidate, supports legalized abortion in the first trimester. Because conservative white Catholics read Breitbart News, it is not surprising that Breitbart News covered JPII's canonization.

Now, Burke has emerged as an outspoken critic of Pope Francis' attempted modest reforms within the Roman Catholic Church. Within the context of the Roman Catholic Church, Burke can be described as conservative, just as Pope Francis can.

Now, the Roman Catholic Church is officially committed to "conserving" Roman Catholic faith and practice, as the bishops define understand them. The shorthand way of referring to this "conserving" spirit is to refer to tradition.

Now, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York says that for Catholics, Tradition is capitalized. Even though I do not plan to capitalize this term regularly, I mention this point to say that Roman Catholics tend to venerate the "conserving" spirit of their tradition of faith and practice, as defined and understood by the bishops.

Perhaps an analogy will help OEN readers in the United States understand the tension between Pope Francis and Cardinal Burke. In the United States, certain Republicans like to accuse selected other Republicans of being Republicans in name only (RINOs).

Now, in certain ways, Trump and Bannon can be described as conservative. Moreover, in the RINO-denouncing spirit of certain Republicans, many conservative American Catholics tend to vilify Pope Francis -- and some of them even admire Burke.

In conclusion, progressives and liberals should worry about Trump and Bannon, and be concerned about conservative white American Catholics, some of whom admire Burke. Progressives and liberals should hope that the conservative white American Catholics who voted for Trump will soon regret their vote.
From Our Future



Steve Mnuchin clears Senate procedural hurdle

(Image by kshb.com) Details DMCA



There are plenty of signs that Steve Mnuchin is not a good guy, even by the lax standards of today's banking industry. OneWest, a bank he established with partners and ran from 2009 to 2015, mounted a record of ruthless foreclosures (in one case over a 27-cent error). A memo from top prosecutors in California's state attorney general's office saw evidence of its "widespread misconduct" and repeated violations of law, according to The Intercept. Mnuchin misled the Senate (accidentally, he says) on his banking history, his personal finances and his role in running a Cayman Islands tax-haven account.

Nevertheless, Senate Republicans will almost certainly succeed at their goal of confirming Mnuchin as the next Treasury Secretary as soon as possible.

Republican senators like Rob Portman of Indiana used contorted logic in an attempt to convince voters that Mnuchin did not mislead them. Mnuchin attributed his failure to list $100 million of his own assets in his disclosure forms to "oversight." (If you're rich enough to overlook $100 million, it's safe to say you're obscenely rich.)

Mnuchin will soon run a department that once reprimanded him and OneWest, requiring them to work with an independent monitor. Yet his areas of responsibility will include "supervising national banks and thrift institutions" and "enforcing Federal finance and tax laws."

"It Takes One to Catch One"

Aggressive bankers have held high office before, and it hasn't always ended badly. Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. had a reputation for playing rough and cutting corners, at a time when banks were largely unregulated and unsupervised. Kennedy was also said to have smuggled moonshine during Prohibition, but no evidence of that has ever come to light. (Kennedy, like Mnuchin, invested heavily in show business and did well.)

When Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Kennedy to serve the first chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), FDR was reportedly asked why he had appointed such a crook. "Takes one to catch one," Roosevelt is said to have replied. By all accounts, Kennedy did an excellent job.

But there was a major difference between Joe Kennedy's outlook and Steve Mnuchin's. Kennedy understood that Wall Streeters were rascals who needed strict oversight. Mnuchin wants to go easy on them.

"Way Too Complicated"

Mnuchin wants to loosen regulations on the bankers whose misbehavior and massive fraud cost the economy trillions of dollars in lost income in the 2008 financial crisis. He used the same phrase to describe both the Dodd-Frank law, which took some needed first steps toward reining in predatory bankers, and the "Volcker rule" limiting banks' ability to gamble with federally insured deposits. "Way too complicated," he complained.

To paraphrase what Sen. Lloyd Bentsen told Dan Quayle when he faced him in a vice presidential debate: Steve Mnuchin, you're no Joe Kennedy.

During his confirmation hearing, Mnuchin said he now supported the Volcker rule, although he said it needed to be "improved" in ways he did not describe. He also said he supported some version of a "21st century Glass-Steagall Act" to separate commercial banking from the speculative and often high-risk world of investment banking. But again, Mnuchin offered no specifics.

Mnuchin is part of a wave of former Goldman Sachs bankers joining the Trump administration just a few short months after a campaign in which Trump vilified Goldman Sachs as representing the worst aspects of American finance.

Assuming that his confirmation proceeds as expected, Mnuchin and Trump -- together with Mnuchin's ex-Goldman Sachs colleagues -- will work with a Republican-led House and Senate that shares a basic antipathy to banking regulation and has increasingly diverted Wall Street campaign contributions from the Democrats.

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Friday, February 17, 2017

The State of Montana was not liable based on a stipulated judgment between a judge and his harassed court reporter, according to a decision of the Montana Supreme Court.

The facts found by the District Court for purposes of this declaratory action are as follows. In 1991, Berdahl began working as a court reporter for the Sixteenth Judicial District Court, in Forsyth. In November 2012, George Huss was elected as a district court judge in the Sixteenth Judicial District. Huss oversaw Department Two of the District and Berdahl worked directly for Huss as his primary court reporter. In this capacity, Berdahl worked closely with Huss and often traveled with him to locations within the District for official court business.

In February 2014, Berdahl filed a sexual harassment complaint against Huss with the Montana Human Rights Bureau (HRB). Berdahl alleged that Huss, during work time, had made various declarations of romantic interest, love, and undying devotion to her, which Berdahl resisted. Berdahl stated that Huss bought her gifts, offered to make her dinner while his wife was out of town, and expressed his desire to kiss and hug her. Berdahl alleged that Huss retaliated against her in the workplace when she resisted his overtures. Berdahls detailed complaint set forth numerous further allegations about Husss behavior, some of which was delineated by the District Court.

The judge sought defense and indemnification by the State to no avail and

Berdahl and Huss mediated on September 3, 2014, and although they did not reach a settlement that day, they continued to negotiate and, on September 30, 2014, entered into a Stipulation and Confession of Judgment Resulting from the State of Montanas Refusal to Defend and Indemnify. In this agreement, Huss confessed to judgment in Berdahls favor in the amount of $744,371. He assigned his rights against the State to Berdahl and agreed to cooperate in jointly requesting entry of this Judgment by any tribunal having jurisdiction. Berdahl agreed not to seek execution of the judgment against Huss.

Berdahl then sought payment from the State

We affirm the District Courts determination that the State was not obligated to pay the stipulated judgment entered by Berdahl and Huss. Consequently, it is unnecessary to address the issue of whether Husss actions came within the course and scope of his employment. Finally, as the District Court correctly noted, Berdahl may pursue relief before the HRB, where the administrative proceeding on her complaint is currently stayed.

(Mike Frisch)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2017/02/the-state-of-montana-was-not-liable-based-on-a-stipulated-judgment-between-a-judge-and-his-harassed-court-reporter-according.html
From Gush Shalom

AFTER MY last article, in which I mentioned that the Arabs started the 1948 war after the partition resolution of the UN, I received several furious messages.

The writers, who (I suppose) were born after the events, accuse the Zionists of starting the war in order to expel the Arab population.

Since I took part in the events -- I was 24 years old at the time -- I feel that it is my duty to describe what really happened, as truthfully as possible. (I have written two books about it, one during the war and one immediately after.)

TO DESCRIBE the atmosphere in the country just before the war, let me recount one of the great moments of my life.

In the late summer, an annual folk dance festival took place in a natural amphitheater in the Carmel mountains. About 40 thousand young men and women were assembled, a very large number given that our total population was only about 635,000.

At the time, a commission of the United Nations (UNSCOP) was touring the country in order to find a solution to the Jewish-Arab conflict.

We were watching the dance groups -- among them one from a neighboring Arab village, who danced the Debka with such enthusiasm that they just couldn't stop -- when the loudspeakers announced that members of the UN commission were visiting us.

Spontaneously, all the thousands of young men and women stood up and broke into the National Anthem with such vigor that the echo resounded from the mountains around us.

It was the last time that my generation was assembled. Within a year, thousands of those present were dead.

FOLLOWING THE recommendation of that commission, the General Assembly of the UN resolved on November 29, 1947, to partition Palestine between a Jewish and an Arab state, with Jerusalem as a separate unit under international rule.

Though the territory allotted to the Jewish state was small, the Jewish population realized the immense importance of statehood. It was just three years after the end of the Holocaust. The entire Arab world opposed the resolution. As they saw it, why should the Arab population of Palestine pay the price for the Holocaust committed by Europeans?

A few days after the resolution, a Jewish bus was shot at. That was the beginning of Phase 1 of the war.

To understand the events, one must consider the situation. The two populations on the country were closely intertwined. In Jerusalem, Haifa and Jaffa-Tel Aviv, Arab and Jewish quarters were situated close together.

Every Jewish village was surrounded by Arab ones. To exist, they needed use of the highroads, which were dominated by Arab villages. By now, shootings broke out all over the country. The British were still nominally in charge, but tried to get involved as little as possible.

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Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, as well as various "watchdog" groups, are up in arms over $99 textured open-front cardigans, $125 suede slingback pumps, and $98 pebbled leather crossbody bags. Yes, really.

In an appearance on Fox and Friends, presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway made the mistake of doing the obvious: When the subject of Ivanka Trump's eponymous clothing line came up (because Nordstrom's department stores are dropping Ivanka's products), she spoke supportively of her boss's daughter: "Go buy Ivanka's stuff, is what I would tell you .... I'm going to give it a free commercial here, go buy it today."

Apparently that's a big deal.

US Representatives Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Elijah Cummings (D-MD) of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, signed a letter seeking an ethics investigation. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the Office of Government Ethics. The White House says it has "counseled" Conway.

Talking up a presidential family member's business when it's in the news is an ethics violation? My hypocrisy meter is pinging in the red zone right about now.

Members of Congress continually vote to fork over billions of dollars to companies whose executives make large campaign contributions and whose lobbyists buy lots of drinks and steaks. When they're done being in Congress, they draw lavish salaries from positions on the boards of, or as lawyers or lobbyists for, those same companies.

Ditto former presidents and former cabinet officials. Does anyone really believe that former Secretary of State Hillary racked up $5 million in speaking fees in 15 months because she's a great orator with wonderful, innovative ideas? She knocked that kind of money down as payment for past favors and, as a prospective president, down payment for future ones.

Sure, the Beltway establishment occasionally offers up a human sacrifice as proof of its moral rectitude. Former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) paid a $300,000 fine and eventually resigned when charged with 84 ethics violations. Former US Representative Randy Cunningham was sentenced to eight years in prison for accepting millions of dollars in bribes. But they're the exceptions, not the rule.

If I had to guess, I'd guess there will be plenty of actual White House corruption to complain about in the coming four years. Going after Kellyanne Conway for saying nice things about Ivanka Trump's clothing line is a cheap shot from people who do far worse every day.
From Truthdig

The four-decade-long assault on our democratic institutions by corporations has left them weak and largely dysfunctional. These institutions, which surrendered their efficacy and credibility to serve corporate interests, should have been our firewall. Instead, they are tottering under the onslaught.

Labor unions are a spent force. The press is corporatized and distrusted. Universities have been purged of dissidents and independent scholars who criticize neoliberalism and decry the decay of democratic institutions and political parties. Public broadcasting and the arts have been defunded and left on life support. The courts have been stacked with judges whose legal careers were spent serving corporate power, a trend in appointments that continued under Barack Obama. Money has replaced the vote, which is how someone as unqualified as Betsy DeVos can buy herself a Cabinet seat. And the Democratic Party, rather than sever its ties to Wall Street and corporations, is naively waiting in the wings to profit from a Trump debacle.

"The biggest asset Trump has is the decadent, clueless, narcissistic, corporate-indentured, war-mongering Democratic Party," Ralph Nader said when I reached him by phone in Washington. "If the Democratic strategy is waiting for Godot, waiting for Trump to implode, we are in trouble. And just about everything you say about the Democrats you can say about the AFL-CIO. They don't control the train."

The loss of credibility by democratic institutions has thrust the country into an existential as well as economic crisis. The courts, universities and press are no longer trusted by tens of millions of Americans who correctly see them as organs of the corporate elites. These institutions are traditionally the mechanisms by which a society is able to unmask the lies of the powerful, critique ruling ideologies and promote justice. Because Americans have been bitterly betrayed by their institutions, the Trump regime can attack the press as the "opposition party," threaten to cut off university funding, taunt a federal jurist as a "so-called judge" and denounce a court order as "outrageous."

The decay of democratic institutions is the prerequisite for the rise of authoritarian or fascist regimes. This decay has given credibility to a pathological liar. The Trump administration, according to an Emerson College poll, is considered by 49 percent of registered voters to be truthful while the media are considered truthful by only 39 percent of registered voters. Once American democratic institutions no longer function, reality becomes whatever absurdity the White House issues.

Most of the rules of democracy are unwritten. These rules determine public comportment and ensure respect for democratic norms, procedures and institutions. President Trump has, to the delight of his supporters, rejected this political and cultural etiquette.

Hannah Arendt in "The Origins of Totalitarianism" noted that when democratic institutions collapse it is "easier to accept patently absurd propositions than the old truths which have become pious banalities." The chatter of the liberal ruling elites about our democracy is itself an absurdity. "Vulgarity with its cynical dismissal of respected standards and accepted theories," she wrote, infects political discourse. This vulgarity is "mistaken for courage and a new style of life."

"He is destroying one code of behavior after another," Nader said of Trump. "He is so far getting away with it and not paying a price. He is breaking standards of behavior -- what he says about women, commercializing the White House, I am the law."

Nader said he does not think the Republican Party will turn against Trump or consider impeachment unless his presidency appears to threaten its chances of retaining power in the 2018 elections. Nader sees the Democratic Party as too "decadent and incompetent" to mount a serious challenge to Trump. Hope, he said, comes from the numerous protests that have been mounted in the streets, at town halls held by members of Congress and at flash points such as Standing Rock. It may also come from the 2.5 million civil servants within the federal government if a significant number refuse to cooperate with Trump's authoritarianism.

"The new president is clearly aware of the power wielded by civil servants, who swear an oath of allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, not to any president or administration," Maria J. Stephan, the co-author of "Why Civil Resistance Works," writes in The Washington Post. "One of Trump's first acts as president was a sweeping federal hiring freeze affecting all new and existing positions except those related to the military, national security and public safety. Even before Trump's inauguration, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives reinstated an obscure 1876 rule that would allow Congress to slash the salaries of individual federal workers. This was a clear warning to those serving in government to keep their heads down. Trump's high-profile firing of acting attorney general Sally Yates, who refused to follow the president's immigration ban, sent shock waves through the bureaucracy."

A sustained, nationwide popular uprising of nonviolent obstruction and noncooperation is the only weapon left to save the republic. The elites will respond once they become afraid. If we do not make them afraid we will fail.

"The resiliency of democratic institutions has been encouraging -- the courts, the protests," Nader said. "Trump boomerangs himself. He personally outrages people around the country based on race, gender, class, geography, his lies, his false statements, his narcissism, his lack of knowledge, his flippancy and his morbid desire to respond to slurs with tweets. He is not a smart autocrat. He weakens himself daily. He allows the opposition to have more effect than it ordinarily would."

"Most dictatorial heads of state deal with abstract ideologies -- the fatherland and so forth," Nader went on. "He doesn't do much of that. He attacks personally, low on the sensuality ladder. You are a fake. You are a loser. You are a crook. You are a liar. This arouses people more, especially when he does this based on gender, race and religion. The best thing going for the democratic awakening is Donald Trump."

Nader said that Trump will, however, be able to consolidate power if we suffer another catastrophic terrorist attack or there is a financial meltdown. Dictatorial regimes need a crisis, either real or manufactured, to justify total suspension of civil liberties and assuming uncontested control.

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From Paul Craig Roberts Website

Co-written by George Abert

Figuratively speaking, a ginormous asteroid is hurtling to a cataclysmic rendezvous with earth, but we are not supposed to notice. The asteroid is the rising threat from environmental degradation. Evidence is accumulating that environmental degradation is becoming global.

We can either act responsibly by accepting the challenge or take refuge in denial and risk the consequences.

There is nothing new about climate change. It has been ongoing for as long as earth has had an atmosphere. Through change, nature produced an atmosphere supportive of life. We know for a fact that human activities can have adverse impacts on the air, water, and land resources. If these impacts become global, as independent scientists believe, life on earth might be at risk.

We're in a state of perpetual crisis

Moreover, environmental degradation can contribute to, and be worsened by, other changes that are not under our control. Presently humanity is challenged by three revolutions which collectively constitute a perpetual crisis: the technological revolution that is displacing humans in the production of goods and services, the volatility and instability of the global financial system, and environmental degradation. Our focus is on environmental degradation.

It's a matter of balance

The weight of the atmosphere, at 14.7 PSI, has remained relatively constant throughout much of earth's existence. What has varied is the makeup of the atmospheric gaseous mix. The mixes that existed prior to the current era would prove toxic to the contemporary biosphere. As the biosphere evolved over the hundreds of millions of years prior to the current era, the gaseous mix of the atmosphere and the biosphere came into perfect, or indeed as some might say, heavenly balance.

Indeed, our very existence as well as the existence of the biosphere depends on this balance. There is no question that human activities can affect this balance. Perhaps not enough that nature wouldn't eventually be able to reset the balance, but perhaps enough to end civilization before nature could correct the disturbance. While some are cavalierly dismissive, others have concluded that things are already so irreversibly out of balance that civilization as we know it will cease before the middle of this century.

Easter Island is an example of death by environmental degradation on a local level. When the island was first settled, it was covered by a forest. Soil analysis suggests that the natural environment was reasonably diverse and, absent human settlement, resilient enough to recover from natural disturbances that included volcanic eruptions. The humans that settled on Easter Island thrived until the population degraded the environment to the point that it could not support the population.

Tree removal was one of the activities that proved detrimental to the island's natural balance. As trees were removed, so too was the island's natural diversity and its ability to support human habitation. Many have wondered what Easter Islanders were thinking as they cut down the last tree.

Environmental degradation's role in the collapse of civilizations is well told in Jared Diamond's book, Collapse. At least two pre-Columbian empires fell to sudden environmental collapse. Environmental degradation even contributed to Rome's fall. Throughout history, empires and civilizations have collapsed once they degrade the environment below its capacity to carry the human footprint imposed on the environment.

Global warming introduces a difference. In the past environmental destruction was local or regional. But what is now underway appears to be global. It can take a long time to unbalance the biosphere, but once the line is crossed, collapse can be rapid and irreversible.

Global Warming a hoax?

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From Truthdig

The momentum to impeach President Trump is accelerating.



On Thursday, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) filed a "resolution of inquiry" that amounts to the first legislative step toward impeachment.



A new poll shows that registered voters are evenly split, at 46-to-46 percent, on whether they "support" or "oppose" impeaching Trump. Just two weeks ago, the pro-impeachment figure was 35 percent.



Since inauguration, more than 800,000 people have signed a petition in the first stage of the Impeach Donald Trump Campaign, which will soon involve grassroots organizing in congressional districts around the country.



Under the Trump presidency, defending a wide range of past gains is both necessary and insufficient. Fighting for impeachment is a way to go on the offensive, directly challenging the huge corruption that Trump has brought to the White House.



From the outset, President Trump has been violating two provisions of the U.S. Constitution -- its foreign and domestic "emoluments" clauses. In a nutshell, both clauses forbid personally profiting from presidential service beyond receiving a government salary.



Some believe that the Republican-controlled Congress is incapable of impeaching Trump, but history tells us what's possible when a president falls into wide disrepute. On July 27, 1974, seven GOP representatives on the 38-member House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach a fellow Republican, President Richard Nixon.



As for objections that impeaching and removing Trump from office would make Mike Pence the president, that concern is apt to bypass one set of key considerations after another. Along the way, in political terms, people need to think through the implications of the fact that Trump could only be removed from office with the help of many votes from Republicans on Capitol Hill.



Even if every Democrat in the House voted in unison to impeach Trump, impeachment would only be possible if at least two-dozen Republican members of the House voted in favor. Likewise, a vote in the Senate (requiring two-thirds) to remove Trump from the presidency would only be successful if at least 19 Republican senators voted for conviction. Such events would badly splinter and damage the Republican Party -- causing divisive bitterness, putting GOP leaders back on their heels and hobbling a Pence presidency.



Arguably most important of all, democracy requires that no one be above the law -- a principle that's most crucially applied to the holder of the most powerful office in the U.S. government. Extreme abuse of power from the top of the government must be seen and treated as intolerable.



The Constitution that Trump continues to flagrantly violate is supposed to be "the supreme law of the land." To give Trump a pass would be to wink at his merger of vast personal wealth and corporate holdings with vast governmental power.



From the grassroots, it's crucial for constituents to push back with determination. As the Impeach Donald Trump Now campaign's website documents in detail, Trump's personal riches are entangled with countless policy options for his administration. That precedent must be resisted and defeated.



So far, the Democratic Party's leadership in Congress has shown scant interest in impeaching Trump. With escalating pressure from constituents, that may soon change.



Congressman Nadler's unusual resolution of inquiry will be able to avoid some of the standard roadblocks in the House. As his website explains, "A Resolution of Inquiry is a legislative tool that has privileged parliamentary status, meaning it can be brought to the floor if the relevant Committee hasn't reported it within 14 legislative days, even if the Majority leadership has not scheduled it for a vote."



Nadler has just put a big toe in the impeachment water. Yet no members of the House have taken the plunge to introduce an actual resolution for impeachment. They will have to be pushed.
The number of anti-Muslim hate groups nearly tripled from 34 in 2015 to 101 in 2016. That's just one of the dramatic statistics in a new report by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

This annual count from the SPLC includes groups like the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and other white nationalists, along with anti-government patriot groups and anti-LGBT groups. The Southern Poverty Law Center's Senior Fellow, Mark Potok, says their numbers have consistently been on the rise since about 2000. The radical right out there is booming. The number of hate groups rose from 892 groups in 2015 to 917 last year.

According to Mark Potok more and more, people on the radical right don't connect directly with hate groups but instead lurk on the internet until they decide action is needed. A good example, he pointed out, is mass murderer Dylann Roof, who killed nine African-Americans in a South Carolina church in 2015 and apparently did not have direct contact with hate groups or white supremacists.

The Washington Post pointed out that the new arrivals to the 2016 SPLC list included white nationalist groups such as the campus-based Identity Evropa in California and the 29 clubs created by the popular neo-Nazi Daily Stormer website, which changed its masthead from "The World's Most Visited Alt-Right Web Site" to "America's #1 Most-Trusted Republican News Source" the day after the election.

The SPLC has seen repeatedly over the years how rhetoric from figures like presidential candidates and others in the public eye can fuel that kind of hatred and violence, says Stephen Piggott of SPLC. Several years ago, the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding came up with similar findings in a study. It found that spikes in anti-Muslim sentiment typically occur during election cycles -- not so much in the aftermath of Islamist terror attacks, as many had assumed.

There's little doubt that certain politicians and activists like Brigitte Gabriel are feeding the fires of hatred and religious violence. And President-elect Trump's appointments of anti-Muslim ideologues suggest that that will continue. But the convergence of the Patriot movement, which has been marked by political violence since first emerging in the 1990s, and the anti-Muslim movement that has surged more recently, is creating serious dangers of its own. While Patriots may see a White House ally in Trump -- and therefore lose some of their animus toward the federal government -- they are finding new enemies in Islam.

Tellingly, on Thursday, five vandalism cases were reported by Howard County in Maryland; in two incidents the name "Trump" was spray-painted on vehicles. One of the families whose vehicle was vandalized identifies as Hispanic, and family members are concerned that they were targeted because of their national origin, even though they are legal residents.

"This is one more disturbing example of the impact that the current administration's decisions and policies are having on ordinary Americans," said the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Maryland Outreach Manager Dr. Zainab Chaudry. "We encourage law enforcement authorities to conduct a swift and thorough investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice."

CAIR, America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization, has noted an unprecedented spike in hate incidents targeting American Muslims and other minority groups since the election of President Donald Trump.

Attempt to crush Muslim civil advocacy organizations



According to AlterNet News, a new initiative advanced by right-wing Republicans in Congress and reportedly backed by the Trump administration puts American Muslim civil society groups in the government's crosshairs. Without the same outraged protests or condemnatory press conferences inspired by Trump's travel ban targeting visitors and dual citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries, the lesser-known effort is aimed at crushing robust Muslim civil society organizing in the United States, using the framework of the war on terror.The initiative aims to declare the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, a designation that in practice, is likely to provide a vehicle for a network of anti-Muslim crusaders to hound unaffiliated, mainstream Muslim organizations and potentially criminalize their leadership, the AlterNet said adding:

"The effort emanates from fringe conspiracy theorists who, backed by a well-heeled Islamophobia industry, espouse the unfounded claim that the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated the far reaches of the U.S. government. These fringe figures charge that prominent political players, from Huma Abedin to Grover Norquist to Keith Ellison, are operating as secret agents of the organization."

Arjun Singh Sethi, a civil rights lawyer and professor at Georgetown University Law Center, told AlterNet that this effort represents "version 2.0 of the Muslim ban and will be used as a vehicle to attack and smear Muslim civic and political organizations in the United States. The $57 million Islamophobia industry will do anything in its power to arbitrarily and erroneously link groups in the United States to the Muslim Brotherhood. These accusations alone can destroy reputations and tarnish organizations forever."

According to Stephen Piggott of the SLPC, the White House is reportedly weighing options to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, according to several news outlets. Such a move would amount to a powerful policy win for America's anti-Muslim movement, whose leaders have worked tirelessly to smear American Muslim civil rights organizations, in particular the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT), by calling them "fronts" for the Brotherhood.

Pressure from the anti-Muslim movement for this designation has only increased since the election, Piggott said and added: A new coalition of mostly anti-Muslim religious figures, dubbed "Faith Leaders of America," descended upon the National Press Club the day before Trump's inauguration to implore him to take action on the Muslim Brotherhood. Part of the coalition's "call to prayer" read, "When you label the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, we support you."

This January, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart and Sen. Ted Cruz introduced the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act in both congressional chambers.
For a long time, in fact for years, I got my news from alternative websites like this one, and from YouTube watching Amy Goodman and Tom Hartman. During the Bush years I wrote prolifically because I felt that the mainstream media was ignoring issues that I was very concerned about and I felt that the American people needed to know what the mainstream media wouldn't tell them.

During the Obama administration I also wrote many articles about issues the mainstream media seem to ignore. By the end of this administration, and during Hillary Clinton's campaign when the DNC manipulated the primaries against Bernie Sanders, I wrote a few articles but by that time, I was convinced that the press in the United States was totally corrupt.

Now I find the press has suddenly relearned what it is that they are supposed to do for the American people. For the first time in years I read the New York Times and actually read real news that exposed government corruption.

I am amazed at the way the mainstream media is actually doing investigative journalism. Still, I am also wondering why they were silent during the Bush and Obama administrations. Where were the reporters and the editors when the Bush administration lied us into the Iraq war and Pres. Obama killed American citizens and innocent Muslim families with drone strikes? Where was the coverage of the NDAA that allowed the military to arrest American citizens without trial indefinitely?

I can mention many things such as the coverage of the war between Georgia and Russia, and how Ukraine overthrew their elected government and installed an overtly fascist regime that alienated the Russian-speaking eastern provinces.

Where are the investigative journalists when the United States colludes with Saudi Arabia to supply weapons to the rebels in Syria? Where were the investigative journalist when the United States accused Syria of using chemical weapons against its people and made preparations to launch cruise missiles against Damascus that was stopped by revelations from the UN that it was the rebels that were using the chemical weapons and American citizens finally rose up and wrote their elected representatives that they would not authorize the use of force?

I could go on and on about everything the mainstream media turned a blind eye to. It was as if the press no longer cared or wanted to do any investigative journalism.

Now, all the sudden, reporters are calling their sources and digging into everything that the Trump administration does. The White House press briefings now look like a combat zone. Pres. Trump and his people are under constant attack by the mainstream media.

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Readings for 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time: SIR 15: 15-20; PS 119: 1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34; I Cor 2: 6-10; MT 5: 17-37.



The emphasis in today's liturgy of the word is on the wonders of God's law. "Keep the commandments; no one has a license to sin," the first reading from Sirach intones. "Walk blamelessly in God's law; observe its decrees; delight in its wonder," sings the psalmist in today's responsorial. And then in the Gospel reading Jesus presents himself as the defender of even the least of the commandments. Break the least, he says, and you'll be least in God's Kingdom.



On hearing all of this, I couldn't but squirm on behalf of Christian Trump supporters who respect what they consider God's Word. After all, The Donald seems to live by his own rules. And those guidelines don't seem to have much to do with the Bible's Ten and the delight, joy, and fulfillment today's readings suggest infallibly result from observance of the Decalogue. Or as comedian, Bill Maher put it during the campaign season, "It's hard to bring up the Ten Commandments when your candidate has spent most his life breaking all of them."



On the other hand, Richard Dawkins, a sworn enemy of Christianity has formulated his own Ten Commandments. Ironically, Dawkins' rules are more in harmony with today's delight-full estimation of God's Law. In fact, they seem more worthy of Christian support than the one's Mr. Trump apparently lives by.

So just for fun, in the light of today's readings, let's contrast the two sets of commandments, and see what we can learn. It might be that Dawkins' natural law commandments are more promising in terms of Nature's delight, joy and peace than what we hear implicitly proclaimed by casino king Donald Trump and his Christian followers.

Begin with Mr. Trump. Here's how humorist Neel Ingram compared the Bible's Ten Commandments with what seems to be their Trumpian counterparts. (Ingram hosts a website called Chewing The Fat With God). Using Trump's own words, Ingram writes:

Commandment 1: You shall have no other gods before Me.

Commandment 1 (Trump Edition): I won the popular vote" I'm really smart. I have the best words. Best words. Believe me.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Commandment 2: You shall not make for yourself a carved image of Me.

Commandment 2 (Trump Edition): You shall not publish unflattering photos. Giant portraits are okay if they're of Me. For Me.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Commandment 3: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

Commandment 3 (Trump Edition): You shall not mock me, the ratings machine, Donald J. Trump, or I will declare you boring and unfunny. Bigly.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

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Trump Cheeto Voldemort

(Image by Rob kall) Details DMCA



Rapper Busta Rhymes pegged it at the Grammy Awards when he referred to Donald Trump as "President Agent Orange." While performing with A Tribe Called Quest and Anderson, Paak, Rhymes used the opportunity to call out Trump for his Muslim ban and "all of the evil" Trump has perpetrated since assuming the presidency three weeks ago.

Rhymes said, "I just wanna thank President Agent Orange for perpetuating all of the evil that you've been perpetrating throughout the United States," adding, "I wanna thank President Agent Orange for your unsuccessful attempt at the Muslim ban. Now we come together! We the people! We the people! We the people!"

For some younger readers who may not be familiar with the term, Agent Orange was an herbicidal chemical weapon sprayed over 12 percent of Vietnam by the U.S. military from 1961 to 1971. The dioxin present in Agent Orange is one of the most toxic chemicals known to humankind.

Those exposed to Agent Orange often have children and grandchildren born with serious illnesses and disabilities. The international scientific community has identified an association between exposure to Agent Orange and some forms of cancers, reproductive abnormalities, immune and endocrine deficiencies, and nervous system damage. Second- and third-generation victims continue to be born in Vietnam, as well as to U.S. veterans and Vietnamese-Americans in this country.

The use of dioxin, a poisoned weapon, was a war crime in violation of the Hague Convention. It also constituted a crime against humanity because it was an inhuman act perpetrated against a civilian population. Despite all that, the U.S. government has given only small amounts of money to address the human victims of Agent Orange/dioxin. Much of the money has not reached the victims who need it so much, and the amounts allocated cannot make much of a dent in addressing the tremendous human suffering.

Second and third generation children of American Vietnam veterans face the same problems as do exposed Vietnamese-Americans. That is why Rep. Barbara Lee, D-California, introduced H.R. 334, the Victims of Agent Orange Relief Act of 2017.

The bill, which currently has 23 co-sponsors, would provide health care and social services for affected Vietnamese; medical assistance and disability benefits to affected children of U.S. veterans of the Vietnam War; and health assessment, counseling and treatment for affected Vietnamese-Americans and their offspring. It would also clean up the lands and restore ecosystems contaminated by Agent Orange/dioxin in Vietnam.

The Trump Comparison

Though some might view the comparison between President Trump and poisonous dioxin sprayed indiscriminately on living things a bit hyperbolic, many of Trump's early actions and proposals -- like Agent Orange -- may inflict devastation for years to come.

Since taking office, Trump has moved systematically to unravel protections for immigrants, workers, the environment, Native Americans and other people of color, as well as the right to healthcare. He has moved to deregulate Wall Street, incurring a real risk of another financial meltdown. And his Muslim ban created worldwide chaos, pain and insecurity for untold numbers of people. The courts have halted the ban -- for now.

Moreover, Trump has already committed a war crime in Yemen, ordering a raid that killed at least 25 civilians, nine of them children, including a three-month-old baby and a pregnant woman. Mohsina Mabkhout al Ameri lost her brother, nephew and his three children in the attack.

"They killed men, children and women and destroyed houses," she told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. "We are normal people and have nothing to do with al-Qaeda or the Houthis or anyone. The men came from America, got off the planes and the planes bombed us," she added.

Nevertheless, the Trump administration proclaimed the raid "absolutely a success." Trump called it a "winning mission." Trump also favors torture and waterboarding and has pledged to continue drone strikes. He has already begun deporting DREAMers. And if he has his way, his administration will exclude large numbers of refugees fleeing war and persecution.

Under a President Trump, we can expect a continual, persistent assault on civil rights and human rights, and increasing heartache both in the United States and abroad. This is why Busta Rhymes called Trump's actions "evil." At the end of the rap performance, Muslim women wearing headscarves and others joined the musicians onstage. They all raised their fists, repeatedly chanting, "Resist!"


Subway & Bus to Marine Terminal Rd, LaGuardia Airport

(Image by Nouhailler) Details DMCA



His first order of business is to revitalize the American economy through supply economics by combining lower taxes and deregulation. He also wants to re-industrialize it, and protect it from competition on world markets which he regards as unfair. He plans to spend one trillion dollars on infrastructure renovation and intends to do away with Obamacare which he views as an inappropriate answer to a real problem despite the fact it provided medical coverage to over 30 million Americans. On the political front, he wants to give the power back to the people in the spirit of Abraham Lincoln, his illustrious predecessor. On the geopolitical front, he is repudiating the neoconservatives' hegemonic policy of the last twenty-five years in favor of bilateral accords which he believes he can negotiate on a one-to-one basis, all to the advantage of the US. On the cultural front, he reaffirms the identity of the American people and promotes a return to traditional values. It's a fourfold revolution he is offering the American people. What do you make of it?

His economic growth objective (4% per annum) is too ambitious considering the political agenda. It can only be reached over time. The mid-term elections often bring surprises. The Republican Party could lose control of Congress if impatient voters express their dissatisfaction in November 2018. His administration would then be faced with a deadlock.

To re-industrial the economy, Trump will have to resort to high tariffs which he has said he will do. But, they will bring down the Americans' buying power and set in motion an economic war. His negotiating skills he boosts about will be put to the test when negotiating with the United States' trading partners. The Chinese economy is very much dependent on the American economy. However, the Chinese won't be fleeced. The same is true of Russians. There is an obvious and reciprocal advantage for the two countries to trade. But, the Russians will enter into an agreement only if it is equitable, not one-sided. If Trump cancels NAFTA (the trade agreement linking the United States, Canada and Mexico) as he said he would, he will induce a flow of Mexican immigrants into the United States, therefore worsening a problem he wants to eliminate.

In foreign policy matters, incoherence seems to prevail. Trump cannot be Russia's ally against ISIS and "tear up" the nuclear agreement with Iran which is allied to Russia. He wants to have good relations with Vladimir Putin, however his Defense Secretary, general James Mattis, regards Russia as the United States' main threat. On the cultural front, he will face strong opposition in the states of New York and California, if he repeals the 1973 Supreme Court's decision Wade vs Roe.

Trump is partially correct. The United States is experiencing a relative decline. The neoconservatives' hegemonic policy turned out to be very costly with disastrous human consequences. Donald Trump is right to drop it. He is right again when focusing on the American people's well-being. But, he cannot ignore that his decisions have an impact on the rest of the world. The United States remains the most powerful country in the world, economically, politically and militarily. Whatever they do, the world is impacted. He must also ask himself how pertinent some of his policies are. Imposing custom duties as he said he would may start a trade war similar to the one the world has known in the 1930s which was an indirect cause of World War II. In social matters, he is attempting to turn the clock back. But, people demand more, not less, from their government as their nations' wealth rises.

Considering his administration's diversity, his program's incoherencies and the street opposition, Donald Trump cannot keep his current policies without risking a severe crisis or falling into authoritarianism.

(Article changed on February 14, 2017 at 17:05)
          ,          Do you want to be the first foreigner in a Ukrainian village?.

An EBRD bake sale in December raised over 800

Everybody who follows events in Ukraine has heard talk about a powerful volunteer movement. They are literally everywhere  including at the EBRD. Last summer, a remote village allowed Olena Borysova, an energy efficiency principal in Kyiv, to teach local children some English and to introduce her own son to village life, complete with roaming cattle and real food.

For kids in Luhansk and Donetsk, there is no option to invite an international volunteer for a summer English school. Ukrainian community in EBRD is conducting a fundraising for these children to travel to a summer camp vacation in central Ukraine, with English lessons and medical care. The new initiative, by a team of Ukrainians working at the EBRD, has already raised 3,800, including through a bake sale in December.

Everyone who is over 18 years old can also volunteer and go to a remote village to teach, which will be a life-changing experience. One of the GoCamp main aims is to mobilise volunteers to run summer English schools for Ukrainian kids in remote locations, where they have little chance to be exposed to other cultures and practice English.

How Olenas son taught English and met the calf

As Olena Borysova discovered last summer, when she volunteered for GoCamp, most people in the village in the Zhytomyr region, 120 kilometres from the capital, had never been any further than their areas administrative centre. Olena went with her 12-year-old son, Olexiy, who spent his first school year in upstate New York and speaks fluent English, and another volunteer, 20-year old Dia from India, a student of English from Calcutta. Dia spent a whole three weeks in the summer school.

They were the first speakers of real English to spend time and teach the village. (The school English teacher was also an enthusiastic learner at the summer school). And Dia was the first ever foreigner most of the village had a chance to befriend  although there had been a short visit earlier by some Peace Corps volunteers.

For the children, Olena says, the most memorable thing was meeting Olexiy. I took him with me in order for the kids to meet and befriend somebody who is fluent in three languages. Kids his age were quite distrustful at first and kept trying to trip him up, but eventually became convinced that he was indeed fluent in English  and believed that they could be, too!

lena, Olexiy and DIa (front) with their clever little pupils

Here is how Olena described their first days in a letter home.

Our village is called Denishi. We were met at the local school, by children and teachers, in a traditional manner, with ritual bread and salt. We assumed we had to eat the bread and started chewing on it, but the head teacher took it away.

Upon arrival, we were reminded of the importance of packing skills. There are no toothbrushes on sale here. You have to go to the city of Zhytomyr, 22 km away. Olexiy is learning the ways of the village. He is impressed by how polite everybody is (local people greet you every time they meet you on the street), and is envious of the freedom his age-mates enjoy. At the end of lessons they just mount their bikes and ride anywhere they like without telling their parents where they are going and when they will be home. Having met a calf roaming the village streets, Olexiy is cautious not to scare it away and therefore prefers to keep at a safe distance. He says hes never eaten tastier strawberries in his life.

Olena, Olexiy and Dia had students in three age groups: 6-8, 9-12, and 13-15 year olds. More than 80 per cent of the schools pupils enrolled into the summer camp. Olexiy was given classes to teach as well. He taught them in all seriousness for two days, then got a little tired, spent a day running around with new friends his age and went back to teaching his groups, says Olena.

Both the kids and local teachers participated, and they were very good students indeed, really interested and enthusiastic. Teaching aids were quite limited so we had to be creative  at one point I used a little video of my pets to discuss with the youngest kids in English whether cats and dogs can be friends. At the end of each day, the students were asked to draw little pictures representing the highlights of the day, and I still have one, saying: Olena  good; Dia  very good, Olexiy  the best!

Volunteers stayed with local families and made new friends. All were sad when it was time to leave, especially Olexiy, and Dia said she would love to visit again from India. She was the first real foreigner most villagers have ever met, she taught the locals some Bollywood dancing, and learning about a new culture was great for both sides.

I dont know who benefited from our volunteering more: the school or us, adds Olena. It was so different from anything Olexiy has experienced before, and gave us such an amazing picture of how people live just in 100 miles from the capital city. I would wholeheartedly recommend to my colleagues who are keen to experience something very different, rewarding, and of practical value to Ukraine, that they participate in the GoCamp 2017 campaign  please feel free to ask me any questions at all.

The main goal of the GoCamp programme is to educate a new young generation of Ukrainians, helping make them capable of lifelong learning, prepared for the challenges of the 21st century, fluent in foreign languages and open to other cultures and experiences.

The programme aims to involve 100,000 children from 700 schools in Ukraine and bring 1,000 international volunteers to Ukraine in 2017 alone. The ambition is to reach 1.5 million children by 2020.

     .    .
Moving the US embassy to Jerusalem as proposed by Trump and Netanyahu could cause an even more widespread and violent reaction, since the PLO claims East Jerusalem for its proposed capital. The very suggestion of such a move in this very unstable era of world politics reveals a total incompetence and lack of understanding of the political realities involved. Trump's take-charge method regardless of consequences could bring about repercussions that only a totally un- or mis-informed person could not anticipate.

Trump's stated goal in issuing the travel ban was part of his plan to "keep America safe". The move of the embassy to Jerusalem would do just the opposite. Like the unresolved truce of the Korean war, the boundaries of Israel and the status of Jerusalem as its legal capital have not been established, pending the two-state solution. The embassy move would be a "fait accompli", in defiance of the Camp David and Oslo treaties and resolutions of the United Nations that validated the establishment of Israel. It would re-ignite and intensify hostilities with the PLO and its supporters and could drag America more deeply into that hornet's nest. It appears that Trump and Netanyahu are scheming to take advantage of the present turmoil and distractions among Arab states. However, we have seen that the various extremists in this saga have found ways to expand their field of action beyond all expectations.

Israel exists in tentative security only by maintaining a formidable military and sealing its critical borders with walls. It functions like a medieval fortress in hostile territory. The embassy move would put it in higher alert and peril, making peace a more futile hope. The disputed expansion of settlements in the West Bank under military occupation is the other main point of contention, aside from those who want to eliminate Israel altogether.

In view of the length of hostilities between Israel and Palestinians - something on the order of the Hundred Years and Thirty-Years wars of the 14th and 17th Centuries - and the repercussions upon the rest of the world, it would be sensible and appropriate to 21st Century political concepts to create a world forum - if not the UN - that would impose a rational and just final solution. The present right-wing Israeli government may believe that it can wait out the impasse indefinitely, but a strong liberal minority is willing to make real concessions - and the world is impatient. It would be to both parties' advantage - and the world's - to settle this dilemma once and for all.

What might a final solution look like? If we can step back from the current intransigence of both parties, we might get a better perspective. The following is a little refresher background, courtesy mainly of Wikipedia

The main point of contention may be who "owns" or belongs on the land known as Palestine before the creation of Israel? Biblical history places Hebrew tribes, followers of the Jewish religion, as the dominant people in the region around 1000 BC. During the following millennium of invasions and conquests, most Jews were dispersed to Babylon (modern Iraq), which remained a principal center of Jewish life, thriving up to the 13th Century, as in Spain under the Muslims.

A demographic chart of Palestine shows Jews in the majority through the 3rd Century, with Christians in the majority through the 11th C., then Muslims by the end of the 12th C. until the birth of Israel. Estimates indicate that by 1800 there may have been 7,000 Jews in Palestine, with three times as many Christians, and 35 times as many Muslims.

Jewish religious traditions were preserved throughout the diaspora, based on their common history and teachings. Returning to Israel after more than 2000 years of exile is a primary theme in Jewish tradition, as expressed in the prayer translated as "Next year in Jerusalem", although I suspect few mouthing the prayer actually had that intention until Arab countries expelled the Jews after the birth of Israel.

The Zionist movement was established in 1897 to create a homeland in Palestine based on ancient tradition, as a refuge for Jews, mainly from Eastern Europe, who were persecuted over the centuries. The immigrants acquired land by purchase to form agriculture communes. As numbers of Jewish settlers increased twenty-five times by 1931, hostilities arose between them and native Palestinians.

England, which controlled Palestine as a Mandate after WW1, was entreated to issue the Balfour Declaration of 1917, favoring the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine without restricting any rights of non-Jews. In 1948 after WW2, the UN approved the establishment of the State of Israel, against the objections of surrounding Arab states. This action can be seen as an emotional response to the tragedy of the Jewish holocaust, perhaps as compensation for centuries of persecution in many European states, and a solution to the immediate crisis of mass Jewish refugees. For the Palestinians, the land was stolen. For the Jews, their 2000-year old prayer was fulfilled.They were entitled to their promised land.

On the basis of ownership of the land, both claims are ineffective, according to present-day vague standards of diplomatic ethics. The political map of the world has changed countless times during the millennia. History is the story of mass migrations and displacements of people to other parts of the world. The justice of these movements has seldom, if ever, been established, even when wars and genocide were involved. Israel was created by an act of the UN, followed by an act of war - not by an act of god for a chosen people. No one but the most archaic minded would hold that view today. The claim of historical or religious destiny in the creation of Israel is about as valid as the claim of the new caliphate of ISIS, based upon territorial dominion after the Islamic expansion of the Middle Ages.

In terms of negotiable assets, Israel seems to hold most of the cards. Aside from its military strength, it has created a virtual miracle of a prosperous modern state with thriving industry and agriculture out of an undeveloped backward region. In addition, it has constructed a state-of-the-art water supply system that could benefit its neighbors as it has helped other countries.* Countering that is the costly constant threat to its peace and existence from a Palestinian Intifada supported by surrounding countries hostile to its existence.

Perhaps more important than those factors in a possible peace settlement is the biblical legacy that Jews, as the first believers in one God, are the chosen people to teach others of this concept and all that it entails. Whether or not one believes this literally - or even believes in god - the tradition has persisted historically in the Jewish people and manifested itself throughout centuries of persecution, poverty and isolation in ghettos where survival depended upon helping each other. When freed from the ghettos after centuries, their survival skills allowed them to join the world, prosper, and contribute generously and creatively to their new societies. The Dalai Lama has consulted with Jewish groups representing this tradition to learn these survival skills for his people.

It is incongruous with this survival tradition that the Jews, who suffered so greatly through the Nazi era, should not empathize with the suffering of the Palestinian people and offer help to raise them up, rather than further antagonize them - even when their own kind do not. Why not give them some of the new settlements? I am certain that many Jews believe something like this.

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From Alon Ben-Meir Website

Image Deleted Because Wiki Page Empty or Removed Image

President Trump should not be swayed by Netanyahu's duplicitous argument, however convincing it might sound, that he is committed to a two-state solution when in fact he has opposed and will continue to reject in principle the creation of an independent Palestinian state under any circumstances.

Netanyahu's repeated assertions that he is ready to negotiate with the Palestinians unconditionally is hollow because he knows that President Abbas will not enter into negotiations unless Israel suspends the continuing expansion of settlements and the creeping annexation of Palestinian land, which prevents the Palestinians from establishing their own viable state.

To establish Netanyahu's lack of commitment, one has to simply observe his actions in the occupied territories and listen to his public narrative, which squarely contradicts his presumed willingness to negotiate an end to the conflict. Netanyahu's objections in words and deeds to the creation of a Palestinian state are undisputedly manifested in the following:

First, Netanyahu's insistence that he is ready to negotiate unconditionally is in and of itself a precondition. Suppose President Abbas agrees to negotiate on that basis -- there is simply no avoiding the requirement to first agree on rules of engagement, including the venue, makeup of the negotiating teams, their mandate, etc. Most importantly, they must agree on which of the main conflicting issues to tackle first that could facilitate negotiations on other critical issues.

Netanyahu has all along refused to commence negotiations by first meeting the Palestinians' demand to establish the contours of their future state. Instead, he kept insisting that Israel must first negotiate the mechanism that would ensure its national security. The fact, however, that he always sought "secure borders" would have made it reasonable and practical to negotiate borders first.

This would not only establish what constitutes (from his perspective) secure borders, but it would have also met the Palestinians' demands and given them the confidence that a future state will eventually be created. In conjunction with that, the future of many of the settlements could have also been settled. Netanyahu's insistence, however, on negotiating national security first was nothing but a ploy designed to play for time as previous negotiations have clearly shown.

Second, Netanyahu presides over a coalition government that includes, other than his own right-of-center Likud party, two other extremely right-wing parties--Yisrael Beiteinu and Jewish Home, led by Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Education Minister Naftali Bennett, respectively, who are both committed and subservient to the settlement movement. Bennett in particular openly calls for the annexation of much of the West Bank, especially Area C, which constitutes 61 percent of the Palestinian territory.

If Netanyahu were to embark in earnest on negotiating a two-state solution, this would immediately unravel his government, as these two parties (along with many members of his own Likud party) have threatened to leave the government if he were to take such a step. Thus, as long as he maintains the present make-up of the current government, there is absolutely no prospect of reaching a peace agreement that would grant the Palestinians a state of their own.

Following his 2015 campaign for reelection, Netanyahu clearly stated "I think that anyone who moves to establish a Palestinian state today, and evacuate areas, is giving radical Islam an area from which to attack the State of Israel. The left has buried its head in the sand time and after time and ignores this..." When asked whether a Palestinian state would not be created under his leadership, the prime minister said "Indeed." What he said then he still means today; anything he says to the contrary is for show.

Third, the unabated expansion of existing settlements and the passage of the recent law that authorizes the government to retroactively legalize scores of illegal settlements unambiguously suggests that he has no intention whatsoever of allowing the Palestinians to establish a state of their own. This systematic annexation of Palestinian land makes it impossible for them to maintain land contiguity. To suggest, as he claims, that the settlements are not an obstacle to peace is disingenuous at best and he knows it. Under Netanyahu's watch, the government has built a major network of roads crisscrossing the West Bank exclusively designated for the settlers, while confining the Palestinians to cantons with the intention of making the current status quo permanent.

Fourth, his objective is to settle at least one million Israelis throughout the West Bank and create irreversible facts on the ground. Currently, there are nearly 650,000 settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, making the removal of any significant number of settlers simply impossible. The lesson that Netanyahu's father, Benzion Netanyahu, who was a staunch revisionist Zionist, ingrained in his son was the belief that all of the biblical "land of Israel" belongs to the Jews in perpetuity. In a 2009 interview, Benzion stated "The two-state solution doesn't exist. "There is no Palestinian people, so you don't create a state for an imaginary nation." That lesson was not lost on Netanyahu.

Not surprisingly, whenever Israel's Supreme Court orders the removal of a certain illegal settlement built on private Palestinian land, such as the recent dismantling of Amona with roughly 250 settlers, Netanyahu immediately announces plans to build new units. He is determined that the number of settlers continues to grow to reach the milestone of one million, regardless of what the Israeli courts decide or the international community demands -- including the US, Israel's closest ally.

Fifth, if Netanyahu were to truly opt to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of a two-state solution, he could disband his current and establish a new coalition government composed of several centrist and left-of-center parties, including the Zionist Union, Yesh Atid, Kulanu, Meretz, and Netanyahu's own Likud party, which would provide him a decisive majority of 80 out of 120 seats in the parliament, versus the current government of Likud, Kulanu, Shas, Jewish Home, Yisrael Beiteinu, and UTJ, a very slim majority of 67 out of 120 seats. Although some members of his own party will defect, he will still have a significant majority that reflects the aspiration of the Israelis who want to end the conflict. It should be noted that with a new government, the 13 members of the Arab List would support any initiative towards a two-state solution.

Such a coalition can certainly agree on an equitable peace with the Palestinians that would entail some land swaps if only Netanyahu wills it. Sadly, however, Netanyahu simply will not entertain such a peace agreement because he is ideologically committed to control in perpetuity all of what he terms the "Land of Israel," while accusing the Palestinians of wanting to destroy rather than make peace with Israel.

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Here is a link to a useful, short piece on what might be coming down the pike this spring: Trump's infrastructure plan has huge risks It was written by AP reporters Joan Lowy and David A. Lieb and I read it in Business Insider. The article discussed several issues we should be thinking about, but did not include others that should be addressed if we want a good program. Here's a partial list from Lowy and Lieb and others, including your author. You can also look at Robert Reich's five-minute video, at Robert Reich: Trump's infrastructure scam - YouTube

1. Why bother? Do we need a big new program? Most of us say yes; so do the experts. The engineers give America's infrastructure a D+.

2. Privatize? Should structures or at least their revenues be privatized? Two of Mr. Trump's advisors, economist Peter Navarro and billionaire, now Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, published a campaign paper on October 27, 2016, called "Trump versus Clinton on Infrastructure." It goes without saying that there was nothing about taxing the rich and corporations more to help finance a major push on infrastructure. Just the opposite. It was about cutting regulations, offering huge tax credits to builders and investors, and paying off investors and builders from revenues and fees generated by public structures. During the campaign Mr. Trump promised a trillion-dollar program. Can $123 billion in tax credits generate $1 trillion of repairs and new construction? If private firms are in control and dependent on fees and tools to support their expenditures, will we end up having to buy a ticket to get into our new neighborhood park? (More likely neighborhood parks and things like that will not be built.) Will local water rates soar after the pipes are fixed? And what kind of revenue stream can be generated from filling pot holes? Much of what is hinted in the Navarro-Ross paper is vague and much is utopian about the wonders of private control and cutting government regulations.

3.Taxation? If not enough can be done with tax credits, will the President and his aides work hard to raise money to do what is needed? The president and especially Congressional Republicans are all about tax cuts of almost every kind. But if they won't agree to tax the rich and large businesses to repair the infrastructure, will they at least agree to raise the gas tax, which has not been increased in two decades? The increase could ramp up road repair projects and some of the funds could give a boost to mass transit as well. And will Trump be able to get Tea Party types to allow larger budget deficits to finance infrastructure improvements? In general, can we expect that Wall Street investors, rich conservative donors, and Republicans in Congress will support a program that is as clean and large as the country needs? In the old days Republicans liked public improvements that came to their own districts, but is that generalization true of the privatizers in today's party?

4. Equal Access to Jobs? Nothing in the Navarro-Ross publication nor anything else we've heard from the Trump camp has addressed the question of whether equal access to jobs and benefits will be guaranteed to minorities, poor people, women, the disabled, and others who often face hiring discrimination. Will the administration only practice affirmative action for non-college-educated white people in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and West Virginia? The Navarro-Ross paper promises to expedite construction programs--less red tape and fewer regulations. A streamlined application process--it's hard to disagree with that general idea. But what if streamlining is mainly about cutting equality provisions and environmental regulations? If you really want to eliminate the EPA and clean air regulations, as many Republicans do, that means people who live and work in and near workplaces and building projects that generate a lot of dirt and dangerous poisons are out of luck.

5. Wages. Will there be wage guarantees for people working in the program? Mr. Trump does not support a $15 federal minimum, nor does the man he wants as Labor Secretary.That's not a good sign. Even $15 an hour for a full-time year-round job is just a bit over $30,000 and that's not much for any kind of household, even one with a single member, especially in a big city.

6. Hard Goods Only? Should infrastructure be thought of, mainly, as a question of hard goods--bridges and roads and buildings and so on? Or should we expand the concept so that, for example, we could consider an upgrade for the care industry as part of an infrastructure program? Or should such programs be discussed and fixed separately?

7. Doesn't government always screw things up? In a later article, I will touch on the WPA, CCC, PWA, and CWA--job programs of the 1930s--and Obama's stimulus package of 2009, as well as the difficulties that accompanied the introduction of George Bush's Medicare D program and Obama's Affordable Care Act. And the catastrophes that followed when Wall Street was given a free hand to manage a big chunk of the economy in the late 1920s and early 2000s.

Frank Stricker is emeritus professor of history and labor studies at California State University, Dominguez Hills, and he is a member of the National Jobs for All Coalition. He's finishing a book about the history and future of American unemployment.
This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

While preparing to walk in New York City -- or, as it turned out, given the staggering crowds, to stand in one spot for long periods -- in support of the Women's March (which would set protest records nationally), I had a specific urge. I wanted to carry the flag. I'm talking about the stars and stripes, the one that "o'er the ramparts" flew. Although I could indeed have gotten my hands on a flag, I had no idea how to get a pole for it and I certainly wasn't going to drape it over my shoulders. In its own way, it was a ridiculous idea, given that, at almost 73, I probably would only have lasted a few spare minutes actually carrying a flag on a pole.

Still, the idea meant something to me for a simple enough reason: this country is mine. I've always loved it even when -- as in the Vietnam era -- I was so angry with it for what it was doing; even when, as in these last 15 years, I disagreed with just about everything its leaders did in the world. In the end, I'm rooted here in ways that go right to the heart of things.

My grandfather was an immigrant. A runaway, he made it to this country in steerage class with only a few cents in his pocket, initially sharing a bed behind a stove with someone who used it when he didn't. It was a typical story -- though, sadly, perhaps far less typical if Donald Trump (in the great tradition of American nativism) has anything to do with it. Though he died when I was quite young, I was deeply proud of him and of what he did and how he got here. My grandmother was the daughter of immigrants. She helped make me who I am. Thanks in part to her, I've always felt a deep responsibility for this country -- both for what it is and especially for what it isn't. This website, TomDispatch, is an expression of that. For the last 15 years, it's focused regularly on "what it isn't," a body of work I consider my late-in-life service to this country.

Here's the thing with that flag. It's a potent symbol, it's mine, and I'll be damned if I'll give up the most crucial symbols of my country to Donald Trump. So I have my version of patriotism that's bone deep in me, but I must admit that I'm moved by TomDispatchregular Frida Berrigan's version of it as well. Her particular embrace of this country makes me want to say to those so much younger than me and in despair: don't let Donald Trump make you reject what's basic and best about America. Do that and, despite yourself, you'll be aiding and abetting the crimes of the Trump regime (which will be plentiful in the years to come). Tom

Loving America and Resisting Trump

The New Patriotism

By Frida Berrigan So reality has inexorably, inescapably penetrated my life. It didn't take long. Yes, Donald Trump is actually the president of the United States. In that guise, in just his first weeks in office, he's already declared war on language, on loving, on people who are different from him -- on the kind of world, in short, that I want to live in. He's promised to erect high walls, keep some people in and others out and lock up those he despises, while threatening to torture and abuse with impunity. Still, a small personal miracle emerges from this nightmare. It turns out that, despite growing up an anarchist protest kid who automatically read Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States alongside the official textbooks, I love this country more each day. So I find myself eternally upset about our new political reality-show, about a man so thin-skinned he lashes out at everything and so insulated in his own alt-reality that no response to him seems to matter. Above all, I am so mad. Yeah, I'm mad at all those people who voted for Trump and even madder at the ones who didn't vote at all. I'm mad at everyone who thinks the sum total of their contribution to the political well-being of this country is voting every two or four years. I'm mad at our corporate-political system and how easily distracted people are. I'm steaming mad, but mostly at myself. Yep, I'm mad at myself and at the Obamas. They made empire look so good! Their grace and intelligence, their obvious love for one another and the way they telegraphed a certain approachability and reasonableness. So attractive! They were fun -- or at least they looked like that on social media. Michelle in the karaoke car with Missy Elliot singing Beyonce' and talking about global girls' education! Barack and a tiny Superman at a White House Halloween party. Michelle, unapologetically fierce after Trump's demeaning Access Hollywood comments came to light. I loved those Obamas, despite my politics and my analysis. I was supposed to resist all his efforts at world domination through drones and sweeping trade deals and instead I fell a little bit in love, even as I marched and fasted and tried to resist. Falling in Love With My Country Now, we have a new president. And my love is gone, along with my admiration, my pride, and my secret wish to attend a state dinner and chat with the Obamas over local wine and grass-fed beef sliders. What's not gone, though, what's strangely stronger than ever, is my love for this country. I didn't love the United States under Jimmy Carter or Ronald Reagan or Bush the First. I was a kid and they were names on protest banners and headlines in the news. My parents were the Catholic peace activists Liz McAlister and Phil Berrigan, and I grew up in an anarchist collective of Christian resisters. My parents and their friends went to jail repeatedly and resolutely. We demonstrated, rallied, and railed at every institution of power in Washington. Those presidents made the adults around me angry and agitated, so they scared me. I didn't love the United States under Bill Clinton either -- I was young and in college and opposed to everything -- nor under George W. Bush. I was young and in New York City and still opposed to almost everything. I started calling myself a "New Yorker" three years after moving there when, on a sunny Tuesday morning, airplanes became weapons, tall towers fell, and 3,000 people died. I emerged from my routine subway ride at 14th Street, unaware and unscathed, to stand still with the rest of the city and watch the sky turn black. I spent the rest of that day in Manhattan with friends trying to reach my parents and following the news, as we all tried (and failed) to come to grips with the new reality. Once the bridges reopened, we walked home to Brooklyn that evening, terrified and shell-shocked.

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In April 2016, with Donald Trump showing remarkable staying power in the presidential campaign, I started thinking about the slogan adorning his product line, the one that he had tried to trademark as early as November 2012 (only days after Mitt Romney lost the presidency), the one that became a crucial punch line at his rallies (along with, of course, the Wall and who would pay for it), and that now is at the heart of his presidency: "Make America Great Again." I wrote then: "With that 'again,' Donald Trump crossed a line in American politics that... represented a kind of psychological taboo for politicians of any stripe, of either party, including presidents and potential candidates for that position." Until Trump, in this tarnished, already aging "new" century of ours, politicians all had to swear fealty to this country as the greatest, most exceptional, most indispensable nation ever and to its fighting forces as the "finest" in history. If there were mantras for the post-9/11 years, those were them, until Donald Trump chucked them all out the nearest window, making himself (though few noted it) the first declinist candidate in -- why not stick with hyperbole since it's The Donald! -- our history.

Now, let me quote myself one more time. In October 2016, as the election campaign ground toward its end, I wrote that "a significant part of the white working class," feeling backed against some wall, seemed ready to send a "literal loose cannon" into the White House. I suspected that they were willing "to take a chance on the roof collapsing, even if it collapses on them." And I concluded: "The Donald represents, as a friend of mine likes to say, the suicide bomber in us all. And voting for him, among other things, will be an act of nihilism, a mood that fits well with imperial decline."

Of course, the candidate who pounded the declinist key all those months has occupied the Oval Office and, three and a half weeks in, it's already clear enough that the situation has "this can't end well" written all over it. Of course, as with all great imperial powers, this, too, must end. In a sense, you could even say that the U.S. has been on the decline since it emerged from World War II wealthy beyond compare and untouched in a world largely in rubble. Or you could say that, of the two great superpowers of the Cold War, the Soviet Union imploded in 1991 in what seemed like seconds, while the United States, so much wealthier and more powerful, began edging toward the exit ramp wreathed in a sense of triumphalism and proudly proclaiming itself the "sole superpower" of planet Earth.

Now, it looks like a man has been elevated to the White House who truly is a suicide bomber. The question isn't whether he'll explode; it's just who, what, or how much he'll take down with him in the process. So call this officially the American age of decline and check out TomDispatchregular Michael Klare, who has been watching the initial moments of the Trump era closely, and offers his own unique perspective on what an "America First" president actually has to offer, geopolitically speaking. Tom

America Third

Donald Trump Is Giving the Phrase "Multipolar World" New Meaning

By Michael T. Klare If there's a single consistent aspect to Donald Trump's strategic vision, it's this: U.S. foreign policy should always be governed by the simple principle of "America First," with this country's vital interests placed above those of all others. "We will always put America's interests first," he declared in his victory speech in the early hours of November 9th. "From this day forward, it's going to be only America first, America first," he insisted in his Inaugural Address on January 20th. Since then, however, everything he's done in the international arena has, intentionally or not, placed America's interests behind those of its arch-rivals, China and Russia. So to be accurate, his guiding policy formula should really be relabeled America Third. Given 19 months of bravado public rhetoric, there was no way to imagine a Trumpian presidency that would favor America's leading competitors. Throughout the campaign, he castigated China for its "predatory" trade practices, insisting that it had exploited America's weak enforcement policies to eviscerate our economy and kill millions of jobs. "The money they've drained out of the United States has rebuilt China," he told reporters from the New York Times in no uncertain terms last March. While he expressed admiration for the strong leadership of Russian President Vladimir Putin, he decried that country's buildup of advanced nuclear weapons. "They have gone wild with their nuclear program," he stated during the second presidential debate. "Not good!" Judging by such comments, you might imagine that Donald Trump would have entered the Oval Office with a strategic blueprint for curbing the geopolitical sway of America's two principal potential great power rivals. Presumably, this would have entailed a radical transformation of the strategy devised by the Obama administration for this purpose -- a two-pronged effort that involved the reinforcement of NATO forces in Eastern Europe and the "rebalancing" of U.S. military assets to the Asia-Pacific region. Obama's strategy also envisioned the use of economic pacts -- the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) -- to buttress those military measures. But Trump had made known his disdain for NATO and the TPP, so it was reasonable to assume that he would arrive in Washington with an alternative plan to ensure America's primacy on the global strategic chessboard. As President Trump has made clear in recent weeks, however, his primary strategic priorities do not include the advancement of America's status in the race for global strategic preeminence. Instead, as indicated by the outline of his "America First Foreign Policy" posted on the White House website, his top objectives are the extermination of what he calls "radical Islamic terrorism" and the enhancement of America's overseas trade balance. Just how vital these objectives may be in the larger scheme of things has been the subject of considerable debate, but few have noted that Trump has completely abandoned any notion that the U.S. is engaged in a global struggle for power and wealth with two potentially fierce competitors, each possessing its own plan for achieving "greatness." And it's not just that Trump seems to have abandoned the larger geopolitical playing field to America's principal rivals. He appears to be doing everything in his power to facilitate their advance at the expense of the United States. In just the first few weeks of his presidency, he has already taken numerous steps that have put the wind in both China's and Russia's sails, while leaving the U.S. adrift. Trump's China-First Foreign Policy In his approach to China, Donald Trump has been almost exclusively focused on the issue of trade, claiming that his primary goal is to combat the unfair practices that have allowed the Chinese to get rich at America's expense. It's hardly surprising, then, that his nominee as U.S. trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, is an outspoken critic of that country's trade behavior. "It seems clear that the U.S. manufacturing crisis is related to our trade with China," he told Congress in 2010. But while trade may be an important part of the U.S.-China relationship, Trump's single-minded fixation on the issue leaves aside far more crucial political, economic, diplomatic, and military aspects of the Sino-American competition for world power and influence. By largely ignoring them, in just weeks in the Oval Office, President Trump has already enabled China to gain ground on many fronts. This was evident in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. While no senior representative of the soon-to-be installed Trump administration even put in an appearance, China was represented by no less than President Xi Jinping himself, a first appearance for a Chinese head of state. In a major address, denouncing (no names mentioned) those who seek to turn away from globalization, Xi portrayed China as the world's new exemplar of free trade and internationalism. "Say no to protectionism," he insisted. "It is like locking yourself in a dark room. Wind and rain are kept out, but so are light and air." For many of the 1,250 CEOs, celebrities, and government officials in the audience, his appearance and remarks represented an almost mind-boggling shift in the global balance of political influence, as Washington ceded the pivotal position it had long occupied on the world stage. Six days later, on his first weekday in office, President Trump appeared to confirm the Chinese leader's derisory comments by announcing his intent to withdraw from negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, thereby abandoning U.S. leadership in efforts to vastly augment trade in the Asia-Pacific region. From Trump's perspective, the 12-nation trade deal (which included Australia, Malaysia, Japan, and Vietnam, while carefully excluding China) would harm American workers and manufacturers by facilitating exports to this country by the other participants (a view shared by some on the left). At the same time, however, many in Washington saw it as bolstering American efforts to limit Beijing's influence by increasing trade among the prospective TPP member states at China's expense. Now, China has an unparalleled opportunity to reorganize and potentially reorient trade in the Asian region in its direction. "There's no doubt that this action will be seen as a huge, huge win for China," said Michael Froman, the trade representative who negotiated the TPP under President Obama. "For the Trump administration, after all this talk about being tough on China, for their first action to basically hand the keys to China and say we're withdrawing from our leadership position in this region is geo-strategically damaging."

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Consider it an irony or simply a reality of our moment, but these days Donald ("America First") Trump is looking ever less like an old-fashioned, pre-World War II isolationist. In a mere three-plus weeks in office, he's managed to mix it up royally with much of the rest of the planet. He threatened to send American troops into Mexico (hey, it was a joke, just lighthearted banter!); he insulted the Prime Minister of Australia by shouting at and hanging up on him ("fatigue was setting in" and anyway maybe he thought it was Austria!); he threatened Iran with everything but the kitchen sink (which he evidently couldn't find in the new, under-inhabited White House); he insulted Iraq by banning its citizens from visiting the land that had invaded and occupied them and essentially dynamited their country; he insulted German Prime Minister Angela Merkel for her handling of the refugee crisis and may still be playing with the idea of appointing an ambassador to the European Union who would like to see it go the way of the old Soviet Union. He put in place the Muslim ban that wasn't a ban on immigrants and visitors from seven largely Muslim lands -- before an obviously Islam-loving so-called judge in San Francisco (natch!) temporarily banned it. After being played like a fiddle by military officials who told him that President Obama would never have had the guts to order such a raid -- great presidential button-pushing, guys! -- he green-lighted a disastrous Special Operations mission in Yemen in which the raiders didn't get their guy (but did get a long available terror video), while one American and up to 30 civilians, including children, died. (The Yemeni government, possibly also angered by being put on Trump's list of banned countries, has now banned such raids in its country, or not.) And to give Trump total credit, he staunchly defended the honor of the American people, as he had always promised he would. When Bill O'Reilly, in a pre-Super Bowl interview, called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "killer" without offering a single kind, offsetting word of praise for the United States, the president promptly insisted that the Russians had no monopoly on killers in high places, not on an America First planet. He shot back: "There are a lot of killers. You think our country's so innocent?" Exactly, Donald. We kill with the best of them!

According to recent research by the Global Impact Institute (GII), in his first 21 days in office, President Trump only missed messing with 13 of the 190-plus nations on the planet, an oversight he's undoubtedly planning to rectify in week four. (Okay, okay, the GII only operates inside my brain, but take my word for it, it's no less accurate for that.) And the president has obviously been saving the best for last, despite a recent molifying gesture. I'm talking, of course, about that ominously rising power, China. No other country offers such a mix-it-up opportunity for global economic chaos, outright war, and future Armageddon. But let TomDispatchregular Rajan Menon, author of The Conceit of Humanitarian Intervention, fill in the details on a country that gives Trump the chance to replay a reel of best of John F. Kennedy moments from the Bay of Pigs to the Cuban Missile Crisis -- and believe you me, if Donald Trump had been there, Cuba might not have been. Tom

Is President Trump Headed for a War with China?

All Options Are "On The Table"

By Rajan Menon Forget those "bad hombres down there" in Mexico that U.S. troops might take out. Ignore the way National Security Adviser Michael Flynn put Iran "on notice" and the new president insisted, that, when it comes to that country, "nothing is off the table." Instead, focus for a moment on something truly scary: the possibility that Donald Trump's Washington might slide into an actual war with the planet's rising superpower, China. No kidding. It could really happen. Let's start with silver-maned, stately Rex Tillerson, Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state. Who could deny that the former ExxonMobil CEO has a foreign minister's bearing? Trump reportedly chose him over neocon firebrand John Bolton partly for that reason. (Among other things, Bolton was mustachioed, something the new president apparently doesn't care for.) But an august persona can only do so much; it can't offset a lack of professional diplomatic experience. That became all-too-apparent during Tillerson's January 11th confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was asked for his view on the military infrastructure China has been creating on various islands in the South China Sea, the ownership of which other Asian countries, including Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei claim as well. China's actions, he replied, were "extremely worrisome," likening them to Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, an infraction for which Russia was slapped with economic sanctions. The then-secretary-of-state-designate -- he's since been confirmed, despite many negative votes -- didn't, however, stop there. Evidently, he wanted to communicate to the Chinese leadership in Beijing that the new administration was already irked beyond measure with them. So he added, "We're going to have to send China's leaders a clear signal: that, first, the island building stops and, second, your access to those islands is not going to be allowed." Functionally, that fell little short of being an announcement of a future act of war, since not allowing "access" to those islands would clearly involve military moves. In what amounted to a there's-a-new-sheriff-in-town warning, he then doubled down yet again, insisting, slightly incoherently (in the tradition of his new boss) that "the failure of a response has allowed them to just keep pushing the envelope on this." All right, so maybe a novice had a bad day. Maybe the secretary-of-state-to-be simply ad-libbed and misspoke... whatever. If so, you might have expected a later clarification from him or from someone on the Trump national security team anyway. That didn't happen; instead, that team stuck to its guns. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer made no effort to add nuance to, let alone walk back, Tillerson's remarks. During his first official press briefing on January 23rd, Spicer declared that the United States "is going to make sure we defend our interests there" -- in the South China Sea, that is -- and that "if those islands are in fact in international waters and not part of China proper, then yes, we are going to make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country." And what of Trump's own views on the island controversy? Never one to pass up an opportunity for hyperbole, during the presidential campaign he swore that, on those tiny islands, China was building "a military fortress the likes of which the world has not seen." As it happened, he wasn't speaking about, say, the forces that Hitler massed for the ill-fated Operation Barbarossa, launched in June 1941 with the aim of crushing the Red Army and the Soviet Union, or those deployed for the June 1944 Normandy landing, which sealed Nazi Germany's fate. When applied to what China has been up to in the South China Sea, his statement fell instantly into the not-yet-named category of "alternative facts." Candidate Trump also let it be known that he wouldn't allow Beijing to get away with such cheekiness on his watch. Why had the Chinese engaged in military construction on the islands? Trump had a simple answer (as he invariably does): China "has no respect for our president and no respect for our country." The implication was evident. Things would be different once he settled into the White House and made America great again. Then -- it was easy enough to conclude -- China had better watch out. Standard campaign bombast? Well, Trump hasn't changed his tune a bit since being elected. On December 4th, using (of course!) his Twitter account, he blasted Beijing for having built "a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea." And it's safe to assume that he signed off on Spicer's combative comments as well. In short, his administration has already drawn a red line -- but in the way a petulant child might with a crayon. During and after the campaign he made much of his determination to regain the respect he claims the U.S. has lost in the world, notably from adversaries like China. The danger here is that, in dealing with that country, Trump could, as is typical, make it all about himself, all about "winning," one of his most beloved words, and disaster might follow. Whose Islands? A military clash between Trump-led America and a China led by President Xi Jinping? Understanding how it might happen requires a brief detour to the place where it's most likely to occur: the South China Sea. Our first task: to understand China's position on that body of water and the islands it contains, as well as the nature of Beijing's military projects there. So brace yourself for some necessary detail.

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From Middle East Eye

JERUSALEM -- Often described as the powder-keg issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jerusalem was expected to loom large in Wednesday's meeting in Washington between Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

It is the first time the pair have met face to face since Trump was inaugurated president last month.

The two have major issues to address, including Israeli settlement expansion and the nuclear deal with Iran. But even these matters are likely to be overshadowed by their discussion of Jerusalem's status.

Tensions about the city's future are high, given that Trump has vowed to relocate the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move that would implicitly recognize the city as Israel's capital.

Trump's pick for US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, a hard-line supporter of the settlers, is reported to have said he intends to work from Jerusalem rather than Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu's government, meanwhile, has announced a lifting of restrictions on settlement expansion, apparently confident that it will face no backlash from Washington. Shortly after Trump's inauguration last month, Israeli officials unveiled plans for more than 560 new homes in occupied East Jerusalem.

In addition, far-right ministers in the Israeli government are pushing hard for a quick annexation of Maale Adumim, a large settlement close to Jerusalem that would further isolate the city from its hinterland of the West Bank. Under pressure from Netanyahu, a cabinet vote has been delayed until after the meeting with Trump.

These various moves have the potential to trigger an explosion of anger, both among Palestinians and more generally across much of the region.

The long-standing sensitivity over Jerusalem derives from its enormous political, religious and symbolic significance, said Zakaria Odeh, head of the Civic Coalition, an umbrella group for Palestinian civil society organizations in Jerusalem.

"Palestinians demand East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state," he told Middle East Eye. "If it is denied them, then it means the end of the two-state solution, hopes of Palestinian self-determination, and any kind of peace process. That would be a very dangerous step indeed."

Intimately tied to questions of sovereignty over East Jerusalem is Palestinian control over the city's holy places, including the most incendiary site of all: the al-Aqsa mosque in the Old City. This is the place where Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammed arrived after a miraculous night journey from Mecca, and then ascended to heaven.

For that reason, hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world take a keen interest in the fate of Jerusalem.

The failure of peace talks over the past quarter century has in large part hinged on Israel's refusal to concede to Palestinians East Jerusalem as a political capital or give them meaningful control over al-Aqsa, said Odeh.

Since Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, it has moved more than 200,000 Jewish settlers into the Palestinian part of the city, and sought to cut off the Palestinian population from the West Bank by building a separation wall.

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From Consortium News



Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn speaks at the Defense Intelligence Agency change of directorship at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, July 24, 2012.

(Image by (DoD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo)) Details DMCA



The neocon-dominated U.S. foreign policy establishment won an important victory in forcing the resignation of President Trump's National Security Adviser Michael Flynn over a flimsy complaint that he had talked to the Russian ambassador during the transition.

The Washington Post, the neoconservatives' media flagship, led the assault on Flynn, an unorthodox thinker who shared the neocons' hostility toward Iran but broke with them in seeing no strategic reason to transform Russia into an implacable enemy.

After Flynn's resignation on Monday evening, the Post gloated over its success in achieving the first major crack in Trump's resistance to Official Washington's establishment. The Post cited Flynn's "potentially illegal contacts" with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, a reference to the Logan Act, a 1799 never-enforced law that forbids private citizens from negotiating with a country in dispute with the U.S. government.

Though no one has ever been prosecuted under the Logan Act, it has been cited in recent decades as an excuse to attack American citizens who disagree with U.S. government policies while traveling abroad and having contacts with foreign leaders.

Often those accusations are aimed at Americans seeking to peacefully resolve disputes when a U.S. president is eager to escalate a conflict, such as President Ronald Reagan's denunciations of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson for visiting Cuba and House Speaker Jim Wright for exploring ways to end the Contra war in Nicaragua.

In other words, the Logan Act is usually exploited in a McCarthyistic fashion to bait or discredit peace advocates, similarly to how it has now been used to destroy Flynn for daring to look for ways to reduce the dangerous tensions between Washington and Moscow.

But the media-driven attacks on Flynn are particularly curious since he was the National Security Adviser-designate of an incoming administration at the time of the calls and -- as such -- he would be expected to make contacts with important foreign officials to begin laying the groundwork for relations with the new president.

Whether U.S. sanctions against Russia were mentioned or not, the notion that an elected president or his designees -- during a transition -- can have no meaningful contact with diplomats whom they may need to deal with in a matter of weeks represents a particularly contentious interpretation of a law that has never been tested in a court of law and may well represent an unconstitutional infringement on free speech and dissent.

An Expanding Hysteria

Indeed, referencing the Logan Act appears to be an excuse to continue -- and expand -- Official Washington's hysteria over Russia, which has become the useful villain to blame for every U.S. foreign policy debacle and even Hillary Clinton's disastrous presidential run.



Donald Trump and Governor Mike Pence of Indiana speaking to supporters at an immigration policy speech at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. August 31, 2016.

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Flynn's more egregious offense in this case may have been to mislead Vice President Mike Pence on exactly what was discussed, but Trump's White House has not seemed previously overly concerned with the precise accuracy of its statements.

Indeed, Trump and his team have tangled themselves up for weeks by promoting "alternative facts" -- that Donald Trump's inaugural crowd was bigger than Barack Obama's and that Trump would have won the popular vote if not for three million to five million illegal votes. Though these absurd claims pertain more to Trump's ego than to anything important, he and his representatives have continued fighting these fights on Twitter and TV appearances and show no signs of stopping.

So, the ouster of Flynn for failing to provide a complete readout on some telephone conversations in December stands out as even more significant in the context of the deluge of falsehoods that have poured forth from Trump's White House.

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From The Guardian

Donald Trump has spent the bulk of his new presidency playing tough in the face of terrorism. Yet pretty much everything he's proposed, beyond being bigoted in the extreme, shows just how terrified and weak he is -- all while putting the country at greater risk.

This week, Trump spent much of his time claiming -- falsely -- that the media downplays terrorist attacks for "reasons" he did not explain. "It's gotten to a point where it's not even being reported," he proclaimed at a military event on Tuesday. "And in many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn't want to report it. They have their reasons, and you understand that." The White House followed up with a list of 73 terror attacks over the past few years which they claimed were "under-covered."

The idea that the media downplays terror attacks is hard to fathom. For 15 years, terror attacks -- and countless terror threats that never materialized -- have led to wall-to-wall coverage on television, in print and online. Many times such coverage has led politicians to implement disturbing policies that would have done nothing to prevent the attacks in the first place and only further restrict the rights of millions of innocent people.

The numbers back up just how undeniably wrong Trump's claims are: Peter Bergen at CNN calculated that the 78 terrorist attacks the White House claimed were "under-reported" were the subject of 80,000 articles. 80,000!

But what makes Trump's uneducated musing even more infuriating is that at the same time as he instills fear into the American people about Islamist terrorism -- which only does the terrorists' job for them -- he's going out of his way to create a blind spot inside the US government for an arguably greater threat: terrorism committed by white nationalist, far-right groups.

According to Reuters, Trump wants to change the name of the Department of Homeland Security's "Countering Violent Extremism" program to "Countering Radical Islamic Extremism." Under this plan, violent white supremacists would no longer be targeted. Meanwhile, his "list" of 78 terror attacks that the White House released this week contained exactly zero white supremacist incidents.

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From Wallwritings

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump approached the waning days of his first month in office with what he hoped would be a significant foreign policy event, his first White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

At their joint press conference, the real estate tycoon now occupying this nation's highest office, became Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson), from the 2005 Coen brothers movie, O Brother, Where Art Thou. (see clip above).

In the film, Delmar and his pals, Everett (George Clooney), the dominant figure who evokes military occupier Bibi Netanyahu, and Pete (John Turturro), in the role of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, have escaped from a Mississippi chain gang.

Still linked together by the chains of Occupation, Everett and Pete argue heatedly over which of them should be the Decider of the future.

Ha'aretz writer Ilene Prusher analyzed Wednesday's Trump-Netanyahu press conference, under this harsh headline: Trump Is Delusional and Ignorant About Israel. His Meeting With Netanyahu Proved It.

Prusher opened her analysis by pointing to what she calls a bizarro moment: "Trump departed from decades of U.S. policy of all administrations, Republican and Democratic, when he said that America was no longer determined to reach a two-state solution to end the conflict."

Trump's exact words were:"So I'm looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like. I'm very happy with the one that both parties like. I can live with either one."

The answer drew laughs. Delmar could not have said it better. Here are clips from the press conference:

When we elected Trump, we did this nation an horrendous disservice. We put an unqualified and unprepared man in the White House who is prone to making up stuff to suit the moment.

Veteran political journalist Elizabeth Drew, opened her critique of Trump for the New York Review of Books:

"When the most unpopular and least prepared president-elect in modern history took the oath of office on January 20, most of Washington, like most of the country and the world, had little idea of the turbulence and disruption that he intended to bring to the job. Nonetheless those who'd watched him closely over the past year and a half were aware that he was manifestly unfit for a job that's beyond the capacities of most people."

Examples of his turbulence and disruptions abound. Trump's Delmar moment with the Israeli Prime Minister, is only one of many.

His cabinet choices have consistently been rejected by Democrats, unfortunately not enough Democrats, since Republicans hold a narrow lead in the Senate.

Trump has selected no Team of Rivals, as Doris Kearns Goodwin described Lincoln's cabinet in her 2005 book of that name. Trump has no feel for how a divided government must serve a divided population.

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The deadline to sign up for this free community event that is open to all is Nov. 16.

Kennebunk Post

"We need to invest in our kids," said resident Brenda Robinson. "That's how we keep graffiti out of Waterhouse Center and mischief out of the downtown on Saturday night."


Lee statue

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Those of us who consider it disgraceful to have a giant statue of Robert E. Lee on his horse in a park in the middle of Charlottesville, and another of Stonewall Jackson for that matter, should try to understand those who think removing one of these statues is an outrage.

I don't claim to understand them, and certainly don't suggest they all think alike. But there are certain recurring themes if you listen to or read the words of those who think Lee should stay. They're worth listening to. They're human. They mean well. They're not crazy.

First, let's set aside the arguments we're not trying to understand.

Some of the arguments being passed around are not central to this attempt at understanding the other side. For example, the argument that moving the statue costs money, is not what I'm interested in here. I don't think cost concerns are driving most of the support for the statue. If we all agreed that removing the statue was important, we would find the money. Simply donating the statue to a museum or to some city where Lee actually lived would quite possibly produce a new owner willing to pay for the transport. Heck, donate it to the Trump Winery and they'd probably pick it up by next Thursday. [1]

True, if the statue is simply moved to a different Charlottesville park, Charlottesville will have to pay, and that money could have gone to creating a new park with monuments to peace and civil rights, etc. Perhaps there are people for whom this really is the central argument. Perhaps they are also consistent in their frugality and put up the same struggle against billion dollar highways and trillion dollar militaries. Perhaps the announcements of how much good could be done for the poor with the money that could be spent to move a statue are being made by some people with a history of caring about the poor. We'll save trying to understand them for another time.

Also tangential here is the argument that removing a statue erases history. Surely few of these history fanatics protested when the U.S. military tore down the statue of Saddam Hussein. Wasn't he part of Iraqi history? Hadn't the CIA meant well and gone to great efforts in helping to put him in power? Hadn't a company in Virginia provided him with important materials for making chemical weapons? Good or bad, history shouldn't be torn down and erased!

Actually, nobody's saying that. Nobody's valuing any and all history. Few are admitting that ugly parts of history are history at all. People are valuing a particular bit of history. The question is: why? Surely history supporters don't believe that the 99.9% of Charlottesville history not represented in monumental statuary has been erased. Why must this bit of history be monumental?

There may be those whose historical concern is simply for the past 90 years or so of the statue being there in the park. Its existence there is the history they are concerned about, perhaps. Perhaps they don't want it changed simply because that's the way it's been. I have some sympathy for that perspective, but it has to be applied selectively. Should we keep a half-built frame of a hotel on the downtown mall because my kids have never known anything else? Was history destroyed by creating the downtown mall in the first place? What I'm interested in trying to understand is not why people want nothing to change. Nobody wants nothing to change. Rather, I want to understand why they don't want this particular thing to change.

Here's what I think we should try to understand.

Supporters of the Lee statue whom I've spoken with or read or been yelled at by think of themselves as "white." This is important to them. They belong to the white race or the white ethnicity or the white group of people. They don't -- or at least some of them don't -- think of this as a cruel thing. They see many other groups of people engaged in what some 40 years ago was intentionally described by its participants as "identity politics." They see Black History Month and wonder why they cannot have a White History Month. They see affirmative action. They read about calls for reparations. They believe that if other groups are going to identify themselves by superficial visible features, they ought to be allowed to do so too.

On Thursday Jason Kessler, a blogger seeking to remove City Councilman Wes Bellamy from office, described the Robert E. Lee statue as being "of ethnic significance to southern whites." No doubt, he thinks, and no doubt he's right, that if there were a statue in Charlottesville of a non-white person or a member of some historically oppressed minority group, a proposal to remove it would be met with cries of outrage at the violation of something of value to a particular group -- any group other than "whites."

One might ask Mr. Kessler to consider the significance of the fact that there actually are no statues of non-white people in Charlottesville, unless you count Sacagawea kneeling like a dog beside Lewis and Clark. Or you might ask how his condemnations of political correctness fit with his denunciation of Wes Bellamy for old comments hateful toward gays and women. But what I'm asking you to ask, instead, is whether you can sense where Kessler or the people who read his blog may be coming from.

They denounce "the double standards" that they perceive all around them. Whether you think those standards don't exist, or think they're justified, it is clear that a lot of people do think they exist and are convinced they are not justified.

One of my professors when I was at UVA many years ago penned some thoughts that were widely cited a couple of months ago as having been a prediction of Donald Trump. This professor, Richard Rorty, asked why struggling white people seemed to be the one group liberal academics didn't care about. Why is there no trailer park studies department, he asked. Everyone thought that was funny, then and now. But an anything else studies department -- any race, ethnicity, or other identity, except white -- is very serious and solemn. Surely ending bigotry of all sorts is a good thing, he seemed to say, but meanwhile a handful of billionaires are gathering up most of the wealth of this country and the world, while most everybody else is struggling, and somehow it's acceptable to make fun of accents or teeth as long as it's white people you're mocking. So long as liberals focus on identity politics to the exclusion of policies that benefit everyone, the door will be open to a white supremacist strongman offering solutions, credible or otherwise. Thus opined Rorty long ago.

Kessler may see a bit more injustice out there than actually exists. He thinks that radical Islamic, mentally disturbed U.S. veterans are neglected until they engage in shooting sprees because of fear of political correctness. I highly doubt it. I've never heard of many mentally disturbed veterans who weren't neglected. A tiny percentage have any interest in radical Islam, and it is exclusively those, who seem to end up on Kessler's blog. But his point seems to be that there are non-white people who do horrible things, and that it is frowned on to make cruel generalizations about them -- in a way that it is not always frowned on to make cruel generalizations about white people.

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From Jonathan Cook Website

Netanyahu hopes for achievements relating to both the Palestinians and Iran, say analysts

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet US President Donald Trump on Wednesday with the aim of winning major concessions on the two issues highest on his agenda, Iran and the Palestinians, say analysts.

It will be the two men's first face-to-face meeting since Trump's inauguration as president last month. The discussions are expected to set the tone of the US administration's policy towards Israel and the Middle East over the next four years.

Trump's unequivocal backing for Israel during his presidential run generated great excitement on the Israeli right, and was seen as promising a decisive break from the clashes that marked relations with his predecessor, Barack Obama.

Hopes were heightened further by Trump's choice of David Friedman, an outspoken supporter of the settlements, as US ambassador to Israel.

But in recent days Trump has appeared to backtrack on key campaign promises. That was especially evident in an interview published at the weekend in the Israel Hayom newspaper, widely seen as a cheerleader for Netanyahu.

Trump described settlement construction as "unhelpful" and urged Israel to "act reasonably." He added: "Every time you take land for a settlement, less territory remains."

In recent weeks Israel has announced thousands of new homes in the occupied territories, as well as a decision to build the first new settlement in more than two decades. The parliament, meanwhile, has passed the Regulation Law, which retroactively sanctions a massive land grab by the settlers.

In the interview, Trump appeared to pour cold water on his pledge to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, which it is widely feared could inflame the region.

Menachem Klein, a political scientist at Bar Ilan University, near Tel Aviv, said Trump's new-found caution was the result of recent talks with Arab leaders. "Trump has finally banged up against reality in the Middle East," he told Al Jazeera. "He understands that there is a wider picture he has to take account of."

In response, Netanyahu has tried to lower expectations among his more extreme ministers. Settler leader Naftali Bennett, the education minister, has demanded that Netanyahu refuse to discuss Palestinian statehood with Trump. He has also pushed for Israel to start annexing the biggest settlements.

But at a meeting of the security cabinet on Sunday, Netanyahu reportedly warned that Trump was determined to revive peace talks with the Palestinians. In comments that were leaked in Haaretz, he said: "Trump believes in a deal ... We have to make every effort to avoid a confrontation with him."

Netanyahu needs "prize"

Yaron Ezrahi, a politics professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said Netanyahu would play a shell game on the Palestinian issue to buy time.

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We must respect the Rule of Law! We must bring back respect for the Rule of Law. Mr. Sessions, both the president's lawyer and the US Attorney General has initiated a low rumbling chant that I expect his crowds to wave and chant in unison"make America great again.

A question we might ask is, when did America stop being great? And why have our politicians and MSM hid our loss of shine for, how long? It seems conspiratorial that we should be so unaware that we are no longer great. Are we even good?

It is a fact that after the Declaration of Independence was signed and the US formed in 1783, America was already flawed. Yes, it is a fact. Its baked-in iniquities flourished to mete out death to individuals despite their native birth in or allegiance to this Great America "regrettably" were unprotected by the "bold" experiment of the new America. Surely we can forgive those oversights or miss-sights. II imagine that is easier for those with power -- to forgive themselves, than those without power to accept great and noble words and gestures without corresponding deeds.

While we have had amendments to rectify some sins, generation after generation persist in making America great -- not for everyone, but only for some. Why is that? Where do these "great Americans" learn such behavior?

So when I hear someone such as Mr. Jeffrey Beauregard Sessions casually throw about the phrase, "Rule of Law", I am nearly overcome by the indignity of the utterance. There he sits, comfortable in the knowledge of the tools at his disposal, except they shall never be disposed, rather they should always be available to him and others like him to probe, prod, sneak, pry, steal and kill others in their drive to let the people know who is the boss of them, who is in control, especially the poor and those for whom the rule of law applies. Mr. Sessions is not a friend of freedom and liberty. He is not an advocate for democracy and justice and upholding civil and human rights. Especially insofar as the US has for nearly 70 years refused to sign the UN Resolution on Human Rights. You'd think that someone would have noticed that small oversight while talking about making America great again. Great for whom? If we want to exercise human rights in the US through legal means we must use international organizations to do so. Good luck with that. As Justice Scalia might say, "we don't need no stinking examples of jurisprudence from other countries to make the United States Supreme Court better. Hopefully he is having a very heated discussion about that wherever he is. Make America great again indeed!

Many poor Americans know the history of the Department of Justice, its division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation with its steady drip, drip and stripping down of fourth amendment protection by a terror stricken "Supreme" court. Are we to believe that the FBI is anything but a tool of the ruling elites? Are we to believe that it is on the side of the people, that it is our protector against powerful elements that are beyond individual people's ability to combat? Yes, that is what we are supposed to believe. That they are also our friends?

They are not.

They have not been for a long time"and that blip with Robert Kennedy is just a drop of justice for Americans in an ocean of blood thirsty unjust elites.

How does one counter the power of the state as a tool of the elites? They can shutdown protests and the people's ability to organize; they can turn on and off your devices and even listen to you even after you have turned them off. Hell they can even remotely launch a 747, fly it cross country and slam it into your backyard barbeque grill just to be an ass. Yes they can. Recently some tools figured out how to use a super fast camera to photograph vibrations on plant leaves and reconstruct those vibrations into theconversations of those in the room"why? Our postal service mail with its return addresses along with the addressee are photocopied and retained. Tons of electrons have been "hoovered up" (as the British sometimes say about their own NSA, the GSHQ) is awaiting a challenge yet to reach the Supreme Court about the legality of such collection and storage, and in the meanwhile, there it is, being used and distributed with very little oversight from NSA to FBI down to your friendly Po Po. And if SCOTUS conservative men ever grow a pair, do you think this tool of the elites will throw away this information and pretend that it has been destroyed? All the multi-billionaires of the world will have copies of it.

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With regard to President Trump's Presidential Executive Order on Preventing Violence Against Federal, State, Tribal, and Local Law Enforcement Officers, February 09, 2017



Wrecking the Founders' House

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What would Mr. Thomas Paine say?

Mr. Trump:

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. It shall be the policy of the executive branch to:

(a) enforce all Federal laws in order to enhance the protection and safety of Federal, State, tribal, and local law enforcement officers, and thereby all Americans;

Thomas Paine (or Pain;[1] February 9, 1737 [O.S. January 29, 1736][Note 1] -- June 8, 1809) was an English-American political activist, philosopher, political theorist, and revolutionary. One of the Founding Fathers of the United States, he authored the two most influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution, and he inspired the rebels in 1776 to declare independence from Britain.[2] His ideas reflected Enlightenment-era rhetoric of transnational human rights.[italics added] [3] He has been called "a corsetmaker by trade, a journalist by profession, and a propagandist by inclination."[4]

Mr. Paine

By enhancing the safety and protection of US and Tribal law enforcement officers, the safety and protection of Americans are enhanced. Therefore, if the safety and protection of Americans is not maintained, and instead is violated by the law enforcement charged with maintaining the protection and safety of Americans, law enforcement shall be subject to the same procedures and penalties for violating this Executive Order (EO) as are non law enforcement officers who violate law in specific relationship to this EO. This shall be known as the "what is good for the goose rule" and shall remain in effect as long as any United States government whether federal, state, local, tribal or otherwise that derives its reason to exist from those it governs. If at any time such government no longer is subject to the goose rule, or willfully disregards the goose rule, the people shall no longer have any allegiance to that governance and may without regard for prejudice or force, withdraw their consent to be governed.

Mr. Trump:

(b) develop strategies, in a process led by the Department of Justice (Department) and within the boundaries of the Constitution and existing Federal laws, to further enhance the protection and safety of Federal, State, tribal, and local law enforcement officers; and

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Michael Flynn participated in mass murder and destruction in Afghanistan and Iraq, advocated for torture, and manufactured false cases for war against Iran. He and anyone who appointed him to office and kept him there should be removed from and disqualified for public service. (Though I still appreciate his blurting out the obvious regarding the counterproductive results of drone murders.)

Many would say that prosecuting Al Capone for tax fraud was a good move if he couldn't be prosecuted for murder. But what if Al Capone had been funding an orphanage on the side, and the state had prosecuted him for that? Or what if the state hadn't prosecuted him, but a rival gang had taken him out? Are all take-downs of major criminals good ones? Do they all deter the right activities by up-and-coming criminals?

Michael Flynn was not removed by public demand, by representative action in Congress, by public impeachment proceedings, or by criminal prosecution (though that may follow). He was removed by an unaccountable gang of spies and killers, and for the offense of seeking friendlier relations with the world's other major nuclear-armed government.

Now, in a certain sense, he was taken down for other related offenses, just as Bill Clinton was not technically impeached for sex. Flynn lied. He may have committed perjury. He may have obstructed justice. He supposedly made himself susceptible to blackmail, although the logic of Russia wishing to reveal its own secret and punish those who help it seems weak. Flynn also dealt with a foreign government on behalf of an election campaign.

Some of these are very serious charges. If you removed all liars from the U.S. government, you'd suddenly have room in their empty offices to house all the homeless, but even the selective punishment of lying has a certain merit. And electoral campaign dealings with foreign governments has a nasty history including Nixon's sabotaging of peace in Vietnam, Reagan's sabotaging of the release of U.S. hostages in Iran, etc.

But what did Flynn supposedly talk about with the Russian ambassador, before or after the election? Nobody accuses him of trying to keep a war going or people locked up. He's accused of talking about removing sanctions, possibly including sanctions used to punish Russia for things it did not do. The notion that Russia was the aggressor in Ukraine or invaded Ukraine and conquered Crimea on the model of the U.S. invasion of Baghdad is simply false. The idea that Russia hacked Democratic Party emails and gave them to WikiLeaks is a claim for which we have not been shown credible, non-ludicrous evidence. Despite somebody leaking it every time Donald Trump blows his nose, nobody has yet leaked actual evidence of this supposed Russian crime.

Then there's what members of the U.S. public tell you that it's obvious Flynn simply must also have talked about. Supposedly he must have arranged for Russia to steal the U.S. election for Trump, either by informing the U.S. public of the crimes and abuses of the Democratic Party in its members own words, which supposedly swayed huge numbers of voters -- though there's no evidence Russia did this or that it had this impact, and a better informed electorate is a stronger democracy, not one that has been "attacked" -- or by somehow directly altering vote counts or manipulating our minds or something. If anything along these lines were proven it would be serious indeed, although it would be one of a great many fatal flaws in the U.S. electoral system alongside legalized bribery, corporate media, the electoral college, gerrymandering, unverifiable counting, open intimidation, purging of rolls, etc.

And then, finally, there's what journalists and members of the public will tell you Flynn's offense consists of, once it's been established that Russia is evil. He was friendly with Russia. His colleagues in the White House love Russia. They've visited Russia. They've met with other U.S. business tycoons in Russia. They're planning business deals with Russians. And so on. Now, I'm opposed to corrupt business deals, if they are corrupt, anywhere. And if Russian fossil fuels, like Canadian and U.S. fossil fuels, don't stay in the ground, we're all going to die. But the U.S. media treats U.S. business deals in other countries as ordinary respectable plundering. Any association with anything Russia has become a sign of high treason.

Coincidentally or not, that is exactly what weapons profiteers say they want. Is what they want good for us? Is there a legitimate reason to be taking their route toward punishing people in power, when other routes stand wide open with plush red carpets unrolled from massive golden doorways?
From Strategic Culture

The connection of an anti-Iran exile group to senior members in the Trump administration may explain why the US president has taken such a hostile line towards the Islamic Republic, declaring it a number one state sponsor of terrorism and slapping new sanctions on Tehran.

Trump's National Security adviser Michael Flynn issued an unusual public statement last week, provocatively claiming that Iran was being put on notice for future unspecified actions, including military actions, over its recent ballistic missile tests. Trump himself has weighed in, scorning Iran for destabilizing the Middle East.

It turns out that an Iranian dissident group with suspected links to Israeli and Saudi state intelligence may have the ear of the president in setting his policy.

Trump's newly confirmed transport secretary Elaine Chao and at least one of the president's top advisers, former New York mayor Rudi Giuliani, have both appeared as guest speakers at rallies organized by the Iranian dissident group, Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK).

Other senior political figures close to the Trump inner circle who are also associated with the MEK include Republican party grandee Newt Gingrich, former CIA director James Woolsey and former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton.

The MEK originated as an armed insurgency against the US-backed Shah dictatorship during the 1960s. It later fell foul of the Islamic clerical government that has ruled Iran since 1979. The Iranian authorities have designated the MEK as a foreign-backed terrorist group. It is estimated to have carried out up to 17,000 killings against Iranian citizens in an attempt to destabilize the Islamic Republic. The assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists in recent years has been linked to MEK operatives, orchestrated by American and Israeli intelligence. Republican elder statesmen Newt Gingrich, who is a foreign policy adviser to Trump, famously called for more such assassinations.

Oddly enough, considering the group's connections to senior Washington figures, the MEK was also responsible for the killing of at least six American servicemen and military contractors during the 1970s, when it was opposed to the US-backed Shah. The MEK declares that it has since renounced armed violence, officially as of 2001, and it blames the earlier killings of American citizens on a splinter group. It was taken off the US blacklist of foreign terror groups in 2012 -- a move that was earlier recommended by the Washington-based Brookings Institute in 2009, when the think-tank referred to the MEK as a useful proxy for regime change in Iran.

According to a report this week from Associated Press, Trump's transport secretary Elaine Chao received $50,000 for a five-minute speech she gave in 2015 at a rally held in French capital Paris, which was organized by the political wing of the MEK. Attending the same rally was Rudy Giuliani who gave a vehement speech calling for regime change in Iran.

Chao, who is married to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, received an additional $17,500 for a speech she delivered in March 2016 at another rally held in the US organized by Iranian dissident groups linked to the MEK.

Giuliani was considered by Trump for the post of Secretary of State before the top diplomat job was finally given to Rex Tillerson, the former chief executive of Exxon Mobil. Last month, Giuliani and other former US officials wrote a letter to Trump calling on the new administration to establish a dialogue with the MEK's political wing, reported the AP.

This lobbying background serves to explain why the Trump administration has taken an abruptly hostile line towards Iran.

There have been reports in US media that one motive may be that the Trump administration is trying to split the de facto alliance between Russia, China and Iran. So far, that gambit does not seem to be gaining any traction. Both Russia and China have denounced the new American sanctions imposed on Iran as counterproductive to international relations.

Moscow has also rejected Washington's allegations against Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said that Iran was, on the contrary, a key partner in defeating Islamist terror groups in Syria and Iraq.

Moreover, Russia this week defended Iran's sovereign right to develop defensive military technology and said that its testing of ballistic missiles at the end of last month did not violate the 2015 P5+1 nuclear accord. Nor did they breach UN Security Council sanctions, says Moscow, because the missiles in question were conventional in nature and not designed to carry nuclear warheads. On the face of it, therefore, the pretext for Trump's hostile turn towards Tehran does not make sense.

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By Stephen P. Pizzo

Because my friends, we've been here before. And we know how it ends, if we let it proceed.

So why do the media and pundits shy away from comparing what is nearly a carbon copy : How Hitler defanged and quickly gutted the German judiciary as soon as taking power?

It's a discussion that needs to happen..and soon. Wiser folks than I have already studied how the most dangerous and destructive fascist power defanged it's own independent judiciary. And the comparisons between then, there, and here now, are jarring"to put it mildly.

In this piece I will be quoting heavily from a scholarly work on the Nazification of the German judiciary. "THEY SHOOT LAWYERS DON'T THEY?: LAW IN THE THIRD REICH AND THE GLOBAL THREAT TO THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE JUDICIARY" by Matthew Lippman. You can find the full paper at: http://scholarlycommons.law.cwsl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1378&context=cwilj

Even before Trump was elected he was picking fights with judges..in particular the judge hearing the case of Trump University. Now he is again attacking the judiciary, as the courts rule against his Muslim-countries travel ban. So, we turn our eyes back to 1933 to look at how all this played out in Germany when another Trump-like autocrat took power:

No sooner had the Nazis taken power than it became clear to them that, along with a free media, a free judiciary posed the greatest threat to their continuing in power.

The Nazis vowed that they no longer would be constrained by the fetters of bourgeois law and rapidly moved to reconstitute the legal system. Goering brazenly boasted that the Nazis would "not be crippled by any judicial thinking."

The gauntlet was thrown down. Now began the dismantling:

Hitler's next step was to free himself from the limitations imposed by the constitution. On March 24, 1933, Hitler introduced, and the Reichstag passed, the Law for the Solution of the Emergency of People and Reich or the "enabling act " which constituted the major pillar of Nazi rule."

Article One abrogated the separation of powers and authorized the executive to promulgate decrees without parliamentary consultation.' Article Two permitted the government to "deviate" from the requirements of the constitution.' Article Four authorized the executive to enter into treaties without legislative approval.

As one legal observe remared at the time: The "street gangs had seized control of the resources of a great modern State, the gutter had come to power."

The Naztfication Of The Judiciary

The Nazis immediately launched a concerted campaign to limit the independence and impartiality of the judiciary. They quickly dismissed and demoted politically unreliable judges and officials of the Ministry of Justice.'

"The present crisis in the administration of justice today is close to " climax. A totally new conception of the administration of justice must be created, particularly a National Socialist judiciary, and for this the druggist's salve is not sufficient; only the knife of the surgeon, as will later be shown, can bring about the solution. The criterion . . . for the functions of justice and particularly of the judge in the National Socialist Reich must be a justice which meets the demands of national socialism.'

He who is striding gigantically toward a new world order cannot move in the limitation of an orderly administration ofjustice. To accomplish such a far-reaching revolution"is only possible if" all outmoded institutions, concepts, and habits have been done away with-if need be in a brutal manner" [aIll clamor about lawlessness, despotism, injustice, etc., is at present nothing but a lack of insight into the political situa tion." (Adolf Hiter)

Purge of "So-called Judges"

Hitler's executive orders began to fly:

The Nazi Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service of 7 April 1933 provided that officials, including judges, who were of non-Aryan descent were to be retired. Those officials, who because of their previous political activity, did not offer the security that they would act at all times and without reservation in the interests of the national state also were to be dismissed from the civil service.'

Only Quisling Judges Remained

The other judges remained silent and supine as their colleagues were terminated. The German Federation of Judges now proclaimed that its "main task" was:

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For those of you who haven't read the book or seen the film The Caine Mutiny, the story takes place during World War ll and is about a nutty ship's captain who rolls two steel ball bearings in his hand whenever he feels he is being disrespected or his authority is being challenged--which, unfortunately, happens on a daily basis. As a result, he is always unfairly berating his men, making poor judgments in moments of crises, and drawing illogical conclusions based on his own paranoia instead of the actual facts. Sound familiar?

Eventually his ship, the USS Caine, is caught in a typhoon and Captain Queeg cracks up. His hands freeze on the tiller and he can no longer command the ship, which is about to capsize. His second in command, Lieutenant Steve Maryk, takes control of the ship, and with the help of Ensign Willis Keith, they prevent the ship from capsizing and steer it to safety.

When they get back to port Captain Queeg denies he acted irrationally and files a charge of mutiny on Maryk and Keith, who in turn hire an attorney to defend them in court. It is up to their attorney to prove to the court that Queeg is mentally unbalanced and his defendants were left no choice but to take charge of the ship during the typhoon.

If life often imitates art, we might want to start asking ourselves the question: Is President Trump following the same path as Captain Queeg? And what would happen to our country if it becomes clear to everyone that Trump is too nutty to handle the job as president, especially in a crisis?

Well, it may turn out something like this:

CHARGE: After declaring war on the press, President Trump has singled out news commentators Chuck Todd and Chris Matthews and charged them with treason during a turbulent news cycle of typhoon-like proportions.

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President Donald Trump will soon resign, possibly in a matter of weeks. I don't know any more than anyone else, and maybe it's just wishful thinking, but that's the feeling I have.

The drip, drip, drip of troubling revelations reminds me very much of Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal that forced the President to resign. Trump is even more unpopular than Nixon, so if it can be proven that his campaign colluded with the Russian government to sabotage the 2016 election, which seems more and more likely, the President will be in more than a heap of trouble.

Now it is true that Trump lives beyond the reality-based world, and can often position himself in a dense cloud of denial. But we also know that he is a fanatical consumer of news media, and if developments point in the direction of a serious scandal, he may not be able to stand up to it.

We all know he does not tolerate criticism well, and a constant stream of it might just be more than he can stomach. He can't be enjoying the media assault and the lousy poll numbers. Even Republicans in Congress can see the handwriting on the wall and may be compelled to call for an independent investigation. Trump may be asking himself, "Is this what I signed up for? Is it worth it?"

If the evidence points to a potential for impeachment, or completely destroys his credibility--what's left of it--he may not want to continue spinning his wheels and pumping up his alternative reality. Trump can't be having much fun, with a constant barrage of negative press and continuous damaging reports. He spent his whole life in business being fawned over, with people close to him pumping up his fragile ego. Now he's up against a constant barrage of negative press. Can he handle this much intense pressure? He must have a breaking point, and it may come sooner than later.

It is quite possible that he will be out of office within weeks.Recent revelations combined with Trump's narcsissistic and tenuous personality may be too much for him to deal with. I think he would rather step down and blame the press and other "enemies" than be impeached or forced to resign.

We may be seeing a President Pence sooner than we would have thought possible.
From Counterpunch



CIA honors Saudi Crown Prince for efforts against terrorism

(Image by english.alarabiya.net) Details DMCA



On Friday, the Director of the CIA, Mike Pompeo, used his first trip abroad to present Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef with the CIA's highest award for fighting terrorism, the George Tenet Medal. Although the ceremony wasn't covered by any of the major media, it was picked up on various blogsites where the news was greeted with predictable howls of outrage. Not surprisingly, most American's still see Saudi Arabia as the epicenter of global terrorism, a point which was underlined in a recent article at The Atlantic titled "Where America's Terrorists Actually Come From." Here's an excerpt:

"...after sifting through databases, media reports, court documents, and other sources, Alex Nowrasteh, an immigration expert at the libertarian Cato Institute, has arrived at a striking finding: Nationals of the seven countries singled out by Trump have killed zero people in terrorist attacks on U.S. soil between 1975 and 2015. "Zero... "Nowrasteh has listed foreign-born individuals who committed or were convicted of attempting to commit a terrorist attack on U.S. soil by their country of origin and the number of people they killed... the countries at the top of the list, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt, are not included in Trump's ban... "The 9/11 attacks were carried out by 19 men -- from Saudi Arabia (15), the United Arab Emirates (2), Egypt (1), and Lebanon (1). The incident remains influential in how Americans think about the nature of terrorism." ("Where America's Terrorists Actually Come From," The Atlantic)

While it's true that 9-11 has shaped the way that Americans think about terrorism, it's also true that most people are unaware of the deeper operational relationship between the CIA and the Saudis that dates back to the funding of the Mujahidin in Afghanistan in the 1970's. This is where bin Laden and al Qaida first burst onto the scene, which is to say, that the sketchy CIA-Saudi connection created the seedbed for the War on Terror. Unfortunately, even now-- 16 years after the attacks of 9-11 -- the relationship between the notorious intel agency and its Middle East allies remains as foggy as ever. As a result, the Saudis are typically fingered as the main source of the problem while the CIA's role is conveniently swept under the rug. For example, take a look at this clip from an article in the Independent:

"Saudi Arabia is the single biggest contributor to the funding of Islamic extremism and is unwilling to cut off the money supply, according to a leaked note from Hillary Clinton. "The US Secretary of State says in a secret memorandum that donors in the kingdom still 'constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide' and that 'it has been an ongoing challenge to persuade Saudi officials to treat terrorist financing emanating from Saudi Arabia as a strategic priority...' "Saudi Arabia is accused, along with Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, of failing to prevent some of its richest citizens financing the insurgency against Nato troops in Afghanistan. Fund-raisers from the Taliban regularly travel to UAE to take advantage of its weak borders and financial regulation to launder money. "However, it is Saudi Arabia that receives the harshest assessment. The country from which Osama bin Laden and most of the 9/11 terrorists originated, according to Mrs Clinton, 'a critical financial support base for al-Qa'ida, the Taliban, Lashkar-e-Toiba and other terrorist groups, including Hamas, which probably raise millions of dollars annually from Saudi sources, often during the Haj and Ramadan.'" ("Saudi Arabia is 'biggest funder' of terrorists," Independent)

Then there's this gem from ex-Vice President Joe Biden:

"Biden said that 'our biggest problem is our allies' who are engaged in a proxy Sunni-Shiite war against Syrian President Bashar Assad. He specifically named Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. "'What did they do? They poured hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against Assad -- except that the people who were being supplied were (Jabhat) Al-Nusra and al-Qaeda and the extremist elements of jihadis coming from other parts of the world,' Mr Biden said." ("Joe Biden forced to apologize to UAE and Turkey over Syria remarks," Telegraph)

The evidence against Saudi Arabia is overwhelming and damning, and that's what makes Pompeo's performance in Riyadh so confusing. Why is the head of the CIA bestowing an award on a man who could undoubtedly identify some of the world's biggest terrorist donors, unless, of course, the CIA derives some benefit from the arrangement?

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Series: (13 Articles, 446244 views), Sunday, February 17, 2013This came in email, so I cannot attribute, this spot-on analysis.The government now refers to our Social Security checks as a Federal Benefit Payment. BUT This isn't a benefit, its earned income! Not only did we all contribute to Social Security but our employers did too. It totaled 15% of our income before taxes. If you averaged $30K per year over your working life, that's close to $180,000 invested. Read the fact DON'T MISS THIS! (13 Articles, 446244 views), Economics and the propaganda/lies (1 Articles, 92619 views)
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Overdue Process And The Death Penalty In light of systemically dysfunctional appellate processes increasingly at issue in death penalty cases such as Jones v. Davis, it is necessary that the federal courts promptly retire McKane v. Durston, by declaring that today's Fourteenth Amendment due process guarantee incorporates an adequate criminal right to appeal.

Series: (3 Articles, 4606 views) Wednesday, December 16, 2015In light of systemically dysfunctional appellate processes increasingly at issue in death penalty cases such as Jones v. Davis, it is necessary that the federal courts promptly retire McKane v. Durston, by declaring that today's Fourteenth Amendment due process guarantee incorporates an adequate criminal right to appeal. Death Penalty doctrine (3 Articles, 4606 views)

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Glossip v. The Death Penalty: Does Oklahoma's Negligent Mock Execution Actionably Enhance Glossip's Lackey Claim? Is the Eighth Amendment's "cruel and unusual" clause actionably violated by Oklahoma's incarceration of Glossip on Death Row for 17 years, the last of which entailed five stays of execution, including three last meals and a full-fledged mock execution?

Series: (3 Articles, 4606 views) Friday, October 16, 2015Is the Eighth Amendment's "cruel and unusual" clause actionably violated by Oklahoma's incarceration of Glossip on Death Row for 17 years, the last of which entailed five stays of execution, including three last meals and a full-fledged mock execution? Death Penalty doctrine (3 Articles, 4606 views)

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Monetary Sovereignty? Give Me A Break! (Part I) The TPP's failure to set a standard for deciding in which currency to award lost profit damages against governments is a grave threat to the public fisc, but not to monetary sovereignty. Joe Firestone et alia do disservice by affirming that the United States now exercises full monetary sovereignty by issuing its own currency.

Series: (2 Articles, 3932 views) Wednesday, May 6, 2015The TPP's failure to set a standard for deciding in which currency to award lost profit damages against governments is a grave threat to the public fisc, but not to monetary sovereignty. Joe Firestone et alia do disservice by affirming that the United States now exercises full monetary sovereignty by issuing its own currency. Monetary Sovereignty (2 Articles, 3932 views)

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Monetary Sovereignty? Give Me A Break! (Part II) The US is cognitively incapable of exercising monetary sovereignty even in issuing its very own $1 coin. Restoring full monetary sovereignty re $1 denominations by eliminating the $1 bill would result in prompt multi-billion dollar seigniorage gains--even after fully paying for the change--and would restore monetary sovereignty more broadly, if only by curing Fed-fed ignorance.

Series: (2 Articles, 3932 views) Wednesday, May 6, 2015The US is cognitively incapable of exercising monetary sovereignty even in issuing its very own $1 coin. Restoring full monetary sovereignty re $1 denominations by eliminating the $1 bill would result in prompt multi-billion dollar seigniorage gains--even after fully paying for the change--and would restore monetary sovereignty more broadly, if only by curing Fed-fed ignorance. Monetary Sovereignty (2 Articles, 3932 views)

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Ninth Circuit Leaves Door Open To Suit Against GAO Re Coins Act In affirming dismissal of a suit alleging Treasury misrepresentation impairing the right to petition for new issues of United States currency versus Federal Reserve currency, the Ninth Circuit left open the door to a suit against the GAO re its Coins Act benefit estimates. The Coins Act proposes to replace all $1 Federal Reserve notes with $1 United States coins. Tuesday, July 15, 2014In affirming dismissal of a suit alleging Treasury misrepresentation impairing the right to petition for new issues of United States currency versus Federal Reserve currency, the Ninth Circuit left open the door to a suit against the GAO re its Coins Act benefit estimates. The Coins Act proposes to replace all $1 Federal Reserve notes with $1 United States coins.

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B*gg*r Bubbles A dialog re usury and fraud, drafted in 2009, and drawing on particular mortgage frauds, two of which are described in notes. Thursday, September 12, 2013A dialog re usury and fraud, drafted in 2009, and drawing on particular mortgage frauds, two of which are described in notes.

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S. 1105: Dollar Coins or Paper Dollars? Reflections on Senate bill S. 1105, introduced June 6, 2013, assigned a 0% chance of passage. It proposes to replace all $1 FEDERAL RESERVE notes with $1 UNITED STATES coins. Monday, July 29, 2013Reflections on Senate bill S. 1105, introduced June 6, 2013, assigned a 0% chance of passage. It proposes to replace all $1 FEDERAL RESERVE notes with $1 UNITED STATES coins.

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Lincoln's buried bank note veto applies today Lincoln's most important veto is buried and forgotten. Yet, it saved the union, and it still applies today. Monday, May 20, 2013Lincoln's most important veto is buried and forgotten. Yet, it saved the union, and it still applies today.

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How The One-Dollar Coin Can Cure The Economy This article, written for those well-informed re monetary policy, supports a longstanding proposal to replace all Federal Reserve one dollar bills with one dollar United States coins. It quotes at length a related lawsuit against the Treasury now before the Ninth Circuit court of appeal. The complaint and briefs on appeal are available under the Treasury menu at commondada.com. Wednesday, May 15, 2013This article, written for those well-informed re monetary policy, supports a longstanding proposal to replace all Federal Reserve one dollar bills with one dollar United States coins. It quotes at length a related lawsuit against the Treasury now before the Ninth Circuit court of appeal. The complaint and briefs on appeal are available under the Treasury menu at commondada.com.

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Federal Court Affirms Sweeping "Bully Pulpit" Government Right to Lie: Treasury Can't Be Sued An appeal brief filed in the Ninth Circuit raises the question as to whether the government speech immunity doctrine extends to misrepresentations designed to suppress disfavored viewpoints. At issue are allegations of multi-billion dollar Treasury misrepresentations. Thursday, February 21, 2013An appeal brief filed in the Ninth Circuit raises the question as to whether the government speech immunity doctrine extends to misrepresentations designed to suppress disfavored viewpoints. At issue are allegations of multi-billion dollar Treasury misrepresentations.

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Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"Rob's bottom-up consulting for Thought Technology over the years to help us incorporate bottom-up thinking in our business and product development has been very valuable. It is a truly disruptive technique, well worth considering, which is well explained in his book."



Hal Myers, PhD, President, Thought Technology, Ltd. Member of the Board of Directors for the Ten to the Ninth Foundation (formerly Singularity University)
Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"Rob explores the difference between a natural, organic, bottom-up connection consciousness and our corporately imposed top-down hierarchical collective consciousness. What Rob is speaking about is the difference between an artificial and ultimately stagnate way of organizing the world and a natural, organic growth, which starts with a seed, sends downs roots and sends up shoots which blossom. By returning to a Nature-based theory of connection, the Bottom-Up revolution brings us back into alignment with Earths laws, returning humanity to its place in creation. Like a good gardener, Rob works into the soil of his thesis different voices that exemplify how this Bottom-Up revolution is expanding in politics, business, religion, personal self-awareness and story. And he places technology where it belongsas a tool to further our connection consciousness, not an end in itself. The bottom-up revolution is about democracy finally living up to its original ideals, where we the people decide what we need from our society."



Cathy Pagano, author of Wisdoms Daughters: How Women Can Change the World
Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"Fascinating, eye-opening, and extraordinary, Rob Kall's Bottom Up: Tapping the Power of the Connection Revolution explores the emerging paradigm of our age -- bottom-up thinking -- connecting an enormous range of disciplines and topics from systems, chaos, and complexity theories to the evolving role of technology in our lives. Not merely a cogent exposition of contemporary thinking, however, Bottom Up extrapolates from abstract ideas to derive practical, everyday steps we can take to improve our chances of global survival, peace, and prosperity. Following Rob's lead, we can change habits as individuals to deepen our connection with others across the planet."



Wendell Potter, former health insurance executive, co-author of Nation on the Take: How Big Money Corrupts Our Democracy and What We Can Do About It, and Founder of Tarbell.org
Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"The bottom-up revolution is fueling tremendous change in politics, commerce, and how people relate to each other. Rob Kall's book Bottom-Up provides a powerful guide to how organizations can understand and tap bottom-up's power. "



Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist
Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"There's no dispute that we now live in a hyper-connected, globalized world--but plenty of argument over the type of globalization that's best for our collective future. In this timely work, Rob Kall makes a persuasive case for 'trickle-up' globalization from below and that the truest, best, and most long-lasting fundamental change always comes from the bottom up. Read this bookthen act on it!"



Rory O'Connor, award-winning filmmaker and author of Friends, Followers, and the Future: How Social Media are Changing Politics, Threatening Big Brands, and Killing Traditional Media
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This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.





The U.S Empire, which serves narrow oligarch[1] special interests, rather than broad-based national interests, always uses the banner of "human rights" as a pretext for criminal invasions, but the invasions, at least since 9/11, are NEVER about human rights.

Quite the opposite.

Recently, as an example, U.S coalition warplanes deliberately, and criminally , bombed bridges and water lines serving the city of Raqqa, Syria, all for the benefit of the U.S terrorist proxies occupying and terrorizing the city.

Targeting civilians for death and destruction is U.S military strategy, well-honed during previous illegal invasions of other countries, including Iraq and Libya.

If the criminal cabal driving the Empire's mass-murdering, country and international law-destroying overseas holocaust did use human rights as a reason for invasion, then it would be invading itself. The US has among the highest rates of incarceration[2] in the world, stratospheric child-poverty rates[3], a foreign policy consisting of war crimes, and a well-honed apparatus for torturing[4] people globally etc.

But the fake "humanitarian" pretexts regularly fool and tame the MSM--consuming masses, thus engineering consent for more war crimes of the highest order.

A recently-released Amnesty International Report[5] -- based on hearsay, and fabricated in the U.K -- fails all tests of validity, but nonetheless serves the Pentagon's strategy of "information dominance"[6], codified in U.S law with the passage of HR5181[7], which provides a framework for "countering" and "refuting" narratives that do not align with U.S propaganda narratives.

All of the war lies about Syria, covered and repeated incessantly by MSM fake news, have been discredited. Assad is not a brutal dictator. He does not willfully bomb his own people. He does not "kill his own people", nor does he gas his own people. And so the next Big Lie is the Amnesty fake news story, dutifully reported and legitimized, of course, by MSM fake news.

-- Prof Tim Anderson

The Amnesty lie serves to obscure the increasingly obvious real story about Syria, including the nature of the West's terrorist proxies,[8] and the crimes[9] that they commit.

The criminal narratives of the warmongering oligarch class need to be replaced with on-the-ground real news about Syria, and the real news tells us that Syria is winning the battle against the NATO et al. terrorists. This should be cause for celebration[10].

[Order Mark Taliano's Book directly]

Notes

[1] http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/videos/jimmy-carter-u-s-is-an-oligarchy-with-unlimited-political-bribery-20150731

[2]https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/07/07/yes-u-s-locks-people-up-at-a-higher-rate-than-any-other-country/?utm_term=.e38cc2a1433e

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Clooney played the role of the captain of a fishing vessel, the Andrea Gail. He and his crew were given numerous warnings to turn around and get out of the storm's path. But they failed to heed those warnings and made the fateful mistake of sailing into the storm; a great tragedy followed.

There is a massive storm that is developing on America's horizon as we speak in which three pernicious elements have suddenly converged to pose a great threat to this country's democracy. We the people are being given clear warnings about the imminent danger that lies ahead as it intensifies, and the question is; will we heed them and find some way to get out of the path of that deadly storm?

Those three elements are; a president who has a very difficult time controlling his emotions and anger and a power-obsessed Republican Party that are joined together with the specter of fascism that hangs over America. Each of these elements might be dealt with individually and held in check, but when they converge, they form that perfect storm.

Anyone who has observed the actions of the Republican Party over time could conclude that, if it were in complete control and had a weak, non-confrontational president who would bow to their dictates, they would do everything that Trump is doing and a great deal more to take this country in the exact wrong direction.

This combination of Trump, the GOP and fascist ideology is the last thing that America and its people need right now. In the ideology that they follow there is no room for any for compromise or positive, constructive initiatives and actions. It's their way or no way.

For those who don't believe that Trump and the GOP, by their behavior and actions, are staunch followers of the principles of fascism here are some of the typical characteristics of individuals and organization that fit the definition of that term. The question is not about which ones fit Trump and the GOP but, rather, which do not?

Powerful nationalism -- Trump says "America first", meaning that other nations need only follow its dictates. He says too many other nations have been taking advantage of us, that he is going to get tough. Instead of getting closer to one of America's closest allies he showed disrespect for Australia and its Prime Minister in a recent phone conversation. He has derided the NATO organization and called it obsolete.

Disdain for the promotion of human rights --Insulting, demeaning, belittling minorities, African Americans and Hispanics; initiating that travel ban against Muslims in seven countries -- yes he said the ban was against Muslims and then denied it -Trump is anything but an advocate for the human rights movement; he is a dictator by nature and the rights of all Americans are in great jeopardy as he tightens the reins of control over them. .

Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause -- starting a trade war with China, cozying up to Taiwan, which has infuriated the Chinese. Demanding that Mexico must pay for "the wall", saying that he will place huge tariffs on its exports to the U.S. if they refuse to submit to his demands. Placing new sanctions on Iran, threatening to cancel the agreement with that nation which is intended to prevent it from developing a nuclear bomb.

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From Smirking Chimp

The Flynn fiasco is not about national security adviser Michael Flynn's conversations with the Russian ambassador. It's much deeper than that. It's about Russia. It's about Putin. It's about the explosive rise of China and the world's biggest free trade zone that will eventually stretch from Lisbon to Vladivostok. It's about the one country in the world that is obstructing Washington's plan for global domination. (Russia) And, it's about the future; which country will be the key player in the world's most prosperous and populous region -- Asia.

That's what's at stake, and that's what the Flynn controversy is really all about.

Many readers are familiar with the expression "pivot to Asia," but do they know what it means?

It means the United States has embarked on an ambitious plan to extend its military grip and market power over the Eurasian landmass, thus securing its position as the world's only superpower into the next century. The pivot is Washington's top strategic priority. As Hillary Clinton said in 2011:

"Harnessing Asia's growth and dynamism is central to American economic and strategic interests... Open markets in Asia provide the United States with unprecedented opportunities for investment, trade, and access to cutting-edge technology...American firms (need) to tap into the vast and growing consumer base of Asia... "The region already generates more than half of global output and nearly half of global trade... we are looking for opportunities to do even more business in Asia...and our investment opportunities in Asia's dynamic markets." ("America's Pacific Century," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Foreign Policy Magazine, 2011)

In other words, it's pivot or bust. Those are the only two options. Naturally, ruling elites in the US have chosen the former over the latter, which means they are committed to a strategy that will inevitably pit the US against a nuclear-armed adversary, Russia.

Trump's National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, wanted to normalize relations with Russia. He rejected the flagrantly hostile approach of the US foreign policy establishment. That's why he had to be removed. And, that's why he's been so viciously attacked in the media and why the threadbare story about his contacts with the Russian ambassador were used to force his resignation.

This isn't about the law and it isn't about the truth. It's about bare-knuckle geopolitics and global hegemony. Flynn got in the way of the pivot, so Flynn had to be eliminated. End of story. Here's a clip from an article by Robert Parry:

"Flynn's real 'offense' appears to be that he favors de'tente with Russia rather than escalation of a new and dangerous Cold War. Trump's idea of a rapprochement with Moscow -- and a search for areas of cooperation and compromise -- has been driving Official Washington's foreign policy establishment crazy for months and the neocons, in particular, have been determined to block it. "Though Flynn has pandered to elements of the neocon movement with his own hysterical denunciations of Iran and Islam in general, he emerged as a key architect for Trump's plans to seek a constructive relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Meanwhile, the neocons and their liberal-interventionist sidekicks have invested heavily in making Putin the all-purpose bete noire to justify a major investment in new military hardware and in pricey propaganda operations." ("Trump Caves on Flynn's resignation," Consortium News)

US foreign policy is not developed willy-nilly. It emerges as the consensus view of various competing factions within the permanent national security state. And, although there are notable differences between the rival factions (either hard-line or dovish) there appears to be unanimity on the question of Russia. There is virtually no constituency within the political leadership of either of the two major parties (or their puppet-master supporters in the deep state) for improving relations with Russia. None. Russia is blocking Washington's eastward expansion; therefore, Russia must be defeated. Here's more from the World Socialist Web Site:

"US imperialism seeks to counter its declining world economic position by exploiting its unchallenged global military dominance. It sees as the principal roadblocks to its hegemonic aims the growing economic and military power of China and the still-considerable strength of Russia, possessor of the world's second-largest nuclear arsenal, the largest reserves of oil and gas, and a critical geographical position at the center of the Eurasian land mass. "Trump's opponents within the ruling class insist that US foreign policy must target Russia with the aim of weakening the Putin regime or overthrowing it. This is deemed a prerequisite for taking on the challenge posed by China.

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From Palestine Chronicle

Empirical historical evidence combined with little common-sense are enough to tell us the type of future options that Israel has in store for the Palestinian people: perpetual apartheid or ethnic cleansing, or a mix of both.

The passing of the "Regularization Bill" on 6 February is all we need to imagine the Israeli-envisaged future. The new law allows the Israeli government to retroactively recognize Jewish outposts built without official permission on privately-owned Palestinian land.

All settlements -- officially recognized settlements and unauthorized outposts -- are illegal under international law. The verdict has been passed numerous times by the United Nations and, more recently, pronounced with unmistakable clarity in UN Security Council Resolution 2334.

Israel's response was the announcement of the construction of over 6,000 new housing units to be built throughout the Occupied Palestinian territories, the construction of a brand new settlement (the first in 20 years), and the new law that paves the way for the annexation of large swathes of the occupied West Bank.

Undoubtedly, the law is the "last nail in the coffin of the two-state solution," but that is not important. It never mattered to Israel, anyway. The talk of a solution was mere smoke and mirrors as far as Israel was concerned. All the "peace talks" and the entirety of "peace process," even when it was in its zenith, rarely slowed down the Israeli bulldozers, the construction of more "Jewish homes" or ended the unceasing ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.

Writing in Newsweek, Diana Buttu described how the process of building settlements is always accompanied by the demolition of Palestinian homes. 140 Palestinian structures were demolished since the beginning of 2017, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Territories.

Since Donald Trump was sworn in as president of America, Israel has felt liberated from its obligation to doublespeak. For decades, Israeli officials spoke passionately about peace, and did everything in their power to hinder its attainment. Now, they simply do not care. Period.

They have perfected their balancing act simply because they had to, because Washington expected it, demanded it. But Trump had given them a blank check: do as you please; settlements are not obstacles to peace; Israel has been "treated very, very unfairly" and I will correct that historical injustice, and so on.

Almost immediately after Trump was inaugurated as president on 20 January, all masks came off.

On 25 January, the real Benjamin Netanyahu resurfaced, dropping his act altogether, and declaring in enviable brazenness: "We are building, and we will continue to build" illegal settlements.

What more is there to talk about with Israel at this point? Nothing. The only solution that mattered to Israel is Israel's own "solution," always driven by blind American support, European uselessness and always imposed on the Palestinians and other Arab countries, by force if needed.

The guardians of the grand charade of the two-state solution, who shrewdly crafted the "peace process" and danced to every Israeli tune are now bewildered. They have been outed by Israel's dreadful plans that shot their "solution" right between the eyes, leaving Palestinians to choose between subjugation, humiliation or imprisonment.

Jonathan Cook is right. The new law is the first step towards the annexing of the West Bank or, at least, most of it. Once small outposts are legalized, they would need to be fortified, ("naturally") expanded and protected. The military occupation, in effect for 50 years, will no longer be temporary and reversible. Civil law will continue to apply to Jews in Occupied Palestinian Territories and military laws on occupied Palestinians.

It is the very definition of Apartheid, in case you are still wondering.

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It was truly a relief to find out that Vice President Pace did not actually lie about General Flynn's discussions with the Russian ambassador regarding U.S. sanctions against the Russians. It means that the vice president did not lie, that actually it was the president who withheld the truth from Pence, thereby throwing his own vice president "under the bus." It means, essentially, that unlike Spiro Agnew, Pence will be able to take over the presidency when his boss is finally impeached, and he will be able to do so with a clear conscience. It would also represent a "win/win" situation for legitimate conservatives. The impeachment may take quite a while and by then, there is no telling how much damage the impetuous and abjectly ignorant child-king, Herr Trumph will have inflicted on citizens of both our country and the world.

Everything seems to hinge on the extent of the moral bankruptcy of the Republican Party and its representatives in the House and Senate. We have all watched Republican hypocrites who literally hate what Donald Trump really stands for, his ethnic slurs, vulgar attacks on women, the handicapped, Hispanics, judges, vicious attacks on anyone at all that disagrees with him, happily give him and his menagerie of political predators a total pass on human decency. His idea of border security is deporting harmless mothers back to Mexico, separating them from their children. I shouldn't complain, I mean according to Ted Cruz and the beyond hypocritical religious right, it is the supposedly Christian thing to do, is it not? Even stalwarts like John McCain and Lindsey Graham did not have the guts to vote against any of their leader's most absurdly incompetent cabinet picks or condemn his worst policies. The message that they have sent to their autocratic and undeniably sociopathic leader is basically: "Heil Herr Trumph!" and "Your wish is our command!"

When are Republicans in the House or Senate going to challenge Herr Trumph about his constant denial of facts, no matter how obvious, with the nauseating claim that anything and everything with which he disagrees is "fake news?. What will Republicans do when he eventually resorts to creating fake rumors about people in their own ranks to cover his own mistakes? Believe it, it's right around the corner! He has already shown that he knows absolutely nothing about Israeli-Arab and Israeli-Palestinian relations, thereby threatening any chance for eventual peace in the region. He is undoubtedly the most ignorant politician regarding this subject since Sarah Palin, who when asked if she agreed with a "two state solution" between Israel and Palestine, must have muttered to herself: "It's a good thing they didn't ask me if there were any other solutions, how would I know?" His "bromance" with Netanyahu, unlike the one with Putin, may not be as satisfying for Herr Trumph because our president prefers talking "dictator to dictator." Unfortunately, Bibi's no dictator, but seems to be a poor Schlemiel, currently controlled by simple minded ultra-right wing Israelis in a legitimate panic because they have no idea how to successfully manage a peace settlement without eventually having an Arab majority in Israel. They'll get little help from Trumph and his extremist fools. In case no one has noticed, every proposed solution by this administration has been a draconian measure, from reinstating all of the previous banking abuses, to deporting harmless, even productive people to banning members of a religion to wasting twenty billion dollars on a worthless wall!

My guess is that before Herr Trumph is done, the Bush instigated Isis explosion will look like a firecracker compared to the excitement the pompous fool can create by the destruction of not only the relationship between Israel and Palestine, but by destroying the treaty with Iran and supporting the Russia/Assad regime in Syria. The last presidential election boiled down, unfortunately, to two candidates, "Lying Hillary" and "Lying Donald." Whoever said "may the best liar win!" may want to take those words back! As for Republicans, I think they need to decide right now if they are really Americans or just "Republicans." So far they have not shown that both are really the same.
From Mike Malloy Website

The White House is running like a fine-tuned machine...built by blind monkeys using Play-Doh and bent zippers.

Talk about Meet the Press! Did you see that train wreck of a "press conference" performance from Trump yesterday? Is there any doubt about his sanity and his fitness for office? His wild manic ravings made Jack Nicholson's "You can't handle the truth!" rant look like Mr. Rogers.

It was like watching a twitching paranoid schizophrenic on a couch talking to his shrink -- just an endless whine-fest about all the things he hates and are wrong and how upset he is about the "fake news" that caused his national security adviser to resign (then why did he if it was all fake?). Russia was a ruse and Hillary got the debate questions and gave away uranium and Obama left the economy in ruin and he won the popular vote by a larger margin than anybody in history and the false horrible negative reporting by the media has ruined his chance to "make a deal" with Putin and the media hates him and they lie and why can't anybody ask him a nice question anyway?

Where do you begin? It's not been a month and he's coming apart at the seams. All he knows how to do is campaign. He's going to Florida to campaign this weekend. He hasn't the faintest idea how to be a President. He needs a campaign opponent...so he invented one -- the press. He can't operate without an enemy, so like any good psycho, he invents one. Some have imaginary friends or see imaginary rabbits, Trump has imaginary enemies.

Here are some of the more surreal moments from yesterday's incoherent rambling:

On The Fake News About Russia:

"You know, you can talk all you want about Russia, which was all, you know, 'fake news' fabricated deal to try to make up for the loss of the Democrats and the press plays right into it. In fact, I saw a couple of the people supposedly involved with all of this. They know nothing about it, never in Russia, never made a phone call, never received a phone call. It's all fake news. It's all fake news. "We had Hillary Clinton try and do a reset. We had Hillary Clinton give Russia 20 percent of the uranium in our country. You know what uranium is, right? A thing called nuclear weapons and other things like lots of things that are done with uranium including some bad things. Nobody talks about that. Hillary Clinton gave away 20% of the uranium in the United States. She's close to Russia. You know what I gave to Russia? You know what I gave? Nothing. "I didn't do anything for Russia. I've done nothing for Russia. Hillary Clinton did a reset, remember, with the stupid plastic button made us look like a bunch of jerks. Here take a look. He looked at her, like, what the hell is she doing, with that cheap plastic button? "The failing New York Times wrote a big long front page story yesterday, and it was very much discredited, as you know. It was -- it's a joke. The people mentioned in the story, I noticed they were on television today saying they never even spoke to Russia. Russia is fake news. Russia -- this is fake news put out by the media. "We have a very talented man, Rex Tillerson, who is going to be meeting with them shortly and I told them, I said, I know politically it's probably not good for me. Hey, the greatest thing I could do is shoot that ship that's 30 miles offshore right out of the water. Everyone in this country is going to say, oh, it's so great. "If you were Putin, right now, you would say, hey, we're back to the old games with the United States. There's no way Trump can ever do a deal with us because the public -- you have to understand, if I was just brutal on Russia right now, just brutal, people would say -- you would say -- oh that's wonderful, but I know you well enough, then you would say, oh, he was too tough, he shouldn't have done that. Look. "I want to do the right thing for the American people and to be honest, secondarily, I want to do the right thing for the world. If Russia and the United States actually got together and got along...and don't forget we're a very powerful nuclear country and so are they...there's no upside...we're a very powerful nuclear country and so are they. I've been briefed...and I can tell you one thing about a briefing that we're allowed to say ...because anybody who ever read the most basic book can say it...nuclear holocaust would be like no other."

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From Civil Beat

The congresswoman is a brave person willing to take the criticism for challenging U.S. policies that she believes are wrong.



Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard waves from the floor of a joint House-Senate session welcoming Indian Prime Narendra Modi, June 2016.

(Image by Cory Lum/Civil Beat) Details DMCA



I served my country for 29 years in the U.S. Army/Army Reserves and retired as a colonel. I also served 16 years in the U.S. diplomatic corps in U.S. Embassies in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan and Mongolia. I resigned from the U.S. government 13 years ago in March 2003 in opposition to President Bush's regime-change war on Iraq.

Since my resignation I have traveled to many countries where the U.S. government did not want me to go -- to Cuba, Iran, Gaza, Yemen, Pakistan, North Korea, Russia and back to Afghanistan. I didn't agree with many of the policies of the governments in power in those countries. But, I wanted to see the effects of policies of our government, in particular the effects of attempts of regime change. I wanted to talk with citizens and government officials about the effects of U.S. sanctions on them and whether those sanctions lessened their support for the government the U.S. was attempting to change or overthrow by non-military means.

For making those trips, I have been criticized strongly. I have been called an apologist for the governments in power. Critics have said that my trip has given legitimacy to the abuses of the government. And I have been called a traitor to the United States to dare question or challenge its policy of regime change.

I am not an apologist, nor a traitor ... nor is Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard for her recent trip to Syria and meeting with Syrian President Assad.

It is important that we have representatives in our government who will go to countries where the United States is either killing citizens directly by U.S. intervention or indirectly by support of militia groups or by sanctions.

We need representatives to sift through our government and media reports to find out for themselves the truth, the shades of truth and the untruths.

We need representatives to be willing to take the heat from both their fellow members of Congress and from the media pundits who will not go to those areas and talk with those directly affected by U.S. actions.

We need representatives who will be our eyes and ears to go to places where most citizens cannot go.

Tulsi Gabbard is not the first international observer to come back with an assessment about the tragic effects of U.S. support for lethal regime change in Syria. Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire began traveling to Syria three years ago and now having made three trips to Syria -- and came back with the same comments -- that U.S. support for regime change of the secular government of Syria would result in the deaths of hundreds of thousand of Syrians, the resulting mass migration of millions who are fleeing the carnage of the destruction of the country and the possibility of an extremist religious based group taking power.

U.S. support for regime change in Syria by rebel groups it supports or by ISIS, al-Qaeda, al Nursa, groups that are funded by U.S. allies -- Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey but ironically that the U.S. is battling in Iraq and Afghanistan -- has shown clearly several of the major dangers of international regime change, that groups even worse than the regime being overthrown may come to power.

The possibility of a group imposing perverted extremist religious views on the secular state of Syria is high due to international meddling in the internal affairs of Syria. It has also shown that allies will come to the defense of their friends as the international war in Syria expanded and the deaths of civilians increased as Russia came to the aid of its ally Syria.

During the Obama administration, Congresswoman Gabbard spoke critically of the U.S. propensity to attempt regime change and its resulting chaos and loss of civilian life. On Dec. 8, 2016, she introduced a bill entitled the "Stop Arming Terrorists Act" which would prohibit the U.S. government from using U.S. funds to provide funding, weapons, training, and intelligence support to groups like the Levant Front, Fursan al Ha and other allies of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, al-Qaeda and ISIS, or to countries who are providing direct or indirect support to those groups.

Now in the first days of the Trump administration she traveled to Syria to see the effects of attempted regime change and offer a solution to reduce the deaths of civilians and the end of the war in Syria. A national organization Veterans For Peace, to which I belong, has endorsed Congresswoman Gabbard's trip to Syria as a step toward resolution to the Syrian conflict.

The congresswoman is a brave person willing to take the criticism for challenging U.S. policies that she believes are wrong. I am proud to have her as one of our Congress persons from Hawaii and I urge her to continue to search for the truth about the effect of U.S. government policies.


XXX Blood for Oil

(Image by R.W. Behan) Details DMCA



Yes, It Was Blood for Oil (Part Four):

CODEPINK Nails the Truth About George Bush's Wars

A Detailed History: Part Four of Four

(Part Three can be found here .)

Early in December of 2016 CODEPINKconducted " The People's Tribunal on the Iraq War ." Two days of testimony and documentation disclosed the indisputable truth: Afghanistan and Iraq were invaded to gain control of hydrocarbon resources. Combating terrorism was irrelevant, a concocted deception.

The detailed history below is adapted from a powerpoint presentation, The Fraudulent War , included in the Tribunal's record.

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November 6, 2022 at 12:01 AM EDT

Elon Musk may want to loosen moderation on Twitter"but tacitly admits that he cannot When Elon Musk closed on his purchase of Twitter on Thursday, a lot of left-leaning Twitter users either left the platform or announced their intention to do so. I had considered jumping ship if Musk got his hands on Twitter, but any inclination to do so went out the window when I learned that Musk was buying Twitter by way of a leveraged buyout. Specifically, $13 billion of the $44 billion purchase price came from loans from a consortium of banks, and he obtained another $12.5 billion in loans against his controlling stake in Tesla. If you believe that the banks who advanced Musk those loans want to be within an area code of harassment and trolling, there's a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you.



November 5, 2022 at 11:59 PM EDT

Many male pundits say the abortion issue has faded. Maybe they're just dim When the GOP-packed Supreme Court first overturned Roe v. Wade in June, Republican politicians and operatives developed a standard talking point: By November, the economy will be the overriding issue in the midterms. After beating that drum for months, sure enough, it crept into conventional wisdom. For the last month, a wide swath of pundits and analysts alike"mostly male"have taken the GOP talking point as gospel. Their proof often starts with a certain bias which is then confirmed by issue polling in which economy/inflation usually rises to the top.



November 5, 2022 at 10:00 PM EDT

Daily Kos Elections Nov. 8, 2022 poll closing times map Bookmark Daily Kos Elections' handy map of poll closing times for the Nov. 8, 2022, general elections so that you can know when to start checking returns in each state on election night. This is the map used by Nancy Pelosi and the Obama campaign! Note that all times on the above map are Eastern, not local. You can download large-format maps keyed to each U.S. time zone below:



November 5, 2022 at 9:00 PM EDT

Prison health care is only available if you can afford it Prison copays have hidden costs that ultimately harm incarcerated people's health. by Cecille Joan Avila



November 5, 2022 at 6:00 PM EDT

Connect! Unite! Act! Your democracy needs you right now Connect! Unite! Act! is a weekly series encouraging the creation of face-to-face networks in each congressional district. Groups meet to socialize, support candidates, get out the vote, and engage in other local political actions that help our progressive movement grow and exert maximum influence on the powers that be. Visit us every week to see how you can get involved! As we get closer to Election Day, our democracy needs you. It needs you badly. We can look back at 2010 and realize exactly how badly our democracy needs you, and why your commitment this weekend can mean everything.



November 5, 2022 at 5:00 PM EDT

Voters in two cities can make restaurant servers less vulnerable to sexual harassment and poverty Tips in restaurants are a reliably contentious topic: How much do you tip? Should tips vary according to service level and if so, how much? What is the overall morality of a tips system? What does it say that restaurants expect customers to pay one set of workers separately from the official "price" of the meal? Meanwhile, servers feel, with good reason, that their tips are often dependent on their willingness to tolerate sexual harassment and other customer bad behavior.



November 5, 2022 at 4:20 PM EDT

Elon Musk may want to loosen moderation on Twitter"but tacitly admits that he cannot When Elon Musk closed on his purchase of Twitter on Thursday, a lot of left-leaning Twitter users either left the platform or announced their intention to do so. I had considered jumping ship if Musk got his hands on Twitter, but any inclination to do so went out the window when I learned that Musk was buying Twitter by way of a leveraged buyout. Specifically, $13 billion of the $44 billion purchase price came from loans from a consortium of banks, and he obtained another $12.5 billion in loans against his controlling stake in Tesla. If you believe that the banks who advanced Musk those loans want to be within an area code of harassment and trolling, there's a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you.



November 5, 2022 at 4:20 PM EDT

Many male pundits say the abortion issue has faded. Maybe they're just dim When the GOP-packed Supreme Court first overturned Roe v. Wade in June, Republican politicians and operatives developed a standard talking point: By November, the economy will be the overriding issue in the midterms. After beating that drum for months, sure enough, it crept into conventional wisdom. For the last month, a wide swath of pundits and analysts alike"mostly male"have taken the GOP talking point as gospel. Their proof often starts with a certain bias which is then confirmed by issue polling in which economy/inflation usually rises to the top.



November 5, 2022 at 12:04 PM EDT

Forced to carry unviable fetus, 'born-and-raised Republican' talks about South Carolina abortion ban As elections swiftly approach, people across the country are sharing their pregnancy stories alongside the horrors they faced following the fall of Roe v. Wade . Such stories shed light on the reality of what abortion bans mean"not only for unwanted pregnancies, but also for those with complicated pregnancies. In a video that went viral Friday, a woman identified as Jill Perry reminds people why it's important to vote. A former Republican, Perry shared her story through the Ivy Grace Project, a project created in honor of her unborn child, who she wanted to name Ivy Grace. Perry started the project to bring awareness to fetal anomaly diagnoses within abortion care. Through her story, she noted how while many believe abortion is selfish, in her heart, she knew she was "doing the most selfless thing possible."



November 5, 2022 at 12:04 PM EDT

Ukraine Update: Field Guide to Drones of Ukraine (Part 1) You're getting something a little different this morning. We'll catch up with events on the ground through updates, and if there is a big change along one of the fronts today, there will be a second Ukraine update, so that this one doesn't smack up against the limit on how long a single story can be (yes, there is one). But for now, we're going to get the first draft, of the first part, of the first edition of something I've been promising for more than a week now"the guide to drones currently being utilized in Ukraine.



November 5, 2022 at 11:00 AM EDT

Many male pundits say the abortion issue has faded. Maybe they're just dim When the GOP-packed Supreme Court first overturned Roe v. Wade in June, Republican politicians and operatives developed a standard talking point: By November, the economy will be the overriding issue in the midterms. After beating that drum for months, sure enough, it crept into conventional wisdom. For the last month, a wide swath of pundits and analysts alike"mostly male"have taken the GOP talking point as gospel. Their proof often starts with a certain bias which is then confirmed by issue polling in which economy/inflation usually rises to the top.



November 5, 2022 at 9:33 AM EDT

The Boy Scout Defense: Elmer Stewart Rhodes takes the stand at seditious conspiracy trial Relaxed and so easy with a response that he would often apologize for speaking over his attorney, Elmer Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the extremist Oath Keepers organization now on trial for seditious conspiracy, finally took the witness stand on Friday. He and his fellow militia members Jessica Watkins, Kelly Meggs, Thomas Caldwell, and Kenneth Harrelson have been on trial at the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., for a month and prosecutors didn't rest their case until Thursday.

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PokerNews Podcast 432: A One-on-One Chat With Tony Dunst

February 16, 2017 PokerNews Staff

Matthew Parvis is once again on his own this week as he discusses Ema Zajmovic's historic WPT win at the Playground Poker club, his formula for the Matthew Parvis Poker Power Rankings, the introduction of the PN Blog and more before he's joined by Tony Dunst.

Dunst and Parvis dive into the importance of having a community of friends within poker as players get established, the recent drama involving players calling out bad debts on social media, along with a plethora of other interesting topics.

You can subscribe to the entire iBus Media Network on iTunes here, or you can access the RSS feed here. The PokerNews Podcast family of podcasts is now available on audioBoom.
Life is Dulce

We call it the dolce far niente. It means the sweetness of doing nothing. You may have heard this while scrolling through Instagram or T Read moreThe benefits of doing nothing
Tech companies, including Google, Amazon, Netflix, and Microsoft, have made headlines in the past few years for expanding paid maternity, paternity, and adoption leave. However, American companies still lag behind the rest of the world when it comes to parental leave, and workers in the U.S. arent guaranteed any paid time off at all.

If youre planning a pregnancy or starting the adoption process, its never too early to plan time away from work to bond with and care for your new arrival (and yourself). No matter what your companys existing policy, you may be able to negotiate. Private employers are often open to policy changes if an employee lays out a compelling case. Do some homework before you sit down with your manager or HR director and consider the strategies below.

Know What Youre Entitled To

The U.S. is one of the only countries in the world that doesnt guarantee paid leave for new parents. However, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitles you to 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave if you work at a company with more than 50 employees working within a 75-mile radius of the worksite, youve worked there for a year, and you worked at least 1250 hours during the previous 12 months. As of 2015, same-sex couples are included in the benefit.

The federal government allows states to set more expansive leave policies, and many states have. Five states (California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island) now guarantee paid leave for some workers. Find your states family and medical leave law here.

Know What Your Industry Offers

Study your companys employee manual to understand its existing leave policy. If you work at a smaller company, there may be no policy in place. In that case, youll need to discuss it with your manager or HR director. Dont be surprised if your company doesnt offer paid leave. Only about 12 percent of private sector workers have access to paid family leave through their employer. However, about 39 percent of employees are able to take advantage of some sort of paid leave after the arrival of a baby, usually by relying on sick or vacation leave.

Be aware that what your company calls paid leave may actually be short-term disability (STD) benefits, which provide full or partial paychecks for a certain period after childbirth. These benefits are available for medical conditions, so they are only available for birthing mothers (not fathers or adoptive parents). STD premiums are sometimes paid by the employer, but sometimes employees must sign up pre-pregnancy and foot their own premiums. Usually, women must provide a doctors note documenting that the pregnancy or childbirth requires time off. Read all the fine print to understand the benefits and necessary procedures.

Once youre familiar with your companys policy, check out the policies of similar companies to get an idea of whats usually offered in your industry. Find these on company websites and recruiting sites with company reviews.

Outline Your Needs

Its time to think about yourself. Whats best for you and your family? Remember, youre not going to get what you need unless you ask. If this is your first child, you may not know what to expect. Talk to friends or family members whove been through it, and read up on developmental stages, breastfeeding, or your particular concerns.

Consider all the different options that may help your family care for and bond with your new arrival. Its often easier to negotiate a period of part-time work, telecommuting, or a designated nursing room over more paid leave. Youll be more likely to get what you ask for if its in line with whats offered in your industry. But dont be afraid to ask for more than you expect; thats how negotiating works.

Outline the Benefits to Your Employer

If you request paid leave or extended time off, you need to make a compelling case that your employer will benefit too. Fortunately, theres some research on your side. After California implemented paid leave, 91 percent of businesses reported the law had a positive effect or no effect at all on profitability. In other words, most companies didnt lose any money.

Moreover, parental leave is a powerful tool for retaining employees, especially women. When Google increased its paid maternity leave from 12 to 18 weeks in 2007, the rate at which new moms left the company fell by 50 percent. Thats significant because replacing a high-level employee can cost a company twice the employees annual salary.

In addition, paid parental leave can help employees work more hours later, perhaps because it encourages bonding and breastfeeding, which boost childrens health. After California implemented paid parental leave, women with children between the ages of one to three worked about 10 percent more hours than before implementation of the act.

Negotiate for All Parents

When you sit down with your manager or HR director, present a clear plan, outline the benefits for your employer, and bring along supportive data to have the best shot at getting what you request. Ultimately, you probably wont get everything you ask for. But remember, youre making a difference just by talking to your employer. Informing companies about the benefits of parental leave helps move the needle toward more generous leave packages for American parents. Thats important for the health of the next generation and businesses, too.

Resources to help employees:
President visits Arhab, offers condolences to families of funeral house

President visits Arhab, offers condolences to families of funeral house



SANA'A, Feb. 16 (Saba) - President of the Supreme Political Council Saleh al-Sammad visited on Thursday Arhab district in Sana'a governorate, offering condolences to victims of the massacre committed by the US-Saudi criminal aggression warplanes on a house in the district.





The US-Saudi aggression warplanes pounded on Wednesday afternoon a funeral house in Arhab district of Sana'a province, killing eight women, including children.



The air raid hit the funeral house in Shira area, Bait al-Nakaee, in Arhab. The raid also injured ten other women.



The president condemned the heinous crimes and massacres committed by the US-Saudi American aggression, criticizing the complicity of the international community with the aggression against Yemen for two years.



Al-Sammad denounced the international silence towards crimes committed by the aggression warplanes against Yemen, calling lifting the blockade in which 25 million were affected negatively by it.





The President confirmed that the criminal massacres committed by the US-Saudi American aggression against innocent civilians, women and children would increase the Yemeni with patience, stability, freedom, independence and dignity in confronting the aggression.



HA

Saba

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[16/February/2017]
Despite dramatic growth in enrollment in online charter schools in Ohio, students are not achieving the same academic success as those in brick-and-mortar charter and public schools, finds a study by NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development and RAND Corporation.

"Our research suggests that online schools -- in their current form, a largely independent learning experience -- are not effective for K-12 learners. Instead, learners still need the presence of teachers, mentors, or peers to help them through the learning process," said study author June Ahn, associate professor of learning sciences and educational technology at NYU Steinhardt.

The findings are published in Educational Researcher, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association.

In Ohio, where online charter schools have been authorized since the early 2000s, a variety of providers can operate online charter schools, including school districts, non-profits, and private for-profit companies. These K-12 schools deliver most or all education online and lack a brick-and-mortar presence.

Advocates of online schools argue that new technologies used in online learning have the potential to expand the courses available to students and provide flexibility in location and scheduling. However, questions have been raised about the effectiveness of learning outcomes in online charter schools, as well as how they compete for limited educational resources.

In addition, research shows that certain factors can influence how families choose schools. If information is challenging to acquire -- whether it has a cost, is in a language not spoken by the family, or is too complex -- low-income families often base decisions on easy-to-access information. In choosing schools, at-risk students place less weight on academic indicators, and low performing students are more likely to attend a school with low average achievement.

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In the current study, the researchers analyzed data from 1.7 million K-12 students in Ohio who attended a traditional public school, charter school, or an online charter school between the 2009-10 and 2012-13 school years. They measured educational outcomes using standardized tests and looked at demographic data, including attendance and suspension; race and ethnicity; free and reduced price lunch status; and participation in gifted education, special education, or programs for English learners.

Online charter school enrollment grew around 60 percent during the period studied, from approximately 22,000 students in 2010 to over 35,000 students in 2013, with high schools making up the majority of online charter enrollment. While enrollment in traditional charters also increased during this period, traditional public school enrollment decreased.

"Online charter schools accounted for two percent of Ohio's student population in 2013, but the sector experienced the largest growth during this four-year period," said study author Andrew McEachin, policy researcher in the economics, statistics, and sociology department at the RAND Corporation.

In studying the characteristics of students in each school sector, the researchers observed that students in charter schools -- both online and traditional -- have lower baseline achievement than traditional public school students, are more likely to qualify for free and reduced price lunch, and are less likely to participate in gifted education.

However, students and families within the charter sector appear to self-segregate in stark ways. Low-income, lower achieving White students are more likely to choose online charter schools while low-income, lower achieving students of color are more likely to opt into a brick-and-mortar charter school. Around 50 to 60 percent of traditional charter school students are Black, compared to approximately 10 percent in online charters and 12 percent in traditional public schools.

"Our findings reveal that, across all grades and subjects, students in online charter schools perform worse on standardized assessments and are significantly less likely to pass Ohio's test for high school graduation than their peers in traditional charter and traditional public schools," said McEachin.

The researchers point to the importance of understanding how learning happens in online schools, much of which is self-directed and independent, but may not be suitable for many learners. They note that online curricula may be designed to efficiently deliver content, but should be combined with certain teaching and mentoring practices to serve students more effectively.

"In educational technology research, it is well established that technology as a delivery mechanism has no direct impact on student learning outcomes. What really matters is understanding how the introduction of technology impacts who chooses to participate in particular learning environments, and what they experience that result in learning outcomes," said Ahn. "In educational technology research, it is well established that technology as a delivery mechanism has no direct impact on student learning outcomes. What really matters is understanding how the introduction of technology impacts who chooses to participate in particular learning environments, and what they experience that result in learning outcomes."
Experimental evidence confirms what surveys have long suggested: Physicians are more likely to prescribe antibiotics when they believe there is a high expectation of it from their patients, even if they think the probability of bacterial infection is low and antibiotics would not be effective, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association.

Numerous studies have shown that inappropriate and excessive antibiotic use remains one of the main causes of antibiotic resistance and is widely considered a major threat to global health.

"Much effort has been spent encouraging physicians to adhere to clinical guidelines when prescribing antibiotics. However, with few notable exceptions, these efforts rarely address the non-clinical factors, such as how to tackle patients' expectations," said the study's lead author, Miroslav Sirota, PhD, of the University of Essex. The study is published in the journal Health Psychology.

Researchers conducted two separate experiments involving 436 physicians in the United Kingdom. In the first experiment, practicing family physicians (50 percent male) from around the U.K. filled out a questionnaire that presented them with one of several different vignettes. All the vignettes involved a 15-year-old girl accompanied by her mother who is on her third day of symptoms of a typical ear infection with fever, ear pain and reduced hearing, however is systematically well with no ear perforation or discharge. In one version, the mother insists that the doctor help the girl to recover quickly since she has to participate in an important swim meet in four days (high expectations condition). In another vignette, there is no upcoming swim meet; rather, the girl has already finished her swimming season (low expectations condition).

The physicians assessed the probability of a bacterial infection and expressed their willingness to prescribe antibiotics on a scale of zero to 10. While ear infections can be either bacterial (which may respond to antibiotics) or viral (which don't respond to antibiotics), U.K. guidelines, which is in line with the U.S. and Canadian guidelines, suggest physicians can safely withhold or delay antibiotics unless the child is systematically unwell, has perforation and/or discharge in the ear canal, or if the symptoms have persisted for four days or more, the authors noted. The order of the questions given to the physicians was manipulated randomly for each participant, so some received the bacterial probability question first and then the question on antibiotics prescribing while others saw the questions reversed.

Overall, despite the order of the questions, physicians who read the vignette where the mother had higher expectations for antibiotics prescribed them even though they were no more likely than physicians in the low expectations group to think the infection was bacterial.

"This was a somewhat reassuring finding as we thought that the effect of non-clinical factors might have been even more serious than we had imagined," said Sirota. "Imagine, for example, that a physician rationalized her decision to prescribe the antibiotics by increasing the perceived probability of a bacterial infection. We did not find any evidence of that happening, which is good news, and has taught us something new about the 'localized' effect of expectations."

The second experiment presented a story of an adult patient with ear infection symptoms who either had low or high expectations for antibiotics -- similar to the vignette in the first experiment. In this case, 52 percent of physicians prescribed antibiotics and were more likely to prescribe them if the patient expected antibiotics during the consultation. As in the previous experiment, there was no difference between the doctor's reports of bacterial probability and antibiotics prescribing. In the third vignette, involving an adult patient with typical cold symptoms who had high expectations for antibiotics, only 12 percent said they would prescribe them.

"We do not intend our study to criticize physicians and how they prescribe antibiotics," stressed Sirota. "Rather, we want to point out that the over prescribing of antibiotics is a serious systemic issue: we should all work together- from patients having more realistic expectations about antibiotic effectiveness to physicians managing patients' expectations when contradicting clinical guidelines -- to tackle its multiple facets."
In some areas of the U.S., medical providers consistently order more tests and treatments for patients than providers do elsewhere -- a fact that has generated considerable public debate. Now a new study co-authored by MIT scholars suggests that these differences in medical practices influence how the apparent health of populations is measured across regions.

Population health is typically measured according to medical claims data based on the diseases individuals are diagnosed with and treated for. But the study shows that, in practice, such measures reflect not only the underlying health of local populations, but also the propensity of providers to offer tests and treatments, a phenomenon the MIT researchers call "diagnostic intensity."

Because patients in areas with greater diagnostic intensity will have more health problems diagnosed and entered into their records, insurance-based health metrics will make those patients appear sicker than equivalently healthy patients in places with lower diagnostic intensity.

This matters partly because standard insurance-based health metrics are used to adjust payments for insurers or providers to account for the apparent differences in the health of the patients they serve. But now, those standard metrics may need some revising.

"The idea of risk-adjusted payments is to create a level playing field so providers are not penalized for serving sicker or harder-to-treat patients, and insurers are not penalized for covering them," says Amy Finkelstein, the John and Jennie S. MacDonald Professor of Economics at MIT and a co-author of a new paper outlining the study's results. "But if risk adjustment is based on measures that reflect not only underlying patient health but also [a] provider's 'diagnostic intensity,' that can be problematic."

The paper, "Adjusting Risk Adjustment -- Accounting for Variation in Diagnostic Intensity," is being published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine. The authors are Finkelstein; Matthew Gentzkow, a professor of economics at Stanford University; Heidi Williams, an associate professor of economics at MIT; and Peter Hull, a doctoral candidate in MIT's Department of Economics.

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Sharpening up Medicare estimates?

The current study covers all 306 hospital referral regions (HRRs) across the U.S. and builds on a previous analysis by Finkelstein, Gentzkow, and Williams, published last fall, which quantified how much variation in Medicare spending was due to regional medical practices, as opposed to the underlying health of patients.

That previous analysis showed that about half the regional difference in Medicare spending, nationwide, was due to medical practices, and about half was due to differences in population health.

That first analysis arrived at its conclusions by examining Medicare patients who moved from one region to another, in order to see how spending levels differ across regions, for the same patients.

In the newly published paper, the researchers again examine what happens when Medicare patients move across regions, focusing on how such moves affect people's measured health. The researchers illustrate their approach by focusing on the "risk scores" used to reimburse private insurers in the federal government's Medicare Advantage program. The risk score is designed to capture differences in patient health that affect Medicare spending. An enrolled person with a risk score of 1 would be expected to have an average level of Medicare spending; a risk score of 1.1 would suggest that the person's spending would likely be about 10 percent above average.

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The new study shows that when people move to areas of the country where providers have a greater diagnostic intensity, the risk scores of patients -- which are supposed to reflect underlying health -- increase.

And while the general problem of geographic variation in diagnostic intensity had been recognized by previous researchers, the new study for the first time devises a solution that could be applied to this problem in practice.

"This work develops a new measure [that] provides practitioners and researchers with place-specific measures of diagnostic intensity that can be used to correct that sort of bias in these measures," Hull says. Medicare administrators, for instance, could use the new adjustments to more accurately determine the underlying health of regional populations.

On the map

The map that Finkelstein and her colleagues have built shows some notable national trends. Medical providers in the Northeast, the deep South, and most of California tend to diagnose their patients relatively aggressively. By contrast, providers in the Midwest and Mountain West, among other areas, are less aggressive in diagnosing patients.

The study also helps illuminate contrasts between specific places in the U.S. -- such as Miami, where medical practitioners spent about $14,423 per Medicare patient in 2010, compared to an average of just $7,819 per Medicare patient in Minneapolis that year.

But as the new study shows, Miami also happens to have a greater diagnostic intensity than Minneapolis. That implies the relative health measures of the two cities' populations are closer than the raw spending data would suggest.

"Our findings suggest that people in Miami are less sick than you would think based on the standard risk adjustment measure, and people in Minneapolis are more sick than you would think," Finkelstein observes, adding: "There's been a lot of fascination with these geographic patterns." And now, the new data about those patterns may have a direct practical application.


Columbia Heights is the heart of Washington, D.C.s Hispanic community. The neighborhoods busy streets are lined with popular immigrant-owned businesses, from taquerias to Salvadoran pupusa shops to Latino food markets. But on Thursday some of them were closed.

February 16 marked A Day Without Immigrants in the United States.

Immigrants nationwide stayed home from work and school to show that they are important to the U.S. economy and way of life. Restaurants and businesses in major U.S. cities also closed their doors in a show of support for immigrants.

A Day Without Immigrants strikes took place in Washington, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and other cities.

The protest is in answer to President Donald Trumps administration, which has promised to increase deportation of undocumented immigrants. Trump has also ordered a ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries. And he plans to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Spreading the Word

The idea for a national Day Without Immigrants strike spread on social media, messaging applications and directly from person to person. The hashtag #DayWithoutImmigrants trended worldwide on Thursday.

In Washington, D.C., restaurant owner and activist Andy Shallal led the way for area restaurants to support the strike. He closed all six of his Washington-area businesses and restaurants Thursday.

Shallal is an immigrant himself. He came to the United States from Iraq more than 50 years ago.

Other restaurant owners and chefs followed Shallals decision.

John Andrade owns several restaurants in Washington, D.C., including Brookland Pint and Meridian Pint. He said in a statement that he chose to close down the kitchen at both locations to stand in solidarity with all of my immigrant staff.

I will close all my kitchens this Thursday in support of their desire and right to protest the evolving state of immigration policies in our country, Andrade's statement was posted on Facebook.

He said his decision was not motivated by politics.

Protesters Gather at White House

Christian Benitez-Garcia works at a Hilton hotel in the Washington, DC area. His parents are from El Salvador. He took the day off from work Thursday and went to the White House, where protesters had gathered. His mother, Isabel, joined him. She held a sign that read, United Immigrants of America.

He said most of the kitchen staff where he works took the day off Thursday, as well.

I just think everyone has gotten together because they really feel attacked by the immigration policies taking place right now, Benitez-Garcia said. I think everyone is just frightened for their families[whether] theyre here legally or illegally.

Businesses joined the strike in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as well. On Ninth Street in South Philadelphias Italian Market area, it was so quiet in the morning that Rani Vasudeva thought it might be Monday, when most of the businesses there are closed.

The empty vegetable and fruit stands along "Calle Nueve"  as Ninth Street is more commonly known  were a reminder of what it would look like without its immigrants.

"It's actually very sad," Vasudeva, a professor at Temple University, told the Associated Press. "You realize the impact the immigrant community has. We need each other for our daily lives."

Protests against the new Trump administration are becoming routine in Philadelphia, Washington and other large cities. The wave of protests began with the Womens March on January 21. Large numbers of demonstrators have since marched in the streets to protest Trumps travel ban and some of his nominees for Cabinet positions.

And on Thursday, protesters marched through Columbia Heights as they made their way to the White House, about five kilometers to the south.

Maha Hilal is executive director of the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms. Her parents immigrated to the United States from Egypt. On Thursday, she was among the crowd of demonstrators in front of the White House.

Theres two competing narratives. One that were a melting pot...that were a nation of immigrants. And at the same time, we explicitly malign immigrants, Hilal told VOA. So I think that its important to be here today and to really show the world that immigrants are an important part of the fabric of the United States.

Im Caty Weaver.

Ashley Thompson wrote this story based on original reporting and an Associated Press report. Caty Weaver was the editor.

______________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

taqueria - n a Mexican restaurant that serves tacos, among other things

pupusa - n. a traditional food of El Salvador

deportation - n. the act of forcing (a person who is not a citizen) to leave a country

solidarity - n. a feeling of unity between people who have the same interests, goals, etc.

staff - n. a group of people who work for an organization or business

evolve - v. to change or develop slowly

motivated - v. to be a reason for (something)

impact - n. a powerful or major influence or effect

routine - adj. done very often

narrative - n. a story that is told or written

melting pot - expression. a place where different peoples, styles, theories, etc., are mixed together.

explicitly - adv. in a very clear and complete way
How international university students think about home significantly influences their migration plans upon graduation, according to a new study from the University of British Columbia.

"A lot of research focuses on where international students go to study, but few focus on where they go after graduation," said study author Cary Wu, a PhD candidate in UBC's department of sociology and an international student from China. "Our study shows that migration plans for international students are far more complex than this binary of stay or return."

Wu analyzed data from interviews with more than 200 international students from more than 50 countries who attended UBC from 2006 to 2013. He found that students had four ways of thinking about home: as host, as ancestral, as cosmopolitan and as nebulous. These concepts of home influenced the students' decisions to stay, return, be open to either option or move to a new or third place in which they have already lived.

"We tend to think people migrate based on a single factor like a job offer or a family obligation," said Wu. "But these factors alone aren't enough. What's more important in their decision-making is how they think about home. It determines where post-grads look for jobs and where they establish close relationships."

If students thought of their host home as "home," their plan was to stay. Of the 232 students interviewed, 16 per cent planned to stay in Canada, citing emotional attachments, interpersonal relationships, family or political unrest. The more welcomed they felt, the more likely they were to stay. Neema, an undergraduate student from Tanzania, said: "A lot of the times I tell people this, that I spend more time here than I actually do at home. So this is home again."

If home was seen as ancestral, the plan was to return. Roughly 27 per cent of the students said they would return home. Students from the United States, France and Australia planned to return largely due to social and family ties. For some students from China and Japan, the decision to return was partially due to language barriers, difficulties fitting into the local culture, or discrimination. Meili, an undergraduate student from China, said: "I don't know how to be a part of Canadian culture or Western culture. Like adapt. I think that's a problem for most international student(s)." For African students, many planned to return out of a sense of obligation to their town or village.

Almost 57 per cent of students were open to any migration plan, including moving somewhere else. Wu said many international students have actually lived in two or three different countries prior to studying in Canada, so they can perceive home to be in multiple places. "For cosmopolitan types, they are people who feel like they could fit in anywhere," he said.

For a large group of students who saw home as nebulous, or unclear, they did not feel like they fit in anywhere and have experienced identity confusion, displacement and rootlessness. Saya, a student from Yemen, said: "Home is the world. I feel like I identify with so many different countries and so many different places that I can't call one place home. Home is where I have a bed to sleep on, for me. I don't know if I've ever felt at home anywhere."

Wu said understanding the motivations and experiences of students who study abroad, especially in the context of the global competition for talent, helps inform scholarship and policy on migration.

"Our study shows international students are not a monolithic group," said UBC sociology professor Rima Wilkes, Wu's co-author and supervisor. "Their ideas of home are as diverse as who they are as people. There's a lot to learn from that."
Screen time before bed can mess with your sleep. But people without TV and laptops skimp on sleep too, researchers say. A Duke University study of people living without electricity or artificial light in a remote farming village in Madagascar finds they get shorter, poorer sleep than people in the U.S. or Europe.

But they seem to make up for lost shuteye with a more regular sleep routine, the researchers report in the American Journal of Human Biology.

Americans sleep less than they did a generation ago. The decline is largely attributed to artificial light before bedtime wreaking havoc on our ability to stay in sync with the 24-hour day.

Our bodies are particularly sensitive to the short-wavelength "blue" light emitted from smartphones, TVs, computers, LED bulbs and other devices. Staring at bright bluish light before bed sends a signal to the brain to secrete less melatonin, the hormone that makes you sleepy.

"I think we can safely assume that our ancestors weren't staying up late at night cruising Facebook or looking at their e-readers," said David Samson, a senior research scientist in evolutionary anthropology at Duke. "It makes falling asleep much harder."

To better understand our natural sleep patterns, Samson, Duke professor Charles Nunn and colleagues went to the remote village of Mandena, in northeastern Madagascar, where most households do without electricity.

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A farming community where people grow rice and cash crops such as vanilla, this tiny town at the outskirts of Marojejy National Park is one of the few remaining places on Earth where light pollution is not a problem.

The villagers of Mandena are among more than a billion people worldwide who live without artificial light. Instead of switching on a light when the sun goes down, most people in Mandena spend their evenings in relative darkness. Nights are lit by the glow of cooking fires and kerosene lamps, or, when it's clear, the natural light of the moon and the stars.

The Duke researchers analyzed sleep-wake patterns in 21 people aged 19 to 59 while they slept at night and napped during the day.

The participants wore watch-like devices with built-in light and motion sensors that tracked subtle changes in their body movements and light exposure from one minute to the next, for 292 total nights of data.

Nine of these people also took a sleep test called a polysomnogram to determine how deep and restful their sleep was. The test uses sticky electrodes on the skin's surface to measure and record electrical activity in the brain and muscles.

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The data revealed that even without artificial lighting to disrupt their rest, people in Mandena get less sleep than most adults in the U.S. and Europe.

The villagers usually turned in around 7:30 p.m., two hours after sunset, and woke up around 5:30 a.m., about an hour before sunrise. But only 6.5 of those hours were spent sleeping -- 30 minutes to an hour less each night than people in the U.S. or Italy.

What sleep they did get was fragmented and light. Mandena villagers sleep together in houses with bamboo walls and tin or thatched roofs that do little to buffer noise. "On a nightly basis there are parties, dogs, roosters, children crying. It is a challenging environment for getting a good sleep," said Nunn, director of the Triangle Center for Evolutionary Medicine and professor of evolutionary anthropology and global health at Duke.

The participants frequently woke up in the middle of the night, sometimes to use the bathroom, and then stayed up for an hour or two before returning to sleep. They also spent less time in deep sleep and the dream state known as REM sleep compared with Western populations.

Yet rather than complain about being bleary-eyed or foggy-brained, 60 percent reported they were happy with their sleep.

People in Mandena compensate for lost nighttime sleep by napping during the day, often for up to an hour. That's nearly twice as long as the average catnap for Westerners, Samson said.

More importantly, Samson said, their sleep patterns were more consistent than most Westerners from one day to the next. Even when the researchers gave 10 people an LED camping lantern for a week, they still slept and woke at virtually the same times each day.

"Sticking to a schedule may be just as important as getting a solid night's sleep," Samson said.

The findings support other studies suggesting that humans were shortchanging their sleep even before the advent of electronic gadgets.

Diaries, court records and other historical documents suggest the ideal of getting seven to nine hours of uninterrupted sleep didn't come about until recently. In preindustrial times broken sleep was the norm, according to research by sleep historian Roger Ekirch of Virginia Tech.

Samson plans to continue studying sleep patterns in traditional societies across the globe. "My ultimate goal is to build a global data set of traditional sleep," he said.
A longtime Cal Poly Pomona anthropology professor who studies violence among prehistoric people in California has been published in a prestigious journal.

Professor Mark Allen's study, titled "Resource scarcity drives lethal aggression among prehistoric hunter-gatherers in central California," was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, one of the top journals highlighting the general sciences. Allen teamed up with professors at U.C. Davis, the University of Utah, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and an archeologist for the Sacramento-based Millennia Archeological Consulting.

"You have to have something significant," Allen says of what it takes to be published in the journal. "You have to have good evidence. As archeologists, you don't get the data you want most of the time. We are typically dealing with fragmented evidence."

Allen says there are two views related to the origins of violence and warfare in humans -- one view that humans in earlier times were peaceful and lived in harmony and a second view that there has always been competition for resources, war and violence.

The second view was confirmed in Allen's study. Using an archeological database of human burials of remains from thousands of Central California inhabitants between going back more than 1,000 years, Allen and his fellow researchers looked at the wound marks from physical traumas they suffered. They also compared that evidence to the environment and looked at the way the communities were socially organized, he says.

They found that California had the highest population density in all of North America, with lots of small groups living in close proximity. There were approximately 100 different languages spoken in California at the time. The data showed how the scarcity of resources and violence correlates.

"When people are stressed out and worried about protecting the group, they are willing to be aggressive," he says. "Violence is about resources for the group."

The data related to the remains showed that about 7 percent of the population at that time had evidence of forced traumas, whether they were shot by an arrow, stabbed or bludgeoned. For females it was 5 percent and for males it was 11 percent, a percentage of violent trauma not even reached during World War II, Allen says.

Allen, who teaches North American and California archeology, says that his research on the origins of violence and warfare speaks to what is happening in modern times.

"It's important to study it because if we are ever going to have hope of stopping it, we have to know the cause," he says. "If we want to reduce conflict, we need to figure out what to do about resource stress."
A team of researchers has developed a new computer-assisted recognition system that can identify individual lemurs in the wild by their facial characteristics and ultimately help to build a database for long-term research on lemur species. The scientists hope this method has the potential to redefine how researchers track endangered species in the wild.

The recognition system, LemurFaceID, identifies individuals based on photographs, which helps researchers build a database of lemurs in Madagascar and study individuals over time. According to Rachel Jacobs, a biological anthropologist at the George Washington University's Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology and co-lead author of the paper, this method can help scientists with two issues: conducting evolutionary studies and aiding conservation efforts.

"We are excited about the results of this truly cross-disciplinary collaboration," said Dr. Jacobs. "The ability to consistently study individuals over long periods of time, as well as integrate data across different studies, are some of the challenges we face when studying wild animal populations. Senior author, Stacey Tecot (University of Arizona), and I weren't particularly satisfied with the common approaches used in lemur research, so we aimed to do something different with red-bellied lemurs, and we sought the expertise of our computer science collaborators."

Evolutionary studies require long-term life history data on known individual animals to answer questions related to survival, reproduction and population growth. While previous efforts to track wild lemurs often required researchers to trap and physically tag them, LemurFaceID offers a non-invasive, fast, cost-effective and accurate way to conduct studies by uploading photos of the lemurs to the system.

Lemurs were named the world's most endangered group of mammals in 2012. Dr. Jacobs said she hopes LemurFaceID may help improve conservation efforts. The software can help to create records of how many individual lemurs there are in populations and what kind of social system they live in. It could also help to track trafficked lemurs if they are taken from the wild.

The researchers hope this type of software can serve as a model for tracking other species and, in some cases, potentially replace physically tagging animals.

"We think this method could be applied to studies of species that have similar variation in hair and skin patterns, such as red pandas and some bears, among others," Dr. Jacobs said.
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This week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed into law constitutional changes designed to give him strong, wide powers.

The reforms are being hotly debated. Supporters say they will strengthen democracy. Opponents say the reforms could lead to dictatorship.

Turks are to vote on the amendments April 16. However, some critics say the government is already taking action against opponents of the laws.

Meral Aksener, a leading politician, recently spoke at a demonstration against the constitutional reforms. The meeting was held in darkness after electric power to the site was cut. Aksener told the crowd she believed the power outage was done on purpose.

She shouted out, President, what are you afraid of, me as a woman opposing you and your powerful state?

She later spoke to reporters.

We look for democracy in darkness, she said, and hopefully on April 16 we will find democracy coming out of the ballots.

Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, a Nobel Prize for Literature winner, said he gave an interview to a newspaper. But he said it refused to publish his comments after he told the paper he would vote against the reforms.

Additionally, a leading news reporter said he was dismissed from his job after tweeting about his opposition to the laws. And a top constitutional law expert says he was dismissed from his university position because he opposes the reforms.

Ibrahim Kaboglu of Mamara University in Istanbul, Turkey says some of his colleagues lost their jobs as well.

Purges after failed coup attempt

Turkey has been under emergency rule since a failed attempt to overthrow the government last July. The rule permits the president and his government to dismiss any state employee. Police also have wide powers to arrest people without charging them.

President Erdogan says only traitors and terrorists are against the reforms.

Who says no to these reforms? The PKK terrorist says no. Who says no? The coup plotters say no. Who says no? Those who want to divide this country say no. Only those against the flag say no, Erdogan said.

Police are continuing to carry out raids under emergency rule powers. They have arrested thousands of members of Turkeys second largest opposition party, the Pro-Kurdish HDP. Among those detained is HDP leader Selahattin Demirtas.

Soli Ozel is an international relations expert from Kadir Has University in Istanbul. He questions if the vote April 16 will be fair.

I think it will be very uncomfortable for the naysayers to be able to push their line of thinking, because the last two elections weve held have not really been either as fair or free as weve come to expect.

Im John Russell.

Dorian Jones wrote this story for VOA News. Caty Weaver adapted this story for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.

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Words in This Story

interview  n. a meeting at which people talk to each other in order to ask questions and get information

colleague  n. a person who works with you

coup  n. a sudden attempt by a small group of people to take over the government usually through violence

uncomfortable  adj. causing a feeling of physical discomfort

naysayers  n. a person who says something will not work or is not possible
While the intensity and extent of the current outbreak of Islamic terrorism is new for Russians their methods for dealing with it in Chechnya, the Caucasus and elsewhere are not. The Russians continue to resort the ancient tactics of attacking the civilian population and threatening annihilation through starvation and constant acts of murder, rape and plunder. This sort of thing goes back to antiquity and the Romans coined a phrase for it; create a desert and call it peace (ubi solitudinem faciunt pacem appellant, or they create desolation and call it peace). You still find these tactics being used in many current conflicts even though by the 17th century Western Europe had agreed to try and abandon this and by the 20th century most developed nations considered these older techniques a war crime. Yet Russia got away with it in Chechnya in the 1990s and again in Syria after 2015. What Russia did in Syria with artillery and air strikes the Syrian government had already been doing since 2012 and that included preventing supply trucks from reaching pro-rebel populations. There is talk of war crimes prosecutions over this, but as long as Russia and China back the Assad government this is unlikely to happen. The UN has always been opposed to the Assads scorched earth tactics which involve deliberate use of aircraft bombing and artillery attacks on residential neighborhoods. The civilian suffering is unprecedented and getting worse.

The Russians initially tried the Western approach when Chechnya tried to separate itself from Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Russia responded with a kinder and gentler military operation (1994-6) that killed over 35,000 people, and failed. Russia withdrew and left the Chechens to their own devices. In effect, the Chechens could pretend they were independent while the Russians pretended they weren't. Problem was, the Chechens could not agree on how to form a unified government, and stumbled into a perpetual civil war. Along the way, some factions adopted Islamic radicalism and tried to spread their "Islamic rule" into adjacent areas that were still very much under Russian control. Other, less religious, Chechen factions, used Chechnya as a safe haven for smuggling and kidnapping operations throughout southern Russia.

All this led to a new (and more old school) Russian government to try military force again. In 1999 the second pacification campaign made greater use of commandoes and better trained and led troops in general. But the 1999 campaign also included massive attacks on civilians. This was easier in 1999 than five years earlier because once free of Russia rule, even briefly, the ethnic Chechens sought to drive out most of the ethnic Russian civilians. This was common in most of the 14 nations created by the dissolution of the Soviet Union but was nowhere as violent as in Chechnya.

This 1999 campaign succeeded in pacifying the population and then another ancient technique was employed to keep the area quiet. Basically, the Russians sought out Chechens who would be willing to run Chechnya, under Russian supervision, as long as they could keep the crime and terrorism under control. The Russians didn't care how "their Chechens" did it, as long as there was not a return to the 1994-9 era of rampant criminal activity. And no Islamic terrorism either. That worked and the violence, and Islamic terrorism inside Chechnya, and Russia declined.

Russia has been periodically pacifying Chechnya for two centuries using these techniques and doing so in other parts of Russia even longer. While the mass media condemned Russia for its brutal tactics, the Russians didn't care. They didn't care in the past when criticized by foreign governments and media. They don't care now because they know they'll have to do it again in the future. Meanwhile with the Chechnya problem "solved," Russia sought to improve its relations with Moslem nations as a way to immunize itself from additional Islamic terrorism. Russia's new Moslem friends were less likely to support Islamic radicals trying to gain a foothold among Russia's growing Moslem population if Russia proved itself a useful foreign power. Russian diplomatic efforts were supported by offers to sell weapons and providing diplomatic support in the UN, and in other international venues. This has worked, and Russia is now much more popular in Moslem nations, despite the defeat of the Moslem people in Chechnya. This was a repeat of methods used by the communist and czarist governments.

When reminded of this, the Russians merely point out that, for the most part, it is Moslems killing Moslems in Chechnya and that sort of thing is accepted throughout the Moslem world. But bombs going off in Moscow kills non-Moslems, and the government responds savagely to that. The government has announced that the security forces have been ordered to use "more aggressive" tactics against the Islamic terrorist groups in the Caucasus. This will work. Russia will be criticized for using arbitrary arrest and torture of non-Slavs throughout the country. Russia won't care, and will do what it has long done when it felt threatened.

Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia have long been troubled by corruption and crime. This breeds unrest among the population, and with the Internet, it's easier for the angry young men to get organized, and dangerous. But in Syria Russia is showing that it not only recognizes the effectiveness of older techniques but can still carry them out.
Mali, Chad, Niger and the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso have agreed to form a new G5 counter-terrorism force that will work in cooperation with the similar (but larger and better equipped) French force that has been operating in the Sahel (the semi-desert area south of the desert that stretches across northern Africa) since 2014. Back then the French concluded that the Sahel was still troubled by thousands of Islamic terrorists and that this situation could not be taken care of quickly. In order to maintain pressure on the Islamic terrorists France established a special force of 3,000 troops to fight Islamic terrorists throughout the Sahel (actually just Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso). Since then the French force has grown to some 4,000 troops equipped with 200 armored vehicles, 20 transport and attack helicopters, six jet fighters and three large UAVs. There are also two twin engine C-160 air transports available for use within the Sahel. Supplies and reinforcements are regularly flown in using long-range transports (like the C-17) belonging to NATO allies (especially the U.S. and Britain). From the beginning the French force included a thousand French troops in Mali and the rest dispersed to other Sahel bases and ready to quickly move anywhere in the region that Islamic terrorist activity had been detected. The G5 nations already cooperated by sharing intelligence and providing quick access to their territory by the French force. In addition the Americans provided satellite and UAV surveillance and other intel services (especially analysis and access to nearly all American data on Islamic terrorist activities in the region).

All this was meant to keep the Islamic terrorists in the Sahel weak and disorganized. So far that has worked, but AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb), which has been around since 2007, is still in business (as gangsters smuggling drugs and illegal migrants north) and getting support from Islamic terrorists in Europe and the Persian Gulf. Islamic terrorists continue to carry out attacks in Mali (mainly the north) and in the G5 states to let the world know that Islamic terrorists were still present in the area.

Another reminder has been the high casualty rate among peacekeepers in Mali. UN peacekeepers in Mali suffered 26 dead during 2016, the highest number of any UN peacekeeping operation and 90 percent of the UN peacekeeper deaths in 2016, even though the Mali force comprises less than 15 percent of all UN peacekeepers. The Mali peacekeepers have been in this situation for three years in a row. Over a hundred peacekeepers (mostly UN, but some French) have died in Mali since they arrived in 2013. This is the highest casualty rate of all current UN peacekeeping operations.

The new G5 forces will be small (500-2,000 personnel) and consist largely of special operations troops. Many of these troops have already worked with their French counterparts or been trained by French or American special operations advisors.

February 14, 2017: In the north (outside Kidal) French soldiers, acting on a tip, found and destroyed a cache of 25 mortar shells that were recently placed there for a planned (according to locals) attack sometime in the next few days. Similar tips by locals have led to the recent disabling of three roadside bombs.

February 13, 2017: In central Mali (near the junction of the Niger and Bani rivers) there was another outbreak of violence over the weekend involving Peul (Fulani) and Bambara tribesmen. It began when some Bambara attacked a Peul village and killed as many as 30 people and wounded many more. More than 500 villagers fled their homes to avoid the violence. This tribal feuding has been going on for years but got worse since 2015 when the Peul became widely known as a source of recruits for Islamic terrorist groups and for generally supporting AQIM. The more numerous Bambara (who tend to be pro-government) live north of the Niger and are about a third of the population. The Fulani (who tend to be more rebellious) are largely from south of the Niger. This is not just a Mali problem as Nigeria complains that armed Fulani herders from Mali have showed up in northeast Nigeria and joined local Islamic terrorist groups.

February 12, 2017: Algeria and Mali have agreed to allow Algerian telecommunications companies to offer Internet and cell phone services in Mali.

February 10, 2017: In the north (near Gao) German peacekeepers now have all three of their leased Israeli Heron I UAVs (similar to the American Predator) operational. The first Heron 1 arrived in October 2016 and its initial mission lasted nearly six hours. Peacekeepers in Mali have found Israeli UAVs very useful for keeping an eye on large, thinly inhabited, areas. The first one found there were no serious problems operating in the Mali desert-like conditions.

February 7, 2017: In the south (300 kilometers east of the capital near the Burkina Faso border) four armed men kidnapped a Catholic nun (from Colombia) who provided health care from a clinic in a parish compound. At first it was feared the kidnappers were Islamic terrorists, who prefer to attack non-Moslems (especially clergy) and kidnap foreigners. The four men claimed to be Islamic terrorists. Police concluded (based on testimony of the other three nuns in the compound) that the attackers were probably just common criminals. The other nuns were not killed by the armed men but rather locked up in a closet as the compound was looted of all valuables and the attackers left with the one nun. The getaway car was later found abandoned. Since then the police have arrested at least twenty people in the area, killing one of them in the process. There has not yet been a ransom demand and it is feared that the criminals plan to sell their captive to Islamic terrorists, who often buy such captives from criminals. Thats because the criminals dont want the long term problems with police because they made the country look bad by kidnapping a foreigner. The Islamic terrorists, on the other hand, seek that kind of attention and generally can obtain a much higher ransom, or die trying.

January 26, 2017: In the south police arrested two men suspected of being Islamic terrorists who planned an attack in the capital (Bamako). The two were caught with weapons and equipment needed for such an attack, which was cancelled because the heavily guarded international conference on January 13-14 proved impossible for the attackers to get at. Rather than try anyway the Islamic terrorists decided to remain hidden and wait for another opportunity. But police did hear about the plan and began looking for the participants.

The German parliament approved the expansion of the German peacekeeper contingent in Mali from 650 to a thousand. Also approved was the use of eight German military helicopters (four NH90 transports and four Tiger gunships.) While Germany also has troops in Iraq and Afghanistan (as trainers and advisors) but the largest contingent is in Mali.

January 25, 2017: French counter-terrorism forces in the north have arrested three suspects believed to be involved with the January 18th suicide truck bomb attack outside Gao that killed 77 and wounded over a hundred, most of the casualties were members of pro-government Tuareg militias that AQIM later said were being punished for making peace with the foreign infidels (non-Moslems).

January 23, 2017: In the north (outside Kidal) Islamic terrorists fired several mortar shells at a peacekeeper base a killed a soldier from Chad and wounded two others.
General Mills, Inc. manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates in five segments: North America Retail; Convenience Stores & Foodservice; Europe & Australia; Asia & Latin America; and Pet. It offers ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and salty snacks, ice cream, nutrition bars, wellness beverages, and savory and grain snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables. It also supplies branded and unbranded food products to the North American foodservice and commercial baking industries; and manufactures and markets pet food products, including dog and cat food. The company markets its products under the Annie's, Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Blue Buffalo, Blue Basics, Blue Freedom, Bugles, Cascadian Farm, Cheerios, Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisp, EPIC, Fiber One, Food Should Taste Good, Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Gushers, Fruit Roll-Ups, Gardetto's, Go-Gurt, Gold Medal, Golden Grahams, Haagen-Dazs, Helpers, Jus-Rol, Kitano, Kix, Larabar, Latina, Liberte, Lucky Charms, Muir Glen, Nature Valley, Oatmeal Crisp, Old El Paso, Oui, Pillsbury, Progresso, Raisin Nut Bran, Total, Totino's, Trix, Wanchai Ferry, Wheaties, Wilderness, Yoki, and Yoplait trademarks. It sells its products directly, as well as through broker and distribution arrangements to grocery stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, natural food chains, e-commerce retailers, commercial and noncommercial foodservice distributors and operators, restaurants, convenience stores, and pet specialty stores, as well as drug, dollar, and discount chains. The company operates 466 leased and 392 franchise ice cream parlors. General Mills, Inc. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Himax Technologies, Inc., a fabless semiconductor company, provides display imaging processing technologies in China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Korea, Japan, Europe, and the United States. The company operates through two segments, Driver IC and Non-Driver Products. It offers display driver integrated circuits (ICs) and timing controllers that are used in televisions, laptops, monitors, mobile phones, tablets, automotive, digital cameras, car navigation, virtual reality devices, and other consumer electronic devices. The company also designs and provides controllers for touch sensor displays; in-cell touch and display driver integration single-chip solutions; light-emitting diode driver and power management ICs; and liquid crystal on silicon microdisplays for augmented reality (AR) devices and head-up displays for the automotive industry. In addition, it offers complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor image sensors and wafer-level optics for AR devices, 3D sensing, and ultra-low power AI image sensing, which are used in various applications, such as mobile phones, tablets, laptops, TV, PC camera, automobile, security, medical devices, home appliance, Internet of Things, etc. The company markets its display drivers and display-related products to panel manufacturers, agents or distributors, module manufacturers, and assembly houses; and non-driver products to camera module manufacturers, optical engine manufacturers, and television system manufacturers. Himax Technologies, Inc. was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Tainan City, Taiwan.
Tableau Software, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides business analytics software products. It offers Tableau Desktop, a self-service, powerful analytics product with data; Tableau Server, a business intelligence platform for organizations; Tableau Online, a hosted software-as-a-service version of Tableau Server; Tableau Prep, a data preparation product for combining, shaping, and cleaning data; and Tableau Public, a cloud-based platform for analyzing and sharing public data. In addition, it offers Visual Query Language (VizQL) for databases, which is a computer language for describing pictures of data, including graphs, charts, maps, time series, and tables of visualizations; Live Query Engine that interprets abstract queries generated by VizQL into syntax understandable by database systems; and Hyper, an in-memory data engine technology that helps customers to analyze a range of data sets by evaluating analytical queries directly in the transactional database. Further, the company provides support, maintenance, training, and professional services. It serves organizations in various industries, including business services, energy and telecommunications, financial services, life sciences and healthcare, manufacturing and technology, media and entertainment, public sector, and education, as well as retail, consumer, and distribution industries. The company sells its products directly, as well as through indirect sales channels, such as technology vendors, resellers, original equipment manufacturers, independent software vendor, and distributors in the United States, Canada, and internationally. Tableau Software, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.
The apparent assassination of the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has increased support for critics of the countrys government.

Those critics accuse North Korea of being a state that operates outside the law. They say the government kills its enemies and depends on criminal activity for survival.

Malaysian officials continue to investigate the death of Kim Jong Nam, who was attacked at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Monday. He died a short time later.

Kim Jong Nam and Kim Jong Un are sons of former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

Investigation into Kim Jong Nams death continues

On Thursday, Malaysian police said they arrested a woman suspected of involvement in the killing. She is said to have an Indonesian passport.

Another woman was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of involvement in the case. She reportedly had Vietnamese travel papers.

Police also detained a man who provided information that led to the arrest of one of the women.

South Korean officials have said two North Korean female agents poisoned Kim Jong Nam at the airport. They say the women sprayed liquid droplets at him and then held a cloth over his face.

That information is different from early reports of how Kim Jong Nam may have been poisoned.

Airport cameras captured images of the suspects. One woman wore a shirt with the letters LOL on the front.

There are reports that Malaysian officials have refused efforts by North Korean officials to stop a medical exam of the body.

North Korea involved in illicit activities

North Korean critics have described the government as a highly corrupt, family-led criminal operation. They say North Korea is active in smuggling, secretly transporting goods and other materials in and out of the country.

Critics also say the government is involved in drug trafficking and arms dealing, including the exchange of nuclear materials and missile parts. They say all the money earned goes to North Koreas wealthy leadership.

In 2012, United Nations diplomats reported on the discovery of North Korean-made graphite cylinders on a Chinese ship traveling to Syria. They said the tubes could be used to make missiles.

In 2005, an official from Ireland was arrested for having high-quality counterfeit copies of money from the United States. The counterfeit $100 bills reportedly were made in North Korea.

In 2016, a British citizen was sentenced to 15 years in prison for plotting to import 100 kilograms of North Korean methamphetamine drugs into the U.S.

Robert Kelly teaches at Pusan National University in South Korea. He says he would not be surprised if the North Korean leadership was to blame for the killing of Kim Jong Nam.

You know, the North Koreans, they just dont follow the rules, both internally and externally. They treat their own people terribly and overseas they basically have engaged in this massive illicit economy and its not surprising that that would also include illicit political behaviors like assassinations.

Chinas cooperation needed

Kim Jong Nam was once considered a possible replacement for Kim Jong Il as North Koreas head of state. But the son was caught trying to enter Japan with a false passport in 2001, reportedly to visit Tokyo Disneyland. After that, Kim Jong Nam spent most of his time in Macau.

In 2012, he wrote a note to a Japanese reporter. It said, The Kim Jong-un regime will not last long. Without reforms.

The South Korean National Intelligence Service said recently that the North Korean leader had given a standing order for his half-brothers killing when he took power.

Robert Kelly says stopping unlawful activity by North Koreas leadership could put pressure on the government to change. But, he says, that would require cooperation from China, North Koreas main ally. He thinks China is unwilling to do anything that would weaken the Kim familys control and that would create instability within its neighbor.

As of Thursday, there was no news of Kim Jong Nams death in North Korean media.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un marked the birthday of his father Kim Jong Il, which is a national holiday in the country.

Im Mario Ritter.

Brian Padden and Youmi Kim reported this story for VOANews.com Mario Ritter adapted their report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

assassination  n. the killing of a person for political reasons

graphite  n. a light-weight carbon material

externally  adv. outside of something, not inside

illicit  adj. something not allowed or illegal

instability  n. the state of being easily changed or disordered
Coconut was just another dirty, wounded stray cat, roaming the cold streets of Boston in February 2016, when a woman spotted him and knew she had to help him.

The entirely white, fluffy stray was in such bad shape, it looked like he wouldn't survive much longer as a street cat. His ears were bloody and scarred. And he hissed whenever anyone got near him.

Joni Nelson, founder of Boston's Forgotten Felines (BFF), has been rescuing cats for over 30 years. She took Coconut off the streets, initially just aiming to neuter him and rerelease him. But she realized that even though he wasn't tame, she just couldn't let him go.

"Poor Coconut was a mess," Nelson said. He had a urinary tract infection, goopy eyes, ear mites, a limp, chronic diarrhea and was totally filthy. "But it was his nasty attitude that made him hard to like." Even though Nelson helped him get better, giving him medicine every day, he was still really mean. "He was very difficult to feed ... He would never look up but sure would lash out when I opened his cage."

Dodo Shows Faith = Restored Couple Meets A Beach Dog In Mexico Who Changes Their Life

Nelson realized that he didn't always respond to visual cues and concluded he was partially blind. "After a long time, he started to calm down some," Nelson said. "I could go in and clean his box and put down food without him coming at me but he still hissed whenever anyone walked by his cage. Still he never lifted up his head all the way, always looking down."

Soon, Nelson also realized that Coconut was deaf. "It took two very deep bites from him to realize he was deaf and could only see shadows," Nelson said. "No wonder he was so nasty. He was frightened and no one knows the torture he went through living on the streets for so long in that condition ... Many people told to me to put him to sleep that he was unadoptable. I couldn't let him live his life in a cage and I couldn't put him to sleep."

Months passed. And very, very slowly Coconut seemed to calm down. "It took a long time to get him to let me touch him," Nelson said. But one day, he finally did. "First, just his head and only for a second or two."

Danapel C. de Veer

Volunteers did all they could to show Coconut he was finally safe. And soon he got the message. "Lots of love and attention and he learned to trust and love," Nelson said.

Danapel C. de Veer

Coconut's first foster mom, Sherri DeLuca, helped Coconut come around. Then it was time for him to try a foster home with Ashley Ward. "I admit I was very worried he would go back to being frightened and mean with strangers but after just one night of hiding he came out from under the bed in his new foster home," Nelson said.

Ashley Ward

"Coconut is really a sweetheart," Ward told The Dodo. "Every time I walk into the room, he hobbles over to me to get pets ... As soon I start petting him he is instantly purring ... He will curl up right next to your side and snuggle his head under your arm so that you can pet him."

Ashley Ward

Coconut has come such a long way since he was rescued from the streets a year ago - but he still needs a home he can call his own forever.

Ashley Ward

"It has been truly beautiful to see the transformation in Coconut, from scared abandoned street cat to the kitty he is today, one who loves to be pet and loved," Danapel C. de Veer, one of the other volunteers for BFF, told The Dodo. "It's amazing what love, patience, security and kindness can do for a kitty like Coconut."

Ashley Ward

If you are interested in adopting Coconut, you can send an email to catadoptions@bostonsforgottenfelines.org.

Ashley Ward
Ramona and her companion lived on a tiny, filthy patio that was littered with loose bricks. Both St. Bernard dogs were skeletal, although this was hard to see this underneath their thick, matted coats. They were about 4 years old, and, according to the people who rescued them, they'd lived on that dirty patio in Juarez, Mexico, for their entire lives. The patio was actually on the second floor of a house, so they couldn't get away.

Ramona and her companion on the patio in Mexico | Compassion Without Borders

The dogs could have continued living in those horrible conditions for years if a local person hadn't noticed that one of the dogs had a broken foot and could no longer walk. This person contacted Compassion Without Borders (CWOB), an animal rescue group that helps animals in Mexico, and asked for its help. When the CWOB volunteers went to investigate, they were shocked at what they saw. "The patio was tiny, and it was covered in excrement," Christi Camblor, a cofounder of CWOB, told The Dodo. "They were super, super skinny, and the male couldn't put any weight on one of his legs."

Dodo Shows Faith = Restored Woman Tries Every Day For A Month To Rescue This Dog

Ramona shortly after her rescue in Mexico | Compassion Without Borders

The CWOB volunteers talked to the dogs' owner, and convinced him to surrender the animals. While it's not clear why the owner was keeping them in the first place, Camblor thinks he might have been breeding them and selling the puppies for a lot of money. "Dogs like this are often kept as status symbols in Mexico," Camblor said. The CWOB volunteers rushed the dogs to a local vet clinic in Juarez. But tragedy struck. Unfortunately, neither of the dogs had gotten any vaccinations, and the male dog - who'd been Ramona's constant companion for so many years - contracted distemper at the clinic and died. "There's no nice way of putting it," Camblor said. "It was really sad."

Ramona shortly after her rescue in Mexico | Compassion Without Borders

The CWOB team moved Ramona to the safety of the CWOB clinic in Puerto Penasco, Mexico. Then they asked for volunteers to transfer Ramona (as well as another dog) across the border into the United States, where Ramona could start a new life. A Californian woman named Lynn Bowers and her daughter, Janelle, volunteered to get the dogs. "CWOB rented us a cargo van, gave us enough money for gas and lodging, and coordinated a driver to meet us at the border," Bowers told The Dodo. "We went 650 miles! We met a wonderful man in Calexico and made the transfer." The moment Bowers met Ramona, she was smitten. She quickly decided that she was going to do more than transport Ramona - she was going to adopt her.

Lynn Bowers

"I instantly fell in love," Bowers said. "Even though she was dirty, stinky, emaciated and sick, I found her to be beautiful. " Bowers already had another St. Bernard, and she thought that Ramona would be a good companion for him. But even though Ramona finally had a real home, she had a lot of medical issues to overcome - she was still malnourished, and she suffered from an ear infection, a respiratory infection and dental disease.

Lynn Bowers

"She took some time to recover," Bowers said. "But every day that passed I would see her become curious, playful and more active." Once Ramona regained her health, she started acting like the puppy she probably never got to be.

Lynn Bowers

"She loves to initiate play with her toys," Bowers said. "With her chosen toy in her mouth, she'll approach with her head down low and will begin her deep-sounding 'woooo' by raising her head high then dropping the toy." Like all dogs, Ramona also loves walks and exploring the outdoors. And of course, she loves sleeping on the couch.

Lynn Bowers

"What's so interesting about these dogs is that they've never had any of these creature comforts, but they certainly get used to them quite quickly, and become some of the most wonderful pets because, you know, they've had to get by on the streets, so they're very smart, they're very appreciative, and they do really well in homes," Camblor said. "We are so thankful to CWOB for giving us the opportunity to save our sweet Ramona," Bowers said. "There isn't a moment we don't love and cherish her. Our home is complete with her in it."

Lynn Bowers
Mother bears hibernating with their cubs and wolves raising pups in their dens may no longer be protected from a hunter's rifle. The lives of countless bear and wolf families are hanging in the balance today because the U.S. House of Representatives just voted to overturn a ban on cruel hunting tactics that previously protected animals on some of the most treasured wildlife refuges in America.

Grizzly bear family in Alaska | Shutterstock

On 76 million acres of federal refuges in Alaska, hunters will be permitted to enter dens where vulnerable bear families are hibernating and kill them if the resolution becomes law. They will also be able to shoot entire wolf families raising young pups if the Senate and President agree with the vote. "What the House did today should shock the conscience of every animal lover in America," Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), said on Thursday. "If the Senate and President concur, we'll see wolf families killed in their dens, bears chased down by planes or suffering for hours in barbaric steel-jawed traps or snares." The overturning of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) ban would also allow hunters to lure animals with food and shoot them at point-blank range.

Dodo Shows Foster Diaries Guy Falls In Love With His Little Meatball Of A Foster Dog

Wolf pups playing near their den | Shutterstock

Even people in favor of hunting applauded the ban when it was issued. "Inhumane hunting methods have caused the overkilling of native Alaskan predators; this rule takes a balanced approach allowing for traditional, permit-based hunting," then-Representative Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) said last year after the cruel practices were banned.

Grizzly bear by a den | Shutterstock

Now it's unclear why the push to overturn the ban was introduced in the first place, as a 2016 poll of Alaska voters showed that most agreed that those practices should be banned. Alaska's Representative Don Young (R-AK), who has trapped animals in the past, introduced the measure, known as H.J. Resolution 69, anyway. Congress voted 225 to 193 in favor of it on Thursday, some citing states' rights as the reason for their vote in favor, despite the resolution being about federal lands.

Wolf pup emerging from den | Shutterstock

"Special interest groups are quietly working at the federal and state level to lay the groundwork for federally managed lands to be handed over wholesale to state or even private ownership," Dan Ashe, then-FWS director, wrote last year in an op-ed. "Unfortunately, without the protections of federal law and the public engagement it ensures, this heritage is incredibly vulnerable."

Shutterstock
Airline travel for pets is highly regulated, just like it is for humans. The biggest difference, though, is that the rules for pets are intended to make air travel more comfortable, not less  one recent mandate requires that airports have indoor pet relief areas.

And yet, in an age where 80 per cent of pet owners refer to their animals as children, theres still vast room for improvement, both inflight and on the ground. The Ark at JFK, a new, $65 million (U.S.) facility in a 178,000-square-foot warehouse, is one step toward improving the latter experience. It will have a splash pool, overnight kennels and pre-flight micro-chipping services to track your animals. Eventually, this first-of-its-kind service in the U.S. will feature an in-house pet spa, too.

In an important respect, the Ark is streamlining the process of pet travel, rather than revolutionizing it. Its two main services for dogs  shepherding the animals through customs and boarding and caring for them during layovers when necessary  already exist, just in a less efficient form.

It can be one of those close calls, where a pet owner can get off a flight, get to the cargo facility, go to customs and border control, and do it all themselves, said Elizabeth A. Schuette, the managing director of the Ark. (Her husband, John J. Cuticelli, Jr., is the projects developer.) Its a big hassle.

The Ark, on the other hand, positions itself as a one-stop shop. We can clear customs on behalf of the owners, or use a custom broker, Schuette said. Its changing the process, and advocating for a better one.

Except for a few, high-profile cases, pets have managed to survive layovers just fine, and most airlines have designated areas for pets, known in the industry as AVI (an abbreviation of the French phrase Animaux Vivant, or live animals). But Schuette highlighted some room for improvement: Animals from exotic countries are not usually quarantined, for example.

They are often not bio-secure, Schuette added. And sometimes the airline charges a facility fee that can be up to $75.

Because the Ark will at first be creating its own market, Schuette said, its prices are fairly reasonable.

For the Pet Oasis, the basic accommodation fee is $125, she said, which is about the amount of a regular kennel in Brooklyn. Its on the lower side of the price range, Schuette explained, because were just opening and trying to attract business.

Once it takes off, though, it will be following an existing business model. Theres a similar facility in Frankfurt where the Lufthansa Group has its Cargo Animal Lounge (Lufthansa says it welcomes around 110 million passengers per year, including 14,000 dogs and cats and 2,000 horses). The Arks equine component will have stables for importing and exporting racehorses, show horses, and polo ponies, all of which follow relatively predictable schedules. And this is expected to be bringing in the economic revenue, Schuette said.

In addition to the Pet Oasis, there is also an Equine & Livestock Export Center and the Aviary In-Transit Quarantine, both of which have just opened; a full-service Import-Export centre for horses, as well as the Ark Aviary, will be ready in a few months. While there, the pets will be fully groomed, tucked in for bed, and allowed to share photos or FaceTime with their owners.

Despite its more elaborate amenities, Schuette is hoping to convince both pet owners and airlines that the Ark is a reasonable amenity rather than an extravagant one. Were going to these airlines and meeting with them, she said. And talking to them about whats the best treatment for these animals.

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OTTAWAMississauga MP Iqra Khalid says she has received thousands of death threats, sexist comments and Islamophobic remarks after introducing a motion to condemn and combat Islamophobia.

Khalid said her office has been swamped with hateful messages over Motion 103, which asks the House of Commons to condemn Islamophobia and all religious discrimination, and commits a parliamentary committee to study the issue.

The motion has been seized by far-right blogs, who call it an attack on freedom of expression and have whipped up concerns about Canada adopting Islamic sharia law.

The motion does not change Canadas hate speech laws, and does not remove Canadians right to free speech.

Khalid read the transcript of one particularly disturbing YouTube video sent to her office in the House of Commons Thursday.

She, the terrorist, the terrorist sympathizer, the terror inducer, the disgusting human being, Khalid read.

This little girl, with very little intelligence, no personality, no strength in character, no brave bone in her body, that idiot, that scumbag, the guys out there are not going to debate you. You are going to see what the uncivilized Canadians out there take exception to. Im not going to help them shoot you, Im going to be there to film you on the ground crying . . . Ha ha ha ha, the member got shot by a Canadian patriot.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, Khalid said.

Motion 103, which Khalid submitted as private members business, has been taken up and championed by the Liberal government and cabinet.

On Wednesday, Heritage Minister Melanie Joly held a press conference to say the Liberal caucus would support Khalids motion.

The Conservatives, however, are refusing to support the motion. Most of their arguments against it boil down to being uncomfortable with the term Islamophobia, and several Conservative MPs have suggested the motion singles out Islam instead of condemning all religious discrimination.

(The text of the motion does, in fact, condemn all forms of religious discrimination.)

(Motion 103) is highlighting one religion in particular but without clear language on what (the term Islamophobia) means, Conservative MP David Anderson said Wednesday night.

It is unfortunate that this motion does not encourage conversation, because in the content of the motion the focus is on one term, Islamophobia.

On Thursday, Anderson put forward a version of the motion that removed reference to Islamophobia  which the Liberals flatly rejected.

Joly told the Commons she considered the Conservative motion watered down and meant to address internal divisions within the Conservative movement.

Islamophobia is a real problem. Neighbours, friends, co-workers of the Muslim faith endure systemic racism and religious discrimination in our country, Joly said.

Adding to the confusion, Global News reported Thursday that the Conservatives voted for an anti-Islamophobia motion only five months ago.

Last year, Statistics Canada reported that hate crimes in Canada declined in 2013, the latest year we have data for. Hate crimes against Muslims and Jews, however, increased.

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OTTAWANORAD is weighing sweeping upgrades to its sensors and tactics to better protect North America against increasingly capable missiles being fielded by Russia and North Korea, the head of the military alliance says.

Gen. Lori Robinson, the U.S. commander who oversees the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD), says that adversaries that include Russia, China, Iran and North Korea and violent extremist groups are seeking ways to extend their operational reach into North America.

Theyre constantly probing and looking for chinks in our armour, and they are using both traditional and unconventional methods, Robinson said Thursday, during an Ottawa visit.

Today, Russian cruise missiles can reach us from ranges were not used to. No longer do they have to enter or come close to North American airspace ... this is a game changer, she said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is unpredictable and volatile, she said, conducting repeated missile tests to improve capabilities, most recently on Sunday with the launch of a new ballistic missile.

North Korea uses what they learn from each and every test they do to make improvements to their missile capabilities, she said.

Those evolving threats are forcing NORAD  the joint Canada-U.S. operation that defends the sky and sea around North America  to adapt.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met earlier this week in Washington and in a joint statement said the two nations will work to modernize and broaden our NORAD partnership.

Robinson offered some hints of that modernization during a Thursday speech at a conference organized by the Conference of Defence Associations and later during an extended discussion with journalists.

Were looking on how to modernize NORAD and start asking, whats the next evolution of North American defence? she said, noting that the last major upgrade to the alliances infrastructure happened more than two decades ago.

Our legacy systems in NORAD are not designed to detect todays threat capabilities at range, Robinson said.

Were used to having these oceans that were a little bit of protection for us. But as theyve expanded their capabilities, that level of protection doesnt exist anymore, Robinson said.

Work is underway to look at options to replace the existing northern warning system to improve long-range surveillance. We also need to increase our ability to detect, track, ID and, if necessary, engage cruise missiles, she said.

Canada decided more than a decade ago not to join the ballistic missile defence program being developed at the time by the U.S. But that decision is getting another look as the Liberal government reviews its defence priorities.

Robinson declined to talk about possible Canadian involvement, saying any contribution would be a decision for Ottawa.

Robinson also sidestepped a question about whether she had concerns about Canadas contribution to the military alliance.

The Liberal government is looking at buying 18 Super Hornet fighter jets to supplement its existing fleet of aging fighters, saying the air force could no longer meet the twin demands of serving NORAD while meeting overseas commitments.

Robinson said her job is to evaluate the alliances capability to defend North America and if there is risk, describe the risk so that our civilian leaders can make decisions.

Its not a matter of coming up short or not. Its what risk are we willing to accept, she said.

Robinson took over as NORAD commander last May. She also assumed leadership of the U.S. Northern Command, which is responsible for the defence of the U.S. as well as helping out in emergencies.

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Negotiations will soon restart for Ontarios doctors, who have been without a physician services agreement for three years, with arbitration as the first order of business.

Amid a lengthy and messy dispute, the Ontario Medical Association had said doctors wouldnt return to the bargaining table unless the government introduced binding arbitration. The province replied it would be willing to discuss that idea, but not as a pre-condition to negotiations.

Premier Kathleen Wynne said in a statement Thursday that the government is committed to that principle and it will be the first thing on the table when talks resume.

The (health) minister and I have discussed the next steps and, as a show of good faith and to demonstrate our sincere commitment to trying to reach a positive outcome in these renewed negotiations, our government will not make any unilateral adjustments to physician compensation or accountabilities while discussions are taking place, Wynne wrote.

The Liberal government angered doctors in 2015 by imposing fee cuts for some services, and had previously threatened to act on its own again if it couldnt reach an agreement with the OMA.

Doctors roundly voted down a proposal last summer that would have increased the $12-billion physician services budget by more than $1 billion but set out $200 million in certain fees.

The OMA has dealt with internal turmoil since then, with some doctors upset that not only had the association endorsed that deal, it had also been in talks with the government without doctors knowledge.

Doctors dismissed another government proposal last year, saying it was just a re-hash of the previous offer, and have made vague threats of job action since then.

Thursdays news follows word from the OMA that it had established a new negotiating committee, 10 days after its executive committee resigned after a vote of non-confidence at an OMA meeting.

The government will also establish a new negotiating team, Wynne said.

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Most Fridays, I appear as an all-purpose pundit-for-hire on Radio-Canadas popular noon-hour radio current-affairs show out of Montreal. Five days after the massacre at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec, one of the topics was, Will anything change?

It was a fair question. Justin Trudeau and Philippe Couillard, the Quebec premier, had spoken powerfully at a Montreal memorial service for the six victims, cut down at their mosque during prayers. The Bloc Quebecois, which campaigned in the 2015 election on an ad that showed an animated oil derrick transforming into a hijab  its a period piece; you kind of had to be there  had decorously pulled the ad off YouTube in the wake of the mass killing.

So I felt a little bad when I said, no, probably nothing will change.

Society is complex. There are people who didnt need to change because they had no ill will in their hearts to begin with. There are others who are honestly frightened in the wake of violent attacks around the world by people who pledge allegiance to Daeshs perverted teachings. And there are people looking for a hook to hang their hate from. The groups are large, their opinions entrenched, the likelihood of changing many minds not great.

And, crucially, the political calculation over the benefit of appealing to one or another of these groups isnt likely to change much either, in the short term. So politics around issues of faith and terrorism isnt likely to change durably.

Often in my line of work, one spends a lot of time wishing one could draw different conclusions.

Anyway, fast forward to this week. The House of Commons is considering a motion from Liberal MP Iqra Khalid (MississaugaErin Mills) that would, if adopted, have the House of Commons condemn Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination. A Commons committee would study ways to reduce systemic racism and religious discrimination including Islamophobia and report within eight months.

Khalids motion is full of buzz-words (whole-of-government . . . community-centred . . . holistic . . . evidence-based). But a few nutcase bloggers promptly started claiming things for this motion that are simply not true.

Its not a law. It would be an expression of MPs opinion. The motion makes no mention of sharia law. It would not lead to penalties for the expression of any opinion. When I was at Macleans magazine, the House passed a motion complaining about our journalism. We kept doing journalism.

The Conservative Party, leaderless and drifting as five serious leadership candidates  Andrew Scheer, Erin OToole, Mike Chong, Maxime Bernier, Lisa Raitt  fight for attention amid the flailing of more than a half-dozen cranks and desperate losers, let the blogs define the debate. So now Iqra Khalid is receiving a near-constant stream of hate correspondence and the leadership candidates, including some I named here, are finding exquisitely delicate excuses for refusing to support her motion.

Because nothing changes, politics is not happening only on the Conservative side. The Trudeau government has decided to support Khalids motion, indeed to champion it with a concerted communications effort in the middle of what was already a busy week. Melanie Joly has been installed as the motions lead cabinet-level advocate. A proposed substitute Conservative motion, which mimics Khalids except that it does not contain the word Islamophobia and instead lists a gorgeous assortment of the worlds major faiths, has been deemed watered-down by Joly. The Liberals wont support it.

The NDP is supporting both the Conservative and the Liberal motions. Any MP can do the same. The Liberals could, too. But they want to perch the Conservatives on the horns of a dilemma, and you would too in their place, because its a pretty good replica of the dilemma that every party faced during the 2015 election: campaign on fear or campaign against it?

In that campaign, Kellie Leitch and Chris Alexander, two Conservative cabinet ministers, gave a news conference in which they asked Canadians to rat out their neighbours if they suspected them of barbaric cultural practices. Alexander lost his seat. Today, no Conservative will admit to thinking that news conference was a good idea.

Leitch and Alexander, now running to lead the Conservatives, were guests at a grotesque rally on Wednesday of people who think today, as they did in 2015, that campaigning on fear is the way to go.

Today, as in 2015, the Conservatives face a choice. They are free to keep making the same choice. They get to decide whether they want to be closer to Iqra Khalid or to the people bombarding her with hate. Im sure theyll let us know when theyve decided.

Paul Wells is a national affairs writer. His column appears Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

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OTTAWACanadian troops preparing to deploy to Latvia are bracing for a Russian campaign of misinformation meant to undercut the credibility of their mission, part of a NATO operation to counter Moscows aggression in Europe, Canadas top general says.

Gen. Jonathan Vance, the chief of defence staff, says the many preparations for the coming deployment include a sophisticated communications strategy to push back against expected Russian moves to turn public sentiment against the Canadians and the deployment.

I think Russia will certainly see this as something to interfere with so we will take all the precautions we can, Vance told reporters Friday.

By September, up to 1,500 military personnel, including some 450 Canadians, will be in Latvia as part of a NATO operation to reassure Eastern European countries unsettled by Russian moves in Crimea.

Vance said that Russia has conducted strategic communications aimed at previous NATO exercises and expects a similar response this time to make it appear that Latvia doesnt want us there.

There will be a desire to skew way out of proportion and potentially provide falsehoods about what is actually happening in Latvia with Canadian troops, he said.

We have to take on a sophisticated, strategic communications role so that truth prevails, he told reporters following an address to a defence conference.

This week, media reports revealed that an email was circulated to officials in Lithuania and media outlets suggesting German soldiers based in the country had raped a teenage girl. After a police investigation, it was determined the report was false. A local prosecutor told Reuters that the email was sent from a country outside the European Union.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels that incident underscores the need to be vigilant.

I think what we have seen in Lithuania just reminds us of the importance of resilience against these kinds of stories; the importance of a free independent critical press, he said.

Vance said the Liberal government is currently considering another pivotal deployment for the military  a decision on peace support operation.

While planning has been in the works for months  cabinet ministers even pledged a decision before the end of last year  Vance suggested the changing global environment has forced extra study of the options laid out by the military.

Committing troops to operation . . . deserves deep contemplation and reflection and a certainty that its the right thing to do at the time, given whats going on in the world today, Vance said.

Theres been speculation that the Liberal government is holding off a decision until it better understands the priorities of U.S. President Donald Trump and his new administration. Yet Vance denied that his recent trip to Washington along with Defence Minister Harjit Sajjans recent trip to meet his U.S. defence officials was in part to get the green light for the peace deployment.

We werent going to Washington for permission to do anything. We were going to Washington to reset, reestablish, start a relationship with the new administration, Vance said.

The Star has reported that Mali is the likely choice but Vance cautioned that is only an assumption, saying that military is laying plans to deploy to challenged conflict spaces.

We are absolutely prepared on a range of options to conduct peace support operations in a number of places, he said.

Speaking at the Conference of Defence Associations, Vance delivered a state-of-the-union style address on the state of the armed forces that touched on other areas, including:

Gender: Vance, who set a target last year to boost the number of women in the ranks, said the armed forces is making progress and said it can now boast a record number of women in the general and flag ranks. But a woman cadet in the audience confronted Vance with a practical concern, asking when the military will adapt gear, such as body armour and rucksacks, that are designed for men. The fit . . . is not quite functional or practical, she said, to applause. Vance had a simple response: Youre right.

Mental health: Vance said the defence department has arguably one of the best mental health systems in the country but efforts must continue to break down stigmas to make sure that people get the care they need. Fifty per cent of those who commit suicide were not in formal mental health care and they need to be.

Recruiting: Vance said the armed forces will become more proactive in how it recruits new personnel. If we want to become more diverse and inclusive of more and more women, were going to have to change. There was a time when we could sit back and say come and join us. That doesnt work anymore.

Personnel issues: Vance said the armed forces will create a new unit to oversee the transition of personnel out of uniform at the end of their careers. This will include healthy personnel who are retiring along with ill and injured members. Vance said that while the armed forces does a good job grooming new recruits, it too often falls down at the end of their careers. Too many people were on their own . . . to figure out what they had to do, he said.

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A small American manufacturing company is growing and hoping to expand -- in part because of what it learned making lobster traps.

The company could use that information to develop other products, including fencing for the border between the United States and Mexico.

Riverdale Mills is based in Northbridge, a town in the northeastern state of Massachusetts. Riverdale has expanded from 60 people to 185 employees over the past few years.

Jim Knott, the head of the company, says he wants to add 35 workers.

Riverdale Mills is adding workers at the same time that many U.S. manufacturing jobs are being lost. About one-third of manufacturing jobs nationwide have disappeared because of competition from other countries and increased use of automation.

Riverdale says its wire mesh products are used in most of the lobster traps used in the United States and Europe. It says these traps have replaced traditional wooden devices. The company says it uses special processes to treat and protect the wire against rust. These processes help keep the metal from breaking down in extreme environments, like at the bottom of the sea floor.

The company is using information from the production of lobster traps to design security fences that protect nuclear centers, U.S. embassies and borders.

Knott says Riverdale hopes to sell more security fences as part of President Donald Trumps plan to build a wall along the border with Mexico. But he says the governments plans and design of the fences are not yet known.

Riverdale exports about 45 percent of the products it makes. Knott says exports are one of the reasons the company has been able to grow.

VOA Correspondent Jim Randle reported this story from Northbridge, Massachusetts. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted his report for 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

lobster  n. an ocean animal that has a long body, a hard shell and a pair of large claws and that is caught for food

automate  v. to run or operate (something, such as a factory or system) by using machines, computers, etc., instead of people to do the work

mesh  adj. a material made from threads or wires with evenly spaced holes that allow air or water to pass through

rust  n. a reddish substance that forms on iron or some other metal usually when it comes in contact with moisture or air
A 10-year-old girl has been in legal limbo for nearly half her life after she was wrongly apprehended from her mother who had failed a flawed drug test.

She wants to be adopted by her foster mother but hopes and prays for contact with her parents.

Her foster mother is ready to adopt, but not if there is contact with the parents, who have been consumed and trampled by the child welfare system yet continue to fight for the right to see their daughter.

This is the heart-rending dilemma depicted in a scathing Ontario Superior Court ruling that delivers a broad indictment of a broken child welfare system. Justice Grant A. Campbell reveals how reliance on discredited hair testing from the Hospital for Sick Childrens Motherisk laboratory contributed to a perfect storm of errors, incompetence . . . and mistakes. Throughout, the parents were ignored, demeaned and disbelieved, while their child was shuffled between placements.

So significant was the damage that Campbell included an unqualified apology to the parents in his ruling, which he delivered orally in a Kitchener court last week.

It should not have happened. You should have been treated better, he said to the mother and father, identified by their initials, C.T. and J.B. It did and you werent, and for that, on behalf of the very system that perpetrated this upon you, I apologize to you both.

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Mothers decry lack of transparency in review of Motherisk lab

From apprehension to appeal, his ruling outlines the failures of the court process, including a Childrens Aid Society that ignored the mothers claims of native heritage, which should have triggered special considerations for her daughters placement; incompetent trial lawyers who neglected to challenge the Motherisk tests; and a trial judge that held her decision in reserve for nine months.

Privacy laws that shroud child protection proceedings make it difficult to answer many questions about this case. But the broad facts, laid out in judgments and other publicly available court documents, trace a complex family history marked by long-standing involvement with childrens aid, dating back to when the mother was a child herself.

Her daughter, born in 2007, was deemed to be in need of protection by childrens aid in spring 2012. The concerns childrens aid cited included: the mothers history of drug abuse, admitted marijuana use and involvement in prostitution; incidents of domestic violence between the parents; the fathers recovery from opioid addiction; and both parents mental health struggles. The girl, then 5, was placed with her mother, under the supervision of childrens aid.

That changed in fall 2012 when a hair-strand test performed on the mother by Sick Kids Motherisk lab came back positive for cocaine.

(The child) was immediately apprehended based entirely on that now totally discredited drug testing conducted by Motherisk, Campbell said.

After the mother failed another hair test for cocaine, childrens aid applied for Crown wardship. The case dragged on for three-and-a-half years until December 2015  a passage of time Campbell said is reprehensible and cannot be justified or excused on any credible basis.

At the same time, big problems emerged at the Motherisk lab. The controversy started in late 2014 after the Star exposed questions about the reliability of the labs hair-strand testing. The lab was Ontarios most trusted provider of drug and alcohol hair tests for use in child protection proceedings. But by the time the Kitchener trial ended in March 2015, the concerns raised by an ongoing provincial review and an internal probe prompted the hospital to suspend testing at Motherisk. Sick Kids shut down the lab the following month.

Despite the mothers repeated claims that Motherisk results were wrong, her lawyer ignored those assertions and took no steps whatsoever to bring any motion before the court, or to get competing drug tests to challenge the Motherisk drug tests, Campbell said. (The mothers marijuana use was previously known to childrens aid and not in dispute.)

Drug use was among many concerns childrens aid raised during the trial. But extensive attention was given to the circumstances and unreliability of the Motherisk testing, Campbell said. Yet there is no evidence that any of the lawyers for the parents or the child, who was represented by the Office of the Childrens Lawyer, made a motion to have the child returned to the mother, or for any other placement, he said.

Basically, once Motherisk tests were received in and accepted, the agency took the . . . position that the only reasonable result was for Crown wardship and it passively acquiesced to the delays that ensued and to which court contributed and exacerbated.

The status quo created by the delays eventually dictated a reality that all participants recognized, acknowledged and accepted, he said.

In her decision, released Dec. 15, 2015, the trial judge sided with childrens aid, issuing a final order to make the child a Crown ward with no access.

She considered the Motherisk controversy and the independent review that was underway, making reference to several hair-strand drug tests the lab performed in this case. Because of the concerns raised by the investigation, the judge said she could not rely on the tests to establish on their own the presence or absence of any drugs. But she also noted that when the child was taken, the mother had not sought a screen from a different laboratory to challenge the Motherisk findings.

It is not known what the ultimate findings by the independent review will be, she said.

That same day, Justice Susan Lang submitted her report on Motherisk to the attorney general, who released it Dec. 17. Lang found the lab fell woefully short of internationally recognized forensic standards, and operated without sufficient hospital oversight. It produced results that were inadequate and unreliable for use in child and child custody cases, which has serious implications for the fairness of those proceedings, she said.

The Kitchener case is among more than 500 high-priority child protection files that have been reviewed by the Motherisk commission, which was established on Langs recommendation to determine whether the flawed hair tests were a key factor in the outcomes in individual cases.

In April 2016, commissioner Judith Beaman informed the mother that after a detailed examination of the childs court file, she found no reasonable basis related to the Motherisk hair testing to question the legal process or the existing status quo of the child.

The mother was among three women who applied for a judicial review of the commissions decisions, claiming the process lacked transparency and denied the parents an opportunity to participate. A divisional court dismissed her application as premature, because she had not applied to the commission for reconsideration of its decision.

Commission lawyer Lorne Glass said the commission stands by its decision.

There were many, many reasons why that child was in care and was made a Crown ward, he said. What the Motherisk commission said was that the Motherisk test results werent overly relied upon by the court.

The mothers new lawyer, Julie Kirkpatrick, who represented her in the appeal, said she will not seek reconsideration of the commissions decision because her client did not find the commissions involvement to be helpful in her case.

After the trial judges ruling, the parents, who have not been able to see their daughter in more than a year, initially sought to quash the decision, but they abandoned their fight for custody, concluding it was in their daughters best interests to stay with her foster mother.

In his decision, Justice Campbell expressed deep regret for what the family endured, while upholding the trial judges Crown wardship order.

As any informed observer of this entire unfortunate court process would conclude, my conscience is shocked by the abuse of process and the lack of procedural fairness, he said. But to set aside the decision and remit the matter to another trial . . . would damage and threaten the childs stability even more.

Campbell agreed that adoption is in the childs best interests. But he also found that contact with the parents, who share indigenous heritage, would be both meaningful and beneficial to the child and overturned the no access order.

Yet he said he is faced with a problematic reality: the foster mother has unequivocally stated that she will not proceed with adoption if there is contact. At the suggestion of the lawyers, he has made an openness order but has stayed its enforcement, so that the parents, the child and the foster mother may participate in a hearing, which he set to start in May.

The pathway proposed by the lawyers would appear to offer (the child) a chance, (albeit a slim one) to extract herself from this confusion, and move towards permanency, he said.

Alison Scott, executive director of Family and Childrens Services of the Waterloo Region, the childrens aid that handled the case, declined to comment on the specifics.

But she said the society will take to heart all the considerations that the court made about our role as a child welfare agency, particularly as it relates to First Nations families, which she acknowledged is a large area of development for us.

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OTTAWAThe federal government will settle a lawsuit filed by three Muslim Canadian men who were jailed and tortured in Syria more than a decade ago with a formal apology, the removal of their names from Canadas no-fly list and a multimillion-dollar compensation package, the Star has learned.

An announcement could come as early as next week.

A settlement of their $100-million claim for damages would be the final dramatic chapter in a troubling and long-running post-9/11 saga.

Abdullah Almalki of Ottawa, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin, of Toronto, suffered separate ordeals at the hands of Syrian interrogators, acting in part on questions the Mounties passed on. In El Maatis case, he was transferred and endured additional torture in an Egyptian jail.

Their cases never got the attention the other high-profile post-Sept. 11 torture case of Maher Arar drew. Thats in part because a judicial inquiry into their torture was conducted in secret with a narrower mandate  ostensibly to speed up the probe  than the lengthy public inquiry into the Arar affair. There were no daily hearings or parade of witnesses with disturbing testimony.

In 2008, retired Supreme Court of Canada justice Frank Iacobucci concluded that Canadian officials indirectly contributed to the mistreatment and torture of all three men by sharing information with foreign intelligence and police agencies, including sending questions to Syrian authorities which prolonged their nightmares.

Alex Neve, head of Amnesty International Canada, is not involved in the litigation and could not comment on any negotiations toward a settlement.

But Neve has long called on Ottawa to take responsibility for its officials actions. Asked to comment, Neve said in an email that Amnesty International hopes that a settlement is indeed imminent, and Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin can get on with healing, recovery and rebuilding their lives.

Almalki was an Ottawa communications engineer who had dual Syrian-Canadian citizenship. Arrested in May 2002 at the Damascus airport, he was detained for 22 months.

El Maati was a Toronto truck driver arrested at the Damascus airport in November 2001 as he was travelling to celebrate his wedding. Later transferred to Egypt, he was jailed for more than 26 months.

Nureddin, a Toronto geologist, was stopped by Syrian officials in December 2003 as he crossed into Syria from visiting family in northern Iraq. He was held for 33 days and never charged.

Lawyer Phil Tunley who leads the legal team for all three men refused to confirm or deny a settlement has been reached when contacted by the Star, citing his clients confidentiality.

Nor would key federal ministers comment when contacted through their offices.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodales spokesperson Dan Brien said he would not confirm or deny the settlement, or offer any comment on a matter that is still before the courts. Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould spokesperson Dave Taylor also said her department would offer no comment.

But Neve was scathing.

The torture and other human rights violations these men experienced took place between 13  15 years ago, he said, adding the Iacobucci inquiry documenting Canadas role in those abuses was released more than eight years ago.

The United Nations Committee against Torture called on Canada to move quickly to provide redress to them over four years ago, said Neve. It is a dramatic understatement to say that compensation and an apology for these three men is long overdue.

A trial of the mens civil claim was to get underway Feb. 27. Now it appears the men will attend a public announcement of the settlement, which may come in advance of a motion to formally drop the lawsuit.

It was long delayed by unsuccessful federal efforts under both Conservative and Liberal governments to protect intelligence sources. Federal lawyers failed to persuade the courts that a 2015 law that enacted new protections for the identity of CSIS human sources should apply retroactively.

The Liberal governments efforts in the litigation came in spite of the fact that the Liberals in opposition had voted in support of an apology, compensation and a recommendation that the Government of Canada do everything necessary to correct misinformation that may exist in records administered by national security agencies in Canada or abroad with respect to the men and their families.

The Star was unable to confirm the amount of compensation that will be paid out to each man and their families, but the Arar case is a guide to what might be considered fair.

Arar received a federal apology and $10.5 million in compensation and another $1 million to cover the legal fees in his fight for restitution after devastating experience, for a total of $11.5 million.

In the dramatic months after the 2001 Al Qaeda terror attacks in the U.S., the RCMP and CSIS aggressively pursued individuals suspected of terrorist links, acting on tenuous leads or failing to caution other agencies that information was unverified or uncorroborated.

The security agencies net ensnared Canadians like Arar, a dual Syrian-Canadian citizen. Arar was detained by American authorities on his way home to Ottawa from a Tunisian family holiday and then shipped to Syria via Jordan. He was jailed, tortured and interrogated at Far Falestin prison in Damascus.

The Arar commission of inquiry led by Justice Dennis OConnor determined Canadian actions were indirectly responsible for Arars rendition and torture. The other three men werent deported to torture, but were arrested upon arrival in Syria, interrogated and tortured at the same Syrian military prison as Arar.

Files from Wendy Gillis

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When attending a public hearing at the Ontario Labour Relations Board, lots of personal information, including names and employment history, is said out in the open.

All of this can be reported by the media.

But trying to access the same documents that are relied upon in those hearings is an entirely different matter.

Case in point: Toronto Star reporter Robert Cribb made a request in 2014 to review documents relating to a dispute between the Laborers International Union of North America (LiUNA) and its Local 183 and whether the latter should have been placed under trusteeship due to alleged improprieties. (The board held that the trusteeship should remain in place.)

Cribb and colleague Tony Van Alphen had been researching the local, including possible connections with organized crime.

But their quest for documents that were filed at a public hearing turned into a legal and bureaucratic nightmare, and ultimately sparked the Stars much broader legal challenge launched last week against secrecy in Ontarios tribunals.

Cribb and Van Alphen were mainly looking for affidavits and declarations. They were told they would have to file a Freedom of Information request  which can be a costly and lengthy process, with no guarantee that documents will even be disclosed.

In contrast, documents filed as part of a court proceeding, including those containing personal information, are presumptively public and can easily be accessed the same day at the courthouse.

Related:

Star launches legal challenge to end secrecy in Ontario tribunals

End this needless secrecy: Editorial END

Send your stories to: tribunals@thestar.ca

About a month after making the request, the reporters were permitted to access several bankers boxes of documents at the OLRB offices, and to make copies of certain materials.

These were documents filed with the board for consideration in a labour relations matter that resulted in a hearing that was open to the public, Cribb said in his affidavit filed as part of the Stars legal challenge.

The documents relate to matters of high public interest, including possible connections between LiUNAs Local 183 and organized crime, allegations of exploitation of undocumented foreign workers by Local 183, allegations of fraudulent obtainment of unearned pension service credits facilitated by Local 183, and allegations that Local 183 used threats and intimidation, and conducted surreptitious surveillance of its employees and members.

Paul Cavalluzzo, lawyer for LiUNA and Local 183, told the Star these allegations are spurious.

But the reporters soon encountered a problem: The board was refusing their request for additional documents, and was now demanding that the Star return the copies of documents obtained through the freedom of information request.

The boards lawyer, Leonard Marvy, wrote that it was the head of the boards view that the records . . . may have been released in error and that the board had inadvertently disclosed personal information that is presumed to constitute an unjustified invasion of personal privacy.

Marvy went on to ask that the Star return and not use any of the information released until this has been resolved. The Star has not disseminated any of the information obtained from the documents, but is also refusing to return them.

Star lawyer Bert Bruser told Marvy in an email that the newspaper was unable to return the material you requested and that the documents, which were obtained from the board, are submissions filed as part of public labour board hearings.

Cavalluzzo is also demanding that the documents be returned, telling Bruser in an email that the Star should comply with the law and return the mistakenly disclosed documents . . . and destroy any copies of the documents in your possession.

Cavalluzzo said Thursday his clients are appalled at the Stars position and reiterated their demand for the documents in an interview this week.

The Star has acted as if it is above the rule of law, by refusing the request of two statutory tribunals, the labour board and Information and Privacy Commissioner, to return the documents that were mistakenly released, he said.

The labour relations board has informed Ontarios Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) of the release of the documents to the Star, contending that it was a privacy breach. An IPC inquiry was put on hold pending the outcome of the Stars appeal to the IPC of the labour boards demand for return of the documents.

The Star argued in its appeal that it was unconstitutional to apply Freedom of Information legislation to tribunals, which should be as open as the courts.

The newspaper decided in 2015 to launch a broader legal challenge against secrecy in Ontarios tribunals, which rule on everything from landlord and tenant disputes to human rights abuses to environmental violations. (With the Stars appeal abandoned, the IPC has again turned to the privacy breach complaint from the labour relations board.)

The tribunal system was created to take cases out of the overcrowded court system, and into a more efficient process.

But as mentioned in an editors note published last week when the Star launched its legal challenge, tribunals appear, on the surface, no different than traditional courts  with adjudicators, hearing rooms, dockets and generally open hearings  but they depart dramatically from open court rules when it comes to providing records.

Cribb notes in his affidavit that many tribunals rely on the Freedom of Information process, which can take so much time to release documents that, even where records are ultimately disclosed, they have often become irrelevant. In this context, information delayed is truly information denied.

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When 750,000 volumes of rare books are imperiled by condensation, its time to think outside the building.

Since at least 2004, the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library  which houses books including all four of Shakespeares folios and a papyrus from the time of Christ  has had a condensation problem. The insulation inside the library has been slowly degrading and condensation has been building up, according to Loryl MacDonald, interim director of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. This also resulted in fluctuations in the temperature, something that can be detrimental to books that need climate controlled environments.

Over time with those types of conditions mould can grow and affect some of the rare books, said MacDonald.

The library consulted numerous architecture firms and was told the same thing again and again: construction had to be done in the interior. This would require the books, some of which are in fragile condition, to be moved and the library to be temporarily closed.

Desperate for a different solution, John Toyonaga, manager of the Bindery for the library, saw an ad for a first year problem-solving engineering class and decided to throw the librarys problem into the mix.

I figured weve got nothing to lose and its a win-win situation, lets see what they can come up with, he said.

The problem landed in the lap of Yewon Son and her five classmates. Son, a 21-year-old U of T student, was 18 at the time and had only recently finished high school.

The group came up with a handful of solutions. Son said they narrowed their list down to the one idea that checked off the most boxes essentially.

Their ideas would eventually become a plan to coat the outer walls of the library with foam to act as insulation. Concrete would then be placed on top of the foam.

Once Toyonaga saw the students proposal, he took it to his supervisor and it propelled our fight to get this problem fixed to another level, Toyonaga said. The University consulted outside firms and settled on an altered version of the students proposal.

They settled on a solution that was inspired by the students, MacDonald said. The students proved that you didnt have to work from the inside, that you could go outside the building to solve this problem.

But it wasnt until about a month ago that Son even realized their plan was being implemented. Her group received an email from the TA of their class explaining that the library had chosen to make use of their proposal.

Son said it was an amazing feeling to know that an idea from first year was good, even though we didnt have any of the technical, industrial, architectural, or economic skills to even know if any of our ideas were able to be implemented.

But we worked hard on something and thought outside of the box, Son said.

Its a wonderful example of a U of T solution to a U of T problem, MacDonald said. One would never imagine a bunch of first year students being able to solve a problem like this, one that had puzzled people for years.

The work, which began in late October, is scheduled to be completed by March 31.

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Students and teachers are raising concerns over roofing repairs at a North York school that they say have not only disrupted classes but are making some feel sick.

Sadie Young, a Grade 12 student at William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute, said tar-like odour from roofing construction have been so bad lately that some students are going home from school due to headaches and vomiting.

More than a dozen students stayed home Wednesday due to the ongoing repairs.

Its really hard to sit down and focus because there are so many interruptions, Young said. Between opening windows for fresh air, moving to a new class, and the tar smell, its not easy.

Youngs father, Franklin, said last week he could smell the fumes from more than a block away from the school.

Its disconcerting in that the smell was really obvious and school is still being held, he said. I dont blame the principal, or the staff at school, but they shouldnt have scheduled this to happen during the school year.

The construction is part of the Toronto District School Boards ongoing roof repair project, taking place at various schools over three years. The repairs include heating asphalt in a roofing kettle and applying it using a specialized mop, which often generates odours.

TDSB spokesperson Ryan Bird said there are many more schools across the city on the list for roofing repairs the upcoming months and years.

We would love to be able to schedule all of this sort of work outside of school hours, but when you have 584 schools across the city, we just cannot book all roofing work to be conducted on weekends and holidays, he said.

Theres just not enough days in the year to do all the required roof work that needs to be done.

Leslie Wolfe, vice president of the OSSTF Toronto Teachers Bargaining Unit, said staff have complained that fumes were making them sick and are questioning why they had to continue work in circumstances where their health wasnt being protected.

An air quality test conducted by an independent investigator for TDSB showed that last Friday 11 of 23 classrooms recorded increased levels of asphalt fumes. Those levels were still below the Occupational Exposure Limit set out by Ontarios Ministry of Labour. On Monday, all rooms tested were less than 10 per cent of the limit.

Its at school after school where theyre doing these roofing repairs and teachers and students continually get sick. This is an ongoing concern, Wolf said. Nobody should have to work under such circumstances. This is not acceptable.

Bird said the board is trying to minimize the affects construction may have on students and teachers by moving classes away from where the repairs are taking place. He added that the board understands potential concerns and is working to reassure parents, students and teachers that the school is safe.

Weve had multiple air tests conducted, including today (Thursday), because we too want to make sure everyone is safe, he said. Not one result has been outside of safe parameters.

Bird added that any students who miss school as a result of the construction wont be penalized.

As part of the repairs, TDSB is taking several measures to reduce exposures, including keeping classroom windows closed, re-circulating the air and  when possible  conducting work outside of school hours.

However, during school hours last Friday, fumes entered the building causing an unpleasant odour. Young said it was so bad, her class called the vice-principal in to assess the situation.

Some students and staff were affected and experienced some discomfort, principal Marcia Diakun wrote in a letter sent home with students on Feb. 10.

Fire Services and TDSB staff were called and an air quality check was conducted to ensure it was safe for students to return to class.

In the meantime, Young hopes the constructions wraps up soon.

Im not looking forward to another four to six weeks of this.

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A spontaneous outpouring of support for the Muslim community was the response to a small short-lived anti-Islam protest outside a downtown Toronto mosque on Friday.

Photos online showed a small crowd with signs stating No Islam.

After seeing pictures of the protest online, approximately 20 to 30 people showed up outside of Masjid Toronto, a mosque in the heart of downtown Toronto, armed with last-minute signs. But before any of them arrived, the protest had already dispersed.

A Facebook event for the initial protest said that attendees would go to the court hearing of Eric Brazau, a Toronto man who was convicted of willfully promoting hatred against Muslims and criminally harassing a Muslim man and was detained briefly last week for countering an anti-Trump protest. The event said attendees would then march from the courthouse to a mosque with anti-Islam signs.

The group was also protesting Motion M-103, which made news this week as it was debated in the House of Commons, claiming it would violate freedom of speech rights. The motions goal is to study how the government can tackle systematic racism and religious discrimination including Islamophobia.

Theres always going to be the sort of people who are pressing buttons of division everywhere and my understanding of the protest is it was a handful of people, not thousands. So for us to expect that such people are not around and such people dont exist is unrealistic, said Abdul-Basit Khan, who attends the Masjid Toronto mosque and is a former member of the mosques executive committee.

Khan said the mosque has not seen a similar protest in its 15-year history.

The first protest was probably planned and organized. You dont have people naturally coming to a mosque and saying bad things about its attendees and their faith. But the counter-protest, it was spontaneous. Thats more telling, Khan said.

Khan also said be believes theres no better place to be a Canadian Muslim than in the GTA.

The GTA is so diverse, Khan said. It is so full of decency.

The reaction of Torontonians to the initial protest just further proved that to him.

Katie Berger had just finished up a dance class when she saw at photo of the protest on Facebook. She immediately messaged some friends to meet her there and headed over to the mosque.

Its horrifying, she said. Its completely unacceptable for people or groups to be targeted this way.

She arrived to signs taped to the buildings walls: We stand with our Muslim brothers and sisters, We welcome our fellow Canadians of all religions, and Whoever you are our heart is the same our blood is the same all over the world.

This is not an isolated incident, Berger said of the protest. Theyve always happened. They didnt just start happening but theyre happening more and more. People are less ashamed about it but its up to us to respond as soon as we can.

Michelle Robidoux, who also showed up outside the mosque after seeing a picture of the initial protest online, said it was stressful seeing the picture, especially so soon after six Muslims were murdered in a Quebec City mosque on Jan. 29.

Lane Patriquin, who was one of the first to arrive at the counter-protest, said its more important than ever for marginalized groups to stand together.

I feel like solidarity among marginalized people now is particularly important because I worry the right wing is using a divide and conquer tactic with marginalized groups, Patriquin said.

Kat Stoughton and her children Mia and Lily made hurried signs before attending the counter-protest.

My best friend is Muslim, Mias sign read.

Everyone is Welcome! read Lilys.

Stoughton said they werent sure if others would come out but they wanted to stand up for justice.

We wanted to make sure there was the alternate voice here, Stoughton said. [The protestors] dont speak for most Canadians. They dont speak for me.

Adila Mulla, 23, and Leya Jasat, 19, who attend school in the area and are both Muslim, said they happened to be walking by when they saw the gathering. They stopped to thank some of the counter-protestors. Mulla even stared tearing up.

Its heartwarming to say the least. I got emotional, Mulla said. I want to give a big hug to everyone here.

Its nice to see someone supporting us especially with whats going on in the world, Jasat said. Ive felt less safe after all the hate crimes but its good to see theres someone out there to help out.

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Toronto police have arrested 14 people  including a husband and wife  in a fraud and money laundering investigation where more than $8 million was allegedly stolen, investigators said Friday.

The suspects allegedly used a litany of false identities to open various accounts, get credits cards and secure loans  anything in relation to obtaining funds, said Toronto police Const. Michael Lane.

Police allege the suspects cashed hundreds of fraudulent cheques, and created legitimate businesses under false identities. They then allegedly used those businesses as covers to obtain even more cash. One woman arrested Monday was a fraud-detection agent.

To prevent banks from getting suspicious, Lane said the suspects bought fake websites and phone numbers for each business and fictitious identity, keeping careful records all the while.

It was a very detailed and elaborate scheme, Lane added.

The money was allegedly used to buy high-end products like luxury cars, Lane said.

A total of 14 people have been arrested in the investigation, dubbed Project Fellowship, with the latest two happening this past weekend. On Feb. 10, police arrested Balasubramaniam Shanjeefkaran, a 35-year-old man from Ajax.

The next day, they searched his home and seized over 100 items. Based on the new evidence, police arrested Shanjeefkarans wife, 30-year-old Sukanya Panchalingam.

Panchalingam works at a financial institution as a fraud-detection agent, Lane said.

Both are charged with fraud, possession of proceeds obtained by crime and money laundering. Shanjeefkaran is also charged with unauthorized possession of counterfeit mark and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

Police laid out a selection of the seized items Friday morning  stacks of debit and credit cards bound by bright blue rubber bands, expensive laptops and a selection of IDs allegedly based on false identities.

Investigators also seized cars during the search, Lane said. Other vehicles, some of which have been found, were shipped to Quebec.

Whatever they were able to obtain through their scheme, they were able to launder that and obtain the proceeds, Lane said.

Companies and people were victimized by the fraud, he added, all of whom are cooperating with police. Its unclear how long the scheme had been running, but it appears to have been many years, Lane said.

It is a large financial loss to everybody, Lane added.

The Project Fellowship investigation was sparked on June 28, 2016, after police started looking into a single incident where a woman cashed a fraudulent cheque. They later found that a large number  several hundred, according to Lane  had been issued using similar account information.

Various financial institutions, including banks, gave police information on the fake identities used to create accounts. Lane said investigators used that information, along with surveillance video, to identify suspects.

Lane said he believes there may be other victims, and hes working to identify the people pictured on the fake ID.s.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact police at 416-808-4200, or anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS (8477).

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The new executive director of Pride Toronto is taking a positive view of the controversy following last years parade.

We need to see tension as an opportunity, said Olivia Nuamah, who was named to the position Friday.

My hope is the difference between last year and this year is there will be greater levels of engagement with our membership and community in order to ensure that the festival reflects everybodys experiences, she said in a news release.

Nuamah replaces Mathieu Chantelois who resigned last August.

Chantelois signed an agreement with Black Lives Matter Toronto when the group shut down the parade and presented the organization with a list of demands, including the removal of police floats in the Pride marches and parades.

At the Toronto Pride annual general meeting last month, members of the community voted to uphold those demands. The Toronto police later announced they would not be taking part.

Nuamah is described as a community builder, mother, artist and DJ, who will bring almost 25 years of experience working in both the government and non-profit sectors to this position.

Joining Pride presents an incredible opportunity to step into a role that affirms who I am both as a leader and my personal desire to create cultural experiences that reflect the diversity of identities and experiences in our community, Nuamah said in the news release.

In 2010, Nuamah was appointed executive director of the Atkinson Foundation, established by former Toronto Star publisher Joseph E. Atkinson to promote social and economic justice.

Described as an accomplished executive leader, policy expert and social justice advocate, Nuamah also previously worked on former British prime minister Tony Blairs pledge to end poverty in the United Kingdom by 2020.

Born and raised in Toronto, she earned an undergraduate degree in international development and social anthropology from the University of Toronto. She earned a Masters in Social Anthropology of Children and Childhood Development from Brunel University.

Most recently, Nuamah was the executive director of Innercity Family Health, an organization that delivers healthcare to homeless communities in Torontos downtown east-end.

She has also been a volunteer at Toronto Pride for the past few years.

For those concerned about Prides future, Nuamah encouraged people to get involved.

We are all Prides future, she said.

Pride Toronto runs June 1-25.

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Its been nearly one year since the Brunswick House hosted its Last Dance with a Legendary Lady.

Today, telltale turquoise branding of the Rexall pharmacy chain can be seen and paper covers the windows where the once-famous Toronto saloon stood.

Previous to this corporate facelift, The Brunny was many things in its 141-year history: a watering hole for the working class, the poor mans Granite Club, host to unconventional events and weddings, a venue for jazz and blues acts, the site of a so-called lesbian riot and where University of Toronto students went on Frosh Week.

Before declining into little more than a regular noise complaint from neighbours, the space was a longstanding part of the Annexs community charm.

But its future begs the question: Is the corporate takeover part of a trend in Toronto?

Rory Gus Sinclair, who chairs the Harbord Village Residents Association, doesnt think so.

This is a positive outcome for the community, he said. Yes, Rexall came along; yes, they are a cookie-cutter chain . . . but they see the historic quality of the place and (are) going to emphasize what the building was (in its redesign).

Sinclair explained that, in its final iteration, the Brunswick House was a big problem for the neighbourhood in terms of public intoxication and a boisterous clientele.

We were not unhappy to see them go.

Sinclair doesnt worry about the Annex maintaining its community character, either.

If you walk along Bloor, I dont see a lot of chain-type stuff. (All the stores) are independent, he said. The residents are happy.

Edward Skira, of UrbanToronto.ca, holds a different opinion, stressing that the chain-store takeover is pervasive, and not just a Toronto problem.

Its happening not just on Bloor but across the city entirely and worldwide, he said. Owners and developers prefer a sure thing with a chain they know can pay for a tenant, as opposed to a mom-and-pop type place.

The result, whether its big boxed coffee or food, clothing or hardware, is a loss of charm to the neighbourhood, he said.

Where is the local culture? Where is the character? Its all the same.

Part of the problem, Skira thinks, is that consumers accept the corporate status quo  buying from the big guys instead of independents. Another is that new developments lease out units with larger floor plans, limiting what type of businesses can afford to operate.

This point is something that Ward 20 Councillor Joe Cressy says the city is tackling with its limited power over who can lease where.

We dont want a cookie-cutter approach to retail . . . we want dynamism, said Cressy. (The city doesnt) have the capacity to say, This is the type of business that can go here, but what we can do as part of the rezoning plans is stipulate the maximum size of retail floor space.

Policies like this support small and independent retailers by controlling the size of commerce coming in, he explained.

A city has to be more than a place to live and sleep, more than condos in the sky, he said. Its the experience on the street, the eclectic nature of business, culture, life and arts. Its where we live and play. We have a strong role to play to incentivize those spaces.

But the Brunswick House conflates the issue a little bit, Cressy said. We do have issues in the changing financial context of Bloor St., but not in the case of the Brunny: The owner just got tired of the operator.

While he would have loved to see a boutique hotel with a music venue go in that space, Cressy acknowledged that the Rexall has worked with the community to retain the buildings strong heritage and character.

According to Derek Tupling, a spokesperson for Rexall, the pharmaceutical retailer has completely restored the interior and exterior of the building, working closely with the citys heritage division.

The brick and limestone have been restored to the best state its been in for decades, said Tupling.

Rexall has also kept all the interior chandeliers, tin ceilings and worked the old signage into the store. The keg barrel bar will be found at the front checkout counter; the Ye Olde Brunswick House sign will be featured prominently, too.

From there, only time will tell how well it integrates into the neighbourhood.

For Michael McClelland of ERA Architects  responsible for the heritage conservation of the Distillery District, Evergreen Brickworks and the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto project at 158 Sterling Road  cities like Toronto should be considering the impact and value of the third realm.

Not home or work, the third realm represents the places of interest where people go to be social, where the localness and history of a place has its benefits.

I dont think the city has really caught on to the value of the public place, McClelland said. That space isnt being recreated anywhere . . . those fantastic places for people to meet and greet . . . Its the whole public theatre of a city.

You cant really hang out in a drug store.

But there is hope, McClelland thinks, in the fact that older buildings tend to go through cycles of being appreciated and not appreciated . . . its possible there could be a revival of some of some of its more traditional uses.

For their part, Rexall wouldnt say how long they have leased out the Brunswick House or how much theyd put down on the lease.

The pharmacy should have a soft opening to the public around March 1, said Tupling, before an official grand opening this spring.

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In whats believed to be Canadas biggest crackdown on unlicensed ghost consultants operating abroad, Ottawa has rejected en masse dozens of immigration applications filed from the address of a company in China.

A group of 57 of the rejected applicants has already filed an appeal to the Federal Court of the Immigration Departments decision, claiming they hired Beijing-based Flyabroad for its translation and clerical services, and that the firm was not their authorized legal representative.

Clients of Flyabroad are among a growing number of immigration applicants flagged and rejected by Canadian visa posts in Beijing and Hong Kong for employing the services of unregistered consulting firms in China, the Star has learned.

The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act stipulates that only licensed Canadian lawyers and immigration consultants registered with the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council can offer immigration advice and services for a fee.

Applicants must sign a form and provide details of the person who serves as the representative and who will conduct business on the applicants behalf  one way for immigration officials to flush out ghost consultants.

The court challenge by the former Flyabroad clients raises the question of whether an immigration applicant is required to declare the use of an unauthorized consultant who prepares an application package but doesnt deal directly with immigration officials.

Flyabroad says it offers translation services, that its services are legal in Canada and China, and that it's website offers general information about immigrating to Canada.

We have never seen something like this where so many applications were rejected all at the same time. Instead of going after the unregistered consultants, they are going after the applicants, said Toronto immigration lawyer Aadil Mangalji, who is not involved in the case. This should make people really wary of who is doing their application.

In a letter to the rejected applicants, Canadian visa offices said the applicants were inadmissible because they had used an unauthorized immigration representative without submitting the use of a representative form, which constitutes misrepresentation.

One rejected applicant, an engineer, said he paid Flyabroad $6,000 to prepare his application in 2014 because it was easier to hire someone to do the tedious application for him. The man, in his mid-30s, said all the communication was conducted by phone or email, and he never set foot in the companys Beijing office.

I was shocked when I got the immigration letter. We didnt know about the law or the authorization form. We just signed the documents, sent them back to Flyabroad, and they mailed it out for us, said the man, who asked not to be identified for fear of repercussions.

In China, we couldnt access some sites or search under Google. When we go on Baidu (a Chinese search engine) and search for Canada Immigration, all these Chinese consulting sites come up. I hope Canada would give us a second chance, added the man, who is not part of the litigation.

Zhang Hongxia of Flyabroad said the firm was established in 2007 and only offers translation services, although it has an online bulletin board that provides immigration information and guidance with content translated into Chinese from the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada website.

It is true beside translation services, we also tell some clients how to prepare immigration documents, such as how to apply for education credentials in a faster way, how to apply for notarization, what documents to provide to support their working experience, Zhang said in an email. What I do neither violates Chinese law nor Canadian law.

Flyabroads website also includes immigration information for Australia, New Zealand, the United States and specifically for Quebec. Zhang refused to say how many Canadian immigration applications her company has assisted since its operation.

Zhang said all the clients need is help organizing documents. With or without assistance during their application process, it will change nothing about their qualification, she wrote.

Vincent Li, a licensed consultant based in Aurora, said it is cumbersome for Canadian consulting firms to obtain approval to start a company in China. The startup, including licensing and registration, could cost up to $400,000, he said, hence it creates the opportunity for unregistered consultants.

Li said he is aware of clients of other unregistered Chinese consulting firms rejected by Canadian immigration for misrepresentation under similar circumstances.

There is little enforcement in China against these ghost consultants. A lot of the people (clients) there are not aware of the Canadian law, said Li, who has been retained by some of Flyabroads former clients. Yet, they are paying the price for it.

The Immigration Department said it couldnt provide the number of applications rejected for the use of unauthorized consultants or for misrepresentation.

The Government of Canada takes any kind of citizenship or immigration fraud seriously. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada does not deal with non-authorized citizenship and immigration representatives in Canada or from abroad, said department spokesperson Carl Beauchamp.

A person who wants to come to Canada does not need to hire a representative. Citizenship and immigration representatives are not given special attention or special access to (Immigration Department) programs and services and no one can guarantee someone a visa, permit or citizenship.

Toronto immigration lawyer Max Chaudhary, the lead counsel for the 57 Flyabroad clients, said immigration officials based their decision to reject his clients on suspicion rather than evidence.

My clients used Flyabroads translation and courier services, but theres no evidence of legal advice. Its an overkill thats not commensurate to the evidence, said Chaudhary.

Daniel Roukema, a spokesperson for the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council, said the professional regulator only has jurisdiction to police its members and no authority over ghost consultants abroad.

At the end of the day, whether you are retaining a consultant or dentist, the consumer is responsible for making the right decision, he said. We are not accountable to people who hire unauthorized representatives.

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Students in middle school, high school and older student transition classes throughout the Linn Benton Lincoln Education Service District are 
On some significant foreign-policy matters this week, the federal Conservatives and Liberals were in harmonious agreement.

Even before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau headed to Washington for his first face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump on Monday, Conservatives declared that they were standing behind him.

Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose sent Trudeau an official letter in advance of the trip, offering bipartisan support for Trudeaus efforts to kick off relations with Trump on a friendly note.

Around the same time that Trump and Trudeau were sitting down together in Washington, Ambrose was telling reporters back in Ottawa that Conservatives would be pitching in where needed to protect Canada-U.S. trade relations.

We have a lot of battle-tested people on our side of the House that have fought these fights on trade irritants with the United States, Ambrose said.

The next day, Conservatives joined with the Liberal government to pass the bill implementing the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Europe  the trade deal that Trudeau celebrated in a speech to the European Parliament on Wednesday.

The CETA deal, we might recall, was celebrated a few months back in the Commons with a rare hug between Chrystia Freeland, then the international trade minister, and Ed Fast, who held that same job in the former Conservative government.

So now we know what it takes for Conservatives and Liberals to get along  trade.

Yet all of this bipartisan peace, love and understanding was sharply at odds with another scene this week in Toronto. On the very evening that the Commons was debating a motion calling for a study of Islamophobia in Canada, four Conservative leadership candidates were at the Canada Christian College, railing against threats to freedom of speech. According to one report of this meeting, the Conservatives declared enemies were political correctness and thought police.

Freedom is a Canadian value, said Kellie Leitch, who has built her campaign pitch against elites and in favour of subjecting Canadian newcomers to Canadian values tests.

The former immigration minister, Chris Alexander, was also on hand to join in the fray.

I have a lot of trouble with a motion that talks about hatred this, phobia that and doesnt mention the No. 1 threat in the world today, which is Islamic jihadist terrorism, Alexander told the crowd.

Leitch and Alexander, of course, were the two, now-notorious spokespersons for the Conservatives 2015 election-campaign announcement of a barbaric cultural practices tip line. Though widely seen as a big political misstep in retrospect, Leitch and Alexander have clearly found some enduring value in seeking support from Canadians wary of Muslims and outsiders.

Here, then, is the picture of current conservatism as the party heads toward choosing a new leader in May: outward-looking with the world when it comes to trade, inward-looking when it comes to immigration and outsiders.

It may well be in line with many Canadians thinking these days, especially those who see the world through the prism of jobs. Find the trade deals that create jobs, keep out the people who could take jobs away from Canadians.

But make no mistake: many of the sentiments being expressed at the Canada Christian College this week arent likely to do anything to rebuild the multicultural coalition that Stephen Harper used to boast as the key to Conservatives victories from 2006 through to 2011.

The growth of Conservatism in Canada, our electoral support, has been largely, not exclusively, built largely by our penetration of immigrant voters ... of so-called cultural communities, Harper said in a 2014 interview.

When the Conservatives lost those voters in 2015, whether with their stands against the niqab or for barbaric cultural practice tip lines, they also lost the election. Jason Kenney, the former minister who almost single-handedly built that coalition, is gone now from the federal party, seeking the provincial Conservative leadership in Alberta.

Kenney, by the way, did take time out from that contest a couple of weeks ago to lob some tweets against Trumps travel ban.

This is not about national security. It is a brutal, ham-fisted act of demagogic political theatre, Kenney wrote. Now we are hopelessly polarized between the false choice of open-border naivete and xenophobia.

Polarized is a good way to sum up the Conservatives attitudes toward borders as they edge up to choosing a new leader this spring: open borders to trade, tightly sealed borders to newcomers.

No matter who wins the leadership in May, thats an ambivalence hard to sustain. The biggest question for the Conservatives future might not be how they see Canada, but how they see the rest of the world: as trading friends or enemies of Canadian values.

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Moraless opponents in private enterprise and agro-business in the lowlands  they have all benefited from the improving economy. Kathryn Ledebur director of the Andean Information Network

Consider the presidency of Bolivia.

When historians think of that notoriously tottery post, they probably look back to a certain portentous day in July 1946 when a frenzied mob stormed the presidential palace in La Paz, murdering the countrys ruler, one Gualberto Villarroel, along with several of his aides and advisers.

The assailants then strung up the bodies from a phalanx of lamp posts in the Plaza Murillo  a grim reminder to passersby that its hard to be the president of Bolivia.

In fact, thanks to a merry-go-round of coups and revolutions, this landlocked and mainly lofty Andean republic has seen more post-colonial rulers (190) than years of post-colonial rule (189). Once, Bolivians enjoyed the services of three different governments in the course of a single day.

All of which makes the career of current Bolivian President Evo Morales seem wildly improbable.

Earlier this fall, Morales easily won election to a third term, part of a resurgent current in Latin American politics known to some as the Pink Tide.

Short months ago, that trend seemed to be in general retreat, as embattled socialist or social democratic leaders in the region faced the prospect of losing a spate of elections in what has been a very busy year for Latin American suffrage.

Instead, the opposite has happened, as the left has gone from victory to victory, retaining or regaining power not only in Bolivia but also in Brazil, Chile, El Salvador and Uruguay, whose left-leaning rulers have joined or rejoined like-minded leaders in Argentina, Ecuador and Nicaragua, not to mention more extreme leftists in Cuba and Venezuela.

When they think of socialist rule in Latin America, many people turn their minds to Venezuela, where the socialist revolution launched 15 years ago by the late Hugo Chavez has worked tangible improvements in the lives of that countrys poor, while exacting a high cost in other ways, including bloody political unrest, violent government repression, onerous restrictions on basic human rights and relentless economic decline  this, despite Venezuelas vast oil wealth.

Now compare Venezuela to Bolivia  or, on second thought, dont.

There is no comparison, says Cynthia Arnson, director of the Latin America program at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington. Bolivia has done a much better job in maintaining macroeconomic stability, without a frontal assault on the private sector. There is a much greater degree of pragmatism on the part of Morales.

Certainly, there are few if any Latin American leaders, whether on the left or the right, who can match Moraless political and economic credentials.

He has defied the conventional wisdom that says left-wing policies damage economic growth (and) that working-class people cant run successful economies, concluded The Guardian in an opinion piece following Moraless re-election in October.

He is the first indigenous Bolivian to become president, the first Bolivian to rise from poverty to the presidency, and very nearly the longest-serving Bolivian president of all time, after almost nine years in office.

Whats more, Morales has managed to retain power while providing major financial benefits to the poorest of his compatriots without plunging his country into violent conflict and without beggaring the economy  just the opposite, in fact.

Although cut from much the same ideological cloth as Chavez  the charismatic Venezuelan populist who died of cancer last year  Morales has been much cagier and vastly more flexible in his use of power, governing first and foremost on behalf of the poor but also studiously placating the rich, while operating within internationally accepted norms of liberal democracy  more or less.

According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, Morales has trimmed overall poverty by 25 per cent during his years in power, and extreme poverty by 43 per cent. Meanwhile, and perhaps even more surprising, the countrys wealthiest citizens are generally resigned to the idea of socialist rule.

Dwelling mainly in the countrys eastern lowlands  a region known as Media Luna, or Half Moon, because of its shape on a map  Bolivias powerful landholders and industrialists have preserved their wealth and most other perquisites under Moraless rule. The main reason is simple: the rich, like millions of the countrys mostly Indian poor, have benefited from a steadily growing economy, based mainly on mining and natural gas.

In short, an expanding economy has enabled Morales to keep most sectors of the population happy, on the whole.

The effect on economic elites has not been all that detrimental, says John Cameron, a Latin America expert at Dalhousie University in Halifax. The economic elites are still in complete control of their interests. The basic elements of democracy have remained intact.

And yet, when Morales first took office in 2006, the tycoons of the eastern lowlands were so appalled at having a socialist in the presidency  and, what was worse, an Indian socialist  that they tried to secede.

That was then.

Nowadays, Morales faces little in the way of political opposition. The second-place candidate in Octobers presidential vote  cement magnate Samuel Doria Medina  managed to attract just 25 per cent of the ballots cast, far behind Moraless 61 per cent.

Opposition from those sectors has diminished greatly, says Kathryn Ledebur, director of the Andean Information Network, a research-and-documentation centre based in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Moraless opponents in private enterprise and agro-business in the lowlands  they have all benefited from the improving economy.

In fact, this past October, the eastern state of Santa Cruz  traditional hotbed of Bolivian capitalism  joined the countrys eight other states in casting a majority of its votes for Morales, a narrow majority in this case but a significant one.

Now 55, Morales is a pure-blooded Aymara Indian, a member of the somewhat smaller of two indigenous groups that constitute the majority of the countrys population of 9.5 million, a sector of Bolivian society that has long been marginalized and exploited by the white-skinned minority. It would be difficult to exaggerate how transformative his ascendancy to the presidency has been for vast numbers of his fellow Bolivians.

Morales has such powerful resonance in a country where the majority of the population is of indigenous descent, says Arnson. This is an enormously powerful symbol of historical significance.

In rural areas and among indigenous communities especially, Moraless popularity approaches saint-like proportions.

There certainly is a cult, says Cameron at Dalhousie. In indigenous areas, its almost messianic, Christ-like.

A high-school dropout, Morales first rose to national prominence as leader of a union of coca growers, an extremely delicate position in a country that has long found itself caught in the crosshairs of the U.S. war on drugs.

Along with neighbouring Colombia and Peru, Bolivia is among the worlds largest producers of coca leaves, which are at once the raw material for cocaine and an integral feature of traditional culture in the Andean highlands of South America. For centuries, Indians in that region have chewed the leaves for their mild narcotic effect.

No fan of Washingtons paternalistic role in Latin American politics, Morales regularly denounces the United States for interfering in his countrys affairs. In 2008, he expelled U.S. ambassador Philip Goldberg and has since sent the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency packing, not to mention the U.S. Agency for International Development. He regularly engages in the sort of anti-imperialist rhetoric also associated with Chavez and his successor Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, with the difference that Morales tends to direct his anti-American tirades toward an international audience and to avoid such talk at home.

There are certain things done, and stances taken, to irritate the United States, says Ledebur.

Nor is Morales averse to adopting tough measures to get his way.

He is very much a caudillo, says Cameron, using a Latin American term for a strongman ruler. He is strong, and he is in control.

But basic human rights are widely respected in Bolivia, where a diverse and vibrant press continues to operate, despite occasional government pressure tactics, and where there are few if any political detainees.

He does make life more difficult for opponents of the government, says Cameron. But political prisoners? Im not aware of any.

As for his commitment to democracy, Morales has been called out for seeking and winning a third consecutive stay in the presidential palace, in a country where presidents are supposedly limited to two terms. Morales insists that a new constitution drafted under his authority in 2009 effectively turned the clock back to zero, so that his third term now underway is really his second.

Unconvincing as it may be, the courts have backed this interpretation.

Im sure there have been abuses in Bolivia, says Arnson, but nothing like in Venezuela.

There is also more than a trace of hypocrisy in the air when Morales presents himself on the international stage as a devoted environmentalist and defender of Mother Earth  a term he uses often.

Back at home, where his freewheeling policies on mining and natural gas extraction have bankrolled his political and economic success, Moraless eco-friendly guise seems more than a little suspect.

On the other hand, the temptation to raise big money fast is not difficult to understand in an impoverished land where the indigenous majority has suffered generations of privation.

There are real reasons for the focus on hydrocarbons, says Ledebur. People who have had their basic needs postponed for centuries, you cant say to them, Wait till we get the windmill farm up and running.

Under Moraless watch, the countrys minimum wage has almost doubled, while substantial economic benefits have flowed to Bolivias poor through a program of disbursements known as bonos or bonds that are distributed regularly to the most vulnerable of the countrys people  the indigent, the elderly, pregnant women, and the disabled.

About a third of the population benefits from them, says Cameron. It could be $100 a month. These are substantial amounts of money in Bolivia.

Regarding anti-narcotics policy  and without U.S. involvement  Bolivia has been more successful than its neighbours in reducing the acreage of the country devoted to coca cultivation.

Its less than half of Colombia or Peru, with a much lower level of violence, says Ledebur.

Score another point for Evo Morales.

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SHANGHAISo deadly its considered a terrorist threat, carfentanil has been legal in China until now. Beijing is banning carfentanil and three similar drugs as of March 1, Chinas Ministry of Public Security said Thursday, closing a major regulatory loophole in the fight to end North Americas opioid epidemic.

It shows Chinas attitude as a responsible big country, Yu Haibin, the director of the Office of the National Narcotics Control Committee, told the Associated Press. It will be a strong deterrent.

He added that China is actively considering other substances for sanction, including U-47700, an opioid marketed as an alternative to banned fentanyls. China said the March 1 ban will also apply to carfentanils less-potent cousins furanyl fentanyl, acryl fentanyl and valeryl fentanyl.

Read more:China adds carfentanil, three related synthetic opioids to list of controlled substances

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration called Chinas move a potential game-changer that is likely to have a big impact in the U.S. and Canada, where opioid demand has driven the proliferation of a new class of deadly drugs made by nimble chemists to stay one step ahead of new rules like this one. After China controlled 116 synthetic drugs in October 2015, seizures in the United States of compounds on that list plunged.

Its a substantial step in the fight against opioids here in the United States, said Russell Baer, a DEA special agent in Washington. Were persuaded it will have a definite impact.

Legally used as an anaesthetic for elephants and other large animals, carfentanil burst into the North American drug supply last summer, causing hundreds of unsuspecting drug users to overdose. The DEA confirmed more than 400 seizures of carfentanil across eight U.S. states from July through October. So lethal an amount smaller than a poppy seed can kill a person, carfentanil was researched for years as a chemical weapon and used by Russian forces to subdue Chechen separatists at a Moscow theatre in 2002.

New data from DEA laboratories suggests the supply of furanyl fentanyl is now surging. DEA labs identified 44 samples of furanyl fentanyl in the last three months of 2016, up three-fold from the prior quarter.

Though Beijing has said U.S. assertions that China is the top source of fentanyls lack evidence, the two countries have deepened co-operation as the U.S. opioid epidemic intensifies. Beijing already regulates fentanyl and 18 related compounds, even though they are not widely abused domestically. Since 2016, China has arrested dozens of synthetic drug exporters, destroyed eight illegal labs and seized around 2 tons of new psychoactive substances, according to the Office of the National Narcotics Control Committee.

But the battle against rapidly evolving synthetic drugs is complicated by the deeply global nature of the narcotics trade and the deeply national nature of law enforcement. Some online drug vendors host their websites on servers abroad to thwart police. All benefit by submerging their illicit packages in the vast tides of legitimate commerce shipped or sent by courier from China.

One example of the kind of global co-ordination needed to take down synthetic drug barons is the case of Zhang Lei, whom the U.S. Treasury Department designated a drug kingpin in 2014. China shared 4,221 clues with 58 countries and areas in the hunt for Zhang, Chinese drug control authorities said Thursday. Zhang was sentenced to 14 years in Chinese prison last year, according to one of his lawyers, Fan Renzhong.

In October, the Associated Press identified 12 Chinese companies willing to export carfentanil around the world for a few thousand dollars a kilogram (2.2. pounds), no questions asked. That same month China began evaluating whether to ban carfentanil and the three other drugs. Usually, the process can take nine months. This time, it took just four. Good international co-operation and effective early warning systems to track the emergence of novel drugs helped speed the process, Chinese drug control officials said Thursday.

Chinas action is a hopeful sign of political and strategic law enforcement co-operation, said Jeremy Douglas, a regional representative for the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime in Bangkok. But having legislation is a first step. The law will need to be enforced effectively.

Offers for carfentanil from Chinese vendors were scarce Thursday, but the Associated Press quickly secured five offers to export furanyl fentanyl to the United States. Some vendors also pushed U-47700.

One news I just got is that the carfentanil and furanyl fentanyl etc opioid analogs will be controlled in China on March 1 effective, one vendor called Ete wrote in an email. So if you need them pls make it before that day. After that day it will be unavailable.

The vendor did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Associated Press.

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WASHINGTONIn an extraordinarily swift return to politicking after a tumultuous first month in office, the White House on Wednesday said U.S. President Donald Trump will hold the first campaign rally of his four-week-old administration on Saturday.

The rally, to be held in an airplane hangar in Melbourne, Fla., is an indication that Trump, who has sometimes felt isolated in the White House, is eager to get outside of Washington and relive the rapturous reception that greeted him during the presidential campaign. Trump exulted in large crowds assembled at cavernous venues throughout his 2016 bid and spent the first days of his presidency quibbling over how many Americans attended his inauguration.

On Wednesday, during a joint news conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, Trump answered a question about whether his administration was flirting with xenophobia and racism in part by noting the support he received in the election.

I just want to say that we are very honoured by the victory that we had  306 Electoral College votes, Trump said. Theres tremendous enthusiasm out there.

Not long after, in a posting on Twitter, Trump invited his nearly 25 million followers to attend the Saturday evening event, which will take place just up the coast from his Mar-a-Lago retreat in Palm Beach, where he plans to spend the weekend. It will be his third weekend in a row on Floridas Gold Coast.

We are going to put America back to work, a message accompanying the posting said. We are going to put people before government.

The White House would not provide any additional information about the rally. Officials referred questions to a member of Trumps political organization, who also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Its being run by the campaign, Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said on Wednesday, without elaborating. He would not say why the president would be holding a campaign rally so soon after taking office.

The rally will be Trumps second public appearance outside of Washington since he took office. On Friday, he is scheduled to visit a Boeing plant in North Charleston, S.C., for the unveiling of the aerospace manufacturers new Dreamliner aircraft.

Trump filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission for his 2020 re-election campaign on Jan. 20, the day he was sworn in. That allowed him to continue to accept contributions  including proceeds from the sales of his popular red Make America Great Again hats  without running afoul of the law.

Trump ended the 2016 campaign flush with funds, in part because of substantial sales of the hats. At the end of 2016, he had $7,611,702.92 cash on hand and no debt.

Larry M. Noble, the general counsel of the Campaign Legal Center, a non-partisan group, said he was not aware of any president having held a campaign rally this early in his tenure.

Usually, they are too busy trying to get their administration in place, Noble said. More importantly, normally the president wants to delay candidate status so that he can travel as president making speeches, announcing new policies and actions, promoting his agenda and attacking his opponents in Congress without having to use campaign funds.

Barack Obama did not file his statement of candidacy for re-election until April 2011, more than two years after he took office, while George W. Bush waited until May of 2003 and Bill Clinton until April of 1995.

Trump may be moving now, Noble said, to ensure he can address a friendly crowd devoid of protesters.

My guess is that he intends to control who is invited to the rally and press access by calling the rally a candidate event and paying for it out of campaign funds, Noble said. If it was an official White House event, he would have less control over it.

Trump is likely to travel to the event on Air Force One and will have a sizable contingent of Secret Service and staff aides with him, as presidents always do when they travel. Campaign finance laws dictate that the cost of such a flight be shared between the campaign organizing the rally and the White House.

It is not abnormal for a sitting president to hold a political rally in the months before an election and Trump has said he plans to campaign actively for Republicans who support him and against Democrats who seek to stymie his agenda. But Trumps return to the campaign trail on Saturday is unusually early. Even the midterm congressional elections for members of Congress are still 21 months away.

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U.S. President Donald Trump gave a news conference for the ages at the White House on Thursday.

Trump was wild. He was hostile. He aired his grievances in a sprawling hour-and-a-half exchange with reporters that was unlike anything Americans have seen since his rollicking election campaign ended a little over three months ago.

Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump

This, the wild spectacle of a presidential news conference run off the rails  one originally billed as a chance for Trump to introduce his new pick for labour secretary  is what the Star chose as its front page story on Friday.

Tomorrow, they will say, Donald Trump rants and raves at the press, Trump said at one point, accurately.

But make no mistake, Trump also made news on Thursday.

Here are five headlines from Trumps presser that would have dominated the Stars front page on any other day:

TRUMPS TRAVEL BAN IS BACK ON

Trump says he will introduce a new executive order tailored to get around court decision

Donald Trump said his administration will release a new executive order on immigration next week to  in his words  comprehensively protect our country.

Trumps original order restricted immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. It led to massive protests in airports and around the world before it was put on hold by a federal court.

The new executive order is being tailored to the decision we got down from the court, Trump said at the White House on Thursday, referring to the decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late last week that confirmed a temporary stay on his original executive order.

We can get just about everything, in some ways more, but were tailoring it to the decision.

The administration asked the appeals court to hold off on making any more decisions related to the lawsuit until the new order is issued and then toss out the decision keeping the ban on hold.

The Trump administration attacked the decision in a court filing on Thursday, saying the panel wrongly suggested some foreigners were entitled to constitutional protections and that courts could consider Trumps campaign statements about a ban.

Details of the new proposal were not provided in the filing, and Trump offered no details at his news conference. But lawyers for the administration said in the filing that a ban that focuses solely on foreigners who have never entered the U.S.  instead of green card holders already in the U.S. or who have travelled abroad and want to return  would pose no legal difficulties.

In so doing, the president will clear the way for immediately protecting the country rather than pursuing further, potentially time-consuming litigation, the filing said.

FLYNN WAS DOING HIS JOB, TRUMP SAYS OF MAN HE FIRED

Trump vigorously defends his ex-national security adviser against fake news, says what he did wasnt wrong

Donald Trump on Thursday vigorously defended Michael Flynn, whom he fired earlier this week, against charges his ex-national security adviser had erred at all in discussing U.S. sanctions with the ambassador of Russia in December, a time when Flynn had no official role in the U.S. government.

What he did wasnt wrong, Trump said at the White House when asked why he fired Flynn.

Trump went on to attack U.S. intelligence leaks that had revealed Flynns conduct, and the reporters who had received them: What was wrong was the way that other people, including yourselves in this room, were given that information, because that was classified information that was given illegally. Thats the real problem.

Trump said he was not bothered that Flynn had talked with the ambassador. When I looked at the information, I said, I dont think he did anything wrong, Trump said. In fact, I think he did something right.

Flynn was fired instead for misleading Vice-President Mike Pence and others in the White House about the contents of the conversation, Trump said.

The problem, he said, was that Flynn had told Pence that sanctions did not come up during the conversation, an assertion belied by a transcript of the call, which had been monitored by U.S. intelligence agencies.

Later Thursday the Washington Post reported that Flynn denied talking about sanctions in the conversation during a Jan. 24 interview with FBI agents.

The interview potentially puts Flynn in legal jeopardy, as lying to the FBI is a felony, but any decision to prosecute would ultimately lie with the Justice Department. Some officials said bringing a case could prove difficult in part because Flynn may attempt to parse the definition of sanctions.

Senior Justice and intelligence officials who have reviewed the phone call thought Flynns statements to Kislyak were inappropriate, if not illegal, because he suggested that the Kremlin could expect a reprieve from the sanctions.

At the same time, officials knew that seeking to build a case against Flynn for violating an obscure 1799 statute known as the Logan Act  which bars private citizens from interfering in diplomatic disputes  would be legally and political daunting.

STARTING WAR WITH RUSSIA WOULD BOOST RATINGS, TRUMP MUSES

The greatest thing I could do is shoot that ship thats 30 miles off shore right out of the water

Donald Trump on Thursday floated the idea of sinking a Russian spy ship that has been spotted operating in international waters off the U.S. east coast.

Trump made the statement in response to a question on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin was testing his new administration with a recent series of apparent provocations.

The greatest thing I could do is shoot that ship thats 30 miles off shore right out of the water, Trump said, after telling reporters that he had told Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that politically its probably not good for me to improve relations with Russia.

Trump appeared to quickly back off the idea of sinking the ship.

A Coast Guard official on Thursday said the presence of the intelligence ship, called the Viktor Leonov, so close to American shores is not unprecedented, and is not a cause for alarm.

The vessel has been travelling along the Eastern Seaboard and was spotted near the states of Connecticut, Virginia and Delaware. Capt. Andrew Tucci, who oversees Long Island Sound and coastal Connecticut, said the Coast Guard knew the Russian ship had been travelling from the Caribbean for some time.

Still, the U.S. military is wary of Russias increasingly aggressive recent actions, including an incident last week when a Russian warplane buzzed a U.S. navy destroyer in the Black Sea.

Putin, in a televised address Thursday to the Federal Security Service intelligence agency, said it was mutually beneficial to restore communications between the two nations.

Its in everyones interest to resume dialogue between the intelligence agencies of the United States and other members of NATO, Putin said. Its absolutely clear that in the area of counterterrorism all relevant governments and international groups should work together.

Later in the news conference Trump added that he wouldnt telegraph his plans regarding the vessel:

So when you ask me what am I going to do with a ship, the Russian ship as an example, Im not going to tell you, he said. But hopefully, I wont have to do anything, but Im not going to tell you.

ARE THEY FRIENDS OF YOURS? TRUMP ASKS BLACK REPORTER IN AWKWARD EXCHANGE

Im just a reporter, says April Ryan, after president asks her to set up a meeting with Congressional Black Caucus.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus expressed bafflement and dismay after U.S. President Donald Trump asked a black reporter to set up a meeting with them.

Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina said there is an element of disrespect in Trumps comment to journalist April Ryan. Ryan asked Trump during his press conference Thursday whether he planned to include the CBC, which represents the black members of Congress, in developing his agenda.

The president responded by asking Ryan whether the CBC are friends of yours and remarking, I tell you what, do you want to set up the meeting?

When asked whether Trump was implying that all black people know each other, Clyburn said, I dont know what his implications were but thats my interpretation.

Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio said: We have a rich history, we have some almost 50 members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Were not new. What a president should say is, yes, its already on my agenda to talk to them.

Immediately before the exchange, as Ryan began her question, Trump remarked oh, this is going to be a bad question, but thats OK.

Ryan then asked Trump what his plans are to fix the inner cities.

Its taken more a hundred years and more for some of these places to evolve and they evolved, many of them, very badly, Trump said, towards the start of a rambling response to Ryans question. You have people  and Ive seen this, and Ive sort of witnessed it  in fact, in two cases I have actually witnessed it. They lock themselves into apartments, petrified to even leave, in the middle of the day.

Trump concluded: I have great people lined up to help with the inner cities. OK?

And the CBC noted over Twitter that the group sent Trump a letter in January outlining areas where they could work together, but you never wrote us back. Sad!

Ryan herself responded over Twitter: I am a journalist not a convener! But thank you for answering my questions.

THE LEAKS ARE REAL, THE NEWS IS FAKE

I mean the leaks are real. You know what they said, you saw it and the leaks are absolutely real.

Donald Trump said on Thursday that he has instructed the U.S. Justice Department to investigate leaks that have plunged his administration into turmoil for the last month.

We are looking into that very seriously, he said. Its a criminal act.

Since being sworn into office Jan. 20, Trump has been besieged by a seemingly endless stream of leaks from the White House and federal agencies.

Asked to clarify whether the information contained in the intelligence leaks is true, Trump said: Well the leaks are real. Youre the one that wrote about them and reported them, I mean the leaks are real. You know what they said, you saw it and the leaks are absolutely real.

He added: The news is fake because so much of the news is fake.

Trump also Thursday that his administration has asked billionaire Stephen Feinberg, who has no official experience in U.S. intelligence, to lead a review of the intelligence community.

Trump told reporters that Stephen Feinberg, co-founder of Cerberus Capital Management, is a very talented man, very successful man.

Trump added, I think that we are gonna be able to straighten it out very easily on its own.

Many intelligence professionals are viewing this as another slight by the Trump White House, according to a former senior U.S. intelligence officer who spoke only on condition of anonymity out of concern for putting former colleagues at risk. They already are worried about politicization of the intelligence product and fear this could be a way to hinder their ability to provide information that might contradict the White Houses political views, the official said.

Trump said he was shocked when details leaked about his unorthodox phone calls with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull because of all the high-tech telephone equipment available to the White House. But, he said, he wasnt too worried because the calls were not crucial.

I said thats terrible that it was leaked but it wasnt that important. But then I said to myself what happens when Im dealing with the problem of North Korea? he said. What happens when Im dealing with the problems in the Middle East? ... I dont want classified information getting out to the public.

Read more:

Im not ranting and raving, Trump attacks the press at wild news conference

Everything Trump said in his wild and hostile Thursday news conference

Trump says he will introduce a new travel ban next week

With files from Star Wire Services

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U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said Thursday the United States absolutely supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and anyone who thinks it doesnt is in error.

But the Trump administrations new UN envoy told reporters: We are thinking out of the box as well, which is: What does it take to bring these two sides to the table? What do we need to have them agree on?

Haleys comments were far more forceful in support of a two-state solution than President Donald Trumps on Wednesday. He said: Im looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like. I can live with either one.

Haley said the solution to the conflict has to come from the Israelis and Palestinians, but she said several times and stressed: We absolutely support a two-state solution.

Earlier Thursday, the United Nations and the Arab League issued a joint statement in support of the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, saying the two-state solution is the only way to achieve comprehensive and just settlement to the Palestinian cause.

That appeared to put UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Arab League Chief Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, who met in Cairo, at odds with Trump.

But Haley, when asked whether the United States would carry out its obligations under a UN Security Council resolution that called for the establishment of two states, said: Understand that the United States supports the two-state resolution. Thats never been wavered.

What were saying is, OK, lets not just talk about the old way of doing things.  She said. Come to the table with all the fresh atmosphere and perspectives that we now have, and think, OK, what can we do knowing all of the factors, knowing where we sit present day, and how can we move forward. 

Guterres had stressed Wednesday that there is no Plan B to a two-state solution. Haley was asked if the United States had a Plan B.

I think first of all a two-state solution is what we support, she said. Anybody who wants to say the United States doesnt support a two-state solution  that would be an error.

Trump also urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their joint news conference at the White House on Wednesday to hold off on Jewish settlement construction in territory claimed by the Palestinians for their future state, to try to facilitate talks.

What the president has said and we agree on is that expanding settlements at this point is not helpful, Haley said. Thats basically what were saying to both sides. Lets take a pause.

She said what Trump and the new administration are going to try to do is facilitate some constructive action.

Were just unbiased, Haley said. Bring them to the table and say, OK, were going to do this.

The U.S. ambassador spoke to reporters after attending the Security Councils monthly meeting on the Middle East  her first.

Haley was highly critical of what she called the anti-Israel bias in the UNs most powerful body and the one-sided resolution that members adopted in December condemning Israeli settlements as a flagrant violation of international law.

Im here to emphasize the United States is determined to stand up to the U.N.s anti-Israel bias, she said.

Haley said the U.S. will push for action on the real threats we face in the Middle East. She cited Hezbollahs illegal build-up of rockets in Lebanon as well as the money and weapons Iran provides to terrorists, and pointed to the need to defeat the Islamic State extremist group and to hold Syrian President Basha Assad accountable for the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of civilians.

The UNs Mideast envoy Nickolay Mladenov stressed at the council meeting that the two-state solution remains the only way to achieve the legitimate aspirations of both peoples.

He also warned that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must never be allowed to drift into the abyss of the extremism and radicalism sweeping the region.

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WASHINGTONDistrict of Columbia health officials fumbled Zika testing for hundreds of residents last year, including two pregnant women who were incorrectly told they did not have the virus when in fact they were infected.

The mistakes, made public Thursday, have prompted officials to redo more than 400 tests for the Zika virus, including for nearly 300 pregnant women who may have mistakenly been told they didnt have the mosquito-borne viral infection.

The tests involve specimens collected from men and women between July 14 and Dec. 14, 2016 that were analyzed by Washingtons public health lab.

The lab processed 409 Zika tests, including 294 for pregnant women. The specimens from the pregnant women were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for retesting; the remaining samples for 115 non-pregnant women and men have been sent to other public health labs approved by the CDC, officials said.

So far, officials have received 62 results from the CDC: 60 were negative but two tested positive for Zika. The health care providers for those two pregnant women were notified Wednesday. Officials declined to say if they have already given birth. Officials said they expect to have results for all retested specimens within three to four weeks.

Read more:

Texas reports locally transmitted case of Zika

UN health agency lifts Zika emergency, shifts to long-term plan

Zika has arrived in continental United States, CDC says

The District of Columbia appears to be the only jurisdiction in the country with this problem, CDC officials said.

There doesnt seem to be the kind of widespread problem with [this test] at the other public health labs, said Wendy Kuhnert-Tallman, who heads the CDCs Zika lab task force.

CDC was contacted in January about the problems and helped with troubleshooting. Staff turnover and technical difficulties performing the test were among the problems, she said.

Accurate testing for pregnant women is particularly urgent because the virus can cause severe defects in developing fetuses, especially early in the pregnancy. Determining whether someone has been infected with Zika is enormously difficult because most infected people dont have symptoms. Only 1 in 5 infected individuals experiences the most common symptoms: fever, joint pain, rash and conjunctivitis (pink eye).

Researchers have concluded that a Zika infection during pregnancy is linked to a distinct pattern of birth defects that they are officially calling congenital Zika syndrome. They include severe microcephaly, characterized by abnormally small head size and often underdeveloped brain, vision problems, and joints with limited range of motion.

Zika, which can also be transmitted sexually, usually remains in the blood of an infected person for about a week and one kind of test can detect the virus if it is conducted within that time frame. After that, making a diagnosis is more difficult and a secondary test looks for the presence of antibodies that humans produce in response to the virus.

There have been 1,047 Zika-infected pregnancies in the United States as of Feb. 7, according to the CDC. These include 43 babies born with birth defects, and five pregnancies that resulted in stillbirths, miscarriages or abortions.

There have been more than 5,000 Zika cases reported in the U.S. mainland, including 31 in the District of Columbia.

The problem at the Districts public health lab was discovered by Anthony Tran, who took over in the fall. He began to suspect something was wrong when all 409 of the secondary Zika tests returned negative results. He discovered the problems and contacted the CDC.

D.C. officials said results will be faxed to all health care providers who submitted specimens from their patients during the time period in question. If the result is different from what was initially reported, health department officials will immediately call the providers. Department officials will not be directly report results to patients.

Health officials in the District have been encouraging all pregnant women to be tested for Zika if they or their sexual partners have travelled to Zika affected areas. Those tests are all processed by the citys Department of Forensic Science Public Health Laboratory.

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U.S. President Donald Trump, through a recent executive order, is keeping his campaign pledge to build an impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful, southern wall between the U.S. and Mexico. Its not clear to what extent the project will replace barriers that already exist between the two countries.

Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump

A fence already covers one-third of the border

About one-third of the 3,200-kilometre border  which stretches from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico  already has various kinds of fencing, thanks to the 2006 Secure Fence Act signed by then-president George W. Bush. The wall starts in San Diego. Design depends on geography and climate, and ranges from metal barriers with pickets to ground sensors, cameras and drones.

The San Diego border is heavily fortified

The San Diego area, one of the most heavily fortified, has 75 kilometres of primary fencing. The barriers are about 5.5 metres high, with pickets to impede pedestrians. There is also 22 kilometres of secondary fencing  4.5 metres high and built with horizontal rails in the form of steel tubes and fence fabric that is either mesh or perforated metal sheeting.

A canyon along the border was filled in

Smugglers Gulch, a canyon between San Diego and Tijuana about three kilometres from the Pacific Ocean, has been filled in with a structure resembling an earthen dam. There is also a triple-thickness border fence topped with razor wire, flood lights, remote sensors and cameras to deter nighttime crossings.

One existing wall failed to thwart drug smugglers

Although the sister cities of Calexico, Calif., and Mexicali, Mexico are separated by a wall, in April 2015, U.S. Border Patrol agents seized more than 30 kilograms of methamphetamine coming over the border. In the process, they found how smugglers were getting around the wall between Calexico and Mexicali  they had built a tunnel.

A wall would further divide traditional Native American lands

Tohono Oodham Nation reservation in Arizona has said no to Trumps plan. The tribe already struggles with the steel-post fence that currently lines most of the reservations southern border. A wall, they say, would further divide and militarize traditional lands. Trump has proposed a congressional bill that would override tribal resistance.

In Texas, natural barriers already exist

Texas is the state with the least amount of fencing because of the Rio Grande, and because large swaths of its southern border are mountainous, making it difficult to cross. Treaties with Mexico prohibit the construction of barriers within the Rio Grandes flood plains. Some border land in Texas is privately owned.

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ISLAMABADA brutal attack on a beloved Sufi shrine that killed 88 people raised fears that Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL, has become emboldened in Pakistan, aided by an army of homegrown militants benefiting from hideouts in neighbouring Afghanistan, analysts and officials said Friday.

Pakistani security forces have carried out sweeping countrywide raids following Thursdays bombing of the shrine in Pakistans southern Sindh province that also wounded 343 people. The militarys public relations wing reported on its official Twitter account that more than 100 suspected terrorists were killed in the raids, while government officials lashed out at Kabul accusing the Afghan government of ignoring earlier pleas to crackdown on militant hideouts.

Zahid Hussain, an expert on militants in the region, said a toxic mix of violent Sunni militant groups, many belonging to banned groups that are flourishing under new names, have wrapped themselves in the banner of Daesh.

The Islamic State (Daesh) might not have a strong organizational structure in Pakistan but we have thousands of members of banned groups sympathetic to the (their) ideology, Hussain said in an interview. They subscribe to the Islamic State (Daesh) world view.

Thursdays terror attack  Pakistans deadliest in years  stunned the nation and raised questions about the authorities ability to rein in militant groups despite several military offensives targeting militant hideouts.

It also threatened to drive a deeper wedge between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Islamabad quickly lashed out at Kabul, saying the bombing was masterminded in militant sanctuaries across the border in Afghanistan, whose own security forces have been assaulted by Daesh fighters. Overnight Thursday, Afghan authorities said 17 Afghan soldiers were killed by Daesh insurgents.

Pakistans Army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa spoke by phone with U.S. Gen John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, to protest militant sanctuaries on Afghan soil, according to a statement carried on the militarys official twitter account. Bajwa said the Afghan government was not taking action against the hideouts and warned that its inaction was testing our current policy of cross border restraint, without further elaborating.

Underscoring tensions between the two neighbours, Pakistan fired a blistering round of artillery shells into Afghan territory on Friday and shut down the Torkham border crossing  a key commercial artery between the two neighbours. Pakistan said the barrage was in response to a militant attack on one of its border posts.

In a telephone call Friday to Afghanistans National Security Adviser, Pakistans senior foreign ministry official, Sartj Aziz accused Afghan President Ashraf Ghani of ignoring Islamabads earlier request to put an end to the sanctuaries in its territory. Pakistan also handed over a list of 76 militants it says are hiding in Afghanistan, demanding they be arrested and extradited to Pakistan.

Pakistans military did not specify who was on the list, but it has long claimed that the head of the Pakistani Taliban, Mullah Fazlullah, and other militants are hiding on Afghan soil with the purpose of fomenting violence inside Pakistan.

Ghani, meanwhile, condemned the shrine attack. Terrorists once again proved that they have no respect for Islamic values, he said in a statement.

In Thursdays attack, the suicide bomber walked into the main hall at the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sehwan in southern Sindh province, and detonated his explosives among a crowd of attendees. At least 20 women and nine children were among the dead.

Daesh, claiming responsibility for the attack in a statement circulated by its Aamaq news agency, said it targeted a Shiite gathering. The Sunni extremist group views Shiites as apostates and has targeted Pakistans Shiite minority in the past. It also views Sufi shrines as a form of idolatry.

The Sehwan shrine, which reveres a Muslim Sufi mystic, is frequented by the faithful of many sects of Islam but the majority of the faithful attendees are usually Shiite Muslims.

Raja Somro, who witnessed the attack, told a local TV network that hundreds of people were performing a spiritual dance known as the dhamal when the bomber struck.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed that security forces would track down the perpetrators, according to Pakistani state TV.

But Hussain, who has authored two books on Pakistans militancy, said the governments counterterrorism strategy has been inept, allowing groups that have been banned to remerge, individuals on international terrorist lists to operate freely, and ignoring funding of these groups arriving from radical Sunni Muslim charities in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.

The government has no clear strategy. They dont have a clear policy to deal with it, said Hussain. They have to strike the source of the militancy, the institutions where they are brainwashed, a reference to those madrassahs or religious schools that teach a radical version of Islam that reviles Shiite Muslims as well as adherents of all other beliefs other than their own. He also said Pakistans promised judicial reform has not occurred nor has the government choked the sources of funding to those radical religious schools operating in Pakistan.

Yet Pakistan has been at war with the Taliban and other extremist groups for more than a decade. In recent years it has launched major offensives against militant strongholds in the tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan, but insurgents have continued to carry out attacks elsewhere in the country.

Still Daesh has been expanding its presence in Pakistan and has claimed a number of deadly attacks, including a suicide bombing at another Sufi shrine in November 2016 that killed more than 50 people.

Read more:

6 killed in suicide attacks in northwestern Pakistan

The government has downplayed the Daesh affiliate, insisting that only a small number of militants have pledged allegiance to the group.

Either the entire government is in a state of denial, or they know it well but dont want to do anything about it, said Hussain.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have long accused each other of failing to crack down on militants who operate along their porous border.

In Sehwan, police on Friday fired tear gas and swung batons to disperse a rally of several hundred demonstrators who demanded justice for the victims and more effective security measures from the government. Some protesters set fire to a car before the police broke up the rally.

At one of the funerals held Friday, relatives consoled the wailing mother of Zeeshan Ali, a 13-year-old who died in the shrine blast. Alis uncle, Shoukat Ali, said he was devoted to his nephew and had raised him since he had no children of his own.

I raised him like my own child . . . and they took him from me, he said.

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BAGHDADDaesh militants attacked a battalion of state-sponsored militia southeast of Tikrit, Iraq on Friday, killing at least eight militia members, an intelligence official said.

Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted by its Aamaq news agency. The statement said Daesh fighters had struck the 9th Battalion of the Popular Mobilization Forces, killing its commander and 13 soldiers.

The statement also said that Daesh fighters blew up the battalions headquarters and other nearby positions and destroyed two Humvees that had arrived to assist the battalion.

The intelligence official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to brief reporters.

The Popular Mobilization Forces are state-sponsored militias, largely comprised of Shiite Muslims, battling Daesh across the country.

Also on Friday, a police officer and medical sources said the death toll from a car bomb attack in a southern Baghdad neighbourhood has reached 59 with 66 others injured.

Authorities initially said the Thursday night attack at an auto dealership in the al-Bayaa neighbourhood killed at least 55 and wounded more than 60. Daesh claimed credit for the bombing.

The police officer and medical personnel spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

Daesh, in a statement early Friday, said its fighters detonated bombs in a parked car among a gathering of Shiites in the Fifth Police district Thursday. It did not give further details.

The extremist group has carried out near-daily attacks in Baghdad despite suffering military setbacks elsewhere in the country, including in the northern city of Mosul, where U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have been waging a major operation since October.

The spiritual leader of Iraqs Shiites Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, expressed his condolences for the victims families and called on those responsible for decision-making to recognize their responsibility to preserve security.

His comments were delivered at Friday prayers by his representative, Ahmed al-Safi, in the holy city of Karbala.

The U.S. State Department condemned the bombing, saying such attacks show the extremist groups utter contempt for human life and its efforts to sow discord and division among the Iraqi people.

U.N. Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General Farhan Haq too condemned the attack in a statement issued Friday, which also conveyed solidarity to the people of Iraq in resisting attempts to spread fear, intimidation and hatred.

Another four attacks in and around Baghdad on Thursday killed eight people and wounded around 30, authorities said.

The bomb attacks claimed by Daesh are seen as an attempt to distract attention as the militants cede territory along front lines in northern and western Iraq.

Elsewhere, Jaafar Husseine, spokesman for the Hezbollah Brigades, an Iraqi Shiite paramilitary group supported by Iran, said his brigade was fighting Daesh in the village of Ein Hasan west of Tal Afar in Nineveh province, 63 kilometres from Mosul. He said the unit had air support from the Iraqi army to thwart Daeshs attempt to open a passageway into neighbouring Syria.

Separately, followers of influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr began gathering in Baghdads downtown Tahrir Square for a silent demonstration called for by al-Sadr. The demonstration comes after last weekends clashes with police that left five dead.

Al-Sadr is demanding an overhaul of the commission overseeing local elections scheduled this year. He has accused the commission of being riddled with corruption and has called for its overhaul

Security authorities Friday blocked roads leading to the square but there was no heavy security presence in the area.

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While we knew this years race for Linn County Sheriff would be interesting, as its the first general election in 26 years that offers the voters a choice between two candidates, we could have never anticipated it being this spicy.
U.S. President Donald Trump makes frequent false claims about matters big and small. The Star is tracking them all: 80 as of Feb. 17, 2017, just four weeks into his presidency. Contact Daniel Dale at ddale@thestar.ca if you hear Trump say anything you know is false or should be checked.

WASHINGTONU.S. President Donald Trump summoned reporters to the East Room of the White House on Thursday for a press conference. His primary purpose: bashing the media, an entity he called so dishonest and out of control.

He did not model the kind of truthfulness he said he was seeking  making 17 separate false claims over 77 minutes.

The complete list of false things Donald Trump has said as president

1. The claim: I guess it was the biggest electoral college win since Ronald Reagan.

In fact: George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama all earned bigger margins in the electoral college than Trump did.

2. The claim about former campaign manager Paul Manafort: He said that he has absolutely nothing to do and never has with Russia. He said that very forcefully. I saw his statement. He said it forcefully. Most of the papers do not print it because it's not good for their stories.

In fact: The New York Times story Trump was criticizing included Manaforts denial, in which he said he never knowingly had contact with Russian intelligence officers. Other major outlets that followed up on the story also printed a denial from Manafort.

3. The claim: I will say that I never get phone calls from the media. How do they write a story like that in the Wall Street Journal without asking me or how do they write a story in the New York Times put it on the front page.

In fact: Media outlets almost always call his administration for comment on major stories. The Journal, in its story about U.S. intelligence declining to share some information with Trump, prominently quoted a denial from an anonymous administration official. The Times also sought comment for its story, but the administration declined to provide one.

4.The claim: Remember, I used to give you a news conference every time I made a speech, which was like every day. OK?

In fact: This is not even close to true. Trump indeed gave near-daily speeches during the campaign, but he did not do a single news conference over the last three months of the campaign.

The 5 other front page stories the Star could run after Trumps wild presser

5. The claim: We had a very smooth rollout of the travel ban.

In fact: We dont usually fact-check claims like smooth  its vague, and its a matter of opinion  but the rollout of the travel ban was so obviously not smooth that were making an exception here. The implementation of the ban resulted in mass confusion among U.S. allies like Canada, caused travel problems for thousands of visa-holders and permanent residents, necessitated a series of clarifications and reversals by U.S. officials, and appeared so hasty that a federal appeals court has found that the administration may have violated residents constitutional right to due process.

6. The claim: Thats the other thing that was wrong with the travel ban. You had Delta with a massive problem with their computer system at the airports.

In fact: The Delta outage had nothing to do with the chaos created by the travel ban. The travel ban caused mass confusion on a Saturday; the Delta outage occurred more than a day and a half later, on a Sunday night.

7. The claim about labour secretary nominee Alex Acosta: Hes a member and has been a member of the National Labor Relations Board.

In fact: Acosta is not currently a member of the board. He served on it from 2002 to 2003.

8. The claim about the news media: I mean, you have a lower approval rate than Congress. I think thats right.

In fact: The media is unpopular with Americans, but Congress has consistently been even less popular. Last year, Gallup found that just 9 per cent had confidence in Congress; 20 per cent had confidence in newspapers, 21 per cent in television news. While the new Congress is now up to a 28 per cent approval rating, Gallup found in September that 32 per cent said they had trust in the media.

9. The claim: Now, when WikiLeaks, which I had nothing to do with, comes out and happens to give, theyre not giving classified information.

In fact: Trump may have been attempting to refer specifically to WikiLeaks release of emails related to Hillary Clintons campaign, which were not classified. But he ended up wrongly suggesting that WikiLeaks does not provide classified information at all. The organization made its name releasing hundreds of thousands of pages of classified U.S. material.

10. The claim: The failing New York Times wrote a big, long front-page story yesterday. And it was very much discredited, as you know.

In fact: The article, headlined Trump Campaign Aides Had Repeated Contacts With Russian Intelligence, has not been discredited.

11. The claim: And the people mentioned in the story, I notice they were on television today saying they never even spoke to Russia.

In fact: One of the people mentioned in the New York Times story, Trump associate Roger Stone, went on television to deny having any contact with any Russians. But the other people mentioned in the story did not issue such categorical denials in any medium. Paul Manafort, Trumps former campaign manager, told the New York Times that he never knowingly had contact with Russian intelligence officers, adding that such people do not wear badges. Former Trump adviser Carter Page he had only said hello to a few Russian officials over the course of the last year or so; he also gave a speech in Moscow.

12. The claim about the 9th Circuit appeals court: In fact, we had to go quicker than we thought because of the bad decision we received from a circuit that has been overturned at a record number. I have heard 80 per cent  I find that hard to believe; thats just a number I heard  that theyre overturned 80 per cent of the time.

In fact: This statement is false in one way, possibly misleading in another. It is false that the 9th Circuit is overturned by the Supreme Court at a record number. Even in the study conservatives usually cite in criticizing the 9th Circuit, the court had the second-highest reversal rate between 1999 and 2008. Between 2010 and 2015, it was third-highest. In the most recent court term for which complete data is readily available, the 9th Circuit was again in second place.

It may be misleading to discuss reversal rates this way at all. The Supreme Court overturns a majority of cases it agrees to hear  but those cases represent a tiny fraction of total cases decided by a circuit court. So even if 80 per cent of 9th Circuit cases that reach the Supreme Court are overturned, that still means more than 99 per cent of the circuits total decisions are not overturned.

13. The claim about the 9th Circuit appeals court: I think that circuit is  that circuit is in chaos and that circuit is frankly in turmoil.

In fact: The court is functioning as normal. There is no sign of chaos or turmoil.

14. The claim: We had Hillary Clinton give Russia 20 per cent of the uranium in our country. Added: Hillary Clinton gave them 20 per cent of our uranium.

In fact: Clinton didnt personally give Russia uranium. The State Department, which Clinton led as secretary of state, was one of nine government entities that reviewed the Russian purchase of the Toronto-based firm Uranium One, which controlled the rights to about 20 per cent of U.S. uranium capacity. There is no evidence Clinton was personally involved in the process in any way. Further, only the president could have made the decision to block the deal; Clinton did not have final authority either way.

15. The claim: This administration is running like a fine- tuned machine, despite the fact that I cant get my cabinet approved. And theyre outstanding people like Senator Dan Coats whos there, one of the most respected men of the Senate. He cant get approved. How do you not approve him?

In fact: Well ignore the dubious fine-tuned machine claim  there is no sign that Coats, Trumps nominee for Director of National Intelligence, cant get approved or is even facing obstruction. The Republican who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, Sen. Richard Burr, told The Hill they are waiting for the FBI and others to finish background checks, and that they will hold a hearing when the Senate returns from its one-week break.

16. The claim: Walmart announced it will create 10,000 jobs in the United States just this year because of our various plans and initiatives.

In fact: The Walmart expansion plan that is creating the jobs was announced in October, before Trump was elected. The company did not reveal the precise 10,000 figure until after Trump took office, but it is directly connected to the previous announcement.

17. The claim: General Motors likewise committed to invest billions of dollars in its American manufacturing operation, keeping many jobs here that were going to leave. And if I didnt get elected, believe me, they would have left. And these jobs and these things that Im announcing would never have come here.

In fact: GM made a new $1 billion commitment to U.S. factories, not billions; it committed $2.9 billion last year, before Trump was elected. GM did not offer any indication that it made the decision because of Trump, and independent automotive analysts said it was unlikely the company had done so. Mostly theatre to play in the news cycle created by President-elect Trumps tweets, Autotrader analyst Michelle Krebs said. These investments and hiring plans have long been in the works and are a continuation of what the company has been doing in recent years.

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LONDONWhen Ecuador holds a general election Sunday, the results could have international repercussions linked to one man thousands of miles away: Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, who took refuge in the countrys embassy in London nearly five years ago and who remains there.

Assange moved into the embassy in Knightsbridge, one of the British capitals most affluent neighbourhoods, after accusations of rape in Sweden, which he has described as a coverup for a U.S. effort to extradite him and try him on espionage charges.

Whether Ecuador will continue its role of reluctant warden to Assange, who was granted asylum by President Rafael Correa in 2012, hinges on the outcome of the elections. Eight candidates are seeking the presidency, and at least two have said they would evict him if they won.

Read more:

Trump quotes Assange in new tweets criticizing Russian hacking case

Assange questioned by prosecutors in Swedish sexual misconduct case

Ecuador temporarily restricts Julian Assanges internet after Clinton leak

If balloting reflects recent poll results, it is unlikely that Assange would need to pack his bags anytime soon: While Correas preferred successor, Lenin Moreno, is the front-runner, polls indicate that the election is likely to go to a second round, meaning that Assanges fate may not be decided until a runoff in early April.

If Guillermo Lasso of Creating Opportunities or Cynthia Viteri of the Social Christian Party pull off an upset, however, it could be a different fate altogether.

As president of this nation, I need the money used for his upkeep, for example to pay for my childrens school lunches, Viteri said about Assange, the newspaper El Comercio reported Thursday. I withdraw his asylum for the purchase, in my opinion, of Mr. Assanges silence.

She did not elaborate.

Viteri was a distant third in two recent polls, with about 14 per cent of support.

In the past, Lasso has supported Assanges stay at the embassy, but he expressed a different view in comments to the Guardian last week.

The Ecuadorean people have been paying a cost that we should not have to bear, he said. We will cordially ask Senor Assange to leave within 30 days of assuming a mandate.

Ecuadors Foreign Minister Guillaume Long has rejected the idea that Assange might be forced to leave the embassy.

Weve ratified his asylum several times, and under this government, there is no decision to revoke it at all, he said in an interview Friday. Lets not forget that Julian Assange was granted asylum on grounds of fear of possible political persecution.

Moreno, the front-runner, did not make much of the issue of Assanges fate during the campaign, which has focused on economic issues at a time of falling oil prices.

Speculation that Assange was overstaying his welcome grew when the embassy cut off his access to the internet in October, shortly before U.S. elections. WikiLeaks had published tens of thousands of hacked emails from inside Hillary Clintons campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

We didnt want any ambiguity, Long said of his countrys decision to cut off Assanges online access. We wanted it to be very clear that Ecuadors diplomatic mission was not being used in order to interfere in the U.S. electoral process.

Long said that Assange, whom he last saw in June, lived in extremely tough conditions, in a small space with very little light.

London is not exactly the most luminous city, and it has a long winter, he said.

The foreign minister revealed some weariness with the length of Assanges time at the embassy, the Guardian reported, asking for Sweden to speed up its investigation as this has been going on for far too long.

But in the interview Friday, he dismissed the idea that providing refuge to Assange came at a financial cost that Ecuadoreans could not afford. Rather, he said, the cost is political.

Weve taken a principled decision, and it speaks highly of a country that defends its ideals, not just petty interests, he said.

Having one more person in the embassy is a marginal addition to the cost of running the embassy, he continued. Whats the cost of having someone in the bedroom?

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MADRIDAlmost 500 migrants forced their way into Spanish territory in North Africa early Friday by breaking through gates in the 20-foot (6-meter) high fence that separates Morocco from Spains Ceuta enclave.

The Ceuta regional government gave the figures, with officials saying it was believed to be the biggest border invasion in recent years. Ceuta is separated from the rest of Spain by the Strait of Gibraltar.

Some 700 migrants attempted to smash through several gates simultaneously at about 6 a.m., a Ceuta government official told The Associated Press. He refused to be identified, in accordance with government rules.

Read more:

Border guards in Spain find migrants hidden in suitcase, car

1,100 North African migrants storm Spanish border fence

He said 498 migrants made it into Spanish territory, with two hospitalized due to injuries they sustained in the assault. He said 11 Spanish police were also hurt.

A Civil Guard spokesman said police clashed with the migrants at the Tarajal area of the fence. He declined to disclose his identity in line with internal policy. At least 10 members of Moroccos armed forces were also injured, he said.

More than 30 migrants were treated at a migrant centre for bone fractures and other injuries. Some were also cut trying to scale the fence, which is topped with barbed wire, said Clemen Nunez, director of Ceutas Red Cross emergency response team.

According to the Civil Guard, a surveillance camera showed hundreds of people approaching the fence, using tools and clubs to break one of the gates.

In video filmed by Faro TV Ceuta, some of the migrants can be seen with blood on their faces and bruises but mostly celebrating the arrival in Spanish territory. Some wrapped themselves with Spanish and European flags and screamed Freedom, freedom!

Hundreds of sub-Saharan African migrants are living illegally in Morocco and regularly attempt to enter and Melilla, Spains other North African enclave, in hopes of getting into Europe. Most are fleeing poverty, violence or both.

On Friday, 55 of them were rejected, according to the Civil Guard, because those who are intercepted on the spot can be returned to Morocco. But those that make it over the fences are usually taken to migrant centres and eventually repatriated or let go, many choosing to seek asylum or work informally in Spain or other European countries.

Before the latest arrival, the migrant centre Ceuta was already struggling to cope with more than 600 people and making use of military tents in nearby parking lots.

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John McCain is increasingly mad as hell about U.S. President Donald Trump. And on Friday, he went after Trump  hard.

During a speech at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, the Republican senator from Arizona delivered a pointed and striking point-by-point takedown of Trumps world view and brand of nationalism. McCain didnt mention Trumps name once, but he didnt have to.

The complete list of all 80 false things Donald Trump has said as president

And even considering the two mens up-and-down history and the terrible things Trump has said about McCain, it was a striking display from a senior leader of a party when it comes to a president of the same party.

In his speech, McCain suggested the Western world is uniquely imperiled this year  even more so than when Barack Obama was president  and proceeded to question whether the Western world will survive.

In recent years, this question would invite accusations of hyperbole and alarmism. Not this year, McCain said. If ever there were a time to treat this question with a deadly seriousness, it is now.

In case there was any doubt that this was about Trump. Heres what followed:

 (The founders of the Munich conference) would be alarmed by an increasing turn away from universal values and toward old ties of blood and race and sectarianism.

 They would be alarmed by the hardening resentment we see toward immigrants and refugees and minority groups, especially Muslims.

 They would be alarmed by the growing inability, and even unwillingness, to separate truth from lies.

Thats Trump, Trump and Trump.

McCain continued: But what would alarm them most, I think, is a sense that many of our peoples, including in my own country, are giving up on the West, that they see it as a bad deal that we may be better off without, and that while Western nations still have the power to maintain our world order, it is unclear whether we have the will.

Trump has repeatedly suggested a desire to pull out of or scale back on international involvement and agreements. His slogan is America first, after all. And its not just on free trade: Its also when it comes to things like NATO, the transatlantic military alliance that Trump suggests the United States is getting a bad deal on.

Then McCain invoked some of those close to Trump and emphasized that his message wont square with theirs:

I know there is profound concern across Europe and the world that America is laying down the mantle of global leadership. I can only speak for myself, but I do not believe that is the message you will hear from all of the American leaders who cared enough to travel here to Munich this weekend. That is not the message you heard today from Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis. That is not the message you will hear from Vice President Mike Pence. That is not the message you will hear from Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly. And that is certainly not the message you will hear tomorrow from our bipartisan congressional delegation.

McCain then saved the biggest hit on Trump for the end.

I refuse to accept that our values are morally equivalent to those of our adversaries, he said. I am a proud, unapologetic believer in the West, and I believe we must always, always stand up for it. For if we do not, who will?

Two weeks ago, you may recall, Trump suggested the United States didnt exactly have the moral high ground on Russia. Asked by Fox News host Bill OReilly about wanting good relations with a killer like Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump demurred.

There are a lot of killers. We have a lot of killers, Trump said. Well, you think our country is so innocent?

Ever since, it seems, he and McCain have been on a collision course. McCain didnt fight back when Trump questioned his war-hero status long ago  perhaps because both men were trying to win elections  but the battle between McCain and the White House is picking up steam.

And on Friday, McCain travelled across the Atlantic to deliver a calculated, planned attack on Trumps entire system of beliefs.

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SEOUL, SOUTH KOREAA desolate but lovely volcano on the North Korea-China border could be the key to unravelling the sudden, mysterious death of an exiled scion of North Korean royalty.

South Koreas spy agency believes that Kim Jong Nam was assassinated this week in a Malaysian airport as part of a five-year plot by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to kill a brother he reportedly never met. If this is right, the motive likely has more to do with their shared bloodlines  and that volcano  than any specific transgression.

Heres why:

The volcano  Mount Paektu, which is topped with a deep crater lake  is at the heart of North Koreas foundation myth, and is used to legitimize the Kim familys three generations of power. Paektu is emblazoned on the countrys national emblem and lends its name to everything from rockets to power stations to, occasionally, the country itself.

Crucially, it serves as a sort-of geographic incarnation of the Kim brothers late grandfather, Kim Il Sung, the most important person in North Korean history. Kim Il Sung saved the Korean Peninsula, according to the official Pyongyang narrative, with daring guerrilla raids against Japanese invaders from his base on the slopes of Paektu.

Because the Kim brothers shared the same exalted and heroic lineage  the blood of Mount Paektu  the argument goes, no matter how low profile he was, Kim Jong Nam would always pose a danger. As long as he lived he could share, if indirectly and probably unwillingly, in the avalanche of propaganda associated with the sacred volcano, all of which seeks to prove that the Kims are the only governing possibility in North Korea.

This goes a long way to explaining the disconnect between the cold-blooded nature of the alleged assassination and the seeming harmlessness of Kim Jong Nam, an overweight gambler and faded playboy who had laid low in recent years in his Southeast Asian base and who once, according to South Koreas spy agency, wrote his brother a letter begging for his life.

If the South Korean spies are right that Kim Jong Nam was assassinated  something not yet acknowledged by Malaysian authorities, let alone North Korea  the bloodline worry would have been a powerful reason for Pyongyang to strike.

Kim Jong Un might have thought that he had nearly completed his consolidation of power and that taking out Kim Jong Nam would be a finishing touch to eliminate a potential source of trouble, said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Seouls Dongguk University.

Korean history is replete with bloody royal power struggles. And when the disgruntled elite tried to overthrow kings, they often used estranged princes or others with royal blood as figureheads to rally support.

Past rulers on the Korean Peninsula also legitimated themselves and their offspring by virtue of their pure bloodline, Bruce Cumings, a historian and Korea expert, has written.

The Kims of North Korea have carried on this veneration of royal blood, and extended it to the volcano associated with the countrys foundation.

Cumings quotes North Korean propaganda referring to Kim Jong Il, the son of Kim Il Sung and the father of both Kim Jong Un and Kim Jong Nam, as a treasure baby from Paektu mountain. North Korea claims, probably erroneously, that Kim Jong Il was born on Paektu.

As early as 2009, North Korea called Kim Jong Un the General of Paektu, Koh, the North Korea expert, wrote in a 2013 essay. Kim Jong Un inherited the bloodline of Paektu, which is heralded as the countrys existence and the lifeline of generations to come.

Another point to consider is that North Koreas Kim worship is, according to Cumings, Neo-Confucianism in a communist bottle.

Kim Jong Un, the youngest known son of Kim Jong Il, could have feared his brother because under a traditional Confucian value system, Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son, would have been considered the direct heir to the throne.

Kim Jong Nam was a potential threat, according to analyst Chang Yong Seok at Seoul National University. Kim Jong Un might have believed that opponents could push to (oust him) and enthrone Kim Jong Nam.

Its anyones guess what this may mean for the rest of the bloodline.

Kim Jong Un has another older brother, Kim Jong Chol, whos seen as a huge fan of rock guitarist Eric Clapton. The middle of the three known sons, he was once considered by some outsiders as a potential candidate for leader, but a former sushi chef of Kim Jong Il said the late leader derided him as girlish. South Korean media report he is in Pyongyang but shuns public activities.

Kim Jong Nam reportedly leaves behind two sons and a daughter between two different women living in Beijing and Macau. There are worries in Seoul that one of the sons, Kim Han Sol, could be in danger because his father may have told him secrets about Kim Jong Uns personal life.

Kim Han Sol also once referred to Kim Jong Un as a dictator in an interview.

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MOSCOWThe Kremlin denied Friday that it has grown frustrated with a lack of progress in improving relations with Washington under President Donald Trump, saying its too early to say what course Russia-U.S. ties will take.

We never wore rose-tinted glasses, never had any illusions, so there is nothing to be disappointed with, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked if President Vladimir Putins administration was disappointed with Trump and the lack of quick progress in repairing bilateral ties.

Peskov dodged a question about Trumps news conference Thursday in which the president blamed the media for trying to thwart his plan to improve ties with Moscow.

Moscow believes that Russia-U.S. ties are important for our two nations and the entire global community, so we believe that they deserve special attention, Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.

Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump

At his White House news conference, Trump denied that his campaign aides had been in touch with Russian officials before the U.S. election and said he had nothing to do with Russia.

Asked whether the Kremlin watched the news conference, Peskov said Putins administration was too busy with its domestic agenda.

Areas of possible co-operation or disagreements between the U.S. and Russia could only be determined after Putin and Trump have substantive talks, Peskov said, adding that its not clear when that might happen.

Only after they have a chance to have a detailed talk it would become clear where significant differences remain and where its possible to find areas for co-operation, Peskov said.

He denied that Russian state-controlled television had been ordered to tone down fawning coverage of Trump, saying broadcasters dont take orders from the Kremlin.

A change of attitude, however, was clearly visible in Fridays news programs on Russian state TV, which gave little time to Trump compared with previous massive coverage of the U.S. president.

The shift in tone could reflect an attempt to dampen public expectations of a quick breakthrough in better relations with Washington that have been fuelled by Trumps victory.

Members of the Kremlin-controlled parliament and pro-Kremlin media commentators, meanwhile, have increasingly voiced concerns about Trumps course.

The daily Komsomolskaya Pravda noted the difference between Trumps criticism of NATO during the campaign and his expressions of support for the alliance once in office and suggested a stiff drink might make it clearer.

You need a bottle to figure out what the U.S. presidents true position is, it said.

Valery Garbuzov, the head of the United States and Canada Institute, a government-funded think-tank, said in remarks carried by the Interfax news agency that Moscow and Washington havent yet started specific discussions on issues such as the Ukrainian crisis and the Syrian war.

In order to conduct a dialogue, its necessary to rebuild mutual trust, which has been completely lost, he said.

Alexey Pushkov, the head of the information committee in the upper house of Russian parliament, tweeted: It looks like Trump didnt expect such a powerful opposition to his decisions and plans.

There is a high probability that it will not be Trump who will drain Washingtons swamp, but the swamp that will suck Trump in, Pushkov said. And that will mark an end of his revolution that never began.

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AUSTIN, TEXASRoy White wants to inform as many Americans as possible about the terrorists he sees in their midst.

The lean, 62-year-old Air Force veteran strode into the Texas State Capitol in late January wearing a charcoal-gray pinstripe suit and an American flag tie, with the mission of warning all 181 lawmakers about a Muslim group sponsoring a gathering of Texas Muslims at the Capitol the following day. Although the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) works to promote Muslim civil rights across America, White wanted to convince lawmakers that it is actually working to infiltrate the U.S. government and destroy American society from within.

Theyre jihadists wearing suits, White said of CAIR and other Muslim organizations. Thats a tough thing for us to wrap our heads around because we dont feel threatened.

White is the San Antonio chapter president of ACT for America, an organization that brands itself as the nations largest grassroots national security advocacy organization and attacks what it sees as the creeping threat of sharia, or Islamic law, in the form of Muslim organizations, mosques, refugees and sympathetic politicians.

The group has found allies among a coterie of anti-Muslim organizations, speakers and Christian fundamentalists, as well as with some state lawmakers. Bill Zedler, a Texas Republican state representative, said during a recent forum supported by ACT that he fears political correctness is masking the real problem: Regardless of whether its Al Qaeda, or CAIR, or the Islamic State, they just have different methodology for the destruction of Western civilization.

ACT, which has been a vocal advocate for U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration, says it now has a direct line to the president and an ability to influence the direction of the nation.

We are on the verge of playing the most pivotal role in reversing the significant damage that has been done to our nations security and well-being over the past eight years, ACTs founder, Brigitte Gabriel, wrote in a December solicitation for donations.

Stephen K. Bannon, the former executive chairman of Breitbart who has described Muslim American groups as cultural jihadists bent on destroying American society, is Trumps chief strategist. Breitbart has published several articles Gabriel has written. Trumps CIA Director, Mike Pompeo, has spoken at ACTs conferences and sponsored an ACT meeting at the Capitol last year.

Retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, who sits on ACTs board of advisers, served as the presidents national security adviser before stepping down after revelations that he might have violated the law in communications with a Russian diplomat.

In the first days of his presidency, Trump signed an executive order temporarily banning travellers from seven majority-Muslim countries  and all refugees  from entering the United States, an order that has been put on hold as it faces court challenges.

Ahmed Bedier, former executive director of CAIRs Tampa chapter, said ACT distorts Islam and works to present it as a belief that doesnt deserve religious protection in the United States. He considers that a very dangerous proposition for the American Muslim population.

These guys are the fringe of the fringe, and now they have people on the inside of the most powerful government in the world, said Bedier, who has frequently sparred publicly with ACT. Theyre fascists. They dont want any presence of Muslims in America. And the only Muslim that is acceptable to them is a former Muslim.

ACT, based in Virginia Beach, Va., has nearly 17,500 volunteers and 17 staff members, according to tax records. Gabriel says ACT has 500,000 relentless grassroots warriors, such as White, who are ready to do whatever it takes to achieve our goal of a safer America.

A safer America, to ACT, means a nation free of all Islamic influence, a goal that has led some civil rights activists to call it a hate group akin to white supremacists. It wants groups that practice or advocate sharia  the guiding principles of Islam  to be forced to disband, supports President Donald Trumps attempt to ban travellers from several Muslim-majority countries, and opposes the resettlement of Muslim refugees in the United States. It supports preserving the Constitution and its concept of American culture, which ACT says on its website means recognizing that we are the greatest nation on Earth and that if you are an American you must be an American first.

Since it began its work a decade ago, ACT claims 22 legislative victories in Republican-controlled statehouses, many of them laws that stiffen criminal penalties for terrorism, keep Islamic or foreign influence out of U.S. courts or aim to protect free speech. ACT also led a successful campaign to get errors removed from Texas school textbooks, including what leaders consider pro-Islamic, anti-Christian, anti-Western statements.

In recent weeks, ACT has lobbied on behalf of Trumps travel ban. On Wednesday, it circulated a message to its followers claiming that Flynns fall was the work of rogue weasels and shadow warriors within the U.S. government trying to destroy Trump.

Much of ACTs philosophy is rooted in the belief that America is the target of a vast international conspiracy.

Two days before White set off down the halls of the state Capitol with an armful of papers accusing CAIR of being a terrorist organization, he and a guest speaker convened a meeting of ACTs San Antonio chapter at a Baptist church on the west side of town.

A few dozen residents  mostly consisting of older, white Trump supporters who arrived in cars with bumper stickers identifying themselves as Deplorables and those wanting to put God back in America  gathered in the pews for a screening of Enemies Within. The film, which White planned to show at the statehouse, purports to document an ongoing communist and Muslim conspiracy to infiltrate the U.S. government. Afterward, the group was abuzz with fresh outrage.

They should be hauled out of Congress and taken to Guantanamo! a military veteran said of the few dozen elected officials  including Hillary Clinton and the only two Muslim members of Congress  identified in the film as having connections to terrorists. Cant we get a law passed so we can go in and get these people the hell out of our government?

White and the filmmaker, Trevor Loudon, assured the group that there is a new sheriff in town.

Trumps election has presented a God-given opportunity, Loudon said. The fate of the Western world now depends on how they use it.

We have four years  the most important four years of our lives  to redouble the efforts, he said. If we blow it, our kids live in slavery. If we succeed, we can have a new golden age, not just in America, but all over the world.

White urged the group to start by calling, writing and visiting their lawmakers. He said he needed volunteers to begin to do some deep research into a list of about 400 addresses that he had compiled of mosques and Muslim-affiliated entities to begin to connect the dots.

At the next meeting, he added, a visiting speaker would talk to them about how to push back against building mosques in your communities.

ACTs leadership acknowledges that it gets a bad rap. The Southern Poverty Law Center and other civil rights watchdogs label it an extremist group that demonizes Muslims. ACT argues that the perception comes from ignorance or because the media, Democrats and Muslims hide the truth in a bid to destroy the country.

In a recent message to members, the group said that Islamophobia is a deceptive narrative, that the mainstream media propagates fake news and that refugee advocates are fanatics.

ACT has urged supporters to lobby their lawmakers to support Trumps executive order banning citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States, a policy that legal experts say amounts to a Muslim ban and that an appeals court unanimously kept on hold this month amid arguments that it violates the Constitution.

First of all, there is no Muslim ban, contrary to what the fake news media would have you believe, Gabriel wrote last week in an article for Breitbart, claiming that the countries subject to the order are terrorist-infested. It isnt President Trumps fault all seven of those countries happen to be almost entirely Islamic.

Gabriel did not respond to requests for comment.

White, a commercial airline pilot and retired lieutenant colonel in the Air Force, said the group has faced an uphill battle.

Ive had family members who  Ive talked like this for the last four years  at first thought I was the crazy, loony uncle because they had never heard any of this stuff, because its a conspiracy, White said as he took a break from handing out pamphlets at the Texas statehouse in Austin.

But, White says, hes not a conspiracy theorist and hes not chasing UFOs: His conviction is grounded in facts and in spiritual conviction.

Its a spiritual battle of good and evil, and a lot of folks on the left have a difficult time thinking that there is actually good and evil, he said.

White, a devout Christian, believes that sharia, the guiding laws and principles of Islam, are the embodiment of that evil; that the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamic movement that is a force in Middle Eastern politics, is working to spread sharia throughout America; and that CAIR, the Islamic Society of North America, the majority of American mosques, and a host of other Muslim leaders and organizations are outgrowths of the Brotherhood on U.S. soil. The Trump administration has been considering adding the Brotherhood to its list of designated foreign terrorist organizations; ACT considers that a top priority.

White hopes that Trumps travel ban will prevail and that other Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt, will be added. He wants mosques and American Muslim groups to denounce sharia or be disbanded, and he wants the government to bar people who associate with those groups from public office.

We are going to arrest those people who promote sedition, he said. That would mean any sharia-compliant Muslim, he added.

Islamic scholars, Middle East experts and Muslim religious leaders say ACTs interpretation of Islam is wrong. Sharia is not a coded rule book, but a vast body of religious and legal texts, subject to a range of interpretations and practice, much of which is not taken literally.

Sharia as a legal system doesnt exist, said Sahar Aziz, a Texas A&M law professor, noting that a Muslim who claims to follow sharia is similar to a Christian saying he lives his life in accordance with Jesus Christ.

ACTs critics argue that going after sharia is a subtle way to more broadly attack Muslims. They also say its dangerous.

The night before White visited the Capitol in Austin, a gunman who expressed support for nationalist and right-wing causes killed six people and wounded 19 others in an attack on a Quebec City mosque. The day before, a fire destroyed a mosque that had previously been burglarized and vandalized in Victoria, Texas. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Florida handed a 30-year sentence to a man who set a small-town mosque on fire because he saw the teachings of Islam as a threat.

White says some people come to his meetings who are a little bit off the mark, get a little too fired up. He turns them away, but he vows to continue pushing.

Im never going to stop telling the truth for fear of the consequences of telling the truth to people.

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BERLINCanadas indifference to the ever-present push for more NATO spending was laid bare Friday in Germany as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau all but shrugged off Donald Trumps push to squeeze alliance members for more money.

Standing alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country has already promised significant increases to its own NATO contributions, Trudeau suggested that when it comes to demonstrating Canadas commitment, money isnt everything.

He acknowledged the spending target agreed to in 2014 by the members of the 28-country transatlantic alliance  two per cent of GDP annually  but described Canada and Germany as principal NATO actors who do much of the heavy lifting.

There are many ways of evaluating ones contribution to NATO, Trudeau said.

Germany and Canada have always been amongst the strongest actors in NATO, he said, citing Canadas leadership of a multinational NATO mission in Latvia aimed at strengthening its eastern flank against Russia.

He also said Canada is in the midst of significant procurement projects  fighter jets and shipbuilding, specifically  and working with NATO to ensure the alliance is being as effective as possible.

But Canadas position differs from the German message. Merkel said Germany answered the 2014 call by increasing its defence budget eight per cent over last year.

That will build on Germanys current 1.2 per cent of GDP, but there is no firm commitment that Canadas defence budget  which stands at 0.99 per cent of GDP  will receive a cash infusion any time soon.

Canadian government insiders feel they are winning the day in terms of persuading NATO allies that the Canadian contribution is more than the sum of its parts. They point to comments made by U.S. Defence Secretary James Mattis after his meeting with Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, as well as language in the joint declaration from Trudeau and Trump after their meetings earlier this week.

The United States values Canadas military contributions, including in the global coalition Against Daesh, and in Latvia, the statement reads, using one of the several names by which the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is known.

Notably, the statement makes no mention of any insufficiency in Canadian funds for NATO.

A Canadian government official who briefed journalists on the condition of anonymity prior to Trudeaus departure for Europe this week said Canada is quite comfortable with its current contribution to NATO.

Read more:

Canada will make new investments in defence, Sajjan says after NATO meeting

German leader Angela Merkel testifies on alleged U.S. surveillance revealed by Snowden

Trudeau tries to calm Trump anxiety in Europe after addressing trade deal

Not so for Germany, said Merkel.

This commitment hasnt changed to this day, so we intend to pursue this political course, she said through a translator. Germany shows that it is ready and willing to acknowledge its responsibility in this respect.

Merkel did make a broader point about the importance of NATOs role in the world, regardless of who might be picking up the cheque.

Trump has called NATO obsolete, while U.S. Defence Secretary James Mattis delivered an ultimatum this week, saying the U.S. expects its allies to start spending more on defence or else it will moderate its commitment.

Mattis also called on NATO put a plan in place this year that lays out a timetable for governments to reach the two-per-cent target.

Trump is far from the first U.S. president to lean on its NATO allies, German ambassador Werner Wnendt noted.

We have heard this from previous presidents of the United States ... that they said there must be a fair burden sharing, said Wnendt. Thats well accepted in the alliance, so we will deliver.

During a June 2016 speech to Parliament in Ottawa, U.S. President Barack Obama softened his request of Canada by saying he wanted to see more Canada in NATO.

Prior to that, the Canadian ambassadors for former president George W. Bush were far more blunt in calling on Canada to pull its weight on defence.

With the thrill-a-minute U.S. presidency very much top of mind in Europe and elsewhere around the world, Trudeaus political-celebrity status was on full display Friday on the front of at least two German newspapers: the anti-Trump is here and Sexiest politician alive, read the headlines.

Trudeau was given the same anti-Trump label on his March 2016 trip to Washington during the fractious U.S. presidential election campaign. As he did then, the prime minister refused Friday to wear that banner in Berlin.

Asked about his meeting with Trump, Trudeau reiterated his approach to seek common ground  and in the case of Canada, Germany and the U.S., he said, that means helping grow the middle class.

There will always be differences of opinion ... (but) we can focus very clearly on the things we have in common: a desire to help our middle classes, Trudeau said.

One German parliamentarian pushed the anti-Trump point at the start of a meeting early in the day with Trudeau and a group of fellow lawmakers.

With the rise of populism on both sides of the Atlantic, I believe it is more important than ever to strengthen our relations. Together we have to stand up for our common values, said German MP Klaus-Peter Flosbach.

Trudeau and Merkel also praised Canadas free trade deal with the European Union, just one way in which the two leaders are hoping to promote a progressive, pro-trade philosophy in the face of protectionist headwinds emanating from the United States.

Trudeau also paid a sombre visit to the rain-slicked German Holocaust Memorial. He and Merkel also visited the bustling downtown Berlin square, where 12 people lost their lives in December when a Tunisian asylum seeker rammed a truck into a crowd of holiday revellers.

Trudeau travelled to Hamburg for the St. Matthews Banquet, a gala event with a 700-year history where his keynote address will warn top European business leaders to take concrete steps to address the rising populist angst or suffer the consequences.

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MUNICHUkraines president warned Friday against any appeasement of Russia, arguing that cutting a bilateral deal with Moscow on his country would only make the fighting in eastern Ukraine worse. He said that the new U.S. administration has a historic chance to halt Russias ambitions.

Many in Europe are concerned about the U.S. stance toward Russia under President Donald Trump amid talk of a more co-operative relationship.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told the Munich Security Conference, however, that he had been reassured of Western unity and solidarity earlier in the day by new U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Read more:

Putin accuses Ukraine of escalating conflict to rally U.S. support under President Donald Trump

Russia denies disappointment with Trump administration

I hear increasingly obsessive calls for at least some degree of appeasement toward Russias appetite. To move in that direction would be naive, wrong and dangerous  not only for Ukraine, but also for Europe and for the world, he said.

He didnt specify who was making those calls but said now is the time to stop Russias expansionist ambitions.

This is an absolutely historic chance for all of us, but above all this is a historic chance for the new U.S. administration and solid trans-Atlantic unity, Poroshenko said.

More than 9,800 people have died since April 2014 in fighting in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russia-backed separatists. Fighting escalated earlier this month, the worst outbreak since a 2015 peace deal.

On Thursday, Tillerson said Russia must abide by a 2015 peace deal agreed upon in Minsk aimed at ending fighting in eastern Ukraine as the Trump administration searches for ways to work co-operatively with Moscow. He spoke after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a meeting of Group of 20 foreign ministers in Bonn, Germany.

Poroshenko, however, warned against any agreement behind our back with Russia on Ukraine.

We have no intention to give up on defending Ukraine, he said, speaking in English. Any deal with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin behind Ukraine would only aggravate the situation.

NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said, following a meeting with Lavrov Friday on the sidelines of the security conference, that he again emphasized the need for the Minsk accord to be implemented. He also said Americans officials had assured him that Washington backed NATO.

The United States remains committed to NATO and to the trans-Atlantic alliance, he told reporters.

In eastern Ukraine, the leader of pro-Russia separatist rebels warned Friday that they may use force to drive out Ukrainian troops.

Alexander Zakharchenko, the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoples Republic, said the rebels aim to free the occupied territories in the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces by political means, but added that they could do so with military force if political efforts fail.

Putins spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said Zakharchenkos statement defied a 2015 peace agreement, but added that it comes amid tensions provoked by Ukraines actions.

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Donald Trumps craziness isnt always crazy. The U.S. president has an irritating habit of mixing facts and hyperbole. But sometimes there is a nugget of sense in what he says.

So it was on Wednesday when he railed against Washingtons spy agencies for leaking material unfavourable to Michael Flynn and against what he called the fake news media for printing it.

Flynn, it will be recalled, was the national security adviser that Trump fired for being untrustworthy.

But on Wednesday, the president portrayed him as a hero. Flynn, said Trump, is a wonderful man (who) has been very, very unfairly treated by the media.

Trumps logic goes something like this: The national security adviser never would have lied about his telephone conversations with Russias ambassador to the U.S. if Americas spy agencies hadnt leaked information about those talks to the press.

As an explanation, this doesnt excuse Flynn. He didnt have to mislead the White House, as he apparently did.

But it does focus attention on an element of the case that, outside of the right-wing media, has received little attention: Why are members of the security services leaking so much information that reflects so badly on their duly elected president?

This goes back to early January when U.S. intelligence agencies gave legitimacy to an unverified report about Trumps sexual behaviour during a 2013 visit to Moscow.

That report, prepared for Trumps political foes, had been kicking around Washington media circles for months. It gained life only when it was appended to a secret intelligence briefing note that was quickly leaked to CNN.

That leak, in turn, gave other media  which had been reluctant to publish the unsubstantiated allegations  an excuse to do so.

After all, the media reasoning went, if the security services were taking these unverified allegations seriously there must be something to them.

And so began the story that Trump is susceptible to Russian blackmail.

Then came the Flynn leaks. The new national security adviser was not popular with Americas numerous and powerful spy agencies. The feeling was apparently mutual.

Flynn had accused the Central Intelligence Agency of being overly political. Those inside the National Security Council that Flynn headed spoke of chaos and mismanagement.

Suddenly, the contents of Flynns private telephone conversations with Russias ambassador (who is routinely wiretapped by U.S. spy agencies) were being leaked. Flynn made the mistake of denying that he had discussed specific sanctions against Russia during these conversations. This resulted in more transcripts being leaked that showed he was lying. He was fired.

Then came new allegations attributed to unnamed intelligence sources. Senior Trump advisers had been talking to Russians during last years election campaign. Some of these Russians were spies.

The story ran in the New York Times under the headline: Trump campaign aides had repeated contacts with Russian intelligence.

The story itself pointed out that no one had broken any laws. It noted that there was no evidence the Trump aides had anything to do with Russias alleged hacking of the Democratic National Committees email account during the election campaign. It also pointed out that Russian intelligence officers dont usually advertise.

Its not like these people wear badges that say Im a Russian intelligence officer,  said one former Trump aide.

But the notion of Trump as some kind of Russian agent was further nourished.

On Thursday, came another leak. The Wall Street Journal reported that the intelligence agencies are withholding sensitive material from Trump because they fear it might be leaked or compromised.

Trumps political enemies, both Democrat and Republican, are calling for Congressional investigations.

There is just the slightest whiff of impeachment in the air.

The New York Times reports that the so-called legacy media are focused on the allegations against Trump while the right-leaning partisan media are asking why this material is being leaked.

If that has to be the divide (and as a charter member of the legacy media, I dont think it need be), then the right-leaning partisans are onto something.

Trumps ties to Russia are interesting, as are his sexual oddities. But if elements of Americas powerful intelligence agencies are trying to bring down an elected president, then the real story is much bigger.

Thomas Walkom appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

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On Nov. 1, Linn Benton Food Shares warehouse in Tangent received two truckloads of food and household supplies arranged by the local branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
If you ask the online trolls  and we strongly recommend you do not  they will tell you that M-103, the private members motion tabled in the House of Commons by Liberal MP Iqra Khalid, represents the beginning of the end of free speech in Canada and a step toward the countrys complete Islamicization.

This is an obviously ludicrous, though widely tweeted mischaracterization of what is in fact a mere motion, of no legal consequence, which carries a message of inclusion that in better times would seem rather anodyne: namely, Islamophobia has no place in Canada. Surely that is an opinion with which only the denizens of the internets darkest corners would disagree. Right?

Well, as it turns out, no. Every Conservative leadership candidate but one  the ever-decent Michael Chong  intends to oppose the motion on the grounds that it singles out one religion above others and is an attack on free speech. Never mind that the motion is clearly a gesture of solidarity in the wake of the recent murder of six people at a Quebec City mosque. Never mind that it does nothing whatsoever to constrain speech. Never mind that their opposition irresponsibly feeds the trolls.

Kellie Leitch, playing to type, launched a petition to stop the motion, accompanied by an image of a blue-eyed girl with tape over her mouth. Maxime Bernier suggested that it is a first step towards restricting our right to criticize Islam, while Kevin OLeary claimed it was a slap in the face to other religions. The Conservatives even tabled their own motion on Thursday, which condemns intolerance and racism of all kinds, but avoids any specific mention of Islamophobia.

In fact, theres good reason to specifically address Islamophobia when discussing intolerance in Canada today. It is true that Muslims are not the religious group most victimized by hate crimes (Jews continue to hold that unfortunate distinction), but crimes against Muslims have been rising at an alarming rate. Between 2012 and 2015, they doubled. And in the days since the mosque shooting, police in Quebec say theyve seen another sharp spike.

Especially as tens of thousands of Syrian and Iraqi refugees, mostly Muslims, settle into Canada, the message that this rising tide of intolerance reflects a fringe view, explicitly rejected by government, is an important one. Yet the Conservatives, ostrich-like, refuse to acknowledge this real and emerging problem, preferring instead to jealously contend that Muslims dont deserve their own special motion.

Their response is reminiscent of the petty grievances of the All Lives Matter movement, Heterosexual Pride Day, the Mens Rights movement and other crypto-bigoted counter-movements that seek to protect privilege in the guise of promoting equality.

The motion is a slap in the face to other religions in precisely the same way that the Black Lives Matter movement is a slap in the face to other races, which is to say, its not. Of course all religions deserve to be equally protected and racism of all kinds should be equally rebuked. But allowing these truisms to obscure the ways in which they remain unreflected in our society is perverse if we really mean them. By emphasizing a particular problem, we dont deny that other problems exist. Inclusion is not a zero-sum game.

The Tories refusal to face the emerging and unique challenge posed by Islamophobia is not simply silly; as Heritage Minister Melanie Joly suggested on Thursday, its also dangerous. Theyre scared of denouncing Islamophobia and by not denouncing Islamophobia they are actually contributing to the problem, she said. Our leaders should not be feeding whatever audience there is for hate. Appealing to citizens worst instincts may buy some votes, but at what cost?

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Re: Man rescues girl from fatal blaze, Feb. 15

Man rescues girl from fatal blaze, Feb. 15

It is just after 5:30 a.m. as I write this and I am doing so now because I cannot sleep. The tragic and needless fire deaths and injuries in Brampton on Tuesday are whirling through my head. They are needless and preventable.

Had a residential fire sprinkler system been installed, this fire would have been a non-event. There has never been an accidental fire in which multiple deaths occur where a working residential fire sprinkler system has been installed. More than 400 jurisdictions across North America require residential fire sprinkler systems in one- and two-family homes. None of those jurisdictions are in Ontario.

I know there are some groups and organizations who claim the cost of installing residential fire sprinkler systems is prohibitive, and they have the public, our politicians and our policy makers convinced of the same. But I am quite confident the family members and friends of the three deceased people in Brampton would have gladly spent the roughly $6,000 to have had residential fire sprinkler systems installed in their home at the time of its construction.

Sadly, their funerals are likely going to cost more than that. Not to mention the astronomical medical expenses for the injured girls recovery.

The requirement for residential fire sprinkler systems in newly constructed homes needs to be mandated in our building codes now. No more preventable fire deaths!

Brian Maltby, retired deputy fire chief, Brampton

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There is nothing new about critical readers expressing their concerns about what they read in the Star in strong words. My in-box, and those of most other journalists here, is evidence of that.

What is new in recent weeks however is the fact some of those critics are increasingly hurling a new term of insult our way to express disdain about what they read in the Toronto Star: Fake News.

We are seeing this degrading label now in emails, in Facebook and Instagram comments and in tweets directed at the Star and its journalists.

Go report some real news and stop contributing to fake news, one such reader told Daniel Dale, the Stars Washington correspondent.

Sounds like an alternative fact to me. Fake news, said a reader who disagreed with a report on road tolls written by David Rider, the Stars City Hall bureau chief.

More fake news from the Toronto Star. Sad, said a reader critical of a Washington Post wire service report about President Donald Trumps first week in office.

Sadly, your biased, incorrect and fake news is the reason your newspaper is struggling, another told me. Readers want facts.

Here are the facts: The charge of fake news is now being thrown at the mainstream media, by largely partisan critics, as an all-encompassing derisive epithet, largely devoid of its original, and accurate, meaning.

The new U.S. president and his followers have clearly co-opted these words in their campaign to delegitimize the press and discredit legitimate reporting that seeks to hold the new administration to account  as journalists should and must in upholding their responsibilities within a democracy.

Want more facts? Fake news is not news you happen to disagree with. And nor is it news from responsible news organizations that includes mistakes, made honestly and corrected honestly in line with the journalistic commitment to accuracy and fairness. Unfortunately, I have seen this insult used in regard to the Stars journalism in both of these circumstances, in some cases from people I would have expected to know better, such as a university journalism professor and a former newspaper publisher.

While real fake news is a matter of legitimate concern, the distinction about what is and is not fake news matters much in this troubling time when we face an assault on truth and daily debate about facts and alternative facts in what is increasingly coming to be regarded as a post-truth world. Easy, derisive labels that allow critics to dismiss outright information they disagree with, or news reports they regard as substandard, seem to me to be dangerously reductive.

So, what is fake news?

To answer that accurately, we must look to Craig Silverman the Canadian journalist who first wrote about the phenomena of fake news for BuzzFeed News in November. Silverman, who has achieved global recognition for this important work, exposed the reality of fraudulent news, deliberately created and shared, largely on Facebook, to gain advertising dollars. Much of what he discovered was pro-Trump fake news that cast his opponent, Hillary Clinton, in a negative light with clearly false information.

Silvermans reporting provided a fascinating look into the digital media universe and the ease with which wholly made-up news could be spread  and seemingly, believed. This ecosystem of fabricated information presented as serious news continues to be a significant concern in discerning the credibility of news sources.

But, almost as soon as the term fake news became part of our lexicon it was co-opted by Trump for his own ends, casting aspersions on the credibility of legitimate news organizations committed to ethical standards of journalism.

Who could forget Trump, during a televised press conference refusing to take a question from a CNN reporter, telling him, You are fake news. Or, his many tweets labeling the New York Times carefully sourced journalism as fake news. He was at it again this week, tweeting Thursday about FAKE NEWS media, which makes up stories and sources.

Silverman is clear about how he defines fake news: My definition of fake news has three criteria: it has to be 100-percent false  not a news article or partisan site that gets a few facts wrong; it has to be created consciously to be false; and there has to be an economic motive, he said this week at an event at University of Chicagos Institute of Politics.

Silverman, now media editor of BuzzFeed News, is well aware that the term has been exploited by critics of legitimate news and will likely continue to be. I think the term fake news has almost been rendered meaningless at this point, he said.

Indeed. I have yet to see any validity in any of the fake news charges lobbed our way. While it should go without saying, I think its safe to say, the Toronto Star is not in the business of fake news. While this news organizations work does sometimes fall short of its own journalistic standards, to suggest that the Star would deliberately publish false information is wrong. We dont make stuff up.

And, thats a fact.

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Stada Arzneimittel confirmed a third potential bidder has expressed interest in the German generic drug maker, lifting shares to an all-time high.

Stada late Thursday said that it had received another legally non-binding conditional expression of interest to acquire up to 100% of the shares at an indicative takeover price of 58 ($61.79) a share. Private equity firms Cinven Partners has also made a bid for the company.

"Stada is still weighing up its options on how to react in the best interest of the company," Stada said. "It is not yet possible to foresee whether one or more takeover offers of the three potential bidders will indeed materialize."

The third bidder could be Advent International Corp., Bain Capital LLC, CVC Capital Partners Ltd. and Permira, the Financial Times reported.

Stada shares hit a record high Friday, rising more than 2% at opening to change hands at 57.3, giving the company a market value of 3.53 billion.

Stada said Sunday that Cinven offered 56 per share, a roughly 12.7% premium over its Friday closing price of 49.70. The offer values Stada at about 3.49 billion. Stada did not disclose any information except the other bid, except that both were nonbinding offers.

Shares in the drug maker rose more than 13% on Monday to as much as 56.98 and have stayed at the 56 level for much of the week. Shares have gained 29% over the past three months.

The bid follows a dispute between Stada and its largest shareholder, Active Ownership Capital S.a.r.l. (AOC), an unusually public shareholder conflict in Germany. AOC successfully lobbied for the ouster of Stada chairman Martin Abend, although it failed to fully overhaul Stada's board. AOC had sought to replace six members of the nine-person board, but shareholders only elected one of AOC's candidates during the 14-hour general meeting.

"The complete replacement of the representatives of the shareholders in Stada's Supervisory Board is an important step to Stada's long-term positive development," AOC said in a July 25 statement.
Astrazeneca (AZN) stock rose Friday after the company said that its Lynparza drug fared well in clinical trials of its effectiveness as a breast cancer treatment.

Lynparza showed statistically meaningful improvement in survival for patients with germline BRCA mutated breast cancer, the company said. BRCA mutated breast cancer is where a hereditary gene mutates to produce breast-ovarian cancer syndrome in the body.

The announcement came just a day after the FDA granted approval for Siliq, a psoriasis treatment, which triggered a $130 million payment from development partner Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) .

Astra stock rose 2.5% by noon in London to change hands at 4,634 pence each, which compared well against the 0.51% gain for the Stoxx Europe TMI Pharma index, and brought Astra's year-to-date return to 4.8%.

Friday's gain erases losses racked up in the previous session, after Astra went ex-dividend, while the encouraging drug-development news might help to ease recent concerns over earnings momentum at the firm.

"As a reminder the AstraZeneca turnaround story largely hinges on what happens to its oncology portfolio and progress with Lynparza is an important element of that turnaround," said Alistair Campbell, an analyst at Berenberg.

The Anglo-Swedish pharma conglomerate left some investors disappointed in early February when it delivered guidance for core earnings in 2017.

Core earnings per share are expected to be below $4.20, the threshold for long term incentives for CEO Pascal Soriot to vest.

Although psoriasis and breast cancer treatments are an important part of the Astra portfolio, the market is watching closely for the outcome of Mystic trials, an immuno-oncology drug designed to treat lung cancer.

Astra has said that it expects to have results for the trials in mid 2017, in time for regulatory submissions to be made at some time in the second-half.

"The real prize is the high risk / high reward potential for I-O to work in all comers and across multiple indications, at which point AZ is a 60+ stock in our view," said Roger Franklin, an analyst at Liberum Capital in London.
Editors' pick: Originally published Feb. 17.

For years, Tim Cook has argued that India is Apple's (AAPL) next big emerging markets growth opportunity as its huge population, growing middle class and 4G network rollouts create a large base of consumers able and willing to buy a high-end smartphone. But compared with the tremendous success seen in China, the going has been fairly slow thanks to economic and other factors.

Apple's reported plans to manufacture its 4-inch iPhone SE in India could give these efforts a boost, while also allowing the company to diversify its manufacturing base a little at a time when trade tensions with China appear set to escalate.

India's Economic Times reports Apple plans to have the iPhone SE, which features a $399 starting price in the U.S., produced by Taiwanese contract manufacturer Wistron in the Indian IT hub of Bangalore. Notably, Apple is reportedly likely to push forward with the plant without waiting for the Indian government to sign off on tax breaks and other concessions it had sought.

In late January, The Wall Street Journalreported that Apple is closing in on a deal to manufacture unspecified goods in India, while quoting a government official as suggesting many of the company's incentive demands are "workable." Apple was said to be seeking a 15-year tax holiday on component and equipment imports.

Tax holiday or not, there's another big incentive for Apple to manufacture iPhones in India: Locally-produced phones aren't subject to the tariffs (generally around 10-12%) applied to imported devices. That's a big deal in a country where the nominal per capita income is still only around $1,600 -- less than one-fifth of China's $8,100 -- and an estimated 70-80% of phones sell for less than 10,000 rupees ($149).

Jim Cramer and the AAP team hold a position in Apple for their Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells AAPL? Learn more now.

The cost-sensitivity of the Indian market is a big reason why Apple still is only one of the market's top-five smartphone vendors, per IDC. The research firm estimates Samsung led the market with a 25.1% unit share, and was followed by China's Xiaomi, Lenovo, Oppo and Vivo.

With the government's demonetization efforts weighing on consumer spending, smartphone shipments were nearly flat annually at 25.8 million. For the whole of 2016, they grew a modest 5.2% to 109.1 million -- a substantial number, but much less than the 467.3 million smartphones IDC believes were shipped in China, where Apple was the 4th-biggest vendor on a unit basis and perhaps the leader on a revenue basis.

On the bright side, IDC's numbers do suggest Apple has plenty of room to grow in India via both share gains and higher penetration rates. That is, if the company can hit the right price points and convince more middle-class Indians it's worth paying a premium for the iPhone's features, user experience and app/service ecosystem.

During Apple's January 31 earnings call, Cook mentioned Apple achieved record Indian sales during the December quarter, and that local Mac and iPad sales were up double-digits (nothing similar was said about iPhone sales). He also promised Apple would "invest significantly" in India, and said it's "in discussions on a number of things" in the country, including retail stores.

Aside from being able to sell iPhones more cheaply, Apple, whose brand still isn't nearly as powerful in India as it is in China, would get a nice local PR boost from manufacturing goods at a Bangalore plant. It also might be able to obtain lower labor costs than in China, where wages have risen substantially over the last several years.

But there are also some big challenges involved in moving iPhone manufacturing away from China. The size of the Chinese labor pool that Apple's contract manufacturers can tap on demand -- not just assembly line workers, but also engineers and technicians -- gives it a big incentive to keep the lion's share of iPhone production in the Middle Kingdom. So does the fact that so many plants from other supply chain partners are located in China.

That's probably why we aren't seeing any reports about Apple manufacturing its flagship iPhones in India. And why -- in spite of President Trump's push to get Apple to manufacture iPhones in the U.S. and speculation that Foxconn will soon make big U.S. investments -- CFO Luca Maestri recently downplayed the likelihood of Apple shifting much of its manufacturing to the U.S., noting the iPhone's supply chain is largely in Asia.

But compared with flagship models, manufacturing the SE somewhere other than China could be a little easier, since it relies heavily on components and manufacturing processes previously used by other iPhones. And compared with the U.S., India is fairly close to supply chain partners operating out of China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.

With global smartphone shipment growth having slowed to a single-digit pace and Chinese iPhone sales pressured by intense competition, there's plenty of incentive for Apple to step up its investments in emerging markets with low iPhone penetration rates. In most cases, it won't make sense to set up a local iPhone factory as part of the effort, but India is arguably an exception.
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Trinity Industries, Inc. provides rail transportation products and services under the TrinityRail name in North America. It operates in two segments, Railcar Leasing and Management Services Group, and Rail Products Group. The Railcar Leasing and Management Services Group segment leases freight and tank railcars; originates and manages railcar leases for third-party investors; and provides fleet maintenance and management services. As of December 31, 2021, it had a fleet of 106,970 owned or leased railcars. This segment serves industrial shipper and railroad companies operating in agriculture, construction and metals, consumer products, energy, and refined products and chemicals markets. The Rail Products Group segment manufactures freight and tank railcars for transporting various liquids, gases, and dry cargo; and offers railcar maintenance and modification services. This segment serves railroads, leasing companies, and industrial shippers of products in the agriculture, construction and metals, consumer products, energy, and refined products and chemicals markets. It sells or leases products and services through its own sales personnel and independent sales representatives. Trinity Industries, Inc. was incorporated in 1933 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
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GSK plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the creation, discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of pharmaceutical products, vaccines, over-the-counter medicines, and health-related consumer products in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Pharmaceuticals, Pharmaceuticals R&D, Vaccines, and Consumer Healthcare. The company offers pharmaceutical products comprising medicines in the therapeutic areas, such as respiratory, HIV, immuno-inflammation, oncology, anti-viral, central nervous system, cardiovascular and urogenital, metabolic, anti-bacterial, and dermatology. It also provides consumer healthcare products in wellness, oral health, nutrition, and skin health categories. The company offers its consumer healthcare products in the form of nasal sprays, tablets, syrups, lozenges, gum and trans-dermal patches, caplets, infant syrup drops, liquid filled suspension, wipes, gels, effervescents, toothpastes, toothbrushes, mouthwashes, denture adhesives and cleansers, topical creams and non-medicated patches, lip balm, gummies, and soft chews. It has collaboration agreements with 23andMe; Lyell Immunopharma, Inc.; Novartis; Sanofi SA; Surface Oncology; Progentec Diagnostics, Inc.; Alector, Inc.; and CureVac AG., as well as strategic partnership with IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. and Vir Biotechnology, Inc. The company was formerly known as GlaxoSmithKline plc and changed its name to GSK plc in May 2022. GSK plc was founded in 1715 and is headquartered in Brentford, the United Kingdom.
Canada should extend its UNIFIER military training mission to support Ukraine in confronting Russian aggression.

This was said in the statement by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"The Armed Forces of Ukraine and members of other law enforcement agencies continue to protect their country from Russian aggression, so a significant Canadian military support would be important," the UCC reports.

As noted, the best way to ensure peace and stability in Ukraine and in the whole region is to develop defensive capacities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by "well trained and equipped soldiers." "It is important that Canada continue training Ukrainian servicemen until 2020, maintaining at the current level or even increasing the number of Canadian soldiers involved," the Congress stressed.

ol
Chief of the General Staff, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine General Viktor Muzhenko states that Russia has opened 37 criminal cases against Ukrainian servicepersons.

We are not talking about 6, we are talking about more than 30 servicepersons, against whom the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has opened criminal cases. According to our information, there are 37 such people." Muzhenko said during a meeting with military attaches of foreign states, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

According to Muzhenko, the law enforcement agencies of Ukraine must do the relevant job and collect appropriate information about the innocence of these serviceperson, who serve their country.

iy
Ukraine has significantly increased a share of the nuclear energy in the overall energy balance of the country.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko stated this at a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) on Thursday, February 16, the presidents press service reports.

I am pleased to inform that we have increased the share of nuclear energy in the overall energy balance. From 47% we are rapidly approaching 60%. This is millions of tons of coal Ukraine no longer needs, he said.

President Poroshenko welcomed the development of projects on modernization of generating capacities that use anthracite coal and transfer to the coal of the gas group.

It goes about a significant increase in the coefficient of efficiency and operation with any types of fuel. This work must be started immediately despite the fact that it will take 2-3 years, the President said.

In addition, President Poroshenko informed about his agreements with Polish and Chinese partners regarding the modernization of Ukrainian energy companies.

We have discussed the attraction of credit resources with my Polish colleagues and the opportunity of redirecting Chinese loans with President of China Xi Jinping. There are all necessary positions for that, Petro Poroshenko said.

iy
Ukraine will consider a possibility of purchasing coal from South Africa, China and Australia.

Energy and Coal Industry Minister Ihor Nasalyk said this following a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) on Thursday, February 17, Hromadske TV reports.

Well have a national reserve. Funds are allocated for the national reserve of anthracite coal. There are not so many suitable options yet. These are South Africa, Australia and China, he said.

Also, the situation connected with the blockade of energy system was discussed during the NSDC meeting.

As earlier reported, the Cabinet of Ministers planned to review a list of goods allowed to transport through a contact line in Donbas.

iy
A separate five-sided meeting on Ukraine was held during the NATO defense ministers summit in Brussels.

Ukrinform learnt this from the Defence Ministry of Canada.

"In Brussels, Minister of National Defence of Canada Harjit Sajjan took part in the meeting of representatives of five countries which provide the greatest assistance to the military and the security services of Ukraine: Canada, Lithuania, Poland, the UK and the USA," the Ministrys press service reports.

During this meeting, Sajjan assured of further Canadas support for Ukraine. "Minister Sajjan assured of unwavering support for Ukraine  both in terms of assistance in preservation and protection of its sovereignty and provision of support for implementation of key reforms in Ukraine," the Defence Ministry notes.

ol
02/17/2017

By Katharine Webster

Student activism matters.

Thats the hopeful message former Greeley Peace Scholar John Prendergast delivered on a return visit to campus last week, citing examples from the civil rights to the LGBTQ rights movements.

In nearly every social movement, students play the leading  the crucial  role, he told a crowd of students and faculty in OLeary Library.

Thats because politicians are willing to listen to students  in part because they see students as future voters, in part because they often feel an emotional connection to their own youthful idealism and activism, he said.

Students also can bring pressure to bear on seemingly distant problems if theyre active and organized, he said. One example: Joseph Kony, who abducted tens of thousands of children, the boys to serve as soldiers in his Lords Resistance Army and the girls as sex slaves. Konys militia terrorized northern Uganda, displacing some 2 million people, starting in 1986. Yet his atrocities were virtually ignored outside Africa until the nonprofit Invisible Children released a short documentary about him in 2012.

The short documentary "Kony 2012," which spurred a massive student movement to end kidnappings of children in Uganda.



Within days, the documentary went viral among young people, who formed Kony 2012 clubs on campuses from middle schools to universities to advocate for his capture. Suddenly, stopping Kony became a priority for Congress and President Obama. Although Kony still has not been captured, his army has shrunk from a high of 30,000 mostly child soldiers to 200 to 300 people, and Ugandas refugees have returned to their homes, Prendergast said.

This happened because of this grassroots movement of young people, he said. When students are active and organized, they can actually make a difference halfway around the world.

Prendergast, who got his start as a student activist in the mid-1980s pushing for U.S. corporate divestment from South Africas brutal apartheid regime, has continued to work for peace and social justice in Africa for more than three decades.

The founder of the Enough Project, a nonprofit focused on ending genocide in Africa, he has worked for the Clinton and Obama administrations, the National Security Council, UNICEF and Human Rights Watch, among other organizations.

Prendergast was the universitys Greeley Scholar for Peace Studies in 2012 and 2013, when he resided on campus and led programs for students, faculty, staff and the community. The Greeley Scholar committee, the Peace and Conflict Studies Institute and the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences sponsored his latest talk. He also visited classes in African politics and human rights taught by visiting Asst. Prof. Noel Twagiramungu.

Prendergast is a board member and strategic adviser for Not On Our Watch, the humanitarian organization founded by George Clooney, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Brad Pitt, David Pressman and Jerry Weintraub. And thats the other half of the equation for successful activism, he told students: strategic partnerships with celebrities willing to use their outsized platforms to promote a cause.

His initial involvement was with Angelina Jolie, early in her tenure as ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Celebrities are particularly helpful in generating interest in Washington, he said, describing how doors swung open on Capitol Hill for Ryan Gosling after Prendergast took him to Uganda because of Goslings concerns about child soldiers.

Photo by Tory Germann Photo by Tory Germann John Prendergast talks with Ph.D. candidate in biomedical engineering Hagir Mohamed, who is from Sudan.



Prendergasts current project is the Conflict-Free Campus Initiative, a student-driven movement that asks universities to buy and recommend electronics from companies, such as Apple, that make sure conflict minerals  tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold mined by warlords in the Congo  are not in their supply chain.

The bloody conflict in the Congo has killed more than 5.4 million people, and its fueled by illegal mining and cheap sales of those minerals, just as that conflict and earlier African wars were fueled by the sales of so-called blood diamonds until students across the U.S. and Europe demanded international monitoring systems to exclude them from the marketplace, he said.

We enjoy the cheap goods and services that come to us through what is often violent and illicit exploitation of natural resources, whether we like it or not, he said. Because of this connection we have to human exploitation, we have a responsibility to speak out and demand products that are not destroying people and their lives or the environment.

Hagir Mohamed, a Ph.D. candidate in biomedical engineering from White Nile, a state in Sudan that borders South Sudan, said she was grateful for the light Prendergast shed on conflicts in Africa, including his discussion of the partly failed international effort to end the genocide in Darfur and the ongoing conflict between Sudan and South Sudan.

Injustice in Sudan is everywhere, and any voice outside supporting us makes a difference, she said. Public services in most towns outside the capital, Khartoum, are collapsing because of the conflict and international sanctions.
Samsung Group's heir-apparent Lee Jae-Yong, right, leaving after attending a court hearing in Seoul on Feb. 16, 2017. Lee was arrested Friday as part of a probe into corruption and influence-peddling that caused President Park Geun-Hye to be impeached. (Yonhap/AFP/Getty Images)

Samsungs de facto head, Lee Jae-yong, was arrested in Seoul on Friday morning on charges of bribery over his alleged role in an explosive corruption scandal that has riveted South Korea.

The 48-year-old heir apparent to the Samsung empire was taken into custody after the courts, which had rejected a special prosecutors first request, granted a second request to issue a warrant for his detention.

That means that both the head of South Koreas largest conglomerate and the countrys president have fallen  at least temporarily  in the widening scandal that revolves around allegations of bribery and influence at the highest levels.

The rationale for and the necessity of his arrest is acknowledged considering the new charges and additional evidence collected, Seoul Central District Court said in a text message sent to reporters, according to the Yonhap News Agency.

In a one-line statement, Samsung said: We will do our best to ensure that the truth is revealed in future court proceedings.

Prosecutors added charges of hiding criminal proceeds and violating the law on transferring assets overseas to their initial charges against Lee of bribery, embezzlement and perjury. In December, the court said that prosecutors had not made a sufficient case for Lees detention, an interim victory for Samsung.

[South Korean prosecutors seek warrant to arrest Samsung head for bribery]

The case relates to an ever-widening political scandal revolving around President Park Geun-hye and her secret confidante, Choi Soon-sil, who is accused of profiting off her relationship with the president.

The National Assembly voted in December to impeach Park over her alleged role in the case, leading her to be suspended from office while the Constitutional Court decides whether to approve her impeachment. Its ruling is expected early next month.

Choi, who is on trial for bribery, coercion and abuse of power and has denied all charges, is alleged to have extracted money from major South Korean businesses as payment for using her connections to win favorable treatment from the government for the companies.

Samsung  upon Lees order  is accused of paying about $36 million in bribes to Choi in exchange for the governments support for a crucial merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015.

[For South Koreas Samsung, 2016 was an explosive year. Literally.]

Although Lee is technically vice chairman of the group, he has in effect been running the company for almost three years while his ailing father lies unconscious in the hospital.

Many of the allegations in the case revolve around the Lee familys suspected efforts to keep control of the corporate behemoth.

In return for the $36 million in payments, Choi allegedly put pressure on authorities to approve the $8 billion merger of two Samsung units, part of a plan to strengthen the familys hold on the group, which it controls through a complex web of cross-shareholdings, despite owning only a tiny stake of it.

The National Pension Service, a major Samsung shareholder, is suspected of supporting the merger on Chois instruction. The head of the service, a former health minister, has been indicted in relation to the scandal.

At a parliamentary hearing in December, Lee denied being involved in any bribery scheme but admitted that Samsung had given a $900,000 horse to Chois daughter, an Olympic equestrian hopeful.

Read more

South Korean court to begin considering President Park Geun-hyes impeachment

Scandal shows that Korean disease of corruption is far from cured

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
Kraft Heinz, which generates the majority of its revenue in the United States, is hoping to expand its international reach by buying British-Dutch competitor Unilever. (Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters)

Kraft Heinz, the maker of Velveeta, Kool-Aid and Grey Poupon, on Friday said it had made an offer to buy Unilever for $143 billion in what could be the largest food and beverage deal of all time.

Unilever, however, said it isnt interested in the $50-per-share deal, which represented an 18 percent premium on Thursdays share price. The British-Dutch company, which has 400 brands including Hellmans, Ben & Jerrys and Vaseline, said it rejected the proposal as it sees no merit, either financial or strategic, for Unilevers shareholders.

Unilever, the company added, does not see the basis for any further discussions.

But Chicago-Pittsburgh-based Kraft says it isnt taking no for an answer, and analysts say it is likely that the company will sweeten its cash-and-stock offer as it looks to Unilever to help expand its international reach.

Kraft said in a statement that it is working to reach agreement on the terms of a transaction.

If the two packaged-food giants were to reach a deal, it would bring together hundreds of iconic brands, including Lunchables and Lipton, and Maxwell House and Marmite. The combined company would have annual sales of nearly $85 billion a year, just behind Nestles 2016 revenue of about $89 billion.

The purchase would also help U.S.-centric Kraft Heinz tap into European and Asian markets, which make up about 70 percent of Unilevers annual revenue, and would help it expand beyond food and drink products.

Geographically speaking, these two companies are very complementary, said Paul Hickman, an analyst at Edison Investment Research in London. You can see how putting them together would make sense.

Packaged-food companies have been under pressure to consolidate in recent years amid slowing growth, increased competition and heightened demand for more-healthful foods. Still, analysts said they were surprised by the offer. Kraft Heinz is in the midst of cutting costs following the multibillion-dollar deal that brought together the J. Heinz Co. with Kraft Foods in 2015. Today, Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway and Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital own about 51 percent of Kraft Heinz. Buffett sits on the companys board.

For me, the deal makes no sense, said Michael Hewson, chief analyst for CMC Markets in London. Kraft could get a very big dose of indigestion if they decided to pony up for this one.

[Nestle to move U.S. headquarters to Arlington, bringing 750 jobs]

For one, he said, Unilever  with about $58.7 billion in annual revenue and 168,000 employees  is larger than Kraft Heinz, which has $26.49 billion in annual revenue and 42,000 employees.

Also, the merger of two of the worlds largest packaged-food companies could raise concerns among antitrust regulators in the United States and Europe, Hewson said. And, he added, Unilever shareholders could be wary of the deal.

Look at the way Unilever has performed over the last 20 years: Steady income growth  through recessions, through booms, he said. Im not convinced long-term Unilever investors would want to pass that up.

But the markets have reacted favorably to the prospect of a Kraft Heinz takeover of Unilever. Shares of Unilever rose 15.3 percent to close at an all-time high of $48.79 Friday following the announcement, while Kraft Heinzs stock was up about 11 percent.

Kraft Heinz has a very strong track record of acquisitions and being able to cut costs and create value by doing that, said Brittany Weissman, an analyst for Edward Jones in St. Louis. While Unilever might not be exactly what people were expecting, Kraft Heinz would still be able to find tremendous value in an acquisition like this.

Hewson, though, said that Unilever shareholders may look to Cadbury, which Kraft bought in 2010, as a cautionary tale.

Kraft Foods had originally swooped in with a $16.2 billion takeover offer, which the British candymaker emphatically rejected.

Krafts offer does not come remotely close to reflecting the true value of our company, and involves the unattractive prospect of the absorption of Cadbury into a low-growth conglomerate business model, Cadbury Chairman Roger Carr was quoted saying at the time.

[This beloved grocery chain is the latest company to face Trump-related boycotts]

But three months later, the two companies had reached a deal. Kraft acquired Cadbury for $18.9 billion, and soon after shuttered a longtime British factory that it had promised to keep open. (Cadbury is now part of Mondelez International, following a 2012 spinoff of Krafts confectionary business.)

Kraft Heinz is a bit of a corporate raider, Hewson said. Theres still a nasty aftertaste in the mouth after what happened with Cadbury in 2010.

On Thursday, Kraft Heinz reported a 44 percent increase in annual revenue, which rose to $26.5 billion in 2016. The company also reported a profit of $3.64 billion for the year. A few weeks earlier, Kraft Heinz had announced that it would be partnering with Oprah Winfrey to create a line of ready-to-eat refrigerated meals as it looks to add more fresh fare and nutritious foods to its lineup.

With Unilever, the company could grow further by making the transition to household and personal goods such as Q-Tips, Dove and Axe. Analysts said they expected Kraft Heinz to ratchet up its offer for the company. Erin Lash, an analyst for Morningstar in Chicago, said Kraft would likely have to offer $165 billion to $175 billion to successfully woo Unilever.

The takeover bid follows in the footsteps of Anheuser-Busch InBev SAs $123 billion purchase of competitor SAB Miller Plc, which was completed in October.

This is already a large deal, Weissman said, and its likely to get even larger.

This is clearly just the first roll of dice for Kraft, Hickman said. My sense is that this will run and run.

Read more:

French manicures, Bud Light and fly fishing: How Trump staffers are changing Washington

Student debt now affects a staggering number of elderly Americans

Facebook wants to help you find a job  even if youre not looking for one
Two-thirds of the way into High Noon, Glenn Frankels aromatic blend of politics, personalities and showbiz, the book arrives at its most fascinating mash-up. This comes in the fall of 1951 at the mansion of Hollywood composer Dimitri Tiomkin. The maestro owes his success to westerns such as Red River, though  as with many of the movie folk who populate this teeming read  his roots go back to European Jewry. Tiomkin had his bar mitzvah in pre-Soviet Russia, and he still tends to massacre English. Yet his latest assignment calls for a cowboy song.

The right music, the producers believe, might salvage a western that the head of Columbia Pictures regards as a piece of crap. Before long, Tiomkin manages to come up with a fresh tune, and the song gets its first run-through in a Russian accent contorted into a tortured Texas Panhandle drawl that knocks everyone out of their chairs. Then Tex Ritter comes in and works up a treatment no less than devastating. Do Not Forsake Me, O My Darlin  becomes an essential ingredient of High Noon, a movie still ranked among the very best, and  more than that  a ready-to-hand metaphor for good and evil in a showdown.

The combustion that occurred in Tiomkins music room that day was just part of what made everything fizz, according to producer Stanley Kramer. Kramer, too, belongs in the Hollywood pantheon, and he had a hand in every part of the process. In particular, he risked giving the marshal role to Gary Cooper, thought by many to be over the hill. Yet Kramer admitted eventually that he couldnt figure out the secret to his 1952 hit, at once a compelling story and a haunting vision: I cant tell you why, and thats as honest as I can be.

For a fuller answer, best to pick up this latest effort from the Pulitzer-winning Frankel. I doubt anyone can come closer to the heat of creative ferment.

Frankels fresh understanding, to be sure, owes a lot to plain old digging. A former Washington Post reporter, he unearthed Kramers confession of helplessness, for instance, in a taped conversation that had languished for decades. The provenance is clarified in one of the texts many hundreds of endnotes  and his bibliography is equally exhaustive.

The heaps of research, however, never snuff out whats entertaining about scenes such as the culture clash around the emigres piano. Frankels grasp of cinemas collaborative effort leads to a juggling act, switching points of view among the films chief contributors. In time, screenwriter Carl Foreman emerges as the storys hero, but everyone enjoys sensitive handling, while helping to build unusual suspense.

The movie started out as the ugliest duckling of them all . . . shot on a shoestring budget. Its neglect damaged the fruitful partnership of Kramer and Foreman and created risks even for its aging star  the first of the major players Frankel examines. That is, he starts with the fun stuff: the Hollywood gossip. He drops so many names that they even include a couple of women who never bedded the handsome Coop.

Before long, however, gloomier business looms  the worst threat to High Noon or any creative fusion. In 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) decamps in Los Angeles, intent on rooting out commies in the film industry. Although the Red Scares trail of betrayal and ruin looks as heartbreaking as ever, the story cant help but feel a tad rehashed. Frankels chapters on the hearings and their consequences rely on the same intense research as the rest (including material never published before), but they lack the warmth of the biographical passages.

Still, Foreman makes a fascinating case study. Summoned before the committee in the middle of the film shoot, he invites not just pity but also respect. He earns the right to claim, years later, I became the Gary Cooper character.

Even in rerun, the sheer wickedness of HUACs witch hunt generates terrific drama  and offers reassurance. Though Frankel began this sumptuous history long before the latest election, he ends up reminding us that 2016 was far from the first time politicians trafficked in lies and fear, and showing us how, nonetheless, people of integrity came together to do exemplary work.

John Dominis book is Movieola!

On Feb. 25 at 6 p.m., Glenn Frankel will be at Politics & Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW.
Wadada Leo Smiths music is among the most abstruse, demanding jazz out there. And organizing it into a four-hour, 19-part work like 2012s Ten Freedom Summers doesnt ease the effort. Hence, one doesnt expect to go into a performance even of excerpts from that work and be deeply moved  but, at least on Wednesday night at Georgetown Day School, one would be wrong.

Trumpeter-composer Smiths concert was a keynote of GDSs Social Justice Days, and it followed a talk by Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery on the lessons he learned reporting out of Ferguson, Mo., in 2014. Perhaps it was this context that brought emotional impact to Smiths music. Perhaps, too, it was the extraordinary musicians assembled for the night: a nonet featuring two tenor saxophonists (Brad Linde, a GDS teacher who organized the concert, and Patrick Booth), second trumpeter Ryan Frazier, guitarist Aaron Quinn, cellist Janel Leppin, pianist Erika Dohi, bassist Luke Stewart and drummer Jonathan Taylor. Individually and collectively, they played magnificently.

[Review: A reporter on the front lines of police killings of African Americans]

But the power of Smiths own expressiveness cant be dismissed. The opening Dred Scott: 1857 began with a maelstrom of cymbals, guitar, cello and bass (pianist Dohi was also playing, but inaudibly); the horns then entered, hard to distinguish in the whirlwind. But Smith stopped them all short with a series of piercing, painful shrieks. He went on, playing anguish on his horn with almost supernatural directness (amplified by the bands silence).

The catharsis continued. Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, 381 Days found the ensemble droning softly in one key, Smith playing gorgeous figures in another. The piece was somber, but also an unmistakable call to arms. The sidemen shared in Smiths passion, though perhaps none more than Stewart, whose look of concentration as he bowed the bass was complemented by a physical intensity that shook the wool hat on his head.

Democracy, which began with the first true cacophony of the evening (Smith later explained that it was a metaphor for democracy: a scattered dialogue about nothing), gave way to the mad fingering and strong, unbending tone of Fraziers trumpet; the leaders trumpet would present the climax with a coarse, unaccompanied groan. The finale, Malik Al Shabazz and the People of the Shahada, was mainly a feature for Linde, who  before he was capped by a stunning diminuendo from Dohi  elevated his sax slowly from its lowest range to its highest, and, not coincidentally, from sorrow to hope.

Speaking to the audience afterward (in keeping with the social justice theme), Smith emphasized the opening Dred Scott as representing the first debate about race in our country. He opened up multiple cans of worms that are still happening today . . . we should do something about it.

I think we should wake up.


Marsha Mason headlines Lillian Hellmans Watch on the Rhine at Arena Stage. (C. Stanley Photography)

The weekly feature of whats happening on Washington stages.

Political crises grab the spotlight this week as Mike Bartletts King Charles III imagines a not-too-distant monarchy crisis in England and Lillian Hellmans 1941 Watch on the Rhine prods Americans to take a stand.

Three to catch before they close: Whos Afraid of Virgina Woolf?, Roe and Hooded.

Want DC Theater Friday delivered to your email inbox Thursday evening? Subscribe here.

PREVIEWING

Brother Mario. Super Mario Brothers meets Anton Chekhov? Thats the angle in the latest offbeat adventure from Flying V Theatre. Feb. 23-March 12 at The Writers Center, 4508 Walsh St., Bethesda. Tickets $20-$30. Visit flyingvtheatre.com.

The Gospel at Colonus. The Oedipus tragedy told gospel style. With William T. Newman, Jr.; Jennifer L. Nelson directs. Feb. 23-March 26 at the Gunston Arts Center Theater II, 2700 S. Lang St., Arlington. Tickets $30-$35. Call 703-998-4555 or visit wscavantbard.org.

H2O. The pseudonymous Jane Martin drama about an action movie star who takes to the stage to play Hamlet, and who approves of a Christian actress as his Ophelia. Through March 5 at Rep Stage, 10901 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia, Md. Tickets $15-$40. Call 443-518-1500 or visit repstage.org.

[Celia Wren reviews the 2013 H2O in Shepherdstown, W.Va.]

The How and the Why. Sarah Treems play about two female biologists is brainy and absorbing, Celia Wren wrote when it ran at 1st Stage in 2011 after premiering at New Jerseys McCarter Theatre, where Theater Js new artistic director, Adam Immerwahr, worked at the time. Theater Js new production features Katie deBuys and Valerie Leonard, directed by Shirley Serotsky. Through March 12 at Theater J, 1529 16th St. NW. Tickets $30-$64. Call 202-777-3210 or visit theaterj.org.

[Geoffrey Himes on The How and the Why playwright Sarah Treem ]

[Celia Wrens 2011 review of The How and the Why]

Holly Twyford as Martha with Gregory Linington as George in Edward Albees Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, at Fords Theatre through Feb. 19. (Scott Suchman)

The Select (The Sun Also Rises). Elevator Repair Service, the Manhattan experimentalists who made theater by reading all of The Great Gastby on stage and by adapting a Supreme Court argument (the 2014 Arguendo at Woolly Mammoth), brings its staging of the 1926 Ernest Hemingway novel to the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Feb. 18-April 2 at the Lansburgh Theatre, 450 Seventh St. NW. Tickets $44-$118. Call 202-547-1122 or visit shakespearetheatre.org .

[Elevator Repair Services John Collins interviewed in 2014]

[Washington Ballets 2013 The Sun Also Rises]

The Taming of the Shrew. Synetic Theater revives its 2012 Hollywood-themed staging of Shakespeares comedy, with lots of cast changes but still with Irina Tsikurishvili and Ryan Sellers as the battling couple. Dudgeon achieves a sexy new high in the scenery-quaking workouts, Peter Marks wrote in 2012. The bare-midriffed tantrums of the ageless Irina Tsikurishvili send the actor-dancers flying  and an audiences blood pressure rising  in this hyper-aerobicized 90 minutes of disciplined mayhem. Through March 19 at Synetic Theater, 1800 S. Bell St., Crystal City. Tickets $35-$60. Call 866-811-4111 or visit synetictheater.org.

[Synetics Shrew reviewed in 2012 by Peter Marks]

The Trojan Women. Taffety Punk Theatre Companys all-female Riot Grrrls wing tackles Euripidess howl of war. Through March 4 at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, 545 Seventh St. SE. Tickets $15. Call 202-547-6839 or visit taffetypunk.com.

The Very Last Days of the First Colored Circus. Restoration Stage presents a new play with music about African American circus performers in the 1920s. By Steven A. Butler Jr., with songs by Courtney Baker-Oliver and Christopher John Burnett. Through March 5 at the Anacostia Playhouse, 2020 Shannon Pl. SE. Tickets $45-$55. Visit restorationstage.biz.

CONTINUING

As You Like It. The comedy with Rosalind and offbeat exiles fleeing a fascist court and bumbling through the forest of Arden. Gaye Taylor Upchurchs modern dress production at Folger Theatre (in association with the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival) sets its action against original blues tunes and hip-hop rhythms, with actors strumming guitars and hooting into kazoos like hippies in the woods. The strength of Upchurchs vision, though, is the cast of romantic clowns. Love, the show says, is nuts. (Nelson Pressley) Through March 5 at Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol St. SE. Tickets $35-$75. Call 202-544-7077 or visit folger.edu.

[As You Like It reviewed by Nelson Pressley]



Lindsay Alexandra Carter (Rosalind) and Antoinette Robinson (Celia) in Folger Theatres As You Like It. (Teresa Wood)

Baby Screams Miracle. Out in the woods of the Pacific Northwest, where Baby Screams Miracle is set, five intrepid, God-fearing souls are tossed this way and that in a Category 5 challenge to their spiritual  and property  values. The atmospheric disturbance continues for most of the 105 minutes of Clare Barrons disappointingly pale seriocomedy. It also proves to be the productions only truly galvanizing component. (Peter Marks) Through Feb. 26 at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, 641 D St. NW. Tickets $20-$74, subject to change. Call 202-393-3939 or visit woollymammoth.net .

[Peter Marks reviews Baby Screams Miracle]

Blues in the Night. The revue of vintage jazz and blues  Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith  was Tony nominated after its brief 1982 run. With a cast of four directed by Matt Conner at the intimate Creative Cauldron. Through March 5 at 410 S. Maple Ave., Falls Church. Tickets $20-$30. Call 703-436-9948 or visit creativecauldron.org.

Caroline, or Change. Its the illustrious Nova Y. Payton who, in Round House Theatres vibrant revival, portrays Caroline  a role tailor-made for a golden-throated powerhouse. Wearing a starched white uniform and a permanent scowl, her Caroline is a storm cloud of pain; you wait with both alarm and excitement for the thunder to rumble and the lightning to strike. (Peter Marks) Through Feb. 26 at Round House Theatre, 4545 East-West Hwy., Bethesda. Tickets $46-$90. Call 240-644-1100 or visit roundhousetheatre.org.

[Peter Marks reviews Caroline, or Change]

The Gin Game. A revival of the understated 1977 Pulitzer winner about two people fussing about aging and cards in an old folks home, by D.L. Coburn. If the actors arent absolutely crystalline with the nuances, theyre still very good, and under the direction of Thomas W. Jones II, Doug Brown and Roz White look each other in the eye and create a competitive rapport. But as Fonsia wins every hand, it gets hard to take Wellers hard-luck rants, and the brittle play doesnt have any other moves. (Nelson Pressley) Through March 12 at MetroStage, 1201 N. Royal St., Alexandria. Tickets $55-$60. Call 703-548-9044 or visit metrostage.org.

[Nelson Pressley reviews The Gin Game]

The Hard Problem. The title of Tom Stoppards first new play since 2006s Rock n Roll refers to the thorny issue of consciousness. We have brains, but where  and what  exactly is the mind? Of course Stoppard can write a play about this, and not just because the wily writer opens his play with sexy, young intellectuals bantering half-nude in bed. . . . The actors get the ideas across but often seem like theyve just picked up this second language steeped in probabilities and academic imperatives. The flaw in the performance seems to line up with the weakness in the script. Too often the talk feels brittle. (Nelson Pressley) Through Feb. 26 at Studio Theatre, 1501 14th St. NW. Tickets $52-$85, subject to change. Call 202-332-3300 or visit studiotheatre.org.

[Nelson Pressley reviews The Hard Problem]

King Charles III. Mike Bartletts play in Shakespearean language imagining the next transition in the British monarchy. The confrontation between Parliament and Buckingham Palace plays out as an entertaining study of the challenge of maintaining a constitutional monarchy in the modern world. A figure like Charles, whom we all imagine to have been champing at the bit all these years as he waited for mum to depart the scene, seems the right sort of personality to upend a governments expectations for royal docility. When Charles takes his principled stand and makes an enemy of the prime minister, the playwright has the opportunity to explore the question of what relevance there is today for a ruler who is not a ruler, who must make his mark not by command, but by intellectual stealth and the fine print in official texts. (Peter Marks) Through March 18 at Shakespeare Theatre Companys Sidney Harman Hall, 610 F St. NW. Call 202-547-1122 or visit shakespearetheatre.org.

[Peter Marks reviews King Charles III]

[Actor Robert Joy on playing King Charles III]



Mike Bartletts King Charles III, with Harry Smith as Prince Harry, Robert Joy as King Charles and Michelle Beck as Jessica. (Kevin Berne)

Last Train to Nibroc. A sneakily compelling love story, directed with delicacy by Bill Largess. Intimate, wise and surprising, with a delightful penultimate narrative twist, Last Train (1998) follows the relationship between Raleigh (Wood Van Meter) and May (Lexi Langs), who meet on a train somewhere west of Chicago in 1940. . . . Last Train is not a play that coasts on showy action: May and Raleigh principally talk, with conversation sometimes shading into teasing, bickering or reproach. Still, Largesss staging never feels static or gabby: Each strand of conversation is gripping. (Celia Wren) Through Feb. 26 at the Undercroft Theatre, Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church, 900 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Tickets $50-$60. Call 202-582-0050 or visit stageguild.org.

[Celia Wren reviews Last Train to Nibroc]

Peter & the Starcatcher. Constellation Theatre Company brings its flair for mini-spectacle to the boisterous off-Broadway hit about Peter Pan. Irresistible. . . . Many of the shows best moments feature actors meshing together in ensemble sequences, such as a shipboard battle or a line of warbling mermaids. Sometimes the performers animate, or transform into, physical objects, including island boulders and the shards of a shattered mirror. Impressively, the ensemble movement never looks busy or cluttered; it simply conjures up one clear, lively image after another. (Celia Wren) Through March 12 at Constellation Theatre Company, 1835 14th St. NW. Call 202-204-7741 or visit constellationtheatre.org.

[Celia Wren on Peter and the Starcatcher]

[Rick Elice and the late Roger Rees in 2014, on creating Starcatcher]

The River. The D.C. premiere of Jez Butterworths moody three-character drama (debuting 2012 in London, 2014 in New York) about an isolated fisherman and women who come and go. Feels like a variation on the Luis Bunuel film That Obscure Object of Desire, in which two actresses play one woman who keeps eluding the main character. . . . Buffs of subtle mind games may lean in to Butterworths intimate dialogue, which is full of feints and hesitations. Otherwise, not even the coolly understated acting (with mild British accents) will lure you. (Nelson Pressley) Through Feb. 26 at Spooky Action Theater, 1810 16th St. NW. Call 202-248-0301 or visit spookyaction.org.

[Nelson Pressley on The River]

Sweeney Todd. Stephen Sondheims musical is a lip-smacking banquet, and while Jason Loewiths staging at the Olney has a lot going for it, a few too many of this juicy potboilers most savory moments go down in a hasty gulp. Loewith goes big, raising a cinematic curtain (featuring a blood-dripping Sweeney logo) on an imposing Victorian set. Sonically, too, the show aims for grandeur. Musical director Christopher Youstras orchestra is only nine strong, yet it suggests the original symphonic feeling with its dark woodwinds, crashing percussion and creepy muted trumpet. . . . Then theres David Benoit, a burly, edgy, golden-throated Sweeney, a formidable centerpiece for the epic show this nearly is. (Nelson Pressley) Through March 5 at Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Rd., Olney. Tickets $38-$80. Call 202-924-3400 or visit olneytheatre.org.

[Nelson Pressley reviews Sweeney Todd]



Doug Wilder as the title character  a chimpanzee  in Nick Joness "Trevor" at 1st Stage. (Teresa Castracane)

Trevor. A tragicomedy by Nick Jones, who has written for Orange Is the New Black. In the plays central conceit, the eponymous chimp expresses himself in English, just as [the human] Sandra does; we can understand him, while she cant. Throughout director Alex Levys solid staging, however, words do just part of the work: Portraying the title character without any chimp costume or makeup, Doug Wilder adopts a lolling, crouching, simian physicality that  in conjunction with the characters chatter  drives home the acuteness of Trevors plight. (Celia Wren) Through March 5 at 1st Stage, 1524 Spring Hill Rd., McLean. Tickets $30. Call 703-854-1856 or visit 1ststagetysons.org.

[Trevor reviewed by Celia Wren]

Watch on the Rhine. We live in unsubtle times, which proves to be a fitting atmosphere for the bare-knuckled, good-vs.-evil symmetry of Arena Stages sure-handed revival of Lillian Hellmans anti-fascist melodrama. . . . In the story of the return after 20 years to the suburban Washington mansion of Fanny Farrelly (Marsha Mason) by her daughter Sara (Lise Bruneau) and Saras Nazi-fighting husband, Kurt Muller (Andrew Long), some creakiness manifests itself. But its unvarnished righteousness also comes across at this particular instant as kind of refreshing. (Peter Marks) Through March 5 at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St. SW. Tickets $40-$110, subject to change. Call 202-488-3300 or visit arenastage.org .

[Peter Marks reviews Watch on the Rhine]

[Lillian Hellman, the writer you love or hate]

[Marsha Mason talks with Peter Marks]

"Yo Tambien Hablo de la Rosa (I Too Speak of the Rose)." (Stan Weinstein)

Yo Tambien Hablo de la Rosa (I Too Speak of the Rose). An idiosyncratic work whose social commentary is buttressed by flights of poetry and quirkily expressed insights on how humans parse reality. The Medium (the compelling Julieta Egurrola, one of Mexicos leading actors) and the Lecturer (Peter Pereyra) represent the more fanciful and philosophical reaches of the play, which was first staged in 1966. (The Gala production, performed in Spanish with English surtitles, is billed as the U.S. premiere.) (Celia Wren) Through Feb. 26 at GALA Hispanic Theatre, 3333 14th St. NW. Tickets $40-$45. Call 202-234-7174 or visit galatheatre.org.

[Celia Wren on Yo Tambien Hablo de la Rosa (I Too Speak of the Rose).]

CLOSING

Hooded, or Being Black for Dummies. In the breathtakingly on-point new comedy Hooded, or Being Black for Dummies, one of the two young black men sharing a jail cell was trespassing while Trayvoning, the real-life meme of kids lying down like the slain teen Trayvon Martin. A laugh sign hangs over the stage and lights up at inappropriate times. The edgy script seems like it might be all over the place, but playwright Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm has a firm hand on the steering wheel as he careens full speed into stereotypes and race-based crises. Even with its fusillade of the n-word, the bracingly timely show is as user-friendly as its sarcastic title promises. (Nelson Pressley) Through Feb. 19 at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets $40-$60. Call 202-399-7993 or visit mosaictheater.org.

[Nelson Pressley reviews Hooded: Or Being Black for Dummies]

[DC theater, fully diversifying? Mosaic poses the question]



Lisa Loomers Roe v. Wade drama Roe. (Jenny Graham)

I Wanna F-ing Tear You Apart. A premiere on friendship and anger from Morgan Gould. Gould, who wrote and directed this Studio Theatre world premiere, has some smart and funny things to say about obsessive friendship, in a story set in an Upper Manhattan apartment shared by a gay man and a straight woman who gossip and snuggle and chafe and dance around frantically to loud music in the wee hours of the morning. . . . And then into this impressive structure Gould swings a wrecking ball of uncanny illogic. (Peter Marks) Through Feb. 19 at Studio Theatre, 1501 14th St. NW. Tickets $45-$55, subject to change. Call 202-332-3300 or visit studiotheatre.org .

[Peter Marks reviews I Wanna F-ing Tear You Apart]

Roe. Lisa Loomers Roe v. Wade drama gets its east coast premiere at Arena Stage. Even if Loomers work is presented by director Bill Rauch in a sometimes prosaic, finger-wagging style  prompting memories of gratingly earnest high school assemblies  the topic is important enough and the production informative enough to merit the platform the company is providing. . . . With abundant care, the playwright refracts the complexity of abortion rights through the personal prisms of two emblematic real-life characters: Sarah Weddington (Sarah Jane Agnew), the Texas lawyer who brought the case, and Norma McCorvey (Sara Bruner), the Dallas woman forever known by the Everywoman sobriquet Jane Roe, and who, denied access to a medical abortion, was persuaded by Weddington to become the plaintiff. (Peter Marks) Through Feb. 19 at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St. SW. Tickets $40-$110, subject to change. Call 202-488-3300 or visit arenastage.org .

[Roe reviewed by Peter Marks]

[Lisa Loomer talks Roe with Nelson Pressley]

Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? In the persons of Gregory Linington and Holly Twyford, the Fords Theatre revival, directed with sharpshooters acumen by Aaron Posner, Washington audiences are getting as good as this toxically funny masterwork gives. Enhanced smartly by Danny Gavigan and Maggie Wilder as the seemingly defenseless younger couple who stumble into George and Marthas web, the three-act production glides by on a sizzlingly steady current of boozy accusation and twisted mind games. Rarely does so much malice spread so much glee. (Peter Marks) Through Feb. 19 at Fords Theatre, 511 10th St. NW. Tickets $15-$62. Call 888-616-0270 or visit fords.org.

[Peter Marks reviews Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?]

TYA (Theater for Young Audiences)



Malinda Kathleen Reese plays the title role in "Ella Enchanted" at Adventure Theatre. (Sarah Straub)

The Freshest Snow Whyte. A new hip-hop version of the fairy tale for kids 5 and older from local writer-director Psalmeyene 24, with music by Nick tha 1 da Hernandez. Through March 18 at Imagination Stage, 4908 Auburn Ave., Bethesda. Tickets $10-$35. Call 301-280-1660 or visit imaginationstage.org.

Ella Enchanted. A world premiere adaptation of the Gail Carson Levine book (also known as a rather popular movie), written by Karen Zacarias, music by Deborah Wicks LaPuma, directed by Mary Hall Surface. Through March 19 at Adventure Theatre MTC, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo. Tickets $19.50. Call 301-634-2270 or visit adventuretheatre-mtc.org.

[Jane Horwitz on whats coming up at Adventure, Imagination and more]

ETC.

The Capitol Steps. The longtime political satirists, tearing laughs from the headlines. Fridays and Saturdays in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center Amphitheater, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Tickets $40.50. Call 202-397-7328 or visit www.capsteps.com.

[Peter Marks profiles Nicholas Rodriguez]

Shear Madness. The indestructible interactive comedy whodunit, at 12,000-plus performances. Ongoing in the Kennedy Centers Theater Lab. Tickets $50-$54. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

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Shaanxi cold steamed noodles are on the menu at Panda Gourmet in the District. (Amanda Voisard/For The Washington Post)

From the moment my review was published in August 2013, I started hearing complaints about Panda Gourmet. Its on the ground floor of a dumpy motel! Its hard to reach when traveling east on New York Avenue NE! The staff has all the warmth of test dummies!

Ive heard these criticisms, and, sometimes, Ive experienced them personally. But even when my server seemed to enter a witness protection program after dropping off our dishes, I could never find room in my heart to hold that against Panda Gourmet. Maybe its because my heart  and my tongue and brain  were always in a fevered state from the Sichuan chili oil.

[Panda Gourmet dazzles with Sichuan and Shaanxi cooking at a Days Inn]

Panda Gourmet has become a semi-frequent haunt for a group of my friends that goes by a nickname thats unprintable in these modest pages. We earned our handle for believing in the value of loud, boisterous living, even in public spaces. We get a lot of dirty looks. One member of our merry band of miscreants is quick to recommend a return trip to the Panda, which usually inspires a small sigh from the critic in me, who doesnt want to revisit a proven restaurant when so many are yet to be discovered.



Chefs Chao Lee, Goyux Young and Lin Du prepare food at Panda Gourmet. (Amanda Voisard/For The Washington Post)

But then my friends and I will sit around a giant table, the lazy Susan groaning under the weight of our Sichuan and Shaanxi dishes, and Ill remember all over again why I love the place. Panda Gourmet sweats the important details  the depth and quality of its chili oil, the texture of its house-made noodles, the potency of its spices  without losing track of other essential Chinese elements, such as saltiness, bitterness and sweetness.

The place may have its faults, but rarely do they appear on the table, which is why Panda Gourmet tops my list of favorite Chinese restaurants in the area.

To be frank, this list was trickier to compile than I imagined. Our region is rich with the cooking of Chinese immigrants, whether theyre from Sichuan, Hunan, Shanghai or some other province in a country that has had a huge influence on the worlds pantry. The list forced me to boot some restaurants that I admire and ignore a whole class of dim-sum parlors for the sake of convenience (my convenience mostly, because Im writing about dim sum for a future package).

In short, its a flawed list, but mostly because of the places it excludes. And just to be clear: I make no apologies for Rockvilles dominance here. Serious fans of Chinese cookery know the suburb is a destination for the countrys rainbow blaze of dishes.



XLB, or pork soup dumplings, are on the menu at Bobs Shanghai 66 in Rockville, Md. Its a D.C. version of a popular concept in China: a pan-Chinese cafe with tapas-style snacks. (Dayna Smith/For The Washington Post)

10. Bobs Shanghai 66 (305 N. Washington St., Rockville. 301-251-6652). Although Bobs offers a substantial number of dim-sum plates, the place is not limited to them. Bobs provides a well-curated menu of regional Chinese cooking, including spicy pigs ears, cumin lamb and the soup dumplings that generate so much traffic.

[Surrender to the many possibilities of Bobs Shanghai 66]



Diners eat at Bobs Shanghai 66 in Rockville. (Dayna Smith/For The Washington Post)

9. Nanjing Bistro (11213 Lee Hwy., Fairfax. 703-385-8686, nanjingbistro.com). The menu at this strip-center operation wanders all over the place, but stays focused on house specialties such as the Nanjing wonton soup or the Nanjing-style beef noodle soup with its thick, toothsome strands that add texture to the thin-yet-potent broth.



Chef Wang Wen Fang slices the house specialty, Peking duck, for customers at China Wok. (Kate Patterson/For The Washington Post)

8. China Wok (8395 Leesburg Pike, Vienna. 703-893-4488 or 703-893-4489). I visit this spot for basically one reason: to pay my respects to a legend. Now in his mid-80s, chef Wang Wen Fang is the fedora-topped master behind the Peking duck, a dish that he carves tableside with the grace and dexterity of Baryshnikov.

[The student has surpassed the master at China Wok]



Hot and numbing flounder with tofu is on offer at Peter Chang restaurant in Rockville. (Deb Lindsey/For The Washington Post)

7. Peter Chang (20A Maryland Ave., Rockville., 301-838-9188; 2503-E North Harrison St., Arlington. 703-538-6688, peterchangarlington.com). As much as I admire master chef Peter Changs cooking  and his business plan to mainstream authentic Chinese cooking  I sometimes sense hes stretched thin. His restaurants are uneven, but their peaks (dry-fried eggplant, hot and numbing flounder, scallion bubble pancake) are breathtaking.



Stir-fried pigs feet are on offer at Big Wang Cuisine in Derwood, Md. The pan-Chinese restaurant opened August 2013. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)

6. Big Wangs Cuisine (16051 Frederick Rd., Derwood, Md. 301-977-7676). This mysterious outpost has impressed me with its meticulous approach to Sichuan cuisine, starting with an infused chili oil that requires 12 hours to reach full maturity. Take a chance on the stir-fried pigs feet, the spicy dry hot pot or the Sichuan-style fish fillets, which are as radioactive as promised.

[The Sichuan cooking at Big Wang Cuisine doesnt pull any punches]



Ma po tofu is one of the specialties at the Great Wall Szechuan House in the District. (Leah L. Jones/For The Washington Post)

5. Great Wall Szechuan House (1527 14th St. NW. 202-797-8888, greatwallszechuanhouse.com). One of the first Chinese restaurants in the District to take a chance on authentic Sichuan cuisine, the 14th Street institution remains one of my favorites for its many ma-la (or spicy and numbing) dishes, including ma-la cucumbers, chicken and mapo tofu.



Soup dumplings are on the menu at Shanghai Taste in Rockville. (Tim Carman/The Washington Post)

4. Shanghai Taste (1121 Nelson St., Rockville. 301-279-0806). The soup dumplings attract all the attention  particularly on the weekend, when a rare pan-fried version is available  but there are pleasures beyond the molten pockets. Such as: the garlic-sauce noodle soup with pork, the shumai with glutinous rice and the salty crispy fish.

[Shanghai Taste is the virtuoso of soup dumplings]



Liang pi, or cold skin, noodles can be found at Northwest Chinese Food in College Park. (Farrah Skeiky/For The Washington Post)

3. Northwest Chinese Food (7313 Baltimore Ave., College Park. 240-714-4473). The owner of this tiny noodle house hails from Liaoning province, near North Korea, where the dishes have dominant, almost overbearing personalities, many pumped up with garlic, chili oil and woody Shaanxi vinegar. The liang pi, or cold skin, noodles are a good place to start, but also try the spicy potato noodles, the tomato-and-egg noodles and the spicy cumin lamb burger.

[Northwest Chinese Food is a tasty misdirection in College Park]



The dry-sauteed beef at Joes Noodle House in Rockville is unlike the standard variety because its sprinkled in cumin and covered in cilantro. (Lavanya Ramanathan/The Washington Post)

2. Joes Noodle House (1488-C Rockville Pike, Rockville. 301-881-5518, joesnoodlehouse.com). Amid all the changes along Rockville Pike, Joes Noodle House has remained a constant comfort for more than 15 years  as long as, of course, you find comfort in such searing fare as Dan Dan noodles, Sichuan-style soft bean curd and the cumin-sprinkled dry-sauteed beef.



Rouga mo Chinese burger is on the menu at Panda Gourmet. (Amanda Voisard/The Washington Post)

1. Panda Gourmet (2700 New York Ave. NE. 202-534-1620,

pandagourmetdc.net). Dont obsess over the places cosmetic shortcomings. Luxuriate in its Sichuan and Shaanxi fare, such as the delicate hand-pulled Shaanxi biang biang noodles, the blistering cumin-beef burger, the sauteed string beans, the seafood and tofu in hot pot and many more.


Colin McDonough, co-owner of Boundary Stone, helps prep the line for the dinner shift on Thursday. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

It wasnt long into Thursday nights dinner service at the Bloomingdale pub Boundary Stone before Colin McDonough forgot to fire up a customers order of wings.

Fire the fry cook, joked Gareth Croke, who was flipping burgers nearby.

Croke cant fire McDonough, though: The two are co-owners of the restaurant, and they stepped in to cook when almost all of their kitchen staff took a paid day of leave to participate in the nationwide A Day Without Immigrants strike. It was McDonoughs first time working the line. He already knew how valuable his employees are, but their absence drove the point home even harder.

Honestly, without immigrants, the restaurant industry wouldnt exist, he said.

[Restaurants depend on immigrants. Trumps orders could hit them particularly hard.]

Across town at Bar Pilar, bartenders and friends of the staff were filling in for chef Jesse Millers cooks, all of whom took the day off to protest. Matt Roper works at a trade association by day and hasnt worked in a restaurant since he was a teenager. But after friends at the restaurant told him about the strike, he decided to pitch in, spending the evening frying chicken and calamari.

Its a little bit of a change from Blue Apron, he said, referring to the mail-order meal assembly kits.



A flier on the window of Oyamel in Washington explains the restaurants closing in support of A Day Without Immigrants. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

Such was the scene at restaurants across Washington and many other cities Thursday, when immigrant workers, with their colleagues support, didnt show up to their stations in kitchens and behind host stands and marched in protest of the Trump administrations hard-line approach to immigration policy. These immigrants decided to hit Washington, which loves its small plates and happy hours, where it hurts: in the gut.

I think that it will give a message to all of the people that think that we are not helpful in this country, said Saul Canesa, a green-card-holding Salvadoran chef at El Chucho in Columbia Heights.

The strike was intended to hit all businesses, but the restaurant industry  where immigrants make up nearly a quarter of the national workforce, according to the Institute for Immigration Research at George Mason University  seemed most affected. Locally, a flier calling for the strike had been circulating among workers, and according to Univision, no one seems to know who started the whole thing. But it seemed to really take off when Jose Andres, the outspoken Washington-based chef who became a citizen in 2013 and is embroiled in litigation with President Trump, announced that he would close many of his restaurants.

[Who makes the tortillas, pierogies and pasta you love? These immigrants.]

The announcements snowballed after that. On Wednesday, restaurants met with their staffs: Would they close entirely, open with a partial menu and partial staff, or do business as usual? Some opted for the latter, because their employees wanted to get paid. Some, including Sweetgreen and DC Empanadas, closed and paid their staff anyway. Others that stayed open, including the Royal and Anxo, vowed to donate proceeds to Ayuda, an immigrant advocacy organization. Still others were forced to close because of no-shows. A news release from the Pentagon on Thursday noted that its concessions committee learned this morning that employees were participating. Some fast-food restaurants in the Pentagon, including a Starbucks, Taco Bell and Burger King, closed.



Marcos Latin, 34, carries the Guatemalan and U.S. flag at a march as part of A Day Without Immigrants. Latin is originally from Guatemala and has been in the United States for 12 years. On the right is his son, Mauricio Amaya, 11. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

Donnavon Lalputan, originally from Trinidad, wasnt being paid for the day he missed at Hanks Oyster Bar on Capitol Hill, which closed. But we were given the opportunity to express ourselves, which is priceless, he said.

In some cases, unnerving incidents motivated participation. Maziar Farivar, the Iranian-born chef-owner of the Peacock Cafe in Georgetown, said that shortly after President Trumps inauguration, a young white man walked into the restaurant and raised his hand in a Heil Hitler-like salute. He then asked about the staffs immigration statuses, as if he were an agent of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The fact that people feel permitted to behave that way is a shocking thing to me, said Farivar.

Most of Farivars staff decided to strike, so he closed the restaurant. One of his veteran servers, Kenny Guevara, first heard of plans for the strike about three weeks ago on Univision. She was born in El Salvador but moved at age 10 to America with her parents, becoming a naturalized citizen. Still, shes scared: Her fellow immigrants dont talk about a future in America anymore, she said. And if they talk about their future in America, they talk about it as a maybe.

Not every restaurateur was enthusiastic. Mark Bucher, a partner in Medium Rare and Community, said that he supported the strike and his dozen or so workers who opted to take a paid day of leave, but not the timing. Its a white-hot political climate in Washington right now, and you never throw fire on something thats white hot, said Bucher. You could get a knee-jerk reaction.

He feared blowback from immigration officials, and he was worried that the protests would escalate: All it takes is one dummy to fire somebody.



Ruth Gresser, owner of Pizzeria Paradiso, tosses pizza dough as she works the lunch rush at the restaurants Dupont Circle location on Thursday. She closed the rest of her locations and gave all her immigrant employees a day off. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

Customers werent sure how to react to the strike, either. Was going out an act of solidarity with immigrants or counterproductive? Suki Lucier, who works for the government, debated what to do. When we thought about it, ethically, I wanted to be supportive, she said over drinks at Boundary Stone, a bar she chose because it was paying its absent workers.

At Pizzeria Paradiso in Dupont Circle, owner Ruth Gresser was stretching out balls of dough. She rarely works during dinner service, but getting back on the line  where she was later joined by Hanks Oyster Bar chef-owner Jamie Leeds  was like riding a bicycle, she said. She gave all of her immigrant employees a paid day off, and closed all of her restaurants except the P Street location, which she hoped would demonstrate what it would look like for us to be open without immigrants.

What did it look like? Her director of operations, Matt McQuilkin, admitted to accidentally tearing a pizza. Gresser had to remove a pizza cutter from the edge of the oven, where it might have burned someones hand.

The people who do this every day: Theyre faster, theyre more proficient, said Gresser. Were not the best crew. But were working through it.

Tim Carman and Becky Krystal contributed to this report.
Phil Glatfelter, 30, and Kelsey Heinze, 29, pose in front of Kogan Plaza at George Washington University. The couple met as student leaders of GWU's freshman orientation program. They married Feb. 4 at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington. (The Happy Couple Photography)

Sparks flew between Phil Glatfelter and Kelsey Heinze at a college party in March 2008. But it wasnt just any party  it was a breakup party. A breakup party thrown by Phil for Kelsey, just hours after she had been dumped.

Phil, who had secretly harbored a crush on Kelsey for more than a year, didnt waste any time making his intentions known. After hearing the news of her breakup from a mutual friend, he decided to lift her spirits by gathering her closest friends at his apartment for an impromptu bash.

My main goal was to make her laugh, Phil, 30, says. She was visibly upset and heartbroken, but we knew shed be okay.

His plan was more successful than he had anticipated  it cheered her up, and opened her eyes to the possibility of something more with him.

For her, it was a showing of support for her at a difficult time, [but] for me it was a celebration, Phil admits.

Kelsey pauses to kiss her father, Bernie Heinze, before joining Phil at the end of the aisle. (The Happy Couple Photography)

The couple met as student leaders of George Washington Universitys freshman orientation program, Colonial Inauguration, in summer 2006. As leaders of the Colonial Cabinet, a high-energy group of upperclassmen who welcome students to the campus, they developed an easy rapport as partners for the orientation programs opening dance number.

They bonded over learning and executing the complicated choreography, which was packed with steps, turns and, at one point, a piggyback ride.

This was no cha-cha slide, says Kelsey, 29, the associate director of membership and social media for the Gerontological Society of America. This was serious business.

If youve seen [the film] Pitch Perfect, picture that same intensity minus the a cappella, adds Phil, a litigation support case manager for the federal government.

Thus began a very long and awesome friendship, according to Kelsey, and the two hung out often throughout the summer and the following school year. Phil, impressed by Kelseys quick wit and sense of humor, developed feelings for her but kept them to himself.

I kept her at a certain distance, since she had a boyfriend, he says.

But that all changed after Kelseys relationship ended.

Kelsey surprised Phil with a performance of Oh Happy Day by the Howard Gospel Choir for the recessional. I absolutely fell apart, said the groom. "It was a great ending to our ceremony and start to our marriage. (The Happy Couple Photography)

[She saw her first love on the 11 oclock news. Four months later, they were engaged. ]

I probably should have waited longer . . . but I swooped in right away, says Phil. I knew I was the rebound, and I didnt care.

A week after the party, the two celebrated Phils birthday and spent the entire day together. Hangouts grew from regular to daily, and, in June, they had their first date at Froggy Bottom pub, where they shared a pitcher of beer and chicken fingers.

I knew everything about Phil and his life at this point of time, and I mean everything . . . and suddenly it was like someone had turned on a different light switch and a new part of the room was illuminated, Kelsey says. All I could think was, Why did we not do this sooner? 

They became an official couple shortly after Phils graduation, and they moved in together in October 2010. For the next few years, they continued to grow independently and as a couple, facing the highs and lows of their 20s together, including job changes, tight finances and the adoption of a dog, their cavachon Norman, in 2011.

We have been each others cheerleaders through first jobs, first apartments and other big adult milestones, Kelsey says. Weve figured out who we are as individuals and that we make one another better people together.

In October 2014, over adult margs at El Tamarindo in Adams Morgan, they discussed kids and marriage, and both agreed they wanted to build a future together.

Every single night, Phil kisses me good night, Kelsey says. Even if Im asleep and hes up watching something, when he gets into bed, kicks the dog off the bed and turns out the light, he leans over, kisses me and tells me he loves me. You cant say thats puppy love or the honeymoon stage of a relationship, because this has been the case for eight years.

[Are you getting married in the Washington region? Tell us why we should feature your nuptials here]

In April 2016, Kelsey and Phils sister planned an elaborate surprise party at Stoneys on L Street for his 30th birthday. We planned it out for months  the guest list, the venue, the food  all in secret, Kelsey says.

Or so she thought.

It turned out the party was a ruse, and Kelsey was helping plan her own engagement party. Upon leaving their Logan Circle apartment to what Kelsey assumed was his birthday dinner, Phil dropped a knee and proposed.

Afterward, they took photos on the steps of the National City Christian Church, shared dinner with their parents at Ghibellina on 14th Street and spent the rest of the evening celebrating with friends and family at Stoneys.

Every detail had been so well thought out, Kelsey says. It was well worth the wait.

On Feb. 4, the couple exchanged vows in front of 130 guests at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. The bride, wearing a richly embellished strapless Val Stefani gown, descended the Great Halls ornate white marble staircase and met Phil, outfitted in a navy blue tux, at the end of the aisle.

During the ceremony, the couples officiant, Maureen Burke, highlighted the couples most-cherished qualities. Some were serious, others were not.

Absolutely critical to the success of the relationship and standing alone in importance, [Kelsey] loves your breakfast sandwiches, Burke deadpanned. She says your breakfast sandwiches could bring peace to the Middle East.

As the ceremony concluded, there was a long and noticeable pause. Guests began to look nervously around the room, wondering whether the string quartet had missed its cue.

Suddenly, a 20-member gospel choir appeared on the second-floor balcony and belted out Oh Happy Day.

The groom, gobsmacked, began to tear up.

Phil desperately wanted two things at our wedding: a disco ball and a gospel choir, Kelsey says. He brought it up all the time during wedding planning . . . but I told him, No, thats ridiculous! 

But for Phil, she decided to make an exception and surreptitiously booked the Howard Gospel Choir of Howard University.

I absolutely fell apart. Im still speechless about it, Phil says. It was a great ending to our ceremony and start to our marriage.

Days after the celebration, the couple were still reveling in wedding festivities.

For almost a decade, I have had the real honor of being loved by this man, Kelsey says. I see us 15 years, 30 years from now celebrating the fact that its Tuesday with champagne, because its those little things [that] are my favorite things about our relationship. Thats what I want for our future.

Shes my favorite person, Phil adds, and has been since the beginning.

Are you getting married in the Washington region? Tell us why we should feature your nuptials here at wapo.st/weddings.
MARYLAND

Shooting shuts down

Pr. Georges highway

A shooting on Route 50 in Prince Georges County sent three men to hospitals and shut down the busy highway for nearly five hours during Thursday evenings commute, authorities said.

The shooting occurred in the eastbound lanes of Route 50, near Columbia Park Road, just east of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, according to the Prince Georges police Twitter account.

The driver of a four-door sedan and two passengers were wounded, but the injuries were not considered life-threatening, said Officer Tyler Hunter, a police spokesman. Police do not believe that the shooting was random or a road-rage incident, he said.

Eastbound Route 50 was closed from about 3 p.m., when the incident occurred, until about 7:45 p.m., Hunter said. Authorities towed away the victims vehicle to process it for evidence, he said.

Police said they believe the shots were fired from a second vehicle, near Columbia Park Road, but they did not release a description of the car. Investigators were still trying to determine what might have prompted the shooting, Hunter said.

 Lynh Bui

Two arrested in fatal Accokeek shooting

Two people arrested in the fatal shooting of a man found slain inside his car in Accokeek might have been in a dispute with him over money, police said.

Prince Georges County police on Thursday announced the arrests of Donvain Hodges, 24, of Fort Washington and Cessna Blow, 19, of Temple Hills in connection with the killing of Timothy Sherod, 28.

Sherod, of Glenarden, was found shot Monday morning in his car in the 3300 block of Saint Marys View Road in Accokeek. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Hodges and Blow have been charged with second-degree murder.

 Lynh Bui

VIRGINIA

Man, teens arrested in scam on Kik app

A man and two teenagers have been accused of using the popular messaging app Kik to con payments from a man who was told that he had to hand over cash to avoid being reported to police for soliciting a prostitute, authorities said.

The Loudoun County Sheriffs Office on Tuesday arrested and charged Yogesh K. Sharma, 56, of Sterling, Va., with felony conspiracy to commit extortion. He is in jail without bond.

The victim, a 25-year-old Lansdowne man, sent money several times during the scam, which began in January, police said. In February, the victim reached out to law enforcement.

The two teenagers, whose names were not released because they are minors, were taken into custody and face charges of extortion.

 Dana Hedgpeth

THE REGION

Baby giraffe alreadya big girl: 6 feet tall

Its a girl! And shes rather tall.

The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore said Thursday that a female giraffe calf, standing 6 feet tall and weighing about 125 pounds, was born there last week. Born Feb. 6 to Juma and Caesar, the calf is the first giraffe to be born at the facility in more than 20 years, officials said.

The baby giraffe has not been named. Zoo officials said keepers will offer up four names and ask the public to vote on them.

 Dana Hedgpeth
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 6: Tanya Snyder holding Milo Evans-Snyder,then 5 months old, left, Jessica Champagne holding Benjamin Toth-Champagne, then 3 moths old, center, and Jamie Davis Smith holding Adam Smith, then 10 months old, right, stand in the hallway after dozens of parents with toddlers and people sat through a DC Council hearing to show support for a paid family leave bill at the John A. Wilson Building in Washington, DC on Tuesday, October 06, 2015. DC council members approved one of the most generous paid family leave policies in the country. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

The D.C. Council will begin considering dramatic revisions in the coming weeks to the Districts new law guaranteeing expansive family and medical leave benefits to private-sector workers, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) said Friday.

In an interview, Mendelson said he was suggesting changes because opposition from local business leaders could hinder the success of the program, which would offer eight weeks of parental leave, six weeks to care for an ailing relative and two weeks of personal sick time  a package that would be among the nations most generous.

He said that in recent weeks, business groups have offered suggestions for changing the law that might be workable.

The bill, which the council passed 9 to 4 in December, advanced through the mayors office this week and must now be submitted to Congress for a 30-day review period. Even after that, there will be time to reviseD.C. C the legislation, whose main provisions are not scheduled to take effect for several years.

Mendelson said he expects alternative versions of the bill to be filed with the council over the next month. Although the benefits would remain the same, the means of paying for them may be redesigned in a way more palatable to the business community, with a lower tax rate and possibly the use of private insurance plans, he said.

Mendelson said the city may also turn to a private contractor to run the system rather than setting up the new government department envisioned in the current legislation.

Theres a lot of pushback over the tax rate and the creation of a new, huge bureaucracy, he said. While council members may ultimately decide not to amend the law, he said, I think we should look at some alternative ideas and see if theres something there.

Mendelsons remarks were an unexpected turn in the Districts efforts to establish paid family leave for all workers. The bill was a landmark victory for the councils progressive faction and drew support from labor activists across the country.

By proposing that the council reexamine the law, Mendelson seemed in a sense to be snatching defeat from the jaws of victory: Just this week, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), a fervent opponent of the bill, announced that she would not veto it. Mendelson oversaw the drafting of the existing bill and argued forcefully for its passage.

This is surprising to hear, because the chairman has been such a convincing and passionate defender of the legislation, said council member Elissa Silverman (I-At Large), who began leading the push for a paid-leave bill more than a year ago with council member David Grosso (I-At Large). I would welcome improvements, but this does seem like a rehashing of a debate weve already had.

In its current version, the law would levy a 0.62 percent tax on employer-paid payroll taxes. Using that revenue, the city would reimburse employees for 90 percent of their first $900 in weekly pay and 50 percent of their remaining weekly pay, with a cap of $1,000 per week. The Districts chief financial officer estimates that the city could begin offering those benefits during the 2019 fiscal year.

The benefits would not apply to federal workers or to the 35,000 people employed by the District government.

Mendelson said he plans to consider alternatives that would shrink the size of the payroll-tax increase and use the money solely to help pay for benefits for employees of small businesses, perhaps through insurance policies.

Larger employers  many of which already have leave policies  would be mandated to provide the amount of leave required by the legislation.

Many of the details are still being worked out, Mendelson said, such as what size constitutes a small employer and how far the tax rate should be lowered.

One draft plan from the business community that has been floated to council members suggests a fee on employers with 50 or more workers that would not exceed 0.1 percent of payroll.

Mendelson said he would introduce one or more bills fleshing out such ideas in the coming weeks unless other council members introduce similar legislation.

Business groups have been arguing for months for an employer mandate approach to paid leave. Mendelson had previously rejected their suggestions, saying they would create a burden for small businesses.

Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who sided with business leaders and voted against the leave bill, said Mendelsons new openness could be the result of a political calculation as he looks forward to the 2018 election.

Evans said Mendelson may have realized only in recent weeks how unpopular the paid-leave law is among influential business groups, such as the Greater Washington Board of Trade and the D.C. Chamber of Commerce. Im sure hes looking at the tea leaves, saying, Wow, I pissed a lot of people off,  Evans said.

Mendelson said it was nonsense to impute political motives to his willingness to listen to the business community. He said the new approaches suggested in recent weeks are more likely to address his concerns about small businesses than those put forward last year, before the law was approved.

As a practical matter, he said, supporters of paid leave also have a vested interest in securing the support of the mayor, who could still hinder the law  for example, by moving slowly to set up the technology system that would be required for the city to administer benefits.

We can get the bill through  we can get the votes, we can get past the mayor, we can get the bill in place, he said. However, If the Board of Trade and the Chamber of Commerce are going to continue to scream and yell, its going to be more difficult.

He added: We know the mayor doesnt like the bill. So if theres a lot of business upset, then shes going to be incentivized to move very slowly to implement the bill.

Grosso said he was open to hiring a contractor to run the citys benefit system and had made similar suggestions in the past. He said he was much more skeptical of arguments to lower the existing tax rate on businesses and said an employer mandate would be difficult to enforce

I still am adamantly opposed to any kind of employer-mandate approach, Grosso said. There is no enforcement mechanism in D.C. government that is good enough to monitor whether these employers are providing these benefits to their employees.
The U.S. Marshals Service says it is providing security for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos after a handful of protesters prevented her from entering a D.C. middle school.

[Protesters briefly block Education Secretary Betsy DeVoss visit to a D.C. school]

The move is unusual for the Education Department, which typically has a team of civil servants guarding the secretary, and for the marshals, law enforcement officers who are generally responsible for protecting federal judges, transporting prisoners, apprehending fugitives and protecting witnesses.

The last Cabinet member protected by marshals was a director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said Lynzey Donahue, a spokeswoman for the Marshals Service. That office ceased to be a Cabinet-level position in 2009.

Donahue said that for security reasons, she could not provide any information about the number of marshals assigned to DeVos or say whether they are providing round-the-clock protection. It is unclear how long the arrangement will last.

Education Department officials did not respond to requests for information about why they have called on the marshals or what the security team normally assigned to the secretary is doing now.

Federal policy allows the Education Department to pay other agencies for services, but it is unclear whether the department is reimbursing the marshals for the cost of deploying a security team.

Marshals began providing security for DeVos on Monday, the first weekday after she encountered protesters outside the Districts Jefferson Middle School Academy last week, Donahue said.

The demonstration was mostly peaceful, but several protesters tried to block the movement of a government car entering the street in front of the school, and a few others tried to bar DeVos from entering the school building. Video circulated by WJLA (Channel 7), the local ABC television affiliate, showed a member of the departments security team steering DeVos away from the protesters, guiding her by an arm as she returned to her government vehicle.

One of the protesters who blocked the secretarys way appeared to have touched her, according to a video circulated by Fox5DC.

D.C. police arrested one person on a charge of assaulting a police officer.

[The popular uprising that threatens the Betsy DeVos nomination]

The incident was the latest sign that DeVos remains a deeply polarizing figure after winning Senate confirmation by the slimmest of margins. A Michigan billionaire, she spent three decades lobbying for private school vouchers, charter schools and other alternatives to traditional public schools. Her supporters say she is a bold reformer, but her detractors worry that DeVos aims to undermine public schools by redirecting taxpayer money to private and religious schools.

Last Fridays protest was not the first for the team responsible for protecting the education secretary. In 2015, for example, anti-testing protesters confronted then-Education Secretary Arne Duncan when he visited an elementary school in Chicago. Duncans driver turned down a dead-end alley, according to the Chicago Tribune, compelling Duncan to exit his vehicle and walk past chanting protesters about half a block from the school.

I entrusted my life and my familys lives to that team for seven years, Duncan said of the departments security detail. They could not have been more professional, more committed, more thoughtful. I cant say enough about how much I respected them. A couple protesters? Thats part of the job. You embrace that. You dont run away. You have to deal with people. You have to work outside your comfort zone.

Many of the security personnel are former Secret Service agents who have been at the department for many years, as far back as the tenure of Education Secretary Rod Paige, who served from 2001 to 2005 under President George W. Bush, according to former department officials. One former official said the agencys guards have protected multiple secretaries and are top-notch security professionals. Duncan said he never for one second doubted the security teams ability to do its job and never saw a need to ask for additional protection.

Thats a waste of taxpayer money, Duncan said of the use of U.S. marshals.

In an interview Wednesday with the conservative publication Townhall, DeVos said that on the basis of her first few days in the job, she had concerns that some Education Department employees were sympathetic to the Obama administration.

I . . . would not be surprised if there are also those that would try to subvert the mission of this organization and this department, Devos said. Asked what she could do about that, she said, Whatever can be done will be done, and it will be done swiftly and surely.

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Anne Holton and her husband, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), greet Virginia delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Holton stepped down as Virginias education secretary when her husband was tapped to be Hillary Clintons running mate. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) has appointed Anne Holton, the former state education secretary, to the state board of education.

Holton, the wife of Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), stepped down as education secretary in July after her husband was tapped to be Hillary Clintons running mate. Holton has a long record of public service in education and for advocating for youths in foster care.

Appointed as education secretary in 2014, Holton pushed to cut back on standardized testing and has championed the states efforts to rewrite the high school curriculum to better connect students with the modern needs of the workforce.

[Read Holtons 2015 op-ed: Revising  not eliminating  tests to make Va. schools better]

The daughter of former Virginia governor A. Linwood Holton (R), she attended a historically all-black Richmond city school as her father pushed for school integration in the state. She also holds a law degree from Harvard University and spent part of her career representing low-income youth. She later served as a judge in Richmonds juvenile and domestic relations court.

[Meet Tim Kaines wife, a longtime child welfare advocate and Virginias secretary of education]

The governor also appointed Jamelle S. Wilson, dean of the School of Professional and Continuing Studies at the University of Richmond, to the board of education.

The governor appoints all members of the board of education, which helps set education policy for the state and establish curriculum. In the coming months, the board will also be working to overhaul the states accountability system and high school graduation requirements.


Supporters of immigrant rights march in the District on Feb. 16. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

Immigrant communities around the nations capital and across the country are reeling in the wake of what appears to be the first wave of detentions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement since the inauguration of President Trump.

The federal government said the series of raids last week that led to the arrests of at least 683 criminal aliens targeted undocumented immigrants who face criminal charges and did not represent a major change from Obama administration policies.

But immigrants, their advocates and lawyers say that many people without criminal records also were taken, spreading fear in cities and counties that are home to many foreign-born people.

Here are some of their stories:

Highlandtown, Baltimore

Sebardo Fernandez Rodriguez and Manuel Lopez Suarez were arrested Feb. 8 in what CASA de Maryland staff lawyer Lila Zazula called an open-air raid outside a Walgreens in Baltimores Highlandtown neighborhood.

Neither men, according to CASA, has a criminal record or even a traffic ticket.

The location where they were arrested, just off Eastern Avenue, was the site of other immigration enforcement actions during the early part of President Barack Obamas tenure.

Lopez Suarez was double-parked in a rental car about three blocks from the Walgreens, waiting to give someone a ride, said Zazula, who interviewed him and Fernandez Rodriguez for several hours. ICE agents came to his window asking for his license and registration and whether he had a green card, to which Lopez Suarez replied no. They took him into custody.

Lopez Suarez comes from Ecuador and first arrived in this country as a 15-year-old. He was detained at the border until a family member, an uncle from Chicago, claimed him, Zazula said. Three years later, a judge issued a deportation order for Lopez. Meanwhile, he moved to Baltimore, married and had two U.S.-born children, now 10 and 12 years old. He is a business owner, restoring old homes in Baltimore and doing home improvement work.

Fernandez Rodriguez is originally from Honduras and is a barber. He has been in Baltimore for a little more than a year, according to a friend, and has become well known in the community as a passionate cyclist and local volunteer.

He left his country after gang members threatened his life and tried to extort money from his barbershop, Zazula said.

Once in this country, Zazula said, Fernandez Rodriguez should have undergone a credible fear interview. Instead he signed a voluntary deportation order  he told Zazula he did not know what it was. He was sent back to Honduras but returned to the United States, in violation of the order.

Zazula said Fernandez Rodriguez went to the Walgreens the night of Feb. 8 with his girlfriend to buy some makeup-removing wipes. He walked to his car in the parking lot and got inside, then lights appeared in his rear window. The officers asked Fernandez Rodriguez and his girlfriend for their drivers licenses, Zazula said.

Then the officers asked Fernandez Rodriguez whether he had a green card. When he said no, they arrested and fingerprinted him. His girlfriend was not arrested, though she is also undocumented and has a pending deportation order.



A flier is posted on the door of a Mexican restaurant closed in support of immigrant rights on Feb. 16 in the District. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

Centreville

Maria Barraza, a parent liaison at London Towne Elementary School in Centreville, Va., said that the mother of a Head Start student last week came to school distraught at pickup time.

Sobbing, she told school officials that her sons father had been detained by immigration officials hours earlier.

The man had dropped off their child in the morning at the school. As he was walking home, he was stopped by ICE agents, questioned and taken into custody, Barraza said.

She declined to provide the name of the child or his parents, referring inquiries to the Fairfax County school systems public information office.

A spokesman for the school system said officials there were unaware of the incident.

Route 1 corridor, Fairfax County

Oscar Ramirez and Thermon Brewster, two men who sleep at the Rising Hope United Methodist Mission Churchs hypothermia shelter in Alexandria, Va., said ICE agents detained seven immigrants the morning of Feb. 8 just as they left the shelter, which closes for the daytime hours at 7 a.m.

The pair said about a dozen agents surrounded them and other men after they had walked across the street from the church to a shopping center. They did not draw any weapons but ordered some of the men to stand against the wall of the Aldi grocery store and questioned them one at a time about their legal status.

Its awful strange that guys can walk out a church and be detained like that, Brewster said in an interview. I think thats wrong.

The agents scanned the mens thumbs on-site using a device that brought up any criminal records. Ramirez said a few men, including him, had misdemeanors such as disorderly conduct, missing court dates and public drunkenness. Ramirez was one of the men detained, but he has a green card and was released.

There were other, less detailed reports of additional raids along the Route 1 corridor, which has a large immigrant population.

Ramirez and Brewster said most of those who were taken outside the Aldi were loaded in one van that arrived at the site with several detainees on board. There were shackles on their feet and around their hands. A second van also showed up to the site.

They come here to lay their heads, Ramirez said of the men who were apprehended after spending the night in the church-run shelter. Its not right to mess with people like that.



Lawyers from the Northern Virginia chapter of the Legal Aid Justice Center lead a Know Your Rights class in Annandale, Va., on Feb. 16 (Arelis R. Hernandez/The Washington Post)

Know Your Rights seminar

The small county government meeting room in Annandale filled quickly Thursday night. About 100 people sat and stood shoulder to shoulder to learn more about the immigration enforcement actions this month that have triggered panic in their Northern Virginia communities.

The Know Your Rights session was organized by the Legal Aid Justice Center, a group of pro bono lawyers, to help people avoid detention in the future.

Repeat after me, said Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, legal director for the centers immigrant advocacy program.

Tengo el derecho de guardar silencio, he started in Spanish. I have the right to remain silent.

The crowd pronounced the words slowly, somberly and in unison.

I want to talk to my lawyer, they continued.

And if there is a knock on the door, lawyers warned, dont open the door.

Sandoval-Moshenberg quickly ran through several suggestions: Identify a trusted friend to oversee things in case you get arrested. Put all important documents in a safe, accessible place. Create an emergency plan.

If youre detained, who is going to take care of your children? Sandoval-Moshenberg asked the men and women gathered.

Their eyes opened wide with concern. Many parents had brought their children to the meeting. The youngsters crawled under chairs, shrieking as they chased one another between the legs of the adults.

One by one, the attendees sat down with legal-aid volunteers who helped them fill out power-of-attorney documents and prepare. The families and individuals all brought their own set of particulars.

She was born here, one man said, turning his eyes to the round-faced toddler on his lap drinking vigorously from a baby bottle.

I own a house, another said to the volunteer sitting across the table. What should I do?

What document do I fill out to protect my children? They all have papers.

Maria Romero sat alone in a corner of the room, rolling a dozen or so documents in her hand and staring out vacuously. She arrived in the United States five months ago from Honduras, fleeing violence with her 14-year-old son. Now, he is watching news of ICE raids on Spanish-language television and barely eating.

Mexican law enforcement let them through as they traveled north, she recalled, saying Go, and never look back, Romero recalled. She turned herself in to Border Patrol agents after entering the United States, went to her hearings and was given a court date for 2019.

I believe getting here was my destiny, Romero said between tears. But I never imagined the affliction I would encounter here. We cant go back.
Kevin Maxwell, Prince George's County schools chief executive officer, speaks at a 2016 press conference regarding an abuse case. Prince Georges County Executive Rushern L. Baker III, left, seen with Board of Education Chairman Segun C. Eubanks, extended Maxwells contract Friday. (Mark Gail/For The Washington Post)

Prince Georges County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D) announced Friday he was extending the contract for Kevin Maxwell, the schools chief executive officer, giving the educator another four years to continue reform efforts despite recent abuse scandals that led to calls for Maxwells resignation.

It is the first time in nearly 25 years that a superintendent in Prince Georges County will get a second term. Before Maxwell, the states second-largest school system had seven superintendents in less than two decades.

Maxwell is paid just under $300,000 a year. He was appointed by Baker in 2013, shortly after the state legislature awarded the county executive broad new power over school-system governance.

His leadership is a central part of Bakers plan to overhaul and stabilize the system after years of scandal, poor performance and dwindling public trust.

Maxwell, who grew up in and began his career in Prince Georges County, has seen graduation rates reach record highs at some schools. Enrollment and some test scores also have increased.

He expanded full-day prekindergarten and language-immersion offerings, and increased participation in dual-enrollment programs that allow high school students to take college-level courses.

But the system faced sexual-abuse and child-abuse cases last year involving school personnel, including a one-time aide who now faces decades in prison. The allegations led to a federal investigation and the loss of control by the school system of millions of dollars in Head Start funding.

[For years, Pr. Georges did not strengthen school sex-abuse policies ]

It has been challenging but at the same time, its been some of the most rewarding work that I have ever done, Maxwell said at a news conference at DuVal High School, where he introduced a specialized academic program focused on aerospace science.

Maxwell cited letters he has received from grateful students, the number of strategic business and philanthropic partnerships that school officials have brokered and a more than $44 million increase in the value of scholarships offered to county graduates in 2016.

I see this as my capstone for my career, he said. I see this as my legacy and reinvesting in the community that gave me the life that I have today.

More than three dozen business, government, philanthropic leaders and school board members attended the announcement, giving Maxwell a standing ovation as he ticked off his administrations accomplishments.

[How a Maryland school system lost its Head Start grant]

Absent were at least three elected members of the Board of Education, including Edward Burroughs III, one of Maxwells most strident critics. He led calls for Maxwell to step down following revelations that a Head Start worker forced a child to mop up their own urine and texted a photo to the childs mother.

Amid the fallout, Maxwell asked his chief of staff to resign over an email that appeared to suggest that school administrators tried to keep the Head Start scandal quiet.

There were separate allegations of abuse, involving a school bus aide accused of molesting students.

Baker, who is term-limited in 2018, said he never lost confidence in Maxwell through all the bumps and stumbles.

Have we had problems? Yes, Baker said. The question is how we react. . . . I want him to continue the work he is doing.
Harvey Matthews, left, and Marsha Coleman-Adebayo at meeting of Montgomery County Planning Board meeting in Silver Spring, Md., on Thursday. (Bill Turque/The Washington Post)

Members of an African American church in Bethesda are escalating their efforts to halt major construction in the Westbard neighborhood, delivering a petition with about 130 signatures on Thursday to the Montgomery County Planning Board.

The members of Macedonia Baptist Church contend that the mixed-use project proposed by New York-based Equity One will further desecrate a site they believe was an African American cemetery in the first half of the 20th century.

The land, made into a parking lot in the 1960s, should be isolated and protected as a sacred place, said church social justice chair Marsha Coleman-Adebayo.

She led about a dozen protesters to the Montgomery Planning Board in Silver Spring on Thursday afternoon to present the petition, which seeks to delay a Feb. 23 hearing on the project until more is known about what may lie underground.

The action comes amid conflict between officials and the church community over how best to address cemetery questions.

Coleman-Adebayo and other church members assert that Montgomery Planning Director Gwen Wright and Planning Board Chairman Casey Anderson intend to move ahead with approval of the Equity Ones proposal for the neighborhood, despite evidence suggesting that remains exist beneath a parking lot behind Westwood Tower, a 15-story apartment building on Westbard Avenue.

The board announced Wednesday that although the Equity One proposal will remain on next Thursdays agenda, the Westwood Tower area will be excluded from review until a full study of the site is complete.

The board also invited church representatives to testify.

Wright said she asked Equity One not to begin any work on the site until her agency negotiates a contract with two anthropologists who specialize in African American culture, Rachel Watkins and Michael Blakey, to serve as independent peer review consultants. That negotiation is ongoing, Wright said.

We want to honor the demands of the church in this matter, she said.

If the presence of remains is confirmed, it will be up to the states attorneys office to decide whether they are exhumed and moved, Wright said.

Equity One wants to build a town-center-style development, with civic spaces, a revitalized shopping center, apartment high rises, townhouses and moderately priced housing on 22 acres in Westbard.

The plan, approved by the Montgomery County Council in May, has drawn bitter protests from some residents of surrounding neighborhoods, who contend that it would transform the character of the community from suburban to urban.
A security guard who fatally shot a Virginia man who reportedly was playing Pokemon Go was charged with murder Thursday, prosecutors said.

[Lawmakers want probe after man reportedly shot while playing Pokemon Go]

On Jan. 26 at about 11 p.m., Jiansheng Chen, 60, was shot by a neighborhood security guard in Chesapeake, Va. An attorney who represents Chens family told local media that Chen, who did not speak English well, was playing Pokemon Go when he was killed.

Though that account was not confirmed by authorities, three members of Congress called for an investigation into Chens death.

An attorney representing the neighborhoods security firm said the guard was defending himself when Chen tried to run him down with a van. The attorney also said Chen had been barred from the property for trespassing on two previous occasions in the past 18 months.

On Thursday, prosecutors said the guard, Johnathan Cromwell, was charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of murder.

Mr. Cromwell confronted Mr. Chen by stopping his vehicle directly in front of Mr. Chens, a statement from the Chesapeake commonwealths attorney said. Mr. Chen backed up and turned his vehicle around  Mr. Cromwell had exited his car and did say stop before he fired his weapon.

The statement noted that Chen was shot five times, once in his upper left arm and four times in his upper left chest, and that no video of the incident was available.

Cromwells attorney declined to comment.

Andrew M. Sacks, who represents Citywide Protection Services, the company whose security guard shot Chen, said the company thinks Cromwell was not at fault.

Our conclusion was that the guard acted justifiably in self-defense, and the company stands behind that position at this time, he said.
One moment, the hotel maid was cleaning a quiet hallway. The next, she heard screams erupt from Room 201.

Something inside of me said, Record it,  she would recall.

The maid pulled out her phone, placed it near an opening at the base of the door and captured the crimes unfolding on the other side.

Marcus, stop it! a woman shrieked. Then sounds of pushing, slapping and more shouts: I dont want no part in this life!

The two minutes and seven seconds of audio  recorded at a Radisson hotel 12 miles north of the District  proved critical for authorities in Montgomery County. They built an assault and human-trafficking case against the man inside the room, Marcus Lindsey, even as they lost track of the beaten prostitute.

(Montgomery County States Attorneys Office)

This week, Lindsey was sentenced to 20 years in prison, absent testimony from the victim.

You are a master manipulator, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Nelson Rupp told Lindsey. Youre a predator, and youre a danger.

The judge also advised Lindsey not to ask for a new sentence down the road. Dont bother with filing a motion for reconsideration, Rupp said. It will be denied.

The case highlighted how criminals must contend with now-ubiquitous video- and audio-recording devices, carried by nearly everyone and mounted on more and more walls.

And the case included a debate over the term human trafficking.

Lindseys attorneys argued to Rupp that their client wasnt guilty of the type of offenses for which the statute was intended: the forced transportation and sex enslavement of victims who often come from other countries.

Im not here to say that Mr. Lindsey is perfect or to say that he has an untarnished past, attorney Sarah Bartle said. But to say that his conduct warrants the same penalty as individuals who are importing women and children into the United States, locking them in sweatshops, taking their passports  it sort of beggars belief.

(Montgomery County States Attorneys Office)

Bartle said that Lindsey admitted to a verbal and physical altercation with the woman and that his crimes merited a sentence of less than 10 months.

Its unlikely Lindsey will have to serve the full 20 years. Under Maryland parole rules, human trafficking and second-degree assault are nonviolent crimes, meaning Lindsey will become eligible for parole consideration after serving 25 percent of his sentence, or five years.

In some ways, the prostitution operation set up inside the Radisson last year is typical of how the trade has migrated from street corners to services advertised online and taking place in anonymous hotel rooms. Many customers prefer decent- to high-end locations, where they can walk in as if theyre in town for business, according to investigators.

The Radisson in Rockville, with a tidy, comfortable lobby and conference center, did nothing wrong, according to the prosecutor on the case, Montgomery Assistant States Attorney Tim Hagan, who called the maid a hero in court.

In the weeks before the assault, Hagan said, Lindsey had helped the prostitute set up advertisements on the website Backpage, booked hotel rooms for her throughout the Washington area and stayed in the rooms with her between customers.

After setting up at the Radisson in March, the woman was visited by three customers  paying rates between $80 to $150, depending on the length of their stay, police said. At some point, when she attempted to leave, Lindsey stopped her and struck her in the face, Hagan said.

Lindsey was tried before a jury in December.

The maid was Hagans first witness. She said one of her jobs was to clean hallway carpets  sometimes with a vacuum cleaner, sometimes with a broom, as she was doing when she heard the screams. Hagan played her recording for jurors.

The victim eventually got out of the room and made her way to the hotel lobby. A staffer there called 911 and handed the phone to the prostitute. A recording of the call also was played for jurors.

Im okay, the prostitute told the 911 operator. I just got beat in the face, but I am fine.

The operator told her the police would be there soon.

Thank you, the victim said. She talked to police that night but disappeared later as the case progressed.

Lindsey took the witness stand at his trial. He offered an explanation for why he was in the hotel room and why he and the woman had a physical altercation.

Lindsey said he was staying in the room because he was expecting the birth of his second child at nearby Shady Grove Adventist Hospital. He wanted to be able to get there, according to his testimony.

He said he knew the prostitute. At some point, he testified, he asked the prostitute and a second prostitute for sex, which led to an argument.

The jury didnt buy his explanation, returning their verdict Dec. 7.

Rupp, the judge, said Lindseys account was part of his broader attempts to sink the case, which included trying to keep the victim from testifying.

Your testimony during the course of this case was shocking, Rupp said. The arrogance that you displayed on the witness stand, thinking that you would somehow avoid accountability by coming up with ludicrous explanations, was another effort to obstruct justice in this case.
A teacher at a middle school in Falls Church was charged with aggravated sexual battery involving two female students, authorities said Friday.

Jose Daniel Estrada, 36, of Clifton, worked as a math teacher at Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School, according to police and school officials.

In a statement, Falls Church City Public Schools said they learned of allegations against Estrada on Jan. 17 and he was immediately removed from the classroom and placed on leave. The school system also contacted police and child protective services.

Estrada began working at the school in July of 2015, a spokesman for Falls Church schools said.

He is being held at the Arlington County Jail, police said.

Police believe there may be other victims, and asked anyone with information about the case to contact them at 703-248-5327.
Haris Qamar mused about committing violence on behalf of the Islamic State, drinking slurpees of blood and chopping off heads. On Twitter, he celebrated terrorist attacks.

The stuff I said was horrible, I know that, the 26-year-old told a federal judge in Alexandria on Friday before being sentenced to 8 years in federal prison.

Those words have come back to haunt you, Judge Leonie M. Brinkema told the Northern Virginia man. Youve just destroyed your mother and your father, and they came to this country to make a better life for you and your siblings.

The case illustrates both how the Islamic State lures in adrift young Muslims and how judges who set punishments often must square awful ideas with meager deeds.

What Qamar did was take photographs of D.C. landmarks for what he thought would be a propaganda video and buy $20 in phone cards he thought would be used for terrorist communications. In fact, he was working with a federal informant. He tried to fly to Turkey and join the Islamic State in 2014, but his parents stopped him by taking away his passport. When the informant encouraged him to try again, he demurred.

Instead, he goes and plays video games, defense attorney Alan H. Yamamoto said in court Friday.

At the time of his arrest, Qamar lived with his parents in Burke, Va., worked at a storage facility and attended Northern Virginia Community College. He had hoped to transfer to Virginia Commonwealth University and eventually become a civil engineer. In the fall, he pleaded guilty to seeking to support a terrorist group.

It was Qamars vicious tweets  on hundreds of accounts that were quickly shut down  that brought him onto the FBIs radar.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg acknowledged in court that theres something childish in the way Qamar fantasized about violent acts. But theres something deeply disturbing about it as well, he said. I dont think theres an antidote to the unfathomable bloodlust and attraction to depravity that this defendant has.

Brinkema disagreed, saying that by the time he was arrested last summer, Qamar perhaps was finally outgrowing this fascination with blood and gore.

In a letter to the court, Qamar said he became enamored of the Islamic State while trying to escape a dysfunctional family dynamic. Qamars parents, immigrants from Pakistan, lost all their savings in the 2007 financial crash, according to court documents. Qamar was helping support his family, but he also struggled in school, in part, because he spent too much time playing video games.

I said many foolish things and did foolish things, trying to bring some excitement to my life, he wrote. Even when I was thinking or talked about going overseas, I thought how much easier life would be not having to deal with the massive dysfunction of my family, tired of being a mediator between my father and brother or telling my parents about my failing college career or the financial stresses of the household.

Qamar also said he was inspired not by a desire to kill but by civilian atrocities he mistakenly believed the Islamic State was helping to prevent. His savage words were taken out of context, he said, because he was responding to reports of awful brutality.

The repulsive violent statements I made were out of sheer anger and sadness for the innocent people I watched get tortured and killed, he wrote.

Friends wrote to the court to say Qamar was kind and helpful, even taking in a severely mentally ill friend and persuading him to return to his parents.

Brinkema asked why Qamar had celebrated the November 2015 terrorist attack in Paris. Qamar told her that he had thought at the time that it was an eye for an eye . . . payback for French military operations in the Muslim world.

Ive made a lot of mistakes in my life, he said. This one especially has stained my soul.
A high-ranking University of Virginia official has filed a federal lawsuit against the school, claiming she was paid too little because of gender discrimination.

In January 2013, U-Va. said in a statement that Betsy Ackerson, who had worked on creating new degree programs for the university from 2005 to 2007, had been hired to help manage the schools strategic plan.

[Lawmakers want to know why U-Va. stockpiled billions but boosted tuition]

Ackerson, now 44, was to be paid $70,000 for the one-year appointment, the lawsuit said, though she had to perform many of the duties of a male administrator paid up to $250,000 per year.

After Ackerson complained about pay discrepancy and the scope of her duties was expanded, her contract was eventually extended and her salary rose to $110,000, though she lost her private office, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia.

The lawsuit noted that one former official performing similar duties received a salary of $185,000 before he left the school and three male officials are paid more than $150,000 per year, according to the suit.

The university declined to comment Friday on the lawsuit.

Ackerson alleges that she also was threatened with the loss of her job if she raised complaints about unequal pay.

UVA fails to compensate Ackerson comparable to employees who: are of the opposite sex, work in the same establishment as Ackerson, perform work equal or comparable to that of Ackerson, retain positions that require equal skill, effort and responsibility as Ackerson, and perform their work under similar conditions as Ackerson, the complaint said.

The lawsuit sought back pay and punitive damages, among other relief.


Kim Gustafson, who owns Bluprint Chocolatiers in Old Town Alexandria in Alexandria, Va., rents a store below the headquarters of the Richard Spencers far-right National Policy Institute. (Patricia Sullivan/The Washington Post)

Kim Gustafson, wearing her chefs smock, stood on the iron staircase of Bluprint Chocolatiers in the midday drizzle last Sunday to check out the growing crowd of protesters across the street.

Ever since her landlord rented the upper two floors of the Old Town Alexandria townhouse to Richard Spencer and his National Policy Institute, a think tank that promotes white-nationalist ideologies, she and her husband, Bruce, had been trying to make sure everyone knew that their 22-month-old designer chocolate shop had nothing to do with the tenant upstairs.

The railing in front of her shop was braided with red and white ribbons, colors that the protesters have adopted. Like other storekeepers along King Street, she put a poster in her window declaring, Everyone is welcome here. And she meant it: She served Spencer a cup of coffee when he came downstairs to introduce himself.

But Valentines Day was just two days away, and Gustafson worried that the presence of her new neighbor, as well as the latest of what have become weekly protests, could be a deterrent for customers.

You can plan for electrical problems. You can plan for not growing as fast as youd like. You cant plan for this, she said.

[Financial secrecy behind white nationalist group known for Nazi salutes]

Richard Spencer, the president of the National Policy Institute, coined the term alt-right. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)

Spencer came to national attention for claiming Donald Trump as his movements champion during the presidential campaign (Trump later repudiated Spencers philosophy). At the NPIs convention in November, attendees responded to Spencers call of Hail Trump with Nazi salutes.

A dispute involving his mothers business in Spencers part-time home of Whitefish, Mont., resulted in neo-Nazis threatening Jewish residents in that small resort town. And while Spencer was being interviewed in downtown Washington on Inauguration Day, he was punched in the face by a black-clad assailant there to protest Trumps election.

So when the Atlantic magazine reported last month that Spencer had rented space at 1001 King St. with the intention of creating a one-stop shop for the alternative right, Alexandria residents mobilized  and the Gustafsons grew concerned about their sales.

At least three groups are coordinating protests outside the building every Sunday. Protesters have tried to spread the word that the Gustafsons are not affiliated with Spencer, and some make a point of going into the chocolate shop to buy candies before or after their demonstrations.

City council members have reissued a statement on inclusiveness, declaring Alexandria a hate-free zone. Alexandria spokesman Craig Fifer said city officials have certainly received a lot of calls and comments about Spencer but have no power to involve themselves in a private real estate lease.

The landlord, Mahwash Wasiq, did not respond to email and telephone requests for comment. Spencer, who did not answer his door and did not respond to messages left for him there, said in a text message in response to a phone call that he was unable to talk.

The orderly demonstration last Sunday, which drew about 50 people, featured chanting and signs with messages such as Hate is not a community value and Virginia  home to immigrants since 1607.



Protesters rally against the white nationalist Richard Spencer and his National Policy Institute on King Street in Alexandria, Va., on Feb. 12, 2017. (Pat Sullivan/The Washington Post)

Scores of passing drivers honked in support.

The whole concept of white supremacy is offensive, even if it is legal, said Jonathan Krall, who was there Sunday and has organized some of the protests for the new Grassroots Alexandria group.

David Hoover, a parishioner at the nearby Episcopal Christ Church, said he and others will not be silent, even though the church is not taking an official position.

Episcopalians are called upon at baptism to renounce evil in the world. Silence implies consent. I want to speak out against the evils of racism, he said. We believe questioning the humanity of black people and Jews and others is, to use church language, a sin.

Adam Roberts, a member of Old Town Indivisible, said Spencers thinly veiled white supremacy is offensive to a town that prides itself on its racial, religious and ethnic diversity.

I fully understand he has a constitutional right to free speech; I just want it to be very well-known that we are not okay with this behavior and his ideas. I want him to feel hes not welcome here, Roberts said. Im less interested in his long-term goals than I am in making sure members of my community feel welcome and safe.

It turned out that the Gustafsons need not have worried. On Valentines Day, we sold out of chocolates by 12:30 p.m., Kim Gustafson said in an interview. We are making chocolate like crazy now to catch up.

Gustafson said the business has had just fabulous support, not only from our Old Town neighbors, but from the whole community. That includes residents of Whitefish, the small Montana town hard by the Canadian border, who sent letters, emails and telephone messages of support to the candy store after hearing about Spencers new location (starting this fall, they and others will be able to order chocolates from the shop online).

[We] hope that if you ever pass through Old Town Alexandria youll stop by and say hello,  Bruce Gustafson said in a message to Whitefish residents that he posted on the shops blog. We have 6,649 hot chocolates just waiting for you to arrive.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) is chairman of the National Governors Association and will lead the group in its winter meeting in Washington next weekend. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) requested a few tweaks to the state budget working its way through the General Assembly, saying he and the Republican-controlled legislature are very close to agreement but warning that he sees storm clouds looming from Washington.

Ive been very happy with the budget, McAuliffe said Friday morning. I want to thank the members of the General Assembly  we are very close on a lot of issues.

The House of Delegates and Senate have selected conferees to hammer out the differences between their versions of the budget and aim to wrap up before the session ends Feb. 25. In the second year of a two-year, $105 billion spending plan, the governor and legislature have only minor areas of contention.

[Virginia legislature moves forward with budget, haggles over pay raises]

McAuliffe asked lawmakers to consider restoring funding for a handful of priorities, including increasing mental-health services in jails, improving the states election systems and support for solar, bioscience and cybersecurity research and training.

To cover the cost of those items, the governor would like to adjust two areas: cutting by half the $10 million the Assembly wants to mark the 400th anniversary of representative government in Jamestown in 2019, and taking $15 million away from a new economic development agency that has yet to get fully operational.

McAuliffe said that he fully supports Go Virginia but that the economic development effort will not be able to spend all the money set aside for it by the end of the fiscal year.

He and the legislature also have tussled over how to give raises to state employees, particularly teachers, but McAuliffe said recent improvements in tax revenue will help iron out those differences.

If, that is, events in Washington do not derail the states efforts, he said. McAuliffe cited a litany of concerns about the Trump administration  the federal hiring freeze, efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, hints of converting Medicaid to block grants  that he said he will address next week when he meets with the president.

McAuliffe is chairman of the National Governors Association and will lead the group in its winter meeting in Washington next week. He said he conferred two weeks ago with House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) over concerns about the ACA.

McAuliffe also wrote to the Trump administration on Thursday expressing dismay about reports of immigration raids at a charitable shelter in Alexandria.

[Federal immigration raids net many without criminal records]

If you start here, where do you stop? he said. We dont need a chilling effect here in the commonwealth of Virginia. We want people to be able to work with law enforcement. . . . We dont want to drive people underground.

Those issues, combined with fear that Congress will not act to counter the looming threat of sequestration, or automatic federal budget cuts, could be particularly harmful to Virginia with its heavy federal workforce, he said.

We do have some threatening clouds out there, he said. He said the governors group will meet with Trump, the Cabinet and Congress over three days next weekend.

McAuliffe has said before that he has known Trump for 20 years and has had a good relationship with him. But when Trumps Thursday news conference came up, McAuliffe could not resist ribbing the reporters around him in the style of the president.

Youre wrong, McAuliffe said to laughter. I got more votes for governor than any [person] running for governor in the history of the commonwealth of Virginia. I carried more counties than any Democrat in the history of mankind. . . . It was interesting yesterday. And you guys are all wrong  youre liars, youre misleading people, youve ruined America.
NATIONAL SECURITY

Commander charged in Navy scandal

U.S. Navy Cmdr. Mario Herrera was arrested Thursday and charged with accepting prostitutes, luxury travel, elaborate dinners and $1,800 in steaks from Leonard Glenn Francis, the defense contractor at the root of a massive corruption scandal that has hit the Navy.

Herrera, 48, is the 12th Navy official, including one admiral, to be charged in connection with the scandal. He was arrested in San Antonio and is scheduled to appear in federal court in San Diego, according to a news release from the office of U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California.

Herrera is accused of working with the brotherhood, a band of Navy 7th Fleet officers who helped feed information such as ship schedules and proprietary information to Francis, nicknamed Fat Leonard, in exchange for lavish perks such as fine dining and prostitutes. He also is accused of feeding recommendations to the Navy that benefited Franciss company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, and of working with Cmdr. Jose Luis Sanchez, one of the first officers charged in connection with the scandal in 2013.

Five Glenn Defense executives have also been charged. The investigation is ongoing. More than 200 people are under scrutiny for their ties to Francis, including around 30 admirals, although many remain unnamed, according to U.S. officials.

 Thomas Gibbons-Neff

KENTUCKY

Court upholds panhandlers free speech rights

A panhandler cited for defying a city ordinance while holding a sign asking for money won his case before the Kentucky Supreme Court, which ruled that his free speech rights were violated.

The court Thursday released its unanimous opinion striking down the decade-old panhandling ordinance in Lexington. The local law prohibited begging along public streets and intersections in the states second-largest city.

The justices ruled that the ordinance singled out a particular type of speech for criminal prosecution  begging  while allowing other forms of speech.

Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr., who wrote the opinion, said the true beauty of the First Amendment is that it treats both Cicero and the vagabond as equals.

Someone standing at a prominent Lexington intersection displaying a sign that reads Jesus loves you, or one that says Not my President has no fear of criminal liability under the ordinance, Minton wrote. But another person displaying a sign on public streets reading Homeless please help may be convicted of a misdemeanor.

The courts ruling came in the case of Dennis Champion, whom police cited in 2014 for holding a homemade sign asking for money at a busy Lexington intersection.

 Associated Press

WASHINGTON STATE

Judges: Florist who refused same-sex couples request broke law

The Washington Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday that a florist who refused to provide services for a same-sex wedding broke the states anti-discrimination law, even though she claimed that doing so would violate her religious beliefs.

A lower court had fined Barronelle Stutzman, a florist in Richland, Wash., for denying service to a gay couple in 2013, and ordered her to pay a $1,000 fine.

Stutzman argued that she was exercising her First Amendment rights. But the court held that her floral arrangements do not constitute protected free speech, and that providing flowers to a same-sex wedding would not serve as an endorsement of same-sex marriage.

Stutzmans lawyers immediately said they would ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the decision.

A Colorado case involving a baker who would not make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple is pending before the Supreme Court, according to Lambda Legal. In 2014, the court declined to hear an appeal of a case out of New Mexico that went against a photographer who denied a same-sex couple service.

 Associated Press

Ukrainian hacker sentenced: A Ukrainian hacker who admitted using thousands of infected computers to steal user names and passwords for bank accounts and other online services has been sentenced to 41 months in prison. Sergey Vovnenko was sentenced Thursday in federal court in New Jersey. He pleaded guilty last year to charges in the case.

 From news services
Oscar Ramirez and Thermon Brewster walked out of the Rising Hope United Methodist Mission Church just before 7 a.m.  when those who sleep at its homeless shelter must leave for the day.

Outside the church in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County, Va., U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were waiting.

As the two men and others crossed the street toward a shopping center on Feb. 8, about a dozen ICE agents ordered them up against the wall of a grocery store, questioning them about their immigration status. According to Ramirez and Brewster, the ICE agents then indiscriminately arrested seven of the homeless men  all of them Hispanic  and packed them into a van full of other detainees.

ICE tells it differently: An ICE official said officers approached the group, questioned them about a potential target and arrested two men, including a legal permanent resident of the United States. Both had been identified in the shopping center parking lot as criminal aliens amenable to removable meaning deportation.

(Alice Li/The Washington Post)

The U.S. government said the series of ICE raids last week netted at least 683 criminal aliens, the first major immigration enforcement wave under President Trump. But a growing chorus of activists, lawyers and lawmakers have pointed to a sharp discrepancy between what ICE says it is doing and what immigrant families are seeing and reporting in cities across the nation.

[Federal agents conduct immigration enforcement raids in at least six states]

In Chicago, a student called her high school teacher to tell him that ICE had raided her home the night before, arresting her father, an undocumented immigrant whose criminal record included only traffic violations, the teacher said. In Centreville, Va., a woman told officials at London Towne Elementary School that a students father had been arrested after dropping their son off at school that morning. And in the Baltimore parking lot of a Walgreens, ICE agents arrested a barber and a local business owner who advocates said also had no criminal records.

The reports of seemingly random arrests, of ICE agents appearing during the day outside schools, shelters and apartment blocks, have sent a palpable wave of fear through the nations immigrant communities.

I have never seen the immigrant community, both the lawfully and unlawfully present, with a greater amount of fear than I have in recent weeks, said Faye Kolly, an attorney in Austin.

[This undocumented immigrant just announced that she is seeking sanctuary at a church. Now she waits.]

On Thursday, the agencys top officials traveled to Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress, some of whom had requested a briefing on the immigration enforcement actions. According to lawmakers present, ICE officials acknowledged that at least 186 of those apprehended in recent days had no criminal history.

It was hard to not leave that meeting and believe that the Trump administration is going to target as many immigrants as possible, said Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.), who attended the meeting. The only hesitation they seem to have was whether they would go after DACA recipients, Castro said, referring to the thousands of young people who came to the United States as minors and were granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals under the Obama administration so they could pursue education and work opportunities.

ICE has arrested at least one DACA recipient during the raids. ICE says the man, Daniel Ramirez Medina, is a gang member.

Virginia State Sen. Scott A. Surovell (D-Fairfax) accused ICE of engaging in Gestapo-style tactics that amount to racial profiling. Some immigrants have been locking themselves in their homes, wary of opening their doors for any visitors; others have kept their children out of school or stopped showing up at work. Supporters protested Thursday, some skipping work, to show the impact of what the nation would be like without immigrants.

[Restaurants, schools close in Day Without Immigrants protest]

ICE has repeatedly emphasized that agents are targeting dangerous criminals who are living in the United States illegally, as the agency did under President Barack Obama. But the agency has declined to identify any of the people who were arrested and has provided fewer than 20 examples of those swept up in the raids who had been charged with or previously convicted of violent or sexual crimes. ICE officials also declined to say how many people the agency arrested in Virginia and Maryland during operations last week and why ICE failed to mention those operations in its earlier acknowledgment of the operations nationwide.

Theyre doing street sweeps, Surovell said. Accosting groups of random people in public.

ICE has denied that its officers have engaged in any sweeps or checkpoints, widespread allegations that have frightened immigrant communities from Raleigh, N.C., to Los Angeles. Reports of ICE checkpoints and sweeps or roundups are false, dangerous and irresponsible, ICE tweeted.

In Austin, where immigration officials detained more than 50 people, news of raids quickly spread through immigrant neighborhoods after a bystander captured cellphone video of one of the first detentions and shared it on social media.

Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez, Austins consul general of Mexico, visits ICE detention centers each day to provide legal support and interview Mexican nationals held in detention. On a typical day, he said, he talks to between one and three immigrants who have been detained. When he arrived last Thursday, he found 14 Mexican nationals in custody. On Friday, there were 30.

There are cases of mistaken identity, cases of people who were passengers in cars that were pulled over, cases of people who are married to U.S. citizens and who have children who are born and live in this country, said Gutierrez, who has spoken with many of those detained in Austin. It is pretty devastating what happens to the families that were caught in these nets. The destruction that comes after one of these operations is astounding.

A government social worker for Durham County, N.C., said that the number of Hispanic residents seeking assistance had dropped off rapidly in recent days amid swirling rumors about an ICE checkpoint at a Durham intersection and ICE agents making arrests in a supermarket parking lot.

Today, I havent gotten one Hispanic client in the entire check-in today, said the social worker, a longtime government employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. That never happens  They think that when they come here for assistance, that theyre going to be on some sort of invisible list.

Rumors of raids and checkpoints  which ICE officials have denied  have residents of Virginias immigrant-rich Culmore neighborhood on edge. The cluster of apartment buildings off Route 7 in Northern Virginia house hundreds of immigrants, many of whom do not have legal status.

Rumors have gripped the imagination of neighbors here, forcing families indoors and being vigilant of any law enforcement patrolling their streets. Doors typically open to neighbors and passersby drawn by the smell of pupusas or rice are now closed and locked. Knocks at the front door trigger terror, and occupants are asking visitors to identify themselves first before opening the door.

One resident, Ulises Martinez, said neighbors are furiously exchanging text messages about officers with dogs stopping people on street corners, but none of those reports has been confirmed. When his neighbor, a teenager, came by and knocked, Martinez asked who it was. The cheeky teen responded saying Me in Spanish and half-joking.

But Martinez was serious.

Who is me?, he said, peering hard through the dirty peephole.

Mark Guarino in Chicago, Janell Ross in Los Angeles, and Mike DeBonis, Ed OKeefe and Sandhya Somashekhar in Washington contributed to this report.
Were never too old for love, but seniors in assisted living facilities may find it difficult to follow their heart. And it may not be for lack of desire.

More than 2 million American adults are in this position, living in assisted living or in skilled nursing facilities. Need for long-term-care services increases with age, and recent estimates suggest that the majority of older Americans will utilize these services at some point.

Interested in the sexual lives of older adults, we studied life in assisted living facilities and found that these institutions rules and practices make it difficult for seniors to develop romantic relationships. Fixing that will require changes in how we view seniors sexual desires and how these facilities are run.

Adults of all ages have the capacity for and interest in romance, intimacy and sexuality. It might appear that older adults, especially the oldest old, are less interested in sex and less sexually active than younger adults, but sexual behavior and desire involve more than how often people have sex. Multiple social and health barriers can limit opportunities to pursue sexual relationships. For example, limited access to healthy partners because of living arrangements and unbalanced sex ratio diminishes opportunities as we age.

Although assisted living aims to be an environment in which older adults maintain autonomy, independence and control, these goals do not necessarily extend to sexuality. As the baby boomer generation  a generation that came of age during the sexual revolution  ages and more older adults utilize assisted living, it will be important to create specific policies and training regarding sexuality. This holds true for following generations, too.

As researchers who study gerontology, we wanted to examine whether seniors sex lives were being respected and protected.

We wanted to know more about opportunities for and barriers to sexual expression in this emerging environment. To do this, we conducted interviews and focus groups with staff and administrators in six assisted living facilities in a large southeastern city. Although limited to one city, our findings provide insight into the challenges of sexuality for residents of assisted living facilities across the country.

A knock at the door

The term older adult is broad. It includes people 65 and beyond. Living status, health concerns, desire and other factors vary widely across this spectrum. Younger groups of older adults are more likely than older cohorts to be married or partnered, live independently and have more active lifestyles, which facilitate access to sex and intimacy.

At one end of the spectrum is the lonely, frail, cognitively impaired older adult who has no interest in or capacity for pursuing a relationship. On the other end are the frisky, swinging singles who are at risk of sexually transmitted diseases. But in reality, sexuality in later life is much more complicated than stereotypes.

As people age, factors change. Older adults may experience their own or their partners health conditions, a need for assistance with activities of daily living or the loss of a spouse. Because of these and other changes, an increasing number of older adults are choosing intermediate care settings, such as assisted living, which is the fastest-growing segment of long-term care for older adults.

Assisted living locations differ from skilled nursing facilities because the former are intended to provide minimal to moderate levels of help with everyday tasks in a homelike environment that emphasizes choice and control for the residents.

Most of our respondents recognized the need for sexual expression and the desire of residents to have intimate relationships. Yet the day-to-day reality restricted opportunities for intimacy. This happened in two broad ways: surveillance of resident behavior and justification for limiting sexual freedom. Surveillance was subtle and nuanced in ways that limited sexual expression.

For example, staff needing access to resident rooms to provide housekeeping or care would frequently engage in what we term the knock and walk, whereby staff would give a cursory knock and then enter the room without waiting for a response. This act sometimes resulted in staff walking in on residents sharing an intimate moment in what should have been a private space. Thus, even in the privacy of their rooms, residents had limited opportunity to engage in sexual behavior.

The return of hall monitors?

Another way that staff controlled behavior was more overt and purposeful. We found that in public spaces such as dining and activity rooms, staff felt they had a responsibility to maintain decorum and keep the peace. As a result, they actively discouraged and limited contact between people who might appear interested in pursuing a relationship.

Staff and administrators in this study cited various reasons they limited sexual freedoms in assisted living. Among those reasons were safety, family concern and consent. Policies exist at the state level that hold facilities accountable for resident safety. Yet there was incredible variability in how these policies were interpreted and applied within and across facilities.

People who work in assisted living have to think about the needs of all residents in the facility and justify limitations as for the good of the whole. Because family members were frequently the ones selecting and paying for the care, staff and administrators were also concerned about family perceptions of residents sexual behaviors.

Also of concern to administrators and staff was the health and cognitive ability of residents and how to assess the ability of residents to fully consent to sexual activity. Ethics around sexuality and dementia are still emerging, and facilities tend to err on the side of protection.

At least one nursing home has been successful at creating and implementing a policy that supports sexual freedom, a policy that could serve as a model for assisted living and other long-term-care settings. This facility allows residents the opportunity to be sexual and even facilitates romance through happy hours and a dating service. Some fixes are as simple as creating a do-not-disturb hang tag for residents rooms.

Policies and training should address and accommodate the diversity of sexual needs and desires of older adults. Additionally, as the number of older adults with dementia in assisted living increases, staff and administrators will need to prepare for the ethical dilemmas regarding sex and dementia.

Policies and trainings on sexuality, aging and dementia have the potential to both protect the autonomy and independence of older adults in assisted living and prevent staff and administrators from acting according to stereotypes rather than the true needs of older adults. While more research is needed, we believe that all adults, regardless of age or living arrangements, should be able pursue love and intimacy.

This article was originally published on theconversation.com. Burgess is an associate professor of gerontology at Georgia State University. Bender is an assistant professor of medicine at Emory University. Barmon is an assistant professor of sociology at Central Connecticut State University.
Andromeda has been trained to warn Patsy Hayes about latex products that could harm her. (GARY REYES/SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS)

Balloons, rubber bands, dishwashing gloves and yoga mats are hardly cause for panic for most people.

But to Patsy Hayes, even the slightest physical contact with latex is enough to send her to the hospital, wheezing with swollen lips, tongue and eyelids  a possibly life-threatening scenario.

Now, the severely allergic 21-year-old has a furry, 41-pound secret weapon trained to make sure she avoids her nemesis.

Introducing Andromeda, the latex detection dog.

The black Labrador retriever is part of a growing trend in service dogs primed to protect allergy sufferers from potentially deadly encounters with everything from soy to nuts.

I know shes got my back, Hayes said of the playful but obedient pooch. who returned with her in mid-January to college in Upstate New York.

When Andromeda pinpoints any odor of latex, she drastically increases sniffing, brackets the source of the latex with her body, then sits and stares at the item to alert Hayes to stay away. Her owner rewards the dog with lavish praise, a big hug and a delicious treat.

With an estimated 50 million Americans having some type of allergy  including 3 million affected by latex, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  Hayes is not unique.

San Diego mother Trish Malone, who shares a severe latex allergy with her 11-year-old daughter, traveled to Colorado last month to pick up a yellow Labrador trained to do the same thing. For $9,000, Nani  named after a character in the Disney movie Lilo & Stitch  will be a 24/7 nose guard for her daughter, who is so sensitive to latex that even a pencil eraser sends her wheezing to the nurses office with a swollen throat.

Latex allergy is very common, Malone said. But to get a dog  its only a handful of people, because of the cost.

Hayes found Allergen Detection Service Dogs, owned and operated by Ciara Gavin in Colorado Springs, after months of online research.

Teaching a dog to detect latex  a milky fluid produced by rubber trees that is processed into a variety of products, such as gloves and balloons  was a first for Gavin and her seven-year-old company.

Years of training dogs to detect explosives and narcotics for the U.S. military and law enforcement agencies led Gavin to branch out in 2009 and focus on teaching dogs to detect an array of compounds  including nuts, milk, wheat, eggs and soy  that create serious allergic reactions in her clients.

Some of the afflicted, she said, rarely left their homes  even to visit friends  out of fear of an allergy attack.

But after getting a dog, Gavin said, they would start going places.

Anaphylaxis is a sudden, life-threatening allergic reaction, often triggered by medications, food and insect stings. A recent study by the Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America showed that anaphylaxis occurs in at least 1 in 50 adults, although experts say the rate is probably closer to 1 in 20. For many, it can be brought on just by touching trace amounts of latex, peanuts, milk or eggs.

Lindy Hayes detected her daughters allergy 16 years ago after ear surgery done by a doctor wearing latex gloves. At home later on, the 5-year-olds face began swelling up, and she had trouble breathing.

Patsy Hayess latex-related incidents landed her in hospital emergency rooms nine times in 2015 and 2016.

Thats when I said to her, Do you really want to live like this?  Lindy Hayes recalled.

Allergic reactions to latex typically show up in one of two ways: One is a rash that appears 12 to 36 hours after contact with a latex product. While irritating, its not life-threatening.

The second is a more immediate and serious reaction of itching, redness, swelling, sneezing, possibly wheezing  and, in rare cases, anaphylactic shock, which can be fatal if not treated immediately.

Hayes suffers from an odd hybrid of the two: Her latex allergy can take four to eight hours to erupt, and when it does, shes in trouble. She has learned to fight back on her way to the hospital with the help of an EpiPen or a steroid.

But that wasnt enough for the Rochester University of Technology student, who is majoring in chemical engineering. For the rest of her life, she will have to be wary whenever she bumps up against or breathes near an object made with latex. Knowing that dogs could be trained to detect peanuts, she wondered: Why not latex? Thats when she contacted Gavin.

The service isnt cheap. Gavins company charges $12,500 for the year it takes to train an allergy-detecting dog. Gavin also charges $2,500 for the two weeks needed to train an owner, and about $2,000 for travel expenses.

Lindy Hayes agreed to foot half the bill if her daughter came up with the balance, which Patsy Hayes is doing through a GoFundMe account and by tutoring students.

For the energetic Andromeda, detection hardly looks like drudgery.

Every compound has a unique smell, Gavin said, and once a dog associates that smell with a reward, the animal will begin to hunt for the scent.

They just want to please people, Gavin said.

Lindy Hayes is thrilled with the progress her daughter has made with Andromeda.

For me as a mother, having to get that phone call saying, Im on my way to the hospital is upsetting, she said. She is 3,000 miles away, and there is nothing I can do to help. But now shes got an extra level of protection.
Michael Novak, a Catholic philosopher who helped carve a space for religion in modern politics, diplomacy and economics, arguing that capitalism is the economic system most likely to achieve the spiritual goods of defeating poverty and encouraging human creativity, died Feb. 17 at his home in Washington. He was 83.

The cause was complications from colon cancer, said his daughter Jana Novak.

Mr. Novak, who spent his formative years in the seminary, was widely recognized as one of the most influential Catholic theologians of his generation. He was the 1994 recipient of the Templeton Prize, which honors makers of an exceptional contribution to affirming lifes spiritual dimension and is accompanied by a monetary award exceeding that of the Nobel Prize.

In a measure of Mr. Novaks influence within the Catholic Church, he was received and consulted by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI. He was at times a professor, a columnist, chief U.S. delegate to the U.N. Human Rights Commission and, for several decades, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, the conservative think tank in Washington.

Mr. Novak was among several scholars who brought serious religious thought to Washington in a way that it had not been present before, George Weigel, a distinguished senior fellow at the Washington-based Ethics and Public Policy Center, said in an interview.

He credited Mr. Novak with demonstrating to an audience of insiders a way of thinking that was not merely statistical or ideological but was perhaps more deeply reflective of enduring human questions and problems.

Mr. Novak wrote a shelf full of books on topics ranging from nuclear weapons to atheism to social justice to sports. But he was best known for his economic writings, particularly the book The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism (1982).

Democratic capitalism, he wrote, is neither the Kingdom of God nor without sin. Yet all other known systems of political economy are worse. Such hope as we have for alleviating poverty and for removing oppressive tyranny  perhaps our last, best hope  lies in this much despised system.

Mr. Novaks book found resonance around the world. It was illegally distributed in Poland, where the Solidarity movement helped defeat communism. His writings were credited with influencing Vaclav Havel, the dissident playwright who became the first president of Czechoslovakia after communism, and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of Britain.

In affairs across the Atlantic, Mr. Novak was a forceful critic of liberation theology as it was espoused in Latin America, where many adherents argued that the church should provide economic deliverance for the poor through leftist political ideologies.

Critics of Mr. Novak charged that he overlooked the severe inequalities often wrought by capitalism: Michael Novak preaches capitalisms virtues to Christians, Arthur Jones, a columnist for the National Catholic Reporter, once wrote. The breakthrough will come when he simultaneously preaches Christian virtues to his capitalist backers.

Mr. Novak acknowledged that Judaism and Christianity do not require democratic capitalism. But, he continued, it is only that without it they would be poorer and less free.

In the sphere of international affairs, Mr. Novak tussled with church leaders over Catholic teaching on just war. He regarded the nuclear deterrent as a moral means of prevailing over the Soviet Union in the Cold War and defeating what Weigel said they and like-minded thinkers considered Communisms defective and downgraded view of the human person.

It was under President Ronald Reagan that Mr. Novak served on the U.N.s human rights body. Communism, Weigel said, explaining his and Mr. Novaks position, denied that the human person was made in the image and likeness of God, and its that image in us that is the root, we would argue, of the human dignity from which spring human rights.

In the cultural arena, Mr. Novak wrote frankly of radical feminism, gay liberation, utopian socialism and geopolitical neutralism and the cheaply radical young graduates of . . . Catholic universities. But he also drew praise for the openness with which he approached religious dialogue, such as in his book No One Sees God: The Dark Night of Atheists and Believers (2008).

The line of belief and unbelief, he wrote, is not drawn between one person and another, normally, but rather down the inner souls of all of us.

Michael John Novak Jr. was born to a Slovak American family in Johnstown, Pa., on Sept. 9, 1933. His father was an insurance salesman, and his mother was a homemaker. A brother, Richard Novak, became a priest and was killed amid political upheaval in Bangladesh in 1964.

Mr. Novak joined the Congregation of Holy Cross at 14 and studied for the priesthood but ultimately left the order.

It was not untypical of bright idealistic Catholic boys to want to enter the priesthood, though your immediate circle of friends thought you were faintly crazy, Mr. Novak told the New York Times in 1982. He said that he aspired to be a novelist, but didnt see how I could do the independent thinking and traveling I wanted to do, and do it in community and under obedience.

His first book, a novel titled The Tiber Was Silver (1961), centered on an American seminarian who ventures to Rome and wrestles with the question of whether he can pursue his religious vocation as well as his love of painting.

Mr. Novak received a bachelors degree in philosophy from Stonehill College in Easton, Mass., in 1956, a bachelor of sacred theology degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1958 and a masters degree in the history and philosophy of religion from Harvard University in 1966.

He positioned himself initially on what he described as the anticapitalist left. In the early years of his career, he taught at schools including Stanford University, the State University of New York and Syracuse University and did political work for Democrats including Sen. George S. McGovern (S.D.), a torchbearer for liberalism despite his landslide loss to President Richard M. Nixon (R) in 1972.

Mr. Novak supported the liberalization of the Catholic Church brought about by the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s  a position he later recanted  and opposed such church teachings as its prohibition on contraception. His early liberal writings included the book The Open Church (1964), about the effects of Vatican II, and A Theology for Radical Politics (1969).

Over the next several years, Mr. Novak shifted rightward, economically and culturally  an evolution detailed in the memoir Writing From Left to Right: My Journey From Liberal to Conservative (2013).

Contributing to his growing disillusionment with the left was the unsympathetic reception of his book The Rise of the Unmeltable Ethnics (1972). In that volume, he railed against what he regarded as the marginalization of working-class Eastern European and other ethnic groups by the elite, largely Protestant establishment.

In 1978, Mr. Novak joined AEI, where he retired in 2010. He served at the time of his death on the faculty of Catholic University.

Mr. Novaks wife of 46 years, the former Karen Laub, died in 2009. Survivors include three children, Richard L. Novak of San Antonio, Tanya Holton of Boston and Jana Novak of Oklahoma City; a sister, Mary Ann Novak of Washington; a brother, Benjamin Novak of Ave Maria, Fla.; and four grandchildren.

With his daughter Jana, Mr. Novak wrote Tell Me Why: A Father Answers His Daughters Questions About God (1998). In that volume, he articulated his idea of what God is  and is not.

He is not the Big Guy upstairs, nor the loud booming voice that Hollywood films affect for God. . . . There are hosts of bogus pictures for God: the Watchmaker beyond the skies, the puppeteer of history, he wrote. If you wish to find him, watch for him in quiet and humility  perhaps among the poor and broken things of earth.

There are people, he continued, who looked into the eyes of the most abandoned of the poor and saw infinite treasure there, treasure without price, and there found God dwelling.
SYRIA

Scores of rebel fighters allegedly slaughtered

Militants linked to the Islamic State in western Syria have killed scores of rebel fighters as part of an intensifying battle with what remains of the countrys armed opposition, a monitoring group said.

The militants, an offshoot of the Jund al-Aqsa group, killed more than 150 rebels in the village of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province, the SITE Intelligence Group reported this week. Citing an al-Qaeda-linked news outlet,

it said most of the purported victims were part of the U.S.-allied Jaish al-Nasr group.

The news could not be independently verified, though a spokesman for Jaish al-Nasr said 71 of its fighters were recently detained in neighboring Hama province.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring network, said Thursday that the Syrian government had dropped barrel bombs on the Idlib town of Habeet.

 Louisa Loveluck

BURMA

Army ends operation in troubled Rakhine state

Burmas government said Thursday that the military has ended its four-month counterinsurgency operation in troubled Rakhine state, where it had been accused of rape, torture and other abuses against Muslim Rohingya minority residents.

The statement from State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyis office quoted national security adviser Thaung Tan as saying that the situation was now stable in northern Rakhine.

The armys operation began in early October after insurgents killed nine police officers on the border with Bangladesh.

Human rights groups charged that the army crackdown included burning down more than 1,000 homes and killing an unknown number of civilians. More than 70,000 villagers fled across the border to Bangladesh, and 20,000 are internally displaced.

The government has denied the abuses, but an investigation is ongoing.

The estimated 1 million Rohingya face official and social discrimination in Buddhist-majority Burma. Most are regarded as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

 Associated Press

Portugal charges U.S. service member: Prosecutors have brought charges of attempted murder, rape, abduction and assault against a U.S. service member stationed at the Lajes Field U.S. Air Force base in Portugals Azores Islands. The 28-year-old is alleged to have committed the crimes against a 26-year-old married woman. The alleged events occurred in November.

10 civilians reported killed in Yemen airstrike: Warplanes of a Saudi-led coalition struck a house north of Yemens capital where mourners were gathered, residents said, killing nine women and a child and injuring dozens. The coalition said it was investigating the report. The airstrike hit a house in Arhab, about 25 miles from Sanaa, the capital. The coalition is fighting to restore Yemens internationally recognized government, which is battling Shiite rebels.

Swedish court hands life sentence to Syrian refugee: A Swedish court sentenced a Syrian refugee to life in prison for participation in the 2012 mass execution of seven government troops in Syria. The court ruled that Haisam Omar Sakhanh, 46, joined an armed group in May 2012 and fatally shot a person. Sakhanh had confessed to the shooting but said he should not be prosecuted because the death sentence had been ordered by a legitimate court, a claim the Swedish court rejected.

Bomb kills 12 in Afghanistan: An Afghan official said that at least 12 civilians were killed and three wounded when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Paktika province. No group claimed the attack, but Taliban insurgents often use roadside mines to target security convoys.

 From news services
Civilians inspect the aftermath of a Thursday car bomb attack in an auto dealership in the southwestern al-Bayaa neighborhood of Baghdad. The attack, which was claimed by the Islamic State, killed 59 people and injured 66 others, police and medical sources said. (Karim Kadim/AP)

TURKEY

Car bomb kills child, wounds 17 others

A car bomb exploded at a housing complex Friday in the town of Viransehir in southeastern Turkey, killing a child and wounding 17 people, the provincial governors office said.

Initial findings showed that an unidentified person thought to be 18 to 20 years old had parked a car loaded with explosives outside the complex in the evening, Sanliurfa Gov. Gungor Azim Tuna was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu agency.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag tweeted that it was a terrorist attack, saying it targeted judges, prosecutors and clerks.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The PKK, designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, launched a separatist insurgency in 1984 in which more than 40,000 people have been killed. The conflict flared up again in July 2015 after the collapse of a two-year-old cease-fire.

 Reuters

UKRAINE

Leader warns West not to appease Russia

Ukraines president warned Friday against any appeasement of Russia, arguing that cutting a bilateral deal with Moscow on his country would only make the fighting in eastern Ukraine worse. He said that the new U.S. administration has a historic chance to halt Russias ambitions.

Many in Europe are concerned about the U.S. stance toward Russia under President Trump amid talk of a more cooperative relationship.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told the Munich Security Conference, however, that he had been reassured of Western unity and solidarity earlier in the day by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

I hear increasingly obsessive calls for at least some degree of appeasement toward Russias appetite. To move in that direction would be naive, wrong and dangerous  not only for Ukraine, but also for Europe and for the world, he said.

 Associated Press

ECUADOR

Election could decide Assanges future

Whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can stay at the Ecuadoran Embassy in London could depend on the winner of Sundays presidential election in the South American country.

Polls indicate that none of the eight people running is likely to get enough votes to win the first round.

Lenin Moreno is the hand-picked successor of outgoing President Rafael Correa and has indicated that he would back Assanges continued stay. Several conservative candidates have said they would not support his continued asylum.

Correas foreign ministry decided in 2012 to grant asylum to Assange based on concerns he could face political persecution for documents published by his whistleblowing site.

Assange fled to the embassy after an unsuccessful legal battle to prevent being sent to Sweden, where he is wanted on a rape allegation.

 Associated Press

Argentine ex-military chief arrested: Former Argentine army chief Cesar Milani was arrested Friday for his alleged role in the kidnapping and torture of two men and a woman during the countrys military dictatorship. A court office confirmed that Milan was transferred to a jail after testifying Friday before Judge Daniel Herrera Piedrabuena about the case of Pedro Olivera, his son Ramon and Veronica Matta in the late 1970s. Milani was a lower-ranking officer during the 1976-1983 dictatorship and later rose to head the armed forces during the 2007-2015 term of former president Cristina Fernandez. Milani was charged with aggravated torture, illegal search and kidnapping.

ISIS kills 8 Iraqi militia near Tikrit: The Islamic State attacked a battalion of state-sponsored militia southeast of Tikrit on Friday, killing at least eight militia members, an intelligence official said. The extremist group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted by its Aamaq news agency.

Polish leader Szydlo leaves hospital a week after crash: Polands prime minister has been released from a hospital in Warsaw where she was treated for a week after suffering minor injuries in a car crash. Prime Minister Beata Szydlo spoke briefly to reporters as she left the military hospital Friday. She said she still needs a few more days of rest but would be able to attend a weekly government meeting next Tuesday.

 From news services
PRESIDENT TRUMP began his unusual news conference Thursday by announcing a new nominee for labor secretary, former Justice Department official Alexander Acosta. This was to clean up another mess of Mr. Trumps own making: the failed nomination of restaurant-chain operator Andrew Puzder. Mr. Puzder, a strident critic of increases in the minimum wage as well as Obama administration enforcement of key labor regulations, withdrew, though not because of predictable Democratic objections to his ideology, or because of murky charges of domestic abuse levied long ago and then retracted by his ex-wife. Nor was his fatal difficulty a long delay in producing an ethics report to account for his various businesses. Rather, what ultimately cost him Republican support in the Senate was disclosure of his failure to pay required employment taxes for a domestic employee, who was also undocumented.

This was a spectacularly bad vetting job and as such raises the question of whether the choice of Mr. Acosta holds more promise. On paper, his credentials are strong: He has served as a federal prosecutor, civil rights head at the Justice Department and, for a brief time during the George W. Bush administration, member of the National Labor Relations Board. There will  and should  be questions about controversies during his career, notably a 2004 episode when, as the Justice Departments civil rights chief, he urged a federal court to look kindly on Ohio GOP challenges to the credentials of some 23,000 African American voters.

But Mr. Acostas confirmation hearing needs principally to be the forum at which we get a better sense of Trump policy toward the healing but still troubled labor market. Mr. Puzder would have brought a franchise chain operators sensibility to the task. What is Mr. Acostas take on maneuvering between the unrealistic movement for a $15-an-hour minimum wage, on the one hand, and the lack of any increase in the federal minimum since 2009 on the other? The Obama administrations expansion of overtime-pay eligibility has been blocked by a federal judge. And yet the existing standard needs an update; does Mr. Acosta favor an alternative proposal, offered by five Republican senators last year, that claims to achieve the same goal as Mr. Obamas plan with less disruption to business?

The Senate should demand that the nominee guarantee no fiddling with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mr. Trumps repeated attempts to delegitimize its unemployment data notwithstanding.

Wielding crucial but underpublicized authority over every American workers daily life, the secretary of labor is a key position, and it is up to Mr. Acosta to show that this president has finally figured out how to fill it.
Raised in New Jersey, Estonias President Toomas Hendrik Ilves does not mince words when it comes to the situation in Ukraine and the threat Russia poses to his country and the region. He took time last week to speak with The Posts Lally Weymouth . Excerpts:

Q. What do you think of the situation in Ukraine?

A. The issue is not just Ukraine  it is the entire post-World War II order, which is under question. The Helsinki Final Act forbade border changes through aggression and says explicitly that no such change in borders would be recognized.

[This] was already annulled by the [Russian] attack on Georgia in 2008. Prime Minister [Vladimir] Putin and President [Dmitry] Medvedev said they did it because Georgia wanted to join NATO. No one heard the alarm.

Now it is Ukraine, where even more egregiously, the casus belli is that Ukraine wanted to have an association agreement with the European Union. [Such an agreement] really doesnt give you very much.

So the association agreement was not a big deal?

Right. Clearly why the United States is worried  and oddly more worried than some countries in Europe  is that this is chaos. If you cant count on the most essential agreements  that you dont invade countries and dont change borders  then we are in a whole new world here.

Do you think the U.S. response has been sufficient?

I would say the West has been in a state of shock. My analogy is that we are in 1945 or 1946, when the United States and Europe started noticing that their erstwhile ally against the Nazis was starting to do funny things and toppling governments and starting a civil war in Greece. In the beginning, people didnt know [what to do]. Then [Britains] socialist Labor foreign minister [Ernest] Bevin came up with the idea of NATO. He saw Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia go, and he got worried. He approached the Americans and said, lets do something. The response was NATO and the Marshall Plan. The world had changed. . . . That was the beginning of the Cold War.

Do you think Putin will build a land bridge to Crimea? Will he go to Transnistria? To the eastern part of Estonia? Whats next?

Looking at the isolation of Crimea and where they are concentrating their troops and the Russian attack on Mariupol, the land bridge to Crimea seems to be not farfetched. It seems their goal in eastern Ukraine is to create another frozen conflict.

I keep reading that Narva [the Russian-speaking part of eastern Estonia] is next. But this is silly. The average Russian miner in Donetsk gets [the equivalent of] 200 euros a month. The average Russian miner in Estonia gets 2,000 euros a month. All residents of Estonia are members of the E.U. and have free movement of labor across Europe. Polls show that people think the Russian annexation of Crimea is good. But if you ask them if they want to join Russia, they say no.

Russian propaganda is said to be very effective in eastern Estonia. Is it?

Yes, in so far as getting support for Crimea. At the same time, we are having a strong upswing in Russian liberals moving to Estonia. We see a rising belligerence all around toward many countries: practice bombing raids approaching Sweden; others approaching the northwest coast of the United States. . . . In 2011 they were practicing using a tactical nuclear weapon on Warsaw. They didnt do it, but you dont know what they are going to do. Last week, they opened criminal proceedings against Lithuanians who dodged the Soviet draft 25 years ago.

In our case, we had the equivalent of our FBI investigating a cigarette-smuggling ring. There was this bizarre event in which they came across the Estonian border during a meeting between the smuggler and our guy [the Estonian officer] and hauled him off and now hes sitting in Lefortovo prison [in Russia].

That happened right after President Obama left Estonia? Was that meant to send a signal to Estonians?

We dont know. You see an overlap between organized crime and the Russian secret service.

Do you feel the U.S. and the West have done enough to protect your country?

The outcome of the Wales summit was very good.

The 4,000-man rotational force?

Yes. And there is an air force training base being set up on our airfield. There will also be ground troops.

Do you think Putin would be clever enough to try the strategy of appealing to the Russian-speaking Estonians so he wouldnt have to invade Estonia with troops? Or do you think he might actually try to invade the Baltic States?

It is all so new, so it is hard to say. Its not about conventional forces going over the border. They used the little green men [counterinsurgency fighters] until they were getting badly beaten by the Ukrainians and then they brought in their conventional forces.

The big difference is that Ukraine is not in NATO and we are. This is about Article 5  if it ever fails, then NATO no longer works. Then no one trusts it.

Do you feel youve crossed the Rubicon by joining NATO?

We are on the right side of the Rubicon. . . . There is a big difference between NATO and non-NATO. Why is NATO not defending Ukraine? Because Ukraine is not a member of NATO and we are. The question is not if we believe in Article 5. The question is, does Putin believe in Article 5?

Would the U.S. and Europe react?

I think they would. Obama said quite clearly that Tallinn and Riga and Vilnius are no less secure than Paris, Berlin and London.

Youve talked about the NATO-Russia Founding Act and how it should be changed for a new security environment.

The problem with the NATO-Russia Founding Act is that [it was signed] in 1997 when Boris Yeltsin was president. It was like peace and love and Woodstock, and now we are in Altamont. I would argue that, between 1997 and 2014, the security environment changed substantially.

I think we have to revisit this illusory partnership that exists between NATO and Russia.

Do you see an absence of American leadership?

The U.S. is not going to put troops on the ground in a non-NATO country and risk a firefight with Russia. They would risk a fight in a NATO country because it is a treaty obligation. There is no treaty obligation for Ukraine.

When we became independent, we got the best and brightest to work on getting Estonia into the E.U. and into NATO. Thank God we did.
Carlton F.W. Larson is a professor of law at the University of California at Davis and is writing a book about treason and the American Revolution.

President Trump promised to do things differently, but the resignation of a national security adviser under a cloud of suspicion of treason was novel even by Trump standards. The political (and social media) landscape is now littered with accusations of treason, not just against Trump officials but against all kinds of other actors as well  Hillary Clinton , Mitch McConnell , even the state of California . Treason is an ancient concept shrouded in misconceptions. Here are a few of the most common.

Myth No. 1

Disloyalty or policies that harm the United States are treason.

Accusations of treason have recently been made on the flimsiest of grounds, from assertions that President Barack Obama committed treason by supporting the Iran nuclear deal (found in James McCormacks book Unexpected Treason) to claims that, per Paste magazine, Sen. John McCain committed treason because he threatened not to confirm a Supreme Court justice hypothetically nominated by Hillary Clinton.

The framers of the Constitution took deliberate steps to ensure that treason trials would not be used as political weapons against opponents. Article 3, Section 3 defines the crime very narrowly: Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. This language is drawn from an English statute from 1351 that was also intended to limit the scope of treason. Speaking against the government, undermining political opponents, supporting harmful policies or even placing the interests of another nation ahead of those of the United States are not acts of treason under the Constitution.

Myth No. 2

Aiding Russia is treason against the United States.

Stephen Colberts recent segment Michael Flynns White House Tenure: Its Funny Cause Its Treason was but one of many accusations of treason hurled against Flynn and other White House associates because of their proven or alleged ties to Russia. Consider the evidence that Trump is a traitor, exhorted an essay in Salon. It is, in fact, treasonable to aid the enemies of the United States.

But enemies are defined very precisely under American treason law. An enemy is a nation or an organization with which the United States is in a declared or open war . Nations with whom we are formally at peace, such as Russia, are not enemies. (Indeed, a treason prosecution naming Russia as an enemy would be tantamount to a declaration of war.) Russia is a strategic adversary whose interests are frequently at odds with those of the United States, but for purposes of treason law it is no different than Canada or France or even the American Red Cross. The details of the alleged connections between Russia and Trump officials are therefore irrelevant to treason law.

This was true even in the 1950s, at the height of the Cold War. When Julius and Ethel Rosenberg handed over nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union, they were tried and executed for espionage, not treason. Indeed, Trump could give the U.S. nuclear codes to Vladimir Putin or bug the Oval Office with a direct line to the Kremlin and it would not be treason, as a legal matter. Of course, such conduct would violate various laws and would constitute grounds for impeachment as a high crime and misdemeanor  the framers fully understood that there could be cases of reprehensible disloyalty that might escape the narrow confines of the treason clause.

So who are the current enemies of the United States? North Korea is a possible enemy, since the Korean War was never formally concluded. Certain nonstate actors can also count as enemies, and terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State probably fit the definition.

Myth No. 3

Leaking classified material or handling it sloppily is treason.

Shortly before Election Day in November, the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Mike McCaul, claimed that Clinton had committed treason by mishandling classified email. Edward Snowden has been denounced as a traitor for leaking classified documents, as have the intelligence officials who may have leaked damaging material about Flynn. The Conservative Daily Post pointed to traitor moles nestled within the new admin.

But none of these actions amounts to levying war against the United States, as that offense requires some use of force in an attempt to overthrow the government. No such force or intent is present in any of these scenarios. Nor do the actions constitute aiding the enemy. Leaking information to newspapers is not providing aid to enemies. This newspaper and others, whatever Trump might think of them, are not enemies of the United States. As with aid to Russia, such leaks might violate other provisions of federal law, but they are not treason.

Myth No. 4

Only U.S. citizens can commit treason against the U.S.

Even well-trained constitutional lawyers have sometimes repeated this myth. In his otherwise excellent book Constitutional Faith, for instance, Sanford Levinson writes that treason can be committed only by a citizen.

But the offense of treason can be committed by any person who owes allegiance to the United States, and this can include noncitizens. Treason law recognizes two kinds of allegiance: permanent and temporary. U.S. citizens owe permanent allegiance to the United States, and this duty carries with them wherever they go in the world. By contrast, noncitizens in the United States (other than ambassadors and their staffs) owe a duty of temporary allegiance, the Supreme Court found in an 1872 case. While they are within the United States and receiving protection from it, noncitizens are governed by American treason law. If a person on a green card or a student or tourist visa, for example, wages war against the United States or provides aid and comfort to our enemies, he cannot escape a treason prosecution simply by asserting his foreign citizenship.

Under this law, there is a strong argument that the 9/11 hijackers committed treason by levying war against the United States. When a noncitizen leaves the country, however, the duty of temporary allegiance disappears.

Myth No. 5

Very few Americans have committed treason.

No person has been executed for treason by the federal government under the Constitution. The small handful of people who have been convicted of the offense at the federal level  such as two militants from the Whiskey Rebellion and several people after World War II  have mostly been pardoned or released. So we are sometimes told that treason has been rare in the United States.

Hardly. During the American Revolution, the rebelling Americans were all committing treason against Britain. Similarly, the thousands of Americans who actively aided the British committed treason against the United States. In the Civil War, the hundreds of thousands of men who fought for the Confederacy all levied war against the United States, as did the people who aided and abetted the rebellion.

Neither the American Revolution nor the Civil War led to mass executions. At the end of the day, the spirit of reconciliation prevailed, and the victors allowed the vanquished to return home peacefully. But it remains the case that many Americans have a traitor lurking somewhere in their family tree.

clarson@ucdavis.edu

Five myths is a weekly feature challenging everything you think you know. You can check out previous myths, read more from Outlook or follow our updates on Facebook and Twitter.
President Trump confronts complicated problems as the investigation widens into Russias attack on our political system. But his responsibilities are simple: A month ago, he swore an oath that he would faithfully execute his office and preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Thats apparently easier said than done. In a rambling news conference Thursday and his blizzard of tweets, Trump has dismissed inquiries into his campaigns contacts with Russia and denounced leakers as low-life and un-American. These statements seem more likely to confound ongoing investigations than faithfully execute his role as chief executive.

Michael Flynns forced resignation as national security adviser this week, after he concealed details of his contacts with a Russian diplomat, has been blurred by Trumps contradictory comments. So its worth going back to basics: Why was the United States expelling Russian spies at the time Flynn made his late-December call to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak? Why would Flynn have hidden for weeks that he talked with Kislyak about those anti-Russian sanctions, or have denied it to the FBI, as The Post reported late Thursday? What would Trump have known about these issues?

You dont need leaks of classified information to understand why Flynns dealings with an aggressive Russia were inappropriate. You just need to look at the public record.

The seriousness of Russias assault on America first became clear on Oct. 7, when the intelligence community released a statement charging that Russias senior-most officials (meaning President Vladimir Putin) had launched a cyberattack intended to interfere with the U.S. election process.

Intelligence officials had been briefing members of Congress about the Russian activities since the summer. Adam B. Schiff (Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, had pushed the White House since September to respond, to no avail. FBI Director James B. Comey, meanwhile, had decided against disclosing the bureaus own preelection investigation of possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign.

So on Election Day, the public wasnt aware of the growing belief among intelligence analysts that Russian hackers were trying to help Trump and hurt his rival, Hillary Clinton. That judgment was shared many weeks after the election, in a Jan. 6 report that said Russia sought to denigrate Secretary Clinton and harm her electability and potential presidency and that the Kremlin developed a clear preference for Trump.

President Barack Obama finally took decisive action on Dec. 29, when he announced sanctions including expulsion of 35 Russian intelligence operatives and closure of two vacation compounds, on New Yorks Long Island and Marylands Eastern Shore, which the Russians were using to collect signals intelligence. (The loss of those monitoring platforms may explain why a Russian spy ship carrying a forest of antennae sailed up the Delaware coast toward Connecticut this week.)

Heres where the timeline gets intriguing: The White House said in a Dec. 29 conference call with reporters that Obama had informed Trump about the impending sanctions on Dec. 28, one of the days when Flynn communicated with Kislyak, according to the Trump team. (U.S. officials told me a call took place Dec. 29.) Hours after the expulsion was announced, Trump issued a bland statement: Its time for our country to move onto bigger and better things.

We now know that Flynn promised Kislyak that Trump would review the U.S. reprisals  a fact Flynn withheld from Vice President Pence and the public for weeks. Flynn finally shared his version with the conservative Daily Caller on Monday, the day he was fired. He said his conversation with Kislyak was about the 35 guys who were thrown out. . . . It was basically, Look, I know this happened. Well review everything. 

Flynns promise to review the case evidently encouraged Putin to forgo the usual tit-for-tat retaliation, despite an initial Kremlin statement that there was no alternative to reciprocal measures. On Dec. 30, Putin said that rather than taking immediate countermeasures, he would instead seek to restore Russian-U.S. relations based on the policies of the Trump administration.

Trump tweeted later that day: Great move on delay (by V. Putin)  always knew he was very smart!

Given the magnitude of Russias cyberattack on the United States, it remains puzzling that Flynn and Trump were so cavalier about the U.S. governments attempt to hold Moscow accountable. Thats one reason investigators keep asking what contacts the Trump team had with Russia before the election. Trump said Thursday there hadnt been any. Yet Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Nov. 10: Obviously, we know most of the people from [Trumps] entourage.

The FBI and the Senate Intelligence Committee are investigating the scope of Russias pro-Trump activities. Inevitably, there will be leaks, but that issue is a red herring. For all Trumps talk about fake news, the country needs answers.

Read more from David Ignatiuss archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
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.

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

The beginning of the presidents term has featured controversial executive orders and frequent conflicts with the media.

The new presidents tumultuous first weeks have been marked by controversial executive orders and conflicts with the media.

The new presidents tumultuous first weeks have been marked by controversial executive orders and conflicts with the media.

See what President Trump has been doing since taking office

See what President Trump has been doing since taking office

President Trump is flailing like a man who fears hes about to go under, and he hasnt even been in office a full month. His instinct is to flee to the warmth and comfort of his political base  but he will learn that while presidents can run, they cant hide.

Trumps administration faces two acute, interlocking crises: serious questions about his campaigns contacts with official and unofficial representatives of the Russian government, which U.S. intelligence agencies believe made concerted efforts to help Trump win the election; and appalling levels of dysfunction in the White House that make self-inflicted wounds the rule rather than the exception.

The presidents response has been to rant on Twitter and schedule a campaign-style rally Saturday in Florida  both of which may boost Trumps morale but will do nothing to make his problems go away.

[Reality will get its revenge on Donald Trump]

It is unclear whether Trump is trying to fool the nation or fool himself. Witness one of the angry tweets he sent out Thursday morning: The Democrats had to come up with a story as to why they lost the election, and so badly (306), so they made up a story  RUSSIA. Fake news!

(Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)

Let me take a moment to unpack the misinterpretations, distortions and contradictions jammed into those two sentences.

The Democrats had to come up with a story refers to Trumps claim that the Russia allegations are nothing more than a tantrum by Democrats upset that Hillary Clinton did not win as they had expected. That is ridiculous. The Democratic Party is focused on rebuilding at the grass-roots level and finding new leadership. Democrats Ive spoken to have as much criticism as praise for Clinton and the campaign she ran.

Trumps phrase they lost the election, and so badly ignores the facts. Clinton did comfortably win the popular vote, after all. And Trumps electoral margin was historically quite modest.

The part about how Democrats made up a story  RUSSIA is absurd. It was U.S. intelligence agencies, not the Democratic Party or the Clinton campaign, that made the finding that Russia meddled in our election with the aim of boosting Trumps prospects. If anything, the chief Democrat at the time  President Barack Obama  reacted too mildly.

[Trump must banish Bannon  or his presidency is doomed]

And the tweet ends with what has become Trumps favorite way to dismiss anything hed rather not hear: Fake news! But why would his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, step down over inauthentic news reports? In other tweets Thursday morning, Trump attacked low-life leakers in the intelligence community  thus essentially confirming that leaked information about the Russia connection is genuine, not fake. Not even a president can have it both ways.

The idea that Russian President Vladimir Putin played a big role in putting Trump in the White House presents such a grave challenge to our democracy that even reluctant Republicans in Congress will have to investigate. The FBI is already probing reported contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence officials. We must, and I believe will, learn the truth.

(Adriana Usero/The Washington Post)

This sort of crisis would test any White House. Based on its performance so far, it may drown Trumps.

Who is in charge? Chief of Staff Reince Priebus has yet to establish any reasonable sense of order or any effective process for making decisions. Chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon and senior adviser Stephen Miller constitute a competing power center and were responsible for the shoddily drafted travel and refugee ban that was blocked by the courts. Counselor Kellyanne Conway goes on television and speaks confidently for the administration but increasingly is out of the loop  as when she said that Trump had full confidence in Flynn just hours before his dismissal. Press secretary Sean Spicer struggles daily to reconcile Trumps pronouncements with objective reality.

No communications director has been hired. Who would take the job?

Among Trumps inner circle, only senior adviser Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law, seems to be having a relatively positive impact. Yes, this administration has reduced me to applauding nepotism.

Last weekend we saw Trump and his brain trust learning details of an ominous geopolitical development  a new North Korean missile test  as the president hosted a dinner party for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on a terrace at Mar-a-Lago, surrounded by diners who belong to the posh club. Within range of prying eyes, Trump and party used the flashlight apps on their cellphones to read incoming documents.

Trump said Thursday that his administration was running like a fine-tuned machine. A crash-test simulator, perhaps?

I guess things could be worse. Dont ask me how.

Read more from Eugene Robinsons archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. You can also join him Tuesdays at 1 p.m. for a live Q&A.
In mid-January, after the appearance of some embarrassing material or another (it is hard to keep track), President-elect Trump tweeted: Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to leak into the public. One last shot at me. Are we living in Nazi Germany?

That charge has made escalation of the Trump/intelligence conflict difficult. What is the next step after the Nazi card?

More recently, President Trump has called leaks from the intelligence community un-American and just like Russia. It is difficult to imagine a set of attacks more likely to be galling to intelligence professionals, some of whom risk their lives with no prospect of credit, in one of the purer forms of patriotism.

[How could things get worse for Trump?]

Now Trump appears utterly shocked that he does not hold the copyright on counterpunching. And the intelligence community is particularly good at it. During my time in the George W. Bush White House, there were also some damaging intelligence leaks. I have no intention of excusing them. I only point out that it is daunting to argue with people who weaponize information for a living  like challenging a Navy SEAL to a fight.

There is a certain kind of New Yorker who really believes Frank Sinatra: If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere. The world of Manhattan real estate must have seemed to Trump like the big leagues. It wasnt. And the techniques that succeeded in his little world  the taunting, the exaggerations, the bluster, the threats, the bullying  do not translate well in dealing with real professionals. The ones who fight Russian influence.

With less than a month in office, Trump is beginning to see realitys revenge. His overall strategy seems disturbingly ambitious. Retired Gen. Michael Hayden, who directed both the CIA and the NSA, describes it this way in an interview: A systematic effort to invalidate and delegitimize all the institutions, governmental and nongovernmental, that create the factual basis for action . . . so they wont push back against arbitrary moves.

[The coverup in search of a crime]

That is, well, terrifying. But American institutions, it turns out, are pretty durable, at least so far. The checks have checked. The balances have balanced. In this scenario, it is good news that the Trump administration has been so inept, at least in conflicts with other institutions. We should be thankful that Trump is a figure much smaller than his schemes.

It must have seemed to him tough and bold to attack federal judges and accuse them of placing the nation at risk (by blocking implementation of his immigration executive order). During his presidential campaign, such methods were routine and relatively costless. But declaring war on the judiciary  and I imagine that nearly every judge in America resents it when their colleagues are pre-blamed for terrorist murders  is not costless. It creates an atmosphere in which future executive orders and actions will be examined by an equal branch of government.

It must have seemed to Trump tough and bold to use his inaugural address to viciously attack members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans  not only critiquing their performance but also impugning their motives. Surrounded by the political elite, Trump said that the political elite has reaped the rewards, and prospered and protected itself and celebrated as Americans have suffered.

So far, the reaction to Trumps attacks on institutions has ranged from muted to supine among congressional Republicans (save for some admirable dissent in the Senate). But on Capitol Hill, Trump is draining not the swamp, but the reservoir of goodwill. There was a spark of resistance in the forced withdrawal of Andrew Puzders nomination for labor secretary. Eventually Trump will be down politically  really down in the polls, down in a scandal, down in morale. What GOP leader would take up his defense with genuine enthusiasm? What serious Republican would not, if he or she were honest, after three drinks, prefer Mike Pence as president? Probably some. But I suspect not many.

All this represents a fundamental misunderstanding of American populism. In Venezuelan populism, for example, it worked to remove all institutions between the dear leader and the people. In the United States, populists have a more difficult but more constructive task: They must persuade institutions to reform themselves. This can involve hardball politics (see Franklin D. Roosevelt). But real and lasting reform comes through the consent of strong institutions  including the cooperation of intelligence services, the agreement of courts and the approval of Congress. American life will not be transformed through bullying.

And why is that? Says Hayden: We are not Venezuela.

Read more from Michael Gersons archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook .
Lets say you are a Trump voter, the kind we often hear about  an honest, hard-working American who put up with Donald Trumps unusual behavior because you wanted a president who would stop playing Washingtons political games, bring a businessmans obsession with action and results, and focus on the economy. How is that working out for you?

The first few weeks of President Trumps administration have been an illustration of writer Alfred Montaperts adage, Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress. We are witnessing a rocking-horse presidency in which everyone is jerking back and forth furiously, yet there is no forward movement.

Since winning the election, Trump has dominated the news nearly every day. He has picked fights with the media, making a series of bizarre, mostly false claims  about the magnitude of his victory, the size of his inauguration crowd, the weather that day, the numbers of illegally cast ballots, among many others. He has had photo ops with everyone from Kanye West and Jack Ma to Shinzo Abe and Justin Trudeau. Now he is embroiled in a controversy about ties to Russia. But in the midst of it all, what has he actually done? Hardly anything.

[Reality will get its revenge on Donald Trump]

On Thursday, Trump said at a news conference, There has never been a presidency thats done so much in such a short period of time. Matthew Yglesias of Vox observes that at this point in his presidency, Barack Obama had signed into law an almost-trillion-dollar stimulus bill to revive the economy, extended health insurance to 4 million children and made it easier to challenge discriminatory labor practices. In their respective first 100 days in office, FiveThirtyEight calculates, Bill Clinton had passed 24 bills; John Kennedy, 26; Harry Truman, 55; and FDR, 76.

(The Washington Post)

Despite having a Republican House and Senate, Trump does not seem likely to crack 10 in his first 100 days. Yglesias notes that the Trump White House has not even begun serious discussions with Congress on major legislation. According to The Post, of the 696 positions that require Senate confirmation, the president has yet to nominate 661 of them.

Trump has issued a series of executive orders with great fanfare (though fewer than Obama at this point). But they are mostly hot air  lofty proclamations that direct some agency to review a law, report back to him, consider some action or reaffirm some long-standing practice. His one order that did something, the temporary travel ban, was so poorly conceived and phrased that it got stuck in the court system and will have to be rewritten or abandoned. For a recent piece in Politico Magazine, Zachary Karabell carefully analyzed all the executive orders and presidential proclamations and concluded, So far, Trump has behaved exactly like he has throughout his previous career: He has generated intense attention and sold himself as a man of action while doing little other than promote an image of himself as someone who gets things done.

Historian Douglas Brinkley recently observed that Trump is a creature of reality television, for which the two cardinal rules are: Always keep the cameras focused on you, and always stay interesting. The president has certainly fulfilled those mandates. But what about the ones he promised his voters? What about the plans to reindustrialize the Midwest, bring back jobs, and revive the coal and steel industries? What, for that matter, of his explicit commitments that on Day One he would begin removing criminal illegal immigrants and would label China a currency manipulator, push for a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress and get rid of gun-free zones in schools, and . . . military bases? All were promised. Almost nothing has been done.

[How could things get worse for Trump?]

There are two aspects to the Trump presidency. There is the freak show  the tweets, the wild claims, the fake facts, the fights with anyone who refuses to bow down to him (the media, judges), the ceaseless self-promotion. But then there is Trump the savvy businessman, who named intelligent heavyweights such as Gary Cohn, Rex Tillerson and Jim Mattis to key positions, and who has at times articulated a serious reform agenda. For many people, the bargain of the Trump presidency was that they would put up with the freak show in order to get tax reform, infrastructure projects and deregulation. That may still happen, but for now at least, reality TV is in overdrive, and not much is happening in the realm of serious policy.

That voter in Ohio or Michigan might well wonder how picking fights with the media will bring jobs back to his region or how assaulting the judiciary will help create retraining programs for laid-off workers. But maybe Donald Trump, who freely admits to getting most of his information from television, has a television view of the presidency. The point is to be seen doing things. The Romans said that the way to keep people happy was to give them bread and circus. So far, all we have gotten is the circus.

Read more from Fareed Zakarias archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
President Trump waves before boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Friday. (Andrew Harnik/Associated Press)

I configured Twitter a couple of weeks ago to get text alerts on my phone whenever President Trump tweets.

Bad!

Now any moment of tranquility can be pierced by his random outbursts.

I awake from a restful night to see: Iran has been formally PUT ON NOTICE for firing a ballistic missile. Should have been thankful for the terrible deal the U.S. made with them!

Im pruning in the back yard on a Sunday afternoon and feel a vibration in my pocket: Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. If something happens blame him and court system. People pouring in. Bad!

(Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)

Im commuting to work when I suddenly see: The Democrats had to come up with a story as to why they lost the election, and so badly (306), so they made up a story  RUSSIA. Fake news!

The eruptions follow a similar pattern of dubious statement followed by exclamation:

Our hero Ryan died on a winning mission (according to General Mattis), not a failure. Time for the U.S. to get smart and start winning again!

Had a great meeting at CIA Headquarters yesterday, packed house, paid great respect to Wall, long standing ovations, amazing people. WIN!

The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!

[Trump says he runs a fine-tuned machine. Here are all the ways thats not true.]

But it turns out that this may not be just the way the president tweets. It may be the way he thinks.

Ricocheting at his news conference Thursday afternoon from topic to unrelated topic and back again, Trump sounded like a walking ad for Ritalin. But pay close attention, and you realize his brain is actually scrolling through its own internal Twitter feed. Most thoughts are dispensed with in 140 characters or fewer. If he has a very big thought, he may give it 280 characters, or an extra tweets worth. Then hell jump to the next topic.

His thought bursts are (often) internally consistent, even if theyre contradicted by the facts or by things he himself said only moments earlier. I followed Trumps tweet-think during Thursdays rambling news conference:

I see stories of chaos  chaos. Yet it is the exact opposite. This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine! (119 characters)

People came out and voted like theyve never seen before, he said of his 306 electoral votes. I guess it was the biggest electoral college win since Ronald Reagan! (126 and, in case you were wondering, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush all exceeded 306 electoral votes  five times in all.)

You can talk all you want about Russia, which was all . . . fake news, fabricated deal, to try and make up for the loss of the Democrats! (137)

The leaks are absolutely real. The news is fake  because so much of the news is fake! (86)

How, I wondered, would history have turned out if those who came before us had their brains similarly wired to function in 140 characters or fewer? Intelligence sources provided me with intercepts of these thoughts, with actual Trump Twitter exclamations:

Pharaoh, 1446 B.C.:

Israelites had to come up with story as to why they were enslaved so long and so badly (400 years) so they made up a story  GOD. Fake news!

Priam, king of Troy, 1200 B.C.:

Cassandra says the horse shouldnt come in the city gates. Shes been losing so long she doesnt know how to win. Not me!

Julius Caesar, 44 B.C.:

Do you believe it? Wife had bad dream, says I cant go to Senate because I will be murdered. Ridiculous and will be overturned!

Napoleon, 1812:

My so-called advisers warning of famine, dysentery, typhus if I invade Russia. Lies! Only emboldens the enemy!

Donner Party, 1846:

FAKE NEWS reports, fabricated deal, saying unsafe to take shortcut through the Sierra Nevadas in winter. Very dishonest!

White House press secretary, 1865:

The president saw a great show at Fords Theatre last night, packed house, long standing ovations, amazing people. WIN!

George Custer, 1876:

Leaks say we will be overwhelmed at Little Bighorn. Real scandal is classified info is illegally given out like candy. Very un-American!

Edward Smith, 1912:

 Intelligence from made-up sources says there are icebergs. But fake news media refuses to mention my ship is unsinkable. Politics!

Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933:

I inherited a mess. At home and abroad, a mess. I just want to let you know, I inherited a mess. A horrible mess! Bad!

Winston Churchill, 1940:

Germany is formally PUT ON NOTICE for invading France. Big trouble! If something happens, blame the courts. A lot of bad dudes out there!

John F. Kennedy, 1961:

Bay of Pigs was a winning mission (according to SecDef McNamara), not a failure. Time for the U.S. to get smart and start winning again!

George W. Bush, 2005:

The levees held. The fake news media is going crazy with its conspiracy theories and blind hatred. Terrible!

Twitter: @Milbank

Read more from Dana Milbanks archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
The Feb. 14 editorial A new strategy for North Korea argued that the United States should use sticks and carrots to end the North Korean threat. But sticks have not worked, and the editorial board did not suggest any carrots.

The inducement should be directed at China, not North Korea, which depends on China for nearly 80 percent of its energy and food. In return for China shutting down the reprehensible Kim Jong Un regime, the United States should agree to withdraw our nearly 30,000 troops from South Korea, possibly saving Americans about $1 billion a year. More important, a rogue regime with nuclear weapons would be removed from the world stage. It is not as though South Korea cant defend itself against a nuclear-weapons-free North Korea. South Korea has twice the population and an infinitely stronger economy.

Edward H. Crane, Falls Church
Im not ranting and raving, President Trump insisted Thursday, 47 minutes into a 77-minute tempest of a news conference in which he did just that.

With his young presidency besieged by disorder and discord, the commander in chief was at once angry and jovial.

Trump chided perceived enemies. He indicted leakers. He absolved himself of blame. And he excoriated the media  once the fake news, now the very fake news.

But the president also put on a show. He bantered and cajoled. He was playful, even. He waved away tough questions (The whole Russian thing, thats a ruse) and cried out for friendly ones, congratulating a reporter who solicited his thoughts on the great work of first lady Melania Trump.

Journalists trying to probe for facts, hold the president to account and correct his grandiose exaggerations in real time became set pieces in the image Trump wanted to project to America during an afternoon of must-see television: The president is in charge.

Trump gave the legions of Americans who put him in office just what they wanted to see  and what his spokespeople and advisers could not do for him  which is demonstrate that he is the boss.

I love this, Trump said. Im having a good time doing it.

The question is how much control Trump has beyond his performance the gold-draped East Room of the White House. The presidents erratic showing seemed to leave much of official Washington alarmed and aghast and may not have convinced doubters that he can govern smoothly.

[Trump says I inherited a mess, blasts media at combative news conference]

With Thursdays news conference, Trump was trying to regain authorship of the story line of his presidency and distract from the burgeoning scandal surrounding reported communications to Russian officials by his now-ousted national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and members of his political team.

It was a classic Trump stroke  try to move past a difficult news cycle by creating a new one. During his campaign, Trump time and again staged news conferences or gave provocative interviews or unspooled fresh attacks at his rallies to divert the medias gaze to an ever-shinier object.

Trump is expected to continue his offensive Saturday when he stages the first mega-rally of his presidency, in Melbourne, Fla. The event is being put on by his campaign organization, not the White House  an unusual move for a president nearly four years out from a reelection bid.

1 of 83 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  See what President Trump has been doing since taking office View Photos The new presidents tumultuous first weeks have been marked by a controversial executive orders and conflicts with the media. 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 began his Thursday news conference with opening remarks  24 minutes of them that he appeared to read from papers at his lectern.

He was the complainer in chief. Resentful and melancholy, he sought to assign blame for just about everything that he believes ails America.

Not enough people feeling optimistic about his presidency? Its the medias fault.

The press, honestly, is out of control, he said. The level of dishonesty is out of control.

Companies moving jobs overseas? Wages too low? Crime in Chicago? Conflict in the Middle East? Terrorism spreading? Aggression in North Korea? Its former president Barack Obamas fault.

To be honest, I inherited a mess, he said. Its a mess. At home and abroad  a mess.

The failure of his executive order to institute extreme vetting on all refugees and travelers from seven majority-Muslim nations? Its the federal judiciarys fault.

That circuit is in chaos and that circuit is, frankly, in turmoil, he said of the 9th Circuit, where the Court of Appeals upheld a ruling that halted enforcement of Trumps travel ban.

In a sign that Trump intends to govern as a permanent campaign, he dismissed citizens who have been demonstrating at congressional town hall meetings to preserve the Affordable Care Act.

They are not the Republican people that our representatives are representing, he said.

It has become a trademark of the 45th president to boast about his electoral-college victory  and, in signature Trumpian fashion, he exaggerated Thursday about his place in history.

I guess it was the biggest electoral-college win since Ronald Reagan, Trump said.

NBCs Peter Alexander confronted Trump with his misstatement, pointing out that Obama received 365 electoral votes in 2008 and 332 electoral votes in 2012, and that George H.W. Bush received 426 electoral votes in 1988.

Why should Americans trust you when you accuse the information they receive of being fake when youre providing information thats [incorrect]? Alexander asked Trump.

Well, I dont know, Trump said. I was given that information.

[Trump delivers raw attacks on the media in a news conference for the ages]

Trump showed that, more than being an executive or a military commander, he is a media critic. He attacked reports of White House missteps and melodramas as sensationalist and unfair, and their sources as criminals.

I turn on the TV, open the newspapers and I see stories of chaos, Trump said. Chaos. Yet it is the exact opposite. This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine.

Trump decried leaks to The Washington Post and the New York Times  in his words, the failing New York Times. He called a story on the front page of the Wall Street Journal disgraceful.

Then he got talking about his favorite medium, cable television.

The tone is such hatred, Trump said. Im really not a bad person, by the way. No, but the tone is such  I do get good ratings, you have to admit that  the tone is such hatred.

He went on: I watched this morning a couple of the networks. And I have to say, Fox & Friends in the morning, theyre very honorable people. . . . They have the most honest morning show.

His comments came in a lengthy exchange with CNN correspondent Jim Acosta, who at Trumps last news conference, in early January, tangled with the then-president-elect over fake news.

Trump said when he watches CNN  and he even suggested he was responsible for Jeff Zucker becoming the networks president  he sees so much anger and hatred. He singled out the 10 p.m. hour, anchored by Don Lemon.

The good news is he doesnt have good ratings, Trump said. But the panel is almost exclusive anti-Trump. And the hatred and venom coming from his mouth . . .

Acosta persisted in trying to ask Trump to account for having so thoroughly undermined peoples faith in the First Amendment freedom of the press with his fake news battle cry. But Trump couldnt resist the chance to tease Acosta, who shares a surname with his newly announced labor-secretary nominee, Alexander Acosta.

Trump asked him, Youre not related to our new

I am not related, sir, Acosta said. I do like the sound of Secretary Acosta, I must say.

I looked, Trump said. You know, I looked at that name. I said: Wait a minute. Is there any relation there? Alex Acosta? 

They said, No, sir,  the president continued. I said: Do me a favor. Go back and check the family tree. 
During last years race, President Trumps campaign paid millions of dollars to a data science firm, Cambridge Analytica, that touted its ability to target voters through psychological profiling.

Now, with Trump in office, Cambridges British parent company is ramping up its U.S. government business by pursuing contracts that could be driven by the new presidents policy agenda, according to multiple people with knowledge of the firms activities who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private interactions.

The company, SCL Group, has hired additional staffers who are working out of a new office down the street from the White House. It has in recent weeks pitched officials in key national security agencies on how its technology could be used to deter terrorism, bolster the militarys capacities as it prepares for a possible buildup and help assess attitudes about immigrants.

SCL Group has ties to people in Trumps inner circle, including White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, who until recently was on the board of Cambridge Analytica.

In addition, one of Cambridges main financiers is hedge fund magnate Robert L. Mercer, whose daughter Rebekah is one of the most influential donors in Trumps orbit, according to people with knowledge of Mercers investment.

Alexander Nix, chief executive of Cambridge Analytica, confirmed recent outreach to federal agencies and acknowledged that the company was stepping up its efforts to secure U.S. government business. (Joshua Bright/For The Washington Post)

[The rise of GOP mega-donor Rebekah Mercer]

Company executives say they are not exploiting their ties to the White House and are simply building on government work they have done in the past. But SCLs move to expand its government business reflects how corporate interests connected to the administration see new opportunities in Trumps Washington, even as the president vows to drain the swamp. And it shows how contractors are viewing the new administrations spending priorities as potentially lucrative opportunities.

SCLs effort is being driven by a former aide to now-departed national security adviser Michael Flynn, who served as an adviser to the company in the past.

As part of its outreach to U.S. officials, SCL is touting more than 20 years of experience in shaping voter perceptions and advising militaries and governments around the world on how to conduct effective psychological operations. In materials obtained by The Washington Post, the company suggests it could help the Pentagon and other government agencies with counter radicalization programs. At the State Department, SCL is offering to assess the impact of foreign propaganda campaigns, while the company says it could provide intelligence agencies with predictions and insight on emerging threats, among other services.

Government officials familiar with the company said that SCL just finalized a $500,000 contract with the State Department in the works before the election and that its executives recently met with procurement officials at the Department of Homeland Security.

Alexander Nix, a senior SCL executive who has overseen its U.S. expansion, confirmed the recent outreach to federal agencies and acknowledged that the company was stepping up its efforts to secure U.S. government business. He said that the push is an extension of the work the company has done as a subcontractor on a variety of government projects during the last 14 years  and that SCL would have sought the new work no matter who had won the election.

Were clearly seeking to augment our existing client services and products with some of the new technologies weve been developing in our other sectors, such as the political field, he said in a phone interview. But this is not a radical shake-up or anything new.

Id like to think that regardless of the outcome of the election, wed be working in this space, Nix added and said he has not communicated with Bannon about the companys work. Weve survived different administrations from left and right of the aisle, with different policy agendas.

Cambridge Analytica collected at least $6 million from the Trump campaign for its data-analytics work, federal filings show. Bannon was a key driver of the companys push into the U.S. political market in 2014, according to multiple people familiar with his role.

[The rise of GOP mega-donor Rebekah Mercer]

Company officials declined to comment on Bannons relationship with Cambridge.

Nix said that any involvement Bannon may have had with the company is being discussed with federal ethics officials. Bannon, like other top White House staff, is required to file a personal financial disclosure form that will become public later this year.

They will be, Im sure, making all that information available in due course, Nix said.

White House officials did not respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for the Mercers said they could not be reached for comment.

Trumps surprise win has meant boom times for Cambridge, which is now in hot demand by political campaigns and corporate clients across the globe.

Its like drinking from a fire hose, Matt Oczkowski, Cambridges head of product, said in an interview at the companys new Pennsylvania Avenue offices. Besides Antarctica, weve gotten interest from every continent.

Much of the curiosity is driven by Cambridges emphasis on psychographics, the study of personality traits. By measuring qualities such as openness, conscientiousness and neuroticism, officials say they can craft more effective appeals and drive people to take action.

The Mercers were early investors in the company, dismayed that the Republican Party had lost the data war in the 2012 elections.

Bannon, who was then operating as the familys political adviser, was a participant in strategy meetings as the company worked to sign up American campaign clients. He was instrumental in the rollout of Cambridge Analytica in the United States, said one person familiar with his role.

The company first garnered attention in 2015 when it was tapped by the presidential campaign of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.). In the end, Cambridges work proved uneven, according to campaign officials, who said that while its data scientists were impressive, its psychographic analysis did not bear fruit. Company officials said they were still learning how to apply the approach in a tightly compressed primary environment.

Cambridge then moved on to serve as the Trump campaigns data-science provider. While company officials said they did not have sufficient time to employ psychographics in that campaign, they did data modeling and polling that showed Trumps strength in the industrial Midwest, shaping a homestretch strategy that led to his upset wins in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

[Trumps plan for a comeback includes building a psychographic profile of every voter]

Headquartered in a nondescript building on New Oxford Street in central London, SCL Group has the look of a staid insurance agency, with employees working at rows of computer screens. But along with project managers, IT specialists and creatives who design websites are psychologists and a team of data-scientists, many of whom hold doctorates in physics, quantum mechanics and astrophysics.

SCLs main offering, first developed by its affiliated London think tank in 1989, involves gathering vast quantities of data about an audiences values, attitudes and beliefs, identifying groups of persuadables and then targeting them with tailored messages. SCL began testing the technique on health and development campaigns in Britain in the early 1990s, then branched out into international political consulting and later defense contracting.

Emma Briant, who wrote about SCLs work in her 2015 book Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism: Strategies for Global Change, said its approach can be used to manipulate the public, which is largely unaware how much of their personal information is available.

They are using similar methodologies to those the intelligence agencies use with openly available data in order to create a commercial advantage for themselves, said Briant, a journalism studies lecturer at the University of Sheffield in Britain, who is on leave to conduct research at George Washington University. They are exploiting our dependence on social media.

Nix, who serves as Cambridges chief executive, said that none of the information the company collects is particularly intrusive, adding that SCLs data-science techniques were predominantly developed in the political space, not for military clients.

This is not medical data or health data or financial data, he said of the U.S. data that Cambridge collects. Its what cereal you eat for breakfast and what car you drive.

SCL, which says it has worked in 100 countries, offers military clients techniques in soft power. Nix described it as a modern-day upgrade of early efforts to win over a foreign population by dropping propaganda leaflets from the air.

In a 2015 article for a NATO publication, Steve Tatham, a British military psyops expert who leads SCLs defense business outside of the United States, explained that one of the benefits of using the companys techniques is that it can be undertaken covertly.

Audience groups are not necessarily aware that they are the research subjects and governments role and/or third parties can be invisible, he wrote.

In the United States, the companys efforts to win new government contracts are being led by Josh Weerasinghe, a former vice president of global market development at defense giant BAE Systems who previously worked with Flynn at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Flynn served as an adviser to SCL on its efforts to expand its contracting work, according to two people familiar with his role.

Weerasinghe declined to comment. Flynn, ousted this week as Trumps national security adviser amid questions about his conversations with Russian officials, could not be reached for comment.

In early February, Weerasinghe met with several procurement officials at the Department of Homeland Security. A DHS official said the gathering was focused on whether their data analytics services could benefit the department.

The company also just finalized a contract with the State Departments Global Engagement Center to provide audience analysis for the centers efforts to dissuade military-age males from joining the Islamic State, according to people familiar with the details. A State Department spokesman declined to comment on why SCL was selected.

SCLs efforts to land new government contracts come as Trump has vowed to vastly expand the military. In late January, he signed an executive order to launch the great rebuilding of the Armed Forces, pledging support for more troops, weapons, ships and planes.

[Trump promises great rebuilding of the Armed Forces while signing executive order at the Pentagon]

Nix said that while an increase in defense spending could help the companys business, SCLs government division sees potential beyond the Pentagon and Homeland Security. We see the applications for these technologies as much in tourism and health care and treasury, he said.

He rejected the idea that SCLs intensifying pursuit of government contracts could be viewed as a conflict of interest because of its role in helping elect the president.

Look, clearly the decision-makers on the campaign are very different people than the decision-makers in government, he said, noting that the responsibility for contracts falls with procurement officials. There is a code of ethics in order to make sure that is the case, and we adhere to that.

Cambridge now has a database of 230 million American adults, with up to 5,000 pieces of demographic, consumer and lifestyle information about each individual, as well as psychological information people have shared with the company through quizzes on social media and extensive surveys, Nix has said.

By having hundreds and hundreds of thousands of Americans undertake this survey, we were able to form a model to predict the personality of every single adult in the United States of America, Nix declared in a speech at a New York conference in September 2016.

The company has its share of skeptics who question whether its data-driven messaging can actually change behavior.

They walked me through the entire formula, and something just didnt add up, said a consultant who worked briefly for SCL and spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private interactions with the company. All of a sudden it spits out analysis and data. There was a leap in logic.

Nix shrugged off such doubters.

We have been doing this for nearly 30 years, he said. I suppose if it didnt work, we wouldnt still be in business and we wouldnt still be growing.

Sellers reported from London. Tom Hamburger in Washington contributed to this report.
Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and the two Roosevelts, Franklin and Theodore, have kept their lock on their positions as, respectively, the four best presidents in American history, according to a new ranking by 91 presidential historians.

Barack Obama took the No. 12 spot in his first time on the survey.

The poll, released on the eve of Presidents Day weekend, is the third one conducted by the wonky public-affairs cable network C-SPAN over the past 17 years.

The presidents in the bottom rankings were the same as in 2000 and in 2009.

They were Andrew Johnson, Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan, who again comes in dead last. Buchanan, who served from 1857 to 1861, is regarded as having been an inept and indifferent leader as the nation was headed toward civil war.

Yet there was also some movement in the rankings.

[See the full historians poll]

Andrew Jackson  whose style of populism that Donald Trumps advisers like to cite as a model for the current president  slipped five spots since 2009, coming in at the 18th best president.

Dwight Eisenhower moved into the top five for the first time, moving up from No. 8 in 2009 and No. 9 in 2000.

George W. Bush also gained slightly in the esteem of the historians, moving up to 33rd in 2017, from 36th in 2009. But he was bested by his father, George H.W. Bush, who ranked 20th.

Bill Clinton, whose presidency was bookended by the two Bushes, remained in the 15th spot.

The survey asks historians to rank the presidents on a 1-to-10 scale on 10 qualities of leadership: public persuasion, crisis leadership, economic management, moral authority, international relations, administrative skills, relations with Congress, vision/setting an agenda, pursued equal justice for all and performance within the context of his time.

Once again, the big three are Lincoln, Washington, and FDR  as it should be, said Rice University history professor Douglas Brinkley, one of the academic advisers to the study. That Obama came in at No. 12 his first time out is quite impressive.

However, Edna Greene Medford of Howard University, another adviser, said she would have expected Obama to rank higher, given his high approval ratings when he left office in January, that his administration had been close to scandal-free and his role in steering the economy back from the brink after the financial crisis.

Of course, she added, historians prefer to view the past from a distance, and only time will reveal his legacy.

Overall, the period from 1933 to 1969 was the golden age of the American presidency, said historian and biographer Richard Norton Smith.

Five presidents from that period made it into the top 10. They were led by Franklin D. Roosevelt, who is regarded as not only the first modern president but the man who, in reinventing the office, also established the criteria by which we judge our leaders, Smith added.

The other mid-20th century presidents in the top 10 were Eisenhower, Harry S Truman, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.

If that time was the apex, the period between 1837 and 1869 might be regarded as the most dismal era for the presidency, with No. 1-ranked Lincoln being a stark exception. Eight of the 10 lowest-rated presidents served during that period leading up to and after the Civil War.
Coal miner workers attend the signing ceremony by U.S. President Donald Trump of Resolution 38, which nullfies the "stream protection rule", at the White House in Washington. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

President Trump on Thursday reversed an Obama-era rule aimed at blocking coal-mining operations from dumping waste into nearby waterways, while House Republicans passed two bills that would nullify regulations affecting federal funding for Planned Parenthood and hunting activities on national wildlife refuges in Alaska.

The push to overturn rules adopted in the final months of the Obama administration  Trump has wiped two of them off the books this week, and is poised to do the same to several more in the months ahead  highlights the extent to which Republicans are determined to deliver for some of the key constituencies that backed their electoral victory in November.

Sitting in the Roosevelt Room, with House Republicans on his left and West Virginia coal miners sporting hard hats on his right, the president said signing the bill would eliminate another terrible job-killing rule saving many thousands of American jobs, especially in the mines, which Ive been promising you.

The miners are a big deal; Ive had support from some of these folks right from the very beginning and I wont forget it, he added, referring to his presidential campaign. We went to West Virginia and we had 17, 18,000 people and they couldnt get into that big arena.

The regulatory impact analysis that accompanied the original rule estimated it would generate more jobs than it would cost, because while roughly 124 full-time jobs annually in areas where coal production was falling, it would generate 280 full-time jobs needed to comply with the rule where mining remains profitable each year.

Mining companies and antiabortion rights groups hailed Republicans swift action, saying the changes would generate jobs and allow state officials to adopt policies more in line with their own ideological outlook. But Democrats and other proponents of the rules argued that by stripping the federal protections enacted under President Obama, Washingtons new political class was simply imposing its views on Americans in place of the previous one.

Lawmakers are using the 1996 Congressional Review Act (CRA), which allows them to reverse any regulations by a majority vote within 60 days of enactment  if they can get the presidents backing. House Republicans have introduced 39 such measures and passed 13 of them; two of them have become law and a third is awaiting Trumps signature.

[Trump embarks on the most ambitious regulatory rollback in a generation]

Surface-mining firms had fought against the stream buffer rule, which the Interior Department estimated would have safeguarded 6,000 miles of streams and 52,000 acres of forests, on the grounds that it was too costly. In a written statement, Murray Energy President and CEO Robert E. Murray, who had sued to block the rule, praised Trump for overturning what he called the single greatest threat to the jobs and family livelihoods of our employees that I have seen in my sixty (60) years of coal mining experience.

But Ron Short, a resident of Duffield, Va., and a member of the group Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, said eliminating the regulation would do nothing to bring coal jobs back to the area where he lives.

For all my life, the coal economy has ruled this region and its people, Short said. Now we are facing the demise of the coal industry, and we must save the valuable natural resources that we have left if we are ever to develop cultural tourism and ecotourism as important parts of a new economy that works for everyone.

Environmental groups were equally outraged about a resolution that passed the House on Thursday 225 to 193, which would nullify a rule the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized in August that barred Alaskas Board of Game from using certain predator control tactics on national wildlife refuges. Those practices include killing mother bears and cubs as well as denning wolves and pups, along with trapping, baiting and aerial shooting.

Is running roughshod over public lands and targeting mother bears and wolves and their young on lands specifically set aside as wildlife refuges really a priority for legislators given the many challenges facing our country? Jamie Rappaport Clark, president of the Defenders of Wildlife, said in a statement.

But Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), the bills sponsor, said on the House floor Thursday that the previous administration had been governing by interest groups and was more concerned about animal welfare advocates than Alaska residents.

Im speaking for the people of my state, not the people of Virginia, he said, after Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) defended the rule.

A few minutes later, the two parties sparred over a resolution nullifying a Health and Human Services rule that instructed states they could not withhold federal family-planning funds from providers if they were qualified to provide care. The measure would allow states to divert federal money from Planned Parenthood  which serves more than a third of the roughly 4 million Americans who receive benefits through the Title X program  to community health clinics.

Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.) said that she is not opposed to poor women getting federal aid for family planning services, But why is it necessary for those services to be provided at the nations largest abortion provider?

Theres a reason people call this rule President Obamas parting gift to Planned Parenthood, she said.

But Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) said the resolution, which passed 230 to 188, would make it harder for low-income Americans to get medical care, even though Planned Parenthood doesnt use any federal funds to perform abortions.

What my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are saying is, We just want to make sure that Planned Parenthood doesnt get a dime. 

Read more at PowerPost
The House Intelligence Committee is potentially expanding the scope of its probe into Russian activities in the U.S. elections to include allegations that ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn spoke about sanctions with a Russian official late last year.

The statement from a spokesman for Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) suggests that the House is now open to investigating the full scope of the allegations swirling around the Trump team and Russia rather than focused squarely on how such charges ended up in the news media in recent weeks.

The committee is not preemptively excluding any topics or individuals from our inquiry, and we expect that the investigation will lead us to interview current and former U.S. officials, Nunes spokesman Jack Langer said in a statement late Thursday.

The statement echoes comments earlier in the day from the committees ranking Democrat, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (Calif.).

Leaders on the committee, Schiff said, agreed only in the last 24 hours to investigate any relevant allegations, including those involving Michael Flynn.

(Daron Taylor,Jhaan Elker/The Washington Post)

I think we are on the same page with what the Senate is interested in, he said.

House Democrats are concerned that their Republican colleagues are not following the bipartisan  at least for now  model being set by their Senate counterparts in vowing to fully and aggressively investigate both the idea that Russia sought to interfere in the election, and more recent reports that Flynn discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador to the United States in December, before Trump was inaugurated. Another news report said that Trump campaign officials were in contact with Russian officials during the campaign.

Both the House and Senate intelligence panels launched probes into Russian activities in the election at the end of January.

[Flynn saga shifts balance of power between president, Congress]

This week, as more information emerged, House leaders appeared more concerned about getting to the bottom of who is leaking key information to the news media. President Trump also complained about the leaks at a Thursday news conference.

There should be an investigation as to the leaks of information leaving  wherever theyre coming from, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) said Thursday. If its classified information, that is criminal and there should be a criminal investigation of these leaks.

That approach had some House Democrats worried.

It makes us look bad, said Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (Md.), the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.

Even if House Republicans have shifted the scope of their probe, their rhetoric remains directed at those responsible for the leaks.

As Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.), a member of the House Homeland Security Committee and a Trump supporter, put it, the leaks are a bigger story than the incident with what General Flynn did.

On Wednesday night, House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) sent a joint letter to the Justice Departments inspector general, urging him to dig into whether leaked, classified information had been mishandled. That letter was released at nearly the same time as one from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and the committees ranking Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), to FBI Director James B. Comey demanding copies of transcripts of Flynns intercepted calls with the Russian ambassador, as well as a committee briefing later this month on the events that led to Flynns resignation.

On Thursday, Feinstein credited Grassley with coming up with the idea, telling reporters: We work very well together.

Feinstein, who is also on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Mark R. Warner (Va.), the panels ranking Democrat, offered even more vocal praise for Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.), applauding him for moving the investigation along very aggressively and professing to have faith in his efforts.

Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee have taken note of the relative harmony between the Senate leaders and the very different situation in which they find themselves.

At this point, House Democrats are severely limited in what they are able to do to hustle the investigations along.

Lead Democrats on committees with jurisdiction over the investigations have almost no power to issue subpoenas to force members of the Trump administration to testify and few procedural options to get their demands acknowledged.

What they do have in their arsenal, they have already deployed. Last week, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) filed a resolution of inquiry asking the Justice Department for copies of all documents and records pertaining to a criminal or counterintelligence investigation into Trump. Under House rules, the Judiciary Committee is obligated to at least debate the resolution within 14 legislative days.

That was done because we were getting no response from the Republicans, Nadler said Thursday. Thats one way of making them at least respond.

Democrats have also been sending a flurry of letters to their GOP colleagues and various administration officials.

Nadler said Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee responded to Chaffetz and Goodlattes letter with one of their own to the Justice Departments inspector general, saying while youre looking at the leaks, take a look at everything else. 

On Thursday, Schiff and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also sent a letter to the acting director of national intelligence, Michael Dempsey, demanding a comprehensive intelligence briefing on Flynns contacts with Russian officials, as well as access to the transcripts of those conversations.

Its a bipartisan request in the Senate, but we could not get agreement on that, Schiff said.

On Thursday, Chaffetz joined Cummings in sending a letter to the speakers bureau Leading Authorities Inc. asking for documents to determine how much Flynn had been paid to attend a 2015 gala hosted by Kremlin-backed RT television network.

Chaffetz did join us in a letter on that, Cummings noted Thursday. On the more complex things, were not getting his cooperation so far. But he may change.

Cummings also noted that Democrats had gotten their first Republican  Rep. Walter B. Jones (N.C.)  to sign onto a bill to establish an independent commission to investigate Russia-

related allegations. Hopefully this will break open something, he said. We dont know.

Read more at PowerPost
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa is greeted by children after accompanying the ruling party's candidate for Quito's Mayor's Office to a polling station in Quito to cast his vote as the country holds municipal elections on February 23, 2014. (Rodrigo Buendia/AFP/Getty Images)

In Latin Americas current era of big-personality politics, there may be no other leader who embodies as many apparent contradictions as Rafael Correa, Ecuadors president.

Although he proudly identifies as a leftist, Correa is staunchly opposed to abortion, even in cases of rape, and has called gay marriage a barbarity. He relishes confrontation with Washington, despite the fact that the United States is Ecuadors top trading partner and a major source of foreign tourists  as well as the place Correa earned his PhD in economics. And for nearly two years, Correa has sheltered WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at Ecuadors Embassy in London while he curbs press freedoms at home, even cracking down on political cartoonists .

Analysts in the region wonder whether Correa represents a new model of Latin American leadership: economically populist, socially conservative, quasi-authoritarian  and seemingly unbeatable at election time. Polls consistently put his approval rating between 60 and 85 percent, making him one of the region's most popular leaders.

Correa, who was reelected to a third term by a huge margin last March, may have one more twist to add. After spending the past seven years concentrating power in the executive, he says he will not run for reelection when his current term ends in 2017, telling the government newspaper El Telegrafo: Its very damaging when one person becomes indispensable.

It was a surprising observation from a leader who has remade Ecuador to revolve almost entirely around his rule. Correa dominates the country's legislature through the party he founded, Alianza-PAIS, and has stacked the judiciary with his former cabinet members, removing obstacles to his agenda.

1 of 25 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  Life on Ecuadors oil frontier View Photos Ecuador pumps more than 500,000 barrels of crude a day, but with production falling, the country is moving to drill inside Yasuni National Park, one of the worlds most ecologically complex and fragile places, an area that is also home to the Waorani tribe. Caption Ecuador pumps more than 500,000 barrels of crude a day, but with production falling, the country is moving to drill inside Yasuni National Park, one of the worlds most ecologically complex and fragile places, an area that is also home to the Waorani tribe. Jan. 30, 2014 Edison Alvarado swings from a vine into a shallow swimming hole near Yawepare, Ecuador. Dominic Bracco II/Prime Wait 1 second to continue.

Walking away after his current term would also be a notable break with Correas leftist allies in the region, such as Bolivias Evo Morales, Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua and the late Venezuelan president Hugo Ch a vez, who have used the ballot box to weaken or eliminate term limits.

Correas detractors dont believe the 50-year-old president has any interest in an early retirement. They see his brand of 21st century socialism as little more than contemporary Latin American caudillismo  a media-savvy version of old-fashioned strongman rule.

Unlike Ch a vez and his epic battles with Venezuelas private sector, Correa maintains generally strong ties with Ecuadors business community and has presided over a sustained period of economic growth and low unemployment. He has kept the U.S. dollar as Ecuadors currency.

Felipe Burbano, a political analyst in Quito, said Correa is a master of state activism, projecting his presidency  and government spending  into every corner of the country of 15 million by reaching out to rural voters, slum residents and others who were often ignored in the past. Correa has plowed the OPEC countrys oil revenue into new schools, health clinics and infrastructure projects, especially new highways, while cutting the poverty rate from 37 percent to 27 percent from 2007 to 2012, according to official data.

Just as Venezuelas Ch a vez took to the airwaves weekly with his Hello President program, Correa travels around Ecuador starring in a show called Citizen Link. Viewers see him fixing local problems, riffing on international affairs and bludgeoning critics. While he doesnt sing as smoothly as Ch a vez, he sings anyway, and hes often funny, charming, even philosophical.

Correa combines personal charisma with strong state spending, Burbano said. And thanks to years of $100-a-barrel oil, hes benefitted from revenues that no other leader has had.

Correa dominates Ecuadoran politics so thoroughly that even local elections have become referendums on his rule. Victories this month by opposition candidates in races for mayor of Quito, the capital, and Cuenca, the country's third-largest city, have been viewed as personal rebukes to him. He campaigned heavily for his political allies and attacked their rivals in often-strident terms.

He went too far and overplayed his hand, said Michael Shifter, president of Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington think tank that tracks Latin American affairs. Correa remains very popular, and the opposition is weak and fragmented, but the elections raise questions about the depth and durability of the president's support.

It should alert him to the risks of a popular backlash against his style of confrontational politics, Shifter said.

Correa seemed to take the loss hard, calling it an important setback for the Citizens Revolution  the term he uses to describe his socialist political platform  and told the country that the results opened the door to an anti-patriotic and a pro-imperial (referring to the United States) right-wing takeover.

The loss of control of Quito by his party could make Ecuador ungovernable, he told reporters.

The comment appeared to play to fears of Ecuadorans who remember the turbulent period prior to Correas election in 2006, when the country had seven presidents during one 10-year stretch.

It was also a statement from a leader with little patience for checks on his power. Taking his cue from Venezuelas Ch a vez, Correa has loaded Ecuador's Supreme Court with allies and has moved aggressively to silence, even shut down, civil society organizations that challenge him.

Last year, when environmental groups and indigenous tribes protested plans to expand oil drilling in sensitive areas of the Amazon rain forest, including Ecuadors Yasuni National Park, Correa responded with a heavy hand. One of the country's most prominent environmental advocacy groups, Pachamama, was ordered shut down after being accused of stirring up rowdy protests.

We are extremely concerned about Correa, said Jos e Miguel Vivanco, the Americas director of Human Rights Watch.

Under a new law decreed by Correa, any non-governmental organization can be closed if the government determines that it has undermined public peace or moved away from the objective for which it was created. Other provisions implemented by Correa require private media to report on issues that the government considers of public interest," a measure Vivanco called one of the worst media laws in the Americas.

Ecuadors relations with the United States have steadily soured during Correas presidency. In addition to protecting Assange at the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, Correa further angered U.S. officials last year when he signaled a willingness to take in NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

Congress allowed Ecuadors U.S. trade preferences to expire last year, exposing the country to new tariffs.

Correa has also blasted the United States for not helping Ecuador collect a $9.5 billion pollution fine against Chevron leveled by Ecuadors highest court. A federal judge in New York dismissed the judgment this month, ruling that the U.S. attorney who sued the company engaged in bribery and fraud.

The strains with the United States have come despite Correa earning a PhD in economics at the University of Illinois, where he wrote a doctoral thesis exploring the downside of the economic liberalization policies adopted in Latin America during the 1990s.

Ecuadoran analysts say that while the country isnt anti-American  it depends heavily on U.S. tourism  Correas clashes with Washington have played to nationalist sentiments about the country playing a bigger role in the world and displaying more independence.

One result of frayed trade relations with the United States has been Ecuadors deepening financial dependency on Chinese loans. Correa has increasingly financed his expansion of public spending with oil-backed guarantees with Beijing, giving Chinese companies a lead role in expanding the oil-drilling push into Ecuadors fragile Amazon region.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson boards his plane at Cologne Bonn Airport as he leaves after a meeting of G-20 foreign ministers. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

When Secretary of State Rex Tillerson came to Germany this week to meet with his counterparts, he faced roomfuls of worried diplomats.

Many sought clues from the fledgling U.S. envoy, who to that point had made no public remarks on foreign policy since taking office two weeks before. Long-held U.S. stances on NATO, Russia, Syria, Ukraine, Iran and a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict seemed likely to be up for debate in a new administration.

But as Tillerson left the Group of 20 meeting of foreign ministers Friday afternoon, there was a palpable sense of relief, mingled with lingering concerns about the direction of U.S. foreign policy in the Trump administration.

The relief stemmed in part from a sense that Tillerson is a serious man who came to Bonn on Wednesday in what his aides called listening mode, willing to hear their viewpoints.

Met a lot of people, made a lot of new friends, Tillerson told reporters.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, tight, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, second from right, and other diplomats listen to German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, third from left, at a meeting on Syria at the World Conference Center in Bonn, Germany. (Pool photo by Brendan Smialowski via Reuters)

Asked if he was taking any messages back to the president, he replied Many but declined to elaborate.

[Trumps travel ban could make Tillersons job harder]

After Tillerson departed, the German and French foreign ministers said they welcomed his involvement in a meeting on Syrian peace talks due to restart next week. There had been concerns that the United States would tolerate the continued rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in favor of an all-out effort to defeat Islamic State militants.

I believe it is important and absolutely instrumental to have a close dialogue with the United States on the Syria issue and on many other issues, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told reporters.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that Tillerson participated vigorously in the discussion on Syria and that the U.S. allies were assured that Washington backs dialogue, not just military force.

All the participants want a political solution, because a military solution alone wont lead to peace in Syria, Gabriel said.

One note of discord came from France, over the Trump administrations willingness to step back from insisting on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ayrault told reporters after talks with Tillerson that he finds the U.S. position confused and worrying.

I wanted to remind him after the meeting between Donald Trump and [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu that in Frances view, there are no other options other than the perspective of a two-state solution, and that the other option which Mr. Tillerson brought up was not realistic, fair or balanced, he said. Ayrault did not specify what other option Tillerson had raised.

Diplomats said they got the sense that there would be no radical shift in the U.S. stance toward Russia, despite Tillersons friendship with Vladimir Putin and Trumps repeated praise of the Russian president.

One diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the participants were encouraged when Tillerson said the administration believes that before it can consider any lifting sanctions against Russia, Moscow must meet its commitments to help end the fighting in the Russian-speaking, separatist region of eastern Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov characterized his discussions with Tillerson, whom he had never met before, as pragmatic and businesslike.

We reaffirmed the existence of similar or identical interests, primarily with regard to the irreconcilable struggle against terrorism in the context of our cooperation within the political settlement in Syria and other countries where terrorism has taken root, Lavrov said in a statement posted on the Foreign Ministry homepage. We also discussed the situation in Afghanistan and Ukraine. Our American partners have expressed interest in joining the efforts that are being taken to settle these conflicts.

[Tillerson tells State Department employees he values their work]

Tillerson reportedly had a cordial meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, despite Trumps breach of the one-China policy when he took a phone call from the leader of Taiwan before his inauguration.

State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner said Tillerson expressed concern about North Koreas nuclear and missile programs and urged China to help moderate its neighbors behavior.

Speaking later Friday at a security conference in Munich, Wang cautioned against a confrontational approach to the rogue nuclear power.

Since 2009, when talks with North Korea broke down, the nuclear issue on the peninsula has embarked on the path of confrontation, and weve been seeing nuclear tests and then sanctions, and sanctions and then nuclear tests, Wang said. This is a bad circle and should be stopped, because the ultimate result of such a circle could be a lose-lose result for all parties, and no one can bear the outcomes.

Separately, Wang warned against any souring of relations between China and the United States. Wrong choices in global affairs in the past have led to fire and blood, he said.

We need to remain committed to multilateralism, Wang said. If big countries get along, the world enjoys peace and stability.

Michael Birnbaum in Munich contributed to this report.

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Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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When the commander of NATO forces in Europe said Sunday that he was worried about Russian troops moving across Ukraine to Transnistria, he was talking about a sliver of land that has existed largely outside the international system and outside the law for 22 years.

U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove was voicing fears that the small country of Moldova will very soon become Europes next crisis point.

How Transnistria was formed

Separatists who had already come to power in Transnistria more than a year earlier took advantage of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 to break away from Moldova. Transnistria has maintained itself as a Russian-speaking enclave ever since.

(The Washington Post)

Many ethnic Russians and Ukrainians lived primarily in the more industrial eastern parts of the former Soviet republic, and they wanted no part of the new Moldova. Moldovans are closely related to their neighbors, the Romanians.

Transnistria refers to the land beyond (or east of) the Dniester River.

The region is often lumped with other corners of the old Soviet Union that broke away from newly emerging nations into a kind of unrecognized limbo. Theres Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian part of Azerbaijan, and Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which have separated themselves from Georgia with Russian help.

[See more about the worlds gray areas]

How Russia is involved

After brief and inconclusive fighting broke out, the Russian army imposed a truce on both sides in 1992. Russian Lt. Gen. Alexander Lebed, a profane and charismatic officer, had little use for either the Moldovans or the Transnistrians, who began to devote sectors of their economy to human trafficking, drug running and arms smuggling. But he successfully separated the two warring parties, and theyve stayed that way ever since.

Lebed played a key role in bringing Russias first Chechen war to a peaceful end in 1996. Highly popular, he went into politics and was killed in a 2002 helicopter crash that some thought was suspicious.

A Russian army base in Transnistria, with 1,200 soldiers, has helped ensure the regions invulnerability.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that his country reserves the right to stand up for ethnic Russians living outside its borders. His remarks came in a speech about Crimea, but that protection could presumably extend to Russians in Moldova as well as in Kazakhstan, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

What its like now

Transnistria has a population of about half a million, down 10 percent in the past 10 years. At 1,600 square miles, it is slightly smaller than Cook County, Ill. Its flag still features the Soviet hammer and sickle.

Largely because it could capitalize on its location in Eastern Europe, Transnistria in the 1990s became a hotbed of international criminal activity. That appears to have receded more recently.

Moldova is one of Europes poorest countries and is the worlds leader in per-capita alcohol consumption.

Where it might be headed

Moldova has joined with Georgia in agreeing to sign up for a formal trade deal with the European Union  exactly the same deal that Ukraine was headed for last fall until Moscow persuaded it to change course, sparking protests that led to the current situation.

Some Transnistrians have been agitating to join Russia. In a 2006 referendum, 96 percent of voters opted for accession, but Moscow turned them down. Russia has been taking part in a 21-year-old mission by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to settle the status of the region.

Some elements in the enclave would prefer that Transnistria retain its shadowy existence.

A note on pronunciation

and spelling

Websters New World College Dictionary gives the pronunciation of Transnistria as trans-NEES-tree-uh. Its also spelled Transdniestria or Trans-Dniester.

The river is spelled Dniester or Dnestr.
German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen delivers an opening statement on the first day of the 53rd Munich Security Conference on Feb. 17. (Christof Stache/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)

Germanys defense chief on Friday hit President Trumps dismissive attitude toward Washingtons European allies, giving a frosty reception to U.S. envoys at the largest conclave of U.S. and European officials since the inauguration.

Speaking to a packed hall that included Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen hammered Trumps attitudes toward Russia without ever mentioning the U.S. leader by name.

There can be no policy of equidistance between allies on one side and those who on the other question our borders, our values and the principles of international law, von der Leyen said to applause at the Munich Security Conference, where Europes senior security leaders were gathering to figure out how to respond to Trump.

We must pursue finding a reliable coexistence with Russia together instead of going over our partners heads in a bilateral relationship, she said.

Trump has offered the most direct challenge to the transatlantic security alliance in its post-World War II history, calling NATO obsolete, welcoming Britains decision to split from the European Union and holding back from criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who in 2014 redrew European borders by annexing Ukraines Crimean Peninsula.

In comments shortly before his inauguration, Trump equated his relationships with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Putin, saying he would start off with open minds on both of them and then reevaluate based on how they treat him.

Mattis and Kelly were dispatched to Europe this week to reassure nervous allies about Trumps policies, even as they reaffirmed some of his toughest messages on the need for greater European defense spending.

Vice President Pence arrived Friday evening in Munich as he kicks off a miniature tour of European capitals.

The visits come amid controversy on Trumps teams ties to Russia. Michael Flynn was forced to resign as national security adviser Monday after The Washington Post reported that he may have had improper conversations with Russias ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak.

But many European leaders are responding to Trumps push by agreeing to spend more while also saying that all Western allies  including the United States  must not abandon the basic values that helped create a Western security backbone in the years since 1945.

Only four nations apart from the United States meet NATO commitments for defense spending. Germany, Europes largest economy, is among the laggards, and it would need to nearly double its budgetary commitments to get there, ballooning its military into Europes most powerful.

Without dismissing the spending guidelines, von der Leyen said that NATOs strength was far more than an economic balance sheet.

Burden sharing is a matter of funding, of money, but sharing the burden is also much more than what can be expressed in euros and in dollars, von der Leyen said. To share a burden is to first of all share the principle to stand up for one another. Without exception.

She also hit against Trumps stated affinity for torture and campaign-trail rhetoric that appeared to dispense with the need to avoid civilian deaths in prosecuting wars in the Middle East.

The alliance must be bound by human dignity in all it does, von der Leyen said. This leaves no room for torture. It means avoiding civilian casualties at all cost.

We must beware of turning this fight into one against Islam and Muslims per se. Otherwise we run the risk of deepening the trenches from which terrorism grows, she added.

Von der Leyen met Mattis in Washington last week before he traveled to Brussels and Munich this week. She has pushed for greater European defense spending  an unpopular stance domestically  even as she has echoed Merkels firm message about not abandoning fundamental values.

Von der Leyens comments largely fall in line with what Mattis has advocated over the past few months, at times putting him at odds with Trumps views. In particular, Mattis said during his confirmation hearing that he views Russia as the top security threat to the United States and that Moscow wants to break the NATO military alliance.

Mattis also told Trump before he was nominated that he was against torture and that there are other more effective ways of getting information, surprising the president. Trump said last month that he still absolutely believes torture works but would defer to Mattis on the issue.

The defense secretary has dampened speculation about a U.S. rapprochement with Russia, saying Thursday that it was too early to discuss any military collaboration. But he also has delivered Trumps tough message on defense spending to fellow defense chiefs in NATO, warning that the United States may moderate its commitment if allies do not start meeting their spending obligations.

On Friday, Mattis continued his warnings to European partners, even as he assured them that NATOs mutual defense agreements are a bedrock commitment.

To confront the threats facing our alliance, we must recognize not just strategic realities, but also political realities. President Trump came into office and has thrown now his full support to NATO, Mattis told the hall in remarks immediately after von der Leyen spoke. It is a fair demand that all who benefit from the best alliance in the world carry their proportionate share of the necessary costs to defend our freedoms.

Mattiss message on the need to devote more to defense spending has been welcomed by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. But Stoltenberg said Friday after a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that there were few fundamental shifts in Russias position on NATO, Ukraine or Syria. He pointed to modest progress in avoiding inadvertent incidents between the militaries when they operate in proximity to each other.

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Chinas Foreign Ministry has been at its stonewalling, noncommittal best this week after news of the dramatic assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the half brother of North Koreas leader, repeating the mantra that it has noticed relevant media reports and is closely following developments.

But behind the scenes, there is a sense of shock and dismay in Beijing, officials and experts say: If indeed Kim Jong Nam was assassinated on the orders of the North Korean leader, it would be seen as an affront to the country that has afforded him protection for many years.

[Who was Kim Jong Nam?]

Chinas inner circle of government is highly nervous about this, said Wang Weimin, a professor at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs at Fudan University in Shanghai.

Kim Jong Nams assassination makes China more aware of how unpredictable and cruel the current North Korean regime is, as well as Kim Jong Uns willingness to abandon China and sell it for his own benefit at any second, Wang said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pictured on a South Korean news show about the assassination of his half brother. If North Korea was involved, it would be embarassing for China. (Jeon Heon-Kyun/EPA)

Kim Jong Nam had lived for over a decade in Beijing and Macau, apparently with wives and children in both places, and had a reputation as something of a playboy who liked to visit casinos. Chinese experts said he had received 24-hour protection  and monitoring  from Chinas security services, as well as financial assistance when he needed it.

Yet despite his status as the eldest son of former leader Kim Jong Il, he had shown no obvious political ambitions. Wang said that Chinese authorities realized long ago that he lacked leadership potential, and that they did not pin huge hopes on him. Nevertheless, he was a guest of their country, and one who would probably have provided valuable intelligence in the past.

The assassination has come at an uncomfortable time for Beijing, just days after North Korea conducted a missile test and when the new Trump administration has been asking China to do more to rein in its troublesome neighbor and ally.

[North Korea fires ballistic missile, first since Trump elected in U.S.]

China responded to that missile test by asking the United States not to escalate the situation but instead to start a dialogue with Pyongyang.

Then, on Monday, Kim Jong Nam apparently was poisoned in an attack by two women at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia. It was a reminder, according to Marcus Noland and Stephan Haggard at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, of the North Korean regimes true nature: a cruel and ultimately capricious dictatorship that cannot be trusted on anything, the two wrote in a recent essay.

While Chinas official Communist Party mouthpieces, the Peoples Daily newspaper and Xinhua News Agency, have confined themselves to bland news reports on the incident, the nationalist Global Times tabloid, given a freer rein, has been more forthright, reflecting views shared by some officials and ordinary citizens.

Speculation points sharply at Pyongyangs hand in the murder, in-house commentator Shan Renping wrote Thursday. If that is confirmed, Shan noted, China would join the international community in condemning it.

Regardless of how intense a countrys political struggle might be, there is no doubt that it should never rely on assassination methods as means for its advancement, he wrote. Human civilization is now in the 21st century, and such a savage and outdated political device should be cast into the museums of history.

Chinas critics, however, accuse the country of reaching across borders to kidnap its own dissidents.

Relations between Beijing and Pyongyang have deteriorated significantly in recent years. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un have never met and are believed to share mutual disdain, experts say.

[Kim Jong Un is a top suspect in his half brothers death. But questions abound.]

In a sign that Chinas patience might be running out, it rejected a shipment of coal from North Korea on Monday, a day after the ballistic missile test, South Koreas Yonhap News Agency reported.

Fudan Universitys Wang said China recently received intelligence indicating that some people in North Korean leadership circles have been suggesting sacrificing ties with China and trying to establish closer links with the United States, Japan and South Korea.

The idea that China cannot be trusted and can only be used, that Japan has been the deadly enemy for hundreds of years but China has been the old enemy for thousands of years  that mentality still prevails in their internal party meetings and was inherited from Kim Jong Uns grandfather, he said.

In that context, the assassination of Kim Jong Nam could be a signal of the regimes unhappiness with Beijing for supporting United Nations sanctions and of a desire to distance itself from China, he said.

Other experts say that it is more likely that Kim Jong Nam was killed by the Southeast Asian underworld, or that  if Pyongyang was responsible  it had more to do with the regimes internal dynamics and paranoia than a desire to send a signal to the world.

Nevertheless, as commentator Ding Gang wrote in the Global Times, the development has not made the task of reining in North Koreas nuclear program any easier  and that is not good news for China.

North Koreas nuclear facilities and missile bases are located near Chinas border, he wrote. Once the situation in the Korean Peninsula spirals out of control, the facilities will be primary targets or the final fortress of North Koreas defense. Either way, the effects on China will be severe.

The murder of Kim Jong Nam, he warned, could reinforce destabilizing calls for tougher action to force regime change in Pyongyang.

People in the U.S., Japan and South Korea will more likely opt for hard-line approaches, which will trigger nuclear security problems, he wrote. We had better prepare for a nuclear emergency in North Korea rather than wasting our time discussing who is behind the assassination.

Congcong Zhang and Jin Xin contributed to this report.

Read more:

North Korea must supply DNA to retrieve body of leaders half brother

A not-that-short history of North Korean assassinations and attempts

Who did it? 5 questions people are asking about the death of Kim Jong Nam.

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
Politicians, officials and intellectuals gather to talk politics and chew khat, a leafy narcotic, in the home of a prominent Yemeni politician in Sanaa, Yemen. Local anger has centered on the U.S. governments highly secretive drone programs here. The U.S. drone campaign in Yemen is aimed at rooting out al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which U.S. officials have called the most active and deadly of the organizations wings. Drones have carried out at least 80 attacks since the start of 2011, according to the Long War Journal, which tracks U.S. counterterrorism efforts.

Jan. 17, 2014 Politicians, officials and intellectuals gather to talk politics and chew khat, a leafy narcotic, in the home of a prominent Yemeni politician in Sanaa, Yemen. Local anger has centered on the U.S. governments highly secretive drone programs here. The U.S. drone campaign in Yemen is aimed at rooting out al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which U.S. officials have called the most active and deadly of the organizations wings. Drones have carried out at least 80 attacks since the start of 2011, according to the Long War Journal, which tracks U.S. counterterrorism efforts. Abigail Hauslohner/The Washington Post

As the strikes continue, public outrage is rising in Yemen, where many people, including government officials, argue that the attacks increase sympathy for al-Qaeda.

As the strikes continue, public outrage is rising in Yemen, where many people, including government officials, argue that the attacks increase sympathy for al-Qaeda.

As the strikes continue, public outrage is rising in Yemen, where many people, including government officials, argue that the attacks increase sympathy for al-Qaeda.

A drone-fired U.S. missile struck a car southeast of here on a winter night last year, killing two alleged al-Qaeda operatives who lived openly in their community. But it also killed two cousins who were giving the men a ride and who the Yemeni government later said were innocents in the wrong place at the wrong time.

That incident, and other strikes that have followed, helped fuel anger here over civilian casualties from U.S. drone attacks and what critics say is an even less scrutinized problem: the targeting of suspects who are within the reach of the law.

The U.S. drone campaign in Yemen is aimed at rooting out al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which U.S. officials have called the most active and deadly of the organizations wings. Drones have carried out at least 80 attacks since the start of 2011, according to the Long War Journal, which tracks U.S. counterterrorism efforts.

As the strikes continue, public outrage is rising in Yemen, where many people, including government officials, argue that the attacks increase sympathy for al-Qaeda. In December, after a drone attack killed more than a dozen people in a rural wedding convoy, Yemens parliament passed a non-binding motion to ban the strikes.

Drones are a tool for killing outside of the law, said Ali Ashal, a member of parliament who represents a district where U.S. cruise missiles killed 41 people in 2009 but missed their alleged target, a high-ranking al-Qaeda officer who Ashal said was moving freely throughout the area and would pass by checkpoints.

But the Yemeni government, riven by power struggles and corruption, relies on U.S. funding for support and allows the attacks. Yemeni politicians and experts say the government  which has struggled with domestic turmoil, weakened state institutions and deepening poverty since the 2011 uprising that ended President Ali Abdullah Salehs rule  appears less inclined than ever to set limits on U.S. drones.

Yemens foreign minister, Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, told Reuters in September that drone strikes were a necessary evil in the countrys fight against terrorism and a very limited affair. At least four strikes have been carried out this year, according to local media.

The drone program in Yemen, where most strikes take place in remote areas, is cloaked in secrecy. Members of the presidents office declined to be interviewed about it, as did Yemens National Security Agency and its defense and interior ministries. The Pentagon also declined to comment.

The Obama administration has defended armed drones as precise tools that limit civilian casualties and risk to U.S. military personnel, and it has said it is investigating the attack on the wedding convoy. Asked about that strike in December, a State Department spokeswoman told reporters that the United States takes every effort to minimize civilian casualties in counterterrorism operations.

Attacks as political tools?

Amid an absence of transparency, there is wide speculation in Yemen that drones  and the intelligence from Yemen that at least partly informs targets selected by the CIA or Pentagon  are used as tools of politics and convenience.

Many politicians, activists and analysts think Yemeni security agencies prefer to identify suspects as eligible drone targets rather than arrest them  to avoid a messy legal process or a confrontation with a well-armed population in which tribal loyalties run deep.

Whats more, a shadowy battle for power and influence has gripped Yemen since Saleh ceded control to his deputy, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, in 2011. Saleh remains a powerful political force whose loyalists are said to crowd security agencies, and his rivals accuse him of manipulating intelligence on terrorist threats to eliminate enemies.

The murky political atmosphere has opened the possibility that at different times, the United States is sort of being played  that different people give them intelligence and then ask the U.S. to carry out a strike  and then it turns out that the U.S. targeted a political rival, said Gregory Johnsen, a Yemen expert and author of The Last Refuge: Yemen, al-Qaeda, and Americas War in Arabia.

Congress has been troubled enough by seemingly poor targeting and civilian casualties  such as the Yemen wedding deaths  that it has sought to block President Obamas plan to shift control of the drone campaign from the CIA to the Pentagon.

The alleged targets of the U.S. missile strike that killed Ali Saleh al-Qawili, a schoolteacher, and his cousin, Selim Hussein Ahmad, a university student, on Jan. 23, 2013, were hardly fugitives.

Rabia Laheb, a local councilman and an active supporter of al-Qaeda, and Naji Saad, a powerful generals bodyguard, were well-known members of Salehs tribe and home town, 12 miles outside the capital, according to residents of their community. They passed regularly through checkpoints, and the road they traveled on the night they were killed was dotted with checkpoints, too, relatives of Qawili and residents said.

Why they were not detained is unclear. But they had turned against Saleh in Yemens 2011 popular uprising, and some in their community think that may have made them drone targets.

Residents said Laheb had held meetings for al-Qaeda at his home. Two months before his death, a drone strike killed his close associate and suspected AQAP commander Adnan al-Qadhi. The watchdog organization Human Rights Watch said Qadhi could have been captured rather than killed.

In a speech on U.S. drone and counterterrorism policy in May, Obama said strikes are taken only when there is near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured, and he emphasized that the United States prefers to capture rather than kill terrorism suspects. But legal and military experts say it is rarely so simple.

In countries such as Yemen, the United States is unwilling to risk troops by sending in commando units, experts say. Critics of U.S. drone operations have also accused the Obama administration of leaning on killing suspects since announcing plans to end detentions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, because there is no obvious place to put captured ones.

Local authorities, on the other hand, may be too corrupt or incapable of doing the job themselves, experts say. In Yemen, repeated prison breaks have diminished confidence in security forces.

But another obstacle is diplomatic. States such as Yemen may allow the United States to carry out airstrikes but would generally prohibit boots on the ground, said Matthew Waxman, a professor of national-security law at Columbia University.

If we could rely on those governments to do the capturing, we would, but these are generally situations where they cant or they won't, Waxman said.

Civilian toll

Critics say one result is civilian casualties. According to the Long War Journal, at least 116 people were killed in U.S. airstrikes in Yemen last year, about 15 percent of them civilians. Other monitoring groups cite higher figures.

Two months after the airstrike that killed Qawili and Ahmad, Yemens Interior Ministry apologized in a letter to their families, saying that the cousins were innocent and that it was their fate to die that night. The men who paid them for a ride, the government said, were members of al-Qaeda.

The letter provided little solace to Qawilis brother, Mohamed Ali Saleh al-Qawili, an Education Ministry bureaucrat. He formed a support group for drone victims families last year, and he said his quest for answers has proved illuminating. The bottom line is that they do not even go to the trouble of investigating, or seeing who is in a car, when [an intelligence] report is provided, he said of the U.S. government.

Qawili said he was astonished by how many other Yemenis he met whose kin had become targets or collateral damage when their vehicles were moving in the vicinity of Yemeni army and police checkpoints, where they might have been arrested.

This is a useless war, he said. And every time they kill an innocent person, they motivate the families to join al-Qaeda.

Ali Almujahed in Sanaa contributed to this report.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks with reporters at the Saadabad Palace in Tehran on Feb. 11, 2017. Tensions between the United States and Iran have left the moderate leader particularly vulnerable head of a presidential election in May. (Ebrahim Noroozi/AP)

When the United States suddenly issued a ban on entry by nationals from Iran and six other countries, sending the worlds airports into chaos, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani gave a muted response.

Lets help neighboring cultures,

not build walls between nations, the moderate leader posted on Twitter. Lets not forget what happened to the #BerlinWall.

The comment, typical of Rouhanis soft diplomacy, became fodder for critics ahead of his reelection bid this spring.

President Trump will not understand the references to walls, the conservative Ezzatollah Zarghami, a potential challenger to Rouhani, fired back. You should speak to [Trump] the same way you speak to your critics, Zarghami said.

A burgeoning crisis between Iran and the United States has threatened to undermine the pragmatic Rouhani, who was elected four years ago on promises to end the countrys isolation from the West. But now, amid new tensions with the Trump administration, Rouhanis pro-dialogue approach is under attack. The shift  from detente with the Obama administration to open hostility with the White House under Trump  has left Rouhani particularly vulnerable as he gears up for a presidential vote in May.

[Amid tensions with U.S., Iran warns White House and lauds Americans opposing Trump]

In the few weeks since Trump took office, the two sides have sparred over Irans ballistic missile program, the ban on Iranian nationals entering the United States and new White House sanctions targeting Irans weapons systems. Trumps then-national security adviser, Michael Flynn, announced that the United States was putting Iran on notice over its ballistic missile tests, which the White House said defied a U.N. Security Council resolution. Iran responded with more military exercises and a threat to rain down missiles on its enemies.

The conventional wisdom is that if the U.S. really begins to crack down  to put Iran on the defense, keep it under threat, and take away some benefits  that it will work against Rouhani, said Gary Sick, who was the principal White House aide on Iran during the 1979 revolution and subsequent holding of U.S. Embassy personnel as hostages.

Irans conservatives have yet to field a viable candidate to oppose Rouhani, said Sick, who is now a research scholar at Columbia Universitys Middle East Institute. But in Iranian election campaigns, which normally last just a few weeks, things happen very fast, he said.

Rouhani, a cleric turned politician, has the political advantage of an incumbent. And, despite disagreements over policy and ideology, he appears to still have the support of Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose broad power can make or break candidates. Khamenei recently nudged Rouhanis chief rival  former president and right-wing firebrand Mahmoud Ahmadinejad  out of the race, after rumors swirled of a dramatic political comeback.

It strikes me as unlikely that the regime will switch horses at this stage or that a rival can offer a compelling alternative to the electorate, said Suzanne Maloney, senior fellow at the Brookings Center for Middle East Policy. But making predictions on Iranian elections is a fools game.

Given the uncertainty and the Trump administrations more hawkish policies, Irans election, scheduled for May 19, will not be an easy one for Rouhani, said Abas Aslani, world news editor at Irans Tasnim News Agency. Irans Guardian Council, a clerical oversight body, will vet the contenders and announce the approved candidates in late April. Candidate registration has not yet opened, meaning there is still time for a conservative front-runner to emerge.

[Iran stages military exercises in response to U.S. sanctions]

But if voters decide that Rouhani has failed on key promises, such as bringing economic growth through the careful diplomacy of the nuclear deal, it will shake the presidents popularity ahead of the election, Aslani said.

Indeed, the trouble for Rouhani started when Iranians, sick of a sluggish economy, grew sour on the 2015 nuclear deal he said would boost investment and ease poverty. That agreement  between Iran, the United States and five other nations  promised sanctions relief if Iran halted its nuclear enrichment program, and it was hailed as a diplomatic achievement.

Since then, some restrictions have been lifted. But others, such as those targeting Irans alleged financial support of terrorist groups, remain in place, sanctions experts say.

Foreign banks have also continued to avoid transactions with Iran, where corruption and money laundering are rife, said Richard Nephew, former principal deputy coordinator for sanctions policy at the State Department. Iran also resumed selling oil on the international market, but low prices stunted what many Iranians hoped would be a swift economic recovery.

Residual sanctions, particularly those associated with Irans support for terrorism, continue to hamper [Irans] economic performance, but so, too, did Irans poor business climate and low oil prices, said Nephew, who also served as Iran director on the National Security Council under President Barack Obama.

As a result, the majority of people are not satisfied with the economy, said Ali Omidi, professor of international relations at the University of Isfahan.

Unemployment reached 12.7 percent in the second quarter of 2016  up from 10.9 percent the year before  according to the latest data available from Irans central bank, and oil and non-

oil-sector growth remained at 3 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.

According to a poll published by the University of Maryland in January, a majority of Iranians now believe that Iran has not received most of the promised benefits of the nuclear deal. They also say that there have been no improvements in peoples living conditions as a result of the agreement.

People are following the recent tensions [with the United States] with worry, Omidi said.

Iranians think Trump is an unusual person who may deliberately start a crisis, he said.

On this point, Iranians might rally behind Rouhani. But it will depend on how aggressively the White House censures Iran, and on how Khamenei responds. The Trump administration has already floated a proposal to designate Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps, the countrys most powerful security institution, a terrorist organization. Such a move would have destabilizing effects around the region, where the Revolutionary Guard is active.

This administration will likely really be ready to take risks to oppose Iran. Its just a matter of how risky they are prepared to get, Sick said.

It also depends whether the supreme leader is going to walk away from Rouhani as the Americans get tougher, he said. He might decide to abandon his president or to stick with him. Its difficult to predict.

Read more:

Denied Entry: Stories of refugees and immigrants barred from the U.S.

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President Donald Trump during a news conference in the East Room of the White House on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

Recent Russian military provocations are probably motivated by President Vladimir Putins belief that President Trump has been politically weakened by controversies surrounding his administration, Trump said Thursday.

Probably Putin assumes that hes not going to be able to make a deal with me because its politically not popular for me to make a deal, he said. Trump spoke at a news conference in which he blamed fake news and leaked information for a flurry of media reports about questionable contacts between his campaign and transition and Russian officials.

The false, horrible, fake reporting makes it much harder to make a deal with Russia, he said. Putin was sitting behind his desk and hes saying . . . Its going to be impossible for President Trump to ever get along with Russia because of all the pressure hes got with this fake story. 

Trump suggested that he was unlikely to respond to Russian actions over the past few days  including the buzzing by Russian warplanes of a U.S. naval vessel in the Black Sea, the appearance of a Russian spy ship 30 miles off the Connecticut coast, and the reported deployment of ground-based cruise missiles in violation of a major arms-control treaty.

Those actions were not good, Trump said. But hopefully, I wont have to do anything. But Im not going to tell you.

Trump spoke as his top national security officials made their first formal forays into U.S.-Russian relations. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met in Germany with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, while Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, in Brussels, spoke of Russia with his NATO counterparts.

Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was also in Azerbaijan for a Thursday meeting with Valeriy Gerasimov, the chief of the general staff of Russias armed forces.

Tillerson, a former chief executive for Exxon with no previous experience in public office, attended nearly a dozen meetings with his diplomatic counterparts at a meeting in Bonn of the Group of 20 conference of major world economies.

In his first public statement since taking office, he told reporters he had discussed a range of issues during an hour-long session with Lavrov, although the only one he specifically mentioned was the ongoing violence in eastern Ukraine.

That conflict began when Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014, then backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in what has become a grinding war, despite a deal to end it, called the Minsk agreement, negotiated with Putin by the leaders of France and Germany.

As I made clear in my Senate confirmation hearing, Tillerson said, the United States will consider working with Russia when we can find areas of practical cooperation that will benefit the American people. He said he expected Russia to honor its commitment to the Minsk agreement.

Lavrov said after the meeting that Tillerson had confirmed the administrations readiness to overcome this period, in which relations were seriously undermined by the Obama administration, according to the Russian news agency Tass.

The issue of sanctions was not discussed with Tillerson, Lavrov said. President Barack Obama imposed sanctions and all but broke all military contact with Russia in 2014 for its activities in Ukraine.

Last December, additional sanctions were levied for what U.S. intelligence agencies said was interference in the American presidential election on Trumps behalf.

At his news conference, Trump said getting along with Russia would be a positive thing.

Before Tillersons departure for Europe, Trump said I told him . . . I know politically its probably not good for me. The greatest thing I could do is shoot that ship thats 30 miles offshore right out of the water, he said of the Russian ship traveling far beyond the 12-mile U.S. territorial limit. Everyone in this countrys going to say, Oh, its so great.

Thats not great. I would love to be able to get along with Russia, Trump said, but fake reporting makes it much harder to make a deal with Russia.

Trump spoke highly of Putin as a strong leader throughout his campaign and said repeatedly that Russia and the United States should cooperate in counterterrorism operations against the Islamic State, especially in Syria, where they are on opposite sides of a civil war.

But his repeated desire to make a deal with Russia has increased concern in Europe, where allies worry that would mean playing down a strong response to what they see as Russian military aggression, including on NATOs eastern border.

Mattis, who has called Russia the No. 1 threat to U.S. security, said in Brussels that Russia will need to prove itself first before the alliance or the United States were willing to let their armed forces collaborate.

Speaking at NATO headquarters, he told reporters that the conditions are not currently right for U.S. and Russian forces to work together.

We are not in a position right now to collaborate on a military level, but our political leaders will engage and try to find common ground or a way forward so that Russia, living up to its commitment, can return to a partnership of sorts here with NATO, Mattis said.

Without explicitly naming the United States, he said there was very little doubt that the Russians have either interfered, or attempted to interfere, in a number of elections in the democracies.

Mattis also called for NATO members to increase their defense spending, citing threats posed by Russia.

Russian Defense Minister Servei Shoigu later responded that he expected the Pentagons position would be clarified when Dunford met with Gerasimov. Attempts to build a diplomatic dialogue with Russia from a position of strength were fruitless, Shoigu said, according to Tass.

Dan Lamothe in Brussels and Carol Morello in Bonn contributed to this report.
Secretary of State Rex Tillersons first trip abroad as secretary of state was to a G-20 meeting in Bonn, Germany. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP)

The State Department under Rex Tillerson, who has been among President Trumps least visible Cabinet officials and is still lacking much of his senior staff, is undergoing further shrinkage in its upper echelons, according to current and former U.S. officials.

Kristie Kenney, a three-time ambassador and career Foreign Service officer who has served as State Department counselor for the past year, has been told that her services are no longer needed in that job and that her staff is to be reassigned. The offices of counselor, who provides strategic guidance to the secretary, and the empty slot of deputy secretary for management may not be filled, officials said.

Thomas Shannon, Kenneys predecessor as counselor and now the undersecretary for political affairs, is expected to become acting deputy secretary for policy until someone is permanently approved.

Tillersons choice for the job, Elliot Abrams, was vetoed last week by the White House. Abrams, who served in the Reagan and George W. Bush administrations, subsequently speculated that he was blocked because of statements he made during the presidential race that were seen as critical of Trumps candidacy.

[In diplomatic debut, Tillerson takes firm line on Russian role in Ukraine]

The appointment of Tillerson, a former ExxonMobil executive with no previous government experience, was viewed favorably by much of the Republican establishment, which sees him as a steadying influence.

But since his arrival at the department on Feb. 2, he has made only one public comment, a brief statement Thursday at the G-20 conference of major world economic powers being held in Germany. He took no questions.

Five of the eight senior staff members who accompanied Tillerson on the trip  his first as Americas top diplomat  are serving in temporary capacities. Tillerson has not appointed a press secretary, and the State Department  which traditionally holds daily media briefings  has not held a single one.

Department officials said that Tillerson has described himself as being in a listening mode until he feels up to speed on the issues. His silence comes as the administration has become embroiled in controversy over contacts officials in the Trump campaign and transition had with Russian officials.

Although the secretary of state is traditionally included in virtually all formal presidential contacts with foreign leaders, Tillerson did not attend Trumps meetings over the past week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Asked about the changes in the State Departments seventh-floor executive suites, R.C. Hammond, who was press secretary for Newt Gingrichs 2012 presidential campaign and currently is a department spokesperson, said in a statement that the State Department is made up of a corps of very talented public servants. In some cases, we are redeploying people to new assignments where they can immediately put their talents to work.

The removals and reassignments, some of which were first reported by CBS News, come as many senior jobs at State remain empty or filled by acting officials following the departure of those in charge of regional affairs and top issues such as nonproliferation and human rights. Most were career officials who were asked to leave, but there was also a handful who resigned.

Read more:

Tillerson eases concerns over foreign policy under Trump

German defense chief hits Trump attitudes on torture, Russia and Muslims

Can Europe find its spine?
A man from North Korea has been arrested in Malaysia in connection with the murder of Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean leaders half brother, as a diplomatic row erupted over the body.

Saying the first autopsy had been inconclusive, Malaysian authorities said they would perform a second post-mortem to try to ascertain what killed Kim Jong Nam, whose face was sprayed with liquid in a brazen attack at Kuala Lumpur airport and who died en route to the hospital.

The decision to carry out a second autopsy will anger North Korea, which strongly objected to the first one and is insisting on having Kim Jong Nams body back, accusing the Malaysian government of acting on the orders of South Korea to conceal something.

In the latest development in what South Korean officials have described as the assassination of Kim Jong Uns estranged half brother  perhaps ordered by the North Korean leader himself  a 47-year-old North Korean man was arrested at about 10 p.m. on Friday night in an apartment in Kuala Lumpur.

He was carrying an I-Kad  an official identification card issued to foreign workers  that said he was Ri Jong Chol, a citizen of North Korea, according to a statement from Khalid Abu Bakar, inspector-general of the Royal Malaysian Police.

(The Washington Post)

Two women arrested earlier this week and accused of carrying out the attack  one Vietnamese, the other Indonesian  led police to Ri, according to local news reports that cited police sources.

His arrest will heighten suspicions that Kim Jong Un, the 33-year-old third generation leader of North Korea, ordered the assassination of his older half-brother to remove a potential rival to his power.

Police are still looking for three other foreign men suspected of masterminding the attack.

Kim Jong Nam, who has lived outside North Korea for about 15 years, was at Kuala Lumpur airport on Monday morning to check in for a flight to Macau, where he has a home and a family, when he was ambushed by two women who applied some kind of liquid to his face.

He sought help but died in an ambulance on the way to the hospital, while the two women reportedly escaped in a taxi driven by a Malaysian man, who has also been arrested.

According to reports, the Vietnamese woman, identified as 28-year-old Doan Thi Huong, told police that she was tricked into taking part in the attack, which she said she thought was a prank.

Indonesian newspapers offered a similar explanation for the other woman arrested, 25-year-old Siti Aishah. One news outlet reported that she was approached by a mysterious man at the Kuala Lumpur nightclub and offered $100 to be involved in a prank that was rehearsed in the airport.

If North Korea was behind the killing, it was surprisingly amateurish for the regime, which has a history of using elite agents in such attacks. But the three suspects were quickly apprehended, with Huong, apparently abandoned by the others, arrested when she returned to the same airport terminal to take a flight to Vietnam.

Local officials have said that it is still too early to conclude that foreign agents had killed Kim Jong Nam as the investigation into the complicated case was ongoing, but South Koreas intelligence chief had squarely laid the blame on Kim Jong Un, who he said had issed a standing order to have his half-brother killed.

Separately, a second autopsy on Kim Jong Nams body had been started on Friday night after the first proved inconclusive, according to news reports quoting unnamed officials.

The North Korean ambassador to Malaysia spoke to reporters outside the hospital morgue late Friday.

In his first public statement on the case, Kang Chol said that North Korea would categorically reject the results of the autopsy, which he said was performed over its objections and with its officials excluded. He called for the body, whose identity he did not mention, to be released immediately.

Because Kim Jong Nam was traveling on a diplomatic passport  he had four of them  he was under North Koreas consular protection, Kang said.

Using language usually reserved for enemies rather than relatively friendly Malaysia, Kang said that the Malaysian government was acting on the orders of South Korea to conceal something.

North Korea would respond strongly to the moves of the hostile forces toward us with their intent to besmirch the image of our republic, by politicizing this incident and would sue Malaysia in an international court, he said.

Earlier Friday, Malaysian police said that the body would not be handed over to the North Korean Embassy until a family member could supply a matching DNA sample.

Such a sample most probably would come from one of Kim Jong Nams children  he is thought to have six. So far, no family member or next of kin has come forward to identify or claim the body, Abu Bakar, the police chief, said.

North Koreas ruling Kim family is a highly secretive dynasty. The totalitarian state tightly controls information about the family, which has kept a grip on the country for three generations: from Kim Il Sung, the founding president, through Kim Jong Il, the father of both Kim Jong Nam, who was 46, and the current leader, Kim Jong Un, who is 33.

Ordinary North Koreans, starved of outside information, do not know about the existence of Kim Jong Nam, the love child of a secret relationship between Kim Jong Il and his actress consort.Many analysts and officials in the region have blamed Kim Jong Nams death on Kim Jong Un and his quest to eliminate potential rivals.

Because the country is so reclusive, intelligence on North Korea is minimal, and the North Korean regime will probably balk at the prospect of Malaysia  and potentially other intelligence services  having DNA information from the ruling family.

But Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told reporters Thursday that Malaysia would release the body only after the official procedures are followed. After all the police and medical procedures are completed, we may release the body to the next of kin through the embassy, he said.

The sharp tone underscores the shock in Kuala Lumpur that the killing happened on its soil.

Malaysia is one of the very few countries that does not require a visa for North Koreans, so this is a popular destination for them. There is a significant amount of trade between North Korea and Malaysia, and about 300 North Korean miners work in Sarawak.

Kuala Lumpur has also been the site for several track two meetings between North Koreans and former U.S. officials because it is a neutral place that does not require a lot of paperwork for the North Koreans.

Read more:

In China, a sense of betrayal after the assassination of Kim Jong Nam

Who did it? 5 questions people are asking about the death of Kim Jong Nam.

A not-that-short history of North Korean assassinations and attempts

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
Deniz Yucel presented himself at the police headquarters in Istanbul. The Turkey correspondent for Die Welt was wanted in connection with reports on a hacker attack on the email account of the Turkish Energy Minister.

The Turkey correspondent for Die Welt, Deniz Yucel, is currently in police custody. Yucel, who was wanted in connection with reports on a hacker attack on the email account of the Turkish Energy Minister, presented himself at the police headquarters in Istanbul on Tuesday to answer investigators questions. According to the regulations of the state of emergency that currently prevails in Turkey, he can be held in police custody for up to 14 days without a hearing before a judge. State prosecutors can then apply for him to be remanded in custody. Yucels apartment was searched.

The 43-year-old, who holds dual Turkish-German citizenship, had reported  like numerous other journalists from international media  on emails that the leftist Turkish hacker collective RedHack had acquired from the private email account of Energy Minister Berat Albayrak.

Among other subjects, the emails concerned control of Turkish media groups and influencing the public by means of fake users on the messaging service Twitter. Energy Minister Albayrak is a son-in-law of the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The emails have been readily accessible on the whistle-blower platform Wikileaks since early December.

The authorities accuse Yucel of being a member of a terrorist organization, misuse of data and terrorist propaganda.

Since late December, another six journalists from Turkish media have been arrested in connection with the email affair. Three of them are in custody, each accused of membership of a different terrorist organization. If sentenced they could face up to 10 years imprisonment.

Our correspondent Deniz Yucel does excellent work, said Welt Editor-in-Chief Ulf Poschardt. The Turkish government constantly stresses that Turkey is beholden to the rule of law. Therefore we trust that fair proceedings will prove his innocence.

Poschardt also appealed to the Turkish authorities not to remand the correspondent in custody. Deniz Yucel has demonstrated his willingness to co-operate in proceedings that follow the rule of law. This, and the recognition of the freedom of the press enshrined in the Turkish constitution, ought to figure in this decision.
The French national financial prosecutors office (PNF) announced yesterday that it would continue investigations into conservative Les Republicains (LR) presidential candidate Francois Fillon. Fillon has collapsed in the polls and has come under escalating pressure since the Canard Enchaine weekly published an article three weeks ago, accusing him of creating no-show jobs for his wife and their children, accumulating a total bill of around one million euros.

As the authority tasked with bringing charges, it is my duty to affirm that the numerous pieces of evidence that have already been gathered do not allow us currently to consider the possibility of ending the investigation, prosecutor Eliane Houlette wrote in a statement. This suggests that the PNF is either considering bringing charges against Fillon or handing the case to a specialized investigating judge, setting the stage for a longer judicial battle.

Fillons legal team issued a statement declaring that after three weeks of investigations and numerous interrogations, there is insufficient evidence to bring charges, while Fillon said that he would rely on the judgment of universal suffrage alone from now on.

What is taking place is a vicious faction fight inside the French ruling elite, as the judiciary, under the watchful eyes of the Socialist Party (PS) executive, mounts a devastating offensive against the LR campaign. With Fillon relatively isolated in his pro-Russian views on foreign policy, he is now caught up in swirling conflicts over ties to Russia inside the NATO alliance.

This campaign already claimed the Trump administrations national security advisor, Michael Flynn, who was accused of inappropriately discussing US sanctions on Russia with Russian officials.

Fillons campaign is badly damaged, as he has been unable to explain away the charges in public, claiming that he had the right to employ his family, as it is something that is legal in the French Parliament. However, he refused to talk about the jobs being no-show ones, which is illegal. Over a week after the story had come out, he finally claimed that only he could determine that his wife and his children had carried out the tasks he had set them, and no one else.

The unrelenting media and judicial assault on the LR campaign is continuing and escalating, extending well beyond Fillon himself. The day before the PNF released its statement on Fillon, a further article appeared in the Canard Enchaine, accusing MP Thierry Solere, the Fillon campaigns press spokesman, of fiscal fraud.

Furthermore, former President Nicolas Sarkozy has recently been indicted on illegal financing of an electoral campaign. His campaign spent 20 million over the legal limit of 22.5 million in the 2012 presidential elections. Sarkozy has also faced investigations in a long list of other scandals, including charges that he financed his 2007 campaign with funds from the late Libyan head of state, Muammar Gaddafiwhom France and NATO forces murdered at the end of the 2011 Libyan war.

The finances of LR, which have provoked countless scandals in recent decades, are undoubtedly corrupt. Alain Juppe, the final major candidate in last years LR presidential primaries alongside Fillon and Sarkozy, was already found guilty in 2004 of creating no-show jobs under Jacques Chirac as Mayor of Paris. This is not the driving force behind the charges, however.

The attempt to wreck Fillons campaign is based on opposition to Fillons program, and notably his foreign policy orientation to President Vladimir Putins regime in Russia. Revelations of irregularities in the employment conditions of Fillons wife and children emerged less than a week after he traveled to Berlin to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and called for an alliance with Germany and Russia directed against the Trump administration.

This trip crossed not only powerful forces in Washington, but also the PS government and the candidate closest to President Francois Hollande, nominally independent banker Emmanuel Macron, who has called for continuing Pariss close relations with both Berlin and Washington.

It appears that the material that the Canard Enchaine published in its expose on Fillon had been prepared long ago, well before widespread media coverage of its allegations began last month.

Mediapart, a French investigative journalism web site, had already revealed elements contained in the Canard Enchaines article on Solere last September: namely, that an official complaint had been lodged by French financial authorities with the judiciary. At that point, no details were available. However, the complaint first had to pass muster in the Commission of Tax Offenses, an independent body, which took place during the summer of 2016. Thus, evidence used by the Canard Enchaine had been known to key authorities since at least September 2016.

It was in the wake of Fillons trip to Berlin, however, that this material suddenly appeared in the Canard Enchaine and became the focal point of a media campaign aimed at discrediting the presidential candidate.

This campaign reflects deep tensions inside the NATO alliance over the controversial pro-Russian positions Fillon has repeatedly taken during major international crises in recent years.

Fillon was prime minister under Sarkozys presidency in the winter of 2010, during the initial stages of the Franco-German confrontation over the Greek debt crisis, when France concluded a sale of four Mistral-class helicopter carriers to Russia. This was part of a strategy of trying to rival Germany for political and commercial influence in Russia, and German officials strongly objected to the sale behind the scenes. Heavy pressure from Germany and Eastern Europe subsequently led to the cancellation of the sale; Hollande later sold the warships to Egypt.

When Obama backed down from a war in Syria in September 2013, embarrassing the Hollande government, which had aggressively pressed for the war, Fillon reacted by flying directly to Moscow and meeting with Putin, the Syrian regimes main ally. Addressing the Valdai Club with Putin, whom he referred to as dear Vladimir, Fillon criticized Hollandes alignment on Washington: I hope that on this issue that France will return to its independence and freedom of judgment and action that alone give it moral authority in this crisis.

After Fillon won the LR nomination last November, papers including the Canard Enchaine were already investigating reports that Fillons 2F consulting firm had taken Russian funds. According to the Canards initial report, it was this investigation that led it to publish its first piece on Fillons wife and children last month.
Thousands of workers, students and youth across the United States participated in protests yesterday under the banner of A day without immigrants, or Un dia sin inmigrantes.

The protests, which consisted of one-day work stoppages, keeping kids out of school and boycotting shopping and dining, drew substantial participation in New York City, Atlanta, Detroit, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Austin and elsewhere. The aim of the events was to protest the Trump administrations recent executive orders by showing the massive impact that immigrant workers have on the economy.

The days events seem to have been largely spontaneous, picking up steam mainly through social media, with the hashtag #DayWithoutImmigrants used about 200,000 times on Twitter within the 24-hour period of the scheduled protests.

The wave of resistance comes on the heels of a massive protest held in Milwaukee on Wednesday, premised on the very similar slogan, A day without Latinos, in which thousands marched to defend immigrant rights.

The spontaneous character of the events resulted in varying participation in each city. In New York, many restaurants and parts of the construction industry were shut down. In New Mexico, the state with the largest percentage of Hispanic residents in the nation, state officials worried that hundreds of students might stay home and took measures to prevent massive student absences in advance, sending a letter to parents that read: We respectfully ask all parents to acknowledge that students need to be in class every day to benefit from the education they are guaranteed and to avoid falling behind in school and life.

Spurred on by the increasingly active role that youth and students have been playing in protests throughout the country, many other city school districts and universities took similar measures.

Alma Pena-Sanchez, chief of staff of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), which is 74 percent Latino, left a recorded voicemail for parents and employees Wednesday night asking that everyone show up in the morning, saying, While we respect everyones right to have their voices heard and to participate in civic action such as protest, all students and staff are encouraged and expected to come to school. The students, many of whom were among the thousands of LAUSD students who walked out of class in protest the week after Trumps inauguration, were also asked not to partake in any walkouts for the day. A similar message was sent by officials in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, Grand Rapids, Michigan and Washington DC school districts.

Figures for most of these school districts were not available at the time of this writing aside from Grand Rapids, Michigan, which reported a dip in attendance so severe that the day will likely not count as a school day. Instead, it will count as a snow day. In order to count, 75 percent of the student body must be in school. Many schools have reported less than 50 percent attendance for the day, including Buchanan Elementary, Cesar E. Chavez Elementary, Westwood Middle, Harrison Park School, Burton Elementary and Middle, Union High, Innovation Central High and SWCC.

Another prominent feature of yesterdays protests was the active participation of restaurant establishments. Scores of restaurants in major cities from Los Angeles to New York closed in solidarity with the protest, with over 50 restaurants participating in the nations capital alone. The restaurant industry employs 7.1 million immigrants, according to the most recent report from the Bureau of Labor statistics, 1.2 million of whom are undocumented workers, according to Pew Research center. This industry is also the second largest and the fastest growing market in the US economy.

Many well known restaurant owners and chefs have spoken out against the Trump administration and in support of the wave of protests, including Washingtons Jose Andres, the famed Spanish-born chef whose public duels with Trump have attracted much attention; Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza in Phoenix; famed Oaxacan restaurant Guelaguetza in Los Angeles, as well as hundreds of other smaller restaurants throughout the country, including an impressive number in the Chicago area.

The effect of the strike on the restaurant industry even reached within the walls of the political establishment, forcing the food service in the US Senate to operate on reduced hours.

Many cities participating in the strike organized marches in conjunction with the business closings, including New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington DC and Detroit. One of the largest turnouts was in Southwest Detroit, where over 1,000 people participated.

The World Socialist Web Site spoke to several families at the Detroit protest who participated to take a stand against the Trump administrations anti-immigrant policies, which are widely despised by both immigrant and native-born working people.

Flavio and his wife Kimberlynn said they were upset with the charge by Trump that Mexican immigrants are criminals. We support the rights of all immigrants and Latinos, stated Flavio, Everyone wants to get a better future.

We want better opportunities, added Kimberlynn, We want to be able to go to college, to school. People want a safe place for their children.

When asked why they thought Trump was whipping up anti-immigrant chauvinism, Kimberlynn said she thought it was to keep the people fighting each other. Its to push for a bigger war. I believe there is a danger of bigger wars.

Flavio spoke on the widespread character of Trumps attacks, noting, This is not only against Latinos, they are also targeting Muslims.

We are all citizens who were born here, added Kimberlynn, referring to herself, Flavio and their child. But my parents came here 30 years ago. Everyone is scared. No one has seen it like this before.

While discussing the fact that Obama deported more immigrants than any other president, Flavio replied, I dont want to call it a setup, but people put a lot of trust in Obama and he let them down." Flavio noted that "A lot of people voted for Trump, with the new president receiving about one in three Hispanic votes in the election. But I dont like Trump. Both said they did not like Hillary Clinton and had voted for Bernie Sanders.

Melissa Guile, who was at the protest with her four children, told WSWS reporters why she attended. My husband was deported three years ago. Me and my children are all US citizens, but we are trying to get him back legally."

My father was deported too, she added. It has taken a real toll on all of us.

Melissa said the challenge of taking care of four kids without her husband is enormous. She works at night to make sure the kids are taken care of during the day. There are a lot of problems," she said. "My kids have a hard time in school. She cited the difficulties that come with trying to make ends meet. Noting the millions of deportations that took place under Obama, she said, The government is supposed to be helping people, not hurting them.

Amid these protests of workers, youth and students across the country, Trump spoke Thursday afternoon at a White House news conference where he boasted of his border security measures and ICE raids, which have resulted in hundreds of arrests in the past week, saying, We are saving lives every single day.

The opposition to attacks on democratic rights expressed by the millions of people who have protested since Trumps inauguration less than 30 days ago finds no expression in the political establishment.

Bernie Sanders, who is seen as the only establishment figure who can ensure that the rising anger of the masses is properly contained and channeled behind the Democratic Party, is busy in Washington calling for the Senate Intelligence Committee to thoroughly investigate if Russia coordinated with Trump and his campaign.

In order for the working class to carry out a sustained battle with the Trump administration, it must break with the Democratic Party and all of its representatives and take the road of independent political struggle against capitalism.
An incident that took place last year, only recently made public, in the Macomb County Jail in Mount Clemens, Michigan is the latest in a string of events that has shed light on some of the harsh realities of life for the working class in suburban Detroit and similar communities throughout the US.

Jessica Preston was forced to give birth to her son on the dirty floor of a jail cell on March 20, 2016 after being denied proper medical attention by the detention facilitys nurse.

Jessica, who was eight months pregnant, had been pulled over the previous week on a street in Warren, Michigan for a rosary hanging from her cars rear-view mirror--a supposed obstruction of vision. This tactic of making traffic stops for minor infractions is used by police as an arbitrary means to fish for more significant charges in order to collect money from fines and fees.

In this case the police tactic worked. Preston was driving on a suspended license for failure to pay a speeding ticket. She was arrested and sent before Judge Suzanne L. Faunce who set her bond at a staggering $10,000. Unable to pay, Jessica was sent to jail for 14 days to await her court hearing.

On her fifth day in jail, she complained of labor pains and requested medical attention. She was escorted to see the nurse on duty around 7:30 am. The nurse did not believe her and sent her back to the cell block where she was assigned.

Later around 11:30 am she made a second request for medical attention. After being escorted to the nurse she was called a liar, threatened with additional charges and sent back to her cell.

By around 1 pm Jessica was in great pain with blood dripping down her leg. Despite clearly being in desperate need of medical attention she was forced to collect her things and carry them down to a cell near the medical area.

After laying down for a short time she screamed in pain for the nurse. When the nurse arrived the baby was crowning. The thin mattress was pulled off the cot and placed on the floor where she gave birth at 2:41pm.

While surveillance video from the jail has corroborated every detail of Prestons horrifying ordeal, Macomb County Sheriff Tony Wickersham has acknowledged no wrongdoing, stating, Everything that my staff did and that the medical staff did was within procedures.

Preston and her newborn son, Elijah, were then transported to the McLaren Macomb hospital, a mere three minutes drive away. Elijah was 17 inches long and weighed less than five pounds.

Despite having just given birth under the worst circumstances, Preston remained in police custody; the baby's father and other family members not allowed to see her or Elijah until the following day.

After two more days in the hospital, Judge Matthew P. Sabaugh sent Jessica back to the Macomb County Jail to continue waiting on her court hearing. Elijah was sent home with the father.

When the time came for the court hearing, the judge released Preston on time served.

This disturbing incident comes after two deaths at the same jail in recent years due to lack of medical care.

David Stojcevski died on June 27, 2014 due to complications from a 17-day withdrawal from a doctor-prescribed medication. He was serving a 30-day sentence for failure to pay traffic tickets.

Jennifer Meyers died about one year before that on July 7, 2013 from a virus that turned into sepsis. She was serving a 30-day sentence for failure to pay child support.

In all three cases, minor fines led to incarceration in substandard conditions with grossly inadequate medical care.

This jail is not a CIA torture chamber or a black site in the Middle East, but sits in a predominantly white, working-class community on the northeast border of Detroit.

Macomb County received much attention nationally during the 2016 presidential election and its immediate aftermath as a bellwether for white, working-class voters who supported Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Following the election, Macomb County was in the news again as a collapsed sewer line caused a sinkhole on December 24, 2016 leading to the evacuation of dozens of homes.

As is the case throughout the US, the conditions facing this working-class community are not those of prosperity and privilege, but oppression and decay.
Europe

Train drivers at Southern Rail reject Aslef trade union sell-out deal

On Thursday, train drivers employed by Southern Rail rejected a sell-out deal agreed between the Aslef trade union and the company. The deal was agreed February 2 by Aslef and management, in talks convened by the Trades Union Congress.

The deal was recommended to the workers for acceptance by Aslef but was rejected by drivers by a margin of 54 percent to 46. The drivers have taken a principled stand in the face of a concerted propaganda campaign against them by the company and Conservative government, who are demanding they impose an agenda that will lead to the loss of train conductors jobs and attack the terms and conditions of drivers.

The driversand train conductors, who are members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) unionhave been involved in a dispute with the company for nearly a year, in opposition to their efforts to impose Driver Only Operated trains (DOO). This policy, accepted by ASLEF in the agreement now rejected, will result in the de-skilling of the conductor grade, the eventual loss of hundreds of conductors jobs and is detrimental to public safety. Under the Aslef-Southern agreement, drivers would be forced to undertake the hazardous responsibility for operation of train doors.

Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, responded to the vote by pledging further talks with management and the TUC. He said, We understand and support the decision arrived at democratically by our members and will now work to deliver a resolution in line with their expectations.

Nick Brown, chief operating officer of Govia Thameslink Railway, the parent company of Southern, said, We now need to understand the issues which led to this outcome and well be seeking to meet with the union as soon as possible to see how we can agree a way forward.

UK: Arriva North train conductors in strike ballot

Train conductors employed by Arriva Rail North, which operates Northern trains and runs services across the north of England, are balloting for industrial action.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union is balloting its members due to Arriva refusing to give assurances on the future use of guards (conductors) on trains.

Arriva and Merseyrailanother train company running services in the northboth plan to introduce Driver Only Operated services (DOO). The result of this, as has been the case at other rail companies is the removal of conductors, who carry out more than 30 safety-critical tasks on board trains.

Arriva plans to introduce DOO trains as soon as next year. Merseyrail plans to run trains without guards from 2020.

Last month, the Financial Times commented, Both Northern [Arriva] and Merseyrail have ordered new trains where drivers will be able to close the doors at stations. Northerns trains will be set up so that conductors can also close the doors, while Merseyrails will be set up for driver-only operation.

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said Arriva had reneged on their previous position when they stated they were prepared to offer guarantees around a second person on board trains in addition to the driver.

London Underground staff to strike

Drivers on the Central Line of the London Underground (LU) railway system are set to strike for 24-hours beginning at 9 p.m. on February 21. The strike follows previous action and is in opposition to LUs plans to move staff to other lines without negotiation.

UK BMW car workers prepared to defend pensions

A consultative ballot of 7,000 Unite union members working for car manufacturer BMW in the UK showed 96 percent in favour of industrial action to defend their current pension arrangements.

BMW is proposing to move its entire UK staff from the current final salary scheme to an inferior defined contribution scheme from June this year. Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey is due to meet with BMW senior management on February 20.

British Airways staff to hold further four-day strike

British Airways cabin crew staff, employed under the airlines mixed fleet, are to hold further strikes in an ongoing protest over poverty pay levels. To date they have held 11 days of strike action and another four-day strike is scheduled to begin February 22.

Mixed fleet crew currently earn just 11,000-12,000 a year, plus a 3 per working-hour allowance for expenses and maintenance between two flightsusually abroad. This amounts in practice to earnings of 16,000-17,000 a year.

The 2,900 crew are members of the Unite union.

UK atomic weapons staff strike

Six hundred staff employed by the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) sites at Aldermaston and Burghfield, Berkshire, England held a further 24-hour strike on Tuesday of this week. The Unite union members are to strike again for 24 hours on February 2.

They are protesting AWEs plans to move their pension to an inferior defined contribution scheme. This is despite promises, from when AWE was privatised in the 1990s, that staff would retain their final salary pension scheme.

Strike by London cinema staff for living wage

Cinema staff from four London cinemas, the Brixton Ritzy, Hackney Picturehouse, Picturehouse Central and Crouch End Picturehouse, held a strike February 11 as part of their campaign for the London living wage of 9.75 per hour.

According to the BECTU union, it was the largest-ever strike of cinema staff. Other demands included sick pay, maternity pay and pay rises for more senior staff. Staff at the Brixton Ritzy have already held several strikes in pursuit of the London living wage. They have won a 26 percent pay rise but still earn below the London living wage.

UK Equality and Human Rights staff sacked via email

Some staff working for the UK government Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) have been made redundant by email and given six months pay in lieu of notice.

EHRC employees have been striking against government plans to close EHRC offices and cut staff. They are represented by the Public and Commercial Services union and Unite. One of the unions accused EHRC of targeting disabled and ethnic minority staff for redundancy by email.

Irish health staff strike vote

Irish health support staff have voted by a 94 percent majority to hold a strike on Tuesday, March 7. They are members of the Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU).

The strike by health support staff is expected to affect 39 acute hospitals. They are protesting the Irish Department of Healths (HSE) failure to adhere to binding agreements (Lansdowne Road and Haddington Road), which allowed for the reintroduction of a job evaluation scheme, incremental payments to interns and other measures.

SIPTU has made it clear they are open to discussions with HSE officials to avert the strike.

The strike will occur on the same day as around 30,000 Irish nurses are due to begin a work to rule over staff shortages.

Irish supermarket staff strike

Workers at eight Tesco stores across Ireland began an indefinite strike Tuesday, hitting three stores in Dublin. A further eight stores are due to join the strike today.

Strikes at stores in Ballina and Sligo did not go ahead due to a technical problem with the ballot.

Tesco is seeking to reduce the wages of around 250 long-serving staff who had joined the company before 1996, when an inferior contract was introduced. The Mandate union, who claim that 250 staff would suffer a 15 percent wage cut if forced onto the current contract, represents the workers.

Talks to try to avert Irish bus strike

Talks are taking place under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) in an attempt to avert a strike by Bus Eireann staff, due to take place February 20. The company is seeking to cut wages beginning February 20 to overcome its budget deficit.

The strike of bus staff could also affect train services. Bus Eireann shares depots with the Irish Rail Company, Iarnrod Eireann, at sites such as Limerick, Tralee, Galway, Waterford and Sligo.

Strike threat by Macedonian journalists

Macedonian journalists working for the Utrinski and Dnevnik newspapers were set to strike today over non-payment of wages. They have not been paid since December. Two weeks ago, the journalists held 30-minute protests outside the offices of the newspapers over the non-payment of wages.

The journalists are members of the Trade Union of Macedonian Journalists and Media Workers.

Maltese medics declare dispute

On Tuesday, the Medical Association of Malta (MAM) declared a dispute with the Ministry for Health and the Ministry for Family and Social Solidarity.

A collective agreement between MAM and the government departments expired in December. The government is insisting any new agreement must include provision for the privatisation of the Maltese health system.

MAM is resisting the inclusion of privatisation measures and has threatened to begin industrial action if no agreement is reached by March 14.

Strike threat by Spanish port employees

Spanish dockworkers are set to strike on February 20, 22 and 24 over the Spanish governments plans to change the hiring of dockworkers.

Currently ports can only employ dockers from a pool company using unionised labour. The European Union states that this contravenes treaty agreements and that port companies should be able to hire dockersdirectly bypassing unionised workers and enabling companies to further drive down wages and working conditions.

German airline announces deal with union

On Wednesday, the German airline Lufthansa announced it had made a deal with Cockpit, the pilots union, to settle a long-running dispute in which the union carried out 14 strikes. The strikes cost the airline 500 million in lost revenue.

The deal has still to be put to the membership. Under the deal, pilots will get a four-stage 8.7 percent pay increase plus a one-off payment of around 5,500. The proposed settlement does not address the issue of pensions and transitional payments.

Greek rail workers strike

Greek rail staff held a further three-hour rolling strike on Wednesday. It was the latest of an ongoing series of strikes to protest the privatisation of the rail network. Athens suburban trains along with inter-city ones were affected by the stoppage.

Protest by Greek farmers

Greek farmers held a protest outside the Greek parliament building in Athens on Tuesday. They were protesting the Syriza-led governments austerity measures, which would increase farmers taxes and social security payments.

Middle East

Israeli pilots resignation threat

The dispute over the downgrading of salaries for around 40 El Al pilots aged 65 to 67 continues. The airline wants to cut the salaries of pilots aged over 65, as under international law such pilots are not able to fly commercial flights.

The pilots have to continue working until they are 67, when they are entitled to the Israeli state pension. The company is unable to let them fly and employs them as supervisor/trainers, but at a reduced salary. The pilots are demanding they continue to receive their full pay.

A meeting ordered by the labour court was held Monday in an attempt to resolve the dispute. It broke up with no agreement.

Eight of these pilots are threatening to resign, but this would leave the airline without supervisors or trainers and would result in flight cancellations. To circumvent the pilots action, the company went to the labour court Wednesday in an attempt to get the proposed mass resignation declared an illegal strike. The court ruled that the pilots union and El Al must continue negotiations until Friday.

Strike by Golan public transport workers

Around 45 drivers employed by the Golan public transport system in Rama, Israel came out on strike Tuesday to protest their conditions of employment. The Histadrut labour federation is representing the drivers, but was unable to reach a settlement.

The transport system carries around 70,000 passengers a day.

Strike of Uber drivers in Qatar

Taxi drivers using the Uber phone app in Qatar stayed away from work Monday, in a protest against Uber cutting the price of taxi fares and requiring drivers to present an upfront cost prior to the journey.

Uber drivers say the upfront pricing can leave them out of pocket if a client requests detours or additional stops. Uber is imposing the lower fares in an attempt to compete with local firms. Many taxi drivers in Qatar are immigrant workers, many from Ethiopia, Nepal and India.

Africa

Kenyan doctors union officials jailed

Seven union officials of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPPDU) were sent to jail on Monday. The doctors representatives were jailed for a month for continuing a strike deemed illegal by the courts.

The incarcerations have been deferred on three occasions, to give the union the opportunity to capitulate on their demand for the implementation of a 2013 collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

The doctors have won the support of the majority of the population. The ratio of doctors per head of population is one to 17,000, as opposed to the World Health Organisations stipulated ratio of one per 1,000.

The shortage of doctors is on top of a severe lack of drugs and equipment and the widespread dysfunction of existing facilities. The 2013 collective bargaining agreement was signed to provide a substantial pay increase for doctors, who were leaving the profession in droves, and to confront the inadequate service.

After the decision to jail the doctors, the court immediately lifted the imprisonment on the proviso that the union leaders come up with a solution to call off the strike. The KMPPDU was instructed to present their plan to the courts on February 23.

Kenyan academic staff continue strike

Kenyan academic staff at the countrys universities are continuing a three-week strike over their 2013 collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

Three unions comprising the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC), the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), the Kenya University Staff Association (KUSA) and the Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotel, Educational and Allied (KUDHEA), together with the university employers representative, the Inter Public Universities Consultative Council Forum (IPUCCF), have agreed to form a further committee.

The committee is to look at ways of getting around the stipulations of the CBA and coming to a settlement. The government is seeking to reduce workers pay and attack conditions with their new offer.

The unions say another grievance is that the employers (university council) pension contributions have been included in the Sh10 billion (US$97 million) deal on offersomething they had not agreed to with the IPUCCF. The IPUCCF has not yet committed any of its proposals in writing.

Nigerian polytechnic staff continue strike

Staff are continuing their strike at the Auchi Federal Polytechnic Nigeria, over non-implementation of agreements.

Union members at the university struck on February 6 over the issue of staff not being integrated into the CONTISS Migration Salary Structure. CONTISS is the salary grading structure for Nigerian university staff. However, staff on grades 11 and lower have not been included.

The three unions involved in the dispute, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, also complained that promotion arrears are not being paid, and say the polytechnic owes the unions N1.8 billion (US$5.7 million).

Nigerian airline staff threaten strike

Nigerian airport staff have put the government on notice of a strike if they are not properly compensated during a transition from Abuja airport to Kaduna. Abuja airport is being forced to refurbish its facilities, particularly its runway, as airlines are reluctant to land there.

Workers are being relocated to the Kaduna state airport for a projected period of six weeks while the Abuja restoration takes place, starting March 8. The National Union of Air Transport Employees is demanding a package for the Abuja workforce is put in place prior to the move.

The union claim management has not involved them in the planning of the move, and there has been no mention of proposals for the redistribution of the workers.

Previous experience of government operations of this nature have seen workers treated unfairly and left with millions of naira owed to them.

Cote dIvoire oil workers return to work after union ends strike

The SISPOO oil workers union has sabotaged a strike by its members at the Canadian Natural Resources oilfields in Cote dIvoire. Workers initially planned to strike for 72 hours on February 11, before extending it to an indefinite stoppage. They were protesting against adverse working conditions and the employment of contract labour.

SISPOO called off the strike on February 15, instructing its members to return to work on the basis of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreed between the union and the company. No details of the MOU have been released as yet.

Burkina truck drivers extend their collective bargaining agreement

Truck drivers in Burkina Faso came out on a three-day strike last week but were forced to return to work after the first day. The members of the Truck Drivers Union (UCRB) were striking over the renewal of a collective bargaining agreement and security issues affecting their jobs.

According to reports, the rapid conclusion of the strike came about in response to drivers blockading roads.

UCRB agreed to end the strike in collusion with several government departments involved in transport and security, along with the employers federation and the Burkinabe Trade Union Federation.
Across the United States, the heroin epidemic continues to worsen in 2017. Cities across the country have reported rising numbers of overdoses in January and the first weeks of February. Last week, Louisville, Kentucky, reported 151 overdoses over four days, 52 of them within a 32-hour period.

City officials attributed the record spike to the introduction of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the local illicit drug supply. Russ Read, co-founder of Kentucky Harm Reduction Coalition, told local CBS News affiliate WLKY, What were seeing in the streets right now is fentanyl mixed with heroin, as opposed to heroin mixed with fentanyl.

Heroin overdoses have been rising in Louisville, as across the country, over the past few years. Metro officials report that in January, emergency crews responded to 695 overdose casesan average of 22 overdose calls a day33 percent more than the same period last year. Between February 9 and 12, first responders dealt with an average of 38 overdoses per day.

Louisville is a city with a population of around 760,000, a large segment of which lives in or near poverty. Per capita income in 2016 stood at $26,893, according to federal Census data, and 18 percent of residents live in povertyup from 12.4 percent in 2010. At $41,000, Kentucky is ranked 47 nationwide in terms of median household income.

Fentanyl is a prescription painkiller 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine, and between 30 and 50 times stronger than heroin. Even when taken in tiny amounts, fentanyl can cause respiratory depression or arrest, unconsciousness or coma. Overdoses can be counteracted with opioid blockers like naloxone or its brand-name medication Narcan, but fentanyl overdose victims usually require quick emergency response and multiple doses.

Many addicts are not aware of the composition of the drugs they buy. I got what I thought was heroin, Nathan Johnson, a Louisville resident who overdosed on fentanyl, told WLKY. I went in the bathroom, and dude told me it was strong, so I did just a tiny bit of it and they found me in the bathroom against the door with the needle in my arm.  They threw me in the shower, they did 18 minutes of CPR before the cops got there. Nothing was working, so the cop came in and he had to use two Narcans. It brought me back to life, Johnson said.

First responders are stretched to the breaking point when multiple overdoses occur in a short period of time. You hear some of the stories of, Man, we used all our naloxone, Louisville Metro Emergency Medical Services supervisor Ben Neal told CNN.  We ran out of our bag valve masks. Weve had so many overdoses, we had to go back to the station and pick up more. It does take a toll.

The overdoses were reported at homes, parking lots, restaurants, and even in traffic. None were fatal, but one person reportedly died while riding in a car driven by someone under the influence of heroin. Many of the overdose victims required multiple naloxone doses; one patient was administered seven doses before reviving. That could mean peoples tolerance levels are going up, Neal told CNN, or, you know, the heroin itself is becoming more and more potent.

In Lexington, Kentuckys second largest city, heroin overdoses are also surging. Last month, emergency personnel responded to nine overdoses in a 24-hour period in Jessamine County. The drugs were laced with carfentanyl, an elephant tranquilizer 10,000 times stronger than morphine.

On January 27, Lexington resident Hillary Moore fatally overdosed shortly after a stint in jail and rehab. She was 30, she has two little girls, her cousin told NBC News affiliate LEX 18. They are young and left without their mother now. Lexington firefighters told LEX 18 that in January alone, they had administered 150 doses of Narcan.

As the need for Narcan has spiked, so has the price. Its gone from $3 to $38 a dose, Lexington Fire Department Battalion Chief Bryan Wood said. In 2010 we gave 492 doses at a cost of about $2,000. Last year we gave 1,550 doses at a cost of $59,000.

Across Kentucky, West Virginia, and the so-called Rustbelt of the US Midwest, heroin is ravaging working class towns and rural areas, exhausting emergency responders, and straining municipal budgets.

In Muncie, Indiana, the Indianapolis Star newspaper reported a bad batch of heroin led to at least 13 overdoses and three deaths over the weekend of February 4-5. Last year, Muncies Delaware County saw dozens of drug deaths, many of them linked to heroin or fentanyl. Delaware County emergency dispatcher April Buckles described an overload of people who were coming in doubles. Buckles said the calls came in from panicked family members. You know, weve even had an 8-year-old child who called and tried to do CPR on her mother who had a heroin overdose.

Lake County, Illinois, in the Chicago area, saw 21 fatal overdoses in the first six weeks of 2017. Know that we have many people, hundreds and hundreds in our communities who have an addiction, Lake County Coroner Merrilee Frey told the Post-Tribune. On Monday, February 13, Lake County Jail was treating 42 inmates for serious addictions, and the cost of naloxone treatments is creating a serious budget problem for the county.

Cities across Ohio are confronting epidemic levels of overdoses. Clevelands Cuyahoga County reported at least 46 deaths in January due to heroin and fentanyl, with 11 other cases pending autopsy reports. In the first week of February, at least 24 other people died of overdoses. In Toledo, 19 heroin overdoses were reported the weekend of February 4-5.

Nationally, heroin overdose deaths have quadrupled in the past decade. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 61 percent of the 41,055 drug overdoses in 2014 were caused by opioids, up 14 percent from the year before. In 2015, some 52,000 people died of drug overdoses, nearly two-thirds of them caused by prescription or illegal opioids.
The two-day NATO summit in Brussels that concluded yesterday began with a threat by president Donald Trumps Defence Secretary James Mattis that the US would moderate its commitment if its European allies did not hike up their military spending.

It ended with a press conference at which NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg announced a ramping up of military deployments in the states bordering Russia, including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

Stoltenberg told the media, Troops have started to arrive. And we expect the four multinational battle groups to be fully operational by June... they send a clear message to any potential aggressor.

Complementing our strengthened regional posture in the air and on landbased on a multinational framework brigade in Romania, he added, NATOs naval forces were being strengthened in the Black Sea region.

This was proof, he said, that Allies stand together, united and strong.

In response to questions, Stoltenberg stressed a desire for dialogue with Russia, but only based on core principles including the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the delivering of what he euphemistically called credible deterrence.

Mattis was attending the summit to reiterate the demand made last month by Trump that the European powers step up their defence spending to meet the target of two percent of GDP to which they are pledged. In an interview where he declared the alliance to be obsolete and suggested friendlier bilateral relations with Russia, Trump also declared support for Britains decision to leave the European Union and spoke favourably of the break-up of a vehicle for Germany.

The Europeans were therefore said to be cautiously pleased that Trumps National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, had resigned and is subject to an investigation by US counterintelligence officials for holding secret conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak regarding the lifting of sanctions over alleged Russian hacking in the 2016 US elections.

Mattis led an earlier investigation into then-Lt Gen Flynn that found him responsible for the unauthorised disclosures of classified information to Afghanistanbelieved to be about CIA operationsand himself takes a hard-line anti-Russia stand. However, he combined a hard-line position on Russia with an equally belligerent approach to Americas NATO allieseven accusing them of not doing enough to combat Russia.

After first making reassuring public noises about NATO being a fundamental bedrock for the United States, he made more critical remarks during closed-door talks that were then circulated publicly by US officials.

Mattis accused Some in this alliance of having looked away in denial of what is happening by ignoring threats from Russia and Islamic State (Isis).

America will meet its responsibilities, but if your nations do not want to see America moderate its commitment to this Alliance, each of your capitals needs to show support for our common defence, he threatened.

No longer can the American taxpayer carry a disproportionate share of the defence of Western values, he continued. Americans cannot care more for your childrens security than you do. Disregard for military readiness demonstrates a lack of respect for ourselves, for the alliance and for the freedoms we inherited, which are now clearly threatened.

The conflict between the US and Europe over military spending is a real one.

Last year, NATOs European powers spent $253 billion on defence, an average of 1.43 percent of GDP, compared with at least $618 billion by the US, or 3.1 percent of GDP. Military spending is now increasing for the first time in many years, with the Western European powers pledged to boost defence budgets by about $10 billion. To meet the two percent target would require an increase of around $100 billion and far more if there were a return to the 3.1 percent of GDP average during the last years of the Cold War.

But the bitter row over who pays what should not be allowed to obscure the underlying significance of demands for increased defence spending whether they are made in the US or Europe. It is the fundamental conflict between rival imperialist powers for the control of global markets and resources that finds expression in the fallout within NATO. And as Stoltenberg made clear in his press conference, this means that the purchase of additional military hardware and the recruitment of personnel is preparation for war, not preserving peace and security.

Mattiss demands were dutifully echoed by UK Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon, who insisted that NATO members must all meet their fair share of the burden by increasing their expenditure to 2 percent so as to make the alliance more agile and more responsive.

The UK boasts of being one of the five NATO countries to meet the two percent target along with the US, Poland, Greece and Estonia, and the Conservative government offered its services as an attack dog on the issue when Prime Minister Theresa May met Trump last month in Washington. The Labour opposition for its part focuses its ire on allegations that the government has met the target only by creative accounting, with Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith declaring immediately prior to the summit that To be spending less than two percent of GDP on defence is utterly unacceptable, particularly in this time of immense global uncertainty.

More strikingly, German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen also welcomed Mattiss intervention as it provided a convenient rationale for implementing existing plans to step up military spending. Berlins spending presently stands at just 1.2 percent of GDP, primarily due to constraints placed on German imperialism by widespread public hostility to militarism. This would need to increase by $30 billion just to reach the two percent target.

This would require a massive offensive against the living standards of German workers, as similar increases in military spending would in every European country.

For this reason, von der Leyen happily expressed sympathy with Mattis and insisted that We Europeans, we Germans, we have to do more for our own security, we have to invest more there.

In an article published Thursday in the Suddeutsche Zeitung under the title We have understood, she called upon Europe to take a leadership role within NATO and boasted that Germany has taken the initiative in matters of security policy in the past years regarding Ukraine, the military build-up against Russia and interventions in the Middle East and Africa, and will continue on this way.

At present, the European powers are seeking a new accommodation with the US, centred above all on a mutual targeting of Russia and efforts to militarily stabilise the oil-rich Middle East. Carnegie Europe wrote of a geostrategically assertive Russia and the accelerating threat of Islamic terrorism providing a unique opportunity for NATO to align the security outlooks of key European members with that of the United States.

Putin himself noted, At the NATO summit last July in Warsaw for the first time since 1989, Russia was recognized as the key security threat for the alliance, and its deterrence was officially proclaimed the new NATO mission. To this end, a further enlargement of the bloc is conductedciting as proof of NATOs eastward expansion, Montenegro, Georgia and Ukraine seeking membership in the alliance.

However, it remains to be seen for how long the competing global interests of the American and European imperialists can be constrained within the post-war framework provided by NATO. On the last day of the summit, defence ministers from France, Germany, Belgium and Norway announced in a letter of intent that they will now jointly buy transport and tanker planes and will aim to open a new command headquarters for elite troops, in a move described by CNBC as designed to end years of competing national strategies that have left Europe reliant on the United States.
General Motors (GM) is planning to sell the Opel-Vauxhall company to French group PSA. The news spread like wildfire on Tuesday that the French PSA group, the producer of Peugeot and Citroen, had been in talks with GM and wanted to assume control of its European plants at Opel and Vauxhall.

This implicit threat to the jobs of thousands poses the necessity of German, British, French and American autoworkers uniting in a common struggle to prevent plant shutdowns, layoffs and further attacks.

The news came just three weeks after the coming to power of the administration of Donald Trump in the United States. Mary Barra, CEO of GM, which is headquartered in Detroit, is a member of Trumps 16-person economic policy team. She intends to refocus GM more on North America and get rid of unprofitable overseas subsidiaries.

GM could as a result drop out of the ranks of the worlds largest automakers. Last year it sold, together with Volkswagen and Toyota, more than 10 million vehicles. Barra said in an interview that profit margin was more important than market share. Over recent years GM has closed a plant in St. Petersburg, its Holden production in Australia and Opel plants in Antwerp, Belgium, and Bochum, Germany.

Three years ago, as autoworkers in Bochum faced the shuttering of their factory, Barra visited the companys main facility in Russelsheim and assured workers that Opel was certainly an essential part of our company. This expression was repeated by the IG Metall trade union and the central works council. They claimed that the closure of Bochum was the bitter pill that had to be swallowed in order to return Opel to profitability.

But now, GM wants to offload Opel as a whole. While Donald Trump is aiming with his America first policy to retain investment in the United States by reducing business taxes, doing away with environmental regulations and imposing tariffs, GM has decided to focus on North America and operate at most in China and India.

Opel-Vauxhall, from which GM now intends to separate, has been to date responsible for approximately 10 percent of the companys global sales. But Opel has been recording losses for 18 years. 2016 was expected to have been the first year to see a return to the black, but these hopes were upended by Brexit, and Opel finished the year with a loss of $250 million.

The PSA group is hoping through the merger with Opel-Vauxhall to assume second place in the European market, close behind Volkswagen. PSA is also interested in an international research and development centre in Russelsheim that focuses mainly on electric cars.

The French government and Chinas Dongfeng Motor Co., the countrys largest automaker, each own a 14 percent stake in PSA. Reuters commented that for PSA and Opel, it was a rare opportunity to consolidate its position in a sector suffering with high costs, low profit margins and tough competition.

GM and PSA have both confirmed the takeover talks, and Peugeot head Carlos Tavares arranged a meeting to discuss it with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. On Wednesday, Barra met in Russelsheim with Opels supervisory board chairman Dan Amman. Although nothing has yet been decided, a decision could be taken in a few weeks.

PSA and GM shares rose on the news. Shareholders anticipate that the sale will set the stage for comprehensive rationalizations. The takeover will at least produce synergies and cost-savings that will affect Opel most of all, since PSA is larger and has smaller losses.

Last year GMs European facilities were only operating at 63 percent capacity and Opel had to impose reduced shifts in several plants. There are many indications that the sale will be the prelude to large-scale layoffs. Opel currently employs around 38,200 workers in Europe, with more than half employed in Germany. It currently operates plants in Russelsheim, Kaiserslautern, Eisenach, Zaragoza in Spain and Gliwize in Poland. Vauxhall operates in Luton and Ellesmere Port, near Liverpool.

Rainer Einenkel, who played a key role in the shutdown of the Bochum plant as works council chair, told Deutschlandfunk that he expects German factories to be very acutely threatened. In the years-long conflict over the Bochum plant, Einenkel strung out the workers with promises and systematically blocked a joint struggle by workers at all facilities.

Einenkel is once again recommending that workers limit themselves to reliance on the courts To clarify legally that these contracts will not be called into question and make General Motors give an accounting. He further noted, Politicians are called upon to act in an appeal to state and federal governments.

Workers should reject the unions policy of dividing workers and playing one location off against another, and organise a joint struggle of all autoworkers, including workers in the United States, France, England, Spain, Poland or Germany.

The experience of the last 10 years confirms this. In the United States, GM used its forced bankruptcy filing in 2009 to institute a two-tier wage system that imposed a 50 percent pay cut on new hires. At the time GM wanted to sell Opel to the Canadian Magna company. However, it instead decided to restructure its European operations by shutting down Antwerp and Bochum.

In December 2016, GM announced a new wave of layoffs in the United States. Likewise in France, PSA also has imposed sacrifices on workers for the benefit of shareholders, relying on President Francois Hollandes new labour laws. VW, Toyota, Fiat Chrysler, Ford and other automakers are seeking to retain their competitiveness at the expense of their workforces.

The struggle against this requires a break from the nationalist programme of the trade unions. Whether it is IG Metall, the CGT, TUC or the United Auto Workers, the unions preach the identity of the interests of workers and management. They insist that workers subordinate their needs to the corporate drive for ever greater profits.

The criticism levelled by IG Metall in Germany against GMs plans amounts to little more than the complaint that they were not informed early enough and included in the talks. The union is outraged, not by the threat the deal poses to workers, but by the disregard of the co-determination role of their officials. In a joint statement, IG Metall and the Opel works council complained, If it is true that GM and PSA are conducting talks aimed at a takeover of Opel/Vauxhall, this would be an unprecedented break with all German and European co-determination laws.

Federal Minister for the Economy Brigitte Zypries expressed herself similarly. It was unacceptable that the company holds talks without the works council, the Hesse state government or anyone else being involved, she said on television news.

The experience of recent years shows that IG Metall, the Social Democrats and Left Party can be relied upon by management to enforce whatever job cuts they require on the backs of workers. This also applies to Opel Antwerp and Bochum.

The World Socialist Web Site insists that to defend jobs and wages workers must break free from the control of the nationalist trade unions. It is necessary to construct action committees to organise and coordinate resistance at all plants globally. An international leadership must be created to draw together all of the various struggles by workers into a global movement guided by a socialist strategy.
A New Zealand parliamentary committee on February 16 heard submissions on behalf of 25 of the 29 families who lost members in the November 2010 Pike River Coal mine tragedy.

The hearing was called in response to a petition organised by novelist Fiona Kidman, with the support of the families, calling on the government to re-enter the 2.3-kilometre drift tunnel leading into the mine to search for bodies and for evidence of what caused the fatal explosion.

Since November 2016, the families have picketed the road to the mine site, on the remote West Coast of the South Island, to prevent Solid Energy, the government-owned company that now owns the site, from permanently sealing the mine.

No one has entered the tunnel since the disaster, despite initial promises by the National Party government and Solid Energy that everything possible would be done to retrieve the 29 bodies.

The day before the committee hearing, some families met with Prime Minister Bill English, who refused to instruct Solid Energy to re-enter the drift because it would be unsafe. Anxious, however, about growing anger toward the government over the dispute, English said he would direct the company not to seal the mine and to investigate the feasibility of sending in a camera-equipped drone.

At the committee hearing the families were given less than an hour to make their submission and answer questions from government and opposition members of parliament.

Bernie Monk, whose son Michael died at Pike River, told the hearing that an electrical substation several hundred metres inside the drift could provide vital information. Nobody is being held responsible for this disaster and we need evidence to get this justice, he said. Now is the time to get the evidence and any remains of the men  This is a crime scene and should be investigated as such.

Twenty-nine men died while working. The mining company and the regulators were aware of the safety concerns underground and no one fulfilled their responsibility to protect the workers.

The government regulators and the police have refused to prosecute anyone for the tragedy, despite a Royal Commission finding in 2012 that it was preventable and that Pike River Coal was in flagrant breach of health and safety laws. The mine had inadequate ventilation and methane gas monitoring, and no adequate emergency exit. WorkSafe, however, dropped charges against Pike River CEO Peter Whittall in December 2013 on the pretext that there was not enough physical evidence of the explosions precise cause.

Just hours after the committee hearing, the Court of Appeal dismissed a bid by some of the families for a judicial review of the decision to drop the charges against Whittall. Anna Osborne, whose husband Milton died in the disaster, told the media the outcome was despicable and Im so frustrated with the court system. She said the families would take the case to the Supreme Court.

At the hearing, government MPs and members of the opposition Labour, Green and New Zealand First Parties feigned sympathy with the families while remaining silent on the role of successive governments in paving the way for the catastrophe. Since the 1990s, National and Labour-led governments have gutted the mines inspectorate and allowed companies to self-regulate.

Pike River mine was developed during the previous Labour government and there were no objections to its safety violations from official regulators or the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union, whose national secretary Andrew Little now leads the Labour Party.

Labour, the Greens and NZ First have said they would consider re-entering the drift if they win the September election. But none of these parties has pledged to prosecute anyone over the disaster.

MPs concentrated on asking how the drift could be re-entered safely. Tony Forster, who worked as the governments chief mines inspector from 2013 to 2016, spoke in support of a re-entry plan drawn up for the families by Dr David Creedy, a renowned coal methane gas expert, and Bob Stevenson, former UK Principal Mines Inspector. Forster said he was confident the drift could be made safe and he did not know why Solid Energy had decided against re-entry.

Solid Energy CEO Andy Coupe responded by declaring that the decision not to re-enter was based on safety concerns. He told the hearing the insinuation of a cover-up is unfounded. Yet he and the government have refused to arrange a meeting between the companys advisors and the families experts. Coupe was interrupted more than once by family members in the audience, who scoffed at his suggestion that Solid Energy was primarily concerned about safety.

Speaking to the World Socialist Web Site after the hearing, Bernie Monk denounced the refusal to investigate one of the biggest homicides in New Zealands history. He said it was not right that the families had been forced to fight for six years just to be heard.

His wife Kath Monk had no confidence the government would change its position after hearing the families petition. But we have to fight on, she said. Its not right, in New Zealand, that 29 men died at work and no one has taken any responsibility for that. Where else would that happen?

Sonya Rockhouse, whose son Ben died in the mine, thought Solid Energy and the government were hoping we will just go away if they give us a little bit of what we want. Anna Osborne said Prime Minister English gave us nothing we dont already have.

The families protest has gained widespread support in the working class, and local contractors on the West Coast have refused to assist Solid Energy in sealing the mine. Anna Osborne added that even if a drone were sent into the mine, as English suggested, this would not be enough to gather all the evidence.

Responding to the denials of a cover-up by Solid Energy and the government, Osborne said: We live in a very corrupt society. Theres lots of evidence to be found down there and it will point fingers at the government departments who should be brought to account for the loss of our mens lives as well.

Theres no will on the governments part to get into the drift. Its easier for them to seal it and walk away. This isnt just about the Pike 29, this is about every single persons right to go to work and return home safely to their loved ones.

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Police in Nashville, Tennessee have backed off initial reports that a man had physically charged a policeman who had stopped him last Friday, February 10, for running a stop sign. The man, Jocques Scott Clemmons, was later shot and killed by the same police officer.

Clemmons, 31, attempted to flee on foot after being stopped in the Cayce Home public housing area parking lot in East Nashville, but later turned on Officer Josh Lippert, according to police. During a subsequent scuffle police said Clemmons dropped a loaded handgun before retrieving it and again attempted to flee when he was shot three times by Lippert.

While the videos from security cameras appear to indicate a struggle later when Lippert shot Clemmons in the back, the report that the policeman had initially been assaulted when he got out of his car have been shown to be demonstrably false.

Clemmons, who was African American, was shot by Lippert, who is white, twice in the lower back and once in the hip. Police said he was shot just as he was turning in between two cars after struggling with Lippert.

But a local resident told a reporter for the Tennessean that she saw that as excessive and unnecessary force. A person is shot in the back, Brenda Morrow said. That means hes fleeing; hes no threat.

Police attempts to explain why the initial police statements suggested that Lippert had been physically attacked when he had not were less than plausible: When interviewed by detectives on Friday, Lippert did NOT(original emphasis) assert that he was physically contacted by Clemmons just after he got out of the police car. That interview occurred before he had the opportunity to see any video, police said in a statement.

Most media ran with the initial police report including the New York Daily News which carried a story of the shooting that even embellished the phantom contact:

As Libbert (sic) got out of his cruiser, surveillance video provided by police shows Clemmons tackling the officer to the ground before running off. Libbert (sic) quickly got to his feet and chased after Clemmons.

The misspelling of the policemans name and the fact that he was in an unmarked car not a cruiser are examples of sloppy journalism and forgivable. A total distortion of the facts is not.

Although Lippert had received some commendations in the five years he had worked for the Nashville Police Department, he had also received a total of 20 suspensions for improper conduct. Some were minor, such as for failing to attend in-service training, but two involved use of force, Nashvilles the Tennessean reported.

In October 2015 Lippert used physical force to pull a black motorist from the vehicle during a traffic stop, even though the driver said hed be willing to get out in the presence of a supervisor. Lippert was also reprimanded for having the mans car towed without giving him a chance to park the car or turn it over to someone else, as required by department policy, the paper reported.

The Nashville Branch of the NAACP has called for an immediate and transparent investigation, while the U.S. Attorneys office here has said it will monitor the Nashville Police Departments investigation.

This is not an isolated incident but one that occurs in a certain context and raises serious questions, ACLU-TN Executive Director Hedy Weinberg said in an ACLU statement.

The shooting of Jocques Clemmons did not happen in a vacuum, Weinberg remarked, incidents like these also compel us to take a step back and ask why Mr. Clemmons was stopped in the first place and how officers make decisions about who to stop for minor traffic infractions. Any one discretionary stop risks a tragic ending if there is an escalation of conflict  far too frequently such escalations result in police use of force, and also expose police to unnecessary risk.

Weinberg could well have been referring to research by a local African American community group, Gideons Army. Describing itself as an Army for Children, the group produced a report entitled Driving while Black which showed African American and low-income Nashville neighborhoods suffering a disproportionate number of traffic stops and searches by a police department that conducts such traffic stops at an overall rate almost 8 times higher than the national average for police departments.

Nashville/Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk announced Thursday that for the first time the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations(TBI) would, starting with the Clemmons shooting, investigate all future shooting involving Metro police.

The use of TBI would by state law effectively make the investigation records confidential until TBI officials considered its investigation completed.
The Pentagon is preparing plans for sending hundreds, if not thousands more US ground troops into Syria under the pretext of accelerating the campaign against the Islamic State (ISIS) in both that country and neighboring Iraq.

A proposal for the escalation of the US intervention is expected by the end of this month, following a 30-day Pentagon review of its anti-ISIS campaign ordered by the Trump administration. Other options reportedly under consideration are an intensification of US airstrikes in Syria and a more aggressive arming and training of the YPG Kurdish militia that has served as a proxy ground force in the attack on ISIS-held areas of Syria.

A Pentagon official told CNN Wednesday that Its possible that you may see conventional forces hit the ground in Syria for some period of time. According to military sources, US troops could first be sent to a staging area in Kuwait before being deployed into Syria.

The web site Military.com reported Wednesday that multiple military sources had confirmed that approximately 2,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Divisions 2nd Brigade Combat Team are being readied for deployment to the region.

NBC News, meanwhile, quoted Pentagon officials as saying that the initial force being proposed would consist of several hundred more troops, described as enablers, force protection, and engineering advisers. It went on to point out, however, that whatever number is decided, they would likely be augmented by other forces rotated in and out on a short-term basis.

At present there are more than 500 special operations troops operating in northern Syria, coordinating air strikes and acting as trainers and advisers for the Kurdish forces. Nearly 6,000 more US troops are deployed in neighboring Iraq.

If Washington decides to send thousands of US paratroopers into Syria, an effective invasion of the country, it will entail a far wider escalation, with substantial air and ground forces required to supply and protect them.

The head of the US militarys Special Operations Command reported Tuesday that an escalation of a US bombing campaign that is claiming a growing number of Syrian lives is also being considered.

Army Gen. Raymond Thomas, speaking at the National Defense Industrial Associations Special Operational/Low Intensity Conflict conference in Washington, DC Tuesday, said, Theres some recommendation in the offing for the administration to consider. Well see which consideration they opt for.

General Thomas boasted to the assembled military contractors that the US intervention in the region had already killed 60,000 ISIS fighters.

Im not into morbid body counts, but that matters, Thomas said. So when folks ask, do you need more aggressive [measures], do you need better [rules of engagement], I would tell you that were being pretty darn prolific right now.

This morbid body count is roughly triple the total number of ISIS fighters that the Pentagon estimated were in Syria and Iraq when Washington launched its Operation Inherent Resolve in 2014. There has been no attempt to reconcile this discrepancy, even as the Pentagon has dismissed all but a very few of the growing number of reports of civilian casualties from air strikes conducted by the US and its allies. An increase in the tempo of air strikes will only intensify this slaughter.

A deployment of US ground forces in Syria would represent a dramatic escalation of what is already a multi-sided conflict which threatens to spill over into a regional and even world war.

Last month, Trump announced in a televised interview that he was preparing an executive order directing the Pentagon to establish US-controlled safe zones in northern Syria, in large measure to stem the flow of refugees out of the country as part of his attempt to implement a reactionary ban on Muslims traveling into the US.

While the setting up of such zones had also been supported by his Democratic presidential rival, Hillary Clinton, the Obama administration had resisted calls by both Democratic and Republican politicians for such an escalation of US involvement in the Syrian war. Implementing such zones would require US control of both Syrian territory and air space, creating the conditions for a direct military confrontation with the forces of the Assad government and the Russian air and ground forces that have been sent to Syria to support it against the US-backed war for regime change.

Trumps floating the idea of US cooperation with Russia against ISIS in Syria and Iraq was contradicted Thursday by his defense secretary, Gen. James Mattis. Speaking at a NATO meeting in Brussels, Mattis said, We are not in a position right now to collaborate on a military level, with Russia, and that Moscow would have to prove itself first before any joint operations would be possible.

Similarly, in remarks following a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the G20 foreign ministers summit in Bonn, Germany, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson took a more confrontational approach, stressing differences between Washington and Moscow over Ukraine and Crimea.

Even as Mattis and Tillerson were spelling out a harder line toward Russia, Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met Thursday with Gen. Valeriy Gerasimov, the top Russian military commander, in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, the first such high-level US-Russian military discussions since the US-backed coup in Ukraine and the subsequent US-NATO military buildup against Russia.

A statement issued following the meeting said that the US and Russian military chiefs had agreed to enhance communications on such stabilizing measures as were needed to avoid unintended incidents. While the statement did not specifically name Syria, communications links aimed at avoiding confrontations between US and Russian warplanes have already been in place there since 2015. Given an escalation of the US military presence, the danger of such clashes would rise.

Aside from unintended incidents, any major US military intervention in Syria will be aimed not primarily at ISIS or prosecuting the war on terror, but at advancing the strategic interests of US imperialism in the oil-rich Middle East, particularly at the expense of Washingtons major regional and global rivals, Iran, Russia and China.

US strategy in the region suffered a serious blow under the Obama administration, particularly since the governments retaking of eastern Aleppo last December which ended any real prospect of the US-backed rebels toppling the Assad government. Bitter recriminations continue within the American ruling establishment over the reversal in Syria which are closely bound up with the attempt to generate a war hysteria against Russia.

These currents were expressed in a statement issued Wednesday by the influential Washington think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, titled Half-Measures in Syria: The United States needs to go big or go home.

Written by former State Department official Jon Alterman, the statement complains that Washington has poured billions into the Syria problem, but it remains on the sidelines of the conflicts resolution. Russia has put far less into the fight, and it has an outsized influence on the outcome.

Alterman goes on to argue that the supposed goal of defeating ISIS doesnt do much for the future of Syria and has the effect of supporting the Assad government without providing much influence on the terms of a Syrian settlement.

He concludes by saying that Washington has a choice between abandoning Syria to Assad or acting to enhance US leverage in Syria, presumably through increasing military activity to threaten not just the ISG [ISIS], but also those carrying out atrocities against civilian populations. Such a strategy, he states would risk greater conflict with Russia, but it would give the United States greater say in Syrias future and enhance U.S. influence in the Middle East.

In other words, what is now under consideration within the US military and intelligence apparatus and the Trump administration is the deployment of US troops to prosecute the war for regime change, posing the direct threat of a head-on confrontation between the worlds two major nuclear powers.
Photo: Getty Images

A 64-year-old woman has given birth to a pair healthy twins following her second successful pregnancy at an advanced age, according to a press release from Hospital Recoletas Burgos, a hospital in Burgos, Spain.

The Spanish woman, who got in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment in the United States, delivered a boy weighing in at 5.3 pounds and a girl who weighed 4.9 pounds on Tuesday.

Recoletas Hospital medical director Enrique Martin said the babies, delivered by cesarean section, are perfectly healthy, despite the high-risk pregnancy.

According to Spanish newspapers, the mom-of-three had her first daughter at 58, but the child has been in the custody of local authorities since 2014 because she didnt attend school and was not properly cared for.

Martin confirmed that the hospital is in talks with social services about the womans ability to care for the babies. The doctor said he was proud of his team for providing adequate care in a difficult situation.

She showed up four months pregnant at the gates of our hospital and all we could do was face the situation and react, he said.

Laws in Spain dont establish legal limits on the maximum age for assisted reproduction, but the Spanish Fertility Society discourages treatments for women over 50.

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James Charles (Photo: Getty Images)

When CoverGirl announced its first male spokesmodel in James Charles, he was hailed as an inspiring figurehead for the diversity-in-beauty movement. Now, thanks to a racist joke, beauty fans are threatening to boycott the brand.

Headed on a school trip to South Africa, Charles tweeted the now deleted remarks, I cant believe were going to Africa today omg what if we get Ebola? James were fine we couldve gotten it at chipotle last year

A screenshot of the tweet. (Photo: @jamescharles/Twitter)

Having sent out the tweet on Thursday morning, four hours later Charles had deleted it after it was met with backlash.

I'm sorry but that tweet from @jamescharles was very ignorant. Contributing to a stigma that African people are diseased.  lilly (@TanaftLumen) February 16, 2017

@jamescharles Instead of listening to your fans from Africa you sass & block them immediately. I know you're 17 but you have to grow up.  cici (@melaninporn) February 16, 2017

@sisterslowe @jamescharles sorry that people didn't find it funny that the only thing people associate with africa is a deadly disease?  Gabryelle (@anywaysgabi) February 16, 2017

The 17-year-old replaced the controversial tweet with a series of apologies, including a lengthy iPhone Notes app-style apology. Okay, Im NOT going to post a bullshit apology, he wrote. I am aware that the tweet was extremely offensive and degrading As a white cis male, I recognize my privilege and would never want to take that for granted. He continued, I look forward to exploring the country and learning much more about the people and culture, because clearly I know very little and have a lot to learn.

Story continues

I am extremely sorry. Regardless of my intentions, words have consequences. I take full responsibility and will learn and do better.  James Charles (@jamescharles) February 16, 2017

One problem: The apology refers to Africa as a country. (James then apologized for that with the explanation that his trip is to South Africa only.)

I misspoke & said country because we are traveling specifically to South Africa only. I know Africa is a continent and wanted to post an  James Charles (@jamescharles) February 16, 2017

ACTUAL, GENUINE, apology as soon as physically possible. I have a million things in my head right now. I am sorry and want to fix it somehow  James Charles (@jamescharles) February 16, 2017

CoverGirl issued its own response to the remarks on Twitter, writing James Charles tweet does not represent COVERGIRLs perspective. We agree that his statements were inappropriate but appreciate that he has issued an apology. We are an inclusive brand and respect all people and cultures.

James Charles' tweet does not represent COVERGIRLs perspective.  COVERGIRL (@COVERGIRL) February 16, 2017

We agree his statements were inappropriate but appreciate that he has issued an apology.  COVERGIRL (@COVERGIRL) February 16, 2017

We are an inclusive brand and respect all people and cultures.  COVERGIRL (@COVERGIRL) February 16, 2017

But is the hasty apology from both Charles and the brand enough? The campaign is getting dragged on Twitter, with commenters calling for Charles to be cut from his contract.

boycotting @COVERGIRL until @jamescharles is removed. Racism is not a cute look on anybody  ????Louisa Lorde???? (@HoneyLuLu_) February 16, 2017

@COVERGIRL Drop him or else we'll be dropping you.  MARIA ELENA (@pinkchanelsuit) February 16, 2017

@COVERGIRL I & many others will never buy from u again. Until u fire that man..by not firing him I will take that as u supporting his views  Guzide (@BeKindA1ways) February 17, 2017

@COVERGIRL then hire people who's values match your own if this is true.  Julie.  (@ShayMitchonne) February 16, 2017

There was an Ebola outbreak throughout many parts of West Africa in 2014, with the highest concentration of cases being in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia. South Africa has had only two cases since 1974, when the Centers for Disease Control started keeping track of the disease, and only one since 1996.

Yahoo Beauty has reached out to CoverGirl for further comment and will update when we hear back.





Lets keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Style + Beauty on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Photo: My Friend Cayla/Amazon

Parents have been ordered to destroy a toy doll that may be spying on their children.

The My Friend Cayla Doll is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed interactive cutie that answers questions about herself, solves math problems, and plays games. Her favorite movie is The Little Mermaid and her favorite song is Frozens Let It Go. She says, Hello, youre looking great as usual! and can spell Cat. The doll is programed by software that allows kids to log online with voice-recognition software and control the toy with an app.

The problem? Hackers could potentially control the doll from a bluetooth connection in the childs home to speak directly to him or her or steal their personal information  the doll asks kids for their names, along with that of their parents, hometown, and school, in order to personalize interaction. To test the hacker theory, the British newspaper the Mirror even manipulated Cayla to quote Hannibal Lector and lines from 50 Shades of Grey.

According to a complaint filed Friday with the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC), The toys subject young children to ongoing surveillance and are deployed in homes across the United States without any meaningful data. It alleges that the doll violates child protection laws that require parental permission to collect personal information on kids. The complaint also included the i-Que Intelligent Robot, also by Genesis Toys.

In Germany, where the doll is also sold, the Federal Network Agency has declared Cayla an illegal espionage apparatus. Anyone who sells  or owns  Cayla faces possible jail time if they dont destroy the doll immediately. Similar complaints about Cayla have also been filed in Belgium, the Netherland, France, Ireland, and Norway, according to CNET.

A spokesperson from Genesis Toys did not respond to Yahoo Beautys request for comment, although company rep Gabe Uribe told the Huffington Post last week, We immediately developed a patch, and upgraded the software. In fact, we have shipped over 400,000 Caylas around the globe since its debut last summer, and have not had a single consumer complaint, regarding security issues or problems.

Story continues

Talking toys have come a long way since Mattels Chatty Kathy, a doll that debuted in 1959 and could talk to kids with the help of a drawstring. In December, the U.S. Senate expressed concern about smart toys, which connect to the Internet and are able to record conversations. Its a computer that happens to be shaped like a kids toy, Tod Beardsley of Rapid7, a cybersecurity firm, told ABC News. These toys end up in a lot of places  They can go to the kids school. They can go to your office when its Take Your Kid to Work Day. These devices can connect to an enterprise network and that can create more risk exposure.

Also included in the Senate report is Fisher-Prices Smart Toy Bear, a Wi-Fi-connected stuffed animal that raises troubling questions regarding whether connected toymakers are adequately prioritizing the security of the information they collect from children. And back in 2015, Mattels Hello Barbie, a $75 doll that talks with the press of a button, stirred controversy for being creepy.

Lets keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Style + Beauty on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.




Photo credit: CBS Photo Archive / Getty

From Cosmopolitan

While Ivanka Trump initially avoided playing a prominent role in her father's presidential campaign, she quickly became important to his success, with some arguing that "Ivanka voters" were a large part of the reason President Donald Trump ultimately won the election.

Throughout Donald Trump's campaign, many of his more reluctant supporters saw Ivanka Trump's consistent presence and vocal support of her father as proof that Donald Trump was a moderate candidate - and that he would protect women's rights because he had raised a working mother of three who "absolutely" identifies as a feminist.

But showing continued support for her father despite some of his more offensive moments on the campaign trail, combined with the impossible task of presenting a version of Donald Trump at odds with the man angrily tweeting at Saturday Night Live, quickly made the first daughter subject to some major criticism. From feuding with BuzzFeed to sharing questionable Instagrams, here are 15 Ivanka Trump controversies starting from her father's time on the campaign trail.

1. Her failure to vote in the primaries.

Photo credit: OLI SCARFF / Stringer/ GETTY

Reports surfaced in April 2016 that two of Donald Trump's children, Ivanka and Eric, missed the October deadline to register to vote in the closed Republican New York City primaries. When asked by Fox & Friends, Donald Trump said "they were unaware of the rules" and also "felt guilty." "New York has one of the most onerous rules in terms of registration and it required us to register a long time ago, almost close to a year ago. And, we didn't do that," Ivanka Trump told Anderson Cooper at a town hall with her family.

2. Her branded tweet following the Republican National Convention.

Ivanka Trump wore a $138 sheath dress from her own eponymous collection at Macy's on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention in July 2016. She introduced her father as the GOP presidential nominee, then sent out a tweet about her look.

Story continues

3. Her much-scrutinized hug with Donald Trump.

Before sending out that controversial tweet, Ivanka Trump had an incredibly uncomfortable interaction with her dad. It was a strange combination of hug-meets-butt-tapping and the internet freaked out. While this might not be Ivanka Trump's fault, the awkward interaction only furthered questions surrounding Donald Trump's strange adoration of his first daughter.

4. Her shoe brand lawsuit.

One of the most disturbing things in the fashion industry is when someone blatantly steals your copyright designs and doesn't care. You should know better. Shame on you @ivankatrump! Imitation is NOT the most sincere form of flattery. #aquazzura #ivankatrump Proud of mine #madeinitaly #italiansdoitbetter  A post shared by AQUAZZURA by Edgardo Osorio (@aquazzura) on Mar 4, 2016 at 5:30am PST

In July 2016, Italian shoe company Aquazzura hit the first daughter with a trademark lawsuit, claiming she stole their designs for her own shoe line. The lawsuit stated Ivanka Trump was guilty of "repeated infringement" and "deceptive trade practices." Marc Fisher, co-defendant on the case and line licenser, said the lawsuit was without merit. Ivanka also denied copying the designs.

5. Her tense interview with Cosmopolitan.com.

3/3:@Cosmopolitan, your readers do & should care about issues impacting women & children. Keep the focus where it belongs-advocating change. - Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) September 15, 2016

Cosmopolitan.com spoke with Ivanka Trump after her father released his child care and maternity leave plan in September 2016. During the interview, she was asked about the plan's application to same-sex couples as well as her father's previous remarks about pregnancy being an "inconvenience." Trump told reporter Prachi Gupta there was "a lot of negativity" in the questions and ended the interview abruptly.

6. The resurfaced interview in which she defended her dad against sexual assault claims.

"I'm not in every interaction my father has. But he's not a groper." More from @IvankaTrump @CBSThisMorninghttps://t.co/DcevG8mKOi - Norah O'Donnell (@NorahODonnell) May 18, 2016

The infamous "grab them by the pussy" tape leaked online in October 2016, causing outrage over Donald Trump bragging about sexual assault. When the Trump camp initially stayed quiet, an interview from May 2016 resurfaced that showed Ivanka Trump defending her dad from sexual assault claims. She assured CBS This Morning that her dad was "not a groper," a claim the 2005 recording seemed to challenge.

7. When her Twitter account liked a tweet about her being called "piece of ass."

Photo credit: Twitter

In a strange turn of events, Ivanka Trump's Twitter account liked a post from HuffPost Politics about Donald Trump saying it was OK for Howard Stern to call his daughter a "piece of ass" in October 2016. The tweet was later unliked and a source close to Ivanka Trump's company told Cosmopolitan.com it was "a simple mistake made by a staff member."

8. Her alleged racist comments.

Surprised Ivanka would be shocked by lewd language. I met her once & she casually said: "I've never seen a mulatto cock, but I'd like to!" https://t.co/WrgCoM0MGK - Jonah Peretti (@peretti) October 19, 2016

After Ivanka Trump said her father's language on the Access Hollywood tape was "a bit jarring," BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti tweeted in October 2016 recalling a time when he heard Trump allegedly say she had never seen a "mulatto cock" before. He said the incident occurred about eight to 10 years ago at a dive bar called Tropical 128 in New York City. While he said he could not remember the full context of the conversation, Peretti said the lewd, racist language stood out to him and other attendees, two of whom confirmed Peretti's account. Ivanka Trump denied the conversation while Donald Trump's campaign insisted on an apology.

9. Her brand's media alert after her 60 Minutes interview.

White House as QVC. It has started. pic.twitter.com/jk0DeQJ9vV - Eric Lipton (@EricLiptonNYT) November 15, 2016

Ivanka Trump appeared on 60 Minutes with her father and other family members days after the November 2016 election. During the interview, Trump wore a bracelet from her own Metropolis collection that retailed at $10,800. A media alert sent by Ivanka Trump's VP of sales after the special aired gave journalists details about the gold and diamond bracelet, actualizing the concerns many Americans have about the business conflicts of interest that would result from a Donald Trump presidency.

10. Her talk with the Argentinian president.

This is a big deal: Ivanka was in on at least part of the call with Argentina's president. https://t.co/tkV1nXS4DF (h/t @katherinemiller) pic.twitter.com/jXfjBdyFBo - Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) November 21, 2016

Follow her father's win, Ivanka Trump briefly joined Donald Trump when he spoke to the Argentinian President Mauricio Macri in the November 2016. The call caused concerns because Ivanka Trump and her siblings were projected to run the Trump Organization once her father took office, which meant entering the conversation would be unethical. After the call, Donald Trump finally received approval to start construction on a new Trump Tower in Buenos Aires this year, a project he started working on in 2012.

11. Her $50,000 coffee date.

Photo credit: Charity Buzz

In December 2016, a coffee date with Ivanka Trump, meant to benefit her brother Eric's foundation for St. Jude's Children Hospital, was listed on the Charity Buzz website. The New York Times reported on the ethical controversy auctioning off face-time with the then-president-elect's children would cause. Bidders were essentially vying for the chance to gain a deeper look into Donald Trump's political world and, in turn, buy influence through meeting his daughter. The auction page later disappeared from the website without explanation.



12. Her fancy silver dress.

A post shared by Ivanka Trump (@ivankatrump) on Jan 28, 2017 at 9:04pm PST

Donald Trump signed an executive order Jan. 28 banning immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, which the Ninth Circuit federal appeals court later ruled could not be enforced nationally. The next night, while people protested at airports across the country, Ivanka Trump posted an Instagram of herself in formalwear with her husband. Sources later told Vanity Fair that she and her husband didn't know about the uproar because they had been observing Shabbat - even though she posted the photo hours after sundown.

13. The boycotts of her brand at Nordstrom and elsewhere.

A Gay, a Muslim, and a Jew hit Nordstrom and then hit @WhiteHouse to give the finger to @realDonaldTrump. pic.twitter.com/kFu8qKvh0u - Chelsea Handler (@chelseahandler) February 9, 2017

The #GrabYourWallet boycott started in October 2016 following the release of the Access Hollywood tape. Part of the boycott's goal was to encourage department stores to stop carrying Trump family brands - and it eventually worked. What started as a statement by Nordstrom on Feb. 2 announcing the drop of Ivanka Trump's line from stores quickly turned into a soap opera drama between the brand and the first family. Between unethical "free commercials" by Kellyanne Conway - she told Fox News that people should "go buy Ivanka's stuff" - and celebrities voicing their support of the store, shopping (or not shopping) at Nordstrom became a political act. At least 10 other retailers have joined Nordstrom to dump Trump. In the midst of the boycotts, Donald Trump himself tweeted, "My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person -- always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!" The response drew criticism as the president clearly used his status to influence his daughter's business.

14. Her Oval Office Instagram post.

A great discussion with two world leaders about the importance of women having a seat at the table!  A post shared by Ivanka Trump (@ivankatrump) on Feb 13, 2017 at 2:35pm PST

When Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau visited the White House on Valentine's Day, the internet wondered if stars were in Ivanka Trump's eyes. But it didn't take long for controversy to follow after Trump shared an image of her sitting at the president's desk. Some applauded the photo's caption; however, others were outraged by the image, which they saw as ironic considering Donald Trump's homogeneous staff is made up of white males.

15. When the Ivanka Trump brand tweeted about popsicles for Memorial Day.

Twitter users were not pleased after Ivanka Trumps brand tweeted out a recipe for Champagne popsicles for Memorial Day. The tweet also led to tips for grilling, a road trip playlist, and packing tips, all featured on IvankaTrump.com.

Who can't relate to "champagne popsicles" on #MemorialDay ? Except maybe all the people honoring those who served and sacrificed all. - WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot (@OmniaQuaerite) May 29, 2017

While the brand kept the tweet up, Ivanka Trump ended up posting from her own handle the next day:

Today we honor the men & women in our armed forces who have lost their lives to protect our freedom. Thank you for your service #MemorialDay - Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) May 29, 2017

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Amy (Duggar) King is opening up about the traumatic moment from her childhood.

In an exclusive sneak peek at Friday evenings episode of Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars, King relives the moment during her childhood when a family member allegedly physically abused her  and reveals the identity of the man behind the scary event.

My dad was like, Amy, did you brush your teeth? And I was like, Yeah daddy. And he was like, No you didnt. And he picked me up by my throat, all the way up to the ceiling. He was like, You will brush your teeth,  says King, who reveals that the man behind the attack was her father. And I was scared s***less.

Up until now, Amy, who married her husband, Dillon King, in September 2015 in a country-chic wedding near Bentonville, Arkansas, has kept the identity of the man a secret. Amy is also the niece of TLCs 19 Kids and Counting stars Michelle Duggar and Jim Bob Duggar.

Amys coping mechanism is to pretend that everything is always happy in her world, Dr. Venus Nicolino explains in the clip. Its how she blocks out the trauma she faced in her childhood.

Amy added that she saw things flown in the air, Ive been called every name in the book, and said, with tears welling up in her eyes, that her father tried to run me over with a car. It scared me half out of my mind.

Stopping by PEOPLE Now in early January, Amy opened up about the traumatic childhood event, which was referenced on a supertease for season 7 of the show.

I cant say who it is, but I can say, on the show I did forgive them, Amy told PEOPLE Now. It was a very heartfelt moment where I actually forgave that person who hurt me when I was younger.

So, it was a family member, she added. I love the person very much and were better now. But I did need to heal from that.

Story continues

After the clip was released, Amy said that her relationship with Dillon was impacted, as fans thought it was her husband who physically hurt her.

We got hate mail and all kinds of stuff, Dillon admitted. It exploded.

It was crazy, Amy chimed in. People were like, Amy run. Run away from him. Divorce him now. hes going to abuse you, you dont need that. 

Ultimately, Amy took to social media to address the clips backlash and clear the air about her husband. The story I was describing in the Marriage Bootcamp teaser does not involve Dillon in any way. #Ilovemyhusband, she tweeted.

Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars airs Fridays (9 p.m. ET) on WEtv.
By Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter

As its title suggests, Logan strips away the superhero bells and whistles, cast-of-thousands spectacle and labyrinthine twists of the X-Men franchise to focus on its most tormented mutant, aka Wolverine. Seamlessly melding Marvel mythology with Western mythology, James Mangold has crafted an affectingly stripped-down standalone feature, one that draws its strength from Hugh Jackmans nuanced turn as a reluctant, all but dissipated hero. That he rises to the occasion when a child is placed in his care is the stuff of a well-worn narrative template, yet it finds a fair level of urgency in this telling.

For fans who are intimately versed in the franchises playbook (and the comic-book source material), this chapter should prove emotionally satisfying. For those who cant recite the plotlines of all nine of the preceding X-Men films, the new features noirish, end-of-an-era vibe is an involving hook. Muscular box-office action awaits the Fox release as it makes its way around the globe.

In his final turn in one of the defining roles of his career (although, given the plasticity of the Marvel Universe, never say never to resurrections), Jackman is essentially an ex-X-Man. The year is 2029, and the superhuman mutants are about to join tigers on the extinction list. As far as anyone knows, there have been no mutant births in a quarter-century, and those few who remain live in an abandoned smelting plant on the outskirts of El Paso. Its the sort of industrial wasteland that instantly spells dystopia. Yet like all the elements of Francois Audouys production design, which include an Oklahoma City casino and a Great Plains farmhouse, the corroded edge-of-nowhere compound is evocative but not scene-stealing.

Those remaining few mutants number precisely three. X-Men leader Charles (a superb Patrick Stewart) is now a nonagenarian whose legendary telepathic powers are not always within his control; as with many a mere mortal, his geriatric brain doesnt function as it once did, and the result is seizures of bone-rattling intensity for those around him. Tending to his care are Logan, now a hard-drinking limo driver whose unearthly aptitude for self-healing is on the wane, and Caliban (Stephen Merchant), an albino mutant with tracking abilities who handles domestic chores for the trio while sheltering himself from the daylight.

Story continues

Related: Logan Secures China Release Date

The lives of this last-of-their-kind collective are by no means easy or serene, but they can at least count on a certain routine. Then a young girl with a ferocious gaze, Laura (Dafne Keen), arrives on their rusty doorstep, along with a wad of cash and the desperate final request of her caretaker, Gabriela (Elizabeth Rodriguez, of Orange Is the New Black), that Logan get her to Canada ASAP. For reasons that a smartphone video will make clear, Canada would be a safe haven for a child who has more in common with Logan than hed care to admit  a connection that Charles perceives even before she reveals her Wolverine-like metallic claws and puts them to lethal use.

Laura is being hunted by X-Men adversary Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook) and his paramilitary cyborg Reavers on behalf of Dr. Rice (Richard E. Grant), who heads Transigen, the nefarious bioengineering program that created her. National borders are a key factor in this story, not only because of the asylum that Canada represents. In the tradition of Big Pharma corporate villainy, Rice has evaded American legal oversight and conducted his experiments on Laura and countless other children, and the women who bore them, in Mexico.

While Caliban is taken hostage, Logan, Laura and Charles hightail it out of El Paso, no easy feat when the Reavers are closing in on all sides and your escape vehicle is a boat-size limousine (another instance of excellent design work). With nods to Unforgiven and explicit references to Shane  and extended sequences of brutal violence involving those adamantium-blade claws  this newly formed trios trip from the Texas desert to the Dakotas taps into notions of middle America, both geographic and psychic.

Theres poignancy and humor, none of it overstated, when they have to play normal during an encounter with a ranch family (Eriq La Salle, Elise Neal and Quincy Fouse). Charles, at his most clear-eyed and openhearted, is the catalyst throughout the sequence, which begins with his telepathic calming of spooked horses after an accident on the highway, a scene thats as lyrical as it is charged with emotion.

That scene echoes moments throughout the film that dramatize how much easier it can be to take care of others than oneself, and how the one can lead to the other. Though the screenplay  written by Scott Frank, Mangold and Michael Green  doesnt avoid formula or sentimentality as it proceeds, it makes its themes matter through attention to the intensifying bonds within its central surrogate family.

Related: Hugh Jackmans Part-Time Indian Will Be First Culturually Authentic Studio Film

Director of photography John Mathiesons camerawork is keenly attuned to the storys emotional textures, as is the fine score by Marco Beltrami, which incorporates brief churns of horror amid the melodic elegance. Throughout the film, Mathieson gives each frame a comics-based graphic impact, broody rather than cartoonish. (Another accomplished cinematographer, Phedon Papamichael, handled some of the additional unit work.)

Stewart is effortlessly compelling as a man whose attentiveness to the world around him runs deep, even as his own tethers to it are fraying. Keen, in her first big-screen role, makes the mostly silent Laura both kinetic and inwardly coiled, a quick-study observer of a world long denied her. And when called upon to give a vintage movie reference new resonance, she pulls it off with poetic vulnerability.

Even as the films energy drains in the later going, much like Logans healing powers, and long after the fight scenes have lapsed into overkill, Jackman makes his superhero the real deal. The actor, who reportedly conceived the basic thrust of the story, takes the ever-conflicted Logan/Wolverine to full-blooded depths, and the result is a far more cohesive and gripping film than his previous collaboration with Mangold, 2013s The Wolverine.

Its not just the valedictory aspect of the story. And only time will tell if we ever again see a Jackman-portrayed Wolverine. But with his limp, his scraggly beard and his reading glasses, this middle-aged version, caught between his humanity and the engineering that makes him an instrument of destruction, is the hero we need him to be. Ultimately, its not just Lauras predicament that he understands, but his own.
The 89th Academy Awards will be on Feb. 26, so time is running out for you to see all of the nominees before the ceremony. This week were going to recommend three nominated films that may be getting a little less attention than the higher-profile fare. Here are three Oscar-nominated films you can stream right now.

Tanna

Tanna (Photo: Lightyear Entertainment/courtesy of Everett Collection)

Tanna is Australias entry for Best Foreign Language Film. Set and filmed on the titular island of Tanna, this movie from Martin Butler and Bentley Dean is about a couple that wants to marry for love and not take part in the arranged marriages decided by their tribes. This stunning film features a cast of members of the Yakel tribe who had never even seen a movie, let alone act in one. Tanna is available on Amazon.

A Man Called Ove

A Man Called Ove (Photo: Nordisk Film/Courtesy of Everett Collection)

A Man Called Ove is Swedens entry for Best Foreign Language Film. Based on the 2012 novel, this movie is also nominated for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. An older gentleman who has been recently widowed and is suicidal because of it has his life turned around when a new family moves in across the street. The movie stars Rolf Lassgard, one of Swedens most celebrated actors. A Man Called Ove is available on iTunes.

Life, Animated

Life, Animated (Photo: The Orchard/courtesy of Everett Collection)

And finally, were going to switch gears and recommend Life, Animated. This documentary is based on the book of the same name by journalist Ron Suskind, who has an autistic son named Owen who struggled with communication. However, through the power of Disney films, Owen learned how to communicate and even developed an interest in creating his own stories. Life, Animated is available on YouTube.

Jerry Bruckheimer Told Jerry OConnell He Was Getting Too Pudgy While Making Kangaroo Jack:

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Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, or leave your comments below.
The sister of a California woman killed after being swept away in a flash flood in Hawaii in December is opening up about their desperate final minutes together, and that the tragedy could have been avoided.

Read: Woman, 64, Who Went Missing While Hiking Is Found Tied to a Tree in the Woods: Reports

Crystal Abrahim spoke to Inside Edition about how she saw her 32-year-old sister, Aimee, get swept away during a dream vacation in Kauai, Hawaii.

"I can't describe it in any other way than just a nightmare," Crystal said.

Aimee and Crystal were kayaking and hiking along the lush Wailua River, when they came to a point in the tour where they had to cross the river on foot.

Suddenly, disaster struck as the sisters were picked up by the rushing waters. Aimee was killed. Now some are asking could this tragedy have been avoided.

I kept thinking, I have to find Aimee, I have to find Aimee. I knew I was alive, she said.

Video taken by other adventurers show tourists crossing the same river while clinging to a rope. One person can be seen struggling and losing her balance.

Inside Edition followed the same path taken by the sisters on their fateful vacation.

Signs clearly warn of the dangers of flash floods.

Crystal wonders why their tour guide let her and her sister cross when, at the time, a flash flood warning was reportedly in effect.

"The water just started gushing super quickly I turned to Aimee and Aimee was literally stretched out, she couldnt even hold on any longer," Crystal recalled.

Crystal and her sister were washed downstream. Aimee drowned. Crystal was slammed into rocks but survived. Her injuries are still visible on her body.

Those final minutes of Aimee's life will forever torment Crystal.

Read: Tantric Sex Therapist is Found Shot Dead Alongside His Wounded Dog on Hiking Trail

"Trying to accept that she's not going to be in my life anymore has been the hardest thing that I don't wish anyone, Crystal said. I turned to Aimee for every little thing. Knowing that she won't be there anymore is the hardest thing.

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"[We] regularly monitor weather conditions," tour company Kayak Wailua said in a statement. "Water conditions were not above the cautionary threshold when the tour left... Conditions changed in minutes."

A GoFundMe page has been established in Aimee's memory.

The victim's family is considering legal action against the company. State officials say the company is compliant and in good standing -- though this incident remains under investigation.

Watch: Police Rescue Mom and Baby from Car Trapped in Hurricane Matthew Flood Waters

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WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump and his envoys are sending mixed messages about their support for an independent Palestinian state, confusing a world that has traditionally looked to America for leadership on one of the Mideast's most intractable conflicts.

After Trump broke with decades of precedent by backing away from U.S. insistence on a "two-state solution," his envoy to the United Nations, Ambassador Nikki Haley, said "we absolutely support a two-state solution." As Haley addressed reporters at the U.N., Trump's nominee for ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, was telling the Senate he "would be delighted" with such an agreement, while expressing skepticism that Palestinians were prepared to take the necessary steps to make such a deal possible.

To be sure, it's somewhat a matter of semantics. The White House has argued there's no daylight between what Trump said before his meeting this week with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and what others in his administration have declared.

But this is the Middle East, where seemingly innocuous comments can be explosive and every word uttered by the United States, its leaders and diplomats becomes tortuously parsed by partisans on all sides.

"All these phrases are loaded, and they're going to take on a life of their own," said David Makovsky of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "It was not a good way to begin, because it's going to distract everyone from the job at hand, which is to end the current impasse and engage the parties."

Until these last days, the U.S. position had been rather clear. The last three presidents had advocated the emergence of an independent, sovereign Palestinian country in most of the territory that Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast War. Land swaps agreed to by both sides would allow some Jewish settlements built in east Jerusalem or the West Bank to become part of Israel. The existence of a recognized nation of Palestine would mean the end of Israel's occupation.

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"I'm looking at two-state and one-state and I like the one that both parties like," Trump, with Netanyahu at his side, said Wednesday.

There is no consensus about what a one-state solution means. A majority of Israelis and Palestinians oppose a single, "binational" state that would include both populations. Opponents say such an arrangement would eventually force Israel either to lose its Jewish majority or rule over millions of disenfranchised Palestinians lacking full rights, a scenario the Palestinians wouldn't willingly accept.

While Trump kept open the traditional, two-state idea as an option, he is likely to find that the Palestinians' supporters in the region  which include key U.S. allies in the fight against the Islamic State group  won't entertain anything short of Palestinian statehood.

The administration's lack of precision illustrated a broader challenge it is facing as dramatic policy shifts are announced from the Oval Office, sometimes after little coordination with other agencies. That has made it hard for Trump's government to speak with a single voice.

The State Department, which spearheaded Mideast peace efforts for past Republican and Democratic presidents, was caught off-guard when the White House, on the eve of Netanyahu's visit, signaled its shift away from full-throated backing of the two-state solution. Officials then had to pivot after Haley's declaration of support for the previous U.S. position on two states. Still, Haley echoed Trump by saying it was up to Israelis and Palestinians to come up with a workable solution.

The result for the world has been confusion. After meeting in Germany with new U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault lamented that the U.S. position on Mideast peace had become "vague and preoccupying."

Ayrault said he told Tillerson the two-state solution was the only option, and that another, unspecified idea Tillerson had floated "wouldn't be fair nor equitable." That position was echoed from afar by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The Trump administration has been similarly ambiguous about other foreign policy matters, including the Iran nuclear deal. As a candidate, Trump vowed to renegotiate the accord. As president, he has continued deploring it. But EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Trump's team told her the U.S. was committed to implementing the seven-nation deal. France's Ayrault, however, said he got the impression from Tillerson that the U.S. wanted to review it from scratch.

___

Associated Press writers Sylvie Corbett in Paris and Ian Deitch in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

___

Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)  Eleven top public university officials in Puerto Rico have resigned to protest multimillion-dollar budget cuts sought by a federal control board that oversees the U.S. territory's finances amid a dire economic crisis.

The unprecedented move surprised many and prompted Gov. Ricardo Rossello to warn that his administration will intervene if the university board of directors does not submit a fiscal plan with the $300 million in cuts requested. The board called a meeting late Friday to talk about the issue.

Rossello said during a news conference that he had given university officials sufficient time to submit a fiscal plan required by the federal control board, which proposes that the university cut its budget by 30 percent.

"The majority have jumped ship. They abandoned their responsibility," Rossello said. "I respected and still respect the university's autonomy, but we have to take action now."

Those who stepped down include Celeste Freytes, the interim president of Puerto Rico's largest public university, and 10 deans at campuses across the island. The system has a total of 11 campuses and serves more than 50,000 students.

Government Secretary William Villafane accused Freytes of not cooperating with an administration that has to cut costs and submit a fiscal plan on Feb. 28 as required by the federal control board.

"They're setting a bad example by running away from responsibility during a critical moment," he said. "We're doing what we have to do to straighten out our public finances."

Puerto Rico is struggling to restructure nearly $70 billion in public debt amid a decade-long economic crisis, and Rossello has implemented cuts across public agencies in a bid to save money.

The officials who resigned said in a letter that the university system already has seen a $348 million cut in recent years and that professors have been denied sabbaticals and salary increases. They said Rossello's administration is unfairly imposing draconian cuts on the university system compared with other government agencies.

"An attempt to overturn the budget of the public university system in less than a month is an exercise in futility," they wrote. "We condemn the insistence of paying the public debt at the university's expense."
Photo credit: Evan Klein

From Road & Track

REGARDING JOHN MILTON'S masterpiece, Paradise Lost, literary critic Samuel Johnson wrote, "None ever wished it longer than it is." One could not say the same thing about American luxury-car interiors of the past few decades. With a few livery-market or export-only exceptions, neither Chrysler, Cadillac, nor Lincoln has recently offered the expansive rear-seat experience the rest of the world takes for granted in a prestige sedan.

This new Continental, by contrast, brings to mind a 1956 advertisement for the Lincoln Premiere: "Never before a Lincoln so long . . . and so longed for!" The front half of the car is a derivation of the Ford CD4 platform familiar from the current Fusion, but there's nearly 10 inches of additional length, much of it behind the B-pillar. It has not gone to waste.

Grasp the massive, polished loop of the electromechanical latch that stands proud on the door, and step into the back seat. Our Reserve-trim test car, which sits below Black Label but above the base Premiere and midtier Select trims, has optional power-reclining rear outboard seats with four-way lumbar support, as well as heating and cooling. The center seat folds down to expose a comprehensive control console. Using that and the door-mounted controls, the Very Important Person in the right rear corner can move the front passenger seat (if vacant), operate the rear sunshades, adjust cabin temperature, command the audio system, and manipulate the opaque fabric shade beneath the massive dual-pane moonroof.

Photo credit: Evan Klein

During my three-day weekend with the Continental, I experienced considerable difficulty getting any of my friends to ride up front with me. Given a glimpse of the first-class cabin behind the driver, each of my passengers demanded that they sit in back while I drove them. One suggested I wear some sort of cap while doing so. The most demanding VIP of all was my seven-year-old son, John. He immediately mastered the full range of rear-seat control possibilities, to my immense sorrow, and pointed out that it is possible to lay the front passenger chair down to serve as a footrest. No Shanghai tycoon was ever a more peremptory or capricious tyrant to his valet, but I was pleased to have him back there, guarded by the vault-thick, soft-closing doors and an airbag-equipped shoulder belt.

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Continental owners who insist on driving themselves will find a separate but equal share of luxury. Optional 30-way front seats offer individual adjustments for left and right thigh support, as well as multiple massage settings, but the greatest luxury is the Revel Ultima audio system, also optional, which alternately bellows and whispers through 19 speakers. The decadent-looking machined-metal speaker grilles in the front doors, with a perforation pattern reportedly inspired by George Harrison's "Here Comes the Sun," would not be out of place in a Maybach or Phantom. This is a hell of a sound system, capable of isolating the marimba part in Vampire Weekend's "Horchata" so that the instrument appears to float in the air above the steering wheel. I found this out because my son played that song seven times in a row, for his sadistic amusement.

Photo credit: Evan Klein

Having gotten his fill of East Village Afro-pop, John turned down the stereo and inquired, "What's that clunk?" It took me a minute to realize that he was referring to the turn-signal noise. It's a solid tick-tock that sounds like a six-ounce weight moving back and forth in the steering column. Another detail thoroughly sweated, just like the climate control's special low-noise auto mode, the real wood in the dashboard, and the way the car "wakes up" as you walk to it at night with the key in your pocket, the front and rear markers sweeping on while crosshair-logo puddle lights illuminate the ground beneath the front doors.

Premiere models are powered by the 3.7-liter, 305-hp Duratec V-6 that we know (and like) from the Mustang. Front-wheel drive is standard; all-wheel drive is a $2000 option. Move up to Select, and the 2.7-liter, 335-hp twin-turbo six from the Fusion becomes available. In Reserve and Black Label, you can get a 3.0-liter variant of that engine. It's unique to Lincoln, rated at 400 hp, and available only with all-wheel drive.

Perhaps the most refreshing aspect of this new Lincoln is the utter lack of pretense to racetrack or autobahn prowess. For too long, domestic luxury manufacturers have paid lip service to the ridiculous idea that full-size sedans should corner like Corvettes, no matter what the cost in ride, interior noise, or passenger space. The Continental is free of these misapprehensions, so spring for the 400-horse drivetrain; you will not be plagued by spoilers, splitters, SCCA-spec damping, or rubber-band tires. You will simply get proper "Hot Rod Lincoln" thrust.

When properly (meaning expensively) optioned and configured, the Continental is easily the best and most competitive American luxury sedan in four decades.

Which is not to say that the motor overpowers the chassis. Neck-straining launches from stoplights are free from torque steer. Grip and balance are remarkably good, at least for a big sedan with most of its weight up front. Floor the throttle mid-corner, and the outside front wheel will pull you from apex to exit in a manner that reminds me of nothing so much as an old Honda Prelude Type SH.

There are a few rough edges. Lane-keeping assist is not up to the standards set by Mercedes or even Acura, while the collision detection is alternately paranoid and disinterested. The availability of a low-content Continental for $45,485, versus $75,320 for our test car or just over $80,000 for a fully loaded Black Label, is inconsistent with the goal of making it a properly exclusive flagship. So is Lincoln's decision to put a bowdlerized version of this fascia on the smaller MKZ.

But these are quibbles. When properly (meaning expensively) optioned and configured, the Continental is easily the best and most competitive American luxury sedan in four decades. The difficulty will be getting buyers to look past the default German brands, as well as Lexus. In a perfect world, the Lincoln brand would be rescued, or at least burnished, by this fine effort, yet I am reminded of another comment by Samuel Johnson regarding Milton: "Success and virtue do not go necessarily together."

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MANILA, Philippines (AP)  Two soldiers and three communist rebels were killed while 15 other troops were wounded in a land mine attack and clashes in the southern Philippine city of Davao, President Rodrigo Duterte's hometown, a military official said Friday.

Maj. Ezra Balagtey, a military spokesman, said soldiers were pursuing the communist New People's Army rebels who on Thursday detonated a land mine along the route of a convoy of troops searching for guerrillas who had set a pineapple farm harvester on fire.

Two soldiers were killed and 15 others were wounded in the blast, while two rebels died in the ensuing firefight, Balagtey said.

Hours earlier, guerrillas harassed an army detachment in another district of Davao city, triggering a clash that left one rebel dead, he said.

Both Duterte and the guerrillas called off earlier this month unilateral cease-fires in the 48-year insurgency, one of Asia's longest-running Marxist rebellions.

Duterte, who describes himself as the country's first left-wing leader, said peace talks brokered by Norway will remain suspended unless there is a compelling reason to restart them that benefits the nation.
ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports

The Packers ruled out linebacker De'Vondre Campbell (knee) after he missed practice all week. That leaves rookie Quay Walker to wear the communication helmet on defense against the Lions. The only game Campbell has missed the past six seasons was Week 18 last season when he was inactive to rest for the postseason, not for [more]
Vice Adm. Robert Harward has been offered the role of National Security Adviser following the resignation of Michael Flynn, according to multiple reports.

The magazine Foreign Policy first reported Harward had been offered the job by President Donald Trump, who was surprised when the candidate said he needed time to think it over. Harward was a Navy SEAL and has combat experience. He was also the deputy commander of U.S. Central Command under now Defense Secretary James Mattis, who led Central Command at the time.

Reuters also reported that Harward had been offered the job, citing two unnamed sources, but it was unclear if he had accepted. Flynn resigned from the position after just more than three weeks in the role after it was revealed that he had seemingly misrepresented conversations he had with a Russian ambassador, claiming he had not talked about U.S. sanctions enacted by President Barack Obama when he actually did.

Harward was more of a moderate choice than Flynn, who ruffled feathers with his connections to Russia and clashes with the intelligence community. Harward was described by the website Vox as "basically the anti-Flynn."

The Rhode Island native grew up in Iran, where his father was stationed as a naval officer. He, too, joined the Navy, serving with the SEALs. He commanded troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. He also worked with the National Security Council and with Mattis during the Obama administration. Andrea Mitchell of NBC News described Harward as Mattis' "protege."

If Harward accepts Trump's offer, Foreign Policy reported he would be expected to overhaul the staff, adding more folks with more national security experience. At the moment, Harward was working for defense contractor Lockheed Martin, overseeing its business in the United Arab Emirates and Middle East.

Harward has even drawn praise from the left. Obama's former National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor tweeted he is "a very impressive (and nice) guy."

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Use of Airbnb nearly doubled in Portugal in 2016, the home rentals website said Thursday, as record tourist numbers flocked to the country -- some driven away from other sun spots by security fears.

A record 1.65 million guests stayed in properties listed by Airbnb in Portugal last year, up from 912,000 in 2015, the company said, with the capital Lisbon accounting for the bulk of the bookings.

Founded in 2008 in San Francisco, Airbnb has become a popular alternative to hotels worldwide, allowing homeowners to rent out their properties by marketing them online for a fee.

But as Airbnb has rapidly expanded across the globe, it has often come into conflict with local rules and traditional hoteliers who see it as unfair competition.

New York, Barcelona and Berlin are among the cities that have cracked down.

Under an agreement reached with Lisbon city hall, Airbnb in May began charging guests in the Portuguese capital a "tourist tax" of one euro per night.

The tax has so far generated 1.74 million euros ($1.84 million) which city authorities will use to develop local tourism projects, the statement said.

Despite the growth of Airbnb, Portuguese hotel revenues still rose by 15.1 percent to 2.9 billion euros last year, national statistics institute INE said Wednesday.

Portugal welcomed 11.4 million foreign tourists in 2016 -- a sixth straight record year as security fears lure visitors away from rival sunshine destinations in the Mediterranean and Middle East.

France, Tunisia, Turkey and Egypt have notably been hit by attacks in recent years which have rattled tourists.

The government announced Wednesday that the little-used Montijo military air base would be modified for commercial traffic because Lisbon's sole international airport is nearing capacity.
Rome (AFP) - Two rare busts rescued from the Islamic State group's destruction of the ancient city of Palmyra will soon be heading back to Syria, after a painstaking restoration in Italy.

Recovered by Syrian troops, they had been badly disfigured with what appeared to be hammer blows and are perhaps the only such artefacts to leave the desert site without being stolen.

Modern technology aided their saving, which is also being seen as a tribute to Khaled al-Assad, the former head of antiquities at Palmyra, murdered by IS fighters in 2015, at the age of 82.

"This is an example of an issue we hold dear: that of cultural diplomacy, the fact that culture can be an instrument for dialogue between people, even when circumstances are difficult," Italian culture minister Dario Franceschini said Thursday.

IS jihadists seized Palmyra in May 2015 and began to systematically destroy the city's monuments and temples, while also looting its many archeological treasures.

They were driven out in March 2016 but recaptured the town last December.

Although the precise date of its founding is unknown, Palmyra's name is referred to on a tablet dating from the 19th century BC as a stopping point for caravans between the Mediterranean and the east.

Known to Syrians as the "Pearl of the Desert", Palmyra boasted temples, colonnaded alleys and elaborately decorated tombs that were among the best preserved classical monuments in the Middle East, before their wanton destruction.

Hundreds of important heritage sites have been sacked or destroyed during the five-year conflict, including the first-century temples of Bel and Baalshamin in Palmyra.

The two funeral busts, which are to be returned to Syrian authorities by the end of the month, were recovered by regime soldiers when they initially retook Palmyra.

They had been badly disfigured by hammers, said former Rome mayor Francesco Rutelli, who promoted the restoration through his "Incontro di Civilta" (Meeting of Civilisations) association.

Story continues

The busts "are probably the only works of art taken from the Syrian conflict zone that weren't stolen", Franceschini told reporters during a showing at Italy's Superior Institute for Conservation and Restoration.

- 'Ideological battle' -

The busts, of a man and a woman, date to the second and third centuries and were brought to Lebanon before being transferred to Rome, Rutelli said.

He also rejected critics who have denounced the idea of working with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad while the war in the country rages.

"This gesture has no element of political support on our part. Italy has done it, and will do it, for any country that asks," Rutelli said, noting that the restoration was also a tribute to the late head of antiquities Assad.

Before his death, the octogenarian "managed to hide hundreds of works of art, but not these two busts, which fell into IS hands", Rutelli said.

A team of five specialists worked on the restorations for a month, focusing in particular on the faces.

On one, the upper part of the face had been destroyed, but the team managed to recreate the missing portion using a synthetic nylon powder and a 3-D printer, a technique that had never been used for such a restoration.

The new piece was attached to the bust with powerful magnets, "which makes it completely removable, in line with the principle that all restoration work must be completely reversible", said Antonio Iaccarino, one of the restorers.

"What the Islamic State has destroyed, we have rebuilt," he said. "Through culture, we also wage an ideological battle."
WASHINGTON (AP)  David Friedman, President Donald Trump's pick to be U.S. ambassador to Israel, displayed an exhaustive knowledge of Israeli-Palestinian affairs during his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday, but at times glossed over intricacies of the famously complex region. A look at some of his statements before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee:

FRIEDMAN: Asked about the Trump administration's position on a two-state solution, he said he would be delighted to see a peace deal giving Palestinians an independent state. But he acknowledged skepticism "solely on the basis of what I've perceived as an unwillingness on the part of the Palestinians to renounce terror and accept Israel as a Jewish state."

He said Palestinians had failed to "end incitement" of violence, and terrorism had increased since the Oslo Accords in the 1990s, intended to be a stepping stone toward Palestinian statehood.

THE FACTS: Not all Palestinians are the same.

The Palestinian Liberation Organization, the group that formally represents all Palestinians, officially denounced terrorism decades ago, although attacks have continued to be a problem for Israel in the years since. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in office since 2005 and in charge of autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has spoken out against violence, saying it undermines Palestinian statehood aspirations.

Hamas refuses to renounce violence or recognize Israel. Hamas controls the Gaza Strip after seizing it in 2007 in a violent takeover and setting up a government there to rival Abbas' West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.

As far as Israel being a Jewish state, Abbas, current head of the PLO, says the Palestinians met their peace requirements by recognizing Israel, and it's not up to them to determine the religious nature of the state of Israel.

___

FRIEDMAN: Asked whether under Palestinian law the Palestinians were "rewarding terrorists" and whether there was an "increasing incentive" based on the number of people a terrorist murdered, said, "Exactly true."

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THE FACTS: It's complicated.

Israel has long scoffed at the Palestinian fund for "martyrs," set up in 1967 by the PLO, arguing that the payments it makes are an incentive to kill Israelis. The fund makes monthly payments to roughly 35,000 families of Palestinians killed or wounded in the conflict with Israel and had a budget last year of $170 million, Palestinian figures show. Recipients include relatives of Palestinian suicide bombers.

But the fund doesn't pay people in advance to carry out attacks. The Palestinians argue the fund helps support Palestinian victims of Israel's occupation, including families of those driven to attack by the dire conditions of occupation or by a desire to avenge others killed by Israelis.

___

FRIEDMAN: Asked about his connections to Beit El, a settlement of religious nationalists near Ramallah in the West Bank, Friedman said his affiliation had been as the president of a group called American Friends of Beit El Yeshiva, the U.S. fundraising arm of the settlement's Jewish seminary and affiliated institutions. He said the money he'd helped raise had gone toward educational facilities like dormitories, gymnasiums and classrooms.

"It primarily derives from my commitment to Jewish education," Friedman said of his involvement with Beit El. "The quality of those schools is excellent."

THE FACTS: It's true that the funds Friedman's group raises help support the settlement's educational activities. But Friedman appears to be playing down his family's long association with Beit El.

In addition to supporting Beit El's institutions, which include high schools and an Israeli military academy, Friedman has written numerous columns for Arutz Sheva, a right-wing news site affiliated with Beit El. It was in some of those columns that Friedman made controversial comments that have attracted attention since his nomination.

In Beit El, his and his wife's names are on the facade of the Friedman Faculty House, which the anti-settlement watchdog Kerem Navot says is built on private Palestinian land without permission from its Palestinian landowners.

___

Find all AP Fact Checks here: http://apne.ws/2kbx8bd

___

Associated Press writers Karin Laub in Ramallah, West Bank, and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

___

Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

EDITOR'S NOTE _ A look at the veracity of claims by political figures.
DENVER (AP)  A former U.S. soldier accused of shooting and killing a transit guard in downtown Denver last month says he is a supporter of the Islamic State group, but investigators say they have not found evidence the terror group had anything to do with the killing.

In a telephone interview Thursday from Denver's jail, Joshua Cummings told The Associated Press he pledged his allegiance to ISIS after spending three days behind bars fasting.

He said he did so to purge himself of an oath he took to uphold the U.S. Constitution when he joined the Army in 1996.

Speaking calmly and addressing a reporter as "ma'am", the Islamic convert from Pampa, Texas, declined to discuss the crime or whether his support for ISIS led him, as police allege, to walk behind Scott Von Lanken while he was speaking to two women around 11 p.m. on Jan. 31 and put a gun to his neck.

One of the women told investigators Cummings said something like, "Do what you are told," just before he opened fire and ran away, police have said.

Cummings was found a short time later hiding on the terrace of an apartment building with a handgun, authorities said.

Police have uncovered no evidence to suggest Cummings was either directed by ISIS to carry out the killing or may have been inspired by the group, Denver Police Commander Barb Archer said Friday.

She said Cummings, 37, has declined to talk with detectives and that investigators have not determined a motive for the killing of Von Lanken, a former police officer who was working as a contract security guard for the Denver area's Regional Transportation District.

Archer said federal authorities who also have investigated Cummings have not told her about a possible Islamic State connection, as she would expect them to if there was one.

"I think he's looking for attention," she said of Cummings' comments about pledging loyalty to the Islamic State.

Cummings served in the Army more than a decade ago but never saw combat.

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Investigators interviewed him in December after members of a Denver-area mosque reported concerns about him to federal authorities. The FBI has declined comment on what if any action agents took after Cummings was interviewed or about any involvement they may have in the shooting investigation.

Cummings was living in a suburban Denver motel in the weeks before the shooting. He previously stayed there about a month before briefly returning to Texas.

His public defender, Sarah Welton, declined to discuss her client's comments about the Islamic State.

"I can't speculate on his reasons for calling," she said.

Denver-area Muslim leaders have repudiated Cummings' self-professed practice of Islam. They stressed in a December email to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security their perception that Cummings' statements and rants about Islam at one area mosque led them to fear he had become radicalized.

On Dec. 24, a mosque leader emailed the Department of Homeland Security to say a man identifying himself as a Muslim convert named Joshua, from Pampa, Texas, made worrisome statements that day about fighting to establish "the rule of Islam." The email also said Joshua had rebuked a speaker "as being soft" on Shariah law earlier in December.

Ismael Akbulut, a leader in the Denver-area Muslim community, said he knew nothing about Cummings professing allegiance to the Islamic State.

"It's his own interpretation" of the purpose of fasting, Akbulut said. "If he had been affiliated with ISIS they would post that on social media. They haven't. I think it's his desire to be affiliated with that now."

Islamic State supporters often proclaim their allegiance in social media before attacks. It is less common for them to declare it after the fact.

Cummings had been vocal on Twitter about his views about Islam as well as both critical and supportive of law enforcement.

He told the AP said he had wanted to declare his allegiance ISIS and its leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, earlier but an infection had prevented him from fasting.

The mug shot of Cummings' arrest shows him with the left side of his face swollen and his left eye almost swollen shut.

Since his arrest, he said he received medical care in jail that gave him the ability to fast and "expiate" his prior oath.

He used the Arabic word for allegiance in making his declaration and then explained in English what he meant.

Akbulut said Islam does call for atonement through three days of fasting, but he said that would not apply in the context Cummings described.

"In this case it's totally nonsense," Akbulut said. "It's his own interpretation."
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Thursday suspended proceedings over President Donald Trump's travel ban for individuals from seven Muslim-majority countries, after Trump announced a new executive order would come soon. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had been mulling whether to reconsider its ruling temporarily suspending Trump's directive. In a court order, the 9th Circuit said it would put that process on hold pending further developments. (Reporting by Dan Levine; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Buenos Aires (AFP) - Argentina's President Mauricio Macri has bowed to pressure by canceling a government debt deal with a company previously controlled by his father that had prompted accusations of a conflict of interests.

Macri had been under fire for three weeks after details emerged of the deal signed last year.

Critics said his government effectively wrote off part of the debt run up by the Argentine postal service during a period when it was under the private control of a business run by his father Franco Macri.

The president told a news conference on Thursday that he had ordered his government to "start again from scratch" with negotiations over the deal.

He denied any detailed knowledge of the terms of the previous deal, which his opponents said unfairly benefited his father.

A prosecutor on Tuesday filed a case calling for Macri to face a judicial investigation over an alleged financial conflict of interests.

Macri has been trying to steer Argentina out of recession since taking over as president in December 2015.

He faces a key political test in October this year when the country holds legislative elections.
Buenos Aires (AFP) - The commander of Argentina's armed forces from 2013 to 2015, Cesar Milani, was arrested Friday over his alleged involvement in two kidnappings during the country's brutal military dictatorship.

Milani was arrested after being questioned over the 1977 kidnappings of Pedro Adan Olivera and his son Ramon Alfredo Olivera, said Delfor Brizuela, the human rights ombudsman for the northwestern province of La Rioja, where the retired general was detained.

The Oliveras say they were abducted and tortured by Milani and his men for alleged involvement in a leftist militant organization -- part of the 1976-1983 regime's "dirty war" on its opponents and their alleged collaborators.

Some 30,000 people were killed or disappeared under military rule.

Milani, 62, has long been accused by human rights groups of involvement in dictatorship-era crimes.

His appointment as army chief by former president Cristina Kirchner in 2013 drew outcry from some activists.

Milani was previously charged with corruption in December over unanswered questions about where he got the money to buy a house in an upscale Buenos Aires suburb in 2010.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP)  Dick Bruna, the Dutch "spiritual father" of Miffy, the white rabbit who enchanted millions of young children around the world for more than half a century, has died at age 89, his publisher announced Friday.

Decades before Instagram made square images immensely popular, illustrator and artist Bruna understood their power. For years, his Miffy books were printed in a square format.

"He thought that size was really good for two little children's hands, and he loved the visual impact, too," longtime friend Marja Kerkhof, of his Dutch publisher Mercis, said in a telephone interview.

Bruna "passed away peacefully in his sleep" Thursday night in the central Dutch city of Utrecht, Kerkhof said.

The simplicity of Bruna's characters drew adoration not only from children, but also from adult art lovers. Amsterdam's venerable Rijksmuseum put on a show featuring his work in 2015.

He wrote and illustrated a total of 124 books, but Miffy, known in the Netherlands as Nijntje, a contraction of the Dutch word for rabbit, was far and away his most popular and best known character.

Bruna created 32 books about the rabbit, which were translated into more than 50 languages and sold more than 85 million copies, Kerkhof said. The man his publisher described as Miffy's "spiritual father" stopped drawing in 2011.

Miffy, who turns 62 this year, is a merchandising juggernaut, featuring on stationery, toys and children's trinkets sold across the world as part of a multimillion-euro (dollar) business.

"He was very much loved around the world. I remember traveling with him to Australia, to New Zealand, to Asia, to Japan. Wherever he would go, people would queue up for signing sessions of his books," Kerkhof said.

She said the public's affection for both Bruna and Miffy stemmed from the illustrations' simplicity.

"It is very clear pictures, almost like a pictogram, and the fact that he leaves so much out  he goes to the essence of things  and of course his very strong, powerful primary colors," she said. "Even today, if you see it in a store you would think, 'hey this looks different to a lot of other things out there.' There is no clutter, it's all very clear."

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A museum in Utrecht dedicated to Miffy tweeted: "Today the sad news reached us that Dick Bruna has died." The message appeared above a simple but emotionally powerful black-and-white drawing of the famous rabbit, arms behind her back and a single tear below her left eye.

Utrecht municipality said flags on city hall would fly at half-mast Friday and Saturday as a sign of respect for one of the city's most famous sons.

The 2015 show at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum put Bruna in his historical context, showing his drawings and book covers  he was the son of a Dutch publisher  alongside artists who influenced him like Henri Matisse and Fernand Leger.

Curator Caro Verbeek said the simplicity of Miffy was an illusion. Verbeek said she had other curators at the museum draw Miffy's head, with its dots for eyes and "X'' shape representing both nose and mouth.

"They did not succeed," she said. "It is incredibly difficult. But the fact that it seems so simple proves that he is a true genius."

Funeral arrangements were not immediately announced.
Australia's prime minister, who was at the receiving end of US President Donald Trump's ire during a fiery phone call last month, on Friday offered media advice to the billionaire politician after he attacked the press.

Trump stunned the political world Thursday with an impromptu White House news conference at which he railed against his perceived enemies in the media, calling them "dishonest" and "out of control".

The US leader has repeatedly ignored presidential decorum, including in his relations with loyal allies like Australia, reportedly lambasting Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during a phone call last month and later attacking an agreement with Canberra on refugees as a "dumb deal".

At a press conference in New Zealand, Turnbull, who has repeatedly insisted relations with key ally the United States remain strong, was asked about Trump's views of the media.

"Winston Churchill once said that politicans complaining about the newspapers is like a sailor complaining about the sea," Turnbull told reporters in Queenstown.

"There's not much point. It's the media we live with.

"We have to get our message across and we thank you all in the media for your kind attention," Turnbull added with a smile.

The spat flared over an agreement struck in November to resettle in the United States an unspecified number of the 1,600 people detained by Australia on Pacific islands. Many are Iranians.

In Queenstown, Turnbull met his New Zealand counterpart Bill English and agreed to pursue the Trans-Pacific Partnership, despite Trump's decision to dump the massive trade deal that encompasses a dozen nations.

"In light of the intention of the United States not to ratify the TPP, the two Prime Ministers agreed that Australia and New Zealand would work together to engage with other TPP partners on the way forward, over the coming months," a joint statement said.
SYDNEY (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump was wasting his time deriding the media over their coverage of his administration, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Friday, citing the example of British wartime leader Winston Churchill. Trump has repeatedly described media criticism of him as "fake news" since taking office last month, labeling the media as the "opposition party". On Thursday, he dismissed a growing controversy about ties between his aides and Russia as a "ruse" and a "scam" perpetrated by a hostile news media. Turnbull, whose relationship with Trump got off to a rocky start earlier this month, said the 45th American president should stop focusing on the media. "A very great politician, Winston Churchill, once said that politicians complaining about the newspapers is like a sailor complaining about the sea," Turnbull told reporters in New Zealand on Friday. "There is not much point. That is the media we live with and we have to get our message across and we thank you all in the media for your kind attention," he said. Turnbull is speaking from experience as he faces a constant stream of questions from domestic media about his leadership, with opinion polls showing the popularity of his center-right government sinking to its lowest in more than a year. Relations between the United States and Australia hit a low point this month when Trump said on Twitter that a planned refugee swap between the two nations was a "dumb deal". That followed a Washington Post report about an acrimonious telephone call between the two leaders that attracted headlines worldwide. Asked about his dealings with Trump, Turnbull said: "President Trump and I have had several calls now, very constructive calls. It was frank and forthright and it was very valuable." Australia is a staunch U.S. ally and is currently flying combat missions in Syria. It has also said it was open to stepping up its military commitment against the militant Islamic State group. With his promise to put "America First", Trump has also scrapped or promised to renegotiate trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the North American Free Trade Agreement since coming to office, but Turnbull warned against a more protectionist U.S. trade stance. "Protectionism is not the ladder to get you out of the low growth track, it is the shovel to dig it deeper and deeper and deeper," he said. (Reporting by Swati Pandey; Editing by Paul Tait)
Retired Vice Adm. Robert Harward has rejected President Donald Trumps offer to serve as national security advisor after the White House reportedly refused his request to pick his own team, dealing an embarrassing setback to the administration.

The former Navy SEALs decision to turn down the prestigious job highlights how Trumps chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, has entrenched himself as a powerful figure in the White House, wielding influence over every aspect of decision-making.

In one of the presidents first executive orders after taking the oath of office on Jan. 20, Bannon  with no experience in government and an isolationist, anti-internationalist agenda  was granted a permanent seat on the National Security Council. The order was an unprecedented move for a body that is supposed to steer clear of political considerations.

In any other White House, Harwards request to have a say over who served on his staff would have been routine, former officials said. But Trump and his aides have been deeply reluctant to delegate power to outsiders who have no ties to the presidents election campaign.

Harward, who led commandos in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, enjoyed a stellar reputation among military officers, diplomats, and lawmakers from both parties. Other qualified candidates likely will think twice before accepting any offers for the post given the administrations insistence on imposing limits on the advisors authority. David Petraeus, the retired four-star general who commanded U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, had been mentioned as a possible replacement but he would likely insist on similar conditions allowing him to choose his team.

As a result, the White House may be forced to draw from a less qualified pool of candidates and focus on those who would be less likely to push back against Bannon or other political advisors. Former colleagues of Harward, who has strong ties to Defense Secretary James Mattis dating back years, said he could have posed a potential problem for Bannon and his aides as he would have stood his ground in a disagreement over principle and insisted on clear lines of authority.

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Harward was Trumps top choice to replace Michael Flynn, who resigned on Monday under a cloud after he misled Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of his conversations with the Russian ambassador in December. Flynns phone calls with the Russian diplomat have fueled questions about the Trump teams contacts with Moscow after an election in which Russia sought to undermine the presidents opponent, Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

Harwards dispute about the terms of the job comes amid a weeks-long disagreement between Mattis and the White House over proposed appointments to senior civilian positions in the Defense Department. So far, the White House has rebuffed proposed appointments of Republican policy experts because they signed letters opposed to Trumps candidacy or criticized him publicly.

A White House official, who was not authorized to be quoted by name, did not confirm accounts about differences with Harward over staffing. The official told Foreign Policy that Harward had cited difficulties in severing financial ties to Lockheed Martin, where he is currently employed as an executive, and family considerations, as he had just moved his family to Abu Dhabi.

But former officials familiar with the matter said Harward had set conditions that would allow him to select who would serve as his deputy or possibly other senior positions in the NSC. The current National Security Council is populated by several former military officers handpicked by Flynn and Harward asked for the flexibility to decide who he would keep on. One of the sticking points reportedly was over K.T. McFarland, the current deputy national security advisor, who Harward wanted to replace  but the White House resisted.

Former officials from the Obama and Bush administrations said morale was already low in the National Security Council even before Flynns departure, as many staff members felt their work was being ignored or marginalized by political advisors who harbor a distrust of career civil servants. They said the episode drove home Bannons heavyweight status in the White House and how Trump trusted his political advisors above all.

The failure to close the deal with Harward shows that the president prefers a national security process with disparate power centers so that hes not overly reliant on anyone, gets divergent views, has political calculations central to his national security policies, and sustains a high level of unpredictability about what hell decide, said Kori Schake, who served on the National Security Council during the Bush administration and is now a research fellow at Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution (and a FP contributor).

It also illustrated how Trump continues to rely most heavily on his political advisors for national security counsel, she said.

Photo credit: Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images
Minsk (AFP) - Thousands of Belarusian opposition supporters rallied in Minsk on Friday against a Soviet-style "tax on spongers" imposed by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Some 2,000 people took part in the largest such rally since 2010 which was organised by veteran opposition rivals of Lukashenko in the small ex-Soviet country between Russia and the European Union.

Protestors at the unsanctioned rally called the "March of Infuriated Belarusians" attacked the tax and shouted demands for Lukashenko to step down.

The rally was organised by respected opposition leaders Mikola Statkevich -- who was released after five years in prison in 2015 -- and poet Vladimir Nekliayev, as well as independent trade union leader Gennady Fedynich.

Lukashenko has imposed an annual tax of around $200 on those who work less than six months per year that the public has nicknamed "the tax on spongers."

The president, who has ruled Belarus since 1994 introduced the controversial measure by personal decree to prevent what he called "social parasitism."

It applies to those who are officially in work for less than 183 days in a year.

Protestors carried placards with slogans including "The president is the chief freeloader" and "That's enough!" Some drummed on saucepans and set fire to tax demands.

They marched through central Minsk from the presidential administration's office to the main government buildings including the tax ministry on Independence Square.

Police prevented the column of protesters from leaving the pavement and walking in traffic lanes but did not detain anyone.

The "tax on spongers" affects all those who have not registered officially as job-seekers, including homemakers, subsistence farmers and those working without official papers in Russia.

Only around 10 percent of more than 430,000 Belarusians ordered to pay up by the tax ministry have complied so far, with a deadline of February 20.

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In the Soviet era, "sponging" or living on unearned income and not seeking employment was a crime, reflecting Communist ideology that glorified labour. It was used to punish dissidents including poet Joseph Brodsky.

Russian lawmakers have also raised the possibility of introducing such a measure.

Amid a deep economic crisis, Lukashenko has initiated some unpopular reforms including from this year gradually raising the retirement age by three years from 55 for women and 60 for men.
Look out below!

Seems like the winter weathers just right for Nora to take a dip.

Read: The Ice Is Right: Baby Polar Bear Overjoyed as She Plays in Frozen Kiddie Pool

In a video taken by an Oregon Zoo volunteer last week, the polar bear could be seen practicing her dives, working on her handstands, and splashing through the pond in her enclosure.a

She even has her pool toys to keep her busy.

Little Nora, who is now more than a year old, performed a similar routine in her pool last April, when she made her first appearance at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio.

Read: Migrants Come Face-to-Face with Polar Bear When they Pile In Truck

Nora was rejected by her mother shortly after birth and failed to thrive among her family. She was then transported to the Oregon Zoo in October.

But, Noras latest performance at the pool proves shes fitting in swimmingly at her new home.

Watch: Polar Bear Cub Captures Hearts of Zoo Goers During First Public Appearance

Related Articles:
Cotonou (AFP) - The party of President Thomas Boni Yayi won Benin's parliamentary elections with 33 seats out of 83, but failed to secure an absolute majority, the Constitutional Court said Sunday evening.

The Beninese went to the polls on Sunday April 26 for elections regarded as a popularity test for Boni Yayi, accused by the opposition of wanting to "tinker" with the constitution to seek a third term in a presidential vote in 2016.

"Emerging Benin Party (FCBE), 33 seats," the president of the Constitutional Court Theodore Holo said in a statement, adding that the two principal opposition parties, The Union Makes the Nation and the Democratic Renewal Party secured 13 and 10 seats respectively.

Partial results published Friday already named the FCBE as the winner, but with 32 seats instead of 33, while attributing 15 seats instead of 13 to the Union Makes the Nation party.

While the FCBE did not win an expected absolute majority, analysts say the opposition is so fragmented and unstructured that it will have to form alliances to carry any weight in the national assembly.

In total 20 parties contested the elections in the west African country of 10 million, which has 4.4 million voters.

The campaign was marked by a heated debate on a possible constitutional amendment that would allow the president to run for a third term.

Boni Yayi, who has led the small west African nation since 2006, has always denied planning to run again next year.

The president, who likes to present himself as a "Mr Clean", has announced plans to reform the constitution to end impunity for corruption by strengthening the justice system.

But the opposition insists the real motive of his constitutional amendment is to scrap a two-term limit on presidential mandates so that he can run again in 2016.

After voting last Sunday, Boni Yayi said he would no longer be "a candidate for anything" in the future.

A large majority would have allowed him a freer hand to carry out the constitutional amendments he wants before the end of his term.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, were greeted Wednesday by President Donald Trump and his wife, first lady Melania, at the White House's South Lawn entrance. Sara Netanyahu has spoken with the first lady before, reportedly calling Melania Trump personally after Donald Trumps election win back in November, and the meeting this week represented an another opportunity for the two wives to spend more time together.

Benjamin Netanyahu had shared details of his wifes phone call with Melania Trump on Facebook, writing that the ladies were looking forward to seeing each other soon in Washington and to working together to strengthen the ties between Israel and the U.S.A.

Sara Netanyahu is the longest lasting wife of Benjamin Netanyahu, who was married twice before. He married Miriam Haran back in 1972 but later divorced shortly after the birth of his first daughter, Noa Netanyahu, in 1978, after which he reportedly married his second wife, a non-Jewish woman from Britain named Fleur Cates in 1981. Their marriage ended in 1984.

Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly met Sara Netanyahu while she was working as an EI AL flight attendant. Sara Netanyahu once told Israeli media outlets that her husband spotted her while they were riding moving walkways in Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam and later tracked her down. The two were wed in 1991 and share two sons together, Avner and Yair.

Sara Netanyahus public past has been a rather controversial one. The prime ministers wife has made headlines because of lawsuits by former nannies, allegedly interfering in state affairs and influencing her husbands decision. More recently, Sara Netanyahu was reportedly investigated for using public funds to look after her now-deceased father and to pay private chefs and staff members for family events. Sara Netanyahu was interrogated over the claims back in December 2016 but denied any wrongdoing.

Story continues

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Hardwood flooring is hot. In 2016, 35 percent of designers expected to install more of it, making it flooring's highest growth category, according to the National Kitchen & Bath Association. And the amount spent on wood flooring in the U.S. was up roughly 400 percent from 20 years ago, reports the National Wood Flooring Association.

So what's the best way to care for all that hardwood? Vacuum manufacturers are answering the question with machines and features designed for wood floors. Below are several standouts from Consumer Reports' tests.

Whichever vacuum you choose, follow these tips to keep your floor looking good.



 Place a doormat outside entrances to keep people from tracking dirt and grit indoors. Instating a no-shoes policy will preserve floors even better.

 Use plastic or felt protectors under furniture legs to prevent scratches. When rearranging furniture, always lift pieces instead of sliding them.

 In the kitchen, place a mat in front of the sink and range to avoid wearing bare spots in the floor.

 Don't use a steam mop on hardwood floors. Vapor can get pushed into cracks and crevices, causing cupping and a hazing of the finish, says Brett Miller, vice president of education and certification at the flooring association.

See our buying guide and ratings for wood floors.

Miele Complete C3 Marin

In general, canister vacuums do a better job on bare floors than upright or stick vacuums, because theyre less likely to disperse dust and debris before sucking it up. This bagged Miele canister is the best of the best, sucking up sand like a champ. It also made short work of the embedded talc in our grueling carpet test. And it features a brush on/off switch, which minimizes the dispersal of dirt and also protects the finish on hardwood floors. Most of the vacuums included in this roundup have this feature as well.

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Panasonic MC-CL935

Canister vacuums also come in bagless versions, which save you the hassle and expense of changing bags, although they often require additional filters that need to be replaced. If you like that trade-off, this Panasonic is one of our favorites, and it costs a fraction of the Miele. Pickup on bare floors and in our pet-hair tests were both superb, and it is has the requisite brush on/off switch. Panasonic is also even with Miele when it comes to brand reliability in the canister vacuum category.

Kenmore Elite Pet Friendly 31150

Though canister vacuums have the edge overall in our bare floors tests, there are some darned good uprights to choose from, including this top-rated Kenmore. In addition to its superb pickup on bare floors, the vacuum also has exceptionally strong airflow through the hose, and its excellent at hanging on to the dirt and debris it collects (rather than allowing particles to escape back into the room).

Shark Rotator Powered Lift-Away XL Capacity NV755

If youd rather have a bagless vacuum for your hardwood floors, consider this top-notch model from Shark. Bare floor cleaning is superb and it boasts an extra-large bin, good if your home collects a lot of dirt and dust. The "3-in-1" machine also converts from an upright to a handheld canister or a full wheel canister vacuum with the touch of a button.

Dyson V8 Absolute

Near-flawless performanceon bare floors and carpets alikevaulted the Dyson V8 Absolute to the top of our stick vacuum ratings. But we particularly like the machine in homes with a lot of hardwood because of its soft roller cleaner head, which is made of woven nylon with rows of anti-static carbon fiber filaments. That makes the Dyson gentle on hardwood floors but still able to make them spotless. Other kudos include quiet operation and very long run time for a battery-powered cleaner.

Black+Decker Smartech HSVJ520JMBF27

This nifty machine from Black+Decker is a battery-powered stick vacuum that converts to a handheld vacuum with the touch of a button. Superb cleaning across bare floors helped earn it a place on our recommended list. We also like that the brush roll can easily be removed for cleaning. Its equipped with a telescoping crevice tool for hard-to-reach areas, and theres a dusting brush tool to take care of wood furnishingsonce your wood floors are spic and span.

Roomba 880

In addition to its superb cleaning on bare floors, this Roomba excelled at navigating around furniture and other entrapments in our tests, making it a smart choice in open-plan homes with intricate floor plans. One caveat: It had trouble picking up cat hair in our tests. So if you have pets at home, you might want to upgrade to the Samsung POWERbot SR20H9051 Series robotic vacuum, $1,000, which was able to suck up embedded pet hair, as well as fine grains of sand.

Eureka Easy Clean 71B

A handheld vacuum is good to keep around for spilled cereal and other quick cleanups. Eurekas corded handheld aced our bare floors test, and its electric rotating brush adapts nicely for vertical surfaces. Its mediocre on carpets, in case your home does have some of them lying around.





More from Consumer Reports:

Top pick tires for 2016

Best used cars for $25,000 and less

7 best mattresses for couples





Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website. Copyright  2006-2017 Consumers Union of U.S.
Big Little Lies, HBOs twisty and absorbing new miniseries, never seems entirely sure whether it wants you to snicker at its catty cabal of Monterey mommies or to feel acutely sorry for them. On the one hand, theyre perpetually engaging in petty power plays while clutching goblets of wine and staring out at the ocean from gazillion-dollar beachfront properties. On the other, despite their immense privilege, their problems are basically the same as everyone elses: loneliness, unhappy children, even domestic abuse. Throughout its seven episodes, the show shakes up an odd cocktail of social satire, splashy murder mystery, and absorbing emotional drama, and the result is strangely satisfying.

The show, written and created by David E. Kelley and co-executive-produced by Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman, is based on a 2014 novel by Liane Moriarty, shifting the action from a small Australian town to the picturesque California coast. Like the book, and like the ABC show Desperate Housewiveswhich Big Little Lies evokes in substance if not in stylethe episodes are structured around a murder. Exactly who was killed and whodunnit is left a mystery. But as the show plays out, its director Jean-Marc Vallee (Dallas Buyers Club) layers flashbacks detailing the buildup to the crime with clips of gossipy residents dishing the dirt on the prime suspects, who, in the words of the beleaguered school principal, arent so much helicopter parents as fucking kamikazes.

The chicklit-ish concept is elevated from the start by Vallees artful direction, and by the extraordinary ensemble cast. Witherspoon plays Madeline Martha Mackenzie, a firecracker of a full-time mom who lords her nurturer status over the high-powered career moms, and says things like, I love my grudges. I tend to them like little pets. Kidman is Celeste, an enigmatic former lawyer whose husband (Alexander Skarsgaard) increasingly crosses the line between fiery passion and physical violence. Jane (Shailene Woodley) is a younger single mom who moves to Monterey in hopes of giving her son, Ziggy, a top-class education. When Madeline and Jane meet at first-grade orientation, their bond is unexpected but swift, encouraged by the fact that Jane is victimized by Renata (Laura Dern), an executive mom bragging about boardroom battles and Hamilton tickets.

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The dialogue in the first episode tends to be over-theatrical (Youre intrinsically a nice personI have a nose for these things, Madeline tells Jane, with Witherspoon evoking her Cecily Cardew more than her Tracy Flick). In building its universe filled with Porsche Cayennes and personal rivalries, Big Little Lies keeps its primary characters at a distance. But as it continues, the show benefits from letting them reveal their humanity. Witherspoon excels as Madeline, finding the sympathetic side of a character who could easily be a monster in the hands of a less adept performer. Derns Renata, too, zigzags deftly between exaggerated displays of oneupmanship and the despair of realizing no one likes her.

Recommended: Miss Manners on Rudeness in the Age of Trump

Vallee builds up Woodleys Jane as the center of the mystery, weaving in flashbacks and dream sequences that hint at a tragic and ugly event in her past. On the sidelines is Bonnie (Zoe Kravitz), the earth mom married to Madelines ex, whose character is largely used as a device to infuriate Madeline. But its Kidman, unsurprisingly, whose plot is the most enthralling. She puts extra gloss on the veneer of her happy home, putting concerted effort into sunset selfies and super-styled casual wear. But in visits to a therapist, who pokes at the holes in her perfect life in scenes that are impeccably paced, Kidman contributes to one of the most complex and thoughtful portrayals of domestic abuse in recent memory.

If Vallee has a weakness, its for the Pacific Ocean, which features so prominently in the show that it should get top billing. Big Little Lies relies heavily on tricksjarring sound effects, false flashbacks, echoesto bolster its central mystery, but the moments tend to undermine what the show can do at its best, which is to lay bare the dynamics of female relationships, good and bad. To enjoy it necessitates swallowing down any sense of suspicion at the fact that money doesnt seem to be an issue for anyone in the show, even Jane. The flip side is that the shows own obvious display of wealthits extravagant production and loaded castset it above so many other TV dramas. Theres so much to appreciate, even if, like Madeline and Janes precocious kids, you frequently end up rolling your eyes at the absurdity of it all.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
After a week like this  in which the country's National Security Advisor resigned because of ties to the Kremlin, someone nicknamed "the foreclosure king" was put in charge of the economy and the president did something so shameful to a black reporter it's actually too depressing to type it out  it's borderline quaint to argue about someone like Milo Yiannopoulos.

But it's well worth it for what's coming on Friday.

SEE ALSO: What to do when you're so overwhelmed by the Trump presidency you can barely move





On Wednesday, Bill Maher announced that he had invited the right wing provocateur/sentient glowstick to appear on Real Time with Bill Maher. The move immediately incited social media outrage and prompted a prominent guest to cancel. Maher issued a frothy response, arguing that "nothing could serve the liberal cause better than having him exposed on Friday night.

Predictably, the comedian's argument is grounded in the same misguided premise that guided coverage of Trump's campaign  that by giving a microphone to provocateurs, we expose them  instead of doing what it really does: provide legitimacy.

People are truly bored of fighting about Milo

For many in the queer community, fighting Milo has been a grating and exhausting long-term battle. The former Breitbart columnist who commandeered the troll troops to attack Leslie Jones and claimed that "Islam is the real rape culture" has still managed to find his way to the public eye  first, by appearing in a glowing Out Magazine puff piece, then by touring college campuses nationwide.

Now, it's by showing up on Bill Maher.

Every time he makes a public appearance that's not on his Facebook page, he triggers the same outrage cycle:

1. People on Twitter rise up in protest, threaten to boycott "XYZ" and destroy it forever.

2. Someone writes a viral hot take arguing that, "Blablabla, you may not agree with him . . . but free speech!"

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3. The internet then goes after the hot-taker, who proceeds to compose a middling tweet along the lines of, "Why can't we just agree to disagree?"

4. Someone from the show issues a watered down statement that is literally impossible to decipher, 10 news organizations repost that exact same statement and call it a story.

5. Milo appears anyway. He builds his fan base. The cycle begins again.

Exposure doesn't always expose hate speech; it normalizes it

Maher, a sporadically liberal free speech advocate, seems to be blissfully ignorant about the past half-decade of cyclical internet outrage.

"If Mr. Yiannopoulos is indeed the monster Scahill claims  and he might be  nothing could serve the liberal cause better than having him exposed on Friday night," Maher wrote in his statement.

If you've spent any time following Milo drama in the past few years, Maher's approach feels like magical realism. How could he think he's "exposing" someone who's already been exposed and roasted time and time again?

That's because the comedian follows the same logic most media lived by during the primaries. There was little danger in showering Trump with copious amount of free press, the argument went, because of how blatantly unqualified Trump was for president. Audiences would pick up on him immediately. By simply broadcasting Trump's rallies on television, he would peacefully self-destruct.

As we've now learned, the opposite happened. Trump wasn't exposed when CNN played his rallies without critique  his reputation was sometimes even burnished. Sure, internet progressives tirelessly mocked Kellyanne Conway for making up a massacre. Still, 51% of Trump supporters now believe that the massacre justifies Trump's extensive Muslim ban.

Audiences who would have never been exposed to these characters now saw them in full light  and some liked what they saw.

By providing these people with a mainstream platform, hosts and journalists do little to expose Milo and Conway for their fringe ideologies. They normalize them and help make their extremist nationalist beliefs more palatable. It's much more acceptable to defend "black crime" or "killer dykes" when there's a handsome man on television defending it.

Oh please. Milo and Maher's rights to free speech are not in any kind jeopardy

Maher's motives don't appear to be strictly adversarial either. In the past, the host was slammed for saying that Islam is the "only religion that acts like the mafia." When guest Jeremy Scahill cancelled and accused Maher of Islamophobia this Wednesday, the comedian defended his reputation and invitation to Milo by arguing the following:

"Liberals will continue to lose elections as long as they follow the example of people like Mr. Scahill whose views veer into fantasy and away from bedrock liberal principles like equality of women, respect for minorities, separation of religion and state, and free speech."

Of course, both Maher and Milo have a constitutional right to free speech  but neither of their rights are endangered. Maher has his show. Milo has his book. Liberals aren't in danger of "losing elections" because they refuse to appear on some random late night comedy show. They're in danger because those beliefs, which once represented the extremist fringes of conservatism, have now become the Republican mainstream  thanks, partially, to all the free exposure.

Oh well. Milo will appear tonight. Hot takes will appear tomorrow. A few people will stop watching Maher, a few more will join up. Someone will post about it. Someone will then hate share that post. The cycle will go on and on until it all becomes so familiar we forget we still need to stop it.
Ankara (AFP) - A car bomb on Friday rocked the southeastern Turkish province of Sanliurfa, close to the Syrian border, killing a child and wounding 17 people, the provincial governor's office said.

"Eighteen of our citizens have been taken to hospital, among them a 10-year-old child who lost their life," the office said, adding that one of the injured was in a serious condition.

The explosion -- which took place near a building where prosecutors are housed -- struck the district of Viransehir, the office added.

Earlier the official Anadolu news agency had cited governor Gungor Azim Tuna as saying the dead child was a three-year-old boy.

The governor said the "terror attack" was caused by a parked vehicle that was loaded with explosives and detonated using a remote control, the agency reported.

The lodgings were badly damaged, the governor added, while Dogan news agency said other buildings and several cars in the area were also damaged.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Twitter that no terrorist organisation or attack would weaken Turkey's fight against terror.

"Our determined and effective fight against terror will continue," he said.

No group immediately claimed the attack, and Bozdag did not say which organisation the government suspected.

Turkey was hit by a series of attacks in 2016 blamed on Kurdish militants and Islamic State (IS) jihadists, killing hundreds of people. The country was also shaken by a failed military coup last July.

This year also had a bloody start, with a New Year's attack on an elite Istanbul nightclub that left 39 people dead, most of them foreigners. The attack was claimed by IS.

Last month the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), a splinter group of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), claimed responsibility for an attack that left two dead in the Aegean city of Izmir.

The PKK has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 during which over 40,000 people have been killed. It is proscribed as a terror organisation by Ankara, the United States and the European Union.

The Turkish government says the TAK is merely a front for the better-known PKK.
TOKYO (AP)  The Japanese author of a book about Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean leader's half brother who was killed this week at a Malaysian airport, says Kim opposed his family's hereditary rule and wanted economic reforms.

Tokyo-based journalist Yoji Gomi's book "My Father, Kim Jong Il, and Me," provides a rare view into North Korea's ruling family, including Kim Jong Nam, who was apparently assassinated on Monday.

Gomi said Kim Jong Nam, the son of late North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il and the half brother of current leader Kim Jong Un, represented a small hope for change in the isolated communist country.

"I thought he was someone who has something meaningful to say, and perhaps bring change to North Korea," Gomi said at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.

Their seven-year relationship began in 2004 when Gomi met Kim Jong Nam by chance at Beijing's international airport, leading to exchanges of 150 emails and two interviews in 2011  one in Beijing and another in Macau  totaling seven hours, Gomi said.

"He was critical of the North Korean regime," and said its hereditary leadership "does not agree with a socialist system, and the leader should be chosen through a democratic process," Gomi said.

Kim Jong Nam also said North Korea cannot survive without Chinese-style economic reforms, Gomi said.

He said Kim Jong Nam appeared nervous during their 2011 interview in Macau.

"He must have been aware of the danger, but I believe he still wanted to convey his views to Pyongyang via the media," Gomi said. "He was sweating all over his body, and seemed very uncomfortable when he responded to my questions. He was probably worried about the impact of his comments and expressions. The thought now gives me a pain in my heart."

There is wide speculation that North Korea's government was involved in Kim Jong Nam's death. Malaysian police have arrested three people in the case, but it's not yet known whether they have links to North Korea.

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Kim Jong Nam said the Chinese government protected him in China and gave him a bodyguard, but did not do so elsewhere in Asia, Gomi said.

South Korea's intelligence service says Beijing had long protected Kim Jong Nam, perhaps because it may have seen him as a future North Korean leader should the current government in Pyongyang collapse.

Kim Jong Nam's frequent trips to Southeast Asian countries in recent years may have indicated a growing distance between him and China's government, Gomi said.

After spending his teens in Europe, Kim Jong Nam traveled in North Korea with Kim Jong Il, an indication his father once considered his oldest son as a possible successor.

Kim Jong Nam believed he fell from his father's favor because of his criticism of the regime, Gomi said. Kim Jong Nam said he couldn't comment on Kim Jong Un because they had never met.

Kim Jong Nam apparently found his country too rigid. He enjoyed dining at a restaurant in China where South Koreans, Japanese and other nationalities freely gathered, enjoying drinking and talking, Gomi said.

"He said he hoped to see the world become like that, without walls, someday. I still can't forget that comment," Gomi said.

___

Follow Mari Yamaguchi on Twitter at twitter.com/mariyamaguchi

Her work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/mari-yamaguchi
By Maja Zuvela and Daria Sito-Sucic SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Bosnia will appeal a U.N. court ruling that cleared Serbia of blame for genocide, the Muslim Bosniak member of the country's presidency said on Friday, a move likely to widen rifts between the ethnic groups which fought the 1992-95 war. The 2007 judgment by the International Court of Justice exonerated Serbia of direct responsibility for killings, rapes and "ethnic cleansing" in Bosnia during the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, though it said Serbia had failed to prevent genocide. And while the ICJ ruling concluded that genocide had occurred at Srebrenica, where about 8,000 Muslims were slaughtered by Bosnian Serb forces, it did not say genocide had happened in other parts of Bosnia. Bakir Izetbegovic, the Bosniak member of the three-man presidency alongside Serbian and Croatian peers, has engaged a lawyer without his colleagues' consent to prepare the lawsuit ahead of a 10-year deadline on Feb. 26. "The request for (revision) will be filed next week," Izetbegovic, who heads the largest Bosniak party, SDA, told a news conference after meeting lawyers and war survivors. The goal is to prove that genocide was so widespread that it could not be limited to Srebrenica, he added. The Bosnian Serb and Croat leaders have opposed his initiative, saying it would violate the constitution and cause a political crisis in the volatile Balkan country. Serb lawmakers in the national parliament have indicated they may boycott the legislature until the ICJ declares on the request. Milorad Dodik, the president of Bosnia's autonomous Serb Republic, asked the Serb representatives in state institutions to dispute the appeal before the ICJ and launch criminal proceedings against Izetbegovic. Izetbegovic said the revision of the judgment carried an "obvious risk" but he could not give up. "To trade with human suffering and genocide for the sake of political stability would cause a disastrous damage to the dignity of the victims," he said. "This is bad news," Aleksandar Vucic, the prime minister of Serbia, which provided financial and logistics support for Bosnian Serb troops during the war, was quoted as saying by Tanjug news agency. Izetbegovic said among the new evidence to be submitted would be material from the trial of Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb general facing charges at the U.N. war crimes tribunal over his role in the Srebrenica massacre. "All we want is justice and we have the right to it," said Kada Hotic, who lost her son, husband and two brothers in the genocide. (Additional reporting by Gordana Katana in Banja Luka and Ivana Sekularac in Belgrade, writing by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Gareth Jones and Robin Pomeroy)
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP)  Bosnia will ask the United Nation's top court to reconsider its 2007 ruling that cleared Serbia of genocide during Bosnia's 1992-95 war.

Bakir Izetbegovic, Muslim Bosniak member of the county's tripartite presidency, announced Friday the request will be submitted before Feb. 26, when the deadline for appealing expires. The appeal will be initiated despite a lack of consent from his Croat and Serb counterparts in the presidency.

The decision is expected to plunge Bosnia into a political crisis, as Bosnian Serb legislators plan to boycott parliament to show their opposition.

However, Izetbegovic insists no new approval is required, as Bosnia's legal representative in the case will simply submit an appeal.

Bosnia sued neighboring Serbia before the International Court of Justice in 1993 over its political and military backing for Bosnian Serbs' war effort.

The U.N. court ruled in 2007 that a 1995 massacre in the Bosnian city of Srebrenica of 8,000 Muslims by Bosnian Serbs was genocide, but it cleared Serbia of responsibility for the killings. It did say, however, that Serbia was responsible for failing to prevent the slaughter.

The Srebrenica massacre was the worst mass killing in Europe since World War II and the bloodiest episode in the Bosnian war, which claimed 100,000 lives.
Workers at British supermarkets are just the best, aren't they? This has been proven true so many times recently.

SEE ALSO: Woman at checkout reacts to girl's anxiety attack in the best possible way

This time, a Tesco employee was praised by the mother of a child with autism for asking her son if he'd like to scan his mum's shopping.

The child's mother, Emma Louise Passmore, posted a touching thank you message on the Tesco Facebook page:

"I just want to say what fantastic service we received from a lady called Carol on the checkouts at around 8.30pm last night. Our son is autistic and suffers from sensory processing disorder making shopping almost impossible. We decided to try going later in the evening hoping he would cope better. Hence why he is in his pjs [pyjamas]."

When they go to the checkout, the little boy started to act up. That's when Carol stepped in and offered to let him help her out.

"Usually he hates strangers but he took a real liking to her and got up with her and helped her scan all our 270 shop and loved every minute he didn't want to leave!! So thank you to Tesco and to Carol for giving us our most enjoyable and memorable shopping experience!"

She later added that the boy was so happy that he slept all night for the first time in months. "I think it tired him out lol."

Tesco Customer Care responded saying: "This is absolutely wonderful to see and I'm so happy my colleague let your little one help with your shopping!"
How does spending an entire week playing with a puppy and getting paid for it sound to you? Too good to be true?

We're here to inform you that there is a company which allows their employees to do that. Yes, that exists.

Companies all over the world have stepped up their game to ensure a high quality of life for their employees by offering all sorts of competitive perks and benefits. But we have found the one company that has every other place beat, hands down, no question.

BrewDog, a brewery based in Scotland, announced on Monday that it would be instituting "Puppy Parental Leave" across their company.

SEE ALSO: Gather round and be blessed by this precious puppy's 'newborn' photoshoot

"We know only too well that having a new arrival  whether a mewling pup or unsettled rescue dog  can be stressful for human and hound both," BrewDog stated on its website. "So we are becoming the first in our industry to give our staff a working weeks leave on us to help settle a new furry family member into their home."

If it were possible to give an entire company a hug, we would be doing it to BrewDog right now.

Their announcement also came with this adorable video explaining the policy.

As you may have guessed by the brewery's name, dogs are an essential part of the identity of BrewDog. Indeed, the brewery was founded by two men and a dog.

"Ever since Bracken, the original Brew Dog, first watched James and Martin mash in batch number one of Punk IPA back in 2007 dogs have been central to our way of life," the brewery mentions on its site.

BrewDog also encourages its employees to bring their dogs to work. Their main office in Scotland boasts 50 "office dogs."

How does anyone get any work done there?

While the brewery is headquartered in Scotland, they are planning on opening up another brewery in Columbus, Ohio. And just a reminder, the puppy paid leave policy extends to all employees anywhere.

We'll just leave their careers page here for you for easy access.
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP)  The mayor of Budapest said Friday he will meet next week with Prime Minister Viktor Orban to decide about the possible withdrawal of the city's bid for the 2024 Olympics.

Mayor Istvan Tarlos said he had already met with Orban for nearly two hours on Friday afternoon, mostly to discuss the apparently successful petition launched by a small opposition party asking for a referendum on the bid.

Tarlos said the city assembly as well as the government Cabinet would meet separately on Wednesday to review the situation and then he would meet again with Orban.

"Then we will discuss and decide which are the upcoming, desirable steps, at the ethical and practical level, about the Olympics," Tarlos said on state television.

The Momentum Movement, a new political group, presented election officials with forms containing 266,151 signatures seeking a referendum, far more than the minimum of 138,000 valid signatures needed.

"Over a quarter million signatures have come together so this money is spent on modern hospitals and well-equipped schools instead of on the Olympics," said Andras Fekete-Gyor, chairman of the Momentum Movement.

He added it would be "cowardly" if authorities tried to block the referendum or withdrew the candidacy without allowing the referendum to take place.

"We emphatically request Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Mayor Istvan Tarlos to hold the referendum and refrain from blocking it from being held," Fekete-Gyor said at Budapest City Hall. "Not asking people's opinions about organizing the Olympics in Hungary was a huge omission on their part."

Earlier Friday, Tarlos said he would consider withdrawing if enough people backed the referendum but said it was "treason" on part of the opposition to abandon its support for the bid.

The head of the Hungarian Olympic Committee said the decision was up to the Budapest Assembly and blamed the opposition parties, some of which helped gather signatures for the referendum, with splitting Hungarian society.

Story continues

"With this activity, they have greatly weakened and constantly weaken Budapest's chances and weaken Hungary's bid," committee chairman Zsolt Borkai said in a statement.

The bid has received strong backing from Orban, an avid sports enthusiast, though last year he compared Budapest to David competing against the Goliaths of Los Angeles and Paris, the remaining bidders after Hamburg and Rome withdrew their candidacies.

Fekete-Gyor said election officials had 45 days to review the signatures and determine whether the valid number had been reached. Several earlier attempts to hold similar referendums in Budapest or nationally were either blocked by the courts or abandoned.

The International Olympic Committee will select the host city in September.
Nairobi (AFP) - Burundi's government on Friday asked Tanzania to arrest several leaders of the main opposition attending peace talks in Arusha in a bid to resolve a nearly two-year political crisis.

The talks are the latest effort by former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa to mediate the crisis in neighbouring Burundi which erupted when President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a third term in office in April 2015.

But the government has once again refused to attend the talks and negotiate with the main umbrella opposition movement, the National Council for the Restoration of Arusha Agreement and Rule of Law (CNARED) -- which is exiled in Brussels.

Bujumbura considers the party a "terrorist organisation" and accuses it of leading a coup plot in May 2015 at the start of the unrest.

To drive its point home, Burundi's embassy addressed a letter to the Tanzanian government asking it to "arrest those wanted Burundians who are now in Arusha for the inter-Burundi dialogue".

Burundi's Foreign Minister Aime-Alain Nyamitwe confirmed the information contained in the letter.

A legal source in Burundi told AFP the request "concerns several politicians who fled into exile and who are targeted by an international arrest warrant issued by Burundi's prosecutor for their role in the (foiled) coup of May 2015".

It affects nearly the entire CNARED delegation of seven leading opposition figures. Those accused have denied any role in the attempted coup.

While the government is officially boycotting the talks, a top official from the ruling CNDD-FDD is among the delegations, but has refused to sit at the same table as CNARED.

The talks got underway Friday morning, and Mkapa is hoping they will lead to an agreement "on the principle and spirit of the Arusha peace accords" credited with ending a 12-year civil war in 2006.

He also wants consensus that Burundi's constitution will not undergo revision "until the situation has stabilised".

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The Burundi government launched such a reform process on Wednesday that members of civil society and government fear could lift provisions on term limits and allow Nkurunziza to seek a fourth term in 2020.

CNARED's executive secretary Anicet Niyonkuru said the request for the party's officials to be arrested did not come as a surprise.

"The regime has once again shown its refusal to see peace and stability return to Burundi, but we are not worried as we got assurances from the Tanzanian government before coming here."

Nkurunziza's third-term run and victory plunged the central African nation into turmoil, with hundreds killed in ensuing unrest. Nearly 400,000 have fled the country.

A September report by UN rights experts recounted spine-chilling cases of torture and horrific sexual violence, mass arrests and disappearances and warned that "the crime of genocide also looms large".
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP)  A Cambodian political analyst was arrested Friday based on a criminal complaint by Prime Minister Hun Sen that he had defamed him in a radio interview.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court accepted charges of defamation and inciting chaos against Kim Sok and put him in pretrial detention, said its spokesman, Ly Sophana. He could face up to two years in prison if convicted. Hun Sen is also seeking $502,500 in compensation.

Kim Sok last week gave an interview to the Cambodian-language service of U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia that Hun Sen felt implied his government was behind the killing last year of another political analyst and critic of the government, Kem Ley. The trial for the lone suspect is set to begin next month.

Hun Sen's government in the past year has put increasing legal pressure on its critics and political opponents, keeping them tied up in court, sending them fleeing into exile, or sometimes jailing them. The courts are widely considered to be under the sway of Hun Sen and his ruling Cambodian People's Party

Nest week, the National Assembly is expected to pass a law that will restrict political parties and would dissolve them if they violate the rules.

These actions by Hun Sen and his party are seen as an attempt to shore up their strength ahead of local elections this year and a general election in 2018.

Hun Sen has been in power for three decades and has announced his intention not to step down. The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party mounted an unexpectedly strong challenge in the 2013 election.

About 200 supporters joined Kim Sok as he walked about 5 kilometers (3 miles) to answer his summons to the court. He told reporters he was not scared by Hun Sen or the prospect of prison, especially if an unjust law was applied against him.

Information Minister Khieu Kanharith, a long-time Hun Sen loyalist, said on his Facebook page that Kim Sok's remarks could not be tolerated because the ruling party's reputation had been impugned by the suggestion that it was involved in murder.




President Trump vowed today to crack down on low-life leakers who set in motion the events that led to the firing of his national security adviser, Gen. Mike Flynn. The leakers  also known to journalists as sources  disclosed that Flynn had spoken to the Russian ambassador during the Trump transition about easing sanctions that had been imposed by then-President Barack Obama.

Ive actually called the Justice Department to look into the leaks, Trump said in a lengthy press conference Thursday afternoon, much of it consumed by complaints about the coverage he has received in the media. Those are criminal leaks.

The Washington Post reported last week that nine current and former administration officials contested Flynns repeated claim that he did not discuss easing sanctions with Russian officials, relying on reports from U.S. intelligence agencies that intercept Russians phone calls. Days later, Flynn was forced to resign.

Revealing classified information from intercepted communications is a felony under the Espionage Act, and Trump has indicated that he wants a prosecution of those leaks. Reporting on the information is also a felony under the same law, though courts would likely find that the press is allowed to print the information under the First Amendment.

The Justice Department did not return multiple requests for comment on whether they had opened an investigation into the leaks or received Trumps request for a probe.

On Twitter, Trump also suggested news outlets that reported the information were culpable. He said the New York Times should apologize for printing leaked information, though he didnt specify which article he was referring to.

When asked about the presidents demand for an apology, Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman for the New York Times, said the paper is proud of the work our investigative team does.

All this information gets put into the Washington Post and gets put into the New York Times, Trump said in his press conference, referring to accounts of his calls with the leaders of Australia and Mexico. And Im saying, Whats going to happen when Im dealing on the Middle East? Whats going to happen when Im dealing with really, really important subjects like North Korea? Weve got to stop it. Thats why its a criminal penalty.

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Bradley Moss, a Washington lawyer specializing in national security issues, said he believes Trump would not take the risk of attempting to prosecute a journalist for reporting leaks since that would likely violate the press First Amendment protections. The federal government has not prosecuted a reporter under the Espionage Act since World War II.

Prosecuting the leakers, however, is far likelier. The Justice Department could use the Espionage Act to charge that the administration official had leaked national defense information. A claim that leaking the information was in the publics interest would not constitute a defense, although it could be used to argue for a more lenient sentence. The Obama White House used the Espionage Act to go after leakers more than any other administration.

President Trump speaks during a news conference at the White House in Washington on Feb. 16. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

However, its likely that the officials were careful in how they spoke to journalists, using encrypted messaging apps to avoid leaving tracks, Moss speculated.

Unless someone made a major slip-up and exposed themselves as the source of the leak, it will be difficult to track them down, Moss said.

Any prosecution of leaks would ultimately come under the purview of recently confirmed Attorney General Jeff Sessions. In 2013, when he was a senator, Sessions argued against a bill that would have protected reporters confidential sources and has taken strong stands against leaking of national security information.

Freedom of the press allows the press to publish freely, and it guarantees that, he said. It does not guarantee the press the ability to aid and abet, to conspire with government officials to leak sensitive information thats classified.

During Sessions confirmation hearing, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota asked him if he agreed with the Obama administration Justice Department regulations urging the department to avoid prosecuting reporters. He said he had not had a chance to review the new regulations but, for the most part, there is a broadly recognized and proper deference to the news media.

He added, But you could have a situation in which a media is not really the unbiased media we see today, and they could be a mechanism through which unlawful intelligence is obtained.

Gregg Leslie, legal defense director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said his organization is concerned that journalists could be prosecuted under the Espionage Act, but he doubts that the courts would uphold any of those prosecutions. More likely is that a journalist would be subpoenaed to testify about his or her sources. If the reporter refuses, he or she could be charged with contempt or other crimes.

Leslie was also troubled by Trumps demand that the Times apologize for reporting accurately on confidential information the government did not want the people to know.

Theres no way they should apologize for accepting and printing leaked information, Leslie said. The American people deserve that. We need to know whats really going on, not just what the White House press office says is happening.

Read more from Yahoo News:
Ottawa (AFP) - A surge in the number of overdose deaths in Canada has led to more organs being available for transplant, an official at the epicenter of the opioid crisis said Friday.

"We've seen more organs available for transplant and a proportion of those have been due to drug overdoses," David Landsberg, British Columbia medical director of transplant services, said in a telephone interview with AFP.

Canada is in the grips of a deadly spike in fentanyl abuse. Highly potent and addictive, the analgesic is estimated to be up to 100 times stronger than morphine.

Two milligrams of pure fentanyl -- the size of about four grains of salt -- is enough to kill the average adult.

The government announced Friday a Can$75 million ($57.3 million) package to combat overdose deaths linked to fentanyl and try to curb abuse for its heroin-like effect.

The uptick in both fentanyl overdose deaths and transplants began in late 2016.

From the beginning of this year to February 15, there have been 59 organs from 20 donors used in transplants, according to figures provided by BC Transplant.

That is up from 37 organs from 10 donors transplanted in the same period in 2016.

One quarter of the organs transplanted this year came from people who died of a fentanyl overdose, said Landsberg.

The coroner in westernmost British Columbia, which has been hardest hit by Canada's opioid crisis, reported 914 "apparent illicit drug overdose deaths" in 2016 -- a 79.2 percent year-over-year increase.

Fentanyl-related deaths accounted for two-thirds of the total, it said.

The trend so far this year has not abated, with 116 overdose deaths reported in January.

Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott earlier announced Can$65 million to combat the opioid crisis, plus another Can$10 million to bolster British Columbia emergency services.

Last year, faced with soaring fentanyl overdose deaths, the federal government cracked down on imports of fentanyl and its precursors, distributed thousands of naloxone kits and removed legal hurdles to opening new supervised injection sites.

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The first new sites in more than a decade -- also called drug consumption rooms -- were approved earlier this month in Montreal. Until now, Vancouver had the only safe injection site on the continent.

- 'Mixed blessing' -

At Saint Paul's Hospital in downtown Vancouver, Landsberg said he deals "firsthand" with both tragic overdose deaths and life-giving transplants.

"I'm ambivalent about it," he said after a pause. "It's a mixed blessing."

"I'd like to see the end of the fentanyl epidemic but I'd also like to see the many people on donor waiting list get help."

Overdose victims are treated the same as any other potential donor, according to officials. They may already be a registered organ donor, and if not, physicians may ask their family for consent.

An overdose victim could only be an organ donor if after resuscitation their organs are healthy, but there is significant brain trauma or death.

"At this point, further care is futile so doctors would urge withdrawal of life support... and look at possible organ donation after death," Landsberg explained.

Drugs would typically have cleared the donor's system by the time organs are removed for transplant.

However, there is a heightened concern about the possible transmission of infectious diseases, as drug addicts are considered to be at a higher risk of contracting HIV, hepatitis or other diseases, for example, if they share needles to inject drugs.

"We are worried about these high-risk behaviors, so we are meticulous in screening (organs) for infectious diseases," Landsberg said, adding that the risk of transmission through organ transplant is "low."

"We discuss that in detail with the (organ) recipient and only go ahead with their approval," he said.
By Michael Georgy SULAIYMANIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - Islamic State militant Amar Hussein says he reads the Koran all day in his tiny jail cell to become a better person. He also says he raped more than 200 women from Iraqi minorities, and shows few regrets. Kurdish intelligence authorities gave Reuters rare access to Hussein and another Islamic State militant who were both captured during an assault on the city of Kirkuk in October that killed 99 civilians and members of the security forces. Sixty-three Islamic State militants died. Hussein said his emirs, or local Islamic State commanders, gave him and others a green light to rape as many Yazidi and other women as they wanted. Young men need this, Hussein told Reuters in an interview after a Kurdish counter-terrorism agent removed a black hood from his head. This is normal. Hussein said he moved from house to house in several Iraqi cities raping women from the Yazidi sect and other minorities at a time when Islamic State was grabbing more and more territory from Iraqi security forces. Kurdish security officials say they have evidence of Hussein raping and killing but they don't know what the scale is. Reuters could not independently verify Hussein's account. Witnesses and Iraqi officials say Islamic State fighters raped many Yazidi women after the group rampaged through northern Iraq in 2014. It also abducted many Yazidi women as sex slaves and killed some of their male relatives, they said. Human rights groups have chronicled widespread abuses by Islamic State against the Yazidis. Hussein said he also killed about 500 people since joining Islamic State in 2013. "We shot whoever we needed to shoot and beheaded whoever we needed to beheaded," said Hussein. He recalled how emirs trained him to kill, which was difficult at first when one person was brought for a practice kill. It became easier day by day. "Seven, eight, ten at a time. Thirty or 40 people. We would take them in desert and kill them," said Hussein, an imposing, well-built figure, who was wearing metal handcuffs. Eventually, he became highly efficient, never hesitating to kill. "I would sit them down, put a blindfold on them and fire a bullet into their heads," he said. "It was normal." TROUBLE Counter-terrorism agents said Hussein was trouble when he first arrived. "He was so strong he snapped the plastic handcuffs off his wrists," said one. Hussein sees himself as a victim of hardship, a product of a broken home and poverty in his hometown of Mosul, where Iraqi forces have launched an offensive against Islamic State to dislodge them from their last stronghold in Iraq. "I had no money. No one to say 'This is wrong, this is right.' No jobs. I had friends but no one to give me advice," said Hussein, who has been held in the cell with a barred window since his capture in October. Religious slogans are scratched on its cement walls by previous jihadist prisoners. His only possessions are a thick blanket and a Koran. On the floor is a polystyrene plate with broth and some rice. Thick, metal handcuffs hang on a nearby wall. Hussein, now 21, began his career as an Islamic militant began when he was just 14, he said. He was drawn to jihad by his local mosque preacher, then he joined al Qaeda and now awaits legal proceedings as a member of Islamic State, the successor of al Qaeda's Iraq branch. Counter-terrorism agents described a second prisoner, Ghaffar Abdel Rahman, as less forthcoming, and said he had revealed little during questioning about his experiences as a checkpoint and logistics man for Islamic State. Abdel Rahman, 31, with long hair and beard and a blank stare, gave little away in a separate interview with Reuters. He admitted to opening fire on security forces in the raid on Kirkuk but says he never killed anyone. He said he and his brother joined Islamic State because otherwise, as state employees, they would have been killed by the group. His Kurdish captors did not comment on his story, but Iraqi authorities are generally sceptical of fighters who say they had no choice. Abdel Rahman's only hint of anger came when he was asked his view of Shi'ite Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and he suggested Iraq would always be plagued by instability because many sects live in the country. "He (Abadi) does not provide people with justice," said Abdel Rahman. (Editing by Peter Graff)
BAGHDAD (AP)  The Islamic State group attacked a battalion of state-sponsored militia southeast of Tikrit on Friday, killing at least eight militia members, an intelligence official said.

IS claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted by its Aamaq news agency. The statement said IS fighters had struck the 9th Battalion of the Popular Mobilization Forces, "killing its commander and 13 soldiers."

The statement also said that IS fighters blew up the battalion's headquarters and other nearby positions and destroyed two Humvees that had arrived to assist the battalion.

The intelligence official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to brief reporters.

The Popular Mobilization Forces are state-sponsored militias, largely comprised of Shiite Muslims, battling IS across the country.

Also on Friday, a police officer and medical sources said the death toll from a car bomb attack in a southern Baghdad neighborhood has reached 59 with 66 others injured.

Authorities initially said the Thursday night attack at an auto dealership in the al-Bayaa neighborhood killed at least 55 and wounded more than 60. The Islamic State group claimed credit for the bombing.

The police officer and medical personnel spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

IS, in a statement early Friday, said its fighters detonated bombs in a parked car among a gathering of Shiites in the Fifth Police district Thursday. It did not give further details.

The extremist group has carried out near-daily attacks in Baghdad despite suffering military setbacks elsewhere in the country, including in the northern city of Mosul, where U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have been waging a major operation since October.

The spiritual leader of Iraq's Shiites Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, expressed his condolences for the victims' families and called on those "responsible for decision-making to recognize their responsibility to preserve security."

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His comments were delivered at Friday prayers by his representative, Ahmed al-Safi, in the holy city of Karbala.

The U.S. State Department condemned the bombing, saying such attacks show the extremist group's "utter contempt for human life and its efforts to sow discord and division among the Iraqi people."

U.N. Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General Farhan Haq too condemned the attack in a statement issued Friday, which also conveyed "solidarity to the people of Iraq in resisting attempts to spread fear, intimidation and hatred."

Another four attacks in and around Baghdad on Thursday killed eight people and wounded around 30, authorities said.

The bomb attacks claimed by IS are seen as an attempt to distract attention as the militants cede territory along front lines in northern and western Iraq.

Elsewhere, Jaafar Husseine, spokesman for the Hezbollah Brigades, an Iraqi Shiite paramilitary group supported by Iran, said his brigade was fighting IS in the village of Ein Hasan west of Tal Afar in Nineveh province, 63 kilometers (39 miles) from Mosul. He said the unit had air support from the Iraqi army to thwart IS's attempt to open a passageway into neighboring Syria.

Separately, followers of influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr began gathering in Baghdad's downtown Tahrir square for a silent demonstration called for by al-Sadr. The demonstration comes after last weekend's clashes with police that left five dead.

Al-Sadr is demanding an overhaul of the commission overseeing local elections scheduled this year. He has accused the commission of being riddled with corruption and has called for its overhaul

Security authorities Friday blocked roads leading to the square but there was no heavy security presence in the area.
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP)  The Court of Arbitration for Sport says Nesta Carter has filed an appeal against his doping ban, a sanction that caused Usain Bolt to lose one of his nine Olympic gold medals.

Carter tested positive for the banned stimulant methylhexaneamine in fresh analysis of his urine sample given at the 2008 Beijing Games. The positive test led to the rest of the Jamaican 4x100-meter relay team, including Bolt, losing their gold medals.

A CAS verdict will likely take several months. The court says a three-member judging panel must be appointed before a hearing date can be set.

CAS says the panel will then "deliberate and at a later date, it will issue a decision."
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, who has refused Democratic requests to investigate possible conflicts of interest involving President Donald Trump, is seeking criminal charges against a former State Department employee who helped set up Hillary Clinton's private email server.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday asking him to convene a grand jury or charge Bryan Pagliano, the computer specialist who helped establish Clinton's server while she was secretary of state.

Pagliano did not comply with two subpoenas ordering him to appear before the oversight panel. The GOP-led committee later voted to hold him in contempt of Congress.

Earlier this month, Chaffetz met with Trump at the White House and agreed not to discuss oversight. He has rebuffed calls for his panel to look into Trump's businesses and possible conflicts.

Chaffetz said in a statement that allowing Pagliano's conduct "to go unaddressed would gravely harm Congress' ability to conduct oversight."

Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said pursuing charges against Pagliano would be a waste of time and money.

"Apparently, Chairman Chaffetz and President Trump are the only two people in Washington today who think we should still be investigating Secretary Clinton," Cumming said in a statement. He added: "The Oversight Committee can't afford to be distracted by political vendettas against Hillary Clinton while our constituents are begging us to conduct responsible oversight of President Trump."

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Pagliano refused to answer questions in 2015 from a House panel investigating the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya. He later spoke to the FBI under immunity, telling the bureau there were no successful security breaches of the home-brew server, located at Clinton's home in suburban New York City.

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Pagliano said he was aware of many failed login attempts that he described as "brute force attacks."

The email issue shadowed Clinton's candidacy for president, and Republicans were steadfast in focusing on her use of a private server for government business, with several high-profile hearings leading up to the election. Chaffetz and other Republicans cast Clinton as reckless with U.S. national security by insisting on using private communications systems at potentially greater risk of being penetrated by Chinese and Russian hackers.

But Democrats insist the sole purpose of the Benghazi hearings  and a separate inquiry by Chaffetz  was to undermine Clinton's presidential bid. She lost to Trump despite winning the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes.

FBI Director James Comey announced last July that the FBI was not recommending charges against Clinton in the email case, although he characterized her actions as "extremely careless," a remark that Democrats condemned as unnecessary editorializing.

Then, just 11 days before the Nov. 8 election, Comey advised Congress that new emails potentially connected to the case had been discovered and would need to be reviewed. A follow-up letter nine days later said the email review had done nothing to change the FBI's original conclusion. Many Democrats and Clinton herself have suggested that Comey's actions so close to the election likely affected the outcome.
By Timothy Mclaughlin

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Glen Brooks, a Chicago Police Department area coordinator, stood in front of a sometimes hostile crowd for the third time this week, calling on the community to help curb the city's gun violence.

"There is an evil out here, if we do not organize and become powerful it will continue to spread," he said Thursday night, speaking in the parking lot of an auto parts store on the city's West Side.

"It will continue to take our young men and turn them into something no parent could ever imagine."

In the wake of three fatal shootings of young children  aged 2, 11 and 12  in recent days, the department held a series of interventions aimed at convincing those in violent neighborhoods to become more involved.

The police also want to overcome years of mistrust that has led to hostility with the city's minority communities, which see the police as having used excessive force against its members for years.

Discriminatory policing practices in Chicago's minority neighborhoods have "eroded CPD's ability to effectively prevent crime," a January report from the Department of Justice said. The rate of solved murders in Chicago regularly lags the national average.

Neighborhoods on the city's South and West Sides, where the three children were shot this week, are impoverished and plagued by unemployment.

Last year, Chicago, the nation's third-largest city, had a surge in violence that sent murders to 762, the highest since 1996.

The children who died this week were three of the 74 people murdered so far this year, a decrease from 82 in the same period last year, according to police. The number of shootings has ticked up to 330 from 324 in the same period last year.

Police, and community activists, point to the arrest of Antwan Jones, 19, who turned himself in and was charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Takiya Holmes, 11, as an example of how quickly cases can be closed if people are willing to work with law enforcement.

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"We need the community to help us," Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said after Jones' arrest. "In this case, they stepped up."

Police were assisted by community activist Andrew Holmes, who worked with other groups and spoke to Jones' mother in an effort to convince him to turn himself in.

"They are not our enemy," Holmes said of the police in an interview with Reuters.

(Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Editing by Dan Grebler)
BEIJING (AP)  China is ordering the closure of live poultry markets in its south-central regions as it grapples with the worst outbreak of bird flu in years that has killed at least 87 people.

State media reported Friday that the National Health and Family Planning Commission ordered closures anywhere with cases of the H7N9 strain.

Most reported cases have been found in the densely populated Yangtze and Pearl river deltas from Shanghai to Hong Kong. Those areas generally experience mild, wet winters that are ideal for the virus transmission. In all, more than 250 cases have been reported from 16 provinces and regions, including as far away as the southwestern province of Yunnan.

The death toll since the start of the year has been unmatched since at least 2013.

In addition to the market closures, the commission is training health workers in the screening, early diagnosis and treatment of the disease, while urging people to avoid contact with live birds.

H7N9 is considered to be less virulent than the H5N1 strain that the World Health Organization has linked to hundreds of deaths worldwide over the last decade. H7N9 is not believed to be transmitted between humans, but rather by infected poultry.

China has gained extensive experience in dealing with such crises since being hit by the 2003 SARS outbreak that was believed to have originated among animals in southern China. A preference among Chinese for live-bought, freshly-slaughtered poultry complicates the government's efforts to eradicate such diseases.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the market closures this time have "greatly reduced the number of new infections in many regions," citing Ni Daxin, deputy director of the emergency response center at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

___

This story corrects virus strain.
MUNICH (Reuters) - China has not given up hope for a new round of diplomacy with North Korea to prevent Pyongyang making further advances in its weapons program in violation of U.N. resolutions, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday. North Korea said this week it had successfully test-fired a new type of medium- to long-range ballistic missile. State-run KCNA news agency said leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test of the weapon capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. "There are still opportunities for the resumption of six-part talks," Wang told the Munich Security Conference, referring to talks with the United States, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia. "We should work to bring the parties back to the table." In 2005, North Korea reached an agreement with those six countries to suspend its nuclear program in return for diplomatic rewards and energy assistance. Negotiations collapsed after the last round of talks in 2008, with North Korea declaring the deal void after refusing inspections to verify compliance and leading to a series of new sanctions on Pyongyang, as well as international condemnation. "We hope for all parties concerned will refrain from taking further actions that may lead to escalations of the tensions," Wang said. North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests, including two last year, although its claims to be able to miniaturize a nuclear weapon to be mounted on a missile have never been verified independently. (Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Dominic Evans)
China on Friday urged a resumption of six-party talks with North Korea on Pyongyang's nuclear programme, saying a "negative cycle" of nuclear missile tests followed by sanctions must end.

"Today, what we see is nuclear test, sanction, nuclear test and then sanction again," said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

"This negative cycle should not continue. Because the ultimate end result could be something that no one can bear. It's a situation where everyone loses," he said.

Wang stressed that UN Security Council resolutions -- including sanctions -- against Pyongyang should be fully implemented, but added: "We cannot give up on seeking a resumption of talks."

"On this point, the United States and North Korea ... must quickly come to a political decision," he said.

"We hope and call on all parties to stop taking any action that would provoke tensions."

The North quit the now-stalled negotiations aimed at curbing its nuclear weapons programme in 2009, and soon afterwards carried out its second atomic test. The talks are hosted by China, and include South Korea, the United States, Russia, and Japan.

Beijing, the North's main diplomatic protector and economic benefactor, wants to revive negotiations, although Washington, Seoul and Tokyo all insist Pyongyang must first take some tangible steps towards denuclearisation.

Earlier Friday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson used his first meeting with Wang to urge Beijing to help rein in North Korea after its series of nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

North Korea's latest missile was launched Sunday near the western city of Kusong and flew east about 500 kilometres (310 miles) before falling into the Sea of Japan (East Sea), South Korea's defence ministry has said.
China's Foreign Ministry warned the U.S on Wednesday against its plans of conducting fresh naval patrols in the disputed South China Sea, saying that Washington should not carry out any action that challenges Beijing's sovereignty and security.

U.S. Navy and Pacific Command leaders are considering freedom of navigation patrols in the waterway by the San Diego-based Carl Vinson carrier strike group, the Navy Times reported Sunday, citing anonymous defense officials. China claims most of the South China Sea and its reclamation work in the region has been heavily criticized by the U.S.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said that the U.S., or any other foreign nation, should not stoke any tensions in the South China Sea that have been stabilized after constant hard work between China and Southeast Asia countries.

"We urge the U.S. not to take any actions that challenge China's sovereignty and security," Geng told a regular news briefing, according to Reuters.

The last freedom of navigation operation by the U.S was conducted in October 2016, when it sailed the guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur near the Paracel Islands and within waters claimed by China. The patrols conducted by the U.S. fall under international law, allowing ships with their countrys flags to sail without interference from other nations.

Dave Bennett, a spokesman for Carrier Strike Group One, said future operations of its units have not been discussed so far, and that "the Carl Vinson Strike Group is on a regularly scheduled Western Pacific deployment as part of the U.S. Pacific Fleet-led initiative to extend the command and control functions of the U.S. 3rd Fleet." He added: "U.S. Navy aircraft carrier strike groups have patrolled the Indo-Asia-Pacific regularly and routinely for more than 70 years."

China has blamed the U.S. for heightening tensions in the South China Sea, through which over $5 trillion of maritime trade passes annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan also have conflicting claims to the waters.

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BEIJING (Reuters) - The common interests between China and the United States far outweigh their differences, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi told U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday in their first face-to-face meeting since Tillerson took up his job. U.S. President Donald Trump angered Beijing in December by talking to the president of Taiwan and saying the United States did not have to stick to the "one China" policy, under which Washington acknowledges the Chinese position that there is only one China and Taiwan is part of it. In a phone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping last week, Trump changed tack and agreed to honor the "one China" policy, a major diplomatic boost for Beijing, which brooks no criticism of its claim to self-ruled Taiwan. However, several areas of disagreement between the two countries, such as currency, trade, the South China Sea and North Korea, were not mentioned in public statements on the telephone conversation. A Chinese Foreign Ministry statement released after Wang met Tillerson on the sidelines of a meeting of foreign ministers of the G20 top economies in the German city of Bonn, made no specific mention of where the two disagree. Wang said the Xi-Trump call was extremely important, and that the two countries should promote even better relations. "China and the United States have joint responsibility to maintain global stability and promote global prosperity, and both sides' joint interests are far greater than their differences," the statement paraphrased Wang as saying. The two countries should increase mutual trust, deepen cooperation and ensure that under Trump they make even greater contributions to global peace and prosperity, Wang added. The two also had a "deep exchange of views" on the North Korean nuclear issue, the statement said, without giving details. Tillerson on Friday urged China to do all it could to moderate North Korea's destabilizing behavior after Sunday's ballistic missile test by Pyongyang, Tillerson's spokesman Mark Toner said after the Wang meeting. (Reporting by Philip Wen, Ben Blanchard and Christian Shepherd; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Toby Chopra)
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A court in Shanghai jailed a man for eight years on Friday after he set off an explosive device last year at the city's Pudong International Airport, injuring at least three travelers and delaying flights. In a brief statement, the court said that Zhou Xingbo set off the device because his "life was not smooth" and so he took extreme measures to "vent his spleen", injuring three people. It did not give details. The government initially said five people were injured, including the person who set off the device. Zhou Xingbo took a beer bottle containing self-made explosive materials out of his backpack and threw it at ticketing counter. After the bottle exploded, he then took out a knife and slashed his own neck, the government said. Business hub Shanghai is mainland China's most cosmopolitan city, with a large foreign population, but is generally very safe with major crime unusual. Explosives are relatively easy to obtain in China though, home to the world's largest mining and fireworks industries. A man in a wheelchair detonated a home-made explosive at Beijing's international airport in 2013, injuring himself in what was an apparent attempt to draw attention to an earlier grievance. Individual Chinese unable to win redress in disputes have in the past resorted to extreme measures, including bombings, but such incidents are rare amid the tight security at the country's airports. (Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Michael Perry)
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP)  A Chinese national living in Manhattan, Kansas, is guilty of conspiring to steal proprietary rice seeds developed in the U.S. and giving them to visitors from China.

A federal jury on Thursday convicted 50-year-old Weiqiang Zhang of conspiracy to steal trade secrets, conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property and interstate transportation of stolen property.

Zhang was a rice breeder for Ventria Bioscience in Junction City, Kansas, which develops genetically engineered rice for use in therapeutic and medical fields.

Trial evidence indicated Zhang took hundreds of seeds from Ventria and stored them at his home Manhattan. In 2013, officials with a crop research institute in China toured facilities in the Midwest with Zhang. Federal officials found Ventria seeds in the visitors' luggage as they prepared to return to China.
NILO, Colombia (Reuters) - Colombia's army will strengthen its efforts to combat crime gangs pushing into regions displaced by Marxist FARC rebels, a high-ranking official said on Friday, as it scrambles to prevent an increase in drug trafficking and violence. Critics of a peace agreement signed late last year with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have warned of a weakening of the military apparatus that has battled the rebels for more than 50 years. But army commander General Alberto Jose Mejia said the peace agreement would not lead to a reduction of troops or their steady offensive against illegal armed groups. "These 1,200 new professional soldiers are part of a group of more than 5,000 who are graduating this year and will be deployed to the most critical areas of Colombia," Mejia said as he presided over the graduation of new professional soldiers in Nilo, central Colombia. "The purpose is to occupying unstable areas." As part of the process, four rapid deployment forces of mobile brigades, supported by helicopters, will be formed to cover the entire country and combat any crime organizations, he said. The army has 240,000 troops, including 79,000 professional soldiers, a figure that will increase in the coming years, Mejia said. Some 68,000 members of the military and police force will be deployed to areas once occupied by FARC rebels in order to prevent the spread of illegal mining and coca, the raw material for cocaine. The army estimates about 300 FARC fighters have withdrawn from the peace accord with the government as dissidents, while 6,000 others are concentrated in specific areas to hand in their weapons as agreed in the peace accord. (Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Helen Murphy; editing by Grant McCool)
Bogota (AFP) - Colombia's ELN guerrillas have kidnapped a mayor's father, the army said Friday, calling it an act of terrorism that damages peace talks with the country's last active rebel group.

Army commander Alberto Mejia blamed the leftist guerrillas for the disappearance of Cristo Contreras, whose son Edwin is the mayor of the town of El Carmen in the restive northwestern region of Catatumbo.

He said the rebels had also bombed an oil pipeline in the same region, the scene of frequent ELN attacks.

"We are reporting two acts of terrorism by the ELN in Catatumbo," the general told a press conference.

"Such messages do a lot of damage to the (peace) process and of course cause it to lose legitimacy. The government is reaching out a hand to them, and this is how they respond."

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is trying to negotiate a peace deal with the ELN to match the historic accord his government sealed last year with the FARC guerrillas.

Both the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, and the ELN, or National Liberation Army, launched uprisings against the state in 1964.

The multi-sided conflict has killed 260,000 people and left 60,000 missing.

Peace talks with the ELN opened on February 7, but have gotten off to a rocky start over the rebels' refusal to renounce kidnapping -- a tactic they have used to get ransom money and exact revenge on political enemies.

The talks were originally due to open in October, but the ELN's refusal to release its most high-profile hostage -- ex-lawmaker Odin Sanchez -- made Santos call them off.

A flurry of behind-the-scenes negotiations followed, leading to Sanchez's release on February 2 in exchange for two ELN prisoners.

The latest kidnapping allegation -- which drew no immediate response from the ELN -- could place new pressure on the talks.

Mejia said Contreras disappeared Thursday from his ranch in Catatumbo, a remote region near the Venezuelan border.

The attack on the Cano Limon-Covenas oil pipeline ocurred the same night, he said.
Its been a rough week for the 277 prospective Columbia University students who thought they had been accepted at the Manhattan Ivy League institutiononly to discover it was all a mistake. The admissions office had erroneously sent out the acceptances, and then revoked them in a follow-up email a little more than an hour later, leaving some pretty heartbroken students in their wake as the New York Times reports. The college in question was the School of Public Healths Masters program.

We deeply apologize for this miscommunication, the second email read. We value the energy and enthusiasm that our applicants bring to the admissions process, and regret the stress and confusion caused by this mistake.

This is just the latest mishap in a long line of accidental acceptances, which have become something of a time-honored tradition at colleges across the country. Columbia joins the likes of Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, UCLA, UC Davis, Johns Hopkins, and more over the last few decades who have gotten kids hopes up only to ultimately dash their dreams. In 2009, UC San Diego mistakenly emailed a whopping 28,000 prospective students with good news that theyd been admitted.

That good news, of course, was actually fake news.
Regardless of political ideology, there is no denying President Donald Trump's first four weeks in office have been some of the most active and controversial in modern American history. The new White House administration has unleashed a series of contentious executive orders greatly transforming the inner workings of Washington, D.C., scaling back federal regulations, restricting travel from seven Muslim-majority nations and beginning the process of repealing former President Barack Obama's healthcare initiative, the Affordable Care Act.

As a wave of national protests and widespread criticism of Trump's socio-political agenda have continued throughout the country, calls for Americans to engage with their local governments and reach out to their representatives were at an all-time high in recent history. As it turns out, getting connected with officials and their offices is easier than what some may have expected  and can be an extremely effective way in having ones message heard by those elected to represent them.

RTSBJU0

Photo: Reuters

Contacting local representatives can be easy and convenient and typically takes no more than five minutes. Those interested in reaching out to their state and county officials can find information about their local offices, including addresses and phone numbers, on the U.S. House of Representatives website. Most members of Congress also provide public email addresses through their local offices in order for constituents to send their requests and other communications online.

The House's site will ask for a users zip code in order to locate their nearest representative. Offices accept a range of calls and can connect citizens to additional resources, depending on their specific requests. Though callers have typically been unable to speak directly with their representatives, each elected official has several secretaries and assistants whom report to them each weekday. Callers will speak to these government employees when contacting their local representatives, who will deliver their messages to the appropriate official.

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Trump has pushed through the majority of his cabinet appointees with little to no support from the embattled Democratic Party, which failed to block any of the presidents nominees despite thousands of calls to local government offices demanding politicians vote "no" on Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

But calls to local representatives havent stopped with Trumps cabinet confirmations  countless Americans were continuing to express their concerns and thoughts on the new president's administration, as well as a variety of other local and national issues, on a daily basis.

Find your local representatives' contact information by clicking here.

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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  Bud Welch knows something about the human cost of terrorism. His 23-year-old daughter was killed when a rental truck packed with explosives destroyed the Oklahoma City federal building.

That was in 1995, when domestic terrorism seemed to be the nation's most immediate security threat. Now President Donald Trump sees the greatest risk in potential attackers who sneak into the U.S. from abroad. But Welch and others say the administration can't ignore threats from home.

"ISIS, to me, is really not a hell of a lot different than the militia movement in the U.S.," he said, referring to anti-government groups that were provoked by deadly standoffs with federal agents in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and Waco, Texas  two flashpoints cited by Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

A list of worldwide attacks recently released by Trump's administration left off many that were carried out by right-wing extremists and white supremacists. And organizations that track terrorist and hate groups say the government focuses too narrowly on threats from the outside instead of adopting a broader approach.

In a move that the administration described as an anti-terrorism measure, Trump last month suspended the nation's refugee program and banned travel from seven predominantly Muslim nations, although a federal court soon halted his executive order.

Welch disagrees with Trump's order banning travelers from certain countries, particularly when no terrorist attack in the U.S. has been tied to refugees from those places.

"You've got to be honest with people and quit making up these stories," he said. "But that's the problem nowadays. We let politics get too involved."

Since the Oklahoma City bombing, the Southern Poverty Law Center has tracked domestic terrorist plots and attacks in the United States. It lists more than 100, including some that shocked the nation: A 2012 shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin that killed six; the slaying of nine black churchgoers during a 2015 prayer meeting in Charleston, South Carolina; and the ambushes last year that killed eight police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

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Legal scholar William Yeomans said Dylann Roof, convicted in the Charleston attack, is a "classic example of a homegrown domestic terrorist."

"He certainly was inspired by domestic organizations," said Yeomans, who is on the faculty at American University and formerly served as a high-ranking official in the Justice Department's civil rights division. "He spent a lot of time on the internet looking at far right-wing websites."

Some Republicans have sought to distinguish between attacks carried out by white assailants and those tied to foreign extremist organizations.

Sean Duffy, a GOP congressman from Wisconsin, recently asserted that the Charleston church shooter and a Canadian man accused of gunning down six people last month at a Quebec City mosque did not get support from a network like the Islamic State and other extremist organizations.

"There's no constant thread that goes through these attacks," Duffy said on CNN.

The congressman told the USA Today Network-Wisconsin that white extremists are already here and that Trump's ban was intended to keep IS operatives out. Duffy's spokesman did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.

Southern Poverty Law Center President Richard Cohen said taking a more balanced look at all terror groups is "a bipartisan failure"  something that President Barack Obama's administration could have handled better as well.

Cohen said the threat of Islamic extremism should not distract from radical right extremism, which in the U.S. dates back to slavery, the Jim Crow era and groups such as the Ku Klux Klan.

"The congressman talked about there being a difference. I wouldn't say they're the same, but oftentimes trying to make a sharp distinction between the two is just the first step in minimizing one or the other."

The law center released a report Wednesday that the number of anti-Muslim hate groups tripled in 2016 from a year earlier, now at 101. The increase was driven by assaults such as the June attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, by a gunman who killed 49 people and pledged allegiance to IS. But Trump's rhetoric also played a role, the report said.

Nearly 22 years after it happened, the Oklahoma City bombing remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism on U.S. soil. It killed 168 people, including 19 children.

Jannie Coverdale, who lost two small grandsons in the bombing, said her greatest anger came when she saw McVeigh "and realized he was an American."

But Coverdale agrees with the president's thinking and voted for Trump, even though she usually supports Democrats.

"Now things are different," she said. We don't have a lot of homegrown terrorists. They are coming from overseas, and somebody's got to do something to put a stop to it."
Idlib (Syria) (AFP) - In the aftermath of a barrel bomb attack in Syria's Idlib, nine-year-old Abdel Basset Al-Satuf tries to sit up, his legs blown off, and screams "Daddy, pick me up!"

Abdel Basset was caught in a barrel bomb attack by regime forces on Thursday in the town of Al-Hbeit, in northwest Idlib province.

The harrowing footage of the young boy screaming for his father as he struggles to sit up, his legs turned to bloody stumps, quickly spread on social media.

The child was taken to a hospital in the provincial capital Idlib city for preliminary treatment, but on Friday he and his father were transferred to Turkey for specialised care.

In an ambulance about to head to the border, Abdel Basset recounted the incident as his father Taan tried to keep his composure.

"We were sitting having lunch when the barrel bombs started to fall on the town and my father told us to get in the house," he told AFP.

"But as we arrived at the door of the house a barrel fell on it and when it exploded fire blasted towards me and amputated my legs," he said.

"My father immediately picked me up and moved me and put me down on the ground (away from the house) and then an ambulance came and they treated me," he added.

In the video, Abdel Basset can be seen sitting stunned as desperate voices scream for an ambulance and paramedics.

His father had run back to the house to search for the rest of the family, three of whom were killed in the attack.

In Al-Hbeit, the family's landlord described the incident as "a massacre".

"The family was having lunch and I was walking with his father, and at first we didn't notice anything until the aircraft arrived," he said

"Then a barrel bomb came down and there was a big explosion," Walid Abu Ras said.

- His mother was killed -

Taan ran back towards his house, trying to warn his family to take cover when their home was hit.

"Abdel Basset's legs were blown off and one of his sisters was killed, and another one was wounded. His mother was killed and he doesn't know yet," Abu Ras said.

Story continues

The attack also killed the husband of one of Abdel Basset's sisters.

Abu Ras said the family had arrived in Idlib less than two years ago from Latamneh in neighbouring Hama, displaced by war like more than half of Syria's population.

The video of Abdel Basset is just the latest footage to refocus attention on the plight of Syria's civilians, particularly children.

In August 2016, haunting images of a four-year-old called Omran, shell-shocked and covered in dust after an air strike, reverberated around the world.

Syria's government and rebel forces are technically observing a ceasefire brokered by Turkey and Russia that began on December 30.

But while the truce has brought relative quiet to parts of the country, sporadic violence has continued, with civilians often the victims.

More than 310,000 people have been killed in the conflict that began with anti-government protests in March 2011.

Rights groups have regularly criticised Syria's regime for using barrel bombs, crude munitions notorious for causing indiscriminate casualties, but President Bashar al-Assad denies his forces use the weapon.

On Friday afternoon, Turkey's IHH charity tweeted pictures of Abdel Basset arriving in Turkey and being attended by medics there.

His body extended just half way down the stretcher carrying him to an ambulance, and he was covered in a thick blanket.

Next to him lay a stuffed yellow toy duck nearly the same size as the boy himself.
Local law enforcement authorities said Wednesday they were investigating the deaths of Liberty German, 14, and Abigail Williams, 13, as homicides after their bodies were discovered Tuesday by a creek in northern Indiana. The two girls were reported missing in Delphi, Indiana, about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis, Monday when they disappeared after being dropped off at a local hiking trail, according to local reports Thursday.

A volunteer searching for the girls discovered their bodies roughly three-quarters of a mile away from the abandoned bridge where they were last seen Monday afternoon, according to local police. The girls were expected to meet with family members after their hike that evening, but when they never showed up, relatives called the police.

Police released a picture of a man walking on the Delphi Historic Trails at approximately the same time the girls were hiking there, according to local reports Wednesday. Investigators were asking the public to provice his identity so they could ask him if he saw anything suspicious. There were no suspects in custody as of Wednesday, but authorities said they had received hundreds of leads.

State Police Sgt. Kim Riley told local reporters Wednesday families in the community should keep a close eye on their children while an FBI investigation at the crime scene continues to sift through evidence. Amid the ongoing homicide investigations, authorities were not releasing the cause or manner of the girls deaths.

The investigation is still in its baby steps, so to speak, and we dont want to put that information out yet, Riley told reporters. "Parents should make sure they know where their children are and what their children are doing, and if nothing else, know what's going on in their lives. That's the most important thing I can say at this point in time."

Story continues

The news of the deaths has rattled the 3,000-person community where the two girls were both eighth graders at Delphi Community Middle School.

This was the first double homicide investigation in Carroll County, Indiana, police said. Carroll County Sheriff Tobe Leazenby asked anyone with information about the deaths to come forward.

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The Democratic National Committee plans to vote on a resolution condemning the ABC drama Designated Survivor, taking a poke at FBI Director James Comey for his actions in the waning days of the presidential election.

The Wall Street Journal reported the DNC plans to vote Feb. 23 at its meeting in Atlanta on the resolution.

The resolution says the show could undermine the publics faith in the FBI since it shows the FBI director confessing to a crime he did not commit because he was being blackmailed. Comey already has demonstrated in the recent 2016 election that he does not need to be blackmailed to engage in illegal partisan actions, the resolution says, concluding, All U.S. citizens are endouraged to have the same respect for the FBI as Director Comey demonstrated.

The resolution targets Comeys actions 10 days before the Nov. 8 election in which he first announced the investigation into Democrat Hillary Clintons private email server after investigators found some emails from her aide, Houma Abedine, on a computer she shared with her ex-husband Anthony Wiener. At the time, the disgraced former New York congressman was under investigation for sexting an underage North Carolina girl.

The weekend before the election, Comey issued another statement saying the emails were duplicates of ones already investigated and that the investigation had been closed again.

Democrats, including Clintons campaign, have blamed Comeys actions, in part, for her loss to Republican Donald Trump.

The FBI director currently is reported investigating former national security adviser Michael Flynn for contacts with the Russian ambassador before Trump was sworn into office. Democats have said they want to know exactly what Flynn and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak discussed and who ordered Flynn to make the contact. There also are allegations the Trump campaign was in contact with Russian officials before the election.

Story continues

In Designated Survivor, Kiefer Sutherland plays a low-level Cabinet member who is elevated to the presidency when everyone above him in the succession line is killed in an attack.

Related Articles
Men who are expecting a child or whose partner has recently had a baby may experience depression just as women sometimes do, according to a new study.

In recent years, much attention has been focused on recognizing and treating maternal depression, and this treatment has had positive effects on the health of moms and babies, the research team said. Yet identifying fathers who are at risk for paternal depression also can be beneficial to these men and their families, the researchers noted.

The new study of fathers  one of the largest studies on both prenatal and postnatal paternal depression  included more than 3,500 men and was part of the ongoing "Growing Up in New Zealand" project. The results are published today (Feb. 15) in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. [7 Ways Depression Differs in Men and Women]

Previous studies have shown that as many as 20 percent of women experience prenatal or postnatal depression, the researchers wrote in their article. The condition may result from hormonal changes during and after pregnancy or external factors such as an unplanned pregnancy, domestic violence, or a lack of social or relationship support.

In the new study, the researchers found that 2.3 percent of the men in New Zealand had prenatal depression and 4.3 percent had postnatal depression. Although that rate is much lower than that of women, it can still have serious public health consequences, said Lisa Underwood, a research fellow at The University of Auckland in New Zealand, who led the study.

Paternal depression could strain the family's relationships in a way that could cause financial hardships for the family or lead to poor cognitive development for the child, "including emotional and behavioral problems," Underwood said.

"Given that around 4 million babies are born in the United States each year, these apparently small percentages translate to a large number of men, and consequently children, who are affected," Underwood told Live Science. "The antenatal [prenatal] and postnatal periods are critical times of fathers' influence on long-term child well-being [and] outcomes." [5 Ways Fatherhood Changes a Man's Brain]

Story continues

The new study also found that depression in the dads was seen across the population, and was not significantly associated with men's age, general socioeconomic status, marital status or whether the pregnancy was unplanned.

However, prenatal depression in the dads was associated with experiencing stress or poor health during the pregnancy. Postnatal paternal depression was associated with stress, poor health, no longer being in a relationship with the mother, being unemployed, or having a history of depression.

Underwood said she hopes that doctors can learn to identify the factors that may lead to depression, recognize the symptoms of depression itself, and recommend treatment options for fathers as they are increasingly doing for mothers.

"Fathers, as well as mothers, have a significant impact on children's development," Underwood said. "Both parents' mental well-being affects their relationship, their parenting and their involvement with their children. Therefore, it is vital that we recognize and treat symptoms of mental ill health among fathers  and mothers  early."

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
SAO PAULO (AP)  He is facing several corruption charges, Brazil's largest-ever graft probe has decimated the political party he founded and his hand-picked successor was impeached and ousted from office.

Yet former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, known to Brazilians simply as Lula, is topping polls for next year's presidential race and traveling the country to make the case that he can bring the boom times back to Latin America's largest nation.

"Lula has the 'I can make Brazil great again'" angle, said Monica de Bolle, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, based in Washington.

The political return of Silva seems as inevitable to Brazilians as it is strange to outsiders. Despite the charges against him, the charismatic ex-president remains a larger-than-life figure here: a folksy former union leader and workingman who fought for democracy during the country's dictatorship and then oversaw its rise to economic global power. His time in office, from 2003 to 2010, coincided with Brazil's unprecedented boom, and he is revered by many for using those gains to pull millions out of poverty.

Perhaps just as importantly, recent political turmoil and the graft probe have left few other viable candidates on the left.

Still, the charges against him cast a shadow over a possible comeback. He left office with an 87-percent approval rating, but a Datafolha survey in December showed him leading a crowded field of presidential hopefuls with just 25 percent support.

In five separate cases, Silva has been charged with crimes including accepting kickbacks or bribes, peddling influence and obstructing justice.

Before a conviction, it would be politically untenable to try to block Silva's candidacy, said Sergio Praca, a political scientist at the Fundacao Getulio Vargas university in Rio de Janeiro. Silva has dismissed the charges against him as politically motivated and if they interfered with his candidacy, he would have even more ammunition to call foul, Praca said.

Story continues

Even if convicted, Silva might only receive a slap on the wrist, said de Bolle, who is also a professor at Johns Hopkins' School of Advanced International Studies.

"Brazil has these supposedly very strict laws about who can run for president," she said. "But, of course, Brazil also has a history of waving things off when they want to wave things off."

Uncertainty about Silva's candidacy, Praca said, is emblematic of a broader instability in Brazilian politics, where the fates of dozens of politicians remain unclear because of corruption cases against them and the looming threat that more could be ensnared.

That instability isn't just making elections hard to predict. It weighs on Brazil's economy just as the government is hoping reforms will stem a deep recession.

While touring the country in recent weeks, Silva has been hammering away at President Michel Temer, who came to power after Silva's successor, Dilma Rousseff, was removed from office last year for illegally managing the federal budget. Many on the left call her impeachment a "coup," and Silva has said Temer does not have the legitimacy to carry out deep economic reforms, which the former president claims will increase inequality and poverty.

"Those who staged the coup, they didn't do it to build something new," Silva told an education union conference in January. "They staged the coup to destroy what we built."

That rhetoric will play well with Workers' Party faithful, but there are fewer of those these days. Prosecutors allege that while Silva was in office, many politicians were in cahoots with businessmen to inflate contracts with state-run companies and then divert the billions of extra dollars to pay for election campaigns or personal extravagances.

While the Datafolha poll indicated Silva was likely to win a first round of voting, he trailed in a potential runoff against former Environment Minister Marina Silva, with 34 percent to her 43 percent. The margin of error was plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Recently, Silva received an outpouring of sympathy when his wife had a stroke and died after being hospitalized. Even his rival Temer visited the hospital.

Silva didn't shy away from turning her wake into a political event, calling the prosecutors who brought charges against her "criminals" and declaring he wasn't afraid of arrest.

In the coming months, Silva will likely couple that defiance with efforts to tap into a yearning for better days.

His two terms in office coincided with a global commodities boom, and Brazil's gross domestic product more than quadrupled. While he is not exclusively responsible for that phenomenal economic rise, he is credited with sharing the gains among Brazil's lower classes. Inequality, which was already falling when he was elected, plummeted on his watch through programs like the Family Grant, which gives poor households money for food, school and health expenses.

Those policies have earned him unshakable support in some sectors. Paulo Roberto Antonio Teixeira, a 50-year-old gas station attendant in Sao Paulo, said he remains a staunch supporter of the Workers' Party.

"He was a good president," said Teixeira, who shrugged when asked about Silva's legal troubles.
President Donald Trump's possible ties to Russia were coming increasingly under scrutiny this week amid the fallout of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's resignation. With the ripples of the scandal still spreading, an old video clip featuring former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton stressing Trump's relationship with the Kremlin went viral Wednesday morning.

Flynn resigned Monday after reports emerged that he discussed sanctions with a Russian ambassador during a December conversation  but apparently said otherwise to Vice President Mike Pence. He and others denied Flynn discussed the sanctions, which were enacted by President Barack Obama to punish Russia for alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election.

The Clinton clip, which comes from the third and final presidential debate in October, mostly focuses on the idea that the Kremlin carried out cyber attacks to help land Trump the presidency  a notion agreed upon by the intelligence community. One such tweet was shared by Mikel Jollet, a member of the band Airborne Toxic Event, accompanied by the text, "@realDonaldTrump Hillary Clinton warned all of us that you were compromised by the Russians."

"We've never had a foreign government trying to interfere in our election," Clinton says in the clip. "We have 17  17 intelligence agencies, civilian and military, who have all concluded that these espionage attacks, these cyberattacks, come from the highest levels of the Kremlin and they are designed to influence our election. I find that deeply disturbing."

Trump responded to Clinton by saying "she has no idea whether it's Russia, China, or anybody else," despite experts' assertion that the Kremlin was behind the cyberattacks. Clinton's presidential run was hampered after the emails of her campaign chair, John Podesta, were stolen and later released by WikiLeaks.

Multiple reports this week indicated that intercepted communications showed the Trump campaign had repeated contact with senior Russian officials during the billionaire's bid for the White House. There is no evidence the campaign colluded with Russians to affect the election, but both President Obama and then-candidate Trump were briefed on the communications, according to the New York Times.

Story continues

In late October, days after the third and final debate, Mother Jones first published that a dossier from a reliable former spy alleged Trump had been cultivated by Russia through blackmail of some sort. The dossier, filled with salacious and troubling allegations, was published in full by Buzzfeed in January.

Amid these allegations and others, as well as Flynn's recent resignation, Democrats have begun pushing for a full investigation into Russia's ties to the former national security adviser and the entire Trump administration.

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Officials with Florida Forest Service said Friday afternoon that 5,000 acres have been damaged by this week's fires.

UPDATE: 8:52 p.m. The Florida Highway Patrol reports they have closed County Road 630 again due to heavy smoke between State Road 60 and Walk in Water Road.

#PolkWildfire CR-630 now closed again for heavy smoke between SR-60 & Walk In Water Road. Seek other routes. pic.twitter.com/KEN6fz0TmR  Sgt. Steve Gaskins (@SteveG717) February 18, 2017



Florida Agricultural Commissioner Adam Putnam said at a morning news conference that he expected the number to grow.

Putnam cited the .04 inches of rain the area received as a major help in fighting the fires.

"It could have been worse, especially here in Indian Lake Estates," he said.

Twelve residential structures have been destroyed.



The cause of the fire is still being determined. "It could have been as simple as a cigarette butt," Putnam said.

State Road 60 and County Road 630 have both been reopened.

Crews anticipate remaining at the scene through the weekend.



@adamputnam talks about brush fire damage he saw during helicopter tour. @BN9 pic.twitter.com/XdUTjycEvq  Stephanie Claytor (@ClaytorReports) February 17, 2017

Families cope with damage, loss

Photo: Stephanie Claytor, staff

When Polk County officials called and told Richard Haas, 58, he had to leave his mobile home along County Road 630 Wednesday, he did. He said he never thought hed return to it burned down to the ground.



Its devastating," said Haas, who walks with a cane and lives off of fixed disability income. Everything that youve worked for over the years is gone.



He said his home survived three hurricanes. Hes one of the twelve families that are now homeless thanks to the brush fire.



Polk County said it did the best it could.



Our hearts go out to those families who lost their homes," said Deputy County Manager Gary Hester. "We regret that. Our men and women worked hard as a team effort, members of the sheriffs office, Florida Highway Patrol, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, all those people worked hard to save lives first and then their property.

"Boom. It was so fast."

Ron Perkins described leaving the area in the back of a police car with minutes to spare. He had to leave with just the clothes on his back.

"Boom. It was so fast," he said.

"So devastating. You hear, 'bam, boom'  the propane tanks blowing up and people losing everything they had," he said. "I've seen burned down houses. I've seen buildings burned to the ground. I was a demolition contractor. I've never seen nothing like this. Nothing. It ate everything. Whatever was in its path, it ate it."

Perkins said the fire missed his camp by 100 yards. But many of his friends weren't as fortunate.

Pat and Richard Jones lost their mobile home and everything inside.

Damage from the Polk County brush fire

"It's all gone. It's all gone," Pat Jones said. "Everything was in there. We didn't even have time to get the paperwork. Our marriage license, titles."

"Twenty years of sweat. Gone," Richard said. "What couldn't melt, didn't melt. It's just 20 years wasted in a matter of a half-hour."

Richard Jones said the couple got out of their home with about 10 minutes to spare.

"I just ran in the house, loaded up the dogs, loaded up whatever I could take," he said. "I came in the bedroom and I got a garbage bag full of clothes, and we went on down to the hotel."

They returned the next morning to find their home gone.

The couple will be staying at their neighbor's home while they sort things out. They did not have home owner's insurance.

Previous updates:



6:10 a.m., Friday, Feb. 17

The brush fire continues to burn in Polk County and today the State's Commissioner of Agriculture is expected to tour the damage.

So far, 4,000 acres have burned so far Polk County Fire Rescue had seven personnel monitoring the situation overnight, while the Florida Forest Service had nine personnel.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp;

Nine mobile homes and two single family homes have been destroyed as a result of this brush fire. Polk County Fire Rescue officials say people in the area will still see hot spots, adding that is normal right now.

Crews are asking people in the area to be aware of emergency vehicles. Several times emergency vehicles been delayed because of people slowing down to check out the damage.

It was another long and sleepless night for firefighters and residents here at Indian Lake Estates who have been working tirelessly to salvage what they can while trying to stop this fire from destroying any more of their property.

A recreational spread thats usually filled with fun has now taken over by a sense of heartbreak. Robert Wilson and his family are keeping a close eye on their camp as flames and hot spots continue to flare up.

"We just keep going around and see if we can help put some of it out. You start hearing the popcorn which is the gas tanks blowing up and you're trying to get away, but you stay out, be safe, do what you can to help," Robert Wilson explained.

Many thought the worst was over and now worry the massive fire that has already claimed thousands of acres and nearly a dozen homes will continue its devastation

"Many people lost their camps, their blood sweat and tears were poured into these camps and it's just very heartbreaking," said resident Michelle Nelson.

Many of these neighbors have lost everything, a lifetime worth of valuables and memories burnt to ashes. While it may be hard to show a smile, these residents remain grateful that no one lost their lives.

Fire officials say a dog did die in the fire, but no one else was been hurt. There is still no word on what caused this fire.

10:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017

Polk Fire Rescue says the 630 Fire has burned 4,000 acres so far.

Affected areas

North and south of SR 60

South of SR 630

River Ranch Hunting Club

Indian Lake Estates

Message to the public

From Polk Fire Rescue:

"People in the area will see hotspots. This is normal. Also, residents need to stay alert and watch for emergency vehicles. Our crews response time have been delayed at times due to motorists slowing down to look at damage."

Fire crews say low winds Friday will help keep the first from spreading, but it may also lead to an increased chance of smoke spreading across State Road 60 and County Road 630.

Dispersion will be low, which will help prevent hot spots. But humidity is also low, which means there is a higher potential for flare-ups.

The fire has destroyed two single family homes and nine mobile homes. The fire has also killed one dog.

6 p.m.

The map below, provided by Polk County Fire Rescue, shows a visual estimate of the burn areas and active fires.

Indian Lake Estates burn area from Wednesday is in Orange

The burn area north of State Road 60 is in yellow

The active fires are outlined in red

The active fires are south of State Road 60 and east of County Road 630.

"The northwest wind is pushing the fires to the southeast. It is the consensus of Polk County Fire Rescue and Florida Forest Service that Westgate River Ranch Resort is not a major concern for the evening," Polk Fire Rescue said in a Facebook post at 5:46 p.m.

There is an estimated 3.5-mile distance between any fire activity and the resort.

Weather conditions will be re-evaluated in the morning to assess any potential for an eastward spread of the fire.



(Map provided by Polk County Fire Rescue)

5 p.m. UPDATE

Polk fire officials are advising people in hunting camps off State Road 60 and County Road 630 at the River Ranch Hunt Club to vacate and seek alternative shelter.

The fire has burned approximately 3,000 acres.

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4 p.m. UPDATE

Fires have re-ignited in three different hotspots south of County Road 630 and north of State Road 60. One of the hotspots is near the River Ranch community. Residents there have reportedly been re-evacuated.



PREVIOUS COVERAGE

Forestry and fire officials are watching over about 2,000 acres after a fast-moving brush fire scorched parts of Polk County on Wednesday afternoon and into Thursday.

Evacuation orders lifted for Indian Lake Estates community

State Road 60 reopened to traffic, CR 630 remains closed

S LIDESHOW: Previous story on Frostproof brush fire

WEATHER BLOG: Brush fire season

Polk County Fire Rescue and the Florida Forest Service crews are on standby near the area in Frostproof after the fire damaged some properties near the Indian Lake Estates. There were no injuries.

At least one mobile home was destroyed near the subdivision while damage was limited to sheds and vehicles inside of Indian Lake Estates, fire officials said.

The large fire broke out late Wednesday morning. High winds helped the flames sweep across the area quickly Wednesday, prompting evacuations in Indian Lake Estates and the closure of State Road 60 and County Road 630.

The evacuations were lifted at 2:30 a.m. Thursday and the roadways were both reopened by 7 a.m.

"There fire is contained, but not 100 percent out," Polk County Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Bobby Bohn said early Thursday.

Bohn said crews spent the overnight hours making sure the 800 homes in the Indian Lakes Estates community were out of danger.

Firefighters remain on scene to monitor the remaining flames. Meanwhile, the FFS is monitoring flames and smoke along the roadways.

Polk County Emergency Management, Polk County Building Division and the American Red Cross are assessing damaged or destroyed properties.

"We believe we did a good job yesterday and today," Bohn said. "Now we'll just go out and finish putting out the spot fires and other things."

Interactive map: Brush fire locations
By Lisa Richwine LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co and major retailers will release the galaxy's newest "Star Wars" toys at a Sept. 1 midnight event ahead of the holiday debut of the next film in the saga, "The Last Jedi," company executives told Reuters. The marketing push called "Force Friday II" is a sequel to an event Disney used to build buzz for merchandise tied to the 2015 movie "The Force Awakens." Star Wars products were a big contributor to the financial success of the series reboot. BB-8 droids, lightsabers and other playthings made "Star Wars" the U.S. toy industry's top-selling property for 2015 and 2016, with $1.5 billion in sales over the two years, research firm NPD said. Hasbro Inc cited "Star Wars" sales when it reported its biggest quarterly revenue rise in nearly five years for the December 2015 quarter. Mattel Inc also posted a surprise rise in sales for the same period with help from "Star Wars"-based Hot Wheels toys. And at Disney, licensing income from "Force Awakens" merchandise drove record quarterly operating income in the consumer products unit. Force Friday II will begin just after midnight on Sept 1. Lego, Hasbro and others will release the first toys, apparel, books and other products tied to "The Last Jedi," both online and in stores around the globe at retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Target Corp , Toys R Us Inc , Kohls Corp, Amazon.com Inc and Disney Stores. Disney will incorporate new technology to its "Last Jedi" products like it did with the popular BB-8 droid, said James Pitaro, chairman of Disney consumer products and interactive media. New products will feature returning characters such as Rey and Finn, plus new ones, and will span a broad range of categories for male and female fans, he said. "One of our top priorities is to expand the audience," Pitaro said. Disney bought "Star Wars" producer Lucasfilm in 2012. "The Last Jedi," the eighth installment in the "Star Wars" saga that began in 1977, debuts in theaters Dec. 15. Toys typically hit shelves closer to a movie's release, around four to six weeks in advance. At the 2015 Force Friday, fans dressed as stormtroopers and Jedi waited hours in line ahead of the midnight store openings. "There was a certain mania that took over," said Marty Brochstein, a senior vice president at the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers' Association. The excitement around "Star Wars" in 2015 was unique because it had been a decade since the last film, Brochstein said. "It would be unfair to expect the same kind of volume generated this time around by consumer products," he said, adding it was too early to assess demand. Pitaro said Disney continues to see "very, very healthy sales" of "Star Wars" merchandise. "We have a lot of confidence we will continue in that direction," he said. The 2015 Force Friday contributed 3.7 percent to "Star Wars" sales that year, NPD data showed. NPD toys industry analyst Juli Lennett said the franchise has ranked among the 10 top-selling toy properties for more than 10 years and she expects it will "continue to be a strong force." (Reporting by Lisa Richwine,; Editing by Peter Henderson and Lisa Shumaker)
The White House told reporters Thursday President Donald Trump would hold a press conference at noon. Trump is expected to announce his new labor secretary nominee, after his initial pick, Andrew Pudzer dropped out amid concerns in the GOP that he wouldn't receive enough votes for confirmation. The news conference also comes during an ongoing controversy surrounding the resignation of Trump's former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

Flynn seemingly misrepresented his conversations with a Russian ambassador to Vice President Mike Pence among others. Flynn claimed to not have spoken about sanctions levied against Russia by former President Barack Obama but it was later revealed in the press, through leaks, the he did.

Flynn reportedly resigned at the urging of the White House, but Trump has since defended his appointee and instead condemned the leaks.

"Leaking, and even illegal classified leaking, has been a big problem in Washington for years. Failing @nytimes (and others) must apologize!" Trump tweeted Thursday.

"The spotlight has finally been put on the low-life leakers! They will be caught!" he later posted.

The president has even lauded Flynn after supposedly firing him. "Gen. Flynn is a wonderful man. I think he has been treated very, very unfairly by the media, as I call it, the fake media in many cases," Trump said Wednesday during a press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "And I think it is really a sad thing that he was treated so badly."

Trump's approval ratings continue to fall amid a flurry of controversy. Democrats and some Republicans in Congress have called for a full investigation into his administration's ties to Russia following new reports this week that alleged the campaign had been in regular contact with Kremlin officials.

Story continues

The intelligence community has also asserted that Russia worked to help Trump to victory in the November election he won over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

During press conferences, Trump and Press Secretary Sean Spicer have made it a habit to mainly call on conservative media outlets such as The Christian Broadcasting Network or Townhall.com. Traditional large news outlets have gotten a few questions, but regardless, it's likely Flynn and Russia will come up Thursday, among other topics.

Check in here for a White House live stream of the news conference, which is scheduled for noon, EST. You can also check in with network feeds, such as CNN, ABC News or CBS News.

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- Spain's government gave the green light to draft legislation that will bring the country's anti-doping controls back in line with World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) standards. WADA declared Spain's anti-doping agency AEPSAD as non-compliant in March 2016. A delay in updating Spain's anti-doping laws in line with WADA's stricter code introduced in 2015 had been blamed on a 10-month political deadlock that left the country without a ruling government from December 2015 to October last year. "With the passing of this law, Spain is in the position to reverse the non-compliant status with the WADA code," AEPSAD said in a statement. The bill still needs to be passed by parliament to become law. The most significant reforms will see doping bans doubled from two to four years.

AFP
HANOI, Vietnam (AP)  Several dozen people gathered Friday in Hanoi to commemorate Vietnam's brief but bloody border war with China nearly 40 years ago.

The participants laid flowers and lit incense at the statue of King Ly Thai To, the founder of capital Hanoi, amid a heavy police presence.

The authorities used loudspeakers to urge the crowd to disperse.

There are no official government activities marking the event, but it was extensively covered in the state media this week.

"I was moved because many people came here to lit incense to remember these heroic martyrs who sacrificed themselves defending Vietnamese borders," said Phung The Dung, one of the participants. He added he had mixed feelings because the authorities were also trying to limit the public commemoration.

The government tries to limit any non-official protests.

China sent hundreds of thousands of troops into northern Vietnam 38 years ago, for what it said was to teach Vietnam a lesson for invading the China-backed Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia.

China withdrew its troops one month later with both sides claiming victory, but periodic fighting continued along the border for more than 10 years before the communist neighbors normalized relations in 1991.

The online newspaper Vnexpress reported Friday that for many reasons the border war was rarely mentioned for a long time, and that there were only 11 lines in a high school history textbook about the war.
By Alexandra Ulmer and Alexandra Valencia QUITO (Reuters) - An aide wheels out Ecuador's presidential candidate Lenin Moreno, who lost the use of his legs two decades ago, to a stage in a working-class area of the mountainous capital Quito. Behind him, a woman rapidly translates into sign language his promises of benefits for single mothers and retirees. Rows of wheelchair-bound supporters around the podium cheer on the leftist politician. Moreno, 63, became paraplegic after being shot in the back during a robbery in 1998. He has put disability at the center of his campaign to be elected president of the poor Andean country on Sunday. The former vice president and United Nations envoy on disability has vowed to further boost jobs and social benefits for disabled Ecuadoreans. If he wins, he would be a rare wheelchair-bound head of state and one of the highest-profile disabled leaders since former U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, who had to use a wheelchair because of polio and died in 1945. During Moreno's 2007-2013 tenure as vice president, he helped build a database of disabled people so that they could receive medical treatment tailored to their needs, provided a monthly stipend of $240 for families who take care of a disabled relative, and created a loan program for disabled entrepreneurs in the country of 16 million. For Ecuador's estimated 400,000 people with physical, mental, auditive, or visual disabilities, Moreno is nothing short of a hero. "He opened the door for us and he keeps opening doors for us," said Gina Ruiz, a 52-year-old supporter who attended Moreno's closing rally in southern Quito on Wednesday night. Ruiz was forced to retire from her job as a teacher because polio eventually left her unable to walk. But thanks to a loan for disabled people, she opened a taxi company that now employs 20 people. "Now the rest of my compatriots will have these opportunities too," said Ruiz, beaming from her wheelchair as music and fireworks filled the air and Moreno was whisked away into a car after his speech. Born in the Ecuadorean Amazon to left-wing teachers, Moreno had a long and difficult recovery process after thieves attacked him while he was out with his wife buying bread. He then choose to "continue living," according to an official biography, and went on to write a half-dozen motivational books, including one called "Laugh, Don't be Ill." "(I extend) this dark hand, tanned by the sun, a little calloused because of these wheels, but sincere and honest," Moreno told a crowd of supporters on Thursday. 'FOOLING ECUADOREANS'? Moreno's opponents avoid criticizing his popular pro-disability projects or voicing potential concerns about his health. But the main opposition candidate, conservative banker Guillermo Lasso, warns Moreno's promises are untenable in the midst of a recession, low oil prices and high debt. Opponents also criticized the government for paying Moreno's expenses during his time at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. "Mr. Moreno is a man with no leadership, no personal initiative, no knowledge of the economy, who pretends to fool Ecuadoreans with his soft voice," Lasso said in an interview in his hot and humid coastal hometown of Guayaquil this week. [L1N1G204Q] Polls suggest Moreno will edge out Lasso in Sunday's vote, but he may not pocket enough votes to avoid an April runoff. Much of the middle class in this country that exports oil, shrimp, bananas and flowers feel their own opportunities have shrunk during a decade-long leftist rule that has put emphasis on the poor. "Disabled people have rights, but they're not the only ones," said physiotherapist Christopher Aulestia, 25, who attended a rally to support Lasso in Guayaquil on Thursday. "The middle class has been affected by so many taxes, it's difficult for us to contribute the way we used to," he said, adding that he also doubted Moreno would follow through on his promises. In the meantime, Moreno can bank on a 2013 policy that allows nearly 900 disabled and elderly people to vote from home. "This is wonderful. It's mutual help, I'm very happy," said 85-year-old Laura Vasquez, who cannot walk and had not voted in seven years, speaking from her bed below a painting of Jesus Christ after casting her vote on Friday. (Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Girish Gupta and Matthew Lewis)
A Philippine lawyer who specialised in investigating crimes against the environment has been ambushed and shot dead, police said Friday.

The murder on Wednesday of Mia Manuelita Mascarinas-Green deepened concerns that the Philippines is one of the world's most dangerous places for environmental campaigners, with more than 100 killed over the past 15 years.

Four motorcycle-riding gunmen opened fire after surrounding a van being driven by Mascarinas-Green -- with her children and nanny in the vehicle -- near her home on the central island of Bohol, the authorities said.

Mascarinas-Green was pronounced dead at a hospital but her children were unharmed, regional police spokesman Senior Inspector Reslin Abella told AFP.

"The victim is a known environmental lawyer. Investigators are checking whether the attack had any link to the cases she had handled in relation to environmental issues," Abella told AFP by telephone.

"They now have the identity of at least one of the perpetrators and a hot pursuit operation is ongoing," she said without naming the suspect.

Abella said police were at the moment unaware if Mascarinas-Green had been threatened previously in relation to her work.

Her children are twins, aged two, and a 10-year-old daughter, according to local media reports.

Her death brings to 112 the number of environmental campaigners murdered in the Philippines over the past 15 years, according to Filipino environment monitor Kalikasan.

This includes 12 since President Rodrigo Duterte took office seven months ago, Kalikasan said.

"Most of these cases remain unresolved as the government continues to ignore the threat against environmental defenders," Clemente Bautista, its national coordinator told AFP.

"What this means is that the perpetrators are emboldened to do it again and again because no one ever gets caught."

Greenpeace Southeast Asia executive director Yeb Sano also said the killing highlighted the culture of impunity in the Philippines, where powerful figures abuse a corrupt political and justice system to literally get away with murder.

Story continues

"Those who cause environmental destruction are resorting to savage measures and deplorable acts to stop communities and people who are standing up to protect our imperilled environment," Sano said.

Environmental monitor Global Witness separately lists 88 killings of environmental activists and workers in the Philippines between 2010 and 2015.

The attacks spiked with 33 dead in 2015, ranking the Philippines as the second most dangerous country in the world for environmental campaigners behind Brazil.
Istanbul (AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday kicked off his campaign for a "yes" vote at the April 16 referendum on expanding his powers, predicting Turks will back the changes in a contest that could be tight.

Analysts are predicting that the outcome of the referendum on the new constitution to create an executive presidency is no foregone conclusion and Erdogan will criss-cross Turkey in the next two months to mobilise voters.

He kicked off the campaign -- after returning from a tour of Gulf countries -- in the eastern city of Kahramanmaras, one of the areas that gave him the most votes in the 2014 presidential polls.

"We are on the threshold of a historic decision," Erdogan told thousands of supporters in Kahramanmaras in a televised speech.

"April 16 will be the night of carrying out reform in Turkey," he added.

Opponents fear that the touted presidential system -- which would discard the post of prime minister for the first time in Turkey's history -- would cement one-man rule in the country under Erdogan.

But Erdogan argued that the new system would clearly delineate between the executive and the legislature, so that "everyone can concentrate on their own business".

He explained that the new system would mean there would be no return to the "old Turkey" of short-lived coalition governments, which, he said, sometimes lasted just 25 days and had an average survival rate of 16 months.

"My friends, that Turkey is finished," he said.

- Unprecedented crackdown -

Relations with the West and have strained in the wake of the July 15 coup aimed at ousting Erdogan from power, which was followed by a crackdown whose magnitude is unprecedented in modern Turkish history.

The president reaffirmed he would approve legislation reimposing the death penalty in Turkey -- if it was approved by parliament after the referendum.

Reimposing the death penalty, abolished in 2004, would spell the end of Turkey's embattled bid to join the European Union.

Story continues

But Erdogan said he was not bothered by what the EU had to say about the issue.

"I'm not interested in what the European Union, says, in what Hans and George say," said Erdogan, using two typical European first names.

"What interests me is what Ahmet, Mehmet, Ayse, Fatma say," he said, using traditional Turkish Muslim names. "I am interested in what Allah (God) says!"

Erdogan is expected over the weekend to visit more cities in the east where he enjoys soaring support including Malatya, Elazig and Gaziantep.

The legislation was pushed through by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) with the help of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Friday the two parties could have joint campaign events.

The AKP is to launch its campaign with a glitzy rally on February 25 in Ankara.

The tone of the campaign will be crucial, amid alarm a demonisation of those planning to vote "no" may have alienated some voters.

- 'Early warning' -

With the AKP constantly conducting private polling, respected conservative commentator Abdulkadir Selvi wrote in the Hurriyet daily this week that support for a "yes" had slipped in the last days in Istanbul and Ankara.

"The latest negative trend emerged before the referendum campaign started and is seen as an early warning," he wote.

Analysts are predicting a possibly close race, although the AKP is expected to use its full armoury of resources, including a loyal media, to get the desired result.

"It may well end up with a substantial victory for the 'yes'," said Marc Pierini, visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe.

"However, the implications of such a constitutional reform are so momentous that citizens may well think twice," he told AFP.

Asli Aydintasbas, fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), said there was not a fair playing field in the vote.

"The 'no' campaign does not have tools, resources or abilities to broadcast its message except through social media," she said.
London (AFP) - With accusations of police misconduct raging on both sides of the Atlantic, Britain has taken the lead in supplying officers with body cameras despite worries about ever-increasing surveillance by the authorities.

London's Metropolitan Police is currently providing over 22,000 officers with Body Worn Video (BWV), saying it will "help officers to gather evidence and demonstrate their professionalism."

The force is one of around a dozen that have tested wearable technology, motivated by a fatal police shooting in 2011 that sparked widespread riots, as well as a major study that suggested they led to a 93 percent reduction in complaints against the police.

A series of police shootings in the United States and the recent claims of rape against a French policeman have intensified an international debate about whether cameras should be used all the time.

British police say they have helped defuse tense encounters and speed up prosecutions, but the absence of a legal obligation to use them means their scope in uncovering any police misconduct could be limited.

Privacy advocates also fear that the speed of technological advancement is outpacing ethical considerations about privacy.

"While we understand the perceived transparency benefits relating to body-worn cameras, we do have profound concerns about the potential rollout of the technology for purposes beyond law enforcement," Renate Samson, head of Big Brother Watch, told AFP.

Officials such as traffic wardens and even local council litter enforcers see the "new capabilities as the solution to a broad range of problems", she said.

"We could find ourselves being filmed all the time by officials wandering the streets."

- 'Speeding up justice' -

Bernard Hogan-Howe, Chief Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, began a trial of body-worn video cameras in 2014 after the death of Mark Duggan, who was shot by officers in north London in August 2011.

Story continues

The death led to riots in London and other major cities, and the police chief said the use of cameras would aid investigations into police shootings.

However, the fatal shooting of Yassar Yaqub by West Yorkshire Police marksmen during a car chase last month was not caught on camera despite a force-wide rollout of the devices.

"We hope the Independent Police Complaints Commission will interrogate why body cameras were not used... particularly as the operation, by the force's own admission, was 'pre-planned'," said Just Yorkshire, a rights group.

Home Office guidelines state that "the decision to record or not to record any incident remains with the user", adding only that "failing to record an incident is likely to require explanation in court".

Hogan-Howe said the trial of the monitoring equipment in London revealed that "people are more likely to plead guilty when they know we have captured the incident on a camera... speeding up justice."

The trial also "proved particularly successful in domestic abuse cases", the police force has said.

- 'People do have anxieties' -

The Metropolitan Police also cited a year-long study of almost 2,000 officers across British and US forces from last year, which found that the introduction of wearable cameras led to a 93 percent drop in complaints made against the police by the public.

The University of Cambridge study suggested the cameras result in behavioural changes that "cool down" potentially combustible encounters.

Deborah Coles from Inquest, which campaigns for police accountability, gave the cameras a "cautious welcome", but said they were "not a panacea".

"It's up to the government to ensure police are using them properly... and not turning them off," she told AFP.

In Britain, the cameras are attached to the officer's uniform, and those interacting with the police are informed before recording starts. They can ask for filming to be stopped, but the police need not comply with the request.

The footage from the credit-card-size camera is automatically uploaded once the device is docked, and video not retained as evidence is automatically deleted within 31 days.

If it is considered relevant, however, the footage can be stored indefinitely on servers at Microsoft data centres, raising further questions about privacy.

Suspects can obtain the footage under freedom of information law, but campaigners worry that the public has not been informed properly of their rights.

"The majority of people do have anxieties about the use of cameras," said Samson, of Big Brother Watch.

"Surveillance capabilities are only increasing, yet the conversation with the general public hasn't improved."
MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP)  The European Parliament is urging Nicaragua to improve protections for human rights activists and cease what it calls harassment of an opponent to the country's proposed interoceanic canal.

An EU resolution demands that Nicaragua's government comply with international obligations on the rights of indigenous peoples and respect democratic values such as the separation of powers.

It specifically mentions the case of anti-canal activist Francisca Ramirez, saying she was detained and intimidated when she tried to file a complaint about attacks against her and her family.

Nicaraguan human rights prosecutor Adolfo Jarquin dismissed Thursday's resolution as part of an alleged disinformation campaign by activists and government opponents.

Jarquin said human rights "are a reality and are improving in Nicaragua" and complained of "distorted" information aimed at having an international impact.
MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Thursday that Europe must not cave in to U.S demands to raise military spending, arguing that development and humanitarian aid could also count as security. U.S. President Donald Trump has raised questions about his commitment to the NATO defense alliance if European countries do not raise defense spending to 2 percent of economic output. The United States puts up 70 percent of alliance funds. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies on Wednesday that they must honor military spending pledges to make sure the United States does not moderate its support. "It has been the American message for many, many years. I am very much against letting ourselves be pushed into this," Juncker said in a speech on the sidelines of the international Munich Security Conference. He said he knew that Germany would no longer have a budget surplus if it increased defense spending to 2 percent of GDP from 1.22 percent. "I don't like our American friends narrowing down this concept of security to the military," he said, arguing it would be sensible to look at a "modern stability policy" made up of several components. "If you look at what Europe is doing in defense, plus development aid, plus humanitarian aid, the comparison with the United States looks rather different. Modern politics cannot just be about raising defense spending," he said. "Europeans must bundle their defense spending better and spend the money more efficiently," he added. (Reporting by Andreas Rinke; Writing by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Munich (Germany) (AFP) - Jittery European partners looking for reassurance from a member of US President Donald Trump's new administration might have found it Friday in the form of Defense Secretary James Mattis.

Allies are deeply troubled after Trump's campaign rhetoric questioned long-established alliances, and they worry about a simmering scandal over possible ties between the White House and Moscow.

Mattis, a former four-star Marine general whom Trump coaxed from retirement to run the Pentagon, has repeatedly taken views diverging broadly from those of his boss.

While campaigning, Trump called NATO "obsolete" and spoke disdainfully of the mutual defence alliance, suggesting America is getting ripped off by member nations not paying their way. Since his inauguration, he has taken a more traditional tack on the key issues.

The financing of the 28-country group is a longstanding gripe, but what has rattled NATO and Western partners the most is the possible connections between Trump and the Kremlin.

Trump has praised President Vladimir Putin on several occasions, suggested Russia and the United States are morally equivalent and has pushed for closer military cooperation between the two powers.

Mattis, who on Thursday said the Pentagon is not yet ready for new military ties to Russia, told world leaders at the Munich Security Conference that the United States remains committed to the current international security system.

"The transatlantic bond remains our strongest bulwark against instability and violence," Mattis said.

"I am confident that we will strengthen our partnerships, confronting those who choose to attack innocent people or our democratic processes and freedoms."

- 'Pack of cigarettes and a beer' -

Mattis has helped shape Trump's views on other issues too, including his boss's professed admiration for waterboarding and torture. Mattis opposes such techniques and has pushed back on the issue.

Story continues

In an interview with the New York Times, Trump recounted how Mattis had said that winning a prisoner's trust is a far more effective way of obtaining information.

"'Give me a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers and I'll do better,'" Trump said Mattis had told him.

The former Marine is well known for his anecdotes and pithy sayings.

On the eve of the Iraq invasion, he told Marines to: "Engage your brain before you engage your weapon."

He also famously -- and controversially -- said in regard to fighting the Taliban that it's "a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them."

Mattis is one of several heavy hitters from the Trump adminstration in Europe this week.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited the G20 summit in Bonn, where he said Washington would conditionally consider working with Moscow in some areas, but he called on Russia to honour the Minsk peace agreement aimed at ending hostilities in Ukraine.

Vice President Mike Pence is due to address the Munich conference Saturday and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly is also attending.

- 'Massive uncertainty' -

Ahead of Pence's visit, German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen urged the United States not to take transatlantic ties for granted.

"Our American friends know well that your tone on Europe and NATO has a direct impact on the cohesion of our continent," she said.

Conference chairman Wolfgang Ischinger, Germany's former ambassador to Britain, said the global political situation was unprecedented in modern times and described a "massive uncertainty" gripping Europe.

"European leaders and European governments are extremely impatient to find out what will really drive US foreign policy in this new period," he said, underscoring that many in Europe are clamouring to find out about the future of US-Russian relations.

The Baltic states are especially nervous, given their history under the Soviet Union and proximity to Russia.

"Russia is in our view the threat," Lithuanian Defence Minister Raimundas Karoblis told reporters at NATO headquarters.

"After the annexation of Crimea and (Russia's) continuous aggression in the east of Ukraine. (Their) increased capabilities near our borders -- it's really created the risk" of conflict, he added.

The White House is still reeling from the forced resignation Monday of Trump's national security advisor Michael Flynn, after it was revealed that he held pre-inauguration phone calls with the Russian ambassador about US sanctions policy.

Trump on Thursday denied he or his staff had any pre-election contacts with Moscow.

"I have nothing to do with Russia," Trump said. "The whole Russia thing is a ruse."
Washington (AFP) - Donald Trump's reported pick for national security advisor turned down the job just hours after the president defended the ousted Michael Flynn, saying he "wasn't wrong" for dealing with Russia.

Retired Navy Admiral Robert Harward's rejection of the key post late Thursday leaves Trump without a replacement for Flynn, the first high profile casualty of the US leader's tenure, and it added to a perception of disarray in his administration.

Harward told CNN he bowed out because of family and financial commitments, but several US media outlets reported that he was unhappy because he had no guarantees that the National Security Council -- and not Trump's political advisors -- would be in charge of policy.

Members of the council currently include Steve Bannon, Trump's controversial far-right former campaign manager.

One Harward friend told CNN that he didn't want the job because of chaos at the White House.

Flynn, a close advisor on Trump's 2016 campaign, resigned after it was revealed that he held telephone conversations during the election race with Russia's ambassador in Washington about US sanctions.

Flynn was no stranger to controversy. His past included a paid appearance at a 2015 dinner sitting next to President Vladimir Putin and suggestions that Russia's seizure of Crimea and its support for Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad were acceptable.

Russia was the hot topic of a lengthy and often rambling press conference given by Trump on Thursday.

The president insisted neither he nor his campaign team had contacts with Russian officials in the run-up to last year's US election, contradicting an explosive report which he dismissed as "fake news."

Trump instead accused members of US intelligence agencies of breaking the law by leaking information about the calls.

Asked whether he or anyone on his staff had engaged in contacts with Russia prior to the election, Trump proclaimed: "No, nobody that I know of."

Story continues

"I have nothing to do with Russia," Trump said. "The whole Russia thing is a ruse."

- 'It's all fake news' -

It was a full-throated denunciation of a bombshell New York Times report which said intercepted calls and phone records show Trump aides were in repeated contact with Russian intelligence officials well before the US election.

"It's all fake news," Trump insisted.

He stressed that the Times story centered instead on inappropriate action by US intelligence agencies, and he stepped up earlier attacks vowing to catch "low-life leakers" of potentially classified information that led to Flynn's ouster.

"Those are criminal leaks" by people angry about Democrat Hillary Clinton's loss, Trump told reporters.

"The people that gave out the information to the press should be ashamed of themselves."

The Washington Post meanwhile reported that Flynn denied to FBI agents that he had discussed US sanctions on Russia with Moscow's ambassador.

If Flynn did discuss the sanctions, as Trump appears to believe, then the retired general could be looking at prison time because lying to the FBI is a felony, though the president defended him.

"What he did wasn't wrong," Trump stressed.

"I didn't direct him" to discuss sanctions, Trump added. "But I would have directed him because that's his job" to talk with foreign contacts.

- 'Collusion?' -

Trump defended his political agenda and promised new executive orders regarding trade and immigration next week.

But most of his remarks centered on Russia connections.

"I would love to be able to get along with Russia," Trump said. "It would be much easier for me to be tough on Russia, but then we're not going to make a deal."

The revelations about the Trump campaign and Russia have alarmed even Republican leaders, wary of the president's overtures toward Moscow.

"It is a cloud over the White House," said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who has called for in-depth investigations.

Various news reports say Trump plans to name New York billionaire Stephen Feinberg -- who has no national security experience -- to lead a sweeping review of US intelligence agencies.

Amid mounting calls for more sweeping congressional investigations, one Democrat accused Trump's campaign of collusion with Moscow.

"I believe there was collusion," House Democrat Maxine Waters told CNN, stressing that Trump's focus on the leaks was a distraction.

Trump's view on leaks has flipped since the 2016 campaign when he proclaimed "I love WikiLeaks" -- the organization that published hacked Clinton campaign emails.

He also dismissed as a "joke" his suggestion that Russia was behind the damaging leaks.

By January, US intelligence had concluded that those leaks were part of a wider campaign ordered by Putin to try to tilt the election in Trump's favor. Moscow denies any involvement.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has moved gingerly on Russia, sending top officials to Europe to reassure NATO allies while making its opening official contacts with the Russians.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Bonn, and said Washington is prepared to work with Russia "when we can find practical areas of cooperation."

In Brussels, Defense Secretary James Mattis said the Pentagon was not ready "right now" for military cooperation with Moscow "but our political leaders will engage and try to find common ground."

mlm-burs/ch/adm
By Nate Raymond

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former Wall Street investment banker was sentenced to three years in prison on Friday after he was convicted of engaging in insider trading by repeatedly tipping his father off to unannounced healthcare mergers.

Sean Stewart, who worked at Perella Weinberg Partners and JPMorgan Chase & Co, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain in Manhattan, who called his conduct "outrageous."

"He chose personal convenience, appearances and family benefits over the ethical obligations he had to his employers," Swain said.

Stewart, who at trial contended his father, Robert Stewart, traded without his knowledge based on their discussions about his work, in court acknowledged breaching his employers' trust to keep details about deals secret.

"In my heart and in my mind, though, I know I did not commit a crime," Stewart said. "I know that to be true. I do know, however, that I made very serious mistakes."

Swain also sentenced Stewart, 35, to serve one year of home detention following his release from prison, and she ordered him to pay a $7,500 fine. Stewart is expected to appeal.

Jurors had found Stewart guilty last August of securities fraud and other charges, making him one of 85 people to be convicted in a wave of insider trading cases by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's office since 2009.

Prosecutors said that from 2011 to 2014, Stewart tipped his father about five mergers, including INC Research LLC's [INCRR.UL] acquisition of Kendle International Inc. [nL1N1AY0Q9]

"This was protracted and brazen conduct propped up by lies," Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Eddy said in court.

Robert Stewart, a Long Island accountant, in some instances arranged for a friend, Richard Cunniffe, to conduct trades in his own accounts because of concern he was too close to the source, prosecutors said.

The trading enabled the elder Stewart and Cunniffe to make $1.16 million, prosecutors said.

Story continues

At trial, Sean Stewart's lawyers acknowledged he spoke with his father about companies involved in mergers. But they said he did so while talking about his work, and that Robert Stewart betrayed his son by trading on the information.

Robert Stewart was sentenced in May 2016 to a year of home detention after pleading guilty in August 2015. [nL2N1801TM]

Cunniffe pleaded guilty in May 2015 and became a cooperating government witness. He is scheduled to be sentenced in July.

The case is U.S. v. Stewart, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-cr-00287.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
By Nobuhiro Kubo TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan plans to accelerate a warship building program to make two frigates a year to patrol the fringes of the East China Sea, where it disputes island ownership with China, three people with knowledge of the plan said. Japan previously was building one 5,000-ton class destroyer a year, but will now make two 3,000-ton class ships a year, beginning from the April 2018 fiscal year, the people said, declining to be identified as they are not authorized to talk to the media. It aims to produce a fleet of eight of the new class of smaller, cheaper vessels, which may also have mine-sweeping and anti-submarine capability. Naval shipyard operators including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Japan Marine United Corp (JMU) and Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding are expected to bid for the work, the people said. Japan and China dispute ownership of a group of islands in the East China Sea, about 220 km (140 miles) northeast of Taiwan. In Japan, they are known as the Senkakus, while China calls them the Diaoyu islands. Senior Japanese military officials have said they are concerned that China may seek to increase its influence in the East China Sea around Japan's southern Okinawa island chain. Japan provides military aid to Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines and Vietnam that oppose China's territorial claims in the neighboring South China Sea. BUILD-SHARING In a departure from normal procurement practice, Japan's Ministry of Defense said in a report published on Wednesday it will require the winner of the - eight frigate - contract to offer major portions of the build to other bidders. The change is meant to ensure naval shipyards remain open. In the past two years, JMU has won contracts to build the larger Aegis-equipped destroyers, raising some concern among defense ministry officials that rivals could shutter their shipyards, one of the sources said. "We need to ensure our ability to build naval vessels at home," the person said. The new ships will cost 40-50 billion yen ($353-$443 million) each, another of the sources said. (Reporting by Nobuhiro Kubo; Writing by Tim Kelly; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)
Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai said the FCC is keeping an eye on the proposed merger between AT&T and Time-Warner, according to Fox Business.

In an interview with Fox Business Network, Pai said the FCC will maintain an active role in the mergers terms.

We want to make sure that there's a competitive marketplace, Pai said. Any transaction that is presented to me, I will apply the test that the FCC has long applied. Is the consummation of this deal in the public interest and will consumers be better off? If there is an anti-competitive harm that is shown to me based on the evidence, then we'll take the appropriate action.

The statement is one of Pais first on the high-profile merger between the two media and telecommunications companies. While Pais comment is relatively mild, its a noticeable change in language versus AT&T. In public appearances and interviews, AT&T has repeatedly expressed confidence that the deal will go through without issue.

During an interview with CNBC from early February, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said the company expects the merger to close by the end of the year.

The filing has been made with the Department of Justice. The review is ongoing right now. There will not be a filing with the FCC. We're going to assume no licenses from Time Warner, Stephenson told CNBC. It will be a one-track review. The Department of Justice will review it and that's going at pace.

After the $85.4 billion merger between the two conglomerates was announced last fall, AT&T and Time-Warner have earned scrutiny from officials ranging from Sen. Bernie Sanders to President Donald Trump. AT&T is one of the largest telecom companies in the country, while Time-Warner owns media properties like HBO and CNN.

Since taking over the FCC from former chairman Tom Wheeler in January, Pais approach to the FCC has been a work in progress. While Pais opposition towards regulation and initiatives like net neutrality are well-established  Pai said the FCC needed to take a weed whacker to Obama-era regulations in a December speech  the AT&T-Time Warner merger looks to be one of the Pai-run FCCs major policy hurdles. The FCCs thoroughness in oversight on the merger will be a strong sign towards how tough  or lightweight  Pais FCC will likely be towards the telecom industry.

Related Articles
OCALA, Fla. (AP)  Federal prosecutors say a Florida man planned to blow up several Target stores along the East Coast in an attempt to cheap stock in the company.

The Orlando Sentinel (http://bit.ly/2loeQDn) reports 48-year-old Mark Charles Barnett of Ocala is charged with possession of a firearm (destructive device) affecting commerce by a previously convicted felon. Barnett is a registered sex offender in Florida.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a complaint alleging Barnett built at least 10 explosive devices and paid another man to place the bombs on store shelves. Officials say the other man instead went to authorities.

The complaint says Barnett thought the explosions would cause Target stock prices to drop, allowing him to buy cheap shares in the company before it rebounded.

If convicted, Barnett faces up to 10 years in prison.

___

Information from: Orlando Sentinel, http://www.orlandosentinel.com/
Three suspects were arrested in Daytona Beach, Florida, Tuesday for allegedly beating a disabled veteran who attempted to stop them from torturing a turtle.

Garry Blough, a disabled Gulf War Navy veteran, told local reporters he acted after his wife and toddler went to get the mail and told him they had spotted the three tormenting the turtle.

When Blough went outside his apartment complex to check, he said he saw the suspects lifting the turtle off the ground, then hurling it back to the pavement multiple times in an attempt to break its shell. He said he told his wife to call the police after begging the group to leave the turtle alone. They responded negatively.

When he then tried to get the helpless animal back into the water, the three suspects started punching him in the face and kicking him once he was knocked down. Blough said he suffered a swollen eye out of which he can barely see now and may have suffered a concussion, but his injuries paled in comparison to the turtle, which likely died.

You dont hit a woman, you dont hit a child and you dont hit an animal around me. I wont stand for it.  There are eight other children in the neighborhood all watching this, and theyre all in tears, Blough told reporters.

Once neighbors starting emerging from their homes after hearing the commotion outside, the three suspects stopped beating Blough and fled, but they were quickly apprehended by police on a nearby road.

Police identified the three suspects as Ryan Ponder, 23, Johnnie Beveritt, 18, and Alfred Chico, 16. They were charged with aggravated battery and cruelty to animals.

How are they going to be as fathers if theyre doing this to animals at their age? Blough asked.

Ponder and Beveritt are currently being held at the Volusia County Jail on $15,000 bond while Chico was sent to a juvenile detention facility.

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There were 1,920 cases of animal abuse reported in the U.S. in 2016, according to statisticsbrain.com. Dogs were the victims of animal abuse in 60 percent of those incidents while cats were the victims in 18 percent.

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Nearly a month before Donald Trump was sworn in as president, Michael Flynn, his national security advisor designate, and other members of the presidents transition team launched a vigorous diplomatic bid to head off a U.N. Security Council vote condemning Israeli settlements.

The effort represented a fitful first foray into global diplomacy by Trumps transition team, bearing hallmarks that have become familiar in the weeks since he took office. Their efforts were marked by a brusque disregard for diplomatic protocol and a hasty pressure campaign that changed few, if any, minds.

In the end, the president-elects team was unable to persuade a single country to change their vote, including Britain, Egypt, and Russia, three countries that have gone out of their way to cultivate better ties with the new American leader.

The episode also suggests that Flynns unconventional diplomatic activism in the weeks leading up to the inauguration was part of a highly coordinated effort at the highest ranks of the Trump team, including the president-elect, to shape the course of U.S. foreign relations.

That contrasts with the general portrayal so far of Flynn as a rogue envoy, whose secret talks in late December with Russia about sanctions were supposedly done without the knowledge of his superiors. Fox News reported Friday that Trump had been briefed on the full contents of Flynns discussions with the Russian ambassador.

Several hours before the landmark Dec. 23 vote at the United Nations  which eventually denounced Israeli settlements over a pointed U.S. abstention  the Trump transition team approached the State Department with an urgent request: Hand over any cell phone numbers, emails, and other contacts of ambassadors and foreign ministers from the Security Councils 15 member states. The request, which was described by a former State Department official, was rejected out of fear that it would be used to scuttle American diplomatic aims.

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But transition officials pressed ahead. In Washington, Trump aides pressed allies, including Egypt and Britain, who both played critical roles in helping the Palestinians draft the measure, to oppose the resolution.

We were all under pressure from either Israel or the Trump administration, said one Security Council diplomat.

Nikki Haley, the presidents pick to serve as U.N. envoy, sought frantically to reach Samantha Power, then still serving as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, calling her office and cell phone number, a U.S. official told Foreign Policy. Powers advisors suspected Haley would try persuade Power to veto the resolution, and she did not take the call.

In New York, Flynn himself placed calls to foreign ambassadors on the U.N. Security Council, including those from Uruguay and Malaysia, the latter one of four countries that put the resolution to a vote.

Flynn offered pleasantries to a senior Uruguayan official who took the call, before politely urging the government to vote against the resolution, or to at least abstain, according to a council diplomat familiar with the exchange. Flynn explained that the Trump administration would pursue a different approach to addressing the Middle East conflict once it took office, and that it was not the right moment to adopt the resolution.

A spokesman for the Malaysian mission to the United Nations confirmed Flynn attempted to reach out to our [permanent representative], referring to the missions most senior ambassador, Ramlan Bin Ibrahim.

But the Malaysian diplomat, a strong supporter of council action on settlements, did not take call. He was very preoccupied in the hours prior to the tabling of the draft resolution on settlements, according to the Malaysian spokesman, who spoke on condition that his name not be published.

The U.S. mission to the United Nations, the State Department, and the National Security Council did not respond to requests for comment on this story, and the National Security Council did not respond to a separate request to provide a contact information for Flynn. A spokeswoman for Flynn during his tenure at the National Security Council did not respond to a request for comment regarding efforts on the U.N. resolution.

The back-channel diplomacy coincided with a more public effort by then-President-elect Trump to press countries to vote against the measure, which declared Israels settlements an illegal threat to the prospects of a Middle East peace. A day before the vote, Trump issued a series of tweets displaying his disdain for the councils plan.

The resolution, Trump said, puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his top diplomats meanwhile opened a broad lobbying front, pressing the councils African governments  Angola, Egypt, and Senegal  as well as New Zealands foreign minister not to support the resolution.

Trump also reached out to an unlikely ally, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, an Egyptian general who seized power in a military coup in July 2013. Egypt, the lone Arab Council member, had announced plans to put the resolution to a vote on Dec. 22.

Trumps pressure bore some fruit, at first. Egypt initially announced plans to delay the vote, possibly until this year. But Cairo ultimately withdrew the resolution, paving the way for Malaysia, New Zealand, Senegal, and Venezuela to call for a vote the following day. It passed by a vote of 14-0, with the American abstention. Even Egypt voted in favor.

Critics say the incoming Trump administrations efforts to derail the resolution ran contrary to a centuries-old American law, the 1799 Logan Act, which bars American private citizens from relating to controversies or disputes which do or shall exist between the United States and other powers.

Some legal scholars see a breathtaking break with tradition in the United States, but insufficient grounds for prosecution, especially against a president-in-waiting or his team.

You dont have to be a historian of American relations to understand the importance of the executive speaking with one voice, Steve Vladeck, a professor of international law at the University of Texas, told FP. There is a long standing tradition of not undermining a sitting president, even during a transition, a practice known as one president at a time.

It is a remarkably brazen breach of historical norms, but not all such breaches are illegal, he said.

The passage of the resolution has threatened to poison relations between the new administration and the United Nations.

After the vote, Trump sent out an ominous tweet.

As to the U.N., things will be different after Jan. 20th.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2016

Republican leaders, including Sens. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), threatened to block funding to U.N. programs if the council refused to repeal the settlements resolution. Such an outcome, always unlikely, has grown vanishingly remote as Israel has stepped of the construction of thousands of new housing units in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

That has also coincided with a sharp turn in U.S. Middle East policy, with President Trump on Wednesday effectively jettisoning Washingtons (and Turtle Bays) long standing preference for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, saying he was fine with a one-state solution. It has all left Washington more isolated than it has been in years on Middle East diplomacy at the U.N.

In her first appearance at a debate on the Middle East, Haley tried to row back the presidents remarks, telling reporters outside the Security Council that the United States absolutely supports a two-state solution.

But her remarks made it clear that the administration is still stewing over the settlements resolution and her subsequent failure to garner support for denouncing a recent terrorist attack in Israel. The United States withdrew the statement, which requires consent from the entire council, after Bolivia insisted it include a reference to the settlements resolution.

We will never repeat the terrible mistake of Resolution 2334 and allow one-sided resolutions to condemn Israel, she told reporters. Outrageously biased resolutions, she added, only make peace harder to attain.

Senior staff reporter John Hudson contributed to this report.

Photo credit: GEORGE FREY/Getty Images
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn told FBI agents in an interview last month that he had not discussed sanctions against Russia with Moscow's U.S. ambassador before President Donald Trump took office, the Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing current and former U.S. officials.

Flynn's Jan. 24 interview with the Federal Bureau of Investigation could expose him to charges, since lying to the agency is a felony, but any decision to prosecute would lie with the Justice Department.

U.S. intelligence agencies intercepted Flynn's call with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak after Trump's election, in which the two discussed sanctions, the Post reported previously.

The FBI was not expected to pursue any charges against Flynn over the call unless new information emerged, CNN reported on Thursday, citing law enforcement officials.

Flynn resigned on Monday after news reports that he withheld information from Vice President Mike Pence about his conversation with Kislyak.

(Reporting by Tim Ahmann; Editing by Eric Walsh and Bill Rigby)
Mexico City (AFP) - US car maker Ford is sticking with a plan to open two auto-parts plants in Mexico this year, despite earlier announcing it had scrapped plans for a separate factory there.

Ford without warning last month canceled plans to build a $1.6 billion project in San Luis Potosi, an auto-making area in central Mexico.

Gabriel Lopez, president and CEO of Ford Mexico, said however that this did not affect two other projects it has under way in the country since 2015, which are scheduled to begin production this year.

The plants, in the central state of Guanajuato and the northern city of Chihuahua, will make engines and transmissions.

They will supply Ford factories in the United States, South America, Europe and Asia.

The two facilities will cost about $2.5 billion and employ some 3,800 people, Lopez said on Wednesday.

Ford is one of several US companies under pressure from the country's new President Donald Trump.

He has offered inducements to keep some US manufacturers in the United States, and threatened others with punishing tariffs if they go.

Ford has been operating in Mexico for about 90 years. It currently employs around 9,000 workers in Mexico, according to Lopez.
By William James LONDON (Reuters) - Former British prime minister Tony Blair issued a battle cry against a so-called 'hard Brexit' on Friday, calling on voters, businesses and campaigners to "rise up" and back a coordinated effort to temper the terms of, or even halt, Britain's EU exit. In his first major political intervention since Britons voted 52 to 48 percent to leave the European Union last June, Blair said Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May was pursuing "Brexit at any cost", and must be challenged. "The people voted without knowledge of the terms of Brexit. As these terms become clear, it is their right to change their mind. Our mission is to persuade them to do so," he said in a speech. "This is not the time for retreat, indifference or despair, but the time to rise up in defense of what we believe." May has vowed to start the legal process of leaving the European Union next month, and it is not clear whether the process could then be reversed. Her vision is for a clean break, including leaving the EU's single market and customs union. Blair, who won three elections at the head of the Labour Party, has also spoken out in the last 18 months to warn Labour members against electing the hard leftist Jeremy Corbyn as their leader, and to urge voters to shun Brexit. Neither intervention was successful. His speech was aimed at rallying disparate and cowed pro-EU lobby groups into a coherent voice against Brexit, said the organizers of the event, the Open Britain campaign group. The road we're going down is not simply 'hard Brexit'. It is 'Brexit at any cost'," Blair said. "Our challenge is to expose relentlessly what this cost is ... and to build support for finding a way out from the present rush over the cliffs edge." Blair said he was setting up a new institute to consider the Brexit question and other global issues. He stopped short of calling for a second EU referendum, saying the mechanism for voters to express any change of mind was a "second-order question". "YESTERDAY'S MAN" The speech drew swift criticism from pro-Brexit campaigners. "Blair is yesterday's man," said Nigel Farage, former leader of the UK Independence Party. "He seems to think we are going to change our minds. He clearly hasn't grasped that, if that referendum was held tomorrow, the margin would be at least three times bigger." Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who campaigned for Brexit, said: I urge the British people to rise up and turn off the TV the next time Blair comes on." Blair accused May and other ministers who had backed "Remain" in the referendum campaign of pledging to take Britain out of the single market for purely political reasons. "They're not driving this bus. They're being driven," he said. Blair's reputation among the British public remains tarnished by the Iraq war, an issue that resurfaced last year when a long-awaited inquiry was critical of his role in the decision to join the U.S.-led invasion of 2003. "You can like the messenger or not like the messenger," Blair said. "I know that there will be a volley of abuse that will come my way for speaking." TOO MESSY Once May formally triggers exit negotiations next month, her government argues that there will be no legal way to stop the countdown to withdrawal. However, a court case in Dublin seeks to establish whether Britain can reverse the exit process without the permission of the other 27 EU member states. The EU has not formally addressed the question, although Donald Tusk, who will oversee Brexit negotiations as chair of EU leaders summits, did say in October that he had received legal advice that it could be stopped. Since Britons would face a choice between a costly hard Brexit and no Brexit, he said, they might change their minds, and the other 27 member states would welcome them staying. However, that perception may have shifted over the past few months. Several senior diplomats have told Reuters this month that the political will to keep Britain in if London makes a U-turn seems to have dissipated. Few governments anyway see it as likely that Britain may change tack, but those that have considered the issue believe many EU states would now find it unappealing to keep in a deeply divided Britain that is still unlikely to be a committed member of the bloc. Moreover, while Brexit will be disruptive, a U-turn could be even more so, distracting Brussels at a time when it is dealing with other crises. One senior diplomat from a country traditionally close to British positions in the EU said: "This bus has left. No one is happy about it, but we have moved on and the last thing anyone wants now is to reopen the whole issue. That would be just too messy." (Additional reporting by Ritvik Carvalho, Alastair Smout, David Miliken and Elizabeth Piper in London and Alastair Macdonald in Brussels; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
BONN, Germany (AP)  The foreign ministers of France and Germany voiced cautious optimism Friday about the willingness of the Trump administration to engage on Syria, after new U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson took part in talks on Syria on the sidelines of a diplomatic summit.

France's foreign minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, said the meeting Friday in Bonn, Germany, was "particularly useful," noting that it came a week before the U.N.-backed peace talks in Geneva are to resume.

"It is important and absolutely instrumental for us to have a close dialogue with the United States on the Syrian issue and on many other issues," Ayrault told reporters.

His German counterpart, Sigmar Gabriel, said Tillerson had "participated vigorously" in the discussion, which also included top envoys from Italy, Britain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan and the European Union.

Gabriel said those who participated agreed that only a political solution could bring lasting peace to Syria, which has been shaken by war for almost six years.

Russia, which has provided military backing to the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad in its fight against a range of opposition forces, didn't take part in the talks on the sidelines of a two-day meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of 20 leading industrialized and emerging economies.

Gabriel noted, however, that Russia's support was crucial for progress to happen at the peace talks.

"On its own, the regime in Damascus won't conduct any serious negotiations," he said.

Ayrault reiterated France's position that Assad can't be part of a future Syrian government, adding that Europe wouldn't finance the rebuilding of the country if he is.

Syria was one of several crises discussed by diplomats from the G-20 nations.

The G-20 was created in the late 1990s as a means of discussing global economic stability in a broader forum than the G-8 in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. The format gained further prominence when the heads of government met for the first time in 2008 in a bid to resolve the global financial meltdown.

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Chairmanship of the group has rotated among the members and Germany is to host leaders in Hamburg on July 7-8.

The meeting in Bonn was the first opportunity for many foreign ministers to meet Tillerson and learn more about the Trump administration's future foreign policy.

"Everyone was happy that Rex Tillerson was there and took an active part in the discussion," Gabriel told reporters. "Of course everyone knows, and the United States expressed this through their foreign minister, that we need international cooperation to solve existing crises in the world."

____

Follow Frank Jordans on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/wirereporter
PARIS (AP)  French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is facing new troubles, with fresh revelations in an investigation into her European Parliament assistants and scathing criticism from the U.N. human rights commissioner.

The Parliament probe is among several legal issues hanging over France's April-May election, which is shaping up as a major test of growing nationalist sentiment across Europe.

Investigative website Mediapart published excerpts from a European Commission fraud office report that said Le Pen admitted to irregularities in paychecks for one assistant targeted in the European Parliament probe.

Le Pen, speaking on France Bleu radio Friday, acknowledged settling an accounting problem with the Parliament, but insisted "there was nothing fictitious, no fake jobs or anything like this."

French authorities are separately investigating the parliamentary assistants. The probes center around suspicions that members of Le Pen's National Front party tricked the European Parliament out of several hundred thousand euros by using legislative aides for the party's political activity while they were on the parliament's payroll.

Le Pen also reiterated accusations that the investigation is biased because it's led by the European Commission, "and you can imagine that I am not well-regarded by the commission." Le Pen has used her membership in the European Parliament as a forum to lobby against European unity and the shared euro currency, and reviving French national sovereignty is central to her presidential platform.

Meanwhile, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, in a blunt speech in Washington, called rising support for Le Pen's nationalist ideas a potential threat to world peace.

Le Pen wrote Zeid an open letter last year in which she criticized international organizations as representing a "global hyperclass ... which scorns peoples, and thus human beings, their diversity and specific riches."

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Zeid countered Thursday that Le Pen's anti-immigrant party "manifests evident intolerance of diverse customs, beliefs and modes of thought."

He also expressed concern that nationalist politicians like Le Pen seem "to feed off the threat of terrorism."

"Can we be so reckless, so stupid, as to risk the future of humanity, simply for the sake of ballots?" he asked.
Havana (AFP) - A life-size bronze sculpture of the Colombian Nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez was unveiled Thursday in Havana, an homage to the writer and to Cuba for its support of the peace accord with leftist FARC rebels.

The sculpture portrays the writer holding books and a rose, dressed in the traditional suit known as a liqui liqui that he wore to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982.

"We want to pay homage to Gabo who is so intimately linked to Havana, the Caribbean and Cuba," Colombian ambassador to Cuba Gustavo Bell told AFP, using a nickname for the late author.

This "is a tribute, a show of gratitude from the Colombian people to the Cuban people for accompanying us in the peace process," Bell said.

Havana hosted four years of peace talks between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by the Spanish acronym FARC.

Garcia Marquez, who died in 2014, was a personal friend of deceased Cuban leader Fidel Castro and lived in Havana for a period in the 1980s.

The statue stands 1.80 meters (5 feet and 9 inches) tall and is a "living sculpture" that shows Garcia Marquez descending a staircase.

The statue was created by Cuban sculptor Jose Villa Soberon, whose other works around the city include life-size renderings of the Beatle John Lennon and Mother Teresa.

This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of the famous writer's "100 Years of Solitude."
BERLIN (Reuters) - A talking doll named Cayla has been banned by German authorities because the software inside her could be hacked, posing a security risk and allowing personal data to be revealed. The Federal Network Agency recommended that parents who bought the doll for their children destroy it. "The Cayla doll is banned in Germany," agency head Jochen Homann said. "This is also about protecting the weakest members of society." The software in the doll -- created by the U.S. company Genesis Toys -- allows a child to have a conversation with the doll. But this carried a risk of espionage and could compromise privacy, Homann said in a statement. Researcher Stefan Hessel, who had examined the toy and alerted the agency, said hackers could use an unsecure bluetooth device embedded in it to listen and talk to the child playing with it. "In a test, I was able to hack the toy even through several walls. It lacks any security features," Hessel told the German website Netzpolitik.org. The German distributer, Vivid GmbH, could not be reached for comment. Surveillance is a sensitive issue in Germany where East Germany's Stasi secret police and the Nazi era Gestapo kept a close watch on the population. (Reporting by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Munich (Germany) (AFP) - European leaders Friday fired a salvo of warnings against Washington, cautioning it against hurting EU cohesion, abandoning shared values and seeking a rapprochement with Russia behind the backs of its allies.

In a hard-hitting speech at the Munich Security Conference against President Donald Trump's administration, German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen urged the United States not to take transatlantic ties for granted.

"Our American friends know well that your tone on Europe and NATO has a direct impact on the cohesion of our continent," the German minister told the Munich Security Conference.

"A stable European Union is also in Americas interest, as is a strong and unified NATO," she said.

Polish President Andrzej Duda also stressed that "the basis of our strength is our transatlantic bond. We must not recklessly put it into question.

"We all realise that the consequence of a potential destabilisation on Europe will be felt on both sides of the Atlantic," he added.

Trump's praise for Britains decision to quit the EU, his criticism of NATO, and his softer approach towards Russia have rattled allies, prompting them to seek assurances from his lieutenants on whether long-standing US policies have indeed been scrapped.

As jittery partners wonder what foreign policy under Trump would look like, the White House has dispatched top generals to Europe this week to offer reassurances.

Vice President Mike Pence is due to address the Munich conference Saturday, a day after US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis affirmed to the same forum that the bond between Europe and America is the "strongest bulwark" against instability and violence.

"I am confident that we will strengthen our partnerships, confronting those who choose to attack innocent people or our democratic processes and freedoms," he told the gathering of security and defence experts.

Separately in Bonn, where foreign ministers of G20 nations closed a two-day meeting, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made brief statements in which he stuck close to conventional foreign policy, including on North Korea and Russia.

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With the White House embroiled in controversy over its ties to the Kremlin, Tillerson was cautious in his dealings with Moscow, despite Trump's pledges for closer ties.

Following his first sitdown with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday, Tillerson said the US sought cooperation with Moscow only when doing so "will benefit the American people".

- Not equi-distance -

In Munich, Germany's defence minister urged the US to cherish transatlantic ties, pointing out that allies should not be put on the same footing as Russia.

"There cannot be a policy of equi-distance to allies and to those who openly question our values, our borders and international law," von der Leyen said, adding that allied nations must not be "going above partners' heads in bilateral negotiations."

Von der Leyen also reminded Washington of NATO's core values.

"That never leaves any room for torture. It requires us to prevent causing any civilian victims and it means giving protection to those who are in need."

She also took aim at Trump's plan to ban migrants from majority-Muslim nations.

"We should be careful that this fight (against terror) does not become a front against Islam and Muslims.

"Otherwise we run the risk of digging ourselves into a deeper grave in which violence and terror only grow further. Rather, it is right to seek partnership with like-minded Muslim and Arab nations," she said.

- 'Obsolete' -

Since taking office Trump has said he fully backs NATO, but called it "obsolete" while campaigning for election.

He has advocated waterboarding, repeatedly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and called for better cooperation with Russia, including in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria.

Under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, Washington insisted President Bashar al-Assad had to go as part of a political solution in Syria -- an issue Trump has downplayed.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko warned that moving in the direction of appeasement with Russia "would be naive, wrong and dangerous".

Seeking to allay allies' concerns, senior US Senator John McCain noted that Trump sometimes "contradicts himself, so some of us have learnt to watch what the president does as opposed to what he says.

"Make no mistake these are dangerous times but you should not count America out," McCain added.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had a good word for the Trump administration.

"Give these guys and give Donald Trump a chance. Yes its a new style of government, but dont underestimate a new approach to deliver results," Johnson said.
Were all exposed to unhealthy traffic pollutants, but people who spend a lot of time on or very near higher-traffic roads get more. The Center for Public Integrity and Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting teamed up to look at the schools across the country that sit within 500 feet of busy roads.

We picked that distance because, in general, studies suggest that the biggest daytime exposures are within the first 500 feet from the road (though some studies have found elevated levels farther out, such as roughly 900 to 1,000 feet). Californias school-siting law, which aims to keep new schools away from freeways and other major routes, uses 500 feet as the area of concern.

The California law focuses on very heavily traveled roads, but theres no true dividing line between bad and OK. Some studies have found health effects among people near roads with at least 10,000 vehicles a day, which includes routes with a tiny fraction of the traffic on an L.A. freeway. In fact, because steady speeds produce less pollution than acceleration, vehicles on highways that arent plagued by stop-by-go congestion are cleaner than they are on lower-speed roads with traffic lights and stop signs. And a road that draws diesel trucks, particularly old trucks, could be worse than a higher-traffic route with only cars.

We tried to account for these complexities with our traffic thresholds. We ended up defining a busy road as one with average daily traffic of at least 30,000 vehicles, or 500 or more trucks and at least 10,000 total vehicles.

We used schools data tracked by the National Center for Education Statistics, part of the U.S. Department of Education. It includes latitude and longitude for every school, along with information ranging from the type of school to the demographic details on the student body. The most recent full dataset from the NCES is for the 2014-15 school year.

Related story: The invisible hazard afflicting thousands of schools

This story is part of Carbon Wars. The fossil-fuel industry is under attack as the world warms and pollution impairs and shortens lives. But industry is fighting back. Click here to read more stories in this series.

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Our traffic data came from the Federal Highway Administration, which has average daily traffic figures for total vehicles as well as trucks on roads across the country  not just highways, but also local roads. We used 2014 traffic data for every state except Iowa. Highway administration data wasn't available in 2014 for that state, so we used 2015 data instead.

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Staffers at both agencies answered a lot of questions for us, from how the school geocoding was done (the NCES tries to put the coordinates on top of a school building whenever possible) to how the FHWA distinguishes trucks from cars (sensors in the roads, manual counts, estimates from the states).

We also received help from numerous academic researchers. People who conducted studies of schools near major routes and shared their expertise include Sergey Grinshpun with the University of Cincinnati, Gregory Wellenius of Brown University and Ryan Allen at Simon Fraser University.

Other academics who offered advice on a wide range of related issues include Julian Marshall and Matthew Bechle at the University of Washington, Steve Hankey at Virginia Tech, Dr. Janet Phoenix at the George Washington University, Nicky Sheats at Thomas Edison State University, Andrea Ferro at Clarkson University, Marc Serre at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Jonathan Buonocore at Harvard University, Julia Heck at UCLA and Stuart Batterman at the University of Michigan.

Some news organizations have covered this issue in their regions, including InvestigateWests excellent Exhausted at School series in Seattle, but we came across none that crunched the data nationally. Heres why: Its a headache. You can individually verify that the school locations are accurate and each record in the database is in fact a school when youre looking at hundreds of sites in a city. You cant do it one by one when youre working with a dataset of just over 100,000 entries.

If a schools coordinates are off by even a few dozen yards, it could appear to be within 500 feet of a road that it actually isnt, or farther away than it actually is. The location for each school is the equivalent of the pinpoint on a Google map, rather than the boundaries encompassing the entire property, so theres not a lot of wiggle room.

The NCES dataset also includes entries that wouldnt make sense for us to count in a story about K-12 schools educating kids close to traffic: online-only, adult ed, a host of programs that were not certain why school districts recorded as schools.

Reveals Eric Sagara and the Centers Jamie Smith Hopkins and Chris Zubak-Skees spent several months verifying the data. Heres what we did to improve its accuracy:

 We checked a random sample of schools showing up within 500 feet of busy roads and a random sample of schools geocoded a bit farther away, to see whether geocoding issues would lead to over- or undercounting of higher-traffic schools. (Justin Scoggins, a data-verification expert who is data manager at the University of Southern Californias Program for Environmental and Regional Equity, recommended this step.) What this suggested: More than 90 percent of schools that are supposedly within 500 feet of busy roads really are. Meanwhile, schools that are closer to those roads than they appear  that is, they seem to be more than 500 feet away but are actually less than 500 feet  outnumber the schools that are farther than they appear. That gave us confidence that were not overstating the problem.

 All told, we eyeballed the locations of hundreds of schools, which allowed us to make fixes where necessary and gave us an understanding of the issues on the ground. When adjusting a schools coordinates, we put them on a building rather than, say, the playground, to be consistent with what NCES tries to do.

 Sometimes NCES is better at locating a school, and sometimes Google is. By comparing locations with the California School Campus Database, which provides mostly-accurate school boundaries in that state, we found that using Googles geocoding service to locate a schools address, and then using Googles coordinates when those were available with so-called rooftop accuracy, improved the location accuracy for many schools. That's what we ultimately did for the entire country. (The Centers Zubak-Skees, who worked through this issue, also conducted the geospatial analysis of schools and roads in the first place to determine whats close to what.)

 We set to work figuring out which schools (and non-schools masquerading as schools) should not be counted. Online-only schools are supposed to flag themselves as such, but some dont, so we ultimately excluded schools with online, virtual and distance in their names in addition to those that properly identified themselves as not teaching kids on site. Also kicked out: pre-K-only sites, adult-education sites, schools flagged as future or closed or inactive, locations with program in their names (other than a handful that our verification efforts showed really were schools), homeschool-support sites and homebound programs for ill students. We also didnt count schools with fewer than 20 total students  smaller than the average size of a single classroom  as a way of further weeding out sites that really arent schools at all.

 Its not unusual for districts to build several schools on the same property, but we were concerned that some of those clusters might not accurately reflect where the schools are located. We checked larger clusters across the country to verify whether the schools are there, as well as whether the coordinates reflect where on the property they sit. We cast a particularly close eye on clusters whose addresses matched their district headquarters address.

Don't miss another Environment investigation: Sign up for the Center for Public Integrity's Watchdog email.

We didnt exclude schools for not fully filling out their demographic data  giving the number of students in certain racial categories (say, white and black) but not the number of students in others (say, Pacific Islander). NCES staffers told us that it should be safe to consider these missing data points as zero. They dont have a reason to believe theres something fundamentally wrong with the numbers reported for those schools that would require invalidating them.

Our checks eliminated a little over 10,000 schools from our tally, bringing the total to roughly 90,000. And you know what? After all our efforts, the trends we found were the same ones that popped up with the raw data. Comforting and annoying.

Reveals Sagara then conducted a regression analysis to get a better understanding of what makes a school more likely to be near a busy road. Bottom line: Being in a big city. That might seem obvious, but there are plenty of schools near substantial traffic that arent in big cities, so this analysis was important for zeroing in on the key reason that predominantly minority schools are near these roads at a markedly higher rate than predominately white schools. (Why people live where they do, and how much traffic theyre exposed to, continues to be influenced by decades-old decisions about which neighborhoods to lend in and which to cut through when building major routes, as our story describes.)

If youre wondering whether your childs school falls within 500 feet of a busy road, check out our interactive data tool. You can enter any address, school or not, and see if its by a road that meets our traffic threshold.

This story is part of Carbon Wars. The fossil-fuel industry is under attack as the world warms and pollution impairs and shortens lives. But industry is fighting back. Click here to read more stories in this series.

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.
In one of the first scenes Christine Baranski filmed for The Good Wife spinoff, The Good Fight, her character Diane packs away a picture of herself and Hillary Clinton. The photoshopped prop that sat on the high-powered lawyers desk for seven seasons was moving to storage now that Clinton was president and Diane was retiring.

That shot, which was filmed the night before the election, will never air. Donald Trumps surprising win meant the shows creators Robert and Michelle King had to frantically rewrite not just the scene, but the entire series. We threw out all the episodes we were going to do and started over again, says Robert. Originally, Diane decided to retire because Clinton had broken the last glass ceiling. Her new motivation: escaping a Trump administration.

The Good Wife tried to react to the culture around it, says Robert. Three months after the Snowden revelations, we had a show about that. We knew when Trump was elected The Good Fight would become much more about the alt-right, fake news, how a radically conservative president would drive the left crazy.

MORE Everything That Happened on the Good Wife Finale

Now, the revamped pilot, which will air on CBS Sunday and move to CBS new streaming service CBS All Access thereafter, begins with a dumbfounded Diane watching Trumps inauguration. She decides to relocate to Provence, Francethe liberal millionaires version of moving to Canadaonly to find out she has lost all her money in a Ponzi scheme. Worse, her reputation is tarnished because she recommended that friends and womens organizations also invest their money with the same Bernie Madoff type. Disgraced and brokenot unlike Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) at the beginning of The Good WifeDiane desperately searches for a firm that will take her in.

The pilot is about a woman in free fall, says Baranski. She cannot believe what has happened in the election, what happened to her. Curiously, I think thats peoples psychology right now. Were in a collective free fall with this new administration. Nobody knows on a daily basis whats going to happen. Americas foundations have been rocked.

Story continues

The shows name has new resonance, too. The Kings say The Good Fight was originally chosen for cynical reasonsmarketing the spinoff. But once Trump was elected, it took on a new meaning for the show and the characters in the show, says Robert. With the recent travel ban, we saw lawyers as heroes. Everyone was cheering them as they entered in airports.

At a time when the criminal justice system is in the spotlight, often because of the presidents actions, the three female stars of The Good Fight battle for justice with a renewed urgency. Diane is joined by two other main characters: Maia, a new lawyer and the daughter of the Madoff figure (Game of Thrones Rose Leslie) and Lucca (Cush Jumbo), Alicias law partner from The Good Wife who butted heads with Diane.

Thats not to say that The Good Fight lands strictly in the liberal camp. The Good Wife mined real news to present arguments for both the left and the right, as when liberal Diane agreed to help a conservative think tank in a mock trial about whether a devout Christian baker should have to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. Though Diane sided with the gay coupleand wonthe script volleyed convincingly between liberal and conservative arguments.

The Good Fights eight writers come from across the political spectrum. The Kings say each morning usually begins with the staff debating the news, conversations that wind up in the shows scripts. I think a lot of the actors have found it quite cathartic, maybe more cathartic than if we were playing a waitress in a diner or something, says Jumbo. You talk about it, you get it out of your system.

One of the early episodes introduces a character based on Milo Yiannopoulos, a notorious internet troll and a former editor of alt-right news site Breitbart. Theres the obvious satire of his character, says Robert. But theres also the question of what should these social media companies do. Should they censor? And are they censoring the right more than the left? The idea is to find the right set of circumstances to push our writers to say, I dont necessarily fall on the side I usually fall on.

Baranski says the show provides a civil conversation that we need more than ever in a world where each political faction seems to be conversing within their bubble or yelling past their opponents. Were as devoted to trying to find the intelligence on every side of an argument as we have ever been, adds Michelle.

Still, not everything has changed. Baranski points out that the question at the core of The Good Wifewhy a woman would stand beside her misbehaving husbandis still relevant. Look at Melania Trump. You could say we have another good wife in the White House, Baranski argues. She says, Well, it was just guy talk, when he says something awful about women. Shes supposed to stand and wave and smile. As long as she tolerates his behavior, were supposed to tolerate it.

The Kings had always planned to venture into new territory. The television landscape has changed significantly since The Good Wife premiered eight years ago, with more platforms for different types of television to air. Airing on CBS All Access, for example, frees Diane up to drop an F-bomb or two.

The Good Wife was lauded for its nuanced portrayal of women in power, but The Good Fight aims to take on issues of race and sexual orientation as well. Diane and Maia join Luccas primarily black law firm, where they work on police brutality lawsuits. Theres actually nothing more boring than sitting down and watching a show about race,' says Jumbo. In the best dramas those things are tackled within the story in a way thats interesting and you forget that theyre happening. On paper, yes, they work at a majority African-American firm. But the more you get into the story, you stop thinking about who youre seeing onscreen. Its just a firm.

Meanwhile, Maia has a longtime girlfriend at a time when gay characters tend to be treated by their writers as disposable plot points. The Kings say its unlikely a network would have greenlit a show with a gay character as a leadand three women as the starswhen The Good Wife premiered eight years ago.

The three women, though often at odds, manifest a more optimistic view of female friendship than ever made its way onto The Good Wife. In that show, when Alicia suffered, she suffered alone. On The Good Fight, when Maia runs into a womens bathroom to escape an enraged investor, Lucca follows her to offer help: I had a friend, went through the same thing, said it was hell for a few months. Harden yourself.

The last shot of the pilot shows Christine extending her hand to Maia so they can move to the new law firm together. Its the older woman mentoring the younger woman and saying, Its not over, and taking her hand and walking off with her, says Baranski. To me, it reflects what women are going through right now. Oh my God, are we really going to have to fight for reproductive rights? Is it still not over? We still have to fight the good fight.
Hours after stepping off the stage at the Venetian Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, several of the lower-polling Republican presidential candidates hit the morning talk shows to explain how they won the last GOP debate of 2015.

And Jeb Bush believes he did by standing up to the Republican frontrunner.

I got to post up against Donald Trump, the former Florida governor said on CNNs New Day. I dont think hes a serious candidate. And I dont know why others dont feel compelled to point that out, but I did.

The brash billionaire talks a big game, Bush said, but really hasnt thought it through.

Hes a bully, Bush continued. Donald Trump is not going to be president of the United States by insulting everyone in the book. Insulting women, war heroes, POWs, disabled, African-Americans. You cant insult your way to the presidency. And I think you have to stand up to that.

I have a steady hand, Bush said on Fox & Friends. Im not going to be spouting off and scaring people. I think you need a steady hand when you are commander in chief.

On MSNBCs Morning Joe, Bush tore into Trumps plan to ban on Muslims from entering the United States.

If his proposal of banning all Muslims was actually implemented, it would be damaging to the national security of our country, Bush said. It would make it harder for us to be successful in building a coalition to defeat ISIS. How do you tell the Kurds, Well arm you. Well support you, but you cant come to our country. I mean literally, how do you tell the Jordanians or the Saudis or the Turks or the Egyptians, We want you on our team. You have to be part of this for us to be successful, but you cant come to our country. It is nonsense.

Bush, who called Trump a chaos candidate during the debate, said he doesnt exactly love exchanging zingers but knows you have to do it.

The performance side of this isnt why Im running for president, he said on CNN. Performing is not what a president does. Leading is what a president does.

Story continues

Heres a look at how some of the other GOP candidates say they fared:

Republican presidential candidates gather following the GOP debate in Las Vegas on Tuesday. (Photo: John Locher/AP)

 Carly Fiorina

 How she thinks she won: By letting the other candidates talk

I think a lot of what viewers saw last night is why theyre tired of politics, Fiorina said on CNN. Its why 80 percent of the American people think we have a professional political class that cares more about its ambition, its privilege, its position than getting something done. There was  an argument about immigration between three first-term senators, and weve been talking about immigration for 25 years. Weve been talking about the border for 25 years. With all due respect to Donald Trump, he didnt bring this issue up. We talked about it the last election  we talked about it the last four elections, and it hasnt gotten fixed.

The former Hewlett-Packard chief executive called herself a tested leader.

Politicians talk, she said. Leaders act.

 Chris Christie

 How he thinks he won: By pointing out he was on the frontlines of the war on terror after 9/11, and not engaging in dustups onstage

Christie said hes been the most tested and most ready candidate when it comes to protecting the United States from terrorism.

I think last night we made it very clear that my experience as a United States attorney, federal prosecutor and governor of New Jersey makes me the best prepared person to do that, Christie said on CBS This Morning. The fact is this is a new world war and one that wont look like the last two. This is one where radical Islamist jihadists every day are trying to kill Americans and disrupt and destroy our way of life.

While other candidates exchanged blows at the debate, the New Jersey governor said he made a conscious decision to stay above the fray.

The most important thing to remember is that our adversary, our real adversary, was watching last night from Chappaqua, New York, Christie said. Its Hillary Clinton. And it wasnt, I think, in the interest of our party or of our country to get into these little minor dustups and scraps that these guys get into, talking about the petty little things theyre discussing among each other. My idea is to keep the eye on the ball, make sure that we give the best person who can prosecute the case against Hillary Clinton in the fall, and I believe Im that person.

 Lindsey Graham

 How he thinks he won: By showing emotion while trashing Trumps proposed Muslim ban during the undercard debate

I was very emotional, the South Carolina senator said on CNN. I know the king of Jordan. I know the president of Egypt, who went to a Sunni mosque to denounce radical Islam. And now theyre dealing with an American political leader leading on the Republican side whos basically denigrated their faith.

Graham also believes he came armed with the best one-liners of any candidate.

His own personal favorite: If Trump ever carried out his plan to ban all Muslims from entering the United States, ISIL would be dancing in the streets  if they just believed in dancing.

Im hilarious, Graham said.

At least one pundit agreed.

Graham should be in the main debate, the Washington Posts Philip Bump wrote. Grahams poll numbers havent warranted an invitation to the big leagues. His performances have.

(Cover tile photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
(In 2nd paragraph of Feb. 16 item, corrects to show that protesters met with officials from Governor Burgum's office, not the governor himself) By Terray Sylvester (Reuters) - Federal officials and North Dakota's governor on Thursday refused to extend next week's evacuation deadline for activists living in camps that have been a base for months for demonstrations against the multibillion-dollar Dakota Access oil pipeline. Opponents of the 1,170-mile (1.882-km) line met with officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, officials representing Republican Governor Doug Burgum and the state Department of Transportation on Thursday morning, asking to be given more time to remove their belongings and waste from the camps. In a statement on Thursday evening, Burgum and the Army Corps refused to extend next Wednesday's deadline. Army Corps spokesman Ryan Hignight said contractors working for the agency would enter the camp as soon as they could. "We're not going to necessarily wait for the 22nd," Hignight said. Pipeline opponents say they fear fresh conflicts with law enforcement if Army Crops crews, including waste-removal personnel, are accompanied by police. "It's completely impossible to remove everything down there in that short of a time frame," said Chase Iron Eyes, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. "The people aren't opposed to the help of the Army Corps, but it's got to be without the presence of militarized law enforcement." The exchange came a day after Burgum ordered pipeline opponents to move off of land owned by the Army Corps, citing safety and environmental pollution concerns posed by spring snowmelt and rising water levels in the nearby Cannonball River. Hignight warned that anyone still occupying Army Corps land after the deadline could face fines as high as $5,000 and six-month jail terms. About 700 pipeline opponents have been arrested since August 2016. Environmentalists and Native Americans who have opposed the pipeline, saying it threatens water resources and sacred sites, have faced a series of setbacks since Republican President Donald Trump took office in January. A federal judge on Monday denied a request by Native American tribes seeking to halt construction of the final link of the $3.8 billion pipeline after the Corps of Engineers granted a final easement to Energy Transfer Partners LP last week. (Reporting by Terray Sylvester in Hood River, Ore.; Editing by Curtis Skinner and Peter Cooney)
Athens (AFP) - A Turkish navy patrol boat on Friday fired shots in Greek waters in the southeast of the Aegean Sea, Greek military staff said, qualifying the incident as "serious".

The patrol boat left the area, off the island of Farmakonisi, after a Greek frigate intervened by sending warnings, a military source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"This was a serious, qualitatively different incident" to what Greece denounces as recurring Turkish violations of its sovereign areas in the Aegean, he said.

The Greek navy remained in a state of "reinforced surveillance" on Friday after the incident, he added.

According to the source, Turkey had on Thursday night issued a notice of manoeuvres in the area, which were rejected by Greece because they "engaged a zone in Greek waters".

In late January, against a backdrop of increased tensions between the two neighbours, Greek and Turkish warships were involved in a brief faceoff near a group of disputed Greek islets in the Aegean.

Located just off the Turkish coast and claimed by Ankara, the uninhabited rocky Imia islets are a historic flarepoint in a long-running demarcation dispute.

That incident came after the Greek Supreme Court blocked the extradition of eight former Turkish army officers who had fled to Greece after the failed July 15 coup.

Turkey lashed the ruling as "political" and threatened to scrap a "readmission agreement" under which Turkey has been taking in migrants landing illegally in Greece.
THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP)  Greek authorities say they have seized 1.3 tons of marijuana in a truck crossing into the country from Albania, a major illegal drugs producer.

Police and customs authorities said Friday the truck's Albanian driver escaped arrest by jumping out of his truck and fleeing on foot back to Albania once border officials said they would carry out an inspection. The drugs had a street value of about 33 million euros ($35 million).

Including Thursday's seizure, authorities in Greece's northwestern mainland have confiscated about 3 tons of marijuana coming in from Albania so far this year.

Separately, port and coast guard officials in western Greece have seized another 3 tons of Albanian marijuana, which was mostly headed for Italy.
GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales rejected rumors of a possible coup d'etat on Thursday, shortly after his brother and elder son were sentenced to house arrest while being investigated for fraud. "They have even generated rumors of a well-founded coup d'etat," Morales said during an event at the presidential palace. "I was democratically elected and if at some point I should democratically hand over the position ... I have said that's why I came." The president, a 47-year-old comedian who came to power a year ago on a platform of fighting corruption, gave no details and left the event without taking questions from reporters. Last September, a judge barred Samuel "Sammy" Morales, an older brother and a close adviser to the president, and Jose Manuel Morales, one of his four sons, from leaving the country over suspicious payments linked to the mother of Jose Manuel's then-girlfriend in 2013. Both have pleaded not guilty. Separately, Edgar Ovalle, a retired military official and member of Congress for the ruling National Convergence Front party (FCN), faces a preliminary hearing for his alleged participation in the forced disappearance of at least five people in 1983, when he was in charge of military intelligence. Both cases have hurt the popularity of Morales, who won the presidency after a series of scandals that ended with the resignation and arrest of former President Otto Perez. Morales, who had a 71 percent approval rating in January 2016, had a 56 percent approval rating last month, according to a CIG/Gallup poll. The most recent coup in Guatemalan history took place in 1983, when former dictator Efrain Rios Montt was overthrown just over a year after taking power. In 1993, former President Jorge Serrano attempted to dissolve the Congress and Judiciary, but was forced to flee to Panama days later. (Reporting by Sofia Menchu; Writing by Natalie Schachar; Editing by Leslie Adler)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Vice Admiral Robert Harward has turned down an offer to be President Donald Trump's new national security adviser, the latest blow to a new administration struggling to find its footing.

Harward told The Associated Press that the Trump administration was "very accommodating to my needs, both professionally and personally."

"It's purely a personal issue," Harward said Thursday evening. "I'm in a unique position finally after being in the military for 40 years to enjoy some personal time."

Asked whether he had requested to bring in his own staff at the National Security Council, Harward said, "I think that's for the president to address."

Following Flynn's ouster, administration officials said his deputy, KT McFarland, was staying on at the NSC. McFarland is a former Fox News analyst.

Harward would have replaced retired Gen. Michael Flynn, who resigned at Trump's request Monday after revelations that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about discussing sanctions with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. during the transition. Trump said in a news conference Thursday that he was disappointed by how Flynn had treated Pence, but did not believe Flynn had done anything wrong by having the conversations.

Harward, a former Navy SEAL, served as deputy commander of U.S. Central Command under Gen. James Mattis, who is now defense secretary. Harward served on the National Security Council under President George W. Bush and commissioned the National Counter Terrorism Center.

Upon retirement in 2013 after a nearly 40-year career in the Navy, Harward became chief executive officer for defense and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin in the United Arab Emirates. Trump has recently been in very public negotiations with Lockheed over the cost of its F-35 fighter jet.

Officials said earlier this week that there were two other contenders in the running for the job: acting national security adviser Keith Kellogg and retired Gen. David Petraeus.

Petraeus, a retired four-star general, resigned as CIA director in 2012 and pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information relating to documents he had provided to his biographer, with whom he was having an affair.

He was also fined $100,000 and remains on probation.
Photo credit: RM Sotheby's/Patrick Ernzen

From Road & Track

Photo credit: RM Sotheby's/Patrick Ernzen

Have you ever had the sudden urge to raise around $10 million to buy a classic Ferrari and ship it to Italy for the Mille Miglia? I did when I first saw pictures of this Ferrari that's headed to auction next month at RM Sotheby's Amelia Island sale. It's a 1950 166 MM Barchetta, and it's one of the first cars ever to wear the Ferrari badge. As vintage Ferraris go, this is as special as it gets.

This particular car, chassis 0058 M, competed in both the 1951 and 1953 runnings of the Mille Miglia. It placed sixth in class in its first Mille appearance, then received engine and gearbox upgrades at the Ferrari factory before the 1953 race. Unfortunately, it didn't finish that year's Mille, and was subsequently sold to a U.S. buyer who raced it in California.

From then on, the Ferrari spent most of its life in the U.S. and Mexico, where it was occasionally raced and displayed at various Concours events. Over the last 20 years, it's won a number of best-in-show awards at classic Ferrari Concours.

Photo credit: Patrick Ernzen/RM Sotheby's

From the factory, the 166 MM came equipped with a 2.0-liter, triple-carbureted V12 sending 140 horsepower to a five-speed transaxle. As was the case with all early Ferraris, the chassis hardware is basicit uses leaf springs at all four corners, a live rear axle, and drum brakes.

Photo credit: Patrick Ernzen/RM Sotheby's

The alloy "Superleggera" bodywork was crafted by Touring of Milan, and a tan leather interior completes the package. It is impossibly pretty.

Photo credit: Patrick Ernzen/RM Sotheby's

RM Sotheby's estimates it'll sell for $8-10 million when it's auctioned on Saturday March 11th. If that's too dear for you, the auction house is selling a number of other Ferraris for under $1 million.

Photo credit: Patrick Ernzen/RM Sotheby's

If whoever buys this needs a co-driver on the Mille Miglia, I'll happily volunteer.

via Carscoops

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Seven Hong Kong police officers were jailed for two years Friday for what the judge described as a "vicious" attack on a protester during pro-democracy rallies in 2014, captured on film and beamed around the world.

All seven were convicted earlier this week of assault causing actual bodily harm to Civic Party activist Ken Tsang, but were acquitted of a more serious charge of grievous bodily harm with intent.

Video footage of the attack, filmed by a local network near the city's government headquarters, shocked residents and dented their faith in the usually trusted police force.

It showed a group of men hauling a handcuffed Tsang to a dark corner in a public park, where he was beaten.

One man stood over him inflicting blows while others were seen repeatedly kicking him.

It was "a vicious assault", said judge David Dufton as he handed down sentencing at the city's district court, adding that police officers who break the law "have to be made an example of".

The maximum sentence for the lesser assault charges was three years.

"The multiplicity of the injuries and the damage to Hong Kong's reputation... make this a very serious case," said Dufton, noting the incident had made international headlines.

Police have been criticised for their sometimes heavy-handed treatment of protesters during the 79 days of rallies and street blockades, known as the Umbrella Movement, that brought parts of the city to a standstill.

The demonstrators were seeking fully free elections for semi-autonomous Hong Kong's future leaders.

The rallies were sparked after Beijing said the public could choose the next chief executive, but only after candidates had been vetted.

There are increasing concerns in Hong Kong that Chinese authorities are tightening their grip on the city.

Social worker Tsang, who was not in court Friday, said the sentencing proved that ordinary people can "fight back" against police violence.

Story continues

"I hope the government and the police will do something, think about what they have done, and say sorry to Hong Kong citizens," he told AFP.

- 'Human frailty' -

The court found that one officer had stamped on Tsang and hit him with a baton.

Four other officers kicked him while two other officers did not participate but watched.

One of the officers who kicked Tsang was also found guilty of common assault for slapping him in the face twice after he was taken to a police station.

Dufton said that Tsang, now 41, was "most fortunate" not to have received more serious injuries from the attack.

Pro-democracy campaigners gathered outside the court said they thought the sentencing was fair.

But incensed pro-police demonstrators said the officers had been unduly punished and that they would march in protest Saturday.

"We want society and the judge to see how angry we are," said Tang Tak-shing, chairman of a police support group.

The defence argued in mitigation that the officers had been under intense pressure during the protests, which they said had dented morale, with a number of police injured.

Defence lawyer Lawrence Lok attributed the assault to "human frailty".

Political analyst Joseph Chen said the sentencing showed the city's legal system was still intact.

"There is ample evidence that we still have an independent judiciary," he told AFP.

Tsang was himself found guilty last year of assaulting and resisting officers on the same night, when he splashed an unspecified liquid on police.

He was given a five-week sentence and has said he will appeal.
Citing a Yahoo News interview with retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn last July, a House committee has opened an investigation into whether President Trumps recently resigned national security adviser received an improper payment from the Russian government for a trip to Moscow in December 2015.

In an unusual bipartisan letter, House Oversight and Government Reform committee chair Rep. Jason Chaffetz and ranking minority member Rep. Elijah Cummings have asked a Washington-based speakers bureau, Leading Authorities, to turn over information on how much Flynn was paid for his appearance at an event celebrating the 10th anniversary of RT  the Russian-government funded news organization  where he sat at the same table for dinner as President Vladimir Putin. Flynn also sat for a 44-minute interview with RT anchor Sophie Shevardnadze, granddaughter of former Soviet foreign affairs minister Eduard Shevardnadze, as part of the trip.

We are attempting to determine the amount Lt. General Flynn received for his appearance, the source of the funds, and whether he may have received payments from any foreign governments for additional engagements, Chaffetz and Cummings wrote in a letter to Mark French, the president of Leading Authorities.

As their basis for asking the question, the congressmen cited the interview Flynn gave to Yahoo News last July during the opening day of the Republican convention. In a testy exchange during the interview, Flynn first acknowledged being paid for the Dec. 2015 event.

Yeah, I went over there as a speaker, it was a speaking event, Flynn responded when asked whether he was compensated for the trip. What difference does that make? I didnt take any money from Russia, I can tell you that.

Then who paid you? Flynn was asked.

My speakers bureau. Ask them.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, sits next to retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn at an event marking the 10th anniversary of the RT (Russia Today) news channel in Moscow in December 2015. (Photo: Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/Kremlin via Reuters)

A spokesman for Leading Authorities did not respond to a request for comment. Flynn, who joined the Trump White House on the day the president was sworn in and resigned late Monday night, is no longer listed on the Leading Authorities website. But an archived section of the website listed Flynns fee ranges as between $35,001 and $55,000 for talks in Europe and $55,001 and $75,000 in Asia.

Story continues

At the time of the Dec. 2015 talk, Flynn had already been fired from his position as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, and was not yet affiliated with the Trump campaign. But the investigators for the House panel have suggested that Flynns compensation by a Russian government arm like RT may still have been improper because of Department of Defense guidelines advising retired military officers that they are still covered by the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution that prohibits acceptance of any present, emolument, office or title of any kind from any King, Prince, or foreign government.

The role of RT in furthering Moscows interest was highlighted last month as part of a U.S. intelligence community report on Russias attempt to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In an annex to the report, the intelligence community focused on the role of RT, concluding that the rapid expansion of RTs operations and budget and recent candid statements by RTs leadership point to the channels importance to the Kremlin as a messaging tool and indicate a Kremlin-directed campaign to undermine faith in the US Government and fuel political protest.

During his Moscow talk, Flynn sat for an extended interview with Shevardnadze in which he expressed his views that the U.S. should avoid taking a confrontational posture with Russia, describing the U.S. relationship with Moscow as a marriage.

The United States cant sit there and say, Russia, youre bad, Flynn told the RT anchor during a 44-minute interview. And Russia cant sit there and say, the United States, youre bad.  This is a funny marriage we have, Russia and the United States. But its a marriage. What we dont need is for that marriage to break up.

Flynn resigned as national security adviser last Monday night after disclosures that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about conversations he had with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about the possible lifting of sanctions against that country. A source close to Flynn told Yahoo News that he has confided to friends that he had multiple conversations with Kislyak  including about talks aimed at reaching a political settlement to the Syrian civil war. But the former DIA chief doesnt believe he did anything wrong in those talks and attributed his downfall to political infighting within the White House  an apparent reference to a perceived rivalry with chief strategist Steve Bannon.

He said he went down fighting for his country, the source who communicated with Flynn said.

Read more from Yahoo News:
From left, Donald Trump, Charles Koch and David Koch. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News, photos: Evan Vucci/AP, Bo Rader/Wichita Eagle/MCT via Getty Images, Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP, AP[2])

When Republicans were out of power in the Obama era, the Republican National Committee often clashed with outside conservative groups who wanted to influence elections or legislation.

Some of the RNCs biggest fights were with the political operation run by Charles and David Koch, whose independent database of Republican voters was seen as a potential threat by party officials, as Yahoo News exclusively reported two years ago. The RNC believed the Kochs were trying to take over the party. Koch officials denied that forcefully.

And yet in the 2016 election, the Kochs acted at times more like a political party than the RNC. They withheld voter data from Donald Trumps presidential campaign during the Republican primary, and excluded him from events. The RNC, meanwhile, was not able to consolidate the field of Republicans around an alternative to Trump, and a man who was not the first choice of most Republicans ended up the partys nominee, and then the president.

Now, Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. The GOP is unsure of what it has become.

Washington Republicans today find themselves at a strange moment in history: enjoying overwhelming political power, yet beset by strategic confusion, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said in a speech this week at the Heritage Foundation.

Trump, Lee noted, trashed Republican orthodoxy on issues once thought beyond debate.

The GOP, in other words, is in the midst of an identity crisis, after a hostile takeover by a president who campaigned against trade deals, against reducing the national debt, against much in the way of restraints on the presidency, and in favor of big government.

But the Koch operation is also facing questions of purpose and identity. The brothers built a massive political operation over the last decade to fight President Barack Obamas agenda. What will they do with it now that the White House and Congress are controlled by Republicans?

President Trump, accompanied by his chief of staff, Reince Priebus, talks on the phone to President Vladimir Putin of Russia on Jan. 28, 2017, in the Oval Office at the White House. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP)

There is no love lost between the Kochs and the Trump administration, where former RNC Chairman Reince Priebus is now White House chief of staff. Priebus top deputy at the RNC, Katie Walsh, is a central player in the West Wing as deputy White House chief of staff. Walsh led the RNCs charge in 2015 against the Kochs, calling their actions dangerous and wrong. Trump himself has criticized the Kochs a handful of times for treating politicians as puppets.

Story continues

Theres potential for the Kochs to become a shadow conservative party during the Trump presidency, as the biggest political institution in American politics focused on promoting and preserving conservative ideas and policies. They plan to spend between $300 and $400 million on political advocacy and advertising and grassroots organizing between now and the 2018 midterm elections.

The money will be spread, as is typical of the Kochs usual mode of operation, across a network of such groups as Generation Opportunity, Americans for Prosperity, the LIBRE Initiative and Freedom Partners Action Fund.

The Kochs general counsel, Mark Holden, and others in the Koch world continue to insist that they have no interest in performing the functions of a political party, which Holden described with mild disdain.

The political parties, by their nature, are partisan and political. Theyre going to support their candidates, pretty much regardless of their policies, he said.

We definitely dont see ourselves as Republican or Democrat. We just want to do commonsense reforms, Holden said in an interview. We think, with all due humility, that we have a profile and the policy plans and the type of ideas that will drive that change that people need in this country.

Holden was as critical of gridlock in Washington as anything else. His view is that the Koch operation is a social change agent, and he spoke dismissively of partisanship. But he was not familiar with the argument  best expressed by the journalist Jonathan Rauch in a cover story in the Atlantic last summer  that partisanship is not the problem, but rather the fact that political parties have lost the ability to function.

Campaign finance law has pushed money to groups outside of parties, and well-intended good governance reforms have further limited the ability of parties to constrain their more self-promoting or radical members. The parties ability to form coalitions for collective action has been greatly reduced.

But the idea of strengthening the very party that they have so often clashed with is probably too alien to the Kochs DNA.

So the Kochs will operate issue by issue. And while Freedom Partners has supported Trumps Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, much of the groups energy in the first weeks of Trumps presidency has been to oppose House Speaker Paul Ryans proposal to pass a tax reform package that includes a border-trade adjustment (BTA). The Kochs see the border-trade adjustment measure as a huge regressive tax increase on working-class and middle-class Americans, Holden said.

The provision would amount to a 20% tax on imports and incentivize domestic manufacturing. Koch Industries, which employs 100,000 people and has annual revenue of over $100 billion, said they would benefit financially from BTA.

While companies like Koch, who manufacture and produce many products domestically, would greatly benefit in the short term, the long-term consequences to the economy and the American consumer could be devastating, said Koch Industries spokesman David Dziok.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., holds up recorders during his weekly news conference, to make a point about the House Republican tax plan called border adjustment, in House Studio A, Feb. 16, 2017. (Photo: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images)

But the Kochs are a significant importer of tar sands oil from Canada. A 2012 report on their business holdings found that their Pine Bend Refinery in Rosemount, Minn., receives up to 320,000 barrels a day of heavy oil from western Canada  an estimated 25 percent of the 1.2 million barrels of oil the U.S. imports each day from Canadas tar sands territories.

A tax on those oil imports would be a big hit to the Kochs bottom line.

The political calculus behind the push for BTA is that it is a simpler way to pass tax reform than the traditional approach, which paired reduced rates with closing most loopholes. The loophole approach had a multitude of opponents with deep pockets, because so many loopholes exist. The BTA has only two formidable enemies: the Kochs and the big retailers like Walmart, whose business model is built on selling cheap imported goods.

Tax reform is something that Speaker Ryan wants to do very badly, and has for some time. Trump has not definitively declared whether hell push for BTA, but if he does, the Kochs will be thrust into a brutal political fight with the Republican administration that would inevitably raise questions about their motives.

Such a fight would put a harsh spotlight on the Kochs claim that their political activity is guided by conservative principles and not by financial self-interest. It would go to the core of who they say they are.

Read more from Yahoo News:
Jerusalem (AFP) - The Israeli branch of Swedish furniture giant Ikea has apologised for issuing a catalogue aimed at Jewish ultra-Orthodox customers containing no images of women.

The catalogue was a first such attempt to reach out to the ultra-Orthodox community, which makes up around 10 percent of Israel's population and lives in compliance with a strict interpretation of Jewish laws.

The male-only catalogue, featuring ultra-Orthodox models, was published in addition to the regular brochure.

According to news website Ynet, the male-only catalogue highlights items in demand among ultra-Orthodox families, which tend to be large, such as bunk beds and bookshelves to handle extensive collections on Jewish law.

The cover shows an ultra-Orthodox man gazing into an open book standing next to a bookshelf packed with Jewish scriptures and a large silver menorah candelabrum, with two boys playing on the carpet nearby.

"Designed especially for you," read the Hebrew words below the large blue "IKEA".

Ynet said reactions to the catalogue included "confusion, sarcasm and incredulity".

Some ultra-Orthodox Jews follow a strict policy of gender segregation, and images of women and girls are frequently removed from advertisements aimed at that community.

A spokeswoman for Ikea in Sweden stressed that their brand "stands for equal rights".

"We find that the local publication from Ikea Israel does not live up to this," she said, noting that "the franchisee in Israel takes this seriously" and will "safeguard that future publications are in line with what our brand stands for".

Shuky Koblenz, chief executive of Ikea in Israel, said they issued a "customised" brochure in February aimed at the ultra-Orthodox "in an attempt to reach this minority community in Israel".

"We realise that people are upset about this and that the publication does not live up to what Ikea stands for and we apologise for this," he said in a statement.

"We will make sure that future publications will reflect what Ikea stands for and at the same time show respect for the Haredi community," he said, using the Hebrew term for the ultra-Orthodox.

Ikea, with nearly 400 stores in 48 countries worldwide, has three branches in Israel.
At least two undocumented immigrants were detained after leaving a church-run hypothermia shelter in Virginia earlier this month, raising concerns among advocates that similar arrests might cause people to avoid getting much-needed help.

But Immigrations and Customs Enforcement told TIME Thursday that the detainments were a coincidence and that the agency is not targeting churches or other sensitive areas.

At issue is the agencys sensitive locations policy, which bars agents from searching, interviewing or arresting potential undocumented immigrants in places of worship, hospitals, schools, protests, funerals and weddings. Exceptions can be made for a fast-moving investigation or with prior approval from supervisors.

On Feb. 8, immigrations agents arrested two men who had just left a hypothermia shelter at Rising Hope Mission Church in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County. (Advocates say four more men might have been picked up too.) But an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement official told TIME that agents were not staking out the church, that they were in the area looking for a specific person and that the men were arrested after consensual interviews on a sidewalk in front of a nearby Aldi supermarket.

The ICE sensitive locations policy, which remains in effect, provides that enforcement actions at sensitive locations should generally be avoided, and require either prior approval from an appropriate supervisory official or exigent circumstances necessitating immediate action, said ICE in a statement to TIME. DHS is committed to ensuring that people seeking to participate in activities or utilize services provided at any sensitive location are free to do so without fear or hesitation.

One of the men officers arrested was a citizen of Honduras who had previously been removed from the U.S. Immigrations officials says he had a felony drug conviction and a string of misdemeanor convictions dating back to 2000. The other man is from El Salvador, and though an official says he is a legal permanent resident of the United States, he also has multiple misdemeanor convictions including a 2016 charge of driving while intoxicated.

Story continues

Advocates worry these arrests, as well as others at schools and apartments, will perpetuate fear within anxious immigrant communities. Some are concerned the sensitive-locations policy will be undermined.

Who knows whether this administration plans on respecting churches, plans on respecting synagogues, and mosques and places of worship, said immigration attorney David Leopold. It doesnt appear that they do.

I know from talking to my clients, from talking to universities that I work with and hospitals that I work withtheres a real fear here that these types of memoranda will not be respected, he added. I think its all a part of this intentional campaign to instill fear and panic throughout the immigrant community and throughout the larger community by the Trump Administration.

Rich Morales, an attorney for the PICO National Network, says he is worried about the impact the Virginia arrests could have on churches, where undocumented immigrants sometimes seek refuge. The PICO Network has organized trainings since January with congregations about what providing sanctuary means for churches. The group says over 200 people attended both their first event on Jan. 31 and a follow up event on Feb. 13.

I would imagine that this is going to have a major impact on our work, says Morales. Theres already a lot of fear in the community. We have to make sure that the Administration hears from our clergy that were not going to accept this and were not going to allow ICE to intimidate our congregations.

Immigrations officials have skirted the line on sensitive locations before. In 2016, a teen in North Carolina was arrested while waiting for a school bus not far from his home. The teen, Yefri Sorto-Hernandez, said he was arrested as the school bus pulled up. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, however, said when he was taken into custody they had no idea he was even at a bus stop, according to a report by the Atlantics City Lab. In Illinois, an undocumented Mexican man was reportedly lured out of a church and arrested by agents in a nearby McDonalds parking lot.

Three dozen protesters affiliated with the Sanctuary Congregations Network gathered at an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement field office in Fairfax on Friday to protest the arrests outside Rising Hope. The group also requested a meeting with Enforcement and Removal Operations to no avail.

The expansion of the aggressiveness, the escalation of immigration enforcement is happening so fast that you cant really afford to wait until next week, said volunteer Mary Smalls. I know we will be back and I know we will be back with a bigger crowd next time.
A 15-year-old Indiana teen, who was the focus of an Amber Alert earlier this week, has now been charged in the stabbing death of her mother. Chastinea Reeves, who has been charged with murder, was initially believed to be in extreme danger, as authorities were concerned that she may have been kidnapped by those responsible for her mother's death.

Police in the city of Gary issued an Amber Alert for the teenager after she went missing minutes after her mother Jamie Garnett, 34, was found dead inside their residence. Police launched a search operation that ended after Reeves was found safe Thursday.

Hours after her mother's murder, Reeves reportedly went to her aunt's home and was accompanied by a younger sibling, police told local media. Kelli McMillan later claimed that the teen was hysterical.

Two children came to my door a little after 2 a.m. and they said someone had come in, somebody had did something to their mom, McMillan told ABC7. She run out the back door when the police come.

Lake County prosecutors charged the young girl with her mothers murder Thursday night and detained her at the Gary juvenile center, the Times of Northwest Indiana reported.

Reeves is scheduled to return to court on April 12 as prosecutors are seeking a waiver to try her as an adult. So far, police have not ascribed a motive for the murder or revealed details about their investigation. Reeves is currently in police custody at the Lake County Juvenile Detention Center in Crown Point.

Earlier Thursday, local coroners office confirmed that Garnetts cause of death was stab wounds in the manner of a homicide.

Wow  how do you kill your mother? Jay Lew, one of the many neighbors who were shocked by the news told local media.

I remember (Garnett) taking her children to school in the mornings and coming home from work, he told CBS. Just being with children.

Related Articles
Tegucigalpa (AFP) - An indigenous leader in Honduras was killed Friday by five armed men who burst into his home, fellow activists and officials said.

The murder of Jose Santos Sevilla, a professor and one of the heads of Honduras' native Tolupan people, recalled the slaying last year of Berta Caceres, an indigenous activist.

Her death in her home in March 2016 by armed assailants brought international scrutiny to the threats made to indigenous, environmental and human rights activists in Honduras.

The coordinator of one rights group, Bertha Oliva of the Committee of Families of People Detained and Disappeared in Honduras, told AFP that Santos Sevilla was killed in his home Friday in Montana de La Flor, a village 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of the capital.

She said "the same thing happened to him that happened to Berta Caceres."

She said it confirmed the warning in a report last month by Global Witness, a British watchdog, that human rights workers in the country were at risk from shadowy forces, suspected to be hired by the political and economic elite.

The Tolupan community counts 18,000 members across 28 tribes. They have been trying to defend their ancestral lands.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Thursday night in Berlin to discuss matters of great importance. But a single candle on the dinner table has lit up the internet with a glow, inspiring memes awash in the warmth of the date night-like setup.

On Friday, Trudeau and Merkel addressed the European Union Parliament about trade, but the internet doesnt always have time for that sort of thing because here they are, face to face, having a noticeably enchanted evening.

I'm glad Angela Merkel and Justin Trudeau had a nice date pic.twitter.com/2uyRM9PRDJ  Elena Cresci (@elenacresci) February 17, 2017

Now even Merkel. One more for the genre "married women meeting Justin" (cc @blairelliott). #Trudeau pic.twitter.com/vJjmmqRayt  Maximilian Miguletz (@max_migu) February 17, 2017

@elenacresci PM "Steal yo Girl" at it again.  Adi Peltz (@adi_peltz) February 17, 2017

Merkels foreign and security policy adviser Christoph Heusgen and at least one other diner joined them.

Never thought I'd be jealous of Angela Merkel but here we go candlelight dinner with Justin Trudeau.

Is #JoeTrudeau still available? pic.twitter.com/BSfch1skMN  Aaron Idstein (@titularninja) February 17, 2017

Across the pond, President Donald Trump hosted his first formal meeting with Trudeau at the White House on Monday. During the influential meeting, Trumps daughter Ivanka also made eye contact with Trudeau, providing the internet with all the minimum requirements to fantasize about their future lives together.

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Ivanka Trump Meets Canadian PM Justin Trudeau Suddenly Becomes Very Interested in Some International Relations #mem pic.twitter.com/tD1Prfgm9E  Meme Bot (@MemebotBot) February 15, 2017

Now even Merkel. One more for the genre "married women meeting Justin" (cc @blairelliott). #Trudeau pic.twitter.com/vJjmmqRayt  Maximilian Miguletz (@max_migu) February 17, 2017

Was ein Bild! Kann grad in die Reihe mit Ivanka und Kate. #Trudeau #loveisintheair https://t.co/AsLGo7lKst  Maximilian Miguletz (@max_migu) February 17, 2017

Get you someone that looks at you the way Ivanka Trump looks at Justin Trudeau pic.twitter.com/sxTAlpi4av  Philip Lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) February 13, 2017

Random snapshots of politicians tend to go viral, but Trudeau has become one of the most meme-able people on the internet.
A 26-year-old Texas mother was shot to death in front of sheriffs deputies by a man who kidnapped her from a hair salon, according to authorities.

Ilbeth Lopez was abducted Wednesday from a Sport Clips shop where she worked, the Travis County Sheriffs Department reported.

Read: 911 Call Reveals Boy, 8, Frantically Describing How He Saved Brother, 2, from Kidnapper

A man she knew entered her workplace and demanded she leave with him, the San Antonio Express reported. She refused several times but eventually went with him after he pointed a gun at her, the paper said.

They drove away in his vehicle, but came to a stop when traffic was snarled by hundreds of students demonstrating against President Trumps immigration ban, authorities said.

The driver turned around and parked behind a church. Deputies responding to the school protest went to investigate after seeing the pair standing in a field, authorities said.

As they approached, the man shot Lopez dead and then turned the gun on himself, firing a round into his head, according to a sheriffs department spokeswoman.

Read: Man Arrested After Allegedly Attempting to Steal Toddler from Stroller: 'Give Me the Baby1'

The suspect, who has not been named, remains hospitalized in critical condition, Kristen Dark, the sheriffs senior public information officer, told InsideEdition.com Thursday.

A GoFundMe page has been established by her family in memory of "our dear sister, daughter, mother and friend, Ibeth."

The funds will go to a memorial service and the woman's daughter, whose age was not given.

Watch: Duo Arrested After They Livestream Alleged Kidnapping on Facebook

Related Articles:
The axe finally fell on South Korea's once-mighty Hanjin Shipping on Friday as a Seoul court declared it bankrupt after struggling for years under the weight of billions of dollars-worth of debt.

Hanjin filed for bankruptcy protection in August owing $5.37 billion as creditors refused to bail it out, with dozens of its vessels stranded outside around the world as they were refused entry to ports.

An accounting firm hired by the Seoul court concluded earlier this month that the firm's liquidation value would be greater than its worth as a going concern.

The firm, which was once South Korea's biggest shipping firm and the seventh-largest in the world, has since been forced to sell most its assets at home and abroad to pay off debts, with most of its 1,500 workers laid off.

"We will try to ensure that the bankruptcy process would enable the firm to pay off debts to all debt-holders in a fair and proper fashion," the court said in a statement.

Trading in the firm's Seoul-listed shares was also halted Friday.

Hanjin's demise represent the biggest bankruptcy in container shipping and news of its impending doom last year caused chaos in the global industry.

Most of its fleet of 141 ships were banned from docking in the US, China and many other countries because of its failure to pay ports for their services.

The family-run firm started going under after the shipping industry suffered its worst downturn in six decades caused by slumping global trade and slowdown in China.

Mismanagement by top executives -- including the late former owner's widow who took helm in 2007 despite having no experience in business -- is also blamed for its collapse.
CHICAGO (AP)  The Latest on charges against an Amtrak officer in Chicago for the shooting death of a Minneapolis man (all times local):

3:10 p.m.

A judge has ordered an Amtrak police officer held on $250,000 bail in the shooting death of a Minneapolis man outside Chicago's Union Station.

The Cook County judge made the decision Friday after prosecutors asked that 31-year-old LaRoyce Tankson be held without bond. Tankson faces a first-degree murder count in the Feb. 8 shooting of 25-year-old Chad Robertson.

Tankson's attorney, Will Fahy, said Tankson saw Robertson turn and reach for what Tankson thought was a gun. Fahy says Tankson "reasonably believed he was about to be shot." Fahy said Tankson is a father of three and is married to a firefighter.

The Cook County medical examiner found that Robertson was shot in the back.

An attorney for Robertson's family filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the then-unknown officer and Amtrak seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

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11:40 a.m.

Prosecutors have charged an Amtrak police officer in the shooting death of a Minneapolis man outside Chicago's Union Station.

The Cook County State's Attorney's office announced Friday that 31-year-old LaRoyce Tankson surrendered to police Thursday. He has been charged with first-degree murder in the Feb. 8 shooting of 25-year-old Chad Robertson, who died Wednesday.

Robertson was taking a bus from Memphis, Tennessee, to Minneapolis and was on a stopover in Chicago when the shooting occurred.

According to his relatives, the transit officer fired at Robertson as he ran during an encounter.

Amtrak and Tankson have not responded to phone messages left Friday seeking comment.

The Robertsons' attorney has said the family is considering a wrongful death lawsuit.

Tankson is scheduled to appear in bond court Friday.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  The Latest on California storms (all times local):

7:40 p.m.

Authorities in San Bernardino County say a motorist has been found dead after a car was submerged on a flooded desert road in Victorville.

Fire Department spokesman Eric Sherwin says another person was rescued by helicopter from the roof of a car that was swept downstream during the fierce storm.

It's the second confirmed storm-related death from the powerful storm that has lashed Central and Southern California Friday.

Earlier, a 55-year-old man was electrocuted in the Sherman Oaks area of Los Angeles when a fallen tree downed power lines and fell on a car.

___

5 p.m.

Los Angeles fire officials say one person has been electrocuted after a tree downed power lines and fell on a car.

The tree went down around noon Friday in Sherman Oaks as a powerful storm lashed the region.

Authorities say a 55-year-old man may have touched the line or contacted electrified water. He died at a hospital.

Fire officials say there have been nearly 150 reports of downed electrical lines in the past several hours.

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3:30 p.m.

The storm that's pounding Central and Southern California already has prompted rescues and injuries from flooding and toppled trees.

Los Angeles firefighters say they used ropes and inflatable boats to rescue seven people and two dogs from the Sepulveda basin area of the Los Angeles River, including one with non-life threatening injuries.

Meanwhile, a 75-foot tree fell onto an apartment building near UCLA, narrowly missing someone who was in bed. Authorities say four of the six apartments have been declared unsafe to enter, and 16 college students have been evacuated.

Another tree brought down power lines as it fell on a car, leaving one person hospitalized in serious condition with possible electric shock.

Authorities say hundreds of trees and power lines have been downed.

___

1:30 p.m.

A major Pacific storm has unleashed downpours and fierce gusts on Southern California, triggering flash flood warnings and other problems.

Story continues

Rain and wind wiped out play Friday in golf's Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, where a eucalyptus tree cracked beyond the 14th tree.

The Los Angeles Fire Department says another tree brought down power lines as it fell on a car, and a person was hospitalized for possible electric shock.

Another tree smashed a carport and vehicles in the Santa Barbara suburb of Goleta.

The Knott's Berry Farm amusement park in Orange County closed due to the weather.

___

11:30 a.m.

Southern California authorities have urged more residents to leave areas northwest of Los Angeles that could be endangered by a powerful storm.

Wind-driven rain has been falling since early Friday on coastal counties northwest of Los Angeles and is expected to spread across the metropolitan region through the day.

The Ventura County Office of Emergency Services urged a voluntary evacuation of some homes in Camarillo (kam-uh-ree-oh) Springs, where past storms unleashed mudflows from hills scarred by a wildfire several years ago.

Up the coast, authorities asked residents to leave areas around an 11-square-mile burn scar on coastal slopes west of Santa Barbara.

Numerous flights have been delayed or canceled at California airports.

___

8:55 a.m.

A storm in the San Francisco Bay Area has delayed dozens of flights at San Francisco International Airport.

A powerful storm is beginning to move into California as the saturated state faces a new round of wet weather that could trigger flooding and debris flows around the northern region.

The brunt of the storm is expected to affect Southern California starting around midday Friday and into Saturday.

Forecasters say rain will also spread into Central California and up to the San Francisco Bay Area.

But the National Weather Service says only scattered light showers are occurring in the region north of Sacramento, where the damaged Oroville Dam continues to release water in advance of new storms.

___

7:45 a.m.

A powerful storm is beginning to move into California as the saturated state faces a new round of wet weather that could trigger flooding and debris flows.

The brunt of the storm is expected to affect Southern California starting around midday Friday and into Saturday.

The foothill city of Duarte east of Los Angeles has ordered a precautionary evacuation of some homes, and the Santa Anita race track has canceled horse racing for the day.

Forecasters say rain will also spread into Central California and up to the San Francisco Bay Area.

The far northern end of the state will not see significant precipitation from the storm, however.

The National Weather Service says only scattered light showers are occurring in the region north of Sacramento, where the damaged Oroville Dam continues to release water in advance of new storms.
BEIRUT (AP)  The Latest on the war in Syria (all times local):

8:45 p.m.

A Syrian monitoring group and a Syrian jihadi say members of an extremist group in northwestern Syria that have fought fierce battles against al-Qaida will be evacuated to areas under control of the Islamic State group.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Friday hundreds of Jund al-Aqsa fighters will give their heavy weapons to the Turkistan Islamic Party, consisting mainly of minority Uighurs from China, before heading to IS-controlled areas with their light weapons.

The deal comes after days of fighting between Jund al-Aqsa and an al-Qaida-led coalition left 125 fighters dead on both sides.

A Jund al-Aqsa member who goes by the name of Karmo said they were given six days to leave, adding that members who intend to stay will have to pledge allegiance to TIP.

___

5:15 p.m.

Turkey's military says the Turkish and U.S. military chiefs of staff have "confirmed" the need to fight terror groups in Syria and Iraq, including the Islamic State group and Kurdish militants.

A military statement said Gen. Joe Dunford met with his Turkish counterpart, Gen. Hulusi Akar, on Friday at Incirlik air base, which is home to warplanes of the U.S.-led coalition that is battling the extremist group. Turkey also carries out airstrikes against Kurdish militants' bases in northern Iraq.

The military statement said Akar told Dunford that Turkey and Turkish-backed Syrian fighters had "to a great extent" taken control of the IS-held Syrian town of al Bab.

It made no reference to a possible joint operation to retake the IS stronghold of Raqqa, which Turkey's defense minister said would be discussed.

___

5 p.m.

The Russian military says that its strategic bombers have struck the Islamic State group in eastern Syria. The Defense Ministry said in a statement that the Tu-95 bombers that flew from their base in Russia launched long-range cruise missiles Friday at the IS facilities near the group's main stronghold of Raqqa.

Story continues

It added that the missiles successfully hit the IS training camps and a control facility of one of the militant units. The ministry said fighter jets from a Russian air base in Syria escorted the bombers.

The raid followed other missions flown by Russia's long-range bombers against the IS targets in the past weeks.

Russia has conducted an air campaign in Syria since September 2015, helping Syrian government forces to reverse the tide of the nearly six-year-old conflict.

___

3:30 p.m.

The Syrian government and an opposition monitoring group have condemned what they call Turkey's "crimes" against the Syrian people in the northern town of al-Bab that is controlled by the Islamic State group.

Turkish troops and allied opposition fighters have been on the offensive in al-Bab for weeks trying to take it from IS, a battle that has killed hundreds of people so far.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Turkish shelling and airstrikes have killed 45 people in al-Bab since Wednesday.

Turkey wants to clear the area near its border of IS militants.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Friday condemned what it called Turkey's violations of Syria's sovereignty.

The condemnation was expressed in two letters addressed to the U.N. Secretary-General and President of the Security Council.
Tripoli (AFP) - Libyans Friday marked the anniversary of the 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Moamer Kadhafi, waving flags in central Tripoli even as the country reels from political chaos and security problems.

Thousands of people gathered in the capital's Martyrs Square flying the national flag as fireworks lit the night sky and passing motorists sounded their horns in support.

Forces loyal to the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) were deployed as a security measure to ensure the commemoration was trouble-free.

The oil-rich North African country has been wracked by chaos since Kadhafi was toppled, with rival militias and administrations vying for control.

A rival authority based in the east has refused to recognise the GNA since it began work in Tripoli in March last year.

Rida al-Mahmudi, 62, said he allowed his teenage sons to join Friday's celebrations, even if his heart was not really in it.

"I sent my two boys to Martyrs Square where many people are gathered to participate in this big happy event. They're teenagers -- they wouldn't understand if I told them the country is in chaos," he said.

"All they know is that six years ago we got rid of 42 years of brutal dictatorship, and that youngsters a little bit older than them died in the process of liberating their homeland. Let them be happy.

"Tomorrow I'll worry about whether I can get cash from the bank or not. But today, it's time for joy," he added.

In addition to political rivalries, the rise of jihadism and the presence of powerful militias, Libyans say living conditions have deteriorated since March last year.

These include power cuts, exorbitant prices and security issues that plague their daily lives which are often interrupted by clashes between rival groups.

But for Fatima al-Arbi, 59, February 17 is a day to be celebrated because it marked the beginning of the end for Kadhafi, who was killed on October 20, 2011.

Story continues

"We have to celebrate in spite of all that is happening in Libya today," she said.

"Let's not mix things, what politicians and external agendas have done is another thing.

"I don't want my grandchildren to miss out on such a happy occasion, and I don't want them to forget the meaning of this date.

"We have the right to be proud of February 17 and we have the right to be happy about it. No one has the right to take this away from us," she said.

Libyans have also been marking the sixth anniversary of the start of the 2011 uprising in second city Benghazi, the cradle of the revolution, and other cities since Thursday.
VILNIUS (Reuters) - Lithuanian prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into a false report of rape by German soldiers stationed there as part of NATO a mission to deter Russia. The investigation comes among fears that Russia is using misinformation campaigns to influence opinion and elections in the West. Russia denies being involved in any cyber warfare targeting Western governments and institutions. "It is likely that the false report was spread in order to discredit the presence of the NATO forces in Lithuania," the spokeswoman of the speaker of Lithuanian's parliament was quoted by news wire BNS. An email sent to the speaker's office on Tuesday evening claimed that a group of German speaking men last week surrounded and raped a 15-year-old girl from a foster care home in Lithuanian town of Jonava, close to German army barracks. Police were informed but found the report to be false, so a criminal investigation into reporting a false crime was started instead, Darius Valkavicius, chief prosecutor of Kaunas region told Reuters. "Initial conclusions indicate that the email was sent from a third-party country, that is, from a country outside the European Union," said Valkavicius. The email address used to send the email had been checked and it no longer existed, said a spokesman for German Defense Ministry. Asked about whether Russia could have been involved, he said he could not comment on who sent the email or why as German authorities had no information on that. The spokesman said: "The fact is it was deliberately false information." A NATO diplomat told German newspaper Spiegel that he viewed the incident as a Russian attempt to undermine the new NATO mission and to turn sentiment against the alliance. "This (email) could have come from Russia," Lithuanian minister of defense Raimondas Karoblis told the BNS wire. "But it also could have come from other players within Lithuania". The incident took place as NATO and the United States are deploying an unprecedented amount of troops in Eastern Europe, in response to the Russian takeover of the Crimean peninsula and its continued support of fighting in Eastern Ukraine, The first battlegroup of over 1,000 soldiers, led by the German army, is being deploying in Lithuania. It will soon be joined by similar battlegroups in Estonia, Latvia and Poland, which will augment smaller detachments of U.S. troops stationed there since the Crimea crisis. "It is without doubt that presence of NATO forces in Lithuania will remain a target of hostile propaganda, so both informational and physical provocations are likely," the spokeswoman of Lithuania's State Security Department, a counter-intelligence body, told Reuters. German officials have for months warned about the spread of fake news on the Internet and called for greater transparency. The BfV domestic intelligence agency last year expressed concern that Russia might try to interfere in this year's German federal elections and also warned that there was a rise in Russian propaganda and misinformation campaigns. German media reported last week that the BND foreign intelligence agency had found no proof of a Russian misinformation campaign against the government in a study. (Reporting By Andrius Sytas; Additional reporting by Sabine Siebold and Michelle Martin; Editing by Toby Chopra)
Vilnius (AFP) - Lithuanian prosecutors said Friday they had opened a probe into who was responsible for spreading false allegations of a rape committed by German troops freshly deployed to the Baltic NATO state.

Police have described as fake an email sent this week to the speaker of parliament and national police claiming that German-speaking men in uniforms raped an underage girl near a barracks in central Lithuania.

Several hundred German soldiers arrived this month as part of a multinational NATO battalion in Lithuania, one of four the alliance is providing on a rotational basis to eastern flank members to deter a militarily resurgent Russia.

"An email was sent from a country outside the EU and we are currently working with this information," Darius Valkavicius, chief prosecutor for the central Kaunas region in charge of the probe, told AFP.

"An initial investigation was launched into a report of a crime known to be nonexistent. The information was checked and we see today that the crime did not happen."

Without naming the specific incident, German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen on Friday warned about fake news "undermining the credibility of democratic institutions and in particular the accurate coverage by the independent media".

Lithuania's defence ministry said Friday the allegations were completely false.

"It's a provocation against NATO efforts to increase security on its eastern flank," defence ministry spokeswoman Vita Ramanauskaite told AFP.

Lithuanian and German defence ministers discussed the issue during their meeting earlier this week, she added.

NATO and EU countries have recently repeatedly accused Russia of launching disinformation campaigns to influence local politics, a claim strongly rejected by Moscow.
President Donald Trump gestures during his Make America Great Again Rally at Orlando-Melbourne International Airport Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017, in Melbourne, Fla. (Photo: Chris OMeara/

AP)

President Trump traveled back to Florida this weekend to hold a rally akin to the boisterous gatherings that were the hallmark of his 2016 presidential campaign. The event was in an airport hangar in Melbourne, Fla., where he tore into the media and touted his administrations accomplishments.

Slideshow: President Trumps post-campaign rally in Melbourne, Fla. >>>

Read below for the commentary and analysis from Yahoo News Chief Washington Correspondent Olivier Knox and National Correspondent Holly Bailey, who covered Trumps road to the White House.
London (AFP) - The British fashion industry kicked off its seasonal showcase Friday urging the government not to damage a thriving sector by cutting immigration and trade ties with the EU after Brexit.

"Fashion week is a really great time to understand the power and influence of our industry, as well as our creativity," said Caroline Rush, chief executive of the British Fashion Council (BFC).

"We hope that you'll listen as we talk to you about visas, about talent, about tariffs, about frictionless borders, and around IP (intellectual property).

"Because this is incredibly important to sustain this incredible industry, that contributes 28 billion (32.7 billion euros, $34.8 billion) to the British economy and provides 880,000 jobs."

Prime Minister Theresa May is due to start negotiations on leaving the European Union within weeks, and has already signalled her intention to impose controls on EU migrants coming to work in Britain.

She has said this would likely come at the cost of leaving Europe's single market -- a major concern for the fashion industry, as the bloc accounts for about 70 percent of British textiles and apparel exports.

Over the next five days, London Fashion Week will showcase collections by more than 80 designers and brands, from Versace's Versus to Burberry, J.W. Anderson, Christopher Kane, Roksanda, and Mulberry.

But amid the glamour and the creativity, there is unease about what the future holds.

"The overarching feeling at the moment is uncertainty," said Adam Mansell, chief executive of the UK Fashion and Textile Association.

- Skilled labour and trade -

Access to the EU's single market is a key issue for the industry, but there are other concerns, such as the skilled labour used in British manufacturing, as well as trade ties with the rest of the world.

Mansell noted that British fashion is heavily dependent on imports, particularly large volumes of clothes made in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar and Turkey -- all currently tariff-free through EU-negotiated trade deals which must now be replaced.

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While there has been a resurgence in UK manufacturing over the past couple of years, with many high-end brands benefiting from the allure of British heritage, they are often staffed by skilled workers from the EU.

"A lot of the product that you'll see on the catwalk in the next few days is actually made in London. And I know several factories in London where the workforce is more than 70 percent EU," Mansell told AFP.

- 'Great diversity' -

With so many Europeans living and working in British fashion, their status after Brexit has been a priority for many brands and designers, and industry bodies have petitioned ministers to guarantee their right to stay.

"Our businesses are filled with great diversity and our business leaders protect, nurture and promote that fiercely," said Natalie Massenet, the founder of online fashion portal Net-A-Porter and chairman of the BFC.

After talks Friday between May and her French counterpart Bernard Cazeneuve, Downing Street said the pair discussed the importance of reaching an early agreement on the rights of EU citizens in Britain, and vice versa.

Labour shortages and extra tariffs may well lead to higher prices -- although many brands, particularly luxury labels, have benefited from the fall in the pound since the Brexit vote.

Designer Anya Hindmarch noted that shoppers were flocking to London in search of a bargain.

She told AFP that even if manufacturing costs from her Italian factories rose, " there are other gains -- there's other currencies that are moving, other markets to explore - and I think suppliers are very keen to keep our business".

Others were less than sympathetic.

"Maybe we'll be a little bit expensive -- everything will be a little bit expensive for England," said Filippo Scuffi, the Italian creative director of British heritage brand DAKS.

"But your country decided that way, what can I do?

"Brexit is not a good thing for English people. I believe in open things: open minds, open without walls, without frontiers. Any country shouldn't have a wall. The first wall is in the mind."
A team of researchers has shown that measuring the growth of brains in babies can predict the onset of autism later in childhood.

Predicting the disorder early could allow doctors to begin treating the condition earlier.

About 1 out of every 68 children in the United States has some form autism, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is a developmental disorder that varies in severity from person to person.

As the name autism spectrum disorder suggests, autism can manifest in many different ways among patients, but in general it can be characterized by certain social difficulties and a tendency toward highly repetitive and ritualistic behaviors.

A team from several leading institutions in the U.S. and Canada published a paper Wednesday in the journal Nature, demonstrating an algorithm they created that improved early diagnosis of the condition among several children known to be at high risk.

"In the field we are always trying to detect autism at younger ages, so we can start treatment earlier, but we hit a wall around 2 to 3 years of age, because the symptoms don't start showing up until around then," said the study's senior author, Joseph Piven, a professor of psychiatry, psychology and pediatrics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in an interview with CNBC.

Piven said the research can be likened to similar efforts to detect other brain disorders earlier in life, such as Parkinson's or Alzheimer's, before they begin to impair patients.

In the study, the researchers scanned the brains of three different groups of subjects with magnetic resonance imaging machines. They looked at infants with a high family risk of autism who were later diagnosed with the disorder, high-risk infants who did not develop autism and low-risk infants who did not develop the condition.

The team scanned the brains of all three groups three times  at 6, 12 and 24 months of age.

The brains of the autistic children had faster rates of growth on the surface of their brains from 6 months of age to 1 year, and faster overall brain size from 1 to 2 years of age.

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For the second part of the experiment, the team created an algorithm that used the scans to correctly predict the onset of autism in 8 out of 10 high-risk infants.

The researchers cautioned in their report that more research is needed, but that the results suggest machine learning could help doctors identify the disorder early, and perhaps develop therapies or treatments that could improve the well-being of patients, or, perhaps one day, even stop the progression of the disorder.





More From CNBC


By Emily Chow and Joseph Sipalan KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - North Korea said it would "categorically reject" Malaysia's autopsy report on the death of the man identified by Malaysian authorities as the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Kim Jong Nam died in Kuala Lumpur this week after being assaulted at Kuala Lumpur International Airport with what was thought to be a fast-acting poison. South Korean and U.S. officials have said he was assassinated by North Korean agents. In its first comments since the man's death, the North Korean envoy, Kang Chol, demanded that his body be released immediately. "The Malaysian side forced the post-mortem without our permission and witnessing," Kang told reporters outside the hospital late on Friday. "We will categorically reject the result of the post mortem ... " He also accused Malaysia of "concealing something" and "colluding with outside forces." His statement made no reference to the identity of the man. The Malaysian foreign ministry had no immediate comment on the ambassador's remarks. But the country's top cop said Malaysian rules must be followed. "We have rules in Malaysia. Whilst in Malaysia, everyone has to obey and follow our rules and regulations," Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar told Reuters. "That includes North Korea." The North Korean embassy officially requested on Thursday, that the body of Kim Jong Nam be released. It had earlier tried to persuade Malaysian authorities not to carry out an autopsy. Malaysian police said on Friday it would not release the body until it receives DNA samples from his next-of-kin. Malaysia is one of the few countries that North Korea has diplomatic relations with. DIPLOMATIC PASSPORT North Korea rejected Malaysia's request for a post-mortem, because "he is a diplomatic passport holder and our citizen who is under the consular protection of the DPRK," Kang said, adding that Malaysia had initially said the North Korean died from a heart attack. "We will respond strongly to the moves of the hostile forces towards us with their intent to besmirch the image of our republic by politicizing this incident," he said. He suggested North Korea would take legal action, in an international court. In a written statement that was also released to the media, the envoy accused South Korea of trying to distort public opinion. Two female suspects, one an Indonesian and the other carrying Vietnamese travel documents, have been arrested in connection with the murder. A Malaysian man has also been detained. Four men believed to have been accomplices are still being sought. Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, had spoken out publicly against his family's dynastic control of the isolated, nuclear-armed North Korea. South Korea's intelligence agency told lawmakers in Seoul that Kim had been living with his second wife in the Chinese territory of Macau, under China's protection. He had been at the Kuala Lumpur airport to catch a flight to Macau when he was killed. Cornelia Charito Siricord, director of forensics in the science ministry, told Reuters that an analysis was being carried out on samples taken from the body to help the police establish the cause of death. (Additional reporting by Liz Lee; Writing by Praveen Menon and A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Larry King)
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) - The body of Kim Jong-Nam, the assassinated half-brother of North Korea's leader, will not be released until his family have provided DNA samples, Malaysia said Friday, despite a request from Pyongyang.

Detectives in Kuala Lumpur are trying to get to the bottom of the cloak-and-dagger murder that South Korea says was carried out by poison-wielding female agents working for their secretive northern neighbour.

Forensic specialists on Friday began testing samples from the dead man's body to try to determine the toxin that was apparently sprayed in his face as he readied to board a plane earlier this week.

North Korean diplomats objected to the post-mortem examination, Malaysian officials say, but Kuala Lumpur has stood firm, and said Friday it would not release the body until procedures were complete.

"So far no family member or next of kin has come to identify or claim the body. We need a DNA sample of a family member to match the profile of the dead person," Selangor state police chief Abdul Samah Mat told AFP.

"North Korea has submitted a request to claim the body, but before we release the body we have to identify who the body belongs to," he said.

DNA from a child, sibling -- or even half-sibling -- would be enough to provide a "kinship match" and confirm the identity, a Malaysian forensic investigator told AFP.

Police were meanwhile questioning two women -- one travelling on a Vietnamese passport and the other on an Indonesian document -- as well as a Malaysian man.

- Pyongyang silent -

The drama erupted on Monday morning as Jong-Nam, the estranged elder brother of Kim Jong-Un, readied to board a plane to Macau.

Malaysian police say the chubby 45-year-old was jumped by two women who squirted some kind of liquid in his face.

Jong-Nam told staff he was suffering from a headache and was taken to the airport clinic grimacing in pain, according to Malaysian media citing CCTV footage from the airport.

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One of the women walked to a taxi rank immediately after the attack, according to the same footage.

He was rushed to hospital suffering from a seizure but was dead before he arrived.

South Korea has pointed the finger of blame at the North, citing a "standing order" from Jong-Un to kill his sibling and a failed assassination bid in 2012 after he criticised the regime.

A Japanese journalist who knew and wrote a book on Jong-Nam on Friday said he was a courageous man who sought to reform his country.

"Even if it put him in danger, he wanted to tell his opinions to Pyongyang through me or other media," Yoji Gomi said in Tokyo.

Pyongyang has made no comment on the killing, and there has been no mention of it in North Korean media.

AFP correspondents in Pyongyang say celebrations to mark the birthday of Kim Jong-Il, the late father of both men, have gone ahead without reference to the death.

- Woman in 'LOL' top -

Malaysian police on Wednesday arrested a 28-year-old woman carrying a Vietnamese passport which identified her as Doan Thi Huong.

Local media said she was the woman seen in CCTV images from the airport wearing a white top with the letters "LOL" emblazoned on the front.

Officers later arrested Muhammad Farid Bin Jalaluddin, a 26-year-old Malaysian man. He led them to his girlfriend, a 25-year-old Indonesian national named Siti Aishah.

Aishah's family in Jakarta expressed their shock over her arrest, with her former father-in-law saying there was "no way such a nice person would do that".

"I could not believe it because she was a good person," said Tija Liang Kiong, 56.

Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said Aishah appeared to be the "victim of a scam or a fraud" who thought she was taking part in a reality show involving hidden cameras.

Indonesian embassy officials said they were providing Aishah with legal assistance.

Selangor state police chief Abdul Samah earlier told AFP he was looking for several more suspects, but declined to say how many were being sought.

First-born Jong-Nam was once thought to be the natural successor to his father, but on Kim Jong-Il's death in 2011 the succession went to Jong-Un, who was born to the former leader's third wife.

Reports of purges and executions have emerged from the current regime as Jong-Un tries to strengthen his grip on power in the face of international pressure over nuclear and missile programmes.

The most notable of these was the 2013 execution for treason of the young leader's influential uncle, Jang Song-Thaek.
DEDHAM, Mass. (AP)  A judge has convicted a Massachusetts man of running over a hotel worker four years ago and dragging her body more than 3 miles.

The Norfolk District Attorney's Office says 25-year-old Moses Acloque, of Norwood, was convicted on Tuesday of charges including motor vehicle homicide and leaving the scene of an accident after causing death. Sentencing is planned for mid-March.

Authorities say Acloque was squatting in a vacant room at the Arbor Inn on U.S. Route 1. Hotel management confronted him in November 2013.

Police say Acloque tried to flee in a truck, but hit 58-year-old Kanchanben Patel, who became stuck under the vehicle and was dragged for miles into Foxborough.

Patel's body became dislodged after Acloque pulled into the parking lot behind a restaurant near Gillette Stadium.
Marc Jacobs Beauty has presented a limited-edition makeup collection, directly inspired by the brand's spring 2017 New York fashion show, held back in September. The collection promises runway-inspired beauty looks for the spring 2017 season.

This very limited edition collection comprises three essentials from Marc Jacobs' permanent collection in shades directly inspired by the label's colorful spring 2017 collection. In September, Marc Jacobs sent models down the New York runway sporting dreadlocks, wearing girly outfits and strutting in eight-inch platforms decorated with patterns created by British illustrator Julie Verhoeven. The collection was in part influenced by Tokyo youth culture.

Strong color with a romantic twist

The three essentials in this collection are all for eyes, which get intense shades with metallic effects -- particularly in blue -- for spring 2017. Eyes are bright, dazzling, romantic and almost bewitching.

The collection, called the Velvet Reality Eye Collection, takes the form of a kit that can easily be slipped into a handbag or travel case. It features Twinkle Pop Stick Eyeshadow in "On The Verge," a bold icy grape shade, Highliner Gel Eye Crayon in "(Th)ink," a navy blue, and the iconic Velvet Noir Major Volume Mascara.

The three makeup must-haves come in a pouch designed by the illustrator Julie Verhoeven, who worked with Marc Jacobs on the spring 2017 ready-to-wear collection.
Deporting Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos  35-years old, mother of two  will not make America safer, but it does pose a fundamental question about the type of country we want to be.

As part of his campaign pledge to deport up to 3 million undocumented criminal immigrants, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) on January 25 expanding the Department of Homeland Securitys (DHS) Civil Immigration Enforcement Priorities (CIEP) to include Garcia de Ravos, and the many like her who pose no danger to the national security of the United States. The Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States EO also threatens to withhold billions in federal funding from state and local governments, whose law enforcement do not perform the functions of an immigration officer to the fullest extent of the law.

Lets call this what it is: a crackdown dressed up as a public security measure that puts hardline enforcement ahead of civil liberties and federal diktats above states rights. Its a textbook example of how fiery campaign rhetoric can translate into bad policy.

According to the Pew Research Center, there were 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States in 2014. A majority (66 percent) have been here for at least a decade and, like Guadalupe, are likely to have children who are American citizens. Of that total, the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) estimates that 820,000 have both criminal records and final orders of removal  meaning they have exhausted all legal recourse to remain in the United States.

The new CIEP directs Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to also prioritize undocumented immigrants making their way through the U.S. legal system but do not have a final order of removal. It also includes those charged but not yet convicted of a crime, including minor offenses, and apparently a category of individuals who White House Advisor Stephen Miller would remove arbitrarily to prevent crimes before they happen. Combined with what Trump outlined on the campaign as a policy of zero tolerance for criminal aliens and you begin to see how the math works: 800,000 becomes 3, 8, maybe even 11 millionthe actual number then becomes a function of bandwidth at ICE and the immigration courts, the latter of which is underfunded and backlogged.

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Senator Chuck Schumer wisely pointed out that treating a traffic violator the same as a murderer will not keep the country safe and is a waste of government resources. Further, the expanded CIEP coupled with the recent raids has had a terrifying and chilling effect on the undocumented immigrant population, eliminating any willingness for them to engage with government authorities, or to report crimes in their communities for fear of deportation.

There is a better policy response. President Trump should abandon the practice of policy-by-EO and place the onus on his Cabinet to present him with options that will actually help make America safer. When Central American migrants surged across the Southwest border in 2014, President Obama marshaled a whole-of-government response. As a Special Advisor to Vice President Biden, I lost track of all the internal White House huddles, and the countless Deputies and Principals Committee meetings. We vetted proposals with Democratic and Republican members alike and civil society stakeholders, all in an effort to provide the President with the best possible policy recommendations. One or two bad ideas still made it to the National Security Council chaired by the President, which he thankfully killed.

The outcome can be summarized as follows:

DHS focused its limited enforcement resources on non-citizens who had been convicted of serious crimes, were threats to public safety, were recent illegal entrants, or had violated recent deportation orders; FEMA led an inter-agency Unified Coordination Group to streamline the processing and placement of unaccompanied children arriving at the Southwest border in large numbers; We surged resources to the border and the Justice Department reprioritized dockets to streamline removal proceedings; and We piloted a program to allow children fleeing harm who have parents/relatives with legal status in the United States to avoid the dangerous journey through a refugee-like or parole process.

Vice President Joe Biden led the international effort to reduce irregular migration at the main source. He engaged Mexico on its Southern Border Strategy, and partnered with leaders from the Northern Triangle of Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras) to address the drivers of migration by tackling the regions security and developmental challenges with a strategy they called the Alliance for Prosperity (A4P). Vice President Biden also secured a $750 million appropriation thanks to the support of key Republicans and Democrats like Senators Lindsay Graham, Patrick Leahy, Barbara Mikulski, as well as Representatives Kay Granger and Nita Lowey. Then-head of Southern Command General Kelly accompanied the Vice President to a March 2015 meeting in Guatemala that produced concrete political commitments from regional governments. A Capitol Hill maven, Kelly was also instrumental in building Republican congressional support for the strategy.

Our targeted immigration enforcement combined with a robust international response achieved positive results: By the end of Fiscal Year 2016, DHS removed 344,354 unauthorized immigrants, 90 percent of which had been convicted of serious crimes and 85 percent of which were recent border crossers. Northern Triangle countries budgeted $1.6 billion in their own resources for the A4P in 2016, collaborated with us on numerous operations against human traffickers and gangs operating in both the United States and Central America, and an anti-corruption regime began to take hold throughout the region.

Secretary Kelly rightly argues the January 25 EO provides DHS with the necessary tools to enforce U.S. immigration laws. In practice, the broad net cast by the EO and the proposed militarization of migration enforcement lends itself to abuse and all but guarantees families will be separated and many will be deported solely for the crime of migrating irregularly to the United States in search for a better life.

There are also those  an increasingly vocal minority in this country  who would use the federal government as a cover to exercise hostility against the undocumented immigrant population. Theyre the Joe Arpaios, who would round up and remove anyone who is different in appearance, culture, or religious belief. They forget (or choose to ignore) our 240-year history as a nation of immigrants from all walks of life. And while they are pondering the right questions about American identity and values, their answer is absolutely wrong.

Photo credit: DREW ANGERER/Getty Images
Staying true to President Donald Trumps rhetoric on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Defense Secretary and top Pentagon official Jim Mattis told member countries assembled in Brussels Wednesday they must increase defense spending or the U.S. will moderate its commitment, the Associated Press reported.

Mattis, who spoke before the 27 other member nations for the first time since he was confirmed, was relaying Trumps decree that many NATO countries weren't paying their fair share when it comes to defense spending. NATO has served as a major military alliance between North American and European countries since 1949, following World War II.

I owe it to you all to give you clarity on the political reality in the United States and to state the fair demand from my countrys people in concrete terms, Mattis said in a closed-door meeting, according to the Washington Post. America will meet its responsibilities, but if your nations do not want to see America moderate its commitment to the alliance, each of your capitals needs to show its support for our common defense.

NATO members have been asked to shell out a minimum of 2 percent of their gross domestic product to defense spending, but most of the body has failed to do so in recent years.

No longer can the American taxpayer carry a disproportionate share of the defense of Western values, Mattis said. Americans cannot care more for your childrens security than you do. Disregard for military readiness demonstrates a lack of respect for ourselves, for the alliance and for the freedoms we inherited, which are now clearly threatened.

Aside from the U.S., only Estonia, Greece, Poland and the United Kingdom have allocated the pledged 2 percent. The U.S. and UK have much stronger economies than the other three, but well-oiled economic powers like France and Germany were failing to meet the requirement.

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Mattis remarks could be disconcerting to other NATO members considering Russias increased military activity in recent years. President Vladimir Putins military already annexed Crimea from the Ukraine and has positioned missiles and troops in areas that have worried much of Europe.

Related Articles
MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - U.S. Senator John McCain said on Friday that the resignation of President Donald Trump's security adviser Michael Flynn over his contacts with the Russian ambassador in Washington showed that Trump's administration was in "disarray". "I think that the Flynn issue obviously is something that shows that in many respects this administration is in disarray and they've got a lot of work to do," said McCain, a Republican who is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "The president I think makes statements (and) on other occasions contradicts himself. So we've learned to watch what the president does as opposed to what he says," McCain said at the Munich Security Conference. (Reporting By Shadia Nasralla and Noah Barkin)
In 2016, over 800,000 tourists visited Ethiopia, bringing over ETB 128 billion (USD 5.6 billion) to the country. This is a decrease of approximately 11% from 2015's over 900,000 visitors. This is according to a new report by Jumia Travel Ethiopia, which further states that the Ministry of Culture and Tourism hopes to increase the number of tourists to one million, and the revenue to well over ETB 675 billion (USD 29.8 billion) in 2017. On the other hand, a remarkable growth has been achieved in terms of investment on the sector, rising by 3.7% end of 2016.

"The country is looking for a transformational growth that will take the sector to the next level, marketing Ethiopia locally and internationally to list the country among Africa's top five destinations. We are also shifting gear to incorporating technology into the industry," said Solomon Tadesse, CEO of Ethiopian Tourism Corporation.

Among top challenges leading to the decline of tourist arrivals are recent safety and security concerns that have been a major setback to the country's growing leisure and conference tourism industry. However, the sector remains resilient as the country continues working towards prioritizing security to ensure the safety of visitors and citizens, as well as minimize the impact of security threats. Paul Midy, CEO of Jumia Travel remains optimistic saying, "Challenges abound but the future is inspiring. We look forward to bringing the intended growth and progress into reality."

The report focuses on interesting findings, indicating that although conference tourism is growing in Ethiopia, leisure spending contributes 84.4% to GDP while 15.6% is from business spending. In 2015, the direct contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP was ETB 51.3 billion (USD 2.26 billion) - accounting for 4.1% of total GDP, and is forecast to rise to ETB 85 billion (USD 3.7 billion) by 2026.

Ethiopian Factor: Jumia Travel Photo by Jumia Travel

In terms of hotel booking, Addis Ababa has the highest demand at 39%, followed by Hawassa at 11.2%, Bishoftu at 8.1%, and Bahir Dar at 7.5%. Majority of international arrivals are from other African countries (31%), and Europe (30%). While domestic tourism continues to gain popularity among Ethiopians (31.3%), foreign visitor spending is still higher at (68.7%).

According to Alexander Burtenshaw, the country manager of Jumia Travel Ethiopia, expansion of tourism activities has reduced Ethiopia's dependence on agriculture. "Until recently, little had been invested in mapping the country's tourism, but the last decade has seen intensified interest from investors."

Preferences are high for the 2 and 3 star hotels, attracting 37% and 36% of total hotel bookings respectively. Notably, a large number of customers favor online payment (59%) as compared to pay-at-hotel (41%). The rising growth of online payments can be attributed to foreign travelers who book hotels with international credit cards.

Find the full report here
WASHINGTON (AP)  Republican Sen. John McCain delivered a withering critique of President Donald Trump in a speech Friday that highlighted fractures within the GOP as the new administration struggles to overcome a chaotic start.

Speaking in Germany at the Munich Security Conference, McCain didn't mention the president's name, according to the prepared text, while he lamented a shift in the United States and Europe away from the "universal values" that forged the Western alliance seven decades ago. McCain is the chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

Trump has repeatedly questioned the value of NATO, calling the military pact obsolete, and sought instead to stoke a relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, Trump's defense secretary, Jim Mattis, has accused Putin of wanting to break NATO.

McCain, who has openly quarreled with the president, said "more and more of our fellow citizens seem to be flirting with authoritarianism and romanticizing it as our moral equivalent."

The senator lamented the "hardening resentment we see toward immigrants, and refugees, and minority groups, especially Muslims." During the presidential campaign, Trump promised to stop Muslims from entering the U.S. and shortly after taking office issued an executive order banning travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations.

McCain also said the alliance's founders would be "alarmed by the growing inability, and even unwillingness, to separate truth from lies." While bashing the news media for being dishonest, Trump has ignored facts and sought to blame others for his miscues. Trump tweeted Friday that the news media are "the enemy of the American people."

The senator said he's aware there is "profound concern across Europe and the world that America is laying down the mantle of global leadership." But he said that's not the message they would hear from him or other American leaders "who cared enough to travel here to Munich this weekend." Mattis had already addressed the conference. Vice President Mike Pence and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly were are scheduled to give speeches.

___

Contact Richard Lardner on Twitter: http://twitter.com/rplardner
Hillary Clinton is clearly a big fan of her Saturday Night Live impersonator Kate McKinnon, as the two were spotted laughing together over dinner Wednesday evening.

Read: Hillary Clinton Takes Selfies With Supporters, Gets Standing Ovation at Broadway Show

The duo had dinner at an Italian restaurant in Manhattans theater district with an unidentified woman before taking in the revival of Sunset Boulevard, which stars Glenn Close, on Broadway.

"Lots of laughter emanated from their table," a nearby patron at the restaurant told the New York Post.

On Thursday, Mrs. Clinton spoke at a U.S. Postal Service event at Grand Central Terminal honoring late designer Oscar de la Renta, hailing his immigrant past.

Oscar de la Renta was an immigrant, Clinton said of the Dominican designer. What a fitting person to be chosen by our Postal Service, mentioned, by the way, in the Constitution, something we should all read and reread in todays times... Let there be many, many more immigrants with the love of America that [he] exemplified every single day."

De la Renta, who died in 2014 at age 82, will appear on the stamps later this year.

Read: Outspoken Trump Critic Whoopi Goldberg Tells His Daughter Tiffany She'll Sit With Her at NYFW

The event took place on the #DayWithoutImmigrants which featured events around the country highlighting the contributions of immigrants in America.

The event was designed as a resistance to President Trumps proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and his planned immigration ban.

Watch: Has 'SNL' Gone Too Far? Show Under Fire for 'Fatal Attraction'-Inspired Kellyanne Conway Skit

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Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in Berlin on Wednesday, a spokeswoman said.

While the spokeswoman called the Merkel-Lagarde talks "a discussion on general themes," the meetings come amid wrangling over the latest review of Greece's 86-billion-euro ($92 billion) bailout programme, in which the Commission and the IMF are two key actors.

There will be "no public communication" about the content of the meeting, the spokeswoman said Friday.

Later, Merkel will meet Juncker for a "working dinner" addressing "current themes in European politics."

The Washington-based IMF and eurozone countries including Germany are at odds over how to handle the Greek debt crisis.

The IMF played a key role in two former schemes to keep Greece afloat in 2010 and 2012, but in recent weeks has expressed doubts about the sustainability of the country's debt and the budget surpluses demanded by its eurozone neighbours.

Germany refuses to accept any reduction of Greece's debt, but has also vowed not to take part in any extension of the aid programme if the IMF is not involved.

For its part, Greece hopes for a "political agreement in principle" with its creditors at a Eurogroup meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Monday.

A compromise is required to sign off on a second review of the bailout programme and unblock a tranche of loans Greece needs for debt repayments of seven billion euros this summer.
Daniel Ramirez Medina, who was arrested Friday in Seattle from his father's home by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, filed a challenge Monday to his detention in a Seattle federal court, arguing that the government violated his constitutional rights. Ramirez had work authorization under the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program by former President Barack Obama's administration.

Ramirez, in his petition, has asked for his immediate release and an injunction forbidding the government from arresting him again. A hearing in the case has been scheduled for Friday.

Ramirez was brought to the U.S. from Mexico when he was 7 years old and has a work permit under Obama's DACA program. Ramirez had recently moved to Washington from California, where he had attended school, and he has a 3-year-old son, who is a U.S. citizen. Ramirez first obtained DACA protection in 2014 and renewed his protection in 2016, the complaint filed against him stated.

ICE officials said Ramirez was a "self-admitted gang member" who was detained as a "risk to public safety."

His arrest could mark the first immigration detention of its sort under President Donald Trump's administration.

Ethan Dettmer, a partner in the law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, and one of the lawyers representing Ramirez, said that he was not aware of any other immigrant under the protection of DACA who had been arrested or detained earlier.

"We are hoping this detention was a mistake," Dettmer reportedly said.

Another lawyer representing Ramirez, Mark Rosenbaum of the legal advocacy group of Public Counsel, specified that the DACA program had been a promise from the federal government's executive branch that immigrants protected under DACA would not be targeted for deportation.

"We have no reason to believe that promise will be broken. This case should not see the inside of a courtroom," Rosenbaum reportedly said.

Story continues

Several immigrants and civil-rights attorneys have also filed a petition in Seattle's federal court to challenge the detention and to seek the release of the 23-year-old Mexican immigrant.

Ramirez has been kept in custody at a federal immigration detention facility in Tacoma, Washington.

ICE officers

had also arrested his father but the court documents did not specify why his father was taken into custody.

Emily Langley, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Seattle, said the Justice Department was still reviewing the case.

Talking about DACA last month in an interview with ABC News, Trump said his administration was formulating a policy on how to deal with people covered under the program. "They are here illegally. They shouldn't be very worried. I do have a big heart. We're going to take care of everybody. We're going to have a very strong border," Trump said.

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PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP)  Two prominent opposition leaders in Montenegro say they will be questioned next week over their involvement in an alleged pro-Russian coup plot to overthrow the pro-NATO government.

Andrija Mandic and Milan Knezevic said Friday they have received a summons to appear before the special prosecutor on Monday, and will answer it.

Montenegrin lawmakers earlier this week lifted the parliamentary immunity for the two so they can be investigated in the foiled coup plans. The politicians are suspected of criminal conspiracy and inciting "acts against constitutional order and security of Montenegro."

Some 20 people, including two Russian citizens, have been accused in the election day plot in October said to be orchestrated by Russian and Serbian nationalists to stop Montenegro's planned accession to NATO.

Mandic and Knezevic have denied the accusations.
More than 200 new genetic markers linked with male pattern baldness have been identified, according to a new study from the United Kingdom.

The findings greatly increase the number of known genetic markers linked with baldness in men; a previous large study identified just eight such markers.

The researchers in the new study were also able to use their set of genetic markers to predict men's chances of severe hair loss, although the scientists noted that their results apply more to large populations of people than to any given individual.

"We are still a long way from making an accurate prediction for an individual's hair-loss pattern. However, these results take us one step closer," study co-author Riccardo Marioni, of the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, said in a statement. "The findings pave the way for an improved understanding of the genetic causes of hair loss," Marioni said. [5 Myths About the Male Body]

In the study, the researchers analyzed information from more than 52,000 men ages 40 to 69 years in the United Kingdom. Of these men, about 32 percent said they had no hair loss, 23 percent said they had slight hair loss, 27 percent said they had moderate hair loss and 18 percent said they had severe hair loss

The researchers then analyzed participants' genomes, looking for genetic variations, known as single-nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs, that were linked with severe hair loss. That search revealed 287 genetic variations, located on more than 100 genes, that were linked with severe hair loss.

Many of the genetic variations were located on or near genes that have previously been linked with hair growth, hair graying or the biological structures involved in making hair, the researchers said.

Forty of the genetic variations were located on the X chromosome, which men inherit from their mothers, the researchers said. One of the genes on the X chromosome  the gene for the androgen receptor, which binds to the hormone testosterone  was strongly linked with severe hair loss. Previous studies have also pinpointed this gene as tied to male pattern baldness.

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The researchers then created a formula, which resulted in a genetic "risk score," to try to predict the chances of severe hair loss in the men. Among those men with a below-average score, 39 percent had no hair loss and 14 percent had severe hair loss. In contrast, among those with a high score that put them in the top 10 percent of those in the study, 58 percent had moderate-to-severe hair loss.

The researchers noted that in the study, they did not collect information on the age at which the men started losing their hair. The scientists said they would expect to see even stronger genetic associations with hair loss if they were able to include information about which men experienced early onset hair loss.

As more information from these participants becomes available, the researchers may be able to further refine their predictions, they said.

The study was published today (Feb. 14) in the journal PLOS Genetics.

Original article on Live Science.

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By Gina Cherelus and Olga Grigoryants NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A second consecutive day of protests against U.S. President Donald Trump's month-old administration appeared to lose momentum on Friday, with rallies in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York attracting small yet enthusiastic crowds. Activists had called for a "general strike" a day after thousands of immigrants across the United States stayed home from work and school during "A Day Without Immigrants" to highlight the contributions of foreign-born workers to the American economy. Strike4Democracy, one of the groups organizing Friday's strike, said more than 100 public protests were expected around the country. In New York, more than 16,000 people responded to a Facebook page set up for a rally at Washington Square Park in Manhattan, but fewer than 200 protesters were at the park an hour after the posted start time. Crystal Thornebrooke, one of the organizers, said the event was intended to spark discussions about how activists can make progress in fighting Trump's agenda. "Introducing ourselves to people, hearing people, hearing their concerns with our administration and then build from there - this is the preliminary stages of organization," she said. In downtown Los Angeles, a rally at the Regent Theater drew about 60 demonstrators, waving signs and chanting, "Fight ignorance, not immigrants." "I have friends and family members who are undocumented immigrants, and I'm scared for them to be deported," said Priscilla Alburquenque, a 20-year-old college student. Some protesters said Thursday's walkout may have sapped some of the energy for Friday's action. "The immigration event yesterday was a big event, but not everyone can be at them all," said Joe Balkis, a retired United Parcel Service worker who was one of approximately 75 protesters at Daley Plaza in Chicago. Trump has vowed to crack down on illegal immigration and signed an executive order, which was put on hold by federal courts, restricting entry from seven Muslim-majority countries. Those policies, along with a series of federal raids last week, have alarmed immigrant rights' groups. Strike4Democracy urged Americans to stay away from work, donate their lunch money to a worthy cause and contact congressional representatives about the strike. Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump has faced a steady stream of protests and marches, highlighted by mass rallies focused on women's rights that drew millions of people around the globe on the day after he was sworn in. (Additional reporting by Robert Chiarito in Chicago and Ian Simpson in Washington, writing by Joseph Ax in New York; editing by Bill Trott and Jonathan Oatis)
WINONA, Minn.  A Weaver, Minn., man died in an apparent kayaking accident Thursday night on the Mississippi River.

The body of Timothy Carl Heim, 56, was recovered from the riverbank near the Minneiska boat landing after a nearly four-hour search.

A Minnesota Department of Natural Resources employee contacted the Winona County Sheriffs office just before 9 p.m. Thursday to report a vehicle parked at the Minneiska boat landing, Sheriff Ron Ganrude said.

Deputies determined that the owner of the vehicle likely had gone kayaking on the river, had not returned and attempts to reach him by were unsuccessful. Game wardens, sheriffs deputies, the Winona dive/rescue team and the Minnesota State Patrol helicopter were called out to search, Ganrude said.

Searchers located Hiems body, clad in a wetsuit, at 12:42 a.m., Ganrude said. His body was found onshore, about 10 feet from the river, about 50 feet from where his truck was parked. There were cuts on his hand, and the kayak was not found, Ganrude said.

Heims body was taken to Rochester for autopsy to determine the cause of death.
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Seven suspected Boko Haram militants blew themselves on the outskirts of a northeast Nigerian city on Friday, a local aid agency said, in an attack witnesses said targeted refugees preparing to return to their home villages. The bombing took place outside Maiduguri, the population center at the heart of a government campaign to eradicate the Islamist group, whose more than seven-year insurgency has killed 15,000 people and forced some two million from their homes. The Borno State Emergency Management Agency said eight members of a local militia, the civilian Joint Task Force, were wounded in the attack, which underscored Boko Haram's ability to continue to operate despite the government's insistence it has crushed the group. Witnesses told Reuters the attackers detonated their bombs near a large refugee camp, outside which crowds of displaced people were gathering around trucks to form convoys before trying to return home. In December, President Muhammadu Buhari said the capture of a key camp marked the "final crushing" of Boko Haram in its last enclave in Sambisa forest, once the group's stronghold. But since then the group, which split into two factions last year, has stepped up its attacks. One Boko Haram faction is led by Abubakar Shekau from the Sambisa forest and the other, allied to jihadist group Islamic State, and led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi, based in the Lake Chad region. (Reporting by Ahmed Kingimi, Adewale Kolawole and Ola Lanre in Maiduguri; Writing by Paul Carsten; editing by John Stonestreet)
MUNICH (AP)  Germany's defense minister told the U.S. on Friday that Washington has an interest in both a stable European Union and a united NATO, and cautioned against turning the fight against terrorism into a "front against Islam and Muslims."

Minister Ursula von der Leyen also said that it won't be enough in the future to rely on American military strength and "duck away" when things get tough.

She spoke at the opening of the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of diplomats and defense officials that this year offers an opportunity for many to meet with members of the Trump administration amid concerns over the new president's commitment to NATO and his attitudes toward the EU and Russia.

She was joined at the opening session by U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who declared that "when it comes to security, no one goes their own way in this world alone."

"Security is always best when provided by a team," he said.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will address the meeting Saturday, and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly also is attending.

President Donald Trump has set off alarm bells in the past by calling NATO "obsolete," though he subsequently told European leaders he agrees on the "fundamental importance" of the military alliance. He has emphasized the need for all members to pay a fair share for defense, an issue that NATO leaders themselves have pushed for years.

Mattis told fellow NATO members on Wednesday that they need to increase their military spending by year's end or risk seeing the U.S. curtail its defense support. He said Friday that "it is a fair demand that all who benefit from the best alliance in the world carry their proportionate share of the necessary costs to defend our freedoms," and added that his message had been "well received" by his counterparts.

Some of Trump's other views  his support for Britain's decision to leave the EU, his perceived closeness to Russia and his inaugural pledge to put "America first"  also have raised concerns.

Story continues

"From the German point of view, our traditional reflex of relying above all on our American friends' vigor and ducking away when things really get tight ... will no longer be enough," von der Leyen said.

"We must also carry our share of the burden," she added, though she said that isn't purely a question of money.

Von der Leyen stressed the importance of strengthening EU defense capabilities and said now is the right time to take "ambitious steps," something that she said isn't just in Europe's interests.

"Our American friends know well that their tone on Europe and NATO has a direct influence on the cohesion of our continent," she said. "A stable European Union is just as much in the American interest as a united NATO."

Mattis repeated assurances he delivered at NATO over the past two days.

"President Trump came into office and has thrown now his full support to NATO," Mattis said, in a statement that appeared to acknowledge the early criticism the president had for NATO and stress a new change. "Trans-Atlantic unity buttresses European unity ... done correctly, European initiatives and NATO unity are mutually reinforcing."

In fighting the Islamic State group and other extremist organizations, von der Leyen said "we should avoid turning this battle into a front against Islam and Muslims in and of themselves  otherwise we would run the danger of deepening the divisions that violence and terror grow out of."

She also cautioned against going "bilaterally over the heads of partners" in seeking better relations with Russia.

Republican Sen. John McCain, an outspoken critic of a softer stance on Russia, introduced a discussion titled "The future of the West: Downfall or comeback?"  a question he said would have been dismissed in the past as hyperbole.

"I know there is profound concern across Europe and the world that America is laying down the mantle of global of leadership," he said. "I can only speak for myself, but I do not believe that that is the message you will hear from all of the American leaders who cared enough to travel to Munich this weekend."

"I'm a proud, unapologetic believer in the West," he said. "I believe we must always, always stand up for it."

___

Lolita C. Baldor in Munich and David Rising contributed to this report.
Malaysia Friday rejected Pyongyang's demand that it hand over the body of Kim Jong-Nam, the assassinated half-brother of North Korea's leader, saying it would only be released when his family provide DNA samples.

Detectives in Kuala Lumpur are trying to get to the bottom of the cloak-and-dagger murder that South Korea says was carried out by poison-wielding female agents working for their secretive northern neighbour.

North Korean ambassador Kang Chol said Pyongyang would reject the result of any Malaysian autopsy carried out without its permission and claimed the police were being pressured by hostile forces, notably South Korea.

"The Malaysian side forced the post-mortem without our permission and witnessing. We will categorically reject the result of the post-mortem conducted unilaterally," he told reporters gathered late Friday outside the morgue where the body is being held.

It was the first official comment from North Korea since the killing of Kim Jong-Nam at Kuala Lumpur international airport on Monday.

Forensic specialists on Friday began testing samples from the dead man's body to try to determine the toxin that was apparently sprayed in his face as he readied to board a plane.

Despite the North Korean ambassador's demand to hand over the body, Kuala Lumpur has stood firm, saying it would not release it until procedures were complete.

"So far no family member or next of kin has come to identify or claim the body. We need a DNA sample of a family member to match the profile of the dead person," Selangor state police chief Abdul Samah Mat told AFP.

"North Korea has submitted a request to claim the body, but before we release the body we have to identify who the body belongs to," he said.

Police were meanwhile questioning two women -- one travelling on a Vietnamese passport and the other on an Indonesian document -- as well as a Malaysian man.

- 'Assassination order' -

Story continues

The drama erupted on Monday morning as Kim Jong-Nam, the estranged elder brother of Kim Jong-Un, prepared to board a plane to Macau.

Malaysian police say the chubby 45-year-old was jumped by two women who squirted some kind of liquid in his face.

Kim Jong-Nam told staff he was suffering from a headache and was taken to the airport clinic grimacing in pain, according to Malaysian media citing CCTV footage from the airport.

One of the women walked to a taxi rank immediately after the attack, according to the same footage.

He was rushed to hospital suffering from a seizure but was dead before he arrived.

South Korea has pointed the finger of blame at the North, citing a "standing order" from Kim Jong-Un to kill his sibling and a failed assassination bid in 2012 after he criticised the regime.

A Japanese journalist who knew and wrote a book on Kim Jong-Nam on Friday said he was a courageous man who sought to reform his country.

"Even if it put him in danger, he wanted to tell his opinions to Pyongyang through me or other media," Yoji Gomi said in Tokyo.

AFP correspondents in Pyongyang say celebrations to mark the birthday of Kim Jong-Il, the late father of both men, have gone ahead without reference to the death.

- Woman in 'LOL' top -

Malaysian police on Wednesday arrested a 28-year-old woman carrying a Vietnamese passport which identified her as Doan Thi Huong.

Local media said she was the woman seen in CCTV images from the airport wearing a white top with the letters "LOL" emblazoned on the front.

Officers later arrested Muhammad Farid Bin Jalaluddin, a 26-year-old Malaysian man. He led them to his girlfriend, a 25-year-old Indonesian national named Siti Aishah.

Aishah's family in Jakarta expressed shock over her arrest, with her former father-in-law saying there was "no way such a nice person would do that".

"I could not believe it because she was a good person," said Tija Liang Kiong, 56.

Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said Aishah appeared to be the "victim of a scam or a fraud" who thought she was taking part in a reality show involving hidden cameras.

First-born Kim Jong-Nam was once thought to be the natural successor to his father, but on Kim Jong-Il's death in 2011 the succession went to Kim Jong-Un, who was born to the former leader's third wife.

Reports of purges and executions have emerged from the current regime as Kim Jong-Un tries to strengthen his grip on power in the face of international pressure over nuclear and missile programmes.

The most notable of these was the 2013 execution for treason of the young leader's influential uncle, Jang Song-Thaek.
There could be a situation of a Cold War if NATO increased its military buildup in the Black Sea region, Russian ambassador to the 28-nation bloc said Thursday. The comments came after NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg vowed to fortify its military presence in the region, where Moscow is accused of growing its assertion.

All these decisions will be subject of thorough analysis. ... And, undoubtedly, we will take all necessary measures to properly safeguard Russias national interests in this region, Alexander Grushko, the Russian envoy to NATO, said.

The danger lies in the fact that [NATO] is expected to increase not only the spending but also significantly increase the purchase of arms, Grushko reportedly said. If these plans will be implemented, we may find ourselves in the situation of a Cold War, when the military planning, aimed at countering a large enemy would generate respective policies.

The envoy also noted that Russia is likely to lose interest in a dialogue with NATO "if it does not promote the restoration of bilateral cooperation."

NATO sent additional troops to the Baltic states and Poland last month and it is looking to boost its southeastern border around the Black Sea. The bloc also plans to improve intelligence gathering to counter Russias alleged growing assertion in the region. However, NATO chief Stoltenberg maintained that the move is not meant to provoke Russia.

"We will have an increased presence in the Black Sea but it will be measured, it will be defensive and it will in no way be provoking any conflict or escalating tensions," Stoltenberg reportedly said.

Tensions between Russia and NATO have flared up since Moscow annexed Crimea in March 2014 and supported separatist rebels within Ukraine. NATOs military buildup has concentrated on Poland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania  all of which have expressed concerns over Russia's growing political and military assertion in the region. However, Moscow has denied the allegations and accused the U.S. of expanding its geopolitical power along Russia's borders.

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(Photo illustration: Yahoo News, photos: AP)

I had been talking to Alexander Nix, the CEO of the data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica, for only a few minutes before he noticed my leopard-print shoes, and complimented them.



Ill put it in your personality file, Nix joked.

Does this mean you can already predict my personality? I asked warily.

Oh, yes, Nix said, brushing imaginary dust off his slacks. Weve modeled every personality of every voter in the United States.

If one were to try to imagine the person who claims to know every single American personality, one would probably not think of Nix, an Eton-educated Englishman in a tweed coat who speaks in fluid, grammatically correct paragraphs of his companys microtargeting strategy. But presidential candidates from Sen. Ted Cruz to Ben Carson are turning to Nixs massive database and algorithm so they can reach voters likely to support them with specific messages tailored not to their age, race or gender  but to their fundamental natures.

Whether we like it or not, political campaigns know more and more about each and every one of us, and theyre using that data to craft increasingly specific advertising tailored to our lifestyles. Republicans, led by Karl Rove, pioneered the technique of political microtargeting in a presidential election in 2004, to get out the vote for George W. Bush. But Barack Obamas campaign perfected the strategy in 2008 and 2012, with Republicans falling behind in their microtargeting prowess. Now Cambridge Analytica and other firms serving primarily Republican clients are trying to catch up. Nix says his database has between 4,000 and 5,000 data points on every registered voter in the U.S.  from where you shop to websites youve visited, cars youve driven, magazines youve subscribed to and your all-important voter registration history. This allows campaigns to better target Americans with TV or online ads, direct mail, texts and robo-calls.



Story continues

(Photo: Cambridge Analytica)

Cambridge Analytica, which is partially owned by hedge fund manager and Cruz donor Robert Mercer, has taken microtargeting in a new direction for its clients in the United States. The young company persuaded hundreds of thousands of Americans to take a 120-question test that measures the big five personality traits. These traits  extroversion, openness, conscientiousness, agreeableness and neuroticism  are broad, stable psychological characteristics that shape individuals behavior and attitudes. The company then matched the personality profiles to the thousands of data points it collected on each U.S. voter and created an algorithm that Nix claims can predict a voters personality based on the data alone, without anyone having to take a test.

It makes sense that in such an emotionally charged election year, when many voters feel angry and disenfranchised, a microtargeting company would seek to understand and harness the role of personality in politics. Scientists are still studying how the five main personality traits shape behavior. People who score high on openness tend to be more intellectual and curious, conscientious people are orderly and dutiful, neurotic people are more anxious or depressed, agreeable people are kind and seek social harmony and extroverted people are assertive and sociable. These traits change little once people reach adulthood. Or as Nix joked: If youre waiting for your boyfriend to have a massive personality change, its not going to happen!

These personality traits have been shown to influence political behavior. People high in openness, for example, are more likely to be liberal, and those high in conscientiousness are more likely to be conservative. People high in both openness and conscientiousness are more likely to vote than others. (Take a version of the test to see your score.)

What has not been proven yet, however, is whether targeting ads to appeal to certain personality traits is more persuasive or effective than other types of advertising. Nix said he is confident it works, given Cambridge Analyticas own internal testing. But D. Sunshine Hillygus, a political science professor at Duke University, said she has her doubts. The role of personality is something that political scientists and psychologists have looked at a bit more just in the last five years, Hillygus said. The relationships that theyre finding are not profound. Theyre pretty small.

Nix is confident in the product. Its sort of obvious when you think about it, but the more you know about someone, the better you can communicate with them, he said.

Nix emphasizes that his companys approach is scientific. We have rooms of PhDs, he said. Rooms and rooms and rooms of them. Like, dozens and dozens and dozens of physicists and cosmologists and astrophysicists, psychologists and experimental psychologists. Cambridge Analytica, which is based in Manhattan, has about 50 employees, and primarily works on political campaigns. Its parent group, the U.K.-based SCL Group, has worked on ad campaigns for nonprofits and governments, international political campaigns and businesses.



Generally, the company finds persuadable voters and then sorts them into five or six personality types. Nix wouldnt share the ads its working on for Cruz or Carson, but a previous example of its methods can be seen in a series of online and TV ads for former U.N. Ambassador John Boltons super-PAC. (Cruzs campaign has paid $750,000 to the company so far, according to the latest Federal Election Commission filings.)

In five different ads, Bolton appeals to people with different personality types and tries to persuade them to support the Senate candidates he backed. People high in neuroticism  who tend to be more prone to fear, anxiety and depression  were served up an ad with Bolton abruptly intoning, Terrorists love porous borders, as images of Islamic State fighters riding around in a truck are juxtaposed with footage of the U.S.-Mexico border. A large explosion goes off halfway through the ad, and then Bolton appears again, endorsing Tom Cotton for U.S. Senate.



Meanwhile, a different ad targeted people high in agreeableness, who value social harmony and kindness. In this ad, Bolton says he worked together with policy leaders on both sides of the aisle. He then urges voters to support Sen. Thom Tillis to create a safer world for our children. Tillis opponent is neither mentioned nor maligned.

I asked Nix to send the ad that would most effectively target me, as a person who is high in openness, extroversion and agreeableness, and lower in conscientiousness and neuroticism. The ad is called refugees and was cut by Bolton in support of Republican Scott Brown of Massachusetts. The ad highlights the millions of families fleeing Syria, pulling on my agreeable heartstrings by showing their plight. Then a female narrator says that brave and decisive leaders could change this course, endorsing Brown. The ad was targeted to young women high in openness, and emphasizes global events on the theory that open people like to think their individual ballot box choices affect the wider world.

Cambridge Analytica places the ads during the TV time slot that is most heavily populated with people of the personality type it is trying to reach, based on its calculations. With satellite TV and some cable services, it can place an ad directly into a specific household, reaching a more and more individualized audience. It usually divides voters into five or six buckets based on personality types, but Nix predicts those buckets will get smaller and smaller with time.



If you have unlimited money and resources, you could hypothetically segment voters down to individuals and you could literally say, I want 250 million messages  one for every single person, Nix said.



The microtargeting of political advertising comes at a time when more and more Americans are choosing news sources that align with their partisan beliefs, creating a media echo chamber effect that some political scientists believe heightens political polarization in the country. Microtargeting could enhance this trend, leading to a situation where each American is receiving political advertisements that reinforce his beliefs and play to his personality type, and is seeing fewer that challenge his beliefs.



But Nix claims that people are more alike than they like to think.

We as a firm undertake elections all around the world, Nix said, listing Argentina and Italy as examples. The first thing the clients always say to me is  You may understand my neighbors in all the countries around me, but this is this country, and we are different. And you sort of look at him and say, Well, yes, but no.

You are different, but youre humans, he said. The basic behavioral drivers are all the same.
A newspaper reporter stuns Washington by printing leaked confidential documents of national importance. The reporter is taken into custody and he refuses to reveal his government source.

James Buchanan, then Secretary of State, and possible leaker?

This seems like a story that could happen in 2017, or in recent media leak scandals involving the Pentagon Papers, Watergate, or the Valerie Plame incident. But on March 26, 1848, newspaper reporter John Nugent was taken into custody after he reported details of a secret treaty made between the United States and Mexico to end the armed conflict between those two countries.

Nugent had written stories for the New York Herald that revealed the United States would acquire California and New Mexico in the treaty, the terms of which had been delivered to Washington by courier and was under secret deliberations in the Senate. Nugent was also a critic of President James K. Polk and a supporter of Secretary of State James Buchanan.

The United States Senate ordered that its sergeant-at-arms take Nugent into custody for questioning. In prior years, the Senate battled leaks of confidential proceedings and documents, and at one point, it barred a newspaper from its press gallery for leaking details of a boundary settlement.

Nugent had also reported that Senators leaked information to the press, as needed, on a regular basis. Those Senators who most strenuously advocate the system of closed doors, are always the least economical of the Senate secrets, Nugent wrote in the Herald. In his 2009 book, Press Gallery: Congress and the Washington Correspondents, Historian Emeritus of the United States Senate Donald A. Ritchie said the Herald inflamed the situation by starting to publish private correspondence between President Polk and the Senate.

When Nugent was asked by the Senate to reveal his source, he only said that the source was not a member of the Senate or a Senate officer. The committee interviewing Nugent said the reporter was in contempt of the Senate and ordered Nugent confined to a Senate private meeting room during the day; he went to the sergeant-of-arms home at night to eat and sleep.

Story continues

During the following month, Nugent didnt reveal his source and he kept writing his newspaper reports while in custody. The Herald published the names of Senate sources that had leaked other information to newspapers, including Daniel Webster and Lewis Cass.

Nugent also appealed to the District of Columbia Circuit Court, where a federal judge refused to intervene. In Ex Parte Nugent, the judge said that, the court is unanimously of opinion that the Senate of the United States has power, when acting in a case within its jurisdiction, to punish all contempts of its authority. The stalemate ended when the Senate voted to release Nugent for alleged health reasons.

So who was Nugents source? There is considerable speculation that Secretary of State Buchanan might have been the person who gave Nugent the treaty. A decade later, President Buchanan appointed Nugent as a special agent to British Columbia.

But another possibility was mentioned by a House member from Tennessee, future President Andrew Johnson. In a letter back home, Johnson mentioned that James Wescott, a Senator from Florida, was a frequent source of confidential information to Nugent and the Herald.

In 1889, writer James OMeara in Overland Monthly magazine implicated both figures, saying Nugent, Buchanan and Wescott alone knew the means whereby the protocol was published in the Herald.

As recounted in his diary, President Polk had his own suspicions. Polk summoned Buchanan to the White House, where Buchanan denied he provided the treaty to Nugent and that all copies of the treaty were accounted for. Polk then expressed his concerns about the amount of time Buchanan gave to Nugent, the reporter who frequently criticized Polk. Buchanan then blamed Wescott, who he thought was capable of selling a copy of the treaty for two dollars.

I expressed my contempt for Nugent and all the other hired letter writers at Washington, regarding them, as I did, as employees wholly destitute of principle, Polk recounted. Later, Polk met with Senator Edward Hannegan, who believed Buchanans State Department leaked the documents to Nugent and the Herald. There apparently is no known public record of Nugent revealing his source.

Scott Bomboy is the editor in chief of the National Constitution Center.

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Managua (AFP) - With climate change threatening crops in many parts of the world, Nicaragua is turning to a robust variety of coffee bean to protect one of its key exports.

The appropriately named robusta coffee comes from the Coffea canephora plant, which is being increasingly planted in the Central American country under government authorization.

The sturdy variety is easier to care for, higher in caffeine, faster to produce fruit and more disease-resistant than the more popular Arabica sort Nicaragua traditionally grows -- although it is of lower quality, fetching a lower price.

However, its advantages make it better suited to ride out climate change and bring benefits to smaller producers, industry groups say.

"Robusta coffee production has proven its profitability through its high productivity, low production costs and high potential," says Luis Chamorro, an executive with the Mercon group, which plans to plant the variety on 7,000 hectares (17,300 acres) it owns on the eastern side of the country.

- Lower 'prestige'? -

But not everyone is convinced.

Some producers worry that the new focus on robusta could affect Arabica production and prestige.

"If we change to a variety that damages our coffee-growing sector and the prestige of quality, that would be an error we shouldn't make and it could cost us dearly," warns Leonel Lopez, a coffee farmer in the northern Nueva Segovia region.

The stakes are high for Nicaragua, a poor country that depends on its coffee sector, which brings in $400 million in export revenues and employs hundreds of thousands of people.

However, a lengthy drought over the past two years and a blight that has affected most of the coffee plantations -- ruining hundreds of smaller outfits -- has prompted the diversification to robusta.

- Keeping varieties separate -

More bitter and acidic, the robusta bean is often mixed with other varieties, especially for instant coffee.

The government authorized its planting in the eastern lowlands five years ago. Last December, the agriculture ministry decided to expand the order to some fields in the west.

Story continues

To stop robusta coffee plants from invading Arabica-producing fields, they are planted at least 30 kilometers (20 miles) apart.

"We believe both varieties can exist alongside each other, as already happens in Brazil and in Vietnam," says Michael Healy, president of the UPANIC farmers' association.

The 2016-2017 robusta harvest should yield more than 1,800 tons, Chamorro said. That's around two percent of the total coffee volume produced in the country.
Most Americans on Monday will mark the so-called Presidents Day holiday by enjoying a three-day weekend and taking advantage of the occasional retail sale.

But, contrary to popular belief, on a national level there is no such thing as Presidents Day. The federal holiday is officially called Washingtons Birthday, and it celebrates George Washington, the countrys first commander-in-chief.

It has kept the name since its establishment as a legal holiday in 1879, and no Congress has ever moved to rename it Presidents Day, according to the Center for Legislative Archives. (Its also not a national holiday, as that concept doesnt really exist either; in the U.S., legal holidays must be established separately by the states and the federal government.) George Washington and Martin Luther King Jr. are the only two Americans whose birthdays are federal holidays in the U.S.

Read More: 3 Shocking Facts You Didnt Know About Presidents Day

Washingtons birthday was observed every year as a federal holiday on Feb. 22  his recognized date of birth  up until 1968, when Congress passed a law to celebrate the first president on the third Monday in February instead.

The change was part of an effort to create more three-day weekends to spur the spiritual and economic life of the nation, Congress noted, even though that meant the holiday could technically no longer be commemorated on Washingtons actual birthday.

Some individual states, however, have changed the name of the holiday as it affects state employees, choosing to call it the more general name in order to honor Washingtons fellow February baby, Abraham Lincoln.
A suspect in the killing of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-uns half-brother, who died in a shopping concourse at the Kuala Lumpur airport on Monday, reportedly thought she was participating in a television prank, not an international assassination.

Indonesias national police chief Tito Karnavian said that the suspect, Siti Aisyah, 25, was paid to commit what she thought were a series of pranks, involving convincing strangers to close their eyes so she could then spray them with water, the Guardian reports.

Such an action was done three or four times and they were given a few dollars for it, and with the last target, Kim Jong-nam, allegedly there were dangerous materials in the sprayer, Karnavian said. She was not aware that it was an assassination attempt by alleged foreign agents.

Police are investigating Aisyah and another female suspect.

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- A desolate but lovely volcano on the North Korea-China border could be the key to unraveling the sudden, mysterious death of an exiled scion of North Korean royalty.

South Korea's spy agency believes that Kim Jong Nam was assassinated this week in a Malaysian airport as part of a five-year plot by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to kill a brother he reportedly never met. If this is right, the motive likely has more to do with their shared bloodlines  and that volcano  than any specific transgression.

Here's why:

The volcano  Mount Paektu, which is topped with a deep crater lake  is at the heart of North Korea's foundation myth, and is used to legitimize the Kim family's three generations of power. Paektu is emblazoned on the country's national emblem and lends its name to everything from rockets to power stations to, occasionally, the country itself.

Crucially, it serves as a sort-of geographic incarnation of the Kim brothers' late grandfather, Kim Il Sung, the most important person in North Korean history. Kim Il Sung saved the Korean Peninsula, according to the official Pyongyang narrative, with daring guerrilla raids against Japanese invaders from his base on the slopes of Paektu.

Because the Kim brothers shared the same exalted and heroic lineage  the "blood of Mount Paektu"  the argument goes, no matter how low profile he was, Kim Jong Nam would always pose a danger. As long as he lived he could share, if indirectly and probably unwillingly, in the avalanche of propaganda associated with the sacred volcano, all of which seeks to prove that the Kims are the only governing possibility in North Korea.

This goes a long way to explaining the disconnect between the coldblooded nature of the alleged assassination and the seeming harmlessness of Kim Jong Nam, an overweight gambler and faded playboy who had laid low in recent years in his Southeast Asian base and who once, according to South Korea's spy agency, wrote his brother a letter begging for his life.

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If the South Korean spies are right that Kim Jong Nam was assassinated  something not yet acknowledged by Malaysian authorities, let alone North Korea  the bloodline worry would have been a powerful reason for Pyongyang to strike.

"Kim Jong Un might have thought that he had nearly completed his consolidation of power and that taking out Kim Jong Nam would be a finishing touch to eliminate a potential source of trouble," said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Seoul's Dongguk University.

Korean history is replete with bloody royal power struggles. And when the disgruntled elite tried to overthrow kings, they often used estranged princes or others with royal blood as figureheads to rally support.

Past rulers on the Korean Peninsula also "legitimated themselves and their offspring by virtue of their 'pure bloodline,'" Bruce Cumings, a historian and Korea expert, has written.

The Kims of North Korea have carried on this veneration of royal blood, and extended it to the volcano associated with the country's foundation.

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.

Cumings quotes North Korean propaganda referring to Kim Jong Il, the son of Kim Il Sung and the father of both Kim Jong Un and Kim Jong Nam, as a "treasure baby from Paektu mountain." North Korea claims, probably erroneously, that Kim Jong Il was born on Paektu.

As early as 2009, North Korea called Kim Jong Un the "General of Paektu," Koh, the North Korea expert, wrote in a 2013 essay. Kim Jong Un inherited the "bloodline of Paektu," which is heralded as the country's "existence and the lifeline of generations to come."

Another point to consider is that North Korea's "Kim worship" is, according to Cumings, "Neo-Confucianism in a communist bottle."

Kim Jong Un, the youngest known son of Kim Jong Il, could have feared his brother because under a traditional Confucian value system, Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son, would have been considered the direct heir to the throne.

"Kim Jong Nam was a potential threat," according to analyst Chang Yong Seok at Seoul National University. "Kim Jong Un might have believed that opponents could push to (oust him) and enthrone Kim Jong Nam."

It's anyone's guess what this may mean for the rest of the bloodline.

Kim Jong Un has another older brother, Kim Jong Chol, who's seen as a huge fan of rock guitarist Eric Clapton. The middle of the three known sons, he was once considered by some outsiders as a potential candidate for leader, but a former sushi chef of Kim Jong Il said the late leader derided him as "girlish." South Korean media report he is in Pyongyang but shuns public activities.

Kim Jong Nam reportedly leaves behind two sons and a daughter between two different women living in Beijing and Macau. There are worries in Seoul that one of the sons, Kim Han Sol, could be in danger because his father may have told him secrets about Kim Jong Un's personal life.

Kim Han Sol also once referred to Kim Jong Un as a "dictator" in an interview.

___

Associated Press writers Tim Sullivan in New Delhi, and Kim Tong-hyung and Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul contributed to this report.
(Reuters) - Phone records and intercepted calls show that members of Donald Trump's presidential campaign and other Trump associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing four current and former U.S. officials. U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies intercepted the communications around the same time they were discovering evidence that Russia was trying to disrupt the presidential election by hacking into the Democratic National Committee, three of the officials said, according to the Times. The intelligence agencies then sought to learn whether the Trump campaign was colluding with the Russians on the hacking or other efforts to influence the election, the newspaper said. The officials interviewed in recent weeks said they had seen no evidence of such cooperation so far, it said. However, the intercepts alarmed U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies, in part because of the amount of contact that was occurring while Trump was speaking glowingly about Russian President Vladimir Putin. The intercepted calls are different from the wiretapped conversations last year between Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser, and Sergei I. Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, the Times said. During those calls, the two men discussed sanctions that the Obama administration imposed on Russia in December. Flynn misled the White House about those calls and was asked to resign on Monday night. The White House did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment on the Times story. The Times reported that the officials said the intercepted communications were not limited to Trump campaign officials, and included other Trump associates. On the Russian side, the contacts also included members of the Russian government outside the intelligence services, the officials told the Times. All of the current and former officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because the continuing investigation is classified, the newspaper reported. The officials said one of the advisers picked up on the calls was Paul Manafort, who was Trumps campaign chairman for several months last year and had worked as a political consultant in Russia and Ukraine, the Times said. The officials declined to identify the other Trump associates on the calls. Manafort, who has not been charged with any crimes, dismissed the accounts of the U.S. officials in a telephone interview with the Times on Tuesday. Several of Trump's associates, like Manafort, have done business in Russia. It is not unusual for U.S. businessmen to come in contact with foreign intelligence officials, sometimes unwittingly, in countries like Russia and Ukraine, where the spy services are deeply embedded in society, according to the Times. Law enforcement officials did not say to what extent the contacts may have been about business, the Times said. Officials would not disclose many details, including what was discussed on the calls, which Russian intelligence officials were on the calls, and how many of Trump's advisers were talking to the Russians. It is also unclear whether the conversations had anything to do with Trump himself, the Times said. (Writing by Eric Beech; Editing by Paul Tait)
LEBANON, Ohio (AP)  An Ohio prisoner faces new charges over allegations that he threatened President Donald Trump and federal judges in letters mailed to the FBI and a public defender's office.

Authorities say that 47-year-old Rodney Cydrus threatened to hurt a number of government officials and that some of the mail last month contained white powder that turned out to be harmless.

Prosecutors say the former Chillicothe (chihl-ih-KAHTH'-ee) man was indicted this week in federal court on multiple counts of mailing threatening communications. Court records list no attorney for him in the case.

He has been imprisoned at the Lebanon Correctional Institution for convictions that include arson, aggravated robbery and theft.
DAYTON, Ohio (AP)  A man accused of causing the evacuation of two buildings at Ohio's largest military base has pleaded guilty in a deal that dismissed several of the charges against him.

Edward Novak entered guilty pleas Thursday in federal court in Dayton to charges of trespass, driving under the influence and disorderly conduct.

Other charges including assault, making false alarms and fleeing a police officer were dropped.

Messages were left for Novak's public defender seeking comment.

Authorities say the unarmed Beavercreek man entered a secure building at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in November 2015 after driving past guards at a security gate.

Base officials say the intrusion and building evacuations hindered operations at the base near Dayton for hours.
Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday she would do everything possible to protect jobs and factories in Germany if carmaker Opel is taken over by France's PSA.

"We will do everything politically possible to secure jobs and sites in Germany," Merkel said at a joint Berlin press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

PSA, the parent company of France's Peugeot, Citroen and DS, has confirmed it is interested in taking over Opel, the German arm of US giant General Motors.

However, the plans have sparked fears in Germany that the potential new owner could cut German jobs that doubled up existing posts in France.

The powerful IG Metall metalworking union and the Opel works council called for "unequivocal recognition and implementation of existing agreements for all Opel/Vauxhall sites, in particular commitments on employment and investments" in a joint statement earlier Friday.

PSA's interest in Opel appeared to catch both the German and French governments by surprise, with German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries on Tuesday labelling PSA and GM's lack of communication about the talks "unacceptable".

On Friday, German Economy Ministry spokeswoman Tanja Alemany told reporters in Berlin the talks between the two firms were already "relatively advanced".

Worker representatives "are ready to hold constructive talks in case of a sale of Opel/Vauxhall," they said in their statement.

But "our objective must be to seize the existing opportunities to safeguard employment and sites," said works council chairman Wolfgang Schaefer-Klug.

Vauxhall is the brand used by Opel on its vehicles sold in Britain.

Despite their fears, the worker representatives say they "see opportunities arising from the creation of the second-biggest car manufacturer in Europe" after Germany's Volkswagen group.

"In principle, an affiliation with PSA makes sense," Opel chief Karl-Thomas Neumann tweeted on Friday afternoon.

Story continues

"We are doing everything we can to shape a sustainable and successful future for Opel."

Founded in 1862, Opel, with its lightning-bolt emblem, has long been a familiar sight on German and European roads.

But in recent years, the firm has booked repeated losses, costing Detroit-based GM around $15 billion (14 billion euros) since 2000.

A sharp fall in the pound since Britain's vote to quit the EU last June sank Opel's hopes of getting back into the black in 2016, and it ended up reporting a loss of $257 million.

At the end of 2015, the firm reported 35,600 employees, including some 18,250 in Germany.

Opel has some 10 factories in Europe spread across six different countries.
With three storms making their way across California, the states Department of Water Resources is racing against time, draining more than 100,000 cubic feet of water every second from Lake Oroville.

The reason why, at least for Sacramento-based photographer Max Whittaker, started in the early hours of Feb. 7. The San Francisco Chronicle called and asked if I wanted to go up to Oroville to do a story on how Californias reservoirs are full, he says. I set out figuring that it would be a straightforward story. When he arrived, however, authorities had blocked the road leading to the spillway. When he tried to go to the top of the dam itself to look for other angles, they blocked his way again. Perplexed  who would object to him taking a picture of the water?  he then overheard officials at a roadblock talking about the incident.

After a back and forth with his editor and the authorities on the scene, a representative from the California Department of Water Resources let him follow along to see what was happening. We went close to the spillway and there was this huge hole in it, he recalls.

As he photographed the damage, the story was changing.

This was at the end of a very warm and wet storm that had hit northern California. It was raining up to 9,000 feet [in altitude] when typically, in the winter, it would snow from 2,000 to 5,000 feet, says Whittaker. All this water was running down quickly to the lake, even melting existing snow so there was tremendous inflow.

Authorities realized they wouldnt be able to drain the water quickly enough to solve the problem, and an evacuation order was issued for 200,000 people living downstream from the Oroville Dam, including some of Whittakers friends and relatives.

I saw people at the evacuation centers who literally brought nothing with them, he says. It was somewhat terrifying for people because the traffic jams were so massive and in areas that could be inundated if the dam had collapsed. While people were orderly, there was still a stressful vibe hanging over everyone, says Whittaker. But, as time went on [and the evacuation order was lifted], its been interesting to see the variety of emotions people have about it. Some felt they got evacuated for no reason, when others refused to return to their homes because the danger has not subsided.

Story continues

Now, everyone is watching the weather. The Department of Water Resources says the situation is under control if the forecast stands, Whittaker reports. But when it comes to something so dependent on the weather, the future is hard to predict.

Another storm just started, he says. Its raining steadily today.

Max Whittaker is a photographer based in Sacramento. Hes represented by the Prime collective.

Kim Bubello, who edited this photo essay, is a freelance photo editor at TIME.

Olivier Laurent is the editor of TIME LightBox. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @olivierclaurent
Two Pakistani men face the gallows in Singapore after a court Friday found them guilty of murdering a compatriot over a gambling dispute and dismembering the body.

Street-side tissue sellers Rasheed Muhammad, 45, and Ramzan Rizwan, 28, were convicted of smothering fellow Pakistani Muhammad Noor to death in their lodging house in 2014, before hacking up the body with saws.

The 59-year-old victim's torso and lower limbs were found stuffed in two separate luggage bags in the city-state.

Murder convictions in Singapore are punishable by death and carried out by hanging.

"As the photographs and evidence of the discarded limbs and torso show, both Rasheed and Ramzan acted in concert after the murder as they did before and during it," High Court Judge Choo Han Teck said in his judgement.

Rasheed and Ramzan arrived in Singapore in May 2014, and sold packets of tissue paper for a living.

The dispute started after the pair sought to retrieve Sg$1,100 ($776) Ramzan had lost to the victim in a card game.

After using a shirt to smother the victim, the two men purchased saws to dismember the body.

A bag with the torso was found by an 81-year-old man and Rasheed subsequently led police to a second bag containing the legs, court documents showed.

Defence lawyers for the pair had argued that they did not intend to commit murder, and both blamed each other for the death.

Rasheed, a father of eight, and Ramzan, a father of three, will appeal the conviction, their lawyers told AFP.

Earlier this month, Singapore's highest court upheld the death sentence of a former Singapore policeman for double murder.

Singapore executed four people in 2015, one for murder and three for drug offences, according to prison statistics.

Rights groups have called on Singapore to abolish capital punishment, which was carried over from British colonial rule, but the government argues that it is a deterrent to crime.
MUNICH (AP)  Making his debut on the world stage, Vice President Mike Pence is looking to reassure skeptical allies in Europe about U.S. foreign policy under President Donald Trump, who has made his "America First" mantra a centerpiece of his new administration.

Pence arrived Friday in Germany, his first overseas trip as vice president, on a mission to ease concerns about the U.S. commitment to multinational institutions like NATO and the European Union. The visit, which will include a stop in Brussels on Sunday and Monday, comes amid worries in Europe about Russian aggression, and amid lingering questions about Trump's relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and whether the new president may promote isolationist tendencies.

The dismissal of Trump's national security adviser, retired Gen. Michael Flynn, has also put Pence and his stature within the administration under new scrutiny. Flynn was forced to resign Monday following reports he misled Pence about contacts with a Russian diplomat, which the vice president learned about through media accounts.

Landing on a cold, rainy evening, Pence was greeted by about two dozen members of the Bavarian Honor Guard and local dignitaries at Munich's airport. On Saturday, he will deliver a speech at the Munich Security Conference and then meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Pence is also scheduled to sit down with the leaders of the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko  countries facing the threat of Russian aggression  along with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.

"These are pretty blunt-spoken people and they are very nervous. Pence is looking like an adult," said James Jeffrey, a U.S. ambassador to Iraq during the Obama administration and a distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "The question is will Trump listen to him?"

Pence was also expected to meet with the leaders of Iraq and Afghanistan, where the U.S. is embroiled in two separate wars. In the earliest days of his presidency, Trump declared his intention to fight and defeat the Islamic State group. But he also remarked that the U.S. may get a second chance to take Iraqi oil as compensation for its efforts in the war-torn country, a notion rebuffed by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who will be meeting with Pence.

Story continues

Trump's immigration and refugee ban has also ruffled feathers with a number of Muslim-majority countries affected by the order currently tied up in court, including Iraq  a close ally in the fight against IS.

The American allies will be seeking clues from Pence as to how the Trump administration plans to deal with Russia in the aftermath of Flynn's departure, U.S. inquiries into Russia's involvement in the presidential election and Trump's past praise for Putin.

European countries along Russia's border were rattled about deeper U.S.-Russian ties after Trump suggested sanctions imposed after Russia's annexation of Crimea could be eased in exchange for a nuclear weapons deal and the president referred to NATO as "obsolete" in an interview before his inauguration. Trump has since tempered his language, telling foreign leaders in phone calls about the importance of the NATO alliance.

NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is a military alliance of European and North American democracies created after World War II to strengthen international cooperation as a counter-balance to the rise of the Soviet Union. In 2014, the 28-member alliance created a rapid-reaction force to protect the most vulnerable NATO members against a confrontation with Russia.

But Trump cast doubt as a candidate about whether the U.S. might fulfill its NATO obligations if he won the White House, saying in a July interview that he would decide whether to protect the Baltic republics against Russian aggression based on whether those countries "have fulfilled their obligations to us."

Pence will travel to Brussels, Belgium, on Sunday for meetings related to NATO and the European Union. His Monday itinerary includes face-to-face meetings with EU Council President Donald Tusk, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

As part of his message, Pence is expected to press allies in Europe to raise their defense budgets to NATO's target of 2 percent of GDP. Germany has been wary of the costs and pointed to its expenditures from supporting refugees and investing in international development.

As Indiana's governor, Pence led a number of foreign trade missions, and he traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan as a member of Congress. But he is just beginning his relationships with foreign leaders and aides said the trip was also aimed at establishing personal ties with U.S. partners.

"There's considerable concern, but because they don't know (Pence) they're willing to give him a chance," said Julianne Smith, a former deputy national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden. "This is the opportunity for the administration to reassure very skittish allies across the European continent and beyond."

__

Associated Press writer Vivian Salama contributed to this report.

__

On Twitter follow Ken Thomas at https://twitter.com/KThomasDC
By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will seek on Saturday to soothe allies unnerved by his boss' unorthodox statements on Russia and NATO as he stresses America's commitment to Europe during the first major foreign address for the Trump administration. Pence will tell the annual Munich Security Conference that Europe is an "indispensable partner" for the United States, a message he will repeat privately in meetings with a dozen leaders over the weekend and on Monday, a senior White House foreign policy adviser told reporters. "We are the most secure and most prosperous when both the U.S. and Europe are strong and united," the adviser said, previewing Pence's trip. President Donald Trump alarmed allies during his campaign for office by breaking with traditional Republican views on the transatlantic relationship. Trump has expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom he said he would like to work to fight Islamic State militants, and has questioned the value of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. In Munich, Pence will hold a series of meetings with leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, and leaders from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Pence will emphasize that Russia and Ukraine need to fully implement the Minsk ceasefire agreement, and will stand firm on economic sanctions on Russia related to its aggression in Ukraine, the adviser told reporters. He plans to discuss counterterrorism in a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, and the fight against Islamic State in meetings with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, the adviser said. On Monday, Pence will hold several discussions with European officials in Brussels, including with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. His trip comes amid turbulence at the White House. Trump fired his national security adviser on Monday for misleading Pence over his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the United States. Trump was turned down by a replacement candidate on Thursday. While Pence's sentiments may be welcomed, it may take more than soothing words to provide comfort, given the depth of anxiety in Europe about Trump's foreign policy, said Derek Chollet, a top defense policy adviser to former President Barack Obama. "He will be trying to be reassuring, try to soften the edges of some of the presidents recent comments about Europe, put into context or explain - but I have to think that its not going to solve the problem," said Chollet, now with the German Marshall Fund of the United States. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Rodrigo Duterte is offering to step down as President of the Philippines  if a political rival can prove accusations that Duterte has stowed away millions illegally.

Should Senator Antonio Trillanes prove his allegation that I have amassed two billion [pesos] illegally or if that bank account under my name has a total deposit at one time of even just half a billion [pesos], I will resign as president immediately, Bloomberg quotes Duterte as saying in a speech posted on the official Facebook page of the Presidential Communications Office.

The sum Trillanes is accusing Duterte of hoarding equates to nearly $40 million. The senator also says Duterte failed to disclose large transactions among his immediate family members, reports the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Trillanes made similar accusations against Duterte during last years presidential election, according to Bloomberg.

I would advise Trillanes to go to court and file a proper case against me, Duterte says, adding that the senator should stop opening his mouth when he has nothing to say.

This comes mere days after reports emerged that Senator Leila de Lima, another outspoken critic of Duterte, was preparing for her imminent arrest on drug trafficking charges. According to local news reports, the charges were filed against her Friday.
MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines on Friday filed three drug-related charges against a senator and staunch critic of President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, saying she allegedly received money from drug dealers inside the country's prisons. More than 7,700 people have been killed in the narcotics crackdown since Duterte took office on June 30, about 2,500 in police operations, while the rest are being investigated. Human rights groups believe many other deaths that police attributed to vigilantes were carried out by assassins likely colluding with police. The government and police vehemently deny extrajudicial killings have taken place. Senator Leila de Lima, her former driver, two bodyguards and a former national prison official face arrest next week once a court has issued arrest warrants, Justice Minister Vitaliano Aguirre told a news conference. "These are non-bailable offences under the country's anti-drug laws," Aguirre said, adding that a guilty verdict would bring a penalty of life imprisonment. "These are not the product of politics, the cases were carefully studied." According to information filed at the Muntinlupa trial court in the south of Manila, the capital, de Lima received 5 million pesos ($100,000) delivered to her home when she was justice minister in the years 2010 to 2016. She also allowed a convicted felon to run a drug trading business from inside national prisons, which police described as controlling about 70 percent of large-scale sale and distribution in the Philippines, it added. "The criminal charges and prosecution are nothing less than a politically motivated act," de Lima said, denying all the allegations, and vowing to fight a battle for human rights and democracy. "This is the kind of vindictive politics that we only expect from this regime," she said in a statement, accusing Duterte of trying to "clamp down on any vocal opposition to a policy of extrajudicial killing". Three weeks ago, Duterte halted all anti-drug operations by police, after a South Korean businessman was kidnapped and strangled to death inside the national police headquarters in October. Aguirre said the justice ministry would refer another case against de Lima to the anti-graft body and investigate allegations that she received about 8 million pesos from a known drug dealer in 2015 for her senatorial election campaign. De Lima has also denied this allegation, saying she did not receive the money. The drug-related cases she faces were based on the testimony of convicted felons and former prison officials during a congressional inquiry on drug trade in national prisons. (Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Poland's prime minister has been released from a hospital in Warsaw where she was treated for a week after suffering minor injuries in a car crash.

Prime Minister Beata Szydlo spoke briefly to reporters as she left the military hospital on Friday evening. She said she still needs a few more days of rest but would be able to attend a weekly government meeting next Tuesday.

Szydlo was injured in the Feb. 10 crash in the southern Polish town of Oswiecim, her hometown. The accident occurred when the driver of her government car swerved to avoid another car and hit a tree. Two security guards were also injured.

She was flown that evening to Warsaw to receive treatment in the military hospital.
"Underground computer geeks" are now Public Enemy No. 1 in New South Wales.

Authorities are fuming after some gamers added murdering cops modeled after the New South Wales police force along with detailed police cars and helicopters to Grand Theft Auto, a game that's all about breaking the law. But all the internet can do is giggle.

SEE ALSO: Meet the sports psychologist that helped a 'Counter-Strike' team achieve greatness

According to Australia's 7 News, so-called "underground computer geeks" are behind the mod. New South Wales Police Minister Troy Grant told the program that the mod "desensitises people to the real risk police face." The report also claims police will be taking action against the modification, somehow.

As part and parcel when it comes to hysteria over video games, there was plenty of amusement that followed in the comment section of 7 News' video.

Firstly, the mod has been around for more than a year and there are a ton of these floating around from forces around the world. Secondly, had the police never heard of the "Streisand effect?" Attempting to quash the mod has resulted in more people knowing about it, and well, downloading it. Whoops.

Image: facebook

Image: Facebook

This is all a reminder of the good old days back in 2003 when U.S. attorney Jack Thompson began his crusade against video games like Grand Theft Auto and Bully, claiming they made kids violent.

Oh, video game haters, never change.
LISBON (Reuters) - Angolan Vice President Manuel Vicente had been charged in Portugal with corruption and money laundering, the Prosecutor General's office in Lisbon said on Thursday. Vicente, seen as a possible successor to President Jose Eduardo dos Santos who has been in power since 1979 and intends to retire next year, is accused of bribing a magistrate when he was chief executive of state oil company Sonangol. A former prosecutor, Orlando Figueira, who was arrested a year ago, has been charged with receiving a bribe of 760,000 euros ($810,000) to shelve an investigation into Vicente's dealings in Portugal before he became vice president. The Angolan vice president's office had no immediate comment. Angola has branded previous attempts by Portugal to investigate Vicente as "revenge by the former colonial master" and "neo-colonialism". The prosecutor's office will notify Angola about the charges and ask for its cooperation, it said. Two of Vicente's legal and finiancial representatives, Paulo Blanco and Armindo Pires, both Portuguese, were also charged with corruption and money laundering for allegedly paying the bribe jointly with Vicente and arranging a job in a bank as a favour for Figueira. Reuters was unable to reach them for comment. "In exchange, the former prosecutor ruled in favour of the chief executive of the Angolan company in two investigations, both of which were ultimately shelved by the prosecutor," the office said. According to local media, the probe that was shelved in January 2012 focused on the origin of funds with which Vicente had bought a luxury apartment in Lisbon. ($1 = 0.9383 euros) (Reporting By Andrei Khalip, additional reporting by Herculano Coroado; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
Eaton (United States) (AFP) - A 90-minute drive from Denver lies Eaton, one of the safest towns in Colorado and one of the few in the state that overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump.

Here, residents of the rural community surrounded by farmland and cattle ranches see in Trump a candidate that will deliver on his promise to bring jobs back to America and -- as he repeatedly said on the campaign trail -- "drain the swamp" in Washington.

One month into his presidency, many of the town's 5,000 or so residents, 71 percent of whom voted for Trump, still believe in their candidate, though they admit his style may not always be presidential. Trump stunned many people Thursday with a rambling, 76-minute news conference in which he was at turns angry, defensive, playful, boastful and introspective.

"I'm hoping Trump will settle down," said Gene Smallwood, 80, who has owned a barbershop in Eaton since 1968 and admits to being a bit confused about Trump's attack style. "He's going too fast -- slam, bam."

Like residents in other towns across rural white America that propelled the Republican candidate to the presidency, Smallwood is more focused on seeing Trump honor his vow to rip up international trade deals and bring back jobs and is less concerned about his travel ban targeting seven Muslim-majority countries.

"I think he's going to give it back to the people," said Smallwood. "We had too much (manufacturing) run out of our country.

"There's not that much here made in America."

For the town's mayor, Kevin Ross, who owns an insurance company, Trump is clearly running the country like a business and needs to rethink his in-your-face management style.

"He's moving at break neck speed that DC is not used to," said Ross. "When I make a decision in business, I can do that switch today.

- 'President, not king' -

"Trump has to learn it has to go through the proper channels," he added. "He's not a king, he's a president."

Story continues

John Rohn, who owns the Heritage Market grocery store in town and whose grandparents came to the US from Russia "the right way," says he doesn't understand all the hoopla over the travel ban, which has been suspended in court.

"Everyone forgets it's a temporary ban, not a permanent ban," said the 65-year-old.

He said he voted for Trump to see change and because "he's not a politician."

"I want to give him six months. Everybody is upset with him now but people need to give his group a chance," said Rohn. "I didn't vote for Obama but I wasn't out on the street picketing" when he won.

At the same time, Rohn acknowledged that the newly minted president could perhaps tone it down a bit and resist the temptation to say whatever pops into his head.

"I wish he'd quit tweeting," he said, referring to Trump's proclivity to turn to Twitter to communicate with the public. "It causes more problems than it does good.

"Everything that comes out of his mouth hits news. He pretty much tells it like it is and there are things I like about that."

Rohn said he also has mixed feelings about Trumps cabinet picks. Still, theyre not politicians, he stressed.

One of the more contentious candidates was Betsy DeVos who barely squeaked through her confirmation vote in the Senate to lead the Department of Education.

DeVos strongly supports charter schools -- which receive government funds but operate independently of the public school system -- and has pushed to give families taxpayer money in the form of vouchers to attend private and religious schools.

"I'm all for charter schools, but when you start saying 'now you can take your money and go where you want to go'," it could become a popular vote more than an education choice," said Laura Ehrlich, 55, who also voted for Trump.

- 'People want results' -

Rather than make an educated choice, parents could be misled into sending their kids to a specific school based on hearsay, Ehrlich, who works as an administrative assistant for the Eaton school district and spoke in a private capacity, explained.

Still, Ehrlich said she remains optimistic that Trump will be able to achieve great things if he surrounds himself with the right people.

Arland Ball, a 57-year-old retired industrial arts teacher, is convinced Trump will make good on his promises and inspire a new national pride.

"I'm really interested in seeing if he can accomplish all his goals," he said. "Can he really get it done with Congress?"

Ross said he fears legislators will be more worried about votes than tackling problems.

"People are looking for results," he warned. "And Trump better deliver and Congress better deliver, or theyll look for other jobs themselves at re-election."
Monday marks exactly one month since U.S. President Donald Trump took office. Can you believe it? Its already been a month! Time flies.

In honor of the occasion, weve put together this quiz composed of some comments world leaders did not say during Trumps first month, and some they very much did. Can you tell which is which? There is truly only one way to find out:

Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission

I am very much against letting ourselves be pushed into this. I dont like our American friends narrowing down this concept of security to the military  If you look at what Europe is doing in defense, plus development aid, plus humanitarian aid, the comparison with the United States looks rather different.

Vicente Fox, former president of Mexico

You know whats really fake, Donald Trump? Everything you say! The world isnt like you envision it, please look above your fucking wall.

Mikheil Janelidze, minister of foreign affairs of Georgia

Georgia is USAs strong partner and an ally in the region.

Justin Trudeau, prime minister of Canada

The last thing Canadians expect is for me to come down and lecture another country on how they choose to govern.

Shinzo Abe, prime minister of Japan

I think Trump shared the view that our monetary policy is not for currency manipulation but for ending deflation.

Jiri Ovcacek, spokesperson for Milos Zeman, president of the Czech Republic

U.S. President Trump protects his country, hes concerned with the safety of his citizens. Exactly what EU elites do not do.

Theresa May, prime minister of the United Kingdom

Ive been listening to the president, and the president has been listening to me.

Vladimir Putin, president of Russia

I dont know Mr. Trump, I have never met him. I dont know what he will do in the international arena, so I have no reason either to attack him, criticize him or defend him.

Story continues

Malcolm Turnbull, prime minister of Australia

A very great politician, Winston Churchill, once said that politicians complaining about the newspapers is like a sailor complaining about the sea.

Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany

Why is this happening to me?

Answers

Yes, that was Jean-Claude Juncker

Yes, that was Vicente Fox

Yes, that was Mikheil Janelidze

Yes, that was Justin Trudeau

Yes, that was Shinzo Abe

Yes, that was Jiri Ovcacek

Yes, that was Theresa May

Yes, that was Vladimir Putin

Yes, that was Malcolm Turnbull

No, that was not Angela Merkel

Photo credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images
Three people in New York City recently became sick with a rare bacterial disease called leptospirosis that they might have contracted from rats, according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH).

All three cases occurred in a one-block section of a neighborhood in the Bronx called the Concourse over the past two months, the DOHMH said in a statement. Although New York City typically sees about one to three cases of leptospirosis per year, this is the first time that health officials have identified a cluster of leptospirosis cases (meaning more than a single case occurring in the same place around the same time) in the city, the DOHMH said.

All three people were hospitalized with kidney and liver failure, and one person died as a result of their infection, DOHMH said. [10 Deadly Diseases That Hopped Across Species]

Leptospirosis is caused by a spiral-shaped bacterium known as Leptospira, which can infect animals and people. Here are five important things to know about leptospirosis.

How do people get leptospirosis?

People can become infected with Leptospira bacteria when they come into contact with the urine of infected animals, or with an environment that's been contaminated with urine from infected animals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The bacteria can enter the body through broken skin (such as a cut or scratch), or through the mucous membranes in the eyes, nose and mouth, the CDC said.

People may contract leptospirosis when they swim in water that's been contaminated with infected animal urine, or if they have contact with contaminated food or soil, the CDC said.

For the New York City cases, health officials suspect that the people became infected through contact with urine from rats, because most cases in New York City are linked with exposure to rats or rat-infested environments, the DOHMH said.

How common is leptospirosis?

Human cases of leptospirosis are rare in the United States. According to the CDC, only about 100 to 200 leptospirosis cases are reported each year in the United States. About 50 percent of all U.S. leptospirosis cases occur in Hawaii, the CDC said.

Story continues

The largest outbreak of leptospirosis ever recorded in the United States occurred in 1998, when more than 1,000 athletes participating in summer triathlons in Illinois and Wisconsin were potentially exposed to the bacteria, and 110 became infected, according to the CDC. [10 Bizarre Diseases You Can Get Outdoors]

How severe are the symptoms?

Some people infected with Leptospira bacteria may have no symptoms at all, according to the CDC. Others may experience a high fever, chills, muscle aches, vomiting, diarrhea and photophobia (eye discomfort when exposed to bright light). In severe cases, the infection can lead to kidney damage, brain inflammation, liver failure and death, the CDC said.

How is leptospirosis treated?

Leptospirosis can be treated with antibiotics  usually doxycycline or penicillin. Treatment should begin as early as possible to reduce the severity and duration of the disease, the DOHMH said.

Can leptospirosis be prevented?

To avoid becoming infected with the Leptospira bacteria that cause leptospirosis, people should wear protective clothing or footwear if they are exposed to water or soil that might have been contaminated with animal urine, the CDC said. For example, people should wear shoes when they take their garbage to a trash compactor room, and avoid contact with areas in which rats might have urinated, according to The New York Times.

People should also avoid swimming or wadding in water that may be contaminated with animal urine, and avoid swallowing water in lakes and rivers, the CDC said.

Taking measures to prevent rodent infestations (for example, by setting up rodent traps and sealing holes in your home) can also prevent some leptospirosis cases, the CDC said.

Finally, pets should be vaccinated against leptospirosis, although the vaccine is not 100 percent effective at preventing the infection, the CDC noted.

Original article on Live Science.

Editor's Recommendations
Pyongyang (AFP) - A humble two-room hut nestles beneath snow-laden trees, a warm red glow emerging from within, reminiscent of a Christmas Nativity.

It is, according to North Korean orthodoxy, the mountainside birthplace of Kim Jong-Il, who inherited power from his father and passed it in turn to his son, current leader Kim Jong-Un.

The image of the Day of the Shining Star, as the occasion is known, is a recurring motif at the Kimjongilia flower festival in Pyongyang, appearing in mosaics and models surrounded by the eponymous red blooms.

Guide Ri Yun-I had no doubts. "The great leader general Kim Jong-Il was born in a secret camp on Mount Paektu," she said - a volcano straddling the Chinese-Korean border seen as the spiritual birthplace of the Korean nation.

Such origins would be appropriate for a man destined to lead the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as the North is officially known.

"Our great general Kim Jong-Il devoted his whole life only for the prosperity of the country and our people's happiness, said Ri. "Our people strongly miss him."

But outsiders beg to differ, pointing instead to Soviet records putting his place of birth as a Siberian village where his father was in exile, and a year earlier than Pyongyang's 1942.

Officially, it is 75 years since Kim Jong-Il was born, and the North is marking the anniversary with skating and synchronised swimming shows, fireworks and the flower festival - with no mention of the killing this week in Malaysia of Kim Jong-Nam, his first-born son and the half-brother of current leader Kim Jong-Un.

Nor is there mention of the economic difficulties the isolated state faces, beset by decades of mismanagement and labouring under sweeping sanctions imposed by a global community alarmed by its pursuit of nuclear weapons and a quickening ballistic missile programme.

- 'Most beautiful' -

Around 700,000 people are expected to cram into the exhibition hall in Pyongyang over seven days, and its passages were packed on Friday as soldiers and civilians made their way past the displays, many in jovial mood.

Story continues

The Kimjongilia, a large begonia, was the unquestioned dominant feature, with 100,000 potted blooms on show. Each stand was supplied by a different organisation or individual, ranging from the North's central bank - whose stand featured a red map of a unified Korea, decked out in lights - to an 11-year-old schoolboy.

Two stands held flowers presented in the names of overseas "friendship and solidarity" organisations or foreign embassies and leaders, with pride of place given to the President of the Syrian Arab Republic and the general secretary of the central committee of the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party.

"Our people cultivate very many Kimjongilias greeting the birthday of the great general Kim Jong-Il," explained Ri.

The flower was bred by Japanese botanist Kamo Mototeru, who Ri said "visited our country several times and he witnessed the reality of our country".

As a result he "admired the brilliance of General Kim Jong-Il" and so presented him with his creation.

His father Kim Il-Sung had previously been honoured in 1965 with the Kimsungilia, a purple orchid named after him by Indonesian leader Sukarno.

Kim Jong-Il died in 2011 and regular visitor Kim Nam-Hui told AFP that he was "someone we all follow like our father and miss so much".

In the 29-year-old teacher's opinion, the Kimjongilia is "the most beautiful flower in the world".

But, she said, "We come to this flower festival out of our longing for the general Kim Jong-Il and the longing for our nation, rather than because of the beauty of flowers."
MADRID (AP)  Almost 500 migrants forced their way into Spanish territory in North Africa early Friday by breaking through gates in the 20-foot (6-meter) high fence that separates Morocco from Spain's Ceuta enclave.

The Ceuta regional government gave the figures, with officials saying it was believed to be the biggest border invasion in recent years. Ceuta is separated from the rest of Spain by the Strait of Gibraltar.

Some 700 migrants attempted to smash through several gates simultaneously at about 6 a.m., a Ceuta government official told The Associated Press. He refused to be identified, in accordance with government rules.

He said 498 migrants made it into Spanish territory, with two hospitalized due to injuries they sustained in the assault. He said 11 Spanish police were also hurt.

A Civil Guard spokesman said police clashed with the migrants at the Tarajal area of the fence. He declined to disclose his identity in line with internal policy. At least 10 members of Morocco's armed forces were also injured, he said.

More than 30 migrants were treated at a migrant center for bone fractures and other injuries. Some were also cut trying to scale the fence, which is topped with barbed wire, said Clemen Nunez, director of Ceuta's Red Cross emergency response team.

According to the Civil Guard, a surveillance camera showed hundreds of people approaching the fence, using tools and clubs to break one of the gates.

In video filmed by Faro TV Ceuta, some of the migrants can be seen with blood on their faces and bruises but mostly celebrating the arrival in Spanish territory. Some wrapped themselves with Spanish and European flags and screamed "Freedom, freedom!"

Hundreds of sub-Saharan African migrants are living illegally in Morocco and regularly attempt to enter Ceuta and Melilla, Spain's other North African enclave, in hopes of getting into Europe. Most are fleeing poverty, violence or both.

On Friday, 55 of them were rejected, according to the Civil Guard, because those who are intercepted on the spot can be returned to Morocco. But those that make it over the fences are usually taken to migrant centers and eventually repatriated or let go, many choosing to seek asylum or work informally in Spain or other European countries.

Story continues

Before the latest arrival, the migrant center Ceuta was already struggling to cope with more than 600 people and making use of military tents in nearby parking lots.

____

AP reporter Barry Hatton contributed from Lisbon, Portugal.
Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) were outraged after they were barred from a meeting with Thomas Homan, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

On Thursday, at the request of House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the speakers staffers asked CHC members to leave the meeting, which was about the execution of President Trumps controversial immigration policy. The Democrats were seeking clarification about the scope of the reported raids and the arrests of undocumented immigrants.

We are not thugs. We are not gang members. We are not criminals. We are duly elected U.S. Congress people, Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif., told Yahoo News. Each one of us represents about 750,000 people. And for them to deny us, essentially, a meeting to clarify policy is an affront to our democratic system  and by the way, most of us dont have tattoos either.

Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-Calif., told Yahoo News via email that its absurd for Republican leadership to dictate the terms of their meetings.

People in my community have been arrested by ICE and I have been asking for answers for days, she wrote. For ICE to agree to a meeting, set a day and time, and then at the last minute cancel it, then turn around and schedule it with Republicans instead is wrong. There was no reason for ICE not to have two meetings  a meeting with the CHC and a meeting with leadership. People in my community are scared to leave their home, they are scared to answer their doors. No one should feel this way.

Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif., does an interview on the House steps of the U.S. Capitol during orientation week in Washington on Nov. 15, 2016. (Photo: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images)

Later that day, in a statement that was at times incendiary and sarcastic, Gutierrez said that not only are Trumps mass deportation executive orders unprecedented, but so are the lengths to which Ryan and Goodlatte will go to control information provided to congressional representatives.

I expect such dictatorial shenanigans from the Trump administration, but not from competent, compassionate legislators like Speaker Ryan or from legislators like Bob Goodlatte. Do they have earpieces feeding them orders from President Bannon or the others making decisions in the White House? Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez, D-Ill., asked.

Story continues

On Feb. 11, Gutierrez and other Democratic members of Congress requested a meeting with Homan to discuss recent immigration raids throughout the country. They said that the raids struck fear in immigrant communities, and their constituents requested clarity about ICEs interpretation of Trumps executive order and its enforcement methods.

A meeting scheduled for Tuesday was subsequently canceled and rescheduled for Thursday. Gutierrez lamented the fact that Republicans took control of the meeting and made it invitation-only. Members of the CHC were told that any future requests to speak with ICE officials would need to go through the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee.

AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Ryan, told news outlets that the chair of the CHC, Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M., had been invited to the meeting.

The Speakers office organized a small bipartisan briefing that was, at the request of [the Department of Homeland Security], limited to members with jurisdictional interests in immigration enforcement, Strong said.

Members of the CHC expressed interest in attending, and to accommodate the request, we welcomed the chair of the CHC to join on behalf of the other members. We are confident that the CHC chair is capable of representing the views of her caucus, and this arrangement was made very clear to the CHC ahead of time.

The other members of Congress excluded from the meeting were Reps. Tony Cardenas, D-Calif.; Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo.; Ruben Kihuen, D-Nev.; Grace Napolitano, D-Calif., Norma Torres, D-Calif. and Juan Vargas, D-Calif.

Several other representatives also released scathing statements on Thursday.

It is very unusual for a federal agency to refuse to share information when that is the purpose of their visit to Capitol Hill, Cleaver said. In my 12 years in Congress, I have never seen this happen. Even a 25 year Member and leader on the issue of immigration, Congressman Luis Gutierrez, was not allowed to stay. The information obtained from this meeting could have been vitally important to the people of my district.

Torres said that members of her community  documented and undocumented  worry about their safety and the safety of their loved ones.

Families have been upended, and many dont know whom to trust, she continued. I have now written two letters to ICE asking for more information, including: Who has been swept up in these raids? Were non-criminals detained? Did they receive access to counsel and due process? And were any children left without parents? I am still awaiting ICEs response.

Read more from Yahoo News:
Republicans are after federal workers using encryption app Signal to communicate and have sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency Inspector General requesting an investigation referencing a Politico report published earlier this month.

The Politico report said a group of federal employees at the EPA were using Signal to discuss what they would do if President Donald Trumps administration violated the law or deleted vital scientific data.

In the letter sent Feb. 14 to the EPAs Inspector General, the Chairman of the Science Committee, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) along with Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) expressed concern over the off-the-record messages and calls.

[The] Committee is concerned that these encrypted and off-the-record communication practices, if true, run afoul of federal record-keeping requirements, leaving information that could be responsive to future Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and congressional requests unattainable," the Republican representatives said.

Conservatives groups have also retaliated against the EPA employees. The right-leaning organization, Cause of Action Institute, submitted a FOIA request seeking the federal workers communications using the Signal app. The groups vice president, Henry Kerner, said the "encrypted app is basically a way to avoid transparency, Politico reported Wednesday.

EPA employees said they are not using Signal for official government business, and they are concerned of being targeted because they are critical of Trump.

"I don't think anybody can dictate which apps we use on our personal time, for personal conversations," one EPA worker told Politico.

The letter comes after Trumps administrations targeting against the EPA. His transition team for the agency is reportedly planning massive cuts at the agency and ending funding for scientific research. His administration also barred the EPA from posting social media updates and speaking to the press.

Story continues

The inspector general has until Feb. 28 to respond to the letter sent by Republicans.

Meanwhile, Trumps administration are using the app Confide, which deletes messages once they are read, fearing more leaks to the press, the Washington Post reported this week. Communicating with the Confide app is a threat to transparency and accountability, conservative watchdog Judicial Watch told Politico. The group added the Trump administration is asking for a lawsuit either Judicial Watch or someone else if they dont get their act together on these records policies."

Related Articles
Republicans used town-hall meetings in 2009 to help channel outrage at the sitting president and take back Congress the next year. But now that theyre in control of Washington, Republican lawmakers are finding theyre the ones in the hot seat.

Since the beginning of the year, Republican town halls across the country have turned into raucous affairs, with local constituents showing up and chanting, asking pointed questions and sometimes disrupting events. Members of Congress are steeling themselves for boisterous town halls in the coming months, when they expect continuing confrontations with protesters in their districts angry over President Trumps actions.

Viral videos of protesters challenging lawmakers over the upcoming repeal of the Affordable Care Act, Trumps connections with Russia and the ban on refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries have helped fuel further protests.

For Republicans in Congress, a nagging question is how to deal with the grassroots outrage. Some are cutting down on their schedule of town hall events, and there are fewer scheduled for the recess next week compared with Democrats. Twenty-one Republican lawmakers have town hall meetings scheduled next week, according to a tally by the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call, while 27 Democrats have events.

Some Republicans, fearful of embarrassing spats with protesters, are turning instead to more carefully managed virtual meetings with call-ins from constituents. The number of town halls Republicans are holding in the first couple months of 2017 is down compared with the number of events in 2015.

Others are bracing themselves for inevitable encounters with protestors.

Im not afraid of protesters. This is an open country; people have an opportunity to come express themselves, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who was confronted by protestors at the airport last week in Louisville during a trip home. As long as they do it peacefully Ive got no problem with it.

Story continues

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who heads an oversight committee, faced an angry crowd at home in Utah earlier this month, where a crowd chanted do your job and demanded that he investigate Trumps financial conflicts of interest. The Utah Republican struggled to make himself heard over the crowd.

I was a placekicker at one point in college so you get used to people kicking and screaming at you, Chaffetz told TIME. The far-left progressives, if they think theyre making progress by shutting down the dialogue, I think the public figures that out pretty quickly. Its not productive. In fact, its counterproductive and it exposes the Democrats for who they are.

Rep. Mark Sanford, the former governor of South Carolina, said that he was embracing the open forums as a way to interact with his constituents. On Saturday, the Tea Party Republican is holding a town hall in conjunction with the progressive grassroots group Indivisible, which has been focused on protesting President Trump since his election.

I believe that theres a requirement for any of us who hold office to be available whether we like what we hear or we dont, said Sanford. I believe in the Socratic process of bouncing ideas back and forth and that theres something fundamentally american about agreeing and disagreeing on ideas that one feels strongly about.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has counted two Republican-held in-person town halls next week during the recess, by Rep. Scott Taylor of Virginia and Rep. Leonard Lance of New Jersey.

Progressive groups are scrambling to channel the outrage. Indivisible, along with MoveOn.org and former President Obamas group Organizing for Action are developing tools to help protesters find town halls in their district and develop questions.

Priorities USA Action, the super-PAC that funded advertisements for Hillary Clinton during the presidential election, announced on Friday it is launching digital ads to provide activists with information about events in their area.

Many Republicans have dismissed the swelling protest movement as astro-turf paid for by Democratic donors.

They have a strategic approach. I think were going to have a demonstration a weekend and if they can have the same subject last for two weekends, theyll consider that a victory, said Rep. Steve King of Iowa. Itll happen until the public revolts at the idea or they run out of money.

Correction: The original version of this story misstated Rep. Andy Harris plans. An aide in his office says Harris plans to hold town hall meetings once a replacement plan for the Affordable Care Act is put forward and that he did not not cancel a town hall meeting.
A Filipina baby who was in 2015 diagnosed with Down Syndrome, a congenital heart disease, a complete ventricular septal defect and pulmonary hypertension is back in the hospital fighting for her life.

Born to non-resident Filipino parents, Chyn de Guzman underwent heart surgery on February 8 at Kiang Wu Hospital.

As of Tuesday, the familys bill has risen to approximately MOP120,000.

Baby Chyn is currently in the Kiang Wu Hospital Intensive Care Unit, waiting for her condition to stabilize sufficiently for an additional heart surgery.

Her father Chuck de Guzman lamented that his daughter may be scheduled for a major heart surgery in the coming months, depending on her condition.

De Guzman, who works at a resort in Cotai, claimed they were advised to prepare MOP500,000 for the upcoming operation, a staggering amount which the family could not provide.

As the father is a non-resident worker in Macau, his daughter is not entitled to any financial support from the government. His wife is on a tourist visa as she resigned from work to care for their daughter.

De Guzman said that the family approached the Social Welfare Bureau two years ago, but their request for financial assistance was denied.

When questioned on whether he would request assistance again, he replied: Unfortunately they cant provide assistance because were not residents. I think its useless to try again because they would give us the same reasons.

Its quite difficult to approach the Macau government. Its disappointing but we cannot do anything. This isnt our territory and we have to respect their laws, the father said.

As a result, Chyns family is again hoping for the financial assistance from netizens.

Back in 2015, the family launched a fundraising campaign on Facebook and Indiegogo to gather funds for the babys first operation. (The total raised then, nearly USD15,000, was fully used that year.)

After the recent operation, the parents have updated followers on their Facebook page Help our Little Angel Baby Chyn on the current situation.

Between Tuesday and Wednesday, netizens donated about USD600.

We were hoping that people would reach out to donate, the father said.

De Guzman admitted that their current situation is extremely tough as they are not only facing their daughters complicated health issues, but also the lack of the finances they need to save her.

Baby Chyn is currently showing some improvement, but is still assisted by a ventilator as she cannot breathe on her own.

Just this week, it was discovered that the baby is also suffering from pneumonia due to the use of the ventilator.

[UPDATED]
SYDNEY (Reuters) - More than 1,400 residents of New Zealand's Christchurch city returned home on Friday as firefighters contained a massive wildfire that led to their evacuation, destroying properties and power networks. The wildfire in Christchurch's Port Hills district spread rapidly over Thursday, covering more than 1,800 hectares (4,447 acres) and forcing authorities to declare a state of emergency, which remained in place on Friday. The Civil Defence said the fire was largely contained but not yet controlled, as soft winds and light drizzle aided firefighters. Christchurch-based electricity distribution company said around 107 of its customers remained without power. "The fires continue to present a risk to power supply and the situation remains fragile. It is possible that there will be further outages until the fires are fully extinguished," Orion said in a statement. Christchurch is New Zealand's third largest city. (Reporting by Swati Pandey; Editing by Michael Perry)
Dozens of civilians have been fleeing the Syrian town of Al-Bab on a daily basis, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, leaving newly liberated areas as well as escaping territory still under IS control. Al-Bab is IS's last stronghold in Aleppo province and has come under fierce attack in recent months by Turkish forces and allied Syrian rebels. In Azaz, local authorities welcomed arrivals, some of whom were continuing on to rebel-held territory further west, in Idlib province.
Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Rio's evangelical mayor, Marcelo Crivella, may skip the Rio carnival, the city's biggest annual event and one of the world's most famous street parties, reports said Friday.

Crivella -- who was elected in 2016 and is also a bishop in one of Brazil's wealthiest evangelical churches -- hopes to be abroad, the leading newspaper Globo reported, possibly in Israel or South Africa.

He would be the first mayor not to attend the spectacular contest between rival samba schools at the Sambodromo stadium in the first year of his mandate, Globo said.

The mayor's office said in a statement that it "will not comment on speculation about the destination of Mayor Marcelo Crivella during the carnival."

It also pointed out that the city legislature would have to approve any trip outside the city. "That hasn't happened yet," the statement said.

Carnival, already underway with scores of informal street dances, peaks with the Sambodromo finals starting February 26.

Globo quoted Crivella's culture secretary, Nilcemar Nogueira, as saying that he would be standing in for Crivella on February 24 at the ceremonial handing over of the city keys to the carnival king, known as Rei Momo. The role has traditionally always been played by the mayor himself.

"It will be an honor for everything that samba and the carnival represent in my life," Nogueira told the newspaper.

In another sign of Crivella's lack of enthusiasm for the carnival, the mayor's office has put up its VIP boxes at the Sambodromo for auction, Brazilian media reports said.

A former Rio mayor and state governor, Cesar Maia, sharply criticized Crivella, whose uncle Edir Macedo founded the powerful Universal Church of the Kingdom of God.

"There are moments when the mayor does not represent his party but the city," he said. "I understand that because of his religion he doesn't like to dance samba or something like that. But his presence... is absolutely necessary."

Rio's previous mayor, Eduardo Paes, was a noted carnival lover who attended the Sambodromo parades and joined samba dancing parties himself during his 2009-2016 term.
Los Angeles (AFP) - Fugitive filmmaker Roman Polanski plans to return to the United States and is seeking assurances he will do no further jail time over unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.

The award-winning director of "The Pianist" and "Chinatown," who has been on the run for almost 40 years, claims he reached a plea deal in the case that would keep him out of prison, his attorney Harland Braun told AFP.

Braun has written to Los Angeles County Superior Court judge Scott Gordon to unseal a secret transcript of the testimony of the prosecutor in the Polanski case, which he believes will confirm the deal.

The Paris-born director was accused of drugging Samantha Gailey -- who now uses the surname Geimer -- before raping her at film star Jack Nicholson's house in Los Angeles in 1977.

Polanski, who also has French citizenship, admitted having unlawful sex with a minor, or statutory rape, and spent 42 days in Chino State Prison before being released.

But in 1978, convinced a judge was going to scrap the plea deal and hand him a hefty prison sentence, he fled for France.

Polanski was arrested in Switzerland in 2009 on a US extradition request and spent 10 months under house arrest before Bern rejected the US order.

The United States then asked Poland to extradite Polanski in January 2015, but the country's Supreme Court ruled in December that he had served his time under the plea deal.

- 'Safe in my country' -

Braun believes the secret testimony of prosecutor Roger Gunson collected in 2010 in the US supports Polanski's claim that he had an agreement to serve just 48 days and that -- taken with the Polish decision -- it should convince the US authorities Polanski has served his time.

"After we confirm the contents, we will urge the court to recognize the Polish decision resulting from a litigation initiated by the (district attorney) and in which the DA participated," Braun told AFP.

Story continues

"If the court accepts the principle of comity, Roman can come to Los Angeles and to court without fear of custody."

Polanski's French legal team told AFP the filmmaker was not intending to be present at a hearing scheduled for next week in Los Angeles to consider a request.

Polanski told the private news channel TVN24 after the Polish court had ruled in his favor that he was "happy this business is over once and for all."

"I only regret that I had to wait so long. I'll finally be able to feel safe in my own country."

Polanski, who lives in France and had been avoiding Poland because of the case, said he planned to visit his father's grave in the southern city of Krakow.

The filmmaker has been engaged in a decades-long cat-and-mouse game with US officials seeking his extradition for trial, before a global audience split between continuing outrage and forgiveness for his acts.

Born in Paris in 1933 to Polish Jewish parents who later brought the family back to their native country, he saw his parents arrested by the Nazis in Krakow's Jewish ghetto and sent to concentration camps.

- Brutal slaughter -

He roamed the countryside, trying to survive at the age of just eight, helped by Catholic Polish families, in a country occupied by German troops.

The experience lent a gripping autobiographical authenticity to his 2002 movie "The Pianist," the story of a young Jewish musician trying to evade the Nazis in occupied Warsaw.

Lured to Hollywood in 1968, Polanski shot his first big international hit, "Rosemary's Baby," starring Mia Farrow as an expecting mother carrying the devil's spawn.

But tragedy struck the following year when his heavily-pregnant wife, the model and actress Sharon Tate, and four friends were brutally slaughtered in the director's mansion by cult leader Charles Manson and his followers.

Devastated, Polanski left for Europe, then returned to achieve arguably his greatest triumph in 1974 with "Chinatown" -- an atmospheric film noir starring Jack Nicholson nominated for 11 Oscars.

He has avoided the US since the statutory rape case -- not even returning to accept the Oscar for "The Pianist" -- and jousted with the Justice Department for years after.

Geimer herself called for the charges to be dropped, complaining that in dogging Polanski for so long, antagonists had made him her co-victim in a case she wanted to put behind her.

"The publicity was so traumatic and so horrible that his punishment was secondary to just getting this whole thing to stop," Geimer told CNN in 2003.

Polanski wants to visit Tate's grave in Los Angeles, the celebrity news website TMZ reported. He has also not been able to visit his daughter in London, it said.
MOSCOW  Several months ago, on the outskirts of Moscow, someone took white paint and scrawled a short statement of political protest onto the side of a garbage depot. Trump is a faggot, the graffiti read.

This small act of defiance in then-Donald Trump-loving Russia went largely unnoticed, however  until this week. Now, the photo, which journalists say was taken in November, is making the rounds on Russian social media, where its being greeted with mockery. We believed in you! And your despicable self betrayed us! the Moscow-based photographer Sergey Sukhorukov wrote this week, in a poem he shared with the picture.

The new U.S. president has been in his role for just under a month, taking office in a transition that has been marked by chaos and missteps. And already, from the right of the political spectrum to the marginalized Russian left, a mixture of disappointment with the new U.S. president  who came into office promising to remake relations between the two countries  and a sense of vindication that Trump couldnt be trusted after all has crept into Russian political chatter. Is Trump already out of fashion? the independent Russian journal Russkaya Fabula asked on Wednesday  the same day that the Trump administration was dealing with the fallout stemming from revelations about National Security Advisor Mike Flynns conversations with the Russian ambassador. The site pointed to a small demonstration by hard-line nationalists this week, which picketed a major state-run news outlet and demanded the end of the cult of Trump in Russian media.

Its true that in recent months the adulation has been inescapable. According to a recent Russian media survey, Trump surpassed the omnipresent Russian leader Vladimir Putin as the most-mentioned person in the Russian press in the month of January, with 202,000 references, versus Putins total of nearly148,000. Judging by the top news items on (Russian search engine) Yandex, Putin has somehow turned Russia into one more American state. Theres none of our own news. Theres only interest in the USA, said liberal politician Ilya Yashin.

Thats in part because the Russia question has loomed so large over Trumps nascent presidency. Relations between Russia and the United States were at a post-Cold War nadir in the waning days of the Obama administration, dogged by differences on Ukraine and Syria, and accusations of election-related hacking. Trump came into office having declared several times over the course of the campaign his admiration for Putin, and promising a dramatic shake-up in relations  potentially even a revisiting of sanctions that were slapped on Russia after its 2014 annexation of Crimea. Such pledges spurred a sort of Trumpomania across Russia. Sugar, charcoal, hamburgers, and silver minted coins have been made in his honor; Trumps inauguration was celebrated with glee at several Moscow locales.

It wasnt just the promise of a reset, however: Trumps tough talk on migration and terrorism, combined with his success in business, appealed to Russians too, both ordinary and high-ranking. They saw in Trump the sort of strong, law-and-order leadership they found attractive at home. For many Russians, especially Putin supporters, presenting an image of strength is vital to how they want to be viewed on the world stage. The memories of the chaotic, impoverished 1990s after the breakup of the Soviet Union still haunt the country, and Putins tight grip on power has become the hallmark of his leadership. Clumsy, directionless rule is frowned upon.

But the last few weeks of Trumps administration have been marked by signs of weakness. The presidents controversial executive order banning refugees and immigration from several Muslim-majority countries was met with large-scale protests, and then stayed by judges; his nominees for high-ranking positions have been met with opposition. And the less commanding Trump has seemed, the less alluring he has come across  not just to Americans, but to Russians, too.

Never has Trump been so close to failure, right-wing politician and former lawmaker Nikolai Travkin said after Flynns resignation, making reference to a popular Russian joke about a fictional Soviet World War Two spy. Michael McFaul, U.S. ambassador to Moscow from 2012 to 2014, tweeted on the changing mood in Moscow on Wednesday, asking, in Russian, Well, colleagues, is [Trump] still yours? McFaul referred to the widespread Russian hashtag #TrampNash, meaning Trump is ours and a play on words on the oft-heard phrase Krim Nash, or Crimea is ours.

The disappointment in the fledgling U.S.-Russian rapprochement seems to have been cemented, both in the Kremlin and among ordinary Russians, earlier this week with the Trump administration unexpectedly declaring that Crimea was taken forcefully by Russia and should be returned to Ukraine. Russia annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014, the largest land-grab in Europe in decades. In a press conference on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that Trump had made it very clear that he expected Russia to return Crimea, and urged Russia to de-escalate the situation in eastern Ukraine, which has recently experienced an uptick in fighting.

Russias reaction to the Trump administrations seeming U-turn was swift and straightforward: We do not return our territories, said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in a routine media briefing. Crimea is a territory of the Russian Federation. Thats it. The Kremlin also ordered state media to cut back on their overly positive coverage of Trump, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources.

At the beginning of the year, some polls put the number of Russians feeling positively towards the U.S. at double the numbers seen in 2015, reaching some 40 percent. But now, there are signs that some Russians feel they spoke too soon.

We were too early in our decision, made with absolute sympathy towards President Trumps constructive rhetoric, that he would somehow be pro-Russian, Leonid Slutsky, head of the parliaments foreign affairs committee, said on Wednesday. But he turned out to be pro-American, said Slutsky, whose nationalist LDPR party welcomed Trumps win by publicly quaffing champagne.

Pavel Danilin, director of the pro-Kremlin Center for Political Analysis, said on his Facebook page that since the holy veil had fallen from Trump, its now possible to talk about the presidents actions normally.

Distaste for Trump is also beginning to be heard in Russias Muslim community, which up until now had been largely silent on what have been widely seen as Trumps anti-Muslim tendencies. Russia is home to around 20 million Muslims  about 15 per cent of the population  and most Muslim leaders in the country enjoy a close relationship with Putin. (By contrast, the United States is home to just over 3 million Muslims). During the Trump campaign and in the brief post-inaugural honeymoon period, Muslim groups were dissuaded from talking disparagingly of Trump in order to avoid upsetting the Kremlin, community insiders say. Russias official response to Trumps travel ban for people from seven Muslim-majority countries was, in the words of Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov, not our business.

But that stance is already beginning to change. Trump is not a genuine person, said Gulnar Gaideeva, spokeswoman for the Union of Muftis in Russia, the countrys most prominent Muslim organization. Like most Muslims around the world, Russias community is unwavering in its support for Palestinians, and is unlikely to allow Trumps comments on a one-state solution in Israel to go unchallenged. We are citizens of Russia and also stand in solidarity with our fellow Muslims around the world, she said.

And so, what had looked like it was going to be a warm embrace between two erstwhile Cold War foes could be already turning into another botched attempt at a reset  only this time around, we might not even get to the misspelled red toy button stage. As a popular Russian saying goes, Be true to your word, or dont give it at all. In other words: Dont make promises you cant keep.

Photo credit: OLGA MALTSEVA/AFP/Getty Images
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP)  Rutgers University has apologized after turning students away from a career fair for wearing the wrong colored clothing.

NJ.com reports (http://bit.ly/2kPE2PA ) that Rutgers Business School issued a formal apology in a statement on Thursday for barring students from entering a job fair who wore attire that violated a new dress code. The stringent new policy forbids blue suits, colored shirts, brown shoes and other attire.

An online student petition prompted an apology from the school.

Administrators say the dress code change was in response to students who did not dress properly in past years. Senior Associate Dean Martin Markowitz says the school did not permit blue to avoid confusion with different shades.

Rutgers says it will help students who were turned away get in contact with recruiters.

___

Information from: NJ Advance Media.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  South Korea was taken by surprise Friday with the arrest of the scion of the country's richest family and de-facto leader at Samsung over his alleged involvement in a massive corruption scandal that engulfed the president and riveted the nation.

Prosecutors believe Lee Jae-yong, 48, a vice chairman at Samsung Electronics and the only son of the ailing Samsung chairman, gave bribes worth $36 million to President Park Geun-hye and her close friend to help win government support for a smooth company leadership transition, including a contentious merger of two Samsung companies.

A look at how his arrest affects the electronics giant:

LITTLE IMPACT ON PHONE, TV BUSINESSES

Some conservative commentators are worried that Lee's arrest could hurt Samsung's businesses and therefore the economy, which relies on such companies for exports and jobs.

But others dismiss such concern as exaggerated. "What would affect its businesses are the Galaxy phone's success, the performance of the semiconductor sector and how fast Chinese rivals are catching up, not whether Lee Jae-yong is arrested or not," said Park Sang-in, a professor at Seoul National University.

Chiefs of companies such as Hyundai Motor Group and SK Group have been jailed before but still ran their companies from behind bars.

Samsung Electronics, which is the world's largest maker of mobile phones, TVs and computer memory chips, has three separate chief executive officers each overseeing its electronic component, mobile phone and television divisions.

But long-term business decisions, such as appointing executives and deciding on mergers and acquisitions, may be put on hold. Samsung normally announces personnel reshuffling and promotions each December, but postponed those announcements in 2016 as it was dragged deeper into the political scandal.

Lee is not the first in his family to face criminal charges. His father was convicted in 2008 and 2009 for embezzlement and tax evasion related to business dealings designed to pass down wealth to his son. Lee Kun-hee, the ailing chairman, stepped away from his role at the company when prosecutors indicted him in 2008. The younger Lee will likely follow a similar course and stay away from leadership role once investigators formally bring charges against him.

Story continues

___

FAMILY SUCCESSION HITS SNAG

As he stepped up his role in the absence of his ailing father, Lee was seen as the new face of Samsung, fluent in foreign languages and educated oversees. Since Lee assumed a bigger role, Samsung promised to inject the company's top-down hierarchy with a nimble, startup-like attitude. Corruption allegations similar to those that took down his father may mean the damage to Lee's reputation is irreversible.

Prosecutors were able to secure Lee's arrest in their second attempt, thanks to new evidence showing President Park's broader involvement in Samsung's family succession plan. Initially, prosecutors focused on their argument that Samsung offered bribes and in return, the government backed a controversial merger of two Samsung companies in 2015, which was a key step in the leadership transition.

But after the initial request was dismissed, additional evidence from a notebook that belonged to a top presidential adviser showed that the government gave favors to Samsung in other areas related to the Lee family's father-to-son succession, said Lee Kyu-chul, a spokesman for the special prosecution team.

Thanks to the family's decadeslong succession plan, the 48-year-old heir to Samsung was able to amass enormous wealth even before starting his own business.

Lee's net worth is estimated at $6 billion. Here's how: In 1995, the elder Lee gave his only son, then in his 20s, 6 billion won ($52 million), which became the seed money to purchase unlisted stock in several Samsung companies. And during the next two decades those unlisted Samsung companies saw increased revenues based on lucrative deals done with other Samsung firms. The shares could then be sold when the companies went public. Some Samsung securities were sold at illegally cheap prices to Lee before he sold them off with huge returns, which later led to the conviction of his father.

___

OPPORTUNITY FOR REFORM?

With the Samsung scion's arrest, others saw an opportunity to change a business community long criticized for poor corporate governance and a lack of transparency.

Even though Lee has less than a 1 percent stake in Samsung Electronics and his father owns a 3.5 percent stake, the family's influence on the consumer electronics giant and other Samsung companies exceed other shareholders thanks in part to the way they control the business empire through a complicated web of cross-shareholding.

The merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries in 2015 was one example showing how the Lee family could exert an outsized influence on Samsung Group.

Opponents of the merger, mostly minority shareholders, said the deal unfairly benefits the founding family while hurting other shareholders by devaluing the price of one company.

Samsung narrowly won the shareholder approval thanks to the support from the National Pension Fund, its key investor. Lee became the majority shareholder of the merged entity and he gained control over Samsung Electronics stock owned by Samsung C&T before the merger. If Lee had bought more Samsung Electronics stock, it would have cost him billions of dollars. But by merging two companies, he did not have to spend a penny.

"The arrest of Lee Jae-yong should provide a momentum for fundamental changes to end the collusion between the government and businesses, and reform the chaebol," said Park, referring to the family-controlled business conglomerates that dominate the economy.

___

Follow Lee on Twitter: www.twitter.com/YKLeeAP
In the latest development in South Koreas massive corruption scandal that led to the parliament voting to impeach President Park Geun-hye, the heir apparent of the countrys largest conglomerate Samsung  Lee Jae-yong  was arrested on bribery charges Friday.

The Seoul Central District Court issued the arrest warrant for the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics in the investigation teams second attempt at requesting the writ on charges of hiding criminal proceeds and violating the law on transferring assets abroad in addition to the charges of bribery, embezzlement and perjury that were turned down less than a month ago.

Lee, 48, is accused of paying almost $36 million in bribes to President Parks aide Choi Soo-sil, who is at the center of the countrys largest corruption scandal in recent history. The payments were allegedly made in return for political favors like the governments support for a business move  a 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates  that helped him gain control of Samsung from his father Lee Kun-hee, the ailing chairman of the conglomerate.

Lee Jae-yong

Photo: REUTERS/Jung Yeon-Je

Given the newly presented criminal charges and the additional evidence collected, the legal grounds and need for arresting him are recognized, Han Jeong-seok, the judge issuing the warrant, reportedly said Friday.

Lee, who is known by the name Jay Y. Lee in the West, was questioned a number of times before he became the first leader of the countrys largest business group to be arrested in a criminal probe. In the past, his father was convicted of bribery and tax evasion on two instances but did not have to do any jail time after being pardoned by the president, New York Times reported.

The South Korean government has repeatedly been accused of colluding with the countrys big family-owned conglomerates, also referred to as chaebols. When people took to the streets of Seoul to demand that President Park be ousted, there were also demands for big chaebols heirs like Lee to be arrested after benefiting from alleged favoritism.

Story continues

Lee, who has a net worth of $6 billion, according to Forbes, is the third richest man in the country. Recently, however, Samsung has been dealing with a number of hurdles like the recall of its flagship Galaxy Note 7 device, despite having a market capitalization that accounts for a quarter of the value of all listed companies in the country.

His arrest may lead to a leadership vacuum in the company, which may also, in turn, adversely affect the South Korean economy.

Lee will stay at a detention center in Uiwang, south of Seoul. While the public may welcome his arrest, many also fear that even if he is convicted, he may be pardoned.

Related Articles
The mysterious death of Kim Jong Uns half-brother removed a potential avenue for China to press the North Korean leader to rein in his nuclear ambitions.

Kim Jong Nam, 45, lived out of North Korea for many years and had close links to China. He started families in both Beijing and Macau, and had the protection of Chinese authorities, according to a South Korean lawmaker who was briefed on intelligence reports.

His murder at an airport in Malaysia this week in circumstances akin to a spy novel adds to concern that Pyongyangs actions risk a major geopolitical miscalculation. Kim Jong Uns repeated nuclear and missile tests  most recently on Sunday  have caused unease both in the U.S. and China, and put Beijing in a difficult spot as North Koreas prime benefactor and ally.

While Kim Jong Nam was out of favor in Pyongyang for years before he was murdered  his brother reportedly had a standing order for his execution  he would have been a potential replacement for Kim Jong Un, and was an implicit point of leverage for China while he was alive.

Kim Jong Un has been testing Chinas patience, said Deng Yuwen, a public affairs commentator in Beijing and a former deputy editor of a journal of the Communist Party. If Beijing wouldnt want to see the total collapse of the Kim regime, it would hope for the replacement of Kim Jong Un. This is why Kim was increasingly worried about his half-brother.

Beijing provides most of North Koreas food and fuel. The nations had solid relations from the 1950s, when they fought together in the Korean War. Leaders from both countries often say they have a bond built with blood.

Still, ties became strained after Kims ascension in 2011, a year before President Xi Jinping took power in China. The two have never met as leaders. High-level dialogue was also cut back after the 2013 execution of Kims uncle Jang Song Thaek, who was an advocate for Chinese-style economic reform in North Korea and had been the major go-to person for leaders in Beijing. Kim Jong Nam was raised by Jangs wife.

China has watched North Koreas nuclear development with concern. Its leaders released a new list of items banned for export to North Korea in January, to comply with a new round of United Nations sanctions and address international criticism.

Trade data show that relations have cooled. Total commerce has fallen for two straight years to USD5.4 billion in 2016, according to numbers released by Chinas Ministry of Commerce.

Even so, it would be hard for China to totally abandon North Korea, which it has long seen as a geopolitical buffer to U.S. forces, said Yang Xiyu, former director of the China Foreign Ministrys Office for Korean Peninsula Issues. China is wary that the U.S. and South Korea will view the murder as a sign of internal instability in North Korea and seek to challenge Kim further, he said.

Kim Jong Nam was seen in Beijing as an elite who envied the success of Chinas economic reforms, Yang said. The eldest son of former dictator Kim Jong Il reportedly traveled with his father in 2001 to Shanghai, a coastal city that spearheaded Chinas market reforms, and met with senior officials in information technology. Bloomberg

Beijing following death of Kim Jong Nam

China is continuing to observe events following the death of Kim Jong Nam, a foreign ministry spokesperson said yesterday. We are aware of relevant reports and will continue to keep an eye on any developments, spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a daily press briefing when asked about the murder of Kim in Malaysia. The DPRK Embassy in Malaysia confirmed that a 46-year-old man holding a DPRK passport under the name Kim Chol was Kim Jong Nam. Asked whether Kims death would affect relations between China and the DPRK, Geng said that the two countries are friendly neighbors and have a tradition of friendly exchange
Starting off as a humble grocery store 79 years ago, South Korean giant Samsung has a checkered history, with its founder, his son and grandson all having run-ins with the law.

The sprawling conglomerate now so dominates South Korea that citizens joke they live in the "Republic of Samsung". But three generations of the Lee family have faced charges including tax evasion and bribing government officials.

The heir to the business, Lee Jae-Yong, was arrested Friday as part of a probe into corruption and influence-peddling that caused President Park Geun-Hye to be impeached, in a body blow to the firm's reputation.

The Samsung Electronics vice chairman is accused of paying nearly $40 million in bribes to Park's secret confidante to secure policy favours.

Both his father and grandfather were also linked to tax evasion but were never physically detained, creating a widespread perception that the family operates above the rule of law.

Samsung -- which means "three stars" in Korean -- started out as a grocery store in the southeastern city of Daegu in 1938 when Lee Byung-Chull moved away from his large landowning family in nearby southern Uiryeong county.

It grew fast, expanding to Seoul in 1947, before Byung-Chull branched out into fertiliser, textiles, insurance and electronics in the 1960s.

However scandal quickly engulfed Byung-Chull when the company's fertiliser unit was caught smuggling artificial sweetener amid allegations he had planned to share the proceeds with corrupt politicians.

He avoided imprisonment in return for "donating" the fertiliser unit to the state, but his second-born served six months in prison.

- Legal turmoil -

Byung-Chull's third son Lee Kun-Hee, who inherited the business after his oldest son fell out of favour, was also engulfed in legal turmoil.

Along with many other business tycoons of the era, Kun-Hee was charged with bribing then-President Roh Tae-Woo and given a two-year suspended sentence in 1996.

Story continues

Almost a decade later in the mid 2000s, Kun-Hee was questioned by prosecutors after audio tapes of Samsung executives discussing ways to bribe politicians and state prosecutors were leaked to the press.

Samsung issued a public apology and made a donation of 800 billion won ($700 million) to charity.

But just two years later Kun-Hee found himself in hot water once again when a former Samsung lawyer claimed he had bribed government officials on Kun-Hee's orders and his private bank account had been used to hide the company's billion-dollar slush fund.

A special law was enacted in 2007 to investigate Samsung, Kun-Hee and his only son Jae-Yong.

Jae-Yong was questioned over allegations that a Samsung subsidiary issued stocks at cut-price rates to help him inherit control of the group but he was not formally charged.

However his father was indicted for tax evasion and other charges. In 2008, Kun-Hee announced his resignation, vowing to reform the group and improve transparency.

Kun-Hee was sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for five years. But a year later, he was pardoned.
By Lisa Lambert

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Outlets of Santander Bank, already under fire for lending practices, denied mortgages to women, minorities and low-income borrowers in the U.S. Northeast more frequently than nearby banks, according to an analysis by an industry reform group on Thursday.

The Committee for Better Banks, a coalition of bank workers, consumer advocacy groups and unions, dug into government data on home loans in the U.S. Northeast, including nearly 10,000 Santander home-purchase applications, and found "a disturbing pattern of racial and economic discrimination."

Santander denied more than 26 percent of borrowers of color a mortgage in 2014, when other banks in the same locations only turned down 17 percent in aggregate, according to the analysis.

It also refused loans to 30 percent of low-income applicants, compared to the aggregate rate of 18 percent, and 20 percent of women, compared to the aggregate rate of 13.6 percent.

Meanwhile, in 2015, Santander rejected more than three people of color for every white borrower it turned down.

A Santander spokesperson said the bank has "serious questions about its accuracy."

Santander's Ann Davis said the main data source, disclosures that lenders file under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, "does not reflect many important factors that all financial institutions consider when reviewing loan applications, including the borrowers amount of debt and credit history."

The HMDA was passed in 1975 to shine a light on qualified borrowers who could not get loans because of where they lived.

The analysis found some of the greatest discrimination in four metropolitan areas: Pennsylvania's Philadelphia, Massachusetts' Worcester, Connecticut's Hartford and New Jersey's Camden.

In Philadelphia's low-income neighborhoods, Santander's mortgage denial rate was 36.6 percent in 2015, more than twice the aggregate rate in that market. That year in Hartford, Santander denied at least four Latino borrowers for every white one.

Story continues

In 2014 Santander settled a lawsuit with Providence, Rhode Island, over alleged "redlining," a practice in which a bank limits lending in minority neighborhoods while increasing it in predominantly white ones.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency will soon fail Santander on a community lending test for doing too little to reach poor neighborhoods, according to sources familiar with the situation.

The bank, which is owned by the euro zone's second-largest bank by market value, Banco Santander, also recently flunked an annual stress test meant to ensure it can withstand a financial crisis without taxpayer help.

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Sehwan (Pakistan) (AFP) - Pakistani forces said Friday they had killed more than 100 "terrorists" after 88 people died in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group on a Sufi shrine which stoked fears of a fresh surge in militancy.

The devastating blast came after a series of bloody extremist assaults this week, including a powerful Taliban suicide bomb in the eastern city of Lahore which killed 13 people and wounded dozens.

Prime minister Nawaz Sharif and army chief of staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa Friday visited the town of Sehwan in Sindh province where the latest attack took place.

Sharif vowed to eliminate militants "with the full force of the state".

Pakistan's military later said operations were in progress across the country. "Over 100 terrorists have been killed since last night", it said, adding others had been detained.

The emergence of Islamic State group (IS) and a Taliban resurgence would be a major blow to Pakistan, and the attacks have dented growing optimism over security after a decade-long war on militancy.

Police Friday cordoned off the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, a 13th century Muslim saint, in Sehwan, some 200 kilometres (124 miles) northeast of financial hub Karachi.

The centuries-old shrine's white floor was smeared with blood, scattered with shoes, shawls, and baby bottles.

At 3.30 am the shrine's caretaker stood among the carnage and defiantly rang its bell, a daily ritual that he vowed to continue, telling AFP he will "not bow down to terrorists".

Health officials said the number of people killed in the shrine blast had jumped to 88, including at least 20 children, making it the deadliest attack in Pakistan since a 2014 assault on a Peshawar school.

Islamabad has denied the presence of IS, despite several high-profile attacks and the group's apparent affiliation with homegrown militants, such as the banned Sunni sectarian organisation Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).

Story continues

"I think they (IS) are capable of doing this" with help from homegrown groups, security expert Amir Rana said of the shrine bombing, as analyst Imtiaz Gul warned the group would claim more such attacks.

Gul also warned there are "visible signs" that factions of the umbrella Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, or Pakistani Taliban), which is distinct from the Afghan Taliban, are regrouping after a military crackdown.

TTP faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed the Lahore attack on Monday, days after it announced a fresh offensive. Two members of a bomb disposal team in Quetta, capital of southwestern Balochistan province, were killed the same day defusing a device there.

- 'Intense' wave of attacks -

On Wednesday four suicide bombers struck in one day in the tribal areas and on a van carrying judges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial capital Peshawar, killing six people in attacks also claimed by the TTP.

An IED attack in Balochistan which killed three soldiers Thursday unnerved Pakistanis further, while gunmen on motorcycles killed four policemen and a civilian in the northwest overnight Friday.

Rana predicted the "intense" wave of TTP attacks would continue, saying security forces had failed to crack the militants' operational infrastructure, especially in cities.

But both the military and the foreign office said the recent attacks had been carried out from sanctuaries in Afghanistan, and that Kabul had been asked to take action. Neither referred specifically to the IS claim.

Pakistan's push against extremism was stepped up after the country's deadliest ever attack, a TTP assault on a school in Peshawar in 2014 which left more than 150 people dead -- mostly children.

Critics have long argued the military and government crackdown does not address the root causes of extremism.

Security officials said at least 18 terrorists had been killed in Sindh province overnight, and 13 more in the country's northwest.

Pakistanis vented their grief and fury at the bombings on social media and with small protests in some cities.

"The government should identify and punish these terrorists," Ghulam Shabbir Bhatti, a resident of Sehwan, said.

"Sunnis, Shias, Hindus, ppl from all faiths visit Sehwan... This is an attack on our identity & culture," wrote Twitter user Zahraa Saifullah.

Sufism, a mystic Islamic order that believes in living saints, worships through music and is viewed as heretical by some hardline groups.

IS has targeted Sufi shrines in Pakistan previously, killing 52 at a shrine in Balochistan last year.
By Katy Wong HONG KONG (Reuters) - A Hong Kong court jailed seven policemen for two years each on Friday for beating a handcuffed activist during democracy protests in 2014, a rare case of police brutality in the financial hub that triggered public outrage. The beating happened on Oct. 15, 2014, at the height of the 79-day protests that paralyzed parts of Hong Kong and posed one of the most serious political challenges to Communist Party leaders in Beijing for decades. The policemen were filmed dragging the handcuffed protester, Ken Tsang, to a dark corner near the protest site, where he was kicked and punched repeatedly as he lay on the ground. District court judge David Dufton, who had earlier found the policemen guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, sentenced all seven to two years in prison, saying they had "brought damage to Hong Kong's reputation in the international community". There had been no justification for the attack on Tsang, he said. Despite pleas for mitigation from the officers' lawyers, Dufton said imprisonment was appropriate. Dufton acknowledged, however, that the "Hong Kong police were working under great pressure" to maintain order during the protests that blocked major roads for almost three months. Tsang, a social worker, suffered face, neck and shoulder injuries. He was handcuffed with plastic ties at the time, although the court heard he had earlier thrown some liquid at police. Some of the policemen, dressed in dark suits and ties, were stern-faced while others smiled at family members in the gallery after sentencing. Some in the gallery cried, while a few people cheered. Tsang described the ruling as a "small victory for civil society in the fight against police violence" and said the people of Hong Kong should fight on for full democracy. Supporters of the police outside the court said the sentences were unfair. Heavy-handed policing is rare in Hong Kong and the case triggered public outrage and deepened tension during the protests in which clashes erupted occasionally. Hong Kong reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" formula that accords the city a degree of autonomy and freedom not enjoyed in mainland China. China bristles at dissent, however, especially over issues such as demands for universal suffrage. Many in Hong Kong are increasingly concerned about what they see as Beijing's meddling in the city's affairs. Unease about the future has stoked protests and has even led to calls for independence from China. (Writing by James Pomfret; Editing by Paul Tait, Robert Birsel)
A Chinese man who detonated home-made explosives inside Shanghai's international airport last year was sentenced on Friday to eight years in prison, a court in the city said.

Three people were injured in the June 12 attack at Pudong International Airport by Zhou Xingbai, who the court said had been struggling with personal and romantic problems.

Zhou, who was 29 at the time of the attack, fashioned the makeshift bombs using fireworks and beer bottles.

The court statement said Zhou rolled three of them into a crowd before attempting suicide by slashing at his neck with a knife.

Two of the devices exploded, injuring several travellers and causing flight cancellations and delays.

Despite Zhou's alleged personal problems, the court said a psychological evaluation found no signs of mental illness.

Originally from the southwestern province of Guizhou, Zhou had a high-school education and worked at various jobs before relocating in 2014 to Kunshan, a city near Shanghai, Chinese police have said.

Zhou's punishment was severe because the incident occurred in a large public space, the court statement said.

In 2013, a wheelchair-bound man detonated a homemade bomb at Beijing international airport and was sentenced to six years in jail.
Lerwick (United Kingdom) (AFP) - In the fishing ports of the remote Shetland Islands off northern Scotland, hopes are high that Brexit could boost a once-thriving industry.

George Anderson, 59, skipper of the 70-metre (230 foot) trawler Adenia, told AFP that Brexit was a "no brainer" for Shetland fishermen.

"We only had one choice, which was to get back control," he said, staring out on windy Lerwick harbour from his high-tech captain's chair.

The islands' two fishing ports, Lerwick to the east and Scalloway to the west, are often swept by strong winds that whip up majestic waves.

"The weather? Well, the weather manages you more or less," Anderson chuckled in a broad Shetland accent.

"It's a good job. Unless you're a fisherman you wouldn't know -- it's going out hunting fish, catching them, taking them back and providing for your family. The drawbacks are the limited quotas. The government has given away a lot of fish."

In the Adenia's crew quarters, a "Fishing For Leave" poster used in the Brexit referendum campaign last year takes pride of place.

- 'Just a few boats left' -

The Shetlands, along with Scotland's Western Isles, were the only part of the United Kingdom that voted against joining what was then the European Economic Community in a 1975 referendum.

Soon after Britain joined the EEC in 1973, Shetlands fishermen found themselves hit with a double whammy of European integration and oil.

While the burgeoning oil industry was a boon for the islands as a whole, it drained manpower from a fleet just as it was being compelled to share its waters with a growing number of European nations.

Overfishing led to depleted stocks and decommissioning of vessels, and subsequent quotas often saw Shetlanders sidelined in their own waters.

"It was terrible to watch the decommissioning. Good boats gone, experienced guys giving up the fishing, that was it -- gone," said Anderson, whose three sons work on the Adenia as mate, cook and engineer.

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"Theres just a few boats left now," he said.

"We had a good proud fleet once upon a time, and now we hope well maybe get some of that back."

Anderson, whose grandfather was also a fisherman, remembers that of the five boys in his class at school, all went into fishing.

Gary Leask, 38, skipper of the Kestrel, a 14-metre shellfish boat, comes from a younger generation who had a choice between fishing and oil.

"When the oil came it was guaranteed money and good wages, while the fishing is dependent on weather and fish stocks," he said.

When he left school, Leask said 30 boys went on to study fishing, but only three were still employed in the industry.

"The others went into the oil or other industries, which is a shame," he said.

- 'Our big fear' -

The small island grouping lies deep in the North Atlantic, and is closer to Oslo than London.

A fifth of the Shetlands' workforce is employed in aquaculture, which generates a third of the islands' economy.

Despite their initial scepticism about the European project, 56 percent of Shetlanders voted to remain in the European Union in the June 23, 2016 referendum.

Scotland as a whole voted to stay in the EU, with 62 percent of votes cast there opposing Brexit, while Britain opted to leave by 52 percent to 48 percent.

There is still burning resentment here over a memo written during Britain's negotiations to join the EEC -- revealed 30 years later -- which said that fisheries "must be regarded as expendable".

Fishermen worry they could be in for the same treatment as Prime Minister Theresa May prepares to begin negotiations to leave the EU.

"That is our big fear," said Simon Collins, executive officer at the Shetland Fishermen's Association.

"That wound is still open," he said.

Fergus Ewing, Scotlands Rural Affairs Secretary, warned that the British government might try to trade away access to British fishing waters to other countries as part of Brexit negotiations.

"We believe that we should have an independent Scottish government that stands up for fishermen and fishing interests," he said.

But a UK government spokesperson responded by saying that leaving the EU was "a real opportunity" to ensure fair quotas and sustainable stocks.
Double trouble. Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn appears to have mislead FBI officials over the content of his conversation with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, according to a new revelation from the Washington Post. (Flynn has already been stripped of his security clearance over the incident.) His comments to FBI investigators that he didnt talk about sanctions with the Russian official mirror Flynns misstatements to Vice President Mike Pence, which got him fired in the first place.

Presser. In a contentious press conference on Thursday, President Trump lashed out at the leaks over the Flynn affair, as well as stories that have come pouring out of the White House from anonymous staffers portraying an administration in constant chaos. The president said the real issue wasnt Flynn, but the spilling of classified information. Its an illegal process, and the press should be ashamed of themselves, he said. FPs Emily Tamkin and Robbie Gramer have more on Thursdays fun here.

Harward out. Retired Vice Adm. Robert Harward rejected president Trumps offer to serve as national security advisor late Thursday after the White House reportedly refused his request to pick his own team, dealing an embarrassing setback to the administration. There were several issues involved, both professional  and according to Harward himself  personal. He demanded that he be able to pick his own staff, something the White House refused. Specifically, the retired SEAL didnt want to keep Fox News pundit turned Deputy National Security Adviser K. T. McFarland as his No. 2, a request the administration denied.

Harward told the AP that the Trump administration was very accommodating to my needs, both professionally and personally, and the decision was purely a personal issue, since after 40 years of military service he wanted some personal time. But he refused to answer questions over personnel discussions. FPs Dan De Luce observes that Harwards unwillingness to enter the administration highlights how Trumps chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, has entrenched himself as a powerful figure in the White House, wielding influence over every aspect of decision-making. Bannons seat on the NSC was an unprecedented move for a body that is supposed to steer clear of political considerations.

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Were ok, youre ok. At any other time, a U.S. Defense Secretary affirming Washingtons commitment to NATO wouldnt be news. But this isnt any other time. SecDef Jim Mattis told the alliance at a meeting in Brussels this week that the American commitment remains strong, but can be scaled back unless Europeans begin to pay more for their own defense.

He also threw some cold water on the Trump administrations goals of working with Russia to fight the Islamic State. We are not in a position right now to collaborate on a military level. But our political leaders will engage and try to find common ground, he told reporters in Brussels. He added that he believes Russia has interfered in democratic elections around the world, saying, theres very little doubt that they have either interfered or they have attempted to interfere in a number of elections in the democracies.

The comments come as other cabinet officials like U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and State Department chief Rex Tillerson openly break with the White Houses stated policies  or at least the presidents off the cuff remarks  leaving allies fumbling in the dark over what Washingtons real policy goals are.

Lonely at the top. The inability  or unwillingness  of the White House to staff the Pentagon is having real consequences, according to a top Republican lawmaker. House Armed Services Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) told reporters Thursday that Mattis is doing a great job, but so far he doesnt have anybody else in a Senate-confirmed position.

Thornberry is concerned that the lack of staffing is hurting plans to increase the defense budget. The problem is its Secretary Mattis alone right now. Defense News Aaron Mehta recently reported that 75 percent of political appointee jobs inside the Pentagon remain vacant three weeks into the Trump administration, amid continued wrangling between Mattis and the White House over who he can bring on.

Things arent much better at the State Department, where theres more turmoil in the foreign policy bureaucracy as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is being forced to confront more vacancies in the already sparse upper ranks of his department. CBS News reports that Tillersons aides told career diplomat, Counselor of the Department Ambassador Kristie Kenney that she was fired and that her position would remain unfilled for the foreseeable future. Tillersons aides have also laid off a number of staffers in the Counselors office as well the office of the deputy secretary of state for management and resources.

Well, this is something. The brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos  who happens to be Blackwater founder Erik Prince  is apparently offering his military expertise to the Chinese government, and is building training camps throughout the country. Buzzfeeds investigative reporter Aram Roston reports that Prince has been offering his military expertise to support Chinese government objectives and setting up Blackwater-style training camps in two Chinese provinces, according to sources and his own company statements. The move could put him at odds with Trump, who has often taken a hard line against China, and could also risk violating US law, which prohibits the export of military services or equipment to China.

Welcome to SitRep. Send any tips, thoughts or national security events to paul.mcleary@foreignpolicy.com or via Twitter: @paulmcleary or @arawnsley.

State Department

Tillerson is also finding that the Trump White House has a habit of keeping the State Department out of the loop on foreign policy. The Guardians Julian Borger reports that the White House isnt asking for the departments input on key decisions like Trumps travel ban, and State officials are finding themselves being forced to ask foreign diplomats about their interactions with the White House in order to suss out the administrations thinking. Tillerson, himself, was reportedly shocked to discover that the White House had nixed his choice for deputy secretary of state, Elliott Abrams over Abramss criticism of Trump during the campaign.

Philippines

Another day, another sign that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is making good on his pledge to pivot away from Manilas relationship with the U.S. and embrace new patrons, like Russia and China. Reuters reports that Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana says Moscow is is willing to share an intelligence database on crime and terrorism with the Philippines. Lorenzana also says Russia has offered training for Philippine troops protecting the president and the two countries are now discussing joint training to deal with piracy.

Yemen

The AP has more details on the Trump administrations controversial special operations raid in Yemen which claimed the lives of a U.S. Navy SEAL as well as Yemeni civilians. American commandos killed Sheikh Abdel-Raouf al-Dhahab in the operation, and while the Defense Department has classified him as one of 14 al Qaeda planners killed during the raid, the AP writes that al-Dhahab was a supporter of the Saudi-backed government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and was helping in the fight against Houthi militants. Members of al-Dhahabs extended family have previously been associated with al Qaeda, but locals in the area where the raid took place told the wire service that the U.S. mustve been misinformed, claiming al Qaeda has a stronger presence in the nearby mountains.

Iraq

The Islamic State carried out a massive car bomb attack in Iraqs capital on Thursday, killing 55 people even as U.S. and Iraqi forces tighten the net around the groups last remaining stronghold in Mosul. The attack struck the Shiite neighborhood of al-Bayaa, adding a further sectarian dimension to the attack. The Islamic State continues to lash out at Iraqi civilians and troops well outside the Mosul, with Baghdad bearing the brunt of the attacks.

Pakistan

Pakistan suffered one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in recent memory on Thursday, the Guardian reports. A suicide bomber targeted a Sufi shrine in the countrys Sindh province, killing 88 people. Pakistani officials are blaming Afghan militants for the attack and demanding the extradition of 76 suspected terrorists to Pakistan, adding a further wrinkle to the often strained relationship between the two countries. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack and Pakistans military reportedly carried out an artillery barrage in Nangargar Province in neighboring Afghanistan, which is home to an Islamic State affiliate group.

Photo Credit THIERRY CHARLIER/AFP/Getty Images
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Six South African men, including three soldiers, died on Friday when they were overcome by methane gas leaking from a sewer at a naval base in Durban, a navy spokesman said. "There was gas leak and some of the workers called our soldiers for help," said Brigadier General Mafi Mgobozi, spokesman the Naval Base situated on Salisbury Island off South Africa's east coast. "The three soldiers went down into the sewer pit to try and rescue them, and all six of them were overcome by gases," he said, adding that 22 people had been taken to hospital for treatment. Emergency service ER24 said in a statement that rescue teams had already retrieved the bodies of six men from the sewer pit. "Paramedics assessed all six men and found that they showed no signs of life," ER24 spokesman Russel Meiring said, adding that local authorities were investigating the incident. (Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Dominic Evans)
You never know when your wild predictions will come true.

Brothers Judd Markowitzz and Ryan Markowitz signed a contract for a $2,000 loan repayment in 2012. Five years later, the Gmail document was uncovered with a rather surprising prediction of a certain someone as President of the United States.

SEE ALSO: Twitter's got jokes about Kellyanne Conway's latest alternative fact

In the signed document shared to Twitter, the brothers agree that while no interest will be accumulated while Judd paid off the loan, if any of their listed of circumstances were to happen, the payment would be waived.

That particular list included everything from loss of limbs, to the end of the world and Super Bowl predictionsbut what's more striking is the one of the last bullet points: "Rick Santorum or Donald Trump becomes President in 2016."

My brother gave me a real loan in 2012. This is an actual contract between us. He just found it. Look at the bullet third to last. pic.twitter.com/ozbaKUFxQe  Judd (@AnarchyNoww) February 17, 2017

That's right. The Markowitz brothers somehow predicted Donald Trump would become president in 2016.

While technically Trump didn't move into the White House until 2017, it's still a pretty impressive predictionand that slight error doesn't matter to much to Judd, the original acceptor of the loan.

People are pointing out obvious flaws in the contract. I'm no lawyer, and my brother is a man of honor, and we can on agree on intent. pic.twitter.com/eu3avKcfVa  Judd (@AnarchyNoww) February 17, 2017

"People are pointing out obvious flaws in the contract," he tweeted. "I'm no lawyer, and my brother is a man of honor, and we can on agree on intent."

There is no word yet on whether or not the brothers, or the witness, had any contact with Russian officials when the contract was drafted.
China has sent hundreds of troops into Vietnam after weeks of tension and a military build-up along the border.

Vietnamese Vice-Foreign Minister Nguyen Ko Tach has told ambassadors in Hanoi the Chinese troops have occupied nearly all Vietnamese border positions and are advancing southwards.

He did not give any idea of casualties or whether he would be calling on the assistance of the Soviet Union.

Vietnam and the USSR signed an alliance last year, but military analysts think it unlikely the nine Russian ships in Indochinese waters would be of much value in a land campaign.

An official statement from China has expressed a willingness to negotiate peace after counter-attacking the Vietnamese aggressors as they deserve.

The assault follows months of exchanges between Chinese and Vietnamese authorities about illegal occupation of the ill-defined frontier territory.

Foreign observers have reported a quadrupling of the Chinese force there, numbering up to 150,000 troops and 300 aircraft, in the past three weeks.

Vietnam appears to have fewer soldiers as up to 100,000 of their troops are currently serving in Cambodia and another 25,000 are in Laos.

The Chinese Government in Peking (later Beijing) claimed the Vietnamese had made over 700 armed incursions into China and killed or wounded over 300 Chinese soldiers and civilians over the last six months.

The official Chinese Hsinhua News Agency said: We do not want a single inch of Vietnamese territory. All we want is a peaceful and stable border.

Chinese vice-premier Deng Xiaoping has also threatened the Vietnamese Government in Hanoi with punishment for its engagement in Cambodia.

Hostilities between Hanoi and the Chinese-backed Cambodian Government broke out last year and culminated in the Vietnamese invasion on Christmas Day and collapse of Pol Pots regime.

Vietnam has appealed to the United Nations and has not cut off diplomatic relations with China.

Courtesy

of

BBC

In

context

The next day Radio Hanoi reported the strategic border towns of Lao Cai and Mon Cai had fallen to the Chinese, along with smaller townships.

The broadcast suggested Vietnam had left much of the fighting to local militias rather than professional soldiers.

The only support offered by the USSR was strong verbal condemnation.

Chinas invasion prompted British MPs to lobby the Labour Government to reconsider its decision to supply China with Harrier jump jets.

The Chinese continued their invasion until early March, taking several major towns.

The invasion led to many more Vietnamese refugee boat people.

The Chinese Armys withdrawal was completed by 16 March.

Vietnamese troops stayed in Cambodia until 1989.
Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara, Michael Fassbender and Natalie Portman star in Terence Malick's "Song to Song," a romantic drama about two musicians, a music industry executive, and a restaurant waitress.

Featuring Ryan Gosling and Rooney Mara as musicians in the same band, Michael Fassbender as a music industry executive, and Natalie Portman as a restaurant waitress, "Song to Song" takes place within the city of Austin, Texas, where it will premiere at the annual SXSW festival on March 10 -- a week before it goes on general release.

"We thought we could just roll and tumble, live from song to song, kiss to kiss," the trailer tells us, as romance appears to become consumed by manipulation and betrayal.

The film is also noted for its many cameos by active musicians including Iggy Pop, Iron & Wine, Lykke Li, Patti Smith and Florence Welch.

Song to Song Trailer: youtu.be/V9t4SKWryWM, trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/song-to-song
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African President Jacob Zuma has referred a bill allowing state expropriation of land back to parliament because lawmakers failed to facilitate adequate public participation, the presidency said on Friday. The bill is meant to allow the state to redress racial imbalances in land ownership but critics say it does not provide adequate compensation guarantees and that it was open to abuse. (Reporting by Joe Brock; Editing by Ed Cropley)
A South Carolina felon is behind bars Friday after authorities say he purchased a gun from an undercover agent, who he allegedly told he wanted to kill a group of black people "in the spirit of Dylann Roof."

Authorities arrested Benjamin McDowell in Myrtle Beach, the FBI said Thursday, after the 29-year-old former convict with alleged white supremacist ties made anti-Semitic and other racist statements on Facebook before illegally purchasing a Glock handgun, according to an affidavit.

Read: Disabled Vet Trying to Stop Turtle Torturers Is Brutally Attacked: Cops

According to the complaint, McDowell made non-specific threats while citing the teenage Charleston church shooter, who authorities say he repeatedly praised in Facebook posts.

"All they wanne (sic) do is stay loaded on drugs the Jews put here to destroy white man and they feast on the drugs. they should be Feasting on the enemy that stole their Heritage and their bloodline and trying to run us off of this Earth," McDowell wrote on Facebook, the complaint alleges. "If you ain't got the heart to fight for Yahweh like dylann roof did, you need to shut the f*** up."

The FBI reportedly began investigating McDowell because of a social media post in which they say he threatened a local synagogue.

According to the complaint, McDowell requested an "iron," which authorities believe is code for a gun, from an agent over Facebook Messenger days later.

Shortly after allegedly purchasing the gun from an agent, McDowell was arrested and charged as a felon in possession of a firearm.

In an interview with WBTW, McDowell's mother said she was completely in the dark about her son's alleged intentions until feds showed up to her home.

"He didn't' say mama I'm gonna go do it. I raised him better than that. Had him in church every Sunday," Joann McDowell said.

However, the shocked mother said her son had made questionable statements in the past.

Story continues

"He said those people and the Pakistans and the Jewish are against us. He said, telling me stuff out of the bible. I said Benji, I don't understand all that stuff. I'm not going to fuss with all of that," she said.

Read: Dylann Roof's Fate Handed to Jury After His Closing Remarks: 'I Still Feel Like I Had to Do It'

Joann McDowell said she last heard from her son when he called her from jail to apologize and ask that she not be mad at him.

Benjamin McDowell remains in jail following an initial court appearance Thursday. He's due back in court for a preliminary hearing Tuesday.

Watch: See Disturbing Video of Dylann Roof Entering Church Before Shootings

Related Articles:
The South Korean military is on high readiness after North Korean leader Kim Jong Uns brother Kim Jong Nam was killed in Malaysia allegedly by two women earlier this week, Seouls Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Thursday.

Although South Korea has not detected any provoking move from the North, its military said it fortified its surveillance and defense capabilities to counter any possible attack from its rival neighbor, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported, citing a JCS official.

"If the cause of the half brother's death is officially announced by (the Malaysian government), we may consider delivering the news through loudspeakers to North Korean soldiers and citizens near the border," the official said.

Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean leaders step brother and the eldest son of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, was believed to have been poisoned Monday when he was preparing to board a flight home to Macau from Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The killing triggered speculation that Kim Jong Un sent agents to murder his brother.

So far, Malaysian authorities have taken two women and a man into custody. Local law enforcement authorities said they were working to determine the identities of the suspect. It remains unclear whether the women killed Kim Jong Nam.

An autopsy on Kim Jong Nam was completed but the results have not been released. The findings would reveal whether he was poisoned.

North Korea wanted to kill Kim Jong Nam for several years, according to Lee Byung-ho, the director of South Korea's National Intelligence Service. However, the plan was not executed as he was reportedly being protected by China.

At the time of his death, Kim Jong Nam was traveling with a passport with the name Kim Chol. He is reported to have been considered Kim Jong Il's favorite son before his brother took power in 2011.

Related Articles
By Katharine Houreld and Denis Dumo NAIROBI/JUBA (Reuters) - A South Sudanese minister has defected to the rebels, the second high-level resignation this week from the government side locked in a civil war which has displaced more than 3 million people. Lieutenant General Gabriel Duop Lam, the minister of Labour, sent a one-page letter saying he would join the rebellion of former vice president Riek Machar. "I reaffirm my full allegiance and commitment to the ... wise leadership of H.E. Dr. Riek Machar," he wrote in the letter seen by Reuters on Friday. Oil-rich South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, was plunged into civil war in 2013 after President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, fired Machar, his deputy and an ethnic Nuer. The fighting that followed has increasingly followed ethnic lines, and in December the United nations warned that it was setting the stage for genocide. Government spokesman Michael Makuei Lueth, speaking at a news conference in Juba on Friday, confirmed Lam's defection, the second resignation of a senior figure in a matter of days. Lieutenant General Thomas Cirillo Swaka, the well-respected deputy head of logistics, resigned from the military six days ago but did not say he was joining the rebels. He cited massive human rights abuses by the military and rampant ethnic favouritism, charging that Kiir was filling key posts in the security forces with Dinka from his home area. Many human rights groups have reported that the military has looted, raped and killed civilians. Days after Swaka resigned, the government released a statement saying he had been implicated in a corruption investigation and had fled to avoid justice. (Reporting by Katharine Houreld and Denis Dumo; editing by Dominic Evans)
Stephen Colbert had a lot of things to talk about on The Late Show last night, starting with Andrew Puzders decision to withdraw as Donald Trumps nominee for Secretary of Labor. Just to be clear, this is not a scandal, Colbert joked. He just wants to spend more time with Michael Flynn.

As Colbert noted, the Carls Jr. CEO  like many of Trumps cabinet appointees  has a lot of baggage. According to the comedian, Puzder called his own employees the worst of the worst and admitted to hiring an undocumented maid, something that definitely clashes with Trumps staunch deportation policies. But Colbert says the smoking gun that caused Puzder to drop out was a 1990 interview the CEOs wife made, in which she alleged Puzder had assaulted her. That interview was done by none other than Oprah Winfrey, who sent in a tape of the interview to Congress.

Thank you, Lady O! exclaimed a grateful Colbert. By the way, follow-up question, no particular reasondo you do any shows in Russia? Because we could use some help.

Also Read: Trump Threatens 'Low-Life Leakers' That Spoke to 'Failing' NY Times: 'They Will Be Caught'

Colbert then moved on to addressing reports that Trumps aides were in constant touch with Russian officials during last years election campaign. Constant Touch, by the way, is Trumps Secret Service code name, Colbert said.

And while theres no evidence so far that directly links Trump to the Russians, said Colbert, several analysts say theres a lot of smoke.

And you know what they say, Colbert warned. When theres smoke, theres Stephen Miller blowing it up Trumps ass.

Also Read: Mediaite Founder Dan Abrams Credits Trump With Traffic 'Explosion'

Of course, the host also fired back at Trumps Twitter tantrum over the reports, declaring the reports to be fake news.

Here the thing: it cant be fake news and an illegal leak of classified information! Colbert said. Your honor, I did not kill that man! The real criminal is whoever filmed me strangling him.'

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Colbert also touched on other topics like Sean Spicer and Benjamin Netanyahus White House visit. To see what he had to say on that, check out the clip above.

Related stories from TheWrap:

Stephen Colbert Invites Trump Adviser to Tell Lies on 'Late Show' (Video)

'President Trump' Calls Stephen Colbert for Advice on Government, Pizza Bagels (Video)

Stephen Colbert Explains Senate Rule That Silenced Elizabeth Warren: 'Bros Before Hoes' (Video)
Juba (AFP) - South Sudan's labour minister resigned Friday and declared allegiance to rebel leader Riek Machar, making him the second top official to quit in the war-torn country this week.

Gabriel Duop Lam, who joined a unity government last year as a member of Machar's opposition, did not give a reason for his resignation in a statement released to the press, but declared his "full allegiance and commitment" to the exiled rebel.

Information Minister Michael Makuei confirmed to AFP that Lam as well as his deputy had "defected" and had left to Khartoum.

"It will not have any impact and it is just individual behaviour. Those who have gone away have their right to go," he said.

Lam's resignation comes just days after Lieutenant-General Thomas Cirillo Swaka, the country's deputy chief of general staff for logistics, quit.

Swaka accused President Salva Kiir and top members of his majority Dinka tribe of "ethnic cleansing" and of blocking efforts to implement a 2015 peace deal.

War broke out in oil-rich South Sudan in 2013, just two years after it achieved independence, after Kiir accused his former deputy Machar of plotting a coup.

An August 2015 peace deal, which led to the formation of a unity government, was left in tatters when fighting broke out in Juba in July last year.

The opposition split in two between those loyal to exiled Machar who were no longer represented in government, and those loyal to new vice-president Tabang Deng.

Lam chose to remain in the government.

- 'Catastrophic for civilians' -

Violence, often along ethnic lines, has spread throughout the country with no prospects for peace in sight and the United Nations has warned of potential genocide and ethnic cleansing.

A confidential UN report obtained by AFP this week cites UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as saying the war had reached "catastrophic proportions for civilians".

After its outbreak in Juba, the war was largely restricted to the northern states of Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei but in the past six months it has expanded into the southern Equatoria region surrounding Juba.

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Former Botswana president Festus Mogae, who leads an international ceasefire monitoring team, told journalists last week that new militia groups were emerging in the country.

The war has left tens of thousands dead and more than three million people displaced.

The humanitarian crisis has been exacerbated by a severe drought which has put thousands at risk of famine in the country.

The UN's humanitarian office OCHA said some 7.5 million people in the country were now in need of humanitarian assistance.
Indonesian diplomats have met with a woman arrested in Malaysia for suspected involvement in the killing of the North Korean leaders half brother and confirmed she is an Indonesian citizen, officials said yesterday.

Authorities have identified her as Siti Aisyah, 25, originally from Serang in Banten, a province that neighbors the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. She was arrested by Malaysian police early yesterday.

Indonesian Immigration Office spokesman Agung Sampurno said that officials from the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur met with the woman in Selangor state, where she has been imprisoned, and ensured she was safe.

They were allowed to see her but cannot make any questions, said Sampurno. However, the team can confirm that Aisyah is Indonesian.

He said a passport ID page published by Indonesian media is the same as the passport held by her.

Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, director of Indonesian Citizen Protection at the Foreign Ministry, said Indonesia would ensure Aisyahs rights are protected and that she has legal assistance.

Malaysian police have now arrested two women and one man in the death of Kim Jong Nam, who was reportedly poisoned on Monday by a pair of female assassins as he waited for a flight at the Kuala Lumpur airport.

Malaysian police said the first woman they arrested had Vietnamese travel documents. Vietnamese Foreign Ministrys Deputy Spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Tra said in a statement that Vietnamese authorities were closely coordinating with Malaysia on the case.

Kumparan, an Indonesian news portal, said Aisyah lived in the Tambora neighborhood in western Jakarta for about 10 years before moving to Malaysia in 2013 along with her husband and children. It cited interviews with former neighbors and said she had returned to Indonesia in 2014 to arrange a divorce.

Sampurno said immigration data showed that Aisyah had visited Indonesia earlier this year and returned by ferry to Johor, Malaysia, from the nearby Indonesian island of Batam on Feb. 2.

Several million Indonesians work in Malaysia as maids and construction and plantation workers.

Investigators in Malaysia are trying to shed light on the death of Kim, which has set off set off waves of speculation over whether North Korea dispatched a hit squad to kill him. Niniek Karmini, AP

Minister: I think he has two different identities

The North Korean who was killed at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 on Monday has been officially confirmed as Kim Jong Nam. Malaysian Deputy Home Minister Zahid Hamidi said the confirmation was made based on the passport held by the victim as well as documents provided by the North Korean Embassy for verification. He also stated that Kim Jong Nam had travelled using the undercover identity of Kim Chol. We have looked into the possibility that he travelled using a fake passport. I think he has two different identities. Probably this is an undercover document. But it is an authentic passport, he mentioned.
By Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court will decide three cases in coming months that could help or hinder President Donald Trump's efforts to ramp up border security and accelerate deportations of those in the country illegally.

The three cases, which reached the court before Democratic President Barack Obama left office, all deal broadly with the degree to which non-citizens can assert rights under the U.S. Constitution. They come at a time when the court is one justice short and divided along ideological lines, with four conservatives and four liberals.

The justices will issue rulings before the end of June against the backdrop of high-profile litigation challenging the lawfulness of Trump's controversial travel ban on people traveling from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

The most pertinent of the three cases in terms of Republican Trump administration priorities involves whether immigrants in custody for deportation proceedings have the right to a hearing to request their release when their cases are not promptly adjudicated.

The long-running class action litigation, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of thousands of immigrants detained for more than six months, includes both immigrants apprehended at the border when seeking illegal entry into the United States and legal permanent residents in deportation proceedings because they were convicted of crimes. The case also could affect long-term U.S. residents who entered the country illegally and have subsequently been detained.

The Trump administration has said it wants to end the release of immigrants facing deportation and speed up the process for ejecting them from the country. A decision in the case requiring additional court hearings could have very direct implications for the administration's plans, said ACLU lawyer Ahilan Arulanantham, especially since immigration courts currently have a backlog of more than 500,000cases.

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The ACLU estimates that up to 8,000 immigrants nationwide at any given time have been held for at least six months. A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official was unable to immediately confirm data on length of detention but said that in fiscal year 2016, the average daily count of detainees was just under 35,000.

"If Trump wants to put more people in deportation but does not increase the number of immigration judges, then people are going to have to wait longer and longer to get a hearing," said Stephen Yale-Loehr, an immigration law professor at Cornell Law School.

The Trump administration has pledged to sharply curtail illegal immigration, with initiatives such as building a wall along the U.S-Mexican border and hiring thousands of federal agents to police the border and arrest and deport immigrants who live in the United States but entered the country illegally. Trump has also threatened to withhold federal funding from so-called "sanctuary cities" that offer protections to immigrants who could face deportation.

CROSS-BORDER SHOOTING

The other cases to be decided concern whether U.S. government officials can be sued over mistreatment of non-citizens in two separate contexts.

One will decide whether the family of 15-year-old Mexican teenager Sergio Hernandez, who was killed while on Mexican soil by a U.S. agent firing from across the border in Texas, can sue under the U.S. Constitution.

It is a scenario that the lawyers for Hernandez's family say could become more frequent if the Trump administration acts on its proposal to increase the number of border guards by 5,000, raising the prospect of similar confrontations. The court hears arguments in that case on Feb. 21.

The second is a civil lawsuit brought by immigrants, mainly Muslims, who were detained in New York after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and claim they were mistreated.

The group of Muslim, Arab and South Asian non-U.S. citizens say they were held as terrorism suspects based on race, religion, ethnicity and immigration status and abused in detention before being deported.

The long-running case focuses on whether senior officials in the administration of Republican President George W. Bush can be sued for their role in directing the action.

The Obama administration argued that the court should be wary of extending liability to the actions of senior officials, especially when it implicates national security and immigration.

Based on the skepticism of the justices during the Jan. 18 oral argument, the court seems likely to rule against the detainees. Chief Justice John Roberts expressed concern that permitting such lawsuits against senior U.S. officials would become "a way of challenging national policy" through litigation seeking monetary damages against the individuals who implemented the policy.

The three cases are separate from litigation over the legality of Trump's travel ban, which could also ultimately be decided by the high court. The key case on that front is now pending before an appeals court in San Francisco after a three-judge panel upheld a lower court decision to put the ban on hold.

Language in the upcoming rulings that address the rights of non-citizens and analyzes how courts should review govenrment action on immigration and national security could have relevance in that case, legal experts say.

Anil Kalhan, an immigration law professor at Drexel University's Kline School of Law, said the furor over the treatment of non-U.S. citizens affected by the travel ban could bleed over into how the court approaches the cases.

"It might be the atmospherics of whats going on now might lead to a closer look from the justices," he said.

(This story has been refiled to correct spelling of Ahilan Arulanantham in paragraph six.)

(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Sue Horton and Jonathan Oatis)
By Olzhas Auyezov ASTANA (Reuters) - With its show of military force, Russia changed the tide of the Syrian civil war. It is finding the next phase -- brokering an end to the fighting -- a tougher proposition. A round of Syria peace talks sponsored by Russia ended on Thursday with no joint communique, usually the minimum outcome of any diplomatic negotiation, and saw opposing Syrian groups exchanging angry tirades at each other and the brokers. With no concrete progress to report, media representatives at the talks venue in ex-Soviet Kazakhstan, were so hungry for a scrap of news that at one point a crowd formed around an Arabic speaker who they thought was a participant in the talks. He turned out to be another journalist. Western diplomats, who say Russian President Vladimir Putin's campaign of air strikes has worsened the conflict, have, in private, reacted to Russia's tribulations as a peacemaker with variations on the phrase: "We told you so." Russia proposed a series of negotiations in the Kazakh capital Astana late last year with the expectation that, as the predominant outside power in Syria following its military intervention, it could break a deadlock that had defied the repeated efforts of the big Western powers and U.N. mediators. Moscow's peace drive started hopefully, with the first Astana meeting in January. The Syrian rebels and government came together for the first time in 9 months, and agreement was reached to consolidate a shaky ceasefire. But by the second round this week, things had gone downhill. The Syrian rebels debated until the eleventh hour about whether to attend at all, finally sending a smaller delegation which arrived in the Kazakh capital a day late. Russia's efforts were hampered by the deep enmity between the rival Syrian sides, but also by contradictions among its co-sponsors. One of them, Turkey, is fiercely opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Russia and the third co-sponsor, Iran, are Assad's staunchest allies. Syrian government negotiator Bashar Jaafari said on Thursday that peace talks in Astana had not produced a communique because of the "irresponsible" late arrival of rebel participants and their Turkish backers which delayed the joint session by a day. He also criticized the rebels and Turkey for downgrading their delegations from the previous meeting. "Turkey cannot ignite the fire and at the same time act as a firefighter," he told a briefing after the talks. The rebels, in turn, accused the Syrian government and Iran of routinely violating the ceasefire and Russia of failing to enforce it. "We know that the Russians have a problem with those for whom they are guarantors," rebel negotiator Yahya al-Aridi told reporters, referring to Tehran and Assad's forces. A STEP TOO FAR According to two sources - a senior French diplomat and an official present for the talks from a country not directly participating - one of the main reasons progress had slowed were Moscow's attempts to expand the talks beyond the ceasefire and discuss political solutions to the Syrian crisis. Moscow has offered the Syrians a draft of a new constitution, Russian negotiator Alexander Lavrentiev told reporters on Thursday. He also said the joint Russia-Turkey-Iran ceasefire monitoring task force agreed upon in Astana in January could in the future expand its activities to include a political settlement of the crisis. But the sources said other parties resisted those efforts, because they were still more focused on the fighting on the ground in Syria. Iran, according to one of the sources, wants to push on with territorial gains achieved by its allies in Syria, while Turkey is hell-bent on not allowing any Kurds near its border. The rebels also indicated they wanted the talks to focus on more down-to-earth matters such as air strikes on their territory - which they said Russia has promised to stop - and release of prisoners. "We did not come here to make incorrect political decisions," said rebel negotiator Mohammad Alloush. CAGED PARROTS Even the hosts for the talks, the Kazakh government, downgraded their presence. A deputy foreign minister welcomed the delegates instead of the minister himself, as was the case in January. The rebels sent 9 people, instead of the 15-person delegation that attended the previous round. Organizers cordoned off most of the lobby of the Rixos Hotel, venue for the meeting, so negotiators could step out and have tea or coffee at tables surrounded by plants and parrots in cages. Several ambassadors from Middle Eastern countries kept walking in and out of a conference room where the talks were being held behind closed doors, but mostly spent their time in the hotel's Irish pub, though they did not appear to drink any alcohol. United Nations special envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura attended the first round of talks where he stressed that Syria's political transition must be discussed in Geneva rather than in Astana. He did not attend the second round, traveling to Moscow instead for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Originally, Thursday's talks were billed as a low-key technical meeting. The co-sponsors then upgraded it last Friday, raising expectations that real progress could be achieved. A successful outcome would have handed a PR coup to Russia right before U.N.-led talks on Syria in Geneva on Feb.23. But instead, Lavrentiev, the Russian negotiator, was left trying to explain why the latest round had ended in acrimony. "The level of mutual distrust is rather high and there were many mutual accusations, but I think we must keep moving forward every time, step by step," he said. (Additional reporting by Raushan Nurshayeva in ASTANA and John Irish in PARIS; Editing by Christian Lowe and Peter Graff)
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (AP)  Tanzania's government has stopped 40 privately run health centers from providing AIDS-related services, accusing them of catering to homosexuals in a country where gay sex is criminalized.

It is the latest move by this East African country to crack down on the activities of homosexuals.

The government believes that non-governmental organizations are using some health centers to promote gay sex, Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu said Thursday while announcing the restrictions.

In Tanzania, gay sex is punishable by up to 30 years in prison. Around two-thirds of African countries criminalize consensual same-sex sexual conduct, according to Amnesty International.

The HIV rate among gay men in Tanzania stands at 30 percent, according to government figures.

The health minister also announced that the government was expanding HIV/AIDs services at 3,000 other health centers across the country.

The news comes about six months after the government threatened to deregister pro-gay civic groups it said were harmful to the "culture of Tanzanians."

In September, the government temporarily suspended HIV/AIDs outreach projects targeting gay men.
NEW YORK (AP)  The early weeks of the Trump administration have widened divides between liberal and conservative Jews, setting off quarrels over anti-Semitism, Israel and the Holocaust.

Well before the 2016 election, discussion over Israel had become so barbed among Jews that Jewish groups began organizing civility training so relationships and holidays wouldn't be ruined. But those disputes have erupted with a new intensity since Donald Trump won the presidency.

They were on display most prominently this week, during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's first visit to the Trump White House and a pair of news conferences during which the president would not directly address questions about anti-Semitism. On Thursday, in one of the most remarkable moments of a riotous back-and-forth with reporters, Trump shut down a Hasidic reporter from an Orthodox magazine who had taken pains to preface his question by saying he knew Trump wasn't anti-Jewish.

Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish civil rights group that has been highly critical of Trump, called the president's response "mind-boggling."

But Mort Klein, president of the hawkish Zionist Organization of America, who has championed Trump as a great ally of Israel, said Trump must have been frustrated by the "relentless and outrageous allegations" of anti-Semitism against him and his White House strategist Steve Bannon. "If there was a hint of anti-Semitism, I would be at their throat," Klein said.

American Jews have been especially on edge because of a surge of anti-Semitic harassment over the course of the presidential campaign and continuing this year. Last month, Jewish community centers and other institutions in 27 states and Canada received what is being investigated as a coordinated series of telephone bomb threats over a period of days, according to the Secure Community Network, formed by Jewish organizations to protect their institutions.

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Many Jewish groups and others had seen animus in the White House statement last month on International Holocaust Remembrance Day that did not mention Jews. The president's aides defended the statement as "inclusive" of all who were killed by the Nazis.

At a news conference with Netanyahu last Wednesday, Trump opened by calling Israel a symbol of "survival in the face of genocide." But when an Israeli reporter asked Trump about the rise in anti-Semitic harassment during the campaign and since his election, he responded by touting his Electoral College total and promising "peace in this country." Netanyahu then took up the question, saying he had known the president, his family and some of his aides for many years and "there is no greater supporter of the Jewish people and the Jewish state than President Donald Trump. I think we should put that to rest."

The response rankled some American Jews. Alana Newhouse, editor-in-chief of Tablet, the online Jewish magazine, addressed the prime minister: "I won't tell you what to be afraid of in your country, and you don't tell me what I should fear in mine."

The next day, a confirmation hearing was held for David Friedman, the combative attorney Trump chose as U.S. envoy to Israel. Friedman, who has deep ties to the Israeli settler movement, had said the Anti-Defamation League sounded like "morons" for accusing Trump of anti-Semitism, and he had called supporters of the dovish pro-Israel lobby J Street "worse than kapos," a reference to Jews who helped the Nazis imprison fellow Jews during the Holocaust.

At the hearing, Friedman apologized for using inflammatory language in the past, and said he regretted not expressing his views of J Street in a more respectful manner. Greenblatt said he had spoken with Friedman about his remarks regarding the ADL and had accepted his apology.

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, head of the liberal Union for Reform Judaism, the largest American Jewish movement, said he met for 90 minutes with Friedman at the nominee's request, "He simply wanted to have a conversation directly," Jacobs said in a phone interview. "He knows how offensive it was."

On Friday, Reform Jewish leaders announced they opposed Friedman's nomination, the first time the movement had ever opposed a president's choice for the position. The ZOA's Klein, meanwhile, said Friedman has "the potential to be the greatest U.S. ambassador to Israel ever."

Jewish issues came to the fore again in a remarkable way during Trump's question-and-answer session on Thursday.

The reporter from the Brooklyn-based Orthodox Ami Magazine, Jake Turx, sporting curly sidelocks and a skullcap embroidered with his Twitter handle, rose to ask his question. While Hillary Clinton won 71 percent of the Jewish vote, Orthodox Jews who backed Trump have taken comfort in his support for Israel, his many Jewish friends and advisers, and especially his Orthodox Jewish daughter, Ivanka, who converted, and her husband and close presidential aide Jared Kushner. Turx opened his question to Trump by noting the president was a "zayde"  which is Yiddish for grandfather  then started to ask about the increased reports of anti-Jewish harassment and hate crimes.

But Trump quickly interrupted, saying "not a fair question," and when Turx tried to continue, said "quiet, quiet, quiet ... I find it repulsive. I hate even the question."

The internal Jewish debate will likely rage on in the coming weeks as Trump's policies on Israel, refugees and immigration take shape.

At Friedman's hearing, three young Jews who belong to the activist group IfNotNow, which opposes Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, stood up to interrupt the proceedings. They shook groggers, or noisemakers, used on the holiday of Purim to drown out the names of enemies of the Jewish people.
Panama City (AFP) - Thousands marched in Panama on Thursday to protest a scandal over huge bribes paid by a Brazilian company in exchange for public contracts.

"No more governments of thieves and the corrupt," read some placards as the crowd moved through the center of the capital to the Congress building.

"The goal of the march is to demand that all those corrupt in all the parties and businessmen are investigated, so they return the money and go to jail," Saul Mendez, a leader of the Suntracs construction union that was among the organizers, told AFP.

The scandal surrounding the Brazilian company Odebrecht, which US authorities said paid $59 million in bribes in Panama between 2010 and 2014, was just "the tip of the iceberg," he said.

Odebrecht has admitted to paying $788 million in bribes to win fat construction contracts in 12 countries. It has agreed with the US Justice Department to pay a world record $3.5-billion fine.

Panama, which is trying to clean up its image after the Panama Papers scandal last year, has asked Interpol to issue wanted alerts for the sons of Ricardo Martinelli, who was president who was president at the time.
Bonn (AFP) - A G20 gathering in Bonn was supposed to herald onto the world stage Washington's new top diplomat, Rex Tillerson, but instead he kept a low profile and even left without the normally de rigueur press conference.

The contrast with his predecessor John Kerry could not be more marked.

The one was an inveterate traveller, ready to talk and answer any questions at nearly any time while Tillerson, the hugely successful head of US oil giant ExxonMobil, appears content to convey his message out of the media limelight.

"Where is Rex Tillerson? Top envoy keeps head down and travels light," a New York Times headline asked during the two-day Bonn G20 foreign ministers' meeting where hundreds of journalists milled around waiting for news.

"Tillerson remains silent on US foreign policy," said top German daily the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

US President Donald Trump sent Tillerson, Defence Secretary James Mattis and Vice President Mike Pence to Europe this week in a major diplomatic offensive to explain what his "America First" policy really means for a world wanting to know.

But the secretary of state had hardly anything to say to the press and his officials issued only short statements after meetings with his peers in the G20 grouping of the world's top developed and developing economies.

"They never give up," Tillerson was heard to tell British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, referring to journalists hoping for a punchy statement on the state of the world before the two men met.

- Strongman reputation -

On the flight to Bonn from Washington, the secretary took only a few journalists along with him and then hardly talked to them, according to their accounts.

But Tillerson is his own man, building a reputation at ExxonMobil for nailing down major deals, especially in Russia where President Vladimir Putin personally decorated him with the Order of Friendship.

His G20 peers also appeared to be struggling as they attempted to get him to spell out clearly what Trump wants after throwing out the accepted US international game plan.

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French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said after meeting Tillerson that the US position on the Israel-Palestinian conflict came across as "confused" while comments about the Iran nuclear deal raised questions.

"There needs to be more precision on many issues; for the moment, it is all very general," Ayrault said.

The FAZ said Tillerson's reticence might reflect caution about getting caught out of step with Trump and the many, sometimes contradictory positions taken by the president.

"For Western diplomats, the reason behind his cautious approach is clear -- his credibility would be wiped out quickly if he had to adjust positions all the time to match the latest line from the White House," the newspaper said.

That leaves some wondering where the balance of power lies in the new US administration -- is Tillerson really Trump's point man on foreign policy?

"Trying to work out the pecking order in the current US administration is like the Kreminology needed (to decipher what was happening in Moscow) in the days of the Soviet Union," one European diplomat joked.

Asked what he had got out of the G20 event, Tillerson kept it typically brief.

"Met a lot of people, made a lot of new friends," he replied.
Bonn (AFP) - US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday used his first meeting with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to urge Beijing to help rein in North Korea after its series of nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

Their talks, the highest level Sino-US encounter since President Donald Trump was elected, had appeared unlikely after he infuriated Beijing by calling into question Washington's long-standing "One China" policy.

Trump however reaffirmed the position in a conciliatory phone call to Chinese President Xi Jinping, mending fences enough for Wang to come to Bonn for a G20 foreign ministers meeting.

"Secretary Tillerson and Minister Wang noted the recent call between leaders and discussed efforts to advance bilateral cooperation while addressing differences in a constructive manner," Mark Toner, acting US State Department spokesman, said.

"Secretary Tillerson also highlighted the increasing threat posed by North Korea's nuclear and missile programs and urged China to use all available tools to moderate North Korea's destabilising behaviour," Toner said.

China is North Korea's last major ally and has shown itself reluctant to put too much pressure on Pyongyang.

- Global trade, protectionism -

In the meantime, reclusive North Korea has made huge strides in both its missile and nuclear weapons programme to the point where it could acquire the capability to hit the US mainland.

Washington has led international efforts to get Pyongyang to reverse course, including imposing sanctions, but all to no avail as its regional allies take fright at North Korea's ambitions.

On Thursday, Tillerson pledged that Washington would use the full range of its arsenal, including nuclear weapons, to defend Japan and South Korea against North Korea, which conducted another ballistic missile test on Sunday.

"The United States remains steadfast in its defence commitments to its allies, the Republic of Korea and Japan, including the commitment to provide extended deterrence, backed by the full range of its nuclear and conventional defence capabilities," Tillerson said in a joint statement with their foreign ministers.

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Washington's recent decision to install a sophisticated THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea especially angered China which condemned the move as a potential threat to its own security.

Toner said Tillerson and Yang "also discussed the need to create a level playing field for trade and investment."

On the campaign trail, Trump regularly attacked China for stealing American jobs and running a massive, unfairly won trade surplus with the United States which he would reverse by whatever means necessary.

Chinese President Xi pointedly made a signature address to the Davos World Economic Forum in January to defend free trade and globalisation which he said were menaced by growing protectionist sentiment.

When the Chinese foreign ministry announced Wang's trip would go ahead, it said Beijing hoped the G20 gathering would "send positive signals on supporting multilateralism, enhancing global governance and creating an innovative, interconnected, open and inclusive world economy."

Several of Trump's cabinet, including Tillerson, have also warned Beijing against throwing its weight about in the South China Sea, insisting the US would intervene if necessary to preserve international rights of navigation.

Although Washington severed ties with Taiwan in 1979, it has retained close links with Taipei, particularly in defence, and Beijing watches closely for any sign of US backsliding.

Taiwan has been ruled separately since Mao Zedong's communists ousted China's Nationalists who fled to the island in 1949.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP)  Malaysia performed a second autopsy on the estranged half brother of North Korea's leader because the first procedure was inconclusive, piling on the intrigue surrounding what appeared to be a well-executed assassination at an airport in Kuala Lumpur, an official said Saturday. Police arrested a fourth suspect, identified as a North Korean man. The second autopsy clearly enraged North Korea, which has vowed to reject the results of any post-mortem and demanded that Malaysia turn over the body immediately. Speaking to reporters outside the morgue late Friday, Pyongyang's ambassador said Malaysian officials may be "trying to conceal something" and "colluding with hostile forces."

Malaysian police have announced the arrest of a fourth suspect, a North Korean, in the death of the half brother of the North Korean leader. A police statement says the man identified as Ri Jong Chol was arrested on Friday in Selangor near Kuala Lumpur. It gave no other details. Two women, one of them Indonesian and the other traveling on a Vietnamese passport, and a boyfriend of one of them, have been arrested earlier on suspicion of involvement in the death of Kim Jong Nam. South Korea has accused its enemies in North Korea of dispatching a hit squad to kill Kim Jong Nam at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, saying two female assassins poisoned him and then fled in a taxi.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  As Malaysian police continue their inquiry into the death of Kim Jong Nam, the outcast half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, there's plenty of speculation surrounding what seems one of the stranger killings the world has recently seen. North Korea killed Kim Jong Nam because he planned to create an exile government around defectors, says one rumor. Kim Jong Un was furious after learning about secret Chinese plans to enthrone his estranged sibling in Pyongyang if something happens to him, says another. Or maybe Pyongyang wasn't involved at all. Perhaps, Kim Jong Nam, known for his carefree lifestyle and gambling habits, angered crime organizations over money problems and that got him killed, say some online arguments.

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BRISBANE, Australia (AP)  A man was critically injured when he was attacked by a shark on Saturday while spear fishing on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, an official said. The 26-year-old was bitten repeatedly on a leg as he dived near Hinchinbrook Island off the coast of Queensland state, Queensland Ambulance Service Supervisor Ange Timmins said. His friends brought him by boat to the town of Cardwell where ambulance officers stopped his bleeding and stabilized his condition, Timmins said. He was flown by helicopter in a critical condition 150 kilometers (90 miles) north to the Cairns Base Hospital, she said. His friends thought the man was attacked by a bull or tiger shark, Timmins said.

ISLAMABAD (AP)  A brutal attack on a beloved Sufi shrine that killed 88 people raised fears that the Islamic State group has become emboldened in Pakistan, aided by an army of homegrown militants benefiting from hideouts in neighboring Afghanistan, analysts and officials said Friday. Pakistani security forces have carried out sweeping country-wide raids following Thursday's bombing of the shrine in Pakistan's southern Sindh province that also wounded 343 people. The military's public relations wing reported on its official twitter account that more than 100 suspected "terrorists" were killed in the raids, while government officials lashed out at Kabul accusing the Afghan government of ignoring earlier pleas to crackdown on militant hideouts.

MILAN (AP)  Italian media says the Bank of China has agreed to pay a 600,000-euro ($640,000) fine as part of a plea deal in a 4.5-billion-euro money laundering probe. The news agency ANSA reported that at a preliminary hearing on Friday, a judge also convicted four bank officials of money-laundering, while dropping an aggravating charge of employing Mafia methods, and handed down suspended two-year sentences. The judge also ordered the seizure of 980,000 euros, ANSA said, a sum equal to what prosecutors say were the bank's profits in the scheme. The Bank of China said the plea deal was aimed at "avoiding a long trial and allowing the Milan branch to concentrate on developing its own business." It said the Milan branch had respected national and international laws.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  A desolate but lovely volcano on the North Korea-China border could be the key to unraveling the sudden, mysterious death of an exiled scion of North Korean royalty. South Korea's spy agency believes that Kim Jong Nam was assassinated this week in a Malaysian airport as part of a five-year plot by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to kill a brother he reportedly never met. If this is right, the motive likely has more to do with their shared bloodlines  and that volcano  than any specific transgression. Here's why: The volcano  Mount Paektu, which is topped with a deep crater lake  is at the heart of North Korea's foundation myth, and is used to legitimize the Kim family's three generations of power.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)  The Islamic State group launched an attack on Afghan security posts killing 17 soldiers, an Afghan official said Friday. Ahmad Ali Hazrat, chief of the provincial council in the province, said the attack Thursday night took place in the Dih Bala district in eastern Nangarhar province. Hazrat said IS fighters attacked Army security posts from three directions and after several hours of heavy fighting, 17 army soldiers were dead. General Doulat Waziri , spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, said soldiers killed 21 IS fighters. Also on Friday, an Afghan provincial official said Taliban forces stormed several Afghan security posts in eastern Kunar province, killing five police officers.

Pakistan's highest ranking foreign ministry official says neighbor Afghanistan has ignored repeated demands to take action against militants targeting Pakistan from sanctuaries on its soil following a horrific attack on a shrine that killed dozens. The Islamic State took responsibility and on Friday and Sartaj Aziz called Afghanistan's National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar to complain of inaction against Pakistani insurgents operating on its territory. Meanwhile, Pakistan says its paramilitary Frontier Corps came under fire by militants in Afghanistan and they retaliated with heavy artillery fire. Afghan officials say the artillery barrage wounded two children and forced scores of families to flee their homes.

ISLAMABAD (AP)  Militant attacks in Pakistan have killed hundreds of people over the past three years, including many women and children. On Friday, security forces carried out sweeping raids, gunning down and arresting dozens, a day after a massive suicide bombing killed 88 worshippers at a Sufi shrine in the country's south. The attack, claimed by an Islamic State affiliate in Pakistan, raised questions about the ability of the authorities to rein in militant groups despite several recent offensives targeting insurgents. Here are some of the deadliest attacks in Pakistan in the last three years: 2017: __Feb. 16: An Islamic State suicide bomber strikes inside a famed Sufi shrine in southern Sindh province, killing 88 worshippers as they were performing a devotional dance known as "dhamal." __Feb.
Tokyo (AFP) - Shares in troubled conglomerate Toshiba dived again Friday as Standard & Poor's warned it may cut its credit rating while a possible saviour of the Japanese firm's loss-hit nuclear unit reportedly ruled out any rescue deal.

Investors have sliced more than 20 percent off its Tokyo-listed stock this week as Toshiba, one of Japan's best-known firms, warned of huge losses and possible accounting fraud at its US nuclear arm Westinghouse Electric.

On Friday, shares plunged 9.2 percent to end the day 184 yen ($1.62) with worries swirling that the firm will be booted off the Tokyo Stock Exchange's prestigious first section as its finances deteriorate.

S&P said it may downgrade the conglomerates credit rating again, while Shunichi Miyanaga, the head of Japanese industrial giant Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), told the Financial Times that he had ruled out a rescue of Toshiba's ailing nuclear unit.

There has been speculation Toshiba may need to join forces with another firm involved in atomic power to keep the business from crashing.

But Miyanaga told the newspaper in an interview published Friday that MHI and Toshiba's nuclear businesses were too different to make a merger work.

"When you see all this negative news... there is a temptation to keep on selling," Toshihiko Matsuno, chief strategist at SMBC Friend Securities, told AFP.

Toshiba shares are down about 60 percent since December, when it first warned of problems at Westinghouse.

On Tuesday, Toshiba shocked markets when it failed to report its results for April-December as scheduled then said it needed more time to sort out the situation at the troubled atomic division.

Instead it issued a grim preliminary forecast of a net loss of 390 billion yen ($3.4 billion) in the fiscal year to March, dragged by a writedown topping $6 billion at Westinghouse.

Toshiba also said it opened probe into possible wrongdoing by the unit's senior executives while chairman Shigenori Shiga, who once headed Westinghouse, quit.

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Citing unnamed sources, Japan's Kyodo news agency has said the unit's executives pressured underlings to understate losses linked to nuclear plant construction.

Less than two years ago, Toshiba, which makes everything from trains to memory chips, suffered an embarrassing profit-padding scandal that involved bosses pressuring subordinates to cover up weak earnings.

Since then it has launched a major restructuring, including selling its medical devices unit and most of its home appliance business. Toshiba is also moving to spin off its prized memory chip arm.
The woman was nine weeks pregnant. She and her husband had recently been kicked out of her in-laws' home in the refugee camp where the whole family lived on the Thai-Myanmar border.

Two days after a routine checkup and ultrasound at a camp clinic, in which she raised no alarms with the clinicians who saw her, the 18-year-old woman and her 22-year-old husband each drank a cup of herbicide and went to their bed in her father's house to die.

The couple left no real explanation for their suicides, but a recent report on their case in the journal BMJ Case Reports highlights the risks for refugees: Cut off from their homelands and from many of the usual sources of social support, most refugees also lack access to mental health care. It's a problem that persists not only along the Thai-Myanmar border, where decades of conflict have created semi-permanent camp settlements, but also in the Middle East and Europe among Syrians displaced by the civil war in their country. [5 Myths About Suicide, Debunked]

"I often think, 'Could we have said something more or been more proactive somehow and helped her?'" said Gracia Fellmeth, a public health researcher at Oxford University in the U.K. and lead author of the case report published in September 2016.

The refugee experience

Fellmeth and her colleagues met the woman while they were doing a study of depression and mental health in refugees at the Maela camp, which is home to about 38,000 people, mostly ethnic minority refugees from Myanmar. Conflict in Myanmar has been ongoing for decades, and the camps have become a permanent home for many refugees who have nowhere else to go, Fellmeth told Live Science. There is very limited access to health care, with two non-governmental organizations providing the bulk of services. Mental health professionals are nearly nonexistent within the camps, she and her colleagues wrote in BMJ Case Reports. There is no psychiatrist, only a small team of counselors with three months' training.

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A similar dearth of mental health care persists for Syrian refugees. A 2015 report by the International Medical Corps found that 54 percent of Syrian refugees interviewed in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and within Syria itself (where many were internally displaced by fighting) had a severe emotional disorder, typically anxiety or depression. The displaced people cited stressors ranging from the continued fear of violence, limited access to education and health care, inability to work and discrimination from people in the host country.

"You really got a sense of hopelessness, just really feeling at a loss," said Alessandra Von Burg, a communications professor at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, who studies citizenship and who visited refugee and migrant camps in Italy and Greece in 2016. "The one thing that we did also hear a lot is that [hopelessness and loss becomes] translated into cynicism and distrust."

Life in limbo

The causes of mental health disorders in refugees are not necessarily the same as the causes of these conditions in people who are not refugees, according to a 2015 report by UNHCR, the United Nations' refugee commission. Depression and anxiety are natural responses to displacement and disruption, the authors wrote.

"Difficult life circumstances often lead to demoralisation and hopelessness, and may be related to profound and persistent existential concerns of safety, trust, coherence of identity, social role and society," they wrote. [Psychology of Immigration: Why Responses to Migrant Crisis Vary]

For the permanent refugee populations along the Thai-Myanmar border, life is on hold, with little opportunity to move forward. Refugees can't legally work, Fellmeth said, though many act as illegal laborers because the food rations at the camps aren't enough to feed a family.

"People are just bored," Fellmeth said. "There's not much to do in the camps."

Similarly, refugees from Syria and migrants from other war-torn places like Libya are in limbo, Von Burg said. According to the United Nations, more than half of the displaced people from Syria are children, and three-quarters of those are under age 12. Nearly half of the Syrian refugee children evaluated in one study in Turkey met the criteria for having clinical anxiety, according to a 2015 paper in the journal Global Mental Health. Young men traveling alone were particularly hopeless and frustrated at the camps Von Burg visited.

"A lot of the males, particularly those traveling by themselves, really had no support system," she said.

In the Maela camp, Fellmeth's research found, around 30 percent of women have symptoms of depression. Mild or moderate symptoms are the most common, but that fact no longer comforts Fellmeth or her colleagues: The 18-year-old who drank herbicide with her husband exhibited only mild symptoms two days before their suicide.

"That suddenly made us look at all the women who had these very low-grade symptoms and take even the mild end of the spectrum more seriously," Fellmeth said.

Paired suicides are rare, representing less than 1 percent of all suicides, Fellmeth and her colleagues wrote. (According to the World Health Organization, there were around 800,000 suicide deaths globally in 2012, the last year for which complete data are available.) The woman did not seem to be physically coerced into the act, but psychological coercion is possible, the researchers wrote. No one ever psychologically assessed the woman's husband, and it's unclear why the couple killed themselves. The husband did use drugs and alcohol, a risk factor for suicide, and the woman had cited family tensions as a cause of her own feelings of unhappiness.

Some aid agencies in Europe, Turkey and the Middle Eastern countries that are taking in large numbers of Syrian refugees are attempting to provide mental health services. The Israel-based humanitarian agency IsraAID, for example, has sent psychologists to Lesvos (also called Lesbos) Island, where many migrants and refugees arrive in Greece after dangerous sea crossings. International Medical Corps provides services as well. Even the MV Aquarius, a rescue boat operated by SOS Mediterranee and Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), takes counselors aboard when it ventures into the Mediterranean in search of stranded or swamped dinghies overcrowded with refugees and migrants, Von Burg said. At the Maela camp on the Myanmar border, the community is becoming more aware of mental health issues, Fellmeth said, and there are an increasing number of counselors available to provide talk therapy.

But whether on the border of Myanmar or the shores of Greece and Italy, access to care remains scant, Fellmeth and Von Burg said.

"It's never enough in terms of numbers," Von Burg said, "because the numbers are so big."

Original article on Live Science.

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So deadly its considered a terrorist threat, carfentanil has been legal in China  until now. Beijing is banning carfentanil and three similar drugs as of March 1, Chinas Ministry of Public Security said yesterday, closing a major regulatory loophole in the fight to end Americas opioid epidemic.

It shows Chinas attitude as a responsible big country, Yu Haibin, the director of the Office of the National Narcotics Control Committee, told the Associated Press. It will be a strong deterrent.

He added that China is actively considering other substances for sanction, including U-47700, an opioid marketed as an alternative to banned fentanyls. China said the March 1 ban will also apply to carfentanils less-potent cousins furanyl fentanyl, acryl fentanyl and valeryl fentanyl.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration called Chinas move a potential game-changer that is likely to have a big impact in the U.S., where opioid demand has driven the proliferation of a new class of deadly drugs made by nimble chemists to stay one step ahead of new rules like this one. After China controlled 116 synthetic drugs in October 2015, seizures in the United States of compounds on that list plunged.

Its a substantial step in the fight against opioids here in the United States, said Russell Baer, a DEA special agent in Washington. Were persuaded it will have a definite impact.

Legally used as an anesthetic for elephants and other large animals, carfentanil burst into the North American drug supply last summer, causing hundreds of unsuspecting drug users to overdose. The DEA confirmed more than 400 seizures of carfentanil across eight U.S. states from July through October. So lethal an amount smaller than a poppy seed can kill a person, carfentanil was researched for years as a chemical weapon and used by Russian forces to subdue Chechen separatists at a Moscow theater in 2002.

New data from DEA laboratories suggests the supply of furanyl fentanyl is now surging. DEA labs identified 44 samples of furanyl fentanyl in the last three months of 2016, up three-fold from the prior quarter.

Though Beijing has said U.S. assertions that China is the top source of fentanyls lack evidence, the two countries have deepened cooperation as the U.S. opioid epidemic intensifies. Beijing already regulates fentanyl and 18 related compounds, even though they are not widely abused domestically. Since 2016, China has arrested dozens of synthetic drug exporters, destroyed eight illegal labs and seized around 2 tons of new psychoactive substances, according to the Office of the National Narcotics Control Committee.

But the battle against rapidly evolving synthetic drugs is complicated by the deeply global nature of the narcotics trade and the deeply national nature of law enforcement. Some online drug vendors host their websites on servers abroad to thwart police. All benefit by submerging their illicit packages in the vast tides of legitimate commerce shipped or sent by courier from China.

One example of the kind of global coordination needed to take down synthetic drug barons is the case of Zhang Lei, whom the U.S. Treasury Department designated a drug kingpin in 2014. China shared 4,221 clues with 58 countries and areas in the hunt for Zhang, Chinese drug control authorities said. Zhang was sentenced to 14 years in Chinese prison last year, according to one of his lawyers, Fan Renzhong.

In October, the AP identified 12 Chinese companies willing to export carfentanil around the world for a few thousand dollars a kilogram (2.2. pounds), no questions asked. That same month China began evaluating whether to ban carfentanil and the three other drugs. Usually, the process can take nine months. This time, it took just four. Good international cooperation and effective early warning systems to track the emergence of novel drugs helped speed the process, Chinese drug control officials said.

Chinas action is a hopeful sign of political and strategic law enforcement cooperation, said Jeremy Douglas, a regional representative for the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime in Bangkok. But having legislation is a first step. The law will need to be enforced effectively.

Offers for carfentanil from Chinese vendors were scarce yesterday, but the AP quickly secured five offers to export furanyl fentanyl to the United States. Some vendors also pushed U-47700.

One news I just got is that the carfentanil and furanyl fentanyl etc opioid analogs will be controlled in China on March 1 effective, one vendor called Ete wrote in an email. So if you need them pls make it before that day. After that day it will be unavailable.

The vendor did not immediately respond to a request for comment from AP. Erika Kinetz, Shanghai, AP
Munich (Germany) (AFP) - The bond between Europe and America is the "strongest bulwark" against instability and violence, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said Friday as he tried to calm jittery allies seeking clarity from Donald Trump's White House.

International partners remain deeply troubled after Trump's campaign rhetoric questioned long-established alliances, and they worry about a growing scandal over possible ties between some of Trump's staff and Moscow.

"The transatlantic bond remains our strongest bulwark against instability and violence," Mattis told the Munich Security Conference.

"I am confident that we will strengthen our partnerships, confronting those who choose to attack innocent people or our democratic processes and freedoms."

Mattis, a retired four-star Marine general who spent years working with international partners, has often taken a divergent tone from his boss, hammering the importance of transatlantic ties and sounding a skeptical tone on the potential for military cooperation with Russia.

Trump has said he is open to closer cooperation with Moscow on Syria, particularly in the fight against the Islamic State jihadist group.

But Mattis told a NATO summit on Thursday that he is not "in a position right now to collaborate on a military level" with Moscow and said Russia must first "prove itself" and follow international law before envisioning any closer military ties.

Conference chairman Wolfgang Ischinger said the situation was unprecedented in modern history and described a "massive uncertainty" gripping the continent.

"European leaders and European governments are leaders are extremely impatient to find out what will really drive US foreign policy in this new period," he said, underscoring that many in Europe are clamouring to find out about the future of US-Russian relations.

The White House is still reeling from the forced resignation Monday of Trump's national security advisor, Michael Flynn, after he held pre-inauguration phone calls with the Russian ambassador about US sanctions policy.

Trump, who has repeatedly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Thursday denied he or his staff had any pre-election contacts with Moscow.

"I have nothing to do with Russia," Trump said. "The whole Russia thing is a ruse."
Legal and domestic violence advocates in Texas have blasted the arrest of an undocumented transgender woman, who was detained by immigration agents after appearing in court for a protective order against an alleged abuser.

The woman, a Mexican citizen living in El Paso and identified by her initials I.E.G., received a protective order last Thursday against an allegedly abusive partner accused of attacking her in at least three increasingly violent incidents she reported to police, County Attorney Jo Anne Bernal said.

The last incident involved her partner chasing her with a knife, which he then allegedly threw at the woman but missed, Bernal said.

After Judge Joe Gonzalez granted the protective order, the woman spoke with her attorney in a jury room and then attempted to leave, but was met by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE], Bernal said.

One agent had allegedly sat through the proceedings at the El Paso County Courthouse, while another waited outside the courtroom, she said.

"In all our years... none of us can recall an incident where immigration agents made their presence known inside a courtroom... especially not in a courtroom that is reserved for victims of domestic violence," Bernal said.

Read: Mother of 2 Deported to Mexico as Family Continues to Fight for Her Safe Return

The agents escorted her down the hallway, into an elevator and outside the building, where she was detained, Bernal said.

She said she believes a domestic violence courtroom should be treated like a sensitive location, afforded the same consideration as a school, health care facility, place of worship or religious observance, saying the sole reason a person turns to that court is for "solace or protection."

Bernal speculated that federal agents likely received a tip that the woman was appearing in court from her alleged abuser, who she said was the only other person who was given written notice of the hearing.

Story continues

In a statement to InsideEdition.com, an ICE spokeswoman said task force agents assigned to Homeland Security Investigations [HSI] El Pasos Border Enforcement Security Task Force [BEST] received a tip from another law enforcement agency that the woman had illegally re-entered the U.S. after she was previously deported.

It was not immediately clear, however, how the agents came to know she was set to appear in court last Thursday.

According to an arrest affidavit filed by ICE, agents were conducting surveillance at the courthouse when they spotted the woman, who they noted lived at the Center Against Sexual and Family Violence.

I.E.G. allegedly admitted to being a Mexican citizen who was in the U.S. without legal status, the affidavit said.

It did not mention the agents having any contact with I.E.G. inside the courthouse or the courtroom.

The ICE spokeswoman said the woman had a lengthy criminal history with at least eight convictions on charges including false imprisonment, assault, domestic violence and illegal re-entry, and had been deported six times.

Over the years, BEST has become a successful interagency law enforcement collaboration model thats keeping our communities and the United States safer, the statement said. BEST El Paso is composed of full-time members from various local, state and other federal agencies. BEST El Paso, through intelligence-driven initiatives, is responsible for identifying, investigating and eliminating vulnerabilities to one of the nations busiest border areas with Mexico.

Bernal said the woman had no current outstanding state warrants, and authorities from El Paso added that any previous convictions do not negate a domestic victims right to protection.

I dont think it matters what your status is in the country, I think everybody has a right to live free of violence, said El Paso District Attorney Jaime Esparza, saying the arrest "sends a horrible message to victims of domestic violence on whether or not theyre actually going to have the ability to seek justice in the courthouse."

Read: After Super Bowl Ads Get Political, Demands Grow for Boycotts on Some American Brands

Stephanie Karr, executive director at the Center Against Sexual & Family Violence in El Paso where the woman reportedly lived, said the organization has received multiple phone calls from survivors asking if they too will be arrested.

Theyre saying, I came forward, am I in danger now? Karr said, noting she and her colleagues are alarmed they cant say for certain whether they are safe.

Thus far, no one has reached out to the district attorneys office to change a hearing date as a result of the incident last week, Esparza said.

The alleged domestic violence victim is being held at the El Paso County Jail under a federal ICE detainer.

Bernal said that an attorney from her office met with the woman on Thursday morning and that she seems to have a pretty positive attitude, given her surroundings.

The woman, who is currently segregated and not in general population, will be represented by a public defender on the criminal charges she faces and an immigration lawyer on her immigration charges, officials said.

Bernal said she and her associates on Friday will meet with Rep. Beto ORourke (D-Texas), an El Paso native, to discuss the incident, noting she hopes to have a "positive resolution" going forward.

"We are hoping this is an isolated incident; we fear that it is not," she said. "The courthouse is not a place for enforcement of immigration law."

Watch: Undocumented Mother of 4 Fearing Deportation Moves Into Church

Related Articles:
Charleston (United States) (AFP) - US President Donald Trump on Friday held a rally at a Boeing factory that just voted against unionizing, marking the unveiling of the company's latest "Dreamliner" aircraft.

Even as the aerospace giant hopes the new president will not follow through on his protectionist rhetoric, Trump doubled-down on his "made in America" manufacturing policy.

At the rally in South Carolina, he also repeated his promise to prevent firms from offshoring jobs and go after countries that are "cheating" in trade relations.

"This is our mantra, buy American and hire American," Trump told the cheering crowd. "We want products made in America, made by American hands."

He said "it has to be much easier to manufacture in our country and much harder to leave. I don't want companies leaving our country."

"We're not letting that happen anymore, folks. Believe me, there will be a very substantial penalty to be paid when they fire their people and move to another country," he said.

He also repeated his pledge to cut corporate taxes and "massively reduce job crushing regulations."

Trump said he will create a level field for American workers in trade relations.

"We are going to enforce, very strongly, enforce our trade rules and stop foreign cheating. Tremendous cheating. Tremendous cheating."

The plant showcased the first of the latest update of the Boeing-787 "Dreamliner" planes to come off the production line. The larger version of the aircraft that has been on the market since 2011, it can carry 330 passengers and fly up to 6,430 nautical miles.

Boeing already has delivered more than 500 Dreamliner planes and received 149 orders for the 787-10.

On Tuesday, an overwhelming 74 percent of 2,828 Boeing South Carolina employees who cast votes rejected the overtures by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers to unionize the plant that produces the 787. Boeing employs 7,500 overall in the southern state.

Story continues

The US South has historically been hostile to unionization, a factor in the decision by automobile makers from Europe and Japan to build plants in the region.

Boeing's investment in South Carolina was cemented with the $1 billion purchase in 2009 of Vought Aircraft Industries, which had been a supplier to Boeing on the 787 program.

Trump's visit could give Boeing a chance to score points with the new president. Shortly after the election, Trump publicly blasted Boeing over the high costs of the new version of the 747 that serves as the Air Force One presidential plane.

"Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!" Trump said on Twitter on December 6.

Trump stepped back from that criticism after Boeing promised to work to keep costs of the plane under control. However, as the sole major US aerospace manufacturer, it likely has a hold on the contract in any case.
(Reuters) - Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday: RUSSIA Trump dismisses a growing controversy about ties between his aides and Russia as a "ruse" and a "scam" perpetrated by a hostile news media, and denies any of his associates had contacts with Moscow before last year's election. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, at NATO headquarters in Brussels, says he does not see the conditions for military collaboration with Russia - a blow to Moscow's hopes for repairing ties with the United States following Trump's election. SECURITY Trump says he will issue a new executive order to replace his controversial directive suspending travel to the United States by citizens of seven mostly Muslim countries. CABINET AND ADMINISTRATION Trump announces his new choice to lead the Department of Labor, former National Labor Relations Board member Alexander Acosta, after his original pick withdrew under congressional pressure. Trump's choice for national security adviser, retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward, has turned down the offer, a senior White House official says. The Senate moves closer to approving President Donald Trump's pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency even as nearly 800 former officials urge the chamber to reject the nominee. U.S.-ISRAEL The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations says the United States still supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a day after Trump suggested he was open to new ways to achieve peace. Trump's uttering the phrase "one-state" - rather than a two-state solution to the conflict, the bedrock of international diplomacy for two decades - took him to a place in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where past presidents feared to tread. Trump's nominee to be ambassador to Israel faces repeated heckling at a Senate confirmation hearing before apologizing for his stinging criticism of liberal American Jews and promising to be less inflammatory in an official capacity. SUPREME COURT The confirmation hearing for Trump's U.S. Supreme Court nominee, conservative federal appeals court Judge Neil Gorsuch, will begin on March 20, the panel's Republican chairman says. IMMIGRATION Businesses shut their doors, students skip class and thousands of demonstrators take to the streets in cities across the United States on Thursday to Trump's immigration policies. HEALTHCARE Trump and Republicans in Congress say they will soon unveil plans to repeal and replace Obamacare, providing a timeframe for a legislative goal they have struggled with for weeks. (Compiled by Bill Trott and Jonathan Oatis; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Peter Cooney)
By Ayesha Rascoe and Dan Levine WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will issue a new executive order to replace his controversial directive suspending travel to the United States by citizens of seven mostly Muslim countries. At a White House news conference on Thursday, Trump said the new order would seek to address concerns raised by federal appeals court judges, who temporarily blocked his original travel ban. "The new order is going to be very much tailored to what I consider to be a very bad decision," Trump said, adding: "We had a bad court." Trump gave no details about the replacement order. Legal experts said a new directive would have a better chance of withstanding courtroom scrutiny if it covered some non-Muslim countries and exempted non-citizen immigrants living in the U.S. legally. The original order, issued on Jan. 27, triggered chaos at some U.S. and overseas airports, led to international protests, complaints from U.S. businesses and drew more than a dozen legal challenges. In a court filing on Thursday, the Justice Department asked for a pause in proceedings before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which sided with a federal court in Washington state to suspend the travel ban, while litigation over its legality according to the U.S. Constitution played out. The Justice Department asked the court to vacate that ruling once the administration has rescinded its original order and issued a new one. In an order later on Thursday, the 9th Circuit put proceedings over the ban on hold but did not say whether it would eventually withdraw its previous ruling. The ban has been deeply divisive in the United States, with a Reuters/Ipsos poll indicating about half of Americans supported it shortly after the order took effect. LEGAL UNCERTAINTY Trumps decision to issue a new directive plunges court proceedings over his earlier order into uncertainty. Litigants around the country said they will carefully examine any new policy to see if it raises similar constitutional issues and will continue to pursue legal action if necessary. Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who filed the case that produced the 9th Circuit ruling, claimed victory on Thursday. Todays court filing by the federal government recognizes the obvious - the presidents current executive order violates the Constitution, Ferguson said, in a statement. President Trump could have sought review of this flawed order in the Supreme Court but declined to face yet another defeat. Trump has said travel limitations are necessary to protect the United States from attacks by Islamist militants. His original order barred people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the country for 90 days. Refugees were banned for 120 days, except those from Syria, who were banned indefinitely. Trump said on Thursday that the widely criticized rollout had been "very smooth" and once again blamed the court for "a bad decision." The Justice Department court filing on Thursday said Trump's order would be "substantially revised" but provided no more details than the president did at his press conference. Last week an congressional aide who asked not to be identified told Reuters that Trump might rewrite the original order to explicitly exclude green card holders, who have legal permission to live and work in the United States. Stephen Griffin, a professor of constitutional law at Tulane University, said adding non-Muslim countries could also help a new order withstand accusations that it discriminates based on religion. Given that the administration already identified the seven Muslim-majority countries as a threat, he said, it would be unlikely to remove any of those. "I'd speculate they would add to the list, as opposed to walk it back," he said. (Additional reporting by Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; Editing by Caren Bohan and Bill Rigby)
By Robert Iafolla and Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Thursday nominated former National Labor Relations Board member R. Alexander Acosta to serve as U.S. secretary of labor, one day after Trump's original choice withdrew. Acosta is dean of the Florida International University College of Law in Miami and is Trumps first Hispanic nominee. Acosta has had a decades-long public service career, serving in three presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed positions, and is expected to face a smooth confirmation process. "Mr. Acosta's nomination is off to a good start because he's already been confirmed by the Senate three times," said Senator Lamar Alexander, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions that will be vetting the nomination. Acosta was appointed to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) by former Republican President George W. Bush, who also appointed him to be assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. He was then appointed to be U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, where he went after high-profile defendants such as Jack Abramoff and UBS, resulting in the Swiss bank paying more than $750 million in fines for a tax-avoidance scheme. Acosta also previously served as a law clerk to Samuel Alito from 1994 to 1995, when the conservative Supreme Court justice was a judge at the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. I thank the President and his staff for their confidence in me and I am eager to work tirelessly on behalf of the American worker, Acosta said in a statement. While at the NLRB, Acosta signed hundreds of opinions. Those familiar with his work describe him as a careful and cautious public servant whose career trajectory suggested he may someday vie for a federal judgeship. Because he has already gone through multiple vettings by the U.S. Senate, it is unlikely there will be any surprises in his background that could derail his nomination. The choice of Acosta, a traditional Republican conservative, is seen by some as a sign that Trump was forced to give up a more aggressive policy on worker issues. Trump's first labor secretary pick, Andrew Puzder, the chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants Inc, was outspoken in opposition to issues such as overtime pay, minimum wage hikes and even discussed the superiority of robots over human workers. He removed his name from consideration on Wednesday amid concerns he could not garner enough Senate votes to be confirmed. This is the humbling of Donald Trump, said Seth Harris, a former Acting Labor Secretary during the Obama administration, who said Puzder would have been a "radical disruptor" but Acosta won't be. Acosta has been a staunch defender of the civil rights of Muslims who faced a backlash after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. In a 2011 congressional hearing, Acosta applauded how the Justice Department responded to civil rights violations, saying they helped assure Muslim Americans that "their government would protect their rights." Some progressive groups were already responding negatively to the Acosta appointment, with Allied Progress alleging he had mismanaged the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division when he ran it. In 2008, an internal Justice Department report faulted Acosta for failing to rein in a staffer who engaged in improper politicized hiring. However, the response to Acosta's nomination from union groups who had staunchly opposed Puzder was much more measured on Thursday. "Unlike Andy Puzder, Alexander Acostas nomination deserves serious consideration," said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. "In one day, weve gone from a fast-food CEO who routinely violates labor law to a public servant with experience enforcing it." (Additional reporting by Amanda Becker and Roberta Rampton; Writing by Sarah N. Lynch and Susan Heavey; Editing by Linda Stern and James Dalgleish)
Washington (AFP) - The US Senate on Friday confirmed fossil-fuel ally and global warming skeptic Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency, installing a legal expert at the helm of a department he has repeatedly sued.

President Donald Trump's pick for EPA administrator was among the most contentious of his cabinet nominees, and Democrats held an all-night session on the Senate floor in a failed bid to block his confirmation.

Pruitt was confirmed largely along party lines, 52 to 46 -- a clear relief for the White House two days after Trump's nominee for secretary of labor withdrew his nomination amid business and personal controversy.

Two Democrats from coal-rich states, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, voted for Pruitt.

As attorney general for the state of Oklahoma, the 48-year-old Republican has filed or joined in more than a dozen law suits to block key EPA rules, siding with industry executives and activists seeking to roll back various regulations on pollution, clean air and clean water.

He assumes control of an agency that under former president Barack Obama was responsible for implementing sweeping environmental regulations governing clean air and water, greenhouse gases and vehicle fuel emissions.

Pruitt's opponents scoffed at Trump's suggestion that Pruitt will be a capable environmental steward.

"Republicans are turning their backs on decades of bipartisan environmental progress," number two Senate Democrat Dick Durbin said.

"Pruitt has demonstrated time and again his unwillingness to accept the science of climate change and his contempt for the laws protecting our air and drinking water," he added.

During his confirmation hearing Pruitt countered critics who see him as a climate skeptic, telling senators that "human activity in some manner" affects climate change.

Democrats had called unsuccessfully for a delay on the vote until after Tuesday, the day a court has ordered the Oklahoma attorney general's office to release some 3,000 emails between Pruitt or his team and executives of the fossil fuel industry.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Though Donald Trump fashions himself a loyal boss, his inner circle has been steadily shrinking  revealing Trump's willingness to cast aside some of his most devoted advisers.

This week, National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was added to the list of Trump's left-behind loyalists. He joined New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and campaign managers Corey Lewandowski and Paul Manafort.

Flynn, Christie and Giuliani once made a trio of firebrands who were frequent travel companions, and all delivered incendiary speeches during the Republican National Convention last summer. But in the seven months since their primetime star turns in Cleveland, they have all been sidelined, leaving questions as to whether the influence of the conservative insurgents who helped drive Trump's winning campaign might be waning and the more orthodox GOP elements steering the West Wing on the rise.

And while Trump has shown a tendency to temporarily stick with embattled true believers  such as Lewandowski, who had been arrested for assaulting a female reporter  he has eventually signed off on their exits even as he laid fault for the dismissals at the feet of others.

Trump on Wednesday blamed leaks from the intelligence agencies and biased reporting from the "fake media" that led to Flynn's resignation after the national security adviser misled Vice President Mike Pence about his contact with a Russian official.

"Michael Flynn, Gen. Flynn is a wonderful man," said Trump during an appearance with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. "I think he's been treated very, very unfairly by the media."

Despite his praise for Flynn, Trump later said he himself fired the national security adviser. And just hours after Trump's blustery defense of Flynn, his administration was forced to accept the withdrawal of his choice for labor secretary, fast-food CEO Andy Puzder, amid concerns that he would have not have received Senate confirmation.

Story continues

The rash of exits has also threatened to change the tenor of Trump's inner circle, which at times has simmered with tensions between populist outsiders and establishment Republicans. Some close to Trump believe that the leaks that have battered the White House in recent days are born from the president's decision to turn his back on some of his loyalists.

"I think that in the newest administration you should hire as many experienced capable people who are supporters of yours and who are loyal to Donald Trump from the beginning," Roger Stone, a longtime Trump adviser, said Thursday on NBC's "Today." ''The leaking that is coming out of the White House is a manifestation of the fact that there are some people who are not loyal to the president."

It is hardly unusual for a president to lose key allies while making the transition from campaigning to governing, even if this may exceed the norm, said Ari Fleischer, press secretary for President George W. Bush.

"Presidents lose advisers, presidents lose Cabinet picks," said Fleischer. "The key is to trust your personnel and trust your institutions to get through it."

But unlike the actions of other presidents, the act of firing someone has long been central to Trump's public persona. He rocketed to national stardom on the back of the reality show "The Apprentice," which presented him in living rooms across the country as a decisive CEO, one willing to part ways with substandard employees.

While promoting that show, he suggested that he actually "didn't like" to fire people. And during the campaign, he frequently touted his reluctance to fire campaign manager Lewandowski, telling a town hall crowd last spring that he was "a loyal person" and that "it would be so easy for me to terminate this man, ruin his life, ruin his family."

While he held onto Lewandowski as he rolled through the Republican primaries, the celebrity businessman  or, rather, Trump's adult children and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner  did eventually fire the campaign manager once the candidate's poll numbers bogged down in the early stages of the general election.

Trump, who behind the scenes has long fostered a culture of rivalry among his aides, also later moved on from his second campaign manager, Paul Manafort, in August once reporters began questioning Manafort's contacts with Russian officials.

Christie, who provided a key early endorsement, was stripped of his job running the transition and he was passed over for an administration post. Giuliani, who was Trump's fiercest attack dog during the last weeks of the campaign, openly campaigned to be named secretary of state, a public play that alienated Trump, who had grown leery of the former mayor's consulting work for foreign governments and was concerned that Giuliani didn't have the gravitas of an international statesman. And while Flynn had become Trump's top adviser on national security and foreign policy matters and delivered daily intelligence briefings, revelations about his discussions with a Russian official led to a "gradual erosion of trust" with the president, according to press secretary Sean Spicer.

But in Trump's world, a firing doesn't always mean goodbye. He still talks regularly to Lewandowski and Stone, with whom he had parted ways early in the campaign. Giuliani was named head of a cybersecurity task force that met at the White House last month, an apparent consolation prize. And Christie was invited to lunch at the White House earlier this week to discuss efforts to battle opioid addiction.

And the departures, seemingly so unlikely seven months ago in Cleveland, may have been foreshadowed by Trump himself.

"I rely on a few key people to keep me informed," he wrote in his 2004 book "How to Get Rich" to describe his management style. "They know I trust them, and they do their best to keep that trust intact."

___

Follow Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire

___

This story has been corrected to reflect that Spicer's first name is Sean.
Tunis (AFP) - Soldiers shot dead two suspected jihadists on Friday in the mountainous Kasserine region of central Tunisia, the defence ministry said.

A military unit "was this afternoon able to kill two terrorists and wound others on Sammama mountain", it said in a statement, without specifying how many were wounded.

The army also detained "a suspected person" and seized three firearms and ammunition during the operation which the ministry said was ongoing "to track down other elements".

Mount Sammama is adjacent to Mount Chaambi, considered to be the main rear base of the jihadists near the border with Algeria.

Since its 2011 revolution, Tunisia has experienced an increase in jihadist attacks that have cost the lives of dozens of members of the security forces and also 59 foreign tourists.

The country has been under a state of emergency since November 2015, when a suicide bombing in Tunis claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group killed 12 presidential guards.

On Thursday, the president's office announced that the state of emergency was being extended for another three months.
Unaware of reports his eldest son  and current leader Kim Jong Uns half brother  was killed just days ago in what appears to have been a carefully planned assassination, North Koreans marked the birthday of late leader Kim Jong Il yesterday as they do every year, with dancing, special treats for children and reverential bows and bouquets of flowers before bronze statues.

There has been no mention of half brother Kim Jong Nams killing at the Kuala Lumpur airport in the Norths official media.

In fact, Kim Jong Nam, who is believed to have lived most of the past decade in a kind of exile away from the North, may as well have never existed as far as most North Koreans are concerned. Few have access to outside media sources and reports here are generally limited to the ruling line of Kims.

Other members of the family tree  especially problematic ones like Kim Jong Nam, who once suggested the North should do away with its hereditary succession  are rarely if ever mentioned.

On the surface, at least, normalcy was the word of the day.

North Koreas state media said Kim Jong Un paid his customary respects overnight at a palatial mausoleum in Pyongyang. He also reportedly attended a large meeting on Wednesday.

North Koreans across the country, meanwhile, observed as normal the Day of the Shining Star, Kim Jong Ils birthday and the second-most important holiday of the year. National founder and eternal president Kim Il Sungs birthday in April  the Day of the Sun  is the most important.

In central Pyongyang, from early morning thousands of people climbed Mansu Hill to lay flowers and bow below giant statues of Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung. North Koreans are expected to make a show of respect to their leaders on all major holidays and anniversaries and authorities are ensuring that Kim Jong Ils birthday is being celebrated in traditional fashion.

One aspect of that is the annual flower show featuring thousands of blossoms named Kimjongilia after the past leader. The Kimjongilia flower is a kind of begonia, originally bred by a Japanese botanist, according to North Korean authorities.

Apart from the rituals, it is also a public holiday. People can expect presents of cooking oil or other food and drink from their employers, and they get time off to spend with their families.

Yesterday, Pyongyang residents also took part in large public dances, filed through displays of ice sculptures.

The finale of the day was to be a fireworks show. AP
Ankara (AFP) - Turkey's religious affairs agency said Friday it had recalled six clerics from Germany for exceeding their authority but lashed out at German police for raiding the homes of preachers suspected of spying for Ankara.

The Diyanet agency's chief Mehmet Gormez vehemently denied there had been any wrongdoing by the clerics, saying his organisation was the target of a defamation campaign.

German police this week raided the homes of four Turkish Muslim clerics suspected of spying for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government on the movement of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara blames for a coup bid last year.

The imams, who were not named, are accused of reporting to Diyanet on Turkish followers of Gulen, through the Turkish consulate in Cologne.

"The clerics did not engage in any illegal act," Gormez told reporters in Ankara, adding that information had been shared with Germany.

But he said: "Six clerics who were evaluated to have exceeded their authority were sent back to their posts in Turkey."

This was "to maintain the mutual trust between two countries and as a gesture of goodwill", Gormez added.

He emphasised that they had never participated "in any act of intelligence-gathering or espionage", but confirmed that the six recalled included the four clerics whose homes were raided.

Gormez indicated that they had already been recalled before the raids took place, slamming the police actions as subject to "political and media pressure".

He expressed hope that German officials would help in "sensibly ending this unreasonable and pointless process".

Gormez gave no details on how the recalled clerics had exceeded their authority.

German police made no arrests in the raids but confiscated written material and data storage devices.

German media said imams belong to Ditib, an organisation controlled by Ankara that manages some 900 mosques or religious communities in Germany. Diyanet sends clerics to work in its mosques.

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The range of its influence has on occasion caused controversy in Germany, as with similar organisations in the Netherlands and Austria.

The raids came at a time of high tension between Ankara and Berlin with Chancellor Angela Merkel's government repeatedly criticising the scale of the crackdown in the wake of the July 15 failed coup.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim is heading to Germany at the weekend and is expected to meet Merkel.
By Maria Tsvetkova and Humeyra Pamuk ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey has increased scrutiny of Russian-speaking Muslim communities in the past few months following a series of attacks blamed on Islamic State, a concrete example of the renewed relationship between the two countries. Turkish police have raided the homes of Russian-speaking immigrants in Istanbul, detained many and expelled others, according to interviews with Russian Muslims living in the city. At least some of those targeted by Turkish authorities are known to be sympathetic to radical Islamist movements. The security activity indicates that Russia and Turkey are sharing intelligence, part of a newly-forged alliance that has also seen Moscow and Ankara work together on a peace deal for Syria. The cooperation comes as a resurgent Russia, already active in Ukraine and keen to boost its diplomatic influence in the Middle East, has been playing a greater role in Syria in the vacuum left by the United States under Barack Obama. The roundups mark a change for Turkey, which has historically welcomed Muslims fleeing what they say is repression in countries including Russia, among them communities who fought government forces in Russia's North Caucasus. "Around ten of my acquaintances are in jail now," said Magomed-Said Isayev, a Muslim from the Russian North Caucasus mountains, who moved to Istanbul three years ago. He said for most of his time in Turkey he had no difficulties with the authorities. He said he had done nothing to harm Turkish citizens, but now he felt he was no longer safe from the threat of detention. Turkey has been criticised by some Western allies for being too slow to stop the flow of foreign fighters crossing its borders to join Islamic State in Syria and Iraq in the early years of the jihadist group's rise. Turkey has rejected such suggestions, saying it needed greater intelligence sharing from its allies in order to intercept would-be jihadists. It has tightened its borders and last August launched a military campaign in Syria to push Islamic State away from Turkish territory. ATTACKS ON TURKEY Several recent Islamic State attacks in Turkey have been blamed on Russian-speaking attackers. After a gun-and-bomb attack on Istanbul's Ataturk airport that killed 45 people last June, police detained two suspects from the North Caucasus. An Uzbek has been charged with a gun attack on an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Day in which 39 people were killed. "Before that, Turkey was very loyal to those who came from ex-Soviet countries," said Russian Muslim activist Abdul-Alim Makhsutov, who has lived in Istanbul for several years. "We have a long-established tradition of moving to Turkey for religious reasons and to escape pressure. The terrorist attacks tarnished this reputation." Turkey has provided sanctuary to Muslims from Russia since the 19th century, when the tsars conquered the mainly Muslim North Caucasus region. A new flow of migrants was prompted by two wars in Chechnya in the 1990s and 2000s, and a crackdown on Islamists in the south of Russia that continues today. A Turkish security source said operations had increased following the recent attacks and that raids in areas where foreigners were living had shown that militants were living in and hiding among those communities. "Our operations are not limited to specific parts of Istanbul but all across the city. It is about foreigners without the necessary paperwork, passport or ID. We fight crime wherever it may be," a Turkish police official told Reuters. A Russian security official said Moscow has been sharing lists of suspicious Islamists with Ankara for two or three years, but Turkey has only started using the information in the wake of recent attacks, as it has become a clear target for jihadists. Russia's foreign ministry and Federal Security Service did not respond to Reuters questions about intelligence-sharing with Turkey. A Turkish intelligence source said they were cooperating more with Russia but declined to give further details. KIDS BEHIND BARS One 25-year-old woman from Russia's Dagestan region, told Reuters she had lived openly in Turkey for three years. Until last October her family had experienced no problems, she said. She said her family had bought property in Turkey and took care to renew their immigration documents, while her brother competed professionally for a Turkish wrestling team. In October, masked policemen in flak jackets, conducting an anti-terror raid, smashed in the door of the family's apartment, the woman said. She spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity because, she said, she did not want to endanger members of her family. During the interview, she wore a black chador with only her face uncovered and broke off the conversation to pray. The family, including women and four children, as well as a female neighbour and her children, were held for several days in a police station, she said. At first, the police locked them in a room with bars on the windows but after a while police had to leave the door open "because the children often went to the toilet," the woman said. The detainees were transferred to Istanbul police headquarters and after two weeks most of the women and children from her family, and the family of her neighbour, were released. But she said her father, brother, sister-in-law and 10-month-old niece were still in detention. They had not been charged with any offence, the woman said, though Reuters was not able to independently verify that. Istanbul police said it could not comment on specific cases. The Dagestani woman said that in detention she had been questioned about Islamic State, and whether her family was affiliated to it. She denied any links to the group. Russians living in Turkey say that some detainees were told by the Turkish police that the action against them was based on information provided by Russia. "I've heard they (Russian authorities) inform the Turks about two kinds of people, who may be involved in terrorist activities or have a shady reputation," said Ali Evteyev, a former Russian mufti and now an Istanbul resident. He said that often there is no prosecution, but it is made clear to them they are no longer welcome. "The Turks just don't extend their residence permit. You have to go to jail and try to appeal, or leave." (Editing by Giles Elgood)
By Maria Tsvetkova and Humeyra Pamuk ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey has increased scrutiny of Russian-speaking Muslim communities in the past few months following a series of attacks blamed on Islamic State, a concrete example of the renewed relationship between the two countries. Turkish police have raided the homes of Russian-speaking immigrants in Istanbul, detained many and expelled others, according to interviews with Russian Muslims living in the city. At least some of those targeted by Turkish authorities are known to be sympathetic to radical Islamist movements. The security activity indicates that Russia and Turkey are sharing intelligence, part of a newly-forged alliance that has also seen Moscow and Ankara work together on a peace deal for Syria. The cooperation comes as a resurgent Russia, already active in Ukraine and keen to boost its diplomatic influence in the Middle East, has been playing a greater role in Syria in the vacuum left by the United States under Barack Obama. The roundups mark a change for Turkey, which has historically welcomed Muslims fleeing what they say is repression in countries including Russia, among them communities who fought government forces in Russia's North Caucasus. "Around ten of my acquaintances are in jail now," said Magomed-Said Isayev, a Muslim from the Russian North Caucasus mountains, who moved to Istanbul three years ago. He said for most of his time in Turkey he had no difficulties with the authorities. He said he had done nothing to harm Turkish citizens, but now he felt he was no longer safe from the threat of detention. Turkey has been criticized by some Western allies for being too slow to stop the flow of foreign fighters crossing its borders to join Islamic State in Syria and Iraq in the early years of the jihadist group's rise. Turkey has rejected such suggestions, saying it needed greater intelligence sharing from its allies in order to intercept would-be jihadists. It has tightened its borders and last August launched a military campaign in Syria to push Islamic State away from Turkish territory. ATTACKS ON TURKEY Several recent Islamic State attacks in Turkey have been blamed on Russian-speaking attackers. After a gun-and-bomb attack on Istanbul's Ataturk airport that killed 45 people last June, police detained two suspects from the North Caucasus. An Uzbek has been charged with a gun attack on an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Day in which 39 people were killed. "Before that, Turkey was very loyal to those who came from ex-Soviet countries," said Russian Muslim activist Abdul-Alim Makhsutov, who has lived in Istanbul for several years. "We have a long-established tradition of moving to Turkey for religious reasons and to escape pressure. The terrorist attacks tarnished this reputation." Turkey has provided sanctuary to Muslims from Russia since the 19th century, when the tsars conquered the mainly Muslim North Caucasus region. A new flow of migrants was prompted by two wars in Chechnya in the 1990s and 2000s, and a crackdown on Islamists in the south of Russia that continues today. A Turkish security source said operations had increased following the recent attacks and that raids in areas where foreigners were living had shown that militants were living in and hiding among those communities. "Our operations are not limited to specific parts of Istanbul but all across the city. It is about foreigners without the necessary paperwork, passport or ID. We fight crime wherever it may be," a Turkish police official told Reuters. A Russian security official said Moscow has been sharing lists of suspicious Islamists with Ankara for two or three years, but Turkey has only started using the information in the wake of recent attacks, as it has become a clear target for jihadists. Russia's foreign ministry and Federal Security Service did not respond to Reuters questions about intelligence-sharing with Turkey. A Turkish intelligence source said they were cooperating more with Russia but declined to give further details. KIDS BEHIND BARS One 25-year-old woman from Russia's Dagestan region, told Reuters she had lived openly in Turkey for three years. Until last October her family had experienced no problems, she said. She said her family had bought property in Turkey and took care to renew their immigration documents, while her brother competed professionally for a Turkish wrestling team. In October, masked policemen in flak jackets, conducting an anti-terror raid, smashed in the door of the family's apartment, the woman said. She spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity because, she said, she did not want to endanger members of her family. During the interview, she wore a black chador with only her face uncovered and broke off the conversation to pray. The family, including women and four children, as well as a female neighbor and her children, were held for several days in a police station, she said. At first, the police locked them in a room with bars on the windows but after a while police had to leave the door open "because the children often went to the toilet," the woman said. The detainees were transferred to Istanbul police headquarters and after two weeks most of the women and children from her family, and the family of her neighbor, were released. But she said her father, brother, sister-in-law and 10-month-old niece were still in detention. They had not been charged with any offence, the woman said, though Reuters was not able to independently verify that. Istanbul police said it could not comment on specific cases. The Dagestani woman said that in detention she had been questioned about Islamic State, and whether her family was affiliated to it. She denied any links to the group. Russians living in Turkey say that some detainees were told by the Turkish police that the action against them was based on information provided by Russia. "I've heard they (Russian authorities) inform the Turks about two kinds of people, who may be involved in terrorist activities or have a shady reputation," said Ali Evteyev, a former Russian mufti and now an Istanbul resident. He said that often there is no prosecution, but it is made clear to them they are no longer welcome. "The Turks just don't extend their residence permit. You have to go to jail and try to appeal, or leave." (Editing by Giles Elgood)
By Tulay Karadeniz and Angus McDowall ANKARA/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Turkey's military said on Friday it was close to taking Syria's al-Bab from Islamic State, but a war monitor said the jihadists still controlled 90 percent of the town itself and that shelling and air strikes had killed dozens of civilians in recent days. Al-Bab, an Islamic State stronghold 30 km (20 miles) from the Turkish border, has been a prime target since Turkey launched an incursion last August to push the jihadists from its frontier and prevent gains by a Kurdish militia also fighting them. Taking control of the town would deepen Turkish influence in an area of Syria where it has already effectively created a buffer zone and allow Turkish forces to press on towards Raqqa, Islamic State's de facto capital in Syria. "The operation to gain complete control of the al-Bab region has neared its end and the resistance of the Daesh terror group has largely been broken," the Turkish military statement said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. However, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based organization that monitors the war using a network of contacts, said Turkey's "Euphrates Shield" forces had not made much progress. Islamic State still controls 90 percent of al-Bab town itself and Turkish shelling and air strikes had killed 45 civilians, including 18 children, during the past 48 hours, the Observatory said. Turkish officials have repeatedly said that the al-Bab operation was taking longer than anticipated because of numbers of civilians still in the town and the care being taken not to harm them. It dropped leaflets on the town as long ago as December urging civilians to seek shelter. Turkey believes a string of Islamic State gun and bomb attacks, including a mass shooting at an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Eve, were planned from al-Bab and Raqqa, and has said clearing the town of militants is a national security priority. STRAINED ALLIANCE The military statement came as U.S. Marine Corps General and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Joseph Dunford visited the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, used by the U.S.-led coalition in the fight against Islamic State. Turkey is part of that coalition but relations with NATO ally Washington have been strained by U.S. support for the Kurdish YPG militia in the fight against Islamic State. Turkey views the YPG as a hostile force and an extension of the PKK, a Kurdish militant group that has waged an armed insurgency against the Turkish state for over three decades. "It is time the U.S. leadership made clear who they are cooperating with in their Syria policy," a senior Turkish government official told Reuters, when asked about the possibility of U.S. combat troops being deployed to Syria under President Donald Trump. "U.S. soldiers are present in Syrian territory, and we saw the results. They trained the PKK-YPG, which we call a terrorist organization, gave them weapons and supported terrorist groups." President Tayyip Erdogan has said the next target for the Turkish offensive should be Raqqa but that Arab forces, not the YPG, should be involved. The Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance dominated by the YPG, is in the middle of a multi-phased operation to encircle Raqqa, backed by air strikes and special ground forces from the U.S.-led coalition. (Additional reporting by Orhan Coskun and Ece Toksabay; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Daren Butler and Angus MacSwan)
Beirut (AFP) - Nine civilians were killed in overnight Turkish bombardment of a jihadist-held town in northern Syria, a monitor said on Friday, but Ankara said the shelling killed 13 "terrorists".

Three women were among those killed in the artillery fire on Al-Bab, which Turkish-backed Syrian rebels have been fighting to take from the Islamic State group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"In the past 48 hours, Turkish air strikes and shelling have killed 45 civilians, including 18 children and 14 women," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency said the army had hit dozens of IS positions, seven of them from the air.

"In total, 13 IS terrorists were killed," Anadolu reported.

Ankara began military operations in Syria in August last year, targeting Kurdish fighters as well as IS, but says it is doing its utmost to avoid civilian casualties.

Al-Bab is IS's last stronghold in Aleppo province and has come under fierce attack in recent months by Turkish forces and allied Syrian rebels.

They entered the town last the weekend and are now engaged in "clean-up" operations, Turkish Defence Minister Fikri Isik said on Thursday.

The Observatory, however, said Turkish forces had made little progress since entering the town from the west, and rebels said IS was putting up fierce resistance.

Field commander Abu Jaafar said his forces had been able to overrun part of the town early Thursday, but were then ambushed by IS.

At least one jihadist suicide attacker wounded several rebels and seriously damaged their equipment, Abu Jaafar told AFP.

"Daesh seeks to install itself in civilian and public buildings and use civilians as human shields," rebel spokesman Mahmud Hadi said on Friday.

"They use suicide attacks and they move about through basements and tunnels... they infiltrate in between civilians fleeing the military operations to try and penetrate behind the lines of the rebel factions."

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Dozens of civilians have been fleeing Al-Bab on a daily basis, according to the Observatory, leaving newly liberated areas as well as escaping territory still under IS control.

From outside the town on Friday, a line of fleeing residents could be seen crossing a field to escape the fighting, as gunshots sounded in the distance.

On a road leading to the rebel-held town of Azaz, several fleeing residents had piled their belongings into carts on the back of motorbikes and were driving away.

One man driving a truck told a rebel at a checkpoint that IS fighters had fired at the fleeing civilians.

In Azaz, local authorities welcomed arrivals, some of whom were continuing on to rebel-held territory further west, in Idlib province.
By Elizabeth Pineau and John Geddie PARIS/LONDON (Reuters) - The two main left-leaning candidates in France's presidential election are holding talks on possible cooperation, in a move that would require them to reconcile some major policy differences but could possibly put one of them in contention. If Socialist Benoit Hamon and Jean-Luc Melenchon, of the hard left, agreed to team up, opinion polls suggest their combined vote might provide the Left with a chance of going through to face the far-right's Marine Le Pen in the May 7 second round of voting. "We are having discussions and we will continue to have discussions," said Hamon, the 49-year old former education minister who beat more right-leaning candidates for the Socialist ticket in January. "We have talked and we will talk again today," he said on France Info radio, acknowledging talks would be "difficult". Melenchon's camp on Friday released text of a letter to Hamon in which the 65-year-old veteran leftist said the talks were at his initiative, but which also set out conditions. In the letter, Melenchon did not go out of his way to raise hopes of success, adding that he "no longer had any confidence in hollow deals between political parties." Among his conditions was that Hamon should denounce the five-year term of the governing Socialists he represents and support his anti-EU and anti-NATO positions - policies unacceptable to the party of outgoing President Francois Hollande. Melenchon, who quit the Socialist party in 2008 to form his Left party and has won the backing of the Communists for the presidential vote, has repeatedly said he will not step down as an independent candidate in favour of Hamon. His letter showed no softening of this position. Hamon, who in January won a Socialist primary on a far-left platform, has tended to sidestep the question when asked, and did so again on Friday. Opinion polls put combined support for the two men at levels which could potentially be enough to reach the runoff between the two top-scoring candidates. Investors fear that a hard-left Socialist candidate such as Hamon would fare worse against the anti-EU, anti-immigrant Le Pen than other centrist contenders. Frederic Dabi of Ifop pollsters said the Hamon-Melenchon talks were likely to fail to lead to an agreement, however. "It's starting too late, and neither of them will pull out," Dabi said. Contenders seen as most likely to face Le Pen in the second round are centrist Emmanuel Macron, favourite according to most polls, and Francois Fillon, second favourite. Both are seen beating the National Front leader for the presidency. Hamon was on a first round score of 14-14.5 percent and Melenchon 11.5-12 in a Cevipof poll on Thursday. Both said the talks would also involve green party candidate Yannick Jadot, who would get 2 percent of the vote according to Thursday's Cevipof survey. A second-round place for Hamon or Melenchon would create a new dynamic in the runoff, which opinion polls consistently indicate would most likely be against Le Pen. However, there are major disagreements between the two, notably on the European Union. Melenchon is hostile to some of its treaties and wants them revised, but Hamon favours further convergence. "It would not be easy. He knows it as I do. What clearly separates us is the European ideal," Hamon said. The premium investors demand to hold French government debt instead of German debt increased after Hamon spoke. "These suggestions that we will have talks between Hamon and Melenchon ... would be a real game-changer for the presidential election," said Natixis strategist Cyril Regnat said. France's 10-year government bond yield climbed 3 basis points on the day to 1.04 percent before settling back to a 1 basis point rise, and the yield spread over Germany rose 8 bps to 73 bps before giving up its highs to stand 5 bps higher. [GVD/EUR]. (Corrects paragraph 19 to say the premium investors demand, not pay, to hold French debt.) (Additional reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Writing by Andrew Callus; Editing by Richard Balmforth and Hugh Lawson)
By Ned Parker UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Thursday the United States still supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a day after President Donald Trump suggested he is open to new ways to achieve peace. "First of all, the two-state solution is what we support. Anybody that wants to say the United States does not support the two-state solution - that would be an error," Haley told reporters at the United Nations. "We absolutely support the two-state solution but we are thinking out of the box as well: which is what does it take to bring these two sides to the table; what do we need to have them agree on." Haley's comments came after Trump said on Wednesday that he was open to ideas beyond a two-state solution, the longstanding bedrock of Washington and the international community's policy for a settlement between Israel and the Palestinians. "I'm looking at two states and one state, and I like the one both parties like," Trump told a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "I can live with either one." Trump said that the United States would work toward peace but said he was leaving it up to the parties themselves ultimately to decide on the terms of any agreement. He said such a deal would require compromises from both Israelis and Palestinians. Trumps announcement appeared to loosen the main tenet of U.S. Middle Eastern policy dating back three administrations and stunned the international community, which has crafted it diplomacy based on the premise of a Palestinian state co-existing alongside Israel. Haley also echoed Trump in her remarks Thursday, stressing that a peace deal was not for Washington to impose but could only come from the parties themselves. "The solution to what will bring peace in the Middle East is going to come from the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority," Haley said. "The United States is just there to support the process." Haley, a Republican who previously served as South Carolina governor, also criticized the United Nations and the Security Council on Thursday for what she called a bias against Israel. She described the day's scheduled Security Council meeting on the Middle East as "focused on criticizing Israel, the one true democracy in the Middle East." Haley said the United States would not support any U.N. resolutions like the one approved by the Security Council in December calling for an end to Israeli settlement building, that passed only after the administration of former President Barack Obama chose not to wield its veto. "I am here to say the United States will not turn a blind eye to this anymore," Haley said. "I am here to emphasize that the United States is determined to stand up to the U.N.'s anti-Israel bias." French and British diplomats also repeated their longstanding support of the policy, in a show of how Trump's remarks on Wednesday had caused confusion. "The UK continues to believe that the best solution for peace in the Middle East is the two-state solution," said British ambassador to the United Nations, Matthew Rycroft. On Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had warned during a visit to Cairo that was no viable way to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict other than the establishment of a Palestinian state co-existing alongside Israel. (Reporting by Ned Parker; Editing by Dan Grebler and Lisa Shumaker)
By Dan Levine and Kristina Cooke

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S. officials have initiated deportation proceedings against a Mexican immigrant with a work permit who was arrested near Seattle last week, alleging he has gang ties, according to a court filing from the Justice Department on Thursday.

Daniel Ramirez Medina, 23, was taken into custody last week at his father's home near Seattle by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, according to a lawsuit he filed challenging his detention. The lawsuit said he was brought to the United States illegally as a child and given a work permit during the administration of former President Barack Obama.

Ramirez's lawyers have filed court papers denying that he has any gang involvement or criminal record and saying he should not have been targeted for deportation.

Ramirez's lawyers have said this could be the first time under U.S. President Donald Trump that a person covered by a policy known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) has been taken into immigration custody.

DACA, established by Obama in 2012, allows those brought to the country while young to attend school and work. The program protects from deportation some 750,000 people who were brought to the United States illegally as children and are sometimes called "dreamers," in reference to the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) legislation that failed to pass.

Immigration officers last week arrested more than 680 people in the country illegally, with the broad enforcement action alarmed immigrant rights groups.

At a press conference on Thursday, Trump promised that his administration would "deal with DACA with heart." He said the issue was a tough one because, while a majority of those benefiting from the program are "absolutely incredible kids," others are "gang members, and they're drug dealers, too."

The Justice Department's Thursday filing said ICE officers questioned Ramirez about a "gang tattoo" on his forearm.

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But Ramirez's lawyers, in a separate court filing on Thursday, said ICE has launched a public campaign to smear Ramirez.

The tattoo on Ramirez's forearm had a nautical star and the name of his birthplace, the filing said, which had nothing to do with any gang. ICE agents asked "five to seven times" whether Ramirez was in a gang, and he denied it each time, the filing said.

Additionally, the filing said, immigration officers removed words from a written statement by Ramirez denying gang involvement to make it sound as if he was admitting gang affiliation.

The Justice Department asserted that a Seattle federal judge has no legal basis to consider Ramirez's lawsuit because ICE has initiated deportation proceedings to be adjudicated in a separate administrative court. Ramirez's attorneys say the issue before the Seattle court is an illegal arrest and detention, not an immigration matter.

Ramirez has asked the judge to order his release immediately. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Friday.

(Additional reporting by Bill Rigby in Seattle; Editing by David Gregorio and Lisa Shumaker)
By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will seek on Saturday to soothe allies unnerved by his boss' unorthodox statements on Russia and NATO as he stresses America's commitment to Europe during the first major foreign address for the Trump administration. Pence will tell the annual Munich Security Conference that Europe is an "indispensable partner" for the United States, a message he will repeat privately in meetings with a dozen leaders over the weekend and on Monday, a senior White House foreign policy adviser told reporters. "We are the most secure and most prosperous when both the U.S. and Europe are strong and united," the adviser said, previewing Pence's trip. President Donald Trump alarmed allies during his campaign for office by breaking with traditional Republican views on the transatlantic relationship. Trump has expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom he said he would like to work to fight Islamic State militants, and has questioned the value of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. [nL1N1FU1A4] In Munich, Pence will hold a series of meetings with leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, and leaders from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Pence will emphasize that Russia and Ukraine need to fully implement the Minsk ceasefire agreement, and will stand firm on economic sanctions on Russia related to its aggression in Ukraine, the adviser told reporters. He plans to discuss counterterrorism in a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, and the fight against Islamic State in meetings with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, the adviser said. On Monday, Pence will hold several discussions with European officials in Brussels, including with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. His trip comes amid turbulence at the White House. Trump fired his national security adviser on Monday for misleading Pence over his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the United States. Trump was turned down by a replacement candidate on Thursday. [nL1N1G12EE] While Pence's sentiments may be welcomed, it may take more than soothing words to provide comfort, given the depth of anxiety in Europe about Trump's foreign policy, said Derek Chollet, a top defense policy adviser to former President Barack Obama. "He will be trying to be reassuring, try to soften the edges of some of the presidents recent comments about Europe, put into context or explain - but I have to think that its not going to solve the problem," said Chollet, now with the German Marshall Fund of the United States. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Peter Cooney)
London (AFP) - The British government on Friday proposed plans for the bailed-out Royal Bank of Scotland to fund initiatives worth A750 million ($932 million, 878 million euros) to improve competition in the sector, in order to meet its rescue conditions.

The bank, 73 percent owned by the government, has made four of the five major divestments demanded by the European Commission in 2009 to address competition concerns following its bailout, but has struggled to offload its final unit, Williams and Glyn, "due to external factors".

Instead, the government has suggested that RBS fund a series of alternative initiatives to satisfy the Commission's requirements, according to a Treasury press release.

These include providing funding for smaller "challenger" banks "to increase their business banking capabilities" and another to lure small and medium-sized enterprises to switch their accounts from RBS to challenger banks.

Other large established banks, such as HSBC, Lloyds, and Barclays, would not be eligible to benefit from the proposal.

"RBS must deliver on its remaining State aid commitments and this new plan represents the most effective way of delivering the pro-competition objectives behind them," said a Treasury spokesman.

"This new plan provides a clear blueprint to increase competition in the UK's business banking market, and would help RBS resolve one of its most significant legacy issues which has held back the sale of the taxpayers' stake."

The estimated upfront cost of the plan to RBS is expected to be around A750 million.

The Edinburgh-based lender was rescued with A45.5 billion of taxpayers' cash at the height of the global financial crisis in the world's biggest banking bailout.
Lawyers who defend human rights activists and dissidents targeted by Chinas communist government have increasingly themselves become subject to political prosecutions, violence and other means of suppression, according to a report released yesterday.

The Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders, a coalition of groups working within and outside China, identified six occasions last year that lawyers were beaten by plaintiffs, police officers or assailants likely hired by authorities. In more than a dozen cases, the report found, detainees were pressured to fire their own lawyers and accept government-supplied attorneys.

The government is trying to give this impression that its abiding by the rule of law, said Frances Eve, a researcher for the network. In fact, its just legalizing repressive measures.

Under President Xi Jinping, China has widely suppressed independent organizations and dissenters, as well as lawyers defending people caught in its crackdown. The report says 22 people have been convicted since 2014 of subversion or other crimes against state security, including 16 last year alone.

Dozens of lawyers have been questioned or detained in an ongoing campaign against dissident lawyers known as the 709 crackdown launched in July 2015.

Wang Quanzhang, who defended members of the Falun Gong meditation sect banned by China, was charged with subversion of state power in January 2016 after previously being beaten and detained. His wife, Li Wenzu, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Wang is now under indictment and being held without access to family or lawyers.

We have to wait until the sentencing to see him in jail, she said.

Four people associated with Wangs law firm, Fengrui, were convicted in August of charges that they incited protests and took funding from foreign groups.

China last year also passed a law tightening controls over foreign non-governmental organizations by subjecting them to close police supervision, a move critics called a new attempt by authorities to clamp down on perceived threats to the ruling Communist Partys control.

NGOs can be blacklisted if they commit violations ranging from illegally obtaining unspecified state secrets to spreading rumors, slandering or otherwise expressing or disseminating harmful information that endangers state security.

Ordinary Chinese who share audio or video of a protest or other news event may be detained, and authorities can shut down phone and Web networks in response to perceived threats to national security and social order.

Chinese Internet censors already exercise tight control with the so-called Great Firewall that blocks many foreign news sites and social media platforms.

Prominent activists have frequently been taken into custody without notice to their family or legal teams. One was Liu Feiyue, the founder of a website that detailed local corruption cases, veterans issues, and allegations that perceived troublemakers were being detained in mental hospitals. After his disappearance in November, Lius family was told he was charged with subversion.

Despite its well-publicized record, China was re-elected last year to the United Nations Human Rights Council. But even as China reported its membership on the council through state media, it refused to let banned activists attend United Nations events, the report said.

When Philip Alston, the UNs special rapporteur for human rights, visited China in August, authorities forbade him from meeting several activists and tightly controlled his schedule. One activist who did meet with him, lawyer Jiang Tianyong, was arrested three months later and charged with inciting subversion of state power.

Eve, the researcher for Chinese Human Rights Defenders, said some activists believed after Xi became president in 2013 that they might find common cause over his stated goals of rooting out government corruption. But those limited hopes have not come to fruition, she said.

Its gone completely the opposite direction, she said. And its a tragedy, because those are the kinds of alliances that can make real impact.

The Chinese foreign ministry did not respond to faxed questions. Nomaan Merchant, Beijing, AP
Lugansk (Ukraine) (AFP) - Ukraine's Russian-backed insurgents on Friday accused a top official in the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) of aiding Kiev's forces in the 34-month war.

A separatist leader made the accusation at a joint news conference in the rebel-controlled city of Lugansk with Alexander Hug -- the principal deputy chief of the group's special monitoring mission to Ukraine --- who denied the claim.

The OSCE is a Cold-war era body drawn up to ensure peace in Europe. Its main role in the Ukrainian conflict is to report ceasefire violations and organise periodic peace talks.

Alexander Zakharchenko of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic voiced suspicions that the OSCE was handing government troops the locations of civilian infrastructure that comes under fire.

"The OSCE has several times asked for the coordinates of our schools and kindergartens," the Donetsk militia leader said.

"As soon as we give you the coordinates of our facilities, by a strange coincidence those very facilities come under attack," he said alongside Igor Plotnitsky, the head of the self-declared Lugansk People's Republic.

"Our towns and our infrastructure -- electricity pylons and water towers, schools and hospitals -- come under attack," Zakharchenko said.

"This leaves us somewhat bewildered. How does the Ukrainian army get these coordinates?" Zakharchenko asked.

Plotnitsky also came out with sharp accusations.

"When I watched the Ukrainian forces attack you, how you yourself came under attack, somewhere in my soul a tiny hope flickered that one day, you would begin to tell the truth," he said, addressing Hug.

"But it seems that politics has won the day."

The OSCE has been a neutral observer throughout one of Europe's bloodiest crises since the 1990s Balkans Wars. It issues daily reports about truce breaches by both sides.

The OSCE has around 600 monitors who risk their lives in the war zone that borders Russia, and another 100 across Ukraine.

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More than 10,000 people have been killed and around two million driven from their homes since the war began in April 2014.

Ukraine has called for the monitors to be armed to turn them into a peacekeeping mission along the lines of the United Nations' blue helmets.

A OSCE source told AFP this proposal made the monitors uncomfortable because they already felt like targets.

Russia denies backing the insurgents and calls its troops who are killed or captured in the war zone volunteers or off-duty soldiers.
London (AFP) - British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday promised a close post-Brexit relationship with France on security and defence as she met with Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve in London.

Both stressed the need for "an early agreement on the rights of EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU" as Britain prepares to plot its course out of the union, according to a statement released by May's Downing Street office.

"The Prime Minister was clear that while the UK is leaving the EU, we are not leaving Europe," said the statement.

"They agreed on the need to maintain our close cooperation on security and defence, including through NATO."

The pair also discussed unrest in Syria and Ukraine, migration and terrorism.

May was hosting Cazeneuve ahead of negotiations to set the terms of Brexit, which will begin when the British leader triggers Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty, expected before the end of March.

May said she was "delighted" to meet with Cazeneuve, adding that they "worked so well together" when she was home secretary and he was France's interior minister.

"There are many issues on which the UK and France have been working very well and our bilateral relationship is very strong and I look forward to being able to develop that across a number of areas," she said.
Nicosia (AFP) - The future of UN-backed Cyprus reunification talks hung in the balance on Friday as rival Cypriot leaders rowed over who was at fault for walking out of their negotiations.

Although UN envoy Espen Barth Eide has voiced confidence that a meeting next Thursday will go ahead as scheduled, the climate of trust between the sides has deteriorated.

Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart Mustafa Akinci on Friday engaged in a war of words over the previous day's walkout.

The peace talks between the rival leaders on long-divided Cyprus broke up in acrimony over a 1950 referendum.

Eide said it was Akinci who stormed off but the Turkish Cypriot leader on Friday accused the UN diplomat of "hiding half of the truth".

"Eide should not come to the situation of having the trust towards him questioned by saying one half of the truth and hiding the other," Akinci told reporters.

He insists that Anastasiades left the room first, slamming the door behind him.

Anastasiades has denied this and his spokesman squarely blamed Akinci, in what he branded a "pre-determined act".

When asked about the next scheduled meeting, Akinci suggested there were more serious issues at stake.

"Our expectation is for the climate of trust, which had been shaken, to be fixed. Some steps should be taken on this issue," he said.

With feelings running high, Anastasiades issued his own statement to try to set the record straight.

"I do not wish, in any way, to engage in an unnecessary blame game, especially after the public explanation" by the UN envoy, said the Greek Cypriot leader.

"I call on the Turkish Cypriot leader to be present at the next meeting so that through a constructive dialogue those conditions can be created that will allow us to be optimistic for a positive outcome."

- Tensions soar -

Tensions have soared over the February 10 approval by the Greek Cypriot parliament for schools in the south to mark the 1950 referendum on "Enosis," or union with Greece.

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The unofficial referendum -- staged before Cyprus won independence from colonial ruler Britain -- overwhelmingly approved Enosis but had no legal value.

Almost 96 percent of the majority Greek Cypriots signed up in favour of union with "motherland" Greece in the poll held in churches and coffee shops, according to its organisers, the Cyprus Greek Orthodox Church.

The amendment to schools legislation, sponsored by the far-right ELAM party, essentially calls for secondary students to mark the anniversary by learning about the referendum and the Enosis cause.

Thursday's Akinci-Anastasiades meeting was their first since the vote in parliament, with the Greek Cypriot leader ruling out Akinci's request to cancel the decision.

The two sides have been engaged in fragile peace talks since May 2015 that observers have seen as the best chance in years to reunify the island.

In January, the United Nations hosted talks in Geneva bringing both sides together for the first time with the three "guarantor powers": Britain, Greece and Turkey.

Much of the progress until now has been based on the strong personal rapport between Anastasiades and Akinci, leader of the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

The eastern Mediterranean island has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded the northern third in response to an Athens-inspired coup seeking Enosis.

After a failed peace referendum on a UN blueprint in 2004, the Cyprus Republic now headed by President Anastasiades joined the European Union as a divided country, while the Turkish-held north remains recognised only by Turkey.
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - A UN investigative panel is pressing the Syrian government to hand over the names of commanders, military units and other entities suspected of carrying out chemical attacks, according to a report released Friday.

The joint panel of the United Nations and Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has concluded that Syrian forces were responsible for three chlorine bombings of villages in 2014 and 2015.

In its latest report to the Security Council, the panel said it had formally asked Syria to provide details of air operations, specifically at two air bases from which helicopters carrying the chlorine bombs lifted off.

Investigators are seeking the "names of specific Syrian Arab Armed Forces units and any entity outside the Armed Forces" listed on flight plans, said the report by the UN-OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM).

"Such information is of great importance, given that commanders are responsible for any assets under their control," said the report. The Syrian government has ignored the request, it added.

Syria has denied using chemical weapons in the nearly six-year war while its ally Russia, a permanent Security Council member, has dismissed the panel's findings as "inconclusive".

France and Britain are pushing the Security Council to impose sanctions on those responsible for chemical attacks and to ban sales of helicopters to Syria.

The panel said it was awaiting further determinations from the OPCW, which carries out fact-finding missions to establish whether chemical attacks took place, but does not attribute blame.

In a report in December, the OPCW said it had investigated allegations of a chemical attack in Aleppo on August 2 last year, but was unable to "confidently determine" whether a chemical was used as a weapon.

UN member-states have come forward with nine allegations of chemical weapons use or possession, including one alleging a chlorine attack carried out by an armed opposition group in Aleppo in December, the report said.

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Three of those allegations involve the Islamic State group. The information has been sent to the OPCW, which may decide to investigate further.

In a previous report, the panel concluded that IS had used mustard gas in an attack in 2015.

Human Rights Watch this week said it had collected witness accounts, photographs and video of at least eight chemical attacks carried out by Syrian forces in the final weeks of the battle for Aleppo late last year.
By Maayan Lubell JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday he would shelve his additional role as communication minister after police questioned him over allegations he negotiated a deal for good press coverage with a newspaper owner. Police have questioned Netanyahu three times in two criminal cases in which he is suspected of abuse of office. If charges are brought, political upheaval would likely ensue with pressure on Netanyahu, who denies any wrongdoing, to step down. The first case involves gifts given to Netanyahu and his family by businessmen and the second is related to conversations he held with the publisher of Israel's largest selling newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth. Netanyahu said he would appoint Tzachi Hanegbi, a confidant from his right-wing Likud party, as a stand-in running the communications ministry for three months, "and then we'll see," he said in a statement issued to reporters. Netanyahu did not specify the reason for the move. Opposition leader Isaac Herzog, head of the Zionist Union party, had appealed to Israel's Supreme Court last month to order Netanyahu to step down as communications minister over the police investigation. The liberal daily Haaretz and Channel 2 television reported in January that Netanyahu discussed with Yedioth Ahronoth's owner a deal for better coverage in return for curbs on competition from a free paper owned by U.S. casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, a staunch supporter of the veteran prime minister. Haaretz said the conversations were recorded in the run-up to the March 2015 election at Netanyahu's request by a then-staff member, and the tapes were seized by police in a separate investigation. According to excerpts leaked to Channel Two from a transcript of the conversations, the prime minister told the newspaper publisher: "We're talking about moderation, about reasonable reporting, to lower the level of hostility toward me from 9.5 to 7.5." It quoted the publisher, Arnon Mozes, as replying: "We have to make sure that youre prime minister." Netanyahu is not the first Israeli leader to have faced criminal investigation. Former prime minister Ehud Olmert was convicted of breach of trust and bribery in 2014 and Ariel Sharon, premier from 2001-2006, was questioned while in office over allegations of bribery and campaign-financing illegalities. In the past, Israeli prime ministers have stayed in office long after being put under investigation, and officials who support Netanyahu, now in his fourth term, believe the prospect of charges remains remote. Netanyahu has often accused Israeli media of being biased against him and in recent weeks accused it of being part of a left-wing plot to overthrow his right-wing government. (Reporting by Maayan Lubell; editing by Mark Heinrich)
Denver (AFP) - Jeanette Vizguerra fled to the United States from Mexico with her family after her husband was kidnapped three times, once with a gun to his head.

Now, nearly 20 years later, she is seeking refuge again, this time in a church to avoid being deported as part of President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigrants living in the country illegally.

Vizguerra, 47, and her three young children, who are US citizens, are living in the basement of Denver's First Unitarian Society Church, where she sought sanctuary late Tuesday, rightly suspecting that a stay of her deportation order would not be extended by a judge the following day.

It is uncommon for US authorities to enter places of worship, schools and hospitals to deport undocumented immigrants.

Vizguerra, who also has an older daughter, said she was prepared to stay in a makeshift bedroom at the church for as long as it takes -- even four years under Trump's presidency -- so as not to be separated from her children.

"People on the outside think its hard, they say 'how could you sacrifice so much'," she told AFP. "But then when I look at my children, theyre healthy, theyre happy.

"I'm able to be here safely and hug them and theyre here alongside me. I'm willing to do whatever it takes. I'm willing to sacrifice what is necessary in order to be with my children."

She and her kids live in a small room crowded with their belongings and two beds. The living space includes a kitchen and a playroom for her children, aged 12, 10 and six.

Last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested some 680 people across the United States as part of a crackdown by the new administration on the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States.

Officials insist the raids targeted known criminals but rights advocates say people with no serious criminal records were also detained.

In Arizona, Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos -- an undocumented mother of two American-born children -- was deported last week to her native Mexico after checking in with ICE, just like Vizguerra was supposed to do on Wednesday.

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- 'Never lose hope' -

Vizguerra worked as a janitor and a union organizer after moving to the US, and is known in the Denver area as an immigration advocate.

In 2009, following a routine traffic stop, she was convicted of using a fake social security number she says she needed to continue working. She was also convicted in 2013 on a second misdemeanor charge for illegally entering the country after she traveled to Mexico to see her ailing mother.

Although a deportation order was issued in 2011, her lawyer, Hans Meyer, has managed to help Vizguerra get approval to stay in the US.

Until now.

On Wednesday, after she failed to show up for her scheduled appointment to check in with ICE, a federal judge denied Vizguerra's request for another stay of her deportation.

The mother-of-four said she hopes her case will help galvanize public opinion and spotlight the plight of undocumented people like her who have established roots in the country.

"Its time for us to come together and look for solutions," she told AFP through a translator. "We have had to confront these things in the past.

"Weve overcome harmful laws and policies that harmed us and its time for us to come together and resist."

Vizguerra said she wants all immigrants who may be faced with the same situation to know there are always options and resources.

"They should never lose hope," she said. "There is always a reason to fight."
The world has set its sights on Mars  not just to visit, but to stay. Private organizations and governments have made it their mission to get to the Red Planet, and the United Arab Emirates wants to be first. The UAE said it planned to build the first city on Mars in 100 years.

Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Emir of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, announced the plan, dubbed Mars 2117, Tuesday.

We aspire to great things, so my brother Mohammed bin Zayed [the first president of the UAE and crown prince of Abu Dhabi] and I today decided the UAE will join the global effort to send humans to Mars, said Al Maktoum.

The UAEs space agency is a fledgling venture, having been founded in only 2014. But the nation has no shortage of ambition.

Mars 2117 is a seed we are sowing today to reap the fruit of new generations led by a passion for science and advancing human knowledge, said Al Maktoum. Though he didnt detail the specifics of the plan, he said it would involve collaboration between governments and other organizations. The UAE planned to send a spacecraft named Hope into orbit around Mars in 2021 as a first step in the venture.

The UAEs vision for its mini city isnt as small as some might imagine.

The city is roughly the size of Chicago. It has a population of 600,000, Saeed Al Gergawi, manager of the scientific and research committee of the World Government Summit held in Dubai, told CNBC Monday. Gergawi said governments needed to come together and that the United Nations must be involved in order for the venture to be successful.

Space exploration has increasingly turned toward privatization in the race to Mars. Mars One, a private venture founded in 2011 by Dutch entrepreneur Bas Lansdorp, has aimed to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars by 2032. Elon Musk, billionaire entrepreneur and founder of SpaceX, announced his own plan to colonize Mars using unique, sophisticated technology called the SpaceX Interplanetary Transport System.

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But before anybody can live on Mars, humanity must first make their way to the Red Planet. The U.S. was still the only country that has landed a spacecraft on Mars, despite attempts by Russia and Europe. Former President Barack Obama planned for a Mars mission long before the UAEs 2117 goal, announcing last year a clear goal to send humans to Mars by the 2030s.

Someday, I hope to hoist my own grandchildren onto my shoulders. Well look to the stars in wonder, as humans have since the beginning of time, he wrote in an op-ed. But instead of eagerly awaiting the return of our intrepid explorers, we know that because of the choices we make now, theyve gone to space not just to visit, but to stay  and in doing so, to make our lives better here on earth.

GettyImages-51119015

Photo: Getty

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If North Korea is responsible for the killing of Kim Jong Un's half brother, Kim Jong Nam, then the reclusive country should be relisted to the U.S. terrorism sponsor list, a U.S. congressman told Radio Free Asia (RFA). According to reports, Kim Jong Nam was assassinated in Malaysia by two women believed to be North Korean operatives.

On Thursday, Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas), who serves as chairman of the House's subcommittee on terrorism and trade, told the U.S. broadcaster that it is a "very serious problem" if Kim Jong Un was behind the killing of his half brother. Poe reportedly said that North Korea's involvement in the murder would be another terrorist act by the country.

Malaysian police has been investigating the killing of Kim Jong Nam, who is suspected to have been poisoned at the country's airport Monday. Several arrests have been made in connection to the murder, including that of two females  one with an Indonesian passport and another with Vietnamese documents. Kim was reportedly poisoned as he prepared to board a flight to his home in Macau on Monday morning. Authorities are yet to release the results of an autopsy that was conducted Wednesday.

Last year, Poe had introduced a similar bill to the previous House, saying Pyongyang meets the criteria for terror sponsor designation. The bill later passed through the Foreign Affairs Committee but did not move forward as the House expired at the end of last year, Yonhap News Agency reported.

North Korea was on the U.S. terrorism sponsor list for the 1987 mid-air bombing of a Korean Airlines flight that killed all 115 people aboard. However, in 2008, the U.S. administration under then-President George W. Bush removed Pyongyang from the list in exchange for progress in denuclearization talks.

Several requests had been put forward to bring North Korea back to the list after it allegedly carried out a cyberattack on Sony Pictures in 2014.

Related Articles
U.S. Marine Corps General and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Joseph Dunford will meet with the chief of the Russian General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, on Thursday in Azerbaijan, the Pentagon said Wednesday. This is the first meeting between the military heads of the two countries since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

"The military leaders will discuss a variety of issues including the current state of U.S.-Russian military relations and the importance of consistent and clear military-to-military communication to prevent miscalculation and potential crises," the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

Dunford and Gerasimov will meet in Azerbaijans capital Baku. The meeting comes at a time when military relations of Washington and Moscow are strained. A Russian intelligence ship is currently present 30 miles off the eastern coast off the U.S. However, the Pentagon said the vessel is performing its routine activity.

Furthermore, Russia allegedly deployed a new cruise missile barred under the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, according to a Tuesday report by the New York Times. The same day, reports also said that the U.S. European Command said Moscows jets carried out unsafe fly-bys of a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Black Sea.

Dunford expressed concern about Russia's growing military buildup "from the nuclear enterprise modernization to their submarine warfare capabilities to their cruise missile development to their cyber capabilities to their space programs," according to Politico.

"I mean, for a nation that has demographic and economic challenges like Russia they have embarked on such a significant military modernization program," Dunford said. "The degree to which it is sustainable is another discussion but you know, they have embarked and now developed and fielded and demonstrated very real military capabilities."

Also, a White House statement said Tuesday President Donald Trump expects Russia to return Crimea to Ukraine. However, Moscow asserted that the Black Peninsula is a Russian territory.

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"We do not return our territories. Crimea is Russian territory," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday.

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What do we really know about the sudden death of an exiled North Korean princeling? Aside from heated media speculation and an instant its-gotta-be-Pyongyang reaction from Seouls spy agency, not much. South Koreas National Intelligence Service  no friend to Pyongyang  and eager reporters across Asia have assembled a dramatic, almost cinematic profile of the last hour of Kims life. But theres still a surfeit of unanswered questions. Here are a few:

WAS HE POISONED?

This one could be answered fairly soon. Kim complained of being sprayed in the face with some sort of chemical before he died. Presumably Malaysian authorities autopsy, which has been completed, will determine whether poison killed Kim, and, if so, what kind.

A big question is how possible killers would have managed to quickly inflict a fatal chemical dose on someone in the middle of a busy airport.

South Koreas intelligence service says Kim almost certainly was poisoned, but its unclear whether a needle or spray was used, and the spy agency didnt elaborate.

One possibility for the poison is neostigmine bromide, which South Korean officials said was contained in a pen-like weapon used in a failed North Korean attempt to kill an anti-Pyongyang activist in 2011. Or it could have been cyanide or sarin gas, which was used in a deadly attack on Tokyos subways in 1995.

WAS IT REALLY NORTH KOREA?

North Korea, of course, is the easy answer. South Koreas spy service considers the North the bogeyman and almost immediately, in a private briefing to lawmakers in Seoul, pointed the finger at North Korean agents for the death, saying that Kim Jong Nam had been targeted for five years because of Kim Jong Uns paranoia.

WHO ARE THE ARRESTED WOMEN?

The two women arrested in connection with Kims death were spotted on surveillance video at the airport where Kim fell ill.

Both are reportedly in their 20s. One held an Indonesian passport. The other had Vietnamese travel documents and was seen in grainy photos waiting for a cab while wearing a white jumper emblazoned with LOL  internet-speak for Laugh Out Loud.

But their possible involvement in Kims death is still unclear. Were they simply in the wrong place at the wrong time? Were they North Korean agents, maybe even North Korean nationals using false passports? Kim Jong Nam, in one of his lowest moments, was humiliated while trying to sneak into Japan to visit Disneyland  with a Dominican passport.

Police are trying to verify if the womens travel documents are genuine, according to the Malaysian minister. Police said they have also arrested a third suspect, a Malaysian man thought to be the boyfriend of the suspect with an Indonesian passport.

ARE OTHER EXILED NORTH KOREANS IN DANGER?

South Koreas government said it was boosting security for high-profile defectors in the South, many of whom already have police protection.

Kim Jong Nam was long protected in his Macau base by China, according to Seouls spy service. South Korean officials say he leaves behind two sons and a daughter between two different women living in Beijing and Macau.

Ha Taekeung, a South Korean lawmaker and North Korea human rights activist, said in a radio interview yesterday that Kim Jong Nams son, Kim Han Sol, could be in danger because he knows sensitive secrets about Kim Jong Uns personal life. Kim Han Sol, who lived with his father in Macau, referred to Kim Jong Un as a dictator in a 2012 interview. AP

2 women, 1 man arrested

Two women and a man have been arrested in the killing of Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean leaders half brother who was reportedly poisoned this week by a pair of female assassins as he waited for a flight in Malaysia, police said yesterday .The suspects were picked up separately Wednesday and yesterday. The female suspects were identified using surveillance footage from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, where Kim Jong Nam suddenly fell ill Monday morning before dying on the way to the hospital. One of the women had Vietnamese travel documents and the other held an Indonesian passport. There was no immediate way to determine if the IDs were genuine or if the women, both apparently in their 20s, were believed to be the alleged assassins.
Washington (AFP) - Newly installed US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke on Friday with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang and other officials, and called for "more balanced" economic relations" with Beijing.

Mnuchin also spoke to People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, Finance Minister Xiao Je and Economic Affairs Minister Liu He, Treasury said in a statement.

In each of these calls, Mnuchin "underscored that he looked forward to fostering strong US-China engagement during his tenure" and he "emphasized the importance of achieving a more balanced bilateral economic relationship going forward."

During his election campaign, President Donald Trump accused China of unfair trading practices and manipulating its currency. Once at the White House, he threatened to take retaliatory measures, including imposing a hefty import tax on Chinese goods.

President Xi Jinping implicitly criticized the protectionist tendencies of the new US president at the economic forum in Davos.

In his calls, Mnuchin stressed the importance of cooperation between Washington and Beijing in international forums.

"He noted that demonstrated leadership by our two countries on critical issues will not only be beneficial to each country but also to the global economy," the statement said.

He said he was committed to working with China "on a comprehensive set of economic, financial, trade and investment, and illicit finance issues."
Los Angeles (AFP) - New York property tycoon Robert Durst confessed to carrying out the murder of close friend Susan Berman, a witness testified in a Los Angeles court Thursday.

Durst, 73, whose life was the focus of an HBO series that ultimately led to his arrest, stands accused of the December 2000 execution-style killing of longtime friend Berman.

Berman was killed just as she was set to be questioned about the disappearance of Durst's first wife, Kathleen Durst, who vanished in 1982 from the couple's New York cottage.

Nathan Chavin, a long-time friend of both Durst and Berman, testified that he discussed the latter's death at a 2014 dinner with Durst.

Durst invited Chavin to eat because, according to Chavin, he wanted to discuss Berman as well as the fate of his first wife.

Durst said he "had no choice" but to kill Berman, Chavin told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark Windham.

"'I had to. It was her or me. I had no choice,'" Chavin told the judge, quoting Durst.

Chavin testified that Susan Berman had earlier told him that Durst had confessed to murdering Kathleen, who was seeking a divorce.

"This was a best friend who admitted to killing my other best friend," Chavin told the judge, noting that he had asked Durst about Kathleen, but received no response.

Chavin's identity was kept secret up to Thursday out of fear that he would be harmed ahead of his testimony.

Durst, a real estate scion worth an estimated $100 million, has pleaded not guilty to Berman's murder.

- Eccentric tycoon -

Durst was arrested in March 2015 in a New Orleans hotel room hours before the final episode of the six-part HBO documentary "The Jinx: The life and Deaths of Robert Durst."

The series delved into the disappearance of his wife as well as the killing of Berman and the 2001 death of a neighbor in Texas who was found dismembered.

At the time, Durst was living under an assumed name in Texas and pretended to be a mute woman, prosecutors said. He claimed self-defense and was acquitted after a high-profile trial.

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In the HBO documentary's explosive finale, Durst is heard muttering to himself, "What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course," apparently unaware that a wireless microphone remained switched on while he used the bathroom.

"You're caught," he said at another point. "What a disaster."

Durst was sentenced to seven years in prison on a weapons charge following his arrest in New Orleans and, as part of a plea deal, was transferred to Los Angeles in November from a prison in Louisiana.
An investigation has found that some valet companies are handing cars over to people without tickets, allowing them to take off with vehicles they don't own.

An Inside Edition investigation put valet companies to the test after interviewing a man whose car was given to a thief when he left it with a valet.

Read: CVS Stores Discard Unexpired Food Products in Dumpsters, Investigation Finds

Josh Gelle said he returned from dinner in Newport Beach, Calif., and found the valet had given his car away to a man who asked for it without showing a ticket.

Inside Edition's Chief Investigative Correspondent Lisa Guerrero rented a $40,000 Mercedes and handed it over to several valet companies in different cities to see if the car was safe.

First, she dropped off the car at the Roosevelt Field Mall in Long Island, N.Y. Two hours later, an Inside Edition investigative producer showed up to see if he could pick up the car without a ticket.

At first, the valet was hesitant.

Im not supposed to get cars without their [ticket], he said.

But after the producer pointed to the Mercedes, the valet went to retrieve it. After paying a $7 valet charge, he was able to drive off in Guerreros Mercedes.

At the Cherry Hill Mall near Philadelphia, Guerrero again dropped off the black Mercedes, and this time, the valet asked for her first name to associate it with the vehicle.

But when our producer showed up to get the car, the valet never asked for the ticket and instead, offered up Guerreros name. "It was Lisa, right?" he said.

"I think so," The producer replied. It was enough to get him the car.

When Guerrero returned to pick up her car, the valet was stunned. I think your husband took it, he said.

Read: FakeABaby.Com Provides Positive Pregnancy Tests and Sonograms, Some Use It to Dupe Their Lovers

Inside Edition reached out to all the independently operated valet companies, but they declined to comment.

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So how can you prevent valet car thefts?

Lonnie Reynolds, the owner of American Limo and Parking, says that if someone shows up without a claim ticket, the valet should ask to see a drivers license to check if the name matches up with the cars registration.

He also uses another tactic. I'll take the person over to the board and I'll say can you spot the keys and usually they cant recognize the keys because they've never seen the keys, said Reynolds.

Watch: Investigation Discovers Some Hotel Rooms Have Hidden Cameras Installed

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MODESTO, Calif. (AP)  Pope Francis said that "no people is criminal and no religion is terrorist" in a welcome letter read aloud at a conference on economic inequality that opened Thursday in the small farming city in California.

The gathering of Catholic clergy and activists in Modesto, California, came as the world grapples with the impact of President Donald Trump's efforts to change U.S. immigration policy.

"Do not classify others in order to see who is a neighbor and who is not," the pope said in a letter that was also distributed. "You can become neighbor to whomever you meet in need, and you will do so if you have compassion in your heart."

The pope said that he was not speaking of anyone in particular in pointing out people who scapegoat, but of a social and political process that flourishes around the world.

Trump's name does not appear on the agenda, but his recent announcement of a crackdown on people illegally in the country and limitations on who is allowed into the U.S. are likely to be discussed by social justice activists and faith leaders.

A handful of delegates canceled their attendance, fearful of the U.S. political climate surrounding immigration, said Joseph Fleming of PICO National Network, a faith-based community organizing network also sponsoring the event. He declined to identify them.

"What we're finding is that some of our immigrant delegates are, ironically for a meeting to discuss exclusion and the exclusion of immigrants, are feeling like it's not safe to travel," he said.

More than 600 people including representatives from Argentina, Brazil and Mexico are expected.

Modesto lies in California's agricultural heartland where Latino immigrants represent a significant part of the labor force for the area's farmers. It's the first time that the event will be held in the United States after Pope Francis nearly three years ago launched global meetings to explore the "economy of exclusion."

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"We're a nonpartisan group, but the truth of the matter is the gathering is made up of people feeling a lot of fear and a lot of pain," said Trena Turner, pastor of the non-denominational Victory in Praise Church in Stockton.

The conference was scheduled before the U.S. presidential election and before the Trump administration issued its ban on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

After losing a legal fight in federal court to maintain the ban, the Trump administration said in court documents on Thursday that it wants a pause so it can issue a replacement ban as it strives to protect the nation from terrorism.

Among those speaking Friday is Zahra Billoo, executive director of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
First the U.S. levelled sanctions against Venezuelas vice president for alleged drug trafficking. Then there was U.S. President Donald Trumps meeting with the wife of jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez and his subsequent tweet that Venezuela should release him. Next came the call to President Mauricio Macri of Argentina in which Trump stressed Macris leadership in the region and invited him to the White House.

You connect the dots on those things and you come up with a picture, Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Americas Society/Council of the Americas told Foreign Policy. That picture is one of a shift in U.S. policy toward a harder line against Venezuela. Could it be that the Venezuelan president is one strongman Trump doesnt like?

Perhaps. Maduro is not just any strongman. Hes head of a country often lumped with Cuba, public enemy #1 of a faction of the Republican Party.

Venezuela and Cuba are often spoken about together, especially in Congress, Harold Trinkunas, non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told FP. There are supporters of the president who care deeply about this.

There are also shifting power dynamics in the region. With new governments in Brazil and Argentina, Venezuela does not have the support it once did from its neighbors.

Meanwhile, the Andean country is grappling with a host of problems that threaten to spill over its borders. The economy is crumbling, drug trafficking and corruption are rampant, and people dont have access to medical care or enough food. On Dec. 16, Venezuela was suspended from South Americas regional economic group, Mercosur, for failure to comply with human rights standards.

With Venezuela threatening regional stability, its neighbors may welcome U.S. help on reining in the country, argued Trinkunas. The moment is more ripe than in previous years to step up pressure on Venezuela, he said.

Still, it may be premature to declare a policy shift by the Trump administration. The Obama administration had already laid the groundwork for the sanctions. And the meeting with Lopezs wife, Lilian Tintori, was facilitated by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.), Farnsworth told FP. Rubio has long called for the U.S. to take a tougher stance against the Maduro regime.

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For his part, Maduro seems to be seeking friendly relations with the Trump administration. He has said he couldnt see how Trump could be worse than his predecessor, U.S. President Barack Obama. And even after the sanctions against his vice president, on Wednesday, Maduro said he doesnt want problems with Trump.

One day later, Venezuelas highest court upheld Lopezs 14-year prison sentence.

Photo credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Lyle Denniston, the National Constitution Centers Supreme Court correspondent, says while a new immigration executive order is coming from the Trump administration, its not clear the action will end related constitutional controversies.

With President Trump and his aides now rewriting the controversial executive order to strictly limit immigration of foreign nationals from the Mideast, the administrations lawyers chose on Thursday not to seek a federal courts permission to enforce the first version, currently on hold. It is far from clear, however, that these new developments will end the constitutional controversy in the courts.

Update: Later on Thursday, the Ninth Circuit Court decided to take no further action on the case until it is told that a new presidential order has been issued. It gave no hint of what it would do at that point.

The President confirmed at a press conference Thursday afternoon that a new order was being drafted and indicated that it could be issued sometime next week. In a legal filing that was submitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in California at about the same time that Trump was meeting with reporters at the White House, Justice Department lawyers argued that the substitute would cure the legal problems that the appeals court had cited last week when it rejected a request to let that version go into effect.

The Circuit Court, those lawyers argued, was wrong on all of its legal points, but the administration still will go ahead with a substantially revised executive order.

For the time being, the new filing said, the administration was not asking the Circuit Court to reconsider the bar to enforcement. By opting not to continue the legal dispute in its present form, the document also sent the message that the administration will not be moving on to the Supreme Court.

In a separate legal filing Thursday afternoon, the two states that had successfully blocked the first version of the order  Washington and Minnesota  contended that there was no basis for reconsidering the controversy. They said the case should proceed further before the federal trial court in Seattle who initially ruled that the restrictions were legally flawed.

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The Ninth Circuit Court indicated that it will not be taking any further action until Friday night at the earliest. As of now, the next step appears to be a vote among the Circuit Courts active judges on whether to reconsider the dispute by the full, 11-member Circuit Court. An unidentified judge of that court had called for such a vote on whether the full court should rule on the enforceability of immigration restrictions.

After a new version emerges from the White House, it is possible that this could lead the federal courts to find that the dispute in its present form had lost all of its significance  technically, that the controversy had become moot  and should be dismissed.

But the two challenging states almost certainly would try to keep their case going claiming that the revised version had not actually cured all of the constitutional and statutory defects that they had claimed about the initial version issued on January 27. Specifically, they very likely would argue, for example, that President Trump had intended to adopt a policy that discriminated against foreign nationals on the basis of their Muslim religious faith. They claimed that violated the religious clauses of the First Amendment.

The two states could amend their existing lawsuit, or file a completely new one to press on with their challenge. Other challenges to a revised version are probable in other federal courts.

Thus, as a legal matter, much remains uncertain about the Presidents policy even as his aides work on a new executive order.

Legendary journalist Lyle Denniston is Constitution Dailys Supreme Court correspondent. Denniston has written for us as a contributor since June 2011 and has covered the Supreme Court since 1958. His work also appears on lyldenlawnews.com.

Recent Stories on Constitution Daily

Analysis: A constitutional lesson for a new president

A crucial week coming up for immigration limits

A look at Trumps other immigration executive order under debate
(WASHINGTON)  Vice Admiral Robert Harward has turned down an offer to be President Donald Trumps new national security adviser, the latest blow to a new administration struggling to find its footing.

Harward told The Associated Press that the Trump administration was very accommodating to my needs, both professionally and personally.

Its purely a personal issue, Harward said Thursday evening. Im in a unique position finally after being in the military for 40 years to enjoy some personal time.

Read More: Why Trump Is Interviewing Generals for His Cabinet

Asked whether he had requested to bring in his own staff at the National Security Council, Harward said, I think thats for the president to address.

Following Flynns ouster, administration officials said his deputy, KT McFarland, was staying on at the NSC. McFarland is a former Fox News analyst.

Harward would have replaced retired Gen. Michael Flynn, who resigned at Trumps request Monday after revelations that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about discussing sanctions with Russias ambassador to the U.S. during the transition. Trump said in a news conference Thursday that he was disappointed by how Flynn had treated Pence, but did not believe Flynn had done anything wrong by having the conversations.

Harward, a former Navy SEAL, served as deputy commander of U.S. Central Command under Gen. James Mattis, who is now defense secretary. Harward served on the National Security Council under President George W. Bush and commissioned the National Counter Terrorism Center.

Upon retirement in 2013 after a nearly 40-year career in the Navy, Harward became chief executive officer for defense and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin in the United Arab Emirates. Trump has recently been in very public negotiations with Lockheed over the cost of its F-35 fighter jet.

Read More: Read Michael Flynns Resignation Letter From the Trump Administration

Story continues

Officials said earlier this week that there were two other contenders in the running for the job: acting national security adviser Keith Kellogg and retired Gen. David Petraeus.

Petraeus, a retired four-star general, resigned as CIA director in 2012 and pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information relating to documents he had provided to his biographer, with whom he was having an affair.

He was also fined $100,000 and remains on probation.
On Friday, the Supreme Court finally set an argument date for a major religious liberty case thats been in limbo since Antonin Scalias passing. That could lead some court watchers to speculate the Court expects  or doesnt expect  Neil Gorsuch on the bench by April 19.

Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Pauley

was one of the last cases considered by the late Justice Scalia in private conference. The Court accepted the case on January 15, 2016, and it had been in scheduling limbo since then. (The last brief in the Trinity Lutheran case was filed in August 2016.)

With the announcement this week that Gorsuchs Senate hearings wont start until March 20, theres already been speculation that Gorsuch, if confirmed, may not be on the bench in time to hear the remaining cases in the Courts term in late April.

Since 1975, the average length of the process between a presidential nomination and a final Senate vote for a Supreme Court nominee has been 67 days. President Trump nominated Gorsuch on January 31, which would put him on the bench, if confirmed, by April 10  if the process takes about 67 days.

The Court is scheduled to meet in private conference on April 13, with arguments running from April 17 until April 26. However, with the current approval process in Washington moving slowly a delay in the Gorsuch nomination wouldnt be unexpected. Also, the last nominee to make the hearings process, Elena Kagan, experienced an 87-day nomination process.

Regardless, the eight-member Court has decided to give the Trinity Lutheran case its own day in front of the Justices.

Trinity Lutheran case centers on a dispute about a church being denied a public government grant for recycled rubber material to use for safety purposes at its playground, which it shares with its local community.

The Court will try to answer the question of whether religiously affiliated schools can be constitutionally denied equal access to a government benefit, even if the benefit has nothing to do directly with matters of faith. The benefit is a program in Missouri that provides rubberized material for school playgrounds made out of old tires. Missouris constitution bars parochial schools from receiving such public benefits.

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That provision in Missouris constitution is one of the Blaine amendments. The controversy over Blaine amendments has its origins in the presidential campaign of 1876. At the time, Republican candidate James G. Blaine sought anti-Catholic voters in his quest for the White House.

Blaine proposed a federal constitutional amendment that stated in part that no money raised by taxation in any State for the support of public schools, or derived from any public fund therefor, nor any public lands devoted thereto, shall ever be under the control of any religious sect.

Blaines effort for a national constitutional amendment failed in Congress (as did his 1876 presidential campaign), but many states over the years adopted their own Blaine amendments in their own constitutions. About 35 states now have some form of a Blaine amendment on the books.

In recent years, the United States Supreme Court has made it clear that states can relax some of their Blaine amendment provisions, and they can provide some forms of neutral aid to religious institutions.
A 12-year-old New Jersey girl spent Valentines Day delivering over 1,300 books donated to a childrens hospital.

Charlotte Olson tells the Courier-Post (on.cpsj.com/2lOTagL) her original goal was to collect 1,000 childrens books as a way to give back to her town of Voorhees.

She started the book drive before Christmas, using social media, her family and church to help spread the word.

This week, she brought boxes full of books to Childrens Regional Hospital at Coopers outpatient Voorhees site. She also gave USD220 to go toward more book purchases.

The books were presented to physicians and staff, wholl distribute them to patients at sites throughout the year as part of Coopers Reach Out and Read program.

The hospital says its the largest book donation theyve ever received.
President Donald Trump is traveling to South Carolina on Friday to meet with airplane company Boeing about jobs.

The President tweeted Friday that he was going to Charleston, South Carolina to spend time with Boeing and talk jobs. Trump has already met once with Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg about a replacement for Air Force One, a meeting which Muilenburg called very productive.

The visit comes shortly after an attempt to unionize the plant failed.

Trump has periodically visited companies and factories outside of Washington to tout his campaign promise to save American jobs. In December, Trump visited a Carrier plant in Indiana and boasted that he was keeping 1,100 jobs that the company had planned to ship to Mexico. The real number was actually 800. And the deal also included a $16 million investment in the facility, which Carriers corporate parent said would be invested into automation  which is likely to cost more jobs later.

His event is schedule to start at about 1 p.m. E.T. You can watch it live above.
A nationwide strike by foreign-born residents in the U.S. and their supporters erupted across the nation Thursday morning, as many businesses and restaurants kept their doors shut.

Organizers sought to bring attention to the economic damage that would ensue under the strict enforcement of two of President Donald Trumps new executive orders. One of them, issued Jan. 25, mandated the construction of a physical wall along the U.S. border with Mexico and boosts efforts by authorities to apprehend and detain undocumented immigrants. The other, implemented Jan. 27, froze travel into the U.S. by refugees and people from seven Muslim-majority countries for several months.

Protesters have planned boycotts in numerous corners of the U.S., from Raleigh, North Carolina, to Des Moines, Iowa, to Portland, Oregon. Below is a list of the boycotts highlights from major cities around the country.

New York

Companies in the Big Apple announced their Thursday closure on Twitter, with one Italian restaurant chain using the hashtag #WeWereAllImported, above an image of olive oil, pasta and other goods that trace their origins across the Atlantic.

Chicago

In step with a variety of businesses and restaurants, including a Fresh Market, remaining closed Thursday, celebrity chef Rick Bayless announced that his four eateries in the Windy City would also keep their doors shut in solidarity with the protesters.

Washington, D.C.

A Spanish-born chef in the Capitol made a similar move, promising to keep the doors closed to five of his restaurants Thursday.

An Iraqi man who presides over a restaurant chain, along with his daughter, a finance and marketing company manager, did the same, the New York Times reported.

Los Angeles

The California citys school district told students and employees not to join walkouts and protests, according to the Los Angeles Times, but restaurants and businesses throughout the area largely expected their workers to stay home Thursday, the local ABC7 reported. Further north in the Golden State, businesses stayed closed in the Bay Area, where Silicon Valley firms have voiced their opposition to the executive orders.

Philadelphia

Restaurants in the City of Brotherly Love posted signs declaring that they would remain closed Thursday, while a rally was set to take place near City Hall in the afternoon.

Further west in Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh grocery stores and restaurants kept their doors closed ahead of a planned rally and march.

Boston

At least 11 restaurants and chains remained closed Thursday in the New England city, according to Eater. One of them, Shojo Restaurant, declared that the beauty of our location in Chinatown is its deep-rooted history in migration, opportunity and innovation, and affirmed its resolute belief in diversity.

Houston

Protesters planned to hold a rally in Houstons Guadalupe Plaza. Other Texas cities, such as Austin and Dallas, joined in the mass boycott as well.

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President Donald Trump has officially renamed the White House's Office of the First Lady to the Office of the First Family, which means dual administration roles for his daughter Ivanka and his wife, Melania. In an exclusive interview, D.C. insiders told the New York Daily News that Ivanka Trump had already brought in designers to renovate the East Wing office, which has traditionally always been used by the first lady.

Not only is Ivanka moving into the First Lady's office, she's redecorating it, an unnamed White House source said. It's what they're going to call The First Family Office.

Melania Trump, 46, decided to stay in New York City with her 10-year-old son Barron until he finishes the school year. She will be absent for the first several months of the president's inaugural term.

Even though rumors were surfacing that Melania Trump would not be moving into the White House, the source told the New York Daily News that it was not true.

When Melania gets there, they'll share the office space, the source said. There's no competition between the two. They have totally different agendas.

Whatever roles they have, they will enjoy a powerful platform to address any public concerns.

"Because it is a podium with a very, very loud voice. And any first lady when they arrive, I don't think they have any idea about how loud that voice can be," Amy Zantzinger, a former White House social secretary for Laura Bush said last month.

However, even though the first lady wouldn't be in D.C., she wasn't leaving everything entirely up to her 35-year-old step-daughter. Melania has hired a decorator to do the White House family quarters, the same unnamed source told the publication. It's going to be a more European-esque, refined look. More gold, more classic.

Melania Trump, who is the second first lady born outside the U.S. and the first born in Slovenia, a formerly Communist country, wont be moving to the White House before June, the source said.

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The White House is pushing back against a report that it is considering a proposal to mobilize as many as 100,000 National Guard troops round up undocumented immigrants.

The Associated Press reported this morning that an 11-page document would call for the National Guard to be called up in 11 states, including some not along the Mexican border, to round up undocumented immigrants.

The memo was written by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general, according to the AP, and would give governors in those states final say on whether to participate.

That is 100% not true, White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters. It is false. It is irresponsible to be saying this.  There is no effort at all to round up, to utilize the National Guard to round up illegal immigrants.

Spicer would not say whether this idea was ever floated somewhere within the Administration.

I dont know what could potentially be out there, but I know that there is no effort to do what is potentially suggested, he said.

The states included in the draft proposal include California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas as well as seven non-border states: Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

The full 11-page document has since been posted online by Vox.
Telecommunication companies have long lobbied against the Federal Communications Commissions 2015 rules on net neutrality, which classified the internet as a public utility rather than a platform on which websites or companies can pay for faster service. Lately, so have civil rights groups.

In a joint statement released Feb. 7 and first reported by the Intercept Monday, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the National Urban League and Asian Americans Advancing Justice, along with other groups, urged the FCC to allow the Republican-dominated Congress to decide the issue.

The statutory approach, as the letter put it, avoids the jurisdictional and classification problems that plagued the last FCC. The agency, now headed by vocal net neutrality critic Ajit Pai  who was selected by President Donald Trump in January and does not need Senate confirmation since he previously was confirmed as a commissioner  should focus on a goal of improvement, deployment and adoption of the high-speed networks that all Americans deserve, the groups said.

Many of the groups supporting Pais anti-net neutrality bent receive donations from telecom giants, both directly and indirectly. A 2013 investigation by Center for Public Integrity, for example, found that AT&T Inc., CBS Corp., Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable and Verizon Communications, where Pai once worked as an attorney, all had contributed thousands to the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council, which represents the minority groups in telecommunications-related legal cases and whose president and CEO was included in the Feb. 7 statement.

The civil rights groups have benefited individually as well. The Los Angeles Times found in 2010 AT&T gave $1.8 billion over nine years to the National Urban League, the NAACP and a Latin American group that didn't sign the recent statement, and that Comcast had given more than $5 million to the National Urban League.

Story continues

More recently, Asian Americans Advancing Justice listed AT&T, Verizon and Comcast among members of its corporate alliance. The NAACP cited AT&T, Comcast and Time Warner as sponsors of its annual scholarship program and AT&T as a sponsor of its annual Image Awards. Among the National Urban Leagues 2017 Save Our Cities Conference sponsors were AT&T, Comcast and Charter Communications.

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The most bizarre and unsettling moment in President Trumps bizarre and unsettling press conference this Thursday came near the end. Trump, who had been insulting the journalists questioning him for more than 90 minutes, declared that, I want to find a friendly reporter.

Then he spied Jake Turx of the magazine Ami, a bearded man attired in the white shirt and black velvet kippa (skullcap) typical of ultra-Orthodox Jews. Are you a friendly reporter? Trump asked. Watch how friendly he is. Wait. Wait. Watch how friendly he is. Go ahead.

This is not normal. Presidents dont usually announce that they want an easy question. Its possible that Trump saw Turxs distinctive appearance and guessed that he would be friendly, since the ultra-Orthodox supported Trump at substantially higher rates than other Jews.

In any case, the encounter initially unfolded as Trump desired. Despite what some of my colleagues may have been reporting, declared Turx, I havent seen anybody in my community accuse either of yourself or anyone on your staff of being anti-Semitic. We understand that you have Jewish grandchildren. You are their zeide [grandfather].

Recommended: Conservative Outlets Gave Their Audiences a Very Different View of Trump's Press Conference

Trump responded: Thank you.

But then Turx pivoted. However, he went on, what we are concerned about and what we really havent heard being addressed is an uptick in anti-Semitism and how the government is planning to take care of it. There has been a report out that 48 bomb threats have been made against Jewish centers all across the country in the last couple of weeks. There are people who are committing anti-Semitic acts or threatening to

At this point Trump grew angry. He said he was gonna ask a very simple, easy question, Trump exclaimed, interrupting Turx. And its not, its not, notnot a simple question, not a fair question.

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Trump continued: Number one, I am the least anti- Semitic person that youve ever seen in your entire life.

Then he berated Turx some more: See, he lied about  he was gonna get up and ask a very straight, simple question, so you know, welcome to the world of the media.

Then Trump returned to his alleged anti-Semitism: Let me just tell you something, that I hate the charge, I find it repulsive. I hate even the question because people that know me and you heard the prime minister, you heard Ben [sic] Netanyahu yesterday, did you hear him, Bibi? He said, Ive known Donald Trump for a long time and then he said, forget it. So you should take that instead of having to get up and ask a very insulting question like that.

Put aside the spectacle of a president berating a reporter for not asking a friendly enough question. More bizarre is the fact that Turxs question was actually quite friendly. He began by denying that anyone in his community considers Trump an anti-Semite, and then asked what the government would do about a rise in anti-Semitic incidents. Trump, however, disregarded latter half and accused Turx of calling him an anti-Semite, even though Turx had said exactly the opposite. On its face, Trumps response makes no sense.

Recommended: The Anti-Trump Resistance Takes Hold in Red States

The best way to understand it is as the product of narcissism so epic that it crowds out moral concern. Turx asked about Jewish fears of anti-Semitism. But the only thing that interested Trump was the possibility that people might consider him anti-Semitic. So he turned a question about Jewish victimization into a parable of his own victimization by a Jewish reporter.

The same narcissism was on display the day before when an Israeli journalist asked Trump about a sharp rise in anti-Semitic incidents and asked whether your administration is playing with xenophobia and maybe racist tones. Here too, Trump was handed an easy opportunity to offer reassurance to anxious American Jews. And, here too, Trump spoke mostly about himself.

He began by noting that he had won 306 Electoral College votes. He then promised vaguely that We are going to stop crime in this country. We are going to do everything within our power to stop long-simmering racism and every other thing thats going on, because lot of bad things have been taking place over a long period of time. And finally, in his only comments about Jews, he noted that he has so many [Jewish] friends, a [Jewish] daughter who happens to be here right now, a [Jewish] son-in-law, and three beautiful [Jewish] grandchildren. He didnt say anything about rising anti-Semitism at all.

The problem isnt that Trump is anti-Semitic. Its that hes more upset by the charge than by the actual anti-Semitism growing around the country, some of which his supporters are perpetrating. Hes like the Breitbart-types who think whites suffer more from being accused of racism than African-Americans do from actually experiencing it.

Presidents are supposed to show empathy for their anxious constituents. But when it comes to anti-Semitism, the only person Trump shows empathy for is himself.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
LAS VEGAS (AP)  A woman pleaded not guilty in Nevada state court on Friday to charges that she intentionally drove onto a Las Vegas Strip sidewalk, killing one pedestrian and injuring at least 34 others less than a week before Christmas 2015.

Lakeisha Nicole Holloway, 26, entered her plea after a Las Vegas judge recently ruled her competent to stand trial, following months of treatment at a state psychiatric center. Holloway, a former resident of Portland, Oregon, faces charges of murder, attempted murder and battery with a deadly weapon.

Holloway is accused of slamming her 1996 Oldsmobile sedan carrying her 3-year-old daughter into a crowd of pedestrians on the Strip on Dec. 20, 2015. Holloway told police that she and her daughter had been in Las Vegas for about a week before the crash, living in the car that she parked at casinos where security guards kept making her move.

The crash happened in front of the Paris and Planet Hollywood casino-hotels and across from dancing water fountains of the Bellagio hotel-casino. Hordes of visitors to the busy stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard walk from one casino to another.

Tests showed Holloway had more than the Nevada legal limit of pot and its metabolic byproducts in her blood when she was arrested shortly after the crash.

Holloway faces 71 felonies. A child endangerment count stems from allegations that she had her 3-year-old daughter in the back seat at the time of the crash. The girl wasn't injured.

A judge in March ordered Holloway to receive treatment at Nevada's Lakes Crossing state psychiatric center in Sparks.

Jessica Valenzuela, 32, of Buckeye, Arizona, died in the crash. The injured were tourists from California, Colorado, Florida, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington state, Mexico and Canada.

Records in Oregon show Holloway changed her name to Paris Paradise Morton in October 2015.
An opposition senator pressed Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday to publicly release details of his bank accounts to disprove allegations that he had large sums of undeclared money.

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV first alleged Duterte had unexplained wealth during the presidential campaign last year. He told a news conference he was raising the issue again because Duterte has not yet bared details of the more than 2 billion pesos (USD40 million) he allegedly kept in bank accounts as a former city mayor.

Trillanes, one of Dutertes harshest critics and a navy officer once detained for a failed coup plot against a former president, said he would resign if Duterte can disprove the allegations.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said Duterte would not release those bank details in response to grandstanding, but suggested the president may do so as part of a legal process.

Duterte, who took office in June, has denied amassing ill-gotten wealth. His daughter, Mayor Inday Sara Duterte of southern Davao city, reacted to the allegations by saying if Trillanes could show where her alleged unexplained wealth is right now and how it became illegal, lets get it and Ill give it to all of you.

I know he will not release and he will not accept my challenge because it will be proven that he is really a corrupt official, Trillanes said.

In May, Trillanes released documents he said were handed to him by a concerned citizen purportedly showing 2.4 billion pesos ($48 million) flowed into Dutertes various bank accounts from 2006 to 2015, representing alleged unexplained wealth the mayor failed to declare as required by law.

Trillanes and Dutertes lawyer then went to a branch of the Bank of the Philippines Islands, where Duterte and his daughter allegedly had an undeclared deposit of more than 200 million pesos ($4 million) in a joint account.

Lawyer Salvador Panelo said that Duterte had authorized him to request the bank to open the account but that bank officials told him it would take seven days to study the request. Trillanes said the account has not been opened to scrutiny.

Duterte has projected himself as a politician who rose from poverty and still lives a modest life in a rundown house in Davao city, where he served as a longtime mayor. He has faced criticism for his brutal crackdown on illegal drugs that has left thousands of mostly poor suspected drug users dead. AP
BERLIN (AP)  Top world leaders, diplomats and defense officials are getting their first opportunity to meet with members of the Trump administration amid concerns over the new presidents commitment to NATO and posture toward Russia.

Vice President Mike Pence, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly are leading the U.S. delegation to the Munich Security Conference opening Friday. The annual weekend gathering is known for providing an open and informal platform for allies  and adversaries  to meet in close quarters.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, European Council President Donald Tusk and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg are among the group of more than 30 heads of state and government, 80 foreign and defense ministers and other officials expected to attend.

Trump set off alarm bells last month by calling NATO obsolete, though has subsequently told European leaders he agrees on the fundamental importance of the military alliance. He has emphasized the need for all members to pay a fair share for defense, an issue that NATO leaders themselves have pushed for years.

Mattis told the alliances 27 other defense ministers in Brussels on Wednesday that Trump has strong support for NATO and assured Stoltenberg that the alliance remains a fundamental bedrock for the United States.

However, Mattis also told fellow NATO members they need to increase their military spending by years end or risk seeing the U.S. curtail its defense support.

Other stances  Trumps support for Britains decision to leave the EU, his perceived closeness to Russia and inaugural pledge to put America first  also have raised an unbelievable number of question marks, conference organizer Wolfgang Ischinger, a former German ambassador to the U.S., said.

Story continues

Ischinger said expectations that Pence would speak at the conference on Saturday were extremely high. Participants have told him they are seeking clarity on the administrations stance on its relationship with Russia, NATO, the EU, free trade, human rights, the Iran nuclear agreement, relations with China and the Syria conflict.

Were all hoping the American vice president will give a statement on  all of these questions that we in the past weeks have wondered: What does America under Trump really want?' he said.

Merkel, whose views on many of the main issues differ significantly from those expressed by Trump, plans to address the conference on Saturday.

Others expected to be on hand include Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

On the sidelines, representatives from Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France are supposed to hold a meeting of the so-called Normandy group to talk about the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine.

South Koreas Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se told reporters he plans to emphasize the gravity and urgency of North Koreas nuclear program at the meeting. The allegation from the U.S. this week that Russia violated an arms control treaty with the deployment of a cruise missile also seems certain to be on the agenda.

U.S. Sen. John McCain, an outspoken critic of Trumps Russia policies, is among more than a dozen American representatives expected to attend as part of a U.S. congressional delegation.
Sydney (AFP) - Australian-US media outlet Yahoo7 was Friday found in contempt and fined over an online story that saw a murder trial aborted, with a judge slamming the website for prioritising profit above oversight.

A Sydney-based Yahoo7 journalist, Krystal Johnson, and the company were hauled before court last year over a report about a Melbourne murder trial that contained prejudicial information not heard by the jury.

The jury was discharged and the trial ended. A second trial was later held with a man found guilty of murdering his girlfriend.

Justice John Dixon of the Supreme Court of Victoria convicted Yahoo7 -- co-owned by US internet giant Yahoo and Australia's Seven West Media -- of contempt of court and fined the news organisation Aus$300,000 (US$230,000).

Dixon told the court he wanted to make it clear to the media "that sub-judice contempt of the type demonstrated in this case is intolerable".

"Commercial pressures and incentives such as meeting deadlines and ensuring immediacy in current affairs reporting, attracting larger audiences to its website and earning profits appear to be relevant to the systemic failure within Yahoo7," Dixon said.

He added that the aborted trial wasted the court's time, was a burden on its resources and upset the victim's family, the accused and the jury.

"In view of the kind of high-volume, time-pressured work Yahoo7 expected of its journalists, Ms Johnson's mistake was readily foreseeable," Dixon noted in further criticism of Yahoo7 in his judgement.

"Time pressures inherent to the media's work must be balanced against the responsibility to ensure that the appropriate checks are in place."

Johnson was given a two-year good behaviour bond, with Dixon adding: "I accept that she has learnt in a harsh and unforgiving way a lesson that she will never forget."

The case has highlighted the pressures editors and journalists face amid plunging profits and increased competition for readers and viewers.
LONDON  If someone asked you to name as many emoji as possible, chances are the Eggplant Emoji would be one of the first to spring to mind.

It pops up all the time on social media and in jokey message exchanges. It's pretty recognisable.

The thing is, it's not actually called an eggplant emoji  at least, not technically.

SEE ALSO: A redhead emoji is finally in the cards

It's not a super well-known fact, but Unicode  the US company that standardises computerised text  has a tradition of naming emoji using British English.

"While the Unicode Consortium is based in the US, most emoji names use British English," Emojipedia founder Jeremy Burge told Mashable.

What this means is that plenty of well-known emoji have slightly different names  at least on an official, code level  to the names they're most popularly known by.

This is technically known as the Aubergine Emoji, for instance, not the "Eggplant Emoji":

Image: emojipedia/mashable composite

And this, instead of the Truck Emoji, is actually the Articulated Lorry Emoji.

Image: emojipedia/mashable composite

This one, meanwhile, is officially the Ear of Maize Emoji  not the Ear of Corn.

Image: emojipedia/mashable composite

Burge said the preference for British English appears to have been in place since 1993, and the release of Unicode 1.1.

"Before then, ISO and Unicode both had similar projects to document a list of universal characters," he said. "In the early 90s Unicode and ISO merged their lists of characters, and decided they should stay in sync in future.

"It seems to have become an informal tradition since then to keep using British English for new character names, including emojis."

Often, of course, the US-centric alias of an emoji will take over and become the more commonly used name.

But hidden in the PDFs on Unicode's website, the original names live on.

In British English it's 'Father Christmas', not 'Santa Claus'.

Image: unicode

Story continues

"Even though emojis didnt exist in 1993, many text characters were later upgraded to emoji status," added Burge. "This extends to the recent addition of Mother Christmas in 2016, who would be far more commonly known as Mrs Claus!"

You learn something new every day.
San Francisco (AFP) - Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday offered a vision for the social network as a force in building a "global community," as more people become disillusioned with troubled political institutions.

In a wide-ranging post of nearly 6,000 words, Zuckerberg said Facebook can play a role in bringing people together as they face fractious politics and anti-globalization sentiment.

The essay -- released without warning and instantly called a "manifesto" by pundits -- offered a detailed, idealistic vision of the role of the world's biggest social network, going well beyond Zuckerberg's frequent comments on "connecting the world."

"In times like these, the most important thing we at Facebook can do is develop the social infrastructure to give people the power to build a global community that works for all of us," he wrote.

The post on his Facebook page, titled "Building Global Community," said the social network with some 1.8 billion members should play a role in improving people's lives.

"Today I want to focus on the most important question of all: are we building the world we all want?" he said.

"Facebook stands for bringing us closer together and building a global community. When we began, this idea was not controversial... Yet now, across the world there are people left behind by globalization, and movements for withdrawing from global connection."

Zuckerberg said people around the world face threats that are becoming "increasingly global," like terrorism, natural disasters, disease, refugee crises, and climate change, which "need coordinated responses from a worldwide vantage point."

He added that non-government organizations have done little to address these problems on a global scale and said that he has "directed Facebook to invest more and more resources into serving this need."

"My hope is that more of us will commit our energy to building the long term social infrastructure to bring humanity together," Zuckerberg wrote.

Story continues

"The answers to these questions won't all come from Facebook, but I believe we can play a role."

Zuckerberg, who in recent months has been taking a more active role in civic affairs, announced in 2015 that he and his wife Priscilla Chan would donate 99 percent of their Facebook wealth -- an estimated $45 billion -- to philanthropic causes.

Last year, the Chan-Zuckerberg initiative pledged to donate $3 billion over the next decade to research efforts to help banish or manage all disease.
Tom Ford (Photo: Getty Images)

When youre Tom Ford, director, perfumer, and clothier, choosing an outfit for a glitzy evening really isnt that big a deal.

Its very easy if you are Tom Ford when you own your own menswear factory to open your closet and pull out a velvet jacket, he tells Yahoo Style. You just have to decide between green or red or blue or black. That sounds trite, but I just put on my own clothes!

While its no surprise that the fashion mogul wears his own attire, Ford did let us in on one of his personal style secrets. I always carry something red in my left pocket for good luck, he explained, while swiftly pulling a scarlet pocket square from his suit jacket to demonstrate.

Not that he needed much luck on Thursday at one of the major events leading up to the Oscars next Sunday. You know youve made it in Hollywood when you earn the support of one of the biggest movie stars in the world  another dude named Tom.

Tom Ford knows everything there is to know about fashion, so much so that gentlemen always take his advice. If Tom Ford tells you to wear something, wear it. If he tells you how to wear it, wear it the way he tells you to, Tom Hanks told a crowd of supporters at Thursday nights An Unforgettable Evening, an event benefitting the Womens Cancer Research Fund (WCRF).

The Sully star, who attended the soiree alongside wife Rita Wilson, revealed that both he and his wife were wearing the designers label, except for my glasses, which are Ray-Bans, he quipped. Last September, he and Wilson attended Fords ultra-exclusive fashion show in New York.

While introducing Ford, who was honored with the Courage Award for his work helping to raise more than $70 million for breast cancer research, Hanks revealed that the award recipient was quick to share his thoughts on his getup. Tom Ford asked me the most beautiful question about my ensemble: Why the [expletive] are you wearing Ray-Bans? he said, as the audience laughed.

Tom Ford (Photo: Getty Images)

The designer turned filmmaker may have been snubbed this year for Nocturnal Animals, but hes still looking forward to the Oscars. Im excited for Michael Shannon, who was in my film, who is nominated, he says. I think he did an amazing job. Im so happy that he received a nomination, and Ill be crossing my fingers for him.

Story continues

Ford has been in the spotlight lately for his work on the celebrated film but admitted to being a little unsure about taking the stage to accept the WCRFs Courage Award.

Its a little strange because Im being honored for courage. But the people who really deserve that award are the people who not only battle this disease, but who are at the forefront of research and are taking care of people who have the disease, fighting the disease, he said. Im quite self-conscious about that, however, anything I can to help, I do.

The style icon then got candid about the impact the disease has had on his own life, opening up about the cancer battle his husband and longtime partner, Richard Buckley, faced. The two are parents to son Jack, 4.

Ive been with the same person for 30 years. Three years into our relationship, he was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Twenty-seven years later, hes still here, alive and well because he had great treatment and terrific doctors. [Its] an important disease to continue to fight, he added.

Ford and his husband were inseparable throughout the evening and had a constant receiving line of guests at their table in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel ballroom. Attendees went home with a fragrance from his new Vert Dencens collection.

And of course, Buckley was impeccably styled, which we can only imagine comes with the territory of being Fords partner in crime for the past 30 years. I said to Richard, Two or three nights a week, we wear tuxedos, Ford told Yahoo Style. It feels quite normal, he noted, of constantly wearing a tux. We tried to prove that the designer was just like the rest of us by asking him whether he ever has sweatpants days on the couch. But Ford flashed us a look that sternly implied he wouldnt be caught dead in sweatpants, before straightening his bow tie and making his way inside.

Read more:

Lets keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Style + Beauty on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.




The outdoor industry is heading out.

After much speculation, industry leaders from the Outdoor Retailer trade show said they would pull the biannual event from Utah, held in Salt Lake City for roughly two decades.

The announcement came Thursday night after executives from Outdoor Retailer, Outdoor Industry Association, Patagonia, The North Face and REI held an unproductive conference call with Utah Gov. Gary Herbert.

We are doing the work necessary to procure an alternative location for Outdoor Retailer, said Marisa Nicholson, show director for Outdoor Retailer. Though we may wish it different, this is far from a snap of the fingers thing to make happen. Convention centers and hotels are not sitting idle. In every instance at every potential venue, there are hurdles that have to be cleared and that simply cannot be done overnight. We expect that our current proposal process, which we initiated before any of the company withdrawal announcements last week, will take between 60 and 90 days. Salt Lake City has been hospitable to Outdoor Retailer and our industry for the past 20 years, but we are in lockstep with the outdoor community and are working on finding our new home.

The industry expo, which earlier this month said it would seek proposals for new venue locations for shows and events, said it would no longer include the state of Utah in the request for proposal process for future show locations.

The feud, which resulted in a number of companies withdrawing from the show, heated up when Utah politicians took steps to rescind the national monument status of the Bears Ears National Monument.

The last OR show in Salt Lake City will be held in the summer of 2018.

Related stories

Outdoor Retailer Show Scouts New Venues Amid Industry Unrest

What Issues Are Plaguing the Outdoor Industry?

Here's Where 9 of Instagram's Top Outdoor Adventurers Go to Explore Nature
(Reuters) - Accenture Plc said on Friday it would create 15,000 "highly skilled" new jobs in the United States, as IT services firms brace for a more protectionist U.S. technology visa program under President Donald Trump. The company, which is domiciled in Dublin, Ireland, said the new jobs would increase the company's U.S. workforce by 30 percent to more than 65,000 by the end of 2020. Accenture has more than 394,000 employees, of which about 140,000 are in India. IT services companies have come under the spotlight after Trump said that his administration would focus on creating more jobs for U.S. workers, who had been affected by the outsourcing of jobs abroad. Major IT service companies, particularly those based in India, fly engineers to the United States using H-1B visas to service clients, but some opponents argue they are misusing the visa program to replace U.S. jobs. India's software services industry is also concerned about a bill introduced in the U.S. Congress seeking to double the salary paid to H-1B visa holders which would dramatically increase the costs for the companies employing them. Accenture said on Friday it would invest $1.4 billion to train its employees and would open 10 innovation centers in some U.S. cities. The company's U.S. business accounted for 46 percent of its total revenue for the year ended Aug. 31. (Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
Since last month, IBTimes has been reporting about the release of Android 7.0 Nougat for Samsungs Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge handsets. Today, there is now confirmation that the highly anticipated software update that would entail the jump from Marshmallow to Nougat is close to finally releasing. The new leak even suggests Nougat is rolling out to the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge predecessors possibly next week or by the end of this month.

Android 7.0 Nougat is already six months old, while the Galaxy S6 and the S6 Edge are almost two years old. So its good to know that the two  devices counted as one  are meeting halfway this month of February. The rollout of the software update to the handsets does not come as a surprise however, given that the Galaxy S7 and the S7 Edge received the update a week ago.

In January, Samsung announced the list of its products that are getting the Android Nougat treatment. First on the list was the duo comprising the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. Then, next came the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge and Galaxy Note 5. At the time, the South Korea giant did not give out a detailed timeline for the release of the update on the devices, so what fans simply held on to was the promise that Nougat is coming to the aforesaid devices during the first half of this year.

Fortunately, fans can now rejoice since the Nougat update for the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge has already been confirmed. According to Neowin, Samsungs Turkish vice president Tansu Yegen was the one to give this confirmation. Yegen apparently revealed via Twitter the schedule of the software updates release to Samsungs handsets.

Based on the graph Yegen provided, the S6 and the S6 Edge+, as well as the Galaxy Note 5, are getting the Android 7.0 Nougat update by the end of Februarys third week. In addition, the Galaxy S6 Edge is reportedly receiving the Nougat treatment at the end of the fourth week, while the Galaxy S series and J series are getting their update in May and in June, respectively.

Story continues

Also mentioned in Yegens post is the arrival of the update on the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. It is stated there that the two handsets will receive Nougat at the end of the second week of February. True enough, Samsung indeed began rolling out Nougat to the S7 and S7 Edge within the said time period.

Droid Report stated that with the Nougat update, Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge users will see a dramatic change on their smartphones. One of which is the improved battery life. The update is said to bring the option that would put apps to sleep to minimize battery wastage and increase battery life. A new home screen, transparent app folders, a different calendar interface and many other new features are expected to be part of the software update as well.

Related Articles
FILE - The July 21, 2016 photo shows Deniz Yuecel, correspondent in Turkey for the German daily newspaper 'Welt', photographed during the ZDF TV'chat show 'Maybrit Illner' in Berlin, Germany. German newspaper 'Die Welt' said Friday, Feb. 17, 2017 that its correspondent in Turkey has been taken into police custody in connection with his reporting on a hacker attack on the email account of Turkeys energy minister.. (Karlheinz Schindler/dpa via AP)

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP)  A German newspaper correspondent in Turkey has been taken into police custody in connection with his reporting on a hacker attack on the email account of Turkey's energy minister, his employer said Friday.

The Welt daily said on its website that Deniz Yucel, who has both Turkish and German citizenship, went to police offices in Istanbul to face questioning and that his apartment had been searched.

The paper said police accused him of membership in a terrorist organization, misuse of data and terrorist propaganda.

Yucel, 43, had reported on emails that were obtained by the leftist hacker collective RedHack from the private email account of Energy Minister Berat Albayrak and made available on WikiLeaks, the paper said. Subjects included influencing public opinion through fake Twitter accounts and the control of Turkey media companies. Other journalists have also written about the emails.

Albayrak is a son-in-law of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Editor-in-chief Ulf Poschardt said Yucel "does excellent work" and that "we trust that fair proceedings will prove his innocence."

Germany's Foreign Ministry said Yucel has been in police detention since Tuesday "in connection with a criminal investigation."

"We hope the ongoing investigation by Turkish authorities against Mr. Yucel respects the rule of law and he is treated fairly, in particular with regard to the press freedom that's guaranteed by the Turkish constitution," the ministry said in a statement, adding: "Of course we are doing everything we can to support Deniz Yucel."

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a nonprofit press freedom group based in New York, at least 81 journalists were imprisoned in Turkey last year  the biggest number worldwide.

Many of the arrests came following a July 15 coup attempt that prompted a government crackdown on alleged anti-government activists that included the closure of at least 100 news outlets.

___

This story corrects Erdogan's title from prime minister to president.
Police and protesters opposed to the construction of a massive aluminum plant clashed in a northern Chinese city yesterday despite the local governments announcement that it was suspending the project.

Several dozen protesters gathered outside government offices in Daqing, pushing up against a large contingent of police, including some with dogs.

At least two people were taken away and a woman was carried off after collapsing in the street, according to footage obtained by the AP. It was unclear whether she had been injured by police.

The protest over the plant planned by aluminum producer Zhongwang Holdings Ltd. took place despite a city government pledge Wednesday to put it on hold.

Local governments in China often announce suspensions of projects following protests, only to quietly restart them months later.

Such environmental protests are becoming increasingly common as Chinas middle-class demands a cleaner environment and becomes more aware of health risks posed by heavily polluting industries blamed for the choking smog that smothers Beijing and other cities.

Responding to the protests, Hong Kong-listed Zhongwang earlier issued a statement saying that its production processes met international environmental standards. AP
As the recent smartphone market share report made absolutely clear, Android is far and away the most popular operating system in the world. Google would most certainly like to keep it that way, but did the company strong arm Samsung into slowing development of its own mobile OS, Tizen, in order to prevent unwanted competition? South Koreas Fair Trade Commission is going to look into exactly that.

Don't Miss: If you have an iPhone 7, you got the wrong iPhone

As The Korea Times reports, South Koreas FTC wants to determine whether or not the agreements signed by both Samsung and Google regarding Android and smartphone software development crossed the line. We are currently checking if Google thwarted competition in the OS market, an FTC official reportedly said.

Way back in 2011, both Samsung and Google signed a Mobile Application Distribution Agreement which essentially forced Samsung to make Googles first party apps like Gmail, Google Maps, and YouTube standard on all Android devices, and also make Google the default search engine. The two companies also signed into an anti-fragmentation agreement that prevented Samsung from creating its own OS on top of Googles framework.

Korea Times also reports that regulators began looking into the agreements between the two companies again in 2016, after already launching an investigation in 2013. The regulators apparently discovered suspicious circumstances that they saw as red flags, leading South Korean officials to demand the matter be opened once again.

Google remains adamant that everything is on the up and up, and a statement from Google Korea states that many companies have used Androids source code as the starting point for their own operating systems, suggesting that Google has nothing to do with whether or not Samsung pursues its own mobile OS ambitions.

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's biggest telecoms operator, Safaricom, voiced "strong reservations" on Friday over the regulator's plan to monitor mobile phones on networks to detect counterfeits. The Communications Authority of Kenya wants to install equipment in the networks of the country's three mobile operators, to improve its monitoring of counterfeit mobiles, in line with its consumer protection mandate. Poorly made counterfeit phones, imported mainly from Asia, are prevalent in many African nations and regulators say they are widely used by criminals because they are difficult to track. Safaricom, which is 40 percent owned by Britain's Vodafone, is concerned the monitoring devices will give the regulator access to other customer data including calls, messages and financial transactions. "We have registered our strong reservations about this and especially the need to have this system subjected to the relevant public debate as it touches on confidential communications belonging to our customers," Stephen Chege, Safaricom's corporate affairs director, told Reuters. The regulator has switched off counterfeit mobiles in the past, but it says consumers are still exposed to such devices, hence the need for a better monitoring system. (Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Clement Uwiringiyimana and Alexander Smith)
Your laptop is sitting on the couch next to you while youre playing video games, and suddenly it starts smoking. What should you do?

When their Dell laptop exploded into flames earlier this month, two California teens managed to avoid a house fire or a serious injury by blowing out the flames and moving the device outside. Then they posted a video of the incident, reportedly captured by a home security camera.

Fire safety officials say that the teens mostly did the right things in responding to the firebut were also lucky to escape uninjured.

Lithium-ion battery fires have been in the news a lot in the past year, thanks to exploding Samsung Galaxy Note7 smartphones, a recall of HP laptops, and a series of hoverboard fires. However, such incidents are still rare. There are millions and millions of lithium-ion batteries in use in cellphones and laptops every day, says John Drengenberg, the Consumer Safety Director of Underwriters Laboratories. "And the vast majority of them don't have any problems at all."

Of course, that's only reassuring until it happens to you. Here's what you need to know about why laptop batteries can explode, and the best way to handle the situation.

Why Batteries Explode

To put it simply, blame thermal runaway. The major parts of a li-ion battery, the cathode and anode, are separated by a permeable membrane, and the battery works by undergoing a controlled chemical reaction. If the membrane is compromised, the chemistry can go into overdrive and dump all the battery's energy at once. Temperatures can climb past 1,000 F in a few seconds, leading to a fire or explosion.

Unlike the smaller, single-cell battery in a cell phone, a laptop has multiple cells that can each be damaged by the heat from an adjacent cell. That's why the computer in the video kept re-igniting like a set of trick birthday candles. Its a chain reaction, Drengenberg says.



According to Dell, the battery that caught fire hadn't been supplied by the company. Evidence taken directly from the laptop proves, definitively, that the battery was not manufactured by Dell and was not an authentic Dell battery, public relations vice president Dave Farmer tells Consumer Reports. According to Farmer, someone had installed a third-party battery that may have lacked the safety features that were built into the original battery.



Story continues

What to Do About a Battery Fire

1. Call the fire department. First, treat a burning laptop like a real fire. Because that's what it is, according to James Long, director of public information with the New York City Fire Department.

Call 911, and then evacuate people and pets from the home. In addition to the fire danger, the plastics and chemicals inside can give off toxic fumes, Drengenberg says.

Unfortunately, many people are reluctant to call the fire department for anything less than the Towering Infernoand that's a problem for firefighters.

We get that all the time, Michael Zezze, assistant chief of the Chappaqua, N.Y., fire department, says. His department handled one of the first fires caused by li-ion batteries in a hoverboard. Theres nothing to be embarrassed about. Wed rather show up and find out it was nothing than to have to respond to a fully involved structure fire because someone was reluctant to call.

If the laptop is just extremely hot or starting to smolder, there are other measures you can take.

2. Unplug the laptop. If you can do so safely, unplugging the laptop is a good first step, according to Long, because it isolates the device from the wall current and keeps additional power from being delivered to the battery. However, as you can see in the California video, unplugging the computer wont prevent a subsequent fire or explosion if the battery is already in thermal runaway.

3. Remove nearby combustibles. The teens got this right. They removed the laptop from the couch, which could have easily ignited and set the whole room ablaze. Long suggests moving papers, pillows, and other combustibles away from the computeragain, if it can be done safely.

4. Air it out. The next step would be to move the device outside, if the fire is in its early stages. That allows the fumes to vent and prevents the laptop from setting the house or its contents on fire.

But you want to be mindful of the fact that a fire can double in size within 20 to 30 seconds, says Long. You dont want to put yourself in any danger.

5. Water it down. It may seem counter-intuitive, but water works in a case like this. What were attempting to do is cool down the device, Long says. If you can, get it into a sink.

Zezze also suggests using a conventional ABC dry chemical fire extinguisher of the type you might find in your kitchen. Since the extinguisher can spray effectively from across a large room, you can stay at least 10 feet from the device. Keep a safe distance, he says. Theres no reason to be right on top of it. You could be dealing with burning shrapnel.



6. Continue to monitor the device. Even after the device seems to be out, there may be damage to a cell that can cause the fire to re-ignite. These fires tend to be unpredictable, Zezze explains. They can flare back up after three, five, or ten minutes.

In this case shown in the video, the cells seemed to ignite at regular intervals, a few minutes apart. But that's not always the way battery fires develop.

Dan Gorham, project manager with the Fire Safety Research Foundation, a nonprofit group, recalled a training exercise when large li-ion batteries from a burning electric car re-kindled a full 24 hours after the fire department sensors suggested that the fire had been extinguished.

You had a battery that was incompletely discharged, Gorham says. And that stranded energy, thats a hazard."





More from Consumer Reports:

Top pick tires for 2016

Best used cars for $25,000 and less

7 best mattresses for couples





Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website. Copyright  2006-2017 Consumers Union of U.S.
They say everything old will eventually be new again, and as of this week, all four major wireless carriers are once again offering unlimited data plans to their subscribers. AT&T was the last carrier to jump on board, sort of  the carrier has actually offered unlimited data for a while now, but that plan had previously only been available to customers who also subscribed to AT&Ts DirecTV satellite television service. Now its available to everyone, which means anyone can now get an unlimited data plan from any of the nations top four wireless carriers.

But, are these new unlimited plans truly unlimited?

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Earlier this week, we published a post covering all the biggest caveats tied to Verizons new unlimited plan, which had just been announced at the time. And yes, there are plenty of caveats.

First, there its true that there is no limit to the amount of data you can use in any given billing period, but there is a limit on the amount of guaranteed full-speed data you get each month. Verizon guarantees full-speed 4G LTE for first 22GB of data per billing period. After that, the carrier will slow your data speeds by an unspecified amount anytime you find yourself in a congested area. In other words, Verizon will throttle your data during periods of network congestion once youve hit the 22GB soft cap.

Now, there is some confusion surrounding this policy, and Ive received a number of emails and messages on Twitter about it. Why? Because like all other carrier (yes, all carriers have similar data throttling policies on their unlimited plans), Verizon uses intentionally vague and confusing language to communicate this aspect of its plan.

Heres what Verizon says on its website:

We may manage your network usage to ensure a quality experience for all customers, and may prioritize your data behind some Verizon customers during times/places of network congestion.

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As our British friends would say rubbish. Manage your network usage? Prioritize your data? Times/places of network congestion? This is all just Verizons deliberately vague way of saying your 4G LTE data speeds will be throttled if youve already used more than 22GB of data in a single billing period. The carrier also makes no attempt to explain exactly what network congestion entails, and good luck getting an intelligible answer.

Again, all wireless carriers in the US have similar policies, and they all use similarly vague and confusing language to describe those policies. In the end, heres what you need to know: If youre on an unlimited data plan, your 4G LTE data speeds may be intentionally slowed  throttled  if your usage in a single billing period surpasses:

22GB on Verizon

22GB on AT&T

28GB on T-Mobile

23GB on Sprint

So thats the first big limitation of these new unlimited plans. The next pertains to tethering, or using your smartphone as a mobile hotspot and linking other devices to your phones cellular data connection. The rules are much more clear in this area  once you use a certain amount of mobile hotspot data, your tethered data speed will be throttled continuously for the remainder of your billing period. Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint each give you 10GB of full-speed mobile hotspot data per billing period. After that, Verizon and T-Mobile will throttle your mobile hotspot data to 3G speeds, while Sprint will throttle you to 2G speeds.

The exception here is AT&T, which does not allow unlimited subscribers to use their mobile hotspot feature at all. Of note, AT&T also has the most expensive unlimited plan  its even pricier than Verizons plan.

And finally, the last usage-related limitation of these unlimited plans: streaming video quality. Things in this area have actually changed for the better in recent months, with most carriers easing their restrictions on streaming video quality. In fact, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile have no limitations on the resolution of streaming video.

With all three of the aforementioned carriers, unlimited plan holders can stream video to their devices at the resolution offered by the content provider. With T-Mobile, video quality is still throttled by default, but subscribers can turn off their Binge On feature to disable throttling. With AT&T, its the opposite  videos will stream at full resolution by default, but an available Stream Saver feature can be enabled to throttle video quality so subscribers dont eat through their guaranteed full-speed data quite as quickly.

Sprint is the only carrier that limits video streaming quality to 1080p. The carrier also throttles music streaming to 1.5Mbps, and gaming to 8Mbps.

So, in the end, if youre being literal then the answer is yes, there is such a thing as an unlimited plan. If you sign up for one of these new plans with Verizon, T-Mobile or Sprint, you really will be able to use an unlimited amount of voice calling, text messaging and data, be it direct or through a mobile hotspot feature. There are other limitations on these plans, but the amount of data you can use is in fact unlimited. The only exception is AT&T, since you cannot use any data at all with your phones mobile hotspot feature.

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
If you thought only the government has advanced spying tools for your iPhone or Android device, then you were wrong. It turns out that its pretty easy to spy on people, including your significant other or children, by installing commercially available applications. Its also illegal, and if youre thinking about doing it, there are probably other personal problems to fix first.

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An extensive story from Forbes dives right into the matter, revealing the many intricacies of selling government-grade surveillance tools to private citizens looking to spy on their spouses.

The report reveals that various companies would actually sell such tools in blatant disregard of local laws. The spyware would allow users to track their victims, and the report specifically mentions that its very common to see such tools put to work in domestic abuse cases.

Control is the absolute heart of domestic abuse, thats what its all about, and so its not surprising perpetrators are finding new ways of controlling a person, Womens Aid CEO Polly Nate said about the matter.

Forbes further explains that shady companies who sell such tools might even be able to breach the security of iPhones without jailbreaking them first. Jailbreaking an iOS device lets the user install apps from any source, circumventing Apples default protection.

The report mentions a test app that Forbes saw in action, an app designed to mimic WhatsApp and work on non-jailbroken devices.

It looked legitimate, incorporating all contacts, chats, and calls from the legitimate WhatsApp account. It then sent back all further WhatsApp communications, as well as SMS texts and standard calls, to a central hub, Forbes explains.

While Apple often fixes flaws that would allow such behavior, and so does Google with Android vulnerabilities, hackers keep working on discovering new cracks that can be exploited for tracking and personal surveillance purposes.

Story continues

To read more details about the companies that would commercialize surveillance smartphone apps to law enforcement but also private customers, check Forbes full report.

If you believe someone is tracking your smartphone, especially an abusive partner, notify the authorities and get rid of the phone that might be used to track your location and intercept your data.

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
By Subrat Patnaik (Reuters) - Chicago's ethics board voted unanimously to fine Uber Technologies Inc's former strategist, David Plouffe, $90,000 for illegally lobbying in the city. The ethics board said that Plouffe, who helped Uber combat onerous regulations and opposition from the taxi industry, violated the Governmental Ethics Ordinance by lobbying city officials and failing to register as a lobbyist. Plouffe, who served as campaign manager and White House adviser to President Barack Obama, joined Uber in August 2014 and served as its senior vice president of policy and strategy. The San Francisco-based company sent a letter to the ethics board objecting to the size of the fine, Chicago officials said in a statement on Thursday after the board's Feb. 15 decision was made public. Uber argued that Plouffe should be fined a maximum of $1,000 for the violation, the statement said. However, the ethics board said that Plouffe lobbied Chicago city officials on Nov 20, 2015 on behalf of the company without registering until April 13, 2016, culminating in the $90,000 fine. The ethics board also fined the ride-hailing service $2,000 for the violation. Plouffe and Uber officials were not immediately available to comment outside US. business hours. Plouffe now works for Mark Zuckerberg's philanthropy organization, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. (Reporting by Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru and Heather Somerville in San Fransisco; Editing by Andrew Hay)
NEW YORK (AP)  Mark Zuckerberg helped create the modern world by connecting nearly a quarter of its citizens to Facebook and giving them a platform to share, well, everything  baby pictures and Pepe memes, social updates and abusive bullying, helpful how-to videos and live-streamed violence.

Now he wants to remake it, too, in a way that counters isolationism, promotes global connections and addresses social ills  while also cementing Facebook's central role as a builder of online "community" for its nearly 2 billion users.

The Facebook founder laid out his thoughts on Thursday in a sweeping 5,800-word manifesto that hews closer to utopian social guide than business plan. Are we, he asked in the document, "building the world we all want?"

In a phone interview with The Associated Press, Zuckerberg stressed that he wasn't motivated by the recent U.S. election or any other particular event. Rather, he said, it's the growing sentiment in many parts of the world that "connecting the world"  the founding idea behind Facebook  is no longer a good thing.

"Across the world there are people left behind by globalization, and movements for withdrawing from global connection," Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook in a Harvard dorm room in 2004, wrote on Thursday. So it falls to his company to "develop the social infrastructure to give people the power to build a global community that works for all of us."

CONNECTING IN FACEBOOK'S INTEREST

Zuckerberg, 32, told the AP that he still strongly believes that more connectedness is the right direction for the world. But, he added, it's "not enough if it's good for some people but it's doesn't work for other people. We really have to bring everyone along."

It's hardly a surprise that Zuckerberg wants to find ways to bring more people together, especially on Facebook. After all, getting more people to come together on the social network more frequently would give Facebook more opportunities to sell the ads that generate most of its revenue, which totaled $27 billion last year. And bringing in more money probably would boost Facebook's stock price to make Zuckerberg  already worth an estimated $56 billion  even richer.

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And while the idea of unifying the world is laudable, some critics  backed by various studies  contend that Facebook makes some people feel lonelier and more isolated as they scroll through the mostly ebullient posts and photos shared on the social network. Facebook's famous "like" button also makes it easy to engage in a form of "one-click" communication that can displace meaningful dialogue.

Facebook also has been lambasted as a polarizing force by circulating posts espousing similar viewpoints and interests among like-minded people, creating an "echo chamber" that can harden opinions and widen political and cultural chasms.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

Today, most of Facebook's 1.86 billion members  about 85 percent  live outside of the U.S. and Canada. The Menlo Park, California-based company has offices everywhere from Amsterdam to Jakarta, Indonesia, to Tel Aviv, Israel. (It is banned in China, the world's most populous country, though some people get around the ban.) Naturally, Zuckerberg takes a global view of Facebook and sees potential that goes beyond borders, cities and nations.

Equally naturally, he sees the social network stepping up as more traditional cultural ties fray. People already use Facebook to connect with strangers who have the same rare disease, to post political diatribes, to share news links (and sometimes fake news links ). Facebook has also pushed its users to register to vote, to donate to causes, to mark themselves safe after natural disasters, and to "go live ." For many, it's become a utility. Some 1.23 billion people use it daily.

"Our next focus will be developing the social infrastructure for community  for supporting us, for keeping us safe, for informing us, for civic engagement, and for inclusion of all," he wrote.

LONG VIEW

Zuckerberg has gotten Facebook to this position of global dominance  one that Myspace and Twitter, for instance, never even approached  partly thanks to his audacious, long-term view of the company and its place in the world.

Last fall, Zuckerberg and his wife, the doctor Priscilla Chan, unveiled the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative , a long-term effort aimed at eradicating all disease by the end of this century. Then, as now, Zuckerberg preferred to look far down the road to the potential of scientific and technological innovations that have not been perfected, or even invented yet.

That includes artificial intelligence, which in this case means software that's capable of "thinking" enough like humans to start making the sorts of judgments that Facebook sometimes bobbles. Last September, for instance, the service briefly barred the famous Vietnam War-era photograph dubbed "Napalm Girl" because it featured a nude child, and only reversed its decision after users  including the prime minister of Norway  protested.

AI systems could also comb through the vast amount of material users post on Facebook to detect everything from bullying to the early signs of suicidal thinking to extremist recruiting. AI, Zuckerberg wrote, could "understand more quickly and accurately what is happening across our community."

Speaking to the AP, Zuckerberg said he understands that we might not "solve all the issues that we want" in the short term.

"One of my favorite quotes is this Bill Gates quote, that 'people overestimate what they can get done in two years and underestimate what they can get done in 10 years.' And that's an important mindset that I hope more people take today," he said.

__

Reach Barbara Ortutay on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BarbaraOrtutay

___

AP Technology Writer Michael Liedtke in San Francisco contributed to this story.
Finally, its Americas turn.

Late last year, Britain got to watch Planet Earth II, the seven-episode follow-up to the benchmark original series that, a decade ago, became the first natural history series to be filmed in high definition. Starting Feb. 18, it will air Saturday nights on BBC America, beginning with Islands  which features the harrowing marine iguana and racer snakes sequence that was voted Englands Timeline TV Moment of the Year  and followed by Feb. 25s Mountains, March 4s Jungles, March 11s Deserts, March 18s Grasslands, and the March 25 double-header Cities and The Making of Planet Earth II. (Cities?, youre thinking. Trust us, itll be one of your favorite episodes, with pigeons becoming prey for both peregrine falcons in New York and catfish in Albi, France; hyenas being hand-fed inside the walls of Harar, Ethiopia; and leopards filmed prowling at night for sleeping piglets in Mumbai, India courtesy of military-grade thermal imaging.)

Executive producer Mike Gunton says there isnt a formula for the perfect, immersive episode of Planet Earth II, narrated by Sir David Attenborough. In his mind, its more like a checkerboard: you want different types of sub-habitats, different types of creatures, and different types of behaviors that have to be combined in a way to hit different emotional beats. You want stories that follow an individual animal and stories of sheer spectacle (and occasionally, you achieve them simultaneously: the exclusive sneak peek above from the Islands premiere zeroes in one of the 1.5 million chinstrap penguins at Antarcticas Zavodovski Island as it braves deadly waves and cliffs to fetch food for his chicks). Above all, you want connection and revelation.

Of course we couldnt have predicted it, but one of the reasons why we wanted to make the series was we felt there was a kind of a groundswell building about people wanting to reconnect, and just a sense of the preciousness and the fragility of the planet. I know saying, timing it right makes it sound a bit Machiavellian, Gunton told Yahoo TV earlier this week, sitting at a hotel restaurant that had every TV tuned to cable news. But I think the stars kind of weirdly aligned and people have a moment where theyve spent so much time thinking inwardly, looking down, looking into their phones, looking at their world To have the opportunity to look out and see that there is a bigger planet here and that we are only part of it  and 99.9% of the other lifeforms on this planet are not us  I think has resonated.

Story continues

We asked Gunton to preview some of his favorite sequences, which well continue to share throughout the series run. For now, heres what to watch for in Islands:

His Favorite Edge-of-the-Seat Moment: Iguana vs. Snakes



On the island of Fernandina in the Galapagos, marine iguana hatchlings must make a run to the rocks to reunite with their parents. Racer snakes know it, lie in wait, and give chase in numbers that astounded the film crew.

When did Gunton know the sequence would be a global hit? People are very funny: when theyre in the field, they never want to oversell. But we heard it had been remarkable, so we knew there was something that was good. When we saw the rushes, which are the raw footage, we thought, This is extraordinary, partly because it ticked all the boxes of what we were trying to do at a fundamental level: Its close to the animals. Theres that sense of movement with it. Its got the interaction. Three snakes. Wow. This is getting exciting. Eight snakes. Oh my God. We were very fortunate because we had two cameras on that shoot, which meant that we could cover both perspectives  from the iguanas and the snakes. Thats not something you can normally do. You normally have to kind of re-shoot bits to be able to tell [the full story you witnessed], but we were able to tell that story in its entirety.

Then, the assistant editor, whos our person who collects all the footage, put together a rough edit of it for me to show at a conference the BBC has every year. It didnt have David Attenboroughs voice. It didnt have any of Hans Zimmers music  just the sound that we recorded, which was rough. But I showed it to this group of, I dont know, about 200 buyers. These are hard-nosed people who have just seen everything. The gasps! People were standing on their feet going, Oh no! Then when it escaped there was cheers and applause. I thought to myself, This is going to work.'

His Favorite Moment of Levity: Swimming Sloth

Ive always been a strong believer that every film should have comedy in it, one, because I think the natural world is funny if you spend any time there. Animals are great at slapstick  they dont know it, but they are, Gunton says. Also, I think it just gives an audience a sense that theres a humanity in the stories, which I think helps. He points to a pygmy three-toed sloth on Panamas Escudo Island that rushes, over land and water, to find an elusive female he hears calling somewhere in the distance.

If you know whats going on, there is genuine comedy there, Gunton says. I think the script decided to just pull it out: What does it do? Well, swim, of course. Its the sort of ridiculousness of the opposite of hyperbole  when you understate something for the sake of effect.

Planet Earth II premieres Feb. 18 at 9 p.m. on BBC America, AMC, and SundanceTV. The remaining episodes will air on BBC America only.



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After many years of handling rental transactions we would have to be completely blind not to see some recurring patterns amongst tenants, especially when people first arrive in Macau.

This list of common misconceptions may look innocent enough, but the difference in expectation is usually the source of major rental conflicts, and one that could be easily avoided with a little more clarity up front.

When you consider the rental process usually involves at least two different languages (sometimes three), its not surprising that misunderstandings are commonplace.

Bearing this mind, it is wise to get all agreements in writing prior to signing a final contract.

Carrying on from last week, we continue with some of the most common misconceptions

I can paint the apartment any colour I want

You may assume the answer is yes, of course! because This is MY apartment! But youd be wrong.

Most leases stipulate that when you move out, the apartment must be restored to the same condition you got it in.

If you painted the walls purple, you could be expected to repaint them to their original white. And covering purple paint isnt such an easy task.

Some agreements state that written permission is required before painting or decorating.

Putting up pictures, driving nails into the walls to hang artwork, changing the colour scheme etc are all things that need to be pre-approved and/or reversed when you move out.

Basically, the landlord will accept normal wear-and-tear in the apartment, and everything else is on the tenant.

Before moving in it is important to do a walk-through with photos to record the actual condition of the property.

Dont forget that damages to the apartment will be deducted from your security deposit. Do you still want deep purple walls?

Pets are welcome

Many owners simply forbid any cats or dogs.

Those that do allow pets usually have a clause to say the apartment must undergo a deep clean upon termination of the agreement, and funds will be withheld to take care of this (a deep clean typically costs around MOP2,000).

Check your landlords policies, and while not all landlords refuse to allow pets, many say they do for financial reasons.

Dogs can scratch doors and hardwood floors, and not every pet can handle long hours left alone in an apartment while their human is at work.

Barking also disturbs neighbours, and accidents can stain carpets, cause hygiene issues and wreck flooring.

If the landlord and the building management allow pets, you may be asked to pay an extra pet security deposit. And of course pet owners are absolutely expected to clean up after their animals.

The landlord cannot throw me out of the apartment

Yes, you can be evicted under certain circumstances. These include;

If a tenant does not pay rent at the appropriate time;

If a tenant uses the property for illegal purposes;

If all or part of the property is sub-leased without the express permission of the landlord;

If the usage of the property is different from the original purpose, for example if the apartment is used as an office or workshop space;

If alteration work on the apartment is carried out without the express permission of the landlord.

There is a maximum that the landlord can increase the rent

There have been calls from residents to try to cap rent increases. However, it is likely that interference in the market would have a reverse effect as we have seen many times in the past.

For example, if rent increases were capped at 15 percent, many owners would not rent properties. As supply falls and demand grows, this would push rental prices even higher in the mid and long term.

The Macau Government is discussing a rental cap increase, but it is not yet effective. According to Macau Law, the rental amount paid by a tenant is in agreement with both parties.

Macau law states that a rent increase must be reasonable. By definition this means that as long as both parties agree to it, it is deemed reasonable.

The landlord is responsible for handling emergency repairs

No one wants to deal with a burst pipe at midnight on a Tuesday, but its a repair that has to be handled ASAP.

You need to know how the owner wants you to respond in an genuine emergency: Fixing a running toilet on your own because it was driving you nuts and the owner didnt respond quickly enough may leave you stuck with the bill.

Before choosing an apartment its important to know how all kinds of repairs are handled as mentioned in this article, but particularly the emergencies.

Continued next week

Juliet Risdon is a Director of JML Property and a property investor.

Having been established in 1994, JML Property offers investment property & homes. It specializes in managing properties for owners and investors, and providing attractive and comfortable homes for tenants.

www.JMLProperty.com

info@JMLProperty.com
The Macau University of Science and Technology held a seminar on Chinas One Country, Two Systems policy yesterday. University professors, as well as lawmaker Si Ka Lon, praised Macaus efforts to implement the policy and pointed out that Hong Kong had, in comparison, done less meaningful work in realizing the policy.

Yang Yunzhong who is currently a researcher at the Macau Polytechnic Institute who specializes in the study of the One Country, Two Systems policy, said Macau  as one of Chinas two special administrative regions  has been consistently praised by mainland authorities and residents for its peaceful and loyal implementation of the policy.

During the seminar, Yang reiterated that Macau should not be pleased only by the ostentatious complements from the state leaders and said the One Country Two Systems and mainland Chinas special socialism build-up consists

of one single thing, not two.

Lawmaker Si Ka Lon also commented on Hong Kongs political situation, saying that Hong Kong has encountered issues with its economy, society and livelihood since its handover. The lawmaker claimed that there has been obvious interference from external forces in Hong Kongs internal affairs.

The most serious aspect is that Hong Kong is facing a great challenge from the returning of its peoples hearts, said Si.

Si suggested that Macau, likely because of geographical reasons, has a sense of identity.

Nevertheless, Si expressed his belief that Macaus government still needs extra cooperation from the public, adding that when it comes to Macaus political body, the administration and the legislation have been cooperating more and restricting each other less.

Its necessary for us to set up a statue of Deng Xiaoping [the late Chinese leader who formulated the One Country two systems], he said.

Si also told the media that the negative energy is [greater] than the positive energy among public opinions on said policy.

He suggested that educating school-aged students can help to achieve the policys vision, because nowadays students and younger generations have difficulties accepting or listening to it.
Thai police raided the head temple of a controversial Buddhist sect yesterday but failed to find and arrest the abbot, who faces criminal charges over accepting USD40 million in embezzled money.

The action followed several earlier failed attempts to seize Phra Dhammajayo, 72, head of the Dhammakaya sect. Police were previously thwarted when crowds of monks and followers blocked the way, risking a violent confrontation.

The prime minister of Thailands military government, Prayuth Chan-ocha, this time invoked an emergency order declaring the area around the temple a temporary restricted area to stop people from entering.

Police deployed about 3,000 personnel to surround the temple before dawn, blocking hundreds of monks and followers who sat outside the compounds gates, chanting Buddhist texts in protest.

The temples senior monks agreed around noon to admit some police. Several hundred officers swept the grounds, honing in on an inner residence compound where intelligence suggested the abbot resided, but he was nowhere to be found.

We found nothing illegal, we couldnt find him, said Kolvit Bunnag, director of special operations at the Department of Special Investigation, Thailands FBI. We expected to find him, but the news spread around. He could [have] run away.

Some devotees believe the raids are politically motivated because the temple and its followers are seen as supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in a 2006 military coup.

The Dhammakaya sect is controversial for fusing Buddhism theology with what critics call a bourgeois, money-friendly ideology. It appeals to Thailands burgeoning middle class.

Temple spokesmen claim they havent seen Dhammajayo for months at the temple, which is known for its vast golden dome that appears to hover over the grounds like a gilded UFO.

(The police) tried to make it as smooth and peaceful as possible, said Phra Pasura Dantamano, a Dhammakaya spokesman. However, he said it was an excessive use of force for nearly 4,000 police to come and block the road just because someone did not appear for a summons.

Pasura said Dhammajayo was innocent and estimated that 10,000 followers came to support him at the vast compound, which covers an area almost 10 times the size of Vatican City.

One of Dhammajayos followers, the head of a credit union, was convicted of embezzling money to donate to the temple, and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Dhammajayo was charged with money- laundering and receiving stolen property. The sect says he did not know the money was tainted.

In an evident effort to put pressure on him, three unrelated charges of land encroachment were later filed against him.

The sect was founded in 1970 and ballooned in Thailands 1980s economic boom. Dhammajayo was forced to temporarily step down as the temples abbot following embezzlement accusations in 1999 and 2002. He resumed his post in 2006 after clearing his name.

The DSI first summoned Dhammajayo last March in connection with the money- laundering charges. After he repeatedly failed to show up for questioning, saying he was ill, a criminal court issued an arrest warrant last May, prompting police to try to raid the temple several times.

The raids have been complicated by a law which forbids the arrest of a monk in his robes, for fear that would mar the sanctity of the clergy. Buddhism is the national religion and a core pillar of Thai society.

Police said they would be back today and tomorrow to continue the hunt, after which their search agreement with the monks will expire.

The temples supporters, too, will be back.

Lots of things happened to the temple, its not fair, said Tiparaphan Up-prakan, a decades-long Dhammakaya devotee from Bangkok. I think Dhammakaya will be OK. We will fight for that.Dow Kaewjinda, & Dake Kang, Pathum Thani, AP
Less than a month into his tenure, Donald Trumps White House is beset by a crush of crises.

Divisions, dysfunction and high-profile exits have left the young administration nearly paralyzed and allies wondering how it will reboot. The bold policy moves that marked Trumps first days in office have slowed to a crawl, a tacit admission that he and his team had not thoroughly prepared an agenda.

Nearly a week after the administrations travel ban was struck down by a federal court, the White House is still struggling to regroup and outline its next move on that signature issue. Its been six days since Trump  who promised unprecedented levels of immediate action  has announced a major new policy directive or legislative plan.

His team is riven by division and plagued by distractions. This week alone, controversy has forced out both his top national security aide and his pick for labor secretary.

Another day in paradise, Trump quipped yesterday [Macau time] after his meeting with retailers was interrupted by reporters questions about links between his campaign staff and Russian officials.

Fellow Republicans have begun voicing their frustration and open anxiety that the Trump White House will derail their high hopes for legislative action.

Sen. John Thune of South Dakota demanded that the White House get past the launch stage.

There are things we want to get done here, and we want to have a clear-eyed focus on our agenda, and this constant disruption and drumbeat with these questions that keep being raised is a distraction, said Thune.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona blasted the White Houses approach to national security as dysfunctional, asking: Who is in charge? I dont know of anyone outside of the White House who knows.

Such criticism from political allies is rare during what is often viewed as a honeymoon period for a new president. But Trump, an outsider who campaigned almost as much against his party as for it, has only a tiny reservoir of goodwill to protect him within the GOP. His administration has made uneven attempts to work closely with lawmakers and its own agencies.

Officials have begun trying to change some tactics, and some scenery, with the hope of steadying the ship. The White House announced yesterday that Trump, who has often mentioned how much he loves adoring crowds and affirmation from his supporters, would hold a campaign-style rally in Florida on Saturday, the first of his term.

The event, according to White House press secretary Sean Spicer, was being run by the campaign and it is listed on Trumps largely dormant 2016 campaign website. No other details were offered.

To be sure, pinballing from one crisis to the next is not unprecedented, particularly for a White House still finding its footing. But the disruptions that have swirled around Trump achieved hurricane force early and have not let up.

His choice for labor secretary, fast food CEO Andy Puzder, withdrew his nomination while the administration continued to navigate the fallout from the forced resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn. Flynn was ousted on grounds that he misled the vice president about his contacts with a Russian ambassador.

Flynns departure marked the return of an issue Trump is not likely to move past quickly. The presidents relationship with Moscow will continue to be scrutinized and investigated, sometimes apparently fueled by leaks from within his own administration.

Trump yesterday blasted what he called illegal leaked information.

Not just leaks, but also legal woes, have derailed Trumps early efforts.

After the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his immigration ban last week, Trump emphatically tweeted SEE YOU IN COURT! and the administration vowed that it would re-appeal the block and either revise its original executive order or write a new one from scratch.

But confusion soon followed. After first indicating they would not take a temporary restraining order request to the Supreme Court, administration staffers squabbled audibly, behind closed doors, over the accounts emerging in news reports.

When the dust settled, a new statement was printed out and handed to journalists, stating, to clarify, that all options were still on the table. But despite Trumps vow to have a plan in place by Tuesday, one has not emerged.

The collapse of the ban, which poured fuel on simmering staff rivalries, was followed by a period of stark inaction by a White House suddenly put on the defensive. Trump did sign legislation that rolled back a financial regulation, but his administration has not issued any executive orders in days.

House Republicans have been nudging the White House to get behind Speaker Paul Ryans tax overhaul, which includes a border adjustability plan of which Trump has been skeptical. GOP aides believed they were making progress, but the matter has been overshadowed by the flood of controversies.

Other possible executive actions have been bandied about, from a task force on allegations of voter fraud to steps to strengthen cybersecurity, but have yet to be released. Key legislative items such as a massive plan to rebuild roads and bridges and an overhaul of the tax law remain works in progress.

Hes a one-man band for all practical purposes, its how he ran his business, said Bill Daley, a former White House chief of staff under Obama. When you try to take that and everything revolves around that and he is the beginning, middle and end of everything, that is a tough model. His campaign was the same way.

Trumps new administration has also been plagued by ethics brushfires that are taking up the time and energy of communications and legal staff members.

In one incident that sparked bipartisan condemnation and calls for ethics investigations, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said on TV that people should go buy Ivankas stuff  an endorsement that came after the president disparaged Nordstrom for dropping his daughter Ivanka Trumps fashion line. And congressional Republicans also are demanding to know more about the security measures in place at Mar-a-Lago, Trumps weekend White House in Palm Beach, Florida, where resort members photographed him during a dinnertime national security strategy session after North Korea conducted a missile test.

When you are the White House, every day is a crisis. Crisis is routine, said Ari Fleischer, who was President George W. Bushs first press secretary. But when they all come right on top of each other, particularly at the start of an administration, it starts to create the feeling that they dont know how to run the place. Jonathan Lemire, Washington, AP
ISRAEL-PALESTINE Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said statements made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured) and U.S. President Donald Trump mark the end of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The leader of the Lebaense militant group said the two-state basis for peace [is] over, and described Trumps policy on the issue as confused.

PHILIPPINES An opposition senator pressed Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday to publicly release details of his bank accounts to disprove allegations that he had large sums of undeclared money. Trillanes, one of Dutertes harshest critics and a navy officer once detained for a failed coup plot against a former president, said he would resign if Duterte can disprove the allegations.

THAILAND Police raided the head temple of a controversial Buddhist sect yesterday but failed to find and arrest the abbot, who faces criminal charges over accepting USD40 million in embezzled money. The action followed several earlier failed attempts, thwarted when crowds of monks and followers blocked the way, risking a violent confrontation.

MYANMARs government says the military has ended its four-month counterinsurgency operation in troubled Rakhine state, where it had been accused of rape, torture and other abuses against Muslim Rohingya minority residents.

INDONESIA After months of campaigning dominated by religious and racial tensions, none of the three candidates vying to run Indonesias biggest city of Jakarta secured the 50 percent needed for an outright win, setting the stage for a run-off election in April. An escalation of the violence, racial bigotry and huge protests that overshadowed campaigning is feared in the capital ahead of the April vote.

MONGOLIA Exceptionally cold weather in Mongolia is putting the livelihoods of more than 150,000 nomadic herders and family members at risk, just one year after another extreme winter killed more than 1 million animals, the Red Cross says as it launches an emergency appeal.

N. ZEALAND Firefighters in New Zealands second-largest city were able to halt a wildfires advance on suburban homes yesterday after it burned down 11 houses in the hill suburbs and forced hundreds of people to evacuate.

SYRIA A leader of the Russian delegation at talks on resolving the war in Syria says agreement has been reached to form a permanent contact group of Russia, Turkey and Iran to preserve and strengthen the cessation of hostilities.
BURLEY  Police say a Kimberly man who pointed a gun at a clerk when he robbed Bobcat Corner convenience store west of Burley more than a year ago was arrested last week on a Cassia County warrant in Las Vegas.

Casey Scott Higley, 22, was arrested shortly after the robbery in Nevada on charges stemming from crimes he committed in Nevada. When he was paroled, Cassia County issued a warrant and he was extradited to Idaho, said Kevin Horak, a Cassia County sheriffs detective.

Higley is charged with felony counts of robbery, grand theft, burglary, unlawful possession of a weapon and aggravated assault and misdemeanor counts of aiming a weapon other others and petit theft.

He has entered a not guilty plea to the misdemeanor charges in Cassia County court.

Higley was on probation when the robbery happened on convictions of harboring a felon and possession of methamphetamine.

He was one of two men police sought in the robbery after police say Higley confronted a store clerk on the front sidewalk while holding a silver revolver and a red and white cooler.

Both of the suspects had their faces covered with bandannas.

Horak said they the second suspect may have stood at the store door while Higley took the money.

Detectives are still looking for the second man.

Higley is being held at the Mini-Cassia Criminal Justice Center on a $500,000 bond.

Investigators said the clerk recognized Higley when he pointed the gun at him and Higley told him to go around to the back of the store while he took $332 from the stores registers.

Later that day, police took a report of a stolen red 1992 Dodge pickup from a residence at 1861 Elba Ave. The owner told police he suspected Higley in the crime.

The pickup was found later that day in Burley with a red and white cooler inside.

Higley faces up to life in prison if convicted of robbery.

A preliminary hearing in the case is set for Friday in Cassia County Magistrate Court.
TWIN FALLS  Twin Falls police arrested a man Thursday accused of hitting and injuring a woman with his pickup truck.

Police arrested Scott Ridinger, 24, of Twin Falls about 3 p.m. Hes being held on suspicion of aggravated battery and was being interviews by police Thursday afternoon, Patrol Lt. John Wilson said.

A call came in at 1:55 p.m. about the incident near Washington Street South and Diamond Avenues. Ridinger was driving a red pickup truck and struck a women, Wilson said. Ridinger and the woman know each other, but Wilson didnt have further details.

The woman was taken to St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center with complaints of right arm and right leg pain.
WASHINGTON, D.C.  Interested in learning how Congress works?

U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho is looking for students to fill internship positions this summer and fall, his office has announced.

The application deadline is March 1. Internships are available in Crapos Washington, D.C., office or in six Idaho regional offices.

The internship experience provides Idaho students a unique opportunity to learn about Congress and the legislative process firsthand, according to a statement form Crapos office.

Interns assist the senator and his staff with legislative research, constituent services and communications operations, as well as attend congressional hearings and provide tours of the U.S. Capitol to visiting Idahoans.

For more information or to apply, visit the internship section at crapo.senate.gov. Students are encouraged to email their application materials to Crapos office.

Questions about the Washington, D.C., internship can be directed to Katie Amacio at 202-224-6142 or Courtney Lehosit for internships in Idaho at 208-334-1776.
BOISE  The head of the Idaho Dairymens Association wants lawmakers to oppose local enforcement of immigration laws.

Immigration has become a really hot button nationally, Executive Director Bob Naerebout told the House Agricultural Affairs Committee on Thursday. Can be in the state some days, too. But we have to recognize the economic viability of Idaho is now standing on the shoulders of that foreign-born labor.

Between 85 and 90 percent of dairy workers in the state, Naerebout said, are foreign-born, mostly from Latin America, although the number of refugees who work at dairies has been growing. While dairies ask people for documentation before hiring them, Naerebout said, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Labor have estimated between 40 and 70 percent of agricultural workers nationally are in the country illegally.

Naerebout said getting local authorities involved in immigration enforcement would erode their relationships with immigrant communities and make undocumented immigrants more vulnerable, because they would be less likely to report it if they are victims of a crime. When Arizona passed a strict immigration law in 2010, he said, Idaho benefitted because it drove people out of Arizona.

Theres unintentional consequences, I think, you have to realize when you do local enforcement laws, he said.

President Donald Trump has signed two executive orders that, among other immigration-related topics, suggest using local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws. Trump was elected with overwhelming support in the Magic Valley, the center of Idahos dairy industry.

The orders were met with skepticism by local law enforcement officials, who say theyre not trained in federal immigration laws and trying to enforce them could have a chilling effect if immigrants are reluctant to cooperate with police on local matters over fears they could be deported.

Weve got our plates full, Jerome County Sheriff Doug McFall said shortly after the orders were signed. The last thing were going to do is put together teams of deputies going out looking for illegal immigrants. We dont have the manpower or resources.

Rep. Greg Chaney, R-Caldwell, introduced a bill in late January that would require police to check arrestees immigration status if there is any doubt and take some state funding away from any jurisdictions that dont comply with federal immigration rules. However, Chaney said Thursday he has made significant changes to the bill in response to initial feedback and plans to introduce a new version next week.

Idaho dairymen have been circulating a petition calling for immigration reform, and Naerebout urged state legislators to push Idahos congressional delegation to take a leadership role, noting Republicans Rep. Raul Labrador and Sen. Mike Crapo are on the committees that would likely take up any immigration-related legislation. Naerebout said the industry needs some kind of year-round work visa program.

Lets identify a program in which you can provide legal status thats not amnesty, and lets provide legal status for us to be here and make it work for them so they can be identified, he said.

Rick Naerebout, who is Bobs son and the IDAs director of operations, gave the first half of the presentation to the committee, including an overview of the dairy industry in Idaho, its contributions to the economy and issues facing it now.

Dairies account for a third of Idahos agricultural income and 5 percent of the overall economy, Rick Naerebout said.

About 60 percent of Idahos dairies and 73 percent of its dairy cows are in the Magic Valley, he said  the average herd size in the Magic Valley is about 1,400 cows per dairy, compared with 1,300 in the Treasure Valley and 328 in eastern Idaho, where smaller dairies are still more common. Dairies are growing larger and the number of small family dairies is declining.

We do see attrition in those smaller herds, and largely thats a generational change, he said. You dont have the younger generation staying on those smaller farms and staying in the business.

Many dairies, he said, have lost haystacks and silage piles due to the harsh and wet weather this winter and are dealing with large amounts of water. Naerebout encouraged legislators to reach out to the farmers and ranchers in their districts.

The last couple weeks have been extremely difficult for our dairy producers, he said. We have unprecedented amounts of water coming towards our facilities.

With Class III milk futures at $17 to $17.75 per hundredweight, Naerebout said the industry could have a good 2017, with one caveat: These prices hold true so long as we dont get into a trade war with Mexico.

Trump frequently criticized trade deals, the North American Free Trade Agreement in particular, during his campaign. Trump has, at times, threatened to impose additional tariffs on Mexican imports, and Mexican officials have said they would respond in kind. Forty percent of U.S. dairy exports, Naerebout said, go to Mexico.

The posturing of renegotiating NAFTA and other trade arrangements do make us nervous, he said.
JEROME  Heather Pilkintons Jerome farm offers $5 canoe rides. Bring your own canoe. No lifeguard on duty.

So far, no ones taken her up on the offer.

I dont think they want to wander through that much cow crap, she said.

Her property sits below the banks of area canals, and water from nearby fields flowed unfettered into her pasture and her tenants basement last week as floodwaters covered much of the Magic Valley.

The unwanted lake is, inch by inch, receding from its 7-foot depth. But Pilkinton believes the house, sheds and haystacks are a total loss.

County Commissioner Roger Morely hasnt slept much since the flooding started.

The nights are hard  sleeping, he said. Every time the phone rings, youre on high alert.

Jerome County is under an emergency declaration, but office of Emergency Management Coordinator Clint Blackwood isnt certain that the county will meet the threshold of $877,000 in damages to receive state funding, and homeowners without federal flood insurance are left to pay for their own property damage.

Theres going to be some catastrophic loss, Blackwood said. Theyre losing furniture, theyre losing possessions in the impacted areas.

It could be weeks before the county knows the extent of damage to its roads and gathers a complete picture, he said. While many roads that had been covered in water are now passable, he warns drivers to not let vehicles get too close to the edge where a road may be undercut. Along 1200 East near 975 South, the road has been washed out, Blackwood said.

Empty sand bags are still available at the Jerome County Sheriffs office and in Hazeltons city hall and can be filled at the Jerome County Fairgrounds or Valley High School.

Morely expects there is still much damage the county isnt aware of.

He was touched, however, by the number of people who have shown up voluntarily to fill sand bags  and by Rangen, which told the county to take as many sacks as it needed.

It was a pioneer spirit like Ive never seen it, Morely said.

Pilkinton, who lives in Twin Falls, started a GoFundMe campaign for her displaced Jerome tenant, who was able to find another place. She has plans to set up a fundraiser for other flooding victims.

Mines too far gone, she said, estimating her losses at more than $100,000.

REE-Construction in Jerome has gone out to area homes, pumping water from basements and crawlspaces.

Its real hard because I know it puts a lot of people through serious financial strain, principal Ron Reese said.

Theres going to be some catastrophic loss. Clint Blackwood Emergency Management Coordinator
Naomi Ralls

RUPERT  Naomi Ralls of Rupert, funeral services at 2 p.m. Friday, February 17, at the Burley Christian Church 1401 Oakley, Ave Burley. Viewing will be held for one hour prior to the services at the church. Services are under the direction of Joel Heward Hansen Mortuary.

Helen Cunningham

TWIN FALLS  Helen Cunningham of Twin Falls, celebration of life at 2 p.m. Friday, February 17, at Parkes Magic Valley Funeral Home.

Charles Sanderson

BURLEY  Charles Sanderson of Burley, funeral services at 2 p.m. Saturday, February 18, at the 3rd Ward Building, 2200 Oakley Ave., Burley. A visitation will be held from 6 until 8 p.m. Friday, February 17 at the Morrison Payne Funeral Home, 321 East Main Street, Burley and from 1 until 1:45 p.m.Saturday at the church.

James Barnes

HEYBURN  James Barnes of Heyburn, funeral at 11 a.m. Saturday, February 18 at the Rasmussen Funeral Home, 1350 E 16th St., Burley.

Ricky Syme

BATTLE MOUNTAIN, Nev.  Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, February 18 at the Battle Mountain Cemetery in Battle Mountain, Nevada.

Gary Peterson

TWIN FALLS  Gary Peterson of Twin Falls, funeral services at 11 a.m. Saturday, February 18 at the LDS Stake Center, 541 Orchard Dr, Twin Falls. A viewing will be held from 6 until 8 p.m. Friday, February 17 at Rosenau Funeral Home, 2826 Addison Ave E, and at 10 a.m. prior to the service at the church.

Edra McKinley

GARDNERVILLE, Nev.  Edra McKinley, memorial service at 11 a.m. Saturday, February 18 at Trinity Lutheran church, 1480 Douglas Avenue in Gardnerville.

Harold Blauer

BURLEY  Harold Woodbury Blauer, of Burley, funeral at 2 p.m. Saturday, February 18, at the Burley West LDS Stake Center, 2420 Parke Ave. A visitation will be held from 6 until 8 p.m. Friday, February 17, at Rasmussen Funeral Home, 1350 E. 16th St., in Burley, and from 1 until 1:45 p.m. at the church preceding the service.

David Van Leeuwen

KIMBERLY  David Van Leeuwen of Kimberly, funeral services at 11 a.m. Saturday, February 18, at the Murtaugh LDS Church, 23709 Highway 30 in Murtaugh. A viewing will be held from 5 until 7 p.m. at Reynolds Funeral Chapel, 2466 Addison Ave East as well as from 10 until 1045 a.m. on Saturday morning at the church.

Verla Lancaster

WENDELL  Verla Lancaster of Wendell, funeral services at 11 a.m. Saturday, February 18 at the Wendell Stake Center. Visitation will be held from 6 until 8 p.m. Friday February 17 and from 10 until 10:45 a.m. Saturday, both at the Stake Center.

Patricia Reagan

GOODING  Patricia Reagan of Gooding, memorial service at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, February 18 at Demaray Funeral ServiceGooding Chapel.

LaVonne Kistler

BOISE  LaVonne Kistler of Boise, memorial service at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, February 18 at Eagle Nazarene Church, 101 W State Street.

Hilda Rumfelt

TWIN FALLS  Hilda Rumfelt of Twin Falls, funeral at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, February 18, at White Mortuary, Chapel by the Park 136 4th Ave E., Twin Falls.

Elmer Ketterling

HEYBURN  Elmer Ketterling of Heyburn, funeral services at 11 a.m. Monday, February 20 at the Paul Congregational Church. A viewing will be held from 4 until 6 p.m. Sunday, February 19 at Joel Heward Hansen Mortuary and one hour prior to the services at the church.

Ormand Burch

BURLEY  Ormand Burch of Burley, funeral services at 11 a.m. Tuesday, February 21 at the Burley Stake Center, 2050 Normal Ave. A visitation will be held from 6 until 8 p.m. at the Morrison Funeral Home, 188 South Hwy 24 in Rupert and from 10 until 10:45 a.m. Tuesday prior to the service at the church.

Ervin Cantrell

HEYBURN  Ervin Cantrell of Heyburn, services at 11 a.m. Tuesday, February 21, at Hansen Mortuary. A viewing will be held from 6 until 8 p.m. Monday February 20 and an hour prior to the service.

Phillip White

GOODING  Phillip White of Gooding, celebration of life from 1 until 5 p.m. Friday, February 24 at Canyon Crest Dining & Event Center, 330 Canyon Crest Drive, Twin Falls.
TWIN FALLS  Many government offices and other facilities will be closed Monday for Presidents Day.

City offices will be closed in Twin Falls, Jerome, Burley, Rupert, Hailey, Ketchum, Gooding, Shoshone, Buhl and Kimberly, among other cities.

County, state and federal offices will be closed along with post offices, the Twin Falls Public Library, College of Southern Idaho and the Herrett Center for Arts and Science.

Most banks will be closed, but Wells Fargo Bank will be open.

The YMCA/Twin Falls City Pool will offer open swim from 1 to 4 p.m.

The Times-News offices in Twin Falls and Burley will be open.

Magic Valley Mall will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Trash collection will follow the regular schedule.
When Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador came to Congress six years ago, the thought of term limits was nowhere on his radar. In fact, congressional elections worked well in his mind.

He won the 1st District seat in 2010 by knocking out the establishments favorite, Vaughn Ward, in the Republican primary, then defeating the Democratic incumbent, Walt Minnick, in the general election.

As far as he was concerned, congressional term limits already were in place  with House members up for election after two years and senators after six. But Labrador, who has been practicing swamp draining long before President Trump entered the political fray, soon realized that the political system needed repair.

I realized there was no way to change the way Washington works unless we change the people who are there, he said. Serving in Congress has become almost a career for people, and they dont want to let it go. Im not saying that those who have been around for a long time are bad people, but in time they realize that the only way to be successful is by kissing the ring (of the establishment) and lowering the expectations of constituents. They become institutionalized.

Now, Labrador  fueled by Trumps ongoing war with establishment politics  has introduced a constitutional amendment calling for term limits, restricting members of both houses to 12 years. Can Labrador expect career politicians who have benefited from the system to vote against their self-interests?

Thats the $64 trillion question, Labrador said.

He does have Trump on his side, at least in concept. Labrador notes its at the top of his Contract with the American Voter list for action in his first 100 days. I dont know if hes behind my bill, Labrador says, but hes behind the principle of it.

Critics will say that term limits, and taking away the wise owls on Congress, will only give more power to lobbyists and bureaucrats. But the lobbyists, with their flood of money rolling into campaigns, have a lot of influence as it is. And the veteran politicians have done little to slow down the bureaucracy, which has helped produce a national debt of nearly $20 trillion.

Labrador acknowledges that money is part of the problem in congressional politics. Another issue he sees is with the party structure, which Labrador saw first-hand when he ran for Congress in 2010. And he wasnt even going against an incumbent.

If you dont kiss the ring here in Washington, D.C., you have a difficult time winning, he said. You have this entire Washington establishment, with all this money and influence, going against one person.

Term limits could shake up the dynamics in Congress. Youd have people coming here knowing they are not going to be here for the rest of their lives, and they would make wiser and better decisions as a result, Labrador said.

There also would be more exciting elections, particularly in Idaho where congressional elections rarely have suspense. For practical purposes in general elections, the only name that counts in Idaho is the one on the Republican side of the ballot. In primaries, few challengers are brave  or foolish enough  to take on incumbents who are loaded with money and name recognition.

All four members of Idahos congressional delegation have safe seats, and probably lifetime jobs, if they desire. Sen. Jim Risch is 73, and appears poised to serve into his 80s. Sen. Mike Crapo and Rep. Mike Simpson, who are in their mid-60s, have lofty committee assignments and show no signs of wanting to retire. They could be around for another 10 years, at least.

The wildcard of the group is Labrador, who has no desire to become an old man in Congress. One thing I can promise you is I wont be celebrating my 75th birthday there, he said, laughing.

If the 49-year-old Labrador runs for governor next year, which he says hes seriously considering, Congress will be in his rearview mirror before he knows it. But even if he doesnt run for governor, he sees more to life than fighting political battles in Congress.

I want to serve for a period of time, then move on and let other people have that opportunity to serve, Labrador said. I think thats the way our Founding Fathers intended.
This appeared in Thursdays Washington Post.

The news that members of President Donald Trumps circle had repeated contacts with Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election, reported by the New York Times on Tuesday, might have been less concerning if the president had responded by explaining or condemning the contacts and accepting the need for an impartial investigation. Instead, on Wednesday morning, he dashed off a half-dozen tweets in which he curiously both denied the news and attacked the leakers who disclosed it. In so doing, he gave more cause forRepublicans and Democrats to demand answers about his opaque and increasingly troubling ties with Moscow.

The fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred, Trump tweeted. This Russian connection non-sense is merely an attempt to cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clintons losing campaign. Then he insisted, The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by intelligence like candy. Very un-American!

The emerging White House line that questions about a Trump campaign-Russia connection merely reflect a war by the intelligence community on the president makes little sense. In fact, the FBI, not some rogue spy agency, has taken the lead role in investigating contact with Russian officials by associates of Trump. That would be the same agency whose questionable disclosures about its probes of Clintons emails may have gained Trump the presidency. Moreover, those who are properly concerned about Trumps possible connections to the regime of Vladimir Putin are not mere Clinton dead-enders, but a growing and bipartisan list of senators.

To be clear, there is still plenty the public does not know. The nature of the apparent communications remains murky. Direct evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Russian officials to sway the election continues to be lacking. But even the scant details already reported challenge previous assurances from Trump that no one on his staff had contact with the Russians during the campaign. Notably, White House press secretary Sean Spicer echoed those claims from the lectern on Tuesday just before reports emerged suggesting otherwise. His credibility, like that of the White House as a whole, has been shattered after less than four weeks on the job.

It is heartening to hear that the FBI has devoted significant resources to investigating any connections between Trumps circle and a foreign government committed to weakening the United States and its allies. Because he was so close to the Trump campaign, Attorney General Jeff Sessions should recuse himself from any and all decisions relating to that investigation.

Still, the latest news, on the heels of the forced resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn over contacts with the Russian ambassador, underscores the dire need for a broader, bipartisan probe of Russias election-year meddling. Members of the Senate Intelligence Committee insist that the panel is working diligently. But there may well be strong political pressure on Republicans to choke the investigation or to keep key findings secret. Senior House Republicans, for example, still seem uninterested in seriously probing these issues. If congressional inquiries ultimately are derailed by politics, an independent commission must be empaneled.
Head of Libyan unity government Faiez Serraj has sent a formal request to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) to help beef up security and defenses in Tripoli.

The alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg Thursday said he received a formal request from Serraj asking for NATOs advice and expertise in the field of defense and security institution building.

The request came one week after the alliance expressed, during a meeting is Brussels, willingness to help the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) better protect its institutions and fight against illegal migration.

Stoltenberg indicated that the organization would discuss how to respond to the Libyan request.

The NATO has been seeking GNAs authorization to enter into Libyan waters to curb human trafficking.

Since installed in Tripoli, the GNA has suffered several attempts by other armed faction to topple it. Men aligned with former Tripoli strongman Khalifa Ghwell tried two times to seize government institutions.

Early this month, men led by Brig. Mahmoud Al-Zigal, also aligned with Ghwell, announced the establishment of the Libyan National Guard (LNG) to protect institutions and foreign missions.

The GNA is protected by militiamen who remain uncontrolled.
The government and people of Ghana have reserved a red carpet welcome to King Mohammed VI of Morocco who arrived Thursday in the west-African country, first stop of a new royal tour destined to keep momentum of inter-African cooperation.

On Friday, the Moroccan Sovereign held a private meeting with Ghanas President Nana Akufo-Addo, before they exchanged symbolic presents.

President Nana Akufo-Addo then decorated his guest with the Order of the Star of Ghana, the highest Ghanaian award granted by the president of the Republic, while the Moroccan King decorated the Ghanaian president with the Al Mohammadi Wissam, the highest award in the Moroccan Kingdom.

The two heads of state afterwards presided over the signing ceremony of 25 partnership agreements covering the areas of finance and investment, agriculture, industry, electricity and renewable energies, insurance and reinsurance, and tourism among others.

The Moroccan Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (ONHYM) and Ghanas Mineral commission also signed a memorandum of Understanding on scientific and technical cooperation between the two institutions.

A MoU on the setting up of a Moroccan-Ghanaian business council was also signed during the ceremony, materializing thus one of the decisions made last January during the Moroccan-Ghanaian economic forum held in Accra.

The forum explored partnership opportunities and identified the sectors where the two countries can have competitive edge.

At the political level, the royal visit to Ghana will bring closer the two countries, enhance their dialogue and mutual understanding.

Ghana, which had long been a supporter of the Algeria-backed Polisario separatist front, was among the 28 member countries of African Union (AU) to have signed a motion backing Moroccos request to rejoin the pan-African organization.

The motion, addressed to the AU summit in Kigali in July last year, welcomed Moroccos bid to rejoin the African organization, and noted that the North African country is one of the founding members of the AUs predecessor, the Organization of African Unity (OAU).

The document also called for the immediate suspension of the membership of the self-proclaimed RASD, which was illegally admitted in 1984 through the use by Algeria of threats, deceit, coercion and dirty petrodollar money.

Ghana is considered one of the most stable countries in West Africa since its transition to multi-party democracy in 1992. Formerly known as the Gold Coast, Ghana gained independence from Britain in 1957, becoming the first sub-Saharan nation to break free from colonial rule.

Gold, cocoa and more recently oil form the cornerstone of Ghanas economy and helped fuel an economic boom. The country is the second largest economy of ECOWAS behind Nigeria and ahead of Cote dIvoire.

According to some analysts, Ghana, one of the worlds largest producers of cocoa, offers business opportunities in two main sectors, namely distribution, as a part of the population, which is getting rich, would consume products with higher added value, in parallel with the increasing number of shopping centers in the country. The other promising sector is that of ICT.

It is clear that if all these economic assets are combined with Moroccos powerful private sector and know-how, they will create a new dynamic. The mix will also open up new opportunities serving the interests of the two countries and the two peoples.
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.
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on Wednesday lauded the contribution of Ghanaians to the success of the UK as he visited the west-African nation.

After he held talks with Ghanas president at the flagstaff House in the Capital city, Accra, Johnson said they are fortunate beneficiaries of many Ghanaians who contributed massively to the UK society. He also relayed the British governments desire to deepen ties with Ghana.

We hope to have an even deeper friendship going forward and particularly we want to make sure that British firms come here in greater numbers and in greater strength to invest in Ghana and if I may say so, take advantage of the fantastic opportunities there are in this country, he said.

Ghanaian President Akufo-Addo also described the talks with the British Foreign Secretary as fruitful, saying they centerd on foreign policy, security in the sub-region and trade cooperation.

I think that a lot of work has been done to make sure that relations between us and Great Britain continue to be on an even keel and that the areas for greater trade cooperation and business cooperation expand; both sides are looking at that to see what can be done to improve.

Ghana is the UKs fourth largest export market in sub-Saharan Africa, with a total of 1 billion.
Malawi President Peter Mutharika on Wednesday signed into law the Access to Information (ATI) bill which is expected to empower the countrys media men and researchers to seek information from elected officials and public entities.

Media watchdog Misa-Malawi Chairperson Thom Khanje said the assenting of the law is a huge step in the 12-year long process in which various stakeholders, led by MISA Malawi, campaigned for legislation on access to information.

Its a welcome development to the people of Malawi as they will now be able to enjoy their right to access to Information as enshrined in the republican Constitution, said Khanje.

The Information Bill allows the public to seek any information from the government, and obligates public servants to make sure they provide that information, or risk hefty fines or jail terms.

With this legislation in place, Malawians will now be able to demand any type of information thereby exercising rights which they could not enjoy in the absence of the enabling law, Media Institute of Malawi is quoted to have said.

The government initially brought what the media and civil society groups described as a diluted bill after much of the contents were what they called doctored and butchered.
THE TRUE COST OF ALL THAT 'CHEAP' LAOR THAT DESTROYED AMERICA THE BIG SECRET DEMOCRATS DO NOT WANT YOU TO KNOW: Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute has testified before a Congressional committee that in 2004, 95% of all outstanding warrants for murder in Los Angeles were for illegal aliens; in 2000, 23% of all Los Angeles County jail inmates were illegal aliens and that in 1995, 60% of Los Angeless largest street gang, the 18th Street gang, were illegal aliens.


@PatriciaMazzei @doug_hanks

Miami-Dade commissioners on Friday backed Mayor Carlos Gimenezs controversial decision to detain jailed inmates sought for deportation by the federal government, citing funding threats by President Donald Trump and ignoring hours of emotional testimony from residents who implored the board to stand up to the mayor.

With a 9-3 vote, commissioners stood behind Gimenez despite listening to scores of residents who spent the day at County Hall hoping to persuade them to protect Miami-Dades immigrant identity.

Shame on you! the crowd cried after the vote, hurling bits of paper at the dais and standing up to yell and stomp out of the chambers. May God have mercy on your soul, one woman hollered.

Voting to endorse Gimenezs Jan. 26 directive were Chairman Esteban Steve Bovo, Vice Chairwoman Audrey Edmonson and Commissioners Bruno Barreiro, Jose Pepe Diaz, Sally Heyman, Joe Martinez, Dennis Moss, Rebeca Sosa and Javier Souto. Voting against were Commissioners Daniella Levine Cava, Jean Monestime and Xavier Suarez. Commissioner Barbara Jordan was absent.

Miami-Dade is not  has never considered itself  a sanctuary community Gimenez said.

More here.

Photo credit: C.M. Guerrero, Miami Herald staff
@ByKristenMClark

Individuals who want a state-issued permit to carry a concealed gun in Florida would first have to pass a mental health evaluation under a new proposal from a Miami-Dade County senator.

The measure (SB 956) comes six weeks after a gunman who had shown signs of mental illness shot and killed five people and injured six others in a baggage claim area of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

State Sen. Daphne Campbell, D-Miami Shores, said the impetus for her proposal came not only from the airport shooting but the ongoing gun violence in Miami-Dade  such as in her district, which includes Liberty City.

Everybodys talking about gun violence, but what do we do about it? Campbell said. We have to do something. ... Its crucial. Peoples lives are in jeopardy. How are we going to protect our people? Thats why I add this piece to make it harder and stricter on people who want to get a gun permit.

About 20 gun-related proposals have been filed for the upcoming 2017 legislative session, but Campbells is the first related to mental health  particularly in the wake of the Fort Lauderdale shooting.

Full details here.

Photo credit: Miami Shores Democratic state Sen. Daphne Campbell, shown here in the Florida House in 2015, has proposed a bill that would require people applying for a concealed weapons permit in Florida to undergo and clear a mental health evaluation. Florida House.


@PatriciaMazzei @doug_hanks

One after another, the people who crammed the Miami-Dade County Commission chambers Friday delivered an extended, impassioned and often eloquent defense of immigration, imploring their elected leaders to defend South Floridas diversity under the presidency of Donald Trump.

More than 150 people signed up to speak, almost all of them against Mayor Carlos Gimenezs decision to require local jails to detain inmates at the request of federal immigration authorities. Commissioners are scheduled to vote to accept or reject Gimenezs directive later Friday.

The mayor has cast his action as a purely financial one, intended to avoid a federal funding cut threatened by a Trump executive order banning cities and counties that act as a sanctuary for immigrants who are in the country illegally.

But for most speakers  the vast majority of them Hispanic  Gimenezs move to essentially revoke the countys sanctuary stance represented an unacceptable rebuke to Miami-Dades immigrant identity.

Im heartbroken by this debate, said Manuel Ernesto Gutierrez, who described himself as a U.S. Navy veteran. What bothers me  and should bother you  is the fundamental issue of what kind of community do we want to be. Do we want to be a welcoming community?

More here.

Photo credit: C.M. Guerrero, Miami Herald staff
@PatriciaMazzei

Miami Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said Friday she backs a congressional investigation into Russia and its ties to ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

Ros-Lehtinen, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said such an investigation should include "former and current officials of our government."

"Our House Intelligence Committee, of which I am a member, has undertaken a Russia investigation and a bipartisan investigative team has been formed to examine documents," she said in a statement. "As the spokesperson for our Committee said yesterday, we aren't excluding anyone or any entity from our examination and we expect to be interviewing former and current officials of our government. I hope that a report issued following the investigation will be made available to the public."
For picture posts from 2010 and earlier, see the Earlier Picture Posts Page
Whether grizzly bear numbers in northwest Montana are stable, shrinking or growing, both sides of a lawsuit over their federal status agree there arent enough of them.

But lawyers for the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and the U.S. Government could not agree why the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service switched its recommendation from warranted but precluded for more protection under the federal Endangered Species Act to a designation indicating the bear population was close to recovery. The two sides argued before U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen in Missoula on Thursday.

Rebecca Smith of the Public Interest Defense Center represented AWR, and argued the federal agency was breaking a 20-year position  that the Cabinet-Yaak bears deserved more protection  by suddenly announcing it was lowering the bears status.

On Dec. 5, 2014, FWS abruptly changed course and published a finding that the Cabinet-Yaak grizzly bear is not warranted for listing as an endangered species, Smith wrote in her brief to Christensen. The agencys conduct also indicates that the agency has no intention to recover or provide critical habitat for the Cabinet-Yaak grizzly bear, but instead intends to play administrative keep-away with the necessary protections for the Cabinet-Yaak grizzly bear for as long as possible, possibly until the population simply goes extinct.

The Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem is one of four grizzly bear recovery zones in and around Montana, and the smallest with an active bear population. The Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem and Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem each contain more than 800 grizzlies, while the Bitterroot Ecosystem has no known bears although its historically prime grizzly habitat.

Smith argued that between 2007 and 2014, grizzlies in the Cabinet-Yaak dropped from 47 bears to 41  a 13 percent decline. FWS minimum population necessary for recovery in the 2.4-million acre region is 100 bears.

Department of Justice attorney Ricky Turner represented the Department of Interior and its U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Turner agreed Cabinet-Yaak grizzlies havent reached recovery. But the population has moved from the brink of extinction to threatened status, and their numbers have been stable or growing in recent years.

Im not impressed with the numbers here, Christensen warned. Theres been slight improvement, but were still talking about 44 to 48 bears. Im not as enthusiastic about those numbers as you are. Maybe you can change my mind on that.

Smith and Turner interpreted the same trend in opposite ways. Smith insisted that with fewer than 50 bears, the loss of one or two females could turn a stable population into a falling one. Turner maintained that the Fish and Wildlife Service was the agency in charge of the science, and if it said the trend was good, Smith hadnt offered anything to prove it wasnt.

Christensen added that both sides seemed to be avoiding the elephant in the room  the chance that changing the grizzlys status might require a designation of critical habitat. Currently, the Cabinet-Yaak bears status doesnt require FWS to make such a designation, which would require any other land manager to consider the bears needs before making any changes such as a timber sale, road construction or mine expansion.

Smith replied the critical habitat requirement would occur  if FWS got the funding to move the grizzly from its warranted but precluded status to actual endangered status. She said the whole crux of the case was the agencys position for 20 years that the bear deserved more protection, before reversing course in 2014 and declaring it needed less.

Even if what they say is true, theyre using the exact same facts for either conclusion, Smith said. She called that the definition of arbitrary and capricious.

Turner countered that the grizzlys original threatened status was made before the agency adopted a new policy mandating critical habitat designations, so that should not be an issue. He also argued that Smith was calling for a new interpretation of the science, which was the agencys job.

Christensen did not rule on the matter after Thursdays hearing.
The developer who recently purchased the Missoula Mercantile building downtown has announced that he is "in the process" of acquiring the old Firestone building next door for a yet-to-be-announced new project.

Andy Holloran of Bozeman told the Missoula Redevelopment Agencys Board of Commissioners on Thursday that he wants to invest more in the community. Holloran is in the beginning stages of building a $35 million, five-story Marriott hotel that is expected to be open by December 2018 at the site of the Mercantile. The Firestone building is located at 139 E. Main St.

Its a great opportunity for us to have a development office and a place to lay down material, Holloran said of his plans for the Firestone building. Were really excited about the direction of downtown Missoula, so were hoping thats our next project.

He cited the new student housing project currently being built on East Front Street nearby, a new Stockman Bank building being built on Orange and Broadway, as well as plans for $150 million in redevelopment at the Riverfront Triangle on West Front Street as examples of how downtown Missoula is ripe for investment.

"We are committed to continuing to invest in the Missoula community beyond just the Mercantile project," Holloran said.

The Firestone building's owner, Peter McCay of Missoula, had planned last spring to sell the building to a group of developers who wanted to build a high-end condominium building. It is unclear whether that project will go forward or not. McCay declined to comment, and Holloran didn't want to elaborate further on his plans because the purchase agreement is not finalized.

Holloran was in town to make an informal presentation to the MRA board about how much Tax Increment Financing money he will formally ask for next month.

The Mercantile building lies within an Urban Renewal District, so Holloran can ask to be reimbursed by the city  using additional property tax that his project generates  for some of the cost of improvements to the site that benefit the public. Last year, the vacant Merc building generated about $23,000 in property taxes. Holloran said once the hotel is built, it will generate about $8 million in property tax over the first 10 years.

He estimated that he will ask for a total of about $2 million in TIF funding in three phases. The first phase, consisting of deconstruction, salvage and site demolition, would consist of about $1.4 million in a TIF funding request. Holloran would then request an estimated $1.1 million for the second phase, which would include underground utility work, curbs, gutters, street trees, public lighting and burying public utility lines on Pattee Street. He would request about $529,836 for phase three, which would include preserving the facade of the pharmacy portion of the Merc building on the northwest corner. The bottom floor of the pharmacy would make a great bar, Holloran said, and the upper portion could be transformed into a special room for guests.

Holloran told the board that the new hotel project, which would have around 150 rooms and ground-floor retail space for restaurants and bars, would create a lot of jobs and stimulate the downtown economy by bringing in guests. There would be a second-story pool, but architects havent decided whether it will be outside or inside.

He said that, according to data from the American Motel and Hotel Association, the hotel would generate $6.5 million in gross annual sales. He said that, according to economic studies, the guest at the hotel would also spend an additional $6 million at other businesses every year.

He also estimated that the hotel would pay $2.6 million in wages every year for 58 full-time employees, although part-time employees were not counted. Holloran said his conservative estimate is that another 40 jobs would be created by the ground-floor retail businesses, but if they are restaurants and bars it could easily be four times that.

He said hes had a lot of interest from local businesses reaching out to him and asking about relocating to the ground floor of the hotel. Since guests would be served a complimentary breakfast, hes envisioning retail businesses that would serve lunch, dinner and drinks to complement the functions of the hotel.

"We are thrilled to be at this point in time where we have a project," Holloran said. "The community has been generally supportive. It's been a long year-plus, but we are thrilled to be at this point."

Ellen Buchanan, the executive director of the MRA, noted that the design that is currently being looked at for the new hotel is much different from the one Holloran originally presented back in March, reflecting a lot of community feedback. She said the new design has a lot of detail that reflects the current building. Buchanan also noted that Holloran will have an incentive to stick to the design and make sure the pharmacy portion is saved because the MRA will not reimburse him with any TIF funding until the project is complete and generating tax revenue.
The congressional death in 1945 and the appointment of a federal judgeship in 1969 triggered two Montana special congressional elections like the one well have in 2017 once U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke is sworn in as Interior secretary.

On Jan. 15, 1945, beginning his fifth term, Montana Congressman James F. OConnor of Livingston, 66, passed away in Washington, D.C. OConnor had been a Montana district judge, served one term in the Montana Legislature, and unsuccessfully tried three times in Democratic primaries to get to Congress. He lost in 1922 to Sen. Burton K. Wheeler, in 1932 to Congressman Roy Ayers and in 1934 to Sen. James Murray. In 1936 OConnor was finally elected to Congress, where he remained until his death.

The 1945 Legislature had established a June 5 statewide bond levy election. Gov. Sam Ford then piggy-backed the special congressional election on the same date to save the $40,000 cost of a separate election.

Attorney General R.V. Bottomly asked the Montana Supreme Court to require primary nominating elections, but the court declared that the political parties should nominate by convention. Lewistown hosted both partys conventions, Democrats on April 14 and Republicans on the 16th.

Democrats nominated Leo Graybill, Sr., of Great Falls and Republicans nominated Wesley DEwart of Park County. Park County farmer Edgar Spriggs, of the Socialist Party, and Independent Robert Yellowtail, a Crow Tribal official, were also on the special election ballot.

On June 5, DEwart defeated Graybill by a 4,032-vote margin (26,126 to 22,126, with the minor candidates getting 3,619 votes). DEwart was re-elected four times but then, in 1954, was defeated when he challenged Sen. James Murray for his Senate seat.

On Feb. 27, 1969, new President Richard Nixons first federal judgeship appointment went to Montana Congressman James Battin. Battin had been elected to Congress five times, starting in 1960 when he defeated Leo Graybill, Jr. On March 4, 1969, Gov. Forrest Anderson proclaimed a special congressional election for June 24. Again, both political parties held nominating conventions in Lewistown, Democrats on April 11-12 and Republicans on April 18-19.

Competing for the Democratic nod were John Melcher, 44, a veterinarian and former Forsyth mayor, state senator and representative who had run unsuccessfully against Battin in 1966; Harold Gerke, 57, former Billings mayor who served eight terms in the Montana House, two as speaker; Jerry Cate, 29, a Billings attorney who headed Bobby Kennedys 1968 Montana presidential efforts and was later a Constitutional Convention delegate; and Jack McDonald, 40, a state senator from Belt and chair of the Constitutional Revision Commission. At the convention, Melcher prevailed on the first ballot, getting 41 of 80 votes; Gerke got 21 votes, Cate 12 and McDonald 6.

A week later, the Republican aspirants were Bill Mather, 46, a Billings attorney who served 4 terms in the Montana House and was 1969 House majority leader; Jack Rehberg, 39, a Billings businessman-rancher who served five terms in the Montana House and later ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1970; Dr. M.F. Keller of Great Falls, who resigned as Republican Party state chair to try for Congress and also served three terms in the Montana House; and Hank Cox, 46, a Billings teacher who served a total of three terms in the Montana House. Mather won the nomination on the third ballot with 80 votes to 69 for Rehberg, 4 for Keller and 0 for Cox.

Darby Witmer, a wheat farmer from Dawson County, was on the ballot as the candidate of the Americanist Party, George Wallaces 1968 presidential party.

On June 24, after a campaign of a little over two months, John Melcher was elected to Congress by a margin of 2,032 votes (45,473 for Melcher - 43,411 for Mather - 539 for Witmer). Melcher was re-elected three times and then ran successfully to replace Mike Mansfield in the U.S. Senate in 1976, where he served two terms.

In 1945, with a Democratic president, a Republican replaced a Democrat in Congress and in 1969, with a Republican president, a Democrat replaced a Republican in Congress. Voter turnout compared to the previous general election was 46 percent in 1945 and 72 percent in 1969. How will the 2017 special election compare with 1945 and 1969 once it is over?
Twice in one day, U.S. Sen. Steve Daines has disgraced Montana.

School choice does not help the budget of public schools in our cities and towns, and it offers nothing whatsoever for education in our rural areas, where there will never be charter schools to offer choice. But Daines chose to back out-of-state campaign contributions over the interests of Montanans when he voted for Betsy DeVos.

Later the same day, he played toady to authoritarian party powers, helping to silence open, honest debate with the party-line vote to silence Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Her out of bounds testimony? Reading letters written by Sen. Ted Kennedy and by Coretta Scott King, which had been considered as earlier Senate committee testimony.

If Steve Daines and the party in power are so genuine in their adherence to Senate rules, why didnt those same rules compel them to allow Supreme Court nomination hearings last year, as provided for by the Constitution?

This is a sad day for Montanas representation in our nations capital. Steve Daines has disgraced our state by putting wealthy campaign donors ahead of Montanas school children, and by taking part in ham-fisted authoritarian practices more at home in the Kremlin or the 1930s Reichstag than in a 21st-century democracy.

Tod Trimble,

Stevensville
I participated in the massive plea from Montanans asking U.S. Sen. Steve Daines to vote against the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as secretary of education. Following his vote in favor of DeVos, I was also among those who received a form email from him touting his pleasure in her confirmation. His email did far too little to address the significant misgivings that Montanans have expressed about this terrible appointment to a role that is meant for someone willing and qualified to act on behalf of the public good.

DeVos has demonstrated that she represents and acts on behalf of her own private special interests, and she does not possess any of the critical experience qualifications that a leader of the federal education system should have. Her appointment is tantamount to sabotage of our public schools by autocratic Republican leadership figures like Daines. If he believes that his vote to appoint DeVos to this role is aligned to the overall values of the people of Montana, then he's hopelessly out of touch.

Myself and many others are furious with Daines. He's made it apparent that he's willing to forsake the voices of ordinary Montanans in favor of the powerful special-interest dollars that people like DeVos and her family have given to him. This senator doesn't understand that the quality of life ordinary Montanans worked together for generations to build isn't for sale. He's using his office as a collection plate in the market for bids from outside influencers who are able to pay for his allegiance and for his willingness to violate the trust of the people of Montana.

This senator doesn't deserve the power he's granted by Montana voters. I look forward to the day he's replaced by someone worthy of our trust.

Chris Torma,

Missoula
The Crazy Mountain Stockgrowers Association is a non-profit, grassroots membership organization in Sweet Grass County, Montana, that works on behalf of our cattle ranching families.

Were firmly rooted and committed to the future of our rural communities and these beautiful landscapes which we all enjoy. Because of that, we are very concerned with some of the tactics the U.S. Forest Service is currently promoting to increase access to public land in the Crazy Mountains. If the Forest Service feels they have claim to a public easement, and the public is being denied that access, then we encourage the USFS to go through proper legal channels to settle that claim.

If an easement is proven to exist, we encourage our members to respect and honor that easement. However, if an easement does not exist or is not proven in court, we firmly support the choice of a landowner in exercising his or her private property rights.

CMSGA finds it disappointing that the USFS, in order to gain more access, is encouraging its employees and the public to compromise their own integrity by trespassing on private property. This only further divides the non-landowner and landowner citizens the Forest Service is supposed to be serving. Furthermore, this has the prospect of leading to hostile encounters between landowners and the public and is contrary to prior agency advice, as well as the Montana Access Guide.

The clashing of personalities and strife between public land users, government agencies and private landowners jeopardizes the future of our state and communities. CMSGA believes that being respectful, courteous and law-abiding is imperative when dealing with these issues. We encourage the U.S. Forest Service to adopt the same approach.

Nathan Anderson, president,

Crazy Mountain Stockgrowers Association

and its board members,

Big Timber
BILLINGS  Ardy Robertson chose her room in the newest residence at Butterfly Homes in Billings Heights for a simple reason: the view.

The former Roundup resident is the first member of Butterflys new $2.7 million assisted-living facility, so she had her pick of rooms. She chose the one with a window facing an attractive, light-colored house next door, and she made it her own.

Family photos adorn the chest of drawers against one wall, and Robertsons recliner is next to her bed, both facing the window. After three months there, and family living nearby in the Heights, Robertson said she feels comfortable in her new digs.

Its home. Absolutely. Its home, she said before heading for a walk through the building.

Butterfly Homes completed construction of the 13-unit facility in November, its third on-site in a cul-de-sac at the end of Lily Valley Circle behind a Baptist church. The project also included new office and storage space.

The project opened in November and nearly doubled the available beds for Butterfly Homes, which owners Janet and Michael White launched in 2003.

The Whites have long careers in the health care industry. Janet White began her career with Blue Cross Blue Shield, and her husband owns other assisted-living facilities in Montana.

The Whites now operate three homes for Butterfly with a total of 37 units. The newest has eight suites, with separate living and bedrooms for $160 a day, and five single rooms like Robertsons for $125.

Six units are occupied, and White said she expects the remaining seven will go soon.

According to a 2013 study by the Montana Department of Commerce, Montanas population is expected to rise and grow older over the next two decades. Birth rates arent keeping up with death rates, and retiree migration into the state is creating demand for services such as housing, according to the agency.

The aging Baby Boomer population is creating new demand for senior housing, analysts say, and owners are weighing new models to meet their needs.

Writing for AssistedLivingFacilities.org, industry expert Carol Marak said that proprietors need to develop space that encourages active, social living. At the same time, they must also recognize that incoming residents probably havent saved as much money as previous generations, Marak wrote.

At Butterfly Homes, the Whites say theyre building a community for residents. The new building connects to an older facility by a long hallway and includes wide common areas.

Up front is a library, with table and chairs and a couch in the corner. Its designed as a gathering place for families, and a sliding door allows residents privacy if they want, White said.

That door opens into the kitchen and dining area, a wide space with wood-finished chairs around a table.

More of a home-like setting. They have their meals together, and they get to know everyone, White said.

Butterfly has a cook, two caregivers and an administrator for each building. The complex is hiring to hit 36 total employees, White said.

About two-thirds are part-timers, often young people interested in careers in nursing or other fields, White said.

If youre really interested in the healthcare industry, its a good  on-the-ground experience, White said.

Butterfly also has an on-call nurse.

Next to the kitchen is a den for gathering, with a fireplace in the corner and a flat-screen TV against one wall.

Its just a nice place, White said.
BILLINGS - A man was charged Thursday with endangering children by hitting a school bus while driving drunk.

Randy Gene American Horse, 38, was charged in Yellowstone County Justice Court with felony criminal endangerment and six misdemeanors including DUI and failing to remain at the scene of an accident.

Justice of the Peace David Carter ordered American Horse held in place of a $50,000 bond. American Horse will have to be placed on alcohol monitoring if he pays his bond.

On Wednesday, American Horse was arrested in a neighborhood near the Alkali Creek Elementary School, on the 600 block of Alkali Creek Road.

At about 3 p.m. Wednesday, American Horse was driving a Pontiac Grand Am when he hit a school bus about a block north of the school, according to charging documents. One of the passengers in the Pontiac had to be taken to the hospital. Another refused medical treatment. American Horse left the scene and was later arrested in a nearby neighborhood, according to charging documents.

The bus was carrying 16 children and one adult. None of the bus passengers were injured.
HELENA (AP)  The Montana Senate is calling for a constitutional amendment that would allow Congress to overturn federal regulations.

The resolution by Republican Sen. Duane Ankney of Colstrip would require either the U.S. House or Senate to vote on a proposed federal regulation if a quarter of the members of either chamber opposes it.

Ankney says the idea is to rein in the thousands of federal regulations that are passed each year.

Democratic Sen. Cynthia Wolken of Missoula says giving a small number of lawmakers the power to force a vote on every regulation would only add to the gridlock in Congress.

The Senate approved the resolution 33-16 on Thursday.

If the House approves it, copies of the resolution will be sent to President Donald Trump, each member of Congress and legislative leaders in every state.
POLSON  Before you put part of the blame for the drug problem in Lake County on prosecutors who let offenders skate off with deferred sentences  as local law enforcement authorities did last week  James Lapotka would like you to be aware of one thing.

In Montana, deferred sentences are the law for first-offense drug convictions.

I share their frustrations, I share their despair in dealing with the problem of drug addiction, Lapotka, the chief criminal deputy county attorney, said of law enforcement. But I object to their suggestion that the prosecutorial end is the weak link in combating the problem.

At a Lake County Republican Womens Club meeting last week, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Police Chief Craige Couture, Lake County Sheriff Don Bell and Polson Police Chief Wade Nash all complained that drug defendants they bring in arent facing serious enough consequences in court.

Read the paper. Look at the deferred sentences, Couture told the crowd.

State law, however, states that a defendant is presumed to be entitled to a deferred imposition of sentence on a first-offense drug conviction.

That is the sentence provided for by law, and not something my office has any control over, Lapotka said this week. This is the same sentence a defendant would receive if they pleaded guilty with no plea agreement, it is the same sentence they would receive if they lost a jury trial, it is the only sentence handed down by a court, absent some other circumstances way beyond my control.

***

Deferred sentences are not the slap on the wrist some people believe them to be, according to Lapotka.

A lot of people do not understand what a deferred sentence means, he said. The term gets thrown around with contempt. A deferred sentence is not a pass, and it is not a freebie.

It does give a person convicted of a drug offense the opportunity to put his or her life back together from someplace other than a prison cell.

But failure to comply with all the rules and regulations of normal felony probation and parole  including abstinence from drugs and the completion of a chemical dependency treatment  can get the deferred sentence revoked.

Then, the offender is looking at prison time  up to five years with the Montana Department of Corrections.

Sentences are deferred for up to three years  six if the case includes making restitution  and during that time, defendants are essentially on felony probation.

There are usually 40 different specific conditions, Lapotka said, including random or regular drug testing, home inspections, warrantless searches, abstaining from alcohol and gambling, meeting with probation officers and forfeiting their right to keep and bear arms.

***

I understand its frustrating for law enforcement  theyre often the ones who catch people violating the terms of their deferred sentence, Lapotka said. Theyll say, Why is he even out? I just arrested him. But its how sentencing plays out in the streets.

Bell, the sheriff, had told the GOP womens group that, while the drug caseload in Lake County is high, it was still frustrating for law enforcement to see plea deals instead of convictions.

Every plea agreement results in a conviction, Lapotka said. What I think he may have meant was hed prefer to see stiffer sentences.

If a person is arrested and charged with possessing an ounce of methamphetamine, the prosecutor said, a plea agreement calling for a deferred sentence is likely the same judgment a judge would issue if the case were taken to trial and a conviction resulted.

Theyre not going to enter into a plea agreement to a harsher sentence than theyd get if they went to trial, Lapotka said. The perception is that a plea agreement is a gift, that if Im not prosecuting them to the fullest extent, that its me being weak on crime.

The reality, he said, is much different. Trials cost time and money, and there is no reason to spend taxpayer dollars, with no guarantee what a jury verdict would be, to achieve the same result a plea agreement does.

***

The Lake County Attorneys Office filed more than 500 felony drug charges last year, and is on pace to do so again in 2017, Lapotka said.

No one would possibly disagree that drugs are a problem, he said, but jailing everyone convicted would not solve their addictions.

Aside from not being a legal sentence, imprisoning every drug possession offender that I prosecute would be an extreme waste of county and state resources, would decimate local communities, would be disrespectful to defendants who have a right to be treated as individuals and sentenced based on their unique circumstances, and would not meaningfully reduce the rates of drug use in our community, even after spending an extraordinary amount of money, Lapokta said.

The deputy county attorney said he has spoken to four of the five law enforcement members who were at the GOP meeting, many of whom encouraged the audience to call or write to Lake County Attorney Steve Eschenbacher to demand more drug cases going to trial, and stiffer penalties being sought.

Were all on a shoestring budget, Lapotka said, but the law enforcement agencies are committed to increasing communication between us and them, so that they can be apprised of what were doing and why, and they can let us know cases they feel deserve special attention.
LIBBY  Loads of snow, followed by lots of rain, proved too much for the roof of the old Libby High School.

A large portion of the roof of the vacant building collapsed, probably Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

Lincoln County authorities could not be reached Thursday, but Libby resident Byron Sanderson was able to confirm it happened  he flew his drone overhead, and posted video and photographs on Facebook Thursday.

The old high school was part of a complex of three buildings that once also included a Central Elementary School and a gymnasium. Sanderson said he believes the three connected buildings are now privately, and separately, owned.

The high school was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

The Flathead Valley Community College Lincoln County campus was in there at one time, but I think they moved out in the mid-1990s, Sanderson said. It hasnt been used commercially since, that I can remember.

Sanderson said he believes Libby students moved into a new high school in the late 1960s, when construction of the Libby Dam swelled the towns population.

It hasnt been a high school for a long time, he said.

The building is located in the heart of Libby, near the intersection of Mineral Avenue and Lincoln Boulevard.

Sanderson, a land surveyor in Libby, also operates Sanderson Imaging Service, which produces alternative imaging such as three-dimensional virtual tours. He uses the drone for his business.

Here in town we got an honest 3 feet of snow in recent storms, Sanderson said. At his home, only 6 inches of a 4-foot chain-link fence were visible.

Obviously, with the rain weve had since, the load has exponentially grown, he added. We shoveled off some roofs, and its heavy.
It didnt take long for Montanans to grill Sen. Steve Daines Thursday night on twin controversies from his most recent, and most eventful, week in Washington.

Answering the first two questions asked during a tele-Town Hall, Sen. Steve Daines defended his action to silence Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., during Senate debate on the confirmation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and his pivotal vote to confirm Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

Speaking of the action he took against Warren as he presided over the Senate, he said, As she was speaking  there were some words she used that were very strong. Quoting former Sen. Ted Kennedy talking about Sen. Sessions, she used words like disgrace and shameful.

You can say some strong things about a lot of different people, but they put rules in place to ensure senator-to-senator debates remain civil, he said. I presented Sen. Warren first with a warning.  Then she moved on to quoting Coretta Scott King, he said. She continued on impugning Sen. Sessions.

He added, I spoke to Sen. Warren tonight on the Senate floor. We had a nice chat. We disagree on a lot of things.

Regarding the DeVos vote, Daines told a caller, I spent a lot of time with Betsy and we talked a lot about rural education, and thats important.  Betsy DeVos is pro-school choice. She is also pro-public education. You can be both.

Next, Daines fielded a question about the Republicans plans to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.

When the caller, Wendy from Townsend, told him the insurance plan had been a lifesaver for her, and her premiums had gone down, he said, There are exceptions, Wendy, and youre one of them, but added, Weve got to deal with Obamacare. Daines was short on specifics, but said he was glad the discussion was so thoughtful about next steps.

Republicans in Congress, expected to repeal the controversial healthcare law early in 2017, are mired in a dispute about how to do it, and what to replace it with.

A key question is what will happen to the patients who achieved access to insurance after states expanded Medicaid as a part of the Obamacare implementation. Daines said an orderly transition to state control of Medicaid was needed. I believe the states should decide how they want to administer Medicaid, he said, asserting that the programs budget was equal to that of the U.S. military.

Daines welcomed President Trumps executive action to revive the Keystone XL pipeline, and he told a caller from eastern Montana that only lawsuits from extreme environmentalists could block the pipeline now, adding that the pipeine would bring jobs and a revived economy.

Montanans are struggling, he said. The prosperity we see in Bozeman is not what we are seeing in eastern Montana.

A caller from Lewistown inquired bluntly, Whats going on with the Trump Administration and Russia?

Weve got to investigate, Daines responded, but then veered to a discussion of Russian actions in Europe and elsewhere.

He agreed with a caller from Potomac about the problems with the EPA's Waters of the United States rule and with the Bureau of Land Managements 2.0 regulations. BLM 2.0 front-loads public comment, which often means outsiders, he said. I think thats a problem. Let Montanans run Montana.

He also defended his decisions to two callers who were critical on environmental issues: his decision to support Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as the EPA Administrator and this weeks vote to rescind the Stream Protection Rule.

I think Scott Pruitt will bring the balance we need to the EPA position, Daines said. He said the Stream Protection Rule, a regulation guarding waterways against coal mining waste, was unnecessary. State regulations are sufficient.

Finally, Daines defended his decision to have tele-Town Hall discussions rather than face-to-face town halls. In recent weeks many Republicans in Congress have either faced large and hostile crowds at Town Halls, or canceled them in favor of telephone events.

While he prided himself on reaching all 56 counties every two years, which he said no other member of Montanas delegation to Congress has done, he said the telephone discussions were better and more efficient in reaching citizens from across the state. We called 200,000 phone numbers tonight, he said. Thats nearly half the state. He added that Weve made more than a million phone calls into Montana over the last couple of years. We get stories of families who put the phone on speaker during dinner hour so the whole family can listen.
ROCHESTER, Minn.  He'd been waiting for this day, and when his doctor handed him the mirror, Andy Sandness stared at his image and absorbed the enormity of the moment: He had a new face, one that had belonged to another man.
VIRGINIA CITY  The Elling House Arts & Humanities Center at 404 E. Idaho St., Virginia City will host Ovando, a lo-fi, lyrically driven folk project created by songwriter Nate Hegyi of Missoula at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 11. The evening will also feature musicians Bart Budwig and Jeffrey Martin.

Ovando was named as one of the 50 artists you need to know from each state by The Culture Trip and their debut EP is Cattle Ranching in the Americas Vol. I. It is the first in a trilogy of EPs about life and flight in the modern American West.
A board is recommending Butte-Silver Bows animal abuse ordinance remain the same instead of specifying that pets be brought inside during bitter cold or extremely hot weather.

But the Animal Services Board is still weighing the idea of allowing people to have pet mini pigs on lots less than five acres. It will form a subcommittee to study the issue further before the full board weighs in.

The board considered both matters Thursday, but its findings and recommendations are advisory only. Commissioners have final say on ordinance changes, and even though the council often agrees with suggestions by county boards, that isnt always the case.

Butte resident Kim Boyle was among several people who urged the board to strengthen the animal abuse ordinance, and she and Barbara Canavad said after the meeting they would continue their push before the council.

Boyle began her push with a Dec. 16 letter to commissioners, but they sent the matter to the animal board for its consideration first.

They say a provision in the current ordinance is too weak. It says:

No owner or person in charge of an animal shall fail to provide such animal with sufficient good and wholesome food and water, proper shelter and protection from weather.

Boyle said she knows of an old yellow Labrador retriever who is always left outside, even when temperatures are well below zero. Although animal control officers have checked on her complaints, she says they dont do anything because the dog has a dog house.

I feel the ordinance we have is more to protect the owners than the animals, she said. A dog house is not adequate when its 20 below outside.

Other residents voiced similar sentiments and said the law should at least address animals being left in extreme cold or heat. They say there are lots of dogs in Butte subjected to that.

I would like to see you as a board fight for the animals, said Lacy Garcia.

But Community Enrichment Director Ed Randall, who oversees animal control, said he or his staff respond to every complaint about animals being left in the cold or heat and rescue them if necessary.

Every time the weather is about to turn very cold or hot, he said, his office issues reminders through web postings, Facebook, the newspaper, and radio to bring pets indoors or provide adequate shelter.

But he said the small percentage of people who dont take proper care of their pets would not change their behavior no matter what the local ordinance says. Dr. Carl McQueary, a veterinarian in Butte, agreed with that point.

Commissioner Sheryl Ralph, who also is on the board, said the vagueness of the current ordinance actually gives animal control officers more leeway to decide whether an animal is getting proper shelter.

A Chihuahua might be miserable in freezing-cold temperatures, she said, but a St. Bernard might be just fine.

The board agreed on a voice vote to recommend the ordinance stay the same.

Randall also suggested that local ordinances that prohibit people from having pigs unless they are on lots five acres or bigger stay the same.

He said many houses and yards in Butte are close to each other and it is difficult to enforce laws already on the books.

Resident Veralee Jordan spoke in favor of allowing mini pigs, saying she owned one in Butte for years who was a hit with everyone. She said they are smart and social animals, dont smell or sweat, and are not loud.

I would like to have another someday, she said.

Ralph and fellow commissioner and board member Bud Walker said they could see tweaking the ordinance somewhat to allow mini pigs in certain circumstances.

Randall suggested a subcommittee be formed to study the issue further, and the board agreed to that.
The new director of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks voiced her commitment to Montana State Parks Thursday while acknowledging a troubled history and major questions around the budget.

Director Martha Williams, who has been in her job for about two weeks, made her formal introduction the Montana State Parks and Recreation Board. Since taking lead of the agency, state parks and aquatic invasive species have been her two biggest issues so far.

Williams told the board she wished to Convey how committed I am to Montana State Parks and I do want to support parks as best I can.

Williams said that she has reached out to regional parks managers and plans to visit the various regions to meet with staff.

Montana State Parks has faced long-running issues with a mounting maintenance backlog and inadequate staffing. A well-documented divide in FWP between parks and the often higher profile fish and wildlife issues has also brought some discussion of moving parks out of the agency or attaching it administratively.

More recently, questions surrounding the budget and why money available to Parks went unspent, has brought a slew of questions from legislators and state parks advocates.

I recognize the divisiveness and sensitivity and will do my best to navigate that sensitivity going forward, Williams said. I fully support the staff.

Board members said theyve been fielding a number of questions about the parks budget.

The budget faces two central issues. First, the ending fund balance has nearly doubled since the 2012 fiscal year to $11.2 million. Second, future revenue projections fall below expenditures, meaning Parks must either raise more revenue or cut expenses to be structurally sound.

Questions about why the ending fund balance went underspent have remained unanswered, but Williams and FWP Administration Chief Dustin Temple detailed an exhaustive search to find out what happened.

While the former parks administrator was terminated and the former administration chief retired, Temple said current staff has gone back to 2012 to account for allocations, expenditures and who made those decisions.

Temple stressed that while he has no knowledge about why decisions were made that led to underspending funds, the efforts will provide the board and others with the facts about what funding went unspent.

And you can essentially draw your own conclusions, he said.

House Bill 5, which is currently under consideration in the Legislature, would spend $5.95 million of the ending fund on capital projects for three parks. The Legislature must grant authority for State Parks to spend its revenues.

Concerns about the budget imbalance and creating a long-term obligation by funding new operating expenses, such as more employees, became a hang-up for the governors office when deciding what authority to request from the Legislature. The decision was made to partially spend down the balance with a one-time request for capital.

Board Chairman Tom Towe said that he is pushing for authority to spend more of that funding, and seeing if some of it can go to operations needs. With future revenues below expenditures, Towe would like to see revenues increased, rather than cuts, to bring balance to the budget.

A handful of bills this session could bring in additional revenues, and with a balanced budget and more money, Towe expressed his hope to see the remainder of the end fund freed up for spending.
The national Through With Chew Week will be recognized Feb. 19 through 25 in Butte.

The public awareness campaign is designed to reduce the use of smokeless tobacco among young people.

Frank Rozan with the Butte-Silver Bow Health Department said in a news release that smokeless tobacco is far from safe and is linked to three types of cancer  oral, esophageal and pancreatic. Chronic use can still result in nicotine addiction and the use of multiple tobacco products.

The health department and Rozan, a tobacco-use prevention specialist, will be at K-Mart, 3300 Harrison Ave., from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, to educate people on the danger of using chewing tobacco.

If a person turns in a partial or full can of chewing tobacco with the intent of quitting for at least one day, vouchers will be given out for a free Pork Chop John's sandwich. "Quit spit" kits and pack sacks will also be given out for free, he said.

Also, the Montana Tobacco Quit Line is a free service available to all Montanans who would like to quit using smokeless or other tobacco products. Calling the Quit Line is toll-free at 1-800-QUIT NOW (1-800-784-8669), or visit www.QuitNowMontana.com to enroll.
Senate Bill 139, which would allow large K-8 elementary districts in Montana to vote to create K-12 districts, passed out of the Senate Thursday afternoon 49-0.

Sponsored by Sen. Duane Ankney, R-Colstrip, it would permit East Helena, Lockwood and Hellgate elementary school districts taxpayers to vote on whether they want to set up their own high school districts. Currently, this is prohibited by state law.

All three districts have more than 1,000 K-8 students.

This is the third legislative session this issue has come up and proved contentious the last two sessions.

But this time is different. The bill had a huge amount of collaboration from a lot of people, said Ankney.

It will serve the young people of East Helena and Lockwood, said Ankney. Those are the two districts that have particularly lobbied for the bill this session.

If those districts pass a bond to build a high school and keep their kids in their communities, it will be an exercise of local control, said Ankney. If it does pass in those communities, its a good thing.

Ankney credits the willingness of those who had concerns who stepped forward and worked through them and came to reasonable solutions.

The bill now heads to the House Education Committee, where it will face another hearing.

At its Feb. 1 hearing before the Senate Education and Cultural Resources Committee no one spoke in opposition.

The bill gives taxpayers of a large K-8 district the right to vote to create a K-12 district. If voters approve creating a K-12 district, the district has two years to explore and pass a high school building bond.

It also protects the original high school district by staggering the transition for up to seven years.

At the Feb. 1 Senate hearing, Helena Public Schools Interim Superintendent Jack Copps told the committee, Im here as a proponent.

Hes believed for a long time, he said, that taxpayers in larger districts should be able to decide if they want to have their own high school.

Its a decision that rightfully belongs with the voters, he said.

This particular moment is the right time for this to happen, he said, adding that this is the most friendly bill on the topic that has come before the Legislature.

In his testimony, Copps said the tax impact to Helena school district property owners would be an additional $0.79 per month on a home valued at $100,000, or $1.58 on a home valued at $200,000.

I see this as a minimal impact, said Copps. This bill is as fair as we could make it.

On Wednesday, when SB 139 garnered a 49-0 vote for its second reading in the Senate, East Helena Schools Superintendent Ron Whitmoyer said he was pleased with how well the bill was faring.

He has a lot of respect and gratitude for both the East Helena and Helena boards of trustees that sat and worked out their differences, he said.

The trustees and legislators have tried to mitigate all the conflicts, he said, and worked with all the entities involved. To get this kind of support -- Im just in awe. When a community rises up, this is what can happen.

Thursday afternoon, Ankney said he was optimistic as SB 139 heads to the House. Im really excited that well get it out of there, he said. I dont expect any opposition.
It didnt take long for Montanans to grill Sen. Steve Daines Thursday night on twin controversies from his most recent  and most eventful  week in Washington.

Answering the first two questions asked during a tele-town hall, Sen. Steve Daines defended his action to silence Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, during Senate debate on the confirmation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions as well as his pivotal vote to confirm Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

Speaking of the action he took against Warren as he presided over the Senate, he said, As she was speaking  there were some words she used that were very strong. Quoting former Sen. Ted Kennedy talking about Sen. Sessions, she used words like disgrace and shameful.

You can say some strong things about a lot of different people, but they put rules in place to ensure senator-to-senator debates remain civil, he said. I presented Sen. Warren first with a warning.  Then she moved on to quoting Coretta Scott King, he said. She continued on impugning Sen. Sessions.

He added, I spoke to Sen. Warren tonight on the Senate floor. We had a nice chat. We disagree on a lot of things.

Regarding the DeVos vote, Daines told a caller, I spent a lot of time with Betsy, and we talked a lot about rural education, and thats important.  Betsy DeVos is pro-school choice. She is also pro-public education. You can be both.

Next, Daines fielded a question about the Republicans plans to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.

When the caller, Wendy from Townsend, told him the insurance plan had been a lifesaver for her and her premiums had gone down, he said, There are exceptions, Wendy, and youre one of them, but added, Weve got to deal with Obamacare. Daines was short on specifics but said he was glad the discussion was so thoughtful about next steps.

Republicans in Congress, expected to repeal the controversial healthcare law early in 2017, are mired in a dispute about how to do it and what to replace it with.

A key question is what will happen to the patients who achieved access to insurance after states expanded Medicaid as a part of the Obamacare implementation. Daines said an orderly transition to state control of Medicaid was needed. I believe the states should decide how they want to administer Medicaid, he said, asserting that the programs budget was equal to that of the U.S. military.

Daines welcomed President Trumps executive action to revive the Keystone XL pipeline, and he told a caller from eastern Montana that only lawsuits from extreme environmentalists could block the pipeline now, adding that the pipeline would bring jobs and a revived economy.

Montanans are struggling, he said. The prosperity we see in Bozeman is not what we are seeing in eastern Montana.

A caller from Lewistown inquired bluntly, Whats going on with the Trump administration and Russia?

Weve got to investigate, Daines responded but then veered to a discussion of Russian actions in Europe and elsewhere.

He agreed with a caller from Potomac about the problems with the EPA's Waters of the United States rule and with the Bureau of Land Managements 2.0 regulations.

BLM 2.0 front-loads public comment, which often means outsiders, he said. I think thats a problem. Let Montanans run Montana.

He also defended his decisions to two callers who were critical on environmental issues: his decision to support Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as the EPA Administrator and this weeks vote to rescind the Stream Protection Rule.

I think Scott Pruitt will bring the balance we need to the EPA position, Daines said. He said the Stream Protection Rule, a regulation guarding waterways against coal mining waste, was unnecessary. State regulations are sufficient.

Finally, Daines defended his decision to have tele-town hall discussions rather than face-to-face town halls. In recent weeks, many Republicans in Congress have either faced large and hostile crowds at town halls or canceled them in favor of telephone events.

While he prided himself on reaching all 56 counties every two years, which he said no other member of Montanas delegation to Congress has done, he said the telephone discussions were better and more efficient in reaching citizens from across the state. We called 200,000 phone numbers tonight, he said. Thats nearly half the state. He added that Weve made more than a million phone calls into Montana over the last couple of years. We get stories of families who put the phone on speaker during dinner hour so the whole family can listen.
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IN RE THE CUSTODY OF

J.M.,

MARK MILLER,

Petitioner,

and Concerning

MORTICIA JACOBS,

Respondent.

TO THE ABOVE-NAMED RESPONDENT:

You are notified that a Petition to Establish Paternity, Custody and other issues of the minor child, J.M.. born in 2009, was filed in the office of the Clerk of this Court on January 26, 2017, naming you as Respondent in this action. The attorney for the Petitioner is Esther J. Dean, whose address is 1102 Park Avenue, Muscatine, Iowa 52761. That attorney's telephone number is (563)264-5523 and the facsimile number is (563)264-8406. The attorney's e-mail address is deanlaw@machlink.com.

You are notified that there will be a hearing on the application for temporary issues before the Iowa District Court for Muscatine County, at the Courthouse in Muscatine, Iowa, at 8:30 a.m. on the 9th day of February, 2017.

You must serve a motion or answer within 20 days after service of this original notice upon you, and within a reasonable time thereafter, file your motion or answer with the Clerk of Court for Muscatine. at the County Courthouse, Muscatine, Iowa. If you do not, judgment by default may be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the petition.

This case has been filed in a county that uses electronic filing. If you are going to represent yourseIf, you must register to eFile through the Iowa Judicial Branch website at

https://www.iowacourts.state.is.us/Efile and obtain a log in and password for filing and viewing documents in your case and for receiving service and notices from the court.

For further information on electronic filing, refer to the Iowa Courts Rules Chapter 16, Pertaining to the Use of the Electronic Document Management System, available on the Iowa Judicial Branch website. If you are unable to proceed electronically, you must receive permission from the court to file in paper. Contact the Clerk of Court in the county where the petition was filed for more information on being excused from the electronic filing. If you electronically file your Answer or Motion, it will be served automatically on the Petitioner or on the Petitioner's Attorney(s). A Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) will tell you if the Court has excused Petitioner from electronic filing. If the Court has excused Petitioner from electronic filing, you must mail a copy of your Answer or Motion to the Petitioner.

If you need assistance to participate in court due to a disability, contact the disability coordinator at 563-263-6511. Persons who are hearing or speech impaired may call Relay Iowa TTY(1-800-735-2942.). Disability coordinator cannot provide legal advice.

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO RESPONDENT: YOU ARE ADVISED TO SEEK LEGAL ADVICE AT ONCE TO PROTECT YOUR INTERESTS.

STATE OF IOWA JUDICIARY

Case No. DRCV023839

County Muscatine

Case Title MARK MILLER V. MORTICIA JACOBS

THIS CASE HAS BEEN FILED IN A COUNTY THAT USES ELECTRONIC FILING.

Therefore, unless the attached Petition and Original Notice contains a hearing date for your appearance, or unless you obtain an exemption from the court, you must file your Appearance and Answer electronically.

You must register through the Iowa Judicial Branch website at

http://www.iowacourts.state.ia.us/Efile and obtain a log in and password for the purposes of filing and viewing documents on your case and of receiving service and notices from the court.

FOR GENERAL RULES AND INFORMATION ON ELECTRONIC FILING, REFER TO THE IOWA COURT RULES CHAPTER 16 PERTAINING TO THE USE OF THE ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: http://www.iowacourts.state.ia.us/Efile

FOR COURT RULES ON PROTECTION OF PERSONAL PRIVACY IN COURT FILINGS, REFER TO DIVISION VI OF IOWA COURT RULES CHAPTER 16: http://www.iowacourts.state.ia.us/Efile

Scheduled Hearing:

If you require the assistance of auxiliary aids or services to participate in court because of a disability, immediately call your district ADA coordinator at (563) 328-4145. (If you are hearing impaired, call Relay Iowa TTY at 1-800-735-2942.)

Date Issued 01/30/2017 10:57:00 AM District Clerk of Muscatine County

/s/ Traci Harper
MUSCATINE, Iowa  Kum & Go is planning to relocate its existing store at Fifth and Cedar streets to Fourth and Cedar streets, according to a resolution approved Thursday night by the Muscatine City Council allowing the business to have the alley running behind the property, between Cedar and Sycamore streets.

No comments were made during a public hearing on the request, or on the resolution the council approved 6-1, with Councilman Michael Rehwaldt voting against.

Background: According to a memorandum from City Planner Andrew Fangman, the vacation and sale of public right-of-way of the alley that was approved would typically be sold at fair market value, about $42,000 for this specific alley.

Kum & Go, however, has agreed to construct 20 on-street parking spaces on Sycamore Street between Fourth and Fifth streets, nine more than are currently located on that stretch of road.

Comments: No discussion was held in this weeks meeting, although Rehwaldt said after the meeting he thought the alley could have been put to better use.

Effect on residents: The memorandum states the parking spaces will be of greater value to the community than the fair market value of the vacated alley.

Fewer employees of the downtown area who park in the vacant Sun Mart site, the business previously at Fourth and Cedar streets, will be displaced by the loss of parking in the area as well, the memorandum states.

Other business: The closed session scheduled for the end of the meeting was removed from the agenda, and City Administrator Gregg Mandsager said the session was put in place to be available if needed. The council also scheduled a closed session for noon Wednesday. Council also approved several resolutions and public hearings unanimously.

Council approved two public hearings, one for 7 p.m. Thursday, April 6, on the 2018 Annual Plan and Amendments to the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Administrative Plan and Public Housing Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy.

The second public hearing has been set for 7 p.m. Thursday, March 2, on an ordinance amending the zoning section of City Code, Title 10. The revised ordinance would provide more flexibility and be more user-friendly, according to a memorandum from Fangman.

The council approved an Airport T-Hangar Apron Expansion Project, for which the city received funding from the Iowa Department of Transportation to complete the design and first phase. The project will now move forward to begin the bidding process.
MUSCATINE, Iowa  Growing up, Jim Wester saw his dad caring for a community of patients who would come through his door.

Wester remembers his dad saying, "There was federal welfare, there was county welfare, and there was Wester welfare." And he meant it. When his patients needed a medication they couldn't afford, Wester senior would sell it to them for a dollar a month.

Wester followed in his fathers footsteps, becoming a pharmacist. But he took the community care aspect a step farther: He joined the Muscatine County Board of Health.

It was just, I guess, in my DNA, he said.

For 30 years, Wester involved himself in caring for the community, first as a board member and then as chair of the board. He retired in January, and next Thursday, his former colleagues will gather to celebrate his contributions to Muscatine County.

Wester said he worked at the board for as long as he did because he enjoyed working with the other members, sharing his pharmacy expertise as he went.

When we talk about immunizations, I see first-hand the results of patients not getting immunizations, (for example) flu shots, he said.

And during his time at the board, he and the board commissioned flu clinics when flu levels rose in the community.

He praised the county Board of Supervisors for being responsive to the boards needs throughout his tenure.

When you have communication, its much easier to tell your story, its not falling on deaf ears because you have an advocate on the Board of Supervisors, he said.

Of all the things hes done during his tenure, Wester said, hes most proud of the stability of the board.

Its such a well-functioning board that think that everybody sees a purpose," he said. "And Im not going to sugarcoat it. Theres some meetings that you wonder, Did we accomplish anything? but at the end of the day, you can say, Yes we did.

Board member Neva Rettig Baker has worked with Wester for 20 years.

This is something that is near and dear to his heart," she said. "This is not a board that they make you get off after a certain number of years, although they do have us re-apply  hes gone above and beyond being chair for a number of years.

Hy-Vee pharmacist Karen Harper succeeded Wester, and Wester said she is a good choice.

She thinks a lot like I do, and shes worked with me for 20 years, so I feel very, very, very comfortable (with her selection), Wester said.
MUSCATINE, Iowa  Fred Harroun, who runs Muddy River Bait N' Tackle, said last year a little boy came into the store with his parents, who were planning a fishing trip. The little boy, Harroun said, looked dejected.

"So I asked him, 'How come you're sad? You're going fishing,' and he goes 'I don't have a fishing pole,'" Harroun said. "I had a couple fishing poles and I took him over and gave him one, and from then on I just started giving kids fishing poles."

Harroun has asked area residents to bring in their old poles, or ones no longer in use, so he can give children a chance to fish.

"I take them, clean them off, put new line on them and make sure they work," he said.

Children ages 14 or younger can stop by the shop and pick up a pole, if they need one.

Area residents have already donated fishing poles to be fixed and given away, and Harroun said he has given away 55 poles since last year.

"It gets them out, gets them fishing, and lets them enjoy the outdoors," he said.

Harroun opened his store May 20, and with the help of his wife and children, is generally open seven days a week. He said he had always thought about opening up a bait and tackle store, and after he retired his son told him it was time.

"My son called me and he goes 'Dad, you're opening up a bait shop,'" he said.

Although winter weather and last year's flooding of area rivers slowed business, Harroun said he enjoys spending time with his customers.

"I've got super customers, even the kids that I gave poles to, they'll come in and they buy worms," he said. "I've got one little boy that comes in and gives me a hug, because I gave him a fishing pole."
Imagine you're driving down a deserted residential street in the middle of the night when your car suddenly loses all power and rolls to a stop.
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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A Kenya Defence Forces officer was on Wednesday attacked and killed by youths at Nyataragi village, Ndeiya ward in Limuru sub-county.

Patrick Njenga, 31, was reportedly hit on the head by the group when he tried to stop some of them from fighting in a local bar.

Witnesses said he bled profusely and residents rushed him to Limuru Nursing Home where he succumbed to the injuries.

We were shocked because all those men are from the same village. At first, everyone thought they were playing, but they turned violent, resident Kevin Kimani said.

The death sparked protests on Thursday as family members demanded that those involved in the murder of the officer be punished.

The residents urged the relevant officials to close bars in the area, adding that most of them are bhang-peddling dens.

They threatened to block the Mai Mahiu-Nairobi highway at Mutarakwa.

Area deputy county commissioner David Kiprop said a report was made at Mutarakwa police post and investigations were launched into the incident.
The horrific attack on a 23 year-old mother of two who was gang-raped and tied to train tracks in Mombasa on Saturday, has been linked to a child custody row.

According to witnesses who have recorded statements with the police, the victim, Aisha Syongula, had a serious brawl over the custody of her four-year-old son, whom one of the suspected assailants claims to have sired.

Aisha, who has had both legs amputated following the train accident, is said to have opposed an attempt by one of the assailants to take custody of the child.

They had a serious brawl a week before Aisha got involved in this accident, with the suspected assailant vowing to kill her if she objected to him taking custody of the child, one witness told the police.

Two of the assailants who are known to Syongula are still at large.

The single mother is currently recuperating at the Aga Khan Hospital after going under the knife on Thursday.

She told Standard that her attackers now want to kill her and her mother.

I want police to arrest my tormentors. They want to kill me and cause untold suffering to my mother and children, she said.
Bahati Boys High School in Nakuru county has been ordered to re-admit a student who had been expelled for allegedly drawing demonic art.

Nakuru County Director for Education Isaac Asebe demanded that the school takes back Ian Mwaura Njenga who was expelled on February 13.

Mr Asebe said he had talked with the school management about the issue and that he would be readmitted on Monday.

I have talked with the school and they will be re-admitting the boy to school on Monday. The school further suggested that the boy will be given guidance and counselling sessions, Asebe told Standard.

Ian Mwaura, a form four student was expelled from school by the disciplinary committee over what the institution termed as demonic faith.

An expulsion letter signed by Principal Patrick Ombok read: He has drawings which are suggestive that he is owing allegiance to some faith.

He was also accused of trying to recruit fellow students to his demonic cult after he drew a scorpion on another students shirt.

The expulsion sparked criticism over the harsh disciplinary action from Kenyans, including Atheists in Kenya (AIK) society who issued the school principal a seven-day ultimatum to lift the exclusion letter, failure to which the society would move to court.
Nyamira senator Kenneth Okongo Mongare on Wednesday stunned the Senate during the debate of a petition seeking to legalize marijuana.

The petition was made by Mr Gwada Ogot, a resident of Nairobi, who wants bhang legalized for medicinal and industrial use.

The petition sparked a heated debate with several senators supporting the motion. One of them was Presidential aspirant Mr Okongo who confessed to using bhang.

It doesnt mean that if the plant is legalized, it will destroy lives. It depends with the level of indulgence. As a juvenile, I used it. I was also in India where the plant is legalized but it is vital if people are disciplined. You can choose not to use it, said Okongo.

He added: As a House, we can come up with regulations that encourage deterrence. The government can allow it but have regulations that restrict use.

Mr Okongo also denied that bhang influenced his decision to vie for the presidency in August after Senators Yusuf Haji (Garissa), Mutahi Kagwe (Nyeri), Billow Kerrow (Mandera), Stephen Sang (Nandi), Judy Sijeny (nominated), and Martha Wangari (nominated) used his admission to ridicule his presidential ambitions.

I used to use it sometime ago. It didnt inform my decision to contest for presidency. If the senators want to know about the plant, the House should organise for a retreat to discuss the same, said the senator.
Jubilee reportedly has 36 bloggers. I cant quite put my fingers on where the name came from, but somehow it stuck. Never mind no one knows all their names.

Cord bloggers on the other hand do not have a fancy name to accompany them, but they are the most vocal. On every issue, every day, theres a new hashtag telling us how Kidero has cleaned Nairobi, or about Johos smear campaign.

Sometimes you might encounter Uhuru jails doctors, or Garissa Heckles Ruto.

I dont know if any money exchanges hands, but if it does, Cord bloggers, as opposed to Jubilee, earn their keep.

I have no problem with this kind of hustling for the youth, but what I dislike is people/bloggers who pretend to be intellectuals and neutral independent thinkers, who never point out when the government does good or when the opposition does bad.

If you are an influential Kenyan on Twitter, and someone looks at your timeline and its all about the nasty things the government has done, not a single mention of corruption in Nairobi or other Cord counties, or that time Baba came out guns blazing to offer his support for a corrupt governor, or that time a foreign businessman in Kisumu accused top ODM leaders of frustrating his business, come on stop taking us for fools and announce yourself an opposition blogger already.

We will not hold it against you because from then on, well understand that it is your job to put the government on its toes and play blind to the happenings on the other side.

Purpose of that intro was because of some screenshots doing rounds.

For instance on Monday, I couldnt believe that Ben Carson commented about the doctors strike calling the Jubilee government pathetic. Well, Im sure he couldnt believe it either because the last time he tweeted was on December 31st.

You see, Cord bloggers earning their keep.

Then yesterday Jubilees 36 bloggers, for once, earned their keep. They uncovered an old Facebook post by Kenya Medical, Practitioners and Dentist Union (KMPDU) Secretary General Ouma Oluga.

Apparently, the guy is not very fond of Kikuyus.

Though its not a very nice thing to say in our current environment, he got his mathematics (probability) right. Sooner or later there will be a non-kikuyu president.

Honestly, I did not think much of the screenshot until Cord bloggers (and the ones pretending to be independent thinkers) came out and rubbished it as fake. The same ones who were silent on Ben Carsons screenshot.

Im not stupid. I know there are many apps to fake social media posts, and I actually dismissed it too as a fake. However, loyal Jubilee lieutenants Oliver Mathenge and Dennis Itumbi, were one step ahead of everyone.

They foresaw this outcome and acted.

Lol!!! The guy recorded the screen with a shaky phone, browsing through Oumas Facebook account, right on the exact post with many comments, just in case the post got deleted. There is no app for that.

Actually. Lets do this now. I want to ask Oluga and his people how I managed to create this page with all the comments. pic.twitter.com/qBY2DIfZBj  Oliver Mathenge (@OliverMathenge) February 16, 2017

Surely, one must be so deep in Cords a$* to still shout fake or photoshop.

With the Twitter supremacy war out of the way, I can touch a bit on the doctors strike.

Doctors know they are critical in a country, and they are using that unfairly in my view.

Most of the other issues in the CBA are bullshit. They put it in so they dont look like the greedy fellows they are. From what weve heard, the doctors leaders rarely bring up these other issues during negotiations. The only talk is about money. If for example the government bows to their demands and gives them the 300% pay rise, but declines all the other issues, you can bet the strike will be off instantly.

Picture yourself holding a knife to your boss neck, and ordering him to increase your salary threefold. You know well that salary increments are never that huge, but you are the holder of the knife.

Our economy has not even grown threefold since the last review.

When teachers strike, students can always catch up with the syllabus a few months later. When casual workers strike, many services can wait. But when doctors go home, you cant say youll be treated tomorrow, or next month.

And herein lies the knife. Theyve got the government and public by the balls, and are using that to force their way.

Ive heard many times that MCAs are paid better than doctors. Its not an ideal situation, but the MCAs did not vote themselves in. If the MPs are also increasing their salaries every week, it is the prerogative of both Uhuru and Raila (if they have Kenyan interest at hearts), to whip their respective party members of parliament to stop it.

And if I may add, Kenyans should not be fighting to increase salaries to unsustainable levels. If the biggest driving force is the example set by MPs, we should be fighting to bring their salaries down. In related news, Ive heard that the voter registration period has been extended again.

On the brief jailing of doctors officials, I think Kenyans were played, plain and simple. Talk everywhere was how Jubilee has jailed doctors. Some even called it the lowest point in this governments tenure. But who really jailed the doctors?

The suit was brought about by the Council of Governors, where unlike parliament, tyranny of numbers does not favour the ruling.

When Raila led an entire battalion of Cord politicians to court, to sympathize with the doctors good political strategy but at the same time a bit hypocritical. Raila could have at any time picked up the phone and instructed his governors to drop the suit. I doubt anyone who wants an ODM nomination in a few months time would dare defy Baba.

But you dont get to Railas level by not knowing when and how to play politics.

And then when everyone was up in arms against Jubilee for jailing doctors, condemning them and counting their days, I think we forgot to thank the same Jubilee for releasing them a few days later. Please lets understand the roles of each branch of government.

We all want doctors to be paid well. All Im urging is they be reasonable with their demands and understand Kenya is a very poor country. World Bank, IMF and others have constantly warned us that our wage bill is too high, and here we are pushing it up again.

For f*** sake, the lowest paid doctor currently earns Sh140,000. You are already some of the best paid people in Kenya. On top of that, majority of you earn much more through private practice.

Im not saying you are bad or anything, but we know most of you leave nurses and clinical officers to do the job during working hours, while you work in private hospitals or operate your own private clinics. Yet collect your government paycheck every month like clockwork.

If you do get your 300% pay increase, then the lecturers get the same, and teachers strike for a similar treatment, plus other public servants, what money do you think the government will build roads with? Or will you fly your cars?

If you continue holding a knife by the governments throat, theyll probably give you another unrealistic CBA, to be postponed for the next president and government.

The above article is the writers opinion and not this blogs position.
Tragedy struck a family in Nairobis Mathare North area after an eight year old girl accidentally caused the death of her younger brother while feeding him.

The incident which happended on Wednesday night was reported to the police by the girls mother.

According to the police, the mother said that the girl was feeding her two-month-old brother with milk when he chocked, resulting in his death as was being rushed to the hospital.

The infants body was taken to the City Mortuary awaiting postmortem.
After their Sh 3.5 Million wedding ceremony on Valentines Day, Mr and Mrs Mutura are not yet done with the fun fair.

The couple has so far been treated to a hair makeover, a honeymoon in Diani, a Sh1 Million piece of land in Kajiado and the recent extravagant wedding that left the Mr Mutura in tears.

Speaking to eDaily, Mr Mutura spoke about the overwhelming support that has come their way after he spent Sh 100 on a wedding on Sunday, January 22 at Community Christian Worship Centre in Kasarani, Nairobi.

I dont know how to explain the feeling. It was just too good! I had not experienced such a feeling and I will always remember it for the rest of my life, he said.

I shed tears because when something happens in your life; something completely new to you; something that looks like a dream but it is indeed a reality, you cant help it. I remembered how I slipped a KSh50 ring on my wifes finger before, and there I was  slipping an expensive gold ring on her finger, I subconsciously found tears rolling down my cheeks. I could not believe it.

I had dreamt of holding a big wedding, but due to my financial situation, I could not. And out of nowhere, I was at the centre of one of the most lavish reception ceremonies in the country. I felt loved by my sponsors. A huge number of people came to our Valentines Day ceremony; I felt raw, excessive love, said Mr Mutura.

Mr Mutura revealed that plans have been made for a second honeymoon to Dubai.

My wife and I are yet to go on honeymoon to Dubai. I understand the plans by our sponsors to fly us out of the country are underway. I am yet to be informed on progress of the plans, though I heard everything has already been paid for, he said.

The ceremony my wife and I had on February 14 was not a wedding per se, it was a day to celebrate our love, given we could not afford a hefty event back then. We danced, ate a cake and made merry. Suggestion by sections that the sponsors could have given my wife and I the money (KSh3.5 million) used to organise the event is valid, at least according to them. But again the sponsors organised the ceremony and we appreciate the opportunity, Mr Mutura said.

Wilson Mutura, a fruit vendor in Kasarani, Nairobi, said that another well wisher has promised to put up a business for the couple.

About a land in Kajiado that we were promised, yes, the well-wishers contacted me before our Valentines Day ceremony and told me that we will sign ownership transfer documents on Friday, February 17. Besides that, I am unaware of any new arrangement. Another well-wisher said theyll put up a business for us, but I am yet to follow up with them. They are yet to contact me.

Mr Mutura also showered praise on his wife and noted what it takes to have a happy maariage.

I feel lucky to have Ann because she has stood by me for three years now despite my financial situation. We did not rush into this marriage. Divorce cases nowadays are rampant  and I have seen how messy they can get. So, Ann and I took our time before committing. My KSh100 wedding has taught me that the ceremony is not all about money but intention.

For a marriage to be complete, it is not all about money. A wedding ceremony is not marriage; marriage is love, understanding and perseverance. If Ann was after money, then she would not have accepted to be married by me, said Mutura, adding: Marriage is understanding the purpose of each party in the union.
ISLAMABAD  A brutal attack on a beloved Sufi shrine that killed 88 people raised fears that the Islamic State group has become emboldened in Pakistan, aided by an army of homegrown militants benefiting from hideouts in neighboring Afghanistan, analysts and officials said Friday.

Pakistani security forces have carried out sweeping country-wide raids following Thursdays bombing of the shrine in Pakistans southern Sindh province that also wounded 343 people. The militarys public relations wing reported on its official twitter account that more than 100 suspected terrorists were killed in the raids, while government officials lashed out at Kabul accusing the Afghan government of ignoring earlier pleas to crackdown on militant hideouts.

Zahid Hussain, an expert on militants in the region, said a toxic mix of violent Sunni militant groups, many belonging to banned groups that are flourishing under new names, have wrapped themselves in the banner of the Islamic State group.

The Islamic State (group) might not have a strong organizational structure in Pakistan but we have thousands of members of banned groups sympathetic to the (their) ideology, Hussain said in an interview. They subscribe to the Islamic State (group) world view.

Thursdays terror attack  Pakistans deadliest in years  stunned the nation and raised questions about the authorities ability to rein in militant groups despite several military offensives targeting militant hideouts.

It also threatened to drive a deeper wedge between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Islamabad quickly lashed out at Kabul, saying the bombing was masterminded in militant sanctuaries across the border in Afghanistan, whose own security forces have been assaulted by Islamic State fighters. Overnight Thursday, Afghan authorities said 17 Afghan soldiers were killed by IS insurgents.

Pakistans Army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa spoke by phone with U.S. Gen John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, to protest militant sanctuaries on Afghan soil, according to a statement carried on the militarys official twitter account. Bajwa said the Afghan government was not taking action against the hideouts and warned that its inaction was testing our current policy of cross border restraint, without further elaborating.

Underscoring tensions between the two neighbors, Pakistan fired a blistering round of artillery shells into Afghan territory on Friday and shut down the Torkham border crossing  a key commercial artery between the two neighbors. Pakistan said the barrage was in response to a militant attack on one of its border posts.

In a telephone call Friday to Afghanistans National Security Adviser, Pakistans senior foreign ministry official, Sartj Aziz accused Afghan President Ashraf Ghani of ignoring Islamabads earlier request to put an end to the sanctuaries in its territory. Pakistan also handed over a list of 76 militants it says are hiding in Afghanistan, demanding they be arrested and extradited to Pakistan.

Pakistans military did not specify who was on the list, but it has long claimed that the head of the Pakistani Taliban, Mullah Fazlullah, and other militants are hiding on Afghan soil with the purpose of fomenting violence inside Pakistan.

Ghani, meanwhile, condemned the shrine attack. Terrorists once again proved that they have no respect for Islamic values, he said in a statement.

In Thursdays attack, the suicide bomber walked into the main hall at the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sehwan in southern Sindh province, and detonated his explosives among a crowd of attendees. At least 20 women and nine children were among the dead.

The Islamic State group, claiming responsibility for the attack in a statement circulated by its Aamaq news agency, said it targeted a Shiite gathering. The Sunni extremist group views Shiites as apostates and has targeted Pakistans Shiite minority in the past. It also views Sufi shrines as a form of idolatry.
Mark Rappaports work is all fake, but his success is definitely the real thing.

This former Napan recently earned recognition as a special effects creator from the folks who hand out the Oscar statuettes.

On Feb. 11, Rappaport, who now lives in Los Angeles, was recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at its annual Scientific and Technical Awards. Its a prequel to the Academy Awards ceremony to be held on Feb. 26.

Im honored, said Rappaport. Im very proud of the work Ive done.

Rappaport, who grew up in Napa, owns a special effects business in Los Angeles called Creature Effects Inc.

His company provides all kinds of human, creature and makeup effects for both film and TV.

Monster puppets, bloody heads, dead horses, zombies, dinosaurs and fake babies  you name it, hes made it.

The special effects artist and others received a technical achievement award from the Academy on behalf of his work designing and developing animatronic horse puppets for motion pictures.

His certificate  not the famous Oscar statuette  is awarded for accomplishments which contribute to the progress of the industry, read the Academy website.

Rappaports fake horses have been used in films like Seabiscuit, The Revenant, Cowboys and Aliens, 300, The Lone Ranger and The Last Samurai.

A total of 18 scientific and technical achievements were presented at the event.

This recognition by the Academy shows were one of the best studios in the world for special effects, he said.

Rappaport, now 63, said he got into the special effects industry by accident.

Previously, he worked at many different kinds of jobs, including stints as a kitchen worker on a Royal Viking cruise ship, a newspaper delivery person, a prison guard at San Quentin, an Alameda County deputy sheriff and a firefighter in Southern California.

He built puppets while in college and considered starting some kind of puppet show, said Rappaport.

Bringing life to inanimate objects touches a deep nerve inside me as an artist, he said. I really enjoyed that but I didnt think there was any money in it.

His father was skeptical too, Rappaport admitted. My dad was mystified, he recalled. He said, What are you doing with your life Mark?

I said, Im working on these puppets.

He said, You mean dolls?

I said, No, not dolls.

And then came a stroke of luck.

Rappaport was delivering the Sunday New York Times in the Marin County area in the mid-1980s when he stumbled onto his next career.

Driving by some kind of studio at 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning, I saw these people painting monsters, he said.

I drove up to them and I said, This looks great, I want to do this.

To his surprise, the crew told him to show up the next day to work. They were working on a project for the special effects maker Chris Walas, who also worked on the movie Gremlins.

I had no real art background, but they said I could come be a helping hand, said Rappaport. Thats where I started learning about special effects.

After that start, Rappaport was able to take on other such jobs. He worked on films for Industrial Light & Magic, owned by George Lucas, including Innerspace and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

I was helping out making molds, cleaning up, he said. I really knew almost nothing, but was gaining valuable experience.

Rappaport eventually moved to Los Angeles with his wife Jean Horihata, where he began working special effects for mostly B movies with titles like Killer Klowns from Outer Space and the first five Puppet Master movies.

It was really fun, he said. That kind of work was perfect for my abilities and understanding at the time.

While looking for his next job, Rappaport discovered a special effects studio near his home in Los Angeles.

He inquired about renting some space to work on his own special effects projects, and to his surprise, the business owner offered the whole studio, as he was about to move out to a larger space.

Not only that, but the exiting tenant recommended Rappaport for a new film being made called The Last Samurai, starring Tom Cruise.

This was my big break, said Rappaport.

They needed horses and lots of horses for the film, which was shot in New Zealand.

No matter that Rappaport hadnt made a horse puppet before.

I said, I will do it. Im going to put everything I can into making the best animatronic creature ever made.

Rappaport assembled a team of special effects artists from previous projects, including puppeteers who had worked with Jim Hensons company and others who had worked on Jurassic Park.

We made it work, he said. This was the beginning for me to start creating horses.

The special effects artist said hes made close to 100 faux horses. Some are full-size models and some only include the top half or other sections of a horse.

The hides are actually synthetic fiber fur  not real horse skin or hair  placed over a foam rubber horse body.

Inside are mechanisms and electrical motors that can make a horses eyes blink and ears and nostrils move. Some of the horse mechanisms are designed to allow the horse to fall or flip.

We use computer technology to integrate into the motors of the horses body, he explained.

The puppet horses  or portions of a horse such as a head  can cost anywhere from $9,000 to $250,000, and take as long as two months to make.

According to a news release from the Academy, The animatronic horse puppet provides increased actor safety, close integration with live action, and improved realism for filmmakers.

Rappaport gave equal credit for his award to others who helped work on the horse puppet.

That horse wouldnt exist without the people in the shop who helped create it. Without them this would not have happened.

That doesnt mean there werent some ups and downs along the way. After a difficult experience working on the movie I Am Legend, bigger film projects dried up for a while.

That was tough, he said. But we made it through doing a lot of Disney TV and commercials. And we were doing pretty well.

Then Rappaport got called to work on the remake of True Grit, along with Cowboys & Aliens and The Lone Ranger, and suddenly the bigger jobs were back.

Rappaport said that he has good memories of growing up in Napa.

To me Napa was wonderful. It was a small town. You knew everybody in your school.

Rappaport attended the then-Justin High School, graduating in the class of 1972. He still gets together with some of his classmates.

Over the years, Rappaport and his team have traveled to Japan, Germany, New Zealand, Romania, Canada, Mexico and Spain, to name just a few countries.

In March theyre going to Abu Dhabi to work on a commercial featuring a lizard for an Abu Dhabi company that he could not name.

Napans might have noticed some of his most recent work during Super Bowl LI, including a kangaroo puppet for a Yellow Tail wines commercial, and a beaver puppet for a Skittles commercial.

l love puppets and creating work for film, he said.
Time and again, President Trump threatens to withhold federal grants from California cities, universities and the state itself unless they accept policies he wants to pursue, from large-scale deportation of undocumented immigrants to bashing the heads of campus protesters.

California is in many ways out of control, he said in one recent interview. Out of his control, he seemed to mean. Then, asked if defunding is your weapon of choice to force the state into line, he allowed that Its a weapon. We give them a hell of a lot of money. I dont want to defund a state or a city. I dont want to defund anybodyIf theyre going to have sanctuary cities, we may have to do that. Certainly, that would be a weapon.

Two questions he wasnt asked: Whose money is he talking about? And, who gets most of that money?

The answer to the second question is easy: Most federal money arriving here goes to ordinary people, via Social Security payments, Medicare and Medi-Cal payments. That accounts for the vast majority of the $367.8 billion the federal government spends in California every year. (The figure comes from a Tax Foundation study.)

Meanwhile, Californians pay in much more than that in income, Social Security and Medicare taxes. So were really talking about our own money here, with the federal government mostly acting as a conduit.

Should California adopt a wide sanctuary state policy requiring all cities and counties to follow the practice of police in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Ana and other California cities that  among other things  dont inquire about the immigration status of most people they arrest, Trump says, If we have to, well defund.

He plainly thinks he can take any federal funds he likes from California and its cities. Does he also propose to cut off Social Security benefits to Californians if legislators adopt the plan theyre now considering?

No one knows precisely what Trump intends. But he plainly believes he can withhold funds at his will.

But thats not how most federal grants work. Repeated court decisions, like the 1987 case of South Dakota v. Dole, say there has to be some link between the purpose for withholding federal grants and whatever program theyre being taken from.

This means that Trump cannot withhold Pell Grant money from California students just because he didnt like it when police failed to beat black-clad marauders who violently took over a demonstration at UC Berkeley that began as a peaceful protest over a scheduled speech by an editor of the alternative right website Breitbart News. Nor can he out of pique withhold cancer research funding.

He also cant take money from sewer or mass transit projects if hes unhappy with policing in sanctuary cities getting those grants.

But the decisions probably do mean that if Berkeley again cancels a similar sort of speech, Trump could halt grants used in part to pay campus speakers  although there is no record of federal funds paying for this.

A significant question is why Trump singles out California, which contains a relatively small minority of the nations 106 sanctuary cities. Why, for example, did he not threaten Tucson, Ariz., whose sanctuary policy is one of the oldest, dating from the 1980s?

Might it be relate to the fact he carried Arizona last fall while losing California by more than 4.5 million votes? Is this more a matter of revenge than policy?

Only Trump knows what he intends and why, just as only he knows why he left Saudi Arabia off the list of nations whose citizens hes trying to deny admission to the United States, when most perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks, the most significant terror ever on American soil, came from there.

Like much of Trumps agenda, widely defunding California would require action from Congress. Its doubtful many California Republican House members would meekly acquiesce in withholding funds from the state in a general, non-targeted way that could severely affect their constituents.

All of which makes it highly unlikely that Trump alone can deny much money to California, even if he tries. Thats only fair, since the money hes talking about actually comes from Californians, even if it is later mingled with other funds while in the Treasury.

Thomas D. Elias writes the syndicated California Focus column.
There has been some reporting lately, including an article in the Register and an editorial in the St. Helena Star, saying that the city of St. Helena is insisting on funding [expensive] projects out of current revenues, rather than looking at bonds. Factually, this is not the case. The funding plan in the 2016 Rate Study assumes that expensive projects will be funded in substantial or even complete measure through long-term bonds or loans.

The first bullet point under Major Assumptions in the Study states: For large infrastructure projects the City will apply to advantageous loan and grant programs.

The single most expensive project is the Upgrade (Phases I & II) to the Wastewater Treatment Plant. The total projected Upgrade cost (including contingency) is about $10 million. The funding plan assumes that the entire cost will be debt funded through a 20-year Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan. There is no escape from the Upgrade. We are under a cease-and-desist order to accomplish the Upgrade improvements. The order, issued by the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board, specifies dates that we must meet. The order advises that the board will hit us with substantial penalties if we do not make the improvements within the specified dates.

The second most expensive project is the removal of Upper York Creek Dam and related ecosystem improvements. Here, much of the funding is from a combination of two grants (an EPA grant and a San Francisco Bay Area Water Integrated Regional Management Grant) totaling about $1.8 million and proceeds from existing water bonds in the amount of $3 million. The balance (about $1.7 million in future dollars) is cash-financed. The good news here is that the Water Enterprise has put aside the cash so that the financing is in place to complete the project. There are specific timelines for drawing down on the grant monies that we cannot afford to miss.

Another expensive project for the Water Enterprise is replacement of the water tower in Bell Canyon Reservoir. The Rate Study assumes that the entire cost, including contingency, of $2.4 million will be financed by new debt.

So, it is not correct for the reporting to proceed on the premise that the city is not utilizing debt when it doing so is for major projects (and even for a few less expensive items). It is also generally correct that less expensive infrastructure projects are assumed to be cash-financed. There needs to be an appropriate balance. It is well recognized in government finance that it is inequitable to leave the burden to future generations for the benefit of the present.

There is also a practical constraint on debt financing: we cannot have so much debt financing that it becomes impossible to maintain the debt service coverage ratio in our outstanding bond covenants. (The debt service ratio requires that net operating revenue for each Enterprise exceed 120 percent of debt service.)

On this last point: as pointedly noted in the Rate Study, our Water Enterprise is substantially out of compliance with the required ratio (and it has since badly deteriorated). We are, of course, barred by express covenant from reducing rates when not in compliance. Also, as again noted in the study, the citys rating for future debt will be impaired if we remain out of compliance, to the detriment of ratepayers.

The suggestion is made in the editorial that we consider the use of General Fund money to contribute to the removal of Upper York Creek Dam. However, it is not prudent financial practice to use General Fund monies to supplement the revenues of our enterprises. These are businesses, and they need to be self-supporting.

The primary driver behind the residential increases is a binding court case, Capistrano Taxpayers Association, Inc. v. City of San Juan Capistrano. The California Supreme Court (for which I once worked) denied review. It is binding law.

The essential Capistrano holding is that the cost of providing the service must be proportional to the rate charged. In our case, this means we could not continue tiered rates, which put more of the cost on heavier users (especially wineries). Stated another way, heavier users were subsidizing residential users  and while I agree with Gov. Brown that this is appropriate, the law is now firmly otherwise.

The secondary driver is the need to come into compliance with our debt service ratio so that our borrowings, directly impacting customer billings, are not (likely much) higher than projected in the current rate increases. To be frank, even with the increases, our reserves for emergencies, especially for the Water Enterprise, are grossly inadequate in the next few years.

For those interested, the 2016 Rate Study can be found at cityofsthelena.org/ratestudy.

Alan Galbraith

Mayor, city of St. Helena
In response to my last column Bordeaux: Something for everyone that discussed my experience at the recent Union des Grands Cru de Bordeaux tasting in San Francisco, I received many questions and comments about the area and its history along with several on the wines themselves.

From these responses, I realized that though many wine consumers are familiar with the great wines of Bordeaux, most are unfamiliar with its storied history and the intricate complexity of its vineyard resources.

Bordeauxs history spans two millennia dating to when vines were first planted in Roman times. For several centuries, the wines produced were mainly for domestic market and to quench the soldiers thirst. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the vineyards suffered many setbacks continuing through the 5th century when things began to stabilize under Frankish rule and stayed so for the next several centuries.

But dramatic growth did not return until the Middle Ages.

The marriage of Henry Plantagenet and Eleanor of Aquitaine in the mid-12th century opened the Bordeaux region to the English market and eventually to the worlds stage. Trade with England became the foundation of Bordeaux exports until the outbreak of the Hundred Years War between France and England in 1337 lasting to 1453 when France re-conquered the area. All through this dark period, England turned to Portugal for her wines and a strong relationship was built that continues today with a great English footprint throughout the prestigious Douro region and production of the prestigious Port wines.

The city of Bordeaux is located on the Gironde Estuary and has been an active seaport for centuries with the wine trade leading the way. Just last year, the long-anticipated and ultra-modern Cite du Vin opened its doors at the entrance to the port of Bordeaux celebrating the global culture and living heritage of wine.

According to Sylvie Cazes, president of the sponsoring Foundation for the Culture and Civilisations of Wine, Cite du Vin will offer a trip through time and space to discover the worlds wine civilizations. A lofty goal that has seen great success since its opening in June 2016.

The Gironde River separates the two faces of Bordeaux where soil type, elevation and exposure have over the centuries dictated the preferred varietals to ensure optimal quality. On the Right Bank you will find the celebrated areas of St. Emillion and Pomerol where cabernet franc and merlot are the varietals of choice. On the Left Bank lies the Medoc with its several highly esteemed appellations where the emphasis is on cabernet sauvignon.

Still on the Left Bank, but to the south of the city, merlot and cabernet sauvignon become more equal partners in the Graves and Pessac-Leognan for the reds with sauvignon blanc and semillion for the highly acclaimed whites. And farther south, the same white varietals find a home for the luscious sweet wines of Sauternes and Barsac.

Emperor Napoleon III requested a formal classification of the best wines of Bordeaux where they would be on display for visitors from around the world at the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris. Brokers ranked the wines from First to Fifth Growths according to each chateaus reputation and price, which at the time related to quality. The formal 1855 Classification remains in effect today with only three changes since its inception, including the elevation of Chateau Mouton Rothschild from Second to First Growth in 1973.

But the classification of 61 red wines included only those chateaux from the Medoc plus Chateau Haut-Brion from Graves (now Pessac-Leognan). There was also a lesser known three-tier classification of the sweet wines of Barsac and Sauternes but no mention of the wines from the Right Bank. Since that time, St. Emillion has adopted its own classification system that (unlike the 1855 Classification) is reviewed every 10 years often resulting in legal challenges by chateaux that were either demoted or eliminated.

A few years ago, my wife Barbara and I spent several days touring Bordeaux while enjoying memorable visits at nine of the regions most venerable chateaux on both the Left and Right Banks. Being a long-time lover and collector of Bordeaux, I was enthralled with the wines we tasted. But the history, culture and architecture of this magnificent area really captured for me a sense of Bordeauxs true essence.

Bordeaux is a land where the old and new are coming together by combining cutting-edge technology in the winery and vineyard while maintaining an unwavering respect for both history and tradition. On the world stage its the wine that defines Bordeaux, but in the greater picture there is so much more to appreciate and enjoy.

Share your experiences with other readers by commenting on this article at napavalleyregister.com/wine-exchange or email me at allenbalik@savorlifethroughwine.com.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand  The most amazing fact that came out of last weeks Pinot Noir New Zealand 2017 conference here was that just 20 years ago, the countrys most widely planted grape was Muller-Thurgau, a grape that makes boring wine.

Yet its clear that just two decades later, New Zealand has the potential to make world-class wines from its cooler climates. A key to anyone recognizing this is allowing consumers around the world to be exposed to them.

Which is beginning to happen.

The year 1997 might be considered a turning point for New Zealand wine. Not only was it the date of the first vintage of Sauvignon Blanc to be exposed broadly to Americans, but it was also the first date we saw the early efforts of pinot noir from New Zealand.

I first tasted a great New Zealand wine in 1997 when Wilson Daniels of the Napa Valley began to import sauvignon blanc from there, from Kumeu River Winery.

Weeks later, I tasted a New Zealand Pinot that was impressive, and by 2002 the category had begun rocketing to fame.

Despite the relative youth of all pinot noir plantings in this remote two-island nation, the pinot noir conference here last week drew nearly 1,000 attendees, many from around the world, indicating how rapidly New Zealand has arrived on the fine wine scene.

Often during the three-day event, many of the speakers drew a parallel to exalted red Burgundy. It amazed me that New Zealand pinot noir is now so widely spoken of and in such illustrious company.

In fact, some regions of New Zealand, like Martinborough and Central Otago, now carry the same exalted status with New Zealand pinot noir lovers that Russian River Valley does with American pinot lovers.

Today, pinot noir has perhaps the most enthusiastic following of any grape variety in the world. I see it as outpacing the mantle once proudly worn by cabernet sauvignon and its European counterpart and ancestral homeland, Bordeaux.

The first pinot noir made in this country was in 1987. The 30 years from then to today is, in wine-making terms, what Germans would call an augenblick  a blink of the eye.

I have made nine visits to New Zealand starting in 1997, and have seen it develop reputations for great wines from many varieties.

Despite the worldwide success of its sauvignon blanc, New Zealand is no one-trick pony any more. It now makes superb cabernets and merlots (from Hawkes Bay in the mid-north island), syrahs (Martinborough on the southern end of the north island), as well as aromatic whites like riesling gewurztraminer, and pinot gris, mainly from the south island.

The pinot conference, which revealed dozens of top-flight pinot noirs, also focused on some of the science being used to refine wine-grape growing and winemaking techniques to perfect pinot from one region to another.

Indeed, this very distinctiveness of regionality was one of the main themes of a seminar topic, titled The Search for Turangawaewae, a Maori term that means a place to stand.

The word refers to the importance and permanence of native lands, and in a wine sense, may be considered parallel to the French terroir, a place that imparts a specialness to wine.

Among the speakers here were the esteemed British wine journalist Jancis Robinson and Kumeu River Winery wine maker Michael Brajkovich, who each gave extensive presentations on research projects into pinot production.

The bottom line for American pinot lovers is that many formerly unobtainable pinot noirs are now being made available in the United States, and many are of exceptional quality.

Our Wine of the Week is one of the more widely available and reasonably priced pinot noirs that displays a New Zealand-ishness of real charm with food.

Wine of the Week: 2013 Spy Valley Pinot Noir, Marlborough ($25): The aroma of this strikingly cool-climate lighter-styled red wine offers wild thyme, violet, and cranberry and the best aspect of it is its crisp acidity that allows it to work with grilled salmon topped with lemon-based sauces.
On Monday, 20 February 2017, the Members of the Standing Committee of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly will visit NATO Headquarters for the annual joint meeting with the North Atlantic Council.

NATO Deputy Secretary General, Ms. Rose Gottemoeller will chair the North Atlantic council

There will be no media opportunity.

Still imagery will be available after the event on the NATO website.

Follow the Deputy Secretary General on Twitter (@Gottemoeller). Also follow us at @NATOPress.
(As delivered)

First of all I would like to say that its always good to be in Munich and to be at the Security Conference and especially this year because we live at a pivotal moment for our security and in times of turmoil and unpredictability we need a strong Trans-Atlantic bond more than ever and a very clear message from the Defence Ministers meeting in Brussels which ended yesterday was that we all stand behind the strong Trans-Atlantic partnership and it was a very strong commitment to the Trans-Atlantic partnership from both Europe and North America because we all know that alone we cannot cope with all the challenges, we have to cope with the security environment, the new challenges, standing together.

And of course, one of the issues that was stressed by the Defence Ministers but also in my meetings with Secretary Mattis was the importance of burden sharing, increased defence spending across Europe and Canada and fair burden sharing.

And this was strongly stressed by all the countries, all the 28 Allies, and I will, in my remarks tomorrow, address the need for burden sharing, for a strong Trans-Atlantic bond and for the importance of standing together in times of uncertainty.

Q: Mr. Secretary General today you are meeting with Russian Foreign Affairs Minister here in Munich; what would be your main message to him and what are you waiting?

JENS STOLTENBERG (NATO Secretary General): Im in favour of dialogue with Russia and NATO has a very clear position that we seek dialogue with Russia. We strive for a more constructive relationship with Russia. Russia is our biggest neighbour and especially in times with more military activity along our borders with high tensions I strongly believe there is a need for dialogue between NATO and Russia addressing many different issues but especially addressing the need for predictability, transparency, risk reduction to avoid any incidents and accidents from happening and to reduce tensions. And Im looking forward to the meeting with Minister Lavrov. I have met him before here at the Munich Security Conference and I think this Security Conference provides an excellent platform for also bilateral engagements, for instance with Minister Lavrov.

OANA LUNGESCU [NATO Spokesperson]: Lady over there.

Q: Can you explain to us what Secretary Mattis meant by saying he was going to moderate U.S. support for NATO and for the Trans-Atlantic Alliance unless everybody steps up to their 2 percent? What does that mean?

JENS STOLTENBERG: Secretary Mattis spoke as a friend of NATO as a leader that wants a strong NATO and all allies agreed on the message of the importance of increased defense spending that European allies and Canada have to invest more in defense in our shared security. This is not only a message from the United States but this is actually a message that was agreed by 28 Heads of State and Government of all the 28 NATO allied countries back in 2014 and of course I expect all of them to deliver and what we agreed in 2014 was to stop the cuts, to gradually increase defense spending and then to move towards the target of spending 2 percent within the decade. We have a long way to go but the good news is that we are moving in the right direction. After years of cuts in defense spending NATO allies have now started to increase defense spending. And just yesterday Romania announced that they will meet the 2 percent target this year, which add one more country to the number of countries spending 2 percent or more on defense.

Q: Secretary General, the European Commission President said that Europe should not be bullied by the United States on defense spending. Is the United States bullying the allies? How do you react to that comment?

JENS STOLTENBERG: This is not a request from the United States; this is a decision made by 28 NATO allies, 26 European and 2 North Americans - Canada and the United States. So this is something we all agreed to that we have to do together. Several European NATO allies already meet the 2 percent target and yesterday Romania announced they will meet the target of spending 2 percent on defense already this year adding one more European nation meeting the 2 percent target. Also the European Union has agreed to support that all E.U. members which are also members of NATO should meet the 2 percent target. And we do so because we know that it is in the interest of Europe to invest more in our defense to preserve the peace, to be able to provide the necessary deterrence and to preserve the solidarity within the North Atlantic Alliance. So this is not the U.S. demanding something from Europe; this is 28 allies agreeing and of course all allies expecting that we all deliver on that commitment.

Q: Given your conversations with Secretary Mattis and your pending conversations with Vice President Pence how quickly do you want the other NATO members like your own country Norway which is currently only spending 1.6 percent on defense. How could (inaudible) Norway your own country and other countries step up and start paying 2 percent? Is it (inaudible) to do it within the decade?

JENS STOLTENBERG: I expect all allies to deliver on what they promised in 2014 and that is to stop the cuts, gradually increase and then to meet the 2 percent target within a decade. Some allies are very close to be able to meet that target already. We have countries like Lithuania and Latvia that will meet the 2 percent target very soon and Romania announced yesterday that they will meet the 2 percent target. So I expect of course different allies to reach the target, what should I say, in different time not all reach the target at the same or in the same year but I expect all of them to move in the right direction to increase defense spending and to meet the 2 percent target within a decade.

Q: [inaudible You had been the prime minister of Norway for ten years?]

JENS STOLTENBERG: I expect the same for Norway that they will increase defense spending as I expect from all other NATO allies. Many NATO allies have started to increase defense spending including Norway, I welcome that but theres a long way to go. So several NATO allies have to increase defense spending significantly over the years to come to be able to meet the 2 percent target but we have seen that more and more allies are now really stepping up and are now really starting to move in the right direction.

OANA LUNGESCU: German Television.

Q: America gave  [inaudible] one year of time; what happens if America stops engagement and who could play the role of America in NATO?

JENS STOLTENBERG: Im absolutely certain that the United States will stay committed to the Trans-Atlantic bond, to the NATO Alliance because that is also in the interest of the United States. We have to remember that two World Wars and a Cold War taught us that stability and peace in Europe is also important for the United States and the only time we have invoked our collective defense clause Article 5 was after an attack on the United States. And hundreds of thousands of European and Canadian soldiers have served in Afghanistan in a military operation that was a direct response to an attack on the United States. So it is in the interest of the United States to have a strong alliance and a strong Trans-Atlantic bond. Then of course we need fair burden sharing but thats not only just a message from the United States; thats a message from all allies including, for instance, countries like the United Kingdom which meets the 2 percent target, Poland, Estonia and others. So I feel strongly that the commitment to make good on what we promised is a commitment all allies take very seriously and have started to move because we have seen that after years of decline in 2015 we stopped the cuts and in 2016 we have made actually a quite significant increase in total defense spending across Europe and Canada, close to 4 percent in real terms.

Q: You still havent said whether General Mattis threatened, warned -whatever the right word is to reduce American support if you dont do what youre saying on burden sharing?

JENS STOLTENBERG: Secretary Mattis conveyed a very clear and firm and fair message and that was that he expected all allies to implement what we agreed and I totally agree with him. So I expect all allies to do what we promised to do. Many allies have already started to move and to significantly increase defense spending. Some will reach the 2 percent target soon, others need some more time. We promised to stop the cuts, to gradually increase and to reach the 2 percent within a decade and we are on track to doing so but of course we need to continue. Its not enough with one year of increase; we need several years of increase in defense spending but we are, we have started to move in that direction.

Q:  [inaudible] to the fake news concerning the so called rape in Lithuania?

JENS STOLTENBERG: We have seen the reports but we have also seen the very quick reaction from the Lithuania authorities, from the police and we have seen the result of the investigation so this is not true - it hasnt happened according to the results of the investigation. But I think what we have seen in Lithuania just reminds us of the importance of resilience against these kinds of stories; the importance of a free independent critical press; the importance of the work that journalists are doing asking all the difficult questions, checking all the facts so actually I trust you being critical independent journalists being able to check the facts and tell the truth.

Q: Secretary General please please

JENS STOLTENBERG: The Black Sea is of great importance for the Alliance, Georgia also because Georgia is a Black Sea country and we have developed a strong partnership with Georgia, we have increased our support for Georgia and we are actually  we actually decided at the Defense Minister Meeting in NATO yesterday to increase our presence in the Black Sea with maritime presence, with presence in the air, more air activity more exercises and also land based brigade. And what we do in the Black Sea is proportionate, its defensive and we are not  we dont want to provoke a conflict; we want to prevent a conflict. And we are developing our partnership with Georgia in many different ways. We have a substantial package, we have the joint training center and we have also established a school for defense building or education. And let me also add that NATO Military Committee will soon visit Georgia. The NATO Parliamentary Assembly will go to Georgia in May and also our Deputies Committee will soon go to Georgia to consult with Georgia and to have the input from Georgia on the assessments of the security situation in the Black Sea region. So partnership is important for NATO and Georgia is a highly valued partner. Thank you.

OANA LUNGESCU: Thank you very much colleagues.
20:04

Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal said that Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami's government has absolute majority and the voting on its confidence motion was done as per House rules.

Declaring the result of the confidence vote, won by the government with a 122-11 margin, he also charged the DMK with stalling the House proceedings.

He said even if the DMK and other Opposition parties had participated in the voting, the government would have won the trust vote.

"I categorically say that this government has got absolute majority by securing 122 votes in favour of the motion of confidence...The voting was done as per the House rules," Dhanapal said.

Referring to the ruckus by DMK MLAs prior to their eviction, the Speaker said though he had the thought of forgetting the unsavoury incidents, he was anguished by Leader of Opposition M K Stalin's comment outside the House that he (Dhanapal) was "shedding crocodile tears".

He said he saw the happenings in the assembly as a "pre-planned drama" enacted by DMK without respecting his office.

"The Speaker was treated badly to the extent possible, I condemn it," Dhanapal said.

Earlier in the day, Dhanapal, who was gheraoed by DMK members, said his shirt was torn.
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300 students to compete in Accounting Challenge

by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Hundreds of high school and community college students will converge on Southern Illinois University Carbondale on Feb. 24 for the 19th annual Accounting Challenge.

About 300 students will be vying for college scholarships and other prizes at the event, to be held at the Student Recreation Center gymnasium. Sponsored by the School of Accountancy in SIUs College of Business, the challenge is actually two events in one, featuring individual and team tests of knowledge, skills and problem-solving acumen.

Media Advisory

Reporters, photographers and news crews are welcome to cover the team competition portion of the 2017 Accounting Challenge. It will occur from about 10:30 a.m. until noon on Friday, Feb. 24, in the small gymnasium at the Student Recreation Center.

Beginning at about 9 a.m. the Accounting Challenge participants will take part in an academic competition that tests their accounting knowledge and skills. Competitors earning the highest scores in the three divisions of the academic challenge will win certificates and scholarships worth up to $500 if they attend SIU and major in accounting. The contest divisions are: accounting I, advanced accounting, and community college accounting.

Then its time to kick the brainstorming into high gear when the team challenge begins at 10:30 a.m. Each year, participants are tasked with working in teams to accomplish a specific feat. For instance, last year contestants received a few commonplace office items and were asked to create a package that would protect a cherry tomato from harm when struck by a hammer. Previous challenges included crafting a container to keep an egg unbroken when dropped from a second-story balcony and constructing a missile that would outdistance all other missiles in the room when launched by a catapult.

The 2017 challenge is a well-kept secret, revealed just as the contest begins.

Whatever we do will be a lot of fun, Camille Hammers, a senior accounting major from Murphysboro who is coordinator of this years Accounting Challenge, promised.

The winning teams will receive trophies for their schools and individual team members.

Students from 19 high schools and three community colleges, coming from as far as almost 100 miles away, are set to participate in the 2017 Accounting Challenge. The event concludes with the awards presentation at 1 p.m.
Security Dawgs hosting competition on Saturday

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Southern Illinois University Carbondales Security Dawgs will host a section of the annual Illinois Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition on Saturday, Feb. 18.

SIU is one of two sites to host the statewide, eight-team competition, which mirrors what students will see in the corporate technology world. The Security Dawgs will seek a third state title in five years. Also competing at SIU will be a team from Southeastern Illinois College.



Media Advisory

Reporters, photographers and camera crews are welcome to cover the event from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Go to Room 204B in the College of Applied Sciences and Arts Building C. For more information, contact Tom Imboden, associate professor, Information Systems and Applied Technologies and team faculty adviser, at 694-1297 or timboden@siu.edu.

The Security Dawgs return seven members from last years team and have been practicing since the start of the fall 2016 semester. In the competition, teams work to keep their site secure from hackers and unwanted cyber attacks, and also are responsible for system maintenance, upgrades, and completing other requests, such as installing or upgrading a website. Teams earn points based upon how successful they are at accomplishing the business tasks, in addition to identifying and stopping hacker attacks, and writing incident reports.

The state competition site is Moraine Valley Community College. The teams competing there are:

DePaul University, DeVry University, Governors State University, John A. Logan College, Lewis University, and Moraine Valley Community College.

The top team in the state will advance to the Midwest regional competition, March 17-18, at Moraine Valley Community College to face the top teams from Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin. Second-place in the respective state competitions will compete for a wildcard slot on March 4. The Midwest regional winner advances to the 10th annual National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition April 13-15 in San Antonio, Texas.

SIU has won three state titles: 2006, 2013 and 2014. The team has finished second in the state six times, including last year.

Competing for SIU Carbondale, listed by hometown, major, and year in school are:

ILLINOIS

Chicago: Robert Brevard, information systems technologies, senior (alternate)

Decatur: Jordan Brown, information systems technologies, senior (alternate)

Freeport: Brandon Truckenmiller, information systems technologies, senior

Freeport: Logan Truckenmiller, information systems technologies, junior

Hoffman Estates: Christian Scott, information systems technologies, junior

Marion: Trenton Taylor, information systems technologies, senior

Pittsburg: Curtis McRoy, information systems technologies, senior (alternate)

Rockford: Jonathon Farmer, information systems technologies and technical resource management, senior

Sesser: Cody Lingle, information systems technologies, senior

Wheaton: Michael McCarthy, information systems technologies, junior (alternate)

GEORGIA

Atlanta: Hallie Martin, information systems technologies, senior

TEXAS
Planetary Radios Mat Kaplan to serve as host for SIUs eclipse festivities

by Tim Crosby

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- A well-known broadcaster in the field of space exploration will be on hand to host Southern Illinois University Carbondales total solar eclipse festivities.

Mat Kaplan, host and producer of Planetary Radio, will help guide both radio listeners and the thousands of enthusiasts expected at SIU on Aug. 21 during the first total solar eclipse over the mainland United States since 1979.

The eclipse viewing path and shadow that day will sweep across the country from northwest to southeast, with its point of greatest duration a few miles south of Carbondale. Officials expect as many as 50,000 people to descend on the area for the happening.

The universitys planning, led by a campus-community committee, has been underway for more than a year. Kaplan signing on for the event will be a major benefit for all those who plan to witness it, officials said.

We are fortunate to have Mat visiting campus and acting as host to thousands of visitors for the total solar eclipse, said Bob Baer, specialist in the Department of Physics at SIU and co-chair of the university planning committee.

To learn more about the universitys plans for the eclipse, visit eclipse.siu.edu. Tickets for the Saluki Stadium eclipse events and parking are available at http://eclipse.siu.edu/tickets/.

For the past 15 years, Kaplan has hosted Planetary Radio, which plays on WSIU radio as well as another 150 radio stations and online, Baer said. The award-winning, weekly public radio and podcast series is produced by the Planetary Society and is, by most measures, the most popular independent program about space exploration on planet Earth.

Each episode strives to present illuminating and inspiring conversations with scientists and leaders in the fields of astronomy and space exploration, along with Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye, the Science Guy, and other regulars. The society was co-founded by Carl Sagan in 1980, and is the worlds largest and most influential non-profit space organization.

In cooperation with WSIU, Kaplan will host an event live from the SIU campus beginning the day before the eclipse before acting as emcee at Saluki Stadium on the day of the eclipse.

I've told the folks at SIU who are planning the university's terrific lineup of eclipse events that I'm ready to be part of anything they need me for, Kaplan said. We're very proud that Planetary Radio is part of WSIU's great programming every week. It's all going to be enormous fun.

Kaplan said eclipses have attracted humans attention for as long as we have been on Earth, and this latest one is no exception.

They embody the wonder and science of our universe, Kaplan said. Our ancestors were understandably terrified, but we celebrate them. And this particular eclipse, which will be at least partially visible to so much of North America, is a rare opportunity for tens of millions to experience the great clockwork that is our solar system.

Kaplan said this will be the first time he has witnessed a total eclipse and that doing so has been on the top of his bucket list for some time. The wonder of being in the zone of totality -- the regions on Earth where the sun will be completely covered by the moon -- is an especially moving experience for many, Kaplan said.

Well, astronomers who have experienced many total eclipses tell me it will be a life-changing experience. It's no wonder we're all so excited, he said. I saw the aurora borealis in Fairbanks, Alaska, for the first time two years ago. I expect this will be even more thrilling. Of course, I'm also thrilled to know that I'll be sharing totality with at least 10,000 other eclipse fans in Saluki Stadium.

Kaplan wont have to wait until August to experience Southern Illinois, however. Hell be visiting the area on April 22 to cover a pre-eclipse event for children at the Cedarhurst Center for the Arts in Mount Vernon.

I'm told that hundreds of young people will get a preview of what we'll all experience on Aug. 21, he said. WSIU is co-sponsoring this great opportunity. I also look forward to exploring SIU during this visit, too.

Kaplan said Nye hopes the eclipse will ignite or renew what he calls the passion, beauty and joy -- the PB and J -- of science.

It's what the Planetary Society has been about since it was founded by Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray and Lou Friedman more than 35 years ago, Kaplan said. I know our more than 50,000 members and the well over 100,000 listeners to Planetary Radio will also join in this great celebration.

SIU is partnering with NASA Eclipse 2017, the Adler Planetarium of Chicago and the Louisiana Space Consortium to bring a variety of events to campus on Aug. 21, with the main one being a public viewing at Saluki Stadium. Plans also call for tailgating, indoor viewing, talks and presentations, an arts and crafts fair, and an area dedicated to eclipse citizen science. NASA Eclipse 2017 also has proposed a NASA Village that will be part of campus events.

Baer said eclipse subcommittees are continuing planning efforts for campus events. He said organizers have collected input from 14 campus and community groups on proposed eclipse activities on the campus the weekend and day of the eclipse.

Groups still wanting to submit activity proposals should visit eclipse.siu.edu for information.
BERLIN, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Foreign ministers of the G20 are convening a informal ministerial meeting in Germany's western city of Bonn on Thursday.

Besides the topics on the official agenda, the top diplomats are also expected to pave the way for the upcoming G20 summit on July 7 and 8 in Hamburg.

The following is the list of coming specialised ministers' meetings:

On Feb. 16 and 17, a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in Bonn;

On March 17 and 18, a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Baden-Baden;

On April 6 and 7, a meeting of G20 ministers in charge of digitization in Dusseldorf;

On May 18 and 19, a meeting of G20 labor ministers in Bad Neuenahr;

On May 19 and 20, a meeting of G20 health ministers in Berlin.

The G20 group, established in September 1999, aims to promote global economic growth and development by strengthening the architecture of international finance.
Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), presides over a biweekly consultation session on pre-school education in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 16, 2017. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

BEIJING, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- China's political advisors on Thursday discussed ways to improve preschool education during a bi-weekly consultation session.

While acknowledging progress in preschool education, members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee said that some problems remain, including insufficient investment and teachers, imperfect systems and mechanisms, as well as uneven development in different regions.

Some political advisors called for more attention to the development of preschool education, with a greater focus on quality.

They called for more financial input, support for enterprises and public institutions running preschools, and support for private kindergartens.

They proposed better training for teachers and better content for students.

Some political advisors also stressed support for preschool education in poverty-stricken regions and ethnic regions in borderlands, as well as speeding up legislation on preschool education.

Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, presided over the session.
Delegates pose for a photograph at the World Tourism Forum Global Meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, on Feb. 16, 2017. Tourism professionals across the world are turning to Asian countries for more contributions to an industry overshadowed by a growing threat of terrorism, a prominent industry insider said here on Thursday. (Xinhua/He Canling)

ISTANBUL, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Tourism professionals across the world are turning to Asian countries for more contributions to an industry overshadowed by a growing threat of terrorism, a prominent industry insider said here on Thursday.

"The global tourism industry has now been discussing the ways to attract these tourists to their respective countries," said Bulut Bagci, president of the Executive Board of the World Tourism Forum, as a global meeting initiated by his forum kicked off in Istanbul.

He said that the tourism industry had recently shifted its focus to the Asia-Pacific region, in particular countries like China and Japan.

China has been the largest source of outbound tourists for four years in a row, contributing an average of more than 13 percent to global tourism revenues, official figures show.

Over 600 million Chinese tourists will travel abroad in the next five years, according to data from China National Tourism Administration.

According to UN World Tourism Organization estimates, the current number of tourists traveling abroad is 1.2 billion and is expected to hit 1.8 billion in 2030.

Social media was identified as the best means to woo travelers in 2017 by sector professionals from over 25 countries present at the global meeting in Istanbul.

"Countries, cities and regions should definitely use social media and use it strategically to attract tourists," Bagci said.

Murat Ozbilgi, head of gezimanya.com, a digital tourism platform operating in Turkey, said all forms of social media are adding value to traditional tourism media in attracting tourists to a specific touristic destination.

In his view, social media has a serious influence over Asian travelers. "We need to examine this influence closely," he said.

Tourism authorities named terrorism as the biggest problem affecting the sector and limiting its growth.

In remarks delivered at the meeting, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim called for more cooperation among world countries as an answer to terrorists.

"Do not allow terrorism to undermine tourism," he said.

The World Tourism Forum is a global organization holding events in different parts of the world to further boost global tourism. At its two-day meeting in Istanbul, the participants are expected to discuss the new trends in tourism and determine the new steps that should be taken to boost the industry.
ISLAMABAD, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- At least 72 people were killed and over 200 injured when a suicide bomber blew up in a shrine in Sehwan town of Pakisatan's south Sindh province on Thursday evening, Inspector General of Police for Sindh province A.D. Khawaja confirmed.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) shakes hands with German Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel in Bonn, Germany, Feb. 16, 2017. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan)

BONN, Germany, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday held talks with his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel, vowing to boost world economic growth together.

The talks took place on the sidelines of the G20 ministerial meeting in Germany's western city of Bonn.

Wang said China and Germany, both as vital members of G20, should strengthen macro-policy coordination among the group on the basis of the G20 Hangzhou Summit in 2016.

He added that the two country should join hands in promoting global rebalancing and moving forward trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, thus to make a greater contribution to world economic growth.

Echoing Wang's remarks, Gabriel said China and Germany are both bearing the duty to safeguard open global trade, adding that Germany is willing to deepen the cooperation with China and work actively to carry forward China's Belt and Road Initiative.

He said the existing China-Europe freight train services is a concrete example of the close Chinese-German and Chinese-EU cooperation.

As 2017 marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of the Chinese-German diplomatic relations, Wang also said the two countries, as all-around strategic partners, could use the successful experience during these years and draw future blueprints.
ISLAMABAD, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Local media said that death toll of a suicide attack in Pakistan's southern Sehwan area rose to over 70, and over 200 injured. The militant group of "Islamic State" (IS) claimed the attack.

IS said on its Arabic Amaq website that a bomber "exploded his vest in a gathering of Shia Muslims at Lal Shahbaz Qalandar Shrine in Pakistan's south Sindh province."

This is the second time when IS claimed an attack targeting a shrine in Pakistan over the last three months.

Earlier on Nov. 12 last year, at least 52 people were killed and over 100 others injured when an IS suicide bomber blew himself up in a shrine in the country's southwest Balochistan province.

Rasool Bux, Senior House Officer Police, said that the Thursday's blast took place at about 7:00 p.m. local time (1400 GMT) when a suicide bomber entered the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine from the crowded golden gate and blew himself up in a group of people performing Dhamal (Sufi dance) inside the compound.

He said an estimated 500 to 800 people coming from different parts of the country were inside the shrine when the attack occurred.

In a tweet, Major General Asif Ghafoor, the director general Inter-Services Public Relations, the army's media wing, said the army chief has directed army and paramilitary troops rangers to provide assistance to the blast victims.

Asif added that a contingent of army troops has been dispatched to Sehwan with medical facilities and the military hospital in Hyderabad has also been put on high alert.

The army has also provided night vision helicopters from the navy and a C-130 plane for airlifting the critically injured people to hospitals in Karachi, capital of Sindh province.

Heavy contingent of police reached the blast site and cordoned it off for investigations shortly after the blast was reported.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has condemned the attack and directed the departments concerned to provide best possible medical treatment to the injured people.
NEW DELHI, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Edappadi K Palaniswamy was sworn in Thursday evening as the new chief minister of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, officials said.

The state's Governor Vidyasagar Rao administered the oath of office, thereby ending the ongoing political crisis in the state.

"Palaniswamy has been sworn in as the new chief minister of Tamil Nadu today," a senior government official said. "The ceremony was held at the Durbar Hall of Raj Bhavan (the governor's office) in the evening, where Governor Vidyasagar Rao administered Palaniswamy oath of office and secrecy."

Along with the new chief minister, 30 other ministers also took the oath.

The governor's office has given Palaniswamy two weeks time to prove his majority. However, spokesman of the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Khazagham (AIADMK) party said the vote of confidence will take place on Saturday.

"Vote of confidence will be taken on 18th (Saturday) of this month," AIADMK spokesman said.

Palaniswamy, who was nominated as legislature party leader by AIADMK chief on Tuesday, is the four-time legislator of AIADMK and remained a close confidante of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa and later to her aide V K Sasikala.

Palanisami is the second AIADMK leader to be sworn-in as chief minister of the state following death of AIDMK supremo Jayalalithaa.

The 68-year-old Jayalalithaa died in December last year, following which her trusted legislator O Panneerselvam was chosen as chief minister. Soon after Sasikala tried to exert her grip in party and approached the governor to stake claim as the chief minister, Panneerselvam opposed her move and pushed state in political crisis, which continued for more than a week.

Panneerselvam was expelled from the basic membership of AIADMK.

However, Sasikala's dream to become the chief minister were dashed on Tuesday after India's top court convicted her in a disproportionate assets case along with other two. She was jailed in Parappana Agrahara central jail on the outskirts of Bengaluru city on Wednesday to serve the four-year sentence.

The case was originally against Jayalalithaa and Sasikala along with other two were the co-accused. It dating back to the 1990s was based on the fact that during Jayalalithaa's first term as the chief minister, she misused her office to amass assets in a shared fortune with Sasikala and other two.

Sasikala has already served almost six months in jail in the case and now has to serve the remaining imprisonment of three years and six months.
ASTANA, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed on Thursday at a peace talk held here in Astana to create a tripartite operational group to monitor Syria's ceasefire, a Russian foreign ministry official said.

The monitoring group will work on the monitoring of the cessation of hostilities, termination of any violations by any party and take confidence-building measures to continue the peace making process, said Director of the Middle East and North Africa Department of Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Vershinin, during Moscow-Astana-Damascus videoconference in Astana on Thursday.

"A concrete result of what happened in Astana today is the adoption of the provisions of the joint group, consisted of Russia, Iran, Turkey, and which will operate on a regular basis to maintain and strengthen the cessation of hostilities," Vershinin added.

He also said the group will work on a permanent basis and its activities will not be limited to the technical side.

"Confidence-building measures will be taken and other problems will be solved to contribute to Syrian peace process."

Deputy Chief of General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Sergey Afanasyev stated that a special mechanism for exchange of hostages was created at the meeting in Astana.

Measures to strengthen mutual trust was discussed at the meeting, he said, adding the absence of such trust significantly hinders the peace process.

"It is still very far to direct Syrian dialogue, volume of mutual distrust is high enough and there are a lot of mutual accusations," said Head of Russian delegation Alexander Lavrentyev at the press conference after the meeting.

"At the same time, we must move forward step by step, leaving no space for the spirit of confrontation," he added.

The next meeting on Syria will take place in Astana within 30 days. Working groups will gather to continue working on the peace process.

This two-day meeting was the second such event on Syrian issue held in Astana, Kazakh capital.
Pakistani people gather at the main gate of a shrine following a suicide blast in Sehwan town, southern Pakistan's Sindh Province, on Feb. 16, 2017. The death toll of a deadly suicide blast at a shrine in Sehwan town of Pakistan's south Sindh Province has risen to 72, local police said. (Xinhua/Stringer)

ISLAMABAD, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of a deadly suicide blast at a shrine in Sehwan town of Pakistan's south Sindh Province has risen to 72, local police said.

Inspector General of Sindh police A.D. Khawaja said that over 200 people were also injured in the explosion.

Faisal Edhi, head of rescue team which shifted the injured to hospitals, said the killed included 43 men, 20 children and nine women.

Rasool Bux, Senior House Officer (SHO) Police, said that the suicide bomber entered the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine from crowded golden gate and blew himself up in a group of people performing Dhamal (Sufi dance) inside a compound in Sehwan, a small town located some 284 km away from the provincial capital of Karachi.

He said there were 500 to 800 people inside the shrine as Thursday evening is considered as the most sacred time to pray in the shrine and a large number of people from across the country were there to pay homage to the late saint and perform Dhamal.

Talking to local media, an injured eyewitness said that he saw the operator of the CCTV room running out of his office and after a few moments the explosion happened. "May be the CCTV operator saw the bomber in the camera and ran away for his life," he added.

Another eyewitness said they were praying inside the shrine when a loud explosion was heard and there were heaps of bodies and injured people everywhere.

The injured people have been shifted to Sehwan hospital from where the critically wounded victims were sent to hospitals in Karachi and neighboring Nawabshah district via army planes and helicopters.

In a tweet, Major General Asif Ghafoor, director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army's media wing, said army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has directed army and paramilitary troops rangers to provide assistance to the blast victims.

He added that night vision helicopters from Pakistan navy and a C-130 plane from Pakistan Air Force have been provided to shift the injured people to hospitals in Karachi.

The navy hospital in Karachi has been put on high alert and the injured will be shifted there via night capable helicopters.

Heavy contingent of police reached at the blast site and cordoned it off for investigations shortly after the blast.

Global terror group Islamic State (IS) claimed the attack. On its Arabic AMAQ website, IS said a suicide bomber "exploded his vest in Shia shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Pakistan's south Sindh province."

This is the second time when IS claimed an attack targeting a shrine in Pakistan over the last three months.

Earlier on Nov. 12 last year, at least 52 people were killed and over 100 others injured when an IS suicide bomber blew himself up in a shrine in the country's southwest Balochistan province.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had condemned the suicide attack and directed departments concerned to provide best possible medical treatment to the injured people.

The country's army chief General Bajwa appealed the nation to stay calm.

"Your security forces shall not allow hostile powers to succeed. Each drop of nation's blood shall be revenged, and revenged immediately. No more restraint for anyone," Bajwa said in a statement.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference on February 16, 2017, at the White House in Washington, DC. (Xinhua/AFP PHOTO)

WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Preventing future terror acts and stemming nuclear proliferation top Americans' list of foreign policy goals, according to a Gallup poll released Thursday.

Preventing future acts of international terrorism, at 85 percent, as well as stemming the spread of nuclear weapons, at 84 percent, remain Americans' top foreign policy goals for 2017, with more than four in five rating each of these as "very important," found the Feb. 1-5 poll.

Nearly as many say securing adequate supplies of energy for the U.S., at 80 percent, is a very important foreign policy goal, Gallup found.

This comes at a time when newly-elected U.S. President Donald Trump has said he would destroy terror group Islamic State, as the radicals have conducted attacks and killed innocent victims worldwide over the last couple of years.

Americans have concerns about how the world views the U.S., and less than four in 10 approve of the way Trump is handling foreign affairs.

With majorities of Americans viewing the security of U.S. allies and world cooperation through organizations like the United Nations as very important, actions that threaten these goals could further undermine the trust Americans place in Trump to handle foreign policy, Gallup opined.

Trump broke with diplomatic norms while campaigning for president when he expressed hesitance about maintaining the longstanding North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), even calling it "obsolete." But Secretary of Defense James Mattis met with NATO officials this week to reaffirm America's commitment to the alliance, Gallup noted.

Trump previously criticized involvement with the United Nations as "wasteful" spending and sparred with the organization before taking office. The Trump administration has drafted an executive order to audit and dramatically reduce U.S. contributions to international organizations, although Trump has not yet signed it, Gallup noted.

At the same time, Trump's focus on preventing international terrorism aligns with Americans' greatest priority, as does his commitment to renegotiating trade deals that are more favorable to the U.S. And while Trump has called for an arms race, his administration's measured response to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's recent ballistic missile test could assuage fears of nuclear escalation, Gallup said.

Solid majorities also say promoting favorable trade policies, at 71 percent, defending U.S. allies' security, at 66 percent, and working with organizations like the United Nations to bring about world cooperation, at 63 percent, are very important foreign policy goals, Gallup found.
TUNIS, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian officials said Thursday that the visa exemption for Chinese would boost the tourism industry badly hit by terrorist attacks during last two years in this North African country.

"From today, the tourists of Chinese nationality will not need a visa to enter Tunisian territory, in the conditions of having a round-trip flight ticket and a valid hotel reservation voucher within 90 days," said Chafik Hajji, general director of consular affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"This is good news for Tunisian tourism, which has succeeded in attracting the Chinese market," said Nabil Hedhiri, head of division and general coordinator of the Tunisian National Tourist Office (ONTT).

In an interview with Xinhua, Hedhiri said that the new policy remains among some strategic measures, including a direct flight between Tunisia and China.

The visa exemption for the Chinese tourists "is the result of a long process of coordination," he said, adding the two sides must move on to another level of action.

As former representative of ONTT in Beijing, Hedhiri admitted he once failed to convince travel agencies to program the Tunisian destination in view of the reduced number of passengers flying between the two countries.

"On the statistical side, the indicators on tourism flows between Tunisia and China remain still beyond the expectations shared by the two countries unless the latest official figures augur well for the beginning of a serious revival," said Hedhiri.

Compared to other traditional markets for Tunisia who are declining or stagnant, the Chinese market is "showing a promising growth," he said.

From January to December 2016, compared with the same period in 2015, Tunisian tourism growth from the Chinese market reached 93.6 percent, or 7,396 tourists.

"The historic links of friendship and cooperation between the two countries will make China a future tourism partner for Tunisia," he said.

"In the meantime, the Tunisian tourist products will have to be adapted to the expectations of the Chinese tourists without forgetting the training of the guides in Chinese language as well as hotel professionals in Chinese gastronomy," he added.
TIRANA, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Around 1.2 tons of cannabis sativa were seized during an anti-drugs operation in the southern city of Vlora, Albanian state police announced on Thursday.

Police confirmed that one person was arrested, and further investigation into other possible involved persons will be carried.

The seized narcotics was hidden in underground tunnels of a house in the village of Peshkepi in Vlora, which built particularly for this purpose, police said in a press release.

Wrapped in plastic packages, the drugs were prepared for smuggling to Italy, according to the police.

Police also seized materials for drug smuggling, including two vehicles and bullets along with the drugs.

According to Albania's state police, they destroyed about 2.5 million marijuana plants only last year, noting the anti-narcotics operations will continue.
LISBON, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Two Portuguese police officers have been suspended from performing their duty after 50 9-mm guns were found missing, the Ministry of Internal Administration said on Thursday.

According to Lusa News Agency, police seized a firearm during an operation in Porto city, some 310 km north of Lisbon, two weeks ago and later found it was from the national weapons store.

The discovery led to the counting of the armament and detection of the missing 50 9-mm guns.
UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Nickolay Mladenov, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, on Thursday urged all parties in the Middle East to "act responsibly" at a time when extremism, bloodshed and displacement continue to plague the restive region.

Mladenov, while briefing the UN Security Council on the current situation in the Middle East, said that "we must never allow the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to drift into the abyss of the extremism and radicalism sweeping the region."

"Palestinians, Israelis and the international community have a duty to act responsibly, avoid escalating tensions, refrain from unilateral actions and work together to uphold peace," he said.

"Sadly, today, unilateral actions are returning the parties to a high-stakes collision course," he said, warning that these phenomena are feeding intolerance, violence, and religious radicalism far beyond the region.

He said that he continues to be concerned by the daily violence. So-called "lone wolf" attacks against Israeli civilians, though greatly reduced as compared to 2016, continue.

Mladenov asserted that the two-state solution remains the only way to achieve the legitimate national aspirations of both peoples, as the Quartet and Security Council have recognised.

The Quartet is a diplomatic group, including the European Union, the United Nations, Russia and the United States, in search of efforts to seek a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem.

The two-state solution, widely backed by the international community, means a secure Israel to live in peace with an independent State of Palestine.

Meanwhile, Mladenov also noted that on Feb. 6, the Israeli parliament adopted the so-called "Regularisation Law," which has the potential to retroactively regularise thousands of existing settlement units built on land owned by Palestinian individuals living under occupation, as well as dozens of illegal outposts.

The "Regularisation Law" is designed to enable the use of privately-owned Palestinian land for Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank without the owners'consent.

"If the Law stays in place, it will have far-reaching consequences for Israel, while seriously undermining prospects for the two-state solution and for Arab-Israel peace," he said.

Mladenov noted that the "Regularisation Law" is in contravention of international law and that according to the Israeli attorney general it is also unconstitutional, adding that the Israeli Supreme Court is expected to rule on its constitutionality soon.
HAVANA, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- At the on-going 2017 Cuba International Book Fair (FIL), the Chinese pavilion has been attracting many locals and foreigners, and has become one of the most-visited areas.

Many visitors showed their interest in books of traditional Chinese medicine, martial arts, politics, history and culture. The Chinese pavilion is made up of six major publishing houses with books on various topics.

"Since I was a little boy, I've been very interested in Chinese culture and that's why I came to this stand. To my surprise, I was given a Chinese-Spanish dictionary as a gift," Ernesto Vergara, a medical student, told Xinhua.

Vergara visited the Chinese stands, with his friends Javier Ramirez and Daniel Perdomo, to appreciate over 400 different kinds of books brought to Havana by renowned Chinese publishing houses.

"I'm really surprised that our culture and political figures have reached Chinese audiences. There's even a biography of Fidel Castro in Chinese," said Ramirez.

The People's Publishing House is one of the major Chinese publishing houses at the FIL, presenting literary works about the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government, as well as Castro's Chinese-language biography.

"This is our first time at a Cuban book fair and our publishing house has brought over 100 kinds of books. Most of them have already been sold because we underestimated the Cuban readers' passion for books," Ren Chao, Executive Vice-President of the People's Publishing House, told Xinhua.

Ren said that visitors to their stand were particularly interested in texts on governance, party discipline, China's economic and political development.

One of the most in-demand books is "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" by the Chinese President, Ren said.

"These books can help Cuban readers understand how China has come all the way along its path of socialist construction, reform and opening-up," he added.

The book fair attracted many visitors and "such a good reading environment has touched every member of our delegation," added Ren.

Cubans also showed enthusiasm for traditional Chinese medicine, which is growing popular in the Caribbean nation.

"We have brought 40 different traditional Chinese medicine books to the fair, covering acupuncture, the treatment of complicated diseases and so on. They've been widely accepted by the Cuban readers," Ji Fang, assistant chairman of the People's Medical Publishing Group, told Xinhua.

Ji said the FIL is a good platform to promote the understanding between people of the two countries as well as venue to spread knowledge of traditional medicine.

Many of these publishing houses decided to participate in this year's event ahead of the 2018 edition of the FIL, when China will be the guest of honor country.

"As China will be the guest of honor country in 2018, we came here this year for preparation, in a bid to enhance our future cooperation with Cuba. We've been to many international book fairs, but this Cuba book fair is very special," said Yao queue, editor-in-chief of the Literature and Art Press.

The publishing house brought over 100 kinds of books on literature, traditional culture, social science and humanities to Havana, with most of them written in Spanish.

"We feel the Cuban people really love books and in the last few days, the pavilions at the fair have been full of people. It is a delight to establish friendly cooperation with the publishing circle in such a boyloving country," she said.

The FIL runs until Feb. 19 and honored Canada as the guest of honor country.
UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- The head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), David Shearer, on Thursday sounded the alarm over the lack of information on the situation of some 20,000 internally displaced people on the west bank of the Nile in the northern of the world's youngest country, a UN spokesman told reporters here.

The UN mission believes that the 20,000 people have fled Wau Shilluk to Kodok, the deputy UN spokesman, Farhan Haq, said at a daily news briefing here. "Fighting between government and opposition forces has expanded geographically across the west bank over the past week and shows no signs of abating, forcing more people to flee their homes."

Also on Thursday, UN peacekeepers attempted to carry out a foot patrol to Wau Shilluk but were prevented from doing so by government soldiers, which Shearer has described as "very frustrating," Haq said. "He said the UN wants to find out what has happened to those people and provide them with assistance, if needed."

Shearer, also described the lack of the relevant information as a "real problem" as he was making his first field trip to the town of Malakal after taking up his position as the mission chief four weeks ago.

Meanwhile, the statement issued by the UN mission noted that UNMISS has described government relocations by air of internally displaced people through Juba into Malakal as unsustainable if they are not also supported with humanitarian assistance on arrival.

The Shilluk population of Malakal has abandoned the town and 33,000 people are currently taking refuge in the camp administered by UNMISS.
UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations said Thursday that the UN mission will resume its operations in eastern Mosul in north Iraq on Sunday after it temporarily suspended its activities earlier this week out of security concerns.

"Following the temporary suspension of UN missions into eastern Mosul earlier this week for security reasons, a new security risk assessment was undertaken and the suspension has now been lifted," Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, said at a daily news briefing here.

"Missions can resume again on Sunday," he said. "Despite the temporary suspension of UN missions, aid operations were not suspended, and many partners continued to deliver humanitarian programs and assistance in eastern Mosul."

Meanwhile, humanitarian partners in health are responding to an acute shortage of medical supplies in the newly accessible areas of Mosul by delivering medicines and other medical supplies to 16 primary health centres, one hospital and the Directorate of Health of Ninewa Governorate, he noted. "These supplies will support treatment of patients with infectious diseases, chronic conditions, diarrheal diseases and trauma cases."

In early January, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that nearly 140,000 people have been internally displaced as a result of the fighting in Mosul where fierce clashes continued to drive out the Islamic State (IS) militants.

Trauma cases remained extremely high as 683 people from eastern Mosul needed to be sent to hospitals in other cities this week, OCHA said.

Humanitarian partners have reached 50,000 people in eastern Mosul with food, water and hygiene items; while there was no humanitarian access to IS-controlled areas of western Mosul where humanitarian concerns are increasing.

In October last year, Iraqi troops kicked off operations to recapture Mosul, some 400 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, which has been under IS control since June 2014.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) shakes hands with his British counterpart Boris Johnson during the Group of Twenty (G20) foreign ministerial meeting in Bonn,Germany, Feb. 16, 2017. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan)

BONN, Germany, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- China and Britain agreed to safeguard global free trade mechanism and promote free trade as foreign ministers of the two nations met on Thursday.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his British counterpart Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) foreign ministerial meeting held in Germany's western city of Bonn.

Wang said Chinese President Xi Jinping held the first meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May last year on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the eastern city of Hangzhou, during which the two leaders reaffirmed the "Golden Era" of bilateral relations between China and Britain.

As 2017 marked the 45th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-British ambassadorial level diplomatic relation, China is willing to work with Britain to review the past experience and map out future plans, Wang said.

Through close high-level exchanges, both nations look to guide the general direction of the "Golden Era" and enrich the content of the "Golden Era", so as to lift the "global comprehensive strategic partnership for the 21st century" between the two countries to a higher level, he said.

Wang said China, together with Britain, will respect each other' s core interests and major concerns, promote flagship cooperation including the nuclear power station projects at Hinkley Point.

The two countries will also join hands in maintaining global free trade and build an open world economy, said Wang.

Johnson said the two countries share many common interests and should maintain the good momentum of bilateral relations and expand British-Sino cooperation in an innovative way.

Britain will strengthen strategic cooperation with China on international affairs, promote bilateral and global free trade, and make the world more stable and prosperous, he said.

Johnson reiterated that Britain will stick to the one-China policy and support the principle of "One country, Two systems" in Hong Kong.
VIENNA, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Austrian Ministry of Defense on Thursday filed a criminal complaint against aircraft manufacturer Airbus, alleging the company engaged in "fraudulent deception" in the sale of its Eurofighter jets, local media reported.

ORF, Austria's largest media provider, quoted Defense Minister Hans Peter Doskozil as saying that Austria will be undertaking the legal action as a private party.

Austria is looking at recovering an initial 183.4 million euros (195.5 million U.S. dollars) in damages, according to Doskozil.

This figure was the sum the Austrian government spent on the purchase of the interceptor jets in 2003, according to the report.

It was further argued that had it opted for different planes, it could have saved subsequent costs incurred that totalled 1.1 billion euros.

The Taskforce Eurofighter, set up by the ministry to investigate the case, argues that Airbus was wilfully deceitful in providing the real cost of the fighter jets, its capacity to deliver them, and concerning the equipment and outfitting of the aircraft.

It was argued that had the alleged deception not taken place, Austria would have never agreed to the purchase.

Airbus responded to the allegations in a statement provided to the Austria Press Agency later on Thursday, rejecting them and referring to a "political maneouver".
BUCHAREST, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Thursday stressed the importance of protecting the rights of Romanians living in Britain, when meeting with visiting European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.

Iohannis underscored that Romania's main priority is to ensure the rights and interests of the Romanian nationals living in Britain are protected.

"These nationals should even benefit, when the Brexit is over, from the rights already extended to them before the Brexit," Iohannis was quoted in a statement released by the Presidential Administration.

Iohannis "insisted on the need for negotiations to be conducted as soon as possible over these aspects of the rights of the EU nationals living in the UK", the statement said.

Meanwhile, Iohannis said Romania supports the continuation of close cooperation between the EU and Britain in areas of shared interest after the Brexit occurs.

Brexit has generated ample reactions in Romania, with a major concern for the fate of the 170,000 Romanians working in Britain.

Another effect of the Brexit will be on Romanian students planning to study in Britain, as they would have to pay full tuition fees and would have no access to student loans.

Right now, 6,750 Romanians are studying in Britain, according to official data.

The Brexit may also hit Romania in terms of exports, as Britain is the fifth biggest destination for Romanian exports.
VIENNA, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern on Thursday left for Serbia on his first official visit, a trip with both political and business nature, local media reported.

Prior to his departure, Kern's chancellery office said he wishes to "expand the good relations between Austria and Serbia", Austria Press Agency reported.

Kern has recently been outspoken on granting Serbia a speedy accession to the European Union, and the Western Balkans nation has been pivotal in stemming the flow of migrants into Europe.

Austria had in January also sent 20 police personnel to Serbia to aid in border protection measures.

Business matters are also a key part of the agenda. Austrian companies have invested 2.3 billion euros (2.5 billion U.S. dollars) in Serbia, making it the largest foreign investor in the country.
WASHINGTON, Feb.16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he will rescind his controversial executive order temporarily barring entry to refugees and immigrants and replace it with a new one next week.

"The new order is going to be very much tailored to what I consider to be a very bad decision," said Trump during a news conference in the White House, referring to a decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that blocked his travel ban earlier this month.

The travel ban is aimed at what the president said to keep out "radical Islamic terrorists."

"We are issuing a new executive action next week that will comprehensively protect our country," Trump said.

Also on Thursday, the Department of Justice asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals not to review a decision by a three-judge panel to keep the immigration policy on hold while it moves through the legal system, citing plans to soon replace the order with a "superseding" one.

"Rather than continuing this litigation, the president intends in the near future to rescind the order and replace it with a new, substantially revised Executive Order to eliminate what the panel erroneously thought were constitutional concerns," the department said in a document to the court of appeals.

"In so doing, the president will clear the way for immediately protecting the country rather than pursuing further, potentially time-consuming litigation," it said.

On Feb. 9, three judges sitting on the motions panel of the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, based in San Francisco, wrote unanimously at the end of the ruling: "the emergency motion for a stay pending appeal is DENIED."

The motion, by the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf the White House, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State, was to overrule a temporary restraining order (TRO) imposed by a lower court judge against the travel ban.

In response at the time, Trump tweeted "SEE YOU IN COURT," vowing to win the legal battle in the end, while accusing the court of appeals of making a "political decision."

Trump signed the controversial executive order on Jan. 27, which temporarily bars U.S. entry to all refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries including Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The travel ban almost immediately sparked nationwide protests and worldwide criticism.
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong (Front) enters a Seoul court for hearings in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb. 16, 2017. The heir apparent of Samsung Group, South Korea's largest family-run conglomerate, on Thursday appeared in hearings at a Seoul court, which will decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for him sought by prosecutors. (Xinhua/Lee Sang-ho)

SEOUL, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A South Korean court on Friday issued an arrest warrant for the heir apparent of Samsung Group, the country's largest family-controlled conglomerate, on bribery charges linked to the corruption scandal that led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.

A judge at the Seoul Central District Court said that there is enough justification to issue the warrant for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong given the newly added criminal charges and newly collected evidences.

The princeling of South Korea's richest family faced an immediate incarceration at a detention center south of Seoul, where he had been waiting for the announcement made at about 5:40 a.m. local time.

The Samsung heir was eventually detained in the second attempt by prosecutors independently investigating the scandal that could topple the impeached leader. President Park is awaiting the constitutional court's ruling on the impeachment motion that is forecast to be made before the middle of March.

The independent counsel team made its first request to arrest Vice Chairman Lee, which was denied on Jan. 19 by the Seoul court for lack of evidence. At the time, it was sought on charges of bribery, embezzlement and perjury.

This time around, two charges were added to the Samsung heir, including hiding assets overseas and concealing the proceeds of criminal acts.

Lee was charged with paying 43.3 billion won (38 million U.S. dollars) in bribes to President Park's longtime friend Choi Soon-sil, who is at the center of the influence-peddling scandal and now is in custody, in return for political favors in the controversial 2015 merger of two Samsung units seen as crucial to the power transfer.

The merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries was extremely crucial to the Samsung's third-generation leader to inherit the management control from his father Lee Kun-hee who was incapacitated in 2014 for heart attack.

Meanwhile, the warrant to detain Samsung Electronics President Park Sang-jin was denied for his limited authority, position and role in the case.
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- A new study has shown that in the catastrophic 2014-2015 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, about three percent of the people infected were responsible for infecting 61 percent of all cases.

The issue of so-called "superspreaders," according to researchers who published their findings in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is so significant that it's important to put a better face on just who these people are and then better reach them with public health measures designed to control the spread of infectious disease during epidemics.

The research indicated that Ebola superspreaders often fit into certain age groups and were based more in the community than in health care facilities.

The research was led by Princeton University in collaboration with researchers from Oregon State University (OSU), the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the Imperial College London, and the National Institutes of Health.

In addition, the superspreaders continued to spread the disease after many of the people first infected had been placed in care facilities, where transmission was much better controlled.

So, if superspreading had been completely controlled, almost two thirds of the infections might have been prevented, said the researchers, who noted that their findings were conservative, since they only focused on people who had been buried safely during the 2014 Ebola epidemic.

Superspreaders have been implicated in the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, in 2003, and the more recent Middle East respiratory syndrome in 2012.

While researchers increasingly appreciate that not all individuals play an equal role in spreading an infectious disease, there is less understanding of who and how important these superspreaders are.

"In the recent Ebola outbreak it's now clear that superspreaders were an important component in driving the epidemic," said Benjamin Dalziel, an assistant professor of population biology in two departments of the College of Science at OSU, and co-author of the study.

"We now see the role of superspreaders as larger than initially suspected. There wasn't a lot of transmission once people reached hospitals and care centers,"Benjamin Dalziel said.

Because case counts during the epidemic relied heavily on hospital data, those hospitalized cases tended to be the cases we 'saw.' However, it was the cases you didn't see that really drove the epidemic, particularly people who died at home, without making it to a care center," Benjamin Dalziel said.

"In our analysis," Dalziel was quoted as saying in a news release from OSU, "we were able to see a web of transmission that would often track back to a community-based superspreader."

Superspreading has been cited in many first-hand narratives of Ebola transmission. The outbreak size of the 2014 Ebola epidemic in Africa was unprecedented, and early control measures failed.

Researchers suggest that messages tailored to individuals with higher risk and certain types of behavior may have been more successful, and prevented the epidemic from being so persistent.
SYDNEY, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Australian airline Virgin Australia have posted first half losses on Friday, of 21.5 million dollars (16.54 U.S. million), in a sharp drop for the company after reporting a 62.5 million dollar profit just last year.

The airline blames a corporate restructuring intended to improve practices for the loss, with most of the costs associated with fleet simplification.

Revenue for the beleaguered airline was also down by 24.5 million, to 2.63 billion dollars, which was attributed to lower domestic travel, and the recent Tigerair services shutdown to Bali, as Tigerair are a subsidiary of Virgin, may hurt their revenue even more moving forward.

There were positives, with Virgin managing to slash their net debt position by 936.3 million dollars, while also improving their cash on hand balance by 689.1 million, to now sit at 1.6 billion dollars.

Virgin Australia chief executive officer John Borghetti said despite the slowing down in the domestic market, his company is on the right path after it "strengthened its liquidity" and plans further asset sales.

Borghetti also said the company plans to introduce new routes, with the hope of increasing profitability in the future.

"We will also broaden our international network by launching flights from Australia to Hong Kong, and commencing flights between Melbourne and Los Angeles." Borghetti said.

Virgin Australia will not be paying a dividend to shareholders for the period.
CANBERRA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Australia's deputy Prime Minister on Friday warned politicians against publicly disparaging Islam, as an anti-Muslim sentiment could affect Australia's lucrative trade deals with nations such as Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.

Following revelations a potential candidate for the One Nation party in the state of Western Australia had publicly "tweeted" anti-Muslim statements, Australia's deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has warned politicians not to jeopardize trade deals worth billions of dollars by disparaging other religions.

Joyce told Guardian Australian that Islamic nations such as Indonesia and Saudi Arabia buy billions of dollars' worth of Australian goods annually, and seemingly small and careless statements could have a profound impact on the Australian economy.

"So just be a little bit cautious about what you say at times because I have to go to Indonesia, I have to go to Saudi Arabia, they are the biggest buyers of our wheat, they are the biggest buyers of our cattle," Joyce said on Friday.

Joyce's comments come after it was revealed the Liberal Party in Western Australia would break rank from the traditional Liberal National Party (LNP) coalition to preference One Nation ahead of the state election.

Joyce, National Party Leader, said: "I know so many Liberal Party supporters and they are equally furious about this."
CANBERRA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Australia will introduce a brand new ten dollar (7.5 US dollar) bank note in September, in what will be the second in a series of new notes featuring tactile "raised dots" to help the vision-impaired.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced the currency note on Friday, which will retain its blue coloring but will feature all-new images of native Australian flora and fauna.

The Reserve Bank said the new notes will be introduced in September, 2017, while all existing ten dollar bank notes in circulation will remain "legal tender".

RBA Governor said Philip Lowe said the 10 dollar banknote would also continue to honor two famous Australian writers on both the front and back.

"The ten dollar banknote celebrates two famous Australian writers, Dame Mary Gilmore and AB 'Banjo' Paterson. Their work is recognized in several design elements on the banknote, including images of a pen nib in two of the clear windows and excerpts of their poetry in microprint," Lowe said in a statement released on Friday.

The RBA said the new note would feature "new security features" to ensure they are kept safe from counterfeiting, while the raised bumps will also return after debuting on the five dollar note released last September.

"These security features are similar to those in the five dollar banknote issued in 2016, such as the top-to-bottom clear window and the patch with a rolling color effect," the RBA statement said.

"Each banknote in the new series will feature a different species of native Australian wattle and bird. The ten dollar banknote features the Bramble Wattle and the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo."

Australian banknotes are already some of the most secure in the world, as they are made from hard-to-replicate colored polymer.
SYDNEY, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A Wallaby-like dinosaur that has been extinct for 100 million years will be bought "back to life" by Australian researchers.

A team of scientists at Deakin University is using a world-first approach combining three-dimensional (3D) printing virtual reality (VR) technology to re-create the wallaby-like leaellynasaura, an ornithopod native to Australia.

Palaeontologists at a site in the state's south-west near the Great Ocean Road have uncovered more than 200 bits of dinosaur and mammal bones in just 12 days.

Meanwhile, mechatronics students from Deakin are using the leaellynasaura bones uncovered to create a 3D model of the dinosaur on a computer which will eventually be printed.

When completed, the project will be displayed at Geelong's National Wool Museum in what is being described as a world-first.

Experts from Deakin's Virtual Reality Lab will then create a VR experience to make the tactile 3D-printed model of the dinosaur appear real.

Ben Hornan, a co-founder of the project, said he hoped the experience would further the general population's knowledge of dinosaurs that once roamed Australia.

"We're looking at how we can use virtual reality and 3D printing to help with providing educational experiences in a museum context," Horan told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Friday.

"Dinosaurs are something that excites most people, including myself. So we thought 3D printing, dinosaurs and virtual reality would be a great combination."

"In the museum with the virtual reality headset, which will provide you with audio and video, you can see inside, look around and see the dinosaur dig and then reach down and touch the tactile 3D-printed dinosaur," said Horan.

"So we are doing experiments on how we can best print dinosaur-like skin so people will not just feel the geometry, the size and the scale but also the contour of the skin as well."

Researchers believe they will be able to replicate the skin of a leaellynasaura by scanning a blue tongue lizard, which has scaly skin similar to that of the dinosaur, and 3D-printing its scales.

The leaellynasaura was a small herbivore and was thus understood to be a shy dinosaur, so participants who put the VR glasses on will be warned to approach it with care.

"It'll probably be a little concerned about people coming into its forest and filming it. So you don't have to feel scared, you might have to be a little bit careful yourself not to scare the dinosaur because it'll be on the lookout for anything that's going to harm it," Hornan said.

"Eventually if you get to know it maybe it could be a friend you could take out on a lead for a walk."

Patricia Vickers-Rich, the scientists who discovered the leaellynasaura in the 1980s, said the project was an exciting new way to communicate her work.

"I think what we're trying to do is wake up the Australian public to the fact that we have some really cool unique material here," Vickers-Rich said.
SYDNEY, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Australia's largest transport company is threatening to take its fleet of trucks to the suburban streets in protest of an impending toll hike.

Lindsay Fox, owner of trucking giant Linfox, has revealed that his company is looking at alternate suburban routes to avoid the toll rise.

Fox reportedly engaged in a yelling match with Scott Charlton, CEO of toll road operator Transurban, over the toll hike from nine U.S. dollars per day for a heavy vehicle to 20 U.S. dollars per day per vehicle.

The charge is to help Transurban recuperate costs for its share of freeway widening projects across Melbourne which will be finished in 2018.

Martin Wurt, secretary of the Maribyrnong Truck Action Group (MTAG), said more trucks using suburban roads would have significant adverse health impacts on people in Melbourne's west.

"They should stay on the freeway where they belong," Wurt told News Limited on Friday.

"We have about 22,000 truck movements a day so we've already got an enormous problem.

"Some of the most major freight routes in Melbourne are residential streets in the inner-west."

Wurt said heavy vehicle traffic in Melbourne's west had contributed to the City of Maribyrnong having an asthma rate 50 per cent above the state average and for hospital admission rates for children with breathing problems being 117 percent above the national average.

"I'd be very surprised if Lindsay Fox thinks putting more pollution in front of our primary schools is a solution to his company having to pay more tolls," he said.

Charlton reportedly refused to change the toll price in the wake of Fox's threats but Transurban will help Linfox analyse logistics such as the timing of trips to keep trucks on the freeway.

Luke Donnellan, Victoria's Roads Minister, said the toll increases were agreed by the previous government and announced and there was nothing he could do.
KATHMANDU, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Tibetan Losar, or New Year, has been marked in the Nepalese Capital City Kathmandu on Thursday evening.

The Chinese embassy in Kathmandu hosted a special function in celebration of the Chinese Tibetan Losar.

Chinese ambassador to Nepal Yu Hong inaugurated the cultural show where a group of artists from China performed dances.

Ambassador Yu said that the Chinese Tibetan Losar is the most ceremonious traditional festival of Tibetan people.

"On behalf of the Chinese Embassy in Nepal, I would like to extend my sincere wishes and greetings to all the Tibetan compatriots living in Nepal, and pay tribute to all the friends for your care and support for the development of Tibet," she said.

Stating that China and Nepal are friendly neighbors linked by mountains and rivers, the ambassador was of the view that the bilateral cooperation between the two countries has deepened in politics, economy, trade and culture.

"The continuous development of bilateral relations could not be possible without the support and contribution of Tibetan compatriots in Nepal. I would like to avail myself of this opportunity to thank all of you, looking forward for your non-stop efforts for the development of bilateral relations between China and Nepal," she said.

While talking about the rapid economic development in China's Tibet in 2016, the ambassador said that Tibet enjoyed economic development, social stability and ethnic solidarity, with the gross production in the Tibet Autonomous Region reaching 114.8 billion yuan, representing an increase of 11.5 percent over the previous year -- a double digit growth rate for the 24th year in a row.

Talking about the railway connectivity between Nepal and China, the ambassador noted that the first train that connects Guangdong province, Tibet, and Middle-South Asia has opened, starting from Guangzhou, via Lhasa, Kerung to Kathmandu, covering a total length of 6,070 km, becoming a highway-railway combined transport channel that links Guangdong, Tibet and Nepal.

"The success of the inaugural flight of Himalaya Airlines, co-funded by Tibet Airlines Co. Ltd. and Nepal, opened a new page for Tibet Airlines in its path of entering the international market," Yu said.

The ambassador said that it is everyone's common aspiration and responsibility to maintain the stability and unity of Tibet and to realize the prosperity and progress of Tibet.

"Our fellow Tibetan compatriots, despite living in a foreign land, always concerned about the progress and development of the motherland, and have made contribution to national unity and ethnic solidarity," she told the Tibetan community in Kathmandu.
MANILA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday night said he would resign if Senator Antonio Trillanes IV can prove that he had, at one time, 2 billion pesos (40.06 million U.S. dollars) worth of bank deposits.

"If Trillanes can prove his allegation that I have amassed 2 billion pesos illegally or if that bank account under my name has a total deposit at one time of even just half a billion, I will resign as President immediately," the President said in a taped video released midnight.

Duterte denied the allegations of the Senator and branded it as "old" and "rehashed."

He said he had already answered the allegations before he became president, referring to the 211 million pesos (4.23 million pesos) bank deposits that he supposedly had at a branch of the Bank of the Philippine Islands that Trillanes alleged during the campaign period.

He said despite the allegations, 16 million Filipinos still voted for him and placed him in the office.

The President also defended his family and their respective sources of income, saying that they have their respective businesses and professions that help generate income and savings.

Duterte said his partner Honeylet Avancena for instance has a donut business that she had been running for the past 18 years apart from being a meat supplier to five malls in Davao.

The President also defended her daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio whom he said is a practicing lawyer who had actual clients that paid for her services.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) shakes hands with European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini during the Group of Twenty (G20) foreign ministerial meeting in Bonn, Germany, Feb. 16, 2017. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan)

BONN, Germany, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- China and Europe should send a positive signal to the world that the two sides would join hands in promoting an open world economy and safeguarding the global trade system based on the World Trade Organization (WTO), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday.

Wang made the statement when meeting European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) foreign ministerial meeting held in Germany's western city of Bonn.

Wang told Mogherini that China and Europe should further increase strategic consultation and cooperation because the two sides have the same or similar views on many major global issues.

The top Chinese diplomat also expressed hope that the EU can fulfill its obligations under Article 15 of the protocol on China's accession to the WTO at an early date.

In accordance with Article 15, WTO members should cease the surrogate country approach in anti-dumping investigations on China after Dec. 11, 2016, which expires exactly 15 years after China's admission.

Mogherini responded that the EU will make continuous efforts to deal with the fulfillment of its obligations under the WTO.

The top EU diplomat spoke highly of the keynote speech delivered by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year, saying that this provides new opportunities for Europe-China cooperation.

She said it is more important than ever before for Europe and China to strengthen bilateral cooperation under current international situation, and the EU has always treated China as a cooperative partner instead of a "threat". She reiterated that the EU adheres to the one-China policy.

Mogherini said the EU will increase strategic cooperation with China in areas covering global development, climate change, African affairs, Afghanistan, Syria, and the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

Related:

Chinese FM talks with German counterpart, vows to boost global growth together

BONN, Germany, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday held talks with his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel, vowing to boost world economic growth together. Full story

China FM calls for actions in pursuing sustainable development goals

BONN, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday calls on the Group of 20 (G20) countries to turn consensus into actions, and fulfill sustainable development goals listed in a UN blueprint for eradicating poverty. Full story

Chinese, Russia n FMs meet in Germany
WELLINGTON, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Record numbers of overseas visitors are offsetting a levelling off in visitor spending as a result of New Zealand's strengthening dollar, according to government figures out Friday.

International visitor spending grew 4 percent to 10.1 billion NZ dollars (7.29 billion U.S. dollars) last year, according to a report from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

The report said performance across major markets and purposes of visit has been mixed.

The Chinese market had shown a slight decline -- down 1 percent to 1.7 billion NZ dollars (1.23 billion U.S. dollars) -- while the Republic of Korea market was up 82 percent to 299 million NZ dollars (215.82 million U.S. dollars).

The results suggested that while international visitor spending growth remained positive, spending had begun to stabilize after period of record growth, MBIE manager of sector trends Peter Ellis said in a statement.

"Over the last quarter, the New Zealand dollar appreciated against the currencies of some of our key tourist markets, such as the United Kingdom, China and Canada, which likely contributed to growth in international visitor spend being lower than previous quarters," said Ellis.

The average spend per visitor was down 6 percent to 3,230 NZ dollars (2,332 U.S. dollars).

"However, the record high 3.5 million visitors in the 2016 year has kept visitor spending growth positive at 4 percent," said Ellis.

Overseas holidaymakers spent the most with a total spend of 6.4 billion NZ dollars (4.62 billion U.S. dollars), up 10 percent from 2015.

Tourism Minister Paula Bennett said the figures confirmed spending by international tourists remained strong.

"Tourism is our biggest export market and is hugely important to our economy," Bennett said in a statement.

"It's positive to see the industry still achieve a 4 percent increase in visitor spending after record growth in 2015. We want to maintain these numbers."
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong (C) enters a Seoul court for hearings in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb. 16, 2017. The heir apparent of Samsung Group, South Korea's largest family-run conglomerate, on Thursday appeared in hearings at a Seoul court, which will decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for him sought by prosecutors. (Xinhua/Lee Sang-ho)

SEOUL, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A South Korean court on Friday issued an arrest warrant for the heir apparent of Samsung Group, the country's largest family-controlled conglomerate, on bribery charges linked to the corruption scandal that led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.

A judge at the Seoul Central District Court said there is enough justification to issue the warrant for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong given the newly added charges and the newly collected evidences.

The princeling of the South Korea's richest family faced an immediate incarceration at a detention center south of Seoul, where he had been waiting for the announcement made at about 5:40 a.m. local time.

The arrest of the Samsung heir would help build a bribery case against President Park.

The third-generation Samsung heir was eventually detained in the second attempt by prosecutors independently investigating the scandal that could topple the impeached leader. President Park is awaiting the constitutional court's ruling on the impeachment motion that is forecast to be made before the middle of March.

Lee Jae-yong became the first head of the most powerful South Korean business empire to be arrested in its 79-year history. Samsung was set up in March 1938.

His father Lee Kun-hee, the second-generation chief, was convicted twice on bribery and tax evasion in 1996 and 2008, but he received suspended prison terms. He was pardoned by the country's presidents both times.

Samsung's founder Lee Byung-chul was not punished though he was investigated in 1996 for smuggling charges.

The independent counsel team made its first request to arrest Vice Chairman Lee, which was denied on Jan. 19 by the Seoul court for lack of evidence. At the time, it was sought on charges of bribery, embezzlement and perjury.

The special prosecutors had since raided the offices of the country's anti-trust body and the financial regulator to collect more evidences, while summoning and questioning relevant witnesses and suspects.

This time around, two charges were added to the Samsung heir, including hiding assets overseas and concealing the proceeds of criminal acts.

Lee was charged with paying 43.3 billion won (38 million U.S. dollars) in bribes to President Park's longtime friend Choi Soon-sil, who is at the center of the influence-peddling scandal and now is in custody, in return for political favors in the controversial 2015 merger of two Samsung units seen as crucial to the power transfer.

The merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries was extremely crucial to the Samsung's third-generation leader to inherit the management control from his father Lee Kun-hee who was incapacitated in 2014 for heart attack.

Meanwhile, the warrant to detain Samsung Electronics President Park Sang-jin, who serves as head of the Korea Equestrian Federation, was denied for his limited authority, position and role in the case.

Samsung was the biggest donor to two nonprofit foundations, which Choi allegedly controlled for personal gains. As President Park was branded as an accomplice to Choi, bribing Choi could be equivalent to bribing the scandal-scarred president.

The company also signed a contract worth tens of millions of dollars with a German company owned by Choi and her daughter to finance the daughter's equestrian training in the European country.

The Samsung vice chairman was also accused of lying under oath during a December parliamentary hearing over the presidential scandal.

Related:

S.Korean prosecutors seek 2nd arrest warrant for Samsung heir

SEOUL, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- South Korean prosecutors independently investigating the scandal involving impeached President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday sought their second arrest warrant for the heir apparent of Samsung Group, the country's biggest family-controlled conglomerate. Full story

S.Korean prosecutors to summon Samsung heir over bribery charges

SEOUL, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korean prosecutors said Sunday that the heir apparent of Samsung Group, the country's biggest family-run conglomerate, will be summoned the following day for bribery charges related to impeached President Park Geun-hye. Full story

Samsung heir appears in hearings to decide arrest sought by S.Korean prosecutors

SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) - The heir apparent of Samsung Group, South Korea's largest family-run conglomerate, on Thursday appeared in hearings at a Seoul court, which will decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for him sought by prosecutors.
SYDNEY, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Australian airline Virgin Australia reaffirmed on Friday its plans to launch a new route to Hong Kong, to capitalise on the burgeoning tourist market from China.

The Australian carrier is waiting on approval, for their proposed partnership with China's biggest private airline operator HNA Group, from Australia's competition regulatory body.

Virgin Australia chief executive officer John Borghetti says he is hoping to secure provisional approval within the next few weeks, and has plans to increase competition on the route currently dominated by Qantas and Cathay Pacific.

"Hong Kong is really just the route that's covered by two carriers. I mean Cathay and Qantas have got it by the throat," Borghetti said.

"We intend to break that duopoly and bring real competition on the route."

China is on target to eclipse New Zealand as the largest tourist market for Australia, with Australian Bureau of Statistics figures indicating over 1.2 million Chinese tourists visited the country last year, compared to 1.3 million Kiwis.

The Virgin Australia boss was adamant that the new alliance with HNA Aviation, Hong Kong Airlines, and HK Express would be a "game changer" for Australia to China travel.

"The alliance will accelerate and support our access to the Chinese market, which is Australia's fastest growing and most valuable inbound travel market." Borghetti said.
SYDNEY, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Australian authorities have detained 29 Vietnamese fisherman on Friday, accusing them of allegedly illegally poaching sea cucumbers off the Australian coastline.

The Vietnamese nationals were spread over two boats, when they were intercepted on Wednesday by Australian Border Force (ABF) officers, in the Saumarez Reef in Queensland.

The boats were raided, and authorities said they discovered sea cucumbers, leading them to take both the vessels and their crew back to their headquarters.

Scott Clemenz, Parks Australia's head of marine parks compliance was adamant that illegal fishing must be brought to an end in order to protect the marine ecosystem in Australia.

The Australian Fisheries Management Authority, who partnered with the ABF in detaining the vessels were pleased with the result, while their general manager of operations Peter Venslovas, issued a warning to anyone thinking of conducting similar operations.

"Foreign fishers seeking to take advantage and target our fish resources will be caught and run the risk of being prosecuted and having their boats confiscated and destroyed," Venslovas said.

Last year 10 Vietnamese boats were held by Australian authorities, 121 Vietnamese fisherman were convicted of illegal poaching, and over 32,000 tonnes of sea cucumber were seized.
ISLAMABAD, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The army said on Friday that terrorists attacked a Pakistani border post in Khyber Agency from Afghanistan side Friday morning and injured two soldiers.

An army statement said that the terrorists carried out the attack early morning in Khyber agency, bordering Afghanistan.

"Pakistani forces effectively responded. There are reports of few Terrorists killed in exchange of fire," the statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations said.

Earlier Pakistan closed its border with Afghanistan hours after a suicide bomber massacred over 70 people and injured 300 more in southern Sindh province late Thursday, the military has said.

"Pakistan-Afghanistan Border closed with immediate effects till further orders due to security reasons," the army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said following the late Thursday's bombing at a crowded shrine at Sehwan in Sindh.

Daesh claimed responsibility for the shrine terrorist attack in a statement sent to the local media.

Pakistani closed the border at Torkham, the busiest crossing, after a series of terrorist attacks in the country as security officials believe the bombers enter the country from Afghanistan.

There was no immediate response from Afghan government.

Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said in a statement late Friday that the "recent terror attacks are being executed on directions of hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have about 2,600 kilometers border, mostly porous, and the military seeks cooperation of the Afghan government to closely monitor the illegal cross-border movement.

The security forces also carried out search operations in parts of the country after Thursday's attack, killed 11 terrorists in the port city of Karachi and four in the northwestern district of Bannu, officials said on Friday.
DAVAO CITY, Philippines, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Five people were killed and over a dozen wounded in a series of attacks by rebels in southern Philippines on Thursday, the military said Friday.

The dead included two soldiers and three New People's Army (NPA) guerrillas, while 15 soldiers were also wounded, according to Captain Rhyan Batchar, spokesperson of the army's 10th Infantry Division.

Batchar said the military casualties happened after insurgents set off an improvised explosive device at an army convoy responding to a burning of an equipment owned by Del Monte Philippines at Calinan district, some 15 km southeast of Davao City proper.

Two soldiers died in the bombing while 15 others wounded, and two rebels were also killed in an ensuing firefight around 4 p.m. local time, Batchar said.

An insurgent was also killed when rebels attacked a militia detachment in nearby Binaton village in nearby Paquibato district around 5 a.m., the army spokesperson said.

He said pursuit operations were being launched against the rebels.

Thursday's fighting was the latest in the escalation of violence between the Philippine government troops and the NPA, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, which has been waging a leftist rebellion since 1969, following the termination of the ceasefire separately declared by both sides last year.
MUMBAI, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Indian markets opened higher Friday on a spectacular note, with the Sensex rising more than 400 points supported by HDFC Bank.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex opened at 28,702.16, 400.89 points or 1.4 percent up compared to its previous close at 28,301.27.
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong (Front) enters a Seoul court for hearings in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb. 16, 2017. The heir apparent of Samsung Group, South Korea's largest family-run conglomerate, on Thursday appeared in hearings at a Seoul court, which will decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for him sought by prosecutors. (Xinhua/Lee Sang-ho)

By Yoo Seungki

SEOUL, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The South Korean court's first determination to detain the chief of Samsung Group, the country's most powerful business empire, would help enhance transparency and reliability of other conglomerates as it serves to sever the deep-rooted corrupt ties between business tycoons and politicians.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the third-generation leader of South Korea's biggest family-run conglomerate, faced an immediate incarceration early Friday after having awaited the decision to arrest him made by a judge at the Seoul Central District Court.

It was the first time in Samsung's 79-year history that its chief was taken into custody.

The vice chairman has run the conglomerate since his father Chairman Lee Kun-hee was incapacitated in May 2014 for heart attack. He was named as a board member of Samsung Electronics, the group's crown jewel, following the recall of Galaxy Note 7 smartphone last year.

Samsung's founder Lee Byung-chull was not punished though he was investigated in 1996 for smuggling charges.

Lee Kun-hee, the second-generation leader, was convicted twice on bribery and tax evasion in 1996 and 2008, but he received only suspended prison terms before getting pardoned by the country's presidents.

The Samsung heir's detention would have repercussions beyond Samsung itself, sending shockwaves through the entire South Korean business community as it sends chaebol heads a signal that even the richest family's heir will be arrested for wrongdoings.

The Samsung vice chairman was charged with paying 43 billion won (38 million U.S. dollars) in bribes to President Park Geun-hye and her confidante Choi Soon-sil, who is at the center of the corruption scandal that led to Park's impeachment, in return for political favors in the controversial 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates.

The national pension fund, to which almost half of the country's 50 million population are subscribers, was forced to vote in favor of the merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, inflicting damages estimated at hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars. Many investors opposed the merger on undervalued shares of Samsung C&T.

High-level government officials and state agencies were mobilized to help Vice Chairman Lee inherit management control from his ailing father. The merger was extremely crucial to the smooth power transfer to the Samsung heir. The former health and welfare minister has been detained for his involvement.

The origin of collusive ties between businessmen and politicians may date back to the military dictatorships in the 1960s and even to the 1910-45 Japanese colonization of the Korean Peninsula, under which pro-Japanese tycoons collaborated with the colonial ruler.

Even under the democratized governments since late 1980s, all of the presidents saw themselves or their relatives implicated in corruption scandals linked to conglomerates, called chaebol here.

The Samsung heir's detention would help cut off the distorted link between chaebol and politicians by confirming a basic principle that all are equal before law.

The severed, or at least loosened link between them, would lead to improved transparency and reliability of South Korean conglomerates.

The business community expressed worry that Lee's arrest can hurt the already struggling South Korean economy, which has long been dominated by large corporations.

But, Samsung is a gigantic corporation that is managed by professional executives and staff, meaning its normal operation would scarcely be affected without him.

Protesters, who gathered every Saturday night for candlelit vigils, clamored for the detention of chaebol heads as well as the impeached president's permanent removal from office.
By Xinhua writer Gu Zhenqiu

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Building a community of common destiny for mankind is "pretty significant" and "in the long run, it profits us all," a senior UN official said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Philipp Charwath, the chair of the 55th session of the UN Commission for Social Development, said that the concept of building a community of common destiny for mankind was incorporated for the first time in a UN resolution, which was approved by consensus in the commission.

The resolution, titled "Social Dimension of the New Partnership for Africa's Development" which was presented as recommendations to the UN Economic and Social Council, calls on the international community to enhance the support for Africa's development "in the spirit of win-win cooperation and to create a shared future, based upon our common destiny."

The draft resolution also won strong support from the group of 77 developing countries at the UN.

Charwath said the landmark concept is of great value to all UN member states and the UN itself in their joint efforts to build a better world.

"It basically is an acknowledgement that we all depend on each other," Charwath said, referring to the concept first proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in late 2012.

Take climate change as an example, he said, Europe, China and the United States reached an important agreement in Paris in December 2015 just because "we all understand that we have only one shared future, and each of us agreed to cut down on our emissions because we depend on each other."

The concept also applies when it comes to economic development, he said. "I mean we cannot be happy with what we achieved in one part of the world if our neighboring region is suffering."

"In Europe, as you see right now, a big crisis in the Middle East which affects us everyday," he said, referring to a lot of migrants and refugees driven from home in armed conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa to look for better opportunities in Europe and other parts of the world.

The concept is also conducive to the world effort to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of 17 development targets for global development in the years running to 2030.

"I think it is at the heart of the SDGs, because just as the president of the 71st session of the (UN) General Assembly, Peter Thomson said, the SDGs and the Paris Agreement are a blueprint for the humanity survival," Charwath said. "I think this is also how we understand the concept of the shared destiny for humanity."

To achieve the SDGs, one country has to do what it should within its borders, he said, adding that it is very important that every country is doing its best all by itself in this regard, but it is not enough.

"We cannot achieve them in our own countries if we don't cooperate with other countries," he stressed.

Charwath was elected to head the UN Commission for Social Development in early February. Currently, he is the deputy permanent representative of Austria to the United Nations.

Charwath noted that in his keynote speeches in Switzerland in January, President Xi renewed his call for building a community of shared future for mankind, offering inspiration to a world beset by rising challenges and risks.

"In the long run, it profits us all," Charwath said. "I think that's how I understand the concept, and that's how the UN work can profit from the concept."

"I know the shared benefit is much bigger down the line than a quick win for one country," he said.

"China is a country with a long history, usually your perspective and how you look at things, is longer than other countries," he said. "So look at the concept, it is a long-term vision."
FUZHOU, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Six people died and two were injured after a fire at a motorcycle repair shop in Zhangzhou city, eastern China's Fujian Province, city authorities said Friday.

Flames broke out at the shop in Gaokeng village in Zhangzhou at 11 p.m. Thursday, Zhangzhou authorities said.

Two died on site and four in hospital. The two injured remain stable.

Four fire squadrons were called to put out the fire.

An investigation is underway.
HOHHOT, Feb. 17 (Xinhua)-- A farmer in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was acquitted in a retrial Friday, over his unlicensed corn purchasing business.

Bayan Nur city Intermediate People's Court revoked a previous verdict which had given Wang Lijun, a farmer, a suspended one-year prison sentence.

In the initial verdict in April last year, Linhe district court also fined Wang 20,000 yuan (2,920 U.S. dollars).

The Supreme People's Court ordered a retrial in December.

Wang violated grain trading regulation as he had no license, but his act did not severely damage the market order, according to Bayan Nur City Intermediate People's Court.

Previously, China required licenses for grain purchase businesses. But a revised grain purchase rule in November cancelled the requirement for farmers and grain brokers, to provide a boost to the grain market.

"I feel relieved a lot," Wang said, after the innocent verdict. "I finally resume innocence. I will prepare new equipment for buying grain, for the convenience of local farmers and for improving the life of my family."

The court also told Wang that he could apply for state compensation for his economic losses due to the initial verdict.
Cambodian Interior Ministry secretary of state Em Sam An (R, front) shakes hands with Vietnamese Public Security Ministry deputy minister Nguyen Van Thanh (L, front) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Feb. 17, 2017. Cambodia and Vietnam on Friday pledged to further enhance their bilateral cooperation in public security, combating cross-border crimes, and police training. (Xinhua/Sovannara)

PHNOM PENH, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia and Vietnam on Friday pledged to further enhance their bilateral cooperation in public security, combating cross-border crimes, and police training.

The pledge was made here during a meeting between Cambodian Interior Ministry secretary of state Em Sam An and Vietnamese Public Security Ministry deputy minister Nguyen Van Thanh.

According to the agreed minutes signed by the two senior officials, both sides would increase the exchange of information and situation in order to ensure security and safety in their respective countries.

The two sides agreed to prevent Vietnam's Montagnard ethnic minority groups from illegally crossing over the border to Cambodia, the agreed minutes said.

Also, they agreed to push for cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to end, as soon as possible, the procedures of returning the Montagnards entered Cambodia illegally to Vietnam.

Montagnards are mostly Christian ethnic minority groups that live in Vietnam's mountainous Central Highlands region.
WELLINGTON, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The leaders of New Zealand and Australia have agreed to work together to revive the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact after the United States' withdrawal under President Donald Trump.

New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English and his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull issued a joint communique Friday after talks in New Zealand's South Island mountain resort of Queenstown.

The statement said the two leaders had agreed to continue to push for open markets and regional economic integration, "noting, with concern, growing anti-globalisation sentiment in many parts of the world."

The TPP, signed by 12 nations in Auckland last year, was a "key promoter of regional economic integration and a driver of economic growth, competition, innovation and productivity," it said.

"In light of the intention of the United States not to ratify TPP, the two Prime Ministers agreed that Australia and New Zealand would work together to engage with other TPP partners on the way forward, over the coming months."

The two leaders also recognized that their countries had broad areas of common interests in responding to the challenges and opportunities posed by Brexit.

Both countries remained strongly committed to advancing the negotiations of the 16-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which include 10 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, as well as China, India, Japan and South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

"The Prime Ministers underscored the need, following recent global events, for RCEP to be a modern, comprehensive, high quality agreement with commercially meaningful outcomes, in order to provide a strong boost to global economic confidence," it said.

They also reaffirmed their commitment to conclude the 16-nation Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations Plus (PACER Plus) trade and development agreement as soon as possible and to value the World Trade Organization (WTO) as a global forum for establishing rules, settling disputes and resolving issues that can only be addressed multilaterally.

The meeting attended by ministers from both sides included the signing of an agreement to better integrate Australia and New Zealand's science, research and innovation agendas by enabling collaboration between researchers and innovative companies.

They also agreed that the New Zealand and Australian governments would be partners in the world's first trial of Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) over two years.

SBAS was expected to improve air navigation, smartphone-based services, asset management and precision agriculture, and to be needed for the deployment of connected and autonomous vehicles, New Zealand Transport Minister Simon Bridges said in a statement.

"While current GPS (global positioning systems) locations are accurate to within 5 to 10 meters, the SBAS test-bed could improve positioning to within as little as 10 centimeters. This means that a vehicle will recognize the road it is travelling on, but also which lane it is in, and its distance from surrounding objects," said Bridges.
ISLAMABAD, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan army said Friday that a list of 76 terrorists who are hiding in Afghanistan has been handed over to Afghan embassy officials.

The development comes following a series of recent terrorist attacks in Pakistan which have killed over 100 people and injured many more.

On Thursday, a bomber killed over 70 people and injured nearly 300 at a shrine in southern Sindh province.

Pakistani security officials believed that the Pakistani militant groups now operate from Afghanistan border region and routinely launch attacks from there.

The army said on Friday that terrorists attacked a Pakistani border post in Khyber Agency from Afghanistan side Friday morning and injured two soldiers.

"Pakistani forces effectively responded. There are reports of few Terrorists killed in exchange of fire," statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations said.

"Afghan embassy officials called in GHQ (General Headquarters) and list of 76 terrorists hiding in Afghanistan," the army said.

"The Afghan officials were asked to take immediate action and handover the terrorists to Pakistan," the army spokesman, Major General Abdul Ghafoor said.

Earlier Pakistan closed its border with Afghanistan hours after the suicide bombing in southern Sindh province late Thursday, the military has said.

Pakistan closed the border at Torkham, the busiest crossing, after a series of terrorist attacks in the country as security officials believed the bombers enter the country from Afghanistan.

Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said in a statement late Friday that recent terror attacks are being executed on directions of hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan.

Pakistan and Afghanistan share a border of about 2,600 km, mostly porous, and the military seeks cooperation of the Afghan government to closely monitor the illegal cross-border movement.
HANOI, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) said Friday that the country's tourism sector always welcomes and treats fairly with Chinese tourists, after a Chinese tourist was beaten at a Vietnamese border gate 10 days ago.

"We will continue coordination with relevant agencies to increase quality of products and services so that Chinese tourists to Vietnam should feel satisfied," said VNAT.

The administration made the remark while addressing Xinhua reporter's inquiry over the fact that a Chinese tourist was beaten in Mong Cai border gate in Vietnam's northern Quang Ninh province after questioning fees charged for getting through the border gate on Feb. 7.

"We are very sorry for the incident that has happened", said the VNAT, adding "As soon as learning the news, we have reported the case and urged local relevant agencies to examine, clarify and handle the case in accordance with its nature following the legal regulations."

Vietnam and China are two countries with long-lasting traditional friendship relations. The two parties, governments and peoples always have policies to reinforce and enhance friendship as well as political, economic and cultural exchanges, said the administration.

Over the past time, tourism cooperation between Vietnam and China has enjoyed non-stop development. The number of Chinese tourists to Vietnam as well as Vietnamese tourists to China has constantly increased, the VNAT claimed.

Regarding tourism fees and charges, the administration said they are all publicized by Vietnamese government.

"Charging fees that are not regulated in the state regulations are illegal. We urge travel companies not to charge these fees and instruct this to tourists. All fees for providing extra services should be made public and transparent for tourists," emphasized the Vietnamese tourism authorities.

Targeting that in 2017 and in the coming years, China remains the key market of Vietnamese tourism, the VNAT pledged to coordinate with relevant agencies to create more favorable conditions to Chinese tourists to enter Vietnam.

"We are willing to listen and receive feedbacks of Chinese tourists," VNAT concluded, extending gratitude through Xinhua to Chinese tourists who have come and will come to Vietnam.
VANCOUVER, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- A major Japanese hotel group's in-room magazine with anti-Semitic content is "shameful", said the chief of a Canadian pro-diversity organization on Thursday.

Bernie Farber, the executive director of the Toronto-based Mosaic Institute, told Xinhua he was given a copy of an article published in the February edition of Apple Town, the in-room magazine of Coast Hotels, a subsidiary of Japan's APA Hotels and Resorts.

"This was a legitimate magazine that appears in the rooms of Coast Hotels," he said. "It was just absolutely shameful ... I was kind of stunned to read it."

In the article, the APA chain's president, Toshio Motoya, equated "international finance capital" with "Jewish capital", according to a story published by Canada's National Observer on Feb. 10.

Motoya said "Jewish people control American information, finance, and laws, and they benefit greatly from globalization because they move their massive profits to tax havens so they don't have to pay any taxes. Many Jewish people support the Democratic Party," according to the report by the Canadian online news site.

Farber sent Xinhua a link to the article, which had been scrubbed of the offensive content.

"This was the kind of stuff that you saw 50 years ago, that Jews control the economy, they own all the banks," Farber told Xinhua in an interview on Thursday. "It was sort of startling to see and pretty remarkable given that it's 2017. I have absolutely no explanation for it."

He said Coast Hotels, a well-known chain in Canada, has not offered a clear apology for originally publishing the article.

The article was initially called "Trump's Presidency is an Opportunity for Constitutional Reform" with the sub-title: An American counteroffensive against Jewish Globalism, according to the National Observer.

The sub-title is no longer included in the online version of the article, which is a discussion between Japanese politician Satsuki Katayama, and Motoya.

Xinhua has not seen the original copy. But according to the National Observer's account, Motoya argued that anger against the Jews in the United States led to the election of President Donald Trump, and that Jews form the top one percent in the United States, provoking "dissatisfaction and anger towards them."

Coast Hotel's Vancouver headquarters did not respond to a request by Xinhua seeking comment from management.

"From time to time, we have to deal with issues of racism and xenophobia and Islamophobia, and I think people have a kind of guess that anti-Semitism has gone the way of the dinosaurs," Farber added.

Farber said the offensive content appears to be more than just a mistake.

"It was just inconceivable that this wasn't done with some malice of intent," he said. "It's hard to believe otherwise. This isn't some neo-Nazi magazine. This is a corporate magazine."

Motoya founded the APA Hotel Group in 1971. The chain has more than 373 hotels in Japan and 38 properties in North America.
PHNOM PENH, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Laos' President Bounnhang Vorachith will pay a state visit to Cambodia from Feb. 22 to 23 at the invitation of Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni, according to a Cambodian Foreign Ministry statement on Friday.

During the visit, the Laos' leader will be received in a royal audience at the Royal Palace by Sihamoni before he has bilateral talks with Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen at the Peace Palace.

"The state visit by His Excellency Bounnhang Vorachith will be a significant event to further enhance the friendship and strengthen the cooperation in all fields between both countries and the peoples," the statement said.

This will be Bounnhang's first visit to Cambodia since assuming office in April 2016.
BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese central bank's yuan outstanding for foreign exchange continued to decline in January, weighed on by capital outflow pressures.

The funds declined 208.8 billion yuan (around 30.5 billion U.S. dollars) in January month-on-month to 21.73 trillion yuan, data from the People's Bank of China showed Friday.

It marked the 15th consecutive month of decline.

As the Chinese currency is not freely convertible under the capital account, the central bank has to purchase foreign currency generated by China's trade surplus and foreign investment in the country, adding funds to the money market.

China's forex reserves dipped to about 2.99 trillion U.S. dollars in January, down from about 3.01 trillion dollars in December 2016, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed last week.
People holding postcards participate in a protest to demonstrate how important immigrants are to America's economy on the Day Without Immigrants at Union Park of Chicago, the United States, Feb. 16, 2017.(Xinhua/Wang Ping)

LOS ANGELES, Feb.16 (Xinhua) -- "I believe immigrants are crucial to America," Lee, the owner of a Taiwan restaurant in Los Angeles, California, told Xinhua.

Hundreds of restaurants, shops, local businesses and schools participated in a nationwide strike on Thursday to protest President Donald Trump's policies on immigration.

"We closed for half a day to support the 'A Day Without Immigrants' event, since most of my restaurants' helpers are Hispanic immigrants," said Lee. "If they would like to be off for the whole day, I am okay with it and will pay them as usual."

"A Day Without Immigrants" supporters aim to make people all over the country realize how much immigrants have contributed to the United States and how their life would be like if there were no immigrants.

The protests are against Trump's crackdown on undocumented immigrants, plans to build a border wall between the country and Mexico, plans to strip federal funding from sanctuary cities, as well as his court-suspended executive order temporarily barring U.S. entry to global refugees and immigrants from seven Mid East and North African countries, said organizers.

A Korean BBQ restaurant named Sam Woo with thousands of reviews on Yelp.com put a closing notice on its window, saying: "Dear Valued Guest, we are closing on Thursday, February 16, in support of the A Day Without Immigrants protest. As a restaurant founded by immigrants, we value the contributions of immigrants to America."

Jose Andres, a renowned chef and entrepreneur from Spain, posted on Twitter one day before the striking event, saying: "In support of our people & a day without immigrants, we will not open 2/16."

Andres estimated the shutdown would make him lose a 100,000 U.S. dollars. However, he thought it was an opportunity that people's voice can be heard.

Some small restaurants chose not to close, but supported the event in different ways.

A Twitter user named Paolo Lucchesi, posted his receipt of Zuni Cafe in San Francisco, on which is written "IMMIGRANTS MAKE AMERICA GREAT."

The latest statistics released by the U.S. Labor Department showed that 7.1 million immigrants worked in the catering industry by 2015.

Data released by Pew research center show that 1.1 million undocumented immigrants worked in the catering industry.
ISLAMABAD, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- At least 37 militants were killed and 7 security personnel injured in eight separate overnight operations and clashes with security forces in Pakistan on Friday, local media and officials said.

The crackdown was launched, following a deadly attack on a Sufi shrine in Sehwan town of the country's south Sindh province which left 72 people killed and over 200 others injured, according to official figures.

Spokesperson of paramilitary troops Rangers said that a convoy of about 25 rangers personnel was attacked Friday in Kathore area of the country's southern port city of Karachi.

The militants ambushed the convoy of Rangers who were on their way back to Karachi after completing rescue operation in Sehwan shrine, located some 284 km from the port city, the spokesperson said.

He added that three Rangers personnel were injured in firing by the militants and the forces gunned down seven terrorists in retaliatory attack.

In a separate incident in Manghopeer area of Karachi, 11 militants were killed when rangers conducted a search operation by acting on an intelligence tip-off regarding presence of suspected militants.

Rangers said that they recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition from the hideout of the suspected militants who were affiliated with a proscribed organization.

In a separate incident in capital city Quetta of Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province, two militants were killed and two security personnel injured in a clash, police said.

The criminal investigation department of the country's east Punjab province killed two militants during a raid in Sargodha district.

At least six militants were killed in the country's northwest tribal area of Orakzai Agency in the wee hours of Friday morning, police said.

The terrorists attempted to attack two check posts of security forces, but six were killed in the retaliatory attack and others fled the scene.

No causality was reported on the forces' side.

The Inter-Services Public Relation (ISPR), the media wing of Pakistani army, said in a statement that two security personnels were injured in a cross border attack by Afghan Taliban in the country's northwest tribal area of Khyber Agency.

The ISPR added that the forces foiled the attack and killed several militants in retaliation.

In the country's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, nine militants were killed in three separate attacks in Banu, Peshawar and D.I. Khan districts, police said.

Four militants were killed in clash with security forces in Banu, three were gunned down during a search operation in provincial capital of Peshawar and two others were shot down by police in D.I. Khan.
A man stands on rubble of a funeral house that was hit in airstrike in Arhab district, about 40 km north of Sanaa, capital of Yemen, on Feb. 16, 2017. The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemeni dominant Houthi rebels killed at least 11 women in an airstrike on a funeral house north of the capital Sanaa on Wednesday, a medic and security official said. (Xinhua/Mohammed Mohammed)

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- The UN special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, on Thursday called for an immediate end to the deadly attacks on civilians in the war-torn Middle East country.

"Women and children in particular have been subjected to unspeakable suffering in this brutal conflict," said the envoy.

Ahmed made the appeal in a statement issued here after at least six women and a girl were killed and dozens of people were wounded as a result of an alleged airstrike, which hit a funeral in the Arhab district of Sanaa Governorate on Wednesday afternoon.

"Attacks on civilians are unjustifiable, regardless of the circumstances," the statement said. "This should stop immediately."

"Every day, across Yemen, civilians are killed by indiscriminate attacks by all parties to the conflict on residential areas in complete disregard of the rules of international humanitarian law," the statement said.

"I call on all parties to adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law and respect the sanctity of civilian life," the UN envoy said in the statement.

The ongoing military clashes on the Red Sea coast is also aggravating an already catastrophic humanitarian situation, the statement noted, adding that tens of thousands of civilians have been caught in the war zone without access to humanitarian assistance and unable to flee to safety.

"The military activities in the region threaten to disrupt the import of commercial and humanitarian supplies which could have a terrible impact on the food security for large parts of the population," the statement said.

"I urge all parties to ensure the unhindered movement of commercial and humanitarian supplies, without which millions of Yemenis are at risk of death and famine," said the envoy.

"This deterioration of the humanitarian situation again underscores the need to end the violence and to achieve a sustainable cessation of hostilities and enduring solution to the Yemeni conflict through an inclusive political process," the statement added.

Earlier Thursday, the Saudi-led coalition launched an investigation into airstrike claims in Yemen that killed civilians, Saudi Press Agency reported, adding that Yemeni armed forces and rebels have clashed in the area near the capital Sanaa over recent days, and findings will be released after the end of the investigation.

The coalition declared last year responsibility for a deadly hotel bombing in Yemen, citing miscommunication as the reason. It promised revision of airstrike procedures and compensation of victims.

The coalition has been engaged in a war against Houthis in Yemen since 2015.
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong (C) enters a Seoul court for hearings in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb. 16, 2017. The heir apparent of Samsung Group, South Korea's largest family-run conglomerate, on Thursday appeared in hearings at a Seoul court, which will decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for him sought by prosecutors. (Xinhua/Lee Sang-ho)

SEOUL, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Possibility rose for an extended probe by special prosecutors into a scandal embroiling President Park Geun-hye after the arrest of Samsung's heir apparent on Friday.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong was taken into custody early in the day as a Seoul court issued an arrest warrant for him, sought by the independent counsel team for a second time.

It is rare that prosecutors request a warrant to detain a suspect for the second time without any new trustworthy evidences. The special prosecutors had conducted further investigations since the first attempt failed on Jan. 19.

The independent counsel team, which was launched on Dec. 21, is scheduled to terminate its investigation by the end of this month unless it is extended.

The team asked Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn Thursday to allow the extension, but the acting president has yet to express his position. Hwang, one of closest aides to the impeached leader, is forecast to deny the independent counsel's request.

Pressures are mounting on Hwang into accepting the request as just 11 days are left for the prosecutors who are independently probing the corruption scandal that led to the impeachment of President Park.

The biggest opposition Minjoo Party has submitted a revised law, pending the parliamentary judiciary committee, to extend the special investigation for 50 days. Under the original law, it can be lengthened for up to 30 days.

Welcoming the detention of the Samsung heir as a chance to establish justice and prove a basic principle that all are equal before law, opposition parties demanded the extension of the investigation.

The ruling Liberty Korea Party said the extended probe is not an option, actually objecting to the extension.

According to a Realmeter survey released Thursday, 67.5 percent favored the prolonged investigation by special prosecutors, more than doubling 26.7 percent against it.

It was based on a poll of 506 voters conducted on Wednesday. It has 4.4 percentage points in margin of error.

Related:

Samsung heir appears in hearings to decide arrest sought by S.Korean prosecutors

SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) - The heir apparent of Samsung Group,South Korea's largest family-run conglomerate, on Thursday appeared in hearings at a Seoul court, which will decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for him sought by prosecutors.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong entered the Seoul court earlier in the morning, surrounded by a horde of journalists. The grim-faced heir answered no questions from them. Protesters chanted for his detention nearby, TV footage showed. Full story

S.Korean prosecutors seek 2nd arrest warrant for Samsung heir

SEOUL, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- South Korean prosecutors independently investigating the scandal involving impeached President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday sought their second arrest warrant for the heir apparent of Samsung Group, the country's biggest family-controlled conglomerate. Full story

S.Korean prosecutors to summon Samsung heir over bribery charges
SHANGHAI, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A man was sentenced to eight years in prison for setting off two homemade explosive devices in Shanghai Pudong International Airport in June 2016, a court in Shanghai announced Friday.

Shanghai No. 3 Intermediate People's Court handed down the sentence to Zhou Xingbai and also stripped his political rights for two years.

The court found that Zhou formed the idea of setting off bombs at the airport and ending his own life in May 2016, due to dissatisfaction with his personal life.

Zhou set off two homemade explosive devices in beer bottles at a check-in counter in Terminal 2 at around 2:30 p.m. on June 12, 2016. Three passengers were slightly injured by flying glass, and a few flights were affected.

He cut his own throat with a knife at the airport, but was taken to hospital for medical treatment.

On his WeChat account, he wrote that he owed many people money and was going to do something "very crazy."

Zhou has no mental illness and should take full criminal responsibility for his actions, according to the court.
WELLINGTON, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Shipping companies must ensure they treat their crews according to international minimum standards when they visit New Zealand from next month, maritime authorities warned Friday.

New Zealand would begin enforcing the International Labour Organisation's Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) to ensure fair treatment of seafarers, said Maritime New Zealand.

The convention, which sets minimum standards to address the health, safety and welfare of seafarers on commercial vessels, would come into force on March 9.

The convention would benefit local and foreign seafarers with improved safety and living standards, Maritime New Zealand director Keith Manch said in a statement.

"The advantage for New Zealand in ratifying the convention is we can inspect foreign flagged ships from any country to make sure they meet the MLC standards," said Manch.

New Zealand was among 81 member states that had adopted the convention.

It applied to everyone working on a ship and required that all crew had some form of health and safety training.

Under the convention, seafarers who needed hospitalisation or medical care while overseas on a ship were entitled to shore-based medical care at the owner's expense.

It also covered timely payment of wages and repatriation should someone fall ill or die while at work.

New Zealand had ratified the MLC last year in a move the government said would protect the reputation of New Zealand exports.

More than 99 percent of New Zealand's export goods by volume are transported on foreign ships.

The convention would apply to about 890 foreign commercial cargo and cruise ships visiting New Zealand annually, and approximately 30 New Zealand ships, according to government figures from March last year.
HANGZHOU, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese siwmming superstar Sun Yang said in a recent interview that he won't give up long-distance events.

Sun was honored at the 2016 Top 10 Athletes of Zhejiang Province Award Ceremony on Feb.15. For his excellent performance at Rio, Sun unanimously won the Best Male Athlete of the Year award.

Sun, who won gold in the 400m and 1,500m freestyle at the 2012 London Olympics to become his country's first male Olympic swimming champion, has raised eyebrows after the Rio olympics for participating in several variety shows.

But he reassured the public at the ceremony. "I attend these variety shows intermittently, but I am still keep training all the time. I am in a pretty good form now, so please look ahead to my performance in this year," said the 25-year-old.

Sun also denied rumors that he will give up the long-distance events for which he is famous, and instead focus on short-distance events in the future.

"Actually, I'm working on both speed training and aerobics simultaneously now. Maybe in the qualification trials, I will participate in multiple events: 200, 400, 800, 1500 and relays, maybe 6 or 7. And I will try my best to get good results in every single game," he said.
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Two fishermen from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) were sentenced to 2 years and 6 months imprisonment in a penal colony for attacking Russian border guards in October last year, a local judiciary authority said Friday.

According to a message released by the Far Eastern Transport Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Russian border guards on Oct. 15, 2016 detained a DPRK fishing vessel in Russia's exclusive economic zone in Primorsky Kray.

The detention came after an attempted attack from the DPRK vessel's crew. The attack left nine DPRK crew members injured and one member dead and also injured four Russian border guards, said the department.

The department also said that the sentences has not come into force yet.

The embassy and consulate of the DPRK in Russia have not commented on the situation yet.
SUVA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Fijian Elections Office has begun preparing for the Pacific island nation's 2018 general election, the government-owned Fiji Broadcasting Corporation reported Friday.

After getting the approval from the Electoral Commission, the elections office, which is in the initial stages of planning for the general election, is expected to publish plans and processes that will be undertaken before polling.

"In 2017, the Fijian Elections Office will focus primarily on procurement of election materials, preparation of training material manuals and guidelines, finalization of polling materials, finalization of pre-poll and polling venues for the whole country," said Mohammed Saneem, supervisor of elections.

The elections office will undertake the recruitment of approximately 17,000 polling staff this year, Saneem said.

Fiji holds a general election every four years, as per the country's constitution.
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong (C) enters a Seoul court for hearings in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb. 16, 2017. (Xinhua/Lee Sang-ho)

SEOUL, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A South Korean court on Friday issued an arrest warrant for the heir apparent of Samsung Group, the country's largest family-controlled conglomerate, on bribery charges linked to the corruption scandal that led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.

A judge at the Seoul Central District Court said there is enough justification to issue the warrant for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong given the newly added charges and the newly collected evidences.

The princeling of the South Korea's richest family faced an immediate incarceration at a detention center south of Seoul, where he had been waiting for the announcement made at about 5:40 a.m. local time.

The arrest of the Samsung heir would help build a bribery case against President Park.

The third-generation Samsung heir was eventually detained in the second attempt by prosecutors independently investigating the scandal that could topple the impeached leader. President Park is awaiting the constitutional court's ruling on the impeachment motion that is forecast to be made before the middle of March.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong (Front) enters a Seoul court for hearings in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb. 16, 2017. (Xinhua/Lee Sang-ho)

Lee Jae-yong became the first head of the most powerful South Korean business empire to be arrested in its 79-year history. Samsung was set up in March 1938.

His father Lee Kun-hee, the second-generation chief, was convicted twice on bribery and tax evasion in 1996 and 2008, but he received suspended prison terms. He was pardoned by the country's presidents both times.

Samsung's founder Lee Byung-chul was not punished though he was investigated in 1996 for smuggling charges.

The independent counsel team made its first request to arrest Vice Chairman Lee, which was denied on Jan. 19 by the Seoul court for lack of evidence. At the time, it was sought on charges of bribery, embezzlement and perjury.

The special prosecutors had since raided the offices of the country's anti-trust body and the financial regulator to collect more evidences, while summoning and questioning relevant witnesses and suspects.

This time around, two charges were added to the Samsung heir, including hiding assets overseas and concealing the proceeds of criminal acts.

Lee was charged with paying 43.3 billion won (38 million U.S. dollars) in bribes to President Park's longtime friend Choi Soon-sil, who is at the center of the influence-peddling scandal and now is in custody, in return for political favors in the controversial 2015 merger of two Samsung units seen as crucial to the power transfer.

The merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries was extremely crucial to the Samsung's third-generation leader to inherit the management control from his father Lee Kun-hee who was incapacitated in 2014 for heart attack.

Meanwhile, the warrant to detain Samsung Electronics President Park Sang-jin, who serves as head of the Korea Equestrian Federation, was denied for his limited authority, position and role in the case.

Samsung was the biggest donor to two nonprofit foundations, which Choi allegedly controlled for personal gains. As President Park was branded as an accomplice to Choi, bribing Choi could be equivalent to bribing the scandal-scarred president.

The company also signed a contract worth tens of millions of dollars with a German company owned by Choi and her daughter to finance the daughter's equestrian training in the European country.

The Samsung vice chairman was also accused of lying under oath during a December parliamentary hearing over the presidential scandal.
Photo taken on Feb. 17, 2017 shows the border gate of Torkham in eastern Nangarhar province, Afghanistan.Hundreds of Afghans including scores of patients have been waiting behind border gate at Torkham since early Friday morning after Pakistani government sealed off the crossing point in the wake of terrorist attack in Pakistan that claimed scores of lives on Thursday. (Xinhua/Rahman Safi)

TORKHAM, Afghanistan, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Afghans including scores of patients have been waiting behind border gate at Torkham since early Friday morning after Pakistani government sealed off the crossing point in the wake of terrorist attack in Pakistan that claimed scores of lives on Thursday.

"I have been waiting to since early morning to take a patient to Peshawar of Pakistan but the border gate is closed," an Afghan citizen Noor Gul told Xinhua.

He said that he was unaware of border closure.

Rahman is another Afghan citizen who was waiting behind the gate to cross the border point and visit a doctor in Peshawar city of Pakistan.

Another person, Hashmatullah of Kabul also complained that he was waiting to receive the coffin of a relative who passed away in a hospital in Peshawar Thursday night and has been taken by other relative behind the border gate.

Hundreds of Afghans cross the border point at Torkham daily to visit their relatives or take their patients to Pakistan for medical treatment.

In the wake of a deadly suicide bombing in a shrine in Pakistan on Thursday which reportedly claimed the lives of some 80 people and injured more than 200 others, Islamabad shut down the border crossing point at Torkham for an indefinite period of time.

Torkham border point connects Nangarhar province of Afghanistan to Pakistan.

Militants loyal to the Islamic State (IS) group have reportedly claimed of responsibility for the deadly attack on the shrine.

Pakistani government, according to media reports, believes that the attack was organized in Afghan soil and thereofore summoned officials from Afghanistan embassy on Friday and handed down a list of 76 wanted terrorists to be handed over to Islamabad.
MOSCOW, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Russia will pay off all the USSR foreign debts by the end of this year, with the last tranche to be paid to Bosnia and Herzegovina, said the Russian Finance Ministry on Friday.

"The agreement is technically ready for a long time, the two countries have already initialed it. The document needs to be only signed ... There are no difficulties in the payment, the issue will be closed by the summer," reported the Russian newspaper Izvestia citing the Finance Ministry.

Last week, the ministry announced the settlement of the 60.6 million U.S. dollars' Soviet debt to Macedonia, and said the only outstanding debt left from the Soviet era was to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Both countries were established after the breakup of Yugoslavia and received the right to reclaim part of the debt of the USSR, the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

The ministry press-service confirmed that the payment will be made from part of the 2017 budget, which is aimed to settle the debt with the sum of 512.3 billion rubles (8.9 billion U.S. dollars).

The Finance Ministry said the Russian-Bosnian-Herzegovinian intergovernmental agreement will be signed by the ministry on behalf of the government, and the repayment of the debt will be effected within 45 days from the date of its ratification.
SEOUL, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- South Korean prosecutors investigating a scandal embroiling impeached President Park Geun-hye planned to summon a former presidential secretary tasked with inspecting senior government officials and overseeing the intelligence and prosecutorial agencies.

Woo Byung-soo, former senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, will be called in as a suspect on Saturday for charges of abuse of power, Lee Kyu-chul, spokesman of the special prosecutors, told a press briefing Friday.

Woo, who served in the post monitoring senior officials over corruption and supervising the prosecution and the intelligence agency, is suspected of abusing his power to obstruct investigation into the 2014 maritime disaster.

The passenger ferry Sewol capsized and sank off the country's southwest coast on April 16, 2014, claiming lives of 304 passengers, mostly high school students on a school trip to the southern resort island of Jeju.

The botched rescue operations in the tragic incident are subject to the special prosecutors' investigation under a law that was passed in the parliament to enable the launch of the independent counsel team.

The career prosecutor may not be responsible for the ferry sinking, but he is suspected of trying to influence the state prosecutors' probe into the coast guard to protect President Park, who had apparently been missing during the first seven hours when the ferry was sinking.

Spokesman Lee said possibility was high for Woo to be charged with the dereliction of duty in addition to abuse of power.

Woo is suspected of neglecting his duty to inspect high-level officials by deliberately conniving at President Park's longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil's intervention in state affairs behind the scenes.

It is alleged that his mother-in-law and Chio have maintained close relationship for long, and that his promotion to the senior presidential secretary was influenced by Choi who is at the center of the corruption scandal that led to the impeachment of President Park.
ABU DHABI, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced that it plans to build a city on Mars by 2117.

"The project, to be named 'Mars 2117,' integrates a vision to create a mini-city and community on Mars involving international cooperation," said UAE's Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum.

At the end of the fifth World Government Summit held in UAE's largest city Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed said that the project included the country's space science research in universities and would gather an Emirati and international team of scientists.

According to Sheikh Mohammed's tweets on Tuesday, the "Mars 2117" project sought to "push the human exploration of Mars" and "build a space pioneering passion among the Emirati youth."

"The Mars 2117 Project is a long-term project, where our first objective is to develop our educational system so our sons will be able to lead scientific research across the various sectors," Sheikh Mohammed said in an official media release.

He added that research on faster space travel, transportation, energy and food supply on Mars would also be carried out.

The initial plan set a concept of using robots to build the city, which was showcased together with virtual reality (VR) experience during the World Government Summit.

Saeed Al Gergawi, manager of the summit's scientific and research committee, told CNBC that the city would be roughly the size of Chicago with a population of 600,000.

With several research and observation satellites already developed, the major oil supplier country is making conquering space a part of its strategy to diversify its economy away from oil.

The UAE launched its Mars mission named Hope in October 2015, the first in the Arab world, with the goal of sending an unmanned space probe to the planet by 2021.

The official website of the UAE Mars mission announced that a spacecraft is set to blast off in July 2020 and arrive on Mars in 2021 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the founding of the country, which would be celebrated at the annual National Day on Dec. 2.

The UAE Space Agency has already began cooperation with counterparts in Russia, the United States and other countries to push forward the development of the mission.
LONDON, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A newly-discovered essay written by the former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill almost 80 years ago discusses the possibility of aliens in the universe and space travel.

"One day, possibly even in the not very distant future, it may be possible to travel to the moon, or even to Venus or Mars," he wrote 30 years before the first astronaut landed on the moon.

Churchill wrote the 11-page science article in 1939, and the document was unearthed by the National Churchill Museum in Britain.

According to the museum, the essay draft was probably intended for a newspaper, but never published. It was then sent to a U.S. museum in the 1980s until its rediscovery last year.

Churchill's views of potential life in other parts of the universe were very much ahead of his time, such as the intuitive prediction of their existence and the description of their habitable zones.

"All living things of the type we know require water," he said.

Commenting on human civilization, Churchill penned, "I, for one, am not so immensely impressed by the success we are making of our civilization here that I am prepared to think we are the only spot in this immense universe which contains living, thinking creatures, or that we are the highest type of mental and physical development which has ever appeared in the vast compass of space and time."

"He had a tremendous intellect," Westminster College President Benjamin Ola Akande said about Churchill in a statement.
KATHMANDU, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Nepalese government on Friday condemned a deadly suicide blast at a shrine in Pakistan's south Sindh Province.

In a press statement, the Nepalese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the government was deeply saddened by the news of brutal bomb attack in a shrine in Pakistan.

"The Government of Nepal, in line with its principled position, unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations," the ministry said.

Wishing a speedy recovery of those injured, the Nepal government believed that the perpetrators of these heinous acts will be brought to justice.

Nepal has expressed heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the government and people of Pakistan as well bereaved families.

The death toll of a deadly suicide blast at a shrine in Sehwan town of Pakistan's south Sindh Province Thursday night has climbed to 72. Inspector General of Sindh police A.D. Khawaja said over 200 people were also injured in the explosion.

Global terror group Islamic State (IS) has claimed the attack.

This is the second time when IS claimed an attack targeting a shrine in Pakistan over the last three months.
BOGOTA, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Colombian army commander General Alberto Jose Mejia confirmed Thursday that troops had been fighting dissident guerrilla fighters from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in various parts of the country.

The FARC and the government signed a peace agreement last year which involved the guerrilla group's demobilization, but some soldiers have refused to give up fighting.

"We have been carrying out, since mid-January, important operations against the dissidents. We have had battles and seized important arsenals, ammunition, explosives and anti-aircraft guns. This effort is going well," said Mejia in a press conference, adding fights had taken place in the departments of Guaviare, Putumayo and Caqueta.

Mejia added the number of armed dissidents stood at around 300, and the troops are carrying out measures to persuade the remaining fighters to disarm.

"Operations against the dissidents are ongoing and we have had half a dozen battles with them," he said.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos ordered the government army to immediately occupy the areas abandoned by the FARC to prevent them from becoming drug trafficking corridors.

A total of 65,000 soldiers and police will arrive in 120 municipalities in various parts of the country.

According to Mejia, Bogota hopes this measure will also prevent various criminal gangs from establishing themselves in these areas.

Around 200 Colombians have sought refuge in Venezuela, fleeing the violence of armed gangs, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said Thursday.
BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Net foreign exchange sales in Chinese banks dropped last month, indicating eased capital outflows, new data showed Friday.

Banks bought 121.6 billion U.S. dollars worth of foreign currency and sold 140.8 billion U.S. dollars, resulting in a net sale of 19.2 billion U.S. dollars in January, according to an online State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) statement.

The deficit was down from December's 46.3 billion U.S. dollars and November's 33.4 billion U.S. dollars.

The pressure on capital outflows has been alleviated since the start of the year, SAFE said

The Chinese yuan has shown signs of recovering from its previous weakness against the U.S. dollar, as the economy started the year on a firmer footing.

The central parity rate of the yuan strengthened for the fourth consecutive day to 6.8456 against the U.S. dollar Friday, marking a more than three-week high.
COLOMBO, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan Police arrested eight people on Friday, for attempting to flee illegally to New Zealand by boat, the police media unit said.

The police said the asylum seekers were arrested from Negombo, in the outskirts of Colombo.

The arrested individuals were residents of Negombo and Marawila, in the western province, and Kalmunai and Mullaitivu, in the island's north.

They will be produced before a local court later on Friday.
MANILA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines and Russia are working on a security agreement that both countries hope to sign during President Rodrigo Duterte's visit to Russia in spring, a government statement said on Friday.

The statement said the Philippine leader met with Russia's Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev, the top security adviser of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Duterte's home city of Davao on Thursday to thresh out details of the security arrangement that will include military intelligence swapping and maritime law enforcement.

"The bilateral talks discussed future government-to-governmnent cooperation in the fields of security and intelligence, defense and military, law enforcement, terrorism and transnational crime, anti-illegal drugs work plan and maritime law enforcement," the statement read.

Aside from an Agreement on Defense Cooperation, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, said that Manila and Moscow are also negotiating a "military-technical cooperation agreement." He said the Philippine defense department and Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation are working on this agreement now.

"The discussions also zeroed in on countering terrorism and transnational crimes with each side updating each other of their respective efforts to counter narcotic drugs and Russia manifesting that it could provide training for the presidential security group in connection with VIP protection and cooperation between the two countries's law enforcement agencies as well as coast guards," Lorenzana, who was also at the meeting, said in another statement.

He said the Russian side also extended an invitation for the Philippines to join a database sharing system, specifically in relation to terrorists.

Duterte has repeatedly said that he wants to have "open alliances" with China and Russia, saying he is fed up with the United States shabby treatment of the Philippines.

He met with Putin once at the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru in November last year.
WELLINGTON, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Four men have been charged in New Zealand with importing or exporting child sexual abuse material in a Customs crackdown on child exploitation this year.

Customs profiling prompted the questioning a 47-year-old New Zealand resident at Auckland Airport on Jan. 13, said a statement from Customs Friday.

Officers located child sexual abuse material on his phone and a search search revealed more objectionable publications on his home computer.

He faced charges for importing and possessing objectionable material.

A week later, Customs and police investigators arrested and charged a 30-year-old man with being involved in exporting and distributing, or uploading, child sexual abuse material using a common messaging application.

The arrest of the man in the far northern town of Warkworth was the result of an ongoing Customs investigation into online offending and intelligence from the New Zealand Police.

Late last month, Customs officers questioned a 63-year-old dual New Zealand-United Kingdom citizen returning from overseas and detained his electronic devices for further examination.

Customs investigators arrested the man after forensic analysis located objectionable publications and he faced importation and possession charges.

Earlier this month, investigators from Customs and the Department of Internal Affairs arrested a 67-year-old Auckland man for exporting objectionable publications using an online chatroom.

He faced charges for exporting and distributing objectionable publications.

Customs investigations manager Maurice O'Brien said combating child exploitation was a high priority, whether it was someone carrying sexual abuse images and videos across the border or offending by uploading, downloading or sharing such material over the virtual border.

"Customs uses intelligence and technology to identify travelers who may be carrying objectionable publications, and we have a small team of dedicated investigators who identify online offending," O'Brien said in the statement.

"Forensic examination of e-devices, detained at the airport or seized at a search warrant, contributes to the evidence gathered for prosecution."
A Syrian soldier fires his Dushka machine gun against rebel positions in the countryside of Homs province, central Syria, on March 19, 2016. (Xinhua/Ammar)

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- After rounds of peace talks on Syria, including the latest Astana meeting, the hope of implementing a ceasefire and achieving reconciliation in the war-torn country seems to diminish.

At the Astana peace talks, which started on Thursday after being postponed one day for technical reasons, Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed to create a tripartite operational group to monitor Syria's ceasefire.

Meanwhile, a special mechanism for the exchange of hostages was created at the meeting.

However, "it is still very far to direct the Syrian dialogue, the volume of mutual distrust is high enough and there are a lot of mutual accusations," said Alexander Lavrentyev, head of the Russian delegation at a press conference after the meeting.

The meeting, attended by representatives from the Syrian government, rebels, Russia, Turkey, Iran, Jordan, as well as the United Nations and the United States as observers, failed to reach two agreements as anticipated before the gathering.

The meeting, the second time in three weeks in Kazakhstan that Syrian government officials are sitting face-to-face with the rebels, finally saw the opposing Syrian groups exchanging angry tirades at each other.

Their brokers also showed differing views. Turkey is fiercely opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Russia and the third co-sponsor, Iran, are Assad's staunchest allies.

The first such event was held on Feb. 6 in Astana, where Russia, Turkey and Iran only issued a joint communique instead of achievement documents as originally planned.

The next meeting on Syria will take place in Astana within 30 days. Working groups will gather to continue working on the peace process.

Analysts believed that firstly, the parties concerned remain divided over many substantial issues; secondly, to realize a real ceasefire, foreign forces which are engaged in the Syrian civil war need to reach an agreement; thirdly, as not all rebel groups were included in the talks, it is questionable whether a complete ceasefire could be reached in Syrian territory.

Rounds of Syrian peace talks have taken place in the Swiss city of Geneva under the auspices of the United Nations (UN), but little progress has been made mainly due to continuous fighting in the Middle Eastern country.

A new round of intra-Syrian peace talks is scheduled to kick off on Feb. 23 in Geneva.

Related:

Iran, Russia and Turkey to create monitoring group on Syria

ASTANA, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed on Thursday at a peace talk held here in Astana to create a tripartite operational group to monitor Syria's ceasefire, a Russian foreign ministry official said.
BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The construction of an exhibition that will feature the nation's missile weapons equipment and technology started in the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution Friday.

The construction work should be completed by the end of June, the museum said, adding that it would be the only exhibition of its type in the country.

Popular science about missiles and the insight of various experts on the weapon, including Qian Xuesen, will also be on display, according to the museum.

Also known as Tsien Hsue-shen, Qian played a key role in China's missile and aviation programs after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

The museum signed an agreement with China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, a major missile weapon equipment developer, in February 2016, to jointly build the exhibition.

The museum said the exhibition would be an educational base for promoting patriotism, in addition to being a popular science park for defense weapons and equipment.

It will be located at the science and technology hall, which includes 10 sections and covers an area of about 10,000 square meters.

The museum was opened to the public in August 1960 as the only state-level military museum in China.
PHNOM PENH, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A Cambodian court decided to detain political commentator Kim Sok on Friday following a lawsuit brought by Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, a court's spokesman said.

The outspoken commentator was detained when he appeared in the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to answer questions about the lawsuit.

"The court's judge Ros Piseth decided to temporarily detain Kim Sok under the charges of defamation and incitement to cause social chaos," Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesman Ly Sophana told reporters.

Under the charges, the 37-year-old commentator could face up to two years in prison.

Hun Sen filed the first complaint against Kim Sok to the court on Monday for claiming that the ruling party ordered the July killing of political analyst Kem Ley.

The prime minister said that Kim Sok's groundless accusation had tarnished the image of the ruling Cambodian People's Party.

He demanded 500,000 U.S. dollars in compensation in the first case and suggested the court to punish the commentator in accordance with the law.

On Thursday, the prime minister lodged the second complaint against Kim Sok for allegedly accusing the government of killing humans.
News program about the death of Kim Jong Nam, the older half-brother of the DPRK leader and the eldest son of late leader Kim Jong Il, is seen on TV at the Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea. (Xinhua/Yao Qilin)

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian police are working on a DNA profiling of Kim Jong Nam, the elder half-brother of the top leader of Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), a senior police officer said on Friday.

Abdul Samah Mat, the police chief of Selangor state told Xinhua that they will ask the DPRK embassy in Malaysia to provide the DNA samples from Kim Jong Nam's next-of-kin, which will be used for a positive identification to prove the relationship.

Kim died at the Kuala Lumpur airport on Monday. Next-of-kin may include brothers, sisters and maybe kids, said Abdul, who is leading the criminal investigation in the case.

DNA samples may include blood, saliva and other body fluids in criminal investigation.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi speaks during a press conference in Putrajaya, Malaysia, on Feb. 16. 2017. (Xinhua)

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi confirmed Kim's identity on Thursday, telling reporters at the briefing that Malaysian authorities will, per international laws, ask the next-of-kin of the deceased to claim the remains after the investigation procedures.
Image taken on Jan. 25, 2017, shows a view of a section of the border wall between Mexico and the United States, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. (Xinhua/Alicia Fernandez)

by Peter Mertz

DENVER, the United States, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Restaurants, schools and construction sites staffed by Mexican workers in Denver were silent Thursday.

Thousands of "immigrants" in this western U.S. city stayed home to support the national "A Day Without Immigrants" movement that saw participation of millions across the country, in reaction to Trump's anti-immigration policies.

In Denver, Julia Torres, 36, a high school teacher, noted on Twitter that only 6 out of 24 students were in class at the end of the day.

That was because parents of the students were taking a day off from work for the movement and they wanted to stay home with their kids, school officials said.

Denver employers reported that employees who had "worked for 20 years without missing a day" were gone Thursday.

One Denver restaurateur said that his Latino staff had done their "prep work" the day before so their absence meant no loss of revenue. But they were still noticeably absent Thursday.

Local celebrity chef Frank Bonanno, who owns several restaurants in Denver, closed Osteria Marco and Russell's Smokehouse Thursday in support of the movement.

Bonanno, of Italian descent, was quick to support his "Latino" workers.

Although the modern term "Latino" refers to 700 million people living in Central and South America, the word also applies to those whose native language originates from Latin.

So, "Latin" also represents Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and other ethnic groups of Old World Latin nations.

Maria Empanada, an Argentinean restaurant on South Broadway in Denver, was also closed for the day.

Lorena Cantarovici, the restaurant's owner, said on Facebook she's a "proud immigrant who came to America for a better life," and she could not condone Trump's policies.

While the widespread absence of immigrants from their workplaces showed that they too represent a considerable part of the U.S. economy, those who had to abandon the idea of taking part in the movement exposed their weakness.

Miguel Mendoza, a construction worker from Veracruz, Mexico, told Xinhua he had to work because his boss, a big Trump supporter, told him, "take the day off, but I'm not going to pay you."

"I'm only working today because I need the money," said Mendoza, 35, a Denver resident for 10 years.

He received his green card two years ago, making him a legal resident of the United States. But back home south-of-the-border, he has children to support and bills to pay.

"My boss likes Trump, so I am worried I might get fired," Mendoza told Xinhua. "If I did not come to work, he would hire someone else to take my place."

Mendoza's boss runs a small construction company in Longmont, Colorado, a small, conservative, blue-collar city 60 miles (97 km) north of Denver.

Like many such small American businesses, Mendoza's white boss employs Americans of Mexican or Latino decent.

The same scenario greeted Jesus Gonzales in Rifle, Colorado, who works for an American-owned fencing company in Colorado's remote Western Slope.

"My boss is an American businessman. He doesn't like Trump, but if I show up late for work or take a day off, I might get fired," he said.

Gonzales has a wife and four children to feed, so he worked Thursday without complaining.

"Sure I'd like to protest, and I think that deep inside, Trump dislikes many immigrants, but I must support my family," he told Xinhua.
CHONGQING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A district in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality is pioneering a new budget transparency system to weed out corruption across its rural areas.

All village officials in Rongchang District must now make public their allocation of 10 major types of public funds, including basic living allowances, poverty-relief and disaster-relief subsidies, and house renovation grants.

In the past, village officials were known to have dipped into public funds with wanton abandonment, and allocated money to friends and relatives.

China has been stepping up its anti-corruption efforts since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, targeting both senior and grassroots level officials.

Across Rongchang, village officials and their direct relatives must now apply for public funds and grants issued by the government. All details of allocated funding must be posted on village bulletin boards twice a year and distributed via text messages, Wechat and on the microblog Sina Weibo.

All bulletin boards must display the names of all officials and their direct relatives in the village alongside any funding they have received. All officials must confirm the veracity of the information with an inked finger print.

"Also, their application forms should be checked by more than 10 departments before being approved," said Tong Fei, secretary of Rongchang's district commission for discipline inspection.

Tong said public supervision is extremely important, and all the bulletin boards include a phone number for the public to report any untoward behavior.

The new system has been welcomed by locals.

"In the past, village officials just wanted to line their own pockets, or be favorable to their relatives," said Liu Jifen, from Yakou Village. "Now that everything is out in the open, it's more transparent."

"The new system has reduced corruption," said Xu Jianbin, secretary of the Communist Party of China Xibutan Village branch.

In the first eight months of 2016, corruption cases in the district decreased 61.5 percent year on year, according to official figures.

"The mechanism should be rolled out to other local-level areas," said Fang Yong, a local discipline inspection official in Rongchang.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang (Source: fmprc.gov.cn)

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Pakistan and offered support to Pakistan in its fight against terrorism.

China was greatly shocked by the massive casualties caused by the suicide blast on Thursday in Sehwan in Sindh province, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang at a press briefing.

"We strongly condemn this terrorist attack, express our deep condolences to the victims and sincere sympathies to the injured and the bereaved,"Geng said.

China opposes terrorism in all forms, he said, adding that it would continue to support Pakistan's efforts to fight against terrorism, maintain national stability and protect people's safety.

The deadly blast on a Sufi shrine killed 72 people and left over 200 others injured.

Related:

Death toll of Pakistan shrine blast rises to 72

ISLAMABAD, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of a deadly suicide blast at a shrine in Sehwan town of Pakistan's south Sindh Province has risen to 72, local police said.
HANOI, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has recorded no infections of human A/H7N9 bird flu so far, however, the country is promoting efforts to prevent the entry of virus from neighbouring China.

According to the Preventive Medicine Department under the Ministry of Health (MoH) on Friday, Vietnam's long shared border with China and busy cross-border trade activities between the two countries pose a high risk of H7N9 virus to be transmitted into Vietnam.

In order to prevent the disease, the MoH recommended people not use poultry or poultry products with unknown origins, and ensure food hygiene.

Vietnamese people are told to immediately notify local authorities and veterinary units if they detect any sick or dead poultry.

Those who have flu-like symptoms, such as fever, cough, chest pain or breathing difficulty, should visit doctors, the ministry said.

In a related move, a new outbreak of H5N6 avian flu was detected in Vietnam's central Quang Ngai province on Friday.

Some 3,000 chicken infected with H5N6 virus were culled while other 8,000 chicken in the neighbouring area are to be destroyed.

Quang Ngai Sub-Department of Animal Health is sanitizing the farms and surrounding areas, reported the state-run news agency VNA.
Officials of China's Ministry of Commerce introduce the trade cooperation among economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Xing Guangli)

Hi, here's what you need to know about China:

BEIJING -- China is firmly against rising protectionism and will take "all necessary measures" to defend the legal interests of its exporting companies, a commerce official said Thursday.

"The government will launch diplomatic negotiations, push for dialogue and cooperation, and help domestic industry associations and businesses respond to lawsuits," said Sun Jiwen, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, during a press conference.

"We will also resort to dispute settlement mechanisms if necessary," Sun said, responding to increasing trade remedies against Chinese products amid a weak global economic recovery. xhne.ws/DnEdV

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BONN -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Russian counterpart on Thursday, stressing the need for both nations to continue playing the role of securing strategic stability in global affairs.

Wang met with Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) foreign ministerial meeting held in Germany's western city of Bonn. xhne.ws/6cgCt

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WELLINGTON -- China and New Zealand have experience and expertise to share in responding to climate change, New Zealand Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett said after bilateral talks in Wellington Friday.

Bennett met with China's top official for climate change, Zhang Yong, Vice Chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, for the first ministerial dialogue under the New Zealand-China Climate Change Cooperation Arrangement Memorandum signed by the two countries' leaders in 2014. xhne.ws/f3mR7

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HANOI -- Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) said Friday that the country's tourism sector always welcomes and treats fairly with Chinese tourists, after a Chinese tourist was beaten at a Vietnamese border gate 10 days ago.

"We will continue coordination with relevant agencies to increase quality of products and services so that Chinese tourists to Vietnam should feel satisfied," said VNAT. xhne.ws/qPaNJ

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TUNIS -- Tunisian officials said Thursday that the visa exemption for Chinese would boost the tourism industry badly hit by terrorist attacks during last two years in this North African country.

"From today, the tourists of Chinese nationality will not need a visa to enter Tunisian territory, in the conditions of having a round-trip flight ticket and a valid hotel reservation voucher within 90 days," said Chafik Hajji, general director of consular affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. xhne.ws/dTSGW
HANOI, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A total of 56 meetings, conferences and dialogues of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) committees and working groups will be held during the first Senior Officials' Meeting and related meetings (SOM 1) in Vietnam's central Nha Trang city from Saturday.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Nguyen Minh Vu, deputy head of standing committee of the APEC 2017 National Secretariat, said under the theme "creating new dynamism, fostering a shared future," SOM 1 events will focus on different areas including liberalization of trade and investment, business facilitation, response to natural disasters, human resource development, education, travel facilitation for businessmen, ocean and fishery, e-commerce, services among others.

The meetings will seek measures to boost economic development for 21 APEC member economies and create in-depth economic connectivity, said Vu.

During SOM 1-context meetings, APEC representatives will discuss and agree on priorities and contents of APEC cooperation priorities in 2017. Priorities of four committees of trade-investment, economic, technology, budget management, other APEC cooperation schemes and orientations for APEC activities in 2017 will be mapped out at the SOM 1.

Bui Thanh Son, Vietnamese Deputy foreign minister and chairman of APEC 2017 SOM will chair the meetings.
by Njoroge Kaburo

NAIROBI, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Kenya Airways said Friday that it would start a direct flight between Nairobi and iconic Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe on May 18.

A statement from the airline said this would be the national carrier's 52nd destination and its second city in Zimbabwe after Harare where it operates 21 flights weekly.

"This new route highlights our strategy to continue 'Winning in Africa' which is driven by opening up the region and ensuring our value proposition meets the demands for our customers," said Kenya Airways' MD Mbuvi Ngunze.

Ngunze said the new route between Nairobi and Victoria Falls will operate three times a week on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.

The Victoria Falls operation will be linked to Cape Town, South Africa. This will see the airline increase its operations to Cape Town from the current four, which are served via Livingstone, Zambia, to six.

"We have seen increased demand for Cape Town, and had to increase our frequency in December. The route via Victoria Falls offers our guests two leisure holiday options," Ngunze said.

The national carrier will be the only carrier offering direct services between Victoria Falls and Cape Town.

The route will be operated by Embraer E190 with a configuration of 12 business class seats and 84 economy class seats.
China's United Nations (UN) ambassador Liu Jieyi (4th R Front) speaks during a launching ceremony of a pamphlet featuring Shanghai's experiences in sustainable urban development at the UN headquarters in New York, Feb. 16, 2017. China's United Nations (UN) ambassador Liu Jieyi on Thursday called for favorable external conditions for urban development in developing countries. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- China's United Nations (UN) ambassador Liu Jieyi on Thursday called for favorable external conditions for urban development in developing countries.

"The international community, particularly the developed countries, should honor their commitment in areas such as finance, technology, talents, open market and debt relief, to provide favorable external conditions for urban development in developing countries," Liu said here at the launching ceremony of a pamphlet featuring Shanghai's experiences in sustainable urban development.

The booklet, titled Shanghai Manual 2016: A Guide for Sustainable Urban Development in the 21st Century, provides 29 cases of how Shanghai promotes inclusive and sustainable development.

By cultivating an innovation-driven economy, transforming growth models and advancing urbanization, Shanghai made important achievements in building an international economic, financial, trade and shipping center, Liu said.

"I believe, as Shanghai's urban development experience could serve as a useful reference for other cities to realize sustainable development, the Shanghai Manual will surely make positive contributions to the international community's endeavors to promote sustainable urbanization," Liu said.

The ceremony was co-organized by the Habitat III Secretariat, a UN organ for sustainable urban development, the Shanghai Municipality and the Chinese Mission to the United Nations.
LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- At least 15 people were killed and 30 others injured as a passenger bus overturned in the southern Helmand province on Friday, a local official Omar Zawak said.

"A passenger bus was heading from Herat to Kandahar province but unfortunately it diverted from the road in Gereshk district of Helmand province and turned turtle, killing 15 people on the spot and injured 30 others," Zawak told Xinhua.

However, another official on the condition of anonymity asserted that more than 20 travelers were killed and more than 30 others sustained injuries in the accident.
WELLINGTON, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of people who fled their homes as wild fires swept through the outskirts of New Zealand's second largest city began to return to their properties Friday.

Authorities in the South Island city of Christchurch began lifting cordons in the Port Hills area four days after the fires began, said Christchurch Civil Defence officials.

The Port Hills blaze was believed to have claimed 11 houses and two sheds, but the full extent of the damage would not be known for some time.

The fire covered an area of 2,075 hectares, and about 400 houses and about 1,000 people have been evacuated, said a city council statement.

Rain on Friday had helped firefighters and cooled the ground, but there was still a risk of flare ups.

"It will take days for hot spots to cool completely," it said.

Emergency services were moving from air-based to ground-based firefighting.

Fifteen crew from the United States Coast Guard heavy icebreaker USCGC Polar Star were assisting police and the New Zealand Defence Force in the evacuated areas.

A New Zealand air force aircraft carrying fire retardant was expected to arrive in Christchurch from Australia late Friday.

A state of local emergency has been declared in Christchurch and in the neighboring Selwyn district.

Police and fire services are investigating the cause of the fire.

On Tuesday, a pilot died when a helicopter crashed while helping to fight against the fires in the hills around Christchurch.
JAKARTA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- An Indonesian man has been sent back home from Japan for allegedly planning to join IS terrorist group in Syria, an Indonesian police officer disclosed here on Friday.

Azni Muzakir alias Abdul Zakir, 44 years old, arrived in Indonesia's Bali Island on Wednesday, Senior Commissioner Martinus Sitompul, spokesman of national police said.

The spokesman revealed that the police would probe Muzakir's alleged implication in the terrorist group.

"According to a plan, he will be flown to Jakarta for an intensive investigation. A team from anti terror-squad has been waiting for him in Soekarno-Hatta airport," he said at the national police headquarters referring to the main airport in the country's capital of Jakarta.

Muzakir first came to Japan in 1997 and resumed entering the country in 2007, said Agung Sampurno, spokesman of Indonesian immigration office.

The Indonesian security authorities have attempted to stop dozens of citizens insisting on taking journeys to Syria for grouping with the IS, and have been monitoring scores others back home from Syria for joining the IS activities.
JINAN, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Sun Hongzhi, former vice minister of the State Administration for Industry & Commerce, was sentenced Friday to 18 years in prison for corruption.

Taian Intermediate People's Court in east China's Shandong Province charged Sun with accepting bribes, embezzlement of public funds and holding a huge amount of property from unidentified sources.

The court imposed a fine of 3.6 million yuan (around 526,000 U.S. dollars) on Sun, and ordered that all his illicit gains, which included the skins of a tiger and a leopard, be confiscated and turned over to the national treasury.

The court also required that all public funds he embezzled be returned to the government of Songyuan City in northeast China's Jilin Province.

Sun took advantage of his various official posts from 2002 to 2014 to seek benefits for entities and individuals in obtaining loans, contracts and promotions, and accepted cash and property worth over 14.2 million yuan either himself or through his wife, according to the court.

When he served as mayor of Songyuan City from 2009 to November 2014, Sun embezzled public funds of more than 1.64 million yuan, according to the verdict. He also held property worth over 9.53 million yuan with unidentified sources.

The court showed leniency, taking into consideration his confession, remorse and the fact that he voluntarily turned over some ill-gotten gains.
File photo shows refugees walk inside the Protection of Civilians site 3 of the United Nations Mission In South Sudan (UNMISS) in Juba, capital of South Sudan, Aug. 13, 2016. (Xinhua/Li Baishun)

JUBA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) revealed that some 20,000 displaced persons remain missing after last week's renewed fighting between warring factions on the west bank of the Nile River in the northern Upper Nile region.

The head of UNMISS, David Shearer, described on Thursday the lack of information about the situation of these internally displaced persons (IDPs) as a "real problem" after he visited the war-torn country's second largest town of Malakal - the epicenter of the recent violent fighting between government troops (SPLA) and rebels.

"UNMISS believes that the 20,000 people have fled towards Kodok from Wau Shilluk, a town eight miles north of the UN base in Malakal on the west bank of the River Nile.

Fighting between government SPLA forces and opposition forces has expanded geographically across the west bank over the past week, and shows no signs of abating, forcing more people to flee their homes," Shearer said in a statement.

He added that UN peacekeepers on Thursday attempted to carry out a foot patrol to Wau Shilluk, but were prevented from doing so by SPLA soldiers located at Wau Shilluk, a situation Shearer described as "very frustrating."

"We want to find out what has happened to those people and provide them with assistance if they need it," he said of the displaced persons.

UNMISS has described government relocations by air of IDPs through Juba into Malakal as unsustainable if they are not also supported with humanitarian assistance on arrival.

UNMISS also added that the Shilluk population of Malakal has abandoned the town and 33,000 people are currently taking refuge in the camp administered by UNMISS.

"UNMISS is increasingly concerned that fighting is once again spreading across the Upper Nile region," it added.

Meanwhile, the SPLA spokesman Brigadier Lul Ruai Koang said he had not received reports on the latest clash on Wednesday between the warring factions in newly created Bieh state located in the north of the country.

South Sudan has been shattered by civil war that broke out in December 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup. Machar denied the accusation but then mobilized a rebel force.

A peace deal signed in August 2015 led to the formation of a transitional unity government in April, but was again devastated by fresh violence in July, 2016.

Tens of thousands of South Sudanese have been killed, with over 2 million displaced and another 4.6 million left severely food insecure, since December 2013.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang (Source: fmprc.gov.cn)

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday said the United States should adhere to one-China policy and properly handle issues regrading Taiwan.

"We hope the U.S. will abide by one-China policy and principles of the three China-U.S joint communiques," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said when answering a question on the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).

According to reports, a former chief of the AIT Thursday said that the U.S. side will send marine corps to protect the new AIT site.

"China has always objected U.S.-Taiwan connections through official and military channels," Geng said, adding that China will keep an eye on the situation.

Related:

Constructive U.S.- China relations to stay strong & thrive in long run
JAKARTA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government will join investigation on alleged involvement of an Indonesian national in the assassination of the half-brother of the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), a senior minister said here on Friday.

Indonesian Security Chief Minister revealed that Indonesian foreign ministry affairs would take part in the investigation over the alleged linkage of case with Siti Aishah from Indonesia.

Let the foreign ministry carry out the investigation, Minister Wiranto said.

Aishah, from Serang town of Indonesia's Banten province, was reportedly detained by Malaysian authorities along with another woman for alleged involvement in the killing of Kim Jong Nam.

Malaysian police revealed previously that the 46-year-old Kim was found dead on Monday at the Kuala Lumpur airport. His body was taken to a hospital Wednesday for postmortem to ascertain the cause of his death.

Two female suspects who were captured by the surveillance footage at the airport had been detained. They hold Vietnamese and Indonesian passport respectively.
MOGADISHU, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Two UN agencies Friday appealed to international community to scale up humanitarian assistance to help drought-hit Somalia avert another "catastrophe."

The World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF) said they would need more than 450 million U.S. dollars to be able to provide urgent assistance required in the coming months.

"Humanitarian assistance has saved lives in the drought-affected north over the past year, but as the crisis spreads we have no time to lose," WFP Country Director Laurent Bukera said in a statement issued in Mogadishu

"Together with UNICEF and other partners, we are moving as quickly as possible to reach many more people with lifesaving support using every option we have, including cash-based transfers, specialized nutrition support and airlifting of relief goods," said the statement.

According to the agencies, the drought that the northern regions have struggled with for the last year has now spread throughout Somalia, threatening an already fragile population battered by decades of conflict.

About 6.2 million people or almost half the country's population are either severely food insecure or in need of livelihood support.

It is expected that 944,000 children will be acutely malnourished this year, including 185,000 who will be severely malnourished and in need of urgent lifesaving support.

Steven Lauwerier, the UNICEF Somalia Representative, said huge numbers of Somalis have come to the end of all their possible resources and are living hand-to-mouth.

"We have a small window of opportunity to avert this looming catastrophe and save children's lives and we are determined to work with all partners and stakeholders to succeed," Lauwerier said.

The UNICEF and WFP representatives this week have been visiting some of the worst-affected areas in the northern Puntland region, where the two agencies are delivering much-needed assistance.

The two agencies said funds have been generously provided by international donors from Europe, Asia, North America and the UN system for life-saving services in nutrition, food security, health, education, water and sanitation.

"The ongoing drought and other shocks have left communities with little to no resources to fall back on. Whole villages have lost their crops or seen their livestock die," said the agencies.

The prices of water and locally produced food have risen dramatically, and thousands of people are on the move in search of food and water.

The agencies noted that humanitarian access remains worryingly limited in some drought-affected areas of the south, but they are reinforcing joint efforts to scale up the response in areas that are accessible, where millions of lives are at risk.
ANKARA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Turkish officials said on Thursday that Turkey's troops and allies had completely surrounded the key Syrian city al-Bab and were conducting a clean-up operation against Islamic State (IS) militants, local media reported on Friday.

"Al-Bab is totally encircled at the moment. A serious cleaning operation is being done inside the city," Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik told reporters on the sidelines of the NATO Defense Ministers' meeting in Brussels, the Hurriyet daily reported.

"There is a very intense operation to clear al-Bab's city center of IS elements. The Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the Turkish Armed Forces have been conducting (operations) together," Isik said.

Hulusi Akar, Turkey's chief of the general staff, also confirmed the news.

Akar said the al-Bab operation was over and cleansing efforts were underway in the region, Daily Sabah reported.

On Tuesday, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said al-Bab were largely under the control of the FSA.

"Al-Bab has been largely taken under control. Our aim is to prevent corridors opening to Turkey from territories where terrorists are swarming," Daily Sabah quoted Yildirim as saying at a Justice and Development Party meeting in parliament.

Turkey's army launched Euphrates Shield operation on Aug. 24, 2016, in order to clear its border of terrorist organizations including the IS and Kurdish militants: the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its military wing, the People's Protection Unit (YPG).

In early December, the operation started to focus on al-Bab, where Turkish troops and the FSA have faced strong resistance.

Ankara says it sees Syria's Manbij and Raqqa, the claimed capital of IS, as its top two priorities once al-Bab is liberated.

Turkey has repeatedly vowed to prevent the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, EU and Turkey, or its Syrian affiliates PYD and YPG, from establishing a corridor of terror on Turkey's doorstep.
ISLAMABAD, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of Thursday's suicide blast at a Sufi shrine in Pakistan's south Sindh province has risen to 88 on Friday, authorities said.

The Sindh Ministry of Heath said 343 people were also injured in the explosion, adding that 76 critically wounded victims are under treatment in different hospitals at Sehwan, Dadu, Larkana, Nawabshah, Jamshoro, Karachi and Hyderabad districts while the slightly injured people were discharged after initial treatment.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa visited the blast victims at hospital and wished them a speedy recovery.

Sharif also directed the hospital authorities to provide best possible medical treatment to the injured people.

The Inter-Services Public Relations, the mouthpiece of Pakistani army, said in a statement that the terrorist activities are being carried out on the directions of hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan.

The army also closed Pakistan-Afghanistan border due to security reasons.

The military summoned Afghan embassy officials to the army general headquarters on Friday morning and handed them a list of 76 terrorists hiding in Afghanistan.

Rasool Bux, Senior House Officer (SHO) Police, said the suicide bomber entered the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine from crowded golden gate and blew himself up in a group of people performing Dhamal (Sufi dance) inside a compound in Sehwan, a small town 284 km from the provincial capital of Karachi.

Global terror group Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack.

According to initial investigations by the police, there was no light in the shrine due to power failure when the blast happened and it seems that the suicide bomber entered from the gate by taking advantage of the darkness.

The report added that the attacker entered in shrine in guise of a woman by wearing a burqa, a traditional veiled robe for local women.

The shrine did not have a lady checker and the policemen there let the attacker enter the shrine without checking by mistaking him as a woman due to his dress.

Raja Umar Khitab, head of the investigation team, said the bomber was carrying an estimated 7 kg of explosives in his vest.

The government of Sindh announced a three-day mourning on Friday over the incident and the national flag will fly on half-mast during the mourning days.

Army and police launched a crackdown against militants across the country, following the attack.

In separate operations in all the four provinces and tribal area of the country, at least 37 militants including commanders were killed and over 200 suspects arrested in Punjab province alone.

The military also launched an airstrike in tribal area of Khyber Agency, leaving eight militants killed.

Security was beefed up across the country, following the attack and all the shrines were closed for a brief time.

Extra contingent of police was deployed at the sensitive places across the country to avoid any untoward situation.
LAGOS, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A suspected suicide bomber detonated his explosive in the midst of 13 trucks along Maiduguri/Mafa road in northeast Nigeria's Borno State, police said Friday.

State police spokesperson Victor Isuku said in a statement in Maiduguri, the state capital, that only the bomber was killed as the vehicles were parked empty.

A police patrol team was promptly deployed to the scene to restore safety and normalcy, the police spokesman said.

This came barely 24 hours after the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) said its helicopter conveying personnel on medical outreach program at Gwoza came under attack by the insurgents.

The Mi-17 helicopter was shot at several times by the insurgents. However, there was no casualty except for an airman that sustained bullet wound.

The helicopter had departed from Maiduguri en-route the venue of the 2-day medical outreach program in Gwoza when it came under attack by the insurgents.

The Nigerian Air Force has been conducting medical outreach in the North-East as part of its humanitarian support to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

The latest of this effort was in Gwoza, followed by a similar effort undertaken recently for IDPs in Lagos area.
MUNICH, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Over 500 participants from around the world are expected to discuss a swathe of major global security issues ranging from the future of the transatlantic alliance to the West-Russia relations as the 53rd Munich Security Conference (MSC) officially opens here Friday afternoon.

The key annual gathering for the international strategic community comes after last year's game-changing events such as the Brexit and the Trump presidency.

This year's MSC, scheduled for three days, will see decision-makers in the realm of international security debating critical security challenges.

The conference agenda covers the future of transatlantic relations and NATO after the election of Donald Trump, the state of European Union cooperation in security and defense matters, the Ukraine crisis and relations with Russia, the war in Syria, and the security situation in the Asia-Pacific, including in the Korean peninsula. Participants will also discuss terrorism, information warfare, as well as major threats to global health and climate security.

"We are confronted with an international security environment that is arguably more volatile than at any point since World War II," MSC Chairman Wolfgang Ischinger told media ahead of the meeting.

Among this year's confirmed participants are the new UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, European Council President Donald Tusk, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) meets with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov during the Group of Twenty (G20) foreign ministerial meeting in Bonn, Germany, Feb. 16, 2017. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan)

BONN, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Russian counterpart on Thursday, stressing the need for both nations to continue playing the role of securing strategic stability in global affairs.

Wang met with Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) foreign ministerial meeting held in Germany's western city of Bonn.

Against the backdrop of complex changes in international and regional situation, China and Russia, as comprehensive strategic partners of coordination, should continue supporting each other firmly, Wang said.

Both countries should continue deepening comprehensive cooperation and playing the role of securing strategic stability in global affairs, he said.

Look ahead, China is willing to maintain high-level exchange with Russia, and strengthen alignment and cooperation between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Euroasian Economic Union project, Wang said.

China is also willing to maintain close communication and coordination with Russia on major international and regional issues, and unswervingly build a comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination with Russia, so as to jointly cope with various global challenges, Wang said.

Lavrov said Russia will work together with China to arrange major bilateral agendas this year, and enhance strategic communication and cooperation on global issues.

The two top diplomats also exchanged views on bilateral cooperation under the frameworks of G20 and BRICS.

Both agreed to deepen communication and coordination between the two nations under the framework of G20.

They endorsed an open and inclusive mechanism of global economy and multilateral trade, agreed to improve global governance and facilitate a successful G20 Hamburg Summit.

Wang and Lavrov praised the fruitful results during the past ten years of cooperation among the BRICS nations, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The two nations agreed to deepen practical cooperation in various fields and enable the BRICS mechanism to play a more important role in progress toward a multipolar world.

Wang and Lavrov also expected fruitful results from the ninth BRICS leaders' summit, which will be held in southeast China's coastal city of Xiamen in September.

On situation in the Korean Peninsula, they agreed to continue strengthening cooperation to maintain peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula, and make fresh efforts to restart talks.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) shakes hands with his British counterpart Boris Johnson during the Group of Twenty (G20) foreign ministerial meeting in Bonn, Germany, Feb. 16, 2017. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan)

BONN, Germany, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- China and Britain agreed to safeguard global free trade mechanism and promote free trade as foreign ministers of the two nations met on Thursday.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his British counterpart Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) foreign ministerial meeting held in Germany's western city of Bonn.

Wang said Chinese President Xi Jinping held the first meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May last year on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the eastern city of Hangzhou, during which the two leaders reaffirmed the "Golden Era" of bilateral relations between China and Britain.

As 2017 marked the 45th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-British ambassadorial level diplomatic relation, China is willing to work with Britain to review the past experience and map out future plans, Wang said.

Through close high-level exchanges, both nations look to guide the general direction of the "Golden Era" and enrich the content of the "Golden Era", so as to lift the "global comprehensive strategic partnership for the 21st century" between the two countries to a higher level, he said.

Wang said China, together with Britain, will respect each other' s core interests and major concerns, promote flagship cooperation including the nuclear power station projects at Hinkley Point.

The two countries will also join hands in maintaining global free trade and build an open world economy, said Wang.

Johnson said the two countries share many common interests and should maintain the good momentum of bilateral relations and expand British-Sino cooperation in an innovative way.

Britain will strengthen strategic cooperation with China on international affairs, promote bilateral and global free trade, and make the world more stable and prosperous, he said.

Johnson reiterated that Britain will stick to the one-China policy and support the principle of "One country, Two systems" in Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China.
by Eric J. Lyman

ROME, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was scrambling to keep the political party he represents intact this week, ahead of a party congress that will help decide who will lead the party into the next national elections.

The 42-year-old Renzi has been a divisive figure atop the country's largest political party, the Democratic Party (PD), where many of the party's old guard oppose him for seeking to transform the traditional left-wing party into more of a modern, centrist coalition.

Renzi stepped down as prime minister in December after losing a national referendum on a constitutional reform he championed. But he is still the head of the Democratic Party. On Sunday, PD leaders will meet to discuss when to hold a party vote on who should lead it going forward. Renzi is pushing for the vote to take place as early as April, while his rivals in the party want it to be scheduled for later in the year.

As things stand, Renzi's main challenger will probably be Michele Emiliano, a former mayor now serving as the governor for the southern region of Puglia. Enrico Rossi, the governor of Renzi's native region of Tuscany, is another possibility. Andrea Orlando, who served as Renzi's minister of justice, is a dark horse candidate. But experts said Renzi remains a strong favorite.

"If the vote is held in April or May, Renzi would almost surely win," Gianfranco Pasquino, an author, commentator, and retired political scientist from the University of Bologna, said in an interview. "His rivals would like more time to help consolidate their support."

With the decision over the date looming, some of the party's leadership -- most notably, former Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema and Pier Luigi Bersani, who preceded Renzi as the party's general secretary -- have renewed threats to break away from the Democratic Party.

On Wednesday, Renzi called on his rivals to keep the party intact. "We need to come together and pick a leader so we can face the country's challenges," Renzi said. But his rivals were not so sure. "Are we the Democratic Party or the Party of Renzi?" Bersani asked.

The next party secretary will select most of the party's candidates for parliament in the next national election, and fear among some is that if Renzi retains the post he could leave many figures who oppose him off the list.

If D'Alema, Bersani, and the other rivals form their own party, they would select their own list of candidates. But the splinter party would also siphon votes away from a Renzi-led Democratic Party, perhaps preventing the PD from winning in the upcoming national vote and almost surely stopping it from reaching the 40-percent threshold that would give any winning party, according to current electoral law, an electoral bonus of extra seats in parliament.

The date for the PD's leadership vote will also have an impact on the date of the national election. An early decision would keep the door open for an election this year, which Renzi favors. If the vote is held in October or November, the national election would have to take place in 2018, as originally scheduled.

Another factor complicating things is the populist, European Union skeptic Five-Star Movement led by comedian and activist Beppe Grillo. If a national vote were held today, pollsters say a united Democratic Party would likely edge out the Five-Star Movement, with both earning around 30 percent of the vote. If the Democratic Party were divided, however, it could hand victory to Grillo's allies, who had said they'd call for a national referendum on whether or not Italy should continue to use the euro.

"The Democratic Party has to worry about two things: it's own divisions and the prospects for the Five-Star Movement," Federico Castornia, president of the think tank Cultura Democratica (Democratic Culture), told Xinhua. "They should be focused on the Five-Star Movement more than they are, but the internal battles are overwhelming."
by Denis Elamu

NAIROBI, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan's Minister of Labor Gabriel Duop Lam resigned on Friday from the transitional unity government (TGoNU) and vowed his allegiance to exiled rebel leader Riek Machar's faction.

Lam, who did not give reasons for his resignation, became the latest official to abandon the cash-starved TGoNU amid fighting between warring factions in the world's youngest nation.

"I Lt.Gen. Gabriel Duop Lam, the national minister of labour in South Sudan with sound mind and excellent reasoning do hereby resign from the position of being the minister of labour in the so called partial government of national unity with effect from Feb. 17," he said in a statement.

Lam was a member of the splinter SPLA-in opposition (SPLA-IO) faction in Juba led by Machar's former chief negotiator Taban Deng Gai who replaced the former as first vice president in the aftermath of renewed clash that broke out in the capital in July, 2016.

The latest development came after last week's resignation of Thomas Cirilo Swaka, deputy head of logistics in the SPLA who cited unfair tribal promotions and deployment of mainly President Salva Kiir's Dinka tribe officers in top command positions, while also accusing them of being behind the horrific killings and rapes in Equatoria region.

The SPLA spokesman denied the accusation leveled at the SPLA, and accused the renegade general of evading investigation of his alleged corruption in the army.

However, information minister Paul Akol Kordit downplayed Lam's resignation, saying there was no official confirmation to TGoNU.

"I have received this information (resignation) through media but so far we don't have information from his party," Kordit told Xinhua in Juba.

He also added that Deng's SPLA-IO faction had not confirmed to them yet on the latest resignation of their minister.

There has been continuous defection of officials on both sides of the divide in the more than three years of devastating conflict in the oil-rich and yet impoverished country, whose economy nears brinkmanship with no donor pleas for aid forthcoming.

South Sudan has been shattered by civil war that broke out in December 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup. Machar denied the accusation but then mobilized a rebel force.

A peace deal signed in August 2015 led to the formation of a transitional unity government in April, but was again devastated by fresh violence in July, 2016.

Tens of thousands of South Sudanese have been killed, with over 2 million displaced and another 4.6 million left severely food insecure, since December 2013.
RABAT, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Some 250 illegal African migrants stormed through the fence border between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on Friday, local authorities said.

A statement from the authorities in the Moroccan city of Fnideq said 10 policemen and 20 migrants were injured in the incident.

The police arrested 110 of the migrants, it added.

Reports say tens of thousands of sub-Saharan African illegal migrants in Morocco try to reach Europe to seek a better life every year.

Over the past few years, however, Morocco has adopted a strict policy for illegal migrants to enter Europe, but opened a door for regularizing their status in the country.

Last December, Morocco launched the second phase of a national campaign to regularize illegal migrants in the country, after the first phase granted 25,000 people legal status.
BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a message of condolences to his Pakistani counterpart, Mamnoon Hussain, on Friday over a deadly terrorist attack in Sehwan town of Pakistan's south Sindh Province that killed 72 people.

In his message, Xi said he was shocked by the serious terrorist attack on Thursday that caused huge casualties in Pakistan, and the Chinese people deeply sympathized with the Pakistani people for their misfortune.

On behalf of the Chinese government, the Chinese people and himself, Xi extended profound condolences to the deceased, and sincere sympathy to the injured and the families of the victims.

China opposes terrorism in all forms and strongly condemns this terrorist attack, Xi said.

China will continue to firmly support Pakistan's efforts to combat terrorism, safeguard national stability and protect people's lives, he said.
MADRID, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Around 500 Sub-Saharan immigrants were able to force their way into the Spanish north-African enclave of Ceuta on Friday morning, local authorities reported.

The assault on the frontier happened at around 5 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) following a previously used tactic. The immigrants attacked four different points on the border and were able to force one of the doors in the six-meter high fence which divides what is effectively European territory from Morocco.

The Red Cross in Ceuta confirmed they had provided assistance to around 400 people, giving preference to those who had received cuts and bruises, while Spanish national TV station RTVE added that some immigrants had been taken to hospitals in the town.

Three Civil Guards were also injured in the incident.

The immigrants dispersed to different areas of Ceuta before the majority made their way to the Center for Temporary Immigrant Residency (CETI).

CETI already has 620 residents, despite having the capacity for only 512, and around 350 immigrants are reported to be in the street outside the center, where they are being attended to by police and the Red Cross.

This is the second major assault on the border in 2017, and follows the attempt made by an estimated 1,100 people on Jan. 1 to force their way into Ceuta, although on that occasion only two were successful.

Meanwhile, data published by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, on Wednesday showed that in 2016 around 1,000 people were able to cross from Morocco into Ceuta and the second Spanish enclave of Melilla.
WINDHOEK, Feb.17 (Xinhua) -- Namibia will host the 22nd Conference of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) Regional Commission for Africa from Feb. 20 to 24 in the coastal town of Swakopmund.

Jonah Musheko, an officer from the Ministry of Agriculture, said Friday they are expecting representative from 54 countries to attend the event.

The purpose of the Conferences of the OIE Regional Commissions is to examine animal health, animal welfare and animal production food safety issues within a region and to elaborate recommendations in accordance with the OIE General Rules.

According to a statement on the OIE website, the recommendations to be adopted during the conference will be presented to the World Assembly of Delegates of the OIE in May 2017 for endorsement.
by Ronald Njoroge

NAIROBI, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's plan to employ a device managing system is to step up war on counterfeit mobile phones but not to spy on subscribers, the country's communication regulator said Friday.

Communication Authority of Kenya Director General Francis Wangusi told journalists that there is increased proliferation of counterfeits in the mobile handset market.

"The use of counterfeit devices poses a great security threat, because such devices do not provide for effective identification or traceability of network transactions and users," Wangusi said.

"We have therefore purchased a device management system (DMS) that will detect counterfeits that are operating in the mobile system," he said. Kenya has planned to have the 2-million-U.S.-dollar DMS operational by end of June.

Wangusi said contrary to what was published by the local media, the system does not access a subscriber's personal information.

He said the accusations levelled against the industry regulator are a "total and complete white lie," adding that the system is being implemented in close consultation with mobile operators and consumer protection organizations.

Wangusi lashed out at mobile operators for misleading the public.

"To tell us that we are installing this device for accessing confidential data, is a total white lie. Releasing this information is intended to mislead the public," he said.

Wangusi said they have been into consultations with the mobile operators and the stakeholders since last year and nobody made such complaints.

The director general said that the acquisition of the management system is the second phase of an initial initiative that saw mobile network operators switch off all counterfeit mobile devices in Kenya in 2010.

The system will blacklist all mobile phones that are counterfeit, substandard or stolen from the mobile network, as the director general accusing the substandard devices of exposing consumers to health risks.
SINGAPORE, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim announced on Friday to change the name of newly-launched World War II exhibition "Syonan Gallery: War and Its Legacies" to "Surviving the Japanese Occupation: War and its Legacies."

In a statement released on Friday evening, Yaacob Ibrahim said this particular exhibition name "Syonan Gallery" provoked a strong reaction over the past two days.

He has read comments made on this issue, and received many letters from Singaporeans of all races, which mentioned that the words "Syonan Gallery" had evoked deep hurt in them, as well as their parents and grandparents.

The minister said he has reflected deeply on what he heard, and decided to remove the words "Syonan Gallery" from the name of the exhibition.

"We must honor and respect the feelings of those who suffered terribly and lost family members during the Japanese Occupation," said Yaacob Ibrahim, adding that he is "sorry for the pain the name has caused."

Singapore was renamed Syonan-to, meaning Light of the South in Japanese, during the Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945. Using the word "Syonan Gallery" to name the exhibition has aroused active debate as some thought it seems to glorify the Japanese occupation of Singapore during WWII.

The exhibition was launched on Wednesday, Singapore's Total Defence Day. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Yaacob Ibrahim noted the name of the exhibition does not express approval of the Japanese occupation.

In the statement on Friday, the minister said the contents of the exhibition remain unchanged. They capture a painful and tragic period in Singapore's history.

75 years ago, the British surrendered Singapore to the Japanese invaders at the Former Ford Factory on Feb. 15, 1942. The Japanese occupied Singapore for over three and a half years. According to incomplete statistics, at least 50,000 Singaporeans were killed.
SOEST, The Netherlands, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- More than 200 items linked with Genghis Khan and his descendants went on exhibition at the Dutch National Military Museum Friday to display the history of the Mongol Empire that ruled most of Eurasia throughout the 13th and 14th centuries and the multiple facets of its mysterious founder.

Illustrating his life from his birth in 1162 into the Borjigid clan of the Mongol tribe as a bizarre baby "born with a clot of blood the size of a knucklebone clutched in his tiny fist" [which symbolizes courage and power in Mongol legends], to his ascension to Great Khan in 1206 and his campaigns which expanded the Mongol Empire from China to the Caspian Sea, the exhibition shows that during his rule Genghis exhibited impressive vision and strategic brilliance.

With horse gears, armours, weapons, seals, imperial decrees, utensils, clothes and jewelry on display, the exhibition also stages that one of the best-known figures in world history had ground-breaking developments in military equipment, strategies and tactics, endorsed tolerant religious and social policies, established a legal code and sparked a new era of exchange and interconnection between East Asia and Europe.

"Genghis Khan and his successors have profoundly influenced the history of the world with their military inventions and strategies, but also through their culture and the cultural and religious exchange that took place via the Silk Route," Hedwig Saam, director of the Dutch National Military Museum, told the press.

The museum, built at a former air base in the central region of the Low Lands, combines the collections of the former Military Aviation Museum in Soesterberg and Army Museum in Delft.

"We want to give the European audience an insight into Genghis Khan in a way that hasn't been done before," Tim Pethick, designer of the exhibition, told Xinhua.

"The concept of conquest is one aspect of the story of Genghis, but we want to talk about Khans' encouragement to literacy, and his keenness to build a multi-faiths society. We want to show that when approaching a town for siege, the Mongols actually were much happier to take that town peacefully rather than aggressively, because they wanted to trade with those people and learn from them," he said.

Yong Ding, researcher of China's Inner Mongolia Museum where all the items on display come from, was glad the exhibition immerses visitors in a gripping way. "Inner Mongolia is a mysterious place with a long history, and via this exhibition we hope to bring a better understanding about the culture and history of Inner Mongolia to the Dutch audience," he told Xinhua.

For him, the eye-catching golden saddle decorated with Mongol style pattern is one of top pieces in this exhibition. "It was found in a tomb whose owner is believed to be a Mongol noble living in the Yuan dynasty established by Genghis Khan's grandson, Kublai Khan. Its sophisticated relief sculptures tell us the cultural and artistic attainments of the Mongols."

A bronze seal used by Genghis Khan's third daughter is also among Ding's most beloved archaeological discoveries. "It is one of the rare preserved artifacts that relates directly to Genghis Khan's family. The Chinese, Mongol and Uyghur characters carved on it tell us that when Genghis Khan went out to conquer the world he trusted his daughter to rule at home. Actually his daughter had the power to reign over not just the Mongols but also the vast region till the Yellow River," he explained.

Since the 1990s, the Inner Mongolia Museum has organized many exhibitions focused on Genghis Khan in cooperation with colleagues in America, Europe and Asia, according to Ding.
HONG KONG, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong's former Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen was found guilty on Friday of a charge of misconduct while in office.

Tsang, who led Hong Kong from 2005 to 2012, had faced two charges of misconduct and and one charge of bribery.

He was found guilty of a charge of misconduct for failing to declare a conflict of interest when he approved applications for radio broadcasting license by a broadcasting company Wave Media. The nine jurors entered a majority verdict with eight for guilty and one dissenting.

The jury could not reach a decision on whether Tsang was guilty of accepting as an advantage the renovation of a three-storey flat in Shenzhen that he had rented. The house is owned by Wave Media's main investor's company.

Tsang was granted bail and the trial will continue on Monday.

Tsang was cleared of another charge of misconduct, accusing him of failing to declare that he hired interior designer Ho Chow-lai to work on the flat when he recommended to the relevant government committee that Ho should receive an honor.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who heads the National Security Commission (NSC), presides over a seminar on national security in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 17, 2017. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping on Friday called for an overall national security outlook at a seminar in Beijing, emphasizing the importance of political, economic, territorial, social and cyber security.

Xi, who heads the National Security Commission (NSC), presided over the seminar on national security on Friday. Premier Li Keqiang and top legislator Zhang Dejiang, the two deputy heads of the NSC, were present at the seminar.

After listening to reports by Public Security Minister Guo Shengkun, Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui, Hubei Province Party chief Jiang Chaoliang, and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Party Chief Chen Quanguo, Xi said national security has become more and more important in the work of the Party and the state, adding that national security work is all about the people's interests.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, stressed that safeguarding national security requires the grasp of rules in the context of the great changes in the international order, and that the planning work must give priority to the prevention of risks.

National security planning must consider the general background that China is in a period of important strategic opportunity for development, Xi said.

"The overall direction of multipolarization of the world, the globalization of the economy and the democratization of international relations has not changed," said Xi.

"No matter how the international situation changes, we must maintain our strategic steadiness, strategic confidence and strategic patience," the president said.

He called for global vision in national security work, coordinating development and security, combining principles with tactics, and taking the strategic initiative in China's own hand.

Xi called for enhancing a prevention and control system for public security, improving overall capability in social management, and solving problems and disputes at their roots.

Xi stressed efforts should be made to enhance security in fields including transport and production of hazardous chemicals and improve fire prevention and control so that major accidents do not occur.

A firm fence of cyber security should be consolidated, and efforts should be made to better safeguard cyber security and key information infrastructure, Xi said.

Xi said the development of core technologies should be facilitated and early warning and monitoring of cyber security should be strengthened, in addition to ensuring the security of big data.

Xi stressed the need to proactively shape China's external security environment, adding the country must strengthen cooperation in security field and guide the international community to jointly safeguard international security.

Xi called for enhanced capacity building in terms of materials, technology, equipment, talent, law and mechanism to safeguard national security.

He underscored that it was a fundamental principle for national security work to adhere to the leadership of the Party, adding local Party leaderships must fulfill their national security obligations.
HARARE, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's wife Grace Mugabe on Friday warned those aspiring to take over from her husband that there was no vacancy before God ordains his retirement.

At a rally in Buhera North, Manicaland Province, the first lady lashed out at perceived factionalists and successionists in the ruling Zanu-PF party who were bent on toppling her 93-year-old husband.

Mugabe's tenure as party leader ends in 2019, but the party in 2014 had endorsed him as its presidential candidate for the 2018 elections.

"Whoever is engaging in factionalism must stop forthwith, stop it," she bellowed to thousands of people that included school children.

Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa is seen as the face of "successionist" politics but he has since denied harboring ambitions to take over from Mugabe before his tenure ends.

The first lady challenged the "successionists" to self-introspect and determine whether they possess leadership qualities and are able to emulate her husband.

She added that her husband was irreplaceable and even if he contested the election as a corpse the people would vote for him.

"When God finally decides that he should leave office, then you can also enter the fray. (Until the moment) there's no vacancy," she said.

Mugabe, who has been in power since Zimbabwe gained independence from Britain in 1980, is the world's oldest leader.

The first lady also donated food, clothes, laptops and exercise books to the gathering in her first leg of tours to drum up support for her husband in the 2018 general elections.
BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday sent a message of condolences to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif over a deadly terrorist attack in Pakistan's south Sindh province.

Thursday's suicide blast at a Sufi shrine at Sehwan district has killed at least 88 people and injured 343 others, authorities said.

In the message, Li said that China strongly condemns the deadly attack that has caused serious casualties.

On behalf of the Chinese government, Li mourned the dead and extended condolences to their families and the injured people.

China stands rock firm against all forms of terrorism, and will firmly support the efforts of the Pakistani government and its people to safeguard national security and stability and to crack down on terrorism resolutely, Li added.
BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang on Friday exchanged views with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin via telephone on issues including the two countries' economic cooperation.
MADRID, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Inaki Urdangarin, the brother-in-law of King Felipe VI of Spain, was handed down a sentence of six years and three months in prison on Friday for his role in the "Noos" corruption scandal.

The younger sister of the King, Cristina de Borbon, was absolved of charges against her, but will have to pay a fine of 263,000 euros (280,258 U.S. dollars) jointly with her husband Urdangarin.

Urdangarin was found guilty of perversion of justice, falsifying documents, fraud, trafficking of influence, and two offences against the public Treasury.

He is the first member of the family of a King of Spain to be condemned to prison in modern times, although the decision is open to appeal.

The Noos trial began in January 2016 and over 300 witnesses testified until July, after which the magistrates have needed eight months to reach Friday's decision.

As well as Cristina and Urdangarin, 15 others faced charges in the trial which investigated the dealings of the Noos Institute, a supposedly non-profit institution set up by Urdangarin and his partner, Diego Torres, who were accused of embezzling 6.2 million euros (6.7 million U.S. dollars) of public money.

Urdangarin and Torres were accused of using Noos to organize events and with the connivance of officials overcharging for their services and in some cases billing for events which never took place.

Some of that money was siphoned off through a company called 'Aizoon' of which Cristina and her husband were the directors, and as a result she faced charges of tax evasion, which she had denied, insisting she knew nothing of her husband's dealings.

Friday's court decision saw Torres sentenced to eight years in prison and fined 1.7 million euros, while Jaume Matas, the former president of the Balearic Islands, was given a three year and eight month sentence for perversion of justice and fraud and banned from holding public office for seven years.

Matas, Torres, and Urdangarin are the only defendants to be given prison sentences, with ten of the accused absolved of any wrongdoing.

Torres' wife, Ana Maria Tejero, was among those absolved, although like the Infanta Cristina, she too will have to pay a fine (345,000 euros) for what the court considers to be her "civil responsibility" for having benefitted from the fraud.

The Spanish Royal Household has refused to make moe comment about the result of the trial other than to express its "absolute respect for the independence of the judiciary."
BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- China plans to launch Shijian-13, its first high-throughput communications satellite, in April, the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) said Friday.

The 4.6-tonne satellite, with a message capacity of more than 20 GB, will be carried into orbit by a Long March-3B carrier rocket, according to the CAST.

An increase in satellite throughput will provide better access to the Internet on planes and high-speed trains, said Wang Min, deputy head of the CAST's Institute of Telecommunication Satellite.

For the first time, a large number of domestic components have been used on a communications satellite with an orbital life of 15 years, Wang said. It is also the first time electric propulsion has been used on a Chinese satellite.

Shijian-13 has been transported to the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province. After completing in-orbit technical tests, it will be designated as Zhongxing-16.

In 2017, China plans to launch six communications satellites, including Shijian-13 and Shijian-18.

Shijian-18 will be put into orbit by a Long March-5 carrier rocket in June, and will test the DFH-5 satellite platform, Wang said.
ANTANANARIVO, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Madagascar has decided to raise its monthly rice import to 60,000 tonnes to cope with lean seasons, an official said Friday.

Valonirina Randrianarisoa, director of consumers' protection under Madagascar's ministry of trade, told Xinhua in an interview that the 60,000-tonne importation would last toward the end of April.

The figure includes 20,000 tonnes of rice that Madagascar imports in normal time and another 40,000 tonnes recently decided to cope with the drought that has affected rice cultivation in recent months, Randrianarisoa added.

The price of rice has increased rapidly in local markets, from 1,200 ariary to 1,750 ariary since January 2017 (one U.S. dollar is worth about 3,138 ariary).

The official explained that the price hike was caused by consumers who panicked and stored rice for fear of shortage. "Demand increased while local production lagged, this automatically increased the rice price in the market because that is the law of supply and demand," he said.

A unit was also set up in each region to monitor and regulate the distribution of food, especially rice, Randrianarisoa disclosed.

Rice is the staple food in Madagascar, which imports about 200,000 tonnes of rice per year from Pakistan and India to feed its 23 million population as local production remains low.
ASTANA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Seven soldiers were killed and 16 others rescued in a sudden avalanche in Southern Kazakhstan, the Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency reported Friday.

Rangers reported the avalanche and injured military men in the afternoon, and the authorities immediately sent emergency teams to the site.

"The accident took place in more than 110 kilometers away from the city of Taraz (in Southern Kazakhstan region)," said Ruslan Imankulov, a spokesman for Kazakhstan's Ministry of Internal Affairs.

"In this connection, 75 people and seven vehicles were immediately sent to the place of accident and now they are on their way to continue the search and rescue operations," Imankulov said.

"In addition, we have more than 60 soldiers from the same military unit 91678 at the site and first aid teams involved in the search and rescue operations," he added.

The soldiers of military unit 91678 were participating in a scheduled combat training in the Zhambyl region when hit by the avalanche.
BANGKOK, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Thai authorities resumed their search on Friday for Phra Dhammajayo, former abbot of the biggest temple in Thailand, for the second day but found no trace of the wanted.

Police said they however discovered a bed with an orange robe covering several pillows and also a hyperbaric chamber, a high pressure oxygen device that can be used to promote healing in the room where they were expected to find Phra Dhammajayo.

Phra Sanitwong Wuttiwangso, the temple's head of public relations, said the pillows were put there to keep dust away from the bed instead of being arranged to look like Phra Dhammajayo is still lying on bed.

He again told reporters that he had not seen Phra Dhammajayo for long.

Police also found a 1.5-km tunnel, spilt into two routes-dug under the temple's main building, a flying-saucer shaped golden stupa, Thai media Bangkok Post reported, which is believed to be used by the ex-abbot as a place to hide.

"It only has one entrance but it does not go outside of the temple," said Worranan Srilum, deputy spokesman for Thailand's Department of Special Investigation.

He said the temple is so sprawling that it takes time to search the wanted monk but he believes the monk is still somewhere and they will not stop the hunt.

The temple, unlike traditional Buddhist temples in the region, covers a land of about 3.2 square-km.

Phra Dhammajayo, 72, is wanted on several arrest warrants for alleged laundering money, receiving stolen goods, as well as taking over land unlawfully to build meditation centers in Loei, Nakhon Ratchasima and Phangnga provinces.
KATHMANDU, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Nepali Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun attended a function to mark the Chinese Tibetan Losar here on Friday evening.

The Chinese embassy in Kathmandu hosted the function in celebration of the Chinese Tibetan Losar, or the Tibetan new year, at Hotel Yak and Yeti, which was attended by government ministers, high-ranking government officials and foreign diplomats based in Nepal.

On the occasion, Chinese ambassador to Nepal Yu Hong inaugurated the cultural show where a group of artists from China performed dances.

Yu highlighted the significance of the Chinese Tibetan Losar, calling it the most ceremonious traditional festival among the Tibetan people.

"On behalf of the Chinese embassy in Nepal, I would like to extend my sincere wishes and greetings to all the Tibetan compatriots living in Nepal and pay tribute to all the friends for your care and support for the development of Tibet," she said.

She said China and Nepal are friendly neighbors linked by mountains and rivers.

"The bilateral cooperation between the two countries has deepened in politics, economy, trade and culture," she said.

The ambassador said China's Tibet enjoyed economic development, social stability and ethnic solidarity in 2016, with the gross production in the Tibet Autonomous Region reaching 114.8 billion yuan, representing an increase of 11.5-percent over the previous year, a double digit growth rate for the 24th year in a row.

"The total social fixed asset investment in Tibet increased 20 percent, reaching 161 billion yuan, and the per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents were 27,875 and 9,316 yuan, an increase of 10 percent and 13 percent respectively. The infrastructure achieved a major breakthrough," she said. (1 yuan equals 0.68639 U.S. dollars)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) shakes hands with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida during their meeting on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) ministerial meeting in Bonn, Germany, on Feb. 17, 2017. (Xinhua/Yan Feng)

BONN, Germany, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during a meeting here with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida on Friday, urged efforts from both countries to bring bilateral ties back on the right track.

Wang and Kishida met on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) ministerial summit in Germany's western city of Bonn.

Wang noted that 2017 and 2018 respectively mark the 45th anniversary of the normalization of Sino-Japan diplomatic ties and the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between China and Japan.

He said both countries should take the opportunity of these anniversaries, draw on past experiences on their relations, and work to consolidate the political foundation for bilateral ties, in a bid to bring bilateral ties back on the correct track.

Wang stressed that there are now both opportunities and challenges for improving China-Japan relations. He said the continous, negative moves made recently by Japan regarding major sensitive issues have caused disturbances to the improvement of bilateral ties.

He said only when Japan honors its commitments and adopts a responsible attitude, thus preventing the occurrence of incidents damaging the political foundation of the China-Japan ties can there be real improvement in relations.

Kishida said 2017 is a vital year for the China-Japan relations, expressing the Japanese side's willingness to handle differences between both countries well. He said Japan would work to make events marking the 45th anniversary of the normalization of Sino-Japan ties a success, giving a boost to the improvement of bilateral ties.

Saying Japan attaches importance to the major concerns raised by China, Kishida reiterated Japan's stance of not supporting claims of "two Chinas," "one China one Taiwan," and not supporting "Taiwan independence," saying the stance would not change.
NAIROBI, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi is due in Kenya on Saturday for a state visit as Nairobi seeks to bolster cooperation between the two countries.

Kenya's State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu said both El-Sisi and his host, President Uhuru Kenyatta will on Saturday lead their delegations in bilateral talks aimed at bolstering cooperation between Kenya and Egypt.

"Kenya and Egypt have a Joint Commission for Cooperation (JCC) aimed at promoting bilateral cooperation," Esipisu said in a statement issued in Nairobi. El-Sisi will be making the first state visit to this country by a sitting Egyptian Head of State.

He said since its establishment, six sessions have been held, alternating between Nairobi and Cairo during which five Agreements/MoUs were signed in 2015. The Seventh Session is expected to be held in Egypt later this year.

"Within the framework of the JCC, Kenyans continue to receive specialized training in the fields of medicine, agriculture, security and diplomacy in various Egyptian institutions," Esipisu said.

He said the total volume of trade between Kenya and Egypt stood at about 450 million U.S. dollars in 2015 while the highest value was approximately 597 million dollars in 2012, according to official statistics.

Kenya's total exports to Egypt were valued at approximately 200 million dollars with a negative trade balance of 56 million dollars in 2015.

"These exports comprise a limited number of products dominated by tea at 96 per cent of the total exports to Egypt. Egypt is the second largest importer of Kenyan tea. However, there has been a decline in tea exports over the last few years," Esipisu said.
BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Beijing municipal government has set a goal of converting 57 percent of the city's household waste into energy.

This waste-to-energy conversion will be carried out at six garbage treatment plants to be opened this year, according to Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Management.

Commission director Sun Xinjun said Friday that the commission's priority this year is to encourage residents to create less waste, improve waste sorting and boost waste-to-energy conversion.

The most common conversion process generates electricity or heat directly through combustion, while some also use industrial processing to produce combustible fuels like methane and ethanol. This supplies energy and reduces carbon emissions.

With 21.7 million permanent residents, Beijing's massive amount of household waste has a profound impact on the environment. Beijing aims to raise its garbage treatment capacity to 30,000 tonnes a day by 2020 -- 24,000 tonnes being incinerated while the rest will undergo biological treatment. No untreated waste will be buried.

Lin Jinwen, another official with the commission, said Beijing will reduce waste sorting bins from three categories to two. One will be labeled "kitchen waste" with the other for the rest of household waste. The bins labeled "recyclable" will no longer be displayed to avoid confusion.

Lin said the city will distribute guidebooks and host training to help the public sort their daily garbage. As the campaign starts, there will even be helpers assigned to stand by community trash bins to help confused residents.

Waste sorting bins will spread from residential communities to companies, government offices, shopping malls and other public venues in the next few years.
WINDHOEK, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Namibians have been warned not to travel long distances from Friday until Sunday when the tropical depression Dineo is expected to land.

In a statement issued Friday, the Namibia Meteorological Services said Dineo was expected to land in the northern regions Saturday morning and that it will be accompanied by heavy rains and strong winds.

The meteorological services deputy director Franz Uirab said the depression that has already hit Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa should be expected in Kavango region in the east, Oshikoto and Omaheke in the north by Saturday.

Uirab also said the depression will hit the Khomas region in the central part and the Hardap region in the south of the country.

By Sunday, he said, the depression will have drifted to Erongo region and the Kunene in the southeast.

He further said that the accompanying heavy rainfall could range from 50mm to 100mm.

"We are expecting the depression to fade away on Tuesday but by Monday afternoon, it will start to weaken," Uirab said, adding that floods and destruction of infrastructure should be expected too.

The impact of the depression, Uirab explained, will be felt on Sunday. As precautionary measures, Uirab said Namibians should stock up on food and water to last three days and to stay indoors.

He also said if at home, people must unplug all electrical appliances and postpone inland travels and not to take shelter under trees or electrical infrastructure.

Furthermore, people have been warned to disconnect gadget that use gas; avoid crossing flooded rivers; and make sure that all windows and doors are closed.
GENEVA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Program (WFP) warned Friday that 6.2 million people in Somalia, nearly half the African country's population, are either severely food insecure or in need of livelihood support.

"The situation has gone way beyond what we have seen already developing for now a year," said WFP's country director, Laurent Bukera, in a telephone conference.

"What we have seen over the weeks is a situation where people have gone to the limit of their ability to sustain extreme drought not only for themselves but also for their livestock which are a significant source of income, food product and milk which is critical in those areas," he added.

According to the agencies, the drought that northern regions of the country have contented with over the last year have spread throughout Somalia, further endangering a country which has been severely affected by decades of war.

UNICEF warned that children in particular are bearing the brunt of the situation on the ground.

"It is expected that 944,000 children will be acutely malnourished this year, including 185,000 who will be severely malnourished and in need of urgent lifesaving support," the UN agency highlighted.

"It is very likely that this projected number of severely malnourished children could increase 50 percent to 270,000 over the coming months," it added.

In light of this, both UNICEF and WFP warned that an immediate and massive scale-up of humanitarian aid is needed to help the country avert another catastrophe.

To be able to do this, the UN agencies said that over 450 million U.S. dollars are needed to provide life-saving assistance in the coming months.
GENEVA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 100,000 displaced Iraqis have returned to their communities in the last month, despite intensified fighting in some areas, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Friday here.

With Iraq's military retaking some areas from Islamic State (IS) fighters, IOM provided the figures and identified locations of significant returns, which are occurring in parallel to continued displacement of civilians who flee the fighting.

As military operations to retake Mosul intensify, there is concern that these will again displace tens of thousands of people. After four months of combat, more than 160,000 individuals are currently categorized as "displaced," according to IOM.

"What we know right now is that the area around Mosul in Ninewa Governorate, principally, 160,000 people are considered to be displaced, in need of shelter, in need of our support. However, the total number in four months through this conflict has been over 217,000," IOM spokesperson Joel Millman told journalists in Geneva.

Millman said that "there is concern that the hardest fighting is about to begin, we know that it has been difficult for people to leave Mosul. Sometimes it is just too much shooting, there is a problem with bridges to get out of the city. There were five bridges originally, now I believe they are non-operational."

"We managed the best we can, we are building camps all the time, we are preparing. Actually the numbers were lower than we thought they would be. We are always worried about a big surge coming," Millman said.

Among the challenges faced by returnees are security regarding the presence of militias, risks of unexploded ordinance, and the destruction of infrastructure, including housing and private property.

Overall, an estimated 3 million people have been displaced in fighting in Iraq since January 2014, and nearly 1.5 million have returned to their communities in the same time period.
NAIROBI, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Wildlife conservationists on Friday called for strict measures to protect small and scaly pangolins, the world's most illegally traded mammal in danger of extinction.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) decried that while these armored creatures once inhabited vast portions of Asia and Africa, their populations are severely dwindling due to a massive and growing demand for their scales, which are believed to have curative properties in East Asian medicine, and their meat, which is highly regarded as a symbol of status.

"Pangolins are falling prey to the ultimate predator: humans," Mark Hofberg, IFAW campaigns officer said in a statement issued ahead of the World Pangolin Day to be observed on Saturday.

Hofberg said the rate at which pangolins also known as "scaly anteaters" are being poached is unprecedented and unsustainable.

"The value we place on pangolins should be for their role in the wild, not as a status symbol. We have won some hard fought victories to protect this exotic species but more needs to be done so we don't see pangolins go extinct within our life time," he said.

Pangolins have joined a growing list of highly sought after mammals, carnivores, birds and reptiles that generate 15 to 20 billion U.S. dollars annually to criminal syndicates through illegal trafficking.

According to data analyzed by IFAW, last year there was a staggering number of seizures of pangolin scales and meat in source countries, transit countries, and market countries.

Reports available show that dating back to 2015, there have been at least 74 seizures of pangolins and pangolin products totaling about 2,300 whole pangolins (alive or dead), over 7,800 metric tons of frozen pangolin meat, and over 45,000 metric tons of pangolin scales.

"Whilst it is horrifying to think that all species are so endangered, we must hope that the new level of protection will save these wonderful animals from extinction before it is too late," said Jane Goodall, founder, the Jane Goodall Institute, UN Messenger of Peace & IFAW Honorary Board Member.

IFAW estimates that these seizures represent approximately 42,000 pangolins poached from the wild and illegally traded.

To put that number in perspective, seizures found in the prior two years (2013-2014) represent an estimated 18,500 pangolins poached and illegally traded.

The amount seized represents only a fraction of the actual trade; INTERPOL estimates that only 10 to 20 percent of contraband is actually found by authorities.

Therefore, since 2015, based on media reports of seizures and the Interpol figure, an estimated number of 420,000 pangolins could have been poached and trafficked.
HARBIN, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang has underlined supply-side structural reform in the agricultural sector as a major strategic task of the central government.

Wang made the remarks during an inspection tour on the implementation of the "No. 1 central document" and reform of the corn reserve purchasing program in the northeastern Heilongjiang Province, an agricultural province and major grain producer.

Pushing forward supply-side structural reform in the agricultural sector should be the main theme of China's agricultural work, he said.

The vice premier urged improved structure in the agricultural sector in accordance with market demand, food safety and more green and high-quality farm products.

Efforts should be made to nurture new development engines by building modern farm production bases, extending the sector's industrial and value chain and increasing the sector's comprehensive benefits and the competitiveness, Wang said.

He also encouraged the establishment long-term mechanisms that will let farmers share the profits from the sector's development and the rise in land value.

The "No. 1 central document" is the name traditionally given to the first policy statement released by the central authorities in the year, which has been devoted to agriculture, farmers and rural areas for 14 straight years. This year's document called for deepening supply-side structural reform in agriculture to develop the sector.
MUNICH, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis on Friday reassured European leaders that the transatlantic bond is "the strongest bulwark against instability and violence" amid ongoing security uncertainty concerns after U.S. President Donald Trump took office.

"Security is always best when provided by a team," he told the Munich Security Conference (MSC) which officially opened Friday afternoon as an array of global security issues ranging from the future of the transatlantic alliance to the West-Russia relations are in the spotlight.

"America's security is tied to Europe," Mattis said.

"BEDROCK COMMITMENT"

The three-day MSC will see over 500 decisionmakers and participants in the realm of international security from the world debating critical security challenges.

Mattis said in his much-anticipated speech that the Article 5 of NATO charter on collective defense is "a bedrock commitment".

He also warned of the "threat on multiple fronts" in Europe and urged NATO allies to contribute their fair share to the collective defense.

Mattis' comments came weeks after Trump prompted severe concerns across Europe by calling NATO "obsolete".

But U.S. officials have since assured the transatlantic alliance's 27 other leaders that the U.S. has "strong support for NATO" and "the alliance remains a fundamental bedrock for the United States".

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is expected to address the MSC meeting on Saturday in his first foreign tour since taking office. He is also scheduled to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to further clarify his country's amid concerns over the new president's commitment to NATO and posture toward Russia.

German Minister of Defense, Ursula von der Leyen, said in her opening statement at the MSC that the Europe's open societies and way of life are targeted by sphere-of-influence politics as well as disinformation.

"We want to meet our commitment as Europeans, as Atlanticists, as a grown-up country, a reliable democracy," she said.

"A stable EU is as much in the U.S. interest as a united NATO," she said.

"MASSIVE UNCERTAINTY"

Besides the future of transatlantic relations and NATO after the election of Trump, the ongoing conference also focuses on the state of European Union (EU) cooperation in security and defense matters, the Ukraine crisis and relations with Russia, the war in Syria, and the security situation in the Asia-Pacific, including in the Korean Peninsula.

Participants will also discuss terrorism, information warfare, as well as major threats to global health and climate security.

At the MSC opening on Friday, MSC Chairman Wolfgang Ischinger stressed the "massive uncertainty" in today's world as the "most anticipated security conference in many years" kicks off and the threats EU is under from both within and from outside.

"Some of the most important pillars of the liberal international order are weak," he said.

Much of Friday's MSC panel discussion sessions are devoted to discussion of the unity of the EU and the future of the West as the refuge crisis and Brexit are bringing uncertainty for the 28-member regional bloc.

The Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski told the conference that solidarity is the key but only when it is considered and implemented everywhere. He urged the EU to distinguish refugees from migrants, a move obviously targeting the "closedoorism" concerns following Brexit.

"I don't see a reflection on the causes of Brexit in many countries and among many politicians," Waszczykowski said.

Frans Timmermans, first vice president of the European Commission, told the meeting that "what we need is more patriotism, but not in the form of nationalism".

Decision-makers including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, European Council President Donald Tusk and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg are all expected to address the meeting on Saturday.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to address the conference late Friday.

Since its foundation in 1963, the annual MSC, once dubbed a "transatlantic family gathering", has become an independent forum dedicated to promoting peaceful conflict resolution and international cooperation and dialogue.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Bonn, Germany, Feb. 17, 2017. Wang Yi on Friday met with Rex Tillerson on the sidelines of the Foreign Ministers Meeting of the Group of 20 to exchange views on bilateral ties and issues of mutual concern. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan)

BONN, Germany, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his U.S. counterpart Rex Tillerson agreed here Friday that the two countries should work together for greater development of bilateral relations during the term of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Wang and Tillerson met on the sidelines of the foreign ministers meeting of the Group of Twenty (G20) to exchange views on bilateral ties and issues of mutual concerns. The meeting is the first of its kind since Tillerson assumed office.

Wang said the recent telephone conversation between Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Trump had been of great significance.

During the conversation, Wang said the U.S. side had made it clear that it would continue to honor the one-China policy and the two leaders agreed that China and the United States could be great partners and should promote greater development of their bilateral relationship from a new starting point.

This key consensus has safeguarded the political basis of Sino-U.S. relations, charted the course of the relationship in the new era, and created the necessary pre-conditions for the two nations to engage in strategic cooperation on bilateral, regional, and global issues, Wang noted.

Wang said that China and the United States, both shouldering the responsibilities of securing world stability and enhancing global prosperity, had more common interests than disputes.

China is ready to work with the U.S. side to implement the consensus reached between President Xi and President Trump, and move bilateral relationship forward in the direction that features no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, Wang said.

He said the two sides should increase communication, enhance trust, handle differences properly, and deepen cooperation in a bid to ensure greater development of bilateral relations during Trump's presidency, bring tangible interests to the two countries' peoples, and make more contributions to world peace and prosperity.

For his part, Tillerson reiterated the U.S. stance to abide by the one-China policy, which carries specific significance, not only to the bilateral relationship, but also to regional stability and development.

The U.S. secretary of state said the U.S. side looked forward to working with China to conduct high-level exchanges, facilitate understanding, and maintain, improve and consolidate mutual dialogue and cooperation mechanisms in all fields.

Tillerson also expressed the U.S. side's hope for strengthened cooperation with China in areas such as economy, finance and security and pushing for greater development of bilateral ties.

Wang and Tillerson also exchanged views over the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula.
MADRID, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Inaki Urdangarin, the brother-in-law of King Felipe VI of Spain, was handed down a sentence of six years and three months in prison on Friday for his role in the "Noos" corruption scandal.

Although the younger sister of the King, Cristina de Borbon, was absolved of charges against her, she will have to pay a fine of 263,000 euros (280,000 U.S. dollars) jointly with her husband Urdangarin.

Urdangarin was found guilty of perversion of justice, falsifying documents, fraud, trafficking of influence, and two offences against the public treasury.

He is the first member of the family of a King of Spain to be condemned to prison in modern times. The sentence is well below the more than 19 years prosecutors had asked for and is open to appeal.

The Noos trial began in January 2016 and over 300 witnesses testified until July, after which magistrates needed eight months to reach Friday's decision.

As well as Cristina and Urdangarin, 15 others faced charges in the trial which investigated the dealings of the Noos Institute, a supposedly non-profit institution set up by Urdangarin and his partner, Diego Torres, who were accused of embezzling 6.2 million euros of public money.

Urdangarin and Torres were accused of using Noos to organize events and with the connivance of officials overcharging for their services and in some cases billing for events which never took place.

Some of that money was siphoned off through a company called Aizoon of which Cristina and her husband were directors.

She was accused of using company funds for personal expenses such as clothes and dance lessons for her and Urdangarin's children, as well as for work on their home in Barcelona and then passing that off as business expenses.

As a result, she faced charges of tax evasion, which she denied, insisting she knew nothing of her husband's dealings.

Although the state prosecutor refused to press charges, right wing pressure group Manos Limpios (Clean hands) alleged it would have been impossible for her to be unaware of Urdangarin's activities and used a law which allows private groups to instigate criminal proceedings to take her to trial.

During a court appearance in February 2014, Cristina famously responded "I don't know" 188 times and "I don't remember" a further 55 times during six hours of questioning.

Friday's court decision saw Torres sentenced to eight years in prison and fined 1.7 million euros, while Jaume Matas, the former president of the Balearic Islands, was given a three year and eight month sentence for perversion of justice and fraud and banned from holding public office for seven years.

Matas, Torres, and Urdangarin are the only defendants to be given prison sentences, with ten of the accused absolved of any wrongdoing.

Torres' wife, Ana Maria Tejero, was among those absolved, although like the Infanta Cristina, she too will have to pay a fine of 345,000 euros for what the court considers to be her "civil responsibility" for having benefited from the fraud.

The Spanish royal household has refused to comment about the result of the trial other than expressing its "absolute respect for the independence of the judiciary." (1 euro=1.06 U.S. dollar)
Chinese and Lao delegates attend a signing ceremony in Vientiane, Laos, on Feb. 17, 2017. China's Hebei Construction and Investment Group Co., Ltd (HCIG) here on Friday signed an agreement with Lao Ministry of Planning and Investment on the development of a hydropower plant in Lao southern Sekong province. (Xinhua/Liu Ailun)

VIENTIANE, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's Hebei Construction and Investment Group Co., Ltd (HCIG) here on Friday signed an agreement with Lao Ministry of Planning and Investment on the development of a hydropower plant in Lao southern Sekong province.



Lao Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Khamlien Pholsena, Vice General Manager of HCIG and Chairman of the Construction and Investment International Co., Ltd Wang Jinsheng jointly signed the agreement.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Wang said his company will follow the requests put forward by Lao government, strictly fulfill its obligations and responsibilities to soon finish procedures and construction of the plant for the prosperity of Laos and improvement of local residents' lives.

The Construction and Investment International Co., Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of HCIG which is an entity of Hebei's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

Earlier in July 21, 2015, the Construction and Investment International Co., Ltd and Lao Ministry of Planning and Investment signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the project of hydropower plant on Huai La-Nge River at Kaleum District in Sekong privince, some 530 km southeast of Lao capital Vientiane.

After fulfilling all the work specified in the MoU, HCIG and the Lao ministry signed the project development agreement on Friday in Lao capital Vientiane.

The hydropower plant has an installed capacity of 60 MW with total investment of 136 million U.S. dollars, according to General Manager of the Construction and Investment International Co., Ltd Yu Zhongcai.
BONN, Germany, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The foreign ministers meeting of the Group of 20 (G20) concluded here Friday with participants affirming support for multilateralism after two days of intensive interactions.

German Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said at a press conference shortly after the meeting ended that the participants agreed countries should work together to deal with the various challenges facing the world today.

"The meeting was very fruitful, indeed," Gabriel said.

Gabriel said the G20 played an increasingly important role in tackling global issues such as climate change and water scarcity, and such issues could only be tackled by working together, not by working in isolation.

The German minister also called for the establishment of an early warning mechanism so that the world would be better prepared to deal with global issues.

The meeting of foreign ministers, one of the serial ministerial-level meetings leading to the G20 Hamburg Summit in July, was held at the World Conference Center in Bonn.

The participants met on Thursday for the first working session focused on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was adopted in September 2016 at the Hangzhou Summit.

They met for the second session on Friday to discuss issues about conflict prevention, post-conflict peace building, and how to strengthen cooperation with Africa.

The G20 is comprised of 19 countries plus the European Union (EU). The countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, Britain, and the United States.
HELSINKI, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- As Finland is making preparations to guide the Arctic Council during its upcoming three-year chairmanship in May 2017, worsened east-west relations plus the new U.S. administration bring more uncertainty to the immediate future of the Council.

Finnish foreign minister Timo Soini said in Helsinki this week that it was not clear whether there would be smooth sailing or "packed ice" ahead. Soini described uncertainty surrounding U.S. Arctic policy as a risk factor.

Finland has proposed a plan for its tenure and it needs the approval of all participating countries. Finland began the process at a meeting in October, and the plan was accepted by the United States during the Obama administration.

In the plan, Finland put the United Nations' (UN) goals of sustainable development by 2030 and climate change as features of its tenure. More Finland-related priorities such as environmental protection, improved meteorological services, communication, and education were emphasized as well.

Finnish Arctic ambassador Aleksi Harkonen elaborated to Xinhua on Thursday that talks with member countries were continuing, "but time is getting short."

He did not comment in any further detail on the talks or the sides taken by member countries, but expressed the view that "if the U.S. is not at ease with the plan, they could rather reduce their participation in the Council."

Harkonen also said it would be difficult to change the focus of the plan as all member countries should be consulted, due to the Council's consensual nature.

In fact, Arctic cooperation has already been badly affected by the worsened international situation. Meetings of armed service commanders have been suspended for the time being and an Arctic Security Forces Roundtable has been convened without Russia.

Despite the impact of the international political atmosphere, frameworks have been created for the cooperation of coast guards and for activities in the high seas. "Russia is participating in them," Harkonen said.

Harkonen underlined that irrespective of the overall situation, Arctic cooperation meets the interests of the participants.
A pickup truck, filled with a family's belongings, leaves the border area in northern Sinai, where authorities are battling insurgents on the high way between Al-Arish and the border town of Rafah, Egypt, May 25, 2015. (REUTERS Photo)

CAIRO, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- At least three Egyptian soldiers were killed on Friday as a roadside bomb targeted their armored vehicle in restive North Sinai province bordering Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip, a security source told Xinhua.

"An explosive device was remotely detonated by militants some 80 km from North Sinai's Arish city, which killed three soldiers and injured four others who were taken to a nearby military hospital in Suez," said the source.

The news was confirmed by Military Spokesman Tamer al-Refaay who said in a statement on Friday that security raids in North Sinai also killed three militants and arrested three others.

"The raids further destroyed a large warehouse of anti-tank mines and vehicle spare parts, three caves used for storage of explosives, four caves of ammunition, eight vehicles and four explosive motorbikes," said the military spokesman.

He noted that the forces also raided four houses and burnt down 21 huts used by the militants as hideouts.

Hundreds of policemen and soldiers have been killed in growing anti-government terror attacks in Egypt since the mid-2013 military removal of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in response to mass protests against his one-year rule.

Since early January, at least 25 police and military personnel have been killed in blasts and confrontations nationwide. Most of the terrorist attacks were claimed by a Sinai-based militant group loyal to the regional Islamic State group.

Security campaigns in Sinai killed hundreds of militants and arrested a similar number of suspects over the past few years as part of the country's anti-terror war declared by former army chief and current President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi following Morsi's ouster.

Military Intelligence Chief, Gen. Mohamed Farag al-Shahhat, said earlier in February, during a military-held symposium, that at least 500 extremely dangerous terrorists have been killed since a massive anti-terror campaign, known as "The Martyr's Right," started in September 2015.
UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations on Friday condemned recent terrorist attacks in Iraq's capital Baghdad, calling them as "atrocious crimes."

On Thursday, a car bomb attack rocked a crowded commercial area in southwestern Baghdad, killing at least 45 people while injuring 56 others. The extremist group Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack came just a day after a deadly suicide minibus bomb attack hit a heavily populated neighborhood of Sadr City, leaving nine people killed and more than 30 wounded.

"We convey our solidarity to the people of Iraq in resisting attempts to spread fear, intimidation and hatred," UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told a daily briefing.

"The United Nations will continue to stand by the government and people of Iraq in their efforts to fight terrorism and violent extremism, notably by building trust and mutual understanding through peaceful and inclusive dialogue," said Haq.

According to UN mission in Iraq, terrorist acts and armed conflicts across the country have killed 382 Iraqis and wounded 908 others in January.

The attacks might be triggered by the fact that the Iraqi security forces backed by anti-IS international coalition are carrying out a major offensive to drive out the IS militants from its last major stronghold in and around Mosul.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) shakes hands with his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi during their meeting on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) ministerial meeting in Bonn, Germany, on Feb. 17, 2017. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan)

BONN, Germany, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday met his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi over deepening ties between the two countries.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) ministerial meeting in Germany's western city of Bonn.

Wang recalled the consensus reached on deepening bilateral ties in September last year when Chinese President Xi Jinping met Indonesian President Joko Widodo in China's Hangzhou. Referring to the two countries as comprehensive strategic partners, Wang said China will earnestly implement the consensus, and maintain close contacts and cooperation to deepen bilateral relations.

Saying that Indonesia is an important country along the historic Maritime Silk Road, the Chinese foreign minister urged Indonesia and China to further align their national development strategies in order to achieve common development.

Wang expressed hope that both countries would work together to carry forward the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project.

Retno on her part said Indonesia has a strong will to strengthen ties with China. She said her country is willing to deepen the existing mechanism of dialogue with China in order to better align its national development strategy with China-proposed Belt and Road initiative and lift the level of bilateral cooperation in fields of investment, agriculture and maritime.

On China's ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Wang said China is willing to work with ASEAN countries including Indonesia to focus on cooperation, remove disturbances and improve China-ASEAN relations.

Wang expressed China's willingness to work together with ASEAN to accelerate negotiations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea on the basis of fully implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea.

Retno said Indonesia welcomes China's role in actively pushing forward negotiations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.

She said her country is willing to maintain consultation and communication and step up maritime cooperation with China, thus sending a positive signal that the two countries are capable of safeguarding peace and stability in the South China Sea.
ANKARA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- One child was killed, 15 people injured by a car bomb blast near lodgings of judges and prosecutors in Turkey's southeastern Sanliurfa province bordering Syria, local NTV reported on Friday.

The explosion, which took place in Viransehir district, was carried out with a bomb-laden vehicle, Governor Gungor Azim Tuna said.

A three-year-old child was killed in the blast.

Several ambulances from neighboring Gaziantep province were dispatched to the area.
TALLINN, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Talks between Estonia's medical professionals and the Health Insurance Fund reached an impasse on Friday after medics refused to sign a collective agreement before getting a promised pay increase, local media reported.

The board of the Health Insurance Fund gave the organizations representing medical professionals and hospitals one month to conclude the agreement, saying that the issue would be addressed again in mid-March, Baltic News Service quoted the fund's representative Katrin Romanenkov as saying.

On Thursday, the organization of Estonian medics and hospitals reached an agreement on a pay increase without signing the collective agreement.

Katrin Rehemaa, secretary general of the Estonian Medical Association, explained that the medics' organizations would not sign the collective agreement as long as they had no guarantees and assurances from the government.

The Health Insurance Fund has earmarked 23.6 million euros (25.05 million U.S. dollars) for medics' pay raise this year.

Estonian Health and Labor Minister Jevgeni Ossinovski, however, stated earlier this month that to get the pay raise the medics had to sign the collective agreement first.

The Health Insurance Fund continued debating Friday whether and how to go ahead with the medics' pay increase, scheduled for April 1.
UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- As the conflict in eastern Ukraine enters its fourth year, about 1 million children are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, nearly double the number this time last year, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.

The increase -- an additional 420,000 girls and boys -- is due to the continued fighting and the steady deterioration of life in eastern Ukraine, the UN agency said in a press release.

Some 1.7 million people have been internally displaced as a result of the conflict, and many families have lost their incomes, social benefits and access to healthcare, while the price of living has sharply risen, UNICEF said.

Giovanna Barberis, UNICEF representative in Ukraine, warned that this is "an invisible emergency," a crisis most of the world has forgotten. "Children in eastern Ukraine have been living under the constant threat of unpredictable fighting and shelling for the past three years."

"Their schools have been destroyed, they have been forced from their homes and their access to basic commodities like heat and water has been cut off," Barberis said.

Hundreds of daily ceasefire violations put children's physical safety and psychological well-being at risk. The situation is particularly grave for the approximately 200,000 girls and boys living within 15 kilometers on each side of the "contact line" in eastern Ukraine, a line which divides government and non-government controlled areas where fighting is most severe.

In this zone, 19,000 children face constant danger from landmines and other unexploded ordinance and 12,000 children live in communities shelled at least once a month. Thousands of children are regularly forced to take refuge in improvised bomb shelters.

Teachers, psychologists and parents report signs of severe psychosocial distress among children including nightmares, aggression, social withdrawal and panic triggered by loud noises.

More than 740 schools -- one in five in eastern Ukraine -- have been damaged or destroyed.

UNICEF once again called for all sides to immediately recommit to the ceasefire signed in Minsk in August 2015 and to respect international humanitarian law, including allowing unrestricted humanitarian access.

"After three horrific years, children in eastern Ukraine urgently need lasting peace, so that their unnecessary suffering ends," said Barberis.

UNICEF is appealing for 31.3 million U.S. dollars to provide health and nutrition support, education, clean water, hygiene and sanitation as well as protection for children and families affected by the conflict. So far, approximately 10 percent of the appeal has been funded.

According to the UN estimates, the conflict between government troops and pro-independence insurgents, which rages in eastern Ukraine since April 2014, left some 3.8 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Boeing South Carolina facility in North Charleston, South Carolina, U.S., February 17, 2017. (Xinhua/REUTERS)

WASHINGTON, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- During a visit to a Boeing plant on Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump once again touted his "America first" agenda, vowing to bring jobs home and level the playing field for American workers by stopping "foreign cheating."

"You have heard me say it before and I will say it again. From now on, it's going to be America first," Trump told a cheering crowd of workers at the unveiling ceremony of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner at the Boeing facility in Charleston, South Carolina.

The U.S. must rely less on imports and more on products made in the U.S., Trump said in the speech.

He said, as president, he will do everything he can "to unleash the power of the American spirit and to put our great people back to work."

"This is our mantra, 'buy American and hire American.' We want products made in America, made by American hands," he added, citing his request for the pipes to be used in the Keystone pipeline be manufactured in the United States.

Trump said his focus is all about creating jobs, and he will do everything possible to bring jobs back into America.

He said he will make it harder for American businesses to outsource jobs overseas, by imposing a "substantial penalty" on U.S. companies which make products abroad and sell them back in the U.S. market.

"I don't want companies leaving our country. Making their product, selling it back, no tax, no nothing, firing everybody in our country. We're not letting that happen anymore, folks," the billionaire-turned president said.

To achieve his goal, Trump promised to "massively reduce job crushing regulations" and enforce strong trade rules to stop "foreign cheating" so to level the playing field for American workers.

"When there is a level playing field -- and I've been saying this for a long time -- American workers will always, always, always win. But we don't have a level playing field. Very shortly, you will have a level playing field again," he said, without going into details.

The election victory of Trump, who based his presidential campaign on anti-globalization and protectionist trade promises, has stoked fears about rising trade frictions with its major trade partners.

At the same time, Trump vowed to "fully rebuild" the U.S. military so that none will dare to challenge it, by ensuring it will acquire "the latest, the most cutting edge systems in their arsenal."

He added his administration is "looking seriously" at a big order for procuring the F-18 Super Hornet fighters from Boeing, which also produces other advanced military aircraft such as the F-15 Strike Eagle and Apache helicopter.
NICOSIA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Greek Cypriots on Friday set in motion the process for defusing a crisis that has threatened to derail the peace negotiations just as the United Nations were preparing their final stage.

Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci said on Friday that he walked out of a meeting with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades on Thursday, saying that it "was devoid of good manners."

He accused Anastasiades of failing to give even the slightest notion that he would take action to offset a decision by the all-Greek Cypriot parliament to commemorate the anniversary of a 1950 referendum in which the Greek community voted for "enosis" or union with Greece.

Anastasiades has stated that it was approved only by minority parties which aim at preventing a Cyprus solution, and that the two largest parties did not approve it.

"I will allow nobody to dispute my intention and that of the Greek Cypriot community to reach a federal solution on the terms agreed with Turkish Cypriots," Anastasiades has said.

The parliamentary group of the ruling DISY party tabled a bill that would give absolute authority to the Ministry of Education to decide, in consultation with the parliamentary education committee, which anniversaries would be the subject of commemoration in school classes.

This bill is designed to negate a last-minute addition by an extremist party to an educational reforms law that angered the Turkish Cypriot community.

The addition was passed only by the votes of small parties opposed to the peace negotiations after the ruling DISY party abstained and the left-wing AKEL party voted against.

Parliamentary sources said they expect the proposed bill to be passed by the votes of DISY and AKEL, which control 34 votes in the 56-seat chamber

The out of the blue disruption of the negotiations was termed by analysts as a hiccup crisis.

Anastasiades said on Friday that he is sincerely committed to a federal solution and urged Akinci to join him at a scheduled negotiating session on Thursday if he feels likewise.

Akinci was non-committal, saying that the will assess the situation and decide depending on developments.

Sources said a decision will be made on Monday when Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will visit the occupied part of Cyprus for talks with Akinci.

The visit had been scheduled before but Akinci has said it would be an opportunity to make a comprehensive review of the state of affairs.

Though the United Nations has insisted that the negotiations are still on, Greek Cypriot officials made no secret of their concerns after Cavusoglu said during a visit in Cologne, Germany, on Thursday that "these negotiations cannot continue" and that Turkey would do "what it has to do".

Moderate politicians and people on both sides have mobilized to avert a failure of the negotiations, warning on social sites that the extremist among the two communities would succeed in preventing a peace solution that seemed to be so close just weeks ago.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) holds talks with Japanese Foreign MinisterFumio Kishida in Beijing, capital of China, April 30, 2016.(Xinhua/Yao Dawei) BONN, Germany, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during a meeting here with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida on Friday, urged efforts from both countries to bring bilateral ties back on the right track.

Wang and Kishida met on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) ministerial summit in Germany's western city of Bonn.

Wang noted that 2017 and 2018 respectively mark the 45th anniversary of the normalization of Sino-Japan diplomatic ties and the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between China and Japan.

He said both countries should take the opportunity of these anniversaries, draw on past experiences on their relations, and work to consolidate the political foundation for bilateral ties, in a bid to bring bilateral ties back on the correct track.

Wang stressed that there are now both opportunities and challenges for improving China-Japan relations. He said the continous, negative moves made recently by Japan regarding major sensitive issues have caused disturbances to the improvement of bilateral ties.

He said only when Japan honors its commitments and adopts a responsible attitude, thus preventing the occurrence of incidents damaging the political foundation of the China-Japan ties can there be real improvement in relations.

Kishida said 2017 is a vital year for the China-Japan relations, expressing the Japanese side's willingness to handle differences between both countries well. He said Japan would work to make events marking the 45th anniversary of the normalization of Sino-Japan ties a success, giving a boost to the improvement of bilateral ties.

Saying Japan attaches importance to the major concerns raised by China, Kishida reiterated Japan's stance of not supporting claims of "two Chinas," "one China one Taiwan," and not supporting "Taiwan independence," saying the stance would not change.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) holds talks with Japanese Foreign MinisterFumio Kishida in Beijing, capital of China, April 30, 2016. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)

BONN, Germany, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during a meeting here with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida on Friday, urged efforts from both countries to bring bilateral ties back on the right track.

Wang and Kishida met on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) ministerial summit in Germany's western city of Bonn.

Wang noted that 2017 and 2018 respectively mark the 45th anniversary of the normalization of Sino-Japan diplomatic ties and the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between China and Japan.

He said both countries should take the opportunity of these anniversaries, draw on past experiences on their relations, and work to consolidate the political foundation for bilateral ties, in a bid to bring bilateral ties back on the correct track.

Wang stressed that there are now both opportunities and challenges for improving China-Japan relations. He said the continous, negative moves made recently by Japan regarding major sensitive issues have caused disturbances to the improvement of bilateral ties.

He said only when Japan honors its commitments and adopts a responsible attitude, thus preventing the occurrence of incidents damaging the political foundation of the China-Japan ties can there be real improvement in relations.

Kishida said 2017 is a vital year for the China-Japan relations, expressing the Japanese side's willingness to handle differences between both countries well. He said Japan would work to make events marking the 45th anniversary of the normalization of Sino-Japan ties a success, giving a boost to the improvement of bilateral ties.

Saying Japan attaches importance to the major concerns raised by China, Kishida reiterated Japan's stance of not supporting claims of "two Chinas," "one China one Taiwan," and not supporting "Taiwan independence," saying the stance would not change.
ANKARA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Chief of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford met with his Turkish counterpart Gen. Hulusi Akar on Friday at the Incirlik air base in southern Adana province of Turkey for talks before the new U.S. administration draws up a new anti-Islamic State (IS) strategy in the Middle East.

The Turkish top commander and Gen. Dunford reiterated consensus on struggle against the terror groups in Syria and Iraq, including the IS and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in a bid to maintain security in the region, Turkish military sources, who asked to remain anonymous, said.

Gen. Akar informed his American counterpart about Turkey's incursion into Syria, Operation Euphrates Shield, and said the Turkish army-backed Syrian rebels has largely taken control of Syrian town of al-Bab and were conducting search within the city, according to the sources.

"One will and should continue fight against all kinds of terror organizations, primarily the IS," the Turkish general told Dunford, in an apparent reference to the Syrian Kurdish militia as well, which Ankara sees an offshoot of the PKK.

Akar stressed the importance of increasing support by the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition in the fight against terrorism, sources said.

Dunford's visit to Turkey was part of series of recent meetings between officials from the new Trump administration and the Turkey, along with defense ministers' meeting in Brussels, Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary's talks with the new administration figures in Washington and the CIA Director's visit to Ankara last week.

The Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim will also meet with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday on the margins of Munich Security Conference.

The new U.S. administration is working to shape its new strategy regarding the Middle East, while Ankara wants to convince Washington to change its fighting partner in Syria against the IS before the U.S. President Trump announces his country's policy for the region.

Speaking on Feb. 16, Turkish Defence Minister Fikri Isik said Dunford's visit to Turkey was for discussions on a possible joint operation to liberate Raqqa, de facto capital of the IS group in Syria.

Turkey offers U.S. boots on the ground for Raqqa offensive in return to end its collaboration with the Syrian Kurds.

Turkey urges the new Trump administration to change its policy of cooperation with the People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters in Syria, which caused strain between the Turkish government and the Obama administration.

During Dunford's previous visit to Ankara in November, Turkish officials proposed a plan that Syrian Arab fighters from Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Arab elements in Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) will launch operation into Raqqa with efforts of coalition forces including Turkish Army on the ground.

Ankara strongly objects to Syrian Kurdish fighters' participation in a possible Raqqa offensive and puts pressure on the U.S. to end supporting the YPG fighters.

The SDF, an alliance dominated in manpower and militarily led by the YPG, is currently conducting a multi-phased operation to encircle Raqqa, backed by airstrikes and special ground forces from the U.S.-led coalition. Turkey proposes the U.S. to continue the operation's capture phase with estimated 10,000 Arab forces from the SDF and the FSA.

Turkish leadership vows to target YPG fighters in Manbij after its offensive ends in al-Bab town, if the Syrian Kurdish fighters do not withdraw to east of the Euphrates River.

The Euphrates Shield operation does not target only IS elements, but the YPG fighters in order to prevent them from uniting northern Syria's three Kurdish cantons.
UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- As a devastating drought grips Somalia, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN World Food Program (WFP) on Friday said that the world must act now to save lives in the Horn of Africa country.

The UN agencies warned that only a massive and immediate scale-up of humanitarian assistance can help the nation avoid falling into another catastrophe.

The drought that the northern regions struggled with last year has now spread throughout Somalia, threatening an already fragile population battered by decades of conflict.

In January, the United Nations warned that Somalia risks slipping back into famine as worsening drought, the worst in decades, has left millions of people without food, water or healthcare in a country crippled by decades of war.

Almost half the country's population, or 6.2 million people, are either severely food insecure or in need of livelihood support. It is expected that 944,000 children will be acutely malnourished this year, including 185,000 who will be severely malnourished and in need of urgent lifesaving support.

It is very likely that this projected number of severely malnourished children could increase 50 percent to 270,000 over the coming months.

The UNICEF and WFP representatives this week have been visiting some of the worst-affected areas in the northern Puntland region, where the two agencies are delivering much-needed assistance.

"Huge numbers of Somalis have come to the end of all their possible resources and are living hand-to-mouth," said Steven Lauwerier, the UNICEF representative in Somalia. "We have a small window of opportunity to avert this looming catastrophe and save children's lives and we are determined to work with all partners and stakeholders to succeed."

The ongoing drought and other shocks have left communities with little to no resources to fall back on. Whole villages have lost their crops or seen their livestock die. The prices of water and locally produced food have risen dramatically, and thousands of people are on the move in search of food and water. The drought has also led to an increase in waterborne diseases with more than 4,000 cases of Acute Watery Diarrhoea/Cholera this year.

"Humanitarian assistance has saved lives in the drought-affected north over the past year, but as the crisis spreads we have no time to lose," said WFP Country Director Laurent Bukera. "Together with UNICEF and other partners, we are moving as quickly as possible to reach many more people with lifesaving support using every option we have, including cash-based transfers, specialized nutrition support and airlifting of relief goods."

The UN agencies noted that humanitarian access remains worryingly limited in some drought-affected areas of the south, but that WFP and UNICEF are reinforcing their joint efforts to scale up the response in areas that are accessible, where millions of lives are at risk.

The two agencies are responding together to the drought by providing food and water vouchers to hundreds of thousands across the most affected areas of Somalia as well as nutrition assistance. As additional resources are mobilised, this joint response will continue to expand in the most vulnerable regions.

Funds have been generously provided by international donors from Europe, Asia, North America and the UN system for life-saving services in nutrition, food security, health, education, water and sanitation.

With the growing needs, UNICEF and WFP together still require more than 450 million U.S. dollars to be able to provide urgent assistance required in the coming months.
UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Friday that it is alarmed by the reported terrorist attacks on vulnerable displaced people in two locations in Maiduguri, a city in northeastern Nigeria, that took place earlier in the day.

While the number of dead and injured among civilians is not yet clear, Boko Haram reportedly launched a major attack using guns and explosives targeting the Custom House site that hosts more than 9,000 internally displaced people and the Muna Garage Park area where displaced people have gathered to return to their homes, Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, said at a daily news briefing here.

"These are not the first attacks affecting the most vulnerable people in the area," Haq said.

"OCHA reminds all parties to the conflict in Nigeria to ensure the safety and security of all civilian populations as required under International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law," he said.

In the incident near camp for displaced people in Maiduguri, as many as seven suicide bombers, six of them women, have blown themselves up while trying to attack the people there, reports said, adding that thousands of people living at the camp are especially vulnerable,

The seven-year armed campaign by the extremist group Boko Haram has killed 15,000 people and forced up to two million from their homes.
TUNIS, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Two extremist jihadists have been killed by a military patrol in Semmama mountain located in midwestern Kasserine province, the Tunisian Defense Ministry said on Friday.

After clashes with a group of armed jihadists in Semama mountain, a unit of the Tunisian army killed two jihadists.

According to the Ministry of Defense, a suspect related to this jihadist group was arrested near Semmama mountain.

Admitting the continuation of a large-scale sweep operation in the area surrounding Semmama mountain, the Ministry of Defense announced the seizure of a good quantity of weapons of various calibres and ammunition.
WARSAW, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, who was injured in a car accident last week, left a Warsaw military hospital on Friday.

During a brief press conference held outside the Military Institute of Medicine in Warsaw, Szydlo said that after seven days in hospital, she was happy to meet the media again.

"I thank all those who saved us, who have helped us and looked after us, the medical and rescue services and the police," Szydlo said.

She said that she would rest for a couple of days, and after that she will return to normal duties and will chair a regular government meeting, slated for next Tuesday.

Last Friday, Szydlo was taken to the Military Institute of Medicine in Warsaw, following the car accident which took place in Oswiecim, southern Poland, when her car collided with a Fiat Seicento.
TEHRAN, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Deployment of troops by the United States to Syria to fight the terrorist groups in the country would adversely fan flames of extremism in the Middle East, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Friday.

"I believe that the presence of foreign troops in Arab territory is a recipe for those extremists to rally behind and gain new fighters from disenfranchised youth," Zarif was quoted as saying.

The remarks by Zarif followed the recent suggestion by a U.S. official who said that the White House may authorize sending combat troops to Syria.

"It's possible that you may see conventional forces hit the ground in Syria for some period of time," CNN quoted the unnamed U.S. official as saying.

The nationwide ceasefire in Syria, which was brokered by Russia and Turkey with the support of Iran in December 2016, is largely working, Zarif said, warning against committing further mistakes in Syria by the United States.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari announced that the next round of negotiations between the Syrian government and the rebels is planned to be held in Kazakhstan within less than a month, Tasnim News Agency reported on Friday.

Jaberi Ansari, who headed Iran's diplomatic team in the past rounds of Syria peace talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana, said a number of expert and bilateral meetings were held over the past two days in Astana, including a general meeting on Thursday afternoon.

A communique has been finalized by a joint committee monitoring the ceasefire in Syria, he said.

Iran emphasizes Syria's territorial integrity, its national sovereignty, and its people's right to decide their own fate, he added.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran calls on all Syrian groups to join the peace negotiations with the Syrian government and take the fate of their children in their hands," he stressed.
UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) said Friday that it has reinforced its presence in Bambari with the arrival of additional forces, including a quick reaction unit and special forces, a UN spokesman told reporters here.

"This allows the mission to better protect the town and its population," the deputy UN spokesman, Farhan Haq, said at a daily news briefing. "The UN mission is currently the only legitimate authority mandated by the government to control Bambari."

The mission stressed that the UPC (Mouvement pour l'Unite et la Paix en Centrafrique) and the FPRC (Front Populaire pour la Renaissance de Centrafrique) represent a threat for civilian populations and that UN peacekeepers will respond in case of violence, he said.

However, discussions are ongoing and a UN civilian-military delegation will soon meet with the leader of one of the armed groups, he said. "The UN Mission stresses that Bambari must be free of armed groups in the coming days."

The reinforcement makes it possible to better protect Bambari and its inhabitants, as, for the time being, the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission is the only legitimate authority mandated by the government of the Central African Republic to control the city.

Clashes between the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel coalition and anti-Balaka militia, which are mostly Christian, plunged the country of 4.5 million people into civil conflict in 2013.

According to the United Nations, more more than half the population is in dire need of assistance. Despite significant progress and successful elections, the Central African Republic has remained in the grip of instability and sporadic unrest.

In December 2016, the UN mission supported a new dialogue between 11 of the 14 armed groups, as part of an ongoing effort to disarm the factions.
Philipp Charwath, deputy permanent representative of Austria to the United Nations and Chairperson of the fifty-fifth session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD55), speaks during an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency in New York, the United States, Feb. 14, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

By Xinhua writer Gu Zhenqiu

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Building a community of common destiny for mankind is "pretty significant" and "in the long run, it profits us all," a senior UN official said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Philipp Charwath, the chair of the 55th session of the UN Commission for Social Development, said that the concept of building a community of common destiny for mankind was incorporated for the first time in a UN resolution, which was approved by consensus in the commission.

The resolution, titled "Social Dimension of the New Partnership for Africa's Development" which was presented as recommendations to the UN Economic and Social Council, calls on the international community to enhance the support for Africa's development "in the spirit of win-win cooperation and to create a shared future, based upon our common destiny."

The draft resolution also won strong support from the group of 77 developing countries at the UN.

This, Sept. 15, 2014, file photo taken with a fisheye lens, shows beach goers cooling off during the Southern California heat wave, in Huntington Beach, California, the United States. (Xinhua/AP Photo)

Charwath said the landmark concept is of great value to all UN member states and the UN itself in their joint efforts to build a better world.

"It basically is an acknowledgement that we all depend on each other," Charwath said, referring to the concept first proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in late 2012.

Take climate change as an example, he said, Europe, China and the United States reached an important agreement in Paris in December 2015 just because "we all understand that we have only one shared future, and each of us agreed to cut down on our emissions because we depend on each other."

The concept also applies when it comes to economic development, he said. "I mean we cannot be happy with what we achieved in one part of the world if our neighboring region is suffering."

"In Europe, as you see right now, a big crisis in the Middle East which affects us everyday," he said, referring to a lot of migrants and refugees driven from home in armed conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa to look for better opportunities in Europe and other parts of the world.

The concept is also conducive to the world effort to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of 17 development targets for global development in the years running to 2030.

"I think it is at the heart of the SDGs, because just as the president of the 71st session of the (UN) General Assembly, Peter Thomson said, the SDGs and the Paris Agreement are a blueprint for the humanity survival," Charwath said. "I think this is also how we understand the concept of the shared destiny for humanity."

A man walks with his camels through the Danakil Depression, northern Ethiopia April 22, 2013. (Xinhua/REUTERS)

To achieve the SDGs, one country has to do what it should within its borders, he said, adding that it is very important that every country is doing its best all by itself in this regard, but it is not enough.

"We cannot achieve them in our own countries if we don't cooperate with other countries," he stressed.

Charwath was elected to head the UN Commission for Social Development in early February. Currently, he is the deputy permanent representative of Austria to the United Nations.

Charwath noted that in his keynote speeches in Switzerland in January, President Xi renewed his call for building a community of shared future for mankind, offering inspiration to a world beset by rising challenges and risks.

"In the long run, it profits us all," Charwath said. "I think that's how I understand the concept, and that's how the UN work can profit from the concept."

"I know the shared benefit is much bigger down the line than a quick win for one country," he said.

"China is a country with a long history, usually your perspective and how you look at things, is longer than other countries," he said. "So look at the concept, it is a long-term vision."
BELGRADE, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Serbian Prime Mininster Aleksandar Vucic officially entered the presidential race after the Steering Committee of his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) unanimously adopted the proposal to make him a candidate on Friday.

The Steering Committee of SNS held a session at Sava Center congress hall, and Vucic accepted to be the candidate in a speech in front of hundreds of party delegates and journalists.

"Despite all problems and advices (not to run for president), I decided to accept the candidature for the president of Serbia, because Serbia doesn't have much time and those who destroyed the country mustn't return to power," he stressed, adding his opponents should belong to the political past.

The mandate of the incumbent president Tomislav Nikolic expires on May 20, while Serbian law proscribes that elections must be called for at least 90 days earlier and held at least 30 days after that.

Serbian mainstream media speculate, according to their sources, that the incumbent president Tomislav Nikolic might run for another term, but this was neither confirmed nor rejected by the president's office.

So far several candidatures have been announced by the opposition parties.

Serbian Radical party already announced the candidature of its leader Vojislav Seselj. While the Democratic Party decided to support former ombudsman Sasa Jankovic as an independent candidate.

Vuk Jeremic, former foreign minister of Serbia and the former president of the general assembly of the United Nations, also decided to be an independent candidate.
DAMASCUS, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian Foreign Ministry accused Turkey on Friday of bringing in equipment to build a separation wall in northern Syria, according to state news agency SANA.

In a letter of condemnation sent to the UN, the ministry said the Turkish government's aggression on Syria soil is incessant.

On Jan. 11, the Turkish forces and border control guards brought in heavy machines and trucks into Syrian territories in northern Syria, particularly in the northern countryside of Hasakah province, making a dirt road and digging a trench while installing cement pillars to build a separation wall.

Three days later, the Turkish forces entered the Syrian territory at a depth of 250 meters in the town of Arab Tuma in the northern countryside of Aleppo province, and began to make a two-kilometer road to build a separation barrier in that area.

The ministry said that Turkish trucks yanked 2,500 olive trees in the Sheikh Hadid town in Aleppo countryside and captured areas to build a cement wall, while moving the fence at the Turkish Syrian borders 100 meters deep inside Syrian territories with a length of 600 meters.

The Turkish forces also repeated the move in the northwestern province of Idlib, which also has borders with Turkey, saying that the Turkish forces captured six acres of lands in the Harem area in Idlib countryside that belong to Syria citizens with the same aim to build the wall.

Moreover, the ministry said that the Turkish authorities have set up a military base in the village of Jitar in Aleppo countryside, containing arm depots and barracks for Turkish officers and soldiers.

The ministry condemned the Turkish "incursion," adding that it is a continuation of the Turkish violations that include providing various forms of military, material and logistic support to the rebels, bringing foreign "terrorists," facilitating their entry into Syria and setting up training camps for them on Turkish soil under direct Turkish intelligence supervision and providing arms and fire cover to the terrorist groups fighting inside Syria.

It urged the UN to pressure Turkey into halting its "violations against Syria and to implement UN Security Council resolutions pertaining countering terrorism."

Turkey has for long spoken of its intentions to create safe zones in northern Syria, and the recent revelation by the Syrian government regarding the Turkish wall building in northern Syria nurture the conviction that Ankara is moving on with its plans.

Syrian government officials recently said that any unilateral international actions without the consent of the Syrian government will be dealt with as violations to Syria's sovereignty.

President Bashar al-Assad said in a recent interview that setting up safe zones in northern Syria is "unrealistic."
SKOPJE, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Although the support to Macedonia's European Union membership has witnessed an ongoing decline in recent years, still, around 77 percent of citizens in Macedonia backed their country's EU integration drive, a public opinion poll showed Friday.

EU membership is still considered to enjoy overwhelming support in Macedonia, said that the poll, which was presented by the Institute for Democracy "Societas Civilis" in cooperation with Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

Speaking to media about the findings of the poll, Ivan Damjanovski of the Institute for Democracy said that the high public support was as a result of the citizens' expectations from economic benefits once the country joined the Union.

According to him, the drop in the support to EU integration can't be called a euro skeptical energy.

"The key factor for EU support to start dropping gradually lies in the implications over our identity that stem from the name issue with Greece," Damjanovski told a press conference.

If the name row was put aside, then EU support amongst the citizens in Macedonia would be close to 90 percent, according to him.

The opinion poll was conducted on a representative sample of 1,100 respondents who were interviewed by phone in November 2016.
Libyan scouts march marking the sixth anniversary of the Libyan revolution in Tripoli, capital of Libya, on Feb. 17, 2017. (Xinhua/Hamza Turkia)

TRIPOLI, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Celebration for the sixth anniversary of the revolution of February 17 took place on Friday in the Libyan capital Tripoli.

Libyans in public squares and street celebrated the anniversary of the uprising that toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011.

UN-backed Prime Minister, Fayez Serraj, said in a televised speech congratulating the Libya people and commending "those who gave their lives for the country."

"Despite the hard times we had to go through in the past six years, we have to admit that what we live today is a heritage of failure to build a state of institutions and law that would serve all the people, not just one person," Serraj said, referring to Gaddafi's regime.

"The presidential council of the government of national accord spared no efforts to strengthen the unity between Libyans," Serraj added.

The anniversary comes as Libya is suffering security vacuum, chaos and political division. The country is also plagued with deteriorating economy and escalating violence.
MEXICO CITY, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Relations between Mexico and the U.S. are at a critical stage, said Geronimo Gutierrez, nominee for Mexican ambassador to the U.S., when talking with lawmakers.

Gutierrez, former deputy minister of foreign affairs for North America and a prominent defender of NAFTA, said that any deepening of the current crisis could lean to a "major derailment."

Speaking to lawmakers of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), Gutierrez said that dialogue had to be maintained as there is "the possibility of building a far better relationship."

On Thursday, Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto submitted the candidacy of Gutierrez as Mexican ambassador to the U.S. to the Senate, adding that he had the approval of the U.S. government.

Speaking to the senators, Gutierrez admitted that he would not accept the responsibility of representing Mexico without believing he could seek a closer relationship with the U.S.

"I am fully aware that there may be no changes...that go against the national interest," he added.

However, while Gutierrez said the relationship was currently "atypical," he said that "the level of evolution seen in bilateral ties in recent years cannot be understated."

Gutierrez has been a public official in the last four Mexican governments, holding positions in the ministries of commerce, finance, foreign affairs, and national security.

His last role was as managing director of the North American Development Bank in San Antonio, Texas, which was created within the NAFTA deal.
LA PAZ, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Bolivia's customs office (ANB) announced Friday that it had seized and decommissioned an arsenal of weapons in the city of Santa Cruz, including assault rifles, side-arms and other military hardware.

In a press conference, ANB president Marlene Ardaya said that the arsenal had been found in a container on board a truck, with the shipment originating from the United States.

"This container was prepared and loaded but had a tractor camouflaging it. It originated from Miami, passed through Santo Domingo (capital of the Dominican Republic), Peru, Chile, and was in Tambo Quemado (a mountain pass on the Chilean border) when we followed its transfer to the city of Santa Cruz," Eshe explained.

After it arrived in Santa Cruz, "an X-ray check identified long-barrel weapons of various calibers camouflaged inside a light-vehicle trailer," added Ardaya.

Carlos Romero, Minister of the Interior, specified that 75 military-grade weapons were seized, including semi-automatic rifles, machine guns, rifles, side-arms, and scopes with a range of up to 3,000 meters.

Romero expressed his surprise that the shipment had passed "so many controls" without detection and that an investigation had been opened.

"It seems strange that it originated from Miami in the U.S., but then went through four countries without being detected or identified. We will investigate this situation until the end," he vowed.

While Romero expressed the certainty that the shipment was for illegal reasons, the investigation will seek to uncover the motive. The weapons have been handed over to the Bolivian army to decide what should be done with them.
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong (C) enters a Seoul court for hearings in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb. 16, 2017. The heir apparent of Samsung Group, South Korea's largest family-run conglomerate, on Thursday appeared in hearings at a Seoul court, which will decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for him sought by prosecutors. (Xinhua/Lee Sang-ho)

SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) - The heir apparent of Samsung Group,South Korea's largest family-run conglomerate, on Thursday appeared in hearings at a Seoul court, which will decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for him sought by prosecutors.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong entered the Seoul court earlier in the morning, surrounded by a horde of journalists. The grim-faced heir answered no questions from them. Protesters chanted for his detention nearby, TV footage showed.

It was the second bid to arrest the Samsung heir after the court rejected the arrest warrant for him on Jan. 19, sought by prosecutors independently investigating the scandal embroiling impeached President Park Geun-hye.

Lee is accused of paying 43.3 billion won (38 million U.S. dollars) in bribes to President Park's longtime confidante Choi soon-sil, who is at the center of the corruption scandal, in return for policy favors to let him smoothly inherit management control of the country's largest conglomerate.

Prosecutors identified President Park as a criminal accomplice to her decades-long friend, who shares assets and personal gains with the impeached leader. It means bribing Choi being equivalent to bribing the president.

Samsung was the biggest donor to two nonprofit foundations, which Choi controlled and used for personal gains. The company also provided millions of euros to her to finance her daughter's equestrian training inGermany.

Samsung's legal team claimed that there was no quid pro quo in the donations, and that the company was forced to make the payments under the presidential office's pressures.

Lee has actually headed Samsung Group since his father Chairman Lee Kun-hee was incapacitated in May 2014 for heart attack. The July 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates was crucial to the power transfer from the ailing patriarch to his only son.

Prosecutors believe that there were discussions on the give-and-take when the vice chairman and the scandal-hit president met face-to-face in September 2014, July 2015 and February 2016 each.

Related:

S.Korean prosecutors seek 2nd arrest warrant for Samsung heir

SEOUL, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- South Korean prosecutors independently investigating the scandal involving impeached President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday sought their second arrest warrant for the heir apparent of Samsung Group, the country's biggest family-controlled conglomerate. Full story

S.Korean prosecutors to summon Samsung heir over bribery charges
Senegalese immigrants wait before being deported at Mitiga International Airport in Tripoli, capital of Libya, on Feb. 16, 2017. Some 170 Senegalese migrants held at a detention center in Tripoli after entering Libya illegally, were deported by air on Thursday. Libya's UN-backed government said on Monday that the recent memorandum of understanding signed between Libya and Italy does not include resettlement of illegal immigrants in Libya. Under the deal, illegal immigrants will be returned to their home countries after necessary medical care is provided, said Government Spokesman Ashraf Al-Thulthi in a press conference. Libya is a preferred transit country for illegal immigrants hoping to cross the Mediterranean into Europe. Many of the migrants are reported to be drowned on the way. (Xinhua/Hamza Turkia)
Giant Panda Bao Bao eats specially-made "dumplings" at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington D.C., the Unite States, on Feb. 16, 2017. National Zoo holds a series of online and on-site events to bid farewell to Giant Panda Bao Bao from Feb. 16 to Feb. 20 before it departs for China on Feb. 21. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)
Policeman on 40 fraud charges

PC Parris appeared in the First Court before Senior Magistrate Nanette Forde-John who read out the 40 which included obtaining $83,100 from Ian Gibbons, 72, of San Fernando.

Parris of Marabella, has two and half years service in the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS). Cpl Darwain Badree of the Fraud Squad charged him with nine counts of uttering cheques; nine counts each of larceny of cheque leaves; forgery of cheque and obtaining money in the sum of $83,100.

Additionally, Parris was charged with four counts of money laundering in which the charges allege he purchased two cellular phones, a car, a seven- piece dining set and a twintub washer. The alleged offences occurred between the period October 12 and November 30, 2015 in the Marabella and Couva districts. All charges were laid indictably and he was not called upon to plea Senior Supt Totaram Dookie, ASP Ken Ghisyawan together with Cpls Badree, Bachoo, Ramdath and Hosein conducted enquiries with the assistance of PCs Lively-John, Kissoonsingh, Cummings, Solozano and Lutchman.

Attorney Subhas Panday, made a bail application for Parris saying his client has no previous convictions, is a father of two and has a fixed place of abode. Court prosecutor Cleydon Seedan suggested to the court that if Parris is the holder of a valid TT Passport, it must be surrendered to the police as a condition of bail being granted. Magistrate Forde- John granted Parris $250,000 bail to be approved by a Clerk of the Peace with a $75,000 cash bail alternative. As a condition to the bail bond, Parris was ordered to report to the Fraud Squad Office twice a week, stay at least 500 metres from Gibbons property and not to have any contact whatsoever with him. She adjourned the case to March 16.

Twelve of the 40 charges were allegedly committed in the Couva area so Magistrate Forde-John transferred those cases to the Couva Magistrates Court.
Tobago cops under probe

The investigations comes two days after Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi stated his intention to bring legislation to Parliament to deal with the proliferation of false and misleading information on social media fora which could lead to public outrage, fear, hate and/or panic.

The man, deemed a high risk prisoner, was as brought to Tobago to attend court and while inside the Scarborough Magistrates courthouse, he complained of feeling unwell. The man was taken to Scarborough General Hospital under armed police escort.

While being examined by a doctor, it is alleged that a policemen recorded the examination using his cellular phone.

The recording was uploaded to social media with the tag stating the man was being treated for a bite to his penis caused by a schoolgirl while he was forcing her to perform a sex attack.

The post was shared hundreds of times and most comments focused on condemning the prisoner, with some commentators saying doctors should castrate him.

Contacted for comment, Head of Tobago Division Snr Supt Joanne Archie said, The information that it is an attempted rape is not true.

The fact is, the man was seeking medical attention and someone recorded the examination and this is what we are investigating right now. An email was sent by Newsday to Ag Chief Executive Officer of the Tobago Regional Health Authority (TRHA) Godwyn Richardson for a comment, was not answered.

Speaking last Sunday following an interfaith service at the auditorium of the Chaguanas Borough Corporations Administrative Complex, Ag Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams condemned fake news on social media saying this could give the wrong impression of Trinidad and Tobago to an international social media audience.
Matura man: Officer beat me

The man has now gone to the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) seeking justice.

I would like to know if we are living in a land without law and order; where police officers could walk up to anybody and say they could lock you up. To me that is high-handedness, John Romero said.

According to a report sent to the PCA, Romero who is from Toco Main Road, was at his girlfriends store at the Shops of Cunapo off the Eastern Main Road in Sangre Grande on Tuesday when at 5.55 pm, he saw five police officers choking and dragging a street-dweller, outside the store. As he left the store to see what was going on and called out to officers to leave the homeless man alone, Romero said a policeman struck him in the face with his fist and he fell to the ground.

Romero said he was threatened with lock-up if he reported the beating. Romero went to the Sangre Grande Hospital for treatment.

He then went to the PCA to file a complaint.
Broken bottle shoved into Abielas neck

Also present outside the Scarborough mortuary yesterday was the victims maternal grandmother who said the teens murder had traumatised the entire family .

What we need is justice. I have faith in the police system and also in God. I have faith that God will use the police to get the justice that we need. I believe they will see and gather all the evidence and give us justice for Abby (Abiela), the weeping woman said .

Adams of Marys Hill was reported missing last Saturday after she left home with a friend. Her mother filed a missing person report at Old Grange police station at 12.15 am on Sunday. The teens body was found at 3.30am in Courland by a relative. A suspect remains detained by police who are seeking the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) guidance on how to proceed .
$30 robbery case dismissed

However, when the matter was called, Ramdath of St Margarets Village in Claxton Bay, took the witness box and said he no longer wanted to continue with the case as the incident had, happened so long.

At about 7 pm on April 13, Ramdath was walking along the roadway near St Margarets Junction when a man approached placed his hands inside Ramdaths pocket and retrieved $30. Before fleeing the scene, the man slapped Ramdath who fell to the ground and sustained injuries to the face. PC Buchoon later charged Cedeno with robbery with violence. Cedeno was granted bail but was unable to secure a bailor and as such remained in police custody. Yesterday, Magistrate Forde-John dismissed the case, after Ramdath indicated he no longer wanted to proceed with the matter. Cedeno left the court a free man.
Two gunned down at car wash

According to a police report at about 12.30 am, Bhawani and Joseph were inside the car wash when the incident occurred. Reports said the two men were at the time washing a customers vehicle when a vehicle pulled up in front the compound and its occupant(s) began shooting at the men.

The killers then sped off. Bhawani and Joseph died on the spot after being shot in their chest, abdomen and face. A District Medical Officer (DMO) visited the scene and pronounced Bhawani and Joseph dead and ordered the bodies to be removed to the Forensic Science Centre, St James. The area was cordoned off by police. Crime Scene Investigators spent several hours inside the premises of the car wash recovering spent shells to be taken for further testing. Bhawani resided on the compound where his business place was located.

Sources told Newsday the gunmen were targetting Joseph while Bhawani was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Newsday learnt Joseph recently had an altercation with a man who threatened to kill him. Newsday was told the man was looking for Joseph. Speaking with Newsday at the crime scene, Josephs aunt Margaret Simon-Mann said her nephew was not involved in any illegal activities.

He does just hustle and work hard. He does mason work with his father and he recently started working here at this car wash, she said. Simon-Mann said she believes someone may have approached her nephew to get involved in some type of illegal activities and he may have declined.

He does not be on that , so I think that is what happened, because I cant see anything else why they would have just killed him just like that, she told Newsday.

The emotional woman said she was still in a state of shock. It is real dred what is happening in this place, she said.

Also, among onlookers at the crime scene was one of Bhawanis close friends, Anthony Noriega.

Holding back his tears, he said Bhawani was an ambitious man who did not deserve such a death.

He said Bhawani was also a stuntman.

Noriega said that Bhawani had recently opened the car wash business Aqua Splash Car Wash near his home but never stopped performing his stunts on his bike at events.

He loved putting a smile on the faces of people and he did so by doing his bike stunts all over the country. He was really talented and good at what he did, Noriega said. Bhawani was also the father of a two-year-old daughter. Bhawani , he said started performing bike stunts at the age of seven years. He described Bhawani as a kind individual.

Up to late yesterday police were viewing footage captured from nearby closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras. Police of the Homicide Region Three Division are investigating.
Diego student missing, Hema found

Thomas of Green Hill Village, Diego Martin, was reported missing by her father, Michael, at the West End Police Station on Wednesday.

She was last seen wearing her school uniform __ a white shirt and a green skirt __ while heading to her school.

Thomas is of African descent, with a light brown complexion and natural black hair.

She is five feet tall, and has a slim build.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts are advised to contact the nearest police station, call 800- TIPS, or contact the police at 555, 999, 911.

Meanwhile, Hema Kissoon, a 38-year-old St Augustine woman who was reported missing since February 7, has been found. When her whereabouts were determined and she spoke to police she told them that she was not missing.

Police who informed the media of her disappearance and re-appearance via a press release, did not divulge her whereabouts for the past week, but assured that Kissoon was safe and sound.
Mom of three acquitted of cocaine charges

Melinda Kadoo, 43, of Cantaro Village, Santa Cruz, was before Justice Maria Wilson in the Portof- Spain High Court charged with possession of the cocaine which was allegedly found by police on February 7, 2005, hidden in a can.

It took a nine-member jury sitting in the Port-of-Spain High Court almost two hours to return with the not guilty verdict for Kadoo. State prosecutor Veona Neal-Munroe led evidence that on February 7, 2005, police executed a search warrant at Kadoos home.

In their testimony, the officers said while searching the room they found the cocaine in the can.

Kadoo and two men who were in the house at the time were arrested and charged, however the two men were discharged at the Magistrates court during the preliminary inquiry.

Kadoo testified in her defence that the drugs were not found in her presence during the search and were planted by police.

In an interview after walking out of the Hall of Justice in Portof- Spain, Kadoo again maintained that she was innocent and said she was happy the matter was finally over as the allegation caused her and her family distress and embarrassment.

I was not worried. I pray a lot and I know God answered my prayers, she said. It was hard for me and my children but we made it through it, Kadoo she added.
Partap appeals DUI conviction

Partaps attorneys are contending that there was no statutory authority for field sobriety testing and refusal to take the test could not be illegal.

Partap in 2013 was found guilty of refusing to subject himself to a breathalyser test and was fined $5,000 by Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar.

He has appealed both the conviction and fine.

In submissions before Justices of Appeal Alice Yorke-Soo Hon and Mark Mohammed yesterday, Partaps lead counsel ,Ravi Rajcoomar argued that there was a difference between a field sobriety test and a breath test. He noted that in other jurisdictions, a field sobriety test included giving a sample of breath and walking the line or touching your nose.

He said the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act specifically stated police were required to request a breath test and not a field sobriety test if they suspected someone of driving while under the influence of alcohol.

He said Partap, who was driving a black SUV after leaving the nightclub, was stopped by police and asked to submit himself to a field sobriety test which he refused.

Busby in his reply said Partap knew what was required of him when he was stopped by police.

He said it did not matter what words were used by the police, so long as the person understood the request being made of them.

It is not how it is said, it is what the accused understood, Busby submitted.

He pointed to the evidence that Partap, while at the Belmont Police Station, told acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams that officers had stopped him and requested a breath test.

When the commissioner explained to him it is either he take the test or if he refuse he will be charged, he said I refuse to take the test. It was then that the commissioner told Sgt Brandon John to charge him. When he heard the magic words charge him then he said I will take the test, said Busby.

According to other evidence presented at his trial, police claimed they saw Partap drinking from a bottle of alcohol while leaving the nightclub.

They testified that Partap got into his SUV, turned on the flashing blue lights and attempted to drive away before they stopped him.

Police claimed Partap refused several requests to submit to a breathalyser test as he said he would wait to speak to then Police Commissioner Stephen Williams and his lawyer.

Partap was eventually taken to the Belmont Police Station.

Partap was fired from Cabinet by then Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, after he was charged.

The appeal continues next week Wednesday.


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Dismissed workers protest

This was the position of president of the Transport Industrial Workers Union (TIWU) Roland Sutherland during a protest on Wednesday by the affected workers.

In our view, when the company got wind that we were organising the workers (to become unionised), they retrenched all of them. They served notices to the workers on January 31, telling them the company was restructuring and a decision was taken to outsource the entire janitorial function.

All nine workers were retrenched effective March 17, 2017, Sutherland said.

Sutherland said, this is an attack on the law of the land. Therefore we could not sit down idly and allow any company or big corporation to violate the laws of TT. TIWU intends to intensify its protest action to ensure other unions and Government are aware of this attempt at blatant violation of the Industrial Relations Act, he said.

Newsday obtained a copy of the notice of retrenchment letter, which stated that during the course of 2016, the Board of Directors (The Board) of Second Plaza Limited had been reviewing its competitiveness, future viability and overall organisational structure.

As a result, a decision has been taken to outsource the entire janitorial function. Efforts by this newspaper to reach management officials of VPS proved futile as calls to the office numbers went unanswered.
Deyalsingh: No flu deaths in TT

Noting the flu season runs from October to May, Deyalsingh opined, So we are becoming the victims of our own success because the public is no longer rushing to get vaccinated. However stressing that the period between Christmas and Carnival is the best time to get vaccinated, Deyalsingh said, We have brought in 100,000 doses of vaccine and we are now vaccinating anyone.

Saying vaccines were previously limited to special groups such as women and children, the minister reiterated that this is no longer the case. He encouraged all citizens to go to any of the 33 public health centres in the country on Tuesdays and Thursdays to get vaccinated free of charge rather than paying between $300 and $500 to get the same vaccination at a private medical centre.

Indicating that HIV/Aids is another issue which the ministry focuses heavily on during the Carnival period, Deyalsingh said Cabinet approved a sum of $7.7 million for the acquisition of software to track and analyse data regarding the treatment of persons with HIV/ Aids in TT. He also said Cabinet approved a sum of $9 million to acquire two viral loading machines which will be placed at the Medical Research Foundation at the Queens Park Savannah.
PM talks crime in Guyana

According to a statement issued yesterday by the Office of the Prime Minister, Rowley extensively discussed crime, security, international relaitons and economic development with his Caricom colleagues.

Rowley has responsibility for security in Caricoms quasi- Cabinet. During the deliberations, the CSME was viewed as the best vehicle to promote overall economic growth in the region. Rowley will return home on Saturday.

He is scheduled to hold a news conference at the Piarco International Airport at 10 am on that day.

Finance Minister Colm Imbert has been acting as prime minister during Rowleys attendance at the Caricom meeting.
Two UNC members on Local Government Association

The members elected are Chaguanas Mayor Gopaul Boodhan (vice chairman) and Couva/ Tabaquite/ Talparo Regional Corporation (CTTRC) chairman Henry Awong. San Juan/ Laventille Regional Corporation chairman Anthony Roberts was re-elected chairman.

During his address, Roberts recalled that Opposition members had not participated in the Association over the last several years despite a gentlemans agreement to take an active role in its activities. However, speaking to reporters following his election as vice chairman, Boodhan said the election of the two Opposition members was better than the last occasion which witnessed no UNC members on the executive.

I take some level of comfort in that we now have two persons present on the executive and we will now be able to share our ideas and opinions on the way forward for the organisation, Boodhan said. The Association is about representing the views and ideas of its members, he said.

Earlier, Rural Development and Local Government Minister Kazim Hosein advised Local Government practitioners to give their best during their three year terms saying politics was a temporary occupation.

Politics is temporary, Hosein said, adding, life is temporary, but politics is the most temporary thing it have because today you are here and tomorrow you do not know where you are. So you give a commitment, you come here for one month, or one year or three years, so work to the best of your ability, always have transparency in everything you doing, Hosein said, and noted that he had an open door policy for local government councillors.
Francis: The system is the problem

However, he acknowledged that while TTs education system reflects the countrys colonial past, it has worked reasonably well. But within that paradigm, he continued, there are a number of inconsistencies, a number of inherent flaws. You see, people keep talking about post-Colonial and every time I hear that word I smile, because the colonial baggage is still here; it eh really post. Its like carrying colonial with you still. In our education system, weve been doing that. You know why? Because education was very central to the colonial experiment, he said.

According to Lovell, the fact that the nations education system reflects its colonial past is evidenced in the fact that schools inculcate in children a particular world view and do not allow them to question that view. However, while the education system needs to be transformed, Lovell said citizens also need to take a look at themselves.
CNN kicked out of Venezuela after being accused of spreading fake news  does it get any funnier?

Between their fake news charade with BuzzFeed, their consistently low ratings, and their ongoing feud with the President of the United States, CNN just cant seem to catch a break. Now, the network is in the news yet again for getting kicked out of Venezuela. Thats right. We couldnt make this stuff up if we tried.

Venezuelas President Nicolas Maduro demanded that CNN leave his country at once for spreading fake news and interfering in things that dont concern them. CNN, do not get into the affairs of Venezuelans. I want CNN well away from here. Outside of Venezuela. Do not put your nose in Venezuela, President Maduro said in a statement. The remarks come after CNN allegedly distorted facts regarding irregularities at Caracas public high school.

Some media like CNN tried to manipulate. They cannot manipulate! That is our business, of the Venezuelans! Maduro declared. It turns out that CNN cant get away with spreading their propaganda and fake news no matter where they go. Inside or outside of the country, people just dont put up with it.

Last week the PanAmPost ran a story on a student who went on national television and demanded that President Maduro do something to improve the quality of his school. More specifically, the student asked for improvements in infrastructure, security, and food so that his classmates wouldnt collapse from hunger anymore. (RELATED: Read about what some people in Venezuela are forced to do just to get food). CNN en Espanol visited the school to ask faculty members about the student, and whether President Maduro had made any improvements.

President Maduro responded by saying he wants the youth to tell the truth, to be critical and revolutionary, for us to go to solve the problems. He added, to attend to those problems, we must build a sense of belonging in each school. Lyceum belongs to me and I must take care of it.

The demands from the Venezuelan president also come a few days after CNN finished an investigation into another controversy, whereby Venezuelans at the embassy in Iraq allegedly sold Venezuelan passports to suspected terrorists. The entire year-long investigation reviewed thousands of documents and included interviews in the United States, Spain, Venezuela, and the United Kingdom.

CNN doesnt have much luck with the president here in the U.S. either. Last month, when CNN teamed up with BuzzFeed to promote a damning yet unverified 35-page dossier, Donald Trump certainly didnt pull any punches. When Senior White House Correspondent for CNN Jim Acosta tried to ask Trump a question, Trump let him have it. Not you. Your organization is terrible, he said bluntly. Im not going to give you a question, you are fake news.

The President got into a heated exchange just this past Thursday, again with CNNs Jim Acosta. Donald Trump declared that he wanted to turn in CNN for not doing a good job and that the reporting is an example of fake news. The press has become so dishonest that if we dont talk about it, we are doing a tremendous disservice to the American people, he said.

While Donald Trump is certainly not perfect, you have to admire his courage and willingness to stand up to the mainstream media, which for years has harassed conservatives with virtually no pushback whatsoever. Media networks like CNN do not consist of journalists; instead, they are replete with liberal activists, all of whom are determined to bring about the downfall of conservatism and the Republican Party. (RELATED: You wont believe what CNN said about Donald Trump and Mike Pence before Inauguration Day).

CNN needs to learn that this is no longer business as usual. The American people (and evidently the Venezuelans) are waking up to their lies, their mischaracterizations, and their distortions of the truth. Those days are quickly coming to an end.

Sources:

ZeroHedge.com

CNN.com

PanAmPost.com

TheVerge.com

Submit a correction >>
President of India addresses the Centenary Celebrations of Ramjas College

New Delhi, Tue, 14 Feb 2017 NI Wire

The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee addressed the Centenary Celebrations of the Ramjas College (February 13, 2017) at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Speaking on the occasion, the President extended his best wishes to the Ramjas College on its Centennial Celebrations. He also congratulated Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Principal of the Ramjas College for last 32 years, on being presented the Lifetime Achievement Award on the occasion. He said that it is the bounden duty of all of us to salute such 'Gurus'.

The President said that the basic objective of education is not merely acquiring of a job but pursuit of knowledge. Knowledge based society is going to be the order of the day. He said that ever since he took over as the President, he has been constantly stressing on improving the quality of higher education in the country in his capacity as Visitor of Central Institutions of higher learning.

It had been his constant refrain as to why can't Indian Universities and Institutes of higher learning produce more Noble Laureates. He questioned as to why was it that till just about two years back, there was no single University or Institution of higher learning featuring amongst the top two hundred in international rankings.

He emphasized that there is no dearth of talent either of students or teachers in the country. We must therefore strive to earn our rightful place in the comity of nations on the basis of our merit. He wished that Ramjas College achieves many more important milestones in the future.

On the occasion, the President released a Centenary Postage Stamp and also a Commemorative volume on 'History of Ramjas'.

Source: PIB
Chris Dupin has written about trade and transportation and other business subjects for a variety of publications before joining American Shipper and Freightwaves.
43rd edition of IHGF Delhi Fair Spring 2017 Inaugurated

New Delhi, Fri, 17 Feb 2017 NI Wire

Textiles Secretary, Smt. Rashmi Verma inaugurated the 43rd edition of "IHGF- Delhi Fair Spring 2017 in a colourful ceremony at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida. The fair is scheduled to be held from 16 - 20 February, 2017 at the state-of-the art India Expo Centre, Greater Noida.

While inaugurating the fair, the Textiles Secretary congratulated EPCH for helping earn a place for IHGF-Delhi Fair in Limca Book of World Records. Smt. Verma said that every time she visits the fair, she sees new product lines on display; she said this is the reason that large number of buyers from across the globe visit IHGF to source their requirements.

She further said that in order to be competitive, artisans and manufacturers of Indian handicrafts at craft clusters need guidance in creating new products. She said that EPCH is playing a key role in handholding and providing the platform at IHGF-Delhi Fair, to artisans, craftspersons and up-coming entrepreneurs from different craft clusters to interact directly with international buyers. Through this direct buyer-seller meet, Indian handicrafts can not only grow further in terms of exports, but can also further enhance the image of India in the market of home, fashion, lifestyles and textiles across the world.

The Secretary showed great satisfaction that VRIKSH certificate for wooden items has been accepted worldwide. She added that Office of Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) is working towards branding of handicraft items, just like India Handloom Brand has been launched for the handloom sector. Smt. Verma said that this will further help in quality assurance, certification and selling of handicrafts products in international markets.

Executive Director, EPCH, Shri Rakesh Kumar said that the credit for entry of IHGF-Delhi fair into Limca Book of World records as the largest congregation of handicrafts producers under one roof goes to each and every stakeholder, including exhibitors, buyers, Office of Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) and team EPCH. He further said that during next edition of IHGF-Delhi fair, EPCH will come up with a procedure for design registration, in order to safeguard the interest of the creator of the item and discourage copying of products amongst the community of manufacturers.

Buyers from renowned international buying companies such as New Edition Home B.V. Netherlands; TOK & Stok, Brazil; E&L, Australia; ROOST, USA; Accent Decor Inc., USA; Twos Company Inc., USA; MOEs Home, Canada; Kangaroo Gmbh, Germany; and Kopyko, Venezuela are visiting this edition of the show. Apart from overseas buyers, domestic volume retail buyers from many leading retail chains of India as well as e-commerce companies have become regular visitors to the fair. Like previous editions, the first day of the show saw very hectic activities with buyers engaged in business negotiations in mart area as well as in exhibition halls.

The exports of handicrafts during April 2016 - January 2017 has registered a growth of 13.06% in rupee terms and stands at Rs. 20,282.18 crores. The growth in dollar terms is 9.43% with exports of US $ 3018.58 million. Chairman, EPCH, Shri Dinesh Kumar said that the export target for the year 2016-17 is US$ 3600 million (Rs. 23,560.00 crores) and that the Council hopes to achieve the target.

Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts[EPCH] which is a nodal agency for promotion and development of handicrafts has been organizing the Indian Handicrafts & Gifts Fair for the last 23 years. IHGF-Delhi Fair Spring 2017 is expected to generate huge amount of enquiries and orders.

Source: PIB
Estimated growth rate of Agriculture Sector is 4.1% in the next financial year: Radha Mohan Singh

New Delhi, Fri, 17 Feb 2017 NI Wire

Government taken many initiatives in the budget for the welfare of agriculture & for the prosperity of farmers: Radha Mohan Singh

As per the second advance estimate for year 2016-17 production of foodgrains increase by 20.41 million tonnes than previous year 2015-16: Agriculture Minister

Compared to 2015-16, sowing in Rabi season increase by 6.86% this year 2016-17: Singh

Singh addresses 88th AGM of ICAR Society

The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Radha Mohan Singh said that despite difficult challenges being faced by ICAR in its working period of 87 years, it has attained many achievements and these achievements are the milestones of progress of agriculture. Increase in production and income, development of institutes, human resources, development of new techniques, agriculture diversification are the areas in which ICAR has established new standards of success. Radha Mohan Singh made this statement today in the 88th AGM of ICAR Society in New Delhi.

On this occasion, Secretary, the Department of Agricultural Research and Education & DG, ICAR, Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra and distinguished members of Society and senior officers of ICAR were also present.

Singh said that Government is committed to double the income of farmers in five years. In this budget, holistic development of agriculture is the main focus in which to provide credit to farmers on affordable rates, assured supply of seeds and fertilisers, increase in irrigation facilities, increase in productivity through soil health cards, through E-nam assured market and providing profitable price has been emphasised.

Agriculture Minister said that for the progress of agriculture and prosperity of farmers, Government has made many initiatives in the budget, In comparison to the budget last year, in the budget of year 2017-18, the fund for rural, agriculture and allied sectors has been increased by 24%, it is now Rs. 1,87,223 crore. In the next financial year, it is estimated that the progress rate of agriculture sector will be 4.1%.

Singh said that because of a good monsoon and policy initiatives by the government, there is a record production of food grains this year. As per the second advance estimate for the year 2016-17, there would be a total of 271.98 million tonnes production of food grains which is 6.94 million tonnes compared to last records (265.04 MT is 2013-14) 20.41 million tonnes higher than last year production.

Singh said that during this Rabi in comparison to last year 2015-16, we got more sowing has been done viz. 7.7% in wheat, 12.96% in pulses and 12.69% in oilseeds which is in total 6.86% more in comparison to last year. Agriculture Minister said that Indian agriculture scientists have played a major role developing research and technology and bringing green revolution, and thereby in the development of agriculture. Since 1951, production of food grains has increased five times, horticulture production by 9.5 times, Fisheries production by 12.5 times, milk production by 7.8 times and egg production by 3.9 times. This has made a considerable impact on national food nutritional security. Our scientists have major role in increasing the excellence of higher agriculture education.

Singh said that in the International Pulse Year 2016, 150 seed herbs of pulses have been established. Early maturing variety of moong "IPM 205-7(VIRAT)" has been released. The efforts for promoting research in agriculture sector have been remarkable in the last two and a half years. From the year 2012 to May, 2014, 261 new varieties of different crops have been released and from of June, 2014 to December, 2016, 437 new varieties have been released.

To increase International co-operation in the field of agriculture during October, 2016, in New Delhi with the help of coordination unit, one MoU has been signed for establishment of BRICS research platform in agriculture. This unit will be managed by DARE, GoI. Besides this in the year 2016, 17 international collaborative projects have also been approved.

Singh said that since agriculture is state subject, so State Agriculture Ministers have an important role in its progress. On this occasion Agriculture Minister appealed to all the representatives to develop scientists-state-farmer linkage and to work unitedly in coordination with centre for the prosperity of farmers and progress of agriculture.

Source: PIB
'Science Express Should Reach Out to more than Six Lakh Villages of The Country': Anil Madhav Dave

New Delhi, Fri, 17 Feb 2017 NI Wire

Climate Change a Big Threat to Mankind, Can be Tackled Through Collaborative Efforts' : Suresh Prabhu

Four More Trains Must be Run in The Coming Years to Make it an Even Bigger Movement': Harsh Vardhan



Science Express Joinly flagged off by Railway Minister, Health Minister and Environment Minister

Three Ministers jointly flagged off the 9th phase of Science Express Climate Action Special (SECAS) from Safderjung Railway Station here today. While Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Anil Madhav Dave and Union Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Harsh Vardhan were present at the railway station, Union Railway Minister, Shri Suresh Prabhu, joined the flagging off event through videoconferencing.

Addressing the gathering, Shri Dave said that in future, the Science Express should reach out to 6.5 lakh villages of the country. He emphasised that till the train is transformed into a peoples movement and a vehicle to motivate people to take individual actions and initiatives to fight climate change, it will not succeed in its endeavours on the ground and will only be reduced to becoming a point of discussions in seminars. What should each individual do, what should the governments do, what should the society do, everyones role has to be determined, Shri Dave pointed out. The Minister highlighted that transparency in work and every pie of taxpayers money must be utilized in the right measure and past efforts have to be continued to ensure that the money reaches the people.

Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu said that Climate Change is a big threat for the mankind and we can tackle this through collaborative efforts. Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, India played a key role in initiating Climate Action Plan during Paris meet. He also said that Science Express will not just convey the message about climate change, but also generate dialogue and discussion on this burning issue. Science Express will embark on its journey of over 19000 km to cover 68 locations across India till September 8, 2017 and is expected to attract 30 lakh visitors. Climate Action Special will spread awareness on this key issue and augment our efforts to ensure a better future.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Harsh Vardhan said that four more such trains must be run in the coming years to develop the train into an even bigger movement. The Minister also said that the importance of Climate Change can be gauged from the fact that it is the only theme that has been chosen for two consecutive years for Science Express. Recalling his visit to San Fransisco to represent India at two meetings on Mission Innovation and Clean Energy Ministerial last year, the Minister said that 21 big nations of the world acknowledged that led by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, India has taken unparalleled initiatives in the field of Clean Energy, Mission Innovation, or Climate Change and that India has the ability and the strength to lead the world. He added that the role of school students is most critical in making the Science Express a peoples movement. Recounting the statistics, the Minister said over 1.5 crore visitors and students from 33, 801 schools have visited the Science Express till now. The Minister also lauded the role and contribution of all departments and agencies at the Centre and States, as also the educators aboard the train in the running of Science Express.

Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Ajay Narayan Jha, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology, Shri Ashutosh Sharma, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Amita Prasad, Member, Railway Board, Shri Ravindra Gupta were among those present on the occasion. Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Ajay Narayan Jha gave the welcome address and Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Amita Prasad delivered the vote of thanks.

After todays flagging off, the SECAS will be open for public viewing at Delhi Cantonment Railway Station on February 18-19, following which it will embark upon its journey across the country. SECAS II will run from February 17 to September 8, 2017 (See Schedule), over 19, 000 km during which it will be exhibited at 68 stations across India. The exhibition will convey a message about Climate Change and will also be a good opportunity to generate dialogue and discussion.

At each halt of SECAS, activities are planned to engage visitors across different age groups to reinforce its message. An exciting and much sought-after Outreach Programme is also conducted in local schools/institutions, along with activities on the railway platforms. In addition, informative take-away material has been made available for wider distribution amongst schools and visitors.

DST has entrusted Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre (VASCSC), Ahmedabad with the task of managing the SECAS across India. VASCSCs team of qualified, trained and highly motivated Science Communicators travelling with the train explain and interpret the exhibition, answers queries, facilitate the visitors and conduct complementary activities.

The exhibition is open to all, but primarily targets students and teachers. More information is available on the website www.sciencexpress.in. For visit to the exhibition, an email can be sent to sciencexpress@gmail.com, or the team aboard the train can be contacted on 09428405407. School students can participate in the JOS Lab in small batches of up to 20 students, by prior registration.

There is no entry fee for visiting the exhibition. Items such as mobiles, cameras, bags, match-boxes, cigarettes, beedis, tobacco, water bottles, any liquid, and any sharp/ pointed objects. During its run across the country, the Railway station of the respective city will be the venue for visiting the train. The timing for visiting the train is from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Source: PIB
It's been quite a year. And I make no predictions about the one to come. I do know that it will -- at least where we are -- start ou...
Gabina VOA is designed to be an infotainment youth radio show broadcasting to Ethiopia and Eritrea in the Amharic language. The show brings varied perspectives on issues concerning young people in the Horn of Africa region. Gabina in the Amharic language is a front row taxi ridesymbolic of the shows content as a fun ride that takes audiences from point A to point B. Gabina VOAs main goal is Enlightening young people, introducing them to cutting-edge technological innovations, exposing them to new processes and ideas so they can be productive, informed and self-governing citizens.
In keeping with a dynamic African foreign policy championing south-south cooperation, solidarity and co-development, King Mohammed VI is paying an official visit to Ghana as part of a new African tour that aims at adding momentum to Moroccos commitment towards the continents development.

The President, Government and people of Ghana rolled out a red carpet to welcome the Moroccan ruler who arrived in Accra on Thursday.

Ghana, the second African country the King visits after Morocco regained its natural place within the African Union, is an active member of the West African community (ECOWAS) whose development efforts and economic growth stand as an example to follow in the region.

Through this visit, King Mohammed VI, who is leading a delegation of close advisors, ministers and businessmen, is giving substance and credibility to Moroccos African policy, which the Monarch highlighted in his speech before the heads of state of the AU on January 31 as the commitment to the development and prosperity of African citizens.

In seeking to promote partnerships with Ghana, a country that formerly aligned with the Algerian-sponsored separatist thesis in the Moroccan Sahara, the King is fulfilling his promises to extend Moroccos helping hand to all countries in the continent as he pledged in his speech to help bring about unity and progress to Africa.

As was the case with previous African tours prior to joining the African Union, Morocco opted for the share and transfer of know-how and contributed to efforts to build a safe and solidarity-based future for the continent.

The visit to Ghana will thus serve to open a new chapter in relations between the two countries.

Political ties between the two countries have been following the rising trend of their bilateral trade exchange. Between 2006 and 2010, trade between Morocco and Ghana grew by an average 33% to stand at $76 billion of which Morocco exported $70 million.

Prospects for further boosting economic partnerships between the two countries abound. Ghana, the largest economy in the ECOWAS after Nigeria, is among the three largest economic partners of Morocco in the African sub-region.

Recently, Moroccos employers association (CGEM) took part in the Moroccan-Ghanaian business forum in Accra where businessmen from both countries discussed investment opportunities.
Some 500 Sub-Saharan migrants stormed on Friday the border fence into the Spanish occupied enclave of Ceuta in northern Morocco triggering clashes with the Spanish police.

Several migrants were injured as they forced their way through a gate in the fence that separates Morocco from the Ceuta enclave. The Civil Guard at Ceuta estimates that 500 people could have succeeded in entering the town, said the Spanish emergency services on their twitter account.

The Civil Guard, or paramilitary police, meanwhile told AFP that several hundreds had crossed over and many of them were hurt along with members of the security forces.

Moroccos Interior Ministry for its part said that Moroccan security forces prevented 210 migrants from jumping over the fence and arrested 110. Ten members of Moroccan security forces were injured in the operation, the ministry said.

The latest major attempt at crossing the fence took place on New Years Eve when Moroccan authorities thwarted the illegal immigration attempt by nearly 1000 Sub-Saharan nationals who tried to jump the six-meter barbed wire fence of the city of Ceuta.

Ceuta has been under Spanish occupation since the 16th century. Morocco claims the city along with the other Spanish occupied enclave of Mellilia as an integral part of its national territory.
About 170 Senegalese migrants who were in detention centers in Tripoli have been deported back to the west-African nation, local media reported on Thursday.

The migrants were sent back home early Thursday from the Mitiga airport east of Tripoli under the supervision of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

There was coordination with the immigration authorities and the anti-migration centers at Tariq Al-Shuk, the airport road and As-saka so as to help the 170 Senegalese migrants in their voluntary return to their country, Juma Ben Hassan, an IOM official said.

Some 1.6 million refugees and migrants reached the European shores by crossing the Mediterranean in 2014-2016 and the main route now leads from the shores of lawless Libya to Italy.

There was a 17% increase last year so we had approximately 181,000 irregular border crossings coming from Libya We have to be ready to face the same number, Fabrice Leggeri, the head of the EUs border agency Frontex told reporters.

In 2016, 2015 and 2014, we had more than 150,000 thousand irregular migrants coming from Libya, he said.

In recent years, the European Union initiated a number of measures to stop more migrants from entering EU countries. The latest EU initiative is conceptualized within the EU Migration Partnership Framework of July 2016.

The deal intends to commit 8 billion to a five-year development plan in Africa and some countries in the Middle East, including Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, Ethiopia, Tunisia, Libya, Jordan and Lebanon.
As'ad's Bio

As'ad AbuKhalil, born March 16, 1960. From Tyre, Lebanon, grew up in Beirut. Received his BA and MA from American University of Beirut in pol sc. Came to US in 1983 and received his PhD in comparative government from Georgetown University. Taught at Tufts University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Colorado College, and Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Served as a Scholar-in-Residence at Middle East Institute in Washington DC. He served as free-lance Middle East consultant for NBC News and ABC News, an experience that only served to increase his disdain for maintream US media. He is now professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus. His favorite food is fried eggplants.
Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images

On Thursday, President Trump announced his new pick for Labor Secretary at an early afternoon press conference.

He then spent 76 minutes ranting about the medias dishonesty; touting his historically successful first month in office (and ever-increasing popularity); bragging about his singular lack of hatred for Jewish people; and, occasionally, answering a reporters question.

Here are the ten most interesting things weve learned from President Trumps first solo press conference:

1. Trump did not instruct Michael Flynn to discuss sanctions with the Russian ambassador while Obama was still president  but he would have, if hed thought of it.

This week, the president parted ways with his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn. The retired general had become enveloped in controversy due to his (arguably illegal) contacts with Russian officials.

The most widely discussed of these contacts was a phone conversation Flynn had had with Russias ambassador to the United States on December 29  the day that the Obama administration had expelled Russian diplomats from America, as punishment for the Kremlins (alleged) meddling in the 2016 election.

The day after Flynns phone call, Vladimir Putin announced that his government would not be taking retaliatory measures against American diplomats, despite previous reports to the contrary.

Flynn later claimed that he had not spoken about sanctions with the Russian ambassador. Which makes sense: doing so would have almost certainly been a violation of federal law.

Multiple members of the Trump administration, including Vice-President Mike Pence, backed up Flynns claim. Then, Americas intelligence agencies discovered that Flynn had lied. Weeks later, so did readers of the Washington Post. Days later, Flynn was gone  but not because the president saw anything wrong with Flynns phone call.



Mike was doing his job. He was calling countries, and his counterparts, Trump said, when asked if he had directed Flynn to discuss sanctions with the Russian ambassador. I didnt direct him, but I would have directed him, because thats his job.

Violations of the Logan Act are fine. Misleading Mike Pence is not. So goes the official White House spin on Flynns departure.

2. Trump isnt certain that no one on his campaign was in contact with Russian intelligence operatives.

President Trump says "nobody that I know of" talked to Russia during campaign https://t.co/DAUCmRiCNc https://t.co/8xFvYAHAo2  The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) February 16, 2017

3. The leaks about the Trump administration are real. But the news stories written about those leaks are fake.

Trump has argued that intelligence agencies really are leaking sensitive information about his administration. But he has also maintained that reports based on those leaks are fake news. Asked to resolve this contradiction, Trump replied:

Well, the leaks are real. Youre the one that wrote about them and reported them, I mean, the leaks are real. You know what they said, you saw it and the leaks are absolutely real. The news is fake because so much of the news is fake.

4. The president believes that committing an act of war against Russia would be a surefire way of increasing his political approval ratings.

5. Trump is unable to discern when he is ranting and raving.

Tomorrow, they will say, Donald Trump rants and raves at the press. Im not ranting and raving. Im just telling you. You know, youre dishonest people. But  but Im not ranting and raving. I love this. Im having a good time doing it.

President @realDonaldTrump to the media: "I'm not ranting and raving. I'm just telling you, you're dishonest people." pic.twitter.com/sHKBMNT5Kf  FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) February 16, 2017

6. You can trust President Trump  because when he says false things, hes merely reciting the information that he has been given.

The president claimed that his Electoral College victory was the largest since Ronald Reagans. It is among the smallest.

NBCs Peter Alexander pointed this out to Trump. He then asked why Americans should trust Trump, when the president says demonstrably false things.

I was given that information, Trump replied. Ive seen that information around.

After Trump answers with false infoNBC's @PeterAlexander asks Why should Americans trust you?



Trump: Ive seen that information around pic.twitter.com/FKNhCiPwJY  Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 16, 2017

7. One of Trumps major takeaways from his intelligence briefings is that nuclear holocaust would be like no other.

And I can tell you one thing about a briefing that were allowed to say, the president said, nuclear holocaust would be like no other.

8. President Trump is the least anti-Semitic person youve ever seen in your entire life. Also, he thinks that a lot of alleged acts of anti-Jewish intimidation are really just false-flag operations cooked up by his enemies.

This declaration came after a Jewish reporter asked President Trump about recent threats made against 48 Jewish community centers across America. (The reporter specifically said that he did not intend to suggest that Trump was personally anti-Semitic).

After assuring the reporter that he has less animus toward Jews than anyone else (including, ostensibly, all Jews), the president argued that no one has been committing anti-Semitic acts in his name  and that reports to the contrary are, in fact, false flags.

Some of the signs youll see are not put up by the people that love or like Donald Trump, theyre put up by the other side and you think its like playing it straight? the president said. Theyll do signs and theyll do drawings that are inappropriate. It wont be my people. It will be the people on the other side to anger people like you.

9. President Trump is the least racist person. Also, he assumes that black reporters are probably friends with black members of Congress.

Minutes after declaring himself the least racist person in existence, Trump took a question from American Urban Radio Networks D.C. bureau chief, April Ryan.

Ryan asked if Trump planned to seek the advice of the CBC when crafting his urban agenda. The president was confused. Ryan explained that she was referring to the Congressional Black Caucus.

Do you want to set up the meeting? Are they friends of yours? Trump asked the African-American journalist.

No, Im just a reporter, Ryan said.

Set up a meeting, the president interrupted. I would love to meet with the Congressional Black Caucus.

Reporter: Will you meet with the Congressional Black Caucus?

Trump: "I would. You want to set up the meeting? Are they friends of yours?" pic.twitter.com/8Pp18KBUJd  BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) February 16, 2017

10. Trump misses Crooked Hillary.

According to the New York Times transcript, the president said the word Hillary 12 times during his press conference. The 2016 campaign has been over for 99 days.
Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images

The question that remains, of course, is the motive.

Why on Earth would any campaign for president be in constant, secret touch with the intelligence agents of a hostile foreign power?

I cannot know. Maybe Flynn is a rogue loner. Its also possible, I guess, that the Trump campaign just wanted to keep in touch with the intelligence services of one of this countrys nemeses, if only to wish them Merry Christmas  five times in one day. Its also conceivable that Trumps former campaign chair Paul Manaforts deep ties to the Putin regime were utterly irrelevant to the sudden amendment, this past summer, to the GOP party platform that removed a call to send arms to Ukraine. Its also possible, I suppose, that deep down Im straight.

But theres one explanation that chills me even more than a foreign powers potential blackmail over an American president. And it is that Trump and Putin are natural allies in their fight against the postwar, U.S.-led international order that has kept the peace for 70 years. Putin and Trump, after all, share a Bannonite foreign policy: a robust defense of nationalism; a view that NATO is obsolete; support for far-right parties throughout Europe; and the goal of smashing the European Union so that Russia can once again extend its tentacles into Eastern Europe, and the U.S. can play one European power off another. I have no idea if Putin has kompromat on the president, but Trumps actions need no such motivation. Trump and Putin want to form a pincer movement to destroy what we have known for a long time as the West.

Trump and Putin want to form a pincer movement to destroy what we have known for a long time as the West.

Their domestic politics also have disturbing parallels. Trump would love nothing more, it seems to me, than to be an American Putin, treating the country as he long treated his own corporate fiefdom. He once explained he admired the autocrat because Putin has great control over his country. Like Putin, Trump would love to control the media. Like Putin, he has developed a leadership cult, devoted to the masses. Like Putin, he believes in a government that has killers. Like Putin, he threatens his geographic neighbors. Like Putin, he has cultivated an alliance of convenience with reactionary religious conservatives, to shore up his power. Like Putin, he believes theres no moral difference between American democracy and Russias. Like Putin, he is enriching himself by public office. And, like Putin, he has targeted a minority as a scapegoat  Putin targeted the gays to gin up support while Trump targets the Muslims and Mexicans. And as Putin has RT as his conduit, so Trump has the Murdoch empire.

I feel like I know Stephen Miller, the youthful Montgomery Burns who lectured the lugenpresse last Sunday morning in his charm-free Stakhanovite baritone. I feel like I know him because I used to be a little like him. Hes a classic type: a rather dour right-of-center kid whose conservatism was radicalized by lefties in the educational system. No, Im not blaming liberals for Millers grim fanaticism. I am noting merely that right-of-center students are often mocked, isolated, and anathematized on campus, and their response is often, sadly, a doubling down on whatever it is that progressives hate. Before too long, they start adopting brattish and obnoxious positions  just to tick off their SJW peers and teachers. After a while, youre not so much arguing for conservatism as against leftism, and eventually the issues fade and only the hate remains.

Stephen Miller. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Think of it in some way as reactionary camp. Think Ingraham and Coulter and Yiannopoulos. They are reactionaries in the classic sense: Their performance-art politics are almost entirely a reaction to the suffocating leftism that they had to endure as they rose through the American education system. As a young, lonely conservative in college, I now wince at recalling, I threw a Champagne party to welcome Reagans cruise missiles to Britain. Of course I knew better  and could have made a decent argument for deterrence instead of behaving like a brattish dick. But I didnt. I wanted to annoy and disrupt the smugness around me. If you never mature, this pose can soon become your actual personality  especially when you realize that it can also be extremely lucrative in the conservative-media industrial complex. I think of Ann Coulter, whom I met recently, backstage at Bill Mahers show. What struck me was her sincerity, searing intelligence, and grasp of the facts. In another universe, she could have become a reasoned defender of a sane conservatism. Instead she ended up writing In Trump We Trust. In exactly the same way, Miller really is a product of Santa Monica and Duke  their living, breathing, raving antibody.

Steve Bannon, on the other hand, is quite something. Ive read and reread his 2014 speech at the Vatican to see if I can find any coherence in it, and I confess I failed. Its a hodgepodge of melodrama, hysteria, and a defense of some kind of enlightened capitalism along Judeo-Christian lines, in the face of an imminent Islamist takeover of the planet. Its the 1950s versus jihad, an attempt to convey the gist of the entire Drudge Report every day and turn it into a thesis. He argues that we are just at the very beginning stages of a global conflict that could eradicate 2,000 years of Western civilization. It reads like the apocalyptic, paranoid fantasies of someone who writes letters to the editor, single-spaced, in all caps.

Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Now go check out this Vice journalists impression of Bannon in 2014. It does not reassure: Hes buzzing with intensity, with two pens clipped to his shirt collar. Over the next 90 minutes, he barely touched his food and never took off his coat. He just prattles endlessly and manically on. Among the gems that emerge from the conversation: Ebola requires a massive immigration crackdown or were all going to die; ISIS is plotting to assassinate the Pope; and then this calm overview: The world is in a meltdown right now. I mean, the world is on fire. And all of a sudden its going to dawn on people, this is not a problem for guys in the Middle East. This is a problem for you in Kansas City. You begin to realize that he called himself a Leninist for a reason.

It took me a while to get into HBOs The Young Pope. I kept waiting for it to have a relationship with some believable version of reality  and then a kangaroo kept bouncing around the Vatican. At first I couldnt understand what was metaphor and what was plot, what was dream and what was supposed to be real, what was a miracle and what wasnt. In the first few episodes, the Trump analogy  of an unhinged novice accidentally finding himself in a position of supreme power  did the unforgivable thing of failing to distract me from the anxiety besieging Washington.

But if you let the series just lull you into acceptance, its themes are powerful. The filmmakers understand how attractive the most rigid orthodoxy can be for the young. Abandoned by hippie parents as a boy, Jude Laws youthful Pius XIII insists that the Church needs to turn inward and embrace mystery and fear and obedience again. Hes Benedict XVI with charisma. His vestments twinkle and shimmer; the slippers remain ruby-red; and the full papal regalia is only slightly mitigated by the Holy Fathers inspired chain-smoking. He starts out as a vindictive, sadistic, and arrogant narcissist acting out his deeply buried childhood traumas (can we ever get away from Trump?). But he is also, the series slowly reveals, some kind of a saint. His prayer is like a controlled seizure of concentration. He performs quite astounding miracles. And in time, people of the modern secular world, at first repelled, find themselves drawn to him, smiles on their faces, relieved at last to be in the presence of divine authority, any authority that can make sense of their world.

Ive often wondered if saints are actually like that: not holy in a conventional sense, and certainly not nice  but often unpleasant, antisocial misfits who are only subsequently seen for what they truly were.

Do you remember the days when president Obama predicted that at some point in his presidency, the Republican fever would break? It never did of course. If anything, it kept getting worse  from birtherism to jeopardizing the U.S.s credit rating to Benghazi and then those fricking emails. But it occurs to me that the fever could only really break if the Republicans were no longer in opposition and were actually confronted with the difficult project of running the country. Yes, I know weve been hoping for this for years, chasing phantasms as the crazy gets crazier, but could the fever be finally breaking right now? The Republican bases talk-radio politics, their Breitbart alternative facts, their railing constantly about Obamas various alleged iniquities  none of that is enough to actually govern. But that is all they have known for so long. At some point, the Republicans are going to have to raise the debt limit; they are going to have to pay for the wall; theyll have to replace the ACA with, well, er, something quite fabulous. They have no excuses anymore, after all.

Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call

And yet, lo and behold, they seem paralyzed. Legislatively, they are at a standstill, and the ACA endures and becomes more popular. There is no magic cure for bringing back blue-collar jobs. They will surely divide over tariffs. Even tax reform could be a liability if it isnt directed at those low-earning core Republican voters, rather than Trumps fellow plutocrats (and good luck with that). All the rabid rhetoric against Obamas essentially moderate policies, in other words, is beginning to dissipate into thin air. Yes, they can deregulate. Yes, they could borrow even more to goose the economy. But its going to be fumes before too long. Maybe this is how the fever eventually ends  when, instead of constantly ducking responsibility, they actually have to take some.
Donald Trump during yesterdays press conference. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Donald Trumps disorienting, surreal press conference contained one moment of pristine clarity, when the president predicted, Tomorrow, the headlines are going to be, Donald Trump rants and raves. This prediction, while quite correct, raises the question of why Trump thought it was a good idea to hold a media event whose principal effect would be to produce headlines depicting him as rambling and unhinged. Reports from the administration have supplied the answer, which is quite simple: His boasts spring from a place of utter, self-delusional conviction.

Trump, reports Mike Allen, truly believes this had been the best start to a presidency in history, and no one around would ever disagree to his face. The New York Times has the same account, with more detail. For days, a frustrated and simmering president fumed inside the West Wing residence about what aides said he saw as his staffs inadequate defense and the ineffectiveness of his own tweets, it reports. Over the objections of some top advisers who wanted to steer him away from confrontation, Mr. Trump demanded to face the media, determined to reject the narrative that his administration is sinking into chaos, scandal and incompetence.

Almost all of Trumps planned remarks expressed some version of this single belief. I dont think theres ever been a president elected who in this short period of time has done what weve done, he insisted. (This is not even close to true: Barack Obamas first month had vastly larger and more consequential policy changes.) Trump boasted, again, of the biggest Electoral College win since Ronald Reagan. (In fact, it was merely the biggest Electoral College win since  Obama in 2012.) He twice cited a Rasmussen poll, which just has me through the roof  Rasmussen being a conservative messaging firm that is not considered reliable by real pollsters. He glommed onto other factoids that had crossed into his view and confirmed his self-confidence. The stock market is up! Hes expecting a big crowd for his weekend rally!

Trump is not a data person. He is an anecdote person. And these anecdotes all support his sense of dizzying triumph. He had assembled one of the great cabinets ever assembled in American history. You look at Rex Tillerson. Hes out there negotiating right now. One can easily see how, to a mind like Trumps, the report that the secretary of State he appointed is already out in the world negotiating would imply progress and fill him with satisfaction. It may be normal for a secretary of State to negotiate with other leaders, but it is not normal to Trump. It is new and exciting. It is the sort of development that would allow him to overlook details like the man he asked to serve as national security adviser  after he had to fire his last national security adviser for lying to his vice-president and the FBI  had turned him down in humiliating and public fashion. Or that six of his staffers had to be dismissed for failing background checks, or that Tillerson is conducting his negotiations from a sanitarium because nobody booked him a room in time with the other world leaders.

Trump, as many have noted, is the worlds highest-profile case of the Dunning-Kruger effect, which is the phenomenon by which incompetent people are unable to gauge their own competence. Of course, Trump is not bereft of talent. He mastered the technique of using the media to raise his profile, flooding the news with arresting quotes and tidbits and scandal, turning the ordinary heir to a real-estate portfolio into Americas most famous rich person  a branding triumph that he leveraged into a lucrative licensing operation, some outright swindles, and, most crucially, a television show in which he played a brilliant executive.

All the evidence suggests Trump truly believes he is the character he plays on television. And now that he is surrounded by courtiers and the trappings of power, and constantly flattered by powerful people who are secretly terrified of his incompetence, he is convinced of it more deeply than he ever has been before.

You can watch the wildest moments from the press conference here:
Michael Flynn in the White House briefing room on February 1, 2017. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Another confusing, though predictable, layer was added to the saga of National Security Adviser Michael Flynns firing on Thursday when reports said he denied to FBI investigators that he discussed sanctions with Russias ambassador to the U.S. in December, though intercepted communications show that he did. Its unclear if Flynns sanctions talk violates an obscure law banning private citizens from negotiating with foreign governments, but lying about it to the FBI is definitely a felony offense.

So why is CNN reporting that the FBI isnt expected to pursue charges against Flynn? It appears Flynn may avoid legal trouble thanks to his faulty memory, and misunderstanding of what sanctions means. According to CNN, during a January 24 interview with the FBI, Flynn backtracked when pressed on whether he discussed sanctions. Interviewers believe he was legitimately unsure of what he said:

Flynn initially told investigators sanctions were not discussed. But FBI agents challenged him, asking if he was certain that was his answer. He said he didnt remember.



The FBI interviewers believed Flynn was cooperative and provided truthful answers. Although Flynn didnt remember all of what he talked about, they dont believe he was intentionally misleading them, the officials say.

Flynn used the same tactic when responding to the February 9 Washington Post story that revealed he discussed sanctions during the calls. When asked if the topic came up, he initially said no twice. Then a spokesman walked that back saying Flynn indicated that while he had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldnt be certain that the topic never came up.

The Post reported on Thursday that several officials said it would be difficult to bring a case against Flynn for misleading the FBI because he might parse the meaning of the word sanctions. In an interview with the Daily Caller hours before his resignation, Flynn insisted that he merely discussed reviewing the Obama administrations expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats, not sanctions. The expulsion of the alleged Russian intelligence operatives was part of the sanctions package imposed over Russias suspected meddling in the U.S. election. From the Daily Caller:

Flynn insisted that he crossed no lines in his telephone conversation with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak: If I did, believe me, the FBI would be down my throat, my clearances would be pulled. There were no lines crossed.



Flynn said there was a brief discussion of the 35 Russian diplomats who were being expelled by Obama in retaliation for Moscows alleged interference in the 2016 campaign.



It wasnt about sanctions. It was about the 35 guys who were thrown out, Flynn said. So thats what it turned out to be. It was basically, Look, I know this happened. Well review everything. I never said anything such as, Were going to review sanctions, or anything like that.

Flynn said in his resignation letter that he inadvertently gave Vice-President-elect Mike Pence and others incomplete information about his calls with the Russian ambassador. But apparently Trump is less forgiving of Flynns memory troubles than the FBI  even though the White House has maintained that theres nothing wrong with Flynn talking sanctions with Russia before he was sworn in.

At Thursdays press conference, President Trump said Flynn had to go because he either lied or misremembered the perfectly appropriate topics that were discussed with the Russian ambassador when he was briefing Pence.

The thing is, he didnt tell our vice president properly, and then he said he didnt remember. So either way, it wasnt very satisfactory to me. And I have somebody that I think will be outstanding for the position. And that also helps, I think, in the making of my decision.



But he didnt tell the vice president of the United States the facts. And then he didnt remember. And that just wasnt acceptable to me.

The White House has yet to clarify why President Trump only decided Flynn had to go when the story went public, since hed known that Flynn gave Pence an inaccurate account for two weeks before that. Vague as it is, Trumps defense of Flynn is the strongest indicator that the exnational security adviser wont face charges. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has the final say over prosecutions by the Justice Department, and it seems unlikely that hed charge Flynn over Trumps objections.

Still, Flynns troubles might not be over. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes initially suggested he was only interested in probing the intelligence communitys leaks regarding Flynn, not their content. But on Thursday Nunes signaled that hes open to expanding the House Intelligence Committees ongoing probe of Russias election interference to include other allegations about the Trump teams contacts with Russia. Democratic senators Dianne Feinstein and Mark Warner, who are both on the Senate Intelligence Committee, praised Chairman Richard Buff for proceeding very aggressively with their corresponding probe.

The House Oversight Committee is also looking into Flynns activities, with chairman Jason Chaffetz joining Representative Elijah Cummings, the committees ranking Democrat, in requesting more information on Flynns 2015 trip to Moscow.

Cummings also revealed on Thursday that the first Republican, Representative, Walter Jones, has signed on to a bill backed by all Democrats to establish an independent commission to investigate all of the allegations surrounding Russias involvement in the U.S. election and ties to the Trump campaign. Hopefully this is going to open the door, and some Republicans will begin to join us on that, Cummings told MSNBC.
Confirmation hearing for Trumps choice as ambassador to Israel was a sideshow overshadowed by the presidents own presser. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Yesterdays confirmation hearing for David Friedman, Trumps choice to become ambassador to Israel, in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was expected to be a wild and woolly affair. And it was, with the proceedings interrup

ted by various and sundry protesters, Palestinians and Jews, who expressed unhappiness toward Friedmans famously vociferous views on Middle East affairs and those who disagree with them. Said views were also the focus of senatorial questioning of the bankruptcy lawyer turned would-be diplomat:

New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall detailed many of the insults Friedman had hurled in print before being selected for the ambassadorial role.



He has insulted and denigrated members of the Senate, Udall said. He quoted Friedmans comment about senior Democratic New York Sen. Charles Schumer, after Democratic colleagues voted to approve the Iran nuclear deal, that Schumer is validating the worst appeasement of terrorism since Munich, where Palestinian terrorists killed Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games.



Udall also said that Friedman had slandered President Barack Obama when he described the blatant anti-Semitism emanating from our president and his sycophantic minions.



And he pointed out that Friedman once said of the Anti-Defamation League that frankly, they sound like morons.

And those were not even the worst of Friedmans slurs. The worst would probably be his description of American Jews who oppose his right-wing positions on Israeli-Palestinian affairs as worse than kapos  Jews who turned in their fellow Jews in the Nazi death camps.

Now Friedman wants senators to disregard all those words because after all they were uttered in the heat of a presidential campaign:

Some of the language that I used during the highly charged presidential campaign that ended last November has come in for criticism and rightfully so. While I maintain profound differences of opinion with some of my critics, I regret the use of such language.

Actually, his extremist views predated the presidential campaign, and as the Israeli newspaper Haaretz pointed out, the attacks on liberal Jews continued well after the election. But it is interesting to note that this line of defense is becoming common for the Trump administration. Just yesterday, the Justice Department (in a brief filed with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals notifying judges the administration would release a new travel ban order next week) argued strenuously against judicial consideration of Trumps talk about banning Muslims on the campaign trail in interpreting his actions as president. Candidate Trump was just a private citizen who was exercising his First Amendment rights to express what sure sounded like religious bigotry. Presumably Friedmans profanation of the Holocaust and scurrilous attacks on Americans and Israelis alike would fall under the same exemption for campaign demagoguery.

While Friedman had plenty of time to prepare his so sorry about the demagoguery defense, he had to be more nimble in dealing with the fallout from Trumps strange remarks during his press conference earlier this week with Bibi Netanyahu. As you may recall, Trump seemed to express shrugging indifference to the central question of pursuing a one-state or two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Friedman retracted his prior violent opposition to the two-state solution that has been the cornerstone of U.S. policy for decades, but wisely hedged his bets. Who knows what Trump really meant, or what he will say next on this topic?

But even though Trump complicated his intended envoys confirmation hearing with his latest comments, he more than made up for it by completely diverting attention from the Friedman event with his own 80-minute press conference. Whos going to watch a sideshow when the Greatest Show on Earth is underway just across town?
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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 ...

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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 ...

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Bob Michel, who died today, with his vanquisher and successor Newt Gingrich back in the day. Photo: Terry Ashe/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty

It somehow seems appropriate that just as Washington descends to new depths of partisan polarization after Donald Trumps strange press conference yesterday, we learn that former House GOP Leader Bob Michel has died, at the age of 93, in a suburb of the capital. Lets hope Michel was too sick to watch a spectacle that might have confirmed the downward trend in civility  especially in his own party  so many identified as occurring when he was pushed aside just prior to the Republican Revolution of 1994.

Michel spent 38 years in Congress representing a central Illinois district. His House career covered all but two years of the four-decade wilderness period when Republicans remained in the minority. While a consistent conservative, Michel learned how to exert influence without real power, in part by respecting ancient traditions of comity and compromise. But by the end of his career, the ideological conquest of the GOP by movement conservatives who viewed comity and compromise as craven terms of surrender had advanced just far enough to make Michels continuation as party leader impossible. And so he retired on the cusp of a House Republican majority  like Moses, given a glimpse of the promised land he could not enter.

It was obvious at the time that Michels retirement represented a turning point for his party. Former colleague Mickey Edwards summarized it well even before Michel announced he was giving up his leadership post and his House seat:

Congress is not a very pleasant place these days, and one could easily understand why a man of Michels abilities, always in the minority, always on the periphery, never chairman of anything, might decide that hed finally had enough of the Democrats tyranny. Ironically, however, if he hangs it up, it will not be the Democrats who drove him to it; it will be his fellow Republicans, the young and angry ones, the ones who see being in Congress as part of a ceaseless political campaign and have little stomach for the serious legislative work they were elected to do.



Michel is often referred to these days as a moderate (or, worse, a compromising) Republican. He is accused of seeking consensus when his troops are seeking blood. Which shows that all things are relative, for Michel, often stubborn, often combative, has been consistently ranked among the most conservative members of Congress. Yet, measured against the majority of todays House Republicans, who judge not by philosophy but by belligerence, Michel, a wartime combat veteran who still slugs it out for a strong defense, less government, reduced spending, is not one of us.

No, he wasnt, but Newt Gingrich was, and even though Gingrich himself was purged from the House leadership and Congress just a few years after engineering Michels political eclipse, the GOP remains in many respects Newts party, thanks to his relationship with the elephants new master, Donald Trump. Had Michel been younger and stayed around after 1994, he would have eventually gone along with the new extremist style or been purged as a RINO. By all accounts, he was temperamentally incapable of the kind of opposition-demonizing tactics that have long become normal in both parties, but especially in Michels party.

There will be many pleasant words of praise for Michel today. House Speaker Paul Ryan paused from his intense efforts to engineer a right-wing agenda through Congress without a single Democratic vote to call the former leader a great and gracious man. While there is no reason to attribute insincerity to Ryan in this instance, he could have no more thrived in the atmosphere of Michels House GOP than Michel could have thrived in Ryans. And now its Ryan who must watch his own back in case the latest breed of angry Republicans decide he is too old-school to lead them.
Big and beautiful. Photo: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

The big, beautiful wall that President Trump has promised to put on the border between the U.S. and Mexico will be more of a fence if officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) get their way.

After viewing an internal report from CBP and speaking to officials from both CBP and DHS, CNN says Trump will be pushed away from building the concrete and steel wall he has promised and toward a fence that covers less than half the length of the border.

The plan being most seriously considered at this point, CNN learned, is one that adds 177 miles of new fencing to the 654 miles that already exists, meaning 831 miles of the roughly 2,000-mile border would have a barrier. Importantly, that barrier would not be a wall.

Im not calling it a wall, because we are talking about a fence that we can look through. Thats what we need, one Border Patrol official told CNN. Another official who prefers a fence to a wall said, you never want to have a barrier in place that will obstruct your vision, that prevents you from seeing the other side of the border.

That may be a tough sell for Trump, who in January scolded a reporter for calling his border barrier a fence.

Its not a fence, its a wall, he said. Were going to build a wall.
A Pakistani man helps his injured wife at a local hospital in the town of Sehwan in Sindh province, on February 16, 2017, after a bomb blew up in the shrine of 13th-century Muslim Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar. Photo: Yousuf Nagori/AFP/Getty Images

ISIS has taken responsibility for a suicide bombing Thursday in a packed Sufi shrine in southern Pakistan that left at least 72 dead and more than 150 wounded. Hundreds of people were reportedly inside the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine, named for a Sufi Muslim saint, for the Thursday worship services, which is considered the most sacred day of the week for Sufis. Many were performing and watching a ritual dance when the explosion went off. I saw bodies everywhere. I saw bodies of women and children, a witness, Raja Somro, told the Guardian.

A Pakistani soldier stands guard on a blood-stained floor of the shrine. Photo: Yousef Nagori/AFP/Getty Images

Officials have warned that the death toll is likely to rise. Women and children were among the victims, and a spokesman for Edhi, a medical charity, told Reuters that the attacker appeared to target the womens wing of the shrine. The wounded quickly overwhelmed the local hospital, which lacked beds to treat the injured patients and so shuttled them to other hospitals in the region. Ambulances were also in short supply, forcing people to find private cars to get to the hospital, reports NBC News.

Members of the Pakistani bomb-disposal team collect evidence from the site of a suicide attack. Photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

The attack, in Sehwan, northeast of Karachi, is one of Pakistans deadliest attacks in recent years, and the worst of 2017. ISIS took credit on Amag, its news service, for the blast. The terrorist group has targeted Sufis before, considering their sect of Islam heretical. This shrine bombing also comes after a bloody week in Pakistan, which saw smaller-scale attacks claimed by both ISIS and the Taliban, reports the BBC.

ISIS also said it was behind a horrific bombing at a Baghdad car dealership Thursday, which killed at least 45 people and wounded dozens more, just one in a series of attacks this week as Iraqi forces put pressure on ISIS in Mosul.
Scott Pruitt. Photo: Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images

Scott Pruitt has long questioned the reality of man-made climate change. As Oklahomas attorney general, he sued the Environmental Protection Agency over its efforts to limit carbon emissions, regulate smog pollution, and safeguard wetlands and streams  that filter into drinking water  against contamination. Pruitt is such a loyal friend to the fossil-fuel industry, he once took a letter decrying fracking regulations  sent to him by the oil company Devon Energy  copied the text of the letter onto Oklahoma government stationery, and mailed it off to the EPA.

On Friday afternoon, 52 senators decided that this was a fitting resume for Americas next head of environmental protection. Every Republican save Susan Collins (and John McCain, who did not vote on the measure) voted to confirm Pruitt, as did (coal-rich) West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin and (oil-rich) North Dakota Democrat Heidi Heitkamp.

Democrats had hoped to delay the vote on Pruitts nomination until after next Tuesday, when the Oklahoma attorney generals office will be forced to release 3,000 emails related to Pruitts communications with the fossil-fuel industry. But Republicans were not willing to wait.

In their defense, it is hard to imagine what in Pruitts private correspondence could be more disqualifying  or, from the GOPs perspective, more commendable  than the attorney generals long record of fighting to increase water pollution and accelerate climate change.

President Trump has made it clear that he expects Pruitt to continue advancing these goals at the EPA. In the coming days, the White House plans to celebrate Pruitts swearing-in with one or more executive orders aimed at undoing Obama-era climate-change policies, the New York Times reports.

Pruitts mission at the EPA will not be an effortless one. Already, the agencys civil service is mobilizing against their new boss. Legal constraints bar Pruitt from simply firing any EPA employee who is genuinely committed to environmental protection. Likewise, he will not be able to immediately eliminate all Obama-era regulations. But he will be able to reassign insubordinate civil servants to less desirable roles, and to use his legal expertise to defang existing regulations.

In other news, the Antarctic ice sheet is now the smallest its ever been.
Looks like hes enjoying himself here, at least. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is having a bit of a rough first official trip abroad to Bonn, Germany, for a session with foreign ministers from the G20 countries. He had an uncomfortable introduction with his Russian counterpart. And during his meeting with U.K. foreign minister Boris Johnson, Tillerson responded to a question about Trumps immigration and refugee policies with total silence. Johnson finally broke the awkwardness with a quip: Good try.

And then there are his lodgings. Tillerson was apparently late to RSVP for this G20 meeting, and by the time he did, the Bonn hotels were booked solid. Instead, Americas top diplomat is staying at a sanitarium. The clinic and spa is in a German village about 30 minutes (20 miles) outside Bonn and is next to a public bathhouse. The accommodations have caused some commuting headaches  Johnson reportedly had to trek out to meet Tillerson there  and definitely made for an odd scene. As Bloomberg reports, Diplomatic security agents mingled in the parking lot with elderly people in wheelchairs arriving for spa treatments.

Tillersons stay on the outskirts of the G20 is somewhat symbolic of his first diplomatic journey. He appears to be adjusting still to the job, and since he doesnt have his State Department staff fully in place, is traveling with a small team, many of them Obamaera holdovers. So far, he has largely remained on the sidelines, which isnt helping already tentative allies who are still trying to get a read on the Trump administration. Tillerson gave a short statement after meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov  his first public address since he was sworn in earlier this month. He took no questions from the press.

Tillerson does have a jam-packed schedule; in addition to meeting with the foreign ministers from Russia and the U.K., he has sessions with his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Oman, and Italy. He will also be in listening mode during discussions on Syria and Yemen. And it just might take some time for the former Exxon CEO to adjust to life as a lowly civil servant. As Tillerson told the Saudi Foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir, his trip into Bonn Wednesday night wasnt ideal. Im not used to traveling like that, you know, he said. Im used to getting on at night, spending the night on the plane, and then going to work. Its quite civilized.
Robert Harward. Photo: US Navy

In an unusual move for President Trump, his pick to replace ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn wasnt alarming. Retired Vice-Admiral Robert Harward is a former Navy SEAL who previously served as Defense Secretary James Mattiss deputy when he led U.S. Central Command. Under another administration, people might care that Harward is currently a senior executive at the defense contractor Lockheed Martin, but hed be replacing an official who espoused a number of Islamophobic beliefs and had possibly illegal chats with the Russian ambassador. Under Flynn, the National Security Council was reportedly understaffed and dysfunctional, but it looked like Harward might bring some stability.

However, it seems Harward is also too stable to want any part of the Trump team. The administration had been wooing Harward even before Flynn resigned, but following two meetings at the White House, he announced on Thursday evening that hed turned down the offer.

Since retiring, I have the opportunity to address financial and family issues that would have been challenging in this position, Harward said in a statement. Like all service members understand, and live, this job requires 24 hours a day, seven days a week focus and commitment to do it right. I currently could not make that commitment. My thoughts and prayers are with those that carry such heavy burdens and responsibility for taking care of our countrys national security concerns. God bless this great country of ours.

Sources told the Washington Post that in addition to family and financial concerns, Harward was put off because the White House wouldnt guarantee that he could select his own staff.



A person familiar with Harwards thinking told Politico that he was concerned by the unwillingness of White House political team to be deferential to the White House national security team and unwillingness of [the] White House political team to be malleable.

One of Harwards friend had a more colorful way of putting it:
A march in the streets of Chicago by children protesting against gun violence Photo: Steve Schapiro/Corbis via Getty Images

In a handful of communities in the United States, violence is a traumatizing part of everyday life. And one underappreciated aspect of living in these neighborhoods, writes ABC Newss Avianne Tan, is the long-term psychological effects this sort of exposure to violence can have on children.

For her article, Tan reports from Chicago, where there were 762 murders and 4,367 shootings last year, and where nine kids younger than 15 have already been killed this year. We think that the incident is over after their bullet wounds recover, but really, this is just the beginning of their suffering, Loyola University Chicago criminology professor and clinical psychologist Arthur Lurigio tells her.

Another researcher then explains what life is like for many kids who have been exposed to deadly violence:

That shaken sense of safety can lead to a wide array of symptoms, including many that are a part of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to Maryam Kia-Keating, an associate professor of clinical psychology at the University of California Santa Barbara.



They may be struggling with distressing memories of what happened, such as having nightmares and flashbacks, and this can make it difficult to concentrate and pay attention, Kia-Keating told ABC News. They can experience hyper-arousal, which is when you are more likely to have a startled response or be very frightened in situations where you are not necessarily facing the same threat, but you feel like that same threat is there.



Other symptoms include trouble eating and sleeping and experiencing aches and pains that arent related to an acute illness, Kia-Keating said.

Many of these are the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, which can be quite prevalent in dangerous neighborhoods  a 2014 Al Jazeera America article, for example, cited a study [from] Chicagos Cook County Hospital  which tends to thousands of gunshot victims each year  [which found that] more than 4 in 10 patients screened showed symptoms of PTSD, with an even higher rate among those wounded by guns. That is a lot of pain and suffering.

Tans article notes that there are solid treatment techniques for children traumatized by gun violence  one researcher cites parent-child interaction therapy, which can be completed over a rather short stretch of sessions  but that theres a persistent stigma against seeking out help. Its probably also worth pointing out that neighborhoods with high rates of gun violence tend to be poor, and therefore are more likely to be cut off from mental-health services than wealthier ones. All of which contributes to a rather heartbreaking state of affairs for children surrounded by violence.
Photo: Laurent Hamels/Getty Images/Canopy

The Danes have hygge, the sense of coziness that helps propel them to to the top of all those happiness rankings. The Swedes have, um, Ikea. But in the ranking of trendy Scandinavian exports, Finlands coming in hot: Introducing kalsarikannit, a Finnish term that roughly translates to drinking home alone in your underwear, with no intention of going out.

As my colleague Melissa Dahl has written for Science of Us, theres a certain satisfaction that comes with putting a name to the highly specific emotion youre experiencing  like ilinx, French for the strange excitement of wanton destruction, or torschlusspanik, a German term for the panicky sensation of time running out. With kalsarikannit, the Finns have given us a similar gift: Youre not just being too lazy to make plans. This is your plan. Youre doing something, and that thing has a name, and that name is kalsarikannit-ing.

Or something like that, anyway. Is it a noun? A verb? Does one kalsarikannit, or does one take a kalsarikannit? a Chicago Tribune writer wondered. Its not totally clear, but according to its description on Finlands list of country-specific emoji, the concept may best be understood less as an activity and more as a state of mind. (Other emoji, in case you were wondering, include a sauna, the original Santa, and, weirdly, a headbanger, the last of which is helpfully captioned with this fun fact: There are more heavy metal bands in Finland per capita than anywhere else.)

The beauty of the whole thing, though, is that when youre drunk in your underpants, its just so hard to be bothered about whether or not youre using it right. As the Tribune put it: Who cares, frankly  turns out my house has been a temple to kalsarikannit this entire time. Thats the kalsarikannit spirit.
This morning, Felix Kjellberg, better known as PewDiePie, the most popular YouTuber in the world, took to his channel to address the recent controversy over anti-Semitic jokes in his videos. After The Wall Street Journal shined a light on the comments, Disney dropped the video maker from their roster of talent and Google removed him from their preferred advertiser program.

In an 11-minute video released today, titled My Response, Kjellberg takes one step forward and two steps back in addressing the content of his videos. Regarding the most infamous incident, in which Kjellberg used Fiverr to pay two men to unfurl a banner reading Death To All Jews, he said, Im sorry for the words that I used, as I know they offended people. And I admit that the joke itself went too far. The task, Kjellberg says, was meant to demonstrate how far one could push the envelope on the service.

In the video, Kjellberg stands by his philosophy that no joke should be off-limits  but, unlike most figures caught in controversies over offensive jokes, also accepts that there are consequences for that stance. He gets why Disney and YouTube distanced themselves from him, he says, and avoids characterizing his detractors as members of a humorless, political-correctness police squad.

Related Stories Why Disney and PewDiePie Were Doomed From the Start

But heres where it gets dicey. Above all else, Kjellberg blames not his failed attempt at shock humor for the backlash, but The Wall Street Journal. Theyre the ones who cost him deals with Disney and Google. In his parlance, the media is out to get him.

Theres a kernel of legitimate grievance here. Coverage of his career has almost always centered  in a shocked tone  on the millions of dollars he earns annually, rather than the actual content of his creative output, which has not infrequently bordered on, if not outright occupied, offensive territory; the anti-Semitic jokes, in other words, dont exactly come out of nowhere, and they were not particularly shocking or offensive to Kjellbergs very young, often male fanbase. Its not hugely surprising that Kjellberg or his fanbase might feel blindsided by the media attention, even if its more than deserved.

But Kjellbergs argument quickly goes off the rails: This is not an article, this is a personal attack against me, he argues. (For the record, a celebrity with 53 million subscribers, who earns millions of dollars a year, encouraging anti-Semitism  even as poorly conceived comedy  is newsworthy.) As a way of refuting claims that hes normalizing anti-Semitism, Kjellberg pulls out the Im-rubber-youre-glue defense: Personally, I think they are the ones normalizing hatred. Next up is deflection: Why dont we focus on the real issues? he continues. Its a wonder he doesnt call the Journals report fake news.

The video ends with Kjellberg, teary-eyed, expressing thanks to everyone who supported him this week, which is an indication that he hasnt learned much from his bad week. PewDiePie has built a career on the personal connection he provides for his millions of young, mostly male fans, and he needs to acknowledge their support. But refusing to recognize that the community has a strong toxic element, and that his behavior is worth scrutiny, is not a good indication that he understands the position hes in, or the power he wields. Or maybe he understands it too well: At one point, he flashes the names of the Journals reporters on screen. Its about as clear a dog whistle as Ive ever seen, and checking the Twitter mentions of those reporters confirms not just that Kjellberg achieved his intended effect, but that the reporters were right to take note of his behavior.
Kim Jong-nam. Photo: JOONGANG SUNDAY/AFP/Getty Images

On Monday, Kim Jong-nam  the half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un  was killed in Malaysias Kuala Lumpur airport. He died after two women sprayed him with an unknown liquid substance in an attack that is suspected to be the work of North Korean operatives. But one of the suspects arrested in connection with the assassination, 25-year-old Siti Aisyah of Indonesia, says she thought she was taking part in a TV prank.

Per the Guardian, Indonesias national police chief, Tito Karnavian, said that she had previously been paid for similar acts:

He said she and another woman performed stunts which involved convincing men to close their eyes and then spraying them with water.



Such an action was done three or four times and they were given a few dollars for it, and with the last target, Kim Jong-nam, allegedly there were dangerous materials in the sprayer, Karnavian said. She was not aware that it was an assassination attempt by alleged foreign agents.



Sitis boyfriend, 26-year-old Malaysian Muhammad Farid bin Jalaluddin, was arrested as well. The other woman arrested in this case  whose Vietnamese passport identifies her as Doan Thi Huong  was seen on CCTV wearing a sweatshirt that says LOL the day of the assassination.


Despite Australias belief that PNG is a strategic part of its backyard, it is only natural that as PNG develops greater economic capabilities it will undoubtedly seek a wider range of strategic partners of its own.

In particular China is showing a strong desire to engage in a number of projects and partnerships within Papua New Guinea, a country that Australia has maintained a dominant influence over since it granted it independence in 1975.

AUSTRALIAS once secure sphere of influence in the South Pacific is coming under increasing threat from expanding Chinese activity in the region.

Presently there are a number of large natural resource projects in the country  including the US$19 billion Exxon-Mobil liquid natural gas (LNG) project  that if managed well could lead to the country toward being less reliant on Australian aid and investment.



Alongside projects such as this, PNGs desire to join ASEAN would signal another shift away from Australia if its application were successful. Yet it is the influence of Chinas expanding reach that is the greatest concern for Australian policymakers.

Chinese interest in PNG has increased dramatically since 1999 when the then-PNG government chose to switch its recognition of Chinese sovereignty from Beijing to Taipei.

Although this recognition of Taiwan only lasted a week, it piqued a greater desire to engage within the country from the Beijing, and could be seen a cunning move by PNG in playing the Chinese recognition wars, enabling it to gain a greater interest and investment from the Peoples Republic.

Since then trade between the two countries has grown to around $3.3 billion a year, with PNG becoming the largest exporter of timber to China. The Chinese also import a significant amount of LNG from the country, with further LNG projects backed by Chinese investment planned.

The state-owned Metallurgical Corporation of China also has an 85% share in the Ramu nickel mine, and the $260 million Edevu hydro project is also being funded by the Chinese Development Bank.

The Chinese government has provided the PNG government with significant loans to construct roads and urban infrastructure in the capital Port Moresby, to create a high-speed broadband network, and also to create a national identity card system.

Alongside this Chinese state-owned companies have been redeveloping the port at Lae, PNGs second largest city, and constructing roads to Laes airport and from the city up into the mountainous highlands.

Despite these much needed improvements in the countrys infrastructure, the cost of servicing and repaying PNGs debts to China has now risen from an annual sum of US $1.9 million five years ago, to US $20.1 million this year.

These growing figures are beginning to look troubling to the PNG government, especially as this week both the Parliament building and the Governor-Generals residence had their electricity disconnected due to over US $300,000 in unpaid bills.

While Australia remains the biggest donor of aid to PNG  and has recently stated that it will provide an extra US $77 million to assist PNG with security for its hosting of the 2018 APEC leaders summit  these Chinese investments will no doubt be providing the Australian government some concern about whether Australias weight in the region will be able to continue to compete with Chinas ever expanding reach.

Last years PNG Supreme Court ruling that that Australias asylum seeker detention facility on Manus Island was unconstitutional showed a willingness by PNG to push back against Australia.

This remains an issue that may lead to a souring of relations between the two countries, should the United States not accept all of the refugees currently on Manus Island, and responsibility defaults back to Australia. Any tension between Australia and PNG risk moving PNG further towards Chinas sphere of influence.

The Australian defence department released a report in March 2015 that investigated the phenomenon of Chinas increased influence in the broader South Pacific, and sought ways for Australia to maintain its status as the primary regional influence, in partnership with the United States as the regions security hegemon.

The report suggested that Chinese influence in the region may be about more than a desire to procure resources for its own development, and may also be an attempt to test its growing influence and ability to sideline regional powers such as Australia, Japan and the United States.

As the regions largest economy outside of Australia and New Zealand, and a country that sits on the intersection between Southeast Asia and the South Pacific, PNG holds an important position for Australias ability to project power, and for its geographic strategic defence.

Balancing these interests with the growing Chinese influence in PNG looks set to add an extra layer of complexity to its relationships with both PNG and China.
A judge ordered a woman to not get pregnant. Photo: momcilog/Getty Images

A drug-addicted mother of four was ordered by a New York family court judge to not get pregnant again until she gains custody of her youngest child, a move that has drawn criticism from reproductive rights advocates, the Associated Press reports.

In the order, Family Court Judge Patricia Gallaher wrote that her intention was to increase the womans likelihood of rehabilitation and getting her son back without a newer baby making that less likely to happen. The woman  identified only as Brandy F.  admitted to working as a prostitute, and all of her children are reportedly being cared for by other people. The order came down in December, but was first reported this week by the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. The judge included a finding of neglect. Per the AP:

Society and its problems are changing, especially with the incredible rise in the use of heroin, and this court needs to adjust in response instead of doing the same tired routine which does not solve the obvious problems in so many cases, the Rochester judge wrote in the December order.

The order also contained a plan for Brandy F. to follow, and a promise that she wont be jailed if she doesnt adhere to it. Fordham University sociology professor Jeanne Flavin, who serves on the board of the National Advocates for Pregnant Women, told the AP that the order reflects a profound disregard for the human rights and dignity of pregnant and parenting women. She added, If the courts and our child welfare systems were truly committed to the health and well-being of families, they would ensure people have the supports they need in order to feed, shelter, educate and care for their children in safe environments.

In the order, Gallaher reportedly wrote that the baby in question was born prematurely in July and exhibited symptoms of drug withdrawal. Brandy F. allegedly admitted to using alcohol, methadone, and crack cocaine while pregnant. The womans two previous children were also born addicted to drugs, and her 16-year-old son was exposed to a hypodermic needle as a baby. The judge wrote that her case is exactly the kind of case where the respondent neglectful mother should be using birth control.
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Auburn's SGA Lobby Board met with Alabama's governor, lieutenant governor and state officials to discuss issues related to higher education as part of the annual SGA Lobby Day on Thursday, Feb. 16, at the state's capitol in Montgomery.

The Lobby Board, a branch of SGA's cabinet, consists of 30 Auburn students with a passion for local and state politics as well as a desire to lobby for more funding for Auburn University.

Lobby Board President Calvin Wilborn said that SGA Lobby Day allows the board to gain face time and strengthen their relationships with their elected officials.

"It is something that Auburn has been participating in for the last 20 years," Wilborn said. "This day is important because we can meet with our representatives and senators and show them our passion for these issues."

Students had the opportunity to meet with Gov. Robert Bentley and discuss current issues in the state as well as plans for Alabama's growth. Bentley complimented the group on their desire to make an impact on their campus and in their state.

"I have learned to love and respect Auburn. It's a different atmosphere there and you all ought to be proud of that," Bentley said.

Lt. Gov. and Auburn alumna Kay Ivey spoke at a luncheon, sharing stories about her time at Auburn and how it changed her life for the better.

"You need to live by the Auburn Creed. Be friendly, forward thinking and take advantage of every opportunity to improve your community," said Ivey.

Ivey also stressed the importance of being informed and involved in political decisions at the local, state and federal level.

"You have to pay your city rent just like you have to pay your house rent," Ivey said. "We all have an obligation to get involved in our community, to help others and help improve the quality of life where we live and work."

More than 20 elected officials attended the luncheon and spoke with students on issues ranging from how to get involved with politics to the current political climate in Alabama.

Emily Stone, an SGA senator for the College of Agriculture and a member of Lobby Board, said her passion for politics stems from a desire to increase college funding and see long-term growth in Alabama.

"Many people in the state don't have the opportunity to go to college," said Stone. "I think the more people that become educated, the more opportunities there are for jobs to come to Alabama. This will then uplift our state as a whole."

Senator Tom Whatley, District 27 of Lee County, said it is exciting and refreshing having young minds visit the capital and be excited about politics.

"The students at Auburn are a cross representation from all over the state," Whatley said. "I'm requesting a total budget of around $12 million for Auburn Univeristy for programs like cyber security or the aviation program. Having people from the district tell their elected officials why those budget items are important is extremely valuable."

Jesse Westerhouse, Auburn's 2016-2017 SGA president, urged all Auburn students to get involved with the local, state and federal initiatives.

"Lobby Day is a great opportunity for us to form relationships and show the capital that Auburn students care about politics," Westerhouse said. "I would encourage all students to apply for Lobby Board or get involved so we can better the future of Auburn Univeristy and Alabama as a whole."
I never listened to his radio series, but I read a couple of the vinyl cafe books in high school and I remember loving them.

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I have to recommend checking out the podcasts. His books were good but he had such a unique way of telling his stories to an audience. He was a very original orator.

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RIP, Stuart. He was a phenomenal storyteller. I would listen to Vinyl Cafe on my commute sometimes. He seemed like a lovely man.



I'm on my iPad and all I saw was CBC and thought it was Peter Mansbridge who died for a minute.



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I was hoping someone would post about this =( I was shocked and saddened to hear this yesterday. One of the greatest storytellers and literally the only thing that lets me forget about my driving anxiety completely. RIP.

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got close friends who listened to him all the time :(

r.i.p. good sir! you will be remembered

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One of my favourite stories. Even if you've read this one you haven't really experienced it until you hear McLean read it:





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Yikes i heard it all and i guess i just dont get Canadian humor.

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I listened to a lot of Vinyl Cafe over the years. He was a great storyteller.

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OMFG i saw Legend and canadian and thought it was my Canadian Kween: Sarah McLachlan <3 TG! also im sure she knows who this is cause aside from her i know very little of Canada

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I'm so sad. :(



I've bought all of his books for my dad over the years, he was a HUGE fan of his. :(

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Vinyl Cafe is a Canadian institution and we are all poorer for his loss

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Which one was your favourite? My fave was actually when Dave accidentally sets Mary Turlington's hair on fire.

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so sad. i loved vinyl cafe. RIP.

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road trips just weren't road trips without dave and morely stories to listen too.



it's also super chilling he was on strombo years back talking about how the characters were getting to a point where he'd probably have to kill one of them off and then joked that maybe he'd go first :(

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RIP :( Vinyl Cafe is so iconic Canadian.



I know the writer of the CBC obit, it would depress me to shit to do all the entertainment obituaries

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RIP :( a Canadian icon. I remember my little cousin wrote to him ages ago and he wrote back a very sweet letter.

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I used to listen to Vinyl Cafe on the drive between Montreal and Ottawa all the time. Rest in Peace.



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RIP. My dad always liked the Vinyl Cafe and we'd listen to it in the car. My fav story was the Christmas one where Dave mixed up the eggnog bowls because he didn't know which was glass and which was crystal and the kids ended up with the spiked eggnog and later Sam is drunk af in the back of the car and slides over going "Come and get me, copper!" That one always made me laugh.

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Yesss! I love that one. It was so great.

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The way he told that story always made me laugh because he had this way of pausing at just the right moments when you know someone's about to fuck up.

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Exactly! I remember there were so many times when he would say something and the audience would be laughing cause they could tell what was going to happen and he would pause and say, "Don't get ahead of me." Ugh, I'm really going to miss his stories. I feel like buying up every Vinyl Cafe cd available.

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lmaoooo I still say "Come and get me, copper!" when I'm lazy and unhelpful and don't want to do anything.



That was such a great story.

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The news yesterday made me so sad! It was nice listening to CBC today with all the special programming in remembrance of Stuart. Never got to see him in person, and I really regret it :(

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Thank you for posting this. I was devastated when I turned on the radio yesterday and heard the news. I've been listening to his show for years and it was always such a nice way to start the weekend. When he first posted about his cancer I really thought he was going to get through it. I started to get worried when I realized they just kept running repeats because he hadn't been able to do any new stories. I'm really going to miss his voice.

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I was surprised at how directly Shep Smith went off, he is pissed.

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Does anyone have a link to it?

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That was a thing of beauty. Shep is the only one worth spit at Fox News.

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#FreeShep I am not. Every now and then Shep shakes free of his programming

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I hope he saw it

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i've been a shep fan for awhile

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I loved that. Shep seems to make a lot of slyly bitchy comments that make me laugh when I see clips of him, but it was good to see someone (especially someone on FOX NEWS of all places!) be so direct.

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He is the worst.



My friends and I are making "inherited mess" a thing, like when you come to work and shit's all over the place, like what the fuck, what kind of inherited mess is this, I did not sign up for this.

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You should also use "erosion of trust" that was yesterday's presser's key phrase.

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I will mos def feel an erosion of trust over walking into an inherited mess.

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LOL, I am going to try that

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I feel like if you were saying it in the Trumpian spirit, it would be walking into work and finding it unusually clean and going "WELL LOOK AT THIS MESS I JUST INHERITED. WHAT A MESS, HUGE MESS."

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Yes op, come through with these political posts! You're doing great work

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they are honestly so great, thank you

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i'ma stan for u bb

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"Leaks are real, news are fake."



What

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To describe going through that presser and I live commented about it in the View post for today.

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I am appreciating your Lego Batman gifs.

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I NEED MORE THOUGH. XD

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Where are you getting all of your amazing Lego Batman gifs from?

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Props to people who can watch footage of this vile pig spouting off about the idiotic and offensive things he does, just seeing his picture makes my skin crawl. DNW.

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Same, on the one hand I want to be informed from the ahem horses mouth to form my own (always headdesking) opinions, but on the other hand *muffled screaming*

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Not being American certainly helps in avoiding his horrendous face, I usually just come here because at least there's hate for him so it softens the blow of talking about him/acknowledging he exists. Because yes, we need to know what he's up to even if it makes us suffer to find out what way he's decided to torture us this time.

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Seriously, I watched a bit of today's press conference and was fuming, he is having a mental breakdown, you can see it.

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Same. I can't do it. It's hard enough to read abt it afterwards without vomiting

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it almost put me off my lunch. but i like food more than him so i powered through it.

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same

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I feel the exact same. I just go to my fave news websites to get bullet points and here tbh. Just a minute of watching his jowls flapping is nauseating



Edited at 2017-02-17 02:11 am (UTC)

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I can only handle small clips here and there. He's repulsive in every way.

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I need him to implode

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My roommate watches the news a lot and is constantly trying to show me stuff, and I literally have to leave the room when he watches anything with Trump because it makes me sick.

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Yeah, seriously. I read as much as I can, but I don't even like RTing stuff with his fuckin' face in it, let alone actually watching him. If I play a clip I literally have to scroll down or go to another tab and listen. It's gotten THAT bad.

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bless you op

this shit is awful

time for impeachment

is it really true that osp pulled this solo conference out of nowhere

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This happened today.



Among those who won't be working at the White House was President Donald Trumps director of scheduling, Caroline Wiles, the daughter of Susan Wiles, Trumps Florida campaign director and former chief of staff to Governor Rick Scott. Wiles, who resigned Friday before the background check was completed, was appointed deputy assistant secretary before the inauguration in January. Two sources close to Wiles said she will get another job in Treasury.



It was an unscheduled presser when his director of scheduling got fired today for not having proper background checks.

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I was reading another thing about it and it sounds like she didn't compile enough of her information. Depending on the security clearance, she might have had to fill out the 116 pg one (that's top secret).

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Oooh, dying to know why!

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yeah I couldn't find an article explaining why (and at least one of them is off to a job at the treasury so that seems strange) or if this has happened before and just wasn't made a big deal of.

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With what's been going on lately, I'm going to assume 'ties to foreign nationals' like finances and shit and not 'I met this girl from Slovenia during my study-abroad last semester!'





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jfc

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As if it wasn't clear before, every day it becomes more and more evident that she has no fucking idea what he's doing

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My vet today was a Muslim and we were chatting (he was low key trying to set me up with his also-lawyer son). One of the thing that frustrates him most is that he, a foreign-born Muslim, fought in Vienam but Trump just deferred, deferred, deferred -- yet somehow it's him (the vet) who is the villain.

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Did he show you a photo of him? Is he qt?

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He didn't! I think he felt weird. I should google him, though.

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Trump is such a fucking coward.

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I just read the times articles on the presser. Fucking crazy. CRAZY.

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"it was a very substantial victory. do you agree with that?"

"you're the president" wrong answer. talk about his enormous popular vote LOSS.

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i feel like trump's camp got confused with the buses of people coming from MA. i live in MA and there were people going up and canvassing in NH during the primaries and the general, but no one's going across the border to vote, jfc.

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I actually liked his response because there was an implied "unfortunately" in there.

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I feel like "you're the President" was his professional "DUDE WHAT THE FUCK" response, because what do you say when the president is refusing to respond to you confronting him on his lies.

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he should have answered, "you're the president, aren't you?"

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I was LONGING for him to say "no not really." and just sit down like conversation over stfu.

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what else could he have said?

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i thought it was a pretty brilliant off the cuff response. it felt like 'you're the President (aren't you?), why does the margin even matter/why are you still lying about this'.

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omg this, i wanted him to say you lost that popular vote by millions tho.

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i would have died and gone to heaven if he'd said "hillary got 3 million more votes than you" in response, but i imagine that reporter was desperately clinging to whatever professional courtesy he could muster and just said "you're the president" in a way that was also implying "why the fuck are you so obsessed w/ your election numbers after 3 months, you're already the president, we get it, you won, it's over." plus i think the reporter may have been flabbergasted by how overtly bananas trump was being.

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So.I got a letter in the mail today from the Supervisor of Elections in my county that Im without a party because the Independence Party of Florida was disbanded over a legal technicality.

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That sounds so sketch, especially given Florida's shitty election history. Are they asking you to choose a new party?

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I haven't gotten a letter like that and I'm in Florida



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wtf? that sounds sketchy

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Say what, sis?? I'm in Florida and Independent wth

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Seriously people, call your Republican reps and tell them to get off their assessment and do something, make them afraid of losing their precious seat.

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at first i thought this said russian reps.



it might as well have.

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Same diff

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Edited at 2017-02-17 02:51 am (UTC)

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/end post

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now i wanna know what this movie is

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The Little Foxes (1941)

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omg *saves for next drumpf post*

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I just came here to post this sentiment. Thank you

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preach

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Maybe Tilda can put in a good word.

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Judges don't have to agree to plea deals, and in most jurisdictions they have wide as fuck latitude for sentencing even when they accept the guilty plea, even when you plea guilty because you thought you'd get a certain sentence.



all this over 48 fucking days?



Edited at 2017-02-17 02:42 am (UTC)

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Shouldn't have fled in the first place, Roman.

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Also... should not have raped a girl.

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MTE @ both comments, lol

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ita and some assholes (probable rapists imo) are always like "but she forgave him!!" as a defense. like, why she forgave him absolutely matters, and regardless, nothing sam would say would change that he is literally a fugitive.



Edited at 2017-02-17 03:09 am (UTC)

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The reasons why she forgave him for herself are a real credit to her and to be respected. It doesn't mean - as some people seem to bizarrely suggest it does - that the criminal justice system should just gloss over the fact that an admitted rapist fled the country to avoid facing the music.

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ia, and the initial plea deal dropped the worst charges to protect her and instead the case and scrutiny never ended. He's 100% responsible for that, and people who defend or excuse him are garbage, but I wish they would find a way to just fucking end this.

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IA. I'm tired of him doing this. I feel like he just keeps revictimizing her.

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Fuck this bitch. May he burn in the lake of fire. Bye.

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(lol, i've been waiting to use this gif forever...bless) mfte, like so(lol, i've been waiting to use this gif forever...bless)

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Lmaaaao! Appropriate gif tbh

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screaming

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I'm still disappointed 2016 didn't come for him.

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i hope they expose themselves

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Why won't he just die? Is just isn't fair!

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He's a piece of shit. The love Hollywood continues to have for men who rape children like him and Woody Allen makes me sick.

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He thinks 42 days in a hospital is an appropriate sentence for raping a 13 year old girl?

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Let us pray

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i don't feel bad for rapists.

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"But... fucking, you see, and the young girls. Judges want to fuck young girls. Juries want to fuck young girls  everyone wants to fuck young girls!" - roman polanski on why it was a big deal that he raped a child.



I hope and and cosby die in prison.





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I want to vomit up my internal organs.

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I thought Snow White too!!

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probably the best eighties one so far tbh

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I looove the big 1980s hair

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I love these. 1980s, gimme dat hair.

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Yay for including Taiwan! Anything that's a poke in the eye of China's government is A+ in my book.

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even tho this 1980's isn't so crazy, i'm really curious how the 80's was such a fashion clusterfuck in so many countries.

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hair mousse was invented in the 80s and then you need something to go with the big hair.

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She's SO cute! And ia, op, the 1930s hair is a great look.

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no matter the country they do, from the 1920s- they all tend to look the same. the only exception is when there is some major political upheaval.

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omg can't watch rn sadly, but i really hope 2000's is that Rainie Yang look with the jellyfish hair!!

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Going to taiwan in a week! Looks like weather is gonna suck tho :/

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Where are you going? Because it's actually kinda warm these past few days in the northern part.

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Taipei, but it's supposed to rain all week :/

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*puts joe joes cookies away*

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50's and 60's >>>>>>>>>

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mte! plus the 80s look wasn't even bad :X i didn't even recoil!

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I have never been to Taiwan but even I recognize that 00s look lmao

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the 30s look is cute! is it just curls or tiny buns?



it's 2017 and my taiwanese mom still thinks i should get a perm so i'll look "more mature"

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Ngl I kinda like the 2000s look. It was cute.

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lol this gif though.

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mte

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right? she's gotta go

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Lmao  at this gif. DVF can take several seats.

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Mte. This is rich coming from such a fake industry who kissed up to any awful person.

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I came in here like "if the first comment on this post isn't about DVF's flippity-floppy ass..." and y'all delivered <3

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This. Fuck ha!

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this is fab tbh

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Adriana is an immigrant from another planet tbh. That girl does not age.

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Made me appreciate her beauty in a different way I was used to her bombshell type image until I saw an early picture of her from Jurgen Teller's Go-Sees book:Made me appreciate her beauty in a different way

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she's only 35

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Seriously! She's looked the same for a decade. What is her secret?!

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What the latest today? Anything happen? Could you imagine ONE day where nothing happens???

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45 is considering dispatching 100,000 national guard troops to round up undocumented immigrants



Edited at 2017-02-17 05:50 pm (UTC)

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He's actually forming a good ol' posse for a witchunt. Lovely.

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Ummmm, HDU, Sean Spicer said that is 100% false!!!!!!!!!!

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what does 45 mean?

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AP got a hold of a draft memo that would have 100k of the National Guard round up undocumented immigrants



Edited at 2017-02-17 05:51 pm (UTC)

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Also, it's now legal to dump coal mining debris into streams

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What are everyone's thoughts on Carolina Herrera saying: I dont have a problem dressing the first lady of this country, whoever it is and I think its out of respect for the United States

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I think any designer who says anything like that is an idiot.

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What a fucking asshole. Would you dress up Cilia Flores? I bet she wouldn't, and yet here she is talking about this like it's not the same shit.

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I want to ask you about your thoughts on the recent things that have happened in Venezuela , I know that the Maduro goverment is awfull but I don't want the US meddling on anything, I'm kinda scared tbh.

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"Mrs. Obama pays for her clothing. For official events of public or historic significance, such as a state visit, the first lady's clothes may be given as a gift by a designer and accepted on behalf of the U.S. government. They are then stored by the National Archives.



it is not a requirement for designers to dress first ladies. Melania can afford to pay for her own shit. I could expect a quote like that from an unknown designer who wants to make a name for themselves under any cost but an established designer like Herrera...you can afford to put politics before "feeling honored".

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it made me pissed she's designing emmy rossum's wedding dress but they seem to have been friends for years so i'm assuming emmy will overlook it.

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this is nice i guess, i just don't trust any of these stupid ass w videos

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I think the next presser should be starting around 1-ish. Feel free to discuss it here.



Nvm Tr*mp is speaking at a Boeing actory



Edited at 2017-02-17 06:01 pm (UTC)

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I was wondering if Gisele would be involved.

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The last argument I had about this was with my father. As someone who emigrated from a war torn country, it's absolutely enraging how he can support this BS. Fox News and willful ignorance has really done a number on him

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I can see that there was good intentions behind this but I feel that there's a difference between people who are directly impacted by the travel ban versus someone like Winnie Harlow being an immigrant from Toronto. Solidarity is nice but...idk, I can't shake off the "fashion community pats itself on the back" feeling. It's like that famous-guy-I-can't-remember on Twitter who was freaking out about his wife being an immigrant and how she would be affected by the ban when it turns out she was just an immigrant from Australia or w/e

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Some people on the list are latino tbf

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reminds of when the lead male actor from raising hope was crying tears on social media about his wife's immigration status and his tweets were going viral then I realised his wife was some white Australian lady totally unaffected this.

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This is my mood:







Some friends and me are stopped buying US brands, maybe it won't make much impact but at least it's something, latin-americans need to boycott US brands and not to suck gringo's asses, we need to be together on this.



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OH Shit Molotov haven heard this song in a long time. very apt

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Molotov has very questionable songs but that one and Gimme The Power are so on point.

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a SONG

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DON'T CALL ME GRINGO

YOU FUCKING BEANER

STAY ON YOUR SIDE OF THAT GODDAMN RIVER

DON'T CALL ME GRINGO

YOU BEANNERRRR





I love Molotov but some of these song lyrics, like the spanish chorus on this one, have not aged well! :X

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Karlie Kloss is an immigrant as well!

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should have asked melania to be in this

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She was a very successful model, she often times would come home and go to bed after work, not go out with friends and such! How amazing!



This was an actual thing Trump said yesterday

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by that standard, i'm successful enough to be a forbes 500 company CEO or president myself. you wouldn't believe how often i sleep! it's incredible! you've never seen anything like it. the things that are said about how little i nap are unfair, so unfair!

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Nooooooooo at the fashion industry trying to be progressive. Fuck off!

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President Donald Trump has been vocal in referring to China as an unfair rival to the U.S. on global markets. The media has been only too happy to report on every anti-China utterance; talk about a trade war, threats of levying hefty import taxesall this has been a windfall for news outlets. But Trump has not yet made good on his threats. Will he ever? And what about other Asian economies, which also have a trade surplus with the U.S.?

Chinas trade surplus with the U.S. is around US$350 billion, according to data from the International Monetary Fund as graphed by Bloomberg. The other countries in the region run a much lower surplus with the U.S., but that doesnt mean they will stay out of Trumps attention.

However, it would be pessimistic to expect a trade war with any of these countries, even China. After all, President Xi Jinping has already warned Trump that a trade war would have dire consequences for both sides. As would any trade war, with any country in the region.

There is another reason why Trump may have already decided  or may well decide eventually  that trade wars will get him nowhere. Its a simple reason: Asian economies are the drivers of fossil fuel consumption, and the U.S. is an export hopeful.

Energy independence is high on Trumps agenda. He has been making good on his promise to help the industry by signing several executive orders to that effect, greenlighting the Dakota Access and the Keystone Xl pipeline projects, and  his first law  removing the transparency rule for Big Oil. Related: Total Going On The Offensive

Yet he must have been made aware that the U.S. must keep importing at least some crude, regardless of how much domestic output grows. Refineries need both light and heavy blends, and U.S. oil is light. On the other hand, the decades-long veto on crude oil exports has been lifted, and theres a whole global market out therethe Asian part of it hungry for oil and likely to become hungrier as it grows.

Already, U.S. energy companies are eyeing Asian markets  they received substantial, although unintended, help in this from OPEC, after the cartel agreed to cut production to support prices. This agreement meant they would have to cut their exports as well, clearing the way for U.S. exports.

For now, U.S. crude is going mostly to Canada and Europe, but this is about to change in all likelihood. Japan  also on the list of surplus-running Asian economies  is among the biggest consumers of crude oil and petroleum products, and one of the biggest importers. Thats an obvious market for more U.S. oil, especially since Trump doesnt seem to hold any grudges against the current government there.

India is tipped as the next China in terms of oil demand. Trump and Modi have a friendly relationship, despite the U.S. trade deficit with the Asian nation. Everyone in oil is eyeing India as the biggest growth market for their products. There is no reason why U.S. oil should be any different. Related: Are Oil Markets Ignoring Demand?

South Korea is another major consumer of crude, most of it imported, some of it from the U.S. In fact, according to Platts, South Korean buyers have been among the friendliest buyers reaching out to U.S. producers, since the U.S. lifted an effective ban on exports at the end of 2015.

Whats more, one of Trumps closest friends in the energy industry, Harold Hamm of Continental Resources, told Platts that South Korea is a top export destination for the company.

In this context, when some Asian economies can relatively quickly turn into major export destinations for U.S. oil, trade wars are unlikely to take place. If U.S. shale boomers manage to cut their breakeven prices even further and take advantage of the current oversupply of tankers  the result of newbuilds coming on stream and old vessels idled because of the OPEC production cut  they could take a bite out of OPECs Asian markets.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
Oil is ticking lower today, under the weight of record crude and gasoline inventories, but with OPEC production cuts providing a supportive backdrop (...and peeking around the curtain). As Friday afternoon approaches, and the prospect of conflicting data from a rising rig count and bullishly-positioned CFTC data, hark, here are five things to consider in oil and energy today.

1) A month ago we discussed how ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) had secured the renewal of a contract to store 6.3 million bbls at Okinawa in Japan. ADNOC has a similar arrangement with South Korea, with 6 million barrels of its light sour Murban grade stored at Yeosu.

It is looking to draw down its Murban crude reserves from the Yeosu storage tanks, as it has more crude available in the coming months due to an outage at its Ruwais refinery, and the lapsing of some short-term supply deals. It essentially needs to make some space to store this extra crude.

Our ClipperData show that South Korea was the fourth largest destination of Murban last year. Not surprisingly, Japan was the leading destination (given its storage tanks there), followed by India and Thailand.

The vast majority of Murban barrels to South Korea go to Yeosu. Light sour Murban is the leading export grade from UAE, with just under 1 million barrels per day loaded for export last year:

(Click to enlarge)



2) The below chart highlights the swelling U.S. crude glut of recent years, with nearly 190 million barrels making its way into U.S. storage tanks. Nearly 40 million barrels of this rise has come in recent weeks. Related: OPEC Ready To Cut Deeper

Going back to 1980, 10 million barrels typically get added to inventories through January and February. This leads to the question: why are inventories up so much this year? Some of the blame can be applied to imports; as OPEC producers ramped up export loadings late last year ahead of a production cut, the U.S. has been a key destination for these flows.

According to our ClipperData, total waterborne imports in January were 5.14mn bpd, up nearly 550,000 bpd versus year-ago levels, and up nearly 500,000 bpd versus last month. This influx hasn't been inspired by lower inventories; they are over 45 million barrels higher than this time last year.

At the same time, U.S. production is also adding to the glut by building up a head of steam, egged on by prices in fifty-dollardom. Even though the U.S. is set to feel the brunt of the OPEC production cuts - something we see in our export loadings for both January and February, this last week has marked the first week so far this year that refinery runs have dropped below year-ago levels. Less demand for crude amid seasonal maintenance and a stymied crack spread means crude builds will likely be ongoing.

(Click to enlarge)



3) We lauded Angola last week for reflecting full compliance in their January exports. It now comes to light that its export loading plan for April is 1.691mn bpd, comprising of 53 cargoes. This is some 180,000 bpd above the production level it commited to maintain, to keep in compliance with OPEC cuts. Hum dee dum.

4) Oman, the largest Middle East crude exporter who is not a member of OPEC, is looking into the possibility of receiving early payments for its crude, rather than having to issue debt to raise funds. Related: Total Going On The Offensive

It is running a large budget deficit, and is considering asking to get paid for its oil as much as two years prior to delivery, in exchange for price discounts. Oman currently sends over 70 percent of its oil to China, so that seems likely where it is heading with its cap in its hand; crude arrived at eighteen different Sinopec terminals and refineries last year - looks like they might get hit up first:

(Click to enlarge)



5) Finally, according to Greentech Media, solar power installations in the U.S. doubled last year, with 40 percent of all power generation projects coming from the renewable source. It was also the first time since 2011 that the growth of utility-scale projects surpassed residential solar. There are now 1.3 million solar installations across the U.S., with a capacity of 40GW, which is enough to power 6,560,000 homes.

Hopping from one geography to another, the World Bank is working on making renewable energy more accessible in Sub-Saharan Africa. Less than one in five Africans had access to the power grid in 2012 - equating to 500 million people.

To counter this trend, the World Bank is calling on governments to integrate solar technologies into their electrification strategies. This push for a 'solar revolution' not only involves trying to get 1 GW of photovoltaic electricity connected to the grid, but also off-grid solar energy to 56 million new users.

By Matt Smith

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Despite hints from OPEC that the cartel would be extending its production cut deal, oil prices fell slightly this week. Oil continues to trade within a range with volatility falling to almost a three year low.

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

Friday, February 17, 2017

Oil prices fell slightly this week as more signs emerged that the market is still oversupplied. OPEC officials said that they were considering extending the production cut deal for another six months, a move that could be interpreted as bullish in the sense that they will keep oil off of the market for longer. However, it failed to inspire confidence  an extension would come because the market is still woefully oversupplied. Oil prices reacted in a way that has become a familiar pattern in recent weeks  moving only slightly up and then down and then back to where they were beforehand.

Oil stuck in narrow range. In fact, oil prices have traded between a narrow band of $4 per barrel for much of this year, pushing volatility to its lowest level in nearly three years. Were kind of resigned to the fact that the price is at about the right level, Tim Evans, a Citi Futures analyst, told the WSJ. Even bearish inventory figures have not managed to move prices significantly. Evans says that to break out of this range, it might require a geopolitical crisis affecting supplies. Otherwise, it could be several more weeks of a bobbing around in the mid- to low-$50s per barrel before some new pattern emerges.

Libya output above 700,000 bpd; more to come. Libyan officials have said that oil production is now above 700,000 bpd, more than double the production level from last summer. More importantly, they are aiming to boost output to 1.2 million barrels per day (mb/d) by August and 1.7 mb/d by March 2018. That is a staggering amount of new supply if it comes to pass, and while there are good reasons to be suspicious of those targets given the turmoil in Libya, they are not entirely unrealistic. Eni (NYSE: E) and Total (NYSE: TOT) are ramping up activity and Bloomberg reports that many of the hurdles standing in their way  ISIS attacks and political infighting chief among them  have been sufficiently dealt with to allow them to resume operations. A wave of new supply from Libya is a downside risk to oil prices that needs watching.

Saudi Arabia attacks domestic oil demand. Saudi Arabia saw its oil demand skyrocket by 77 percent in the ten years through 2015, a massive increase in demand that ate into oil exports. Now, even as the oil kingdom cuts production in order to shore up prices, the cuts are undermined by the fact that demand is also waning a bit. New natural gas production is displacing oil in the electric power sector and the government has announced large investments in solar in order to also free up more oil for export. The summer peaks are getting smaller, which should help Saudi Arabia export more.

Related: U.S. Rig Count Rises As Crude Inventory Levels Hit Record High

Eagle Ford production up 14,000 bpd. According to the EIAs latest Drilling Productivity Report, output from the Eagle Ford could rise by about 14,000 bpd in March, signaling a potential turnaround for the once prolific South Texas shale play. Meanwhile, Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) is trying to divest itself of its Eagle Ford assets, which could be worth about $500 million. Occidental has been doing what many other companies are doing: getting out of other shale basins and jumping into the Permian. But land prices are sky-high in West Texas, so there could be a growing trend to find bargains outside of the Permian. For now, there are early signs that the Eagle Ford is rebounding.

Land deals are back. The Houston Chronicle reports that the mood at the NAPE conference in Houston, the largest conference for buying oil and gas land, is ebullient. The number of deals expected to get done should be significantly higher as companies rush back to the shale patch. Were crazy busy, Robert Cocanougher, a land owner in the Permians Delaware Basin, told the Houston Chronicle.

Crude oil inventories break new record. Surging by 9.5 million barrels last week, U.S. oil inventories jumped to 518 million barrels, a new all-time record. The massive build up in storage this year has been waved off by oil traders, who attribute the surge in stock levels to a temporary flood of OPEC oil at the end of 2016 ahead of their production cuts. Still, record high inventory levels will put a ceiling on oil prices for some time to come. Related: Natural Gas Prices Fall To 3 Month Lows On Disappointing Inventory Draw

Russian oil field could see new lease on life. The Samotlor oil field, Russias largest, could see a revival in production due to a favorable tweak in the Russian tax code. Samotlor is a gargantuan 25 billion-barrel field that once produced over 3 million barrels per day in the Soviet era. However, depletion, lack of investment and falling reservoir pressure have pushed output down to just 425,000 bpd. Now the field produces much more water than crude oil. But Bloomberg says output could rise if taxes change.

TransCanada files Keystone XL application. The Keystone XL saga is not over. After President Trump reversed the Obama administrations rejection of the pipeline, the project is back on the table. TransCanada (NYSE: TRP) just filed for permits in the state of Nebraska, one of the key legal hurdles it still needs to clear.

Natural gas prices plunge. Natural gas prices fell to $2.84/MMBtu for March delivery this week, the lowest level in three months. The reason is that storage levels, which typically fall during winter months, have declined only modestly. That could result in another bout of oversupply as winter comes to an end. For several years, prices languished below $3/MMBtu because of a glut, most acutely in early 2016. The supply problems appeared to be over this winter, but they might linger a little while longer. Winners and losers? Natural gas drillers are hurt, obviously, and so are coal miners. Winners include petrochemical companies, gas-fired utilities, and consumers.

By Evan Kelly for Oilprice.com

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The institutions have been closed since they were disconnected on Tuesday, leaving them without lighting, air-conditioning and telecommunications.

The bills have not been paid since last November.

PNG Power Ltd  the countrys monopoly, state-owned company responsible for the generation, transmission, distribution and retail of electricity  said these institutions owe it about $450,000.

ELECTRICITY supplies to Papua New Guineas parliament house, the national police headquarters, and government house have been disconnected for non-payment of bills.

The parliament building has its own standby generator  as do many private businesses in PNG, since PNG Powers supply is often disrupted by blackouts.

But the acting clerk of the parliament, Kala Aufa, told the Post-Courier newspaper that the building lacked a store of fuel for its generator, and so he had to make such an order before this alternative source of power could be switched on.

Mr Aufa conceded that the parliament owed PPL $245,000, but said the payment of utilities had become centralised by the Finance Department, which took over that responsibility for all state agencies at the start of the year.

We just get the bills and give it to them, he said.

He expressed concern that the parliament might also find its telecommunications and water services discontinued, if those bills were not settled.

Opposition Leader Don Polye blamed the governments incapacity to handle simple funding and administrative matters.

He said the country was suffering a cash flow problem as a result of a mismanagement of funds that was affecting the entire public system.

He warned that salaries would also be affected.

Australian economist Paul Flanagan recently warned that PNGs international economic situation is much more frail than the picture presented by the Peter ONeill government.

The International Monetary Fund calls the foreign reserves position weak. It has less than one -third the recommended level in its international bank account, Flanagan wrote.
Another week brings yet more signs that the highly-anticipated oil market balance will not occur in the immediate future. Heading into 2017, there was a broad consensus that global oil production would fall below demand in the first half of the year, a deficit that would help bring down inventories and lead to relative balance between supply and demand. Mid-2017 seemed to be the timeframe that everyone was looking at for this development to occur.

But there are growing signs that the oil market wont reach balance by then, and perhaps not this year at all. We dont really see a real balancing of the market coming until much much later, Richard Gorry of JBC Energy Asia told CNBC in an interview. Right now the oil market is oversupplied by about 500,000 barrels per day in the first quarter. So to see inventories continue to go up is absolutely of no surprise to us.

The EIA reported yet another massive build in crude oil inventories last week. Crude stocks surged by 9.5 million barrels for the week ending in February 10, taking total stocks up to 518 million barrels. That is a new record high, blowing past the record set last year at 512 million barrels. Oil inventories are higher than at any point since data collection began, dating back to the early 1980s.

Oil inventories have climbed sharply this year, but in recent weeks some investors took solace in the fact that gasoline stocks had tightened a bit even as crude inventories rose, hoping that was a sign of robust demand. Not so for last week  gasoline stocks rose by nearly 3 million barrels, deflating hopes that consumers would help bring down excess supplies. Related: Total Going On The Offensive

(Click to enlarge)

Rising inventories backs up the argument by JBC Energy Asia that the market is still oversupplied. That stands in sharp contrast with the IEAs projection that the market will be in a supply deficit on the order of 600,000 bpd in the first six months of 2017, assuming OPEC compliance.

On the OPEC front, Reuters reports that the cartel is preparing to extend the production cut deal beyond the June expiration date if global inventories fail to fall sufficiently. The comments were initially taken as a bullish sign on February 16, with oil prices jumping on the news. But the good mood didnt last  WTI and Brent quickly gave up their gains. "We were up at first on word OPEC may extend output deal, but there is so much supply in the market that their rhetorical prowess is on the wane," John Kilduff, founding partner of Again Capital, told CNBC. Indeed, the fact that OPEC now deems it necessary to extend the cuts for another six months is a bearish signal, not a bullish one. If the oil market was actually on the mend they would declare mission accomplished at their June meeting and let the deal expire.

To be sure, an extension of the cuts would certainly help accelerate the adjustment by keeping some 1 million barrels per day of supply off of the market for longer. But it is also not a vote of confidence in the current trajectory of the market. Moreover, the longer the deal wears on, the more likely members are going to be tempted to cheat. On top of that U.S. output is rising quicker than expected, and countries like Libya and Nigeria are undermining the effectiveness of the deal by bringing production back online. Related: Are Oil Markets Ignoring Demand?

In fact, Libyan officials just said that output has climbed above 700,000 bpd and rising. Libya is targeting 1.2 mb/d by August  a much more substantial increase than previously expected and on a much faster timeline. And by March 2018 they hope to have output up to 1.7 mb/d. Projections like these should be taken with a large grain of salt, but if Libya is successful it will add as much new supply as all of OPEC is currently cutting.

As a result, the OPEC deal might not be enough to push oil prices up any higher. But Richard Gorry of JBC Energy Asia said that those hoping for higher oil prices on the deal were misguided from the start. I dont think that [OPECs] goal was to push the oil price up to $70 or something in that range. They were really trying to protect the oil price on the downsideI think they knew that the market wouldnt be rebalanced, but they were making sure that the producers were protected on the downside, Gory said on CNBC. Dont expect $70 oil because that was not the objective.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

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The number of active oil and gas rigs in the United States increased again on Friday by 10. Both benchmarks were trading down earlier on Friday under heavy pressure from record-high crude oil inventories (518.1 million barrels), and record-high gasoline inventories (259 million barrels).

The total number of active oil and gas rigs in the United States is now 751, according to oilfield services provider Baker Hughes, which is 237 rigs above the rig count a year ago.

The number of oil rigs increased by 6, up from 591 last week to 597 this week. The number of active oil rigs in the United States is now the highest since October 09, 2015.

Oil rigs have increased by 120 since the OPEC agreement was announced on November 30, and are following a steep trajectory upwards as OPEC continues to hold its members to specified production caps.

(Click to enlarge)



The number of gas rigs increased this week by 4 again this week, and now stand at 153, marking the fourteenth week of gas rig increases in the last 15 weeksthe highest number of gas rigs in operation since the end of 2015.

By basin, Granite Wash increased by 5 rigs and now stands at a total of 13, compared to 10 active rigs a year ago. Haynesville also saw a 3-rig gain, with the Permian, Eagle Ford, and Barnett all gaining 2 rigs each. Cana Woodford lost two rigs, and the Williston basin lost 1.

At 11:32 am EST WTI was trading down 0.6% at $53.04around $1.00 under last Fridays pre-rig count price. The Brent crude benchmark was trading down 0.4% at $55.43more than $1.00 under the price point last Friday.

While things are looking up for US drillers, Canada lost 13 oil and 8 gas rigs this week, although both counts are up year on year.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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This monthfor the first time in the East European countrys historyBelarus signed a contract to purchase crude oil from the National Iranian Oil Company.

A row between the former Soviet state and Russia over oil prices caused the latter to cut energy exports to Belarus in the second half of 2016, leading Minsk to approve energy purchases from Iran. Moscow is still threatening further cuts, which could mean more contracts making their way to Tehran, a country with which Russia has allied geopolitically.

The issue began when Belarus complained of the $132 per 1,000 cubic meters rate set by the Russian company Gazprom. Minsk started underpaying for the gas shipments. Moscow says it is owed roughly $300 million due to the serial underpayments.

Over the course of the current diplomatic tensions with Russia, Belarus has bought Azerbaijani blends, but the importer stopped the transactions in search of a sour grade to replace Ural blends.

Belarus supplies from Russia are down six million tons (from 24 million to 18 million) from planned levels due to Moscows punitive measures, which could double in severity this year if an agreement is not reached soon, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has said.

The lifting of international sanctions against Iran in January 2016 has allowed the Middle Eastern country to re-enter global energy markets and reclaim its position as the third-biggest producer of oil in the Saudi-led Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).



Related: U.S. Rig Count Rises As Crude Inventory Levels Hit Record High

Iranian and Russian oil interests have been at odds with one another in Poland as well. Last August, reports spread that Poland had been plotting to replace Iran with Russia as its main fuel source, though traders had noted at the time that a shipment of two million barrels of Iranian crude was heading to the Polish port of Gdansk.

By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com

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TransCanada Corporation said on Thursday that it had filed an application with the Nebraska Public Service Commission (PSC) seeking approval for its Keystone XL pipeline to pass through the state, in a largely expected move since President Trump gave the green light to the project at the federal level last month.

The PSC process is the clearest path to achieving route certainty for the project in Nebraska and is expected to conclude in 2017, TransCanada said in its statement.

After President Trump signed executive orders that put Keystone XL and Dakota Access back on the table, TransCanada was quick to submit a new application for a permit that would clear the way for the construction of its Keystone XL pipeline. The State Department has 60 days after final application to grant or deny the permit, as per Trumps instructions.

The Keystone XL pipeline was planned to transport a daily average of 800,000 barrels of heavy Canadian crude from Alberta to U.S refineries, but the project elicited outrage from environmentalists that led to a veto by former president Barack Obama in November 2015. At the time, Obama said the project raised too much environmental concern while its economic benefits were uncertain.



Related: These Oil Majors Just Made Egypt Their Highest Priority

On Thursday, TransCanada reminded that its proposed route was evaluated by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality and approved by the Governor of Nebraska back in 2013. According to the company, the preferred route avoids the area that is defined as the Nebraska Sandhills and is expected to have minimal environmental impacts in Nebraska.

But environmentalists continue to voice their opposition to the project, and following TransCanadas renewed application in Nebraska, the Bold Alliance activist network opposing the pipeline issued a statement in which the organizations president Jane Kleeb said:

Keystone XL is and always will be all risk and no reward.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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The Nigerian vice-president has been named Acting President as the government moves to stem fears associated with the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari amid a struggle get oil industry corruption and militant attacks under control.

On Friday, Nigerian media reported that Buhari, who has been out of the country for a month for medical treatment, appointed Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as Acting President in what journalists are calling an attempt to create a sense of normalcy and reduce uncertainty.

Buharis disappearance and rumors about his whereabouts and health were reminiscent of the fate of another Nigerian President, Umaru Musa YarAdua, who died in office after extended medical treatment abroad, which the government attempted to conceal at the time.

Buhari is reportedly on extended medical leave in the United Kingdom.

While Nigerians are concerned about what happens with their incumbent president, a government official told Reuters:

In this present scenario this is not the case. No vacuum was left because President Buhari sent a letter to the National Assembly.

The website of the Nigerian presidency has published photographs of Buhari receiving Nigerian Senate representatives in London on February 15, and both the Nigerian administration and the White House published statements on Wednesday that President Donald Trump spoke with Buhari on the phone this week.

While Nigeria is getting to grips with its domestic political situation, it is also trying to overcome corruption and militancy that had long stifled its oil industry.



Related: These Oil Majors Just Made Egypt Their Highest Priority

Nigeria lost up to US$100 billion in unearned oil income last year, due to the militant attacks in the Niger Delta, Petroleum Minister Emmanuel Kachikwu said in a video posted on Facebook earlier this week.

At the highest point of militant attacks last year, Nigeria was losing 1 million barrels of oil per day. The economy was fiscally losing between US$50 billion and US$100 billion in unearned income last year as a result of oil operations disruptions, Kachikwu noted.

The latest available OPEC figures released on Monday show that Nigeria  one of the two cartel members exempt from the collective cuts together with Libya  raised its production by 101,800 bpd from December to 1.576 million bpd in January, according to secondary sources.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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The media narrative that recently ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was involved in nefarious -- nay, sinister and possibly treasonous!!! -- dealings in his December call with the Russian ambassador is quickly collapsing, as CNN reports that the FBI will not be pursuing any criminal investigation involving Flynn's phone call.



So too is the hype that the Trump campaign was riddled with contacts with Russian intelligence, as reported yesterday by The New York Times.



I addressed this story yesterday in my post-Flynn resignation roundup, noting that the screaming headline was undercut by the Times' own reporting that no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence had been found.

Who is listening to, and leaking information to the press about, not only Mr. Flynns conversations but the presidents phone calls with foreign leaders? And what is their motive?



Is this, as some suggest, deep state revenge for the haughty, dismissive way Donald Trump spoke of the U.S. intelligence community during and after the campaign? Is it driven by sincere and legitimate anxieties that the new White House has an unknown relationship with Vladimir Putins government that potentially compromises U.S. security, independence of judgment and freedom of action? Is it driven by the antipathy of the permanent government toward Mr. Putin, and a desire to bring down those, like Mr. Trump, who hope for closer relations with Russia? Is it that theyve seenand listened toenough of Mr. Trump to think hes a screwball, period, and a threat to the republic?

Take a deep breath and realize how precious little substance there is in all the breathless reporting about supposed skulduggery by President Trump, his team and the Russian government. If the nations lucky, the coming congressional probes  and whatever surfaces from the apparent ongoing FBI investigation  may one day provide some clarity.



Hostile, hysterical reporting based on anonymous leaks provide no hard facts  just narratives that could come out of a creative-writing class.



Take Wednesdays breathless New York Times story, Trump Aides Had Contact With Russian Intelligence  which was remarkable for containing the same facts the Times reported back in October as Investigating Donald Trump, FBI Sees No Clear Link to Russia.



Both reports say various Trumpites talked to figures in Russias government  but that US investigators found nothing to show theyd discussed the US election, or that anyone on Team Trump was even aware of any effort by Moscow to influence it.



Oh, and the Times also reported Jan. 19, Intercepted Russian Communiques Part of Inquiry Into Trump Associates.



How many times can the Times recycle the same stuff and still call it news?

The press has a problem, and it seems to be getting worse. Whether through bias, sloppiness, or sheer panic, the mainstream media has dropped its standards since President Trump was sworn in.



Rather then adjusting adeptly to Trump's easy relationship with the truth and his tendency to abuse members of media, by dialing up their standards, a significant number of journalists have tripped over themselves recently to repeat every bit of gossip and half-cocked rumor involving Trump and his administration.



The rush to get these supposed scoops out in the open, whether in print, on television or on social media, has, of course, produced a rash of shoddy reporting.



Now this isn't to say that all coverage of this new administration has been slipshod. Rather, it's to say that there has been a disturbing and unusually large number of stories that have turned out either to be overhyped, inconclusive, half-true or flat-out incorrect. There have also been a number of reports whose sourcing is so thin, that to believe them would be to take a major leap of faith.

Fun fact: While Trump press secretary Sean Spicer fielded 55 questions on February 14 related to the Flynn debacle, Obamas press secretary Jay Carney received only 13 questions from reporters on September 12, 2012 [the days after the Benghazi attack], three of which were set-ups to blast Mitt Romneys criticism of the administration after the attack. 55 to 13.



So as we now suffer through yet another patch of media mania, conspiracy theories, and unsubstantiated claims about how Trump hearts Russia, as well as the daily beatings endured by Spicer, lets reminisce to when the media and Obamas press flaks spun, deflectedeven joked about golf and Saturday Night Live!less than a week after Benghazi.



The day after Hillary Clintons deputy had that call with key Capitol Hill staffers, including advisors to senators Durbin, Feinstein, and McGaskill, to dispute the notion the attack was about an anti-Muslim video, heres what Carney said: I think its important to note with regards to that protest that there are protests taking place in different countries across the world that are responding to the movie that has circulated on the Internet. As Secretary Clinton said today, the United States government had nothing to do with this movie. We reject its message and its contents. We find it disgusting and reprehensible.

The mental image of a pack of angry rabid dogs, snarling as saliva dripped from their mouths, seemed appropriate as the Democrats and mainstream media pounced on the resignation of General Michael Flynn as national security advisor. Recall that Flynn has worked within the military and the government tirelessly for 30 years, but left-wing Salon suggests that this decorated veteran and/or Donald Trump himself are traitors with the headline, "None Dare Call it Treason." That. Is. Unhinged. But no surprise.The talking point from Democrats and their trained hamsters in the media was "What Did the President know and When Did He Know It?" Odd that they didn't ask that question during the Benghazi scandal, where actual people actually died in an election year cover-up, or the IRS scandal, where actual U.S. citizens were actually targeted by a federal agency, but no matter.I decided to sit back and let the outrageous claims settle a bit before commenting. My sense was that this entire episode was a political assassination, grossly overblown, but it was difficult to be sure.Now, the entire story and all of its most outrageous accusations are falling apart. Patrick Pool summarizes the current status of this story:The trained hamsters of the MSM are being forced to report that most of their outrageous claims (e.g., this is "Trump's Watergate") are nonsense, but then again, since November 8th, the MSM, driven by their overt hostility to Trump, has been all about reporting nonsense as truth and unsubstantiated innuendo as fact. Even NPR is forced to admit this with a headline that reads "Intelligence Official: Transcripts Of Flynn's Calls Don't Show Criminal Wrongdoing."There is another element to this story that the Democrat's trained hamsters in the media seem far less interested in discussing. Peggy Noonan comments:So it seems that the the media has a new-found interest in ferreting out all of the details of an administration's foreign dealings with an international adversary, Russia, but little interest in investigating potential national security leaks my members of the "deep state" that are opposed to Trump. Franly, the latter is far more dangerous than the former. But at least they're investigating. Maybe they'll now have interest in going back and investigating the secret meetings and agreements between the previous administration and an international enemy, Irana country sworn to "Death to America" in the run-up to the disastrous Iran deal.Nah ... after all, a few telephone calls between an incoming administration and Russia is far more foreboding than an the Iran deal that just might set the stage for nuclear war.By the way, one has to wonder why the transcripts of the secret meeting between the past president and the Mullahs of Iran were never leaked. Oh, I forgot, the past president was beyond reproach, so there is nothing to learn from his meeting with the Mullahs. Unless there is.The lowly editors of The New York Post take on the left-wing propaganda machine that was once the vaunted New York Times and provide an example of how the NYT is working to discredit Trump:As many times as required to re-enforce a very dubious narrative, I suppose. The Washington Examiner provides a list of media errors over the first month of the Trump presidency. In most cases, these are fueled by bias and hostility toward Trump, rather that the everyday errors that all media organizations make. They write:Or a major desire to discredit this administration in its first weeks in office.It is literally insulting to listen to media types express mock outrage over Trump's wholly accurate characterization of them as "the opposition" and "dishonest." Here's a little reference material that compares the media's treatment of Michael Flynn's telephone calls and the death of four Americans at Benghazi along with the near-instant cover-up that ensued. Julie Kelly writes:Nah ... what's "disgusting and reprehensible" is a biased media somehow characterizing itself as a victim when criticized by this president.
Will Donald Trump make America great? 17 February, 2017 By Asif Haroon Raja

Donald J Trump surprise victory has divided the American society. He took over the reins of power from outgoing President Barack Obama as the 45th President of USA on January 20, 2017. His swearing-in ceremony was largely attended, but 95% of them were Whites. Noisy protests by the under privileged took place in Washington during the ceremony and many died in clashes with the police. The Women March staged by 4-5 million protestors in various cities of the US and Europe on January 21 was unprecedented and became the largest single-day protest in American history.



The other event that captured headlines was Trumps censure of media during his visit to CIA HQ, complaining that it had wrongly portrayed that the audience on Obamas inauguration ceremony in 2009 was much larger than Trumps in 2017. Trump boasted that 31 million people watched his ceremony but forgot that 38 million people had viewed Obamas inauguration. His White House Press Secretary Spicer further berated the media on this account and vowed to fight hostile media tooth and nail.



Unlike his predecessors who had a smooth start, he is already drenched in controversies and faced with resistance from multiple quarters. Hacking of election results by Russia will haunt him till such time it has been cleared by a high powered inquest commission. On January 23, Trump faced a lawsuit from former White House ethics lawyers, accusing him of violating the US Constitution by accepting payments to his businesses from foreign governments. Social media poked fun when he slow danced with his wife Melania at Liberty Ball, saying it was the most awkward ever.



Taking a cue from his belligerent demeanor and profile of his team members, it is a clear cut indication that the new administration will not digest dissent and criticism and media as well as the ones in opposition would be up for difficult times ahead and so will be the freedom of speech and fundamental rights that are of high value in USA for the last 200 years. Use of bullying tactics to stifle dissent and to tame the detractors cannot be ruled out.



Trump has set for himself ambitious goals. The first executive order issued by Trump after taking his oath at the Capitol Hill was to slash the much-trumped up Obamas Healthcare Plan. He ordered scaling back Affordable Care Act. It has evoked a huge backlash by the millions of have-nots in America who had benefitted from this scheme.



In his bid to return Israels favor of helping him in winning the election and to earn its goodwill, he has expressed his resolve to shift the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and thus validate Israeli claim of making the holy city as its capital. This will be in violation of the US brokered Oslo Accord in 1992 in which the two-state policy in return for peace envisaged Palestinian State comprising of Gaza Strip and West Bank with East Jerusalem as its capital. Encouraged by Trumps assurance that Israel need not worry once he came to power, and that things will be done as per its wishes, Israel has given a go-ahead signal to build hundreds of more settlement homes in East Jerusalem. There is bound to be a severe backlash in the Muslim world, EU and the UN if this transfer takes place. Trump is determined to go an extra mile to please Israel by further debilitating Muslim States under the garb of Islamic radicalism that are still coming in the way of establishment of Greater Israel.



His unabashed aversion towards immigrants and the Muslims as well as Mexico and Cuba will run counter to Obamas policy of reconciliation. 11.4 million illegal immigrants residing in 50 States of USA and Chinese exporters are worried over Trumps protectionist trade policy. Japan must also be concerned after Trumps assertion that it should pay for its defence needs.



George W. Bush and Obama have already antagonized the Muslim world by confining terrorism to Muslim world only, destroying several Muslim countries and killing over 4 million Muslims. Trumps slogan of eradicating Islamic radicalism from the face of the earth and ordering continuation of war in Afghanistan gives an insight to his prejudiced mindset and shows his acute hatred against Islam and the Muslims. These utterances



seem to be a prelude to the launching of Crusade-2, which once exercised, will add fuel to fire and will not only heighten radicalism and terrorism but also further exacerbate the relations between Muslim States and the US and may give practical shape to Huntingtons idea of clash between Islam and Christianity. It will lead to frightening consequences particularly when so many countries are laced with nuclear and chemical weapons and there is mushroom growth of ideologically motivated extremist groups and there are multiple flashpoints.



Trump nurtures a disposition which is shorn of forbearance and empathy. He is never shy or short of words while berating his disparagers and uses foul language to debase them. Trump had displayed his belligerent, boisterous and wayward tendencies to the fullest during the presidential campaign and is sticking to those incongruities after his election. Under the slogan of making America Great again, he is threatening to clip the wings of unruly media, destroy Obamacare, intimidate his opponents, expel undocumented immigrants of USA and frame harsh rules for those wanting to settle down in the US and thus create 25 million jobs for the whites. He has made up his mind to force American entrepreneurs and industrialists/business tycoons to wrap up their industrial/business enterprises abroad. To this end, he has pledged to impose a heavy border tax if they move their factories outside USA. He has doled out incentives by way of lowering corporate taxes from 35% to 15-20% and slash regulations.



China is the largest trading partner of USA with $598 billion trade. The US goods trade deficit with China stood at $536 billion in 2015. While criticizing Chinas trade policies, Trump has threatened to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese imports. This may set off a trade war between USA and China. He has offended China by re-inventing Two-China policy and hobnobbing with Taiwan. However, he is all smiles towards Putin and has so far given friendly gestures.



He has also expressed his distaste for Europe and termed NATO as obsolete and a white elephant. He has urged France and Germany to follow suit of UK and to quit EU. Senior members of EU and business community are nervous and contemplating a rough ride under Trump. To counter Trumps protectionist policy, Germany is thinking of crafting a new economic policy geared toward China.



Trump is determined to build a wall between Mexico and USA and has issued a directive to pullout of 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), which had been the main economic pillar of Obama administrations pivot to Asia-Pacific in the face of fast rising China. It has set off alarm bells among Japan, Australia and other members of TPP. It will make the plan to shift the strategic pivot of USA from the Middle East to Asia-Pacific and to encircle China and curtail its economic growth extremely difficult. During election campaign, he had threatened to tear off the Iran-US nuclear deal. If he does so, Iran will hasten to join the Russia-China nexus in which Pakistan is also figuring out.



The New World Order is a Zionist plan and war on terror was initiated under fake charges at the behest of neocons and Zionists to steal the resources of Muslim world. The war on terror coupled with proxy wars and intervention in other countries didnt enrich the US kitty but has sunk the country in a debt of $20 trillion and dented the prestige of sole super power. The US is trailing behind Europe providing social security and healthcare. Its economic policy based on capitalism which is wholly pro-rich has made the 1% Americans filthy rich, and the rest poor. 50,000 industries are closed. 50% of the federal budget is spent on defence. USA has 800 military bases in 150 countries. The gun culture and lax laws take 20,000 lives of Americans annually.



Interventionist policy, maintenance of military bases all over the globe and detention centres, covert operations, spy war, psychological operations, cyber war, space war, nuclear and missile war, research & development programs, and NATO are some of the white elephants draining the American wealth. The US also funds the UN, IMF, World Bank, ICJ and some other world bodies. Military industrial complex, avaricious American corporates, tycoons, security contractors are wolfing the resources of the country and the world. The American Jews are controlling Federal Reserve Bank and all other banks, business enterprises, media houses, think tanks, educational institutes, as well as the Congress. Israel deprives the US kitty of $ 5 billion annually, besides giving a bad name to USA. India is another guzzler with 2.2 million Indian immigrants in USA, most of them occupying high posts and monopolizing IT industry and doing big business. These are the entities that have taken the shine and



gloss out of USA and put it under colossal debt. Getting rid of them will make USA great again and not by recalling industrialists or preventing them from doing business abroad, or kicking out immigrants. Trump has a pro-rich agenda and besides him all his cabinet ministers are millionaires who have no idea about the pangs of poverty and deprivation. He is therefore not likely to touch any of the real destroyers of the US economic health and elan and as such hope of making America great again will be illusory.



The writer is a retired Brig, war veteran, defence analyst, columnist, author of five books, Vice Chairman Thinkers Forum Pakistan, DG Measac Research Centre. asifharoonraja@gmail.com
Maryam Nawaz owned London flats for six months: Nawaz family lawyer 17 February, 2017



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Hand Wash and Toiletries in Pakistan And the Role of DUPAS in Reshaping the Industry

Woke Bingo ISLAMABAD: The lawyer for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs sons claimed before the Supreme Court on Thursday that the bearer share certificates of the four London flats remained in the custody of Maryam Nawaz  the PMs daughter  between February and July 2006.



Salman Akram Raja told the court that a trust deed was executed between Maryam and Hussain Nawaz in February 2006, following which she acted as a trustee for her brother.



Maryams propriety connection with the four flats ends after the cancellation of those bearer certificates and their registration in the name of Minerva Services Limited  an entity that provides directors to the two companies Nielson Enterprises Ltd and Nescoll Ltd, the offshore companies that owned the four flats.



This was the reason, the counsel argued, why Maryam Nawaz name was listed under beneficial owner in the records of Minerva Services.



PM cannot be linked to any wrongdoing, argues Salman Akram Raja; court to question NAB, FBR chairmen at next hearing

The counsel had earlier explained that bearer share certificates were like prize bonds or currency: whosoever possessed them owned the properties in question.



Another company, JPCA  a firm of chartered accountants  took over charge from Minerva in 2014.



When Justice Saeed asked the counsel for documents to show who the authorised representatives of Minerva Services were, Advocate Raja replied that Minerva Services was authorised by the trustee service company, which Hussain now owned.



Justice Ejaz Afzal said the court wanted to know whether Maryam owned the property title at some stage. As a trustee only, but technically possessed with no legal title, was the counsels reply.



The judge then observed that the court had come across yet another veil and asked, rhetorically, who would lift it.



The counsel, however, maintained that his chain of narration was complete, adding that if the petitioners had any doubts, they should come up with solid evidence to contradict it or establish any wrongdoing. He brushed aside the possibility that Maryam had acquired any expensive properties.



Citing a number of judgements such as the 2012 Asghar Khan and Memogate cases, the counsel argued that the Supreme Court should not consider appointing any commission to further probe allegations of any wrongdoing under Article 184(3) of the Constitution.



If any contention or narrative put forth by the Sharifs has to be disbelieved, where is the counter-evidence to prove any wrongdoing, particularly on part of the prime minister, the counsel asked.



Justice Afzal regretted that the narrative built by the counsel defied common sense; that a person holding expensive properties in London did not keep any documentary proof. He said the real question now was what the court should do in such a situation.



Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, who heads the bench, observed that what the petitioner was asking for was a determination against the ruling family, adding that under the Constitution, nobody can bar the apex court from giving such a declaration.



The judge also said the court could hold that the explanation offered by the counsel about the ownership of the properties was not found to be honest.



During Thursdays proceedings, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed regretted that Mian Sharifs will, which reportedly contained instructions regarding transfer of ownership of the properties to Hussain Nawaz, was still missing.



Wrapping up his arguments, the counsel maintained the court could not proceed on mere presumptions, especially when the prime minister cannot be acted against due to lack of evidence. He said that even if the court rejected his entire argument, it could not link the prime minister to the flats in question.



But Justice Khosa reminded the counsel that when Mian Sharif was no more, the children said they had no money and everything came from Qatar, whereas Kulsoom Nawaz was simply a housewife, the only person left to question was the prime minister.



He also observed that when the relevant authorities had failed to show backbone and were reluctant to play their investigative role, then someone  meaning the court  had to supply strength.



The five-judge bench hearing the Panamagate case called on chairmen of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to ensure their presence in court on Tuesday (Feb 21) to explain what measures had been taken in response to the Panama Papers controversy.



The bench has specifically asked NAB chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry to provide details about the 1999 Hudaibiya Paper Mills reference, which was quashed by the Lahore High Court in 2014.



The reference was initiated on April 25, 2000, based on a confessional statement of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, where he had admitted his role in alleged laundering of $14.86 million on behalf of the Sharifs. However, the witness was pardoned by the incumbent NAB chairman.



High court referee judge Justice Sardar Shamim had quashed the reference on March 11, 2014 on the grounds that if a re-investigation was allowed against the Sharif family, it would provide an opportunity to investigators to pad up lacunas. Later, NAB decided not to challenge the high courts decision.



Advocate Naeem Bokhari, who represents Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, had sought directions against NAB to file a belated appeal before the Supreme Court to re-open the Hudaibiya Paper Mills reference.



In its reply, NAB had pleaded that it was beyond its scope to probe the Panama Paper leaks and any action under the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 without evidence about the commission of an offence would be premature.



On Thursday, Justice Khosa concluded proceedings with the announcement that the court would hold the next hearing on Feb 21, adding that the case had resumed with the understanding that Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, who was still recovering from a heart ailment, will be afforded ample opportunity to rest.
From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As...
If the poor misguided English are a nation of dog lovers then we are left looking to the continent for a bit of feline commonsense. And they do not disappoint.Today is National Cat Day in Italy . They also have a Black Cat Day on 17th November . Cats both indoor and outdoor have been protected in Italy since 1991, when a new law made it illegal to harm or kill street cats.Local public health authorities are responsible for neutering and spaying them, and animal rights associations can be awarded management of outdoor cat colonies, whose members have the right to roam free and undisturbed.As the article also says an eBay survey over the past year has shown that in Italy, cat-themed or cat-shaped objects - such as cell phone covers, clothes and accessories, home decor, costume jewelry and stuffed animals - are changing hands every seven minutes.I have always liked Italy and other Mediterranean countries like Malta and Turkey where cats are treated with the respect and care they deserve.World Cat Day, by the way, was set up in 2002 by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and is celebrated on August 8.the photo was taken by me in Sorrento harbour in 2011. The cats wait there for the fishermen to dock and unload their catches.
The email was from Keith and I was surprised and at the same time excited when I read it.

Last Tuesday, while Simbu Writers Association delegates were waiting in the corridor of Kondom Agaundo House in Kundiawa to have an audience with the Simbu Provincial Administrator, a follow up to the letter that we had delivered the week before, the email signal on my mobile phone triggered.

This is particularly relevant as the whole concept falls within the provincial governments own Tourism, Arts and Culture Policy launched in Kundiawa just a few months ago.

Keith Jackson AM and Cr Ingrid Jackson are ready to advance discussions on a Kundiawa-Noosa sister town relationship, but do Simbu Administrator Joe Kunda Naur MBE and Governor Hon Noah Kool have the wisdom to embrace the concept for the benefit of the Simbu people?

In his email, Keith had laid out a pathway to start the groundwork on the sister town concept. I very much wished that the Simbu provincial authorities could wholeheartedly embrace this golden opportunity, which is doable.

Keith wrote in his email: Ive had a brief chat to Councillor Ingrid about a possible sister town relationship and she will review the Noosa Councils protocols to see what rules apply to such an initiative.

It would be of great assistance if the Simbu Governor could write a letter to the mayor of Noosa Cr Tony Wellington via me and Ingrid.

In the letter he should emphasise the reasons for the relationship, for example (a) promoting the PNG-Australia relationship, (b) extending the hand of friendship, (c) providing the people of Simbu and Noosa with a connection to a different culture, especially at school level, (d) other reasons you believe are important.

Keith went on to recommend that Governor Kool should emphasise the compatibilities or connectors between the two places: environmental protection as a community value; tourism as a benefit to commerce and literature; and the arts as cultural strengths.

I replied: We are still trying to have an audience with the Governor or the Administrator and gauge their views. Once we get their views, we can proceed further with the protocols.

Jimmy Awagl and I were anticipating an audience with Joe Kunda and the email from Keith was very timely and we were going to bring it to his attention as the Governor was not available.

After a long wait, one of Joe Kundas helpers delivered a small note that said: We will respond in writing.

To date SWA is still waiting for a response from the Simbu Provincial Government.

The areas of benefit Keith has pointed out are the very areas that government intends to promote and market in its Simbu Tourism, Arts and Culture Policy.

This opportunity falls right within that policy and not to accept it would be like rebuffing ones own policy.

As can be seen, Keith Jackson knows the way to go about it. All the Simbu Governor and Administrator have to do is to accept the idea and establish dialogue with Keith and the rest will be history.

Time is running out and Hon Noah Kool or Administrator Joe Kunda need to act fast.
Call for Papers  Workshop on Cognition in Groups, May 31 2017 in Milan

Center for the Study of Social Action, University of Milan, Via Festa del Perdono, 7, 20122 Milano, Italy.

Deadline for submissions: March 15, 2017

Confirmed speakers: Giulia Piredda (Pavia), Kourken Michaelian (Dunedin), Giuliano Torrengo (Milan)

The scientific debate of individual cognition and its relation to (mental) action and society has a long tradition. More recently, philosophers and cognitive scientists have approached the peculiarities of cognition in groups from various angles, addressing questions like: What is cognition in groups? Is there something like a group mind or socially extended mind? What is special about being engaged in mental actions in a group together with other agents opposed to being engaged in the same kinds of action individually? What does mental action and mental agency come to in groups? What is the interrelation between group cognition and social ontology? To which extent does the existence of institutions and social facts depend on cognition in groups?

This workshop aims at continuing the debate by addressing questions like these and shedding new light on cognition in groups from various angels. If you would like to attend the conference actively with giving a talk, please prepare a 200-word abstract plus title suitable for blind-review and send it by March 15 2017 with the subject line Submission: Cognition in Groups to anika.fiebich@unimi.it . The abstracts will be reviewed by April 1 2017.

For more information about the CFP and the abstracts of the confirmed speakers, please visit our website: https://www.cssa.unimi.it/news/
Three central New York state legislators are aiming to create a new felony assault charge in response to a vicious attack on a bartender in Oswego last year.

State Sen. Patty Ritchie and Assembly members Will Barclay and Bob Oaks have introduced a bill that would create a new class E felony charge of third-degree aggravated assault.

"Under the proposed law, aggravated third-degree assault would require only a single accomplice," Oaks, R-Macedon, said in a statement. "It would give district attorneys an important tool, allowing cases where two assailants attack a single victim to be prosecuted as a felony."

The lawmakers said they're pushing for the new charge because of an attack on a woman at an Oswego bar in July 2016.

Two men attacked the bartender and left her with injuries that required corrective surgery, according to the legislators. But Oswego County District Attorney Gregory Oakes couldn't charge the two men who carried out the attack with a felony.

The current third-degree assault charge is a misdemeanor. There is a felony gang assault charge, but the defendant must be aided by at least two other people and the victim in the incident must sustain "serious physical injury."

The new charge proposed by Barclay, Oaks and Ritchie would allow prosecutors to charge a defendant with third-degree aggravated assault if they're aided by another person during an attack.

"Unfortunately, the present law is simply inadequate and doesn't hold defendants fully accountable," Oakes said. "I want to thank our legislators representing Oswego County for listening and taking leadership on this issue so that prosecutors can obtain real justice for victims who are assaulted by multiple attackers."

The Assembly and Senate bills have been referred to each house's codes committee.
U.S. Rep. John Katko released a lengthy statement Thursday firing back at some members of a Syracuse-area group that, he says, have engaged in behavior that hinders his ability to represent the 24th Congressional District.

In recent weeks, the CNY Solidarity Coalition has targeted Katko, R-Camillus, with rallies outside of his Syracuse office and social media campaigns calling on the congressman to hold an in-person town hall meeting.

The coalition's members have also called his district office to share their views. While Katko acknowledged many of these calls are constructive, he said others have taken a more disruptive approach.

"They have harassed members of my staff with threatening and aggressive phone calls and office visits," Katko said. "Some behavior has even led to security concerns. While we work with Capitol Police and local law enforcement, this behavior impedes our ability to serve."

Katko said the tactics of some coalition members are outlined in a guide developed for the Indivisible movement, a playbook developed by former Democratic congressional staffers on how to "resist the Trump agenda."

The guide advises activists to attend town hall meetings and "make them listen to you, and report out when they don't." Other advice includes visiting district offices to demand meetings with the member of Congress and organizing a local effort to "barrage your member of Congress with calls at an opportune moment about and on a specific issue."

The CNY Solidarity Coalition held a rally in Syracuse last week and urged Katko to hold an in-person town hall meeting. The group's social media campaign, #whereskatko, was started, members say, due to Katko's lack of responsiveness.

Since taking office in 2015, Katko hasn't held a general, in-person town hall meeting. He's held several telephone town hall meetings  a fact he mentioned in his statement  and he hosted six listening sessions, most of which focused on the region's opioid epidemic.

In his statement, Katko highlighted the millions of dollars he's been able to secure for the district, including nearly $2 million in benefits owed to central New Yorkers. Since 2015, he said his office has responded to nearly 64,000 constituent calls, emails and letters.

"I have and will continue to engage in an ongoing dialogue with the constituents that I represent across Onondaga, Cayuga, Wayne and Oswego counties," he said. "But I will not allow a small, yet vocal, group dictate the terms on which I do so."

Here is Katko's full statement:

As Central New Yorks representative in Congress, I have focused on being an accessible, independent voice for our community. I have met with thousands of NY-24 individuals and families, small business owners, farmers, veterans, and community organizations since being sworn in to represent our district in January 2015. During that time, my office has responded to nearly 64,000 constituent letters, emails and phone calls. Ive hosted 6 community listening sessions and numerous telephone town hall events. With my support, NY-24 has been awarded millions of dollars in federal grants, and Ive been able to ensure that nearly $2 million dollars owed in federal benefits were returned to Central New York residents. When my constituents contact me or my office, we listen, and we focus on getting results and representing you in the most effective way possible.

Because I enjoy and value interaction with Central New Yorkers, Im distressed by the efforts of a small number of people to create disruptions that make such interaction more difficult. Over the course of the past month, a national political movement called Indivisible has developed across the country. This is a group fueled by outside, progressive interests. While many involved with this movement claim to be interested in productive, public discourse with their federal representatives, the Indivisible playbook instructs just the opposite. It suggests Indivisible members bombard Members of Congress with phone calls and encourages disruptive behavior at townhall meetings and district events, specifically instructing individuals to object as loudly and powerfully as possible, warns they must be prepared to interrupt, and encourages booing and chanting. In several forums in other parts of the country, Indivisible followers have dutifully followed this playbook, and have turned opportunities for constructive engagement between citizens and their representatives into unruly spectacles where constructive engagement is impossible.

Here in Central New York, multiple progressive organizations have aligned themselves with the national Indivisible movement. I respect the right of these groups to peacefully assemble, meet, and protest. I appreciate their passion. I have spoken with numerous CNY Indivisible members, and invited them to meet regularly with my office to ensure their concerns are heard. Having spoken with several of these individuals, I have seen that many of them are sincere, and truly want to engage in a constructive conversation. I have and will continue to make myself available to such individuals. Unfortunately, others have made very clear that their foremost goal is to cause disruptions. They have harassed members of my staff with threatening and aggressive phone calls and office visits. Some behavior has even led to security concerns. While we work with Capitol Police and local law enforcement, this behavior impedes our ability to serve.

I will not allow a national outside group to hijack service to my district or disrupt meaningful engagement with my constituents. Let me be clear: These individuals are preventing members of my staff from helping refugees, senior citizens, and veterans. By flooding my office with hundreds of calls and holding regular protests, they are only hurting their neighbors  veterans in need of VA Hospital care, seniors dependent on Social Security and Medicare, individuals facing pressing immigration matters, and local organizations seeking to apply for federal grants.

We live in a politically charged time. I work every day to heal our divide and bring our country and community together. I have a record of working across the aisle, and getting things done for my district. I will always make myself available to my constituents. All 708,000 of them. I will also represent them equally. A farmer in Wayne County or steel worker in Auburn matter just as much to me as an enraged Indivisible member.

I have and will continue to engage in an ongoing dialogue with the constituents that I represent across Onondaga, Cayuga, Wayne, and Oswego Counties. But I will not allow a small, yet vocal, group dictate the terms on which I do so.
Two years ago, Ramiro Gomez created a map that says as much about civilization as photographs of the lights from cities at night from space: a map of all the pubs in the United Kingdom and in Ireland.

A little over two years later, computer scientists from the University of Waterloo in Canada have managed to connect all the dots that fall within the United Kingdom, as they used an algorithm they developed to solve a unique version of the "traveling salesman problem", to connect the dots in the shortest amount of distance without repeating any stop.

The result, of course, can only be described as the world's most epic pub crawl....

HT: Frank Jacobs.


Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the American Authors Association

Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the Military Writers Society of America.
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, cited states rights as her reasoning behind two votes to rescind Obama administration rules on Thursday.

Both passed the House largely along party lines.

The House voted 230-188, with two Democrats voting yes and two Republicans voting no, to rescind a Dec. 15, 2016 Department of Health and Human Services rule that established new parameters on how states could allocate federal Title X grants for family planning services.

Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., who introduced the resolution, said the rule forced states such as Tennessee to provide grants to organizations that provide abortions, such as Planned Parenthood, instead of the states desire to allocate the funding exclusively to the Tennessee Department of Health.

This rule is an overreach by the federal government that prohibits states from deciding how to effectively allocate Title X funding to best serve local communities, Stefanik said, on her congressional office Facebook page.

The House voted 225-193, with five Democrats voting Yes and 10 Republicans voting No, to rescind a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule limiting some hunting practices on federal wildlife refuges in Alaska.

I believe land management issues are best left to the state and this rule undermines Alaskas authority to manage their fish and wildlife. Stefanik said on her congressional office Facebook page.

The Humane Society of the United States, which lobbied against rescinding the rule, said the rule was intended to prevent inhumane methods of controlling predator wildlife species.
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, on Friday announced she co-sponsored legislation Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore. introduced Thursday to guarantee a a prohibition individual and group health insurance plans from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions is continued as part of any legislation to repeal President Obama's health care reform plan.

"I have said all along that we must keep the parts of the Affordable Care Act that are working as we fix our broken healthcare system, and this legislation to protect those with pre-existing conditions is a critical component of our health care reform package," Stefanik said, in a press release.

"This bill is a continuation of the step-by-step process to rebuild our health care system," Walden said, in a separate press release.

The legislation -- HR 1121 -- had 42 co-sponsors as of Friday -- all Republicans, according to the Library of Congress government information web site.

Other New York co-sponsors are Reps. Daniel Donovan, R-Staten Island, and Chris Collins, R-Clarence.

Click here to read about Stefanik's previous comments on the topic.
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, has agreed to meet with members of the Greater Glens Falls Democracy for America chapter, said Tom Flanagin, the congresswoman's spokesman.

"We have been in touch with this group and have a meeting scheduled in the next few weeks," Flanagin said in an email Thursday evening responding to a Post-Star inquiry.

Democracy for America is the political organization that former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean founded when he ran for president.
BALLSTON SPA -- A Ballston Spa woman who was arrested last fall for stealing drugs at the pharmacy where she worked pleaded guilty Thursday to a felony charge.

Mary B. Murphy worked at the Rite Aid store in Corinth when she was arrested last October after police learned she had been forging documents to get the prescription opioid painkiller hydrocodone, authorities said. She created at least one fake prescription using a customer's name and local doctor's name to get the drugs, according to the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office.

Murphy, 48, pleaded guilty to falsifying business records, a felony, in Saratoga County Court. Judge James Murphy put her on interim probation for a year, to participate in the county's felony drug treatment court. If she does well, she will spend 5 years on probation. If not, she faces a jail term.

The state Office of Professions website shows her pharmacist license is suspended. She has had a pharmacy license in New York since 1993.
LoisAnn Jahne of Cambridge, with her husband and up to eight of their friends, are scheduled to meet with U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, on March 3 at the congresswomans Glens Falls district office.

I particularly would like to ask her how she can justify dumping coal debris into the stream as being good for the environment, Jahne said, referring to Stefaniks vote on Feb. 1 in favor of rescinding a federal Department of Interior rule that regulated disposal of mining waste in streams.

Stefanik has said her objection was because the agency did not adequately disclose what scientific studies and research were used in the rule-making process.

Stefanik is making good on her pledge earlier this week to meet with small groups that schedule meetings through her congressional office website: stefanik.house.gov/contact/request-appearance.

We are currently in the process of scheduling dozens of meetings with constituents who have requested meetings via the website over the past week, Tom Flanagin, the congresswomans spokesman, said Friday.

Among others, Stefanik has agreed to meet with members of the Greater Glens Falls Democracy for America chapter, a Democratic-aligned advocacy organization.

We have been in touch with this group and have a meeting scheduled in the next few weeks, Flanagin said.

Larry Dudley, the groups coordinator, did not return a voicemail message The Post-Star left on Friday seeking to confirm and discuss the meeting.

Meetings will be closed to the press to allow for candid and constructive conversations, Flanagin said.

Demonstrators in Glens Falls, Lake Placid and elsewhere in recent days have urged Stefanik to participate in town hall forums in the district.

Stefanik has said small group meetings are more productive and less likely to become political theater.

Jahne, the Cambridge woman, said she would prefer Stefanik hold town halls so that more constituents can communicate directly with her, but she was excited when a Stefanik aide called to schedule a meeting in response to her request on Stefaniks congressional office website.

I am glad that she is finally going to meet with us. Thats a huge step forward, she said.

Jahne, who would not disclose her political affiliation, said Stefanik seems to have a incorrect impression of those who have been urging her to attend town hall forums.

Were not disruptive. Maybe our singing and chanting off key can be disruptive at times, she said. Were all walks of life. Were not political puppets.

Jahne said she is concerned about the new administration and will urge Stefanik to call for an investigation of possible Russian involvement in the 2016 election.

The main one at this point is, How can she continue to support Trump? Jahne said.

The environment is a big concern.

The Adirondack lakes and rivers are alive again. You can see the skyline of New York, Jahne said. And you have these things (regulations) beginning to be rolled back. Its frightening.
QUEENSBURY  Members of two unions that represent Warren County workers have agreed to new three-year labor contracts with the county which give them salary increases but require them to pay more toward their health insurance.

The Warren County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved contracts with the Warren County unit of the Civil Service Employees Association and the Warren County Correctional Supervisors Association that will run through 2019.

The CSEA is the biggest of the county worker unions, and members will receive a 2.95 percent salary increase this year, 2.75 percent next year and 2.6 percent in 2019. Workers who are required to be on call when off-duty will also get increased payments for standby service on nights, weekends and holidays, ranging from $25 to $75.

They will also contribute 2 percent more of their health insurance costs.
FORT EDWARD  A 72-year-old Argyle man will serve 90 days in jail and 5 years on probation for his guilty plea to felony driving while intoxicated earlier this month in Washington County Court.

Vincent M. Cristaldi pleaded guilty in connection with an arrest July 30 by State Police on county Route 49 in Argyle.

Cristaldi, who has a lengthy criminal record that included an incident in which he rammed a police car with a tractor, agreed to a plea deal that includes a jail term and probation when he is sentenced March 24 by Washington County Judge Kelly McKeighan.

The deal does not include disposition of felony forgery and misdemeanor petit larceny counts filed in October after he allegedly cashed a stolen, forged $350 check at the Kmart store in Greenwich.
QUEENSBURY  The company that operates Warren Center and numerous other area nursing homes has begun holding monthly family meetings after relatives of residents expressed concerns about staffing levels and procedures that some claim have led to injuries, including one woman whose daughter said has been hospitalized eight times in recent months for falls.

The company, Centers Health Care is now looking to work with area colleges and the local BOCES to create nurse training programs to create a better pipeline for health care workers as it deals with complaints about staffing from families of those at the former Westmount Health Facility, the 80-bed Warren County-founded nursing home it bought at the end of 2015.

Queensbury at-Large Supervisor Rachel Seeber said several relatives of Warren Center residents asked her to attend a family meeting for relatives of residents that was held in late January, which she said seemed productive. The company has agreed to hold monthly meetings for relatives going forward.

The January meeting was held days before the homes owner, Centers Health Care of New York City, was to hold an open house, to which it invited local media. But it was canceled days before it was to be held, with no new date set. Centers Health Care spokesman Tom McCartin said the company plans to reschedule it.

Seeber said she met with Centers Health Cares regional nursing home administrator, who she said was receptive and explained that the company is working to attract and keep local nursing help.

They are having a problem, like many in the health care field, of getting nurses, she said.

McCartin pointed out that the home remains the highest-rated local nursing home, as it was when Warren County owned it, with a four-star rating on medicare.gov. He said the company has staffing levels above the state-required threshold, and a recent partial state survey gave it higher marks for quality measures, and the staff is better trained than it was when Centers purchased the home.

We have met with and are working on developing a partnership with SUNY Plattsburgh, SUNY Adirondack and the local BOCES chapter to help develop local, well-trained nursing talent, McCartin wrote in an email. Working with the schools, potential nurses (new LPNs and/or nurses studying to move up from LPN to RN) will be identified and interviewed.

Selected candidates will be reimbursed for their education expenses by Centers Health Care, we provide licensing assistance, and they are assured of employment with Centers Health Care upon graduation and licensure. Their only obligation is to commit to working at a Centers Health Care facility.

The company is also paying for training for certified nursing assistants and guaranteeing them jobs with the company, he added.

Queensbury resident Linda Curran said she believes staffing problems have played a part in her 87-year-old mother having an estimated 30 falls at the nursing home over the past year, requiring eight visits to Glens Falls Hospital, many of them over the past 4 months or so. The most recent earlier this month resulted in two broken ribs and a cut to the head that required sutures she said.

Many of the former county employees who knew the residents, including the administrator and director of nursing, have left since the home was sold as the new owner changed salary and benefit plans

These are serious things, and it all started since Thanksgiving, she said.

There are alarms that alert staff when residents leave their rooms or stand up from bed, but many times there is no staff response when the alarms are triggered, Curran said.

Curran said families have concerns that there isnt enough staff, and many of the staff members are employees of agencies who are brought in on a per diem basis and dont know the residents.

The Post-Star obtained a copy of a letter that was sent to nursing home administration, outlining their concerns about a revolving door of staff, loss of longtime employees that families believe has led to a lack of attention to everyday needs.

Seeber said some of the families were hoping the county could intervene, but with the home no longer county-owned, that is not possible.

We dont have the oversight anymore, but we can certainly be present, she said.

Centers Health Care has bought former county-owned nursing homes in Warren, Washington, Essex and Fulton counties, operates Indian River Nursing Home in Granville and its chief operating officer is planning to buy two more privately owned local homes, The Orchard in Granville and The Stanton in Queensbury.
LONG LAKE  Long Lake firefighters and a state trooper rescued a snowmobiler who broke through the ice of Long Lake on Friday morning as well as a state trooper who fell through ice while trying to help the snowmobiler, authorities said.

The incident occurred shortly before 9 a.m. Friday, when a snowmobile being operated on the south end of the lake, about 200 feet offshore near Van Hussen Drive, broke through, according to State Police.

Police said the snowmobiler, Michael J. Michna, 61, of North Brunswick, New Jersey, was taken to Saranac Lake Medical Center for treatment of exposure to cold, and was expected to be released later Friday.

Trooper Michael Kohan suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene by Long Lake Rescue, and was back at the State Police station in Ray Brook as of early afternoon Friday.

Kohan was responding to a rescue call for the snowmobiler, and Long Lake firefighters who were on their way as well plucked both him and the snowmobiler from the water, accessing the lake via the departments airboat that can travel on thin ice.

He was in the water for about 5 to 10 minutes, so he was pretty cold, State Police Sgt. Michael Mullaney said. He also had some cuts to his face.

The trooper estimated he was about 100 to 150 feet off shore when he went through while walking, Mullaney said. The water was estimated at 7 to 8 feet deep, and he could not pull himself out of the water on the slippery ice.

Trooper Roger Lind and Long Lake firefighters were assisted by the Blue Mountain Lake Fire Department, State Police and state forest rangers.

Long Lake Fire Department Capt. Paul Brown said the ice in the area was no more than two inches thick. Rescuers wearing dry suits were breaking through as they tried to to walk on ice to get to those in the water, he said.

The ice was very thin. Our is basically a river anyway, and that part of the lake is known for thin ice, Brown said.

The fate of the snowmobile was unclear later Friday.

Police, firefighters and emergency responders around the Northeast have dealt with a high number of ice rescues in recent weeks because of thin ice, with at least 10 fatalities reported. Many have involved snowmobiles breaking through on lakes and ponds where ice is much weaker than normal.

A combination of the recent snow and expected warmer temperatures will likely make for treacherous ice in the coming days. Much of Lake George froze last weekend, but ice in some areas with only an inch or two thick, and snow will obscure weak spots.
FORT EDWARD  The time needed to get the next Washington County superintendent of buildings and grounds up to speed was a topic of contention for the Board of Supervisors on Friday.

Harrison Steves is planning to retire later this year after about 40 years with the department. The county is hiring a superintendent trainee to shadow Steves for about six months.

Nearly 20 resumes have been received for the position, according to Hampton Supervisor David OBrien. He said the county will start reviewing the applications and do the hiring process sometime in March.

Hartford Supervisor Dana Haff had an issue with how long the trainee would be on board.

Six months of shadowing is way too long, he said.

One month would be sufficient, according to Haff. The new person should be provided with a manual to get up to speed on things, he said.

Hebron Supervisor Brian Campbell said it is better to have someone shadow Steves for longer to get that person acclimated to the work that happens during various seasons.

Its easier to show somebody than read a manual, Campbell said.

The reason you think this way is its other peoples money, Haff added.

OBrien said if it is an internal candidate, the county may not need a trainee. He still believed it is valuable to have someone work with Steves.

I think investing some money here may save us money in the future if we have somebody properly trained, he said.

OBrien said Steves had recommended hiring a trainee and he has always provided service in a cost-effective way throughout the years.

He added that the superintendent is in charge of more facilities than when Steves first started working. For example, the building where they were meeting did not exist.

Easton Supervisor Dan Shaw also said six months was excessive and a month is sufficient. Other people in the department have experience to handle issues.

Haff offered an amendment to change the length of time to 30 days.

The amendment was defeated, with only Haff, Shaw, Fort Edward Supervisor Mitch Suprenant and Jackson Supervisor Jay Skellie voting for it.

Kingsbury Supervisor Dana Hogan offered a successful amendment to change the language to say up to six months.

Board Chairman Bob Henke said they had a job-shadowing program when he first started working for the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Gov. Mario Cuomo did away with it and it cost the agency a lot of money, he said. As an example, he said a new camp site director would come in and not know where the water shutoffs were.

Theyve now returned it to a shadowing situation for department heads because they find it more cost-effective, he said.

Greenwich Supervisor Sara Idleman said she came from a profession where there was job-shadowing in the form of student-teaching.

It still kind of felt like being thrown to the wolves on any first day of teaching, she said. I think its a monumental job. We need to get somebody in there who can work alongside Harrison and, by the end of that period of time, I imagine he or she will be running the show.

The resolution passed with only Haff, Suprenant, Shaw and Putnam Supervisor John LaPointe voting in opposition.
A whole group of people live and work in our area in a shadow land of non-citizenship.

Like millions of other undocumented immigrants across the country, they do hard jobs for which it is difficult to hire local people and nearly impossible to keep them.

They work on farms and in quarries and in restaurants. They do grinding manual labor, day after day, for years. Their strong hands and backs keep the shelves of our markets stocked with milk and eggs and vegetables.

But years of work dont earn them the right to step into the light of citizenship, so they can drive a car without fear of having their undocumented status discovered, so they can marry and have children and continue to contribute to their new country without fear of being ordered to leave.

Many had hope that changes would be made to the immigration laws and give them a path to citizenship. Now, under President Trump, the atmosphere has grown less welcoming, and millions have had to move deeper into the shadows.

Some are giving up. Somalians and others have been risking their lives to cross into Canada in the middle of winter, because thats better than getting deported.

Others have carried on, trying to substitute fatalism for frustration, resignation for desperation.

One recent evening, I went to see and speak with an undocumented worker who lives in the local area  one of many. They have been here for years, going shopping, nodding hello  but not with the feelings of safety and ease most of us enjoy. The shadow of their undocumented status falls over them always.

The man I went to see is in a longtime committed relationship with a local woman. They considered having children, but the uncertainty of their circumstances discouraged them.

To gain legal status, he would have to leave the country and apply to return an expensive and extended process. He might never get back in, especially now, under President Trump.

He cannot leave to visit his parents and other relatives. The choice he made allows him to support his family but not to see them.

He is a soft-spoken man who talked hesitantly at first but warmed up as we stood together in a chilly barn. He spoke to the animals he was working with and soothed them with his hands.

I cant say much about any details of the evening for fear of exposing him, even though many people know of the undocumented workers who keep local businesses going.

Our disinterest in exposing them means they dont get deported, but it also keeps them stuck in the shadow land, vulnerable and unable to plan for the future.

When it was time for me to go, he and the woman exchanged a few soft words, then he brushed a tiny bit of something from a carton of fresh eggs he was holding and handed it to me.

Im not supposed to take gifts, but it was impossible to say no.

I should have been giving him something for taking the risk of speaking with me, for doing jobs Americans have found ways to avoid. But I left with his story, and I took the eggs, too. They were delicious.
Congresswoman Elise Stefanik took to Facebook Tuesday to fire back at constituents who believe she is being unresponsive.

In this new world in Washington, it was refreshing to see the congresswoman take 546 words rather than 140 characters to address a problem, but even that may not be enough.

What we have here is a failure to communicate.

This may be the first time the congresswomans youth has been a liability.

Her district is vast and almost entirely rural. The reality is that many people still dont have Internet access, yet it seems she  like the rest of the world  depends more and more on social media and email to communicate her message. Her constituents might prefer more face-to-face interactions like they have experienced in the past.

Numbers reported by eMarketer, a marketing company that provides insights and trends on digital marketing to Fortune 500 companies, reported last year that just over 50 percent of Americans will use Facebook at least once a month.

We suspect, considering the rural nature of the 21st Congressional District, that figure is much lower there, so Rep. Stefanik may not be reaching even half her constituents on a regular basis.

Weve observed that Rep. Stefanik prefers less personal contact with the media and constituents than some of our past representatives. That is our perception.

Our longtime political reporter Maury Thompson reports that getting the congresswoman on the phone for a quick question has been far less frequent than many of the past congressional representative he has covered, and several of those representatives did not have the advantage of cellphones.

Many local people are complaining to us they are not getting answers from Rep. Stefaniks staff, and cannot get a meeting with her. They say they are concerned with what is going on in Washington and would like more answers.

In her Facebook post Tuesday, Rep. Stefanik wrote: I believe in free speech and our ability to gather together and make our voices heard; however, its unfortunate and counterproductive that a small number of activists believe the best way to address the very serious issues facing our country is to hijack and ambush community events for the sole purpose of political theater.

While we know that has happened in other places around the country, we have not heard of it happening here. Dismissing every voice of concern as just political theater is ignoring the obvious divided nature of our country.

Rep. Stefanik won an overwhelming victory in the fall and we find it hard to believe those voters have all turned against her, but they suspect they made need some clarification about recent events as well. We remain steadfast in the belief the local citizenry would conduct itself in a civil and honorable way given the opportunity for a townhall-type meeting.

If there is a concern that rabble rousers from outside the district would hijack the proceedings, make everyone show their drivers license upon entry to prove they are local. Engage a strong moderator respected by both sides of the political divide. Maybe someone like Matt Funiciello could ensure the proceedings remain on point and that questions get answered with complete civility

The question we think most people want answered is whether Rep. Stefanik is concerned about what is going on in Washington.

Even if she is not, she needs to acknowledge that many of the people she represents and many that voted for her are concerned about a variety of issues: What will they do for health care, is the environment going to be compromised by rolling back of EPA regulations and will our soldiers at Fort Drum soon be in combat?

We dont doubt that Rep. Stefanik and her staff have been drowned and overwhelmed by the sheer volume of inquiries. We acknowledge many are trying to put political pressure on her by repeatedly calling. But we must point out as people on the front lines of public opinion who have regular interaction with the citzenry, there is real and dogged concern about the future of the country.

Rep. Stefanik needs to engage with those people, too.

We also dont doubt she has appeared in public over 500 times over the past year. But these appearances are often controlled meet-and-greets, photo opportunities or tours in which the public rarely gets a chance to engage the congresswoman in meaningful conversation.

We urge her to commit to fewer of those events and more interaction with people who have concerns. Her 546 words on Facebook didnt answer any of the concerns we are hearing.

Wed also urge her to resurrect regular conference calls with reporters around the district so she can address the issues of the day.

Rep. Stefanik should make communicating with the home front a priority.
AURELIUS  For the most part, the operators of Mattress by Appointment at Fingerlakes Mall are just about done breaking in their newest location ahead of its grand opening.

They know a mall is not a normal place for a mattress store. Typical mattress showrooms are set up in locations with regular hours and on-site salespeople, said Nick Difasi, a partner at Mattress by Appointment in the Aurelius shopping center.

In comparison, Mattress by Appointment occupies an approximately 3,000-square-foot space in the mall, Difasi said, near Small Addictions RC and J.C. Penney. The spot has more than a handful of mattresses on display, with others stacked in the rear.

The functional simplicity is by design, said Ryan Wieder, another partner in the Aurelius business. It ties into why Mattress by Appointment is open mostly through appointment, and why it doesn't pay for on-site employees: to save on overhead costs.

"The mattress industry, as a whole, is usually a huge ripoff," Wieder said. "Markups in the industry are 200 to 300 percent. Our business model is we're 50- to 80-percent off what you'll normally find because our overhead is so low."

Mattress by Appointment, started in 2011, is a chain brand with dealers in 39 states, according to its main website. Difasi and Wieder, along with Brad Taber and Brian Wallenbeck, are partners in the Aurelius location and others, including Elmira and Binghamton.

Wieider, who comes from Horseheads, said he and Difasi have had other real estate and natural gas business ventures together in the past while selling mattresses on the side. However, New York's fracking ban, they said, spurred a full-time focus on beds when they found struggles with the gas business.

Difasi said he and Wieder bounce around between their locations to meet appointments. The group opened its first location in Elmira about a year and a half ago. The Fingerlakes Mall spot will celebrate its grand opening Saturday, according to the mall.

The operators of Mattress by Appointment said they were attracted to Fingerlakes Mall due to its low rent costs. Difasi said they pay $1,000 per month.

"Normally a mall, rent would not be reasonable. Up here, it is," Difasi said. He added, "The real idea with 'by appointment' is not only to keep our costs down, but it gives everybody that comes in a one-on-one. You can really take your time and we can explain everything to you."

Dann Walsh, the mall's marketing manager, could not be reached for comment.

Between their four locations, Weider said, Mattress by Appointment has inventory of all sizes through a variety of brands, such as Serta.

While the location markets itself through appointments, there may be times when the spot is open if someone happens to be there. Difasi said the operators do not plan for walk-in traffic, but they see it "as kind of a bonus" that is not necessarily a part of the business model.

After opening earlier this month, Wieder said he and the other partners are considering a larger location at Fingerlakes Mall in the future.

"As long as it keeps going as good as it is, we're going to look at a bigger spot in the mall, and we're going to do furniture and do more (mattress) lines at once," he said.
Washington wasn't listening and the media was not listening. CNN threw everything they had at Trump. CNN even had a journalist slip the questions to Hillary before Bernie and her where going to debate, because everyone was surprised by the outcome of the election. I dont remember once in the eight years Obama was in office of a building being burned, free speech being shut down. John Lewis and Chuck Schumer are shutting down our government and the people of this country because he and his corniness did not get their way. That's like killing the pilot of the plane that they're all are flying on. They stay silent while protesters in Berkeley burn their campus. The Post-Star did a viewpoint on how some people were inconvenienced from the ban Trump put in place for only 90 days. Ask yourself this, the young people in the Florida nightclub being murdered and begging for their lives, do you think they were inconvenienced, do you think their family, friends and co-workers were inconvenienced, do you think the police that had to go in there and see the murderous event that night were inconvenienced?
Every Friday, The Citizen features a pet available for adoption from the Finger Lakes SPCA of Central New York.

This week, we spotlight Gracie.

Q: Do you have a BFF? If so, who is that and why?

A: Well, I have a reputation to maintain here! I am known as, among other things, the "boss." I am a take-charge kind of gal and if you're are the boss, sometimes it's not a good idea to have a BFF. Actually, it's just a facade I have. I am very sweet and loving and really want to go home. Somebody please adopt me! Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to get emotional here.

Q: Can you tell me about your very best experience?

A: Every day is a best experience for me. It's a best experience because so many of my feline sisters and brothers don't get to have them. You know, the ones living on the street, no food, no shelter, no one to love them and worse. I have all of those things  and while this setup isn't ideal  it's the only one I have and it's the best thing I've got going.

Q: Would you like to have a job and if so what would you like to work at?

A: Trust me, I work every day. You would not believe how much work it is keeping a bunch of female felines in line. By the end of the day I am exhausted. Unfortunately, a glass of vino isn't on the menu here  some days I could use one. As they say, LOL!

Q: Are you interested in world travel? Where would you like to visit?

A: I haven't really given travel much thought; however, I might like to visit Japan one day. Did you know that Japan is the ultimate travel destination for cat enthusiasts? Well, it is! And if you are a cat enthusiast, you would know that Japan is the country that gave us the YouTube star Maru, whose antics have racked up more than 200 million views! And the beautiful city of Tokyo has become famous for its cat cafes, where you can hang out with some fab felines and drink saki! Every February the Japanese celebrate Nyan Nyan Nyan Day (a name inspired by the sound cats make). Yes, Japan would be on my bucket list for travel destinations!

Q: If you could meet someone famous, who would that be?

A: I don't know if he's famous or not, but the other day when I briefly escaped into the lobby I caught a glimpse of this incredibly handsome cat named Finn. Poor Finn  no one pays attention to him. Oh, don't get me wrong, my shelter people make big over Finn all the time and they love him like crazy, but Finn has this little thing called FIV and that scares people. Don't be scared, good people out there. Finn is good and needs a home, even worse than I do. Come in, check him out and talk to the shelter people about him.

Q: Do you have an interesting fact to share?

A: Do you want to hear about a "fake fact" or a real fact? I guess I'll stick to real facts. So, speaking of Japan, did you know that macaques (monkeys) in Japan use coins to buy vending machine snacks? And they make snowballs for fun. These are facts!

Q: Do you have any advice for our good Citizen readers?

A: Yes, I do! My shelter feline and canine friends would like to remind everyone, again, that if it's too cold outside for you, it's too cold for your fur-friends. Please bring your pets inside! If your dogs must be out of doors for any time at all, please provide adequate and appropriate shelter for them. And how about keeping your cats inside! That's all for now. Thank you and love, Gracie and friends.
AUBURN  The city of Auburn projects to have a busy construction season starting this summer.

The Auburn City Council authorized funding for the construction phases of three separate projects: repaving West Genesee Street, the replacement of the North Division Street Bridge and the reconstruction of the culverts over the North Hunter Brook.

Between all three projects, the combined total cost for design and construction is estimated to be $10,095,800, Christina Selvek, director of capital projects and grants, said Thursday.

Nevertheless, Selvek said the city is on the hook for $1,065,990 of that due to its participation in the Department of Transportation's locally administered federal aid program. Construction costs for the North Division Street bridge replacement will be completely covered by federal and state sources.

All of the projects are in the final design phase, with each expected to go out to bid to construction contractors by May at the latest, said Bill Lupien, the city's superintendent of engineering services.

The West Genesee Street project calls for the road to be repaved from around North Street to the western city line. Lupien said the project is mostly milling and filling, though crews will start with any water valve replacements and sewer work before resurfacing the street.

Work at North Hunter Brook will see the culverts at McIntosh and Schwartz drives replaced, starting with McIntosh. The finished product will look similar to the 2015 work done to the Walnut Street bridge, Lupien said, with the culverts widening enough to be considered bridges by design regulations.

Auburn councilors authorize emergency repairs to deteriorated North Division Street bridge AUBURN  Heavy deterioration at points along the North Division Street bridge have prompted 

Lastly, the North Division Street bridge will be completely replaced and realigned, which Lupien estimates will shut down that portion of the street at some point for four to seven months.

The West Genesee and North Hunter Brook projects are expected to begin this summer, while material availability could hold North Division Street's start until around September, Lupien said. Also projected to begin this summer is construction for the first phase of the city's Owasco River Greenway Trail.

Lupien said the trail will not be "a massive paving disruption job." Further, both Selvek and Lupien said the city will work with the Auburn Downtown Business Improvement District on a construction schedule to keep the projects from disrupting summer events.

"We'll try not to impact too many of the summer events because I know people really like to get downtown, particularly in August for Founder's Day and other things," Selvek said.

In other news

 Several city councilors reflected on a trip they took to Albany this week for the annual winter legislative meeting hosted by the New York Conference of Mayors.

Councilors Dia Carabajal, Jimmy Giannettino and Debby McCormick, along with City Clerk Chuck Mason, represented Auburn at the conference. Mason said the contingent sat in on presentations by several state leaders, including Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and state Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan.

The conference, which was held from Feb. 12-14, gave the Auburn officials a chance to touch base with their elected state representatives, Carabajal said, on key issues facing the city, such as increased state aid for infrastructure improvements.

A top priority was water quality funding in light of low levels of cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae toxins, that were found this past summer in the city's drinking water drawn from Owasco Lake.

The state's proposed executive budget includes $2 million to help cover filtration upgrades to the water treatment plants in Auburn and Owasco.

However, preliminary results from an engineering study of Auburn's plant indicated that upgrades could cost as much as $10 million.

"We asked each of (the city's elected state representatives) to support the governor's $2 million that he's included in the budget... but we also made it very clear that, based on the study, $2 million will not be enough," Giannettino said.
An Auburn woman who works as a nanny in Cayuga County has been arrested for allegedly assaulting a child, the Auburn Police Department said.

Kimberly L. Hyde, of 12 Seminary St. Apt. 4, was arrested Thursday and charged with second-degree assault, a class D felony, and endangering the welfare of a child.

Police said the 27-year-old was brought into the department for questioning Thursday afternoon after a complaint from Child Protective Services. The victim  a relative of Hyde  had suffered visible injuries consistent with "excessive corporal punishment," officers said.

Upon further investigation, Auburn Police Detective Christopher Cooper said the child appeared to be injured outside Hyde's line of work as a private nanny. There have been no complaints filed from Hyde's clients at this time.

Hyde was arraigned Friday morning in Auburn City Court and remanded to Cayuga County Jail on $1,000 cash, $2,000 bond.




















Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday boasted that his rockets can reach Israels nuclear reactor in the southern city of Dimona, and said he would turn Israels reported nuclear arsenal against it. A senior Israeli minister threatened Lebanese infrastructures in response.





Nasrallah, who had previously threatened to target an ammonia tank in Haifa, claimed credit for an Israeli court decision to shut down that facility this week and said he would do the same with the nuclear reactor.





I call upon the Israeli not only to evacuate the Ammonia tank from Haifa, but also to dismantle Dimona nuclear facility, Nasrallah said at a rally, warning that he would target Dimona too. The Israeli nuclear weapon that represents a threat to the entire region, we will turn it into a threat to Israel, he claimed.





In response to Nasrallahs statement, Minister of Intelligence Yisrael Katz threatened in a statement to target all of Lebanon, including infrastructures there, in retaliation for any attack on Israeli population centers or infrastructures. He also called for debilitating sanctions on Iran over its support for its proxy and stooge Nasrallah. If Nasrallah dares to fire at the Israel homefront or at its national infrastructure, all of Lebanon will be hit, said Katz.

Earlier this week, the Haifa Court for Local Affairs ordered the company that owns the ammonia storage facility in Haifa to empty the tank. The ruling came after a report published in January found that tens of thousands of local residents would be killed if the chemicals in the storage tank were to be released in the air from an accident or an event like a missile strike on the facility by Hezbollah. The company is now appealing the court ruling.





Nasrallah said that no matter what the Israelis did, they could not escape the threat Hezbollah posed.





The Israelis hurried to empty out its ammonia tank after our threat to target it, but well reach it wherever they take it to, he said at the rally, which was held to mark the 9th anniversary of the death of Hezbollahs former military leader Imad Mughniyeh. Terror chief Mughniyeh was killed by a car bomb in February 2008.









New Hamas Leader, a Vicious Killer, Portends New Rounds of Violence





The election of Yehya Sinwar to lead Hamas in Gaza represents the completion of a lengthy takeover by the terror movement's military wing at the expense of the political wing, and it could signal a more imminent confrontational path with Israel than previously thought.



The Izzadin Al-Kassam Brigades gradually have been pushing aside Hamas's political wing, seeing it as an impediment to its jihadist war efforts against Israel. Sinwar and his military wing comrades want to reestablish their alliance with Iran and boost a tactical partnership with ISIS in the Sinai Peninsula.

His rise likely means that Hamas and Iran will grow close once again, after years of turmoil over their opposing stances on the Syrian war. In fact, Sinwar's rise to power is being described by veteran analyst Pinhas Inbari as Iran's taking back the reigns to Gaza, which stemmed from Iranian concerns over a more hardline policy from the United States after President Donald Trump's election.

Inbari does not believe Sinwar's appointment was even based on elections, saying the results came from pressure by Hamas's military wing on the political wing, and that the development is "Iran's way of conveying a message before the Trump-Netanyahu talks" that took place Wednesday.

Sinwar, who served 22 years in an Israeli prison for murdering Palestinians he accused of being Israeli collaborators, is a trigger-happy senior Hamas member who does not hesitate to shoot dead Gazans he perceives as being disloyal.



He was released from prison during the 2011 Schalit prisoner swap with Israel, and quickly rejoined his comrades in the military wing, under the command of Muhammad Def, who were feverishly preparing rocket attacks, and tunneling into Israel.





According to a recent report by Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Sinwar and his brutal track record are associated with an end to the "ijma" (consensus) manner in which Hamas once made strategic decisions, and the beginning of an internal Hamas dictatorship.



And yet, even an extreme a figure as Sinwar will have to take reality into account when it comes to his options against Israel.



Since the end of the 2014 conflict with Israel, it seems reasonable to assume that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) may be working on a new combat doctrine together with the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency against the terrorist regime in Gaza.



If such a change has occurred in the Israeli defense establishment, in the event of a new conflict, Israel could seek to destroy the military wing. That would be a dramatic shift from the older goals of containment and deterrence.



This potential change in doctrine may have been hinted at in comments made on occasion by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, who said, for example, last year, that Israel would destroy Hamas "completely" in the next war, though Jerusalem would not be the one to initiate hostilities.












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ITHACA, N.Y. (AP)  Members of the Catholic Worker Movement who staged a sit-in at an office of a New York congressman who supports President Donald Trump ended their protest after the Republican lawmaker showed up to speak with them.

The Ithaca Journal reports (http://ithacajr.nl/2l1TaM6 ) members of Ithaca Catholic Worker started their sit-in Tuesday at Rep. Tom Reed's district office in Ithaca, demanding he speak out against Trump's executive order banning people from seven Muslim-majority nations from entering the U.S.

The protest continued into late Thursday, when Reed surprised the group after meeting with Trump in Washington, D.C., earlier in the day. Reed and the protesters  part of a pacifist groupu that helps and advocates for the homeless and exiled  spent about two hours discussing issues such as immigration and health care.

Ducson Nguyen, a member of the City of Ithaca Common Council, was there during Reed's appearance and tweeted, "The sit-in worked!" along with a photograph of the congressman sitting at a conference table with the protesters. Nguyen was among the local leaders who have been asking Reed to schedule a town hall in Tompkins County, where Ithaca is located.

"I have held more than 200 town halls since being elected, including all counties I represent, and we will again hold town halls in all 11 counties this year," Reed said in a statement issued earlier this week.

He has scheduled four town hall meetings Saturday in three counties southwest of Ithaca.

Reed's mostly rural 23rd Congressional District covers 11 counties from the Finger Lakes region to New York's southwest corner. Tompkins was the only county he lost in the November election.

___

Information from: The Ithaca Journal, http://www.theithacajournal.com
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He is accompanied by some members of his government and business leaders on this visit.

The King is expected to meet with President Nana Akufo-Addo.

They will hold bilateral talks on Friday (February 17, 2017), at the Flagstaff House in Accra.

They are expected to discuss trade, security and the economy of both countries, as well as the roles to play to enhance the cordial relations between Ghana and Morocco.

The meeting is aimed at deepening the cordial relations between Ghana and Morocco and will present the two countries with an opportunity to define new areas of co-operation to serve their mutual interests.

READ ALSO: Boris Johnson meets Nana Addo to discuss UK investment partnership

King Mohammed VI is visiting Ghana after Morocco was accepted into the Africa Union
Asked about a CNN report that the Pentagon might propose sending US troops to expedite the fight against ISIS, Mattis said he was not "comfortable answering on my own at this point" on the troop recommendation.

"I first want to talk to the other allies and we'll decide where we're going," Mattis said from Brussels, after leading a defense-ministers meeting on the anti-ISIS campaign at NATO headquarters.

He said those discussions would begin soon.

"I'm going to fly from here into the Middle East," he said, according to Military.com. "Once we know what we have in a mutual appreciation of the situation, then we'll go forward."

The report that the Pentagon was weighing the recommendation to send group troops  which the Pentagon would neither confirm nor deny  would mark a significant shift in the US's role in fighting ISIS.

The US presence on the ground in Iraq and Syria has been limited to small special operations units, who are training and providing assistance to US allies fighting ISIS in those areas. US personnel were reportedly near the front lines in Mosul and have coordinated with the Kurdish YPG, a militia fighting ISIS in Syria.

Should conventional US forces be deployed to the region, they would require a much more significant security presence, both on the ground and in the air.

President Donald Trump, who directed Mattis to develop new options for defeating ISIS in late January, has also suggested the US could coordinate with Russian forces to combat the terrorist group.
 Activists plan to strike against unpaid internships in cities in Europe and North America

EU ombudsman Emily O'Reilly released a ruling Friday recommending that the European External Action Service (EEAS) begin paying its interns, the EU Observer reported.

EEAS is the EU's foreign service and diplomatic corps. As Politico previously reported, the diplomatic service's delegations include as many as 600 unpaid interns annually.

Two years ago, one Austrian EEAS trainee filed a complaint about the organization's unpaid internships. Any EU citizen can file a complaint with the ombudsman, who investigates maladministration in EU institutions. The ombudsman's website says that if the ombudsman presents an EU institution with an official recommendation, that organization must enact the recommendation within three months.

According to a statement from the EU ombudsman's office, the EEAS argued that unpaid trainees benefitted from receiving a "significant stepping stone" in their professional development.

However, O'Reilly did not agree that the reasoning was enough to merit the unpaid internships.

"In the Ombudsman's view, unpaid traineeships may lead to a discriminatory situation since persons from less privileged backgrounds are likely to lack the financial means to undertake a traineeship," O'Reilly's statement said. "They will thus miss out on this valuable opportunity to enhance their qualifications and skills. Moreover, the practice of having unpaid trainees may be counterproductive in identifying the best suited candidates."

O'Reilly concluded by recommending that the EEAS begin paying all of its interns.

The Telegraph reported that 4,000 out of a total of 8,000 interns working in the EU "bubble" were unpaid, as of 2016. Bryn Watkins, managing member of Brussels-based NGO Bingo, said that the ombudsman's recommendation may change that.

"Our aim is to end all unpaid graduate internships in the whole EU affairs sector," Watkins told Business Insider via email. "The ombudsman ruling on the EEAS will set a strong precedent against unpaid internships in all EU Institutions, and we will be pushing hard on this. This is also good for the wider 'Eurobubble,' because the institutions have a norm-setting effect on the whole sector."

Watkins said that unpaid internships within the EU "bubble" discriminate against those who cannot afford to work for free.

"That is bad for the legitimacy and decision-making of the whole European project, so we are also fighting for those missing interns: the young people who could never afford to come," Watkins said.

Intern activist David Leo Hyde agrees that the ombudsman's ruling could be a blow against unpaid internships in the EU. Hyde is helping to organize a series of strikes in Brussels, Geneva, Vienna, New York City, and D.C. to protest unpaid internships. Along with is also co-directing the filmAn Unpaid Act,

In the US, unpaid internships are only allowed under specific conditions (such as educational experience), as Forbes reported. In some cases, interns at nonprofits can also be classified as "volunteers," according to the National Council for Nonprofits. In Europe, laws regarding internships vary greatly between member states, as one independent 2012 study found.
ALBANY  Small upstate New York communities faced with dilapidated wooden pipes rumored to be more than 100 years old need state money to repair water system infrastructure on the verge of collapse, a group of lawmakers said Thursday.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers joined officials in proposing a program that would provide annual repair and maintenance funds to villages, towns and cities based on the size of their water systems.

Sen. Jim Tedisco said the state's outdated pipes, water towers and stormwater management systems could collapse, threatening public health and disrupting economic development.

The Glenville Republican said water main breaks cost small communities thousands of dollars each year in damage to new roads.

Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin said local governments cannot afford to invest in the infrastructure without the help of the state.

"At the end of the day, it doesn't make a lot of sense to put a new roof on the house if the foundation is completely rotten," the Troy Republican said.

Local water systems typically are funded by fees and property taxes, and cities can also apply for grants. But Democratic Assemblyman Phil Steck of Colonie, said seeking grants is too lengthy and costly a process for small villages.

The lawmakers' proposal, the Safe Water infrastructure Action Program, or S.W.A.P., would closely mirror the state's Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program, or CHIPS, which uses a formula to provide funds to local governments for roads and bridges each year.

Clifton Park Town Supervisor Phil Barrett said the formula would create the stability necessary for water departments to hire new staff and schedule routine maintenance for water systems.

Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo has included close to $2 billion in his 2018 budget to address clean water infrastructure through grants and statewide initiatives. Supporters of funding for local water systems are asking for at least as much money as the CHIPS formula, which will receive about $436 million this year.

The state comptroller predicts New York's water infrastructure will require $40 billion in repairs over the next two decades.
The US carmaker said a planned factory in the central state of Guanajuato will build engines and transmissions, while another in the northern city of Chihuahua will make car parts for use by Ford factories in the United States, South America and Asia.

The two facilities will cost about $2.5 billion and employ some 3,800 people, said Gabriel Lopez, president and CEO of Ford Mexico.

Ford without warning last month canceled plans to build a $1.6 billion project in San Luis Potosi.

It is one of several American companies coming under pressure from US President Donald Trump, who has offered inducements to keep some US manufacturers in the United States, and threatened others with punishing tariffs if they go.
Mr Ofori-Atta had earlier indicated that his ministry is liaising with the Economic Management Team to complete ongoing budget hearings to enable them to meet the proposed date for the budget presentation.

READ ALSO: Finance Minister likely to present 2017 budget on March 3

He promised that the 2017 Budget will introduce policies that will help rationalize public expenditure, strengthen contract management and realign statutory funds for a priority project.

Speaking at a forum in Accra, Mr. Ofori Atta said My challenge is to free the economic space so that people can use the genius of the entrepreneurship that we know is deeply embedded in us, and I have been asking myself how I am going to do all that.

"So yesterday for example, after realising that you are moving into the calculus of the numbers, I called a breakfast meeting in the morning with Otabil and Stephen Adei and Patrick and I asked; guys what are the bold things we should do in this budget. I think we need to think out some risks, some bold and imaginative risks.

Meanwhile, the Finance Minister has assured that government will not touch the Heritage fund as it finds ways to finance the free Senior High School policy.
He said "I think we have enough resources from our envelope to be able to do it without touching the Heritage Fund We will not touch the Heritage Fundthere is going to a budget allocation for that and it does not include the Heritage Fund."

Speaking to the media at the Achimota Speak Forum in Accra on Thursday, February 16, 2017, Ofori Atta said "We are financing the Free SHS education without looking at the Heritage Fund. We are not touching the Heritage Fund."

His comment comes at the back of Yaw Osafo Marfo who has indicated that the governments Free Senior High School policy will be funded by the Heritage Fund.

The policy is set to begin in September 2017 and is estimated to cost GH3.6 billion yearly.

About 1.6 million eligible students between the ages of 15-17 years across the country are expected to benefit from the policy when it begins in September this year.

President Nana Akufo-Addo over the weekend said the free public SHS education was aimed at building an educated populace for speedy national development and progress.

"By free SHS, we mean that in addition to tuition, which is already free, there will be no admission fees, no library fees, no science centre fees, no computer laboratory fees, no examination fees, no utility fees. There will be free textbooks, free boarding and free meals and day students will get a meal at school for free," Nana Addo said.

Many have since kicked against the move, saying it will not be feasible. A retired Ghanaian diplomat, K.B Asante said the implementation will not be sustainable especially with the financial situation of the country.

Energy think tank Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) has warned the government to stay away from the Heritage Fund to finance the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy.

The Ghana Heritage Fund was established in 2011 by Section 10 (1) of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011 (Act 815).
Ghana's Senior Minister, Mr. Yaw Osafo Marfo on Tuesday said: We are going to look at the Heritage Fund. The Heritage [Fund] implies for the future. We want to introduceand the president mentioned it last week [Free Senior High School] and it is likely to be funded through the Petroleum Act [Heritage Fund].

He said the government will amend the Act to allocate some portions of the fund to the implementation of the policy.

READ ALSO: Ghana will fund its free high school policy with the Heritage Fund

His comments come on the back of concerns that the implementation of the Free Senior High School policy will not be sustainable especially with the financial situation of the country.

Many have, however, raised issues with the governments plan to use the Heritage Fund to finance the policy.

The Heritage Fund is set up to support the development of future generations when Ghanas petroleum reserves have been depleted. The Fund receives nine percent of the countrys annual petroleum revenue.

The Minority in Parliament has said it will resist the use of the Ghana Heritage Fund to finance the Free Senior High School programme scheduled to start in September this year.

We join the overwhelming majority of Ghanaians and civil society groups to register our strongest disapproval and objection to this idea. We wish to state emphatically that we shall resist any attempt to amend the Petroleum Revenue Management Act. A lot of thinking and consultation was put into this Act which was led by the Finance Ministry. International development partners were consulted and lessons were drawn from the best practices in oil producing countries the world over.

"The Act is a product of national consensus and has both executive and legislative approvals, former Deputy Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson told journalists on Thursday, 16 February at a press conference organised by the Minority in parliament.

But Mr Kweku Kwarteng has maintained that government has not concluded on funding the policy with the Heritage Fund.
Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has said that school heads must justify their stay in their positions, especially when students continue to perform poorly in the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

"Any school head who superintends over a failure of over 90% cannot be allowed to continue operation without accounting to the Ghana Education Service (GES), he said.

But reacting to the comments, the General Secretary of GNAT, David Ofori Acheampong, said the Minister should have consulted with teachers before taking such a hasty conclusion.

He said he believes that there are so many problems confronting education in Ghana so if you come, I think the best thing is for us to have a consultative meeting. Let us discuss the challenges and see how we can resolve the problems.

He further indicated that teachers cannot be solely responsible for the failures in Ghanas basic education.

I dont know who gave him advice on this particular matter, but I think that if you want to trace the challenges and problems that have resulted in the low performance of some of our students, we cannot lay it wholly on the doorsteps of the teachers.
A federal judge in Massachusetts has dismissed the lawsuit against Bill Cosby by Katherine McKee.

Mckee, an actress, claimed the veteran TV host raped her in 1974, according to court documents.

McKee's sexual assault allegation first appeared in a New York Daily news article in 2014.

After the article was published, Cosby wrote a letter to the paper denying the claim. His lawyer then asked the paper to retract the article, according to spokesman Andrew Wyatt.

McKee went on to sue the comedian for defamation, seeking monetary and punitive damages.

McKee filed the lawsuit at the end of 2015, a year after the article's publication.

A U.S. District Court Judge, Mark Mastroianni, then ruled that McKee had not proven that Cosby had defamed her simply by denying her claims.

"An accused person cannot be foreclosed, during their responsive navigation, from considering the issuance of a simple and unequivocal denial -- free from overall defamatory triggers or contextual themes," he wrote in the decision.

"Such a situation would be inconsistent with basic First Amendment principles."

Cosby's spokesman, Wyatt told CNN in a statement that, "this is another in a line of recent developments vindicating Mr Cosby's right to defend himself in the face of an onslaught of unverified accusations."

Meanwhile, McKee is not pleased with the latest development. She told CNN on Thursday, February 16, 2017, she is "very disgusted" with the court's ruling and had no further comment.

Cosby has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 50 women.
READ ALSO: Ebony drops racy photos on her birthday

Shatta Mitchy, real name Diamond Michelle Ghagonah is the wife of Ghanas Dancehall King, Shatta Wale.

The mother-of-one says Charles Nii Armah Mensah popularly called Shatta Wale can kiss any woman if it is a necessity in his music career.

READ ALSO:10 Ghanaian celebrity couple moments you could watch all day

The actress revealed that she felt jealous when she said his partner and another musician, Sister Afia kissing passionately in a music video.

I have seen the video, I wont lie I was a little jealous but its work and then well, I was also kissing somebody. he understands and I understand, Shatta Mitchy said in an interview with GhOne TV.

Chop Kiss hitmaker recently revealed that his wife understands his business so it doesnt bother her.

Michelle is a type of a woman who always understands her husbands business, and I always give her that credit, he said adding that It has nothing to do with disrespect.
The Chief Magistrate, Mr Abdulateef Adebisi, ordered the accused to do one month community service at the Oyo State Farm at Ogbomoso, after he pleaded guilty to stealing two cell phones.

Ikechukwu, of Omi Adio area of Ibadan, was brought before the court on a one-count charge of theft of two cell phones.

The Police Prosecutor, Insp. Sunday Fatola, told the court that Ikechukwu, on Feb. 6, at about 7:00 a.m. at Odo-Ona area, Ibadan, allegedly stole one Siccoo cell phone valued at N8, 000.

Fatola said Ikechukwu was alleged to have also stolen one Tecno cell phone valued atN 7, 500 property of one Madam Emem Obong of Odo-Ona, Ibadan.

He put the total sum of the stolen items at N15, 500.
The accused, whose address is unknown, is facing a charge of stealing.

The Prosecutor, Insp. Innocent Uko, told the court that accused committed the offence at Mosafejo junction, in Aradagun area of Badagry.

He said that the TV set belonged to one Mr Julius Okoye.

The accused pretended to be giving a helping hand to the complainant by offering to assist him carry the TV into his car.

But instead of doing that, he took the TV and ran away with it, the prosecutor said.

The offence contravened Section 285 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria 2011, which prescribes three years imprisonment for an offender.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Defence counsel, Mr Jide Arinze, pleaded with the court to grant his client bail on liberal terms.

The Magistrate, Abiodun Etti, granted the accused bail in the sum of N200, 000 and a surety in like sum.

He said that the surety must show evidence of tax payment to the Lagos State Government.
An eye witness, Mr Victor Kwadwo Owusu, told the Mirror that the deceased had been assisting her daughter, Cynthia Adoma in selling her provisions.

He said the woman was locking the kiosk after work around 11.30 pm that day when the taxi, from nowhere, ran into the kiosk.

He, however, indicated that there was total blackout when the incident happened.

Confirming the incident, the Agona District Police Commander, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Francis Akwasi Asante said the KIA Rio taxi with registration number AW 2389-12, with four passengers on board, was from Kyekyewere heading towards Kumasi.

He said the driver, Alex Tetteh, 30, however, lost control when he reached the Apaa township and ran into the kiosk, where Adoma was standing.

He said the victim, Adoma, was rushed to the Asamang SDA Hospital but was referred to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).

She was, however, pronounced dead on arrival at KATH.

Her remains have since been deposited at the mortuary of the Pope John Paul Hospital at Jamasi pending autopsy.
Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!
Have Americans really become a nation of gullible cowards? Sometimes it looks that way. Take President Trump's executive order banning travel from seven Middle Eastern and North African countries. If you think it has anything whatsoever to do with protecting against terrorist attacks, then you haven't been paying attention.

The administration's policies are designed not to deal with real problems in the visible world, but to rile up partisan ignoranuses (sic) here in the U.S.A. Also to stimulate nativism and fear of dark-skinned foreigners, and to make Democrats appear to be defending Muslims instead of the Constitution.

Poorly thought out and incompetently drafted, to the extent that Trump's order has anything to do with ISIS or al-Qaida terrorists, it will help them. The reasons are quite simple, and pretty much undeniable.

New York Times reporter David Zucchino spoke with Iraqi soldiers barricaded inside the city of Mosul, where they are fighting a brutal house-to-house battle against ISIS fighters for control of the country's second-biggest city. Its outcome is crucial to breaking the terrorist insurrection for good.

"If America doesn't want Iraqis because we are all terrorists, then America should send its sons back to Iraq to fight the terrorists themselves," Capt. Ahmed Adnan al-Musawe said. Officers and enlisted men interviewed in Mosul unanimously described Trump's order as a grave insult to their honor, and that of their fallen comrades.

The Iraqi commanding officer in Mosul said, "This decision by Trump blows up our liberation efforts of cooperation and coordination with American forces." English-speaking Brig. Gen. Mizhir Khalid al-Mashhadani described himself as astounded by the president's order. He added that American officers in Iraq helping to train Iraqi forces thought it hasty and badly considered.

It's not for nothing that former Secretaries of State John Kerry and Madeleine Albright described Trump's order in a court filing as "ill-conceived, poorly implemented and ill-explained"  and an obvious impediment to persuading Muslims to resist Islamic extremism. Meanwhile, ISIS propagandists couldn't have been happier. They crowed that exactly as they'd alleged all along, America had now declared war on Islam.

Even Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khameni  a resolute foe of Sunni Arab extremism  found something to like in Trump's bungling. "We actually thank this new president! We thank him, because he made it easier for us to reveal the real face of the United States," he said. "Now, with everything he is doing  handcuffing a child as young as 5 at an airport  he is showing the reality of American human rights."

Never mind that the handcuffing thing falls under the heading of Fake News. Didn't happen. Even so, Trump handed the Iranian leader a big propaganda gift even as he tried to close the door on Persian refugees from the Ayatollah's oppressive regime. Should it matter that Iran has never been implicated in a terrorist act in the United States?

Of course it should, but to Trump's henchmen  the president evidently never read the fool thing  it didn't. Here in Arkansas, one of the state's most beloved citizens, former Gov. and Sen. David Pryor, is probably alive today due to the emergency intervention of two brilliant Iranian neurosurgeons  immigrant brothers  at a Fayetteville hospital. For my money, the U.S. can't admit enough Persian immigrants, heirs to one of the world's oldest civilizations.

And for pretty much the same reasons all eight of my Irish great-grandparents were welcomed to America more than a century ago: poverty and oppression. A lot of people were suspicious of their religion, too.

But that was back when, whatever their shortcomings, Americans tended to be a brave, self-confident people. Today, millions of timid ignoranuses cower behind TV screens listening to a preposterous blowhard vow to protect them from a scary threat few can even define.

So should it matter that there have been zero U.S. fatalities at the hands of terrorists from any of the seven countries Trump named? Well, you'd think so. Of course, if the travel ban had anything to do with an actual threat, it would center upon countries like Saudi Arabia, where the majority of the 9/11 terrorists originated. However, the Saudis have three things nobody in Yemen, Sudan or Somalia can boast: oil, money, and Trump Organization investments.

So that's out of the question. Anyway, vetting of immigrants from Middle Eastern countries is already strong, and has been ever since 9/11. The process can take years. That's part of the reason why more Americans by far (22) were killed by cows in 2016 than by foreign terrorists (0).

But then, as I say, this entire exercise in folly has nothing to do with resisting ISIS, a stateless band of murdering psychopaths that nevertheless poses no existential threat to Americans. Instead, it's about atavistic fears, racial contempt and misplaced zeal for our preposterous comic-opera president.

So: Delusional or a pathological liar?

We report, you decide.
The President of the Volta Region House of Chiefs Nana Soglo Alloh IV said the government must ensure that it takes all opinions into consideration before it takes any step on this matter.

As far as the citizens of the Region are concerned, opinions and views of the split are equally divided, even among chiefs in the region, some in favour of, and some against it. It is, therefore, very important that there must be consultations with the various stakeholders before a final decision on the region is reached.

Nana Soglo Alloh IV was speaking at the first meeting of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs in Ho.

The chiefs mainly in Upper Volta usually called on the presidential candidates to split the Volta region when they assume power.

Meanwhile, Nana Alloh said traditional leaders have been sidelined in the governance of the country. He said this situation was not the best and asked that they rethink of the role of chiefs in the governance of the nation.

He also called for the revision of the Volta Region Development Agency (VORDA), established by Togbe Afede XIV, the Regional Coordinating Council and the business community in 2009 as a regional development authority.

He said although VORDA was instrumental in attracting foreign investors, hiccups such as difficulties in the acquisition of land had caused its dormancy.
He told the court in Fante that It is true I collected the two mobile phones. I, however, gave the female complainant her Nokia Phone because she mentioned my name when I snatched it. My accomplice, however, took the other techno phone away.

READ ALSO: Court remands 3 men over alleged armed robbery

The court presided over by Mr Aboagye Tandoh said that in handing the sentence, he considered Blezus plea for mitigation, the retrieval of one of the phones and how he readily admitted that he was guilty after spending four days in police cells.

The court indicated that even though Blezu is a first offender, he could be a potentially dangerous person, and hence the minimum sentence of 10 years.

How it all happened

Prosecuting Chief Inspector Kwabena Adu told the court that the complainants, Isaac Obuobi Paintsil and Esther Nana Yeboah are friends living at Kaneshie and Bubuashie respectively.

He said on February 12, this year, at about 10:30 pm, the two were sitting on some stones conversing when Blezu and another, now at large, attacked them with a knife and took their mobile phones.

Blezu and his accomplice later escaped. Blezu was, however, found by witnesses in the area after an alarm was raised. He was sent to the police, where Blezu admitted the offence.
According to him, "Actually, its not a matter of paying all the debt at a stroke but its a matter of managing it and we're sure we are going to manage it to enable the pilgrims to go and perform the hajj this year".

READ MORE: Office of Chief Imam angry with Nana Addo over new Hajj Board

The Pilgrims Affairs Office of Ghana (PAOG) which has been responsible for managing pilgrimage to Mecca has in last few years, left behind a debt of GH23 million.

The Office, headed by the NDC Member of Parliament for Yagaba/Kubore, Ibrahim Tanko, owes Saudi airline, Nas, for airlifting Ghanaian pilgrims to and from the Holy land.

Apart from this, about 452 would-be pilgrims who paid up to embark on the spiritual journey were unable to make it.

The PAOG has however failed to return their money to them after failing to facilitate their pilgrimage last year.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Thursday appointed and swore in the new Hajj Board headed by Sheikh I.C Quaye.

READ ALSO: We will refund monies of failed pilgrims - Hajj BoardThey include the following:

1. Abdul Malik Adams Gariba  Member

2. Mr. Farouk Hamza  Member

3. Sheikh Amin Bonsu  Member

4. Alhaji Inusa Amadu  Member

5. Mr. Kamal-Deen Abdulai  Member

6. Ismaela Ibrahim  Member

7. Mohammadu Osmanu Alidu  Member

8. Mohammed Osumanu Yunusah  Member

9. Mr. Braimah Adams  Member

10. Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim Mohammed  Member
The Bawku Central MP, Mahama Ayariga, Minority Chief Whip Muntaka Mubarak and Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko were expected to appear on Friday to testify on the circumstances surrounding the bribery scandal in parliament.

The Chairman of the Appointments Committee of parliament, Joe Osei Owusu told the Committee on Wednesday that he decided not to push for investigations into the alleged bribery scandal involving Energy Minister, Boakye Ayarko because the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa claimed it was framed.

According to Mr Osei-Owusu, Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa told him and some members of the Committee that they were spreading the corruption allegation because the Minister of Energy, Boakye Agyarko had labelled former President John Mahama as corrupt.

But Mr Ablakwa denied the claims and subsequently wrote to the Committee, threatening to sue it if it fails to invite him to testify.

The Committee has since given him the chance to testify after he was earlier excluded.

He has since requested for an audio recording of the proceedings on Friday morning.

The Committees Chairman, Joe Ghartey, explained on Friday that the break in the committees sitting was to accommodate Mr. Ablakwas request for the transcript and recording of the first sitting, where Joe Osei-Owusu appeared.
This was after it had been established that they do not belong to the state.

"We have done with our investigation and we have released the vehicles to Mr Kofi Adams," he told Accra-based Joy FM.

Some armed men dressed in military fatigues, suspected to be army officers stormed the private residence of Mr Kofi Adams and seized his vehicles under the pretext that they belonged to the state.

READ ALSO:

Mr Adams subsequently assembled his team of lawyers who wrote to Inspector of General of Police (IGP), David Apeatu demanding some explanations.

But the police insisted that they needed to carry out their investigation to establish the ownership of the said vehicles.

Upon release of the vehicles, lead counsel for Mr Adams, Samson Lardy Anyenini said the documentation they presented were "just too enormous to have any other different conclusion. The police took their time; they went to the Customs, Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Driver Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) and all their checks have vindicated him.

Mr Adams has since driven his vehicles home.

READ ALSO:

Meanwhile, he has threatened to take legal action against the Deputy General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Obiri Boahen, and others who insisted that he stole the said vehicles.
In an interview with Accra-based Citi FM, Dr Dzani said such accusations always make the rounds when other competitors do not win elections of any sort.

Even if a government wins the election, they say opposition rigged the election, so I am not bothered by these claims.

The Head of Communication at the Electoral Commission Eric Dzakpasu also said he did not see anything untoward happening during the elections.

I didnt see people taking pictures of their ballots. One person was going into the booth with his phone but his attention was drawn to that. The press, delegates and election officials were all there, nothing untoward happened at the election, Dzapasu said.

Two delegates earlier accused Dr Dzani of bribing delegates in Greater Accra who voted in the Council of State elections.

Dr Dzani won to represent the Greater Accra region with 20 votes, against his closest contender, Nene Kanor Attiapah who had 12 votes.

A total of 113 candidates between the ages of 23 and 84, contested in the election, which took place in all regional capitals across the country.

The elected regional representatives are:

Eunice Jacqueline Buah, Western Region

Kwadwo Agyenim Boateng, Brong Ahafo Region

Yakubu S. Nantogmah, Northern Region

Agona Akrofosohene Nana Owusu Achiaw, Ashanti Region

Richard Babini Kanton IV, Upper West Region

Dr Nii Kotei Dzani, Greater Accra Region

Robert D. Mosore, Upper East Region

Obrempong Appiah Nuamah II, Central Region

Francis Albert Seth Nyonyo, Volta Region
Crossover SUVs are the hottest segment in the car business right now, and an especially appealing subset of the segment is small utility vehicles.

These are the new entry points to brands; it used to be that small sedans were the starter cars. But increasingly that's not the case, and the market may never reverse the trend.

Luxury and near-luxury brands are both jumping in. BMW has the X1 as its entry-level crossover, and Buick has the Encore. This isn't going to be an apples-to-apples comparison, by the way.

The Bimmer is a true luxury brand, while Buick resides below Cadillac in the General Motors hierarchy.

But the two vehicles, separated by price  more than $10,000, in fact  can be usefully compared.

They both provide good utility and have about the same amount of passenger and cargo space. What's more, they both come equipped with a nice lineup of tech features and can even be compared in terms of how they drive.

The biggest difference is really one of impressions and expectations. The BMW is supposed to be the small-crossover version of the "ultimate driving machine."

The Buick, on the other hand, needs to bring younger buyers into the brand and not deviate too much from what makes a Buick a Buick: quietness, composure, and low-key style.

So what we ultimately have here is a pair of vehicles equally burdened by their respective automotive DNA. The BMW, for example, needs to satisfy the person behind the wheel. The Buick needs to soothe the driver. The BMW has to carry a certain amount of design weight  this crossover needs to fit into the BMW family, which includes the X3 and the X5.

The Buick has to exude some of the Tri-Shield's unforced elegance and country-club vibe without coming off as stuffy. Buick has done yeoman work in the last decade changing the idea that its cars are strictly for the retirement community demographic.

So the two crossovers are easier to compare than it appears.

And there might even be a surprise or two about the one we liked better.

Here's the X1. Specifically, the 2016 X1 xDrive28i, priced at about $44,000 and nicely equipped. I tested and reviewed the crossover late last year. Base price is roughly $10,000 less.

Read the review here.

And here's the 2017 Encore. My tester was the Sport Touring trim level, and it tipped the costs scales at just over $31,000, with several thousand bucks worth of options. Base price? $27,000.

You have to give it to the Bimmer when it comes to styling: in "Alpine White" it's very sharp, and it lacks for none of the usual BMW design cues, including the famous kidney grille.

The Encore is notably more blocky, but guess what? It's actually a German car  in Europe it's sold as the Opel Mokka. Well, it's sort of a German car. It's bolted together in South Korea and Spain. The X1 is properly assembled in Germany.

The X1 started out life as a wagon, and it retains that flavor, whereas the Encore is more of a purpose-built crossover.

So the X1 resembles a BMW sedan that has been turned into a crossover, while the Encore looks more like a shrink-rayed SUV. If it resembles a Chevy Trax to your eye, that's because the vehicles share a GM platform.

Both crossovers come in front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive variants. The AWD Encore was appreciated in the winter weather of suburban NJ. The BMW didn't need to face that test.

Step inside, though, and this is where the X1 starts to slip. It just doesn't feel like you've tucked yourself into a BMW driver's cockpit. Also, the overall impression is far more plasticky than with other Bimmers.

Believe it or not, the Encore's interior has a more premium feel. The seats aren't all-leather, as with the X1 (they're a leatherette-and-cloth combo), but otherwise, the cabin is attractively composed.

The back seats in the X1...

...are about the same as the Buick. Not exactly roomy, but better than some "cute utes" we've sampled recently.

In the X1, an 8-speed Steptronic automatic transmission (with a manual mode) communicates well with the X1's 2.0-liter inline turbocharged four-cylinder engine, which makes 228 horsepower and can zip the X1 from 0 to 60 mph in a shade over six seconds. The "Sport" mode really peps things up.

With the Buick, we have a 1.4-liter turbo, making 153 horsepower, piped through a 6-speed automatic with a manual mode. You'll note that both crossovers have a good old-fashioned P-R-N-D shifter, not one of those newfangled, perplexing joysticks.

We have to give the engine to the X1. It has a lot more horsepower and comes off as more responsive then the Encore's. The Buick is about two second slower to 60 mph. You can also feel the 1.4-liter turbo straining, while the X1's bigger four-banger pumps up the power with less effort.

The Encore does maintain Buick's reputation for quiet, however, isolating you from the engine noise.

Plus, you have to ask yourself if the X1's beefier powerplant is worth the extra $12,000.

Handling-wise, the X1 actually disappoints, as one expects it to do that BMW thing and road like their now tomorrow. The Encore surprises on the front, punching above its weight. I was delighted by how darty and quick it felt at lower speeds, and while the BMW's steering is acceptable, the Buick's was better than expected.

Cargo capacity ...

... was pretty much a tie.

Infotainment wasn't a tie. BMW's iDrive system is vastly improved, and it provides all the needed functions, from navigation to Bluetooth integration to good-quality audio and a modest central screen but ...

... Buick's touchscreen IntelliLink interface is miles better  among the best in the business. The Bose audio system is superb, the infotainment setup does everything the X1's does, but it adds Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and the combination of OnStar with 4G LTE Wifi connectivity makes this category an easy win for the Encore.

The BMW Bavarian-flag badge is lovely ...

... but so is the Buick Tri-Shield.

So, you've probably guessed what the verdict is by now ...

... the Buick takes it!

The Encore is quite the overachiever. It can't match the X1 for power or driving, but then again, it's a Buick and not a Bimmer. And while the X1 doesn't perfectly translate the ultimate driving machine into a small package, the Encore is Buick enough to trace a line back through its brand legacy.

The Buick also feels more premium inside, while the X1 gives off a vaguely compromised vibe, even though the materials are on their face of a higher quality. In terms of hauling capability, it's a draw, although when fully loaded down the Encore is going to feel very slow, due to the more than 50 horsepower gap between it and the X1.

Both crossovers are up to snuff with safety features and driver-assist technologies, but neither is advanced as some other, more expensive and larger vehicles.

Resale and trade-in value, for what it's worth, is likely to be higher for the BMW.

The Encore's infotainment and connectivity package pretty well blows the BMW's away, and that will matter far more to many buyers than the 0-60 mph time. IntelliLink plus OnStar plus 4G LTE is just an unbeatable combination.

The Encore's 26 mpg city/31 highway/28 combined beats the X1's 22/32/25, but not by enough to make much of a difference. In fact, if you're looking for a reason to go with the BMW and aren't troubled by the extra costs, the superior performance joined to the decent MPGs is a definite selling point.

The bottom line is that in the X1 and the Encore we have two compelling, contemporary crossovers.

But in the end, the X1 is less good at being a small BMW SUV than the Encore is at being a small Buick SUV. There isn't enough going for the BMW behind the wheel to justify the substantial price gap. The choice comes down to taste. If you like your cars with luxury badges, the BMW is your baby.

But if you're willing to give the Buick a chance, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Bravo Buick Encore!
Kraft Heinz, the consumer giant backed by Brazilian billionaire Jorge Lehmann and Warren Buffett, has made an approach to combine forces with European peer Unilever.

omething funky happened in Unilever trading just before Kraft Heinz announced it attempted a takeover.

And we talked to the CEO of consulting giant Accenture's North American business about innovation, jobs and business under Trump.

We dug into the drug company Martin Shkreli sold out to the feds, and man is it ugly.

Lastly, a Wall Street psychologist who's consulted on Showtime's "Billions" outlines five truths of human behavior all her clients must face

The world's biggest sovereign wealth fund is about to fundamentally change the way it does business - Norway's Global Government Pension Fund, the biggest sovereign wealth fund in the world by assets under management, has formally started the process of shifting the way it goes about business.

Bank of America summed up the huge change taking places in markets in one simple graphic - For seven years after the financial crisis, it was all about Davos Man.

YANIS VAROUFAKIS: Trump is risking a US debt crisis with "skyrocketing deficits" - Yanis Varoufakis, the outspoken former Greek finance minister, thinks US President Donald Trump risks stoking a Europe-style debt crisis with his economic plan.

Marine Le Pen wants to leave the euro  here's what that might mean for the "new French franc" - French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is not the biggest fan of the euro.

CEO of $60 billion French investment company: Paris won't beat London post-Brexit because French "are less financially minded" - The founder and CEO of $60 billion French private equity fund Ardian says London will not lose its financial crown to Paris after Brexit.

There's a simple reason the percentage of people owning a home is at a historic low - If it feels like your parents could afford to buy a house when they were your age, and you can't, you're not alone.
That may put Flynn in legal jeopardy because he has said that he couldn't recall exactly what he and discussed during their calls in December, but the issue of US sanctions on Russia may have been touched upon after all.

The Post's account of Flynn's interview with the FBI appeared to conflict with CNN's reporting, however, which said that the bureau's interviewers

Even if the FBI recommended charging Flynn with perjury, it is unclear whether a Justice Department led by Attorney General Jeff Sessions would move forward with those charges.

The FBI interviewed Flynn about the calls, which were intercepted by US intelligence agents, two days before

The Post reported

President Donald Trump said in a press conference on Thursday that Flynn was "just doing his job" when he called in December.

"I don't think he did anything wrong  if anything, he was doing something right," Trump said. "He didn't just call Russia, he called and spoke to both ways, I think, 30-odd countries. He was just doing his job."

The PostThe New York Times, together citing nearly a dozen current and former US officials,

Trump on Thursday criticized the press for publishing "classified" information, though The Post's and The Times' reports did not specify whether the sources came from within the intelligence community.

Trump insisted on Thursday, however, that the only reason he asked for Flynn's resignation was because Flynn "didn't tell our vice president properly, and then he said he didn't remember, so either way, it wasn't very satisfactory to me."

Vice President Mike Pence was "incensed" at Flynn for misleading him about the calls, The Times reported on Monday. Pence had defended Flynn in an interview with CBS on January 15, saying Flynn "did not discuss anything having to do with the United States' decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia."

Pence wasn't informed about the investigation into Flynn's communication with the ambassador until February 9, according to The Post  weeks after Yates first briefed
Venezuela's relations with the US have been contentious for much of the last 20 years, but Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro appears to hold out some hope ties could be better with Trump.

In recent days, however, that hope seems to be fading.

Venezuela has been close to Russia under Vladimir Putin, whom Trump has spoken highly of, and this week, when the US slapped sanctions on Maduro's vice president, Venezuela's response appeared to avoid mentioning Trump by name, perhaps in an effort to keep open the possibility of improved dealings.
HIT: To a partnership benefiting a Cayuga County park.

The Sterling Nature Center is teaming up with Cornell University students in the design of a new interpretive center building for the park. A team of students from the university's Design Connect organization will work on site location, landscaping and planning for a building design utilizing green building techniques.

In the end, the students will get some real-world planning and design experience and the nature center will get a modern and functional building to further its mission.

MISS: To an Auburn man who keeps getting deeper into trouble.

The man was arrested last summer after passing counterfeit bills at an area store. A plea deal meant that he would have been sentenced to probation after a short stay in the county jail, but he failed to show up for sentencing, so a warrant was issued for his arrest. Police said that by the time they caught up with the fugitive he had violated an order of protection by sending threatening messages to an ex-girlfriend.

Considering the new charges of criminal contempt and aggravated harassment along with the failure to appear for sentencing, the felon could now face as much as 15 years in state prison.

HIT: To an Auburn native who has become a prolific writer.

For love of a good story: Auburn-born author releases two new books From his time in his hometown of Auburn and his years at Harvard University in Massachusetts

Ron Iannone grew up on Seymour Street and is currently professor emeritus at West Virginia University. He is also the author of five books, two of which were published in just the past few months. Ionnone traces his writing back to when he would write his thoughts in a little black notebook as a third-grader at St. Aloysius. He later began jotting down thoughts on index cards, and put some of those 2,000 notes into a collection of poems, short stories and commentaries.
Republican governors were quick to react to the report on Friday morning.

"While we havent had any contact from the Administration in regard to this issue, I would have concerns about the utilization of National Guard resources for immigration enforcement with the current deployment responsibilities our guardsmen have overseas," Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson told Business Insider.

"During my time at Homeland Security, we utilized National Guard partnerships for specific responsibilities along the border, so the concept is fine, but it's a matter of resources," said Hutchinson, who served under President George W. Bush as the undersecretary for border transportation and security under after 9/11. "In Arkansas, I believe it would be too much of a strain on our National Guard personnel."

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert told Business Insider that "while we cannot speculate as to what may be requested via official channels in the future, we have serious constitutional concerns about activating the National Guard to provide the mentioned services and the potential financial impacts of doing so."

Mari St. Martin, the communications director for Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, told Business Insider that it hadn't been contacted by DHS regarding the draft memo.

"It's premature to comment on potential actions regarding the Nevada National Guard and its citizen-soldiers based entirely on a draft memo and outside speculation," St. Martin said. "The governor said earlier this morning that he didn't think it was an appropriate use of the guard."

John Wittman, the press secretary for the Texas governor's office, told Business Insider: "The Office of the Governor has not received, much less seen, a memo or request from the White House or Department of Homeland Security regarding the use of Texas National Guard troops for immigration enforcement. ... The White House has adamantly denied there are efforts underway to mobilize the National Guard for this purpose."

The Louisiana governor's office told Business Insider that it hadn't been contacted by the Trump administration regarding the memo. The Oklahoma governor's office told Business Insider that it would be "premature to discuss" the memo, as the office hasn't seen the document. The Colorado governor's office also told Business Insider it hadn't been contacted by the Trump administration.

A DHS representative told Business Insider that the AP report was "incorrect," and that the department was "not considering mobilizing the National Guard for immigration enforcement."

Sean Spicer, President Donald Trump's press secretary, called the AP's reporting "false" and "irresponsible" on Friday morning.

"It is irresponsible to be saying this," Spicer said, according to a pool report. "There is no effort at all to round up  to utilize the National Guard to round up illegal immigrants. I wish you guys had asked before you tweeted."

An AP reporter said that the wire service had requested comment from the White House multiple times before publishing. Spicer, meanwhile, said he didn't know if the draft memo had been considered by the DHS and that he knew of "no effort to do what is potentially suggested."

Another DHS official told Cox Media producer Dorey Scheimer that the immigration memo was "a very early, pre-decisional draft ... and was never seriously considered by the department."

Reaz Jafri, an immigration expert and a partner at Withers Bergman, told Business Insider on Friday morning that the DHS memo would be "subject to immediate legal challenges" because it would allow the National Guard to perform the function of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials  including the "apprehension and detention of individuals that have committed no crime and may otherwise have a legal basis, under our immigration laws, to be in the US."

Claude Arnold,

The Trump administration has signed executive orders increasing the scope and abilities of both ICE and Customs and Border Protection officials to detain unauthorized immigrants. Trump himself said during the campaign that he would create a "deportation force" to round up unauthorized immigrants.

Business Insider has reached out to the governors' offices in the 11 states affected by this memo and will update this story as we hear back.
"Thank you for all of the nice statements on the Press Conference yesterday," Trump tweeted Friday morning. "Rush Limbaugh said one of greatest ever. Fake media not happy!"

The conservative radio host Limbaugh on Thursday described Trump's press conference as "fantastic," saying, "the American people are gonna eat this up," according to a transcript on his official site.

"This was one of the most effective press conferences I've ever seen," Limbaugh said. "When I say 'effective,' I'm talking about rallying people who voted for him to stay with him."

Other conservative commentators were complimentary of Thursday's press conference as well.

Here's Sean Hannity of Fox News:

At the same time, Fox News host Shepard Smith slammed Trump for his evasion of a question about his administration's communications with Russia.

"We are not fools for asking this question, and we demand to know the answer to this question," Smith said. "You owe this to the American people. If your people were on the phone with [the Russians], what were they saying? We have a right to know ... The people deserve that answer, at very least."

The press conference, ostensibly called so that Trump could announce Alexander Acosta as his new pick for labor secretary, was quickly used by Trump to defend his young presidency and launch an assault on the news media.
That tweet followed a tweet that he deleted in which he made a nearly identical attack.

"The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @CNN, @NBCNews and many more) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American people," he wrote. "SICK!"

Trump posted his fix to the original tweet 16 minutes later, replacing "SICK!" with the names of two additional news outlets, ABC and CBS.

The president's attack on the media came one day after a wide-ranging press conference from the White House during which he lambasted news outlets and attempted to discredit negative reporting on his administration as "fake news" and "very fake news."
Trump offered the position to retired Adm. Robert Harward on Monday, according to Tom Ricks at Foreign Policy. At the time, the former Navy SEAL commander told the president he'd need some time to "think it over."

"It's purely a personal issue," Harward told the Associated Press on Thursday evening. "I'm in a unique position finally after being in the military for 40 years to enjoy some personal time."

CNN's Jake Tapper reported on Twitter that a friend of Harward said Harward was reluctant to take the job since the Trump White House seemed so chaotic and called the offer a "s--- sandwich."

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Two administration officials confirmed to The Washington Post that Harward was at the top of Trump's three-person short list to replace Flynn, who abruptly resigned from the role after it became public that he had discussed sanctions with Russia's ambassador to the US before Trump's inauguration. Flynn reportedly urged the ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, not to overreact to the latest round of sanctions imposed by the Obama administration, indicating that incoming administration might be more inclined to roll them back.

Harward, who rose to deputy commander of US Central Command before retiring in 2013, wanted to bring in his own staff for an overhaul of the National Security Council, according to Ricks.

One of FT's sources said Harward was concerned about whether he could carry out such a "housecleaning" of NSC workers, many of whom were loyal to Flynn.

As national security adviser, Harward would have had a close ally in Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, whom he served under at Central Command. He also has NSC experience, having served on the council during the George W. Bush administration.
The company has started temporarily restricting the access of accounts it determines to be abusive, a Twitter spokesperson told Business Insider. Affected accounts will only have their tweets seen by their followers until the ban is lifted.

The spokesperson said that Twitter started temporarily limiting accounts last week, and Heat Street was the first to notice the activity on Wednesday.

Several users who are temporarily restricted by Twitter have tweeted screenshots of messages they've received saying that they had violated the company's content rules. The messages said their accounts were restricted for 12 hours, but a Twitter spokesperson said the restriction's duration could be longer or shorter depending on the offender's behavior.

Here are some examples  beware that there is graphic language used:

A recently updated part of Twitter's website explains that the temporary time-outs are intended to create a "

Twitter Rules

A spokesperson declined to explain how Twitter determines if an account deserves to be temporarily restricted or totally suspended, but did say that the company looks at the overall context of an account's behavior rather than just potentially offensive keywords. So if an account repeatedly tweets offensive things to other accounts that don't follow back, Twitter could interpret that behavior as abuse and worthy of a time-out.
Sources say his arrest was ordered by a magistrate judge in Kaduna following the false information about an attack on the College of Education in Gidan-Waya, Kaduna, which was disseminated on social media by Maikori.

He was said to have been arrested in the morning of Friday, February 17.

The label boss had claimed that five students of the school were killed by Fulani herdsmen, including his drivers younger brother, and he tweeted supposed picture evidence to back the story which turned out to be fabricated information.

Although he has since retracted his comments and apologised to the school and the Kaduna state government, the police were said to have whisked him from Lagos to the Force Headquarters in Abuja on Friday.

ALSO READ: Controversy trails alleged murder of college of education students

It was also learnt that Human rights activists are working to secure the release of Maikori, who is a native of Southern Kaduna.

However, in his apology, Maikori had explained that he was misled by his driver, who claimed that his brother was one of the victims of the attack.

The apology statement reads:

Following the statement by the College of Education, Gidan-Waya Kaduna and the Kaduna State government refuting the story that 5 students of the school were killed by Fulani herdsmen en-route to school on the 27th of January 2017, as reporter by my one Simon Joseph (my personal driver) I decided to further investigate the story to ensure that all the facts of the case and evidence were presented to the authorities.

My driver Simon Joseph had travelled to the village to attend his younger brothers burial and on his return on Monday the 30th of January 2017, I asked him for pictures from the burial, the ID card of his brother and also pictures of the casket so I could submit to the authorities and he told me that he had phone issues so he could not store pictures on his phone. He told me however that his sister had the pictures on her phone and I proceeded to give him money to go to Ikeja to get the pictures from his sister, so I could have evidence. He didnt return till evening, and when he did, he showed me some blurry picture of a male body which didnt show the face of the victim. At this point I began to strongly suspect foul play. I again questioned him about the veracity of his story to which he swore on the bible that his brother was dead and even began to shed tears.

Not totally satisfied with the story I made contact with his referees ( who helped to engage him) and they didnt seem to know about any death in his family . So on the 2nd of February, 2017 I went in company of his referee one Mr Dauda to the Lekki Police Station for questioning in the absence of his providing any concrete evidence of the death of his brother and fellow students(He clearly didnt suspect anything at this stage). When we got to the station, I lodged my complaint and when he was questioned he maintained his story about the deaths were real until the police officers at the station threatened to arrest him . It was only then that he confessed and said he was just trying to collect money from me; that he knew that I was involved in the advocacy on the Southern Kaduna crisis and he thought that I after obtaining money for me for the fake burial expenses I wouldnt cross check the veracity of his story. So he was duly arrested.Following this development, I decided that the right thing to do was to issue a statement retracting the tweet which reported the killings of students of the College of Education as relayed to me by my driver. And I had no reason to doubt him due to the spate of killings in the area and because in the 8 months he has worked for me, he had never lied to me about anything or so I thought. Besides why would any right thinking human lie about the death of a sibling?

Consequently, I hereby tender an unreserved and sincere apology to the Management of the College of Education, Gidan Waya, His Excellency the Governor of Kaduna State and the Kaduna State Government, and also to the people of Southern Kaduna and the Fulani community and also VANGUARD newspapers whos source was my driver for the false statement by my driver which I also publicized believing same to be true.

This action is made even more imperative because I understand that as a leader in my community, my statements are taken seriously and shapes the narrative. But nothing is more important in leadership than owning up to mistakes honestly and with integrity regardless of the repercussions or circumstances.

I make this statement with all sense of responsibility, realizing that by admitting what transpired, people may begin to doubt my credibility and that of my statements in future this is a risk I am willing to take but I would rather tell the truth about the situation than suppress it.

Besides this what is clear to me is that there are people who are simply just creating and concocting pictures and stories to deliberately mislead people , like I was misled. With benefit of hindsight I should have checked the story in detail but given that I am not a journalist or Police officer my experience in these matters are/were limited.

I must also seize this opportunity to plead with my brothers in Kaduna, regardless of ethnic or religious persuasion that the time to unite and fight for peace is now. This unfortunate situation is now actively being used by crisis opportunists, politicians and some unpatriotic elements to forge their personal or commercial agendas to the detriment of the peace and stability of the state. This must stop.

Instructively, it is important to note that nothing in my clarification undermines the fact that the lives of Nigerians citizens have been lost in the Southern Kaduna crisis rather it refers to this particular incident which I have verified to have been untrue and fraudulent.

The arrest of the arrest of 17 suspects with arms and ammunition in connection with the Southern Kaduna killings on the 3rd of February by security agents is evidence that our agitations are yielding fruit and to that end I commend the government on these arrests as well as many more in the nearest future.

To this end, I am even more resolved in this quest for the restoration of peace in Southern Kaduna and also working even more closely with the all the stakeholders to ensure that normalcy returns to Kaduna. What is however clear is that unverified facts , hate messages and ethnic stereotyping only exacerbates the issues ,they dont help the pursuit of peace.

As I speak, my former driver Simon has been handed over to the police authorities.He is available to help the authorities with any further investigations.

Finally, all the people that posted#IstandWithAudu I appreciate the trust bestowed on me and hope I havent lost it.His statement in full:

Following the statement by the College of Education, Gidan-Waya Kaduna and the Kaduna State government refuting the story that 5 students of the school were killed by Fulani herdsmen en-route to school on the 27th of January 2017, as reporter by my one Simon Joseph (my personal driver) I decided to further investigate the story to ensure that all the facts of the case and evidence were presented to the authorities.

My driver Simon Joseph had travelled to the village to attend his younger brothers burial and on his return on Monday the 30th of January 2017, I asked him for pictures from the burial, the ID card of his brother and also pictures of the casket so I could submit to the authorities and he told me that he had phone issues so he could not store pictures on his phone. He told me however that his sister had the pictures on her phone and I proceeded to give him money to go to Ikeja to get the pictures from his sister, so I could have evidence. He didnt return till evening, and when he did, he showed me some blurry picture of a male body which didnt show the face of the victim. At this point I began to strongly suspect foul play. I again questioned him about the veracity of his story to which he swore on the bible that his brother was dead and even began to shed tears.

Not totally satisfied with the story I made contact with his referees ( who helped to engage him) and they didnt seem to know about any death in his family . So on the 2nd of February, 2017 I went in company of his referee one Mr Dauda to the Lekki Police Station for questioning in the absence of his providing any concrete evidence of the death of his brother and fellow students(He clearly didnt suspect anything at this stage). When we got to the station, I lodged my complaint and when he was questioned he maintained his story about the deaths were real until the police officers at the station threatened to arrest him . It was only then that he confessed and said he was just trying to collect money from me; that he knew that I was involved in the advocacy on the Southern Kaduna crisis and he thought that I after obtaining money for me for the fake burial expenses I wouldnt cross check the veracity of his story. So he was duly arrested.Following this development, I decided that the right thing to do was to issue a statement retracting the tweet which reported the killings of students of the College of Education as relayed to me by my driver. And I had no reason to doubt him due to the spate of killings in the area and because in the 8 months he has worked for me, he had never lied to me about anything or so I thought. Besides why would any right thinking human lie about the death of a sibling?

Consequently, I hereby tender an unreserved and sincere apology to the Management of the College of Education, Gidan Waya, His Excellency the Governor of Kaduna State and the Kaduna State Government, and also to the people of Southern Kaduna and the Fulani community and also VANGUARD newspapers whos source was my driver for the false statement by my driver which I also publicized believing same to be true.

This action is made even more imperative because I understand that as a leader in my community, my statements are taken seriously and shapes the narrative. But nothing is more important in leadership than owning up to mistakes honestly and with integrity regardless of the repercussions or circumstances.

I make this statement with all sense of responsibility, realizing that by admitting what transpired, people may begin to doubt my credibility and that of my statements in future this is a risk I am willing to take but I would rather tell the truth about the situation than suppress it.

Besides this what is clear to me is that there are people who are simply just creating and concocting pictures and stories to deliberately mislead people , like I was misled. With benefit of hindsight I should have checked the story in detail but given that I am not a journalist or Police officer my experience in these matters are/were limited.

I must also seize this opportunity to plead with my brothers in Kaduna, regardless of ethnic or religious persuasion that the time to unite and fight for peace is now. This unfortunate situation is now actively being used by crisis opportunists, politicians and some unpatriotic elements to forge their personal or commercial agendas to the detriment of the peace and stability of the state. This must stop.

Instructively, it is important to note that nothing in my clarification undermines the fact that the lives of Nigerians citizens have been lost in the Southern Kaduna crisis rather it refers to this particular incident which I have verified to have been untrue and fraudulent.

The arrest of the arrest of 17 suspects with arms and ammunition in connection with the Southern Kaduna killings on the 3rd of February by security agents is evidence that our agitations are yielding fruit and to that end I commend the government on these arrests as well as many more in the nearest future.

To this end, I am even more resolved in this quest for the restoration of peace in Southern Kaduna and also working even more closely with the all the stakeholders to ensure that normalcy returns to Kaduna. What is however clear is that unverified facts , hate messages and ethnic stereotyping only exacerbates the issues ,they dont help the pursuit of peace.

As I speak, my former driver Simon has been handed over to the police authorities.He is available to help the authorities with any further investigations.
All electric and gas customers across New York state may now continue to pay the New York State Assessment temporary fees on their electric and gas bills that went only to the general fund, BUT the money may now go to pay for parks, recreation and historic sites, agriculture and markets, environmental conservation, and of course also to the states general fund.

Why are electric and gas customers burdened with paying for things unrelated to electric and gas? Are the legislators using the utilities as a dedicated monopolistic cash cow tax or fee? I think so. You will pay this fee as well as others since it will be part of your bill. You cannot avoid it.

This temporary state assessment law started in 2009 referred to as 18-A by legislators can be found in the fine print on your electric and gas bills among other state, county, town, city fees, plus other obscure fees you pay. Plus you will continue to pay fees the Public Service Commission (PSC), NYSEG and National Grid, and all other utilities implemented statewide. You also pay for the delivery and consumption of gas and electric through gas pipes and electric wires. The state and local fees on your bills are a percentage of the gas and electric you use to heat your homes, taking hot showers, and washing your clothes. The more you use, the more money you pay in fees.

This 18-A state assessment temporary fee was to expire next month, March 2017 but it may continue now for many years. Call your politicians and ask them to eliminate the state assessment fee. If you do not call and let them know how you feel, the fees will certainly continue. The Senate switchboard operator (518) 455-2800 will connect you to the senators office desk that represents you in your area. The Assembly switchboard operator (518) 455-4100 will connect you to the assemblymans office desk in your area that represents you.

Joseph Leogrande

Auburn
Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!
The accused, whose address is unknown is standing trial on a one count of stealing.

The battery is said to belong to one Mr Qudus Hassan.

The prosecutor, Innocen Uko, told the court that the accused committed the offence at a mechanic workshop located at Mowo area of Badagry.

The accused came to the workshop and asked for the battery to use in starting his business saying that his was faulty.

He was given the battery, but he failed to return it and he went ahead to sell it, he said.

Uko said the offence contravened Section 285 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State, Nigeria 2011.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the offence.

The Defense counsel, Mr Tayo Akinwale, prayed the court to grant bail to his client on liberal terms.

The Magistrate, Mr Abiodun Etti, granted the accused bail in the sum of N100, 000 and a surety in like sum.

He said that the surety must provide evidence of tax payment to the Lagos State Government.
Joseph Omoni, the 38-year-old suspect who was arrested by operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT), arrested in one of his houses in the Ogijo area of Ogun State, says he is rather happy with his criminal activities because he made a lot of money from it and built houses from the proceeds.

Omoni who confessed that he was also part of the kidnap gang that killed a female journalist, Aisha Ali-Balogun in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State, added that he has been able to take care of his family and even if he is killed, they will not suffer.

Hear him:

Well, I cannot say that I regret everything because I was able to build houses with the money I got from the Nigerian Turkish school and other kidnappings I was involved in.

I bought tiles, windows, and other accessories to complete my house at Century village, in Ogijo community.

I made good money from it and took care of my family and I know they will not suffer even if I die.

I got N250,000 from the ransom of the Isheri North estate secretary kidnap because the sum paid was too small, but for the Nigerian Turkish International College, I got N2 million.

I was also involved in the kidnap at Ikorodu road where the TV presenter was killed. We didnt know her until we read in the papers that she was a TV presenter. I got about N1 million from the ransom.
Nduka is really confused and wonders why his fiancee should suffer over a stigma that was placed on her forefathers.

Read his story here.

"My name is Nduka, a 38-year-old businessman living in Lagos though I am from the eastern part of the country.

My father is truncating my joy by insisting I must not marry the woman I love because she is from a community branded as outcasts or like they call it in my place, the 'Osu Caste'.

It is quite embarrassing and very painful that no one thinks about my happiness as all they worry about is what people will say and the fact that our family will be ostracized.

I met Oluchi in Lagos where she works as a nurse two years ago and I must say that since she came into my life, I have known nothing but peace, joy, and love.

Oluchi loves and care about me so much and I had promised her that only death can separate us but my parents, especially my father who is a titled man and a member of the traditional ruler's council says he would not only disown me but make sure I am prevented from entering our family house or have a share of the family inheritance.

Other members of my family too are in support of his stand and every day, I am harassed by them with many calling me derogatory names just because I insist on getting married to someone I love.

I have tried to let my father know that in this age and time, the outcast system should have been thrown away and discarded but he is not ready to listen to me.

My problem is not about not getting my inheritance, after all, I have my business which is thriving well but what I dread is not getting my family's blessings in my marriage because as an African, I know how important this is.

Should I go ahead and marry Oluchi and damn any consequence or let her go no matter how painful this might be?

Nduka."

The teaser for the day was:

How Nigeria voted:

He should dare his family and marry Oluchi - 25%

He should not disobey his parents because they know better than he does - 24%

He should let Oluchi go so that he would not incur the wrath of his family - 6%

He should keep talking to his father to have a change of mind - 45%
The workers said this at a rally held on Thursday in Lagos where they decried the current state of the health sector.

They also expressed their dissatisfaction over the non-implementation of the agreement the union had with the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) since 2009.

The unions national president, Mr Obinna Ogbonna, said that the neglect of the system over the years had resulted to its decay both in administration and service.

For years, Nigerians have decried the deplorable situations in our health system that needs serious attention.

If Nigerians must be healthy and receive quality healthcare services, then this ugly trend must change.

If nothing is done against the flagrant display of lawlessness, perversion of justice and the rot in the health sector accounting for millions of preventable pains and deaths in Nigeria before Feb. 27, the union will be left with no other option than to declare a strike,  he said.

Ogbonna urged the FMOH to implement the agreement the union and the government jointly reached in order to curb the incessant strikes in the sector.

The FMOH should recognise and obey court orders. It should give instructions to the chief medical directors (CMDs) of the various health institutions to ensure there is autonomy in their hospitals.

They should also give freedom of expressions to other healthcare professionals in their various facilities.

That will help us curb the incessant acrimony, strikes and disharmony in the health sector,  he said.

Also speaking, the South-West Zonal Coordinator of the union, Mr Eke Uzondu, urged the government to see to the welfare of workers within the FMOH.

Uzondu said, The workers have suffered enough, especially, those that are not medical practitioners.

But in an overview; all health workers are suffering one thing or the other; there are no equipment, facilities are not available and there is lack of training and retraining of its personnel.

Some of the equipment is obsolete, the working environment is not conducive and arrears are being owed.

These do not motivate the workers and if anything, kill the morale of the workers. 

The coordinator urged the government to make policies that would prevent strife, dichotomy, but rather policies that would build team spirit.

For us to work as a team, there must be a level ground; with this, if everybody is recognised, allowed to grow at their own pace and respected, it will be one of the greatest motivations,  he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports other demands of the workers include: payment of their promotion arrears, review of health worker tax, and payment of arrears of salaries.

NAN also reports that several health workers unions had embarked on industrial actions in the past during which many patients had lost their lives for lack of adequate treatment.
The Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Andrew Nok, who declared the meeting open in Kaduna, said the programme would resume in no distant time.

Nok, represented by Alhaji Adamu Mansur, Permanent Secretary in the ministry, said that the programme, which was implemented in the state from January to August, 2016, could not continue due to some challenges.

He however assured that the challenges were being addressed.

He said that the meeting provided an avenue for relevant stakeholders to brainstorm on ways to achieve success.

Also speaking, the Director of Higher Education, Mr John Gora, said the partnership was crucial to the success of the programme, particularly in the areas of monitoring and evaluation.

The CSOs and NGOs would play crucial role in effective monitoring of the implementation of the programme throughout the state.

Similarly, there is concern from stakeholders on the need for the programme to cover the first 1,000 days of a child.

The argument is that, once the child missed the nutrients required in his first 1,000 days, the crucial stage in the development of the brain, there will be serious health, social and economic consequences, he said.

Gora said that 16,000 vendors would participate in the programme, adding that 13,670 vendors had been captured and their Bank Verification Number (BVN) verified.

Ms Abimbola Adesanmi, Programme Manager, National Home Grown School Feeding Programme, said that the Federal Government would take care of the feeding of pupils in primary one to three.

She said that under the arrangement state governments would take care of the feeding of pupils in primary four to six.

According to her, the meeting will provide avenue to synchronise all interventions to ensure smooth take-off of the programme.

We are in Kaduna State to learn from its experience and lesson learnt being a pioneer of the national school feeding programme.

We equally want to see how the federal government as well as relevant CSOs and NGOs can support the process with expertise for successful implementation, she said.
The expert, Mr Duro Kuteyi, food manufacturer at Betamark Consulting, made the disclosure on Friday in Lagos, while reacting to issues of post-harvest waste of fresh tomatoes in major farms across the country.

Kuteyi, food technologist, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos that there was a lot of waste of fresh tomatoes and pepper in Nigeria.

He attributed the reasons to post harvest losses and lack of processing techniques which had made Nigerians to rely on imported tomato products.

Kuteyi said: in spite of being identified as the 14th largest producer of tomatoes, it is sad to note that Nigeria imports various processed tomato products for the consumption of its nationals".

The imported tomato products include, canned tomato paste, tomato ketchup and various sauces, canned tomato fruit," etc.

Between 2015 and 2016, a total of 189,510.11 metric tons of tomato paste was imported into Nigeria."

This is equivalent to 1,042,305.68 metric tons of fresh tomatoes."

A lot of the tomatoes grown in Nigeria suffer post harvest losses incurred from transporting harvest from the farms in the northern part of the country where they are grown, to the southern markets where they are consumed."

These no doubt prevent sizeable proportion of the harvested tomatoes from getting to the consumer and end in garbage heaps nation-wide."

However, post-harvest losses can be minimized or completely eliminated if food processing techniques are put to practice.

To minimize post-harvest losses, Kuteyi said that his organisation had partnered Bank of Industry (BOI) to sponsor the training of Nigerians on tomato and pepper processing in 12 states in the federation.

He said the training would also include fruit processing.
The terrorists were said to have announced their arrival with bomb blasts and sporadic gunfire on Thursday, February 16, according to Sahara Reporters.

They reportedly tried to access the Borno state capital through a camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) but were stopped by vigilantes on duty.

Members of the Civilian Joint Task Force were said to have battled the terrorists for more than one hour in a bid to protect the town.

The attack left an unknown number of civilians dead, but six Boko Haram members were reportedly killed by the vigilantes.

Three suicide bombers who participated in the attack also died when they detonated their explosives, according to The Cable.
DEAR ABBY: My daughter and son are heroin addicts. After living through this hell for 11 years, I have reached my breaking point. My daughter, who just turned 18, is in jail. My heart is broken. Therapists, parent sessions, etc. haven't helped.

I'm 60 years old and should be retiring, but my retirement money was all spent on rehabs, etc. I won't even go into the many items that were stolen from me.

How do I move on? I'm so depressed I can't get out of bed in the morning, and I cry all day. I don't want to take meds for depression because drugs have caused all my misery. My marriage is falling apart too. How do I carry on with this misery? -- MISERABLE IN CONNECTICUT

DEAR MISERABLE: The way to carry on is to let it go. If you haven't heard of Nar-Anon, you should check into it. It's a support group for the family and friends of people who are addicted to narcotics, based on the principles of Al-Anon, which is for the loved ones of alcoholics. Help is as near as your computer. Visit nar-anon.org to find a group near you, and you will find that you are not as alone as you feel right now.

DEAR ABBY: Several years ago I gifted one of my nephews, who was serving in the military at the time, with a .38-caliber revolver that had belonged to my uncle and reportedly had been used during World War I. I also gave his older brother a Colt .45 pistol from World War II.

The nephew with the .38 revolver suffered from PTSD and died several years ago. The gun went to his father. My question is, shouldn't I have been asked if I wanted the revolver returned? I didn't give it to his father but to him. The father has made no attempt to return it to me.

Abby, guns with histories are very personal to owners, and this one was doubly personal and an antique. What should I do? -- EMPTY HOLSTER IN TEXAS

DEAR EMPTY HOLSTER: Technically, once a gift is given it becomes the property of the person who receives it. Because your nephew is deceased -- and I'm assuming his father is his next of kin -- the gun became the father's property. Since the gun has emotional significance to you because of its history, depending upon your relationship with the father, you can ask him to return it -- or offer to buy it back from him. However, there is no guarantee he will agree to your request.
Adesina also said that there will be no special event to welcome Buhari back home.

The presidential spokesman made the comments on Thursday, February 16, during an interview with Arise TV.

The fact that the president is receiving visitors, the fact that he has spoken with the American president and the fact that he has asked us to tell the world that hes fine. I think thats just enough, he said.

I wish I could give you a definite date, I really wish but then we just have to hang on to what the president has told us. In the letter to the National Assembly, he said as soon as his doctors rule out some things.

I will just tell Nigerians to stay on the alert and watch and before they know it the president is back. It could be anytime. You dont need much preparation; I will tell you what will happen.

On the morning of a certain day, we will just receive an alert from protocol that the president is on the way. And six hours later, theyll be here. The president is a simple man, he added.

President Buhari has been out of the country since January 19 when he travelled to London for a 10-day medical vacation.

The president was due to resume on February 6 but he wrote the Senate on February 5 to extend his vacation indefinitely.

In the letter, Buhari said that he would not return to Nigeria until his doctors rule out certain factors.

ALSO READ: That moment when President Buhari was 'killed' by the internet
The EFCC has launched a probe into how the governors, under the umbrella of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), spent the N522 billion Paris Club loan refund.

The governors made the comment after a meeting at the Presidential Villa on Thursday, February 16.

We discussed the issue of Paris Club and London Club. We observed that the EFCC said it is doing investigations. Yes, we support the Federal Government for fighting corruption, NGF Chairman and Zamfara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari said.

We are waiting for the EFCC to come up with what they say is the investigation and come up with the result," he added.

The EFCC is investigating the expenditure of the funds due to some payments made by the NGF to certain consultants.
Azarema made the donation during the third phase of the donation of governments relief materials to victims of insurgency on Thursday in Maiduguri.

He said that in pursuant to the presidential directive, the NLC had distributed thousands of relief materials to IDPs in Borno, Yobe, Adamawa and Edo during the first and second phases of the exercise.

He said  It is, therefore, in furtherance of the discharge of the presidential directive that all seized perishable items to be given to IDPs that I hereby announce another donation of the items.

The include 36,822 (50kg) bags of rice; 7,752 (20 litres) Jerry cans of vegetable oil; 727 cartoons of vegetable oil; 3,003 cartoons of spaghetti and 59 bags of second hand shoes.

 We, therefore, urge all those involved in the distribution chain to ensure smooth and transparent distribution to the intended beneficiaries,Azarema said.

He commended the state government for its commitment to the security and well being of all the people living in the state.

Azarema also commended the state government for paying for the transportation of the items from various customs warehouses across the country to Maiduguri.

He said that the NLC, under the coordination of the Comptroller-General of Customs, retired Col. Hameed Ali, would continue to discharge its assignment with utmost sense of responsibility.

Gov. Kashim Shettima of Borno commended the efforts of the Federal Government and the Comptroller-General of Customs for ensuring improvement in the living standard of the IDPs.

Shettima said that N72 million was paid by the state government in the transportation of the items.

He said that years back, seized items were usually auctioned but with the directive of Mr President, the items had helped in alleviating the suffering of the victims.

ALSO READ: Chilling story of how Soldiers rape girls in IDP camps

 I assure you that non of these relief items are expired; they are all good for human consumption.

Some of these relief items are carrying an expiry date of 2018 and 2019.

 We shall put in place transparency and accountability to ensure proper and efficient distribution of these items to the IDPs, Shettima said.
The IPOB members were arrested for allegedly holding an unauthorised meeting in Port Harcourt, reports say.

Speaking on behalf of the Rivers police commissioner, the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operation, Ahmed Magaji said the Biafra agitators took laws into their hands and disrupted the peace of the state.

According to Daily Post, Magaji said the action of IPOB members violated an act, which was contrary to section 41C of criminal Code Act, Cap C37 laws of the Federation 2014, which he said amounted to treasonable felony.

He also dismissed claims that some IPOB members were killed by his men, saying that the police only used teargas to disperse the crowd.

Magaji said We called you here to let you know that 65 members of the IPOB were arrested during a protest held in Port Harcourt, Rivers state.

The IPOB members came out in thousands to disrupt public peace in the city despite earlier warnings that unauthorized gatherings are not allowed anywhere in this state.

It is also important to let you know that It is very untrue that anyone was killed during the protest by IPOB members in Port Harcourt.

The Police used minimal force to discharge the agitators. No shot was fired.
According to Vanguard, Tambuwal said the move will help resuscitate the countrys ailing economy.

The Governor also advised the government to create jobs in the construction sector, adding that it will jump-start the economy.

Tambuwal also said Experts have called on the Federal Government to inject more money into the system. Personally, I believe creating job opportunities, especially through the construction industry, and injection of more money into the economy, remain a sure way out of the current recession in the country.

Ask any economist about the way out of recession, and I am sure he will inform you that massive construction efforts, backed by release of funds, will create jobs whose multiplier effects will jump-start the economic barometre.

Governor Tambuwal recently told Nigerians that President Buhari has fulfilled his key campaign promises.
The ministry proposed to spend N5.96 billion for capital projects, N742.88 million for personnel, while N216.88 million was proposed for overhead cost.

The committee, chaired by Rep. Saheed Fijabi asked the minister, Dr Adebayo Shittu to provide documents on projects, project locations, third party contracts, and receipt vouchers for conferences, trainings and nominal roll for the ministry.

The Committee said it would not consider the 2017 budget estimates of the ministry until it embarked on an on-the-spot assessment of the projects contained in the budget.

The minister, who appeared before the committee, refused to explain the details of the budget.

He explained that the Permanent Secretary, Mr Sunday Echono, who is the accounting officer of the ministry, was in the best position to respond to the specifics of the document.

In his presentation, the minister said that contrary to what was on record, the ministry only received N3.96 billion as against the N4.91 billion that was budgeted and recorded for the ministry on Government Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS).

The breakdown showed that out of the 48 new projects penciled down for execution, only one was on-going.

According to Echono, the ministry recorded 100 per cent performance on the N3.095 billion released for the ministry.

For the year under review, N216. 79 million was appropriated for overhead, while N138.90 million was released leaving a balance of N77.9 million.

While N600.240 million was also appropriated for personnel cost, out of which N695. 88 million was released.

The lawmakers, who were shocked about the finances of the ministry requested for explanations why money released for personnel was higher than money appropriated.

The committee also asked why N8 million was spent on presentation at Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, while seeking explanation on the procurement of computers for N12 million.

In addition, the committee expressed doubt over the capital expenditure item whereby N4. 9 million was spent on supervision of the unspecified work.

The construction of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) centres in some parts of the country was also queried as the ministry failed to execute any of the projects, claiming lack of funds.

With the document before us, there is a need for this Committee to oversight these projects because Nigerians have been blaming the legislature for not doing its job well.

Going forward, we have to look at the procurement process and on-the-spot assessment of these projects has become inevitable.

In addition, the ministry should furnish the committee with its nominal roll, indicating old and new workers.

The provision of the details requested will determine how soon we will embark on the oversight visit and the consideration of the ministrys 2017 budget estimates, he said.
The women marched from State Road to the Government House, Kano, chanting we are tired of kidnapping, leave our children alone, among others.

They carried placards with inscriptions as we are tired of stealing our children. government should do something about it, and we want serious action from government.

The protesters were mainly from Hotoro, Kawo, Kawon Mallam and Kawon Maigari in Nasarawa Local Government Area of the state.

Halima Abubakar and Aisha Abubakar who led the protest appealed to authorities concerned to take urgent steps.

ALSO READ:Governor Ganduje raises alarm over influx of insurgents into Kano

Abubakar said as mothers and sisters, we feel disturbed about the situation and hope government will do something urgently about it.
What better way to ease off the stress of the week than watch a good movie.

With that in mind, check out our list of movies currently showing in cinemas across Lagos and Abuja.

1.

Starring: Milla Jovovich, Iain Glen, Ali Larter

Synopsis: Picking up immediately after the events in Resident Evil: Retribution, Alice (Milla Jovovich) is the only survivor of what was meant to be humanity's final stand against the undead. Now, she must return to where the nightmare began - The Hive in Raccoon City, where the Umbrella Corporation is gathering its forces for a final strike against the only remaining survivors of the apocalypse.

Friday - Thursday: 2:45pm, 4:45pm, 6:45pm, 8:45pm

Daily: 2:35 PM, 7:30 PM, 9:50 PM

Daily: 6:45PM, 9:00PM

Tuesday: 10:30

Daily: 12:50PM, 2:50PM, 5:00PM, 7:10PM, 9:10PM

Starring: David Oyelowo, Rosamund Pike, Jack Davenport

Synopsis: Prince Seretse Khama of Botswana causes an international stir when he marries a white woman from London in the late 1940s.

Showing:

Daily: 10:50AM

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons

Synopsis: When Callum Lynch explores the memories of his ancestor Aguilar and gains the skills of a Master Assassin, he discovers he is a descendant of the secret Assassins society.

Showing:

Daily: 12:20PM, 2:30PM, 4:40PM, 6:50PM, 9:00PM

Friday - Thursday: 1:00PM

4.

Starring: Bisola Aiyeola, Omowunmi Dada, Timini Egbuson, Keira Hewatch, and Emem Ufot, Okey Uzoeshi, Adesua Etomi, Ivie Okujaye, Ireti Doyle

Synopsis: Something Wicked is the story of a widow (Hauwa), whose recently orphaned nephew Abel, moves into her home from the violence riddled Northern Nigeria, after the murder of his parents.

Abel has a difficult time fitting into his new family, whilst Hauwa struggles with the challenges of balancing a failing business and single parenthood.

This family's bond is tested when they are thrown in a life threatening situation and we see how easily misunderstandings lead to misconceptions and premonitions are sometimes the only warning we get, in this game of life and death.

Friday -Thursday: 1:10PM, 5:15PM, 7:10PM

Sunday -Thursday: 1:20PM, 5:20PM

Daily: 4:40 PM, 8:00 PM, 10:10 PM

Daily: 12:50pm, 2:40pm, 4:30pm

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen

Synopsis: A spacecraft traveling to a distant colony planet and transporting thousands of people has a malfunction in its sleep chambers. As a result, two passengers are awakened 90 years early.

Showing:

Daily: 6:20PM, 8:30PM

Starring:Richard Mofe-Damijo, Sola Sobowale, Alibaba, Iretiola Doyle, Banky W, and Adesua Etom

Synopsis: Our love birds just want to tie the knot in peace, but will true love stand even the most chaotic of wedding celebrations?

Showing:

Daily:12:50 PM, 3:00 PM, 5:10 PM, 7:20 PM, 9:30 PM

Friday -Thursday: 5:00pm, 7:00pm, 8:50pm

Friday -Thursday: 10:50AM, 3:15PM, 9:05PM

Friday - Thursday:12:10PM, 2:10PM, 4:10PM, 6:10PM, 8:10PM

7.

Starring: Anna Kendrick, Zooey Deschanel, Justin Timberlake

Synopsis: From the creators of Shrek comes the most smart, funny, irreverent animated comedy of the year, DreamWorks' Trolls. This holiday season, enter a colorful, wondrous world populated by hilariously unforgettable characters and discover the story of the overly optimistic Trolls.

Daily:

Starring:Majid Michel, Hafiz Saka Oyetoro, Mercy Johnson Okojie

Synopsis: Light Will Come tells the story of Lukas (Hafiz Oyetoro) a bumbling and comical personal assistant to his chronic bachelor boss Raymond (Majid Michel).

Raymonds parents have mandated him to get married and the desperate search together with Lukas to find the ideal wife his elite parents would approve of repeatedly goes wrong. Times running out on Raymond and he secretly engages the services of an escort agency who presents Jessica (Nuella Njubigbo Chikere) to pose before his parents as his fiancee but a fall out shatters the plan.

Showing:

Daily:12:30 PM, 4:55 PM, 7:00 PM, 9:10 PM

Friday -Thursday: 1:00pm, 3:00pm, 4:10pm, 6:05pm

Friday -Thursday: 12:55PM, 3:05PM, 5:10PM, 6:40PM, 9:10PM

Friday - Thursday:1:30PM, 3:10PM, 4:50PM, 6:30PM, 8:10PM

9.

Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Theo James, Lara Pulver

Synopsis: Vampire death dealer, Selene (Kate Beckinsale) fights to end the eternal war between the Lycan clan and the Vampire faction that betrayed her.

Friday -Thursday: 11:20am, 12:15pm

Starring: Josh Gad, Dennis Quaid, Peggy Lipton

Synopsis: A dog looks to discover his purpose in life over the course of several lifetimes and owners.

Showing:

Daily: 10:00am, 12:20pm

Starring: Will Smith, Edward Norton, Kate Winslet

Synopsis: Retreating from life after a tragedy, a man questions the universe by writing to Love, Time and Death. Receiving unexpected answers, he begins to see how these things interlock and how even loss can reveal moments of meaning and beauty.

Friday - Thursday: 3:20PM, 7:20PM, 9:20PM

Starring: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker

Synopsis: When 12 mysterious spacecraft appear around the world, linguistics professor Louise Banks is tasked with interpreting the language of the apparent alien visitors.

Showing:

Friday - Thursday: 3:00PM, 7:10PM, 9:20PM

Friday - Thursday: 10:40AM, 6:50PM

Starring: Ben Affleck, Elle Fanning, Brendan Gleeson

Synopsis: A group of Boston-bred gangsters set up shop in balmy Florida during the Prohibition era, facing off against the competition and the Ku Klux Klan.

Showing:

Friday - Thursday: 10:40AM

Daily: 12:00 PM, 4:55 PM

Starring: Yomi Black and Kiki Omeli

Synopsis: The Series stars Yomi Black and Kiki Omeli as Sunday and Lolade, a middle aged live-in couple based in Lagos. Sunday is a good-hearted man who really wants the best for Lolade, but somehow never knows how to say or do the right things. He constantly makes mistakes but his love for Lolade keeps him trying to be better. Lolade who fell in love with Sunday despite all his mistakes is an overzealous woman as she trys balance her hectic relationship and her work life.

Showing:

Daily:3:30 PM, 6:50 PM

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Jenny Slate, Rosario Dawson

Synopsis: : Bruce Wayne must not only deal with the criminals of Gotham City, but also the responsibility of raising a boy he adopted.

Showing:

Daily: 12:30 PM, 1:15 PM, 2:45 PM, 5:00 PM

Friday -Thursday: 1:05PM, 2:50PM

Friday - Thursday: 12:20PM, 2:20PM, 4:20PM

Starring: Enyinna Nwigwe, IK Ogbonna, Nancy Isime, Bayray Mc Nwizu, Keppy Ekpeyong, Shaffy Bello and Daniel Lloyd.

Synopsis: The movie was directed by Desmond Elliot (who also plays a role in the movie) and tells the story of a young lady who hires a man to pose as her fiance at a family event, after her younger sisters engagement.

Showing:

Daily: 7:15 PM, 9:25 PM

Friday -Thursday: 5:05PM, 8:40PM

Friday - Thursday: 12:30PM, 2:30PM, 4:30PM, 6:30PM, 8:30PM

Daily: 2:00pm, 6:20pm, 8:00pm

Starring:Deyemi Okanlawon, Ijeoma Agu, Adeniyi Johnson and Seun Omojola.

Synopsis: This bloggers power was his internet-enabled laptop and his downfall is almost his wife and his weapon, sex. The quest to overcome his challenges and meet his wifes expectation leads to the various intense scenes that add a twist to the story.

Showing:

Friday -Thursday: 4:50PM, 9:00PM

Friday - Thursday: 1:00PM, 5:10PM

Starring: Somkele Idalamah, Chamberlain Okoro, Chika Chukwu, Neville osai, Omolola Ojo, Florence Paul, Jeremiah Etukudo

Synopsis: 'The Guest' is the story of a passionless but dedicated and faithful couple who take in an old friend. An affair soon begins between the husband and the friend, but when she starts to kill off members of his household who stand in the way of her getting what she wants, the couple realize that they have it all in each other and that their family is worth fighting for.

Showing:

Daily: 2:35 PM, 7:00 PM, 9:20 PM

Friday -Thursday: 2:50PM, 7:00PM
The PDP announced that it would challenge the decision at the Supreme Court.

The opposition party also blamed the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the courts decision.

Two out of the 3 man Justices of the Appeal Court gave a scanty judgment in favour of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff while one for Makarfi, PDP wrote via Twitter.

The Judgment has finally shown that the ruling Party, the APC is out to create a one party state in the country.

The Party is proceeding immediately to the Supreme Court to file an appeal against the ruling of today's appeal court judgment, it added.

The PDP has been split into two factions since it attempted to remove Sheriff as Chairman in May 2016.

One faction is led by Sheriff while the other is led by former Kaduna State governor, Ahmed Makarfi.

Sheriff had said, on Tuesday, February 14, 2017, that any chairman apart from him was a counterfeit one.

Any other chairman is a counterfeit, a carbon-copy, a photocopy. I was eating and drinking in the comfort of my home when the elders and the leaders of the party from across the country came to beg me to take the mantle of leadership of the party, he said.

They later found out that I was not a chairman they can control or push around. They know I will not accept elections handouts from anybody, hence they made a U-turn, he added.
Flagstaff Birth and Womens Center will be opening Flagstaff Breastfeeding Center, Northern Arizonas first outpatient breastfeeding center with a milk donation outreach center.

Partnering with Mothers Milk Bank of Colorado, women in Northern Arizona will now be able to donate breast milk to those in need. A nonprofit program of Rocky Mountain Childrens Health Foundation, Mothers Milk Bank collects, processes and provides human donor milk to babies across the country. Babies who receive the milk may be premature or have severe illnesses and need human milk to thrive.

Flagstaff Breastfeeding Center will collect the donated milk and safely transport the donations to the Denver facility where it will be pasteurized and distributed to babies across the country. Flagstaff Breastfeeding Center will also provide breastfeeding support, classes, breast pump prescriptions and breastfeeding sanctuaries at local events.

Women interested in giving the gift of human milk can fill out the donation screening form at milkbankcolorado.org or call 303-869-1888 or 928-556-0000 for more information. For more information on the Flagstaff Breastfeeding Center, visit flagstaffbreastfeedingcenter.com
A former deputy national chairman of the PDP, Chief Bode George, expressed disappointment at the judgment, saying he is more than shocked.

He suggested foul play in the judgement, which according to him shows that "democracy has been murdered."

"I was shocked. Shocked is the minimum I could say. It is worse than being shocked," Daily Trust quoted him as saying.

"My immediate conclusion was that this is the voice of Jacob and the hand of Esau.

"My spirit has never been this dampened," he added.

The PDP Chieftain faulted the court's decision to set aside the PDP convention held in Port Harcourt in 2016, where the National Caretaker Committee headed by Senator Ahmed Makarfi was appointed.

"Our National Convention from what we were told was set aside. National Convention decisions set aside?

"I leave that to the political pundits to analyse. But for whatever it is, it is a very dark day for democracy. This is a very sad day.

"The party that was in government, very well established, the most populous political party in the whole of Africa being decimated and reduced to Sheriff as its Chief Manager."

ALSO READ: Bode George says PDP will perform better than Lagos Gov
The trio, who are members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), travelled to the United Kingdom to visit President Buhari, who has been reportedly ill.

According to Premium Times, some lawmakers questioned why the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, a member of the opposition PDP, was not among the team that went to see Buhari in London.

A source in the Deputy Senate Presidents office, alleged that They didnt invite the Deputy Senate President on the trip.

They bypassed him down to the Senate Leader for reasons we still dont know.

Yes, he just returned from abroad, but that could not have hindered him from being part of the delegation if they had extended him the courtesy.

If only to make him be the representative of the southern part of the country instead of all the northern politicians that made the trip, the source added.

Also, the House Minority Leader, Leo Ogor said the three lawmakers who went to visit the President did so on their personal capacity.

Ogor also said But I am convinced that that visit was purely based on political colouration. So, it is totally inconsequential because we were not invited.

It is at the discretion of the president to invite whoever he wants to see him."

It is not a National Assembly delegation. It is like a private visit to see the president. First, you know were not in session. Neither was there any resolution of the House or that of the Senate to go and see the president.

I had a hint of the visit much earlier. I saw the President smiling. I saw the Senate President smiling. I saw the Speaker smiling. And when I saw that picture, I also smiled.

We thank God for his life. We wish him well, he added.

Another Kogi state lawmaker who spoke under condition of anonymity, said I did not hear about this visit before.

I read it last night on PREMIUM TIMES and I was initially shocked, but then said to myself: no need to be surprised about anything these people do.

Since we werent told ahead, I think its very clear that they werent making the trip on our behalf.

And theyve clearly expressed that in the manner they picked those who went on the trip.
Fayose, who spoke on behalf of the Governors Forum of the Peoples Democratic Party, of which he is the Chairman, said the party will be victorious at the Supreme Court.

On Friday, February 17, three judges of the court of appeal unanimously held that Sheriff is the lawful PDP Chairman, thereby sacking the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led national caretaker committee of the party.

But Fayose insists the former Borno governor can not lead the party.

"But the outcome of the Port Harcourt Court of Appeal that reinstated Sheriff against the will of the people, is nothing but a rape of our democracy," he said.

"If the people truly symbolizes what a party is, then the machination of our detractors and the anti-democratic organs will not prevail at last.

"We commend the minority judgment of the lower court and we believe the truth will prevail. Thank God we have another opportunity to seek justice at the Supreme Court, which I believe will not be delayed or denied.

"The party will appeal the judgement as we believe in the ability of the judiciary to do justice, however we plead with our members, leaders and supporters to calm down as we keep hope alive.

"If this is a price to pay, to keep our democracy alive and opposition strengthened, we are prepared to go the whole hug," the Governor asserted.

ALSO READ: PDP has fallen

Also reacting to the judgment, Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, Senator Walid Jibrin, said the Governors, the BoT, and other organs of the party are solidly behind the Makarfi committee.
And it's a self-inflicted, stinky and sticky mess.

The Port Harcourt division of the Court of Appeal has just declared a former Governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff, the authentic chairman of the PDP.

It all began in May of 2016 when the once self acclaimed 'biggest political party' in Africa, held parallel conventions in Abuja and Port Harcourt on the same day.

The Port Harcourt faction settled for Sheriff as the party's chairman while the Abuja convention chose Ahmed Makarfi as chairman.

As the Port Harcourt convention was going on, court papers found their way round the delegates. The convention was a nullity, the court declared.

And then more court battles between Sheriff and Makarfi ensued.

ALSO READ:

Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja, has often ruled that Sheriff is the legitimate PDP Chairman.

Meanwhile Justice Mohammed Liman of the Rivers division of the same court, keeps maintaining that Makarfi is the man.

Conflicting court judgments have been the bane of Africa's largest democracy, and in the PDP, the judiciary has found expression for its compromised self.

The PDP spent all of 2016 trying to decide who its chairman should be.

In that period, the party lost all the governorship elections it vied for, lost most of its chieftains and ceded a couple of parliamentary seats to the governing APC at the center.

Throughout 2016, PDP had two party chairmen who were working at cross purposes.

In Donald Trump's voice, the party "was a total disaster".

As an opposition outfit, the PDP has been a joke.

It pounces on the APC when it shouldn't and goes lame when it should pounce.

Since it lost Olisa Metuh who was caught by the Muhammadu Buhari administration with his fingers submerged in the nation's cookie jar, the PDP hasn't found a suitable replacement.

Metuh was a lousy spokesperson with an equally lousy writing style, make no mistakes, but at least he was always jumping on the issues, however misconceived.

The party has gone from having Metuh as its spokesperson, to having Ekiti Governor Ayodele Fayose, as a champion for its causes--a sign that the PDP has hit rock bottom.

As the Sheriff faction pops open the Champagne bottles in celebration of today's court ruling, the Makarfi faction will head to the Supreme Court to challenge the judgment from Rivers.

"Two out of the 3 man Justices of the Appeal Court gave a scanty judgment in favour of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff while one went for Makarfi", the Makarfi wing of the party has just said.

Curiously, the party blamed the APC for its woes.

ALSO READ:

"The Judgment has finally shown that the ruling Party, the APC is out to create a one party state in the country. The Party is proceeding immediately to the Supreme Court to file an appeal against the ruling of todays appeal court judgment", the defeated faction added.

The PDP will likely spend all of 2017 and most of 2018, battling in court for its soul--the one it never really had; for its leadership.

And by the time the 2019 general elections come around, the PDP will be left with no time to rebuild in order to give the APC a good fight.

The party lost the center in 2015 after lack-luster Goodluck Jonathan was shown the exit door by millions of voters.

Since that time, the PDP has been the clearest example of how not be an opposition party, in modern partisan history.
George said He is a Yoruba man and he is doing his best, but I know that we as opposition will do better when we get there.

The PDP chieftain also praised the Lagos state Governor for his giant developmental strides.

According to Premium Times, George said the Governor has embarked on a massive infrastructural development drive in Lagos.

He said this while speaking at an event which held on Thursday, February 17, 2017 at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.

I also must commend him in the area of traffic management, especially in the area of traffic decongestion in the state.

My advice to him is that he should ensure that the standards of living of Lagosians are improved, especially in the areas of education and healthcare. I must commend him because it is not easy governing a state like Lagos. Lagos is like the New York of the United States, George added.

The PDP chieftain also said I have never met this young man, but I must say that I am impressed with his performance so far, especially in the area of infrastructural developments.

I dont know everywhere in Lagos because I hardly go round, but I must sincerely commend him on what he is doing in Epe Local Government. I am very proud of what he is doing there.

ALSO READ: Governor Ambode to reduce holdups with 50 BRT buses

George also called on Governor Ambode to extend the developmental drive to Lagos Island.
Scriven has settled on Nigeria as his first international recruitment because of the countrys rich history of yielding extremely talented and globally minded entrepreneurs.

He visits Nigeria with the hope of identifying companies to participate in Techstars Atlantas upcoming accelerator program in July, in which they will receive a $120,000 investment and be surrounded by world-class mentors.

Prior to joining Techstars, Tyler was a member of the executive team at Palantir Technologies, where he served as Chief of Staff and Head of Operations.

During his nearly six years at Palantir, he was broadly engaged in scaling the operations of the business from 100 to nearly 2,000 employees and saw the company grow to become one of the most valuable in Silicon Valley.

ALSO READ: Ingressive and Starta hold conference for entrepreneurs and founders

He also co-founded ThinAir Labs, a Y Combinator-backed data security company.

He is an active angel investor and advises several startups, including Grab, AlphaFlow, Landed, Sequr, MyLumper and Storj.

Techstars is global fund and accelerator program that supports entrepreneurs at every stage of their life cycle.

Techstars Atlanta selects 10-12 companies per year to invest ($120,000) and invite to Atlanta in order to participate in an intense 3-month acceleration program filled with world-class mentors.

Techstars companies have raised nearly $3 billion dollars after completing the accelerator. In fact, Mattermark recently published a great report highlighting the fact that Techstars has produced the most series-A funded startups of any of the big three accelerators (Techstars, YCombinator, and 500 Startups).
Trump said the Obama administration caused a host of problems for the country home and abroad.

He disclosed this on Thursday, February 16, while speaking at his first solo news conference.

He said jobs were leaving the country to Mexico and other places, and mass instability was prevalent overseas.

"To be honest, I inherited a mess. Its a mess. At home and abroad. A mess," he said.

"Low pay, low wages. Mass instability overseas no matter where you look. The Middle East a disaster. North Korea. Well take care of it, folks. Were going to take care of it all," Trump added.

He made the remark after presenting Alexander Acosta, a former federal prosecutor from Florida, as his nominee for to lead the Department of Labor.
The World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN International Childrens Fund (UNICEF) said they would need more than 450 million U.S. dollars to be able to provide urgent assistance required in the coming months.

Humanitarian assistance has saved lives in the drought-affected north over the past year, but as the crisis spreads we have no time to lose, WFP Country Director Laurent Bukera said in a statement issued in Mogadishu

Together with UNICEF and other partners, we are moving as quickly as possible to reach many more people with lifesaving support using every option we have, including cash-based transfers, specialised nutrition support and airlifting of relief goods, said the statement.

According to the agencies, the drought that the northern regions have struggled with for the last year has now spread throughout Somalia, threatening an already fragile population battered by decades of conflict.

About 6.2 million people or almost half the countrys population are either severely food insecure or in need of livelihood support.

It is expected that 944,000 children will be acutely malnourished this year, including 185,000 who will be severely malnourished and in need of urgent lifesaving support.

Steven Lauwerier, the UNICEF Somalia Representative, said huge numbers of Somalis have come to the end of all their possible resources and are living hand-to-mouth.

We have a small window of opportunity to avert this looming catastrophe and save childrens lives and we are determined to work with all partners and stakeholders to succeed, Lauwerier said.

The UNICEF and WFP representatives this week have been visiting some of the worst-affected areas in the northern Puntland region, where the two agencies are delivering much-needed assistance.

The two agencies said funds have been generously provided by international donors from Europe, Asia, North America and the UN system for life-saving services in nutrition, food security, health, education, water and sanitation.

The ongoing drought and other shocks have left communities with little to no resources to fall back on. Whole villages have lost their crops or seen their livestock die, said the agencies.

The prices of water and locally produced food have risen dramatically, and thousands of people are on the move in search of food and water.
Remaining united in a divided world was the focus for the more than 250 community members who attended the United Way of Northern Arizona annual meeting and recognition event Feb. 16. The event, held at Little America Hotel, celebrated a successful fund-raising campaign and plans for the organizations work for the coming year.

Incoming Chairman of the Board Sedric Cade of Edward Jones Investments, who is currently traveling abroad and appeared via pre-recorded video, said that the world seems more divided today, and as a result, non-profits are entering into a new age of philanthropy.

It is imperative that we continue to focus on objectives and results that impact our community the most, he said. I ask for your continued support in making sure that we continue a path of staying united in a way that serves us all.

During the luncheon, numerous companies and individuals that donated to the United Way during the campaign were recognized. Donations will help improve community conditions in the areas of education, income and health. Also recognized were the volunteers who devote their time and talents to initiatives supported by the United Way.

During the ceremony it was announced that NWNA had raised more than $1.1 million toward its 2016-2017 campaign goal of $1.5 million.

The keynote address at the luncheon was from two local teachers who received accolades last year  2016 Coconino County Teacher of the Year Brian Locke of Coconino High School and 2016 ASCA National School Counselor of the Year Katherine Pastor of Flagstaff High School. They discussed the challenges and rewards of being educators, particularly in this time when schools are expected to do much more than teach the basics.

How can we work together to bring the best to our students? Pastor asked. We cannot just leave it up to the educators in our town; we need to collaborate in order to reach higher.

United Way of Northern Arizona President and CEO Steve Peru thanked the chairs of this years campaign, Northern Arizona University President Rita Cheng and her husband, Tom Cheng, the Entrepreneur in Residence at the universitys W.A. Franke College of Business.

As educators, Rita and Tom know the importance of our work in education and how it ensures that the children in our communities are ready to successfully tackle the next step, from kindergarten to college to career, he said.

Little America Hotel, led by General Manager Fred Reese, was honored with the 2016 Spirit of United Way Award in recognition of its support of United Way during its Holiday of Lights event.

The 2016 Growth and Leadership Award was presented to Kinney Construction Services, which increased its giving in the past year by 84 percent.

The Summit Society campaign was highlighted with attendees encouraged to pick up copies of the annual magazine for the society, which is comprised of members who donate more than $500 annually. The current campaign, headed by Andy and Erin Bertelsen, is continuing into this spring.

In addition to the Bertelsens, the United Way also recognized Pacesetter Co-Chairs Jim Wine and Zachary Meier; Business Development Coordinators Rich Bowen, LaVelle McCoy and Corey Raths; and Cynthia Seelhammer, for her work promoting the annual campaign in the government sector.

Retiring board members Andy Bertelsen and Jason Wolfe were recognized, and the United Way approved the following new board members: Gary Davis, James Jayne, Terry Madeksza, Candace Owens and Tom Cheng.

For more information or to make a donation, visit www.nazunitedway.org.
The reports reproduced chat messages between the first lady and the blackmailer who, at one point, referred to a video he said he had hacked that "drags the name of your husband in the mud."

On Monday, the newspapers removed reports which the judge had ruled harmed "the inviolability of the privacy" of the hacking victim.

Folha reported that another judge has now overturned the ruling.

In his ruling, which was posted on the Folha website, Judge Arnoldo Camanho de Assis said that the publishing ban was "apparently unconstitutional" as "it violates the freedom which is a true pillar of the democratic rule of law."

"There is no indication... that the journalistic activity on the part of (Folha) was meant to follow an irresponsible or abusive editorial line," he wrote.

Folha and Globo argued that the details they wished to publish regarding Temer's wife had already become available in court documents and that their suppression in the newspapers amounted to censorship.

"Those who inform have to be accountable for the relevance of what they publish. Those who feel harmed have every right to appeal to the courts," Folha said. "What is not reasonable is to censor before publication, something that should be consigned to the memory of authoritarian regimes."
Several explosions were heard near the palace during the handover ceremony, which comes several days before Mohamed -- better known by his nickname Farmajo -- is officially sworn in.

"Two innocent children were killed and three others including their parents wounded after a mortar shell landed on their house near (a school) behind the presidential palace, the incident is still being investigated," said local police commander Mohamed Abdukadir.

"We don't know where it was fired from but it targeted civilian houses."

The Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack on its Telegram and Twitter accounts, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist accounts.

Witnesses reported about three mortar blasts, one of which hit a house.

"It was very terrible to see these innocent children being killed, the mortar shells were seemingly targeting the presidential palace but it landed in nearby areas including this house," said witness Abdikarin Duale.

The attack underlines the challenge facing the new president, who has inherited an administration with limited control over Somali territory due to the presence of Shabaab, and is heavily propped up by the international community.

Farmajo, whose brief stint at prime minister in 2010-11 showed him to be a no-nonsense leader set on improving governance and cracking down on corruption, is hugely popular in the country.

However turning around one of the world's foremost failed states will be no easy task and Farmajo appealed for patience from his countrymen.

"I need the Somali public to understand how much the government is in need of their support. Government will need enough time address things," he said during the ceremony.

"We cannot accomplish things in a few months but what we need is to forgive each other and stand up towards improving security and the economy of the country. This is a government for the people."

Sources close to the new president say an official inauguration ceremony will be held on February 22, with leaders from neighbouring countries expected to attend.
Detectives in Kuala Lumpur are trying to get to the bottom of the cloak-and-dagger murder that South Korea says was carried out by poison-wielding female agents working for their secretive northern neighbour.

Forensic specialists were Friday carrying out tests on samples from the dead man's body to try to determine the toxin that was apparently sprayed in his face as he readied to board a plane earlier this week.

North Korean diplomats have objected to the post-mortem examination, Malaysian officials say, but Kuala Lumpur has stood firm, and said Friday it would not release the body until procedures were complete.

"So far no family member or next of kin has come to identify or claim the body. We need a DNA sample of a family member to match the profile of the dead person," Selangor state police chief Abdul Samah Mat told AFP.

"North Korea has submitted a request to claim the body, but before we release the body we have to identify who the body belongs to," he added.

DNA from a child, sibling -- or even half-sibling -- would be enough to provide a "kinship match" and confirm the identity, a Malaysian forensic investigator told AFP.

Laboratory technicians working on blood and tissue samples from the autopsy would conduct tests "as soon as possible" to determine the cause of death, Dr Cornelia Charito Siricord of the science ministry's chemistry department told national news agency Bernama.

Police were meanwhile questioning two women -- one travelling on a Vietnamese passport and the other on an Indonesian document -- as well as a Malaysian man.

The drama erupted on Monday morning as Jong-Nam, the estranged elder brother of Kim Jong-Un, readied to board a plane to Macau.

Malaysian police say the chubby 45-year-old was jumped by two women who squirted some kind of liquid in his face.

Jong-Nam told staff he was suffering from a headache and was taken to the airport clinic grimacing in pain, according to Malaysian media citing CCTV footage from the airport.

One of the women walked to a taxi rank immediately after the attack, according to the same footage.

He was rushed to hospital suffering from a seizure but was dead before he arrived.

South Korea has pointed the finger of blame at the North, citing a "standing order" from Jong-Un to kill his sibling and a failed assassination bid in 2012 after he criticised the regime.

Woman in 'LOL' top

Pyongyang has made no comment on the killing, and there has been no mention of it in North Korean media.

AFP correspondents in Pyongyang say celebrations to mark the birthday of Kim Jong-Il, the late father of both men, have gone ahead without reference to the death.

Malaysian police on Wednesday arrested a 28-year-old woman carrying a Vietnamese passport which identified her as Doan Thi Huong.

Local media said she was the woman seen in CCTV images from the airport wearing a white top with the letters "LOL" emblazoned on the front.

Officers later arrested Muhammad Farid Bin Jalaluddin, a 26-year-old Malaysian man. He led them to his girlfriend, a 25-year-old Indonesian named Siti Aishah according to her travel documents.

Jakarta confirmed late Thursday that Aishah was an Indonesian citizen and embassy officials were providing her with legal assistance.

Selangor state police chief Abdul Samah earlier told AFP he was looking for several more suspects, but declined to say how many were being sought.

First-born Jong-Nam was once thought to be the natural successor to his father, but on Kim Jong-Il's death in 2011 the succession went to Jong-Un, who was born to the former leader's third wife.

Reports of purges and executions have emerged from the current regime as Jong-Un tries to strengthen his grip on power in the face of international pressure over nuclear and missile programmes.
Braun has written to Los Angeles County Superior Court judge Scott Gordon to unseal a secret transcript of the testimony of the prosecutor in the Polanski case, which he believes will confirm the deal.

The Paris-born director was accused of drugging Samantha Gailey -- who now uses the surname Geimer -- before raping her at film star Jack Nicholson's house in Los Angeles in 1977.

Polanski, who also has French citizenship, admitted having unlawful sex with a minor, or statutory rape, and spent 42 days in Chino State Prison before being released.

But in 1978, convinced a judge was going to scrap the plea deal and hand him a hefty prison sentence, he fled for France.

Polanski was arrested in Switzerland in 2009 on a US extradition request and spent 10 months under house arrest before Bern rejected the US order.

The United States then asked Poland to extradite Polanski in January 2015, but the country's Supreme Court ruled in December that he had served his time under the plea deal.

'Safe in my country'

Braun believes the secret testimony of prosecutor Roger Gunson collected in 2010 in the US supports Polanski's claim that he had an agreement to serve just 48 days and that -- taken with the Polish decision -- it should convince the US authorities Polanski has served his time.

"After we confirm the contents, we will urge the court to recognize the Polish decision resulting from a litigation initiated by the (district attorney) and in which the DA participated," Braun told AFP.

"If the court accepts the principle of comity, Roman can come to Los Angeles and to court without fear of custody."

Polanski's French legal team told AFP the filmmaker was not intending to be present at a hearing scheduled for next week in Los Angeles to consider a request.

Polanski told the private news channel TVN24 after the Polish court had ruled in his favor that he was "happy this business is over once and for all."

"I only regret that I had to wait so long. I'll finally be able to feel safe in my own country."

Polanski, who lives in France and had been avoiding Poland because of the case, said he planned to visit his father's grave in the southern city of Krakow.

The filmmaker has been engaged in a decades-long cat-and-mouse game with US officials seeking his extradition for trial, before a global audience split between continuing outrage and forgiveness for his acts.

Born in Paris in 1933 to Polish Jewish parents who later brought the family back to their native country, he saw his parents arrested by the Nazis in Krakow's Jewish ghetto and sent to concentration camps.

Brutal slaughter

He roamed the countryside, trying to survive at the age of just eight, helped by Catholic Polish families, in a country occupied by German troops.

The experience lent a gripping autobiographical authenticity to his 2002 movie "The Pianist," the story of a young Jewish musician trying to evade the Nazis in occupied Warsaw.

Lured to Hollywood in 1968, Polanski shot his first big international hit, "Rosemary's Baby," starring Mia Farrow as an expecting mother carrying the devil's spawn.

But tragedy struck the following year when his heavily-pregnant wife, the model and actress Sharon Tate, and four friends were brutally slaughtered in the director's mansion by cult leader Charles Manson and his followers.

Devastated, Polanski left for Europe, then returned to achieve arguably his greatest triumph in 1974 with "Chinatown" -- an atmospheric film noir starring Jack Nicholson nominated for 11 Oscars.

He has avoided the US since the statutory rape case -- not even returning to accept the Oscar for "The Pianist" -- and jousted with the Justice Department for years after.

Geimer herself called for the charges to be dropped, complaining that in dogging Polanski for so long, antagonists had made him her co-victim in a case she wanted to put behind her.

"The publicity was so traumatic and so horrible that his punishment was secondary to just getting this whole thing to stop," Geimer told CNN in 2003.
Turning the ship before it hits the iceberg
RBU hosts get together of senior citizens

Educational institutions of the SGPC are leading in every field: Sukhminder Singh
PHOENIX  Dozens of Phoenix area businesses closed their doors and their employees stayed home for A Day Without Immigrants, a national effort to highlight the contributions of immigrants to the U.S. economy.

In Arizona and other states immigrants and their supporters did not go work, send their kids to school, shop or open their businesses.

In Flagstaff, staff and managers at Salsa Brava and La Fonda voted to close for the day.

"We believe in our employees' rights and they are right to stand up for what they believe in," said Salsa Brava owner John Conley.

Ninety percent of my customers are Latinos and I want to show them my respect, said Eduardo Gonzalez, owner of Senor Sushi. Gonzalez closed his restaurants in Glendale and Mesa.

The restaurant is popular for its signature Mexican-style sushi rolls and live music. His employees said they want to show support for their customers who are immigrants too. They need to know that Senor Sushi is here for them, said one of the sushi chefs who did not want to give his name because of his immigration status.

Alejandra Sinaloa, a manager at Senor Sushi, is from Mexico but has lived in Phoenix for more than a decade and supports A Day Without Immigrants.

Its an excellent idea, she said in Spanish, Most [immigrants] come to the country to work and to succeed.

Many participants also wanted to protest recent immigration enforcement actions. In Arizona this isnt new, Sinaloa said. She said immigration raids by former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio years ago hurt business at Senor Sushi because immigrant customers were afraid and stayed away.

Sinaloa said she will not be sending her kids to school to support the national strike. Several Valley school districts reported lower than usual attendance but could not confirm whether it was because of the protest.

Julio Hernandez, owner of El Sabroso Hot Dogs in Phoenix, also shut down his popular food truck for the day. Its the only way we think we can support this cause, by showing the power and influence that we have on the economy of this country, he said.

A Day Without Immigrants organizers used social media to call on diverse immigrant communities across the country to participate. Many of those speaking out in Phoenix were Latino. Im Mexican and I have to support other Mexican workers in the country, said Dania Rodeo, an employee at La Gran Bota, a Phoenix store that sells mens clothing, boots and western wear. La Gran Bota was among retail shops that did not open.

Restaurants of all sizes from mom and pop places to large, well known establishments showed their support by closing for a day in solidarity with our immigrant brothers and sisters, said head chef and owner of Barrio Cafe, Silvana Salcido Esparza . Barrio Cafe shuttered all three of its restaurants.

But some Arizona employees said they could not afford to stay home. I have to work or they wont pay me, said Jorge Rodriguez during his lunch break. Rodriguez repairs and restores homes and commercial buildings damaged by floods and natural disasters. I have to work to support my family, said Rodriguez.
Throughout his life, Steve Rusk has relied on time outdoors to reset and break away from taxing everyday pressures.

In college, during his heyday as a standout wrestler at the University of Illinois, the Orion High School grad turned to hunting and fishing when he felt overwhelmed in class or on the mat.

These days, the deputy for the Rock Island County Sheriffs Office finds pleasure in teaching those pastimes to his two children.

I think its a great stress reliever, said Rusk, who also emphasized the importance of school and other extracurricular activities. It keeps you whole.

After school on Thursday, for example, Rusk and his 12-year-old daughter, Hanna, set aside time to fish before her evening volleyball game.

The duo stopped by the QCCA Outdoor Show in Rock Island and reeled in four trout from a small pool. Hanna later would help clean and cook the trout, Rusk said.

"I've been fishing since I was little," Hanna said, noting the "life lessons" she picks up with her family outdoors. "I love nature."

Proud of the youngsters who share Hanna Rusk's sentiments, some enthusiasts worry the general interest in the outdoors is steadily declining.

'Kids are missing out'

Just 20 minutes before the start of the annual four-day exhibition, Rob Junker, the QCCA show director, shared his concerns as he chowed down on a bowl of chili in his office.

Everything outdoors is slowing down, said Junker, who introduced his sons to fishing at a young age.

In 2016, the Outdoor Show, which the Quad-City Conservation Alliance runs, drew 17,000 people. But Junker stressed there is a major disparity between the number of youth and adult visitors.

"Its amazing how many young people you dont see at these events," said Junker, whose desk was littered with papers and remnants of the previous night's dinner. "Kids are missing out on the whole wide world of outdoors.

In an effort to combat that trend, they charge children ages 6-15 just $1 to enter.

Every year, the nonprofit organization uses proceeds from its season of shows to fund conservation work throughout the region.

Throughout the past 20 years, Rusk said the QCCA has granted more than $2 million for projects based within 90 miles of the Quad-Cities, including:

 Development of the Wapsi River Environmental Education Center near Dixon, Iowa.

 Youth fishing clinics in Rock Island, Moline, Davenport and Galesburg.

 Waterfowl and raptor habitat enhancement projects along the Mississippi River.

 Wheelchair-accessible fishing docks at West Lake Park in Scott County.

Our goal at the end of the day is not to get rich, said Junker, who pinned a lack of interest in natural resources on indoor distractions, such as video games. Our goal is to get people interested in the outdoor world.

'I taught him all he knows'

A spin through the bustling "kids camp" this weekend at the expo center may contradict some people's pessimistic outlook on the current and future state of outdoor recreation and conservation.

Separate from the rifle raffles and vendors selling boats and fishing rods, the north hall features trout fishing, archery instruction and target practice with pellet and paintball guns.

Aiden Webb, 13, of Silvis, became the first to test his hand at each activity.

Between him and his grandfather, Jim Werner of East Moline, the duo hauled in at least 10 fish, which they planned to clean that night.

Grandpa, look at this one, a smiling Aiden shouted from across the pool, hoisting a 12- to 15-inch rainbow trout.

Ever since he could walk hes been here, Werner said. I taught him all he knows, and now he out-fishes me.

While Aiden practiced his aim at the archery range, Werner shared that he helped raise his grandson, whose father is out of the picture.

"Weve got a really tight bond," Werner said. "The outdoors is one of the best things you can show a child. It keeps them out of trouble."

A reserved Aiden, who sported a Cabelas hat, camouflage boots and jeans, said his grandfather has instilled in him at least one lesson:

Dont break the rules, he said with a grin, donning a mask at the paintball gun range.

When he finished, the teen pulled out his smartphone, but just for a minute.

Aiden, who looks forward to his next "peaceful" outing with his grandfather, slipped his phone back in his pocket before offering up his current motto:

If I had the choice, Id rather be outside."
MUSCATINE, Iowa  Accusations continue to fly at Muscatines City Hall. City Attorney Matthew Brick filed a list of official complaints Friday morning that could lead to the permanent ouster of Mayor Diana Broderson.

The document, labeled Charges for Removal, has been filed with the city and could appear on the agenda for the next City Council meeting, which is planned for March 2, unless a special meeting is held.

Council members will decide whether to proceed with a hearing that they will preside over. If they decide to hold a hearing, in which both sides will be given a chance to present arguments, it is required by state and city code to be held at least 10 days after the mayor is notified.

Broderson will continue to preside at council meetings until the hearing is held. The office of mayor in Muscatine does not have voting powers, so Broderson's role is to preside over meetings as council members take action, which in upcoming weeks may include a vote on her fate.

If the council votes to hold a hearing, the council chambers will have the atmosphere of a courtroom, with council members hearing accusations and Broderson's defense and ultimately deciding whether to remove her from office.

After the hearing, written briefs and proposed decisions will be submitted both by Broderson's attorney, Bill Sueppel, and Brick. The council will then make its decision, which city code states must be by a two-thirds majority vote of the council.

Broderson is accused of ignoring Brick's legal advice when he told her that she was stepping outside of the boundaries of her power as mayor, listed in the document as "willful misconduct or maladministration  habitual neglect or refusal to perform the duties of her office."

State and city code give seven possible reasons to remove an elected official from office:

 For willful or habitual neglect or refusal to perform the duties of the office.

 For willful misconduct or maladministration in office.

 For corruption.

 For extortion.

 Upon conviction of a felony.

 For intoxication, or upon conviction of being intoxicated.

 Upon conviction of violating the provisions of chapter 68A.

In the document, Broderson is accused of "making baseless complaints that cost the city as much as $100,000 in legal fees and staff time to investigate, including asking for an investigation into whether she had been discriminated against on the basis of her gender and requesting investigation into actions of the city that were later determined to be unfounded.

Also outlined is an alleged breach of fiduciary duties, failure to comply with city code, defamation and/or false allegations and misuse of power and/or abuse of discretion.

Broderson said Friday afternoon that she and her attorney have not been served with the charges.

"We have not received the charges yet, and any comment before weve seen them would be premature," she said.

Ann Brumback, an organizer of a petition currently being circulated in Muscatine for the removal of all members of the city council said the charges will not affect her and other organizers' decision to collect signatures.

"The charges were not the reason for the petition; they were nothing more than the straw that broke the camels back," she said.

She said the petition has about 1,500 Muscatine residents' signatures.

City Council Members Michael Rehwaldt and Bob Bynum said they were unable to comment, and other council members and the city attorney did not return phone calls Friday. City Administrator Gregg Mandsager also declined to comment.
A Davenport man was sentenced Friday to 63 months  or more than five years  in federal prison connection with a bank robbery and two attempted bank robberies in 2015.

Terrance L. Hicks, 41, must serve three years of supervised release once he completes his prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Hicks pleaded guilty to bank robbery and attempted bank robbery in August in U.S. District Court, Davenport.

According to a plea agreement filed:

At 10:06 a.m. Oct. 24, 2015, Hicks went to Northwest Bank & Trust in the 1400 block of West Locust Street in Davenport, approached a teller and handed her note demanding "10 grand" and "no dye bags or security buttons."

The teller yelled for another teller, and Hicks left the bank.

At 12:53 p.m. the same day, Hicks went to Wells Fargo Bank in the 1600 block of Main Street in Davenport. He approached a teller and handed her a note demanding "3 grand" and "no dye bags or buttons." The teller grabbed $2,000 in $100 bills and $1,000 in $50 bills. Hicks then left the bank.

At 4:22 p.m. Nov. 10, 2015, Hicks intended to go back and rob Wells Fargo again. A Davenport police detective was working off-duty in uniform at the bank.

The detective saw Hicks walk from the parking lot to the door of the bank. Just before Hicks went in, he saw the detective and turned and walked away. The detective followed him and arrested him.

The detective found a demand note written in green ink in Hicks' front sweatshirt pocket. A green ink pen was found in his pants pocket, according to the plea agreement.

In 2003, Hicks was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty in Scott County to second-degree robbery. Court records show that he was released from the Davenport Work Release Center in October 2012.

Hicks has prior convictions in Scott County for second-degree burglary and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse, which landed him on the Iowa Sex Offender registry.

Federal court documents show that Hicks was arrested in September 2003 for two bank robberies. He pleaded guilty one of the robberies in exchange for dismissal of the charges in the second robbery, according to federal court documents.
The East Moline Education Association, the teachers union, ratified a new contract agreement Thursday with the East Moline School Board that runs through June 30, 2018.

Under the new contract, teachers will receive a 1.25 percent raise to the base each year, plus step movement, according to a news release issued by the union.

Paraprofessionals and secretaries will receive a 75 cent per-hour increase, plus step movement in each year of the agreement.

"After a lot of hard work, we're pleased that an agreement was reached, said Deb Smiddy, co-president of the union and a bargaining team member.

Amanda Webber, the union's co-president elect, said the agreement will help employees "begin to catch up with neighboring districts."

"There is still a large gap to bridge, but this agreement is fair to all parties at this time," Webber said.

Superintendent Kristin Humphries said Thursday he was pleased that the tentative agreement was ratified. He will take it to the school board on Feb. 27.

The teachers union and the school board reached the tentative agreement Wednesday after 10 months of negotiations that involved a federal mediator.

Union spokeswoman Angela Harrell, a seventh grade language arts teacher at Glenview Middle School, said Wednesday night, "I have been a teacher in the district for 23 years and it has never come to this. I've never had informational picketing like we did this year. And we had a federal mediator come in."

It has been a stressful time for everyone, including the teachers and their families and the students, she added.

The East Moline Education Association is a local affiliate of the Illinois Education Association and represents 260 teachers, paraprofessionals and secretaries in the East Moline School District.

Humphries said Wednesday that the sticking points in the negotiations came down to finances.

Also hurting negotiations were the ongoing financial problems in the state of Illinois, Humphries said.

"This has been going on for seven years," he said. "This isn't (Gov. Bruce) Rauner. This is Mike Madigan and everybody who came before."

Still, Humphries said, "the state of Illinois stinks right now. They don't have a budget, number one, and if they do fund education it's not as much as we think it's going to be. But at least when they do get a budget, they fund education first.

"We're already $1.2 million behind from the state of Illinois," Humphries added. "We're extremely dependent on state aid because we don't have a lot of property wealth, so it really hurts us."
On the day that Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad signed major changes in collective bargaining into law in Iowa, the Pleasant Valley Community School District signed a labor agreement with its teachers.

North Scott Community School District, however, did not finish its agreements with its bargaining units.

As the work week drew to an end, school districts across the state raced to sign labor agreements with teachers and other employees. The new Iowa law, which took effect when Branstad signed it, will dramatically limit the items that can be bargained.

In Pleasant Valley, Superintendent Jim Spelhaug said the administration and the Pleasant Valley Education Association reached agreement on Wednesday and a similar agreement on Thursday was signed by Local 199 of the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU.

The Pleasant Valley School Board unanimously approved the pact in a special session at 10 a.m. Friday.

At North Scott, officials announced, then called off, a 7:30 a.m. special session on Friday. Superintendent Joe Stutting said the agreements were not lined up for the board to consider.

"A rush job was not in the best interests of the North Scott Community School District," he said.

Because the agreements weren't finished before Branstad signed the new law, bargaining unit negotiations in North Scott "will go back to square one," Stutting said.

Both Pleasant Valley and North Scott used interest-based bargaining methods, which tend to stretch out the negotiations process for months, Spelhaug said.

Stutting said the district's benefits package still will be competitive, as there is a strong market for a shrinking number of teacher applicants, he said.

Pleasant Valley, which has the most robust enrollment in the Quad-Cities, now has a one-year agreement with employees that will end on June 30, 2018.

"This buys us some time," Spelhaug said.

Teachers and staff will get a 3.5 percent bump in their packages, which includes wages and benefits, such as health insurance.

The insurance program changes, with a cap on the district's contribution to the health insurance fund. While employees may pay more for their insurance, officials hope the salary increase will help to even out the numbers, Spelhaug said.

"We've never had an insurance cap before; we did the best we could so it doesn't shock folks," he said.

Davenport started the process to sign contracts in mid-January. Bettendorf followed on Feb. 9.

In the most recent action in Davenport, the district on Monday agreed to a three-year pact with the Custodial Bargaining Group  the custodial staff, warehouse and copier crews  part of AFSCME, or the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. It runs through June 30, 2020.

The package includes health insurance and a 1.98 percent salary increase, overall.

It was the fifth of five contracts negotiated this year in Davenport. On Jan. 16, the board voted on four of them, with 2 percent overall pay increases and health insurance, for the Davenport Education Association and for unions representing employees who work in food and nutrition, as well as secretaries and para-educators.

Iowa State Education Association President Tammy Wawro told the Des Moines Register this week that more than 140 districts settled contracts in the past week and seven of 40 districts with multiyear contracts extended them.
DES MOINES  Gov. Terry Branstad moved swiftly Friday, signing into law sweeping changes to Iowa's collective bargaining law that unions representing public employees vow to fight in court.

Branstad privately signed House File 291 into law less than a day after majority Republicans in the House and Senate used extraordinary measures to end a protracted, acrimonious floor debate and expedite action to pass the bill in both chambers and send it to the governors desk. Most provisions of the 68-page bill took effect with the governors signature.

The bill passed the Iowa House 53-47 with six Republicans joining all 41 Democrats who opposed the measure before clearing the Iowa Senate, 29-21, with all 20 Democrats and one independent voting no. One Democrat objected to the way the legislation was rushed together and rammed through in a way he predicted would poison the 2017 legislative session going forward.

Branstad saw it differently on Friday.

Im very pleased to sign this bill into law, said Branstad, a six-time GOP governor who voted as a legislator against the collective bargaining law that has been in place since 1974.

These necessary reforms to our antiquated 43 year old public employee collective bargaining law bring fairness for Iowa taxpayers and flexibility to public employees, Branstad said in a statement. This bill also gives local governments, schools and state government greater freedom in managing their resources with the opportunity to reward good public employees.

Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds also applauded the changes as long overdue reforms.

Over high-pitched objections, legislative Republicans ended debate spanning more than three days by passing time certain cutoffs Thursday that expedited final votes on the 68-page bill.

The law will limit most public-sector union contract negotiations to base wages, while eliminating such issues as health insurance and supplemental pay as mandatory items for bargaining. The law it replaces allowed 184,000 public-sector workers for the state, counties, cities and school districts to bargain for wage, benefits and other workplace issues with impasses resolved by binding arbitration in exchange for employees giving up the right to strike.

Its really disappointing the Republicans did a bait-and-switch in support of a dark-money, out-of-state agenda rather than work with Iowans, said Senate Democratic Leader Rob Hogg of Cedar Rapids. They rushed through a bill that really hurts our public servants and workers.

They didnt campaign on this issue, and they told people they were going to do minor tweaks to collective bargaining, and what they did was they gutted collective bargaining in order to serve their out-of-state, dark-money supporters who want to bust unions.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix, R-Shell Rock, said the collective bargaining bill got a full, open debate following Senate rules and now gives more control and needed tools to managers in state government, county boards of supervisors, city councils and school boards to keep the best employees, keep the best teachers in the classroom and remove those more efficiently, more effectively that are not holding up to the standards of the team.

Republicans who won voter support in 2016 by margins of 59-41 in the House and 29-21 in the Senate are united in their strong, new vision for Iowa, he said, and Thursdays vote and Fridays gubernatorial seal of approval was another step to put taxpayers at the table and Iowa on a course for growth.

Bottom line, that puts taxpayers, that puts Iowa citizens in a better position to get better service at lower cost and opens the door for many other initiatives to attract new jobs and careers to our state, Dix said.

After Thursdays rapid closure on the bill, the leader of the states largest public employees union said he expects his organization will file a lawsuit as early as Monday challenging the constitutionality of legislation significantly reducing its members' bargaining rights.

This battle is not over. This war is not over, AFSCME Local 61 President Danny Homan said Thursday, adding that the law pits employees within state government against each other by treating police and firefighters differently from other public employees.

Its extremely unconstitutional, he said.

Hogg, a Cedar Rapids attorney, said he thinks the unions have a good chance in seeking relief from the courts in challenging provisions of the bill that make unconstitutional distinctions between classes of public workers by treating some public safety employees differently.

Hogg said he senses that the way the collective bargaining issue was handled by Republicans has awoken a sleeping giant of workers, teachers and average Iowans upset that the bill was rushed through the process, shutting out Iowans and stepping on the rights of minority legislators.

This is the worst thing Ive seen in 15 years, Hogg said Friday. "They just rammed this thing through, and the way they did it, I think theyve really poisoned the legislative process.

If they had wanted an Iowa solution, they would have worked with cities and school boards and counties to come up with some minor reforms of the collective bargaining system, which is what they promised they were doing, but instead they went the dark money route and really gutted collective bargaining, and I dont think Iowans are going to stand for that. It will lead to the revival of democracy of this state.
DES MOINES  The fights not over, and now its personal.

The leader of the states largest public employee union plans to file a lawsuit Friday challenging the constitutionality of legislation significantly reducing its members' bargaining rights.

This battle is not over. This war is not over, AFSCME Local 61 President Danny Homan said Thursday after the Iowa House and Senate approved changes in Iowa public employee collective bargaining law that pits employees within state government against each other by treating police and firefighters differently from other public employees.

Its extremely unconstitutional, he said about House File 291 that was passed 53-47 in the House and 29-21 in the Senate after a debate that spanned three days. Under the bill, police and firefighters have more collective bargaining rights than other public employees. Thats unfair, according to Homan and other union leaders who spoke at a Statehouse news conference that took on the tone of a rally.

If youre a policeman or firefighter, somehow you have more risks on your job than a correctional officer, Homan said. I call that bulls---. My members get beat up every day.

The lawsuit, which Homan expects will be joined by at least three state employees and filed in Polk County District Court, will be his parting shot in a long, contentious relationship with Branstad. He claimed a GOP senator told constituents the legislation was a going away gift to Branstad, who as a member of the House in 1974, voted against Chapter 20, the collective bargaining law.

Well, Im giving Terry a different present tomorrow, Homan said. "Im giving him a lawsuit."

This has been payback against me and the union I represent because were not taking a backseat ..., said Homan, noting AFSCME has sued Branstad three times. Were going to continue to fight this.

Teachers are fired up like never before, according to Tammy Wawro, a Cedar Rapids teacher and president of the Iowa State Education Association.

Were feeling the love from our members, she said, adding that memberships have increased this week as the bill has been debated.

We are united, and we are stronger because of what they have given us, which is a fight we are ready to fight in a way we were never ready to fight before, Wawro said.

Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO President Ken Sagar added his voice to that commitment.

We didnt start his fight, we did not want this fight, but we will not give up on this fight for the rights and lives of working Iowans, Sagar said.

Also, United Faculty at the University of Northern Iowa has indicated it is prepared to join civil litigation to prevent the implementation of the law, much of which will take effect when signed by Gov. Terry Branstad, perhaps as soon as Friday.
1. You won't believe this weather

A good Friday to all. It hard to believe that a forecasted high in the upper 60s February day in the Quad-Cities would bring with it a hazardous weather outlook.

But it has because of mild temps, low humidity and plenty of dried vegetation. When combined they create a very high risk of grass fires this afternoon. So the only burning today should be on the grill.

Here's today's forecast from the National Weather Service.

It will be sunny with a high near 68 degrees. Yes, that's right, 68 degrees. Southwest winds between 5 to 15 mph will gust as high as 20 mph.

Tonight will be mostly clear with a low around 38 degrees.

Saturday will be sunny with a high near 61 degrees and a low around 36 degrees.

Sunday will be sunny with a high near 65 degrees and a low around 48 degrees.

2. Republicans send collective bargaining rewrite to Branstad

Majority Republicans used a time certain procedural move Thursday to expedite legislative passage over minority-party objections of a controversial rewrite the states 1974 collective bargaining law with Gov. Terry Branstad waiting to approve the measure. Read more.

3. 'Mac' honored for saving neighbor in Bettendorf

Awake but unable to convert thoughts into actions, Bettendorf resident Marcia Allen knew something unusual happened last month when she found herself on the ground in her backyard, caked in mud. But Allen, who had suffered a stroke and lost control of the left side of her body, was not alone.

All of a sudden, I could hear the dog next door, she said, referring to Mac, her neighbors' 7-year-old black Labrador retriever. He never barks, but he was barking frantically. He knew something was wrong.

The noise at 7 a.m. alerted Dave Scott, Mac's owner and an ambulance was called.

First responders transported Allen to Genesis Medical Center-West Central Park, Davenport, before transferring her to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, where she spent two nights.

When representatives of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, recently learned of the story, they sent Mac a Heroic Dog Award. Read more.

4. J.B. Young parking lot to have more green space, fewer spots

A landscaped parking lot with green space along Locust Street is among the details approved this week for the former J.B. Young K-8 School, Davenport.

The future parking lot is now a large, grassy field north of the building, located at the corner of Main and Locust streets. The site is part of what is evolving to be the J.B. Young Opportunity Center, which will include the Davenport Community School District's administrative offices on the second floor. Read more.

5. Lancers send 8 into Class 3A quarters; Bulldogs advance 4

It was a banner day Thursday for North Scott at the state high school wrestling tournament in Des Moines. The Lancers advanced eight into the quarterfinals and are in third place after the opening session with 22.5 points.

Bettendorf had four advance in the winners bracket while Clinton advanced two. Read more.

6. Ernst: Trump needs to step up against Russia

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said Thursday she isn't sure what the White House's posture is toward Russia, and she called on President Donald Trump to take a tougher stand against it and its president, Vladimir Putin.

On a conference call with Iowa reporters, Ernst expressed alarm at what she called the aggressiveness of Putin and the Russians, including new reports that a Russian spy ship was sitting 30 miles off the coast of Connecticut.

Several media outlets reported the development on Thursday. Ernst said Russia is not a friend of the U.S., and this and other instances are worrying to her. Read more.

6 plus 1. Pet squirrel takes bite out of crime, thwarts burglary

ICYMI: There are some things you can't make up. Case in point ...

Police in southwest Idaho say an indoor pet, a squirrel named Joey, has thwarted a burglary attempt.

The Meridian Police Department says a juvenile entered a home last week and told police after later being arrested that a squirrel attacked him when he tried to break into a gun safe.

Meridian Police Officer Ashley Turner says the juvenile received scratch marks on his arm but no bites. The teen is believed to have entered three or four unlocked homes in the area. The juvenile's name hasn't been released.

Joey's owner, Adam Pearl, says no one can believe he has a squirrel that guards his house. Joey has a nest in a kitchen cabinet.

For his vigilance, Pearl gave his pet a reward: Whoppers, Joey's favorite candy.
No teachers left behind; teachers lives matter; unions matter. The GOP does not matter.

They sell cheap Chinese steel and stop America from selling U.S. steel by closing American steel plants across America, putting people out of work; people that worked to stop the Cold War. They help China while our Korean and Vietnam veterans linger in red-tape.

The GOP busts up unions, which could throw people out of their homes. We need more money for our schools, not more roadblocks for public schools. The last thing we need is more high school dropouts; then we will need more health care, Social Security checks and food stamps.

What we do not need is the GOP taking our tax dollars. I would not give a check to these union busters or anyone else who would starve the American people and watch us die without health care.

David Strayer

Davenport
PHOENIX  Spurred by business interests in the wake a voter-approved minimum wage hike, Republican lawmakers approved legislation Thursday that could kill the ability of citizens to create their own laws.

The most significant provision of HB 2404 would effectively kill the ability of groups to use paid circulators by prohibiting payment by the number of signatures gathered.

Paid circulators would still be allowed  but only if compensated on an hourly or other basis. But that removes any incentive for circulators to gather as many signatures as possible.

It reforms the incentive for fraud and forgery, said Rep. Vince Leach, R-Tucson, who is carrying the legislation that was largely crafted by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

That's not all that is in the measure approved by the House Government Committee on a party-line vote and sent to the full House.

The proposal imposes a series of new procedural hurdles and gives those who oppose initiatives new rights to try to have them knocked off the ballot before voters get a chance to weigh in. It also requires strict compliance with all initiative requirements, something Sierra Club lobbyist Sandy Bahr said could result in disqualifying petitions simply because their margins are not the right size.

And it would require any initiative committee that uses paid circulators to purchase a bond of up to $50,000. Leach, however, did not explain what damages that is designed to cover.

Rep. Ken Clark, D-Phoenix, questioned what happens if companies choose not to write bonds for these unspecified damages.

When Leach did not respond, Rep. Doug Coleman, R-Apache Junction, said there's a simple answer to all of this: use volunteers. But a series of people who have been involved in the initiative process in the past three decades all testified that is not realistic.

It takes 150,642 valid signatures to put a change in state law on a ballot, a figure based on 10 percent of the people who voted in the last gubernatorial election. But it realistically takes more than 200,000 names given how many are disqualified through the screening process.

Constitutional changes carry an even higher burden of 225,963 valid signatures.

This bill is killing the initiative process by small cuts, said Doris Provine, president of the Arizona Advocacy Network. She called the changes onerous.

We can't do initiatives with volunteer signature gatherers, Provine said.

Rivko Knox of the League of Women Voters pointed out HB 2404 is one of a series of measures at the Republican-controlled legislature designed to impose new hurdles on those who want to propose their own laws, leading many to believe that its goal is, in essence, to make it impossible for initiatives to be a viable method of creating legislation.

The supporters of the legislation who testified were those who unsuccessfully attempted to get voters to kill Proposition 206 which hikes the state minimum wage.

That includes the Arizona Restaurant Association whose chief operating officer Dan Bogert testified in favor of the restrictions, particularly on the use of paid circulators. He called them professional compensated advocates.

But Scott Cargill of Humane Voters of Arizona pointed out that those who say paid circulators lead to fraud are not proposing to limit the ability of political candidates, including legislators, to hire and pay people by the signature to gather names on their nominating petitions.

Leach said it's not the same thing, saying lawmakers can be turned out of office every two years. Cargill sniffed at that distinction.

I haven't heard a reason as to why a fraudulent signature for a candidate should be remedied by the fact that the candidate is voted out of office in a couple of years, he said.

Former state Rep. Theresa Ulmer pointed out that many of the people signed in supporting the legislation are members of the state chamber.

A lot of these folks are dark money folks, she said, referring to efforts by that group to block legislation which would require groups who run so-called independent expenditure campaigns for and against candidates to disclose the source of their cash. Ulmer, who represented the Yuma area, also chided lawmakers for pushing to curb the ability of citizens to propose their own laws under what they claim is a desire to ensure the process is fair.

If you're going to erode the constitution, don't stand up and talk about integrity, she said.

Joanne Mizell, a volunteer with the Humane Society of the United States, told lawmakers it's not like those who craft initiatives are purposely looking to sidestep the legislative process.

She said putting something on the ballot is both expensive and time-consuming. Mizell said they went the ballot route only after lawmakers ignored their requests.

The result, she said, are voter-approved laws banning the use of leghold traps, outlawing cockfighting and prohibiting the use of tiny gestation pens by farmers raising pigs.

Clark had his own take on what he sees as selective vision about what constitutes fraud and what measures lawmakers should take to prevent it, asking Bogert whether the Restaurant Association supports eliminating the ability of lawmakers to take gifts from lobbyists.

Rep. Bob Thorpe, R-Flagstaff, cut him off, saying that's not germane to the issue. Clark refused to back down.

I'm making a point, he said. It's easy to restrict people's access to the ballot, he said. But when it comes to restricting the lobbyists ... I see nothing but resistance any time anybody wants to have those restrictions.
MINNEAPOLIS | The governors of Minnesota and South Dakota are set to participate in a National Pheasant Summit in Minneapolis Saturday.

Govs. Mark Dayton of Minnesota and Dennis Daugaard of South Dakota will be joined by U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota, the ranking Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee. They'll discuss the process for drafting a new Farm Bill and initiatives for creating wildlife habitat.

The National Pheasant Summit is part of the National Pheasant Fest and Quail Classic organized by Pheasants Forever. The group says Dayton and Daugaard are among the most visible public officials expressing concern over decreasing wildlife habitat in the upper Midwest.

Peterson has called for a big increase in acres protected under the Conservation Reserve Program, which Pheasants Forever supports as a way to restore habitat.
SIOUX FALLS | The union representing Sioux Falls police officers is responding to the mayor's roadblock to back pay.

The Fraternal Order of Police wanted a 3 percent wage increase, but the city offered 1.5 percent. State labor officials ruled the city's offer was fair because of softening sales tax revenues. The new terms will take effect March 13.

Mayor Mike Huether and four City Council members opposed applying the wage increase back to Jan. 1, saying it would hinder future labor negotiations, the Argus Leader reported.

Union representative and attorney Tom Wilka said retroactively paying officers on the contract would not have cost any additional dollars because the money was already budgeted for in 2017.

"Mayor Huether, who ironically is on record in several Sioux Falls City Employee Forums boasting about how city workers are one of his biggest priorities, cast the tie-breaking vote to punish the FOP and its membership for exercising their legal rights during the process, and prevented the amendment from being adopted," Wilka said.

Huether dismissed claims that Sioux Falls overextended itself with recent building projects. The mayor said the investments didn't affect the police's wage increase.

The mayor noted that even though he opposed two months of back pay for local law enforcement, Sioux Falls is still among the best places to be a police officer.

"We do pay our team very competitively. ... But there are all these other wants and needs out there as well so you try to find that balance," Huether said. "I think we certainly did that."
PIERRE | State lawmakers are considering a bill that would require retailers to display the country of origin of beef sold in South Dakota.

The state Senate is scheduled to take up the proposal next week. The Senate State Affairs Committee voted 5-3 Wednesday to send the bill to the floor.

South Dakota Stockgrowers Association executive director Silvia Christen says customers want to know what kind of food they're putting on their plates. She says the bill could help increase demand for U.S. beef.

South Dakota Retailers Association executive director Shawn Lyons says the bill is an unnecessary government mandate that would put a burden on grocers.

It would require stores to designate on a placard the originating country of beef or that the country is unknown.
PIERRE | As home delivery spreads nationally, South Dakota might be ending its ban against alcohol deliveries to retail customers.

Stores licensed to sell alcohol would be allowed to make deliveries on orders of $150 or more within their communities under a measure passed Thursday by the state Senate.

The purchases would need to be made by the buyers in person in stores. The stores would need to get new off-sale transfer licenses.

Delivery drivers would need to be at least 21 years old and be able to provide identification and sign when accepting the delivery.

Delivery to a person younger than 21 would be subject to a fine of $1,000 on the first offense and $2,000 for a second or subsequent offense.

Sen. Deb Soholt, R-Sioux Falls, is the prime sponsor. No one spoke against Senate Bill 143. Senators voted 34-0 for it.

Sen. Jack Kolbeck, R-Sioux Falls, said it gives businesses "one more chance to compete in the marketplace."

The legislation goes to the House of Representatives. The lead sponsor there is Rep. Herman Otten, R-Lennox.

The off-sale ban has been in state law since at least the 1930s.
CUSTER STATE PARK | Embers from slash piles that were burned days earlier grew into a 24-acre wildfire Friday.

It just takes one coal, said Jeni Lawver, of the state Wildland Fire Division and the information officer for the fire.

The fire was reported around midnight, about a half-mile north of Center Lake. The blaze was dubbed "the Playhouse Fire" because it burned along Playhouse Road in the vicinity of the Black Hills Playhouse. No structures were threatened by the flames, Lawver said, and the fire was 35 percent contained by Friday afternoon.

Slash piles are bunches of downed or cut tree limbs, needles and other natural forest debris that are burned to eliminate fuel for wildfires. Lawver said the piles in Custer State Park had been burned more than a week earlier by workers from the park and other agencies, and the piles had been checked regularly since then and were thought to be cold.

Lawver said the fire is a good reminder to authorities and everyone else about the continuing danger of smoldering piles.

Even if you think piles are extinguished, we encourage people to go out and check and recheck, she said.

The Playhouse Fire drew an overnight response from local and South Dakota wildland fire resources, with a privately owned bulldozer. Additional resources responded Friday morning, including the U.S. Forest Service, state Department of Corrections hand crews, and the state Black Hat and Bear Mountain hand crews.

The fire happened one day after an authorized backyard garbage fire in Box Elder escaped and burned 8.2 acres before firefighters brought it under control.

With high temperatures expected to be in the 60s this weekend, the fire danger outlook is moderate to high, according to the National Weather Service. Melting snow is revealing dry, dormant vegetation that could burn easily if sparked.

The weather service said outdoor burning, where permitted, should be restricted to early morning or evening hours, when wind speeds are typically lower and the relative humidity is higher.
U.S. Sens. John Thune and Mike Rounds welcomed South Dakota School of Mines & Technology President Heather Wilson to Washington, D.C., this week as she awaits confirmation to lead one of the nation's military branches.

Wilson is President Trump's nominee for secretary of the Air Force. She has been at Mines since June 2013.

Thune met with Wilson on Wednesday.

"Shes got a great local understanding of the issues that are important to South Dakota," Thune said, adding that Wilson "works closely with Ellsworth Air Force Base on projects now and understands how important that base is to our national security interests."

Rounds took his turn Thursday and said, "While I am selfishly disappointed she wont be continuing to serve SDSM&T, our states loss is our countrys gain."

Wilson graduated from the Air Force Academy and served in the Air Force from 1982 to 1989.
A national group is providing a bit of comfort at the courthouse steps.

Courtside Ministries was set up with a table full of Christian pamphlets and offering to pray for anyone walking by the Coconino County Superior Courthouse on Monday.

Rev. Jim Singleton, the director of the group, said the organization was started in 2009 by Colorado Springs attorney Tyler Makepeace.

Makepeace practiced family, criminal and juvenile law and did adoption work, Singleton said. Makepeace realized that the justice system might be able to resolve his clients legal problems but it didnt resolve the real source of their problems, the need to turn their lives around or make them better.

A born-again Christian, Makepeace began to share his faith with his clients, praying for them before and after court appearances and encouraging them to go to church, Singleton said. He didnt really care which church they picked, he just wanted them to try it out.

Singleton said Makepeace started to see an improvement in his clients lives. He had more clients that were getting their lives back together and noticed that they were having fewer problems that sent them to the courthouse.

When he told people what he was doing and what was happening, they would ask him, Arent you worried about losing clients? Singleton said.

Makepeace would tell them that it actually brought him more clients because more people were referred to his office.

Makepeace wanted to expand his outreach and asked the presiding judge at the courthouse if he could set up a table in the courtyard and offer to pray for people walking by or entering the courthouse. The judge granted his request and soon Makepeace became a fixture outside as well as inside the courthouse. He recruited volunteers to help him in his cause, including Singleton.

After achieving success in Colorado Springs, Makepeace wanted to expand the program nationwide and traveled to the headquarters of the Christian Legal Society in Chicago. In Chicago, Makepeace and Singleton met Mike Kienapple, a businessman and ordained pastor. Kienapple helped launch Courtside Ministries nationwide.

The organization now has 48 tables set up in eight states, including four tables in Arizona: one in Prescott, two in Phoenix and now one in Flagstaff, Singleton said. At each location, the organization asks for permission before setting up from the presiding judge and reaches out to local churches for volunteers.

We dont force ourselves on people. We just ask them as they walk by if they want us to pray with them or pray for them, Singleton said.

Some people accept and some dont, he said. The group isnt a part of any church and doesnt promote any specific church, but tries to get information on and partner with local churches to provide people with information and collect volunteers for the table.
Recently, merchants went to the City Council to discuss the problem of crime and threats to customer safety in downtown Rapid City. Interestingly, the comments from the mayor and police chief in response to the merchants centered on the problems of homelessness, alcoholism and public nuisance disorder.

When I read the mayor's and police chiefs responses, it occurred to me that the issues presented by the merchants had been misidentified. The mayor and police chief were identifying the articulated issues as social welfare problems in need of social services solutions, rather than crimes committed against merchants or customers.

For example, Mayor Allender said: "The panhandling is a social service issue. It is not a law enforcement issue. Law enforcement officers are equipped both physically, mentally and through their education to deal with disorder, crime and investigation, bringing people to justice. And the act of being a drunk, being a panhandler, being a nuisance does not clearly fall within that scope of expertise they have."

I disagree. Police officers can effectively deal with these matters if so directed. Having 47 years of law enforcement and community policing experience, I believe the mayor and police chief turned the focus from solving crime and disorder to finding solutions to complex social issues. What ever happened to the KISS method? Keep it simple.

In my opinion, the resolution of crime and disorderly conduct in downtown Rapid City must come before any attempt to resolve social issues. I believe aggressive and visible policing will have a tremendous long-term impact on the adverse social behavior that makes life difficult or downright dangerous for business owners and citizens. We should aggressively arrest and detain public drunks, panhandlers and nuisance criminals, rather than simply identifying those folks as the homeless who need social services assistance. Make a lawful environment the norm of the community. That, I think, is what the downtown merchants expect and Rapid Citys citizens deserve.

One such strategy we might utilize in Rapid City is based on the broken window's theory of crime. It postulates that crime is likely to flourish in areas with high levels of physical and social disorder. It entails the use of broken windows policing, also known as disorder policing, to reduce crime by improving order and legal compliance in problem areas. The program uses a problem-oriented policing approach to concentrate specifically on the reduction of nuisance crime, in combination with a hot spots policing approach to target specific high-crime areas.

The program works. In the mid-1990s, Mayor Giuliani changed the mission of the New York Police Department to attack and target public nuisance crime. No longer were public drunks, panhandlers, or people with Squeegees allowed to stop traffic, and no longer were true homeless people allowed to sleep on the streets or in public parks. This program effectively changed the targeted areas of Manhattan into the new Broadway district, promoted tourism, and dramatically reduced both violent and non-violent crime.

To begin this process here, we must first properly identify the problem. How have we identified the problem presented to us by the downtown merchants? Are the merchants complaining that people are homeless? Is it drunkenness that is the issue, or crimes committed by intoxicated individuals? Is the problem the panhandler or the nuisance crime and harassment of citizens committed by the panhandler?

If we dont properly identify these criminal acts as a police problem rather than social issue that requires us to cure the actor we are on the way to the loss of tourism, a place of civil respect and a safe place for our families and children, certainly something the downtown merchants, as well as our entire community want to avoid.
The snow may be melted in forests along Highway 180, but Coconino County Supervisor Art Babbott hasnt forgotten about the corridors snowplay woes: the hours-long traffic backups, the trash left scattered throughout the forest and the frustrations of Fort Valley residents as visitors flood into their neighborhoods and tromp across their properties.

I have been consumed with Highway 180 recreation management issues, Babbott said in an interview Wednesday. Not only are the traffic, trash and trespassing problems persisting but some are getting worse  for the first time this year, cars were backed up going into the corridor, not just coming home at night, he said.

As the local elected official whose district includes the Fort Valley and Baderville areas, Babbott has become a main point of contact for residents with concerns and complaints.

Hours of conversations with residents as well as local government agencies point toward the need for a new level of action, Babbott said. The easier, short terms solutions like timing traffic lights on Milton Road have been exhausted, he said. Even the new Flagstaff Snow Park at Fort Tuthill, which saw 18,800 visitors over the 25 days it has been open this winter, hasnt seemed to put a dent in traffic heading north of Flagstaff.

The next set of solutions to truly address the winter snowplay problem are likely going to be expensive and impactful and people need to be ready for that, Babbott warned.

But Babbott said he doesnt want to move forward on any strategy without public input, so he is organizing a public forum on March 30 that will bring together agencies like the Forest Service, the Arizona Department of Transportation, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the county and the city.

Called Grappling with Gridlock, the forum will be free and open to the public with a goal of gauging what are people willing to do that quite frankly no one wants to do because we're past the easy stuff, Babbott said. More details have yet to come about the forum's time and location.

Possibilities that are currently on the supervisor's radar include assessing fees to drivers heading to Highway 180-area winter recreation activities and requiring winter recreation businesses operating on the national forest to charge a per-user fee. Those revenues could help fund public safety improvements, congestion mitigation, snowplay trash cleanup and an alternative access route to the Highway 180 recreation corridor, Babbott said.

The second access route is important, Babbott said, not only to relieve snowplay traffic but also for an alternative ingress and egress point in the case of a wildfire in the area.

That alternate route could mean a bypass road or it could mean using existing unpaved roads that wind between Highway 180 and Interstate 40, he said.

Alternate corridors is alternate corridors  its not new four-lane roads, Babbott said, adding that the Arizona Department of Transportations five-year budget for new capital improvements in the region is $0.

The only way we're going to solve and address these local challenges are with locally driven solutions and funding sources, he said. We cannot count on Phoenix or Washington to be the driver of our solutions.

Other ideas Babbott mentioned are Forest Service road use permits that would allow for alternate ingress and egress, increased private sector management and other forms of concessionaire contributions.

On his own, Babbott also is meeting with the governors office, the Forest Services regional office in Albuquerque and senior managers with the Arizona Department of Transportation.

No new problem

Carl Taylor was Babbotts predecessor, and worked on the snowplay traffic conundrum throughout his eight years in the supervisor seat. The severity of traffic backups seem to have eased over the years, which shows recent efforts have made some improvement, Taylor said.

Like Babbott, Taylor was involved in far-reaching discussions about potential solutions to the Highway 180 winter snowplay traffic problem. One of those ideas was to form a winter recreation authority that would implement several actions when snowplay traffic was expected to get bad. A vehicle limit on Highway 180 could go into effect, for example, or people would be directed to park at Northern Arizona University, then board shuttles that would take them to snowplay sites and various stops in town. Other components include a radio station that would give condition updates and suggest snowplay locations, construction of a reversible lane along Highway 180 and a strictly enforced policy against parking on the shoulders of the highway.

Some of those ideas deserve further discussion, Taylor said.

He said he likes the direction Babbott is headed with potential solutions and agreed that people need to know there are costs associated with effective action. He did warn that the work it would take to turn Forest Service roads into an all-season alternate route between Highway 180 and Interstate 40 would take years.

There is a huge amount of bureaucracy on any project that involves federal land, even if everybody is in agreement, Taylor said.

He supports Babbotts goal with the March forum.

I think Arts approach about you may not like this but lets talk it through and get consensus is a good approach, Taylor said.
MOSCOW, February 17 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko)  Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny and his accomplice Pyotr Ofitserov have appealed their new sentences in Kirovles embezzlement case, RAPSI learnt from Navalnys lawyer Vadim Kobzev.

On February 8, Navalny was found guilty of organizing embezzlement at the Kirovles timber company and received a 5-year suspended sentence, while another defendant in the case, Pyotr Ofitserov, received a 4-year suspended sentence. Additionally, they were fined 500,000 rubles ($8,500) each. According to Navalnys spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh, he has already paid the 500,000-ruble fine in the case following the first trial.

The court held that their guilt had been proven.

Earlier, prosecutor demanded a 5-year suspended sentence for Navalny and a 4-year suspended term for Ofitserov. The court was also asked to impose fines on both defendants. Defense in turn urged to acquit Navalny and Ofitserov.

Navalny in his final speech pleaded not guilty and said that the case against him had been framed up. He added that he would appeal guilty verdict in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and Russias Supreme Court.

In November, the Supreme Court overturned sentences against Navalny and Ofitserov in Kirovles embezzlement case and sent it for retrial. The court delivered the ruling taking into consideration the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

In February 2016, ECHR held that the applicants right to a fair trial had been violated and ordered Russian authorities to compensate Navalny with 48,000 of legal costs and Ofitserov with 22,000. Additionally, Russia was obliged by court to pay 8,000 euro each in damages.

Russias Justice Ministry filed a request seeking referral of the case to the Grand Chamber of the Strasbourg Court, but it was dismissed.

Navalny was given a five-year suspended sentence for embezzlement at the Kirovles timber company in July 2013. Later, Moscow's Lyublinsky District Court increased a probation period for him to 5.5 years. Ofitserov received a four-year suspended sentence.

According to investigators, while serving on a voluntary basis as an adviser to the Kirov Region governor Navalny organized the theft of over 10,000 cubic meters of timber from Kirovles company between May and September 2009.

Investigators claimed that Pyotr Ofitserov, then Director of Vyatka Timber Company, and Kirovles CEO Vyacheslav Opalyov were involved in the scheme. Proceedings against Opalyov were treated as a separated criminal case after he had admitted his guilt.
Rosneft settles dispute with Transneft over oil transfer services out of court

MOSCOW, February 17 (RAPSI)  Russias largest oil producer Rosneft has settled a dispute with Transneft oil company over allegedly unlawful cancellation of oil transfer services provision out of court, TASS news agency reports on Friday citing representative of Rosneft.

According to the agencys source, two companies have reached an agreement over lowering of acceptable losses rates. He added that Rosneft had also settled its dispute with Bashneft.

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 would 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 noted that Rosneft had not provided 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.
House arrest extended for RusHydro ex-head, chief accountant

MOSCOW, February17 (RAPSI) - Moscow's Basmanny District Court on Friday extended the house arrest of Yevgeny Dod, chairman of the management board of hydroelectric power giant RusHydro, and Dmitry Finkel, chief accountant of the company, who stand charged with 73 million rubles ($1.2 million) embezzlement, RAPSI reported from the courtroom.

The defendants will stay under house arrest until May 22.

In late December, the court replaced the defendants detention with the house arrest upon the investigators motion. Investigator said that RusHydro ex-head had reimbursed the company for alleged damage.

According to the Investigative Committee, in 2013, Dod awarded himself a bonus for his work in RusHydro of 353.2 million rubles (about $5.5 million), overestimating therefore its amount by 73 million rubles.

Dod and Finkel pleaded not guilty. Dod expressed his willingness to reimburse the company for alleged damage.

On August 1, 2016, Moscow's Basmanny District Court ruled to seize assets belonging to Dod and members of his family. On September 5, the Moscow City Court lifted seizure on assets of Dod's wife and sent the claim for reconsideration.

Dod left RusHydro at his own request in August 2015.
Russian priest charged with pedophilia to stay in jail till May 21

ST. PETERSBURG, February 17 (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov)  The St. Petersburg City Court on Friday extended the detention of Russian priest Gleb Grozovsky, who stands charged with sexual abuse of children, RAPSI learnt from the courts press service.

The hearing was held behind closed doors.

According to investigators, Grozovsky committed several crimes against minors in 2011 and 2013.

In 2013, he fled to Israel and applied for citizenship. However, his application was dismissed.

In April 2014, Grozovsky was put on the international wanted list. Israeli police arrested him in September. In January 2015, a court in Jerusalem ruled that the priest should be extradited to Russia pursuant to the European Convention on Extradition. The ruling was appealed, but rejected. In April 2016, the Justice Minister signed an order on Grozovskys extradition.

In September 2016, the priest was extradited from Israel.

Defense lawyers claim that charges against Grozovsky are politically motivated.
Bill on prison sentence for endangering doctors lives reaches State Duma

MOSCOW, February 17 (RAPSI)  The Moscow City Duma submitted to the lower house of parliament a bill introducing prison sentences for infringement on life of medical personnel, according to the State Duma database.

Amendments are proposed to Russias Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code.

Under the bill, punishment for the use of not life threatening force or threat of violence against doctors would range from fines of up to 200,000 rubles ($3,000) or a convicts income over the period of up to 18 months to imprisonment of up to 5 years.

Use of violence dangerous to health would be punished with prison terms of up to 12 years.

Endangering the life of health workers connected with discharge of their professional duties on rendering medical aid would result in prison terms varying from 12 to 20 years plus further supervised release for up to 2 years or life imprisonment.

The bill also envisages that investigation into such offences will be conducted by investigators from the Russian Investigative Committee.

Crimes against healthcare professionals on duty were on the rise recently. Russias Interior Ministry is investigating criminal cases launched over intended infliction of light, medium and grave harm to health, battery, threat of murder, robbery.

In August 2016, a radiography specialist was beaten in his cabinet in Orekhovo-Zuyevo town of Moscow Region for refusal to see a patient who jumped the queue. Initially investigators launched a case over intended infliction of medium harm to health, but the case was later reclassified as threat of murder.
In the spring of 1942, following the attack on Russia by Germany, Stalin, decided it was in his best interest to release the Polish soldiers who had been captured when the USSR had invaded Poland in 1939. At that time, the main route out of the Soviet Union was across the Caspian Sea to Persia (now known as Iran).

Several of these Polish units landed in Persia and began the journey through the mountains towards Palestine and Egypt with the intent to reconstitute several Polish companies under the direction of the British Army.

However, there were also locals who wanted to join the fight against the Nazis. One such was a large Persian native, whom the Polish soldiers nicknamed Wojtek (joyful warrior).

Wojtek was very popular with the Polish troops. However, they would have to come up with a scheme in order to get him onto a British transport ship bound for Italy. They decided to officially draft Wojtek into the Polish Army as a private where he would be listed among the soldiers of the 22nd Artillery Supply Company.

Just like the rest of the soldiers, Wojtek had his own pay book, rank and serial number. They even taught him how to salute like a proper soldier. From that point forward, he was included in all official unit rosters.

Two of his closest friends were two young soldiers, Dymitr Szawlugo and Henryk Zacharewicz who would be featured in many of the photos and film footage taken of Wojtek. He would often be found in the kitchen area and being a very large individual, he consumed everything in sight. Unfortunately, he took a liking to the taste of beer and wine along with a fondness for cigarettes, which he would only accept if they had already been lit.

In the spring of 1944, he put his immense strength to good use during the series of assaults known as the Battle of Monte Cassino, one of the bloodiest of the war. He had been trained to carry heavy crates filled with mortar shells. Time and time again, under heavy enemy fire, Wojtek carried the shells from the supply trucks to the men operating the large guns at the front; he never dropped a single crate.

After the battle, he was hailed as a hero and his likeness holding a shell became the official emblem of the 22nd Transport Company. The image was put on companys vehicles, uniforms, and flags.

Following the end of World War II in 1945, Wojtek, along with the rest of the 22nd Company, was transported to Winfield Airfield in Berwickshire, Scotland. Wojtek soon became a popular commodity among local civilians and the press. The Polish-Scottish Association even made him one of its honorary members.

Following demobilization in November 1947, private Wojtek would not return to his native Persia but instead spent the rest of his life in Scotland. He would die a scant 22 years after seeing service in WW II. Perhaps his fondness for wine, beer, and cigarettes cut short a promising life.

Oh, by the way, Wojtek was a 6-foot tall, 400-pound brown bear who was taken in by the Polish soldiers as an orphan cub.
HELENA  The Montana Public Service Commission is disputing NorthWestern Energys recent statement that the utilitys rates are thoroughly reviewed and approved by the Montana Public Service Commission.

Contrary to NorthWesterns claim, the Commission did not approve the latest substantial rate increase that consumers of NorthWestern are experiencing, the PSC said in a press release Thursday.

NorthWestern Energy spokesman Butch Larcombe said the company stands by its statement, adding that he believes the PSC is "splitting hairs."

"We think that statement is correct," he said.

State law allows NorthWestern to automatically increase its rates to pass on the costs of higher property taxes to consumers, the PSC said in its release, and "this is just what NorthWestern did."

"These rate increases went into effect on January 1 without PSC approval," the PSC release says. "The PSC had a number of questions concerning whether NorthWestern was properly allocating those increases to its retail customers. NorthWestern declined to answer those questions, instead automatically implementing the rate increase.

While he didnt have a typical bill to use for an illustration on electrical and natural gas usage, Larcombe said state law allowed the company to add what amounted to about a $2 per month increase in the rate for electricity as a result of last years property tax increase. The cost for natural gas increased by about $4 per month because of higher property taxes, Larcombe said.

As the elected officials responsible for guaranteeing that rates are just and reasonable, the commission is extremely frustrated by existing state law," the PSC release says. "The law as it exists today fails to give customers the protections traditionally provided to those who do not have a choice in the provider of a service they receive from a monopoly. This law, codified at Montana Code Annotated 69-3-308, is being reconsidered in the state legislature."

House Bill 189, now before the Legislature, would remove NorthWestern's ability to automatically pass along property tax increases. The bill is being carried by Rep. Daniel Zolnikov, R-Billings.

"However, the bill is being held up in the House Energy and Technology Committee following vigorous lobbying by NorthWestern, according to the PSC release.

Effectively, NorthWestern is telling consumers in a news release that the PSC approves its rates, even while insisting that legislators resist a bill that would give the PSC powers to do just that in this situation. The commission urges members of the public to contact their legislators on this matter, and for the House energy committee to consider and pass HB189," the PSC release says.

The PSC is also supporting House Bill 193, carried by Rep. Tom Woods, D-Bozeman, which would allow it to establish incentives for NorthWestern to control its purchased power costs. That bill has passed the House and was scheduled for a hearing before the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee on Thursday, March 16, the PSC release noted.

Larcombe said the PSC has a right to try to change the laws its members don't like.

An online petition created to protest NorthWesterns outrageous hikes had received 2,042 signatures as of Thursday evening.

The goal of this petition will be to ensure fair and reasonable utilities for Montana, the petition says. Whether it be regulating Northwestern pricing or changing providers, we deserve a fair rate.

NorthWestern made the statement about the PSC in a Feb. 14 press release explaining high energy bills in Townsend, Radersburg, Toston, White Sulphur Springs, Helena and East Helena. The company said thousands of customers who had been under-billed for their energy usage are now receiving abnormally high bills to make up the difference, not because of a rate increase.

In January 2016, NorthWestern experienced technical issues with meter reading equipment in some areas of its Helena Division, the company said in its release. As a result, some customers received January bills based on estimates rather than actual meter reads. The estimates were based on usage levels in the same time period a year earlier, which was significantly warmer than that same period in 2017.

Larcombe said December was 16 percent colder than normal and January was 26 percent colder.
Local fishermen who have given up on fishing the upper reaches of the Bitterroot River, including the popular West Fork, because of crowding are going to like this news.

Following four long days of deliberations, a diverse volunteer committee has agreed on an alternative that will set aside portions of the river to non-commercial use on specific days.

There was consensus on the alternative, said Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Regional Fisheries Manager Pat Saffel. I actually didnt expect that.

The 16-member Bitterroot River Recreation Advisory Committee will meet one more time to finalize their preferred alternative before passing it off to state officials. That meeting is tentatively set for March 6 at 6 p.m. at the Bitterroot Forest Supervisors office in Hamilton.

The proposed preferred alternative uses a plan similar to whats already in place on the Big Hole River.

It divides the West Fork and upper Bitterroot River into four sections.

The section just below Painted Rocks Dam would be set aside for non-commercial wade fishermen one day a week. It runs from the dam to an unnamed fishing access site directly across from the Bitterroot Forests West Fork Ranger Station thats commonly called the Canoe fishing access site.

Floating would not be allowed on that section on that designated day, to provide more opportunity to fishermen who enjoy getting their feet wet while casting a fly.

The next section would start at the Canoe site and run downstream to Hannon. The other two sections would run between fishing access sites at Hannon to Darby and then Darby to Wally Crawford.

Each one of those sections of river would be closed one day a week on consecutive days to commercial outfitters. The days when the closures would occur have not yet been determined.

Those closures would mean that local anglers would not have to compete with outfitters three days a week on different sections of the river.

Saffel said the section between Canoe and Hannon is considered a day-long float. The lower two sections take about a half-day to float.

The proposed alternative would also limit outfitters to two launches a day at the access sites open to commercial fishing.

At this point, were not certain on how that actually would be administered, Saffel said.

The committee is also proposing that all outfitters that use any portion of the Bitterroot River would be required to obtain a special recreation permit.

They want that to apply to whole Bitterroot River, Saffel said. It would provide an accounting of outfitters using the river, including how many days theyre on the river.

The new permit would not limit commercial use beyond whats already being proposed on the upper reaches of the river.

Saffel said the committee recognized there would be some displacement of angling pressure by the proposed regulations on the upper reaches.

They were wary of pushing that use around on the river, Saffel said. The permits would be a tool in helping understanding that new dynamic.

Those special recreation permits for outfitters are already required on other state rivers, including the Blackfoot and Madison.

Safell said there was some interest from the committee in capping the number of outfitters allowed to float on the Bitterroot River.

To be able to address that question, we have to know how many outfitters are out there now, he said.

Beyond this preferred alternative, Saffel said the committee has created five other alternatives that the public will have a chance to consider when the draft environmental analysis is released later this spring or early summer.

There would not be any changes to the current management this summer.

By the time we get through the entire process, it will be in the middle or end of the fishing season. Its going to be next year," Saffel said.

The public will get its chance to weigh in during a public comment period and at least one public hearing. After that, the proposal will go before the Montana Fish and Game Commission.

Safell said its difficult to guess just how long the entire process will take.

A lot of that depends on how much comment we receive and how much consideration there is on the different alternatives, he said.

Safell said there has been some concern from the public that the process to develop the alternatives was rushed.

We had four intensive, long days working this with a 16-member committee, he said. Each one of them spent 30-plus hours working on it. I think there has been a lot of thought put into this proposal and there will be a lot more.

We are not hurrying this along, Saffel said. I think we have a really good start. Now, well see what people think.
In-state college students are still likely to see an approximately $1,000 increase in tuition after the education appropriations subcommittee made final budget cuts to higher education on Thursday.

The Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education is left with a $23 million hole, which will have to come from tuition revenue. While the joint committee is finished making cuts, the education section of the budget can be altered by House Appropriations or Senate Finance and Claims.

After finalizing significant cuts, some legislators disagreed on whether higher education can function with more cuts.

A motion to cut an additional $28.9 million from the OCHE budget was proposed by Rep. Tom Burnett, R-Bozeman, but failed. Tyler Trevor, deputy commissioner at OCHE, said the cut would have decimated the university system.

The cut was also opposed by Sen. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, who said students are already struggling to access higher education. He said he couldnt in good conscience support a motion to further increase tuition.

Even what were doing today, if we dont come up with $12 million extra, were going to hit tuition at 23 percent, he said. Even where were at its already enormous. I cant support doing this to the kids that would be impacted.

The $23 million hole is the result of the 5 percent cuts applied to most state agencies and additional reductions specific to OCHE.

Once budget cuts are made, OCHE decides how they make up the deficit. Since most campuses are already operating on a lean budget, OCHE would have to raise tuition to avoid cutting critical academic programs. The Board of Regents decides the actual cost of tuition, not the Legislature.

As a result, students will see more than a 20 percent increase in tuition. Trevor said in-state residents on average will see an increase of about $1,000 a year to make up the deficit.

It was not a win in terms of tuition effort, Trevor said.

The committee decided to fund several exchange programs giving Montanans access to professional programs not available in the state. WWAMMI, a regional medical education program through the University of Washington, allows students to stay in Montana for the first part of their schooling. The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education funds reciprocal programs for students from western states to attend an out-of-state college with reduced tuition. A third program protects an agreement with the University of Minnesota Dental School to reserve a limited number of openings for Montana residents.

Although the programs are mostly supported with federal dollars, they are only eligible for those grants if the state chips in $564,563.

These amounts are what is necessary to keep the program viable, Jones said. We recognized it needs dollars in the front end to keep it alive.

Now the budget will move to House Appropriations and eventually to Senate Finance and Claims where changes can be made to either increase funding or make reductions. Trevor said he doesnt expect to see any additions in the house, but is hopeful Senate Finance and Claims will add the $12 million to minimize the tuition increase.

Mariah Welch, a student at the University of Montana, said the tuition increase would force her to take out additional student loans and possibly cut back on the number of credits shes taking, which would prevent her from graduating on time.

Welch is an Associated Students of the University of Montana senator, and said shes heard from multiple students who would be unable to stay in school. She also worries a tuition increase would cause particular trouble in Missoula, where a falling enrollment has left the campus to make tough budget cuts.

I think this could definitely drive students away, she said.
HELENA  Counties cant afford to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to care for animals who have been seized in animal abuse cases and the costs should be covered by a bond paid by the person who had the animals.

Thats what supporters of a bill to let a court set the amount a person must pay to counties who must care for their animals while their trial proceeds told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.

The cost of seizing 200-plus dogs is off the chart, said Mark Murphy, who represents the Montana County Attorneys Association and worked for Yellowstone County when 200 dogs, 27 chickens, 10 cockatiels and three cats were seized from Shady Lane Kennels in Ballantine, run by Linda Kapsa.

This case cost the county $300,000 and would have cost a million unless we had huge numbers of volunteers who come in. Dogs take constant care. It is a massive undertaking.

Senate Bill 203 is carried by Sen. Nels Swandal, R-Wilsall.

Others who spoke in support of the bill included the Human Society of Western Montana and operators of animal shelters around the state. They all shared stories about seizure cases in their communities that costs tens or hundreds of thousands to house animals that often needed medical care.

Counties are limited in what they can do with seized animals because they are property of the person accused of abuse or hoarding until the person is either found guilty or acquitted. Swandals bill would create a process that would set a civil hearing before the criminal trial within 21 days of the seizure.

The hearing would determine whether the seizure was justified. The state would present evidence and the respondent could call witnesses and cross-examine the state. A judge would rule on the validity of the seizure and, if it was found proper, set a bond that would be renewed every 30 days to pay for the care of the animals.

Swandal also said a proposed amendment would require a trial within 30 days, something most who testified said wouldn't be possible given district courts already overloaded schedules.

Opponents included livestock groups who worried the bill didnt do enough to ensure it wouldnt affect their operations and expressed concern over requiring a bond before someone has been found guilty.

Nicole Rolf, representing the Montana Farm Bureau Federation, said bureau members worry the bill could be expanded to their businesses.

Its important this provision not be allowed to someday be applied to all livestock, she said. I'm concerned someone could misinterpret a commonly accepted agricultural practice as abuse ... and those animals could be confiscated.

The committee took no action Thursday.
HELENA  Dustin Schneemann, 17, was driving his younger brother and a nephew in June 2011 when he picked up his phone to text.

He lost control of his vehicle, went through the road sign, then a fence and finally came to rest, his mother Leona Schneemann of Forsyth said Tuesday. A few days after his accident, we received his cellphone. Three letters ended my sons life: lol.

The passengers lived. During testimony Tuesday, Schneemann urged the House Judiciary Committee to pass House Bill 380. The measure to ban texting while driving also was supported by doctors, pediatricians, auto manufacturers, AAA, AT&T, commercial truck drivers, the Montana Highway Patrol and the Montana Department of Transportation. No one spoke in opposition to the bill.

Driving is serious business. There is no room for error. It requires our full attention, MDT Director Mike Tooley said, noting there were about 7,000 crashes in Montana in 2015 that were the result of distracted driving, including 80 deaths and about 200 linked to cell phone use.

Highway Patrol Lt. Col. Jason Hildenstab suspected hundreds or thousands more of those crashes involved texting because he said drivers will rarely admit what distracted them when they wrecked, and subpoenas to prove cell phone use are only sought if a death or serious injury resulted.

Nationwide, the number of traffic deaths rose 7 percent between 2014 and 2015, according to the latest federal figures. It is the largest single-year increase in decades and one that many experts link to an 8.8 percent increase in distracted driving incidents over the same period.

Rep. Virginia Court, D-Billings, said her bill would be a first step toward reducing the number of crashes and deaths. She carried a similar bill last session that was more expansive, broadly banning handheld cell phone use rather than just texting. It passed the House but died by one vote in the Senate, with a colleague later telling her his no vote was a mistake.

A week after I got home from session in 2015, I picked up this article out of the Billings Gazette: Texting driver crashes into Laurel police vehicle,' she said, holding up a copy as she read. The texting driver crashed head on into a Laurel police car after going across two lanes of traffic and jumping two curbs.

She described texting as being more dangerous than other forms of distracted driving, such as eating or making a phone call, because not only are you not paying full attention, but at least one hand is taken off the wheel and the drivers gaze is removed from the road. The use of voice-activated assistants, such as Siri, or other hands-free tools to send texts would not be banned under the proposal.

We love our freedoms we have in this state, she said. But does that freedom put others at risk?

It is unclear whether the bill will advance out of committee this year. Statewide cellphone bans, partial or targeted, have failed to reach the governors desk every session since at least 2001.

Last month, the House Judiciary voted 10-9 to approve a bill that would have gone a step in the opposite direction and overturned the cellphone bans created by several Montana cities. That measure later died in the House.
HELENA  In a two-day budget presentation, attorneys from the Office of the State Public Defender gave frustrated testimony, with some saying they were so overburdened they fear losing their license.

Chief Public Defender Bill Hooks presented the agencys budget challenges, including high staff turnover and an increasing caseload, to the Judicial Branch, Law Enforcement and Justice subcommittee on Monday and Tuesday.

Instead of using OPD's prior budget as a starting point, the 2015 Legislature made a rare decision to rebuild the agency's one-time-only budget from scratch. Now OPD officials are responsible for explaining why the committee should build back each section of their budget for the next biennium.

Over the interim, OPD created a mitigation plan to address a $3.5 million shortfall and improve future efficiency. The Legislature also created a task force to study OPD and draft reform legislation. Several of those bills, including one to hire an agency director to oversee the reform, are making their way to the governor.

Even with the mitigation plan, which took measures such as eliminating contract attorneys in certain regions and implement a hiring freeze, attorneys said their caseload is too high to adequately provide the competent and effective representation that's required. Some attorneys said the mitigation plan didnt solve anything and asked the committee for resources to run an efficient agency while giving clients quality representation.

Alisha Backus, a public defender in the Kalispell office, said shes required to take all types of cases even though she only has a year and a half of experience. Right now, shes the lead counsel on a deliberate homicide case. Because the agency eliminated contract attorneys to save money, Backus is required to practice in five courts. She often spends six hours driving from Kalispell to Eureka and Libby to represent her clients.

Her caseload averages twice the recommended amount, and she works every weekend to make sure she provides required representation, although she said its often the bare minimum.

Im terrified everyday that I go to work that Im going to lose my license, Backus said. My stress is through the roof.

Nicole Gallagher, an attorney in Billings, said her office is down five or six attorneys. The bar recommends attorneys handle 150 felony cases per year, which Gallagher said shell easily surpass.

Because of the hiring freeze in the mitigation plan, Gallagher said shes not able to manage her caseload and is also worried about losing her license.

If Im not giving competent and effective representation, that is a license issue, she said. Its frustrating that were discussing budget cuts to our office when its abundantly clear the criminal justice system is growing.

Attorneys also came to the committee to emphasize the importance of their work and the benefit of employing social workers to help attorneys navigate issues such as a homeless client or a child who might testify against a parent.

Rachel Wanderscheid said shes been in the Helena OPD office for three months, but has struggled to help clients with issues beyond the legal system. Because attorneys often function as social workers without professional training, Wanderscheid said attorneys leave OPD for private practice.

Thats because of the emotional level of this work that doesnt exist in other types of law, she said. I dont want to be that type of person.

The committee has the option to approve the governors request for approximately $67 million, modify his proposal, or start over and do something unique. While agencies across the board were asked to submit a 5 percent budget reduction plan as a starting point, no other action has been taken by the committee. Executive action is scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
HELENA  People who spoke in opposition to a bill that would limit where drones can fly said they were worried the legislation, if not amended, would prohibit the production of films and the use of aircraft by companies like railroads who use the technology to inspect their track.

AT&T uses drones to inspect its wireless towers, company lobbyist Mark Baker told the Senate Judiciary Committee, which heard the bill Tuesday.

Its a much safer approach than sending personnel up on the tower for initial review," he said.

Senate Bill 170 is being carried by Rep. Steve Hinebauch, R-Wibaux. As written, it creates a civil penalty for anyone who flies a drone over private property below 500 feet. Most drones cannot fly above that altitude, either because of how they are built or Federal Aviation Administration regulations.

In Eastern Montana, Hinebauch said hes seen drones used to harass property owners.

Its people coming down and snooping on industry to a certain extent, he said. There were pipeline people that had some anti-pipeline people flying down with drones  trying to be an obstacle as far as building pipeline.

Proposed amendments would allow drones to fly for commercial purposes and land surveying, and exempt law enforcement and insurance companies. They would also increase the fine, which is set at a minimum of $500, to $2,500 for those who fly over a critical infrastructure facility.

If you dont have a right to be on the surface, you shouldnt be on the air above that property, said Chuck Denowh, representing United Property Owners of Montana, who spoke in support of the bill.

Most who opposed the bill said they may support it if the amendments are adopted.

Steve White, of Bozeman, has flown drones for more than 20 years. He said the FAA already has good rules on the commercial use of drones and that requiring people who use drones recreationally to register their vehicles would do more to protect rights than what the bill proposes.

If somebody is a peeping Tom and somebody is using a drone for that, the first thing he needs to do is have it registered."

Others expressed concerns about if a drone was blown onto private property or other accidental trespass.

Sen. Jen Gross, D-Billings, asked Hinebauch if hed be open to an amendment that permitted drones flown by news organizations or film crews. Hinebauch said he couldnt say without seeing a draft, but emphasized his goal to protect property rights.

A news organization does not have the right to just enter your backyard or your home to film a news segment. They have to ask permission. They should have to ask permission to fly a drone above your property as well.

The committee took no action Tuesday.
Asthma UK reveals the worst ways asthma can get in the way of love, and top tips to take back control

Relationships on Female First

If asthmas killing the passion in your love life  youre not alone! In an Asthma UK survey, over two-thirds (68%) of people said their asthma gets in the way of their sex life, while almost half (42%) have turned down a date or avoided sex completely because of worries about symptoms.

Worse still, of the 544 people surveyed, almost three-quarters (73%) admitted they feel embarrassed about using their reliever inhaler on a romantic night out  and as a result could be putting themselves at risk of a potentially life-threatening asthma attack. Definitely not the most desirable way to end a date!

Dealing with date-night triggers

Sometimes just laughing too much on a date can trigger my asthma and leaves me feeling breathless*

Sometimes strong emotions such as stress and anxiety  even laughter  can trigger asthma symptoms. Cigarette smoke, scented candles and strong smelling flowers are also common culprits. To tackle this, try to anticipate any triggers youll come into contact with on a date night so you can avoid them where possible, and remember to keep your reliever inhaler with you so you can treat any symptoms on the spot.

Stop symptoms ruining sex

I often have to stop during sex because Im coughing too much. It really kills the moment*

Theres nothing more embarrassing than breaking into a wheeze or a coughing fit during sex, but lots of people with asthma may experience this. Taking your asthma medicines as prescribed is the best way to prevent symptoms from occurring during any form of exercise  including sex  but its worthwhile booking an appointment with your GP or asthma nurse to check your medicines are working for you.

Tackle inhaler embarrassment

For most people having safe sex is knowing where the condoms are, but for my husband and I its knowing where my reliever inhaler is*

Its not the sexiest look, but your reliever inhaler could save your life if you start getting asthma symptoms. If youre too embarrassed to use it in front of your date or partner, take it to the bathroom for some privacy. If your symptoms dont improve after using your inhaler, refer to your asthma action plan so you can take the right steps to prevent an asthma attack.

No more breathlessness

Sometimes I cant give my boyfriend oral because I cough too much*

If youre having trouble pleasuring your partner because youre having asthma symptoms, it could be a sign you need to book yourself in for an asthma review. Theres no excuse for bad foreplay  not even asthma! You might just need to get your inhaler technique checked to make sure youre getting the most from your asthma medicines.

No more orgasm blues

Ive ended up in hospital because an orgasm set off my asthma*

For some people with asthma, having an orgasm can trigger symptoms which is certainly no fun! If this is you, take back control of your sexual pleasure by making sure youre doing all you can to stay well. This includes attending regular asthma reviews and using an up to date asthma action plan. And dont forget to talk to your GP or asthma nurse  dont worry, theyve heard it all before, and theyll be able to reassure and support you whatever your asthma concerns.

If you have any concerns about your asthma, please call the Asthma UK Helpline on 0300 222 5800 (Mon-Fri; 9am  5pm) to speak to one of our expert asthma nurses.

*Comments provided by respondents in the Asthma and Your Love Life survey
In New York, parts of the construction industry were shut down. Aldo Escura, 50, who owns Infinity Plumbing in Queens with his brother, Nelson, said that he gave his six workers the day off to participate in the protest and send a powerful message: That we fully support the fight for the workers, said Mr. Escura, who immigrated from Paraguay in 1996.

At an Astoria construction site, workers gathered at the end of the day on Wednesday to talk about the planned action.

The supervisor asked us if we were going to work, a 28-year-old carpenter from Cuenca, Ecuador, said in Spanish, giving only his first name, Santiago.

He said about 500 people from several companies were employed at the site, including carpenters, electricians and plumbers.

From Mexico, El Salvador, Brazil. Some wanted to work, others didnt. They talked among themselves, he said. We decided we wouldnt, wed support the cause. The supervisor said, Thats fine, no one works tomorrow.





A 'Day Without Immigrants' callout@nytimes.com Are you staying home for a Day Without Immigrants or know someone who is? Have you seen local businesses closed or short-staffed? Tell us at

Santiago, who has lived in the country for 13 years, said he felt it was an important cause.

If we dont do something, theyre going to send us back.

Angel, 44, an electrician from Quito, Ecuador, who also gave only his first name, said the 30 or so people at his job site in Astoria had also decided not to go to work.

New York Today Each morning, get the latest on New York businesses, arts, sports, dining, style and more. Sign Up Receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services.

Weve talked among us and we say, Yes, there are some people who have made mistakes and committed crimes, but just because of a few, were all going to pay?

Angel said that he would not only sit out the workday but also avoid spending any money. If were going to participate, were going to participate  no shopping.

The action was not limited to Hispanic immigrants: In several blocks in Midwood, Brooklyn, virtually all stores were shuttered on Thursday, as part of a protest planned by Pakistani shop owners. An auto repair shop on Coney Island Avenue posted a handmade sign to the metal shutter: We Are Immigrants.

The driver of a discount shuttle bus outside the Port Authority Bus Terminal, Sam Ahmad, originally from Egypt, said on Wednesday night that he was not going to work on Thursday and many members of his mosque in New Jersey would not, either. Asked why, Mr. Ahmad, 57, said, Because that crazy guy, he said, referring to President Trump. Because Im Muslim and I got a lot of family here. They can get separated, and its not right. Our children are born here and grow up here.

Around the country, restaurants, which often employ many immigrants, were planning to close in support of the action, including the Washington restaurants owned by Jose Andres , the famed Spanish-born chef who has tangled publicly with Mr. Trump before. In Phoenix, the chef Silvana Salcido Esparza, a James Beard Award semifinalist, was planning to close three of her restaurants for the day.

In New York City, the high-end Blue Ribbon restaurant group posted a statement on Facebook and its website that it would be closing the majority of its restaurants. We stand 100 percent behind our employees  whether they are immigrants or born in America, back of house or front of house, the group said.

Mr. Castro, of the day laborers center in Queens, said that he and his members planned to attend City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viveritos State of the City speech in Brooklyn on Thursday afternoon.

Were at a stage where were like, what else is there to do except organize and boycott? he said.
America must return to conservative principles of less government,reduced taxes, less spending and a balanced budget! Cut,cap and balance!
Contacting Rensselaer Adventures

To contact Rensselaer Adventures, send e-mail to rensselaeradventures at yahoo.com. (I put the @ in there originally, and of the first eight messages I received, four were the Nigerian scam and three told me I won a lottery I never entered. Maybe this change is already too late.)



If you want to comment on any specific post, (adding information or correcting a mistake I made) please use the comment area that is available on each post. That way everyone will get to see what you think, not just me.



I would love to hear from you if you have ideas of things I can write about. Even better, if you want to contribute something, I will consider it.



I will not check this address every day, so be patient. (And I almost never check my messages on Facebook, so it you send something there, the odds are that I will not see it for weeks or months.)



Also, I encourage and appreciate comments that are informative or entertaining. However, I delete comments that I think are offensive or inappropriate (which includes spam--I delete a lot of spam).




Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal

ROLPA, Feb 17: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has said the country can reach the stage of socialism as envisioned by the constitution only through economic prosperity and development.

The Prime Minister said this while inaugurating the Rolpa trade and business fair held in Liwang, the district headquarters of Rolpa, today.

He said Rolpa which played a significant role in the political change has high potentials for being developed as a war tourism destination.

Noting that epochal political change had become possible due to the dedication and sacrifices made in the bpast, the PM said proportional representation, federalism, secularism and republic were the assets of those sacrifices.

"I used to come to Rolpa even during the hard and trying days of the war period to energise myself," the Prime Minister reminisced, adding, "now also I have come to Rolpa to ask for the support and cooperation of the Rolpalis for the constitution implementation."

Stating that the credit for his becoming the first Prime Minister of Republic of Nepal goes to Rolpa, the PM pledged to continuously work for the development and transformation of this district.

He shared that the republic was achieved through victory in the political war and that Rolpa has now got representation in key state organs due to its important contribution.

The Prime Minister, who is also the chairman of the CPN (Maoist Centre), stressed that the base for socialism could be built through development and economic progress rather than from revolution and movement.

He also stated that on the one hand there was one side in the country which wanted to prevent political power of the Singha Durbar (centre) reaching the village level and on the other a force that wanted to return back to the past.

Also accompanying the Prime Minister were Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Krishna Bhaadur Mahara and former Finance Minister Barshaman Pun.

The trade and business fair organised by Rolpa Chamber of Commerce and Industry will run until February 23. RSS
Guwahati: Over 3.91 lakh students will appear in the High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) and High Madrasa Examination, 2017 under the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA), which to be started from tomorrow across the state.

SEBA Secretary Kamal Gogoi said that, this year examination will be held at 855 examination centers in the state.

A total of 3,80,665 students will appear in HSLC examination, while 10,547 to appear in High Madrasa.

Meanwhile, to curb the malpractices in HSLC and High Madrasa examination, the state government has decided to enforce section 144 CrPC within a radius of 200 metres from the examination center in this year.

To enforce section 144 CrPC during the examination period, the state government had already issued order to all district administration.

Assam education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that, the state government has taken several measures for smooth conduct of HSLC, High Madrasa and Higher Secondary examination this year.

'It is mandatory to install CCTV in every examination center and evaluation zone. Apart from it, all District Deputy Commissioners and Superintendent of Police will be involved in the entire examination process,'A Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

The minister further said that, SEBA has introduced Optical Mark Reading (OMR) process in the examination first time.

'During the examination period, each Deputy Commissioner will be deployed a trust official other than the education department in every examination centre. If DC found any irregularities during the examination process, he would be powered to cancel the examination of the particular centre,' Sarma said.

The Assam minister also said that, any mobile phone's use being strictly prohibited in the examination centre and if any irregularities found against teacher, then the state government will take action stern action against the violator.

To smoothly conduct the examination process, SEBA has deployed 120 Zonal Supervising Officers, 1100 Supervising Officers, 35 Scrutinizers, 10,000 Examiners and set up 27 Evaluation Zones across the state.

Meanwhile, reports said that, several students of different parts of the state would not able to collect admit cards from the concerned authorities till now.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Kathmandu, Nepal: As Nepal Investment Summit (NIS) is going to be held with the aim to attract foreign investment in mega projects from March 2-3 in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal.

Investment Board Nepal (IBN) has intensified its preparations for the NIS in consolations with the concerned ministries to identify the areas to attract foreign investments in Nepal.

The IBN has said that it would focus on eight large infrastructure projects under four areas as potential venture at the summit even though it has 100 plus schemes under its purview.

According to the IBN, the summit would focus on railway projects, a hydropower project, tunnel highway, an international airport and chemical fertilizer plant.
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sacw.net - 17 Feb 2017

Education has been the major area of work for RSS all through. Since it has a view of Nationalism which is opposed to the concept of Indian Nationalism, it already had made lot of efforts to promote its views through Shakhas, through Sarswati Shishu Mandirs and through Ekal Schools. It has set up organizations to influence the policies in the field of education like Vidya Bharati. It has also started putting its followers in the top positions in Universities and major research institutes of the country. The previous BJP led NDA regime had already started the process of saffronisation by changing the school books and by introducing like courses like Paurohitya (Clergy specialising in rituals) an Karmakand (rituals). (1) The attempt to bring in their view point on ancient, medieval and modern history have been intensified during last few years (from 2014) with BJP being in the seat of power. RSS leaders has been interacting with MHRD ministry to overall change the education system. One can say that the gradual changes in education and forthcoming education policy by BJP is aimed to bringing it in tune with globalisation, privatisation along with Hindutva agenda of Manuwad. (2)

RSS Agenda in Education

The type of education aimed to be introduced aims to change the thinking pattern of the coming generations. The goal is to instil a pattern in consonance with the Brahminical norms, to promote orthodox medieval mind set and to undermine the scientific temper. Now in a recent meeting their leaders are saying that the past governments have written history and other subjects the way they wanted. It was their history. Now its time to teach genuine history and take the education system in the right direction. Their aim is to introduce aProject Bhartiyakarana in education. (3)aa"We have to teach students about our history, our science, our language, our heroes and freedom fighters, but the past governments have portrayed people such as Aurangzeb as great icons. Then again, what else could you have been expected from them," says a Sangh leader who attended the meeting. "Anyway, its time to correct the things." (4)

Recent Moves

Already there are signs that RSS volunteers are out to change the total education system and the content of history, social science and other books. Even before this Government came to power, with the rise of Modi on political firmament, with the perception that he is likely to come to power, the Right wing organizations intensified their offensive against genuine scholarship. Dinanath Batra, by now is a well known name, he has been heading the RSS outfits, Shiksha Bachao Abhiyan Samiti and RSS-affiliated Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas (SSUN) from many decades. He succeeded in pressuring Penguin, the Worldas largest publisher, to pulp Wendy Donigers scholarly book aThe Hindus: An Alternate Historya. This book brings out through the interpretation of mythology the need to understand the caste and gender aspects in a sensitive manner. The history she has focused on goes against the hierarchical mind set of RSS combine and so pressure was put to pulp it. Now Mr. Batra emerges as a writer himself and a set of nine books written by him have been translated in to Gujarati and introduced in 42000 schools in Gujarat. This may be a trial run before doing similar things at larger scale. Former BJP president and present union minister M Venkaiah Naidu explicitly stated as early as last year (June 23, 2013) that ait (the BJP) will change textbook syllabi, if it returns to powera . Batra is also quoted as saying that a nationalistic education system has to be developed to address the requirements and through this we have to develop a young generation that is committed to Hindutva and nationalisma .

aThe sampling of Batraas books gives a good idea of what is in store for us. A quote from one of the set of books, aTejonmaya Bharata, (Radiant Bharat) tells us aAmerica wants to take the credit for invention of stem cell research, but the truth is that Indiaas Dr Balkrishna Ganpat Matapurkar has already got a patent for regenerating body partsaYou would be surprised to know that this research is not new and that Dr Matapurkar was inspired by the Mahabharata. Kunti had a bright son like the Sun itself. When Gandhari, who had not been able to conceive for two years, learnt of this, she underwent an abortion. From her womb a huge mass of flesh came out. (Rishi) Dwaipayan Vyas was called. He observed this hard mass of flesh and then he preserved it in a cold tank with specific medicines. He then divided the mass of flesh into 100 parts and kept them separately in 100 tanks full of ghee for two years. After two years, 100 Kauravas were born of it. On reading this, he (Matapurkar) realized that stem cell was not his invention. This was found in India thousands of years ago. (Page 92-93)

Indian rishis using their yog vidya would attain divya drishti (divine vision). There is no doubt that the invention of television goes back to thisa In Mahabharata, Sanjaya sitting inside a palace in Hastinapur and using his divya shakti would give a live telecast of the battle of Mahabharataa to the blind Dhritarashtra. (Page 64) What we know today as the motorcar existed during the Vedic period. It was called anashva rath. Usually a rath (chariot) is pulled by horses but an anashva rath means the one that runs without horses or yantra-rath, what is today a motorcar. The Rig Veda refers to this. (Page 60)

RSS: Planned Interventions

RSS has already set up a consultative body called Bharatiya Shiksha Niti Ayog (BSNA) to put pressure on Modias government to acorrect or Indianizea the national education system. In the new syllabus aThe passages in the textbooks which pointed out to any unsavoury aspect of the Hindu faith like the oppressive caste system in ancient Hindu society, untouchability of the low-caste people and consumption of beef during Vedic ages were scrapped, and anyone who resisted or opposed the changes was dubbed as anti-national.

With the change of government in Delhi, the leading institutions are having a major policy shift; organisations like the Indian Council of Historical Research, National Council for Education, Research and Training amongst others, as they have got heads whose qualification is not excellence in their disciplines but their proximity to ideology of the ruling dispensation. (5)

These are the institutions which deal with history, education and most of the disciplines related to social sciences. The change of policy seems to be guided by the BJPas parent organisation, RSS, whose political ideology is Hindu nationalism, in contrast to the values of the Indian Constitution, namely, Indian Nationalism.

The broad contours of the new policy are to do what they call Bharatiyakaran of education, promote Hindu icons, appropriate the likes of Ambedkar and to promote non-Christian heritage of North East. In one of the major initiative in this direction Gujarat has introduced the books by Dinanath Batra.

Network for Education

One of the largest chain of private schools in India, catering mainly to lower middle class,A Vanvasi Kalyan AshramA (VKA) specialises in hostels for adivasi children along with other activities andA Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation,A which runs single pre-school teacher centres, where students are taught basic reading and writing of Sanskrit and Sanskrit behaviours, is a clear indicator of RSSas slow but deliberate attempt ofA asaffronisinga A

The Vidya Bharati educational mission is founded on the objective of training children to see themselves as protectors of a Hindu nation. The Vidya Bharati system supervises over 18,000 schools across India, with 1.8 million students and 80,000 teachers. A shared curriculum is used across the country. The Vidya Bharati operates 60 graduate institutions. About 5,000 Vidya Bharatis are endorsed by education boards primarily in states where the Bharatiya Janata Party is in power. Another organisation called Bhartiya Adhyapak Parishad, an offshoot of Vidya Bharti, has trained teachers on the ideology of Hindutva. Bhartiya Itihas Sanklan yojana was set up in 1973 to re-write Indian History of the past 5000 years to prove that theA aAryansaA are indigenous people, not the invaders. Samskar Bharti established in 1982 with the aim of preventing western influence on Indian culture has 900 branches. Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, founded in 1948, was registered in 1949. Its sole objective is to channelize the energy of the students in the task of National reconstruction. Out of 30 Central Universities, it captured 15. Its activists played a major role in the 1992 demolition of Babri Masjid. (6)

Forays in to Ancient History

The Hindu mythology is looked up as a part of history. All the RSS pronouncements like Aryans were the original natives of this land are being given a higher projection. The distorted interpretation of Mohanjo Daro/Harappa being the Aryan civilisation are being presented forcefully and lot of money is being spent in the research of the river Sarswati and to prove the historicities of Ramayan and Mahabharat. These two epics Ramayana and Mahabharata are being given the status of History and attempts are being made to introduce these in the schools as part of the History curriculum. (7 ) The assertions that this civilisation had achieved all the peaks of development in stem cell research, aviation (Pushpak Vimana), Plastic surgery are being brought in as the part of our achievements.

aWe can feel proud of what our country achieved in medical science at one point of time,a the prime minister told a gathering of doctors and other professionals at a hospital in Mumbai on Saturday. aWe all read about Karna in the Mahabharata. If we think a little more, we realise that the Mahabharata says Karna was not born from his motheras womb. This means that genetic science was present at that time. That is why Karna could be born outside his motheras womb.a (8)

The assertions of RSS workers are totally irrational, but being presented strongly by many of them. Modi further said aWe worship Lord Ganesha. There must have been some plastic surgeon at that time, who got an elephantas head grafted on the body of a human being and began the practice of plastic surgerya . From scientific angle it is unrealistic to believe that a mass delivered from uterus can be divided into a 100 pieces. No type of micro-surgery is possible which can lead to splitting of the fertilised ovum? Can a uterus be located near the ear? (9) On Similar lines the claims are multiplying about Cars, Aero-planes being part of this culture. Tejonmaya Bharat by Dinanath Batra best exemplifies as to what is in store for the content of future education in the country. (10 )

Medieval History and Distortions

Similar distortions in medieval period have been made part of the curriculum. Now it is being said that the Qutub Minar was built by emperor Samudragupta and its real name was Vishnu Stambha. At another level, the battles for power between Shivaji and Afzal Khan, the battle between Akbar and Maharana Pratap, Guru Govind Singh and Aurangzeb, were given religious colour.

These changes have come under scholarly criticism from the professional, progressive, secular historians. Even earlier when previous NDA regime made similar changes in books, the termA aSaffronisation of educationaA for this presentation of history was used. Now this process is being done very blatantly. Whie earlier in the face of the criticism, the Murali Manohar Joshi, the then MHRD mininster, the architect of this overt saffronisation, earlier said that the changes in the history books are not saffronisation, it is mere correcting the distortions in the history (April 2003). Now, turning around due to newer political equations, he is owning the same term, saffronisation, as a matter of pride. (11)

It was the British who introduced the Communal historiography in India to pursue their politics of divide and rule. This historiography is a way of looking at the historical phenomenon through the lens of religion. The same history, in a modified way, was picked up by the Hindu and Muslim communalists.In sum and substance, Hindu communalists, Hindu Nationalists presented that India was a Hindu nation from times immemorial, and Muslims and Christians are foreigners here. The Muslim communal history began from the invasion of Sindh by Mohammad bin Kasim bin in 8th century, and claimed that Muslims were the rulers of this land, so the British should handover power to them once they leave. A version of this prevails in Pakistan History books today.

In contrast, those identifying with secular, democratic Indian national movement presented a view of history where the religion of the King was not the main determining factor of his policies. This view was also presented by the leader of freedom movement, Mahatma Gandhi. In his book Hind Swaraj he writes, aThe Hindus flourished under Moslem sovereigns and Moslems under the Hindu. Each party recognized that mutual fighting was suicidal, and that neither party would abandon its religion by force of arms. Both parties, therefore, decided to live in peace. With the English advent quarrels recommenceda Should we not remember that many Hindus and Mohammedans own the same ancestors and the same blood runs through their veins? Do people become enemies because they change their religion? Is the God of the Mohammedan different from the God of the Hindu? Religions are different roads converging to the same point. What does it matter that we take different roads so long as we reach the same goal? Wherein is the cause of quarrelling?a (12)

After getting Independence, in India, while the British-introduced pattern continued for some time, gradually, serious historical research and rational approach started entering the history books. Along with formation of NCERT, the books with rational viewpoint did replace the ones with communal interpretation, in schools, which were having NCERT curriculum. With the coming to power of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in 1998, Dr. Joshi brought in the communalization of curriculum and saffronisation of education. With NDAas defeat in 2004, the Congress-led UPA came to power, and it gradually, and to some extent, restored the spirit of scientific temper and rational thought in education, and to some extent, scrapped the communal version of history in books.

The communal version of history, in a way, is a fiction suiting the political agenda of aReligious nationalisma, whether in Pakistan or India. So, here in India, a Taj Mahal becomes Tejo Mahalay, a Shiv Temple, and the freedom struggle is presented as a religious war against Muslims, Muslim kings are blamed for destruction of temples and spreading Islam by sword. The divisive mindset is promoted for political goals. In books in Pakistan, Muslim Kings are Heroes and Hindu kings nobody!

A This ideological understanding of RSS, all the kings who fought against Muslim rulers are Hindu nationalists. Itas a total distortion of understanding of history as kings did not fight for religion; their fights were for power and wealth. And kings of same religion also had running battles with each other.a

Rana Pratap, being projected as the First Freedom fighter by communal forces is against the truth. The kings before the British rule were fighting to expand or protect their empires. The era of Kingdoms is not comparable with freedom movement. Just fighting against Muslim King is not being a freedom fighter. Freedom struggle was against British rule, when India was coming to become aa nation in the makinga due to industrial, educational and social changes. The era of Kingdoms and logic of Kings can in no way be compared with the Indians coming together to fight the British Empire. Even these kings be it Shivaji or Rana Pratap were neither ruling for religion not for Hindus. Their administration was having both Hindus and Muslims. Their armies were also mixed ones with Hindu and Muslim Generals both, with Hindu and Muslim soldiers both. Rana Pratap had Hakim Khan Sur on his side and Shivaji was having Siddi Sambal and Rustam-e-Jamal amongst others. Shivajias confidential secretary was Maulana Haider Ali. Shivaji had reverence and respect for the holy people like Hazrat Baba and Ambrose Pinto.

Rana Paratpas battle against Akbar was not for religion. It was on the issue of Mansabdari (status in the administration). Rana Pratap was asking for a Das hazari, (ten Thousand) Mansab) while Akbar was offering only Panch Hazari. (Five thousand). Interestingly Akbar never came to Haldi ghati where the battle took place. It was Akbaras commander in Chief Raja Mansingh, assisted by Shahjada Salim, who fought against Rana Pratap. By no stretch of imagination it is anywhere close to a Hindu Muslim battle or a struggle for nationalism. As a matter of fact Tilak and the later genre of Hindu nationalists associating Shivaji with nationalism are totally off the mark as the term nationalism is a recent one coming up with the rise of nation states. The confusion between Kingdoms and nation states opens the window for communalism to infiltrate in a big way.

This distortion of medieval history is the the core around which major part of RSS distortions veer around, The education as being changed by RSS-BJP is changing the total orientation and the presentation of ancient, medieval history and planting fictions as history.

Challenges Today

The nationalism taking the garb of religion is a throw back from the modern democratic norms. The RSS-BJP goal of Hindu Nation is trying to bring a whole world view through education, which is neither correct nor does it lead to uphold the values of Indian freedom movement and Indian Constitution. Its approach to matter of science, mythology and history are totally retrograde. They are against the Constitutionally mandated pursuit of scientific temper. The curriculum and fund allocations for research are being guided by irrational approach at looking at past. The mythical past as presented by the RSS-BJP is a totally communal not rational. Education is the core part of modern society. The approach of RSS-BJP in the field of education need to a criticised from the angle of reason and Indian nationalism.

References:

1. http://insaf.net/pipermail/sacw_insaf.net/2001/001133.html

2. http://www.epw.in/journal/2016/35/commentary/skill-india-or-deskilling-india.html

3. http://www.catchnews.com/politics-news/project-bharatiyakaran-rss-8-point-guide-to-saffronise-education-1442033693.html

4. http://easterncrescent.in/rss-8-point-guide-to-saffronise-education/

5. http://www.countercurrents.org/puniyani291014.htm

6. Hiba Din, YKA, Systematic Saffrinisation India-http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2014/08/problems-systemic-saffronisation-education-india/)

7. http://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/ramayana-mahabharata-are-true-accounts-of-the-periodnot-myths/291363

8. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/28/indian-prime-minister-genetic-science-existed-ancient-times

9. http://www.milligazette.com/news/11344-transplanting-elephant-head-on-human-body-the-magic-of-mythological-fiction

10. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/dinanath-batra-man-behind-pulping-of-wendy-donigers-book-is-mustread-in-gujarat-schools/article6249539.ece

11. http://www.dawn.com/news/1173921

12. https://books.google.co.in/books?id=QG9xAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA53&lpg=PA53&dq=M+K+Gandhi+Hind+Swaraj+he+Hindus+flourished+under+Moslem+sovereigns+and+Moslems+under+the+Hindu.&source=bl&ots=I1f5qN62mC&sig=LomzwGc5C8o0Jc5Egk_ZthiNOFc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjfjqDbvpbSAhXMq48KHfJ8D_cQ6AEIPjAE#v=onepage&q=M%20K%20Gandhi%20Hind%20Swaraj%20he%20Hindus%20flourished%20under%20Moslem%20sovereigns%20and%20Moslems%20under%20the%20Hindu.&f=false
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Indiscreet isotopes reveal the origin of ancient people

To answer the most common question in archaeology - the origin of man - it is helpful to use the increasingly popular method involving the analysis of strontium isotopes. "You are what you eat" - comments on the mechanism of its action Prof. Zdzisaw Beka from the Isotopic Laboratory of A. Mickiewicz University in Poznan.

Isotopes are variations of an element, which contain the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons. Many elements have a few, and some - even several isotopes. In nature, elements are usually mixtures of isotopes.

In the case of strontium, its two isotopes are marked with numbers 86 and 87, indicating their mass, i.e. the total number of protons and neutrons. "The ratio of strontium 87 to strontium 86 in the rocks was determined at the time of their formation in the earth\'s crust - explained in an interview with PAP Prof. Zdzisaw Beka from the Isotopic Laboratory of A. Mickiewicz University in Poznan. - This ratio depends on the age and type of rock. Vegetation growing in a particular place takes the ratio of isotopes of strontium from the local soil. Herbivores take strontium isotope ratio from the consumed plants and water intake. Similarly carnivores and people take the strontium isotope ratio from food intake".

That makes isotopic analysis a convenient tool, often used by archaeologists during research into origins and migrations. "In the case of the +strontium+ method it is really accurate to say that +you are what you eat+" - noted the expert.

Because scientists now have more data on isotopic composition of strontium in different elements of the local environment, measurements of these isotopes in the bones and teeth of ancient people allow to determine whether the deceased originated from the area where they were buried - or perhaps had come from another area, which is characterized by a different isotopic composition.

Riddles of origin can be explained thanks to the support of geochemists, who - in addition to bones - often study tooth enamel and check the ratio of strontium 87 and 86. The results are then compared with the proportions of the same isotopes in the local environment, in plants, soils and rocks. This way, it is possible to determine whether the isotope strontium ratios in human remains are the same as the ratios in the local environment.

Talking about the use of isotopes of strontium, Prof. Beka cited an interesting example of research of archaeologists, who were trying to determine the origin of Viking warriors, stationed for a long time in Denmark, near today\'s Copenhagen. It turned out that most of them came from Norway and from the areas inhabited by the Slavs.

Another example comes from Poland, from the seventeenth and eighteenth-century cemetery in Drawsko on Notec, where some people were buried in a manner characteristic of people accused of drinking blood - vampires. Recently, archaeologists wanted to find out if the buried were local, or perhaps strangers, and therefore branded as alleged vampires. The study of strontium isotopes showed that although migrants had also been buried in the cemetery in Drawsko, all "vampire" burials concerned persons who were born in the area.

Geochemists usually take test samples for strontium isotope analysis from tooth enamel. It is the best material for analysis, because its building mineral it is very stable and formed only until the full development of teeth (in contrast to bones, which continue to change throughout the person\'s life). By examining the ratio of strontium 87 to strontium 86 in the enamel experts are certain to obtain information from a specific stage of life of the deceased - childhood or early youth.

Professor noted that the "strontium" method is suited for research on migration of ancient communities, whose members ate only local products - and not products imported from a distance (as is the case today). Its use therefore makes sense primarily in the study of populations that lived hundreds of years ago and earlier, including the prehistory. In their case, the ratio of strontium isotopes delivered into the body with food was in fact the same as the ratio of these isotopes in the local environment.

According to Prof. Beka, researchers are now able to measure isotope ratios of strontium in the studied materials and tissues with an accuracy of one-thousandth of a percent. That is much more accurate than the precision required for archaeological research, which allows to avoid problems associated with possible statistical errors in the measurements. "We have a knife, which is much sharper than what we need to make a cut. But perhaps in the future we will be able to take advantage of the precision of this method to answer other questions" - suggested the scientist.

When using the "strontium" method in archaeology it is essential to know the natural "background", i.e. the isotopic ratio of strontium in the local environment - emphasised the professor. A few years ago, there were no such data for Poland. This, however, changes rapidly, also thanks to a project co-financed by the National Science Centre. As a result, researchers were able to determine the isotopic composition of strontium in rivers, vegetation and soil in the entire Oder river basin and the Western Pomerania (approx. 40 percent of the area of the country).

Through extensive research we know now that in terms of the isotopic composition of strontium, the area of northern and central Poland, covered with glacial deposits, is clearly different from the areas of southern Poland. Therefore, it is easy to distinguish between people born in Kujawy Pomerania or Mazury - and those that came from Maloposka and Silesia - noted Prof. Beka.

The "strontium" method, just like any other test method, has its limitations - noted the scientist. Although today we are able to perform precise measurements of strontium isotopes, not every result allows for unambiguous archaeological interpretation. Many places have very similar or almost identical composition of strontium isotopes. Therefore, isotopes of strontium do not allow to distinguish between people who came, for example, from the vicinity of Poznan, and those who were born in Kujawy.

PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland, Szymon Zdziebowski

szz/ zan/ mrt/

tr. RL
Institute in Swierk to form part of the European Commission's research infrastructure

National Centre for Nuclear Research signed a cooperation agreement with the Joint Research Centre (JRC). Thanks to the agreement, Polish scientists will have a greater impact on EU policy, including the development of nuclear technologies.

Joint Research Centre (JRC) consists of six scientific institutes in the European Union (institutes in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain). These research centres and headquarters in Brussels form an independent, scientific and technical advisory body for the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the member states. The mission of the JRC Directorate-General is to provide scientific and technical support for the conception, development, implementation and monitoring of European Union policies.

On Monday last week, the heads of six JRC research teams visited the centre in Swierk and met with Polish scientists - the National Centre for Nuclear Research spokesman Marek Sieczkowski reported in a release sent to PAP.

Under the agreement, the National Centre for Nuclear Research has the opportunity to co-create the Joint Research Centre research programs. Polish scientists will participate in the development and coordination of European Union policies, concerning in particular the development of nuclear technology in areas such as energy, economy, cyber security and medicine.

"Cooperation agreement with the JRC is the result of the high international position of Polish scientists and our role in research policies of the European Union - said director of the National Centre for Nuclear Research, Dr. Krzysztof Kurek. - It also opens new opportunities, including the upcoming Horizon 2020 projects".

Kurek added that an example of areas of mutual cooperation may be the development and implementation of new radiopharmaceuticals. "Quick and accurate diagnosis combined with effective treatment is today one of the biggest challenges of medicine. Poland has a lot of success in this area and intends to intensify the work related to the development of nuclear technology for the protection of human health and life" - said the National Centre for Nuclear Research director.

Nuclear medicine is just one of the areas of mutual cooperation in the development of nuclear technology. Further topics include materials research, nuclear safety, radiation protection as well as information and education activities.

These issues were discussed during the visit of European Union experts at the National Centre for Nuclear Research. The work meeting was a prelude to determining the directions of cooperation and undertaking joint scientific projects.

The agreement between the JRC and the National Centre for Nuclear Research was signed on February 2 in Brussels.

PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland

lt/ mrt/

tr. RL
Recently I watched Richard Lester's Royal Flash (1975), starring Malcolm McDowell, for the first time. Adapted by author George MacDonald Fraser from his own novel, it's a broad and sprightly comic adventure that I thoroughly enjoyed.

To be frank, I only purchased Twilight Time's Blu-ray, available since 2013, because it was on sale. I had no memory of the film's U.S. theatrical release in the fall of 1975 and didn't recall any raves about it, either. Also, I've never read any of the acclaimed books by Fraser, a popular series that placed the disreputable Harry Flashman in the center of meticulously researched historical adventures.

But I saw and thoroughly enjoyed The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers, first during their theatrical releases and then again on DVD a few years ago, so I was curious about Richard Lester's next foray into period filmmaking.

Royal Flash did not disappoint. The story begins in 1842, as Captain Harry Flashman (McDowell) has returned from war in Afghanistan to great acclaim, which is quickly shown to be entirely false. In truth, Flashman is a craven materialist who stumbles into fame by chance. He enjoys drinking and gambling and bedding down with any woman who'll have him.

One night as he is doing all those things, a police raid -- led by Bob Hoskins! -- forces him out into the night and he meets real-life entertainer and courtesan Lola Montez (Florinda Bolkan) by chance. At the same moment, he has a testy encounter with the real-life Prussian statesman Otto von Bismarck (Oliver Reed). Flashman enjoys a brief, lusty affair with Lola that comes to a sudden halt, and soon thereafter Lola disappears.

Four years later, Harry is lured to Europe to reunite with Lola, who has become entwined in Bavarian politics. The lure turns into a trap, however, when Harry finds himself "saved" by Rudi Von Sternberg (Alan Bates), who, sadly for Harry, is actually an agent for von Bismarck. Harry is forced to impersonate a Prussian prince who has not been cooperating with von Bismarck's plans, and finds himself married to Duchess Irma (Britt Ekland).

It's a wild and loose adventure, capricious in nature, and filled with tasty episodes, so why was it not received warmly upon release in 1975?

Roger Ebert, for example, wrote in part: "It's so similar in tone and spirit to the musketeers movies that we almost seem trapped in the interminable film. ... it's hard to laugh during whole stretches of the film because what's happening is so violent and spiteful. [Lester] never finds the right tone. ... All the elements are in place, but nothing seems to work and nobody seems much concerned."

Vincent Canby was more favorable, but noted: "If the seams between the gags are beginning to show in Royal Flash, and if the pace seems occasionally a little less than breathless, it may be due as much to our expectations of--and our familiarity with--the Lester method as to any lack of invention on the part of the film makers."

Lester rose to fame with the roughhouse comic antics of A Hard Day's Night and Help!, and also won plaudits for The Knack... and How to Get It, How I Won the War and Petulia. But by 1975, I can see why expectations may have been high.

The primary difference between the Musketeers films, also written by Fraser, and Royal Flash, it seems to me in hindsight, is that Harry Flashman is such a dubious character, yet he's played with such bumbling good humor by McDowell that he's also very likable. There's no true villainy in his soul; it's more like relentless self-interest is his driving force. Even author Fraser allows in an interview included on the disc that Flashman is a more benevolent character on the big screen than in his novel(s).

Even so, that's a major difference from the good-hearted, heroic Musketeers, who put the interests of others ahead of their own. In the early 70s, it was fine for gangsters and con men and drifters to play leading roles in movies, but they had to have a code of honor that, at minimum, protected members of their own family (or gang). Flashman, though, has no such code of honor. His actions are always in behalf of himself and his own best interests.

Perhaps that has scraped people the wrong way back in the day and over the years, or perhaps it's just a feeling that Royal Flash does not represent Richard Lester at his finest. In any event, as a first-time viewer, the movie is a pleasure to watch. On Twilight Time's limited-edition Blu-ray, Geoffrey Unsworth's photography is on gorgeous display, and Terence Marsh's production design is wonderful to behold.

The Blu-ray also carries over two interesting featurettes from an MGM DVD edition released in 2007, as well as an isolated score track, the odd original theatrical trailer, and an absorbing audio commentary by Malcolm McDowell and film historian Nick Redman that is well worth a listen. New liner notes by Julie Kirgo were a nice addition.

Watching this movie has reminded me that I really need to give Richard Lester's filmography another shot; it's been perhaps 20 or 25 years since I tried his 60s films, which didn't appeal to me at the time. And I'd like to catch up with his films after Royal Flash -- Robin and Marian and The Ritz, especially.

As it is, Royal Flash is a very pleasing encounter with an era of comic British historical filmmaking that is long gone.

More information on the disc at Twilight Time's site.


All seven of Taiwanese filmmaker Edward Yang's feature films will be screened at this year's Hong Kong International Film Festival, to mark the 10th anniversary of the filmmaker's death, it was announced today.

That Day, on the Beach (1983), The Terrorisers (1986), A Confucian Confusion (1994), Mahjong (1996) and Yi Yi: A One and a Two... (2000) will be featured at this year's festival together with newly restored versions of Taipei Story (1985) and A Brighter Summer Day (1991) in a programme entitled "Edward Yang, 10-Year Commemoration". Yang's regular collaborator, screenwriter Hsiao Yeh, as well as Yang's wife Kaili Peng will also attend and share their memories of the pioneering auteur with festival audiences.

Born in Shanghai, Yang grew up in Taipei where he became one of the most influential voices of the Taiwanese New Wave, alongside the likes of Hou Hsiao Hsien, Tsai Ming-liang and Ko I-Chen. A regular fixture on the festival circuit, Yang won Best Director at Cannes in 2000 for Yi Yi, which would prove to be his final film. The same year, Yang was diagnosed with colon cancer, and died in 2007.

A new Blu-ray release of Taipei Story was announced earlier this week by the Criterion Collection, scheduled for release in May, where it will join A Brighter Summer Day and Yi Yi. The HKIFF's retrospecitve will give audiences a rare opportunity to revisit all of his works on the big screen, as part of the festival's 41st edition, which runs from 11-25 April 2017.
Ukraine blames Russia for a new wave of cyber attacks on its infrastructure, including the power grid and financial system.

This week Ukraine accused Russia of cyber attacks against its critical infrastructure, including power grid and financial systems. State-sponsored hackers used a new strain of malware that targets industrial processes, the malicious code looked like it was designed by the same threat actor behind the notorious BlackEnergy malware.

Oleksandr Tkachuk, Ukraines security service chief of staff, said at a press conference that the attacks were orchestrated by the Russian security service with help from private software firms and criminal hackers, and looked like they were designed by the same people who created malware known as BlackEnergy.' reported the Reuters news Agency.

Tkachuk revealed that the malware used in the attacks was designed to attack specific industrial processes.

As an example, he said that the code included modules that sought to harm equipment inside the electric grid. reported the Reuters.

Russian hackers and infobots become an important tool of the aggression against our country, Tkachuk said.

The Russian Government has repeatedly denied accusations from the Ukrainian authorities that blames Moscow for cyber attacks against its infrastructure. The number of cyber attacks rapidly increased following the 2014 Crimean crisis.

According to the Ukrainian Government, Russian hackers launched 6,500 cyber attacks against its network in November and December alone. Kiev blamed Russian hackers for the power outage it has suffered in December. Hackers also targeted the defense and finance ministries and the State Treasury.

There is a global cyber war of Russia against (the) whole world, President Petro Poroshenko told Reuters in an interview in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Tkachuk explained that the cyber attacks leverage the Telebots to infect computers that control infrastructure.

In December 2016, researchers from security firm ESET discovered that the BlackEnergy hacker group that targeted the Ukrainian grid one year ago, now identified as TeleBots, are targeting Ukrainian banks.

On Wednesday, cyber security experts at CyberX announced the discovery of a separate cyber espionage campaign in Ukraine that had compromised more than 60 victims, including an energy ministry, a scientific research institute and a firm that designs remote monitoring systems for oil & gas pipelines.

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs  TeleBots , Ukraine)

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A group of security researcher has devised a new attack technique dubbed AnC attack that allows to bypass the ASLR Protection on 22 CPU architectures.

The Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR Protection) is a security mechanism used by operating systems to randomize the memory addresses used by key areas of processes, it makes hard for attackers to find the memory location where to inject their malicious code.

The ASLR is particularly effective against stack and heap overflows and is able to prevent arbitrary code execution triggered by any other buffer overflow vulnerability. The security measures are present in almost any modern operating system, including Windows, Linux, macOS, and Android.

The group of security researchers VUSec (Vrije University in the Netherlands) have discovered a bug in a chip that could be exploited to bypass ASLR Protection exposing millions of devices to cyber attacks, and the bad news is that the flaw cannot be fixed with a software update.

The experts of the VUSec have devised an attack technique, dubbed ASLR Cache or AnC, that can bypass ASLR protection on at least 22 processor micro-architectures from popular vendors. Chips of major vendors like Intel, AMD, ARM, Allwinner, Nvidia, and others are affected by the flaw.

VUSec has notified all the affected chip vendors and software firms, including Intel, AMD, Samsung, Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Mozilla, more than three months ago.

The ASLR protection bypass leverages on a simple JavaScript code that is able to determine the base addresses in memory where system and application components are executed neutralizing the Randomization process implemented by the ASLR Protection system.

A user can be hacked by simply visiting a malicious website.

The memory management unit (MMU) of modern processors uses the cache hierarchy of the processor in order to improve the performance of page table walks. This is fundamental to efficient code execution in modern processors. Unfortunately, this cache hierarchy is also shared by untrustred applications, such as JavaScript code running in the browser. reads the description provided by the researchers. We have built a side-channel attack, specifically an EVICT+TIME cache attack, that can detect which locations in the page table pages are accessed during a page table walk performed by the MMU.

MMU is tasked to map the memory allocation of programs, it constantly checks the page table to keep track of the memory addresses assigned to the applications.

The page table is usually stored in the CPUs cache to improve performance, but the directory also shares some of its cache with untrusted applications, including web browsers.

A javascript running on a malicious website can modify the content of the cache through a side channel attack, in this way an attacker can discover where software components, like libraries and RAM-mapped files, are located in the virtual memory.

Once obtained the memory addresses the attacker can map portions of the memory and launch further attacks, for example injecting malicious exploit codes, escalate access to the operating system, and take complete control of a machine.

The researchers demonstrated how to exploit the AnC JavaScript attacks via up-to-date Chrome and Firefox web browsers on 22 different CPU micro-architectures. The attack is very fast, just 90 seconds are sufficient to bypass the ASLR protection.

The VUSec research team have released two papers [1, 2] detailing the AnC attack, they also published two video PoC of the attack running in a Firefox browser on a 64-bit Linux machine.

The flaws related to the AnC attacks are tracked with the fallowing CVE identifiers:

CVE-2017-5925 for Intel processors

CVE-2017-5926 for AMD processors

CVE-2017-5927 for ARM processors

CVE-2017-5928 for a timing issue affecting multiple browsers

In order to protect our device against AnC attacks is to enable plug-ins, such as NoScript for Firefox or ScriptSafe for Chrome. In this way, untrusted JavaScript code on web pages will be blocked.

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs  hacking , ASLR Protection)

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Vice Admiral Robert Harward has rejected President Trumps offer to be the new national security adviser, CBS News Major Garrett reports.

Sources close to the situation told Garrett Harward and the administration had a dispute over staffing the security council.

Courtesy of Sgt. Shawn Coolman/Department of Defense/via Reuters

Two sources close to the situation confirm Harward demanded his own team, and the White House resisted.

Specifically, Mr. Trump told Deputy National Security Adviser K. T. McFarland that she could retain her post, even after the ouster of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Harward refused to keep McFarland as his deputy, and after a day of negotiations over this and other staffing matters, Harward declined to serve as Flynns replacement.

Harward, a 60-year-old former Navy SEAL, served as deputy commander of U.S. Central Command under now-Defense Secretary James Mattis. He previously served as deputy commanding general for operations of Joint Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

Harward has also commanded troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan for six years after the 9/11 attacks. Under President George W. Bush, he served on the National Security Council as director of strategy and policy for the office of combating terrorism.

Flynn resigned from the post amid questions about his contacts with Russian officials.

The president announced early Friday via Twitter that retired Lt. Gen. Joseph Keith Kellogg was now in the running to replace Flynn, along with three others that he could tap for the National Security Adviser post.

General Keith Kellogg, who I have known for a long time, is very much in play for NSA - as are three others.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2017

Law enforcement sources confirmed earlier this week that FBI agents had interviewed former national security adviser Michael Flynn last month. According to the Defense Intelligence Agency, Flynns security clearance has been suspended as investigators look into his ties to Russian officials.

At a press conference Thursday, Trump defended by attacking the press and members of the intelligence community for the illegal process of leaking information.

Mike Flynn is a fine person, he said. He was just doing his job...I dont think he did anything wrong.

He didnt tell the vice president of the United States the facts and then he didnt remember, Trump said of Flynn, saying that was why he asked for Flynns resignation.

The real problem, Mr. Trump charged, was that classified information that was given illegally.
It's hard to know what to believe in the war of words over the Bay Area's traffic woes. A 2015 study put San Francisco third in the country for congestion, behind only LA and DC. But while the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has argued that part of the city's traffic trouble stems from the "estimated number of 45,000 Uber and Lyft drivers," those companies cite a study that claims that ride-hail carpooling will reduce congestion by a whopping 75 percent. And in a report that aired Thursday evening, KRON 4 posits that a lot of the jams we see on roads leading into San Francisco could be the fault of Uber and Lyft drivers who travel from far away to work those lucrative SF fares.

According to a driver who commutes into SF from American Canyon (a town about 40 miles northwest of the city) because the work "is more consistent that anywhere in the Bay Area," some travel hundreds of miles to drive in San Francisco. In fact, says KRON, "thousands of drivers," head into the city every day to shuttle us around, possibly jamming the freeways and bridges on their way. (After all, it's not like drivers can take BART to work!)

According to KRON, transportation regulators in places like Bejing and Shanghai are mulling new rules requiring ride hail drivers to live where they work, driving vehicles registered in those cities. "Could something like that happen here?" asks KRON. Should it?

Previously: SFMTA Blames Uber And Lyft For San Francisco's Traffic Woes

Ride-Hail Carpooling Could Cut Traffic By 75 Percent
The rainy weather with which San Franciscans have grown all-too-familiar has returned this morning, making for wet commutes including some flooded roads and highways. Highway 101, for example, saw some flooding this morning between Vermont and Cesar Chavez exits causing traffic jams.

Another major problem in SF. All lanes flooded NB 101 btwn Vermont & Cesar Chavez pic.twitter.com/VIJp2ohhbt  Robin Winston (@RobinWinstonTV) February 17, 2017

Things will get drier this afternoon, we're told, and tomorrow, Saturday, should be drier still. However, KRON4 meteorologist James Fletcher reports that a series of storms on Sunday will lash the Bay Area anew, continuing into Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Those winds you probably hear whipping windows and rustling trees will continue for the day: A Wind Advisory has been in effect since 6 a.m. and will continue through 6 p.m.

Perhaps you've noticed that reservoirs are getting pretty full these days, and one in Morgan Hill, the Anderson Reservoir, has now reached 99 percent capacity according to ABC7. Taking into consideration that the Anderson Reservoir is actually only supposed to be at 68 percent capacity over seismic concerns, that's concerning. There's a risk that low lying communities below the reservoir could flood, since more rain on the way may lead the body over water to overflow into a concrete spillway.

Previously: January's Rains Were Some Of SF's Heaviest In 168 Years
NEW YORK  There was someone important missing when the cast and creators of the film "Moonlight" joyfully crowded a Los Angeles-area stage last month to accept the Golden Globe for best film drama.

That was rising star Andre Holland and he had a very good reason to skip the party: He was across the country, working his current job  the August Wilson play "Jitney" on Broadway.

"At intermission, I remember looking glancing down at my phone and there were all these messages from people saying, 'Oh, my God! Are you there?' 'What's going on?' 'Who's going to win?' But I didn't look at any of it until after the show," he said.

Holland, who has starred in the films "Selma" and "42" and the Cinemax series "The Knick" opposite Clive Owen, isn't the kind of actor who skips work, even for a trophy. He's very selective and determined to keep growing.

"Time is something that's very important to me," he said. "There's a limited amount of it and I don't want to spend it  the little bit that I have  doing things that I don't believe in."

One of the things he definitely believes in is Wilson, a man he considers "one of the finest playwrights that has ever lived." Holland made his Broadway debut in 2009 in Wilson's "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" and returns this winter playing a young man in a cab company trying to make a better life.

Co-star John Douglas Thompson, who plays a father figure to Holland's character, said the attention the younger actor has gotten on film for "Moonlight" and onstage in "Jitney " is richly deserved.

"It's hard to find young actors who can do both with such charisma, such professionalism, such brilliant acting skills," said Thompson. "I think it's a great moment for audiences to come and see this young man and to get a good breadth of his talent."

Film fans have already gotten a glimpse of that in "Moonlight," Barry Jenkins' acclaimed portrait of a young black man growing up in Miami. Though Holland only appears in the final third of the film, he turns in a performance full of humanity  sorrow, love, curiosity and kindness all wash over his face.

Holland credits playwright Tarell McCraney with creating such a well-drawn character and hopes the success of "Moonlight" can inspire more powerful looks at all corners of our society. "In its best form, I think if this movie continues to be a success, I hope it'll provide that platform for other people to get their stories out there," he said.

Holland, who grew up in a small town outside Birmingham, Alabama, got an undergraduate degree from Florida State University and a master's at New York University. He credits his parents, who both toiled in factory jobs, for believing in his gift.

It was his mother who took him to see Wilson's "The Piano Lesson" at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. "It was the first time that I had seen black characters onstage who were living an experience that was full and epic but also was recognizable to me," he said. "It was the first time I remember seeing myself in the work and seeing a path for myself."

Later, when he came home from college vacation in 2001, his mom showed him a photo in The Birmingham News of British actor Adrian Lester holding a skull. It turned out to be Yorick's skull  Lester was playing Hamlet at the Chicago Shakespeare Festival.

"I looked at it and I thought, 'Wait a minute. That's Hamlet. And he's black. How is that possible?' It had just had never occurred to me that that was even possible," he said.

Sensing his excitement, Holland's mom rented him a car, gave him some money and sent him off to Chicago the very next morning. He got a ticket on the cancellation line. "I'll never forget it, seeing Adrian Lester come out, walk down stage center and give the 'To be or not to be' speech. I was in tears," he said.

"My mother and my father have been there for me from Day One and without them I know none of this stuff would be possible," he said. "I want to do things that they can be proud of."

In one of those weird twists, Holland has found himself this award season with his "Moonlight" battling a film adaptation of Wilson's "Fences." He adores "Fences"  he even used one of its monologues to get into drama school  as much as he loves his film.

"I was rooting for them and still am rooting for them while also rooting for 'Moonlight,'" he said, laughing. "I hope people who saw and enjoyed 'Fences' will come and see 'Jitney' as well. They're complementary pieces."
Parents, dont be reluctant to take your kids to The Lego Batman Movie. Theres enough there to make you laugh, too.

Taking a standard Batman story, infusing it with plenty of snark and telling it with Legos, director Chris McKay manages to solidify a filmmaking genre. While The Lego Movie created the niche, this takes it to another level, opening the door for everything from Lego Scarface to Lego Youve Got Mail.

The trick is in the telling.

Drawing on many fan-held beliefs (Batman is a self-centered loner, for example), McKay is able to find plenty of jokes that work on several levels.

Like Deadpool, Lego Batman begins the lampoon immediately. All important movies start with a black screen, Batman (Will Arnett) says as the film opens. He also boasts nine-pack abs and more Lego vehicles than a 10-year-old could imagine.

Quickly (and much of the film is very quick), we learn that the Joker (Zach Galifianakis) is leading the other villains in an all-out war on the Energy Center. They dont scare Batman (snake-clowns do) but a new commissioner Gordon  daughter Barbara  could be a Lego stumbling block in his attempt to keep the bad guys at bay. She, a grad of Harvard for Police, wants to do more. It takes a village to fight crime.

Batman isnt buying it.

He tries to follow his own lead, but constantly hits snags. His adopted son, Dick Grayson (Michael Cera), is a little too eager to get into the family biz. He complicates matters and becomes the wedge that keeps Batman from achieving his goals.

Before long, everyone is headed to the Phantom Zone where lots of villains reside. There, the Lego folks have a field day, creating Lego King Kong, Lego Godzilla and Lego Gremlins. Theres probably a little too much product placement but McKay keeps the bricks moving and winds up with a resolution that keeps everyone happy. For now.

While The Lego Batman Movie doesnt have a song on par with Everything is Awesome, it does bleed trivia and laughs. (Yes, there really is a villain named the Condiment King.)

Arnett gives Batman the right amount of disaffected charm; Rosario Dawson is feisty enough as Barbara Gordon to warrant a second visit. Even Ralph Fiennes, as the voice of Alfred, is a pleasant diversion.

When Batman starts ranting about Superman, you know someone realized this was a special turn. When they added in Lego word balloons, it got even better.

Biff! Bam! Pow! The Lego Batman Movie amounts to something.
CHICAGO  State attorneys tried to persuade a panel of federal appellate judges that a Wisconsin inmate featured in the Netflix series "Making a Murderer" made a voluntary confession and was properly convicted.

Brendan Dassey was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 in connection with Teresa Halbach's death two years earlier. Dassey told detectives he helped his uncle, Steven Avery, rape and kill Halbach in the Avery family's Manitowoc County salvage yard. Avery was sentenced to life in prison in a separate trial.

A federal magistrate judge overturned Dassey's conviction in August, ruling investigators took advantage of the then-16-year-old Dassey's cognitive disabilities and tricked him into confessing with false promises that he would be all right. The state Department of Justice has appealed; Dassey remains in prison pending the outcome.

Attorneys for both DOJ and Dassey presented oral arguments to a three-judge panel at the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago on Tuesday.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported DOJ Deputy Solicitor General Luke Berg told the panel detectives never made Dassey any specific promises. Judge Ilana Rovner asked whether Dassey, whom the judge described as "extremely suggestible," wouldn't have concluded based on the questioning that he would be able to go home rather than getting arrested.

Berg insisted the investigators acted properly and didn't so much as imply promises. Judge David Hamilton seemed to dispute that, telling Berg that obviously the investigators made vague promises of leniency.

Dassey's attorney, Laura Nirider, argued the detectives made a "drumbeat of promises" before every major admission in the confession. Hamilton, though, told her he had watched the entire interrogation and didn't think Dassey's will was subverted.

The arguments lasted less than an hour. The panel has no time table for a decision and it could be months before they rule.

Dassey, now 27, and Avery have contended police framed them. They believe police went after them to stop a lawsuit Avery had filed demanding millions from Manitowoc County because he spent 18 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit. Avery is pursuing his own appeal.

Their cases gained national attention in 2015 after Netflix aired "Making a Murderer," a multi-part documentary examining Halbach's death. The series spawned widespread conjecture about their innocence. Authorities who worked on the cases say the series was biased.
Kindergarten/preschool roundup

SIOUX CITY -- St. Paul's Lutheran School, 612 Jennings St., will hold preschool and kindergarten roundup from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday.

For more information, call 712-258-6325.

Soup supper fundraiser

SIOUX CITY | Calico Kids Preschool at Mayflower United Church of Christ will host a soup supper fundraiser from 5 -7 p.m. Thursday at 1407 W. 18th St. The meal will be prepared by the Western Iowa Tech culinary arts students as a community service project.

Tickets are $6 for adults, $3.50 for children 10 and younger.

Organ recital

CORRECTIONVILLE | Salem Lutheran Church, 1391 Lee Ave., will host an organ recital in honor of Martin Luther's birthday at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Refreshments will be served in the fellowship hall.

Princess retreat for women

SIOUX CITY | The Kings Daughters will hold a Princess Retreat for Women from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Saturday at Crescent Park United Methodist Church, 2826 Myrtle St.

The goal of the retreat is to help women find their identity in Christ.

For more information, contact 712-899-9905.
Native American Presence on the Missouri is a special art exhibition, on loan from the collection of Eva and George Neubert, courtesy of the Flatwater Art Foundation, of 19th Century wood-block etchings, chromolithographs and photographs that document and illustrate the historic presence of Native Americans along the Missouri River and the heartland prairie.
Screenings

Free blood pressure screenings, 9:30-11 a.m. Wednesdays at Countryside Senior Living, front lobby. No appointment necessary.

Programs/Self-Help Groups

Al-Anon Information Center, call 712-255-6724.

Al-Anon and Alateen, meetings locally. For times, dates and locations of area meetings, call 712-255-6724.

Alcoholics Anonymous, beginners information, call 712-252-1333.

Arc of Woodbury County, serving the mentally challenged, 5:15 p.m. meeting, second Monday of the month at Mid-Step Services, 4303 Stone Ave. For families and interested persons.

Child Care Resource and Referral, provides resources, education and advocacy for children, parents, and child care providers. Assists in child care needs. For more information, call 712-277-1180.

Co-Dependence Anonymous, 7 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays at First Lutheran Church, Fireside Room.

Co-Dependents Anonymous (CODA), 10 a.m. Saturdays at Hawkeye Club, 420 Jones St.

Compassionate Friends, 7 p.m. fourth Wednesday of each month (third Thursday in November and second Sunday December) in Mercy Medical Center's Leiter Room. For families who have lost children. Contact Nancy Webb 712-212-4032 or Don Mulder 712-541-5512.

Clinics

Siouxland District Health immunization clinics, call for appointment, 712-279-6119 or 1-800-587-3005.

Information

Family and Addictive Illness series, for more information, call 234-2300.

Iowa Fathers, 6 to 8 p.m. fourth Tuesday of each month at Hope Lutheran Church, Education Building, 218 W. 18th St., South Sioux City, Neb. Support group to help single, divorcing and divorced parents residing in the state of Iowa.

Mercy Pathways Outpatient Program, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, on the third floor, Mercy's Central Medical Building, 801 Fifth St., Suite 360. Provides hope, help, opportunity to connect through group therapy for individuals experiencing personal, relationship, psychiatric issues. For more information, call 712-279-5991.

Narcotics Anonymous, meetings daily, various times, dates and locations. For more information, call 712-279-0733.

Overeaters Anonymous, 1 p.m. Tuesdays at Wesley United Methodist Church, 3700 Indian Hills Drive; 6 p.m. Tuesdays at St. John's Lutheran Church, 402 Lane Ave., Storm Lake; 7 p.m. Tuesdays at Church of the Nazarene, 226 N. Main St., Viborg, S.D.; 5:30 p.m. Thursdays and 9 a.m. Saturdays at Newman Center, 320 E. Cherry St., Vermillion, S.D.; 10:30 a.m. Saturdays at Hawkeye Club, 420 Jones St. A 12-step recovery program for people who have problems with food and weight. No fees.

St. Lukes Outpatient Behavioral Health Program, 9 a.m. to noon Monday, Tuesday and Thursday on fifth floor of St. Luke's, located at 2720 Stone Park Blvd. Offers several levels of outpatient care including partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient, and group therapy. This program provides support and integrated treatment to individuals experiencing personal or relationship issues as a result of their mental illness. For more information and admission criteria, call 712-279-3906.

Sobriety By Faith, 8:30 a.m. Saturdays at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 1421 Geneva St. For more information, call James Mothershead at 712-577-9715.

The Link-Recovery and Freedom, 1603 Glen Ellen Road; 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday workshop, and Christian 12-step meeting 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday. For all ages. Call Dee at 389-7432.

Women in Recovery, meets monthly at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 1421 Geneva St. For details, call 712-255-4623.

Tarahouse Meditation Center, 8 a.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 6:30 p.m. Fridays; 10 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays, all at 3112 Rebecca St. Three easy 10-minute sessions in small group; beginners welcome. For more information, call 490-6410.

Blood pressure and blood sugar screening, 9 to 11 a.m. Wednesdays in the lobby at Westwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Free to public.

Support Groups

Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous, 7-8:30 p.m. Wednesdays at Hawkeye Club basement, 420 Jones St. For more information, call 277-5935.

Celebrate Recovery, Bible-based 12-step recovery group. Thursdays at 6 p.m. at Sunnybrook Community Church, 5601 Sunnybrook Drive. Childcare provided. 712-490-3343. All welcome.

PFLAG of Siouxland, (Parents & Friends of Lesbians and Gays), 7 p.m., fourth Monday of January, March, May, July, September and November. St. Mark ELCA Church, 5200 Glenn Ave., in the upstairs meeting area. 712-258-3116.

Singles widowed and divorced, all ages, 4 p.m., Sundays. McDonald's at Sixth Street and Lewis Boulevard. 712-252-2675.

GriefShare, 6:30 -8:30 p.m. every Tuesday until Dec. 6 at Sunnybrook Community Church, 5601 Sunnybrook Drive, Sioux City. 712-276-5814.

HIV/AIDS Support Group, meets weekly. For more information, call Darla or Teri at Siouxland Community Health Center, 712-252-2477 or 888-371-1965.

Hospice of Siouxland, seeking volunteers. For more information, call 712-233-4144 and ask for a volunteer coordinator.

La Leche League of Siouxland, breastfeeding support group meets every third Thursday at 11 a.m. at Morningside Lutheran Church. Children are welcome. For more information, call Mary at 712-546-7280 or Jacquie at 712-255-2998.

Living Each Day Cancer Support Group, 7-8 p.m. second Thursday of the month, Floyd Valley Hospital, Conference Center Room 2, Le Mars, Iowa. Open to all cancer patients, cancer survivors and family members. No charge. Pre-register by calling 712-546-3441 or 800-642-6074, ext. 441.

Mom and Baby Support Group, 10-11 a.m. last Monday of the month at the Orange City (Iowa) Hospital, lower level. For new moms and babies. 712-737-5260.

Tri-State Sober Project, 12-step meeting, 7:30-8:30 p.m., Tuesdays, Friendship Community Church, 305 Sergeant Square Drive, Sergeant Bluff. 6-7 p.m., Thursdays, Transitional Services of Iowa, 1221 Pierce St., Sioux City.

Doug's Donors Support Group, information for organ donors and recipients, 12:30-1:30 p.m. Fridays, 5:15-6:30 p.m. second Thursdays of the month at Mercy Cafeteria Woodbury Room. 712-277-1050.

Divorce Care, 6:30 -8:30 p.m. every Tuesday until Dec. 6 at Sunnybrook Community Church, 5601 Sunnybrook Drive, Sioux City. 712-276-5814.

NAMI Siouxland, (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Support Group meets 6:30 p.m., second Tuesday of the month at Friendship House, 1101 Court St. For individuals and family members dealing with mental illness. 712-255-4209.

New Life Life Support Group, 3:30 p.m. every Saturday at 2929 W. Fourth St. Spiritual 12-step program. For more information, call Donald at 712-574-1744 or James at 712-255-7624.

Orphan Sunday, 3:30-5 p.m. Sunday at Sunnybrook Community Church loft, 5601 Sunnybrook Drive.

Post Polio Support Group, 11 a.m. first Thursday of the month at Perkins Restaurant by Menards. 712-490-8213.

Relationship Support Group, 7 p.m. Fridays at Marketplace Mall. For more information, call 239-3129.

Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence, Individual and Support Groups. For more information, call CSADV in Sioux City at 712-258-7233; Plymouth County at 712-546-6764; Monona County at 712-423-3443. Advocacy and support available 24 hours a day at 1-800-982-7233. All services free of charge and confidential.

Sickle Cell Disease Support Group, 11 a.m. third Saturday of each month at St. Luke's Hospital, meeting room 1. For patients, their family and any concerned member. Call La'Keshia Rainey at 712-203-2019 for more information.

Single and Parenting, 6:30 -8:30 p.m. every Tuesday until Dec. 6 at Sunnybrook Community Church, 5601 Sunnybrook Drive, Sioux City. 712-276-5814.

Sioux City Association of the Deaf, 7 p.m. third Saturday of the month at Morningside Church of Christ, 5015 Garretson Ave. Regular meeting, September-May; no meeting, June, July, August and December.

Siouxland Autism Support Group, second Thursday of the month at Northwest Area Education Agency, 1520 Morningside Ave. For more information, call Julie Case at 712-490-8939.

Siouxland Epilepsy Support Group, 5 p.m. third Tuesday of the month at Prestwick Apartment Clubhouse, 4230 Hickory Lane. For anyone diagnosed with seizures or epilepsy and family or friends. For more information, call Steve at 274-6927.

Siouxland IC support group, meets quarterly in Sioux City. For patients struggling with interstital cystitis. For more information, call Jacque Dundas 316-641-9766.

Siouxland Informational Group for the Blind, 2-5 p.m. second Tuesday of the month at Northern Hills Retirement Community, 4002 Teton Trace. For more information, call 712-266-8926 or 258-8151.

Grief support group, 5:30-7:30 p.m., beginning Oct. 5 for 13 weeks (may join at any time), Crescent Park United Methodist Church, 2826 Myrtle St., Sioux City. Scott, 712-899-6315.

Siouxland Ostomy Association, 2 p.m. first Sunday of each month (except September, which will be second Sunday; and no meetings June, July, August), in Room 300 at Mercy Medical Center, 801 Fifth St. For more information, call Dick Lindblom at 251-2453.

Siouxland Parkinson Disease Support Group, 1 p.m. fourth Monday of the month at Siouxland Center for Active Generations, 313 Cook St. For more information, call Sally Reinert at 402-987-3516.

Sojourners, support group for families of persons with life-threatening illness, 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays at St. Luke's Regional Medical Center, Room 416. For more information, call Marjorie Jarvill at 402-241-8637.

South Sioux City Weight Support Group, 8:30 a.m. Wednesdays at St. Paul United Methodist Church, South Sioux City. For more information, call 494-1401 or 494-2133.

Disabilities Resource Center of Siouxland, 520 Nebraska St., Suite 101: Women's Support Group, 1:30 p.m. first Wednesday of the month; LGBT Support Group, 1:30 p.m. first Friday of the month; Adult ADHD, 6 p.m. second Tuesday of the month; Advocacy Group, 1:30 p.m. third Tuesday of the month. For more information, call 712-255-1065.

Take Off Pounds Sensibly, group meetings various times, days and locations in Siouxland. For information on the chapter in your area, call 1-800-932-TOPS.

Voice Disorder Support Group, meets as needed at Mercy Medical Center, Buena Vista Room. 712-279-2686.

Women's Peer Support Group, in Wayne and South Sioux City, Neb., for those who have experienced domestic abuse. For more information, call the Wayne office at 402-375-4633 or 1-800-440-4633; in South Sioux City, call 402-494-7592. Help and support available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Services free and confidential.

Woodbury County D.M.D.A., noon-2 p.m. first Saturday of the month at Country Friendship Acres, 4501 West St.; 7-8 p.m. first Tuesday of the month at 515 Court St. in the Community Room; 7-8 p.m. second Tuesday of the month at 441 W. Third St. in the Community Room; 7-8 p.m. third Tuesday of the month at 409 W. Third St. in the Community Room. Support group for people with disabilities and mental disorders.

Natural Mamas in Siouxland, 1 p.m., third Tuesday of each month in the Garretson room of the Morningside Public Library. All ages of children are welcome to come with moms. For sharing natural living tips, recipes, natural remedies and health, homemaking, mothering, etc. For more information, call 402-913-0038 or visit their Facebook page.

A Step Beyond support group, 3:30 p.m. second Tuesday of the month, except for August, November and December when it meets at 5:30 p.m. (no meeting in January) at the Christy-Smith Resource Center, 1819 Morningside Ave. For more information, call 712-276-7319.

Divorce care, 5 p.m., Sundays. Fireside room, Morningside Lutheran Church, 700 South Martha St.

Gamblers Anonymous meetings, 4 p.m. Thursdays at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 315 Hamilton Blvd.; 7 p.m. Wednesdays, Morningside Presbyterian Church, 4327 Morningside Ave.; 7 p.m. Tuesdays, St. John Lutheran Church; 7 p.m. Sundays, Hawkeye Club, 420 Jones St.. 712-277-2901.

Art therapy support group, 5:30 p.m. second Thursday of the month at the June E. Nylen Cancer Center. Registration required, call 252-9387.

After Breast Cancer Support Group, 5:30 p.m. third Tuesday of the month at the June E. Nylen Cancer Center. For more information, call Brenda, 252-9370.

After Prostate Cancer Support Group, 5:15 p.m. first Tuesday of the month at the June E. Nylen Cancer Center. For more information, call 252-9426.

Alzheimer's Association, Big Sioux Chapter Support Group, 2 p.m. second Tuesday of the month; 4 p.m. third Tuesday of the month (under age 65) at 201 Pierce St., Suite 110 (Famous Dave's building); and 6 p.m. first Tuesday of the month at the Barnes and Noble Cafe. For more information, call Emily Lord at 712-279-5802.

Christy-Smith Funeral Homes of Sioux City, extensive grief library at the Morningside location. Open to the public during weekday hours. For more information, call 276-7319.

Chronic Pain/Chronic Illness Support Group, 7:30 p.m. fourth Wednesday of the month in the lower level of the Orange City Hospital. For more information, call 712-737-5260.

Connections Area Agency on Aging, and Mercy Medical Centers Older Adult Services Welcome to Medicare, 1:30-4 p.m., the first Friday of every month at Connections Area Agency on Aging, 2301 Pierce St. To pre-register, or for more information, contact Connections Area Agency on Aging at 712-279-6900.
FRESNO, Calif.  Thalia Arenas sometimes is asked, How are you Muslim if youre Mexican? I dont understand.

Its a perplexing question to the 28-year-old Fresno woman, but one she answers willingly.

Islam is for everybody, she says. Matter of fact, only 20 percent of Muslims in the world are Arab. Most of them are actually from other countries.

Arenas is in an unusual position in the wake of recent executive orders by President Donald Trump calling for travel bans from seven predominantly Muslim countries, more deportations, and a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico  a country that many of her family members immigrated from.

As a woman, as a Muslim, as a Latina  in all of these ways I feel like anything he (President Trump) does is going to affect me.

She is concerned that Trump eventually may extend his ban to include green card holders from Mexico, which would include some of her immediate family members.

Arenas shared these concerns during a MEChA club meeting at Fresno State earlier this month, where she also told the group that the Muslim Hispanic community is growing.

She personally knows around 15 Muslim Hispanics and says mosques in cities such as Los Angeles now hold services in Spanish. She wants people to know that followers of Islam are a larger and more diverse group than they are often perceived.

She has overheard offensive conversations about Muslims by people who dont realize she is a follower of Islam because she doesnt wear a hijab, a headscarf worn by some Muslim women as a tenet of their faith to dress modestly.

She says she doesnt wear a hijab for functional reasons  she works at an animal shelter, and doesnt want to get the garment dirty  but also because she is afraid.

I think people might say something  might look at me differently, she said.

These concerns were highlighted in an October story in The Bee about a Hijab Challenge at Fresno State sponsored by the Muslim Student Association. Arenas is a spokeswoman for the club.

The Hijab Challenge  which encouraged students to wear a headscarf for a day to help them better understand how it feels to be a Muslim in America today  came under attack by a Clovis veteran who denounced the event in a follow-up story, stating it violated the First Amendment.

Theres a lot of Christian groups that come and they use the Free Speech Area (at Fresno State), Arenas counters, and they literally shout at you and promote Christian values. So, I just felt that it was hypocritical or one-sided for them not to see or be open-minded about what the purpose of the event was.

Arenas also considers herself a Catholic Muslim. She was raised Catholic and started researching different religions as a young woman.

Once I got into college I realized I was my own independent person  my mom wasnt going to take me to church anymore.  If I wanted to have a relationship with God, I had to look for it, and I did.

While searching for her spirituality, she joined three clubs that represented Catholic, Christian and Muslim students. She found similarities between the religions and liked what she learned. She decided to become Catholic and Muslim. She goes to Catholic Church one weekend and a mosque the next.

Arenas mother didnt take the news well that her daughter identifies as both Catholic and Muslim, but her husband  also Catholic and Mexican  has been supportive.

The number of couples who are able to work through religious differences appears to be on the rise in the United States.

The Pew Research Center in 2015 shared survey data showing that 39 percent of Americans married since 2010 have a spouse with a different faith or who identifies as religiously unaffiliated, compared with 19 percent of those married before 1960.

Arenas doesnt feel like she has to pick between Catholicism and Islam.

I dont want to compromise my marriage or my relationship with my parents when I already believe in it (Catholicism) and grew up in it, so why would I have to leave it? I feel like its easier to accept both, she says.

We dont pray to any new God. Its the same God as the Jewish God or the Christian God  its the same being.
SIOUX CITY -- Hoping to protect themselves from the dreaded fever, body aches and respiratory symptoms associated with the flu, residents recently flocked to the Community Action Agency of Siouxland to get jabbed.

The free vaccinations were being offered in collaboration with Mercy Medical Center, which is reporting an increase in cases of both influenza A and B, but no flu deaths.

UnityPoint Health  St. Luke's and UnityPoint Clinic Family Medicine and Urgent Care have also seen an uptick in patients testing positive for influenza.

"We are seeing influenza in all ages, but the virus has been especially severe in the elderly and immunocompromised patients," spokeswoman Suzie Fischer said.

Although flu season usually reaches its peak somewhere between December and February, and the vaccine is available as early as September, health officials say it's not too late to get a flu shot.

"I think that there still is a benefit of getting the influenza vaccine," said Joseph Liewer, an emergency physician at Mercy Medical Center. "I can only suspect that people who have gotten the flu vaccine may get less sick. It may not last as long."

Anecdotally, Siouxland District Health Department deputy director Tyler Brock said it sounds like this flu season is shaping up to be worse than last year's.

Influenza activity is widespread in Iowa, with influenza A (H3) predominately circulating. For the week ending Feb. 4, the state tallied 93 flu-related hospitalizations and one Northwest Iowa school in Sac County reported greater than 10 percent absence due to illness. Twenty-eight people have died from influenza so far this season in Iowa. None of them were children.

"What we're hearing is that there's a lot of sick folks around," Brock said. "It's definitely out there."

Flu symptoms include fever, headache, tiredness, cough, sore throat, nasal congestion and body aches. Liewer said people who have asthma, emphysema, COPD, heart failure and diabetes are at greater risk of hospitalization because of the flu.

Cindy Lewin, an advanced registered nurse practitioner at UnityPoint Clinic Family Medicine -- Sergeant Bluff, said she has run into cases of influenza while working in both the clinic and urgent care settings. She said some of the patients whom she examined got a flu shot but still contracted the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says studies show the vaccine reduces the risk of flu illness by 50 to 60 percent among the overall population. Strains of the influenza virus change a little each year. The vaccine always includes three viruses: two influenza A viruses and one influenza B virus.

Brock said this year's influenza vaccine sounds like it's a good match according to communications from the Iowa Department of Public Health and the CDC.

"Just for whatever reason this year, (influenza has) gotten a little bit more of a foothold than it did last year," he said.

Brock said the health department's clinic is giving out fewer influenza vaccines this flu season than last season. He said that could be because the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended that FluMist, a nasal flu vaccine, not be used because studies have found it ineffective.

"One of things that has yet to be determined is whether there was a high number of parents, who because the flu mist wasn't available, just didn't get kids vaccinated at all," he said.
MIAMI  Lucas Gutierrez has chubby cheeks, curly brown hair and a smile that makes him the center of attention in any room.

Whenever the 20-month-old grabs a cellphone and says cheeeese into the camera, he tilts his button nose up, showing a tiny dent in the right nostril.

Thats where his body grew around the oxygen tubes he wore constantly when he was born. Underneath his shirt, which says, The struggle was real  NICU grad 2015, his little chest bears warrior marks from the machines that kept him alive after he was born prematurely. Doctors define a premature birth as any earlier than 37 weeks of the pregnancy.

The back of his shirt has the date  23 weeks, 5 days  and his mom, Betsy Gutierrez-Lozano, knows the stats by heart. Lucas weighed 1 pound, 5 ounces at birth; he wasnt even a full foot long.

He fit right here, 34-year-old Gutierrez-Lozano said, gesturing at her forearm. He was what they call a micro-preemie.

His mother, father and two sisters (who all wore preemie-themed T-shirts made by a mother of a preemie baby) gathered earlier this month at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach for the hospitals 21st annual preemie reunion, where patients and their families reunite with the the doctors and nurses who cared for them in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

They were Gutierrez-Lozanos support system during the five long months her baby was in the NICU. She didnt get to meet him for 14 hours, she said, and when she did, it was more wires and cables and stuff covering his face than baby, she said. I didnt see his face for five days.

The nurses taught Lucas 18-year-old sister, Nancy Hernandez, how to perform CPR on her baby brother when he made it to 5 pounds.

We were afraid to hold him at first, she said. We were so nervous the cables would tangle.

But now that Lucas is nearly 2 years old, he thrives without the machines. His family doesnt have to wear hospital masks around him anymore. Instead, they wear big grins as they try to catch his every word (he can count to six on his own in Spanish) and hip-hop dance moves on camera.

Across the room, Sally Contreras smiles at all the toddlers running around the room, dancing in front of the DJ and smearing cake over their faces.

Its like you blink and youre here, she said, nodding toward Bianca, her 14-year-old daughter and Mount Sinai NICU graduate, who sat beside her in a dappled gray top and black choker with a Saturn pendant, an unintentional nod to the partys out of this world theme.

Bianca was born by emergency Cesarean section at full term, but she was immediately shipped to the NICU because of her rare genetic condition where her body doesnt naturally produce an essential form of collagen, a building block of skin. She was born without skin on her lower legs, one of her hands and her elbows.

Luckily for Bianca, Mount Sinai had just been certified as a level three NICU. Her doctor immediately recognized the condition and sent her off for the elevated care, said Contreras, 39. Less than 12 hours later, Contreras was begging for a wheelchair to visit her daughter.

I was sliced in half, but I needed to see her, she said.

For the next 41 torturous days, Contreras and her husband, Robert, tried to see Bianca as much as they could. Doctors gave her morphine for the nightly three-hour wound dressing routine so her screams of pain wouldnt wake the other babies. Sometimes, her dad said, her breathing stopped when they gave her morphine.

At night, Robert said, he sneaked in and opened the incubator so he could rest his forehead against his sick daughters and send her good vibes.

Eventually, the couple got to drive their daughter home. Gradually, they learned more about her disease and found a routine to manage her pain and symptoms.

Now, the Highland Oaks middle schooler can do the three-hour wound dressing by herself in 30 minutes. This is her fifth preemie party, and even though shes older than the rest of the crowd (and she wishes the DJ played music by 21 Pilots or Panic! At The Disco instead of kids music) she still likes coming.

I get to see the people who took care of me when I was born and they can see how much Ive improved, she said. Plus, the food is good.
SAN JOSE, Calif.  Balloons, rubber bands, dishwashing gloves and yoga mats are hardly cause for panic for most people.

But to Patsy Hayes, even the slightest physical contact with latex is enough to send her to the hospital, wheezing with swollen lips, tongue and eyelids  a possible life-threatening scenario.

Now, the severely allergic 21-year-old granddaughter of the late San Jose Mayor Janet Gray Hayes has a furry, 41-pound secret weapon trained to make sure she avoids her nemesis.

Introducing Andromeda, the latex detection dog.

The black Labrador retriever is part of a growing trend in service dogs primed to protect allergy sufferers from potentially deadly encounters with everything from soy to nuts.

I know shes got my back, Hayes said of the playful but obedient pooch that returned with her in mid-January to college in upstate New York.

When Andromeda pinpoints any odor of latex, she drastically increases sniffing, brackets the source of the latex with her body, then sits and stares at the item to alert Hayes to stay away. Her owner rewards the dogs efforts with lavish praise, a big hug and a delicious treat.

With an estimated 50 million Americans suffering from some type of allergy  including three million from latex, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  Hayes is not unique.

San Diego mother Trish Malone, who shares a severe latex allergy with her 11-year-old daughter, traveled to Colorado last month to pick up a yellow Labrador trained to do the same thing.

For $9,000, Nani  named after a character in the Disney movie Lilo & Stitch  will be a 24/7 nose guard for her daughter, who is so sensitive to latex that even a pencil eraser sends her, wheezing, to the nurses office with a swollen throat.

Latex allergy is very common, said Malone, a 41-year-old CFO at a startup. But to get a dog  its only a handful of people, because of the cost.

Patsy Hayes found Allergen Detection Service Dogs, owned and operated by Ciara Gavin in Colorado Springs, after months of painstaking online research.

Still, teaching a dog to detect latex  a milky fluid produced by rubber trees that is processed into a variety of products, such as gloves and balloons  was a first for Gavin and her 7-year-old company.

Years of training dogs to detect explosives and narcotics for the U.S. military and law enforcement agencies led Gavin to branch out in 2009 and focus on teaching dogs to detect an array of compounds  including nuts, milk, wheat, eggs and soy  that create serious allergic reactions in her clients.

Some of the afflicted, she said, rarely left their homes, didnt go to school or movies, parks or churches  or even visit friends  out of fear of an allergy attack.

But after getting a dog, Gavin said, they would start going places.

Anaphylaxis is a sudden, life-threatening allergic reaction, often triggered by medications, food and insect stings.

A recent study by the Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America showed that anaphylaxis occurs in at least 1 in 50 adults, though experts say its probably closer to 1 in 20. For many, it can be brought on just by touching trace amounts of a substance like latex, peanuts, milk or eggs.

Lindy Hayes detected her daughters allergy 16 years ago following ear surgery done by a doctor wearing latex gloves. At home later on, the 5-year-olds face began swelling up, and she was having trouble breathing.

Since then, Patsy Hayes latex-related incidents have only increased  landing her in hospital emergency rooms nine times over a 14-month period in 2015 and 2016.

Thats when I said to her, Do you really want to live like this? Lindy Hayes recalled.

Allergic reactions to latex typically show up in one of two ways: One is a delayed poison ivy-like rash that appears 12-36 hours after contact with a latex product, often on the hands of people in health care-related fields who wear latex gloves. While irritating, its not life-threatening.

The second is a more immediate and serious reaction of itching, redness, swelling, sneezing, possibly wheezing  and, in rare cases, anaphylactic shock, which can be fatal if not treated immediately.

Hayes suffers from an odd hybrid of the two: Her latex allergy can take four to eight hours to erupt, and when it does, shes in trouble. Shes learned to fight back  on her way to the hospital  with the help of an EpiPen or a steroid.

But that still wasnt enough for the Rochester University of Technology student, who is majoring in chemical engineering. For the rest of her life, she will have to be wary whenever she bumps up against, or breathes near, an object made with latex. Knowing that dogs could be trained to detect peanuts, she wondered: Why not latex? Thats when she contacted Gavin.

The service isnt cheap. Gavins company charges $12,500 for the year it takes to train an allergy-detecting dog  and with their sturdy hips, Labs like Andromeda should be able to work as service dogs for at least 10 years, she said. Gavin also charges $2,500 for the two weeks needed to train an owner, and about $2,000 for travel expenses.

Lindy Hayes agreed to foot half the bill if her daughter came up with the balance, which Patsy Hayes is doing through a GoFundMe account and by tutoring students.

For the energetic Andromeda, detection hardly looks like drudgery.

Every compound has a unique smell, Gavin said, and once a dog associates that smell with a reward  praise, petting and a delicious snack  he or she will begin to hunt for the scent.

They just want to please people, said Gavin.

Lindy Hayes is thrilled with the progress her daughter has made with Andromeda  and the pairs bonding is continuing in Rochester, where Patsy is fulfilling her final college internship.

Finally, Lindy Hayes has some peace of mind.

For me as a mother, having to get that phone call saying, Im on my way to the hospital is upsetting, Hayes said.

She is 3,000 miles away, and there is nothing I can do to help. But now shes got an extra level of protection.
WICHITA, Kan.  Every coming-of-age movie has at least one scene in a school cafeteria.

Remember Janis Ians map to North Shore High School in Mean Girls?

Where you sit in the cafeteria is crucial, Janis tells Cady, the new girl.

Because youve got everybody there: Youve got your freshman ROTC guys, preps, JV jocks, she explains. Girls who eat their feelings, girls who dont eat anything, desperate wannabes, burnouts.

Cady ends up sitting with the Plastics, the schools most popular and infamous clique, and the trajectory of the film  and her high school career  is firmly established.

The cafeteria is crucial.

Its a breeding ground for angst, insecurity and classic teen drama. It can be a dream or a nightmare, and it all depends on where you sit.

I dont feel that everyone thinks its a big deal, but secretly it is, and we all know it, says Kira Pullum, a senior at West High School in Wichita.

Its a great feeling to eat with someone, not just by yourself.

On Friday in Wichita  at Anderson Elementary and a handful of other schools  Pullum and several classmates spent their lunch hours making sure no child ate alone.

As part of National No One Eats Alone Day, students across the country stood up against prejudice, cliques and social bullying by pledging to sit down with new friends at lunch.

Members of West Highs Leadership Advisory Council took the project a bit further, visiting nearby schools to spend time with kids who appreciated having a cool upperclassman as a lunchtime buddy.

This is a good idea because we get to stop kids from making other people feel like outsiders, said Salma Nunez, a West High senior.

We just get to put them all together and learn that differences dont matter.

Anderson students Leslie Ayala-Munoz and Ariana Allen smiled at Alexis Chicalas, who was dressed in her West High cheerleading uniform, her hair pulled back with a giant gold bow.

You guys are in second grade? Chicalas asked.

Ariana nodded.

What do you like to do? Whats your favorite subject?

Math, Leslie whispered.

Oh, I like math, too, Chicalas said, smiling.

The girls talked about big brothers and little sisters, pets they had at home and ones they wished for, favorite colors and school art projects. They ate pizza and drank chocolate milk.

Because elementary students file into the cafeteria and take seats with their class, eating alone isnt usually a problem, said Jamie Angell, a counselor at Anderson. But some children are more shy than others and benefit from having an older buddy take an interest in them, she said.

When I got the email (from West High), I told my principal, We have to do this,  Angell said. It just gives them that extra attention they might not get in other places.

Pullum and her high school classmates said they hope Fridays event, along with fliers their group posted around West Highs cafeteria, will encourage people of all ages to be more welcoming and inclusive all the time.

I do see people sitting alone at lunch, said Sarah Owen, a West High student. But I often see people going over there and sitting with them. Thats something that we would do.
WASHINGTON  Hundreds of parents across the country have called on President Donald Trump to embrace Obama-era protections for transgender students that allow them use to school bathrooms in accord with their gender identity.

In a letter sent to the president by the Human Rights Campaign late Tuesday, more than 780 parents stressed that "all students deserve equal access to a safe, welcoming school and a high quality education no matter who they are."

The call follows a decision by the Trump administration last week to abandon a defense of the guidelines that had been issued by the Obama administration. A court issued an injunction against those guidelines last summer in response to a lawsuit filed by 13 states. President Barack Obama appealed the injunction, but the Trump administration decided to back off from that appeal.

Parents of transgender students say that revoking the right of students to use school bathrooms according to their gender identity amounts to discrimination and creates a hostile learning environment for transgender students.

"These policies are wrong, they hurt our children, and they violate the principle of equal education," the letter said.

Vanessa Ford, an education activist in Washington, D.C., whose 5-year-old daughter Ellie is transgender, said that forcing her to use one-stall individual bathrooms  which are usually located in the nurse's office  or the boys' bathroom would cause her pain.

"She would cry. She would withdraw," Ford wrote in an op-ed in The Washington Post last year. "She would feel alone, shameful, and unwelcome by her teachers and her peers."

Conservative activists firmly oppose the idea, saying it endangers the privacy and safety of other students and infringes on their civil rights.

Ryan Anderson, a senior research fellow with the conservative Heritage Foundation, says such protections for transgender students "will not result in what advocates claim is 'Fairness for All.'

"Instead, they will penalize many Americans who believe that we are created male and female and that male and female are created for each other," Anderson wrote.

Newly confirmed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has not voiced a position on the bathrooms controversy other than to say that she is against discrimination and will support all students.

During the election campaign Trump said that transgender students can use the bathroom they like.

An estimated 0.7 percent of youth ages 13-17 in the United Sates, or about 150,000 people, identify as transgender, according to a study by The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.
SIOUX CITY | National restaurant-bar chain Bar Louie will be opening its first Sioux City location later this year.

Bar Louie will open at 701 Gordon Drive alongside Holiday Inn, replacing the former Charlie's Restaurant & Lobby Bar, which closed Wednesday. The new restaurant could open in late summer after extensive renovations.

The addition will be the first in a three-phase project at the downtown 114-room hotel, which changed hands last year and is now being managed by True North Hotels Group.

The second phase will include a renovation of the lobby space adjacent to the restaurant, with a third including upgrades of guest rooms, said Chris O'Bryan, a regional manager with TAPS Management Inc., who is working on the renovations. The end result, he said, will be a more comfortable, bright and inviting space.

O'Bryan said the new ownership identified the restaurant as a focus area for improvement.

Bar Louie, a Chicago-based urban-themed restaurant-bar that offers appetizers, sandwiches, burgers, salads and a large variety of drinks, operates more than 110 restaurants around the country, including one in Des Moines.

O'Bryan described the incoming restaurant as community-oriented, high-energy and affordable.

"It's a year-round space that we think will add a phenomenal dynamic to our property," he said. "We chose (Bar Louie) primarily because their goal is to be a local place."

O'Bryan said the restaurant area will be modified to include more open space, as well as the addition of a fully enclosed two-level patio with glass doors that will open when the weather is favorable. It will also include a space for live music.

Renderings for the new restaurant should be available in about a month. O'Bryan said crews are shooting for late summer for the completion of the restaurant.
SIOUX CITY | The developers of a pork plant under construction in Sioux City are moving forward with plans for a second shift that will eventually increase the total number of jobs to around 2,000, nearly double the original estimate.

The expansion will raise the cost of the Seaboard Triumph Foods project by $31.4 million, to just over $300 million.

To help finance the larger investment, the company has asked the state for an additional $3.3 million in tax incentives.

In May 2015, the Iowa Economic Development Authority awarded $13.2 million in tax credits and sales and use tax refunds. At its monthly meeting in Des Moines Friday, the board is scheduled to consider a revision to its agreement with the company, a joint venture between Missouri-based Seaboard Foods and Oklahoma-based Triumph Foods.

The sprawling 600,000 square-foot plant, which would have the capacity to slaughter 10,000 to 12,000 hogs per day, is nearing construction in the city's Bridgeport West Business Park. It's expected to open July 31 with a single shift and around 1,100 employees.

Company leaders have talked openly in the past about the possibility of adding a second shift, but the request to the IEDA is the first public commitment to the expansion.

Weve been planning to do that and it just seems like a good time to do it, said Irving Jensen III, Seaboard Triumph Foods director of community relations and government affairs. "We feel very confident in the labor market right now and it just seems like a lot is happening in the industry and it seems like a logical time to move forward.

Jensen said the expansion would be modest since most of the complex has already been built. The addition would expand the footprint to about 950,000 square feet, and would increase freezer space, Jensen said.

The company expects to start up the second shift by May 2018, with total employment anticipated to increase to about 2,000.

A smaller number of jobs would qualify for state incentives. Under its revised application with the state, the company pledges to create at least 256 jobs under the state's High Quality Job Creation Program, or HQJP, program, up 54 from May 2015, and no fewer than 713 jobs under the states Targeted Job Withholding Tax Credit program. The latter is reversed for new or expanding employers in border cities like Sioux City.

The expansion would increase the company's tax credits under the Targeted Jobs by $2.4 million, from $7.65 million to $10 million, over a 10-year period. Under HQJP, the company's refund of sales and use tax on construction materials would grow by $601,950, from $3.16 million to $3.76 million.

Since the fall of 2015, hundreds of construction workers have been deployed to build the sprawling plant, which is modeled after Triumph Foods' state-of-the-art plant in St. Joseph.

The new factory's annual payroll in excess of $50 million and spending on economic materials, supplies and services is expected to ripple through the local economy, creating new sales for a host of ancillary businesses, from truck drivers to pallet makers to cold storage warehouses.
DES MOINES | A state board on Friday approved an additional $3.3 million in tax incentives for the Seaboard Triumph Foods pork plant in Sioux City to add a second shift and raise its total workforce to around 2,000.

The action raises to $16.5 million the total state tax credits and sales and use tax refunds awarded to the blockbuster project since it was announced in May 2015.

The 600,000 square-foot plant is nearing completion in the city's Bridgeport West Business Park, and is expected to start up with a single shift and 1,100 workers in late July.

Work on a new addition is expected to begin this spring with completion anticipated for the summer of 2018. At that point, the plant will employ around 200 salaried employees and 1,800 hourly production workers.

With a second shift, the plant will have the capacity to slaughter and process up to 20,000 to 24,000 hogs daily, or 6 million hogs per year, double the initial projections.

The timing of the expansion for a second shift is a result of growing demand for the Seaboard Triumph Foods line of quality pork products as well as ongoing growth in the industry," Mark Porter, Seaboard Triumph Foods chief operating officer, said in a statement Friday. "The support demonstrated thus far by our customers, community, city and state agencies simply gives us great confidence to grow right here in Northwest Iowa.

Mayor Bob Scott praised the company for the additional investment, saying it "shows the confidence that Seaboard Triumph Foods has in our community."

"As one of the largest projects in Sioux City, this expansion will create the demand for further housing growth to accommodate new employees in the region, Scott said in a statement.

The expansion will raise the cost of the pork plant project by $31.4 million, to just over $300 million. Under the revised plan approved by the Iowa Economic Development Authority Board Friday, the company will qualify for $3.76 million in refunds of the state sales and use tax on construction materials, an increase of $601,950 from the original amount, and $10 million from the Targeted Jobs Withholding Tax Credits Program, up $2.4 million from the initial total.

The Sioux City plant is a joint venture between Guymon, Oklahoma-based Seaboard Foods and St. Joseph, Missouri-based Triumph Foods. Seaboard currently markets and sells fresh pork processed by Triumph and Seaboard plants to domestic markets under the PrairieFresh Premium Pork brand and international markets under the Seaboard Farms and St. Joe Pork brands.

In other action Friday, the IEDA board approved a settlement for Hirschbach Trucking in Sioux City, which was unable to fulfill the promised number of jobs for a $225,000 award granted by the board in 2014. Under the settlement, the award will be reduced to $144,000, and the company instead pledges to create 16 jobs.

Hirschbach received the incentives as part of moving an office from South Sioux City across the Missouri River to a building it purchased at Third and Virginia streets in downtown Sioux City.
SIOUX CITY | Flashing some polished fingernails while decked out in some brand-new high-tops, Calli Jeffords, 20, was showing off some smooth dance moves to a recording of Meghan Trainor's "Me Too."

"I love getting dressed up and having my nails done!" she said. "This is so much fun!"

Jeffords, of Sioux City, is one of the 19 young women involved in the Sassy Steppers dance troupe.

Holding a final rehearsal for family and friends Wednesday at Redeemer Lutheran Church, they will be performing a routine during the Miss Amazing Pageant being held Friday and Saturday at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

According to Mid-Step Services residential services director Nancy Mullally, this is the third year that the Sassy Steppers danced at Miss Amazing, a pageant that provides opportunities for girls and women with disabilities to build confidence and self-esteem in a supportive environment.

"This is the second year in a row that Calli has been a Sassy Stepper," Mullally mentioned. "Do you remember how nervous you were last year, Calli?"

"Yeah, I was scared to death," Jeffords, an employee at Goodwill of the Great Plains, said. "Now I know what to expect."

Like Jeffords, Elyse Tibbe, 33, of Sioux City, performed as a Sassy Steppers at last year's Miss Amazing Pageant.

"I made so many new friends," Tibbe, a McDonald's employee, said. "Making friends is what I liked best about (Miss Amazing)."

Well, that and getting her hair and nails done. Plus receiving a crown is pretty nice, too.

"Everybody who participates becomes a princess," Mullally said. "And who knows? One of these girls may become a queen."

As the Sassy Steppers rehearse their dance number, Mullally can't help but smile.

"Last year, Elyse and Calli were terrified at the thought of dancing," she said. "Now, they're mentoring the newer members."

"It's wonderful seeing their confidence grow over time," Mullally added.

Grinning from ear to ear, Tibbe sashayed to the beat of the music.

"I may be nervous when we begin (the routine)," she predicted. "But I'll be with my friends and things will be OK."
SIOUX FALLS | A Lester, Iowa, man has been sentenced to prison earlier this month for attempted sex trafficking.

Aaron Vandekamp, 23, had pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Sioux Falls to attempted trafficking in involuntary servitude and forced labor. He was sentenced on Feb. 9 to 30 months in prison.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in South Dakota, Vandekamp was one of four men arrested as a result of an undercover sex trafficking operation during the 2015 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally that targeted persons willing to pay to have sex with underage girls obtained through the internet.

Vandekamp responded to an online advertisement, posted by undercover agents, that purported to offer young girls for sex. In correspondence with an undercover agent posing as a 15-year-old girl, Vandekamp negotiated a time and place to meet and agreed to pay $150 for sex.
SIOUX CITY | The warm spell in Siouxland came five degrees short of an all-time high in Sioux City Friday.

Thermometers in Sioux City maxed out at 66 Friday, according to the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls. The record high of 71 degrees for Feb. 17 was set in 1981.

"It was 35 degrees above normal today so it was very out of the ordinary," Janice Maldomado, a meteorologist with the weather service, said Friday afternoon.

Across the tri-state region, Siouxlanders went outside for a variety of activities, from biking to fishing, as they enjoyed a welcome break from the normal winter weather. Local golf courses were open and tee times were hard to come by.

The warming trend began midweek, with the high on Thursday reaching 65 degrees.

The warm temperatures will continue through Wednesday when highs are to reach above 60 degrees daily and the overnight lows are expected to not fall below the mid-30s.

The forecast includes a high of 62 for Saturday with a low of 40 at night. It is estimated to get back to 66 on Sunday, 67 on Monday, 66 on Tuesday and 63 for Wednesday, the weather service said.

If Monday hits the projected 67 degrees, it would break the 1981 record for Feb. 20 by one degree.

As area lakes and waterways experience the warmth, the weather service advises people to watch out for thinning ice.

The weather service said on Sunday and Monday there is a possible chance of showers and thunderstorms.

Temperatures are expected to dip in the 30s late next week, with a chance of rain on Thursday and snow on Friday.

Journal staff writer Alex Boisjolie contributed to this story.
SIOUX CITY | A transient man was arrested Wednesday after he allegedly pushed a woman into her Sioux City apartment, grabbed a knife and threatened to "stick" her with it.

According to court documents, Henry James White, 40, confronted the woman while she was walking in the hallway of the complex at 1716 Nebraska St. after 1 p.m.

A verbal argument ensued and White then pushed the victim several times and eventually pushed her into her own apartment. The documents said White then grabbed a knife and pointed it at her and threatened to "stick" her with it.

White is being held in the Woodbury County Jail for first-degree burglary, a class B felony punishable up to 25 years.
SIOUX CITY | Emmy-winning television host Dick Cavett will head to a Northeast Nebraska event with some additional cash in his pocket.

Cavett, who hosted "The Dick Cavett Show" from 1968 to 1986, will make three appearances in Nebraska. During his first event on Saturday in Lincoln, Meaghan Aguirre, director of the Unclaimed Property Division of the Nebraska State Treasurers Office, will present a check for unclaimed property to Cavett.

Cavett also will appear at Wayne State College in Wayne on Monday. The Black and Gold Performing Arts Series and the John G. Neihardt Foundation at the college are presenting A Conversation with Dick Cavett featuring Ron Hull.

A native of Gibbon, Nebraska, Cavett grew up in Lincoln. He is a three-time Emmy Award winner with a television career spanning five decades. The Dick Cavett Show featured his conversational style and in-depth discussions

The Unclaimed Property Division of the Nebraska State Treasurers Office is responsible for returning unclaimed property to rightful owners. Common forms of unclaimed property are uncashed paychecks, rental deposits, utility deposits, stocks, dividends, insurance payments, savings bonds and matured CDs.

The State Treasurers Office is holding $170 million in unclaimed property for 350,000 Nebraskans, former Nebraskans, and heirs. The office returned a record $16.3 million to owners in 2016.
SIOUX CITY | An 11-year-old boy has been arrested on a felony charge after police said he made threats to blow up Storm Lake Middle School in Storm Lake, Iowa.

The Storm Lake Police Department in a Friday release reported responding to a Thursday afternoon call regarding a threat at the middle school. Police interviewed school staff who said the boy made threats "to blow the school up."

The boy, who was not named due to his age, was charged with threats of terrorism. He was released to a parent and will be tried later in juvenile court.

The release said police believed there was no imminent threat from the incident.
To those who lived through that era that tore us apart in the '60s and '70s, it is starting to look like "deja vu all over again."

And as Adlai Stevenson, Bobby Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey did then, Democrats today like Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi are pandering to the hell-raisers, hoping to ride their energy to victory.

Democrats would do well to recall what happened the last time they rode the tiger of social revolution.

As the riots began in Harlem in 1964 and Watts in 1965, liberals rushed to render moral sanction and to identify with the rioters.

"In the great struggle to advance civil and human rights," said Adlai at Colby College, "even a jail sentence is no longer a dishonor but a proud achievement. ... Perhaps we are destined to see in this law-loving land people running for office ... on their prison records."

"There is no point in telling Negroes to obey the law," said Bobby; to the Negro, "the law is the enemy." Hubert assured us that if he had to live in a slum, "I could lead a mighty good revolt myself."

Thus did liberals tie themselves and their party to what was coming. By 1967, Malcolm X had been assassinated, Stokely Carmichael with his call to "Black Power" had replaced John Lewis at SNCC, and H. Rap Brown had a new slogan: "By any means necessary."

Came then the days-long riots of Newark and Detroit in 1967 where the 82nd Airborne was sent in. A hundred cities were burned and pillaged following the assassination of Dr. King on April 4, 1968.

And what happened in our politics?

The Democratic coalition of FDR was shattered. Governor George Wallace rampaged through the Democratic primaries of Wisconsin, Indiana and Maryland in 1964, then ran third party and carried five Southern states in 1968.

His presidency broken by Vietnam and the riots, LBJ decided not to run again. Vice President Humphrey's chances were ruined by the violent protests at his Chicago convention, which were broken up by the club-wielding cops of Democratic Mayor Richard J. Daley.

Race riots in the cities, student riots on campus, and that riot of radicals in Chicago helped deliver America to Richard Nixon.

Came then the huge anti-Nixon, anti-war demonstrations of the fall of 1969, the protests in the spring of 1970 after the Cambodian invasion and the Kent State killings, and the Mayday siege by thousands of anarchists to shut down D.C. in 1971.

Again and again, Nixon rallied the Silent Majority to stand with him -- and against them. Middle America did.

Hence, what did its association with protesters, radicals and Black Power militants do for the Democratic Party?

Where LBJ swept 44 states in 1964 and 61 percent of the vote, in 1968 Humphrey won 13 states and 43 percent.

In 1972, Nixon and Spiro Agnew swept 49 states, routing the champion of the countercultural left, George McGovern.

And the table had been set for California Governor Ronald Reagan, who defied campus rioters threatening him with violence thusly: "If it takes a bloodbath, let's get it over with."

Without the riots and bombings of the '60s and '70s, there might have been no Nixonian New Majority and no Reagan Revolution.

Today, with the raucous protests against President Trump and his travel ban, the disruption of congressional town meetings, the blocking of streets every time a cop is involved in a shooting with a black suspect, and the rising vitriol in our politics, it is beginning to look like the 1960s again.

There are differences. In bombings, killings, beatings, arrests, arson, injuries and destruction of property, we are nowhere near 1968.

Still, the intolerant left seems to have melded more broadly and tightly with the Democratic Party of today than half a century ago.

Where Barry Goldwater joked about sawing off the East Coast and "letting it drift out into the Atlantic," Californians today talk of secession. And much of Middle America would be happy to see them gone.

Where Nixon was credited with the "cooling of America" in 1972, and Reagan could credibly celebrate "Morning in America" in 1984, any such "return to normalcy" appears the remotest possibility now.

As with the EU, the cracks in the USA seem far beyond hairline fractures. Many sense the country could come apart. It did once before. And could Southerners and Northerners have detested each other much more than Americans do today?

Fifty years ago, the anti-Nixon demonstrators wanted out of Vietnam and an end to the draft. By 1972, they had gotten both. The long hot summers were over. The riots stopped.

But other than despising Trump and his "deplorables," what great cause unites the left today? Even Democrats confess to not knowing Hillary Clinton's presidential agenda.

From those days long ago, there returns to mind the couplet from James Baldwin's famous book, from which he took his title:

"God gave Noah the rainbow sign/No more water, the fire next time.
It isn't among our priorities for this year's Iowa legislative session and we aren't losing sleep about its chances for passage, but a bill to make the sale, purchase and use of fireworks legal in Iowa isn't something we oppose.

We revisit this issue today because fireworks legislation is progressing through the Statehouse again this session. (A fireworks bill was passed by a Senate committee and is eligible for Senate floor debate.)

We understand both sides of this discussion.

On one hand, we respect opposition by organizations representing firefighters, emergency services providers and health care providers due to dangers associated with fireworks.

On the other hand, we acknowledge majority support of legalized fireworks among Iowans. A Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll conducted in February 2016 showed 66 percent of Iowans favored legalizing fireworks. (Forty-three states allow some or all types of consumer fireworks.)

Also, we appreciate the economic benefits of capturing part of a business Iowa loses to border states (including Nebraska and South Dakota) each year.

As we have said in this space before, we support revisiting the debate about legalized fireworks within these parameters:

1) Lawmakers should listen to and consider input from police, sheriff's and fire departments.

2) Minors should be prohibited from purchasing fireworks.

3) Use of fireworks should be confined to a limited number of days either side of Independence Day. Fines for violation should be stiff, to provide a deterrent.

4) Reasonable boundaries about what is sold should be established. We don't need our state becoming a war zone over the Fourth of July.

5) Local governments should have the power to restrict sales and use of fireworks when public safety might be threatened (for example, during a summer of drought).

Any effort to meet demand in the state for legalization of more fireworks should embrace prudent safety steps and respect for all Iowans.
DES MOINES | The fights not over and now its personal.

The leader of the states largest public employee union plans to file a lawsuit Friday challenging the constitutionality of legislation significantly reducing its members bargaining rights.

This battle is not over. This war is not over, AFSCME Local 61 President Danny Homan said Thursday after the Iowa House and Senate approved changes in Iowa public employee collective bargaining law that pits employees within state government against each other by treating police and firefighters differently than other public employees.

Its extremely unconstitutional, he said about House File 291 that was passed 53-47 in the House and 29-21 in the Senate after a debate than spanned three day. Under the bill, police and firefighters have more collective bargaining rights than other public employees. Thats unfair, according to Homan and other union leaders who spoke at a Statehouse news conference that took on the tone of a rally.

If youre a policeman or firefighter somehow you have more risks on your job than a correctional officer, Homan said. I call that bull---. My members get beat up every day.

The lawsuit, which Homan expects will be joined by at least three state employees and filed in Polk County District Court, will be his parting shot in a long, contentious relationship with Branstad. He claimed a GOP senator told constituents the legislation was a going away gift to the governor, who voted against Chapter 20, the collective bargaining law enacted in 1974.

Well, Im giving Terry a different present tomorrow. Im giving him a lawsuit, Homan said.

This has been payback against me and the union I represent because were not taking a backseat...., said Homan, noting AFSCME has sued Branstad three times. Were going to continue to fight this.

Teachers are fired up like never before, according to Tammy Wawro, a Cedar Rapids teacher and president of the Iowa State Education Association.

Were feeling the love from our members, she said, adding that memberships have increased this week as HF 291 has been debated.

We are united and we are stronger because of what they have given us, which is a fight we are ready to fight in a way we were never ready to fight before, Wawro said.

Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO President Ken Sagar added his voice to that commitment.

We didnt start his fight, we did not want this fight, but we will not give up on this fight for the rights and lives of working Iowans, Sagar said.

Also, United Faculty at the University of Northern Iowa has indicated it is prepared to join civil litigation to prevent the implementation of the new law, much of which take effect when signed by Gov. Terry Branstad, perhaps as soon as Friday.
At this year's Association of American Colleges and Universities meeting, held in late January in San Francisco, a sense of misgiving filled the conference hall.Panelists raised, implicitly, the question whether higher education has become out of touch with Donald Trump's America. They fretted over their belief that the current social and political climate is a threat to the liberal arts and, in a time of "fake news," to the pursuit of truth itself.The Association's president, Lynn Pasquerella, concluded that it is the average American-giving in to the alleged anti-intellectualism of the day-who is misguided.Higher education leaders, she argued, must therefore work toWhile there were some speakers who called for tolerance and understanding-including Wesleyan University president Michael Roth, who advocated greater respect for "traditional conservative religion and thought"-they were a mere footnote during the four-day gathering.Rather, workshops such as "Reclaiming the Racial Narrative," case studies on implementing progressive agendas on campus, and strategies on how to engage students in support of "racial and social justice" dominated the conference's agenda.Unfortunately, in these early days of Trump's presidency, similar politicization seems to persist throughout much of academia. Many leftist students, faculty, and administrators pay only lip service to the notion that higher education should be a marketplace of ideas. They now seem to view themselves as combatants in an ideological war.The recent rash of protests and temper tantrums in response to the President's inauguration and policy proposals reveals continued allegiance not to civil discourse, but to identity politics and an intolerant strand of progressivism. Columbia University humanities professor Mark Lilla, writing in the New York Times last November, forcefully argued that such allegiance likely contributed to Democrats' embarrassing defeat in the 2016 elections.he wrote.In North Carolina, where progressive activists seem to control much of the campus political dialogue, it appears that the election offered no learning lessons. For example, when UNC-Chapel Hill students walked out of classes to protest President Trump's inauguration, it was a struggle to keep the seemingly like-minded group members focused and united, as students argued over who had the right to be the most outraged.One organizer was quoted by the Daily Tar Heel complaining about "problematic people" who "co-opted the space at times and didn't really understand that it was not for them at this particular moment." And when students began giving short speeches to voice their concerns about a Trump presidency, criticisms of "white America" and calls for dismantling "systems of oppression" were common refrains.Furthermore, identity-obsessed lectures and workshops remain popular events across the University of North Carolina system. For example, at UNC-Chapel Hill, the Anthropology Department is hosting a "Race, Difference, Power" colloquium in early March.At NC State, the GLBT center recently conducted two identity-based workshops: " What is racial justice? " and " Recognizing and Responding to Microaggressions. " A third, " Sitting With Privilege ," is scheduled for the end of March. And Duke and NC Central are partnering in late March to host a day-long conference titled "Let's Talk Racism: Recognizing, Resisting, and Revising."To be sure, some in the campus community appear to be striving to understand alternative viewpoints and avoid the divisiveness of identity politics. For instance, the diversity office at NC State is hosting a workshop next week titled " Controversial Issues and Civil Dialogue ," which is designed to help participants "disagree without being disagreeable."Similarly, the Professional Development Center at Wake Forest University held a " Let's Talk: A Current Political Dialogue " workshop at the end of January. However, for every workshop designed to help students engage with those with whom they disagree, there seems to be a dozen more teaching them about, for example, "correcting" microaggressions.If there is a silver lining for North Carolinians, it is that the situation could be a lot worse, as evidenced by the ridiculous turns radical progressivism has taken elsewhere in the country. Barnard College, for instance, recently announced a promise to begin hiring professors based on skin color as part of its ongoing efforts to become a "more representative, inclusive, and equitable campus."And at Santa Clara University , the student government denied recognizing the campus's Turning Point USA chapter as an official club, saying that the group's pro-capitalist message was in conflict with the school's mission and against its "humanity."Though one might be tempted to write off such narrow-minded thinking as representative of just a small percentage of campus leftists, it becomes hard to ignore when it turns dangerous.For example, a planned appearance by the conservative Brietbart provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos at the University of California at Berkeley resulted in violent protests, leading to the event being canceled and over $100,000 in damage. Among some of the chants repeated by the roughly 1,500 protesters was "No safe space for racists." And at New York University, eight protesters were arrested outside of a speaking event by conservative comedian Gavin McInnes.The apparent breakdown of higher education's marketplace of ideas seems to be spilling over more and more into the broader culture. For example, some conservatives in the San Francisco area are having to meet in secrecy , fearing even to tell their friends or family. As Bay Area resident Robert Ward described it, being a conservative is like "being a heretic" in some areas of California-a sad indication of how inhibited free and honest discussion has become.At any rate, the more the intolerant Left ratchets up its efforts to censor and reproach those with alternative viewpoints, the more the general campus community-the reasonable majority-becomes alienated from them.Speaking as a current UNC-Chapel Hill student, I can attest that most students-which even includes some of my friends who used to " Feel the Bern "-find the constant policing of "problematic language" and the progressive outrage machine to be tiresome and off-putting.Any hope campus leftists have in terms of frustrating the goals of the Trump presidency relies on their ability to branch out to the reasonable majority. Unfortunately, they seem to be heading in the opposite direction, often with the tacit support and even direct involvement of faculty and administrators. One would think that all of their hysteria-which is truly anti-intellectual-would have to end someday. As of now, that time appears to be a long way off.
SIOUX CITY | The City Council moved Thursday to raise by 50 percent the fee property owners pay for storm water drainage projects, the first increase since the once-controversial levy was enacted 25 years ago.

The projected $700,000 increase in revenue from the storm water drainage fee will be accompanied by a similar reduction in property tax collections for the budget year that begins July 1, council members pointed out.

While finance staff are still calculating what the impact will be for a typical homeowner, finance director Donna Forker said the result will be positive for residential and commercial taxpayers since the base of payers for storm water is broader than the property tax base.

"Theyre going to save more on their property taxes than theyll spend on storm water," she said.

While nonprofit organization such as religious organizations and charities are exempted by law from property taxes, they are required to pay the storm water drainage fee.

The fee currently generates about $1.4 million per year. But storm water projects cost much more, meaning about $2 million must come from additional sources funded by property taxes.

The council voted unanimously Thursday voted to reduce the amount of property taxes used to cover storm water fund expenses.

"From my standpoint, its more palatable to raise" the storm water fee, Scott said.

Storm water drainage fees started showing up on utility bills in 1992. At its outset, a large percentage of the funds were used to finance the city's share of a $97 million project to tame Perry Creek following widespread flooding in May 1990. After the flood control project was finished, the city, over the objections of some residents, continued to collect the fee to pay for other projects such as storm sewer infrastructure, drainage basins and storm water ditches.

The city calculates storm water rates by multiplying lot area, a "runoff weighting factor," which takes into account the percentage of impervious surfaces on each land parcel, and a unit financial charge.

According to a chart shared with council members, storm water project costs are projected to cost residents $10 on their property taxes per $100,000 and commercial property $16 per $100,000. Those numbers do not factor in a proposed rate increases.

A comparison of Sioux City's current storm sewer rate ($1.87 per month for a typical residential user) is the second-lowest among Iowa's 10 largest cities. The only one lower is Council Bluffs, where there is no charge. A typical resident in Des Moines pays $11.50 per month.

Because their parcels are typically much larger than a residential lot, commercial property owners in Sioux City pay higher storm water drainage fees, and face a larger increase under the plan the council advanced Thursday.

But city officials pointed out that property class would see a larger reduction in property taxes next year as a result of a state approved rollback in commercial property taxes several years ago.

The resulting change to the city's storm water drainage fee, coupled with other tweaks the council made to the budget Thursday, would mean the proposed property tax levy for the 2018 fiscal year would fall from $16.06 per $100,000 of assessed valuation to $15.77 in the current budget year.

Even with a lower rate, the owner of a $100,000 home would still pay $5 more in property taxes to the city, compared to this year, due to a scheduled increase in the percentage of the assessed valuation subject to taxation under a state-imposed formula, known as a "rollback." But that's down from the $21 increase that staff had originally projected.

Owners of a commercial property assessed at $100,000 would see a $27 decrease in property taxes, compared to the current budget year.

The first reading of the storm water rate increase will be held during the council's Feb. 27 meeting, the same day it will finalize the fiscal 2018 budget.

Sewer rates

During Thursday's budget talks, the council delayed a decision on a possible a sewer rate increase.

Finance staff had originally projected a 4.5 percent increase for fiscal 2018 but lowered its request Thursday to 3 percent.

The increase would cover debt for sewer line relocation on the Interstate 29 reconstruction and modernization project and investments to increase the capacity of the city's wastewater treatment plant.

Forker said after the meeting that the council will begin studying the increases again in March.
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
The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless.



The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well.







By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism.
WASHINGTON (Feb. 17, 2017)In 2009, Barack Obama made history as the first black president of the United States.



Now, some are wondering if there might be another black president in America's near future.



Since former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's loss in the November election, some Democrats have turned to former first lady Michelle Obama and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, hoping one or both will run in the 2020 presidential election. Others have mentioned California Sen. Kamala Harris and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.



Skeptics question the prospect of a future President Booker or a second President Obama, or the likelihood of any other black president any time soon.



A shift in the mood of the country, resurgent grievances among a bloc of white voters and different overall political conditions are working against the rise of a new black leader to the White House, according to some analysts.



"It's difficult to see for the foreseeable future," said Clarence Lusane, chairman of the political science department at Howard University in Washington.



A black president will happen "no time soon" and even a revival of the political left because of President Donald Trump "would not take seriously the resurgence of white nationalism," said Melvin Rogers, chairman of UCLA's social sciences department.



But Robert Koulish, a political science professor at the University of Maryland, is less pessimistic about the prospect of another black president: "There maybe a chance for one soon."



"I think Trump is pushing the pendulum more toward the reactionary right, alt-right direction, which is invigorating and normalizing a lot of viewpoints that are bigoted and prejudiced against people of color," Koulish explained.



However, pointing to the major protests and demonstrations like the January Women's March on Washington, he said the conservative swing is "generating a movement in the other direction that probably wouldn't have coalesced without the current administration."



Nearly a month into the Trump presidency, it is obviously very early to speculate about possible 2020 Democratic candidates. But names are being floated and polls are being taken.



Democrats generally are looking for somebody new and younger than most recent candidates.



According to a December 2016 survey by Public Policy Polling, 57 percent of Democrats want a candidate under the age of 60, and 77 percent said under the age of 70.



Only one quarter of Democrats said they want a 2020 candidate who previously has campaigned for president.



A December USA Today/Suffolk University Poll found two-thirds of Democrats and independents said they wanted "someone entirely new."



Michelle Obama and Booker fit into the younger and new candidate categories, but the two may need more than what the polls suggest to win in the future.



Lusane explained that Barack Obama won the election in 2008 when both Republican and Democratic voters wanted relief from the economic crisis under then-President George W. Bush and thus were open to change.



Obama's campaign strategy of winning delegates in small states and his "presentation as a unifier" helped him win the presidency, Lusane said.



"Obama was perceived by many whites as basically not being a traditional African American politician," he added. "He never denied being black, but he never highlighted it either."



Trump's recent election reflected white grievances, according to Lusane. He said a significant number of white people felt they had been left behind, while in their view people of color and women were privileged.



"I think it is really difficult now because there is such a resurgence of white nationalism," he said. "(Barack) Obama was a unique personality, in a unique moment, and you can't just duplicate that."



Koulish added that even if Democrats don't have a person of color on the 2020 ballot, another female candidate appears likely.



He mentioned New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand as one possible hopeful. Another name on some lists is Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar.



Although Booker and Michelle Obama both have said they will not run for president, that is not deterring backers on social media.



Those in the Michelle Obama camp are using the Twitter hashtags "#DraftMichelle" and "#Michelle2020" to encourage the former first lady to seek the White House in her own right.



One Twitter user suggested a slogan for Michelle's future campaign: "If you do decide to run for presidency, your slogan should be 'Michelle 2020' The perfect vision for America."



In the days leading up to the Nov. 8 presidential election, Donald Garrett, 25, of Tysons Corner, Virginia, and four of his friends decided they were going to be displeased no matter the result.



They launched the Ready for Michelle PAC.



"The idea is to get her to at least compete," Garrett said.



The PAC has raised about $1,000 and collected about 1,000 signatures on the petition encouraging Obama to run as of last month.



Obama would push fellow running mates to compete at a higher level, Garrett said. "She's highly qualified. Just her poise, her swag," he laughed. "She is the entire package."



Garrett said if Michelle Obama and Booker were to face off in 2020, it would be a "good fight."



Booker, the former mayor of Newark, N.J., made headlines when he broke Senate tradition and testified against the nomination of Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general.



Booker fan clubs have been popping up on Facebook and Twitter in recent months, some pages gaining as many as 6,000 likes.



Booker told CNN at the Women's March on Washington that "I am not open to being president," adding, "I don't even want to have the discussion right now."



Cedric Richmond, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said there is potential for a future black commander-in-chief.



"There are a number of African-Americans qualified to hold the nation's highest office. I believe it is only a matter of time before one of these individuals has an opportunity to serve in that capacity again," he said in a statement to Capital News Service.



But UCLA's Rogers, also associate professor of African American studies, said the chances that Harris could be a presidential candidate were "very slim almost to be improbable."



Harris, the former California attorney general and the nation's second black female senator, may not be able to translate her success in the most populous state to the national level, Rogers said.



"What one can do locally in California looks radically different when you're on the national stage and dealing with senators from states that are radically different from California," he said.



Instead, Rogers said someone like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren or Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders have a better chance of winning the presidency in 2020.



"The only response to the radical pull to the right will be a radical pull to the left, and that does not include anyone who is on the current political scene today, if we exclude Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren," Rogers said.
The election of Donald Trump as President of the United States was the most traumatic and unexpected event in modern American history. Trump, a businessman and reality show star with no political or military experience, triumphed over Hillary Clinton, a deeply flawed but much more experienced candidate.

Trumps election was the triumph of the Tea Party movement, perhaps our countrys most successful political movement. Created in reaction to Barack Obamas pricey stimulus package and Affordable Care Act, the Tea Party articulated the Heartlands fear and anger at big government, illegal immigrants, Muslim terrorists, and uppity minorities. Unlike the left-leaning Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter movements, the Tea Party knew its way around our two party system and was able to take control of the Republican Party. Thanks to the Tea Party, the GOP took over the House of Representatives in 2010 and the Senate in 2014. Trump realized the power of the Tea Party, put himself at the head of it, and won the Republican nomination for President against a crowded field of candidates. The Trump election completed the Tea Party takeover of the federal government.

Trump promised to be more presidential once he became president, but in fact President Trump is just like Candidate Trump, only with more power. An Alpha Male with an enormous ego to match his aspirations, Trump was always convinced of his own greatness and of his capacity to win at anything that he sets out to do. In Trumps mind he is always right and his enemies are always wrong; and Trump is merciless to those who dare to attack or criticize him. Just like he did in business, President Trump intends to do things his own way, extending the power of the president and rejecting constitutional checks and balances, whether on the part of Congress, the courts, or what he calls the dishonest media.

Though he is the most powerful man on earth, Donald Trump is not a happy man. Vain and insecure, Trump sees himself as the challenged hero of his own saga, constantly surrounded by enemies. Unlike his predecessors, who laughed when they were spoofed by the comics on Saturday Night Live, Trump gets upset anytime Alec Baldwin or anyone else does a Trump impersonation. With First Lady Melania at the Trump Tower with their son, and daughter Ivanka at home with her own family, the lonely Trump articulates his hatreds and frustrations by sending out late night tweets, attacking everything and everyone who does not kiss his ass and letting his advisors clean up the mess. I almost feel sorry for presidential shills Sean Spicer, Reince Priebus and Kellyanne Conway, who constantly have to defend a boss who cannot be treated as a rational human being. This sympathy should not extend to White House strategist Steve Bannon, Trumps grey eminence, whom I believe is truly evil.

Though most of Trumps self-described deplorable continue to support their hero, the Trump administration is a disaster for those of us who refuse to surrender to his whims.

How do we survive the Age of Trump?

Though Trump might want to model his rule after that of his idol, Russias Vladimir Putin, Trump is not a dictator. Our countrys federal and constitutional system does not allow anyone to have his own way, not even authoritarian types like our Tabloid President. Ours is a great country, no matter how much Trump and his stooges might try to ruin it, and there is still a lot to love about the USA. Those of us who opposed Candidate Trump and now oppose President Trump must and will continue the fight, for ourselves and for those we love, and we will prevail.
She refused to sell flowers to a same-sex couple for their wedding, and now shes paying a price.

On Thursday the Washington Supreme Court ruled against Christian Florist Barronelle Stutzman for denying the sale of flowers to couple Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed in 2013. Stutzman cited her religious beliefs, leading her to be sued by the couple as well as the state attorney general for violating Washington discrimination laws.

Stutzman countersued under the argument of religious freedom, and by claiming she did not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, according to Think Progress. She also argued that the law discriminated on her first amendment right of free speech, but that claim was also denied.

Washington Supreme Courts unanimous ruling reaffirmed a lower courts 2013 case ruling against Stutzman, which required her to pay a $1,000 fine.

In a news release gathered by the Tri-City Herald, The Alliance Defending Freedom stated Stutzman will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse Thursdays ruling. The ADF represents Stutzman.

According to the release, Washington Supreme Court justices concluded that the government can force her  and, by extension, other Washingtonians  to create artistic expression and participate in events with which they disagree.

The same-sex couples marriage came only a two months after Washington recognized same-sex freedom to marry.
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.




Rocket Lab Preparing for its First Launch as Electron Arrives at Launch Complex 1. Rocket Lab

The first Electron rocket, Its a Test, has arrived at Rocket Labs Launch Mahia Peninsula Launch Complex 1 on the North Island of New Zealand in preparation for its maiden test flight.

Rocket Lab will now begin pre-flight tests and checkouts of the Electron rocket which are expected to last several weeks.

Its an important milestone for our team and for the space industry. In the past, its been countries that go to space, not companies, said Peter Beck, Rocket Labs CEO. Through the innovative use of new technologies our team has created a launch vehicle designed for manufacture at scale. Our ultimate goal is to change our ability to access space.

Since we commenced this project three years ago, our team has accomplished an incredible amount  the vehicle has gone through rigorous qualification and acceptance testing, Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 has been completed and major tracking infrastructure has been installed in remote locations.

The test flight, expected in March, is the first of three planned test flights before Rocket Lab begins to launch commercial payloads. It is also the the first orbital launch attempt from New Zealand.
Snowfall NASA

Researchers have completed the first flights of a NASA-led field campaign that is targeting one of the biggest gaps in scientists understanding of Earths water resources: snow.

NASA uses the vantage point of space to study all aspects of Earth as an interconnected system. But there remain significant obstacles to measuring accurately how much water is stored across the planets snow-covered regions. The amount of water in snow plays a major role in water availability for drinking water, agriculture and hydropower.

Enter SnowEx, a NASA-led multi-year research campaign to improve remote sensing measurements of how much snow is on the ground at any given time and how much water is contained in that snow. SnowEx is sponsored by the Terrestrial Hydrology Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington and managed by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The first year of the campaign is taking place this month in western Colorado.

This is the most comprehensive campaign we have ever done on snow, said Edward Kim, a remote sensing scientist at NASA Goddard and the SnowEx project scientist. An army of nearly 100 scientists from universities and agencies across the U.S., Europe and Canada are participating. Our goal is to find and refine the best snow-measuring techniques.

Why snow?

More than one-sixth of the worlds population relies on seasonal snow for water. In the western United States, nearly three-quarters of the annual streamflow that provides the water supply arrives as spring and summer melt from the mountain snowpacks. Right now, predictions of streamflow can vary widely due to limited ground measurement sites. Thats one reason scientists and resource managers are interested in a comprehensive view from space of what they call snow water equivalent  the amount of liquid water contained in snow cover. Scientists use snow water equivalent to estimate the amount of water that will melt into rivers and reservoirs.

Snow also affects and is affected by the climate. Scientists have detected changes in snow quantity and snowmelt timing that track with other changes prompted by Earths warming climate. While satellites are not able to measure snow-water equivalent accurately over all snowy landscapes, satellites have monitored the extent of seasonal snow-covered areas for decades. Since 1967, Northern Hemisphere spring snow cover has declined by about 1 million square miles. Loss of snow cover results in Earth absorbing more sunlight, accelerating the planets warming.

In the air, on the ground

The instruments and techniques developed in campaigns such as SnowEx could one day result in a snow-observing space mission. We will also figure out a better way to optimize the use of existing satellites to make measurements, said Jared Entin, program manager of the Terrestrial Hydrology Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Five aircraft with a total of 10 different sensors are part of the SnowEx campaign. From an operations base at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, SnowEx will deploy a P-3 Orion aircraft operated by the Scientific Development Squadron ONE (VXS-1), stationed at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. High-altitude NASA jets will fly from NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston and Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale, California. A King Air and a Twin Otter will fly out of Grand Junction, Colorado.

The King Air carries the Airborne Snow Observatory from NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. ASO is the first remote sensing system ever to measure snow depth, snow water equivalent and snow albedo across entire mountain basins, and has uniquely quantified snow water equivalent over mountainous regions since 2013.

The other planes will carry five different microwave sensors that are good at measuring snow-water equivalent in dry snow but less optimal at measuring snow in forests or light snow cover; a thermal infrared camera and a remote thermometer for measuring surface temperature; a laser instrument that is good at measuring snow depth and snow water equivalent through trees; an imaging spectrometer that measures snow albedo  the amount of sunlight reflected and absorbed by snow, which controls the speed of snowmelt and the timing of its runoff.

The field portion of the campaign is based on Grand Mesa and in the Senator Beck Basin. Teams of 50 researchers are making ground measurements, rotating in and out of the field each week for three weeks. The scientists will use measurement and sampling procedures to validate the remotely sensed measurements acquired with aircraft. They will be working above 10,000 feet in potentially windy and freezing conditions up to 10 hours a day. The teams use snowshoes, skis and snowmobiles to access the ground locations.

The Senator Beck Basin study area is near the headwaters of the Rio Grande River. Its research areas are the first major mountain systems downwind of the desert Southwest and Colorado Plateau, making it an ideal place to study the effects of dust on snowmelt, said Hans-Peter Marshall of Boise State University, Idaho, who is leading operations in the basin. Grand Mesa was chosen for its flatness and range of forest conditions, according to Chris Hiemstra, a research physicist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the lead for the Grand Mesa operations.

Ground equipment was installed in September 2016, before snow started to fall. A ground site near a campground will host specialized equipment too large to move around. This Local Scale Observation Site effort is led by Ludovic Brucker from NASA Goddard.
Enceladus NASA

Thus began a hunt for clues that has turned out to be Cassinis most riveting detective story.

Enceladus was so exciting that, instead of just three close flybys planned for our four-year primary mission, we added 20 more, including seven that went right through the geysers at the south pole, said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.

By following the trail of scientific breadcrumbs, Cassini eventually found that Enceladus harbors a global ocean of salty water under its icy crust, possibly with hydrothermal vents on its seafloor. The trail of clues that began with a puzzling magnetometer reading led to an understanding that the moon  and perhaps many small, icy moons like it throughout the cosmos  could potentially have the ingredients needed for life.

Half the excitement of doing science is that you sometimes find yourself going in a totally different direction than you expected, which can lead to amazing discoveries, said Spilker. That little anomaly in Cassinis magnetometer signal was unusual enough that it eventually led us to an ocean world. NASA: Snow Science Supporting the US Water Supply

Researchers have completed the first flights of a NASA-led field campaign that is targeting one of the biggest gaps in scientists understanding of Earths water resources: snow.

NASA uses the vantage point of space to study all aspects of Earth as an interconnected system. But there remain significant obstacles to measuring accurately how much water is stored across the planets snow-covered regions. The amount of water in snow plays a major role in water availability for drinking water, agriculture and hydropower.

Enter SnowEx, a NASA-led multi-year research campaign to improve remote sensing measurements of how much snow is on the ground at any given time and how much water is contained in that snow. SnowEx is sponsored by the Terrestrial Hydrology Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington and managed by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The first year of the campaign is taking place this month in western Colorado.

This is the most comprehensive campaign we have ever done on snow, said Edward Kim, a remote sensing scientist at NASA Goddard and the SnowEx project scientist. An army of nearly 100 scientists from universities and agencies across the U.S., Europe and Canada are participating. Our goal is to find and refine the best snow-measuring techniques.

Why snow?

More than one-sixth of the worlds population relies on seasonal snow for water. In the western United States, nearly three-quarters of the annual streamflow that provides the water supply arrives as spring and summer melt from the mountain snowpacks. Right now, predictions of streamflow can vary widely due to limited ground measurement sites. Thats one reason scientists and resource managers are interested in a comprehensive view from space of what they call snow water equivalent  the amount of liquid water contained in snow cover. Scientists use snow water equivalent to estimate the amount of water that will melt into rivers and reservoirs.

Snow also affects and is affected by the climate. Scientists have detected changes in snow quantity and snowmelt timing that track with other changes prompted by Earths warming climate. While satellites are not able to measure snow-water equivalent accurately over all snowy landscapes, satellites have monitored the extent of seasonal snow-covered areas for decades. Since 1967, Northern Hemisphere spring snow cover has declined by about 1 million square miles. Loss of snow cover results in Earth absorbing more sunlight, accelerating the planets warming.

In the air, on the ground

The instruments and techniques developed in campaigns such as SnowEx could one day result in a snow-observing space mission. We will also figure out a better way to optimize the use of existing satellites to make measurements, said Jared Entin, program manager of the Terrestrial Hydrology Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Five aircraft with a total of 10 different sensors are part of the SnowEx campaign. From an operations base at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, SnowEx will deploy a P-3 Orion aircraft operated by the Scientific Development Squadron ONE (VXS-1), stationed at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. High-altitude NASA jets will fly from NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston and Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale, California. A King Air and a Twin Otter will fly out of Grand Junction, Colorado.

The King Air carries the Airborne Snow Observatory from NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. ASO is the first remote sensing system ever to measure snow depth, snow water equivalent and snow albedo across entire mountain basins, and has uniquely quantified snow water equivalent over mountainous regions since 2013.

The other planes will carry five different microwave sensors that are good at measuring snow-water equivalent in dry snow but less optimal at measuring snow in forests or light snow cover; a thermal infrared camera and a remote thermometer for measuring surface temperature; a laser instrument that is good at measuring snow depth and snow water equivalent through trees; an imaging spectrometer that measures snow albedo  the amount of sunlight reflected and absorbed by snow, which controls the speed of snowmelt and the timing of its runoff.

The field portion of the campaign is based on Grand Mesa and in the Senator Beck Basin. Teams of 50 researchers are making ground measurements, rotating in and out of the field each week for three weeks. The scientists will use measurement and sampling procedures to validate the remotely sensed measurements acquired with aircraft. They will be working above 10,000 feet in potentially windy and freezing conditions up to 10 hours a day. The teams use snowshoes, skis and snowmobiles to access the ground locations. The Senator Beck Basin study area is near the headwaters of the Rio Grande River. Its research areas are the first major mountain systems downwind of the desert Southwest and Colorado Plateau, making it an ideal place to study the effects of dust on snowmelt, said Hans-Peter Marshall of Boise State University, Idaho, who is leading operations in the basin. Grand Mesa was chosen for its flatness and range of forest conditions, according to Chris Hiemstra, a research physicist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the lead for the Grand Mesa operations.

Ground equipment was installed in September 2016, before snow started to fall. A ground site near a campground will host specialized equipment too large to move around. This Local Scale Observation Site effort is led by Ludovic Brucker from NASA Goddard.
LIVINGSTON  Robert Carl Bob Werle, 83, of Livingston, formerly Honolulu, Hawaii, passed away, Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017, at his home with the love of his wife and family at his side. A private family memorial and burial will be held at the Punchbowl, National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, HI, with Veterans Honors.
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...
Always At My Place made his first visit to Dover Downs a winning one, having just enough to nip Cajon Lightning by a short nose in the $30,000 Preferred Handicap in 1:51.1 while Sweet Rock came on to catch Emeritus Maximus in the final strides to win the $27,500 Delaware Special on a windy and chilly Thursday, Feb. 16.

Yannick Gingras drove Always At My Place in his first start of the year for Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, Lawrence Karr and Phil Collura. Cajon Lightning took the lead early and led until the final strides, finishing second for the fourth consecutive start. Veteran $1.5-million winner Dancin Yankee and Ross Wolfenden picked up the third-place cheque. Always At My Place is an Always A Virgin-Best Place gelding, who chalked up his 28th lifetime success lifting his career earnings to $589,122.

In the $27,500 Delaware Special Handicap, Sweet Rock and driver Allan Davis were all out to pass veteran Emeritus Maximus (Gingras), a winner of two straight after being claimed for $15,000 last month. Emeritus Maximus took the early lead and finished a strong second in the 1:51.4 mile. Sweet Rock, a Rocknroll Hanover-Penny For Nickel gelding, scored his first win of the year for trainer Wayne Givens and owners Legacy Racing Of DE Inc., Reginald Hazzard II, and Gary Calloway. It was his 17th career trip to the winners circle and pushed his earnings to $466,377. Blazing Bobby Sox, a winner of his last two in this class, closed boldly to just miss while taking show money.

On the hard-hitting undercard, Star Messenger, a horse claimed by trainer Gary Ewing in December, won for the third time with Tony Morgan at the controls notching a 1:50.2 victory, the fastest on the program, in a $15,500 male pace.

In a $15,000 four and five-year-old male pace, Gingras also drove Bad Gamer, a Badlands Hanover-Kattimon four-year-old he owns with trainer Ed Gannon Jr., Frank Canzone and Ronald Sabatini in a 1:51.4 performance.

Art Stafford Jr.s first win came guiding Ben Stafford and Bill Daggets Cloud Speed to a last-to-first 1:53 score in a $15,000 male pace for young horses.

Allan Davis and Yannick Gingras led all drivers with three wins apiece, Art Stafford Jr. had a double; trainer Ron Burke and owners Weaver Bruscemi along with trainer Wayne Givens and owners Reg Hazzard and Legacy Racing earned two wins each.

(With files from Dover Downs)
"Ive said to many people that if you want to make money in [harness] racing, this is the best opportunity youve had in many, many years."

An article published today in the Democrat & Chronicle by Joseph Spector examines how the addition of video lottery terminals (VLTs) at racetracks have impacted the horse racing industry in New York, noting that purses at the state's seven harness tracks having tripled since 2003.

"If you and four friends had $20,000. The best thing to do is to get together, each kick in $4,000 and buy a $20,000 claimer and race it at Yonkers Racetrack," said Bob Galterio, the COO at Yonkers Raceway. "The purses are so good. You race every week."

The article also notes the horse racing industry's contribution to New York's agricultural sector, stating that it employs 32,000 people, with Tioga and Vernon Downs owner Jeff Gural quoted as saying, "It definitely saved racing; it saved the jobs."

"Without the slots or the VLTs, there would be no harness racing. Its totally dependent on the revenue we receive from the slots," Gural said, adding, "The problem is that most of our customers are older and we have not successfully created an industry for the younger generation. So what happens when all those people die off?"

To read the complete Democrat & Chronicle article, click here.

(With files from Democrat & Chronicle)
The harness racing industry has a well-documented and much-debated struggle with keeping its stars on the racetrack. So when one of the biggest Standardbred stars in recent memory takes time off, some start to worry. Some start to wonder if there's another reason for the hiatus.

Is Wiggle It Jiggleit injured? Will he race in 2017? Why is he not racing now?

Thankfully for harness racing, the owner of the pacing powerhouse is one of the most good-natured individuals one can encounter. And he takes all the speculation in stride.

"The expectations on him have always been huge, ever since that one start as a two-year-old and [he] came back as a three-year-old early. And rightly so," owner George Teague told Trot Insider this week. "I don't take it as anything other than a compliment to the horse's achievements over the years that people are so intrigued and interested in seeing him race. They really do miss him when he isn't racing."

Rest assured -- or for owners of older pacers, be warned -- Wiggle It Jiggleit is returning. He came back into the barn to start training for his five-year-old campaign this past Monday (Feb. 13). The popular son of Mr Wiggles last raced in the 2016 Breeders Crown in one of his many thrilling slugfests with archrival Always B Miki.

Wiggle It Jiggleit was set to avenge that loss in the TVG Final but wasn't entered due to a foot bruise and sickness. That minor injury likely stoked the fires of rumour when Wiggle It Jiggleit didn't start training back while others in his division were either racing or starting to prep. According to Teague, the plan was always to give the horse some much-deserved time off.

"That was always my plan; nothing more than that the horse had very little rest," said Teague. "By my calculations, I think he's had about three months worth of rest in two years. You can't dance every dance...I'd like to see the horse race four or five years. I'm not going to say it's going to happen, you never can tell."

Many in the industry had already planned Wiggle It Jiggleit's 2017 season for him, and they had him pointed to the George Morton Levy Series. Because of course, that's where he raced in 2016...so why change? And Teague often remarked that the horse loves his work, so why rest him?

The other side of that argument, as Teague acknowledges, these horses aren't machines. And while Wiggle It Jiggleit seemingly competes with robotic consistency and precision, his workload for a racehorse in the 21st century is nearly unprecedented, averaging 25 starts with Grand Circuit travel over the last two years.

"People act surprised and question that I'm not racing him now and I'm like 'this horse raced more than any three-year-old, and he raced as much as any four-year-old, and better than any three- and four-year-old I've seen in recent years'," stated Teague, "and everybody says 'there's something wrong with him' and I'm like 'if there is, I haven't noticed. The horse hasn't had a pimple in the last few months. If there's something wrong, I haven't seen it."

With the Levy not on Teague's radar, and a large gap in the schedule between the Levy and the next major event -- the 2017 Ben Franklin at Mohegan Sun Pocono -- Wiggle It Jiggleit will prepare for his five-year-old campaign with a reduced workload of races. Teague is fully aware the target will be on his back just as much if not more so than last year, and he'll need his stable star at his best come showtime.

"Starting him back is not like starting any other horse; these kinds of horses you want ready before they even hit the track because they've got to be. There's no partially-ready, you have to be ready."

The plan is to be ready for the Ben Franklin. Eliminations for that race are slated for June 24 at Pocono.

"I always planned on missing the Battle of Lake Erie (set for June 3 at Northfield) and going to [Pocono], and then just start him up from there, see what we do and end with the TVG."

A lighter schedule and later start date might not sit well with some in the industry but Teague is quick to point out how fortunate he is -- in this instance -- that he only has to answer to himself and the horse.

"That's the privilege of ownership though, man. Other than the partnership we developed with Jimmy Bernstein, nobody interferes with what I want to do," said Teague. "My total obligation is to the horse -- it's always been that way. He's always told me what he wanted to do, and it's been pretty simple to read him."

Teague is hopeful to get a start or two into Wiggle It Jiggleit prior to the Franklin but did state that the plan is for the Franklin to be his first 2017 stakes event. He was third in that race in 2016, another Race of the Year calibre effort from those involved.

Though the Franklin eluded him, Wiggle It Jiggleit's seasonal successes in 2016 outweighed his losses. The four-year-old never missed the board in 24 starts -- putting up a summary of 15-7-2 -- and banked $1.816 million to top the North American earnings charts. His efforts garnered him favour among O'Brien Award voters, who named him Canada's Older Pacing Horse of the Year.

"His greatness comes in more than just one aspect," observed Teague, who has seen his share of great horses. "His endurance is uncanny, his toughness is uncanny, his ability to rebound within six or seven days of shipping across the country and racing again is very uncanny, and the best part about him is that the horse has never thrown in a clunker. And that just doesn't happen. He's just an amazing, amazing horse."

Teague regretfully was not in attendance to accept the O'Brien Award as he had already planned a vacation with his family prior to the finalists' announcement in December.

"I always tell everybody, I've been to quite a few awards banquets and you guys up in Canada, you do it topnotch. It's a shame we had already planned a cruise a while back so we couldn't make it.

"It's a great achievement. When he won the Canadian Pacing Derby and beat Always B Miki that was a hell of an achievement. He was awfully good that night."

Throughout the past two years, Teague and his management team of trainer Clyde Francis and driver-son Montrell Teague have done an immaculate job of ensuring Wiggle It Jiggleit has been awfully good more times than not. His breeder-owner, however, defers the overwhelming majority of credit for that success over to the equine athlete.

"Great horses come, and I'm just lucky to breed him. I had the mom and the dad, and that's a triple-fun ride for me. But you still have to manage them. You don't want to just sit there and waste races, you don't want to sit there and waste time, you don't want to take chances...I want to make every race count for maximizing his career and still hopefully hold him up to the great status that he's been catapulted up to."
The Author of 'The Shack' Talks Spirituality at Lifetree Cafe

Contact: Craig Cable, National Director, Lifetree Cafe , 970-292-4697, ccable@lifetreecafe.com LOVELAND, Colo., Feb. 17, 2017 / Standard Newswire / -- William Paul Young, best known as the author of "The Shack," will discuss the difference between being spiritual and being religious in a filmed interview at Lifetree Cafes around the country the week of February 19th.Nearly 30 percent of Americans identify themselves as spiritual but not religious, and the trend is growing. Young's best-selling book has prompted a national discussion of the difference between spirituality and religion."I make a distinction between the church as an organization and the church as people," says Young. "Biblically speaking, the church is people. It's only people. They didn't have the buildings, the structures, or platforms. It's simply people."Lifetree Cafe national director Craig Cable explained this program will allow participants to discuss their own experiences with spirituality and religion."Many people find the established beliefs and boundaries that come with religion helpful in being spiritual. Yet others find those same beliefs and boundaries a barrier to being spiritual. We'll take time to discuss this delicate balance."Lifetree Cafe is a national network of venues where people gather for conversation about life and faith in a casual coffeehouse-type setting.Lifetree Cafe locations and times, and a preview of "Spiritual but Not Religious," can be found at www.lifetreecafe.com
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks hunter education course dates have been set for many areas across northeastern Montana.

All hunter education classes are free of charge. In the next month classroom courses are being held in: Havre: Feb. 23; Malta: Feb. 27; Bainville: March 4; Circle: March 6; Glasgow: March 6; Hinsdale: March 6; Scobey: March 6; Saco: April 3.

All students must register online at the FWP website at fwp.mt.gov; click on the education tab, then click hunter education programs. Next, Find a class or field course and search for the available class in your area.

There are also two adult online field courses being held in the next month: Havre: Feb. 21; and Glasgow: March 12.

Adults can find online course instructions at fwp.mt.gov. The Field Day Qualifier Certificate and a picture ID are necessary to obtain entrance into the field course.

For more information call the Glasgow FWP office at 228-3700.
A man was charged Thursday with endangering children by hitting a school bus while driving drunk.

Randy Gene American Horse, 38, was charged in Yellowstone County Justice Court with felony criminal endangerment and six misdemeanors including DUI and failing to remain at the scene of an accident.

Justice of the Peace David Carter ordered American Horse held in place of a $50,000 bond. American Horse will have to be placed on alcohol monitoring if he pays his bond.

On Wednesday, American Horse was arrested in a neighborhood near the Alkali Creek Elementary School, on the 600 block of Alkali Creek Road.

At about 3 p.m. Wednesday, American Horse was driving a Pontiac Grand Am when he hit a school bus about a block north of the school, according to charging documents. One of the passengers in the Pontiac had to be taken to the hospital. Another refused medical treatment. American Horse left the scene and was later arrested in a nearby neighborhood, according to charging documents.

The bus was carrying 16 children and one adult. None of the bus passengers were injured.
The Trump administration recently issued an immigration ban from seven Muslim majority countries (Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen). This ban  the way it currently exists  was overturned by the federal judicial courts as unconstitutional. It not only banned refugees, but there were also cases of authorities detaining and deporting legal VISA holders and others, including here at the Orlando International Airport.

This story is personal to me as I am the child of refugees, my parents having escaped by fishing boat from Vietnam before finally being sponsored into the United States. The America I know and love has always been a welcoming and gracious nation, one full of opportunity and a place of safe harbor for those most persecuted and oppressed. If not for Americas open hearts, who knows if my parents would not have been one of the many thousands who died at sea or captured by pirates.

Chef Hari Pulapaka, a native of Mumbai, India, came to the U.S. for graduate studies in 1987. An Associate Professor of Mathematics, he has been at Stetson University since the fall of 2000. When not teaching or working on mathematics and related areas, he is at Cress, a restaurant in downtown DeLand that he owns with his wife, working as an active professional chef. He is also a four-time semi-finalist for the prestigious James Beard Award-Best Chef South and has been invited to cook on multiple occasions at the prestigious James Beard House in New York City.

Chef Hari Pulapaka is soon hosting a family style meal at Cress featuring the cuisines of the 7 countries who are part of the administrations immigration ban  the 300 tickets are practically sold out at publication time of this article.

I was honored to speak to him briefly about the upcoming project.

Tell us about how this dinner came about, what inspired you to create 7 Courses, 7 Countries?

I was sitting in a plane on the tarmac in Atlanta, GA having just landed, coming off a Taste of Mathematics event hosted by the Mind Research Institute, when we heard that Delta Airlines was experiencing computer glitches nationwide and that it would be several hours before we could deplane.

At least I had a dedicated Wi-Fi connection. I logged into Facebook to find a number of posts related to the chaos and stress emanating from the Executive Order essentially banning US entry by citizens of the 7 countries. As a first generation immigrant, for some reason, I was struck by the callous and inhumane manner in which the Executive Order was enacted and impulsively felt the urge to resist with a message. So I posted that I was inspired to create such a dinner.

The reaction that ensued was mostly positive and encouraging. I usually do what I say, so, here we are.

What are your responses to criticisms about mixing politics and food?

That is a bunch of crap. First of all, business owners are human beings first. To expect them to not be vocal about political issues when they feel the natural urge to do so is almost an expectation of servitude.

Shut up and cook or Shut up and get me my whatever.

Secondly, the reality of the matter is that the United States Food System is as tightly woven with the political system as one can possibly imagine. Every decision made by consumers and producers have political implications and are influenced by politics.

The food industry lobby in Washington DC is quite impressive and I dont necessarily mean that as a compliment. For example, they managed to make the health of future generations a political issue. I understand that the devil is often in the details, but the political will is both lacking and powerful, often to the detriment of progress.

So, if Im guilty of mixing politics and food it is because I care about improving the state of food in this country and beyond. Im ready to live with the consequences. Ive done it my way since the inception and I cant imagine doing it any other way.

Tell me about the ingredients and dishes that are going to be served, what kind of research or assistance will you be getting in crafting these dishes? What prior experiences have you had with these 7 cuisines?

It is still premature for me to give anyone a full menu, but Ive always prided myself on supporting American farmers and farms. On some occasions, Ive gotten ingredients produced in another country, but by and large, our ingredients are produced in the United States. So, the menu will be a series of dishes representing culinary influences from Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Iran, Libya, and Yemen (SISSILY).

Guests can expect deeply flavoured stews, herbaceous sauces, rustic breads, aromatic rice dishes, and complementing side dishes. My goal is to present the meal with dishes from many countries during the same course to illustrate that there are few rules and most dishes complement each other and that the power of food as a great equalizer, at a communal table, is a lesson for the ages. Many of the cuisines have significant intersection with flavours I am used to creating whether they are from the Indian subcontinent or the Middle-East. So, I would like to think that I am not out of my proverbial league.

But, I guess time will tell and our guests will ultimately decide. Its $40 a person for a lot of food with all the proceeds going towards charity. Need I say more? My research has and will include a lot of reading and imagining. But in the end, my own (global) sensibility will have to lead the way.

As an immigrant, what are your thoughts about what is going on right now, what can we hope for?

On the one hand, I am hopeful that the growing resistance by both immigrants and multi-generational citizens against this climate of hate and prejudice is a sign that the America we love (as immigrants) is alive and well. On the other hand, it is disheartening to have to justify our presence to natives after having already sacrificed so much and more importantly having given so much towards the growth and betterment of this place we now call home. My hope is that ultimately, decency will prevail. But my greater hope is that bigotry and discrimination will end once and for all in my lifetime (Im not holding my breath).

What do you hope that people will come away with from this dinner?

First and foremost, I hope people will come away with believing (even more) in the healing power of food amidst differences of opinion and ideology. Secondly, I am hopeful that guests will feel empowered to be messengers in favour of inclusivity across the spectrum. I hope that our generation, the next one, and beyond will forge ahead with demanding and finding better solutions to the complex problems of the world. And lastly, I hope that people begin experiencing before judging.



7 Courses  7 Countries

7 Courses  7 Countries is a family-style meal presented by Cress Restaurant with guest collaborators featuring the amazing cuisines of IRAQ, IRAN, LIBYA, SOMALIA, SUDAN, SYRIA, and YEMEN. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to a soon to be determined non-profit organization dealing with immigrant and refugee issues. The cost to attend is $40, all-inclusive. BYOB. Sunday, February 26, 2017, 4-6 pm. For Tickets, Visit Here.
Friday, February 17, 2017

This week, Joe Kristan (CPA & Shareholder, Roth & Company (Des Moines, Iowa); Editor, Tax Update Blog) discusses how a dentist kept adequate records to beat the IRS's claim that he did not materially participate in his real estate business:

Part-time dentist, full-time record-keeper beats IRS. Beyond Flossing. A California man seemed to have a pretty good deal going. He had a dental practice with his dentist wife and had a pretty good six-figure joint income. Yet somehow it didnt satisfy. He wanted a real estate career. He still kept up a part-time dental practice, but he threw himself into real estate. He spent a lot of time on it. The couple owned for rental properties that he managed, and he also worked as a broker. The rental properties generated a taxable loss, and the IRS said that he couldnt deduct them under the passive loss rules. Rental real estate losses are automatically passive for most taxpayers, deductible only to the extent of other passive income or when the property is sold. A special rule applies to real estate professionals. They get to determine whether rental losses are passive using the same material participation standards that apply to other businesses  primarily based on hours worked in the activity.

The odds were against our dentist, as the rules on real estate professionals make it hard for taxpayers with non-real estate day jobs from qualifying. To be a real estate pro, you have to meet two tests: 1. You have to work more than 750 hours in a real estate trade or business in which you have on ownership interest, and 2. You have to spend more time on the real estate business than on any other business. This second provision keeps most people with day jobs from qualifying, because its hard to meet these tests if you have a full time job. Other taxpayers fail to keep records sufficient to convince the IRS and the courts that they worked enough hours in real estate to qualify. But our dentist is no ordinary taxpayer. His day job was only part time. And he kept his records, as Judge Thornton explains (my emphasis): To establish the hours petitioner husband spent each year on his real estate business, petitioners offered petitioner husbands testimony and logs of hours for 2010, 2011, and 2012; each log showed that petitioner husband spent more than 1,000 hours per year on real estate activities. Petitioner husband testified credibly that the logs had been prepared contemporaneously. He also testified credibly and at great length about the logs contents; he was able to recall extensive details relating to the entries. Petitioners also offered the testimony of several other witnesses, including petitioner wife. All this testimony was credible and tended to corroborate petitioner husbands logs and testimony. We therefore find that petitioner husband worked more than 1,000 hours per year at the real estate business. He logged his time as he went  unlike the many taxpayers who reconstruct their time records just in time for Tax Court. But once he established that he was a qualifying real estate professional, there remained a hurdle: he still had to convince the Tax Court that he materially participated in the rental real estate business. Here, the IRS didnt fight: Respondent has conceded that petitioner husbands participation in each of his real estate activities for each year at issue constitutes substantially all of the participation in each activity of all individuals. That meets one of the tests for material participation. You can see the full list here. The Moral? Good records carried the day. If material participation is important to your tax life, a daily record of your time is a must. Also, this case again establishes that the two tests for real estate professional status are separate from material participation tests. If you are a real estate pro, you dont have to also work 750 hours in your rental business to materially participate. The IRS used to assert otherwise. Cite: Zarrinnegar, T.C. Memo. 2017-34 (Feb. 13, 2017).

Heres the rest of this weeks Tax Roundup:

Monday, February 13, 2017

Annette Nellen, More than one way to tax consumption. Another form of consumption tax that has been around in proposals and policy books and reports for a few decades is the formula approach or consumed income tax.

Jack Townsend, Horsky is Sentenced for Major Offshore Accounts. The taxpayer got seven months. Note also that the indicated Guidelines range, even with acceptance of responsibility, is 57-71 months. He also has to pay $100 million in penalties and $13 million in taxes.

Jim Maule, A Tax I Did Not Know Existed: A fellow named William Atzinger, age 35, refused to pay the $3 tax that Montana imposed on bachelors. In his protest communicated to the county assessor, he claimed, Spinsters are responsible for my not being married in their refusals of my wooing in the past. Unlucky in love, unlucky in taxes.

Kay Bell, Mnuchins tax promise looks like it was made to be broken. Shortly after he was chosen to run Treasury, Mnuchin said that there would be no absolute tax cut for the upper class.'

Leandrea Lederman, Concluding Thoughts on the 2017 Mini-Symposium on The Future of Tax Administration and Enforcement (Surly Subgroup)

Lew Taishoff, FEISTY. Today, however, an IRS miscue draws a sharp rebuke.

Paul Neiffer, Looking for farm health insurance reimbursement options in 2017? Reimbursing employees for health insurance has gotten a little easier.

Peter Reilly, City Plays Grinch When Ellen DeGeneres Helps Single Mother. Xenia doesnt seem to get the difference betwen gifts and income.

Roberton Williams, A revised TPC calculator shows the tax costsor benefitsof marriage (TaxVox). In general, marriage penalties occur most often when two people have similar incomes. In contrast, one-earner couples almost always get bonuses, as do most couples where individual incomes differ substantially.

Roger McEowen, IRS To Continue Attacking Cash Method For Farmers Via the Farming Syndicate Rule

Scott Drenkard, Three Big Problems with Sales Taxes Today  and How to Fix Them (Tax Policy Blog)

TaxGrrrl, So A Former DOJ Attorney Wearing A Wig Walked Into A Bar

TaxProf, TaxJazz: The Tax Literacy Project. TaxJazz provides individuals with non-partisan, non-technical, accessible tax information to help people participate in discussions about tax policy and problems facing the nation.

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Dylan Grundman, IMPROVE Act Fails to Improve Tennessees Regressive Tax Code (Tax Justice Blog).

Kay Bell offers 3 charitable ways to celebrate Valentines Day

Keith Fogg, Judge Gustafson Continues His Primer for Chief Counsel Attorneys on Motions for Summary Judgment (Procedurally Taxing).  The IRS routinely files summary judgment motions and often does so in rote, cookie cutter fashion based on the last summary judgment motion it filed.

Me, Second thoughts on Iowa pass-through Sec. 179 guidance?. "The Iowa Department of Revenues FAQ page for Sec. 179 guidance is shorter this afternoon than it was when it went up late Friday. They have removed the pass-through entity portion of the page. Stay tuned.

Mitch Maahs, Protecting Employee Information From W-2 Phishing Scams (Davis Brown Tax Law Blog)

News from the Profession. 3 Ways CPA Firms Can Make Busy Season Burnout a Thing of the Past (Rachel Andujar, Going Concern). If a firm is operating SALY without using technology, this is a missed opportunity.

Robert Wood, IRS Cracks Down On Padding Tax Deductions. Even a smidgen of fraud or intentional misstatements can be serious enough to be potentially criminal.

Russ Fox, Casinos Can No Longer Issue ITINs

Scott Hodge, Comparing the Static and Dynamic Effects of Tax Reform on After-Tax Incomes (Tax Policy Blog). Far too often, we see debates over tax policy get hyper-focused on comparing the raw dollar amount of tax relief that a plan delivers to taxpayers at different income levels. This sort of static, or accountants, view of tax policy misses the crucial aim of a well-crafted tax reform planraising real wages and living standards.

TaxGrrrl, 15 Expenses Many Taxpayers Think They Can  But Actually Cant  Claim As Tax Deductions

TaxProf, The IRS Scandal, Day 1377: Republicans Still Want IRS Chiefs Head. Frankly, in my view, hes the most corrupt IRS commissioner that Ive ever dealt with, Brady said on Monday.

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Department of Justice, Rapid City Man Pleads Guilty to Tax Charges

Hank Stern, Underwriting Love (InsureBlog). [A] poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a leading health policy research group, found  7 percent of U.S. adults married so one or the other could get on a partners health insurance plan. I suppose there are worse reasons.

Howard Gleckman, What Should Government Do With Carbon Tax Revenues? (TaxVox). The other day, a high-powered group of former senior Republican policy advisers and business executives proposed replacing regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gases with a gradually increasing carbon tax starting at $40-a-tonSuch a levy would produce an enormous amount of money.

Jack Townsend, Some Lessons from the Big Data from Panama Papers and Tax Haven Secrecy.

Jason Dinesen, Proper Documentation of Charitable Contributions

JIm Maule, How Not to Draft For Maximum Alimony Tax Benefits. Before the agreement was executed, the taxpayer and his wife engaged in last-minute negotiations, and several of the exhibits were substantially revised. In some instances, entire paragraphs of an exhibit were lined through and replaced with handwritten statements. And it went badly.

Jordan Kleinsmith, Six Ways We Can Dispel the Myth of the Good Tax Refund (Thomson Reuters Tax and Accounting Blog). Ultimately the root of the problem is withholding, which breeds ignorance.

Kay Bell, Ways and Means chairman slams door on colleagues effort to review Trumps taxes. Brady action was in reply to a request by another member of the House Ways and Means Committee to use an esoteric tax law to get a look at the new presidents returns.

Kristine Tidgren, Parties in DMWW Lawsuit Disagree as to Meaning of Iowa Court Opinion (Ag Docket)

Kyle Pomerleau, Grading the House GOP Blueprint with the International Tax Competitiveness Index: The House GOP blueprint would reform the U.S. tax code. It would lower marginal tax rates on work, saving, and investment while broadening the tax base. In addition, it would convert the corporate income tax into what is called a destination-based cash-flow tax (DBCFT). If the U.S. were to enact this reform, the U.S.s ranking would improve significantly on the Index. Our tax code would move from 31st place (out of 35 countries) to 3rd, just behind Estonia and New Zealand.

Lew Taishoff, THE CIGARETTE PACK WARNING. Back around 1966, if my ancient memory is still functioning, the Surgeon General of the USA led the world, inaugurating the warning on cigarette packs that smoking was dangerous to ones health. This so impressed me that I kept smoking until September 15, 1994.

News from the Profession. Busy Season Problems: Confused Doorman, Z-Paks and Disappointing Chick-fil-A (Caleb Newquist, Going Concern)

Robert Goulder, Ryan Talks Permanence and Pay-Fors (Tax Analysts Blog).

In other words, the two most influential people in Congress are now on record as insisting that tax cuts be paid for, albeit with the benefits of dynamic scoring and favorable baseline assumptions. It means he really wants the border adjustment.

Robert Wood, Write Your Clothes Off On Your Taxes? Yes, If You Meet This IRS Test. Odds are you dont.

Roger McEowen, The Ability of Tenants-in-Common To Bind Co-Tenants to a Farm Lease  and Related Issues. That also can mean that, absent a provision in a written lease, the landowner doesnt have the right to hunt the leased ground absent the tenants permission.

TaxGrrrl, Not So Sweet: The St. Valentines Day Massacre

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Annette Nellen, Tax filings for same-sex couples

Cara Griffith, How Federal Tax Reform Could Affect States (Tax Analysts Blog)

Elaine Maag, Delayed refunds? Looks like delayed filing, too. While we dont know if the delay did reduce fraud, it may have discouraged people from filing their tax returns early.

Kay Bell, Tax refund day is here! Sort of. Today is a big day for you if youre expecting a federal tax refund. Feb. 15 is when the Internal Revenue Service can finally start issuing refunds to folks who claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC). But dont head to your bank just yet. Cleared, but not completed: The refund hold, mandated by the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes, or PATH, Act as, in part, a way to help stop tax identity theft and refund fraud, does officially end today. But from the get-go of this filing season, the IRS warned refund-eager filers that it likely will be the end of February before their tax money actually shows up in accounts.

Keith Fogg, Appeals Abuses Discretion in a Collection Due Process Case by Failing to Engage in Financial Analysis (Procedurally Taxing). In an order issued on January 24, 2017, in the case of Brown v. Commissioner , Judge Holmes declines to uphold the determination by a Settlement Officer because she did not engage in an analysis of the impact of the taxpayers monthly shortfall in income necessary to pay expenses as it related to the assets he had available to satisfy his outstanding tax liability.

Lew Taishoff, MAYBE YOU CAN BANK ON IT. This dogfight involved $82 million in deficiencies, since the capital-loss-against-ordinary-income largesse of Section 581 was the lynchpin of Moneygrams case.

Meg Wiehe, State Rundown 2/15: Tax Overhauls Debated Around the Country (Tax Justice Blog). This week we are following a number of significant proposals being debated or introduced including reinstating the income tax in Alaska and eliminating the tax in West Virginia establishing a regressive tax-cut trigger in Nebraska, restructuring the Illinois sales tax, moving New to a flat income tax and broader gross receipts tax, and updating gas taxes in Indiana and Tennessee.

Robert Wood,Fudging Your Taxes? IRS Returns Carry Penalty Of Perjury. The Tax Court has also stated that reliance on a preparer with complete information regarding a taxpayers business activities does not constitute a defense to return penalties if the taxpayers cursory review of the return would have revealed errors.

Sam Brunson, The (Near) Future of Treasury Regulations (Surly Subgroup). Whatever one thinks of the regulatory state, this lack of potential tax regulations and guidance is bad for taxpayers.

TaxGrrrl, Tax Refund Chart Can Help You Guess When Youll Receive Your Money

Tony Nitti,Woman Sues Howard Stern, IRS For Airing Private Tax Information

Friday, February 17, 2017

Jason Dinesen, Glossary: Intangible Asset. Intangible assets cannot be depreciated, but most intangibles can be amortized over 15 years.

Jim Maule, When the Tax Law Requires an Unjust Result

Joseph Thorndike, Why Some Republicans Want to Tax Carbon  and Give the Money Back to You (Tax Analysts Blog). Their plan? To impose a new carbon tax but refund the money to taxpayers before politicians get a chance to spend it.

Kay Bell, Trump batting .500 with nanny tax nominees.

Leslie Book, Challenging an FBAR Penalty: District Court Says APA Not the Ticket. Can a taxpayer facing an assessment stemming from a Foreign Bank Account Reporting (FBAR) penalty use the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) as a basis to challenge the penalty assessment and raise a defense like reasonable cause?

Lew Taishoff, CHI SI FIRMA E PERDUTTO. Still and all, dont sign other peoples checks.

Misha Hill, What to Watch in the States: Modernizing Sales Taxes for a 21st Century Economy (Tax Justice Blog). The legislative areas were watching include taxing personal services, online shopping, streaming services, the sharing economy, and taxes designed to nudge consumer behavior.

News from the Profession. Nano-learning for CPE is One Step Closer to Reality (Megan Lewczyk, Going Concern). Looking out at the audience when I teach CPE, sometimes I think any learning going on is very nano.

Paul Neiffer, Possible Advantages of Border Adjustment.

Peter Reilly,Target Brands Unit Cannot Entirely Avoid Colorado Income Tax. Target Brands Inc, where all Targets intellectual property is parked took the position that it did not have to file in Colorado, despite receiving over $400 million in royalties on sales in Targets Colorado stores.

Richard Rubin, As Tax Debate Heats Up, Lawmakers Struggle to Think of a Plan B (WSJ)

Robert Wood, Not Paying Taxes To Protest Trump? Watch Out For IRS. If you argue frivolous tax positions in court, the court can impose a penalty of up to $25,000 if it concludes that: (1) your position is frivolous, or (2) you instituted a proceeding primarily for delay, or (3) you unreasonably failed to pursue your administrative remedies. (In other words, you went to court without going through all IRS appeals procedures first.)

Roger McEowen, Kansas Water Law  Reactions to and Potential Consequences of the Garetson decision. In sum, the Kansas water rights community is again facing a choice: whether to accept the consequences of prior appropriation in a groundwater context, or to attenuate those consequences by limiting the options of senior water rights holders to protect their private property rights

Scott Hodge, Border Adjustments, Currency Adjustments, and the Value of the U.S. Dollar (Tax Policy Blog)

Shu-Yi Oei, When Leaks Drive Tax Law (a.k.a. our new paper!) (Surly Subgroup).

TaxGrrrl, RS Softens On Obamacare Reporting Requirements After Trump Executive Order. All of that said, ACA remains on the books as good law. The IRS is reminding taxpayers that they are required to follow the law and pay what they may owe. Its worth noting, however, as Ive written before, that Congress did not give IRS any real teeth for enforcement; it will be interesting to see how that will play out this year.

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2017/02/weekly-tax-highlight-and-roundup-2.html
More than 60 businesses have benefitted from the program, which was extended through May 1 while a permanent program is in the works.
State biologists are forecasting another weak return of coho to the Columbia River in 2017, likely meaning limited fishing again off the coasts of Washington and northern Oregon.

The prediction is for 386,300 coho this year. That is almost identical to the 2016 forecast of 380,600, although the actual return was just 223,100.

The 2017 preseason coho forecast is like a bad dream of 2016 all over again, said Steve Watrous of Vancouver, Washington sport fishing representative on the Salmon Advisory Subpanel of the Pacific Fishery Management Council. The SAS (subpanel) will once again be required to use every creative tool in the toolbox to structure an ocean season. Something similar to the 2016 season is a very real possibility.

In 2016, there was no coho retention north of Leadbetter Point on the north end of the Long Beach Peninsula. The ports of Westport, LaPush and Neah Bay were limited to chinook-only fisheries.

Last year, the Columbia River ports between Leadbetter Point and Cape Falcon on the Oregon coast had a meager coho quota of 18,900.

Fishing did not open until July 1 and closed on Aug. 28 when the coho quota was nearly reached. Many years, salmon seasons go into or through September off southern Washington and northern Oregon.

Much of the 2016 ocean season anglers off the Columbia River mouth averaged less than a salmon per rod.

For 2017, the forecast calls for 231,700 early coho destined for the Columbia River and 154,600 late coho. The actual return in 2016 was 127,000 early coho and just 96,100 late stock.

Early coho enter the Columbia River from early August until mid-September. When coho fishing is good at Buoy 10, it is fueled by strong numbers of early coho.

Early coho tend to migrate south of the Columbia River mouth.

Late coho enter the river between mid-September and November. They tend to migrate north of the Columbia River mouth.

In 2016, anglers in the popular Buoy 10 fishery in August in the Columbia River estuary caught just 9,182 coho, down from 36,920 in 2015 and 54,744 in 2014.

Although coho fishing was poor at Buoy 10 in 2016, the catch still was better than a streak of bad years from 2010 through 2013.

Most coho caught in the lower Columbia River are caught at Buoy 10. The harvest upstream of Tongue Point in 2016 was 1,500 coho kept and 500 released.

Jimmy Watts of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said the average annual coho catch upstream of Buoy 10 is about 2,000, with the record being 5,700 in 2014.

Salmon forecasts for the Columbia River, coastal Washington and Puget Sound will be presented at a public meeting beginning at 9 a.m. Feb. 28 at the General Administration Building auditorium, 210 11th Ave. S.W., Olympia.

A discussion lead by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will look at potential fishing opportunities for 2017 following the forecast presentation.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council will adopt a range of sport and commercial fishing options for the ocean March 7 through 13 at the Hilton, 301 W. Sixth St.

State and commercial fishermen will meet with the Department of Fish and Wildlife beginning at 9 a.m. March 24 at the Water Resources Education Center, 4600 S.E. Columbia Way, to develop preferred seasons for the Columbia River, including Buoy 10

The Pacific Fishery Management Council will adopt the 2017 seasons when it meets April 7 through 12 in Sacramento, Calif.
Spring chinook angling in the lower Columbia River is projected to last through April 6 before the early season closes and sportsmen wait until a mid-May update of the salmon forecast.

Under the state, federal and tribal management agreements, guidelines and catch buffers, sport fishermen downstream of Bonneville Dam have an initial allocation of 6,905 upper Columbia-Snake spring chinook, said Ron Roler, Columbia River policy coordinator for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

With chinook headed for the Willamette and other rivers included, a kept catch of about 8,900 spring chinook overall is anticipated in the early season, he said.

Angling regulations are expected to allow fishing from a boat from the mouth of the Columbia upstream to Beacon Rock daily. Bank fishermen would get from the river mouth to Bonneville Dam daily.

Until March 1, fishing is limited to downstream of Interstate 5.

There would be an estimated 82,000 fishing trips. Spring chinook are the premier salmon in the Columbia River. They are excellent table fare and fuel a fishing frenzy by sportsmen suffering from cabin fever.

April 6 is a Thursday. Roler said if fishing was allowed on Friday, models show the upper Columbia-Snake allocation would be exceeded by about 500 spring chinook. State officials will review the catches on April 5 to determine if a fishing extension is possible and still stay within the allocation.

Water conditions play a huge role in how fast anglers catch the allocation. The deep snowpack in the Cascades and Rocky mountains could make for a high and off-color Columbia, which is not conducive to high catch rates.

Washington and Oregon officials shared the projection Wednesday with the bistate Columbia River Recreational Advisor Group in Vancouver.

The states will adopt the 2017 spring chinook fishing regulations at a hearing beginning at 1 p.m. a.m. Feb. 23 at the Clark Regional Waste Water District, 8000 N.E. 52nd Court.

There have been sport-fishing closures in recent years on Tuesdays to allow for commercial fishing without conflicts between the two fleets on the Columbia.

Reforms adopted by the Washington and Oregon fish and wildlife commissions agree there will be no commercial fishing considered before the mid-May run forecast update.

A run of 160,400 spring chinook is forecast to enter the Columbia River destined for waters upstream of Bonneville Dam. Predictions are for another 38,000 to head for the Willamette River, 3,600 to the Sandy River and 4,900 to off-channel locations, such as Youngs Bay near Astoria.

For the Washington lower Columbia tributaries, the predictions are 17,100 to the Cowlitz, 3,100 to the Kalama and 700 to the Lewis.

Roler said a sport-fishing closure zone is expected at the mouth of the Lewis River.

The North Fork of the Lewis is expected to get 700 fish back, compared to a spawning goal at the hatcheries of 1,380 spring chinook.
The Washington Senate Natural Resources and Parks Committee has approved legislation to make Washington State University the state lead in combating elk hoof disease, shifting the task away from the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

A substitute version of Senate Bill 5474 was passed by the committee and went on to the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday, Feb. 14.

I was very excited about it, said Mark Smith, a Toutle resident involved in the citizens advisory committee and public working group on hoof disease. He credits the success of the bill so far to the citizens who pressured their legislators to act.

Smith said the transfer of power to the Washington State University specialists make more sense when Fish and Wildlife is under extreme pressure and ill-equipped to handle wildlife diseases. But he said he will continue to lobby for specific mandates to address hoof disease and dedicated funds.

WSU, Im sure, is sitting back going, Yeah, wed love to do this, but we dont have a budget, Smith said. If we can just keep that pressure up ... . Its not to kill the bill. Its to support it and get it funded and operational.

The original bill was much lengthier and would have allowed land owners, licensed hunters and tribal members to euthanize severely limping elk in areas of Washington where hoof disease is present.

Observations of elk with deformed, broken, or missing hooves have increased dramatically in Southwest Washington in the the past decade.

The Cowlitz River valley is the epicenter of observations of ailing elk, but sightings also have been reported by the public in the Willapa Hills, Mount St. Helens, south Olympic Peninsula and in the Skagit River valley, plus northern Oregon.

Tests conducted by scientists in the United States and abroad show these abnormalities are strongly associated with treponeme bacteria, known to cause digital dermatitis in cattle, sheep and goats.

In 2013, the Department of Fish and Wildlife created two advisory groups to help address scientific issues and societal concerns raised by the disease. The Hoof Disease Technical Advisory Group helped to guide the diagnostic effort and members consult with the department on evolving research needs.

The Hoof Disease Public Working Group consults with the agency on management issues and helps to publicize information about the disease. The public working group has not met in more than a year.

The substitute bill designates WSUs College of Veterinary Medicine as the lead to develop a program to monitor and assess causes of elk hoof disease and identify potential solutions.

Language in the bill states: The college must establish an elk monitoring system in Southwest Washington in order to carry out this mission.

WSU officials are directed to work with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, state veterinarian and interested tribes.

A report at least once a year must be provided to the Legislature and Fish and Wildlife Commission.

Bruce Barnes of Vancouver, founder of Mount St. Helens Rescue, said he is not surprised by the committees action.

They dont have faith in the Department of Fish and Wildlife and want the problem fixed, Barnes said on Wednesday.

The substitute bill also prohibits movement of elk with hoof disease except under protocols established by the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
CHATFIELD, Minn.  A self-proclaimed world authority on whitetail deer who once reviewed Wisconsins failed fight against chronic wasting disease says stories about the spread of CWD in the Badger State are overblown and that the most diseased areas west of Madison still are producing lots of big bucks.

James Dr. Deer Kroll, a forest wildlife management professor from Texas who has business ties to deer farming and private hunting ranches, also preaches that CWD is not highly contagious and that the disease isnt as devastating as media portray it. He says its futile to fight CWD with extensive culling and eradication strategies, but that theres merit to the idea of genetically breeding CWD resistance into more whitetails.

Whether he wanted to or not, Kroll recently inserted himself into Minnesotas biggest-ever battle against CWD by commanding an auditorium stage in Chatfield for an open informational meeting titled, The Facts and Fiction about CWD  Living and Hunting in the New Age with CWD.

His lecture castigating costly, hair on fire overreactions to CWD didnt directly malign the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, but it was delivered precisely at a time when the DNR is trying to maintain public support for its decidedly aggressive plan to kill upward of 900 deer in the hills, woods and fields around this southeastern Minnesota town.

DNR biologists say the herd reduction is vital for ending an outbreak of CWD clustered deep inside Fillmore County. CWD is entrenched in parts of Wisconsin, Iowa and other states, but Minnesota still is battling to keep it out.

Theres nothing wrong with getting a second opinion, said Gary Olson, a Fillmore County deer breeder who farms whitetails for genetics, venison, fenced-in hunting and other purposes. Olson opposes the DNRs deep culling strategy in his area and he helped host Krolls visit, sponsored by the Minnesota Deer Farmers Association and the Iowa Deer Farmers Association. The two groups belong to an industry that gets blamed for spreading CWD to populations of wild deer.

Kroll, a TV personality, shared the stage Wednesday night with Dr. Clifford Shipley, an Illinois veterinarian, professor and whitetail herd owner who said CWD  a fatal brain disease spread by contact with harmful prions in saliva, feces, urine, soil and the discarded carcasses of infected animals  will be in every U.S. state whether agencies fight it or not.

Theres no evidence CWD harms humans or livestock, Shipley said, so why spend the money trying to eradicate it?

The genie is out of the bottle, said Shipley, who is the attending veterinarian at University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine.

Potter Auditorium in Chatfield holds more than 550 people. A local police officer estimated the meeting turnout at 250, with many attendees leaving early. DNR officials and an assistant director of the state Board of Animal Health attended as part of the audience and didnt ask questions of Kroll and Shipley.

The evening began with Kroll rebuking at least one attendee for distributing to the crowd a list of 23 questions challenging Krolls usual teachings. One question, written anonymously by a deer hunter who lives in southeastern Minnesota, asked Kroll: Why are you here?

The state wildlife agency has the responsibility to manage wildlife populations for future generations, the question said. You are a privately paid consultant in an area where youve never managed the states resources, why are you here?

Kroll refused to answer any of the questions, saying they must have been written by a group scared of us.

Im not going to suffer fools at a meeting like this, he said.

Kroll said after the meeting that he hasnt studied Minnesotas current outbreak.

I dont know if I want to get involved, he said. But he also said shooting 900 to 1,000 deer was overkill for extinguishing a localized outbreak.

On the other hand, Kroll commended the DNR for taking action once big-game managers detected a CWD-positive deer west of Lanesboro during last falls hunting season. Since then, surveillance within a 10-mile radius of that discovery has uncovered seven more infected whitetails in a tight cluster. Federal sharpshooters will concentrate on killing more deer in that area starting within the next week or two. Two special hunts since Dec. 31 already have removed more than 840 whitetails from the disease-management zone.

Yeah, jump on it. Its time to get on it, Kroll said from the stage during a question-and-answer session. Dont just stand there, do something.  Put the spark out.

Most of his talk recapped his experience in Wisconsin in 2011 and 2012 when he was hired by Gov. Scott Walker to study and report on deer management, including the states handling of a major CWD outbreak in wild deer detected in 2002.

Wisconsin spent millions upon millions of dollars between 2002 and 2006 trying to eradicate the disease in counties west of Madison where it was detected. Special hunts killed 27,000 deer inside the disease zone but CWD persisted and infection rates inside the disease zone have only accelerated.

Krolls view is that government threw money at an intractable problem  and one that he believes never posed a dire threat. Kroll said CWD has proved not to be highly contagious in the infected zone and that herds there continue to produce large numbers of trophy bucks. He said CWD has the potential to crop up anywhere, perhaps spontaneously and unrelated to herd density. In the long run, he said, natural selection could take care of the disease when more deer develop resistance to it.

Michael Samuel, a researcher and University of Wisconsin wildlife ecologist, told Kroll during the question and answer session that he and others who have been heavily involved in the study of CWD inside Wisconsins disease zone dont share his views. Samuel said 25 percent of adult bucks in the zone are now carrying the disease. And in Iowa County, theres a 50 percent prevalence of CWD in adult bucks, he said.

Samuel said the infection rate is markedly lower in adult females, but theres evidence CWD will accelerate and reach an infection rate of 20 or 30 percent in the doe population. At that level, there will be numerical declines in herds, he said. Ultimately, he said, the age of bucks in the disease zone will decline and more will have the disease.

Were in the acceleration phase, Samuel said after the meeting.

Samuel also told Kroll that Minnesotas current, localized outbreak is quite different from the outbreak detected in Mount Horeb, Wis., in 2002. State and federal officials didnt know it at the time, but CWD had been established in the herd 20 years before it was detected.

Samuel said the Minnesota outbreak is new and he lauded the DNR for trying to wipe it out.

Do everything you can early on to get rid of it, Samuel said. My recommendation is to be as aggressive as possible.

Before the audience dispersed, Kroll entered the crowd to find Samuel and shake his hand. Both men agreed that the U.S. needs a national plan on how to battle and manage CWD. Before parting, they talked about going out for a beer the next time theyre both in Madison.
Quest Diagnostics is acquiring PeaceHealths outreach laboratory services and will also manage labs located within the healthcare systems hospitals and medical centers.

The agreements, which PeaceHealth announced Wednesday afternoon, will result in layoffs of an estimated 500 of the 906 total laboratory workers within the three-state PeaceHealth system. Overall, PeaceHealth has 16,000 employees. Its not clear yet how many jobs will be affected at PeaceHealth facilities in Longview.

PeaceHealth officials said the agreements, which have been in the works since 2015, will help it keep up with technological advancements and service needs and improve access to innovative, convenient and high-value laboratory diagnostic services for people in the Pacific Northwest, according to a PeaceHealth briefing paper on the transactions.

This is about making sure our communities have sustainable access long term. This is not about money, its not about money saving. This is about the way that healthcare is changing, said Tim Strickland, spokesperson for PeaceHealth. There is an intense need for capital investment in laboratory technology to ensure our communities have access to the broadest range of testing options, and partnering with Quest allows us to ensure that access will continue to grow in our communities.

About 500 PeaceHealth employees will be laid off, more than half of the 904 laboratory workers it now employs across three states. Of those 904, 449 are in Oregon, 444 are in Washington and 13 are in Alaska, according to the briefing materials. Most of the employees who will be cut will be notified by Feb. 24, PeaceHealth officials said.

Quest will be hire around 275 people in its West region, which is primarily in Oregon and Washington. Quest will provide priority status for interview scheduling and relocation support for a limited number of designated positions to any qualified PeaceHealth employee, according to PeaceHealth briefing materials.

Under one agreement, Quest will acquire the laboratories of PeaceHealth outreach facilities, such as the Lakefront Clinic in Longview. These laboratory workers will be laid off because of the acquisition, Strickland said.

Under a separate agreement, Quest will manage 11 labs in the medical centers, though PeaceHealth will continue to own those labs, according to the briefing materials. Its unclear how many positions within the medical clinics, such as those at St. John Medical Center in Longview, will be eliminated, Strickland said. More accurate numbers will likely be available in mid-March, he said.

One of the strengths that Quest brings is the ability to scale our operations, which brings efficiency. And also, Quest brings the ability to invest in laboratory technology to ensure that local patients have access to innovative capabilities, Strickland said.

PeaceHealth employees who lose jobs as a result of the agreements will be provided with specific timing, job openings, counseling, spiritual care and outplacement support services, according to briefing materials.

The financial terms of the transactions were not disclosed.
With cover crop seeds on tap, Kate and Marcus Vogel were promising MATE show customers a strange brew, a little Nitro Kale Ale mix guaranteed to put grass on your pasture.

As the first few spectators at Montanas largest three-day agriculture trade show flowed into MetraPark, the Vogels' booth was busy with farmers and ranchers looking for something different, maybe the right seed mixture to revive tired soil, or some high-protein forage for the cattle.

With wheat prices at their lowest point in a decade, people are coming to the Montana Agri-Trade Exposition show looking for something more profitable, Kate Vogel said. For some, that means growing cow salad instead of winter wheat and hoping their cattle will fatten up on the landscape and bring more money when sold in the fall.

We have a lot of people who are looking for an advantage, Vogel said. Better pasture leads to less money spent on hay, which might be the difference between selling a calf at a loss and making a buck.

Farmers are looking for something different this year, Marchwinski said. Vendors are responding with more information about pulse crops like lentils and peas, which have been paying better than wheat for a couple of years.

In 2016, Montana farmers planted a million acres of pulse crops, a 216,000-acre increase over 2015. The growth in pulse acres came as farmers cut the number of wheat acres planted. Wheat prices have fallen dramatically the past two years because of record global supply. Montana farmers planted 600,000 fewer wheat acres in 2016.

The first planting estimates for 2017 wont be out until the end of March, but acres of winter wheat planted in the fall were down.

The shift to pulses in the Golden Triangle region is palpable, said Andy Franks of Tractor Equipment and Supply. Franks was working the floor at the Montana Agricultural and Industrial Exhibit last month.

People were talking about getting into peas. Franks had an AGCO weed sprayer with a 120-foot wing span that he said would be perfect for keeping the pulse crops disease free, ready to drive off the floor for less than $300,000.

It has 1,200 gallon liquid spray capacity. It will spray wider, it will spray longer and get you out of the field, Franks said.

The MATE show runs through Saturday. Admission is $7, but several Billings businesses offer free tickets to customers.
KALAMA  From the hilltop at Kalama Middle-High School, students can see views of massive vessels passing by on the Columbia River, laden with grain, chemicals and other products bound for international markets from the Port of Kalama. But even though the port is visible from the high school, many students said they werent aware of the myriad career opportunities available there.

The Port of Kalama and Kalama School District are hoping to raise students awareness of the 1,100 jobs connected to the port, to entice more students to think locally when envisioning their careers. Its an effort to slow the drain of youth and brainpower that rural communities across America struggle with.

The port and school district partnered for the first annual Kalama Days event, which included a career fair Thursday following up on bus tours of the port that students took last week. Thursday morning, students listened to a presentation from four Kalama High School alumni who now work at the ports office or in one of the port-related jobs. You dont have to go far to be great was the message of the day.

Every year dozens of local students graduate high school, leave the area and never come back, noted Port Marketing Manager Liz Newman.

Were trying to keep the kids local if we can. Wed love to have them stay in Kalama, and we want them to understand the job opportunities we have here, Newman said.

Kalama Superintendent Eric Nerison added, When you live in a small town, its easy to get tunnel vision and think you have to leave for opportunity. This is a little port city and our kids need to know that, because theres a lot here at home.

Representatives from 28 businesses and government agencies filled the Kalama High School gym Wednesday to answer questions and describe their companies. They included Steelscape, RSG Forest Products, the Temco Grain Terminal and Northwest Innovation Works, the developer of a proposed methanol plant. County public works, firefighters, EMTs and U.S. Army recruiters joined, too.

Students were asked to fill out questionnaires about companies and careers, and Principal Guy Strot encouraged them to practice their handshakes with eye contact upon meeting employers. And he threw in the promise of an ice cream party for whatever grade was the most professional at the career fair (based on an employer poll afterwards.) The message seemed to get through.

Ive been impressed with all the students.  Theyve been very well-prepared with looking into my eyes and shaking my hands, said Rob Rich, vice president of marine services at Shaver Transportation. We were very surprised and gratified that they were well prepared.

For the students, the surprise came in hearing about the different port-related job prospects that exist in Kalama, and the new jobs in the pipeline for the future.

Its just amazing to see everything our small town has, said Macey Sykes, a junior and Kalama native. Macey said she enjoyed hearing how some port employees climb the career ladder at the port, citing the example of Port Executive Director Mark Wilson, who started out pulling weeds as a high school student there and now is the highest-paid port official.

Its really cool to see stories of people working their way up, she said.

And its cool that you dont have to be an adult to start working, added Annette Alston, a senior. A few of Alstons peers already have some jobs at the port, including Trevor Peterson, a senior who started worked at RSG one summer as a 16-year-old.

Trevor said he helps to clean up the saw shop at the lumber company, but after graduation he wants to learn how to use more of the machines. Eventually, he would like to be an instrumentation technician, he said.

While some students were excited about the port-related job prospects, others still had their eye on moving away, like Macey, who said she wanted to experience the world outside of her hometown. And Brenna Weden, a junior who said she will seek sunnier weather in Arizona. Even so, Brenna said she appreciated hearing about the possibility for future growth in Kalama tied to the port and how projects like the ports future Spencer Creek Business Park or planned McMenamins hotel/restaurant could transform the town into a bustling place.

Its crazy. Our town is really little and you dont really think of it that, Brenna said.
tech2 News Staff

Apple will soon start to assemble iPhone SE in the Bengaluru plant to start its manufacturing in India. The company has signed a contract with manufacturer Wistron to set the factory and assemble the smartphones. According to senior officials in the company, Apple will not wait for the demands of tax concessions to be accepted as they pertain to a larger picture and future plans of the company in India. According to a report by The Economic Times, Apple wants to 'experience manufacturing in India".

The affordable iPhone

One thing to note is that the plant is all set to start assembling the smartphones by April 2017 and the tax demands are not connected to the plant being set up by Wistron. Both Apple and Wistron have not released any official statement regarding this information or any other information.

The reason the company is assembling iPhone SE is because it wants to compete with other players in the market in a country where 70-80 percent of the smartphones sold are under Rs 10,000. Currently, the basic model of iPhone SE smartphone is priced at Rs 39,000 and still retails around the Rs 30,000 mark.

The main reason why iPhone SE was introduced was to offer a cheaper alternative to the people who can't afford Apple's flagship lineup but still want to get an iPhone. It also addresses the market which still prefers the smaller 4-inch display size. By assembling iPhone SE, the most economical product by Apple in its iPhone series, the company can price the smartphone at a lower price point to lure more customers. As has been reported in the past, when a smartphone maker makes phones in India, there is an immediate 10-12 percent savings, as the import duty is cut.

Apple has miles to go in terms of iPhone volumes sold in India

Apple may be the most popular smartphone maker in the world, and quite a popular brand in India. It has earned record revenue in India last year, despite demonetisation. But in terms of sales, there were only 2.5mn iPhones sold last year, as compared to over 70mn phones sold by Samsung. Yes, it is unfair to compare the two as Samsung has a much wider portfolio across form factors and price points. But if Apple really wants to make waves in numbers of smartphones sold, it has to address the popular price segments. The iPhone SE could be a good phone to start that off.

According to the latest IDC numbers, the Indian market has been dominated by Chinese smartphone players. There isn't a single Indian player in the top 5. Apple, in comparison has sold less volumes. The iPhone SE then is an important phone for Apple from the Indian smartphone buyer perspective. It makes the entry barrier for entering into the Apple ecosystem, relatively economical.

The report further points out that even though iPhone 5S is the most selling smartphone in India, the company has decided to sell iPhone SE because SE is the most recent smartphone that will get future iOS updates while 5S is set to be discontinued in near future.

There are unverified rumours that the company is shifting some of its manufacturing plants to India because of the rise in labour costs in China. We have detailed all the things that the company has demanded from Government of India and they seem to be part of the second phase of Apple's plan in India.
tech2 News Staff

Apple has announced the dates for WWDC 2017 to host and celebrate the developer community. WWDC 2017 is set to start at 5 June and will go on till 9 June 2017 at McEnery Convention Center in San Jose. WWDC or World Wide Developers conference 2017 is its 28th annual conference where Apple will announce future Apple devices and software updates powering Apple products.

The main aim of the conference is to celebrate and host developers while releasing new and updated tools for the community to take leverage from while inspiring them to unleash their creativity in code. One interesting thing to note is that the new Apple headquarters in Cupertino is located just minutes away from WWDC 2017 venue thereby enabling developers easier access to about 1000 Apple engineers to interact with, share ideas or better understand the nuances in programming for Apple products.

The company will hold keynote address, get-togethers, sessions and labs for developers. Another significant thing the company is doing is to work with local businesses in San Jose to celebrate the return of WWDC. People who want to attend the conference can apply for tickets in coming weeks around Spring.

The entire event will be live-streamed through Apple Developer website and the WWDC app for Apple TV, iPhone and iPad.

We can expect details around the next major iPhone launch, the iPhone 8 or iPhone X or whatever Apple will choose to call its 10-year anniversary device, next big update to iOS and something regarding the Apple streaming service.
It didnt take long for Montanans to grill Sen. Steve Daines on Thursday night on twin controversies from his most recent, and most eventful, week in Washington.

Answering the first two questions asked during a tele-Town Hall, Sen. Steve Daines defended his action to silence Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., during Senate debate on the confirmation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and his pivotal vote to confirm Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

Speaking of the action he took against Warren as he presided over the Senate, he said, As she was speaking  there were some words she used that were very strong. Quoting former Sen. Ted Kennedy talking about Sen. Sessions, she used words like disgrace and shameful.

You can say some strong things about a lot of different people, but they put rules in place to ensure senator-to-senator debates remain civil, he said. I presented Sen. Warren first with a warning.  Then she moved on to quoting Coretta Scott King, he said. She continued on impugning Sen. Sessions.

He added, I spoke to Sen. Warren tonight on the Senate floor. We had a nice chat. We disagree on a lot of things.

Regarding the DeVos vote, Daines told a caller, I spent a lot of time with Betsy and we talked a lot about rural education, and thats important.  Betsy DeVos is pro-school choice. She is also pro-public education. You can be both.

Obamacare

Next, Daines fielded a question about the Republicans plans to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.

When the caller, Wendy from Townsend, told him the insurance plan had been a lifesaver for her, and her premiums had gone down, he said, There are exceptions, Wendy, and youre one of them, but added, Weve got to deal with Obamacare. Daines was short on specifics, but said he was glad the discussion was so thoughtful about next steps.

Republicans in Congress, expected to repeal the controversial health care law early in 2017, are mired in a dispute about how to do it, and what to replace it with.

A key question is what will happen to the patients who achieved access to insurance after states expanded Medicaid as a part of the Obamacare implementation. Daines said an orderly transition to state control of Medicaid was needed. I believe the states should decide how they want to administer Medicaid, he said, asserting that the programs budget was equal to that of the U.S. military.

Keystone XL

Daines welcomed President Trumps executive action to revive the Keystone XL pipeline, and he told a caller from eastern Montana that only lawsuits from extreme environmentalists could block the pipeline now, adding that the pipeline would bring jobs and a revived economy.

Montanans are struggling, he said. The prosperity we see in Bozeman is not what we are seeing in Eastern Montana.

Russia

A caller from Lewistown inquired bluntly, Whats going on with the Trump administration and Russia?

Weve got to investigate, Daines responded, but then veered to a discussion of Russian actions in Europe and elsewhere.

Environment

He agreed with a caller from Potomac about the problems with the EPA's Waters of the United States rule and with the Bureau of Land Managements 2.0 regulations. BLM 2.0 front-loads public comment, which often means outsiders, he said. I think thats a problem. Let Montanans run Montana.

He also defended his decisions to two callers who were critical on environmental issues: his decision to support Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as the EPA Administrator and this weeks vote to rescind the Stream Protection Rule.

I think Scott Pruitt will bring the balance we need to the EPA position, Daines said. He said the Stream Protection Rule, a regulation guarding waterways against coal mining waste, was unnecessary. State regulations are sufficient.

Going digital

Finally, Daines defended his decision to have tele-Town Hall discussions rather than face-to-face town halls. In recent weeks many Republicans in Congress have either faced large and hostile crowds at Town Halls, or canceled them in favor of telephone events.

While he prided himself on reaching all 56 counties every two years, which he said no other member of Montanas delegation to Congress has done, he said the telephone discussions were better and more efficient in reaching citizens from across the state. We called 200,000 phone numbers tonight, he said. Thats nearly half the state. He added that Weve made more than a million phone calls into Montana over the last couple of years. We get stories of families who put the phone on speaker during dinner hour so the whole family can listen.
Sheldon Pinto

Late last year, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, randomly tweeted out that he was fed up of traffic and that he would, build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging. While many take his tweets seriously, there have been instances in the past where Musks tweets became the center of attention, but did not materialise. However, a few hours later, in typical Musk fashion, there was a name (The Boring Company) and a short term plan and now according to a Bloomberg report, Musk has already begun digging in his own backyard, with a tunnel boring machine named Nannie.

So this indeed turned out to be one of those tweets that many should take seriously. The idea here is to build a 3D network of roads that would not only have normal road cars, but would also host the Hyperloop One transport system running in some of them. This would take off the stress from the streets above leading to lesser congestion in big cities.

The idea does sound whacky, but in todays day and age, it is exactly what the world needs. 2016 saw a number of crazy ideas from Facebooks Aquila, a solar powered plane that would beam the internet down to remote parts of the world, to Hyperloop and more recently, flying cars.

Similar to what happened when Apple was to build a car, Elon Musk was quick to shoot down Googles idea about a flying car as well. As per Bloomberg, there are plenty of problems when there are accidents mid-air or when cars are not maintained and parts happen to fall off. Then as with any vehicle that flies, the downward thrust creates noise and with so many flying vehicles, there are bound to be problems. Nothing however is set in stone as things are always experimental on a trial and error basis.

But thats just Elon Musk and while SpaceX has plans to colonise Mars in the future, lets take a look at some older quotes by some famous people that were proved wrong in the years that followed.

Bill Gates

Indeed the most famous tech quotes supposedly came from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. As the legend goes, Gates actually claimed at a trade show in 1981 that 640K ought to be enough for anybody when commenting on the RAM used by a just announced IBM PC. Bill Gates denied that he ever made such a statement. But that time has passed, and Windows for some odd reason still needs a good 8GB of RAM to run smoothly and be future proof to coming updates. Moreover, even Android smartphones today need 4GB of RAM as a standard to multi-task and run apps in the background without lag. 6GB is soon becoming the standard for flagships with a new 8GB RAM smartphone just announced by a Chinese smartphone maker.

Thomas Watson

Thomas Watson, the first CEO of International Business Machines (IBM) in 1943 was quoted saying, I think there is a world market for maybe five computers. While this quote was brought down by the Economist, the IBM archives do quote that even if it was made, Watson would have been referring to the IBM 701, an Electronic Data Processing Machine. The machine was built for scientific calculations.

They were quite big and bulky and could take up substantial space in a room. This turned out to be a misquote as per IBM and the real quote which was discussed at a stockholders meeting goes like this, as a result of our trip, on which we expected to get orders for five machines, we came home with orders for 18. That is a big deal, since in 1953, renting one of these machines would cost you $12,000 a month.

Darryl Zanuck

Darryl Francis Zanuck was an American film producer and studio executive. Coming from the big screen, it was easy for Zanuck to put down the smaller screen by saying, Television won't be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night."

Indeed, this one turned out to be the exact opposite. Televisions in all sizes and forms are today a standard way to view and even access content. And with online streaming services producing their own content, it is the big screen that is seeing fewer releases indeed.

Lord Kelvin

Lord Kelvin of the Royal Society of England was a powerful man of science. He once made a forceful declaration in 1895 stating that Heavier than air flying machines are impossible,. Now only if Lord Kelvin had to wait a few years (eight to be precise) because the Wright brothers proved him wrong with their home-built flyer.

Today a Boeing 787 Dreamliner weighing in at no less than 250 tonnes easily takes to the skies and heavily relies on computers to make things easier for pilots. We are even launching rockets into space that carry satellites and humans with massive payloads considering that they have escape the clutches of the earths gravity. Now only if Lord Kelvin could see this coming.

This is however a good lesson for many to never underestimate the future. The bigger we think, the better and broader are our ideas. Even Steve Jobs for example, underestimated what a smartphone with a slightly bigger display size could do to Apple's fortunes. At times it is indeed wise to see the future through the eyes of science fiction writers than from the limited field of view of those who claim that something is impossible. In short, we can only get there if we give our ideas a chance. Here's to colonizing Mars in the near future then!
tech2 News Staff

Chinese smartphone maker Huawei is working on developing its own digital assistant to take on existing digital assistants in the market.

Huawei is the third-largest smartphone maker to enter the competitive space of digital voice assistants. The company will have a tough road ahead at it will compete with Apple's Siri, Google's Google Assistant and Alexa by Amazon. One thing to note is that Alexa has just started to come on to smartphones while Siri and Google Assistant are veterans in this game.

Apart from these Samsung is also working on its voice-based digital assistant Bixby that is set to enter the market with Samsung Galaxy S8 in coming weeks. Even though Huawei does not have to compete with other devices but if the company makes the digital assistant cross-platform then it will have to compete with Cortana by Microsoft, which is very capable at what it does. Cortana is still available for Android devices, but Windows 10 devices are home for Microsoft's digital assistant.

A team consisting of more than 100 engineers is working on developing the digital assistant at the company's offices in Shenzhen in China, as reported by Bloomberg. According to the report, the company is not likely to limit the digital assistant to Huawei smartphones and it is aimed at taking on Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant.

The company is not worried about any smaller players in the market right now. One interesting thing to note is that Huawei is ensuring that the assistant can communicate in Chinese languages to target the Chinese market while expanding its offence against Google and Amazon outside China.

The company has aimed for $33 billion in sales. It currently stands at number three in global smartphone shipments after Apple and Samsung. An amusing fact is that Huawei is the same company that announced that it will use Amazon Alexa on Huawei Mate 9 in the United States. This AI may take off as the company has very limited or no competition in the Chinese market. Google Assistant, the second major competitor, is blocked in China making it a perfect opportunity for the company to capitalise on this gap.
tech2 News Staff

Head of Xiaomi's India operations, Manu Kumar Jain has now been promoted to the role of vice president. The news was confirmed on Friday via an official tweet from Xiaomi India's Twitter handle congratulating the new VP at the company.

The news comes shortly after Global VP Hugo Barra announced that he would be leaving the Chinese smartphone manufacturer to join Facebook. Barra will be leading Oculus' VR efforts withing the social network.

https://twitter.com/XiaomiIndia/status/832492302547324928

Jain who previously worked with Jabong was responsible for Xiaomi in India, but Barra was the face of the brand, who presented the keynote at every event.

It will be interesting to see if Jain picks up where Barra left off as India is indeed an important market for the Xiaomi.

Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi is said to have become the second largest smartphone manufacturer as per IDCs Q4 CY16 Quarterly smartphone tracker.

Xiaomi just last week said that it has plans to ramp up its offline distribution channels in the country and is targeting around 25 percent of its turnover from this segment.
hidden

Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg laid out a vision on Thursday of his company serving as a bulwark against rising isolationism, writing in a letter to users that the company's platform could be the "social infrastructure" for the globe. In a 5,700-word manifesto, Zuckerberg, founder of the world's largest social network, quoted Abraham Lincoln, the U.S. president during the country's 19th century Civil War known for his eloquence, and offered a philosophical sweep that was unusual for a business magnate.

Zuckerberg's comments come at a time when many people and nations around the world are taking an increasingly inward view. U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to put "America first" in his inaugural address in January. That followed Britain's decision last June to exit the European Union. "Across the world there are people left behind by globalization, and movements for withdrawing from global connection," Zuckerberg wrote, without naming specific movements.

The question, the 32-year-old executive said, was whether "the path ahead is to connect more or reverse course," adding that he stands for bringing people together. Quoting from a letter Lincoln wrote to Congress in the depths of the Civil War, he wrote to Facebook's 1.9 billion users: "The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present."

Zuckerberg said that Facebook could move far beyond its roots as a network for friends and families to communicate, suggesting that it can play a role in five areas, all of which he referred to as "communities," ranging from strengthening traditional institutions, to providing help during and after crises, to boosting civic engagement. In comments on Facebook, some users praised Zuckerberg's note for staying positive, while others declared "globalism" dead.

Facebook has been under pressure to more closely police hoaxes, fake news and other controversial content, although the concerns have had little impact on its finances. The company reported 2016 revenue of $27.6 billion, up 54 percent from a year earlier. One area where Zuckerberg wrote that Facebook would do better would be suggesting "meaningful communities." Some 100 million users are members of groups that are "very meaningful" to them, he wrote, representing only about 5 percent of users.

Facebook is also using artificial intelligence more to flag photos and videos that need human review, Zuckerberg wrote. One-third of all reports to Facebook's review team are generated by artificial intelligence, he wrote. Zuckerberg's letter was "a bit more ambitious and a bit more of the 30,000-foot view than I see from most tech company CEOs," Peter Micek, global policy and legal counsel at Access Now, an international digital rights group, said in a phone interview. But Zuckerberg stayed away from certain subjects on which Facebook could be vulnerable to criticism, mentioning the word "privacy" only once, Micek said.

Reuters
A bill that would allow large K-8 school districts to vote to create K-12 districts passed unanimously out of the Montana Senate on Thursday. The bill would give Lockwood, East Helena and Missoula Hellgate voters the opportunity to establish their own high schools. Montana law bans the creation of new high school districts.

The proposal, Senate Bill 139, would let a K-8 district vote to leave the larger high school district their students currently attend. Within two years, the K-8 district would have to pass a bond funding their own high school. If a bond isn't passed, the district would have to wait through a 5-year window before trying to create a high school again.

Billings Public Schools trustees have opposed the bill, but it gained the support of Helena interim Superintendent Jack Copps.

Bill sponsor Sen. Duane Ankney, a Colstrip Republican, said Thursday that he was optimistic as SB 139 heads to the House.

Im really excited that well get it out of there, he said. I dont expect any opposition.
Cyber-attacks have become commonplace. In many ways, the only news is that they continue to grow in frequency and variety. When dealing with the day to day, it can be difficult to tally the mounting toll associated with this awful state of affairsand even more challenging to predict what surprises lie ahead.

Based on industry trends, legal framework changes, expert insights and technological evolution, Radware makes seven cyber security predictions as follows:

Prediction #1: APDoS as SOP

Advanced persistent DoS (APDoS) will become hacktivists preferred techniqueand the cause of a significant portion of business outages. APDoS attacks involve massive DDoS attacks, from assaults on the network layer to focused application layer floods. Those attacks are followed by repeated SQLI and XSS attacks, which occur at varying intervals. Because APDoS is essentially a potpourri of attack types, they require diverse technology that protects both the network and application level to effectively mitigate.

Perpetrators of APDoS attacks will simultaneously use two to five attack vectors, involving up to several tens of millions of requests per second. All the while, large SYN floods attack not only the direct target but also the service provider as it implements managed DDoS mitigation.

APDoS attacks can persist for weeks at a timechallenging the resources of even the most sophisticated security infrastructures. APDoS attacks have become standard operating procedure for many hacktivist groups. Attackers in this scenario often switch tactically between several targets to create a diversion to evade defensive DDoS countermeasures while eventually directing the main thrust of the attack on a single victim.

Prediction #2: Continued Rise of RDoS

Ransomware and RansomDoS (RDoS) schemes will affect everything from traditional enterprises to cloud companies. It is reminiscent of the old joke: Why do robbers burglarize banks? Because that is where the money is! Cloud companies, beware; Radware predicts ISPs will experience significant RDoS attacks.

Prediction #3: Privacy as a Right (Not Just a Regulation)

Around the world, privacys legal comeuppance is upon us. Some countries already recognize privacy as a human right and provide for constitutional covenants to protect its citizens. Its no longer a matter of whether or not data can be secured in pursuit of privacy, but rather if privacy is endemic to the human condition. If privacy is a human right, what must we do to protect it?

In the meantime, security professionals and businesses entrusted with data will bear the cost and responsibility of safeguarding it. Around the world, early adopters will lead the way, with this trend picking up.

Prediction #4: More Laws Governing Sensitive Data

Many countries took notice when the US Governments PRISM program was revealed to the public. Contention exists regarding the handling and use of data and this has given rise throughout the world to special laws governing use, processing and domiciling of certain data. Some examples include the Canadian governments decree on processing sensitive Canadian data within Canada following U.S. passage of the Patriot Act. Other examples can be found in Brazil, Japan and Chinaand more will follow, further complicating the privacy and security officers responsibility to technically secure data.

Prediction #5: Arrival of Permanent Denial-of-Service (PDoS) Attacks, Albeit Very Slowly

PDoS, also known loosely as phlashing, is an attack that damages a system so badly that replacement or reinstallation of hardware is required. By exploiting security flaws or misconfigurations, PDoS can destroy the firmware and/or basic functions of the system. It is a contrast to its well-known cousin, the DDoS attack, which overloads systems with requests meant to saturate resources through unintended usage.

PDoS can accomplish its damage via remote or physical administration on the management interfaces of the victims hardware, such as routers, printers or other networking hardware. The attacker uses vulnerabilities to replace a devices basic software with a modified, corrupt or defective firmware imagea process that, when done legitimately, is known as flashing. This therefore bricks the device, rendering it unusable for its original purpose until it can be repaired or replaced.

Prediction #6: Growing Encryption to and from Cloud Applications

A few years ago, effective technology to secure communication to and from cloud providers and user communities of companies simply did not exist. Now there is a great capability to encrypt this data en masse.

Its a trend thats necessary but also wrought with folly and will ultimately prove a short-term solution to a larger problem.

Prediction #7: The Internet of Zombies

Security on Internet of Things (IoT) devices is abysmaldata will be breached at a higher rate than any other technical regime. Technical adoption is the paramount concern while security is an afterthought. These devices represent a cottage industry for privacy violators and the risks to this rich data source will be highlighted, transforming the Internet of Things into a dangerous Internet of Zombies.

@Technuter.com News Service
In these times of heightened border security, at least one 30-foot-tall robot dragon has been banned from entering Montana.

A routine documentation snafu caused the fire-breathing machine to be held up at the Canadian border early Friday.

The transformer was headed to Billings for Friday night's No Limits Monster Trucks show at Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark. The show will go on without the car-eating Robo Dragon.

"At 1:30 in the morning I get this text, which woke me right plum smooth up," said Ed Beckley, president and CEO of the Texas-based Checkered Flag Promotions.

The man who owns Robo Dragon lives in Canada and was last in the United States in mid-January for a show in Grand Island, Nebraska, Beckley said.

When Beckley reached the robot's owner early Friday morning, he learned that the man didn't have all his paperwork with him to be able to work in the U.S. It would have taken too long to drive back home and back for the Billings show.

"He goes, 'Hell, I'm with the border agent right now going through all this stuff,'" Beckley said.

A spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Patrol said in an email to The Gazette that privacy policies prevent them from discussing specific travelers.

The agency's list of prohibited items, however, does not specifically exclude robotic, car-eating dragons.

The show will go on as planned, said Beckley, who has been taking his show to Billings since 1986.

All the monster trucks are there," he said. "All the truck and tractor pulls are there.
One Florida man concocted an idiotic plan to tank Targets stock: Set up explosives across several East Coast Target stores.

NBC News reports Mark Charles Barnetts genius idea was to set off bombs (disguised as food items) at Target locations in New York, Virginia and Florida. How would he get the devices in all those stores? His plan was to offer someone (unidentified by police) $10,000, along with gloves, a mask and license-plate cover to execute his scheme.

Once those bombs went off, Barnett hoped Targets stock would drop and hed get the opportunity to pick up stock on the cheap. The illogical plan didnt work, as Barnett was arrested before the plan was fully realized. Thankfully, the individual Barnett tasked with planting the bombs alerted police and turned in the devices.

Barnett was charged with possession of a firearm affecting commerce by a previously convicted felon.

Florida man charged with trying blow up Target stores to tank stocks https://t.co/Qm9f18FlXj pic.twitter.com/3tLh2OCP0m  NBC News (@NBCNews) February 17, 2017

The previously convicted felons rap sheet is extensive. Hes a registered sex offender who was on probation for multiple felony kidnapping, sexual battery and grand theft charges. Barnetts choice of disguise for the bombs was reportedly containers of stuffing mix, breakfast bars, and pasta boxes.

Explosive experts determined Barnetts homemade bombs were capable of causing property damage, serious injury, or death. Its easy to poke fun at Barnetts stupidity, but thankfully, he was caught and nobody was hurt.

Next time Barnett wants to play the stock market, it would probably be in his best interests to do so legally. He now faces a 10-year prison sentence. Thats more than enough time to reflect on being a complete dumbass.

[NBC News]
Missing of Bir Patik 's documents from Ministry alleged

Residents of Swandip Colony organised a press conference as terrorists demanded Tk 20 lakh as ransom yesterday.

Chittagong Bureau :

Missing of necessary papers relating to participation in liberation war and Bir Patik award which submitted to the concerned ministry for correction in the name and address of liberation hero and the son of the soil of Raozan Shaheed Abul Bashar Bir Patik alleged by his son Md. Selim .

Following the appeal of the shaheed family members , the important papers of the war hero Shahid Abul Bashar was sent to the ministry from the Dhaka Cantonment office with official memo on December 15, 2014 .

The matter of missing the documents was learnt on Februay 12 last when son of the Bir Patik went to concerned ministry to know the latest development of their appeal.

Sources said the name and address of the Bir Patik Abul Bashar was not correctly published in the gazette a nd hence the related papers were submitted for amendment .

Son of the Shahid Bashar is continuously visiting the ministry in Dhaka since 2014 despite financial miseries to rectify the mistakes in the gazette but he was returned by the ministry officials many times with lame excuses.
The court is not obliged to detail-out ground(s) for framing charge(s)

Appellate Division :

(Criminal)

Nazmun Ara Sultana J

Syed Mahmud

Hossain J

Md Imman Ali J

Judgment

May 29th, 2014

Muntasir Mamun Khan (Md) and others .Petitioner

vs

State and another.Respondents

Code of Criminal Procedure (V of 1898)

Section 265C

If the Court/Tribunal, on examination of the records and also after hearing both the sides finds that there are sufficient materials for proceeding against the accused the court/tribunal shall frame charge against the accused persons, there is no requirement in law for recording the reasons for framing charge elaborately. Law does not require that the "sufficient materials" found by the court tribunal for framing charge should be stated elaborately in the order of framing charge. ...... (10)

AJ Mohammad Ali, Senior Advocate instructed by Syed Mahbubar Rahman, Advocate-on-Record-For the Petitioners.

Haridus Paul, Advocate-on-Record -For Respondent No.2.

None Represented -Respondent No. 1.

Judgment

Nazmun Ara Sultana J : This Criminal Petition for Leave to Appeal is directed against the judgment and order dated 8-6-2011 passed by the High Court Division in Criminal Appeal No. 611 of 2009 dismissing the criminal appeal and thereby affirming the order dated 13-1-2009 passed by the Nari-o-Shishu Nirjatan Daman Tribunal, Jessore in Nari-o-Shishu Case No. 178 of 2008 framing charge against the present accused-appellant-petitioners under sections 11 (ga) and 11(ga)/30 of the Nari-o-Shishu Nirjatan Daman Ain, 2000 after rejecting their application under Section 265C of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

2. The necessary facts for disposal of this Criminal Petition for Leave to Appeal, in short, are that one Nazrul Islam @ Robi, as informant, lodged an FIR with Kotwali Model Police Station, Jessore alleging that his younger sister Most. Moslema Afroz @ Ruma was given in marriage with the accused No. 1 Dr Md Muntasir Mamun Khan on 6-7-2007. At the time of marriage an amount of Taka 3,00,000 was demanded by the accused persons as dowry, out of which Taka 2,00,000 was paid. Subsequently on demand of remaining Taka 1, 00,000 as dowry, the accused persons started torturing Most. Moslema Afroz @ Ruma-the victim and at one stage, she was driven out from her husband's house.

Apprehending legal consequence, the cunning accused-husband Md Muntasir Mamun Khan instituted Family Suit No. 67 of 2008 for restitution of conjugal life. Subsequently on the basis of compromise, the victim was brought to the husband's house on 4-5-2008 and the said family suit was withdrawn.

But the accused persons again started to claim remaining Taka 1,00,000 as dowry and on such demand the accused persons assaulted the victim. Ultimately on getting information over telephone, the relatives of the victim girl went to the house of the accused and rescued the victim and took her to the hospital where she got treatment.

3. On the basis of the above FIR Kotwali Model Police Station Case No. 30 dated 8-5-2008 was started and the police, after investigation submitted charge sheet against all the FIR named accused persons under Sections 11(ga)/30 of the Nari-o-Shishu Nirjatan Daman Ain, 2000.

The case was ultimately sent to the Nari-o-Shishu Nirjatan Daman Tribunal, Jessore for trial. Before this tribunal the accused persons filed an application under Section 265C of the Code of Criminal Procedure praying their discharge, but the tribunal, on hearing the learned Advocates of both the sides, rejected that application and framed charge under Section 11 (ga) of the Nari-o-Shishu Nirjatan Daman Ain, 2000 against the present accused petitioner No.1 and under sections 11(ga)/30 against the other two accused-petitioners by the order dated 13-1-2009.

4. Being aggrieved by the said order of the tribunal the accused-petitioners preferred the above mentioned criminal appeal under Section 28 of the Nari-o-Shishu Nirjatan Daman Ain, 2000 before the High Court Division. A Division Bench of the High Court Division, after hearing both the parties, dismissed that appeal by the impugned judgment and order.

5. Mr AJ Mohammad Ali, the learned Senior Advocate for the accused-appellant petitioners has assailed the impugned judgment and order of the High Court Division making submissions to the effect mainly that both the High Court Division and the Nari-o-Shishu Nirjatan Daman Tribunal did not consider at all the purpose of insertion of Section 265C in the Code of Criminal Procedure. The learned Advocate has argued that the Section 265C has been inserted in the Code of Criminal Procedure to check false and frivolous cases and thereby to ensure that the innocent persons are not harassed unnecessarily by being put to the trouble of undergoing trial and also to check the abuse of courts process and also wastage of court's valuable time.

The learned Counsel has contended that neither the Tribunal nor the High Court Division has examined the materials on record and without being satisfied that there were sufficient materials for framing charge the tribunal framed charge against the accused petitioners illegally and unjustly and the High Court Division also affirmed this order of framing charge most unjustly without taking into consideration the purport of Section 265C of the Code of Criminal Procedure at all.

6. Mr Haridus Paul, the learned Advocate-on-Record for the informant respondent has made submissions supporting the impugned judgment.

7. We have considered the submissions made by the learned Advocates of both the sides and gone through the impugned judgment and order of the High Court Division and also the order dated 13-1-2009 passed by the Nari-o-Shishu Nirjatan Daman Tribunal, Jessore in Nari-o-Shishu Case No. 178 of 2008.

8. It appears from the order dated 13-12009 passed in Nari-o-Shishu Case No. 178 of 2008 that the learned Judge of the Tribunal, before passing this order, heard the submissions made by the learned Advocate for the accused persons in support of the application under Section 265C of the Code of Criminal Procedure and also the submissions of the special public prosecutor and examined the record and finding sufficient materials for framing charge against the accused persons rejected that application under Section 265C of the Code of Criminal Procedure and framed charge against the accused persons as already mentioned above.

9. Section 265C provides:

"265C. Discharge.-If, upon consideration of the record of the case and the documents submitted therewith, and after hearing the submissions of the accused and the prosecution in this behalf, the Court considers that there is no sufficient grounds for proceeding against the accused, it shall discharge the accused and record the reasons for so doing."

10. Evidently, the tribunal took into consideration the mandate of Section 265C of the Code of Criminal Procedure and also complied with the same before passing the impugned order of framing charge.

The learned Advocate for the accused-petitioners has argued also that the tribunal did not assign any reason for framing charge in the impugned order and for this defect also the impugned order of framing charge in liable to be set aside. But this argument of the learned Advocate also is not correct. From the above quoted section 265C it is evident that the court/tribunal requires to record the reasons for discharging the accused only, there is no direction either in Section 265C or in any other section of the Code of Criminal Procedure that the court/ tribunal will have to record the reasons of framing charge also.

If the Court/Tribunal, on examination of the records and also after hearing both the sides finds that there are sufficient materials for proceeding against the accused the Court/Tribunal shall frame charge against the accused persons, there is no requirement in law for recording the reasons for framing charge elaborately. In this present case as it appears from the impugned order of framing charge, the tribunal, on hearing both the sides and examination of record, found sufficient materials for framing charge against the accused persons and hence it rejected the application under Section 265C of the Code of Criminal Procedure and framed charge against the accused-persons. Law does not require that the "sufficient materials" found by the court/ tribunal for framing charge should be stated elaborately in the order of framing charge.

11. The learned Advocate for the accused petitioners has made submissions questioning the truth of the prosecution case also by pointing out some facts and circumstances in support of defence case. But this submission also of the learned Advocate is not entertainable at this stage since all these are disputed facts which need to be adjudicated on taking evidence at the trial of the case.

The High Court Division rightly pointed out that the police investigated this case and finding the allegations against the accused persons prima facie proved, submitted charge sheet and that there are nothing on record to prove conclusively that the allegations made against the accused persons are false and that in the circumstances, before trial, the accused persons cannot be discharged.

12. We also, in agreement with the High Court Division and also the Tribunal, find that there are sufficient materials on record for proceeding against the accused persons and hence the impugned order passed by the Tribunal rejecting the application under Section 265C of the Code of Criminal Procedure and framing charge against the accused persons and also the order of the High Court Division affirming this impugned order passed by the Tribunal do not call for any interference by this Division.

Hence this Civil Petition for Leave to Appeal be dismissed.


BB to provide soft long to garment factories to help building safety

Business Desk :

The central bank is set to provide loan to Ready Made Garment (RMG) sector under its "Urban Building Safety Project" for ensuring structural, fire and electrical safety in RMG factories, sources said.

To this effect, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) has recently signed separate deals with 25 banks and 10 financial institutions to facilitate long-term financing for renovation works, re-construction, re-placement and fire safety in the RMG factories.

The central bank has taken up a Tk 268 crore (4240 million Japanese Yen) project with financial support of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). "Work place safety is not only a basic criteria, I should say it is free basic criteria of improving the RMG sector in the country," Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir said during the agreement signing ceremony at BB's headquarter.


First batch of Malaysia bound local workers to leave country next month

Economic Reporter :

The first batch of local workers, under the Government-to-Government (G2G) Plus initiative, is likely to leave Dhaka to Malaysia early next month, according to sources. Sources at authorised recruiting agencies said they would start sending recruitment files to Malaysian employers from next week and hope to get calling visas from them against their demand letters.

They hoped that they would be able to send the first batch of workers to Malaysia later this month, or early next month, after completion of the whole process including bio-medical tests.

The additional secretary (admin) of the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment, Jabed Ahmed, told The Independent that the process to send the first batch of workers is on. "We expect the minister to formally set in motion the opening of the labour market to Malaysia under the G2G Plus agreement next month," he added.

He also said the minister is expected to return home after the third week of this month.

Replying to a question, Jabed Ahmed said Bangladesh has so far received about 8,000 demand letters from Malaysian employers to recruit workers in construction, plantation, and manufacturing and service sectors.

Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) president Benjir Ahmed said no exact date has been fixed to send the first batch of workers. After having recruitment approval from the government, the workers are now going through bio-medical tests.

The process to send them to Kuala Lumpur will start after getting calling visas from employers, he added.

Sheikh Abdullah, owner of Shanjari Travels and Tours, said he has got about 500 demand letters and is now completing bio-medical tests of the workers. "I think we will be able to send recruitment files to Malaysian employers from next week," he added.

He also said the flight schedule of workers will be drawn up after calling visas from the employers are received.

Sources said the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment has received about 8,000 demand letters and has given approval for recruitment of about 5,500 workers.

A total of 10 recruiting agencies approved by the Malaysian government are carrying out the process to send workers under the G2G Plus scheme on a pilot basis. The Malaysian labour market had been closed for Bangladeshi workers for about eight years.
Illegal KG schools still untouched

M M Jasim :

The unauthorised kindergarten (KG) schools are running across the country having no respect for rules and regulations.

Even the government has failed to collect the information as to how many schools administer their activities all over the country.

The officials of the Primary and Mass Education Ministry said, "Most KG schools have not been set up legally. We want to know the number of such schools, their curriculum, whether they subscribe to the government books to teach students, the qualification of teachers, their recruitment process, their salaries, sources of income and means to build and administer such schools, sectors of expenditure, whether do they abide by government rules in expenditure and the like."

The teachers of these schools do not have the minimum qualification to teach, nor the required training, and the schools are run by the owners and their relatives, they said.

The Primary and Mass Education Ministry last year formed about 559 Taskforces across the country to collect information about unauthorised KG schools to bring them under supervision of the government.

The ministry asked the Divisional Commissioners, the Deputy Commissioners and the Upazila Nirbahi Officers to work separately to collect data.

But even after five months, there was no positive response from the Taskforce.

The Primary and Mass Education Ministry now requested the Public Administration Ministry to help collecting the information.

The Primary and Mass Education Ministry also sent a letter to Senior Secretary of the Public Administration Ministry in this regard.

The ministry's letter stated, "A Taskforce was formed on

August 16 in 2016 after a circular was issued to assess the non-government (both Bangla and English) and KG schools upon the directives of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The taskforce was directed to collect the information and send its recommendations to the ministry within a month."

"But even after repeated requests, the divisional commissioners, the deputy commissioners and UNOs failed to send any information to the ministry," it said.

Additional Secretary of the Primary and Mass Education Ministry Nazrul Islam Khan said, "The ministry has failed to take any action against the KG schools as the Taskforce report is yet to submit to the ministry.

"We have requested the Senior Secretary of the Public Administration Ministry to order the field administration to send us the required information as early as possible," Nazrul Islam Khan said.

"There should be no unregistered KG schools. As we have failed in the first stage to collect information about the schools, we are now using the formal government mechanism," he said.

According to different KG school associations, there are about 70,000 such schools across the country in which lakhs of students study. But the government has no control over them.

The taskforces were formed after getting many allegations against the KG schools. The ministry had also decided to shut down the unauthorised schools.

In all, 559 five-member taskforces were formed across 487 upazilas, 64 districts and eight divisions. The UNO-led taskforce would collect information about the KG schools in upazilas. The deputy commissioners would collect information about the schools in the district towns and areas outside upazilas, while the divisional commissioners would collect information about the schools in metropolitan areas.
A review of policies and procedures at the Office of Public Instruction in the wake of Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen's declaration that Montana is "out of compliance" with federal testing regulations will cost up to $2,850, according to a contract released Thursday.

The firm, CMS Communication and Management Services, specializes in human resources, according to firm partner Jim Kerins, who will lead the OPI review.

The work is billed at $95 an hour, which appears to cap the review at 30 hours of work. The contract says the review began Jan. 31 and is set to be completed by Feb. 28.

The review was sparked by Arntzen's accusations that Montana, under previous Superintendent Denise Juneau, was out of compliance with the feds because the ACT doesnt align with state education standards or have scores that fit into federal reporting categories, nor has the state developed a system to fit scores into those categories. She also alleged that the state falsified last year's ACT scores, reporting them all as proficient.

Arntzen later said that the state was under an "external investigation," but later backtracked. OPI spokesman Dylan Klapmeier said that the investigation comments were taken out of context; when pressed, he said it was just a mix-up in the way that the words were used and the words were interpreted.

Kerins described his future work at OPI as a "workplace policy and procedure review, not an investigation. The U.S. Department of Education said the agency is not investigating Montana.

While Montana's use of the ACT doesn't meet all federal regulations, most other states' testing processes don't either.

There are 12 states that use the ACT or SAT, another college readiness exam, for federal accountability, according to a database of state tests by Education Week. At least seven states have won permission from the feds to use those tests, but still must go through the peer-review process.

The Montana debate centers on the rules of No Child Left Behind, which will be replaced when the Every Student Succeeds Act goes into effect for the 2017-2018 school year. The new law appears to open the door to ACT use, allowing for "nationally recognized high school academic assessments," but it still requires a peer-review process.

Montanas peer review process has been pushed back a year, according to the federal spokeswoman, because of changes to its assessment program in the 2015-2016 school year  presumably the ACT switch.

In decision letters sent to Wyoming and Wisconsin, who use the ACT, the test was labeled as partially meeting federal requirements for NCLB, in part because the test does not align with state standards.

However, the letters make no mention of the potential loss of federal funding, nor do they declare states non-compliant. Such letters often point out flaws in submissions for any state and request that states resubmit information with corrections.

A review of the latest round of peer review assessment letters shows that of 31 states that received decision letters, not one met every requirement under NCLB. And none of the letters threaten the loss of federal funding.

In California, state education officials are in the midst of a showdown with federal officials because its use of a test the feds didn't sign off on. State officials have held their ground despite a response from feds citing "many possible enforcement actions and remedies available to be applied by the department, including the withholding of funds, according to Edsource, a California education news outlet.

Unlike California's test, 12 states use the ACT or SAT, another college readiness exam, for federal accountability, according to a database of state tests by Education Week. At least seven states have won permission from the feds to use those tests but still must go through the peer-review process.
10 members of Trump`s Advisory Commission resign

Demonstrators march during the \'Day without immigrants\' protest in Washington, DC on Thursday.

Press Trust of India , Washington :

Ten members of US President Donald Trump's Advisory Commission on Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) have resigned to protest against some of his policies on immigration including visa ban on travellers from seven Muslim-majority nations.

"Although the Commissioners' term ends 9/30/17, we can no longer serve a President whose policies aim to create outcomes that are diametrically opposite to our principles, goals, and charge," said the letter signed by 10 of the members of the President's Advisory Commission, all of whom were appointed by the previous President Barack Obama. The letter dated February 15 referred to some of the policies of the Trump Administration including visa ban, repeal of affordable care act, increased border and immigrant enforcement, as well as building a wall between Mexico and the US as some of the reasons for their resignation.

"We object to your portrayal of immigrants, refugees, people of color and people of various faiths as untrustworthy, threatening, and a drain on our nation," the letter said.

The Commission had 20 members, six of them had already resigned on January 20 when Mr Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. Now only four commissioners are left.

"We urge you and every member of your Administration to respect all Americans by protecting civil rights and civil liberties for everyone, promoting broader dialogue and understanding, and keeping the federal government accessible to all people living in the United States - regardless of their status as citizens, immigrants or refugees," the letter said.
UN insists two-state solution remains `the only way`

AFP, United Nations :

The two-state solution remains "the only way" to meet the aspirations of the Palestinians and Israelis, the UN envoy for the Middle East peace process told the Security Council on Thursday.

The council met to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a day after President Donald Trump stepped back from the US commitment to a two-state solution as part of a final peace deal. "The two-state solution remains the only way to achieve the legitimate national aspirations of both peoples," Nickolay Mladenov told the council. "Some may hold the illusion that the conflict can be 'managed' indefinitely," Mladenov said. "That the absence of a clear strategy to advance peace is a strategy in itself." The envoy urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders to "carefully contemplate the future,"

which he warned could be one "built on perpetual conflict, rising extremism and occupation." Trump announced on Wednesday that the United States would not insist on a two-state solution to the conflict, in a break from Washington's decades-old policy and from the international consensus on the peace process. "I'm looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like. I'm very happy with the one that both parties like," Trump said. "I can live with either one." Trump's comments were welcomed by Israel's rightwing government but the Palestinians reacted with alarm.

Britain, France and Sweden reaffirmed their support for a two-state solution. "It is very dangerous to move away from the two-state solution idea, especially before you have something viable as an alternative," Sweden's Ambassador Olof Skoog warned. "We don't see any viable alternative right now," Skoog told reporters ahead of the meeting. Sweden has recognized Palestinian statehood. British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said his government "continues to believe that the best solution for peace in the Middle East is the two-state solution." French Ambassador Francois Delattre echoed Mladenov's comments, saying: "should the prospect of a Palestinian State disappear, it would open the door to more extremism and more terrorism."
Myanmar reopens borders with BD as peace restored

Staff Reporter :

Myanmar has reopened No. 1 border gate with Bangladesh, which was temporarily closed after alleged attacks on some three border posts on October 9 last year, according to the State Counselor's Office on Thursday.

The border gate was reopened for entry and departure through Maungtaw of Rakhine State at the weekend due to restoration of peace and stability in the region after Myanmar negotiated with Bangladesh, report agencies.

The surprise coordinated attacks by armed men on three border posts in Maungtaw on Oct. 9 last year prompted the closure of all border gates with Bangladesh for more than four months, resulting in financial hardship for local traders.

Myanmar's Rakhine Violence Investigation Commission, which was formed on December. 1 and led by First Vice President U Myint Swe to probe into the background of the attacks, has so far inspected Maungtaw's attacked areas for four times to find out the truth.

The armed men's attack on three border posts, namely Kyikanpyi in Maungtaw, Kotankauk

in Buthedaung and Ngakhuya Office, killed five soldiers and eight policemen .

In the latest development, Myanmar's Sittway district court has handed out death sentence to one of the 14 captured armed men, who attacked the three border outposts in Maungtaw.

Uruma, also named Mammud Nu and Ular, who is charged with leading a raid on the border outpost in Kotankauk of Rathedaung and killing one police officer and injuring two others, was the first to have been punished in connection with the incident.

The remaining 13 accused are still under investigation.

A dusk-to-dawn curfew has remained in force in Maungtaw since October 10, but the curfew hours were reduced in Maungtaw since February 10 for the next two months as peace and stability were improving in the region.

The commission was originally tasked to formally report to the President by January 31, but it has been postponed as the new acquisitions concerned with human right abuses are appearing in Rakhine State. The overall report will be released when the investigation process is completely accomplished.

Meanwhile, the commission released an interim report on January 4, exposing that the armed attacks in Maungtaw were conducted by HavidTuhar-led AqaMul Mujahidin linked with Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO) operating in the region.
Meat traders to go on strike if demands not met at tomorrow's meet

Reza Mahmud :

City's meat traders will suspend their six-day strike tomorrow (Sunday) with a warning that if their demands are not met immediately they will go an indefinite strike.

The traders also said that beef price would come down to Tk 300 per kilogram if extortion and extra money collection from them are stopped.

"If the hassles of meat traders are removed, we can sell beef at Tk 300 or even less," Bangladesh Meat Traders Association Secretary General Rabiul Alam said while addressing a press conference in city's Segunbagicha on Friday.

Replying to a question Rabiul Alam said "Our strike will be suspended temporarily on Sunday but it will not be stopped."

When asked he said they do not know whether the butchers will slaughter cattle on Sunday as it is a non-slaughtering day.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Ministry has called a meeting with the city's

striking meat traders on Sunday. The officials of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) will also attend the meeting.

The hotel and restaurant owners are sufferings due to lack of beef and mutton, particularly the weekend on Friday, as the meat traders are observing strike in the city.

As a result, the chicken price has also gone up. The common people are the hard hit due to the hike of chicken price.

"We have removed red meat from our menu due to the strike of meat traders. We get no beef, no mutton in the market since last Monday. The chicken price has also gone up," said Mohammad Suman Khan, Manager of Shahi Ranna Restaurant in Motijheel area.

On the other hand, the leaders of the meat traders association warned further tougher actions if their demands are not met.

"We become helpless for the extortionists. If the demands not met soon, we will go for tougher movement," Rabiul Alam, General Secretary of the association told journalists yesterday.

He said, the traders will further call an indefinite strike if their demands are not met within six days.

Sources said, the Bangladesh Meat Traders Association has called a six-day countrywide strike on Monday for harassment while conducting their business. The announcement came from a human chain formed by the meat traders in front of the National Press Club on Sunday.

The meat traders are observing the strike to press home their four-point demands that include charging extra money by the lessees and prevention of extortion in transport.

Meanwhile, the restaurant owners have been compelled to drop beef, mutton and other related food items like Halim and Kabab from their menu lists.

"The customers want beef and mutton but we are unable to serve those. Menus. Even the departmental stores also failed to provide red meats," said Sumon Khan.

"My elderly mother is very sick. Doctor suggested her to take chicken soup regularly. But the chicken price is increasing everyday," said, Abu Talib, from Gendaria area in the city.

According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, each kilogram of broiler chicken was selling at Tk 145- 155 yesterday which was Tk 140- 150 the previous day.

Some traders have raised the price as high as Tk 160 per kg, while local chicken prices shot up from Tk 330-Tk 360 a kg.

Ashraful Alam, owner of Sayem Broiler House at Jurain bazar, yesterday said broiler chicken prices went up by Tk 10 compared to the previous day.

When contacted Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sayeed Khokon said, it is the matter of Gabtoli cattle farm. The area is under Dhaka North City Corporation's jurisdiction. The DNCC Mayor will solve the problem.

After trying for several times, the DNCC Mayor Annisul Huq could not be connected over phone calls.
Female migrants` condition not rosy at all Death of BD woman fuels discontent

Staff Reporter :

The recent death of a Bangladeshi worker Baby Begum, 50, in Lebanon has again raised the issue of uncertainty and unhealthy working atmosphere of migrant workers, especially the women, in the Middle Eastern countries.

Family members of the victim alleged that she died on February 9 at Borj Hospital in Beirut due to lack of medical facilities as brokers -- Bangladeshi recruiting agencies -- created obstacles in getting treatment with an ill intention to make some extra money.

The incident of tragic death was surfaced after the officials of a voluntary organization named Migrant Brother and Sister [Prabashi Bhai Bhon] monitored the treatment of Baby Begum, who was suffering from brain tumour.

Significantly, the concerned officials of Bangladesh Embassy in Lebanon did not take any step in this regard till the date. Even, no step has been taken

to send the victim's body to her home country, the family members alleged.

When contacted, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Javed Ahmed told The New Nation last night: "The brokers are everywhere. It's a big problem. Some migrant workers at one stage turn into brokers. Some of them become busy in visa trading and other jobs. These hampers country's image."

"You knowthe female workers are always unsafe. The domestic maids are vulnerable to violence. We have strong monitoring system in Lebanon. However, we're taking information about the death of female worker," he said.

There are several incidents like the above. In fact, the tragic condition of female workers in different ME countries, including Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and UAE, is nothing new.

Another female worker in Lebanon only left her employer's house because she was no longer able to eat from the garbage bin. "They used to beat me every day, but if they had given me food I would have never left them," the victim said to a research group without mentioning her name.

Director General, Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training [BMET] Salim Reza, however, refrained to make any comment over the issue.

As per some migrants' rights bodies, several hundred Bangladeshi maidservants returned from Lebanon in the last few years after facing oppression and exploitation. Most of around 1.5 lakh Bangladeshi migrants are female domestic help in Lebanon.

According to a study, the indicators of human trafficking, forced labor and overall process of recruitment of female domestic workers and their working conditions in Lebanon is not well enough. Actually, the vulnerable situation of female workers in Bangladesh and Nepal was exploited by agents and recruitment agencies.

The agents of recruitment agencies give false promises about paying $1,500-$2000 on average for a job. The female workers are usually promised limited working hours, a weekly day off, salary between $300 and $400 per month, healthcare, good treatment and good atmosphere.

In fact, the majority of female domestic workers are locked in houses with their identity papers confiscated in Lebanon. More than half 58% of Bangladeshi workers have reportedly suffered physical violence from their employers, the employers' relatives or officials of the recruitment office in Lebanon.

The US-based Human Rights Watch in a report said most of the violations against female workers is relating to physical torture, including sexual harassment and rape.

Besides, the Kafala [sponsorship] system applied in Lebanon was not set forth in any legal text, which is also hard for the female workers to have access to justice, according to sources.
Plot behind death of SI Akram, says family

Jhenaidah Correspondent :

Family members of late Police Sub-Inspector Akram Hossain in a press conference at Jhenaidah Press Club on Wednesday complained that conspiracy was behind the road accident and subsequently death of SI Akram. His wife Banni and retired Police Superintendent Babul Aktar might have their hands.

A written statement read out by his sister Jannat Ara Parvin Rini, revealed the story.

The statement said, Banni, wife of the SI Akram, had an affair with SP Babul before their marriage when Babul's father was in the police service

and Banani alias Banni's father in Khulna BRDB, both residing in the same area. But Banni was married to Akram on January 13 of 2005. On the other hand, Babul married Mitu as per family decision.

Rini said, after a child was born, Babul. Kept mother and child in the residence of Laboni, sister of Babul. The relation between them became warmer after SI Akram left Bangladesh for abroad in a peace mission.

As per the advice of Babul, Banni asked Akram to go to Jhenaidah via the Bangabandhu Bridge at Sirajganj. When Akram arrived near the Bardah bridge in Sailkupa upazila under Jhenaidah district in the evening of December 28 in 2014, he was reportedly injured in a road accident. Akram was first rushed to Jhenaidah Sadar Hospital. Health condition deteriorating, he was referred to Faridpur Medical College Hospital and then to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

The statement said, when condition of Akram was improving at Intensive Care Unit of the DMCH, Banni secretly swallowed poison with soup during the treatment there on January 13 in 2015 with the motive of killing him. Banni received the body of her husband Akram without any post mortem, and the police said that road accident was the reason behind the death. The corpse was buried at Jhenaidah.

The family members of Akram could not understand the mysterious absence of Akram Hossain's wife Banni and her father's family during the burial ceremony at Jhenaidah. Moreover, the family members were residing at Magura resident of Babul Aktar. The matter sparked reaction among the family members of Akram and they were suspecting that Banni might kill Akram due to her illicit affair with the police super Babul of Sailkupa.

Rini said, the post mortem conducting physicians said there were marks of sharp injuries in the head. When the family members of Akram went to Jhenaidah Sadar Police Station, the police refused recording the case. Further, the then superintendent of Jhenaidah police did no take any step of registering the case.

Finding no other alternative, the family filed a case with a Jhenaidah court against Babul Aktar, Banni and her cousin Sadimul Islam Moon. Not only that, SP Babul Aktar influenced the post mortem report, Rini said. The family members suspected that Babul Aktar might have hand in the killing of her wife Mitu, gunned down near her resident in Chittagong.

The family members demanded exemplary punishment to Banni, Babul Aktar and others involved with the killing of SI Akram Hossain. The deceased's sisters and some of the close relatives were present during the press conference.
Pakistan launches crackdown after ISIS attack kills 75 at shrine

The Guardian :

Officials in Pakistan say they have killed at least 39 suspected militants in a sweeping security crackdown a day after a massive bombing claimed by Islamic State killed 80 people and injured about 250 at a crowded shrine.

Overnight raids targeting militant hideouts also led to the arrest of 47 suspects, security officials said.

Thursday's terror attack, the country's deadliest in years, stunned the nation and raised questions about Pakistani authorities' ability to rein in militant groups despite several military offensives targeting insurgents.

A suicide bomber detonated the bomb among crowds gathered for the busiest day of the week at the shrine to Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan, a town in the southern Sindh province.

The Pakistani military summoned officials from the Afghan embassy and said it handed Kabul a list of 76 suspected terrorists, demanding immediate action by Afghan authorities and their extradition to Islamabad.

The military did not specify who was on the list, but Islamabad has long claimed that militants are hiding in Afghanistan with the purpose of fomenting violence inside Pakistan. An Afghan police official said Pakistan had launched an artillery assault in Nangarhar province, eastern Afghanistan, where a self-declared Isis affiliate is based. On Thursday Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, a Pakistan army spokesman, said acts of terrorism were being carried out "from hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan". Without providing further details, he said: "We shall defend and respond."

Amaq, a news agency affiliated to Isis, claimed the jihadi group had carried out Thursday's attack. It was the latest such attack on devotees of Sufism, a mystical and generally moderate form of Islam despised by radical fundamentalists.

"The explosion took place when a large number of people were inside the shrine boundary," a local police officer said. "A huge number of people come to the shrine every Thursday to take part in ritual dances and prayers. It is not possible to ensure the security of every person coming and going." Sughra Bibi, a 45-year-old woman taken to hospital with shrapnel wounds to her stomach, said she was near the front of the crowd watching the devotional dancing when the explosion occurred.

"The terrorists are targeting us just because they hate our shrines," she said. "They attacked another shrine a couple of months ago. But we will never give up our faith." Tanveer Ali, a local man whose wife and son were injured, said those responsible had sinned against Islam by targeting civilians.

"The terrorists will have to answer for this on the day of judgment," he said. Another witness, Raja Somro, inside the shrine at the time of the attack, told a local television network that hundreds of people were performing their spiritual dance called dhamal when the attacker struck at the shrine.

"I saw bodies everywhere. I saw bodies of women and children," he said. Local television channels aired footage of worshippers crying for help after the blast.

A senior Pakistani government official said on Friday that the death toll had risen to 80. Emergency services in Sehwan are basic. Muheen Ahmed, the medical superintendent at the local hospital, said it lacked the necessary beds to cope with the incident and that some people had been sent to Hyderabad, 90 miles away. A police commissioner there said 250 people had been injured. Pakistan has seen a rise in terrorist attacks in recent days, including an attack on peaceful protesters in the heart of Lahore, a bombing in Quetta that killed two police officers and an explosion in the frontier city of Peshawar. Pakistan's prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, issued a statement saying an attack on Sufis was considered a "direct threat".

A state-run television station quoted Sharif as saying that the country's military and other security forces would use all their resources to track down and arrest the culprits. The military chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa appealed for calm, telling Pakistanis: "Your security forces shall not allow hostile powers to succeed."

But, in a strongly worded statement, he vowed: "Each drop of the nation's blood shall be revenged, and revenged immediately. No more restraint for anyone."

Isis has claimed a handful of previous attacks in Pakistan, including one on a Sufi shrine in November in Balochistan province. The militant group is not thought to have an extensive organisation in Pakistan, but has forged close ties with local terror franchises including a faction of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a long-established Sunni sectarian outfit. Isis also claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on police cadets in the city of Quetta last year, thought to have been a joint operation with various jihadi groups.

Two suicide bombings in north-western Pakistan also killed six people, following an almost three-month-long lull in the volatile region. A breakaway Taliban faction claimed responsibility for one of the attacks, according to Associated Press. Pakistan has waged several offensives against militants in recent years, including a big operation that started in mid-2014 in the last key insurgent sanctuary of North Waziristan. Pakistan declared the offensive a success, saying it had uprooted militants, killed hundreds and forced many to flee across the border into Afghanistan.
Readers` Forum

Comedy of errors :

One of my students was recently sitting for the Bangla first paper exam in the SSC examinations 2017. On receiving the creative question section, it turned out that the invigilator had given him a question paper from last year. The invigilator realised this when he looked into the candidate's answers and found no connection with the current year's questions.

Some students received question papers from last year's SSC programme under the Bangladesh Open University during the math exam as well.

How are these alarming errors occurring during one of the most important academic events of the year? The authorities must look into this.



Md Sefatullah Saarjil

Gopanganj
A handful of Billings-area legislators and some of the 25 or so people gathered for Thursdays legislative teleconference agreed on one thing: During a session thats been focused so far on cutting, theres another side to the states financial equation  revenues.

To balance the budget, (legislators) have been looking pretty much just at cuts, said Sen. Mary McNally, D-Billings. When you can, support some revenue increases. Nobody likes to talk about tax increases, but there is this short-term gap.

David Trost, president and CEO of St. Johns Lutheran Ministries  the states largest senior living and senior health care provider  said more than 100 of St. Johns 600 or so residents depend on Medicaid, which provides about $1.7 million annually for their care.

Those residents have been paying taxes for 50 or 60 years. Now they have to be on Medicaid, and they are at risk of losing providers who will serve them, Trost said. We are at a tipping point on the decisions we have to make, and we ask you to support our facility and 90 or so others in the state who depend on (Medicaid funds).

If Medicaid funding is sliced, senior living facilities have two choices, he said: trim their cost, at a loss of quality, or serve fewer people, which means families would have to provide more care in their homes. There are ramifications around this issue all over the place, and revenue has to be a consideration in the process.

Another potential longer-term funding gap, as Trost sees it, is that as the federal government begins converting Medicaid to state block grants, 2017 will be used as a baseline year. The more that state legislators cut the state match to federal funds, the smaller that baseline number will be, he said.

Whatever we put in today will have an impact tomorrow, Trost said. I think that is an important consideration.

Becky Bey, government relations specialist for KLJ, a Billings engineering and planning firm, told legislators that an infrastructure bill introduced Thursday, House Bill 473, will mean $500,000 annually for Yellowstone County roads, bridges and other infrastructure, and $2.3 million for the city of Billings. Itll be heard in the House Transportation Committee at 3 p.m. Feb. 22.

Dick Clark, Billings City Council member, said hed appreciate your support for increasing the states share of the gas tax, which hasnt gone up in three decades.

Id rather pay a little more for a tank of gas than get a really big property tax bill at the end of the year, said Clark, who spent part of last week lobbying at the Capitol.

From the legislators

Sen. Margie MacDonald, D-Billings, is sponsoring SB 158, which would put Juneteenth  the celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation  on the state calendar on the third Saturday each June. The Senate State Administration Committee approved the bill Thursday. The Juneteenth celebration is official in 45 other states, MacDonald said.

Sen. Tom Richmond, R-Billings, said he had reason to celebrate: This week Gov. Steve Bullock signed his bill repealing a state ethanol mandate.

The bloom is off the ethanol rose, clearly, Richmond said.

Rep. Dennis Lenz, R-Billings, said hes eager for Mondays hearing on his HB 441, which would require education on human trafficking for first responders, nurses and law enforcement.

Rep. Kathy Kelker, D-Billings, said her HB 463, which would allow local government to adopt ordinances against chronic public intoxication, will be heard at 8 a.m. Feb. 21 in the House Judiciary Committee.

This is a big deal in Billings, Kelker said, adding that Sen. Doug Kary, R-Billings, is sponsoring a similar bill in the Senate. Im optimistic we will have a more favorable opinion this time.

A version of the bill that failed two years ago has been rewritten, she said.

Kary had only one question for the group: How many, by show of hands, support a local option authority bill?

Virtually everyone in the room raised their hand.
The Montana commissioner of political practices is a watchdog whose work is bound to make some elected officials unhappy. This week, a Montana House majority of 54 expressed their displeasure by voting to abolish the commissioner of political practices.

The sponsor of this bad idea is Rep. Derek Skees, R-Kalispell, whose presentation of the bill in committee was largely an attack on Jonathan Motl, the present COPP.

Skees was linked to the major campaign finance scandal of the past several years. Documents from Western Tradition Partnership staff listed Skees among 13 Republican primary candidates in 2010 who received a series of in-kind contributions from that shadowy entity, contributions that werent reported as required by Montana law. Documents naming Skees werent discovered until after the statute of limitations expired, so he was never charged with a violation. The documents were first reported publicly in December 2015 by the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, which filled a Freedom of Information request with the COPP.

The Western Tradition Partnership case is a concern for all Montanans because those unreported contributions were mailings on behalf of some GOP primary candidates that disparaged their GOP primary opponents. Most of those charged with civil violations settled their cases with the COPP.

Former Bozeman lawmaker Art Wittich asserted his right to jury trial and was convicted of civil violations of Montana campaign finance law. Wittichs appeal to the Montana Supreme Court is pending.

Now Skees wants to eliminate the office and split its duties between the secretary of state and attorney general. The effect of such a change would be to dilute the effectiveness of the office. The split would eliminate the COPP as the champion for the peoples right to know.

Public accountability

The representatives who voted to get rid of the COPP they dont like should consider what happened to those Republicans targeted in the 2010 primary: the misrepresentation of issues, the damage to reputations. The only thing that discourages dark money and bad actors from repeating their unlawful behavior is the prospect of public exposure and legal accountability.

Motl often worked long hours and has written about 200 opinions since taking office in mid-2013. He cleared a multi-year backlog of old cases and resolved most 2016 complaints before the election. He recruited special attorneys general work without pay to help prosecute Wittich because the COPP has no budget for such work. Motl implemented the 2015 Disclose Act by drafting rules  including electronic filing requirements  and holding public hearings in time for the rules to be effective during the 2016 campaigns.

With more money pouring into Montana elections at every level, citizens need a dedicated champion to referee complaints and assure that we at least know who is spending how much to persuade us to vote a certain way. The COPP as provided in present Montana law is an independent bulwark against those who would secretly try to buy our elections. The COPP is appointed for a six-year term and cannot be reappointed. Motl was appointed midterm and confirmed in 2015. He will be out of office as soon as his successor is confirmed.

Talk to your legislators

The only Republican lawmaker representing part of Yellowstone County voting against HB340 was Geraldine Custer, a former county clerk from Forsyth. Thanks, Rep. Custer, and thanks to the all the Democrats and several other Republicans who stood firm for campaign accountability.

We call on the Senate to demonstrate commitment to accountability by rejecting HB340. Otherwise, it will be up to Gov. Steve Bullock to use his veto pen to protect the peoples right to know.

Another bill seeks to bar Motl from assisting his successor, even on continuing cases, such as the Wittich appeal. Rep. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, introduced House Bill 406 an prohibiting an individual who served as commissioner of political practices from working in certain capacities for the office of political practices for a certain time period. Basically, Hertz proposes to keep Motl from working for the COPP for six years after he leaves office.

Are legislators trying to thwart this COPP because they truly want to improve public service  or because Motl did such a good job for the public? Please tell your senator and representative what you think.
I am writing on behalf of Montanas elderly and the compassionate caregivers that diligently strive to care for them. A legislative appropriations subcommittee recently voted to slice the budget of the Department of Public Health and Human Services by $93.4 million over the next two years, with the largest chunk coming from the senior and long-term care program: $93.4 million. Thats a shocking number in itself. Whats even more shocking is that $52 million of these proposed cuts will directly impact our seniors with $42 million in cuts targeted to Medicaid core services. Nursing homes across Montana will be dealt a crippling blow if these cuts are implemented.

Sixty-one percent of nursing home residents are covered by Medicaid. Facilities are losing an average of $34 per day on Medicaid patients due to inadequate reimbursement from the state of Montana. Across Montana, nursing homes are finding it increasingly difficult to survive. Fifteen years ago, our state had over 100 nursing homes. Today, we have only 77. And costs continue to rise. From 2014 to 2016, patient acuity levels have gone through the roof. Drug and alcohol admissions are up 189 percent. Bariatric/obesity admissions have doubled. Patients on dialysis have increased 300 percent. Residents admitted with psychological or mental disorders are up 88 percent. IVs have nearly tripled.

I cannot believe the Legislature is proposing to cut funding for nursing home residents. I, for one, would not want my name associated with a vote to cut funding for our vulnerable elderly. I believe the mark of a civilized society is how and to what extent it cares for those who cannot care for themselves. A vote to approve these proposed cuts is, quite frankly, unconscionable.

Brent Smith

Kalispell
The Times-Pic columnist and LSU prof says what weve been thinking: Louisianas Republican congressional delegation cowers before Trump.

Photo Illustration from caricature by DonkeyHotey and photo by Takkk/Wikimedia

Times-Picayune columnist Bob Mann spares little in his dressing-down of Louisianas Republican congressional delegation, which in the face of the calamity that is Donald John Trump, has remained smugly silent.

The flat-out lies, boasts of sexual assault, racism, xenophobia and misogyny  not to mention the paralytic, dysfunctional first month in office, which Trump yesterday in an epically bizarre 70-minute press conference characterized as a fine-tuned machine  seem to matter little to our GOP reps in Congress, who appear to be more worried about offending Trump and his maleficent minions than demonstrating a shred of independent thought.

From his column today:

If the Republican members of Louisiana's congressional delegation created a new D.C. Mardi Gras organization, we could call it the Krewe of Deilos. This ancient Greek word for fear and cowardice is the perfect moniker for the Congress of the chicken-hearted who cower before Donald Trump. Cowardice is apparently what prevents Republican "leaders" like House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy and four other Louisiana GOP House members from voicing public concerns about shocking behavior by Trump and his staff.

Read the full column here.
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POLSON  A former Montana man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for his role in the beating death of his 18-year-old nephew in Arlee.

KERR-AM reports 24-year-old Stephen Seese was sentenced Thursday in Polson. He pleaded guilty to accountability to negligent homicide in the February 2015 death of Richard Warner. Seese must serve 10 years before being eligible for parole.

Warner had been living in Arlee with Seese's family, including two young children, when he was killed. The family stayed in the trailer until May with Warner's body in the shower covered with clothing and furniture. Warner's body was discovered in June 2015.

Seese and his wife blamed each other for beating Warner with a hammer. Kassandra Seese pleaded guilty to the same charge and received a five-year commitment to the Department of Corrections.
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.
Its been said that to truly understand something and appreciate its value, you must know where it came from  where it began. While many of us may be somewhat familiar with the adventures of traveling south down the Mississippi through the writings of Mark Twain, there is much to be discovered about river commerce during that time, namely flatboats and how they helped usher in the era of modern barges.

History and economic expansion

In the late 1700s flatboats became a pivotal part of our countrys westward expansion when they began hitting the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers after the American Revolution. While some vessels carried families migrating to new homes in the west, most flatboats were used for commercial purposes. Carrying everything from crops to livestock, these flat-bottomed, rectangular vessels were the most reliable mode of transportation for farmers and merchants looking to sell their goods. The rough terrain of roads made travel with mules, horses, or carriages difficult and slow. Traveling down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers quickly became a popular mode of commercial transportation for residents along the banks of both rivers. The ability to float as far south as New Orleans and increase sales in downriver markets was a gigantic draw for farmers and merchants looking to expand their business.

With easy access to rivers, flatboats were an immensely popular choice among settlers looking to move heavy cargo. More importantly, the simple-to-build, inexpensive boats were extraordinarily economical. Mark Wagner, author of "The Wreck of the 'America' in Southern Illinois: A Flatboat on the Ohio River" remarked on the simple construction of these floating shoeboxes. If you could build a log cabin, you could build a flatboat, said Wagner. Many families used building plans based on the traditions of their ancestors. A farmer, his sons and maybe a few neighbors would build a flatboat, load it up with crops and make their way south to sell their products to the first interested party.

However, despite the many benefits of flatboats, the vessels definitely came with their fair share of drawbacks. Flatboats were subject to the whims of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, including floating trees, protruding rocks, swift currents and pirate attacks. The crew of the flatboats had only four to six oars to steer away from danger and stay on course.

They wrecked like crazy and no one knew if a shipwreck occurred. A family may never find out what happened unless a passing boat saw the other boat go down and wrote to the family, said Wagner.

Also, flatboats were one-way vessels. Once farmers and merchants sold their products downriver, the boats were torn apart and sold for scrap lumber. After months on the river, the crew of the flatboats would walk back home, or ride horses if they could afford it. In many aspects, flatboats were a harsh and dangerous way to move merchandise but in the end they made way for the introduction of modern barges. They persisted until the 1890s until locks and dams forced them out of the waterways. Although the time of flatboats has come and gone they were the precursor of our modern barges.

Making the journey

In many ways, modern barges are very similar to flatboats. They are long, flat vessels that must be pushed or towed by other forces. However, while flatboats were steered by novice pilots with just a few oars, modern barges are maneuvered by a tugboat with an experienced captain and crew. I recently spoke with Joshua Longshore, a deckhand with nine years of experience under his belt, to discuss the details of his job and life on the river. Working for 28 days on the river followed by 28 days at home, the life of a deckhand is not what most people are accustomed to in the workforce. When I spoke to Longshore, he was two weeks into a 28-day stretch, living on the tugboat that moves the barges up and down the river. The deckhands work six hour shifts at a time, called watches, and perform a wide array of duties. After checking and tightening wires on the barges, inspecting the wheel house and doing other various tasks to ensure that the tow is safely secured, deckhands must take care of their home away from home. Josh said that the crew are always painting, cleaning, staying on stock and making sure their tools are in good condition.

I love it. The river will either make you or break you. But this job is amazing and the scenery that we get to see is beautiful, said Longshore.

Flatboats of the past and modern barges used on the river today both hold an important place in society. With so many major inland waterways converging in Southern Illinois they are a large part of our regions heritage and are worth discovering.
The rivers that have historically been the lifeblood of growth for so much of our region have a special significance for regional beer as well. No, beer isnt brewed with river water but its history, culture and identity are still carried on by the rivers  and river towns  that have embraced the burgeoning beer business locally and abroad. A quick search engine query including the words river and brewery will reveal an extensive list of breweries that not only have the word river in their name but also have an actual river to credit for their existence or inspiration. Two regional craft breweries, both within an hours drive of Carbondale, can attest to this fact.

Along the Ohio River

Dry Ground Brewing Company in Paducah, Kentucky, takes its river town status seriously. In the late 1930s, the Ohio River flooded the region, causing considerable devastation across portions of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. In Paducah, the original Coca-Cola bottling plant on South 6th Street was destroyed in the flood waters, leaving the owner and Paducah business legend, Luther Carson, to escape the building by boat  purportedly from a second story window. Mr. Carson was said to have told his rescuers that day when he reached dry ground, that is where he would build a new bottling facility.

And this is precisely what happened just two years later in 1939, at the intersection of LaBelle Avenue and Broadway, as a new building took shape. Fast forward over seven decades and this dry ground now houses Paducahs first craft brewery. Although the building itself wasnt originally constructed for a brewery, its notorious river history looms large in Dry Grounds identity as head brewer, Andy Wiggins, explains: many of our beers reference the river in their name or art. I would say that our business is permeated with the presence of the Ohio. It situates us geographically and psychologically.

The Coca-Cola bottles are long gone, but the very same spirit and tenacity live on in another delicious form at Dry Ground today. Offering 28 beers on tap, many of which are brewed in-house, including 37 Flood American IPA, Adams Beard Belgian-Style Tripel and Uncle Luther Extra Special Bitter, the brewery now bustles with sights and sounds that are surely reminiscent of a bygone era. Paired with live events and music in regular rotation, this river brewery exudes a unique and welcoming atmosphere that is older and deeper than its founding in 2014.

The primary influence of the river on us is thematic in nature. I grew up near the Ohio, and as I moved and traveled around the world it was always weird for me to be away from a river. That might be strange for some people but for me having a river nearby feels familiar and comfortable, said Wiggins. In like fashion, isnt this precisely what a brewery pub ought to be?

Along the Mississippi River

Fueled by the mighty Mississippi River, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, grew from a small trading outpost some 200 years ago into one of the regions economic and cultural hubs. Minglewood Brewery in downtown Cape feels their connection and proximity to the river in a very tangible way.

Minglewood is just a few blocks uphill from the boat dock and gets a regular attendance from the boat workers as they are passing through. We are a local brewpub that does very little distribution so it is helpful to get the opinions of well-traveled individuals to make sure we are brewing top notch beer that can compete in this booming market, brewer Tony Johnson explains.

And visitors dont lack for choices of top-notch beer at the brewerys taproom, including Common Sense Kentucky Common (a style originated in the 19th Century in Kentucky), Fat Monk Abbey Ale and Demise IPA. Beyond the beer itself, Minglewood offers an aura of local tradition as well, that is critical to their character and charm.

The (craft brewing) industry is heralding back to the days of having a local brewery in every pocket and corner of America and Minglewood is where you can get that local taste of Cape Girardeau," Minglewood Brewerys owner, Stuart Matthews, explains.

Housed in the historic Keys building, built in 1891, on the corner of Broadway and Spanish Street, Minglewood offers more than a dozen draft beers, a full food menu featuring artisan pizzas, sandwiches, Bavarian-style pretzels and more, along with a wide range of live music and other events.

Although the connection to a river isnt essential from the standpoint of a brewerys ability to do business or thrive these days, thanks to infrastructure and technology, the current still carries something just as important to these small, independent businesses brewing beer in their respective towns  a sense of history and of place. Whether its the destructive power of a river flood or the flood of visitors and commerce a river can bring, Dry Ground Brewing Company and Minglewood Brewery are both grateful to be part of a proud river history and are poised to write their own history into the future of their towns.
If, seven years ago, you told Dr. Lan Chi Thi "Lula" Luu and Dr. John Crilly, they would give up their jobs in academia to start FIn, a fish store from Paducah, Kentucky specializing in Asian Carp products, lots of folks would have said you were crazy. But Lula and John have closed out 2016 with a large processing facility, 13 employees, two patented processing techniques and products carried by six major food distributors and sold in 17 regional restaurants. This may just be the only truthful fish story you have ever heard.

Luu and Crilly started what has become FIn Gourmet Foods in 2010 in Louisiana. According to Luu, who is Vietnamese by birth, they originally formed the business to provide work and revenue to Vietnamese fishermen whose livelihoods were threatened by the Deepwater Horizon spill.

Our work in the public health and nutrition fields had already exposed us to the Carp, which is an amazingly healthy fish with a negative reputation, Crilly chimed in. And we had made contact with Ronny Hopkins, a commercial fisherman from Ledbetter, Kentucky and his was the best fish we had seen.

The backbone of the tale

But the fish was incredibly difficult to process, and after a contract was canceled, which resulted in the loss of thousands of pounds of product, they almost gave up. But, Luu said, creating a market for carp was important to the livelihoods of the fishermen they worked with. They urged us not to give up. The turning point came when Luu wondered if Cha ca, a Vietnamese fish paste, could be made from carp.

What is Asian Carp and how is it used? Asian Carp is an invasive fish which is actually four distinct species: Silver, Bighead, Gra

Cha ca  more widely known as Surimi  is a staple, ready-made protein source widely consumed in Vietnamese households. Luu said she hated the commercial product growing up, but loved the version her family made. The difference? No chemicals or msg were used in the version she liked.

Surimi products are really popular and I thought it would be would be really cool if we could make a clean, all natural form of this fish paste. So we went back to the older folks in the Vietnamese community and asked for their help. In the beginning my mom said it couldnt be done, but after hundreds of hours of trial and error, my Mom gave us her seal of approval  which, if you have an Asian mom, you know is almost impossible, said Luu.

After they got a proper prototype, Luu and Crilly worked to modernize the process by which it is made so they could reproduce it on a commercial scale. FIn currently has two patented processing techniques: (1) to debone Asian Carp fillets and (2) to make all-natural Surimi from the Carp without using water or chemicals. Generally Surimi is made on the open water as recent commercial methods create tons of waste only dispersible in the oceans vast depths. FIns patented process allows the fish to be processed on land, near their source.

FIn Gourmet Foods  more like family

FIns concern for the community extends to their staff, as well. Currently FIn employs 13 people, 70 percent of whom are people who need second chances after incarceration, drug court, domestic violence or who just need a better path in life.

We are a social impact agency  we believe this fish will bring economic empowerment to people, said Crilly. We are clear that our employees have a key in our success  fish processing jobs require a specific set of skills that impact the quality of our product. We find the right employees, train them and create a work environment that supports them. We pay employees good wages because we expect a lot from them  and anticipate that they will give us a lot in return.

Ashley, one of the young women processing fish the day Life & Style visited, said she really likes the atmosphere of the company.

I dont dread coming to work, she said.

The value of the fish First of all, said Crilly, we want to reinvent peoples notion of what is convenient and 

It feels like we are all a family, Luu concurs. We are close knit  we dont bring on anyone that will upset the ecosystem  disturb the balance of our work efforts. And this system pays off: Some of the senior staff has been with FIn more than two years and these senior team members help to empower and work with the younger staff.

And it impacts Luu and Crilly as well. Five years ago they were researchers doing clinical research. Even when we were doing that we felt like the odd ones out among our colleagues, said Luu. Here we work 12 to 14 hours per day, but feel completely at home and doing what we were meant to do.

Ultimately, FIn solves problems. They get an invasive fish out of the water and the waterways do better. They source their product from within a flagging industry, and a whole community of fishermen does better. They hire people who are struggling to make a better life for themselves and a whole segment of society does better. It is a U.S. fish, and therefore a U.S. product  you know where it comes from, who harvested it and where your money is going.
When you set out to be a tourist in your own region, its best to leave with a loose plan and an open mind. That way you have an idea of where youre going but you leave room for the serendipitous moments that can take your breath away and leave lasting memories.

Thats how I would suggest exploring the Mississippi River towns that stretch across Southern Illinois western water border.

Have a starting and ending point in mind, but be open to all that you might discover along the way. Because this is a rich and magnificent piece of land that we call Southern Illinois  intentionally with a capital S, because it truly is its own defined place  and there is so much to see. Whether you are from here or a first-time or frequent visitor, there are new things to explore, and new seasons in which to explore them along the river. With very little planning, this can become your daytrip tour de force.

Take the trip with a lover, a friend or solo  better yet, do all of the above, and do it over and over again, choosing a different adventure each time. The Southern Illinois towns along the Mississippi River offer something for pretty much everybody: nature lovers, history buffs, comfort food connoisseurs, dive bar enthusiasts, Illinois political junkies and antique treasure seekers. The river welcomes the rich and poor, but theres no need to save or borrow a big pile for this trip. You can have a pretty good time on a tank of gas and a packed lunch, or for a bit more, you can stay in a bed-and-breakfast with historical roots and enjoy lunch and a beverage of your choice at any number of fun and quirky spots along the route.

Either way, youre guaranteed to meet interesting locals. And there are many opportunities to connect with the spirits of the true natives and later settlers who shaped this unique slice of Southern Illinois along the Mississippi River and contributed to its complex and winding past.

A long day trip could take you from Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site near Collinsville to Fort Defiance in Cairo where the Mississippi meets the Ohio. Though, its my suggestion that you split that into two days or more to truly enjoy the sights.

Either way, make sure to keep your eyes and heart open for those trip-defining serendipitous moments I mentioned. For us, that came as we headed out of Modoc in search of the Ste. Genevieve  Modoc Ferry. The December day I went exploring the river with Byron Hetzler, photo editor for The Southern Illinoisan and Life & Style magazine, it was biting cold. When we set out on assignment from Carbondale, we both laughed about how it was an oddly chilly day  and perhaps a poor choice  for a drive along the waters edge.

But the Mississippi River proved us wrong. Though the weather may dictate which adventure is most appropriate, there is no wrong time to set out on a drive through these magnificent miles along the Kaskaskia-Cahokia Trail, the Lower Trail Scenic Route and other roadways along the river. The view along much of our route offered towering bluffs that bordered the road on one side and flatland as far as the eye could see on the other. It was an absolutely gorgeous drive, and its easy to understand why the Illinois General Assembly, in 2014, declared the Kaskaskia-Cahokia Trail  the states oldest road, often referred to as the Kings Road  as an Illinois Historic and Scenic Route.

While we were disappointed that no ferry was waiting for us to carry us across the river into Kaskaskia on this particular day, that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. As we headed back from whence we came, both of our stomachs growled. It was late afternoon and we began discussing where we might find a sandwich.

It was about this time when Byron looked to the left and stopped the car and told me to shhhhh! mid-sentence. I was a bit offended because  as the hour ticked past 1 p.m.  lunch was a topic of great importance in my mind. But then I looked in the direction his head was turned. We both fell silent. Id never seen that many bald eagles at once. In the marsh area to the east of the river, we counted at least 20. I forgot the rumble in my stomach, and I shed all of my grumbles. It was truly magnificent. Its the kind of moment on the Mississippi River that can make you forget yourself. And dont worry, theres an alternative route into Kaskaskia across the Chester Bridge. We made it there anyway  after a warm meal at a local diner in Chester, of course. I'm also told that the ferry should be up and running again by now. It was closed temporarily in December.

The below list includes 11 worthy stops along the river. It is in no way meant to be an exhaustive list of things to do and see, but rather to provide a few stops around which you could build a loose daytrip itinerary.

ONE MISSISSIPPI  Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site

Near Collinsville, youll find plenty to explore on the historical site of one of the greatest cities of the world in its day. Cahokia was larger than London in A.D. 1250. Cahokia Mounds was the largest prehistoric Indian community north of Mexico, covering five to six square miles and originally containing more than 120 mounds. It was occupied primarily from A.D. 900-1400. It reached its peak in A.D. 1050-1200 when as many as 20,000 people may have lived there who belonged to the Mississippian cultural tradition.

The site is administered by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. It includes an Interpretive Center/Museum that is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. The grounds are open from 8 a.m. to dusk. There is no admissions fee but a donation is suggested of $7 for adults, $5 for seniors, $2 for students and $15 for families.

TWO MISSISSIPPI  White Rock Nature Preserve

Rock ledges and outcroppings  perched within a geologic timeframe that dwarfs the human referent of time  define their own dimension of change, influenced only by wind and weathering. The grassy prairie bluff edges  natural vantage points  allowed long views up, down and across the miles-wide river valley. From the valley floor, the palisades of rock stretched like a shining necklace against the deep shade of the immense forest that rode across ridges and uplands until meeting the tallgrass prairies miles and miles away to the east.

Thats how Clifftop (Conserving Lands in Farm, Forest, Talus or Prairie), a nonprofit organization dedicated to preservation and conservation stewardship of the bluff lands and associated habitats in Saint Clair, Monroe and Randolph counties, describes White Rock Nature Preserve on its website. This is but one place to take in the numerous pristine natural wonders along the Mississippi River bluff lands, but it will be one worth your visit. The diverse and fragile Ozark ecosystem that makes up this region boasts more than 800 native plants, 200 migratory or breeding birds, 43 mammal and 62 amphibian species documented.

THREE MISSISSIPPI  Maeystown

A visit to Maeystown truly feels like stepping back in time. This picturesque 19th century German village was founded by Jacob Maeys in 1852. The original settlers were solely German settlers predominately from the former Bavarian Rheinpfalz, according to the villages website. There are several of the towns original structures, integrated into the rolling landscape, that are still standing. The original stone church, built in 1865-1867, held services intermittently in German until 1943. The town is tiny but rich in attractions and businesses to visit.

Maeystown is truly one of the hidden treasures of the Midwest, the village website boasts, and if youve never been, this town should be at the top of your must-see list along the Mississippi River. The villages population is only about 150 but explodes every May during Springfest. You can read more about the villages annual celebration that begins this year on May 7 in Out & About on page 50 of this issue. Maeystown was designated as a historic district in 1978.

FOUR MISSISSIPPI  Fort de Chartres State Historic Site

Near Prairie du Rocher, youll want to veer off the path and spend some time exploring Fort de Chartres, a French fortification with roots dating back to 1720. It served as the seat of civil and military government in the Illinois Country for half a century. First completed in 1720, it was rebuilt of stone in 1753-56, at a cost of 200,000 livres and became one of the strongest forts in North America and the key to the French defense in what is now the United States.

By the Treaty of Paris, in 1763, on the heels of the French and Indian War, France ceded the greater part of her North American possessions to Great Britain. But Fort de Chartres, the last post to be surrendered, was occupied by a French Garrison until 1765. Renamed Fort Cavendish, the fort was the seat of British government in the Illinois Country until 1772, when it was abandoned and destroyed.

The State of Illinois purchased Fort de Chartres and made it a state park in 1913. Events are held at the site throughout the year, with the largest one happening annually in June when fort de Chartres hosts a rendezvous  the largest in the Midwest  as thousands of people descend on the site for a period reenactment. A fur trappers rendezvous was an event where trappers and traders met to trade furs for necessities.

FIVE MISSISSIPPI  The Boondocks

A few miles away in the map-dot town of Modoc, slow down and say hi to Sharon Hammers. Shell give you the history of the old dry goods building turned bar she owns called The Boondocks. You can probably guess why she calls it that, but I asked anyway. Because it is the boondocks, she said of Modoc, as in the middle of nowhere for any of you city-dwelling yuppies reading this article and unfamiliar with the term. But kidding aside, Hammers said she loves her career serving the handful of regulars, and also enjoys those (typically warmer) days when passerby discover the place, almost always serendipitously, and stop in to wet their whistle on their way through town.

The Randolph County town had a population count of 221 at the 2000 Census. Thats probably a stretch of a head count for these days, though its hard to say. Modoc didnt participate in the 2010 Census.

SIX MISSISSIPPI  Kaskaskia Island

Kaskaskia is an incredible gem in Southern Illinois for both its preserved history and its natural beauty. The town was incorporated in 1725. The parish of the Immaculate Conception was begun by Fr. Jacques Marquette, a French missionary who accompanied Louis Joliet, the French explorer and trapper of the Mississippi River. In 1675, Fr. Marquette established a mission with the Kaskaskia Indians, but by 1700 crowded conditions and tribal unrest pushed the tribe and its mission down the river.

They eventually settled on the peninsula. At statehood in 1818, Kaskaskia served briefly as Illinois first capital before it was moved to Vandalia. Though still technically part of Illinois, what remains of the island is accessed via Missouri because a channel change in the Mississippi River decades ago cut off the land that connected it to Illinois. The Immaculate Conception Church has roots dating to 1714, but was built in its current location in 1894. The Bell Shrine is the other major site on the island.

A push of a button will open one of the double doors of the shrine and offer you a peek inside at whats known as the The Liberty Bell of the West. The ancient bronze bell was cast in La Rochelle, France, in 1741, and sent to the church as a gift by King Louis XV of France. The bell is inscribed POUR LEGLISE DES ILLINOIS PAR LES SOINS DU ROI DOUTRE LEA) which translates to For the Church of the Illinois, by Gift of the King Across the Water. It took almost two years to deliver the 650-pound bell by way of the New Orleans.

SEVEN MISSISSIPPI  Jodies Ol Farmhouse & Bakery

The day we happened upon this local cafe, a chalk board sign out front advertised chicken and dumplings as the days special. Thats what Byron devoured and he mumbled between bites that the homemade food was delicious. We didnt talk much after it was placed before us on a red-and-white checkered tablecloth. I opted for the beef vegetable soup, which was served in a coffee cup, and a grilled cheese sandwich, which I likewise devoured. It was a great homey stop along our route, and I recommend it to those who find themselves in Chester around the noon hour with their stomachs growling.

Its a lot better than eating spinach out of a can, no offense to Popeye. Youll leave Jodies satisfied and feeling like you made new friends in the staff, and theres plenty of artifacts and art on the wall to distract you from the amazing smells in the kitchen while your food is prepared. The meal was affordable and fast, but of note, they only accept cash or checks. Jodies owner Jodie Mehrer is also famous for her pies, so come hungry and treat yourself to a slice of goodness from behind the glass case.

EIGHT MISSISSIPPI  The Pierre Menard Home

The Pierre Menard Home, located just miles from Chester in Ellis Grove, is the finest example of French colonial architecture in the central Mississippi Valley. The elegant post-on-sill frame house was built for French Canadian businessman and fur trader Pierre Menard. Menard was presiding officer of the Illinois Territorial Legislature, and from 1818 to 1822 served as the first lieutenant governor of Illinois.

As Illinois prepares for its bicentennial celebration in 2018, this would make a good stop for people wanting to brush up on their Illinois political history, which begins not in Chicago or Springfield but rather in Southern Illinois. Menard entertained many notable politicians and businessmen at his grand home. He died in 1844 at the age of 78, leaving behind a fortune in land and assets. The outside of the home is visible from the roadway any time of year, but the inside is only open for tours on a limited basis between May and October. For more information, call 618-859-3031.

NINE MISSISSIPPI  Menard Correctional Center

Menard Correctional Center is Illinois second oldest institution. While you cant just stop in for a tour unannounced, its worth checking out as you drive along Kaskaskia Street in Chester. With the first cell house completed in 1878, it is the second oldest operating prison in Illinois. The prison faces the Mississippi River, almost opposite the site of old Kaskaskia. It was built on land that formerly belonged to the Menard family.

Most of the labor of building the facility was furnished by prisoners transferred from the Joliet penitentiary. The first cell house contained 400 cells. The second cell house was built in 1890. Today, the prison operates as a maximum security adult male prison with a population of about 3,200 inmates. The site also includes a medium security unit and a reception and classification center for incoming inmates.

TEN MISSISSIPPI  Mississippi River Museum and Interpretive Center

For a taste of river life, plan a stop at the Mississippi River Museum and Interpretive Center in Grand Tower. There, youll find an eclectic mix of items related to the river and the town. The museum opened about 10 years ago in a former drug store and doctors office on Front Street. Its located next to the community center. The museum was the brainchild of two retired master pilots who are brothers-in-law, Jack Knupp and Charles Burdick. Both worked more than four decades on the river. Knupp has passed away but his wife, Sharon Knupp, is still involved.

Sharon Knupp said the museum is open on Saturdays and Sundays from about April through August. But Knupp said she and Burdick welcome interested visitors in calling any time of the year to schedule a visit. Someone is available to let in visitors pretty much any time, she said. One of the things visitors will encounter walking in is a pilot house mockup with instrumentation and controls that can be found on a real tugboat.

To schedule a visit, call Sharon Knupp at 618-565-2227 or Charles Burdick at 618-565-2043.

ELEVEN MISSISSIPPI  Fort Defiance State Park

At the bottom tip of Illinois, Fort Defiance State Park in Cairo offers stunning views of the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The site was known as Camp Defiance during the American Civil War. In August 1861, Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, having proved his mettle in other places and risen in rank, was assigned to command troops near Cairo. From there, Grant, who would later become the 18th president of the United States, launched raids into Confederate territory in Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee from that site.

Those efforts helped the Union achieve victories in Tennessee  at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson  and provided access to strategic rivers, leading to further Union victories throughout the South. President Abraham Lincoln, so impressed with Grant, promoted him to major general of volunteers, after confederate forces surrendered Fort Donelson on Feb. 16, 1862.

Grant was regarded as a major war hero and was twice elected president. Cairo claims at least a part in his success. The state acquired the property in 1960 from the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Co. It was operated by the city of Cairo from 2001 to 2014. That year, it was transferred back to the state under a reverter clause in the deed because it had fallen into disrepair. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has since managed the roughly 38-acre site.

 Sources: Illinois Department of Corrections, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, Randolph County Tourism Committee and The village of Maeystown.
HELENA  A constitutional referendum brought before a Senate committee Thursday would ask voters whether the right to hunt, fish and trap should be codified in the constitution.

Sen. Jennifer Fielder, R-Thompson Falls, brought Senate Bill 236 before the Senate Fish and Game Committee. As a referendum, it would need a two-thirds majority to pass before going on the ballot for voter consideration.

While the bill drew opposition from trapping opponents, it also divided sportmens groups, with those against citing concerns about unintended consequences they believe could hamper wildlife management and encourage litigation.

The goals of SB236 are simple, Fielder said, to strengthen protection for hunting, fishing and trapping, protecting personal property, using scientifically based management and using public sportsmen in that management.

It will acknowledge in no uncertain terms that the right to hunt, fish and trap is a right essential to pursing lifes basic necessities, Fielder told the committee. Some will argue that we dont need this change, but the actions of the anti-hunting and anti-trapping movement across this country and the cost to sportsmen and ag producers to battle frequent assaults on sound, science-based management say otherwise.

In 2004 Montana voters approved a constitutional amendment recognizing Montanas heritage of harvesting of big game animals. While generally recognized as protecting hunting, the question of whether trapping falls within the harvest component has generated some debate.

Toby Walrath with the Montana Trappers Association testified that surely bird and predator hunters were not meant to be excluded, and furbearer harvest must also fall under a broader definition of wildlife. The association supports the bill as a means of strengthening protections for trapping.

On the November ballot was Initiative 177, which would have banned trapping on public lands, but was defeated by voters. A number of speakers pointed to the initiative as an example of pushes to limit trapping and other activities at the ballot box.

Im not an attorney, but I do know that the biggest threat to our hunting, fishing and trapping heritage will not come from you. It will come in the form of an outside ballot initiative, Mac Minard with the Montana Outfitters and Guides Association said in support.

Keith Kubiska with Montana Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife testified that the changes in SB236 would act as a deterrent to future efforts like I-177.

A representative from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks was the first to speak in opposition to SB236. Chief legal counsel Becky Dockter said that protections for hunting, fishing and trapping are already set in the Montana Constitution.

With all due respect, Senate Bill 236 is a solution in search of a problem, she said. Montanas Constitution should be championed for its protections already enshrined in language that affords Montanas hunters, anglers and trappers the protections being talked about here today.

Rather than settling litigation, SB236 could open up FWP to lawsuits from virtually any management decision that could be construed as infringing on the right to hunt, fish and trap, Dockter said, calling it, an attorneys dream.

The bill also comes up short in considering aspects of wildlife management that fall outside of science, such as fair chase principles or waste of game laws. The ability of FWP, the Fish and Wildlife Commission and the Legislature to enact laws and rules restricting hunting, fishing and trapping could be hampered as well, she added.

Former FWP deputy director Chris Smith echoed concerns about purely science based management, saying that true wildlife management is an art informed by sciences such as biology, economics and social.

Mark Lambrecht with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation also spoke in opposition, noting the oddity of a pro-hunting group testifying against a bill meant to strengthen hunting, fishing and trapping protections. The rights guaranteed by SB236 could limit management authority for basic things such as licenses, seasons and bag limits, he said.

While we share the sponsors goal to protect the rights of Montanans to hunt, fish and trap, we are concerned that this bill as currently written could actually provide opportunities for these rights to be challenged and negatively impact agency and legislative interests in managing wildlife, Lambrecht said.

Jeff Herbert with Montana Sportsmens Alliance said that any bill aiming to change the Constitution needs more support before going forward.

We appreciate Sen. Fielders interest to further codify that support, however we do not treat lightly any attempt to amend the Montana Constitution without a rigorous vetting process and involvement of major stakeholders in the development of the proposal. That has not occurred with SB236, he said.

SB236 also drew opposition from trapping opponents and from those concerned that using hunting, fishing and trapping as the preferred management tool would stifle other management techniques.

Hunting and fishing are already protected by an amendment. A constitutional amendment just for trapping is not what our constitution is about, Connie Poten told the committee.

Theres no reason this provision should be put into the Constitution other than the trapping community is fearful because of changing public attitudes because what they are doing is not sound for our wildlife, Wes Miles with Trap Free Montana Public Lands, testified.

Fielder closed on the bill noting 14 other states with hunting, fishing, and in some cases, trapping, explicitly in their constitutions. The broad language in Montanas constitution has led to confusion, she said.

Those rights exist in those 14 states and we havent seen catastrophe, weve seen clarity, she said.

Fielder said she would be open to potential amendments that could garner SB236 more support.

The committee did not take immediate action on the bill.
When Brianna Pay (nee Presley), artist and Art Specialist/Teen Coordinator for the Boys & Girls Club, moved to Carbondale from Japan in November 2015, something about the transition seemed inevitable. After all, her family migrated to Southern Illinois in the 1800s. Raised in a military family, Pay grew up all over the place, but the two things remained constant in her early years: the Boys & Girls Club and her love of art.

Pay met her husband, Joshua, in Dyess, Texas, where her family settled after her mom retired from the military. Pay was working in the mall there when Joshua walked in. Pay relates that although she swore she would never date an Air Force man, she and Joshua quickly realized they had a strong connection, and when Joshua was assigned a post in Kadena, Japan, they married and moved overseas.

Once there, Pay was hired as a program assistant by the Kadena Teen Center, a military offshoot of the Boys & Girls Club. I was a member of the Boys & Girls Club from the age of 5 to 18, and I already knew the system, so it was a perfect fit. While in Japan, she also developed as an artist. I am completely self-taught." For years I specialized in graphite realism, but got to a point where I felt I had gone as far as I could with that. I then branched into acrylics but that never really stuck, so I took a leap into the intimidating world of oil painting, which is still my medium and one which I am just beginning to understand.

Pays work is mostly portraits, and mostly children. She has an uncanny knack for capturing the essence of a person by slightly exaggerating their features  a touch of the surreal to make them more real, you might say.

I did dabble in commercial portraiture for a little while, but I did not like it. There was too much pressure and it took art from passion to product, and that wasn't for me, Pay said.

Pay said as she masters oil as a medium, she may reconsider this choice, but for now she is happy to be just a plain old artist.

When Pays husbands tour was complete, they decided to move to Southern Illinois. They were looking for a lifestyle more rooted in the land and to be closer to family.

As soon as we moved here things unexpectedly took off with the Boys & Girls Club, Pay said.

Although she had no intention of working immediately after her move, after reaching out to Director Tina Carpenter, Pay said that changed. We really connected. And I really wanted to help implement the Keystone Club in Carbondale. I participated in Keystone when I was a kid. I was president of our branch. I went to the National Keystone conference which happens annually, and it changed my life.

The Keystone Club is a leadership and character building program that gives teens the tool, ideas, and motivation to get ready for career preparation, to achieve academic success, to offer community service and to reach out to other teens. We do a lot of community outreach where we work with other groups, said Pay. For instance, we just worked with the Friends of the Shawnee National Forest to do a trash pickup that was very successful. We also have the kids visit the senior center so they can benefit from interacting with their elders and bring a little of their youthful energy to that population.

Pay said the Boys & Girls Club curriculum integrates the academic themes the kids are seeing in their schools and coordinates with Upward Bound, Rebound, Carbondale Middle School and Lewis School among other academic institutions. When the kids come to the club after school, they follow a specific format. First comes Power Hour, a time dedicated to homework. After Power Hour, they attend two programs per day.

We have programs like Smart Girls and Passport to Manhood which encourage and promote responsibility, but each age group also has the opportunity to go to art, which is the other hat I wear for the organization, said Pay.

I really think I will spend the rest of my life working with the Boys & Girls Club, Pay exclaimed.
If you, like many homeowners, have been inspired by the recent spate of DIY home renovation shows, you may have wondered where people find those cool old barn doors, or those marvelous lighting fixtures or several hundred square feet of old pine flooring. Antique stores are certainly one resource, but they can get fairly pricey. One way to reduce costs is to cut out the middleman and head straight to an Architectural Salvage Yard, like Barry Moons Old House Parts in Evansville, Illinois.

Moon got bit by the salvage bug when he was 15 or 16. On his way to grab a few beers with a bunch of high school buddies he had to wait while a friend changed clothes, and ended up talking to the fellows grandmother. Grandma happened to buy and sell old parts and antiques and was cleaning an old hinge. Moon asked what it was, she explained it to him, and his buddies went on for beer while Moon stayed and learned about the business.

Throughout his 20s and 30s, Moon bought and sold antiques as mostly a hobby, had a stained-glass fabrication and restoration business, got married and divorced. One day he found himself in a St. Louis Antique store looking to buy a cabinet. The owner of the shop had not yet arrived, the guy minding the store didnt have much knowledge, and 13 people were in the store wanting to spend money. Moon knew the merchandise, so he jumped into the fray and by the time the owner returned, he had sold about $2,000 in merchandise.

Needless to say he was surprised, Moon chuckled. But he asked me to come back the next weekend, and sold about as much for him again. Thus the beginning of a salvage business was born. For a while, Moon did the selling and his partner did the buying, but somewhere in the neighborhood of 1993, Moon struck out on his own.

Currently, Moon occupies a little over an acre and a half of ground on a hill overlooking the Kaskaskia River in Evansville, where two huge outbuildings and a yard are chock full of salvaged building parts. The 4,500 square-foot pole barn has antique lighting fixtures hanging from the ceiling, various cabinets, tin ceiling tiles and other curiosities stacked everywhere in various stages of cleaning and reclamation. The same goes for another 2,500 square-foot barn full of antique doors, spindles, flooring, molding and lights. There is also a half-acre yard dotted with old porcelain tubs and sinks and huge cast-iron columns  this is no antique store. Visit Moon and youd better wear your boots.

For the past two decades, customers visiting Old House Parts consisted primarily of dedicated preservationists looking to restore a period home or antique dealers with various needs. But in recent years, Moons said there has been a shift in his customer base.

People began looking to replace their newer homes cookie-cutter features with older, higher-quality materials, such as solid core doors, or turn of the century light fixtures. These things have character, and can really change the feeling of a room, Moon said.

Currently, there is a definite trend to renovate using reclaimed wood, partially, because many varieties of wood which were used in older homes are in very short supply. Some trees, like the American chestnut, are mostly extinct, so their wood is no longer commercially available. However, salvage operations like Moons are often able to provide a source for these types of lumber through the buildings they salvage.

Moon related that not only are these different types of woods are incredibly beautiful, but they are incredible strong, They were milled from trees that were probably 100 to 200 years old. This stuff lasts, and it lasts beautifully.

Moon has also provided materials for many commercial building projects in the region. Locally, he supplied the doors and floors for a building next to the post office, as well as all the wood detail for the Burnt Inn, both in Red Bud. He will be working with the Hopskeller Brewing Company in Waterloo to repair and replace 100-year-old woodwork and flooring damaged in a recent fire. He has supplied large cast-iron columns and decorative metalwork panels for storefronts, and has conserved the original facades of buildings while owners have hollowed out and reconstructed new buildings behind them.

In addition to the warehouse in Evansville, Moon has a 32-acre farm which he uses for storage, so if you are working on a project, regardless of size, he can probably help you.
The University of Missouri System Board of Curators voted this past week to extend in-state tuition rates to all Illinois students at its St. Louis campus.

For many years, residents of the 22 Illinois counties nearest to St. Louis have been able to attend University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) paying in-state tuition rates. That included many of the counties across southwestern Illinois, but previously excluded, in this region, students from Perry, Franklin, Union, Johnson, Saline and other southeastern counties.

We noticed a significant increase in Illinois students when we implemented in-state tuition to those counties closest to St. Louis, UMSL Chancellor Tom George said in a statement following the board's vote. We expect a similar result from this action, as UMSL is the perfect setting for students to gain unique insights from outstanding faculty and work experience from internships at companies and organizations found only in this world-class metropolitan region.

UMSL currently attracts students from 44 states and 67 countries, but a vast majority of its 17,000 students, including 94 percent of undergraduates, come from Missouri, according to the university.
SPRINGFIELD  Making good on campaign promises, Southern Illinois Sens. Dale Fowler and Paul Schimpf are co-sponsoring a bill in the General Assembly that seeks to add law enforcement, correctional officers and emergency services personnel to the list of protected classes under Illinois hate crime statute.

Under the legislation  coined the Blue Lives Matter bill  Schimpf said that if somebody decides to target a police officer because they are wanting to terrorize or intimidate law enforcement personnel, that crime could be punished as a hate crime. Schimpf, an attorney, acknowledged that there are other laws already on the books that increase penalties for people who commit crimes against first responders while they are serving in their official capacity.

But Schimpf said the addition to the hate crime statute would give prosecutors another option in prosecuting cases where a crime against a law enforcement officer appears to be motivated by prejudice against uniformed personnel and with the intent of terrorizing first responders. Similar Blues Lives Matters bills under the same and other names, such as Back the Blue legislation, have been introduced in state legislatures across the country.

Bills of this nature have been signed into law in Kentucky and Louisiana.

Opponents of the measures have characterized the bills as political pandering and questioned the merits of adding professions to the list of protected classes in states hate crime laws. The phrase Blue Lives Matter also has been criticized as intending to undermine or dismiss the concerns raised by the Black Lives Matter movement that has sought to bring attention, foremost, to the use of lethal force by police, and specifically in interactions with black men.

Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, said laws are already on the books to appropriately penalize any act of violence against a law enforcement officer acting in his or her official capacity.

Those laws have been in place for a number of years, Yohnka said. I think the problem with this proposal, really, you can sort of read it in the title of Blue Lives Matter, because its clearly an attempt to shift focus away from the work of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The movement, Yohnka said, is about challenging police abuse, and not about abusing police. The leaders of the movement, he said, have started an important national conversation about policing in this country. We shouldnt think that making police work better is being critical of all police, he said. No. 2, we should not think we can simply shift the topic and ignore the fundamental crying need for police reform all across the country.

Schimpf and Fowler, both Republicans, of Waterloo and Harrisburg respectively, announced on the campaign trail that they would, if elected, introduce the Blue Lives Matter legislation. Both faced Democratic opponents in a contentious election cycle.

In a statement, Fowler said he filed the bill because he made a pledge to our Illinois police, correctional officers, firefighters and EMS personnel, that we would introduce a Blue Lives Matter Bill, which adds these professionals to the current hate crimes statutes.

All lives matter, but in todays dangerous world our public safety professionals have been placed in a more extreme environment, where they themselves have been made the targets of senseless aggression, he said.

Schimpf said he pledged to introduce the bill in response to the five officers who were fatally shot in Dallas during a Black Lives Matter protest on July 7, and the three officers fatally shot 11 days later in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The rally in Dallas, which was described as calm prior to the ambush by a lone sniper, was to protest the highly publicized fatal police shootings of black men in Minnesota and Louisiana, among other fatal police-involved incidents.

Schimpf said he is not aware of any first responders who have been recent victims of hate crimes in Southern Illinois, and said he believes that in most of the communities that make up his 58th Senate District, that the relationships are generally positive between police and the communities they serve.

This past summer and fall, there were a number of Black Lives Matter protests and marches across the country, including at least two in Carbondale. Schimpf said he does not intend for the legislation to be controversial or dismissive of concerns raised by those involved in the Black Lives Matter movement. Schimpf said he has not taken up any measures at this point specific their concerns, for example, as it relates to lethal use of force policies or improving community policing standards. But Schimpf said he always keeps an open mind.

This is something that I focused on during the campaign because we have so many correctional officers and law enforcement personnel in the district, Schimpf said. They are a big part of the 58th Senate District. Thats why I was looking at it. Im certainly going to look at any legislation that I think is going to help advance our society. This is something we specifically picked out because of all the state workers in the 58th Senate District.

Right now, Schimpf said he is focused on the budget negotiations ongoing in the Senate between Democratic and Republican leaders. The legislative aide that serves Schimpf and Fowler sent out separate press releases for both legislators this past week touting the Blue Lives Matter legislation that was filed.

Schimpf said he is aware of the argument made by opponents that Illinois hate crime statute should not be extended to include careers, whereas it is presently limited to personal attributes, and cultural and religious identifiers. I do not find it persuasive because its accepted that one of the protecting classes for hate crimes is religion, and religion is something that is an individuals choice, Schimpf said. He said that, if at another point in time, there is a group of people that feels threatened based on choice of career, he would consider filing legislation to add other professions as well.

I am aware of some of the criticism, but to me it really seems like common sense, that if we have some protected classes under the hate crimes legislation, and some of our first responders have been the victims of targeted attacks nationally, it just makes sense to expand the legislation to include them, Schimpf said.
CARBONDALE  The search for a new chancellor for the Southern Illinois University Carbondale campus has been narrowed to seven semifinalists, according to SIU System President Randy Dunn.

A first round of interviews will be conducted for off-campus applicants via Skype by the end of the month, Dunn told the SIU Board of Trustees at its meeting this past week in Edwardsville.

Dunn appointed a chancellors search committee this past fall to help find the right person to lead the Carbondale campus forward.

Brad Colwell has served as SIUs interim chancellor for about a year and a half.

Colwell was named to the post after the death of then-interim Chancellor Paul Sarvela, who held the position from July 2014 until his death on Nov. 9, 2014. For a while, before Colwells appointment, Dunn held dual roles as university president and chancellor of the Carbondale campus.

In his update, Dunn told board members that the search committee members, following the Skype interviews, will begin working to bring their top three picks to campus. Dunn said the candidates chosen as finalists will run the gauntlet as the chancellor candidates do at that level.

Dunn previously said he expected that Colwell would apply for the position, while noting it is a nationwide search and he would have to go through the same application process as anyone else.

Dunn also said that others on the Carbondale campus may want to throw their names in the hat.

While discussing the chancellors search in October, Dunn said one thing he believes would help the Carbondale campus is some stability at the top. Ten people have served as chancellor at SIUC during the past 20 years, four of them in only an interim capacity.

That churning and turbulence in the top administrative position has just been constant, Dunn said at the time. Its gone on for years and it has to come to an end.

SIU Carbondale is struggling with declining enrollment and the financial uncertainty created by the state budget impasse. But despite the challenges it is facing, SIU Carbondale remains a major research institution with several nationally recognized programs, and is a deeply rooted regional economic powerhouse that drives the Southern Illinois economy.

In the fall, Dunn did not establish a deadline for the committee to make a recommendation, but directed them to act "expeditiously."
CARRIER MILLS  By Monday, Carrier Mills Mayor Louis Shaw is hoping the village's nearly week-long boil water order can be lifted.

He's already heard from residents, upset at the days-long order to boil water for drinking and cooking, as the village continues work installing new pipe in its almost 40-year-old water line system.

The village last had new water pipes in 1979, the year the village built a new water tower  the light blue entity towering over the city that will be renovated in Phase II of the Carrier Mills' $3 million water main rehab project.

As the village continues working on the project that would replace the water pipes made of transite  a type of asbestos cement  it has had to issue one of its longest running boil orders that Shaw can remember in his dozen years as mayor.

Though perhaps one of the longest running boil orders in Southern Illinois, this one in Carrier Mills is not at odds with what happens throughout the area, as almost weekly, cities, towns and village officials by law have to alert the public to boil water before they drink or cook with it.

Several who work in local water departments stressed that the boil water orders are not about the water being contaminated, but indicative of times that the municipality has had to shut off a water source and are being proactive to warn residents, less bacteria or other pollutants make their way into the drinking source.

"Boil orders are not a problem  theyre to ensure a safe water supply," said Kelly Hefner, who oversees Harrisburg's water department. "The water doesnt have anything to do with it. You have a boil order because the pipes break, and you have to shut the water off  Its not an issue, but a matter of public safety.

Shaw agreed: "It's about the possibility of contamination."

Carrier Mills samples to be tested

Carrier Mills' boil order will be lifted as soon as water samples taken to Central Laboratory, a state-of-the-art facility at Carbondale's Water Department, are identified as good to use. Staff at the Carbondale lab test other water samples to verify their cleanliness to lift a boil water order.

Boil water orders are required by the Illinois EPA every time the inside of a water main is exposed, either due to a pipe break or due to it being cut open by the utility for construction purposes, explained Tony Harrison, water operations manager who oversees Carbondale's water department.

Boil orders are also required if there is a substantial pressure drop in the water system, even if the main is not exposed. The reason IEPA requires boil orders is that the potential for bacterial contamination exists in these circumstances, he said.

Harrison says the city does not have the problems with boil orders that other municipalities have. Carbondale does experience its own water main breaks, maybe three or four a year, but has services in place to continually evaluate the water supply for contaminants; the city's water supply, he said, is "excellent."

"This is possible only because of the Central Laboratory," Harrison wrote. "We collect many more samples and perform many more tests immediately following the break and for several hours thereafter in order to avoid issuing boil orders. In other words, we have the ability to verify right away that the water is safe, where other water systems have to wait 24 hours to get test results back."

Several boil water orders issued

This past year, Harrisburg had 35 boil orders, as it also replaced pipes in an entire neighborhood, contributing to the alerts, Hefner said.

"Its just a precaution until the water can be sampled, and you get it to the lab (for a sign off)," Hefner said. In the two previous years, city administrators issued about two dozen each year.

According to reports published by The Southern Illinoisan, in 2016, Murphysboro reported at least 12 boil-water orders; the city of Du Quoin reported one and the Old Du Quoin Water System also reported one.

As she awaits an official sign-off, Carrier Mills resident Beth Thomason said she was adhering to the boil order, but wasn't worried in the times that she forgot to do so.

"I'm not afraid," she said. "I use it to make tea and Kool-Aid."

Shaw said he is hoping that sign-off comes by Monday for the village of about 1,653 people. He said that the transite used in the pipes did not pose a danger to residents.

"The pipes, which were installed in 1979, might have been state-of-the-art" then, Shaw said. "It's not dangerous, but it is very fragile."

In the long run, though, village residents would benefit, he said.

"Hopefully, (the newly installed pipes) should extend the life of our water system 30 to 40 years," Shaw said. "It's worth it."
CHEYENNE, Wyo.  The Wyoming voter tradition of changing party affiliation at the polls on primary day lives on.

A legislative committee killed a bill Thursday that would have made it much harder for Democrats to vote in Republican primaries and vice-versa. Voters would have been allowed to switch parties no fewer than 30 days before primary day.

The bill made it through the Wyoming House before dying 3-0 in the Senate corporations committee. Supporters, including Wyoming Republican Party Chairman Matt Micheli (MY'-kel-eye), say political parties are private organizations and members only should decide who represents those organizations.

Opponents, including Marguerite Herman with the League of Women Voters, say existing law encourages people to vote for individuals instead of political parties. She says it's not clear what problem the bill sought to fix.
To the Editor:

I was going to visit your city for the eclipse in August, but with the outrageous price gouging being practiced by your area hotels and motels  charging upwards of $450/night for rooms that would at any other time would go for $110/night is outrageous.

I'm reminded of after 9/11 how gas stations that night started charging upwards of $8/gallon. There was legal action taken against these stations for price gouging and fines were assessed. Just because an event that is happening in a limited area doesn't give businesses the right to charge whatever they can get.

I tried to make a reservation long before the eclipse and was told the date that the hotel would start taking reservation for the eclipse. When I called back at 12:01 a.m. on that date, I was told that the hotel had no rooms for that weekend. So besides the hotel price gouging, they also lied to me. This doesn't leave a very good impression of your community.

You should call the eclipse celebration "The Carbondale Gouge the Eclipse Viewer Weekend" or "The Carbondale Hotel/Motel BIG Bucks Eclipse Weekend." The mentality of going for the wallets of people who maybe having their only chance of seeing a total eclipse is appalling, to say the least. Carbondale being a college town one would think that price gouging wouldn't be going to be a policy of the businesses in Your town.

I hope that I'm alive and have more finances for the 2024 total eclipse.

Raymond Mundt

Kenosha, Wisconsin
Amber Travaglio | Ashlyn Richardson(CLEVELAND) -- A grieving mother has met the child whose life was saved thanks to the donation of her little girl's heart.



Mothers Amber Travaglio and Ashlyn Richardson embraced in a tearful first meeting Feb. 8, one year after the heart of Travaglio's late daughter, Melody Kashawlic, 7, was donated to Peyton Richardson, 5.



"It was an overwhelming sense of peace, which may sound strange," Travaglio told ABC News of meeting Richardson and Peyton. "There's so much emotional turmoil in losing a child and curiosity in organ donation. Who has a piece of my child? What is the family like? Is their life better because of this?"



"Getting to see how much Ashlyn loves Peyton and seeing how she'll do anything for her child brought me some peace. There's never a complete closure in something like this; there's a shadow of sadness but for one moment in time. I got to feel like my child was there because I know a part of Melody lives on in Peyton," Travaglio said.



Travaglio of Cleveland, Ohio, said Melody was a vibrant little girl with an old soul who enjoyed fostering pets and knitting hats for babies in the neonatal intensive care unit.



"She had an innate desire to help people," Travaglio said. "[I'll miss] cooking and baking together; we'd always make up silly songs and sing and play. We called her a little Punky Brewster with her purposely mismatched clothes. Thankfully, we built a lot of memories."



But one particularly painful memory is from June 7, 2015, when after Melody woke up to use the bathroom, Travaglio said she heard a "bang" and found her daughter collapsed on the floor. Her daughter, who had a minor case of asthma, had suffered an unexplained asphyxic asthma attack, Travaglio said.



Travaglio, a nurse at the time, administered CPR and called 911. Melody was transferred to University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Childrens Hospital in Cleveland where her lungs failed and she died.



Seven hundred miles away in Conyers, Georgia, and five months earlier, on Jan. 15, 2015, Richardson was getting Peyton, then 3, ready for school.



Richardson, a mom of two, noticed Peyton had a fever and took her to a hospital emergency room, where she was diagnosed with a stomach virus and sent home with anti-nausea medication.



Richardson said her mother, a nurse, kept Peyton with her that night. "I wanted her to stay with her in case something happened, she said.



When Peyton's health didn't improve, Richardson's mother, Theresa Rainey, brought her to another hospital, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston.



Richardson was on her way to work when she learned her daughter's heart stopped at the hospital.



We had no idea that she had heart issues at all," Richardson said. "They performed CPR on her for approximately 45 minutes to an hour, which brought her back.



Peyton was hooked up to a machine to support her heart's function and days later doctors told Richardson that her daughter would need a brand new heart.



"They told us that it had to be a child around her age, size and blood type, which was so devastating because I knew for a transplant to happen, a child had to die. I know I wanted my child to recover, but I didn't want another child to have to pass away in order for that to happen," Richardson said.



Peyton had dilated cardiomyopathy, said one of her cardiologists, William Mahle, M.D., who is co-chief of Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta Sibley Heart Center. Dilated cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle that usually starts in the heart's main pumping chamber, or the left ventricle, according to the Mayo Clinic.



Peyton Richardson turned 4 on the day that Melody Kashawlic died, June 9, 2015.



All of Melody's organs were donated with the exception of her lungs, which were sent to medical research, her mother, Travaglio, said. She said she hopes her daughter's story will inspire others to be open to organ donation.



Patti DePompei, president of the Cleveland hospital where Melody died, said, "The profound generosity and compassion of Melodys mother during such a painful time is an inspiring reminder of the importance of organ donation. Melodys legacy endures as her heart continues to beat and provide life in Peyton."



Three days after Melody's death, Peyton received her heart through a transplant.



"Everything went very, very well," Richardson said of the surgery. "She did not reject the heart at all. They said that everything looks perfect."



Afterward, Richardson said she was given a pamphlet explaining she could write a letter to the donor's family but would have to wait six months to allow the family to grieve. But at the beginning of January 2016, she got a letter from Travaglio. The letter, sent through an organ-donation service, omitted last names to protect the identities of both families.



But Travaglio found Richardson on Facebook, and the mothers corresponded, Richardson said.



The two families finally met in Georgia earlier this month where Travaglio could see for herself the child who got her daughter's heart. Peyton is now in kindergarten and thriving.



Before their meeting, Richardson gave Travaglio a stuffed lamb which has inside it a recording of the heartbeat that both girls shared.



"I was so happy to be able to put my arms around the person who allowed my daughter a second chance at life," Richardson said of Travaglio. "It was a dream to be able to meet them."



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LARAMIE, Wyo.  The University of Wyoming has seen a slight decline in enrollment for the spring semester, though it isn't nearly as sharp as the decline in the fall.

The Laramie Boomerang reports that counts from the 15th day of class  Friday  indicate enrollment is down about 1.6 percent from spring 2016, or about 188 fewer students. In fall 2016, UW was down by 234 students on the 15th day compared to fall 2015.

Headcounts from the eighth day of classes saw 117 fewer freshmen students between spring 2016 and 2017, a nearly 8 percent drop. There was also a 3 percent drop in seniors.

UW Vice President for Student Affairs Sara Axelson says the university needs to break a trend of stagnant enrollment.
Have you ever been in a crowded room, surrounded by many faces you know and some you do not, and spot someone you are not sure you recognize? Perhaps it is a face from your past, maybe a well-to-do person in your community, or perhaps even a Hollywood celebrity. But youre not just sure of the identity of the individual.

To somebody, this person could be their spouse. To another, perhaps their brother or sister. Yet again, this person could be someones co-worker, maybe even their parent. However, in this setting, none of these relationships apply to you and this mystery person sharing the crowded space with you. How would you solve your curiosity?

In the Book of Mark, Jesus with His disciples is traveling to the town of Caesarea Philippi. No doubt many have taken notice of Him from His teachings and miracles. The onlookers have been gazing upon Jesus from both near and from the edges, pondering about the words and works He has been sharing and performing. The onlookers have never seen a man like Him before. Some in the crowds probably knew Him from His childhood days, perhaps they even knew His mother, Mary, and His dad, Joseph. Yet they were not certain if whom they were seeing was in fact  who they were seeing.

Jesus was aware of this. So as He walked with His disciples, he posed the question, Who do men say that I am? The answers ranged between Him being John the Baptist, Elijah and even one of the many prophets. Obviously, there was a wide range of varying opinions regarding the true identity of this interesting stranger who walked among the people. Jesus presented this question to His disciples as an opening to a very important teaching moment. Its one we should consider as well. Upon hearing the responses from His disciples concerning the many offerings of who the people said He was, Jesus turned the tables on the disciples and asked them the same question, just slightly more pointed: BUT who do YOU say that I am?

Did you pay attention to that question? If not, go back and re-read it. It is probably one of the most important questions Jesus ever asked anyone. Our response to this question is very telling. The answer every person gives to this question will determine his or her eternal destiny. John the Baptist was a great man, one who is titled the fore-runner for Christ. Elijah much the same. The prophets all spoke of the Kingdom of God and the embrace God held for His people. Yet all of these held one thing in common: regarding the gift of receiving salvation, each of these fell short, unable to make the way to eternity acceptable by God.

Very often we too fall into the trap of idol worship, placing someone in a position of opinion they are not worthy to hold. How many of us look upon the words and life of Christian soldiers such as Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, John McArthur, C.S. Lewis, Adrian Rogers and the like and in our minds subconsciously say to ourselves, If I could only be like them, have their faith, be looked upon as they are." Could we possibly be looking for Jesus in the wrong place? Could we be basing our salvation on the people who know Him, while we only know of Him?

Jesus asked His disciples that question not because He was looking to be edified at the mystery of His presence among the crowds, clamoring to see this great teacher. Jesus was well aware of who He was. His question was designed to cause the very ones who walked with Him, who worked alongside of Him, who had fellowship with Him, who watched His every miracle, who heard His every Word of truth, to simply ask themselves a tough question: Who do YOU say that I am?

Whats your answer?
Let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:18.

The Rev. Stanley Rivers could base his nearly 20-year ministry in the African Methodist Episcopal Church on that verse as he remains committed to spreading Gods word -- and love -- through active engagement in and for the community.

It is the same ministry he hopes to uphold after being assigned to Williams Chapel AME Church in Orangeburg.

The churchs longtime pastor, the Rev. Caesar Richburg, was reassigned to Bethel AME Church in Columbia by the presiding bishop and cabinet of the AME Churchs 7th Episcopal District in South Carolina.

Richburg had served Williams Chapel AME since November 2006.

Rivers was transferred from High Hills AME in Dalzell after serving a year there. His goals for his ministry at Williams Chapel are simple and rooted in what he says is a genuine love for people.

I would say my goal, first of all, is to preach the word and love the people, and not only the people that are in my congregation, but be a presence in the community as well," he said. "I have been making my presence visible in the community with meeting with the mayor and legislators and being on the radio station as often as I possibly can, he said.

The St. Matthews resident and his wife, Sheila, are the parents of three children. Rivers graduated from South Carolina State University with a bachelors of science degree in mathematics and received a master of divinity degree from Hood Theological Seminary in Salisbury, North Carolina.

He said he is aware of Williams Chapels rich history and what it represents to the local community.

It not only represents the word of God, but it represents justice, equality and standing up for those who cannot speak for themselves, Rivers said.

Already listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, the church represents an elegant essay in Gothic Revival architecture, with its picturesque massing and distinctive detailing attesting to the talents of architect Miller F. Whittaker and builder I.J. Minger.

The church has also been recognized through the South Carolina Historical Marker Program, which has been operated through the state Department of Archives and History since 1954. A ceremony to unveil Williams Chapels own historic marker was held in 2007.

The church was given life membership in the NAACP, and in 1986 it received a national award for the highest NAACP membership enrollment and voters registered in the country.

Rivers said he is excited about his new role as pastor of the historic church.

I wasnt anticipating coming here, but thats the way the African Methodist Episcopal Church operates. Were signed up from a year-to-year basis and at conferences were at the call of the bishop. So I was called to come to Williams Chapel, and Im happy because these are some loving, caring and wonderful people, he said.

Richburg said he hoped he had left the congregation stronger than when he began as pastor a decade ago.

Regardless to what type of congregation you pastor, you will have a time that you will have the underprivileged or least of these, the individuals who cant articulate their concerns at times. It takes the role of the pastor to speak and be there for such persons," Richburg said.

I think its important for churches like Williams Chapel as they are in the center of the community and have been there now for 150-plus years. A lot of pastors have gone through those doors but, more importantly, the church continues to stand, he added.

Richburg added, I think its a fine congregation that any pastor would enjoy serving, and Im certain that my successor will find the same to be true.

Rivers, whose previous pastoral assignments have included St. John AME in Rowesville, Emmanuel AME in Cope and Union AME in Elloree, said his ministry is based on reaching out to and loving others.

Well, first of all, it was a calling on my life. I thought it was my older brother, but he just dropped dead very early from a heart attack. So the Lord said, Who am I calling now? So I yielded to the call, but I think that the love that I have for the ministry is the love of God and the love of Gods people, he said.

Rivers added, I genuinely love people, and I think that love that I have for God is translated into the people that I serve. It takes a love of people to be a pastor because everybody is not going to love you back. But you got to have that unconditional love to be able to love them in spite of and not because of.
EHRHARDT -- A Blackville man is accused of shooting his brother in the leg Wednesday night.

Tremayne Willie Austin, 35, of 1508 Hampton Avenue, faces one count of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, according to Ehrhardt Police Chief Chad Dilling.

A witness told police he was driving past the towns park when he heard two gunshots. He turned on Ehrhardt Road and saw a man lying in the road, flagging him down.

The 35-year-old Barnwell man told the witness his brother shot him and then drove away in the car they were riding in together.

Bamberg County EMS arrived at the intersection of Ehrhardt Road and U.S. Highway 601 and transported the gunshot victim to Colleton Medical Center.

Dilling and Bamberg County Sheriffs Office deputies located Austin on the side of Ehrhardt Road about four miles out of town.

Austin denied shooting his brother, according to a police incident report.

The injured man reportedly told police that he and Austin were traveling down the road and began to argue.

He said Austin opened the glovebox, pulled out a .380-caliber automatic handgun, put it to his head and threatened to shoot him, the report said.

He claimed Austin shot at him once while they were in the vehicle, but missed.

The victim stopped the vehicle and exited. He said Austin then shot him in the leg, the report said.

He claimed Austin attempted to shoot him again, but the gun jammed.

The case remains under investigation.

If Austin is convicted of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, he could serve up to 20 years in prison.
A pair of local brothers are behind the plan to open a microbrewery and restaurant at the former Casper Petroleum Club site.

Daron Gruner has been brewing beer at home for 25 years and is now teaming up with his brother, Ben Gruner, to purchase the club property and take his hobby commercial.

Its just something we enjoy doing and we saw a need in Casper, Ben Gruner told reporters Tuesday.

In order to create a viable business, the brothers realized they would need a microbrewery where it was possible to package and distribute beer.

We wanted to make something that was a little larger than say just a brewpub, Ben Gruner said. It has to be able to produce enough product to make a profit.

Following the closure of downtown Casper's Wonder Bar, the city has been without a local microbrewery. While the bar's new owner, Cole Cercy, announced plans to relocate the Wonder Bar's brewing equipment to a liquor store in north Casper, the Wonder Bar never packaged or distributed its beer.

Ben Gruner said Gruner Brothers Brewing  the new company's preferred, though unofficial, name  would distribute its product around Casper and Wyoming.

The brothers received a green light from Casper City Council on Tuesday to build a microbrewery on the property, which is in the North Platte Industrial Park, despite city code that does not explicitly allow for breweries.

Theres a narrow list of permitted uses, city planner Aaron Kloke told council. You dont see microbreweries anywhere on there.

The plan submitted by the Gruners called for constructing up to six 35-foot grain silos in the parking lot. Kloke noted the maximum allowed height in the industrial park was 80 feet.

The silos are not gigantic before everyone goes ballistic, Ben Gruner said.

Kloke said the council was allowed to approve additional uses and there were no objections from members.

Were ready to rock and roll, Mayor Kenyne Humphrey said.

Daron Gruner said he and his brother had been interested in opening a brewery for some time.

Weve been looking for real estate around town but were having trouble finding an area in which to build a building or repurpose a building, he said.

When the Petroleum Club closed in October due to declining membership, the brothers realized they had found the right site.

The brothers said that once the sale closed, hopefully by the end of next week, they would release a statement describing their plans in more detail.

Were not really ready to share everything, Ben Gruner said.

Several local bars, including the Wonder Bar and Roaring 22, both downtown, are hoping to open or reopen in time for the August eclipse festival, expected to draw over 10,000 visitors to Casper.

But that simply wasn't possible for the microbrewery project.

Renovation work could begin within the next few months, Ben Gruner said, but it would take up to 10 months to receive all the permits and brewing equipment necessary to open.

The brothers are co-owners of Compression Leasing Services, an oil field service company based in Casper and with offices in Gillette, Denver and Houston.
Jaylen Bledsoe grew up in poverty.

His parents were only 16 years old when he was born.

He grew up in a single-parent household with his mother for 13 years, with all the struggles and all the pain, wondering how to make the next month's rent, Bledsoe told about 50 South Carolina State University students gathered Thursday in Belcher Hall.

"I am here because my parents had nothing," the 18-year-old said.

Knowing that he wanted to do more, he continued to look forward to the big picture and to the blessings he was given.

A love of technology helped propel the young Bledsoe forward. He taught himself web design in the sixth grade.

"I got my education from the YouTube university," Bledsoe said. "The Google university."

What happened then was beyond what anyone, even Bledsoe, could have imagined.

With just $100 in his pocket, his journey began.

At age 12, he started an IT consulting company. Two years ago, he became CEO of The Jaylen D. Bledsoe Global Group, valued at about $3.5 million.

Bledsoe has grown his company from two workers to about 150 contract employees in order to meet demand.

"I took that ($100) and made it something," he said.

Today, the clients he works with include Jordin Sparks and Steve Harvey. He even recently appeared on the T.D. Jakes Show.

Bledsoe asked the S.C. State students, "Who has a skill or hobby in the room? If you have a hobby, you have a business. Monetize your hobby. Monetize what you love. Find out what you love and be persistent."

Bledsoe also told those gathered to live their future in the present.

"Being successful is not about driving the best cars, having the best clothes or the best hair," he said. "It is about loving what you do and doing it because you love it."

Bledsoe compared life's journey to a GPS system where the destination is set. There may be some wrong turns requiring recalculation, but the original destination remains the same.

"No matter how many times you mess up, no matter how many times someone says 'no,' no matter how many times someone is blocking you to getting toward your dream or your vision or your destination, the GPS never says Jaylen, I am giving up on you. It never says, Jaylen go back home. It never says Jaylen, you know what? We have tried too many times. It is says 'Recalculating.' "

He encouraged the students to be OK with making mistakes.

"I have a degree in failure. Make those mistakes and recalculate and be OK with what you don't know. When you reach success, enjoy it for a little bit, but now it is time to think about where you are going next, he said.

S.C. State graduate Dr. Kevin Ray, an Orangeburg podiatrist, told students that the sky will be their limit when they earn degrees from the university. Ray is the owner of The Foot Institute.

"We don't produce haphazard students," Ray said. He told them, If you are going to excel in entrepreneurship and business  it starts right here at South Carolina State University. I have done it."

Bledsoe's message hit home with the S.C. State students.

Senior Caroline Akiode described Bledsoe's story as amazing.

"Never give up on your dreams. If you have a vision, stick to it. Of course there will be challenges that come along the way, but don't let that knock you down, she said. Youve got to find a way to keep going further.

Your number one best friend is God. He will give you the tools you need in order to succeed."

Sophomore Michael Guah called Bledsoe an inspiration.

"He taught himself how to do the different computer programs and how to be successful, he said.

After speaking at S.C. State, Bledsoe spoke to Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School students in a talk themed "Wake Up Orangeburg Youth."

Bledsoe's appearances were made possible by the R.A.Y. Foundation and S.C. State's Innovation and Entrepreneurship program.
Three area colleges officially received a $6 million grant Thursday to help prepare graduates for the workforce in what one schools president called a game changer.

Claflin University, Voorhees College and Benedict College received part of a $35.4 million grant from the United Negro College Fund Career Pathways Initiative.

Claflin received $3.3 million, Benedict received $1.5 million and Voorhees received $1.2 million.

Claflins share includes $1.8 million to operate a jointly established state coordinating office to direct and monitor activities at the three institutions.

UNCF CEO Dr. Michael Lomax presented the check for $6 million to the presidents of the three institutions in a ceremony held on Benedicts campus in Columbia.

The UNCF supports 37 private institutions with a combined enrollment of 60,000 students, Lomax said. We are pleased to announce our support for Claflin, Benedict and Voorhees and the impact they are going to have on students, their communities and state and the nation.

They will be pioneering and innovative in the work that higher education is challenged to do in the 21st century."

The Carolina Cluster Pathway Program will be designed to prepare students for high-paying jobs. The grant will help the institutions design and implement programs to improve employment outcomes for their graduates.

As leaders of three historically black colleges and universities here in the state of South Carolina, we are aware that in the highly-competitive global economy, a college education has become a fundamental requirement for employment in the economys fastest-growing and best-paying jobs and career paths, Claflin President Dr. Henry Tisdale said.

As part of the initiative, the participating institutions will develop a range of academic programs, student internships, industry partnerships and specialty certifications to create a new model for career readiness.

Tisdale said the grant will aid Claflin with its academic programs in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and help with the development of programs for non-STEM disciplines.

In addition, Claflin will seek strategic partnerships with industries that secure high-paying jobs for all graduates, he said.

Tisdale said, We believe the Career Pathways Initiative is a game changer for our institutions.

Created with a $50 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., the UNCF Career Pathways Initiative is a pilot program helping colleges and universities enhance career readiness for their students.

The Career Pathways Initiative grant will enhance Benedict Colleges efforts as we put in place our comprehensive initiative, which is designed to place career planning and preparation at the center of students learning experiences, Benedict President and CEO Dr. David Swinton said.

Voorhees President Dr. W. Franklin Evans said, I am honored to collaborate with Claflin and Benedict on this important initiative.

I thank the UNCF and we are grateful for their support. These funds will allow us to do what we do best: educate our students.
Will return through the AIA

Nicole Pesce is from Denver Colorado, USA, but she has become one of this countrys newest ambassadors.

Not that she is being paid by the Tourism Authority, or that she has any personal interests, but judging from her remarks at the Argyle International Airport (AIA), she and her family will be back here soon.

Nicole left here last Tuesday on LIAT Flight 560, that airlines inaugural scheduled flight out of the AIA, after spending, according to her, "a few weeks sailing St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

She rested at the Blue Lagoon and paid glowing tribute to her taxi driver whom she named as Errol.

"We cant wait to fly back into your new airport, Nicole outlined.

Her husband Matt, children Quinn, 16, Kai, 10, and Celeste, 6, complete the family.

Overcome with pride

Vincentian Bernard Louis Daisley runs a Management Consulting operation in New York. He cleared immigration at the AIA just after seven on Tuesday morning, one of 11 Vincentians who had travelled first class from New York, on that Dynamic Airways charter. That aircraft journeyed on to Guyana.

"Im proud to be a Vincentian, Daisley beamed. His pride stemmed from the speed he reached his home at Stubbs. That is the closest community to the Argyle site.

Daisley reflected on the excitement and energy generated on the craft and asked rhetorically, "Can you imagine if you had to go through Barbados? He also commented on how smooth the landing was.

An historic moment

Izarus, a native Rastaman who had come to witness the inaugural flights, said: "Transformation is an eminent structure of biology. Those who aint ready for transformation should change their biology. This is a real thing. We should give thanks for a moment of history. Rasta come to share. These moments make a nation proud. We looking out for something patriotic and not playmatic.

Izaruss colleague, Haile Ancient, a musician, looked at the opening as a money saving device. "Flying from here to Africa will be cheaper, he suggested.

Forget the political affiliations

Lorita Caesar, originally from Barrouallie, also arrived on the Sunwing flight. She said that she last visited the country in 2015, and that the new airport is a blessing. "This is like a dream come to reality, said Caesar, adding that she is here on business, but she is going to have fun. "Regardless of your political affiliation, lets just embrace it. This is not Ralph Gonsalves , this is for the country, she stated , while showering praises on the Prime Minister for building the airport .

According to Caesar, everyone on the flight was excited. "We all were excited, and the flight was so smooth. We didnt go through any turbulence or anything; the weather was perfect.
Dr. Andrew Lowe is at the forefront of Jamaicas quest to cash in on the multi-billion dollar ganja industry. (Credit: www.src.govt.jm)

Jamaica has scored yet another point in its quest to capitalize on the wide-ranging medicinal uses and benefits of marijuana (ganja), which is grown extensively in that Caribbean island.





The Jamaica Observer newspaper of January 10, 2017 reported that Jamaica-based research scientists, led by Dr Henry Lowe, said they had discovered properties in Cannabidiol (CBD), one of the major bioactive compounds in the cannabis (ganja) plant, that have the potential to provide affordable treatment as nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals for hepatitis C.





"We report here for the first time in vitro studies to demonstrate the antiviral activity of CBD against HCV, Dr Lowe and his research team Jamaican Wayne McLaughlin and Cameroonian Dr Ngeh Toyang  state in their published study, adding that Cannabidiol was shown to have activity against HCV in vitro but not against hepatitis B virus (HBV).





The Jamaica Observer reported Dr. Lowe as saying that the discovery was a major development.

On Friday, Lowe, who is known worldwide for his anti-cancer and ganja research, as well as the production of a range of nutraceuticals using Jamaican plants, said, "This is a new discovery which has fantastic potential for the future, especially for people in developing countries, because there is a drug which was developed for hepatitis C treatment, but its over US$85,000 per treatment, and very few people in the developing world can afford this.





He continued, "So it is very important that we find less expensive means of treatment, and that is why this discovery and its potential to manage this disease is so important, said Dr. Lowe.





Where it all began





Jamaica has long set the lead in research into the medicinal benefits of marijuana.

In 1972, Vincentian ophthalmologist Dr Albert Lockhart and Dr. Manley West, a Jamaican pharmacologist, joined together to intensify research on ganja, having been given the green light to collect, transport and do research on the herb within the bounds of Jamaica, by the government of Jamaica.





By 1976, the duo had produced five drugs from elements of the ganja plant, among these being Canasol and Cantimol, both undisputed effective treatments for the eye disease glaucoma.





With the potential for greater success established, the duo partnered with the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ), which was being run by the visionary William Saunders, to form a commercial enterprise called AMPEC, a combination of the names Albert, Manley and Petroleum Corporation. In 1987, they produced Asmasol for use by asthma sufferers. (Source: Jam. Observer; Barbados Today)
Dr Ralph Gonsalves disclosed an increase in the public debt which Dr. Godwin Friday said was responsible for Governments inability to properly fund its agencies.

Opposition leader Dr. Godwin Friday opened his presentation to the 2017 Budget Debate by rehashing the days of the New Democratic Party government, when there was always a surplus on government finances.





The surplus, he said, was used as counterpart funding when the government needed to borrow money.

He indicated that such an approach was pursued "with great success during the seventeen years of the NDP regime.





He emphasised that, We were generating economic growth.

Friday recounted that the banana was thriving during the NDP reign, tourism was making strides, land reform was rampant, and there was "prudent management of finances.





He sighed that "those days are gone, and chided the present authority for reversing the fortunes.

Dr. Friday noted that the growth averaged about four percent under the NDP, unlike the 2.1 percent which the Unity Labour Party has achieved. Banana is on its deathbed, according to Dr. Friday.





The Opposition Leader lamented the amount of money that government owed the private sector. He noted that businesses were closing down "every Monday morning, and he decried the extent of joblessness that prevailed across the nation.





Dr. Friday expressed concern about the level of "corruption, and pointed to the "exploitation of workers by foreign investors.





As far as Dr. Friday observed, Vincentians were enduring their version of "apartheid.

The Opposition Leader noted the debt that this country was facing, and pointed out that servicing the debt was costing the government $203 million.





He blamed the debt for the reason why government was unable to transfer the amount of money needed to ensure effective functioning of some of its agencies, citing the Tourism Authority as one of the casualties in this regard.





In his Budget Presentation, Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves confirmed that the 2016 total outstanding debt was $1.68 billion, an increase of 12% over the debt of $1.50 as at the end of September 2015.





The total public debt comprised domestic debt of $0.59 billion and external debt of $1.09 billion.

This large increase in the debt was attributed in part to the fact that the entire debt of $193.23 million owing to Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., under the Petro Caribe agreement, was now included in the total debt figure for the first time.
On TUESDAY, 14th February, the 6:45 am scheduled LIAT Flight 560 departed the Argyle International Airport (AIA), with twenty-eight passengers and crew on board.





The aircraft was commandeered by Captain Phillip Mathurin, a fifteen-year employee with LIAT.

THE VINCENTIAN sat down with Captain Mathurin on Monday, 13th February, to ascertain his level of anticipation, and seek his thoughts on being the pilot to commandeer this historic flight.





He began with, " I will airlift the first flight out of a newly commissioned airport, and in some ways it will be quite exciting to see how it comes out I wont say that I will not be overwhelmed and proud about the history of it all, but it really is a common job to me. Ill be relaxed and take it quite nicely when we actually take that flight out of the airport. .





The wind issue





On the issue of the wind which some dissenting voices have projected will pose a problem at Argyle, Captain Mathurin said, "I do not see a challenge of the wind over and above what exists at ET Joshua Airport. Firstly, I am sufficiently experienced, seeing that Ive been with the airline for fifteen years and have flown nine of these years as a Captain. Secondly, I have been through many other island airports  , case in point Canouan, and Ive experienced some cross winds that have really put some challenge into me. Now I can say that Im well prepared, well experienced and well adapted to handle these sorts of cross winds or challenges of cross winds that could occur.





Cross winds, he explained, might not occur every day, but when they are encountered, they could be handled, he assured.





Captain Mathurin acknowledged, however, that while cross winds could be encountered at the AIA which is located on the south-eastern side of the island, there would be less of a challenge going towards Argyle than it has been at ET Joshua.





"We would find tail wind a more critical challenge than it would be for cross wind, because when we are departing especially, we will want to have the wind facing towards us, rather than behind us. When we have tail winds, they are actually pushing us, and we wont have the adequate acceleration to lift off and climb towards where we want to go. Whereas, where we have a cross wind, it would necessarily push us away from it, but yet still we will able to have a greater advantage of taking off and going towards the cross wind, rather than with a tail wind, he explained.





By the same token, Captain Mathurin disclosed that his experience has shown that similar situations exist at airports within the region. He named the VC Bird International Airport in Antigua, the sea bound Princess Juliana International Airport in Saint Martin, the northeasterly located Robert Bradshaw International Airport in St. Kitts, and the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport in Tortola, as examples of facilities that have occasional cross winds, though not as severe as at Argyle International.

Improved LIAT services





When asked whether he believes the new facility could help to enhance and improve LIATs services to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Captain responded with, "We can only say time will tell.

He did say that as the year unfolds, LIAT should endeavor to provide better flight services and customer services.





True to his word, when LIAT Flight 560 took off at the newly commissioned Argyle International Airport, Captain Mathurin showed his grit, guiding the aircraft through an extremely smooth takeoff and lift into its path towards the Grantley Adams International Airport, Barbados.





LIATs first flight, under Captain Mathurin, could be deemed as a demonstration of the airlines readiness to commence operations from the Caribbeans newest international airport at Argyle, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
In what some might consider the hands of fate or for that matter irony at work, Arnos Vale (home to the E. T. Joshua Airport) resident Jolisa Baptiste became this countrys first official passenger, to check in for departure at the Argyle International Airport (AIA).





And to add more mystery to the case, Jolisa was taking her first ever flight.

Not only will she go down as being the first official passenger to check in at the new facility or be among the first set of passengers to be on a flight departing the AIA, it was also her first time flying.





"I feel very excited, she said in response when asked to express how she felt to be a part of history.

Baptiste was one of the 28 who made history on Tuesday morning when at 6:55, LIAT flight 560 became the first scheduled flight to depart the AIA.





Pathologist Dr Ronald Child was among the twenty-eight on the flight destined for Barbados.

He said he felt honoured to be a part of the inaugural flight, and he was looking forward to the day when he would no longer have be in transit, or overnight in places like Barbados or Trinidad.





Norry Seymour, another passenger chimed in with, "It does feel good to know that we now have our own international airport.





Carol and Ed Barr, a couple from South Carolina, gave an encouraging response, saying that the facility and the availability of direct flights from the United States would mean that they can visit more often.

Carol said that she visited St Vincent and the Grenadines for the first time some six years ago, and that it took her an entire day to get here.





Husband Ed explained that they had been vacationing for two weeks, but did not realize that they would be part of the historical first flight.





Meanwhile, LIATs Corporate Communications Manager, Shavar Maloney explained that as of Tuesday, the airline was resuming its regular schedule, picking up from where it left off at the ET Joshua the day before.

A total of seven arrivals and departures were scheduled on the opening day.





And in terms of readiness, Maloney said that ground staff had already completed a walk through to make sure that all was ready for a smooth transition on the morning of February 14. (DD)




Left:Professor Leonard Perez, a Cuban national, was responsible for supervising the extensive earthworks which were a prerequisite for the construction of the airport at Argyle. Right:Cubas Vice President Salvador Valdes Mesa and THE VINCENTIANs Managing Director and Honorary Consul to Chile, Desiree Richards, upon his visit here for the opening of the Argyle International Airport.

He is known by the soubriquet Professor, perhaps because of his skills as a lecturer .





But he is a real man of the earth, and has carried his part of the Argyle burden.





His name is Leonard Perez, a Cuban who served as Consultant Engineer to the International Airport Development Company (AIDC), and oversaw earthworks at the site.





His was reassigned as Technical Adviser, and ended his stint September 2016. He was one of the persons who returned from Cuba last Tuesday, for the ceremonial opening of the Argyle International Airport.

Guillermo Garcia also returned to Argyle on the Easy Jet flight which landed at the new facility around three pm. 

"I put asphalt on the runway, Garcia admitted.





There were scenes of a happy reunion as the Cuban workers greeted Vincentian colleagues with whom they had established bonds.





The contingent of Cuban workers were on hand to hear from their Vice President Salvador Valdes Mesa.

Mesa praised CARICOM for its solidarity with Cuba over the past 44 years, and projected toward the staging of the sixth Cuba CARICOM Conference slated for Antigua/Barbuda.




Air travel in and out of St. Vincent and the Grenadines islands and neighbouring states has been problematic at the best of times, creating delays and frustrations for thousands of travelers throughout the years.





There is little doubt that the situation has critically affected many sectors of our economy, especially the Tourism sector.





THE VINCENTIAN, while enthusiastically endorsing the imminent opening of the Argyle International Airport (AIA), destined to become the crown jewel of airports in the Eastern Caribbean, questioned the role the smaller carriers in the region might play to close existing and future service gaps for tourists planning to visit the region.





In an exclusive interview with Paul Gravel, Managing Director of SVG Air/Grenadine Air Alliance, he stated that in his opinion, St. Vincent and the Grenadines having a truly international airport, will open unprecedented opportunities not only for SVG Air, but other carriers, tourist operators, taxis and those whose products and services cater to the tourism industry.





Gravel stated that SVG Air/Grenadine Air Alliance has developed plans to provide a complementary service to the new Wide Body Carriers soon to be servicing, AIA.





"By connecting the Grenadines to these carriers and vice versa, we will be incorporating into our schedule plans to meet these arrivals by providing timely and cost-effective onward connections to the Grenadines, Gravel said.





SVG Air/Grenadine Air Alliance has already incorporated a new Affordable Air Bridge Connection from St Vincent to St Lucia and vice versa, with multiple departures on the days when scheduled direct flights are unavailable.





"For those who live or work in the Grenadines, we are establishing a new southbound afternoon service from AIA, allowing passengers to come to the mainland in the morning to do business or attend to medical needs or other appointments for the day, and return home in the afternoon - a same day return service. This will eliminate the need to overnight while attending to business and personal needs on the mainland, Gravel added.

To some degree, this service will help fill the gap left by the cancellation of the Fast Ferry service, and the inevitable periodic breakdowns of one or more of the traditional ferries, especially between St. Vincent and Bequia.





"When there are no direct flights scheduled, we will be offering midday direct services to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines from Barbados. This service will be in addition to our current daily 4:30 p.m flights that will be flying from Barbados to AIA via the Grenadines, he said.





Gravel also projected that the airline was planning to introduce services using its efficient 19-seater Twin Otter aircraft to locations where LIAT has withdrawn service; which are not viable and safely accessible with larger aircraft. An example would be a twice daily morning and evening service between St. Vincent and Grenada.





The Managing Director went on to say that SVG Air/Grenadines Air Alliance looks forward to the challenges and opportunities the new Argyle International Airport will present to the citizens of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the traveling public, and wishes everyone associated with the project, congratulations and success now and in the long term future.
Two women were elected to serve on the executive of the New Democratic Party (NDP) when that party held its 39th Convention last Sunday, in Layou.





Margret London, retired nurse and host of the Night Nurse radio programme aired on NICE Radio, was voted in as the Assistant General Secretary, after defeating the popular Clemroy Bert Francois, host of the NDPs New Times radio programme, as well as embattled Talk Show host Igal Adams. London received a massive 192 votes to Francois 59 and Adams 18.





Lavern King, a Communications expert, is the other female elected to the executive. She defeated Lawyer Israel Bruce by 165 to 105 votes, to become the partys Public Relation Officer (PRO).





The other female to have vied for a position was Senator and lawyer Shirlan  Zita Barnwell, who attempted to get one of the two Vice President positions. Incumbent Vice President St. Clair Leacock, MP for Central Kingstown, and North Leeward MP Roland Patel Matthews filled the vice presidents position. Leacock garnered 199 votes, Matthews 198 and Barnwell 144.





Long standing member of the party and the incumbent General Secretary Allan Cruickshank lost to newcomer retired Coast Guard Commander Tyrone James, in his quest to retain that position. James, whose decision to contest came as a surprise to many across political fronts, amassed an overwhelming 164 to Cruickshanks 87.

Dr. Bernard Mills was returned as Treasurer, there being no other contenders for the position.





There was also a change in the Chairmanship of the party. Dr. Linton Lewis, who had held that post for the last ten years, chose not to contest, and MP for West Kingstown  Daniel Cuimmings was elected unopposed to fill that vacancy.





Reactions





In an interview with THE VINCENTIAN newspaper, newly elected Vice President Roland Matthews said he was very happy to be elected to that office for the first time.





Recalling that he became a member of the NDPs Youth Arm some 20 years ago, Matthews said, "  this elevation goes to show people that the New Democratic Party will give people the opportunity, once they decide to work hard, and he recognized the election of two females to the executive as indicative of democracy at work, and testimony to the fact that the NDP "does not discriminate on the basis of gender.

King, a 24-year-old Digital Marketer from the Southern Grenadines island of Canouan, became the youngest person to be elected to the executive of the party. She previously worked as a Marketing executive in Jamaica, where she also did a degree in Public Relations.





She said the position of PRO would allow her to work for the people, and commended the NDP for its commitment "to giving youths the opportunity to develop. I know that they (NDP) truly dont just talk about the youths, but they actually do include youths.





King also had high praises for the Southern Grenadines MP Terrance Ollivierre , who she said always encouraged his constituents to reach for the best and to do their best.





In terms of the vision and way forward for the party, she said that the NDPs watch words are inclusiveness and transparency both in and out of Government.





The position of Party Leader was not up for contest, since Northern Grenadines MP Dr. Godwin Friday had taken that position during an extraordinary Convention late last year.
According to a 2015 U.S. News and World article, U.S. labor statistics say women make up 47 percent of the American workforce but only comprise 39 percent of chemists and material scientists, 28 percent of environmental scientists and geoscientists, 16 percent of chemical engineers and just 12 percent of civil engineers.

Gateway to Science in Bismarck aims to combat those statistics by providing the sixth-grade girls at Mandan Middle School with STEM-related activities and projects this week, ending Friday.

STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering and math. The North Dakota Society of Professional Engineers and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers sponsored the activities this week at Mandan Middle School.

On Monday a group of women in engineering came to the school to discuss their experiences in the field including job descriptions, salaries and how they got started on their career paths. During the week students were given three engineering challenges. Tuesdays was building a pompom launcher with Popsicle sticks, plastic cups and miniature sized pompom balls. On Wednesday students built an air-powered car and Thursday a wishing well. First-, second- and third-place awards will be given out on Friday.

"I'm hoping that they'll get excited," Mandan Middle School science teacher Tammy Kelly said. The girls were split up into 33 teams of three to four students to work on the given tasks as a group.

Sixth-grader Taylor Bartosh, who wants to be a surgeon when she grows up and has an interest in learning more about engineering, said, "I think girls can do anything that boys can do."

Gateway to Sciences STEM leader, Melissa Hendrickson, said the program is geared toward sixth-grade girls and was started last year at Horizon Middle School in Bismarck. With additional sponsorship, the program was able to include Mandan, Simle and Wachter middle schools, as well as a half day at a private school. We try to make it available to every sixth-grade girl in Bismarck and Mandan, said Hendrickson.

Once the student dive into the projects of the week, Hendrickson notices the girls who hang back in the beginning are hands-on and fully involved in the tasks by the close of the week. Hendrickson also noticed an increase in female enrollment into the STEM elective courses. We went from under 10 percent across the board to 33 percent overall this fall, said Hendrickson.

"I think its really nice what theyre doing for us and helping us," said sixth-grader Areyonna Willems about the STEM program. She is interested in a career in chemical engineering.
Left:Stalwart NDP member Kendol Kenlyn Neverson (left) presents former Party Leader Arnhim Eustace with a token of appreciation. Right:Dr. Godwin Friday, Political Leader of the NDP, urged the partys members and supporters to band together in the quest to being prosperity back to SVG. Inset:St. Clair Leacock, MP for Central Kingstown, put to rest the talk of his departure, and was re-elected to one of two vice president positions.

The opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) held is 39th Convention at the Layou Hard Court last Sunday, February 12, the first time in over 10 years the party had held such an event outside the partys headquarters in Kingstown.





The Convention was held under the theme: Moving forward together, one nation, one people and one Vincy.

The occasion was a show of solidarity, especially as the perceived feud between recently elected Leader of NDP- Dr. Godwin Friday and MP for Central Kingstown - St. Clair Leacock, was put to rest, after Leacock declared his wholehearted support for the party and its leadership.





Leacock declared he was happy to be part of the most prestigious political party in SVG, the New Democratic Party. "Once NDP, always NDP, said Leacock, to loud cheers from the supporters.





Opposition Leader Friday, in his presentation, wished the founding father of the party  Sir James Mitchell a speedy recovery from his surgery, and extended the partys solidarity with the families of the three Vincentian students who lost their lives in a vehicular accident in Barbados, on January 29th.





He told party supporters that the party had come a long way. "We have withstood the slings and arrows that were borne against us by a relentless foe, and we are to perform to victory, said Friday.





The Northern Grenadines MP urged the membership and supporters to work tirelessly to bring prosperity back to SVG. "God knows we need it, and by the grace of God we will achieve it, he posited, to loud applause from the audience.





And in expressing thanks to the partys foot soldiers in the various constituencies, he appealed to them to redouble their efforts despite the many obstacles that would be thrown at them from the ULP, and especially urged the delegates to effect their duties and do so diligently.





But it was on the issue of party unity that Friday was most emphatic, reminding the hundreds who had turned out, "The only way the ULP can remain in power is if they succeed in dividing us. Our party has the deepest history of democracy, and our elders have set forth the foundation for us to follow . So tomorrow we shall go forward united in our fight against a corrupt regime, whose central policy is based on fear and victimization.





The party leader had a special reminder for his membership, referring to national debt that stood at $1.6 billion, with $400 million of that attributed to the Argyle International Airport. "The debt now stands at a worrying 82% of the Gross Domestic Product, and the debt service payments are expected this year to amount to over $200.3 million, he said, proffering, "This means that there will be little money to be spent on providing services in schools, in hospitals, in fixing the roads and in promoting the all important tourism industry.

And in reference to the recent increase in taxes, Friday lamented, "How much can the poor and suffering people of this country continue to bear? But there must be some relief and that relief, according to Friday, would come in the form of an NDP administration.





Former President and Leader of the NDP, Arhnim Eustace was honored by the Young Democrats as well as by long-standing vanguard member of the party Kendol Kenlyn Neverson. Eustace expressed thanks for the recognitions, and to the many party supporters who had coveyed expressions of appreciation for his leadership, a tenure he described as a "labour of love. Friday was also presented with a plaque on behalf of members from his constituency and another one from Neverson.




When the Argyle International Airport (AIA) officially opened on 14th February, 2017, charter flights, including Sunwing flight WG 262 from Pearson International Airport, Toronto and a Caribbean Airlines flight from JKF International Airport in New York, landed at the facility, bringing a number of Vincentians home.





THE VINCENTIAN was there to find out why persons chose to make the trip, and what such a direct flight would mean for Vincentians in the Diaspora.

HazelAnn Frank. Toronto. I had to be on this flight because I felt it was important for Vincentians to do a celebration, and its just the right time. I had four weeks vacation so I chose to spend two of those weeks home, and it wasnt difficult to get on the flight  everything was easily done online. I think that this airport is going to make the process of travel a lot easier because when I looked, a couple months ago when it was raining, the ET Joshua Airport was flooded and there was a lot of issues with LIAT. Now, we are opening the window for other airlines to come in. Today, I felt like I got home in time with no waiting for hours in any other airport.

Vaughn Toney. New York. I am the President and CEO of the Friends of Crown Heights. It was a terrific flight. I mean, the idea that we could get here in four hours was great for all of us on the flight.  For me, I took this journey to stand in solidarity with my fellow Vincentians on this historic day. It is as important in history as 38 years ago when we gained independence; it is that significant! We as Vincentians should be proud about this achievement,(that)we had done all this in the face of great economic odds, but we have persevered. I give the Prime Minister a great deal of credit for his boldness, his vision for bringing to fruition what everyone else had wanted to accomplish. This airport is second to none!

Derwin and AnnMarie Stoddard - New York via Florida. This was a very important day in the history of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and we would have done whatever we could to be here. Were from Florida, and there were no flights coming out from there, so we left yesterday for New York and were on the flight for SVG by 10:40 am.  Being able to fly here direct was awesome. Where we live in Florida, there are a lot of Vincentians from the St. Vincent Organization of South Florida just waiting to come home.

Adella Davis-Ferdinand. Toronto. The flight was amazing actually: taking off, coming down, landing, it was great! The weather, everything was perfect; and it was a Vincy pilot, so we were on top of the world! I travel very regularly, but I havent been here in ten years, and coming home makes me feel good; it gives me that connection again, so Id definitely be coming more often.

Stewart Brereton. Toronto. The flight was fantastic. The landing was amazing. .. When I looked to my right and saw the people cheering and waving, I actually got emotional with tears in my eyes. The one negative thing I found was that the Immigration Forms to be filled out were not on the plane, and that caused us to have to wait to fill them out when we got here. (But) this is a very historic occasion for St. Vincent and the Grenadines. I hated the fact that I had to land in Barbados and wait for LIAT hours sometimes to get my connection. So, landing here directly from Toronto is absolutely amazing.  I am here regularly and plan to come back for carnival.

Winston Woodley. Toronto. It was an exceptionally great flight! Im so proud and so blessed to be on it. Added to that, the pilot, Daniel Gibson was a Vincentian. This is history in the making. I understand that when the Prime Minister spoke to Chavez the first time, even he said it could not be done, but a lot of work went into it. We have to be very proud of it. Now, Vincentians are going to come home more often.  I know that being able to locate suitcases then, should not be a problem at all.

Petron McIntosh. Toronto. The landing, to me, was better than approaching ET Joshua. We were so anxious anticipating arriving here, and the whole plane erupted when we saw the crowd. Knowing we were able to leave Toronto and come direct was a great accomplishment. Im so happy that I came. A great amount of effort was put into this airport. Vincentians in the Diaspora look forward to a direct flight especially for Christmas, carnival or even for emergencies. It will take some time for the airport to take off but (I) have a positive outlook on this project.

Note: Before international scheduled flights into the AIA become fully regularized, charter flights are expected to serve Vincentians abroad with non-stop air travel to SVG.
Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.
Learning the complexities of money management, budgeting and loans can be scary for high school students. Too often, students lack knowledge of personal finance and fiscal responsibility.

A financial education center is set to open at the new St. Mary's Central High School in fall 2019. On Thursday, officials at Light of Christ schools and the head of Choice Financial announced the construction of the new center, which aims to improve financial literacy and foster business skills among students in the Light of Christ Catholic School system.

Choice Financial donated $2 million to Light of Christ schools as part of the school system's campaign for the new high school. To date, the campaign has garnered $23.1 million in donations, according to a news release from Light of Christ schools.

Half of Choice Financial's donation will go toward scholarship and tuition reimbursement to help families enroll their children at St. Mary's, according to Brian Johnson, president and CEO of Choice Financial. The other half of the donation will build this center, which will be called the Choice Financial Business Center. At the new facility, Choice Financial employees will volunteer their time to teach students about financial literacy.

"We want to be there for the children at an early age to help teach them on how to manage their money, how to invest their money, how to be responsible with their money and build a healthy financial future," Johnson said.

"We're extremely proud that (our employees) want to be there with their time, their energy and their efforts, to be part of the learning process and to make this project and partnership a successful one  and hopefully a model for other people to look at," he said.

The center will also promote a financial literacy program and business curriculum for students of all grades throughout the Light of Christ system, according to Gerald Vetter, president of Light of Christ schools. Internships and jobs will also be part of the program as well. Students at the new high school will operate a food truck, which was also donated, at local events to learn entrepreneurial skills.

"To find a school that has a business center is unusual, so we like the unusual," Vetter said. "I think this is a bold step in the future to providing a very dynamic business curriculum, but not just for high schools students, throughout the system."

Madison Baumgartner, a senior at St. Mary's and president of the school's chapter of Future Business Leaders of America, said she's excited for the new center for financial education, which will serve as the home for all business-centered academics, as well as the opportunity to improve personal finance education at the school.

"Personal finance or financial literacy teaches lessons on credit cards and loans. This is so useful for upcoming college students such as myself that will be on their own in the future," Baumgartner said.
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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in the Federal Republic of Germany on a working visit on February 16 to attend the 53rd Munich Security Conference.

At Munich International Airport, President Ilham Aliyev and his spouse Mehriban Aliyeva were welcomed by officials, Azertac reported.
By Azernews





By Kamila Aliyeva

A trilateral cooperation among Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey in defense sphere will further strengthen after formalizing a Memorandum of Understanding in May 2017.

The issues relating to the trilateral cooperation among Georgia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan were discussed at a meeting between Georgian Defense Minister Levan Izoria and his Turkish counterpart Fikri Isik in Brussels on February 16, Georgia-Online reported.

The parties noted that the trilateral cooperation format contributes to strengthening of the regional security.

The ministers also discussed issues related to the upcoming meeting of Turkish, Georgian and Azerbaijani defense ministers in Tbilisi scheduled for May 2017, during which it is planned to formalize a memorandum on trilateral cooperation.

The memorandum of understanding, which is under development, will be a legal base of the three countries cooperation and allow their trilateral activities to enter a new stage.

The memorandum is of great importance for Azerbaijan as the Caspian State is interested in further development of the strategic military cooperation with Turkey and Georgia and seeks for the support of regional countries in settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The parties also touched upon the forthcoming meeting of the Chiefs of Staff of the three countries, to be held in Tbilisi this April.

In recent years, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgias relations reached the level of strategic partnership and play the key role in ensuring peace and stability, sustainable development and the welfare of the three nations.

Although all three countries have different interests in foreign policy, the security issues of natural gas pipelines, borders security, and terrorism threat are the common concerns of three countries.

The trilateral alliance of Azerbaijan  Turkey  Georgia emerged in 2007 during the official visit of President Ilham Aliyev to Georgia. Following the trilateral meeting with then  prime minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2012, the so-called Trabzon declaration was signed, and further, the trilateral dialogue was strengthened by the adoption of Ganja declaration in 2014.

The turning point for trilateral cooperation became the meeting held in Nakhchivan in 2014 when all countries signed an agreement for future cooperation and agreed to hold meetings in the same format twice a year. Following the agreement in 2014 and 2015, joint military drills Caucasian Eagle with the involvement of 80 military helicopters, 60 armored vehicles, and military staff were conducted.

The last meeting of the three countries defense ministers was held in Gabala on May 15, 2016. The meeting discussed security issues and mutual interests for cooperation in the military field.
By Azernews





Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev offered condolences to Mamnoon Hussain, President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on February 17.

The message reads:

Dear Mr. President,

We are deeply saddened by the terror attacks committed in your country in recent days.

We are outraged by those heinous attacks, and consider it essential to conduct a universal, resolute and consistent fight against all forms of terrorism.

We share your grief at these difficult times.

On behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I extend my deepest condolences to you, families and loved ones of those who were killed and the whole people of Pakistan, and wish those injured the soonest possible recovery.




By Azertac





President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has today met with Defense Minister of the State of Israel Avigdor Lieberman in Munich.





The sides discussed various aspects of Azerbaijan-Israel relations. Avigdor Lieberman recalled his visit to Azerbaijan as Foreign Minister. They highlighted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu`s successful visit to Azerbaijan last year. The sides hailed military and technical cooperation between Azerbaijan and Israel, and discussed future collaboration in this area.
By Trend





Azerbaijan needs laws that regulate military journalism, said Arzu Nagiyev, political expert, deputy director general of Trend Agency.

He made the remarks at a meeting with media executives, held in Azerbaijans Parliament (Milli Majlis) on Feb. 17.

The law could cover aspects related to journalists activities, their insurance and other issues, Nagiyev said.

Journalist assignment to the war zone is clearly fraught with danger, because anything can happen there.

Most of the media representatives, who have recently died in different parts of the world, were military journalists, Nagiyev added.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is expected to inaugurate a project for construction of a gas pipeline between the two southeastern cities of Iranshahr and Chabahar in coming weeks.

The governor-general of Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Mohammad-Ali Afshani, has said that President Rouhani is expected to visit the province late February, Shana news agency reported.

According to the official, Hassan Rouhani is slated to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the project during the provincial visit.

Irans seventh cross-country pipeline is projected to extend into Pakistan. In order to complete the project, Iran needs to lay less than 200 kilometers of the pipeline.

According to an earlier reached agreement, Pakistan was expected to import 22 million cubic meters of gas per day from Iran starting in 2015 but it has been postponed as Pakistan has failed to build the part of the pipeline that falls in its territory.
After months of snow, the most treacherous moment for pedestrians may be now. Rising temperatures give way to freezing temperatures at night, causing a hazardous pattern of melt-freeze-melt. It is a scenario that threatens  and causes  some serious falls for anyone who dares to walk the slippery sidewalks.

The pattern is so ubiquitous that Sanford Hospital had 54 people come to the emergency room in the first two weeks of February for icy falls. Dr. Jeffrey Rundio, an emergency room physician, called the number awfully high. And freezing nights and warmer days is a pattern that is expected to continue into next week, according to the National Weather Service in Bismarck.

Rundio said most of the patients come in the early mornings or evenings  just as the ice is changing form. Most have fallen in their driveways, but some fall on the sidewalk or in the road, he said. Injuries range from broken bones to head injuries.

Falls on ice are typically after a big storm, and then it tapers off, Rundio said. What has been unique about it  its just been every morning there is a solid sheet of ice on everything."

Full disclosure: I was one of the 54 people at the emergency room. Walking home on Saturday evening, I slipped, fell and fractured my ankle in two places.

Bismarck has an ordinance that requires property owners to shovel their sidewalks and keep them free of ice or snow. But the monitoring consists of responding to citizen complaints, according to city engineer Gabe Schell. The city does not patrol for bad sidewalks.

When someone calls in a slippery sidewalk, employees from the city engineering office visit the reported region  potentially passing by other bad stretches  and leave a notice on the property. If not cleaned in the allotted timeframe, city employees will shovel or sand and charge the property owner a special assessment on their taxes, according to Schell. Fines this year ranged from $68 to $146.

Its the level of service that we can offer, Schell said. If we did patrol the city, it would mean we would need  a larger labor cost to meet that level of services.

This winter, the city responded to 133 complaints, of which 103 were posted for snow removal. At 14 of those sites, the city removed snow due to inactivity and fined the owners.

We wish every street was cleared off and every sidewalk was cleared off, Schell said. Were trying to set what a reasonable expectation is for the community for everyone to meet with the level of support from the community it would take to reach.

To alert the city of a slippery sidewalk, call the engineering department at 701-355-1505 or submit a citizen complaint at bismarcknd.gov.
Blues beat FC Shenzen in Dubai friendly

Friday, 17 February, 2017



The friendly, which kicked off at 11am local time (7am in the UK), resulted in a 4-0 victory for Everton. Valencia scored twice with Kone and Barkley also on the scoresheet. Hewelt saved a penalty for the Blues, who will now head back to Merseyside to prepare for the visit of Sunderland.

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Sarah Al Suhaimi, the chief executive of NCB Capital, the investment banking unit of National Commercial Bank, has become the first woman to chair The Saudi Stock Exchange, the largest bourse in the region.

Al Suhaimi was appointed chairwoman of the Tadawul, replacing Khalid Al Rabiah, reported Bloomberg.

She is expected to keep her position at NCB Capital, stated the report citing a person familiar with the appointment. Al Suhaimi was the first female head of a Saudi investment bank when she assumed the role in 2014, according to the report.

Before joining NCB Capital, Al Suhaimi was chief investment officer at Jadwa Investment and a senior portfolio manager at Samba Financial Group.

Her father, Jammaz Al Suhaimi, was the head of the Capital Market Authority, the market regulator, until 2006.

Al Suhaimis appointment is significant for Saudi Arabia where the female unemployment rate is more than 34 per cent, stated the report.

Change is starting to happen with the number of working women jumping 50 per cent between 2010 and 2015, and more Saudi women entering male-dominated fields such as banking and engineering.

Al Suhaimis appointment is significant for Saudi Arabia where the female unemployment rate is more than 34 per cent, stated the report.

The appointment is in line with an ambitious economic and social reform programme announced by the government last year, said the report, citing experts.

One of its goals is to develop women's role in the economy and increase their participation in the workforce to 30 percent from 22 percent in coming year, it added.
Ducab, a leading UAE-based manufacturer of high-quality cables and cabling products, is participating in the Middle East Electricity Exhibition and Summit (MEE) 2017, which opened yesterday (February 14) in Dubai, with a focus on growth, resilience, and sustainability.



Ducab will showcase its aluminium, fire-performance, and nuclear-grade cables at the show, which runs till February 16.



Mohammed A Al Mutawa, Ducabs chief commercial officer, said: Ducab values its association with MEE and this year we are strengthening our support for the leading industry event as a sponsor. Our product innovation positions us as partners in the success of the UAE, particularly when it comes to emerging areas such as smart cities and sustainable grids. We look forward to engaging with the broader industry and driving conversations around innovation, and the growing need for safety standards in an increasingly competitive market.



The cable manufacturer is now bringing the latest industry information on trends, standards and safety specification requirements to MEE by hosting technical seminars on each day of the industry trade show. Sessions will be run by subject experts from Ducab as well as from organisations such as British Approvals Service for Cables (Basec), the Loss Prevention Certification Board (LPCB), and Trimble (Amtech). These sessions are open to all MEE delegates and visitors and will cover topics such as solar cable challenges, British quality standard awareness, and Basec fire performance cable types.



Demonstrating its commitment to innovation and consistent growth of its product range for an industry with dynamic and evolving requirements, Ducab is showcasing its leadership in aluminium cables, delivered through its Ducab Aluminium Company (DAC) subsidiary. Situated in Abu Dhabis Khalifa City, DAC is set to come online at a full production capacity of 50,000 tonnes per annum (tpa), and will provide the GCC and Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region with electrical conductive (EC)-grade aluminium alloy rods and wires in the first phase.



Ducabs FlamBICC range of fire-performance cabling products, and NuBICC, its nuclear-grade certified cables and accessories, stand alongside the aluminium product range as strong proof points on Ducabs strength in specialised cables and products for a demanding and certification-intensive market.



Speaking about Ducabs engagement with the UAEs drive towards a sustainable future, Al Mutawa continued: Working closely with UAEs renewable energy projects, Ducab is a part of two of the largest solar power-generation projects in the region  Masdars Shams 1 in Abu Dhabi, and Dewas 13 MW solar plant in Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai in collaboration with Dewa. We are also working with the Barakah Nuclear Power plant (BNPP) being built by Enec in Abu Dhabi, and are proud to play a role in these landmark projects that are the very definitions of innovation and sustainability in our home market, the UAE.



Ducab is showcasing its market-leading range of products at Stand E10 in Hall 8 of the Dubai World Trade Centre Exhibition Centre.  TradeArabia News Service


National Drilling Company (NDC), an Adnoc (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) Group company, has celebrated the inauguration of its new state-of-the-art jack-up rig manufactured in the UAE in the Hamriyah Free Zone in Sharjah.



This raises the number of new offshore rigs acquired by NDC and, manufactured by Lamprell, a UAE-based company, to eight as part of a series of nine similar units, reported Wam, the Emirates official news agency.



The ceremony was attended by Sheikh Saud bin Khalid bin Sultan Al-Qasimi, advisor at the office of the Ruler of Sharjah and Abdul Munim Saif Al Kindy, Adnoc director of Exploration Development and Production.



Abdalla Saeed Al Suwaidi, NDC chief executive officer said: "NDCs acquisition of new state-of-the-art jack-up rigs is underpinning Adnocs objective to maximize the value of our resources, pioneering profitable and efficient technologies that will support our capabilities to meet the demands of an ever-changing energy market, and continue to have a positive impact on the Abu Dhabi economy for generations to come. The inauguration of Al Hudairiyat marks another milestone on our ambitious journey to longer term strategic growth and competitiveness."



Al Hudairiyat is an effective addition to the NDC fleet of modern rigs. It will help NDC maintain the highest levels of operational efficiency and reliability for the benefit of its clients across the Adnoc Group of companies.



"We are responsive to short term needs and requirements across the Adnoc Group and, at the same time, stay abreast of the long term plans, Al Suwaidi added.



The mega project of building and acquiring a series of nine world-class jack-up rigs has produced success after success, not only for the partners involved, but for the UAE in general. All nine rigs were built here in the UAE to the highest quality and international standards. The achievement demonstrates world standard capability and represents a great source of pride.



NDC's partnership with Lamprell to manufacture offshore jack-up rigs in the UAE has made the country the first and only country in the region capable of building such critically engineered, high-tech oil and gas rigs.



Christopher McDonald, chief executive officer of Lamprell said: "We are proud of the on-time delivery of this advanced jack-up rig to NDC, our largest client. This helps to cement our deep relationship with our key client, NDC. As we complete this major project to the required high standards and quality, we are proud to construct this latest rig in the UAE for use in the UAE, further strengthening our existing solid ties."
Yakovlev Aerobatic team perform in the sky at the 'Aero India-2017' at the Yelahanka air base in Bengaluru, India. Over 550 defence and aerospace firms, including 279 foreign companies from 30 countries took part in the 11th biennial event being held at the Yelahanka air force base. India is pursuing to scale up its military capabilities and aims to induct new warplanes, next-generation submarines, warships, helicopters, missiles, howitzers, air defence systems, assault weapons and night-vision gear. The event runs from February 14 to 18, showcasing military aircraft from leading manufacturers across the globe. EPA/Jagadeesh NV


Meet award-winning artisans and buy their products at Kerala Arts and Crafts Village
Aug. 28 is Red Wine Day, one of many wine-related "holidays" through the year.

Feb. 18 is Drink Wine Day, as if you needed another reason to indulge. Although it's not an officially declared national holiday, you're not likely to find many who will oppose this day of celebration.

But if one Drink Wine Day isn't enough, there are plenty of other similar celebrations. While not every variety gets its own day, there should still be something here for almost everyone's taste.

Here's a look at the wine-related "holidays."

March 3: National Mulled Wine Day

Although mulled wine is a traditional Christmas drink, its official day of recognition falls in March.

April 17: Malbec World Day

Malbec World Day is recognized as the day on which Argentinian president Domingo Faustino Sarmiento vowed to turn around the country's wine industry. Wines of Argentina designated the day of celebration in 2011.

April 24: Sauvignon Blanc Day

This celebration began in 2010. You can take part on social media by sharing your festivities using #SauvBlanc.

May 9: World Moscato Day

Gallo Family Vineyards created Moscato Day in 2012 to celebrate the dessert-turned-all-occasion wine. Moscato sales were up 2 percent last year and now accounts for nearly 7 percent of all wine sales in the U.S., according to BottleNotes.

May 25: National Wine Day

This one's pretty straightforward  it's a day to celebrate all things wine.

May 26: National Chardonnay Day

This floating holiday is billed as a way to kick off Memorial Day Weekend a little early.

May 29: International Coq Au Vin Day

While this one isn't directly a celebration of wine, you do need wine to make coq au vin, which is a French chicken dish. Here's a recipe.

June 11: National Rose Wine Day

An alternative date for this is Aug. 14. You can pick whichever one suits your needs (or just do both).

July 25: National Wine and Cheese Day

This is the time to combine your love of wine with your love of cheese.

Aug. 4: National White Wine Day

Whether your favorite is chardonnay, moscato or any other variety, today is the day to celebrate all things white wine.

Aug. 18: National Pinot Noir Day

Not sure where to start with Pinot Noir? VinePair suggests that it goes well with all foods and all occasions, so at least that makes it easy.

Aug. 28: Red Wine Day

It's the same concept as White Wine Day, but opposite. Grab your favorite variety of red and enjoy.

Aug. 31: International Cabernet Day

Another floating holiday, Cabernet Day is always celebrated on the Thursday before Labor Day. Why? Just because Twitter guru Rick Bakas decided everyone needed another reason to drink wine.

Sept. 15: International Grenache Day

The grenache celebration always falls on the third Friday in September.

Nov. 7: International Merlot Day

New to red wine? VinePair says Merlot is a great introduction because it's generally smooth and drinkable.

Nov. 4: National Wine Tasting Day

It's the perfect occasion to try out a new winery or wine bar in your area.

Nov. 9: International Tempranillo Day

This traditionally Spanish wine has gotten its own celebration since 2011 thanks to the TAPAS  Tempranillo Advocates, Producers and Amigos Society.

Nov. 11: Wine Tourism Day

According to winetourismday.com, this is the day for wineries, restaurants, hotels and others to promote the importance of wine tourism.

Nov. 15: National Zinfandel Day

This holiday is promoted by ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates & Producers) as a way of promoting "America's heritage grape."

Dec. 20: Sangria Day

Although it's usually consumed in summer, there's no reason you can't consume the Spanish wine punch we all know as sangria in December, too.

Dec. 31: Champagne Day

It's not coincidence that this one falls on New Year's Eve. People around the world  especially in France  love their bubbly.
In the past 25 years, the American Petroleum Institute Chili Cook-off has raised millions of dollars for nonprofits ranging from Wyoming Special Olympics to the school districts Homeless Childrens Fund.

But this years celebration on Saturday will be bittersweet for longtime API members. It is the first without radio personality and philanthropist Brian Scott Gamroth, who died in a motorcycle crash in September.

The theme is in his memory, Oil & Gas  Lets Make it BOOM! Gamroth was known to yell Boom! as he hosted charity events throughout the state.

Brian was there since day one back in his Magic94 days in 1992, said API board member Bob Dill. We wouldnt have raised nearly as much because of his contacts and his personality, not just the day of the event, but all of the time he put into it otherwise.

This year, a portion of the proceeds will be given to the Brian Scott Gamroth Stage at David Street Station.

It started as basically kind of an oil field get-together, Dill said. It was mainly an excuse to get together and throw a little party.

Now, the three-hour event, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the floor of the Casper Events Center, has become much more than a little party. Dill expects 3,200 people to attend, buying $10 tickets at the door that allow as much chili tasting from the 45 competitors as one can consume. Beverages are available for sale, as well as tickets for myriad raffles for everything from cash prizes to firearms.

In the last 10 years, the API has donated over $1 million to local charities, Dill said.

There is a long list of nonprofits helped by the API, from large and well-known to smaller and lesser-known, but no less important to clients served by their mission.

Charities helped in the past include API Scholarship Fund, ARC of Natrona County, Brain Injury Association, CAP (Childrens Advocacy Project), Central Wyoming Hospice, Central Wyoming Spay and Neuter Foundation, City County Firefighter Burn Fund, County Homeless Children Fund, Jasons Friends, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Mercer Family Resource Center Inc., Natrona County Meals on Wheels, Renewed Hope Foundation, Safe Kids of Central Wyoming, Seton House, Shriners Transport Fund, Special Olympics Wyoming, Wyoming Food for Thought Project, and Wyoming Families for Hands and Voices.

It is an application process, and at this point its pretty much frozen with those who have applied in the past. New charities that are interested would have to apply and go through the board process, Dill said. We usually fund over 20 each year, but it kind of depends; in better years weve had more.

Despite the struggles in the oil and gas industry in the past year, Dill said 44 teams are competing in the chili cook-off this year, which is normal.

And we still have a waiting list to compete, he added.

The competitive chili cook-off portion of the event is hotly contested, with a secret panel of judges tasting chili divided into red and green categories. There is also a peoples choice award, which is voted on by those in attendance.

Because of the close confines between booths, organizers request no strollers on the floor.

If you go 

25th annual API Chili Cook-off

11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday

Casper Events Center

Tickets: $10 at the door

No strollers please

Forty-five teams from oil and gas and service industries compete for prizes.

Participating teams

American National Bank

Budweiser/Casper Beverage

Casper College

Certus Energy Solutions

Clean Harbors

Cobra Well Testers

Compass Compression Solutions

Compression Leasing Services, Inc.

Creed Inspection

CS Consulting, LLC

DNOW

Engineered Equipment, Inc.

Extreme Pump Solutions

First Interstate Bank

Fremont Motor Casper

Hilltop National Bank

HOMAX Oil Sales, Inc.

Hunting Energy

Industrial Piping Spec Inc.

Industrial Screen & Maintenance

KLX Energy

KW International

Liberty Tax Service

LOENBRO

Maverick Pump

Meadow Wind

Mesa Natural Gas Solutions

NEWSCO International

Nicks Fasteners & Supply

NOV Drilling Wellbore Tech

Patterson UTI Drilling

Pronghorn Welding & Fabrication

Rig Runner

RP Services

Schlumberger/ DRILCO

SM Energy

SST Energy Corporation

Summit ESP

Total Oilfield Rentals, Inc.

Trademark Employment Services Inc.

Well Control Products

Well Water Solutions

Western Energy Fabrication

Western Environmental
Lawmakers, who recently have been weighing efficiencies in state government by streamlining offices and services, have found one case in which they may move in the opposite direction.

The state Senate passed a bill Thursday, by a vote of 27-17, to create the Department of Environmental Quality, pulling its responsibilities from the North Dakota Department of Health.

Government efficiency is not always combining things. Sometimes, its splitting things up, bill carrier Sen. Kelly Armstrong, R-Dickinson, said. This will not change the departments mission one bit.

Senate Bill 2327 would transfer the duties 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.

Sen. Erin Oban, D-Bismarck, questioned the timing of moving the bill. SB2327 was heard, amended and passed out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in 90 minutes on Feb. 10 with a do pass recommendation. She said this was before shed had a chance to fully study it, leading her to be the lone vote against the recommendation.

Its not just U.S. Congress that passes bills without reading them, Oban said.

At 153 pages, its one of the lengthiest bills introduced this session by a Legislature that largely deals in single-page bills.

SB2206 would make the DEQ director a member of the governors cabinet. 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.

Sen. Judy Lee, R-West Fargo, was concerned about having two separate agencies as it relates to responding to disasters or environmental incidents.

How are they going to coordinate with two? Lee said.

Anderson said that shouldnt be a problem since responses already occur to incidents with multiple state agencies in conjunction with local and federal agencies.

There is no bogeyman hiding in the shadow here, Armstrong said.
Law enforcement located a missing Montana teen in Casper on Friday night, authorities said.

A Montana sheriff's office asked the public for help Friday locating Tristin Carter, 15, who was believed to be in the Casper area. The sheriff's office said he was found in Casper the same day authorities asked for the public's help.

Carter was reported missing from his home in Belgrade, Montana, on Feb. 11, according to the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office. Authorities believed he may have been staying with friends in the Casper or Mills area.

The sheriff's office said it didn't know what he was wearing when he left the house, but that he has a backpack. Authorities asked that people not approach Carter if they see him or tell him that they have called law enforcement.
CHEYENNE  Misrepresenting a pet as a service animal would be a crime under House Bill 114, sponsored by Rep. Landon Brown, R-Cheyenne.

The bill passed the Senate Travel Committee unanimously Thursday. It has already passed the House.

The issue stems from people claiming their animal is a service animal in order to bring a pet into a place like a restaurant, store or rental property that doesnt allow pets.

That situation can delegitimize actual service dogs and endanger the people the dogs assist, proponents said.

For someone to bring a pet dog into a place is a slap in the face to someone who has worked hours and hours to make sure their dog is trained, said Michelle Woerner, the CEO of K-9s 4 Mobility.

Woerner said in one case, a client who uses a dog for balance took the dog to a grocery store. Another persons pet dog ran up and startled the service dog, causing the client to fall.

Luckily, she was not injured, she said. It took us many weeks  to retrain that dog. This person almost lost her independence because someone had to bring their pet dog in there.

Jill Jensen, who uses a wheelchair and has had a service dog since 2001, has limited use of her hands and legs. She pointed to the distinction between service dogs and pets.

This bill is very important to me  evidently a lot of businesses are allowing pets in, other dogs, where the person is stating their dog is a service dog, she said. Its very disruptive.

Businesses have also been concerned about being forced to accommodate animals that arent actually service dogs.

The word has gotten out that if you present your dog as a service dog, theres not much recourse, said Barbara Stafford of the Wyoming Restaurant and Lodging Association.

And its not limited to just dogs, either.

Julie Gliem of the Cheyenne Landlords Association said people have brought various species of animals into rental units under the guise of service animal.

We have problems with these service animals every week, she said.

Gliem also mentioned the ease of obtaining documentation for service animals.

In one case in Cheyenne this week, she said, a tenant wanted to bring an animal to a property and showed a prescription from a New Jersey doctor. Upon investigation by the landlord, however, it was found the doctor had died two years ago.

In other cases, people simply obtain a cheap certificate from a certificate mill online.

For 20 bucks, your little Fluffy can now be your service animal, she said.

Support animal handlers and owners said one can often get an indication that an animal is actually a service animal by its behavior. They also said people who use legitimate service animals have no problem being able to quickly state what the animal is for and the task it performs.

Under the bill, those who misrepresent their animal as a service animal would be guilty of a misdemeanor and could be fined up to $750.

Other states have enacted similar laws.
A man and woman were critically injured in a shooting late Thursday night in the 900 block of North Jackson Street in Casper, according to a news release from the Casper Police Department.

Both were transported to the Wyoming Medical Center in critical condition. One victim was later flown by helicopter to a hospital in Denver.

Officers responded to a report of a shooting involving two people at 10:30 p.m. Thursday, and found a man and woman, both in their mid 40s, with gunshot wounds in a north Casper house. The two lived at the home and an unidentified third person called 911 to report the shooting, Lt. Chris Hadlock said Friday morning.

No arrests have been made in the shooting and nobody was in custody for questioning, Hadlock said. He said that investigators have identified all the people involved in the shooting and that there was no danger to the community.

Police did not release the victims names, the nature of the shooting or any other details. Hadlock said the department would release information as it became available.

This investigation will likely be ongoing for quite a few days, he said.

Police remained at the home Friday morning and Hadlock said investigators were likely to continue processing the scene for at least a few hours.

Hadlock asked anybody with information about the shooting to call Casper police at 307-235-8278.
In theory, if only occasionally in fact, Congress plays a role when a president wants to initiate military hostilities. Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah thinks Congress should also have a say when a president wants to initiate a trade war.

Lee is a constitutional, meaning an actual, conservative who is eager for Congress to retrieve some of the power it has improvidently, and sometimes unconstitutionally, delegated to presidents. As a step toward correcting Congress self-marginalization, he proposes the Global Trade Accountability Act. It is analogous to the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, which has several times passed the House only to expire in Democratic-controlled Senates.

REINS, which the House again passed Jan. 5, would require Congress to approve any major (at least $100 million cost) regulation. The theory is that if legislators fingerprints, rather than just those of unaccountable and secure bureaucrats, are going to be on such regulations, they will receive more exacting cost-benefit analyses. REINS attempts to somewhat expand Congress governing role as todays sprawling administrative state churns on: Lee notes that last year Congress passed 2,966 pages of laws while federal agencies were churning out 32-times that many (97,110) pages of regulations.

Lees proposed act pertaining to tariffs is part of the Article I Project, a bicameral collaboration among legislators interested in resuscitating Congress powers. It would provide for congressional review of the imposition of duties and other trade measures by the executive branch. No such measures could take effect until both houses of Congress pass a joint resolution of approval.

Lees excellent proposal would, like REINS, leave Congress in a reactive posture, but at least able to react. Speaker Paul Ryan declares that were  meaning Congress  not going to be raising tariffs, but Congress has long since invested presidents with vast discretion regarding tariffs.

Tariffs are taxes imposed at the border. The Constitution says Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises and to regulate commerce with foreign nations. Because the country came into existence insisting on no taxation without representation, the initiative in raising revenue was entrusted to the political institution composed of directly elected representatives proportionate to population: The Constitutions Origination Clause says, All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House.

Although all tariffs raise revenues, not all are primarily for that purpose. Some are intended to protect from competition some industries that the government decides should be favored. So, by repeatedly over a century, beginning with the 1917 Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA), delegating to presidents the power to impose tariffs, Congress has empowered him to raise taxes. Lees proposal would require congressional complicity in this core government function.

Without it, presidents can wield powers akin to those of a wartime commander in chief. Gary Clyde Hufbauer of the Peterson Institute for International Economics notes that the TWEA is the mother of all presidential powers over international trade. In 1933, newly inaugurated President Franklin Roosevelts first act was to invoke a section of the TWEA  never mind that the nation was not at war  to declare a national emergency and order a bank holiday, actions which were, as Hufbauer says, at best remotely related to foreign commerce. Congress promptly extended the TWEA to cover national emergencies declared by presidents.

In 1971, the national emergency invoked to justify President Richard Nixons 10 percent surcharge on imports was the Korean War. It had never been declared and essentially had ended 18 years earlier, but the emergency that was declared when it began had never been formally ended.

Although the TWEAs opening language says it pertains in time of war, the current president could use it with impunity to legitimize his imposition of tariffs, citing ongoing U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, like the TWEA, and six other statutes give presidents vast power to regulate international commerce during an unusual and extraordinary threat, which the current president thinks is the nations current condition. And courts defer to presidents about emergencies.

Congress last passed a declaration of war many wars ago, on June 5, 1942, regarding Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. Since then, Congress has explicitly authorized certain uses of military force, but its ability to inhibit presidential discretion regarding war-making has atrophied. If Congress passes Lees measure, and Trump signs it, it will limit presidential discretion regarding trade wars and will crimp the modern presidencys imperial swagger.
We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some Feb. 17 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.
PHOENIX  Spurred by business interests in the wake of a voter-approved minimum-wage hike, Republican lawmakers approved legislation Thursday that could curtail the ability of citizens to create their own laws.

The most significant provision of HB 2404 would effectively eliminate the ability of groups to use paid circulators by prohibiting payment by the number of signatures gathered.

Paid circulators would still be allowed  but only if compensated on an hourly or other basis. But that removes any incentive for circulators to gather as many signatures as possible.

It reforms the incentive for fraud and forgery, said Rep. Vince Leach, R-Tucson, who is carrying the legislation that was largely crafted by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The measure approved by the House Government Committee on a party-line vote and sent to the full House also imposes a series of new procedural hurdles and gives those who oppose initiatives new rights to try to have them knocked off the ballot before voters get a chance to weigh in.

The legislation also requires strict compliance with all initiative requirements, something Sierra Club lobbyist Sandy Bahr said could result in disqualifying petitions simply because their margins are not the right size.

And it would require any initiative committee that uses paid circulators to purchase a bond of up to $50,000.

Leach, however, did not explain what damages that is designed to cover.

Rep. Ken Clark, D-Phoenix, questioned what happens if companies choose not to write bonds for these unspecified damages.

When Leach did not respond, Rep. Doug Coleman, R-Apache Junction, said theres a simple answer to all of this: use volunteers.

But a series of people who have been involved in the initiative process in the past three decades all testified that is not realistic.

It takes 150,642 valid signatures to put a proposed change to state law on the ballot, a figure based on 10 percent of the people who voted in the last gubernatorial election. But it realistically takes more than 200,000 names given how many signatures are disqualified through the screening process.

Constitutional changes carry an even higher burden of 225,963 valid signatures.

This bill is killing the initiative process by small cuts, said Doris Provine, president of the Arizona Advocacy Network.

She called the changes onerous.

We cant do initiatives with volunteer signature gatherers, Provine said.

Rivko Knox of the League of Women Voters pointed out HB 2404 is one of a series of measures at the Republican-controlled Legislature designed to impose new hurdles on those who want to propose laws, leading many to believe that its goal is, in essence, to make it impossible for initiatives to be a viable method of creating legislation.

The supporters of the legislation who testified were those who unsuccessfully attempted to get voters to kill Proposition 206, which raised the state minimum wage.

That includes the Arizona Restaurant Association, whose chief operating officer Dan Bogert testified in favor of the restrictions, particularly on the use of paid circulators.

He called them professional compensated advocates.

But Scott Cargill of Humane Voters of Arizona pointed out that those who say paid circulators lead to fraud are not proposing to limit the ability of political candidates, including legislators, to hire and pay people by the signature to gather names on their nominating petitions.

Leach said its not the same thing, saying lawmakers can be turned out of office every two years. Cargill sniffed at that distinction.

I havent heard a reason as to why a fraudulent signature for a candidate should be remedied by the fact that the candidate is voted out of office in a couple of years, he said.

Former state Rep. Theresa Ulmer pointed out that many of the people supporting the legislation are members of the state chamber.

A lot of these folks are dark-money folks, she said, referring to efforts by that group to block legislation which would require groups who run so-called independent expenditure campaigns for and against candidates to disclose the source of their cash.

Ulmer, who represented the Yuma area, also chided lawmakers for pushing to curb the ability of citizens to propose laws under what they claim is a desire to ensure the process is fair.

If youre going to erode the constitution, dont stand up and talk about integrity, she said.
A bicyclist was killed Thursday in a crash with a semi-truck in South Tucson.

The man, 60-year-old Robert Lucke of Oro Valley, was pronounced dead at the scene at South Sixth Avenue and East 36th Street, said Det. Sgt. Bryce Gardner, a South Tucson Police Department spokesman.

Shortly before noon, officers responded to the crash and the semi-truck driver remained at the scene and cooperated with detectives, Gardner said.

Investigators learned Lucke and the semi-truck were traveling north on South Sixth Avenue in the curb lane. As the truck was turning east on 36th Street, the bicyclist collided with the truck, said Gardner.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation. South Tucson Police were assisted by Arizona Department of Public Safety and Tohono O'odham Police Department traffic investigators.
A bill that passed unanimously in the North Dakota Senate last week that would allow school districts to adopt innovative learning techniques has received support from education groups in the state.

We call it the education innovation bill. Its the product of a lot of hard work by the people who are here today and many others across the state who are in their schools today," State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler said at a press conference Thursday.

The bipartisan bill, SB2186, passed 44-0 in the Senate Friday, and is now headed to the House.

Baesler said it is "one of the most important education bills to be introduced this session for our students futures.

The idea for the bill originated in 2013 when a group of educators from across the the state met to analyze what other states were doing to promote innovation in learning, Baesler said.

We found that while many schools (in North Dakota) were doing pioneering work, there was a lack of flexibility in state policy, she said.

The bill would allow districts to develop alternative ways of teaching and learning, such as combining classes and offering service learning projects. The bill would allow public schools to offer what charter schools can, Baesler said.

Districts would draft plans after consulting with teachers, parents and community members, and would have to receive approval from their school board. Their plans would then be submitted to the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction.

Those who support the measure say it would reform education in the state, and allow for more flexibility within schools.

As these students have changed in the past 20 years, so have my priorities and what I teach them," said Sen. Nicole Poolman, R-Bismarck, an English teacher at Century High School and primary sponsor of the bill.

As a high school teacher, I am particularly excited about the opportunities we have to redefine the senior year, to reduce our focus on standardized tests, and really look at educating our kids more holistically," she said.

Sen. Erin Oban, D-Bismarck, co-sponsor of the bill, said it's the "perfect of example of what incredible opportunities can be accomplished by disregarding partisanship."

The bill allows teachers, administrators and the school board to have the ability to take up creative education ideas, Oban said.

You shouldnt make any mistake, however, innovation is going on right now, said Nick Archuleta, president of North Dakota United. What this will end up doing, though, is it will release those teachers and those schools districts from really, quite frankly, well-meaning but unneeded bounds around them now.

Under this measure, any district can submit a plan to DPI.

"This bill does not require additional money. It encourages districts to seek better results with the money that they already have," Baesler said.

In addition, it would also put into place a framework, so that over a three to five year period, districts can analyze their results and the state can then determine better use of professional development days and resources, Baesler said.

Our administrators are so excited about this," said Aimee Copas, director of the North Dakota Council of Educational Leaders.

I remember about a year or two years ago, about this time, I stood here with Superintendent Baesler and we talked about the excellent opportunities that were right ahead of us with the passed of (Every Student Succeeds Act), she said. We see now that passed, and the federal government is really handing that education back to the states. And now were asking for the states to hand it back to the local districts, and trust our teachers and administrators to do the right thing.

If the bill passes in the House, Baesler said four districts have already indicated they are interested in filing plans with DPI, including Bismarck, Fargo, Richland County and Northern Cass.
You thought the shenanigans at the TUSD board could not get any weirder?

You thought wrong.

A strange series of events took place this week that could be a precursor to a firing of Superintendent H.T. Sanchez, or the first step in a lawsuit by Sanchez against the district.

Could be both.

First came the sudden appearance Monday afternoon on Tuesdays board agenda of an item, requested by new member Rachael Sedgwick, that could have led to Sanchezs firing (more on this below). After meeting behind closed doors, the board dropped the matter.

Then Wednesday, Sedgwick and member Mark Stegeman, a longtime critic of Sanchez, got a special board meeting scheduled for this coming Tuesday with Sanchezs job, along with that of TUSD general counsel Todd Jaeger, as the main item.

Finally, Thursday afternoon, Sanchezs attorney, Peter Limperis, showed up at the Foothills law office of Rusing & Lopez to have a meeting with attorneys and Stegeman.

This alone is strange. At next Tuesdays meeting, the board can talk for hours behind closed doors if it wants, with the help of attorneys who can hash out the terms of the superintendents departure, if thats what it comes to. That apparently is not soon enough for somebody. Though who exactly wanted the junta is unclear.

According to Stegeman, Sanchez asked Board President Michael Hicks for a meeting. Hicks then asked Stegeman to set it up, said Stegeman.

Stegeman expected Sanchez himself to be there, but only the attorney was  along with board members Kristel Foster and Adelita Grijalva and a TV reporter.

Who set up who? Its unclear. When Stegeman arrived, the other two board members confronted him and followed him into the law office in what Stegeman called a circus.

Grijalva told me from the parking lot, He, without any board approval, is trying to negotiate terms of settlement. He doesnt have any authority.

Stegeman said that wasnt it at all  and he thought he had been set up.

Im not empowered to negotiate on behalf of the board. Im just having a conversation, he said.

Stegeman has been working behind the scenes to build a case for firing Sanchez with cause  meaning because of Sanchezs own behavior or performance. This would allow the district to get out of its contract with Sanchez rather than paying him the rest of it to get rid of him.

Stegeman reached out in recent weeks to my colleague Alexis Huicochea, now an editor but previously a reporter who covered TUSD and Sanchez.

He asked her in an email to confirm that Sanchez made two contradictory statements back in 2014  one an apparent lie about the hiring of board member Grijalvas mother-in-law.

He wanted Huicocheas confirmation in writing, even though the information was laid out in her stories  better to use as ammunition in a firing.

Huicochea refused, pointing out the stories stand on their own.

Theres nothing wrong with a board building a case to fire somebody. You shouldnt fire somebody with no good reasons. But negotiating his departure in private and cutting out other board members is not right, no matter who set it up.

Sedgwick wouldnt tell me when I asked her Thursday afternoon if she knew in advance about the meeting. But she did say, My very strong preference is for this to happen in the open as much as possible.

Shes right  it should be in the open, or at least in a meeting of the full board, not a private meeting.

Sedgwick takes lead

It can be a good thing when a new elected official gets involved right away and takes the job seriously. Sedgwick seems to be doing that. And yet, an unsettling pattern has developed when it comes to the TUSD governing boards newest member.

Sedgwick has been on the board for about six weeks. Even in the weeks before taking office she was making waves by raising her voice and heightening conflict when it didnt seem necessary.

Consider the late-December incident at a downtown Tucson bar, the Highwire Lounge, which didnt strike me as very significant at the time. It really came back to me this week when Sedgwick attempted a last-minute effort to force the board to consider Sanchezs employment.

To be clear, it isnt that the board shouldnt consider firing the superintendent  I tend to favor replacing him  but Sedgwicks Monday demand that it be put on the agenda Tuesday was a precipitous move that reminded me of the Highwire incident.

Sedgwick was at the bar and ordered a special Belgian ale. She was told in advance it was $12 but said later she didnt understand it came in a small snifter, not a pint glass. When the bartender gave the snifter  she said it was six ounces, the manager tells me it holds 12 ounces  she said that wasnt what she wanted and refused to pay.

Thats when bar manager John Hardin said she broke out the words that no official should speak: Do you know who I am?

Sedgwick isnt so sure those were her words. She said she did mention her impending school board membership to warn him that when she posted negative comments about the bar on social media, lots of people would hear it.

It was not the last hostile conversation in the board members recent history. Just last week, at Raging Sage Coffee Shop, Sedgwick met with Sanchez and the districts general counsel, Jaeger. Sanchez ended up leaving early when Sedgwicks tone turned hostile, district spokeswoman Stefanie Boe and Jaeger told me.

There was a tense exchange, Jaeger told me. He indicated he wouldnt be talked to in that way.

Jaeger stayed a few minutes longer, discussing unrelated matters, then left.

That meeting, Sedgwick told me Wednesday, was not the sole reason she introduced the idea of reconsidering the employment of Sanchez and Jaeger to last Tuesdays agenda. It was more like the final straw, she said.

Hes made it very clear that he really does not want to work with me, she said of Sanchez. He wont entertain my questions, respond to my requests, that sort of thing.

So Sedgwick demanded of Board President Hicks on Monday that it be put on Tuesdays agenda.

I put it on because Rachael Sedgwick asked to put it on, Hicks said. It became a contentious communication. So I gave up and said OK.

Again, theres no problem with considering whether a superintendent is doing a good job. But you cant casually put possible termination on the agenda as if its not a huge deal that the community shouldnt be involved in.
Martin Bacal, former Arizona representative on the Democratic National Committee, owner of a Tucson paint factory and mainstay of the Pima County Democratic Party, died suddenly Tuesday, February 14. He was 84.

Its hard to assess the real impact of his work, which was, not always but largely, in the background, said Jo Holt, chair of the Pima County Democratic Party.

He kept us on the straight and narrow and that says a lot for a political party. He was one of the most honest, straightforward people I have ever known, she said. Bacal continued to work voluntarily in the party office every day, and was the county partys corresponding secretary.

Former Pima County Democratic chairman Jeff Rogers said Bacal was a mentor of generations of Democratic Party leaders.

Every day, for decades, Bacal made sure the county party paid its bills, kept its mailing list up-to-date and followed the rules, Rogers said.

He applied those rules consistently, said Rogers, even when he didnt like the candidates who filed for office.

There were times we thought we had to push the limits, but Martin would say This is a primary. We have to be fair to everyone.

Bacal never ran for office, but he helped two members of his immediate family do so. His wife, Eva, served on the Tucson Unified School District for 12 years, and his daughter Susan is serving her fifth term as a Pima County Justice of the Peace.

Anytime I didnt understand something about politics or government, I could call him up and ask him and he loved to explain, said Susan Bacal.

Bacal would read the dictionary and the encyclopedia, for fun, said son Rick, and was encyclopedic in his knowledge of history, politics and just about anything but popular culture.

He knew a lot of things. I know, because I lost a lot of bets, said Eva Bacal.

He was a person of opinions, but he always listened, she said.

His wife said Bacal loved hosting his long-running show on Access Tucson, where he interviewed Democratic candidates. He always made them interesting and you know how hard that is.

Bacal moved to Tucson from New York City with his parents in 1934. Bacals father was a chemist seeking a better climate for his lung disease. He opened the first paint factory in the Southwest, said Martin Bacals son Rick, a local defense attorney.

Pioneer Paint and Varnish Co., just south of Broadway near Interstate 10, was a familiar landmark, with a giant paint can on the roof.

Bacal was a dissertation-shy of his masters degree in psychology from Columbia University when his father died in 1963, and Martin returned to run the business, which he sold in 1993.

Rick Bacal said his fathers political involvement began with his extreme fondness and support of Mo Udall.

He worked most of the long-term congressmans re-election campaigns and was campaign chairman for one of them, he said.

As national committeeman, he led the states delegation to the national conventions and helped shape the party platforms.

A Democrat in a red state, Bacal often supported losing candidates but was never discouraged, said daughter Susan. Even with the recent election, he said Its going to be OK. Well figure it out. It was never the end of the world.

Eva Bacal said the family suspects he died of a heart attack, though he had no history of heart problems. He was fine Monday and gone Tuesday. That was good for him but not for the rest of us. It was too soon.

In addition to his wife, son Rick and daughter Susan, Bacal is survived by son David; daughters Katy of San Diego, and Emily of Phoenix; a sister, Andrea of San Diego, and six grandchildren.

Services are at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17, at Congregation Or Chadash, 3939 N. Alvernon Way, followed by burial at Evergreen Cemetery.
A protest in downtown Tucson against President Trumps immigration policies escalated Thursday evening. Three officers sustained minor injuries in clashes with demonstrators; no one was taken to a hospital, said Sgt. Pete Dugan, a Tucson police spokesman. One officer was hit in the face and another in the back, he said; he wasnt sure how the third was injured.

Three men were arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault on a peace officer, Dugan said. A woman was arrested on suspicion of obstructing, and of failing to identify herself, Dugan said. All four will be booked into Pima County jail, he said. Their names were not immediately released.

Dugan said the police office of professional standards will investigate, after protesters complained about officers actions.

Tucson Police Lt. Jennifer Turner said the protest began at 4:30 p.m., in front of the federal building on West Congress Street at Granada Avenue, and by 6 p.m., included about 80 people. At that point, an officer issued an emergency call for assistance, she said.

Dugan gave this account:

The protest was peaceful until many started to enter the roadway, disrupting traffic on Congress. An officer was struck from behind and when officers tried to take a suspect into custody, members of the crowd surrounded the officers, moving closer. Some protesters locked arms and got in front of a police vehicle. Police used pepper spray to disperse the crowd.

Unfortunately for those trying to peacefully protest, police had to step in when officers were assaulted and the investigation was obstructed, Dugan said.

Protesters, who said they were demonstrating against ICE raids that began last week, disputed police accounts of the protest.

A protest organizer, Stteffanny Cott, said police overreacted to a peaceful demonstration. Cott is an organizer with Lucha Unida de Padres y Estudiantes (United Struggle of Parents and Students), which is an immigrants rights action committee.

This was provocation on the side of the police, Cott said, saying a police SUV blocked the route protesters intended to use between the federal building and their Armory Park destination. She said marchers were going around the police vehicle, and that the officer was revving the engine and the SUV nudged a Brown Beret demonstrator, David Leon.

Cott said when Leon was taken into custody protestors screamed to police "let him go, let him go." She said an officer pushed elderly women to the ground, and pepper sprayed the women and two young girls were also hit by the spray.

Rolande Baker, 65, a retired Sunnyside Unified School District educator who routinely participates in demonstrations, said she is in shock. She said she never has had confrontations with police during marches.

Baker, who was pepper sprayed, said she saw a young man thrown to the ground, handcuffed and officers had their knees in his back. "I didn't see him do anything wrong," Baker said.

"Another elderly woman was thrown on the road and her head hit the ground. I went to help her when she and I were pepper sprayed," Baker said. "There were some marchers on the sidewalk and some were in the street," she said.

"We have been demonstrating and marching for two years, and we never have had an issue with the police," Cott said. "This is appalling."
A Tucson police officer reinstated to the department after being fired for not paying for a burrito was disciplined by the state agency that oversees law enforcement certification, officials said.

The Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board accepted an agreement with Jose Olivares on Wednesday, and issued a retroactive suspension of his state certification, according to AZPOST documents.

Olivares was fired from the Tucson Police Department last February after he failed to pay for a burrito during an October 2015 visit to Viva Burrito, according to AZPOST documents.

The day after the incident, one of Viva Burritos employees told a police lieutenant what had happened, leading to a department investigation.

Olivares told investigators he forgot to pay, but security footage from the restaurant showed him reaching toward his pocket at least four different times, but never producing any payment, AZPOST documents show.

The investigation determined Olivares committed theft while in uniform and on duty, and he was fired.

Olivares appealed his termination with the citys Civil Service Commission, which ruled there wasnt just cause for the type of discipline imposed.

He was reinstated to the department after serving an 80-hour suspension, city records show.

His suspension with AZPOST was considered served between Feb. 26 and March 16, 2016, according to AZPOST documents.

Olivares is on full-duty at TPD, working in the departments Alternative Response Callback unit, according to a department spokesman.
The Senate Human Services Committee gave its blessing to an amended version of the contentious medical marijuana implementation bill Thursday.

The committee gave a do pass recommendation late Thursday afternoon to Senate Bill 2344, the legislation that amends the initiated measure legalizing marijuana for medical purposes that North Dakota voters approved in Novembers election.

The committees changes included inserting dried leaves or flowers of the plant of the genus cannabis in a combustible delivery form into the definition of usable marijuana, which would allow marijuana to be smoked. The bills introduction late last month drew frustration from medical marijuana supporters in part because it would have only allowed liquid or pill forms.

But the amended bill includes a requirement that a physician authorizing marijuana smoking to attest that no other form would be effective in providing the patient therapeutic or palliative benefits.

The bill still must go to the Senate Appropriations Committee before it gets a final vote, said Human Services Committee Chairwoman Sen. Judy Lee, R-West Fargo.

The Compassionate Care Act passed with almost 64 percent of North Dakota voters supporting it. But legislative leaders have said better regulations were needed.

Sen. Merrill Piepkorn, D-Fargo, voted against the amended bill Thursday, though he said he appreciated the work various state agencies put into it. He said many people wont be able to afford the fees included in the legislation.

I believe its the states responsibility to enact what the majority  intended, he said.

But Sen. David Clemens, R-West Fargo, worried that without the passage of SB2344, the state would revert back to the initiated measure, which didnt include language to decriminalize the product.

If it reverts back to the initiated measure, they are not going to be able to take part in it, he said.
MINOT -- It seems that the Ward County State's Attorney's Office interpretation of Marsy's Law has resulted in difficulty for lawyers trying to prepare a defense for their clients.

Marsy's Law, passed by voters in November, is now part of the state constitution and assures victim rights.

Raissa Carpenter, a public defender for accused robber and attempted murderer Javontez Barnes, told North Central District Court Judge Richard Hagar Thursday that the state's attorney's office claimed Marsy's Law is the reason it turned over documents in the Barnes case with the names and addresses of alleged victims heavily redacted. She said public defender offices across the state have been consulted and no other office has reported any changes in the discovery process or that state's attorney's offices have refused to identify victims in discovery documents. Carpenter said she needs to know the names of the victims and their addresses to begin preparing a defense.

Ward County Deputy State's Attorney Kelly Dillon told Hagar that her office wants guidance regarding the law. She said Marsy's Law is now part of the state constitution and the state's attorney's office is required to enforce it, even if they didn't support the law. Dillon told Hagar they want a court order compelling them to turn over the names of victims and addresses to the defense. Dillon said she also wants an order that defense attorneys cannot turn over physical copies of the discovery documents to defendants, as the state's attorney's office doesn't want those documents or victim names passed along among inmates at the Ward County Jail.

Carpenter said the state's proposal would produce "absurd and ludicrous results." There are so many documents in the case that it would take many more hours than practical for her to show the evidence to Barnes one document at a time in a meeting room at the jail. Carpenter said the state's redaction of victim names has already resulted in increased costs for the people of North Dakota because of the salaries of lawyers, the judge and sheriff's deputies who were required to attend the continued hearing on Wednesday. Carpenter also said Barnes has a right to physical copies of the documents while he is helping to prepare his defense.

Dillon told the defense that certain victims have exercised their rights under Marsy's Law to have their identities protected. Carpenter said the state's attorney's office has not indicated which of the people involved have specifically invoked their rights under Marsy's Law. Carpenter said her understanding of Marsy's Law is that the names would have to be released upon an open records request by a general member of the public. Certainly, they must be released to parties in the case, like Barnes. Carpenter also told the judge that it isn't clear whether there are any actual victims in the case or that a crime has been committed until a judge has made a specific ruling that a crime or crimes took place.

Hagar told Eric Baumann of the public defender's office, who was there to provide advice to Carpenter, that he should schedule a meeting with Ward County State's Attorney Roza Larson to discuss her interpretation of Marsy's Law.

Hagar said he would take the information he received at Thursday's hearing under advisement and issue a ruling on Carpenter's motion to compel discovery at a later date.

Hagar also continued a planned preliminary hearing on the Barnes case to a later date.

Barnes, 24, is being held on $1 million bond in the Ward County Jail. He is accused of attempting to rob the Minot Cash Wise Grocery at gunpoint on Jan. 7 and later that day burglarizing a Minot residence, shooting and paralyzing a young man and pistol whipping and injuring a young woman at the residence. Barnes is also charged with four counts of reckless endangerment for allegedly shooting into an apartment in the 1800 block of 2nd Street SE on Jan. 4 while four people were present.

Randolph Garbutt, 26, is charged with robbery, burglary and accomplice to attempted murder case in the Jan. 7 incident and is also being held on $1 million bond.
OPINION: "Im sure you will see, as I have, that for all the 'God talk' that Christian nationalists throw around, their attitudes and actions are starkly antithetical to the gospel of love and inclusion for all advocated by the Jesus they claim to believe in," writes Rev. Gary Nelson, a form
PHOENIX  The question of whether San Tan Valley residents get a chance to incorporate is now in the hands of Gov. Doug Ducey.

On a 28-1 margin, the state Senate on Thursday gave final approval to legislation which removes the ability of Florence and Apache Junction to veto an incorporation vote. Only Sen. Lisa Otondo, D-Yuma, voted against the measure.

The House had voted 40-20 last week to approve HB 2088.

There was no immediate response from the governor on what he might do with the measure.

Even if Ducey signs it, that does not guarantee there will be a new town in northeast Pinal County. Backers will still have to get the support of at least half the people who show up at the polls to decide the issue.

The measure is aimed at a provision in state law that appears limited to Pinal County.

It gives existing cities of up to 5,000 a planning area that extends three miles beyond its current boundaries. It lets the existing city veto any new incorporations within that area.

For larger cities, that veto right extends out six miles.

The issue here is that a proposal to incorporate San Tan Valley sketches out a map that comes within the planning areas of Florence. And, to date, Florence has failed to give its permission.

HB 2088 creates an exception to that veto right if the area to be incorporated has at least 15,000 people and the city objecting is smaller.

That clearly applies to San Tan Valley with an estimated population of about 110,000, depending on how the map is drawn. Florence has a population of 26,000.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem described the U.S. border with Mexico as a war zone last year when she sent dozens of state National Guard troops there. Noem said theyd be on the front lines of stopping drug smugglers and human traffickers. But newly released records from the National Guard show that in their two-month deployment, the South Dakota troops didnt seize any drugs and sometimes went days without encountering any migrants at all. Noem justified the deployment and a widely criticized private donation to fund as a state emergency because of drugs making their way across the southern border to South Dakota. But the records cast doubt on whether the deployment was effective in addressing that.
Rick Astley for BMG by PipHe retired from the music industry years ago, but '80s hitmaker Rick Astley is back with 50, his first U.S. release since 1993, and his first U.S. tour in decades. And don't start with the "Rickrolling" jokes: Rick credits that online phenomenon -- which tricked people into watching the video for his hit "Never Gonna Give You Up" -- for drawing kids who weren't even born during his heyday to his current tour.

"That's one of the things that stops me in my tracks sometimes," he tells ABC Radio. "I usually joke about it and say, 'Did you get your mom's tickets?'"

Without Rickrolling, he adds, "There's a certain generation of people who would have no idea who I was. And so I have to be kinda thankful for [it]. It's done a lot of great things in terms of making that song [part of] people's consciousness."

But Rick's tour isn't just nostalgia: 50, released last year to mark his 50th birthday, hit #1 in his home country of England. Not bad for a record he made by himself at home.

"[I] didn't have any record company saying, 'We need this, we need that,'" he says. "And I think that's been the healthiest experience I've had with making music, because I haven't done it for anybody else. I've done it for me, really."

Rick initially retired to raise his daughter, now in her twenties. So, what does she think of her old man now?

"She's outright told me on numerous occasions she's really proud of me," he says. "And to be honest, out of everybody in the world, my daughter and my wife are the most important two people to be OK with what I'm doing. If they're OK with it, then I'm OK with it, y'know what I mean?

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
"The Victor Leonov, armed with an array of intelligence gathering equipment used to intercept communications and analyze U.S. Navy sonar capability, later traveled within 30 miles off the Connecticut coast near a submarine base earlier this week.

Its lawful [and] similar to operations we do around the world, Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters Friday.

The Russian spy ship left her homeport in the Barents Sea near Norway, part of Russias northern fleet, around New Years Day, according to American defense officials. Following a port call in Jamaica, the Russian ship then began its voyage north along the east coast of the United States.

The deployment of the Russian intelligence-gathering ship was likely planned for months before it set sail in early January, according to U.S. defense officials. They said it apparently was not tied to the Obama administrations Dec. 29 order that Moscow shut down two of its vacation properties, which the U.S. government said were used to intercept American communications. One was on New York's Long Island and the other was at Marylands Eastern Shore.

Its the first time the Viktor Leonov has appeared off the east coast of the United States since April 2015. The ship was spotted in Havana Harbor in January 2015 as the Obama administration eased relations with Cuba. U.S." Foxnews

-----------------

This is fun for the feebleminded warmongers of the world . All major powers, ALL MAJOR POWERS operate big, roomy cargo type ships as SIGINT collect platforms around the world. WE DO IT as Captain, USN Jeff Davis told the world from the Pentagon. Do the names USS Liberty and USS Pueblo mean anything to you? Do they strike a bell?

This ship, the Russian Navy vessel Viktor Leonov is engaged in lawful and non-threatening routine SIGINT collection operations. If we had any sense we would invite them into Norfolk for a liberty port call. The restaurants, bars and whores down there could used the business.

The Viktor Leonov is "armed?" with a couple of anti-aircraft machine guns. I, personally, feel menaced. pl

BTW, the little guy in this picture is a sister ship of Viktor Leonov. The big guy is USS Texas.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/02/17/russian-spy-ship-loitering-near-worlds-largest-naval-base-officials-say.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vishnya-class_intelligence_ship
Help India!

Lucknow, (IANS): Hours after the Supreme Court ordered the Uttar Pradesh police to file an FIR against Transport Minister Gayatri Prajapati in an alleged rape case, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav of shielding the tainted minister all these years.

Vijay Bahadur Pathak, state general secretary of the BJP, said the order of the apex court not only showed the mirror to the Chief Minister and the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) it also vindicated that there was complete anarchy in the state under the SP regime.

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It is not only sad but shocking that a rape accused not only made it to the cabinet but has also enjoyed complete protection and patronage of Akhilesh Yadav who misses no opportunity to portray himself as a Mr Clean, the BJP leader said while questioning how did Gayatri get ticket this time and has been out of the long hands of law.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said many times that police stations in the state have become homes to SP goons, the state general secretary said, adding that the people had now got more proof on how the SP government was functioning in the last five years. The fact that the Chief Minister kickstarted the state assembly election campaign from Prajapatis constituency also speaks volumes, he added.

The Supreme Court on Friday, in a matter pertaining to a petition by a rape victim had ordered the UP police to lodge an FIR against Prajapati, whose acts of omission and commission during his tenure as the states Mining Minister was also under scrutiny. Known for his proximity to SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, he was initially detested by the 43-year-old Chief Minister but their relationship seems to have turned a new leaf of late.

He was sacked by the Akhilesh Yadav last year from his cabinet only to reinstate him within days. The BJP has also demanded that the rape victim be provided adequate security by the police.
On the face of it, teaching looks to be the dream job for many. Six-hour days with hour-long lunch breaks and the benefits of 13 weeks holiday across the academic year. Yet an in-depth analysis shows that is not the case as the United Kingdom's Education system looks to be at breaking point.

Short days and long holidays are a pipe dream

A realistic post-mortem of a teacher's working day shows that their hours are elongated further than numerous people outside of the education system realise. The staff car park is usually heaving by 8:00 am and that continues to be the case until at least 5:00 pm.

With added pressure on recording data, annotating planning and children's work and assessing progress, those nine hours tend not to be long enough to complete the day's tasks. Many teachers will still spend two to three hours of their evening keeping on top of their workload.

Sunday evenings also tend to be a non-event for school staff. With a week of teaching the future generation ahead of them, the organisation of the next five days becomes critical. The extended working hours progress into half-terms as teachers use numerous days of their 'holiday' to update working walls and the classroom environment.

Teachers heading towards an extinct species

The pressure for many is proving to be too much.

Back in October 2016, school's minister Nick Gibb stated that 30% of the profession had left within five years of qualifying. Many experts are now claiming this figure is closer to half, with teachers willing to park over four years of hard work training for the role in the pursuit of a happier position.

The concern for the general public is the effect such a movement has on the quality of teaching within schools.

The Government claims that their numerous adjustments are based around a better education, though the end outcome suggests that schools are losing some of their best facilitators.

Local authorities are now seeking support from abroad as schools find recruitment increasingly difficult. With that comes the obvious problems of language barriers and streamlined understanding of the British education system, whilst the movement of Brexit makes the task of transfers harder to envisage.

The domino effect of poor wellbeing

Pressure to achieve results and prove progress comes from the top. Government agendas are phased down to Headteachers who have to provide data relating to the quality provision of their staff to school governors. With high targets to reach, such intensity is passed down to teachers with stresses and strains apparent across many schools.

With a seeming domino effect spreading from the top to the bottom, it must be considered how such pressures effect the Wellbeing of the children. They are forced to work hard and make progress in numerous areas, pushed to the limit in many circumstances. It begs the question, is it all worthwhile or does education in the United Kingdom require a complete overhaul?
I have not been updating this blog for years, but Im keeping it around because it has many of my posts from a decade ago! For the moment, heres why you c...

1 year ago
Does anyone else remember watching that stunning confrontation between Nigel Farage and Tony Blair in 2005 at the European Parliament? The former UKIP leader slammed the former Labour prime minister for failing to secure a rebate for Britain in the same way Mrs Thatcher did in 1984.

To give credit where it's due, Blair is brilliant at dodging questions. He is a master. A skilled performer and an amazing salesman who could still sell the New Labour brand to Britain that year and secure a third term victory for the centre-left party.

And so, rather than addressing Farage's accurate points about the rebate disaster, Blair rebuked:

'This is 2005, not 1945.'

This is 2017, not 1997

What was he implying? That UKIP want to tear apart the 'progressive' project that was the European Union back then and that the Eurosceptic party were a bunch of nationalists and xenophobes. It's a familiar tune, one that we have witnessed the former Labour leader spout today.

It's ironic that the advice he gave the UKIP MEP then now applies to him today. Someone now needs to remind Mr. Blair that this is not 1997. In fact, it's not even 2005 like it was when he slammed the Eurosceptic leader. Back then, New Labour dealt with the European question by promising the British people a referendum on the euro, thereby devolving power to the people to decide Britain's future in the European Union, rather than a barmy centre-right party tearing themselves apart over the issue.

With a brilliant spin machine behind the brand under the command of Alistair Campbell, they sold Britain a pack of lies that this nation could lead Europe and that EU membership was progressive, whilst the Conservatives obsessed over that single issue.

Blair's Open Europe speech

That was then, this is now. That is why Mr. Blair's speech to Open Europe today was as irrelevant as the former Labour prime minister himself.

The pro-EU group are entitled to campaign for Britain to stay in the Single Market, that's democracy, but to sell themselves out to the man who took us into Iraq on a pack of lies not only alienates those who backed Brexit, but the Remain camp too.

His speech stunk of the same arrogance he had back in the New Labour years. These referendums he promised on the euro and then the 2004 EU Constitution never happened.

Like the skilled salesman he is, he sold people lies to win power and only further eroded people's confidence in our system. Now that Brexit is increasingly becoming a reality, he wants to reverse that decision because he believes the British people were misinformed about what leaving the European Union meant.

If that's the case, what happened to the British people when they voted for New Labour in 1997, 2001 and 2005? Let's remind Blair of the numerous lies he told then? An end to boom and bust, that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and that there was an endless supply of money to throw at our public services.

Blair's double standards

So when Mr. Blair stood there today and labelled the people that brought him to power as stupid, the reactions on social media afterwards were more than justified.

The European Union has changed since he was in power and the project is under threat. We are leaving and the days of sucking up to European leaders is over whilst gradually integrating us into the superbloc by the back door. We voted for Brexit because of his decisions.

So when we listened to that man's speech today, one could not help but wonder whether he remembered that rebuke he made to Mr. Farage in 2005. The same advice now applies to him. The latter achieved his ultimate ambition, which the former never did. That's why there are books written about how Blair failed to achieve his legacy. As Cameron once said: 'He was the future once.' But not anymore. He belongs in the past. Mr. Blair, practice what you preach.
Court-martialed Army soldier , had a 35-year sentence cut to a bit more than time already served after a 2013 conviction sent the transgender soldier to United States Disciplinary Barracks (USDB) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for violating the Espionage Act.

What she did

Now known as Pvt Chelsea manning, while serving in the US Army sent a massive number of classified documents to WikiLeaks. Her sentence has been commuted by President Obama.

Since her sentence was commuted, she will be released as soon as the paperwork and process of finding her a place to move to (perhaps a half-way house) and other normal procedures are completed.

It takes about 3 months to process any commutation order so when she finally leaves prison, she will have completed approximately seven years of her 35-year sentence.

Why commute?

One reason for the commutation is that Manning is now transgender, essentially a woman being kept in a mens prison where she has attempted suicide multiple times. USDB is the Army's only Class III or maximum-security prison. It is possible that under the rules and regulations this is the only Army prison where an enlisted person serving more than 10 years for a national security-related crime can be kept. Another reason might be that although the embassy cables and other messages were very embarrassing to the government, there hasnt been any claim that anyone was killed due to the release of the classified information.

What Bradley Manning did was not comparable to the much more damaging information exposed by Snowden.

Military authorities are very upset with this decision by President Obama in the last days of his term.

Commuting a sentence is a form of clemency which involves reducing the sentence but not restoring the persons rights. Unlike a pardon which actually wipes out the original conviction, a commutation only reduces the sentence and doesnt necessarily release the person from prison as it will with Manning.

Commuting a death sentence, for example, doesnt reduce the time the person is sentenced to prison which would usually be life, it just stops the execution forever.

A president can pardon any crime against the United States except in cases of impeachment. There is no appeal to an act of clemency and it is important to note that there is no actual obligation for a president to explain the reasons he or she granted clemency.

A reprieve is another form of clemency but it only delays the start of a sentence - for example, a person might get a reprieve or delay if they are undergoing some serious medical treatment.

Why the turnaround?

This and the actual pardon of retired Marine General James E. Cartwright are only unusual because under President Obama there was a massive crackdown on leaks - his Justice Department having brought more such cases in eight years than all previous presidents combined.

This administration has made use of The Espionage Act either 8 or 10 times depending on exactly how the legal process is parsed but either one is by far the most serious action any President has taken to punish anyone who leaks information.

Julian Assange

It was reported that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange apparently sent a message to President Obama that he would surrender to the US for trial if Mannings sentence was pardoned (as opposed to commuted). The US government hasnt requested extradition of 45-year-old Mr Assange, who has been living in the basement of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to keep from being extradited to Sweden for preliminary investigation in an underage sex-related case.

He has been trapped in the Embassy for years despite having not even being charged with any crime any place and having been granted political asylum in Ecuador - British police are preventing him from travelling to that country but he is technically in the country because he is in the embassy. The United Nations has ruled his imprisonment a human rights violation and demanded his release.
Since the 20th January Donald Trump has overshadowed the news. We have heard about his signing of anti-abortion legislation and the sacking of his legal experts over disagreements to the travel ban of those from Muslim nations.

Trump has been invited on a state visit to the UK hosted by the Queen. Most presidents have been in office over a year before the invitation for a state visit has been made. This is clearly because of the British government's belief that it is necessary to keep a special relationship between American and the UK due to Brexit.

The Speaker last week made a statement that Donald Trump should not be allowed to speak in front of the commons on his state visit. Although many MPs agreed some believed that this remark was higher than the speaker's wage bracket, there have also been many protests across the Uk including an online petition which has been one of the largest online petitions ever presented to parliament.

Immigration policy

So far the world is shocked by Donald Trumps immigration policy. One of Trump's campaign promises was to build a wall between the Mexican and American border with Mexico paying. This is due to Trump's belief that there are too many illegal immigrants in America, most of whom have come from Mexico.

Not long after stepping into office Trump imposed a travel ban on 7 Muslim countries, including people who had already received visas and those already flying to America. The courts have now lifted this ban stating it breaks many rights and is illegal. There have also been announcements for new vetting measures on holding suspected terrorist.

One other shocking act is the 120-day suspension of the US refugee administration programme. It has now been announced that America will take in Christian refugees from the Middle East. Although this is better than nothing, it is creating a further divide and the belief that it is only Christians suffering and not other Islamic followers or those of any other religion.

Trump style

Judgments can be made on Trump's style of government, which is similar to his campaign. It is aggressive, reactive and improvisatory. It appears that Trump does not like being restricted by advisors as well as the house and senate. Positions for advisors are still waiting to be filled and Trump has already fired some of the officials appointed by the Obama administration. It should be noted that tTump did not run his revised torture policy past defence appointment appointees, although he did get advice on the effectiveness of torture techniques.

The way in which Trump appears to run his government does seem similar to Ronald Regan. Trump wants to rekindle the relationship between Britain and America just as Thatcher and Regan did.

Some have noted that Trump seems to be following in the path of Obama with a distance from congress. One other style that can be noted is one similar to Nixon who had an obsession with leaks. Trump has stated many times the media is out to get him showing a very paranoid style of leadership. These three styles could, however, role into one unique style which Trump does appear to be adopting.

Shock and controversy

Overall Trump's first few weeks as president has caused much shock and controversy. It has caused many predictions as to what the rest of his term can follow. However, it is too soon to be able to accurately predict this. The first 100 hundred days of a presidency is traditionally when most legislation is created. Therefore it is no surprise Trump has been so active. Despite this, he has still been unclear in what his policies will produce and follow.
Former Prime Minister and integral part of New Labour, Tony Blair, has accused a 'debilitated Labour party' of facilitating a disastrous Brexit. In a recent speech, Blair urged anti-Brexit MPs to band together to block the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union.

'Labour are inadequate opposition'

Blair, vehemently pro-Europe, stated that Labour is providing 'inadequate opposition' to Theresa May's Brexit plans. Addressing the press at Bloomberg, the former Prime Minister said: 'The current weakness of Labour is the facilitator of Theresa May's hard Brexit.

I hate to say it. Corbyn has not provided adequate opposition to parliament. He has been indecisive and uncommitted over key Brexit issues'. Blair continued, dismissing accusations that blocking Brexit would be undemocratic, arguing instead that when people realise the 'misery and pain' that Brexit would cause people would change their mind.

'Where is the pressure on the government and Theresa May? Why is there no interrogation of discourse? The pressure is only one way,' Blair stated. When asked if he was planning to use his anti-Brexit rhetoric to leverage his way back into politics, Blair said that he wouldn't be setting up a new party on central ground. Further, Blair claimed that the SNP's demands of Scottish independence had been given more credibility due to Westminister's refusal to consult the devolved nations over Brexit.

Blair urged remain supporters to 'rise up in defence of what we believe' before claiming that leave voters were not fully aware of the implications of Brexit. Naturally, such comments have drawn scorn from Westminster. An anonymous Conservative backbencher told the Guardian: 'Blair's attempts to hijack Brexit are a last ditch attempt to cling to relevancy.

The Labour party leader has supported Brexit, Blair is attempting to thwart democracy'.

Prime Minister Theresa May intends to trigger article 50 by the end of March, but Tony Blair believes that the British people should be given another chance to vote on whether the United Kingdom should leave the European Union when the final terms are agreed upon.
"I do not ever wish to call a court prejudiced, so I will not call it prejudiced and we have not had a choice yet, however courts appear to be so political," trump stated. "It would be so excellent for our justice system if they had the ability to check out a declaration and do exactly what's right which's to do with the security of our country, which is so essential.".

' I believe it's unfortunate, I believe it's an unfortunate day, he stated

"I believe our security is at threat today and it will be at threat up until such time as ... we get exactly what we are entitled to as residents of this nation.".

The part of the United States Code he checked out defines that when the president "discovers that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be damaging to the interests of the United States, he might by pronouncement ... suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as nonimmigrants or immigrants, or trouble the entry of aliens any constraints he might consider to be proper.".

He cautioned that up until the problem was fixed, the country's security would be at danger. "We remain in a location where, let's simply state, they are analyzing things in a different way from most likely 100 percent of individuals in this space," Trump stated. At the conference with authorities chiefs, he showed he would be prepared to slam the appeals court if it ruled versus his administration.

The DOJ is battling to reverse a Seattle judge's choice to stop the questionable order that suspended the United States refugee program and migration from 7 primarily Muslim nations: Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Somalia and Sudan. A choice might come at whenever.

At a conference with regional constables and cops chiefs, the president stated he provided the migration order "for the security of our country, the security of our people, so that individuals can be found in who aren't going to do us damage."

Tuesday's hearing

Throughout Tuesday's hearing, Washington state Lawyer General Noah Purcell argued that Trump project declarations about a Muslim restriction revealed inequitable intent.

Trump has actually waded into the legal fight prior to, mostly on Twitter. He just recently called the judge who stopped the order, James Robart, a "so-called judge" and previously Wednesday cautioned on Twitter that, "If the United States does not win this case as it so certainly should, we can never ever have the security and security to which we are entitled.".

" There are declarations that we have actually priced quote in our grievance that are rather stunning proof of intent to victimize Muslims, considered that we have not even had any discovery yet to learn exactly what else may have been stated in personal," Purcell stated.

'A bad high school trainee would comprehend this,' he stated.

Trump stated he paid attention to the judges Tuesday and, while promising not to comment particularly on the hearing, stated: "I paid attention to a lot of things last night on tv that was disgraceful, it was disgraceful.".

President Trump on Wednesday brought the legal conflict over his migration executive order into the court of popular opinion, utilizing a Washington police address to install an immediate defense of the procedure and prompt the federal courts to restore it.

Fans of Trump's order state it will assist keep America safe from terrorists planning to penetrate the United States from fear hotspots that typically have insufficient vetting treatments. Challengers have actually argued it is prejudiced and unconstitutional-- declaring that it is a "Muslim restriction.".

He spoke after a hearing late Tuesday throughout which the Justice Department provided its arguments to the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
About Me

I am an urban/commercial district revitalization and transportation/mobility advocate and consultant and a principal in BicyclePASS, a bicycle facilities systems integration firm, based in Washington, DC. Urban economic competitiveness is dependent on efficient transit and mixed use, compact places. Therefore, I end up writing mostly about mobility and urban design. While I am based in and write about Washington, DC issues, I try to write so that "universal lessons" are evident in the entries.

View my complete profile
Over the last year and a half, there's been no love lost between Donald Trump and the mainstream media. With just two days until he's sworn in as president, Trump is still not happy with how some news outlets are covering his incoming administration.

Trump on Twitter

It started when Donald Trump announced his campaign for president, referring to illegal immigrants as "rapists" and "murderers." News outlets and reporters were quick to criticize Trump for his comments, a theme that would continue until president day. Due to the coverage, Trump would go on to label the press as "dishonest" that were full of "terrible people." Since Election Day, the billionaire real estate mogul has amped up his criticism of the media, especially after recent reports linked Trump back to Russia, with CNN accusing Russian operatives of planning to blackmail the president-elect.

As seen on his offical Twitter account on January 18, Trump has decided to continue to attack on the press.

Totally biased @NBCNews went out of its way to say that the big announcement from Ford, G.M., Lockheed & others that jobs are coming back...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2017

to the U.S., but had nothing to do with TRUMP, is more FAKE NEWS. Ask top CEO's of those companies for real facts. Came back because of me!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2017

"Totally biased @NBCNews went out of its way to say that the big announcement from Ford, G.M., Lockheed & others that jobs are coming back to the U.S., but had nothing to do with TRUMP, is more FAKE NEWS," Donald Trump wrote on Twitter early Wednesday morning.

"Ask top CEO's of those companies for real facts," Trump continued, before adding, "Came back because of me!"

"Bayer AG has pledged to add U.S. jobs and investments after meeting with President-elect Donald Trump, the latest in a string..." @WSJ  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2017

Donald Trump then posted a headline on Twitter from a Wall Street Journal article, titled, "Bayer AG has pledged to add U.S.

jobs and investments after meeting with President-elect Donald Trump, the latest in a string." In his fourth and final tweet as of press time, the former host of "The Apprentice" decided to take on the "TODAY" show and express his frustration. "No wonder the Today Show on biased @NBC is doing so badly compared to its glorious past," Trump wrote, while also stating, "Little credibility!"

No wonder the Today Show on biased @NBC is doing so badly compared to its glorious past. Little credibility!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2017

Next up

While Donald Trump and the news media don't appear to see eye to eye, both sides will be forced to work something out over the next four years.

On Friday, Trump will make his way to the nation's capital and will be sworn in as the next commander in chief on Inauguration Day. As the president-elect prepares to head into the White House, over 100,000 protesters are expected to be in Washington, D.C. to voice their opposition.
A Florida man, #Mark Barnett created what he thought was the perfect get-rich-quick scheme encompassing hand-made bombs, planned trades in the share market and the superstore #Target.

But it didn't play out as he hoped at all

Instead the 48-year-old man was arrested and accused Friday of possession of a #destructive device that could affect commerce, the US Attorneys Office in the Middle District of Florida released in a broadcast statement Thursday.

The previously convicted felon faces a maximum of a 10 year-sentence in prison. Barnett is presently being held in custody at the #Marion County Jail as he has been charged for failing the terms of his probation.

He will be tried in a court of law in the coming weeks or months.

A confidential source to carry out the attack and wreak death

According to an affidavit filed by the State, Barnett offered a confidential source $10,000 to #plant bombs in Target stores in an area spanning New York to Florida along the east coast of the United States. He generated around 10 of the bombs himself, camouflaged in food packets and grocery boxes, which he sent to his source on the 9th of February.

Barnett then asked the source to place the numerous #explosive devices on the superstore's shelves, dotted around the products. He also disguised the source's identity with a bag of gloves, a facial mask, and a cover for the license plate.

Barnett hypothesized that #Target's stock value would fall after the bombs exploded, allowing him to inexpensively purchase Target shares preceding an eventual rebound in prices. Rather than putting the bombs on Target shelves, however, the source gave them up to the police.

It was determined that the devices were capable of #causing serious injury, or perhaps death to nearby persons upon explosion.

A successive investigation of Barnetts property by police revealed components found in the explosive devices.

Potential harm to the public and Target workers

They commended the swift work of Special Agents, Bomb Enforcement Officers, and other highly qualified crime resources who may have helped to foil Barnett's plot "that could have caused great #harm to the public," said Special Agent Daryl McCrary, from Tampa.

Target speaks out about the matter and offers a statement

A #Target spokeswoman said to ABC News in an official statement on Thursday the 16th February:

"Target commends the law enforcement agencies responsible for apprehending this individual,"

and then asked the public to direct any further questions to the Tampa police department, who are handing media and civil inquiries into the matter.

This case was scrutinized by the Florida Department of Corrections, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the #Marion County Sheriffs Office, and the City of Ocala Police Department, amongst others. It will be actively prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Robert Bodnar for the State, with other evidenced upheld in the court room.

This is the first time that someone has planned to blow up multiple Target stores at once.
Over the last week, Donald Trump and his administration having been dealing with the aftermath of retired Gen. Michael Flynn announcing his resignation as National Security Adviser. During a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, Trump discussed the backlash over Flynn, once again attacking the news media in the process.

Trump on Flynn

Michael Flynn was National Security Adviser for just three weeks before he was asked to step down and resign. Flynn had been accused of illegal contact with Russian officials, which the general reportedly spoke to a Russian ambassador about lifting sanctions on the country that were previously put in place by former President Barack Obama.

The pressure mounted, and Flynn finally stepped down on Sunday night, much to the chagrin of the billionaire real estate mogul. Instead of criticizing Flynn, President Donald Trump has focused more on the source of the leaks, while accusing the media of promoting "fake news." As reported by C-SPAN on February 15, Trump didn't hold back his attack on the press.

Joining Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu for a press conference at the White House, Donald Trump was asked about the incident with Michael Flynn. "I think he's been treated very, very unfairly by the media," he said, before noting, "As I call it, the fake media in many cases." Trump's comments double down on a multiple-tweet rant on Twitter from earlier in the day where he lashed out at CNN and MSNBC for how they covered the story, before praising Fox News.

The fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred. @MSNBC & @CNN are unwatchable. @foxandfriends is great!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2017

Donald Trump was also asked about his recent stance on Israel not expanding settlements, and he elaborated with Netanyahu just a few feet away.

"I'd like to see you hold back on settlements for a little bit," Trump said, while adding, "We'll work something out. I'd like to see a deal be made."

Moving forward

Since Michael Flynn resigned, the White House has been in damage control. Presidential Counsel Kellyanne Conway has come under fire for promoting questionable, and debunked, information during a series of news interviews, which has led to so much controversy that she is now banned from appearing on "Morning Joe" on MSNBC.
Michael Flynn resigned from his position as National Security Advisor on Monday evening. The former general had been embattled for weeks after intelligence reports went public regarding his conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak and subsequent misleading of trump administration members about these discussions.

Flynns problematic background

The selection of former General Flynn as National Security Advisor was marred by questions of close ties with the repressive Russian government. For example, the former general is reportedly under Army investigation for a potential breach of military regulations when he accepted money for a 2015 speaking engagement in Moscow.

However, as a member of the Trumps executive office, the appointment of Flynn did not require Senate approval.

The aforementioned interactions that led to Flynns resignation occurred in December 2016. Flynn exchanged texts with Kislyak around Christmas and the two also had phone conversations on December 29th. These discussions occurred in the wake of US retaliation against the Russian government for their hacking of the Democratic National Committee to improve the chances of Trump winning the 2016 presidential election. The Obama administration expelled 35 Russian diplomats and levied sanctions against Russia.

Truth comes out

Criticism of Flynn skyrocketed on January 22nd after the Wall Street Journal reported that Flynn was under investigation from multiple US counterintelligence agencies.

The US Justice Department had warned the Trump administration in January that Flynn had misled administration officials about the extent of his talks with the Russian ambassador. The reports concluded that Flynn had discussed the Obama administration sanctions with Kislyak and that he could be vulnerable to blackmail. The discussion of ongoing foreign policy with a foreign official could have been a direct violation of the Logan Act.

This federal statute, enacted in 1799, prohibits anyone outside the executive branch from conducting foreign policy on behalf of the administration.

Despite the mounting criticism, the former general initially assured the administration that he had not discussed sanctions with Ambassador Kislyak. Vice President Mike Pence actually defended Flynn during an interview with CBS on February 12th, backing up what he had been told by Flynn.

However, on February 13th the White House presented contradictory depictions of confidence that Trump had in Flynn. White House spokesman Sean Spicer stated that Trump was reviewing the situation with the former general only hours after Kellyanne Conway, Trumps senior aide, had stated that Trump had full confidence in Flynn during an MSNBC interview. Eventually, Flynn resigned on February 13th after the situation became untenable.

Silver lining

The shameful resignation of Michael Flynn is the first big scandal for the Trump administration. The lack of communication & prevalence of leaks within the White House is clearly impacting its viability. Furthermore, Trumps supportive comments of & questionable relationship with Putins repressive government have alarmed the US national security apparatus, the American people, and international community.

The selection of Flynn as National Security Advisor, with all his questionably pro-Russian baggage, was a mistake. General Keith Kellogg has been chosen to be the interim National Security Advisor. Kellogg, along with retired Gen. David Petraeus (a former general with his own checkered past) and former Vice Admiral Bob Harward are reportedly being considered as permanent replacements.

Although the resignation of Flynn is an unfortunate episode, the Trump administration now has an excellent opportunity to fix the mistake. The selection of a moderate, uncompromised head of US national security would provide a level-headed shot-caller in a crucial post. Hopefully, second times the charm for President Trump.
Over the last 24 hours, one of the bigger stories to make the news has been Presidential Counsel Kellyanne Conway getting banned from the MSNBC show "Morning Joe." In the aftermath, President Donald Trump has continued his attack on alleged "fake news" outlets, but two MSNBC hosts are not letting him slide.

MSNBC on Trump

After a string of controversial TV appearances and questionable comments, MSNBC "Morning Joe" hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski unloaded on Kellyanne Conway on Wednesday morning, before announcing that her lack of credibility was the reason she was no longer welcome on the show.

Donald Trump, in response, took to Twitter to lash out at MSNBC and other news outlets, while also doubling down his criticism during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. As reported by The Hill on February 16, the MSNBC hosts decided to respond.

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough was first to point out that retired Gen. Michael Flynn was forced to resign, despite Kellyanne Conway going on cable news and claiming he quit on his own. "He (Trump) was the one who fired Gen. Flynn," Scarborough noted. "Of course Kellyanne lied and said Flynn quit," he added, before stating, "And there are all these other lies cascading out of the White House."

.@JoeNBC's message to the WH: You keep lying, we're going to keep reporting about it https://t.co/NKhiHER4ry  Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) February 16, 2017

"You have Kellyanne spreading alternative facts, saying things that arent true," Mika Brzezinski said, while also stating, "You have (Stephen) Miller describing the powers of the presidency in an incorrect, inappropriate and lying fashion." Not stopping there, Brzezinski went one step further and said, "It's a fake presidency!." At this point, Joe Scarborough added on to his co-host's statement.

"It's one lie on top of another lie," he said, noting, "Then the president goes out and says what a great job he did." While Trump and the "Morning Joe" team were close at one point, those days appear long gone.

.@morningmika on Trump: I have seen him talk. I have not seen him completely listen. https://t.co/mL1Seo2pZf  Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) February 16, 2017

Moving forward

As Donald Trump continues his war of words with the news media, it doesn't appear that the relationship will be improving anytime soon. The former host of "The Apprentice" has made attacking the press part of his daily routine, but the media is now starting to fight back.
Thursdays press conference by President #Donald Trump did little to settle the controversy surrounding the White House since his Inauguration on January 20th. If anything, the direct result will be increased pressure to provide the answers he avoided giving journalists, but this time not to the Press but to Congressmen and Senators.

Trump team and Russia

Even during the presidential campaign won by Donald Trump there were reports of Russian interference in the election. The release of hacked emails from the DNC by Wikileaks were blamed on the Russians.

At one stage the Republican candidate even made a comment during a campaign rally asking the Russians to provide Hillary Clintons 30,000 delete emails.

These chickens have now come home to roost.

The rumours of Russian influence continued during the transition period and became even heavier when President Trump nominated controversial former four star general Michael Flynn as his Senior Security Advisor. Despite these controversies he was confirmed in the position.

In the 24 days since his confirmation Flynn became the subject of a number of leaks regarding his contacts with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian Ambassador to the United States. These leaks contradicted his own reports on the conversations when it was revealed that despire previous denials surveillance showed he had discussed the Obama Administrations sanctions on Russia with the Ambassador following the allegations of Russian interference in the election.

The final result was of the leaks was his resignation last Tuesday.

Investigations, ongoing and new

As a result of the allegations Democrats in both the Senate and Congress began pressuring the respective Judiciary and Intelligence Committees to begin investigations. These would be separate from the ongoing investigations by the American intelligence community which, according to recent reports from CNN have found confirmation of some of the allegations in the original report by a former British intelligence operative that began the scandal.

Yesterday Donald Trump gave any hesitant Republican reason to begin the investigation. With his statement that The leaks are absolutely real the President then opened up the matter for deeper explanations by the Legislative branch of government.

This was surely not the reaction that the 45th President expected when he started the press conference.

The result will be questions that he will not be able to avoid answering on issues that have dominated American news and worried politicians and citizens for months.

The only doubt will be the role of new Attorney General Jess Sessions in the investigations as he was a member of the Trump team during the presidential campaign. This will undoubtedly become part of the news cycle for the next few weeks as the Congressmen and Senators begin their activities in discovering the truth behind the many allegations.

Donald Trump may well come to rue his comments yesterday. Despite his denials he has not supplied proof to dispel the rumours surrounding his teams alleged contacts with the Russians. In fact, the Hose and Senate investigations into the Russian interference may well begin with, or involve the documentation that President Trump has so far refused to produced; his tax returns.

One way or another the door has now been opened to resolve the issues that have dogged Donald Trump since he began his run for the Presidency. All the public can do now is wait and wonder what revelations will now come from the investigations by the two Houses, the intelligence communities and any surprises that the Press will also find.

No matter what is discovered, the results will have a profound effect on the government of the United States. Only time will tell if they will be good or bad.
Kailyn Lowry hasn't been very popular with the "Teen Mom 2" crowd lately. After she announced she was divorcing Javi Marroquin and the footage of how it all went down when he returned from Qatar aired, she was criticized heavily. The two both agree that their marriage was affected by the miscarriage Lowry suffered at the end of 2015.

Fans start heckling the reality star

Once the footage began airing, "Teen Mom 2" viewers started in on Kailyn Lowry. She was shown being rude and almost unreasonable to Javi Marroquin, the man she once loved enough to marry and have a child with.

When viewers saw how her oldest son, Isaac reacted to the separation and subsequent divorce, things went south. The heckling and mocking began. It was bad enough that Lowry had to write a blog post addressed to her haters.

Since "Teen Mom 2" is now hosting live shows after each episode on Monday nights, things have gotten more intense for Kailyn Lowry. She has been on both live shows, this week and last. When Nessa asked her about whether or not she would have more children, she answered yes. Lowry told Javi Marroquin a lot of their problems were because he wanted more kids and she didn't. When she admitted to wanting one more child, things on social media went crazy. Marroquin brought out his "pettycopter" and started in on his ex-wife.

Fans followed suit, and now, Lowry is battling rumors of a pregnancy.

Pregnancy rumors begin with a photo

A fan decided it would be funny to edit a Snapchat photo Kailyn Lowry sent out with a positive pregnancy test added in. Mass hysteria on social media ensued, especially after her comments last Monday night. Things have gotten intense, and despite Lowry actually denying her pregnancy and saying she is not carrying another man's child, viewers are ripping her apart.

She has appeared on live tv two weeks in a row, and while she hasn't been filmed standing up, it doesn't appear that she is pregnant.

These rumors are persisting, and Kailyn Lowry is getting fed up. Several outlets are reporting the pregnancy as speculation despite the fact that she herself has said it isn't happening. Fans aren't buying her denial, but that is all that we have for now.
SYDNEY - Australian airline Virgin Australia reaffirmed on Friday its plans to launch a new route to Hong Kong, to capitalise on the burgeoning tourist market from China.

The Australian carrier is waiting on approval, for their proposed partnership with China's biggest private airline operator HNA Group, from Australia's competition regulatory body.

Virgin Australia chief executive officer John Borghetti says he is hoping to secure provisional approval within the next few weeks, and has plans to increase competition on the route currently dominated by Qantas and Cathay Pacific.

"Hong Kong is really just the route that's covered by two carriers. I mean Cathay and Qantas have got it by the throat," Borghetti said.

"We intend to break that duopoly and bring real competition on the route."

China is on target to eclipse New Zealand as the largest tourist market for Australia, with Australian Bureau of Statistics figures indicating over 1.2 million Chinese tourists visited the country last year, compared to 1.3 million Kiwis.

The Virgin Australia boss was adamant that the new alliance with HNA Aviation, Hong Kong Airlines, and HK Express would be a "game changer" for Australia to China travel.

"The alliance will accelerate and support our access to the Chinese market, which is Australia's fastest growing and most valuable inbound travel market." Borghetti said.
BEIJING - The Chinese central bank's yuan outstanding for foreign exchange continued to decline in January, weighed on by capital outflow pressures.

The funds declined 208.8 billion yuan ($30.5 billion) in January month-on-month to 21.73 trillion yuan, data from the People's Bank of China showed Friday.

It marked the 15th consecutive month of decline.

As the Chinese currency is not freely convertible under the capital account, the central bank has to purchase foreign currency generated by China's trade surplus and foreign investment in the country, adding funds to the money market.

China's forex reserves dipped to about $2.99 trillion in January, down from about $3.01 trillion in December 2016, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed last week.
Despite hard times in the fashion business, Grana - a two-year-old online fashion brand based in Hong Kong - beat the odds by outperforming its peers with a five-fold growth in 2016, which was seen as one of the toughest years on record for the industry.

The sector's sales performance last year was sluggish, seeing a mere two to three-percent growth with stagnating profit margins, according to a joint report by consulting firm McKinsey and industry news website Business of Fashion.

Luke Grana, chief executive officer and founder of the eponymous brand, however, has projected 300-percent growth for his business this year.

A trip to Peru, where Grana stumbled upon a soft fabric called Peruvian Pima cotton, spurred his idea of creating a brand selling wardrobe basics using quality materials.

"Essentially, a love for quality fabrics prompted me to found Grana," says the 33-year-old entrepreneur.

Although not a fan of faddish trends or textile waste in the fast fashion industry himself, Grana hopes to sell only the essentials at sensible prices. The brand cut out the middlemen in the supply chain, selling online directly to customers and keeping mark-up two to three times, he explains.

During a beta launch in April 2014, some 2,000 Peruvian Pima tees were sold out within three weeks on the platform and shipped to eight markets around the world, mainly through friends, family and word-of-mouth.

Unlike most pure-play online retailers that only connect with their customers on the internet over a screen, the brand invites customers to physically feel the fabrics that Grana is passionate about at its brick-and-mortar stores in multiple locations, and then buy the products online.

With a showroom dubbed The Fitting Room and a pop-up store in Hong Kong's vibrant commercial districts, Grana says the brand's offline presence has helped convert more browsers into paying customers on the online platform.

About 10 percent of Grana's sales come from its offline showrooms, Grana tells China Daily.

"From a business perspective, it enables us to have a two-way profit opportunity that accommodates the new generation of consumers who prefer both an online and offline retail experience," says Grana, stressing the importance of balancing the digital and human experience.

The fashion e-commerce site is not Grana's first attempt at entrepreneurship. The Australian serial entrepreneur opened his first espresso bar in Sydney at 21 during his final year at university. He subsequently opened two more and sold them at a profit.

At the age of 24, he started a company operating electric-vehicle charging stations that was later acquired by Leighton, an Australian construction company. In October 2014, Grana launched his fashion brand in Hong Kong with a $200,000 outlay.

"I bought a one-way ticket and moved to Hong Kong in late 2014 to start a new life, got connected and met up with seed investors to get Grana off the ground," he recalls.

Citing Hong Kong's position as a tax-free port, world-class logistics and air cargo hub, and the headquarters of major sourcing companies, Grana was convinced the city would make an ideal location as a warehouse and base, with help from Invest Hong Kong - the SAR government's investment promotion agency - in connecting the dots for the company.

Hong Kong's proximity to the Chinese mainland has also enabled Grana's team to make regular visits to its garment manufacturers there.

"Hong Kong should be recognized as a market that can help drive the growth of the e-commerce market in Asia and worldwide," says Grana.

Hong Kong is also where Grana got funded. He secured $10 million in its series A round of funding last year from Alibaba's Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund.

With the goal of penetrating the mainland market this year, Grana hopes to use the e-commerce giant's local insights, and expects a soft launch on Tmall - Alibaba's business-to-consumer platform - in the third quarter of this year.

The mainland's e-commerce market is set to grow by 15 per cent to $1.42 trillion by 2020, according to a recent report by international payment company Worldpay.

Apart from online expansion to the mainland, Grana plans to strengthen its offline presence there and abroad by opening showrooms in Shanghai in July and New York City in May this year.

The website will also handle eight new markets, including the Chinese mainland and Japan, by the end of 2017, according to Grana.

As the company continues to scale new heights, managing inventory and communicating with new customers are the biggest challenges ahead, says Grana.

"As we aim to take on new markets, inventory levels have been uppermost in our minds to ensure that we meet customer demand."

"We're also making sure that we tailor our messages to each market appropriately to meet customers' expectations and create a positive shopping experience with us."

iris@chinadailyhk.com
The Chinese Poetry Competition which was broadcast on China Central Television (CCTV) was not only highly popular among viewers during the Spring Festival holiday - it had also injected viewers with a powerful dose of enthusiasm for the art form, according to publishers and academics.

The second season of the 10-episode poetry contest, which ran from Jan 29 and Feb 7, had attracted more than 1.16 billion viewers. Wu Yishu, a 16-year-old middle school student from Shanghai, won the final.

Xie Yan, a lecturer from the School of Chinese Language and Literature at Beijing Normal University, published a commentary about the televised contest on the school's official WeChat account on Feb 7. The post received more than 100,000 reviews almost instantly.

Beijing-based publisher Zhonghua Book Company had rolled out a book list on its WeChat official account on Feb 8 right after the show and the message thread which introduced the book list received more than 15,600 reviews, a record high in the past few weeks.

According to Qiu Zhongwu, general manager of Xinhua Book Store's Changning branch in Shanghai, the sales of poetry books have gone up by 20 percent in the past few weeks as a result of the poetry competition. He added that the books featuring exquisite illustrations of traditional Chinese elements sell better.

At the privately-owned Zhongshuge book store, publications on classical Chinese literature and studies of Chinese ancient civilization take up a significant portion of storage space. According to Jia Xiaojing, deputy general manager of Shanghai Zhongshu Industry Co Ltd, the company that operates Zhongshuge chains, sales of traditional Chinese culture books had been picking up even before the poetry contest was televised.

"There has always been market demand for books about traditional Chinese culture and such books are an important part of our operations. But with the help of the TV competition, sales of such books will certainly become even better," said Jia.

But it is not just book sales that are soaring. Viewers have also demonstrated keen interest in the Han clothing, a Chinese traditional costume, that some of the contestants were dressed in.

Zhang Hui, sales manager of Yimeng Garment Co Ltd in Henan province, said that the company has been receiving more orders than it normally would in the past few months. The most popular item is a Han dress which costs 59 yuan ($8.6). More than 500 orders for this garment were placed in the past 90 days.

shijing@chinadaily.com.cn
It was fitting that Lina Fan didn't hesitate to order a glass of white wine to accompany our interview, even though it was the middle of the day. After all, she is the boss of a prestigious French wine company and the first Chinese woman to be accepted into the ratified society of Bordeaux winemakers.

She ordered a glass of Italian pinot grigio. After swirling the wine and inhaling deeply, she took a sip.

"Very basic. Very short aroma. This would sell in Italy for between 3 and 5 euros ($3.2 and $5.3)." The hotel was charging 9 ($11.2) a glass.

Fan, 36, is chief executive officer of Vignobles des Quatre Vents, which was bought by Chinese company Liaoning Energy Investment in 2014. It was the first time a Chinese company had bought such a prestigious Medoc appellation - the legally protected geographic name under which wine in France may be sold and marketed.

Fan was in London to pick up an award from the Mulan Foundation Network, a UK-based organization that promotes successful Chinese women. She has lived in France since 2003, having studied wine at university and following that with a master's degree in wine marketing and management at the INSEEC business school in Bordeaux.

Fan is vibrant and dresses in a very French, chic fashion. Her outgoing personality has often helped her.

Hard work as well as luck has played a big part in her career. As a French language student, she got a summer job picking grapes in Reims, the main town in France's champagne region.

"I was tiny in those days, I only weighed 40 kilos, and the work was very hard, seven days a week. I could barely pick up the basket for the grapes but we are used to working hard in China," she says. "The family who owned the vineyard were fascinated to meet a Chinese person and to talk to me. This was when I first started to learn about wine."

Originally from Shenyang in Northeast China, she studied economics and management in China before moving to France.

"I thought about what I wanted. Did I really just want to get a job and to work, go home, eat and sleep every day? Life is too long to repeat the same thing every day. I like a challenge."

She considers winemaking to be an art form.

"Balance is very important, just like in people. But you don't want perfection because that's boring."

She is all the more remarkable given the recent tragedy in her life. In 2013, her husband, Wang Peng, was killed in a helicopter crash shortly before he was about to run the Fronsac wine estate for China's Brilliant Group. She has a daughter aged 7 and hopes her parents will move to France next year to help raise her.

"I've never worked in China and Bordeaux is my home. But I want my daughter to go to school in England because French schools are not very strict and children need rules."

She does not want her company to be "pigeon-holed as a Chinese-owned property" but wants people to focus on the wine and its quality. Production is small, only around 45,000 bottles a year. Prices are high because traditions, including hand-picking, must be maintained to retain the appellation.

Bottles can sell for 150 euros in France. The price is even higher in China because of import and duty costs. She believes there will be more demand in China as consumers become more knowledgeable about wine and why higher prices can be justified.

"The Chinese market barely existed 10 years ago and it is now in its teenage years," she says. "But it will mature and change."

Fan travels to China often and has a wine shop in Shenyang that she runs with her brother. "I love going back and helping to educate Chinese people with wine-tastings and by talking to them," she says.

In the meantime, she warns wine drinkers to avoid Bordeaux wines made in 2013.

"It was one of the worst vintages in more than 10 years because of the weather, which decides 80 percent of the quality of wine. We had hailstones in spring and it was too hot in autumn," she says. "But 2014 was one of the best and 2015 was even better. The best for more than 30 years."
By Hezi Jiang in New York | China Daily USA | Updated: 2017-02-17 12:35

Models in neon prints sashayed down the catwalk as techno music played against a backdrop of Hong Kong's iconic signage, traffic lights and tunnels.

The tungsten lights dimmed after Paris Hilton arrived at her front-row seat.

The setting wasn't China, however, but the Skylight Clarkson Square venue in Manhattan's SoHo as Hong Kong designer Vivienne Tam presented her latest collection, "City of Lights", during New York Fashion Week.

Hong Kong used to be one of the world's largest garment suppliers before orders started moving to the mainland and eventually Southeast Asia and Vietnam.

Now, officials in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region are looking to raise the city's fashion game.

Financial Secretary John Tang announced that $65 million (HK$500 million) had been allocated to support local fashion designers and emerging brands in the 2016-2017 budget.

"Today we are looking at the higher-value-added fashion sectors. We are promoting our designers and high-tech materials rather than the basics," said Ralph Chow, the regional director for the Americas of Hong Kong Trade and Development Council (HKTDC).
Left: Taoway Wang FW17 Collection "Crossover". Right: Marla Maples, designer Wang Tao, Tiffany Trump and Zhang Meifang, China's deputy consul general to New York, pose for a backstage photo of Taoray Wang's FW17 runway on Feb 11 in New York. Photos Provided To China Daily

Sitting in her Shanghai studio, Wang Tao knew that New York was getting cold when Tiffany Trump messaged her to say that she needed some coats.

Until now, Wang's label Taoray Wang has been available only to a very select group of women: top Wall Street executives, Chinese diplomats, actresses and the US president's daughter.

This September, the Chinese designer will open her first store in Manhattan's SoHo district. The shop will function both as a retail store where shoppers could walk in and buy Taoray Wang's ready-to-wear ensembles, and a membership club, where participants could come in for measurements, look at styles and order customized pieces.

"Taoray Wang is not just a clothing label. It's a styling service brand. I want to take the time to know my customers, know their tastes, their habits," Wang said.

The brand targets powerful women who want to be stylish and sexy, as Wang often takes masculine work attire and turns it into delicate, feminine outfits.

Last month, Trump wore a white, custom-made double-breasted Taoray Wang coat to the inauguration of her father Donald Trump in Washington. She also wore a blue Taoray Wang dress to the first presidential debate - she first saw the blue dress in a lookbook and then asked to attend Wang's fashion show in New York last September. She has been a fan since.

A Taoray Wang dress costs between $1,400 to $3,000, and a blazer starts at $1,100 for spring collections and $1,700 for fall collections.

To be considered a Taoray Wang member, a customer is expected to spend around $100,000 in the coming years.

Taoray Wang was financially backed by Wang Weidong, president of Ribo Fashion Group, where Wang Tao served as creative director for its women clothing brand Broadcast:Bo for 12 years.

Under Wang Tao's guidance, Broadcast:Bo opened 700 new stores in China, and revenue rose from $30 million to $350 million.

Ribo Fashion Group purchased a two-story landmark SoHo building in 2015 with the intent to build a seven-story Taoray Wang store. The process got delayed over city objections to the exterior renovation.

"It has been delayed long enough. We are opening the store this September, even if it means two-floor for now," Wang said.

Wang also will be releasing a diffusion line, Taoray Taoray, in September, targeting younger customers. The styles are urban and sporty, featuring jumpers paired with sneakers.
Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (right) tells reporters about suspects arrested in the death of Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of DPRK top leader Kim Jong-un. Hamidi spoke at a news conference Thursday in Putrajaya, Malaysia. King Chai / AP

A senior Malaysian police official said on Thursday that a third suspect has been arrested by police in the death of a man from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Also Thursday, the Malaysian government confirmed that the man was Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of DPRK top leader Kim Jong-un.

Abdul Samah Mat, the police chief of Selangor state, told Xinhua that the suspect, a 26-year-old Malaysian man, was arrested in Ampang.

The man is believed to be the boyfriend of the second suspect, a woman with an Indonesian passport who was arrested on Thursday morning.

The police have been looking into connections between the suspects and trying to pin down what their roles may have been in the death of Kim Jong-nam.

The police have been investigating Kim's sudden death as a murder case, and a local court has granted a seven-day order remanding the first two suspects into custody.

The first female suspect, holding a Vietnamese passport, was arrested on Wednesday at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport's second terminal, where Kim had sought help after feeling unwell on Monday.

Kim died later on Monday en route to a hospital. His body was taken to a hospital in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday for an autopsy. Results had not been released by Thursday evening.

Kim had a liquid sprayed in his face when two women set upon him, Agence France-Presse quoted Malaysian police as saying.

Malaysian police issued a statement on Wednesday saying that the man was a 46-year-old from the DPRK who it identified as Kim Chol, born on June 10, 1970 in Pyongyang, based on his travel documents.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said on Thursday that the man was Kim Jong-nam, adding Malaysia would release the body only after an autopsy.
Peru's ambassador to China said on Thursday he is paying attention on how the government will place more emphasis on small and medium-sized enterprises during the upcoming two sessions.

"These enterprises will be the answer for the future," Juan Carlos Capunay told China Daily in Beijing.

He said, just like in Peru, most of the population in China are employed by small and medium-sized enterprises.

"You have 1.3 billion people. You need to provide work for them, but that work can not only be provided by the State. You need to give them the tools to establish their own business to become entrepreneurs," he said.

The annual sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC), the top parliamentary body, and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top advisory body, will be held in March.

The ambassador also said China could set a good example for the world by transmitting its knowledge through initiatives such as One Belt and One Road and a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific.
WASHINGTON/BERLIN - The International Monetary Fund declined to comment on a media report on Friday that it was likely to contribute up to 5 billion euros ($5.3 billion) to a third bailout package for Greece, saying its views on the deal had not shifted.

The German magazine Der Spiegel said in an unsourced report that European lenders were now expecting the IMF to contribute a sum of this size after first having hoped for 16 billion euros.

"We will not comment on speculation. The Fund's position is well known and hasn't changed," an IMF spokesman in Washington said.

It remains unclear whether the Fund will be involved in the program, and this is likely to be one of the main talking points when German Chancellor Angela Merkel and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde meet next Wednesday.

Germany's government, gearing up for what is forecast to be a close-run national election in September, opposes debt relief for Greece as demanded by the IMF. Still, Berlin says the current program can only continue if the Fund joins in.

A finance ministry spokeswoman on Friday reiterated the government's position that Berlin considers it essential that the IMF participate in Greece's third aid-for-reforms package.

The Fund has insisted on debt relief and precautionary fiscal measures to ensure that Athens can meet its fiscal targets before it will consider participating in the bailout.

Without new policies, the IMF believes Greece can only meet a primary fiscal surplus target of 1.5 pct of gross domestic product by 2018.

The Spiegel report said the IMF had now adopted the view of European lenders that Greece should post a primary budget surplus of 3.5 percent in order to get fresh aid.

RED LINE

In Athens, Labor Minister Effie Achtsioglou said Greece could not cut pensions any further as demanded by the IMF, drawing a line in the sand days before euro zone finance ministers assess Greece's progress in fulfilling the conditions of its bailout.

The review has been beset by delays and disputes between Greece and its European Union and IMF creditors. As disagreement has arisen over Greece's fiscal targets and reforms prescribed under its bailout program, fears have grown that Europe could face a new financial crisis.

Greece's slow progress in carrying out reforms has been overshadowed by the rift between Germany and the IMF over the size of projected fiscal surpluses in and after 2018, when the third bailout, worth up to 86 billion euros, is due to end.

The IMF insists that Athens cannot meet the EU's target for a primary surplus of 3.5 percent of economic output in 2018 unless it adopts more austerity.

But rather than more Greek belt-tightening, the IMF says it wants the primary surplus target cut to 1.5 percent of GDP and wants significant debt relief for Athens.

Euro zone officials said last week that the lenders would ask Greece to broaden the tax base and cut pensions again, in measures which together would be worth 3.6 billion euros or 2 percent of GDP.
Horry County Sheriff's Office(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.)  A man with a felony record in South Carolina purchased a gun from an undercover FBI agent with the intention of carrying out an attack in "the spirit of Dylann Roof," authorities said Thursday.



Benjamin McDowell, 29, who had allegedly become affiliated with white supremacist gangs during his time in prison, purchased a .40 caliber Glock handgun and ammunition, according to an affidavit filed by FBI agent Grant Lowe.



According to the complaint, McDowell was arrested in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina shortly after purchasing the weapon and charged as a felon in possession of a firearm.



The agent said that McDowell had made unspecified threats, once telling Lowe that he might shoot at a gathering of black people.



Authorities began investigating McDowell in December after he threatened a local synagogue on Facebook. Several days later, he again posted to Facebook, complaining that white supremacists were often unwilling to act on their convictions.



"All they wanne (sic) do is stay loaded on drugs the Jews put here to destroy white man and they feast on the drugs. they should be Feasting on the enemy that stole their Heritage and their bloodline and trying to run us off of this Earth," McDowell wrote. "if you ain't got the heart to fight for Yahweh like dylann roof did, you need to shut the f--- up."



On or about Jan. 6, 2017, according to the complaint, McDowell had requested an "iron," a code word for a gun, over Facebook Messenger.



Court records show that since 2008, McDowell's criminal record included charges for assault and burglary. It also said local authorities had kept tabs on him prior to December because of the alleged white supremacist connections he had made in prison.



Dylann Roof was sentenced to death last month for the 2015 massacre of nine black worshipers at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina.



Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
thumbnail_skateboard.jpg

Skateboarders on downtown streets are becoming problematic for Ocean Springs officials.

(File photo/Gulflive.com)

OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- On Feb. 10, a young man on a skateboard fell at the intersection of Government Street and Bellande Avenue in downtown Ocean Springs, hitting his head on the pavement and rendering himself unconscious.

A nurse who witnessed the fall walked across the street to check on the young man and called for medical assistance. Ultimately, the man was treated for his injury and reportedly diagnosed with a concussion.

But the incident heightened the awareness of what is a growing problem: Skateboarders on busy downtown streets, primarily Government Street.

"I see them often," said Mayor Connie Moran, "and it's not just teenagers, it's young men in the 20s, as well. It's certainly not a good idea to be out there on a skateboard during some of the busiest times of day on the busiest street in town."

Ocean Springs Deputy Chief of Police Derek Hoppner noted there is no state statute which specifically prohibits skateboarders on public streets or sidewalks. However, officers can cite skateboarders if they are found to be obstructing traffic.

"We generally leave them alone if they're on a quiet street, not impeding traffic," Hoppner said. "But if they are on a busy street, such as Government, they can be ticketed."

At times, skateboarders on Government have been spotted crouching down behind moving vehicles and grabbing onto the bumper for a "tow." Hoppner said that action will definitely result in a citation for either obstructing traffic, disorderly conduct or reckless endangerment.

While the Feb. 10 incident has brought more attention to the issue, it's one that has already been a topic of discussion for city officials. To that end, Moran has formed a skateboard committee to help identify a location for and plan the construction of a skate park.

"We are looking at potential sites and I can get a grant to build one," Moran said. "We're taking a look at (skate) parks in other cities, as well as conceptual plans."

Matthew Hosey is a member of the skateboard committee and was once an avid skateboarder himself. He said he hasn't personally witnessed the skateboarders downtown, but agrees it's not the best idea.

"I do know there is definitely a need for a skate park in Ocean Springs," Hosey said. "We're still very early in the process. Finding a good location is the top priority. We've got a few picked out for consideration."

Moran said among the the sites being considered are beneath the railroad overpass on Porter Avenue, or the courtyard behind Taconi gymnasium, which is now owned by the City.

Moran also said she could possibly get the land behind the new Dollar General on Government Street donated for a park, but "we were thinking about that for a dog park."

The mayor was also asked about the possibility of constructing a large skate park on the former Swingster property on Government Street, but she noted the $1 million price tag the county is asking would make it cost-prohibitive.

"The Swingster site will have to be a development that generates taxes and jobs," she said.

In the past, the idea of a skate park at the corner of Jackson Avenue and Front Beach Drive was considered, but that property is now owned by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources and no "hard scape" can be built there -- meaning no concrete. The same applies to the harbor green property, Moran said.

Hosey said another committee member, Chris Beaugez, has floated the idea of building multiple "pocket parks" in the city rather than one medium to large skate park.

"That's an idea we definitely need to take a look at," Hosey said, adding that construction of any skate park(s) will likely not completely eliminate street skateboarding, but can certainly reduce it.

In the meantime, city officials have discussed the possibility of enacting a local ordinance to prohibit skateboarding on the city's busiest streets.

"I think it would be wise for us to prohibit skateboarding at least in the busy downtown area of Government Street between Washington (Avenue) and MLK (Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard)," she said, "as well as on Washington between highway (90) and Calhoun (Avenue).

"We want to provide a safe place for what is a good, outdoor exercise," Moran added. "We certainly support that. But on a city street or sidewalk downtown is not that place."
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Since it began in 2013, Hour of Code has been promoted as an event that can change a young persons life by exposing him or her to the wonders of computing even if only for 60 minutes.

But is Hour of Code really an effective tool with lasting benefits?

Code.org has produced a new study that attempts to answer this question.

The study entitled, The Hour of Code: Impact on Attitudes Towards and Self-Efficacy with Computer Science  is based on data collected through a survey of students during Computer Science Education Week last December.

It found that the activity may positively change students attitudes about computer science and increase their feelings of self-efficacy where the subject is concerned, and these benefits were most pronounced among girls, a key demographic for the organization because women are underrepresented in the field.

For example, after completing Hour of Code, 75 percent of high school girls surveyed with no previous computer science experience said they liked the subject. Thats up from 55 percent prior to the activity.

Hadi Partovi is the CEO and a co-founder of Code.org. He said hes been routinely asked what can students learn in one hour and has always responded that theyll pick up that computer science is more fun that they thought it was and easier than they thought it was.

Ive never had data to support that, said Partovi. Ive only said that based on anecdotes. The strongest thing that came out of the study is recognizing that indeed from just an Hour of Code students can decide that computer science is a field that they are themselves interested in, that they like, and they think they can be good at.

Methodology

Students in 563 classrooms participating in Hour of Code were invited to fill out an online survey before and after the activity to gauge their feelings about computer science. Teachers voluntarily opted in to have their classes participate in the survey after receiving an email from Code.org and were offered $10 gift cards for having their classes participate. Each teacher could choose from two different Hour of Code activities.

Both surveys asked the students to indicate their level of agreement with the following four statements:



I like computer science.

I think computer science is interesting.

I have the ability to learn computer science.

I am better at computer science than most kids at my school.

The pre-survey also had one question related to students experience with coding before their participation in Hour of Code.

More than 8,000 students completed at least one question on both of the surveys. Forty-one percent of participants were 10 or younger, while 45 percent were 11-13, and 14 percent were 14 and older.

The survey found that the biggest difference in feelings about computer science came from high school girls who had not participated in Hour of Code previously.

Limitations

Although the study writers indicate theyre encouraged by this data, they also point out some of the limitations of their work. They specifically mention the need for more information on gender. Only 48 percent of students indicated their gender on the survey.

"...given that we dont have more information related to the demographic breakdown of all the students and that this was an opt-in study, we may not have a representative sample of participants, limiting the generalizability of these findings to all school-age students.

The researchers also dont know if students changed attitudes about computer science were maintained in the days and weeks following the Hour of Code activity.

Still Partovi said given the scale of the study, they feel good about the results.

Although the teachers themselves opted in to the study, every student in their classroom participated, which means theres not a selection of which of the students wanted to participate or which ones didnt want to participate, said Partovi.

Future Impact

The idea that a single exposure to computer science can make a substantial difference in how students see the subject is particularly encouraging for Partovi as a big part of Code.orgs mission is to get more girls and underrepresented minorities interested in the field.

Getting women and underrepresented minorities to try computer science is a huge challenge for our country and especially for the tech companies but for the country and the education system overall, and these results are incredibly promising in terms of tactics that we can use in terms of doing this, said Partovi.

Related stories:
A body of recent psychology research demonstrates a relationship between self-promotional social media behavior and narcissistic traits. Users scoring high on narcissism scales tend to post more about their accomplishments , post and share more selfies , and edit the photos they post of themselves more often. They use social media to garner attention from a public audience , and they get angry when others in their network dont like or comment on their posts.

In short, narcissists behave online the same way that they behave offline, as one researcher who has studied the link put it.

But among young people, frequent posting on Facebook and other platforms might not indicate narcissism, researchers say.

Social media is a primary mode of communication for a new generation of children who are growing up connected. For these users, the line between normal and narcissistic behavior, as defined by their behavior on social media, is not as clearly defined, researchers say.

Recent news stories have examined the relationship between social media use and narcissism, and researchers continue to investigate how the connection manifests across rapidly evolving social media platforms.

While there is no direct evidence that social media use can cause narcissism, social media can give narcissists a platform for their behavior, said Larry Rosen, Professor Emeritus of California State University, Dominguez Hills and co-author of The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World.

Narcissists like a large audience for self-adulation, and what better audience than all your friendsor fake friendson Facebook, he said. The key is that all of this is done behind a screen, so theres a feeling of safety and anonymity which feeds into and fuels the narcissistic characteristics.

But there is some evidence that for millennial users, the relationship between narcissism and the use of one social media platform, Facebook, may be changing. A 2014 study published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior found that while posting more Facebook status updates is linked to narcissistic traits in adult users, there is no relationship between status updates and narcissism among college students. The researchers did find a relationship on Twitter: The more frequently millennials tweeted, the more likely they were to score high on narcissistic traits.

This generational difference across platforms could reflect ongoing changes in the way younger users communicate online, the studys authors explained in the article.

Our findings might reflect the fact that Millennials grew up using Facebook as a part of their lives, as a means of communicating with others just as previous generations might have used a telephone, they explained.

The social media platforms just change so fast, said Shawn Bergman, an associate professor of psychology at Appalachian State University, and one of the studys authors. Now people use Twitter almost like they use text messaging, when theyre talking back and forth to people publicly. When [Twitter] originally came out, thats not how people were using it.

A Tool for Communication

In some contexts, even selfie-taking may be just another form of communication, rather than a telltale sign of self-absorption, according to a 2016 study . That research, also published in Computers in Human Behavior, examined the Snapchat use patterns of first year college students. The majority of users sent selfies, but the studys authors did not associate this behavior with narcissism.

Snapchat, the researchers explained, is used to form a small network of close friends. Users communicate with each other in conversation-like picture exchanges. As a result, Snapchat use is associated with bonding, the researchers found. They hypothesized that the platforms high intimacy level could imply different motivations for selfie-sharing than Facebook.

More and more, younger users engage with social media platforms for communicationnot self-promotion, said Rosen.

There is a generational distinction within the group often referred to as Millennials, he added. Young adults born in the 1990s, he says, are part of the iGeneration. Named in reference to the line of Apple products including the iPod and iPhone, this generation is fluent in these technologies that entered the market in their early teenage years. By contrast, children born after 2000Generation C, for connected"have been exposed to these technologies since birth, said Rosen.



They see social media as simply a means to communicate with other people, whereas iGeneration young adults see social media as a way to display themselves.

Art Spencer, a librarian at Arthur Jacobsen Elementary School in Auburn, Washington, said he doesnt see a direct relationship between self-promotional behaviors and media use in students in grades 3-5 he teaches.

Spencer said that although the students who can be self-involved in the classroom sometimes post more online, he has also seen internet communication boost confidence in a positive way.

The kids who are more reserved really blossom online, he said. They communicate in ways they would not feel comfortable in a classroom setting.

Figuring Out Who They Are

When adolescent students are active online users, a certain amount of self-focused behavior can be expected, explained Yalda T. Uhls, youth development expert with Common Sense Media, assistant adjunct professor at UCLA and author of Media Moms and Digital Dads. When teenagers engage with social media, she said, theyre trying to develop their identity and negotiate social status.

Theyre figuring out who they are, Uhls said. Their social cognition turns on. Theyre very attuned to peers. All of that is normal developmental behavior.

Schools have a role to play in helping students have healthy and thoughtful interactions online. For schools looking to identify narcissistic online behavior, there is no definitive checklist, said Rosen. To address self-centered behavior, he suggests teaching empathy.

Students who are taught to reflect before they post, he said, are able to make more intentional choices online. Narcissistic patterns are subtle, but a strong reaction to criticism can indicate narcissistic tendencies.

You really want to look not at what they post, he said, but how they react back when somebody dismisses them, makes fun of them, says their post is silly.

See also:
Hanoi, February 17 (VNA)  The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has devised a 2017 trade promotion plan to remove obstacles in markets and increase exports of agro-forestry-fishery products.



According to Vo Thanh Do, deputy head of the Department of Processing and Trade for Agro-forestry-fisheries products and Salt Production, the ministry is also working with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to expand markets for the products.



To strengthen rice exports to the largest market of China, the ministry will focus on implementing a protocol on plant quarantine in rice exports to China. It will invite Chinese agencies to conduct capacity evaluation before granting licences to Vietnamese rice producers and exporters, said Do.



The ministry will also hasten negotiations with China to allow more products to be shipped to the market, including fruit, pork, dairy products and seafood.



Do added that the ministry will also work to secure the US approval for Vietnamese mango and star apple to be sold in the US.



In the Japanese market, the ministry wishes to increase the allowed levels of antibiotics in Vietnamese shrimp in line with regulations in other developed countries, while lobbying the country to import Vietnams red flesh dragon and thieu lychee.



To increase exports of fruit, Vietnam will strengthen exports of fresh mango to Thailand, mango, longan, lychee and rambutan to Taiwan (China), and dragon fruit to Australia, while asking the Republic of Korea to import star apple, longan, rambutan and lychee.



At the same time, the MARD will ask Australia to evaluate Vietnams safe shrimp production chain and then recognise Vietnam as a disease-free region, said Do.



He also revealed that the ministry will build a roadmap to devise obligatory technical criteria for aquaculture exports, while supporting enterprises to build trademarks.



In January, export turnover of agriculture, forestry and aquaculture was estimated at 2.54 billion USD, a year-on-year decrease of 1.4 percent.

VNA/VNP
The website idea.ed.gov , a site hosted by the U.S. Department of Education that includes text of the federal special education law and other resources, is up and running again after a prolonged outage that sparked worry on the part of some in the special education community and queries from members of Congress.

A message dated Feb. 16 on the site said that all the resources available prior to Feb. 8 had been restored. That includes the text of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, its accompanying regulations, and guidance documents, webinars, and videos that delved into finer points of the law.

In a statement, U.S. Secretary of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said:

This IDEA.ed.gov site and its server hosting IDEA.ed.gov were neglected for nearly four years. This behavior is unacceptable. The restored IDEA.ed.gov site has been moved to a new server, and I've instructed department staff to begin working with stakeholders to build a new and improved site. This exercise is an example of complacency I won't accept, and I remain committed to improving the department and its services.

The department also offered a timeline of how the glitchy website went down. The server hosting the site crashed on Feb. 8, a statement said, and that evening the site was redirected to a page hosting the most pertinent information. Thorough testing indicated the existing server was not stable and the department began moving files to a viable hosting solution. An exhaustive review of the site found numerous links and resources outdated, with the last update to the site dating back to 2013.

Earlier statements from the Education Department had said the website had been down at least since Jan. 27, before DeVos confirmation on Feb. 7. I noted on Feb. 1 that the website had been unvailable for at least a few days.

While the old website was out, users were redirected to a newer website that included more up-to-date information, including recent guidance from the Education Department and letters from department officials to states and constituents. That website will remain, the Education Department said.

The disappearance and restoration of the website would not affect the IDEA itself, which Congress passed in 1975 and can only be changed by Congress. But the issue took on a heightened level of importance after DeVos confirmation hearing, which angered and worried some disability advocates because of what they saw as her unfamiliarity with the civil rights law that covers more than 6 million students with disabilities ages ages 3-21.

The website outage also drew some attention from Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, both Democrats from Washington, who sent a letter to DeVos asking for more information about the outage and steps the department would take to stop it from happening again.

In a statement after the website was restored, Murray said:

I was very concerned when I saw that the resource website for parents and teachers of students with disabilities had gone down, and still hadn't been fixed after three weeks. I heard from parents who had been impacted by the absence of this critical resource, and I pushed Secretary DeVos to get it back up, to explain what had happened, and to make sure nothing like it happened again. I am glad that the website appears to be back online, but I am going to continue monitoring this issue and working to make sure that the Department of Education is doing everything possible to protect every student and make sure they have every opportunity to learn.

Photo: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos testifies at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Jan. 17.T.J. Kirkpatrick/Redux for Education Week
The draft is set to replace Decree 73 issued in 2012, and change procedures and investment conditions to boost competitiveness and help foreign investors enter the Vietnamese education sector, said Nguyen Xuan Vang, head of MoETs International Cooperation Department.



The decree also eliminates regulations on the proportion of Vietnamese students at educational institutions.



Decree 73 regulates that foreign nursery schools cannot recruit Vietnamese students. Foreign primary and secondary schools can enroll Vietnamese students but no more than 10 percent of the total number of students at primary level, and 20 percent at secondary and high school levels.



The new decree also states that educational facilities must teach compulsory content which will be determined by Minister of Education and Training instead of compulsory subjects as in the previous decree. This means that foreign-invested schools do not have to teach all subjects but joint content from various subjects.



According to Vang, the new decree is much more open. For example, foreign investors can now use temporary infrastructure for five years before constructing a school, whereas Decree 73 required investors to secure permanent infrastructure before opening the school.



To improve teachers quality, teacher qualification requirements have been stiffened. The minimum percentage of foreign university lecturers has increased from 35 percent to 50 percent, the draft decree says.



Degrees and certificates of foreign teachers must be recognised by authorised educational agencies. International degrees of Vietnamese teachers must meet requirements to be recognised in Vietnam, Vang said.



The new decree also adds a regulation for suspending or ending a joint training programme. Investors of the programme will have to return tuition fees to students if the students do not transfer or do not want to transfer to another educational institution.



Nguyen Kim Dung, head of Legal and Governance Relations of British University Vietnam told the Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper that the new decree will aid the investment climate while ensuring investment quality. It reduces unnecessary administrative procedures and has practical requirements for teachers.



Decree 73 required joint training programmes teachers at foreign universities to have five-year experience and masters degrees. The new decree requires language teachers to have only a bachelors degree and foreign language certificates.





Lecturers in cuisine, art or hotel management majors must only be artists or experienced.



The new decree will create a clear investment climate in education sector. The ministry plans to have specific regulations for specific majors, Dung said, We really hope the ministry will soon approve the decree.

VNA/VNP
The welcome ceremony for the first e-visa visitor to Vietnam__Photo: vov.vn

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As many as 490 foreigners have registered for electronic visas to enter Vietnam, 210 of whom have been issued with their visas, after the first week of the e-visa pilot scheme, the Ministry of Public Securitys Department of Immigration has said.Major General Le Xuan Vien, head of the department, said that Decree No. 07/2017/ND-CP, which allowed visitors from 40 countries to apply and receive Vietnamese visas online, took effect earlier this month.Foreigners could apply for visas and pay fees through the website. The process takes only three days for an e-visa valid for 30 days without requiring letters of guarantee or invitation.The first foreigner to receive an e-visa was a British tourist. Britain was among the countries subject to visa exemption for stays of less than 15 days in Vietnam, he added.Vien said the move was an effort by the Government to boost socio-economic development, making it more convenient for foreigners to enter the country without being guaranteed by certain organizations or individuals.It also aimed to contribute to the development of the tourism industry, which hopes to attract between 15 and 20 million tourists in the next two years.Foreigners can apply for e-visas via https://www.immigration.gov.vn Visitors from the following 40 countries can apply for Vietnams e-visas during the course of the pilot programme: Azerbaijan, Argentina, Armenia, Ireland, Poland, Belarus, Bulgaria, Brunei, South Korea, Germany, Chile, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Cuba, Denmark, Timor Leste, the United States, Hungary, Greece, Italy, Kazakhstan, Russia, United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Myanmar, Mongolia, Japan, Panama, Peru, Finland, France, the Philippines, Romania, Spain, Sweden, China (not applicable for Chinese e-passport holders), Uruguay, Venezuela, Norway, and Slovakia.Currently, about 30 nations issue e-visas. The Vietnamese procedures seem to be simpler than most other nations, as foreigners did not have to be fingerprinted, photographed, or interviewed, Vien said.Visitors could conduct temporary residence declarations online when travelling with e-visas."E-visas can be accepted at most international airports and 28 border gates in Vietnam," he said.In reply to questions on the management of e-visa holders, Vien said the issuance of e-visas only simplifies procedures for foreigners. The process of approving visas remained the same as before.So far, the Vietnamese Government has signed more than 80 agreements on visa exemption for 13 nations, including Russia, Denmark, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Belarus, Britain, France, Spain and Italy.-
NEW DELHI - Vietjet plans to launch a direct flight from New Delhi to HCM City, commencing services in July or August this year.

Nguyen Bac Toan, Deputy director of Vietjets Commercial Department, made the announcement at SATTE 2017, South Asias leading travel trade show, which is under way in New Delhi.

Seeing the growth of arrivals from the India market, we plan to launch direct flights to HCM City. The flight, scheduled for thrice a week, will take five hours and 30 minutes. This will cut down the transit time by 50 per cent, as it takes roughly 10 hours with stopovers, The Financial Express quoted Toan as saying.

The airline will operate Airbus A320 aircraft on this route, offering 180 seats. Initially the airline is looking to reach 80 per cent of load factor on both the routes and is hopeful to see the numbers increasing in the future, Toan said.

Toan mentioned that this is the first phase of Vietjets expansion plans in India.

We are facing direct competition from other airlines on the same route, but we will be looking at partnerships with airlines to add more domestic connectivity within India. The second phase might see more frequency of flights and addition of other destinations within the country. India is a big potential market and we are looking to expand our network here, he added.

In December last year, Vietjet and Air India signed an memorandum of understanding for co-operation to provide aviation services connecting the two countries.

Under the MoU, the two airlines will offer direct flights connecting HCM City and New Delhi. They will also jointly develop sales channels and implement bilateral tourism-trade activities, as well as share experiences and co-operate in personnel training. - VNS
HCM CITY  Domestic paddy prices have increased by 12 per cent as the winter-spring crop in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta is ready to be harvested.

In An Giang Province, fresh paddy IR50404 is being sold at VN4,500-4,600 per kilo, high-quality paddy VN4,700-4,800, and dried high-quality paddy VN5,650-5,800.

Meanwhile, fragrant Jasmine paddy is priced at VN5,300-5,400 per kilo, a rise of VN50-100.

In Can Tho City, fresh paddy IR50404 is being sold for about VN4,400-4,500 per kilo, and Jasmine paddy at VN5,400-5,500, an increase of VN150-200 compared to the price before Tet (Lunar New Year), and an increase of VN200-500 per kilo compared to the same period last year.

The price of husked rice on the market is VN10,000 per kilo and Jasmine rice VN14,000 per kilo.

The rise in prices for paddy has caused an increase of US$5 per tonne for rice exports compared to prices before Tet.

Enterprises buy 100-200 tonnes of rice on average each day, while some even buy 300-400 tonnes, said Le Van Hung, deputy director of Can Tho Department of Industry and Trade.

The Song Hau Food Company has stored more than 40,000 tonnes of husked rice and 5,100 tonnes of unhusked rice at VN5,850-6,100 per kilo.

The company plans to buy another 40,000 tonnes of rice.

Vuong inh Thanh, vice chairman of the An Giang Provinces Peoples Committee, said enterprises in the province were purchasing about 3,000 tonnes of rice per day to achieve the set target of 150,000 tonnes.

The Tien Giang Food Company has bought 10,000 tonnes of rice at VN5,900-6,100 per kilo.

Meanwhile, businesses in ong Thap Province plans to purchase 660,000 tonnes of husked rice.

Low productivity was among the reasons for the rise in paddy prices. Many enterprises purchase husked rice and sold more than 293,000 tonnes to Filipino buyers, which contributed to an increase in price.

Most enterprises said the productivity of paddy in this years winter-spring crop fell by 30-40 per cent compared to last year due to unpredictable weather, causing disease in paddy.  VNS
Bo Xuan Hiep

HCM CITY  Viet Nams hopes for a FTA-driven economic rise within ASEAN must now rely on the only free trade agreement seen as realistically achievable, the EU-Viet Nam FTA, experts said at a conference held on Thursday in HCM City.

Global uncertainty and challenges have intensified since the beginning of the year, especially after US President Donald Trump decided to withdraw the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement.

Le Anh Tuan, deputy CIO and head of research at Dragon Capital, said that Viet Nam, with a large working-age population, the second-fastest growing middle class worldwide, and improved productivity, had many advantages to attract foreign investors.

However, the window of opportunity will close within the next seven to 10 years as the competitive advantages will diminish, he said.

Tuan and other experts spoke at the EVFTA: a Game Changer for Viet Nam in ASEAN? conference, organised by the European Chamber of Commerce (EuroCham) in Viet Nam in collaboration with the EU-Viet Nam Business Network.

Francisco Fontan, EU Ambassador to ASEAN, said the EU had launched a series of FTA negotiations with selected ASEAN countries in order to fully realise the market opportunities for EU companies.

Among them, negotiations with Viet Nam and Singapore have been successfully concluded. The EU and Viet Nam remain two solid and reliable partners, open for business to ASEAN and to the world, he said.

The EU has become ASEANs second largest trade partner after China, while ASEAN is the EUs third-largest trade partner outside Europe, after the US and China, he said.

In fact, bilateral merchandise trade has almost doubled in the past 10 years, Fontan said. More impressive still, the EU is the largest investor in ASEAN economies.

Michael Behrens, chairman of EuroCham, said the EVFTA would go live about a year from now.

The potential of the EVFTA is clear, as its effective application can build on these good trade numbers between Europe and Viet Nam and turn them into a long-lasting and ever progressing partnership, and ultimately into one of the most powerful intercontinental trade and investment corridors in the world, he said.

The EVFTA offers Viet Nam the chance to link 500 million Europeans with more than 500 million ASEAN citizens, thus being at the centre of a trade corridor for about one billion potential customers, he added.

Donald Kanak, chairman of the EU-ASEAN Business Council, said optimism about ASEANs future was as strong as ever.

A comprehensive region-to-region FTA between ASEAN and the EU would be a significant game changer for both regions, he said.

Regarding Viet Nams opportunity in the ASEAN automobile industry with EVFTA, Chris Humphrey, executive director of EU-ASEAN Business Council, said Viet Nam is in possession of a low-cost base, and increasing concentration of auto parts makers. EVFTA provides Viet Nam with the potential to become one of the fastest-growing car markets in the ASEAN region over the next 20 years.

Challenges, however, remain due to high levels of competition from Thailand and Indonesia as well as infrastructure and traffic congestion issues.

He urged Viet Nam to raise technical standards and increase local content for global export markets.

Conference participants included key speakers and experts in EU-Viet Nam and EU-ASEAN relations, as well as business leaders and thinkers discussing possible scenarios for the Vietnamese economy in 2018 when EVFTA is slated to come into force.  VNS
HA NOI  The National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department has urged local seafood producers to apply for e-certificates through the national single window registration system.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developments agency, known as NAFIQAD, said in a statement sent to local companies early this week that sea product processing companies must study the single-window regulations published on the websites of the Viet Nam National Single Window, the General Customs Department, MARD and NAFIQAD.

In the statement, local seafood producers are required to contact NAFIQADs local representative offices so that they will receive instructions to apply for e-certification for sea products via the national single window registration system.

In addition, seafood enterprises need to prepare required procedures such as e-signatures and accounts and register for e-certification of product packages that are being exported to South Korea and China from March 1 onwards. E-certification for seafood exported to other markets such as the EU will be done after the system is completed.

From March 15, NAFIQAD will stop receiving and resolving complaints and appeals over wrong information in the paper certification for sea products that are exported to South Korea and China if incorrect information is provided by the companies.

NAFIQAD also asks its local offices to generalise the effectiveness of using the National Single Window registration for all seafood processing and exporting companies in the area.

NAFIQAD on May 16, 2016 asked its local offices in the Ca Mau Province, HCM City and Can Tho City to pilot two new administrative procedures on the national single window registration system in order to grant certifications for local prioritised and non-prioritised seafoods that are exported to China and South Korea.

Since, NAFIQADs local offices have processed more than 1,200 registrations on the system and have granted nearly 600 e-certifications to local seafood companies.

However, the number of e-certificates granted to Vietnamese seafood producers on the national single window registration system has been less than expected, because a number of NAFIQADs local offices and seafood companies have remained unwilling to use this method.

In the near future, NAFIQAD will stop receiving paper registrations and local companies will only be able to submit their registrations on the national single window system.  VNS
HA NOI  The Viet Nam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) on Thursday launched a mobile banking service designed to improve the access of disadvantaged people.

The project, which is supported by the Australian Governments Business Partnerships Platform, aims to increase access to a full range of financial services for low-income households, especially women-led micro-enterprises that lack access to traditional banking services.

The project will be implemented in co-operation between VBSP, Mastercard and the Asian Foundation over three years.

Improving access to financial services is increasingly recognised as key to creating greater economic opportunities for the poor. Unfortunately, in addition to credit, abour two-thirds of Vietnamese people, particularly in rural areas, are disconnected from other formal banking services. This is partly due to the high cost of operating bank branches in remote areas where small frequent transactions are the norm.

Viet Nam has undergone a rapid evolution in information and communications technology with telecommunications networks covering almost the entire country and adults owning mobile phones. However, the use of mobile technology for financial transactions is relatively rare and cash transactions remain pervasive.

The project will help poor and near-poor households and other social policy beneficiaries to access sustainable and effective financial services, contributing to alleviating poverty and connecting the poor with the economy, said Hoang Minh Te, VBSPs deputy director.

He said applying new technology is in line with the Governments socio-economic development strategy for the 2011-20 period. This will also be one of tools to diversify the banks products and services as well as increasing its efficiency in order to serve an increasing number of customers.

VBSP will send account-related information via SMS texts to clients, thus improving transparency and reducing delinquency rates. The bank will pilot mobile banking for customers to make its transaction procedures automatic.

We want to make a real difference in reducing powerty and ensuring that poor people have access to financial system. Lessons drawn from other markets have shown that digital payments are cheaper, more efficient and ultimately more sustainable, said Arn Vogels, chief representative of Mastercard Indochina.

Being a specialised and the biggest State-owned financial institution, the bank has provided financial services, especially loans to help reduce poverty and achieve social targets effectively.

VBSPs strength is a nationwide network of 63 branches, 629 transaction offices, nearly 200,000 savings and credit groups in more than 11,000 communes.

It serves nearly seven million customers with total outstanding loans of VN157 trillion. Nearly 80 per cent of the debtors live in rural and remote areas.  VNS
A customer at a Vietcombank branch in Ha Noi.  VNA/VNS Photo Tran Viet

HA NOI  The positive 2016 earning reports of over 90 per cent of nearly 600 listed companies on the two national stock exchanges are providing a fresh impetus for the market.

Banks were reported the biggest gainers as profits of the total nine listed lenders accounted for about 25 per cent of total profits on the two exchanges.

Vietcombank (VCB), Vietinbank (CTG) and BIDV (BID), the three biggest listed lenders by market value, were also the most profitable.

Both Vietcombank and Vietinbank reported net profits of over VN6.8 trillion (US$298 million) in 2016 (leaving out business results of their member and affiliate companies). BIDV followed with an after-tax profit of almost VN6.2 trillion.

Military Bank (MBB) and Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) earned VN2.9 trillion and VN1.3 trillion in net profits, respectively.

The food and beverage industry also disclosed big profits.

Dairy giant Vinamilk (VNM) posted net profits of nearly VN9.4 trillion, a yearly growth of 21 per cent making it the biggest 2016 earner. Its total revenues reached VN46.8 trillion while the companys charter capital reached VN15.5 trillion.

After two months of listing on the southern exchange, Sabeco (SAB), the countrys biggest brewery company, boasted a net profit of nearly VN4.5 trillion, 22 per cent higher than its yearly target. Its share price doubled the debut day to touch VN215,400 a share on Thursday, being the most expensive nationwide.

In terms of growth rate, steelmaking and real estate companies were the leaders thanks to strong recovery of the real estate market in the last quarter of 2016.

Pomina Steel Corp (POM) made a net profit of VN301 billion, an 11-fold increase over the previous year. Nam Kim Steel (NKG) and Hoa Sen Group (HSG) also reported yearly growth of 312 per cent and 130 per cent, respectively.

Hoa Phat Group (HPG) posted a record profit of VN6.6 trillion, up 89 per cent year-on-year and double its yearly target.

Hoa Binh Construction & Real Estate Corp (HBC) saw its profits rise 585 per cent year-on-year to VN490 billion, while Novaland Investment Group (NVL) earnings jumped 274 per cent to nearly VN1.7 trillion.

In the oil and gas industry, the biggest listed stock PV Gas (GAS) reported a net earning of nearly VN7.1 trillion, the second biggest earner in 2016 after Vinamilk, but this number was 17 per cent lower than its 2015 result.

Where to invest in 2017?

These impressive figures are creating new energy for the market to grow, Nguyen uc Hung Linh, head of analysis and investment consultancy for Saigon Securities Inc, told the Finance-Business News on VTV1 channel.

The benchmark VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange stepped over the resistance 710 points on Wednesday, the highest since February 21, 2008 and a rally of over 7 per cent compared to December 30, 2016.

In 2017, analysts suggest investors pay attention to the stocks which may benefit from Government policies.

Investors can consider the businesses or industries benefiting from policy as these companies often have outstanding business results, Linh said and noted the example of construction and real estate firms, which have picked up in the past two years thanks to policy support.

The current policy focuses on infrastructure development in order to lay a solid foundation for economic growth in the coming years and this could be a favourable condition for the strong growth of the real estate sector, he said.  VNS
Last week, immigration raids across the country resulted in the arrest of more than 680 people and a lot of fear and uncertainty that has made its way into the classroom.

The U.S. immigration agency, known as ICE, carried out large-scale immigration sweeps last week across several cities, including Los Angeles, San Antonio, Chicago, Atlanta, and New York City. About 75 percent of the immigrants who were arrested had committed crimes in the U.S., including homicide, sexual assault, drug trafficking, and drunk driving. The others were immigration fugitives or had illegally re-entered the country after being removed, according to a statement from Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly.

In Austin, Texas, the raids have sparked a debate between the local teachers union and the school district: Do teachers have a responsibility to provide legal information to their students who may be undocumented or who might have undocumented relatives? How can teachers best support their students who might be scared? Can (or should) they leave such a hot-button issue out of the classroom entirely?

The local teachers union, Education Austin, said it had received reports that some parents, afraid of running into ICE agents near the school or at bus stops, were keeping their children home from school. The Austin American-Statesman reported that the teachers union then held a training session on immigration law and rights, and 250 educators attended.

Education Austin then provided its 3,000 members resources on immigration raids, including a flier titled What to do if ICE comes to your door. (Heres what the flier looks like advice includes not opening doors and not signing anything without a lawyer present.) Some of the teachers then distributed that material to their students.

But the Statesman reported that some principals within the Austin Independent School District have prohibited the teachers at their school from distributing those materials. The districts general counsel had sent a memo reminding educators that they cannot speak to political affiliation, views, protests, advocacy, or other controversial issues or topics. Teachers also cannot distribute resources that are partisan or advocate for students to act unlawfully, the memo said.

The teachers union now plans to seek its own legal guidance on the issue, the Statesman reported.

Students are in crisis, Education Austin President Ken Zarifis told the Austin American-Statesman . Where the students will turn to first outside of their household is their teacher and their school. If we dont provide the information to them, were doing them a disservice. We believe it is a moral imperative to share this information with the families throughout this school district. We are still hopeful that the district will see this imperative and assist their families with knowledge and information ... that will give them options and choices of what to do and how to protect their family.

According to the Austin Monitor , the Austin district released a statement on Wednesday saying that it will continue to provide and update information for our campus staff to assist them in better serving our students. ... The safety and security of our students is our top priority.

School districts across the country have been grappling with how to best support their undocumented students amid the uncertainty under President Donald Trumps administration. Trump has pledged to crack down on illegal immigrants, although he hasnt yet decided on his plan for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which has granted temporary deportation reprieves for more than 740,000 young undocumented immigrants.

Other districts are also responding to the recent immigration raids: The superintendent of Charlotte, N.C., public schools told the Charlotte Observer she is seeking a meeting with law enforcement to ask that they keep the sweeps away from district schools and bus stops. And several districts, including Los Angeles Unified, have declared themselves safe zones , where they will not cooperate with immigration enforcement.

As for teachers themselves, its a tricky balance among personal activism , supporting their students, and following district rules. Immediately after the election, some teachers were reprimanded or banned from wearing safety pins in class to show support for people of color, immigrants, members of the LGBT community, and other marginalized groups. And last fall, Seattle teachers received some backlash from wearing Black Lives Matter shirts as a demonstration of support for the movement.

Montserrat Garibay, the vice president of Education Austin and a former undocumented student herself, told news station KVUE that teachers are supposed to help students in need. Thats what we do as educatorsevery single day, she said. Why is it different now?

Image via Getty

Related:
HA NOI  Vietnamese small-and medium-sized enterprises are keen to explore investing in Myanmar, according to the Cong Thuong (Industry & Trade) newspaper.

Viet Nam is among the top 10 foreign investors in Myanmar, with nearly 80 businesses pouring in investment worth US$1 billion in the host country.

Major companies such as Hoang Anh Gia Lai, Bank for Investment and Development (BIDV), and Vietel are operating in Myanmar. Myanmars Minister of Industry and Trade Than Myint said his country has huge opportunities to attract foreign investment.

Myanmar currently enjoys the Generalised System of Preferences for exports to the EU, the US and India, he said, adding that this will benefit foreign investors in the country.

The Myanmar government has launched a programme for economic development, focusing on the private sector by modernising infrastructure and promoting global integration via the ASEAN Economic Community.

To attract foreign direct investment, the government has also promulgated a new investment law and reformed the tax system in line with international practices, facilitating the granting of investment licences for overseas businesses to operate in Myanmar.

Two-way trade between Viet Nam and Myanmar reached $536 million in 2016, surpassing the yearly target of $500 million.

Viet Nam exported goods worth more than $450 million to Myanmar in the year.

These were mainly iron and steel products, means of transport and equipment spare parts, while it imported rubber material, wood and forest products, farm produce and seafood.

At a meeting with Minister Than Myint in January 2017, his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Tuan Anh said there is still plenty of room for the two countries to boost trade relations.

Both nations agreed to enhance trade promotion activities and make use of the East-West economic corridor to facilitate bilateral trade and reduce transportation costs.

They also agreed to maintain the meeting of the Viet NamMyanmar trade subcommittee, to promote the co-operation mechanism of Cambodia, Laos, Viet Nam and Myanmar, and contribute to the development of the ASEAN Economic Community.

Minister Tran Tuan Anh proposed Myanmar help Vietnamese businesses export cement and reduce import licences applied to Vietnamese products.  VNS
Unique view: Bai Tho Mount is definitely a favourite of photography lovers.  Photo baoquangninh.com.vn

Viet Nam News

Thuy Anh

In Ha Long bay, travelers can kayak, travel by bamboo boats or cruise ships to explore the beauty of the islands, caves and unspoiled beaches, yet to have a panoramic view of this world heritage site, one should not miss Bai Tho (Poem) Mountain.

Bai Tho Mountain is a hill. The path leading to the only 200-metre-high.mount is located in Hang Noi Street of Ha Long city. The trek, which may take half an hour, is pretty easy.

On reaching the top, the scenic view of Ha Long city and the bay are breathtaking. One sees small islands dotting the bay. Rocks come in a range of shapes and sizes, some looking like dragons descending to the bay. A resident told me that it is from here that one understands why this bay was named Ha Long (Descending Dragon).

Overwhelming: Scenic view of Ha Long city and the bay.  Photo news.zing.vn

Bai Chay Bridge, fast-paced Ha Long city with its high rises, busy Cai Lan Habour, the newly opened Tran Quoc Nghien Street, and Co Tien Mount are all spread out in front of our eyes.

Young travelers dub this a new "check-in" spot for the city, and it is definitely a favourite of photography lovers. There are not many places where we can take such a good panoramic view of the whole of Ha Long city like this, said Bui Huy Hung, 27, who travels around the country to take photos and film videos.

The ideal time to climb the mountain is early morning or late afternoon, 4.30am or 4pm. Ha Long city is at its best in the dawn or twilight that color the city.

The reowned Long Tien pagoda at the foot of the mountain is also worth a visit, leaving behind the bustling city and touristry destinations to enjoy calmness and peace.

One can also visit a local seafood market to see and buy different types of fish or octopus, squid, crab, snail and oyster.

Inspiration: A gravestone with a carving of an old poem dedicated to the beauty of the mountain and its surroundings.  Photo news.zing.vn

While Bai Tho Mountain attracts travelers for its scenic view, its name also reveals interesting stories.

Bai Tho (Poem) Mountain was once named Roi en (Illuminating) or Truyen ang (Light Transmitting Mountain). It is said that in old times, when the guards on the mountain saw enemies nearing, they would burn a torch to signal the royal palace - hence the name Truyen ang.

In 1468, when King Le Thanh Tong led a patrol in the northeastern region, they stopped at the foot of the mountain to have a rest and discuss literature and poems. Moved by the poetic scenery, the king carved a poem in a mountain rock to praise the beauty of this area.

Romance: A couple taking wedding photos on Bai Tho Mountain.  Photo anhdep.pro

The carving is now faded, yet it was fortunate that the poem was recorded in old books and subsequently gave the mountain the current name, "Poem".

To get there, one catches a bus to the crossroad of Cao Xanh and Loong Toong streets near Bai Chay Bridge and takes a taxi or motorbike taxi to the foot of Bai Tho Mountain

The path leading up starts at 104A Le Thanh Tong Street and is open from 5.30am to 7pm. One can also trek to the top by a path on Long Tien Street, near Long Tien pagoda.  VNS
HA NOI  Vietnamese water puppeteers will join international artists to perform at the 4th International Festival of the Form Theatre in Krakow, Poland from February 18 to 25.

"It is an opportunity for Thang Long Puppetry Theatre to introduce unique water puppetry art," said Peoples Artist Hoang Tuan, the theatre director.

"Water puppetry is a traditional form, which is very close to Vietnamese daily life. It refers to Vietnamese traditions by means of water puppets, like daily life of Vietnamese farmers."

Chu Teu is the most notable character in water puppetry, performing humorous actions for the audience. Other repertoires will feature the daily life of Vietnamese farmers; and historical legends related to tending buffalo, catching fish, swimming contests and lion dancing.

Water puppetry is a traditional form that dates back to the 11th century Ly Dynasty. Villagers in the Red River Delta and other rice-growing regions in the north of Viet Nam staged water puppet performances to celebrate the end of the rice harvest, religious festivals and other important occassions.

The water puppets are made of lacquered wood. The artists stand waist-deep in a pool of water behind the stage to manipulate the puppets.

Other participants at the international festival, entitled Materia Prima, will include Daniel Finzi Pasca from Switzerland, the author of the famous Cirque du Soleil; Compagnie Marie Chouinard from Canada; Jakop Ahlbom from the Netherlands.

The performances combine theatre with nouveau cirque and dance theatre, where dance alternates with multimedia, and with puppet, mask, and shadow theatres.  VNS
Viet Nam strongly denounces criminal acts in every form, said deputy spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, Nguyen Phuong Tra on Thursday.  Photo Reuters

HA NOI  Viet Nam strongly denounces criminal acts in every form, said deputy spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, Nguyen Phuong Tra on Thursday.

She was responding to a media question about Viet Nams reaction to the alleged murder of North Korean national Kim Chol in Malaysia on Monday. We are willing to co-operate with other countries in fighting criminals. Relating to the recent incident in Malaysia, Viet Nams competent authorities are closely co-operating with Malaysia to clarify related information, she said.

Earlier, Malaysian police said one of the suspects arrested in connection with the alleged murder of Kim Chol held a Vietnam travel document, Malaysias The Star newspaper reported. She had been remanded for seven days to assist in the investigations, it said.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said on Thursday that the North Korean embassy in Malaysia had confirmed that Kim Chol was Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Koreas leader, Kim Jong-un.  VNS
Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has requested a prompt examination of news stories run by several newspapers regarding Ho Thi Kim Thoa, the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade.  VNA/VNS Photo

HA NOI  Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has requested a prompt examination of news stories run by several newspapers regarding Ho Thi Kim Thoa, the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade.

The Office of the Party Central Committee on Thursday sent a dispatch to the Party Central Committees Commissions for Inspection, Organisation and Internal Affairs; the Party Delegations to the Government, the Government Inspectorate and the ministries of Industry and Trade, Finance and Planning and Investment, requiring them to work together on the task and report the outcomes to the Party Central Committees Secretariat.

According to the dispatch, Nhan Dan (People) newspaper ran an article On asset filing by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa on February 11; while Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper wrote a story Deputy Minister Ho Thi Kim Thoa owns assets worth of hundreds of billion ong on February 11 and the other What does Deputy Ministers family have in ien Quang company?. Tien Phong (Vanguard) also published articles on February 14, 15, 16 calling for inspections on stock acquisition and control of officials family ties to prevent power abuse.

Several other papers also raised the issue.

The Party Delegation to the Government was asked to direct concerned agencies to review legal regulations and propose necessary amendments and supplements, in order to fix shortcomings in State management, prevent State asset loss and negative phenomena, including corruption and interest group behaviours in the process of equitising State-owned enterprises.  VNA
NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (R) receives Japans Gunma Prefecture, headed by its Governor, Masaaki Osawa in Ha Noi on Thursday.  VNA/VNS Photo Pham Kien

HA NOI  The National Assembly of Viet Nam will do its best to promote relations between Viet Nam and Japan in all fields, said NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.

She made the statement while receiving a delegation from Japans Gunma Prefecture, headed by its Governor, Masaaki Osawa, in Ha Noi on Thursday.

Ngan proposed to increase ties between Vietnamese and Japanese lawmakers and said that the two countries friendship parliamentarians groups should increase delegation exchanges among their localities.

She praised the visit to Viet Nam to seek co-operation and investment opportunities by Gunma parliamentarians and businesses, saying that it will contribute to promoting the friendship and relations between the two countries.

Governor Masaaki Osawa discussed his many activities during the visit, including meetings between Gunma businesses and parliamentarians with representatives of many localities and relevant ministries and agencies of Viet Nam.

The prefecture signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affair of Viet Nam and worked with HCM City authorities to boost co-operation between businesses of the two localities, he said.

In 2016, seven businesses from Gunma invested and established business in Viet Nam, bringing its total number of businesses in Viet Nam to 27.

Deputy PM welcomes US public policy professor

HA NOI  Deputy Prime Minister Vuong inh Hue has lauded the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) for boosting ties with Viet Nam in policymaking, administrative reform, education and personnel training.

During a reception in Ha Noi on Thursday for Rector of the school Prof. John D. Graham, Hue welcomed his visit, which was initiated by the Vietnam Initiative Group  a network of Vietnamese scholars worldwide in the fields of economy, finance and policy.

He told his guest that Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc recently held a telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump and affirmed that Viet Nam highly values the continued development of comprehensive partnership with the US.

The host urged the professor and SPEA to continue partnering with the Vietnamese Government in the near future, especially sharing information on the US political system and experience in legislation and public policy building and enforcement, and connecting prestigious scholars, policy advisors and research institutes from the US and the world with Viet Nam.

Graham, for his part, shared his experience in public policy and discussed Viet Nam-US ties in the President Trump landscape.

He said his visit is meant to share experiences gained by the US and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries in evaluating bills, budget and policies with Viet Nam, contributing to fine-tuning Viet Nams finance-budget policies.

Talking about a plan to open a Viet Nam-US Research Institute at the SPEA, he wished that the Vietnamese Government will back the project to contribute to the development of bilateral ties.  VNS
BERLIN  Global co-operation, including assistance for developing countries in key areas, is crucial for sustainable development, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh said on Thursday.

Speaking at a discussion on the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development during the (G20) Foreign Ministers Meeting in Bonn, he also said global economic stability was a precondition for development.

Minh was participating in the meeting as Foreign Minister of the nation hosting the APEC 2017 summit.

He asked G20 members to increase their support to developing countries in infrastructure and human resource development, technology transfer and climate change response.

He praised the assistance G20 members had provided in encouraging sustainable use of water resources and climate change response efforts in the Mekong River basin.

The G20 economies had also done well to maintain macro-economic and global financial stability, Minh said.

Minh said countries should collaborate in creating a multilateral trade system that operates on the basis of law, saying trade drives economic growth and creates jobs.

As the host of APEC Year 2017, Viet Nam is working with other economies to strengthen sustainable, innovative and inclusive growth, Minh said.

Noting the similarities in priorities on the G20 and APEC agendas in 2017, he emphasised that Viet Nam hoped to foster co-ordination and connectivity between the two forums, thus strengthening global partnerships.

At the meeting, the foreign ministers agreed that sustainable growth and poverty eradication are most effective measures for preserving peace and stability.

Themed Shaping the global order  foreign policy beyond crisis management, the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting focused on implementing the 2030 Agenda, maintaining peace in the new context and forging co-operation with and support for Africa.

Viet Nams presence at the table was the first time a non-G20 member was invited to the two-day meeting.

The G20 groups the worlds 19 largest economies (based on GDP) and the EU. Founded in 1999, the G20 now accounts for 85 per cent of the world economy. Its members include the US, Germany, Japan, France, the UK, Italy and Canada, a number of EU members, and Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Arabia Saudi, South Africa, the Republic of Korea and Turkey.

 VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nam hopes more local companies will find business opportunities in Sudan.

Vu Hong Nam, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed this hope as he affirmed the importance of traditional co-operation with Sudan at a reception to celebrate the 61st anniversary of Sudans independence.

The reception, held by the Embassy of Sudan, also celebrated the 47th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries on August 26, 1969.

At the event, Ambassador of Sudan to Viet Nam Sayed Altayeb Ahmed highlighted the developments in bilateral co-operation between the two countries over the last few years and said he hoped to further enhance bilateral relations.

At the reception held on Thursday, invitees also tried Sudanese henna drawings on their hands. They also had the opportunity to observe a miniature of a traditional house of the Sudanese people, called gottia  a single room with round mud walls and a conical straw roof.  VNS
HA NOI  Pinkeye cases have been occurring nationwide in a scattered manner, but they are tending to increase and can spread rapidly if preventive measures are not taken, health experts warn.

The Ha Noi-based Central Eye Hospital reported that it had seen an increase in the appearance of pinkeye among outpatients.

The hospitals Doctor Le Xuan Cung said the number had not increased over last year, and is not an outbreak, but the increase was still unusual.

Pinkeye cases usually peaked in summer, but the slight increase in the number of patients during spring time was unusual, he explained. Hot weather in the first days of spring this year could be a reason, he added.

"It is noticeable that the number of infected people were concentrated in crowded apartment buildings with poor circulation," he said.

Dr. Hoang Minh Anh, head of Synthesis Faculty at the Central Eye Hospital, said that in wet-weather conditions of the winter-spring season, the pinkeye causing virus developed and spread in the air, so anyone could get infected.

Pinkeye virus then spreads rapidly through direct contact with an infected person via the respiratory tract, tears, saliva and handshake, he said.

Therefore, people with pinkeye should go to eye hospitals for examination and follow up.

People should not buy medicine without doctor advice. In some cases, pinkeye-patients can develop complications that lead to vision loss if they dont go by a doctors advice, Anh said.

To actively prevent and fight pinkeye disease, the citys Department of Preventive Medicine has advised people to wash their hands frequently with soap, using clean water. They should not touch other places after rubbing their eyes with their hands, specially their nose and mouth. They should also not share personal items such as eye drops bottles, towels, glasses and masks.

At health centres or at home, utensils used by an infected person should be washed by soap and/or antiseptic disinfectant.

Those who suspect an infection should limit contact with others, stay out of school or office.

So far there is no vaccine or specific treatment for the disease, and those with pinkeye can still get infected again after several months of recovery.  VNS
HCM CITY  A flea market is expected to be held every weekend at Bach ang Wharf park in downtown HCM City, according to the Peoples Committee of District 1.

The District 1 Public Service Company (PUSCO) and several government agencies earlier this week spoke with the districts committee to finalise the plan before submitting it to the citys Peoples Committee.

The flea market is one of many activities that aim to revive Bach ang Wharf, which has fallen into disrepair and has long been abandoned. The flea market will open while authorities work on a bigger plan for the wharf area.

Phan Quoc Vinh, who has lived near the wharf for more than 40 years, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that many people had hesitated to visit the park for fear of being robbed or pickpocketed because of the lack of lighting at the wharf.

Together with Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street, the new flea market at Ton uc Thang Streets Bach ang Wharf is expected to attract more tourists as well as locals.

Products from various Vietnamese brands will also be promoted. Depending on the theme of each flea market event, which could be fashion, food or other topics, certain brands and products will be chosen for display.

The market will have 100 booths spread across 100 metres of land from the hydrofoil centre to an oval room at the wharf. Visitors can park at designated spots that extend from the room to the wall next to Ba Son Pier.

Nguyen Thanh Phong, chairman of the citys Peoples Committee, has also recently given support to another project, the Con uong am nhac (Music Street), which will be set up near Bach ang Wharf.

Similar to the flea market, the music street will provide people with opportunities to learn about traditional Vietnamese music and other genres. Musical events and exhibitions will be hosted regularly.

Slow park revival

Years ago, the wharf was popular for various activities it offered, including HCM City  Vung Tau City hydrofoils, District 1 and District 2 ferries, dinner riverboats, and river cruises.

City residents also used to jog around the wharfs park when it was in better condition.

In 2013, Saigontourist Company was in charge of reviving the park. However, since little process had been made, the citys Peoples Committee last year decided to hand over the project to PUSCO.

Saigontourist Company is still behind the project, with plans to turn the park into a square, according to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

Public park

Nguyen ang Son, deputy director of the Institute for Urban Studies and Infrastructure Development, said the upgrade of the Bach ang Wharf park should be designed in a way that complements city infrastructure along Sai Gon and Thu Thiem river banks.

The city shouldnt have one construction unit that plans everything, but instead should launch a competition to attract more talent and ideas, similarly to what a Nang did with Han River, he said.

Nguyen Trong Hoa, former director of the HCM City Institute for Development Studies, said that it might take 10 years to fully develop the park.

Authorities need to ensure that river banks along Sai Gon River, including Bach ang Wharfs park, have to be for the public, not for investors.

The revamped wharf park is part of a larger project that aims to upgrade the west bank of the Sai Gon River, which includes Sai Gon Bridge, Tan Cang, Ba Son, Bach ang Wharf, District 4 Port and Tan Thuan Bridge.  VNS
HA NOI  Doctors from Bach Mai Hospital in Ha Noi have reported at least one patient everyday hospitalised due to herbicide poisoning, popularly known as paraquat poisoning.

The fatality rate after ingesting just 5ml of the chemical is 90 per cent, doctors said.

Every year, about 1,000 people die of paraquat poisoning across the country.

Nguyen Trung Nguyen, head of the Poison Control Centre of Bach Mai Hospital, said the number of paraquat poisoning cases in 2015 at Bach Mai Hospital was 300, with the figure rising to 500 last year.

Most patients drank the chemical to commit suicide, Nguyen said.

The herbicide is quick-acting and non-selective, killing green plant tissue on contact.

He said patients can only be saved if poisoned by small doses of up to three millilitres.

But treatment is expensive, requiring blood filtration sessions costing up to VN100 million (US$4,400), and the chances of survival are still slim, he said.

Many people regret taking the herbicide after being hospitalised and receiving treatment. But whats painful about this is that theres no way they can go back  because most of them die, he said.

Most of them will die within three days to three months, however intensively they are treated. Paraquat is absorbed quickly, within two to six hours, and it caused severe damage to the heart, lungs and liver, Nguyen said.

Patients may feel better after receiving treatment, but are dying inside because of tissue that has been damaged.

Dying because of paraquat poisoning is scarier than other ways as the patients are awake and conscious until they die, Nguyen said.

Usage risks

Paraquat, a chemical weed killer, and 2,4-D, an organic compound, are used to control a broad range of weeds, but leave cereals, lawn turf, and grasslands relatively unaffected.

2,4-D paraquat can be found in many commercial lawn herbicide mixtures, and is widely used as a weed killer for cereal crops, pastures, and orchards. More than 1,500 herbicide products contain 2,4-D as an active ingredient.

Breathing in Paraquat can cause lung damage and lead to a disease called Paraquat lung. Paraquat damages the body when it touches the lining of the mouth, stomach, or intestines.

Long-term exposure to Paraquat may cause scarring of the lungs called pulmonary fibrosis.

On February 8, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issued a decree prohibiting the use of plant protection products containing paraquat and 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) in Viet Nam, after years of scientists repeatedly warning about its danger.

The ministry still allows the trade and use of the products for two years starting from when the ban became effective.

We made the transition time two years so that enterprises can gradually eliminate these products, said Hoang Trung, head of the Plant Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Regarding this, doctor Nguyen from Bach Mai Hospital said he wondered if the buffer time is necessary.

The sooner we ban this herbicide, the more people we can save, he said.  VNS
BEN TRE  The Ministry of Transports Project Management Unit No 7 has finished an investment report on the proposed cable-stayed Rach Mieu Bridge No 2 over the Tien River in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.

The bridge, which will link the provinces of Tien Giang and Ben Tre, will cost around VN3.5 trillion (US$160 million), be 16 metres wide and have four lanes.

Unit No 7 proposes to build it under the public-private partnership mode if official development assistance (ODA) funds are not available.

The bridge will actually consist of two sections: one of around 1.8 kilometres from My Tho City in Tien Giang to the Thoi Son sandbank, and the other of 600 metres from the sandbank to Ben Tre.

Rach Mieu Bridge No 2 will be three kilometres upstream of Rach Mieu Bridge No 1.

After the Co Chien Bridge linking Tra Vinh and Ben Tre provinces was built in 2015, the number of vehicles going over Rach Mieu Bridge No 1 to HCM City from Tra Vinh and neighbouring Vinh Long Province during holidays has increased sharply.

The Ministry of Transport has tasked Unit No 7 to also raise money to build the bridge.  VNS
Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long on Thursday urged agencies and local authorities in the southern region to take preventive measures against outbreaks of dengue and Zika virus infections.  VNA/VNS Photo Phuong Vy

HCM CITY  Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long on Thursday urged agencies and local authorities in the southern region to take preventive measures against outbreaks of dengue and Zika virus infections.

The World Health Organisation has issued a warning that Viet Nam is inside the belt affected by dengue and Zika. We should take measures to prevent an outbreak this year," he said at a meeting on disease prevention held in HCM City.

Phan Trong Lan, head of the Pasteur Institute, said that continued infections would be inevitable if surveillance and other measures were not taken to control mosquitoes that act as the primary vector for Zika transmission.

Eighty per cent of patients infected with the Zika virus show no clinical symptoms, he said, adding that the virus was difficult to detect and prevent.

We must strengthen methods for surveillance of Zika. This activity should be allocated long-term funds for continuous maintenance, Lan said.

Private and public hospitals throughout the country should also take part in the surveillance, he added.

Each province should choose one hospital at the provincial level and one at the district level for surveillance of dengue fever, Zika and Chikungunya (also transmitted by mosquitoes) virus cases.

Patients with a rash, fever of more than 38.5 degrees Celsius, conjunctivitis or joint pain should be screened and monitored.

Lan said that appropriate agencies should continue to protect pregnant women from the Zika virus to avoid possible birth defects caused by the virus.

Nguyen uc Vinh, head of the Mothers and Childrens Health Department of the Ministry of Health, said that all obstetricians and paediatricians in the country would be given guidelines on surveillance and early detection of fetuses with abnormally small heads linked to the virus.

Head of the ministrys Preventive Medicine Department, Tran ac Phu, said that 219 patients were infected with the Zika virus last year.

Of these, one infant in the Central Highlands province of ak Lak was born with an abnormally small head probably caused by the virus.

Since the beginning of this year, 13 cases have tested positive for the Zika virus.

HCM City has recorded 199 patients with Zika since the first case that occurred last year, Phu said.

Last year, the country had 110,876 dengue fever incidences, with 36 people dying from the disease.

Most dengue fever cases were in the southern and central regions, with the Central Highlands provinces seeing the highest increase.

Of the entire southern and central area, HCM City, a Nang and the provinces of Gia Lai, ak Lak, Khanh Hoa, Binh Duong, Binh inh, ong Thap, ong Nai and Ben Tre had the highest number of incidences.

Last year, the prevalence of dengue fever per 100,000 people in Viet Nam was 109.5, lower than other regional countries such as Malaysia, which had a prevalence of 325.3.  VNS
HA NOI  The Government will issue a new decree on mechanisms for the Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park, enabling it to play an extremely important role in enhancing the countrys science and technology capacity, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said on Thursday on a visit to the park.

After touring several infrastructural facilities and investment projects, the PM said the foremost task is to build a brand for the Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park to draw investors.

He pointed out shortcomings facing the park, including few hi-tech projects in comparison with oher industrial parks and snail-speed land clearance.

Located in the Thach That and Quoc Oai districts of Ha Noi, on an area of 1,586 hectares, the Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park is expected to become a science city hosting investors in biotechnology, information, communication, new material technology and automation.

Modern infrastructure is being built at the park using the State budget and the official development assistance (ODA) supported by the Japanese government.

The park counts 78 valid investment projects, including nine foreign ones, with a total registered capital of over VN60 trillion (US$2.68 million), in the spheres of high technology, training, trade and services, and social infrastructure.

Thirty-six projects have been put into operation, involving more than 10,000 people. Their total import-export turnover is estimated at over $2.4 billion in 2016. FPT is currently the biggest investor of the park with two projects: FPT Software Village and FPT University.

Phuc asked the Park Management Board and capital city authorities to complete land clearance this year, while entrusting the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance to report to him a plan to supplement capital for land clearance and technical infrastructure construction at the park.

The PM tasked the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Management Board to co-ordinate with Ha Noi authorities along with the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Government Office, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment, to promote investment at the park while ensuring environmental protection and sustainable development.

Apart from infrastructure investment, it is necessary to select and draw knowledge-intensive manufacturing businesses to create high-quality and internationally-recognised products, he advised.

Once in six months, the PM or Deputy PM will visit the park in order to remove obstacles arising during the implementing of the project, he added.

He expressed his hope that the Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park will become an information technology and biotechnology start-up centre.  VNS
Viet Nams first human milk bank opened today at the a Nang Hospital for Women and Children in central a Nang City.  Photo vov.vn

A NANG  Viet Nams first human milk bank opened today at the a Nang Hospital for Women and Children in central a Nang City.

Supported by the health ministrys Maternal and Child Health Department, the a Nang Department of Health, PATH and FHI 360 (through the Alive & Thrive initiative), the bank will be able to provide lifesaving donor milk to 3,000 to 4,000 at-risk infants each year.

Breastfeeding is vital to ensuring the childs survival and good health. We hope that the first human milk bank makes it possible for all the babies in a Nang to have access to lifesaving human milk, regardless of the circumstances in which they are born, said Nguyen uc Vinh, director of the health ministrys Maternal and Child Health Department.

"This pilot human milk bank will also provide the Ministry of Health with evidence of the need to replicate human milk banks in other health facilities across the country, added Vinh.

We know human milk works best for infants, and it is readily available. We just need to manage its availability, so that every baby gets it, said Ramona Byrkit, PATHs Mekong regional director.

The human milk bank in a Nang will collect, pasteurise, test, and store safely the milk that has been donated by breastfeeding mothers and provide it to infants in need. The facility will also protect, promote, and support breastfeeding by providing lactation support for mothers.

With funding from Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, PATH and Alive & Thrive provided the technical support to the a Nang Hospital for Women and Children to establish the countrys first human milk bank in line with the international standards.

The two organisations also trained staff, sourced high quality equipment, communicated about the human milk bank to potential donor mothers and the public, and developed operational guidelines and standard operating procedures to ensure efficiency and safety in the facility.

Despite gains in child health in Viet Nam, the mortality rate for children under five years of age is still 22 deaths per 1,000 live births (Statistical Yearbook of Viet Nam 2015). This means that every year over 33,000 children in Viet Nam die before their fifth birthday (Levels and Trends in Child Mortality 2015 Report).

Studies have repeatedly shown that of all the known solutions for child mortality, human milk has the greatest impact on child survival. It is the most natural and best-suited option for babies, fostering strength, a healthy metabolism, and a robust immune system.  VNS
HCM CITY  President Tran ai Quang has encouraged HCM City delegates to the National Assembly to listen carefully to citizen feedback and to continue the practice of proposing policies that would help the city, even if some of them do not receive immediate approval.

When a proposed policy is persuasive enough, it will surely be supported, he said at a meeting held in HCM City on Thursday to review the delegates general activities last year.

He also urged the delegation to improve communication with residents from different walks of life, and follow up on citizens ideas as well as complaints.

He also said that care should be taken in writing regulations, particularly as they relate to human rights and responsibilities and the state system.

Van Thi Bach Tuyet, deputy head of the citys National Assembly delegation, said that tax evasion and transfer pricing would be two of the most crucial issues considered this year by the delegates.

The secretary of the citys Party Committee, inh La Thang, said that both problems had existed for many years.

Though there are 250,000 household businesses, the amount of tax collected from them only makes up 2 per cent of the total city budget, according to Thang.

He also said the city should more closely monitor the process of handing out of certificates for land-use rights, house ownership and other land-based properties that are overdue. - VNS
HA NOI  Like many other countries in the region, Viet Nam faces the question of how to care for its ageing citizens, most essentially when it comes to providing health care.

The issue was the focus of the workshop on Health security of older persons: a survey of five ASEAN countries, recently held by the Institute of Public Policy and Management (IPPM) at National Economics University, Ha Noi City.

Researchers from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and Viet Nam - together with a number of experts and representatives from agencies specialising population ageing issues in Viet Nam - participated in the discussion.

Associate Professor Giang Thanh Long, Director of IPPM, stressed the importance of developing health security programmes for Asian countries in general and the five countries surveyed in particular.

Even with considerable disparity between per-capita income among these countries, they all experience accelerated ageing. Therefore, studies and reviews on the effectiveness of policies will provide learning opportunities for all involved.

Delegates discussed how an ageing population leads to a rise in non-contagious but chronic diseases  such as cancer, diabetes, or cardiovascular diseases. These diseases require an overhaul of health care system, from facilities to personnel, further straining the already limited State budget.

Other aspects of elderly health care also need to be mainstreamed into State policy-making decisions: such as access to these healthcare services, and elderly satisfaction with health care.

Family values in focus

Speaking at the workshop, Dr. Theresa Devasahayam, former fellow and researcher-in-charge from Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, said that the countrys government wants to push family values. Therefore, it has implemented a number of policies to encourage offspring and youngsters to take care of the elderly people  such as tax cuts and preferential housing prices for those living with their senior parents.

However, a noteworthy issue, as Theresa pointed out, is that the living cost in Singapore is exorbitant; it is one of the most expensive cities in the world. Therefore, ensuring an income that can comfortably cover expenses, including healthcare for low-income or irregular income earners, needs to be taken into account.

Associate Professor Ling How Kee, from the Social Science Faculty of Malaysias Unimas University, said that the country also holds family values in high regards. Its often the case that old parents wish to live under the same roof with their children and grandchildren.

However, the elderly are feeling the profound impact of increasing migration from rural areas to urban centres.

Thailand, despite its trend of fewer children are living with their parents, still places a high premium on family relationships, thanks in large part to frequent communications, Associate Professor Rossarin Gray, who is serving as Deputy Director of the Institute for Population and Social Research at Mahidol University, said.

Giving a low-income country perspective, Malaysian Professor Hein Thet Ssoe, from HelpAge International  an international NGO that offers support for the elderly  said the countrys government is encouraging children to live with their parents.

However, like other Asian countries, stark and ever-expanding generational differences have led to a mounting preference for adult children to move away from their parents, causing a drop in number of the traditional multigenerational family. In Myanmar, nonagenarians and older are given a monthly subsidy, in addition to free-of-charge health check-ups and treatment, he added.

Lessons for Viet Nam

Viet Nam can learn from best practices implemented by other countries to deal with ageing populations. For example, the measures Thailand have taken to extend healthcare coverage to all people, or the shift towards a community-based geriatrics healthcare scheme.

Policies that provide financial support in housing purchases for adult children who want to live with their parents, if done right, can sway the trend of nuclearisation of households.

Considering the ageing Vietnamese population, the speakers all recommended the Vietnamese Government not only to pay attention to health care for old people as a standalone part in the healthcare system, but also consider a total overhaul of social security and health insurance. Its end goal should be a successfully ageing society  where older people are able to achieve financial security, healthcare insurance, and active engagement in social activities.

The Government should reorient the delivery system from the intensive use of hospital care to greater reliance on improved primary care and reform provider payment mechanisms from fee-for-services to case-based approaches, recommended Phillip OKeefe, World Banks Regional Lead Economist for Human Development for the East Asia and Pacific Region.

In closing, he said that adopting good practices and learning from similar countries social and cultural experiences will always yield numerous benefits.  VNS
SEOUL  The heir of South Korean giant Samsung was arrested Friday as part of a probe into corruption and influence-peddling that caused President Park Geun-hye to be impeached.

"It is acknowledged that it is necessary to arrest (Lee Jae-yong) in light of a newly added criminal charge and new evidence," a court spokesman said in a statement.

Lee Jae-yong, Samsung Electronics vice chairman, is accused of paying nearly US$40 million in bribes to Parks secret confidante to secure policy favours.

He was already being held at a detention centre after appearing in court Thursday as judges deliberated whether to issue an arrest warrant.

Lee, the son of the Samsung group boss Lee Kun-hee, has been quizzed several times over his alleged role in the scandal that has rocked the nation.

The 48-year-old, described as a key suspect in the scandal, narrowly avoided being formally arrested last month, after the court ruled there was insufficient evidence.

But prosecutors on Tuesday made a second bid for his arrest, saying they had collected more evidence in recent weeks.

His arrest, the first for a Samsung chief, is likely to send shock waves through the group, which is a major part of the South Korean economy and includes the worlds largest smartphone maker, Samsung Electronics.

It is already reeling from the debacle over the recall of its flagship Galaxy Note 7 device and reports have suggested it could face sanctions from overseas authorities if Lee is punished.

Lees father and grandfather repeatedly had close brushes with the law but were never jailed.

Donation scandal

The scandal centres on Choi Soon-sil, who is accused of using her close ties with Park to force local firms to "donate" nearly $70 million to non-profit foundations which Choi allegedly used for personal gain.

Samsung was the single biggest donor to the foundations. It is also accused of separately giving millions of euros to Choi to bankroll her daughters equestrian training in Germany.

The court turned down prosecutors demand for a separate arrest warrant for another Samsung executive, who is also the head of the Korea Equestrian Federation, citing his limited role in the scandal.

Samsung said in a statement Wednesday it had "not paid bribes nor made improper requests to the president seeking favours".

Lee has effectively taken the helm of Samsung -- South Koreas biggest business group -- since his father suffered a heart attack in 2014.

Prosecutors are probing whether Samsung had paid Choi to secure state approval for the controversial merger of two Samsung units seen as a key step towards ensuring a smooth power transfer to Lee.

The merger in 2015 of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries was opposed by many investors who said it wilfully undervalued the former units shares.

But the deal went through after Seouls state pension fund -- a major Samsung shareholder -- approved it.

Samsung is South Koreas largest business group and its revenue is equivalent to about a fifth of the countrys GDP.

Lees arrest was seen as a blow to Park who is staging an uphill battle at the Constitutional Court to overturn her impeachment by parliament.

The Constitutional Court on Thursday said it would wrap up hearings on the impeachment case Friday next week, sparking expectations that it will reach a verdict around March 10.

If the court confirms Parks impeachment, the next presidential election would have to take place within 60 days.

Otherwise, Park would be able to see her five-year term out in February next year.  AFP
WATERLOO  A Waterloo child has been taken to an Iowa City hospital after he was found unresponsive.

Details werent available, but paramedics with Waterloo Fire Rescue were called to an apartment at 1212 Langley Road about 12:17 a.m. Thursday after Kingston Charles, 11 months, was have trouble breathing and was going in and out of consciousness following a fall, said Capt. David Mohlis with the Waterloo Police Department. He said the child had a severe head injury.

The child was taken to Covenant Medical Center and then transferred to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. The childs condition wasnt immediately available.

Waterloo police are investigating the injury.

Woman allegedly stole from mom

OSAGE  An Osage woman is accused of gambling with her mothers money and not leaving enough for the older womans care.

Marilyn Jo Spartz, 58, was charged with second-degree theft.

Shes accused of gambling with her mothers money from July to December at Diamond Jo Casino in Northwood, according to court documents.

Formal charges were filed last week by Assistant Mitchell County Attorney Aaron Murphy. Her next court appearance is Tuesday.

Investigators said Spartz, who lived with her mother, also used the money to buy a bus ticket to bring her boyfriend to Iowa.

They allege $2,315.50 was improperly spent.

The theft was discovered when Spartzs mothers health insurance company declined to pay her medical bills from a recent hospitalization, according to the complaint.

Police said the womans health care plan had been canceled because there wasnt enough money in her checking account to pay for the insurance.

Man accused of rental damage

ST. ANSGAR  The former tenant of a St. Ansgar apartment building is accused of stripping wiring from the units appliances and leaving it filled with garbage.

James Curtis, 35, of Stacyville, was charged with felony second-degree criminal mischief. Prosecutors filed formal charges Wednesday.

Curtis is accused of causing about $2,000 in damage to his former residence, 204 N. School St., St. Ansgar.

A police officer who toured the residence with the landlord Feb. 1 saw garbage on the floor, two air conditioners that had been torn apart and a washer and dryer that had been stripped of copper wiring, according to a criminal complaint.

The yard also was torn up by a vehicle.
WATERLOO  Calvary Baptist Church will host a Winter Revival from Sunday through Feb. 24 at the church located at 900 Burton Ave.

Sunday services will begin at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Services will begin at 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Evangelist Larry Brown will speak Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, and the Rev. Jon Jenkins will speak Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Nursery will be provided for all services. Go to www.calvarybaptistwaterloo.com.

WATERLOO  Guest actor Steven Mosley will present the drama Chosen Garment: The Bible in One Act at Grace Reformed Church on Sunday.

The colorful drama is about 45 minutes in length and will be presented at both the 9 a.m. traditional service and also the 10:45 a.m. contemporary service.

A nursery and childrens church is provided at the contemporary service. There is no cost to attend, but donations will be received.

Grace Reformed is at 520 Maxwell St. The community is welcome.

WATERLOO  The Antioch Baptist Church Wade in the Water program will start at 6 p.m. Feb. 26.

There will be a special guest, soprano Melanie Campbell of Berlin, Germany, performing with local artists and musicians.

The theme this year is Lest We Forget honoring the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

WATERLOO  The women of Corinthian Missionary Baptist Church will host a Centerpoint program at 4 p.m. Feb. 26, with the theme of A Womans Worth.

Several African-American women will be portrayed during the program, and the Rev. Pastor Belinda Creighton-Smith will be the keynote speaker.

Call the church at 235-0411.
"Peace through strength," Donald Trump said to reporters today in a rambling, aggressive, monologue news conference that lasted 77 minutes. Trump rattled on in circular patterns about plans to "build and rebuild" the "great" military and law enforcement. He dodged questions on Flynn, Obamacare, leaked reports of turmoil within the administration, and expressed outrage at being questioned repeatedly about "this whole Russia scam that you guys are building so that you don't talk about the real subject which is illegal leaks."

"Russia is a ruse," Trump said, several times.

I have nothing to do with Russia. Haven't made a phone call to Russia in years. Don't speak to people from Russia. Not that I wouldn't. I just have nobody to speak to. I have nothing to do with Russia. To the best of my knowledge no person that I deal with does.

It's real bad, guys. And it can absolutely get worse.

Senior admin official tells me Trump walked into the Oval Office this morning and told his top aides: "Let's do a press conference today."  Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) February 16, 2017

Here is the full transcript of Donald J. Trump's remarks to the press earlier today, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. He is currently the President of the United States of America. I read the whole thing and watched all hour and 53 minutes of the video, so you wouldn't have to, and I highlighted the most terrifying stuff and have pasted it here with my deep thoughts. Hold me. I'm legit terrified.

There were some doozies. Here were the sections of the rambling monologue, which went on for about the duration of a feature motion picture, but was far more terrifying than anything I've ever seen at the movies.

Snip:

The press has become so dishonest that if we don't talk about, we are doing a tremendous disservice to the American people. Tremendous disservice. We have to talk to find out what's going on, because the press honestly is out of control. The level of dishonesty is out of control.

And then, good cop.

[T]he media is going through what they have to go through too often times distort  not all the time  and some of the media is fantastic, I have to say  they're honest and fantastic. But much of it is not a  the distortion  and we'll talk about it, you'll be able to ask me questions about it. But we're not going to let it happen, because I'm here again, to take my message straight to the people. As you know, our administration inherited many problems across government and across the economy. To be honest, I inherited a mess. It's a mess. At home and abroad, a mess. Jobs are pouring out of the country; you see what's going on with all of the companies leaving our country, going to Mexico and other places, low pay, low wages, mass instability overseas, no matter where you look. The middle east is a disaster. North Korea  we'll take care of it folks; we're going to take care of it all. I just want to let you know, I inherited a mess.

Poor me.

Now, on to a rarely-heard sotto voce dogwhistle to white supremacists. This part's all about The Blacks and The Mexicans, aka The Illegals, who are responsible for everything bad.

We've ordered the Department of Homeland Security and Justice to coordinate on a plan to destroy criminal cartels coming into the United States with drugs. We're becoming a drug infested nation. Drugs are becoming cheaper than candy bars. We are not going to let it happen any longer.

The next part is what I like to call, "I had all of their albums before you even heard of them":

We have had great conversations with the United Kingdom, and meetings. Israel, Mexico, Japan, China and Canada, really, really productive conversations. I would say far more productive than you would understand.

They've spread like cancer. ISIS has spread like cancer  another mess I inherited. And we have imposed new sanctions on the nation of Iran, whose totally taken advantage of our previous administration, and they're the world's top sponsor of terrorism, and we're not going to stop until that problem is properly solved. And it's not properly solved now, it's one of the worst agreements I've ever seen drawn by anybody. I've ordered plan to begin building for the massive rebuilding of the United States military. Had great support from the Senate, I've had great from Congress, generally. We've pursued this rebuilding in the hopes that we will never have to use this military, and I will tell you that is my  I would be so happy if we never had to use it. But our country will never have had a military like the military we're about to build and rebuild. We have the greatest people on earth in our military, but they don't have the right equipment and their equipment is old. I used it; I talked about it at every stop. Depleted, it's depleted  it won't be depleted for long. And I think one of the reason I'm standing here instead of other people is that frankly, I talked about we have to have a strong military. We have to have a strong law enforcement also. So we do not go abroad in the search of war, we really are searching for peace, but its peace through strength.

Next, again with the boasting about vote counts:

I put it out before the American people, got 306 electoral college votes. I wasn't supposed to get 222. They said there's no way to get 222, 230's impossible. 270 which you need, that was laughable. We got 306 because people came out and voted like they've never seen before so that's the way it goes. I guess it was the biggest electoral college win since Ronald Reagan. In other words, the media's trying to attack our administration because they know we are following through on pledges that we made and they're not happy about it for whatever reason. And  but a lot of people are happy about it. In fact, I'll be in Melbourne, Florida five o'clock on Saturday and I heard  just heard that the crowds are massive that want to be there. I turn on the T.V., open the newspapers and I see stories of chaos. Chaos. Yet it is the exact opposite. This administration is running like a fine- tuned machine, despite the fact that I can't get my cabinet approved.

A fine-tuned machine.

Next, yep, that's right, "Trump's Fucking Wall," as former Mexican President Vicente Fox calls it:

And the wall is going to be a great wall and it's going to be a wall negotiated by me. The price is going to come down just like it has on everything else I've negotiated for the government. And we are going to have a wall that works, not gonna have a wall like they have now which is either non-existent or a joke.

Now for an attack on the Judicial branch of the Federal Government.

The court system has not made it easy for us. And are even creating a new office in Homeland Security dedicated to the forgotten American victims of illegal immigrant violence, which there are many. We have taken decisive action to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of our country. No parts are necessary and constitutional actions were blocked by judges, in my opinion, incorrect, and unsafe ruling. Our administration is working night and day to keep you safe, including reporters safe. And is vigorously defending this lawful order.

Next, a resentful mishmosh and something I don't fully understand about 'extreme vetting.' Also, basically: fuck you indigenous people and libtards, that fucking pipeline is happening.

Extreme vetting will be put in place and it already is in place in many places. In fact, we had to go quicker than we thought because of the bad decision we received from a circuit that has been overturned at a record number. I have heard 80 percent, I find that hard to believe, that is just a number I heard, that they are overturned 80 percent of the time. I think that circuit is  that circuit is in chaos and that circuit is frankly in turmoil. But we are appealing that, and we are going further. We're issuing a new executive action next week that will comprehensively protect our country. So we'll be going along the one path and hopefully winning that, at the same time we will be issuing a new and very comprehensive order to protect our people. That will be done sometime next week, toward the beginning or middle at the latest part. We have also taken steps to begin construction of the Keystone Pipeline and Dakota Access Pipelines. Thousands and thousands of jobs, and put new buy American measures in place to require American steel for American pipelines. In other words, they build a pipeline in this country, and we use the powers of government to make that pipeline happen, we want them to use American steel. And they are willing to do that, but nobody ever asked before I came along. Even this order was drawn and they didn't say that.

This part makes me wonder if Paul Manafort is out of a job?

To drain the swamp of corruption in Washington, D.C., I've started by imposing a five-year lobbying ban on White House officials and a lifetime ban on lobbying for a foreign government.

Next, The Affordable Care Act. The only people who use "Obamacare" are lazy no-good non-white drug rape monsters.

Obamacare is a disaster, folks. It is's disaster. I know you can say, oh, Obamacare. I mean, they fill up our alleys with people that you wonder how they get there, but they are not the Republican people our that representatives are representing. So we've begun preparing to repeal and replace Obamacare, and are deep in the midst of negotiations on a very historic tax reform to bring our jobs back, to bring our jobs back to this country. Big league. It's already happening. But big league.

Next, is this a threat that Trump SCOTUS nominee Gorsuch will become a Supreme Court judge, "or else"? Nice Judiciary system you got there, shame if something were to happen to it.

And one more thing, I have kept my promise to the American people by nominating a justice of the United States Supreme Court, Judge Neil Gorsuch, who is from my list of 20, and who will be a true defender of our laws and our Constitution, highly respected, should get the votes from the Democrats. You may not see that. But he'll get there one way or the other. But he should get there the old-fashioned way, and he should get those votes.

The Q&A that followed was bonkers. Trump attacked the press throughout the Q&A. This is  what is there to even say about this insanity? He's on a new offensive.

QUESTION: I just want to get you to clarify this very important point. Can you say definitively that nobody on your campaign had any contacts with the Russians during the campaign? And on the leaks, is it fake news or are these real leaks? TRUMP: Well the leaks are real. You're the one that wrote about them and reported them, I mean the leaks are real. You know what they said, you saw it and the leaks are absolutely real. The news is fake because so much of the news is fake. So one thing that I felt it was very important to do  and I hope we can correct it. Because there's nobody I have more respect for  well, maybe a little bit but the reporters, good reporters.

Next, Wikileaks:

I have nothing to do with Russia. I told you, I have no deals there, I have no anything. Now, when WikiLeaks, which I had nothing to do with, comes out and happens to give, they're not giving classified information. They're giving stuff  what was said at an office about Hillary cheating on the debates. Which, by the way, nobody mentions. Nobody mentions that Hillary received the questions to the debates. Can you imagine  seriously  can you imagine if I received the questions? It would be the electric chair. OK, he should be put in the electric  you would even call for the reinstitution of the death penalty, OK?

Next, an off-the-cuff remark by Trump about Jeff Zucker, the head of CNN, whom one could say made Trump newly famous with the television show, "The Apprentice."

QUESTION: Thank you very much, and just for the record, we don't hate you. I don't hate you. TRUMP: OK. QUESTION: So, pass that along  TRUMP: Ask  ask Jeff Zucker how he got his job. OK?

Next, hacking.

I don't want to be hacked. And we did that. And you have seen that they tried to hack us and they failed. The DNC did not do that. And if they did it, they could not have been hacked. But they were hacked and terrible things came in. And, you know, the only thing that I do think is unfair is some of the things were so  they were  when I heard some of those things I picked up the papers the next morning and said, oh, this is going to be front page, it wasn't even in the papers. Again, if I had that happen to me, it would be the biggest story in the history of publishing or the head of newspapers. I would have been headline in every newspaper. I mean, think of it. They gave her the questions to a debate and she  and she should have reported herself.

Also during the question and answer period, a reporter asks Trump about his failure to address even one of the dozens of anti-Jewish hate attacks that have taken place since Trump took power.

TRUMP:he said he was gonna ask a very simple, easy question. And it's not, its not, not  not a simple question, not a fair question. OK sit down, I understand the rest of your question. So here's the story, folks. Number one, I am the least anti- Semitic person that you've ever seen in your entire life. Number two, racism, the least racist person. In fact, we did very well relative to other people running as a Republican  quiet, quiet, quiet. See, he lied about  he was gonna get up and ask a very straight, simple question, so you know, welcome to the world of the media. But let me just tell you something, that I hate the charge, I find it repulsive. I hate even the question because people that know me and you heard the prime minister, you heard Ben Netanyahu (ph) yesterday, did you hear him, Bibi? He said, I've known Donald Trump for a long time and then he said, forget it. So you should take that instead of having to get up and ask a very insulting question like that.

Next, Trump engages in tone policing, and goes completely off the rails.

You know what it is? Here's the thing. The public isn't  you know, they read newspapers, they see television, they watch. They don't know if it's true or false because they're not involved. I'm involved. I've been involved with this stuff all my life. But I'm involved. So I know when you're telling the truth or when you're not. I just see many, many untruthful things. And I'll tell you what else I see. I see tone. You know the word "tone." The tone is such hatred. I'm really not a bad person, by the way. No, but the tone is such  I do get good ratings, you have to admit that  the tone is such hatred. I watched this morning a couple of the networks. And I have to say, Fox & Friends in the morning, they're very honorable people. They're very  not because they're good, because they hit me also when I do something wrong. But they have the most honest morning show. That's all I can say. It's the most honest. But the tone, Jim. If you look  the hatred. The, I mean, sometimes  sometimes () And the hatred and venom coming from his mouth; the hatred coming from other people on your network. Now, I will say this. I watch it. I see it. I'm amazed by it. And I just think you'd be a lot better off, I honestly do. The public gets it, you know. Look, when I go to rallies, they turn around, they start screaming at CNN. They want to throw their placards at CNN. You know. I  I think you would do much better by being different. But you just take a look. Take a look at some of your shows in the morning and the evening. If a guest comes out and says something positive about me, it's  it's brutal. Now, they'll take this news conference  I'm actually having a very good time, OK? But they'll take this news conference  don't forget, that's the way I won. Remember, I used to give you a news conference every time I made a speech, which was like every day. OK? No, that's how I won. I won with news conferences and probably speeches. I certainly didn't win by people listening to you people. That's for sure. But I'm having a good time. Tomorrow, they will say, "Donald Trump rants and raves at the press." I'm not ranting and raving. I'm just telling you. You know, you're dishonest people. But  but I'm not ranting and raving. I love this. I'm having a good time doing it. But tomorrow, the headlines are going to be, "Donald Trump rants and raves." I'm not ranting and raving. Go ahead.

Chilling.

Source: New York Times. For more, read their analysis.

[HT: @nycjim. PHOTO: Reuters.]

Trump unfiltered, the full transcript. "You know what uranium is, right?" https://t.co/viydXxSLWg pic.twitter.com/Qmghxq46mz  Jim Roberts (@nycjim) February 17, 2017

Man, Trump's whole answer on whether anyone from his campaign team had contact with the Russian government: pic.twitter.com/ELie5x2MZW  Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) February 16, 2017
GRUNDY CENTER  Trial began Thursday for a rural Cedar Falls man accused of abusing a teenage girl in Grundy County over a number of years.

Grundy County Attorney Erika Allen told jurors Paul Ryan Knudsen, 39, abused the girl between 2009 and 2012 when she was 14 years old and younger. Knudsen is charged with third-degree sexual abuse in connection with those allegations.

He also is charged with lascivious conduct with a minor for allegedly coercing another youth to disrobe.

You will hear from the victims in this case. You will hear testimony regarding the defendants actions against them, Allen told jurors during opening statements. You are going to hear some very disturbing evidence.

Defense attorney Troy Powell said the state wont be able to meet its burden of proof in the case.

The evidence will show that there are massive contradictions between the stories of the two accusers in this case. The evidence will show that they cannot agree on when things happened, where things happened, what actually happened or ever who was participating or present when things happened, Powell said.

One of the victims has a longstanding dislike for Knudsen and that may provide a reason to allege things against him, Powell said. He said the girl, at one point, made allegations against her mother. He said the other victim was angry at Knudsen.

During testimony, Deputy Ronald Trodoff with the Grundy County Sheriffs Office said Iowa Department of Human Services workers called him to Knudsens home in November 2014 regarding sexual abuse allegations. He said the victims were interviewed at a child protection center.

Knudsen was arrested Nov. 25, 2014.

Trial is scheduled to continue today.

Court records show Knudsen has a prior conviction for third-degree sexual abuse in 2006 in Polk County stemming from a 2004 incident. He was sentenced to probation in connection with the Polk County case.
WATERLOO  Hours after state lawmakers voted to limit collective bargaining for public employees, Hawkeye Community Colleges board of trustees Thursday approved a two-year contract with faculty.

But the one didnt have much to do with the other, Hawkeye President Linda Allen insisted.

The timing for us is weird, she said, following a special meeting called the day before. Whatever is happening in Des Moines right now, it really had no impact on our plan to move forward.

Hawkeyes vote came as union and school leaders around the state rushed to complete contracts before the new collective bargaining plan becomes state law, a union leader said.

Iowa State Education Association President Tammy Wawro said more than 140 districts settled contracts in the past week, and seven of 40 districts with multiyear contracts extended them.

In Cedar Valley school districts, most bargaining units are still in the beginning stages of contract negotiations  if theyve started the process. Waterloo Community Schools has not yet opened contract negotiations.

Whatever the timing, Allen said, its helpful for the college to have settled with the Hawkeye Professional Educators Association by mid-February.

This allows us to move forward with a known, said Allen, as the college is in the midst of setting its 2017-18 budget. The budget will be finalized later this month to meet a state deadline in March. That pushes officials to start negotiations sooner than many school districts, which have a longer time frame to complete their budgets.

Allen said the Legislatures approval of changes to the law wont affect what the trustees agreed to Thursday. At this point it is not a law, she noted. Gov. Terry Branstad had not signed the bill by the time the board met.

The agreement with the association, which represents 116 full-time faculty, includes a 2 percent increase in salary and benefits in 2017-18 and 2018-19. The contract goes into effect in August.

The current salary range for starting faculty is $38,827 to $51,336. Where they are placed on the 20-step salary schedule depends on experience.

Every year, we begin negotiations early in the year, said Allen. We started in December this year.

John Clopton, executive director of human resource services, said the college and association use a process that isnt typical. We use the interest-based bargaining model, which is not traditional and certainly not adversarial, he explained. Rather than laying out specific proposals in the initial bargaining session, each side notes what interests they want to address.

Concerning the settlement for the first year, he said, Roughly half of the money in the 2 percent is going for salaries and roughly half is for benefits. We dont have the final numbers yet, but its going to be a 10 to 11 percent increase in (medical) insurance. That will be reflected in higher premiums paid by the college.

The early approval did raise a question for trustee Dave Krejchi. Is this a fair agreement? he asked.

Yes, absolutely, replied Allen.

Two percent, thats just a break-even deal for our folks, he said.

Allen noted faculty understand the college is essentially receiving no new state funding for a second year and forecasts show that also could be the case a year from now.

They are very aware of whats happening with funding for community colleges and K-12 schools, she said. They do understand that those resources are limited.

Trustee John Schuller complimented the work done to complete the agreement. I think thats a great plus for both sides, he said.

Hawkeye Professional Educators Association is one of two bargaining units representing Hawkeye employees. The other group is not expected to open bargaining until later this month or early next month.
CEDAR FALLS  Devin OLoughlins interest in politics grew during the past year as the race for president heated up.

The Holmes Junior High School freshman even got involved locally with Hillary Clintons presidential campaign. So she was intrigued last fall when social studies teacher Kevin Kuker invited students to participate in the Know Your Constitution project. She signed up, taking a 50-question multiple-choice quiz on the U.S. Constitution and writing an essay.

That put OLoughlin in the running to become a finalist in the annual competition of the Iowa State Bar Associations young lawyers division for an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. The five-day education seminar is sponsored by the Close-Up Foundation.

She was among 100 ninth- to 12th-grade finalists across the state chosen out of more than 1,000 participating students to attend a Jan. 6 luncheon and educational seminar in the Des Moines area.

OLoughlin also was one of five people randomly chosen at that event for the Washington trip. As the teacher who offered the test and essay to his students, Kuker will accompany her and attend a separate Close-Up program for educators. They leave Sunday and return next Friday.

Im very thankful for this opportunity, said OLoughlin. Obviously, its a very interesting time in D.C. recently with a new president.

She expects the trip to be a learning experience but said that process started with her work on the quiz and essay.

I read through the Constitution and did the quiz, said OLoughlin. I think it was a good part, because I definitely gained some knowledge on the Constitution by doing that.

Students were allowed to take the quiz home and use other resources to find answers. There were definitely some where I had to use outside sources, she said, because of interpretation issues.

I kind of had some fun writing the essay, said OLoughlin. It was based on fictional legislation intended to protect Americans following a series of terrorist attacks. We were supposed to identify what was constitutional and what wasnt, she said.

The fictional legislation prohibited entry into the U.S. by people from Syria and Saudi Arabia, banned wearing a burqa in public and directed detention of noncitizens from the two countries.

It was interesting to write and research, said OLoughlin, noting she liked looking at historical events in formulating the essay. There definitely were some things in there that werent constitutional.

Kuker noted how the topic fit in with current events as President Donald Trumps executive order restricting refugees and people of certain majority-Muslim countries from coming into the U.S. works its way through the courts. This one was really timely, actually, he said.

She had competition from nine other Cedar Falls Community Schools students who also were chosen as finalists. That was based on who had the best quiz score and essay in each of Iowas 100 House of Representatives districts.

Other Holmes students included Sophia Schillinger, Sabrina Sires and Krisha Keeran. Other district students included Autymn Cantrall, Tori Ward and Mia Dexter of Peet Junior High School as well as Aastha Chandra, Astoria Chao and Jenis Jusufovic of Cedar Falls High School.

In Washington, OLoughlin expects a lot of walking. They will visit the Smithsonian Museum and an embassy plus a series of memorials honoring presidents, those who served in various wars and Martin Luther King Jr. One of the things Im most excited about is were going to the National Museum of African-American History and Culture, she said.

Students from across the country taking part in the program will have a chance to debate some issues among themselves. They also will witness for themselves what happens in Congress. We get to see some Senate hearings and stuff like that, said OLoughlin.

An entire day is Capitol Hill day, noted Kuker. Well be able to view House and Senate proceedings and meet with (Iowas members of Congress).

OLoughlin is looking forward to the experience and what shell bring back home. I feel like Ill have a deeper understanding, she said.
School personnel

to meet Tuesday

WATERLOO  The Black Hawk Retired School Personnel Association will meet at 11 a.m. Tuesday in the Friendship Village Dining Room, 600 Park Lane.

The program will be an IPERS update presented by Phil Tetzloff, IPERS representative. People are asked to arrive a little earlier to register and pay $8 for lunch.

A short business meeting and lunch will follow. Lunch reservations are necessary by calling 988-3245 before Friday.

All retired school personnel are invited to join the local and state association.

Veterans meal planned Feb. 22

WATERLOO  The Rotary Club of the Cedar Valley has partnered with the Black Hawk Commission of Veteran Affairs to serve dinner for veterans from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the American Legion Becker Chapman Post 138, 728 Commercial St.

The clubs focus is to provide a nourishing meal for those who do not have regular sustenance; however, all veterans are encouraged to attend. In addition to providing a free meal and goody bag to each veteran who attends, there will be a resource area provided with agency assistance information from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.

An effort is being made to reach veterans who have no permanent address, live in low-income communities or live in retirement centers; email ktstewart1234@gmail.com. Transportation may be provided to those in need, and families of veterans are welcome.

African-American conference set

CEDAR FALLS  The University of Northern Iowa College of Education will host the sixth annual African-American Children and Families Conference from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 24 in Maucker Union.

A pre-conference also will take place in Maucker Union from 5 to 9 p.m. Feb. 23.

This event is designed for educators, administrators, child-care providers, law enforcement, policy makers, social workers, health professionals, business leaders and anyone committed to improving the lives of children.

The events are open to the public; registration is free for UNI students and faculty and middle and high school students. For more information or to register, go to www.vpaf.uni.edu/aac.

Forum set Friday

at AEA 267

CEDAR FALLS  The next Legislative Public Forum for 2017 will be at 4:30 p.m. Friday (coffee at 4 p.m.) at the Area Education Agency 267 Conference Center, 3712 Cedar Heights Drive.

The topic will be Medicaid. The public is invited.
PARKERSBURG  The city of Parkersburg and the State Auditors office are at odds over compensation for the city administrator.

A state re-audit of city books, requested by a citizen petition, concluded City Administrator Chris Luhring should not have been paid some $32,600 in overtime expenses over a 4 1/2 year period.

City officials feel they are on solid ground based on advice from legal counsel and an independent study by a former federal labor official.

We want to get out ahead of this to let people know were doing the right thing, weve been doing the right thing and were going to continue to do the right thing, Parkersburg Mayor Perry Bernard said.

City officials said had they not paid Luhring overtime, the city could have run afoul of federal labor rules or could have been subject to legal action.

Bernard and City Council members Leon Thorne, Dan Bruns, Klint Knock, Harlan Schuck and Mike Timmer outlined their concerns in a letter to State Auditor Mary Mosiman prior to the state audits release.

The report ... finds that the city administrator is an exempt employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), meaning the city is not required to pay the city administrator overtime, the city officials letter states. However, this opinion directly contradicts the advice the city has received from legal counsel, the Department of Labor (the only agency that enforces the FLSA) and the former district director of the Department of Labor.

City officials also noted, even with the additional compensation, the city administrators pay is well below the average pay for cities of similar size.

The citys audit response also noted Luhring, appointed city administrator in 2012, is retaining the title and job responsibilities of his previous position with the city, city clerk. He also is former police chief and still a part-time police officer.

As he informed your staff when interviewed in 2014, his official job duties include being the zoning administrator, part-time public works employee and cemetery sexton, city officials said. It is unclear why an accurate account of the city administrators total job duties was not listed in your report.

Luhring has been with the city since 2001, starting out as a police officer. He was named city clerk in 2009 and city administrator in 2012.

We run lean here, Bernard said, requiring multiple duties of employees. If we had to hire individual people for each and every one of these jobs, we couldnt do it. We couldnt afford it. Parkersburg has a population of about 2,000 people.

We have worked very hard to ensure we spend taxpayer dollars responsibly and operate within our means. We also work hard to overcome the unique challenges we face as a small community in rural Iowa, Bernard and council members wrote Mosiman. As part of our efforts, we have worked with a number of experts and outside agencies to ensure that we are complying with the law.

It also is problematic that the auditors are attempting to dictate how small rural governments should be structured and operated, which is an infringement upon a citys home rule authority, the mayors and councils letter continued.
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President Donald Trump has called the media the opposition party, and its apparent during the first month of his administration any detente wont happen.

Trump blamed the media and criminal leaks in his firing of National Security Adviser Mike Flynn who contacted a Russian diplomat during the transition, indicating sanctions against Russia could be eased.

Trump ignored Flynn lying to Vice President Mike Pence and other members of his team while undermining actions by President Barack Obama. Private citizens are prohibited from negotiating with a foreign government  not a good start for someone in charge of national security.

Flynns truthfulness in a subsequent interview with the FBI  after an intelligence intercept of his conversation  also raises questions.

Previously, Trump told U.S. Central Command military leaders, Youve seen what happened in Paris, and Nice. All over Europe, its happening. Its gotten to a point where its not even being reported. And in many cases the very, very dishonest press doesnt want to report it. They have their reasons, and you understand that.

Trump never bothered to explain the reasons, but many conservatives claim the media is loathe to indict Islam. The reason for his outburst was pretty transparent.

Adviser Kellyanne Conway took grief for repeated references to a non-existent terrorist attack in Bowling Green, Ky., in 2011. The FBI did arrest two Iraqi refugees who were convicted of trying to procure weapons and money for al-Qaida in Iraq and assisting attacks on U.S. troops there. Conway also defended Trumps claim about an outsized inaugural crowd compared to Barack Obama in 2008 as an alternative fact when photos showed otherwise. In addition, Press Secretary Sean Spicer railed against the media for reporting the obvious.

Spicer initially attempted to walk back Trumps terrorism comments, citing a lot of instances that have occurred where I dont think that theyve gotten the coverage its deserved.

He listed 78 incidents  attacks in Paris, San Bernardino and Orlando; Paris and Nice, France; and Berlin to those without casualties or injuries.

Some media organizations responded incident-by-incident Coverage existed when merited, if not as fervently as Trump desired.

For that, its necessary to follow the sensationalist InfoWars site, founded by Alex Jones, an early Trump supporter and fellow traveler on the Obama birther conspiracy bandwagon and unfounded claims millions voted illegally.

The Washington Post provided a sampling of InfoWars headlines:

FAKE NEWS: MAINSTREAM MEDIA WHITEWASHES ISLAMIC TERROR IN BERLIN: Propagandists desperate to hide the obvious  Dec. 20

SCANDAL: MASS MEDIA COVERS UP TERRORISM TO PROTECT ISLAM  July 29

GERMANY COVERING UP TERROR PLOTS TO PROTECT MUSLIM MIGRANTS June 24

Not all incidents involving Muslims against Westerners were terrorism.

Smail Ayad, a French national, yelled Allahu akbar during in the stabbing deaths of Mia Ayliffe-Chung and Tom Jackson at a remote Australian hostel, while rambling incoherently. Police discounted terrorism, saying he was infatuated with Ayliffe-Chung, mentally unstable, and Jackson had come to her defense.

Much nonsense is being spoken in the press about her alleged killer, Rosie Ayliffe wrote about her daughters death in an open letter to Trump. He is not an Islamic fundamentalist, he has never set foot in a mosque.

Trumps list notably didnt reflect most terrorism victims have been Muslims, slaughtered by followers of Wahhabism, the militant Islamic strain that began in Saudi Arabia and begat al-Qaida, the Taliban and Islamic State. Wealthy Saudis exported it to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia  none on Trumps immigration ban  and Africa.

According to the Global Terrorism Database at the University of Maryland, about 98 percent of terror attacks between 2001 and 2015 happened outside the U.S. and Western Europe. Between 2004 and 2013, nearly 60 percent of those killed were in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.

Iraq, Nigeria and Syria, which along with Afghanistan and Pakistan, accounted with nearly three-quarters of terrorist fatalities in 2015, according to the State Department.

Meanwhile, Trump adviser Steve Bannon, the architect of the alt-right Breitbart site, said the media should keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while and is doing whatever he can to thwart transparency. Bannon, a political operative, was a questionable appointment to the National Security Council, while the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of National Intelligence were inexplicably jettisoned.

Foreign Policy reported Bannon is determined to leave no paper trail regarding NSC actions for future media fodder. (For that matter, Hillary Clinton ignored her aides insistence to follow State Department policy to archive documents.)

The Founding Fathers were a cantankerous bunch, frequently leveling broadsides at each other in newspapers. But the First Amendment recognized the importance of disseminating information so the citizenry could debate the issues. Trumps attempt to undermine the media and spouting alternative facts is an affront to that.
A state judge today ordered the office of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to release thousands of documents, including emails, related to Pruitt's conversations with energy industry executives. Tomorrow, the United States Senate votes on Pruitt's nomination to run the Environmental Protection Agency, for the administration of Donald Trump.

Snip from the Huffington Post:

Judge Aletia Haynes Timmons of the District Court of Oklahoma County ruled that the attorney general's office will have until Tuesday to turn over more than 2,500 emails and other documents. The watchdog group Center for Media and Democracy, with legal representation from the American Civil Liberties Union, had filed a lawsuit against Pruitt earlier this month, alleging that his office had violated Oklahoma's open records law. The lawsuit claimed that Pruitt, who has served as Oklahoma's attorney general since 2011, had failed to respond to nine open-records requests seeking communications between his office and members of the fossil fuel industry, including Koch Industries, Peabody Energy and the National Coal Council. The requests had been filed as far back as January 2015.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that people who work at the Environmental Protection Agency have been calling their senators "to urge them to vote on Friday against the confirmation of Scott Pruitt, President Trump's contentious nominee to run the agency, a remarkable display of activism and defiance that presages turbulent times ahead for the E.P.A.."

Snip:

Many of the scientists, environmental lawyers and policy experts who work in E.P.A. offices around the country say the calls are a last resort for workers who fear a nominee selected to run an agency he has made a career out of fighting  by a president who has vowed to "get rid of" it. "Mr. Pruitt's background speaks for itself, and it comes on top of what the president wants to do to E.P.A.," said John O'Grady, a biochemist at the agency since the first Bush administration and president of the union representing the E.P.A.'s 15,000 employees nationwide. Nicole Cantello, an E.P.A. lawyer who heads the union in the Chicago area, said: "It seems like Trump and Pruitt want a complete reversal of what E.P.A. has done. I don't know if there's any other agency that's been so reviled. So it's in our interests to do this." "It is rare," said James A. Thurber, the director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University. "I can't think of any other time when people in the bureaucracy have done this."

Earlier on Thursday, the Senate voted to advance Pruitt's nomination. A final vote is expected to occur on Friday.

On the vote breakdown, Reuters:
Ret. Vice Adm. Bob Harward, a former U.S. Navy Seal, rejected President Donald Trump's offer to become new national security adviser.

Trump is reportedly trying to win him back.

The "well-liked navy veteran who is close to James Mattis, US defence secretary" was to replace Mike Flynn after Flynn resigned in a cloud of suspicion, over alleged contact with Russian agents.

A friend of Harward's has been quoted in the press as saying Harward was reluctant to take the job because the White House seems unstable. Harward called the offer a "shit sandwich," his friend said.

From the Financial Times:

"Harward is conflicted between the call of duty and the obvious dysfunctionality," said one person with first hand knowledge of the discussions between Mr Trump and Mr Harward. The second person said Mr Trump had asked Mr Harward to return to the White House for another meeting to try to change his mind.

From CBS News:

Specifically, Mr. Trump told Deputy National Security Adviser K. T. McFarland that she could retain her post, even after the ouster of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Harward refused to keep McFarland as his deputy, and after a day of negotiations over this and other staffing matters, Harward declined to serve as Flynn's replacement. Harward, a 60-year-old former Navy SEAL, served as deputy commander of U.S. Central Command under now-Defense Secretary James Mattis. He previously served as deputy commanding general for operations of Joint Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Harward has also commanded troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan for six years after the 9/11 attacks. Under President George W. Bush, he served on the National Security Council as director of strategy and policy for the office of combating terrorism. Flynn resigned from the post amid questions about his contacts with Russian officials.

And from Reuters:

The White House official said Harward cited family and financial reasons for opting not to take the job. Harward is a senior executive at Lockheed Martin. Two sources familiar with the decision said Harward turned down the job in part because he wanted to bring in his own team. That put him at odds with Trump, who had told Flynn's deputy, K.T. McFarland, that she could stay. Trump appeared to refer to Harward earlier in the day at a presidential news conference, saying: "I have somebody that I think will be outstanding for the position."

The guy who literally wrote the book on the NSC > https://t.co/kJXGhb78ll  Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) February 17, 2017

That "shit sandwich" quote  that's not something other national security adviser candidates can ignore. We're about to see who's thirstiest  Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman) February 17, 2017
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By Adam Morton

Feb. 14, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY

By Adam Morton Feb. 14, 2017 | 07:01 PM | PADUCAH, KY

On Tuesday, Paducah city commissioners introduced two ordinances related to the annexation of the area located at 2901 and 2905 Lone Oak Road, and at 2825 Maryland Street. The property, owned by Tri-State Construction Company, is just south of Banks Market.



The owner plans to construct a 13,550 square foot retail strip center on the nearly two-acre parcel. Last November, the city received a request for annexation from Tri-State. At its January 24 meeting, the board approved the intent to annex the property.



Commissioner Sandra Wilson said, "I think it's great." Both Wilson and Mayor Brandi Harless expressed thanks to city planning director Steve Ervin for his hard work on this project.



Ervin clarified the process. "After that intent to annex ordinance was adopted, we went to the planning commission with a map amendment or zone change. A public hearing was held on February 5 and the planning commission has made a positive recommendation to the city commission."



At Tuesday's meeting, commissioners introduced the final annexation ordinance and introduced the ordinance to change the zoning to Highway Business District (HBD). When property is annexed into the city, it receives an automatic Low Density Residential (R-1) zoning. Changing its zoning to the HBD zone is a continuation of the zoning of the adjacent parcels. When the land was part of the city of Lone Oak, it was zoned as commercial property.



The final vote to adopt the adopt the ordinance is scheduled for the next meeting.
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NuGen confirms Toshiba commitment to Moorside

14 February 2017

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Toshiba Corp is committed to Moorside despite announcing today it would reduce its exposure to reactor construction projects outside Japan, the head of its UK joint venture, NuGeneration, has said. The Japanese electronics conglomerate reported a net loss of JPY390 billion ($3.4 billion) in the year to March 2017 and said it would book a JPY712.5 billion ($6.3 billion) loss on its US nuclear unit.

NuGen, of which Toshiba owns 60% and France's Engie 40%, plans to build a nuclear power plant of up to 3.8 GWe gross capacity at the site in West Cumbria, using AP1000 nuclear reactor technology provided by Westinghouse. Toshiba, which bought Westinghouse in 2006, warned in December last year that it might have to write off "several billion" dollars because of the purchase in 2015 of US construction firm CB&I Stone & Webster.

NuGen said it acknowledged today's announcement that Toshiba's review of the future of its overseas nuclear business is complete and that it remains committed to developing Moorside. NuGen CEO Tom Samson said the project had made "significant progress" since Toshiba became its majority shareholder in 2014.

"The site has already been proven as suitable for three Westinghouse AP1000 reactors, two phases of consultation have found the public overwhelmingly supportive of the need for new nuclear and have helped shape the plans for Moorside," Samson said.

"The UK government is supportive of NuGen, as a maturing and highly skilled nuclear organisation, and has remained firmly committed to new nuclear - stating that nuclear has a crucial role to play in securing our future energy needs, especially as we look to move to a low-carbon society," he added.

Toshiba said today it would "consider participating in the Moorside project without taking on any risk from carrying out actual construction work". It added: "As planned from the beginning, Toshiba will seek to sell the shares to interested parties."

A NuGen representative said the company "had not yet secured an EPC structure to build at the site, but did not intend to utilise Toshiba's services".

"It was always NuGens plan to identify an independent constructor," he said.

"There is a universe of financing options available to NuGen to progress the Moorside project and it remains our intention to bring in shareholders to support this project," he added.

The Financial Times reported yesterday that senior ministers in the UK government were "wrangling over how to support" nuclear power plant projects, with some senior Treasury officials "hostile to" direct state subsidy.

NuGen is in "constant dialogue" with government departments on a range of issues and will continue to engage with them to bring the project forward, the representative said.

"The UK government through Electricity Market Reform has set out a stable financing regime in the form of 'Contracts for Difference' which provides price certainty to investors and is an attractive feature of the UK market," he added.

Ahead of Toshiba's financial statements today, Shigenori Shiga resigned as chairman. Shiga is taking "management responsibility" for the company's loss due to the goodwill and impairment cost it would record in relation to Westinghouse's acquisition of CB&I Stone and Webster, Toshiba said. Shiga will remain an executive officer at Toshiba until a shareholders meeting in June, "and concentrate on solving issues related to Westinghouse", it said.

Justin Bowden, national secretary for energy at the UK's GMB trade union, said Shiga's resignation "underlines the gravity" of Toshiba's situation, "but must not be allowed to jeopardise the future of Moorside".

"It is time for government to show leadership and take over the reins at Moorside," Bowden said. "The fiasco with Toshiba shows exactly why relying on foreign companies for our energy needs is just plain stupid."

Future of nuclear business

Toshiba said it would meet its "social responsibilities" in Japan by assisting with the restart of idled nuclear power plants, maintenance operations and reactor decommissioning.

Overseas it said it would "analyse strategic alternatives". In new plant projects, it will "exclude the risk inherent in construction work" and focus on equipment supply and engineering. It will also "reduce risk" at the eight plants Westinghouse is building in the USA and China through "comprehensive cost reduction measures".

Westinghouse is building four AP1000 units in China, two each at Sanmen in Zhejiang province and Haiyang in Shandong. It is also building four AP1000 reactors in the USA - two each at Vogtle and Summer.

Hot functional testing was completed at Sanmen unit 1 in December, and Toshiba said today that initial fuel loading and test operation would follow.

In November, the first reactor pressure vessel (RPV) was lifted into place at Georgia Power's Vogtle nuclear construction project in Georgia. Vogtle 3's RPV was lifted into place two days after the placement of the CA01 module was completed at Vogtle 4. Georgia Power said work would now begin to place bulk commodities such as piping, pumps and cabling throughout Vogtle 3's reactor system. Preparations will also begin for the installation next year of the first of the unit's steam generators. Summer unit 2's RPV was installed in August.

Toshiba said today that, in India, Westinghouse would exclude construction from the scope of its work and focus on supply of equipment and engineering. "Legislation on nuclear damage liability is necessary to promote projects in India," it added.

In December, the Indian government approved an increase in capacity of the proposed Kovvada nuclear power plant for six 1208 MWe units. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India then allocated the Kovvada site for construction of six Westinghouse AP1000 reactors. The Indian and US governments have called for continued engagement between the two companies towards finalising the contractual arrangements for the six Kovvada units by June this year.

Toshiba said the financial figures announced today were provisional and under review by an independent auditor.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

Related topics
Top architects and infrastructure experts will speak at this year's reSITE Conference, which will be held in Prague's Forum Karlin, Czech Republic from 22 to 23 June, 2017. One of the most respected architects in the world, Kazuyo Sejima, from Tokyo-based studio SANAA, and the architect and professor Teddy Cruz are the first keynote speakers announced for the upcoming reSITE conference. Deputy Mayor of Paris, Jean-Louis Missika, in addition to 40 global experts will speak in Prague.

The annual event that aims to improve the urban environment will explore smart and inspiring solutions, infrastructure and urban innovations that are sometimes invisible to citizens.

''This is a dream line-up, we have been trying to bring these guests for over two years,''reveals Martin Barry, reSITEs Chairman and an awarded urbanist himself.

reSITE, Europes most interactive architecture and cities forum, will delve into a special theme called ''In/visible City'' at Pragues Forum Karlin.

''We will make the connections visible between the invisible infrastructure that drives real estate, cultural and economic development in smarter cities,'' says Martin Barry, reSITEs Chairman.

Kazuyo Sejima, from Tokyo-based studio SANAA.Image  Aiko Suzuki

The unbearable lightness of sustainable building. And controversy

Japanese architect Kazuyo Sejima, Principal of the studio SANAA, marked history by being the second women to win the Pritzker Prize, the ''nobel prize of architecture,'' and the first female curator of the prestigious Venice Architecture Biennale, in 2010.

Tokyo Dior Omotesando. Image  Osamu Okamura

Kazuyo Sejima is the architect of the New Museum in NYC, the Naoshima Ferry Terminal in Japan, and Rolex Learning Center in Lausanne. She has created dozens of award-winning designs around the world using glass, metallic and concrete surfaces  causing fascinating interactions with surrounding public space. She has also designed several elegant infrastructure projects, an invisible train and whimsical furniture for leading brands such as Vitra.

Teddy Cruz, Professor of Public Culture and Urbanization in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of California, and Fonna Forman, Professor and Director of the Center on Global Justice, University of California, San Diego. Image  Estudio Teddy Cruz + Forman

Guatemala-born American architect, Teddy Cruz, Professor of Public Culture and Urbanization in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of California, San Diego, will address the highly controversial topic of Donald Trumps dividing wall on the US-Mexican border.

Together with his research partner Fonna Forman, Professor and Director of the Center on Global Justice, University of California, San Diego, they will present how this infrastructure  the wall - affects the urban development, urban economies, architecture and the lives of communities of San Diego and Tijuana.

Paris Deputy Mayor Jean-Louis Missika. Image  Sophie Robichon/Mairie de Pais

Paris Deputy Mayor Jean-Louis Missika, in charge of urban planning, architecture and attractiveness, will give a special lecture about Reinvent Paris, one of world's biggest and most ambitious urban development projects fully based on participation of the community and developers that defined new uses for as many as 23 city-owned sites. A useful example for cities of all sizes.

Reinvent Paris, Pitet. Image  Ville de Paris

Infrastructure and smart data for the future smart cities

Martina Ableidinger from the municipality of Vienna will share state-of-the-art strategies in sustainable waste management that results in consequent energy savings, cleaner streets or re-use of still functional household equipment. The founder of the first Czech electric car-sharing system Emuj Iva Stastna will present the pilot project of the city of Brno and the potential for extension to other towns.

Jacopo Hirschstein and Amanda Taylor. Image  Tekja

reSITE will also meet information architects Amanda Taylor and Jacopo Hirschstein from London-based practice Tekja to talk about smart data infrastructure. They have designed a situation room for the City of Prague that generates visualization of real time data provided by inhabitants.

Online registrations open

The registrations have been opened and discounted rates will last until the February 28.

Tickets are available in 3 categories: professionals, municipalities/NGOs and students. VIP packages are also on sale.

In addition to lectures and discussions, reSITE has designed its most innovative program yet with interactive games, workshops, roundtables, and 1:1 meetings with experts.

World Architecture Community is Media Partner for reSITE 2017: In/visible City, which next year again takes place in Forum Karlin, Prague.

World Architecture Community has recorded some keynote sessions and published interviews last year, which can be read on our Urban Development page.

Top image  reSITE

> via reSITE
Ireland's abortion laws are among the most barbaric in the world  among its many deficits, it forces women to carry unviable fetuses to term, making them labor to deliver babies who live short hours in extreme pain before dying before them.

The ban also provides for 14 year prison sentences for women who import pharmaceuticals used to induce abortion.

An "ad-hoc, non-affiliated group of activists, academics, artists and trade unionists" calling itself Strike4Repeal are set to strike on March 8  International Women's Day, also the Day Without a Woman protests in America  if the government doesn't call for a referendum on the abortion law before then.

They'll be repeating the tactic that Polish women used to defeat their own country's cruel abortion ban (though it keeps resurfacing).

The Polish and Irish abortion laws are similarly overbroad, and share a similar origin: conservative Catholic lobbyists, with Church backing, who use the faith's enormous cash reserves to forge alliances with misogynist elements in the far-right movement to craft these anti-woman policies.

Strike4Repeal is an "ad-hoc, non-affiliated group of activists, academics, artists and trade unionists," and the strike is endorsed by Abortion Rights Campaign, Outhouse, the Anti-Racism Network and Sex Workers Alliance Ireland, and other feminist organizations and women's advocacy groups. There are several ways in which Irish women are encouraged to support the strike (and women around the world are encouraged to show solidarity): * If you can, take the day off work. * Forgo domestic chores, if possible. * Ask local businesses to close their services in support. *

Wear black in solidarity. *

Register support on social media using the hashtag #strike4repeal.

Feminism Around the World: Irish Women Set to Strike If Referendum on Abortion Ban Not Held by March 8th

[Teresa Jusino/The Mary Sue]

(Image: Abortion Rights IE)
More than 3,000 industry professionals will attend the Kenyetta International Convention Centre (KICC) from 29 November - 1 December 2017 for Food East Africa.

NAIROBI, KENYA, February 17, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- More than 3,000 industry professionals will converge on the Kenyetta International Convention Centre (KICC) from 29 November - 1 December 2017 for East Africa's largest and most prestigious event for the food and beverage industry - Food East Africa.



As well as showcasing exciting new products, services and equipment from 120 business from around the globe, the event provides first-class networking opportunities and the chance for attendees to raise their profile, discover all the latest industry trends, forge new business relationships and do deals.



Organised by Informa Life Sciences Exhibitions, Food East Africa will host many of the F&B industry's key figures alongside other food industry professionals, suppliers and customers in order to provide participants with an exceptional marketing and sales opportunity. The event will also host a number of free-of-charge conferences that will address the market's challenges, opportunities and solutions.



The F&B retail industry is witnessing a surge in demand among an increasingly wealthy consumer class in Kenya which is expected to maintain resilience in the sector. According to a recent Bloomberg survey, 36% of Kenyans do their grocery shopping in formal retail outlets which is the second highest ratio on the African continent.



Indeed, Kenya is the largest economy in East Africa as well as a major trading hub for a region of 400 million people, and in 2015 was responsible for more than $300 million of consumer-ready food imports.



Direct investment from companies such as Walmart, Carrefour and Botswana's Choppies reflects an increased international interest in the Kenyan market. This in turn has played a key role in increasing consumer confidence and spending as international brands enter the country to take full advantage of the retailing opportunities.



Jamie Hill, Director, Informa Life Science Group, Africa, said: "After the successful launch of Food Nigeria in 2016, Food East Africa has become a much-anticipated event throughout the industry. Visitors will be able to view, and in many cases see demonstrations of all the new ground-breaking products and equipment currently on the market. There will also be the opportunity to establish long-lasting and lucrative business ties between participants.



"It is appropriate too that this event takes place is Nairobi - the hub of the burgeoning Kenyan economy. The country is looking to position itself as a gateway to the continent, with roughly 45% of its exports by value going to other African nations. Of this, the majority of Kenya's Africa-bound goods go to fellow East African nations.



"What is more, global and local fast food chains have signalled plans for aggressive expansion in 2017 to build on their entry into major towns around the country this year."



For more information, please visit: http://www.food-eastafrica.com/



Informa Life Sciences Exhibitions, in charge of the healthcare portfolio within Informa's Global Exhibitions division, organises 26 exhibitions yearly covering the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe and US market, connecting more than 150,000 healthcare professionals worldwide and offering a range of marketing solutions for companies involved with the healthcare sector. Over 100 congresses take place in parallel with the exhibitions.



Informa Life Sciences Exhibitions publishes four international healthcare magazines, offers Dothealth, a healthcare portal showcasing over 40,000 healthcare companies and runs Healthy Change, an online recruitment portal.



www.informalifesciences.com



# # #
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, February 17, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- PicSee, the world's most popular Facebook and YouTube link personalizer, today announced that PicSee is now available in the U.S., Canada and U.K. PicSee is a URL link management platform that enables people and brands to customize Facebook posts by changing the default news article headlines or default YouTube video thumbnail image sizes that typically appear when a Facebook user copies and pastes the source URL link into their social media Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter accounts.



"We are so excited to be debuting PicSee in the United States, which builds on our success with Sony Music Taiwan and with Warner Music Taiwan. Our free PicSee URL link management platform has already attracted more than 300 million views since our founding in 2016, because it's so simple and easy to use," said PicSee co-Founder Cheng-Ho Wu.



PicSee's Free URL Link Management Platform Lets Social Media Users and Brands

-Create and Embed Your Preferred Branded News Headline to Your Social Media Channels: Now for the first time, people and brands can copy, paste and personalize their news article headline before posting it to their social media channels, so that it is compelling and relevant to their social media persona, brands and objectives.

-Enlarge YouTube Thumbnail Images: PicSee instantly solves the common problem of "too small" YouTube thumbnail images, by empowering social media users to enlarge YouTube thumbnail images prior to posting.

-Boost, Optimize and Measure Your Links: PicSee lets anyone - individuals and brands alike - track, boost, optimize and measure the impact of their social media posts, to gain more "likes," attract more shares and retweets.



"We started PicSee after winning a hackathon contest in Taiwan in 2015. We knew that there had to be a better way for people to easily post news articles and YouTube videos to their Facebook and other social media accounts. Since then, millions of people and hundreds of businesses immediately validated our concept by using PicSee to personalize, customize and publicize their social media posts," said PicSee co-Founder Ray Wei.



PicSee's massive existing user footprint of 300 million views in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Vietnam and India signals to new PicSee United States users how simple PicSee is to personalize everyday Facebook posts with news article headlines and custom YouTube thumbnails, to attract more Likes, shares and comments. PicSee is headquartered in Taiwan and was founded in 2016. For more information please visit https://picsee.co.



For more information and for media inquiries, please contact PicSee via email at [email protected]



# # #
When I reviewed Matt Ruff's incredible Lovecraft Country last February on its hardcover release dates, I wrote, "Ruff inverts the Lovecraft horror, which turned so often on "miscegenation" and the duty of advanced humans to trample those around them in their drive to recapture this lost wisdom (and humanity's lost grace). His Lovecraftian horror is the horror of the people whom the Lovecraftian heroes viewed as subhuman, expendable, a stain on the human race. By blending real history (such as the Tulsa riots) and Lovecraftian tropes, Ruff's characters shine as active protagonists in their own story who have lives, have dignity, and have indomitable spirit that they use to fight back against the power structure that Lovecraft lionized."



Today, Lovecraft Country was published in paperback, and Ruff visited John Scalzi's Whatever blog to talk about the novel:

While transforming my original idea into a novel, I kept the structure of a season of television. The long opening chapter, like a two-hour pilot, introduces the main characters and sends them on a dangerous cross-country journey. Each subsequent chapter offers a self-contained weird talea "monster of the week" episodestarring a different member of Atticus's extended family. In "Dreams of the Which House," Atticus's friend Letitia buys a haunted house in a white neighborhood and has to play the dead off against the living to keep what's hers. In "Abdullah's Book," Atticus's uncle George enlists his Freemasons' lodge to stop an ancient treatise on magic from falling into the wrong hands. In "Hippolyta Disturbs the Universe," Atticus's aunt discovers a portal to another world. In "Jekyll in Hyde Park," Letitia's sister Ruby goes home with the wrong guy and wakes up to find that she's been turned into a white woman. In "The Narrow House," a dead man forces Atticus's father to revisit the 1921 Tulsa race riot. In "Horace and the Devil Doll," corrupt Chicago police detectives use sorcery to terrorize Atticus's 12-year-old cousin. All of these episodes fit together to form a larger arc story about Atticus's struggle against the Braithwhite clan and the Order of the Ancient Dawn. For me, Lovecraft Country demonstrates the real power of diversity in art. By focusing on people who were traditionally excluded from genre fiction, I'm able to do interesting new things with some very old tropes, while simultaneously exploring aspects of our shared history that aren't as well-known as they should be. Combining fantasy with realism produces a richer story than would be possible with either alone. And despite being set sixty years in the past, this is easily one of the most topical books I've writtenthough that says less about my skills as an author than it does about the state of the country that I live in.

Lovecraft Country (paperback) [Matt Ruff/Harper]

The Big Idea: Matt Ruff [Matt Ruff/Whatever]
Feb 17, 2017 | By Julia

Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Swiss robotics group Devanthro have 3D printed a four-foot robotic humanoid complete with tendons, muscles, and bones. Meet Roboy Junior, the first prototype of the Roboy initiative, which recently scored substantial funding from additive manufacturing heavyweight EOS.

More than just an adorable face, Roboy Junior represents a new breakthrough in 3D printing robotics. The goal of the Roboy project is to advance humanoid robotics to the capability of human bodies, says an official press release. The vision is to iteratively improve Roboy models until the performance is comparable to humans in dexterity, robustness and flexibility.

And with little Roboy Junior, Devanthro and TUM have come one step closer to making that vision a reality. The four-foot tall humanoid features real muscles and tendons in his joints, rather than motors, which are more commonly seen in AI developments.

But what sets Roboy Junior apart from the countless AI initiatives proceeding today? Several unique aspects are worth noting here.

As Dr. Adrian Keppler, Chief Marketing Officer at EOS explains, While a larger number of companies focusses on AI development, only a very small number of projects worldwide develop humanoid robotics.

There are a few advantages to the idea of a human-like humanoid. For starters, the human musculoskeletal system has been proven as a successful model for dexterous, dynamic and robust robots. In other words, weve evolved into relatively advanced biological systems ourselves  in that sense, our own physiology is the best working model we have for constructing embodied AI. Secondly, a human-like robot helps facilitate easy and intuitive interactions between human and machine. Its an interface we understand and are familiar with.

Beyond the remarkable human-like features, though, Roboy Junior is different from other AI projects in another important way. 3D printing is utilized here in ways never seen before in robotics.

As the strengths of Additive Manufacturing lie in those areas where conventional manufacturing reaches its limitations, EOS technology is the ideal solution for a research project as ambitious as Roboy, says Keppler. We are happy that the Roboy team is trusting in EOS to realize their vision.

Roboy Juniors complete skeletal body structure was built with EOS systems for Plastic Additive Manufacturing. This allows for the construction of complex functional structures which are both light and stable. As a result, the Roboy team reports that it is able to implement functionality directly into the geometrical parts, while reducing unnecessary assembly steps. Roboy Juniors hands are forearms are manufactured in a single piece, including several joints and individual phalanxes for each humanoid finger.

While Roboy Junior is still just a prototype, the news of EOS substantial support bodes well for project development. In the meantime, TUM and Devanthro are marching steadily forward, suggesting that, one day in the not-too-distant future, we may all be proud parents of our own little Roboys.

Posted in 3D Printing Application

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Feb 17, 2017 | By Tess

Strata Manufacturing PJSC, an Abu Dhabi-based aero-structure manufacturing company, has partnered with Mumbai-based Reliance Defence Limited (RDL) to develop and collaborate on aerospace composite manufacturing capabilities. Both companies, who recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding, will seek to advance and integrate 3D printing technologies into aerospace component manufacturing, as well as develop carbon fiber aerostructures, prepegs, and more.

Notably, the agreement further reinforces the important alliances and ties that are being forged between the United Arab Emirates and India, in terms of politics, economics, and now industry. Strata Manufacturing, wholly owned by Mubadala Development Company PJSC, has, since its founding in 2009, become a well-connected and well-known composite aero-structures manufacturing company. The announcement that it will begin to explore 3D printing technologies in its aerospace manufacturing is therefore quite exciting.

In line with the potential partnership, Mumbai-based Reliance is reportedly considering establishing a new aerospace manufacturing facility at the Dhirubhai Ambani Aerospace Park, an industrial facility located at the Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur.

Badr Al Olama, CEO of Strata, said: "We are keen to grow our capabilities globally with Reliance and expand our operational footprint by capitalizing on innovative, cost-effective solutions that can benefit our customers whilst enhancing our financial performance. Working together with Reliance, we see a significant opportunity that can lead to the creation of a new tier-one global supplier: designing, developing and manufacturing major aircraft componentssuch as wings and empennagesfor the next generation of aircrafts.

The bilateral agreement between the two companies should see both Strata and Reliance exploring new opportunities within the commercial aerospace industry. These opportunities include additively manufactured aircraft components, carbon fiber aerostructures, and more. Both companies will also seek to address obsolescence management, and will take into account the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 as well as the Make in India initiative.

"Indias composites industry is at a nascent stage, said Rajesh K Dhingra, president, Reliance Defence & Aerospace. The project has the potential to bring in significant foreign direct investment and cutting-edge technology in this niche composite aircraft manufacturing segment. 3D printing enables us to produce assembly and machining fixtures in one-quarter the time and at one-half the cost as conventional machining.

The agreement marks another step forwards for aerospace 3D printing in the UAE, as Strata Manufacturing also recently partnered with Siemens and Etihad Airways to manufacture the Middle Easts first ever 3D printed aircraft interior parts.

Posted in 3D Printer Company

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Feb 17, 2017 | By Andre

Infill optimization in 3D printing is something that is constantly being tinkered with by designers, mathematicians and researchers around the world. The reason is ultimately to find ways to produce more with less. In fact, the majority of 3D print processes allow for some sort of optimization of internal density when it comes to producing a 3D printed part.

With stereolithography, producing hollowed out 3D prints ensures a high level of accuracy with minimal material use and efficient speeds. Polyjet 3D printing technology lets you fill your parts with a much more affordable support material and FDM 3D printing gives users the option to slice your 3D model file at varying degrees of infill to speed things up while using less material to boot.

The drawback to most of these cost and time saving measures often comes in the form of diminished strength in the produced part. It does after all make sense that a part that contains 5% internal material and 95% air would be weaker to withstand external forces than a solid part.

Well, it seems that a group of researchers from leading European technical universities have been hard at work to optimize internal infill structures for 3D printing with a little inspiration from the natural world. The research paper (recently published here) was put together by Dr. Jun Wu (now assistant professor at TU Delft, the Netherlands), Dr. Niels Aage (associate professor at TU Denmark), Dr. Rudiger Westermann (professor at TU Munich, Germany), and Dr. Ole Sigmund (professor at TU Denmark), and goes into great detail on how porous formations found in bone structures are key to the implementation of efficient yet incredibly durable infill structures.

The paper suggests a way to produce optimal lightweight parts, by mimicking the compact cortical bone forming outer shell and spongy trabecular bone occupying its interior as is seen in the cross section of a human femur below next to its 3D printed counter-part.

Their algorithm optimizes the distribution of material in a way similar to how bone reacts to external body forces. As a result, the structures mimic those found in nature. The optimized pattern varies in the shape's interior. This is in contrast to the many repeating patterns used in 3D print slicing software.

From a technical perspectve, the researcher's algorithm is built upon Topology Optimization, an engineering approach for designing lightweight structures. Topology Optimization has been widely used in aviation and automotive industries where the weight of parts and equipment plays a significant role. It puts material where it is needed, in order to maximize the stiffness of structures, under the prescribed external forces.

However, as the researchers results show, the structures suggested by topology optimization are sensitive to material damage and to variations in the external forces. After all, efficiency and robustness are a pair of contradicting factors.

By enforcing the micro-structures to spread across the shape interior, the new so-called bone-infill achieves a good balance between efficiency and robustness. Not surprisingly, the optimized structures from both the standard and the bone-like optimization algorithms outperform the repeating pattern in current slicing software. This is explained in a test on designing the infill for a 2D femur-shaped object. On the left, we have the standard topology optimized structure. In the middle is the bone-infill, while the repeating pattern is shown on the right. The compliance value (c), that is the inverse of stiffness, shall be as small as possible.

While their work remains in the research phase for now, they have tested out their method by fabricating structures using SLS and FDM printers.

So, will you be able to create bone-like internal density in your 3D prints with the next update of your favorite slicing software? Jun Wu suggests that for now the algorithm is most likely to be integrated in the design chain (CAD/CAE software) instead of slicing software. This should be a big relief for designers around the world that are tasked with producing parts as cost-effective and efficiently as possible.

Going forward, Jun notes that the (research) software package for their infill optimization formulas will be released soon, and that a test version is already available upon request. At the end of the day, as Jun tells, we welcome good collaborators on bringing the research results to end users.

Posted in 3D Printing Application

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Jennifer Senior in The New York Times:

In a nub: Homo Deus makes the case that we are now at a unique juncture in the story of our species. For the first time in history, Harari writes, more people die today from eating too much than from eating too little; more people die from old age than from infectious diseases; and more people commit suicide than are killed by soldiers, terrorists, and criminals combined. Having subdued (though by no means vanquished) famine, pestilence and war, Harari argues, we can now train our sights on higher objectives. Eternal happiness. Everlasting life. In seeking bliss and immortality, he writes, humans are in fact trying to upgrade themselves into gods. If youre acquainted with the story of Icarus, you know that these prideful efforts dont tend to end well. Harari imagines that in attempting to refine ourselves to utter perfection  the logical apotheosis of humanism, whose history and evolution he traces over many pages  we will destroy humanism itself. Our slow creep toward the uncanny valley has already begun. We take pills that change our affect and select embryos with the best odds for optimal health. Google has an offshoot, Calico, whose modest mission is to slow the aging process. Throw in advancements in biological and cyborg engineering, and our radical transformation, in Hararis view, seems quite feasible.

Relatively small changes in genes, hormones and neurons, he points out, were enough to transform Homo erectus  who could produce nothing more impressive than flint knives  into Homo sapiens, who produce spaceships and computers. Why should we assume that Sapiens are the end of the evolutionary line?

Yet a question arises: If we arent at the end of the line, what comes next?

More here.
Padraig Murphy at The Dublin Review of Books:

A striking element in the book, which is referenced all through it, is the extent to which the quality and the availability in the shops of what we call salami was a gauge of quality of life for people in the Soviet generation. As Alexievich puts it, giving voice to a common view in most of this generation (this is not her own view), the man who chooses from a hundred different varieties of salami in the shop is freer than the man who chooses from ten varieties. (She adds, provocatively and controversially, freedom also means to be unwhipped, but we can never expect an unwhipped generation; the Russian doesnt understand freedom, he needs the Cossack and the lash.) There can be little doubt that the salami question points to a significant reason for the failure of the great experiment in transforming human nature. A striking example of its centrality is provided in the report of Yeltsins visit to the US in 1989. He toured a medium-sized grocery shop in Texas. Leon Aron in his Yeltsin biography quotes one of the entourage: For a long time, on the plane to Miami, he sat motionless, his head in his hands. What have they done to our poor people? he said after a long silence. The accompanying official went on: On his return to Moscow, Yeltsin would confess the pain he had felt after the Houston excursion: the pain for all of us, for our country so rich, so talented and so exhausted by incessant experiments.

This very question of the place of salami in an ideal society will, like a revenant, persist in those who come after the collapse of the Soviet system, as an index of where each situates himself or herself in relation to that vanished past. Most have become totally cynical. One businessman diagnoses a mental revolution of one hundred and eighty degrees. There is now no talk of the Gulag or anything like it.

more here.
Henry Farrell over at Crooked Timber:

Civil society is a notoriously loose term  Marx, Gramsci, Bobbio and a whole host of political theorists and writers in the 1990s mean very different things by it. So how can we make it useful? One good place to start is the work of Ernest Gellner.

Gellners book on civil society, Conditions of Liberty: Civil Society and its Rivals, was published in 1994. My hardback copy was remaindered from the library of the American Enterprise Institute, which suggests a micro-history of the American conservative movement in itself. Gellners account of civil society makes it clear that whats important about civil society is that its not the civic society that Bannon is talking about, and in many respects is its antithesis.

Much of what Gellner has to say isnt immediately relevant today. Hes writing in the immediate wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union and its satellites of which Gellner, an idiosyncratic social democrat, was not a fan. He also has a lot to say about the role of the umma in the Islamic world, stressing the ways in which Islamic fundamentalism is a product of a set of very modern conditions. Yet what he has to say about civil society is highly relevant to Europe and the US. He writes with some skepticism about the efforts to build civil society in Eastern European countries where the state had atomized its citizens, and in which the local substitute for bourgeois modernizers were a clatter of spivs and former apparatchiks. This skepticism seems to have been born out in many cases, at least as things stand at the moment. The politics of the governing parties in Poland and Hungary, for example, are in part a deliberate retreat away from civil society into more traditional forms of identity such as religion and nationalism. Its no coincidence, comrades, that the great hate figure of the populist right on both sides of the Atlantic is George Soros, whose Open Society Foundation is dedicated exactly to building up the kind of civil society that Gellner and his old sparring partner Karl Popper wanted to see.

And for Gellner, the cultural conditions of civil society are essential. Civil society involves a relationship of power, in which the forces within society and the economy are sufficiently strong to constrain the state. Yet it also involves a set of associated beliefs, or, more precisely, a pluralism of beliefs and identities, in which no identity is so overwhelmingly strong as to become a prescribed faith or universal moral order.'

More here.
Let's catch up.





BART Wants to Ask Voters for Bridge Toll Hike, San Francisco Chronicle

Fresh from winning voter approval of a $3.5 billion bond measure, BART is looking at asking for another $1.5 billion as part of a bridge-toll increase that could go on Bay Area ballots as early as next year.

The idea being pushed by BART and other transit agencies is to raise tolls on the Bay Area's seven state-owned toll bridges  that's every one of them except the Golden Gate  by $1 to $3. Officials are still haggling over the exact amount, but the upper range would boost the top cost of crossing the bay in a car to $9.

The full list of transit projects that would get the money isn't finalized. But BART is already planning to push its way to the front of the line and ask for as much as a third of the toll dollars that the measure would generate. Read more.





San Francisco's 2017 James Beard Awards Semifinalists Are Here, Eater SF

Restaurant awards season has officially begun, with today's release of the James Beard Foundation Awards semifinalists list. As per usual, San Francisco has a strong showing with unsurprising nominations for regulars like Mourad Lahlou (Mourad, Aziza), Belinda Leong and Michel Suas (B. Patisserie), Saison, and Bar Agricole. New to the list this year, though, are Dominique Crenn (Atelier Crenn), Christopher Kostow (The Restaurant at Meadowood), James Syhabout (Hawker Fare), and more. Interestingly, both Sara Hauman and Melissa Chou have been nominated for the second year in a row for Rising Chef of the Year and Pastry Chef of the Year, respectively, but both are now at Mister Jiu's. Read more.





Does Fame Have a Recipe? Dominique Crenn's Fast Rise, New York Times

Five years ago, Dominique Crenn was just another hardworking Bay Area chef running a small, ambitious restaurant. She had been cooking since the early 1990s, when she arrived in this city from her native France, but she was still off the radar for many American food lovers. She had never won a James Beard award or served as a judge on "Top Chef" or hit any of the other marks of culinary stardom.

But in 2013, Atelier Crenn, her sleek modernist restaurant in Pacific Heights, won two stars from the Michelin Guide, making Ms. Crenn the highest-ranked female chef in the United States  and drawing the tribe of global gastro-tourists who follow the stars. Last year, she was named "the World's Best Female Chef" by the World's 50 Best, a London-based group that publishes an influential (if somewhat arbitrary) annual list of the best restaurants in the world.

Since then she has shot video campaigns for LG refrigerators and Georg Jensen tableware, been the cover model for the magazine Gastronomique En Vogue, and is profiled in an episode of "Chef's Table" on Netflix. She has been honored by the French government for her contributions to gastronomy and culture, delivered a TED Talk on "defining success," lectured at Harvard, and spearheaded a movement of chefs to help restore agriculture in Haiti. Read more.





Boy? Girl? Both? Neither? A New Generation Overthrows Gender, NPR

If same-sex marriage was yesterday's battle to redefine gender roles and privileges, and transgender rights today's, we just may be on the cusp of the most transformational stage yet. This you-ain't-seen-nothin'-yet phenomenon involves the splintering of what heretofore has been one of the most resilient organizing principles of American societythe division of the entire human race into male and female.

Those who erase that line may identify as both male and female, as neither male nor female, or as sometimes male and sometimes female. "They" is often the pronoun of choice. These individuals may use any number of terms to describe their gender identity: genderqueer, gender-fluid, gender creative, gender-expansive. While definitions fluctuate, "nonbinary gender" has emerged as an umbrella description. Read more.





Amazon to Open Bookstore in Bay Area, SF Gate

Amazon is coming to the Bay Area.

The online giant that got its start in books  and has in the past two years opened three brick-and-mortar stores on the West Coast  is opening a store in Walnut Creek.

The store will be at Broadway Plaza, an open-air shopping center, a spokeswoman for Amazon said.

Amazon would not say when the store will open or how big it will be, adding that the company is now hiring store managers and associates.

The opening of an Amazon store in the Bay Area  a hub of independent bookstores  seemed inevitable, as there are stores in Seattle, Portland and San Diego. The company says others will open soon in Chicago, Greater Boston (two locations), New Jersey and New York City. Read more.
The Pentagon has a rule requiring retired officers to report income from foreign states. But the Pentagon says it can find no records that former National Security advisor Michael Flynn filed a report after he'd been paid by Russia for an interview on the Russian state television network RT and for dining with President Vladimir Putin at RT's 10-year anniversary gala in 2015.

Via Politico:

In a letter to the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House oversight committee delivered Tuesday, acting Army Secretary Robert Speer confirmed that Flynn  a retired lieutenant general  filed no documentation of his trip. In response, House oversight committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz and Elijah Cummings, ranking Democrat on the committee, sent a letter that suggests Flynn may have inappropriately accepted payments from the Russian government or its agents in exchange for his attendance. Scrutiny is growing on Flynn's trip and whether his payment violated the Constitution's Emolument's Clause, which prohibits any person holding an "office of profit or trust" in the federal government from accepting foreign payment. The prohibition has long been considered to apply for retired military officials.

As you recall, Flynn was fond of leading "lock her up!" chants on Trump's campaign trail.
A treasure trove for the city's builders and DIYers, Center Hardware is one of the few remaining independent hardware stores left in the age of Amazonand now it has a new HQ, packed with all the trappings a maker (or burner) could want.

There are literally thousands of reasons to shop Center Hardware's new 20,000 square-foot retail space on Third Street in Dogpatch: The 65,000-item inventory includes 500 different cans of spray paint, a head-turning assortment of obsession-worthy Yeti coolers, and a shop-in-shop devoted to the legacy power tool brand Milwaukee. Whether you're looking for discontinued Victorian hinges or toilet flappers, the long-time staff (one employee has worked there for 39 years!) has seen and knows it all. And, a friendly concierge desk is there to problem-solve, not to judge.



"The burners all show up right before Burning Manwe love hearing about their camps and art installations," says proprietor Jamie Gentner. "They come here for metal, lighting ideas, batteries, headlamps, tools, and Yeti. It's an incredibly creative community."

Some may be surprised to learn that the iconic hardware haven is helmed by a woman: Jamie Gentner is Center's fourth-generation owner; she's minded the store (formerly located on Mariposa Street in Potrero Hill) with her father, Keith Gentner, since 1980. If you count Keith's previous store, Ocean View Hardware, Center Hardware and the family's predecessor stores have served San Francisco since the late 1800s.

Here, Jamie Gentner talks to 7x7 about Center's grand re-opening and the city, then and now.

Jamie Gentner (left) is Center Hardware's fourth-generation owner.

7x7: When you closed the Mariposa Street location last December, some people thought you had permanently closed. Do you want to set the record straight?

Jamie Gentner: It was very hard to combat that messagemany of our customers aren't on social media [all day], they are working with tools on job sites. Our new location has plenty of parking, wider aisles, and isn't as cold. We are one of the few people in San Francisco with a good landlord story[our landlord] happily offered us this new location after he decided to develop [the old location on] Mariposa Street.





7x7: How are you different from your big box counterparts?

JG: We are a heaven for fixers and makers. The thing that sets us apart from places like Lowe's is our customer service and depth of inventory. Since we don't belong to a chain, that gives us a tremendous amount of flexibility. We are a resourceful group of people who have been here for a long time. When the city ran out of sandbags during last year's storm, Chris [Wallace, Center Hardware's long-time buyer] got in a truck and drove down to Santa Cruz to get more. We have the independence to dispatch people to do that. During the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, my dad slept on the front counter so we could stay open 24 hours a day for four days straight while the city tried to sort out and contain the damage. Everyone needed everything, from padlocks, chain, gas cans, wood, batteries, and Shop-Vacs. It was intense.

7x7: You've said Center Hardware wouldn't be the way it is today without your dad. Tell us how you work together.



JG: My dad just turned 70. He has skills and qualities that are irreplaceable. He used to read parts catalogs for fun, and he just absorbed it all. He's amazing with that type of stuff. He leaves the daily operations and logistics with me; sometimes that includes mountains of paperwork. It leaves him time to do what he's best at, which is sourcing stuff. He's so jazzed when he sees this broken thing from 30 years ago that isn't made anymore, and he finds the work-around. It's a gift he has and our customers benefit.





7x7: How has the business evolved?

JG: My dad came from the neighborhood store. At the time, [Ocean View Hardware] was primarily a shipyard business, and we now have very little shipyard business. Now we work with the city, facility engineers, hotels, contractors, schools, and SFO. We have a big, robust customer base. And that's what makes us a great equalizer. We have the homeowner, the art student, the burner, the facility engineer, Anchor Brewing, Recchiuti Confections, and The Fairmont. And everybody is treated the same. They all have a problem, and they come here to solve it.





7x7: Has it been a challenge for you to navigate such a male-dominated industry?

JG: It's hard for me to answer that. I grew up in this industry. I started when I was 11, and I've been here full-time since '98. It can be hard to navigate at times...it comes down to people and to respect. Are you going to treat someone credibly as a person? It shouldn't have anything to do with my gender. The customer who growls at me should also be growling at him. But, you can't change everybody. There's definitely sexism that exists, but I also get that at the mall. I don't isolate it to a work thing.

A nod to Center Hardware's history in San Francisco.

7x7: What would you say to customers who aren't very handy?

JG: Be confident! Holding a drill is intimidating. And you don't know anyone who has a drill anymore, so you can't ask someone to show you how. The thing is, you can.





7x7: Does your team ever get stumped by customer questions?

JG: When we're not quite sure how to answer a question, we totally admit that and kick into research mode. Sometimes, we'll even call our customer who's over there (Jamie points into the store) and get them to answer the question, and now two people have learned. We try to facilitate that kind of thing all day long because that empowers everyone. The customer is happy because he got the information he needed. And my staff learned something. It's a win-win for our store to be this resource.





7x7: Any recommendations for DIY beginners?

JG: We're lucky in San Francisco. There are places like Workshop SF, Wood Thumb, San Francisco Community Wood Shop, Noisebridge, and TechShop that do DIY classes all the time. City College has courses in furniture making, construction, upholstery, among other things. [There's] Revere Academy for jewelry making. The Crucible and NIMBY are in Oakland. SF Etsy is a great group. I want people to know that they can learn hands on.There is also a goldmine of credible information online from tool companies and how-to places like Instructables and Ana White. We wouldn't be Center Hardware if we didn't encourage people to want to learn trades again. Our plumbers, electricians, carpenters, engineers, and mechanics are all in short number in San Francisco. There are amazing apprenticeship programs through our local unions.





// Center Hardware, 3003 Third St. (Dogpatch), centerhardware.com
How many people have already voted absentee in South Dakota ahead of Election Day?
Metallica will perform at NRG Stadium on June 11th  use promo code METALLICA2017

Ticket Down has cheap Metallica tickets at NRG Stadium in Houston on June 11, 2017. Add promo code METALLICA2017 at the checkout for any Metallica tickets at NRG Stadium in Houston.

Ticket Down is a reputable source of authentic Metallica tickets at NRG Stadium in Houston, TX. The iconic heavy metal band, Metallica has finally announced their 25 North American tour dates and the list is a welcome return to some of the massive stadium and arena venues that the band hasnt seen much of in awhile. The 2017 WorldWired tour is set to take the band back into some of the major cities across the U.S. that may have been missing the band since they made the decision to stick to smaller cities and venues back in 2009.

Houston will welcome the band at the 71,795 seat capacity NRG Stadium on June 11th, for what is shaping up to be an event that fans of the legendary band are not going to want to miss. You want to make the shows into events, drummer Lars Ulrich said in an interview regarding the upcoming dates. Weve got a few things, obviously, that are tied into the record and a few different bits and tugs thats gonna make it fun.

The tour is launching in support of the bands 10th studio album, Hardwiredto Self Destruct, which was recently released to praise from both Metallica fans and record critics alike. The band is also bringing along a great pairing of supporting acts to their Houston date, with opening acts by Danish metal group, Volbeat, and metalcore favorites, Avenged Sevenfold. Tickets for the 2017 WorldWired tour are set to go on sale at 10:00 a.m., local time on Friday morning, February 17th and are expected to move quickly.

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XPED Ltd (ASX:XPE) is pleased to announce that ST Microelectronics (NYSE:STM) (EPA:STM) has invited Xped to attend Embedded World 2017 to be held in Nuremberg, Germany, in March.


STMicro Invites Xped to Embedded World

Melbourne, Feb 17, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Xped Limited ( ASX:XPE ) ("Xped" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that ST Microelectronics ( NYSE:STM ) ( EPA:STM ) ("STMicro") has invited Xped to attend Embedded World 2017 to be held in Nuremberg, Germany, in March.



Highlights



- Xped invited to be featured guest speaker on Stmicro Fanzone and showcase stand on Stmicro booth



- Xped ADRC and DiscoverBus hardware products, Xped app, and Xped infrastructure platform to be showcased



- Embedded world 2017 held in Nuremberg, Germany March 14-16



- Embedded world 2016 had over 30000 attendees from over 70 countries



STMicro has provided Xped with a stand on the STMicro booth allowing Xped to showcase Xped Technologies. Xped will be a featured Guest Speaker on the STMicro Fanzone. This provides Xped with a great opportunity to present the Xped solution, as an invited guest of STMicro. Embedded World in 2016 had over 30000 attendees from over 70 countries and provides Xped with great exposure in the European region.



STMicro identified Xped's technologies as a showcase for their microprocessors & sensors in an Internet of Things solution. Xped has a range of products using STM32 Microcontrollers that demonstrate their integration with the Xped Infrastructure Platform and the competitive advantages that together they provide.



Key features of the Xped technologies will be on show:



- One Tap & One Click device onboarding

- Xped App (Device Browser) - On-board, control and monitor a selection of sensors and devices over wireless & wired network using Xped App

- Sensing - Operation of a number of ST Micro sensors

- Output Control - Control a number of devices using various controls



Xped will be demonstrating production ADRC and DiscoverBus hardware products including:



- IoT Gateway PCIe Card

- DiscoverBus Hub

- DiscoverBus Nodes

- ADRC Wireless Sensors



Xped will also be showcasing the Xped App and the Xped Infrastructure Platform (XIP) features:



- Device Registration

- Customer & Vendor Registration

- Data Usage and Streaming

- Data Analytics



Embedded World is being held in Nuremberg Germany from March 14-16, 2017. Xped can be visited in Hall 4A on ST Booth 138, and STM32 FAN ZONE Booth 238. STMicro is providing free entry tickets by visiting their website. http://www.abnnewswire.net/lnk/E42DOLE3



For more information on Embedded World please visit http://www.abnnewswire.net/lnk/9OY087W7



Founder, Executive Director& Head of Engineering John Schulz said: "This is a great opportunity to showcase our innovative technologies within the European region, and I would like to thank STMicro, on behalf of Xped, for this exciting opportunity."



ABOUT STMICROELECTRONICS



STMicro ( NYSE:STM ) ( EPA:STM ) is a global semiconductor company with net revenues of US$ 6.97 billion in 2016. Offering one of the industry's broadest product portfolios, ST serves customers across the spectrum of electronics applications with innovative semiconductor solutions for Smart Driving and the Internet of Things. By getting more from technology to get more from life, ST stands for life.augmented.





About XPED Ltd





XPED Ltd (ASX:XPE) is an Australian Internet of Things (IoT) technology business. Xped has developed revolutionary and patent-protected technology that allows any consumer, regardless of their technical capability, to connect, monitor and control devices and appliances found in our everyday environment. Xped provides technology solutions for Smart Home, Smart Building, and Healthcare.

At Xped, were Making Technology Easy Again(TM)
European airport trade association, ACI EUROPE, today released its traffic report for December, Q4, H2 and Full Year 2016.





This is the only air transport report which includes all types of airline passenger flights to, from and within Europe: full service, low cost, charter and others.



Passenger traffic across the European airport network showed strong momentum in 2016, posting an average growth of +5.1%.



All of this growth was generated by the EU market, with airports in the bloc seeing passenger volumes increasing by an impressive +6.7%. While terrorist attacks took a toll on demand in Belgium, France and to a much lesser extent Germany, their impact remained local and had subsided by year-end.



Conversely, passenger traffic at non-EU airports posted an average decrease of -0.9%, mainly due to falling traffic at Turkish airports (-6.6%) caused by terrorism and political instability. Although gradually improving after the summer, passenger traffic remained weak at Russian airports for the whole year  meanwhile, other non-EU markets such as Iceland, Israel and Ukraine experienced very dynamic growth.



The significant drop in leisure demand at Turkish airports contributed to the performance of the EU market, with this demand shifting to airports in Croatia, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Greece, Portugal, Romania and Spain. This helped most of these markets achieving double digit growth - along with Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Poland.



Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI EUROPE said: Europes airports broke the 2 billion passengers mark last year  an absolute record. While geopolitics and terrorism in particular played an increasing role in shaping the fortunes & misfortunes of many airports, the underlying story is one of continued growth and expansion  with passenger volumes growing in excess of +5% for the third consecutive year. This means that Europes airports have welcomed an additional 300 million passengers since 2013, with 80% of it - 240 million - flooding the EU market. Unsurprisingly, that increase is starting to weigh on capacity levels, operations and resources.



He added Much of this impressive performance is down to 3 interrelated factors: 1. improving economic conditions driven by private consumption and falling unemployment, 2. low oil prices and 3. airline capacity expansion.



Freight traffic grew across Europes airports by +4.1% - registering the best performance since 2010 and confirming improving economic conditions for Europe. Aircraft movements grew by +3.2%, reflecting significant airline capacity expansion compared to previous years.



Low Cost Carriers were the main drivers of passenger traffic growth in 2016 on the back of their successful move upmarket, the development of low cost spinoffs by Full Service Carriers and the emergence of long haul & low cost offerings.



As a result, passenger traffic growth tended to concentrate on secondary & emerging hubs as well as medium-sized airports. This was the case notably in Barcelona (+11.2%), Dublin (+11.5%), Manchester (+10.8%), Lisbon (+11.7%), Athens (+10.6%), Warsaw (+14.5%), Edinburgh (+11.1%), Cologne (+15.2%), Berlin (+36.7%), Birmingham (+14.3%), Budapest (+11.1%), Bucharest (+18.3%), Venice (+10%), Bologna (+11.5%), Keflavik (+40.4%), Thessaloniki (+12.1%), Krakow (+18.1%), Sofia (+21.8%) and Vilnius (+14.3%).



Meanwhile, the top five European hubs (the Majors) as well as smaller regional airports significantly underperformed the European average, growing respectively by just +1.5% and +4.3%.



Among the Majors, Amsterdam-Schiphol was the only one growing significantly (+9.2%), replacing Istanbul-Ataturk as the 3rd busiest European airport with 63.6 million passengers  behind London-Heathrow (75.7 million passengers & +1%) and Paris-Charles de Gaulle (65.9 million passengers & +0.3%). Istanbul-Ataturk retrenched to 5th place (60 million passengers & -2.1%) while Frankfurt maintained its position as the 4th busiest European airport (60.7 million passengers & -0.4%).



Passenger traffic growth was particularly impressive in Q4 and December. In December alone, it grew by +10.9% across the European airport network  making Europe the fastest growing World region, surpassing Asia-Pacific (+9.6%).



Within Europe, the EU market continued to lead (+11.8%) with a notable improvement in the traffic performance of the top hubs. However, the non-EU market finally returned to a more dynamic course (+8.1%) on the back of significant growth at Russian airports and reduced traffic losses at Turkish airports. Iceland posted yet another stellar performance, with Keflavik airports passenger traffic increasing by a record 66% over December 2015 - resulting in the airport more than doubling passenger volumes from their December 2014 level.



Looking ahead into 2017, Jankovec commented This current growth dynamic is likely to hold up in the comings months, possibly until early Spring. Short-term downside risks relate to the price of oil  which is forecasted this year to be almost 30% above its 2016 average - and airlines exerting capacity discipline. Beyond that, our trading environment is becoming more unpredictable and prone to disruptions, due to mounting geopolitical risks. These include the permanence of terrorism threats, increasing political instability both within and outside Europe and BREXIT. These risks reflect a set of emerging mega-trends which are now challenging globalisation and free trade  and which could fundamentally alter airports long-term business prospects.



During the full year of 2016, airports welcoming more than 25 million passengers per year (Group 1), airports welcoming between 10 and 25 million passengers (Group 2), airports welcoming between 5 and 10 million passengers (Group 3) and airports welcoming less than 5 million passengers per year (Group 4) reported an average adjustment +2.6%, +6.7%, +10.3% and +5.8%.



The airports which reported the highest increases in passenger traffic during 2016 (compared with 2015) are as follows:



GROUP 1: Dublin (+11.5%), Barcelona (+11.2%), Amsterdam (+9.2%), Copenhagen (+9.1%) and Madrid (+7.7%)



GROUP 2: Alicante (+16.8%), Malaga (+15.8%), Cologne (+15.2%), Warsaw WAW (+14.5%) and Birmingham (+14.3%),



GROUP 3: Berlin SXF (+36.7%), Larnaca (+24.2%), Faro (+18.6%), Bucharest OTP (+18.3%) and Porto (+16.0%)



GROUP 4: Oradea (+487.7%), Iasi (+131.3%), Bucharest BBU (+121.8%), Ostend (+64.5%) and Palanga & Kharkiv (+60.1%)



During the month of December, airports welcoming more than 25 million passengers per year (Group 1), airports welcoming between 10 and 25 million passengers (Group 2), airports welcoming between 5 and 10 million passengers (Group 3) and airports welcoming less than 5 million passengers per year (Group 4) reported an average adjustment +7.5%, +13.1%, +15.4% and +14.3%.



The airports which reported the highest increases in passenger traffic during December 2016 (compared with December 2015) are as follows:



GROUP 1: Moscow SVO (+19.3%), Barcelona (+15.3%), London Gatwick (+15.0%), Dublin (+13.3%) and Paris ORY (+11.5%),



GROUP 2: Warsaw WAW (+35.4%), St Petersburg (+24.0%), Birmingham (+23.7%), Lisbon (+22.8%) and Malaga (+20.8%)



GROUP 3: Kiev (+38.4%), Larnaca (+32.6%), Faro (+31.9%), Berlin (+27.6%) and Porto (+26.3%)



GROUP 4: Bucharest BBU (+615.9%), Arad (+500.0%), Maribor (+224.5%), Zakynthos Island (+188.9%) and Mikonos (+139.0%)



The 'ACI EUROPE Airport Traffic Report  December, Q4, H2 & Full Year 2016 includes 237 airports in total representing more than 88% of European air passenger traffic.

+
Allan: Weve been together a little over 30 years. This is our second marriage. We met November 16, 1986 in New York City at The Arcadia Restaurant 61 East 61st street where we had lunch and weve been together ever since that moment.

Dolores: But, there was a magic moment where our knees touched under the table and thats where the sparks flew. I dont think weve had one of those easy everyones happy kind of marriages. I think we were both very strong willed. We were already set in our careers and our lifestyle. We worked at this marriage.

Allan: Yes we have.

Dolores: And I think thats what makes it work.

Allan: We had to come this place where we were both independent and we are pretty much there now. Of course I think that our marriage, our relationship is always a work in process and we each maintain our own places in life, we each have our own interests and we share many many wonderful times together.

Dolores: I think the thing that makes our marriage work is freedom, Allan gives me tremendous freedom to do, I mean look at me, I am the woman that he has allowed for me to create for myself.

Allan. Its not a question of allow I could no more stop you than I could fly to the moon.

Dolores: And I also think its patience. When you get to where you have been married for so long that you finish each others sentences. Thats kind of where we are right now.

Allan: This is the best part of my life, being with her, and looking forward to spending time with her.
CMSAF: Airmen say goodbye to Cody, welcome Wright

An American flag, the symbol of freedom, served as the backdrop in a vast aircraft hangar. The bleachers were filled to the brim with Airmen, families and well-wishers from all around the Air Force who came to bid farewell to the 17th Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Cody and welcome the 18th CMSAF Kaleth O. Wright during a transition and retirement ceremony Feb. 17, 2017 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.



The position of CMSAF has been in effect for 50 years now; a position that shapes how Airmen growa position of honor.



Chief Cody not only upheld the standards demanded of the position, he did it with grace, adopting the entire Total Force as members of his family, said Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. David L. Goldfein. He epitomized the servant leader, choosing to lead his Airmen personally, face-to-face, shoulder-to-shoulder.



Goldfein listed a number of accomplishments by Cody during his tenure as the highest enlisted Airman saying he is passionate about ensuring Airmen are prepared for the fight and that he excelled in his duties in the care of Airmen.



What we are going to miss about our Air Force is you. Were going to miss the Airmen, were going to miss their families, said Cody, addressing the crowd. We have served our entire adult lives together, we have grown up with you, (and) we have been through all of it with you.



Cody said the legacy of the 17th CMSAF isnt about him, its about all the men and women all around the world, along with their families, doing what they do every day for the nation.



During a formal reading of orders, Cody, after 32 years of service to our country, was officially retired, effective April 1, 2017.



The attention shifted to Wright as he stood on the stage.



His service jacket, with chief stripes and a command chief star in the center was exchanged for the CMSAF stripes which stand out as a highly distinguished symbol, representing all Airmen.



The exchange of the coat and service cap symbolizes the weight and consequence of assuming the responsibilities of the Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force position.



Chief Wright held a variety of senior enlisted positionseach time, providing his signature wisdom and a steady calm for a host of Air Force leaders, Goldfein said. The mantle of leadership of Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force will test you and will tire youbut when its all said and done, and our Airmen have you to thank for supporting what matters most. You will look back and know it was worth every moment and effort.



Wright is no stranger to guiding Airmen, serving in leadership positions throughout the Air Force, he is able to bring his experience to the new position.



Chief Wright has been leading our enlisted force and advising commanders at every echelon, from squadron to major commands, said acting Secretary of the Air Force Lisa Disbrow. He has been the voice of Airmen at home and down range. Chief Wright is competent, poised, and intensely motivated and tremendously humble.



Standing before the crowd as the new Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force, Wright was overcome with joy, saying if he wasnt so tough he may have shed a tiny, baby tear.



Expressing some of the areas he wishes to focus on during his time as CMSAF, Wright mentioned that training, leadership and resilience are at the center of the enlisted force.



Our Airmen need to be well trained, they need to be well led and they need to be resilient, Wright said. We will have a deliberate focus on training to make sure they are ready to fight. We will have a focus on effective talent management to ensure that they are ready to lead and we will have a deliberate focus on total Airmen and family wellness to make sure that they are ready for life. These focus areas will ensure that we are there in every mission, in every domain, in every location. Ready Airmen are essential to our success.



Wright accepted he has big shoes to fill, but said he is ready to lead today's Airmen into tomorrow's Air Force.
Citizen Airmen from the 507th Air Refueling Wing here are scheduled to return home today after supporting deployed air operations at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, against the Islamic State group.

An additional group of Airmen is scheduled to return from deployment on Sunday, Feb. 19.

Four KC-135R Stratotankers from Tinker AFB and more than 90 Airmen provided air refueling support to U.S. and NATO aircraft operating in U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility from Dec. 13 to Feb. 16.

The four deployed aircraft executed more than 1,100 combat support hours during the deployment, and refueled B-2 Spirit, F-15E Strike Eagle, A-10 Warthogs and other various aircraft while providing direct maintenance support for multiple KC-135s.

The 507th ARW is the largest Air Force Reserve Command flying unit in the state of Oklahoma and the majority of Airmen returning live and work in Oklahoma permanently as Reservists. The wing regularly deploys in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.




Heritage Flight 2017

An A-10C Thunderbolt II taxies down the flightline during the 2017 Heritage Flight Training Course at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., Feb. 12, 2017. During the course, aircrews practiced ground and flight training to enable civilian pilots of historic military aircraft and Air Force pilots of current fighter aircraft to fly safely in formations together. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Chris Drzazgowski)
Alaskan Raptors arrive in Australia for training initiative

The last wave of F-22 Raptors from the 90th Fighter Squadron at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, arrived here Feb. 14 to launch bilateral exercise and training missions with the Royal Australian Air Force and further strengthen the military relationship the two nations share.



We are thrilled to be here and working with our Australian counterparts, said Lt. Col. Dave Skalicky, the 90th FS commander. They have been phenomenal hosts, and their level of support allows us to increase our combined capabilities.



The F-22s, 12 in total, came to RAAF Base Tindal under the direction of U.S. Navy Adm. Harry B. Harris, the U.S. Pacific Command commander, as part of the Enhanced Air Cooperation Initiative under the Force Posture Agreement between the U.S. and Australia.



This combined training activity marks the most extensive F-22 joint training with Australia in duration and scale, providing the Raptors the opportunity to conduct integrated air operations training with the RAAFs 75 Squadron F/A-18A/B Hornets.



We constantly look forward to training operating with our U.S. counterparts, in particular, with fifth-generation squadrons such as the 90th FS, said Wing Commander Mick Grant, the 75 Squadron commander. Usually we only integrate with the F-22s at major exercises in the U.S. such as Red Flag or during coalition operations, so we appreciate the efforts of the 90th FS having traveled a significant distance to Australia to join us in our backyard this year. Northern Australias extreme climate and distinctive training areas provide our ally unique opportunities to train with their fifth-generation aircraft in a range of environmental conditions.



The F-22s and F/A-18A/Bs will conduct offensive and defensive training missions at various locations in the Northern Territory and Queensland.



Skalicky explained the history of the 90th FS and how it can trace its lineage back to World War II when the then U.S. Army Air Forces 90th Bombardment Squadron conducted missions out of the area against the Japanese in various battles throughout the Pacific.



We were here 75 years ago, and to be back carrying on the tradition is an honor, Skalicky said.



Accompanying the F-22s here are approximately 200 Airmen providing operational, maintenance, logistical and security support.



The F-22s are scheduled to be in Australia through the beginning of March.
A South Korean court on Friday issued an arrest warrant against the heir to the Samsung business empire, countrys largest family-controlled conglomerate, on charges of corruption.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong is facing bribery charges linked to the corruption scandal that led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.

A judge at the Seoul Central District Court said there was enough justification to issue the warrant for Lee Jae-yong given the newly added criminal charges and newly collected evidences, reports Xinhua.

Lee faced an immediate incarceration at a detention center south of Seoul, where he had been waiting for the announcement made at about 5:40 a.m. local time.

Prosecutors allege that Lee pledged tens of millions of dollars to win favour with President Park Geun-hye and secure government support for a controversial merger that helped tighten his grip on the conglomerate. They are accusing him of bribery, perjury, concealing criminal profits, embezzlement and hiding assets overseas.

Samsung and Lee have denied the allegations.

The merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries was extremely crucial to the Samsungs third-generation leader to inherit the management control from his father Lee Kun-hee who was incapacitated in 2014 for heart attack.

Meanwhile, the warrant to detain Samsung Electronics President Park Sang-jin was denied for his limited authority, position and role in the case.
The death toll from a car bomb attack in a southern Baghdad neighborhood has reached 59 with 66 others injured, a police officer and medical sources said Friday.

Authorities initially said the Thursday attack at an auto dealership in the al-Bayaa neighborhood killed at least 55 and wounded more than 60. The Islamic State group claimed credit for the bombing.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

Islamic State, in a statement early Friday, said its fighters detonated bombs in a parked car among a gathering of Shiites in the Fifth Police district Thursday. It did not give further details.

The extremist group has carried out near-daily attacks in Baghdad despite suffering military setbacks elsewhere in the country, including in the northern city of Mosul, where US-backed Iraqi forces have been waging a major operation since October.

The spiritual leader of Iraqs Shiites Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, expressed his condolences for the victims families and called on those responsible for decision-making to recognize their responsibility to preserve security.

His comments were delivered at Friday prayers by his representative, Ahmed al-Safi, in the holy city of Karbala.

The US State Department condemned the bombing, saying such attacks show the extremist groups utter contempt for human life and its efforts to sow discord and division among the Iraqi people.
Retirement fund body EPFO has extended the deadline for submitting Aadhaar number till March 31 by its over four crore members. Employees Provident Fund Organisation has set February 28 as the deadline for submitting Aadhaar number. It had made mandatory for subscribers to submit the number for continuing the benefits under its scheme earlier in January.

It is hereby informed that all the member of Employees Pension Scheme 1995 should also submit Aadhaar number authentication on or before March 31, 2017, an EPFOs official order for its over 120 field office stated.

Besides, the office order stated that deadline for submitting Aadhaar linked digital life certificate has also been extended till March 31, 2017. In January, EPFO had decided to extend the date of submission through Jeevan Pramaan Patra programme to February 28.

This was done to make the job easy for pensioner In November last year, EPFO had decided to shift the last date to January 15, 2017, to provide relief to pensioners, hit hard by demonetisation. Another extension came in January this year as Aadhaar is needed for submission of digital life certificates.

It has done away with the system of accepting life certificate manually through banks. The pensioners are required to provide life certificates digitally either through their mobile phones or at common service centres or at bank branches providing such facility.

EPFO has already joined the vast network of over 2 lakh common services centres (CSC) of the IT department to widen its reach. The CSC network is one of the largest government approved online service delivery channels in the world. As per practice, EPFO pensioners are required to submit their life certificates by November.

In case, the pensioners do not submit so, their pension is stopped. EPFO has been accepting life certificates through Jeevan Pramaan software application through mobile phones.

Besides, the pensioners are using the services of over 2 lakh CSCs. A notification by the Labour ministry said: Members and pensioners of the Employees Pension Scheme desirous of continuing to avail pension and membership to Employees Pension Scheme, are here by required to furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number of undergo Aadhaar authentication as per the procedure laid down by EPFO.
Why does their enthusiasm fade after the conclusion of polls asks Mumbaikars?

Since Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election is just few days away political parties are leaving no stone unturned to lure voters. Every political party be it BJP, Shiv Sena, Congress, NCP and MNS are geared up for polls. Everyone from senior leaders to grassroot workers are aggressively campaigning for election. Many of them had organised rallies to connect with voters. Thus nowadays all leaders right from Chief Minister Dev-endra Fadnavis, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, MNS chief Raj Thackeray, MPCC President Ashok Chavan, NCP president Sharad Pawar and his daughter Supriya Sule are accessible to people. One can also see political parties opening up temporary offices to connect with voters. Thus every political party becomes active during polls. However, the enthusiasm fades after coming to power as leaders remain inaccessible to citizens. Even if some journalists or activists try to call them then their calls remain unanswered. It also becomes extremely difficult to seek an appointment from leaders as their public relation officer might reply that the former is busy attending meetings.

Why are these leaders visible only during the onset of polls? What happens to them after the conclusion of election? Why do they remain disconnected with people after polls? If political parties work with the same enthusiasm after polls then we can witness better development, Sudesh Singh a Borivali resident.

Political parties only think about the people during polls. Why cant they interact with voters after coming to power? If they are representatives of the people then they should work for them, Satish Rohankar a marketing executive working with a private firm in Malad said.

Often it is observed that political parties make several promises before election but fail to fulfil them after coming to power. What is the purpose of making promises if one cannot fulfill them? Citizens should come forward and vote for the right candidate, said Rekha Subash, a housewife from Kandivali.

On the other hand, NCP leader Supriya Sule violated traffic rules by not wearing a helmet while riding pillion on a motorbike from Malad to reach her election rally at Thane. Sule also uploaded her video on social media which has gone viral. Mumbai traffic police had made helmets compulsory even for pillion riders last year, while imposing Rs 100 fine for violators.

According to NCP sources, as Sule realised that it was difficult for her to reach the venue in Thane at the scheduled time she preferred to sit on a motorcycle which the party worker was riding. Accompanied by other party workers, Sule reached the election rally at Khopar in Thane around 9.30pm and addressed the crowd before it wrapped up at 10pm.
Ahead of its strategic dialogue with India, China on Friday said solid evidence was needed for it to back efforts to get JeM chief Masood Azhar banned by the United Nations.

Foreign secretary S Jaishankar and Chinas executive vice-foreign minister Zhang Yesui will hold a new round of strategic dialogue in Beijing on February 22, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told a media briefing.

The two sides will have an in-depth exchange of views on the international situation and other regional and global issues of mutual interest in the strategic dialogue which is an important communication mechanism between India and China, he said.

Commenting on reports of friction points in the bilateral relationship, including the Masood Azhar issue and Indias admission into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Geng said differences are only natural.

Through all kinds of conversation and exchanges, including (the) upcoming Strategic Dialogue, (the) two sides can step up communication to narrow differences and reach new consensus on achieving cooperation, he said.

On the Masood Azhar issue, over which China has put a technical hold on the recent US move to list the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief as a terrorist in the 1267 committee of the UN Security Council, Geng said China will support the move if there is solid evidence.

China upholds principles of objectivity, impartiality and professionalism and takes part in relevant discussions. Whether last years application by India or this years by (the) relevant country, our position is consistent, Geng said.

Our criteria is only one, we need solid evidence. If there is solid evidence the application can be approved. If there is no solid evidence there is hardly consensus, he said.

Stating that China has reiterated its stand several times, Geng said, On (the) 1267 committee, the latest development is relevant countries have made another application with the committee. Relevant members of (the) committee are in consultation and relevant parties have failed to reach consensus so far.

China last year put a technical hold twice on Indias application to get Masood Azhar banned by the UN.

This year, the US moved the proposal in the UNSC to designate Masood Azhar, the mastermind of the Pathankot terror attack, as a terrorist. China once again has put a technical hold on the move.

On Indias entry into the NSG, he said, We have said many times this is a multilateral issue.

We stick to two-step approach namely, first NSG members need to arrive at a set of principles for the entry of non-NPT state parties into NSG and then move forward discussions of specific cases, Geng said.

Our position is consistent. Apart from India, other non-NPT state parties are also making applications. Our position on those applications is consistent, he said.

Whether the Masood Azhar issue or the NSG issue, they are in essence multilateral issues and not bilateral ones, Geng said.
Pakistan on Friday summoned officials from Afghanistan embassy and handed down a list of 76 wanted terrorists to be handed over to Islamabad.

Afg Embassy officials called in GHQ. Given list of 76 Ts hiding in Afg. Asked to take immediate action/be handed over to Pakistan, tweeted militarys media wing DG ISPR Major-General Asif Ghafoor.

The officials were summoned at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi to lodge protest against the use of Afghan soil by terrorists to carry out attacks in Pakistan.

The move comes in light of the recent terror attacks, the latest on Thursday night at shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan that has so far claimed at least 70 lives while dozens of others were wounded.

Post the attack, Major-General Asif Ghafoor had vowed response towards the recent terrorist acts that he alleged were being executed on directions from hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan.

Recent Ts acts are being exec on directions from hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan. We shall defend and respond, he tweeted.

Post the shrine attack on Thursday, Pakistan shut down the Torkham border crossing with Afghanistan for an indefinite period of time.

Torkham border connects Nangarhar province of Afghanistan with Pakistans Federally Administered Tribal Areas ( FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Pakistan launched a nationwide security crackdown on Friday, officials said, after a bomb ripped through a crowded Sufi shrine killing at least 70 people including 20 children and wounding hundreds. Pakistan security forces killed at least 39 militants in a nationwide crackdown on Friday.

Police had cordoned off the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, a 13th century Muslim saint, early Friday as forensic investigators reached the town of Sehwan in Sindh province, some 200 kilometres (124 miles) northeast of financial hub Karachi.

Paramilitary Sindh Rangers said they killed 18 terrorists in overnight operations in the province. Of them, seven were killed in a shootout on a highway near Kathor when the paramilitary troops were returning from Sehwan, where the bombing at the 13th century shrine took place.

Eleven terrorists were killed in Karachi, according to the Rangers.

In the northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, police said they killed 12 extremists. Three were killed in Peshawar, four in Orakzai tribal region, and another four in an exchange of fire with security forces in Bannu area of the restive province.

According to officials, weapons and hand-grenades were seized from the militants.

Three terrorists were killed in separate incidents in tribal regions of Khurram and Mohmand districts, an official said, adding a security personnel was killed in the clash.

In Balochistan, two terrorist were killed in a shootout with security forces in the provincial capital Quetta. Another two were killed in Sargodha district of Punjab province.

Other militants were killed in raids across the country.

Official said the crackdown would be intensified in the coming days as government has resolved to eliminate militancy.

After the string of terrorist attacks in the country in the past week, the government and military are on one page and the crackdown was ordered, a top government official said.

Pakistan army began an operation in Shalman area near the Pakistan-Afghan border, using heavy artillery fire, reports said. The border with Afghanistan at Torkham has been shut.

The crackdown was launched simultaneously by the federal and provincial governments after at least eight terror attacks rocked Pakistan over the week, killing dozens.

Pakistan has seen a dramatic improvement in security recently, but the apparently coordinated series of attacks this week  most claimed by the umbrella Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Pakistani Taliban  has shaken the increasing confidence.

The push against extremism was stepped up after the countrys deadliest ever attack, a TTP assault on a school in Peshawar in 2014 which left more than 150 people dead  mostly children.

But critics have long argued the military and government crackdown does not address the root causes of extremism, and groups such as the TTP and increasingly Islamic State can still carry out spectacular attacks.
Modi waves created magic for Brand BJP in 2014 but just in two years time they faced disappointed voters in Delhi, Bihar and now Uttar Pradesh, Indias biggest state by population, as it headed to polls. During election season, all of us can only pick up fragments of the mood of the electorate. This is particularly true for a large and complex state as UP  with over 200 million people and with staggering regional and social variations. It is true that in pockets of western UP  particularly the Jat belt  there was palpable anger against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in this election.

Some like him for his oratory skills, others appreciate him for his resoluteness; some like him for notebandi and the illusion of taking on the rich, others like him for his supposed truthfulness; some offer no real explanation but count him as their favourite leader. And some extremely hate him for various reasons, no matter how liked and hated he is but with passing time its evident that Modi is losing credibility at length. There are two reasons, Modi failed to deliver his election promises and second thing is that his partys counter parts played hate politics by dividing people of our nation. And that is why, we are witnessing a curious paradox. If the BJP wins, it will definitely have to do with Modis appeal. But if it loses, it will not necessarily be a reflection of the growing disappointment with Modi or his diminished popularity?

If victory needs a Modi element, then losing is also due to the same element. BJPs entire political campaign depend on Modi rallies, without him BJP has no campaigner who can fetch votes for the party. Inspite of Modi asking voters to trust him with huge presence, we all know how the crowd is pulled and it is not necessary that the same crowd can turn out to be the voters. The same incident had occurred in Bihar also. Those who are voting for the BJP in this election are motivated by different factors. Some may like the local candidate; some may want the exclusion of Muslims from the power structure; some may genuinely be exasperated with law and order under Samajwadi Party; some may want to see people from their own castes and communities represented in government. But Modi is not the factor alone. Meanwhile, there is high turnout in voting, now the confusion is that who are those voters, Muslims, Dalits or Upper caste? Who is trying their best to elect their leader? High turnout means people have rejected some and decided for some.

Meanwhile, Modi is trying to please voters with emotional speeches, on the other hand Congress and SP are criticising him, they hit out at Modi for the latters claim of being the adopted son of Uttar Pradesh, saying relationships dont develop just by talking but by nurturing. With his sister and partys star campaigner Priyanka Gandhi on the dais with him, Gandhi accused Modi of making hollow promises at a public meeting here in the constituency represented by his mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Attacking the demonetisation decision, RaGa said all of a sudden Modi got the idea and decided to convert the hard earned notes of people into plain paper and asked people to go and stand in queues in front of banks.

His sister Priyanka Gandhi had gone one step ahead saying U.P. needs no adopted son, asking if the State really needed any leader from outside when it has its own sons. Modi earlier too said Varanasi has adopted me and I am like a son of it and will develop it does Uttar Pradesh need to adopt anyone from outside. No outside leader is required. Every single youth of the State can become a leader. Every single youth here will work for the State and develop it by leaps and bounds. Priyanka Gandhis first election rally speech in 2017 was very aggressive. Much better than the speeches of Rahul Gandhi, it was more precise, less melodrama. Though this time her speech lacked the passion and she just spoke for a few minutes, as if supporting the party.

Everyone hoped she would give a new track to the Congress campaign. So far, Rahul Gandhis speeches in the state have failed to create any sort of wave. Had it not been for Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadavs popularity in the state, Congress would have been probably facing tough time.

Meanwhile, Modi has settled himself on a morally high position among masses in the battle of opinions. Especially in states like Uttar Pradesh which has widespread poverty and constitutes mostly of aam aadmis, it doesnt matter how low a politician stoop to attack the opponent. What matters is, if he or she is seen in action or perceived to be the one who can act. North Indian voters are smart; they dont easily buy these attacks. Caste also plays a major role. Modi might be fascinating people by amusing them with his oratory skills; he is still not very convincing.

However, Priyanka Gandhi has been argued by many to possess the charisma of late PM Indira Gandhi. Many Congress workers and sympathisers continue to believe that she can match and beat PM Modi in every aspect. After listening to her speech, one can easily say that either she is a reluctant politician or overrated. During her speech, Priyanka committed the same mistake which Rahul continues to do, and enjoys it as well  that is attacking PM Modi with personal remarks against him. Congress biggest enemy is not PM Modi or the BJP. Its biggest enemy is its hypocrisy and tendency to take the voters for a ride. This is what you would also feel when you would find Rahul complaining against underdevelopment in Rae Bareli, which has been Congress home constituency for several decades, or Priyanka calling note ban bigger atrocity against women than rape. One hopes the grand old party makes a course correction or continue to stagnate the way it already is.

To conclude I can say, people will have really tough exam to choose between the less evil and expect the development of the state and progress of its people.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com)








Web Toolbar by Wibiya

Date: April, 2008.

Place: the coast of New Jersey, State of New Jersey, United States.

Almost 9 years ago, a very unusual discovery took place in the coast of New Jersey, United States. However, in spite of being a relatively old find, it deserves to be analysed one more time.

In a video published on 25 April 2008 by YouTube user Dan Crowell, it is possible to see a group of sunken objects that were described as two 19th century locomotives lying in the bottom of the ocean, just 8 miles off New Jersey.

Sitting upright on the bottom [of the ocean], side by side, [there] are two intact 19th century steam locomotives, Mr Crowell explained. As you swim, front to back, you can plainly see the steam chest, piston drive arm, and the large spoked drive wheel, he continued.

Moreover, the two strange machines also looked like if they were still on their rails. To add to the mystery, both locomotives appeared to be sitting as though theyre on rails, the author of the video related. He also wondered: why have these two heavy iron objects not sunk into the bottom?

In order to obtain more information about the machines, several researchers have explored the site for hours. One of them, Dan Lee, President of the New Jersey Historical Divers Association decided to probe beneath the wheels and measure the dimensions. The results of his research are still being analysed.

UFO researcher and writer Scott C. Waring, of UFO Sightings Daily, also studied this discovery, and expressed a different point of view about it: Lets face it: aliens steal stuff all the time. Jets, planes, ships, sailboats, people just disappear and we accept it as...normal, he said. Well, here is a great video of not one, but two train engines that were found 8 miles off the New Jersey coast. There is no clear and exact explanation about how these trains got out there, but we can easily figure it out, once we realise that aliens love examining the most recent technology that humans have created, he commented.

Like Hollywood Paparazzi, aliens seem overly anxious to get their grubby little green mitts on them, he affirmed.

Draw your own conclusions

For further information: http://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/2017/01/alien-abducted-19th-century-locomotives.html

Alien Abducted 19th century Locomotives rest on the floor of the ocean, Video, UFO Sighting News.

Date of discovery: About 2008

Location of discovery: Ocean, 8 miles off New Jersey Shore

Lets face it, aliens steal stuff all the time. Jets, planes, ships, sailboats, people just disappear and we accept it as...normal. Well, here is a great video of not one, but two train engines that were found 8 miles off the New Jersey coast. There is no clear and exact explanation about how these trains got out there, but we can easily figure it out, once we realise that aliens love examining the most recent technology that humans have created. Like Hollywood Paparazzi, aliens seem overly anxious to get their grubby little green mitts on them.

Scott C. Waring-Taiwan
It is now official beyond question. The senior ranks of the U.S. military and foreign-policy leadership have now fully succumbed to the belief that all problems in the Middle East and South Asia must include, at their core, the application of lethal military power. No other alternative is considered. Worse, the military solutions they advocate have literally no chance of accomplishing the national objectives sought. The latest damning evidence: the commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan testified before the Senate last week that he believes thousands of additional U.S. troops should be sent back to Afghanistan.





It is difficult to overstate the utter bankruptcy of a strategy designed to bring peace to Afghanistan based on sending large numbers of U.S. service members back into harms way. The

reported in early February that Army Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr.

believes the new president may be open to a more robust military effort that is objectives-based. Questioned by Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R.-S.C.), the general said he can definitely carry out his mission with less than 50,000 coalition troops, but hesitated a bit when asked if he could do so with less than 30,000.





The results of sixteen years conducting counterinsurgency, foreign military training and counterterrorism operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan should argue persuasively against repeating such a strategy. The results have been utter and complete failures on the strategic level. Supporters of using COIN and CT cite the Iraq surge of 2007 as an example of how a properly run operation can succeed. Such endorsements expose a significant lack of understanding of what actually happened in 2007 and, of greater importance, that those individuals have a marked inability to see beyond tactical outcomes. - More

Washington Post
UPS has hit out at proposals to triple the jet fuel tax in Alaska  home to the worlds fifth busiest cargo airport  a move that the integrator says could impact the states role in the cargo industry.

In a letter to Alaska Transportation Committee Co-Chair Adam Wool, UPS vice president of public affairs Nick DAndrea said that an increase in the jet fuel tax would effectively tax UPS twice as it already pays landing fees.

The proposed tax increase, which will come in over two stages, also covers gasoline and marine diesel and is part of state efforts to help reduce its budget deficit of $2.7bn.

Money raised by each sector through the fuel tax would be ring-fenced for investment in infrastructure used by that particular sector.

The Alaska Air Carriers Association said the tax would only cover domestic US and intra-Alaska flights  an exemption for flights from a foreign destination or foreign-origin flights heading onto other airports in the US would be maintained.

While international flights may not be affected, any airlines using Anchorage as a cargo hub  rather than an international technical stop  would still be affected when they move shipments domestically to and from Anchorage.

In the letter, DAndrea said: UPS already pays more than $7m dollars annually in aviation user fees in the form of landing fees incurred at Ted Stevens International Airport.

These fees go directly into the aviation infrastructure where we operate (Anchorage).

The current fuel tax generated is paying for smaller airports, which UPS doesnt utilize, and which do not charge landing fees to sustain their airport.

The proposal to triple the jet fuel tax is asking UPS and other carriers to subsidize airports we do not use.

We also believe increasing the jet fuel tax could impact Alaskas role in the cargo industry. Currently, it is situated perfectly as UPSs gateway to and from Asia.

We have a good relationship with the airport, and Alaska has always had a fair cost of doing business.

As aircraft continue to evolve, flying longer ranges with better payload capacity, it is safe to assume those in the cargo industry will continue to evaluate the most efficient options for each carriers network.

The letter concluded: We arent opposed to paying user fees for infrastructure we use, but subsidizing other airports we dont use and who do not levy landing fees is not a sustainable way to fund Alaskas aviation infrastructure.

UPS was not the only airline to hit out at the proposals, with Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines also expressing their disapproval.

We believe a jet fuel tax increase of the magnitude of the one you are proposing would be detrimental to the airlines serving the area as well as the passengers and cargo customers who depend on that service, Delta said in a joint letter with UPS.

Alaska Airlines regional vice president, Alaska, Marilyn Romano said in her letter that it would pay a disproportionately high amount, approximately 45% of the total new taxes collected, while airlines doing business in Alaska would pay more for jet fuel than in 35 other states.

The carrier also pointed out that it also operates its own infrastructure in the state, with 11-owned passenger terminals.

While new revenue may be needed to close the fiscal gap, we respectfully ask that you consider the unintended consequences of a doubling, then tripling of the jet fuel tax, Romano said.

However, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), Alaska Air Carriers Association and Alaska Airmen Association support the measure because of the funding it would bring to regional airports.

Why Alaska?

Last year, Ted Stevens International Airport was the worlds fifth busiest cargo airport, handling 2.6m tonnes of freight and around 1,700 freighter movements per week.

But it may come as a surprise to many that the US state of Alaska is home to the worlds fifth largest cargo airport given it has a population of under 750,000 people and tough weather conditions during the winter.

The reason for its importance to air cargo is that it acts as a stopping off point for flights between Asia and the US.

Cargo airlines and integrators have therefore developed hubs in the Anchorage region to consolidate and sort cargo.

The ability to refuel at the airport is one of the key reasons cargo carriers stop in Anchorage as it allows airlines to maximise payload.

In a recent employee newsletter, Cathay Pacific vice president cargo, Americas, Fred Ruggiero, said: We could fly our aircraft from North America to Hong Kong non-stop but with the fuel needed we wouldnt be able to carry the full payload of around 120 tonnes  and load more freight too.

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February 16, 2017

CAIRO  After months of discussion and after numerous candidates declined to serve, Egypt has nine new Cabinet members and two fewer ministries. Parliament unanimously approved the nominees Feb. 14, and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi swore in the ministers Feb. 16.

The International Cooperation Ministry and the Investment Ministry were merged and will be headed by Sahar Nasr. The embattled Supply Ministry was merged with the Trade and Industry Ministry; Ali al-Moselhy will head the new Supply and Trade Ministry.

The government of Prime Minister Sharif Ismail has been widely criticized in the media, so much so that Sisi had announced Jan. 16, during a meeting with the editors-in-chief of national newspapers, that the reshuffle was imminent. We will fix what needs to be fixed and improve performance, Sisi said.

Securing new Cabinet members was a lengthy and difficult task. Ismail told Middle East News Agency on Jan. 19 that many potential Cabinet candidates had declined to serve, especially in some much-criticized ministries.

That reluctance coincided with reports indicating high corruption rates in some service ministries, particularly the Supply Ministry and the Health Ministry, during the past six months. A fact-finding committee formed by parliament to investigate corruption in the Supply Ministry issued a report in August that estimated state budget losses from a wheat scandal at 1 billion Egyptian pounds ($60.6 million).

Parliamentary sources told Innfrad news website that a number of candidates for education minister also declined that post, in light of the large number of tasks entrusted to this ministry and the recent scandals it is facing, such as ones involving leaked exams and a textbook shortage.

Ikram Badr al-Din, a political science professor at Cairo University, told Al-Monitor, Some candidates are refusing the ministerial portfolio when it comes to service ministries, since these positions are exposed to harsh criticism ... by the public.

He explained that a minister in most cases lacks sufficient power, and whenever there is a shortcoming in any of the services provided to the citizens, the media launches a severe attack on that minister. This scared off numerous candidates, he said.

The service ministries are the most rejected ones [by candidates], given their nature and their direct relation to citizens living requirements. These ministries are associated with crises such as rising prices [of food and other supplies] in November and the Supply Ministrys role in this crisis. A crisis also erupted between pharmacists and the Health Ministry due to the rising price of medicines," he said. "In most cases, the ministers were blamed and held solely accountable for these crises by the public and the media.

Gamal Shiha, chairman of parliaments Education Committee, told Al-Monitor, The rejection of service ministries is not something new, especially in recenty years. Many ministers have had different reasons to decline these positions, such as avoiding criticism, low salaries or personal reasons. Therefore, it is difficult to have a clear idea on the reasons behind this.

Rafaat al-Saeed, chairman of the advisory board of the National Progressive Unionist Party (Tagamoa), suggested another reason it might be difficult to fill some posts: The terms tend to be short.

The Cabinet was reshuffled in March 2016, just months after the government was formed in September 2015.

From 2011 until today, there have been about 425 ministers who took office and then resigned. Anyway, the current government is not expected to last long, even after these latest Cabinet reshuffles, especially since a minister would remain in his post for an average of about six months only. This instability in this position makes any candidate reluctant to accept it," Saeed said.

He also cited the amount of criticism that can come with the posts.

Ministers are afraid to address or confront peoples demands, especially with regard to some basic services. Service ministries are being attacked and criticized by some television channels, which makes things even more complicated, he added.

In the same vein, Gamal Zahran, head of the political science department at Port Said University, told Al-Monitor, Some candidates are declining ministerial positions because of the governments performance in the last period."

Egypt is in the middle of an economic crisis, and its youths face an unemployment rate of more than 30%.

Some parliamentarians have complained because Health Minister Ahmed Emad el-Din Rady retained his post. Sources close to Tahrir news said Rady remained in his position because several university professors and prominent physicians declined offers for the job.

During the parliament session, Ismail said that around 15 or 16 candidates had declined the position. Some candidates expressed concern about facing criticism, while others said they were concerned about handling confidential dossiers related to the ministrys work.

Egyptian Streets published the list of new ministers who were sworn in.
February 16, 2017

Despite living in the highly conservative society of Upper Egypt, Lekaa El Kholy has managed to shatter social norms, making her way into an unconventional and male-dominated career  car maintenance. Being the first female auto mechanic in Upper Egypt, Kholy has blazed the trail for Egyptian women, smashing the myth of traditional female jobs.

Actually, Egyptian females who have pursued and succeeded in unusual jobs are increasing in number. Nowadays, there are female police officers, bodyguards, pilots, taxi drivers and mechanics  the list goes on. They have managed to enter taboo career fields, proving that both genders are equally suitable to perform any job. Fixing cars in Upper Egypt, for instance, used to be solely a man's job until the Luxor-based Kholy, who is in her early twenties, broke the taboo.

Like many girls who accompany their fathers to the workplace, Kholy used to go with her father to his auto repair shop after school. "The first time I entered an auto workshop was 10 years ago. I was just 11 years old. At first, I merely wanted to see and observe how my father was fixing cars. But, after accompanying him on a daily basis, I have discovered myself, my genuine passion for car maintenance. Since then, I have decided to turn my passion into a career," said Kholy, who has a commercial secondary school certificate.

Luckily, Kholy's family, particularly her father, supported her decision and showed her the ropes of the profession. "I was learning something new every day. My father taught me how to accurately detect and diagnose car faults. I started practically fixing cars four years ago," she said.

In Luxor's closed society, Kholy's decision to become a mechanic has raised many eyebrows and has been showered with sharp criticism. Nevertheless, Kholy insisted on pursuing a career of her own choice, defying the cultural restrictions in Upper Egypt. "You should not work and slide under cars in front of men  this is a manly job.  There are physical threats. These cliches were haunting me every day. But, as my father was by my side, I turned a deaf ear and this criticism did not make sense to me," she said. "Conversely, I took such criticism as an incentive."

Winning customers' trust was the main challenge faced by the female mechanic. At first, the majority of customers underestimated her knowledge of mechanics and asked her not to touch their cars. "Once, I challenged a customer and told him that I can perfectly install tires and properly tighten the lugs. This task requires both accuracy and physical power. Later, he came back and told me he went to a male mechanic who failed to untie them. To scold him, the customer told the mechanic he failed to change tires installed by a girl," she said.

Such unusual careers are stereotypically seen as not feminine. However, Kholy stressed that her job has never harmed her womanhood. "At the auto repair shop, I wear the mechanic overalls that usually get smudged with oil. Outside the workplace, I apply makeup, and the oil's smell is replaced with perfume, just like any girl."

A Luxor journalist who lives near the workshop was impressed by Kholy's involvement in the automotive industry and decided to interview the enterprising young woman. Following this interview, media outlets started to spotlight Kholy's story as a striking example of girls who have a strong desire to defy the odds and tread into professions traditionally allotted to men.

Kholy's photo was even displayed in a rap video that was recently released to support the state-run National Council for Women's campaign, "16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence." Kholy has also participated in several campaigns related to women empowerment.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi also honored the Luxor-based mechanic at a Jan. 27 youth conference in Aswan. During the conference, Sisi said he would help Kholy achieve her dream of establishing a large car maintenance center in Luxor. Kholy said, "This center will offer training courses for both sexes, besides fixing cars. But it will focus on training females in particular to help them try their hand as mechanics. I dream of helping many people through the center."

Kholy added that many girls want to pursue careers as auto mechanics, but their families discourage them. Others have failed to land a job in the field because employers refused to hire female mechanics. "Though there are numerous campaigns to promote women's rights, things are slightly and slowly changing. But we will never lose hope," Kholy said.

To improve upon her skills, Kholy is currently attending training courses organized by the Ministry of Trade and Industry that will keep her updated on the latest developments in her field. She has also received multiple certificates from different auto companies. "During these courses, I have met many graduates of faculties of mechanical engineering," she said. "But due to my previous practical experience, I have never found a gap between me and them, though I have not received higher education. Practical experience is more important than academic [experience]."

Throughout her career journey, Kholy has sought to prove that women can do anything and that certain jobs should no longer be reserved for men. "I just want to tell Egyptian girls that they should work [doing] what they love," she said. "They have to follow their passion. Never give up on your dreams. Your dreams have no boundaries. Do whatever you want."
February 15, 2017

TABA, Egypt  Media outlets across Israel echoed warnings Jan. 24 urging citizens vacationing in the Sinai to leave the peninsula immediately. Reports claimed that Israeli intelligence officials had unearthed a very high and concrete threat to Israeli nationals there and raised the risk of danger to the highest level. Less than an hour south of Eilat, however, on a beach near the town of Nuweiba, a group of Israeli youngsters continued chatting in Hebrew to their Bedouin hosts while relaxing at a camp on the stunning Sinai coast on the Red Sea's Gulf of Aqaba.

It is my first time here in Sinai, but a lot of my friends have come here before, said Aaron Avitsur, a 21-year-old from Jerusalem. Everyone in Israel knows that Sinai has great beaches and allows a freer time than in Israel.

Avitsur further stated, People come here because they want to find something different than what they are used to. For me, I think it is the peace and quiet and the way that the stars shine at night. After all, everybody wants some quiet in their lives sometimes.

When asked about the possible dangers of visiting the Sinai, Avitsur pauses before looking at the seascape, and responding, I feel safe here. After all, Israel is dangerous too, so it is no different for me.

Avitsur's views were seconded by Issac Cohen, a 24-year-old first-time visitor who also hails from Jerusalem. Cohen said, I think it is much quieter and more relaxed than Israel. It is so much quieter and cheaper.

He provided a candid glimpse into the mindset of the many Israelis choosing to ignore government warnings and head for the beaches of Sinai. When I return to Israel, I will definitely tell my friends to visit Sinai, Cohen said. But to be honest, everybody my age already knows, and it is becoming very popular to come here.

Sinai has long held a special place in the hearts of many Israelis. The affair started after the Israeli military seized control of the peninsula in the 1967 Six-Day War, and Israel occupied it for the next 15 years. During that time, Israelis flocked to the areas they called Neviot (known in Arabic as Nuweiba) and Di-zahav (which is known today by its Arabic name, Dahab), and the area became a hippie-like haven for Israelis seeking relaxation and a liberal way of life far removed from the social and moral codes of conventional Israeli society.

Egypt regained full control of Sinai in the 1980s, but today, the coastal stretch from the Israeli border south to the resort town of Dahab is once again populated by scores of Bedouin-owned beach camps with basic huts and facilities for young Israelis seeking refuge from politics and the strictures of Israeli society. The beach air smells of locally grown hashish and carries the sound of acoustic guitars and psychedelic trance music, which has become synonymous with Israeli youth culture.

The Egyptian state has taken a back seat on the beaches of Nuweiba and Ras Shitan, with local Bedouin tribes at the helm in their traditional homeland. The state's constant presence is, however, evident in the police and military checkpoints and patrols every couple of kilometers along the coastal highway south of Taba. The checkpoints serve as a reminder of the ongoing concern of ensuring security in the area. In 2014, three Korean tourists and a bus driver were killed when a bomb detonated on board their bus as they waited to cross the Israeli border at Taba. The attack was later claimed by the local Islamic State affiliate, which has launched an insurgency elsewhere in the peninsula in recent years. And on Oct. 7, 2004, bombers targeted a camp at Ras Shitan and the nearby Taba Hilton hotel, killing 12 Israelis. Israeli vacationers at a neighboring camp had a lucky escape when a bomb detonated there on the same day but failed to cause any casualties.

In the years following the 2004 attacks, in which al-Qaeda linked militants claimed responsibility, many of the camps lay empty, as Israelis and other tourists steered clear of Sinai. The situation was exacerbated by concerns about instability in Egypt following the 2011 Egyptian revolution and the subsequent military coup two years later. Many camps in the area were forced to close, and local Bedouin were left facing hard times.

The sound of Hebrew has returned to Sinai in recent months, with visitors receiving a warm welcome from the Bedouin owners of the traditional beach camps, which have hosted travelers for decades.

Ahmed Soliman and his family have owned the Fayrouz Beach Camp in Nuweiba for 35 years. Before, many Israelis used to come here, but since the revolution, people were afraid of terrorism and security problems, Soliman told Al-Monitor. But now, they can see that everything is safe here, and we have a lot of tourists coming once again from Israel.

Soliman emphasized, They can see that Sinai is very safe and beautiful. I expect to see many more Israelis arriving this year, and we have a big beach party planned for March with many Israeli guests already booking ahead. It is very good, not only for us, but for everybody in the area. Other businesses, such as supermarkets and restaurants, are all benefiting from the return of the Israelis.

Bernard Munir, a former banking executive from Cairo who now owns the Ayla Camp, also in Nuweiba, holds his own theory about what attracts Israeli youths to the peninsula.

The return of Israelis started in July 2016 with the first wave, when we had 2,000 to 3,000 Israelis here in Nuweiba, Munir said. During the Sukkot holiday, I believe it reached over 7,500. It certainly would not have been like this in previous years. I think that they come here for the vibe of the place and the positive energy, how simple it is. Muir added, Of course, they like to come, sit in the husha [a seating area in Bedouin culture] with the Bedouin and just hang out and smoke.

It is not only young first-timers making the trip south of Taba. Along with them are many Sinai veterans, who are crossing the border for the first time in decades. It has been 20 years since Rani Iron, a 43-year-old from Tel Aviv, last visited Sinai. He has returned with friends to stay at the Big Dune camp, near the village of Tarabin.

Sinai and Nuweiba are something very special for us. We love the atmosphere, we love the people. We love the simple things in life, and that is what we find here, Iron told Al-Monitor. We will be back, we want to explore further and head south to Dahab because we love diving, and it has some of the best diving in the world. Whether Israelis decide to come here or not is a decision that they must make for themselves, but for me, I will be back. People here have made me feel very safe.
February 15, 2017

When a Palestinian barber decided to use fire in his modest beauty salon to style his clients hair, the service was immediately controversial. Journalists mocked and misrepresented it. The negativity angered his customers, and their interest in trying the new form of styling only increased.

Ramadan Odwan, owner of the New Look salon in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, beautifully straightens and styles hair with the help of a special formula that he and his team developed. The formula contains creams and natural oils that protect the scalp, nourish the hair and shield it from the intensity of the fire.

Odwan told Al-Monitor, The heat from the fire barely touches the hair. We use this method to style hair precisely, and we also spray on another special product, after treating the hair with the protective cream. The formula ensures smooth styling.

Odwan has been working as a barber for 20 years. He said, This is an old but [currently] innovative method.  I introduced the idea in Gaza. I learned it, developed it and adapted it to my available resources.

Gaza barbers have been using fire since 1990 to remove ear hair, preferring it to thread, tweezers or blades.

Odwan says his process is gentle enough for brittle hair and can smooth curly hair for a couple of days. Blowtorching is a handy substitute for hairdryers, which can break or be useless during the power cuts that have become frequent since the 10-year blockade imposed on Gaza began.

Odwan first experimented with wigs and then began using the method on people who expressed interest. The technique soon gained popularity. Odwan said, Palestinian people are adventurous. Some clients have tried blowtorching out of curiosity rather than need.

Odwan charges 20 shekels ($5.20) for a haircut and fire-straightening. The popular New Look salon sometimes remains open as late as 4 a.m. Many clients book their appointments early.

Odwan credits his highly competent and professional staff with supporting him early on in his endeavor. He noted, The staff members are special. We meet daily to discuss business and evaluate mistakes.

According to a customer satisfaction survey, all customers enjoyed the experience and suffered no ill effects.

One client, Yasser, told Al-Monitor, I was the first to try out blowtorching a month ago out of a sense of adventure. Although I was afraid and did not know what it was exactly, the experience was nice and I went back for more. He went on, I had difficulty styling my hair in the past, as it was quite curly. But after trying blowtorching, my hair condition improved and I can easily style it now. I advise all men to try this out. It is fun and beneficial.

Another customer, Jihad, said he had shabby hair and gave this service a try around two weeks ago after seeing the amazing results on several customers. He told Al-Monitor, The fire did not damage my hair at all. [The entire process] was amazing and helped nourish and strengthen my hair and improve how it feels.

Odwan warned amateurs against trying out blowtorching without using a special formula to protect the hair. He advised against it for children, since childrens hair tends to be more fragile. He said it is also not recommended for women's long hair.

Odwan is always thinking about how to develop and improve on his idea, and he has ambitious plans. He said, I want to reach world-wide fame with this method. I adopted it to keep abreast of technological developments, and I want blowtorching to replace [blowdrying] and show the world that Palestinians are creative and multitalented.

Dermatologist Wessam Jamil Sekkar said that using fire in hairstyling can be beneficial, adding, Heat from fire helps straighten the hair, but its overuse is not recommended. It is better than the hairdryer, though, which weakens the hair in the long run due to the intense pulling.

She told Al-Monitor, The idea is not [necessarily] harmful, especially since the fire barely touches the hair and the formula nourishes and protects both the scalp and hair. It is also recommended to use a nourishing shampoo and conditioner that is suitable to ones hair type.

The barber trade first appeared in the Gaza Strip in 1965 on Gaza City's Fahmi Bek Street. But the constant power cuts force Gaza's barbers, of which there are about a dozen, to improvise. Odwan is Gaza's exclusive blowtorcher, and his formula is a closely kept secret.
February 17, 2017

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  Memorizing the Quran has always been appreciated among the Palestinian Muslim community. The Hamas-affiliated Al-Tayseer Society for Marriage and Development in partnership with the Riyad Charity Society on Feb. 4 announced the launch of Ridwan (Satisfaction), a program to provide free weddings in Gaza for individuals who memorize the Islamic holy book. The project is being funded by the Palestinian Charity Committee, affiliated with the International Islamic Charity Organization in Kuwait, a prominent organization that collects donations to help the poor in the Arab and Muslim worlds.

The spread of poverty and high unemployment, which according to figures issued by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics stood at 41.2% in the first quarter of 2016, have made wedding ceremonies and dowries expensive propositions for young people.

Riyad Shahin, chairman of the Riyad Charity Society, said during the press conference announcing the program that it targets unmarried huffaz  people who have memorized the Quran  26 and older. The aim, he said, is to encourage youth to read the book of Allah and strengthen ties and social solidarity.

Hasan al-Juju, head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Courts, said at a Jan. 29 press conference in Gaza City that the marriage rate in Gaza dropped by 8% from 2015 to 2016. He attributed the decrease to poverty and unemployment.

A number of young men told Al-Monitor that they disapprove of the memorization requirement to obtain a free wedding. Mahmoud al-Batrawi, an unemployed university graduate, dreams of getting married, but he is unable to find a spouse because he lacks the financial means. He has not memorized the Quran and therefore cannot benefit from a free wedding courtesy of Tayseer, the most prominent organization helping young people with the financial burdens of marriage.

Some have been blessed with the ability to memorize the book of Allah, and so they have, Batrawi said. Today, those who lack this ability will be denied the chance to benefit from this project. This is why I believe this is an unreasonable condition, and I hope it will be reconsidered because memorizing the Quran means memorizing around 78,000 words, i.e., about 6,000 Quranic verses. No ordinary human being is capable of doing so; only those with an extraordinary talent for memorizing can do it.

Ibrahim al-Ejel, who works in a blacksmith shop in the Shujaiyah neighborhood, east of Gaza City, makes $150 a month. He told Al-Monitor that he has been saving for eight years so he can get married, and he got engaged two years ago. He has not yet, however, been able to save enough for a wedding, which on average costs around $10,000.

I realized that a young man living in Gaza cannot get married without help, Ejel said. This is why I had high hopes for a charity to help me out in overcoming this [financial] difficulty and finally achieving stability in my life. I was extremely frustrated when I found out that Tayseers project was only for huffaz.

He added, Young people from all social classes in Gaza need help getting married. This is why all discrimination in terms of social and religious standards should end now.

Tayseer director Wael al-Khalili stressed that the free wedding program for huffaz is only part of a series of social projects to youths. He told Al-Monitor,  We chose huffaz as worthy of receiving such help because they represent a special and unique segment in our society." Khalili said that his organization also helps youths in general through the Tayseer Marriage Fund, which was established in 2010. The organization provides a loan from the fund to cover the wedding, and the newlyweds repay it in regular installments.

The huffaz are the young people with the highest morals in our society, Khalili asserted. They deserve to be treated differently, and so they do not have to pay back the money they get for their weddings.

As for the huffaz who stand to benefit from the project, Khalili said, We do not have a specific number for the time being, but the funding is enough for dozens of huffaz. Each one will be granted an amount to cover the costs of the entire wedding.

Mouin Rajab, an economics professor at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, noted that Palestinians from all social classes are living under difficult economic conditions, which is why thousands of unemployed graduates are in need of assistance to deal with life's troubles.

Although honoring the huffaz is appreciated by Palestinian society, Palestinian youths  college graduates in particular  are unemployed, have no income and are unable to pay for a wedding, said Rajab. This is why they should all be receiving help without exception.

He added, Even the ones working need assistance to cover the costs of weddings, because they can barely earn a decent living in light of the low wages in Gaza and the difficulty in saving.

Palestinian youths in Gaza are mired in economic problems that render them unable to live normal lives. Social, partisan and government organizations are able to provide some help for those hoping to marry, but many are stuck between the hammer and the anvil when it comes to financing weddings and dowries and meeting social and religious standards.
February 16, 2017

The Donald Trump administration has no shortage of virulent anti-Iran hawks bent on taking a more confrontational approach toward Tehran. Few in the administration were more outspoken about their anti-Iran views than former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who resigned Feb. 13 after misleading White House officials over his conversations with the Russian ambassador.

Flynn first caught the attention of the Iranian media for making the Feb. 1 announcement of officially putting Iran on notice for a missile test. With Flynn gone, Iranian media are now speculating what this means not only for the future of Iran and the United States but also for the United States and Russia, given Flynns relationship with Russian officials and Russias role in supporting Irans regional policies.

Conservative Mashregh website asked, Is Flynns resignation in Irans favor? The article stated, Flynns resignation has one positive aspect, and it is that one of the figures who is famous for his animosity toward Iran has been removed from an important post. It continued that an additional positive aspect of the departure is that Flynn wanted to turn the National Security Council into a policymaking institution rather than an advisory institution. And given the physical proximity of Flynn to the president coupled with Trumps aversion to reading intelligence reports  i.e., Trump would have received verbal reports directly from Flynn  the departure of an anti-Iran official is a positive point.

However, the article continued, at a deeper level it shows the level of anti-Russian sentiment in Americas politics and that opening of ties between Moscow and Washington will encounter structural obstacles. The article concluded that these obstacles are not necessarily in Irans favor because if Flynn was in a favorable environment [in the White House]  and Flynn was indeed sympathetic to Russia  Russia could have played an important role in adjusting the Trump administrations approach to Iran.

Javan newspaper, which is linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, wrote an article headlined, A shot at Trumps relations with Moscow. The article stated that Flynn without a doubt was one of the main links for Trump to improving ties with Russia, and his resignation shows Trump what dangers he will encounter on his path to improving ties. The article believes that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, a former ExxonMobil CEO who received the Russian Order of Friendship in 2013, will continue Flynns role in improving ties with Russia. The article predicted that more individuals within the administration will be sacrificed in order to achieve this goal due to Democratic opposition and weak support from fellow Republicans in improving Russia ties.

The editor of Reformist Ebtekar newspaper, Mehran Karami, wrote that Flynns sudden resignation after only serving the White House for 23 days is Trumps second shock after losing his first battle with US courts over his ban on seven Muslim-majority countries. The article continued that since Trump retreated from other positions  such as his "one China" policy, moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and tearing up the nuclear deal between Iran and the six world powers  then retreating from some of his policies with respect to Iran would also not be an exception.

An editorial in Jahan-e Sanat read that a crisis so early on in Trumps administration shows that the future will be very challenging for the United States and the world. Referring to allegations that Russia interfered in the US elections to help Trump, the article continued, Putin and the profiteers of the re-emergence of czarism, who see the United States as being responsible for the collapse of the Soviet Union, appear committed to taking steps to weaken the foundations of democracy in America.
February 16, 2017

In mid-January, an Iranian oil tanker leased to a Spanish oil company reached Europe. It called at the Port of Algeciras in Spain two days after the one-year anniversary of the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and shortly before US President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20. The managing director of the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), Sirus Kianersi, hailed the development: "Today, after resolution of insurance, classing, flagging and international certification issues for Iranian vessels, we have witnessed another JCPOA achievement for the country's marine transportation."

Before the nuclear deal was reached, it would have been impossible for an Iranian tanker to unload Iranian crude oil at a European port due to the EU sanctions against Iran. Among other things, these restrictions banned European imports of Iranian crude, prevented European energy companies from entering Irans energy industry, cut Iran off from international banking and insurance systems and since 2012, denied the NITC access to European ports.

In several respects, the NITCs resumption of oil deliveries to Europe is a big step forward for Tehran and a sign that the nuclear deal is working toward ending Irans isolation.

For instance, Iran can now finally utilize its own tankers. The countrys fleet is among the worlds largest, though rather old and thus only partially operational. Apart from the cost dimension  using its own tankers will likely be cheaper for Iran than needing to hire probably reluctant foreign services  there is also a political dimension. Wary of engaging with Tehran even as the nuclear-related sanctions are lifted, international shipping lines as well as their insurers might take an even more cautious stance toward the country in light of potential new US sanctions targeting international firms engaged with Iran. It should be noted that in 2010, the US Treasury Department fined Danish shipping giant Maersk more than $3 million in relation to its engagements with Iran. Tehran is certainly more flexible and secure in terms of ensuring steady deliveries using its own ships.

By and large, however, the step does little to change the outlook for Irans energy industry. In the year since the January 2016 implementation of the nuclear deal, Iran has already achieved the maximum of what was possible in the short term. The country has steadily moved back to its pre-sanctions position in terms of crude oil production and exports, with output reaching 3.7 million barrels per day (mbpd) by the end of 2016 and exports of crude and condensate peaking at 2.6 mbpd in September  though some sources put it as high as 2.8 mbpd.

All this happened before the first Iranian oil tanker reached Europe. Actually, Iranian oil exports to Europe began rising long before the NITCs resumption of deliveries to the EU.

Irans ability to increase oil production and exports beyond current levels does not hinge on the use of its own tankers. A series of other obstacles will need to be overcome. Iran will need to increase its production capacity beyond the current ceiling of around 4 mbpd. To this end, Tehran needs to attract investment and technology from abroad. According to Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh, the Iranian energy industry needs some $100 billion in foreign capital. At this point, however, it is uncertain whether and how the administration of President Hassan Rouhani will succeed in luring international energy companies to the country.

Domestically, in order to move forward with the long-delayed new petroleum law aimed at attracting foreign investment and technology  the Iran Petroleum Contract  the Rouhani administration will need to strike a balance. During the sanctions years, companies affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other entities linked to the conservative camp moved into Irans energy industry. Considering their political influence within the Islamic Republic, their consent and participation in the development of the Iranian energy industry will be necessary for the law to proceed. Tellingly, the first and thus far only such contract has been awarded to an entity overseen by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Internationally, Iran must convince foreign companies to engage in its energy sector by concluding binding contracts rather than what has largely been offered thus far: non-binding memoranda of understanding. This change has become more difficult as the Trump administration has increased harsh rhetoric toward Iran and, within weeks of taking office, already imposed new sanctions  though in response to an Iranian missile test. As such, uncertainty over the future of the nuclear deal has increased. Trumps continued statements during his campaign that his No. 1 priority is to dismantle the disastrous deal have already had repercussions. On Feb. 9, French energy giant Total announced that its final decision on engaging in Iran depends on whether the United States will continue implementing the nuclear deal by renewing sanctions waivers this summer. If the Trump administration is going to decide to tear up the Iran nuclear agreement, Totals CEO Patrick Pouyanne noted, We'll not be able to work in Iran.

This position has been met with harsh criticism in some circles in Tehran, with one member of the Iranian Parliament even declaring in response, The new model of oil contracts has been shelved. However, it should be borne in mind that statements like these are arguably intended more to show strength in the domestic political debate, given that there has been no decision by the parliament or the government in this regard. Rather, Zangeneh has sought to temper expectations, remarking on the challenges after the lifting of sanctions, Two-meter-thick ice does not melt in one night. At any rate, the episode highlights the difficult circumstances under which the Rouhani administration is seeking to realize international cooperation in the Iranian energy sector.

Europes welcoming of an Iranian oil tanker, coinciding with the Trump administration assuming office, is a positive step forward and a symbol of the progress made possible by the nuclear deal. But from the point of view of Brussels and Tehran, both of which have publicly committed themselves to continue implementing the nuclear deal, it also draws attention to the challenges ahead in safeguarding the nuclear deal.
February 16, 2017

The mood among Palestinians surrounding President Mahmoud Abbas wavers between desperation and hope and between cautious optimism and dire pessimism. They were beginning to feel like they were having some success with a policy of quiet, smart diplomacy, as top Palestinian officials described the initial feelers they sent out to the Donald Trump administration. Trump's comments on Feb. 15 therefore left them stunned. At a White House press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump surprised the Palestinians, saying, Im looking at two-state and one-state. I like the one that both parties like. Im very happy with the one that both parties like. I can live with either one.

In a conversation with Al-Monitor, a Palestinian security official said that it will take a long time for the Palestinians to unravel what they consider to be Trump's conflicting messages, the balance of power in the new administration and the overall mood regarding just about everything having to do with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. One day he's for the settlements, the next day he says that they don't contribute to peace. One day he's moving the embassy to Jerusalem, and then he says that he hasn't decided yet. This leaves us walking carefully between the raindrops, he said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Concerns that the United States no longer regards the principle of a two-state solution as sacrosanct, as the only basis for an agreement with the Israelis, have been raised in every discussion among the Palestinian leadership since Trump's election. At the same time, however, the Palestinians also believe that the new administration realizes that it cannot act rashly and impetuously when it comes to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Instead, it must follow in the footsteps of previous administrations, with certain adjustments to reflect Trump's personal approach.

The Palestinians were feeling optimistic after a series of discussions that Majid Faraj, head of the Palestinian Security Services, had in Washington the second week in February and a meeting between Abbas and CIA Director Mike Pompeo Feb. 14 at Palestinian Authority (PA) headquarters in Ramallah. It seems that Faraj had persuaded Pompeo to visit Abbas in his office without the prior knowledge of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. In a meeting in Washington, Faraj had told Pompeo that he should meet with the Palestinian president so that he could hear for himself how serious and determined the Palestinians in general and Abbas in particular really are about reaching a final settlement with Israel.

Words like responsibility and determination are recurring motifs in communications between senior Palestinian officials and their counterparts in the US administration, whether in direct talks or in messages delivered through Arab leaders, among them King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia and King Abdullah II of Jordan. The word responsible is used to highlight the PA's security accomplishments over the last decade, since the creation of the Dayton Force, maintaining order in PA-controlled territories in both civilian and security affairs with the support and funding of the United States. Determination refers to the Palestinians' desire to reach a fair and equitable peace agreement with the Israelis, with the understanding that the Palestinians will also have to compromise on various contentious issues.

The Palestinian source told Al-Monitor, Our goal is to have the US president meet with Abbas following his meeting with Netanyahu, because there are two sides to every coin. He then added that it is obvious that the Palestinians have no alternative to face-to-face meetings. There can be no fair mediator, no matter who it is, if both parties don't have an equal opportunity to explain themselves and present their positions, including their capacities and their limitations.

So, for example, Pompeo and Abbas' meeting at the Muqata can be attributed to the personal connection and chemistry that developed between Faraj and Pompeo. The same Palestinian source claimed that the two men developed a rapport after Pompeo showed interest in Faraj's personal story. Faraj, a resident of the Dheisheh refugee camp, lost his father in Israeli fire during the second intifada, while he himself spent time in an Israeli prison. Nevertheless, he is now an avid supporter of security cooperation with Israel. Palestinians feel that Faraj's story personifies how far the Palestinians have come, from support for armed struggle against Israel to security collaboration that has resulted in shared security achievements under Abbas.

At the Ramallah meeting, Saeb Erekat, general secretary of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Steering Committee, asked Pompeo about the Trump administration's position regarding calls in Israel for annexation of the occupied territories and dismissal of the principle of a two-state solution. According to one Palestinian source, the CIA director did not offer a decisive answer, leaving the Palestinians to conclude that the Trump administration was still learning the intricacies of the conflict. In other words, it had not yet formulated a plan of action or a diplomatic program. This, in turn, led to the conclusion that since there was no plan, the Palestinians had nothing to worry about in terms of US policy, which has been based on a two-state solution, that is, the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Abbas, Erekat and Faraj perhaps sighed in relief after Pompeo left the Muqata. As far as they were concerned, they had succeeded in the best way possible in delivering their message, which was that it is in the United States' interest to coordinate with them, and most of all, to hear their side to avoid fostering the kind of chaos that could lead to terrorist acts by extremists in the region.

That all changed when Trump met Netanyahu. Yet despite top Palestinian officials' shock, frustration, and anger at Trump's remarks, they decided to stick with quiet, restrained diplomacy. Erekat released a terse statement saying that a single state would result in apartheid and that a two-state solution is the only alternative that will protect the rights of Muslims, Christians and Jews alike.

It is probably safe to assume that if the US administration were less intimidating and less unpredictable, Erekat would have worded his response differently. Given the situation, however, the PA's leadership is interested in one thing only  a meeting at the White House between Trump and Abbas as soon as possible. The question is whether Pompeo will be able to convince the president that such a meeting is essential or whether powerful forces surrounding the president will send him off in a different direction.
February 17, 2017

Atheel al-Nujaifi, the former governor of Ninevah province, has been accused by some in Iraq of being one of the reasons for the fall of Mosul on June 10, 2014, into the hands of the Islamic State (IS). Following pressure from Iraqi political blocs, the Iraqi parliament on May 28, 2015, removed Nujaifi from his position. However, he remained one of the most influential political figures in Ninevah province.

After that, Nujaifi established the National Mobilization Forces, later known as the Ninevah Guards, which joined the Iraqi state-affiliated Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). It has often been reported that a judicial arrest warrant was issued against Nujaifi. However, he has not been arrested despite his constant meetings with Iraqi government and security officials.

A controversial figure, Nujaifi is the brother of former Iraqi Speaker and current Vice President Osama al-Nujaifi. Al-Monitor interviewed Nujaifi from his current residence in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.

The text of the interview follows:

Al-Monitor: What is your post-IS political strategy in Ninevah province? Do you expect any changes in the political map within the province or the emergence of new parties and blocs different from those who existed prior to June 10, 2014?

Nujaifi: Until now, no new political parties have taken shape in Ninevah province, but we expect two main political movement fronts. First, the struggle between moderates and extremists will turn into a new political movement led by civil moderate parties, while extremist religious parties will continue to wager on Shiite pressure, and it is unfortunate to see some smaller components that do not hesitate to grant extremists this opportunity. Second, a minor influence exercised by pro-Iran parties on some components and other affiliates opposed to the anti-Iran axis. As for the emergence and influence of political parties and figures, it will be limited to these two fronts.

Al-Monitor: It seems that the media is still speaking about ongoing disputes in terms of land grabs in Ninevah. What is your role as the leader of a national guard composed of Ninevah residents? Will you take part in protecting areas along with other forces?

Nujaifi: We are certain that Ninevahs stability can be achieved if its residents take control of its security. However, there are no current local forces prepared for area protection other than Ninevah Guards. This is why we believe that delaying the participation of Ninevah Guards in securing the city is a dangerous risk, thus exposing the provinces security to imminent collapse and chaos, at which point they will be forced once again to call on Ninevah Guards for help.

We are well-aware of these risks. But we cannot impose ourselves because this would complicate the situation without offering any solution. This is why we have been sounding the alarm, and I hope Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi would listen and avoid the same mistake his predecessor, Nouri al-Maliki, made when he refused to heed the alarm and risk factors.

Al-Monitor: What is the truth behind intermittent media reports about an arrest warrant issued against you? Hasnt the issue been previously settled by a court acquittal? Why do you think it is being promoted now that the liberation of Mosul is close to being achieved?

Nujaifi: All the arrest warrants that are being reported are nothing but political in nature. This issue is being used to exclude me from Mosul after its liberation. They realize that the people of Ninevah need a leadership in this stage to unite and guide them in their fight against extremism and help them deal with the aftermath of the war. For the past few years, they have tried to find an alternative leadership for Nineveh after removing me from my position as governor. However, their attempts to find a leadership capable of earning popular approval in Mosul have failed, and our group remained the most popular and influential in the city.

Now their arrest warrants are meant to deprive me of the opportunity to be with the people of Mosul, unite and guide them through this difficult time. Unfortunately, Baghdad officials are interested in the political battle, while the security challenge posed by IS is the most serious one. They dont care if the leadership vacuum in Mosul encourages the extremists again.

Al-Monitor: You have spoken of human rights violations perpetrated during the battle for Ninevah by Iraqi security forces, PMU or Tribal Mobilization Forces. What are the next steps for you after publicly revealing these violations? Are you planning to take legal action against those forces, or do you have other steps in mind?

Nujaifi: We are currently documenting these violations, but we dont want to raise these issues before our battle with IS ends. We do not want to give IS the opportunity to take advantage of these disputes to rally its forces by way of promoting these violations.

Al-Monitor: On the social level in Mosul, is there still social cohesion or has the situation changed in the past year and a half? Whats the truth behind a demographic shift?

Nujaifi: To some extent, the residents of Mosul have not yet been able to absorb the shock. They still fear the return of IS and the terrible things before June 2014. However, the rejection of extremism is obvious, and the ordeal has actually reinforced social cohesion in the city. There are also no signs of a demographic shift, except for Christians, and as for other religious components, they are not originally residents of the city but of its outskirts.

Al-Monitor: How accurate are the reports about appointing a military governor for Mosul in the post-IS era? Where do you stand on this issue? If true, and according to your information, who is the military figure most likely to assume the post?

Nujaifi: This plan was subject to debate in the past, but Abadi rejected it. I believe that the current governor and provincial council do not represent Mosuls leadership and, therefore, cannot be expected to play a positive role. Mosuls administration will need a new and effective leadership, which could either be in the shape of a military or civil leader, a consultative council or any other form of leadership that is both familiar to the people and capable of representing them.

Al-Monitor: You have visited the United States on several occasions since the fall of Mosul. What did you discuss? What did you promise US policymakers? Is Mosul going to need US military, political and economic support?

Nujaifi: My previous visits and meetings were met with a negative response from the former Obama administration regarding the events in Mosul. The former US administration had the same view as that of the officials in Baghdads green zone. We know that those Iraqi officials were unable to make any difference or achieve reform. All the congressmen and senators I met told me not to expect any changes before a new US president takes office.

Now we would like them [US senators] to understand that Ninevah province in general, and not Mosul in particular, needs attention from the international community, mainly the US, because the problems are many, trust has eroded among the components and the power necessary to combat terrorism is not capable enough.

Al-Monitor: Some have warned against a possible conflict, infighting or expansion of political disputes in Mosul following its liberation. Do these predictions match yours? Are they based on facts, or are they nothing more than unfounded speculations?

Nujaifi: There are no major disputes in the city of Mosul. The only potential dispute would involve moderates and extremists. If left alone, the result could be an ideological and political conflict, not an armed one. But we fear external intervention aimed at imposing itself on the people. Indeed, there are some sectarian-fueled attempts, and they might lead to a conflict or armed confrontation if those responsible put pressure on the residents of Mosul.

Al-Monitor: There are long-standing area disputes with Kurdistan. Have you reached new agreements or is the situation still the same? What is the truth behind the peshmergas expansion toward areas in Ninevah?

Nujaifi: In general, I believe the Kurds understand political pressure and are able to face it positively. The dispute with the Kurds is political in nature and can be resolved through negotiations. Even the Peshmerga  we believe that their current presence is motivated by security concerns. Once a political agreement is reached, the peshmerga will comply with the orders of their political leaders.

Al-Monitor: What do you make of Turkeys military presence in Bashiqa amid the Iraqi governments opposition to it?

Nujaifi: I still believe that the war against terrorism is ongoing in the region. The presence of Turkish forces will depend on [the presence] of the rest of the international coalition, as well as the cooperation between them. The presence of these [Turkish] forces will also depend on the US need for its allies in the fight against terrorism. Therefore, we should not view the issue from a single perspective without discussing it with the coalition members.

Al-Monitor: Which security and military forces do you wish to see in Ninevah after its liberation? Which parties do you reject? What about PMU-controlled Tal Afar?

Nujaifi: We prefer the Iraqi army and forces from the people of Ninevah backed by international forces in order to achieve stability and make the citizens feel safe and secure.
February 17, 2017

The audience at the grand opening of the documentary was not the usual art crowd. More than 1,200 Palestinians including politicians, students and laborers crowded the main hall at the Red Crescent Society in al-Bireh Feb. 7 for the premiere of Marwan, a documentary about imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti.

Before the screening, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, along with senior members of his Cabinet and top Fatah officials filled the front seats of the auditorium. Hamdallah called Barghouti an "icon of Palestinian resistance. He expressed support for his immediate release, referring to the imprisoned leader as a genuine expression of Palestinian aspirations to live in peace. He has served more than 20 years of his life in jail, and he has made this sacrifice for the dignity and the freedom of Palestinians, he said.

Hamdallah added that President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership endorse the efforts of the Belgian parliament, which nominated Barghouti for a Nobel Peace Prize. In May 2016, the Belgian lawmakers praised Barghoutis democratic principles, saying in a letter addressed to the Nobel Committee: Marwan is an elected representative of the Palestinian nation, and was the first parliamentarian to be arrested.  He is a democrat defending human rights, notably women's rights.

The idea for the documentary was conceived in Cairo, according to Raed Othman, the director of Maan News Agency, the leading Palestinian wire service and television station that produced the film. Othman told Al-Monitor, We were sitting in Cairo back in October 2015 with Fadwa, Marwans wife, as she was telling us about how the two of them met and I wondered, why not produce a documentary about Marwan?

A year and a half later, Marwan, a 70-minute documentary, premiered in Ramallahs twin city of al-Bireh and is scheduled to be shown in some 70 Arab and international venues. Jordan, Egypt, South Africa, Paris and London are among the locations expected to screen the documentary in theaters before it is to be broadcast on television. Palestine's official state television station, Palestine TV, which was one of the co-producers and contributed footage to the documentary, is expected to debut the film after its theater run sometime later in the year, according to Othman.

Marwan was produced and directed by young Palestinian director Ahmad Barghouti (no close relation) and is more of a political documentary than a work of art. Othman noted that the story of Barghouti is the classical story of all Palestinians. He was 8 years old when the 1967 occupation occurred. He came from a poor family and graduated from Birzeit University, where he headed the student council. He became a Fatah youth leader. He was deported in the first intifada, returned with [Yasser] Arafat and dedicated his life to the Fatah youth movement he had helped establish. He was imprisoned many times and yet he has never given up. And today, he has become the highest vote receiver in the seventh Fatah congress.

In a testimonial presented in the documentary, Abbas praises the jailed leader and says that Barghoutis political ideology exactly matches his own. Majed Faraj, the current head of the Palestinian Intelligence Service, also agreed to be interviewed for the film and spoke highly of Barghouti's resistance spirit. Leaders of Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and others are also included in the documentary.

The documentarys scriptwriter and narrator, Nasser Laham, told the audience at the films opening that it was difficult to make a film about an inaccessible person, saying, Sometimes films are made about people who are already dead, but in this case our hero is very much alive but we are unable to reach him. Laham said that the documentary team decided to tell Barghoutis story up through his arrest in 2002.

In Marwan, the audience is shown many different faces of Barghouti: the resistance fighter, the inspirational speaker, the strategic leader and the field tactician, as well as the peace supporter and advocate of the two-state solution. While the film was being screened, we noticed that many of the young people attending who have known Marwan as a symbol were excited when they heard excerpts of some of his fiery speeches, but were not thrilled to see him defend peace with Israel, Othman said.

As a documentary, Marwan will not be praised for its cinematic creativity. Mohammad Lahham, a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, told Al-Monitor that he would have liked to see a much more refined and higher quality film. He said, It could have been a stronger film artistically. It also misses some important humanitarian opportunities, such as the marriage of Marwans son, which the imprisoned leader was unable to attend.

Othman admits that the film, which cost $200,000 to produce, is humble in its production value, saying that its focus was on ensuring that Marwan reflected and embodied Palestinian unity. What is important about the documentary is that a wide spectrum of Palestinians from all national and Islamic factions speak supportively of Barghouti in the film. We gave these factors higher priority than other factors, Othman said.

Politicians planning to run for higher office often lay the ground by publishing a memoir telling their life stories and reflecting on their political principles. In the case of the leading contender for the highest position in the Palestinian leadership, the documentary is perhaps the nearest thing to a political memoir. But Barghouti the Palestinian prisoner doesnt need to convince his people with a memoir. What is needed is to strengthen the worldwide movement calling for his release so that he can be part of the leadership that is trying to bring independence and freedom to the Palestinian people.
February 17, 2017

Is the Fatah movement's choice of Mahmoud al-Aloul as deputy to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas surprising? It depends on whom you ask.

Many West Bank residents paid close attention to Fatah's recent internal elections on the chance of getting a hint about who will one day succeed the 81-year-old president. They were certainly surprised to see Aloul dropped into the post. He is a relatively unknown figure who has not held a senior position in the movement for years. One group that was not surprised by the decision was the cadre of Fatah veterans. Over the years, they have learned, often with their flesh, that Abbas will do everything and use every means to distance anyone who might pose the slightest shadow of a threat to his leadership.

Aloul  a former Nablus governor, member of the Fatah Central Committee since 2009 and head of the Tanzim, Fatah's military wing, in the West Bank  is considered a hawk. Following the abduction and murder of three Israeli teens in the Etzion settlement bloc in June 2014, Aloul claimed that it was all part of an Israeli ploy to bring down the Fatah-Hamas unity government. Members of Fatah told Al-Monitor that the election of a hawk as Abbas' deputy at a time when the president is trying to give the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Fatah a more moderate, pragmatic image is bewildering.

Although he is the head of the Tanzim, Aloul has no base of supporters. He certainly lacks the power base of someone like Jibril Rajoub, who spent his years in the PA actively recruiting a base of supporters who would follow him through fire and water. Regardless of whether they were surprised by the choice, everyone admits that Aloul lacks the charisma needed to one day become the leader of the movement. At this stage, however, that is precisely his greatest advantage. He does not pose a threat to Abbas. In fact, throughout his years in Fatah, Aloul has failed to show the kind of desire for leadership that would keep Abbas awake at night.

In contrast to Aloul, Rajoub was only elected secretary-general of the movement. While he will not admit it publicly, his inner circle told Al-Monitor that he knows that Abbas fought tooth and nail to prevent him from being elected as his new deputy out of concern that Rajoub would accumulate even more power for the impending battle over the succession. While being elected deputy to Abbas hardly ensures that the winner will one day take over from the leader, it undoubtedly grants the newly elected deputy a senior position in the withering Fatah movement, which has not had an infusion of fresh blood for years.

There are those who are praising Aloul's election to the second-most important position in Fatah. These include, among others, supporters of former senior Fatah member Mohammed Dahlan, who admit that they were particularly pleased with Rajoub's rejection. They know that Abbas' insistence on distancing people with charisma, talent and ambition from positions of power helps advance the return of Dahlan to the Palestinian political arena as a unique individual who will tower over everyone else. That is exactly what made Abbas portray Dahlan as a bitter rival and enemy of the people.

A Palestinian source in the West Bank close to Dahlans supporters told Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity that Abbas has acted uncharacteristically and shot himself in the foot. He has always acted against Dahlan. He fervently opposes any efforts at reconciliation by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, all out of concern that [Dahlan] will amass power and throw him out of office. At the same time, however, Abbas has also weakened those people who could form an opposition force to Dahlan.

Though rivals now, Rajoub was once Dahlan's closest friend. After working side by side with late PLO leader Yasser Arafat in Tunis, they returned to the territories after the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993 to serve as heads of the Preventive Security Force (PSF) in the West Bank (Rajoub) and Gaza (Dahlan). Then after the Israel Defense Forces destroyed PSF headquarters in Beitunia during the second intifada, Rajoub accused Dahlan of collaborating with the Israelis against him. The two best friends became bitter rivals, with each believing that he was the preferred candidate to head the PA. They each have acted in their own way to achieve this goal.

This does not mean that when the time comes, Dahlan and Rajoub will not forge a coalition to overthrow Abbas or possibly share his position if Abbas resigns voluntarily. In politics, everything is possible, a source close to Dahlan told Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity. As an example, the source cited the reconciliation between Dahlan and the Hamas leadership in Gaza, which considered him a mortal enemy for years and deemed him worthy of elimination. Dahlan was targeted for killing during Hamas' 2007 coup in Gaza, and activists from the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, destroyed his villa in Gaza. Now, however, Dahlan is the man who was able to build bridges between Hamas and Sisi in an attempt to ease the closure on Gaza and launch a dialogue between the two parties.

Meanwhile, Abbas continues to wield considerable power within the Fatah movement. At the movement's congress last November in Bethlehem, the president made a point of expelling activists suspected of supporting Dahlan or of being what he considered disloyal. The election of Aloul as his deputy and the pushing aside of Rajoub are proof of his power. However, at the same time, Abbas also reinvigorated an old-new opposition to him, one with considerable potential at that. While a Rajoub-Dahlan coalition is not yet on the table, a senior member of Fatah told Al-Monitor that the worst possible thing that could happen to Abbas is that the two most powerful people in Fatah, Rajoub and Dahlan, come to see him as a dictator and an obstacle to the future.
February 16, 2017

It didn't take long for Syrian jihadist groups to react to the first round of the Astana talks on Syria that were held Jan. 23-24 in the capital city of Kazakhstan. Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, a former al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, attacked the Syrian sites of the factions that participated in the talks under the sponsorship of Russia, Turkey and Iran in Astana.

Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, which is classified as a terrorist group by the United Nations and the United States, attacked on Jan. 24 the headquarters of Jaish al-Mujahideen and al-Jabhat al-Shamiya in the governorate of Idlib and the countryside of Aleppo.

Meanwhile, Jaish al-Mujahideen, along with other smaller factions, announced Jan. 26 their full allegiance to the Ahrar al-Sham movement  the biggest armed Syrian faction, classified as moderate by the West, Turkey and the Arab countries.

On Jan. 28, several jihadist groups announced their dissolution and the formation of a new armed group called the Organization for the Liberation of the Levant, commonly referred to as Hayyat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is a merger between Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement, Liwa al-Haqq, Ansar al-Din Front and Jaish al-Sunna.

In its statement, the HTS called all factions to join its ranks for unity and for achieving the goals of the Syrian revolution, mainly the toppling of the regime and the establishment of a Sharia state.

The new group is headed by Hashem al-Sheikh, known as Abu Jaber, former leader of the Ahrar al-Sham movement. Several prominent jihadist clerics, namely Saudi Abdullah al-Muhaysini, announced that they have joined the newly formed jihadist group.

The defection from the movement Sheikh (Abu Jaber) and of the former spokesman of Ahrar al-Sham, Abu Yusuf al-Muhajir, and the announcement of their full allegiance to the HTS came to end the division within the movement between two ideological currents  one close to the Muslim Brotherhood and another that adopts al-Qaedas vision. Sheikh (Abu Jaber), who was appointed head of the newly formed group, said in his first statement Feb. 9 that the group is independent and does not serve as an extension to any other organization or former factions. He added that it is rather a merger between different factions and groups to face the serious turning point and the challenges at the political, military and civil levels.

Sheikh (Abu Jaber) said the HTS is seeking to unify the Syrian factions under a single unified command, leading the political and military work of the Syrian revolution in order to achieve its main goal, which is to topple the regime and liberate all Syrian territories, uphold territorial integrity and preserve the Islamic identity of the people.

He added that military action against the regime is imminent.

Abdullah Suleiman Ali, a Syrian researcher and reporter specializing in jihadist movements, told Al-Monitor, The formation of the HTS has caused sharp polarization between the armed factions in northern Syria, which almost led to a division between two main groups  the first led by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, and the other by the Ahrar al-Sham movement.

The new dispute between the two jihadist groups stresses the deep ideological and political gap between the two after many failed attempts to merge.

Commenting on whether this new formation was the result of the Astana talks, where opposition groups were sorted between moderates and hard-liners, Ali said it is too early to judge. He said that the Astana factions' joining of the Ahrar al-Sham movement could mean that the factions may adopt the same conditions as Ahrar al-Sham for any political settlement, which could lead to the obstruction or failure of the Geneva talks.

Ali explained that with the formation of the HTS, Ahrar al-Sham could no longer show any flexibility vis-a-vis the political process, which could serve HTS propaganda and thus lead to a wave of defections within Ahrar al-Sham's ranks.

Muhammad Alloush, a Lebanese researcher and analyst specializing in Islamic movements, told Al-Monitor that the HTS seeks to merge all factions upholding al-Qaeda ideology under one banner and secure as many weapons as possible.

The HTS was formed amid fears on behalf of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham that it would be marginalized from the political scene following regional and international agreements on a political settlement in Syria. Jabhat Fatah al-Sham also feared that moderate armed groups would confront it militarily should such agreements be reached. In this context, Alloush said, the HTS is trying to have more military and political influence on the ground in an attempt to curb any agreement resulting from the Astana or Geneva talks, repeating the Islamic State's scenario in controlling large Syrian areas between 2013 and 2014.

Ali also expects the HTS to attack Syrian army positions, taking advantage of the current low-key approach of Ahrar al-Sham, in order to gain more allegiances under the pretext that it is the only faction fighting against the regime. He said that Abu Mohammed al-Golani, head of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, is well aware that he is wanted internationally and that Russias plan to sort between hard-liners and moderates in Astana is a prelude to the declaration of a fierce war against his organization.

According to Ali, Golani also fears the growing power of the group within his organization that is refusing to disengage from al-Qaeda and that objects to the merger with some of the factions within the HTS because of the lack of a clear ideology and political objectives of such a merger.

Golani was pressured at home and abroad to find a swift solution that would be satisfactory to the cadres within the organization, and to eliminate any international reason to target him by not adhering to the global jihad and not seeking to establish an Islamic state without relinquishing his grip over leadership positions with the HTS. Indeed, Golani kept his position as the general military commander in the HTS secret, Ali said.

The pertinent question, however, is whether the two groups will be dragged into infighting or maintain some kind of military coordination against the Syrian army  especially since several mediation efforts to this effect have yet to yield results.

For his part, Alloush expects the two groups to come face-to-face on the battlefield given the large overlapping areas of power and their attempt to integrate the biggest number of factions in their ranks.

Alloush said the HTS fears that Ahrar al-Sham might become the spearhead of the factions fighting against it should the Syrian opposition decide to kick al-Qaeda and foreign fighters out of the country. Therefore, the HTS is trying to inflame the situation with Ahrar al-Sham, especially through social networking sites, where prominent HTS figures are raising questions about the intentions of Ahrar al-Sham in Syria.

Alloush does not exclude a rapprochement between the Islamic State and the HTS in the future if all other groups unite against the latter.

In the same context, Ali said he does not expect the HTS to be supported regionally, as some regional parties  in light of the new international trends to fight against terrorism  had given up on some of the armed factions in Syria. However, some regional stakeholders might still be banking on turning some terrorist-classified groups into moderate factions.

According to previous statistics, the number of HTS fighters is expected to reach more than 25,000. They are deployed in Idlib, as well as in the countryside of Aleppo and the northern countryside of Hama.

*Editor's note: This article has been updated since its initial publication.
February 16, 2017

A number of experts on Arab affairs believe that efforts to delegitimize the Palestinian leadership are bound to run into a wall of Arab opposition. Oraib Rantawi, the director of Al-Quds Center for Political Studies, told Al-Monitor that no Arab leader today will bypass the legitimate Palestinian leadership. This issue was settled at the 1974 Arab Summit when the PLO was declared as the representative of the Palestinian people.

Rantawi added that although the Arab world is in disarray, Arab leaders will not take on the issue of Palestine by themselves. While some Arab countries have not been totally happy with the current Palestinian leadership, no one will take the risk of falling into the trap of bypassing the legitimate Palestinian government and presidency.

In this context, the Arab quartet (Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE) reportedly expressed in December its dissatisfaction that the Palestinian leadership refused the quartet's entreaty to include Mohammed Dahlan within the leadership structure.

An Arab Summit, planned for March in the Jordanian capital, Amman, might address the Palestinian issue, although Rantawi said he does not think it will be high on the agenda. While Arab countries are careful not to anger the Trump administration, the issue is not that urgent and likely won't require a strong position, he said.

Nabil Khatib, a veteran Arab journalist based in Dubai, told Al-Monitor that Arab leaders are committed to basic essentials needed for any realistic resolution: Arabs are committed to the representation of the PLO as per the 1974 Rabat Summit decision, and along with 57 Islamic countries, to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative."

Khatib, who specializes in Middle East affairs, said that pressures and proposals involving Arab leaders regarding the peace process always fail. These proposals have never worked, and I believe they will not work this time.

Taj Abdel Haq, a leading columnist from the UAE and editor of Eremnews, believes that while the Palestinian cause has shifted in order of their priorities, the Gulf countries will not circumvent the political rights of Palestinians. Gulf countries will not accept the perpetuation of the occupation of Jerusalem and will insist on the principles enshrined in the UN resolutions, he told Al-Monitor

Both US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at the idea of reaching out to the Arab leadership to break the current negotiations deadlock. In a joint press conference Feb. 15 in Washington, Netanyahu called the current situation a historic opportunity. We can seize a historic opportunity because for the first time in my lifetime and in the lifetime of my country, Arab countries in the region do not see Israel as an enemy, but increasingly as an ally.

For his part, Trump has included regional Arab leaders in his future plans. Our administration is committed to working with Israel and our common allies in the region toward greater security and stability," he said at the conference.

The actual Israeli position on the Palestinian conflict witnessed a major retraction. The narrative and requirements of Netanyahu for peace have changed following Trump's inauguration. Netanyahu, who used to insist on negotiations without conditions, suddenly has new conditions. He refrained from calling for direct talks or repeating his lip service support of the two-state solution. In the press conference, held even before the White House summit commenced, Netanyahu said he wants Israel to continue ruling the Palestinian people, denying them political rights, while at the same time insisting that Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

So even if Palestinians become Zionists and pay homage to Israel as the national state of the Jewish people, Palestinians will still have to live with perpetual Israeli control. In the press conference, Netanyahus conditions included that Israel must retain security control over the entire area west of the Jordan River in any future solution.

This idea of the minority Israelis in the occupied territories ruling the majority Palestinians is called apartheid and is considered a war crime according to international humanitarian law. Palestinian legislator Mustafa Barghouti responded to this idea by stating in a press release, following the Feb. 15 White House meetings, Palestinians are unwilling to live as slaves to the occupiers in an apartheid racist system.

Former US peace envoy to the Middle East Martin Indyk has indicated that a new approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could include Arab leaders. The new approach, detailed in a December 2016 Indyk piece on the Brookings Institution site, is called the outside-in approach. According to Indyk, this approach would include a key role for Arab leaders. It would involve Trump convening the leaders of the Quartet (the United States, Russia, the EU and the UN) and the Arab Quartet (Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) in a summit meeting to announce a set of agreed principles that would serve as the terms of reference for direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations to achieve a two-state solution.

Arab commentators, however, dismissed this approach as well. Rantawi noted that the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative stipulates clearly that Arabs and Muslim leaders will only normalize relations with Israel once it agrees to withdraw from the areas occupied in 1967. Arab leaders are too weak today to meet with Israel and normalize relations with it without a commitment by Israel to withdraw to the 1967 borders, said Rantawi, noting that Arabs will not be able to make more concessions than Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

The Trump-Netanyahu love fest that was broadcast around the world doesnt bode well for Palestinians or for any possible peaceful breakthrough. It reveals a clear rejection of the ABCs of peacemaking. Instead of building on experiences of previous administrations and learning from their mistakes, we are forced once again to provide the new resident of the White House with basic education about the requirements for peace in the Middle East. They include: respecting the parties to the conflict, providing a plan that ensures an end to the occupation, a reversal of illegal settlements and allowing Palestinians the right to determine their own future on their own land alongside the State of Israel.

If this two-state solution is unacceptable, then a one-state solution where all citizens have equal rights irrespective of religion is also acceptable. Palestinians, however, are unwilling to live under an oppressive and apartheid regime.
February 16, 2017

On Feb. 2, the Tunisian parliament approved a law related to local and municipal elections, granting members of the security and military institutions the right to vote for the first time in the countrys history. This precedent sparked controversy in Tunisia, as some people believe that military officers should enjoy the right to vote, just like their fellow citizens, while others believe that passing such a law will jeopardize the impartiality of the military institution and will involve it in political affairs.

After years of complete neutrality in political and electoral life, Tunisian soldiers, officers and security members will cast their votes in the upcoming municipal and local elections. Chapter 6 of the new local electoral law states that military and security officers are allowed to vote in local and municipal elections only. But this law contradicts Article 18 of the Tunisian Constitution, which states, The national army is a republican army charged with the responsibility to defend the nation, its independence and its territorial integrity. It is required to remain completely impartial.

The law also contradicts Article 19 of the constitution, which states, The national security forces are responsible for maintaining security and public order  with complete impartiality.

In this context, Sami bin Salameh, a former member of the Independent Higher Authority for Elections in Tunisia, told Al-Monitor, Security and military officers, as well as members of the armed forces, are special citizens. For that reason, we must always adapt their rights as citizens to the respect of principles related to security and military life, hence discipline, loyalty, neutrality and readiness to serve. Granting them the right to vote in elections  even if only municipal  is a dangerous process that could affect these four principles, interfere with their work and involve them in the political arena in spite of themselves. After all, Tunisia is still living an incomplete transitional phase plagued by difficulties and violation attempts from parties.

The military institution has yet to issue a comment on the law, as its members are quite reserved and do not disclose their opinions to the media.

Salemeh pointed out the security hazards of granting security and military officers the right to vote, saying, Their votes will reveal their political and ideological affiliations, in addition to disclosing their identities and where they are based due to their registration on electoral lists.

Tunisia has been the stage of several terrorist operations since 2011, some committed by jihadi groups affiliated with al-Qaeda such as Uqba Bin Nafi Battalion and others by groups pledging allegiance to the the Islamic State. These terrorist acts have claimed the lives of more than 220 security officers and soldiers and 98 civilians, as per a survey conducted by local website Inkyfada. The latest of such attacks targeted a military vehicle in Jebel Samama, in the west of the country, and killed three soldiers in August 2016.

Political analyst and journalist Abdel Sattar al-Aidi told Al-Monitor, Granting security and military officers the right to vote in local and municipal elections only  rather than in legislative and presidential elections  constitutes a good test for their discipline and commitment to complete neutrality in politics. At the same time, it allows them to enjoy their right of citizenship, especially given that the constitution affirms total and indiscriminate equality  including professional indiscrimination  between citizens and guarantees all Tunisians the right to vote.

Aidi added, The assessment of the upcoming municipal elections will be important and useful. If the country finds it difficult to maintain the military and security institutions neutrality after granting their members the right to vote, the law will be amended and the article that allows them to vote will be annulled. You never know until you try. If need be, the new electoral law will be amended to suit the needs of society and the state.

Fida Nasrallah, the director of the Carter Center in Tunisia, which had specialized in electoral monitoring, supervising the drafting process of the constitution and putting in place the elections legal framework, told Al-Monitor in a previous interview Oct. 12, Depriving them [military officers and internal security staff] of their right runs contrary to the international obligations of the Republic of Tunisia under the international covenant of the United Nations on civil and political rights. In addition, it is contrary to Article 21 and Article 34 of the Tunisian Constitution.

Nasrallah said in the same interview, The fear that the army will not remain neutral and that the vote may be manipulated is an obsession shared by many countries. But these concerns can be reduced by adopting certain measures, not by categorically denying the rights of the armed forces. The Carter Center had urged the Tunisian parliament in a statement Sept. 28 to grant the military and security forces the right to vote.

The Islamist Ennahda movement first objected to granting military and security officials the right to vote in elections, only to vote later in favor of the new law Jan. 31. Apparently, Islamists are sensitive to the military institution, given its history in the region. In Egypt, for instance, former Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated President Mohammed Morsi was toppled by his defense minister, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, on July 3, 2013. In Turkey, a group of army officers spearheaded the failed coup attempt against Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 15, 2016.

When the electoral law deliberations took flight in September, former officers in the Tunisian army objected, sayting this could potentially cause division in the security and army ranks. Meanwhile, secular parties, especially the Popular Front, which includes 11 parties; leftist, environmental and national groups; and the liberal Afek Tounes Party welcomed the law.

The upcoming elections will be the basis for deciding whether allowing the military and security officers to vote in municipal and local elections was the right thing to do. Still, the concerns of the opponents of this law are justified. Involving the security and military institutions in political life  even if for a good cause  might risk the future of a country still treading carefully toward democracy while fighting an open war against terrorist groups on its eastern borders with Libya and western borders with Algeria. But, at the same time, the upcoming elections will practically test the internal security and military institutions ability to maintain their discipline and respect for the neutrality principle stipulated by the constitution while practicing their right to vote.
February 16, 2017

Saying no can have a high price tag for ordinary Turks as pressure builds in the days leading up to an April 16 referendum on constitutional amendments designed to widely expand the president's powers.

On Feb. 2, the photo of a supposedly official document appeared on social media with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirims signature. The document asked public employees to avoid using the word hayirli ("blessed" or "good"), which is very close to the Turkish word for "no," "hayir." The document asked employees to refrain from using "hayirli" until May so as not to confuse or influence voters.

For decades, conservative Turks have promoted the use of the word hayirli" in daily greetings. It is widely used to wish someone a blessed Friday. Every Friday, Turkish social media is bombarded with messages and trending hashtags of #HayirliCumalar  "Blessed Friday." So it seems the Turkish language has pulled a little trick on conservatives cheering for a yes vote in the referendum.

The government promptly claimed that the document wasn't real, but of course people rallied against it anyway, and the ripple effects were significant. When Yildirim was asked about it by pro-Justice and Development Party (AKP) journalists, he angrily replied, Whoever is spreading such fake news will be prosecuted. His reaction backfired and ending up ensuring that coverage of the fake document spread across the media.

A communications scholar who asked to remain anonymous for fear of losing his job told Al-Monitor, "In the last 10 days, we have not heard anyone was being investigated for this fake document, so it is highly probable that AKP trolls were the ones that published it. It has been more effective than a genuine decree because this way, all AKP supporters get the message that they need to avoid the word 'no,' and words containing 'no,' at all costs."

So even though the document with the prime ministers signature banning the word hayirli was likely fake, supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have deliberately started omitting the word and substituting others in their daily greetings.

Indeed, the approaching referendum is altering the way people use Turkish and signal their allegiances in the public domain, generating sometimes amusing and sometimes disturbing scenes. The following examples read like Onion satire pieces, but they are verified news stories.

On Feb. 15, a baby girl born in Diyarbakir province was named Evet ("Yes" in Turkish). The parents told the press they wanted to show their appreciation for Erdogan. The districts AKP representative visited the baby and gave the family a gold coin as a sign of appreciation. The father appeared on television saying the whole family will be voting for the referendum and they hope Baby Yes will be a good luck charm for Erdogan. (Meanwhile, social media users were busy focusing on the fact that the father has three wives, even though polygamy is officially banned in Turkey.)

On Feb. 14, Konya municipality stopped printing and distributing pamphlets against smoking. The pamphlets had read, Decide what you want to accomplish. Do you want to poison your kids? Have cancer? If you say no, then you have won your life and your future. Public health officials said they stopped distribution for fear of misunderstanding: If you say no had appeared in red capital letters on the leaflets' covers.

Beyond these laughable examples are subtle but undeniable facts: Many of those against the referendum are sticking to their guns and using "hayirli" at every opportunity. Yet, uttering the word "no" on its own  even in a non-political context  has become risky, as can be seen in street interviews posted and shared by various news networks. People who are scared to speak up often say, I don't know, maybe it's for the best  but use "hayirlisi," a derivation of the taboo word. Most of them do not want the camera to show their faces.

Their fear is warranted. Several AKP members, including Cabinet ministers and the prime minister, have indicated multiple times that saying no is what terrorists would do. The most worrisome statement came Feb. 12 from Erdogan himself. When asked about current polls, Erdogan was unhappy. He said, It is too early to gauge the health of the polls because he had not yet started actively campaigning. Erdogan told the press, April 16 will be the answer to July 15 [the day of the coup attempt]. Those who say no will be siding with July 15.

On Feb. 15, another AKP official took a step further, saying that unless 50% of voters say yes on April 16, Turkey should brace itself for the possibility of a civil war. In the ensuing uproar, the AKP announced it would request the official's resignation.

Despite all the public pressure, some brave individuals have taken the risk  and paid the price. One of them is news anchor Irfan Degirmenci, who was fired from his job at Dogan Holding, the most prominent mainstream media network in Turkey, for declaring he would vote no. Pro-AKP media bigwigs were upset at the network for telling the public the reason for Degirmencis dismissal.

There have also been multiple stories of brutality and intimidation of those who attempt to join rallies or refuse to distribute pamphlets, or who simply tell others that they plan to vote against the referendum. There has been so much of this talk that people have started questioning if the vote will be done through open or secret balloting, and whether those who dare to say no will be taken into custody after they vote.

Yet, even as the intimidation and pressure from the pro-Erdogan camp increases, it seems the naysayers are gaining momentum. In the past month, a majority of Kurds, significant numbers of ultranationalists, certain groups of Islamists and almost all secularists of Turkey have been joining forces to work for a no vote at the referendum.

These groups would never have come together, not even in the same coffee shop, only a month ago. Now, they are all working on a grass-roots level toward the same goal. AKP members seem to realize that trying to convince the public that only terrorists would say no is backfiring. If that were true, several people have asked on social media, why does the referendum even have a no option?

Some referendum supporters fear that the 18 amendments leading the way to an imperial presidency may not pass, and commentators have raised two intriguing suggestions. One possibility is for these changes to only apply to Erdogan's presidency and be abolished after he leaves office. Because the public has been concerned about what could happen when Erdogan is not the president, this proposal is designed to relieve their worries. Second, Ankara is rumored to be considering a graceful exit plan if support for the referendum doesn't improve in opinion polls by early April: Cancel the vote and blame deteriorating economic conditions that demand attention.

Whatever the result of the April referendum, Erdogans desire for an imperial presidency has initiated an opposition movement uniting the least likely of comrades. Perhaps their slogan could be "Hayirda hayir vardir"  "There is goodness in saying no."
Lyft, a popular ride sharing program, can begin serving the Hoover area later this month.

Hoover City Councilman John Lyda said Lyft has applied for and received a business license, with plans to launch Feb. 23.

Lyft is similar to Uber, using an app that matches drivers to customers seeking rides using GPS. Lyft does not currently operate anywhere in Alabama.

The company held several orientation meetings in the Birmingham area earlier this month. Company representatives shared information about driving for Lyft and took information from potential drivers.

Lyda said the permitting process is all the service needs to begin operating. To receive a license, a transportation business has to fulfill various safety and insurance requirements.

"I think this is good for Hoover residents and visitors in that it gives them increased access to transportation, which has been needed for some time," he said. "And it speaks to what's going on in Hoover."
Bon Jovi made a rare appearance in Birmingham Thursday night to promote their 13th album.

Almost 28 years after their last stop in Birmingham, the band took the stage at the BJCC's Legacy Arena during their "This House Is Not For Sale" tour. "This House Is Not For Sale" is the band's first record without guitarist Richie Sambora.

Alabama country group Sweet Tea Trio opened for Bon Jovi at the Birmingham show. Bon Jovi chooses a local or regional band to open each stop of their tour. Learn more about Sweet Tea Trio here.
Briarwood Presbyterian Church and Briarwood Christian School want their own police department and a bill proposing it passed 9-2 in the House Public Safety Committee on Thursday, Briarwood's attorney said.

The same bill passed last year but got to the governor late and never received a signature, said attorney Eric Johnston, who drafted the bill for the church.

Johnston said he expects the bill to again pass both the House and Senate and believes Gov. Robert Bentley will sign it into law.

Some critics of the bill have questioned why the church and school need a police department, but it's essentially a way of hiring a police officer full-time, as opposed to relying on off-duty police officers to assist the church, Johnston said.

"We've got over 30,000 events a year that take place at Briarwood - going on all day, all night, at the school, at the church, at the seminary," Johnston said. "We have to hire policemen all the time. It would be so much easier to have someone on staff."

Johnston said he doesn't know of any other churches in Alabama that have their own police departments, but he said it's more similar to a small college having its own police department. "Briarwood is larger than most of the colleges that have police," he said.

The language of the bill echoes the language of the law allowing colleges to have their own police departments, he said.

Briarwood has two large campuses, with the church and Birmingham Theological Seminary off Acton Road at Interstate 459, and at the affiliated Briarwood Christian School on Cahaba Valley Road.

"It would only be for patrolling the campuses, north and south," Johnston said. "There wouldn't be any patrolling of neighborhoods."

The church currently hires off-duty officers from area police departments, but there aren't always enough officers available, Johnston said. "They get short-handed," he said. "We have one guy that we have to have almost full-time supervising security," he said.

The police department would essentially be that officer in a full-time position working for the church, he said.

It would not involve a jail or other facilities - basically an officer and an official car, he said. "I couldn't imagine it would be something more than that," Johnston said. "If there is an arrest on campus, the local jurisdiction would be called and they would come pick the person up."

Questions were raised in committee about a drug investigation at the Briarwood Christian School in 2015 and whether a private, internal police department would cover up a drug problem.

"No, it didn't have anything to do with that," Johnston said.

"There was a drug investigation at the high school," Johnston said. "Like most schools, you've got students doing things you shouldn't do. The school cooperated with law enforcement. They didn't cover up anything."

Briarwood Presbyterian Church Administrator Matt Moore released a statement on behalf of the church saying that Code 16-22-1 of Alabama law provides for the employment of one or more persons to act as police officers at colleges and other private educational institutions. "The church seeks to mirror that provision," it says.

After obtaining legislative permission, the personnel employed by the church will meet all requirements and be certified by the Alabama Peace Officer Training Commission, the statement said.

"The sole purpose of this proposed legislation is to provide a safe environment for the church, its members, students and guests."
Five days after authorities say he ran from them, a Gadsden man was arrested on charges of oxycodone trafficking.

Etowah County Drug Enforcement Unit Deputy Commander Phil Sims said Deangelo Marbury was arrested Wednesday following tips from the community.

He has been charged with oxycodone trafficking and first degree possession of synthetic drugs.

Authorities had been searching for Marbury since a Feb. 10 vehicle pursuit when they say he eluded them. On Wednesday, agents received information that Marbury was staying at a residence on Vimy Ridge Road in Gadsden, Sims said.

As officers approached the residence, Marbury "took off running" from a vehicle parked in the yard, Sims said. After a short foot pursuit, Marbury was arrested.

Agents found marijuana, drug paraphernalia and a loaded Glock 9 mm handgun in the vehicle. The handgun was verified stolen thru Jacksonville Police Department.

Marbury was arrested and transported to the Etowah County Detention Center, where he is being held on a $58,500 cash bond. He also faces two counts of attempting to elude, second degree marijuana possession, non-support and third degree receiving stolen property.

The Etowah County Sheriff's Office, Gadsden police and the FBI North Alabama Safe Streets Task Force took part in the case.
LeannaHarris.PNG

Leanna Taylor cries as an attorney shows photographs of her son Cooper to the jury during a murder trial for her ex-husband Justin Ross Harris Monday, Oct. 31, 2016, in Brunswick, Ga. Harris is accused of intentionally killing Cooper in June 2014 by leaving him in the car in suburban Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, Pool)

( )

Leanna Taylor, the ex-wife of Justin Ross Harris who was convicted in the hot-car death of the couple's toddler son, will speak publicly for the first on a national network television show Friday night.

Taylor's interview will air at 9 p.m. central time on ABC's 20/20. According to the network, the report includes never-before-seen home videos of young Cooper Harris, interviews with prosecutor Chuck Boring, and Taylor's attorney Lawrence Zimmerman.

The cased was profiled on Jan. 27 on NBC's Dateline. In November, 36-year-old Justin Ross Harris was found guilty of murder after his son - 22-month-old Cooper Harris - died in the back of an SUV in June 2014, as temperatures climbed into the high 80s. He was sentenced to life without parole in December.

Prosecutors argued in the trial that Harris was unhappily married and intentionally killed his son because he wanted an escape from family life. Defense attorneys maintained that Harris was a loving father and that while he was responsible for the boy's death, it was a tragic accident.

Harris moved from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to Georgia to work at Home Depot's corporate office in Cobb County, Georgia, just northwest of Atlanta. Cooper died on June 18, 2014.

"This is anybody's story who's been betrayed by their spouse, who has been betrayed by the justice system,'' Taylor tells ABC's Amy Robach. "The only thing that I can do right now is to offer hope in a world that doesn't have much right now."

Authorities initially were suspicious of the young mother, claiming that her reaction to her son's death was unemotional and the first conversation she had with Ross after Cooper's death was suspicious. She was never charged with any crime.

The investigation showed Justin Ross Harris was having multiple affairs. He pleaded not guilty to eight charges: malice murder, two counts of felony murder, first-degree cruelty to children, second-degree cruelty to children, sexual exploitation of children and two counts of disseminating harmful material to minors. ABC says the ex-wife now plans to work to raise awareness about hot car deaths, hoping to stop them from happening.
The Iraqi armys progress in Mosul over the past few months flies in the face of the narrative that has been created about Iraq since 2003. Narratives are often constructed, but rarely as aggressively as the story according to which Iraq is an artificial country comprising people who deeply mistrust each other.

The invasion of Mosul and Tikrit by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) in 2014 was supposed to be the narratives final chapter: The people of both cities had allegedly welcomed their invaders and cursed the Iraqi army as it withdrew from their streets, further proving that Iraq would be better served if it were split apart.

Today, the battle to liberate Mosul has shattered much of that narrative, but you might have missed this if you were not paying close attention. Iraq may be an artificial construction, but no more so than the crushing majority of states around the world  and developments on the ground actually point in the opposite direction, for a number of reasons.

READ MORE: How will Mosul rise from the ashes of battle?

There are those who said that Mosuls population actively welcomed ISIL in June 2014. The citys population chafed under the control of the Iraqi army, which made life for its inhabitants miserable.

Analysts and commentators in various parts of the world claimed that Mosuls population took sides in the conflict, throwing their lot in with ISIL. A video was widely circulated on social media, supposedly showing Mosuls inhabitants stoning Iraqi army vehicles on their way out of the city  never mind that the video was actually from Sadr City in 2008.

Other recordings showing ISIL fighters parading through Mosul were presented as evidence that residents supported their presence, but even a superficial analysis clearly showed that onlookers were always few and far between, passive and unenthusiastic. ISILs propaganda videos, meanwhile, had as much value as Saddam Husseins efforts to prove how much he was loved by the very people he oppressed.

What should have been obvious to everyone was that the vast majority of Mosuls population wanted a fair settlement in an Iraqi context  something that both ISIL and former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki were incapable of delivering.

This explains Mosul residents passivity and their focus on simply trying to survive in very difficult circumstances, which continue to this day. Polls have since confirmed this very obvious point, which has been underscored by the relief that Mosuls residents expressed at the sight of Iraqi army personnel retaking their city.





There are those who said that Iraqis had no will to fight. Senior American officials, Iraqi militia commanders and deeply politicised analysts claimed that Iraqi soldiers were abandoning their positions as ISIL approached because of a lack of motivation.

They offered two separate explanations for that claim: firstly, that Iraqis could not successfully battle ISIL from within a national army because of its heterogeneity, which could not match the determination of homogeneous forces such as ISIL, Shia militias and the Peshmerga. That position was maintained by L Paul Bremer, who wrote in his 2004 memoir that the former Iraqi army had to be dissolved because Shia soldiers would never follow orders issued by Sunni officers.

The second explanation was that, regardless of the context, Iraqs population had no sense of loyalty to their country. The claim was that southern Iraqis would not want to liberate areas in northern Iraq, which was thinly veiled code to say that Shia Muslims would not want to liberate Sunni-dominated areas.

Accordingly, if the people wanted to be free, they would have to bear that burden themselves. That argument was tantamount to writing Mosul off altogether: From 2006 to 2014, Iraqs security forces received approximately $100bn from Iraqs own budget, yet had been completely overrun by ISIL. Clearly, Mosuls population of labourers, doctors and bureaucrats stood no chance.

OPINION: Liberating Mosul will not solve Iraqs problems

The term essential Iraq was even floated in 2014 to describe parts of the country that Iraqi security forces should defend from ISIL, roughly corresponding to Shia-majority areas, Baghdad and the shrine city of Samarra. The term was deeply offensive to those Iraqis who had been overrun by ISIL and who were struggling to survive.

Today, Iraqs elite Counter Terrorism Service has put the lie to the basis of these claims. It is Iraqs most diverse fighting force and also its most successful by far, in terms of training, equipment and progress on the ground.

The images are hard to appreciate without understanding the context: Thousands of young men from all parts of the country are fighting to liberate Mosul. They have taken extraordinary risks to protect civilians from harm. Wounded soldiers demand to be released by medical staff so that they can return to the front lines as soon as possible.

Their bravery, professionalism and dedication have affected the countrys national psyche in ways that are so far undocumented, unreported and under-appreciated.

Finally, there are those who have tracked progress against ISIL and who assume that the battle is essentially over. However, the manner in which the battle for Mosul has progressed reveals much about the challenges that lay ahead for the city and the country.

Despite the Counter Terrorism Forces successes, the regular armys training, operating procedures and adherence to the rule of law are still lacking.

In a terrible miscalculation last December, army units plunged deep into ISIL-held territory and were promptly surrounded, leading to dozens of deaths and injuries. Since then, various branches of the security sector have committed to coordinating their actions on a more regular basis. In the rest of the country, the army and police still engage in the type of random arrests that contributed to the collapse of security throughout the country in 2014.

Despite all the promises and statements made on this issue, security forces in various parts of the country still use the notoriously useless magic wands as a means to detect car bombs. In Tikrit, meanwhile, the sprawling university campus was looted by army officers, who made off with whatever they could and damaged beyond use whatever they could not.

As the Counter Terrorism Service makes progress on the ground, it will cede territory and control to the regular army and to other branches of the security services, which do not operate according to the same standards. The challenge will then be to impose order in their ranks, and to ensure that their primary task is to secure the citys inhabitants without repeating failed tactics of the past.
Reykjavik, Iceland  Ready to try grilled minke whale skewers, the Moby Dick on a Stick, as the dish is advertised by The Seabaron restaurant, a British tourist observes, looks like a Turkish kebab. Taking a bite, he adds, Tastes indeed like red meat and poor ethics.

Tourism is booming in Iceland . A record 1.8 million people visited the remote North Atlantic island last year, a 40 percent increase from the year before. The number of American visitors alone  almost 415,000  outnumbered Iceland s native population of 320,000, and even exceeded the total annual number of tourists in 2006.





The flock of foreign visitors made Iceland the fastest- growing developed country in 2016 in terms of gross domestic product.

In Reykjavik, Icelands capital, tower cranes rise from the skyline, ever more global fast-food chains are opening down the capitals main shopping street Laugavegur, and the low-cost carrier WOW Air plans to build an enormous new headquarters.

Less visible is the success of Icelands only operating whale-hunting company. Having been declared bankrupt in 2012 and 2013, IP-Utgerd Ltd (previously Hrefnuveidimenn Ltd and Hrafnreydur Ltd) is now having a much smoother sail.

The company hunted 46 minke whales this past season, the largest number in years, to serve a growing demand from restaurants serving the meat to tourists. The catch is now split 60/40 between restaurants and grocery stores.

Five years ago, the market share was the other way around and prices lower, according to the company manager, Gunnar Jonsson.

Meet us, dont eat us

A wide banner attached to a tiny wooden hut across the street from The Seabaron summarises this trend with the most straightforward phrase: Whales are Being Killed to Feed Tourists.





The banner prompts spontaneous visits, usually out of surprise, says Maria Gunnarsdottir, the manager of IceWhale, an anti-whaling organisation based out the wooden hut by Reykjaviks Old Harbour.

Most tourists seem unaware that Iceland has a whaling industry until they, perhaps, notice minke whale as a traditional dish on a restaurant menu and get intrigued.

IceWhale, funded by whale-watching and tour operators  promotes the campaign  Meet Us, dont eat us, that urges tourists to boycott pro-whaling restaurants and, instead, enjoy the animals in their natural habitat.

Roughly a fifth of all tourists in Iceland go whale watching. Maskina, a market researcher, ranks the pastime the fourth most-purchased tourist activity, number one being admission to geothermal baths.

In Reykjavik, these two industries  whale-hunting and whale-watching  both operate in Faxa Bay. The whaling boats, however, are only allowed to work roughly 20-kilometre away from the tour operators.

Gunnarsdottir wants them much further away  and out of business entirely.

When Iceland resumed commercial whaling in 2006, whale-watching guides in Faxa Bay reported spotting the minke whale much more often than their larger rorqual relative, the humpback whale. But now, a decade later, the humpback is spotted more frequently.

While the population of minke whales in costal Icelandic waters remains stable at around 20,000 animals, changes in the oceans food web have pushed their whereabouts much further north. According to scientists, the most obvious explanation for this disruption is climate change; along south and west Iceland, ocean temperatures have risen 1 to 2 degrees Celcius since 1996.

But Gunnarsdottir says the hunting of whales has had its own effect . Minke whales are elegant swimmers and generally difficult to observe due to their fast speed, she explains, but in the past we had individual whales that were by nature curious towards boats  our star performers. Sadly, theyve also been the easiest prey, it seems.

OPINION: Performance anxiety  Why captivity is killing the killer whale

In the belly of a tourist

Commercial whaling would be unsustainable as a business without the tourist demand, conservationists argue, pointing to a 2016 Gallup poll in which 81 percent of Icelanders said they had not bought whale meat in the past 12 months. Only 1.5 percent said they had bought the meat six times or more often, while 9 percent had done so between two and five times over the past year.

Meanwhile, 12 percent of tourists ate whale meat during their stay in Iceland this past summer, according to another survey by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), an animal welfare and conservation charity .

From 2012 to 2015, a steady 18-20 percent of respondents, all tourists, said they had eaten whale meat. The current change is still a gain in frequencies since the tourist population was only 640,000 in 2012 , about 1.2 million fewer than last year. This year, 2.4 million tourists are forecast to visit Iceland; 12 percent would equal 288,000 people  nearly matching the population of Icelanders.

Another factor is the origin of these tourists. Tourists from China are more likely than others to try whale meat during their stay. They are also one of the fastest-growing group of visitors to Iceland.

Among Icelandic baby boomers, who grew up during the golden age of catching minke whales, the meat was long perceived as a cheap alternative to red meat.

Today, minke whale meat is about $16.70 a kilo in grocers  more expensive than boneless chicken breasts.

Sigursteinn Masson, who is leading IFAWs anti-whaling efforts in Iceland, believes the message is getting across to tourists.

People want to travel responsibly, he says. We usually dont have to do much convincing after sharing the facts  that the meat is neither common nor traditional in Iceland.

He also points out that Iceland used to hunt the fin whale, the worlds second largest whale, purely for export to Japan, Icelands only ally in commercial whaling along with neighbouring Norway.

The company Hvalur hf (Whale Ink) has not hunted fin whale since 2015, blaming red tape in Japanese import standards for fresh meat.

If we knew what kind of trouble was brewing in Japan when we commenced whaling in 2009, after a 20-year pause, we would have never started again, Kristjan Loftsson, the owner of Whale Ink, told local media.

The company still holds a government quota for 146 fin whales annually and could, technically, resume whaling this year.

WATCH: Reykjavik  Icelands recipe for survival

The whalers could hunt more

Minke whales and fin whales were only first hunted in the early 20th century. As they are fast swimmers, hunting these species requires modern vessels and harpoons tagged with explosives, as scientist Gisli Vikingsson explains.

Vikingsson heads whale research at Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, responsible for setting the quota for whaling in the Mid-North Atlantic region surrounding Iceland. The quota in Iceland for minke whales has been 224 in the most recent years  four-to-six times higher than the actual number of catches over the years.

The whaling is not endangering the species  thats agreed by everyone, Vikingsson says, further stating that Icelands sustainable quotas are approved by the scientific body of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Iceland and the IWC fundamentally disagree on politics, not methods.

To allow whaling is, however, always based on political policies, and thats where Iceland and the IWC fundamentally disagree  on the politics of hunting whales, not the scientific methods used to regulate it.

Why do the Icelanders not eat more whale?

The IWC voted for a total ban on commercial whaling in 1986, and for two decades, Iceland obliged.

A whole generation grew up without the meat, says Gunnar Jonsson, manager of the whaling company, IP-Utgerd. I am sure we could boost sales with more marketing, like teaching people how best to cook a Minke whale steak.

The current marketing strategy is to promote it as organic and healthy. Seeking photographs, Al Jazeera visited four shops until finally finding eight frozen packages in Bonus, a discount store, with a label claiming the meat as one of the healthiest red meats available, based on being lean, high in protein and with low mercury levels.

Demand has largely exceeded supply  equivalent to 15-20 whales  over the past years, Jonsson says. The company has had to repeatedly import extra meat from Norway to prevent the cuisine from being dropped from restaurant menus.

Just like smoked puffin, this is something restaurants are excited to offer tourists, he says. Today, we serve more places than ever and our long-standing clients have stood their ground towards the occasional criticism.

Jonsson, a pilot and business lawyer by trade, has led the whaling industry for the past 10 years  sometimes under much fire from the outside world.

In 2014, the United States government issued a statement outlining a number of actions the US planned against Iceland owing to whaling .

While US efforts have focused more on the hunting of fin whales, the heat is still on Jonsson. Another online petition, signed by more than 20,000 people, is directed at him personally: Tell Gunnar Jonsson to stop killing whales and start a whale watching company instead, the petitions text reads.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, he appeared oblivious to criticism, perhaps because Icelanders are on his side; a 2016 Gallup poll showed a 51 percent supported for Minke whaling. Only 20 percent were against and the rest undecided.

For Icelanders, a fishing nation, a sustainable use of the ocean is our greatest environmental contribution, he says.

It would make no sense to let the whale population grow out of balance with everything else in the sea.
They call him the Banksy of Yemen. But Murad Subay, a 29-year-old street artist based in the capital Sanaa, shrugs off such comparisons.

Subay has transformed the streets of an active war zone into his own vibrant gallery. His canvases are often the ruins of war  crumbling, abandoned houses with gaping holes caused by mortar explosions.

It is three letters only: W-A-R, said Subay of his work, which continually shines a light on Yemens horrific humanitarian situation.



Its just to show the ugliness of war  this is what happens by war. This is my way to to protest against the injustice of this war and for peace.

Subays work also focuses on Yemens dire economic situation, political corruption, disappeared persons, and US drone strikes.









Yemens revolution, which unfolded on streets across the country on the heels of the Arab Spring just over six years ago, largely inspired his brand of artistic activism. Subay was there with the people, protesting in the streets of Sanaa. Those blissful but fleeting moments were short-lived, as the revolution would soon turn into a full-blown civil war.

Yemenis were united in every part of Yemen, said Subay. It was a great moment. We loved it. When the revolution came, it never stops and it will continue.

Unlike many street artists, who often work in the shadows, Subays work is a collaborative effort. Subays artistic campaigns invite everyday Yemenis to pick up a paintbrush or a can of spray paint and participate in his art. Its an artistic approach he says is for the people, by the people.

Its a voice of [the people], he described. Im a Yemeni. When I discuss something, I first [ask] what people should care about, what they are afraid of, and what [are] the issues that concern them? People are longing to end this war.

His open-sourced style of art is what led him to his wife Hadil Almowafak. Almowafak, then in high school, had learned of one of Subays campaigns on social media. It was 2012, shortly after Yemens revolution and the ousting of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

She was mixing colours when Subay first approached her.

When we arrived we saw people painting on the walls, she recalled. Everyone was there. That was something new. People in the streets were standing by watching or [were] taking the brush and started painting. He wants to make the whole society part of his work.

From then on, Almowafak was hooked  on both Subay and his art.

Even if I had school, many times I would skip school just to go paint with them, she added.

Three years later, in October 2015, the pair celebrated their wedding. By that time, civil war had broken out in Yemen.

Today, Houthi rebels and loyalists to former president Saleh are still engaged in a bloody battle against the current government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. A Saudi Arabian-led coalition  aligned with Hadi, and supported by the US  bombs the country routinely. Its a fertile breeding ground for al-Qaeda, which the US frequently targets with drone strikes, and theres an ISIL presence, too. But more often than not it seems, it is everyday Yemenis who pay the cost, often with their lives.

Earlier this month, a botched Navy Seals raid targeting al-Qaeda killed roughly 30 people, many of them civilians and some of them children, in President Donald Trumps first attempt at military intervention in the country.

Tens of thousands have died in the fighting, many of them regular citizens. Hospitals and schools and have been bombed to bits, starvation is rampant and UNICEF has reported that a child dies every 10 minutes.

Every day you hear of civilians being killed, said Almowafak, now 21.

When you hear air strikes, especially if its nearby, the whole house will be shaking. At night, you dont know where theyre going to hit, especially [if] youve been hearing theyre targeting civilians. Youre always in this uncertainty. You dont know if youre going to be next, if your neighbours going to be next. It was insane. They will be firing at each other. The shelling, youve got mortars, youve got snipers killing people. Its just crazy.

Then, last year, the couple received life-changing news: Almowafak had been accepted to Stanford University in California, where she is currently studying. Conditions in Yemen had deteriorated at such a swift and deadly pace that it was impossible for Almowafak to pursue a serious education at home.

The acceptance offer from such a prominent US university was a life-preserver amid a sea of death and destruction. It was a way out and a bridge to achieving her dreams. Almowafak had dreamed of coming to America since she was a child.

But under Trumps immigration ban that prohibits citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen, from entering the US for 90 days, Almowafaks academic future has been cast into doubt.

Its really unfair, said Almowafak, who wants to be a human rights lawyer.

Although a federal judge in Seattle has temporarily blocked the ban, it is unclear if this will stick.

I am disappointed to see America take this road. I do feel like Im trapped, like when I was in Yemen and the airport was closed and people wouldnt be able to travel. I felt trapped there, as well, but at least there was war. The war was unfair to us. But here in US, in the land of freedom, and this happens, I just couldnt believe it.

The US only granted her a 12-month visa for her studies, as opposed to a four-year permit, which Almowafak would need to continue studying. If the block on Trumps ban doesnt hold, Almowafak will probably be forced to abandon her studies and return to Yemen indefinitely.

Youre at Stanford, thats a good place to be trapped in, said Almowafak. Its like its a golden cage. I cant visit my husband. He cannot come here, as well. I cannot visit my family. I cant study abroad. I came here to study and I cannot do that and in a year I wont be able to if the ban continues. Im holding on to hope because I dont want to think about whats going to happen next.

Almowafak had planned to return to Yemen this summer to be with Subay, but now those plans are in jeopardy.

The first time [I heard about the ban], I thought it was a joke actually, said Subay. [The US] is the country of opportunities, the country of democracy and in the 21st century, you ban people according to their race, their religion for their nationality? This is stupidity. This law is racist. Its unbelievable. [Its] like putting honest, innocent people in a prison.

Though the odds are stacked against them, Subay refuses to believe that his wife must give up on her dreams.

Shes been following this chance to have a scholarship for two years. I know, I was there every step, he said.

Our country is what they call the third world. Our chances [are] not a lot. It sometimes comes once. So such a chance, to prove yourself in such a respectable university, it is really important and [precious] so she must and she will stay there to continue her studies. She is very brilliant.
Businesses shut their doors, students skipped class and thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in cities across the United States on Thursday to protest against President Donald Trumps immigration policies.

Activists called A Day Without Immigrants to highlight the importance of the foreign-born, who account for 13 percent of the US population, or more than 40 million naturalised American citizens.

Trump campaigned against the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, playing on fears of violent crime, while promising to build a wall on the US-Mexican border to stop what he called potential terrorists from entering the country.

While the number of participants in Thursdays protests could not be determined, many sympathetic business owners closed shop and working-class immigrants gave up a days pay.

I told my English teacher that I wasnt going to school, and she said she understood, said Rosa Castro, a 13-year-old US citizen in Detroit, who marched with her 26-year-old sister, one of several undocumented family members whose future she is concerned about.

Since taking office last month, the Republican president has signed an executive order temporarily banning entry to the US by travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries and all refugees. That order was put on hold by federal courts.

Immigrant rights groups have expressed alarm after federal raids last week rounded up more than 680 people suspected of being in the country illegally.
Although Botswana is one of Africas wealthiest and most stable countries, hunger and food insecurity are on the rise.



It has been argued that it makes no sense for Botswana to try to produce more food. Its a semi-arid country with limited water

resources and rainfall is becoming even more erratic because of climate change [GALLO/GETTY]

Gaborone, Botswana  You wouldnt know theres a food crisis in this country, one of Africas wealthiest and most stable countries, because its a silent one. This is not the doom and gloom Africa that we often hear sensationalised in the media as a place of coups, famines and corruption. No, Botswana is a model African state which has lived carefully within its means, had democratically elected governments since independence, and is the worlds leading exporter of precious diamonds. Yet food prices are up here dramatically since 2011, and the rural and urban poor are hurting badly. Unless policymakers rethink their strategies on agriculture and development, growth with hunger could be the rest of continents conundrum in 25 years time.

While the global economy struggles with its economic malaise, Africas resource rich economies continue to grow. In some regards, Botswana is a shining example of successful resource-financed development. It has carefully husbanded a valuable natural resource, diamonds, and invested the proceeds in infrastructure development and education. Botswanas literacy rate of 86 per cent is one of the highest in the world, and its road and hospital infrastructure is admirable. Its government is ranked as one of the least corrupt by Transparency International, it exports high quality, grass-fed beef and its high-end eco-tourism business is booming.

Yet Botswana imports 90 per cent of its food, which has made it particularly vulnerable to rising global food prices. In 2011, global food prices were the highest on average at any time since they began to be systematically recorded in 1990. Following a slight decline, prices are now rising again and are higher than they were in 2008, when they resulted in a good deal of social unrest.



While a middle-income country, Botswana is vulnerable to global food price fluctuations because it imports 90 per cent of its food [William G Moseley/Al Jazeera]



Despite consistent growth, the problem is that Botswana also has one of the most inequitable income distributions in the world, second only to Namibia. As such, while Botswana is a prosperous middle income country, the median per capita household income in the capital city, Gaborone, is only $2 per day. With two-thirds of the citys population spending nearly half its income on food, rising food prices present a particular problem. Recent surveys suggest that 63 per cent of households in the capital are severely food insecure, and 21 per cent of households in rural areas sometimes go for a day without eating.

A new approach to development

Botswanas problems could be those of the whole continent in the next 25 years if we stay on the current development trajectory. Botswana, while largely rural at independence in 1966, has been urbanising at a phenomenal rate and now has 60 per cent of its population residing in cities and towns. Although Botswana is ahead of its neighbours on this front, the continent as a whole is the most rapidly urbanising region in the world.

While Botswana has anaemic crop production (producing only ten per cent of its food), the poor are disproportionately dependent on this activity. Even the urban poor often depend on food shared with them by relatives in the rural areas.

It has been argued that it makes no sense for Botswana to try to produce more food. Its a semi-arid country with limited water resources and rainfall is becoming even more erratic because of climate change. Its farmers cant compete with large scale commercial agriculturalists in neighbouring South Africa, which supplies the majority of Botswanas food. Farming is also under-remunerated because of the relatively strong Botswana currency due to diamond exports  which generally makes imports less expensive.

The economically rational thing for Botswana to do is simply exchange its revenues from diamonds, cattle and high-end ecotourism for food. And Botswana does have ample amounts of food, its just increasingly expensive. Therein lies the problem for this deeply unequal society. Climate change, the changing macroeconomic structure of the country and liberalised food markets are killing subsistence, dryland agriculture, the long time safety net of the poor. No amount of good governance and welfare payments to the poor can seem to solve the resulting hunger if the price of imported food continues to rise.

The economically rational thing for Botswana to do is simply exchange its revenues from diamonds, cattle and high-end ecotourism for food.

In many ways, Botswanas present condition could be a foreshadowing of the continent in 25 years time, if the region assiduously follows the advice of development practitioners. This should be a rosy picture. Well run, corruption free governments that judiciously manage export-based economies emphasising commodities for which they have a comparative advantage (gold, diamonds, oil, natural gas, platinum). In those areas of the continent not overly affected by climate change, agriculture adopts the full suite of New Green Revolution technologies (hybrid seeds, pesticides, fertilisers and irrigation) and large commercial farms produce the majority of food for significant urban populations.

But heres the rub. Resource-based economies are often undiversified and produce deep inequalities. Furthermore, high-input agriculture, while good at producing lots of food, is also heavily dependent on fossil fuel energy and only performed by wealthy farmers. As energy prices rise, so does the cost of food production. And the combination of expensive food and deepening inequality means that hunger will persist even if Africas leaders do everything right.

An Africa free from hunger requires a completely different approach to development. It means a move away from a productionist-based approach to agriculture (more is not always better), to thinking about farming as a livelihood that can sustain a segment of the population, provide fuller employment and buffer people from fluctuating global market conditions. African economies must also aggressively seek to diversify beyond resource exports. This will likely mean a return to some protectionism, and greater regional cooperation, so that new industries may be established. While diversity may be inefficient, it often produces more resilient economies that offer greater employment and a better distribution of wealth.

William G Moseley is a professor of geography at Macalester College in Saint Paul, MN, USA, and currently visiting scholar in the Department of Environmental Science at the University of Botswana, Gaborone.
New York, NY  Shortly after Fernando Lugo was elected president of Paraguay, I wrote an article outlining many of the challenges facing the countrys idealistic new leader. A man who never previously held elected office, Lugo had been a longtime political activist championing the needs of Paraguays landless peasants. Incensed by social injustice all around him, he spoke out against the countrys right-wing Colorado party. In a shot across the bow of vested elites, Lugo proclaimed his support for land reform.

That kind of talk did not go over very well among Paraguays right wing, which recently acted to remove the president in what is being seen as a possible coup detat. Following a skewed vote in the opposition-controlled Congress, Lugo was removed from office for allegedly encouraging land seizures. In an upset, Vice-President Federico Franco of the Liberal Party assumed the presidency.

Needless to say, however, the actual circumstances surrounding the land occupations are subject to some debate. According to authorities, peasant squatters opened fire on police as the security forces moved in to eject them. The peasants, however, claim that the police had in fact conducted a massacre.

Buildup, under the radar

Theres no evidence that the US played a role in the impeachment, though to be sure the US defence establishment had plenty of reason to be unhappy with Paraguays left-leaning president. Indeed, documents released by whistle-blowing outfit WikiLeaks show that, behind the scenes, US officials had misgivings about the Paraguayan leaders distancing from the US Southern Command.

Paraguay: Impeachment or political coup?

Even before Lugo came to power, Washington saw Paraguay as a key regional ally against leftist Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. Perhaps, Washington reasoned, the Pentagon could provide medical and humanitarian relief to impoverished Paraguayans. It all sounded relatively benign, though the Bush White House was careful to employ the stick, bluntly informing Asuncion that if the authorities failed to host US troops then Washington would cut off millions in aid.

In the event, such threats were probably unnecessary: a right wing Colorado government proved all too willing to comply, and, in May 2005, the Paraguayan Senate dutifully approved entry of US troops, granting the forces total immunity from local jurisdiction. A contingent of 400 Marines was deployed to the South American nation, with groups rotating in and out of Paraguay for a period of weeks or months.

Whats with the New Horizons programme?

Under the US Southern Commands so-called New Horizons programme, the Marines conducted medical readiness training exercises though farmer organisations were suspicious of US intentions. In an effort to get behind the story, writer and reporter Ben Dangl spoke with Orlando Castillo, a human rights campaigner associated with a local group called Service, Peace and Justice. According to Castillo, the medical training amounted to mere observation operatives aimed at identifying dangerous rural leaders.

Digging further, Dangl discovered that State Department reports didnt even mention funding for health works in Paraguay, though counterterrorism funding was shown to have doubled. Meanwhile, the deputy speaker of the Paraguayan parliament publicly admitted that of the 13 exercises going on in country, only two were of a civilian nature.

Despite such links, US Southern Command General Brent Craddock was careful not to take anything for granted. In July 2006 he visited Asuncion and met with government officials. In an encouraging development, Paraguays vice-president requested greater military cooperation. Other authorities, however, were more cautious, and expressed concerns about the delicate political environment and the potential Paraguayan Congressional resistance to the extension of immunities to US soldiers for a new round of exercises in 2007.

The head of Paraguays armed forces held Chavez in low regard, but said he was not prepared to defend US military exercises in Congress. In an ominous sign, the commander remarked that some retired officers and various groups  are supporting the Bolivarian movement in Paraguay, including Monsignor Fernando Lugos Citizens Resistance organisation. Chavez, the general complained, was trying to foment dissent in Paraguay, especially in the interior.

Despite such warnings, US officials were intent on pursuing the military relationship with Paraguay. We recognise some Paraguayan politicians oppose US military exercises, the US embassy noted, but share Gen Craddocks optimism about finding a way to retain the support we need in Paraguays Congress to continue the exercises on terms we find acceptable with regard to protections for our soldiers.

The turning tide

The political milieu was beginning to look rougher, however, and in a sea change, the Paraguayan Senate and executive branch, which had come under pressure from neighbouring left-leaning countries, rescinded legal immunity for the US Marines. Reportedly, the decision prompted US troops to leave Paraguay. Its clear from diplomatic cables, however, that military collaboration continued, albeit somewhat under the radar. According to the State Department, US Special Forces equipped and trained Paraguayan troops with the implicit support of the Asuncion government.

Washington, however, was concerned about what a Lugo presidency might mean for US interests. Shortly after Lugo was elected in 2008, the US ambassador sat down with the new president to discuss bilateral relations. As the conversation turned to military matters, Lugo reportedly recoiled and physically pushed back his chair. Reporting later to his superiors, the ambassador noted  perhaps somewhat charitably  that Lugos response to a possible military Status of Forces Agreement and a new DEA mobile phone intercept programme was hardly enthusiastic.

From there, things got even rockier. The following year, Lugo outright rejected a further US troop deployment under New Horizons. In a press conference, the president audaciously remarked that we dont see it as convenient that the Southern Command has a presence in Paraguay. Justifying his decision, Lugo pointed out that the South American Community of Nations or Unasur had questioned the wider US military role in the region. Foiled, US ambassador in Asuncion. Liliana Ayalde declared: Its a regrettable decision.

Political fallout

US officials were not the only ones to be disappointed by Lugos decision. Domestically, the presidents rejection of US forces caused a firestorm of protest from the right-wing opposition. Take Vice-President Federico Franco, who just recently took over the reins of power from Lugo during the impeachment or quasi-coup. He remarked: I am not in favour of prohibiting any type of assistance which might help to improve the health of the Paraguayan people.

Its no secret, however, that the US saw Chavez as a threat in the Southern Cone and recommended concrete steps to prevent the spread of South Americas left tide.

Meanwhile in Congress, the dreaded Colorado party railed against Lugo, arguing that it was inconvenient to cut military ties with the US at the precise moment that leftist Bolivia was building up its arms capacity. Others claimed that Lugos move was designed to placate Hugo Chavez and would only serve to undercut the Paraguayan armed forces.

Caught amid a political firestorm, the Lugo administration did its best to play defence. Foreign Minister Hector Lacognata remarked that his boss decision would not affect overall Paraguay-US relations. In private discussions with Washington, Lacognata reportedly said Paraguay was interested in deepening our mil-mil relationship, but that his country needed a break to mark a shift from the past administration. He apparently added that other US Special Operations units were welcome to stay in Paraguay.

Such promises notwithstanding, Hillary Clinton griped that the Lugo regime had been reluctant to provide a written request for assistance or to provide in writing status protections for US military personnel not accredited to the embassy. In her comments, Clinton almost seemed to throw in the towel, remarking that although it is important to continue to work with Paraguay and maintain the successful relationships that have been built, regional political sensibilities must be considered  the long-term presence of significant numbers of US Special Forces in Paraguay could engender negative regional reactions that would undermine regional policy objectives.

US strategy in the Southern Cone?

Since the WikiLeaks cache leaves off in late 2010, we dont have insights into Clintons more recent thinking; needless to say no-one has leaked information from the Pentagon that would illuminate the Paraguay imbroglio in greater detail. Its no secret, however, that the US saw Chavez as a threat in the Southern Cone and recommended concrete steps to prevent the spread of South Americas left tide. Take, for example, one cable emanating from the US embassy in Santiago, suggesting that Washington should enhance relations with regional military leaders who shared concerns over Chavezs rising influence.

In rebuffing the US, Lugo sought to break Washingtons big push into the Southern Cone, a trend which has received scant attention in the mainstream media. Just recently, as I pointed out in a column, the Pentagon sought to install a base in the remote Argentine Chaco region just over the border from Paraguay. Local authorities claimed the base was aimed at providing disaster and humanitarian relief. Amid a public backlash, the project was shelved, though it demonstrated that the Buenos Aires incident had little control over rogue provincial governors who had gone outside normal channels in approaching the Pentagon.

In neighbouring Chile, the Obama administration has fared somewhat better. Recently, the conservative Pinera government agreed to host US forces at a base in the coastal city of Concon. US troops, it is claimed, are in country to provide training in peacekeeping operations. Even tiny Uruguay, which forms part of South Americas left turn, recently hosted a contingent of US Navy Seals. The elite unit is ostensibly in country to train local forces how to board ships carrying illicit cargo and contraband.

Whatever the Pentagons official line about the role of its troops in South America, its clear just from looking at the map that the US has managed to encircle the regions populist left bloc, namely Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela. It is also apparent from WikiLeaks cables that the US views Brazil as a geopolitical rival in the region, and in the long term Washington might find that having a network of bases in surrounding countries serves its strategic objectives.

We may never get to the murky truth of Lugos removal from power in Paraguay. What is clear, however, is that by adopting such controversial positions Lugo further inflamed the right-wing opposition and discombobulated political elites in Washington.

Nikolas Kozloff is the author of Revolution! South America and the Rise of the New Left.

Follow him on Twitter: @NikolasKozloff
The Baltic states are again worried about Russias intentions, but this time they are ready to defend themselves.

On February 16, Lithuania celebrated the 99th anniversary of its restoration of independence in 1918, which was cut short by subsequent Soviet annexation after World War II.

However, since Russias occupation of Crimea in 2014 and its shadow war in eastern Ukraine, policy-makers and pundits have been asking whether the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are again at risk in face of Moscows rising ambitions.

The three European Union and NATO members share a border and a difficult history with Russia, and conflict in any of these states could lead to a direct confrontation between Russia and the West. As a result, both the Baltic states and their western allies have been trying to mitigate any potential threat and to bolster defences.

The Baltic states have reason to be worried about their large neighbour. They spent almost 50 years as forcibly annexed states of the Soviet Union  although most western democracies did not acknowledge the Soviet occupation  after having been conquered earlier by the Russian empire.

Their independence was recognised in 1991, but Russia has nonetheless tried to use its dominance in the energy sector to have economic influence over them, has sought to meddle in their domestic politics and has tried to stoke discord among their Russian ethnic minorities.

Russian intimidation

Unlike countries in which Russia has played a part in the creation of separatist territories and frozen conflict zones, such as in Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, and Azerbaijan, the Baltic states benefit from a completely different geopolitical standing.

As EU and NATO member states since 2004, they are firmly integrated into western institutions. Most importantly, as NATO members, they benefit from the collective defence clause of Article V of its charter, which means that an attack against one NATO member is considered to be an attack against all NATO member states.

Despite their firm integration into the West, the threat from Russia remains potent. In fact, in recent years Moscow has kept continuously intimidating the Baltic states by violating their airspace, launching snap military exercises near their borders, and even kidnapping an Estonian security official. Moscow has declared their independence from the Soviet Union illegal and even sought to persecute thousands of Lithuanians who avoided or hid from the Soviet draft following Vilniuss declaration of independence in March 1990.

Furthermore, as I discussed in my earlier work, there is an ever-present risk that Russia will try to use the Russian speakers and other minorities within the Baltic States for its own territorial ambitions. In all three countries, especially in Estonia and Latvia, there are sizable concentrated ethnic Russian populations living close to the borders of the Russian Federation.

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania will not be easy targets for Russia but it does not mean that their governments and western allies will not worry about their defence in the years to come. by

While Lithuanias Russian population falls just below 6 percent, with some living around the city of Klaipeda near Russias Kaliningrad territory, in Estonia and Latvia ethnic Russians represent about 24 percent and 27 percent of the population respectively.

In these two countries many of the minorities are concentrated near the Russian border  in Ida-Viru county, in Estonia, and the Latgale region in Latvia.

The Balts are keenly aware of all these risks and, as a result, they have pursued a number of measures to strengthen their territorial defence.

Bolstering defence

First of all, based on the perceived Russian threat and due to increasing calls by US President Donald Trump for NATO members to meet their commitment and spend 2 percent of GDP on defence, the Baltic States have been rapidly increasing their defence budgets.

Estonia is already one of the five NATO member states that spends 2 percent on defence, and Tallinn plans to spend even more.

Although Latvia and Lithuania currently spend 1.7 and 1.8 percent of GDP on defence, both countries have pledged to spend at least 2 percent by 2018.

To put their efforts into a perspective, over the past years Latvia and Lithuania have maintained the worlds fastest growing defence budgets.

OPINION: For Eastern Europe, Moscow is an existential threat

Furthermore, the military forces of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have witnessed notable changes. For example, in 2015 Lithuania has reintroduced conscription and has since enlisted some 3,500 young adults aged 19 to 26 to the military annually.

Although Latvia has no plans to reintroduce conscription and Estonia has never abandoned its mandatory conscription, both countries have witnessed a surge in popularity of voluntary defence organisations such as the Latvian National Guard and the Estonian Defense League.

Also, Lithuania has been gradually preparing for hybrid warfare scenarios. Since 2014, the Lithuanian government has issued lengthy manuals each year for its citizens, which explain what to do in the event of war, hybrid war, or another emergency situation.

These manuals provide advice on how to use simple camping and scouting equipment, how to spot landmines and even how to identify Russian military hardware.

Although not explicitly formulated, the strategy echoes the concept of total defence where the whole population could be mobilised to repel the aggressor.

READ MORE: US accelerates troop deployment to Poland and Baltics

The Baltic states have also seen support from their allies  particularly NATO. Earlier in 2016, NATO members agreed to deploy three multinational battalions of up to 1,200 troops each in the Baltic states, with Britain, Canada and Germany being the lead nations.

These multinational battalions will bring heavy military equipment, including tanks, armoured personnel carriers, fighting vehicles and other hardware with them.

In addition, the United States is conducting separate NATO missions in these countries, and hundreds of US troops and their equipment can now be found throughout the three Baltic states.

With a changing international environment and an increasingly aggressive large neighbour, the Baltic states are wise to be cautious.

Though they benefit from NATO membership and the security guarantees of its members, they have shown that they are serious about self-defence and bolstering their security.

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania will not be easy targets for Russia, but it does not mean that their governments and western allies will not worry about their defence in the years to come.

Agnia Grigas, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, is the author of The New Geopolitics of Natural Gas and Beyond Crimea: The New Russian Empire.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Trump and Netanyahu are trying to push a more blatant and legalised form of apartheid on the Palestinian people.

Thanks to the lovefest between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, ignoring the Palestinian national leadership seems to be back on the front burner.

During both leaders first meeting since the new United States administration took office, Trump repeatedly talked about the need for the Israelis and Palestinians to make peace but avoided mentioning the Palestinian leadership.

Apparently fearing the repercussions of Washingtons withdrawal of both support for the two-state solution and recognition of the legitimate Palestinian leadership, the US sent CIA chief Mike Pompeo to President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Tuesday, February 14.

By sending the CIA chief rather than a political figure to visit President Abbas, the US is prioritising security issues  including joint security cooperation with Israelis  over the need to recognise Palestinian political and national aspirations.

Trump also casually walked away from a long-standing US and international consensus on the two-state solution, which has been the foundation of Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Been there, tried that





The US presidents naive comment on the two or one-state solution  saying he can live with either one  means Washington is likely to prolong the status quo of occupation.

Ever since the 1967 occupation, the United Nations Security Council has repeatedly expressed the illegality of the occupation, as in the preamble of Resolution 242 emphasising inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war (PDF).

By leaving the solution to the parties while, at the same time, politically bypassing the Palestinian leadership, the Trump administration is empowering the Israelis to dictate to the Palestinians any deal they want.

The sheer reality of the Israeli occupation and the absence of any political solution is a reflection of how Israels current tactics have not been producing any results for decades now.

The problem is that Trump and Netanyahus warm relationship and the formers withdrawal of support for the two-state solution further weakens the US ability be an honest broker.

Hoping that Arab leaders will replace Palestinians and agree to make peace with Israel on behalf of Palestinians, is another mistaken proposal. As the saying goes, been there, tried that.

In the past, Arab leaders as well as Israeli and US leaders have tried to find an alternative leadership for Palestinians and have failed miserably.

For instance, Egypt and Jordan resisted pressures from Israel and the international community on who should represent the Palestinians in the 1970s, and in 1974 the Arab summit recognised the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

Netanyahu and Trump's approach to the issue is pushing the region towards a more blatant and legalised form of apartheid in which the Palestinian majority in the occupied territories is stripped off their political rights while Jewish settlers enjoy full political and national rights. by

After the 1967 occupation, Israel tried and failed to bypass the PLO by turning a blind eye to Islamic charities established by Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, and as a result Hamas was born in Gaza.

A similar attempt to undermine the Palestinian leadership took place in the 1980s in rural West Bank with the creation of an alternative to the PLO called the Village Leagues. This Israeli effort to alter the Palestinian leadership by appointing Palestinian collaborators also failed miserably.

The last time the US tried to bypass the Palestinians, it backfired spectacularly. Former US President George HW Bush  working with Secretary of State James Baker  pushed non-PLO Palestinian leaders to represent their people within a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation during the 1991 peace conference in Madrid. In response Israeli and PLO officials reached a secret deal in Oslo without the knowledge of Washington in 1993.

Permanent apartheid

Netanyahus conditions to accept a two-state solution expressed in the Bar Ilan speech in 2009 have now an added element which negates the idea of an independent Palestinian state.

Dropping the commitment to a two-state solution virtually means a permanent presence of Israeli troops within the entire Palestinian territory.

Unless four million Palestinians become avid Zionists overnight, it is unlikely that they will accept and recognise a Jewish state while agreeing to live without the same political rights granted to Jews.

Netanyahu and Trumps approach to the issue is pushing the region towards a more blatant and legalised form of apartheid in which the Palestinian majority in the occupied territories is stripped of their political rights while Jewish settlers enjoy full political and national rights.

The International Criminal Court describes this type of institutionalised discrimination as apartheid and sees it as a crime against humanity.

Moreover, the idea of a grand deal that includes Arab countries would similarly fail. Former US peace envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, Martin Indyk referred to the idea as an outside-in approach.

OPINION: Israel  An inspiration for Trump

Indyks proposal includes the idea of President Trump convening the leaders of the four Arab countries, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, along with the Quartet, made up of the European Union, the US, the UN, Russia, to announce a set of agreed principles that would serve as the terms of reference to direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiation to achieve a two-state solution.

Such a summit would certainly not produce the results that Netanyahu or Trump wants. The 2002 Arab peace plan is very clear that Arabs will only meet and normalise relations with Israel once Israel agrees to withdraw to the 1967 borders.

The Quartet  with the exception of US  would also reject Trumps casual idea of giving up on the two-state solution.

If Trump and Netanyahus meetings are expected to produce a political breakthrough, they should bear one basic principle in mind: The art of a deal requires that the dealmaker is honest and neutral, and parties in the conflict recognise and involve with each other.

If what we saw in the White House press conference is an indication, this prerequisite doesnt exist in the current US administration.

Daoud Kuttab, an award-winning Palestinian journalist, is a former Ferris professor of journalism at Princeton University.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
The 2017 protests in Romania mirror the 1989 ones. They both brought down a corrupt kleptocratic order.

December 21, 1989, University Square, Bucharest, Romania, in the dead of night. About 5,000 protesters were there, mostly young people. For years, Romanians lived in fear of the cold, of starvation, disease and darkness, while the Communist Party promised prosperity and material security. And yet, nobody was screaming We want food!, We want heat in our houses! or Medicine for all!

In front of tanks and machine guns, the people were proving that they didnt want to live as slaves of a dictatorship any more; they chanted Down with Ceaucescu!, Down with communism!, Freedom!





The parents of the teenagers in the street tried to stop them. Some of them would even lock the doors of their homes to stop their children from going out.

February 4, 2017, Victory Square, Bucharest, Romania. For the 200,000 people  mostly young people  the wage increases and tax cuts promised by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) ring hollow.

Again, after 27 years, they take to the streets in support of an ethical idea. Down with the thieves!, The DNA [the Anti-Corruption Prosecutors Unit] will get you!  they chant.

Today, there are no tanks or machine guns, but there are counter-demos. Parents are not locking up their disobedient children, but instead are out in the streets in small organised groups supporting the PSD and believing its promises of higher pensions.

The protesters of December 1989 fought against a communist dictatorship. Now, the protesters of the Light Revolution  which got its name from the sea of smartphones flashlights in Victory Square  are fighting against corruption, theft, and the lies of politicians.

OPINION: Romanias gift of hope to the world

Widespread corruption is a form of dictatorship which arose from Ceausism after 1989. Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescus nationalist communism gravely damaged the system of values of the Romanian nation. Too many members of the communist elite snatched power, money, privileges, and assets without giving back anything to the society or contributing anything of value to it. And too many ordinary citizens were not fairly rewarded for their hard work and contributions to society.

Now, the same is happening again. In communism, the false societal differences were made legal by the constitution and by political control over every facet of the Romanian society and state, including the judiciary.

And yet, this miraculous popular protest, unique in Romania's history, managed to achieve something great: the second and definitive fall of Ceausescu. by

In todays Romania, political and administrative powers are used for breaking the law through corruption and theft, for the same ultimate goal: money, privileges, and assets in huge quantities, placing the corrupt establishment above the honest humiliated citizens.

In the past few years the only effective opposition to the looting of Romanias national resources has been the judiciary, with the DNA at the forefront.

The counter-propaganda of those currently in power is very similar to that of Ceausescu. During his last few days, the tyrant declared that foreign agencies are fomenting and guiding the anti-regime protests. He refused to accept the idea that some Romanians did not love him and thus opposed him.

The president of PSD, Liviu Dragnea, and his ally, Calin Popescu Tariceanu, the senates president, declared that the hundreds of thousands of people in the street are manipulated by multinational corporations, foreign secret services, agents of the billionaire George Soros and the Romanian president of German origin Klaus Iohannis.

In spite of the temporary victory of the protesters who forced the government to retract the legal changes to the penal code they passed secretly to protect people who have abused power, similar amendments could still be reinstated by the parliament, which still dominated by the PSD.

OPINION: Romania: Keep the corrupt in jail, where they belong

Despite the massive protests, no one in the government admitted to making a mistake or accepted the blame for what happened. Not even the minister of justice did so  he simply said he is resigning because of public opinion pressure.

And yet, this miraculous popular protest, unique in Romanias history, managed to achieve something great: the second and definitive fall of Ceausescu.

From now on, in Romania, it will no longer be possible for decisions to be made and enforced through authoritarian means, circumventing the rule of law, the constitution and common sense. The Romanian people will be on their watch, ready to take to the streets.

Cristian Tudor Popescu is a Romanian writer. He holds a PhD in Media and Filmology.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Khartoum, Sudan  Before coming to Sudan, 33-year-old Weldezghi Tesfamaryam had plans for his future back home in Eritrea. He wanted to get married and aimed to enter politics to make a living.

I wanted to one day become the president of Eritrea, said Tesfamaryam.

These plans, however, seem far away now that Tesfamaryam is living in Sudan as a refugee, having travelled more than 1,500km away from his home city of Keren in Eritrea.

Now, living a cramped life of high costs and few opportunities, all Tesfamaryam wants is to make enough money to leave Sudan and move on.

I dont know where I will end up, though, said Tesfamaryam. I just need to keep at it. Eventually I will make it to America or Europe.

RELATED: Diaspora Eritrean rally against human rights abuses

Many people in Eritrea, a small African nation bordering Sudan and Ethiopia, have fled their homes in order to escape grinding economic conditions, human rights abuses and mandatory military service, which can last indefinitely.

According to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Khartoum, there are nearly 92,000 Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers in Sudan, as of May 31.

They are spread throughout nine camps and other urban settings. Every month, Sudan registers an average of 800 Eritreans seeking entry into the country.

Many of the people my age and those older left in search of better money, yes, but freedom and lack of fear is what we're eventually after. We lack those. The authorities are just too unjust, too invasive. by Hagos Gebreselassie, Eritrean refugee

However, UNHCR spokesperson Nicholas Brass said: The total number of Eritreans in Sudan is probably higher. We only record refugees and asylum seekers.

The Sudanese Commission of Refugees (COR) says Sudan, which offers a popular destination in the north, receives Eritrean refugees out of moral and even religious ethics and in keeping with the Geneva Convention of 1951 and its supplement, 1967.

The journey to Sudan, however, can be arduous and extremely risky for Eritreans, who are not allowed to leave the country without permission from the government.

Before arriving in Sudan, Hagos Gebreselassie, 24, spent just over a year in a number of prisons in Eritrea, having been convicted of trying to leave the country without government permission.

According to Gebreselassie, those who attempted to flee the country had done so because they faced the prospect of military service, which in Eritrea can last for an unlimited time and pays only $59 a month.

Refugees accounts bespeak repression and assaults on human dignity. Many of the people my age and those older left in search of better money, yes, but freedom and lack of fear is what were eventually after, Gebreselassie told Al Jazeera. The authorities are too unjust, too invasive.

In Sudan, refugee camps and the high costs of living can offer only the most diminutive forms of life for refugees and asylum seekers. For this reason, many pay smugglers to take them to urban centres in the country. Rent is extremely expensive here, said Tesfamaryam. Food is also very expensive. But this is a phase I have to go through.

A lack of opportunities has pushed many Eritreans to keep moving, with the goal of finding work in Libya or further beyond in Europe.

Because of this, the UNHCR office in Khartoum has made it a priority to address human trafficking. Last year, Sudan passed a law against human trafficking and has also hosted a conference, bringing East African and European countries together to address the issue.

The number of trafficking incidents reported to us has decreased thanks to [these] efforts, said Brass.

The Sudanese human trafficking law carries penalties that include imprisonment for periods ranging from 5-20 years as well as the capital punishment.

RELATED: UN report says Eritrea committed widespread abuses

In a quiet neighbourhood in Khartoum, Ikhlas, 46, has raised two sons. Now grown up at 22 and 16 years old, her children still live with her  and each coming year is an added pressure.

[My older son] now saves money to go to Saudi Arabia for work, said Ikhlas, who abstained from giving her last name. I wish he could stay here and get married, but the reality is I need his help so that his younger brother can finish his education.

Ikhlas younger son was born in Sudan, and she is saddened that neither of her children grew up in her home country. How I wish hed grown up in Eritrea, she said of her older son. But it was safer here.

Now, Ikhlas hopes that one day her sons will be able to return  or at least move on from Sudan.

I have lived here long enough to meet many of those who came and wished to travel, she said. Some were successful, some had given up and changed directions, and many still await their chance.

It is the last one that is the most painful thing, she added.
Militarys claim follows deadliest attack in more than two years in country, targeting Sufis in Sehwan Sharif in Sindh.

Pakistans army has killed more than 100 terrorists in less than 24 hours following a suicide blast at a Sufi shrine, the deadliest attack in the country in more than two years.

The killings, announced by the militarys media office, come amid calls for more security in the country following a string of recent attacks.

In a statement released on Friday, the military said: Over 100 terrorists have been killed since last night and sizeable apprehensions also made.

A day earlier, at least 88 people were killed and hundreds were injured when a suicide attacker targeted Sufis as they performed a devotional ritual at the famous Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sehwan, a town in the southern Sindh province.

READ MORE: Pakistan mourns attack victims as security stepped up

Army is for security, the military statement said. We shall not let the hostile agenda succeed whatever it may cost.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) claimed responsibility for Thursdays attack in Sehwan.

Earlier, Nawaz Sharif, Pakistans prime minister, said in a statement: It is time for us to unite and fight the radicals, wherever they may be  I direct and authorise my armed forces and law enforcement agencies to eliminate the enemy.

Afghanistan blame

Following the Sehwan Sharif attack, Pakistan closed two border crossings with Afghanistan.

Pakistan has repeatedly blamed Afghanistan for giving safe haven to fighters on its side of the border.

It doesnt help anybody to fixate on the problem of Afghanistan as being the only problem that we face, Mosharraf Zaidi, a former adviser to Pakistans foreign ministry, told Al Jazeera.

While there are groups that use Afghan safe havens, the core of problem Pakistan faces today is inside Pakistan.

Zaidi said the network of terrorists exists in this country and the solution is also inside Pakistan.

Thursdays attack came after one of the bloodiest weeks in recent memory in Pakistan, with more than 100 people killed in a series of attacks since Monday, the majority of which were claimed by the Pakistani Taliban or one of its factions.

On Monday, 13 people were killed in a suicide bombing at a rally in the eastern city of Lahore.

That attack was followed on Wednesday by a suicide bombing at a government office in the Mohmand tribal area and a suicide attack on government employees in Peshawar, killing six people.

Two police officers were killed on Tuesday while trying to defuse a bomb in the Balochistan provincial capital, Quetta.
Officials say incident near camp for displaced people resulted in deaths of seven people who tried to attack Maiduguri.

As many as seven suicide bombers, six of them women, have blown themselves up while trying to attack the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, according to emergency services officials.

Initial reports from Maiduguri had suggested a number of people were killed in the blasts near the Muna camp for displaced people shortly before 11:30pm (22:30 GMT) on Thursday.

But Mohammed Kanar, from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), said on Friday there were no civilian or military casualties, as the would-be bombers arrived after the 10pm (21:00 GMT) curfew.

People were indoors. There was no one on the streets, Kanar, who is NEMAs northeast coordinator, told AFP news agency.

None of the six female bombers succeeded in their attacks. They ended up being killed in the explosions.

A man who dropped them off in his car then tried to ram a military checkpoint was also unsuccessful.

He died in the process, said Kanar, referring to the man.

Similar account

Hamed Satomi, from the Borno state emergency management agency, gave a similar account, although he said there were only six bombers.

Both organisations were involved in the recovery of the bodies, they said.

The Borno state police had earlier said only one bomber was involved and that he had detonated his explosives among 13 trucks waiting to travel to the east of the state near the Cameroon border.

Victor Isuku, police spokesman, attributed the multiple explosions heard in Maiduguri to soldiers shelling suspected Boko Haram fighters outside the city limits.

The attempted attacks came after the departure of a high-ranking delegation of foreign officials to Maiduguri as part of efforts to secure greater funding to help those made homeless by the conflict.

Reports from the city also said a number of Nigerian air force aircraft were shot at in the remote region on Thursday.

Technically defeated

The incidents underline the continued threat from Boko Haram, which Nigerias military maintains is in disarray after nearly eight years of fighting and at least 20,000 deaths.

Despite the insistence that Boko Haram is technically defeated, there have been multiple suicide bombings against civilian targets, as well as attacks on police and soldiers.





The thousands of people living at the Muna Garage camp are especially vulnerable, given the lack of security and easy access to the site.

A multinational force of troops from Nigeria and its neighbours last year drove Boko Haram out of towns and villages in northeast Nigeria, but isolated attacks and suicide bombings continue.

In December, President Muhammadu Buhari said the capture of a key camp marked the final crushing of Boko Haram in its last enclave in Sambisa Forest, once the groups stronghold.

But since then, the group, which split into two factions last year, has stepped up its attacks.

One Boko Haram faction is led by Abubakar Shekau from the Sambisa Forest. Abu Musab al-Barnawi leads the other faction, based in the Lake Chad region, which allies itself to Islamic State or Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.

Boko Harams seven-year armed campaign has killed 15,000 people and forced up to two million from their homes.
Self-proclaimed breakaway region teaches children about citizenship and issues passports as it aspires to recognition.

The self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoples Republic, a breakaway region of Ukraine founded three years ago, has started taking steps towards creating a sense of nationhood.

Separatist leaders have drawn up a constitution for the DPR and the school curriculum was changed from Ukrainian to Russian last year.

Children are taught about citizenship and how they can contribute to and live in what leaders of the self-proclaimed republic hope will eventually be a widely recognised independent nation.

I think that this course on citizenship in the context of our new political system is very interesting for children, schoolteacher, Liliya Agorua, told Al Jazeera. It helps to form principles of citizenship, patriotism and self worth.

READ MORE: Inside Ukraines Donetsk Peoples Republic

Although not internationally recognised, DPR authorities have said they are trying to build a state for people who do not want to be part of Ukraine.

Russian-backed separatists and government forces continue to fight in eastern Ukraine, with little evidence of either side honouring an internationally brokered ceasefire.

The Ukrainian government describes Donetsk as land occupied by what it sees as terrorists. Russia, which the DPR relies on economically and for humanitarian aid, does not recognise it either but the region has become increasingly state-like, Stratford reported.

The DPR started issuing its own vehicle number plates in April 2015. The currency was changed from Ukrainian hryvnia to the Russian rouble in September the same year, and the DPR has even started issuing its own passports, he said.

More than 9,800 people have died since April 2014 in fighting in eastern Ukraine between government forces and separatists. Fighting on Donetsks outskirts escalated for several days earlier in February.
Elections, new constitution and governance to be on the agenda of forthcoming meeting in Geneva of Syrian factions.

The headline (Geneva talks unlikely to focus on transition in Syria), summary (Assad's future may be off the agenda at meeting of Syrian factions, with elections and governance set to be the focus) and first four paragraphs of the original version of this story have been amended to reflect more accurately information provided by the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Syria.

UN Security Council resolutions will form the specific basis of the forthcoming Geneva talks, the office of the UN special envoy on Syria has said, leaving open the question of political transition being on the agenda.

Staffan de Mistura, the special envoy, is due to convene the new round in the Swiss city on February 23, almost nine months after peace negotiations collapsed.

His office also confirmed on Friday that the focus of the meeting will be on governance, a new constitution and elections.

It stressed that the entire agenda for the Geneva negotiations will be framed by the broader corpus of Security Council resolutions.





In particular, Security Council resolution 2254 (2015), which has several references to transition, will provide the specific basis for the agenda.

A spokesperson said De Mistura was still finalising who would come to the meeting, but there were already positive responses to invitations that had gone out.

Countries opposed to President Bashar al-Assad, including the US, back efforts by the UN to broker a political solution to the conflict, Sigmar Gabriel, Germanys foreign minister, said on Friday.

It is clear that all who met want a political solution  and that this political solution must be achieved in Geneva under the auspices of the United Nations and that there cannot be any parallel negotiations, Gabriel said after a meeting in Bonn that included the US, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, France and the UK.

The countries were meeting for the first time since Donald Trump took office as US president in a bid to find common ground in advance of the Geneva meeting.

Gabriel said Rex Tillerson, the new US secretary of state, played an active role in the discussions about how to end the war in Syria, which took place on the sidelines of a meeting in Bonn, Germany, of G20 foreign ministers.

READ MORE: Syrias civil war explained

Tillerson, trying to reassure allies that the US was not tilting towards Russia over the Syrian conflict, told them that the US-backed UN efforts to broker a political solution to the war, officials and diplomats said.

He also said military ties with Russia depended on its stance towards rebels fighting the Assad government, whom Russia backs.

All eyes have been on the US and its approach to ending the violence in Syria, given promises by Trump to build closer ties to Russia.

Speaking alongside Gabriel, Jean-Marc Ayrault, Frances foreign minister, said the Geneva talks would ultimately fail if Russia did not use its influence on the Syrian government and Iran to stop labelling all those opposed to Assad as terrorists.

Parallel peace talks

On Thursday, Sergey Lavrov, Russian foreign minister, said the US supported Russian-sponsored parallel peace talks on Syria in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana.

Those talks ended with no joint communique, usually the minimum outcome of any diplomatic negotiation, and saw opposing Syrian groups trading angry accusations.

Russia proposed a series of parallel intra-Syrian negotiations in coordination with Turkey and Iran last year in Astana to reinforce a shaky ceasefire.





It has tried to expand the scope to cover political aspects, a move that has been criticised by Western and Arab states, who argue that UN efforts are the only credible track for a political solution.

With its show of military force, Russia changed the tide of the Syrian civil war. However, it is finding the next phase  brokering an end to the fighting  a tougher proposition.

Russias peace drive started hopefully, with the first Astana meeting in January.

The Syrian rebels and government came together for the first time in nine months, and agreement was reached to consolidate a shaky ceasefire.

But for the second round this week, the Syrian rebels debated until the eleventh hour about whether to attend at all, finally sending a smaller delegation which arrived in Astana a day late.

Bashar Jaafari, the Syrian government negotiator, said on Thursday that peace talks in Astana had not produced a communique because of the irresponsible late arrival of rebel participants and their Turkish backers which delayed the joint session by a day.

READ MORE: Will Assad ever be tried for his crimes?

He also criticised the rebels and Turkey for downgrading their delegations from the previous meeting.

Turkey cannot ignite the fire and at the same time act as a firefighter, he said after the talks.

The rebels, in turn, accused the Syrian government and Iran of routinely violating the ceasefire and Russia of failing to enforce it.

We know that the Russians have a problem with those for whom they are guarantors, Yahya al-Aridi, a rebel negotiator, said, referring to Iran and Assads forces.

No common ground

Haid Haid, an associate fellow with the Middle East and North Africa Programme at the London-based Chatham House, says the prospects of the Astana talks success were bleak due to virtually no common ground between Turkey, Russia and Iran.

Speaking to Al Jazeera on Thursday, he said: In order to implement the ceasefire, they have to punish those who violate ceasefires.

[But] Russia and Iran do not want to put any pressure on the Syrian regime  There are no enforcement mechanisms that could be a stepping stone to a political solution.

Five years since the civil war began, more than 450,000 Syrians have been killed in the fighting, more than a million injured and over 12 million Syrians  half the countrys prewar population  have been displaced from their homes.
Two border crossings with Afghanistan closed and at least 39 terrorists killed after attack at Sehwan shrine kills 88.

Islamabad, Pakistan  Pakistan has closed two of its border crossings with Afghanistan and demanded that Kabul takes action against 76 terrorists it says are hiding in Afghan territory in response to the worst attack on Pakistani soil since 2014.

At least 88 people were killed and hundreds more wounded when a suicide attacker targeted a gathering of worshippers at a shrine in the southern town of Sehwan on Thursday.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group claimed responsibility for the blast.

The shrine, built in 1356, is by the tomb of Syed Muhammad Usman Marwandi, the Sufi philosopher poet better known as Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, one of Pakistans most venerated saints.

On Friday, Pakistans military said Afghanistan must take immediate action against the 76 people identified to them.

Pakistan-Afghanistan Border closed with immediate effects till further orders due to security reasons.  DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) February 16, 2017

Afg Embassy officials called in GHQ. Given list of 76 Ts hiding in Afg. Asked to take immediate action / be handed over to Pakistan.  DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) February 17, 2017

Security officials told Al Jazeera that at least 39 suspected fighters had been killed in security raids carried out overnight in response to the attack.

Thursdays attack came after one of the bloodiest weeks in recent memory in Pakistan, with at least 99 people killed in a series of attacks since Monday, most claimed by the Pakistani Taliban or one of its factions.

On Monday, 13 people were killed in a suicide bombing at a rally in the eastern city of Lahore.

That attack was followed on Wednesday by a suicide bombing at a government office in the Mohmand tribal area and a suicide attack on government employees in Peshawar, killing six people.

Two police officers were killed on Tuesday while trying to defuse a bomb in the Balochistan provincial capital of Quetta.

Border closure

Al Jazeeras Kamal Hyder said the second major border crossing at Chaman, which leads to Kandahar in Afghanistan from the Pakistani city of Quetta, was closed on Friday after the Torkham border was sealed off late on Thursday.

In Sehwan, meanwhile, police cordoned off the shrine early on Friday as forensic investigators arrived.

The floor of the shrine was still stained with blood on Friday morning as dozens of protesters pushed past police pickets demanding to be allowed to continue to worship there.

At least 20 children are believed to be among the dead, the head of Sehwans medical facility, Moeen Uddin Siddiqui, said.

At 3.30am, the shrines caretaker stood among the carnage and defiantly rang its bell, a daily ritual that he pledged to continue.

The Sindh provincial government announced three days of mourning as Pakistanis vented their grief and fury on social media, bemoaning the lack of medical facilities to help the wounded, with the nearest hospital around 70km from the shrine.

All shrines in the province have been closed, a decision that prompted furious reaction from protesters in Sehwan.

Give us the charge of the mazaar [shrine], we will take care of it rather than the police, a shopkeeper said.

Keeping it closed is unfair to the people of Sehwan. We can take care of our own place. We can do everything to protect it.

Afghan role

Pakistans military has long blamed the Afghan government for allowing sanctuary on its soil to fighters targeting Pakistan since a 2014 Pakistani military operation to drive out armed groups from the countrys restive tribal areas.

Recent Ts acts are being exec on directions from hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan. We shall defend and respond, Asif Ghafoor, Pakistans military spokesman, said on Twitter.

Afghanistan denies the charge, accusing Pakistan in turn of allowing leaders of the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network armed groups to roam freely on Pakistani soil.





Pakistan denies this, but several high-profile Afghan Taliban leaders have been killed or captured on its soil, including former chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a US drone strike last year.

Pakistani Taliban leaders have similarly been captured or killed on Afghan soil.

Following the attack in Lahore, the Pakistani Foreign Office summoned senior Afghan embassy official Syed Abdul Nasir Yousafi.

Afghanistan was urged to take urgent measures to eliminate the terrorists and their sanctuaries, financiers and handlers operating from its territory, according to a Foreign Office statement.

Analysts, however, warn that amid this war of sanctuaries between Pakistan and Afghanistan, armed groups are being left to their own devices.

Since the launch in 2014 of a military operation in the tribal area of North Waziristan  then-headquarters of the Pakistani Taliban and its allies  the Pakistani military says it has killed more than 3,500 fighters and destroyed Taliban infrastructure.

At least 583 soldiers have also been killed.

Since then, violence had decreased markedly, but sporadic high-casualty attacks continued to occur, notably a hospital bombing killing 74 in Quetta and an Easter Day park bombing that killed more than 70 last year.

Thursdays attack was the deadliest in Pakistan since December 2014, when fighters assaulted a school in Peshawar, killing 154 people, mostly schoolchildren.

With additional reporting from Wali Muhammed in Sehwan
Day after deadly ISIL attack, more than 100 gather to wash blood-soaked floors of the shrine and continue ritual.

Islamabad and Karachi  Sufi devotees have returned to their shrine in Pakistans southern Sindh province less than a day after it was targeted in a suicide attack, in defiance of ISIL which claimed the bombing.

Thursdays blast , which killed at least 88 people and wounded hundreds as they performed a ritual, was the worst attack on Pakistani soil since a 2014 school attack in the northwestern city of Peshawar, which killed at least 154, mostly children.

On Friday evening, about 150 residents of the southern town of Sehwan returned to the shrine of Syed Muhammad Usman Marwandi, better known as Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, a revered 13th-century Sufi philosopher and poet who is venerated by millions across South Asia.

Caretakers washed and cleaned the white marble floors, which were streaked with blood and scattered debris, as others prepared for the evening ritual of the dhamaal  a form of devotional percussion and dance.

As the drums began, the faithful raised their arms and began the ritual, moving rhythmically to the quickening beat.

This is Lal Shahbaz Qalandar , any terrorist, any number of terrorist attacks will not scare us. The dhamaal will continue, and must continue, said Ali Otho, a worshipper.

This is Lal Qalandar Shahbaz, any terrorist, any number of terrorist attacks will not scare us. The dhamaal will continue, and must continue by Ali Otho , worshipper

Devotees said they would not allow anyone, attackers nor police seeking to secure the location, to stop them from praying at the grave of their patron saint.

This is no place for the police, said Haja Shah, one of the shrines caretakers, with tears in his eyes. This is our place.

Security forces, meanwhile, launched a series of raids following the attack, killing at least 100 people , all identified as terrorists.

Al Jazeera was unable to independently verify that figure, which was cited in a military in a statement on Friday.

The raids followed the closure of Pakistans border with Afghanistan , where the government says Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other armed groups enjoy safe havens.

On Friday, Pakistan handed Afghanistan a list with the names of 76 terrorists, demanding immediate action be taken against them.

The terrorists in hiding were planning, directing and supporting fighters across the border, the statement explained.

In a call to the commander of the US-led NATO force in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, Pakistani army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa hinted at the possibility of pursuing operations within Afghan territory if action was not taken.

Such terrorist activities and inaction against them are testing our current policy of cross-border restraint, Bajwa said , according to a statement.

Wave of attacks

Armed groups such as the Pakistani Taliban and others have often targeted shrines for not conforming to their strict, literalist interpretation of Islam .

In November, ISIL, or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group, claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a shrine in a Balochistan town, killing at least 52 people.

Thursdays attack was the latest in a wave of violence this week that has claimed more than 100 lives.

On Monday, at least 13 people were killed when a suicide attacker targeted police at a protest in Lahore , the countrys second-largest city.

On Tuesday, two police officers were killed while trying to defuse a bomb in the southwestern city of Quetta.

On Wednesday, two suicide attacks in the northwestern city of Peshawar and the Mohmand tribal area claimed at least six lives.

On Thursday, in addition to the 88 killed at the shrine, at least seven security forces personnel were killed in two separate attacks in Dera Ismail Khan and Awaran.

Roots of violence

Much of that violence, with the exception of Thursdays attack on the Sufi minority, was claimed by the Pakistan Talibans Jamaat-ur-Ahrar faction, which has worked with ISIL, also known as ISIS, in the past but remains separate from it.

Pakistan has underestimated the potential for ISIL here, Zahid Hussain, a veteran Pakistan journalist and security analyst, told Al Jazeera.

Authorities always said that ISIL could not create an organisation here, but there are already organisations operating in Pakistan that agree with their ideology, like the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and others.

Pakistan has repeatedly blamed Afghanistan for giving safe haven to fighters on its side of the border, and vice versa.

However, analysts say that trading blame is proving counterproductive.

The real issue is that the attacks are happening here. The networks are here, the facilitators are here  it is a flawed view that all of these attackers are coming from Afghanistan, said Hussain.

The people are here.

Mosharraf Zaidi, former adviser to Pakistans foreign ministry, told Al Jazeera: It doesnt help anybody to fixate on the problem of Afghanistan as being the only problem that we face.

While there are groups that use safe havens in Afghanistan, the core of problem Pakistan faces today is inside Pakistan.

The network of terrorists exists in this country, he explained, and the solution is also inside Pakistan.

Hussain said while a Pakistani military operation has succeeded in dislodging the Pakistani Taliban from its headquarters, the groups networks with other armed groups  including those targeting minorities and Indian security forces in Kashmir  remain intact.





This is not unexpected because half-hearted measures always lead to these situations, he said.

The real issue was the network of militants in the heartland, in the main cities. They were intact, and even though we have been hearing reports of thousands arrested  what happens to them?

Hussains views were echoed by Ijaz Khan, a professor at Peshawar University and security analyst.

What happened when [the military operation] started: terrorists of different organisations felt the pressure and some of their safe havens were destroyed, he told Al Jazeera.

Sounding a warning of further attacks, he said: They were dislocated, but not finished. Now, they have regrouped themselves.

With additional reporting by Wali Muhammed in Sehwan








Addressing voters and businesses, former Labour PM backs effort to temper terms of, or even halt, Britains EU exit.

Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, has called on voters, businesses and campaigners in the UK to rise up and back a coordinated effort to temper the terms of, or even halt, Britains EU exit.

Blair said on Friday that the Conservative governments drive to leave the European Union at any cost would hurt future generations and damage the unity of the country itself.

Last years vote to leave the 28-nation bloc was based on imperfect knowledge and Britons made their decision without knowing the true terms of Brexit, he said in a speech in London.





As these terms become clear, it is their right to change their mind, said Blair, the former Labour leader.

Our mission is to persuade them to do so.

Blair spoke on behalf of Open Britain, which is campaigning for the governments Brexit legislation to be amended to ensure that parliament has proper scrutiny over any deal that Theresa May, UK prime minister, negotiates with EU leaders.

Among the groups goals is for Britain to remain part of the blocs single market, guaranteeing unfettered access to 500 million people.

While supporters oppose any attempt to slow the drive toward Brexit, calling that undemocratic, Blair argued that the people have a right to change their minds.

The leave campaign benefited from a mood of revolt stemming in part from changes in the global economy, but such opinions are not set in stone, he said.

READ MORE: Brexit  The English gamble

The Brexiteers were the beneficiaries of this wave. Now, they want to freeze it to a day in June 2016, he said.

They will say the will of the people cant alter. It can. They will say leaving is inevitable. It isnt.

It was not immediately clear how much support Blair may have in creating a wave of sentiment against Mays plans.

The once-popular Labour Party leader suffered a fall from grace after he supported the US in its intervention in Iraq.

Turn off the TV

Dismissing Blairs speech, Boris Johnson, the UK foreign minister, told the BBC that people should rise up and turn off the TV when Blair comes on.

Blairs intervention reflects the bitter divide that has gripped Britain since the June 23 referendum.

While 51.9 percent voted to leave the EU, the terms were not specified and May has been reluctant to discuss her plans, fearing it will hurt the UKs bargaining position.

Many in this country of 64 million have expressed disquiet at the potential consequences.
White House dismisses AP report of draft memo calling for many troops to help crack down on undocumented immigrants.

US President Donald Trumps administration has denied reports that it is considering a proposal to mobilise as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to crack down on undocumented immigrants, including millions living far from the Mexico border.

A draft memo written by John Kelly, US homeland security secretary, which was obtained by the Associated Press and released by the news agency on Friday, called for the unprecedented militarisation of immigration enforcement as far north as Portland, Oregon, and as far east as New Orleans, Louisiana.

The report was revealed shortly after Trump launched a campaign that has resulted in hundreds of undocumented migrants being detained by authorities across the country.

In the leaked proposal, four states that border on Mexico included California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas  but it also encompasses seven states contiguous to those four  Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Report 100 percent false

For his part, Sean Spicer, White House spokesman, said the AP report was 100 percent false and irresponsible.

There is no effort at all to utilise the National Guard to round up unauthorised immigrants, he said.

Governors in the 11 states would have a choice whether to have their guard troops participate, according to the memo.

While National Guard personnel have been used to assist with immigration-related missions on the US-Mexico border before, they have never been used as broadly or as far north.

IN PICTURES: US immigrants stay at home to demonstrate their value

The memo is addressed to the then-acting heads of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and US Customs and Border Protection.

It would serve as guidance to implement the wide-ranging executive order on immigration and border security that President Donald Trump signed on January 25. Such memos are routinely issued to supplement executive orders.

Also dated January 25, the draft memo says participating troops would be authorised to perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension and detention of aliens in the United States.

It describes how the troops would be activated under a revived state-federal partnership programme, and states that personnel would be authorised to conduct searches and identify and arrest any unauthorised immigrants.

AP said its requests to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security for comment and a status report on the proposal were not answered.

The draft document has circulated among DHS staff over the last two weeks. As recently as Friday, staffers in several different offices reported discussions were under way.

If implemented, the impact could be significant. Nearly one-half of the 11.1 million people residing in the US without authorisation live in the 11 states, according to Pew Research Center estimates based on 2014 Census data.

Use of National Guard troops would greatly increase the number of immigrants targeted in one of Trumps executive orders last month, which expanded the definition of who could be considered a criminal and, therefore, a potential target for deportation.

That order also allows immigration agents to prioritise removing anyone who has committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offence.

READ MORE: Protests over detention of immigrants across US

Under current rules, even if the proposal is implemented, there would not be immediate mass deportations. Those with existing deportation orders could be sent back to their countries of origin without additional court proceedings. But deportation orders generally would be needed for most other unauthorised immigrants.

The troops would not be nationalised, remaining under state control.

The 287(g) programme, which Trump included in his immigration executive order, gives local police, sheriffs deputies and state troopers the authority to assist in the detection of immigrants who are in the US illegally as a regular part of their law enforcement duties on the streets and in jails.

The draft memo also mentions other items included in Trumps executive order, including the hiring of an additional 5,000 border agents, which needs financing from Congress, and his campaign promise to build a wall between the US and Mexico.

Allowing guard troops to operate inside non-border states also would go far beyond past deployments.

In addition to responding to natural or man-made disasters or for military protection of the population and critical infrastructure, state guard forces have been used to assist with immigration-related tasks on the US-Mexico border, including the construction of fences.

Last week, ICE officers arrested more than 680 people around the country in what Kelly said were routine, targeted operations; advocates called the actions stepped-up enforcement under Trump.
Algeria puts more troops on its border with Mali to deter armed groups fleeing from the war in the West African state.

The Algerian army has beefed up its positions on the border with war-torn Mali to prevent incursions by armed rebels fleeing north, an official in the southern town of Tamanrasset said.

The army has been deployed on the border for a while, but reinforcements have been sent since the beginning of the war [in Mali]. Its about preventing the infiltration of terrorist groups, Mohamed Baba Ali, a member of parliament in the garrison town told the AFP news agency on Monday.

Without these reinforcements, there would have been terrorist incursions from northern Mali.

Algeria, which had always opposed military intervention in Mali, was reluctantly drawn into the conflict when it agreed to let French warplanes use its airspace, and closed its 1,400-kilometre southern border shortly afterwards.

On Sunday, the governor of Adrar, a town 1,400km southwest of Algiers whose region shares the longest section of border with Mali, said the authorities had registered no Malian refugees since the border closure.

Air strikes

The army reinforcement on the border comes as French warplanes have been pounding targets around Kidal in northern Mali in an effort to defeat rebels who have retreated from urban centres to mountainous areas, French officials said on Monday.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the air strikes were aimed at cutting off supply lines to the rebels.

Its about destroying their rear bases and their storage facilities, he told France Inter radio.

Fabius said French troops could soon start withdrawing from the recently liberated town of Timbuktu, where French President Francois Hollande received a rapturous welcome on a visit Saturday.

It could happen very quickly, Fabius said.

The latest air strikes have targeted the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains north of Kidal, the only major town not under government control which is held by Tuareg separatists from the MNLA movement.

The Algerian government has been tight-lipped since France launched major air strikes on Sunday near Kidal, the last bastion of armed extremists being targeted in northern Mali as part of a French-led offensive which began on January 11.
National Assembly president crosses into Burkina Faso after being stripped of immunity over alleged role in network.

The president of Nigers National Assembly has fled the country after his immunity was lifted in a baby trafficking scandal that has shaken the countrys political class.

Hama Amadou fled for neighboring Burkina Faso on Wednesday, according to a statement on state television, just hours after the parliament said he could be investigated.

His wife Abdou Labo, who is also the countrys agriculture minister, and 16 other people have already been arrested over suspected links to a network trafficking babies from neighbouring Nigeria via Benin.

It is with a heavy heart ... but we consider that it's our duty. by Daouda Mallam Marthe, a vice-president of the National Assembly

Amadou, who was tipped as the leading challenger to the current president, Mahamadou Issoufou, in elections in 2016, has denounced the probe as politically motivated.

Tidjani Abdoulkadri, of the Democratic and Social Convention party, said the investigation was breach of parliamentary rules, which do not allow for parliament to order the arrest of a deputy.

Politicians earlier justified their reasons for supporting the lifting of Amadous immunity to prosecution.

We think that for the honour and respectability of our institution, he must make himself available to the judicial authorities, said Mohamed Ben Omar, a member of parliaments political bureau, which authorised the investigation.

We must not risk breaking the equality of citizens before the law. In the same case, Nigeriens are languishing in prison for months.

It is with a heavy heart that we have taken this difficult decision, but we consider that its our duty, added Daouda Mallam Marthe, a vice-president of the National Assembly with the ruling Niger Party for Democracy and Progress.

The alleged crime involves forging and altering birth certificates to switch the names of mothers.

Networks which allow young girls to sell their newborns to couples who are unable to conceive are regularly found in Nigeria.

The babies are sold for several thousands of dollars, with most of the money going to middlemen.
In this UpFront special, a transatlantic panel debates the growing appeal of populist leaders on the right.

Across the globe, right-wing populists are riding high  from Brexit, to the election of US President Donald Trump, to the possible rise of Marine Le Pen. Is this the dawn of a new nationalist era and how worried should we be?

New York University history professor and expert on fascism Ruth Ben-Ghiat says weve reached a point where people are being fed narratives.

I think were definitely living in a new era, says Ben-Ghiat, author of Italian Fascisms Empire Cinema. Were also being fed a series of crisis narratives by the new right, which would like us to be in a new era where everything is decaying and they are the answer; they are the saviours.

For senior Haaretz correspondent Anshel Pfeffer, the identity politics of populism have been a constant presence, but have only recently intensified.

Its not a new phenomenon, says Pfeffer, also a correspondent for the Economist. But what were seeing now  the way its being used in a much more amplified way over the various modern ways that we have had communications, especially social media  takes this to a much more populist form of politics than weve had in the past.

Shadi Hamid, a senior fellow at Brookings Institution, likens the new populist wave to the Middle East.

I remember listening to one of Trumps rallies and thinking to myself, he has a very hypnotic way of speaking, says Shadi, author of Islamic Exceptionalism. We might hate what he says, but there is a charisma that we have to acknowledge, and he taps into the  darker aspects of the human psyche.

Thats something that Arab autocrats or various Islamist groups in the Middle East have been doing for a long time.

But for Martin Quencez, a fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, we shouldnt rush to associate leaders like Trump and Le Pen.

I would actually be very cautious not to link all these different elections, says Quencez. I think there are some similarities between these different countries, but generally speaking, we have to take into account the national singularities.

In this UpFront special, a transatlantic panel of academics and journalists examine the populist and nativist wave.

Follow UpFront on Twitter @AJUpFront and Facebook.
In an attempt to alter its reputation as a space catered to educating the youth, one UF museum is offering adults a chance to leave the kids at home and indulge in its exhibits after dark.

As part of its 100th anniversary in May, the Florida Museum of Natural History is hosting adult-only classes, art and science camps and other events to encourage adults to get involved with the museum, said Tiffany Ireland, the museum educator. The museum saw a recent trend of more adult visitors, so it wanted to provide more opportunities for them to visit.

One event, the Kid-Free Camp for Grown-ups, will give participants 18 years or older free reign of the museum, including nighttime walks in the outside nature area.

We started these programs because we get parents coming in and picking up their

kids saying, I wish I got to go to camp, she said. Now the adults get to, too.

Participants must be 18 years or older and are required to pre-register, Ireland said. Prices range from $20 to $40 and are discounted for museum members.

On Valentines Day, the museum hosted an adults-only trivia night, Ireland said. More events are scheduled for March.

I hope (adults) remember how much fun they had learning as a child, she said. But it doesnt stop. They should always keep learning.

Ali Gadapee, a museum member, said out of the five years she has been a member, this is the first time its done anything like this. She agreed that theres a need for events marketed toward adults.

Its something different to do, other than going to dinner or a movie, she said. Its nice to do something creative and learn something that maybe youve forgotten.

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A UF student riding a scooter was hit by a car Friday near Turlington Plaza, suffering minor injuries to her leg.

Meredith Huggins, a UF applied physiology and kinesiology junior, was hit by the white Honda Civic at about 1:20 p.m., right before class was let out.

Her leg was caught between the scooter and the car. Huggins was unable to stretch her leg from its bent position when EMTs asked her. The student was transported to UF Health Shands Hospital with minor injuries, University Police spokesperson Major Brad Barber said.

About 100 students on Turlington witnessed the crash, and several called police and helped lift Huggins from the road to the sidewalk.

UF spokesperson John Hines confirmed Higgins was a student.

UPD has not determined who is at fault for the crash, and an investigation is ongoing, Barber said.

UF spokesperson Steve Orlando was talking with UF journalism professor Mike Foley when he heard the impact. Orlando called 911 soon after.

It sounded like a crunch, Orlando said.

Orlando said the car was turning left onto Turlington Plaza when it hit Huggins.

Clare Roca, a 21-year-old UF public relations junior, said she didnt know Huggins but instinctively went to help. Roca has been trained in CPR and first aid.

I just knew that nobody else was going to go up to help, Roca said. The bystander effect, so thats why I went up.

Roca said the driver of the car sat for a while and seemed to be in shock.

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Ashli DeFina, a 20-year-old UF communication sciences and disorders junior, was walking by when she saw Huggins Gator backpack and blond hair. DeFina, who knows Huggins from their cheer club at UF, ran forward to see what was happening.

The fact that she didnt straighten out her leg was a little scary, DeFina said. You support your cheer friends no matter what.

rellenbogen@alligator.org

@romyellenbogen

mkornfield@alligator.org

@merylkornfield

An EMT responds to Meredith Huggins who was hit by a car while on her scooter. She had leg pain and struggling to straighten her leg.
A group of UF students is gathering signatures for a petition against fracking in Florida, with plans to present it to a Florida senator Tuesday.

The student organization UF Catalysts for Change has collected about 300 signatures over the past two weeks in support of their petition to ban fracking in Florida to avoid the risk of contaminating drinking water and harming natural landscapes, said Sophia Semensky, the organizations vice president. On Thursday, the groups members stood on Turlington Plaza asking students to sign their petition.

A proposed bill in the upcoming Florida legislative session looks to ban all fracking in the state. The group said it hopes to get the petition to Sen. Rob Bradley, a Republican representing District 5 and a member of two environmental committees, who hasnt taken a public position on fracking.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves injecting water, sand and chemicals underground to create fractures in rock formations, which allows natural gas and oil to be released, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Supporters say fracking increases production and lowers energy costs, but opponents argue it can affect water supplies and cause environmental damage.

Semensky, an 18-year-old UF exploratory freshman, said she stood for two hours on Turlington asking students to sign the petition, which said, Please put the safety of our drinking water before the profits of oil & gas companies.

We want to make as many people aware as possible before the legislative session, she said.

Tuesday, members of the club will travel to Starke, Florida, to meet with Bradleys legislative assistant and present the petition, which will hopefully have 400 signatures, she said.

Evan Shapiro, a UF political science senior, signed the petition Thursday.

I watched the documentary Gasland, and I dont want my kitchen sink to light up on re because fracking caused tap water to contain chemicals, the 22-year-old said. I hope all the senators vote against fracking.

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A night downtown ended abruptly when a Gainesville man was arrested for driving while his blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit, Gainesville Police said.

Police pulled Douglas Alan Marsh, 33, over Thursday for driving without headlights on, according to a police report.

During field sobriety tests, Marsh staggered and stumbled, and his eyes were red and watery as he slurred his speech, according to the report.

Im too drunk to drive, he admitted after performing poorly on field sobriety tests, according to the report.

He was taken to the Gainesville Police Department for a breathalyzer test, and his blood alcohol level was .304, according to the report.

Marsh had about three shots and four beers before he got into his gray 1994 Honda Passport at about 1:28 a.m. Thursday to give a woman a ride home from the bar, according to the report.

Earlier in the evening, he went to MOJO Hogtown Bar-B-Que, a downtown restaurant and whiskey bar, before he met with the woman at Durty Nellys, an Irish pub, according to the report. The woman said she noticed Marsh have a few drinks but got a ride home because she was drunk.

Police arrested Marsh on a charge of driving under the influence. Authorities took him to the Alachua County Jail, where he was released on his own recognizance Thursday afternoon.

As of press time, Marsh could not be reached for comment.

Contact Catherine Dickson at cdickson@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @ced0624

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After a 50-hour search for a plane that went missing over the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Coast Guard suspended efforts to locate the plane and its passengers Tuesday.

The Coast Guard and volunteers searched 2,016 square miles after the plane and its three passengers went missing Sunday, Coast Guard spokesperson Michael De Nyse said.

Jasper Jerrels of Brooksville, Florida, his 17-year-old son, Dylan, and Jerrels fiance, Hue Singletary, were flying to Cedar Key, Florida. It was a trip Jasper Jerrels had made many times, said Juday Bason, Jerrels cousin.

Jerrels, 65, was scheduled to land his Piper Cherokee aircraft Sunday afternoon but never showed, De Nyse said. On Tuesday, Jasper Jerrels body was found and later identified by the Levy County Sheriffs Office. Debris and an aircraft seat matching the description of the planes interior were also found, but there was no sign of the other two passengers.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family at this time, he said. If we get any information that could lead us to where we think these people are  and alive  that

opens up a whole new avenue of search possibilities, he said.

Bason said although Jerrels has been flying for about 20 years, he hadnt been flying very much recently after the death of one of his daughters.

UF student Mohammed Bhadelia, 19, said he was surprised after hearing that the plane went missing because its something that happens so infrequently.

When he was a junior in high school, he began to train for his pilots license, he said. He remembers learning how to manage a plane in a dangerous situation, but hes not sure what he would do if he were in one.

If I was up there and something started going wrong and I couldnt fix anything, Id just be confused, the UF management sophomore said.

Although the Coast Guard stopped its search, local rescue teams continue to look for Jerrels son and Singletary in Levy County, Bason said.

Weve got a lot of people praying, she said. He was a very good person with a very close- knit family. He will be missed.

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Contact Molly Vossler at mvossler@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @molly_vossler
Women who have made their way to the top of the professional food chain did so by shattering through the tenacious glass ceiling that prevents women from climbing up the rungs of the corporate ladder.

Women who have made it to the top did not make it there by chance. They made it there through undying perseverance, devotion and tenacity. Their accomplishments are nothing short of monumental and should never go unrecognized or uncelebrated. To these women who have managed to find themselves covered in shards of glass and dominating the professional world, I must say two things. First, congratulations. You are an inspiration to driven and hopeful young girls everywhere. Second, please do not screw up.

When women are put into positions of power, they have more to uphold than their own reputations. Not only are powerful females routinely judged on a much less forgiving scale than their male counterparts, but they are also seen as a reflection of their gender as a whole. The misogynistic and narrow-minded individuals who believe that women dont belong in boardrooms or on the Congress floor will bite at any bait given to them that will further support their antiquated thoughts.

For some reason, these misogynists like to group women together. It seems they have this mentality that tells them, If one woman did it, all women must do it. Although this could not be further from the truth, this misconstrued logic has been spewed out time and time again by those who consider female leadership to be inferior to the leadership males can provide.

This illogical explanation for keeping women at the bottom of the totem pole is exactly why successful women need to be alert and on their toes at all times. When a woman makes a mistake, she sets all women back. No matter how much I wish this not to be true, this is the reality that we face, and as unfair as it may be, women who have made it owe it to those of us who are still climbing to not screw up.

When Kellyanne Conway makes up massacres or Hillary Clinton deletes some emails, it doesnt just hurt their careers; it hurts all of ours. When Hillary Clinton lost the election, many people blamed it on her gender, saying women dont have what it takes to lead our nation. Unfortunately, every mistake made by Conway will be used to keep women from becoming presidential counselors, and every slip-up of Clintons will be used to keep women out of the Oval Office for years to come. It is unfair, it is sexist and it is disappointing, but it is also reality.

In our society, if you are a woman and you have made it to the top, you had better be near perfect. If youre not, you will be ripped apart, and all other women will be flung even further below the unwavering glass ceiling.

I realize that expecting all successful women to maintain a flawless record is a bit extreme; they have already done so much and worked so hard to get where they are. I do not wish to undermine their achievements. I hope one day we can live in a nation where gender is not stereotyped and women and men can lead side by side. However, until women have a majority or even an equality with men in the professional world, this is the existence that we have to deal with.

Abigail Miller is a UF journalism sophomore. Her column appears on Fridays.

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English News Trump era a continuation of a traditional order, decades in the making

Alwihda Info | Par Info Alwihda - 17 Fevrier 2017





Former Black Panther chairperson Elaine Brown dismisses the distinction between this individual president and that individual president in the USA. For her, they are all there to protect the interests of the American government as it exists in service to the American corporations. They are the spokespersons for the big rich man who have control of this country.



Far from being an agent of change, even past president Barack Obama was the pawn of globalized interests, according to author Naomi Wolf. The problem is not left or right. The problem is that whoevers in the White House has very little room to move.



Brown and Wolf speak out in the second and final episode of Al Jazeeras The Big Picture series, The People vs America, which provides a critical look at both George W Bush and Obamas presidencies and how they contributed to the growing distrust of established authority in the USA, paving the way for the election of Donald Trump.



American historian Michael Kazin recalls the initial optimism that greeted Obama. He was eloquent. He was African American. He was an intellectual and professor He seemed like the harbinger of something really new.



Brown adds, It didn't occur to anyone that one of the reasons that Obama could even get this far was that he had to be totally, totally immersed in and protected by a very big cartel of rich people.



As Pulitzer Prize winner Chris Hedges points out though, the warnings were there for anyone who looked. Obama spent two years, only two years, in the Senate. His voting record, which is the only thing that should have counted, was one corporate giveaway after another.



Obamas presidency began with the fallout from the 2008 credit crash. In dealing with this, he turned to established stalwarts linked to Wall Street, such as former US Treasury Secretaries Lawrence Summers and Robert Rubin, rather than independent experts. Similar establishment figures and Wall Street insiders were appointed to investigate the reasons for the financial crisis, leading former Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer, Gary Aguirre, to state, So any progress against Wall Street is dead on arrival. According to the senate investigations committee, the financial fraud crimes of the crisis cost the US $21 trillion. Nobody from Wall Street goes to prison. Nobody. No-one.



Voters promised Change We Can Believe In instead discovered it was business as usual under Obama. We saw how it was rigged with the crash, says sociologist Juliet Schor. The people who caused the problem got bailed out to the tune of billions and billions and billions, where the ordinary homeowner - no help for them whatsoever. And that fueled so much anger.



The People vs America also highlights Obamas crackdown on whistleblowers, such as Edward Snowden, who in 2013, was charged under the Espionage Act for revealing the extent of secret domestic surveillance of US citizens by the US secret services. Obamas administration would invoke the Espionage Act against a further eight US citizens accused of leaking classified information  three times more than all previous administrations combined.



Obama also signed into law Section 10-21 of the National Defense Authorization Act, enabling the indefinite military detention of US citizens without trial, with no charges against them and no evidence of a crime having been committed. Hedges sued Obama over this, winning the initial case in the Southern District Court of New York before the decision was overturned on appeal, a reversal supported by the Supreme Court.



Wolf says she was in the courtroom in downtown New York and heard with my own ears Judge Forest ask Obamas lawyers, Does this mean that you, the President, can arrest a reporter for interviewing a member of al-Qaeda? Right, just interviewing, which is what reporters are supposed to do. The lawyer said, Yes, we can arrest Chris Hedges. We can hold him forever without charge or trial.



Like Trump, Obama came to power in response to a will for change, but the critical voices in The People vs America claim both presidents actions suggest rather a continuation of a traditional order, decades in the making.



Watch and embed part one, which documents how appeals to race and populism are old strategies used by Presidents from Richard Nixon to Bill Clinton, athttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tockq20KyqU.



Watch part two of The People vs America tonight, Friday, 17 February 2017, at 2000 GMT/2100 EAT / 2200 CAT / 2300 EAT, after which the full episode will be available on YouTube.



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Edgardo Antunano is leading a team in Texas and Brian McGonagle is promoted in Florida.



Team Worldwide, a freight forwarder and 3PL company, opened a team branch office in McAllen, Texas, on Monday under the leadership of Edgardo Antunano.

Antunano (pictured above), a 24-year veteran in transportation and global logistics, joined forces with custom house brokers in the McAllen and Reynosa, Mexico, border area under the umbrella of Team Worldwide.

Antunano and his group operate a 70,000-square-foot facility in McAllen that offers transborder service northbound and southbound and a 63,000-square-foot multiclient storage depot in Monterrey, Mexico.

We are excited to welcome Mr. Antunano and his team to our Team Worldwide family. TEAM recognizes the importance of transborder relationships in global trade. With Mr. Antunanos many years of experience and commitment to customer service, Team Worldwide customers can expect superior transborder services and a very knowledgeable, capable team to assist them with all of their transportation needs, said Jason Brunson, president and chief executive officer of Team Worldwide.

The Lee County Port Authority (LCPA) has named Brian W. McGonagle division director of administration.

The division oversees the areas of air service development, communications and marketing, finance, human resources, information technology and properties for Southwest Florida International Airport and Page Field in Fort Myers, Fla.

McGonagle joined LCPA in 1997 as a budget analyst, was promoted to manager of budget and accounting and then named director of finance in 2004. Prior to joining LCPA, McGonagle worked for more than 12 years in accounting and finance at the Bank of Boston. He started his career as a cost accountant for United Airlines flight kitchen in Boston.
The left as represented by todays Democratic Party has failed to be truthful, just, loving, kind, and respectful of our Constitution and Judeo-Christian morality. The Democratic Party has moved by stages from the Old Left, to the New Left, to the New New Left, where it is today. In the New Deal, or Old Left, the socialist ideals of Eugene Debs and the liberal fascism of Woodrow Wilson began to be integrated. Union organizing was legitimized during the New Deal, unemployed workers were given higher priority, and wage and price controls were attempted. Further, federal attempts at control over private enterprise intensified. Later, the hegemony of New Deal thinking was challenged. The Henry Wallace wing of the Democratic Party in the 1940s coalesced with Students for a Democratic Society in the 1960s to challenge the New Deal version of the Left that was represented by Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey. That leftist coalition against the Old Left became known as the New Left. It coalesced around opposition to the Vietnam War and support for the more violent Black Power movement led by Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, H. Rap Brown, and Stokely Carmichael.

Gradually, the New Left became ascendant in our institutions of higher learning, but meanwhile a militancy and grassroots antagonism towards capitalism and individualism continued to grow in the body politic and among the students. The New New Left added in homosexuality, feminism (gender equality so-called), and a dogma of America as the "land of exploitation" replacing the prior dogma (which was closer to the truth) of America as "the land of opportunity." The New New Left is more militantly anti-white.

The New New Left has attacked the idea that there is one human nature that makes moral choices, an idea common to religion, which projects a sinful human nature that must be corrected and/or atoned for by intervention of Almighty God. But the idea of one human nature also is held by atheistic Freudianism which describes a dynamic of the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind governed by a series of psychic mechanisms that seek higher and higher levels of integration of the ego, superego, and id. The New New Left instead has a determinism based not only on economics, as with the original Marxists, but also on race and gender, which have been suppressed by a white, male hegemony as well as by bourgeois economic values of private property, family, and corporate forms of organization.

For most of the left today, the history of the U.S. is now considered a history of genocide, racism, and assaults on the poor workers, and those even below the workers like the unemployed and the physically and mentally disabled (all of these formerly called the lumpen-proletariat by the original Marxists) by money and status hungry white males. Howard Zinns best-selling leftist textbook The Peoples History of the United States, used in U.S. History courses in colleges and universities throughout our land, is but an introduction to the more extreme views held by todays left-wing. To the left, money and status hungry white males have almost enslaved women and people of color within our borders and around the world. Programs like unemployment insurance, welfare, Section 8 housing, Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, Aid to Dependent Children, and WIC are all belittled by the left as stopgap measures that are woefully inadequate and ultimately unable to shore up a failed capitalist system.

It is common today to see the leftist agenda referred to in articles and books as "secular humanism." But the New New Left, with its neo-neo-Marxist/Maoist dogma is more severe and far-reaching in its criticism than secular humanism. For one thing, it has a vision that is not humanistic in the classic, post-Renaissance use of that term such as might have been applied to Desiderius Erasmus as a 16th century Christian humanist or Abraham Maslow as a 20th century secular humanist. The New New Left dogma presents a clear and present danger to every independent thinking, creative, moral, and decent individual living in our society in that it literally calls for a defiance and destruction of the system. It is a species of leftism that is more associated with anarchism such as we saw at the end of the 19th century.

The anarchism that led to the Haymarket Riots and violent strikes in the 19th century USA, and to the Russian Revolution were not ignored by right-thinking leadership of the USA in the early 20th century. They perceived that the violent incidents in the USA might be a prelude to the revolutionary upheaval we saw in Russia. Therefore, in 1921 and 1924, despite the beginnings of the administrative state with its entrenched bureaucracies and the frightening Leviathan of the Federal Reserve System, the country was still sufficiently rational and republican (small "r") to pass immigration laws that curtailed massive immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe because of fears -- legitimate fears -- of the entrance of anarchists, and particularly of communists who would violently try to overthrow our government. But these new immigration laws were not effective in keeping out the leftist ideas that were being promulgated in Europe.

Radical leftists began to understand that violent revolution by the working class (proletariat) was not going to be the basis for anti-capitalist revolutionary change. Rather, revolutionary change (not reform) would only come about through a change in the hegemony of certain cliques within the capitalist, individualist system as found in Europe, and especially the USA. Left-wing intellectuals then mobilized themselves to this goal of overthrowing the existing hegemony and replacing it with a new revolutionary neo-Marxist hegemony. Antonio Gramsci and the Frankfurt School of sociologists and psychologists, many of whom emigrated to the U.S. from Europe, thus posited a new cultural Marxism for our society. Under the guise of escaping Nazism, many of these brilliant, well-connected individuals were able to gain entrance to the USA. A different species of Marxists emerged in our culture, the "cultural Marxists." The New New Left is culturally Marxist to its core.

What then does the New New Left want? The left does not want our constitutional system. The left does not want federalism. It does not want three branches of government. It does not want checks and balances. The left does not want private enterprise. It wants a one-world government based on Marxist principles as found in various forms of updated (cultural) Marxism. Such a government (you or I might call it a dystopia) is, for them, not fettered with "bourgeois values." The New New Left, as with previous formations of the left, is hypnotized by Jean-Jacques Rousseaus belief that Man is born free, but is everywhere in chains. To the left, our government and socioeconomic system is hopelessly naive and regressive. It is actually exploitative and tends to perpetuate an unjust status quo.

We are facing a cultural tragedy right now. The Democratic Party, one of two great parties of the USA, has been co-opted by the communist ideologues, the power mad neo-neo-Marxists, in our political and intellectual establishment.
The left and its echo chamber are convinced they are taking out Trump. It's their "narrative" and they actually believe their own PR. They dont see how they have driven themselves over the edge of reason and can no longer convince others. The only people they have convinced are themselves -- of their own righteousness. And they actually believe they have succeeded.

Again.

This echo chamber once held great power. They used to be able to form "narratives," ( activist storylines to decide and interpret news), persuade the powerful, and terrorize the right. They could make most Republicans quake just by pulling out the race card or the half dozen other narrative cards they have used for so long. The chamber was constructed over decades. Leftist educators and pols used this Alinskyite playbook to ascend to power, and damn, they were good at using it. One of their pols, or media stars would say something, often perfectly false, and voila! the media, and their fellow Democratic Party pols would echo it and repeat it so much, it would literally become true in the minds of the majority of the public. The ideas that Republicans were racist, or against science, or had brazenly ruined the environment, are great examples of what they accomplished.

Now, the echo chamber is losing its power. The tricks the left used to nominate and elect a man who literally had no business running for any office -- that's President Obama, who had no qualifications for the office - no longer work. These same tricks were used to try to elect Hillary, they even doubled and tripled their usage of the echo chamber. Yet Trump is now president instead of Clinton.

However, we now have a more sinister power rearing its ugly head in the out-of-control leftists embedded deep in the heart of our intelligence agencies,and bureaucracies. Trump is now fighting a multiple-front war for his transformative agenda. He is facing an unhinged left, some remaining obstructionist fools in the GOP establishment, and a malevolently powerful deep state itself.

Of course youre now saying, Look at what they did to General Flynn, and what theyre doing to the Trump reputation! Theyre just as powerful as ever!

I would counsel a little patience here. Just because the Democrat/media complex is in full, swashbuckling, weve-stormed the castle, were-going-to-impeach him-mode is no reason to panic. None of us should be pleased with the ousting of General Flynn, but lets recognize that we dont really know the story of what happened, or why. We can be relatively certain that the media doesnt either, and that they have it out of proportion. The left is blowing its own opportunity by hyper-exaggerating their case. Put their yelping together with the clear and obvious intent to have Trump impeached one month into his presidency, impeached for virtually anything he does, for anything they disagree with, and its clear that this will go nowhere. Literally all of them are over the top with shriekings such as this:

Its worse than Watergate, they were bought and paid for by Russia hacking the election, they installed everyone Putin wants in the cabinet. Flynnpeachment. Plus Trump hates puppies. And moms.

Patience. Theyre discrediting themselves daily. It may not be fun watching just how hysterical they act, but theyre not going to win this.

There are several reasons the left's capacity to take out Trump will not work. The first has been mentioned: The echo chamber is out of gas, its hyperbole is way beyond believable, and their petulance and anger is obvious. Like in the Wizard of Oz, they dont realize Toto has torn the curtain away, and were seeing who is behind that curtain.

The second reason: The Trump team is implementing its agenda one step at a time. The administration is actually doing what they promised they would during the campaign. Shocking, I know. In spite of the Democrats' obstruction, Trump has done more in a month than most thought was possible. Judging from their resolve, they arent going to stop. They are not cowed, they are not dissuaded from what they see as their mission to bring America back.

The third reason: The Trump voter is still engaged. Not only are they engaged, they are doubly thrilled that he isnt backing down to these people. They arent so much seeing the bumps in the road or the obstacles the left is throwing out, they are just seeing an administration that is fighting for them, and it energizes their own determination to fight, too. Because the Trump administration is serious about its promises, it is earning the loyalty of those who have supported them. This is a movement of principle, and the principles stood for are being followed, they are being implemented.

George W. Bush lost the loyalty of the Republican base, very quietly for two reasons. First, he was unwilling to engage the left and fight back against their outrageous claims. It became his big weakness. Most of us were unsettled by it, quietly realizing that he was not defending our support for him, and we waited, hoping for him to change. In his second term, he once and for all lost a huge amount of his support when he crossed the aisle, and joined the Democrats to cram the amnesty for illegal immigrants bill down our throats. He actually called his own base bigots for favoring rule of law.

After that he was toast. Much like his dad had done, he betrayed the principles that had elected him. By losing us, he lost his legacy.

Not so with this administration. They will not only survive this attempt to take them down, they will likely come out on the other side more empowered than ever. It is a shared resolve between them and their supporters.

Last night the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes announced how concerned he was with the illegal actions of the deep-state intelligence-community leakers, and that they would be looking at how to find them and stop them. It was clear from that that the House leadership is standing firm. They appear to understand the battle. Rather than accept the premise that Trumps administration had sold out to Russia, they are going after the leakers. The Senate Republicans may be waffling for now, as they are unfortunately following the Bush methodology, but that is likely to change as they react to the following when:

The Trump administration wins in the end with its travel restrictions.

They fashion a better system of vetting those who would come here.

Neil Gorsuch gets confirmed in the midst of Democratic Party caterwauling.

The wall being planned gets started.

Criminal illegals are deported.

Members of our military and local police know they have the support of the White House leadership and are happier.

Our new Health and Human Services Secretary follows up on finishing off Obamacare.

Business prepares for deregulation, stays here, and comes home.

The Prime Ministers of Japan, Canada, and Israel are all smiling warmly.

Energy pipelines are approved and the energy independence of the U.S. is advanced.

Trump schedules a new rally campaign to remind us of all the stakes.

Last but not least, Jeff Sessions is getting the lay of the land at the Justice Department. More than anyone else, he will be the key to rooting out the new foe we are calling the deep state. They will not stand. They will lose, because Sessions will ferret out the wrongdoers, and follow the right principles until they are in place.

So take heart. Against such formidable principles and resolve, a shrieking left and hyperbolic left will not prevail.
Editors note: A fine piece of journalism on the takeover of Wikipedia by leftist thought police, intent on purging any availability through it of certain dangerous conservative sources. Our satirist friend Oleg Atbashian of the Peoples Cube suffered banishment because the last thing leftists have is a sense of humor about themselves.

Because of his suppression, he was contacted by a journalist from a Dutch language Belgian news site in Brussels called Sceptr. That writer, Thomas Panis, produced the article below, translated into English, through the efforts of Oleg and a Dutch-speaking friend with the help of Google Translate: (note: authorship has beeen corrected)

Wikipedia purges politically incorrect newspaper 'The Daily Mail'

By Thomas Panis

An influential group of Wikipedia editors decided last week no longer to accept the British right-wing newspaper 'The Daily Mail' as a reliable news source. The organization behind Wikipedia (The Wikimedia Foundation) claimed initially that it had no hand in this decision.

Such cases are usually decided by an online discussion, in which each Wikipedia member can participate, but the final call is made by the more experienced 'editors' of a higher grade (called "closers"). In order to climb up the 'Wiki hierarchy' and be a 'closer', you have to be nominated by other members based on your previous work for the website.

As a result of the above decision, articles from The Daily Mail can no longer be used as evidence of "notability," which is the main criterion for admitting a topic on Wikipedia. In a nutshell, if some facts are mentioned in this newspaper (the second largest tabloid after The Sun in the UK), but they are not covered by other media outlets, such facts are no longer accepted as independently proven and, therefore, can be removed from Wikipedia without much difficulty by any user willing to do so. The group of Wikipedia editors who decided to purge The Daily Mail have also made a call for a thorough overhaul and the purging of all existing 12,000 linked references to The Daily Mail articles.

Yet Wikimedia supported the purge

Kalev Leetaru, an employee of Forbes, contacted the Wikimedia Foundation, which finally had to admit that the founder of Wikipedia (Jimmy Wales) definitely had supported the decision to ban The Daily Mail. Leetaru raises further questions about the organizational structure of Wikipedia, where a small group of anonymous and privileged editors can place a large news site on the banned list, without any possibility to challenge this decision by the countless users on the lower rungs of the 'Wiki hierarchy. The fact that 80 to 90 percent of editors are men, according to him, shows that the website does not score high in diversity.

Wikipedia is the sixth most popular website in the world and has 500 million unique visitors every month. In principle, anyone can customize each item on the site at will. Cases of vandalism or questionable content are subjected to detailed discussions and the judgment is taken by a "committee" of more experienced users.

One such committee, ArbCom (Arbitration Commission) of the German Wikipedia, fell apart in December, 2016, as a result of leftist activism. Someone had discovered that an ArbCom member held membership in the German right-wing party, AfD, and the latter was told to resign. When the AfDer refused to step down, arguing that the AfD is not considered "dangerous" by the state's security services, his identity (Magister) was disclosed, followed by the resignations of several leftist anti-AfD members from ArbCom, in a move that disabled the Arbitration Committee by leaving it without the quorum for making case judgments.

Remarkably, the AfD member was not accused of making errors in Wikipedia; his only error was being a member of a party that was not appreciated by some other members of ArbCom. Die Welt described the incident and pointed to the politicization of Wikipedia, but the title of the piece was worded as "Does the German Wikipedia have an AfD problem?"

Prejudiced Wikipedia?

Conservative circles, especially in the US, have long been accusing Wikipedia of bias. Some disgruntled users have set up Conservapedia.com, as you may have guessed, in order to provide a conservative counterweight. They compiled a list of examples of (mostly left-wing) bias in Wikipedia. Often it is about subtle differences: the page about the former Chilean president Augusto Pinochet (as it exists today) mentions that his government was a dictatorship, while Fidel Castro's page says that "critics say he was a dictator."

Another recent example is a complete removal of the right-wing satirical website ' The People's Cube ' from the Wikipedia pages because of a perceived "lack of noteworthy sources." The owner of the website, the conservative author Oleg Atbashian, tells PJ Media how all information about him and his work was removed because it was largely based on references by right-wing bloggers and radio talk show hosts (such as Rush Limbaugh and Michelle Malkin, who are well-known among American conservatives).

Wikipedia's continued exclusion of newspapers such as The Daily Mail can have grave consequences. Given the immense popularity of the Wikipedia site, this can seriously undermine the global reputation of "politically incorrect" brands.
An atheist teacher in a Florida middle school complained on an atheist Facebook page that she was being "harassed" and "bullied" by students who would invite her to church events and loudly say "God bless you" when someone sneezed.

The school district is looking into the matter because the teacher used disparaging comments in her Facebook postings to describe her students.

Washington Times:

Susan Creamer, a teacher at Merritt Brown Middle School in Panama City, took to the Atheists of Bay County's private Facebook page to vent her frustrations about students in her class who invite her to church or teasingly yell "God Bless You" when someone sneezes, EAGnews.org reported. "There is a bevy of boys in one of my classes (middle school) who are taking turns either inviting me to their church or leaving (anonymously) flyers inviting me to church events. Today, I found one on the A/V cart I use for a podium," Ms. Creamer wrote, according to a screenshot published by NBC News affiliate WJHG. "Every time any child sneezes, they loudly say 'God bless you!' and look in my direction. I have complained twice to my principal  one last month and once today," she continued. "She has spoken privately to one or two of the little cretins, but it seems to do NO GOOD. I am feeling bullied and harassed. It has become intolerable. I don't feel like talking with the parents will stop the inappropriate behaviors because, for all I know, the parents are encouraging them." The Atheists of Bay County page is closed to members only, and Ms. Creamer didn't name the students or the school she worked for in her post. Karen Tucker, a spokeswoman for Bay District Schools, told the Northwest Florida Daily News that it is against school policy to criticize students on the internet. "I don't think it matters (if the page is closed), because eventually someone else is going to see it posted, which is what happened," she said. "People were re-posting. If you said things on there, which she did, about students, no, I don't think it matters." Ms. Tucker said Human Resources is investigating the post, along with other comments made by Ms. Creamer on the Atheists of Bay County page, the Daily News reported. In an official statement, the district said it does not "condone the use of disparaging comments about our students in any form, on any social media platform or in any school." "Unfortunately, like any other organizations of our size, we have had to address these issues occasionally with our employees," the statement said.

There is no reporting on what precipitated the razzing from students. How do they know she's an atheist? Almost certainly because she told them. Many atheists use disparaging language to describe the religious beliefs of others, and it wouldn't surprise me a bit if that were the case here.

Even so, the problem isn't the kids "bullying" the teacher; it's the teacher's lack of control in her classroom. Has she tried to discuss the issue with students, or did she simply run to the principal and ask her to take care of it? Perhaps she should also change her attitude toward students of faith and respect them for their beliefs. She might be surprised to get some respect for her beliefs in response.
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said NATO allies should not cave in to U.S. demands that European nations spend more on their defense because "development" and "humanitarian aid" can also be included in defense spending.

This is the same argument Europe has been making since Ronald Reagan was jawboning NATO to up their contributions to the alliance back in the 1980s.

Juncker was responding to a recent statement by U.S. defense secretary James Mattis, who, in a visit to Europe, warned that the U.S. could scale back its commitment to NATO if other countries did not pay their fair share. Juncker's whining is classic.

Reuters:

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies on Wednesday that they must honor military spending pledges to make sure the United States does not moderate its support. "It has been the American message for many, many years. I am very much against letting ourselves be pushed into this," Juncker said in a speech on the sidelines of the international Munich Security Conference. He said he knew that Germany would no longer have a budget surplus if it increased defense spending to 2 percent of GDP from 1.22 percent. "I don't like our American friends narrowing down this concept of security to the military," he said, arguing it would be sensible to look at a "modern stability policy" made up of several components. "If you look at what Europe is doing in defense, plus development aid, plus humanitarian aid, the comparison with the United States looks rather different. Modern politics cannot just be about raising defense spending," he said. "Europeans must bundle their defense spending better and spend the money more efficiently," he added.

So-called "soft power" doesn't buy any weapons. Nor does "humanitarian aid" add to the defense of Europe in any way, shape, or form. Ask the Ukrainians how that "soft power" is working out for them. Or the Georgians. Or the Baltic states who feel threatened by a revanchist Russia.

It's loony to believe that development and humanitarian assistance contribute to collective security as much as weapons, trained soldiers, and a coherent strategy. It's not reality  it's an excuse.

How sorry do you feel about Germany losing its budget surplus if the Germans spend what they agreed to spend on defense? These numbers were not imposed by the U.S. Germany agreed to spend 2% of its GDP on defense, and the Germans are way, way short of that. Whose fault is that? Certainly not the U.S.'s.

In may not be the best time for NATO to be having these internal squabbles, but given the lack of a clearly defined mission for the world's oldest military alliance, perhaps it's best to get the issue of collective defense spending settled now rather than during a crisis.
Poor David Plouffe! His secret lobbying of his old Obama White House colleague, current Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, was never supposed to become public. If only two pesky open records lawsuits hadn't forced the mayor to disclose hundreds of private emails in which he conducted city business in secret. Darn those sunshine laws!

Bill Ruthhart and Hal Dardic of the Chicago Tribune report:

A former Uber senior executive who once served as Barack Obama's campaign manager has been fined $90,000 by the Chicago Board of Ethics for illegally lobbying Mayor Rahm Emanuel on behalf of the ride-sharing company. The board voted 5-0 to find that David Plouffe violated city ethics rules by failing to register as a lobbyist after contacting Emanuel to help the company on regulations for picking up travelers at Chicago's two airports.

Boy-faced Plouffe during the 2008 campaign.

When an email from November 20, 2015 was coughed up by Rahm into the public domain, it became clear that Plouffe was operating as a lobbyist without the legally required registration and disclosure:

"Assume both of us thought the airport issue was settled and we would never have to discuss again, but unfortunately two significant new hurdles were introduced," wrote Plouffe, the political strategist who managed Obama's 2008 presidential campaign and in 2015 was Uber's senior vice president of policy and strategy. "Coming to you because of their severity that would prevent us from operating. We were all set to announce Monday we were beginning pickups." "Sure this comes as much of a surprise to you as us, since there was an agreement in place," Plouffe wrote. "I hope we can resolve these issues before the holiday. Our team is eager to move forward and begin operating at the airports in advance of the Thanksgiving holiday  as you called for and we'd like to deliver on the schedule for you." Emanuel, who was traveling at the time, quickly responded. "Please speak to Negron and David on my staff. Impossible for me to address from China," wrote Emanuel, referring to Michael Negron, the mayor's chief of policy, and David Spielfogel, then his senior adviser. Plouffe's communication with Emanuel came as City Hall had weighed how to regulate the emerging ride-share industry, eventually settling on rules that are less stringent than those placed on the city's taxi companies. The mayor's brother, Hollywood talent agency CEO Ari Emanuel, is an investor in Uber.

All in the family, so to speak, and no reason to let the public in on the cozy relationship. Well, except for the law...

That pesky law that forces these issues into the public sphere, at least under lawsuit, if not daily practice. That makes what happened next questionable:

Last June, aldermen attempted to pass stronger regulations on ride-sharing companies to even the playing field for the taxi industry, only to have them watered down. When aldermen pushing for the stronger rules, which included fingerprinting drivers, tried to use a parliamentary maneuver to delay the action, Emanuel threatened to adjourn the City Council meeting. In the end, the watered-down version Emanuel preferred remained intact.

So Rahm played hardball to protect his brother's investment and his White House colleague's client. It pays to have friends and relatives, especially in Chicago.

But because of those pesky public disclosure laws:

In its final determination to issue its reprimands, the Board of Ethics stated that both Uber and Plouffe "do not dispute the allegations" of violating the city's lobbying ordinance or contest the possibility of a fine. Uber and Plouffe argued he should only be subject to a $1,000 fine, according to the ethics board. The city's ordinance, however, calls for a $1,000 fine for each lobbying violation and that "each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate and distinct offense to which a separate fine shall apply." The board handed down a $90,000 fine because Plouffe did not register until April 13, 2016, long after the five business day requirement for registration after he first lobbied Emanuel. The fine reflects the 90 business days he was not registered after first contacting the mayor.

Don't worry about Plouffe (rhymes with "fluff"). He has already landed a new gig. Check out Mark Zuckerberg's own Facebook post:

Priscilla and I are excited to announce that David Plouffe is joining the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to lead our policy and advocacy effort and Ken Mehlman will lead our policy advisory board. Our approach at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is to bring engineering to social change. We build tools to bring personalized learning into more schools and help scientists cure all diseases in our children[.]

"Bring engineering to social change" has an ominous ring to it, doesn't it? As is, for instance, censoring the viral spread on Facebook of news that is not congenial to the mentality of Plouffe, Emanuel, Zuckerberg, and company.
Videos on social media showing French police fleeing the scene of riots in Paris show just how close the city is to descending into total chaos.

The violence stems from an incident early this month, where a 22-year-old black youth named Theo was allegedly beaten and raped by police with a truncheon.

Mobs of "immigrants" have torched cars, smashed windows, and assaulted bystanders.

This Twitter video clearly shows police fleeing for their lives from the mob.

En direct d'Argenteuil ya 15min pic.twitter.com/fpRmgLwATy  Younes 1x (@_youunes) February 15, 2017

Breitbart:

Hundreds of violent thugs took to the streets on Wednesday night near the Barbes Metro station, close to the major transport hub Gare du Nord. Windows were smashed, shops looted, fires lit, main roads blocked, and police cars targeted during the disturbance. According to Le Figaro, the destruction is getting worse. At the beginning of the week, on the nights of the 12th and 13th, 32 vehicles were burnt out. On the 14th and 15th, some 47 cars were destroyed by fire as well as 59 bins. Police appeared to have completely lost control at times, with unverified videos surfacing on Twitter of officers being chased out of certain neighbourhoods by rioters. An officer at the scene said: "Windows have been smashed and officers attacked. Small groups of protesters wearing hoods to hide their identities are causing trouble and then running away. "Everything is being done to try and disperse the crowds, but this could go on for a long time yet." There has been heightened tension on the council estates of Paris since the 2nd of February, when a 22-year-old youth worker named Theo was allegedly beaten up and raped with a truncheon by police.

We've seen this sort of violence in Paris before. It doesn't take much to set off the mob, and when the government responds the way it has, the rioters become emboldened.

French President Francois Hollande has appealed for calm and visited the victim in hospital, where he has undergone emergency surgery. Theo also made a plea from his hospital bed for calm as the attacks continued to spread. Last week, on the 7th and 8th, riots occurred across numerous north-eastern Paris suburbs associated with social deprivation and high immigrant populations, including Tremblay-en-France, Montfermeil, Clichy-sous-Bois, and Villepinte in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis, and Blanc-Mesnil in Seine-Maritime.

Whether the police are guilty or not, the government's job is to keep order  not enable the rioters by playing to their grievances.

National Front leader Marine Le Pen is looking to make political hay out of the government's weak response:

"The forces of order are targeted by bands of scoundrels," Ms. Le Pen said calling the situation "a shame for France" on the international stage. "The government is silent. A silence that reflects both its cowardice and its impotence", she added.

So much for the myth that there are no "No Go" neighborhoods in Paris. When the police run away, innocent people like this shop owner pay the price:
During my work days in Mexico, many of my Mexican friends would joke with me about "el 33," or Article 33 of the Mexican Constitution. It goes like this:

Article 33 of Mexico's constitution establishes the right of the president to detain and deport "any foreigner" and prohibits foreigners from participating "in any way" in the political affairs of the country.

So my Mexican friends and business colleagues would jokingly hint at throwing "el 33" at me whenever I had something critical to say about the Mexican political class. It was an ongoing thing and lots of fun.

Over the last few days, Sr. Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador, known south of the border as AMLO, was campaigning in Los Angeles and criticizing President Trump. This is from Reuters:

Calling California "a refuge and blessing for immigrants," Lopez Obrador declared "Long live California" as hundreds of supporters at Plaza Olvera cheered. "When they want to build a wall to segregate populations, or when the word 'foreigner' is used to insult, denigrate and discriminate against our fellow human beings, it goes against humanity, it goes against intelligence and against history," the veteran politician added. His visit to Los Angeles came as thousands of people took to the streets in cities across Mexico to protest against Trump. Three weeks into his administration, Trump has vowed to move ahead with construction of a wall on the border, repeatedly insisting that Mexico would pay for it, while also signaling a new push to deport millions of unauthorized immigrants out of the United States. "If the Mexican government does not put before the United Nations in the coming days a complaint about the violation of human rights, then we will do it ourselves," Lopez Obrador said. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Trump have been at loggerheads over the stance Trump first took against Mexico while campaigning for the U.S. presidency last year.

This is wrong in so many ways.

First, it is a slap at the U.S., not to President Trump. Where are the Democrats who keep screaming about Russia messing with our elections?

Second, where is the governor of California calling on AMLO to stop it and go home? More to the point, is California so far gone that no one objects to a foreigner criticizing a U.S. president on our soil?

Third, someone should remind AMLO that Mexico's treatment of Central Americans and other illegal immigrants has already come under investigation.

It is outrageous to have a man running for president in Mexico flying to the U.S. and sticking himself in our politics.

President Trump should call on Sr. AMLO, and his supporters, to go home!

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
Oficials have confirmed that the U.S. military, despite vowing not to use depleted uranium weapons on the battlefield in Iraq and Syria, fired thousands of rounds of the munitions during two high-profile raids on oil trucks in Islamic State-controlled Syria in late 2015. The air assaults mark the first confirmed use of this armament since the 2003 Iraq invasion, when it was used

of times, setting off outrage among local communities, which alleged that its toxic material caused cancer and birth defects.





U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesman Maj. Josh Jacques told

and

Foreign Policy

that 5,265 armor-piercing 30 mm rounds containing depleted uranium (DU) were shot from Air Force A-10 fixed-wing aircraft on Nov. 16 and Nov. 22, 2015, destroying about 350 vehicles* in the countrys eastern desert.





Earlier in the campaign, both coalition and U.S. officials said the ammunition had not and would not be used in anti-Islamic State operations. In March 2015, coalition spokesman John Moore

, U.S. and coalition aircraft have not been and will not be using depleted uranium munitions in Iraq or Syria during Operation Inherent Resolve. Later that month, a Pentagon representative told

that A-10s deployed in the region would not have access to armor-piercing ammunition containing DU because the Islamic State didnt possess the tanks it is designed to penetrate.





It remains unclear if the November 2015 strikes occurred near populated areas. In 2003, hundreds of thousands of rounds were shot in densely settled areas during the American invasion, leading to deep resentment and fear among Iraqi civilians and anger at the highest levels of government in Baghdad. In 2014, in a U.N. report on DU, the Iraqi government expressed its deep concern over the harmful effects of the material.

DU weapons, it said, constitute a danger to human beings and the environment

and urged the United Nations to conduct in-depth studies on their effects. Such studies of DU have not yet been completed, and scientists and doctors

as a result there is still very limited credible direct epidemiological evidence connecting DU to negative health effects.





The potential popular blowback from using DU, however, is very real. While the United States insists it has the right to use the weapon, experts call the decision to use the weapon in such quantities against targets it wasnt designed for  such as tanks  peculiar at best. - Read More,





Airwars
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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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News / International

by Al Jazeera

- Former Black Panther chairperson dismisses the "distinction between this individual president and that individual president" in the USA

- Author Naomi Wolf calls Obama "the pawn of globalized interests;" adds, "Whoever's in the White House has very little room to move"

- Obama also failed to 'drain the swamp' following 2008 crisis, appointing Wall Street insiders

- Obama used Espionage Act against whistle-blowers a record nine times  three times more than all other administrations combined

Former Black Panther chairperson Elaine Brown dismisses the "distinction between this individual president and that individual president" in the USA. For her, they are all "there to protect the interests of the American government as it exists in service to the American corporations. They are the spokespersons for the big rich man who have control of this country."Far from being an agent of change, even past president Barack Obama was "the pawn of globalized interests," according to author Naomi Wolf. "The problem is not left or right. The problem is that whoever's in the White House has very little room to move."Brown and Wolf speak out in the second and final episode of Al Jazeera's The Big Picture series, The People vs America, which provides a critical look at both George W Bush and Obama's presidencies and how they contributed to the growing distrust of established authority in the USA, paving the way for the election of Donald Trump.American historian Michael Kazin recalls the initial optimism that greeted Obama. "He was eloquent. He was African American. He was an intellectual and professor He seemed like the harbinger of something really new."Brown adds, "It didn't occur to anyone that one of the reasons that Obama could even get this far was that he had to be totally, totally immersed in and protected by a very big cartel of rich people."As Pulitzer Prize winner Chris Hedges points out though, the warnings were there for anyone who looked. "Obama spent two years, only two years, in the Senate. His voting record, which is the only thing that should have counted, was one corporate giveaway after another."Obama's presidency began with the fallout from the 2008 credit crash. In dealing with this, he turned to established stalwarts linked to Wall Street, such as former US Treasury Secretaries Lawrence Summers and Robert Rubin, rather than independent experts. Similar establishment figures and Wall Street insiders were appointed to investigate the reasons for the financial crisis, leading former Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer, Gary Aguirre, to state, "So any progress against Wall Street is dead on arrival. According to the senate investigations committee, the financial fraud crimes of the crisis cost the US $21 trillion. Nobody from Wall Street goes to prison. Nobody. No-one."Voters promised "Change We Can Believe In" instead discovered it was business as usual under Obama. "We saw how it was rigged with the crash," says sociologist Juliet Schor. "The people who caused the problem got bailed out to the tune of billions and billions and billions, where the ordinary homeowner - no help for them whatsoever. And that fueled so much anger."The People vs America also highlights Obama's crackdown on whistleblowers, such as Edward Snowden, who in 2013, was charged under the Espionage Act for revealing the extent of secret domestic surveillance of US citizens by the US secret services. Obama's administration would invoke the Espionage Act against a further eight US citizens accused of leaking classified information  three times more than all previous administrations combined.Obama also signed into law Section 10-21 of the National Defense Authorization Act, enabling the indefinite military detention of US citizens without trial, with no charges against them and no evidence of a crime having been committed. Hedges sued Obama over this, winning the initial case in the Southern District Court of New York before the decision was overturned on appeal, a reversal supported by the Supreme Court.Wolf says she was in the courtroom in downtown New York and heard "with my own ears" Judge Forest ask Obama's lawyers, "'Does this mean that you, the President, can arrest a reporter for interviewing a member of al-Qaeda?' Right, just interviewing, which is what reporters are supposed to do. The lawyer said, 'Yes, we can arrest Chris Hedges. We can hold him forever without charge or trial.'"Like Trump, Obama came to power in response to a will for change, but the critical voices in The People vs America claim both presidents' actions suggest rather a continuation of a traditional order, decades in the making.
News / International

by Staff Reporter

Government is ready to render assistance and respond to emergencies that may arise as a result of tropical depression Dineo, which is likely to hit the country tonight as it has already made landfall in southern Mozambique, Local Government Public Works and National Housing Minister Saviour Kasukuwere has said.Minister Kasukuwere said the southern parts of the country such as, Masvingo, southern Midlands and parts of Matabeleland are under threat.As such he said, the Civil Protection Unit has activated its emergency operations centre to ensure effective responses, while civil protection structures at national and sub-national levels were on standby to manage the emergencies."The southern parts of this country are under threat from Cyclone Dineo, which has already made landfall in southern Mozambique at speeds in excess of 100km an hour, but has apparently degraded to a tropical depression which has less destructive winds. Current forecasts indicate that it is likely to impact on Zimbabwe tonight," he said."The most severe dangers associated with cyclones are strong winds. Other serious dangers are flying debris, thunderstorms, lightning, heavy and intense rainfall, thus the risk to flooding is extreme."Every attempt is being made to monitor the progress and direction of the cyclone by the Meteorological Services Department. Water levels in rivers are being closely monitored on real time by the Zimbabwe National Water Authority. Updates will be issued on weather bulletins."The response comes after more than 78 people have died from flooding. He said the CPU was giving $100 financial assistance to each affected family.He said the support was being hindered by limited budget allocations, and he was hoping that the $5 million they had requested from Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa would be released.Minister Kasukuwere urged the public to remain calm and take the necessary precautions in an orderly and timely manner so as to avoid crossing flooded and overflowing rivers and bridges."Primarily, communities must be actively on the look-out for approaching strong winds, rain and levels of water in their environs. They must listen to weather forecasts and advice being issued through the media as well as from their local civil protection structures. It is essential to ensure windows and doors are closed in case of strong winds and it may be necessary to seek shelter under tables and beds if roofs are blown off. Families must move timely to high ground when threatened by flooding."Meanwhile, Minister Kasukuwere said President Mugabe has declared a State of Disaster in regard to the road network in Harare in terms of Subsection (1) of section 27 of the Civil Protection Act (Chapter 10:06).He said this was as a result of the magnitude of the extensive damage to the road network and the attendant risk to injury, loss of life together with the economic impact of an unusable road network."Harare Metropolitan Province has suffered the brunt of the La Nina phenomena and has received rainfall amount of 120 percent to 200 percent of normal. These excessive rains have decimated the road network throughout the province. A response strategy is being crafted inclusive of resource mobilisation mechanisms to mitigate against this disaster," he said.
(ANSA) - Rome, February 17 - Rome prosecutors have opned a new probe into the 1994 murders in Mogadishu of Italian TV reporter Ilaria Alpi and her cameraman Miran Hrovatin, judicial sources said Friday. The probe concerns suspected anomalies linked to the handling of a witness who proved to be false, Ahmed Ali Rage, aka Gelle - anomalies highlighted by a Perugia appeals court which in October acquitted the sole defendant, Somali Hasci Omar Hassan, after he spent 16 years in jail.

On October 19 the Perugia court quashed Hassan's conviction after prosecutor Dario Razzi told the court Hassan "did not commit" the crime.

He was the only person convicted of the murders.

Alpi, 32, and Hrovatin, 45, were ambushed and shot in their jeep in Mogadishu by a seven-man commando on March 20, 1994.

In 2015 Ahmed Ali Rage, who was also known as Gelle and who was a key witness for the prosecution in the trial that led to the conviction, said that Hassan was "innocent".

Last June Rage told a new trial that he "never told anyone" Hassan was part of the murder commando. Hassan was released into the custody of social services in 2015 with 10 years to go on his 26-year sentence.

"Thank God it's over," said Hassan at the time.

"Now I have to find my family because I have not seem them for 19 years and I need documents urgently to be able to do so.

"They ruined me. But thanks to God, to the help of journalists and to these judges today, I have been freed".

Alpi's mother Luciana, who backed Hassan's battle against the miscarriage of justice, said that she was "happy" Hassan had been cleared, but added that she was "bitter and depressed" that the real culprits had not been brought to justice.

"It's as if she and Miran Hrovatin died of the heat in Mogadishu," Luciana Alpi told ANSA. "We don't have the truth and I don't think we ever will".

Photos taken of the dead body of Alpi, who worked for public broadcaster RAI's third channel Rai3, and a medical report on the deaths, along with other key evidence including Alpi's notes, camera and video cassettes, mysteriously went missing on the journey back from Africa to Italy, fuelling suspicions of a cover-up.

Speaking to Rai3, Rage in February 2015 claimed that he was asked to testify against Hassan.

"I did not see who fired the shots," he reportedly said.

According to the Italian diplomat who investigated the case in Somalia, former ambassador Giuseppe Cassini, the driver who acted as a key witness for the prosecution was "an unreliable individual who would do anything to survive".

Initially, it was thought that the journalist was murdered in revenge for clashes which had broken out between the militias of Somalia's warlords and Italian peacekeepers.

But a 1999 book by Alpi's parents called The Execution alleged that Alpi and Hrovatin were killed to stop them revealing what they knew about an international arms and toxic-waste ring implicating high-level political, military and economic figures in both countries.

The book accuses the Italian secret services of playing a major role in this ring.

Hassan, who travelled to Italy in 1998 to give evidence in a probe into brutality by Italian soldiers, was acquitted of involvement in the two murders at the end of a first trial in July 1999.

But he was found guilty by an appeals court in 2000 and sentenced to life in prison.

Italy's supreme Cassation Court upheld the guilty verdict in October 2001 but reduced the sentence from life to 26 years because it said the crimes were not premeditated.

Hassan's lawyers said he was not in Mogadishu at the time of the killing and was tricked into coming to Italy.


News / Press Release

by BMV

Zapu is shifting into the right gears at the right time. This was evident in the recent Zapu Europe Inter-organs meeting which was held in the West Midlands, UK. The inter-organs meetings are held quarterly and involve all elected post holders in all structures of the party. Following an invitation by the Europe Provincial Executive Council (PEC), all the structures responded and sent their elected officials to this important meeting. The PEC chaired this meeting on this occasion and is likely to continue to chair future meetings as the guardian of this strategic province. Strategic in terms of resource mobilisation and leadership development. Strategic in terms of being the interface between the semblance of democracy in the western world and the established blatant dictatorships such as prevails in Zimbabwe today. And so one by one the dedicated servants of the people flocked to the venue of this meeting, some from as far afield as Newcastle. Such is the love for the party that these humble people have.The National Council of Elders (nCoE) was represented by the veteran politician and exiled former magistrate, Mr Johnson Mnkandla while the ever so energetic Elder Reginald Mhlanga represented the provincial CoE. Mr Mlamuli Nkomo stood for the National People's Council (NPC). The National Executive Council (NEC ) were represented by former Youth Front Leader, Cakes Vundla (Now National Mobilistaion Deputy Secretary-Diaspora Region) and Arthur Molife (Now Deputy Treasurer General Diaspora). The PEC attended en masse while the youth saw an emerging leader in Mdududuzi Ndlovu who surprised many as his is a wise head on such young shoulders. At this rate, Zapu's future is assured. The deliberations lived up to their pre-event billing as there was a fusion of ideas from the tried and tested veterans of the struggle and the youthful political activists.The key theme was how ZAPU can ready itself for the 2018 elections. There was a general consensus that the party needs to work as a well- oiled machine. For that to happen, the various structures need to continue to work together effectively and efficiently. The organs should feed each other all the way up to the highest level and vice versa. Effective communication was cited as key in ensuring that the party messages reach all levels in a timely manner."Communication is the single factor that can make or break this party", said Mr Mnkandla, challenging the attendants to raise their game in this area as he emphasised that there is room for improvement. This led to a productive discussion on the merits and demits of social media, especially the use and misuse of the whatsapp facility. The conclusion was to ensure that party members were made aware of the difference between official communication that comes via formal party structures and information that is available on social media which needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. Members present were appreciative of the positive role of social media in disseminating positive information in the pursuit of freedom in Zimbabwe.Resource mobilisation was discussed at great length; not surprising considering the party has faced some serious challenges in funding its activities. The participants were keen to avoid past experiences were major party events have had to be postponed due to financial constraints. They resolved to help the party surge forward with a clear and well-funded programme. Members were presented with a blueprint from the treasury department which lays us out the plans for raising funds in preparation for the 2018 Elections in Zimbabwe. ZAPU will need a stronger financial base to help dislodge ZANU PF and bring economic and political emancipation to the beleaguered motherland. The comprehensive document requires deciphering before it can be adopted hence the Zapu Europe leaders were asked to take it away with them as homework'. This work will be taken back to the branches for serious deliberation before collating the outcomes of contributions from the ordinary members.The Europe province will play its role in identifying and supporting aspiring candidates in this and other provinces who wish to contest in the coming council and parliamentary elections. The aspiring candidates will have to pass a rigorous internal screening process in their local structures. Cakes Vundla was quick to point out the stages involved from being aspiring candidates to being confirmed as the final candidates to face the ballot. Only candidates willing to relocate permanently to Zimbabwe will be considered. Currently Cakes Vundla (Njube/Lobengula) and Bokani Habvane-Vundhla (Bulilima East) have thrown their hats into the ring as aspiring candidates. They will benefit from drawing from the experiences of Artwell Bhova Ndlovu and Lawrence Siziba from Europe who were on the ground contesting the 2013 elections. Valuable lessons were learnt from that bruising battle and the two comrades survived to fight another day . Europe candidates will fight their local Zapu colleagues in the primaries with the eventual winners facing selection as Coalition of Democrats (CODE) representatives. ZAPU as the revolutionary mother party supports CODE wholeheartedly and will do all it can to ensure that the hijacker of the People's Revolution, Zanu pf is pushed over the cliff once and for all. CODE currently represents the only realistic chance of dislodging this rogue regime. The inter-organ meeting affirmed this position. "With the limited resources at our disposal, we will throw in whatever we can spare to ensure our candidates fare well in the elections and deliver council and parliamentary seats " added the vibrant ZAWU Chairlady, Sipho Sibanda who was accompanied by the Secretary for Welfare, Education and Health, Noma Tollo from Belfast. Similar sentiments were echoed even more strongly by a passionate Provincial Secretary for Resource Mobilisation, Mr S. Ndlovu.It was a feast of rousing speech after rousing speech in true revolutionary spirit. We eagerly await the next inter-organs meeting when the reports about progress made will be presented. While others are busy scheming about factionalism, Zapu is quietly rebuilding its bases from which it will launch a successful campaign for the do or die 2018 elections. Next on the agenda is the Europe provincial AGM to be held in the first week of April 2017 in Newcastle. With ZAPU firing from all cylinders at home and abroad, this is one AGM not to miss.
Migrants: over 5,000 died in Med in 2016, UNHCR SOS Mediterranee's Aquarius ship saved 8,755

(ANSAmed) - PALERMO, FEBRUARY 17 - At least 5,056 people died in 2016 in the attempt to reach Europe via the Mediterranean Sea, while 256 died or went missing including 222 on the Central Mediterranean route in the month of January 2017 alone.



The UNHCR figures were presented in a press conference at the Palermo port one year after the launch of rescue operations at sea of the Aquarius ship from SOS Mediterranee under Valeria Calandra, head of the Italian section of the NGO. The Aquarius rescued 8,755 people and took over 13,000 people onboard in 64 operations at sea. Of those rescued, 83% were male and 17% female. Some 24% were under age 18 and 84% of them were unaccompanied. The Aquarius carried out 14 rescue operations in the first two months of 2017, rescuing 1,628 people. Some 195 were taken onboard and treated by SOS Mediterranee and MSF teams. Aquarius operated with three teams onboard including volunteers and doctors (now from MSF) and the crew. Some 402 minors were rescued, including 324 unaccompanied ones and 14 children under age 5. The vast majority of the refugees were from Sub-Saharan Africa: Eritrea, Sudan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Gambia, Guinea, Ghana, Mali, Ivory Coast and Senegal, but some boats also carried refugees from Bangladesh, Syria, Tunisia, Libya and the Palestinian Territories. SOS Mediterranee on October 13 the 2016 European Citizen Prize from the European Parliament, while on December 15 it was given another prize for work in the civil society sector by the European Economic and Social Committee. (ANSAmed).




ROME - A graphic novel intended especially for use in schools as an explainer on today's multi-ethnic and multi-religious Italy was presented on Friday at the Astalli center for migrants and refugees in the Italian capital. Some 8% of the population - about 5 million people - come from culture other than Catholicism. The book, 'Inviati per Caso, Viaggio nell'Italia delle Religioni', was written by Lia Tagliacozzo with drawings by Eleonora Antonioni and published by Sinnos. The book tells the adventure of two high school students who go in search of the many religious communities in Italy. Some, like Judaism, are older than Christianity while others such as Islam have been centuries-old roots in the country. The Sikh and Buddhists in the country are linked to more recent immigration trends. ''The more time that passes, the more different we are,'' said the author, Lia Tagliacozzo, mentioning her daughter's feeling of being left out at school when everyone was celebrating Christmas and the little girl couldn't celebrate Hannukah. She added that many Muslim children and ones from Asian religions prefer to hide their religion at school. ''Ignoring the religious factor is a mistake, even though it cannot be the only element'' taken into consideration, said Mustafa El- Ayoubi, editor-in-chief of the Confronti magazine. He added that, for new immigrants, their place of worship often becomes the only reference point in a society that many see as hostile to them.

The more the surrounding attitude is xenophobic, the more religious identity grows with a risk of radicalism. For this reason, he stressed, it is important that the Italian state soon bring in an agreement with the Muslim community. ''Mosques cannot be left to improvise, nor become closed off,'' he added. Father Camillo Ripamonti, head of the Astalli center, said that he hoped that efforts to get to know each other would lead to a new society. ''The aim, in and of itself important, is not only that of tolerating each other. It is to walk together and build new civil relations with one another,'' he added.
ROME - There has been a surge in appeals filed against asylum request rejections by territorial commissions, according to a commission of the magistrates governing council. The trend is seen as a direct consequence of an increase in migrant landings on Italian coasts, which over the past year rose to an unprecedented 181,436, 18% higher than the 153,000 in 2015. Over only 10 months, from January to October 2016, almost 38,000 appeals proceedings were heard before courts. The figures led to government intervention with a decree that would speed up asylum procedures.

The 37,899 appeals were mostly in the following districts: Naples(3,593), Milan (3,354), Palermo (2,906), Rome (2,837), Venice (2,668), Florence (2,102) and Catania (2,077). Just under the 2,000 threshold were Bari (2,102), Turin (1,951) and Bologna (1,830). Over the same ten months, 3,958 decisions were made in first-degree appeals courts, with the highest - 881 - seen in Ancona.


Only 15% of migrants in Italy in decentralised lodgings Growth continues in large central reception centres

(ANSAmed) - ROME, FEBRUARY 17 - Migrants in Italy are increasingly housed in large reception centres known as CAS, where the total percentage of migrants stands at 85% with more than 137,000 places, while a much smaller percentage, 15%, are housed through the SPRAR system which places migrants in decentralised housing in Italian cities and towns, according to a report presented in Turin on Thursday by the Migrantes Foundation titled "The Right to Asylum: Vulnerable child refugees without a voice".



The number of refugees in the SPRAR system, managed by individual Italian cities and towns, is just over 23,000 people, while nearly 15,000 additional migrants are in hotspots and initial reception centres.



Migrantes said the data reveal "an unbalanced relationship between people being hosted and the territory".



It also criticised the choice of Italian authorities to extend the CAS system also to unaccompanied minors, creating an additional reception system for them but with standards that are "extremely lower than those established for residential structures".



One example of this is that CAS centres can host up to 50 migrants, in contrast with laws that provide for favoring family-style or smaller structure options that typically host between 8 and 10 migrants.



Migrantes said that once unaccompanied minors turn 18, many of them lose every measure of support and reception.(ANSAmed).




Opinion / Columnist

"The implosion of ZPF marks the death of my dream," lamented Professor Ken Mufuka in the Fingaz."Without an alternative to ZANU-PF, the economy will continue on its predatory path; serving only the chefs."He then went on to give details of how Zanu PF has rigged elections in the past. "Only a madman would consider standing for election under these conditions," he continued."Similarly, no party in power ever gave up power voluntarily. To play and abide by rules written and refereed by one's opponent and arbitrated by a judge chosen by that opponent is futile."We are in the same situation we were in 1965 when the late Ian Smith refused to negotiate."My dream is dead," he concluded sorrowfully.It was a very well written article and one would be hard pushed to disagree with except for one glaring fault. Professor Mufuka very naive to have placed his hopes and dreams of a better Zimbabwe on likes of Joice Mujuru and her ZimPF friends. These guys have 34 years of proven track records of being corrupt and incompetent already, for Pete's sake. What else did he expect from them other than to prove once again that they are incompetent  this time by imploding!No one should be surprised that ZimPF imploded; here was a group corrupt and incompetent political desperados, with no ideology or values to hold them together. The only one thing they have in common is their desperate desire to get back on Zimbabwe's gravy train for the ruling elite a.s.a.p. Unlike Mugabe who had a lot of loot to give away until recently when he too ran out of loot and Zanu PF imploded; Mujuru had nothing to give away from the word go. ZimPF members were very hungry hyenas who would fight over nothing and they did!I beg to differ with the Professor, we are NOT in "in the same situation we were in 1965 when the late Ian Smith refused to negotiate," he said.During the GNU, we had the opportunity to implement the democratic reforms that would have stopped Zanu PF rigging elections. It was Tsvangirai and his MDC friends fault that not even one reform was implemented; they sold-out!We can still force implementation of the reforms by boycotting the flawed elections."The worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a coalition was that both MDCs couldn't now do the obvious  withdraw from the elections," admitted former MDC-N Senator David Coltart in his Book: The Struggle Continues 50 years of tyranny in Zimbabwe."The electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility."Senator Coltart was commenting on the 2013 elections. If anything; the need to boycott the 2018 elections is even more obvious.We should not waste time and energy arguing Zanu PF to implement the reforms; the regime will never do it, I agree with Professor Mufuka on that point. We need to be more subtle; the sell-out opposition politicians who, by participating in the flawed elections for the sake of the few seats Zanu PF throws away as bait, are giving the elections the veneer of democratic credibility. We must pressure these sell-out to stop contesting the elections.Some opposition parties like the MDC factions have outstanding party resolutions of "No reform, no elections!" We must force them to honour these resolutions.By contesting these flawed elections these opposition parties are in fact helping Zanu PF stay in power. So, they are no long with the people, they are with Zanu PF. They are now part and parcel of the beast; the soft under belly of the monster, at that.All we, the people, have to fight this Zanu PF monster are wooden sticks. We should not aim for the back or some such areas where the skin is several inches thick. We must aim for the soft under belly, the sell-out opposition politicians!Our dream of a free, democratic, just and prosperous Zimbabwe is only dead if we, the people, allow Mugabe and these selfish opposition politicians carry on playing this mockery of democratic elections one more time in which they share the spoils of power whilst the nation continues to sink into hopelessness and despair!
Submissions covered a wide-range of topics including drones, ULDs, special cargo and dangerous goods.

The finalists, in no particular order are:

 Astral Aerial Solutions  UTM Concept for Africa (Kenya)

 Etihad Cargo  Smart Electric Cool Dolly (United Arab Emirates)

 Gate chain  Redefining trade with block chain (Switzerland)

 Jettainer  Innovative Decision Support System (DSS): synergies from big data and expert system technology for ULD management (Germany)

 OpenAirlines  SkyBreathe Fuel Efficiency (France)

The finalists will present their project at the 11th IATA World Cargo Symposium in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Delegates will then vote for their preferred innovation and the winner will receive USD 20,000 during the conferences closing plenary on the 16th of March 2017.

IATAs global head of cargo Glyn Hughes, said: The success of the first IATA Innovation Awards in 2015 affirmed to us this was something worthwhile for the industry. The second edition has exceeded our highest expectations with the quality and variety of the submissions. Innovation holds the key to industry development, suitability and success and we are committed to unlocking its potential.
Opinion / Columnist

Why Mthwakazi Liberation Front (MLF) Cannot Participate in the Election Process of an Allien Country Zimbabwe

Mthwakazi Restoration Awakening Series 4



By:

15 February, 2017



1. Introduction

2. The Zimbabwe Elections of 2018

3. The MLF Values

Chrispen Khalipha Nyoni MLF Foreign Relations and Acting SpokespersonMpiyesizwe Churchill Guduza MLF Vice PresidentOnce again, the Mthwakazi Liberation Front (MLF) has been flooded by calls from different people, organisations and some leaders across the Mthwakazi political and civic spectrum, church leaders and ordinary citizenry on the MLF's position regarding the Zimbabwean elections to be held in 2018. These enquiries have been precipitated by the recent announcement from the so-called Mthwakazi Republic Party (MRP) that it will take part in the Zimbabwean elections. For reasons that will become clear in the course of this Mthwakazi Restoration Awakening Series 4, we have decided to appropriately rename the so-called MRP as the Zimbabwe Republic Party (ZRP).The position of Mthwakazi Liberation Front (MLF) is that the elections due to be held in 2018 in Zimbabwe are for Zimbabweans. There is virtually no reason in a million years why the MLF would participate in the elections of Zimbabwe, an alien country or any other country for that matter.Our view is simply that you cannot allow a situation in which an outsider comes into your house, brutalizes you with your children, then rapes your children, takes over your entire household and property and then say you must vote for me. That is crazy. A rapist is simply that, a rapist. There can never be any justification for a rapist to continue living in your own house and raping your wife and children whilst you clap your hands, ululate and justify that inhuman savageness with a vote.The MLF stands for the RESTORATION of our country MTHWAKAZI which was brutally attacked and annexed in an unprovoked attack by Britain in 1893. It is important to remind the reader that as a matter of fact, King Lobengula did everything in his power to avoid the war, which had been planned by the British in conjunction with Shona batsman over a period of many years. King Lobengula had done so informed by the intelligence that he had gathered about the composition the invading forces which was backed up or supported by far superior weapons of death. You are kindly encouraged to read the upcoming Jonathan Maphenduka's second book, The Tragedy of the Rule by Conquest: Britain's Scotched Earth Policy of Extermination and War of Attrition against Mthwakazi (1893-1923)'It follows therefore that the baton for the continuation of this scotched earth policy and war of attrition against Mthwakazi was passed on to Zimbabwe, a proxy of Britain since 1980, and as a result we have seen what Zimbabwe has done to Mthwakazi through geno
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 16, ARMENPRESS. Armenias Government discussed the draft law on Auditor Chamber and the package of related bills submitted by a group of MPs as a legislative initiative, reports Armenpress.

According to the presented explanation, in case of adoption of the package, the law will become a legal basis for having a significant and constructive input in the public finance management process by the Armenian Supreme Audit Body which in its turn will raise the effectiveness of the public finance management.

At the same time, the legislation regulating the activity of the Supreme Audit Body will be in accordance with the concepts and standards existing in the developed countries, in particular, in the EU.

Finance Minister Vardan Aramyan said the package of bills complies with the provisions of Armenias new Constitution. In general, from conceptual, ideological perspective, we support this since a progressive step is being taken under the bills, the Minister said, adding that the package of bills needs to be amended.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. The Khustup mountain summit is considered to be one of the most beautiful by Armenian mountaineers and hikers.

As result of a survey by the Armenian Geographic Facebook group, Armenian hikers and hiking enthusiasts said they find Khustup Mountain to be the most beautiful summit.

Firstly, Khustup attracts Armenian as the mountain of Nzhdeh. Some episodes of Garegin Nzhdehs life are associated with this mountain, he is called the Eagle of Khustup. It was Nzhdehs desire to be buried on the mountain, so that even after death his spirit guards the mountains of Syunik. This is one of the episodes of the mountains history, which attracts hikers, head of the Armenian Geographic project Tigran Shahbazyan told ARMENPRESS.

According to him, the summit is rocky unlike many other mountains in Armenia, and the view from up there fascinates visitors.

Armenian Geographic organizes trips to different sightseeing locations in Armenia almost every weekend.

Khustup is a mountain located in the southern Syunik Province of Armenia, to the south of Kapan city. The height of the mountain is 3,206 meters.

` Armenian Geographic-
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. Moscows Presnensky district court on February 21 will examine the prosecutions request to extend the term of detention of businessman Aram Petrosyan who took hostages in the Citibank Moscow branch, the courts press secretary Anastasia Pilina told RIA Novosti.

The court hearing over extending the term of detention of Petrosyan is scheduled on February 21, at 13:30, she said.

Petrosyan is accused of terrorism and hostage-taking, he is under custody by the courts decision, the deadline for custody is until February 24.

Late on August 24, 2016 the broke businessman from the Moscow region seized a Citibank office in downtown Moscow. Petrosyan had a box wrapped in yellow tape that he claimed was an explosive device and threatened to blow up the office.The hostage taker demanded that the current law on personal bankruptcy be canceled and that "a personal bankruptcy institution" be established to address the problems of bankrupt businessmen.

When the man entered the bank, there were six people inside: three clients, two cashiers and a security guard. A female employee was the first to be freed: she told the hostage taker that she was pregnant and could suddenly feel bad, and he let her go. After that, the security guard fled the building. By 10.00 p.m. Moscow time, the perpetrator freed all hostages and surrendered to police.

Law enforcers said the perpetrator had no real explosive device. The box was a mockup. Investigators say the motive for the crime was that the man had been in a serious financial hot water.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. Garegin Argamanyan, a 20 year old serviceman of the Nagorno Karabakh Defense Army, died from carbon monoxide poisoning in a permanent deployment location of a military base.

The defense ministry of Nagorno Karabakh told ARMENPRESS an investigation is underway to determine the details of the incident.

The defense ministry extends its condolences to the family and friends of the soldier.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. Patriarchal Vicar of Istanbuls Armenian Patriarchate Archbishop Aram Ateshyan and the president of the spiritual council of the Patriarchate Bishop Sahak Mashalyan will visit the Mother See of Holy Etchmiatsin, editor-in-chief of Istanbuls Armenian Zhamanak newspaper Ara Gochunyan told ARMENPRESS.

During next week, most probably on Tuesday, Archbishop Aram Ateshyan and Bishop Sahak Mashalyan will visit Etchmiatsin. Catholicos Garegin II will receive them. They are coming to Etchmiatsin to renew their relationship with the blessing of the Catholicos. They will pray in Holy Etchmiatsin for their brotherhood, Gochunyan said.

According to him, the crisis between Ateshyan and Mashalyan could have led to serious obstacles, however it was able to be stopped, with the contribution of Catholicos Garegin II. The Catholicos maintained contact with them during the entire time, and urged them to stop the argument and return to work.

Speaking about the Patriarchal election, Gochunyan said a consultation was held on February 16 chaired by Archbishop Aram Ateshyan, which was attended by leading figures of the community. The consultations aim was to ease the tension between Ateshyan and Mashalyan. Discussions were held during the meeting, and they succeeded to bypass the crisis between them.

Bishop Sahak Mshalyan and Archbishop Aram Ateshyan will continue their tenure.

Several ideas regarding the probable date of the Patriarchal election were presented. The election date cannot be decided now. After the consitutiona referendum in Turkey on April 16, an application will be presented to the authorities on holding the Patriarchal election. It is for notification, to wait for the response of the authorities, in order to have coordinated work with them in that process, Gochunyan said.

Bishop Sahak Mashalyan announced his resignation on February 13, saying Patriarchal Vicar Aram Archbishop Ateshyan is to blame for the decision.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. Edward Nalbandian, foreign minister of Armenia, had a meeting on February 17 with President of Iraqi Kurdistan Masoud Barzani in Munich.

The foreign ministry told ARMENPRESS the sides highlighted high-level political dialogue and exchanged ideas on organizing mutual visits and trade-economic cooperation.

The parties discussed issues over opening the Consulate General of Armenia in Erbil. In this context, minister Nalbandian thanked the authorities of Iraqi Kurdistan for comprehensive assistance.

At Nalbandians request, President Barzani briefed on the latest development in the anti-terror fight in Iraq.

Nalbandian and Barzani also touched upon international and regional security issues.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. Expert of Turkish studies Anush Hovhannisyan finds Armenian-Turkish reconciliation unrealistic. Anyway, I believe the dialogue between the leading intellectuals of both countries is of key importance, since otherwise the gap between the relations will go deeper, Hovhannisyan told Armenpress.

As a result of the current geopolitical developments the Turkish society has other problems to solve, therefore, the expert does not think that talks may resume in the near future. The first attempt that took place in 2008 was a failure, but there is no need for disappointment, but vice the versa, further attempts should be made to break the wall, Anush Hovhannisyan said.

In 2008, at the initiative of the President of Armenia a new stage of Armenian-Turkish relations launched as a result of which on October 10, 2009 in Zurich the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the two countries signed the Protocol on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey and Protocol on development of relations between of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey. However, after the Protocols were signed, Turkey abruptly changed its position and rejected to implement the agreements on the normalization of the relations within a reasonable timeframe and without any preconditions, linking the ratification of the Protocols in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey to the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

Taking into account the situation created by Turkey, as well as the call of the Political Council of the parties-members of the ruling coalition, on April 22, 2010 the President of Armenia signed a decree on the suspension of the process of ratification of the Protocols.

President Serzh Sargsyan on February 16, 2015 sent a letter to Parliament Speaker Galust Sahakyan informing about his decision on retracting the Armenia-Turkey protocols from the Parliament of Armenia.
He didnt break it, but he needs to decide to either buy it or return it

For almost two decades, American military forces have fought against the Taliban, Al Qaeda and other militant groups in Afghanistan. The war goes on and more than 8,400 U.S. troops remain in the country to fight it.





Afghanistan is complicated and its easy to toss up our hands, say who cares and walk away from the whole mess. Thats an option, but it betrays a level of ignorance about whats going on in the country thats not justified.





The truth is, U.S. military leaders on the ground and outside observers know whats going right and whats going wrong in Afghanistan. The problem in Afghanistan is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of understanding, but a lack of will on the part of American politicians to either cut and run or stay and fight.





Americas existing policy of slowly allowing the situation to play out without a clear, communicated goal or end-game for the American and Afghan people isnt sustainable.





On Jan. 11, 2016, at the Center for Strategic and International Studies  a Washington, D.C. think tank  Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Spoko made the case for staying in Afghanistan. He appealed to president-elect Trump and begged Americans not to forget about a war began more than 15 years ago .





Sopkos speech was succinct and pragmatic. He laid out eight different problem areas facing Afghanistan and used clear language to drive home their importance.





The most basic challenge that bedevils Afghanistan today is continued insecurity, he said. Right now, Afghanistan cant provide security for its own people nor can it pay for that security. - More, pay warisboring
By Harry Handley

2016 was a challenging year for Thailand, both economically and socially. The death of the much-loved King, His Majesty Bhumibol Adulyadej, clouded a year also blighted by political instability, water shortages, and bearish domestic business sentiment. Although official figures have yet to be released, Thailands GDP growth for 2016 is expected to be 3.2 percent, the third lowest in the ASEAN bloc (after Brunei and Singapore).

Despite low business confidence from locals, foreign businesses continue to be attracted by Thailands strategic position between China and India, access to the ASEAN free trade area, and the incentives offered by the Board of Investment (BOI). 2017 has been touted by some as a pivotal year for the Thai economy and the year of concrete national reform, with a major election on the horizon, either at the end of 2017 or the beginning of 2018 dependent of the progress of the royal succession. As such, it is important to review the state of the market at present and identify the key factors that may affect foreign businesses, both incumbents and potential entrants, in Thailand in 2017.

RELATED: Pre-Investment and Market Entry Advisory from Dezan Shira & Associates

2016 import, export, and FDI trends

Thailand has become increasingly reliant on exports in recent years, with net exports reaching a record high in 2016. Thailands top five trading partners can be seen in the table below. Electronics were the main exported product, making up 14.6 percent of the total. This was followed by automotive goods (13.9 percent), agro-manufacturing products (11.9 percent), petrochemical products (5.8 percent), and electrical appliances (5.4 percent). In terms of imports, mineral fuel and lubricant made up the largest percentage (22 percent). Machinery, equipment, and supplies (19.5 percent), parts of electronic and electrical appliances (11.5 percent), materials of base metal (8.6 percent), and chemicals (5.8 percent) made up the top five.

FDI investment applications exceeded the BOIs targets in 2016, totaling THB 584 billion. Of these applications, 925 projects were approved, bringing total foreign investment of THB 358 billion. 64 percent of the approved applications (594 projects) were for 100 percent foreign-owned projects, the remainder being made up by franchising agreements as well as mergers and acquisitions.

Japan was the leading country of origin of FDI into Thailand; 284 projects contributed THB 80 billion of FDI in 2016. The main driver for this is the automotive industry, with Toyota, Isuzu, Nissan, and Honda all having considerable manufacturing and assembly operations in Thailand. The second largest foreign investor was China, which contributed THB 54 billion in 106 projects last year. The top five was rounded off by the Netherlands (THB 29 billion), the US (THB 25 billion), and Australia (THB 20 billion). The breakdown of FDI by industry can be seen in the graph below.

2017 outlook

Thailands GDP growth is expected to remain consistent in 2017, with forecasts ranging from 3-3.6 percent. BMIs 2017 risk report ranks Thailand the 21st least economically risky market globally and 8th in Asia Pacific, in the short-term. Longer term risk is seen to be slightly higher, demonstrated by a rank of 27th in the world. The overarching risk factor for the Thai economy is political instability. In response to this, the incumbent military government has presented an ambitious plan to end this uncertainty and move Thailand towards a high income economy.

Thailand 4.0

Leading analysts define Thailand 4.0 as a transformed Thailand that maximizes the use of digital technologies in all social-economic activities in order to develop infrastructure, innovation, data, human capital, and other digital resources that will ultimately drive the country towards wealth, stability, and sustainability. In 2017, there will be four main areas of focus and investment:

The digital economy  primarily improving national broadband network; goal is for all Thais to have access to broadband by 2026

 primarily improving national broadband network; goal is for all Thais to have access to broadband by 2026 Physical infrastructure  including the initiation of construction on the Thai-China high speed rail link

 including the initiation of construction on the Thai-China high speed rail link Agricultural reform  namely, the Smart Farmer project

 namely, the Smart Farmer project Local economic development  18 provincial clusters used to target developmental policies, including minimum wage policies

As part of the Thailand 4.0 promotion, the Commerce Ministrys Business Development Department has sought Cabinet approval for a new law that will allow individuals to establish a company singlehandedly. This move will formalize around 2.74 million SMEs in Thailand that have previously been set up as sole proprietorships without legal separation of company and personal assets. It has yet to be confirmed whether this law will also apply to foreign entrepreneurs; if this is the case, it will ease the process of starting an SME in Thailand and remove a number of barriers for foreign businesspersons. However, it is unclear how this new policy would fit into the guidelines of the current Foreign Business Act, which governs foreign owned enterprises in Thailand.

BOI incentivized industries

The BOI also has a significant role to play in the realization of Thailand 4.0. As well as investing in human resources to attract the best regional and global talent, the BOI offers significant incentives to foreign entrants in a number of industries. These include S-Curve industries (e.g. next-generation automotive, biotechnology, and smart electronics), core technologies (e.g. digital, biofuels, and logistics), and community enterprises. Upon approval, entrants in these industries are offered the following tax breaks:

Eight year Corporate Income Tax exemption

50 percent tax reduction for five years after the tax holiday

Double deduction from the costs of transport, electricity, and water supply

25 percent deduction on the cost of installation or construction of facilities as well as exemption of import duty on raw or essential materials imported for use in production for export

Other key industries

Thailand is synonymous with the tourism industry. In 2016, 32.6 million foreign tourists visited Thailand. The flow of tourists was stunted at the end of 2016 by the passing the King, and this will also carry over into 2017 as the official period of mourning continues. However, towards the end of 2017 when the mourning period is over, Thai officials expect to see a boom in the tourism industry once again, with tourist arrivals forecasted to be 37 million. This will be boosted by an ever weakening baht, making it cheaper for overseas travelers to visit Thailand. As such, all of the industries related to tourism, including hospitality, food service , and recreational activities will once again be prime targets for potential investors.

As mentioned, agricultural reform is one of four focus areas for the Thai government in 2017. Consequently, it is expected that incentives will be put in place for agricultural technology firms who can support the growth and development of this industry and the smart farmer project.

Finally, Thailands membership to the ASEAN economic community and free trade area, and developed infrastructure make it an ideal base for import/export enterprises. The recent introduction of the e-Customs system, an online system that centralizes all customs and licensing procedures, and promotion of export processing zones further reduce the costs of running a cross-border trading operation in Thailand.

RELATED: Electrifying Laos: Opportunities for FDI in 2017

Challenges and opportunities

The World Banks Doing Business Guide ranked Thailand 46th in the world for ease of doing business. Particularly difficult aspects of doing business include starting a business (78th), getting credit (82nd), and paying taxes (109th). Combine this with the ever-present political instability and a shortage of skilled workers and Thailand begins to appear as a risky and troublesome option for potential investors.

However, in order to counteract this, the Thai government and BOI have introduced a number of pro-FDI policies. Recently, restrictions for foreign entrants have been eased in a number of industries, including insurance and commercial banking. There are plans to extend the business license waiver to more service industries. Add to this the strong geographic location of Thailand and the THB 1.4 trillion of planned infrastructure spending, and the future of Thailand as an investment location looks bright.

Ultimately, 2017 is being seen as a year of transition for Thailand; the new King Maha Vajiralongkorn will be crowned and the junta government will begin the process of reinstating their own brand of democracy to the nation. The military-written constitution, passed with 60 percent support in a 2016 referendum, suggests that despite the armys desire for democracy, their influence will be entrenched in Thai politics regardless of the result of the upcoming election. Consequently, it is expected that investment growth will be tentative throughout the year with many potential entrants holding off to see how the major events later in the year pan out.



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. 

Dezan Shira & Associates Brochure

Dezan Shira & Associates is a pan-Asia, multi-disciplinary professional services firm, providing legal, tax and operational advisory to international corporate investors. Operational throughout China, ASEAN and India, our mission is to guide foreign companies through Asias complex regulatory environment and assist them with all aspects of establishing, maintaining and growing their business operations in the region. This brochure provides an overview of the services and expertise Dezan Shira & Associates can provide.

An Introduction to Doing Business in ASEAN 2016

An Introduction to Doing Business in ASEAN 2016 introduces the fundamentals of investing in the 10-nation ASEAN bloc, concentrating on economics, trade, corporate establishment and taxation. We also include the latest development news in our Important Updates section for each country, with the intent to provide an executive assessment of the varying component parts of ASEAN, assessing each member state and providing the most up-to-date economic and demographic data on each.



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.


Top security sources have also confirmed to this newspaper that there are bout 250 active militants in the Valley.

New Delhi: Security agencies are baffled with a new modus operandi being adopted by militant outfits in Kashmir Valley where they have now started using civilians as human shield during an encounter with the forces. The first incident of its kind, which security officials claim marks a shift in the strategy of terror groups, was witnessed during a fierce encounter in South Kashmirs Kulgam area on Sunday where militants hold up inside a house held the house owners son hostage and even used him as a human shield.

Security officials familiar with the operation said in the past militants would allow the occupants to leave the house after storming the house during an encounter.

But this did not happen in the Kulgam incident and in a departure from the past practice the militants instead held the owners son hostage thus hampering the entire operation.

Though the security forces managed to successfully eliminate the four militants, all of who were from Kulgam area, two Army jawans were also killed in the encounter. Security officials claim that the casualty of jawans was the fallout of the militants holding the civilian hostage as forces had to extremely careful in protecting the life of an innocent person. Even during peak militancy we did not witness anything like this as militants would allow the local civilians to leave once they entered any house. But it did not happen this time and in fact our jawans got killed as they had to be extremely careful during the operation to save the life of an innocent civilian. This is a dangerous trend and with militants planning to increase attacks on security forces we hope this incident is an exception, a senior security official said. Incidentally, the encounter led to a massive protest by residents in South Kashmir and security forces had to resort to firing to control the rioting mob. This, intelligence sources said, proves that militant groups are mobilising local support with help of their Over Ground Workers.

It was in this backdrop that Army Chief Bipin Rawat had also warned on Wednesday of tough action against those in the Valley trying hamper counter terror operations labelling them as anti national. We have concrete information and evidence to suggest that these OGWs are paying local youth anything between Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 to pelt stones and protest against security forces. Some of these boys who were detained during earlier violent demonstrations in the Valley following killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani disclosed this during interrogation. Majority of these Kashmiri boys are not directly linked with militancy but are lured into these violent protests because of money, an intelligence official posted in Srinagar added.

Another interesting aspect that came to light during subsequent investigations into the Kulgam incident also revealed that out of the four killed militant two belonged to Hizbul Mujahideen and two to Lashkar-e-Tayyaba. This confirms that different terror outfits operating in the Kashmir Valley had now come together to target security forces.

Meanwhile, top security sources have also confirmed to this newspaper that there are bout 250 active militants in the Valley now while earlier the number was said to be less than 200. The number of active militants in the Valley is believed to have increased during the widespread disturbances and shutdown in the Kashmir Valley in the aftermath of Hizbul Mujahideen leader Burhan Wanis death on July 9.

A top security source told this newspaper: ``Of the 250, about a half are locals while the other half are foreign militants. But the recent trend of locals actively aiding militants is a worrying trend. These attacks are all happening in the Valley away from the LoC which is largely snow-bound now. So these attacks are by terrorists who are already in the Valley. From January 1, of the at least 15 militants killed in the Valley, ten have been found to be locals.
Tamil Nadu govt may ask court to relocate her to prison in home state, say sources

AIADMK leaders walk out of the ECs office in New Delhi after submitting a request to cancel V.K. Sasikalas appointment as party general secretary. (Photo:Biplab Banerjee)

Bengaluru: V.K. Sasikala, prisoner No. 9243, does not have to undergo any skilled training or involve herself with vocational work in Bangalores Central Prison because she has been sentenced to simple imprisonment by the Supreme Court, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told this newspaper.

Amid speculation that Ms Sasikala managed to bring a television into her room and upgrade her cell to Class A and get a cot  all of which has been denied by prison authorities  the person said that while vocational and skill-based work is mandatory for convicts sentenced to rigorous imprisonment, prison officials cannot force a convict serving simple imprisonment to do any kind of work.

It is up to her to keep herself occupied. The prison library is available for convicts and she can make use of the facility, the person said.

Ms Saskilakas relative, Ilavarasi, has been provided with a cot on medical grounds. She is a hypertension patient and has been advised to sleep on a cot by prison doctors. So far no such requisition has been made for Sasiskala or her doctor, the person said.

Ms Sasiskala, who spent a restless night sleeping on the floor, also skipped dinner. For breakfast, she had pongal. She also asked for hot water to take bath.

Her first visitors were her lawyers, the person added. Ms Sasikala and Ms Ilavarasi have been lodged in a two-occupancy cell, located at the same barracks as hardened women convicts are lodged.

But they do not have to interact with the other convicts and can keep to themselves, the person said.

Another person with direct knowledge of the matter said the Tamil Nadu government may ask the court to relocate her to a prison in her home state.
You register FIR, investigate and if there is nothing file a closure report, SC told the UP counsel.

New Delhi: In a huge setback to the Samajwadi party in the midst of Assembly polls, the Supreme Court on Friday ordered registration of a FIR against the Transport Minister of Uttar Pradesh Gayatri Prasad Prajapathi in an alleged rape and sexual harassment case by a 35-year-old woman. He is fighting the Assembly polls from Amethi constituency.

Giving this direction a Bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and R.K. Agrawal asked the State to file a status report in eight weeks.

The Bench told the UP counsel You should first register FIR. Just because he is an influential person you are not registering FIR. You register FIR, investigate and if there is nothing file a closure report. But you cant say you will not register FIR.

The Bench passed this on a petition from the woman, who alleged that the minister promised her a post in the SP party and raped her when she met him three years ago.

She also alleged that the Minister took some obscene photos and threatened that they would be made public and repeatedly raped her. She also alleged that the minister molested her teenaged daughter but Police refused to register FIR.
However, the company has made it clear the proposal is "conditional" to Indian Air Force choosing the fighter aircraft for its fleet.

n August last, Lockheed had offered to move its lone production line of the latest version of F 16-Block 70 to India from Texas to meet Indian and global requirement. (Photo: file)

Bengaluru: American defence major Lockheed Martin on Thursday said discussions are currently taking place between the US and Indian governments on the company's plans to set up manufacturing base for F-16 fighter jets in India.

"The conversation has progressed to the point that we are deferring at this point to the government-to-government conversation. And that conversation is ongoing," a top company official told reporters at Aero India 2017 air show in Bengaluru.

The comments from Randy Howard, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Integrated Fighter, Director, Business Development, came when asked about its move to push ahead with its plan to move production of its F-16 to India, but that the Trump Administration is taking a "fresh look" at its proposal.

"We had really very strong support up to this point. We are deferring those questions and concerns over to governments who are having an ongoing conversation. The discussions have progressed to the point that the requirements need to be more fully articulated...," he said.

"There are a number of internal discussions going on here in India on strategic partners. Discussions between the two governments at this point. We will wait to hear from the two governments and Lockheed Martin is fully supportive of those decisions," he said.

Lockheed had said recently that its officials have briefed the Trump Administration on the current proposal, which was supported by the Obama Administration as part of a broader cooperative dialogue with the Government of India.

Trump has flayed US firms for having moved manufacturing overseas and then sell their products back to the US and asked them to produce in the US itself. Lockheed, however, does not plan to sell back F-16 in the US which has not placed fresh orders for it.

In August last, Lockheed had offered to move its lone production line of the latest version of F 16-Block 70 to India from Texas to meet Indian and global requirement.

However, the company has made it clear the proposal is "conditional" to Indian Air Force choosing the world's largest-sold fighter aircraft for its fleet.

"We understand that the Trump Administration will want to take a fresh look at some of these programmes and we stand prepared to support that effort to ensure that any deal of this importance is properly aligned with US policy priorities," a Lockheed Martin official had said recently.
The MEA said he is expected to take up his new assignment shortly.

New Delhi: Indias foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup was Thursday appointed high commissioner to Canada. He was instrumental in expanding the MEAs social media outreach and handling sensitive issues deftly.

A 1986-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Mr Swarup, whose debut novel Q&A was made into the Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire, had helmed the high-profile office since April 2015 when Indias external engagement saw major traction.

Mr Swarup was recently promoted to the rank of additional secretary. The MEA said he is expected to take up his new assignment shortly.

Gopal Baglay, who is joint secretary in the Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan division in the MEA, will succeed Mr Swarup as the ministry of external affairs spokesperson.
The state BJP Friday also slammed opposition parties and separatists for criticising General Bipin Rawat.

New Delhi: Defence minister Manohar Parrikar Friday extended his support to Army chief General Bipin Rawats warning that local supporters of Kashmiri militants would be treated as overground workers of terrorists and would not be spared.

Those who obstruct anti-terror operations... obviously are trying to protect terrorists, Mr Parrikar told a news channel.

Army has a free hand for CICT (counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism) operations and the final decision rests with the local commander. Such operations are based on specific inputs, Mr Parrikar said.

The state BJP Friday also slammed opposition parties and separatists for criticising General Bipin Rawat.

On Wednesday, General Rawat in a strong message had said, We would now request the local population that people who have picked up arms, and they are the local boys, if they want to continue with the acts of terrorism displaying flags of ISIS and Pakistan, then we will treat them as anti-national elements. The Army chiefs statement came in the wake of increasing attacks on security forces while conducting counter-insurgency operations, leading to unacceptable casualties among the security forces.

There were also worrying reports of locals actively aiding militants in Kashmir valley, hindering counter-insurgency operations. The security forces have been combating insurgency in the Valley with a strong effort to avoid collateral damage among civilians.

Our aim is to neutralise as many Pakistani terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir and demoralise the militant ranks before the snow starts melting in the high mountain passes next month, the minister also told a newspaper.

The number of active militants is believed to have increased during the shutdown in the aftermath of Hizbul Mujahideen operative Burhan Wanis death on July 9 last year.
Congress alludes to PM-Sharif feasting to counter BJP charge of hurting soldiers morale.

A masked man hurls a stone at security forces in Srinagar on Friday. Stone-pelting protesters came out to condemn a recent warning by the Army chief of tough action against locals who hamper military operations. (Photo: AP)

New Delhi: The Congress Friday took on the BJP over accusations that the former played politics over the remarks of Army chief General Bipin Rawat that locals in Kashmir valley who put a hurdle on counter-militancy operations would be punished. The BJP had said the Congress remarks have affected the morale of soldiers.

The main opposition party, however, questioned the ruling dispensation whether Prime Minister Narendra Modis meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the martyrdom of 188 soldiers in 30 months in terror attacks did not equally affect their morale.

Please tell if morale of our jawans wasnt affected when Modiji feasted with PM Sharif in Pakistan as jawans sacrificed for India? Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said in a series of tweets.

Please tell if morale wasnt affected as 188 Jawans were martyred in 30 months in terror attacks but Modiji couldnt contain Pakistan, he said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has accused the Congress of speaking the language of separatists over the Army chiefs remarks.

Mr Surjewala also asked minister of state in the Prime Ministers Office, Jitendra Singh, whether the morale of jawans was not affected when Mr Modi invited rogue ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) to investigate the Pathankot terror attack.

Mr Singh had asked political parties not to politicise the Army chiefs statements and appealed to them, including Congress, to not indulge in any kind of politicking at the cost of morale of security forces.

Please tell if morale of Jawans wasnt affected as BJP-PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) government gave compensation to the kin of dreaded terrorists in J&K? Please tell if morale of Jawans isnt affected as Madhya Pradesh BJP members are caught teaming with the ISI and running a racket to spy on Army, Mr Surjewala tweeted.

Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said in reply to a query on the Army chiefs remarks that stern action will be taken against those siding with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. He also said security forces must use restraint while dealing with people in the border state.

The issue of internal security of the country is a serious one and there can be no compromise on it. But as I had said during the last Parliament session, atrocities should not be inflicted on innocent people, he said.

Action should be taken against those involved in wrongdoings (in Kashmir valley), but there is a need to adopt restraint, Mr Scindia said.
The bench told the petitioner to give a copy of the writ petition to the attorney general.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday declined to go into the debate on whether Vande Mataram should be declared a national song, saying there is no such concept as a national song.

The court, however, said it will consider the plea to frame a policy to promote the national anthem and the national flag as laid down in Article 51A of the Constitution.

A three-judge bench of Justices Dipak Misra, R. Banumathi and Mohan M. Shantanagouda gave an order on a petition filed by BJP spokesman Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay for a direction to frame a policy on the national anthem, flag and the song Vande Mataram.

Earlier, senior counsel Vikas Singh said that since the petition is similar to an earlier one pending in the court, it must be heard together.

We do not find that the present writ petition relates in entirety to national policy, for our earlier order does not relate to national song or national flag, the bench said.

It quoted Article 51A(a) of the Constitution which refers only to the national flag and the national anthem, adding that it did not want to go into the debate. In the last hearing, attorney general Mukul Rohatgi had said singing of national anthem should be made mandatory in schools.

The bench said the plea on singing of national anthem in schools is relevant, and told the petitioner to give a copy of the writ petition to the attorney general.
Himanta Biswa Sarma said his government will not stop anyone from posting anything against the government on social media.

Guwahati: Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma Thursday said that a girl from Jorhat district who had posted on Facebook that she was sexually harassed, had done nothing wrong.

He said his government will not stop anyone from posting anything against the government on social media.

We have simply requested the people to inform such incidents to police also. Police failed to take note of the Facebook posts of the Jorhat girl, and by the time it came to notice, the accused had sufficient time to escape, Mr Sarma said.

Mr Sarmas remark came in the wake of a Facebook post by a college girl, narrating her ordeal of sexual harassment last week by motorcycle-borne youth, which sparked protest across the state.

Though director general of police (special) Kula Saikia had rushed to Jorhat soon after the incident came to light on social media last week and met the victim and her family members, the remark of a senior Cabinet minister added fuel to fire.

Parliamentary affairs minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said the girl was an activist of the Students Federation of India (SFI) and ridiculed her for making her ordeal public on social media instead of seeking police help.

A day after the ministers remark, BJP member of Parliament from Tezpur, R.P. Sharma, also said such incidents should be reported to the police instead of taking it up on social media.

The remark of Mr Patowary and the MP invited angry reaction with many asking for the resignation of the minister.

In an attempt to pacify the people, Mr Sarma Thursday stepped in and clarified that they cant snatch away the rights of any individual to put forward their grievances on social media.
Opposition should not politicise everything, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said.

Army chief Bipin Rawat had warned that tough action would be taken against civilians helping militants. (Photo: PTI)

Imphal: Amid political mudslinging over Army chief Bipin Rawat's remarks, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday asked the opposition to "keep pace" with democracy and "not politicise" the armed forces.

"Opposition should not politicise everything. They have raised doubts on surgical strike which was never done before in history (of India). Now they are reacting and politicising an issue which they should not be doing. So I request them to keep pace with democracy and not politicise the military," he said.

Jitendra Singh, MoS, PMO also retorted sharply at the Oppositions criticism of Rawat.

Army Chief's remark showed worry and not warning. It was an appeal that you shouldn't come toward line of firing. But Congress is showing it otherwise. The party is falling under its own weight and hence out of frustration, it is indulging in the kind of jargon that is unheard of in history of democracy. Congress which calls itself nationalistic is talking the language of separatist forces for the sake of cheap politics, he said.

The comments came in the backdrop of the Army chief's statement on tough action against stone pelters in Kashmir.

The stern message from Rawat came after three soldiers faced heavy stone-pelting at Parray Mohalla of Bandipore in north Kashmir when they were about to launch an operation against militants holed up there.
'A United Kingdom' Is A Gorgeous Love Story With Political Subtext: BUST Review

A United Kingdom?

Directed by Amma Asante

?Out February 17

4 out of 5 boobs

A United Kingdom is, at its heart, a gorgeous love story about a two people from radically different worlds. But like director Amma Asantes previous film, Belle, its packed with political subtext thats all too relevant to todays world. Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo) is a law student in London when he meets Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike) at a dance; theyre instantly smitten, but theres much more working against them than just the everyday racism of the 1940s. After a charming whirlwind romance, Seretse tearfully tells Ruth hes done with his studies and must return home to the country now known as Botswana, where he will be king. When Seretse brings home a white bride, it becomes an international incident that threatens the future of his leadership and his tribe itself.

Oyelowo and Pike are perfect together, conveying a deep well of love buoyed by joy and fierce loyalty. The supporting cast is equally great, with standout performances from Terry Pheto as Seretses sister Naledi, Downton Abbeys Laura Carmichael as Ruths sister Muriel, and Jack Davenport as a U.K. diplomat. Based on a true story, A United Kingdom is a welcome entry into the genre of romantic historical dramas made for intelligent adult audiences.

By Jenni Miller

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Rosamund Pike, Madison Manowe, and David Oyelowo Pictured Above. Image courtesy of Stanislav Honzik.  2016 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

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'Farmers want only three things-- waive off farm loan, reduce electricity bill, give right price for produce,' Gandhi said.

Raebareli: Rahul Gandhi on Friday invoked two Bollywood blockbusters to take a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he promised "achhe din" like Shah Rukh Khan in "Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge" but ended up being the villain Gabbar Singh of "Sholay".

Referring to the 1995 hit starring Shah Rukh and Kajol, Rahul slammed Modi for his 'achhe din' promise.

"You must have seen the movie 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge', have not you? Do you remember it? In the film there is a promise of 'achhe din' (good days)," he said drawing applause from the audience who lapped up the banter.

Mocking the prime minister for making "empty" promises for developing the state by "pretending" to be a hero, Rahul said Modi claimed he was a hero like Shah Rukh but ended up being villain Gabbar Singh.

When Rahul spoke, his sister Priyanka was by his side, hitting the campaign trail for the first time in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

Till now, her role had been confined to strategy and backroom talks from her brother's home in New Delhi.

Congress leaders say she is unlikely to go beyond mother Sonia Gandhi's Raebareli and Rahul's Amethi constituencies.

Congress has credited Priyanka with playing a pivotal role in rescuing the alliance with the Samajwadi Party when it was on the verge of collapse.
The former Presidium chairman also removed Sasikalas nephew TTV Dinakaran and relative Venkatesh from their respective party posts.

Chennai: In a tit for tat move, the O Panneerselvam camp on Friday "removed" AIADMK General Secretary V K Sasikala and her two relatives from the party for "going against its principles and ideals".

In a statement, E Madusudanan, who was earlier removed as Presidium Chairman by Sasikala, said she had "violated" her promise to the late Jayalalithaa that she will not enter politics and that she had no inclination to be a part of the party or government.

He asked cadres not to have any association with Sasikala. The development came a day after Sasikala loyalist Edappadi K Palaniswami was sworn in as Chief Minister and he will seek a trust vote tomorrow in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

"V K Sasikala is being removed from the party's primary membership for going against the party principles and ideals, and having violated her promise to Amma (Jayalalithaa), besides facing criminal cases. She has brought disrepute to the party," he said in a statement.

Madusudanan, who had joined the Pannneerselvam camp last week, had been replaced with K A Sengottaiyan as the Presidium Chairman by Sasikala, a move rejected by the Panneerselvam camp.

He was also removed from the party's primary membership but insisted Sasikala had no authority to do so.

Sasikala, serving a jail term in connection with the Rs 66 crore disproportionate assets case in Bengaluru, had also removed former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam from the party's primary membership in the wake of his revolt against her.

Madusudanan also announced the "expulsion" of AIADMK Deputy General Secretary T T V Dinakaran and S Venkatesh, both relatives of Sasikala, from the party.

He said Jayalalithaa had earlier (in 2011) expelled them from the party for "betraying" her.

"Their re-induction, done without any authority, is being cancelled," he said.

The two were allowed to join AIADMK on Wednesday by Sasikala, after six years of expulsion by her predecessor Jayalalithaa.

Sasikala had announced that they were being allowed to join after they expressed regret for their acts in person and through letter and requested that they be allowed to join the AIADMK again.

In an intra-party power struggle, Panneerselvam had revolted against Sasikala on February 7, alleging he was forced to step down to make way for her elevation as Chief Minister.

She had been elected the AIADMK Legislature Party leader on February 5 to enable her become chief minister. But the Governor, Ch Vidyasagar Rao, had apparently chosen to await the outcome of the Supreme Court verdict in the disproportionate assets case.
Congress will be contesting on 105 seats in the state with ally Samajwadi Party contesting from 298 out of a total of 403 seats.

Lucknow: Priyanka Gandhi on Friday will attend the first election rally in Raebareli constituency with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

Senior Congress leader Akhilesh Singh's daughter Aditi Singh is contesting from this seat in the upcoming assembly polls, traditionally represented by Sonia Gandhi in the Lok Sabha.

The announcement came a day after Smriti Irani's attack on Priyanka Gandhi over her absence from the poll fray in UP. Irani asserted that Priyanka is not campaigning due to unfulfilled promises of her party in their constituencies and she is afraid of answering to the people of the constituencies.

This was followed by a war of words between the Congress and the BJP, with Congress lashing out at the Union Textile Minister asking her to stay out of the grand old party's campaign plans as it was none of her business.

Not letting go of the opportunity, Congress leader PC Chacko raked up Irani's education qualification row, saying that if not answering queries was an issue, then the Union Minister had a lot to answer for herself.

"When Irani was the HRD minister, there were so many queries about her wherever she went. There is a case pending about her educational qualification in the court. She herself gave a direction to the concerned department that her education details should not be given to the RTI. If she does not want to answer these queries then she shouldn't be in politics at all," he said, adding that it was none of Irani's business where Priyanka decided to campaign.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has asserted that the Union Textile Minister is entitled to question the Opposition if they are not present in their home constituency.

"Amethi has some serious questions which want to be addressed to the MP or his immediately family and obviously there seems to be no answers or no campaigning. This can raise a huge question in the days to come when it comes to a mandate, which the people of Amethi have been giving to a particular party," BJP leader Shaina NC told ANI here.

Amethi and Rae Bareli will vote in the 4th and 5th phases of polling on February 23 and February 27, respectively.

Congress will be contesting on 105 seats in the state with ally Samajwadi Party contesting from 298 out of a total of 403 seats.
Sources said winning Raebareilly and Amethi Assembly segments have become a matter of prestige for the Congress.

New Delhi: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is now heading to his family bastion of Amethi and Raebareilly for the Assembly poll campaigning. Sources said he will hold two public meetings in Raebareilly, the parliamentary constituency of Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday.

They added that since the BJP is turning up the heat in these constituencies, the Gandhi will now focus on campaigning his home turf.

Meanwhile, BJP national president Amit Shah addressed a rally in Amethi on Thursday. Targeting the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, he said, For the past 50 years, only one family is running the affairs of Amethi. Even then, this place is languishing behind other districts in terms of development.

Interestingly, Piranha Gandhis plan to campaign in these two constituencies has been delayed. She was supposed to go into campaign mode starting February 14.

Her final programme is currently being worked out, said sources. In the previous Assembly election in 2012, she actively campaigned in the Assembly segments of Amethi and Raebareilly. Congress president Sonia Gandhi may also make an appearance in Raebareilly, which has five Assembly constituencies that will go to poll in the fourth phase. Amethi, which also has five Assembly constituencies, will go to poll in the fifth phase.

In spite of an alliance between the Congress and Samajwadi party, there is expected to be a friendly contest on almost four constituencies out of 10. Two Assembly constituencies of Sareni and Unchahar in Raebareilly and Gauriganj and Amethi city in Amethi will see a friendly contest between the candidates of both the parties.

Sources said winning Raebareilly and Amethi Assembly segments have become a matter of prestige for the Congress.

Piranha Gandhi campaigned tirelessly in the 2012 Assembly elections but the party could only win two seats.
BSP chief Mayawati hit back at the SP during a rally in Fatehpur.

BSP supremo Mayawati during an election campaign rally for forthcoming Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election at Soraon, near Allahabad. (Photo: PTI)

Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party traded charges as campaigning for the third phase of polling ended on Friday.

Samajwadi Party president and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav termed the BSP an uncontrolled elephant that could do more damage than good to Uttar Pradesh.

Speaking at a rally in Barabanki, the chief minister said that Raksha Bandhan came after Holi, referring to a possible alliance between the BJP and the BSP after the results are announced, which would be two days before Holi.

BSP chief Mayawati hit back at the SP during a rally in Fatehpur on Friday, where she said that jungle raj was prevailing in Uttar Pradesh.

She alleged that the Akhilesh Yadav government had changed the names of the schemes launched by the BSP government and was now claiming them as his achievements.

Ms Mayawati accused SP patriarch Mulayam Singh of humiliating his brother Shivpal Yadav to protect the interests of his son.

Akhilesh Yadav, meanwhile, alleged that people have made me fight with my father Mulayam Singh for vested interests. We allied with the Congress to defeat communal forces. We will not spare those who are responsible for this conspiracy.

The reference was obviously to his estranged uncle Shivpal Yadav, whose constituency Jaswantnagar also goes to polls in the third phase.

Both Akhilesh Yadav and Ms Mayawati also slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the demonetisation issue and for making the people of the country stand in queues. The two leaders accused the BJP of making false promises to the people and failing to fulfil them.

Ms Mayawati warned that if the BJP came to power, it would strip minority education institutions of their minority status, implement uniform civil code and put to an end to reservation.
Savita Rani has conceived, performed and directed the play RIP the soliloquy of a woman who draws from personal experiences.

Don't we all aspire to have peace while we are alive?, asks drama artiste Savita Rani while speaking about how RIP, the play directed, perfomed and conceived by herself, evolved. Savitas words flow slowly and thoughtfully; there is no rush. Her hands lie on her lap, calm and still and her face is completely relaxed contrary to the Savita who takes to the stage in a whorl of colour electrifying, passionate and supremely self-confident. Her play comes from her own innards, feeding from her angst and the overwhelming need to express. She says, I felt that I was full of societal hypocrisy and bigotry and I needed to speak out desperately. I felt the need of giving voice and form to my angst and took the decision to speak out openly through my work. The play is being staged in Kochi at Forplay studio today and tomorrow.

RIP was not a word she chose randomly it was a word she saw mentioned on Facebook, which she had never heard of and which she went seeking the meaning of. Little did she know that she was only tapping the tip of an iceberg.

She says, I came to know that RIP is an abbreviation of Rest in Peace and it is used to wish well for the soul that no longer occupies a human body; it is more like a prayer.

That word got stuck in her mind giving birth to a multitude of questions like Is it a given for a soul to achieve peace after death? And if it is a surety that the soul always achieves peace, then what is the need of even saying RIP? Why cant we say this word to soothe the soul of a living being if she/he is experiencing restlessness? A body that goes through so much restlessness in life, both within and outside, in the world, how can there be rest in peace after death? Why can we not rest in peace while we are alive? The more Savita started dwelling deeper into those questions, the more clarity she started getting about her performance.

Haryana-born, Pondicherry-settled Savita decided to explore the theme with reference to a woman or to be more specific how being a woman makes her restless? Using her own self as a reference point, she started observing her behaviour and social patterns and used those patterns in her work.

Thus, RIP is a soliloquy of a woman who recalls personal experiences and incidents while taking a decision to travel the world with her man. RIP moves forward through the womans narration of all that she sees and feels during her travel, including the places she visited and the people she met. During the journey, she questions the culture and social system. The play is a narrative with the interaction of the audience.

The National School of Drama graduate has worked with eminent personalities like Anuradha Kapur, Anamika Haksar, K.S.Rajendran, Suresh Anagali, Harish Khanna, Vivan Sundram etc. She started theatre in 1999 with the group Jatan Natya Manch in her hometown Rohtak which is a political and social theatre group.

Expressing her thoughts about theatre, she says, When one thinks of drama or theatre, one feels that there must be a written text, lots of lights, set, music, make up and costumes. All of it is required it gives a sense of aesthetics to theatre but we must not forget that these are resources which also limit the possibility of theatre. The basic and foremost elements of theatre are the actor (the doer, the performer) and the spectator.

For the first time, she also decided to come in front of her audience alone, without any prop or proper stage make up. She adds, It gave me a feeling which was queer and at the same time empowering. I was amazed by the simplicity of my own actions. I felt like carrying it forward. She has given more thought to the play rather than to the design, costume or set.

Though Savita has visited Kerala during the IFFK and Kochi Biennale, it is the first time she is performing there. Speaking about the cultural scene, she says, The cultural scene of Kerala is very vast, deep rooted and full of opportunities, especially for young theatre practitioners, compared to North India. Lots of theatre festivals happen here. People here are more aware about theatre work and it can be because of traditional art practices like koodiyattom, kathakali, theyyam etc which are still going strong and which enjoy respectful status.

Travelling has been a passion both for leisure and work and Savita has travelled to Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Peru and Vienna with her dramas. She also visited Japan for an artist residency programme and attended workshops in London.

Films have come seeking her and she has worked in a few art- house movies like Thathagat, Kajaria and The Hungry.

Before she ends, Savita ruminates, Theatre is a live medium. There is vulnerability. It doesnt matter how much you have rehearsed, you make new mistakes every time.
We know that either parent's mental wellbeing impacts on the other, the relationship and family.

People should also think of depression's influence on the entire family (Photo: AFP)

Auckland: Women aren't the only ones who may feel depressed when welcoming a newborn: a new study from New Zealand says some men also experience depression during and after their female partners' pregnancies.

In the study of almost 4,000 men, about 6 percent had elevated depression symptoms at some point during their partners' pregnancies or the nine months after the birth, researchers found.

"I think its important for couples to be aware that either of them can be depressed and they should be seeking help and seeking support," said the study's lead author Lisa Underwood, who is affiliated with the University of Auckland.

Underwood and colleagues write in JAMA Psychiatry that 9 percent of men report depression at some point during their lives. About 3 percent report a depressive episode in the past year.

Pregnancy and childbirth may put men at an increased risk of depression, they add, though research typically focuses on women, who are at an increased risk of depression during pregnancy and after childbirth. Still, past research also links depressed fathers to emotional and behavioral problems among children, the researchers write.

For the new study, the team analyzed data collected from the partners of women who took part in the Growing Up in New Zealand study and were due to deliver between April 2009 and March 2010.

The researchers conducted in-home interviews with 3,826 fathers during their female partners' pregnancies. Another round of interviews were conducted with 3,549 of the fathers about nine months after their children's birth.

Underwood and her colleagues found that 2.3 percent of fathers had elevated symptoms of depression while their female partners were pregnant. During the postnatal period, 4.3 percent of fathers had elevated depression symptoms after childbirth.

The men's depression symptoms during pregnancy were tied to their being stressed or in poor health. After childbirth, symptoms were more likely in men who felt stressed during the pregnancy, or were no longer in a relationship with the child's mother, men who rated their health as only fair or poor, those who were unemployed or had a history of depression.

The researchers can't say whether symptoms of depression cause poor health and other issues, or vice versa, Underwood told Reuters Health. "It definitely points to the fact that we need to be giving couples more support," she said.

Depression should raise flags about those other health concerns, said James Paulson, a licensed clinical psychologist and associate professor at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

People should also think of depression's influence on the entire family, said Paulson, who wasn't involved with the new study.

"There are a lot of treatments for this," he told Reuters Health. "Weve been dealing with depression for a long time. While we dont have tailored treatments for paternal depression, we do have interventions for depression and those are effective."

Those interventions include medications and psychotherapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which can teach people how to address issues in their life that cause or worsen depression.

"We know that either parent's mental wellbeing impacts on the other, the relationship and family," Underwood said. Sometimes people may feel guilty seeking treatments when they just had a baby come into their lives, Paulson said.

"Consider seeking treatment for yourself as a way to treat the system that includes your child," he said.
The new findings may be useful for men who have low-to-moderate self esteem tied to their perceived lost penis length after their surgery.

The findings may not represent reality for all men (Photo: AFP)

Tokyo: After prostate removal for cancer, men sometimes complain to their doctors that their penis shrank, but a new study from Japan suggests they should not lose hope.

Following men for up to two years after surgery, researchers found the patients' penises were shortest a few days after their procedures. Penis lengths generally returned to normal after one year, however.

The study's lead author said the research was started after encountering a few patients complaining of penis shortening after prostate removal, which is known medically as a radical prostatectomy.

Past reports mentioned shortened penises after prostate removal, but the results were a bit different, said Dr. Yoshifumi Kadono, of Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medicine Science. "Therefore, we started our study to obtain our data," he told Reuters Health.

For the new study, the researchers measured the penis lengths of 102 men before having their prostates removed and then at 10 days after surgery and again one, three, six, nine, 12, 18 and 24 months later.

The men's stretched penis lengths were shortest 10 days after surgery, when measurements were an average of about 0.10 centimeters (0.04 inches) shorter than before prostate removal.

By the one-year mark, the men's penises generally returned to original lengths, which averaged about 11.72 centimeters (4.61 inches), according to the results in BJU International.

The researchers wanted to know what caused the shortening and if any particular variable, such as the size of a man's prostate gland, would predict which men would experience this effect.

Based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)of the patients, the researchers noticed some internal changes. Specifically, the portion of the urethra directly below the bladder moves up into the body after surgery, but moves back down after some time.

"However, further research is needed to elucidate long-term changes of (penis length) with respect to the influence of sex hormones or changes in penile blood flow after (radical prostatectomy)," said Kadono.

The new findings may be useful for men who have low-to-moderate self esteem tied to their perceived lost penis length after their surgery, he added. The findings may not represent reality for all men, however.

Most men will have some penis length loss after surgery and sometimes that will be permanent, said Dr. John Mulhall, who is director of the Male Sexual and Reproductive Medicine Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

"If you have documental length loss at six months, then you shouldnt expect that to improve at 12 months," said Mulhall, who wasn't involved in the new study.

He told Reuters Health that loss of penis length can be attributed to two issues. For example, muscle contractions may pull the penis into the body, but that relaxes over time. Men may also experience after surgery the loss of erection tissue.

"Once that muscle degenerates, its gone," he told Reuters Health. Dr. Drogo Montague, who wasn't involved in the new study but often treats urological issues in men after prostate removal, also said some penises may appear shorter after surgery due to scar tissue that builds up when men have sex with partial erections.

The patients included in the new study would generally be considered to be normal weight, noted Montague, who is a professor of surgery at the Center for Genitourinary Reconstruction Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

"So these findings wont necessary be generalizable because of the prevalence of obesity," he told Reuters Health. Mulhall said medications like Viagra and Cialis - known as PDE5 inhibitors -are shown in previous research to guard against lost penile length after prostate removal.

In addition to PDE5 inhibitor, Montague said men can get prostheses and other interventions to strengthen their penises.
NDMC rubbishes report as baseless and far from reality.

New Delhi: The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has identified over 900 units as dangerous in Central Delhis Connaught Place (CP). The survey to identify dangerous buildings was carried out after two roofs collapsed in CP within a fortnight.

The NDMC had formed a six-member panel comprising structural safety experts from IIT Delhi, Central Public Works Department, NDMC, and the sub-divisional magistrate of the area to inspect the collapse sites and ascertain the reason behind the tragedy. We are conducting a safety audit as the collapses have raised questions over the structural stability of the buildings in Connaught Place. Over 900 units have been identified as dangerous and will be issued notices to either modify the structures to fall in line with the safety norms or face action, said a senior NDMC official.

However, later in the evening, the NDMC claimed that its team had conducted the inspection of 900 units of Connaught Place, and the finding of the committee that 900 units are dangerous is baseless and far from reality.

The civic body had last week sealed 21 rooftop restaurants and bars for flouting norms. According to NDMC officials, terraces or balconies in heritage buildings cannot be used for any kind of commercial activities. The audit team has reported that the terraces were overburdened with the weight of generator sets, furniture, water tanks, and other heavy equipments resulting in the crumbing of the old buildings. Seepage, cracks in walls, and dilapidated plasters have also weakened the foundation of the buildings, he added.

The roof of a building in C-block, above Jain Book Store, collapsed on February 2, while another roof of a one-storey building in L-block which houses the popular restrobar collapsed on February 11.

Safety audit of building in CP was supposed to done regularly by the NDMC, but was not done in the recent past. A senior NDMC official said, Several incidents of building collapse have been reported from Connaught Place but the department concerned of the NDMC has failed to perform its basic duty to check the structural strength of these structures. No one knows when the last structural safety audit was done. With each passing year, the foundations of the buildings are getting weaker and the load over them has increased manifold posing grave dangers to these historic buildings.
Sub-inspector Kailashwati was posted at Janakpuri police station in the West Delhi area.

New Delhi: The CBI on Friday arrested a sub-inspector of Delhi Police for allegedly receiving a bribe of Rs 10,000.



Sub-inspector Kailashwati was posted at Janakpuri police station in the West Delhi area.



Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) spokesperson R K Gaur said a case was registered on a complaint that the sub-inspector had demanded a bribe of Rs 15,000 for showing favour to the complainant in a case being investigated by her.



"After registration of the case, a trap was laid and the accused was caught while accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from the complainant. Searches have been conducted at the premises of the accused," he said.
- T. S. Eliot

Thoughts After Lambeth

"The World is trying the experiment of attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time: so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization, and save the World from suicide."
The students were rushed to the hospital after they complained about nausea and acute stomach and headache.

New Delhi: Nine students at a government school in the national capital ended up in the hospital on Thursday, after they consumed a midday meal in which a dead rat was allegedly found.

The students from the Government Boys' Senior Secondary School in Deoli area were immediately taken to the Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital, after they reported feeling nauseous and acute pain in their stomach and head post consuming the meal.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who visited the children in the hospital, took to Twitter saying "A rat has been found in midday meal in a government school. Nine students were rushed to hospital. I have spoken to doctors and the children are fine."

He further informed that an FIR is also being lodged and that from Friday onwards, his officers will monitor the cooking of food in the kitchen.

"An FIR has been lodged against the midday meal supplier and we will also blacklist him. We will not tolerate any carelessness when it comes to the health of children," Sisodia said.
She was declared brought dead when taken to a hospital, the police said.

Kolkata: A 72-year-old depressed woman went to a park near her house on the southern outskirts of the city early on Friday morning and set herself on fire after pouring kerosene over her body.

She was declared brought dead when taken to a hospital, the police said.

Kalpana Bardhan, a resident of Bijoygarh, who had been depressed for sometime after her husband died, went to Netaji Sishu Udyan early in the morning and poured kerosene over her body before lighting a fire, the police said.

In flames all over, the woman shouted desperately for help, but no one ventured near her, the police said adding that someone dialled the police helpline.

It took sometime for the police to arrive on the scene and she was rushed to the M R Bangur Hospital where she was declared brought dead.

The body has been sent for post-mortem, the police said.
In an interim order, the HC restrained the police from proceeding with the probe, and scheduled the final hearing for a later date.

Mumbai: Advertising executive Barun Kashyap, whose false account of 'harassment by cow vigilantes' had created sensation, got relief from the Bombay High Court.

On Friday, the court said, prima facie the offence of promoting enmity between two religious groups wasn't made out against him. Mumbai police pressed this charge against him after finding that his whole story was allegedly untrue.

Division bench of Justices A S Oka and Anuja Prabhudessai was hearing a petition filed by Kashyap seeking to quash the case against him under section 153 A (promoting enmity between two groups) of IPC.

According to police, Kashyap cooked up the story that he was harassed by cow vigilantes in suburban Andheri on the suspicion that he was carrying a bag made from cow hide.

His account of the incident, shared on social media, went viral, but police probe later found holes in the story. After hearing brief arguments today, the judges said, "Prima facie the offence alleged is not made out."

In an interim order, the HC restrained the police from proceeding with the probe, and adjourned the petition for final hearing on a later date.
The CM has held over 10 rallies in the city. He has lambasted the Sena in his rallies.

Mumbai: Internal bickering has marred the Bharatiya Janata Partys Mumbai campaign for the Brihanmumbai municipal corporation (BMC) polls amid allegations that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is spearheading it without taking other leaders along. Sources from the party alleged that BJPs Mumbai faces  Ashish Shelar, Vinod Tawde, Poonam Mahajan, Gopal Shetty, Prakash Mehta, Vidya Thakur, Raj Purohit have not been given prominent duties in the campaigning. Some BJP leaders opine that it could backfire on the CM if BJP does not perform well in the polls.

The Mumbai leaders are confined to their constituencies only. Vinod Tawde, Prakash Mehta and Vidya Thakur the ministers from Mumbai are not seen in the campaign. Mr Tawde was initially given the responsibility to negotiate with the Shiv Sena for alliance, but no major responsibility was given to him after that. Even the posters, advertisements, social media projects only CM, there is no place for Ashish Shelar who is the Mumbai president, said a senior BJP leader on condition of anonymity.

The CM has held over 10 rallies in the city. He has lambasted the Sena in his rallies. Initially, MP Kirit Somaiya and Mr Shelar also attacked Shiv Sena. However, after Senas counter attack on Mr Somaiya, the MP has preferred to remain silent. Mr Shelar is attending rallies with the CM but he is not involved in independent campaigning, the BJP source said.

BJP leaders like Prakash Mehta, Vidya Thakur are confined to their own constituencies. Raj Purohit who was also the Mumbai president is working only in his constituency. MP Gopal Shetty who has served as the Mumbai president is concentrating on his area. Ditto with Poonam Mahajan.

None of the big BJP leaders from Delhi have attended the rallies in Mumbai, except for Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari and state minister Purushottam Rupala. The Mumbai leaders are upset with the CMs self projection for the campaign. This might backfire on him if the party loses the polls, a senior BJP leader said.

However, a senior Shiv Sena MP said that the BJP leaders are well aware that they are losing the polls, hence withdrawing from the campaign. It will be easy for the Mumbai BJP leaders to blame the CM for defeat in the BMC polls. They have left the CM alone, the MP said.
To deal with the emergency, AI authorities asked one of its engineers based in Vienna, Austria to reach Ankara airport to do the needful.

Mumbai: A Mumbaibound Air India flight with 252 passengers, a majority of them from Maharashtra, was stranded at Turkeys Ankara airport for 22 hours as the airport did not have a qualified engineer to conduct the mandatory pre-flight checks on the aircraft.

To deal with the emergency, AI authorities asked one of its engineers based in Vienna, Austria to reach Ankara airport to do the needful. The aircraft, which left London Thursday afternoon, had to land in Ankara due to a medical emergency involving a Portuguese passenger. The aircraft finally left Ankara at 8.11 pm on Friday and will land in Mumbai early Saturday.

The Dreamliner B787- 8 (twin jet), which took off from London at its scheduled time, had to make a medical emergency landing when Agnelo Bareto, a 53-year-old Portuguese male, complained of uneasiness. The aircraft thus landed at Ankara at 10.30 pm IST on Thursday and was supposed to take off after deboarding the passenger.

However, certain mandatory checks on the aircraft showed it to be overweight, according to Directorate General of Civil Aviation. This meant that the luggage weight of the jumbo aircraft was shown to be more than the permissible limit prescribed by the regulator.

As a result, the aircraft had to ask the airport for a certified engineer to conduct the checks on the aircraft.

As the airport had no certified engineer for this type of aircraft, the national carrier had to summon its engineer from Vienna.

The national carrier has no base and manpower at Ankara. Indian Embassy is handling the situation and is in constant touch with the airline to guide us with the situation. The aircraft pushed back at 8.11 pm and was expected to land in Mumbai at around 1.45 am, said the airline spokesperson.

An airline official claimed that the passengers could not be shifted to a hotel due to Turkish visa restrictions. Meanwhile, the stranded passengers who were made to stay at the terminal during the delay alleged that the airline did not provide them with food and water. Vijay Patil, one of the passengers on board, said, The airline lied to us about providing us with hotel stay. We are made to stay without food and water in the cold. Mobin Khan, a resident of Ghatkopar, said, We landed in Ankara due to a medical emergency but have no clue what the airline is doing for us to take off for Mumbai. Moreover, the temperature here is 8 degree Celsius.
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Sana has created the Pakistani-American character of Kamala Khan to be Ms. Marvel as part of the comic universe

The artist thought of the idea after she faced a lot of issues growing up in America among terrorists attacks that she was blamed for. (Twitter/SanaAmanat)

With the rise of terrorism in the world, many Muslims are having trouble and Muslim women arent having it easier than before but they are fighting it in different forms. Art has always been known to express views and with the popularity of Marvel Sana Amanat has broken a stereotype in the most unique way possible.

According to a report in the Khaleeji Times, Sana is an artist who faced stereotypes from many Americans since the 90s because of terrorist attacks. Interestingly, she is now instrumental in creating a Pakistani-American superhero Kamala Khan or Ms Marvel. The character in the series looks up to Carol Danvers, the original Ms Marvel and is a mirror image of Sanas life in America. Last year, she launched the book when she met Barack Obama during Woman History Month and that seems to be her biggest achievement till date.

The 34-year-old comic books editor will be present at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature early next month on March 3 in two different sessions talking about the different stereotypes she has broken with her comic book on the Marvel character.
While many Trump advisers and supporters, have long opposed the Muslim Brotherhood, the new move has caused concern.

That the administration of US President Donald Trump has been busy issuing a host of executive orders in his first few weeks as President is well known. The orders issued have included the infamous one that banned nationals and green card holders from seven Muslim countries for 90 days and all refugees for 120 days (refugees from Syria indefinitely). Enforcement of that order has been stayed because of an injunction issued by a district court judge, whose ruling was recently upheld by a court of appeals.

Other orders have included one that prohibits government agencies from passing any new regulations unless two other regulations are expunged and three orders instruct the department of justice to confront drug cartels, fight violent crime and reduce attacks against the police.

President Donald Trump is not done issuing executive orders, however. According to reports from the new White House, one of the orders under consideration for issuance in the near future would designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation.

Former presidential contender Senator Ted Cruz, have argued that the group, which operates primarily in Egypt and Jordan, espouses a violent Islamist Ideology with a mission of destroying the West. Cruz has also introduced a bill in the United States Senate that aims to do the same thing. Supporters of the bill and the executive order under consideration have further argued that diaspora American-Muslim organisations such as the Islamic Society of North America, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the North American Islamic Trust are all front organisations for the Muslim Brotherhood, suggesting that restrictions may also extend to these groups within the United States.

While many Trump advisers and supporters, have long opposed the Muslim Brotherhood, the new move has caused concern. Opponents of such a move stress the following: first, equating the group with actual terrorist organisations like Al-Qaeda and the militant Islamic State group casts too broad a net and deflects attention away from actual terror groups that should be the focus of anti-terror efforts.

Second, the broad transnational and loosely connected group has long participated in elections and supported results. Its candidate Mohammed Morsi won the 2012 presidential election in Egypt before he and his allies were swept from power in a military coup. It is because of this that the previous two US administrations, one led by Republicans, the other by Democrats, have both refused to apply the designation.

Third, given that the Muslim Brotherhood has offshoots beyond Egypt, in countries like Morocco, Jordan and Turkey  countries in which the US has interests  the designation would imperil alliances in which America needs cooperation from allies.

Among policy experts in Washington, there is widespread disagreement. The issue of the Muslim Brotherhoods designation is likely to put American Muslims, particularly those from Arab countries where the Brotherhood has a strong presence, more on edge. With the terrorist designation, money that is sent to people or charities or any entity associated with the Muslim Brotherhood would come under greater scrutiny. Disbursements and connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, even vague ones, could be prosecuted under the US Material Support for Terrorism statute, which criminalises any support (even unintentional) to terrorist groups. While there may be little truth to the premise that American-Muslim organisations are fronts for the Muslim Brotherhood, it is quite likely that the latters designation as a terrorist organisation will affect a good number of American Muslims.

While the Muslim Brotherhood does not itself have a presence in Pakistan, several other Islamist political parties do. If the Brotherhood is designated as a terrorist organisation, it indicates the Trump administrations willingness to cast a very broad net and equate Islamist with terrorist. While this may not be correct, it is worthy of note since what applies to the Muslim Brotherhood may soon be applicable to other groups as well.

An Islamist political organisation like the Muslim Brotherhood is not the same as terrorist organisations such as Al Qaeda, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan or IS. Still, the overly broad nature of designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation is unlikely to accomplish any security objectives for the US. In the near term, it is likely to enable all sorts of wrongful prosecutions of Arab-Americans; in the long term, it will likely make the American-Muslim community even more insular, increasing the possibility of alienation and ultimately radicalisation.

By arrangement with Dawn
Israel has been the most coddled nation state in American political history.

US President Donald Trump has given burial rights to a two-state solution, ending the decades-long policy of US administrations and the world by giving Palestinians their defanged nation living alongside a Jewish entity. Hosting Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, he said a two-state or one-state solution was all right with him as long as the two immediate parties agreed.

Mr Trump had boasted during his election campaign that he would resolve the most contentious Middle East issue where others had failed. The first inkling of what it would be emerged at the White House press conference, with the US President opting for a regional solution on the strength of major Sunni states teaming up with Israel to fight the common enemy, Iran. The only mild admonition he had for Israel was "to hold back a little bit" on settlement building.

Palestinians had little chance to achieve a state of their own after the disastrous 1967 war, with Israel occupying more and more Palestinian land. Occupied East Jerusalem has been annexed and the spree in settlement building, reignited by the Trump victory, made a Palestinian entity increasingly remote. As Israel's coalition swung right, Mr Netanyahu was happy to bask in the glory of a single Jewish state.

Israel has been the most coddled nation state in American political history. Over a succession of US administrations, Washington winked at Israel building a nuclear arsenal while Tel Aviv was the recipient of the most generous economic and military assistance. And the American Jewish lobby took over political Washington by intimidating US legislators to vote for Israel by pulling their financial support. And the world deferred to American primacy in resolving he problem.

In the long history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there have been many false starts, including the Oslo accords. Along the way, more and more Israelis came round to the view that, given the near-absolute American support, they could get away without giving anything to Palestinians. Now with a friendly US President in office, they are blowing the victory bugle.

President Trump is delaying moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as he had promised during the campaign. But the whole pitch of the new administration is to make Israel strong. Although he has appealed to Israelis to show flexibility, his efforts seem directed at Sunni Gulf kingdoms to do the dirty job of Israel ruling Palestinians as a subject race in a Jewish state.

What are the chances of Mr Trump succeeding where others have failed? It is true that an increasing number of Arab states have informal relations with Israel, but for them to repudiate their fellow Palestinians' cause is a step too far, even taking into account the animosity towards Iran they share. Both Mr Trump and Mr Netanyahu agree that it was a bad agreement the Obama administration and other world powers signed with Tehran on curbing its nuclear programme. But repudiating it is another matter, given other countries' stakes.

Will Palestinians meet the fate of the Kurds spread over many countries, fighting the Turkish state as guerrillas and in Syria fighting with Americans against the Islamic State? It seems unlikely because the Palestinian cause has a resonance across the wider Arab and developing world. It was Yasser Arafat who brought romance to his quest for an independent Palestine. Jews, who evoke the Holocaust at the slightest provocation, seem happy to suppress Palestinians by occupying and building on their land and finally pronouncing it all belongs to it because of ancient history. Imagine what the world would look like if countries made their claims based on centuries of history!

The joint aim of Mr Trump and Mr Netanyahu is to make Iran the bad boy of the region and get the region's Arab states to team up with Israel. It is an idea divorced from reality. Making furtive contacts with Israel is one thing, to be seen supping with the devil quite another. If such an unlikely outcome would come to pass, the main beneficiary would be the so-called Islamic State or ISIS, who would paint the Gulf's rulers in lurid colours. Indeed, it is revealing that Mr Trump' son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has been made the overseer of the Israel-Palestinian problem.

Indeed, it seems unlikely that Shia Iran will not merely become a unifying factor for the Sunni Gulf states but will compel the latter to forsake their brother Palestinians to make public cause with Israel. As the short tempestuous error-prone Trump administration has shown thus far, the new ruler in Washington is fumbling for a solution without a clear idea of what would follow.

Palestinians themselves have a lot to answer for Mr Arafat himself had made mistakes in not seizing the right moment, his vanity often standing in the way. Mr Mahmoud Abbas is way beyond his allotted time as the head of the Palestinian movement, which is in any event split down the middle, with a separate set of Palestinians in the form of Hamas ruling the Gaza Strip after a fashion.

Right-wing Israelis might believe that they have won a famous victory, with a friendly President in the White House and Palestinians running from pillar to post. Mr Netanyahu's demand is that Palestinians recognise the Jewish nature of the Israeli state. And they shall be ruled as a subject race till eternity.

In the real world, such a happy ending for the Israeli state would be a fairytale. Mr Trump's consistent theme has been the destruction of the Islamic State. By his loud open support for Israel's illegal ambitions, he is merely giving succour to his proclaimed enemies. Beyond the expected Palestinian reaction, there is perhaps an undercurrent of hope that by overplaying his hand, Mr Trump has heightened the stark injustice of subjecting the inhabitants of the land Israel occupies to a subject status. Despite underhand dealings, which Arab ruler can live with this ignominy?
Mark Zuckerberg's long-term vision for Facebook, laid out in a sweeping manifesto , sometimes sounds more like a utopian social guide than a business plan. Are we, he asks, "building the world we all want?"

While most people now use Facebook to connect with friends and family, Zuckerberg thinks that the social network can also encourage more civic engagement, from the local to the global level. Facebook now has nearly 2 billion members, which makes it larger than any nation in the world.

His 5,800-word essay positions Facebook in direct opposition to a rising tide of isolationism and fear of outsiders, both in the U.S. and abroad. In a phone interview with The Associated Press, Zuckerberg stressed that he wasn't motivated by the U.S. election or any other particular event. Rather, he said, it's the growing sentiment in many parts of the world that "connecting the world"  the founding idea behind Facebook  is no longer a good thing.

"Across the world there are people left behind by globalization, and movements for withdrawing from global connection," Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook in a Harvard dorm room in 2004, wrote on Thursday. So it falls to the company to "develop the social infrastructure to give people the power to build a global community that works for all of us."

CONNECTING IN FACEBOOK'S INTEREST

Zuckerberg, 32, told the AP that he still strongly believes that more connectedness is the right direction for the world. But, he added, it's "not enough if it's good for some people but it's doesn't work for other people. We really have to bring everyone along."

It's hardly a surprise that Zuckerberg wants to find ways to bring more people together, especially on Facebook. After all, getting more people to come together on the social network more frequently would give Facebook more opportunities to sell the ads that generate most of its revenue, which totaled $27 billion last year. And bringing in more money probably would boost Facebook's stock price to make Zuckerberg  already worth an estimated $56 billion  even richer.

And while the idea of unifying the world is laudable, some critics  backed by various studies  contend Facebook makes some people feel lonelier and more isolated as they scroll through the mostly ebullient posts and photos shared on the social network. Facebook's famous "like" button also makes it easy to engage in a form of "one-click" communication that can displace meaningful dialogue.

Facebook also has been lambasted as a polarizing force by circulating posts espousing similar viewpoints and interests among like-minded people, creating an "echo chamber" that can harden opinions and widen political and cultural chasms.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

Today, most of Facebook's 1.86 billion members  about 85 percent  live outside of the U.S. and Canada. The Menlo Park, California-based company has offices everywhere from Amsterdam to Jakarta, Indonesia, to Tel Aviv, Israel. (It is banned in China, the world's most populous country, though some people get around the ban.) Naturally, Zuckerberg takes a global view of Facebook and sees potential that goes beyond borders, cities and nations.

And that could allow the social network to step up as more traditional cultural ties fray. People already use Facebook to connect with strangers who have the same rare disease, to post political diatribes, to share news links (and sometimes fake news links ). Facebook has also pushed its users to register to vote, to donate to causes, to mark themselves safe after natural disasters, and to "go live ." For many, it's become a utility. Some 1.23 billion people use it daily.

"For the past decade, Facebook has focused on connecting friends and families. With that foundation, our next focus will be developing the social infrastructure for community  for supporting us, for keeping us safe, for informing us, for civic engagement, and for inclusion of all," he wrote.

LONG VIEW

Zuckerberg has gotten Facebook to this position of global dominance  one that Myspace and Twitter, for instance, never even approached  partly thanks to his audacious, long-term view of the company and its place in the world.

Last fall, Zuckerberg and his wife, the doctor Priscilla Chan, unveiled the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative , a long-term effort aimed at eradicating all disease by the end of this century. Then, as now, Zuckerberg preferred to look far down the road to the potential of scientific and technological innovations that have not been perfected, or even invented yet.

That includes artificial intelligence, which in this case means software that's capable of "thinking" enough like humans to start making the sorts of judgments that Facebook sometimes bobbles. Last September, for instance, the service briefly barred the famous Vietnam War-era photograph dubbed "Napalm Girl" because it featured a nude child, and only reversed its decision after users  including the prime minister of Norway  protested.

AI systems could also comb through the vast amount of material users post on Facebook to detect everything from bullying to the early signs of suicidal thinking to extremist recruiting. AI, Zuckerberg wrote, could "understand more quickly and accurately what is happening across our community."

Speaking to the AP, Zuckerberg said he understands that we might not "solve all the issues that we want" in the short term.

"One of my favorite quotes is this Bill Gates quote, that 'people overestimate what they can get done in two years and underestimate what they can get done in 10 years.' And that's an important mindset that I hope more people take today," he said.
When Twitter reported its firs quarter earnings last year, it came way under expectations. The companys 2016 earnings  $595 million was way less compared to what the analysts expected. According to a report published by The Verge, Twitters stock fell more than 12 per cent at that time. Its not a secret anymore: Twitter is facing problems. The social media giant has struggled to maintain a positive outlook ever since and things have become even more complicated especially given how well apps like Instagram and Snapchat have been doing.

However, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is pretty positive about bringing about a change. Speaking to investors at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet conference in San Francisco , he says that the company is gradually shifting its focus to AI and machine learning techniques to cater to its users interests. As reported by Mashable, Dorsey said a new emphasis on machine learning and AI inernally has helped make the service easier to understand and more relevant to its users.

Twitter is still the best place to get a sense of whats going on in the world..but as we get better and better at applying machine learning and AI to our system, which we really havent done in the past  its been very mechanical  it gets easier and easier, and we believe that topics and interests are a big part of that future to make it easier, Dorsey said.

At the conference, he further went on talk about the platforms recently-added explore tab which delivers a more personalised experience to its users. As you exhaust your timeline you can go to explore and you can actually see topics. And the goal is eventually to become a lot more topic-based and interest forward, he added.

"I think for the majority of our life we've been fairly mechanical and that manifests in making people do the work and now we have a much stronger machine learning artificial intelligence discipline within the company where we can do things for people. We can be more predictive and it allows us to create more experiences; a few are magical and feel like 'Oh, Twitter is showing me something I wasn't expecting and it's great,'" Dorsey says while describing his AI-driven approach for Twitter.

Currently, Twitter appears to be at its experimental stage. Last year, the company was testing an algorithm-based system. The company also reportedly adjusted its search results later. Twitter is testing a top videos for you section as well.
Trump said companies are leaving America and jobs are going to Mexico and other places.

Washington: President Donald Trump on Thursday said his administration has inherited "a mess" both domestically and abroad and blamed "dishonest media" for not giving his administration the credit it deserves.

"As you know, our administration inherited many problems across government and across the economy. To be honest, I inherited a mess. It's a mess. At home and abroad, a mess," Trump said, speaking at his first solo news conference.

He said companies are leaving America and jobs are going to Mexico and other places.

"Jobs are pouring out of the country; you see what's going on with all of the companies leaving our country, going to Mexico and other places, low pay, low wages, mass instability overseas, no matter where you look. The middle East is a disaster. North Korea. We'll take care of it, folks. We're going to take care of it all," he said at the news conference.

"I just want to let you know, I inherited a mess. Beginning on day one, our administration went to work to tackle these challenges," he said.

Trump said on foreign affairs, his administration has already begun "enormously productive" talks with many foreign leaders, to move forward towards stability, security and peace in the most troubled regions of the world.

"We have had great conversations with the UK, and meetings. Israel, Mexico, Japan, China and Canada, really, really productive conversations. I would say far more productive than you would understand," he said.

Accusing media of being dishonest to him, Trump said, "The press has become so dishonest that if we don't talk about it we are doing a tremendous disservice to the American people. Tremendous disservice. We have to talk about it. We

have to find out what's going on because the press honestly is out of control."

"Unfortunately, much of the media in Washington DC, along with New York, Los Angeles in particular, speaks not for the people, but for the special interests and for those profiting off a very, very obviously broken system," he alleged.

He said the steps he has taken in the four weeks since he was sworn in "should surprise nobody, especially in the media."

"In other words, the media is trying to attack our administration because they know we are following through on pledges that we made, and they are not happy about it, for whatever reason," he said. "But a lot of people are happy about it."

Asserting that ISIS has spread like a cancer, he said he has directed his Defence Secretary Gen (rtd) Jim Mattis to submit a plan to defeat the terror group.

"He's over there now working very hard to submit a plan for the defeat of ISIS, a group that celebrates the murder and torture of innocent people in large sections of the world. It used to be a small group, now it's in large sections of the world," said the US President.

"They've spread like cancer. ISIS has spread like cancer another mess I inherited," Trump said.

Alleging that Iran is the "world's top sponsor of terrorism", he said he has imposed new sanctions on the country, which has "totally taken advantage" of the previous administration.

"We are not going to stop until that problem is properly solved. It is not properly solved now, it's one of the worst agreements I've ever seen drawn by anybody," he said. Trump said he ran for President to present the citizens of his country.

"I am here to change the broken system so it serves their families and their communities well. I am really talking on this very entrenched power structure, and what we're doing is we're talking about the power structure; we're talking about its entrenchment," he said.

"As a result, the media is going through what they have to go through too often times distort, not all the time and some of the media is fantastic, I have to say, they're honest and fantastic," Trump said.
Paramilitary Sindh Rangers on Friday said they killed 18 terrorists in overnight operations in the southern province.

Pakistani volunteers carry the dead body of an alleged militant killed in a crackdown operation by security forces to a mortuary in Karachi. (Photo: AP)

Islamabad: Pakistani security forces on Friday killed more than 24 militants in a nationwide crackdown, a day after an ISIS suicide bomber blew himself up in Sufi shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sindh's Sehwan, claiming 76 lives.

Paramilitary Sindh Rangers on Friday said they killed 18 terrorists in overnight operations in the southern province.

According to Rangers, seven terrorists were killed in a shootout after they attacked a convoy of the paramilitary troops on the Super Highway near Kathor, Sindh.

The convoy was returning from Sehwan town after taking part in rescue operations. A soldier was also injured. Another 11 terrorists were killed in a raid carried out in Manghopir area of Karachi, according to Rangers.

Separately, police in northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa said they have killed 11 extremist in the restive province.

According to a security official, police killed three terrorists in Reggi area of Peshawar, while army targeted and killed four militants in Orakzai tribal region.

Another four militants were killed in exchange of fire in in Bannu area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Official said the crackdown would be intensified in the coming days as government had resolved to eliminate militancy.

The crackdown was launched simultaneously by the federal and provincial governments after at least eight terror attacks rocked Pakistan since the weekend, killing dozens.

A high-level meeting this week chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif agreed that militants posing threat to national security should be "liquidated".

Several persons injured in shrine blast are in critical condition and they will be shifted to Karachi, officials said.

The army said that the armed forces had placed all required resources to facilitate the rescue effort. Pakistan Army and Rangers assisted with rescue efforts at the site.

The ISIS had claimed responsibility for the attack on their Aamaq news agency, saying a suicide bomber had targeted a "Shiite gathering" at the shrine in Sindh.

The shrine has been sealed and police have collected initial evidence and secured CCTV footage.

The fresh wave of terror attacks started when a suicide bomber attacked a protest rally outside the Punjab assembly in Lahore on Monday killing 14 people and injuring dozens.

On the same day, a terrorist attack was foiled in Quetta but two officials of the Bomb Disposal Squad were killed diffusing a bomb under a bridge in Quetta. Terrorists also carried out attacks in Mohmand agency and Peshawar followed by shrine blast in Sindh.
by Sumon Corraya

The murder of a young man, who had a criminal record, has become a pretext for hatred against the Christian community. As the investigation gets underway, some local Muslims have threatened retaliation: They killed one of ours, we will kill ten of them. Christian leaders fear becoming targets, ask for security.

Moulvibazar (AsiaNews)  About 2,000 Catholics have been living in fear for several days after local police found the body of Rimon Miah, a young Muslim man, near Lokhipur parish church in Meghatila Punji, Moulvibazar District, on the morning of 6 February.

According to some local Catholics, the 25-year-old man, a resident from a nearby village, had a criminal record.

After the discovery of the body, the young mans relatives staged a protest in Kulaura, a sub-local district, stirring hatred against the local indigenous population, 98 per cent of whom are Christians earning a living from betel leaves.

Some local Christian leaders spoke to police about their concerns regarding threats from Muslims.

"We heard that during the protests they [the Muslims] declared: 'They [the Christians] killed one of ours, we will kill ten of them. said Bably Bably Talang, general secretary of Kuboraz, a development organisation that works closely with indigenous peoples.

"Our people live days of fear, she told AsiaNews. Many men have left the village fearing arrest by the police. We could be attacked by Muslims any time."

Christians complain that following the incident outsiders have prevented the sale of betel leaves in local villages, well known for their punjees (betel plantations).

"We dont know who killed Rimon Miah, said Arun Sangma, a local Catholic. He was a criminal and had many enemies. We know nothing but we received threats from his relatives. These are days of fear for us. We will be attacked. We want security."

For its part, the local police opened an investigation against person or persons unknown in connection with Rimon Miahs assassination.

"I asked the officer in charge of Kulaura police station not to arrest innocent Christians," Nirmol Rozario, president of the Bangladesh Christian Association, told AsiaNews.

"I demand that local police conduct an impartial investigation into Rimon Miahs killing so that he may receive justice, he added. I also ask for security for the Christians of the area to avoid any kind of sectarian violence."

Kulaura police station chief Md Shamsuddoha said that that investigation is ongoing and that "local Christians have nothing to fear since only the guilty will face the brunt of the law once the investigation is concluded.

Despite such reassurances, acts of sectarian violence against religious minorities are very common in Bangladesh.

Christians represent only 0.4 per cent of the countrys 160 million people, mostly Muslims.

It proved impossible to contact the Oblate priests responsible for Lokhipur parish. The latter has about 3,000 members, all from the indigenous tribes of Bangladeshs hill region.
NCB Capital Co. CEO Sarah Al Suhaimi gets to run the Mideasts largest bourse. For Saudi women, thanks to their foreign education, the financial sector provides greater space for their social and professional development.

Riyadh (AsiaNews/Agencies)  NCB Capital Co. Chief Executive Officer Sarah Al Suhaimi was appointed the first woman to chair Saudi Arabias stock exchange, a prestige position in the ultraconservative Wahhabi kingdom.

This is a significant step in a country in which women are not allowed to drive, leave the house and the country unless accompanied by a male relative, or even receive medical treatment without the permission of a male relative.

The Board of Directors of the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul), whose members include representatives of the Central Bank and the Ministries of Finance and Trade, chose Sarah Al Suhaimi (pictured) to head the regions largest bourse.

This is the first time that a woman, albeit one of the most authoritative and well-known in the world of finance and banking, is called to lead such an important public institution in Saudi Arabia.

Al Suhaimi was the first female head of a Saudi investment bank when she was named CEO of the NCB Capital Co. in 2014.

In Saudi Arabia, women are relegated to the margins of society. Only in recent years, they have gained the right to vote and stand for office in municipal elections.

However, they have gained, albeit slowly, some greater room in the financial sector thanks to government assistance, such scholarships to study abroad.

Sarah Al Suhaimi will lead the main stock exchange in the Arab world, at a crucial time for this institution when Saudi Arabia is on course to join MSCI Inc.'s emerging-markets index.

Her appointment represents a small but significant step in much-hoped change in attitude in Arab societies, especially in Saudi Arabia, towards women, according to many the true "pillar" against Islamic fundamentalism.

Last September, thousands of Saudi women signed a petition calling for an end of the male protection.

In 2011, the late King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz gave women to right to vote and run for office in municipal elections, the first of which were held in 2015. This followed a protest on social media in which women asked for this right.

The king also granted women the right to stay in hotels without a letter from their husband, making it easier for them to travel on business.

He also appointed the first female deputy minister, inaugurated the first mixed university, and reserved sales jobs in womens apparel and perfume stores to women.

King Salman, who succeeded Abdullah in January 2015, has maintained his stepbrothers reforms.
by Nirmala Carvalho

In Kerala Hindus, Christians and Muslims have always lived together peacefully. The Communist Party of India (Marxist), which won last years State election, is open to democratic values. "Kerala could become a model for the national party.

Mumbai (AsiaNews)  Kerala, in southern India, is the Indian state with the greatest number of Hindu ultranationalists, Nanda Kumar told the Press Trust of India

Mr Kumar, who heads the Hindu ultra-nationalist paramilitary group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in the State, said that every morning some 5,000 meetings are held at local branches (shakhas) around the state.

Fr Paul Thelakat, director of Light of Truth and former spokesman for the Syro-Malabar Synod, agreed with the figures. "The RSS presence in Kerala is widespread, strong and active, the clergyman said. Based on their ideology, they are a fascist organisation. However, they are not in direct conflict with other communities, except in Kannur district where they are in a violent conflict with Marxists."

Kerala has had a long tradition of left-of-centre governments led by Congress, until the resounding electoral victory last year of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

The State also has one of highest proportions of Christians in the country, about 19 per cent of the local population.

The various religious groups have always lived side by side peacefully and Christian charities operate with the full support of the local government and people.

According to Kumar, the number of RSS youth sections is growing even faster than in Gujarat, a stronghold for the group and its political wing, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which only has a thousand branches. The goal is to increase the number to 100,000.

So far, "relations between the RSS, Christians and Muslims have always been peaceful, said Fr Thelakat. Kerala has a long tradition of cordial relations between the various religions."

"The RSS does not want to disturb this model, he explained. I think the BJP in this state is different from that in northern India. Here, its political leaders do not offend other religions."

"Kerala could become a model for the national party. India's future will depend on how the RSS is willing to accept democratic values and respect all religions."

"Even the Marxist Party, whose ideology was not at all democratic, has changed its attitude over the years and is [now] open to democratic values. This could also happen to the BJP and the RSS."
Visiting the University of Roma Tre, Francis answers questions from students. The fundamental importance of dialogue, the search for "truth, goodness and beauty"; unity that needs differences; integration and "respect" as a response to the fear of the migrant, "but each country has to see what number it can accommodate. It's true: you cannot welcome [migrants] if there are no possibilities[for them]".

Rome (AsiaNews) - The fundamental importance of dialogue, the search for "truth, goodness and beauty"; unity that needs differences; integration and "respect" as a response to the fear of the migrant, "but each country has to see what number it can accommodate. It's true: you cannot welcome [migrants] if there are no possibilities[for them]": These are the topics addressed by the Pope in a long question and answer session, entirely off the cuff, to the questions of four students of the University of Roma Tre, where Francis went this morning.

The youngest of the Roman universities, founded just 25 years ago, the Pope was warmly welcomed by teachers and students and stopped at length to greet those who were waiting along the barriers at the entrance to halls. In addition to greeting the rector Mario Panizza, the program included the Pope's response to students questions. "I listened to your questions - said Francis- for which I am grateful; I had read them previously and I will try to give answers taking into account my own experience. I thought about it and made a speech that I will deliver to the rector. Its a well thought out answer, but I would like to respond spontaneously because I like it better this way. "

The Pope addressed "fear of immigrants" seen as a threat to Europe's Christian culture, in response to the question put to him by Nour Essa, 31, a Syrian who arrived in Italy from Lesbos with Francis, on board his flight along with eleven other refugees in April 2016. She won a scholarship, waiting for the recognition of her degree in agriculture and masters in microbiology, obtained in France, and is currently enrolled in the third year of Biology in Rome.

"Europe - responded Francis - was made by invasions, migrations ... the Normans ... but you know better than me ... it was handcrafted in this way. Migration is not a danger: It challenges us to grow and this comes from someone who comes from a country where more than 80 percent are immigrants. "

Migrants are men and women like us

The Pope continued: The issue of immigration must be well thought out, because migration is a massive phenomenon - think of Africa and the Middle East, towards Europe: this is not because of politics (...) No. That is not how I see it. It is because there is war and people who are fleeing war, or there is hunger: fleeing from hunger. But what would be the ideal solution? No war and no hunger, that is, to make peace, make peace or make investments in those places so they have resources to work and earn a living. But if there is hunger, they flee. " "And they are hungry because they do not work and do not work because they have been exploited. They flee. But then, to get to Europe where they think they will find a better status, there also are exploited by the traffickers, we all know that: Those who have turned the Mediterranean into a graveyard. Do not forget this: our sea, the 'Mare Nostrum', is now a cemetery. We should think about it when we are alone, as if it were a prayer. " And "How should receive migrants? How should welcome migrants? First, as human brothers and sisters they are men and women like us. Second, every country, every country has to see what number it can accommodate. It's true : [The migrant flow] cannot be maintained if there are no possibilities. But everyone can do this. Then, not only accommodate: integration. Integrating, welcome these people and try to integrate them. First, they learn the language, find a job, a house : integrate. There needs to be organizations to foster integration. The experience that I had when Nour came, I believe that three days after the children went to school and when they came (...) all together, from me to lunch, after three months, the children spoke Italian. The adults just a little, but the children were talking ... why? Because they went to school and the children we know learn quickly, is it not so? This is integration. And then, the adults had already found work and a person who had accompanied them in integration: open doors. Then it is important: they bring a culture, a culture that is wealth, for us. But they too must receive our culture and make an exchange of cultures. Respect. And that takes away fear. But there is fear, yes; but fear not only of migrants: the criminals that we see in the papers, the news, are from here, or immigrants, from everywhere: they are from everywhere. But integration is important: it is important to integrate. "

The Pope then recalled the young people who carried out the massacre in Zaventem: "They were Belgian, born in Belgium! Children of migrants, but ghettoized, not integrated! (...) There are some countries in Europe that give a great example of this, integration (...) for example, I know from the time of the military dictatorships in Latin America, Sweden: Sweden received many South American migrants, many. But soon, the next day they had a house, then a job (...) then the language ... the Swedes, for example, now have 9 million people, but of these, 890,000 are new Swedes, that is migrants or children of migrants who have integrated. The day I was leaving Sweden, the Minister came to take leave on behalf of the government (...) a woman, the daughter of a Swedish woman and a father I think, he was from Gabon, a migrant. A Minister of the State. Why? Because they know - and other countries have done such things - they do this. And when there is this: welcome, accompanying and integration, there is no danger from migrations. You receive a culture and offer another culture. This is my response to fear. "

Dialogue as an antidote to violence and even war was the theme of which Francis spoke in response to Giulia, 25, a Roman, who asked "what is the 'medicine' to counter the manifestations of violence, unfortunately always present in the history of humanity".

The Pope responded: You talked about violent action, violence. But just think of language: the tone of our language has risen, so much. Today we talk on the street, at home, we shout, we insult as if it were normal ... there is also violence in the way we express ourselves in speech. And this is a reality that we all see". "Violence is a process that makes us ever more anonymous: it takes your name. Anonymous towards each other. It deprives you of your name and our relationships are a bit more anonymous: yes, it is a person that I have before me, with a name, but I greet you as if you were a thing. But that's what we see here, it grows, grows, grows and becomes the world's violence. No one today can deny that we are at war, and this is a piecemeal third world war. We tone down, speak less and listen more. There are many remedies, against violence, but the first, the very first, is the heart: a heart that knows how to receive, to receive what you think. And before we discuss, debate. If you think differently from me, let us try dialogue! Dialogue brings us closer, not only, it brings people together: It brings hearts closer. Dialogue creates friendship and social friendship ". "So often - but this is so frequent when there are political campaigns, debates on TV - before someone finishes speaking, the other responds (...) but wait, listen carefully to what he says, then think and answer. Listen well. And if I do not understand what you want to tell me, ask, 'But why did you say that, what do you mean? Because I did not understand '. The patience of dialogue. And where there is no dialogue, there is violence. I talked of war: it is true, we are at war. It's true. But wars do not begin there: they begin in your heart, eh ?, in our hearts. When I'm not able to open up to others, to respect others, to speak with others, to dialogue with others: war begins there. When there is no dialogue at home, for example, when instead of speaking, there is screaming and shouting. Or scolding. Or, when we're at the table, instead of talking, everyone has their mobile phone, this is speaking, yes, but with others. And that seed is the beginning of the war. Because there is no dialogue. And I think this is the foundation. "

Not uniformity, but unity in diversity

"A liquid Society" and "unity in diversity" were the last arguments addressed by the Pope spoke in response to questions put by Nicholas Antongiulio Romano - who had asked what about the value and significance of Rome for Pope Francis - and Riccardo Zucchetti who asked "how can we prepare ourselves to become workers of intellectual charity to contribute to a constructive renewal of society", in a globalized world.

"We must always seek unity - said the Pope. "Unity which is a totally different thing uniformity. Unity needs differences: unity in diversity. Unity is made with diversity. We are in an age, we live in an age of globalization and it is a mistake is to think of globalization as if it were a ball, a sphere, where each point is equidistant from the center, there is no difference, everything is uniform. This point is that in this way,... there is no difference and this uniformity is the destruction of unity because it removes the ability to be different. Unity in differences. This is why I like to talk about another geometric figure, not the sphere: the polyhedron. Yes, there is a many-sided globalization, there is a unity, but every person, every race, every country, every culture always retains its own identity. And this is the unity in diversity that globalization must try. " "And when you do that, you go that way, cultures grow, and the cultural level grows because it is a continuous dialogue between this side of the polyhedron and with this, with this, which are joined into one unit. I believe that the danger today  it is a real danger the world - is to design a unity, a uniform globalization and this destroys. "

"It is true that there is great speed in communications ... The Dutch 40, 50 years ago, had invented a word that I liked so much:" rapidization ", it is like geometric progression over time. That of Aristotle, no? Movement, when it arrives at the end is faster, the law of gravity and you go faster. And now communications is like this, at risk of not having the time to stop for assimilation, thought, reflection ... And this is important: becoming accustomed to this communication but without this speed, this "rapidization" - that word new  deprives me of my freedom to say 'No'. Becoming accustomed to dialogue at this speed. So often, such a rapid, weightless communication can become liquid-like, without any consistency and this is one of the dangers of this society - this is not my word, 'liquid society', Bauman said it-, liquidity without consistency. And we must take the challenge to transform this liquidity into concrete. The key word for me to answer the question of Richard Zucchetti is 'concrete': against liquidity, concreteness. Just think of the economy. What is the main problem with the economy today? The liquid economy. And when there is liquid economy, there is lack of work, there is unemployment".

"And when there is liquidity in the economy, for example, there is no concrete work. I will ask the question: our dear mother Europe, the identity of Europe - Nour spoke a bit of this - how is it possible that developed countries have such massive youth unemployment? I will not name the countries but the figures yes: young people 25 years old and under in one country: 40 percent jobless; another country close to this 47 per cent; another country - I am talking about Europe - 50; another country is almost coming closer to 60. This liquid economy removes the reality of work and takes away the culture of work because you cannot work, young people do not know what to do. And I, an unemployed youth do not find anything ... I look, and look, am exploited here, exploited there for two or three days ... And I find nothing ... At the end of the bitterness of the heart where does it take me? Dependency, dependencies are rooted there. Or it leads me to suicide. They say what they know, I'm not sure about that, I'm not sure, but they say that the true statistics of youth suicides are not published, they publish something. The real statistics, no. This lack of work brings me to decide, well, I will go away and enlist in a terrorist army, at least I have something to do and it will give meaning to my life ... Terrible. It is terrible. And this is a market economy, economy .... I do not know, I would say a liquid economy. Instead it must be concrete to solve economic, social, all the problems, even cultural: concrete, concrete. Otherwise you cannot [solve them]. Then there's another thing I wanted to say about this ... Yes, the university: It must be here, in your dialogue with Professors, in your questions and among yourselves: Why is this so? Whats more look for solutions to propose to the real problems, to counter this liquid culture".
The attack took place in the temple of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, in the city of Sehwan. 20 children among the dead The militant chose time when the place was crowded to attend a ritual dance.

Karachi (AsiaNews)  The death toll from the attack left last night on a Sufi temple in the province of Sindh, in the south-east of Pakistan is worsening by the hour. The latest news reports the death of at least 75 worshipers, including about 20 children, and 200 other people injured.

The attack was claimed by the Islamic State of Amaq. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has expressed strong condemnation of the last act of violence. Despite the pain for the loss of life, he said, "we must not let these events divide us. We must remain united in the struggle for Pakistani identity". Meanwhile his government launched an overnight crackdown against terrorism all over the country, hunting down and killing 25 people affiliated with Islamic terrorist groups.

The suicide attack in Sindh is the latest in a long series that hit the country this week, strained by the attack of 13 February in front of the Punjab Assembly in Lahore. Yesterday's attack hit the Sufi shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan town (about 200 kilometers from Karachi). The suicide bomber chose a time when the temple was most crowded, while the "Dhamaal", a ritual and typical dance in Sufi tradition, was being performed.

According to witnesses, the man hid a grenade under a burka, evading controls. Eye witnesses describe "blood scattered everywhere, along with shreds of clothes and sandals." A few minutes after the attack the Edhi Foundation network of ambulances founded by the "Mother Teresa of Pakistan" sprang into action, transporting the wounded to the nearest medical facility, about 40 kilometers away. Others were transferred to hospitals in Karachi and other cities across the province.
Fighting between rival factions supported by Saudi Arab and UAE intensifies in the province of Aden to the south of Taez. Allies against the Shiite Houthi rebels, are actually waging a bloody fight and civilians are paying the price. The desire for independence of the people, ready to fight against any invader.

Sana'a (AsiaNews) - From the province of Aden to the province of Taez, in southern Yemen, fighting between armed factions supported the Saudi Arabia each, the other from the United Arab Emirates has intensified.

On the surface the two nations are apparently allied against the Shiite Houthi rebels, both part of the Arab coalition committed to "restore peace". Egypt and Lebanon have attracted the ire of Riyadh because of their decision not to take part.



The clashes going on for days now reflect the bitter disputes and divisions between the Emirates and the reign of the dynasty Al Saud; factional infighting within the Arab world that seems not to take into minimum account the destruction and the high price of human lives and injuries, a result of this race for hegemony.



The UAE are increasingly bent on taking total control of South Yemen at the price, if necessary, of splitting the country into two parts. A return to the past, or developed before the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the fall of the Soviet Union, in the last century, because Yemen has long been separated inside.



On 13 February, the Aden International Airport closed its runways and stopped all flight activities, because of the clashes that began on 10 February and which degenerated during the next two days to turn into fierce fighting. A bloody battle which further increased the almost total isolation of this part of the country to the outside world.

The commander in charge of airport security , Abi Kahtan, supported by the United Arab Emirates, had refused to comply with the dismissal order by former President Hadi at Saudi Arabias behest. Previously Kahtan had declared he could not guarantee the salaries of workers and officials of the airport because of the unfulfilled promises of economic aid from donor countries.



The Saudi air force did not take long before overflying the airport and the city. A clear signal of escalation and a challenge to the influence exerted by the United Arab Emirates.

Analysts and experts say that there is the former president Hadi behind the unrest, which has resulted in fighting. The goal is to encourage the Saudi side and trim down the rise in southern Yemen of UAE. The latter aspire to a permanent presence of troops in the south and intend to offer themselves as guarantors of peace and security, especially with the tight control of Bab El Mandeb and the coastline, a strategic area to be torn from the hands of Riyadh and leverage with Washington and Tel Aviv.

At the same time, amid the dispute between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh nothing has changed for the Yemenis known for their attachment to independence and the rejection of any invader. The population i will to fight against any occupying force. That's why, looking at the evolution of the conflict, it seems that the war in Yemen strongly supported by Saudi Arabia actually has so far brought more defeats than victories for Riyadh. And now the Saudis are having to compete with the Emirates for hegemony in the country, today more than ever determined to deflect the role played so far by Saudi Arabia in this part of the world. (PB)
Two top firms are acting on Temenos Group's proposed acquisition of Rubik Financial via a scheme of arrangement that values Rubiks equity at about $68mn fully diluted. The scheme will see Temenos acquire all Rubik shares for $0.1667 cash per share, representing a 52% premium to Rubiks last unaffected closing price.



King & Wood Mallesons acted for Temenos while Gilbert + Tobin acted for Rubik.

Rubiks board of directors has unanimously recommended the scheme to shareholders, in the absence of a superior proposal and subject to an independent review. Rubiks three largest shareholders have backed the scheme.

The integration of the ASX-listed fintech company  which offers banking, financial services, and collections software solutions in Australia, Asia, and the Middle East  with Temenos is expected to create a major player in the Australian financial software market.



The KWM team is being led by partners Ros Anderson and Lee Horan, along with Special Counsel Andrew Phillipson. Partner Patrick Gunning and Senior Associate Nick Sinclair (TMET) and Partner Elizabeth Hundt Russell and Senior Associate Will Stawell (Leveraged Finance) are also assisting in the transaction.
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Hi there



I will be applying for skill assessment to ACS for my 186 Class Visa



I will need to get some mark sheets certified as original and submit a statutory declaration for a previous work experience before uploading the same



As I am in NZ, will ACS accept attestation by justice of peace for any one or both of the following :



1. Witness the Signing of the Statutory Declaration

2. Certify the Xeroxes of marksheets etc. as true copies ?





Or is it necessary for me to go to a Notary Public or Australian High commission only for them ?



Thanks for advising
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..16 February '17..Thehas an article about Beit El, a West Bank settlement that has been supported by David Friedman, who is President Trumps nominee to be ambassador to Israel.The yeshiva complex is a multitentacled enterprise, thereports.Tentacles? When the National Rifle Associations magazine depicted Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York on its cover as an octopus, the Times described it in a headline as an Anti-Semitic Symbol, noting, accurately, that the image has been used in anti-Semitic propaganda, from the Nazis to the modern Arab world. Now it is theportraying religious Jews in Israel using the same negative imagery.Its a double standard. When American conservatives like the NRA use an octopus image in connection with a socially liberal Jew like Michael Bloomberg, thecalls them out for it. But when its theitself using the octopus imagery against religious Jews in Israel, the papers journalists and editors cant even detect that its a problem. It would have been simple to choose some more neutral and less fraught term  say, multipronged  but thedoesnt even bother.
Hi there!



I just want to know my chances of getting temporary visa (student or visitor) application successful after the three years exclusion period.



My understanding is overstayers (regardless of individual circumstances) would still have the Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) applied.



Would I still be a high risk applicant?

How long the process takes?

(The average time is one month for high risk applicants). Is this going to be the case, even after the three years?



Does completing training, getting a job offer in your home country change anything at all?



I just want to know if the waiting is worth it so I don't end up wasting my time for nothing.



I'd be thankful if you guys could share your experiences!



Ta!
Good Evening!



I am currently intending to apply for a 485 graduate visa, and my current student visa expires on the 15th of March. I should be able to get most of the required documents to apply for the visa before then.



However, i messed up and did not realize i was required to take an IELTS test to apply for this visa, as my country of origin was exempted from that requirement when i was applying for my original student visa.



At this time of posting, the earliest i could take the IELTS test is 4th march. However this means that the results will be released AFTER my student visa expires.



Is there anything i can do to address this issue? I was hoping to call up immigration but they will only be open again on monday morning. I do not wish to be deported because my visa expires... Is it possible for me to apply for some sort of bridging visa, or say a visitor visa so that i remain a legal immigrant till i can get the IELTS test results to be eligible to apply for my 485? or is there any way i can appeal to submit the IELTS results slightly after?



Any advice is welcome, and thanks for your time!
Bajaj is the first Indian two-wheeler manufacturer to fully meet BS-IV norms before the deadline.

Bajaj Auto announced that it is ready to comply with the Environment Pollution Control Authority's (EPCA) direction of neither selling nor registering any pre-BS-IV vehicle from April 1, 2017. The company says all its two- and three-wheelers manufactured from January 2017 meet BS-IV emission norms. The Pune-based manufacturer is probably the first Indian two-wheeler manufacturer to fully meet BS-IV norms well before the April 1, 2017 deadline.

A few other two-wheeler manufacturers like Hero MotoCorp and Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) have, over the past few months, launched BS IV-compliant models but compliance across the entire manufacturing chain is yet to be accomplished for most industry players.

The Central Pollution Control Board had earlier confirmed that BS-III-compliant vehicles could not be sold or registered anywhere in the country from April 1, 2017. However, some automobile companies have requested that this deadline be extended.

Rajiv Bajaj, MD, Bajaj Auto, said, Bajaj Auto as a responsible corporate has complied with this directive and had already commenced manufacturing of BS-IV-complaint vehicles from October 2016. Moreover, with effect from January 2017, all products from all our three plants are BS IV-compliant. We have thus ensured that all vehicles presented for registration from April 1 onwards will be BS-IV compliant. This has been possible because of meticulous planning for dealer stocks and switching over to production of BS IV-compliant vehicles well in advance.

The company feels that the authorities should send a strong message by not giving any amnesty and if at all any short-term amnesty is given, it should be accompanied by a sizeable financial penalty on a per vehicle basis on all BS-III- vehicles registered after April 1, 2017 to discourage this practice in future.

It can be understood that vehicle manufacturers are looking for a reasonable extension of the deadline implementing BS-IV emission norms for existing vehicles from April 1, 2017. The primary reason backing this proposal, as per the reports, is the accumulating vehicle inventory (including dealer stocks) in the wake of declining sales due to demonetisation.

To this Bajaj argues, All vehicle manufacturers maintain a standard inventory of four weeks. In my view, the impact of demonetisation was 20 percent YoY at worst. This means that an inventory of four weeks would now be 5 weeks or so. We still have six weeks to go until April 1, 2017. This is good enough time for industry players to drain their existing BS III compliant stock.

According to him, Bajaj Auto began scaling up the activity of converting its existing models from BS III to BS IV emission norms in September last year. By end-January 2017, the company fully converted all its existing models as per the required mandate.

This has resulted in a price rise of Rs 1,000-Rs 7,000 depending on the model(s), which we have already factored in; we have passed on the price hike to our customers and there is no impact on our margins, he remarked.

He added, It is also pertinent to point out that tightening emissions to meet BS IV norms comes at a substantial cost. All those who do not change over on time will commercially benefit by selling their products at a lower price in case the amnesty is granted. Therefore, the manufacturers who have followed all directives in letter and spirit will actually end up being penalised.

Commenting further on his concerns, Bajaj said: Vehicle manufacturers seeking extension of deadline is the result of primarily three factors  complacency, incompetence or a combination of both. If the government (concerned ministries) authorities grant any more extra time (months / weeks) to these industry players, our (Bajaj Autos) competitive advantage is eroded. The auto industry seems to have become used to taking the government for granted, and has, over time, created an image of being defensive and regressive. Plea to grant amnesty in this case is an example of this argument. However, in my view, the auto industry should have a confident image aligned with being called as a competent and world-class industry.

Support from Toyota Kirloskar Motor

Bajaj also voiced support from Vikram Kirloskar on this issue. My friend Vikram Kirloskar also supports me in this perspective and stands firmly against stretching the deadlines. He, at Toyota, has also shifted all his products to the BS-IV emission norms. The government authorities must stand firmly and not extend the deadlines beyond April 1, 2017 in any case or else the seriousness behind BS VI norms would be questionable. Historically, whenever there is an opportunity to make an impact, the (auto) industry wants to drag its feet.

Bajaj Auto has started work on preparing for BS VI emission norms. I believe that first products compliant with these (BS VI) stringent norms would hit the market as early as 2018-19. They could either be exported first or launched in the local market. You learn from mistakes before achieving refinement in products, he said.

Bajaj Auto has written to SIAM, the apex industry body, requesting it to specifically mention in any communication to the government that the two-wheeler OEM is not in favour of extending the April 1, 2017 deadline.

Not-so-Qute experience

My biggest disdain is with the Qute experience. This remains to be the only puzzle that I have not been able to solve in my life. When we first thought of the quadricycles, we thought of adding superior and safer features to three-wheelers. We thought of adding a fourth wheel to three-wheelers, emission- compliant engine with water cooling and other features. Bajaj Auto is the largest three-wheeler maker in India. The quadricycle replacing the three-wheeler in the market is a loss for us. We are talking about it though. The Qute is being exported to several countries including Sri Lanka, Mexico and even Ethiopia. But somehow India remains to accept the quadricycle as a safer alternative to three-wheelers.
A couple of photographs have recently surfaced on several motoring blogs showing what appears to be the 2019 Ford Ranger. The highly camouflaged truck was spotted on a test drive in Dearborn, Michigan.

Ford confirmed that the company is planning to revive the Ford Ranger pickup truck during the company's presentation at the Detroit Auto Show. However, the company has yet to provide any substantial detail or plan regarding it.

2019 Ford Ranger Spied in the U.S.! pic.twitter.com/fgUsWGo0ST  MyPlanetCar (@mpc9ja) February 17, 2017

There are reports claiming that the new 2019 Ford Ranger will use the company's four-cylinder and six-cylinder EcoBoost engines, according to MSN. There are also rumors that Ford might offer a diesel variant of the truck. There are also talks that Ford might equip the new Ranger with a 10-speed automatic transmission which the company developed along with General Motors, and has been spotted across some of its latest rollouts.

The last Ford Ranger model to be rolled out in the United States was released in 2011. Although Ford continues to build and sell it globally. Once it rolls out of production lines, the new Ford Ranger will compete with the Toyota Tacoma, Chevrolet Colorado, and GMC Canyon.

Although the truck is covered in camouflaged decal, one will immediately notice the hexagonal grille and the squinty headlamps. The truck features a sculpted hood with bulging front fenders which is hauntingly similar to the current Ford F-150 model. This led many Ford enthusiasts to speculate that the upcoming Ranger will feature the same design cues and styling as the F-150 or the Super Duty.

According to Auto News, the new 2019 Ford Ranger will begin production in late 2018. Although it is not yet confirmed, it is speculated that Ford will build the new ranger at the company's Michigan Assembly Plant based in Wayne, Michigan. Aside from the Ranger, Ford has also confirmed that the iconic Bronco SUV will be revived in 2020.
Lexus has recently announced the UK pricing for its newest flagship vehicle, the 2017 LC. The vehicle comes in both V8 and hybrid models with both models surprisingly priced equally.

2017 Lexus LC V8 and Hybrid equally priced in the United Kingdom. The UK arm of the Japanese luxury brand has decided to price the V8 engine LC500 and full hybrid LC500h vehicles equally. The price for both models starts at 76,595 with over one-third of the vehicles to be shipped to the UK already pre-ordered.

The 2017 LC500 runs on a 5.0-liter V8 engine that is able to churn out 467 horsepower. It is paired with a new Aisin 10-speed automatic transmission. The full hybrid LC500h, on the other hand, can provide as much as 354 horsepower from the combined power of its hybrid powertrain which is mated to a four-speed automatic gearbox.

As far as acceleration is concerned, the V8 LC500 can get from 0 to 60 miles per hour in just 4.5 seconds. Its hybrid counterpart, however, takes half a second longer to get to 60 miles per hour from 0.

The 2017 LC also comes in two packages. One can opt for the Sport or Sport+ package upon purchase.

The Sport features 21-inch forged alloys, a carbon-fiber roof replacing the glass roof, eight-way adjustable seats, and Alcantara and leather upholstery. The Sport+ package gets you everything on the Sport plus a four-wheel steering system, variable steering and retractable rear spoiler, carbon scuff plates, limited slip differential, extra Alcantara to the headlining, sun visors, and pillars.

Opting for the Sport package will jack the price of the 2017 Lexus LC up to 80,595. If one wants the Sport+ package, it takes an additional 9,300 on top of the base price of 76,595 for a total of 85,895. The new LC is now available to order with first customer deliveries and test drives.
The Stratos 714 VLJ prototype, designed as a 400 knot, 4-6 place jet, made its second test flight late last month from its home base of Redmond, Oregon, in anticipation of a public debut later this year. Carsten Sundin, Engineering Manager at Stratos, told AVweb of the flight test performance, We are continuing with expected minor aerodynamic adjustments to dial in the stick control forces. The Stratos 714 is controlled by a side stick and it has a relatively large flight envelope in terms of speed, altitude and also CG range. As expected, this requires some fine tuning of control stick forces. Stratos expects to fly the new jet, N403KT, to Oshkosh and NBAA this year to gin up excitement from investors and prospective buyers, but theyre not taking deposits. Stratos CEO Michael Lemaire told AVweb, We are privately funded for the prototype phase, during which we are planning to explore the full flight envelope and draw conclusions for the certification stage. We are not yet funded for the certification phase. At present, we have no plan to take deposits towards deliveries, which are still many years away.

With the 714, Stratos is targeting a market adjacent to its obvious competitor, the Cirrus Vision Jet, with a similarly sized but noticeably faster airplane: Our design target was to cruise at 400 knots, carry four people comfortably with their baggage, and with that payload, travel as far as 1,500 nautical miles, says Stratos. The published performance specifications for the Cirrus list capacity for five adults at a top speed of 300 knots. The Cirrus is propelled by an 1,800-LBF William FJ33 turbofan, while the Stratos is built around the much larger 2,900-LBF Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D.
17 February 2017 15:15 (UTC+04:00)

By Jose Maria Figueres , Pascal Lamy and John D. Podesta

The ocean is changing  and not for the better. Well-established scientific evidence shows that it is becoming emptier, warmer, and more acidic, putting marine life under serious pressure. But there is good news: evidence also indicates that the ocean can regenerate, and the world has already agreed to enable that outcome.

The Sustainable Development Goal for the Ocean (SDG 14) was adopted by world leaders in September 2015 as part of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It includes vital targets, such as mitigating ocean acidification, securing habitat and species protections, reducing pollution substantially, and ending illegal fishing and subsidies that lead to overfishing.

Ultimately, SDG 14 promises to preserve the ocean and ensure its sustainable use in the future. But it can be realized only with bold and urgent action, buttressed by solidarity among governments, citizens, and business.

This week, governments and experts are gathering in New York to begin crafting a global call for action to implement SDG 14. The call, which will be launched in June, at the UNs first-ever Ocean Conference, should include a firm commitment to protect at least 30% of the ocean by 2030, and ensure that the remaining 70% is sustainably managed. UN member states must also pledge to secure the extension of legal protections to high-seas biodiversity by closing the gaping governance loophole that exposes the ocean to plunder.

There is one more priority area that the call for action must address: climate change. In fact, a healthy ocean will be impossible to secure without also addressing this pressing global challenge. Achieving SDG 14 therefore demands that the international community reaffirm its commitment to the Paris climate agreement, and to announce concrete steps toward achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

To avoid more empty promises, all commitments must be backed up by a clear financing plan and subjected to regular accountability checks. Governments, the UN, and other actors should set a schedule for monitoring and check-ins, to keep delivery of the targets transparent, funded, and on schedule.

To support these efforts, we urge UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to appoint a Special Representative for the Ocean, tasked with improving ocean governance and ensuring that the full potential of SDG 14 is realized. Such a representative must be given sufficient resources to do the job.

The ocean has suffered decades of abuse and neglect. It has been treated as a free-for-all garbage bin and race-to-the-bottom buffet. We have financed its destruction, with no regard for the consequences. But those consequences have become impossible to ignore. While we, as previous global ocean commissioners, had to campaign hard in 2014 for the ocean to have its own dedicated global goal, it is now hard to believe that the oceans position in the SDGs was ever in question. That is the sense that we should have in 2030, when the targets of SDG 14 are fully met.

The only way to get there is through concerted effort  and not just by the likes of ocean commissioners. People everywhere must stand up and demand real action to ensure the oceans regeneration. In short, the ocean must become everyones business.

To kick-start that process, we have joined the Ocean Unite network, which is galvanizing conservationists, business leaders, young people, and activists to take advantage of growing interest in these issues and create coalitions that can drive ocean health to the top of political and economic agendas worldwide.

Such efforts are already having an impact, with citizens mobilizing to defend the ocean and policymakers beginning to respond to their calls. Now, it is the business communitys turn to step up.

Business has a clear interest in reversing the decline in ocean health. The GDP derived from the ocean amounts to $2.5 trillion, or 5% of the worlds total GDP. Thats equivalent to the GDP of the worlds seventh-largest economy. The ocean is also the worlds biggest employer, directly supporting the livelihoods of more than three billion people, and is a source of food for over 2.6 billion. Restoring the ocean thus amounts to an unparalleled business opportunity.

But the oceans value goes far beyond economics. It provides half of the air we breathe, governs our weather, and helps to support peace and prosperity. The oceans future is the worlds future.

At a time when politics threatens to undermine cooperative action on the environment, fighting for our shared global environment is more important than ever. Our responsibility for the oceans health is as deep, fundamental, and permanent as our dependence on it. No political consideration can compete with that. Now is the time for all of us  citizens, business, and government  to unite and fight for our ocean.

Copyright: Project Syndicate: The Fight for Ocean Health

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17 February 2017 11:18 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

Azerbaijani business delegation, headed by Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev, will visit Iran on February 22-24, Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) reported.

The delegation will visit Iranian cities of Ardebil and Urmia, where will be held business forums and business meetings. The forum will bring together Iranian and Azerbaijani entrepreneurs engaged in different spheres.

The two countries are eager to develop their non-oil economy, integrate regional transport networks and boost mutually advantageous business projects.

Such spheres as agriculture, banking sector, pharmaceutics, as well as cooperation within the international North-South transport corridor are the main areas that the two states are focused on.

Iranian companies have so far invested some $1.2 billion, while some $145 million fell to a share of non-oil sector. Some 450 companies with Iranian capital are operating in Azerbaijan.

The trade turnover between the countries hit some $15.77 million in January 2017, while the index of the last year stands at $9.56 million.

--

Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

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17 February 2017 13:25 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

AZAL, the biggest Azerbaijani airline and national flag carrier, was listed among the best airline companies performing flights to Russia.

The ranking was compiled by Russian Forbes magazine, which placed the Azerbaijani air carrier eighth in the list. The ranking was developed based on the ratio of price and quality.

"Emirates" was recognized as the best airline, which is followed by Belarusian Belavia and Polish LOT.

AZAL operates flights to many popular Russian Federation destinations including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Novosibirsk and Mineralnie Vodi.

AZALJET, low-cost brand of AZAL will soon launch regular flights from Moscow Vnukovo Airport to Azerbaijani regions - Ganja and Gabala.

The Moscow-Ganja flights will be operated on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and Moscow-Gabala flights - on Thursdays by Airbus A320 aircrafts. Airfare starts from 49 euro (one way). The cost of baggage per kilo will be 2 euros.

AZAL with the newest airplane fleets, consisting of 30 airplanes, does not have a single old plane.

Flights to 13 popular destinations are operated under AZALJET brand since March 2016. Sales and flight scheme on these flights is close to low-cost airlines, that is, passengers have a choice of several services in the form of paid options.

Meanwhile, AZAL plans to establish a national low-cost carrier BUTA AIRWAYS. The airway, which is expected to begin flights in autumn 2017, will have its own fleet on the basis of Embraer aircrafts in its own livery, its own staff and independent tariff policy.

Being one of the leaders of the aviation community of the CIS countries, AZAL plans to launch direct flights to 100 major European cities until 2025. Thus, the number of direct flights between Baku and major European cities will be increased from 49 to 100.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



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17 February 2017 17:50 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazrli

Manufacture of Braille Pad tablet for visually impaired individuals will be launched this autumn.

BrallieX Company Head Sayad Ibrahimov told Trend that only few examples of the tablet are available for now.

Braille Pad will allow visually impaired (blind) to get the information they need, access the internet, read e-books, join social networks and many more.

Some changes will be made to boost functionality and design of the tablet, Ibrahimov said, adding that relevant work will be carried out after the receipt of additional funding.

The tablet will be equipped with multi-line tactile screens that allow users to fully utilize many functions by touch of fingertips.

Project Leader Rashid Aliyev previously said that $60,000 should be devoted for the completion of the technological component of the Braille Pads display, and $1.5 million for mass production.

Given the market volumes and the need for such devices, this amount may not seem so significant. According to the World Health Organization, there were 35 million people with limited vision in 2013, but in 2020 their number is expected to rise to 75 million, the project leader said.

He added that Braille Pad has the potential of bringing billions of dollars after its mass production launched.

The project is export-oriented and is already pre-ordered by Turkey. Some 50,000 Braille Pads are planned for export to this country, while Ukrainian and Saudi Arabian markets will be the next.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



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17 February 2017 16:05 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

The fifth Turkey-Azerbaijan-Georgia business forum kicked off in Istanbul on February 17 bringing together high ranking officials and entrepreneurs of the three countries.

The trilateral business forum is assessed as an important event for boosting cooperation among businessmen and overall relations among the neighboring Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Deputy Economy Minister of Turkey Fatih Metin, addressing the event, said that the countries plan to bolster trilateral economic cooperation and increase the volume of trade turnover to the level of $20 billion.

The trade turnover between the three countries currently amounts to $4.2 billion.

He mentioned that the business forum in the trilateral format is of great importance not only for economic cooperation, but also for strengthening of the countries in social sphere.

Metin said that Ankara seeks elimination of all obstacles that may arise in trade operations between Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

A free trade agreement between Turkey and Georgia, as well as preferential trade deal between Turkey and Azerbaijan [talks on the deal is currently underway] open wide opportunities for the development of business relations among the countries, he said.

Metin went on to add that the economic structures of Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan are interchangeable.

The innovational potential of Turkey, natural and geographic characteristics of Georgia and strong energy infrastructure of Azerbaijan allows to launch a number of joint projects, stipulating the development of the industrial cluster in three countries, Metin said.

Rona Yrcal, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Turkish Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK), in turn said that the regional dialogue is of pivotal importance in the period of radical changes in the global economic system.

We, as three neighboring countries should unite our efforts to speed up economic development in our region. Effective economic cooperation between our countries may become a good example for other countries.

Turkish Minister of Science, Industry and Technology Faruk Ozlu offered to use full potential and advantages for boosting the economic integration.

Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia enjoy advantageous geographic location. Being located at the center of the worlds energy and transport corridor the countries are considered to serve as bridge between West and East, he said.

Ozlu emphasized that the current level of mutual trade between the three countries does not reflect the existing potential. In tote, national revenues of the three countries amount to $890 billion, while the total volume of foreign trade stands at $363 billion.

Talking about preferential trade agreement between Azerbaijan and Turkey, Ozlu voiced hope that the volume of mutual trade in national currencies of the two countries [the manat and the lira] will be increased in the short run.

Some 6.5 percent of foreign trade operations of Turkey were implemented in national currencies in 2016. The switch to the use of national currencies will protect businessmen from external financial influences and changes in currency rates, he clarified.

Turkey actively pushes trade in local currencies with a number of countries, as the country intends to be among the top ten economies in the world by 2023, and strengthen its economy by simplifying and enhancing trade operations with the regional countries.

Turkey ranked the first the list of foreign trade partners of Azerbaijan in 2016, while Georgia became the 12th. So far, Turkey has invested some $7.6 billion in Azerbaijan, while investment of Azerbaijan in the country amounted to $4.7 billion. The volume of trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Turkey stood at $2.3 billion in 2016. The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Georgia hit $395 million.

The forum also became a stage for the discussion of regional security issues. Addressing the forum, Azerbaijans Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev said that the three countries attach great importance to the issue of regional stability and security.

Talking about aggressive policy pursued by Armenia, Mustafayev said that the country will stand aside from all regional projects until it keeps Azerbaijani lands under occupation. He noted that Armenia violates stability, pursues aggressive policy and has unfair territorial claims on its neighbors.

He also recalled the failed coup attempt in Turkey, saying that the people and the government of Turkey coped with the issue with dignity.

The crime could violate stability not only in Turkey but also in all regional countries. Dignity of the people of Turkey and the government of the country prevented the crime, he said.

--

Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

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17 February 2017 17:57 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan and Denmark inked the convention on avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax evasion on income taxes.

The document was undersigned by Azerbaijani Minister of Taxes Fazil Mammadov and his Danish counterpart Karsten Lauritzen on February 17.

Mammadov said that the document will contribute to the development of trade relations between the two countries. Lauritzen also agreed that the document would open opportunities for entrepreneurs of the two countries.

Trade turnover with Denmark amounted to $22.3 million in 2016, according to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee. Almost the entire amount fell on import from that country.

Azerbaijan has so far signed similar agreements with 52 countries, including 23 with the European Union member-states. As many as 48 agreements on avoidance of double taxation already have entered into force.

Currently, Azerbaijan agrees the draft agreements on avoidance of double taxation with countries such as Morocco, Ireland, Israel, Singapore and Slovakia. The country is working on arrangement of agreements with Turkmenistan, Portugal, Oman, Albania, Kyrgyzstan, India, Syria, Republic of Bangladesh and Malaysia.

Agreement for the avoidance of double taxation allows to remove the obstacles in trade exchange and thus helping increase trade and investment.

The presence of international tax agreements is able to prevent bias against the taxpayers, and help states to carry out the exchange of information and direct meetings on controversial issues.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



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17 February 2017 15:42 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Baku Museum Center will host an exhibition by American artist Shane Guffogg on February 21, Trend Life reported.

The expo will feature the artist's paintings dating before 2008.

Moreover, guests will enjoy Shane's works dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci. His works artist calls "wordless poetry".

On the whole, 73 paintings will be displayed in the museum until April 6.

The event is co-organized by art agency Marika Parkdale, Carpentier Art Paris, with the support of Azerbaijan's Ministry of Culture and Tourism,the U.S Embassy in Baku and Azerbaijan and NGO Arts Council Azerbaijan.

Guffogg`s works in oil on canvas and paper, and watercolor, gouache, and pastel on paper, in addition to traditional etchings on zinc plates.

The size of the work ranges from the intimacy of 10 x 8 to the monumental 10 x 8. His oils typically have 50-60 layers of translucent colors that have been mixed with a glazing medium, which causes the paintings to seem illuminated from within.

Shane Guffogg was born in Los Angeles, California and raised on an exotic bird farm in the San Joaquin Valley. He relocated to Los Angeles, where he lived in Venice Beach and worked as a Studio Assistant for Ed Ruscha from 1989 until 1995. Artist's work began exploring the iconography of Ancient, Classical, Renaissance, Modern and Contemporary cultures, and the relationships among the various times and peoples.

During this exploration he found that painting is one of the few art forms that may express what language cannot. The resulting work contains its own language of sign and symbol, and in its patterning, visual depth, and light, simultaneously seems to refer to emotion, to the human spirit, and to the unseen worlds of Quantum Physics and Super String Theory.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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17 February 2017 11:54 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

More than 250 Azerbaijanis have held a protest rally to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Khojaly genocide in Munich, Germany.

The protest rally was held outside Bayerischer Hof hotel, which hosts annual Munich Security Conference, Azertac reported.

The protesters held up posters and chanted slogans such as Justice for Khojaly!, Armenia, stop occupation and terror!, We will certainly liberate our lands!, Freedom for Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev!, Khojaly genocide is a crime against humanity!, We say no to terrorism and genocide!.

The rally was co-organized by European Azerbaijanis Congress, Bielefeld Azerbaijan Cultural Center, Baku Nurnberg Cultural and Educational Society, as well as Munich-based Turkish diaspora organizations.

Khojaly, the second largest town in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, came under intense fire from the towns of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by the Armenian armed forces in 1992.

About 613 civilians mostly women and children were killed in the massacre, and a total of 1,000 people were disabled. Eight families were exterminated, 25 children lost both parents, and 130 children lost one parent. Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, and the fate of 150 of them remains unknown.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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17 February 2017 11:28 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs announced that they do not accept the results of the so called constitutional referendum on February 20 as affecting the legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The issue was mentioned in a statement issued by the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors Igor Popov of Russia, Stephane Visconti of France and Richard Hoagland of the U.S., after meetings of February 16 with the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov and of Armenia Edward Nalbandian, separately and then jointly.

Emphasizing that no countries, including Armenia and Azerbaijan, recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent and sovereign state, the co-chairs stressed that the results in no way prejudge the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh or the outcome of the ongoing negotiations to bring a lasting and peaceful settlement to the conflict.

Earlier, Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry announced that this provocative step, as well as Armenias attempts to change the name of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, the integral part of Azerbaijan, is yet another clear manifestation that Armenia is not genuinely interested in seeking a political settlement of the armed conflict.

Azerbaijan and Armenia for over two decades have been locked in conflict, which emerged over Armenian territorial claims. Since the 1990s war, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal, but they have not been enforced to this day.

The co-chairs discussed with the ministers the current situation along the line of contact and the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. They reiterated that there is no alternative to a peaceful solution to the conflict and that war is not an option, and called upon the sides to exercise restraint on the terrain as well as in their public communications and to prepare their population for peace and not for war.

The Minsk Group urged the sides to adhere strictly to the 1994/95 ceasefire agreements that constitute the foundation of the cessation of hostilities. They recalled the May 2011 joint statements of their Presidents in Deauville emphasizing that the use of force would only bring more suffering and devastation and would be condemned by the international community.

The co-chairs also shared their views with the ministers on the steps which should be taken toward implementing decisions from the 2016 summits in Vienna and St. Petersburg aimed at stabilizing the situation in the conflict zone.

The Minsk Group stressed to the ministers the need to demonstrate greater flexibility and to resume comprehensive negotiations on reaching a lasting settlement as soon as possible.

The foreign ministers, in turn, reiterated their commitment to strictly observe their international humanitarian obligations including those of the Astrakhan Declaration of October 2010 issued by the Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia.

The co-chairs also said they plan to travel to the region in March.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijans Permanent Mission to the OSCE has raised the issue on Armenias intention to hold an illegal referendum in the occupied Azerbaijani territories during the OSCE Permanent Council meeting.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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17 February 2017 12:57 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Members of the National Preventive Group under the Ombudsman Office of Azerbaijan visited the Baku detention centre on February 16.

The purpose of the visit, which was paid without initial notification, was to examine conditions of detention and treatment of detainees and ensuring their rights.

The National Preventive Group studied the detention conditions in the detention center and met a number of detainees kept at the center. They did not express complaints regarding treatment by employees of the detention center.

The National Preventive Group gave each of the detainees legal advice in connection with their investigations, studied materials of their criminal cases, clarified the requirements of the relevant legislation, and received their requests and appeals to the Ombudsman.

During the visit, the National Preventive Group also met with blogger Alexander Lapshin, who will stand trial in Baku for his illegal visits to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh.

Lapshin expressed satisfaction with detention conditions and his treatment by employees, as well as the medical examination and quality of food.

Lapshin said his procedural rights are fully guaranteed. He can freely meet with his lawyer and interpreter, as well as with officials of diplomatic missions of Russia and Israel, whose citizenships he owns.

The National Preventive Group studied the documents on his arrest, inspected his cell and revealed no violation.

In conclusion, members of the National Preventive Group gave the management of the detention centre recommendations based on national and international legislation.

Blogger Lapshin, who owns citizenships of several countries, illegally visited Azerbaijan`s Armenia-occupied lands and now is charged under the articles 281.2 (appeals directed against state) and 318.2 (illegal border crossing) articles of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. He violated Azerbaijani laws on state border in April 2011 and October 2012.

Helped by his accomplices in the occupied territories, Lapshin paid a number of visits to Azerbaijan`s occupied lands, where he voiced support for "independence" of the illegal regime, and made public calls against Azerbaijan`s internationally recognized territorial integrity on April 6 and June 29, 2016.

In early February, Lapshin was extradited from Minsk to Baku to stand trial in Azerbaijan.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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17 February 2017 13:29 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chair states  Russia, France and the United States  announced that they will not recognize the so-called constitutional referendum scheduled for February 20 in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, which is now ruled by a puppet regime controlled by Armenia.

The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that it does not believe that the peaceful settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh may depend on the planned "constitutional referendum" in the region.

We do not recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state, TASS reported citing a message of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

We proceed from the fact that its status must be determined through political negotiations as part of the Minsk process. Along with this, we do not believe that peaceful settlement could depend on holding the constitutional referendum.

French Ambassador to Baku Aurelia Bouchez, also commenting on the so-called constitutional referendum, reaffirmed that France does not recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state. This is our well-known position, she said in Baku on February 17.

The U.S. does not recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as no other country in the world, U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Robert Cekuta told reporters on February 17.

As stated in the latest statement of the OSCE Minsk Group, neither the U.S. nor Azerbaijan nor Armenia recognizes the independence of Nagorno Karabakh, said Cekuta.

Baku has previously stated that the illegal referendum constitutes a clear violation of the Constitution of Azerbaijan and the norms and principles of international law, and, therefore, has no legal effect.

The illegal regime established by Armenia in the temporarily occupied territories of Azerbaijan is ultimately nothing other than the product of aggression and occupation, the ministry said.

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.

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17 February 2017 13:57 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has issued a statement commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide, committed by Armenian militaries against the civilian population of Azerbaijan in February 1992.

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the commemoration of the massacre in the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly, the Secretary General of the OIC, Dr. Yousef A. Al-Othaimeen, has paid tribute to all those who lost their lives in the 1992 atrocity, the statement says.

The OIC Secretary General reiterated that the Khojaly tragedy was a result of the illegal occupation of Azerbaijani territory by neighboring Armenia. He referred to the resolutions adopted by previous sessions of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, which considered the actions perpetrated against civilian Azerbaijani population in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, as crimes against humanity.

Khojaly, the second largest town in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, came under intense fire from the towns of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by the Armenian armed forces in 1992.

613 civilians mostly women and children were killed in the massacre, and a total of 1,000 people were disabled. Eight families were exterminated, 25 children lost both parents, and 130 children lost one parent. Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, and the fate of 150 of them remains unknown.

The Secretary General also reiterated the OICs full support for the initiatives and efforts of Azerbaijan to put an end to the occupation of its territories and to restore its territorial integrity.

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.

While the OSCE Minsk Group acts as the only mediator in resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, it failed to make any move to achieve a breakthrough in the peace process so far.

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17 February 2017 16:46 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

25 years have passed since the occupation of the Garadaghli village of Azerbaijans Khojavend region by the Armenian armed forces.

The Armenian armed formations, with the support of the 366th motor-infantry regiment of the former USSR, attacked Garadaghli village on 15 February 1992. After two days of heavy fighting, breaking through the defense, Armenians managed to occupy the village on February 17.

After the capture, the Armenian gangs looted and destroyed the village. Armenian militaries brutally murdered, tortured and took hostages innocent civilians, including women, children and the elderly. They killed nearly 80 of 117 captivated villagers, six went missing, while nine people, according to witnesses, were taken captive.

Eyewitnesses said that 43 of the captured Azerbaijanis were shot at two kilometers away from Khankendi, and some of them were beheaded.

Those villagers, who managed to survive the Garadaghli massacre, now live a refugee life in different parts of Azerbaijan.

Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.

Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994 but Armenia continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal.

Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.

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17 February 2017 18:07 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

No country in the world recognized the illegal regime established in Armenia-occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijani Parliaments First Deputy Speaker Ziyafat Asgarov told Trend on February 17.

It is not a state but an illegal regime. Therefore, neither elections held there so far, nor the forthcoming referendum have legal force, Asgarov said.

The so-called constitutional referendum is scheduled for February 20 in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, which is now ruled by a puppet regime controlled by Armenia.

Asgarov added that the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group also made statements on the case, where they noted they do not recognize the so-called referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Such a referendum will have no legal value or result. They [Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh] are just trying to assert themselves by such a step. However, they forget that the countries of the world do not recognize them, Asgarov said.

He added that Nagorno-Karabakh is an Azerbaijani territory and all legal procedures may be held there only with the permission of Azerbaijan.

Previously, Deputy Chairman of the Azerbaijani Parliament Bahar Muradova assesed the illegal referendum as an attempt of Yerevan to preserve the status quo in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

She said that such a provocative step, as well as Armenia's attempts to change the name of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is an inseparable part of Azerbaijan, testifies to the lack of interest of Armenia in resolving the conflict, and serves for escalation of tensions in the region.

All international organizations recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, and announce their official position of recognizing the inviolability of borders and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, Muradova noted.

She added that the so-called referendum is an open violation of the Constitution of Azerbaijan, as well as international legal norms and principles, and therefore it cannot have any legal force.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

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16 February 2017 11:26 (UTC+04:00)

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received a delegation led by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Department of Defense Joseph Dunford, Azertac reported.

The successful development of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and the US in the military, political, economic, energy security, defense, security fields was stressed during the meeting.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Department of Defense Joseph Dunford highly appreciated Azerbaijan`s role in the international peacekeeping operations and the country`s significant contribution to cargo transportation to Afghanistan.

They expressed confidence that the visit of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Department of Defense to Azerbaijan will contribute to strengthening defense cooperation. The sides also noted that friendly relations between the two countries will continue to develop.

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16 February 2017 21:05 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Azerbaijani Defense Minister, Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov met with Deputy Defense Minister, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Army General Valery Gerasimov on February 16, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on February 16.

Hasanov said that cooperation between the two countries is based on friendship and mutual trust, adding that the relations are constantly developing.

As for the military-political situation in the region, Hasanov stressed that the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict poses a major threat to regional stability and it is necessary to achieve the conflict settlement within the norms of international law.

Gerasimov recalled that the relations between the two countries are based on historical roots.

Russia is an important partner of Azerbaijan, he added.

Gerasimov once again stressed the need of organizing and holding mutual meetings with senior military officials in terms of expanding cooperation in military and military-technical spheres.

Then the sides discussed the current state of cooperation in the military sphere and exchanged views on other regional issues of mutual interest.

In conclusion, Gerasimov thanked for organizing a bilateral meeting with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Department of Defense Joseph Dunford in Baku and expressed his gratitude to the Azerbaijani leadership for the hospitality.

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17 February 2017 10:50 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Baku has hosted political consultations between the foreign ministries of Azerbaijan and Palestine.

The consultations were chaired by Azerbaijans Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov and Assistant to the Palestinian Foreign Minister for Asia, Africa, and Austria, Mazen Shamiyah, Azertac reported.

Khalafov, addressing the meeting, said that Azerbaijan-Palestine ties, which have historical roots, are developing successfully. He stressed that Azerbaijan comprehensively supports Palestine at the international level.

The Deputy FM further informed the Palestinian delegation about Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Mazen Shamiyah in turn said Palestine is interested in expanding the mutually beneficial cooperation with Azerbaijan in all areas, adding that Palestine highly appreciates Azerbaijans humanitarian aid and support at the international level.

The Assistant to the Palestinian Foreign Minister said his country backs Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Khalafov further hailed Azerbaijans role and importance in strengthening the Islamic solidarity among Muslim states, emphasizing 2017 was declared a Year of Islamic Solidarity in Azerbaijan under President Ilham Aliyevs order. He also noted that Azerbaijan will host the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games in 2017.

The sides discussed ways of increasing high-level mutual visits between Azerbaijan and Palestine, boosting the cooperation in the agricultural, humanitarian, tourism, culture, and educational areas.

Azerbaijan and Palestine has good bilateral relations, covering a variety of areas from political to cultural. Many Palestinian students study in Azerbaijani universities for doctors, engineers, politicians.

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17 February 2017 12:27 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

A trilateral cooperation among Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey in defense sphere will further strengthen after formalizing a Memorandum of Understanding in May 2017.

The issues relating to the trilateral cooperation among Georgia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan were discussed at a meeting between Georgian Defense Minister Levan Izoria and his Turkish counterpart Fikri Isik in Brussels on February 16, Georgia-Online reported.

The parties noted that the trilateral cooperation format contributes to strengthening of the regional security.

The ministers also discussed issues related to the upcoming meeting of Turkish, Georgian and Azerbaijani defense ministers in Tbilisi scheduled for May 2017, during which it is planned to formalize a memorandum on trilateral cooperation.

The memorandum of understanding, which is under development, will be a legal base of the three countries cooperation and allow their trilateral activities to enter a new stage.

The memorandum is of great importance for Azerbaijan as the Caspian State is interested in further development of the strategic military cooperation with Turkey and Georgia and seeks for the support of regional countries in settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The parties also touched upon the forthcoming meeting of the Chiefs of Staff of the three countries, to be held in Tbilisi this April.

In recent years, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgias relations reached the level of strategic partnership and play the key role in ensuring peace and stability, sustainable development and the welfare of the three nations.

Although all three countries have different interests in foreign policy, the security issues of natural gas pipelines, borders security, and terrorism threat are the common concerns of three countries.

The trilateral alliance of Azerbaijan  Turkey  Georgia emerged in 2007 during the official visit of President Ilham Aliyev to Georgia. Following the trilateral meeting with then  prime minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2012, the so-called Trabzon declaration was signed, and further, the trilateral dialogue was strengthened by the adoption of Ganja declaration in 2014.

The turning point for trilateral cooperation became the meeting held in Nakhchivan in 2014 when all countries signed an agreement for future cooperation and agreed to hold meetings in the same format twice a year. Following the agreement in 2014 and 2015, joint military drills Caucasian Eagle with the involvement of 80 military helicopters, 60 armored vehicles, and military staff were conducted.

The last meeting of the three countries defense ministers was held in Gabala on May 15, 2016. The meeting discussed security issues and mutual interests for cooperation in the military field.

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17 February 2017 13:44 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will support Azerbaijan to fulfill its obligation under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The UNDP Baku mission and the Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry signed a Project on the Fourth National Communication and the Second Biennial Reporting under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The goal of UNFCCC, an international environmental treaty, is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent irreversible damage to our planet.

Azerbaijan reports regularly on the status of its respective actions and results. The Government has already developed and submitted to the UNFCCC its First, Second and Third National Communications in 2001, 2010 and 2016 respectively.

The newly signed project will support the countrys Government through the Ecology Ministry to continue reporting under the Convention. The project is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) with a total budget of $852,000 and has been prepared in close cooperation between the Ministry and UNDP.

The project will further advance the climate change agenda in Azerbaijan by collecting, analyzing, summarizing and presenting to the UN Secretariat for UNFCCC important information on emissions by different sectors of economy such as agriculture, energy, transport, construction, forestry and others. It will also enhance the capacity of local experts in application of modern data collecting and analyzing techniques and methodologies.

UNDP Resident Representative Ghulam Isaczai, commenting on the issues, highlighted the importance of this cooperation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

We are the first generation that can end poverty and the last one that can avoid the worst effects of climate change. SDGs open promising doors for our cooperation and create new opportunities for more synergies. Contributing to the global cause will enhance the international standing of Azerbaijan in this field as well, Isaczai said.

Despite emitting about 0.1 percent of the total greenhouse gasses, Azerbaijan implements projects and actions not only in climate change adaptation, but in its mitigation as well.

Azerbaijan, in accordance with the recently ratified Paris Agreement, voluntarily has taken obligation to achieve 35 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to the base year 1990 as its contribution to the global climate change mitigation efforts. In addition, Azerbaijan plans to increase the share of alternative and renewable energy sources in the country's energy balance up to 20 percent by 2020.

In late 2016, Azerbaijan joined almost 200 countries from every corner of the world to sign the Paris Agreement, committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to support green planet.

UNDP is the United Nations development agency that works in nearly 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion.

UNDP Azerbaijan has a well-deserved reputation as a long-time partner of the Government of Azerbaijan in the sphere of ecology and natural resources.

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17 February 2017 14:37 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev offered condolences to Mamnoon Hussain, President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on February 17.

The message reads:

Dear Mr. President,

We are deeply saddened by the terror attacks committed in your country in recent days.

We are outraged by those heinous attacks, and consider it essential to conduct a universal, resolute and consistent fight against all forms of terrorism.

We share your grief at these difficult times.

On behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I extend my deepest condolences to you, families and loved ones of those who were killed and the whole people of Pakistan, and wish those injured the soonest possible recovery.

---

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17 February 2017 16:37 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijani media has passed a glorious way and reached today's level of development, said Bahar Muradova, Deputy Chairman of the Azerbaijani Parliament.

She made the remark during a meeting with media representatives at the Parliament on February 17.

The national media has always demonstrated its proper position in the formation and development of the Azerbaijani state and society, said Muradova, adding that thus contributed to the achievement of all important tasks in the most difficult periods of the history.

The creation of our state, loss of independence and its restoration, violation of the territorial integrity of the country and problems created by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, have always been covered by our press, she said.

The vice speaker added that the government appreciates the importance of the press. Azerbaijan is a developing country, and since gaining independence, achieved considerable successes, some of which are associated with media. The legislation related to the media has been improved, while the state provides full support to the media, she noted.

Muradova emphasized that after gaining independence, the Azerbaijani mass media adequately overcame all difficulties and played an important role in building a democratic society.

Today, the development of an independent press in Azerbaijan continues, with over 4,500 registered press bodies, most of which are newspapers and magazines, over 30 news agencies, and 44 electronic media outlets.

The Azerbaijani press played a significant role in the formation of national thinking and dignity, said Aflatun Amashov, Chairman of Media Council.

He added that the press also played an important role in the national movement for freedom.

Today, the press in Azerbaijan is completely independent and operates freely. The state has always supported the Azerbaijani press. The Azerbaijani press is patriotic and always supports the national interests of our people and the state. It plays an important role in bringing the Azerbaijani realities to the world community, Amashov emphasized.

In turn, Vugar Safarli, Executive Director of the Fund of State Support for Development of Mass Media under the Azerbaijani President touched upon the question of providing material support to the e-media by the state, noting that this issue will be resolved in the near future.



He added that the issue is on the agenda, noting however, in case of allocation of funds, it will cover not all electronic media.

Today many people read websites. As many as 80 percent of the materials published there are copied from each other, and repeated. Do we need such news portals? I think that allocation of financial assistance will be provided for media, operating mainly in foreign languages, and informing the world community about Azerbaijan's fair position, he said.

Political analyst Arzu Nagiyev, for his part, talked about the military journalism, stressing the importance of developing appropriate draft law on this matter.

Nagiyev said that the project should include both journalism activity and insurance issues.

Now, sending a journalist of any online or newspaper or TV to the military area is very dangerous, since everything can happen there, he said.

Nagiyev said that the majority of the reporters dying in the world are war reporters.

Azerbaijan remains in a state of war with Armenia, as Armenian forces keep under occupation a 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions.

A ceasefire was signed in 1994, but negotiations still continue on a long-term peace agreement. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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17 February 2017 18:23 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan and Iran have discussed inter-parliamentary ties, as Speaker of Azerbaijan`s Parliament Ogtay Asadov met with Iranian Minister of Justice Mostafa Pourmohammadi in Baku on February 17.

The speaker stressed the role of the reciprocal visits of the heads of the states in boosting relations between the two countries. There are fruitful relations between Azerbaijan and Iran in field of justice, he added.

On inter-parliamentary ties, the speaker highlighted the activity of friendship groups in the parliaments of both countries, Azertac reported.

Pourmohammadi, in turn, said that he is deeply impressed with the great changes that have taken place in Azerbaijan ever since.

The minister said there are wide opportunities for deepening cooperation between Azerbaijan and Iran.

They also discussed a range of issues including struggle against the terrorism, as well as cause and consequences of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Pourmohammadi reiterated that his country supports Azerbaijan`s just position in solving the problem.

Ambassador of Iran to Baku Javad Jahangirzadeh was also present in the meeting.

Azerbaijan and Iran have had diplomatic relations since 1918. Iran recognized Azerbaijan's independence in 1991, and diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1992.

Azerbaijani and Iranian peoples enjoy the same cultural and religious traditions. Two countries successfully cooperate in many areas, including agriculture, transport, tourism, industry and other spheres.

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17 February 2017 13:12 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

Belarus actively seeks to diversify its oil supply routes, and has already started purchasing oil from alternative suppliers amid restricted supplies from Russia.

The country has implemented its first purchase of Iranian crude oil. Belaruss Bel Oil has bought 80,000 tons of Iranian Light and Heavy crude oil from National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), Reuters reported. The loading operations are expected to start on February 20.

NIOC allocated 600,000 barrels (equals 80,000 tonnes) to Bel Oils subsidiary in Poland Bel Oil Polska. Bel Oil will ship the Iranian crude oil to either the Black Sea port of Odessa or the Baltic port of Ventspils for rail transportation to Belarus, with the logistics yet to be agreed.

The need to diversify routes appeared after Russia cut its exports to Belarus in the second half of 2016, while the threat of further cuts is still looming over due to pricing dispute between Minsk and Moscow.

Russia cut crude oil exports to Belarus to 18 million tons in 2016 from an initial planned 24 million. Since early 2016, Russia and Belarus had been unable to reach an agreement concerning how much Belarus should pay for Russian gas and the conditions for cooperation in the oil sector.

Belarus insists on the lower prices for Russian gas. After energy prices dropped globally, Minsk said that a gas price set by Gazprom of $132 per 1,000 cubic meters is too high. Belarus, a major transit route for Russian gas to Europe, has previously said a price of $73 would be reasonable.

Supplies from Iran will cost Belarus about $120-130 per ton more expensive than if purchased in Russia. However, Minsk is reportedly ready to bear economic losses.

During his visit to Baku in late 2016, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko expressed his interest in alternative supplies of oil from Azerbaijan and establishing a long-term partnership with the country's oil industry.

Meanwhile, Belarus is set to increase its oil production in 2017 adding some 5,000 tons to its output.

Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Minister of the country Andrei Kovkhuto previously announced about the plans on increasing the production , mentioning that the country added some 200,000 tons in 2016.

The majority of oil and gas in Belarus is being produced from the largest fields such as Rechitskoye, Ostashkovichskoye, Vishanskoye, Tishkovskoye, and Yuzhno-Ostashkovichskoye. As of December 2016, oil production in the country stood at the level of 1.6 million tons per year.

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17 February 2017 17:21 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, EBRD, considers the issue of providing financial support to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project, which will bring Azerbaijani gas via the Balkans to Italy.

Ksenia Manyushis, a principal banker at the EBRD, said the financial institution is still considering a loan for co-financing the TAP project, but the process has not yet been finalized.

She made remarks at the Central and Eastern European Gas Conference in Zagreb on February 16, Interfax Global Energy reported.

The first negotiations kicked off five years ago when TAP representatives approached the Bank. It only proves both how long such talks can last and how early one must start thinking about financing such an ambitious project, she said.

The Bank, which is well aware of the need to secure energy for Europe, assesses the project as the one being of great interest. The bank is currently analyzing the technical, economic, financial, social, environmental terms and more to see if they are consistent with its policies.

TAP is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor which is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union. The pipeline will be connected to the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy's south.

EBRD backed the Southern Gas Corridor from the start and provided loans to improve the Shah Deniz 2 field development project and the South Caucasus Pipeline.

The cost of the TAP project has earlier been finalized and calculated at 4.5 billion.

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17 February 2017 17:09 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Although U.S. President Donald Trump refuses Washington policy on Israel - Palestinian conflict envisaging the establishment of "two states for two nations", UN Secretary General assures there is no plan 'B' in the solution this bloody conflict in the Middle East.

Trump, which is considered to be a game changer in the world politics, tends to re-design key directions of U.S. president's policy in Middle East region by refusing the years-long U.S. position on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict -- the move that lacks impressive support in larger political circles.

By doing that Trump risks displeasing both sides of the conflict. While Palestinians see it as an unwillingness to work for an independent Palestinian state, many Israelis worry that a one-state solution means that a Jewish state may be replaced by the one in which Arabs outnumbered Jews.

In a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on February 15, Trump manifested attempts to "reset" button on the U.S.-Israel relations.

After eight years of friction under former U.S. president Barack Obama, Trumps retreat from the long-lasting policy of Washington that was supported by both Republicans and Democrats caused great concerns among Palestinians who urged the new administration not to abandon the task of creating an independent Palestinian state.

The new political course signaled a warmer chapter in U.S.-Israel relations, whilst Trump who seemed to be supportive of West Bank settlements at times during his presidential campaign, called on Israel to hold back on settlements for a little bit.

The U.S. president vowed to work toward a peace deal between Israel and Palestinians but said it would require compromise on both sides, leaving it up to the parties themselves ultimately to decide on the terms of any agreement.

While many are sure this change in the policy to offer quite big challenges for the White House in its further implications, others forecast the move at least to freeze the intention to find a solution to long-lasting uneasy conflict in the Middle East.

Many try to relate the new administration's change in its position with the intention to drag back the recently achieved Vienna agreement on the Iranian nuclear program.

The U.S. President repeatedly called the international community's agreement on nuclear program with Iran that entered into force in 2015 the worst negotiated deal ever and promised Netanyahu that Iran would never be permitted to build a nuclear weapon.

The U.S. President did not hide his intention to develop new measures against Iran to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

"My administration has already introduced new sanctions against Iran, and I will do even more to prevent Iran's development of nuclear weapons," Trump said at a press conference after talks with the Israeli Prime Minister.

The U.S. makes calls on Iran to stop provocative actions that undermine regional security.

"Further development of the Iranian missile program and support for terrorism are provocative and undermine the security, prosperity, and stability in the region," said an official of the U.S. State Department in an interview with Trend news agency.

The U.S. seems to be decisive on its ground over the Iran issue and the new administration is negotiating with Arab allies, which have also expressed their concerns over Irans growing influence in the region, on forming a military alliance directed against Iran.

The alliance may include such countries as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Jordan, according to the five officials from Arab countries. Other Arab countries may also join the alliance.

The alliance will have a component of the NATO system, implying mutual defense, which means that the attack against one of the members of the union will be perceived as an attack against the alliance as a whole.

Details of the operating system of the alliance are in development, sources said.

The negotiations on the Iranian nuclear issue began in 2004, as Western nations were accusing Tehran of developing a "secret military nuclear program. Since 2006, negotiations with Iran were led by the "six" of international mediators (the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany).

The Iran nuclear deal was reached in July 2015 and went into effect the next year. Under its terms Iran agreed to dismantle part of its nuclear program, surrender enriched fuel and submit to international inspection.

In December, Washington prolonged the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) by the United States that passed in 1996 and was set to expire on December 31, 2016.

The Bill on the extension of sanctions came into force without President Barack Obama's signature. Although Obama refused to sign it, he expressed no veto claims. Thus, the Bill became law as it had been passed by both chambers of the U.S. Congress by an overwhelming majority.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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17 February 2017 11:42 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joseph Dunford and Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Federation General of the Army Valery Gerasimov met in Baku to discuss the current state of the military relationship between the two sides.

This was the first face-to-face meeting between the two top seniors of the worlds two greatest military powers. This is the first meeting at this level since January 2014, when Gerasimov met with then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army General Martin Dempsey.

Gerasimov and Dunford outlined vectors of joint work aimed at easing tensions and preventing military incidents, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The U.S. Department of Defense also commented on the talks.

"The U.S. and Russian militaries have undertaken efforts to improve operational safety of military activities in order to decrease the prospects for crisis and avoid the risk of unintended incidents. The leaders further agreed to enhance communications on such stabilizing measures," the Pentagon's press release stated.

A Pentagon statement earlier Wednesday said that discussions in Baku would center on "the current state of U.S.-Russian military relations and the importance of consistent and clear military-to-military communication to prevent miscalculation and potential crisis."

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17 February 2017 13:58 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

The inauguration of Turkmenistans president was held in Rukhiyet Palace in Ashgabat on February 17.

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who has been ruling the country since 2007, was re-elected for a third term with 97.69 percent of votes during the election held on February 12.

The inauguration has been held with participation of MPs, members of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Central Election Commission, local state authorities, local self-government, etc.

The re-elected president, in his inauguration speech, outlined priorities of the national economy and defined the steps for making the country a leading industrially developed state.

Berdimuhamedov stressed that it is planned to expand industry, widely implement advanced technologies and take the necessary steps to ensure the dynamic development of the national economy.

Natural deposits of the country will be used for the provision of prosperous life of the citizens, the head of the state said.

We will widely implement economic mechanisms to increase the export volumes of competitive high-quality goods to foreign markets and increase production of import substitutive goods and continue the work for the establishment of electronic industry, Berdimuhamedov said.

The president also spoke about the development of power generation sector, commissioning of new power stations, increase of energy export and stimulation of solar and wind energy use.

Support and development of the entrepreneurship and market relations in different spheres of the economy were stressed by Berdimuhamedov as one of the top priorities.

Later, Berdimuhamedov has dismissed the Cabinet of Ministers due to formation of a new government.

The members of the Government were instructed to carry out their duties until the adoption of a new composition of the cabinet of Ministers.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
17 February 2017 16:35 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Guarantee Fund will be established in Uzbekistan for small business development.

President Shavkat Mirzizyoyev signed the relevant decree on February 10, 2017.

The fund is created in form of Joint Stock Company. The State Competition Committee for privatization, demonopolization and development of competition acts as the main founder of the Fund, while the Association of Banks of Uzbekistan, Chamber of Commerce, as well as a number of large banks and insurance companies act as its shareholders.

The Fund is established in order to further improve the business climate and accelerate the development of entrepreneurship.

The Guarantee Fund is intended to provide security to banks for loans granted to small businesses, to the extent not covered by the pledge of up to 50% of the loan amount, but not more than $100,000.

The Fund will also provide assistance to small businesses on the terms of obtaining the bank loans and creation of high-tech and innovative production capacities.

Uzbekistan's business environment is among the most challenging in the world. Lack of collateral is one of the main obstacles in obtaining bank credit by small businesses. Meantime, it is the most common reason for refusing a credit.

One of the key economic problems faced by Uzbekistan is to adjust the countrys economic model; public policies and incentives are currently directed toward the industrial policies that favor enterprises with state shares (SOEs) rather than private sector enterprises.

Current government policies are also weighted toward investments in mining and other industrial SOEs rather than in non-commodity production and in exports by private enterprises in manufacturing, agriculture, and services as engines of future growth, according to the WB.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Zhao Yumin, consul general of China in Houston, talks about China's One Belt One Road initiative at Texas Southern University and how the US can participate in it. MAY ZHOU / CHINA DAILY

China's One Belt One Road initiative is not just for China and other countries are invited to participate, said Zhao Yumin, the deputy Consul General of China in Houston.

Zhao and Consul of Egypt Rahem Kholeif discussed One Belt One Road on Thursday at Texas Southern University and what it means for China, Egypt and the world, and how it can benefit the US.

"It's a colossal program, China can't do it alone. If the initiative can't benefit others, nobody would join. China is seeking win-win solutions for all to progress. It's important to have shared benefit," Zhao told the audience.

He said One Belt One Road, is not a new concept, and recounted the history of the ancient Silk Road of more than 2,200 years ago that peaked during the Tang Dynasty. It was a land route that began in western China's Xi'an and went into East Europe.

When Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the One Belt One Road initiative in 2013, he referred to that historical trade route, and it means connectivity and inclusiveness in a world rapidly going global, said Zhao.

One Belt One Road has made headway in the past three years, he noted. China and 21 nations have set up 56 economic cooperation zones. In 2016, China invested $14 billion in One Belt One Road countries and had $900 billion in trade with them.

"This region has 4.4 million population accounting for 63 percent of the world's population, but GDP is only 29 percent of world total," Zhao said.

The average per capita GDP in the countries is only $4,000. The total GPD is valued at $21 trillion. It means there is a lot of room for development, he said.

China is planning a summit in Beijing in May to discuss strategies and projects of One Belt One Road. Zhao said that under the current atmosphere of de-globalization and protectionism, the summit wants to stress the importance of interconnection and inclusiveness.

The US can benefit from One Belt One Road, Zhao said, noting that there are so many high-speed railway, road and power plant projects in the region. US companies can profit by investment and technology transfer to do some of the projects, he said. "We often refer some projects to US companies," Zhao said.

While it's relatively easy to attract US companies to participate in One Belt One Road projects because of economic gains, Zhao said it's hard to get US government support for it.

"However, we work hard to communicate. The atmosphere is changing since last call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. We are working hard with your government. We need to do a lot with government at state, city and county level. We want to persuade American people that China is willing have a stronger relationship with the US, and US company can benefit from One Belt One Road."

"It is China's initiative but it belongs to the world. China wants to build its own economy but also help with global economy," Zhao said.
Honor Hostetler Meredith Rivers Kerry Beth Carico Previous Next

The Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce announces the promotion of two staff members within Member-Investor Services: Honor Hostetler and Meredith Rivers.

Ms. Hostetler, now Community Outreach dDirector, manages and support the Chambers 12 Councils, including directing the nearly 200 volunteers who serve them.

Ms. Rivers, now Member-Investor Relations manager, recently celebrated five years with the Chamber and oversees membership retention efforts as well as the Chambers member discount program, supports management of department staff and continues to manage the Chambers Ambassador volunteer program.

The Chamber also announces two new staffers in the membership and economic development departments: Kerry Beth Carico and Alex Wilson.

Ms. Carico serves as Events coordinator for the Chambers Member-Investor Services department, under the direction of Sandra Brewer, vice president of Member-Investor Services. Ms. Caricos responsibilities include managing all aspects of the Chambers events and event sponsorships. Her recent experience includes serving as lead assistant to one of the most well-known music artists in the country, managing everything from album release events to private parties to details of a global tour covering three continents. Ms. Carico attended the University of Virginias College at Wise.

We are excited to recognize Honor and Meredith on their outstanding contributions to the Chamber and proud that we are able to promote from within, said Sandra Brewer, Chamber vice president of Member-Investor Services. We are also thrilled to introduce Kerry Beth as our new Events coordinator. This position is critical to the overall success of the membership department, and Kerry Beth has already proven herself to be a great asset.

Mr. Wilson joins the Chattanooga Chamber from the Southeast Tennessee Development District. A graduate of the University of Tennessee at Martin, he is currently completing a masters degree in Public Administration at UTC. He serves as the Chambers Administrative Economic Development coordinator under Charles Wood, vice president of Economic Development. Mr. Wilson will provide administrative leadership and work team support for new business recruitment, expansion of existing businesses and entrepreneurial activities in the community.
U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., today introduced bipartisan legislation to ensure hospitals are fairly reimbursed for their services by the federal government.

The budget-neutral Fair Medicare Hospital Payments Act of 2017 (S.397) would help hospitals remain open and functioning, especially in underserved and economically struggling regions by correcting a flawed formula that results in disproportionately low Medicare reimbursement payments to hospitals in rural and low-wage areas.

Too many rural hospitals have been forced to close in recent years, and hospitals in states like Georgia are at a unique disadvantage because of the way these Medicare payments are calculated, said Senator Isakson, a member of the Senate Committee on Finance. This legislation would address the discrepancy in payments, help to prevent future closures of hospitals in medically underserved areas, enable hospitals to boost wages in economically struggling regions, and ensure patients have access to emergency and needed care.

Specifically, the Fair Medicare Hospital Payments Act would establish a national minimum area wage index of 0.874. The area wage index is based on the relative hospital wage level in the hospitals geographic area compared to the national average. Over the past three decades, legislative and regulatory changes have combined with broader economic trends to create an uneven playing field that has resulted in hospitals losing out on millions of dollars in Medicare payments annually, said officials.

In Georgia, there are more than 100 hospitals that would benefit from a minimum area wage index that currently have an index below 0.874. Since 2010, five Georgia hospitals have closed that would have benefited from Senator Isaksons legislation. The legislation has been endorsed by the Georgia Hospital Association and the National Rural Health Association.

Along with Sen. Isakson, the Fair Medicare Hospital Payments Act was introduced by U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Mark Warner, D-Va., Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Richard Shelby, R-Ala.

Tennessee hospitals, like many hospitals across the country, have seen drastic decreases in Medicare payments while other areas of the country get more for the same services because of a flawed reimbursement formula in Medicare, said Senator Alexander, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee. This legislation will help protect hospitals in Tennessee from these shrinking Medicare reimbursements that make it harder for them to recruit staff, care for patients and stay in business.

Ohioans who live in underserved communities should not have their access to healthcare threatened by a broken federal formula, said Senator Brown. Hospitals serving our most vulnerable areas that are economically struggling encounter enough challenges without unfair reimbursement rates further complicating their ability to care for patients. By correcting this discrepancy, we can strengthen healthcare in our rural and underserved communities and help ensure patients continue to receive medical care close to home.

Healthcare centers in rural areas already face unique challenges in providing care to underserved communities, and the federal governments inability to provide a balanced payment system for services provided to Medicare beneficiaries only exacerbates these problems, said Senator Warner. This is particularly true in Virginia, where four of the Commonwealths 13 statistical areas would benefit from a change in this payment formula. Our bipartisan legislation provides the funding Virginias rural hospitals need and helps them remain financially viable while providing care that is not dependent on cost.

Rural hospitals play a vital role in delivering care to Virginians but face too many threats to their long-term viability, said Senator Kaine. By establishing a national minimum area wage index for Medicare reimbursement, the bipartisan Fair Medicare Hospital Payments Act will remove one of these threats to the future of rural hospitals and will improve the delivery of care for rural communities in Virginia.

Im proud to support legislation that will help to even the playing field for rural hospitals that are penalized because of the current wage index reimbursement formula, said Senator Shelby. Without a more equitable methodology, hospitals in Alabama and across the nation will be forced to close their doors, negatively impacting patients and the overall quality of care. I am committed to ensuring that Alabama and its rural hospitals receive a more fair calculation compared to the current system that picks clear winners and losers.
Rep. Tom Graves on Thursday voted for and the House passed H.J. Res. 43, legislation to repeal the Obama administrations rule that prevented states from withholding funding from abortion providers like Planned Parenthood.

Georgia should never be forced by the federal government to provide funds to abortion providers, said Rep. Graves. By reversing this Obama administration rule, were restoring the right of Georgia to provide tax dollars only to healthcare centers that do not perform abortions, which preserves womens access to healthcare while saving the lives of the innocent unborn.
MON/20 International Business Chamber Councils Engineer Week Kick-Off Lunch11:30a.m.-1p.m.Chattanoogan Hotel Ballroom: 1201 Broad St.Topic: Volkswagen's Future of Electric Mobility for the North American Market$26; registration required, more information at chattanoogaengineersweek.com.TUES/21 Red Bank Chamber Council MeetingNoon-1pRed Bank Community Center: 3620 Tom Weathers Dr.Topic: Education$10WED/22 Free Constant Contact Seminar: Build Your Marketing Toolkit9-10:30a.m.Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce: 811 Broad St.This free seminar offers simple marketing strategies for small business and nonprofits.Call 763-4375 to register.THUR/23 Reality Check at Tyner Academy9-11:30a.m.Tyner Academy: 6836 Tyner Rd.Reality Check teaches 9th graders budgeting and emphasizes the connection between education and income by having roleplay as heads of household with a set budget. To volunteer for this Chattanooga Chamber career readiness program, contact Cathy Humble at 423.763.4321 or chumble@chattanoogachamber.com.THUR/23 Enterprise Gateway Chamber Council Meeting8:15-9:30a.m.Hospice of Chattanooga: 4411 Oakwood Dr.Speaker: Rich Mozingo, Chattanooga Lookouts$10THUR/23 Getting Unstuck11a-noonBrightBridge Womens Business Center: 535 Chestnut St.What have you been putting off? Your personal health? Taking more courageous action steps for your business? Both? This workshop teaches you a positive and sensible way to get unstuck. Leave with an action plan. Reserve your free seat at brightbridgewbc.org/event/unstuck
An Ocala man on Thursday is accused of plotting to blow up Target stores on the East Coast, including Florida, just to lower the retail giant's stock, authorities stated.

Mark Barnett accused of giving a confidential source $10,000 to deliver bombs

The Marion County man wanted to lower stocks

Barnett, a registered sex offender, could face 10 years in federal prison

READ the criminal complaint here



The 48-year-old Mark Barnett had already made bombs, but in January of this year he offered money to a person listed as a "confidential source" in a criminal complaint, according to officials.

"Barnett then had offered the (confidential source) $10,000 to 'deliver packages' to multiple locations including Florida, New York and Virginia," the criminal complaint stated.

Barnett, who turns 49 on Saturday, created at least 10 explosive devices and disguised them in food packaging, according to investigators.

During one of their meetings, Barnett told the confidential source to be careful with a box that contained the explosives, the complaint continued.

"When the (confidential source) asked whether the boxes would kill the (confidential source), Barnett responded, 'No, they'll just take your hand off,'" according to the complaint.

The confidential source eventually gave the explosive devices to Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, stated the criminal complaint.

Barnett wanted Target's stock to fall so he could buy shares cheap, stated investigators.

According to the criminal complaint, Barnett is a registered sex offender who is on probation for felony offenses that include: kidnapping, multiple counts of sexual battery with a weapon or force and grand theft.

Barnett has been charged with possession of a destructive device affecting commerce by a previously convicted felon, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

If convicted, Barnett could face a maximum of 10 years in federal prison.
Where are those dark cold days of winter? Being superstitious I shouldnt ask but so far, Ground Hogs, those little rodents notwithstanding, we are having another amazing winter. Okay I lost my lantana but they should make an encore appearance before long. Furthermore my azaleas are blooming like wacked out spring breakers being hauled off to the county jail.



I really do appreciate maybe 8 hours of winter because during those dark and dreary hours I have visions of steaming hot bowls of homemade soup. I also enjoy the pleasure of chili which I can never get just right like my late aunt used to make. Or a hearty cabbage soup that my mother was taught to make by my paternal grandmother.



That was a recipe my grandmother brought from Eastern Europe by way of Chicago. Eastern European immigrant Jews were very poor in those early years of the 20th Century and a filling soup with potatoes and cabbage and perhaps the luxury of tomatoes was a poor mans borscht. Later, as money became more plentiful, there was the addition of the mysterious flanken, which I later learned was the Yiddish word for short ribs.



My mother had a favorite butcher who would call whenever he had a piece of flanken set aside for her. I thought the word sounded quite exotic. It was apparently coveted by mother and probably other Jewish ladies in the community. Later, of course, I discovered neither mysterious or exotic. Today beef short ribs are still coveted until you check out the price in the meat department at the supermarket.



As to the Russian version of borscht there is the addition of beets and served with a good dollop of sour cream and thick slices of black bread. It also calls for the music of the Balalaika and Cossack Dancers. Way too much drama for soup? Perhaps but it would be one heck of a presentation at your next party.



The problem for me in making soup begins with the fact I cannot make soup for just two people. Well I could but many of my recipes, which were mostly in my families heads, never written down as though that would have been a show of weakness or dementia, demand large pots. Yes, I do freeze the leftovers but somehow not so good as the just made that has sat overnight in the fridge to meld all those flavors together.



I do cringe when I see all those ads for canned soup. I wince at the thought of the sodium, even the low sodium. I am keen on buying those prepackaged beans in the cellophane packages with the little packets of seasoning. I just throw out the packets. And, also now that I have succumbed to the siren call, you know the one from Greek mythology that caused men to crash their ships against the rocks, personally I rock over a tasty bean soup like black bean.



Most Saturdays my bride and I will take off to Destin and shop those markets unavailable to us out in Santa Rosa Beach. It may be Fresh Market one week end and then change up and to Whole Foods the next. Either way we drop a wad of cash. Of course we dont take a shopping list. There is no challenge in doing that. I take that list to Publix and free base at the two aforementioned over priced emporiums with the stunning displays.



Seriously, have you ever seen an apple polished to such a high sheen or an eggplant fairly gleaming? Moving on to the loose grains and beans, I cannot resist the Israeli couscous and the yellow split peas and the green ones too. More than likely I need to go through high-priced supermarket withdrawal.



Recently I stopped for a quick lunch at one of my favorite Grayton Beach restaurants, Chanticleer. When I asked about the soup specials I was told it was a choice of Tomato Basil or Broccoli Cheese. BORING! Reflecting about it over my to die for warm grilled veggie salad, I realized that either of those two soups are a staple on just about everybodys menu. Where is my white bean smooth as silk soup with bits of ham?



When it comes to seafood gumbo best to head to New Orleans to Cochon over on Tchoupitoulas. Second choice is to try to reproduce this classic recipe at home . Just remember the holy trinity of green peppers, onions and celery and stir that roux of oil and flour slowly until it turns a reddish brown color.



How many times have you had some neophyte send out a gumbo that tastes seriously burned? Thats the same fool who thinks all your food billed as Cajun should be blackened and so highly seasoned that you need a paramedic to standby or the fireman dude in the ad that comes down some pole to your rescue with a chewy little indigestion pill while some goofy girl swoons. Really? Its about heartburn you turkey.



I made a ginger carrot soup recently that was greeted with a good bit of doubting Thomas on my wifes part. That is until she tasted it and discovered how really tasty and healthy it was, not to mention what beautiful eyes she will have. One more elegant soup, especially the presentation, is classic French Onion. We had it on a late summer day at Le District, the French food hall down in at the Battery in New York.



I hadnt thought to order it myself but my daughter did and the presentation was as good as the soup. That melted cheese, Gruyere, set under a broiler just long enough to brown the edges, served on a plate with a crisp white napkin under the bowl alongside a glass of equally crisp white wine could surely transport you to a small intimate restaurant in the totally hip Marias neighborhood of Paris. Note: This is absolutely my favorite Parisian neighborhood.



Paris, New Orleans, Grayton Beach, Florida or your own kitchen, soup is the answer to those wintertime blaahs. There is no question.



Yellow Split Pea Soup Mexicana (serves 4)



Ingredients

 pound dried yellow split peas

 cup diced sweet onion

1 teaspoon cumin

2 Bay leaves

1 stalk celery diced

1 carrot diced

3  4 cups chicken broth

Salt and pepper to taste



Rinse peas and put in pot add broth bring to boil and skim off foam

Reduce heat add onions, bay leaves, celery and carrot and cook at a simmer for at least one hour or until peas are soft

Off stove let cool, taste and adjust seasoning as needed, then run at least half of the soup through a blender to puree (save back enough to give the soup some texture)



When ready to serve heat soup then place in individual heat proof ramekins or soup bowls and top the bowl with at least  cup of grated Mexican cheese

Run under broiler or in a microwave to melt cheese

Garnish with chopped cilantro, sour cream, dice of tomatoes (optional) and sliced jalapenos

Serve with a slice of corn bread






William Bagley Cherie Pashley Danny Waxenberg Previous Next

Unum has promoted William Bagley to senior vice president and chief supply officer; Cherie Pashley to senior vice president of Tax and Treasury; and Danny Waxenberg to senior vice president and chief accounting officer.Since joining Unum in 2012, Mr. Bagley has led transformation of the companys procurement and supplier management processes. As head of procurement operations, his accountabilities have expanded to include Corporate Real Estate, Document Management Operations, Corporate Aviation, and the External Partner Center of Excellence.Prior to joining Unum in 2012, Mr. Bagley held senior leadership positions with Philips Healthcare, Agilent Technologies, and Hewlett Packard. He has nearly 28 years in procurement operations and supply management.Ms. Pashley joined Unum in 2013 and brings over 17 years of tax accounting experience to her role. During her tenure at Unum, she has led the tax organization with responsibility for global tax strategies and compliance, and has been instrumental in implementing process and tax efficiencies. Prior to joining Unum, Ms. Pashley was a tax director at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she focused on large multinational companies in the financial services industry.In his new role, Mr. Waxenberg will be responsible for all accounting, reporting, and financial planning and analysis functions. With over 20 years of experience in finance and accounting, Mr. Waxenberg brings a wealth of financial and technical expertise to this role. He joined Unum in 2002 and has held a variety of progressive leadership roles, including financial controller for Unum UK. Most recently, Mr. Waxenberg has led the global financial planning and analysis team with responsibility for the internal reporting of financial results as well as developing global financial plans.Mr. Bagley, Ms. Pashley, and Mr. Waxenberg are based at Unums corporate headquarters in Chattanooga.
Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy will spend Presidents Day at a special viewing of film Hidden Figures on Monday. A biographical drama, Hidden Figures is about female African-American mathematicians and engineers who were working at NASA during the 1960s. The viewing begins at 9:30 a.m. at Carmike East Ridge 18.



Following the movie, students will return to the CGLA campus and participate in school-wide discussions that begin at 12:30 p.m. Facilitated by faculty and formatted as intimate round-table conversations, the discussions will center on the significance of these women to our cultural and scientific history, as well as lessons learned from the movie.



"CGLA was the first single-gender public charter STEM school in Tennessee that integrates STEAM academics into its educational experience. This is an innovative approach that invites students to investigate the interrelationships between science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math. The CGLA project-based learning model, sparks creativity and ignites critical thinking by cultivating a dynamic environment for active, earnest learning," officials said.

"Committedtoeducatingyoungwomenforsuccessintechnologicallysophisticatedworld,CGLAboaststhreeroboticsteamsandrecentlyhostedstatewideroboticscompetition.Additionally,theschoolhostsquarterlyopenhouseSTEAMnights,whichareshowcaseforstudentstopresenttheirSTEAM-relatedprojects."

These events are open to the public and free of charge. For more information, contact Justin Booker at justinbooker@cglaonline.com.
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Diners hoping to grab some tacos at Taqueria Lupita on College Street for lunch on Thursday found the chairs stacked and the lights off.

"Closed to support a day without immigrants," a sign on the door read in Spanish.

Taqueria Lupita was one of thousands of businesses nationwide to close for the scheduled "Day Without Immigrants" protest.

The nationwide campaign, which began on social media, called for immigrants, regardless of their status, to stay home from work, skip school, close their businesses and refrain from shopping.

The boycott was aimed at the Trump administration, which in the past month has called for a wall on the Mexican border, a travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries and increased deportations.

About 11 percent of Jefferson County's population is foreign-born, according to Census data.

In Beaumont, that number is 9.4 percent but likely doesn't include the undocumented immigrant population, which is often not counted in Census data.

Juan Garcia, owner of Taqueria Lupita, said even though the small business with a staff of three doesn't employ any immigrant workers, they wanted to show support for the movement.

"There are so many affected," Garcia said.

Across the street, a sign in front of Zoraya's Beauty Salon said it was closed for the same reason.

Zoraya Aguilar, the salon's owner, could not be reached for comment.

But many places across the area opened their doors for business as usual.

Al Basha Mediterranean Grill in Beaumont was packed with lunchtime customers.

Lamis Maadarani, the restaurant's manager, said she would have closed for the protest, but she "didn't think of it."

Maadarani, who moved to the U.S. from Lebanon when she was 6 months old, said almost all of the restaurant's staff and about 70 percent of diners are immigrants.

"That's cool that they're doing that," Maadarani said.

Rex Datu, owner of the Pinoy Asian Market on 11th Street, said he wanted to close his business but said it's hard financially to close for even a day.

Datu, an immigrant from the Philippines, said he just paid his property taxes and is paying for his son to attend Lamar University.

"For this business, you have to be open every day," said Datu.

Even though the campaign called for immigrant families to keep their children home from school, the attendance rate at Beaumont ISD appeared to not be affected by the protest.

According to district spokesperson Nakisha Burns, the attendance on Thursday was at 90 percent, nearly the same rate as the day before.

NKrebs@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/Natalie_Krebs
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A Beaumont mayoral candidate who was bumped from the May 6 ballot over an eligibility issue said Thursday he is "consulting with an attorney on how to react" and could decide by Monday whether to challenge the determination.

City Clerk Tina Broussard informed Hani Tohme in an email and a certified letter late Wednesday that he registered to vote in Beaumont five days too late to be eligible to run for office.

Tohme applied for an address change on Jan. 23 with the Jefferson County tax assessor-collector's office, which is the county's voter registrar. The effective date for the new address would be Feb. 22, or 30 days later. The filing deadline is 5 p.m. today.

"As a result, you are hereby declared to be ineligible for candidacy for the Office of Mayor and your application for a place on the ballot must be rejected," Broussard said in her letter to Tohme.

Tohme said Thursday he has not decided on a course of action and was talking to an attorney.

"I don't want to make a decision on my own," he said.

Tohme's disqualification leaves incumbent Becky Ames with one challenger on the ballot. Jude Paredez filed to run for mayor. He most recently ran in 2015.

Ames wrote a letter to the city clerk seeking to have Tohme removed from the ballot over the issue of his eligibility.

She said Thursday she did so as a resident and candidate and not in her official capacity as mayor.

"It's not a partisan issue. It's not a personal issue. It's an equal application of Texas law to every candidate in our state," Ames said.

Tohme was a registered voter in Port Arthur during 2016, voting in four elections from Precinct 104, a precinct on Pleasure Island.

He applied to change his voting address to an apartment in Beaumont on Old Dowlen Road.

Tohme was a Bevil Oaks resident before his move to Pleasure Island, voting records show.

Tohme previously was the city of Beaumont's water utilities director before City Manager Kyle Hayes demoted him in February 2015 to supervisor of the city's drinking water plant. He left the city in May 2015.

DWallach@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/dwallach
Guiseppe Barranco/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

A federal magistrate judge has recommended dropping a local electrical workers union and four of its members from a conspiracy and defamation lawsuit brought by former Beaumont ISD contract electrician Calvin Walker and former employee Jessie Haynes.

Magistrate Keith Giblin recommended last week the lawsuit against the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union No. 479 and four of its member be dismissed.
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Amid nationwide debate over immigration, Port Arthur Mayor Derrick Freeman wants the local Hispanic population to know they have his support.

Freeman posted a photo to Instagram on Thursday of him with Austin Mayor Steve Adler, along with a caption detailing his support for residents and voicing his opinion about the need for immigration reform in America.
A Navy commander from the San Antonio area has been charged in the armed service branchs worst corruption scandal in its history.

Federal agents from California arrested Lt. Cmdr. Mario Herrera, 48, on Thursday at his Helotes home on a charge of conspiracy to commit bribery. He is accused of accepting gifts, travel, sex from hookers and expensive meals from a company run by a corrupt contractor that gouged the Navy  and ultimately U.S. taxpayers  multi-millions of dollars.
After beginning the first phase of its new Cerner EHR rollout at Spokane, Wash.-based Fairchild Air Force Base on Feb. 7, the U.S. Department of Defense is looking to use it for patient engagement strategies, according to the Kansas City Business Journal.

Paul Cordts, MD, director of the Military Health System and Defense Health Agency, spoke to the Kansas City Business Journal regarding his hopes for the new EHR. "That's a very important concept to empower our patients, to know what data is in the medical record, and use that data to improve their health over time," he said. "That kind of sharing of information can improve safety and quality of care provided."The EHR system, which is called MHS Genesis, uses a commercial platform by Cerner. The DoD plans on fully deploying the EHR between 2018 and 2022, according to the report.

Colonel Margaret Carey, a commander with the 92nd Medical Group at Fairchild Air Force Base, agreed, adding the EHR makes it easier for patients to access their medications and providers.

"From a patient perspective, that data is flowing over seamlessly," Colonel Carey told the Kansas City Business Journal. "They can look at that after driving home. It is an excellent tool for us."

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A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled Florida physicians may discuss gun safety with patients, reports The New York Times.

Here are four things to know.

1. The ruling from the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, which was 10-1, overturns a 2011 Florida law. The law states physicians could lose their licenses or face fines for talking about gun ownership and gun habits with patients or their families, according to the report.

2. In its ruling, the court concluded the law violated physicians' free speech, according to the report.

"Florida does not have carte blanche to restrict the speech of doctors and medical professionals on a certain subject without satisfying the demands of heightened scrutiny," the majority wrote in its decision, reports The New York Times.

3. The case stems from a lawsuit in which the medical community contended questions about gun storage were crucial to public health due to the relationship between firearms and both suicide rates and gun-related deaths of children, according to the report.

4. Andrew Gurman, MD, president of the American Medical Association, praised the court ruling.

"Open communication between patients and physicians is essential to medical care and must be protected from legislative gag orders. The court ruling is a clear victory against censorship of private medical discussions between patients and physicians. The State of Florida cannot ignore constitutional rights by limiting the free speech necessary for the practice of medicine," Dr. Gurman said in a statement.

For more on this story, read Lizette Alvarez's full report here.
The Sitka (Alaska) Community Hospital board has scrapped plans for the hospital to engage in a joint venture with the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium and instead discussed a possible merger between the two organizations, according to KCAW Radio.

Bryan Bertacchi, utility director and board chairman at Sitka Community Hospital, said the hospital's reason to participate in a merger instead of a joint venture is purely financial. If the hospital pursued other management models, the city of Sitka would be responsible for funding $2 million in startup costs and would hold a minority stake in the joint-ventured entity, exposing the city to financial risk, according to the article.

The hospital board approved a letter of intent for the hospital to integrate operations with Mt.Edgecumbe Hospital, a member of SEARHC, in December.
From a jury finding a former hospital administrator guilty of participating in a kickback scheme to a physician being awarded $1.5 million in a defamation suit against Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth Group's OptumRx, here are the latest healthcare industry lawsuits and settlements making headlines.

1. DOJ joins whistle-blower suit accusing UnitedHealth of overbilling Medicare

The Department of Justice intervened in a whistle-blower lawsuit alleging Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth Group and one of its subsidiaries used erroneous coding to inflate Medicare Advantage risk scores.

2. Bermuda government accuses Lahey of bribing island's former leader

Bermuda filed a federal lawsuit against Boston-based Lahey Hospital & Medical Center accusing the hospital group of bribing the island's former leader in exchange for preferential treatment in winning government healthcare contracts.

3. New lawsuit alleges mold killed 2 more patients at third UPMC hospital

The family of a patient at UPMC Shadyside hospital in Pittsburgh who contracted a fungal infection and later died filed a lawsuit against UPMC and its laundry provider alleging negligence.

4. Man sues St. Joseph's Healthcare System for refusing to perform gender transition surgery

A transgender man filed a lawsuit against Paterson, N.J.-based St. Joseph's Healthcare System for refusing to perform a hysterectomy as part of the man's gender transition process.

5. Physician awarded $1.5M in defamation suit against UnitedHealth's OptumRx

Jose Ignacio Lopez, MD, was awarded $1.5 million in a lawsuit he filed in 2014 alleging Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth Group's OptumRx incorrectly included him on a list of physicians banned from Medicare participation.

6. Cigna ends merger agreement, sues Anthem for $14.85B: 3 things to know

Bloomfield, Conn.-based Cigna terminated its merger agreement with Indianapolis-based Anthem and filed a lawsuit against the insurer for roughly $14.85 billion.

7. Ex-hospital administrator faces up to 70 years in prison for role in kickback scheme

A federal jury found a former administrator of Shreveport, La.-based Physicians Behavioral Hospital  a 24-bed facility that offers psychiatric and chemical dependency treatment  guilty of 14 counts of paying illegal kickbacks.

8. Lawyer sentenced to prison for stealing $1.2M in patient payments from St. Luke's

Alan B. Gallas, 65, was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison for stealing more than $1.2 million from Kansas City, Mo.-based St. Luke's Health System between 2009 and July 2015.

9. Kaiser pays $850k to settle allegations of pharmacy recordkeeping errors

Oakland Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente paid $850,000 to settle allegations that one of the system's pharmacies in Modesto, Calif., violated the Controlled Substances Act.

10. Comprehensive Health Services pays $3.8M for allegedly double billing IRS

Cape Canaveral, Fla.-based workforce medical services provider Comprehensive Health Services agreed to pay the federal government $3.8 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations.

11. Texas psychiatric hospital pays $860k to settle false claims case

University Behavioral Health of El Paso (Texas) entered into an $860,000 civil settlement with the Department of Justice to resolve allegations the psychiatric hospital violated the False Claims Act, the Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law.

More articles on healthcare legal and regulatory matters:

HHS: Stark Law, Anti-Kickback Statute are barriers to innovative payment models

Bankrupt Louisiana hospital faces lawsuit over layoff notification

TeamHealth to pay $60M to resolve false claims case
Bermuda has filed a federal lawsuit against Boston-based Lahey Hospital & Medical Center accusing the hospital group of bribing the island's former leader in exchange for preferential treatment in winning government healthcare contracts, according to Bloomberg.

The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Boston, centers on Lahey's relationship with Ewart F. Brown, MD, who was the island's premier from 2006 until his retirement in 2010. Lahey is accused of paying Dr. Brown at least $125,000 in consulting fees in 2001, when he was the minister for human affairs. The fees Lahey paid Dr. Brown increased until 2008 when Lahey allegedly paid him $504,000.

In exchange for the payments, Dr. Brown allegedly helped Lahey secure government healthcare contracts, allowing Lahey to become the top foreign provider of healthcare services in Bermuda, according to the report.

The lawsuit also alleges Bermuda's public health plans paid Lahey millions to have its staff interpret CT and MRI scans that were performed at Dr. Brown's clinics in Bermuda.

In a statement to Becker's, Lahey spokesman Chris Murphy said, "We are concerned that this lawsuit is likely motivated by internal island politics, not business practices. This lawsuit may be a politically-motivated attempt by the current government of Bermuda to discredit their political opposition before an election, using Lahey Hospital & Medical Center (LHMC) as a pawn in an intense partisan political battle. Our focus is on providing high-quality care to our patients, not politics."

Mr Murphy said Lahey will defend itself against the allegations. "Our business practices and commitment to patients in Bermuda are beyond reproach. Over the years, our Bermuda business contracts and consulting agreements have been thoroughly reviewed by internal and external parties  all of whom have found our practices to be fully compliant with all applicable laws and regulations," he said.

More articles on healthcare industry lawsuits:

Ex-hospital administrator faces up to 70 years in prison for role in kickback scheme

Lawyer sentenced to prison for stealing $1.2M in patient payments from St. Luke's

Texas psychiatric hospital pays $860k to settle false claims case
The Department of Justice has intervened in a whistle-blower lawsuit alleging Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth Group and one of its subsidiaries used erroneous coding to inflate Medicare Advantage risk scores, according to The New York Times.

According to The New York Times, the lawsuit, which was filed in 2011 and made public Thursday, alleges UnitedHealth engaged in a scheme that involved improperly overcharging Medicare by "hundreds of millions  and likely billions  of dollars."

The allegations were originally brought by Benjamin Poehling, former finance director of UnitedHealthcare Medicare and Retirement. Mr. Poehling filed his suit against 15 companies, but the DOJ is only intervening in the cases involving UnitedHealth and its subsidiary WellMed Medical Management, according to the report.

Mr. Poehling claims UnitedHealth had initiatives in place to increase Medicare reimbursement by inflating risk adjustment. Mr. Poehling alleges he and other employees' performance was evaluated based on how well they achieved risk adjustment targets they were given.

For patient care to qualify for risk adjustment factors under CMS' managed reimbursement schedules, a qualified professional must verify a patient's condition in person on a regular basis. Mr. Poehling claims UnitedHealth coding specialists would sidestep this requirement by mining patient records for evidence of a possible long-term medical condition. If they found this evidence, they would skip the in-person evaluation requirement and automatically request the higher payment.

A UnitedHealth spokesman told The New York Times the company will contest the lawsuit's allegations.

Mr. Poehling filed the suit under the qui tam provision of the False Claims Act. These cases are kept under seal while the federal government investigates the claims and decides whether to intervene.

More articles on healthcare industry lawsuits:

Bermuda government accuses Lahey of bribing island's former leader

Physician awarded $1.5M in defamation suit against UnitedHealth's OptumRx

Ex-hospital administrator faces up to 70 years in prison for role in kickback scheme
The Washington State Department of Health has launched an investigation into the surgical practices of neurosurgeons at Swedish Cherry Hill Campus in Seattle, according to the Seattle Times.

The state health department decided to investigate Cherry Hill's Swedish Neuroscience Institute after the Seattle Times published a report that uncovered patient care concerns mostly stemming from an alleged "aggressive pursuit" for increased patient volumes.

Among the findings from the paper's investigation:

Neurosurgeons at the institute are compensated by volume

Surgeons are using a "concurrent surgery" model to see more patients

Swedish promoted Johnny Delashaw, MD, to a top leadership position even though the physician had allegations of high complication rates

Increased patient volume has left intensive care unit and OR nurses with high caseloads

In a statement following the first Seattle Times report, Anthony Armada, the CEO of Swedish Health Services, disputed the findings.



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"It was implied that our priorities are misplaced," he said. "Our number one priority is quality care and patient safety, and caring for all patients who need us." Mr. Armada also said the Cherry Hill neurosurgery center "outperforms" others for patient survival and readmissions from neurosurgical procedures.

Addressing the increased volumes, Mr. Armada said, "The number of patients receiving care at SNI has increased over the past few years due to a number of reasons, including the Affordable Care Act providing greater access to care, the addition of new physicians, new highly specialized procedures, our reputation and overall high level of quality."

In addition to the state health department investigation, the state medical commission is investigating complaints filed against Dr. Delashaw, the chairman of neurosurgery at SNI, according to the Seattle Times.

"Dr. Delashaw was selected to join SNI because of his strong record of providing excellent care to his patients," Mr. Armada said in the Feb. 10 statement.

Dr. Delashaw also issued statements to the Seattle Times, reading, in part, "In the last three years SNI has undergone remarkable growth. This growth has led to a change in culture. Not all individuals working at Swedish wanted the culture to change. Some have become disgruntled and some of these healthcare providers have left. In addition to growth, we have improved are evaluation of outcome data including morbidity and mortality to be sure we are providing great care."
Recently-confirmed HHS Sec. Tom Price, MD, has been a notable member of the GOP Doctors Caucus and represents the group's growing influence on U.S. legislation in his new role.

Here are 10 things you should know about the GOP Doctors Caucus:

1. Members of the GOP Doctors Caucus strive to "utilize their medical expertise to develop patient-centered healthcare policy."

2. Rep. Phil Roe, MD, (R-Tenn.) is the current chair of the GOP Doctors Caucus. He advocated against ObamaCare as part of the 111 Congress, and continues in his efforts to replace it with patient-centered reforms.

3. Rep. Roe and Rep. Michael Burgess, MD, (R-Texas) are two GOP Doctors Caucus members besides Secretary Price who hold important leadership positions in Congress. Rep. Roe chairs the House Veterans Affairs Committee and Rep. Burgess chairs the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on health.

4. The caucus has long sought to overturn the ACA and eliminate the individual mandate.

5. In addition, members support efforts to curb opioid abuse, improve veteran health care and simplifying health IT.

6. The caucus typically doesn't introduce bills. Rather, members tend to play the "kingmaker role" by evaluating and supporting other relevant bills.

7. In 2015, House Speaker John Boehner relied on the GOP Doctors Caucus' support in permanently repealing Medicare's sustainable growth rate for calculating physician payments. The caucus supported the "doc fix," a system meant to pay doctors based on performance.

8. Representative Diane Black, RN, R-Tenn., is the caucus' only woman and nurse.

9. Of the 12 physicians currently serving in the U.S. House, 10 are Republicans. Two physicians are in the Senate. Before being confirmed as HHS Secretary, Sec. Price was the 13th physician member of the GOP Doctors Caucus serving in the House.

10. Current members of the caucus include: Phil Roe, MD (R-Tenn.), Ralph Abraham, MD (R-La.), Brian Babin, DDS (R-Texas), Diane Black, RN (R-Tenn.), Larry Bucshon, MD (R-Ind.), Michael Burgess, MD (R-Texas), Buddy Carter, PharmD (R-Ga.), Scott DesJarlais, MD (R-Tenn.), Paul Gosar, DDS (R-Ariz.), Andy Harris, MD (R-Md.), Tim Murphy, PhD (R-Pa.), Mike Simpson, DDS (R-Idaho), Brad Wenstrup, DPM (R-Ohio), Neal Dunn, MD (R-Fla.), Drew Ferguson, DDS (R-Ga.) and Roger Marshall, MD (R-Kan.).

More practice management articles:

Microsoft introduces new virtual health templates to Skype for Business: 3 things to know



UPMC, Microsoft to bring AI into physician burnout fight 5 insights



NYT: GOP unveils first steps to replace ACA 7 highlights




The American Medical Association praised Aetna for its efforts to eliminate prior authorization for opioids treatment beginning March 1, 2017.

"The AMA has advocated strongly for removing this hurdle, and we are pleased by Aetna's announcement. Increasing access to treatment is crucial to reversing the nation's opioid epidemic, and we urge all payers to show the leadership that Aetna has taken to make patient care a priority over administrative hurdles," said Patrice Harris, MD, chair of the AMA board of trustees and chair of the AMA Task Force to Reduce Opioid Abuse.

Physicians have noted that prior authorization requirements delay treatment for those patients who require it immediately.

Recently, Anthem and Cigna entered an agreement with the New York Attorney General to eliminate their prior authorization policies for medication-assisted treatment.

The AMA called on other state attorney generals to follow in New York's footsteps, ending policies that inhibit patients with substance-use disorders from receiving care in a timely manner.
Here are 13 spine surgeons who were in the news this week:

Riverhead, N.Y.-based Peconic Bay Medical Center, a part of Great Neck, N.Y.-based Northwell Health, named Robert M. Galler, DO, the new director of neurosurgery.

Jan M. Schwab, MD, PhD, of Columbus-based Ohio State University led a research study that found spinal cord patients are often in danger of contracting infections and diseases during hospital rehabilitation

Christopher Duntsch, MD, PhD, a former neurosurgeon practicing in Plano, Texas, received a guilty verdict for a count of "injury to an elderly person."

Rochelle Sweis, DO, and Jose Biller, MD, of Loyola Medicine in Maywood, Ill., found that spinal cord patients are plagued by many different types of ailments after injury.

J. Brian Gill, MD, Brian R. Gantwerker, MD, Richard Kube, MD, Vladimir Sinkov, MD, Renato V. Bosita Jr., MD, and Bonventure Ngu, MD, discussed the financial challenges their respective practices face.

Patrice Harris, MD, chair of the AMA board of trustees and chair of the AMA Task Force to Reduce Opioid Abuse praised Aetna for its efforts to eliminate prior authorization for opioids treatment beginning March 1, 2017.

Kingsley Chin, MD, performed a viscoelastic four-level cervical procedure at Andrews Memorial Hospital in Kingston, Jamaica.

More spine-related articles:

AMA supports Aetna's removal of barrier to opioids treatment



6 spine surgeons on financial potholes  reimbursement, out-of-network & rising costs



Report: Paralysis isn't only impediment to spinal cord injury recovery  10 takeaways




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A cafe owner in Vienna is billing customers who take their time over drinks while charging their mobile phones

A cafe owner in Vienna has warned customers who take their time over drinks while charging their mobile phones that they will have to pay up.

Galina Pokorny said that instead of complaining when they see a charge on their bills, customers should read the menu, which includes the line "Electricity, one euro".

Ms Pokorny said that a quick plug-in remains free at Terassencafe, and that the charge is meant for people "who come in and sit for hours while charging their phones".

She spoke after Austrian media reported complaints from two women who were billed for charging over wine spritzers.

She thinks the fuss will die down and other establishments will follow her example.

Ms Pokorny noted the complaints that greeted cafes starting to charge for serving a glass of water with coffee a few years ago were short-lived.

AP
Private and publicly listed companies should face the same level of scrutiny following the collapse of BHS, says the IOD

More than 60% of company directors would back sweeping reforms to corporate governance that tighten the reins on private firms to help prevent another BHS-style crisis, a report has found.

A survey of 34,000 bosses revealed two thirds want a new code of conduct to govern private companies in line with the level of scrutiny faced by publicly-listed firms, according to the Institute of Directors.

The findings come as the IOD looks to make its submission to the Government's consultation on corporate governance, which closes on Friday.

However, the lobby group stopped short of calling for private firms to fall under the Financial Reporting Council's corporate governance code, which sets standards on board leadership, remuneration and shareholder relations for public companies.

Stephen Martin, director general of the IOD, said the UK's standards for publicly-listed firms are emulated across the world, but the governance for private companies remains a mystery.

"For small companies, any new reporting requirements would be excessive, but there is a real appetite in the business community for a new code for large private firms.

"A private code would have to be less prescriptive than the one for listed corporations, based on broad governance principles rather than a lot of tick-box compliance.

"If they get this right, the Government could really help to make boardrooms more transparent, and improve the functioning of these companies."

The work and pensions committee said last week that the Government would prevent another corporate crisis similar to the downfall of BHS if it made private firms abide by the FRC corporate code.

It recommended that large private companies - or those with more than 5,000 defined benefit pension scheme members - should fall under FRC rules and called for changes to be made to the Companies Act 2006 to make directors at private businesses accountable to pensioners through their scheme's trustees.

The potential shake-up comes as some of Britain's biggest public companies are braced for a showdown with investors over executive pay.

Travel giant Thomas Cook had to stomach a shareholder backlash last week after nearly a third of shareholders voted against a long-term management bonus scheme.

Investors voted 32.7% against the 2017 strategic share incentive plan (SSIP), which could have paid chief executive Peter Fankhauser up to 225% of his annual salary - a potential 1.6 million.

Barclays is also understood to be freezing chief executive Jes Staley's salary in an attempt to head off shareholder ire.

Mr Martin said there was "too little transparency around executive pay" at the UK's largest listed companies, which "has resulted in widespread scepticism and loss of public confidence.

"The IoD has warned for some time that executive pay at the UK's biggest companies is posing a threat to the reputation of all businesses, and we've called on boards to simplify and moderate pay.

"The year's AGM season will be a big test for the FTSE. If boards don't get out in front of shareholder and public anger, they will only push politicians closer to regulating."
The watchdog is seeking to siphon off some businesses from the UK in the wake of a hard Brexit

German authorities have upped a charm offensive aimed at financial firms looking to shift operations to the country after Brexit by launching a dedicated welcome page.

The website for financial watchdog BaFin now hosts a landing page highlighting its willingness to conduct all communication with foreign companies in English, and its ability to "simplify and accelerate" approval around funding requirements and internal risk models.

"Due to the imminent Brexit process, BaFin is paying particular attention to the urgent questions and issues of companies located in the United Kingdom with a view to minimising operational risks and offering a reliable supervisory framework in Germany," its website says.

It comes just weeks after BaFin hosted around 50 representatives from more than 20 banks in Frankfurt for a workshop which provided guidelines for setting up shop in the country after Britain leaves the EU.

The invite-only event provided lenders with a broad overview of compliance requirements for securities trading, provision planning, and the German Banking Act.

Authorities have been clear that any organisation looking to make the move would have to establish a full team and meet German standards on solvency, liquidity and risk management.

"Companies can make use of extensive outsourcing possibilities which fulfil BaFin's supervisory requirements. However, BaFin does not accept mere 'letterbox' arrangements," the website explained.

BaFin said will continue expanding the range of material offered in English on its website and has set up a special email address for financial services looking to make the leap.

Commenting on the webpage launch, BaFin assured that "although the backdrop for this is Brexit, the United Kingdom's planned departure from the European Union, the welcome page is nonetheless aimed at all foreign companies wishing to conduct operations requiring supervision in Germany or considering moving their registered office here".

Earlier this week, news emerged that Lloyds Banking Group is set to apply for a licence that would convert its Bank of Scotland-branded site in Berlin into a subsidiary in order to secure its European business after Brexit.

It is understood that few jobs would leave London as a result of the move, as the 300-strong branch is already well equipped to serve European clients.

Rival financial centres like Frankfurt, Dublin and Paris are expected to siphon off some of the City's businesses, ahead of the expected loss of passporting rights as part of a hard Brexit.

Passporting rights allow UK-based financial services to trade across the bloc without needing to apply for licenses in each member state.

HSBC has said it is on course to move 1,000 jobs from its London office to France, while around 4,000 of JP Morgan's 16,000 UK staff could be shifted abroad, though a potential location has yet to be revealed.

French delegations have been dispatched to London to try to woo more local financial firms to Paris.

Parisian politicians and business groups descended on the Shard earlier this month to meet with more than 60 representatives from UK-based banks, fund managers and insurance firms to hear about the benefits of choosing France as their post-Brexit destination.

It is expected to hold another event later this year.
An international textile manufacturer is researching its flagship brand's Co Down roots as it launches a new range inspired by the table linen the firm made for the Titanic.

Liddell was founded by William Liddell 150 years ago in Donaghcloney - and its history includes the fabric that graced the tables of first class diners on the ill-fated Belfast-built liner.

The firm later merged with rival firm William Ewart & Son.

Liddell is now part of Vision Support Services and employs eight people in Lisburn, with manufacturing in Europe, Turkey, India and China.

Laurie Thomas, Vision Support Services' managing director, said: "It started off as something we wanted to do for the 150th anniversary of Liddell, but the more we dug into the history of the brand, the more we wanted to know."

The design of the first-class table linen was recreated with help from Belfast shipbuilding historian and author Tom McCluskie, and is only available to buy on the firm's website.

Mr McCluskie is a former Harland & Wolff archive and administration manager and is a technical consultant for the Seven Seas Leisure project in its bid to build a replica of RMS Titanic in China.

He said: "William Ewart Ltd were one of the original linen manufacturers and suppliers to the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company (OSNC), who were the owners of the White Star Line - operators of the RMS Titanic among many other ships.

"A common misconception is that White Star Line were the owners of the RMS Titanic, which is not the case, and I was particularly delighted when Vision, the modern day incarnation of the original company, Ewart Liddell, determined to reproduce the original pattern linen as supplied to the ship.

"Accordingly, the OSNC logo and ornamental decoration was embossed into the material to recreate exactly the first class napery."

Mr Thomas drew parallels between William Liddell and the Rowntrees - the founding family of the chocolatiers who were known for their philanthropic work.

"It amazed me what a pioneer the original owner was... we are always told how revolutionary the Rowntrees were, but when you look at some of what William Liddell was doing in Donaghacloney, it's incredible. He had on-site doctors, a creche and education for his workforce. He must have had a lot of energy to set it all up."

The factory founded by William Liddell was at one point the largest Irish linen jacquard weaving company in the country.

However, rising costs were the death-knell for many Irish textile firms and meant that those which didn't outsource production abroad were left struggling to survive. During the 1950s demand for lesser quality, bulk fabrics continued to rise, with hospitals and hotels preferring to purchase cheaper, easier to care for synthetic fibres.

The firm merged with rival Ewart & Son in 1972, once the preferred linen supplier of bed, bath and table linen to OSNC.

The company produced linen for the first class cabins of OSNC's entire fleet of vessels, including Titanic, as part of a contract that today would have been worth around 250,000.

Liddell was bought over by rival Hilden in 2004.

Both firms were taken over by Vision Support Services - a Blackburn-based investment firm that buys up struggling textile manufacturers - a year later when Hilden entered administration.
Durbin, Duckworth Introduce Bill To Scrap Trump's Deportation Order

By Stephen Gossett in News on Feb 16, 2017 10:15PM



Dick Durbin / Getty Images / Photo: Alex Wong

U.S. senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) co-sponsored a bill on Thursday along with 20 other senators that seeks to revoke President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration enforcement and deportations, along with another component of Trump's order meant to withhold federal dollars for sanctuary cities.

The bill seeks to nullify Trump's executive action on Interior Enforcement, which gives Department of Homeland Security personnel broad parameters for enforcement priorities. For instance, "removable aliens"people who have been charged, but not yet convicted, with a criminal offenseor people who have been determined to have abused public-benefits programs are designated as priorities for removal under the order.

The Senators said that the executive order targets a vast majority of undocumented people in the United States.

Breaking up families and depriving cities of billions of dollars in critical federal funding doesnt make our country safer - it dishonors our heritage as a nation of immigrants, Durbin said in a press release. Its time for Congress to stand up and make clear that we will not be intimidated by the Presidents bullying. This legislation would end the Administrations mass deportation scheme and begin to lay the groundwork for a smarter, fairer immigration approach.

Channeling one of the frequently cited reasons for the importance of sanctuary cities, Duckworth noted the damage from a public-safety perspective that anti-immigrant actions arguably portend.

Ordering local officials to needlessly tear families apart is unacceptableand it compromises public safety in communities across Illinois by fostering mistrust and suspicion between local law enforcement and the communities they serve and protect," Duckworth said in a statement.

"I stand with the people of Cicero, of Evanston, of Urbana and of Chicago against these sorts of divisive actions in favor of the inclusive America I know we can be," she added.

The proposed legislation comes on the heels of a recent one-week period in which more than 600 people in at least 11 states were arrested. Trump heralded a "crackdown on illegal criminals" on Sunday, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the raids were routine. Nearly 50 people were arrested in Chicago in last week's sweep. A couple of high profile incidents, in Arizona and Texas, drew particularly strong criticism.

The bill was introduced on the same day that thousands of protesters nationwideincluding Chicagostaged "A Day Without Immigrant" actions to spotlight the significant contributions of immigrants and protest Trump's anti-immigration executive actions and rhetoric. Numerous restaurants and businesses in Chicago either closed in support or allowed employees excused absences for the strike.

Other co-sponsors of the bill are Senators Cortez Masto (D-NV), Mazie Horono (D-HI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Christopher Coons (D-DE), Al Franken (D-MN), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Ed Markey (D-MA), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
Former London Mayor Boris Johnston on his visit to the Wrightbus plant in Ballymena

Wrightbus is planning a major expansion of its Ballymena in factory.

The bus-maker, which is one of Northern Irelands largest manufacturers, wants to add a new huge 200,000 sq ft factory to help assemble chassis for its products, including its EN-Drive system.

The company, which is best known for its red so-called Boris buses  named after former Mayor of London Boris Johnson  also wants to add a car park for 600 vehicles, and has plans to build 75 new homes on the area of land at the rear of its Fenaghy Road plant.

Planners working for the company say it has occupied the current site for around 30 years and that due to its considerable success it has been developed to its maximum capacity.

This is far from ideal in terms of efficiency, and when the possibility of obtaining land adjacent to the Galgorm complex became a real prospect, they (Wrightbus) did not hesitate to take advantage of the opportunity.

Late last year Wrights Group also struck a deal to buy the JTI Gallaher plant in Ballymena when the production line halts later this year.

Speaking about the car park in a design statement, it says a new dedicated car park is needed that will meet the needs of the whole complex.
Workaholic husband Seok-woo (Gong Yoo) begrudgingly agrees to take his young daughter Su-an (Kim Su-an) to Busan to see her mother for her birthday. They board the KTX bullet train just as a mysterious viral outbreak forces the government to declare martial law. Photo: PA Photo/StudioCanal

Workaholic husband Seok-woo (Gong Yoo) begrudgingly agrees to take his young daughter Su-an (Kim Su-an) to Busan to see her mother for her birthday. They board the KTX bullet train just as a mysterious viral outbreak forces the government to declare martial law.

Alas, the contagion is already on board and spreads like wildfire as passengers bite each other, spraying blood throughout the scream-filled carriages. Seok-woo and Su-an survive the initial attacks along with fellow passenger Sang-hwa (Ma Dong-seok) and his pregnant wife Seong-kyeong (Jung Yu-mi). Directed with giddy abandon by Yeon Sang-ho, Train To Busan is a blood-soaked South Korean zombie horror that marries the gore and twisted morality of The Walking Dead with the thrills and spills of The Raid. As a satire, Train To Busan has plenty of bite.

Four stars
Caroline Flack is joining the national tour of the Watermill Theatre's musical Crazy For You

Former X Factor presenter Caroline Flack is to step away from the small screen and onto the stage as she embarks on her theatrical debut in a new production.

Flack, 37, is joining the national tour of the Watermill Theatre's forthcoming production of musical Crazy For You in the role of Irene.

She will appear alongside Olivier-nominated Top Hat star Tom Chambers, who is also known for his work in TV dramas such as Holby City and Waterloo Road.

Sharing the news on her Twitter page, Flack - who won the coveted Strictly Come Dancing glitterball trophy in 2014 - wrote: " Dusting off my dancing shoes again ... can't wait."

The TV regular is best known for fronting shows such as The Xtra Factor, I'm A Celebrity's companion show and Love Island, as well as the 2015 series of The X Factor along with Olly Murs, but she originally trained in musical theatre.

Chambers' other stage credits include West End shows Private Lives and White Christmas. He, like Flack, is another Strictly champion, having won the BBC talent series in 2008.

The UK tour of Crazy For You, known for its songs I Got Rhythm and Nice Work If You Can Get It, kicks off in Plymouth on August 17 and will visit cities including Bristol, Glasgow, Sheffield and Liverpool on its run, which ends in December.

The romantic comedy, based on the 1930s Gershwin musical Girl Crazy, had its first showing on Broadway in 1992 and won the Tony Award for Best Musical that year.

It arrived a year later in London's West End and remained there for almost three years.
Emma Watson described the character of Belle in Beauty And The Beast as a childhood hero

Actress Emma Watson has told how she used her character in Beauty And The Beast to battle against the oppression of young women.

In the remake of the classic Disney film, the Harry Potter star takes on the role of inventor Belle, whose ingenious washing machine is destroyed by suspicious local villagers.

"I think that happens a lot with women and a lot with young girls," Watson, 26, said in an interview with American publication People.

"Them destroying the washing machine is symbolic, not just of her breaking something she has spent hours working on, but them trying to break her spirit and trying to push her and mould her into an acceptable version of herself.

"It was very important to me that Belle meaningfully tried to escape."

Describing the character of Belle as a childhood hero, she said: "That energy, that spirit, is really what I identified with in her.

"She takes the road less travelled - Belle is no sheep."

But the story, which sees Belle imprisoned by the Beast before eventually falling in love with him and saving his life, has been criticised for suggesting women should persevere with abusive relationships.

Responding to the challenge, Watson said: "It's something I really grappled with at the beginning, the kind of Stockholm Syndrome question.

"Belle actively argues and disagrees with him (Beast) constantly, she gives as good as she gets, there's this defiance.

"They form a friendship first and the love builds out of that, which is more meaningful than a lot of stories where it was love at first sight.

"That is a big problem with a lot of traditionally written fairytales, where a girl gives up everything that's important to her for a guy."

::Beauty And The Beast is set to come to UK cinemas on March 17.
Red Dwarf star Craig Charles has been announced as the new host of consumer technology programme The Gadget Show.

Taking over the reins from Jason Bradbury, who recently announced his departure from the show after 12 years, actor Charles will be joined by tech journalist Georgie Barrat and Gadget Show regulars Jon Bentley and Ortis Deley in the newly revamped Channel 5 programme.

Charles, 52, admitted to being "more of an enthusiast than an expert" when it comes to technology but that he hopes he will be able to make the programme accessible for viewers.

He said: "I've always been into my gadgets and have been involved with tech on other shows I've done like Robot Wars and Red Dwarf, so I'm really delighted to be joining such a legendary programme.

"Hopefully, it will impress my kids and they'll think of me as a 'cool dad' for once!"

"I'm more of an enthusiast than an expert, but technology is such a big part of all our lives these days that you can't help but be fascinated with it. I see myself as the everyman, asking experts the questions we all want the answers to, and making the subject as accessible as possible.

"I'm also looking forward to using social media to make the relationship between The Gadget Show and its audience as interactive as possible."

The Gadget Show has aired since 2004 and is the UK's longest-running technology series and has undergone several changes over the years.

The revamped show will include several new segments in each episodes, including a regular monologue from Charles himself on the biggest consumer technology news of the week.

Charles is best known for appearing in long-running sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf as Dave Lister, as well as being the former host of Robot Wars and a Coronation Street regular for 10 years until 2015.

The Gadget Show returns in March.
Traffic crosses the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in the village of Bridgend, Co Donegal (File photo)

Irish Government officials have reportedly started scoping work to identity locations where customs checkpoints could be set up along the border with Northern Ireland.

The work comes ahead of the UK's withdrawal from the European Union.

However the Irish Government said, at this stage, it does not envisage a return of customs officers along the border, the BBC reported.

On Wednesday Taoiseach Enda Kenny said he was confident the EU would not allow "one of the most divisive borders in the world" to be reimposed.

However, Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan has confirmed to a parliamentary committee that contingency plans are being drawn up in the light of the Brexit vote.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Theresa May has insisted that Britain will not seek to "cherry-pick" which parts of European Union membership it wants to keep after Brexit.

She said her aim to leave the single market, but strike a free trade deal with the EU including the "greatest possible access" to the trade bloc, does not amount to selectively choosing the best aspects of membership.

Her comments come ahead of Downing Street talks on Friday with French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve.

Mrs May also highlighted French interest in a good Brexit deal, pointing out that the UK is France's fifth-largest export market with bilateral trade worth more than 50bn last year, and stressed the UK will remain an "open and tolerant" country and that French people will "always be welcome in Britain".

She reiterated her aim of guaranteeing the rights of EU nationals already in the UK, including more than 300,000 French people, and said she hopes France will do the same for Britons living there.
Tony Blair on Brexit: This is not the time for retreat, indifference or despair; but the time to rise up in defence of what we believe

Ian Duncan Smith has said Tony Blair seems to have 'forgotten what democracy is about' after the former prime minister called for an uprising against Brexit.

Mr Blair called on pro-Europeans to form a new cross-party movement to persuade the public they were wrong to vote to leave the EU.

In an impassioned speech, the former prime minister said "progressives" should make it their "mission" to reverse the outcome of the referendum last June.

Speaking at the London headquarters of Bloomberg, where David Cameron first set out his plan for an in/out vote on Britain's EU membership, Mr Blair rejected the idea that leaving was now "inevitable".

He said that when people had voted last year they had not understood the full cost of withdrawal - including the potential break-up of the UK, with Scottish independence "back on the table" and with renewed credibility.

The former PM said: "I accept right now there is no widespread appetite to re-think. But the people voted without knowledge of the true terms of Brexit. As these terms become clear, it is their right to change their mind. Our mission is to persuade them to do so.

"I don't know if we can succeed. But I do know we will suffer a rancorous verdict from future generations if we do not try.

"This is not the time for retreat, indifference or despair; but the time to rise up in defence of what we believe - calmly, patiently, winning the argument by the force of argument; but without fear and with the conviction we act in the true interests of Britain."

Iain Duncan Smith told Sky News: "The idea we are going to have Tony Blair coming in, late in the day lecturing, after advising quasi-dictators around the world what to do.

"He seems to have forgotten what democracy is about.

Democracy is about asking people a question and then acting on it. Thats what we did and thats what we are doing at the moment. The government and Theresa May is doing exactly the right thing.

"The idea that you just keep on asking the British people until they give you the right answer to the question, which is his case, and some of his political elite friends is no we dont want to leave the European Union is arrogant really."

"The British people made a decision only a matter of months ago after a robust and fairly long debate, asked the question, do you want to stay or do you want to leave the European Union."

The former Work and Pensions secretary added: "The people voted that they want to leave it and now the job of the government is to get along and do that"

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Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson - who led the official Vote Leave campaign in the referendum - dismissed Mr Blair's "condescending campaign" to reverse the will of the people, insisting Brexit would be "a spectacular success".

In a clear swipe at Mr Johnson and his campaign promise to release 350 million a week for the NHS, Mr Blair denounced hardline Leave campaigners as "ideologues" pursuing "a Brexit at any cost", which would leave millions worse off.

They wanted Britain, he said, to become a "low tax, light regulation, offshore free market hub" which was the "exact opposite" of the "fairer capitalism" with a better deal for workers which voters had been promised.

"The ideologues are the ones driving this bus. This free market vision would require major re-structuring of the British economy and its tax and welfare system," he said.

"It will not mean more money for the NHS, but less; actually it probably means a wholesale rebalancing of our healthcare towards one based on private as much as public provision."

Mr Blair said that in the absence of any effective opposition, the pro-Europeans would have to form a cross-party movement to build support for Britain staying in the EU.

"The debilitation of the Labour Party is the facilitator of Brexit. I hate to say that, but it is true. What this means is that we have to build a movement which stretches across party lines; and devise new ways of communication," he said.

He rejected accusations by pro-Brexiteers that in seeking to reverse the referendum result, he was simply ignoring the will of the people.

"This is the beginning in the debate. I'm not claiming any special knowledge of the British people, I'm simply claiming one right, not just for myself but for others, and that's to carry on talking to them and carry on debating with them and carry on discussing with them," he said.

Mr Johnson accused the former prime minister of "insulting the intelligence of the electorate" in arguing they had voted the wrong way.

"This is the guy who would have taken our country into the euro with what would have been catastrophic consequences," he told Sky News.

"This is the guy who dragooned the United Kingdom into the Iraq War on a completely false prospectus with consequences which foreign ministers here are still trying to deal with.

"I urge the British people to rise up and turn off the TV next time Blair comes on with his condescending campaign."

A Labour source said: "No wonder we are still trying to recover from Tony Blair's legacy when he has such contempt for democracy.

"What he doesn't seem to realise is people voted Leave precisely because they felt let down by 13 years of the Davos leftism he is still trying to flog."

Labour's shadow Brexit minister Jenny Chapman - who described herself as a Blairite - said the former prime minister's call for a cross-party movement to oppose Brexit was a "mistake".

"The principal reason many communities voted to leave wasn't immigration - it was a sense of being ignored," she told BBC Radio 4's The World at One.

"The wrong way to respond to that is just to ignore them a little bit more. I think that would be catastrophic for our country and far, far worse than anything Brexit would deliver upon us."
Tony Blair to say that the break-up of the UK is now 'back on the table'

Tony Blair will say the case for Scottish independence is "much more credible" after the Brexit vote.

The former Prime Minister will warn in a speech later that the break-up of the UK is now "back on the table".

In a speech for Open Britain, which is campaigning against a so-called "hard Brexit" outside the European single market, Mr Blair will claim people voted to the leave European Union "without knowledge of the true terms of Brexit" and should change their mind.

Mr Blair will say: "Those driving this always wanted a hard Brexit. Indeed, even the term hard Brexit requires amendment. The policy is now Brexit at any cost.

"Our challenge is to expose relentlessly the actual cost, to show how this decision was based on imperfect knowledge which will now become informed knowledge, to calculate in 'easy to understand' ways how proceeding will cause real damage to the country and its citizens and to build support for finding a way out from the present rush over the cliff's edge.

"I don't know if we can succeed. But I do know we will suffer a rancorous verdict from future generations if we do not try."

On Scotland, he is expected to say: "In addition to all this, the possibility of the break-up of the UK, narrowly avoided by the result of the Scottish referendum, is now back on the table, but this time with a context much more credible for the independence case."

Nicola Sturgeon has said another Scottish independence referendum is "almost inevitable" in the event of a hard Brexit.

The SNP argues since a majority in Scotland voted to Remain, this represents a material change in circumstances sufficient to make the case for a second independence vote.

Labour and Tories also criticised Mr Blair's claims of credibility but the SNP said his comments "reflect the reality".

Scottish Labour Westminster spokesman Ian Murray said: "The Tory Brexit chaos has certainly given the SNP the excuse it was looking for to stoke up more grievance.

"But the reality is that the economic case for separation is even worse now than when the people of Scotland rejected it in 2014.

"On jobs, public finances, currency, trade, investment in schools and hospitals, and much more, Scotland benefits from remaining part of the UK."

Scottish Conservative chief whip John Lamont said: "Tony Blair may not be aware of it but the fact is that only around a quarter of people in Scotland want another referendum on independence now."

He said the SNP's attempts to use Brexit to muster support for another Scottish independence referendum had "failed".

SNP Europe spokesman Stephen Gethins said: ''The case for independence is more compelling than ever and will only become even more so when the full impact of a Tory hard Brexit with its economic and other consequences starts to become clear.

"Tony Blair's comments simply reflect the reality that the independence debate now is fundamentally different to the one in 2014 - and the Tories' threat of a hard Brexit at any cost to Scotland is only going to see support for an independent Scotland rise further still.

"We are determined to keep Scotland's place in the European single market - which is around eight times bigger than the UK's alone - and independence must be an option if it becomes clear it is the best or only way of doing so."

Ross Greer MSP, the Scottish Greens' external affairs spokesman, said: "The case for independence is stronger now than it has ever been.

"Independence would allow Scotland to stay with Europe and avoid the angry, isolated Brexit Britain planned by the Tories, one which will cost Scotland 80,000 jobs, a 2,000 drop in average wages and worse."
Rep. Gutierrez Blasts 'Dictatorial Shenanigans' After Being Blocked From ICE Meeting

By Stephen Gossett in News on Feb 16, 2017 11:38PM

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) was one of at least eight Democratic representatives who were barred from a meeting with the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Thursday after their names were not included on what a House Republican reportedly said was an agreed-upon list.

Gutierrez said he was asked to leave by staff of House Speaker Paul Ryan. (Ryan did not attend the meeting, according to reports.) "In 20-plus years, I have never heard of the Republicans controlling what meetings Democrats can have with officials of the Executive Branch and never had a staffer ask me to leave a meeting to which I am entitled to attend," Gutierrez said in a statement.

I was asked to leave the meeting with #ICE by @SpeakerRyan staff. Never before in 20 plus years has this happened. pic.twitter.com/Vbe0BnsZNK  Luis V. Gutierrez (@RepGutierrez) February 16, 2017

The conference took place between lawmakers and ICE Acting Director Thomas Homan. Eight Democratic lawmakers were allowed to attend the meeting, including Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M), according to Salon. But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi reportedly told media no members of the Hispanic Caucus were initially invited to attend Thursday's meet-up.

Politico reported that a source from inside the meeting that Rep. Bob Goodlatte, who chairs the House Committee on the Judiciary, asked Democratic legislators who were not on an agreed-upon list to vacate.

AshLee Strong, a spokesperson for Ryan, told Politico:



"Members of the CHC expressed interest in attending, and to accommodate the request, we welcomed the chair of the CHC to join on behalf of the other members," Strong said. "We are confident that the CHC chair is capable of representing the views of her caucus, and this arrangement was made very clear to the CHC ahead of time."

Thursday's meeting with the ICE director came two days after Homan suddenly canceled a previously scheduled meeting.

Gutierrez said that he needs answers from the agency about deportations and ICE's targeting priorities in the wake of ICE raids that happened last week. In the raids, more than 600 people were arrested across the country, nearly 50 of them in Chicago. "My constituents have questions about who is being targeted by ICE, which DREAMers with DACA they are targeting for deportation, which victims of domestic violence ICE is deporting, which immigrants at church shelters are being targeted," Gutierrez said in the statement. " We know the statements by Trump about targeting criminals is a lie, but we were hoping someone could give us the truth or any information at all."

Gutierrez added, "I expect such dictatorial shenanigans from the Trump Administration, but not from competent, compassionate legislators like Speaker Ryan or from legislators like Bob Goodlatte. Do they have ear pieces feeding them orders from President Bannon or the others making decisions in the White House?"

Gutierrez said that Rep. Goodlatte told lawmakers that future meetings with ICE officials would need to be cleared by the GOP's Judiciary Committee Chair.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus addressed media outside the meeting, calling for more transparency:
The parents of three young children suffering from a rare genetic condition have spoken of their relief after they were finally granted access to a potentially lifesaving drug.

Mia Warren (6), Caoilte Fitzsimons (3) and Noah Collins (3) are three of only four children in Northern Ireland who suffer from Type 1 spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). SMA is a genetic disease that affects motor neurons, causing progressive muscle weakness and loss of movement.

All three children have very limited movement, while Caoilte requires round-the-clock ventilation due to the condition, which can also cause severe respiratory difficulties.

The life expectancy of babies with SMA Type 1 is typically only eight months, with most not living past the age of two. However, Mia, Caoilte and Noah have all managed to defy the odds.

This week their mothers spoke of their frustration that their children had yet to be allowed access to a drug called Nusinersen, which saw positive results during clinical trials in the US.

It was approved by the FDA in the States on December 23 and while it has yet to be authorised by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the drug has been made available free of charge via an Extended Access Programme at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. However, only one other child with the condition in Northern Ireland had started treatment at the hospital.

The families said they had been told resource and space difficulties were preventing them from accessing the programme. After speaking to the families this week, the Belfast Telegraph contacted the Belfast Trust and Department of Health for comment and later received a statement from minister Michelle ONeill confirming that the children had now been allowed on to the programme.

Mias mother Lisa Warren said they were over the moon after being contacted personally by the Health Minister.

Shocked isnt the word, it all came completely out of the blue. I nearly had a heart attack.

It was such a turnaround... it just means the absolute world to us, she said.

It comes from all three families really pulling together to get our children this treatment because it is a lifesaving drug.

It was an extra special moment for Lisa and her partner Stephen from Holywood, as the parents of little Caoilte  Rob and Fiona Fitzsimons  happened to be in the house with them at the time of the call. The drug is likely to see massive differences in the quality of life for Mia, Caoilte and Noah.

North Belfast youngster Caoilte, who turns four this June, requires breathing aid from a tube into her trachea at all times.

But her mind is very active, Fiona said.

Noah from Lisburn turned three this month and is a very happy little boy.

Currently, he has very little head control and only slight movement in his legs. His father Jonny gave up work to become Noahs full-time carer.

When he is well he just melts your heart, mum Rachael said.

All three families attended a meeting with the Belfast Trust yesterday. The trust is currently working on securing theatre space and paperwork from drug company Biogen before confirming the start date for treatment

Mrs ONeill said she was absolutely delighted with the outcome.
The devastated sister of a young woman who took her own life has claimed Health Minister Michelle ONeill failed to respond to a heartfelt letter she has said she sent weeks before another sister died the same way.

Heartbroken Emma Reilly from Co Fermanagh lost her two sisters to suicide within weeks of each other.

The close-knit family said they will never get over the deaths of Shauna (23) and Michelle (33).

To suddenly go from having two sisters to being an only child is horrific, Emma said.

A spokeswoman for the minister told the Belfast Telegraph that Ms ONeill plans to contact Emma as a matter of urgency, adding that she had not received the correspondence.

Shauna passed away suddenly in December and her older sister Michelle died last Friday.

The funeral of Michelle, who was engaged to be married next year, took place in Enniskillen on Monday.

Emma (30) said her two sisters were very close.

We are never going to get over this, ever. The only comfort we have is that Shauna and Michelle are together again, she told the Impartial Reporter.

Michelle was described as an intelligent and popular woman who was a home bird.

She called at the family home every day to check on her father Michael, who suffered a brain injury in 2010 following a heart attack.

Dad idolised her, Emma added.

She was born on his 21st birthday and they named her Michelle because its French for the female version of Michael.

Following Shaunas death, Emma told the Impartial Reporter that she sent a letter to the Health Minister on January 16 where she spoke of her youngest sisters long battle to get better.

We as a family have fought a tireless battle with the NHS mental health service, one which sadly we have lost, but there is potential for other families to be helped and other peoples suffering to be healed, she wrote in the heartfelt plea.

Emma asked the Sinn Fein minister to look into mental health services, the current gaps that exist and the potential for extra funding.

She also pleaded with the minister to put mental health and suicide prevention at the top of her agenda.

Theres a lack of mental health services in Fermanagh, she continued.

Money is being pumped into cancer services and people are benefiting, but mental health hasnt been getting any funding and people are suffering.

Emma said she sent the same letter to Sinn Fein MLAs Sean Lynch and Michelle Gildernew and SDLP MLA Richie McPhillips. Mr McPhillips was the only one to reply.

She added: I dont know what life is like without Michelle. She couldnt live without Shauna. Wherever one was, the other wasnt far behind. From day dot Michelle idolised Shauna.

Heartbroken fiance Simon Stenson said he met Michelle when she was 17.

They became a couple in 2010, and the pair became engaged last year.

He said that Michelle couldnt wait to get married and that she had paid off the deposit for the Slieve Russell Hotel in Co Cavan a week after their engagement.

Simon said he will treasure these bittersweet memories in the difficult times.

Life wont be the same again. I was always with Michelle. Myself and the Reillys are all a family now. We will have to get each other through it, he said.

At Michelles funeral mass in St Michaels Church on Monday, Father Donnelly told mourners how difficult it was to comprehend that two sisters died the same way.

He also stressed the importance of people talking about their problems.

A spokeswoman for the Health Minister said: The Minister is deeply saddened to hear of the tragic deaths of Shauna and Michelle Reilly, and extends her sympathy to Emma Reilly and the entire family circle.

Unfortunately, the Department has no record of receiving correspondence from Ms Reilly as reported in the Impartial Reporter yesterday. The Minister will contact Ms Reilly as a matter of urgency.

If you or someone you know is in distress or despair, call Lifeline on 0808 808 8000
Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt has said he will give the SDLP his second preference vote

Arlene Foster told Party Members in Newry and Armagh that voting for nationalist candidates was 'dangerous' and risked a border poll.

Arlene Foster has said it is "dangerous" to encourage unionists to share their vote with nationalist candidates as it would increase the chance of a border poll.

The DUP leader was referring to the Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt, who said he intended to transfer his second preference vote to the SDLP.

In a speech for party members in Newry and Armagh, the DUP leader also dismissed any chance of the SDLP and UUP causing an upset in the election.

The comments come just one day after Mrs Foster also clashed with Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill during a live debate on UTV, after Mrs O'Neill said she wouldn't support the DUP leader in a new executive.

Addressing her party colleagues on Friday, February 17 Mrs Foster commented: It is dangerous to advocate supporting candidates who are Pro-United Ireland above preferences for fellow unionists. The greater the number of nationalist MLAs elected the stronger the push will be for a Border Poll."

She added that neither the UUP or SDLP had even put up enough candidates to even win the election.

"The truth is a vote for Mike means you will get Mike and Sinn Fein not Mike and the SDLP. Sinn Fein would love to be negotiating with Mike Nesbitt. Even his own supporters fear that outcome," she said.

"It is critical that unionism enters these negotiations from a position of strength."

Mrs Foster claimed that before the DUP took power in 2003, unionists had often been "second best" in negotiations with Sinn Fein.

She pointed to the DUP's handling of the Stormont House Agreement and the Fresh Start Agreement as a "significant step forward for unionism."

"The reality is that it is because of Sinn Feins inability to deal with the DUP in negotiations that they have precipitated a crisis in which they will wish to deal directly with the UK government," she said.

That is why it is so important that the DUP wins a strong mandate to ensure that the government do not give in to Sinn Feins demands."

Both Mrs Foster and Mrs O'Neill have already indicated post-election negotiations could be combative if the DUP and Sinn Fein are again elected as the two largest parties.

During the UTV debate Mrs O'Neill insisted she would not go into government with Mrs Foster until a public inquiry into the botched Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme was completed.

She said DUP "arrogance, contempt and serious allegations of corruption around the RHI scandal" had forced next month's snap election.

However, Mrs Foster insisted Sinn Fein would not decide who led the DUP and called the election "an attempt by Gerry Adams to push forward his radical agenda."

The SDLP leader Colum Eastwood told voters to expect protracted negotiations after the election if the DUP and Sinn Fein were returned to power.

"But if you vote for other people, we have the opportunity to form a government, no matter how difficult all these issues are," he said.

There are people who want to work together, are willing to work together, and have proven they can work together to get over some of these humps," he said.

Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt commented that Sinn Fein and the DUP "really don't want to share power, but only do it because there is a legislative duty on them to do so".

He added: "We as the Ulster Unionist Party would be willing partners, understanding the only way to move Northern Ireland forward is to work with people with whom you have differences."

One of the more quotable moments of the debate belonged to the Alliance Party leader Naomi Long who called the Ulster Unionists the "Lothario of Northern Ireland politics" due to their previous willingness to strike up electoral pacts with other parties.
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall visit Mullaghmore in May, where his great uncle Lord Mountbatten was killed in an IRA bomb attack in 1979

Library filer dated 16/07/1959 of Lord Louis Mountbatten, who was a key figure in the partition of India and Pakistan.

Ex-IRA man and Sinn Fein election candidate Conor Murphy has described the terror group's bombing of Lord Louis Mountbatten - which killed two boys aged 14 and 15 - as "indefensible".

The South Armagh Assembly election candidate was speaking on Friday's Stephen Nolan show on Radio Ulster.

Asked about the IRA's apology to civilian victims killed in the Troubles, Mr Nolan asked if Lord Mountbatten, the Queen's cousin' was considered a "non-combatant."

Mr Murphy said the bomb attack was a tragedy that was "indefensible".

"I was only a teenager at the time and was not aware of the rationale," he said.

"It was a tragedy because not only was he killed but there were other people killed that were not associated with the Royal family or with British Military or establishment.

"I presume in the eyes of those that went out at the time to kill him, viewed him as a legitimate target because he was a member of the British military."

Lord Mountbatten (79) was holidaying at his castle in Sligo in August 1979. He was on his boat with one of his twin grandsons, Nicholas (14) and 15-year-old Paul Maxwell, a local employed as a boat boy, when the bomb exploded after they had just left the fishing village of Mullaghmore.

Mr Murphy continued: "We recognise there was a great deal of hurt caused in the past, including hurt by republicans.

"Now we can pick through each incident and try to find what we think is the most poignant... and I could go over a range of incidents from a republican perspective of people hurt or damaged by the State or agents of the State but we have to find a way to get through all."

"And I have found that while I have been engaging with people, including those from the unionist community, society wants to move on and in many ways has.

"And that's not to deny those who have been hurt and are still hurting and they need support and mechanisms to deal with the legacy of the conflict.

"We need the British government to cross that last line to get those mechanisms up and working."

The senior republican said that while those mechanisms would not deal with every case or every individual, it was important "to try and deal with the legacy of the conflict as best we possibly can".

He said: "It is not about drawing a line under the past, it's not about saying those incidents are gone and you can no longer remember them, but it is trying to assist people through the ongoing pain they feel."

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Mr Murphy's comments come as the sister of Edgar Graham - the lawyer and unionist politician - spoke out about the refusal of Queen's law lecturer Peter Doran to condemn the murder of her brother by the IRA.

Dr Doran, the Sinn Fein candidate for Lagan Valley, expressed profound sorrow at the death of Mr Graham, who was a rising star within unionist politics when he was shot dead from behind on the verge of the university campus.

His sister told the News Letter it was "shameful" a fellow law lecturer would not say the murder of her brother was wrong.

Mr Murphy said republicans were committed to truth recovery and both he and the IRA would "tell the truth" over their role in the Troubles. Although he conceded he could not make all those involved reveal their actions.

He was also asked about Sinn Fein's new leader in Northern Ireland Michelle O'Neill and her decision to speak at an IRA commemoration event.

He said: "Anyone who wants to see a way forward recognises that commemoration events - as the Royal family have recognised, as the British state have recognised, as political leaders have recognised - need to treated sensitively that people need to remember their own dead in a respectful way and we need to give space to allow people to remember their dead with dignity and respect.

"Michelle O'Neill and Sinn Fein have demonstrated time and time again a willingness to reach out to respect other traditions, to engage and contribute to reconciliation - not gesture politics but genuine reconciliation.

"We have met many victims, I have met members of the British Army who came into south Armagh and engaged in armed activity there and were traumatised by activity there. We have showed our respect and tried to assist them in terms of dealing with the trauma.

"Republicans, both privately and publicly have been prepared to do that all over the years because we know it is in the interests of reconciliation."

Following on from Thursday night's leaders' debate, Conor Murphy also said there was "no difference" between Michelle O'Neill's Sinn Fein and Gerry Adams' Sinn Fein.

Arlene Foster continually referred to Gerry Adams' Sinn Fein through the debate.
Damien McLaughlin had not been seen by police since November

An application to hold a Diplock non-jury terrorist trial without the presence of the defendant - the first of its kind in Northern Ireland's legal history - has been adjourned for being "premature".

The prosecution had initially argued that the trial of Damien Joseph McLaughlin for his alleged involvement in the murder of prison officer David Black should proceed next Monday as planned.

However, the application was adjourned until April to try and find the 40-year-old, who has gone on the run

McLaughlin, from Kilmascally Road, Ardboe, disappeared from his west Belfast bail address at Glenties Drive last November.

Adjourning the application until April 28, Mr Justice Treacy acknowledged that the delay in proceedings had caused distress to Mr Black's family.

However, the judge said that if there were "any developments in the intervening period" the court should be informed before that date.

Earlier prosecution QC Terence Mooney acknowledged concerns that the application to have McLaughlin tried in his absence may be "a bit premature".

Mr Mooney said the prosecution was seeking to have him tried in his absence because McLaughlin had "deliberately absconded himself from the jurisdiction... in the full knowledge that he was to stand trial".

However, in the circumstance he agreed that "a period of time may be necessary to see if McLaughlin can be located or if he voluntarily returns" and the trial then proceeds.

The prosecution lawyer said that McLaughlin "is being actively sought" by police and all other relevant agencies, "but, unfortunately, my instructions are there is still no trace of his whereabouts".

Mr Mooney said while he accepted that the application be adjourned for the present, he would "very much resist an open-ended adjournment", as being sought as the defence's primary argument.

Defence barrister Desmond Hutton told Mr Justice Treacy this was the defence "fall-back position", and that the prosecution application was "premature" and should be adjourned "for a reasonable period" as McLaughlin's whereabouts are probed.

McLaughlin faces a number of terrorist charges including aiding and abetting the murder of Mr Black, possessing articles for use in terrorism and belonging to a proscribed organisation.
Gerry Adams said the refusal to back widespread calls to negotiate a special status post-Brexit is a "grave mistake"

A hard border dividing Ireland is inevitable unless a special EU status is secured for Northern Ireland, Gerry Adams has said.

At a major Brexit summit, the Sinn Fein leader said the Irish Government's refusal to back widespread calls to negotiate a special status is a "grave mistake".

"Without such a designation a hard border is inevitable," he told the all-island civic dialogue forum in Dublin Castle.

The summit is the second all-island gathering hosted by Taoiseach Enda Kenny to help form Ireland's response to Britain's decision to pull out of the EU.

Mr Kenny said when Theresa May triggers Article 50 to begin the process, Ireland faces the "most important negotiations in our history as an independent state".

"The Irish Government will oppose a hard border, argue for free movement on this island, seek EU funding for cross-border projects and protect the rights of EU citizens, whether from North or South," he insisted.

"We must not return to a hard border or create a new border of the future."

Mr Kenny's minority Fine Gael-led government is opposed to a special EU status for Northern Ireland, warning it could set a precedent that would worry other European countries.

But Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main opposition party which props up the government as part of a three-year deal, said Northern Ireland is a special case.

"For a range of reasons which we have outlined in detail we believe that Northern Ireland is a unique case and it should have a special status," he told the gathering.

"If the UK Government will not propose this, then it is our job to propose ways forward.

"Given just the fact that Northern Ireland will contain the largest concentration of EU citizens outside of the EU, it is different."

Mr Martin warned Brexit is the greatest threat to Ireland since the State was founded.

Under the Good Friday Agreement peace deal, people in Northern Ireland have a right to either or both British and Irish citizenship, and therefore EU citizenship.

A majority of Northern Ireland voters backed remaining within the EU in last year's in/out referendum.

But the Democratic Unionists, the region's largest political party which is snubbing the all-island forum, campaigned for a Leave vote.

Stephen Farry, deputy leader of Northern Ireland's cross-community Alliance Party, warned the imminent hard Brexit threatens the security of the region as well as plunging it into an economic and social backwater.

"We do believe we should be considering a special status for Northern Ireland," he said.

"The choice really isn't between a one size fits all Brexit for the UK as a whole and special status for Northern Ireland.

"The reality is Northern Ireland is already a special case.

"The choice is having that properly managed and negotiated or having an unholy mess with Northern Ireland becoming a major anomaly."
The drugs were rolled up inside toilet paper and a T-shirt.

An inmate who tried to smuggle up to 8,000 worth of drugs back into prison has won an appeal against his three-year sentence.

Senior judges in Belfast reduced convicted burglar Thomas Samuel Rodgers' term by 12 months based on the principle of totality and delays in the case.

But in what is set to become a guideline ruling, they stressed that deterrent sentences must be imposed on those bringing narcotics into Northern Ireland's jails.

Rodgers, 36, from Rathvarna Drive in Lisburn, was caught returning to HMP Magilligan from a period of home leave in January 2014 after a sniffer dog detected the scent of drugs.

An electronic detector activated as it passed over his buttocks, indicating the presence of something hidden inside his body.

Although initial searches uncovered nothing, warders later found 15 class A fentanyl patches, 90 grams of cannabis resin and just over three grams of herbal cannabis in his cell.

The drugs, rolled up inside toilet paper and a T-shirt, had an estimated value inside prison of between 4,680 to 8,310.

Rodgers told police he had been pressured into smuggling the drugs by others.

At the time he had 90 previous convictions, including 65 counts of burglary, and had been in custody since 2014.

He admitted a series of offences involving the possession of Class A and Class B drugs.

In April last year a judge at Derry Crown Court handed him a three-year sentence, half in custody and half on licence.

She ordered that term to run consecutive to a three and a half-year sentence imposed back in November 2014 for a burglary offence.

Rodgers' lawyers argued that the starting point for the sentencing exercise was too high.

They also claimed there was a culpable delay in bringing the case to court and a failure to take into account the principle of totality.

Ruling on the challenge in the Court of Appeal, Lord Justice Weir affirmed that deterrent sentences have to be imposed for smuggling drugs into jail.

"This court does not consider that the four year starting point for these offences and this offender is open to valid criticism," he said.

However, he held there had been no allowance for totality in imposing a consecutive sentence to that handed down for the burglary.

With unexplained delays of at least nine months also identified, the judge ruled that Rodgers should instead serve a two-year term for the drugs offences - half in jail and half on licence.
The tunic that didnt make it to Prince Williams wedding, on show at the North Down Museum

It was notable by its absence on William and Kate's big day - a tunic, bearing the insignia of the Irish Guards, which was specially made for the Duke of Cambridge's nuptials.

But the man second in line to the throne had a dramatic change of heart after wearing it to his wedding rehearsals.

The heaviness of the fabric, coupled with the threat of searing summer heat on the day of the Royal Wedding, prompted Prince William - who had voiced fears about fainting during the Westminster Abbey service - to opt for a lighter version of the garment.

And now you can see what all the fuss was about because the discarded wedding attire that was literally threatening to take William's breath away is on display at Bangor's North Down Museum.

Now referred to as 'the second tunic', the red jacket - featuring the Irish Guards' distinctive arrangement of buttons in groups of four - is on loan from Regimental Headquarters for royal fashion observers to view ahead of the couple's sixth wedding anniversary on April 29.

Major Simon Nichols MBE, quartermaster of the Irish Guards, who trained both Prince William and HRH Prince Harry at Sandhurst, said he wasn't surprised that the garment was re-designed and remade with reduced padding, sweat pads under the arms and material to absorb the heat.

"Prince William has an affinity with the Irish Guards, which is perhaps why he chose to wear the Regiment's uniform on his big day," said Mjr Nichols, adding that fashion was a factor.

"The style is a bit blingier for the occasion of a wedding that would be watched by the world."

The Major had nothing but praise for Prince Charles' eldest son who, now aged 34, has two children - Prince George (3) and Princess Charlotte (1) - with his 35-year-old wife (formerly Catherine Middleton).

"He is measured, thoughtful and considered and someone who understands the weight of his responsibility," he said.

The senior officer, who is from Northern Ireland, also revealed that he has met the The Duchess of Cambridge on a number of different occasions.

Describing her as "charming" with a "good sense of humour", as well as someone who is also both "personable and easy to talk to", he confirmed that she is every bit "the girl next door" the nation has grown to love.

"We couldn't ask more from someone that will someday be Queen," he added.

"William and Kate are both extremely good ambassadors."

Major Nichols said that Prince Harry (32) actually started his training before his older sibling, meaning that he was more senior in rank to William during his time there.

The Army man also told how there was much debate about which Regiment the brothers would join.

"Prince Harry joined the Life Guards and although Prince William - who is also the Baron of Carrickfergus - contemplated joining the Irish Guards, he eventually joined his brother in the Life Guards," he said.

Military tailors, Kashket and Partners, were the ones commissioned to make William's scarlet Irish Guards colonel's uniform for one of the biggest days of his life.
Chicago Cop Fired After Repeatedly Shooting At Wrong Vehicle In 2011

By Stephen Gossett in News on Feb 17, 2017 7:45PM



Getty Images; Photo: Scott Olson

A Chicago police officer was fired on Thursday over a 2011 off-duty incident in which he fired 16 shots at the wrong car outside La Pasadita restaurant, in East Ukrainian Village.

Officer Francisco Perez was dismissed after a unanimous, 8-0 vote came down from the Chicago Police Board.

Perez had failed to identify the appropriate target prior to discharging his firearm, board president Lori Lightfoot told the Sun-Times, one of the factors the factors that contributed to the panels determination. The board concluded that Perez did not properly identify the correct target and failed to take reasonable precautions ahead of discharging his gun, Lightfoot told the Tribune, which broke the news of the firing. The Police Board did not immediately return a request for comment.

Back in 2015, the citys police oversight agency, the Independent Police Review Authority, recommended Perez be fired. It was the first time the IPRA had ever recommended the dismissal of an officer.

Perez, a CPD officer since 1999, witnessed a drive-by while working security for La Pasadita, in the 1100 block of North Ashland Avenue. A red car opened fire after pulling up to a blue car that was parked near the restaurant. Perez mistakenly fired shots into the blue car, striking and wounding the driver in the back.
A woman was forced to lock herself into a bedroom as her partner clutched a knife and smashed plates during a row over "cheating".

Curtis Guy (27), a chef, of Windyhall Park, Coleraine, appeared at Ballymena Magistrates Court yesterday for sentencing on charges of possessing a knife as an offensive weapon and causing criminal damage to plates.

The incident happened on October 18 last year. A prosecutor said police received a report of a disturbance in which Guy, who had a record, was brandishing a knife and causing damage. The lawyer said the woman said she locked herself in an upstairs bedroom.

Mr Moore said Guy was "thoroughly ashamed and embarrassed" and the defendant has moved back to live with his parents.

Deputy District Judge Joe Rice said it was a "serious case" which "must have been very frightening" for the woman who was put "in fear of her life". The judge ordered Guy to do 140 hours Community Service and to pay 400 in compensation.
A visit to Titanic Belfast is an unrivalled window into the past - but for one 13-year-old from England it was a glimpse of his own heritage.

William Harland's great, great, great, great uncle, Edward Harland, was one of the main men behind Belfast's strong industrial heritage and William arrived in the city to see the yellow Harland and Wolff cranes standing tall, proud and iconic.

Edward was the owner of the Harland and Wolff shipyard which would go on to build the RMS Titanic - although Edward had passed away many years before the ship was built.

Teenager William visited the Titanic Belfast museum on Wednesday to learn more about his family's history.

His mother Faye told the Belfast Telegraph: "We had an incredible day, the staff couldn't have been more welcoming.

"I think it was a bit overwhelming for him to see how much pride there is locally in the Harland name and what Harland and Wolff means to the city.

"They gave him a lovely book about the Titanic and he sat reading it over dinner."

Faye said: "The fact that everywhere you go you can see the cranes and they dominate the skyline, you can even see them from our hotel room, so he keeps drawing the curtain back and having a quick look to see them.

"He knew quite a lot (about the family history) but Wednesday brought it all to life for him," she added.

"I think it gave him more of an insight into a time before Titanic, because obviously Sir Edward had died by the time Titanic was built, so it gave him more of an idea of the Harland and Wolff history."

Titanic Belfast has welcomed almost 3.5 million visitors since it opened and was recently crowned the World's Leading Tourist attraction.

Before that it had beaten both Rome's Colosseum and the Eiffel Tower in Paris to become Europe's official Leading Tourist Attraction.

The Chief Executive of Titanic Belfast, Tim Husbands MBE, said that the museum also tells some of the personal stories behind the famous ship.

He said: "To have one of the Harland family with us is an honour.

He added: "Over the years we have welcomed guests including Her Majesty the Queen, but our staff equally loved having William to visit and teaching him about the work of his family and what the Harland and Wolff Shipyard meant to Belfast, under the Harland and Wolff cranes, which still to this day are synonymous with the Belfast skyline."
Police said the shooting of a 16-year-old teenager in west Belfast was "child abuse".

Police described the Forest Street attack in the Beechmount area, which happened just before 9pm on Thursday, was a "punishment-style shooting".

The young man was rushed by ambulance to the nearby Royal Victoria Hospital where his condition was described as stable.

The shooting follows a similar gun attack on Wednesday in the Falls Road area that left another young man in hospital.

Belfast Policing Commander Chief Superintendent Chris Noble said: Last night saw an attack on a 16-year-old boy. Any civilised society would see that for what it is  child abuse. It is most definitely not policing or community safety activity."

Mr Noble said in recent weeks people have resorted to "child abuse, maiming people and acting as self-appointed judges, juries and executioners" and have urged people with any information to come forward so they can ensure prosecutions.

Mr Noble continued: "I want to condemn what has happened in the strongest terms. It is very early to speculate in terms of the people involved, but at the very least they are predatory criminals.

Expand Close Police at the scene of the shooting in Forest Street last night Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook

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"It is also too early to say if the number of recent shootings in west Belfast are linked but clearly there is an active line of inquiry around the involvement of violent dissident republicans. I would not want to speculate on exactly why individuals were targeted but there is never any justification for this violent, abusive behaviour."

Mr Noble stressed that the only policing authority in west Belfast was the PSNI.

"Policing only works when delivered with the community and policing in west Belfast has seen real progress over the last five years in relation to domestic burglary and vehicle crime in particular," he said.

"Unlike others who in recent weeks have resorted to child abuse, maiming people and acting as self-appointed judges, juries and executioners, we work in partnership with the community to resolve issues of concern while at the same time being held robustly to account by the local PCSP and the Policing Board.

"Over the last nine months police have delivered on the West Belfast Local Policing Plan, set by elected and independent representatives, which has seen a significant reduction in those issues which matter to the community; anti-social behaviour, burglary, death driving and crimes against the elderly. "

The PSNI have appealed for anyone with information to come forward to enable proseuctions.

"The dogs in the street may well know who is responsible," added the senior officer, "but what I need as the local police commander is for people to come forward and give me any information, however apparently irrelevant that our specialist detectives can use to secure a conviction. Information is key in these crimes where victims are often traumatised and people emerge from and run back into the shadows.

Policing has a clear strategy for keeping people safe in weest Belfast and fundamentally it is about working with communities to solve challenges and being responsive and accountable to them. A strategy of maiming and abusing local young people and intimidating communities by violent, criminal, unelected and unaccountable individuals is not a strategy.

I would encourage anyone that has any information regarding the recent shooting incidents or any criminal activity in the west Belfast area to contact police immediately on 101.

"You can of course also pass this information to a member of the clergy or a local elected community representative who can then pass it on to police so that these matters can be fully investigated and the criminals responsible can be brought to justice.
The allegations are centred around the Police Training College in east Belfast.

Police are investigating allegations of misconduct, crime and inappropriate sexual relations at their own training college in east Belfast.

The BBC Stephen's Nolan show revealed on Friday that a male trainer was at the centre of the allegations at Garnerville for alleged dishonesty offences around a claim of "theft of overtime".

It is believed the same man is being investigated over allegations of having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a least one student officer.

In a statement the PSNI said it couldn't comment on the details of the allegations or provide any further information as investigations are ongoing.

A PSNI spokesman said: "However, we can confirm that the Police Service of Northern Ireland expects its officers and staff to behave professionally, ethically and with the utmost integrity at all times.

"Any officer or staff member who fails to abide by the high standards of behaviour as laid out in our code of ethics will be rigorously investigated and if appropriate subject to disciplinary proceedings."

Last November police recruitment was suspended temporarily to allow for a probe into cheating at the training college.

A review of the examination process and the culture within the policing college at Garnerville was ordered after the Belfast Telegraph revealed in June that 54 student officers had been caught cheating in their police examinations and ordered to restart training. Test questions were shared among students ahead of assessment

The trainees were caught memorising and sharing test questions ahead of assessment.

The PSNI training which the students were caught cheating in is accredited by the Ulster University, which means student officers are both students of the Police College and the UU.
Anti-abortion campaigner Bernadette Smyth of Precious Life has been reported to the police after brandishing a poster picturing former Alliance Party Justice Minister David Ford alongside Adolf Hitler.

The campaigner was picketing the east Belfast offices of Alliance leader Naomi Long and colleague Chris Lyttle, who are both candidates in the Assembly election.

'A vote for the Alliance Party is a vote for the killing of unborn children' the campaigner said in a tweet featuring a photo of the protest.

In response, Mrs Long described Mrs Smyth as "a self-serving attention-seeker".

"Precious Life are appalling," she former East Belfast MP tweeted

"Their comparison of David to Hitler, harassment of women at clinics and use of children in campaigns is vile."

Human rights activist and anti-Semitism campaigner Gary Spedding revealed he had reported the pro-life crusader to the police and the Community Security Trust, a charity established in the 1990s to ensure the safety and security of the UK's Jewish community.

Mr Spedding told the Belfast Telegraph: "This kind of comparison both denies and trivialises the Nazi Holocaust in which six million Jewish people were murdered.

"It also retraumatises Jewish people and communities. It's a vile thing to do."

An Alliance Party spokesman told the Belfast Telegraph: "No matter your view on the issue of abortion, for Precious Life to attempt to equate individuals with the worst horrors of the Nazi regime is disgusting, immoral and anti-Semitic.

Expand Expand Previous Next Close Controversy: Bernie Smyths tweet Controversy: Bernie Smyths tweet / Facebook

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"We hope Bernie Smyth will reflect on her actions before attempting further similar stunts in future. But, in all honesty, we are not hopeful."

Mrs Smyth did not respond to a request for comment.
It was a rescue with a difference for the Northern Ireland Fire Service - as they came to the aid of a two-week-old lamb who became trapped in a pipe after wandering into a manhole.

The lamb found its way into the hole on the Corbally Road in Fintona, Co Tyrone and then travelled several metres down a narrow horizontal pipe.

It led to the firefighters trying their best sheep noises to try and coax the lamb back up the pipe.

But when this had limited success, they used a phone app of sheep sounds, which much to their joy was successful.

The lamb turned around and came back up the pipe - but not far enough for its rescuers to grab it.

Content not to let the sheep pull the wool over their eyes, firefighters turned to local knowledge to try a more traditional method.

They contacted local sheep farmer Harold Crawford who provided a trained sheep dog which went up the pipe and retrieved the lamb bringing it to safety.

It was then returned to the farmer.

In their Facebook post the fire service reassured the public that they were always available for emergencies throughout the incident.

It said: "Usually when we post about incidents like this we attract the occasional comment about waste of resources etc, so just to assure everyone that the appliance was available for emergencies throughout.

"We liaise with other agencies such as USPCA and an officer attends incidents such as this to assess, and we only commit resources if it is warranted."

The Fire Service issued a reminder to the farming community to think "safety first" when securing their animals.

A spokeswoman said: At this time of year we are reminding the farming community to think safety first and to ensure that potential hazards such as broken fences, drains and ditches are properly maintained.

Animals in distress can pose a serious risk to the public or anyone attempting to rescue them. Firefighters would rather members of the public call for assistance than tackle a serious animal rescue themselves as it may result in individuals placing themselves, and others in danger. We will do what we can to help keep the farming community and their livestock safe.
Sinn Fein's new leader in Northern Ireland has marked the deaths of four IRA men shot dead by the SAS in 1992 at a commemoration event in Clonoe, Co Tyrone .

She addressed the vigil in memory of Patrick Vincent, Sean O'Farrell, Peter Clancy and Barry O'Donnell.

The four were ambushed at St Patrick's Church minutes after they had attacked Coalisland RUC station with a heavy machine gun.

Ms O'Neill said there should be no hierarchy of victims as she clutched a candle in memory of those who died in a churchyard in the town.

Around 150 people attended the ceremony, including relatives of the dead, which organisers characterised as dignified.

Relatives of the dead held candles and a lament was played on a tin whistle.

The Irish tricolour and a plaque marked the spot where the deaths happened.

Ms O'Neill said: "These were four ordinary young men, who faced extraordinary challenges.

"And they responded in defence of their community and also of their country.

"They never went looking for war, but it came to them. It is a sad night for us as republicans and we come together 25 years later to remember their sacrifice, to remember that night, how we all felt."

Expand Expand Previous Next Close Sinn Fein's new leader at Stormont Michelle O'Neill addresses a commemoration in Clonoe, Co Tyrone in memory of IRA men, Patrick Vincent, Sean O'Farrell, Peter Clancy and Barry O'Donnell, who were killed by the SAS in February 1992. PA PA Michelle ONeill attends a vigil for IRA men who were killed by the SAS at St Patricks Church in Clonoe on 16th February 2017 . (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook

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Whatsapp Sinn Fein's new leader at Stormont Michelle O'Neill addresses a commemoration in Clonoe, Co Tyrone in memory of IRA men, Patrick Vincent, Sean O'Farrell, Peter Clancy and Barry O'Donnell, who were killed by the SAS in February 1992. PA

She added: "I can certainly remember the pain and the hurt and the sorrow and the shock, most of all felt by the families but also by the wider republican community."

She said republicans and everyone else had every right to remember and honour their dead in a respectful and dignified manner.

"There can be no hierarchy of victims. Republicans recognise that.

"But it is the refusal of many within political unionism and the British state to do likewise that goes to the heart of many of the problems that we face in the political process."

The event was organised by Coalisland Clonoe Martyrs Sinn Fein Cumann.

Ms O'Neill said the past will always be a contentious place.

Expand Close Michelle ONeill attends a vigil for IRA men who were killed by the SAS at St Patricks Church in Clonoe on 16th February 2017 . (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook

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"There is no single narrative to any conflict anywhere in the world or at any time in history.

"Republicans understand that and accept it.

"We are committed to building bridges, to heal the hurt of the past and to build a better future for all of our children."

She said the British Government was still "blocking" the legacy mechanisms of the Stormont House Agreement to deal with thousands of unresolved killings and injuries during the 30-year conflict.

"They don't want the world to know what they did in our country.

"They don't want the world to know about the death squads, about shoot-to-kill, about the torture and the full extent of collusion.

"They don't want the world to know what they did in places like Clonoe, but we will overcome that because republicans today are every bit as determined as Sean, as Peter, Paddy and Barry were."

The event was organised by Coalisland Clonoe Martyrs Sinn Fein Cumann.

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But the appearance of Ms O'Neill, an election candidate in the area, has caused anger.

Ulster Unionist MP Tom Elliott said: "This just demonstrates that it is not easy for the leopard to change its spots.

"Sinn Fein is still determined to glorify terrorists, which is unfortunate to those in society who want to move away from the past."

Expand Close Michelle ONeill attends a vigil for IRA men who were killed by the SAS at St Patricks Church in Clonoe on 16th February 2017 . (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook

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Whatsapp Michelle ONeill attends a vigil for IRA men who were killed by the SAS at St Patricks Church in Clonoe on 16th February 2017 . (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

Mr Elliott said it was a clear attempt by Sinn Fein to shore up republican support ahead of next month's election.

A Sinn Fein spokesperson said earlier on Tuesday: "Michelle O'Neill will be the main speaker at a commemoration in Clonoe on Thursday at 8pm to remember the 25th anniversary of the deaths of four young republicans shot dead by the British Army.

"This commemoration will be carried out in a respectful and dignified manner to remember the four local young men and to importantly show community solidarity with their families, friends and neighbours."

However, victims of IRA violence in the east Tyrone area spoke of their anger at the event.

John Eaglesham, whose father Jock was murdered outside Rock Primary School near Pomeroy, said: "It is not appropriate for the leader of a political party to be acting in this way.

"This woman is going to stand up and pay tribute to these men, saying they are good people, despite knowing well they were out to try and commit murder."

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Mid Ulster Democratic Unionist election candidate Keith Buchanan said: "Sinn Fein have talked repeatedly about respect over recent weeks, but once again we see a lack of respect for the victims of IRA terrorism."

Ulster Unionist candidate Sandra Overend said Ms O'Neill's presence at the event stood in "stark contrast to her words of reconciliation".

"It is only to be expected that republicans would wish to remember their dead, but Michelle O'Neill's presence at such an event is hardly sending a signal to the unionist community that she is some kind of new departure for Sinn Fein."

Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) leader Jim Allister accused Ms O'Neill of "glorifying the appalling bloodthirsty actions" of the IRA.

"I think it is appalling," he said.

"I think it is dancing on the graves of the innocent victims of the IRA yet again by a Sinn Fein leader and glorifying those terrorists who met their just deserts at the hands of the SAS in 1992."

Victims campaigner Kenny Donaldson said: "Michelle O'Neill is being promoted by some as the face of a new Sinn Fein which is about the future and a break from the past.

"The reality is very different.She has already made a range of comments concerning her affinity with and support of the terrorist campaign waged by the Provisional IRA.

"Her own family were heavily immersed in terrorist activity and she is set to speak at a commemoration event to four members of the east Tyrone-Monaghan brigade of the Provisional IRA killed by SAS forces.

"What does Michelle O'Neill have to say to the families of those innocents who were murdered by this brigade?

"Is she prepared to deal with the hurt and injustice visited upon these families?"

The attack on Coalisland RUC station took place on the evening of February 16, 1992.

The IRA gang had mounted a machine-gun on top of a hijacked lorry.

They opened fire on the station before driving away waving an Irish tricolour.

When they reached the church car park at Clonoe, a few miles away, the SAS were lying in wait, killing the four men. Two others were wounded. The ambush prompted speculation about an informer in the IRA's ranks.

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Ms O'Neill is from Clonoe and has previously spoken about how she was affected by the ambush and the "harrowing" impact it had on the community.

In a video interview last month, she said: "I think the Troubles really impacted on our community. I think that when I look back to some of the times that stand out to me, the Clonoe ambush where four local young fellas - really young people - lost their lives in that time.

"It was a harrowing period for our community and I think that for me it really had a massive impact - especially when you think back through the years and look at all the things that happened right across Tyrone.

"Different things, I suppose, impacted on different people at different times.

"The Loughgall ambush happened and eight people lost their lives and that was a truly harrowing time for the local community."

The Clonoe ambush was the last time that IRA members were killed by the SAS in Northern Ireland.

During the funeral services for O'Donnell and O'Farrell in Coalisland, the parish priest criticised the security forces' actions.

He appealed to republicans to replace "the politics of confrontation" with "the politics of cooperation".
Police officers at the scene of a shooting incident in the Forest Street area of west Belfast (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

Police have condemned the shooting of a teenager on Forest Street near the Springfield Road area of west Belfast.

The 16-year-old was shot in leg at around 8.45pm on Thursday. Belfast Trust said he is in a stable condition at the Royal Victoria Hospital.

Chief Superintendent Chris Noble said the brutal attack was nothing more than child abuse.

"If you look at the definition of child abuse in terms of physical abuse, it can't get more serious than shooting a child," he said.

"There's no justification for it, there's no attempt to legitimise it. These people are predators within their communities. They're skulking around in the shadows, they come out for three minutes, shoot someone and run away again."

"I've heard some people say that they're claiming to be a police service in a local area. Well for me a police service is accountable, to the law and politicians and community."

"It's visible, it should be in uniform, it should be dealing with things that matter to communities and it shouldn't be running away from anything.

"They're most definitely not a police service and they're most definitely not dispensing justice, it's brutality, it's medieval practice."

The SDLP's Alex Attwood called the attack an "act of tyranny."

"It confirms the insidious efforts of the few to terrorise the many," he said.

"The attack gives added reason for people to help the PSNI and added reason for the PSNI to escalate their interventions.

"Last night it was a 16-year-old. No one, no street, no area is safe from the self appointed few.

"This week confirms why the police and the public must face down those who brutalise, who shoot and who are tiny in number but big in the level of threat."

On Wednesday a man was shot in the legs in the Falls Road area.

The DUP's Nelson McCausland said the PSNI must receive 'unequivocal support' in tackling republican gun crime in nationalist communities.

He said: "This issue will undoubtedly feature in the report of the Chief Constable to the next meeting of the Northern Ireland Policing Board.

"In the meantime it is incumbent on nationalist politicians who hold some degree of sway in those communities to speak out forthrightly against the perpetrators of such unjustified and inexcusable attacks.

"This is especially true of Sinn Fein as the largest nationalist party in most of these areas."
Amtrak Police Officer Charged With Murder In Union Station Shooting

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Feb 17, 2017 5:24PM



(Photo by via the Chicagoist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)

An Amtrak police officer has been charged with first degree murder after shooting someone near Union Station last week.

The officer, LaRoyce Tankson, 31, turned himself into police late Thursday, according to authorities. He is scheduled to appear in criminal bond court at noon Friday on a first degree murder charge after he fatally shot 25-year-old Chad Robertson, of Minneapolis, on Feb. 8. He was on duty during the shooting.

The Amtrak Police Department did not immediately responded to requests for comment on the shooting, and the Chicago Police department declined to provide information on the case.

[H/T Sun-Times]

Updated 4:00 p.m.: Cook County Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil ordered Tankson held in lieu of $250,000 bail for shooting Robertson, who died Wednesday from fatal a gunshot wound. Tankson's attorney said Tankson "reasonably believed he was about to be shot," but prosecutors told the judge that four witnesses said Robertson didn't appear to have a weapon.

"At the time defendant fired at Robertson, Robertson was approximately 75 to 100 feet away from the defendant, running away from the officers at full speed, Assistant States Attorney Ahmed Kosoko said, according to the Sun-Times.
Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill and DUP Leader Arlene Foster at UTV Studios at Havelock House in Belfast for the Northern Ireland Assembly Debate. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday February 16, 2017. Pis: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Local voters remain as polarised as ever nearly two decades after the Good Friday Agreement, according to a survey.

Just 4% of Catholics would give their first vote to a unionist party, while only 2% of Protestants would give their main support to a nationalist candidate.

The survey by the Electoral Reform Society is further evidence of the deep divisions in society and comes less than a fortnight before we head to the polls.

The study drew on data from more than 4,000 people questioned after the last Assembly election.

It showed only a minority would give their first-preference vote to a party from the other community.

Of all the preferences expressed by Catholics, just 8% were for unionist parties.

The equivalent figure for Protestants was 6%.

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The study comes just days after UUP leader Mike Nesbitt sparked a row by indicating he intended to give his second-preference vote to the SDLP.

It prompted the resignation of Carol Black, a UUP councillor who said "the whole ethos of the party has been destroyed".

Expand Close In a Belfast Telegraph poll, of 481 votes cast 55% voted yes, with 45% voting no. The poll is now closed. / Facebook

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Whatsapp In a Belfast Telegraph poll, of 481 votes cast 55% voted yes, with 45% voting no. The poll is now closed.

Last night former Alliance MLA turned political commentator Seamus Close said the findings were deeply depressing.

"I think it demonstrates that in Northern Ireland we are still very, very tribal," he added.

"When you look at election results, what you see is battles within tribes. In the last election 78% of the vote was divided between those two tribes.

Expand Expand Previous Next Close Presenter Marc Mallett in front of (left to right) Ulster Unionist Leader Mike Nesbitt, Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill, DUP Leader Arlene Foster, Alliance Leader Naomi Long , SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood at UTV Studios at Havelock House in Belfast. Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill and DUP Leader Arlene Foster at UTV Studios at Havelock House in Belfast for the Northern Ireland Assembly Debate. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday February 16, 2017. Pis: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Presenter Marc Mallett in front of (left to right) Ulster Unionist Leader Mike Nesbitt, Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill, DUP Leader Arlene Foster, Alliance Leader Naomi Long , SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood at UTV Studios at Havelock House in Belfast. Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire

"It epitomises all that is wrong with our society.

"It got me thinking back to the early days of the Alliance Party, which was the party that was founded to bring together the respective tribes. That was its whole raison d'etre.

"We were so convinced that this new concept of bringing people together within one political party would be the answer to Northern Ireland's problems.

"We were so convinced about that, and talking about it with nearly evangelical zeal back in the Seventies, that (we thought) everyone would hear it and respond. At the start it looked likely. Alliance was achieving around 14% in the local government elections in the Seventies, but now it is 6% or 7%.

"That things have slid backwards is, for the likes of myself, very depressing and annoying."

The report, titled The 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly Election: How Voters Used STV, took data from a poll of 4,043 people - both voters and non-voters - and was conducted immediately after last May's election.

The survey found:

Just 4% of Catholics and 2% of Protestants would give their first-preference vote to a candidate representing a party from the other community.

18% of all Protestant and 25% of Catholic preferences go to cross-community parties, such as Alliance.

24% of all Protestant and 33% of all Catholic preferences go to non-unionist and non-nationalist candidates respectively.

17% of Protestant and 20% of Catholic first-preference votes go to a centrist, or cross-community, party such as Alliance.

Almost a third (32%) of all preferences go to candidates from outside the main big four parties - the DUP, Sinn Fein, UUP the and SDLP.

Nearly 2,500 of the 4,043 people who took part filled out mock ballot papers reflecting how they voted, allowing a rigorous look at how they expressed their preferences under the single transferable vote system.

Analysis focused on the different communities, including the extent to which unionists and nationalists vote for other blocs.

The research was conducted by Prof John Coakley and Prof John Garry of Queen's University Belfast, Dr Neil Matthews at the University of Bristol, and Prof James Tilley at the University of Oxford.

Katie Ghose, chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, said: "This report offers food for thought ahead of next month's Assembly election.

"What this research shows is that the single transferable vote system opens the door for a more open and less divided politics.

"And while voters aren't necessarily using it to the fullest extent yet, there's still a window of opportunity for it to grow when it comes to breaking down community barriers."
IRA abuse victim Paudie McGahon has spoken of his family's distress following the contributions by senior Sinn Fein politicians during this week's debate on the whistleblower controversy.

Mr McGahon, who was raped by a suspected IRA figure before being subjected to a kangaroo-court style interrogation, said he and his wife Renata were left deeply upset after watching the Dail debate on Wednesday night. At one point during the debate, Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams said the event surrounding garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe and Tusla (where a false allegation of sexual abuse was made) would not be tolerated in "any other modern state".

His deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald said the Government has been "rendered definitely finished" as a result of the controversy.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Co Louth man Mr McGahon said Sinn Fein has no interest in trying to assist him and his family. He emphasised that he has huge regard for Mr McCabe but accused Sinn Fein of hypocrisy. "It's so difficult to sit back and watch the Sinn Fein party speak about victims when they do nothing for people like me and have time after time compounded our pain," he said.

"Sinn Fein have no credibility to go into the Dail and talk about helping victims. It's sickening, to be honest," he added.

Mr McGahon and another man were subjected to an alleged rape in his own bedroom in Louth in 1992. Ten years later and in the same location, they were subjected to a kangaroo-court style interrogation.

One senior alleged IRA figure who conducted the probe is alleged to have told Mr McGahon, a father-of-three, not to go to the gardai.

Mr McGahon has said his life is "up and down" since he took the decision to go public. He said he continues to suffer vile abuse at the hands of Sinn Fein figures in his home town of Ardee. But he says he will continue to fight for justice.
Sinn Fein's new leader in Northern Ireland has marked the deaths of four IRA men shot dead by the SAS in 1992.

Michelle O'Neill said there should be no hierarchy of victims as she clutched a candle in memory of those who died in a churchyard in Clonoe, Co Tyrone.

Around 150 people attended a ceremony, including relatives of the dead.

The Irish national anthem was sung during the vigil.

Mrs O'Neill said: "These were four ordinary young men who faced extraordinary challenges.

"And they responded in defence of their community and also of their country.

"They never went looking for war, but it came to them."

The republican leader was addressing a vigil in memory of Patrick Vincent, Sean O'Farrell, Peter Clancy and Barry O'Donnell.

The four were ambushed at St Patrick's Church minutes after they had attacked the nearby Coalisland RUC station with a heavy machine-gun.

Relatives of the dead held candles and a lament was played on a tin whistle.

The Irish tricolour and a plaque marked the spot where the deaths happened.

The event was organised by Coalisland Clonoe Martyrs Sinn Fein Cumann.

Mrs O'Neill added: "It is a sad night for us as republicans and we come together 25 years later to remember their sacrifice, to remember that night, how we all felt.

"I can certainly remember the pain and the hurt and the sorrow and the shock, most of all felt by the families but also by the wider republican community."

She said republicans and everyone else had every right to remember and honour their dead in a respectful and dignified manner.

"There can be no hierarchy of victims. Republicans recognise that," she said.

Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Michelle ONeill speaks at the vigil at St Patricks Church in Clonoe last night Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Michelle ONeill speaks at the vigil at St Patricks Church in Clonoe last night Michelle ONeill speaks at the vigil at St Patricks Church in Clonoe last night Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook

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Whatsapp Michelle ONeill speaks at the vigil at St Patricks Church in Clonoe last night

"But it is the refusal of many within political unionism and the British State to do likewise that goes to the heart of many of the problems that we face in the political process."

Mrs O'Neill said the past will always be a contentious place.

"There is no single narrative to any conflict anywhere in the world or at any time in history. Republicans understand that and accept it," she said.

"We are committed to building bridges, to heal the hurt of the past and to build a better future for all of our children."

She said the British Government was still "blocking" the legacy mechanisms of the Stormont House Agreement to deal with thousands of unresolved killings and injuries during the 30-year conflict.

"They don't want the world to know about the death squads, about shoot-to-kill, about the torture and the full extent of collusion. They don't want the world to know what they did in places like Clonoe, but we will overcome that because republicans today are every bit as determined as Sean, as Peter, Paddy and Barry were," she added.

Mid Ulster DUP election candidate Keith Buchanan said: "Sinn Fein have talked repeatedly about respect over recent weeks, but once again we see a lack of respect for the victims of IRA terrorism."

Ulster Unionist candidate Sandra Overend said Mrs O'Neill's presence at the event stood in "stark contrast to her words of reconciliation".

"It is only to be expected that republicans would wish to remember their dead, but Michelle O'Neill's presence at such an event is hardly sending a signal to the unionist community that she is some kind of new departure for Sinn Fein."

TUV leader Jim Allister accused Mrs O'Neill of "glorifying the appalling bloodthirsty actions" of the IRA.

"I think it is appalling," he said. "I think it is dancing on the graves of the innocent victims of the IRA yet again by a Sinn Fein leader and glorifying those terrorists who met their just deserts at the hands of the SAS in 1992."

Mrs O'Neill is from Clonoe.

Her father Brendan Doris was an IRA prisoner.

Her uncle Paul Doris is president of Noraid, a republican fundraising group.
Fine Gael backbencher Alan Farrell has broken ranks to demand Taoiseach Enda Kenny stands down.

Mr Farrell is the first of the party's TDs to launch a direct attack on the leadership and described Mr Kenny's position as untenable.

"Unfortunately, I no longer have confidence in the ability of Enda Kenny TD to lead Fine Gael," he said.

Mr Farrell, TD for Dublin Fingal, spoke out amid deepening pressure from within the party's own ranks for the Taoiseach to name the date when he will step down as head of government.

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"I wish to acknowledge Enda Kenny's unwavering commitment to public service and to working in the best interests of our society and the Irish public," Mr Farrell said.

"While I sincerely thank An Taoiseach for the work he has done in rebuilding our party since becoming leader in 2002 and even more so for his incredible stewardship of the country since 2011, I believe it is now time for him to step aside and allow a new leader, with a fresh approach, to lead us into the future."
Computer giant Microsoft is to create 600 jobs in Dublin.

The expansion of operations at its Sandyford campus takes its workforce in the capital to about 1,800 with new staff taken on mainly in sales roles.

The investment follows 500 roles being announced midweek for job recruitment site Indeed and on the back of a major blow in Kildare with HP Inc set to shut down its facility in Leixlip with the loss several hundred jobs.

Dublin will now host one of Microsoft's four international sales centres as it takes on 500 sales staff and another 100 in various divisions including finance and engineering.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny was at the announcement in Sandyford.

"Ireland and Microsoft have enjoyed a long and prosperous history since their establishment in Ireland in 1985 and I'm delighted that this relationship continues to bloom with the announcement of 600 new jobs in Dublin," he said.

"The Government has worked hard in recent years to make Ireland an even more attractive place to invest and growth substantial European operations. Today's announcement underlines the strong commitment of Microsoft to its Irish operation and the strength of leadership of its Irish management team."

The expansion is supported by IDA Ireland.
The coffin of 'Allo 'Allo star Gorden Kaye is carried into Huddersfield Parish Church for his funeral service

Stars of sitcom 'Allo 'Allo reunited to pay tribute to star Gorden Kaye as his funeral was held.

The actor, who played cafe owner Rene Francois Artois in the show, died aged 75 on January 23.

His funeral was held in his hometown at Huddersfield Parish Church on Friday.

Speaking ahead of the service, 'Allo 'Allo co-star Vicki Michelle, who played Yvette Carte-Blanche, said: "It feels like the end of an era, but it's not because we're still going, but he was such a big part of our lives for such a long time."

Asked what her fondest memory of the actor was, she said: "We had so many memories but I think when he was being a bit of a prankster."

Castmate Sue Hodge, who played waitress Mimi Labonq, said: "I haven't actually got to grips with the fact he's not here."

She added: "I'm never ever going to forget him. He'll be with me forever."

Kim Hartman, who played Private Helga Geerhart in the sitcom, said she had fond memories of his "infectious laugh".

She said: "When something really tickled him he just had this incredible giggle. It was so infectious."

Former Coronation Street actor Ken Morley, who played General Leopold von Flockenstuffen in the sitcom, said: "I am going to miss him.

"Between Gorden and myself it was like the War of the Roses because he was from Yorkshire and I was from Lancashire."

He added: "We had a laugh together, he was a very funny guy."

The service, led by Rev Canon Simon Moor, started with Yorkshire folksong On Ilkla Moor Baht 'At.

Rev Moor told the congregation about Mr Kaye's childhood and early career.

He said: "He accepted himself he was never really a scholar.

"Ironically his only real success at secondary school was in French."

In a eulogy, friend and producer Charles Garland, who worked on 'Allo 'Allo, said Mr Kaye had appeared on programmes including Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Are You Being Served before he was given the role which made him famous.

He said: "The part was written for him and, to be honest it was perfect casting."

Mr Garland said Mr Kaye took up the role of Rene hundreds of times both on stage and off.

He said the "shy boy from Huddersfield" was always hidden under the mantle of a "skilled actor" and "consummate professional".

The producer said the last time he had seen Mr Kaye he asked how he felt after he said he didn't think he had long to live.

Mr Garland said: "He said, and I quote this here word-for-word, 'Listen, if you are feeling downhearted I'm sorry to hear it, but you probably know somebody who is more downhearted than you are - go and cheer them up a bit, it's not that hard'."

In another eulogy, comedian Keith Simmons said the star would always be known as "King Gorden" to the Water Rats - a showbiz fraternity and charity which the star had been "king" of in 1999.

He said: "He was a lovely man and we had great times."

The actor began his professional career working for the Bolton Repertory Theatre.

He appeared in all 84 episodes of 'Allo 'Allo, which ran from 1982 until 1992, and reprised the role in a 2007 special, as well as appearing in a stage version of the series.

In January 1990 he was seriously injured when a piece of wood smashed through the windscreen of his car during a storm.

He was left with a scar on his forehead and no memory of the details of the accident, but he recovered and was able to resume his career.

In 1989 he penned an autobiography in which he described growing up as a shy, homosexual youth.

Speaking after the service, Ms Michelle said: "He was definitely there looking at it, orchestrating it and he would have loved it."
The US Department of Justice said Kamen had lived in Athens, Georgia

A British historian has been charged with possession of child pornography in the United States.

Professor Henry Kamen, a renowned expert on Spanish history, faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the offence dating back to 2014.

According to court documents, the widely published author, who currently lives in Barcelona, possessed pornographic images of children under 12.

The US Department of Justice said in a statement: "A federal grand jury indicted Henry Kamen for possession of child pornography.

"Kamen, a British citizen currently residing in Barcelona, Spain, is a well-known historian and professor of Spanish history, who resided within the Athens division of the middle district of Georgia.

"The grand jury alleged in the indictment that Kamen possessed child pornography in September of 2014.

"If convicted of this charge, Kamen faces up to 20 years of imprisonment, and up to lifetime supervised release after being released from custody."

Kamen has lectured at universities throughout the UK, US and Spain and was most recently visiting professor at the University of Chicago, according to a profile by his literary agent.
Business leaders are calling for measures to curb excessive executive pay amid warnings that "fiddling around the edges" is not enough to tackle the issue.

A number of groups have responded to a Government consultation, telling ministers there has never been a more important time to build public trust in business.

The CBI, which represents 190,000 businesses, said shareholders should be given more powers to have a final say on executive pay where it has "disconnected" from exceptional performance.

Its recommendations included information on the pay of executives and other employees.

CBI president Paul Drechsler said e xecutive pay has become a lightning rod for public discontent, adding: "The CBI is absolutely clear that the unacceptable behaviour of the few does not reflect the high standards and responsible behaviour of the vast majority of companies.

"Our proposals seek to address some of the issues that have undermined the reputation of business. Where chief executive pay has become disconnected from performance, shareholders should have the power to show the company a 'yellow card'.

"Firms that lose their advisory vote on pay or receive 25% or more vote against the directors' remuneration report for two consecutive years, should face a binding vote on policy at their next AGM.

"Any pay ratio publication should focus on the trends within a company's UK workforce - showing how the variance between executive pay and average worker pay is changing over time. This way, pay ratios may provide meaningful transparency and value to this debate."

A joint response from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and the High Pay Centre calls for a "major rethink" of corporate governance.

Publicly listed firms should have at least one employee on remuneration committees, and they should publish the ratio between the pay of a chief executive and the median for the organisation, it was recommended.

CIPD chief executive Peter Cheese said: "Current levels of executive pay undermine both trust and sustainability. Fiddling around the edges of the current system won't provide the solutions we need for an innovative, productive and leading economy."

Stefan Stern, director of the High Pay Centre, added: "We need to change the nature of the conversation on pay at the top if we want to bring about better outcomes.

"This can be done by introducing the mandatory publication of pay ratios, and by bringing employee representatives on to the remuneration committee.

"Voluntary measures and modest reforms have been tried, but have not been effective."
Mayor Emanuel & Sen. Durbin Weigh In On National Guard Immigrant Round Up Potential

By aaroncynic in News on Feb 17, 2017 7:10PM



Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel speaks at a news conference on January 13, 2017. Photo by Aaron Cynic/Chicagoist a still developing story that the Associated Press broke Friday which showed a potential plan by the Department of Homeland Security to mobilize the National Guard to round up undocumented immigrants in at least 11 states.

The concept of using the United States National Guard to round up people from the United States...its dead on arrival. Because its anti-American, Emanuel can be seen telling reporters in a video from the mayors Twitter account. They need to shred that memo, reads the tweet.





Regarding this morning's AP report. It's unAmerican. They need to shred that memo. pic.twitter.com/8q76uDVr7r  ChicagosMayor (@ChicagosMayor) February 17, 2017





According to the AP story, the plan would have called for the mobilization of 100,000 troops to round up millions of undocumented immigrants in the four states that border Mexico as well as the states contiguous to those four. The memo outlining the plan said participating troops would "perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension and detention of aliens in the United States." State governors wouldve been able to choose whether to have guard troops participate.

The White House said the memo was not a White House document and vehemently denied any plans to mobilize the Guard to round up immigrants. In another in a long series of convoluted and confusing interactions with the press, Press Secretary Sean Spiecer said "there is no effort to do what is potentially suggested, and that it was irresponsible to report it. He also said he wished someone wouldve asked before you tweeted, despite the fact that the AP repeatedly asking for comment and the White House ignoring the requests.

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin also weighed in on the plan, telling the Belleville News Democrat that it would be a frightening exercise of police state tactics. This is not a bizarre tweet, said Durbin. This is a brazen, heavy-handed assault on innocent people.


A fifth Northern Ireland Teachers' union is set to consult on whether to call its members out on strike.

The announcement by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) comes after two unions - the NASUWT and INTO - have carried out strike action, and two other unions - UTU and ATL - are waging action short of strikes.

Paul McClenaghan, president of NAHT Northern Ireland, said its members will only consider industrial action as a last resort.

"The failure of the employers to find a solution to the long running dispute with the other teaching unions, coupled with the recent unreasonable actions of the ETI, have resulted in pressure on school leaders that is unprecedented and intolerable, and we call on the government to act," he said.

"Despite our representations to the Education Minister, the Education Department and employers, the support required to address the situation has not been provided.

"NAHT has therefore resolved to take all necessary and appropriate action to resolve the situation. All NAHT members will be consulted on what action to take, up to and including industrial action if necessary. NAHT do not consider the prospect of industrial action lightly, and as in everything we do, care and respect for pupils must be at the forefront of our approach."

The NASUWT has so far held two one-day strikes, while INTO held a half-day strike in January.

Education Minister Peter Weir has urged unions not to engage in strikes.

Negotiations between unions and management, which ended after 13 months with no agreement, restarted last month. The unions rejected a pay offer of 0% for 2015/16 and 1% for 2016/17.
A multinational force of troops drove Boko Haram out of towns and villages in north-east Nigeria last year, but isolated attacks continue

Nigerian troops and civilian fighters have repelled the fiercest Boko Haram extremist attack in months on the key north-eastern city of Maiduguri.

Nine bombers and two civilians were killed, according to witnesses, soldiers and police.

Residents awoke to huge explosions around midnight as three female suicide bombers detonated vehicles at the Muna Garage truck stop on the city's eastern outskirts, according to police.

Muna Garage has been attacked many times in recent months.

Maiduguri is the birthplace of the Islamic insurgency and the headquarters of the military campaign to halt it.

Two civilians died in the blasts and seven self-defence fighters were wounded, witness Ayuba Ibrahim said.

"Most of the trucks that were loaded with goods for export to Chad and the border communities were destroyed, along with commodities worth millions," Mr Ibrahim said.

One blast occurred as people were trying to board the trucks, said resident Isa Mamman.

The attack also targeted a military checkpoint, according to Ahmed Satomi of Borno State Emergency Management Agency.

Soldiers later fired at a group of gunmen on motorcycles escorting other suicide bombers, killing at least six bombers.

A multinational force of troops from Nigeria and its neighbours last year drove Boko Haram out of towns and villages in north-east Nigeria, but isolated attacks including suicide bombings continue.

The seven-year Islamic uprising has killed more than 20,000 people and driven 2.6 million from their homes, creating the worst humanitarian crisis on the continent with millions facing starvation.

AP
The bomb in the south-western al-Bayaa neighbourhood blew a huge crater in the road (AP)

The death toll from a car bomb attack in southern Baghdad has reached 59, with 66 more injured, officials said.

A statement from the Islamic State group said its fighters detonated a parked car among a gathering of Shiites in the al-Bayaa neighbourhood.

Baghdad has seen near daily bomb attacks claimed by IS in what is seen as an attempt to distract attention as the militants lose territory along front lines in northern and western Iraq.

Another four attacks in and around Baghdad on Thursday killed eight people and wounded around 30, police and medical officials said.

AP
Migrants are watched by Spanish police after storming a fence to enter the enclave of Ceuta (AP)

Almost 500 migrants forced their way into Spanish territory in North Africa by breaking through gates in the 20ft fence that separates Morocco from Spain's Ceuta enclave.

The Ceuta regional government gave the figures, with officials saying it was believed to be the biggest border invasion in recent years. Ceuta is separated from the rest of Spain by the Strait of Gibraltar.

About 700 migrants attempted to smash through several gates simultaneously at about 6am, according to a Ceuta government official.

He said 498 migrants made it into Spanish territory, with two taken to hospital due to injuries they sustained in the assault. He said 11 Spanish police were also hurt.

A Civil Guard spokesman said police clashed with the migrants at the Tarajal area of the fence, and at least 10 members of Morocco's armed forces were also injured.

More than 30 migrants were treated at a migrant centre for bone fractures and other injuries. Some were cut trying to scale the fence, which is topped with barbed wire, said Clemen Nunez, director of Ceuta's Red Cross emergency response team.

According to the Civil Guard, a surveillance camera showed hundreds of people approaching the fence, using tools and clubs to break one of the gates.

In video filmed by Faro TV Ceuta, some migrants can be seen with blood on their faces and bruises, but mostly celebrating their arrival in Spanish territory. Some wrapped themselves with Spanish and European flags and shouted "Freedom!"

Hundreds of sub-Saharan African migrants are living illegally in Morocco and regularly attempt to enter Ceuta and Melilla, Spain's other North African enclave, in the hope of getting into Europe. Most are fleeing poverty and violence.

On Friday, 55 of them were rejected, according to the Civil Guard, because those who are intercepted on the spot can be returned to Morocco.

Those who make it over the fences are usually taken to migrant centres and eventually repatriated or let go, many choosing to seek asylum or work informally in Spain or other European countries.

Before the latest arrival, the migrant centre at Ceuta was already struggling to cope with more than 600 people and using military tents in nearby car parks.

AP
If the proposal from the Trump administration is implemented, governors in the affected states would have final approval (AP)

The Trump administration considered a proposal to mobilise as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorised immigrants, including millions living nowhere near the Mexico border, reports say.

An 11-page memo obtained by the Associated Press apparently calls for the unprecedented militarisation of immigration enforcement as far north as Portland, Oregon, and as far east as New Orleans, Louisiana.

Staff in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reportedly said the proposal had been discussed as recently as Friday 10.

Four states that border Mexico were included in the reported proposal - California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The other seven are Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the memo was "not a White House document".

He called the AP report "100% not true" and said there had been "no effort at all to utilise the National Guard to round up unauthorised immigrants".

A DHS official described the document as a very early draft that was not seriously considered and never taken to the secretary for approval.

Governors in the 11 states would have had a choice whether to have their guard troops participate, according to the memo, which reportedly bears the name of homeland security secretary John Kelly, a retired four-star marine general.

While National Guard personnel have been used to assist with immigration-related missions on the US-Mexico border before, they have never been used as broadly or as far north.

The memo was apparently addressed to the acting heads of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and US Customs and Border Protection.

It could have served as guidance to implement the wide-ranging executive order on immigration and border security that Donald Trump signed on January 25.

Also dated January 25, the draft memo reportedly says troops would be authorised "to perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension and detention of aliens in the United States", and to conduct searches and identify and arrest any unauthorised immigrants.

Nearly half of the 11.1 million people residing in the US without authorisation live in the 11 states, according to Pew Research Centre estimates based on 2014 census data.

Use of National Guard troops would greatly increase the number of immigrants targeted in one of Mr Trump's executive orders last month, which expanded the definition of who could be considered a criminal and therefore a potential target for deportation.

That order also allows immigration agents to prioritise removing anyone who has "committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offence".

Under current rules, even if the proposal had been implemented, there would not have been immediate mass deportations.

Those with existing deportation orders could be sent back to their countries of origin without additional court proceedings, but deportation orders generally would be needed for most other unauthorised immigrants.

Spokesmen for the governors of nine of the states either declined to comment or said it was premature to discuss whether they would participate.

The draft memo also apparently mentions other items in Mr Trump's executive order, including the hiring of an additional 5,000 border agents, which would need financing from Congress, and his campaign promise to build a wall between the US and Mexico.

Allowing Guard troops to operate inside non-border states also would go far beyond past deployments.

In addition to responding to natural or man-made disasters or for military protection of the population or critical infrastructure, state Guard forces have been used to assist with immigration-related tasks on the US-Mexico border, including the construction of fences.

Mr Trump's immigration strategy is emerging as detentions at the nation's southern border are down significantly from levels seen in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Last year, the arrest tally was the fifth-lowest since 1972.

Deportations of people living in the US illegally also increased under the Obama administration, although Republicans criticised Mr Obama for setting prosecution guidelines that spared some groups from the threat of deportation, including those brought to the US illegally as children.

Last week, ICE officers arrested more than 680 people around the country in what Mr Kelly said were routine, targeted operations. Advocates called the actions stepped-up enforcement under Mr Trump.

AP
Ukraine's president warned against any "appeasement" of Russia, arguing a bilateral deal with Moscow on his country would only make the fighting in eastern Ukraine worse.

He said the new US administration has a "historic chance" to halt Russia's ambitions.

Many in Europe are concerned about the US stance toward Russia under President Donald Trump amid talk of a more cooperative relationship.

Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko told the Munich Security Conference, however, he had been reassured of Western unity and solidarity earlier in the day by new US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

"I hear increasingly obsessive calls for at least some degree of appeasement toward Russia's appetite.

"To move in that direction would be naive, wrong and dangerous, not only for Ukraine, but also for Europe and for the world," he said.

He did not specify who was making those calls but said now is the time to stop Russia's expansionist ambitions.

"This is an absolutely historic chance for all of us, but above all this is a historic chance for the new US administration and solid trans-Atlantic unity," Mr Poroshenko said.

More than 9,800 people have died since April 2014 in fighting in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russia-backed separatists.

Fighting escalated earlier this month, the worst outbreak since a 2015 peace deal.

On Thursday, Mr Tillerson said Russia must abide by a 2015 peace deal agreed upon in Minsk aimed at ending fighting in eastern Ukraine as the Trump administration searches for ways to work cooperatively with Moscow.

He spoke after meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov at a meeting of Group of 20 foreign ministers in Bonn, Germany.

Mr Poroshenko, however, warned against "any agreement behind our back" with Russia on Ukraine.

"We have no intention to give up" on defending Ukraine, he said, speaking in English.

"Any deal with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin behind Ukraine would only aggravate the situation."

Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said, following a meeting with Mr Lavrov on the sidelines of the security conference, he again emphasised the need for the Minsk accord to be implemented.

He also said Americans officials had assured him Washington backed Nato.

"The United States remains committed to Nato and to the trans-Atlantic alliance," he told reporters.

In eastern Ukraine, the leader of pro-Russia separatist rebels warned they may use force to drive out Ukrainian troops.

Alexander Zakharchenko, the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, said the rebels aim to "free the occupied territories" in the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces by political means, but added that they could do so with military force if political efforts fail.

Mr Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Mr Zakharchenko's statement defied a 2015 peace agreement, but added that it comes amid tensions provoked by Ukraine's actions.

AP
Did you hear about the mentally ill man found freezing, naked and covered in cuts, at the bottom of a 10-foot ditch? Absolutely hilarious story - or so the cops seemed to think. In a Facebook post, PSNI Bangor described the incident as an "unusual call that gave us a chuckle". For extra chortles, they then added the hashtags #fullmoon, #hideandstreak and #keepingpeopledecent.

Serious psychological disturbance - nothing funnier, right? Even better if the bloke in question hasn't managed to keep his clothes on.

The crass and juvenile tittering came to an abrupt end when the young man's mother pointed out, on the Nolan show, that her son could have died in that ditch.

She was also worried about the effect of the online mockery on his fragile state of mind. The message was removed from social media, the police duly apologised, and the Police Ombudsman was notified.

That's all very well, but the damage has been done - and it's far from the first time that the PSNI has blundered badly on social media.

Cops and computers - it's starting to look like a very bad combination.

Besides, isn't their priority supposed to be keeping the public safe, not composing hilarious hashtags and geezerish banter?

When images of a handsome police officer went viral last summer, after a police tweet about festival safety, the Bangor police (yes, them again) posted: "Instead of turning to a life of crime to meet Detective Superintendent Bobby Singleton which I have seen several ladies threaten. Why not join the PSNI and run into him in a chance meeting in the canteen or during an arrest at custody".

Boom boom, lads. It's the way you tell them.

Certain forces clearly love the lolz, and they are often keen to show us their softer side too. Newry and Mourne PSNI, who are prolific social media users, celebrated Valentine's Day this week with a picture of hearts and buns, and the rather embarrassing hashtag #CopsNeedLoveToo. Meanwhile, Cookstown PSNI has a cute knitted doll in uniform, known as Constable Cook of Cookstown, who pops up on their Facebook page from time to time, though I haven't seen him recently - perhaps he's gone undercover.

Sometimes the messages are just downright bizarre. When Prince died, officers in Lisburn and Castlereagh posted a picture of a road sign with a piece of PSNI apparel draped over it, so that the sign appeared to read Prince Road. Some members of the public quite reasonably asked whether the police didn't have better things to do than pay tribute to deceased rock stars by mucking around with street signs.

It's not so much the time taken to post on social media - though I do wonder how many hours some cops spend on it - but rather the tone of the messages that concerns me. The police are responsible for ensuring public safety and enforcing the law. That's their job, that's what they are there for.

We do not need to see the cuddly side of the cops, Valentine's Day or not. Social media has its uses in policing - appealing for witnesses to a road accident, say, or alerting people about a spate of burglaries in their area - but it shouldn't be a vehicle for whimsical musings, under the guise of valuable public outreach.

Nobody wants to go back to the bad old days, when policing was a matter of grim authority. It's still an enormously difficult, risky and challenging job. But neither do we want to see our law enforcers indulging in laddish banter or mawkish sentiment while they're supposed to be on duty.

If the PSNI insists on maintaining its extensive social media platform, it should at least have a coherent strategy, and offer proper training, rather than allowing random, off-the-cuff messages which are bound to lead to trouble. And it goes right to the top - Chief Constable George Hamilton could clearly do with a crash course in online etiquette after he wrote a late-night tweet telling a distressed officer to stop "wallowing in self pity", a remark for which he later apologised.

In its latest Facebook initiative, the PSNI has announced it will post Wild West-style pictures of suspects who fail to appear in court. PSNI Craigavon has even mocked up a poster of one of their own officers, Chief Inspector Jon Burrows, wanted for "theft of hair products", to help people get the idea.

Great craic, guys. But as I'm sure any serving officer could tell you, policing in Northern Ireland is far from a joke. Leave the gags to the comedians and stick to enforcing the law.
It is no great surprise to see that Northern Ireland politics are still as polarised as ever nearly two decades after the Good Friday Agreement was signed in a wave of optimism that society here could be changed forever.

It is no great surprise to see that Northern Ireland politics are still as polarised as ever nearly two decades after the Good Friday Agreement was signed in a wave of optimism that society here could be changed forever.

The survey from the Electoral Reform Society shows that only a tiny proportion of unionists or nationalists would ever contemplate voting first for a party outside their own bloc.

And even though the STV system allows voters to give their preferences right through the list for their constituency, few Catholics or Protestants would put their mark in the box of an opposing party.

Around one-third of all preferences were for parties outside the big four - DUP, Sinn Fein, SDLP and UUP - but that does not give a corresponding return of Assembly Members. The centre ground still remains a minority.

Little wonder that UUP leader Mike Nesbitt received such a cold shoulder from even his own party when he said he would vote for a SDLP candidate as a second preference in the forthcoming election. His gesture may be the ideal way to conduct politics, but obviously tribal considerations trump real cross-party co-operation.

So where did it all go wrong after the Good Friday Agreement? The hope for a brighter future was fuelled first by the ending of conflict, but the guerrilla war conducted by the DUP and Sinn Fein against the original power-sharing partners, the UUP and SDLP, ensured that devolution never gained the momentum it should have.

The decision eventually by the DUP and Sinn Fein to share power offered new hope, but this has dwindled over the last decade as the parties both retreated towards the trenches in a welter of bad feeling and even more virulent language.

We are now a fortnight away from a new election, but the prospect of an early return to devolved government seems remote.

The inevitable conclusion - unless there is an unprecedented sea-change in voting habits - is that the majority of those who go to the polls are content to keep to their tribal silos no matter what the implications.

The one glimmer of hope is that a significant number of the 45% of voters who didn't bother going to the polls last May - either through apathy or weariness -turn out this time and change voting patterns to register their displeasure with the status quo. History is not encouraging.
The Chicagoist will be launching later but in the meantime please enjoy our archives.
One of Dominic Littlewood's top tips is to install domestic CCTV around your home

As presenter of Cowboy Builders, Beat The Burglar and Don't Get Done, Get Dom, Dominic Littlewood has spent a good chunk of his career fighting for our rights, casting an eye over unscrupulous tradespeople and being on hand to ensure domestic disasters are averted.

And it's for this reason, he'd make a very useful neighbour, don't you think?

Unfortunately, not everyone will have the chance to actually live next door to Dom - however, as the face of a new campaign by Togethermutualinsurance.co.uk and Neighbourhood Watch, you can still tap into his useful insights.

The campaign's encouraging people to set up local Neighbourhood Watch groups via apps, such as Facebook or WhatsApp, which allow communities to update each other on local goings-on.

"All you've got to do is register your phone number into the group," says Littlewood. "You can leave at any time, there's no contracts, no cost and everybody in the group will be able to read messages and respond to them if they want to.

"It's a very nice modern way of looking after yourself, your property and each other."

JOINING FORCES

Far from being the preserve of curtain-twitchers, this set-up is designed to benefit everyone - it's all about bringing Neighbourhood Watch schemes into modern day.

"People founded these Neighbourhood Watch schemes 35 years ago and they were a great idea and crime went down, but we've moved onto the 21st century," notes Littlewood. "You can be online warning people by sending a message about a dubious character while sitting there in your pyjamas, slippers and rollers. It's a way to protect ourselves and our community."

To set up a group, he suggests printing out a few notices and knocking on neighbours' doors to gauge interest in joining.

COMMUNITY SPIRIT

And it's not just about alerting suspicions; it's also to foster community spirit.

For example, says Littlewood, a "little old lady down the street" might put a message on there saying "can anyone get my shopping for me, because I can't get out of bed this morning, my arthritis is killing me".

"It's a modern way of saying, let's bring back that community spirit of looking after each other," adds Littlewood. "Because as Brits, we love looking after people, don't we?"

5 TOP TIPS

Not sure where to start? Here are Littlewood's top tips to help foster that community spirit...

1. Get to know each other

An obvious one, but if you know each other by name, are aware of each others' habits and have contact details for one another, it's easier to spot when things seem a little awry.

2. Read up on local crime trends

If you know your area is particularly prone to bike theft, for example, you can alert neighbours who keep their bicycles in view.

3. Be a good neighbour

"Keep an eye open for anyone who might have forgotten to lock windows, certainly on a ground floor," says Littlewood. "You can send them a message and say, 'Hello Barbara, do you know you've left your window wide open? Are you in?'"

Same goes for spotting phones and bags on dashboards or in clear view, and car doors unlocked. And if you know your neighbours are away and can see their post and papers are piling up, take it in for them.

4. Look locally for other groups

There might be other support groups for your community already out there. If you live in an area with lots of older people, see if there's an AgeUK handyperson scheme, whereby the charity carries out small household repairs and safety checks in homes.

5. Cameras

If you're concerned, look into installing domestic CCTV around your home.
2022 election guide: Here are Pueblo County's top races, ballot issues

Here's what you need to know about the local candidates and ballot questions in the 2022 election, as well as how to vote in Pueblo, Colorado.
Police and hospital officials transfer the body of one of the victims of the 2016 Jakarta attack, Jan. 16, 2016.

An Indonesian man deported from Japan for immigration violations and suspected links to the Islamic State was in police custody in Lombok, officials said Friday.

Immigration offficials stopped the 44-year-old man, identified by his initials AM, at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali on Wednesday and handed him over to counterterrorism police for questioning, Agung Sampurno, a spokesman for Indonesian immigration, told BenarNews.

AM was sent home to Lombok, the island immediately east of Bali, the following day because Balinese police had completed their questioning, according to Hengky Widjaja, a spokesman for Bali Regional Police.

At the moment hes still being processed in Central Lombok, he told BenarNews on Friday, adding that local police would want to enter his information into a database.

AM was deported because he had violated terms of his work permit and used false documents, and also because of indications he had joined the Islamic State (IS) group in Japan, Hengky said.

He was a close friend of MAS who earlier was deported because his social media accounts were radical and supported IS, he said, without clarifying further.

A West Nusa Tenggara man named Masdar was deported from South Korea in July 2016 for suspected links to IS, BeritaSatu reported at that time.

False permit

AM, a native of Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, went to Japan in 1997 and worked as a construction worker there, according to Agung Sampurno, the immigration spokesman. Mataram is on Lombok.

He was detained after his wife, also an Indonesian national, was involved in a car accident in mid-2016. While investigating the case, Japanese police learned that her husband was living illegally in Japan and using a false residency permit, Agung said.

According to his testimony, he was arrested by Japanese police and deported on Feb. 14, 2017, buying his own ticket, Agung said.

Suhardi Alius, head of the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), recently commented after Indonesians were deported from Turkey that no nation is immune from the threat of terrorism.

Indonesians are deported not only from Turkey, but there are some from South Korea, some from Japan, he said.

On Jan. 25, former Finance Ministry employee Triyono Utomo, his wife and three children were sent back to Indonesia from Turkey where they had been arrested after allegedly attempting to enter Syria to join IS.

They were detained on arrival in Indonesian but eventually released because of a lack of evidence needed to press terrorism-related charges against them, National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Rikwanto told BenarNews.

Since 2015, as many as 283 Indonesians have been deported from Turkey for allegedly intending to go to Syria, according to figures from the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As of August 2016, according to BNPT, 237 adults and 46 children from Indonesia were in Syria.
Updated at 5:47 p.m. ET on 2017-02-17

North Korea lambasted Malaysia on Friday for refusing to release the body of its leader Kim Jong-Uns half-brother who was allegedly murdered there this week, adding a new twist to an already sensational case.



Pyongyang said it would not accept any result of a post-mortem conducted by Malaysian authorities on Kim Jong-Nam's body, accusing Kuala Lumpur of "colluding with the hostile forces towards us who are desperate to harm us of malice," clearly referring to rival South Korea.



In a statement outside the morgue of the main hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital, North Korean Ambassador Kang Chol, appearing furious, accused Malaysia of "trying to conceal something" over the case.



This was the first reaction from North Korea following the death of Kim Jong-Nam in Malaysia on Monday.



Kim died en route to hospital after reportedly telling medical personnel that a woman had attacked him with a chemical spray at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2).



Kang Chols statement came after Malaysia said Friday that it would not release the body until a family member provided a DNA sample to prove the identity of Kim Jong-Nam, who the South Korean and U.S. governments believe was murdered by North Korean government agents.



The angry message delivered by the ambassador was noteworthy because Malaysia is among a handful of countries with long-standing bilateral relations with the communist regime in Pyongyang, which has been isolated internationally through sanctions over its illegal nuclear weapons program and ballistic missile launches.



Impoverished North Korea has carried out repeated missile launches despite the sanctions. In 2016, it conducted two nuclear tests in a bid to develop a weapons system capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. Last weekend, North Korea carried out another test of a ballistic missile that was condemned by the U.N. Security Council.



Consular Protection



Kang Chol's statement did not mention Kim Jong-Nam by name but Malaysian authorities had confirmed his identity two days after the killing.



He read about half the statement and then one of his aides gave the statement to the press, reporters at the scene said.



The envoy said the Malaysian side had initially informed his embassy that a North Korean citizen had died due to a heart attack while being taken to hospital and had requested the embassy to confirm that he was indeed a North Korean citizen.



He said that after the embassy confirmed it, the Malaysian authorities wanted to conduct a post-mortem on Kim "that we rejected because he is a diplomatic passport holder and our citizen who is under the consular protection of the DPRK [North Korea's official name]."



He charged that the Malaysian side "forced the postmortem without our permission and witnessing" and that North Korea would "categorically reject the result of the postmortem conducted unilaterally excluding our attendance."



"This is the culmination of the violation of the human rights of and infringing upon our citizen disregarding the elementary international laws and the consular laws."



Release the body without further delay



Kang Chol said he met a senior Malaysian police officer and "strongly demanded him to release the body without further delay" but that the request was rejected.



He said the officer had raised an issue "which has nothing to do with clarification of the cause of death," apparently referring to a request for a DNA sample to prove the identity of Kim Jong-Nam.



"This strongly suggests that the Malaysian side is trying to conceal something which needs more time and deceive us and that they are colluding with the hostile forces towards us who are desperate to harm us of malice," he said.



He said the Malaysian moves might be dictated by "someone else," suggesting rival South Korea.



South Korea has pointed the finger of blame over Kim Jong-Nam's death at North Korea, citing a "standing order" from Kim Jong-Un to kill his sibling and a failed assassination bid in 2012 after he criticized the regime.



Japanese journalist Yoji Gomi, a former Tokyo Shimbun editor who got closer to Kim Jong-Nam than most reporters, told BenarNews sister entity Radio Free Asia this week that Kim Jong-Un may have given an order to assassinate his half-brother.



"Although Kim Jong-Uns approval of an assassination is possible, I think it is also possible that the regimes high-ranking officials close to Kim Jong-Un may have acted out of loyalty and internal competition," he said.



"As you know, many of them are getting purged or dismissed, and Kim Jong-Nam was still an influential person, so there is a possibility that the people who decided to get rid of Kim Jong-Nam were afraid of Kim Jong-Un."



Malaysian police have arrested two women  one holding a Vietnamese passport and the other an Indonesian document  as well as a Malaysian man as part of investigations into the death.
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For Immediate Release, February 16, 2017 Contact: Michael Robinson, (575) 313-7017, michaelr@biologicaldiversity.org Arizona Senator Flake Introduces Bill to Supplant Science in Endangered Mexican Wolf Recovery, Suppress Population TUCSON, Ariz. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) introduced legislation today that would give the states of Arizona and New Mexico, as well as ranchers, the right to dictate the terms of Mexican gray wolf recovery, undermining the scientific standards of the Endangered Species Act. States and ranchers have proven hostile to Mexican wolf recovery and have hampered the species' recovery. This legislation doesn't just let the fox guard the henhouse  it gives the fox title and deed, said Michael Robinson, a conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. Decisions about recovering highly endangered Mexican gray wolves should be based on science. They shouldn't be based on the whims of the livestock industry and states, whose known hostility to wolves is out of step with the majority of Americans  both in the Southwest and across the country  who support the recovery of these beautiful and unique animals. The anti-wolf bill would impose a politically derived cap on the struggling wolf population, meaning wolves would be killed to satisfy an arbitrary population number before the population is even out of peril. The bill would prohibit recovery of the wolves north of Interstate 40  thereby permanently banning Mexican wolves from the Grand Canyon and southern Rocky Mountain ecosystems, which scientists say are critical to wolf recovery in the Southwest. The bill would also replace the Endangered Species Act's science-based criteria for determining when the Mexican wolf could be taken off the endangered list, instead imposing criteria to be determined by the states and ranchers and precluding judicial review of this insidious change. Mexican gray wolves were reduced to just seven animals as a result of a federal program of trapping and poisoning that was only halted through the 1973 passage of the Endangered Species Act. Those seven wolves survived to be captured alive for breeding to stave off extinction. Reintroduction to the Southwest began in 1998, but numbers of wolves oscillated and declined precipitously from 2004 to 2009, when the Arizona Game and Fish Department controlled management and directed the trapping and shooting of numerous wolves, including genetically valuable animals. The population began to rise in 2010 after a conservationist lawsuit led to a resumption of federal management. Thanks to a separate conservationist lawsuit, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is under court order to finalize a Mexican wolf recovery plan by Nov. 30. Arizona authorities have long opposed the release of captive wolf families into the wild, even though that is the most reliable means of bringing in more genetically diverse animals to ensure the survival of the wild population; currently, nearly all the wolves are related to each other as if they were siblings. Instead, Arizona authorities support the riskier release of neonatal wolf pups from captivity to foster wolf families. And in New Mexico, Gov. Susana Martinez's Game and Fish Department sued the federal Fish and Wildlife Service last year and obtained an injunction banning any wolf releases in the state. The Service and conservation organizations have appealed the injunction. The survival of Mexican gray wolves is already on the precipice because of longtime federal deference to state agencies that cynically advance the livestock industry's anti-wolf agenda, said the Center's Robinson. I'm afraid that passage of this bill would set the Southwest's struggling wolves irreversibly on a one-way trail to extinction. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.2 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
For Immediate Release, February 17, 2017 Contact: Brett Hartl, (202) 817-8121, bhartl@biologicaldiversity.org Anti-environment Zealot Confirmed to Run Environmental Protection Agency Republican Senators Blindly Approve Pruitt in Deeply Partisan Vote WASHINGTON In a highly partisan vote, the U.S. Senate today confirmed President Trump's selection of Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Only a single Republican broke party ranks to oppose Pruitt, a climate change denier who has repeatedly sued the EPA to block lifesaving pollution-prevention measures. Make no mistake, Scott Pruitt is going to put people's lives at risk to help special interests pollute our air and water. This is new and this is dangerous, said Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity. This vote should have been 100-0 against, but instead Republican senators showed just how out of touch they've become on environmental issues. We'll be drinking dirtier water and breathing dirtier air because of this disturbing decision, and our wildlife and climate will pay a terrible price. Pruitt sued the agency he now leads 14 times over federal regulations meant to protect Americans from contaminated water, climate pollution and other threats. He even joined a lawsuit against the EPA's lifesaving mercury standards, which experts estimate will prevent about 11,000 premature births every year by reducing toxic mercury pollution. Asked during his confirmation hearing whether there is any safe level of lead in the water we drink, Pruitt replied, Senator, that is something I have not reviewed nor know about. Over his career Pruitt has accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from some of the nation's dirtiest industries, from oil companies to poultry corporations. Ignoring the scientific consensus on climate change, he falsely claimed that many scientists continue to disagree on the issue. Pruitt will be the worst, most dangerous administrator in EPA history, Suckling said. We will fight him in the courts and in the streets every time he tries to take us backward. Since the Senate failed to do its job, we will watch Pruitt like a hawk and relentlessly oppose every dangerous action he takes to harm our environment. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.2 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
NAIROBI, Kenya - Mastercard commits to empowering over 150,000 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in Kenya within 2017 by giving them access to Masterpass QR. The mobile driven, Person-to-Merchant payment solution will be introduced through various financial institutions and other partners in the market from February onwards.

Delivering efficient, secure and cost effective acceptance solutions to Kenyan MSMEs is an essential step to providing the level of support required to grow and develop their businesses. With at least 80 percent of the country's most critical jobs are created by MSMs, according to Kenya's Micro and Small Enterprises Authority, it is vital to introduce solutions that drive operational efficiency in these businesses.

The regional commitment to impact over 150,000 MSMEs in Kenya within 2017 is in support of the Mastercard global goal of connecting 40 million micro and small merchants to its electronic payments network by the end of 2020. This expands on the company's Universal Financial Access 2020 commitment made in 2015.

Masterpass QR provides a fast, convenient and secure payment solution for consumers and a reliable and instant acceptance offering for merchants. Cash is no longer required, making transacting safer for merchants who will not need to worry about carrying large sums of cash around with them.

MSMEs have traditionally struggled with the cost of installing payment infrastructure such as point-of-sale devices, as well as with issues of security surrounding payment. Masterpass QR combats these challenges in a simple and user-friendly manner helping to stimulate the economy by digitising a sector previously solely dependent on cash-based transactions.

"Kenyans are entrepreneurial by nature, and there are incredibly exciting business ideas coming from the region. We want to help these business owners to grow and prosper by delivering solutions that meet the needs of these business owners," said Daniel Monehin, division president for Sub-Saharan Africa and head of Financial Inclusion for International Markets at Mastercard.

The mobile solution is available via various mobile banking applications in Kenya. Consumers are guaranteed the security of being able to pay for in-store purchases by scanning the QR (Quick Response) code displayed at the checkout on their smartphones, or by entering a merchant identifier into their feature phones. Users are able to use the solution at any location where Masterpass QR is accepted, locally and across the continent.

Mastercard is committed to financially including micro merchants across Africa by working with various partners across a multitude of sectors. Masterpass QR is currently being rolled out in Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania and will soon be in a number of countries across the continent. It drives efficiency and transparency for MSMEs, something many business owners in Kenya are not able to achieve currently.

Monehin said, "Kenya is leading the charge in financial inclusion, with the World Bank reporting that 75% of its citizens over the age of 15 having a bank account. Masterpass QR has the potential to drive that number up further and more rapidly due to the penetration of mobile devices in the market. Technology is playing an important role to ensuring all citizens have access to solutions that help move them beyond cash."
LUSAKA, Zambia  The UK and Zambia have signed an Energy Africa Partnership Agreement, announcing their commitment to accelerate the expansion of the household solar market across Zambia.

Image by 123RF

Speaking at the signing ceremony at the Ministry of Energy in Lusaka, Bruce Lawson-McDowall, head of the UK Department for International Development (DFID) Zambia said: "The signing of the Energy Africa Partnership Agreement demonstrates the UKs willingness to support the Government of Zambia as it prioritises efforts to tackle the energy crisis. We recognise the challenges that Zambia is currently facing with the on-grid energy sector, and the opportunities this presents to unlock the potential of the household solar market.

"The Energy Africa campaign seeks to secure the policy commitments, technical assistance and financing needed to transform the energy access landscape. I believe that Achievement of Global Goal 7 (of access to affordable and clean energy), in Zambia and Africa more broadly, is essential to eliminating poverty and fostering sustainable and inclusive growth."

The decreasing cost of solar panels, improvements in battery technology and energy efficiency, and the spread of mobile payment systems have together created a new opportunity for the household solar market  as businesses are already showing across the continent. This Agreement commits both parties to work together to harness this opportunity to increase access to electricity for all Zambians.

The Energy Africa campaign seeks to secure the policy commitments, technical assistance and financing needed to transform the energy access landscape.

Lawson-McDowall said that the UK is also supporting access to affordable clean energy through hydroelectric power projects such as the Western Power Ngonye Falls project in Western Province. He also stressed the need to create the right environment for effective private sector participation in the energy sector.

Energy Africa is a campaign to accelerate the expansion of the household solar market in Africa, helping bring universal energy access in the continent forward from 2080 to 2030. It was launched by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) in October 2015, and to date 11 countries have signed Partnership Agreements, including Zambia. The next step will be to agree on the specific areas of support that will be covered under the Partnership Agreement.

Two out of three people in sub-Saharan Africa (600 million) have no access to electricity at home, despite it being 150 years since Edison invented the lightbulb. On the current trajectory universal electricity access in Africa will not be achieved until 2080; the Global Goal 7 is for this goal to be met by 2030. Without affordable and reliable electricity, social and economic development is dramatically stifled.

The Energy Africa campaign will include the policy support, technical assistance and financing necessary to move off-grid solar in Africa  and in Zambia  from a nascent market to an industry that can help secure universal electricity access.
February 16, 2017

As Turkish leaders continue to make hawkish noises about Raqqa, a high-level delegation seeking to persuade the United States to exclude the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) from a planned offensive to liberate the city from the Islamic State left Washington empty-handed, Al-Monitor has learned.

The team headed by Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Umit Yalcin and comprising the heads of the ministrys US, Iraq and Syria departments along with senior members of the Turkish Armed Forces and the national spy agency MIT, pushed their case against the YPG in separate meetings on Feb. 13-14 with US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Tom Shannon, former national security adviser Michael Flynn before he resigned and CENTCOM commander Gen. Joseph L. Votel, among others.

Sources familiar with the substance of the exchanges told Al-Monitor on strict condition of anonymity that Turkish demands that the United States drop its plans to free Raqqa with the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), labeling them terrorists, elicited a frosty response. The stiffest demurral came from Votel, the sources said. He explained his position like a soldier would, it was quite tough, one source observed. During the encounter, CENTCOM officials reminded the Turks that having talked about putting Turkish boots on the ground for Raqqa as an alternative to the YPG, the Turkish General Staff had yet to present a blueprint detailing Turkey's operational plans and precise contribution. The Turks got their most sympathetic hearing in the White House, the sources added, declining to elaborate.

The meetings came as the administration of Donald Trump mulls plans for action against IS in Syria. They include a proposal left over from the previous administration for the Pentagon to provide heavy weapons to the SDF under a presidential dispensation that permits the Defense Department to arm and train nonstate military actors. That plan is currently being refined, not tossed, as reported earlier by The Washington Post, a senior administration source told Al-Monitor on condition that he not be identified by name. Another administration official who also sought anonymity corroborated this version of events.

Turkey is bent on preventing the train-and-equip order for the YPG from getting signed. But this weeks meetings between US and Turkish officials suggest that the battle may have been lost. What are the likely consequences? Will Turkey deliver on earlier threats to rescind coalition access to the Incirlik Air Base? Probably not. That would be too radical a move, a Turkish official explained on condition of anonymity. A more likely outcome is that Turkey would escalate attacks against the YPG in areas where American special forces embedded with them would not be at risk of getting struck. But what if they accidentally did?

Tensions over the YPG highlight Washingtons lack of strategic thinking, putting its immediate goals above the long-term effects of their execution. They also make it clear that Ankaras refusal to acknowledge its own actions remain the primary source of chronic and destabilizing discord with the Kurds. Turkey labels the YPG a threat to its own national security over the groups intimate ties with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is waging a ruthlessly bloody campaign for Kurdish autonomy inside Turkey. The government has cast aside all attempts to reach a peace agreement with imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan and reverted to its long-running and unsuccessful military effort to defeat his men. This policy has now been expanded to include the YPG. Meanwhile, thousands of pro-Kurdish activists and politicians have been locked up on thinly supported terror charges.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by the State Department but the YPG is not, and the distinction allows the United States to partner with the YPG. Several Turkish officials called Washingtons willful duplicity in the matter disgusting in private conversations with Al-Monitor. US officials retort that maintaining the fiction enables them to help Turkey pursue PKK targets militarily without compromising their fight against the jihadis. But that is fiction, too. Should Washington follow through with offers to target top PKK leaders in their mountain hideouts on the Iraq-Iran border, as advocated in a recent op-ed penned by former Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken for The New York Times, they can forget about getting the Kurds to do Raqqa, fumed a senior member of the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democracy Party in a interview with Al-Monitor.

For now, Ankara has put the brakes on the anti-American vitriol pervading the government-controlled media and toned down its own America bashing in the hopes that the Trump administration will prove more accommodating than the last. While hopes are fading on the YPG front, Ankara remains cautiously optimistic that its demands for the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, the Pennsylvania-based Sunni cleric accused of masterminding the failed July 15 coup, will be rewarded.

As things stand, Turkish and Syrian Kurdish officials increasingly concede that the main question now is not so much which force will be used to liberate Raqqa but rather what happens in the aftermath. Will US forces and civilian contractors stay on to help with stabilization to prevent a jihadi comeback? Or will the United States strike some kind of deal with the Russians and the Syrian regime and pack up and leave? Whatever the outcome, Turkey and the Syrian Kurds will remain neighbors. And for as long as they remain mutually hostile, both sides stand to lose.
Profmed has presented The Organ Donor Foundation of South Africa with a cheque for R28,000. This is following the commitment it made to donate R5 for each member who participated in the third annual Profmed Stress Index Survey.

The Stress Index is an effective way of gathering data which has helped us understand the evolving issues facing graduate professionals and provides practical, useful advice to South Africans on how to best approach the prevention and management of this serious health hazard, says Graham Anderson, principal officer and CEO of Profmed.

Profmed has chosen to donate to the foundation in light of the drop in the rate of organ transplantation in South Africa over the last few decades. We need a radical overhaul of our system to ensure that more people are willing to donate their organs and that if they do, it is going to the right person, concludes Anderson.

For more information about The Organ Donor Foundation, go to www.odf.org.za.
WASHINGTON  Google announced on Thursday it was launching voice-activated shopping from its artificial intelligence-powered Home speaker, in a direct challenge to Amazon's Alexa devices.

Like Amazon's Alexa, Google's digital assistant will allow buyers to add payment information to their accounts to enable voice-activated shopping ( AFP Photo/Spencer Platt

Users can simply tell the speaker to order items  diapers, paper towels, or trash bags, for example, and get delivery from any of dozens of participating retailers.

"If picking up paper towels or stocking up on coffee is on your list, consider it done," said Google Assistant product manager David Wang in a statement.

"To help you keep up with your busy schedule and shop for the things you need, we're introducing shopping with your Google Assistant on Google Home."

The service ties in with tech giant's delivery arm Google Express, whose US retailers include Costco, Whole Foods Market, Walgreens, PetSmart, Bed Bath & Beyond.

Consumers can add payment information to their accounts to enable voice-activated shopping, which is a feature on Amazon's devices powered by the digital assistant called Alexa.

Wang said: "Today is just the beginning of what's possible for shopping with the Google Assistant. Over the coming months, we'll continue to add new features and enable purchases for other apps and service."
Conserving nature in areas immersed in prolonged violent conflict is challenging. One such area is the Virunga National Park, located in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The park management tries to face these challenges head-on with the aim of protecting Virunga's rich biodiversity. In particular, the survival of the well-known endangered mountain gorilla is at stake.

A patrol post in Virunga. Using the army to fight illegal resource exploitation aggravates conflict. Author supplied

It would be wrong to question the objectives, dedication, and sacrifices made by the park management and staff. Many rangers have lost their lives in the line of duty. But based on our research in the region, we have doubts about the effects of the parks current policies on conflict and violence in the wider Virunga area.

As we show certain conservation practices  like strict law enforcement to combat illegal resources exploitation by armed groups  can inadvertently aggravate violent conflict. They may, for example, reinforce the links between populations and the armed groups on whom they depend for their livelihoods. This undermines conservation efforts in the long-term.

Devising alternative policies for addressing armed groups is no easy task. But as we discuss in a recent article, theres remarkably little debate on this issue. The media and policymakers pay limited attention to the effects of the parks policies on the dynamics of violent conflict. In fact, the dominant story line is that the Virunga National Park contributes to peace building. But the reality on the ground is much more complex, as we discovered talking to people who live in the area.

Battling armed groups

A plethora of armed groups operates in and around the Virunga National Park. Their presence isnt specific to the park: tens of dozens of armed groups roam the eastern Congo, reflecting a militarisation that has become self-sustaining. But theres a particularly high concentration of such groups in the park.

It provides cover and access to populations and natural resources needed to generate revenue. For instance armed groups are engaged in facilitating charcoal production, poaching, illegal fishing, and guerilla agriculture, or cultivation where its forbidden.

The effects of these activities on Virungas biodiversity are devastating. Illegal fishing contributes to the rapid depletion of fish stock, not least as it often takes place in the waters where fish breed. Charcoal production, for its part, is at the root of intense deforestation, which has grave consequences for the entire ecosystem.

But while depleting the parks resources, thousands of people living in the Virunga area depend on illegal resources exploitation for their livelihoods. They pay armed groups to access the park and protect such revenue generating activities. The resulting links between people and armed groups complicate efforts to tackle illegal resources exploitation.

As we discuss in recent work, the park management tries to address armed groups by collaborating with the Congolese army. So park rangers conduct joint operations with army soldiers to push armed groups out of the park. As a result, conservation has come to merge with counter-insurgency. But this approach is counterproductive.

Author supplied

Clashes in the park

First, the operations are not part of wider political and socio-economic measures to deal with armed groups. Thus far the Congolese government has failed to develop such measures. This means that the armed groups are temporarily dislocated, rather than dissolved. The result is a vicious cycle of attacks and counter-attacks between armed groups and the mixed units of park guards and army soldiers. This rising violence doesnt only increase the insecurity of inhabitants, but also puts the lives of the park guards further at risk.

Second, the tensions sparked by the operations seem to drive people closer to armed groups, causing the park guards in turn to develop growing animosity towards them. Because populations depend on illegal revenue generation activities in the park, and no alternative livelihood activities are offered after the operations, people feel they have little choice but to solicit the protection of armed groups to re-access the park.

Third, the operations feed into conflicts over land, local authority and between different communities. In the Rutshuru area, for instance, tensions between Hutu and Nande populations have intensified over the past months. This is partly due to military operations by the Congolese army against a Hutu armed group that operates in the park.

Any attack against an armed group alters the fragile power equilibrium between armed groups, allied elite networks, and associated civilian communities which often have the same ethnic background as armed group leaderships. So efforts to push armed groups out of the park risk setting in motion a chain of reactions that may spiral out of control.

Dominant stories

Its widely reported that the Virunga Park is plagued by armed conflict. But this reporting often echoes heart of darkness cliches or simple storylines pitting bad guys (savage rebels) against good guys (usually the park guards and staff). These narratives are rarely accompanied by indepth reflections on the causes of the violence, which tend to be simply ascribed to resources plunder.

Also, by stressing that Virunga is the most dangerous park in the world to work, it becomes taken for granted that conservation has merged with counter-insurgency.

Attention to spectacular figures like the heroic park guards and evil rebels overshadows attention to the people living in or along the borders of the park. Their voices are rarely heard. But their accounts give a different picture than mainstream representations and show how people are suffering under the rising insecurity.

Another reason why the parks current policies arent questioned is that donors and the park management have institutional interests in diffusing a seductive triple-win rhetoric. They emphasise that the park promotes at once conservation and development as well as peace building. This would prove that Virunga is an area that works compared with the rest of the DRC, which is viewed as a failed state. Such narratives of success ensure that aid, mainly coming from the European Commission, and donations continue to flow.

The current park management is based on a public private partnership (PPP) between the Congolese state agency for nature conservation and a British NGO, the Virunga Foundation. The NGO has assumed full responsibility for the parks management. As its a European NGO who supervises the park guards - who moreover have received military training by former Belgian commandos - western audiences appear to ask less questions about the ways in which violent force is employed and how this affects conflict dynamics and peoples security.

So the blind spots in the complex interplay between conservation and violent conflict stem to a large extent from deeply rooted unequal power relations between the North and the South. These inequalities cause certain narratives, policy options and voices to be heard, and others to be excluded. This means that the decolonisation of nature conservation is a precondition for its demilitarisation.


Water demand in the Western Cape is now projected to outstrip supply by 2019.

This was the warning given by the province's environmental affairs MEC Anton Bredell, who painted a bleak picture of the province's immediate water security.

Speaking at the Cape Town Press Club on Thursday, 16 February, Bredell told a tightly packed crowd, including protesters from the Philippi Horticultural Area, which provides a substantial quantity of vegetables for Cape Town, that the province was in an extended dry spell the likes of which had not been seen since 1983.

Five districts in the province have been declared disaster areas and dams in the Cape Town municipality had dropped below 35%.

The Eden and Overberg districts had enough water to last only the next six months.

Bredell said the population of the province was growing, increasing the demand for water. He believed the drought was going to get worse and said that consumers could soon see a 30% increase in food prices.

Some of the options to soften the effects of the drought included reusing water, desalination, getting water from the Berg River Scheme and the Table Mountain aquifer.

Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille handed over letters to households, which have recently consumed between 55,000 and 159,000 litres a month.

"I warned them to reduce their consumption immediately to around 20,000 litres per month or lower," said De Lille, who announced a new crackdown on water abusers starting on Monday.

"The identities of all customers who pay admission-of-guilt fines or who appear in court regarding contravention of level 3B water restrictions will be made public," said De Lille.

"The city will publish the lists of fines issued in various areas where contraventions take place, including street names but without street numbers.

"Similarly, street names of the top 100 highest consumers for each category of domestic, commercial and government, who are under investigation for contravening the restrictions, will be published, with the meter readings."

De Lille said her deputy, Ian Neilson, was dealing with industrial consumers.

Source: The Times
Investors face many questions when it comes to investing, from "by how much can I boost my tax return" to "is my investment Regulation 28 compliant?" To assist investors in answering theses questions instantly, PPS Investments has developed five calculators. Many South Africans question whether they are saving enough for retirement and how the rising cost of living affects their savings says Nick Battersby, CEO of PPS Investments. Now they can have the answer at the click of a button.

Nick Battersby

The PPS Investments Retirement Health Calculator, helps investors determine whether they are saving enough for retirement, based on their circumstances and goals, he says. Users simply provide how much they need at retirement, how much they have accumulated and how much they are currently contributing. Thereafter, the tool will calculate the shortfall or surplus between the predicted and required retirement savings. In addition, the calculator will give the investor the option of creating different scenarios by either changing their income expectations, adjusting their return target, or making additional contributions (among many others), to ensure the investor can work towards a comfortable retirement.

The second tool, the PPS Investments Retirement Savings Tax Calculator is designed to ensure that investors are making the most of the tax incentives offered by the South African Revenue Service, says Battersby. The investor inputs all their information (including taxable income, year-to-date contributions to retirement schemes and their age) and the tool will calculate the shortfall or surplus of the investors tax contributions as well as how much they need to add to their retirement annuity to take full advantage of tax incentives.

The sooner everyone embraces technological advancements, the better

PPS: Group CEO Izak Smit, states that the launch of the calculators is in line with the PPS Group strategy to implement many new technological advancements across its various business divisions, all with the purpose of making the lives of PPS members and clients easier. When an investor uses these digital tools to monitor their savings performance and makes financial planning decisions in conjunction with a qualified financial advisor, they will experience great benefits in the long run.

Izak Smit

He says that the digital forces in the world are too powerful for any company to fight and the sooner everyone embraces technological advancements, the better. At PPS we are keeping abreast of the technological movements in the industry and we aim to make it as easy as possible to do business with us. These calculators are the first of many more innovations to come from us.

Battersby says that PPS Investments also have additional calculators in place that assist investors in various other ways. The PPS Investments Effective Annual Cost (EAC) Calculator allows investors to see the impact of individual cost items attached to their investment. These are assigned into three broad categories of charges: administration, investment management, and advice charges. The EAC Calculator will also disclose any additional charges that fall outside of these three cost categories in a fourth cost category named other. The EAC is a fee disclosure method created by the Association for Savings and Investment South Africa (ASISA) to help standardise how fees are reflected across all providers. It helps investors compare the impact of costs on most investment products.

The PPS Investments Regulation 28 Tool will help investors ascertain whether their retirement fund savings are Regulation 28 compliant or not, says Battersby. Note that, in addition to this, there is a Regulation 28 validation service built in to each applicable online transaction to ensure Regulation 28 requirements are met. When a retirement fund is Regulation 28 compliant, it is deemed to be a suitable investment option for retirement savings. This is because exposure to high-risk assets is limited to specified restrictions (maximum limits of 75% to equity, 25% international and 25% property).

Lastly, there is a Capital Gains Tax (CGT) calculator built into the online instruction service that allows investors to calculate the illustrative CGT applicable should they decide to either switch between unit trusts or withdraw an investment, says Battersby.

It is important to note that these tools are illustrative and one should always seek the advice of a qualified and experienced financial planner, he states.

Anyone can access the calculators by following the link.
During the State of the Nation Address (SONA), Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti told parliament that a pre-colonial audit of land ownership, use and occupation is needed to speed up socio-economic reform, saying that a single law should be developed to address the issue of land restitution without compensation once the audit has been completed.

Dr John Purchase, Agbiz CEO responded that even if flagged as political rhetoric, the ministers push for restitution without compensation is unacceptable and irresponsible. Such a government programme would be totally outside of the spirit and letter of the current and negotiated Constitution of South Africa, he said.

If implemented, it will not only be a disaster for commercial farming and farmers, but it will also have catastrophic consequences for the whole South African economy, as well as for food security.

Farming debt

Purchase said that farming debt in South Africa is now estimated at close to R150 billion, much of which is collateralised or bonded through land by the banking system. If commercial farm land totally loses its value, which will happen when wholesale expropriation without compensation takes place, then the effect will be too ghastly to contemplate. Agbiz, however, believes that government and the minister will not go down this route, and if they do, there will no doubt be major challenges in the Constitutional Court.

In terms of a pre-colonial audit, our understanding is that the minister is referring to an audit of land ownership prior to 1652, the year that people of Caucasian descent established a refreshment post in the vicinity of what is Cape Town today.

The initial land restitution process

The initial land restitution process, as regulated through the Restitution of Land Rights Act (No 22 of 1994) and subsequent amendments, was necessary as there clearly have been and were legitimate cases of land expropriation and deprivation, especially after the introduction of the Natives Land Act, No 27 of 1913, over the past century. Legitimate claims were and still are verified and settled by the SA Land Claims Court, which has by and large provided a credible process. It is a moot point whether the 2014 Amendment to the Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Act of 2014, recently suspended by the Constitutional Court and referred back to Parliament, was the right approach to address outstanding or legitimate claims not originally lodged.

It is also a moot point whether the choice between monetary compensation or physical restitution of land ownership should have been provided, as statistics do now not indicate the progress made with land restitution, which is a critical pillar of land reform.

Probably the biggest failure of the Land Restitution programme, though, is that where physical land restitution took place, sustainable commercial farming operations on such returned land were not maintained and the necessary post-settlement support was not provided. There are many examples to prove this point and the minister, a couple of years ago in Parliament, stated that at that stage 95% of such land was no longer productive.

So while not a perfect programme at all, restitution in legitimate cases within a justified legal framework is necessary.

Redistribution as opposed to restitution

To our opinion there is no better system, except that through redistribution (as opposed to restitution) as an additional and critically important pillar to land reform, government can and does acquire commercial farmland on the market through its Pro-Active Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAS) for qualifying and deserving beneficiaries, and now transferring title deed through conditional registration to such beneficiaries, also through integrated financing arrangements.

Purchase concluded that this should continue and that the commercial sector can play a role in this transparent, predictable and market-driven land reform.
When was the last time you spent an entire day without thinking about your business? If you're still working on an answer to that question, chances are you're an entrepreneur. Or a rare breed of hyper-focused, success-driven, results producing go-getters.

The world needs us. As the global economy roars back to life after the Great Recession, the flame that sparks opportunity is the small business owner providing jobs in their local community. Unfortunately, entrepreneurship is struggling in South Africa.

Reporting indicates that the percentage of adult South Africans involved in entrepreneurial activity has dropped by 34% since 2013 Thats a tragic indicator. This means that we have to be even more focused on paving a path for success for those that remain in the fight.

Creating an echo-chamber of success

In my own entrepreneurial pursuits, I have witnessed how easy it is to let the voice of doubt and fear shape your perspective. Creating something of value, with little more than a dream and a heart full of passion, takes long-term focus and resiliency.

Growing up, my mother always used to tell me that You are who you surround yourself with. In my life, although I hate to admit it, shes been right. My greatest successes have been directly impacted and enabled by the people around me.

My inner-circle has been filtered to primarily include individuals with the following characteristics:

An attitude of gratitude : My friends that were miserable and ungrateful for the opportunities that life gave them were toxic. Their negativity would infect me like a drive-killing virus. If someone has given up and wants to blame the world for their poor choices, they will wear you down over time.

: My friends that were miserable and ungrateful for the opportunities that life gave them were toxic. Their negativity would infect me like a drive-killing virus. If someone has given up and wants to blame the world for their poor choices, they will wear you down over time. Resourceful : Life is an uphill battle. Its a lot easier when you can step back and repurpose the tools and opportunities that surround you. I constantly learn from resourceful people that view every challenge as an opportunity to become bigger, better and stronger.

: Life is an uphill battle. Its a lot easier when you can step back and repurpose the tools and opportunities that surround you. I constantly learn from resourceful people that view every challenge as an opportunity to become bigger, better and stronger. Failures: This characteristic might sound like something I would try to distance myself from. But, youd be surprised at how valuable failure is in business. Those that experience failure, learn quickly, and keep on moving can teach you more than a lifetime of business seminars and e-books.

The drive home is an opportunity for learning

Beyond my inner-circle of friends, Ive gained great insights from both inspirational, informative podcasts and small business podcasts. I look at inspiration the same was a mechanic looks at preventative maintenance. Over the course of long hours in front of my computer, I am depleting a limited supply of mental fortitude and heart-felt inspiration. I need to refill it to have a well-functioning business.

My drive to and from my office is a unique opportunity to refill my mental and spiritual tank. Podcasts provide an updated view on the world of business, people and personal development.

Fresh perspectives provide new opportunities

Your business will only be as smart and cunning as you are. Thats a weakness. It means that your enterprise is limited by your perspective on the world around us. By learning to actively listen to the unique perspectives of the people whose guidance and input you trust, youll gain a fresh lens to discover new opportunities.

Nurture relationships and actively listen to those you trust. Youll uncover opportunities and solutions to problems that would have never occurred to you independently.

Knowledge of current events improve likeability and trust

In conversation, hyper-focused entrepreneurs can find themselves limited in the subjects they are comfortable talking about. I know I had this problem early on. I was neck-deep in my work, and there was little else on my mind. When talking to people who werent involved or interested in my enterprise, I came across as boring and disengaged.

By taking time out of every day to learn about current events and the things that impact our shared experience, youll improve your relatability. This is critical for entrepreneurs that want to build their network of business and personal contacts.

Actively listen, engage and learn from everyone you meet. Its amazing what doors can open if you reach out to people with a smile, friendly attitude and a desire to make a positive impact.  Sir Richard Branson
Rockcastle Global Real Estate, which invests in Eastern Europe, grew its aggregate distribution 12.1% in the six months to December because of a strong performance from its Polish shopping centres. On Wednesday, 15 February, CEO Spiro Noussis said his company changed its financial year-end from June 30 to December 31 in order to better align itself with the market in which it operated.

It therefore released financial results for the eighteen months to December, wherein it declared a distribution of 5.189 US cents per share for the period July 1 2016 to December 31.

This, combined with 4.782c per share for the period January 1 2016 to June 30 and 4.631c per share for the period July 1 2015 to December 31, resulted in an aggregate distribution of 14.602c per share for the 18-month period to December 31 2016.

Noussis said Rockcastle expected to be 90% invested in direct property and 10% in listed securities by the end of 2017.

Rockcastle is in the process of merging with Romanian shopping centre owner New Europe Property Investments (Nepi). The combined entity will be the largest Eastern European real estate investment trust in the world, with a market capitalisation of about R80bn.

The merger is expected tobe implemented with an effective share swap ratio of 4.5 Rockcastle shares for every one Nepi share.During the reporting period, Rockcastle concluded 1.08bn of direct property acquisitions in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Its portfolio of retail centres represented 52% of investment assets, based on gross listed security exposure.

"Total capital invested in Central and Eastern Europe now amounts to $1.29bn and is expected to increase further in the 2017 financial year," said Noussis.

Source: Business Day
NMMU is offering a R50,000 reward for information on the petrol-bombing of a building on its south campus at the weekend and two earlier cases.

The reward is dependent on the information leading to the successful arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators.

Police are investigating a case of arson after a bag of stones was thrown through the glass door of the procurement building on Saturday night, and two petrol bombs set off inside.

NMMU spokeswoman Zandile Mbabela said: "It is clear that there is a small group of violent individuals wishing to cause wanton destruction.

"We call on anyone with information that could lead to the successful identification and prosecution of arsonists involved in all three cases."

Mbabela said the university had urgently called on the police to arrest the arsonists.

"Arsonists have no place at a public university and they are criminals," she said.

Anyone with information about the three attacks can contact the police detectives on 0823030201 or 0746215039.

Students and staff can also report suspicious activity to (041)5049111. Mbabela said the number had been established specifically for tip-offs.

"All information will be handled in the strictest confidence to protect sources," Mbabela said.

Source: Herald
Clean-up in the marketing aisle! Social media has swiped its hand across B2B and B2C and left marketing in disarray. Watch your step, because H2H is demanding shelf space.

When social media stepped in as the new guy in marketing, he bought with him a term, which no one has taken seriously enough. Human-to-human (H2H) marketing is not new, but business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) certainly is old.

Honestly, Im feeling old. I feel it most when I have a brainstorming session with my content and community manager for our social media clients. My business hasnt crossed over into the digital marketing space because my passion is most definitely the social of media. There is the occasional clash with my team over content strategy and online engagement, and its not our fault. My role as middleman between my youthful team and clients needing to make sales has dug a trench in the sand. While we all squabble about targeting the correct 'audience' or talking to each human as an individual, our potential customers are finding cover in the trenches.

Brands consume more tweets on my timeline than the connections I genuinely made when Twitter began. Facebook is the biggest advertising platform on earth, and Instagram has moved from being the only place where we were free of marketing, to a brand haven for new promotional opportunities. I know this because strategy meetings are swamped with the demand to find brand voice through the swarm of marketing noise. Yet, all the while, the consumer is hiding in the trenches, ducking the bombardment of outdated marketing and old school advertising.

In a quick strategy, I reached out to my disheartened Twitter community. I asked them for their expectation of a brand, online: 53% said they wanted acknowledgement as an individual; and over 20% said brands didnt care about them, so why should they care back? The remainder were interested in what a brand has to say, yet millions is pumped into reaching 'target market' and not enough attention is paid to the human being who cares to listen.

H2H is not a strategy, it is a demand. Social networks were born from the human elements of connection, curiosity and communication. Marketers ourselves are frustrated with being treated as consumers within the social space, yet as we step into a strategy session, we leave our humanness at the door and send out the army to invade 'consumers', 'audience', 'target market' and 'demographic'.

The human era of marketing is one of encouragement to share relationships online. For the brand to become a friend, with a listening ear and a story to tell. For the consumer to desire a connection to the brand, just as they would with their family and friends. Emotion, support and commitment are human desires which should be the foundation of any brand strategy, with the ultimate message being, 'I am your brand and I hear you, I see you, I care for you'.
This is because countries with very different social and economic realities participate, so countries such as Norway, Russia, Chile, Lebanon and Thailand are all being compared against each other. And this is without the difference in socio-economic backgrounds of these different countries being taken into account.

If the latest world education rankings are anything to go by, Turkey and Thailand perform poorly when it comes to their students achievement in science. But our analysis shows that if you look at the rankings differently (from an even starting point), both Thailand and Turkey may in fact be just as good as some of the high performing Asian countries.

Our analysis is a much fairer comparison, as it allows for the differences in wealth and social development in which students learn and teachers teach. It builds upon our previous work, where we produced and analysed an indicator of effectiveness. The effectiveness indicator ranks performance of countries as if they all had similar socio-economic conditions  thus levelling the playing field.

This makes it easier to see which countries are actually the most effective at educating their students, with social economic factors like wealth taken into account.

New style rankings

The graph below shows how countries are ranked in their effectiveness. At the top of the effectiveness ranking, we find education systems such as Singapore and Japan, which are also generally high performing in PISA and TIMSS.

TIMSS-PISA 2015. Values higher than zero (towards the right-hand side) indicate that students in those education systems perform above expectations, meaning the education system is effective. Those values below zero, to the left, indicate ineffective education systems. Author provided click to enlarge

But our analysis also revealed that countries such as Turkey and Thailand are actually highly effective and perform above expectations in terms of education. This is despite both countries having an overall lower performance score in the global education rankings.

As the graph shows, the performance of education systems in Turkey and Thailand is underestimated if guided by country rankings alone. This is because although these countries perform below average and rather poorly in PISA, they are as effective as high performing Asian countries.

This means that Turkey and Thailand would be ranked among the highest performing countries in the world  if there was no socio-economic differences between countries.

TIMSS-PISA 2015. Effectiveness vs performance according to rankings. The horizontal line at 0 separates effective from ineffective systems and the vertical line at 500 indicates average performance for TIMSS and OECD education systems. Author provided click to enlarge

Our analysis also shows education systems in Norway are ineffective, and the same was found to be true of Australia. So while these countries are ranked highest in human development in the world, they are not among the highest performing in these international tests when we level the playing field.

On the lower end of the effectiveness ranking, we find Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. These countries are also among the lowest performing in PISA rankings and could be doing much better for their high income per capita levels.

Fair comparison

It is clear then that overall performance rankings alone do not make a fair comparison when it comes to judging the quality of education in different countries. And our analysis shows how the socioeconomic conditions of a country are vitally important when comparing global performance in education rankings.

Using our data, there would certainly be a case for countries like Chile, Malta, Georgia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to look to Turkey and Thailand to work out how to improve their education systems. And as our analysis shows, global education rankings are probably not the best measure of educational performance after all.


NMMU students have resorted to sleeping in TV rooms and laboratories while others squat with friends and family amid what the Black Students Stokvel (BSS) has called a housing crisis at the university.

A change in the institution's debt resolution programme and slow or no responses from the National Students Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) are among the reasons for the university's inability to provide accommodation for all the students who need it.

Some students say they simply cannot afford off-campus accommodation.

The BSS has so far assisted 60 students with accommodation at a hall which students have renamed Marikana House on the south campus, where they sleep on mattresses.

Second-year LLB law student Lawrence Lwanga, 20, of the BSS, said the organisation had called for students who needed accommodation to come forward.

"The numbers are not reflective of the magnitude of the problem because we have only been in operation since Friday," he said.

Lwanga said students arrived on campus and were left stranded.

They went to the department of student housing where they were then referred to off-campus accommodation, which was already full.

"Students have nowhere to go " they sleep on car park benches, in labs and even classrooms," Lwanga said.

Last year, the university allowed students who fell in the zero-expected family contribution programme to register without a down payment and have their debts for 2015 "resolved".

But NMMU said recently it would not accept any new students on the programme.

Final-year information technology student Lindi Ntakana, 23, of Bizana, said he was squatting with a friend as his debt resolution status was pending approval.

"After being kicked out of temporary accommodation at the Sanlam Student Village because I was done with my exam, I was stranded and had to sleep on a couch in the TV room at Veritas Residence on campus," Ntakana said.

His debt of R23,000 continued to be a stumbling block to his registration.

First-year BA student Nkqubela Chithelo, 21, of Knysna, said he was struggling to get accommodation as he waited for the NSFAS to respond to his application.

He is living with relatives at Wells Estate in Port Elizabeth.

"I have had to miss my 7.45am and 6.20pm lectures because of transport," Chithelo said.

Second-year public relations student Sive Kupati, 20, of Mthatha, said not having accommodation had been stressful.

Kupati registered through the debt resolution programme at NMMU last year.

He is staying temporarily at Kings Residence in North End, where he was placed by the student housing department.

But he will have to move out again tomorrow because his NSFAS issues have not been resolved.

"It's been very hard. I am finding it hard to concentrate in class and I'm even thinking of dropping out," he said.

Two stranded NMMU students, who did not want to be named, have spent the past five days sleeping on benches at the train station.

The students, one from the Northern Cape and the other from Gauteng, are unable to afford the R1000 deposit and R2300 monthly rent for off-campus accommodation.

The 25-year-old from Hanover said he had high hopes of studying BA Administration, but it would appear his dream had been dashed.

For the past five days they have been sleeping at the station, unable to bathe.

"It's hard. I cannot attend lectures in this condition. The whole episode makes me feel bad. I am very angry," he said.

"We are thinking of hiking [home]."

Shaun Dundelo, the EFF Student Command representative in the interim SRC structure, said they had assisted more than 100 students to access temporary accommodation.

He attributed the lack of available housing to the South Point residence in Central no longer being NMMU-accredited.

"The capacity of South Point is about 800 beds and without these beds there is a gap. This is the main problem," Dundelo said.

He hoped more students would be accommodated after an additional 250 beds at accredited off-campus properties were made available.

"The institution needs to build more on-campus accommodation and if that's not possible, on-campus accommodation should be made available to first-year students while senior students stay off-campus," Dundelo said.

NMMU spokeswoman Zandile Mbabela said the university could only accommodate 3500 students at on-campus residences.

"We have heard rumours of students who are sleeping in the labs but this has yet to be verified," she said.

"The university staff has provided accommodation to some of the stranded students out of compassion."

Mbabela said the student housing department had not been officially made aware of students who did not have accommodation.

She said facilities and maintenance problems were among the reasons cited for South Point losing its accredited status.

NSFAS spokesman Kagisho Mamabolo said the scheme had processed all applications from NMMU and had already approved more than 2496 from new students.

"We have so far sent messages to close to 200,000 applicants [across the country] and we are sure that we will complete the messages before the end of this month," Mamabolo said."

Additional reporting by Hendrick Mphande

Source: Herald
The Dutch government on Thursday, 16 February, proposed a draft law enabling it to block or annul takeover bids of communications firms by foreign companies "in the name of national security".

 Andrea De Martin  123RF.com

A month ahead of general elections, already marred by concerns of foreign hacking into Dutch government websites, the economic affairs ministry said such a law was needed to protect "confidentiality and the public interest".

"The Netherlands benefits from the fact that we have an open economy where the market does its job. So we take more business from abroad than the other way around," said Minister of Economic Affairs Henk Kamp in a statement.

"But there is no gain to our country from takeovers by businesses with links to criminal activities, or which are financially weak or do not have a transparent ownership structure."

He stressed the law would be aimed at companies active in telecommunications, data collection and the internet.

The government would also examine rules for different sectors such as the post, to ensure continuity of service.

The Dutch postal service PostNL last year several times rejected a takeover bid from its neighbour in Belgium, Bpost.

In October 2013, Mexican telecoms giant America Movil, owned by billionaire Carlos Slim, had to abandon a hostile takeover bid for KPN after an independent Dutch foundation linked to the Dutch telecoms operator moved to block the deal.

Source: AFP
There are a number of possible reasons that could arise that lead to a tenant wanting to terminate their lease agreement before it has run it course, however, it is possible for them to get out of a lease agreement without being in breach of the contract?

The answer to the question will depend on the cancellation clause within the lease agreement. Unless there are grounds for cancellation of the agreement, which are stipulated in the cancellation clause, it can be rather difficult to get out of a lease agreement without any recourse. Even if the lease agreement doesnt contain a cancellation clause, the tenant can still be considered to be in breach of the agreement if they decide to terminate the contract prematurely. If the tenant has breached the contract, the landlord is within their rights to demand that the tenant pays the rental amount due to them for the remainder of the agreed upon tenancy period.

Mutual agreement

If a landlord has met all the conditions of the lease, the tenant cannot simply terminate the lease agreement. They will have to discuss the matter with the landlord and possibly come to a mutual agreement, such as another tenant taking over the current lease agreement or subletting the property for the remainder of the lease period. It is imperative that any agreement made between the two parties is put in writing to avoid any confusion or backlash further down the line.

The Consumer Protection Act (CPA) allows tenants to provide the landlord with 20 days notice if they choose to cancel their lease before it expires, however, this does not completely absolve the tenant of any responsibility. While a tenant has the right to move, if the landlord has met the requirements of the lease, they are within their rights to recoup reasonable costs that they may incur during the search for a replacement tenant. In certain cases, the tenant might be required to pay for the loss of rental income, advertising the property and letting agents commission. While the CPA does not stipulate what would be considered a reasonable figure, the landlord cannot make up exorbitant figures and charge the tenant what they feel like. It is also illegal for the landlord to withhold paying the tenant their deposit unless there are substantial damages to the property which were caused by the tenant.

Breach of the contract

In the instance where the landlord has not met their end of the bargain and is therefore in material breach of the lease agreement, the tenant will be able to cancel the lease agreement early without them breaching the contract agreement and paying the penalties. Examples of this are if the property has become inhabitable or the landlord has failed to maintain aspects of the property that they have stipulated in the lease agreement that they would - the tenant is within their right to cancel the agreement. However, in this situation, the onus is on the tenant to prove that the landlord is in breach of the contract and has failed to uphold their side of the deal.

Tenants who have reached the end of their lease agreement and are planning to move should check their contract to see whether it contains a renewal clause, which will stipulate the amount of notice time the landlord requires. If the lease agreement has expired and the tenant is still living in the property, through their actions they have effectively already entered into a new lease agreement and will need to follow the right procedures to cancel the contract. If the original lease agreement does not include either a cancellation clause or a renewal clause, the tenant must give the landlord one months written notice before its expiration.
Air France-KLM said on Thursday profits rose sharply in 2016, but issued a cautious outlook for the current year in face of global uncertainty and aggressive competition in the sector.

The French-Dutch airline said in a statement that its bottom-line net profit soared to 792 million euros (US$840 million) last year, up from 118 million euros in 2016.

The headline figure was boosted by one-off gains from the sale of a 49.9% stake in the onboard catering arm Servair to Switzerland's Gategroup.

Underlying or operating profit grew by 34% to 1.05 billion euros as passenger numbers were up 4% at 93.4 million.

However, revenues declined by 3.3% to 24.8 billion euros, the statement said.

Lower unit revenues

"While the fall in the oil price significantly reduced the group's costs, the geopolitical context, competition and industry overcapacity all resulted in lower unit revenues," chief executive Jean-Marc Janaillac explained.

The airline said lower oil prices cut its fuel bill by nearly 26% in 2016. The French business, Air France, booked a decline in operating profit, while the Dutch arm, KLM, saw underlying earnings rise.

That was due to the impact on business of a series of jihadist attacks in France, as well as the costs of two flight crew strikes, the carrier explained. But Air France-KLM had rolled out measures to address the situation, it said.

"We are resolutely committed to regaining the offensive ... and improving our competitiveness. In an economic and geopolitical context that remains very uncertain, and faced with aggressive competition, the status quo is not an option," said CEO Janaillac.

"Resilient start"

Looking ahead, Air France-KLM said it got off to a "resilient start" to the current year.

Nevertheless, "the global context remains highly uncertain regarding the geopolitical and economic environment in which we operate, fuel prices and the ongoing overcapacity on several markets, resulting in pressure on unit revenues," the group cautioned.

Air France-KLM said it was targeting a capacity increase of 3.0-3.5% for 2017, "in order to regain the offensive in long-haul and to improve the performance in medium-haul."

And it also aimed to cut costs by "a minimum of 1.5%," it said.

Source: AFP
One of the themes at the recent 2017 Mining Indaba revolved around power supply to mines on the continent. With official power distribution grids only covering around 40% of Africa, a substantial number of mining operations are responsible for their own power generation.

Even mines located within reach of their national power grids do not always enjoy access to reliable electricity. In some parts of Africa, aging infrastructure causes unexpected outages. In other parts of the continent, such as hydropower-reliant countries in drought-stricken sub-Saharan Africa, utilities have been forced to cut power to mines to ensure adequate electric supplies for residential customers. In Zambia, for example, the government cut power supplies to some of the larger mines in the region by between 20% and 40%.

Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are but a handful of additional countries where mines report inadequate supply from the grid to run their operations. In response, many mining companies are looking to become self-reliant when it comes to power generation. The problem here is that mining  not power generation  is their core competency.

Eliminate power challenges

By farming out electric generation to a fast-track power provider  a company with mobile power plants that can be transported, installed and operational anywhere in the world in 30-90 days  mining companies can eliminate a variety of challenges that take resources away from their core focus of extracting minerals.

Topping the list of avoided challenges: the need to invest large amounts of capital or secure long-term financing to build a permanent power plant. Fast-track power generation is treated as a monthly operating expense that includes a fixed cost for access to the generating capacity and a variable cost for the power consumed. There is no large-scale, long-term commitment, other than providing the land for the generating equipment and the fuel to run the power plant.

Hiring and managing personnel to run the power plant is another potential challenge that mining companies sidestep by outsourcing their power generation. At APR Energy, we provide full staffing to install, operate and maintain our plants  typically hiring and training up to 70% of our employees from the local community.

Scalability, a priority

Given the growing number of power providers in the generation sphere, it is important for a mine to look for certain important characteristics in a service provider. Scalability should be high on the clients list of priorities, since all mining operations have a need to be able to scale production up or down depending on where they are in the exploration/development/production cycle. A power provider with a modular approach to its generation capacity and a large fleet of equipment is therefore vital.

The power providers ability to offer current technology should also be thoroughly investigated, since outdated generating equipment can be less efficient  not to mention less reliable  resulting in higher fuel consumption and generation costs. Newer equipment also offers reduced emissions, which is an increasingly important consideration for mining companies looking to improve their CSR story.

Lastly, the speed of deployment is paramount, and service providers with a successful track record of delivering reliable fast-track power generation are indeed harder to find.
Chinese electronics giant Huawei is joining forces with the Philippines' largest telco in the hopes of rolling out a 5G wireless network in the Asian archipelago by 2020.

 wklzzz via 123RF.com

Filipinos are among the world's most active internet users, but the country has one of the slowest average connection speeds.

Smartphone usage is also steadily growing with about 33 million people owning devices according to researchers.

Philippine Long Distance and Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Huawei agreed last month to conduct joint research and development into fifth-generation broadband wireless technology for the Philippines.

Leading in research and development

"They are one of the companies that are leading in the research and development of 5G technology," PLDT spokesman Ramon Isberto said about the Chinese firm, adding it is already involved in PLDT's landline and mobile phone services.

Chinese telecoms behemoth Huawei is the world's number three smartphone maker, operating in 170 countries.

The company has laid out an ambitious agenda for the US and global markets - hoping to become the top producer of smartphones in the next five years despite controversy over its ties to Beijing.

Ren Zhengfei, a former People's Liberation Army (PLA) engineer, founded the company in 1987 but his PLA service has led to concerns of close links with the Chinese military and government, which Huawei has consistently denied.

Rocky relations

The US and Australia have previously barred Huawei from involvement in broadband projects over espionage fears.

Relations between Manila and Beijing have been rocky amid conflicting claims over the South China Sea and China's militarisation of the resource-rich waterway.

But under Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who won May elections in a landslide, there has been a warming of bilateral ties as Duterte steers Manila away from the US - its long-time defence treaty partner.

Isberto said the controversy over Huawei's links with the Chinese government was not a concern, stressing that foreign companies only provide technology.

"At the end of the day, we run our networks," he said.

Source: AFP
According to the Direct Selling Association of South Africa, this succesful sector provides jobs for 1.1 million independent business owners, which is increasing by over 13% annually. It contributes more than R11 billion in sales to the South African economy and revenue is anticipated to grow by at least 7% this year.

Ernest du Toit, chairman of the Direct Selling Association

Direct selling is tried-and-tested and remains as relevant today, in the age of social media, big data and digital marketing, as it ever was, says Ernest du Toit, chairman of the Direct Selling Association. He is someone who should know, having effectively grown one of South Africas most successful beauty brands almost entirely through direct sales.

Instead of banging out tons of information on digital platforms and passively waiting for the sales to happen, direct sellers actively follow up on leads, make sense of swathes of information for consumers and provide the personal touch that many brands advertise but dont deliver.

From a business perspective, direct selling also has some distinct advantages. Research proves that up to 57% of purchase decisions around beauty and health products are made based on personal endorsement.

Another benefit is that unlike retail outlets, direct selling is not restricted to specific locations, but can extend as far as a salesperson can travel or deliver the product. It is also an effective way for businesses to extend their reach to rural areas without huge capital outlay, costly infrastructure and fragmented marketing campaigns.

Good image upheld

While the numbers and business opportunities may appear compelling, sceptics will argue that direct sellings image problem trumps these.

Du Toit concedes that while some bygone practices, a lack of training and occasional instances of unprofessional behaviour have contributed to this perception, he is adamant that in South Africa, the DSA has over many years, got the house in order.

An independent direct selling administrator enforces the DSAs stringent Code of Conduct to which all its current 36 members must abide.

As well as defining ethical sales practices, providing recourse and redress for consumers and sanction for non-compliant members, amongst other provisions, the code also requires members to provide comprehensive training, both in acceptable sales methods and product knowledge.

The Code sets the standards for member companies, the direct sales agents to whom they offer the business opportunity as well as the relationships between the parties  and it is tough. It exceeds existing legal requirements and has been aligned with the Consumer Protection Act.

Work-integrated learning projects

However, there is more to building consumer confidence and enhancing the reputation of the sector than by waving a big stick.

Together with the University of Johannesburg, the DSA has co-developed a work-integrated learning project to provide practical experience for students studying personal selling and sales management.

The project not only seeks to enhance students employment prospects when they complete the course, but also how to establish and grow their own direct selling businesses.

It has the dual benefits of enhancing standards and professionalism in the industry and encouraging the establishment of micro, small and medium businesses in a growth sector of the economy.

Since inception, more than 14,000 student have benefited from the programme, have made sales exceeding R22m and have earned more than R8m.

The DSA has taken on a lot: setting rigorous standards, enforcing these, providing succour for consumers, improving training, challenging outdated perceptions and enhancing the sectors reputation, all while reinforcing the benefits of membership.

We are being ambitious but make no apologies or concessions for this. If we succeed we will double the size of the sector with all resultant benefits for the economy, businesses, job-seekers and consumers alike, concludes du Toit.

For more information, click here.
Cathay Pacific has partnered with Michelin-starred Italian restaurant at The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong, Tosca to launch an in-flight menu that will be served to first and business class passengers onboard selected Cathay Pacific flights departing from Hong Kong to a variety of long-haul destinations - including South Africa, Australia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America - from 1 February to 30 April.

Culinary maestro Pino Lavarra has designed a delicious menu for Cathay Pacific, with an inventive approach, while staying true to the rustic Italian flavours he is known for.

Dishes on the menu include:

 Octopus terrine, lemon, and parsley salad, which will delight passengers with an interesting contrast of temperature and texture between the terrine and the seared octopus layered on top.

 Beef short ribs, tomato Pizzaiola sauce, and eggplant. Succulent and tender, the short ribs are paired with palate-pleasing herbed tomato sauce and mashed potato.

 Lobster, almonds, romaine and pink pepper dressing, which features imported tomatoes from Europe, with the dressing created specially by Chef Pino, adding considerable flavour to the salad.

In-flight dining with Tosca

Cathay Pacific Head of Catering, Aaron Claxton said: We are committed to providing an exceptional Life Well Travelled experience from the very moment our passengers book their flights with us, right through to their destination and beyond. We are, therefore, delighted to be partnering with The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong and their Michelin-starred restaurant Tosca to bring modern interpretations of classic Italian dishes onto our aircrafts.

Chef Pino added that: In the sky, there are no limits to your imagination. When working with Cathay Pacific, I was particularly intrigued by the concept of creating intense flavour pairings that can offset the effect that flying at high altitude can have on the sensitivity of our taste buds.
The Third Jyotirlinga  Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga Faith Mysticism oi-Lekhaka

The city of Ujjain, Maharashtra, is rich in culture and historical value. It also holds a special place in the hearts of the Hindus around the world as a city of immense spiritual significance.

Throughout the history, Ujjain has been the capital city for many rulers and has been called Avantika, Amaravati and Indrapuri in the past. It is also called 'Swarna Shringa' due to the many temples and their towers of gold in the city.

The city is one of the seven cities where a soul can attain salvation or 'moksha'. This city is full of holy places. It contains 28 thirthas, 7 sagara teerthas. In all, the city has around 30 Shiva Lingas and the most important one among them is the Mahakal Jyotirlinga.

Also Read: Here is the story of the second Jyotirlinga

The age of the Mahakal Jyotirlinga is hard to ascertain, but it is thought to be installed before the 3rd or 4th century BC, as the temple finds mention in the literature of that period. The present temple was built in the 18th century.

Sree Mahakaleshwar Temple

The temple is built in three floors, each containing the Lingas known as Mahakaleshwara, Omkareshwara and Nagachandreshwara. The Linga of Nagachandreshwara can be visited only during the festival of Nagapanchami. There is a large lake in the vicinity of the temple and is called the Koti Teertha.

The Jyotirlinga of Mahakaleshwar is huge and it is silver plated. The roof of the garbha-griha is silver plated too. Smaller images of Goddess Parvati, Lord Ganesha and Lord Kartikeya are also placed in the garbha-griha. There is a lamp called the 'Nanda deepa', which is eternally lit and is not allowed to go off. A beautiful metallic statue of Nandi is installed in the hallway.

Legends of Mahakal Jyotirlinga

As with most temples in India, the Mahakal Jyotirlinga Temple is also associated with many stories and legends. Continue reading to learn more about a few of them.

The Story of the Demon Dushan

In the city of Ujjain, there lived a Brahmin man with four of his sons. They were all staunch devotees of Lord Shiva. Meanwhile, the king of demons called Dushan had received a boon from Lord Brahma. He was using this boon to trouble the good people of the world.

The Demon Dushan reached Ujjain and started to torture the Brahmins living there. But they were so engrossed in the worship of the Lord that they were not affected at all. But he persisted and kept attacking them.

This made Lord Shiva very angry. When Dushan attacked the Brahmins the next time, the earth cracked open and Lord Shiva appeared in the form of Mahakal. Lord Mahakal warned Dushan to mend his ways, but he did not pay any attention to it.

This further enraged Lord Mahakal and he therefore burnt Dushan to ashes with just a grunt. But that did not calm the anger of Lord Mahakal. Lord Shiva, Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and the other Gods appeared and prayed to Lord Shiva to calm him down.

Also Read: If you want to please lord Shiva, here are the powerful mantras you must chant

The Story Of A Boy Called Shrikhar

Shrikhar was a boy who lived in the city of Ujjain. He was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. The King of Ujjain, Chandrashekhar was performing a pooja for Lord Shiva. Shrikhar wanted to join their entourage but was turned away.

Saddened, he ran away into the forest and started praying to Lord Shiva. It was then that he overheard a few people talking about their plan to attack the city of Ujjain. They were from the enemy city and had planned to attack with a huge army.

The boy started praying to Lord Shiva for protection against the brewing trouble. It is said that Lord Shiva appeared and destroyed the enemies of Ujjain. He also promised to stay in the city to offer protection to the residents of the city.

Unique Feature Of The Mahakaleshwar Temple

The Bhasm-Arati is one of the main attractions at the Mahakaleshwar Temple. The Aarti of the Linga happens once every day, early in the morning. After the abhishek of the Linga is performed, the Linga is covered with 'Chitabhasma' - the ash from the cremation grounds. Chitabhasma is thought to be unholy and the scriptures ask humans to bathe and cleanse themselves after coming in contact with the Linga. But when in contact with the Linga, the Chitabhasma becomes holy and sacred.

Festival At The Mahakal Jyotirlinga

The best time to visit the temple is during the Mahashivaratri festival. The occasion is celebrated with great grandeur and is a sight to behold for devotees and tourists alike.

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PR Newswire

HOUSTON, Feb. 17, 2017

HOUSTON, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Harvest Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE:HNR) ("Harvest" or the "Company") today announced that its Board of Directors has adopted a Rights Agreement (the "Rights Plan") designed to preserve its substantial tax assets. As of December 31, 2016, Harvest had cumulative net operating loss carryforwards ("NOLs") of approximately $56.0 million, which can be utilized in certain circumstances to offset possible future U.S. taxable income.

After considering, among other matters, the estimated value of the Company's tax benefits, the potential for diminution upon an ownership change, and the risk of an ownership change occurring, the Board of Directors adopted the Rights Plan, which is intended to protect Harvest's tax benefits and to allow all of Harvest's stockholders to realize the long-term value of their investment in the Company. Harvest's ability to use these tax benefits would be substantially limited if it were to experience an "ownership change" as defined under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code. An ownership change would occur if stockholders that own (or are deemed to own) at least five percent or more of Harvest's outstanding common stock increased their cumulative ownership in the Company by more than 50 percentage points over their lowest ownership percentage within a rolling three-year period. The Rights Plan reduces the likelihood that changes in Harvest's investor base would limit Harvest's future use of its tax benefits, which would significantly impair the value of the benefits to all stockholders.

In connection with the adoption of the Rights Plan, the Board of Directors declared a non-taxable dividend of one preferred share purchase right for each share of the Company's common stock outstanding as of February 17, 2017. Effective as of the close of business today, if any person or group acquires five percent or more of the outstanding shares of the Company's common stock, or if a person or group that already owns five percent or more of the Company's common stock acquires additional shares ("acquiring person or group"), then, subject to certain exceptions, there would be a triggering event under the Rights Plan. The rights would then separate from the Company's common stock and entitle the registered holder to purchase from the Company one one-hundredth of a share of the Series D Preferred Stock of the Company, at a price of $26, subject to adjustment. Rights held by the acquiring person or group will become void and will not be exercisable.

The Board of Directors has the discretion to exempt certain transactions, persons or entities from the operation of the Rights Plan if it determines that doing so would not jeopardize or endanger the Company's use of its tax assets or is otherwise in the best interests of the Company. The Board also has the ability to amend or terminate the Rights Plan prior to a triggering event. The rights issued under the Rights Plan will expire on February 17, 2020, or on an earlier date if certain events occur, as described more fully in the Rights Plan that the Company will file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC").

Additional information regarding the Rights Plan will be contained in a Form 8-K and in a Registration Statement on Form 8-A that Harvest is filing with the SEC.

Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP acted as legal counsel to the Company.

About Harvest Natural ResourcesHarvest Natural Resources, Inc., headquartered in Houston, Texas, is an independent energy company with exploration and exploitation assets in Gabon. For more information visit Harvest's website at www.harvestnr.com.

CONTACT:Stephen C. HaynesVice President, Chief Financial Officer(281) 899-5716

Forward Looking StatementsThis press release includes "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. Forward-looking statements give our current expectations, opinion, belief or forecasts of future events and performance. A statement identified by the use of forward-looking words including "may," "expects," "projects," "anticipates," "plans," "believes," "estimate," "will," "should," and certain of the other foregoing statements may be deemed forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the use of NOLs to offset future taxable income and the use of the Rights Plan to prevent an "ownership change" as defined in Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code. For Harvest, particular risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: the difficulty of determining all of the facts relative to Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code, unreported buying and selling activity by stockholders and unanticipated interpretations of the Internal Revenue Code and regulations, our ability to generate taxable income to utilize all or a portion of the NOLs prior to the expiration thereof, the possibility that the Rights Plan may not successfully deter stockholders from triggering an ownership change through the purchase of common stock of Harvest, risks associated with the enforceability of the Rights Plan under Delaware law or other applicable law, risks that the Rights Plan may have an adverse effect on the value of Harvest's common stock, and other risks and uncertainties discussed in our filings with the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. By issuing forward-looking statements based on current expectations, opinions, views or beliefs, Harvest has no obligation and, except as required by law, is not undertaking any obligation, to update or revise these statements or provide any other information relating to such statements.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/harvest-natural-resources-adopts-shareholder-rights-plan-to-preserve-valuable-net-operating-losses-300409757.html

SOURCE Harvest Natural Resources, Inc.
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What do a tiger, rat, dog, ox, and pig have in common with a bell and a drum? I have to admit that a few months ago I would have had absolutely no idea. But Im somewhat the wiser now.

I am at a historical bell museum located in Hai-dian District of Beijing.

Bells are considered auspicious according to Chinese tradition. During major ceremonies they are often rung 108 times. This is because the Chinese lunar calendar comprises 12 months, 24 solar terms and 72 hou (five-day period), the sum of which is 108. According to certain Buddhists, the pealing of a bell also dispels 108 common mortal worries.

The museum, set up in 1985, houses over 800 bells, made of bronze, iron and jade. Exhibits come from all over the world. The oldest ones were cast more than 1,000 years ago.

Dazhong Temple houses around 800 bells from all over the world.

The Dazhong (Big Bell) Temple in the western section of Beijings North Third Ring Road, built in 1733, is where emperors officiated at rituals to pray for rain. It is the only one of its kind in China.

A collection of Ling bells on display in the museum.

One of the most beautiful bells on display is the Qianlong Court Bell from the reign of Qing Emperor Qianlong, who ruled from 1736-1795. As its name suggests, the bell was made for the imperial court. It is decorated with 22 flying dragon motifs, but bears no inscriptions.

Furthest away from the main entrance is the building most visitors come to see  the Big Bell Tower. Circular at the top and square beneath, its design accords with the Chinese saying heaven is spherical and the earth is square.

The Big Bell Tower containing the Great Bell of Yongle.

Cast in 1403, the first year of the reign of Emperor Yongle, the bell within this tower was one of the three major projects commanded by the ruler after re-establishing Beijing as the capital. The other two were the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. The Great Bell of Yongle weighs 46.5 tons and is 6.75 meters high. It is struck at the beginning of each Chinese New Year and on other major celebrations. According to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, its loud, clear peal reaches up to 120 decibels, and can be heard 50 kilometers away late at night.

The Qianlong Court Bell, made for the imperial court, has been designated a grade one national relic.

Chinese bell culture truly has a long history. There are two main types of Chinese bells  the Zhong and the Ling. Zhongs produce sound when struck from the outside with a hammer, and Lings are equipped with clappers.

Both Buddhism and Taoism have played significant roles in the history of Chinese bells. As long ago as the Sui and Tang dynasties (581-907), most temples housed bells. The Song, Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties, however, saw a decline in the casting of ceremonial bells, although large amounts of iron bells appeared over this period. It was during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) that the casting of Buddhist and Taoist bells reached ascendancy once more.

Apart from their religious significance, bells were also an important facet of the daily lives of Chinas citizenry, as the bell and drum constituted the sole method of telling the time. Bell and drum towers consequently stood in almost every city throughout the country. Those in Beijing, however, are distinct for being placed fore-and-aft, rather than in the traditional right-and-left position.

Bell and Drum towers represented the very essence of Chinese chronology during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. It was only in 1924, when Pu Yi (1906-1967), last emperor of China, was forced to leave the Forbidden City, that Western-style clockwork was adopted for official time-keeping.

Brian Salter is a broadcaster and journalist who has been working in China for the past five years.


An internet imagery.

ISLAMABAD (PTI): Pakistan on Thursday inducted 16 new multi-role JF-17 Thunder jets jointly manufactured with China to its air force with the Defence Minister asserting that the country was ready to safeguard borders against any aggression.



The JF-17 Thunder jets were handed over to the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, Kamra, in Attock area of Punjab province, with Defence Minister Khawaja Asif present as the chief guest.



The new home-made jets, inducted into 14-Squadron of Pakistan Air Force, have been manufactured jointly by China and Pakistan.



The JF-17 Thunder is the backbone of PAF and already more than 70 fighters of the category are part of it.



Asif, while speaking on the occasion, said the government was committed to fund the PAF's operational readiness especial its JF-17 programme in the future as well.



The Defence Minister said Pakistan is a peace-loving country and wishes to maintain peaceful relations with international community especially with neighbours.



However, he said, the government stands determined to safeguard Pakistan's national interests and borders against any aggression.



The minister lauded the role the PAF has played in the anti-terror operation Zarb-e-Azb.



This has not only brought peace and normalcy to the country but also put Pakistan's economy on a fast-track, he said.



Asif thanked China for its support in the co-production of JF-17 Thunder aircraft.



In his address, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman said JF-17 fighter jets have the capability comparable to any advanced fourth generation aircraft across the world.



Development on the aircraft started in 1999, and the maiden flight was conducted in 2003.



According to details, while the first block of JF-17's were manufactured and delivered in 2007, the second block manufacturing which started in 2013 has delivered a more advanced fighter jet with upgraded avionics, air-to-air refuelling capability, data link, enhanced electronic warfare capability and enhanced load carrying ability.



The JF-17 can be equipped with air-to-air and air-to-ground ordinance.



The aircraft mounts both short-range infra-red air-to-air missiles along with longer ranged radar-guided beyond visual range (BVR) missiles, an essential capability for a frontline interceptor.



The JF-17 also enhances the capability of the air force in beyond visual range (BVR) engagements.



The PAF has said between 250 and 300 aircraft will be inducted into the air force to replace ageing fleets.






WASHINGTON (AFP): The US and Russian militaries agreed to "enhance communications" after a meeting between their top commanders in Azerbaijan on Thursday, the Pentagon said.



Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Joe Dunford and his Russian counterpart Valery Gerasimov discussed military relations between the two countries as well as security in Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere during their meeting in the capital Baku.



The two sides "have undertaken efforts to improve operational safety of military activities in order to decrease the prospects for crisis and avoid the risk of unintended incidents," the Pentagon said in a statement. "The leaders further agreed to enhance communications on such stabilizing measures."



The United States and Russia already maintain a permanent military communications line over their air operations in Syria to avoid incidents between their aircraft.



The last face-to-face meeting between the two highest US and Russian military officers took place in January 2014 between Gerasimov and Dunford's predecessor Martin Dempsey.



The Baku meeting comes amid widespread speculation about the future of US-Russian relations following US President Donald Trump's election.



He has said he wants to improve ties with Moscow, prompting concern among many US officials who view Russia as the main threat to US national security, amid a mounting scandal over ties between the Trump team's ties to Russia going back to his presidential campaign.



At a meeting of G20 ministers in the German city of Bonn on Thursday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Washington would conditionally consider working with Moscow in some areas, calling on Russia to honor the Minsk peace agreement aimed at ending hostilities in Ukraine.



In Brussels today, US Defense Secretary James Mattis rejected a Russian call to immediately restore cooperation with the Russian military.



"We are not in a position right now to collaborate on a military level, but our political leaders will engage and try to find common ground or a way forward," he told reporters.



Washington suspended all military cooperation with Moscow following Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in 2014.



But their military leaders have continued to maintain direct contact by phone and video conferences, the Pentagon said.




An internet imagery.

BENGALURU (PTI): American defence major Lockheed Martin has said discussions are currently taking place between the US and Indian governments on the company's plans to set up manufacturing base for F-16 fighter jets in India.



"The conversation has progressed to the point that we are deferring at this point to the government-to-government conversation. And that conversation is ongoing," a top company official told reporters on Thursday at Aero India 2017 air show here.



The comments from Randy Howard, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Integrated Fighter, Director, Business Development, came when asked about its move to push ahead with its plan to move production of its F-16 to India, but that the Trump Administration is taking a "fresh look" at its proposal.



"We had really very strong support up to this point. We are deferring those questions and concerns over to governments who are having an ongoing conversation. The discussions have progressed to the point that the requirements need to be more fully articulated...," he said.



"There are a number of internal discussions going on here in India on strategic partners. Discussions between the two governments at this point. We will wait to hear from the two governments and Lockheed Martin is fully supportive of those decisions," he said.



Lockheed had said recently that its officials have briefed the Trump Administration on the current proposal, which was supported by the Obama Administration as part of a broader cooperative dialogue with the Government of India.



Trump has flayed US firms for having moved manufacturing overseas and then sell their products back to the US and asked them to produce in the US itself. Lockheed, however, does not plan to sell back F-16 in the US which has not placed fresh orders for it.



In August last, Lockheed had offered to move its lone production line of the latest version of F 16-Block 70 to India from Texas to meet Indian and global requirement.



However, the company has made it clear the proposal is "conditional" to Indian Air Force choosing the world's largest-sold fighter aircraft for its fleet.



"We understand that the Trump Administration will want to take a fresh look at some of these programmes and we stand prepared to support that effort to ensure that any deal of this importance is properly aligned with US policy priorities," a Lockheed Martin official had said recently.


After a tumultuous first couple of weeks in office, President Donald Trump is dropping hints that he is quickly learning the art of diplomatic niceties - though it may be hard for a man like him to give up stubbornness for the sake of reason and maturity.

The first sign that Mr. Trump is finally settling came on Thursday, when he dispatched a letter to Chinese counterpart Mr. Xi Jinping to congratulate him on the start of the new lunar year. It was the first time that Mr. Trump reached out to China with an olive branch. In fact, he used the opportunity to respond to Mr. Xi's congratulations last month of his winning the presidency.

The letter carried a lot of importance, as it was hand-delivered by then National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to China's ambassador in Washington. In another symbolic gesture towards China, first daughter Ivanka Trump attended a lunar New Year celebration organized by the Chinese embassy.

Then came the telephonic contact by Mr. Trump with Mr. Xi to assure that the United States would continue to support the "one China" policy. I think everyone in the two countries has taken a sigh of relief, because it is a sensitive issue and could derail ties between the countries. Neither the American public is interested in a new kind of cold or hot war, nor would the Chinese like to have a confrontation with Washington.

But it does not mean that the people of China are ready for some kind of give and take on the one China policy. It is non-negotiable and anyone trying to arm-twist China should know that it will never work.

Mr. Trump repeatedly attacked China during the primaries and his campaign. It was expected. What was not in the mind of the analysts was the decision by Mr. Trump to accept a call from the Taiwanese leader. The call was made in December after Mr. Trump won, and it broke a long established tradition.

Mr. Trump's other provocative steps include a threat of interference in the South China Sea and using ties with Taiwan as a bargaining chip in trade talks with China. He also threatened to impose additional tariffs and continued bashing China over currency issues.

The new president was not being advised properly when he was using tough anti-China rhetoric and threatening to leverage China's political vulnerability to get trade concessions. He should have known that China would remain steadfast in its approach towards the U.S.

The only time China showed its anger was when Mr. Trump received the call from Taiwan. The protest lodged after it was a polite reminder that international politics is not a one day affair. As a member of the globalized world, every country has the right to safeguard its interests. Though it is also true that interests are matched, contrasted, discussed and traded for the sake of interests.

The latest developments show that he is ready to follow the traditional policy towards China. The White House also said that the conversation between the two leaders was "extremely cordial." According to Beijing, the U.S. leader assured that his administration would not tinker with the one China policy.

Analyst have been left wondering if Beijing had linked Trump's call with an assurance that he would not change the long-standing stance on the one China issue. Whatever the reality, China has emerged victorious out of the first round of confrontation with the new U.S. administration. Its leadership has every reason to feel relieved and happy.

Now an irritant has been removed and the issue settled. There is no apparent threat of immediate tension. So, the two sides should use this goodwill and momentum to address other major trade and strategic issues. Being the world's two largest economies, their commercial and strategic cooperation can go a long way in creating global stability and peace.

Sajjad Malik is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SajjadMalik.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
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Selkirk RCMP are seeking the publics assistance locating 18-month-old Seaira Neveah Hunter and her mother Rebecca Mikalosh.

Police say Mikalosh, 36, failed to attend a scheduled visit with the girls father and that she doesnt have the authority to take the girl outside her local area.

Police spoke to Mikalosh on Wednesday morning, when she confirmed that she had Seaira and that they were both doing well. Further contact was made that night with a family member, however, in both instances, she declined to meet with RCMP.

Submitted Selkirk RCMP are seeking the publics assistance to locate Rebecca Mikalosh and her 18-month-old daughter, Seaira Neveah Hunter.

We are asking for Rebecca to contact us so that we can confirm that Seaira is doing well RCMP Chief Superintendent Mark Fisher said. We are also asking anyone who may have seen or been with Rebecca and Seaira to contact their local police immediately. 

Police believe Mikalosh is travelling west in a grey 2001 Ford Taurus with Manitoba licence plate GVD 275. They may be in western Saskatchewan (North Battleford/Saskatoon area) or Alberta, according to police.

A Canada-wide warrant has been issued for Mikalosh for the abduction of a child under 14 years old.

Mikalosh is described as Caucasian, approximately five-feet-six, 120 pounds, with short brown hair.

Hunter is described as Caucasian, approximately two-feet-nine and 20 pounds.

Anyone with any information should call 911.

Seaira Neveah Hunter

An amber alert was not issued as police dont believe there is any imminent danger of bodily harm or death to the child at this time.

 The Brandon Sun
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Assiniboine Community College announced two new initiatives yesterday that will help adult students finish their high school diploma and assist them as they move on to post-secondary studies.

For the next two years, the college is waiving application fees for students applying to enrol in the Mature Student High School (MSHS) program, which it offers at its campuses in Brandon and Dauphin as well as in partnership with communities throughout Manitoba.

We want to eliminate as many barriers as possible to help connect individuals to education pathways, ACCs vice-president (academic) Deanna Rexe said. Manitoba lags behind the majority of Canada in terms of high school completion rates. Our college has an important role to play in narrowing this gap.

Prior to now, there was a $75 fee to apply to the program. The ACC Foundation is supporting the colleges efforts with a $16,000 contribution to help cover the fees over the trial period.

This past academic year, 455 students were enrolled in the colleges MSHS program, and 81 students graduated with a high school credential.

In addition to the commitment the foundation has made to support the colleges application fee waiver, we wanted to increase our efforts to make college education more accessible for mature students who choose to continue their studies, president of the ACC Foundation board Tammy Johannson said.

As a result, proceeds from the foundations Legacy Gala Dinner on March 23 will go towards growing the colleges entrance awards for MSHS graduates who are entering post-secondary programs. This will provide full tuition scholarships for at least ten students. Last year, the gala raised more than $30,000.

The good news is that around a third of those students who finish their high school studies with us choose to continue directly on to a college program in the fall, ACC president Mark Frison said. Its powerful to think that in a two- or three-year period, some individuals will go from not having a high school diploma to becoming a college graduate.

According to a 2015 economic impact study by Economic Modelling Specialists Inc, the average diploma graduate from Assiniboine will earn an additional $11,700 each year compared to someone with a high school diploma.

Education attainment, whether secondary or post-secondary, is a key determinant of labour market participation, income and health, Frison said.

 Submitted
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Better known as urban reserves, the City of Brandon is inching closer toward having a First Nation Urban Development Area within city limits.

On Thursday, Brandon Chamber of Commerce president Terry Burgess signed a memorandum of understanding with the Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce that affirmed their commitment to supporting aboriginal business development.

While the document didnt explicitly cite support for urban reserves, Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce general manager Gloria Spence said that the potential for urban reserves in Brandon is great, and would certainly fit the memorandum of understandings parameters.

Tyler Clarke /The Brandon Sun Gloria Spence of the Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce signs a memorandum of understanding with Brandon Chamber of Commerce president Terry Burgess, wherein the local chamber commits to supporting aboriginal business development.

Its an opportunity for the growth of economic development, not only with the indigenous population but also the City of Brandon, she said. Its a step toward self-sufficiency.

Burgess said that there are plenty of potential urban reserve sites in Brandon and that there are already some applications being worked on in the background.

The Brandon Chamber of Commerces leadership plans on introducing a policy within the next few days that will established the organizations formal support for urban reserves.

During Thursdays Brandon Chamber of Commerce luncheon at Victoria Inn, Long Plain First Nation Chief Dennis Meeches shared his insight on urban reserves, urging the City of Brandon to follow suit.

Their Portage la Prairie urban reserve was first set aside in 1981 and includes gaming centres, a gas bar and office spaces, and will soon also house a medical centre.

The Winnipeg urban reserve was acquired in 2006 and saw a Petro-Canada gas station and convenience store open a couple years ago.

More than 200 people are employed between the two urban reserves, many of them First Nations, Meeches said, adding that while indigenous Canadians are more likely than the general population to be unemployed, increased opportunity does wonders to improve their situation.

Urban reserves can offer this much-needed opportunity, he said, noting that many of their employees are long-term and committed to their positions.

Meeches also suggested its strange that Brandon doesnt already have an urban reserve and said that he would have already pursued a Long Plains First Nation urban reserve within Brandon city limits if not for the Treaty disconnect, with his community in Treaty 1 territory and Brandon in Treaty 2.

The opportunitys there, so why not take advantage of the treaty land entitlement? he asked. I dont think urban reserves are the answer to all economic concerns of First Nations people, but they go a long way toward helping partner with the city (toward) economic growth (and) jobs for indigenous people.

Those at the City of Brandon appeared to have done some recent soul searching in their support of indigenous commerce, Meeches said.

The City of Brandons work with the Brandon Urban Aboriginal Peoples Council, including the drafting of an Aboriginal Economic Strategic Plan 2015-2018, point to the citys eagerness to work with area First Nations communities.

Work such as this is ongoing, Mayor Rick Chrest said on Thursday, noting that partnerships with area First Nations communities is an area of mutual opportunity.

With the City of Brandon heavily interested in economic development, it only makes sense that theyd partner with all parties that share this goal, he said.

Weve fostered very positive relations in that area that have really turned the corner in Brandon on First Nations relations and First Nations opportunity, he said, adding that urban reserves are one possibility moving forward.

While theres still no timeline on when an urban reserve might take shape in Brandon, Meeches clarified that it can take anywhere from several months to several years to obtain the required land designations.

One 90-acre parcel that Long Plain First Nation owns in Portage la Prairie has been stuck in the system for about 20 years.

Still, he clarified that the City of Brandons willingness to welcome an urban reserve is a good sign moving forward.

Although urban reserves find affected land shift in jurisdiction from municipal to First Nation, both remain partners in what happens on the parcel through a Municipal Services Development Agreement  a document that outlines various things, such as reimbursements to the municipality in lieu of taxes.

This fee-for-service is calculated in exactly the same way as property taxes are, and includes any additional charges a municipal property owner might receive, such as local improvement fees.

 tclarke@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB
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As winter storms continue to pummel Atlantic Canada, Canadian Blood Services are asking for donors across the Prairies to step up after losing the opportunity to collect close to 2,000 blood donations across the country in the past few days.

Severe weather has forced CBS to cancel 18 clinics while others face low attendance. More cancellations are expected in the next few days as the bad weather continues.

Were asking donors here in wonderful Manitoba  where weve had this mild, sunny weather  to come in and fill appointments, said Tracy Smith, associate director for the prairie region with CBS. We do have a national inventory, so we are able to move units of blood from areas that arent as impacted to other areas across the country  that way we dont have any impacts to patients who need blood.

Each donation can be separated into whole blood, red blood cells, platelets and plasma, meaning donors could potentially save three lives with one donation, Smith said.

An hour of your time and youre potentially saving three lives  most people dont get the opportunity to save three lives in an hour, said Smith.

Brandons blood donor clinic in The Town Centre is open Wednesdays and Thursdays, with more than 200 appointments available in the next four weeks, said Smith.

If someone hasnt donated before, its a great time to start, Smith said.

We are always looking for new donors, Smith said. People always say theyve never donated before because no one asked them to  Were asking now.

 edebooy@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @erindebooy
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A retired Canadian Forces soldier is accused of committing a sex assault at CFB Shilo last May.

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In the murky world of partisan politics, ones actual intentions can become clear as mud to the passive spectator.

Such was the case with this weeks discussions around M-103, Westmans members of Parliament suggested on Thursday, clarifying that they are in no way opposed to combatting discrimination against Muslims.

M-103 was a motion put forward by Liberal MP Iqra Khalid that strives to condemn Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination, among related goals centred on tackling discrimination.

Neither Brandon-Souris Conservative MP Larry Maguire nor Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa Conservative MP Robert Sopuck are supporting the motion.

The word Islamophobia is not a legal term and does not have a universal definition, Maguire argued, explaining that this is why he does not support the motion in its current form.

I am fully committed to freedom of religion and freedom of speech, he wrote in emailed correspondence on Thursday.

The freedom of religion and the freedom of speech are not opposing concepts. It is no accident that they are protected side-by-side in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I believe all members of Parliament should support the right to freedom of expression, unless there is an element of violence or physical threat that is part of the messaging.

Contacted in the House of Commons lobby after question period on Thursday, Sopuck shared a similar sentiment, denouncing anti-Muslim sentiment alongside M-103.

While Sopuck said that he recognizes that common vernacular defines Islamophobia as a hatred of Muslims, phobia actually means fear, which doesnt jive with its most common use.

Drawing from his background in science, he suggested that the same principles that guide scientists should apply here, where, he explained; Everything is up for debate, everything can be questioned.

With ambiguity around the word Islamophobia comes uncertainty around freedom of speech, and Sopuck said that hes afraid that M-103 would prevent criticism of Islam, which he said should not be free from debate. Nor should the various denominations of Christianity or any other religion, he added.

As a result of their objection of M-103, the Conservative Party of Canada caucus introduced a wider-reaching motion this week that condemns all forms of systemic racism, religious intolerance and discrimination.

We must always condemn, in the strongest of terms, any hateful acts committed against religious communities, including places of worship, Maguire wrote. Religious freedom is a cherished right in Canada where everyone can freely practice their faith without fear of intimidation, coercion or violence.

During remarks made in the House of Commons during Wednesdays private members business, Khalid dismissed opposition such as what Maguire and Sopuck have offered as a means of watering down the motions actual intent.

Khalid said that she would not remove Islamophobia any more than she would speak of the Holocaust and not mention that the overwhelming majority of victims were six million followers of the Jewish faith and that anti-Semitism was the root cause of the Holocaust. We cannot address a problem if we fail to call it by its true name.

She said that she subscribes to the most commonly-accepted definition of Islamophobia: The irrational hatred of Muslims that leads to discrimination.

With that definition in mind, I find it hard to believe that any member of the House would vote against a motion that condemns this.

 tclarke@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB
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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday calls on the Group of 20 (G20) countries to turn consensus into actions, and fulfill sustainable development goals listed in a UN blueprint for eradicating poverty.

Wang made the remarks in a G20 foreign ministerial meeting in Germany's western city of Bonn, where top diplomats gathered to discuss global issues, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The 2030 Agenda, endorsed and launched at the UN Summit for Sustainable Development in 2015, is a blueprint for eradicating poverty worldwide for the years leading up to 2030.

The issue of development, Wang said, had been placed at the core of the agendas at the G20 Hangzhou Summit last year, where global leaders endorsed the G20 Action Plan on the 2030 Agenda For Sustainable Development.

To implement the action plan, Wang urged G20 members to integrate the 2030 Agenda into their own development strategies, and continue to set development as a core issue for G20.

Thirdly, the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities should be upheld, and parties concerned should take the lead in implementing the Paris Agreement on climate change, Wang said.

Wang said China has already integrated the 2030 Agenda For Sustainable Development into its own national development program.

Last year, China took the lead to formulate and release its national plan for implementing the 2030 Agenda, he said.

The Chinese government has set poverty reduction as a top priority, and it had lifted additional over 10 million people out of poverty in 2016.

China is set to in advance fulfill the sustainable development goals listed in the 2030 Agenda, Wang said.

Wang also said China is pressing ahead with the Belt and Road Initiative and China aims to align and coordinate the development strategies and policies of the countries along the Belt and Road, so as to implement mutual beneficial cooperation and achieve common development.

Wang also said the Chinese government has established the China-UN Peace and Development Fund, including a sub-fund for implementing the 2030 Agenda, and China expects it to play its due role.
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WINNIPEG  In what is likely the largest deal in its 121-year history, Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Co. is acquiring Western Financial Group and Western Life Assurance from Desjardins Financial Corp. for $775 million.

The transaction, being undertaken by Winnipeg-based Wawanesas subsidiary Trimont Financial Ltd., includes Westerns brokerage network, Western Financial Group Insurance Solutions and Coast Capital Insurance Services as well as Western Life Assurance.

The acquisition will add 157 locations and more than 1,700 employees to Wawanesas current workforce of 3,000, who work out of 50 locations in Canada and the U.S.

Wawanesa CEO Jeff Goy said there will be no changes in the Western companies operations and the brokerage network will continue to operate under the Western Financial Group name. There are no plans to close or relocate any of Westerns existing brokerage locations.

Todays announcement will ensure that Western Financial Group remains a trusted, familiar local broker in communities across Western Canada, Goy said.

The transaction is scheduled to close in the third quarter of 2017.

The deal is being done between two co-operative/mutual companies  both Desjardins and Wawanesa are owned by their members/policyholders.

We are pleased that ownership of Western will remain in the co-operative-mutual sector, given Wawanesas shared values and customer focus, said Denis Berthiaume, Desjardins Groups chief operating officer.

Desjardins had acquired Western Financial for a reported $443 million in 2011.

Wawanesa is one of the largest property and casualty insurers in Canada with $3 billion in annual revenues and assets of more than $9 billion. As well it operates Wawanesa General, a subsidiary that offers property and casualty insurance in California and Oregon, and Wawanesa Life, which distributes life insurance products and services throughout Canada.

 Winnipeg Free Press
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Education Minister Ian Wishart announced $1.5 million in funding for skills training in Manitoba schools on Thursday, with Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School receiving almost a quarter of the budget for its collision repair program.

Out of a total 19 divisions across Manitoba to receive funding, Brandon School Division took home the most  $347,453  to install a brand new paint booth in Crocus Plains collision repair shop.

The equipment were using now is 30 years old. Its outdated, its getting harder to maintain  if the current equipment went down, with that kind of cost I dont know if the school division would have been able to keep us going, collision repair instructor Carl DeCosse said. With this upgrade, its a sense of security. The biggest thing here is sustainability for the program as a whole. Weve seen an increase in enrolment over the last few years and I think this will further that.

Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Education and Training Minister Ian Wishart speaks as Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School principal Chad Cobbe listens during an announcement at the local high schools collision repair shop on Thursday morning. Wishart announced that the province would commit $347,453 to CPRSSs Collision Repair Program.

The investments were part of the Skills Strategy Equipment Enhancement Fund, which provides targeted funding to ensure students have access to up-to-date equipment to learn the skills needed to find jobs in Manitoba.

Applications for funding were approved based on what equipment was needed, the size of the program, as well as how fast the industry is changing, said Wishart.

This is new technology  the equipment (at Crocus Plains) is really old and we need to train the kids on the new stuff, so this would be a fairly high priority because of that alone, Wishart said.

Making sure rural schools are also getting up-to-date technology is critical.

It isnt just an urban education system, its a Manitoban education system. We have to make sure we have it available in as many areas as possible, Wishart said. We know that the need is everywhere. We want to train people with the latest technology so that they can actually function in any workplace in Manitoba.

The funding also ensures programming is relevant to current and future labour market needs, with an emphasis placed on supporting high school level programs to become accredited by Apprenticeship Manitoba.

Its the first time in Manitobas history that weve actually had the education system aligned with the trades and training and were already finding examples like this where it works way better, Wishart said. I think that theres great potential to do more of that in the future.

BSD chair Kevan Sumner said this was a major step for not only the school and division, but for the community as well.

Its awesome for our students, its awesome for our division, but its also a major investment in Brandon, Sumner said. We know that a lot of divisions are looking for a lot of things right now, so to have the province recognize the importance of this program is exceptional.

Two other school divisions in Westman received investments through SSEEF  Fort La Bosse School Division and Mountain View School Division.

Virden Collegiate received $64,925 for their automotive technology program, which will go toward a new four-wheel alignment machine and a four post car hoist, said FLBSD chair Garry Draper.

Grandview Schools woodworking program and the automotive technology and carpentry programs at Dauphin Regional Comprehensive Secondary School will also share $29,961 in funding.

 edebooy@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @erindebooy
Opinion

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Its a bit frustrating, really. Although I guess it should be the opposite.

The very day the Valentines Day installment of Vine Lines appeared in The Brandon Sun, I found three additional wines that were more than worthy of inclusion.

So yes, frustrating. But also fantastic, because that means that there are tons of great wines out there, and theres always next week. Or in this case, theres always this week!

Because white wine can  and for me, certainly does  play an integral part of any celebration, so too does it have a role in making every day worthy of note.

When I retired a few months ago from my day job of 15 years as an instructor in the Interactive Media Arts program at Assiniboine Community College, my dean, George MacLean, gave me a gift. Its one of those wine-related sayings painted on a board that can be displayed anywhere, and which usually reflects the attitude and personality of the recipient. And did George ever knock it out of the park with this one.

I thought Id seen all the wine witticisms that were out there, but this phrase was new to me, which made it all the more delightful. It read: A day without wine isnt over yet. Which I thought was absolutely perfect for me.

Because thats truly how I feel. A lovely glass or two of my favourite beverage is the perfect capper for a good day, a lousy day, a busy day, a quiet day  whatever sort of day its been, a glass of wine makes it even better.

So although Valentines Day is past, here are a few wines that you might choose to mark Louis Riel Day, or making it home safe and sound after a miserable, stormy day, or the return of Daylight Saving Time on March 12, or the advent of spring, or just simply the fact youre around for another day on the planet.

For something unusually unique and delightfully different, the Brunel de la Gardine Cotes du Rhone Blanc from France is a superb option. Perfectly chilled, this wine, which is made from 30 per cent Roussanne, 20 per cent Clairette, 20 per cent Viognier, 20 per cent Grenache Blanc, and 10 per cent Bourboulenc grapes, is just a lovely departure from the ordinary. Or at least my ordinary, since I tend to stick with the more commonplace white varietals, like Chardonnay and Pinot Gris, rather than blends. But this bright, citrusy (but not too citrusy), refreshing, minerally gem is a delight for $15.67 a bottle. I really love it to change up my usual routine.

Its partner in red, the Brunel de la Gardine Cotes du Rhone Rouge ($15.72), is 65 per cent Grenache, 20 per cent Mourvedre and 15 per cent Syrah. And this wine is sure to delight almost any palate. Its flavourful and delicately fruity  juicy probably best describes it  and its a lovely sipper as well as a great complement for all sorts of foods. Each of these French creations is a bargain for its respective price.

If bubblys a favourite, and you like something thats a bit sweet, the Jackson Triggs Niagara Estate Methode Cuvee Close is for you. A blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling (the latter is from whence the sweetness comes), this delicate and aromatic wine is an impressive concoction in which you may detect rose petals, lemon, green apple, and tea biscuits. And for $14.99, its a very, very pleasant and uncomplicated sparkler.

If you want to go all out  its been a humdinger of a day, perhaps, or a real downer, and youre ready to either reflect on it happily or forget about it altogether  the 2013 Kim Crawford Small Parcels Corner 50 Vineyard Merlot Cabernet ($29.99) is truly a stunner. Rich and beautifully balanced, with black fruit and spicy oak aromas, this splendid wine boasts dried fruit, coffee cake and the darkest of chocolate flavours that turn, every so slightly, to liquorice on the impressively lengthy finish. It can easily be laid down for several years to come, which will only increase the bounty it offers whomever is blessed enough to drink it, but its exceedingly lovely even now.

So if you, like me, enjoy making an ordinary day an occasion, these wines will certainly help you achieve that goal.
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/02/2017 (2088 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Freedom of speech, bigotry and anti-Muslim sentiment in Canada would seem to cut to the heart of an ongoing fiery debate this week between our federal Conservative and Liberal politicians.

At issue is a motion, known as M-103, that came before the House of Commons yesterday for debate.

The motion urges the government to recognize the need to quell the increasing public climate of hate and fear and condemn Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religions discrimination 

Tabled by first-time Liberal MP Iqra Khalid, it would also request that the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage study how to eliminate systemic racism and religious discrimination including Islamophobia, and further, seek the federal government to collect data on hate crimes in this country so it can be studied.

The wording of this motion stuck in the craw of members of the Conservative Opposition, including several candidates running for the leadership of the Conservative Party, who claim that it seeks to limit their right to freedom of speech.

Its an argument that was bolstered by organizations like The Rebel media, a hard-right conservative political platform founded by former Sun News Network host Ezra Levant, who organized a Rally for Free Speech on Wednesday to fight back against what he said were attempts to silence anyone who criticizes Islam.

Specifically, Levant and the federal Tories seem to be in a tizzy over the use of the word Islamophobia in Khalids motion, which in truth does seem to single out one religion in particular. As the National Post reported this week, the motion is not actually a piece of proposed legislation. If it passes, as it is expected to on Thursday, it will create no new laws nor change any existing laws.

The motion came to the fore after nearly 70,000 Canadians signed a petition calling on MPs to join us in recognizing that extremist individuals do not represent the religion of Islam, and in condemning all forms of Islamophobia.

The Conservatives countered the Liberal motion yesterday with their own, which makes no reference to Islamophobia, but rather calls on the government to condemn all forms of systemic racism, religious intolerance, and discrimination of Muslims, Jews Christians, Sikhs, Hindus and other religious communities.

Canadians must be very glad to see our federal politicians falling all over themselves to show their constituents how they are fighting bigotry and hatred by firing political shots at each other across the aisle. All in a cynical attempt to convince voters that their party is on the side of the angels.

National Post columnist Andrew Coyne said it well yesterday when he suggested on Twitter that people should not be labelled intolerant or bigoted for offering thoughtful critiques of Islam. But calling Muslims unintegrateable? Yeah, he wrote.

There is a venomous strain of politicians within the Conservative party who seek to divide Canadians based on fear and bigotry the Kelly Leitch-style politician who seems ready to shove her version of Canadian values down Canadians throat.

Yet on the other side of the House, we have Liberal backbenchers bringing down feel-good wishy-washy motions that do little more than preach to the choir, and ignite passionate and misdirected outrage from Conservative politicians.

There is good reason to condemn acts of hatred and violence against all faiths, but there has undoubtedly been a rise in vocal anti-Muslim sentiments in this country with the Donald Trump administration taking power in Washington, D.C.

Conservatives running for leadership of their party are in part to blame for fanning those flames on this side of the border.

And it isnt unfair to say that a growing Islamophobia brought about the recent shooting at a mosque in Quebec City that left six Muslim men dead, and several others wounded.

This irrational rage at the wording of a mere motion with no legislative teeth is symptomatic of a larger political problem facing Canadians. If our legislators cannot find rational common ground when it comes to the definitions of anti-Muslim and Islamophobia, how on earth are they going to actually tackle this growing bigotry?

Or is that, in the end, the whole point?
The Taoiseach Enda Kenny will face the public today when he speaks at a major Brexit conference.

The event billed as an 'All Island Civic Dialogue' will take place in Dublin Castle this morning.

Addressing the discussion surrounding the leadership issue, the Taoiseach said his mind is on the future of the country.

The conference is seen as an integral part of the Government's preparations for Brexit.

President of The Irish Road Hauliers Association, Verona Murphy, says Brexit is very concerning for their members.

Ms Murphy said: "For particular Donegal hauliers, there'd be such an imposition that they may have to cross four borders before they get into mainland Europe, should they hope to do so.

"That will be a huge cost, because there is no doubt about it, time is money. But if there is paperwork involved, we dont how much, we don't know the cost.

"And it's very, very difficult to be able to anticipate what that might be."
The head of Samsung has been arrested for an alleged role in a corruption scandal.

The South Korean technology firm is accused of being part of a scandal that has led to the downfall of the country's president.

Jay Y. Lee is the third generation of the same family to run the firm.

The vice-chairman and effective leader of the giant Korean consumer electronics group, Samsung has been arrested for alleged bribery, embezzlement, and perjury.

"We will do our best to ensure that the truth is revealed in future court proceedings," the company said in a statement after his arrest. This development is not expected to have an impact on Samsung's day-to-day operations.

Previous accusations against Lee have been rejected but new charges have been levelled against the executive.

"Given the newly presented criminal charges and the additional evidence collected, the legal grounds and need for arresting him are recognised," a South Korean judge said, according to The New York Times.

Lee Jae-Yong is the son of Samsung chairman Kun-Hee Lee and due to take full control of the company.
Firefighters in Northern Ireland have used an unusual method to rescue a lamb which had fallen eight feet into a drain.

They downloaded an app that made sheep noises to lure it into turning round - but not before doing their best impression themselves.

A Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) Spokesperson said: We received a call at 4.21pm on Thursday to attend an incident on the Corbally Road, Fintona, Co Tyrone. One Appliance from Fintona Fire Station attended the scene.

Firefighters then made contact with a local sheep farmer in the area who provided a trained sheep dog. The dog went up the pipe, retrieved the lamb and brought it to safety unharmed. The incident was dealt with at 5.52pm and the Appliance was always available for other emergencies that may have occurred during this time.

While there's now 'shear' delight that this incident ended well, the Fire and Rescue Service is warning 'ewe' to think about animal safety if you live in rural communities.

At this time of year we are reminding the farming community to think safety first and to ensure that potential hazards such as broken fences, drains and ditches are properly maintained.

Animals in distress can pose a serious risk to the public or anyone attempting to rescue them. Firefighters would rather members of the public call for assistance than tackle a serious animal rescue themselves as it may result in individuals placing themselves, and others in danger.

We will do what we can to help keep the farming community and their livestock safe.
A 38-year-old Latvian man has been fined 2,500 in relation to a haul of contraband cigarettes.

On Monday, revenue officers, acting on intelligence, stopped and searched a man who had arrived into Dublin Airport from Kiev via Paris.

The man was arrested after more than 10,000 contraband cigarettes were found in a cardboard box in his checked-in suitcase.

The cigarettes, branded 'L&M' and 'Parliament', have a retail value of approximately 5,700 and represent a potential loss to the Exchequer of 4,500.
The Department of Foreign Affairs says it is continuing to monitor reports of an accident in Norway.

A number of people including tourists were taken to hospital last night after a boating collision near the town of Harstad.

It is understood almost two dozen people were injured when a speedboat hit a water fountain.

There are no reports of any Irish citizens caught up in the situation.

Two boats carrying 24 people between them were returning from a sightseeing trip when one hit the fountain in the harbour, around 875 miles north of the capital Oslo.

Witnesses said the boats were travelling at high speeds and those aboard the one involved in the accident were thrown into the water "like dolls".

Eleven people, including 10 British tourists, are thought to have been injured, and they were left in waters just above freezing for around 15 minutes before being rescued.

Three tourists suffered moderate injuries while seven had minor injuries, police said, while the driver is thought to be in a critical but stable condition.

The incident is thought to have happened at around 3pm local time (2pm GMT) and involved a rigid-inflatable boat (Rib).

The British group were on a tour with a local travel agent, a company co-owned by a member of the local police in Harstad and a former employee of the force, police said.

Neither was aboard the boat that hit the fountain but both witnessed the accident.
The mother of a young girl who survived a gunshot wound to the neck has pleaded for a housing transfer after her daughter was subjected to vile online threats and abuse a day after a man was jailed for the attack, writes Eoin English of the Irish Examiner.

Ciara Sheehans mother, Susan OMahony, has spoken out publicly about the torrent of abuse her daughter has suffered after Gavin Sheehan was sentenced to 11 years in jail for the shooting. I just want a bit of peace and quiet. I want to take my daughter away from here where she recover, so we can recover, so she can do normal things, Ms OMahony told Neil Prendeville on RedFM.

We keep ourselves to ourselves. We want to start fresh  surely we deserve a bit of peace and quiet.

Ciara was in her boyfriends house in Hollywood Estate on the northside of Cork City on May 14 last when a shot was fired through the front window. Ciara was hit in the neck and was lucky to survive.

Gavin Sheehan, aged 30, of 7 Laurel Ridge, Shanakiel, Cork, denied the charges against him related to possessing and firing the gun and most significantly, seriously injuring the young woman. But he was found guilty of possessing a Smith and Wesson 60.96 semi-automatic firearm, discharging it, and causing serious harm to Ciara , and the related charge of having ammunition.

Judge Sean O Donnabhain sentenced him at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday to 14 years in jail, with three years suspended.

Ciara has since been targeted with vicious online threats and abuse. Ms OMahony said it has had a devastating effect on Ciara and her family, and that the threats have been reported to gardai.

We are a bag of nerves. Its been awful, she said.

We thought everything would stop after the sentencing, that we would have closure and be able to move on with our lives, and allow Ciara recover. Then we had all these threats made. We are very upset, very stressed, very anxious. Its non-stop.

Ciara has done nothing wrong, shes an innocent victim in all of this. I nearly lost my daughter. The bullet missed an artery by the width of a piece of paper.

In her victim impact statement, Ciara said she still suffers anxiety and panic attacks.

Her mother said: I dont see my daughter anymore, I see a different girl. Her work has been affected, she is not the same bubbly young girl she was. She is sad all the time, and cant be happy for anything. They wont leave her alone, she cant move on, she cant get better, its really upsetting.

She said her family has lived in the area for the last 20 years but they dont feel comfortable there anymore.

I built my home around me. Ciara grew up here, went to school here, all her friends are here. But everything has completely changed. Our whole lives have been ruined. We just want to live a normal life.

A spokesperson for City Halls housing department said: Transfer requests are subject to a range of compulsory conditions that must be met. The council is more than willing to assist in any way possible.

This story first appeared in today's Read More: Irish Examiner.
Update 10.40pm: Fianna Fail's Michael McGrath has warned that speculation over Enda Kenny's leadership is destabilising the Government.

The controversy continued tonight when an email from Fine Gael parliamentary party chairman Martin Heydon was circulated on social media, calling on members of Fine Gael to refrain from commenting any further about the Taoiseach.

Deputy McGrath is concerned that Fine Gael party politics is deflecting from the work of Government.

"This speculation about a General Election is coming about as a result of internal Fine Gael politics and if an election does arise it will be because of that. We don't think that it is necessary and we want to see the Government refocus, recommit to the issues that they were elected to deal with."

Fianna Fail's Michael McGrath says it's important the Government gets back on track and "it needs to get its house in order" pic.twitter.com/OyEIed7nn4  RTE News (@rtenews) February 17, 2017

Update 9.15pm: The chair of the Fine Gael parliamentary party has tonight written to members asking them to stop calling for Enda Kenny's departure, writes Elaine Loughlin, Political Reporter.

Martin Heydon has emailed TDs and Senators stating he is "greatly concerned that the Taoiseach and leader of our party is not being shown the respect his service and his office deserve."

It comes after a number of Fine Gael members called on Mr Kenny to make clear in the coming days the date for his stepping down.

Mr Heydon continued: "I ask - in the best interests of a united Fine Gael and in the interests of common decency - that members of the parliamentary party refrain from making further public utterances about our party leader. Such comments ultimately hurt our party.

"Any comments should be kept for next week's parliamentary party meeting which will take place as usual at 5.30pm next Wednesday," he told members.

Update 4.40pm: Taoiseach Enda Kenny should be allowed to remain in power for up to 18 months to oversee the first stage of the formal Brexit negotiations, one of his party colleagues has claimed, writes Fiachra O Cionnaith.

European Affairs Minister Dara Murphy made the claim as he dismissed any talk of an immediate leadership change or heave against Mr Kenny next week as being "not in the interests of the country".

Speaking to the Irish Examiner after the All-Ireland Civic Dialogue on Brexit event at Dublin Castle, Mr Murphy said the coming months are "vital" for Ireland and that Brexit should remain the focus of all politicians.

And in a sign that Mr Kenny is being urged by his dwindling number of supporters to fight back against calls for him to resign now or within the next 12 weeks, Mr Murphy said he has told the Taoiseach he should remain until summer 2018.

"The next number of months are going to be vital for the country, and in my view it is not in the national interest to change leader and be distracted by a leadership contest.

"My strong preference is for Mr Kenny to remain for the first stage of Brexit negotiations. That begins next month and is at least six to eight meetings [of the EU Council].

"It [any deal] has to get to the European parliament within a two-year time-frame, so the first stage of negotiations will be at least a year to a year and a half long," he said.

Mr Murphy confirmed he has told Mr Kenny he wants him to stay, and claimed he was "heartened" by Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar's comments that he will not force Mr Kenny from power, despite a number of widely believed supporters of Mr Varadkar openly calling for Mr Kenny to step aside.

Asked if a short leadership race would remove the risk of distracting from Brexit as the issue would be resolved early in the negotiations, he said the "simple reality" is Mr Kenny has built up "personal relationships" with other EU leaders now vital to Ireland's post-Brexit future.

Speaking to reporters before the All-Ireland Civic Dialogue began, Mr Murphy repeated the view.

"To change the captain of our team before we run out of the dressing room is a ludicrous proposal.

"It is vital that all the people involved in the divorce process [Brexit] focus absolutely on the job in hand.

"The Taoiseach has been clear. He has a unique skill set. At this point for our country, the last thing we should be talking about frankly is leadership change.

"Some of the people in our party who want to have a cut should put the country first, and put our country before our party.

"It is not good to be dis-organised when the real negotiations start," he said.

LATEST 4pm: Foreign Affairs Minister Flanagan has said he is focused on his current role and he won't be throwing his hat in the ring to become the next party leader.

LATEST 2pm: Dublin Fingal Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell has said Taoiseach Enda Kenny's position as leader of Fine Gael is now "untenable", writes Daniel McConnell, Irish Examiner Political Editor.

Mr Farrell said he no longer has confidence in Mr Kenny and has called on him to step down to make way for a new leader.

"Unfortunately, I no longer have confidence in the ability of Enda Kenny TD to lead Fine Gael and I believe his position is now untenable," he said in a statement.

"Fine Gael, as a party in Government, requires a leader who can manage the party in a manner which inspires faith amongst the Parliamentary Party, our local representatives and the wider membership," he said.

Mr Farrell then sought to pay tribute to Mr Kenny.

"I wish the acknowledge Enda Kenny's unwavering commitment to public service and to working in the best interests of our society and the Irish public."

Alan Farrell

"While I sincerely thank An Taoiseach for the work he has done in rebuilding our party since becoming leader in 2002 and even more so for his incredible stewardship of the country since 2011, I believe it is now time for him to step aside and allow a new leader, with a fresh approach, to lead us into the future," he added.

Mr Farrell said the party must be prepared to tackle the challenges which arise in society.

"In doing so we require a leader who can lead with confidence, and highlight how the values an principles of Fine Gael can best benefit our society and every community across our country," he added.

"Over the last number of days, we as a party have stumbled from one crisis to another, highlighting how fragile our arrangement as a minority Government is. Not only were we close to an election once, I firmly believe we came close three times. If anything should be learned from the events of the last few days it is that we must be ready for an election at any time," Mr Farrell said.

"In order to do that, we must have a new leader in place who will inject a new impetus and provide a new direction for Fine Gael," he said.

"As the co-author of a recent internal party report, I am very much in tune with the feelings and position of our membership, right across the country. A week does not go by that a further comment from another constituency arrives.

"In a democratic organisation, that is not healthy and thus, I reluctantly withdraw my support for the continued tenure of Enda Kenny TD as leader of Fine Gael," Mr Farrell said.

Mr Farrell's statement echoes the call for a new leader made by the party's vice chair Pat Deering, who has threatened to table a motion of no confidence at a meeting of the parliamentary party next week.

Update 1pm: One of the two main contenders for the Fine Gael leadership says he doesn't think Enda Kenny will be 'rushed' into making a decision on when to step down.

Simon Coveney has been attempting to calm backbenchers who want the Taoiseach to depart within days.

Speaking to Ocean FM in Sligo this morning, Minister Coveney said it is up to Enda Kenny to decide when that will be.

"Lots of people want to get the excitement of a leadership campaign and so on underway. I think Enda has been here before, I don't think he'll be rushed by other people.

"He'll think about this and he'll make up his mind. I think he'll share that with the party when he's ready.

"I don't think we should be trying to force that process. I think that would be wrong."

Update - 10.45pm: The Finance Minister Michael Noonan is predicting it will be a "long time" before a new leader of Fine Gael is elected.

Speaking to reporters in Dublin this morning, Minister Michael Noonan suggested there will not be a change of leader in the coming weeks.

He said: "I mean there is no vacancy yet, as you know.

"There's a long time before a new leader is selected, so it's a little premature to be selecting cabinets."

Update - 8.35pm: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe has said he will not put his name forward for the Fine Gael leadership position, if the position becomes vacant.

However, he told RTE's Morning Ireland that he may consider it in the future.

He added that he did wish to play a "leadership role" within the party, without specifying what that might be.

Minister Donohoe said he had been approached by colleagues urging him to consider contesting the leadership, but says he is happy with the job he has.

He told Newstalk Breakfast: "I'm aware of all the speculation that is underway at the moment, but my decision and my view on this matter is unchanged.

"I am very lucky to be where I am, I've a job that I want to keep the opportunity to keep on doing, and when the Taoiseach makes his mind up, I expect others to do the same too.

"But I am very clear about where I stand at the moment. I will not be a candidate."

It is understood Enda Kenny will be given time over the weekend to set a timeline for his departure or face a motion of no confidence.

Mr Donohoe said he wanted to play a leadership role within the party but he would not be putting himself forward for the position of leader.

He said Taoiseach Enda Kenny would continue to represent the best interests of the party and the people.

The Taoiseach has already indicated that he doesnt intend to lead Fine Gael into the next election. I want to make sure he has the space to make a decision, I believe he will include a wide set of circumstances when he is making that decision.

Mr Donohoe said Mr Kenny has done a fine job leading the party and country.

It is up to him to decide how and what he wants to do, he said on RTEs Morning Ireland.

The party will need the space and the opportunity to renew and plan for the future.

He said: Enda (Kenny) has always shown an ability to make decisions that are above his own interests.

I believe it is crucial to recognise the role of Enda as Taoiseach and leader.

It is crucial that all of this be dealt with in a careful and orderly way.

Mr Kenny has indicated he will not be standing aside as party leader in the coming weeks despite facing increasing pressure to outline his departure date.

Mr Kenny, defiantly, on Thursday night said he would fulfil commitments he has made as head of Government in the coming weeks.

Earlier: Taoiseach Enda Kennys closest allies within Cabinet face being wiped out once he leaves office, Elaine Loughlin and Daniel McConnell of the Irish Examiner can reveal.

Senior Fine Gael ministers including Frances Fitzgerald, Michael Noonan, Charlie Flanagan, and Richard Bruton face the axe from Cabinet once Enda Kenny steps down, Simon Coveney has told his supporters.

It is understood that Mr Coveney  who is seen to be neck and neck with Leo Varadkar to take over as leader once Mr Kenny resigns  believes a radical generational change is needed within the party to set them up on a steady footing for a general election.

But when pressed on his departure date, Mr Kenny last night remained defiant and said his main priority is Brexit negotiations. He indicated he does not intend on stepping down soon by detailing a number of international trips he will be taking as Taoiseach in the coming weeks.

However, privately Mr Kenny has admitted to senior colleagues that he is disappointed in himself and acknowledges he will not be able to stay on for as long as he intended.

The jockeying for support had already began around Leinster House yesterday, with lists being drawn up putting Mr Coveney and Mr Varadkar on between 25 and 30 votes each out of a total of 71 parliamentary ballots.

Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald is expected to remain in the leadership race, despite a dismal week during which she came under fire for her handling of the McCabe scandal. It is likely that Mr Bruton, who previously staged a failed heave against Mr Kenny, will also throw his name into the hat. While party insiders have not ruled out Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe who is viewed as a measured and steady hand.

As the two main contenders quietly begin seeking support from TDs and senators, the terms of reference for the tribunal into smears against Sgt Maurice McCabe and other garda whistleblowers passed through both Houses of the Oireachtas yesterday.

While all members of Fine Gael believe Mr Kenny must make clear his plan to step down, there is divergence amongst members as to how quickly this should happen.

It is understood that Mr Coveney and many of his supporters would like to give the leader space between this weeks crisis and his departure; others, mainly in Mr Varadkars camp want Mr Kenny gone almost immediately.

Mr Kenny acknowledged to senior Fine Gael members that it had been a bad week for both him personally and for his party after he was forced to admit a mea cupla for detailing a conversation with Katherine Zappone which never took place.

Mr Kenny has long maintained that he would remain in place until 2018, but would not lead his party into the next general election, but he has confided in colleagues that this cannot now happen.

Publicly, however, Mr Kenny refused to show signs of weakness. I am focusing entirely on a really busy and challenging time ahead and we have got lots of work for all of our party to engage themselves in, ministerial portfolios and programmes for Government to implement, thats what we will be about, he told reporters at an event in Dublin last night.

Despite a call from backbencher Pat Deering to make his intentions known on when he will stand down, or possibly face a vote of no confidence at the parliamentary party meeting next week, Mr Kenny maintained that it had been an ordinary working day.

Politics is a vocation, it draws you into stormy waters as well as calm.

Today for me was a very ordinary working day, we had a cabinet meeting at 7.30am where we approved and signed off on the terms of reference for the public inquiry into the allegations of a sustained smear campaign against Sergeant Maurice McCabe. Tomorrow is another ordinary working day, Mr Kenny said.

This story first appeared in today's Read More: Irish Examiner.
Update 7.30pm: Discussions between Tesco and Mandate, which happened throughout today at the trade union's request, have ended this evening inconclusively.

All Tesco stores will remain fully open throughout the weekend despite the ongoing strike.

A spokesperson for Tesco stated: "We are grateful for the outstanding support of colleagues and of customers throughout this unnecessary dispute."

Update 9.25am: Lorraine O'Brien, Divisional Organiser with Mandate Trade Union, says she is not sure if new talks will produce a result.

Ms O'Brien said: "There were some tentative approaches yesterday, I suppose you would have to welcome that, but a cautious welcome.

"But we don't want to be here, we have never wanted to be here so hopefully sense will prevail and there'll be some positive outcomes."

Earlier: Staff at eight more Tesco stores around the country are holding strike action today.

Workers say they are taking the measure over changes to some long serving members contracts.

Trade Union Mandate say they welcome Tesco's agreement to engage in talks "without prejudice" in hopes of resolving the row.

A total of 16 stores are now affected by the action.

Spokesperson for Tesco, Christine Heffernan, says they are disappointed that staff are continuing the strike.

She said: "It's a very unusual sutuation, we've spent 13 months in discussions in the WRC and in the Labour Court and the Labour Court has issued a recommendation which sets out a very fair and a very generous way of resolving this issue.

"Tesco has accepted that recommendation in its totality and call on Mandate to accept it so that we can resolve this issue."
Donald Trumps administration is considering a proposal to mobilise as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorised immigrants, according to a draft memo.

Millions of those who would be affected in 11 states live nowhere near the Mexico border, according to the document obtained by the Associated Press.
A lorry driver has appeared in court accused of causing more than 1.5m (1.75m) of damage following the collapse of a motorway bridge on the M20 during last August's bank holiday weekend.

The bridge fell after a wheeled excavator and dumper being transported by Alan Austen, 63, on the back of a lorry struck it between junctions four and three on the London-bound carriageway in Kent.
More than 300 migrants entered Spanish territory in North Africa early on Friday when they forced their way through a gate in the fence that separates Morocco from the Ceuta enclave, police said.

Three Spanish Civil Guard agents and two migrants were taken to hospital for treatment after the clashes at the Tarajal area of the fence, a spokesman said.

At least 10 members of the Moroccan armed forces were also injured, he added.

More than 30 migrants were treated at a migrant centre for bone fractures and other injuries.

Some were injured trying to scale the 20ft fence, which is topped with barbed wire, said Clemen Nunez, director of Ceuta's Red Cross emergency response team.

According to the Civil Guard, a surveillance camera showed around 600 people approaching the fence at about 6am local time.

They used tools and clubs to break one of the gates.

In video filmed by Faro TV Ceuta, some of the migrants can be seen with blood on their faces and bruises but mostly celebrating their arrival in Spanish territory.

Some wrapped themselves with Spanish and European flags and shouted "Freedom!"

Hundreds of sub-Saharan African migrants living illegally in Morocco regularly attempt to enter Ceuta and Melilla, Spain's other North African enclave, in the hope of getting into Europe.

Most are fleeing poverty and violence.

On Friday, 55 were rejected, according to the Civil Guard, because those who are intercepted on the spot can be returned to Morocco.

Those who make it over the fences are usually taken to migrant centres and eventually repatriated or let go, many choosing to seek asylum or work informally in Spain or other European countries.

Ceuta is separated from the rest of Spain by the Strait of Gibraltar.

Before the latest arrival, the migrant centre for temporary stay in Ceuta was already struggling to cope with more than 600 people, more than 100 over its maximum capacity, and making use of military tents in nearby car parks.

- AP
North Korea will "categorically reject" the results of a post-mortem on Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of the country's ruler, its ambassador in Malaysia said.

He died this week at an airport in Kuala Lumpur and the case is snowballing into a diplomatic crisis.
A three-year-old boy has been killed and at least 15 people injured in a car bomb attack in south-eastern Turkey.

The bomb exploded near the homes of judges and prosecutors in the mainly Kurdish town of Viransehir, in Sanliurfa province, which borders Syria.

Sanliurfa governor Gungor Azim Tuna said that a young man parked the explosives-laden vehicle near the properties and later detonated it with a remote-controlled device.

The attack killed the three-year-old son of a court clerk, he said.

Around 15 people were hospitalised but none of them was in a serious condition, Mr Tuna said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Turkey has suffered a series of violent attacks since 2015, carried out either by the Islamic State group or by Kurdish militants who have led a three-decade long insurgency and resumed fighting in 2015 after a ceasefire collapsed.

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, has targeted police or government lodgings with car bombs in the past. The group is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey and its Western allies.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag condemned the attack on Twitter and said the government would not be deterred from its fight against terrorist groups.

"Our determined and forceful struggle will continue," Mr Bozdag wrote.
Pakistani forces have killed and arrested dozens of suspects in sweeping raids as the death toll from a massive suicide bombing by Islamic State that targeted a famed shrine rose to 88.

Pakistan's deadliest terror attack in years stunned the nation and raised questions about authorities' ability to rein in militant groups despite several military offensives.

It also threatened to drive a deeper wedge between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Islamabad quickly lashed out at Kabul, saying the bombing was masterminded in militant sanctuaries across the border in Afghanistan.

Pakistan also fired a round of artillery shells into Afghan territory on Friday and shut down the Torkham border crossing, a key commercial artery between the two neighbours.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the shrine attack in Sehwan. "Sufis always preach peace and brotherhood among people," he said in a statement, adding that "terrorists once again proved that they have no respect for Islamic values".

Raids overnight across Pakistan targeted militant hideouts and led to shootouts with insurgents that left at least 39 suspects dead, according to security officials.

Most of the operations were carried out by the paramilitary Rangers. In one raid, troops killed 11 suspects at a militant hideout in the port city of Karachi. In another, the Rangers came under fire as they were returning from Sehwan, and killed seven attackers.

Other raids took place in north-western Pakistan and also in the eastern province of Punjab. Officials said 47 suspects were arrested.

In Thursday's attack, the suicide bomber walked into the main hall at the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sehwan, and detonated his explosives among a crowd of worshippers, initially killing 75. At least 20 women and nine children were among the dead.

On Friday, authorities raised the death toll to 88 after some of the critically wounded died. Sindh provincial health department said 343 people were wounded but most were discharged after treatment, while 76 still remain in hospital.

Islamic State said it targeted a "Shiite gathering". The Sunni extremist group views Shiites as apostates and has targeted Pakistan's Shiite minority in the past. It also views Sufi shrines as a form of idolatry.

The Sehwan shrine, which reveres a Muslim Sufi mystic, is frequented by the faithful of many sects of Islam but the majority of the worshippers are usually Shiites.

Local TV showed graphic footage of the aftermath of the blast, with wounded worshippers crying out for help and the floors covered with shoes, blood and body parts. Women cried and beat their chests in grief.

Prime minister Nawaz Sharif vowed that security forces would track down the perpetrators, according to Pakistani state TV.

"Each drop of the nation's blood shall be avenged, and avenged immediately," said army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

The attack was the deadliest in Pakistan since an assault on an army-run school in Peshawar that killed 154 people, mostly schoolchildren, on December 16 2014. A Taliban-linked group, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, claimed that attack.

Pakistan has been at war with the Taliban and other extremist groups for more than a decade. In recent years it has launched major offensives against militant strongholds in the tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan, but insurgents have continued to carry out attacks elsewhere in the country.

IS has been expanding its presence in Pakistan in recent years and has claimed a number of attacks, including a suicide bombing at another Sufi shrine in November that killed more than 50 people.

Also on Friday, the Pakistani military handed over to Kabul a list of 76 suspected "terrorists" allegedly hiding in Afghanistan, demanding they be captured and extradited to Islamabad.

In Sehwan, police fired tear gas and swung batons to disperse a rally of several hundred protesters who demanded justice for the victims and better security measures from the government.

The crowd set fire to a car before the police broke up the rally.

- AP
This is the moment a suspected robber is filmed running across a field with bags of stolen cash in the UK.

He was spotted half an hour after the cash-in-transit robbery, running with the bags before climbing a fence where he was caught on a motorist's dashcam.

Police were first called at around 1.50pm on January 18, to reports a cash-in-transit driver had been robbed on Old Church Street in Failsworth, Greater Manchester.

A man wearing dark clothing and a multi-coloured motorcycle helmet approached the driver in the yard of a supermarket and threatened to blind him with a plastic squeezable bottle filled with liquid.

The offender then snatched bags filled with cash and a deposit box before he fled and climbed onto a Yamaha R6 motorcycle, driven by another man.

The motorcycle was ridden at speed and headed left onto Briscoe Lane before turning right onto Culcheth Lane and towards Failsworth.

The second man is described as wearing a dark North Face jacket, blue jeans and multi-coloured helmet.

Shortly before 2pm the same day, police received a report after what is believed to be the same Yamaha R6 motorcycle, was driven away at speed along with a white van, driven by a third man.

En route to the incident, a police officer discovered a motorcycle, described as a Yamaha R6, had been set alight a short way along the same road.

Around 20 minutes later, in Mossley, six miles away, a member of the public was driving their car through the area when they noticed two men running across some fields, one carrying bags filled with cash.

A suspected robber running across a field with bags of stolen cash half an hour after a cash-in-transit robbery

They were both running in the opposite direction to a white van which had been abandoned on Broad Carr Lane.

An unopened cash box was recovered with money inside.

Detective Constable Phil Caine of Greater Manchester Police, said: "The nature of this incident is truly shocking and we need to make sure those responsible are off our streets, unable to cause any more harm.

"I am hoping that by releasing the CCTV and dashcam footage we will be able to identify the people in the footage, specifically the man running with the cash bags.

"If you recognise the people in the footage or recognise the descriptions of the people in the area at that time, please get in touch."

Anyone with information should contact police on 0161 856 4024 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
It appears the public were not the only ones kept in the dark about Amber Harrison's affair with Seven West Media chief executive Tim Worner, or the drawnout legal battle that preceded the explosive sex and drugs allegations becoming public.

According to a report in The Australian, the directors appointed to the Seven West board in 2015 - former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett, iiNet founder Michael Malone, and Gilbert + Tobin partner Sheila McGregor - did not become aware of the allegations until Ms Harrison made them public in December.

"At the time of their appointments in 2015, the Amber Harrison matter was the subject of a confidential settlement signed and settled the prior year - an agreement which was subsequently breached," Seven West said in a statement to Fairfax Media on Friday.

"In addition, the private and consensual relationship had also ended one year prior to the board appointments."
A heavy full year loss from oil and gas producer Santos has been described as "boringly in line" by one analyst as investors focus on the group's plans to cut costs following the completion of gas export projects in Australia and Papua New Guinea.

In 2016, Santos lost $US1.047 billion ($1.361 billion), with the rising oil price and cost cutting limiting the flow of red ink, due primarily to a heavy $US1.1 billion write-off after tax of its investment in a gas export project in Queensland which was disclosed several months ago.

Santos reporting an underlying profit of $US63 million once a previously announced $US1.1 billion impairment is stripped out. Credit:Brendan Esposito

The net loss for the year declined 46.4 per cent, with the underlying profit running at $US63 million once a $US1.1 billion impairment is stripped out.

"Santos was free cash flow positive at $US36.50 per barrel and generated $US370 million in free cash flow over the last eight months of the year. This is pleasing progress but there is still more to be done," chief executive Kevin Gallagher said in a statement.
The slide of the share of the private health insurance market held by Medibank Private is showing few signs of slowing, as the group battles high complaints volumes and rising costs.

The insurer is pinning its hopes on a three-year turnaround, moving to stop the loss of market share before hoping to rebuild its position.

In the December half alone, Medibank suffered a further decline in its share of the market to 27.2 per cent, extending the slide to more than seven years, during which time UK insurer Bupa has emerged as the market leader.

Industry-wide, policyholder numbers are under pressure, due in part to the continued steep rise in premiums over the past several years.
Whitehaven Coal has kept its dividend powder dry on the day it revealed half-year profits were 20 times higher at $157.5 million.

A dramatic rebound in coal prices and the ramp-up of the new Maules Creek ensured the result was always going to be a big improvement on the $7.8 million net profit for the same period of last year.

"This is a great outcome which cements our position as the leading independent Australian coal company," Whitehaven chief executive Paul Flynn said. Credit:Vince Caligiuri

The result was below some analyst projections and the company's shares had fallen 2.38 per cent to $2.87 by late on Friday.

Shaw and Partners analyst Peter O'Connor said it was a "big miss" with price realisations below expectations.
Australian retailers, already battered and bruised, are in for another onslaught with the arrival of Asia's Miniso chain, which has ambitions for up to 300 stores across the country.

The group, which sells fashion, cosmetics, accessories, homewares and in overseas stores, a selection of food, has three stores in Sydney and Chatswood, Hurstville and Bondi Junction and has instructed retail leasing agents to find a further seven in Sydney and 10 in Melbourne.

Once its distribution warehouse is up and running, there will be no stopping the group, which already has more than 1400 outlets in mainland China and is opening five a week in Singapore. It has two stores opening in North America, as well as outlets in Europe and Dubai.

Miniso, co-founded in 2011 by Japanese designer Junya Miyake and Chinese entrepreneur Ye Guo Fu, tends to follow Japanese apparel group Uniqlo and homewares group Muji around the world. It has designers in Japan and its factories are run out of China.
Australia's biggest baby goods chain Baby Bunting Group has been measuring its prices against US online retail giant Amazon for years.

And now, as Amazon readies to expand Down Under, Baby Bunting said its prices compared favourably with Amazon's, and Amazon didn't even sell some of its top 250 products.

Hands full: Baby Bunting CEO Matt Spencer posing for a photo with baby Oscar James Parnall before the retailer's sharemarket listing. Credit:Arsineh Houspian

"From our benchmark we certainly see that we're very competitive," chief financial officer Darin Hoekman told Fairfax Media. Baby Bunting had yet to decide whether it would sell its products through Amazon, he said.

Baby Bunting's is Australia's biggest sellers of items such as prams, cots and nappies, with about 10 per cent of a $2.4 billion market. This could grow if discount department stores such as Target and Big W cull their range of bulky products such as cots.
It was a very different John Durkan who stepped up to the podium for the release of Wesfarmers' half-year result this week.

The experienced Coles boss dispensed with the usual, carefully crafted corporate script to rattle the sabre at arch-rival Woolworths and promise a fight to protect its hard-earned market share.

In place of the usual disciplined beige lines about shareholder returns and the value of a maintaining a long-term focus, Durkan proclaimed Coles would "never give up" and remain "competitive forever".

It sounded like a declaration of war and contrasted sharply with his comments from just four months ago that its competitors' pricing and promotional activity would not distract it from its own carefully planned strategy.
First Super has written to the fund managers that invest its members' money questioning the Domino's business model in the wake of Fairfax Media's investigation into the pizza giant.

The letter, written to Perpetual, IFM, Allan Gray and Eley Griffiths Group, notes that over the long term companies that adopt best practices across environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors deliver better returns and have lower risks.

First Super has some $2.5 billion under management and almost 60,000 members.

"Would you advise First Super how your firm applies ESG principles when evaluating whether to invest in companies that generate revenue through franchise operating models with particular reference to the sustainability of franchisees' businesses and implications for staff and contractors?" First Super chief executive Bill Watson asks each fund in the letter.
It might be the saddest quote you read today: "Olive oil is becoming a luxury."

That comes courtesy of Italian chef Francesco Mazzei, who runs the Italian restaurant Sartoria in London. Mazzei depends on olive oil for much of his cooking. But because of a shortage, he says prices are skyrocketing. He's even had to raise menu prices to compensate.

Among chefs in London, it's a common refrain. Ben Tish, who runs a Spanish and Italian tapas restaurant, says he buys about 100 litres of olive oil a week, to top grilled flatbread, mix into aioli and prepare luscious olive oil cakes. He now pays about 13 per cent more, 26 ($42.20) for five litres.

And things are only going to get worse. Experts are predicting a worldwide shortage in the next couple of months, jacking up prices around the globe.
PLEASE NOTE!

Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate!

All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited!

(One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!)
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said he will consider any US military request for more help in fighting the so-called Islamic State group but pointedly said Australia is already one of the largest contributors to the war effort.

Speaking after Defence Minister Marise Payne met privately with her US counterpart James Mattis in Brussels on Friday morning, Mr Turnbull said that "we haven't received that request [for a larger contribution]  but when we do, we will assess it very carefully".

He stressed however that Australia already has "one of the largest, if not the largest presence" after the US.

Senator Payne similarly expressed an open mind on the question, saying the government "would consider any request on its merits".
A video of a yoga instructor, wearing white, performing a pose and letting her leaking period show through her leggings, went viral last week.

Steph Gongora, who posted the video to her Instagram account, and racked up over 340,000 views, says she was making a point about cultural shame.

"If I may borrow the soap box Steph was posing on for a minute, I would argue that we're fortunate in Australia to have access to a variety of sanitary products, (and clean places to use them)." Credit:Stocksy

"I am a woman, therefore, I bleed," she wrote on her Instagram post. "It's messy, it's painful, it's terrible and it's beautiful. And yet, you wouldn't know. Because I hide it. I bury things at the bottom of the trash. I breathe, ragged and awkward through the cramps, all the while holding onto this tight-lipped, painted-on smile."

Look. There is a lot to be said for the shame women have to endure about this normal bodily function. It's illegal, but there are some villages in Nepal that banish women to isolated sheds while they're menstruating. In Malawi the shame over a woman's period is such that nobody talks about it. At all. In fact, in Malawi (and other parts of Africa), young women end up dropping out of school because they stay home when they have their period and fall behind in their studies.
McFlurrys  the Eton mess of McDonald's  are without peer in the dessert world.

The whipped soft serve is also considered a more affordable type of therapy and an acceptable dinner for those who cannot be bothered to adult.

Sorry: The Milo McFlurry is not available in Australia. Credit:Facebook

So when news broke on Facebook that a Milo McFlurry is on the menu at Maccas, PS jumped in an Uber and hot-tailed it to the nearest Golden Arches. However, an airline ticket, not a car ride in a beat up Excel, is what you need to get your hands on the limited edition "sometimes food".

You see McDonald's Malaysia, not Australia, serves the most Australian of Australian desserts. And representatives say it's never coming down under.
Andrew, Anne and Richard Basnett have been described as "pillars of the community" by devastated friends after they died inside a water tank on Thursday night.

Husband and wife Andrew and Anne, and Andrew's brother Richard, were found dead inside a concrete water tank at their property just off the Hume Highway, near Oolong, between Yass and Gunning.

Andrew, 69, had collapsed while cleaning the empty cement tank with a motorised water pump.

Anne, 63, and Richard, 68, went to his assistance but also collapsed.
"I don't like the colour scheme down there."

This statement - made about people, not paint colours - motivated Queensland's new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Minister Mark Furner to give a powerful speech in Parliament on Thursday.

The former senator turned state MP was visiting his son Troy, who lives in Cairns, over the Christmas holidays when the family decided to stop by Wujal Wujal - a small north Queensland indigenous community of about 300 people.

What he heard afterwards disturbed him, and so he rose in Parliament to deliver a private member's statement to refute the "words of bigotry and intolerance".
Angelo Gargasoulas, the brother of the accused Bourke Street killer, is charged with carrying out violent assaults using weapons including a hammer, knife and a box-cutter.



The 27-year-old faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday, facing more than a dozen charges.



Angelo was allegedly stabbed by his brother, Dimitrious "Jimmy" Gargasoulas, in the early hours of January 20, the same day as the Bourke Street tragedy.



Dimitrious Gargasoulas allegedly killed six people and injured 31 more in the Bourke Street rampage. He has been charged with five counts of murder over the alleged attack, but is yet to be charged over the sixth victim's death.



Charge sheets released by the court on Friday reveal Angelo Gargasoulas is facing eight counts of unlawful assault, involving weapons including a hammer, a knife and a box-cutter.



Angelo is also charged with car thefts, three counts of intentionally causing injury and three counts of recklessly causing injury.



He faced court earlier this month over charges laid last year, including criminal damage and unlawful assault crimes.



The court heard he is expected to plead guilty to driving offences, including driving while disqualified and refusing to stay at a police station for a breath test when required.



Magistrate Felicity Broughton released Angelo on bail to face court on March 2.
Washington: The US Senate has approved President Donald Trump's pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday despite objections from Democrats and green groups worried he will gut the agency.

Mr Trump's choice of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has been mired in controversy.

Mr Pruitt sued the agency he will now lead more than a dozen times while lead prosecutor of his oil and gas producing state, and has expressed doubts about the science behind climate change.

However many Republican lawmakers view him as a welcome change at the top of the EPA, an agency they say declared war on the coal industry during Barack Obama's presidency with its rules against carbon emissions.
Jakarta: The mother of an Indonesian woman arrested in Malaysia over the death of Kim Jong-nam - the estranged half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un - said her daughter was a "simple country girl" and she hadn't been able to sleep when she learned that she had been named as a suspect in a murder case.

"That's impossible, my daughter is a good person," Benah told Fairfax Media from her home in Ciomas, in Indonesia's Banten province.

"I was shocked, I couldn't sleep, all of us at home couldn't sleep last night thinking about her.

"My daughter is not like that, she is just a country girl."
Mexico: Amnesty International and Ligia Ceballos Franco have filed a complaint with Mexican prosecutors, claiming the woman was stolen as a baby in Spain during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco and handed over to a well-heeled Mexican family.

Ms Franco, 48, said on Thursday she may be among an estimated 30,000 babies who were taken from their real parents under the Franco dictatorship from 1938 to 1975. She claims the Catholic Archdiocese of Merida facilitated the adoption.

Mexican Ligia Ceballos Franco believes she was born Maria Diana Ortiz Ramirez in Spain, and that her biological parents were told she had died at birth. Credit:Screengrab

After being told she was adopted, Ms Franco found a local government document in Madrid saying a baby had been handed over to her Mexican parents in 1968.

She found a birth record for Maria Diana Ortiz Ramirez, which may be her. Her biological parents were apparently told she had died at birth. The targets of such deception were often opponents of the Franco regime.
Manila: The Philippines on Friday filed three drug-related charges against a senator and staunch critic of President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, saying she allegedly received money from drug dealers inside the country's prisons.

More than 7700 people have been killed in the narcotics crackdown since Duterte took office on June 30, about 2500 in police operations, while the rest are being investigated.

Human rights groups believe many other deaths that police attributed to vigilantes were carried out by assassins likely colluding with police. The government and police vehemently deny extrajudicial killings have taken place.

Senator Leila de Lima, her former driver, two bodyguards and a former national prison official face arrest next week once a court has issued arrest warrants, Justice Minister Vitaliano Aguirre told a news conference.
And the truth is that Trump's broadside against the terrible dishonesty of the media will leave lots of heads nodding around the country.

The media were the ones who told you Obamacare was great. The media were the ones who didn't report that Hillary Clinton got all the debate questions in advance. The media were the ones who said I couldn't win. The media is lying to you now because they don't want you to know all the good things I am doing.

Why do it? Because Trump understands something very important: For his supporters, the media represent everything they dislike about American society. The media is composed, to their mind, of Ivy-League educated coastal elites who look down their noses at the average person, dismissing them and their views as stupid and ill-informed. For people who feel like their voices weren't and aren't heard in politics - or culture more broadly - the media is the perfect scapegoat.

Trump's appeal to voters is, and always has been, how he is able to speak to them on an emotional rather than an intellectual level. He got people angry and worried in the 2016 campaign - and they voted on it. They went to the polls feeling as though the stakes were literally catastrophic; elect anyone other than Trump and watch the world burn.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference. Credit:Bloomberg

One example of that appeal in Trump's press conference today. Early on, NBC's Peter Alexander called Trump out on his inaccurate claim that he had won the biggest electoral college victory of any president since Ronald Reagan. "Well, I don't know, I was given that information," Trump responded. "I was given - I actually, I've seen that information around. But it was a very substantial victory, do you agree with that?"

For many politicians, that would be a bad - very bad - moment, caught misstating facts. But Trump knows that his appeal isn't based on whether he got the exact facts on his electoral college margin right. It's on the fact that he won - big league. And who cares if he was wrong? It's the media nit-picking him to death, after all.

It's not surprising then that at the nadir of his early days as president, Trump is returning to a raw and uncut attack on the media. Trump is like a comedian, forever refining his beats. He knows that if he picks on a certain guy in the audience, the rest of the crowd is going to go bananas cause they don't like the guy either. The more personal he gets, the more they love it.
Bonn: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday tried to reassure allies that Washington was not tilting towards Moscow, telling them the United States backed UN efforts to broker a political solution to the Syrian war.

According to officials and diplomats at the meeting, Mr Tillerson said military ties with Russia hinged on its stance towards rebels fighting the government of President Bashar al-Assad, who Russia backs.

Countries opposed to Mr Assad met on Friday for the first time since Donald Trump took office as US president. The meeting was intended to find common ground ahead of UN-backed peace negotiations in Geneva next week.

All eyes have been on Washington and its approach to ending the war in Syria, given promises by Mr Trump to build closer ties to Russia, especially in the fight against Islamic State.
Latest News Mortgage stress hits Australian households Learn seven ways to ease the interest rate burden, says broker

New investor strengthens Invoice Finance Group Partnership will provide funding, new products for SMEs

The government has flat-out rejected a proposal to gradually halve the capital gains tax (CGT) discount, amid concerns that the status quo would eventually have a negative effect on the housing market.



"The government has absolutely no intention of reducing the capital gains tax discount or making changes to negative gearing, said Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald.



A report by the Grattan Institute released last year said that the interaction of the current 50% CGT discount with negative gearing distorts investment decisions, makes housing markets more volatile and reduces home ownership. It claimed that such tax breaks largely benefit the wealthy.



Slashing the discount to 25% would raise the government about $3.7bn a year, the report said. The reduction would happen gradually, with 5 percentage points reduced annually over five years.



Tax concessions for capital gains undermine the integrity of the income tax system by creating opportunities for artificial transactions to reduce income tax.



The report also called on the government to follow international practice and not deduct losses from passive investments from labour income. Change would raise $2 billion a year in the short term, falling to $1.6 billion as losses start to be written off against positive investment income, it added.



Cormann said that the ruling coalition needs to get the budget back into surplus, but that it still wants to deliver lower taxes to strengthen growth and create more jobs.



Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the coalition does not support the Labor Party's plans to increase capital gains tax or indeed their plans to outlaw negative gearing, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald.



The opposition would look at the proposal "if it's a step in the right direction," Labor frontbencher Tony Burke told Sky News.



"Be in no doubt you cannot allow the situation to continue where the government is giving more help to somebody buying their tenth home than to a first home buyer," he added.
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...
latest news

October 31, 2022

Buddy TV

In November, there are hundreds of new and returning TV showsit can be overwhelming to try and choose what to watch. That's why we've selected some of the best options...
Season 6 of Scandal narrates the rise and fall of Cyrus Beene. And now weve seen Cyrus at perhaps his lowest point. Typical Cyrus, though, tries to work manipulate his way out of jail. But does he still have it?

Scandal: The Investigation of the Assassination of the President-Elect Will Get Very Messy>>>

In The Belt, Cyrus uses his former power and knowledge to try and get Tom to recant his story. Meanwhile, Olivia and her associates continue to work to prove Tom and Cyrus are connected to Jennys murder too. And Huck bonds with a former Frankie campaign worker, Meg.

Beene Behind Bars

Cyrus quickly gets processed and thrown behind bars after his arrest. Hes put into murders row, and is immediately miserable, as anyone would be. During a walk in a small cage, he sees Tom and foolishly asks the guard if he can talk to him. Obviously, the answer is no and the guard spits in his face. Later on, he asks another guard for a paper and pen, which is also denied.

Elizabeth North visits Cyrus, a request from Abby. However, Cyrus gets her to agree to get a letter to Tom. He believes that Tom is hurt, and he wanted to hurt Cyrus, which is why he brought him down with him for Frankies murder. Cyrus thinks that if he can write Tom a letter convincing him that he still loves him, hell recant his story and then Cyrus will be free. Elizabeth reluctantly agrees. So, Cyrus works out a deal with a jail guard, a pen and paper in exchange for help to get out of being a drug mule. Cyrus writes his letter to Tom, gives it to Elizabeth, but she gives it to Michael, who then comes to visit Cyrus and tells him he wants a divorce, adding that he wants the house and full custody of their daughter.

The Truth

Just when Cyrus is feeling down and out, guard Gerald comes by and offers Cyrus some fresh air, which is just a ploy to get him outside so a group of inmates can rough him up. As he lay beat up on the ground, Cyrus dreams that Tom recants his story and he is made president, but obviously thats just a dream. At his lowest point, Cyrus calls Olivia, who tells him his bill needs to be paid, and he needs to stop being a monster and start being a man.

Cyrus takes this advice, as he asks Gerald for a belt to hang himself. Gerald finally agrees, as long as another jail mate, Ralph, backs up the story that a different guard gave Cyrus the belt. As Cyrus prepares to hang himself, he gives Gerald letters to give to Ralph, who then starts to strangle Gerald to unlock both cell doors. Cyrus tells Gerald that he promised Ralph a kill, either him or Tom. Obviously, Gerald picks Tom, so they head to his cell, where on the brink of strangulation, Tom tells Cyrus that he didnt kill Frankie. Cyrus tells Ralph to stop, and Ralph kills the guard instead. Tom confesses to Cyrus that he never killed Frankie, he just lied to hurt him.

Power Hungry

While Cyrus is working the jail system, Abby is on the outside trying to convince David not to try Cyrus on the death penalty. When he refuses, Abby pulls rank and says that the president ordered him to remove the death penalty from the case. David and the FBI director reluctantly agree.

Abby gets Elizabeth to see Cyrus to inform him of the news. However, the no death penalty is short-lived. During some pillow talk between the FBI director, Angela, and Fitz, she tells him what Abby did. This is news to Fitz, so the next day he calls Abby into his office and rips into her. He then holds a press conference saying that the case will be tried with the death penalty.

Quiz: Which Special Agent TV Hunk Would You Date?>>>

A Short Celebration

With news of Cyruss arrest, Mellie is thrilled and celebrates with Olivia about her upcoming inauguration as president. Quinn and Charlie look on, so Olivia tells them that theres really nothing to celebrate yet until Mellie is actually sworn in.

Meanwhile, Huck is obsessing over one of Frankies former campaign workers, Meg. She knew Jenny before she was killed. Huck befriends her, and tricks out her apartment with a security system. He even gives her some lessons in self-defense. In the time he spends with her, she tells him that shes worried that whoever killed Jenny will come back for her. When Huck assures her that Tom is behind bars, she reminds him that Tom hasnt been charged with anyones murder yet.

Huck goes back to the group with this news, so Olivia tells everyone to continue working to prove without a doubt that Tom killed Frankie and Jenny. But what they find confirms what Tom told Cyrus, Tom didnt kill Frankie. In fact, they find out that Tom was in Atlanta the night of the murder, and that someone must have paid him to confess because theres $2 million in his bank account.

So, No Madame President?

Now that Olivia has proved that Tom didnt kill Frankie, it could be safe to say that Cyrus had nothing to do with it either. But where does that leave Mellie? And where does that leave Cyrus? And who will become the next president?

But the big question is, who killed Frankie? Jake has been suspiciously absent in season six of Scandal. My money is still on Jake and Papa Pope somehow putting the hit out on Frankie. They may not have pulled the trigger, but I feel they certainly had something to do with it. Papa Pope might have sworn he didnt have anything to do with it, but when has Papa Pope ever really been truthful with Olivia?

And Abby needs to come down off her power trip. I get that shes chief of staff, but pulling rank and speaking for the president, thinking he wouldnt find out, is way out of line. Especially when his lover is involved. Im wondering what is up this FBI directors sleeve, what her ulterior motive is. Fitz seems to be moving quick with her, so Im curious if that will pan out to anything or just fizzle.

What did you think of The Belt? Did you think that Cyrus would just give up? Were you surprised that Cyrus managed to get Tom to confess to him? Are you surprised that Tom didnt kill Frankie? Let us know in the comments below. Scandal airs Thursdays at 9/8c on ABC. Want more news? Like BuddyTVs Scandal Facebook page.

(Image courtesy of ABC)
Supernatural decided to go full Tarantino with this weeks episode that is an homage to Reservoir Dogs. Stuck in the Middle (With You) is shown from multiple perspectives in a non-linear fashion as Mary, Sam, Dean, Cas and another Hunter plan an attack on a demon, but everything goes wrong.

Normally a cool storytelling device would be enough to make a great episode, but Supernatural doubles down with a lot of huge revelations about the mythology of the series, going all the way back to the beginning. We find out what makes yellow-eyed demons so special and learn how Crowley became the King of Hell. Also, there are some amazing blasts from the past, including something fans have been waiting seven years to see again.

The Demon Attack

Mary is working with a Hunter named Wally and they call Dean, Sam and Cas to assist with a demon. However, everything goes wrong during the attack because the Devils Trap bullets and demon-killing blade dont work. Oh, and the demon has yellow eyes, just like the one who killed Mary. During the initial attack two other demons arrive, Wally is killed and Cas gets stabbed by a giant spear and cant heal himself.

Marys Secret Mission

Finding the demon is actually a mission from the British Men of Letters, though Mary keeps her sons in the dark. She secretly snuck into the demons basement to steal a shining object from a safe, reminiscent of the suitcase from Pulp Fiction.

How Crowley Became King

After the attack, Crowley appears out of nowhere to provide some much-needed exposition from six years ago about how he became the King of Hell. This new demon is named Ramiel and, like all demons with yellow eyes, hes a Prince of Hell, the first batch of demons created by Lucifer.

Crowley offered Ramiel the opportunity to be King of Hell after Lilith, Azazel and Lucifer all failed, but he didnt want it. Ramiel wanted to be left in peace, instead suggesting that Crowley become the King and keep everyone away from him. In addition, we learn that Crowley gave Ramiel two gifts: the mysterious shining thing Mary stole and the spear that stabbed Cas, which is actually the Lance of Michael designed to kill angels slowly and painfully (intended for Lucifer).

Winchesters vs. the Prince

Crowley tries to stop Ramiel, but fails. He threatens to kill all of the Winchesters unless they give him back what he stole. Mary says nothing so Ramiel attacks. Sam, Dean and Mary all fight back, with Sam taking the Lance of Michael and stabbing Ramiel, killing him. In the end, Crowley realizes that all he needs to do is break the Lance to save Cas.

Two Last Things

The episode ends with two huge revelations. First, Mary meets with Mr. Ketch from the British Men of Letters and hands over the mystery object she stole from Ramiel. ItsTHE COLT! Holy crap, we havent seen that gun since season 5. Its the magical weapon that can kill anything except five creatures. We know that Lucifer is one of the things it cant kill, but maybe now well learn about the others.

Speaking of Lucifer, the second huge revelation is that Crowley is keeping Lucifer in a cage, just like Lucifer did to him. And its the original Lucifer, played by Mark Pellegrino!

Hot damn, the Colt, Lucifer and Yellow-Eyed Demons! This episode was like a shock to the system, bringing back so much of the shows brilliant mythology.

Supernatural airs Thursdays at 8/7c on the CW.

(Image courtesy of the CW)
The Chippewa Falls School District is moving forward with plans for an on-site health care clinic.

Michelle Golden, the district's human resources executive director, presented the plan for an on-site clinic for the school district's employees, retirees and their families.

The design work is being completed by ATS&R, a firm out of Minneapolis.

The plan calls for a clinic to be built at a renovated Korger-Chestnut building. Golden hopes work could start in May and the clinic could be opened in July of this year.

"This is ensuring we can save money, knowing full well it would be a greater benefit to our employees but at the same time decrease our costs on insurance," Golden said.

The district has not yet selected a contractor because the plans are not finalized. At Thursday's school board meeting, Golden said she had received a contract as well as blueprints earlier in the day, but hadn't had a chance to look it over.

Of the district's budget, Golden said health care costs are the only "wiggle room" they have, and saving even "a couple million" would allow them to address other issues, such as wellness factors and employee benefits.

With the rising costs of health care, the district has been looking at other options for their employees and found this to be the most substantial way to save money and provide good coverage.

Both the Altoona and Eau Claire school districts utilize a near-site health care clinic.

Currently, Golden said the district is self-funded, meaning it pays health care bills through employee premiums.

"Even for things employees get for free, like preventative care, it's free to them but not free to us," Golden said. "This way, we can assist people with making better choices in costs, so it saves everyone."

Golden also hopes this makes the district competitive when it comes to hiring and retaining staff, something Amy Mason, school board president, agreed with.

The school district currently is the lowest in the Big Rivers conference in terms of employees' salaries, she said.

"We are concerned about that because we have lost so many employees in the past to other local districts," Mason said. "It's very important we attract and retain staff, and this is one way of doing that."

Golden still has to go over the final blueprints for the project and sign a final contract, but hopes to continue moving forward.
Identity politics is the natural habitat of Barry Jenkins. His debut film, Medicine for Melancholy, was the most anti-date movie I ever watched, but it still evoked the vibes of a Before Sunrise. After a one-night stand, a black couple in San Francisco visits the Museum of the African Diaspora, runs into an affordable housing coalition meeting.
The four million tonne per annum (mtpa) capacity Koira iron ore mine of & Industries Ltd (EMIL), an Aditya Birla Group company, has been conferred the five-star rating by the Union ministry of Mines.
MADISON  Republican Congressman Sean Duffys announcement Thursday that he wont run for the U.S. Senate in 2018 sets up another potentially crowded GOP primary for the seat.

The names of at least five potential candidates have emerged in recent weeks, with four of them  state Sen. Leah Vukmir, state Rep. Dale Kooyenga, Madison businessman Eric Hovde and Marine veteran Kevin Nicholson  telling the Wisconsin State Journal on Thursday they are considering a run.

The fifth, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, didnt respond to an interview request but tweeted praise for Duffys leadership. He previously said he would await Duffys decision before deciding whether to get in the race.

Duffy, who lives in Wausau, represents the 7th Congressional District, which includes the northern two-thirds of Chippewa County, including Bloomer and Cornell.

Republicans see U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Madison Democrat, as vulnerable, especially after Donald Trump became the first Republican presidential candidate to win Wisconsin since 1984.

The one thing that we learned during the entire presidential election cycle is the regular rules of thumb were thrown out the window, Vukmir said.

Hovde, who finished second in the 2012 GOP primary, said he plans to make a decision by this fall. He said the race will likely be very expensive and he expects he would use some of his own money, as he did in 2012.

Nicholson said he is strongly considering a run as an outsider who knows the challenges facing Wisconsin families, and the sacrifices made by those who help keep us safe.

Kooyenga said hes open to the possibility of running but right now is focused on the state budget.

Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabatos Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, on Wednesday rated the Wisconsin seat one of three races that leans Democrat. He said in an interview that hes giving Baldwin the benefit of the doubt as an incumbent who isnt part of the current presidents party.

When Baldwin initially got elected there was some thought that she was too liberal for a state thats kind of middle of the road, but its also elected people from all across the political spectrum, Kondik said. If Hillary Clinton were president, Baldwin would be much more clearly endangered.

Duffys controversial statements

In a statement, Duffy said hes not running for family reasons.

After much prayer and deliberation, Rachel and I have decided that this is not the right time for me to run for Senate. We have eight great kids and family always comes first, Duffy said. Baldwin will be beat because her radically liberal Madison record and ideas are out of (sync) with Wisconsin. I look forward to helping our Republican nominee defeat her.

Duffys decision comes a week after stirring controversy for saying a shooting at a Canadian mosque by a white extremist was a one-off event, that shootings by white extremists are different than those by Muslim extremists and that good things came from the killing of nine members of a Charleston, South Carolina, church, namely the removal of the Confederate flag from the South Carolina statehouse grounds.

Duffy was recently named chairman of the housing and insurance subcommittee of the House Financial Institutions Committee, something he had been positioning himself for, and which could help him raise lots of money over the next several years, said longtime Republican lobbyist Brandon Scholz, a former party official.

Its possible Duffy is looking ahead to an open Senate seat in 2022 when U.S. Sen. Ron Johnsons second term ends, Scholz said. Johnson, an Oshkosh Republican, said during his recent re-election campaign that he wouldnt run for a third term.

Its likely by that time everybody will be looking to him as the candidate, Scholz said. Young. Money in the bank. Leader in the state. The Republican Party will wrap its arms around him.

Uncertainty of Trump is a factor

Republicans acknowledged the big unknown in 2018 is what effect Trumps presidency will have on the midterm elections. The party not in control of the White House tends to do better in midterms, but Wisconsin has been tacking right in recent years.

Baldwins 2012 win over Tommy Thompson, the former four-time elected governor, was one of the few bright spots for Democrats since 2010. Scott Jensen, a former Republican Assembly speaker and lobbyist for the pro-voucher American Federation for Children, said Baldwin successfully ran then as a populist appealing to middle-of-the-road voters, but will have a more difficult time running with a more liberal voting record.

Last time I was warning Republicans that Tammy Baldwin was stronger than they think; now shes weaker than she knows, Jensen said. The ground is shifting underneath her.

Baldwin starts the race with a significant fundraising advantage. She ended 2016 with a little more than $1 million in the bank.

Her campaign declined comment, deferring to the state party.

The Republican establishment in Washington is scrambling to avoid a divisive, messy Republican primary in Wisconsin, said Gillian Drummond, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. No matter what circus emerges, Tammy Baldwin will continue to stand up to the powerful interests in Washington and fight for a Wisconsin economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) India said that it is moving into a new phase of growth with its Made-in-India Jeep 'Compass' that will be launched in the third quarter of calendar 2017. The company is also planning to export the new product from its Indian unit.
Its the worlds fastest growing smartphone market, with 462 million internet users, second only to China. The number rose 23 per cent last year, and theres lots more headroom for growth because even now only a third of the 1.3 billion population is connected to the internet.
The Delhi High Court on Friday heard driver unions argue an order barring them from holding up cab-hailing businesses Uber and Ola. The order trailed in the wake of strikes and protests against policies of Ola-Uber apps in National Capital Region or NCR. On Friday, that order just got extended till February 28, the next date of hearing, in a huge relief to the .
Mahindra Electric, part of $17.8 billion Mahindra Group, is expecting its manufacturing plant in Karnataka to reach its capacity of 5,000 units by next year. The development comes on the backdrop of the company launching four new products last year.

Speaking on the sidelines of new electric city smart car e2oPlus launch in Chennai, Mahesh Babu, chief executive officer, said that the company had a capacity of 2,000 units last year and increased the capacity to 5,000 units a year recently.
After receiving an unfavourable ruling in a US court, Dr Reddy's Laboratories (DRL) has said that there are no claims against the company for monetary damages in Helsinn Healthcare's patent infringement case over an anti-nauseant agent Aloxi.
In order to build a wider customer base, app-based are focusing on tier II and III cities in India. They are adding more partners and new features on their platform to attract new users to further increase the overall volume of the business.
The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed a series of suits filed by Proctor & Gamble Home Products Private Limited (P&G) and Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) against each other's advertisements, which the had claimed were disparaging in nature and hurting their respective reputation and goodwill.
Tata Group's jewellery brand is expecting the Golden Harvest Scheme to rebound to its earlier levels of 30 per cent of its business by the financial year 2018.
A day before newly-anointed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami's government faces a vote of confidence in the state Assembly to prove its majority, various factions are in last minute preparations to win their sides.
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Online shopping giant Amazon's Rs 15 lakh in cash were allegedly looted here from a courier handler while he was on his way, the city police said on Thursday.

The police said they found contradictions in the courier handler's account of the heist, and suspect foul play in the loot.

Sumit Singh, a courier handler of Radiant Private Service Solutions, was assigned to deliver Amazon's cash in Shipra Sun city area in Indirapuram.

The incident occurred near Diamond flyover in Kavi Nagar Industrial area, according to Sumit Singh.

After taking Rs 15 lakh in cash at 7.35 p.m. on Wednesday from the office of Amazon, he called the police at 7:36 p.m, informing them that he was robbed.

He told the police that as he stepped out of the office and turned to Diamond flyover two persons in a car came to him and snatched the bag containing cash and sped away.

During the loot, one of their accomplices remained seated on the driver's seat of the car, he said.

"On his complaint, the FIR has been registered under Section 392 of the Indian Penal Code. Investigation is being conducted," said Superintendent of Police (City) Salman Taj Patil.

"During investigation and recording of statement, we have found several contradictions in Sumit's account of the incident. FIR was submitted late and phones are being checked to connect the chain of events," Patil added.
Police had to intervene to clear the traffic on roads after crowd thronged outside a cloth shop in Mahmoorganj here that offered 'a for a rupee note'.

The scheme meant to sell the old stock of the shop's sarees, attracted huge crowd of women yesterday, which led to a blocked traffic in front of the shop in Mehmoorganj area, said sources.

Police had to intervene to clear the crowd which had blocked movement on the busy Mahmoorganj-Sigra road in the heart of city.

The news about the offer spread like a wild fire and hundreds of women had gathered at the shop. The shop owner had to withdraw the offer due to the huge crowd and police later pacified women and cleard the traffic movement, sources said.

They added that the scheme was applicable on a condition that one has to first shop for items worth over Rs 500 before availing the scheme and that had led to some confusion which resulted in the chaos.
The supreme Court on Thursday asked three internet search engines -- India, Yahoo India and Microsoft Corporation (India) Ltd -- to form own "In-House Expert Body" to scan and delete the literature and write-ups related to sex determination.

Directing setting up of such bodies, the bench of Justice Dipak Mistra and Justice R. Banumathi brushed aside the submissions by the three search engines that they may be spared from setting up of such in-house expert bodies as there is already a nodal agency set up by the government for the purpose.

The court said the declining sex ratio is a "disastrous signal for mankind" and Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar said: "It (literature on sex determination) can affect demography."

Reiterating its September 19, 2016 direction, through which a nodal agency was set up, the court in its order on Thursday said that the three search engines shall appoint their "In-House Expert Body", which shall take steps to see if any word or any key word shown in the internet has the potential to go counter to Section 22 of the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994, and is deleted forthwith.

Section 22 of the 1994 act prohibits advertisements relating to pre-natal determination of sex and provides for punishment for its contravention.

The Centre had set up a nodal agency to act on any public information on advertisements promoting sex determination techniques/kits on the internet.

Counsel for the three search engines -- K.V. Viswanathan, Anupam Lal Das and Ruby Ahuja -- urged the court not to pass order for setting up of an the in-house expert body, as it may result into huge numbers of mails reaching them and could land them into cases.

As senior counsel Vishwanathan told the court that "our view of Section 22 of the 1994 Act is yet to be adjudicated", Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar said: "It (information on sex determination) can affect demography."

Allaying the apprehensions of the counsel appearing for the three search engines, the court said: "It is not a case of 'X' individual acting against 'Y' individual. No individual can go (to the court). It is an appropriate authority that alone can act under Section 22 of the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994."

"Nobody will go to the criminal court," Justice Misra said pointing out that they are seized of the matter.

"Take a little step forward," said Justice Banumathi.

Earlier, in the course of the hearing, the court said that search engines must respect the Indian law and no material contrary to the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994 should pop up during a generic research.

Observing that "the whole problem is that they (search engines) do not have respect for the law of the country", the court said that they must positively respond and Indian law must be respected.

India in a statement later said: "We have always been compliant and are supportive of removing paid content based on terms linked to gender selection tests. We have taken additional action to disable auto-complete predictions for relevant terms on our site and show a warning that tells users that pre-natal gender screening or testing is illegal in India."
Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is currently conducting an annual recruitment of Scientists/Engineers SC with B.E/B.Tech or equivalent degree in electronics, mechanical and computer science. Interested and eligible candidates can register the applications online at the official website www. .gov.in. The registration is hosted on the website since February 15, 2017, and the last date to apply for the posts is March 7, 2017.
Taking a serious view of incidents of violence against vehicles and drivers of app-based cab companies Ola and Uber, Delhi High Court on Friday directed the Delhi Police to immediately ensure their safety.

At the same the time, the court said the two drivers' unions have to "get it out of their head" that they can "extract" something from these companies by agitations as they do with the government.

"You cannot demand anything from plaintiffs except by peaceful commercial negotiations," the court said, telling the two drivers' unions to change their mindset.

"Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) or any other officer of equal rank nominated by Commissioner of Police is requested to forthwith ensure that drivers/owners having contract with plaintiffs (Ola and Uber) and wanting to ply are not stopped or blocked from plying and that their vehicles are not damaged," Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw said.

The direction came after Ola and Uber contended that despite the court's orders earlier this week restraining the two drivers' unions from blocking or interfering with their services, there have been incidents of violence including burning of a cab.

The two unions -- Sarvodaya Driver Association of Delhi (SDAD) and Rajdhani Tourist Drivers' Union -- denied responsibility for such incidents of violence.

While SDAD said it has been agitating peacefully with permission, Rajdhani contended that it was only operating tourist cabs and it was SDAD which was involved in the incidents of violence.

The court, however, noted in its order that "if not by the defendants (SDAD and Rajdhani), then the incidents are happening at behest of the defendants as no one else would be interested in indulging therein".

It said if such incidents continue the defendants only would stand to lose as people would adopt other means of transport and will no longer have faith in them.

The court said that if the unions were unhappy with the rates fixed by Ola and Uber, then they have other options, like running as black and yellow taxis, open to them.

It said the unions have to "get it out of their head" that they can "extract" something from these companies by agitations as they do with the government because these business modules will then go away from here and move to "better cities" where they can operate.

The court asked the unions to spread the word that such incidents of violence should not happen so that a peaceful atmosphere is created for a meeting with Ola and Uber.

"You cannot demand anything from plaintiffs except by peaceful commercial negotiations," the court said and listed the matter for further hearing on February 28.

During the hearing, Ola and Uber said they have made several efforts for dialogue, but they cannot have meetings while these incidents of violence and "hooliganism" are occurring.

The companies also said that these incidents started after the high court and the government said they are part of the system and set up a panel to formulate a scheme to regulate them.

The court was hearing the pleas of Uber and Ola seeking

to restrain SDAD and Rajdhani and anyone working on their behalf from disrupting their services.

The pleas were moved after hundreds of drivers of Uber and Ola went on an indefinite strike from February 10 in Delhi-NCR region to protest against the "low fares" and "lack" of basic amenities.

On a plea by Ola and Uber, the court had issued directions restraining anyone, including the two unions and their members, from blocking vehicles or removing or confiscating the mobile devices installed in the cabs.

The court had also restrained the two unions, their office-bearers or anyone acting on their behalf, from staging a dharna within 500 metres of the offices here of Ola and Uber.
Edappadi K Palaniswami, 63, minister for highways, minor ports and forests in the O Panneerselvam government till February 5, is now the formal successor to the late J Jayalalithaa as the partys choice to lead the government of Tamil Nadu.
It was a busy Saturday evening in Delhi, just two days before Diwali, when three blasts shattered the peace of the capital on October 29, 2005, claiming the lives of 67 and leaving over 210 people injured.

The serial explosions that rocked Delhi were the biggest terrorist strike in India, outside Kashmir, since the Bombay (now Mumbai) blasts of 1993.

The scenes at the blast sites were horrific with dead bodies, blood and destruction all around.

The first blast took place at Paharganj in Central Delhi, near the New Delhi Railway Station at around 5.38 p.m., ripping apart shop fronts and killing 17 people.

According to Delhi Police, the bomb was planted on a two-wheeler parked outside a chemist's shop that also left around 40 injured.

The second blast took place in a bus in south Delhi's Govindpuri area at 6 p.m., injuring 13 passengers. According to police, the bomb was noticed by a passenger, with whom the conductor had a heated argument over buying ticket.

The 70 passengers travelling in the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) Outer Mudrika bus were asked by the conductor and the driver to disembark.

The conductor tried to throw the bag out when the bomb inside exploded. The driver and conductor were among the 13 people injured.

The biggest explosion took place in south Delhi's Sarojini Nagar market at 6.05 p.m., just five minutes after the second blast that caused the maximum damage. At least 50 people were killed in the busy market.

According to police, the explosive device was placed in a Maruti van near a chat vendor using a gas cylinder. The blast triggered secondary explosions in two cylinders of the chat vendor, starting a blaze.

The impact of the blasts was so strong that bodies of several people could not be recovered.

As news of the blasts spread, other markets in Delhi soon began to empty out.

Grief and shock spread across the city. Many people rushed to hospitals searching for their near and dear ones.

Relatives waited in hope and fear outside the emergency rooms of three city hospitals -- All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Lady Hardinge Hospital, where the injured were rushed.

In Sarojini Nagar, the identity of five victims had to be established with DNA test while seven others still remain unidentified.
After thrashing out the contentious issue of administrative turf, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is set to meet state finance ministers on Saturday for what could be the second-last meeting of the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Council before the expected July 1 rollout of the new indirect tax system.
In a setback to seafood exports, the United States of America (USA), the largest importer (value wise) of Indian marine products has stepped up the testing measures for consignments shipped from India.

Trade sources say more than 140 shipments were detained by USA for testing of presence of antibiotics and bacteria which may impact exports to the country.
The industry will go through a major change this year as more private sector life insurers and public sector general insurers get listed on the bourses. How will it change the environment in the industry? Will we see more transparency and better governance? Will the new capital from both institutional and retail investors help the industry to grow rapidly?
Foreign investors on Friday lapped shares of after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lifted foreign portfolio investors' (FPIs) buying restrictions on the stock. The scrip surged 9.5 per cent, the biggest intra-day gain in three years, to Rs 1,450 as FPIs scrambled to buy in the limited window.
Accelerating efforts to eliminate measles and control rubella, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, today convened a meeting of an Expert Advisory Group to recommend strategies to end the scourge of these killer and debilitating diseases by 2020. .

.

The Government of India will take every possible measure to ensure that children and families do not suffer from the devastating effects of measles and rubella. We have made India Polio free and are committed to eliminating measles and controlling rubella, while also protecting children against all other vaccine preventable diseases, Mr C K Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, said. .

.

The expert advisory group on measles and rubella, congratulated India for its efforts so far and, especially for launching the Measles and Rubella campaign earlier this month. It recommended timely roll out of the remaining phases of the MR campaign, besides further stepping up surveillance and strengthening the reach of the measles-rubella vaccination campaign, to maximize the gains made so far, and make progress in the fight against measles and rubella. .

.

Indias measles and rubella vaccination campaign is a truly remarkable, world-beating effort, with 41 crore children expected to be covered across the country in the next two years. Apart from improving the life-chances of crores of children in India, the campaign will have a substantial effect on global measles mortality and rubella control targets.," Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director for WHO in South-East Asia said. .

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India has made important gains in recent years. Measles deaths have declined by 51% from an estimated 100,000 in the year 2000 to 49 000 in 2015. This has been possible by significantly increasing the reach of the first dose of measles vaccine, given at the age of nine months under routine immunization programme, from 56% in 2000 to 87% in 2015. In 2010 India introduced the second dose of measles-containing vaccine in routine immunization programme to close the immunity gap and accelerate measles elimination. Nearly 11.8 crore children aged nine months to 10 years were vaccinated during mass measles vaccination campaigns between 2010 and 2013 in select states of the country. During the recent annual Union Budget presentation, the government reiterated its commitment to measles elimination. .

.

Dr T Jacob John, Co-Chair of the expert advisory group on measles and rubella to the Government of India, said, measles elimination and rubella control is possible. The MR vaccine is safe and effective. We have tried and tested strategies that are proven to be effective in eliminating measles and controlling rubella. Rigorous implementation of these strategies is needed for India to achieve the 2020 target." .

.

Measles is one of the major causes of death in children and the public health importance of rubella is due to congenital rubella syndrome (CRS), which occurs when rubella infection occurs in the first trimester of pregnancy. CRS is characterized by severe irreversible birth defects affecting the eyes (glaucoma, cataract), ears (hearing loss), brain (microcephaly, mental retardation) and heart. .

.

In 2015, the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization recommended introduction of rubella vaccine as combined measles-rubella vaccine, as a nation-wide campaign, covering children in the age group of 9 months to less than 15 years age group. After the campaign, MR vaccine is scheduled to be introduced in routine immunization, replacing the currently given two doses of measles vaccine. .

.

The ongoing MR campaign in five states Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Puducherry & Lakshadweep, to vaccinate 3.48 crore children, has till date, reached 1.16 crore children. .

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Shri Piyush Goyal addresses the International Conference on NexGen Technologies for Mining and Fuel Industries-NxGnMiFu-2017

Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy, Mines, addressing the Valedictory Session of the International Conference on NexGen Technologies for Mining and Fuel Industries - NxGnMiFu  2017 said that the country has become coal and power surplus because of the efforts put up by the Indian Coal Mining Companies and the Power plants. He lauded the work of Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR) Dhanbad that has ensured the quality check on the coal supply to the power plants. Shri Goyal said that it is now required to implement innovative ideas so that cost of power to the users remain affordable. The Minister said that all the stakeholders including those working in the R&D in coal and mining sector, have to work with newer technologies for safer mining, smarter mining and efficient mining with sustainability. He asked scientists of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to go for innovations with newer, big ideas and transforming the way the research is carried out in the country.

CSIR - Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Dhanbad together had organised the International Conference on "NexGen Technologies for Mining and Fuel Industries" [NxGnMiFu-2017] during February 15-17, 2017 at New Delhi on the occasion of CSIR-Platinum Jubilee Celebration to commemorate 75th year of its foundation. Dr. Girish Sahni, DG, CSIR, presided over the function.

The conference deliberated on issues related to Innovative Mining Technologies for Complex Geo-mining Conditions; Mine Safety, Monitoring and Risk Management; Clean Coal Initiatives; Coal to Liquid, Methanol and Urea; Harnessing Coal Bed Methane, Shale Gas and Underground Coal Gasification; Technological Developments in Oil and Gas Sectors and Alternate Clean Energy Initiatives. During the three- day deliberations, it presented suggestions on the R&D needs to innovate new techniques, technologies and applications for clean, safe, symbiotic sustenance of society, environment and industries in post-2020 era.

YSK/Uma
Plc said on Friday it would create 15,000 jobs in the United States (US), as IT services firms brace for a more protectionist US technology visa program under President Donald Trump.

The company is domiciled in Dublin, Ireland, while a large chunk of its more than 394,000 employees is in India.

IT services came under the spotlight after Trump said that his administration would focus on creating more jobs for US workers, who had been affected by the outsourcing of jobs abroad.

Major IT service companies, particularly those based in India, use H-1B visas to fly engineers to the United States to service clients, but some opponents argue they are misusing the program to replace US jobs.

said on Friday it would invest $1.4 billion to train its employees and would open 10 innovation centres in some US cities.

The newly added jobs will raise the company's US workforce by 30% to more than 65,000 by the end of 2020, the company said.

The US business accounted for 46% of the company's full-year revenue for the year ended August 31.
Pakistani security forces on Friday killed more than 24 militants in a nationwide crackdown, a day after an Islamic State (IS) suicide bomber blew himself up in the Sufi shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sindh's Sehwan, claiming 76 lives.

Paramilitary Sindh Rangers on Friday said that they had killed 18 terrorists in overnight operations in the southern province.

According to the Rangers, seven terrorists were killed in a shootout after they attacked a convoy of the paramilitary troops on the Super Highway near Kathor, Sindh.

The convoy was returning from Sehwan town after taking part in rescue operations. A soldier was also injured.

Another 11 terrorists were killed in a raid carried out in the Manghopir area of Karachi, according to the Rangers.

Separately, police in northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa said they have killed 11 extremists in the restive province.

According to a security official, police killed three terrorists in the Reggi area of Peshawar, while the army targeted and killed four militants in the Orakzai tribal region.

Another four militants were killed in an exchange of fire in the Bannu area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Officials said that the crackdown would be intensified in the coming days as the government has resolved to eliminate militancy.

The crackdown was launched simultaneously by the federal and provincial governments after at least eight terror attacks rocked Pakistan since the weekend, killing dozens.

A high-level meeting this week chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif agreed that militants posing threat to national security should be "liquidated".

Several persons injured in the shrine blast are in critical condition and they will be shifted to Karachi, officials said.

The army said that the armed forces had placed all required resources to facilitate the rescue effort. The Pakistan Army and Rangers assisted with rescue efforts at the site.

The IS has claimed responsibility for the attack on their Aamaq news agency, saying a suicide bomber had targeted a "Shiite gathering" at the shrine in Sindh.

The shrine has been sealed and police have collected initial evidence and secured CCTV footage.

The fresh wave of terror attacks started when a suicide bomber attacked a protest rally outside the Punjab Assembly in Lahore on Monday killing 14 people and injuring dozens.

On the same day, a terrorist attack was foiled in Quetta but two officials of the Bomb Disposal Squad were killed diffusing a bomb under a bridge in Quetta.

Terrorists also carried out attacks in Mohmand agency and Peshawar, followed by the shrine blast in Sindh.
So whats going on with  wondered US President, Donald Trump, in a recent discussion with educators at the White House. When you look at the tremendous increase, its really  its such an incredible  its really a horrible thing to watch, the tremendous amount of increase. Is President Trump right? Is there a tremendous increase in the prevalence of
President Trump on Thursday dismissed reports about his associates contacts with Russia last year and vigorously defended his performance in his first four weeks in office, in a contentious news conference that showcased his unconventional and unconstrained presidency.
US President aired his grievances against the news media, the intelligence community and his detractors generally in a sprawling, stream-of-consciousness news conference.

"To be honest, I inherited a mess," Trump said on Thursday, in a news conference that lasted more than an hour and was at times rambling, combative and pointed, The Washington Post reported.

"It's a mess. At home and abroad, a mess. Jobs are pouring out of the country."

Yet moments later, the president seemed to acknowledge the widespread reports of turbulence and upheaval emanating out of his West Wing, only to claim that his White House - which so far has been marred by staff infighting, a controversial travel ban, false statements and myriad leaks - was operating seamlessly.

"I turn on the TV, open the newspapers and I see stories of chaos - chaos," he said

"Yet it is the exact opposite. This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine, despite the fact that I can't get my Cabinet approved."

Asked about recent reports that Mike Flynn, his former national security adviser who resigned Monday evening, had improperly discussed Russian sanctions with the Russian ambassador to the US before Trump was sworn in, the president defended Flynn as a "fine person", saying he had done nothing wrong in engaging the Russian envoy.

But, Trump said, Flynn had erred by misleading government officials, including Vice President Pence, about his conversations, which is why the president ultimately demanded his resignation.

"He didn't tell the vice president of the US the facts," Trump said. "And then he didn't remember. And that just wasn't acceptable to me."

Trump made clear he had no problem with Flynn discussing the sanctions imposed on Moscow by the Obama administration with the Russian ambassador even if he was not directly told to do so by Trump, saying it was Flynn's job to reach out to foreign officials.

"No, I didn't direct him, but I would have directed him if he didn't do it," he said.

Trump was asked several times about whether his campaign had contact with Russia and grew testy as reporters pushed him for a yes-or-no answer.

He said he certainly hadn't and that he was not aware of such contacts during the campaign.

"I can tell you, speaking for myself, I own nothing in Russia," Trump said. "I have no loans in Russia. I don't have any deals in Russia. President Putin called me up very nicely to congratulate me on the win of the election. He then, called me up extremely nicely to congratulate me on the inauguration, which was terrific. But so did many other leaders, almost all other leaders from almost all of the countries. So that's the extent."

Trump also used the questions to press his case that the United States would be well-served by a better relationship with Russia and to mock his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, for her efforts to "reset" the relationship between the two countries while she was secretary of state.

Trump derisively referred to that "stupid plastic button that made us all look like jerks," a reference to the red "reset" button that Clinton presented to the Russian foreign minister early in the Obama administration.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he would announce a new executive order on immigration next week that would "comprehensively" protect the US, days after his previous controversial travel ban against seven Muslim-majority countries was hit by a legal roadblock.

In a news conference at the White House, Trump said that the new order would comprehensively protect the country, and hinted that it might contain new vetting measures for travellers.

"We're issuing a new executive action next week that will comprehensively protect our country," Trump said.

"We'll be going along the one path and hopefully winning that, at the same time we will be issuing a new and very comprehensive order to protect our people. That will be done sometime next week, toward the beginning or middle at the latest part," Trump said.

His previous executive order temporarily suspending entry of Syrian refugees and people from seven Muslim-majority countries has been put on hold by the court, which he said is not correct.

Trump said his administration had a very smooth rollout of the travel ban. "But we had a bad court. Got a bad decision. We had a court that's been overturned. Again, may be wrong. But I think it's 80 per cent of the time, a lot," he said.

"We had a bad decision (by the court). We're going to keep going with that decision. We're going to put in a new executive order next week some time. But we had a bad decision," he said, alleging that such a court ruling is very bad for the safety and security of the country.

The rollout of the executive order was "perfect", he said.

Trump said that he would go ahead with extreme vetting.

"Now, in the meantime, we're vetting very, very strongly. Very, very strongly. But we need help. And we need help by getting that executive order passed," he said in response to a question.

"Extreme vetting will be put in place and it already is in place in many places. In fact, we had to go quicker than we thought because of the bad decision we received from a circuit that has been overturned at a record number," he said.

"I have heard 80 per cent, I find that hard to believe, that is just a number I heard, that they are overturned 80 percent of the time. I think that circuit is in chaos and that circuit is frankly in turmoil. But we are appealing that, and we are going further," Trump said.

Soon after Trump's announcement, late Thursday afternoon, the US Justice Department told a federal appeals court in San Francisco that there was no reason to reconsider a case on the executive order on immigration and refugees.

A three judge bench last week had refused to remove the stay on the executive order by another federal court in Seattle.
Facebook CEO laid out a vision on Thursday of his company serving as a bulwark against rising isolationism, writing in a letter to users that the company's platform could be the "social infrastructure" for the globe.
After a tumultuous month of incumbency, President Trump actually plans to begin his 2020 re-election campaign Saturday in Florida with one of his most vital campaign props in tow  the news media that he makes a daily art form of undermining with institutional and personal attacks.
At least 76 people were killed and nearly 250 injured tonight when an Islamic State (IS) suicide bomber blew himself up inside the crowded shrine of revered Sufi Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan town, in a string of deadly blasts this week in Pakistan.

The bomber entered the shrine through its 'Golden Gate' and blew himself up near the site where the ritual Sufi dance, 'Dhamal', was taking place.

The attacker first threw a couple of grenades to cause panic and then blew himself up, police said. Hundreds of devotees were present inside the premises of the vast mausoleum of the saint in the Sehwan town, some 200 Km northeast of Karachi, at the time of blast.

"We had around 27 policemen on duty at the shrine and there were CCTV cameras also. But he took advantage of the rush. I don't think this is a security lapse," inspector-general of police in Sindh, AD Khawaja, said.

DIG police Hyderabad range, Manzoor Rind, told the media that the death toll from the suicide bombing has climbed to 76, while the injured were around 250.

"The toll at this moment is 76 but (the) condition of some of the injured admitted in different hospitals is critical," Rind said.

Earlier, Sehwan police station SHO Rasool Baksh told reporters that around 100 people, including women and children, have been killed in the suicide bomb attack.

The IS claimed responsibility for the attack on their Aamaq news agency, saying a suicide bomber had targeted a "Shiite gathering" at the shrine in Sindh.

Commissioner Hyderabad Qazi Shahid Pervaz said that since the shrine was located in a remote area, some 130 Km from Hyderabad, ambulances, vehicles and medical teams were sent from Hyderabad, Jamshoro, Moro, Dadu and Nawabshah to the blast site to take care of the injured and move the bodies.

He said that the shrine has been sealed and police have collected initial evidence and secured CCTV footage. "The forensic examination will be carried out at the shrine soon," he said.

Qazi said that rescue operations have been completed as the Pakistan Army and Navy had sent three night flying helicopters and ambulances to shift the dead and injured.

He said that the dead bodies are now being identified.

This is the fifth major terrorist strike in Pakistan within a week's time.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack and urged Pakistan to "stand united".

He said that the attack on the shrine was an attack on the "progressive and inclusive future" of Pakistan.

"The Sufi people predate Pakistan's history, and played an important part in the struggle for its formation," he said.

"An attack on them is a direct threat to Jinnah's Pakistan and will be dealt as such," Sharif said.

Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa vowed to avenge "every drop of blood" spilled by terrorists in Pakistan.

"Recent terrorist acts are being executed on directions from hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan. We shall defend and respond. Each drop of the nation's blood shall be revenged, and revenged immediately. No more restraint for anyone," the army chief was quoted as saying by the Inter Services Public Relations Director Major General Asif Ghafoor on Twitter.

Devotees gather at the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, a Sufi philosopher-poet of present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan, every Thursday to participate in a dhamaal and prayers.
Pakistan Army on Friday claimed to have killed more than 100 suspected terrorists in retaliation to a Islamic State suicide bombing at a crowded Sufi shrine in Sindh province that claimed 88 lives.

The media wing of the army, ISPR, said a "sizeable" number of suspects have also been arrested since last night, when a Islamic State bomber blew himself up at the popular shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan in the southern province.

The statement did not specify where the militants were killed or about the arrests and said "details will be shared".

The blast was one of the deadliest in Pakistan in years and a continuation of several terrorist strikes in the country this week, despite the army's offensive against militants.

Pakistan Army has launched combing operations across the country, including Punjab province. "Intelligence agencies are making progress to unearth networks behind recent (terrorist) incidents," military spokesman Major Gen Asif Ghafoor said, without providing details.

Immediately after the blast, Pakistan claimed the bombing was planned in militant sanctuaries across the border in Afghanistan, threatening renewed hostilities between Kabul and Islamabad.

The army claimed it has found linkages to militant support networks operating from Afghanistan and it has closed the border due to security reasons after the bombing last night.

Pakistan Army began an operation in Shalman area near the Pakistan-Afghan border, using heavy artillery fire, reports said. The border with Afghanistan at Torkham has been shut.

"No cross-border or unauthorised entry will be allowed into Pakistan from Afghanistan," it said.

Afghan diplomats were earlier today summoned to General Headquarters in Rawalpindi by the Army, which lodged a protest over the use of Afghan soil by terrorists to carry out attacks in Pakistan.

The Afghan officials were also handed over a list of 76 terrorists hiding across the border and directing or supporting terrorist activities in Pakistan, the statement said. "Afghan government has been asked to target them and hand them over to Pakistan."



Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa assured the people, saying the "hostile" agenda will not be allowed to succeed "whatever it may cost".

"Army is for security of people of Pakistan against all types of threat. Nation to stay steadfast with full confidence in their security forces," he was quoted as saying in the statement.
Restaurants and other businesses around the United States (US) shut their doors on Thursday and thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of cities across the country in a walkout aimed at protesting President Donald Trump's policies.

Activists called on immigrants to stay home from work, avoid shopping and skip classes in "A Day Without Immigrants", an effort to highlight the vital role they play in American society. About 13 per cent of the US population, more than 40 million people, are foreign-born, according to census data.

"I told my English teacher that I wasn't going to school, and she said she understood," said Rosa Castro, a 13-year-old US citizen in Detroit, who marched with her 26-year-old sister, one of several undocumented family members whose future she is concerned about.

The protest was prompted by Trump's vows to crack down on illegal immigration and his executive order, which was put on hold by federal courts, that temporarily banned travel to the US from seven Muslim-majority countries. Immigrant rights' groups expressed alarm after federal raids last week in which more than 680 people illegally residing in the country were arrested.

Trump will replace the suspended executive order in the near future, according to a court filing by the US Department of Justice.

The nature of Thursday's protests made it difficult to ascertain how many immigrants were participating or to measure the economic impact. Lists compiled from local news outlets and social media each totalled dozens of closed restaurants in cities, including Minneapolis and Boston.

In Washington, DC, more than 50 restaurants were closed, including high-end eateries run by the celebrity chef Jose Andres, who is embroiled in a legal dispute with Trump after backing out of a deal to open a restaurant in the President's new Washington hotel.

At the Pentagon, about half a dozen food outlets were forced to close after staff members joined the protest, including a Starbucks, a Taco Bell and a Burger King, according to a Defense Department spokesperson.

Sympathy marches and rallies were also held in cities, including Raleigh, North Carolina and Austin, Texas. Thousands joined demonstrations in Chicago and Detroit.

Fast-food workers in cities, including Kansas City, took part in support rallies, according to the "Fight for $15" campaign backed by the Service Employees Union, which advocates for a higher minimum wage. The union said it was not officially involved in organising the action.

"Most people who come to America are just working," said Fernando Garcia, who was born in the United States but closed his Chicago-area solar fan business in support of his employees. "They can deport the criminals, but that's a very small portion of people who come here."

The protests were the latest in a series of actions by women's groups, immigrant groups and other activists since Trump took office.

"We add to the economy and society," said Kia Allah, 32, a teacher who is Muslim and described herself as half Puerto Rican and half black and joined a rally in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. "Sometimes people don't listen until it hits their pockets."
Last week, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials arrested more than 680 people in at least 12 states, shown below, stoking fears that the Trump administration is increasing the arrests and deportations of undocumented immigrants.
James Mattis visited Asia this month on his first foreign trip as the new head of the Pentagon. It was less a get-acquainted visit than a damage control tour. His boss, President Donald Trump, had threatened to escalate tensions with China and prevent North Korea from launching a nuclear-capable ICBM. Hed accused Japan of currency manipulation. He wanted both Tokyo and Seoul to pay more for their alliance with America. Hed unceremoniously pulled out of a free-trade agreement  the Trans Pacific Partnership (TTP)  that the United States had previously gone all out to promote.
surged 9.5% to Rs 1,450, also its fresh lifetime high on the BSE in early morning trade after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has removed it from ban list with immediate effect.
What Do We Know About Refugees?

Contact: Lisa Jones, Christian Freedom International, 800-323-2273



FRONT ROYAL, Va., Feb. 17, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- What do we know about the religious and political beliefs of refugees and asylum seekers who have entered the United States these past eight years?



The U.S. takes more than twice as many refugees as all countries from the rest of the industrialized world combined. But for leftist activists, the number of refugees entering the U.S. is never enough and our borders should be open for all.



However, these same activists seem to only care about the resettlement of Muslims refugees and rarely, if ever, speak out for persecuted minority Christian refugees. Why?



The previous administration admitted more Muslim refugees to the U.S. than any time in our history. A closer examination of this reveals startling evidence that the motivation to resettle Muslim refugees is not based on humanitarian concern. Rather, the reasons may be political.



According to a report by Pew Research (July 22, 2016), when it comes to political and social views, Muslims are far more likely to identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party (70%) than the Republican Party (11%) and to say they prefer a bigger government providing more services (68%) over a smaller government providing fewer services (21%).



In other words, Muslim refugees, when they become eligible to vote, overwhelmingly support the Democratic Party and remain on public assistance. Christians, on the other hand, are more likely to vote with the Republican Party and become self-sufficient. Tragically, this could be one of the major reasons persecuted minority Christians were basically ignored these past eight years.



Refugee resettlement should be based on persecution and threat of death, not on politics.



"There is strong evidence that many Muslims hold views that clash with Western norms," says CFI President Jim Jacobson.

In the United Kingdom police recorded more than 11,000 "honor" crimes between 2010 and 2014. A British think tank counted 18 honor killings in that country from 2010 to 2014.



A 2013 survey sponsored by Pew Research Center found that 99 percent of Muslims in Afghanistan and 91 percent of Iraqi Muslims favored making Sharia law the official law of their countries.



A 2011 Pew survey found that 40 percent of Pakistani Muslims believed it is often or sometimes justified to kill a woman engaged in premarital sex or adultery in order to protect the family's honor.

Of the 10,000 Syrian refugees admitted to the U.S. over the past 12 months, less than .5 percent were persecuted minority Christians.



Christians Freedom International supports President Trump's executive order on immigration and is calling for the privatization of the refugee resettlement program. Christian Freedom International is an interdenominational human rights organization for religious liberty, helping persecuted Christians and their communities world-wide including emergency and disaster relief, Bible distribution, medical assistance, food, water, clothing, tools, schools, habitat improvement, aid to the disabled, education, pastor & child sponsorship, advocacy, refugee & asylum case-work, vocational training, resettlement assistance and self-help initiatives.



Christian Freedom International has assisted in the resettlement of Karen Christian refugees from Burma and assisted Christian asylum seekers from around the world. CFI operates a housing facility to assist persecuted Christian refugees' transition to self-sufficiency.



To find out how you can help please visit our website www.chrisianfreedom.org, or call 800.323.2273
More than 200 Air India passengers have been left stranded at Ankara Airport since February 16. Flight number AI130 LHR-BOM was travelling from London Heathrow to Mumbai when it made a medical emergency landing at Ankara Airport.

Lady passenger Amrita Mohanty shared details via Twitter to Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj for seeking help.

After the incident being reported, Air India spokesperson said, "AI130 makes an medical emergency landing at Ankara Airport because of a male passenger who got sick in mid-air. We are in continuous touch with Ankara Embassy official to solve the problem. Hence, without engineering team approval it cannot take off anytime soon. That is why the 200 odd passengers travelling on-board are stranded in Ankara since last 24 hours. Due to this emergency, we have incurred a loss of around Rs 1 crore."

The passengers have complained that there are no crew-members available at the airport and there also hasn't been any communication between the passengers and the crew members of Air India flight.

Passengers can call - 0530 314 2203 for help from the Indian Embassy of Turkey.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a bid to translate the government's focus on smart cities into action, Ashoka University's Centre for Entrepreneurship in association with the Dalmia Bharat Group and Microsoft Accelerator announced application calls for the second cohort of its AIM Smart City Accelerator programme.

The joint initiative is aimed at nurturing innovative and committed early-stage startups with unique solutions focused on building a smarter and sustainable India.

"At Ashoka, it is our constant endeavour to foster critical thinking and entrepreneurship spirit among students and hence, this idea resonates with our core values. It further advocates government's focus on developing smart cities and gives bright minds a platform to nurture their ideas under the finest academic and industry networks and resources," said Priyank Narayan, Director, Centre for Entrepreneurship, Ashoka University.

Following the success of last year, the five-month long programme will also focus on startups in the areas of education, healthcare, transport and logistics, and infrastructure.

Apart from calling out entries for this year, the event showcased the finalists from last year who have been able to scale-up with funding and mentoring provided with the help of AIM programme. In addition to this, six startups from Ashoka University's Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR) programme were also showcased at the event.

"Startups that have a focus on building Smart Cities will play an important role to digitally transform India. We look forward to continue working with AIM Smart City Accelerator and empower startups working on smart cities solutions," added Naveen Asrani, Director, Microsoft India.

Applications for this programme will be shortlisted by 12 April, 2016 on the basis of financial viability, technology feasibility, desirability to target audience, sustainability of the solution and track record of the team.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chinese students at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), have expressed resentment over inviting the Dalai Lama to deliver a keynote address at the university's commencement ceremony in June.

China has long insisted that the Dalai Lama is a political exile who has been engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the cloak of religion with the aim of breaking Tibet away from China.

Bonnie Glaser, Director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, viewed the protest by Chinese students as them trying to limit free speech in America.

"Let those Chinese students prevent freedom of speech in their own country. Not here. Not ever," she wrote on Twitter.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, many Chinese students view the situation differently, and the practice of protesting against commencement speakers is nothing new.

In an opinion piece for the student-operated newspaper UCSD Guardian, Ruixuan Wang wrote, "The main reason why many Chinese students are upset is that our university shows little consideration about cultural respect, as he (the Dalai Lama) is a politically sensitive person in China."

A group of Chinese students plan to meet with the university's chancellor to discuss the content of the upcoming speech and does not plan to ask the chancellor to disinvite the Dalai Lama, according to Quartz.

Instead, the group plans to request that the chancellor "send out statements that clarify the content of Dalai Lama's speech," "make sure his speech has nothing to do with politics," and "stop using words like 'spiritual leader' or 'exile'" to describe the Dalai Lama.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Delhi's Special Cell has arrested three people and recovered 25.6 kilograms of Mephedrone, also known as meow meow drugs, worth approximately Rs. 50 crore from them.

The police officials informed that Mephedrone drugs are sold at a cost of Rs. 15,000 to 20, 000 per gram and are widely used in big parties.

The Special Cell arrested former athlete Amandeep and Harpreet Singh from New Delhi Railway station on Wednesday when they were trying to board Dadar-Amritsar train at around 6:15 a.m. while Harnees Sarpal was arrested from Janak Puri area.

"Our South-Western range received information about a syndicate being monitored in UAE and UK. The drugs are being shipped from East Africa to Mumbai. It is later circulated to other metropolitan cities including Punjab," Special Cell Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjeev Yadav said.

The DCP said that Harpreet Singh was an international athlete who participated in discus throw and secured silver medal in 2004 commonwealth games in Australia. In 2006, he got bronze medal in the South Asian Games in Colombo.

"He could not participate in 2010 commonwealth games due o injuries," he added.

Yadav informed that Amandeep did a diploma in hotel management from UK and gradually came in contact with the syndicate.

The DCP further said that a search operation is going on to nab other accomplices in Mumbai.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Cyber-security company F-Secure has acquired privately-held company Inverse Path, an industry leader in providing security services to the avionics, automotive, and industrial control sectors.

Inverse Path's expertise in hardware security and the safety of critical embedded systems strengthens F-Secure's position as a service provider for businesses in critical sectors with challenging IT infrastructure.

"As part of our comprehensive portfolio, we offer a vast range of cyber security services such as red teaming, risk assessments, vulnerability management, incident response, and forensics. Inverse Path's expertise is the perfect fit for our fast growing consultancy . We're delighted to have them join our team," said Executive Vice President Cyber Security Services at F-Secure, Jens Thonke.

Inverse Path's world-renowned cyber security consultants serve mid-market and Fortune 500 companies. The company is well-known for its innovative focus on hardware security in challenging sectors such as automotive and avionics, as well as traditional software applications. Inverse Path's leadership in embedded system security is evident in its USB armory project a USB stick that features an entire on board computer designed to provide a portable platform for personal security applications.

"Inverse Path was one of the first companies to publish research on vehicle security, and they now use this expertise to help automobile and vehicle telematics manufacturers secure their products," said F-Secure Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Development, Jyrki Tulokas.

"With the acquisition, we reinforce F-Secure's position as a global cyber security leader with industry renowned talent," he added.

The acquisition brings Andrea Barisani, founder of Inverse Path, to F-Secure's world-class team of cyber security consultants, where he will lead Hardware Security. Barisani is an expert on large-scale infrastructure defense, penetration testing, and code auditing, with a particular focus on safety-critical environments. He is also a prominent speaker on automotive hacking, side-channel attacks, payment systems, and embedded system security.

"In the past ten years, Inverse Path developed a unique set of security consulting skills. This has placed us at the forefront of security research and made us a leader in embedded system security for emerging sectors, such as automotive and avionics," said Barisani.

"We are proud to see our expertise recognized by F-Secure, a company that we have come to deeply respect for attracting exceptional talents with top-notch skills. We look forward to expanding our team. As combined companies, we can develop new capabilities to better serve our existing and future customers," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, could have been killed apparently because of the discovery of his Facebook page, according to some reports.

Nam, who was murdered at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 on Monday, was travelling using a passport under the name of "Kim Chol", according to Malaysian police.

NK News website reported that a Facebook account belonging to a "Kim Chol" had pictures of Kim Jong Nam in Macau, where he lived in exile and was headed to before he was killed. It quoted an unnamed source confirming that the profile was his.

The website said that Nam used the social media site extensively, using the alias 'Kim Chol'. The Facebook page contains numerous photos of Nam in cities in the region, as well as outside casinos and famous hotels.

It also quoted Cha Du Hyeogn, former intelligence secretary to former South Korean president Lee Myung Bak, as saying that Kim Jong Nam was known to have used commercial e-mail addresses.

"Open activities like these do not look like they are coming from a person who is constantly under death threats. I think it is possible that Kim (Jong Nam) was careless, leading to his unsuspecting death," he said.

Three suspects - two women with foreign documents and a Malaysian man - have been arrested in connection with the death so far.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Get ready to envy Sonam Kapoor, as the lady is giving us some real travel goals!

The 31-year-old actress and her sister Rhea have been holidaying in Austria for a few days now and their instagram posts have been making us go gaga.

Just like one of those Yash Chopra films, the siblings have been shopping up a storm as well as taking in the beautiful sights and scenery including snow covered mountains.

After mesmerizing everyone with her performance as Neerja Bhanot in 'Neerja', Sonam will next be seen in 'Veere di Shaadi,' alongside new-mommy Kareena Kapoor Khan and Swara Bhaskar.

Produced by Rhea, the film is directed by 'Khoobsurat' director Shashanka Ghosh and is said to be an Indian adaptation of the Hollywood drama, 'The sisterhood of the Travelling Pants.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least 17 soldiers of the Afghanistan National Army (ANA) were reportedly been killed late on Thursday night in the country's eastern Nangarhar province.

Media reports in Kabul quoted Ahmad Ali Hazrat, chief of Nangarhar provincial council, as saying that the Islamic State (IS) group was behind the attack on the security posts located in the Dih Bala district.

Hazrat was further quoted, as saying, that the IS terrorists launched their attack from three directions which resulted in the high rate of casualties.

Afghanistan's Ministry of Defence, General Dawlat Waziri, was quoted by the media, as saying that 21 IS terrorists had also died during the encounter.

Meanwhile, in a separate development, five Afghan police personnel lost their lives when their security posts in Kunar Province was attacked by the Taliban on Friday.

Provincial sources were quoted, as saying by local media that the Taliban was repelled quickly.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Council of Protection and Stability for Afghanistan (CPSA) and the New National Front of Afghanistan have urged for review of the government's plans in governance, elections and reforms.

Also, Former Jihadi leader Abdul Rab Rassoul Sayyaf said on the occasion of 28th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan that neighboring countries should stop their involvement in the country's violence, reports Tolo News.

"Our neighbors should not derive pleasure from our country's miseries; they will be caught up in this misery. This is not my saying; this is what the Islam Prophet Mohammad [peace be upon him] says," he said.

The participants said that terrorists are carrying out an unannounced war against the people of Afghanistan.

Al-Qaida, a number of Taliban factions and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) have created an ominous circle, which has prolonged the war against the people of Afghanistan, the participants said.

The participants, meanwhile, called for a quick announcement of parliamentary elections' date.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Harry Potter author JK Rowling has showed up her disagreement with the U.S. President Donald Trump, yet again.

Rowling took to Twitter and stated that Trump's Thursday afternoon press conference was the 'scariest thing' she had ever seen.

In a press conference, Donald Trump lambasted the news media and insisted that his administration was running like a 'finely-tuned machine'.

The Harry Potter author, who has been a regular critic of the U.S President, tweeted, "Up until an hour ago, the scariest thing I'd ever watched was Psycho. #TrumpPresser".

Rowling has previously defended her right to criticise the Trump regime, despite not being an American citizen, arguing, "When a man this ignorant & easy to manipulate gets within sniffing distance of the nuclear codes, it's everyone's business."

During his 77-minute press conference, President Trump noted his accomplishments, denied any connection to Russia and called out the 'very fake news' and media over their coverage of his presidency.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
home US Trump keeps Obama's LGBT envoy in State Department

A State Department spokesperson announced on Monday that President Donald Trump's administration has decided to retain Randy Berry as the Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI persons.

Berry, an openly gay career Foreign Service officer, was given the position by the Obama administration in 2015.

The position was created in 2014 as part of the efforts to protect gay people abroad from violence and death, according to Religion News Service. Conservative groups, however, said that the office is an attempt to "entrench the LGBTI agenda" into the U.S. government.

The Family Research Council (FRC) has considered it a priority to remove such "activists" and has called on the State Department to get rid of employees who promote an "anti-family, anti-life agenda."

FRC President Tony Perkins said that the news about retaining Berry was "a disappointing development." He stated that the administration should focus on protecting Christians against persecution and genocide rather than promoting gay rights.

"Keeping Berry only signals to the world that the extreme agenda of the Obama years is still deeply entrenched in the State Department," he said.

Ross Murray, the director of programs at pro-LGBT group GLAAD, said that he was surprised by the decision to keep Berry as the LGBT envoy.

"I don't think I can applaud it until I see what his mandate becomes in this administration. But Berry has been really effective in that job," he said.

The retention of Berry came after Caribbean religious leaders wrote a letter to Trump last month urging him to stop the U.S. efforts to export the LGBT agenda.

The nearly 300 Caribbean ministers and church leaders who signed the Jan. 31 letter claimed that the Obama administration's State Department had used coercive measures to normalize same-sex marriage and elevate LGBT issues at the expense of human rights.

The ministers cited concerns about the influence of the State Department's LGBT special envoy and pointed to last year's Department of Education directive which required public schools to make special accommodations for transgender students or risk losing federal funding.

"Please understand that this same kind of coercion is being used against our countries to force us to fall in line with the entire same-sex agenda," the pastors wrote, according to World. "In this letter, there is no room to enumerate the various ways in which this is happening," they added.

The letter was signed by pastors from the Bahamas, Guyana, St. Maarten, St. Vincent, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Kullu, (Himachal Pradesh) [India] Feb. 17 (ANI): The Kullu district police on Thursday has arrested a 42-year-old US with a huge haul of cannabis and its products.

The superintendent of police said that the case has been registered under section 20 and 21 of The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and a special investigation team has been constituted to investigate the entire matter.

This is second arrest of a foreign accused of supplying drugs by the Kullu Police. The US was arrested from Naggar, a locality 30 kilometres from Kullu.

"We have arrested one person with 126 kilograms of Ganja (raw cannabis), 9 litres of hashish oil and 1290 grams of solid hashish. He is from California and was living in a house which he had rented for on annual rent of 95000 Indian rupees," Padam Chand, superintendent of Kullu district police said.

The name of the arrested US national was Bishambar Isiah who was living here on tourist visa since last October.

"We have also recovered one electric pressure cooker, two weighing machine, two drums fitted with tap, two tablet, one laptop and mobile from his house. We had information that he was making hashish oil here and during his stay he had collated Ganja and other material," he said.

He added that the man claimed that he was supplying cancer drug to Vrindavan for cancer patients.

This is again a big drug catch in the region like the one on February 14. The Kullu district police had arrested one Nigerian national with 1550 grams of heroin.

The number of foreigners is increasing for drug peddling in Manali and Kullu region of Himachal Pradesh.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Governor of Manipur, Dr. Najma Heptulla, on Friday inaugurated Institute of Bio-resources and Sustainable development (IBSD) Kalindi Center for entrepreneurship in North-East in the college campus.

A large number of students and teachers from various colleges of University of Delhi and students from the North-East also participated in the programme.

The centre aims to promote the uniqueness of the North-East and bring out the entrepreneur skills amongst the youth especially the women.

IBSD, a institute under department of bio technology, Government of India and Kalindi College, a prominent women's college of University of Delhi joined hands to establish one of its kind centre outside North-East.

While inaugurating the center, the Governor stressed that the center will focus towards entrepreneurship for the women of the North-East and to secure their economic development in a sustainable way.

The center will also help in overcoming the perceived negligence of the women from the North-East and to enable them to join the mainstream.

"The current economic doctrine is not socially sustainable unless it is tempered with human concerns. It can achieve efficiency but not equity. Hence, there is a need to integrate economic policy with comprehensive social policy," the Governor said.

Heptulla also invited the students and teachers from University of Delhi to visit Manipur to explore the possibilities for research collaborations and innovations.

Professor Dinabandhu Sahoo, Director, Institute of Bio-resources and Sustainable Development (IBSD, said that the core mission of this center is to provide opportunities to students of all regions to explore and appreciate the diversity and immense potential of the North-eastern states.

Anula Maurya, the Principal of Kalindi College said the center will train a large number of students in the field of bio-resources entrepreneurship and how to go for value addition of the local resources produced in the North-East.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Iron Lady Irom Sharmila has filed her nomination papers from Thoubal constituency for the upcoming Manipur Assembly elections.

Sharmila filed her nomination on behalf of People's Resurgence and Justice Alliance.

Sharmila covered a distance of approximately 20 kilometres from Imphal on her bicycle to file her nomination.

Anti-AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act) crusader Sharmila, who ended her 16-year-long hunger strike in August 2016, will be one of the main opponents against Chief Minister and Congress veteran Okram Ibobi Singh in Thoubal.

The two-phased assembly elections are slated to be held on March 4 and 8 respectively.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Robert S. Harward, the retired vice admiral and former Navy SEAL who was President Donald Trump's top choice as national security advisor, has turned down the post.

"This job requires 24 hours a day, seven days a week focus and commitment to do it right. I currently could not make that commitment," the New York Times quoted Harward as saying.

He added that he had "the opportunity to address financial and family issues that would have been challenging in this position" for the first time, since retiring from a 40-year military career.

Two senior administration officials also confirmed that Harward cited family and financial considerations in turning down the post.

Earlier, Trump's national security advisor Michael Flynn resigned over controversy about his Russian ties. The resignation was quickly followed by the abrupt withdrawal of Andrew Puzder, his nominee for secretary of labour.

But by then, Harward, who is a top executive at Lockheed Martin, had decided he was not willing to take the post. He wrote to Trump and Mattis conveying his decision, two of the officials said.

Trump's National Security Council has been embroiled in political controversy. In an executive order last month, which Trump later complained privately that he had not been fully briefed on, the president placed Stephen K. Bannon, his chief strategist, on its principals committee, giving a political advisor a position of parity with the secretaries of state and defence and with the national security adviser.

Two former national security officials, who have worked closely with Harward, said he would have been unlikely to take the position without assurances from Trump that he could run the N.S.C. free of intervention by political advisors. They also spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak about the matter.

Harward's withdrawal from consideration prompted David H. Petraeus, the former general and director of the Central Intelligence Agency, to step up his lobbying for the post, according to officials familiar with the process.

Petraeus resigned from the C.I.A. in 2012 after admitting that he had an extramarital affair.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Terrorists from across the Afghanistan border area opened fire at a Pakistani border post in the Khyber Agency, injuring two Frontier Corps soldiers on Friday morning.

"Terrorists attacked the Pakistani border post in Khyber Agency from Afghanistan side this morning. Effectively responded. 2 FC soldiers injured. Reports of few Terrorists killed in exchange of fire," said Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan-Afghanistan border was closed with immediate effect due to security reasons hours after a bomb ripped through the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sehwan that has so far claimed at least 70 lives while dozens of others were wounded. The border will remain closed until further orders.

Torkham border connects Nangarhar province of Afghanistan with Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Pakistan on Friday summoned officials from Afghanistan embassy and handed down a list of 76 wanted terrorists to be handed over to Islamabad.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Foreign Affairs Minister of South Korea Yun Byung-se, and Foreign Affairs Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida have condemned the North Korea's February 12 ballistic missile test in the strongest terms.

The leaders noted North Korea's flagrant disregard for multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions that expressly prohibit its ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

Tillerson reiterated that the United States remains steadfast in its defense commitments to its allies, South Korea and Japan, including the commitment to provide extended deterrence, backed by the full range of its nuclear and conventional defense capabilities.

The Ministers affirmed they will collaborate to ensure that all countries fully and effectively implement all their obligations and commitments under the relevant UN Security Council resolutions including Resolution 2270 and 2321, and that violations of UN Security Council resolutions by North Korea will be met with an even stronger international response.

They noted that nations which border North Korea are affected by the regime's destabilizing behavior and urged the latter to refrain from provocative actions.

The Ministers emphasized that North Korea must abandon its proscribed nuclear and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner, and comply with all provisions of the relevant UNSC resolutions as a critical step in preserving regional stability. Only in this way can North Korea be accepted as a responsible member of the international community.

They also agreed to continue to draw international attention to the systemic, widespread, and gross violations of human rights in North Korea, and affirmed the importance of an early resolution of the abductions issue.

The Ministers directed their representatives on North Korea policy to hold consultations in the coming days regarding ballistic missile and nuclear challenges posed by North Korea.

The leaders also agreed to continue their government efforts to enhance trilateral security cooperation in responding to North Korea's nuclear and missile threat, fully implement UN Security Council resolutions, uphold the global nonproliferation regime, and lead a firm international response to any further violations by North Korea.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Launching a scathing attack at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for misleading the people of Uttar Pradesh, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Friday said the people need to differentiate between the one who is making hollow promises and the one who wants to work for them.

"Prime Minister Modi said that he will bring development in Uttar Pradesh as the state has adopted him and he is son of the state. After hearing this one thing came in my mind that to bring development do Uttar Pradesh needs to adopt someone, are youth of Uttar Pradesh not capable enough to bring development here," Priyanka said while addressing her maiden speech in Maharajganj, Raebareli.

Asserting that Prime Minister Modi only condemns Uttar Pradesh, she added Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav are the youth who can bring development in the state.

"They have been representing the youth of Uttar Pradesh. They have Uttar Pradesh in their heart and lives. Uttar Pradesh doesn't need any other leader from outside. Here every other youth can become a leader," she added.

Cornering Prime Minister over the demonetisation drive, Priyanka said, "I heard someone condemning Uttar Pradesh. He was saying that there is corruption, anarchy, exploitation in this state. He also said that women and Dalits are being harassed here. When I look at the TV I saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi was speaking. He talks about women harassment in Uttar Pradesh, but what about torture people had to face post demonetisation."

Lauding Akhilesh Yadav as a sincere, honest and hard working leader, Priyanka appealed the public to make Congress win the Uttar Pradesh polls adding,

"We should work together to avoid the hollow promises and speeches of Prime Minister Modi. We need to make this alliance strong so that the state will also become strong and would develop."

Priyanka accompanied her brother Rahul Gandhi for the first time during campaigning.

Amethi and Rae Bareli will vote in the fourth and fifth phases of polling on February 23 and February 27, respectively.

The Congress will be contesting on 105 seats in the state with ally Samajwadi Party contesting from 298 out of a total of 403 seats.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Over 1,500 Congress activists including party's senior leaders were arrested on Friday after they participated in a civil disobedience movement in support of their 12-point demands.

"Around 15,000 Congress workers and leaders were arrested in different parts of the state. Police arrested them when the Congress men defies the police barricade," a police official said here.

The arrested leaders include Tripura Congress chief Birajit Sinha and state Youth Congress President Sushanta Choudhury. They were later released by police.

Six policemen also sustained minor injuries when the agitators clashed with the security personnel.

The opposition Congress organised the civil disobedience movement in support of its 12-point charter of demands, including withdrawal of demonetisation of high-value currency notes, probe by the CBI into collection of deposits from the people by the unauthorised chit fund companies and providing at least Rs 5,000 as monthly allowance to the unemployed youths of the state, among others.

A huge contingent of police and other security personnel, along with elite Tripura State Rifles troopers, were deployed in all the eight districts to prevent any untoward incident in connection with the civil disobedience movement.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two personnel of the Frontier Corps (FC) were injured on Friday when suspected militants attacked a post along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Khyber Agency, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

Troops "effectively responded" to the attack carried out by militants from the Afghan side of the border, the ISPR said.

There were reports of a "few" militants killed in the ensuing exchange of fire, Dawn news reported citing the ISPR as saying.

In the aftermath of the blast at the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sindh province that killed 72 people and injured 250 others on Thursday night, the government decided to seal Torkham border crossing with Afghanistan for an indefinite period for all kinds of communication due to security concerns.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
the BJP on Friday attacked the Delhi government after the Centre returned the proposed bill to hike salaries of MLAs and demanded its withdrawal.

"Now that the central government has returned the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government's Bill to raise the salaries of MLAs and ministers. It will be better if (Delhi Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal government withdraws it," Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party President Manoj Tiwari said in a statement.

Tiwari alleged that Kejriwal government in its "ego spree wrongly passed the Bill raising the salaries of its MLAs last year despite strong protest by people of Delhi".

The BJP leader's remarks came after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) returned a bill to Delhi government and sought clarification on suggesting a hike of nearly 400 per cent in the existing salaries and perks for AAP MLAs.

"Centre has rightly asked for justification for the proposed 400 per cent salary hike for MLAs. It will be better if Kejriwal government concentrates on Public Welfare Work," Tiwari, who is also a BJP MP from northeast Delhi added.

--IANS

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home World Wounded ISIS fighters get treated in Christian hospital outside Mosul

Islamic State fighters who are wounded in the battle for the liberation of Mosul are being treated in a hospital set up by an evangelical humanitarian aid group outside of the city.

Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan's Purse, revealed on Facebook last Saturday that his organization not only treats the residents and injured Iraqi-led coalition soldiers but also the members of the terror group they are trying to defeat.

Graham's post came in defense of President Donald Trump's controversial executive order that restricts travel of citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries and indefinitely bars refugee settlement from Syria.

"At Samaritan's Purse we work in over 100 countries and have worked in most of those on the banned list, so I feel I have something to say about this issue," the evangelist wrote.

Graham pointed out that the Emergency Field Trauma Hospital set up by Samaritan's Purse outside Mosul is treating Muslim civilians, including women and children, many of whom were shot by ISIS snipers as they tried to flee the city.

"At the same time, we are treating badly wounded ISIS fighters. Our medical teams take them in, perform surgery, bind up their wounds, and give everyone the same compassionate, Christian careahelping them in Jesus' Name," he added.

The field hospital, which was opened in early January, became the closest medical facility to the front lines of the battle to liberate Mosul from ISIS.

In his Facebook post, Graham said that the borders of the U.S. need to be secured, and he argued that providing medical care to wounded ISIS fighters does not mean that they should be allowed to immigrate to the country.

"God does tell us to help the stranger and those in need; but God doesn't tell us to expose our cities, homes, and lives to hostile people," he asserted, adding that Jerusalem had walls and gates which were closed when there was a threat against the city.

Some Christian leaders have disagreed with Graham's stance on Trump's executive order. Last week, the board members of Baptist Churches of Puerto Rico withdrew their support for Graham's Festival of Hope rally, which was held in the country's capital of San Juan on Feb. 10a12.

The Puerto Rican baptist leaders argued that Graham's endorsement of the immigration policy are contrary to the "values of the Kingdom." They said that they did not intend to undermine the festival, but they made their statement in order to affirm their "testimony in favor of the poor, marginalized and foreigners."
Syed Altaf Bukhari, who was on Friday inducted into the Mehbooba Mufti-led Jammu and Kashmir cabinet, was assigned the Education department portfolio in the PDP-BJP coalition government.

The order was issued by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in Jammu.

As per the reshuffle of portfolios, Syed Altaf Bukhari was made the new Education Minister.

Naeem Akhtar, who held the Education portfolio, was made the new Public Works Department Minister.

Bukhari was on Friday sworn in as a cabinet minister at a function in the Raj Bhawan by Governor N.N. Vohra. He is the legislator from Amira Kadal constituency in Srinagar.

He was the Roads and Buildings Minister in the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed-led Peoples Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition in 2015.

With Bukhari's re-induction into the cabinet, the total strength of the ministerial council has gone up to 24.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Australian authorities on Friday detained 29 Vietnamese fisherman, accusing them of illegally fishing off the the country's coastline.

The Vietnamese nationals were in two boats, when they were first spotted on Wednesday by Australian Border Force (ABF) officers, in the Saumarez Reef in Queensland, Xinhua news agency reported.

The boats were raided, and authorities said they discovered sea cucumbers, leading them to take both the vessels and their crew back to their headquarters.

The Australian Fisheries Management Authority, who partnered with the ABF in detaining the vessels were pleased with the result, while their general manager of operations Peter Venslovas, issued a warning to anyone thinking of conducting similar operations.

"Foreign fishers seeking to take advantage and target our fish resources will be caught and run the risk of being prosecuted and having their boats confiscated and destroyed," Venslovas said.

ast year 10 Vietnamese boats were held by Australian authorities, 121 fisherman were convicted of illegal poaching, and over 32,000 tonnes of sea cucumber were seized.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The body of Indian software engineer Vamshi Reddy Mamidala, who was shot dead in the Us, was brought home on Friday.

The parents of the 27-year-old received the body at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here. It was later taken to his native Warangal district.

A pall of gloom descended on Vangapahad village as family members, relatives and villagers gathered to bid tearful adieu to Vamshi Reddy.

Leaders of various political parties paid their last respects too.

The techie was shot dead by an alleged drug addict in Milpitas, California on February 10, in the garage of his apartment building. The drug addict was trying to flee after robbing a woman.

Police later arrested the accused, identified as Stuart Baronngaue, 30.

Vamshi Reddy had gone to the US in 2015 for studies. He was now working part-time.

According to his family members, he was looking for a permanent job but had told his father over phone a few days ago that the changed political climate in the US might not help his quest.

His father had told him to return to India if he couldn't find a job.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Terming the BJP as a party certified by Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the Congress on Friday demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the ISI-linked espionage ring busted in Madhya Pradesh.

The Congress said there should be a probe into the alleged BJP-ISI links as three of 11 persons arrested in Madhya Pradesh had alleged links with the ruling party.

The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Thursday busted an espionage ring in Bhopal and arrested 11 persons allegedly working for the ISI and passing sensitive information of strategic importance across the border.

The ATS also unearthed several clandestine telephone exchanges, thousands of SIM cards and a large number of mobile phones used for establishing contact with ISI officials.

"The spy network has passed sensitive and strategic information to the ISI and other agencies in Pakistan. When they were caught, it was revealed that the network has spread nationwide. Telephone exchanges have been established in four big cities.

The links of these anti-national elements have been found with the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the first political party in the world to become an ISI-certified party. This is the true face and character of the BJP," said senior Congress spokesperson Jyotiraditya Scindia.

"The inquiry and investigation into the matter should be handed over to the CBI and the Supreme Court should monitor the probe. The BJP has compromised with the national security. There can't be any kind of compromise on the internal security of the country," he said.

According to Scindia, at least three of the 11 arrested were associated with the BJP.

"Dhruv Saxena, who was caught from Bhopal, was a member of BJP's IT cell and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. He also had strong links with many BJP leaders. There are pictures of him with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and BJP's national General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya," said Scindia.

"Jitendra Singh, who was arrested from Gwalior, also has close links with many BJP leaders.

Balram Singh, who is associated with the Bajrang Dal, is the mastermind of the spy network. The fund flow to the spies was executed through him. He was also involved in transferring foreign currencies to the spies from the ISI accounts," Scindia said.

"The fourth person is Ashish Singh Rathore, who is a member of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). The VHP had recently expelled him," he added.

Hitting out at the BJP, Scindia said the ruling party which talks about nationalism, had been found providing shelter to anti-national elements.

"A member of the Bajrang Dal, which talks about patriotism, has been found to be the mastermind of the spy network," he said.

Scindia also said the Madhya Pradesh government has completely failed in controlling jailbreaks in the state by the SIMI activists.

"ISI network is functioning under their nose, and they no information about it. Internal security in the state has collapsed," he added.

Posing a few questions to the BJP, Congress asked if a political party should do a background check of their members, if any member of the party is found to be a traitor, shouldn't there be an investigation against the party as well.

"Should the government be busy only with election campaigning and not on internal security of the county," asked Scindia.

Asked about Army Chief General Bipin Rawat's warning to Kashmiri locals against supporting militants, Scindia said: "Internal security is a very serious issue. But there should not any kind of torture on the innocents. Restraint should be maintained in handling such situations.

"Nobody wants to give shelter to the militants.Those who are involved in wrongdoings, should be probed. But the manner in which children were blinded in Kashmir last year is unacceptable," he added.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A court here on Friday sent TV actor and COO of Elder Pharmaceuticals, Anuj Saxena, accused of bribing former Corporate Affairs Ministry official B.K. Bansal -- who committed suicide -- to three days CBI custody.

Saxena had on Thursday surrendered before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge Gurdeep Singh.

Singh allowed the probe agency to quiz him till Monday.

Saxena was directed by the Delhi High Court on February 13 to surrender before the trial court.

The CBI has alleged that Saxena had contacted another co-accused Vishwadeep Bansal to negotiate with a senior Corporate Affairs Ministry official for not recommending the matter to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) for probe against his company.

The investigating agency has also alleged that Bansal was dealing with the violations by Elder Pharmaceuticals.

The court observed that Saxena's role was direct, as he was the beneficiary from the alleged offence.

Key accused B.K. Bansal and and his 31-year-old son Yogesh committed suicide on September 27, 2016, by hanging themselves at their house in east Delhi. His wife Satyabala, 57, and daughter Neha, 27, committed suicide on July 19 last year.

Bansal, an Additional Secretary-rank Director General in the Ministry, was arrested by the CBI on bribery charges on July 16. Later, he was granted bail.

He was accused of receiving Rs 9 lakh from Mumbai-based Elder Pharmaceuticals.

--IANS

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The BJP on Friday staged a protest against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the aftermath of nine students of a government school being taken ill after a dead rat was found in their midday meal.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that the case is not an "isolated" incident of "mismanagement" in schools.

Hundreds of BJP workers led by south Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri staged a protest outside the Chief Minister's residence and raised slogans against him.

Police had to use mild force as the BJP workers tried to jump the barricade.

Addressing the demonstrators, Bidhuri said: "The midday meal food poisoning incident at Deoli Bandh is not an isolated incident of mismanagement in schools... The condition of most government schools in south Delhi's rural areas is very poor."

"Up to 80-90 students are made to sit in one classroom and many schools are in dilapidated condition," the BJP MP said.

He also said that there was a massive shortage of teachers in schools. "Even basic facilities of commerce and science courses are not available in rural schools."

The BJP leader also alleged that south Delhi, which was once ahead of the rest of Delhi in development, was now facing lack of new development projects, water shortage and poor health services in exterior areas.

Bidhuri also took potshots at the handling of the food poisoning incident by the Delhi government's Education Department and said it was "extremely suspicious and deplorable".

"With an intent to suppress the incident, the authorities took children to a government hospital in Malviya Nagar, which is eight kilometres away, instead of Batra Hospital that is hardly half-a-kilometre away," he said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Days after Army Chief General Bipin Rawat warned of action against Kashmiri youth displaying Pakistani flags or supporting militants, clashes erupted at several places after Friday prayers between security forces and agitating mobs in the Kashmir Valley.

A large number of youths gathered in Srinagar's Nowhatta, and waved the Islamic State and Pakistani flags after which the security forces intervened to disperse them.

Clashes followed as the youths protested, chanted pro-freedom slogans and pelted stones at the security forces who used tear gas and charged them with batons.

In north Kashmir's Sopore town, protesters, shouting anti-India and pro-Pakistan slogans, also indulged in stone throwing.

General Rawat had on Wednesday warned the locals against supporting militants and those displaying Pakistani flags.

"We (Army) will request locals in Kashmir that people who have picked up arms -- and these are local boys -- and if they want to continue with acts of terrorism by displaying flags of the Islamic State and Pakistan, we will treat them as anti-national elements and go after them."

The statement received criticism from the opposition parties and the separatist groups as well.

The National Conference termed the Army Chief's statement as an "alarming sign of the sense of alienation and disenchantment in Kashmir".

"The need of the hour is to understand and acknowledge the deep sense of isolation in Kashmir and deal with it with statesmanship and magnanimity," the party said in a statement on Thursday.

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad attacked the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and alleged that the statement made by the Army Chief was motivated by political interests.

"Bipin Rawat's threatening statement is unjustified and it can be the Centre's policy, not the Army's," Azad told the media.

Kashmir's separatist camp also spoke on the same lines and said the statement was "threatening and scary".

"India won't hesitate to kill each soul for this purpose," Huriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani said. Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, another senior Huriyat leader, said that it "reflects a tyrannical mindset towards the people of Kashmir".

Despite no call for shutdown or protests by the separatist group on Friday, clashes between youth and security occurred at many places post the Friday prayers.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday advised the Congress to focus on Delhi to "save the nation" instead of eyeing her state.

"Congress ran the central government for a long time. They should focus on Delhi to save the nation first. Do not eye Bengal," the Trinamool Congress supremo said at an official function here.

Lashing out at the Centre's principal ruling party BJP, Banerjee referred to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's dismissal of the Narendra Modi government's demonetisation exercise as "an organised loot".

"I am a layman but even an economist like Dr. Manmohan Singh said demonetisation is an organised loot," Banerjee said at the inauguration of a booster pumping station in South Kolkata's Harish Park.

There has been lot of speculation in the recent past about Banerjee's Trinamool coming close to the Congress at the national level. However, the state Congress has been aggressively opposing the Banerjee-led government both within and outside the assembly.

Dubbing the BJP as a party that only thrived on 'loot and vandalism', she alleged that it has "destroyed the nation's economy".

With the BJP trying to position itself as the principal opposition force in the state and sharply attacking her off and on, Banerjee said: "They should first set their own house in order before interfering in other's matters."

Talking about the Communist Party of India-Marxist, that spearheaded the state's Left Front government for 34 years till 2011, the Chief Minister said, "People have given a lot of chances to the CPI-M; not anymore. They are a lost case now."

Banerjee said the improved infrastructure at the state-run hospitals and several Mother and Child Hubs across the districts have bettered healthcare facilities in the state while significantly reducing the infant mortality rate in the last five years.

"We have set up SNCUs (Sick Newborn Care Unit), HDUs (High Dependency Unit), Mother and Child Hubs across districts. We started a breast milk bank. Infant mortality rate has decreased from 32 to 26 in the last five years," she said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A day before Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami seeks the confidence vote in the Tamil Nadu assembly, his support base suffered erosion by one legislator.

AIADMK legislator representing Mylapore constituency and former Director General of Police (DGP) R. Nataraj on Friday said he would vote against Palaniswami.

Following Nataraj's about turn at the last minute, Palaniswami's support base is down to 124 legislators.

The assembly has been convened on Saturday where Palaniswami, now with 124 legislators in his camp, will seek the confidence of the house for his government.

Ranged on the opposite side is the Panneerselvam camp with 11 legislators, besides DMK with 89 members, Congress with eight, and the Indian Union Muslim League with one MLA. One seat is vacant in the 234-member house.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India A medium pacer Navdeep Saini on Friday said it was special getting swashbuckling Australia opener David Warner out with a bouncer.

Warner was caught behind off Saini's delivery when the former was batting at 25.

"Before me, Ashok (Dinda) bhaiya had tried a bouncer on him (Warner), and he pulled because the delivery was short of length," Saini told the media, after stumps on Day 1 where the Australians posted 327/5.

Captain Steve Smith (107 retired out) and Shaun Marsh (104 retired out) scored tons.

"I thought I have more height and so high arm action and the ball will thus bounce more. So I did that and he (Warner) got out," Saini, who was successful in getting the leading edge as the southpaw looked to pull, said.

"It is more special that I got him out off a bouncer," the 24-year old added.

This practice match is a precursor for the upcoming four match Test rubber, Starting February 23 in Pune.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) has announced that Virginia and South Dakota have passed resolutions which draw attention to the harmful effects of porn. The resolutions, similar to one passed in Utah last year, acknowledge the negative effects pornography has on a public scale.

According to NCOSE, these resolutions help pave the way for greater awareness and national dialogue on porn. And while the resolutions dont call for funding or new legislation just yet, they will potentially do things like protecting children in publicly funded schools and libraries from being unintentionally exposed to pornography in the future.

On January 24, 2017, South Dakota passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 4, with unanimity in its house and senate. The resolution calls porn a public health crisis and mentions several problems it creates for individuals and societies.

Among these problems, the resolution states that porn does the following:

leads to low self-esteem and eating disorders

leads to increased problematic sexual activity at younger ages, and an increased desire to engage in risky sexual behavior as young adolescents

often serves as children and youths sex education and shapes their sexual templates

generally teaches girls they are to be used and generally teaches boys to be users

normalizes violence against and abuse of women and children

increases the demand for sex trafficking, prostitution, child sexual abuse, and child pornography

Can have the following effects on excessive users: emotional, mental and medical illnesses, shaping deviant sexual arousals, difficulty forming or maintaining intimate relationships, diminished brain development and functioning, problematic or harmful sexual behaviors, and addiction

Additionally, the resolution argues porn has a detrimental effect on families, stating it is linked to lessening desire in young persons to marry, dissatisfaction in marriage, and infidelity.

The resolution in South Dakota states what the church has felt for a long time now. It may seem like slow progress, but these resolutions are raising awareness and paving the way for action in the future.
Whether King of Mysore Tipu Sultan or Maratha King Chhattrapati Shivaji, a village council of South Goa's Davorlim has resolved to ban posters of kings and maharajas, much to the consternation of followers of the Maratha king.

The Rumdamol-Davorlim village panchayat in a written reply has refused to issue a no-objection certificate to members of the Shiv Samaj association to put up banners celebrating Shiv Jayanti (birth anniversary of Shivaji). The council has cited an official resolution which debars "putting up of banners of kings and maharajas" within the panchayat jurisdiction.

"We have decided to go in appeal against the decision of the panchayat. It is ridiculous that fans of Shivaji Maharaj are not allowed to put up banners celebrating his birth anniversary," Mahadev Virdikar, a member of the Shiv Samaj, told IANS on Thursday. Shiv Jayanti will be celebrated in western Indian states on February 18.

"With reference to your letter dated February 13, this is to inform you that this panchayat has taken decision not to issue any NOC to put up banners of kings and maharajas in jurisdiction of Rumdamol-Davorlim as per resolution," the letter issued by the panchayat on February 15 reads.

Custodio Faria, Panchayat Secretary of Rumdamol-Davorlim -- located around 45 km from Panaji -- said that the resolution banning posters and banners of kings and maharajas was passed by the panchayat last year after there was a law and order issue over banners eulogising Tipu Sultan in the panchayat's jurisdiction.

"As far as the panchayat is concerned, we are only following the resolution which was passed on November 18 last year, according to which no NOC will be issued for putting up banners about kings and maharajas," Faria told IANS.

"The resolution was passed in view of a law and order problem last year when Tipu Sultan's posters were put up in the village," Faria added.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Virtually justifying his vitriolic outburst against Nobel Laureate economist Amartya Sen, BJP West Bengal unit President Dilip Ghosh on Friday maintained he said what he felt was right and the attack was not personal.

Ghosh said he targeted the state's intellectual class in general for their silence on issues concerning Hindu oppression and lack of law and order.

"Though Amartya Sen is against our ideology for a long time, I had no intention to personally attack him. I said what I felt is true," Ghosh told IANS.

Ghosh said he made those comments during a seminar on the issue of citizenship for the refugees in the state and the current problems of Hindu society in Bengal to question the silence of intellectuals.

"Amartya Sen is one of the most prominent intellectuals of Bengal. Why is a vastly educated and renowned person like him not saying anything on issues like this? He should say something for the sake of Bengal that has given him so much. On whose interest is he silent? what is he scared of?" Ghosh asked.

Describing the present situation in West Bengal as "critical", the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said the intellectuals should come forward to guide people in the right direction instead of shying away under the umbrella of a "specific banner".

"The society is in great trouble. The education system in Bengal is decaying. Intellectuals like him should come forward in torrid times like this to lead common people in the right direction," Ghosh said.

"If they take shelter under a specific banner or follow a certain person, why should they be considered as intellectuals?" he questioned.

Taking a swipe at the intellectuals for not speaking out against the attack on Hindus, Ghosh accused them of taking up issues that created more buzz in the civil society and gave them recognition.

"The principals, vice-chancellors of many institutions in the state are leaving, several schools and colleges in the state are getting closed... Why aren't the intellectuals speaking up on these issues? Maybe they are silent because protesting against these issues won't fetch them awards, accolades or prestigious positions," he added.

Ghosh has drawn allround flak for making a vitriolic personal attack on Amartya Sen on February 11, casting aspersions on his achievements, contribution and character. He had also remarked that such people who lacked "backbone and character were now Bengal's pride".

Sen has, however, refused to cross swords with Ghosh. The Bharat Ratna awardee said he saw "no reason" to object to the comments of the BJP leader, who had a "right to say whatever he felt right".

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amid marked strain in bilateral ties, India and China are likely to discuss a host of contentious issues, including Beijing repeatedly blocking a UN ban on JeM chief Masood Azhar and stymeing India's NSG membership, when Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar meets the Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui next week in Beijing.

Jaishankar will attend the first India-China Strategic Dialogue to be held in Beijing on February 22.

New Delhi is expected to try and persuade Beijing not to roadblock its bid for the NSG membership and as well as its proposal to have Jaish-e Mohamed chief Masood Azhar branded as an international terrorist.

On the other hand, China is likely to raise the issue of the Dalai Lama and India inviting Taiwanese lawmakers, among others.

"The two sides are expected to discuss all issues of mutual interest in the bilateral, regional and international domain," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said on Thursday.

Jaishankar is likely to voice India's displeasure over China repeatedly shielding Azhar from being branded as an international terrorist.

China blocked India's proposal at the UN to add Azhar to the international terrorists' list thrice in 2016, only to reject a fresh US proposal for the same this month, irking India.

India says Azhar is behind the terror attack on the Pathankot air base in January last year, in which seven security personnel were killed.

China put a technical hold on the recent US move to list the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief as a terrorist in the 1267 committee of the UN Security Council, apparently at the behest of its all-weather friend Pakistan.

Jaishankar is also likely to take up China's opposition to India's entry into the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group. The Pakistan factor comes into play here as well.

Beijing opposes New Delhi's inclusion into the elite bloc which regulates global nuclear trade.

Last June, China blocked India's application, citing New Delhi's non signatory status to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty for the membership.

China's argument is if India can be let in why not Pakistan, which also is not signatory to the NPT.

Besides, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is another vexed issued which could figure in the discussion.

The ongoing $46 billion Chinese-funded project links China's Xinjiang province to Gwadar port in Balochistan. This corridor is key to China's ambitious One Belt One Road Project.

India is dead against CPEC because the corridor passes through Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan and parts of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, which New Delhi considers as its territory.

Like New Delhi, Beijing has reservations too.

Indian President Pranab Mukherjee hosting the Dalai Lama at the Rashtrapati Bhavan last December has not gone down well with China. Beijing accuses the spiritual leader of secessionist activities in Tibet.

China is also likely to tell New Delhi not to mess with Taiwan whose lawmakers this week were on a visit to India.

On Wednesday, China warned India to be cautious in dealing with Taiwan and asked it to stick to One China Policy.

India has termed the visit of the Taiwanese lawmakers as informal and asked China not to read much into it.

The long-standing boundary dispute and the current trade deficit can also feature in the dialogue.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Civl Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju has lauded the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for conceptualising India's first business magazine entirely dedicated to the sector.

"Civil aviation is not only one of the fastest growing sectors of the Indian economy but one of the most strategic ones too as it plays a crucial role in improving transport linkages to facilitate faster and smoother movement of people and goods," he said at the launch of the Airports India Business Magazine (AIBM) here on Thursday evening.

"Many airstrips in India are being used for grazing cattle and we need to come out of this scenario. For this to happen the circulation of information is very important and this magazine will help in this," Raju added.

The magazine will have diverse and updated content, including in-depth reports, analyses as well as interviews with key players in the various segments of the civil aviation business.

With a print run of 75,000, the 84-page magazine will bear a modern, European look with Indian content and would be published every quarter by Paris-based Media India Group in association with the AAI.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An Indian man pleaded guilty to molesting a sleeping woman on a flight from Los Angeles International Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport in the US.

Veerabhadrarao Kunam, 58, of Visakhapatnam, on Thursday admitted to groping the woman on New Jersey-bound flight in July 2016, when he was presented before Judge Joseph A. Dickson in a Newark federal court, news website NJ.com reported.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Kunam was seated next to a woman on a Virgin America red-eye flight. While the plane was in the air, the woman fell asleep. Kunam admitted that while she was asleep, he inappropriately touched her.

When the woman woke up and saw Kunam touching her, she got upset. Kunam also offered to buy a drink for a witness who confronted him "for any trouble I may have caused", according to a criminal complaint filed in US District Court.

Kunam was arrested on July 30 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) after his flight arrived in Newark, according to prosecutors.

His attorney Alex Spiro said that Kunam "remains remorseful for the unfortunate incident that occurred".

The Indian man faces 30 to 60 days in jail, and up to 90 days of inpatient alcohol treatment, according to the US Attorney's Office.

His sentencing has been scheduled for March 22.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Indian American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi has called for a full and open investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and the Trump Administration's interactions with the Russian government.

"In light of these revelations, I'm calling for a full investigation into General Flynn and the Trump Administration's interactions with Russian intelligence services," Representative Krishnamoorthi said in an official statement on his website.

"More than half the country already has serious concerns about the relationship between the Trump Administration and the Russian government. Fundamental national security questions remain unanswered, including whether General Flynn went rogue in discussing sanctions with Russian agents, or whether he was directed to," he said.

"We need to know what was discussed, what the Russians learned, and what they may have offered in return. The American people deserve answers," Krishnamoorthi added.

US President Donald Trump had asked for Flynn's resignation after reports surfaced that the latter had misled Vice-President Mike Pence about his interaction with Russian Ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak, during the transition period prior to the mogul's inauguration and even before the November 8 election.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Human rights activist Irom Sharmila plans to get married after the upcoming assembly elections in Manipur in March.

Sharmila made the announcement while speaking to reporters here on Thursday.

Sharmila had launched her fast-unto-death on November 4, 2000, demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958.

Desmond Coutanho, an NRI originally from Goa, and Sharmila have been in love for a long time. He used to rush to Imphal to be with her whenever she was presented before a local court where she was tried for attempting to commit suicide.

On one occasion, Coutanho was beaten up by the angry women activists on the court campus after he was seen holding Sharmila's hand inside the courtroom.

One woman activist said: "In Manipur it is socially not acceptable." Since then Coutanho had stopped coming here.

Manipur has been demanding the implementation of the Inner Line Permit system to restrict the entry and stay of non-locals.

Some sections questioned Coutanho's presence and also how Sharmila was provided cell phone and laptop inside her prison room and why.

After his manhandling in the court complex, Coutanho has been critical of journalists, human rights activists and many others who were extending helping hand to her during the protracted campaign.

Sharmila on Thursday apologised for Coutanho's rude behaviour.

She said: "On behalf of Desmond, I tender my apology and seek forgiveness."

Vitriolic attacks by Coutanho were posted in the social media which are expected to affect the upcoming polls here on March 4 and 8.

Sharmila is contesting the polls, among others, against Chief Minister Okram Ibobi. She has said that she plans to become the Chief Minister to repeal the AFSPA.

When Sharmila ended her fast on August 9, 2016, she had no place to stay here, as the womenfolk, including her mother, did not welcome her. In fact, she had to return to her "home" for 16 years -- the security ward in a hospital here.

There are no signs to suggest that the powerful women activists in Manipur have forgiven her.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Haryana government on Friday appointed senior IAS officers "to guide and support" deputy commissioners in the state's eight districts over the ongoing .

"They have been asked to reach the respective district latest by Saturday afternoon and remain present there till February 20 to appropriately guide and support the Deputy Commissioners as per their needs and based on any input that might independently be received by them," a state government spokesman said on Friday.

The completed 20 days on Friday. More protesters have joined in the past fortnight.

The All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti, which is spearheading the agitation, has called for "Balidan Diwas" (sacrifice day) on February 19.

Jat community members have been holding protests across Haryana since January 29 in support of their demands.

Their demands include reservation for Jats, jobs to the next of kin of those killed in violence in the agitation last year, withdrawal of cases against them and action against officers who ordered action against the Jats.

Violence during the agitation last year left 30 people dead and over 200 injured.

The government and private property worth crores was damaged during the violence in February 2016.
The Congress on Friday attacked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal after nine students of a government school fell ill as a dead rat was found in the midday meal and alleged that the AAP leader has no time to look after the people of the city.

"The Chief Minister has not visited his office in the last four months. He was so busy that he didn't feel the importance of releasing the report card of his government here," Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken told IANS while releasing a paper on the AAP's alleged mis-governance here.

"What do you expect from the government which is not serious for its people," Maken said.

The Congress leader's remarks came following the students on Thursday falling ill after a dead rodent was found in the midday meal served at a government school in south Delhi's Deoli area.

The rodent was found at the Government Boys Senior Secondary School.

"The government must order a probe on how such a lapse happened," Maken said.

According to Maken, it was not the first incident. "In a similar incident 10 days ago, over a dozen students fell ill after they were given deworming capsules."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Normalcy was noticed in this Nagaland state capital on Friday after tribal groups partially suspended their indefinite shutdown after Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang sought a few more days to step down.

"We have partially suspended our agitation in view of the assurance given by the Chief Minister for his stepping down and his appeal to us to give him two to three more days in order to ensure smooth transition of office and in the larger interest of the state," Nagaland Tribal Action Committee (NTAC) convener K.T. Vilie told IANS.

But the NTAC still imposed the shutdown of government offices and a ban on plying of government vehicles till Zeliang put in his papers.

"If the Chief Minister failed to return to Kohima latest by Sunday (February 19), the NTAC will have no other choice but to resort to a fast-unto-death public rally in Kohima to force him to resign," Vilie said.

On Thursday, Governor P.B. Acharya and Zeliang left for New Delhi from Dimapur after 42 of the 49 Naga People's Front legislators "unanimously supported" their party supremo Shurhozelie Liezietsu to take over from Zeliang as the new legislature party leader.

Zeliang is expected to meet Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to appraise him of the prevailing situation and to insist with the Centre not to impose President's Rule in Nagaland.

"We are only waiting for Zeliang's return to Kohima from New Delhi and we are hopeful for the smooth transition of power in the interest of the people of Nagaland," a veteran NPF legislator, who wished not to be identified, told IANS.

In the 60-member assembly, the ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland coalition government, which comprises 48 NPF legislators, including suspended legislator Imkong Imchen, four of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and eight Independents.

Shurhozelie, who is the chairman of the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) government, is not an elected member of the Nagaland assembly.

Nagaland has been on turmoil since January, after the NPF-led government decided to hold local body elections in 12 towns across the state with 33 per cent reservation for women.

The government continued to shut down internet and mobile data service to stop the spread of rumours through social networking sites. It later declared the civic elections as "null" and "void".

Three persons were killed and many injured following clashes between the police and the public, who were opposing the civic polls.

In fact, NPF legislator Neiphrezo Keditsu had resigned as Chairman of Nagaland State Mineral Development Corporation Limited on moral grounds since one of the persons killed in the Dimapur police firing was from his village.

Nagaland has never elected a woman legislator since it gained statehood in 1963. The lone woman MP from the state was Rano M. Shaiza, who got elected in 1977.

In the 2013 Assembly elections, two women candidates -- one fielded by BJP and an Independent candidate -- contested unsuccessfully.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh on Friday accused the Congress and the National Conference of behaving like separatists for criticising Army Chief General Bipin Rawat's warning to protesters who try to rescue militants from shootout sites in Kashmir.

"The same political party, for example like the National Conference, is talking like this which as a part of the UPA was the one which even went to the extent of demanding bombardment of the terror camps in Pakistan," Jitendra Singh told the media.

The army chief's statement on counter-terror operations has led to a political furore in the Kashmir Valley.

General Rawat had issued a warning to Kashmir stone-pelters for interfering during anti-militancy operations saying that they will be treated as anti-nationals. A dangerous trend has emerged in the valley where youth carrying Islamist flags and stones flock to shootout sites during gun fights to help militants flee.

"We would request the local population? local boys if they want to continue with the acts of terrorism, displaying flags of the IS (Islamic State) and Pakistan, then we will treat them as anti-national elements and go helter-skelter for them? If they do not relent and create hurdles, then we will take tough action," the chief said.

The opposition National Conference in Kashmir expressed dismay over the "belligerent remarks" of the army chief that it said would "increase the hostility in the valley".

"Youth rushing towards encounter sites and incidents of stone-pelting on the forces during encounters are worrying and alarming signs of the sense of alienation and disenchantment in Kashmir," the National Conference said in a statement.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was on Friday reported by a section of the media as saying that the government was to blame for the worsening situation in the state.

He said threatening Kashmiri youth was "unjustified" and could be the central government's policy and "not the army's".

Jitendra Singh said the Congress statement was unfortunate and similar to that of Kashmiri separatists who have slammed the army chief's threat to stone-pelters in Kashmir.

"When they (the Congress and the National Conference) are in power, they swear by India and Kashmir as an integral part of India. The moment they are shunted out of power, they overnight become wiser and question the role of the army in Jammu and Kashmir," the Minister said.

"The Congress is also falling for the same separatist and semi-separatist jargon for short term electoral gains."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla on Friday said she found it strange when she was assigned independent charge of the Ministry of Minority Affairs, saying she never thought she was minority.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi must have thought somebody from the Northeast should be given the portfolio of Minority Affairs Ministry. I asked Modi-ji why he was assigning me that ministry. I told him that I am not minority," she said.

She was speaking at the inauguration of the Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (IBSD) Kalindi Centre for Women Entrepreneurship in Northeast at Kalindi College here.

She said: "Before that day, I was never made to feel that I was minority. I always thought I am an Indian. I am proud of it. I was born in this country. We are so similar despite diversity and that is our strength."

Heptulla also spoke about women empowerment and stressed on the importance of co-educational institutions for the overall development of girls.

"After completing my class 10, my grandfather told me to go to an all girls' college in the capital. My aunt said that she would rather have me close to her in a co-ed than send me so far to Delhi," she said.

She said girls should be confident and should learn to be around the opposite sex. "They should be educated with men to know how to behave in the society that comprises of both men and women," Heptulla said.

She gave her own example to explain how the advanced values of a family can empower its women.

"Even 100 years ago, my family used to emphasise on the education of girls. Having being brought up in such an environment, it was never difficult for me to think that women have the power to run the world. I could always understand that there is no difference between men and women," she explained.

She further added: "When I became Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha in 1998, there were only 8-10 women in the house. So, I could handle it because I was confident."

"Old times were different when men would go to war because of their physical strength and women would stay back at homes. Now in wars also, you require to press a single button to attack the enemy. The world runs through brains not physical power," she said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Odisha government on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AirAsia for direct international flight between Bhubaneswar and Kuala Lumpur.

Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) Managing Director Nitin Bhanudas Jawale and AirAsia CEO Aireen Omar signed the agreementin this regard.

"With this MoU, AirAsia will start the first direct international flight connecting Odisha. Now the people will have an option of flying directly to that part of the world from Biju Patnaik International Airport," said Jawale.

As per the agreement, there will be two to three flights per week. After a competitive and transparent bidding process, AirAsia was selected, he added.

"We will soon start the operations and the dates will be announced very soon," Omar said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Over 500 sub-Saharan migrants on Friday entered Spain's Ceuta city after breaching the border fence with Morocco, the Spanish police said.

The mass crossing, according to the police, took place at about 5 a.m., and was spread across four different points along the border fence, Efe news reported.

About 350 received medical assistance for injuries sustained during the mass attempt after jumping the fence, which is about six metres high.

Those who were not treated waited at a temporary migrant centre, which has a capacity for 512 people and is usually full.

The last attempt to enter Spanish territory by such a large group was on December 9, when some 438 sub-Saharan migrants -- of 800 who tried -- managed to enter Ceuta.

According to information released by the European border agency Frontex, about 1,000 migrants reached the Spanish territories of Ceuta and Melilla in 2016, a lower number than previous years.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A week after he was sacked from AIADMK by General Secretary V.K. Sasikala, former party Presidium Chairman E. Madhusudanan on Friday in turn dismissed her from the primary membership of the party.

Madhusudanan, who is in former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam's camp, had then disputed Sasikala's powers to dismiss him.

In a statement issued here Madhusudanan announced the dismissal of Sasikala from the AIADMK's primary membership as she was bringing disrepute to the party.

Sasikala is now in a jail in Bengaluru after being convicted in a corruption case.

Madhusudanan also dismissed party Deputy General Secretary T.T.V. Dinakaran and S. Venkatesh -- both related to Sasikala -- from the party's primary membership as they were re-admitted into the party without proper authority.

The dismissals came a day after Sasikala loyalist Edappadi Palanisamy was sworn in as the 13th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, along with 31 cabinet ministers, ending the political crisis sparked by the death of Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa in December.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Clashes erupted after Friday prayers between security forces and agitating mobs in Srinagar and north areas.

A large number of youths gathered in Srinagar's Nowhatta and waved the Islamic State and Pakistani flags after which the security forces intervened to disperse them.

Clashes followed as the youths protested, chanted pro-freedom slogans and pelted stones at the security forces who used tear gas shells and charged with batons.

In north Kashmir's Sopore town, protestors, shouting anti-India and pro-Pakistan slogans, also indulged in stone throwing.

There was no call for protests or shutdown by any separatist group on Friday.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Actress-director Nandita Das, who recently split from husband Subodh Maskara after being married for seven years, says relationships have no rules and are "very personal".

The actress doesn't like to talk about her recent split. But when IANS asked if it's tough for couples from the same industry to spend lives together, she said over the phone from Mumbai: "Relationships have no rules. Sometimes, there are people who work fantastically. Subodh and I are not really from the same profession.

"It ('Between The Lines' play) was one of the projects that we did together. But I don't like to make generalisations because a relationship is a very personal thing."

If not the minute details about the split, she spoke how Subodh made his acting debut with "Between The Lines" in 2012.

"When I was writing it, I hadn't thought about it (Subodh featuring in it), but he wanted to explore acting. I said 'Yeah' because it is a couple's story. A lot of conversations that we had came from our real life," she said.

"Between The Lines" narrates the story of a lawyer couple that ends up arguing on the opposite sides of a criminal trial, resulting in the unexpected blurring of the line separating their personal and professional lives.

Talking about their professional relationship, she said: "It's always easy and difficult. At some level, there is comfort. But a lot of our conversations in the house became a part of the play and conversations in the play became a part of our real life.

"It was challenging as both of us had to travel for the play and leave our child (at home)."

And then came the new storytelling format -- CinePlay, which has Subodh as its Chairman and co-founder. It allowed them to shoot the play so they don't have to perform it every time.

Nandita emphasised that the format brings the experience of live theatre plays to people's smartphone screens.

"Between The Lines" was one of the first CinePlays to go live on Hotstar -- a video-on-demand app.

"The play really resonated with the audience a lot. I am more of a supporter and cheerleader. I've acted in two of the CinePlays and I've coined the word 'CinePlay'," said the actress, who believes theatre is still seen as an "urban and more of an elitist activity".

"CinePlay makes it so much more accessible. It's on your device. Whether it is a small town or other part of the country, you can watch it," said the actress. In fact, she was for long associated with the theatre group Jana Natya Manch.

What is the challenging part about doing plays?

"Every show is different. It depends on how you are feeling that day, how the audience is like, and the venue. That's why every show changes. There is a challenge as well as excitement," said the "Fire" actress.

She is thrilled about her next directorial "Manto", which will bring the life of Pakistan's short story writer Saadat Hasan Manto alive on the silver screen later this year.

"I've done a lot of research for the film. It's totally a labour of love," she said.

(Natalia Ningthoujam can be contacted at natalia.n@ians.in)

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Members of the civilian law enforcement agency protested at the Brazilian airport here, holding up signs with messages threatening to strike during the February 24-28 Rio Carnival, a media report said.

Local media showed a photo of one sign held up by officers early Thursday at the Rio de Janeiro-Galeao International Airport that read, "Police Strike In Carnival: Do You Know That", Efe news reported.

Threats of the strikes were of especially great concern in the lead-up to the Rio Carnival, whose 2017 edition is expected to attract nearly 1 million tourists, according to official estimates.

The protesters also handed out flyers denouncing their work conditions and salary delays and stating that more than 100 police officers were killed in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

The protest by members of Rio's civilian police force, whose main function is to investigate crimes, coincides with the deployment of 9,000 soldiers here amid demands for back pay by the military police force, which is responsible for law and order.

Earlier in February, a strike by the military police in the neighbouring state of Espirito Santo unleashed a crime wave accompanied by nearly 150 deaths.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Film: "Silence"; Director: Martin Scorsese; Cast: Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Liam Neeson, Tadanobu Asano, Ciaran Hinds, Issey Ogata, Shinya Tsukamoto, Yoshi Oida, eld, Adam Driver, Liam Neeson, Tadanobu Asano, Ciaran Hinds, Issey Ogata, Shinya Tsukamoto, Yoshi Oida, Yosuke Kubozuka; Rating: ****

"Silence" is a near masterpiece from ace director Martin Scorsese.

It is a heart-breaking story based on the 1966, historical fiction novel of the same name by Shusaku Endo.

The film is an epic but not a spiritual one. The film does not promote any religion either Christianity or Buddhism. But it does make one realise how fallible humans are with respect to the nationality, race and religion.

Set in the 17th century circa 1640s, during the Tokugawa Period when Christianity was banned, it is the story of two Jesuit priests, Sebastiao Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Francisco Garupe (Adam Driver). They travel to Japan in search of their mentor Father Ferreira (Liam Neeson), who is said to have abandoned his faith after being captured by the inquisitors.

While on their search, the priests also aim to spread Christianity among the Japanese people. Throughout its first act, it seems as though it will be an incredible journey of discovery with a large amount of hope that they will be able to find their mentor and bring him home.

Instead, the duo are forced into hiding and are soon apprehended. They are made to suffer more spiritually than physically after they are made to watch beheadings, drownings, burning on the stakes and you name it.

They are informed that the persecution would stop if one of the priests publicly renounce their beliefs by placing a foot on an image of Jesus.

Sebastiao prays for guidance and gets no answer and in his struggles, we see our own religious doubts and certainties reflected back.

Narrated partly in the form of a letter by its central character, the theme emphasises on the believer's greatest obstacle: The silence of his God during the time of his adversity. The film also wrestles with questions that have haunted millions of believers and non-believers: Is there a God, and if so, does He appreciate bloodshed?

Sebastiao answers these questions through his realisations -- when he doubts his mission within minutes of landing in Japan. What is the point of hearing confessions in a language he does not understand? What is the point of disappointing a desperate mother by explaining that, technically, her baptised baby won't be in paradise until it dies? What is the point of his parishioners getting themselves killed by refusing to step on an icon of Jesus -- the Inquisitor's dreaded Trample Test? Step, and they've denied their Lord. Don't step, and they are dead.

And, through Father Ferreria's point of view, the film also puts to rest, the dilemma -- what does it mean to apostatize?

Shot in a restrained, classic style where each frame is atmospheric and picture perfect, Scorsese brings an arresting visual sense to the project, reteaming with production designer Dante Ferretti and cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto to create a hauntingly arresting tableaux, shot on celluloid and shrouded in mist and shadow of the locales.

The performances too are arresting and every actor plays his part to perfection. But it is the Japanese actor Issey Ogata as the honourable inquisitor Inoue who outperforms the rest with his fine histrionics. With a bent gait and defiant look, he is absolutely brilliant trying to be charming yet reasonable with Sebastiao.

With a run time of 160 minutes, the film is captivating and absorbing, it only gets tedious if you want it to be. Otherwise, this is a film not to miss.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Congress alliance government in Uttar Pradesh post-elections to the state assembly will be a government "of youth, of women, of farmers".

Addressing a rally here, Gandhi said: "The Congress-SP government will be a government of youth, government of women and of farmers."

He said this government will "chase people to help them" establish their business and vocation.

He said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government was giving Rs 10,000 crore to those making liquor but nothing to the hard-working farmers.

Gandhi also raised the issue of demonetisation, saying it has badly affected livelihoods.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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!
Sri Lankan Airlines, the island country's flag carrier, was named "the Best Airline in South Asia" by China's Top Travel magazine, the airline said on Friday.

Sri Lankan Airlines was recently crowned the World's Leading Airline Operating to the Indian Ocean Region at the prestigious World Travel Awards and Best Full Service Airline in Central and South Asia for the second consecutive year at the Future Travel Experience Asia Awards.

The airline was also last year named the Most Innovative Marketing Airline in China by Life Weekly magazine, Xinhua news agency reported.

Top Travel Chief Editor Wang Jianmei said: "The Award of Best Airline in South Asia that Top Travel bestowed upon Sri Lankan Airlines is well earned."

Sri Lankan Airlines Country Manager in China Ravindran Veeraperumal said: "This is a great acknowledgement and encouragement for our efforts to promote travel on Sri Lankan. We strive to maintain our highest standard and delight our customers."

China is Sri Lanka's second largest tourism market after India.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
While efforts are underway to extend the range of the land-based BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, test-firing of the air-launched version from fighter aircraft is due in the next few months, a top official has said.

"We have carried out drop tests of the missile from the Sukhoi-30 fighter and analysed the data obtained from those tests. The most crucial phase of the programme is the live test-firing of the weapon which we plan to conduct over the next 3-4 months," Sudhir Kumar Mishra, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of BrahMos Aerospace, an Indo-Russian joint venture, told IANS in an interview.

"We plan to conduct two test-firings -- one against a land target and another against a sea-based target," Mishra said.

"Once we successfully complete the two live test-firings, it would be ready for induction in the IAF (Indian Air Force)," he added.

On deployment, the IAF will be able to hit targets deep inside enemy territory from stand-off ranges, especially if the targets are well-protected by air defence batteries.

On June 25 last year, a Sukhoi SU-30MKI staged a flyby at the Nashik facility of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited with a BrahMos missile attached to hardpoints between its undercarriage flaps.

Mishra hoped that both tests of the air-launched version will be over by the end of this year.

The range of the BrahMos missile will be increased to 450 km and a test is likely around March 10, DRDO Chief S. Christopher said in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

He said a change in the software will be needed, after which the missile will be tested for an enhanced range of 450 km.

"We will tentatively test it around March 10," he said.

Besides this, the DRDO is also developing a second version of the BrahMos missile which will have a range of 800 km.

This missile, Christopher said, is likely to be developed over the next two-and-a-half years.

The Indian Army has already inducted three regiments of BrahMos in its arsenal. All are equipped with Block-III version of the missile, which was tested last May.

The land-attack version of BrahMos has been operationalised in the Indian Army since 2007.

The fire-and-forget BrahMos has the capability to take on surface-based targets by flying a combined hi-lo trajectory, thus evading enemy air defence systems.

Inclusion of the powerful weapon system in the Indian Army has given it a distinct operational advantage to knock down any enemy target even in the most difficult and hidden terrain.

The BrahMos missile, with a range of 290 km and a Mach 2.8 speed, is capable of being launched from land, sea and sub-sea against sea and land targets.

BrahMos is a joint venture between DRDO of India and NPOM of Russia.

(Rohit Srivastava & Anjali Ojha can be contacted at rohit.s@ians.in and anjali.o@ians.in)

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US President Donald Trump launched a ferocious attack on the "fake news" media while defending his month-old administration and lamented the "mess" he inherited from his predecessor.

He also dismissed reports that his campaign officials were constantly in contact with Russia, and vowed to crack down on the leaking of classified information, at a news conference on Thursday that lasted for an hour and 15 minutes.

The US President displayed a sense of anger and grievance rarely vented by a President in public, CNN reported.

"I have never seen more dishonest media, frankly than the political media," Trump said, later slamming leaks to the press from the intelligence community -- some of which led to the resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. His replacement, retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward, also turned down the post.

"The leaks are real. The leaks are absolutely real. The news is fake because so much of the news is fake," Trump said at the press conference.

Trump was repeatedly pressed on whether his campaign staff had been in contact with Russia, as a widening drama over his alleged connections with Moscow dominates news coverage.

"Nobody that I know of. How many times do I have to answer this question? Russia is a ruse. I have nothing to do with Russia. Haven't made a phone call to Russia in years," Trump said.

"I own nothing in Russia, I have no loans in Russia, I don't have any deals in Russia," Trump said. "Russia is fake news".

Trump accused the media of distorting what he has done since taking office and failing to accurately cover his administration. "I see stories of chaos, chaos, yet it is the exact opposite," he said. "This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine, despite the fact that I can't get my Cabinet approved."

He claimed it is serving not the people but special interests profiting from a broken system. "The press has become so dishonest that if we don't talk about, we are doing a tremendous disservice to the American people... the press honestly is out of control."

The acrimony, according to the New York Times, grew so sharp at one point that a journalist told Trump, "Just for the record, we don't hate you." But that did not assuage Trump. He further asked an ultra-Orthodox Jewish reporter, "Are you a friendly reporter?"

Trump said his administration has also been working hard to address problems he inherited from his predecessor, Barack Obama. He cited companies moving jobs overseas, instability in the Middle East and the threat posed by North Korea.

The President went on to say: I'm here again to take my message straight to the people... To be honest, I inherited a mess. It's a mess. At home and abroad, a mess."

Trump also predicted how his animated and unorthodox news conference will be interpreted in the press. "Tomorrow, they will say: 'Donald Trump rants and raves at the press,'" he said.

"I'm not ranting and raving. I'm just telling you. You know, you're dishonest people. But -- but I'm not ranting and raving. I love this. I'm having a good time doing it."

Trump also signalled he will issue a new immigration order next week and criticised the federal circuit court that blocked his marquee order banning Syrian refugees and temporarily halting travel to the US from seven majority Muslim countries.

This is not the first time when Trump has bashed the US media. He had earlier lashed out at the media as 'shameful and wrong' over "wrong" inauguration crowd reports and recently, accused them of dishonest coverage after the Washington Post had published transcript of his telephonic conversation with Australian Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull earlier this month.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US President Donald Trump launched an extraordinary condemnation of his critics, complaining he inherited a "mess" and slamming media reports that his campaign was constantly in contact with Russia as "fake news".

Trump held a news conference on Thursday that lasted an hour and 15 minutes, where he displayed a sense of anger and grievance rarely vented by a President in public, CNN reported.

"I have never seen more dishonest media, frankly than the political media," Trump said, later slamming leaks to the press from the intelligence community -- some of which led to the resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn.

"The leaks are real. The leaks are absolutely real. The news is fake because so much of the news is fake."

Trump was repeatedly pressed on whether his campaign staff had been in contact with Russia, as a widening drama over his alleged connections with Moscow dominates news coverage.

"Nobody that I know of. How many times do I have to answer this question? Russia is a ruse. I have nothing to do with Russia. Haven't made a phone call to Russia in years," Trump said.

"I own nothing in Russia, I have no loans in Russia, I don't have any deals in Russia," Trump said. "Russia is fake news".

The President went on to say: I'm here again to take my message straight to the people. As you know, our administration inherited many problems across government and across the economy. To be honest, I inherited a mess. It's a mess. At home and abroad, a mess."

Trump in fact predicted how this "animated and unorthodox" news conference will be interpreted in the press.

"Tomorrow (Friday), they will say: 'Donald Trump rants and raves at the press'," Trump said.

"I'm not ranting and raving. I'm just telling you. You know, you're dishonest people. But... but I'm not ranting and raving. I love this. I'm having a good time doing it."

The news conference was not scheduled until Thursday morning, but aides said Trump was "itching to get out and defend himself".

A senior administration official told CNN that Trump walked into the Oval Office on Thursday morning and said: "Let's do a press conference today".

The news conference was "the President's idea, 100 per cent", the official said.

"I'm here today to update the American people on the incredible progress that has been made in the last four weeks since my inauguration," Trump continued addressing the conference, after quickly announcing his new pick for labour secretary, Alexander Acosta.

"We have made incredible progress. I don't think there's ever been a president elected who in this short period of time has done what we've done," Trump said.

And saying he resented picking up newspapers and turning on the television to hear reports that his White House was in chaos, Trump said, "This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine".

He complained much of what was reported about his administration was unfair, but said: "I don't mind a bad story if it's true".

He also lashed out at a coverage of his temporary travel ban on nationals of seven mostly Muslim nations that caused a weekend of chaos at the nation's airports before being suspended by a federal court.

"We had a very smooth roll out of the travel ban. But we had a bad court," Trump said, adding "We had a bad decision, that is the only thing that is wrong with the travel ban."

But the President also said a new executive order would be tailored to the court's ruling to ensure that it could legally go into force.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US Defence Secretary James Mattis has reassured European allies nervous about Donald Trump's presidency that the US will defend any member of NATO that comes under attack from Russia.

On the campaign trail last year, Trump said he would not feel bound by NATO's article five, under which an attack on any one of the 28 members is treated as an attack on all.

Trump singled out the Baltic states, complaining that some of them were not contributing a fair share to Nato defence spending.

But Mattis, in contrast to Trump, told the Munich security conference on Friday: "Article five is a bedrock commitment." US security, he added, was "permanently tied" to that of Europe, The Guardian reported.

The conference, which is being attended by the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and other world leaders as well as 47 foreign ministers and 30 defence ministers, is the first chance most of them have had to meet members of the Trump administration and try to gain clarity about Trump's foreign policy goals.

But the conference is also a chance for the Trump team - including Mattis, the Vice President, Mike Pence, and the homeland security secretary, John Kelly - to confront European anxieties about their boss.

Those anxieties, which were exacerbated by Trump's extraordinary 77-minute press conference on Thursday, were on full display as the German defence minister, Ursula von der Leyen, delivered a robust response to Trump that contrasted with the softer approach of the British government.

Speaking before Mattis, Von der Leyen said negative remarks from Washington about the European Union, including support for Brexit, were not helpful.

"Our American friends know well that their tone on Europe and Nato has a direct influence on the cohesion of our continent," she said, warning that such remarks could prove damaging to the future cohesion of the EU.

"A stable European Union is just as much in the American interest as a united Nato."

She said the world needed a responsible US government and that there was a need to protect values, such as total opposition to torture. Trump has said torture can be useful.

Von der Leyen also said Nato should establish a better relationship with Russia, and that this should be done collectively, not by Trump going over people's heads direct to Moscow.

She said Germany accepted it could not continue to rely on the US whenever the going got tough and that it had to increase defence spending: "We must also carry our share of the burden."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A US national was arrested for drug peddling at Kullu in Himachal Pradesh, an official said on Friday.

He was staying in the area for five months and was allegedly indulging in trade of narcotics, a police official said.

He was held in Naggar area of Kullu on Friday.

A total of 126 kg of cannabis and 1,296 gram of hashish were seized from his possession, Superintendent of Police Padam Chand told reporters here.

A case under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has been registered against the US national.

On Thursday, an Israeli was repatriated after being convicted in a drug smuggling case.

Another Israeli national Lior Avi Ben Moyal was arrested for the same crime on Wednesday.

A Chandigarh court in July 2011 sentenced Moyal to 16 years of rigorous imprisonment.

Police officials said Moyal, who was part of an international drugs cartel, would spend the remainder three years of prison sentence in a prison in Israel.

A Czech Republic national, Andreevi Jiri, and Kullu resident Narender Kumar were also arrested by the NCB along with Moyal.

The NCB had recovered contraband charas worth Rs 45 crore in the international market from them.

In the past five years, over 70 foreigners, mainly Britons, Israelis, Dutch, Germans, Japanese and Italians, have been arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

The Magic Valley in the upper reaches of Malana, some 50 km from Kullu town, is known for production of "Malana Cream", the prized hashish, a purified resinous extract of cannabis.

Easy availability of narcotics in McLeodganj and its surrounding areas in Kangra district and Karsol in Kullu district have turned the area into an addicts' haven, police say.

The crime rate under the NDPS Act is 7.7 per cent in Himachal Pradesh, compared to 2.8 per cent in the country.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Animals in the wild mostly avoid any encounters with humans - and when they do attack people, it is usually in self-defence, says legendary field biologist George Schaller.

And it would be wrong to declare tigers and leopards that attack humans as 'man-eaters', Schaller, who believes he's still young at 83, told IANS in an interview.

Thus, there is a need for training the communities settled on the periphery of wildlife parks and sanctuaries because the wild animals -- be it the tiger or the leopard or the elephant -- don't want trouble from the humans, said Schaller, who attended a two-day nature conservation biology workshop at Great Himalayan National Park's camp office here in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh.

'And if a tiger is a man-eater, then its killing is certain,' he added.

German-born Schaller, who devoted six decades to conservation of wildcats and their ecosystems, is currently the Vice President of Panthera, an organisation founded in 2006 for conserving the animals.

Schaller, who is wild at heart, said in India -- a storehouse of biodiversity -- development is a big issue.

'India is saying it's doing a lot for the preservation of wildlife. But it is really disturbing that 200 sq km of forest area of the Panna tiger reserve (in Madhya Pradesh) which is being diverted for non-forest purposes. After the 1990s, the country's image in preserving forests is going down,' said the biologist-cum-author, who travelled to Central Africa to study the mountain gorilla when he was 25.

It is greed and corruption that threaten nature more.

The problem, in fact, across the globe is that oil, mining and timber companies are prepared to pay anything to operate in sensitive areas. Sadly, governments and officials succumb to their pressures.

'I know people (supposed conservationists) who prefer to sit in their offices (rather than go into the field). Conservation has not to do only with animals. It also has to do with economics and politics.'

Schaller, who has studied wildlife in several reserve forests and national parks in India, said the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand is the most vulnerable to poaching for international trade owing to its proximity to the Nepal border, a major trade link to the Chinese traditional medicine market.

Estimates say India supports the highest population of tigers in the wild, accounting for 2,226 of the estimated 3,890 worldwide.

Schaller, who has worked for nearly two decades on studying endemic wildlife in the Tibetan Plateau, said the snow leopard also needs protection from pastoral communities.

'The Spiti Valley (in Himachal Pradesh) and the Hemis National Park (in Jammu and Kashmir) support a good population of the snow leopard,' said Schaller, who spent most of his time in the field in Asia, Africa and South America.

'They are beautiful and majestic animals that rarely attack humans. They attack only when the villagers attack them with sticks. I have spent nights in their habitat and they passed my sleeping bag.'

'Man-animal conflicts are more a social issue. For the conservation of the wildlife, you need cooperation of the local communities,' he said.

Apart from the Spiti Valley, the state's Pin Valley National Park, which Schaller trekked in three-four years ago, the Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary, the Great Himalayan National Park and the Pangi and Bharmour areas of Chamba district have a sizable population of the snow leopard.

Even neighbouring Uttarakhand has a good population of the elusive and highly-endangered species.

According to Schaller, for conserving the snow leopard there is need to maintain a sizable population of its prey species like the Asiatic ibex -- a wild goat -- and the Himalayan blue sheep.

Schaller's photograph of a snow leopard, taken in Pakistan in 1970, is the first recorded image of the wild cat.

The founding fathers of wildlife conservation advocated the need to link eco-tourism with the local communities.

Take the case of tracking the critically-endangered mountain gorilla -- the world's largest ape -- in the Virunga Mountains in the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda in eastern Africa.

'This is the best managed park in the world, in terms of both earning foreign exchange and wildlife management. Part of the income fetched from the visitors is used for the welfare of the communities who reside along the park, who are also making an effort to conserve the forests.

'If we fail to create awareness on wildlife, then we will fail to preserve for our future generations,' he added.

(Vishal Gulati attended a nature conservation biology workshop coordinated jointly by Unesco and the Wildlife Institute of India. He can be reached at vishal.g@ians.in)

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Edappadi K Palaniswami, 63, was sworn into office on Thursday as the 21st chief minister of Tamil Nadu. This will be followed by a floor test on Saturday.

As widely reported already, he was the choice of the ruling AIADMKs now-jailed chief, V K Sasikala, after her own claim to the job was aborted by the Supreme Court convicting her in an old graft case.

His challenge and that of the partys new deputy chief, T T V Dinakaran, who is Saikalas nephew and was appointed by her to the charge after her jail verdict, is to keep the legislators united, with O Panneerselvam, the earlier CM, removed by Sasikala and refusing to accept his dethroning. They also have to win a vote of confidence in the legislative assembly within 15 days.

Party MLAs and MPs with Sasikala, staying for the past 10 days at a private resort near this city, finally got into a celebratory mood after C H Vidyasagar Rao, the officiating state governor, finally have the formal invitation to Palaniswami. For all these days, the MLAs and ministers had kept away, freezing the states administration

The development comes a day after Sasikala and two of her relatives surrendered before a judge in Bengaluru to serve the remaining three years, 10 months and 27 days of sentence in the graft case mentioned earlier. Party supremo Jayalalithaa, who died after a long illness in early December, and whose household aide Sasikala was, was the prime accused in that case. The Palaniswami government will have 31 ministers, including the CM, with most of those in the outgoing ministry retained, with the same portfolios.
With the Edappadi K Palaniswami-led government scheduled to face a motion of confidence in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Saturday, the O Panneerselvam faction has requested the Speaker for a secret ballot.
The 'battle of the ballots' in Uttar Pradesh is, again likely to be settled through an interplay of polarisation and counter-polarisation of votes. Major political parties and alliances' high and uncanny claims of securing comfortable majority in the Assembly polls is unlikely to make much difference.
Clean air is among the top three issues that exercise voters in Indias most-populous state, but it isnt an issue that political parties in Uttar Pradesh (UP) addressor want to.

UPs air is fouled by thousands of brick kilns, sugar factories and coal-fired power plants that violate new emission standards and are among the countrys dirtiest; a seventh of Indias most polluted zones and half the countrys cities with the worst air quality are situated in the state.

The pollution-control regime is not capable of enforcing clear-air and clean-water laws, and attempts to do so have led to widespread protests.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan will inaugurate a two-day South Asian Speakers' Summit on 'Achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)' here tomorrow.

Besides Mahajan, Dr M Thambidurai, Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha; Saber Chowdhury, President of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU); Abdul Raouf Ibrahimi, Speaker of Afghanistan's National Assembly; Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Speaker of Bangladesh Parliament; Jigme Zangpo, Speaker of National Assembly of Bhutan and Tshering Dorji, Deputy Chairperson of National Council of Bhutan, will take part in it, a Lok Sabha release said.

Karu Jayasuriya, Speaker of Sri Lanka Parliament; Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed, Speaker of Maldives Parliament; Onasari Gharti, Speaker of Nepal Parliament, and members of Parliaments from the participating countries, will remain present, it added.

However, Pakistan and Myanmar will not take part in the summit, Mahajan had told reporters here yesterday.

Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly Speaker Sitasaran Sharma and other dignitaries will also attend the inaugural function, it said.

The Summit will have a Plenary Session on Identifying Resources for SDGs Implementation in South Asia: Opportunities for Parliamentary Cooperation, the release said.

The Session will inform the delegates about the implementation of SDGs in South Asian region and will discuss ways in which Parliaments can ensure that adequate financial and other resources accompany implementation of national and regional SDGs strategies, it added.

The Working Session on Gender Equality as a critical factor for Sustainable Development will discuss opportunities that the SDGs present to strike a better gender balance, and to determine the gender impact of sustainable development policies, it said.

The other Working Session on Dealing Effectively with the Challenge of Climate Change and Natural Disasters: Opportunities for Regional Parliamentary Cooperation will discuss how Parliaments of the region can cooperate and share resources to address the challenges of climate change and natural disasters, it added.

The Summit proposes to adopt 'Indore Declaration' at the closing ceremony on February 19, the release said.

During the Summit, cultural programmes, highlighting the heritage of India, will be showcased for the delegates. The delegates and other representatives will leave for Mandu on a Post Conference Tour on February 20.

The foreign delegates have already started arriving here for the Summit.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Three parliamentary delegations from European Union will visit India next week with an aim to push for expansion of overall ties including removal of hurdles in finalising the long-pending EU-India free trade agreement.

The delegations to visit India are European Parliament's committee on foreign affairs, committee on internal market and consumer protection and delegation for relations with India.

The delegations will include some of the key members of the EU parliament and total number of members would be over 20, EU sources said here.

This is the first-ever joint visit of the members of the European Parliament in India and the biggest organised so far, comprising members from diverse background, nationality, political parties, they said.

EU is one of India's leading trade partner and the two-way commerce in goods between India and the EU was USD 98.5 billion in 2014-15.

The talks for the EU-India trade pact have been stalled since May, 2013, when both sides failed to bridge substantial gaps on crucial issues, including data security status for IT sector.

Sources said the issue of trade pact will figure in the talks.

The delegation for relations with India includes Geoffrey Van Orden, Chair of the European Parliament Delegation for relations with India.

European Parliament Delegation for Relations with India will be visiting Delhi and Bangalore from February 20-23.

In their meetings with Indian leaders, the delegation is likely to push for finalsing the EU-India Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) as soon as possible.

During their visits, they would be meeting various leaders and representatives of the Indian government, industry, as well as think tanks in Delhi as well as in Bengaluru, sources said.

The delegations are expected to meet senior functionaries in the External Affairs, Commerce & Industry, Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines ministries among others, besides Speaker of the Lok Sabha and some members of the Parliament.

While the delegation for relations with India visits India periodically, this is its first visit under the leadership of its new chair, David McAllister, elected to his new role in January 2017.

The last visit of the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection to India was 7 years ago.

The delegation Committee on Foreign Affairs will focus on EU-India relations, including strengthening cooperation on issues of mutual interests and concerns, such as peace, security, and multilateral cooperation.

They will also focus on issues relating to regional security, counter-terrorism, fight against piracy, cyber-security and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The European Parliament Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection will be visiting Mumbai and New Delhi from February 21-23.

In their talks with Indian leaders, they will focus on issues relating to standardisation, customs and consumer protection.

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Thirty two children were injured this morning when a school bus overturned and fell into a ditch while the driver was trying to overtake another bus near Dehar in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh.

Police said the bus was travelling on Ghumarwin-Dehar road



To Vivekananda Public School when around 8 AM, the driver tried to overtake another bus negligently due to which it overturned and fell few feet down the road.

SDM Rajeev Kumar rushed to the spot along with team of police and medical officials and supervised the rescue operations along with the help of locals.

The local administration has given immediate relief of Rs 5,000 to each of the seriously injured besides promising free treatment.

The driver of the bus was also injured in the mishap.

The roof of the bus was torn apart in the incident and the children were rescued from the opening, eye witnesses said.

Out of the 33 injured, 31 were taken to Civil Hospital in Sundernagar and two were referred to Bilaspur District Hospital.

All the injured were stated to be out of danger as they suffered minor injuries, police said.

Sundernagar MLA Sohan Lal Thakur visited the injured students and assured them every help on behalf from the state government.

According Sundernagar DSP Sanjeev Bhatia, the police has registered a case under various sections of Indian Penal Code against the bus driver.

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At least four policemen were killed and another injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire on their van in this restive Pakistani city.

The incident occurred late last night in Dera Ismail Khan district in northwestern Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering volatile South Waziristan tribal agency.

According to police, a mobile team of the town police station was refilling their van at Mission Morr when unidentified gunmen opened fire on them before fleeing from the scene.

Four policemen, including an Assistant Sub Inspector and two constables, were killed, police said, adding that the injured policeman was shifted to a hospital.

Police have cordoned off the area and launched a manhunt to nab the perpetrators.

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A jihadist group has executed 41 fighters from Al-Qaeda's former Syria affiliate and allied factions in infighting between the extremists in Syria's Idlib province, a monitor said today.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Jund al-Aqsa group had executed the 41 fighters in the town of Khan Sheikhun on Monday but the deaths were only confirmed today amid fierce fighting between the jihadist factions.

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Aam Aadmi Party today rubbished the accusations that its members had links with gangsters and terrorists and made as it accused the Congress for "patronising" dreaded gangsters including the key accused of Nabha jail break.

AAP state convener Gurpreet Singh Ghuggi said that it had became a habit for PPCC president Amarinder Singh to name AAP for any miss happening in Punjab even though the party has time and again made it clear that none of its leaders are involved in any kind of anti-social activity.

He said that Gurpreet Sekhon, the key accused in Nabha jail break, belongs to a Congress family and Vicky Gounder, an accomplice of Sekhon, was brought to the world of crime by a Congress leader.

Ghuggi claimed that family members of these gangsters have on record accused Congress for misguiding their wards.

He refuted charges that any AAP leader had given shelter to these gangsters.

The AAP leader affirmed that no office bearers of the party were involved in harbouring any gangster.

He also slammed state BJP chief Vijay Sampla for the meaningless allegations and said that gangsters and terrorists in Punjab were products of Congress and SAD.

This shows the frustration of SAD-BJP alliance and Congress leaders, Ghuggi said.

He alleged that the SIT formed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to probe the remaining cases of 1984 anti-Sikh riots had proved a hoax and it was used to give clean chit to criminals and leaders of Congress and BJP involved in the killings of Sikhs.

Modi had formed SIT to pre-empt formation of SIT by AAP government in Delhi. AAP was satisfied with the working of Election Commission and Congratulates the apex election body for peaceful conduct of elections in the state, Ghuggi said.

He, however, said that AAP had raised discrepancies at administrative level in Punjab and the EC has rectified the problems with positive mind.

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US allies said they had won assurances today from new Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that Washington backed a political solution to the Syria conflict, ahead of UN-led peace talks.

Tillerson used a G20 gathering in Germany to hold a series of meetings with his global peers, reviewing crises from North Korea to Ukraine at a time of great uncertainty over President Donald Trump's "America First" strategy.

Washington's top diplomat joined a group of countries who support the Syrian opposition for talks on a way to end the nearly six-year war.

"All the participants want a political solution because a military solution alone won't lead to peace in Syria," German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel told reporters in Bonn, adding that "Tillerson became very involved in the debates".

The meeting of the so-called "like-minded" nations -- made up of around a dozen Western and Arab countries as well as Turkey -- was the first since President Donald Trump took office.

Diplomats had said before the talks that they were hoping for clarity on whether there had been a change in US policy on Syria, particularly on the future of President Bashar al- Assad.

The meeting came ahead of a new round of United Nations-led talks in Geneva on February 23 involving Syrian regime and rebel representatives.

Under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, Washington insisted Assad had to go, putting it at odds with Moscow which has launched a military intervention in support of the Syrian leader.

But Trump has called for closer cooperation with Moscow in the fight against the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria, downplaying what happens to Assad.

With Russia's sway in the conflict growing, it has seized the initiative by hosting separate peace talks in Kazakhstan along with Turkey, brokering a fragile six-week-old truce on the ground.

Gabriel said the "like-minded" countries had agreed to step up pressure on Russia to back a political solution and reaffirmed there could be no alternative to the UN-led Geneva talks.

"There should not be any parallel negotiations," he said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, speaking alongside Gabriel, said a key stumbling block was Russia's insistence to consider all opposition groups as "terrorists".

A Western diplomatic source said Tillerson had stated clearly in the meeting that "there would be no military cooperation with Russia until they distance themselves from Damascus's stance on the opposition.

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Australia's prime minister, who was at the receiving end of US President Donald Trump's ire during a fiery phone call last month, today offered media advice to the billionaire politician after he attacked the press.

Trump stunned the political world Thursday with an impromptu White House conference at which he railed against his perceived enemies in the media, calling them "dishonest" and "out of control".

The US leader has repeatedly ignored presidential decorum, including in his relations with loyal allies like Australia, reportedly lambasting Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during a phone call last month and later attacking an agreement with Canberra on refugees as a "dumb deal".

At a press conference in New Zealand, Turnbull, who has repeatedly insisted relations with key ally the United States remain strong, was asked about Trump's views of the media.

"Winston Churchill once said that politicans complaining about the newspapers is like a sailor complaining about the sea," Turnbull told reporters in Queenstown.

"There's not much point. It's the media we live with.

"We have to get our message across and we thank you all in the media for your kind attention," Turnbull added with a smile.

The spat flared over an agreement struck in November to resettle in the United States an unspecified number of the 1,600 people detained by Australia on Pacific islands. Many are Iranians.

In Queenstown, Turnbull met his New Zealand counterpart Bill English and agreed to pursue the Trans-Pacific Partnership, despite Trump's decision to dump the massive trade deal that encompasses a dozen nations.

"In light of the intention of the United States not to ratify the TPP, the two Prime Ministers agreed that Australia and New Zealand would work together to engage with other TPP partners on the way forward, over the coming months," a joint statement said.

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Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today admitted that the ongoing bickering between BJP and Shiv Sena is not an ideal situation and said allies need to exercise restraint while speaking out against each other.

On the mud-slinging on between BJP and Sena amid the high-voltage campaign for the upcoming civic elections in Maharashtra, he said, "I admit that this is not an ideal situation."



"Being in government together and levelling allegations against each other is not an ideal situation," Naidu told reporters here ahead of the civic polls scheduled on February 21.

"These are local elections and sometimes alliance is possible in one part and at the same time, it is not possible in other part, so it is good to have control while speaking against each other," he said.

Naidu said now the focus (with regard to criticism) is more on BJP. Earlier BJP was perceived as a junior partner in Maharashtra but now it is emerging as the biggest party in the state, he claimed.

"Earlier, Shiv Sena was a bigger party, however, since the position is slipping out of Sena's hand, they are speaking against us out of that disappointment," he said.

On Shiv Sena's claims that the state government is on "notice period," the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister there is no scope for ifs and buts in politics.

"We have not received any notice and if we receive it, we will study it and will decide what should be done," the senior BJP leader said.

"BJP will get complete majority in the elections and there will be no need to compromise with any party," Naidu said.

To a query on NCP chief Sharad Pawar hinting at mid-term polls in the state and whether BJP will go with NCP, he said, "He is a very knowledgeable person, however we have enough knowledgeable persons in our party.

On a BJP functionary writing to the State Election



Commission demanding a ban on publication of Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' on the days of civic and local body polls, Naidu said, "Imposing ban on newspaper is not BJP's principle. Imposing Emergency was Congress work, so be assured that there would not be any ban on the newspaper."



"Let them write whatever they want to write. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity is increasing and it is not only increasing in India, but across the globe. He is receiving praise from all over the world, so let them write whatever they want to write," he said.

On Army Chief Bipin Rawat's recent comments that people creating hurdles during anti-terror operations will face harsh actions, Naidu said, "Whatever he said was right and in national interest, and to read out the statement in different context is not in the interest of the nation."



"The statement he made was based on factual situation, so it is wrong to defame the Army by bringing his statement into controversy and (it is) not in the interest of the nation," he said.

Whatever General Rawat said was the need of the hour, he added.

Gen Rawat had recently said that people creating hurdles during anti-terror operations and displaying flags of Pakistan and ISIS in Jammu and Kashmir will be dealt as anti-nationals and will face "harsh" actions.
State-owned Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd today said it will raise Rs 2,000 crore in debt in the current fiscal ending March 31 to fund its capex requirements.

In a notice to stock exchanges, BPCL said its shareholders had on September 21 last year approved raising of funds through 'Private Placement of Non-Convertible Bonds/Debentures and/or Other Debt Securities'.

"In exercise of the said delegated authority, BPCL is planning to raise up to Rs 2,000 crores during the current financial year through private placement of secured non- convertible debentures subject to market conditions," it said.

The debentures are proposed to be listed on Debt Market segment of the BSE Ltd and National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE).

Last month, BPCL had raised USD 600 million by selling 10-year dollar bonds to investors in Asia and Europe.

Its Singapore arm BPRL International Singapore Pte Ltd raised the money at 200 basis points above the 10-year US treasury which came to around 4.375 per cent.

BPCL had at that time stated that it will use the money to refinance short term loans taken by the company to buy stakes in Tass-Yuryakh and Vankor, two oil fields operated by Russian government owned oil giant Rosneft.

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Captain Steven Smith started the tour in impressive fashion by compiling his 30th first class century to help Australia reach 211-2 at tea on the opening day of their warm-up game against India A here today.

Australia, 81 for two after having lost openers David Warner (25) and Matt Renshaw (11) before lunch, added 130 runs in the second session in 33 overs without losing any more wickets at the Brabourne Stadium.

At tea, Smith - who has scored 17 hundreds in 50 Tests - was on 107 in his 100th first class game, off 161 balls and in 199 minutes, inclusive of 12 fours and one six, while Marsh was on 59, which came in 160 minutes and 114 balls and also included 5 fours and one six.

Warner and Renshaw were both dismissed by first change home team medium pacer Navdeep Saini before the visitors recovered poise through the 156-run stand between right-handed Smith and left-handed Marsh in 40.5 overs.

Smith, who arrived at the crease at the fall of his deputy Warner in the 9th over of the innings, batted fluently and was hardly troubled by the bowling barring once when he edged left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem short of the slip fielder when on 55.

He, otherwise, played the slow bowler with lot of confidence by using his feet well and also smacked him for an on-driven six soon after lunch. He completed his century in 154 balls with the help of 11 fours and a six in 186 minutes.

Marsh too took cue from his captain and began to play with increasing confidence to complete his half century in 86 balls and 131 minutes.

The third-wicket duo completed the century stand in 41.1 overs and in 140 minutes and looked well in control against a none-too-impressive bowling attack on a pitch that had eased out considerably in the afternoon session.

Earlier, Australia lost both the left-handed openers, vice-captain Warner and the tall England-born Renshaw in the pre-lunch session after they were put in to bat by India A captain Hardik Pandya.

For the home team, Delhi's Navdeep Saini was the most impressive bowler in a fine first spell of 6-2-13-2 while the other two medium pacers -- captain Pandya and Ashok Dinda -- could not extract as much help from the green-tinged pitch offering good bounce.

Shahbaz was given a long spell by skipper Pandya without making much of an impression after bowling 17 overs in which he gave away 71 runs without any wicket to his name.

Strangely frontline off-spinner Krishnappa Gowtham was not called upon to bowl a single over while part timer Akhil Herwadkar bowled seven overs for 23 runs.

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Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today said the Centre would extend all support to the Tamil Nadu government irrespective of who the Chief Minister is and it does not want to interfere in AIADMK's internal affairs.

"We (Centre) do not want to interfere in the internal affairs of AIADMK. We want a stable government in Tamil Nadu and who should be there Chief Minister is an internal affair of AIADMK," he said responding to quries on the political developments in the southern state.

"The Centre will extend all its support to the Tamil Nadu government, irrespective of who is the CM," Naidu said.

Edappadi K Palaniswami, a V K Sasikala loyalist, was yesterday sworn-in as the Chief Minister, ending the 10-day political uncertainty in Tamil Nadu which had begun with caretaker CM O Panneerselvam's revolt against the AIADMK general secretary.

On the BJP-Shiv Sena wranglings in Maharashtra, Naidu admitted that it is not an "ideal situation" and said allies in the government need to exercise restraint while speaking out against each other.

"I admit that this is not an ideal situation. Being in government together and levelling allegations against each other is not an ideal situation," Naidu said when asked about on the mud-slinging between BJP and Sena as part of the high-voltage campaign for the civic polls in Maharashtra.

"These are local elections and sometimes alliance is possible in one part and at the same time, it is not possible in other part, so it is good to have control while speaking against each other," he said.

Hitting out at the Congress, Naidu said it ruled and ruined the country and has now become a "notional" party from a national one.

"Congress ruled and ruined the country right from Parliament to panchayat and earlier it was called a national party, but now it has become a notional party," Naidu said.

On Shiv Sena's claims that Maharashtra's Devendra Fadnavis



government is on "notice period," Naidu said, "We have not received any notice and if we receive it, we will study it and will decide what should be done."



"BJP will get complete majority in the elections and there will be no need to compromise with any party," he asserted.

To a query on NCP president Sharad Pawar hinting at mid-term polls in the state and whether BJP will go with the party, the Union Minister said, "He is a very knowledgeable person, however we have enough knowledgeable persons in our party."



He claimed that BJP is the biggest political party in the country now and there is a need to strengthen and widen it further.

"The country needs Modiji for 10 more years and BJP for 15 more years to address the challenges faced by the country and make it resurgent India, where there is no poverty, no hunger, no illiteracy, no exploitation, no social inequality and no corruption," the senior BJP leader said.

"And to achieve it, we should follow our PM's principle of reform, perform and transform," he said.

There is a need to elect an administration where local bodies, state, and the Centre work together for speedy and effective implementation of development.

On the Bill introduced by Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan, seeking cap on extravagant and wasteful expenditure during wedding functions, he said it will be debated and discussed when it comes up in Parliament.

"The way marriages are being held in a lavish manner has become a matter of concern and people are now discussing it. There is counter argument that they are spending their own money and who are you to object to that, but at the same time there has to be a simplicity and sobriety as far as the marriages are concerned," he said.
AIADMK MLA representing Mylapore constituency R Nataraj today said he would vote against the Edappadi K Palaniswami government in the motion of confidence that will be taken up tomorrow in the Assembly.

With this development, 11 MLAs, including former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam himself are expected to vote against the motion.

"I am constrained to vote against the motion of confidence to be moved by the Edappadi K Palaniswami government," Nataraj said.

"I have interacted with people in my constituency and their considered and overwhelming opinion is that the government of O Panneerselvam should continue and I have to reflect this opinion of the people in the Assembly," he told PTI.

To a question, Nataraj, who was the former Tamil Nadu Director General of Police, said he does not consider this as a confidence vote, but a "conscience vote".

On his view on recent developments in ruling AIADMK, he said, "This is an unfortunate development. I do not belong to any camp. I have been working for unity in the party."



"In the best interest of the party," Nataraj said he has been working towards ensuring that there was "no division in AIADMK and this is what Amma would have expected us to do."



He said he would continue to strive for bringing unity in the party and added that "still there is scope" for it.

Nataraj had also served as Chairman of the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission.

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China today condemned the deadly attack at a crowded sufi shrine in Pakistan's Sindh province that killed 80 people and assured continued support to Islamabad in its efforts to combat terrorism.

China was greatly shocked by the massive casualties caused by the suicide blast yesterday in Sehwan in Sindh province, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a press briefing.

"We strongly condemn this terrorist attack, express our deep condolences to the victims and sincere sympathies to the injured and the bereaved," Geng said.

China opposes terrorism in all forms, he said, adding that it would continue to support Pakistan's efforts to fight against terrorism, maintain national stability and protect people's safety.

The deadly blast at the crowded shrine of revered Sufi Lal Shahbaz Qalandar last night killed 80 people and injured nearly 250 when an Islamic State suicide bomber blew himself up inside the shrine.

As Pakistan faces frequent threats from terrorist forces



such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, military's support is necessary to ensure a safe environment in the regions where China has invested heavily, Song said.

The two countries agreed to enhance anti-terrorism cooperation at the meeting, vowing to resolutely strike against terrorist forces including the East Turkestan Islamic Movement active in China's restive Xinjiang which is the connecting point of the CPEC.

China blames the East Turkistan Islamic Movement for the violent attacks in the past few years.

The daily quoted Bajwa as saying that Pakistan's military is willing to deepen the cooperation with the Chinese army and fully support the Quadrilateral Cooperation and Coordination Mechanism in Counter Terrorism by Afghanistan-China-Pakistan- Tajikistan Armed Forces.
China today urged a resumption of six-party talks with North Korea on Pyongyang's nuclear programme, saying a "negative cycle" of nuclear missile tests followed by sanctions must end.

"Today, what we see is nuclear test, sanction, nuclear test and then sanction again," said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

"This negative cycle should not continue. Because the ultimate end result could be something that no one can bear. It's a situation where everyone loses," he said.

Wang stressed that UN Security Council resolutions -- including sanctions -- against Pyongyang should be fully implemented, but added: "We cannot give up on seeking a resumption of talks."



"On this point, the United States and North Korea ... Must quickly come to a political decision," he said.

"We hope and call on all parties to stop taking any action that would provoke tensions."



The North quit the now-stalled negotiations aimed at curbing its nuclear weapons programme in 2009, and soon afterwards carried out its second atomic test. The talks are hosted by China, and include South Korea, the United States, Russia, and Japan.

Beijing, the North's main diplomatic protector and economic benefactor, wants to revive negotiations, although Washington, Seoul and Tokyo all insist Pyongyang must first take some tangible steps towards denuclearisation.

Earlier today, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson used his first meeting with Wang to urge Beijing to help rein in North Korea after its series of nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

North Korea's latest missile was launched Sunday near the western city of Kusong and flew east about 500 kilometres before falling into the Sea of Japan (East Sea), South Korea's defence ministry has said.

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A Delhi court has pulled up Tihar Jail Superintendent for his "depreciable" conduct in releasing from prison a police official, accused in a cheating case relating to exchange of demonetised currency, without getting corrected an error in FIR number made in the bail order.

Special Judge Poonam Chaudhry, who had earlier granted bail to Delhi Police sub inspector Sudhir Rathi, said it is the duty of jail superintendent, in case of any error or omission in the order, to get it corrected.

The FIR number was wrongly mentioned in the bail order and the accused police man moved the court for its correction.

When the matter came to light, the court sought a report from jail superintendent as to how the accused was released from prison in case the correct FIR number was not mentioned.

The jail authorities responded that though the FIR number in the bail order was not correct, Rathi had not been taken into custody in any other case, therefore, he was released.

The submission, however, did not go down well with the judge who said "I am of the view that the explanation furnished by Jail Superintendent is not justifiable as clarification had to be sought by jail superintendent in this regard from this court.

"It is the duty of the jail superintendent in case any error or omission in the order to get it corrected."



"Keeping in view the high security prison, such conduct of jail superintendent is depreciable. The said fact be brought to the notice of Director General of Prisons. A copy of order be sent to DG Prisons," the court said and listed the matter for further proceedings on March 20.

The court had on December 20 last year granted bail to Rathi after which he was released from jail.

According to the police, the complainant, a cloth trader, had come to Delhi on November 7, 2016 in connection with his business and the next day, he came to know about demonetisation of currency notes. He approached Shailender Singh through his relative for changing the old notes.

Singh told him that his sister was a bank manager and she could get the demonetised currency exchanged after which the complainant gave Rs 18 lakh to them on November 17, it said.

The police alleged that the accused kept on delaying the payment of the amount on one pretext or the other after which an FIR was lodged. During the probe, it was found that the demonetised notes were given to Rohit Arora and two others who allegedly misappropriated it in connivance with Rathi.

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The CPI today demanded the Centre to conduct through NIA a probe into arrests of some persons from Madhya Pradesh for allegedly being part of a Pakistan-run espionage racket and on allegations on BJP in this connection.

CPI national secretary D Raja termed the charges as "serious" and demanded Central government to carry out the investigation through National Investigation Agency (NIA).

"It is a very serious issue. Whatever be the charges...The NIA should conduct a thorough probe into the matter to get at the root of the things," Raja demanded.

Eleven people were arrested from different places of the state on February 9 for being part of an alleged espionage racket being run from Pakistan to collect strategic information on important Indian establishments.

Earlier in the day, Congress alleged that some of the accused were BJP members linked to a "nationwide spy network" helping Pakistan's ISI and demanded a Supreme Court-monitored CBI probe.

Targeting BJP over the issue, the AAP too had yesterday alleged that three of the accused were members of the saffron party and demanded probe in the matter.

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In the aftermath of a barrel bomb attack in Syria's Idlib, nine-year-old Abdel Basset Al-Satuf tries to sit up, his legs blown off, and screams "Daddy, pick me up!"



Abdel Basset was caught in a barrel bomb attack by regime forces yesterday in the town of Al-Hbeit, in northwest Idlib province.

The harrowing footage of the young boy screaming for his father as he struggles to sit up, his legs turned to bloody stumps, quickly spread on social media.

The child was taken to a hospital in the provincial capital Idlib city for preliminary treatment, but today he and his father were transferred to Turkey for specialised care.

In an ambulance about to head to the border, Abdel Basset recounted the incident as his father Taan tried to keep his composure.

"We were sitting having lunch when the barrel bombs started to fall on the town and my father told us to get in the house," he told AFP.

"But as we arrived at the door of the house a barrel fell on it and when it exploded fire blasted towards me and amputated my legs," he said.

"My father immediately picked me up and moved me and put me down on the ground (away from the house) and then an ambulance came and they treated me," he added.

In the video, Abdel Basset can be seen sitting stunned as desperate voices scream for an ambulance and paramedics.

His father had run back to the house to search for the rest of the family, three of whom were killed in the attack.

In Al-Hbeit, the family's landlord described the incident as "a massacre".

"The family was having lunch and I was walking with his father, and at first we didn't notice anything until the aircraft arrived," he said



"Then a barrel bomb came down and there was a big explosion," Walid Abu Ras said.

Taan ran back towards his house, trying to warn his family to take cover when their home was hit.

"Abdel Basset's legs were blown off and one of his sisters was killed, and another one was wounded. His mother was killed and he doesn't know yet," Abu Ras said.

The attack also killed the husband of one of Abdel Basset's sisters.

Abu Ras said the family had arrived in Idlib less than two years ago from Latamneh in neighbouring Hama, displaced by war like more than half of Syria's population.

The video of Abdel Basset is just the latest footage to refocus attention on the plight of Syria's civilians, particularly children.

In August 2016, haunting images of a four-year-old called Omran, shell-shocked and covered in dust after an air strike, reverberated around the world.

Syria's government and rebel forces are technically observing a ceasefire brokered by Turkey and Russia that began on December 30.

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Actor Damian Lewis has said his wife, Helen McCrory, is worried their children might develop American accent.

The English-born star, who shares 10-year-old Manon and Gulliver, nine, with McCrory, had adopted the American accent for his roles on "Homeland" and "Billions", and said that his wife now "has a horror" that he will transfer the intonation onto their children, reported Femalefirst.

"I don't do it (the accent) in front of them. They once spent a school term in the US and they started copying the accent in this comical, exaggerated way, elongating their vowels. I put a stop to that. My wife has a horror that the children will start talking American if we spend too much time out there," he said.

Though Lewis likes to keep up his accent when he is away from the cameras in order to make sure it is up to scratch, he said his friends back home often tease him for it.

"I once did a US TV interview in my American accent and somehow it was seen by quite a few of my friends back in England.

"There were several irate text messages. 'You are British! Stop talking like an American!' It has become second nature to me now and I am happy to do it. That said, if I am with Brits I come out of it pretty quickly," Lewis told Mr Porter magazine.

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Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has issued summons to the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) in connection with the death of a South African girl who was allegedly illegally detained at a beggar home since December.

"A girl from South Africa who was detained by FRRO since December 2016 has died in hospital. She was ill and was urgently released yesterday by FRRO after her medical condition became critical. The arbitrary release of the girl by FRRO at a time when she was critically ill amounted to abandoning the girl in time of need," DCW chief Swati Maliwal said in a letter to FRRO.

"The Commission is in receipt of several complaints alleging wrongdoings by FRRO officials and no action has been taken on the same. We have observed that the functioning of the FRRO is non-transparent and the women detainees, some of whom are refugees, are mostly unaware of the reasons for their detention, the proposed dates of deportation and are not provided any legal support," she added.

The women's body had last month issued a notice to FRRO over the same issue following an inspection by Maliwal at the beggar home in Nirmal Chhaya complex.

"The FRRO has informed us that only those foreign nationals are supposed to be detained in the Restriction Centre who are required to be immediately deported/ repatriated back to their native countries," she further said.

The FRRO officials have been asked to appear before the commission on February 22.

Yesterday, DCW had also issued summons to Delhi Police for alleged inaction over a complaint of sexual harassment by an Uzbek woman at the same beggar home.

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The Enforcement Directorate today chargesheeted Kolkata-based businessman Paras Mal Lodha in a city court in connection with the alleged conversion of over Rs 25 crore old currency into new ones.

The prosecution complaint (charge sheet) was filed by the ED before Additional Sessions Judge Raj Kumar Tripathi under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) detailing the alleged role of Lodha and others involved in the case.

ED sources said though lawyer Rohit Tandon, who was arrested in another case, has not been chargesheeted in this matter, his role has been defined in the report. A decision will be taken to file supplementary charge sheet after further probe.

The matter has been fixed for hearing arguments of Special Public Prosecutor Vikas Garg, who represents ED, on the point of taking cognisance on the charge sheet.

The charge sheet gives details of how the accused persons "cheated public at large" and caused monetary loss to the central government.

While Lodha was arrested on December 21, 2016, in connection with alleged conversion of over Rs 25 crore old currency into new notes, Tandon is in custody since December 28, 2016, in connection with a similar case lodged by ED.

Lodha has been accused of being involved in the conspiracy along with Tandon and indulging in converting old demonetised notes into new currency on commission basis, which constitutes the offence of money laundering.

ED has alleged that the new currency, which was entrusted to banks and government officials and was supposed to be delivered to public/bank account holders, appeared to have been misappropriated by Lodha and others for their monetary gains, thereby "cheating public at large" and causing monetary loss to the government.

It has said that he had committed offences including those under sections 420 (cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC.

The agency had earlier told the court that Lodha was involved in the offence of money laundering which "frustrated" demonetisation policy of the government posing "serious threat" to financial health of the country.

Tandon was arrested by the ED after a raid in connection with a black money probe which led to the alleged seizure of Rs 13.6 crore from his law firm. He was alleged to be involved in illegal conversion of nearly Rs 60 crore demonetised currency.

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Dev Patel, who is nominated in the best supporting actor category for "Lion" at the 89th Academy Awards, says whenever he thinks of the big night is just a week away, his heart rate rises a little bit.

"Lion" is based on the true story of a five-year-old Indian boy, Saroo Brierley, who gets lost on the streets of Calcutta, thousands of kilometers from home.

He survives many challenges before being adopted by a couple in Australia; 25 years later, he sets out to find his lost family.

Patel, 26, said he is extremely happy with the kind of love his movie has received and that the Garth Davis-directed film is changing the lives of so many people in a positive way, reported People magazine.

"There's not much more preparation to do at this point. Now, it's up to the film gods and we are just really enjoying this time. But whenever I think it's just a week away, my heart rate rises a little bit," Patel said.

"A woman came up to me after a screening and said she had been on the fence about wanting to adopt, but after watching the film she said it gave her the courage to do so and she now felt it was her calling. The film is changing lives," he added.

The actor will attend the February 26th ceremony along with his mother, Anita Patel.

"As a child you may say to your parents, 'One day I am going to take you to the Oscars.' But for that to actually materialize into a truth is quite amazing," he said.

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Grieving worshippers today thronged the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar Sufi shrine and performed daily rituals, sending a strong message to the terrorists who killed at least 88 people in a suicide attack there.

The famous Sufi shrine at Sehwan in the Sindh province was closed due to security reasons following the deadly attack by an Islamic State suicide bomber yesterday.

The white marble floor at the shrine was still marked by blood and a pile of abandoned shoes and slippers was heaped in the courtyard, many of them belonging to victims.

The devotees performed 'Dhamal', a spiritual dance, after the sunset prayer.

Security was tightened in an around the shrine after yesterday's attack.

Undeterred by the tragedy, the custodian of the shrine, Syed Mehdi Raza Shah, turned up at the designated place at 3.30am and stood amidst the remains of the carnage to defiantly rang a traditional bell, which is a daily ritual.

"We will never bow before the terrorists," he said.

Shah told PTI from Sehwan that the devotees came despite the shrine being sealed off by the security forces for examination and collection of forensic evidence.

"Such cowardly terrorist attacks will never deter thousands of devotees of spiritual Sufi saints all over Pakistan from going to shrines to pray," he said.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa have also visited Sehwan and met the injured in the hospital.

Lal Shahbaz Qalandar was a Sufi philosopher-poet of present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Earlier in the day, angry protesters today took to the streets against the Pakistan government's failure to provide security at the shrine.

They damaged vehicles and set a police van on fire and burnt tyres to block roads.

"There is only one scanner at the shrine for thousands of devotees who come to the shrine and even it was not working properly," a protester, who lost his brother and friends in the blast, told a television channel.

Relatives of the injured people complained about improper medical care facilities at the civil hospitals in Sehwan and Nawabshah.

Initial investigations said that there was no proper electricity at the shrine when the attack took place.

"Investigations point to the fact that the attacker came dressed in a Burqa and entered the shrine from the golden gate amidst the heavy crowd of devotees," DIG Hyderabad range Manzoor Rind said.

Hyderabad is the largest city closest to the town of Sehwan where the shrine was attacked.

Rind said the CCTV footage at the shrine was being examined to identify the attack.

Reopens FGN 25)



On January 26, intelligence agencies had sent a notice to the concerned ministries in Sindh and Islamabad that there was imminent terror threat to public places particularly shrines in the province.

The deadly suicide bomb attack at the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar is not the first such attack.

In November last year, 52 people were killed and around 100 wounded when a teenage suicide bomber blew himself up in the courtyard of the Shah Noorani shrine in a remote and mountainous area of Khuzdar district in the troubled Baluchistan province.

Many shrines in Pakistan including the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar have great historical significance and date back centuries.

At least three dozen shrines across the country have come under attack by the militants in the last decade in which hundreds of devotees have been killed in these attacks.

According to data compiled by the Center for Islamic Research Collaboration and Learning since 2005, at least 209 people have been killed and 570 injured in 29 terrorist attacks targeting shrines devoted to Sufi saints in Pakistan.

In March 2008, an attack on the 400-year-old shrine of Hazrat Abu Saeed Baba on the outskirts of Peshawar killed 10 villagers.

Inspector-General of Sindh A D Khawaja said that the suicide bomber dressed in a burqa had managed to enter into the courtyard in Sehwan due to security lapses.

"Security will be beefed up at all shrines in the province as thousands of devotees are going and coming at these shrines," he said.
: With incidents relating to moral policing on the rise in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today instructed the state DGP to take stern action against those indulging in such criminal activities.

The direction in this regard was issued by Vijayan following recent incidents of anti social activities in the name of moral policing.

On an incident of physical and mental harrassment of some young men and women on Valentine's Day at Azhikal beach in Karunagapally in Kollam district by some anti social elements,who had also uploaded video clippings of the incident on the internet, Vijayan said he had issued instructions to register case as per specific rules, a government press release said.

"Government will not allow rowdyism in the name of moral policing in campuses, parks and other public spaces, the Chief Minister said.

DGP has been instructed to take stern action against those indulging in such acts, he added.

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The Gautam Budh Nagar Police on Friday arrested two directors of the Noida-based company which is alleged to have committed of worth Rs 500 crore by duping nearly 2 lakh people.

The arrest comes after police froze the company's bank accounts and sealed its office at Noida Sector-2.

The directors Anurag Garg and Sudesh Verma had gone to Surajpur to meet the district SSP Dharmindra Singh, SP (City) Dinesh Yadav said.

The SSP then called Noida Sector-20 Police Station SHO Anil Pratap Singh and got the accused arrested, police said.

An FIR was lodged at Sector 20 Police Station after some investors lodged a complaint against the company.

They alleged the company's owners duped nearly two lakh people who were promised handsome returns by clicking on web links and made Rs 500 crore in the past four months.

So far five accounts of the company have been frozen. Police also came to know that the company had transferred Rs 20 crore in last two days and investigation is on to trace where this amount was transferred, Yadav said.
Several dozen people have gathered in Hanoi to commemorate Vietnam's brief but bloody border war with China nearly 40 years ago.

The participants laid flowers and lit incense Friday at the stature of King Ly Thai To, the founder of capital Hanoi in the 10th century amid a heavy police presence. The authorities used loudspeakers to urge the crowd to disperse.

There are no official government activities marking the event, but it was extensively covered in the state media this week.

China sent hundreds of thousands of troops into northern Vietnam 38 years ago, for what it said was to teach Vietnam a lesson for invading China-backed Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia.

China withdrew its troops one month later with both sides claiming victory.

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Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today ordered the law enforcement agencies to eliminate terrorists with "full force" as the death toll rose to 88 in an Islamic State suicide bombing at a revered Sufi shrine in the Sindh province.

The bombing at the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sehwan took place yesterday when a large number of worshippers from different parts of the province had gathered there for the ritual of Sufi dance 'Dhamaal.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

"The death toll has risen to 88. The attack also left 343 injured," Director General Health Services Sindh-Hyderabad said.

Prime Minister Sharif and Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa today visited Sehwan.

Sharif chaired a security meeting in Sehwan, where he was given a detailed briefing on the current security situation and relief activities.

"It is time for us to unite and fight against the internal and external terrorists," he said.

During the meeting, Sharif directed the country's armed forces and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to eliminate terrorists across the country with full force, Radio Pakistan said.

According to initial investigations, at least eight kilogrammes of explosives were used to carry out the attack.

Senior Counter-terrorism department (CTD) official Raja Umar Khattab dismissed reports that the suicide bomber was a female.

Earlier, Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) Hyderabad Khadim Hussain Rind that the suicide blast occurred at the main gate of the shrine by the burqa-clad bomber.

Following the attack, Pakistan security forces killed at least 42 militants in a nationwide crackdown.

Pakistan has been hit by a series of terrorist attacks since Afghanistan-based Jamaat-ul-Ahrar announced its 'Operation Ghazi'.

On February 13, a suicide bomber struck a protest outside the gates of Punjab's Provincial Assembly, killing 13 and injuring 85. The attack was also claimed by JuA.

Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of not cooperating with it in its efforts to combat terrorism.

Today, Pakistan Army also handed over a list of 76 "most wanted" terrorists to Afghan embassy officials and demanded "immediate action" against them.

Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz also telephoned Afghan National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar and urged him to take action against militants involved in terrorism inside Pakistan.

(REOPENS FGN 22)



Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party, which rules in Sindh, said the terrorist attack on the shrine in Sehwan was the "worst form of terrorism" aimed at ripping apart the Sufi fabric of unity and peace.

"This was an attack on our culture, history and civilisation. Every single individual of this land will fight against the terrorists and uproot this menace," he said.
European leaders today fired a salvo of warnings against Washington, cautioning it against hurting EU cohesion, abandoning shared values and seeking a rapprochement with Russia behind the backs of its allies.

In a hard-hitting speech at the Munich Security Conference against President Donald Trump's administration, German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen urged the United States not to take transatlantic ties for granted.

"Our American friends know well that your tone on Europe and NATO has a direct impact on the cohesion of our continent," the German minister told the Munich Security Conference.

"A stable European Union is also in America's interest, as is a strong and unified NATO," she said.

Polish President Andrzej Duda also stressed that "the basis of our strength is our transatlantic bond. We must not recklessly put it into question.

"We all realise that the consequence of a potential destabilisation on Europe will be felt on both sides of the Atlantic," he added.

Trump's praise for Britain's decision to quit the EU, his criticism of NATO, and his softer approach towards Russia have rattled allies, prompting them to seek assurances from his lieutenants on whether long-standing US policies have indeed been scrapped.

As jittery partners wonder what foreign policy under Trump would look like, the White House has dispatched top generals to Europe this week to offer reassurances.

Vice President Mike Pence is due to address the Munich conference tomorrow, a day after US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis affirmed to the same forum that the bond between Europe and America is the "strongest bulwark" against instability and violence.

"I am confident that we will strengthen our partnerships, confronting those who choose to attack innocent people or our democratic processes and freedoms," he told the gathering of security and defence experts.

Separately in Bonn, where foreign ministers of G20 nations closed a two-day meeting, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made brief statements in which he stuck close to conventional foreign policy, including on North Korea and Russia.

With the White House embroiled in controversy over its ties to the Kremlin, Tillerson was cautious in his dealings with Moscow, despite Trump's pledges for closer ties.

Following his first sitdown with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday, Tillerson said the US sought cooperation with Moscow only when doing so "will benefit the American people".

In Munich, Germany's defence minister urged the US to cherish transatlantic ties, pointing out that allies should not be put on the same footing as Russia.

"There cannot be a policy of equi-distance to allies and to those who openly question our values, our borders and international law," von der Leyen said, adding that allied nations must not be "going above partners' heads in bilateral negotiations.

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A Committee to study the impact of demonetisation on Kerala's economy today suggested that the Centre constitute a 'National Demonetisation Impact Relief Fund' to finance sectors in states badly hit by the note ban.

The Committee head, Prof. C P Chandrasekhar of the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, suggested that all states conduct a study to assess demonetisation triggered losses and seek compensation from Centre.

"Transfers from the Fund can be used to finance direct benefits to the most severely affected sections of the population', he said.

The Committee, appointed by the Kerala Planning Board, submitted its final report to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today.

Planning Board Vice-Chairman V K Ramachandran said 56 per cent of economic activity of Kerala has been affected due to the note ban, pulling the economy down and affecting potential resource mobilisation as well.

The report also estimated an aggregate tax revenue loss of Rs 11,000 crore if GSDP growth plummets to 10-11 per cent.

Chandrasekhar said the coooperative sector was most severely affected and added that Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies strengthen their institutional basis.

With new technology, PACS and their branches should be connected and networked with commercial banks, he said, adding they should also adhere to KYC compliance, PAN card registration and TDS on deposits.

This would act as a safeguard against intervention of Central agencies, including RBI, in functioning of societies in future, he said referring to RBI not allowing the cooperative sector to exchange old notes.

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Four youths have been arrested for allegedly cheating a job aspirant to the tune of Rs 2.6 lakh by running a fake placement agency call centre, a police official said.

City's cyber crime police arrested Sagar Mishra, Shashank Rana, Sagar Mishra and Tarun Chandra who are in their twenties from Delhi, Noida, Uttar Pradesh and Orisa respectively, an official said.

"A 29-year-old youth in his complaint said that in August 2016 he had received a call from a call centre of 'Carrier Pro' placement company about a vacancy in a leading car manufacturing company ," Neeta Phadke, Senior Police Inspector of Cyber Police Station said.

"The executives of the placement company asked him to send his details on company's e-mail ID. The complainant sent his details and deposited Rs 41,000 through Paytm towards registration fees, security deposit and document verification," she said.

However, despite the calls and mails, the complainant did not receive any job offer from the car company, she added.

"The youth then sought his money back from the placement agency as he felt that he was being cheated. The executives contacted him and asked his bank details so that his money could be deposited in his account," police said.

Accordingly, he shared his bank details, including his password to them, following which Rs 1.65 lakh were siphoned off from his bank account, they said.

The youth, who was duped to the tune of Rs 2.6 lakh, approached the Cyber police. An offence was registered on February 5 against unidentified persons.

"Cyber police traced the details of an account to which his money was transferred. These accounts were found in Delhi, Noida, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa," Phadke said.

Police raided a call centre at Lakshminagar, Pitampura in Rohini in the national capital, from where the complainant had received the calls about the job vacancies, she said.

"We arrested four accused who were running this fake job racket. The accused have been remanded in police custody till February 20," Phadke said adding that there was a possibility that the accused have cheated a few more job seekers.

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Germany's defense minister told the US today that Washington has an interest in both a stable European Union and a united NATO, and cautioned against turning the fight against terrorism into a "front against Islam and Muslims."



Minister Ursula von der Leyen also acknowledged that it won't be enough in the future to rely on American military strength and "duck away" when things get tough.

She spoke at the opening of the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of diplomats and defense officials that this year offers an opportunity for many to meet with members of the Trump administration amid concerns over the new president's commitment to NATO and his attitudes toward the EU and Russia.

She was joined at the opening session by US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who declared that "when it comes to security, no one goes their own way in this world alone."



"Security is always best when provided by a team," he said.

US Vice President Mike Pence is to address the meeting tomorrow, and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly also is attending.

President Donald Trump has set off alarm bells in the past by calling NATO "obsolete," though subsequently told European leaders he agrees on the "fundamental importance" of the military alliance.

He has emphasized the need for all members to pay a fair share for defense, an issue that NATO leaders themselves have pushed for years.

Mattis told fellow NATO members on Wednesday that they need to increase their military spending by year's end or risk seeing the US curtail its defense support.

He said today that "it is a fair demand that all who benefit from the best alliance in the world carry their proportionate share of the necessary costs to defend our freedoms," and added that his message had been "well received" by his counterparts.

Other stances -- Trump's support for Britain's decision to leave the EU, his perceived closeness to Russia and his inaugural pledge to put "America first" -- also have raised concerns.

"From the German point of view, our traditional reflex of relying above all on the vigor of our American vigor when things and ducking away when things really get tight ... Will no longer be enough," von der Leyen said.

"We must also carry our share of the burden," she added, though she said that isn't purely a question of money.

Von der Leyen stressed the importance of strengthening EU defense capabilities and said now is the right time to take "ambitious steps," something that she said isn't just in Europe's interests.

"Our American friends know well that their tone on Europe and NATO has a direct influence on the cohesion of our continent," she said. "A stable European Union is just as much in the American interest as a united NATO."



Mattis repeated assurances he delivered at NATO over the past two days.

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Germany's Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen today warned Washington against hurting European cohesion, saying a strong EU is also in the interest of the US.

"Our American friends know well that your tone on Europe and NATO has a direct impact on the cohesion of our continent," the minister told the Munich Security Conference.

"A stable European Union is also in America's interest, as is a strong unified determined NATO," the minister said, in what appeared to be a rebuke of US President Donald Trump's praise for Britain's decision to quit the EU as well as his criticism of NATO.

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Getting a tattoo may be a painful affair but giving one can hurt too, say scientists who found that tattoo artists strain the muscles of their upper back and neck far more than recommended levels to avoid injury.

Researchers at The Ohio State University in the US observed 10 tattoo artists who worked while wearing electrodes that precisely measured their muscle activity.

The electrodes gathered data for 15 seconds every three minutes for the entirety of each tattoo session.

Though a single tattoo session can last as long as eight hours depending on the size and complexity of the tattoo, the sessions used in the study lasted anywhere from one to three hours.

Researchers found that all of them exceeded maximums recommended to avoid injury, especially in the muscles of their upper back and neck.

They also used a standardised observational assessment tool to assess each artist's posture every five minutes and took a picture to document each observation.

Some reasons for the artists' discomfort were immediately obvious, researchers said.

They sit for prolonged periods of time, perching on low stools, leaning forward and craning their neck to keep their eyes close to the tattoo they are creating.

All 10 tattoo artists exceeded recommended exertion limits in at least one muscle group.

Most notable was the strain on their trapezius muscles - upper back muscles that connect the shoulder blades to either side of the neck, a common site for neck/shoulder pain.

Some exceeded limits by as much as 25 per cent, putting them at high risk for injury.

Tattoo artists suffer ailments similar to those experienced by dentists and dental hygienists, researchers said.

Like dental workers, tattoo artists perform detailed work with their hands while leaning over clients.

One of the main problems is that the industry does not have specialised seating to support both the artist and the client, said Carolyn Sommerich, from Ohio State.

"There's no such thing as an official 'tattoo chair,' so artists adapt dental chairs or massage tables to make a client comfortable, and then they hunch over the client to create the tattoo," Sommerich said.

Researchers recommended that artists could experiment with different kinds of chairs for themselves, and try to support their back and arms.

They could change positions while they work, take more frequent breaks and use a mounted magnifying glass to see their work instead of leaning in.

They can also consider asking the client to move into a position that is comfortable for both the client and the tattoo artist, Sommerich added.

The study was published in the journal Applied Ergonomics.

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Government today said it is keeping a close watch on some companies trying to create an artificial shortage of life-saving coronary stents and stringent action will taken against those engaging in unethical practices.

There are reports of shortages of stents in hospitals after the government reduced their prices by up to 85 per cent by capping rates of bare metal stents at Rs 7,260 and drug- eluting ones at Rs 29,600 on February 13.

National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), Drug Controller General India (DCGI) as well as Health Ministry have been asked to ensure compliance of price capping and adequate availability of coronary stents in the market at the earliest.

"We are keeping an eye on all those who are engaging in unethical practices such as creating artificial shortage of stents, not abiding by the fixed ceiling price etc, against whom strict action will be taken," Pharma Secretary Jai Priye Prakash told PTI.

The government would take all steps to ensure that there is adequate supply of coronary stents for cardiac patients in the country, he added.

The Department of Pharmaceuticals has written separately to NPPA, DCGI and Healthy Ministry requesting them to take "necessary action" to curb artificial shortage.

"... NPPA on February 13 has fixed the ceiling prices of coronary stents. There are some reports regarding shortage of coronary stents in the markets/hospitals.

"It is, therefore, requested that necessary action may be taken under paragraph 21 of Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 (DPCO, 2013) to ensure adequate availability of coronary stents at the earliest," it said in its letter.

To implement the price cap, some manufacturers, distributors and importers are withdrawing cardiac stents from hospitals in the name of re-labelling, thereby creating an artificial shortage.

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HDFC Bank today surpassed RIL to become the country's second most valued firm after its shares jumped 4 per cent as hectic buying by overseas investors pushed their holding in it to the permissible limit soon after the opening of trade.

The company stock witnessed huge buying after the RBI restrictions placed on the purchase of shares of the company were withdrawn yesterday.

The stock jumped 3.75 per cent to end at Rs 1,377.15 on BSE. Intra-day, it surged 9.24 per cent to Rs 1,450 -- its 52-week high.

On NSE, it rose by 3.7 per cent to close at Rs 1,377.05.

Led by the sharp gain in the stock, HDFC Bank's market valuation surged Rs 13,126.93 crore to Rs 3,52,313.93 crore. It is about Rs 3,485.33 crore more than RIL's 3,48,828.60 crore mcap.

With this the bank became the second most valued Indian company after TCS that commands a market capitalisation of Rs 4,74,508.60 crore.

Shares of RIL too went up by 0.98 per cent to Rs 1,075.35 on BSE.

On the volume front, 55.25 lakh shares of the company were traded on BSE and over 10 crore shares changed hands at NSE during the day.

"HDFC Bank provided a flip to the index after RBI lifted the ban on FII investment. We continue to have a positive outlook on the bank but this price trend is likely to normalize given RBI re-imposing the ban after FII holding exceeded the threshold limit of 74 per cent on hefty buying today," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd.

The threshold limit for foreign holding had gone below the prescribed percentage yesterday enabling foreign investors to buy the stock.

"Today's rally was led by banking stocks, particularly backed by HDFC Bank. HDFC Bank stock rose by over 9 per cent in early trade after RBI removed restrictions imposed on Foreign investors' holdings," said Raghu Kumar, Director, Upstox, a leading online low-cost broking firm



HDFC Bank again reached the prescribed foreign investment limit for Indian companies, the Reserve Bank said today, just a day after such inflows had gone below the ceiling.

"The foreign shareholding by ADR/GDR/FIIs/FPIs/FDI/NRIs/ PIOs in HDFC Bank Ltd has crossed the overall limit of 74 per cent of its paid-up capital," RBI said in notification.

Therefore, no further purchases of shares of this company would be allowed through stock exchanges in India on behalf of Foreign institutional Investors (FIIs)/Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs)/ Non-Resident Indians (NRIs)/ Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs), RBI said.

RBI monitors the ceilings on FII/NRI/PIO investments in Indian companies on a daily basis and has fixed the cut-off points two percentage points below the actual ceiling.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2016, promoter shareholding in the bank was at 26.09 per cent, as per BSE data.

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Hotel and restaurant owners on Friday urged the government to come up with a policy to cover the unregulated room rentals that have mushroomed across the country.

A policy that is fair to all players and one that will allow the tourism in the country to take off should be drafted, the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) said in a release in Mumbai.

"We concede homestays offer convenience to all parties concerned. But we have to view these things in perspective. The apartments are currently cost effective to tourists only because they do not pay taxes or follow regulations that hotels need to. This gives them an unfair business advantage that goes against the concept of fair trade practices," HRAWI President Dilip Datwani said.

He alleged a lot of establishments are taking advantage of the 'Bed and Breakfast Homestays' and running full-fledged commercial establishments without any kind of regulations and taxes.

"While five-star hotels pay a substantial 38 per cent of the room revenue as direct and indirect taxes, some of the lavish bungalows listed in hotel aggregator sites do not pay a single rupee as taxes," he added.

Further, he said, over 42 licences are needed to start and operate an organised sector hotel, while the unregulated segment operates without a single approval.

"The regulations that the licensed establishments have to follow are vast and cover fire safety measures, food safety measure, hygiene parameters and many other compliances."

HRAWI questioned the relevance of subjecting hotels to administrative clearances, liquor permits and other licenses while unorganised accommodations, providing the very same services, are exempted.

The association pointed out that hotels are required by law to send details of foreign guests to the nearest police station, but homestays don't follow this rule.

"This is a security requirement from the Ministry of Home Affairs. Homestays are not required to be compliant and the fears this will become the de facto accommodation for those foreigners that seek anonymity from the police."

Countries like Singapore, France, Netherlands, Spain, Germany and the US, among others, have regulations in place, which makes it illegal for homeowners to rent out entire apartments and rooms for less than six months, unless they have permission from authorities concerned, HRAWI said.
From this year, students will be able to know where a particular medical, dental and law college stands in terms of standard of education as the HRD ministry has included these institutions in its India Rankings 2017 which will be released on April 4.

The HRD ministry had released the first-ever national rankings last year when it had included Technical, Management, University and Pharmacy institutions as categories.

"From this year medical, dental and law colleges will also be ranked," a source told PTI.

Nearly 49 law colleges and 43 medical or dental institutions have come on board to be ranked this year, the sources added.

In the coming years, however, it is expected the number of medical, dental and law colleges will significantly go up.

President Pranab Mukherjee will release the rankings in the first week of April at an event where HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar would also be present.

Another key aspect of the rankings this year is that institutions will also be given weightage over the number of patents or path-breaking research that is conducted by them, it is learnt.

Unlike last year, when each category had a separate list, the India Rankings 2017, would have a single list where the best institutions from all categories would compete against each other.

However, an additional category wise list may also be released.

"There may be a single list of say the hundred best colleges in the country whether they are varsities, IITs, IIMs, Medical or law colleges. However in addition, category wise lists will also be released," an official source said.

(Reopens DES 50)



Officials also said a significant emphasis has been laid on the public and peer perception of the institutes which will participate in these rankings.

The data provided by the institutions was put up and there has been a very enthusiastic response from the public, a senior official added.
Actress Kangana Ranaut says she is currently focusing on her films but if and when she gets married she will never hide it from the world.

Kangana will be next seen in Vishal Bhardwaj's "Rangoon" alongside Shahid Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan.

"I just want to focus on promoting "Rangoon" right now. There will be a time for this (marriage) and I will not shy away from marriage. I will not hide anything (referring to being in a relationship) as I am not like that," the 29-year-old actress told PTI.

Recently, in an interview the "Tanu Weds Manu" actress said that she is in a relationship and wants to get married this year.

Coming from a small town of Himachal Pradesh, Kangana has made it big in Bollywood but her personal life has been in limelight thanks to her ugly spat with Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan ended with both the actors slapping legal notices at each other.

While Hrithik denies being in a relationship with Kangana, the actress maintains that they were romantically involved.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The National Regulatory Authority of India (NRAI) has been given the maximum ratings by global health body World Health Organisation for vaccine regulations.

WHO completed the assessment of the status of the Indian vaccine regulatory system against WHO NRA Global Benchmarking Tool (GBT) and measured the maturity of the system in India.

"The assessment has been done in respect of 9 different functionalities and Indian NRA has been declared 'functional' with a maturity level of 4 which is the highest level as per currently evolved definitions in respect of 5 functions, and maturity level 3 in respect of 4 functions," an official statement said.

While, maturity level 4 indicates good results and sustained improvement trends, level 3 reflects systematic process based approach, early stage of systematic improvements, data availability regarding conformance to objectives and existence of improvement trends, it said.

A fully functional NRA is a pre-requisite for WHO prequalification of vaccines and one of the requirements to become eligible and retain prequalification status is to have the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) assessed as functional against the WHO published NRA indicators.

WHO Prequalification Programme, as such, facilitates access to vaccines that meet the unified standards of quality, safety and efficacy as well as programme needs.

A WHO-led team of international experts from several countries came to this conclusion at the end of comprehensive review from 13-17 February 2017.

"The NRA and affiliated institutions meet WHO Global Benchmarking Tool requirements for a functional vaccine regulatory system," WHO said.

"This is indeed a great achievement and we would like to congratulate the Indian Health Ministry and its affiliated institutions - Central Drugs Standards Control Organization (CDSCO), Central Drugs Laboratory, Kasauli, Pharmacovigilance Programme and Immunization Division, and other relevant institutions engaged in the regulation, control and testing of vaccines," said Alireza Khadem, WHO Team Leader for the NRA Re-benchmarking.

Union Health secretary C K Mishra said India is one of the largest manufacturers and exporters of vaccines world-wide.

"This development further deepens our resolve to maintain the highest quality and efficacy of the products that are manufactured within our country and in this context, we look forward to strengthening our collaboration with WHO," the WHO statement quoting Mishra said.

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The Changing of the Guard Ceremony at Buckingham Palace here will take place against the backdrop of A R Rahman's Oscar-winning 'Jai Ho' later this month to mark the official launch of the UK-India Year of Culture.

The Band of the Grenadier Guards will a play a selection of Indian-themed music, including tracks from the 2009 box-office hit 'Slumdog Millionaire', on February 27, when the UK-India Year of Culture will be officially launched.

Later that evening, Queen Elizabeth II will be joined by husband Duke of Edinburgh, grandson Prince William and his wife Kate as they host a special reception to celebrate the launch.

"The reception will bring together the best of British and Indian culture and creativity, represented through a range of high-profile guests with an interest in both countries," a Buckingham Palace statement said today.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley will be representing the Indian government at the reception along with a delegation of Indian parliamentarians, actors and sportspersons.

The attendees will include guests from the fields of performing arts, fashion, food, literature and sport such as Kunal Nayyar, Neha Kapur, Ayesha Dharker, Kapil Dev, Rio Ferdinand, Anoushka Shankar and Joe Wright.

"A highlight of the evening will include a special Indian themed menu of canapes prepared by Royal Chefs working alongside chefs from Veeraswamy, the UK's oldest Indian restaurant. There will also be a display from the Royal Collection including items from previous Royal Visits to India, and Indian gifts and manuscripts from the Royal Library," the palace statement said.

The 2017 UK-India Year of Culture, announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the UK in November 2015, is aimed at celebrating the deep cultural ties and the 70th anniversary of India's Independence through a year-long programme of events and exhibitions in India and the UK.

The events are being organised by the British Council, together with the Indian High Commission in London, UK cultural institutions and their Indian counterparts.

"The aim is to connect and inspire people to celebrate the long-standing relationship and vibrant cultural history," the palace said.

(Reopens FGN 28)



It highlights the 90-year-old Queen's "personal connection with India", having visited the country several times. The British monarch's first state visit to India, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, was in 1961, as the guests of Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India. Their first engagement on that visit was to Raj Ghat, where they left a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi of a wreath of 500 roses and planted a tree.

At the State Banquet that evening, the Queen said: "To all in India, I bring a greeting of goodwill and affection from the British people. I hope that our visit will demonstrate to the world the respect and friendship which exists between Britain and India, and indeed all the countries which are joined together in the free partnership of the Commonwealth."



Before leaving India, she reflected on the visit: "My husband and I will take with us the most vivid impressions of places, events, and people. Of events there were so many that they form a kaleidoscope of infinite colour and variety. Most of all we were thrilled by the wonderful welcome which was given to us wherever we went by such great and friendly crowds."



Since then, the royal couple have paid two further State Visits to India (in 1983 and 1997) and received three incoming State Visits to the UK from India (1963, 1990 and 2009).

In 2009, at the State Banquet given for the then President of India, Pratibha Patil, in Windsor Castle, the Queen said that the "warmth and hospitality of the Indian people, and the richness and diversity of India itself have been an inspiration [to her and her family]".

The Queen also reflected on the UK's and India's "long shared history, which today is a source of great strength in building a new partnership fit for this new century".

The most recent visit to India was by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate in April last year.
The Indonesian woman arrested for suspected involvement in the killing of the North Korean leader's half brother in Malaysia was duped into thinking she was part of a comedy show prank, Indonesia's national police chief said today, citing information received from Malaysian authorities.

Tito Karnavian told reporters in Indonesia's Aceh province that Siti Aisyah, 25, was paid to be involved in "Just For Laughs" style pranks, a reference to a popular hidden camera show.

He said she and another woman performed stunts which involved convincing men to close their eyes and then spraying them with water.

"Such an action was done three or four times and they were given a few dollars for it, and with the last target, Kim Jong Nam, allegedly there were dangerous materials in the sprayer," Karnavian said.

"She was not aware that it was an assassination attempt by alleged foreign agents," he said.

Karnavian's comments come after a male relative of Aisyah said in an Indonesian television interview that she had been hired to perform in a short comedy movie and traveled to China as part of this work. Indonesian Immigration has said Aisyah traveled to Malaysia and other countries, which it did not specify.

South Korea has been quick to accuse its enemies in North Korea of dispatching a hit squad to kill Kim Jong Nam at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, saying two female assassins poisoned him and then fled in a taxi.

Although Kim Jong Nam is believed to have two sons and a daughter with two women living in Beijing and Macau, police in Malaysia say none has come forward to claim the body or provide DNA samples.

North Korean diplomats in Malaysia have requested custody of Kim Jong Nam's body, arguing that he had a North Korean passport. The officials objected to an autopsy, but Malaysian authorities went ahead with the procedure anyway because they did not receive a formal complaint.

Investigators were still trying to piece together details of the case, and South Korea has not said how it concluded that North Korea was behind the killing.

Malaysian police were questioning three suspects Aisyah, another women who carried a Vietnamese passport, and a man they said is Aisyah's boyfriend and waiting for autopsy results that could shed light on why Kim Jong Nam suddenly fell ill at the airport on Monday as he waited for a flight home to Macau.

Dizzy and in pain, he told medical workers at the airport he had been sprayed with a chemical. Within two hours, Malaysian officials said, he was dead.

Kim Jong Nam, who was 45 or 46, had lived in exile for years and was estranged from his younger half brother, the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He reportedly fell out of favor in 2001, when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

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Delay in the resumption of imports by Iran is likely to hinder the recovery in from India, a report said.

However, this as a temporary delay, considering Iran's insufficient domestic rice production and depleting inventory levels to meet its demand, the rating agency ICRA said in its latest update note on Indian Basmati rice industry.

The price cap of $850 per metric tonne (MT) could pose further hurdles for the Basmati rice industry, given that during the current procurement season average Basmati paddy prices have been higher by 20-25 per cent, Icra said. Thus an inflow of orders from Iran, even after the import ban is lifted, remains to be seen, it said.

"Iran is a major export destination for Indian Basmati rice and decline in demand from Iran has played a role in the declining realisations of exports from India  from $1298/MT in FY2014 to $784/MT in 8M FY2017," Icra Assistant Vice-President Deepak Jotwani said.

Over the years, the Iranian Government has imposed a ban on import of Basmati rice from time to time, according to the movement in inventory held by its rice traders and also to safeguard the interests of local farmers. Iran last imposed a ban on import of Basmati in July 2016.

The Indian government sent a trade delegation to Iran in January 2017 to resolve the issue. While there has been no official notification from Iran, a group of large Basmati rice importers in Iran recently capped the price of Basmati rice imports at $850/MT, the report said.

In another adverse development for the industry, the US recently imposed fresh trade sanctions on Iran, which restrains Iran's use of the US dollar for trade. These two developments have created uncertainty around the resumption of Basmati rice exports to Iran, Icra said.

West Asian countries continue to account for the major chunk of imports of Basmati; nearly 75 per cent of Indian Basmati rice exports in FY16 were to these nations.

Within West Asia, Iran and Saudi Arabia are the two largest buyers, together accounting for 40-50 per cent of total Basmati rice exports from India.
Leaders of the Islamic State group are leaving their Syrian stronghold of Raqa, fleeing in the face of the Arab-Kurd offensive backed by the international coalition, the US Defense Department said today.

"We are starting to see now that a lot of senior ISIS leaders, a lot of their bureaucrats... Are beginning the process of leaving Raqa," said Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis, using an alternate acronym for the jihadist group.

"They have definitely taken note of the fact that the end is near in Raqa," he told reporters, describing a retreat that seems "very organized, orderly."



After a string of major losses in both Iraq and Syria, the jihadists' two main strongholds of Mosul and Raqa are both under attack from forces backed by a US-led coalition.

After a massive, four-month campaign, Iraqi forces are tightening the noose on Mosul, while in Syria, the Arab-Kurd alliance, the Syrian Democratic Forces, has been advancing to cut off IS access in Raqa.

According to the Pentagon spokesman, that objective is nearly complete, with the Islamic State group now controlling only one road, in the southeast of the city.

Located along the north bank of the Euphrates River, the road links Raqa to Deir Ezzor, said Davis, who did not give precise details about the extent of the jihadists' retreat.

Roads in the north and west are blocked by the Syrian Democratic Forces, and in the south, by the destruction of bridges on the Euphrates, he said.

While the isolation operations on Raqa have made progress, the coalition has not announced its plan for recapturing the city.

Still unknown is what role the armed wing of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, the YPG, will play in the US-backed Arab-Kurd alliance.

The YPG, considered a terrorist group by Turkey, fights the Islamic State group in northern Syria as well as Ankara's forces.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has proposed that the coalition replace the YPG with Turkish forces.

The new US defense secretary, James Mattis, met yesterday with his Turkish counterpart Fikri Isik in Brussels.

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Joe Dunford is due to meet with the top Turkish military leader today in Turkey, the Pentagon said.

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Jharkhand government and Microsoft India today inked an MoU to leverage cloud technologies to drive the state's digital ambitions.

The MoU will support the state government to explore cloud, machine learning and mobile based solutions to improve citizen services and provide better facilities in the fields of education and agriculture, a Microsoft India release said.

The MoU was signed at the 'Momentum Jharkhand: Global Investors' Summit & Trade Exhibition'.

Jharkhand government has been using an advanced IT infrastructure to provide citizen services and driving technology led programmes like Skill India and Digital India.

The MoU will help the government access the best of Microsoft's technology and expertise for the improvement of digital services to citizens and drive digital inclusion in the state, the release said.

It said that Microsoft has been working closely with several state governments in the country to support their digital infrastructure, enhance their citizen services and drive efficiencies in their administrative and governance operations.

(REOPEN CCM11)



Meanwhile, Jharkhand Industrial Area Development



Authority today allotted over 135 acre of land to various companies to set up industry.

Prominent among them are Lafarge India Limited (66 acre), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (28.86 acre) and K K Beverages Limited (25 acre), an official release said.

Besides, an agreement has been reached to give 136.23 acre land to Medicant Hospital and Research Centre.
Following complaints from the JNU administration, Delhi Police has lodged an FIR against a group of students who have been occupying the administrative block on campus to seek an appointment with the VC over recent amendments in the varsity's admissions policy.

The students have been sitting at the administrative block, popularly known as the Freedom Square, since last week.

The agitating students want to meet Vice Chancellor Jagadesh Kumar and raise their concerns about the changes in the admissions policy which they claim will lead to a massive seat cut in MPhil and PhD courses.

The administration had earlier this week appealed to the students to call off their agitation as the blockade was restricting routine administrative functioning.

"A complaint was received from JNU administration alleging that the students have blocked the administrative block and are not allowing any work to be done. We have registered a case of wrongful restraint and are investigating the issue," a senior police official said.

While the VC had yesterday claimed that the amended admission rules will not be retrospectively implemented and students currently enrolled will not suffer, the administration has issued a circular to all the departments directing them to "re-calculate" the possible intake of students in MPhil and PhD courses under each faculty member.

"The JNU administration notice continues the flipflop. Complete contradiction of yesterday's statement by the VC. The past batches are back in jeopardy," said Ayesha Kidwai, President of the JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Wife of former Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Kalikho Pul, who committed suicide last year, today demanded a CBI probe into his death.

"It is essential that an FIR be registered on the basis of the allegations contained in it (suicide note) and the case be investigated by the CBI since the primary allegations are of corruption of judges at the highest level," Dangwimsai Pul said in her appeal to the Chief Justice of India, a copy of which she made public at a press conference here.

She alleged that her family is getting threats from the Arunachal Pradesh government and she was advised not to hold the press conference in which she made the late chief minister's suicide note public.

"Ever since the (suicide) note surfaced in the media, my family including myself, my children and relatives have been subjected to various threats from different quarters," she claimed.

Pul had committed suicide on August 9 last year and his body was found hanging in the official residence of the Chief Minister, which he was yet to vacate.

After months of intense political developments, Pul had taken over the reins of Arunachal Pradesh on February 19, 2016 for a brief period but had to relinquish the job following a Supreme Court order in July.

"We want a free and fair probe in this case (into his death) and action according to law against those who are guilty of corruption," Dangwimsai said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Members of the Left Front and Congress today continued to stage protests inside West Bengal Assembly against suspension of Leader of the Opposition Abdul Mannan by Speaker Biman Banerjee.

Both the Left Front and Congress MLAs stood on their feet as soon the house began and rushed towards the Speaker's chair with placards and started slogan shouting.

Proceedings during the morning session continued, though replies made by the ministers were disturbed by the commotion made by Opposition members.

Mannan, who was suspended by the Speaker on February eight for opposing West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and termed it as "black law" while refusing to heed to the Speaker who asked him to wait for discussions on it.

He was evicted from the house by the marshal during which he was taken ill and was hospitalised. Congress and its ally Left Front members were protesting inside the House since then.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 35-year-old man was today sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a class II student in Nadia district last year.

Additional District Judge Jimut Bahan Biswas convicted Dinesh Chandra Das yesterday and pronounced the quantum of punishment today under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The judge slapped a fine of Rs one lakh on Das, 80 per cent of which will be given to the victim as compensation.

The court also ordered the state government to pay Rs 10 lakh to the girl from its own funds as compensation. The Nadia district magistrate was directed to comply with the order within 30 days.

Das, who lives at Aranghata under Dhantala police station, lured the 9-year-old girl, his neighbour, with toffees, took her to a desolate place and raped her in August last year.

He was arrested and booked under provisions of the POCSO Act.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel said today she would do everything possible to protect jobs and factories in Germany if carmaker Opel is taken over by France's PSA.

"We will do everything politically possible to secure jobs and sites in Germany," Merkel said at a joint Berlin press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

PSA, the parent company of France's Peugeot, Citroen and DS, has confirmed it is interested in taking over Opel, the German arm of US giant General Motors.

However, the plans have sparked fears in Germany that the potential new owner could cut German jobs that doubled up existing posts in France.

The powerful IG Metall metalworking union and the Opel works council called for "unequivocal recognition and implementation of existing agreements for all Opel/Vauxhall sites, in particular commitments on employment and investments" in a joint statement earlier today.

PSA's interest in Opel appeared to catch both the German and French governments by surprise, with German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries on Tuesday labelling PSA and GM's lack of communication about the talks "unacceptable".

Today, German Economy Ministry spokeswoman Tanja Alemany told reporters in Berlin the talks between the two firms were already "relatively advanced".

Worker representatives "are ready to hold constructive talks in case of a sale of Opel/Vauxhall," they said in their statement.

But "our objective must be to seize the existing opportunities to safeguard employment and sites," said works council chairman Wolfgang Schaefer-Klug.

Vauxhall is the brand used by Opel on its vehicles sold in Britain.

Despite their fears, the worker representatives say they "see opportunities arising from the creation of the second-biggest car manufacturer in Europe" after Germany's Volkswagen group.

"In principle, an affiliation with PSA makes sense," Opel chief Karl-Thomas Neumann tweeted on this afternoon.

"We are doing everything we can to shape a sustainable and successful future for Opel."



Founded in 1862, Opel, with its lightning-bolt emblem, has long been a familiar sight on German and European roads.

But in recent years, the firm has booked repeated losses, costing Detroit-based GM around USD 15 billion since 2000.

A sharp fall in the pound since Britain's vote to quit the EU last June sank Opel's hopes of getting back into the black in 2016, and it ended up reporting a loss of USD 257 million.

At the end of 2015, the firm reported 35,600 employees, including some 18,250 in Germany.

Opel has some 10 factories in Europe spread across six different countries.

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Militants today targeted a police party by lobbing a grenade on it on the outskirts of Srinagar city, injuring two cops.

The grenade was hurled on the police party at Pohru chowk in Nowgam area at 6.40 pm, a police official said.

He said two policemen were injured in the incident.

Further details of the incident were awaited.

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Shadowy assassins have killed scores of poor victims in the Philippines after President Rodrigo Duterte officially ordered police to withdraw from his deadly drug war, a rights monitor said today.

Duterte pulled police from the crackdown on January 31 after a brutal seven-month campaign that left 2,555 drug suspects dead at the hands of law enforcers, with 3,930 other people murdered in unexplained circumstances.

The latest police tally given to AFP showed there were 4,076 "murder cases under investigation" on February 13.

This was 146 more than the end of January, which rights groups said showed extrajudicial killings had slowed but were nevertheless continuing in the drug war.

"The targets are still the same, as far as we are concerned: people linked to drugs and who live in poor neighbourhoods," Wilnor Papa, campaign official for the Philippine branch of Amnesty International said



Papa said unknown assailants were now killing between nine and 10 people daily. This compared with about 30 people a day being killed by police and unknown assailants when officers were still leading the crackdown.

In one new shooting incident covered by an AFP photographer, police found four men shot dead inside a shanty in northern Manila before dawn yesterday, in a scene very similar to those covered at the height of the drug war.

Witnesses said unknown suspects broke into the house and started shooting, while three other men were shot dead in separate incidents elsewhere in the same district that night, local police said.

Duterte ordered all police at the end of January to stop prosecuting his drug war as he sought to cleanse the force of widespread corruption.

This came after anti-drug officers kidnapped a South Korean businessman then murdered him inside the national police headquarters as part of an extortion racket, according to an official investigation.

But Duterte promised the war would continue and more addicts, as well as traffickers, would be killed as he sought to eradicate drugs in society.

Amnesty issued a report this month accusing police of systemic human rights abuses in the drug war, including shooting dead defenceless people, paying assassins to murder addicts and stealing from those they killed.

It also said police were being paid by their superiors to kill.

Duterte has since ordered the much smaller Drug Enforcement Agency to lead the drug crackdown, with the support of the military.

Derrick Carreon, spokesman for the 1,791-member drug agency, told AFP there had been far fewer killings by authorities since it took charge, without giving figures.

"(But) there is no point in comparing these figures because the police is a much larger organisation, capable of conducting more operations," Carreon said, adding the military had mostly acted as observers so far.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
North Korea's ambassador to Malaysia today said Pyongyang would reject any results of a post-mortem examination carried out by Kuala Lumpur on the body of Kim Jong-Nam, the half brother of the North Korean leader.

"The Malaysian side forced the post-mortem without our permission and witnessing. We will categorically reject the result of the post-mortem conducted unilaterally excluding our attendance," Kang Chol told reporters gathered outside the morgue where the body is being held.

It is the first official comment from North Korea since the killing of Kim Jong-Nam at Kuala Lumpur international airport on Monday.

"Today I met with the high officer of the Malaysian police and strongly demanded him to release the body without delay but he rejected our demand," the ambassador said, according to an English transcript of his comments distributed immediately after by an aide.

Malaysian police were being pressured by hostile forces, notably South Korea, and the autopsy was a violation of human rights, he added.

South Korea has pointed the finger of blame at the North, citing a "standing order" from Kim Jong-Un to kill his sibling and a failed assassination bid in 2012 after he criticised the regime.

Malaysia would not release the body until a family member provided a DNA sample to prove the dead man's identity, Selangor state police chief Abdul Samah Mat told AFP today.

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Nagaland Governor P B Acharya today met President Pranab Mukherjee and apprised him about the situation in the state where normal life has been crippled for a fortnight due to protests against local bodies polls.

During the 20-minute meeting, Acharya also briefed the President about the steps taken to bring back normalcy, official sources said.

Chief Minister T R Zeliang is also camping in the national capital to meet the central leadership to brief them about the situation in Nagaland.

However, Zeliang has not been able to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh yet as both of them were busy in electioneering in Uttar Pradesh, the sources said.

The chief minister may get the appointments in a day or two, they added.

Zeliang arrived in Delhi yesterday in an apparent bid to save his chair after 42 of 49 MLAs of his party, the Naga People's Front (NPF), switched support to Shurhozelie Liezietsu as the next chief minister.

Unrest in Nagaland continues as indefinite bandh called by several organisations demanding Zeliang's resignation continues.

A statement issued by the Chief Minister's office yesterday said Zeliang and Acharya, who arrived in Delhi in the backdrop of certain political developments, "are more alarmed with the likelihood of imposition of President's Rule by the Centre, which will not solve the social unrest that the State is going through right now".

Normalcy has been affected across the hill state due to a daily 9-to-5 bandh called for an indefinite period by the Nagaland Tribes Action Committee (NTAC) and Joint Coordination Committee (JCC), both of which have demanded resignation of Zeliang.

The two bodies have held Zeliang responsible for the recent incidents of violence and death of two youth in protests against the government's attempt to hold urban local bodies' elections with 33 per cent reservation for women.

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BJP today said none of the accused arrested in Madhya Pradesh for allegedly being part of a Pakistan-run espionage racket were ever its members.

With Congress releasing photographs of some accused in the company of BJP leaders, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said such pictures do not have an evidentiary value and that photographs showing Congress leaders with BJP's will not make them its members.

"The state unit has already issued a clarification. None of the accused has even been BJP's office-bearers. Such photographs have no evidence in public life," he told a press conference.

Eleven people were arrested from different places of Madhya Pradesh on February 9 for being part of an alleged espionage racket being run from Pakistan to collect strategic information on important Indian establishments.

Singh declined to comment on demand for a CBI probe into the suspected suicide of former Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Kalikho Pul, saying the state government would take a call. BJP is in power in the north eastern state.

The deceased's wife made the demand here today as she made public his suicide note in which he had levelled allegations against several people.

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The Islamic State group attacked a battalion of state-sponsored militia southeast of Tikrit today, killing at least eight militia members, an intelligence official said.

IS claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted by its Aamaq agency. The statement said IS fighters had struck the 9th Battalion of the Popular Mobilization Forces, "killing its commander and 13 soldiers."



The statement also said that IS fighters blew up the battalion's headquarters and other nearby positions and destroyed two Humvees that had arrived to assist the battalion.

The intelligence official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to brief reporters.

The Popular Mobilization Forces are state-sponsored militias, largely comprised of Shiite Muslims, battling IS across the country.

Also today, a police officer and medical sources said the death toll from a car bomb attack in a southern Baghdad neighborhood has reached 59 with 66 others injured.

Authorities initially said yesterday's night attack at an auto dealership in the al-Bayaa neighborhood killed at least 55 and wounded more than 60. The Islamic State group claimed credit for the bombing.

The police officer and medical personnel spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

IS, in a statement early today, said its fighters detonated bombs in a parked car among a gathering of Shiites in the Fifth Police district yesterday. It did not give further details.

The extremist group has carried out near-daily attacks in Baghdad despite suffering military setbacks elsewhere in the country, including in the northern city of Mosul, where US-backed Iraqi forces have been waging a major operation since October.

The spiritual leader of Iraq's Shiites Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, expressed his condolences for the victims' families and called on those "responsible for decision-making to recognize their responsibility to preserve security."



His comments were delivered at Friday prayers by his representative, Ahmed al-Safi, in the holy city of Karbala.

The US State Department condemned the bombing, saying such attacks show the extremist group's "utter contempt for human life and its efforts to sow discord and division among the Iraqi people."



Another four attacks in and around Baghdad yesterday killed eight people and wounded around 30, authorities said.

The bomb attacks claimed by IS are seen as an attempt to distract attention as the militants cede territory along front lines in northern and western Iraq.

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Pakistan Army today claimed to have killed more than 100 suspected terrorists in retaliation to a Islamic State suicide bombing at a crowded Sufi shrine in Sindh province that claimed 88 lives.

The media wing of the army, ISPR, said a "sizeable" number of suspects have also been arrested since last night, when a Islamic State bomber blew himself up at the popular shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan in the southern province.

The statement did not specify where the militants were killed or about the arrests and said "details will be shared".

The blast was one of the deadliest in Pakistan in years and a continuation of several terrorist strikes in the country this week, despite the army's offensive against militants.

Pakistan Army has launched combing operations across the country, including Punjab province. "Intelligence agencies are making progress to unearth networks behind recent (terrorist) incidents," military spokesman Major Gen Asif Ghafoor said, without providing details.

Immediately after the blast, Pakistan claimed the bombing was planned in militant sanctuaries across the border in Afghanistan, threatening renewed hostilities between Kabul and Islamabad.

The army claimed it has found linkages to militant support networks operating from Afghanistan and it has closed the border due to security reasons after the bombing last night.

Pakistan Army began an operation in Shalman area near the Pakistan-Afghan border, using heavy artillery fire, reports said. The border with Afghanistan at Torkham has been shut.

"No cross-border or unauthorised entry will be allowed into Pakistan from Afghanistan," it said.

Afghan diplomats were earlier today summoned to General Headquarters in Rawalpindi by the Army, which lodged a protest over the use of Afghan soil by terrorists to carry out attacks in Pakistan.

The Afghan officials were also handed over a list of 76 terrorists hiding across the border and directing or supporting terrorist activities in Pakistan, the statement said. "Afghan government has been asked to target them and hand them over to Pakistan."



Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa assured the people, saying the "hostile" agenda will not be allowed to succeed "whatever it may cost".

"Army is for security of people of Pakistan against all types of threat. Nation to stay steadfast with full confidence in their security forces," he was quoted as saying in the statement.

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In an unusual move, Pakistan Army today handed over a list of 76 "most wanted" terrorists to Afghan embassy officials and demanded "immediate action" against them, amidst a spurt in terror attacks in the country.

Pakistan Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz also telephoned Afghan National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar and urged him to take action against militants involved in terrorism inside Pakistan.

Aziz called the Afghan National Security Adviser after an unnamed official from the Afghan embassy was summoned to military headquarters in Rawalpindi and handed down a list of 76 "most wanted" terrorists for "immediate action" or extradition to Pakistan.

The Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement that Aziz underlined that the government and the people of Pakistan were in a state of deep anguish and pain at the recent terrorist incidents in various parts of Pakistan resulting into loss of precious human lives.

He conveyed to the Afghan National Security Adviser that terrorist group Jamat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) was behind these barbaric acts of terrorism in Pakistan.

Director General, Inter-Services Public Relations, Major General Asif Ghafoor said that the Afghan official was summoned to lodge protest against the use of Afghan soil by terrorists to carry out attacks in Pakistan, he said.

Afghanistan was asked to either take "immediate action" against the named terrorists or hand them over to Pakistan, he said.

The move comes two days after a senior Afghan diplomat was summoned to the Foreign Office in Islamabad to receive protest over the use of territory of his country for launching terrorist attacks in Pakistan, Dawn newspaper reported.

The Afghan diplomat was given a demarche containing details of the recent terrorist attacks and supporting information.

Pakistan army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa yesterday vowed to avenge "every drop of blood" spilled by terrorists in Pakistan.

"Recent terrorist acts are being executed on directions from hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan. We shall defend and respond," he had said.

Pakistan has been hit by a series of terrorist attacks since Afghanistan-based JuA announced its 'Operation Ghazi'.

The current wave of terrorism sweeping the country took a turn for the worse yesterday when a suspected woman suicide attacker set off explosives at the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sindh province, leaving at least 80 devotees dead and over 200 injured.

Pakistan closed its border with Afghanistan after the shrine attack due to security concerns.

On February 13, a suicide bomber had struck a protest in Lahore, killing 13 and injuring 85. The attack had happened right outside the gates of Punjab's Provincial Assembly. The attack was claimed by JuA.

On the same day, two personnel of Balochistan's bomb disposal squad were killed as they attempted to defuse an explosive device planted under a bridge in Quetta, the provincial capital.

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Pakistan security forces killed at least 42 militants in a nationwide crackdown today after a suspected Islamic State suicide bombing at a crowded Sufi shrine in Sindh province claimed 80 lives and injured nearly 250.

The blast at the popular shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in the southern province yesterday was one of the deadliest in Pakistan in years and came after several extremist attacks this week, despite the army's offensive against militants.

Paramilitary Sindh Rangers said they killed 18 terrorists in overnight operations in the province. Of them, seven were killed in a shootout on a highway near Kathor when the paramilitary troops were returning from Sehwan, where the bombing at the 13th century shrine took place yesterday.

Eleven terrorists were killed in Karachi, according to the Rangers.

In the northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, police said they killed 12 extremists. Three were killed in Peshawar, four in Orakzai tribal region, and another four in an exchange of fire with security forces in Bannu area of the restive province.

According to officials, weapons and hand-grenades were seized from the militants.

Three terrorists were killed in separate incidents in tribal regions of Khurram and Mohmand districts, an official said, adding a security personnel was killed in the clash.

Another three militants were killed by security forces in Khyber tribal district near Afghan border, a security official said.

In Balochistan, two terrorist were killed in a shootout with security forces in the provincial capital Quetta. Another two were killed in Sargodha district of Punjab province.

Other militants were killed in raids across the country.

Official said the crackdown would be intensified in the coming days as government has resolved to eliminate militancy.

"After the string of terrorist attacks in the country in the past week, the government and military are on one page and the crackdown was ordered," a top government official said.

Pakistan Army began an operation in Shalman area near the Pakistan-Afghan border, using heavy artillery fire, reports said. The border with Afghanistan at Torkham has been shut.

The crackdown was launched simultaneously by the federal and provincial governments after at least eight terror attacks rocked Pakistan over the week, killing dozens.

A meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif this week participants agreed that militants posing threat to national security should be "liquidated".

The army said they placed required resources to facilitate rescue efforts.

The ISIS has claimed responsibility for yesterday's attack through their Aamaq agency. The shrine has been sealed and police have collected initial evidence and secured CCTV footage.

The fresh wave of terror attacks started when a suicide bomber attacked a protest rally outside the Punjab assembly in Lahore on Monday killing 14 people and injuring dozens.

On the same day, a terrorist attack was foiled in Quetta, but two officials of the Bomb Disposal Squad were killed while defusing a bomb in Quetta.

Terrorists also carried out attacks in Mohmand agency and Peshawar followed by shrine blast in Sindh.

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Pakistan army today handed over to Afghanistan a list of 76 wanted terrorists hiding there, demanding immediate action or their extradition.

Military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said that an "official" of Afghan embassy was called to the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi, the seat of military power.

"Afghanistan Embassy officials called in GHQ. Given list of 76 terrorists hiding in Afghanistan. Asked to take immediate action/be handed over to Pakistan," Ghafoor tweeted.

However, the military did not disclosed the name of terrorists in the list.

The move came after a wave of terrorist attacks in Pakistan within a week, including a suicide bombing by the Islamic State group that killed 76 worshippers at a Sufi shrine in southern Pakistan.

Pakistan closed its border with Afghanistan to press Kabul to take action against militants hiding across the border.

"The Pakistan-Afghanistan border closed with immediate effect till further orders due to security reasons," Ghafoor said.

Official said that movement of all sorts of goods, transport and people has been stopped with Afghanistan.

Pakistan and Afghanistan often accuse each other of nurturing militants who operate across the porous border between the two countries.

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A Pakistani girl has been killed while posing for a selfie with a train that knocked her down.

The tragic incident took place at a station in Khanewal's Faridabad area in the Punjab Province when the girl was waiting for the train en route to Rawalpindi from Karachi.

She tried to snap a selfie with the moving train but was knocked down by it, Dunya reported.

The girl's legs and arms broke as a result of the accident.

The girl, who suffered a injury on the head as well, was shifted to Nishtar hospital in Multan. However, she succumbed to her wounds.

The age of the girl was not specified.

Police recovered the mobile phone of the girl and initiated an investigation into the incident.

In a similar incident in India last month, a 21-year-old engineering student died when he was hit by a speeding train while trying to take a selfie in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.

Selfie-related deaths have caused concern across the globe and world selfie deaths eclipsed deaths from shark maulings in 2015.

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US Vice-President Mike Pence is travelling to Europe to reassure America's transatlantic allies about the Trump Administration's commitment towards their security and enhancement of business ties with them.

"The trip is an opportunity for the Vice President to reassure our allies and our partners, and also to lay out US priorities for the transatlantic relationship on behalf of the President," a senior White House foreign policy advisor said ahead of the four-day European trip of the Vice President.

Pence would attend the Munich Security Conference opening later today, wherein he is expected to meet several world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Thereafter, he would travel to Brussels for a meeting with leadership of European Union and NATO.

"The trip is going to allow the vice president not only to outline our priorities for the transatlantic relationship, but it's also going to offer him the opportunity to establish personal relationships with some of the most valued allies and partners," the official said requesting anonymity.

"He wants to reassure folks that they were here for us on 9/11, with defending in Article 5, and we're going to be with them as well, so reassurance in that sense, if they need to hear it," the official said.

According to the official, the first theme of Pence's trip is reassurance.

"We're there to reassure Europe's role both as our indispensable partner and the commitment to our allies and our (inaudible). So you're going to hear that theme both at the Munich Security Conference and as we travel to Brussels and meet with the EU and NATO representatives," the official said.

"You're going to hear the theme of...The need for greater burden sharing by our NATO allies, to ensure that we have the capabilities, that NATO has the capabilities, to defend against the threats we face. So the burden sharing, you'll hear that multiple times," the official said.

In his speech at Munich Security Conference, Pence will outline the administration's view of the transatlantic relationship, according to the official.

During his meetings and addresses, Pence would be repeatedly reaffirming the US commitment to NATO.

"We're going to emphasise the US meeting its NATO obligations, but he's going to call out some of the NATO members to deepen and accelerate their efforts, again coming back to fulfilling the commitment-the two per cent, which you'll hear... I think you'll hear, too, kind of in closing, that we are the most secure and most prosperous when both the US and Europe are strong and united," the official said.

Another senior official denied that recent foreign policy shake-up, including firing of Trump's national security adviser, Michael Flynn, will have any impact on Pence's trip.

Responding to a question, the official said the Trump administration has been firm about Russian aggression in the Ukraine and Baltic States.

"I think he's going to talk about the Minsk agreement, and that really is the framework for peace, is to get both the Ukraine and Russia to come to the table and implement Minsk, and that's the only going to peacefully resolve the conflict," he said.

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Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi today demanded a full investigation into former national security advisor Michael Flynn and the Trump Administration's interactions with the Russian government.

"In light of these revelations, I'm calling for a full investigation into General Flynn and the Trump Administration's interactions with Russian intelligence services," Krishnamoorthi said in a statement.

President Donald Trump had asked for Flynn's resignation after reports surfaced that the latter has not briefed properly the Vice President Mike Pence on his interaction with the Russian Ambassador before the swearing in ceremony.

"More than half the country already has serious concerns about the relationship between the Trump Administration and the Russian government," the 43-year-old Congressman said.

"Fundamental national security questions remain unanswered, including whether General Flynn went rogue in discussing sanctions with Russian agents, or whether he was directed to," he said.

"We need to know what was discussed, what the Russians learned, and what they may have offered in return. The American people deserve answers," Krishnamoorthi said.

Earlier, Krishnamoorthi and Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher announced their creation and launch of the Middle Class Jobs Caucus.

The group will work to find bipartisan solutions to the key issues facing America's middle class and working families such as job creation, wage increases, and economic growth.

"Every era of prosperity in our history has been built on a thriving middle class. In the plainest terms, middle-class jobs mean a strong America," he said.

"This caucus will help to create those jobs through focusing on key issues facing working families, such as strengthening our job raining and infrastructure," Krishnamoorthi added.

"Addressing the needs of our middle class and working families is not a partisan issue and it urgently requires a common-sense, bipartisan solution," Gallagher said.

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Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his claim of being the 'adopted son' of Uttar Pradesh, saying relationships don't develop just by talking but by nurturing.

With his sister and party's star campaigner Priyanka Gandhi on the dais with him, Rahul accused Modi of making "hollow promises" as he addressed a public meeting here in the constituency represented by his mother and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

"He (Modi) makes relationships wherever he goes...He went to Varanasi and termed Ganga as his mother and said he was the son of Varanasi...In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, he promised to change Varanasi," he said.

"Modiji, rishtey bolney sey nahin, nibhaney sey bante hain (relationships are not developed just by talking but by nurturing)," Rahul said.

He said Modi has been going about making promises wherever he goes. "In Bihar (elections), he promised to give special package, was it given?.. I have a list of things that he promised for Varanasi - clean Ganga, ghats, ring road, free WiFi, Bhojpuri Film City. Modiji, you have not even fulfilled the promises you made to your mother," Rahul added.

Pointing towards the journalists present at his rally, the Congress leader said, "I urge friends from the media to go there (Varanasi). I know you are under pressure, but please do your job. Show us if the film city has come up (in Varanasi)."



Targeting Modi's approach towards doing things, he stated that the Prime Minister says 'India is dirty. You clean up. I have to go to America and meet Obama. I'll check when I'm back'.

He also hit back at the Prime Minister for likening the Congress-SP alliance to a movie in which rivals befriend each other after the "interval".

"Like Shah Rukh Khan, Modi too made a film like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and promised 'Acche Din' but after two- and-a-half years, Gabbar of Sholay has come," he said.

Attacking the demonetisation decision, Rahul said all of a sudden Modi got the idea and decided to convert the hard earned notes of the people into plain paper and asked the people to go and stand in queues in front of banks.

"After note ban, Modiji put a toffee worth Rs 1,200 crore



of Vijay Mallya's (loans) in his mouth," Rahul claimed and alleged that the Prime Minister "will not give money to the poor for changing their lives but will give it to thieves like Mallya."



He went on to add that if this money had been given to the youth, the women and the farmers, it would have helped Uttar Pradesh. "Instead, he (PM) helped rich industrialists," the Congress leader said.

Bringing focus to Rae Bareli issues, Rahul said he wanted to build a food park here and set up 40 factories.

"..Today, farmers sell their produce to mandis. We wanted them to sell directly to factories so that they get the right price for what they produce," he said, adding it would have also earned global recognition to the local goods.

"..Despite the 'Make in India' programme, the reality is that the only ones benefitting from PM Modi's schemes are India's richest families...Forget 'Make in India', he has snatched 'Made in Raebareli' from you...That is because he wanted to take revenge," he said in an apparent reference to the fact that Rae Bareli is represented by Sonia Gandhi.

He also referred to the stalled Railway coach factory.

While targeting Modi, Rahul said, "You will give thousands of crores to Mallaya who sells liquor but not to farmers who give you sweat and blood. You don't even give them Rs 50. What kind of a government is this?"



He promised to help small entrepreneurs if the alliance is voted to power and provide loans to all those who want to run their own business.

Referring to his yatra across UP during which he collected forms of farmers demanding loan waiver, he said he met Modi with the forms signed by two crore farmers for their demands to which the Prime Minister made no committment.

"Now he (PM) is promising that loans will be waived in the very first cabinet meeting if BJP comes to power here.. If he really wants to do it, it will take no time...Our demand stands for loan waiver, bringing electricity rates to the half and the right price for our produce," he said.

Before their speeches, Rahul and Priyanka were seen chatting and sharing some jokes. Priyanka, clad in white-black handloom cotton saree, was seen whispering something in Rahul's ears after he finished his speech.

Though not a frequent visitor, Priyanka has a good following in the area and she is also credited with forging the alliance between SP and Congress.

Her absence from the area till now was being questioned by opponents with Union Minister Smriti Irani going to the extent of saying she was trying to avoid "people's questions" about the "unfulfilled promises" of Congress.
The Republican Party of India (A) today removed its state president Bhupesh Thulkar from his post for campaigning for a party worker who is contesting on BJP ticket in the Pune municipal corporation polls.

National executive chairman of RPI (A) Sumantrao Gaikwad made the announcement today.

Gaikwad said there were clear instructions from party chief and Union Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale that RPI leaders would not campaign or hold rallies for RPI candidates contesting elections on BJP's symbol.

The party had already suspended one candidate from Mumbai for contesting on BJP symbol, Gaikwad said.

Athawale-led RPI is a part of NDA and also an ally of BJP in Maharashtra.

However, in several local bodies going to the polls, BJP has assigned its symbol to winnable candidates from RPI (A). Athawale had expressed displeasure over this.

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Prosecutors today arrested the de facto head of South Korea's largest conglomerate, Samsung, on bribery and other charges related to a political corruption scandal that triggered the impeachment of President Park Geun-Hye.

In a fresh blow to the electronics giant's corporate image, a district court cited new evidence in approving the arrest warrant against vice-chairman Lee Jae-Yong, who oversees the family-run electronics giant in the absence of his ailing father.

Among other allegations, Lee is accused of paying nearly USD 40 million in bribes to a confidante of President Park's to secure policy favours.

"It is acknowledged that it is necessary to arrest (Lee Jae-Yong) in light of a newly added criminal charge and new evidence," a court spokesman said in a statement.

Samsung offered a measured response following the arrest as the company's shares took a hit, dipping by around 1.5 per cent in morning trade.

"We will do our best to ensure that the truth is revealed in future court proceedings," the company said in a statement.

Lee was already being held at a detention centre after appearing in court yesterday as judges deliberated whether to issue an arrest warrant. He will remain in custody as he awaits a trial likely to begin within a few months.

Lee, the son of the Samsung group boss Lee Kun-Hee, has been quizzed several times over his alleged role in the scandal that has rocked the nation.

The 48-year-old, described as a key suspect in the scandal, narrowly avoided being formally arrested last month, after the court ruled there was insufficient evidence.

But prosecutors on Tuesday made a second bid, saying they had collected more evidence in recent weeks. His arrest, the first for a Samsung chief, will send shock waves through the group, which is a major part of the South Korean economy and includes the world's largest smartphone maker, Samsung Electronics.

"This is a blow to Samsung's image as a global player in the short term", HMC Investment Securities' analyst Greg Roh told AFP.

IBK Investment Securities' Lee Seung-Woo said that given the cloud over Lee, at a time when the firm is attempting a complicated restructuring, Samsung could refrain from pursuing long-term investments such as overseas mergers and acquisitions.

The company is already reeling from the debacle over the recall of its flagship Galaxy Note 7 device and reports have suggested it could face sanctions from overseas authorities if Lee is punished.

Lee's father and grandfather repeatedly had close brushes with the law but were never jailed.

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Samsung Electronics is targetting to capture 35 per cent market share in the refrigerator segment during the calendar 2017, a company official said today.

"Our present market share in the fridge segment in 30.7 per cent. We want to take it to 35 per cent in this year", Alok Pathak, director, consumer electronics of Samsung India told reporters.

He said that the company had been experiencing double digit growth in the Indian market for the last two years, adding that it was market leader across all product segments.

Launching a new series of refrigerators which can also run on solar power, he said that these products were being manufactured at its plants in Noida and Chennai.

Asked about the impact of demonetisation on Samsung's sales, he said that there had been no adverse effect due to the note ban.

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With violence continuing unabated across Odisha amid the ongoing Panchayat elections, the State Election Commission today asked the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police to ensure free and fair polling in the remaining three phases.

"There are incidents of violence in the post-poll scenario at different places in the state, which is a matter of serious concern for the Commission," State Election Commissioner Rabinarayan Senapati wrote in a letter to both Chief Secretary A P Padhi and DGP K B Singh.

He said after counting of votes in the first phase of polling on February 13 in 65 blocks, incidents of violence have occurred at different places.

There were also allegations on the conduct of some government servants about getting themselves involved in political activities, Senapati said.

"I would therefore request you to take necessary steps to issue suitable instructions to the Superintendents of Police to prevent any incident of post-poll violence and to ensure safety and security of polling personnel as well as the general public, candidates and others," he said in the letter.

"Strict vigil, alertness and prompt action are needed to prevent occurrence of any such incidents in the next phases of election. Police officials shall be suitably instructed to maintain impartiality and neutrality in their conduct in order to ensure free and fair elections," the letter said.

In an incident in Ganjam district, one person was



killed, two others injured and five vehicles were damaged yesterday in poll related violence.

Sisir Nayak (38) of Belapada village in Pangidi panchayat was returning home on his motorbike when he and his pillion rider were attacked by supporters of his opposition group with stones. Nayak was killed and his associate was critically wounded, the police said.

In Balasore, former MLA and senior BJP leader Pratap Sarangi's car was attacked allegedly by his opponents in the Nilagiri block last night.

The BJP leader has lodged a complaint with the police and held several BJD party workers responsible for the attack.

Sarangi also staged a dharna in front of the police station demanding arrest of the BJD workers.

In another incident, the vehicle of Polsara MLA Srikant Sahu was attacked in Bhanjanagar of Ganjam district when he was returning after attending a party meeting.

One Santosh Bhola, husband of Bijayalaxmi, a Sarpanch candidate in Antarapada panchayat in the same district, was injured after his opponents attacked him with sharp weapons, the police said.

A case was registered today against Feroze Khan, son of BJD's Kantabanjhi MLA Ayub Khan, and his supporters for allegedly attacking a BJP Zilla Parishad member candidate in Balangir district, the police said.
Eight persons including a local Shiv Sena leader were injured after they were allegedly attacked by an armed mob of 50 people in Koravale village in Murbad taluka here, district police said today.

According to police, the incident took place on the night of February 12 following which 32 villagers have been arrested so far.

The accused were booked yesterday under sections 307, 326, 324, 323,120B, 341, 141, 143, 147, 148, 149, 504 and 427 of the IPC and also under section 25 (C) of the Arms Act.

Shiv Sena leader Pandurang Dhumal (48) who is the Vibhag Pramukh, was heading the 'Darubandi Committee' of the village and had carried out raids on liquor shops with the help of local cops irking a section of villagers.

Subsequently, they hatched a conspiracy to get rid of Dhumal and his family.

Accordingly, the family members of Dhumal were allegedly attacked with swords, spears and other lethal weapons including iron rods on Sunday following which they were admitted to a local hospital, police said.

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As Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao turned 63 today, special pujas were held at temples and important religious places across the state even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended greetings to him on Twitter.

Members of Telangana Archaka Samakhya (Temples' Priests Association) performed special pujas at as many as 12,254 temples across the state seeking blessings of the Almighty for the CM, said Upendra Sharma, working president of the outfit.

"We performed pujas in all the temples for the health and wealth of the CM for his efforts in developing the state," Sharma said.

A cake weighing 63 kilograms was cut by Ministers Mohammad Ali and Nayani Narasimha Reddy and TRS MP Kavitha at TRS party office amid senior leaders and party workers.

"Warm birthday wishes to Telangana CM Shri K Chandrashekar Rao Garu. May he be blessed with a long life and good health," Modi tweeted.

Modi conveyed his birthday greetings to the CM over phone, who in turn thanked the PM, a CMO official said.

KCR's son and Telangana Minister for IT and Industries KT Rama Rao tweeted, "To the greatest son of Telangana, a peerless leader & a fearless fighter.. Proud that he is my father. Wish you a very Happy Birthday Dad."



Though party workers and many people are celebrating KCR's birthday, the CM wants it to remain a low key affair. He will today formally launch the 'Janahita', a programme aimed at interacting with a cross section of people, the official said.

"The first meeting of 'Janahita' will be with the kin of deceased journalists at Pragati Bhavan (the official residence of KCR). The CM would offer financial help to families from the Rs 10 crore fund allotted to journalists' welfare," the official told PTI.

Meanwhile, Telangana Jagruthi an organization run by KCR's daughter and MP Kavitha held a special painting exhibition at Telangana Bhawan on Rao's achievements, Vice President of TJ, Mede Rajeev said.

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Youths waving Pakistani flags today clashed with security forces and pelted stones after Friday prayers at several places in old Srinagar city.

Young boys with their faces covered were carrying green and white Pakistani flags as several dozen youths raised slogans after Friday prayers ended at Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta area of the city, a police official said.

He said the youths also hurled stones at security personnel who used tear smoke shells and batons to chase away the miscreants.

The clashes were going on till last reports came in but there were no reports of any casualties so far, the official said.

Stone-pelting incidents were also reported from several other places in north Kashmir and south Kashmir, he added.

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The Syrian government and an opposition monitoring group condemned today what they call Turkey's "crimes" against the Syrian people in the northern town of al-Bab that is controlled by the Islamic State group, as a top Turkish military official said most of the town is under control of allied opposition fighters.

Turkish troops and allied opposition fighters have been on the offensive in al-Bab for weeks to recapture it from IS, a battle that has killed hundreds of civilians so far. On February 7, the Turkish offensive on the town intensified in an attempt to capture it from the extremists but the push has been slow because of fierce resistance from IS fighters.

The battle has been difficult for Turkish troops who have lost some 65 soldiers since they entered Syria in August, most of them in al-Bab which has been under attack since mid-November.

Turkish forces have been deployed in Syria since August with the aim of clearing a border patch of IS militants and Syrian Kurdish fighters that Ankara considers related to its own Kurdish insurgency.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Turkish shelling and airstrikes have killed 45 people in al-Bab since Wednesday. It said the dead include 14 women and 18 people under the age of 18.

"The crimes committed against civilians in the city of al-Bab are continuing after the killers of civilians have permitted shedding the blood of Syrians," the Observatory said.

It added that since the operation against al-Bab and nearby villages began on November 13 some 430 civilians have been killed in the area.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry today condemned what it called Turkey's violations of Syria's sovereignty. The condemnation was expressed in two letters addressed to the UN Secretary-General and President of the Security Council.

The IS-linked Aamaq agency released a video said to be taken in al-Bab showing men, boys and infants being treated for severe wounds inside a clinic.

The video showed a child crying on a hospital bed while, his left arm severed from under the shoulder. Another child suffered from a stomach wound that eventually killed him. A third had a portion of his skull blown off, exposing the top of his head.

The video appeared genuine and corresponded to other reporting by The Associated Press.

The violence in al-Bab came as Turkey's military said the Turkish and US chiefs of staff had "confirmed" the need to fight terror groups in Syria and Iraq, including the Islamic State group and Kurdish militants.

A military statement said General Joe Dunford met with his Turkish counterpart, General Hulusi Akar, today at Incirlik air base, which serves as a base for warplanes of the US-led coalition battling the extremist group. Turkey also carries out airstrikes against bases belonging to Kurdish militants in northern Iraq.

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Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain left around 4000 inmates at the Yerawada Central Prison enthralled with his solo performance today.

The event, also including Zakir's interaction with the prisoners, was organised jointly by a local NGO and the prison administration as a part of their rehabilitation programme called 'preranapath'.

While interacting with the inmates, Zakir said he was thrilled to perform inside the prison.

The Deputy Inspector General (Prison) Swati Sathe told PTI that Zakir performed for 30 minutes.

She said since inmates were not allowed to go out, the jail administration, along with the NGO, organised this event on the premises of the facility.

The Prison Officer Jayashri Powar too performed in front of the inmates and Zakir.

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A 26-year-old youth from Warangal Urban district, who was allegedly shot dead by a 'carjacker' in Milpitas city in California's Santa Clara Country last Saturday, was cremated in his village today.

The incident had happened when Vamshi Chander Reddy was returning to his apartment after completing his part-time shift at a local store in Milpitas.

Vamshi's father Sanjeeva Reddy had said he was informed about the firing by his the friends of his son over phone.

Vamshi was cremated in afternoon in the presence of a large number of people after his body was brought back to his native place Vangapahad.

Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya called upon Vamshi's family and consoled them.

Dattatreya said the firing incident has left the NRIs staying in the US scared.

"I appeal to the US Government to take steps to protect the Indians living there and ensure that such incident does not recur," the BJP leader said, adding the Central government took timely steps to bring back the mortal remains of Vamshi.

Vamshi had gone to California in 2013 and completed his M.S. In Silicon Valley University. While he was looking for a job in software industry in the US, he recently took up a part-time assignment at a local store in Milpitas city.

According to Sanjeeva Reddy, Vamshi got shot by a carjacker who was trying to take away car of a woman at the gun point in the parking garage of his apartment.

However, it is not clear whether Vamshi died while trying to save the woman or if the attack was unprovoked.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Thai police raided the head temple of a controversial Buddhist sect but failed to find and arrest the abbot, who faces criminal charges over accepting USD 40 million in embezzled money.

The action yesterday followed several earlier failed attempts to seize Phra Dhammajayo, 72, head of the Dhammakaya sect. Police were previously thwarted when crowds of monks and followers blocked the way, risking a violent confrontation.

The prime minister of Thailand's military government, Prayuth Chan-ocha, this time invoked an emergency order declaring the area around the temple a temporary "restricted area" to stop people from entering.

Police deployed about 3,000 personnel to surround the temple before dawn, blocking hundreds of monks and followers who sat outside the compound's gates, chanting Buddhist texts in protest.

The temple's senior monks agreed around noon to admit some police. Several hundred officers swept the grounds, honing in on an inner residence compound where intelligence suggested the abbot resided, but he was nowhere to be found.

"We found nothing illegal, we couldn't find him," said Kolvit Bunnag, director of special operations at the Department of Special Investigation, Thailand's FBI. "We expected to find him, but the spread around. He could (have) run away."



Some devotees believe the raids are politically motivated because the temple and its followers are seen as supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in a 2006 military coup.

The Dhammakaya sect is controversial for fusing Buddhism theology with what critics call a bourgeois, money-friendly ideology. It appeals to Thailand's burgeoning middle class.

Temple spokesmen claim they haven't seen Dhammajayo for months at the temple, which is known for its vast golden dome that appears to hover over the grounds like a gilded UFO.

"(The police) tried to make it as smooth and peaceful as possible," said Phra Pasura Dantamano, a Dhammakaya spokesman. However, he said it was an "excessive use of force for nearly 4,000 police to come and block the road just because someone did not appear for a summons."



Pasura said Dhammajayo was innocent and estimated that 10,000 followers came to support him at the vast compound, which covers an area almost 10 times the size of Vatican City.

One of Dhammajayo's followers, the head of a credit union, was convicted of embezzling money to donate to the temple, and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Dhammajayo was charged with money-laundering and receiving stolen property.

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Thousands marched in Panama to protest a scandal over huge bribes paid by a Brazilian company in exchange for public contracts.

"No more governments of thieves and the corrupt," read some placards as the crowd moved through the centre of the capital to the Congress building yesterday.

"The goal of the march is to demand that all those corrupt in all the parties and businessmen are investigated, so they return the money and go to jail," Saul Mendez, a leader of the Suntracs construction union that was among the organisers, told AFP.

The scandal surrounding the Brazilian company Odebrecht, which US authorities said paid USD 59 million in bribes in Panama between 2010 and 2014, was just "the tip of the iceberg," he said.

Odebrecht has admitted to paying USD 788 million in bribes to win fat construction contracts in 12 countries. It has agreed with the US Justice Department to pay a world record USD 3.5-billion fine.

Panama, which is trying to clean up its image after the Panama Papers scandal last year, has asked Interpol to issue wanted alerts for the sons of Ricardo Martinelli, who was president who was president at the time.

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Thousands of Iraqis, mostly supporters of cleric Moqtada Sadr, held a silent protest in central Baghdad today, a week after a rally demanding electoral reform turned violent.

They gathered on Tahrir Square where on February 11 the security forces used rubber-coated bullets and tear gas to repulse protesters trying to march on the fortified Green Zone that houses the country's key institutions.

There was no violence today and organisers asked the protesters to refrain from chanting slogans.

The demonstrators, waving Iraqi flags, remained completely silent for more than a hour, and many of them had taped their mouths.

The security forces were on high alert following last week's violence and a day after more than 50 people were killed in the deadliest car bomb explosion to hit the capital in months.

With provincial polls set for September, the protesters want an overhaul of the electoral law and the electoral commission to be replaced, on the grounds that both currently favour dominant parties they accuse of corruption and nepotism.

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US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson today used his first meeting with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to urge Beijing to help rein in North Korea after its series of nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

Their talks, the highest level Sino-US encounter since President Donald Trump was elected, had appeared unlikely after he infuriated Beijing by calling into question Washington's long-standing "One China" policy.

Trump however reaffirmed the position in a conciliatory phone call to Chinese President Xi Jinping, mending fences enough for Wang to come to Bonn for a G20 foreign ministers meeting.

"Secretary Tillerson and Minister Wang noted the recent call between leaders and discussed efforts to advance bilateral cooperation while addressing differences in a constructive manner," Mark Toner, acting US State Department spokesman, said.

"Secretary Tillerson also highlighted the increasing threat posed by North Korea's nuclear and missile programs and urged China to use all available tools to moderate North Korea's destabilising behaviour," Toner said.

China is North Korea's last major ally and has shown itself reluctant to put too much pressure on Pyongyang.

In the meantime, reclusive North Korea has made huge strides in both its missile and nuclear weapons programme to the point where it could acquire the capability to hit the US mainland.

Washington has led international efforts to get Pyongyang to reverse course, including imposing sanctions, but all to no avail as its regional allies take fright at North Korea's ambitions.

On Thursday, Tillerson pledged that Washington would use the full range of its arsenal, including nuclear weapons, to defend Japan and South Korea against North Korea, which conducted another ballistic missile test on Sunday.

"The United States remains steadfast in its defence commitments to its allies, the Republic of Korea and Japan, including the commitment to provide extended deterrence, backed by the full range of its nuclear and conventional defence capabilities," Tillerson said in a joint statement with their foreign ministers.

Washington's recent decision to install a sophisticated THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea especially angered China which condemned the move as a potential threat to its own security.

Toner said Tillerson and Yang "also discussed the need to create a level playing field for trade and investment.

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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, a loyalist of V K Sasikala, will seek a trust vote in the Assembly tomorrow and barring any last-minute hitches the new AIADMK government is expected to sail through.

On the eve of the vote, the Palaniswami camp today got a jolt when one of its MLAs R Natraj, a former state DGP, said he would vote against the chief minister's motion of confidence.

Natraj's move has reduced Palaniswami's stated support to 123 members in a House of 234.

The floor test in the Assembly will be the first such exercise the state will witness in about 30 years.

"I am constrained to vote against the motion of confidence to be moved by the Edappadi K Palaniswami government," Nataraj said.

"I have interacted with people in my constituency and their considered and overwhelming opinion is that the government of O Panneerselvam should continue and I have to reflect this opinion of the people in the Assembly," Natraj, a Mylapore MLA, told PTI.

To a question, Nataraj said he does not consider this as a confidence vote, but a 'conscience vote.'



Before Natraj announced his decision, Palaniswami has claimed the support of 124 MLAs and asserted his government will stay while his rival and predecessor O Panneerselvam has vowed to continue his fight against Sasikala and her family "till the time Amma (Jayalalithaa) regime is restored."



Though Panneerselvam now has the backing of 11 MLAs, experts feel he can jolt the government if he is able to wean away a few legislators from the Palaniswami camp and render it a minority government.

AIADMK has 134 MLAs in the 234-member legislative assembly.

Palaniswami will be seeking the confidence vote in line with Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao asking him to do so yesterday while inviting him to form the government.

Though the new government was given 15 days time to prove the majority in the House, Palaniswami, a known loyalist of AIADMK general secretary V K Sasikala, opted to do it within two days.

In fact, many MLAs supporting Sasikala are still staying at the resort in Koovathur, about 80 km from Chennai, and are scheduled to leave in the morning tomorrow to be on time for the trust vote at 11 am.

A revolt by Panneerselvam against Sasikala last week resulted in a political stalemate with AIADMK supporters divided between the two camps.

In an intra-party power struggle, Panneerselvam had rebelled against Sasikala on February 7, alleging he was forced to step down to make way for her becoming Chief Minister.

She had been elected the AIADMK Legislature Party leader on February 5.

But the Governor had apparently chosen to await the outcome of the Supreme Court verdict in the disproportionate assets case, in which Sasikala has been convicted and is serving prison term in Bengaluru.

Incidentally, it was a succession row that triggered a faction war in AIADMK that had prompted a floor test in the Tamil Nadu Assembly in January 1988, when Janaki, widow of M G Ramachandran, succeeded him in the midst of a bitter rivalry involving Jayalalithaa.

Amid chaotic scenes and a spate of disqualifications by then Speaker P H Pandian and boycott by the opposition, Janaki had managed to win the confidence vote.

But her government was a short-lived one as it was dismissed two days after the floor test by the Centre.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Political parties in Tamil Nadu, including the main opposition DMK, today slammed Karnataka's proposed move to construct check dams across river Cauvery in that state.

The parties urged the Tamil Nadu government to take steps to prevent Karnataka from going ahead with its move.

"The newly-formed AIADMK government should immediately take up the issue with the Centre and prevent Karnataka's proposed move," DMK working president M K Stalin said in a statement.

Terming Karnataka's decision as "unilateral", he said DMK was of the opinion that the move would harm "relations between the two states".

CPI(M) Tamil Nadu unit secretary G Ramakrishnan while condemning the neighbouring state for taking steps to go ahead with its plan, demanded that the Centre immediately intervene and prevent construction of the new dam.

"The party's Executive Committee urges the Centre to expedite the steps to implement the award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal," he said.

CPI state secretary V Durai Manickam echoed similar views.

"The Chief Minister should convene a meeting comprising various political parties, farmers associations and press the Centre on the issue," he said.

Karnataka had proposed to construct check dams across the Cauvery at Mekedatu.

The state claims that the project would meet the drinking water needs of Bengaluru and other towns that would arise in future in the Cauvery basin in Karnataka.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The bond between Europe and America is the "strongest bulwark" against instability and violence, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said today as he tried to calm jittery allies seeking clarity from Donald Trump's White House.

International partners remain deeply troubled after Trump's campaign rhetoric questioned long-established alliances, and they worry about a growing scandal over possible ties between some of Trump's staff and Moscow.

"The transatlantic bond remains our strongest bulwark against instability and violence," Mattis told the Munich Security Conference.

"I am confident that we will strengthen our partnerships, confronting those who choose to attack innocent people or our democratic processes and freedoms."



Mattis, a retired four-star Marine general who spent years working with international partners, has often taken a divergent tone from his boss, hammering the importance of transatlantic ties and sounding a skeptical tone on the potential for military cooperation with Russia.

Trump has said he is open to closer cooperation with Moscow on Syria, particularly in the fight against the Islamic State jihadist group.

But Mattis told a NATO summit yesterday that he is not "in a position right now to collaborate on a military level" with Moscow and said Russia must first "prove itself" and follow international law before envisioning any closer military ties.

Conference chairman Wolfgang Ischinger said the situation was unprecedented in modern history and described a "massive uncertainty" gripping the continent.

"European leaders and European governments are leaders are extremely impatient to find out what will really drive US foreign policy in this new period," he said, underscoring that many in Europe are clamouring to find out about the future of US-Russian relations.

The White House is still reeling from the forced resignation Monday of Trump's national security advisor, Michael Flynn, after he held pre-inauguration phone calls with the Russian ambassador about US sanctions policy.

Trump, who has repeatedly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, yesterday denied he or his staff had any pre-election contacts with Moscow.

"I have nothing to do with Russia," Trump said. "The whole Russia thing is a ruse.

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Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy today refused to read out some portion of his written speech having criticism of the Centre, in the Assembly on the opening day of the budget session, which led to uprorious scenes.

While reading the written speech, the Governor said "I have read out two pages and now I would read out after para 95."



On which the Opposition Trinamool Congress members led by Sudip Roy Burman asked the Governor, "Why should you not read out the total speech? We are not opposing you. This is not the convention."



The MLAs then rushed to the well of the house and shouted slogans like 'shame', 'shame'.

The ruling Left Front members, however, did not react.

The governor read out the rest of his written speech and left the Assembly House.

The governor did not read out the portion which stated, "Communal situation in the country is tense. Minorities and Dalits are under attack and intolerance is increasing. This is what is causing harm to peace, tranquillity, and sense of integrity which is very important for the advancement of the country."



"Dismantling the erstwhile Planning Commission has caused financial constraints to special category states, more particularly small, North Eastern states like Tripura with limited internal resources," the written speech said.

"Due to non-functioning of the consultative mechanism between the centre and states, the trend of one party rule is increasing. Thus, the federal structure in the country is virtually under jeopardy," it said.

"Farmers are not getting remunerative prices of their produce; as a result suicide among farmers have been increasing for the past three years," it added.

"Demonetisation has paralysed the financial transactions, as over 85 per cent of currency in circulation has been rendered in one stroke. It has caused immense hardship to the common people," the speech said.

CPI(M) state secretary Bijan Dhar declined to comment saying that he is not a member of the House.

Roy Burman said, "What astonished me is the silence of the ruling party members. They kept mum because the government led by Manik Sarkar did not want to annoy the Modi government because the Centre is well aware about corruption of this government and its involvement in chit fund scams.

"What was the reason for the decision? The reason is that in the governor's speech, the role of the NDA government was sharply criticised, so, he skipped that portion," the TMC leader said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US President Donald Trump today held a rally at a Boeing factory that just voted against unionising, marking the unveiling of the company's latest "Dreamliner" aircraft.

Even as the aerospace giant hopes the new president will not follow through on his protectionist rhetoric, Trump doubled-down on his "made in America" manufacturing policy.

At the rally in South Carolina, he also repeated his promise to prevent firms from offshoring jobs and go after countries that are "cheating" in trade relations.

"This is our mantra, buy American and hire American," Trump told the cheering crowd. "We want products made in America, made by American hands."



He said "it has to be much easier to manufacture in our country and much harder to leave. I don't want companies leaving our country."



"We're not letting that happen anymore, folks. Believe me, there will be a very substantial penalty to be paid when they fire their people and move to another country," he said.

He also repeated his pledge to cut corporate taxes and "massively reduce job crushing regulations."



Trump said he will create a level field for American workers in trade relations.

"We are going to enforce, very strongly, enforce our trade rules and stop foreign cheating. Tremendous cheating. Tremendous cheating."



The plant showcased the first of the latest update of the Boeing-787 "Dreamliner" planes to come off the production line. The larger version of the aircraft that has been on the market since 2011, it can carry 330 passengers and fly up to 6,430 nautical miles.

Boeing already has delivered more than 500 Dreamliner planes and received 149 orders for the 787-10.

On Tuesday, an overwhelming 74 percent of 2,828 Boeing South Carolina employees who cast votes rejected the overtures by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers to unionise the plant that produces the 787. Boeing employs 7,500 overall in the southern state.

The US South has historically been hostile to unionization, a factor in the decision by automobile makers from Europe and Japan to build plants in the region.

Boeing's investment in South Carolina was cemented with the USD 1 billion purchase in 2009 of Vought Aircraft Industries, which had been a supplier to Boeing on the 787 program.

Trump's visit could give Boeing a chance to score points with the new president. Shortly after the election, Trump publicly blasted Boeing over the high costs of the new version of the 747 that serves as the Air Force One presidential plane.

"Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than USD 4 billion. Cancel order!" Trump said on Twitter on December 6.

Trump stepped back from that criticism after Boeing promised to work to keep costs of the plane under control. However, as the sole major US aerospace manufacturer, it likely has a hold on the contract in any case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US President Donald Trump has said he might take the services of a New York billionaire to review American intelligence agencies and the leaks flowing out of them which have fuelled a string of damaging reports on his administration.

Trump told reporters at a conference yesterday that Stephen Feinberg, co-founder of Cerberus Capital Management, has offered his services and he might tap him to look into the leaks.

He described Feinberg as a very talented and successful man.

"He has offered his services and, it's something we may take advantage of, Trump said.

"But I don't think we need that at all because of the fact that you know, I think that we are gonna be able to straighten it out very easily on its own," he added.

Trump said Mike Pompeo is now heading the CIA and James Comey was in charge of the FBI while hoping that Dan Cote would soon be confirmed for the position of Director of National Intelligence.

"I hope that we'll be able to straighten that out without using anybody else," he said.

During the conference, Trump publicly vented out his anger and frustration at the leaks of classified information including his own conversation with some of the top leaders of the world.

He said the information about his conversation with heads of States of Mexico and Australia was leaked which prompted him to demand the resignation of his national security advisor Michael Flynn.

"All this information gets put into the 'Washington Post' and gets put into the 'New York Times' and I'm saying 'what's going to happen when I'm dealing on the Middle East? What's going to happen when I'm dealing with really, really important subjects like North Korea? We got to stop it. That's why it's a criminal penalty," Trump said.

The renewed focus on tracking down leaks comes following Flynn's resignation amid reports that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about a phone call with a Russian diplomat. Flynn's alleged deception was revealed by leaks.

While Trump apparently sought Flynn's resignation, the episode swiftly rekindled the president's feud with the intelligence community.

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An explosion today rocked the southeastern Turkish province of Sanliurfa, close to the Syrian border, killing a three-year-old child and wounding 15 people.

The explosion -- which took place near a building where prosecutors are housed -- was caused by a car bomb in the district of Viransehir, official agency Anadolu cited governor Gungor Azim Tuna as saying.

He said the dead child was the son of a court worker, adding that the wounded were taken to hospital but were not believed to have any serious injuries.

Tuna said the blast was a "terror attack" caused by a parked vehicle that was loaded with explosives and detonated using a remote control.

The lodgings were badly damaged, the governor added, while Dogan agency said other buildings and several cars in the area were also damaged.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Twitter that no terrorist organisation or attack would weaken Turkey's fight against terror.

"Our determined and effective fight against terror will continue," he said.

No group immediately claimed the attack, and Bozdag did not say which organisation the government suspected.

Turkey was hit by a series of attacks in 2016 blamed on Kurdish militants and Islamic State (IS) jihadists, killing hundreds of people.

This year also had a bloody start, with a New Year's attack on an elite Istanbul nightclub which left 39 people dead, most of them foreigners. The attack was claimed by IS.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A car bomb rocked the southeastern Turkish province of Sanliurfa, close to the Syrian border, killing a child and wounding 17 people, the provincial governor's office said.

"Eighteen of our citizens have been taken to hospital, among them a 10-year-old child who lost their life," the office said yesterday, adding that one of the injured was in a serious condition.

The explosion -- which took place near a building where prosecutors are housed -- struck the district of Viransehir, the office added.

Earlier the official Anadolu agency had cited governor Gungor Azim Tuna as saying the dead child was a three-year-old boy.

The governor said the "terror attack" was caused by a parked vehicle that was loaded with explosives and detonated using a remote control, the agency reported.

The lodgings were badly damaged, the governor added, while Dogan agency said other buildings and several cars in the area were also damaged.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Twitter that no terrorist organisation or attack would weaken Turkey's fight against terror.

"Our determined and effective fight against terror will continue," he said.

No group immediately claimed the attack, and Bozdag did not say which organisation the government suspected.

Turkey was hit by a series of attacks in 2016 blamed on Kurdish militants and Islamic State (IS) jihadists, killing hundreds of people. The country was also shaken by a failed military coup last July.

This year also had a bloody start, with a New Year's attack on an elite Istanbul nightclub that left 39 people dead, most of them foreigners. The attack was claimed by IS.

Last month the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), a splinter group of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), claimed responsibility for an attack that left two dead in the Aegean city of Izmir.

The PKK has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 during which over 40,000 people have been killed. It is proscribed as a terror organisation by Ankara, the United States and the European Union.

The Turkish government says the TAK is merely a front for the better-known PKK.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today kicked off his campaign for a "yes" vote at the April 16 referendum on expanding his powers, predicting Turks will back the changes in a contest that could be tight.

Analysts are predicting that the outcome of the referendum on the new constitution to create an executive presidency is no foregone conclusion and Erdogan will criss-cross Turkey in the next two months to mobilise voters.

He kicked off the campaign -- after returning from a tour of Gulf countries -- in the eastern city of Kahramanmaras, one of the areas that gave him the most votes in the 2014 presidential polls.

"We are on the threshold of a historic decision," Erdogan told thousands of supporters in Kahramanmaras in a televised speech.

"April 16 will be the night of carrying out reform in Turkey," he added.

Opponents fear that the touted presidential system -- which would discard the post of prime minister for the first time in Turkey's history -- would cement one-man rule in the country under Erdogan.

But Erdogan argued that the new system would clearly delineate between the executive and the legislature, so that "everyone can concentrate on their own business".

He explained that the new system would mean there would be no return to the "old Turkey" of short-lived coalition governments, which, he said, sometimes lasted just 25 days and had an average survival rate of 16 months.

"My friends, that Turkey is finished," he said.

Relations with the West and have strained in the wake of the July 15 coup aimed at ousting Erdogan from power, which was followed by a crackdown whose magnitude is unprecedented in modern Turkish history.

The president reaffirmed he would approve legislation reimposing the death penalty in Turkey -- if it was approved by parliament after the referendum.

Reimposing the death penalty, abolished in 2004, would spell the end of Turkey's embattled bid to join the European Union.

But Erdogan said he was not bothered by what the EU had to say about the issue.

"I'm not interested in what the European Union, says, in what Hans and George say," said Erdogan, using two typical European first names.

"What interests me is what Ahmet, Mehmet, Ayse, Fatma say," he said, using traditional Turkish Muslim names. "I am interested in what Allah (God) says!"



Erdogan is expected over the weekend to visit more cities in the east where he enjoys soaring support including Malatya, Elazig and Gaziantep.

The legislation was pushed through by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) with the help of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said today the two parties could have joint campaign events.

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A courtin Chhattisgarh's Korba district has sentenced two police personnel to four years in jail for taking bribe.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Sunita Sahu yesterday awarded a four-year jail term to Balram Sahu and Andherius Tirki, both assistant sub-inspectors of police, said the public prosecutor Ranjna Dutta today.

Thecourtalsoslapped afineof Rs 20,000 on Sahu and Rs 10,000 on Tirki, she added.

In 2011, a woman had lodged a complaint of molestation against one P. Sahu at Bakimongra police station in Korba.

The two policemen demanded a bribe of Rs 8,000 from him to help him get the case disposed of, Dutta said.

He complained to the Anti-Corruption Bureau which arrested the duo red-handed while taking the bribe and booked them under Prevention of Corruption Act.

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The United Nations today condemned the terrorist attack inside a crowded Sufi shrine in Pakistan's Sindh province that left over 75 people dead and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justices swiftly.

"We extend our condolences to the families of the victims and to the Government and people of Pakistan, and wish a speedy recovery to the injured. We call for the perpetrators of this attack to be brought to justices swiftly," said a statement issued by the Office of the Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General.

The statement said that the UN supports the government of Pakistan in its fight against terrorism in full respect of international and human rights norms.

At least 76 people were killed and nearly 250 others injured when an Islamic State suicide bomber blew himself up inside the crowded shrine of revered Sufi Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan town, some 200 kms northeast of Karachi.

The attack follows a suicide bombing at a rally in Lahore on Monday, and a suicide bombing on a government compound in the Mohmand tribal area and an attack on a government van carrying judges in Peshawar on Wednesday.

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LINCOLN -- Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer of Norfolk decided Thursday to limit the time permitted to conduct a legislative filibuster.

Scheer's decision followed on the heels of legislative approval Wednesday of a motion to leave current minority filibuster rights in place at least for another month.

Under the current rule, it takes the votes of at least 33 senators in the 49-member Legislature to end a filibuster.

The Speaker's new directive reduces the amount of time that can be consumed by debate before senators can attempt to end a filibuster with a cloture motion.

The new limits would be six hours at first-stage floor consideration, three hours during the second round and an hour and a half at the final state.

Prior to the change, those numbers were eight, four and two hours.

A day earlier, the Legislature declared a truce in a session-long battle over efforts to diminish minority filibuster rights and cleared the way for consideration of bills that have backed up on the floor during the filibuster standoff.

Scheer said he might entertain a cloture motion prior to the newly imposed time limits depending on "the quality of debate" and the number of participants in the filibuster.

The changes in time that can be devoted to a filibuster come at a point when the Legislature already has consumed one-third of its 90-day session in wrangling over filibuster rights. Thursday marked its 31st legislative day.

"We're looking at a short session now," Scheer said during a brief interview an hour after he announced his decision.

At that point, he said, he had received "no complaints" from senators and he considered that a demonstration of support for the changes.

"My perception is we have set a floor, not a ceiling," he said. "Very contentious issues could go longer."
UNESCO director Shigeru Aoyagi today urged schools to teach Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs) to students so that they achieve them as they become policy or decision makers.

Addressing a gathering of educationists and school principals from in and around the capital, Aoyagi said teaching should not end in school campuses.

"Schools should think globally and act locally and teach SDGs to students so that they achieve them as they become decision/policy makers," he said.

On the occasion, B C Sabata, senior scientific officer, Department of Environment, said the Delhi government has formed a three-year action plan and it would focus on SDG 13 (Climate Action) and 16 (Peace and Justice Strong Institutions).

"With respect to our department, a three-year action plan has been formed and would focus on Goals 13 and 16 of the 17 SDGs," Sabata told PTI.

He did not disclose further information about the plan.

Besides, Sabata also emphasised the activities of eco-clubs that have been set up in schools and colleges to encourage green and clean initiatives.

Principals of schools shared their experiences and challenges faced in educating students on SDGs.

Aditya Pundir, Country Manager India, Climate Reality India, said, "Droughts, loss of bio-diversity, melting of ice caps, floods are all a global phenomenon because of climate change".

He added, "Other immediate threats would be on food security, water availability, health and infrastructure".

The Delhi government has set up around 2,000 eco-clubs in government-aided, private and public schools and colleges. Department of Environment provides grants to each eco-club of schools and colleges for undertaking various eco-friendly activities.

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The US has condemned the terrorist attack at a revered Sufi shrine in Pakistan which left over 70 people dead and said it will continue to work with Islamabad to combat terrorism.

"We stand with the people of Pakistan in their fight against terrorism and remain committed to the security of the South Asia region," Acting State Department Spokesman Mark Toner said yesterday.

"We will continue to work with the Government of Pakistan and our partners across the region to combat the threat of terrorism," he said, adding that the US condemns the attack.

At least 76 people were killed and nearly 250 others injured when an Islamic State suicide bomber blew himself up inside the crowded shrine of revered Sufi Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan town yesterday.

The bomber entered the shrine through its Golden gate and blew himself up near the site where the ritual of Sufi dance 'Dhamal' was taking place.

"We extend our condolences to the victims and their families and wish a full recovery for all of those injured. We also offer our support to the Government of Pakistan as it works to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice," Toner said.

He said the attack was only the latest in a series of of deadly blasts that have taken place in the past week in Lahore, Balochistan and Peshawar.

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, World Bank President Jim Young Kim expressed his shock and sadness at the "senseless" terrorist attacks in Iraq and Pakistan.

"On behalf of the World Bank Group, I wish to express our shock and sadness at today's senseless attacks in Iraq and Pakistan," he said.

"We condemn violence of any kind, and we remain committed to building a more just and peaceful world. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims and with the Iraqi and Pakistani people," Kim said.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Newly-installed US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke today with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang and other officials, and called for "more balanced" economic relations" with Beijing.

Mnuchin also spoke to People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, Finance Minister Xiao Je and Economic Affairs Minister Liu He, Treasury said in a statement.

In each of these calls, Mnuchin "underscored that he looked forward to fostering strong US-China engagement during his tenure" and he "emphasized the importance of achieving a more balanced bilateral economic relationship going forward."



During his election campaign, President Donald Trump accused China of unfair trading practices and manipulating its currency. Once at the White House, he threatened to take retaliatory measures, including imposing a hefty import tax on Chinese goods.

President Xi Jinping implicitly criticized the protectionist tendencies of the new US president at the economic forum in Davos.

In his calls, Mnuchin stressed the importance of cooperation between Washington and Beijing in international forums.

"He noted that demonstrated leadership by our two countries on critical issues will not only be beneficial to each country but also to the global economy," the statement said.

He said he was committed to working with China "on a comprehensive set of economic, financial, trade and investment, and illicit finance issues.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Venezuela's Supreme Court has upheld opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez's nearly 14-year prison sentence, a day after US President Donald Trump called for his release.

The founder of Popular Will, one of the most hardline of the parties opposing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Lopez was sentenced on charges of inciting unrest at anti-government protests that left 43 people dead in 2014.

"The appeal was declared inadmissible. It is a reality and an act of absolute injustice," defense lawyer Juan Carlos Gutierrez yesterday told AFP, adding that the case is closed in Venezuela and can be appealed only to international bodies.

The ruling on the appeal -- filed in July -- came a day after Trump received Lopez's wife Lilian Tintori at the White House.

"Venezuela should allow Leopoldo Lopez, a political prisoner & husband of @liliantintor i (just met w/ @marcorubio) out of prison immediately," Trump tweeted following the meeting.

The government called Tintori's meeting with Trump an "intrusion and aggression."



Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez blamed Venezuelan opposition "lobbies" within "the Miami mafia."



"While President Maduro proposed starting a new era of respectful relations, Donald Trump is in solidarity with the leader of violent actions," he said.

Lopez was the most prominent of a hundred prisoners arrested for the 2014 protests.

Yesterday's ruling "not only condemns an innocent man, which is serious in itself, but destroys what little remains of the rule of law in Venezuela," Gutierrez said. "It is not a legal act but a political one."



"We have already exhausted all the recourses Venezuelan law allows," he added. "We will go to the United Nations. We'll be presenting a document in a couple of weeks.

Also yesterday, Venezuela said it would stop CNN's Spanish-language service from broadcasting over the internet, 24 hours after ordering cable services to take it off the air, accusing the outlet of "war propaganda."



Cable operators dropped CNN en Espanol -- Latin America's main channel -- on Wednesday days after the network broadcast an investigation into alleged fraud in granting Venezuelan passports and visas.

The opposition blames Maduro for an economic crisis that has prompted riots and looting due to shortages of food, medicine and other staples.

It wants a popular vote on removing the socialist leader from office.

Maduro blames the crisis on a US-backed capitalist conspiracy.

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At a time when youngsters are taking a fancy to swanky modern cars boasting of roaring horsepowers, the "21 Gun Salute International Vintage Car Rally and Concours Show" that opened here today, drives in the passion for "slow" and "old" automobile greats.

The heritage show that was inaugurated today at India Gate here, has over 100 vintage cars on display - from the grand old Benz (1914) to Moon Motor Car's last surviving model Tourer (1922), besides a handful of military vehicles.

The seventh edition of the three-day rally saw car enthusiasts from across the city and beyond, flaunting their rare marques.

Ranjit Pratap, a vintage car enthusiast who owns a fleet of 50 such cars, is participating in the rally for the first time with three of his cars.

"I love cars. I have been on the shopping spree for classic cars for over a decade now. I have a garage and dedicated staff to make sure my vintage cars are kept in pristine condition.

"This is the first time I have come to Delhi for a vintage car rally. I have three vintage cars here which includes Fiat Spider (1962), Ford Mustang (1967) and TD (1953)," Pratap said.

The rally, which will be flagged off on February 19 at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida here, will be judged by a 20-member jury on different categories.

With the event showcasing some the best foreign automobile brands from a bygone era, Adil Jal Darukhanawala, is endorsing the Indian automobile brand 'Hindustan Motors' with his 1960 Ambassador.

"You don't need to have a Rolls Royce to own a vintage car. Here we are celebrating cars. This 1962 car has run good 1,53,000 kms, and this is no normal feat.

"This car has played a significant role in shaping social history of the land, and the world in the last 20-30 years has started taking cognizance of this fact," Darukhanawala said, taking pride in his ownership.

Besides showcasing the vintage vehicles from across the globe, the event also appreciates the challenges of maintaining and restoring the iconic car models.

Gurpreet Singh who owns 14 vintage cars including a 1928



Rolls Royce model of Phantom One that is on display here, said he had "to buy made in Chennai tyres from England because of proprietary rights".

"The tyres which were originally made in Chennai, were sent to England for certain proprietary issues and we had to pay a whopping 120 per cent customs duty to buy tyres that were made in our own country," he said.

Darukhanawala, on the other hand had to roam across "whole of India to find the tail lights for his car".

Another major challenge in fixing vintage cars is the reluctance of young mechanics in India towards learning the "job on older cars".

"New mechanics cannot touch these cars as far as the engine is concerned. None of the youngsters want to learn on older cars, they want to do the easy stuff.

"They can only remove and replace and for repair and fit there are very few," he added.

The event was inaugurated by Vinod Zutshi, Secretary of Ministry of Tourism.
'Voter number 141' of Lucknow Central constituency is likely to again give polling a miss.

The voter is none other than 92-year-old former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who represented Lucknow in the Lok Sabha five times in a row and gradually became synonymous with the City of Nawabs.

"The last time Atal Bihari Vajpayee voted was in 2004 Lok Sabha elections, which was also the last election he contested. Thereafter, he could not vote in assembly elections of 2007, 2012 and Lok Sabha elections of 2009 and 2014," his close aide Shiv Kumar told PTI.

Vajpayee has been indisposed for some years now after suffering age-related problems and has not been seen in public.

This time also he "would not be able to cast his vote in the ongoing assembly polls", Kumar said.

Polling in Lucknow is scheduled to be held tomorrow.

The polling centre, where the name of the former Prime Minister is enrolled as a bonafide voter, is located in the the office of the Lucknow Municipal Corporation. His voter identity card number is XGF0929877.

Vajpayee was elected to Lok Sabha from Lucknow in 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004.

In the following Lok Sabha elections in 2009 and 2014, the BJP maintained its dominance on the seat as Lalji Tandon and Rajnath Singh were elected MPs respectively.

Lamenting that Vajpayee would not be able to cast his vote in this election, BJP state spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said, "Though Atalji would not be able to cast his vote for the party candidate, yet his blessings are always with us. And with this, we would surge ahead in the electoral battlefield, and conquer Uttar Pradesh."



Vajpayee is the first and the only non-Congress leader who completed his full term as Prime Minister.

Born in 1924, he had his baptism in politics during the Quit India movement in 1942. He was also the first External Affairs Minister to deliver a speech in the UN Assembly in Hindi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The issues faced by working women and the impact of women at workplaces will take centre stage at the Women Writers' Festival here that is scheduled to begin on February 24.

The festival will see eminent women writers including Urvashi Butalia, Sonia Golani, Amrita Tripathi, discussing issues like lack of successful women writers in the country and balancing professional spaces with motherhood among others.

The two-day event that will be held at Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts and Communication here, will also focus on 'men of feminism and if they believe the glass ceiling has been shattered'.

Professional workshops, panel discussions and break-out sessions on topics ranging from personal finance to social networking, will also be organised.

Emphasising the need to recognise women in other writing forms beyond literature, Shaili Chopra of SheThePeople.Tv said, "We need to celebrate writing across genres, way beyond literature. We have women ahead in screen writing, short stories, business and entrepreneurship, fiction, environment, some fantastic columnists and more."



"As part our effort to do more with writers across India, this is a first of its kind festival that promises to ignite rising minds," Chopra said.

Writers like Monika Halan, Bahar Dutt, Aparna Jain, Veenu Venugopal, Mala Bhargava, Yashodhara Lal, Nishita Jha, Bee Rowlatt, Shaili Chopra, Shreyasi Singh will also attend the festival.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A special court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act cases here today remanded Aamir Gazdar, a close aide of controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, in the custody of Enforcement Directorate.

"Enforcement Directorate custody granted till February 22," said the judge P R Bhavke.

The ED, while seeking the custody, said Naik completely controlled his (now banned) NGO, Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), and various other trusts he set up.

"Apart from IRF, Naik was also running various trusts in India as well as abroad, and he was in complete control over such instrumentalities which are being run by him in close cahoots with his confidante trustees Mohammed Naik (his brother) and Gazdar," the ED's remand application said.

The agency also said that Naik established certain dummy companies in India and abroad and they were used to camouflage the diversion of funds received by him through illegal activities like giving provocative speeches.

Among the several entities established by Naik for this purpose, Gazdar was director in at least six companies -- Universal Broadcasting Corporation, Lords Production (both in UK), Harmony Media, Longlast Constructions, Majestic Perfumes and Alpha Lubricants (all in Mumbai).

Harmony Media was used to produce videos of provocative speeches and these videos were exported to Dubai for telecasting, the ED said.

Gazdar had marble business with a turnover of Rs 30 lakh per annum, it said.

The ED arrested Gazdar (48) here yesterday for alleged money laundering. ED officials said they suspected that Gazdar handled funds and transactions worth Rs 200 crore on behalf of Naik and his NGO.

During the probe earlier, Gazdar "gave details about his



monetary transactions in the guise of providing loans to the Harmony Media controlled by Naik", ED said.

Gazdar had given Rs 2.35 crore as a loan to Harmony Media which he received back subsequently. He also loaned it Rs 41.50 lakh, which too were returned to him, ED said.

Naik and Gazdar conducted a huge amount of cash transactions without leaving any trail of its origin or utilisation, ED said.

Gazdar was always in touch with Naik and was involved in all the illegalities at the behest of the controversial preacher, ED said.

He did not provide to the investigators the documents pertaining to the companies in which he is the director and did not give details of their functioning or financial activities, the remand application said.

"The huge cash generation was only possible due to Gazdar who has played a pivotal role in acquiring and disposing cash," said ED.

Most of the companies or trusts set up by Naik were abroad, and they remitted funds to India, it said.

"Main accused of the case, Naik, is not co-operating with investigation as he is absconding and is not available in India. His whereabouts abroad are not known and has not been provided by Gazdar," the agency said.

ED registered a criminal case against Naik last December after taking cognisance of an NIA complaint under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The National Investigation Agency had earlier registered a case against 51-year-old Naik under anti-terror laws for allegedly promoting enmity between different religious groups.

Naik is now said to be living in Saudi Arabia to evade arrest after some perpetrators of the Dhaka terror strike last year claimed that they were inspired by him.
Plc said on Friday it would create 15,000 "highly skilled" new jobs in the United States, as information technology (IT) services firms brace for a more protectionist US technology visa program under President Donald Trump.

The company, which is domiciled in Dublin, Ireland, said the new jobs would increase the company's US workforce by 30 per cent to more than 65,000 by the end of 2020.

has more than 394,000 employees, of which about 140,000 are in India.

IT services have come under the spotlight after Trump said that his administration would focus on creating more jobs for US workers, who had been affected by the outsourcing of jobs abroad.

Major IT service companies, particularly those based in India, fly engineers to the United States using H1B visas to service clients, but some opponents argue they are misusing the visa program to replace US jobs.

India's software services industry is also concerned about a bill introduced in the US Congress seeking to double the salary paid to H1B visa holders which would dramatically increase the costs for the employing them.

said on Friday it would invest $1.4 billion to train its employees and would open 10 innovation centres in some US cities.

The company's US business accounted for 46 per cent of its total revenue for the year ended August 31.
By Abhirup Roy and Rajendra Jadhav

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India could start allowing institutional investors to trade in its annual $1 trillion commodity futures market as soon as in a month, the head of the country's capital markets regulator said on Friday, as the government targets deepening of the market.

Asia's third biggest economy has allowed futures trading in commodities since 2003 but has so far kept out foreign investors, banks, mutual funds and other institutions. The move to open up to institutional investors will give large companies hedging opportunities and help in integrating the spot and futures markets.

"Without the active participation of institutional investors this market cannot grow," U. K. Sinha, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), told reporters on the sidelines of a conference.

Mutual funds are likely to be the first to get access to the commodity futures market, may be in a month, Sinha said.

Banks have huge exposure to commodities through their lending programmes and they need to hedge the risk, he said.

SEBI is in early discussions with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to allow banks to participate in the commodity futures market, he added.

While SEBI has been pushing to allow institutional investors into commodity futures, it needs to consult with the central bank to allow entry for banks and foreign investors.

Market participants welcomed SEBI's plan as in the last few years commodity futures markets have stopped growing.

Indian commodity futures volumes have fallen to 67 trillion rupees ($998.96 billion) in 2015/16 from 170 trillion rupees in 2012/13.

Institutional players' participation will boost commodities trade and restore confidence of retail investors, said Harish Galipelli, head of commodities and currencies at Inditrade Derivatives & Commodities.

Confidence in India's commodity markets suffered a blow in July 2013 when National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) abruptly suspended trading in most of its contracts. Investigations by the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) subsequently showed a fraud of 55 billion rupees.

"For better price realization you have to have a mix of all the participators in the market apart from speculators," Galipelli said.

Goldman Sachs Investments (Mauritius), Blackstone GPV Capital, Matthews Asia Growth Fund and InterContinental Exchange (ICE) are among foreign investors that hold stakes in Indian commodity exchanges.

"Thin liquidity forces many large companies to hedge on overseas exchanges. With the entry of institutional investors liquidity will rise and we may see them hedging on local platforms," said a Mumbai-based broker with a global trading firm.

SEBI is also planning to allow options trading in commodities. A decision on amending the existing Securities Contract Regulation Act is to be taken very soon, paving the way for the launch of commodities options, Sinha said.

($1 = 67.0700 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Abhirup Roy and Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- Indian shares closed at their highest in nearly five months on Friday, posting their fourth consecutive weekly gain, driven higher by financial stocks such as HDFC Bank, which hit a record intraday high.

HDFC Bank, which rose as much as 9.5 pct in early trade, however pared gains after the Reserve Bank of India banned fresh buying by foreign investors in the company following a temporary relief on Thursday.

The benchmark BSE Sensex closed 0.59 percent higher at 28,468.75. It was up 0.47 percent on the week.

The broader NSE Nifty rose 0.50 percent to 8,821.70.

It made a weekly gain of 0.32 percent.

Both indexes posted their fourth consecutive weekly gains.

(Reporting by Tanvi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In the early 1960s, industrialist S K Birla purchased an early model of the Ambassador, or Amby. It was round and robust, and spacious from inside. For a family trip to faraway Badrinath from Delhi, Birla requisitioned four Ambys instead of the rough and tough Jeep, the chosen vehicle for hill drives. The Ambys climbed the slopes without an effort and flew over the kuccha roads.
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One of the first cars made in India, Ambassador could be back from oblivion, in a rejuvenated avatar. French carmaker Peugeot-Citroen (PSA Group), recently, bought the iconic brand from its six-decades old owner CK Birla-owned Hindustan Motors and now plans to re-launch it in the Indian market in a revamped version.

CK Birla Group has also entered into an agreement with the French company to roll out its cars in India, in a proposed Rs 700 crore joint venture.

The new car could be rolled out from Tamil Nadu facility (assembles Mitsubishi cars and Isuzu commercial vehicles ) of Hindustan Motors Finance Corporation Limited (HMFCL). The facility is part of the venture, PSA Group has entered as a majority stakeholder, for assembly and distribution of its passenger cars in India and for exports. PSA aims to manufacture and introduce its cars in India by 2020, and will probably have newer models and plans for the country.

There are expectations that it would introduce a hatchback in the market, as the segment generates half of the demand in the country. Birlas have sold the Ambassador brand as well as its trademarks to PSA Group, and now the French company will settle dues of employees and lenders of the erstwhile Hindustan Motors. So, now French own the brand, which originated from British Morris Oxford III. Ambassador was the quintessential car for politicians and Indian bureaucrats, before they switched over to contemporary Sx4 , Ciaz and Toyota Corolla. In its new avatar, however, the car might not have its original design and technology, and an all new car may be in the offering.

After 56 years of production, Hindustan Motors decided to stop producing the Ambassador cars in 2014, as the model failed to compete with the new generation of cars and huge stocks piled up at the plant. Hindustan Motors has made several attempts in the past few years to re-launch Ambassador on a new platform with technical changes, but all efforts were in vain.

It had, reportedly, roped in design firm Onio Design, for re-designing the car in way that its original look and iconic style was maintained. The company also failed to upgrade to stricter emission norms in the given time frame. . The last Ambassador was rolled out of Hindustan Motor's Uttarpara facility in 2014.

Re-vamping Ambassador to a new version is certainly going to be a challenge for PSA Group as it would not be easy to upgrade the car to safety norms like crash tests and airbags, which are becoming norms for new cars this year. They would also have to introduce the latest craze of new digital dashboard with Bluetooth connectivity and other gadgets in the car, if they want the new version to be as successful as the old one.
The government on Friday curtailed tenure of Ajay Tyagi as next chief of capital market regulator Sebi by two years, barely a week after his name was cleared to succeed incumbent UK Sinha with a five-year term.

Tyagi will now join as the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Chairman for an initial period of three years, official sources said today, without citing reasons behind the curtailment of his term.

58-year-old Tyagi, a 1984 batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre presently posted as Additional Secretary (Investment) in the Department of Economic Affairs, will take over as Sebi chief after the extended tenure of Sinha ends on March 1.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had on February 10 approved Tyagi's appointment for a period not exceeding five years or till the age of 65 years, as per an order issued earlier by the Personnel Ministry.

Sebi, besides regulating stock exchanges, also supervises various kinds of market entities including brokers, mutual funds, FIIs, rating agencies and investment bankers, as also thousands of listed companies.

Tyagi, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, is a Post Graduate in Economics. He was Joint Secretary in Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change before joining Finance Ministry on November 1, 2014 as Additional Secretary.

For a short while, he was also on the board of Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

In the run-up to the appointment for the head of the capital market regulatory body, many senior bureaucrats including Power Secretary P K Pujari were in contention.

Incumbent Sinha, a 1976 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre, had assumed office as Sebi chairman on February 18, 2011, when the previous UPA government was in power.

He was later given a two-year extension. Days before the end of his tenure in February last year, he was given yet another extension till March 1, 2017.

Sinha's over six-year tenure as the Sebi chief is the second-longest after D R Mehta's seven-year term from 1995 to 2002.
Top lender State Bank of India (SBI) on Thursday said the merger of its five associates will happen in the next financial year and ruled out any wage-related issues delaying the process.

On Wednesday, the Cabinet gave its final approval to merger of SBI and its five associates - State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Hyderabad.

The Cabinet, however, did not take a decision with regard to Bharatiya Mahila Bank, which, too, was supposed to be merged with the country's largest lender as per an earlier announcement.

SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said the government will now issue a notification which will contain the date at which the merger will become effective.

"We think the merger would be some time in the next financial year because we are a listed company and doing such a large exercise just before the annual closing may not be a very good idea," she told news channels.

She ruled out any issues relating to wages of the employees of the associate banks delaying the amalgamation.

"At this point, there are no wage-related issues. The finance minister also asserted yesterday that the wages that people receive now will be protected," she added.

"The employees of the associate banks will be offered the wage package that our people have for the relevant grades.

It's up to them to either accept that or retain the package they have now. They have a choice to do that."

Bhattacharya said that post-merger, SBI will enter the league of top 50 banks globally. "It would be difficult to give ranking at this particular time because it depends on both tier I capital and the asset size. Last year, our ranking was 52 or 53. It should probably go up."

Post-merger, the combined entity will have 23,899 branches and employee strength of 2,71,765.

On the balance sheet size, she said that as of December, consolidated deposits were a little over INR 2,604,473 crore (Rs 26.04 trillion) and advances stood at INR 18,76,727 crore (Rs 18.76 trillion). The consolidated balancesheet stood at Rs 32,18,498 crore (INR 32.18 trillion).

There will be synergies in terms of treasury, offices, auditors and IT infrastructure. After the merger of five associate banks with SBI, the government shareholding in the combined entity will increase, she stated.

The merger was announced last May and the central board of the bank approved the proposal in August along with the share swap ratio.
Fake currency notes have often been used to disrupt economic activities in India. According to a study last year by the Indian Statistical Institute, as many as 250 out of every 10 lakh notes in circulation were fake. This was before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the government's decision to ban Rs 500, Rs 1000 notes.

The study revealed that fake currency notes with a face value of Rs 70 crore were infused into the system every year, and law enforcement agencies were able to intercept only a third of them - a fact that is acknowledged by the agencies themselves. Fake 1,000-rupee notes constituted about 50% of the total value of fake notes.

On November 8, 2016, the government announced demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. New notes of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 with high security features were issued with the government claiming that it would be extremely difficult to copy the new currency. But the seizure of fake currency notes suggests otherwise.

Reports of fake currency notes, especially of Rs 2,000 denomination have been doing rounds within a short span of 2-3 months after the note ban announcement.

The Border Security Force (BSF) seized 100 fake Rs 2,000 currency notes from Malda district in West Bengal on February 15.

Here's all you need to know about the biggest currency seizure along the India-Bangladesh border post demonetisation announced by the Modi government.

A BSF search party laid a trap at about 2 am in a mango orchard in the Churiantpur area in Malda district and found a packet containing 100 Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICNs) of the face value of Rs 2,000, which were minted by the government post the scrapping of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes last year. The BSF personnel challenged a suspected smuggler on the Indian side, who was set to receive the bundle from the Bangladeshi side, but he "managed to escape taking advantage of the darkness and thick growth in the orchard", they added.

The quality of the seized fake notes was found to be "good" as a preliminary examination detected that eight-nine features, out of a total of 17, were copied even as the paper quality was found to be "not too good", officials said.

The latest seizure was made on the basis of a tip-off from an FICN smuggler who was arrested earlier. BSF and NIA, in a joint operation, arrested Umar Faruk (21) alias Firoz from the Golapganj area of Kaliachak in Malda and three fake currency notes of Rs 2,000 face value were seized from his possession. Firoz, a resident of Mohanpur village in Malda, was absconding in a case registered by the NIA involving a seizure of fake currency of Rs 5.94 lakh face value.

The Kaliachak and Malda areas of West Bengal along the Indo-Bangla border are notorious for FICN smuggling and in 2016, BSF's South Bengal Frontier (comprising five border districts of West Bengal) seized fake currency of over Rs 1.47 crore face value and arrested 19 smugglers in this regard.

On February 8, West Bengal Police arrested a youth with 40 fake Rs 2,000 currency notes from Murshidabad district, which is termed as the biggest such haul from the porous Indo-Bangla border region post demonetisation. The accused reportedly told investigators that the notes were printed in Pakistan.



According to intelligence officials, the trade of fake notes along Indo-Bangla border, under the patronage of terror groups, is considered to be a financial bloodline for terror modules operating in India.

The enormity of the illegal trade in Indo-Bangla border can be gauged from the fact that BSF since January 2015 to November 2016 seized fake Indian currency notes with face value of Rs 3,96,72,500 and had apprehended 42 smugglers.
Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg laid out a vision on Thursday of his company serving as a bulwark against rising isolationism, writing in a letter to users that the company's platform could be the "social infrastructure" for the globe.

In a 5,700-word manifesto, Zuckerberg, founder of the world's largest social network, quoted Abraham Lincoln, the U.S. president during the country's 19th century Civil War known for his eloquence, and offered a philosophical sweep that was unusual for a business magnate.

Zuckerberg's comments come at a time when many people and nations around the world are taking an increasingly inward view. U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to put "America first" in his inaugural address in January. That followed Britain's decision last June to exit the European Union.

"Across the world there are people left behind by globalization, and movements for withdrawing from global connection," Zuckerberg wrote, without naming specific movements.

The question, the 32-year-old executive said, was whether "the path ahead is to connect more or reverse course," adding that he stands for bringing people together.

Quoting from a letter Lincoln wrote to Congress in the depths of the Civil War, he wrote to Facebook's 1.9 billion users: "The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present."

Zuckerberg said that Facebook could move far beyond its roots as a network for friends and families to communicate, suggesting that it can play a role in five areas, all of which he referred to as "communities," ranging from strengthening traditional institutions, to providing help during and after crises, to boosting civic engagement.

"We can help establish direct dialogue and accountability between people and our elected leaders. In India, Prime Minister Modi has asked his ministers to share their meetings and information on Facebook so they can hear direct feedback from citizens," Zuckerberg added.

In comments on Facebook, some users praised Zuckerberg's note for staying positive, while others declared "globalism" dead.

Facebook has been under pressure to more closely police hoaxes, fake news and other controversial content, although the concerns have had little impact on its finances. The company reported 2016 revenue of $27.6 billion, up 54 percent from a year earlier.

One area where Zuckerberg wrote that Facebook would do better would be suggesting "meaningful communities." Some 100 million users are members of groups that are "very meaningful" to them, he wrote, representing only about 5 percent of users.

Facebook is also using artificial intelligence more to flag photos and videos that need human review, Zuckerberg wrote. One-third of all reports to Facebook's review team are generated by artificial intelligence, he wrote.

Zuckerberg's letter was "a bit more ambitious and a bit more of the 30,000-foot view than I see from most tech company CEOs," Peter Micek, global policy and legal counsel at Access Now, an international digital rights group, said in a phone interview.

But Zuckerberg stayed away from certain subjects on which Facebook could be vulnerable to criticism, mentioning the word "privacy" only once, Micek said.
The British Irish Chamber of Commerces Agriculture and Food Committee yesterday published its submission to the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine on The Impact of the UK Referendum on Membership of the European Union on the Irish Agriculture, Food & Fisheries Sectors.

The Paper outlines the likely impact of WTO tariffs on Irish  UK trade in the agri-food sector as well as addressing potential trade costs associated with non-tariff barriers being implemented through customs checks, rules of origin checks and diverging regulations.



It highlights the significant level of integration within the sector between Ireland and Northern Ireland where many sub sectors operate on a de facto all island market with multiple aspects of the production line spread between the two jurisdictions.



The paper specifies that any restriction on current trade practices between Ireland and the UK will be particularly negative for the Irish beef sector as well as for cheddar cheese exports and butter exports.



Recommendations in the report include introducing a specific strategy to address the fallout from Brexit for integrated all-island agri-food businesses and reducing employer PRSI to reduce costs for agri-food employers.



Furthermore, it recommends that the Irish Government on behalf of the agri-food sector should seek direct EU support as a consequence of the impact of the referendum result on the sector.



Director General of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce, John McGrane says, "The Chamber fully supports this work carried out by our Agriculture and Food Committee as it clearly highlights the importance of the UK as the leading destination for Irish agri-food exports."

He adds, "It is of mutual benefit to the UK and the EU and of upmost importance to the Irish agri-food sector that the EU and the UK agree an all-encompassing Free Trade Agreement that includes agriculture. The Irish Government and Minister Creed must continue to press the Irish case in Brussels that a bad deal for the UK could have detrimental consequences for Ireland."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
New figures released this morning by ACI Europe, which is the trade association for European airports, has found that Dublin Airport was the fastest growing major airport in Europe last year.



The growth at Dublin Airport delivered a new traffic record at Irelands key gateway, with almost 28 million passengers welcomed last year. An extra 2.8 million passengers used the airport in 2016, while over the past two years, an additional 6.2 million people passed through Dublin Airport.



After Dublin, in the major airport category came Barcelonas El-Prat Airport (+11.2%), Amsterdams Schiphol Airport (+9.2%), Copenhagen Airport (+9.1%) and Madrid Barajas (+7.7%)



The passenger growth at Dublin Airport was fuelled by the launch of 19 new routes last year, while additional capacity was added on 31 existing services. Dublin Airports growth helped deliver a record-breaking year for Irish tourism in 2016 and also boosted trade and investment.

A 2015 study by economic consultants InterVistas showed that Dublin Airport is a key strategic asset for the Irish economy as it supports or facilitates 97,400 jobs and contributes 6.9 billion to the economy.



This year, Dublin Airport will welcome three new long-haul services  a year-round service to Doha with Qatar Airlines, a summer service to Boston with Delta Air Lines and a summer service to Miami with Aer Lingus  and three new short-haul services.



Speaking today, Dublin Airport Managing Director, Vincent Harrison said, "This new ACI data confirms that Dublin Airport had a record-breaking performance at home and abroad last year. Passenger traffic across the European airport network increased by 5.1% last year, while Dublin Airport increased its traffic by more than twice that amount."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
The 24 inspiring finalists from around the country who will battle it out in the National Final of Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE) competition have been unveiled by the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny today.



A record 1,842 young entrepreneurs, aged between 18 and 35, have taken part in this years IBYE. The competition has progressed through county and regional stages where 24 young entrepreneurs have now emerged as national IBYE finalists and will compete for the prestigious title of Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur.

The IBYE Final takes place at Googles European Headquarters in Dublin on Sunday, 5th March.



The Taoiseach met the 24 finalists at Government buildings today before the young entrepreneurs travelled to a pitch training session at Google. Also joining the Taoiseach for the unveiling were Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell OConnor T.D. and Minister of State for Employment and Small Business, Pat Breen T.D.



IBYE is run by the 31 Local Enterprise Offices nationwide and supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Enterprise Ireland. The initiative carries a total investment fund of 2 million.

Already, 180 young entrepreneurs and business owners have benefitted from their participation in the earlier stages of the competition, receiving investments of between 3,000 and 15,000 each.

At the National Final, the overall winners and runners-up in the three IBYE categories  Best Business Idea, Best Start-up and Best Established Business will be announced and one of the three national category winners will be crowned Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur.



Speaking today, the Taoiseach said, "I am overwhelmed and inspired by the entrepreneurial talent that I have encountered here today. In this fast-moving world, there can be no standing still and we must always stay ahead of the curve in terms of business. It is vital that we nurture our young businesspeople, encourage them, and give them supports as they strive to make an impact and to succeed."

Source: www.businessworld.ie


The Cache County Sheriff's Office and the Smithfield City Police have issued a news release regarding a 14-year-old girl from Amalga who was reported missing on Feb. 16, and found overnight with serious injuries. The Smithfield City Police will lead the ongoing investigation.

<p class=Body align=center><span style=text-decoration: underline;><strong>PRESS RELEASE</strong></span></p><p class=Body style=text-align: left; align=center>Joint Investigation of Missing/Found Juvenile</p><p class=Body>Smithfield City Police Department/Cache County Sheriffs Office</p><p class=Body>February 17, 2017</p><p class=Body>On Thursday, February 16, 2017, at approximately 6:30 p.m., the Cache County Sheriffs Office took a report of a 14-year-old juvenile female from Amalga, Utah, that had not returned home from school. Deputies made contact with the girls parents and initiated a missing person report. Deputies discovered that the female had been in contact with family and had planned to be home about 4:00 p.m. Deputies spent most of the night making contact with acquaintances and checking addresses that the girl frequented. By about midnight, deputies ran out of leads and the girl had not been located. An attempt-to-locate was broadcast through Cache County and the missing girls information was entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database.</p><p class=Body>At approximately 12:45 a.m., the Smithfield City Police Department was dispatched to a report of a medical situation involving a teenage female. A young female had been located in a dry canal East of Sky View High School in Smithfield, Utah. Police learned that the identity of the female was that of the 14-year-old girl whom the Cache County Sheriffs Office was looking for. Individuals familiar with the girl who were actively looking for her found her. The girl had significant injuries that required transportation to a local hospital. She was flown to a Salt Lake City area hospital for further treatment.</p><p class=Body> </p><p class=Body>The Smithfield City Police Department is now leading an investigation into the suspicious circumstances surrounding this incident. It is unknown at this time how the girl was injured or how she ended up at the incident location. Investigators from the Cache County Sheriffs Office and the Logan City Police Department are assisting the Smithfield City Police Department. This incident is in the beginning stages of investigation. There is not enough substantiated details of the extent of the girls injuries and the circumstances of her discovery to release yet. Further information will be released as it becomes available.</p><p class=Body>This investigation is considered an isolated incident and there is no threat to the public. The name of the girl will not be released by law enforcement at this time out of respect of her age and the fact that this is an active investigation. </p><hr /><p class=Body><em>Note: CacheValleyDaily.com will update this breaking story as more information becomes available. While identification and photos of the 14-year-old girl are circulating on social media, along with speculative information, we have chosen to publish only the official news release at this time. </em></p>
There are several bills making their way through the Utah legislature that would affect counties in one way or another. On Tuesday, Cache County Executive Craig Buttars told members of the Cache County Council that the Utah Association of Counties is watching one bill in particular: the <a href=https://corrections.utah.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1097&Itemid=341 target=_blank>Justice Reinvestment Initiative</a>.

We are hearing that theres some support for increasing the funding for that, Buttars told the council. But in the meeting two weeks ago, in the legislative meeting for UAC, we took a position that we would not support the juvenile JRI until we got funding for the adult JRI.

Buttars said it may be near the end of the legislative session before the bill is considered.
A Republican proposal to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education has been getting some support among Utah politicians, including Utah Governor Gary Herbert.

Herbert said Wednesday that local officials, educators and parents are better positioned to address their educational needs than the federal government.

Jay Monson, retired chairman of the education department at Utah State University, says that would be a wrong decision.

Ive been disappointed that so far theyve talked about lots of budgetary items but they dont seem to be backing up their pledge to make education a top priority, says Monson. We badly need an education department to make sure that teachers are qualified, that students get a good education in our state, and to be a supervisory group.

Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz, R-District 3, is one of several members of Congress who has proposed eliminating the department. President Jimmy Carter created the Department of Education as a separate agency almost 50 years ago.
When your computer crashes or phone freezes, don't be so quick to blame the manufacturer. Cosmic rays -- or rather the electrically charged particles they generate -- may be your real foe.

While harmless to living organisms, a small number of these particles have enough energy to interfere with the operation of the microelectronic circuitry in our personal devices. It's called a single-event upset or SEU.

During an SEU, particles alter an individual bit of data stored in a chip's memory. Consequences can be as trivial as altering a single pixel in a photograph or as serious as bringing down a passenger jet.

An SEU was also blamed for an electronic voting error in Schaerbeekm, Belgium, back in 2003. A bit flip in the electronic voting machine added 4,096 extra votes to one candidate. The issue was noticed only because the machine gave the candidate more votes than were possible.

"This is a really big problem, but it is mostly invisible to the public," said Bharat Bhuva. Bhuva is a member of Vanderbilt University's Radiation Effects Research Group, established in 1987 to study the effects of radiation on electronic systems. The group initially focused on military and space applications, but since 2001 has expanded to studying radiation's effect on consumer electronics.

Bhuva, a professor of electrical engineering at Vanderbilt, gave a presentation on SEUs Friday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston.

Despite some serious examples, SEUs are still fairly rare events. But as the number of transistors being used in new electronic systems increases, so does the probability of an SEU failure on the device level.

Semiconductor manufacturers seem to have caught on to the trend and are working to diminish the interference of cosmic rays. For instance, in 2008, Fujitsu engineers climbed a Hawaiian volcano to better understand how comic rays cause computer errors.
The weakening strategic position of Turkey will have a profound impact on the Black Sea-Caspian region and wider Central Asia. An assertive Russia and diminishing U.S. and Western engagement further limits Turkey's ability to play a pro-active role in the region. For regional actors in the South Caucasus, part of the solution should be to create the best possible conditions for transiting Asian cargos via Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, the South Caucasus corridor and the Black Sea to Bulgaria and Romania. This is how countries of the South Caucasus can bring new balancing powers to the region.

BACKGROUND: : The dynamics of the last 10 years demonstrate that the Russian Federation has regained significant power and influence in the former Soviet space. By fully controlling Crimea, Russia now has almost complete strategic dominance over the Black Sea. Russia also has a strong military presence in Armenia and in the breakaway regions of Georgia, allowing it to establish control over the major elements of infrastructure and communication lines on relatively short notice. Russia has also made significant progress in expanding the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), which in addition to the original members  the Russian Federation, Belarus and Kazakhstan  now also includes Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. By displaying a willingness to use military force in Georgia and Ukraine, Russia has sent a warning notice to other neighbors as well, and that notice has been well taken.

Having established these realities on the ground, Russia has a much stronger negotiation position vis-a-vis the West on a potential new global or European security architecture. President Putin, unhappy with the world order of the post-Cold War era, has been pushing for negotiations for almost a decade now, and the probability is high that he will achieve them with the new U.S. administration. By using political, economic/energy and propaganda tools, Russia has already prepared the ground for such negotiations in major European capitals.

Unlike Russia, Turkey is on its way to completely evaporating its major strategic and economic gains of the 90s and early 2000s. By targeting and weakening the foundations of secularism, President Erdogan and his followers have opened the Pandora's Box of both intended and unintended consequences that they can no longer manage. Both Western and Turkish strategic miscalculations in relation to developments in Middle East have fueled mutual mistrust and miscommunication. As a result, Turkey is now facing destabilization of unprecedented magnitude in its recent history. Turkey's current weakness and the West's inability to support it is pushing Turkey to look for compromises with Russia. Negotiating with Russia from a position of weakness will have serious costs for Turkey, but also for key Turkish and Western allies in the Black Sea-Caspian region  Georgia and Azerbaijan, as well as Romania and Bulgaria.

The U.S. is also retreating from a pro-active presence in Central Asia. In fact, the Caspian energy and military-security interests in Central Asia have moved from the list of top U.S. foreign policy priorities to the periphery of U.S. interests. In addition, the range of U.S. strategic decisions  large ones like the invasion of Iraq or support of the Arab Spring, and relatively smaller ones like the recognition of Kosovo's independence and the management of Turkish-Armenian rapprochement  all left negative footprints on the region. But the mishandling of ISIS and the Syrian crisis are the two most negative legacies of the U.S. in the last decade, both of which empowered Russia and contributed to weakening Turkey.

IMPLICATIONS: Turkey was a key ally, a major anchor and a channel of the West's political, strategic and economic interests in the South Caucasus and Central Asia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Turkey was a major driver for the development of energy transit infrastructure, and for many years served as one of the key trading partners and sources of investments for almost all countries of the region. For Georgia and Azerbaijan in particular, Turkey is an indispensable strategic partner that allowed the two countries link up with and integrate into the global economy. For two decades, Turkey served as a major balancing factor against Russian influence in the South Caucasus. But as of early 2017, Turkey's ability to perform the role of a pro-active strategic actor in the Black Sea-Caspian region has significantly narrowed, leaving the space open for an enlarged presence and increased political influence of Russia in the region.

This new strategic reality not only affects more independent-minded Azerbaijan or pro-Western Georgia, but also Armenia, a member of the EEU and Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), two Russian-led economic and security organizations. Unbalanced and unchallenged in the South Caucasus, Russia leaves no alternatives for Armenia but to move towards even closer integration with Russia at the expense of Armenia's sovereignty.

Azerbaijan and Georgia cannot afford to be passive observers of the developments in Turkey. First of all, the two countries should offer whatever help they can provide for the Turkish government's anti-terrorism efforts, or in any other area where the Turkish government may use their support. Azerbaijan and Georgia should also use their diplomatic power to emphasize the importance of stability in Turkey for countries of the South Caucasus and Central Asia. The assumption that this is obvious to Western European or American officials is false and should be dismissed.

And finally, Azerbaijan, Georgia and their Central Asian allies should boost their efforts to make the Asia-Caucasus-Europe (ACE) Trade Corridor truly functional and engage with as many actors as possible. In the changing strategic environment, countries of the region and their governing elites need to realize that a sustained presence and interest from a wide range of international actors, as well as the commercial interests of producers, global traders and consumers from Europe, Asia and the U.S. will facilitate greater interest in stability and security in Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

CONCLUSIONS: In times of low oil prices and other political and economic challenges, regional countries cannot afford to waste time and resources. It is now the high responsibility of leaders to clean their respective houses from all barriers, including corruption, and create the best possible conditions for transit of Asian cargos via Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, the South Caucasus corridor and the Black Sea to Bulgaria and Romania. This is the only way that countries of the South Caucasus can bring new balancing powers to the region, which is vital for the survival of their sovereignty. If regional countries will succeed in this effort, it may provide a helpful demonstration of the region's value to Western partners and to attract renewed U.S. and Western commitment to the region, including from the new U.S. administration.

AUTHOR'S BIO: Mamuka Tsereteli is a Senior Fellow at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute.

Image source: en.kremlin.ru accessed on February 17, 2017
What does CETA mean for the European Union?

Published on February 17, 2017

Story by euro topics Translation by: cafebabel DE

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On Wednesday, the European Parliament approved the Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement with Canada. Some commentators argue that this represents a major stand against populism in the EU, while others fear it will only make populism in Europe stronger.

Europe is on the right path - Cesky rozhlas, Czech Republic

The European Parliament's decision to approve CETA is a step forwards, radio broadcaster Cesky rozhlas comments:

"If the individual countries now ratify the agreement we will have, after a long hiatus, an example of the populists not winning out. Of course we should no longer believe in the myth that free trade helps everyone. It takes jobs away from people. But more people are losing their jobs to automation and robots... The issue of employment is no reason to stop free trade. That would result in a generalised process of impoverishment. In signing free trade deals Europe must continue to define clear rules unless it wants to end up doing business under Chinese conditions. Then the rules for protecting workers, consumers and the environment would be far worse than ours." (16/02/2017)

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's speech to the European Parliament on 16 February

This is precisely what strengthens populists - Le Vif/L'Express, Belgium

CETA's advocates see the deal as a response to Donald Trump's restrictive trade policy. Green MEPs Philippe Lamberts and Bart Staes reject this view in Le Vif/L'Express:

"Such reasoning is wrong, because Donald Trump is the product of the neoliberal globalisation that has established itself against the will of most citizens. They feel helpless against the multinationals, over which governments seem to wield less and less influence. By voting for Trump these very same people wanted to turn the tables. The approval of CETA would make a similar scenario increasingly plausible in Europe. Is that what we want? In the 21st century the role of Europe, whose strength lies above all in its single market and its buying power, must be to regulate trade, protect its citizens and ensure that business interests destroy neither the people nor the environment." (15/02/2017)

Politicians can no longer ignore the people - Dnevnik, Slovenia

Even though the deal has now been signed the CETA opponents have still achieved a significant victory, writes Dnevnik:

"The controversy over the advantages and disadvantages of CETA shows one thing very clearly, namely that the EU Commission must take civil society's objections more seriously when negotiating future trade agreements. In this respect yesterday's defeat of the agreement's opponents is also a small victory. 3.5 million citizens have already signed the petition against Ceta and the TTIP deal between the EU and the US - that's almost seven percent of the EU's population. This sends a clear message to the EU Commission and the member states that they must change their direction. If they fail to find a different approach to trade agreements they themselves will help strengthen populism in Europe." (16/02/2017)

CETA will have little impact on the EU economy - Gosc Niedzielny, Poland

The trade deal will have little impact on the economy of the EU, the Catholic portal Gosc Niedzielny suspects:

"Opponents of the agreement criticise that CETA will only benefit big companies and increase unemployment in Europe. Similar effects, they say, can be observed for example in the free trade zone between the US, Canada and Mexico. Nevertheless, compared with trade within the EU the volume of trade between Canada and Europe is relatively small. Consequently the deal with Canada isn't likely to have a significant impact on the European economy. CETA's critics should be clear on the fact that the EU itself is similar in character. That is, it's a sort of free trade zone in which the economies of the member states are subject to certain regulations. Regulations over which the big companies have no influence whatsoever." (15/02/2017)

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30 Countries, 300 Media Outlets, one press review. euro|topics presents the issues affecting Europe and reflects the continent's diverse opinions, ideas and moods.

Story by euro topics

Translated from Ceta: Freier Handel oder gebundene Hande?
ETATS-UNIS :: Speech from the president of CODE-USA against EXCESSIVE USED OF FORCE ON CITIZENS: " LET'S THE BELL OF CHANGE RINGS " in Cameroon now. :: UNITED STATES

Dear brothers and sisters from all Cameroon, I am much more than delighted to meeting many of you today in front of the REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON EMBASSY in Washington DC - USA.

Same time I cannot hide my mixed feelings knowing that in 2017 Mr. Paul Biya, the root cause of all our conflicts and discordes, after 35 years in supreme power, unfortunately he is still believing of EXCESSIVE FORCE as the only solution for good governance, durable development and the path to prosperity for all Cameroonians.

Let's the bell of change rings!

His trackable bad records throughout decades have proved him wrong leader and dangerous man. How can you explain today the origin of the ANGLOPHONE PROBLEM in Cameroon; if it is not the justification of the failed government, weakest leadership, and criminal effect from those in charge of our State since 1960/61 independences.

Let's the bell of change rings!

Regretly, to the name of all CODE's members and leaders across the world, let's extend our deepest sympaties and sincere condolences to all the victims and their families in the SW or NW and everywhere around the country.

Ultimately, the CODE executive is calling on all security forces to respect the human rights, to stop killing their brothers and sisters, to distinguish between republicain orders and political/governmental games and bigotries from their hierachies. You soldiers and Police officers cannot keep dirty your hands for a government that has failed you the first time.

How many of you can live in a decent house like them?

What are your chances to send your children abroad like them?

How many of you can afford a medical check abroad as needed? Can you be evacuated overnight?

You might be earning bigger pay than others civil servants but you are relatively lowest paid compare to others countries and the risks you are facing.

Please be smart and stay republican in all yours actions towards your people.

Despite a small number of misled security forces who screwed and damaged all your reputation. We acknowleged that many of you soldiers and officers have done outstanding job by defending our integrity, security, unity, sovereignty and prosperity yet to come. We support those republican soldiers and officers. We proudly thank them for their great services of defending and protecting our land, our citizens, and our laws.

Let's the bell of change rings!

Facing a dictatorial night mare, autocratic regime of an evil tired, sick , deep in senility , the so called president who takes orders from a foreign president (FRANCE and cie) all the time on each national or international affairs, we can obviously understand why some citizen's frustrations could rise up to demand the separation, the division, the secession, the federalism, the decentralization not yet implemented. Unexpected today the government has misled our armed forces to uexcessived fatal force against its unarmed population mostly young boys and girls in the solely option to hush everyone.

Wasn't it the youth way to respond or to oppose government's oppression?

Wasn't it the youth commitment to free and save our Patrie from its longest lasting neo-colonialist pratices?

Wasn't it the youth mission to resist a new or old corrupted imperial masters ever?

Let's the bell of change rings!

Facing a severe totalitarian leadership of a lifetime president who only thinks about himself and his sibirs, isn't same one who had amanded the national constitution for self-services (our suprem laws becomes personified constitution since 2008). Today which honest citizen could agree less to kick him by all means out of power to permit positive changes for better Cameroon.

Let's the bell of change rings!

The time of ALTERNANCE HAS ARRIVED COME! WE MUST UNITED TO FORM THE ALTERNATIVE. Exceptionally while exponential suffurings of more citizens across the land is encounting this president total refusal to apply alineas of laws not in favor to his personal and direct interests:

Biya must declare his assets and goods so do his cabinets members, ministers, directors, governors and so on or they must face court and jail time for embazzlment.

Biya must put in place the regional government as the decentralization laws requested or will face federalism.

Biya must put in place the constitutional court to supervise the consensual electoral process or face impeachment.

Biya must implement all the previsions of 1996 national constitution to calm down people or face mega revolution of youth.

if Biya loves his country he must resign to remove his stink of Nation divider figure.

Let's the bell of change rings!

Facing a world most corrupted government on earth for which briberying as become their motto of serving, anyone could stand against them without hesitation. We must support any possible effort for change; the real changes in which we can see Biya resigning or retiring peacefully. Our collective desir and dream for a peaceful transition of power.

Although we know that this government deosn't care and will never care they had preferred to grip on power at all cost with no significant accomplishment. For a little that someone could criticize them, you would rapidly become terrorist and get a heavy bloody payback with extrajuditiairy killings including young students, gilrs like boys. Those who arrested are randomly submitted to a degrading treatment that would only have fatal ending.

Let's the bell of change rings!

Facing a Cameroonian youth struggling with high unemployment rate on the daily basic, most qualified with advanced diplomas even from the university, we can only question why oldest octogenarians citizens are still occupying high fonctions and positions twinty or thirty years from the date of their retirement from the office had expired. These extended criminal times are simply unacceptable and should be publicly denounced by all youth no matter what position you get from them. The time has come to united against Paul Biya to free and change our Country. This is a patriotist action! No other highest level. You cannot love Biya and love Cameroon and vice versa.

Let's the bell of change rings!

Today Febuary 11th, supposed to be the youth day, the day all youth supposed to be happy. Unfortunately the regime's military had put all youth in fear or in tears. The so called ANGLOPHONES & FRANCOPHONES are not our nationalities or sub-nationalities. Youth must stand up for their future!

These diminished terms are nothing but another powerful colonialism stamps that we must remove.

We cannot succeed without removing le vieux president Biya from Etoudi!

He thinks and is acting like all citizens from SW and NW are dangerous, terrorists, and secessionists. He is encouraging his melicia forces to put our brothers and sisters dans la sauce. He is liar. The SW and NW has proved to be the most respectful Regions of the entire Nation with highest sens of civilism, professionalism and patriotism.

Let's the bell of change rings!

To keep Cameroon united, we cannot blame enough those who are seeking for secession but we must hold Biya accountable. It is time to take ETOUDI BACK. Therefore, collectively, we must agree upon getting rid of our useless embarrassing oldest fellows in power who are causing DEEP FRUSTRATIONS, MISLEADING ARMED FORCES AND ALIENATING ALL POLITICAL CLASSES IN PLACE.

Let's the bell of change rings!

Everyone please join your efforts to CODE-USA before putting le vieux lion Paul Biya dans la sauce.

le vieux president du Senat Nyat Djifendji dans la sauce

le vieux premier ministre Yang Philemon dans la sauce

le vieux president de l'Assemblee National Cava Yegue Djibril dans la sauce

le vieux Directeur General d'Elecam Aboubacar Babale dans la sauce

Le vieux president de la cours supreme Daniel Mekobe Sone dans la sauce

Les vieux ministers dans la sauce

Les vieux hauts grades et officiers dans la sauce

les vieux PCA dans la sauce

les vieux gouverneurs dans la sauce

les vieux prefets et sous prefets dans la sauce

once all these all useless will be kept in the nursing homes or jails, we can expect to change this country and move quickly to the emergent stage.

Let's the bell of change rings!

So it is possible to stay away from the French.

So let's don't make a mistake to stop the pression on the French Representative in Etoudi.

so Let's fire up to take the power to send the denomination CAMEROON also called swrim name back to Portugal or Germany or Britain or France lastly.

so let's find a new name that identify us as same people beyond ethinical, cultural and political divisions.

So let's stay united as undivisible people!

So let's love each other

So let's be proud again as sons and daughters from same ancestors under one single Nation.

Thank you for coming and safe trip back to your place.

See some of you tonight at the Feb 11th Gala Night for youth and valentine.

No matter what, we will prevail.

Let's the bell of change rings!

Long live United Cameroon

The president of the CODE-USA

Mr. Napi R. Tagnidoung

Global Manager

Papanapi@gmail.com

+12034342832

February 11th 2017

Washington DC

USA
Paul and Chantal Biya P. R. C.

"Madam, you have the ear of the President H.E Paul Biya. With your permission, I will like to propose key steps you can kindly relay to the President to resolve this crisis."

Dear Madam President,



Your excellence I come to you as a humbled Cameroonian. Our beloved Cameroon is in pain, and in dire need of your help as the mother of our nation. Your excellence, most of the Presidents collaborators Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) to the Anglophone crisis have failed. This failure is due to lack of situational awareness, lack of crisis management skills, undue complexity and above all lack of emotional intelligence. To err is human, we forgive them. Madam, you have the ear of the President H.E Paul Biya. With your permission, I will like to propose key steps you can kindly relay to the President to resolve this crisis.



Phase 1:



1) The path to resolving this crisis begins with these words. I am sorry. I am sorry for the pain the Anglophones, and the youths of the nation have been subjected to. These words can go a long way. Showing empathy is part of leadership. He is the father of our great nation. He should rally Anglophones and asks for their help in resolving this crisis. This is imperative.

2) Unconditionally release of all Anglophone consortium leaders, Paul Ayah, and youths currently detained all over the country. Restore internet connectivity to North and South West Regions. Internet shutdown has been pernicious. The state has lost billions and might affect our growth by 1% this year.

3) Replace the governors of North and South West Regions with Anglophones of their respective regions. This part of cultural intelligence, yet self-rule Anglophones are clamoring for. They speak the same language and share the same culture. Its instrumental in conflict management.

4) Replace Dr. Nalova as Vice Chancellor of the University of Buea. She militarized a university campus, thus unfit to lead that prestigious institution. She bears the responsibility, not the minister.

5) Nominate an Anglophone to lead SONARA.

Madam, the above five steps can be implemented immediately and will cost nothing to our taxpayers. It will show good faith on the part of the government in resolving this crisis. It is practical and effective. It takes only will and grit.

Phase 2:



6) Any successfully negotiated agreement begins with having the right parties on the negotiation table. It was self-evident the last negotiations were in peril due to influential players not present at the negotiation table. Even Anglophone leaders failed to identify this. Thus, the Presidents representative Arch Bishop Kleda, Prime Minster, Secretary General at the Presidency, Minister of, Basic, Secondary, and Higher Education, Minister Delegate at Ministry of Justice, US Embassy representative/UN should seat with all Anglophone leaders and address all concerns tabled.The Presidents representative should create a unified command system with him acting as the negotiation commander. Adopted resolutions should be tabled directly to the president for implementation free of any cognitive, organizational or political bias.





7) 30/70 rule.

30% of all resources generated from a given region should be allocated to regional councils and 70% to government coffers. This rule will save 10% of waste when resources are transferred from Yaounde to the regions. The government can make up for remaining 20% by implementing a 5% Internet Sub Tax (IST), 5% Remittance Sub Tax (RST), and increasing the tax pool by 10%. Also, a 2% regional direct and indirecttax (RT) should be implemented to increase revenues for local councils, and abolish the post of Government Delegates. Let the people be in charge of their destiny with the government acting as a regulator.



8) Higher Education.

Higher education in the English subsystem is overcrowded and causing cultural tension. University of Buea and Bamenda cant sustain all our 10 regions. By 2035, 60% or more of our youth population will want an Anglo-Saxon higher education to be able to compete in the 21st- Century. Most elites in the French -speaking part of our country have their kids studying in Buea, UK, USA, and Canada. Madam how about the poor kid in Fotokol, Belabo, and Ambam? English based University Institutes should be created in Douala and Yaounde to cater for our 21st-century youths. Dr. Nalova can lead one of them.



9) Engaging the diaspora.

Giving the diaspora voting rights and awards dont suffice. The diaspora contributes about 30% of our GDP. Engaging this intellectual pool, this human capital will increase our growth between 1-1.5% yearly. We need foreign currency to service our debt. Issue bonds so they can buy; help them create SMEs in Cameroon from their residing countries and much more. They are one of the biggest assets. Shutting the door has made them an effective opposition party.



10) Youth unemployment.

Youth unemployment is as high as 70% in some of these regions. Start construction work on the Ring road, Bamenda-Babadjouroad ($192 million funding already approved by the World Bank, project ID: P150999), and Menchum Falls in the North West Region. In South West Region, begin tarring on Kumba-Mundemba stretch and intensify work on Kumba-Mamfe-Ekok road. This will not only reduce unemployment but link our country to Nigeria our biggest trading partner.



Madam, some may say these points fall short of their demands, while others might say its overreaching. The ZOPA (Zone of Possible Agreement) between both parties are meager. We need your voice to be the voice of the voiceless. Madam, be the voice of the voiceless. Lets save our beloved Cameroon and strengthen our republican institutions. Your children are crying.



God Speed

By Malle Peter Malle
Dr Nalova Lyonga Wilson Musa

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Buea, Dr Nalova Lyonga, has initiated a census to determine the number of students and lecturers attending lectures.

The Post Weekender reports that the census is to know the exact number of students and Staff for the academic year 2016/2017.

According to a Communique signed by the Vice Chancellor Dr Nalova Lyonga, all students attending lectures would register their names, including that of the lecturer who will submit the attendance sheets to the Deans of the various faculties.

The Post further reveals that the VC instructed that in case a lecturer meets an empty hall he or she should call the Dean of the faculty and Head of Department to witness and record. And should in case the students are present and the lecturer absent, the students will write down their names and delegate one person to give the Dean who will forward to authorities.

The Census which will span for one week comes in the wake failures for classes to resume after some Teachers Trade Unions called off the strike last week. But SYNES-UB did not sign that document as its president is alleged to be on the run.

However this census has yielded no fruits as the school campus has remained practically deserted. Reports have it that some lecturers have decided to teach but have met empty classrooms in their attempt.

This brings to question the veracity of University of Bueas engagement in the 11 February celebration as speculations were rife that those who took part in the march past were hired elsewhere. But UB authorities have not commented to these allegations.

Classes have been paralyzed since November 21, 2016 when Teachers Trade Unions launched the strike action which has now lasted for three months.
| BY Ricki Green |

The AANA today announced an event to build on its commitment to provide capability development to advertisers that want more guidance to obtain greater transparency over the return and effectiveness of their media investment. The event The Media Challenge: Achieving Transparency and Effectiveness to Drive Business Outcomes will take place on Tuesday 21 March 2017.

The event will feature, Nick Manning (left), chief strategy officer for Ebiquity PLC (UK) who led the Ebiquity/FirmDecisions team that worked with the ANA in the US over the 9 month project as well as Professor Mark Ritson, who delivered the AANA Marketing Deconstructed lecture series in 2016.

Says Sunita Gloster, CEO, AANA: In October last year, the AANA launched its plan to help advertisers obtain greater transparency over the return and effectiveness of their media investment. This included the publication of the AANA Media Contract Template and AANA Media Contract Guidance Notes as a starting point for advertisers to reduce or eliminate non-transparent and non-disclosed practices that related to their spend. This event is the next part of our commitment to increase advertisers capability in this area.

Nick Manning has in-depth knowledge of developments in this media challenge globally, but more so from his involvement in the ANA/K2 work in the US. I am delighted to bring him to our program as he will join us hot on the heels of his keynote presentation to leading U.S. CMOs at the ANAs Media Conference at which the AANA will be represented.

Ebiquity specialises in helping advertisers achieve accountability and transparency in media, and was selected by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) in the U.S. to create the Prescriptions, Principles and Processes for Advertisers report which followed the ANA/K2 Intelligence investigation. Manning was the principal author of the report. Manning also leads Ebiquitys partnership with the World Federation of Advertisers which ensures its member associations, including the AANA, remain well-informed on relevant global media developments.

Says Gloster: Professor Mark Ritson is a passionate advocate for the advertisers role in this media challenge and together with Nick Manning, this event will be one that Senior Marketers, their procurement leads and their agency partners should prioritise.
| BY Ricki Green |

With only one week remaining for photographers and filmmakers to enter this years D&AD Next Awards, F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi have released a new series of stop motion animations as the centre-piece of this years Every Pixel Counts campaign.

The campaign spotlights the work of previous Next Award winners and the attention to detail of their creative process. These animations will be shared across all social channels over the coming weeks before entries close on 22 February.

The animations were created using over 500 acrylic pieces, which were carefully lit and photographed frame by frame. It took seven days in the studio, more than 840 photos were taken, and for the animation and composition, each pixel in each frame of the film was individually separated, treated and coloured.

Production company Piloto talked about the animation process: We created the motion scenes on the computer, trying to find graphic patterns in movement, and then repeated them manually on the animation table, forming a ballet of Pixels.

Care for the smallest details is also evident in the choice of sound producer and voiceover for the animated campaign, Dru Barnes, a Grammy-nominated rapper, who immersed himself in the different texts before performing them. The six tracks were filmed in one day in New York with Brazilian musicians Aldo the Band providing the instrumental accompaniment.

The behind the scenes film brings all these elements together and an exclusive filmed interview with Rodrigo Castellari and Pedro Prado, creative directors at F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, explains the creative thinking behind the campaign.

For more information on the Next Awards click here.

AGENCY: F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi

CLIENT: D&AD

PRODUCT: Next Awards

TITLE: Every Pixel Counts

GENERAL CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Fabio Fernandes

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Pedro Prado | Rodrigo Castellari

CREATIVE: Pedro Prado | Rodrigo Castellari

ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT: Ricardo Forli | Thiago Iusim

RTV: Elucieli Nascimento | Fernanda Sousa | Rafael Paes | Renato Chabuh | Victor Alloza

FILM PRODUCER: Piloto

SCENE DIRECTION: Daniel Soro | Alexandre Chalabi

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Natalia Souza

ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT / LINE PRODUCER: Regina Knapp | Roberta Frederico | Ariane Esteves | Catia Nucci

DIRECTOR OF CINEMATOGRAPHY: Daniel Soro

SCENE-ART DIRECTOR: Alexandre Chalabi

PRODUCTION COORDINATOR: Suyan Mariotti | Caroline Souza

EDITING: Alexandre Chalabi and Arthur Britto

STOP MOTION ANIMATOR: Breno Licursi

ANIMATION AND COMPOSITION: Ricardo La Bella Simonetti | Rafael Meira | Monica Meira | Petterson Andre | Igor Romana

ROTOSCOPY: Diego Ruiz

FINISHER: Ed Andrade

POST PRODUCTION COORDINATOR: Nayla Kols | Regina Mimi

SOUND PRODUCER: Evil Twin

MAESTRO: Andre Faria | Murilo Faria

DOC CONTENT DIRECTOR: Ariel Danzinger (NY)

ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT: Juliana Tangary
| BY Ricki Green |

Samsung Electronics Australia has today announced the launch of a new marketing campaign designed to engage and educate Australian business audiences about the versatility of its mobile product and solution portfolio offering.

The business-to-business (B2B) campaign, Your business, your rules, has been developed by creative agency iris Sydney and will showcase Samsung Australias approach to communicating how its mobile technology can help support the needs of todays businesses.

Samsungs mobile offering for business now operates across compatible Windows and Android tablets, multiple compatible smartphones, smartwatches, software and solutions, as well as compatible virtual reality and applications  all of which can be tailored to the specific needs of business customers.

The campaign will roll-out via digital channels appearing across LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube and supported with a new website.

Says Steven Sherry, vice president, business and enterprise mobility at Samsung Australia: Mobile products and solutions play a critical role for any competitive business operation today. For Samsung, its imperative that we are able to support our business clients with products and solutions that are tailored to solve specific business challenges whilst helping to provide the security they need, via our Knox platform.

Businesses demand technology that can support productivity, mobility, and help solve specific business challenges they face each day.They want to make their own decisions and maintain control. The approach we are taking with this campaign acknowledges that not all staff are the same and that businesses need a diverse choice of mobile solutions.

Says Mark Treadwell, client service director, iris: In the cluttered, grey world of B2B, the traditional and somewhat lethargic, off-the-shelf solutions approach is no longer cutting it with the way people run their businesses. One size no longer fits all. This is a first for Samsung Australia in creating a bespoke local approach for B2B, and in doing so has created a paradigm shift from bottom line profit to customer experience.
DTAC, owned by Norwegian operator Telenor, said it plans to become a core digital service provider delivering integrated digital infrastructure and services to the countrys population.

We plan to spend between 17-20 billion baht [$485-$571 million] this year for network expansion, especially for 4G network capacity to accommodate the continued surge in mobile data demand, said CEO Lars Norling.

At the same time DTAC plans to use the upgrade to 4G to reduce the need for speed and data limitations on customers  a move likely to increase customers consumption of music, movies, TV and other content on their mobile services.

Facets of media and telecom services have resulted in anxieties, worries, and fears in complexity and limitations in products and services that prevent customers from fully enjoying the benefits of the new technology and services, said Norling. DTAC wants to think and do telecom differently, freeing up customers from those complexity and complications, and bringing about the new experience that is simple and worry-free.

The company will be lifting its so-called fair-usage policy that impose restrictions on data, said chief marketing officer Sitthichoke Nopchinabutr. We flip from reduced connection speed after [fair-usage policy] to no speed reduction We flip from limited data quota to unlimited data, said Sitthichoke.

However the Bangkok Post pointed out that DTAC opted out of Thailands auctions for 4G spectrum and that its 2G licence expires next year. DTAC said it planned to transform operations and working culture to overcome these challenges.

DTAC will present innovative products and services that customers find relevant, easy to understand, straightforward, and worry-free, including the network that provides easy access to digital experience wherever they are, service plans that serve customers needs and enable worry-free experience, digital services that connect, entertain, and benefit the digital lifestyles, said Norling.
Salem fatality on highway 60 Updated twice with additional details: Last 12:17pm There was a fatal automobile crash west of Salem on US 60 late last night, according to ...

Get ready for streets of treats Today 3:30 to 5pm Downtown Marion

Crittenden burn ban remains in effect Livingston County lifted its countywide burn ban early this week, but Crittenden Countys burn ban remains in effect. The state wildfire se...

Polling locations provided by Crittenden County Clerk Click Image to Enlarge The information at right pertains to polling locations in Marion and Crittenden County. Crittenden County Clerk Daryl...
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.

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In a bid to translate the government's focus on smart cities into action, Ashoka University's Centre for Entrepreneurship in association with the Dalmia Bharat Group and Microsoft Accelerator announced application calls for the second cohort of its AIM Smart City Accelerator program.

The joint initiative is aimed at nurturing innovative and committed early-stage startups with unique solutions focused on building a smarter and sustainable India. Following the success of last year, the five-month long program will also focus on startups in the areas of Education, Healthcare, Transport & Logistics and Infrastructure.

Apart from calling out entries for this year, the event showcased the finalists from last year who have been able to scale-up with funding and mentoring provided with the help of AIM program. In addition to this, six startups from Ashoka University's Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR) program were also showcased at the event.

Commenting on the initiative, Priyank Narayan, Director, Centre for Entrepreneurship, Ashoka University said, "We are elated to announce the second year of this innovative accelerator program. At Ashoka, it is our constant endeavour to foster critical thinking and entrepreneurship spirit among students and hence, this idea resonates with our core values. It further advocates government's focus on developing smart cities and gives bright minds a platform to nurture their ideas under the finest academic and industry networks and resources".

Echoing the same sentiment, Mr. Naveen Asrani, Director, Microsoft India, commented, "Startups that have a focus on building Smart Cities will play an important role to digitally transform India. We are delighted at the progress that the graduating startups have made and we wish them greater success for an exciting entrepreneurship journey.

We look forward to continue working with AIM Smart City Accelerator and empower startups working on smart cities solutions".

Applications for this program will be shortlisted by 12 April, 2016 on the basis of financial viability, technology feasibility, desirability to target audience, sustainability of the solution and track record of the team.

About CFE:

The Centre for Entrepreneurship at Ashoka University is designed as the hub for all entrepreneurial activities and endeavors for Fellows, faculty and founders alike. Having direct support from the founders of Ashoka, CfE is having some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the country on it board as mentors, who are personally going to help students groom their start-ups.

About Ashoka University:

Ashoka University is India's first non-profit liberal arts university built on the model of collective public philanthropy. With a strong emphasis on multidisciplinary learning, development of 21st-century skills and leadership attributes, Ashoka is preparing students to be critical thinkers and ethical leaders in an increasingly complex world.

About Microsoft Accelerator:

Microsoft Accelerator is a global program built to empower startups around the world on their journey to build great companies. We work with market-ready startups to provide the tools, resources, connections, knowledge and expertise they need to become successful companies. Our goal is to help startups mature into enterprise-ready companies by scaling every aspect of their business.

To learn more about how Microsoft empowers entrepreneurs to achieve more visit website:

https://www.microsoftaccelerator.com/
In an effort to further strengthen Indo-French academic collaboration, a delegation from "n+i" network of 50 French engineering institutes counseled students in Delhi and Uttarakhand on pursuing engineering from France.

The delegation discussed immense opportunities available for Indian engineering students in light of recent major collaborations between the two nations such as:

French Development Agency to extend technical assistance for development of three Smart Cities in India- Chandigarh, Nagpur and Puducherry.

Partnerships between Engineering Projects India Limited (EPI) and nine French companies who will be able to contribute to major infrastructure projects in India.

Participation of the Centre National d'etudes spatiales (CNES) in future space and planetary exploration missions of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO.)

Speaking at an open house hosted by UPES for its own and other students from Uttarakhand region, Dr. Jean Pierre Trotignon, Executive Director, n+i network, said, "n+i is not simply another academic exchange program (leading to Master's or PhD's degrees) but it involves training in sciences and technology and detailed cultural overview.

Students are offered the opportunity of extending their skills outside the traditional scientific and technological dimensions of an engineering qualification to areas such as the economic, sociological and managerial factors that will be part of their future careers.

This is achieved through cultural and linguistic adaptation programs and qualifying work placements. UPES understands the need of international exposure for Indian engineering students and we appreciate the instrumental role the University plays in making international education possible for its students".

Dr. Trotignon also shared that "n+i" takes the initiative for requesting scholarships from French public and private organizations like Ministries, Embassies, Airbus, Dassault Systems, Alten, Michelin Tyres etc. He was accompanied by Ms. Sapna Sachdeva, French Embassy Attache in India on University Relations, Ms. Golda Malhotra, Representative of French Culture Centre of "n+i" in India, Mr Sylvain Choin, Regional Director of 'Alliance Francaise' and representatives from 8 French Universities.

In last 15 years more than 250 Indian students have studied engineering at "n+i" network, which is around 10% of the total engineering students studying within the network from 80 countries. In India, "n+i" has MoU signed with UPES and other universities like DTU, BITS Pilani, VIT, Manipal, BKBIET Pilani, College of Engineering, Pune, NSIT, Shiv Nadar University.

Professor Dr. Ugur Guven, Vice President of International Affairs at UPES who organized the delegation's visit to UPES informed that global exposure is imperative for Indian engineers in today's time when Indian and global engineering sector is on a transformation curve.

At UPES, we are committed to provide opportunities to our students for them to gain experience in international scenarios so that they are industry-ready irrespective of geographical boundaries. In 2016, we sent 50 students from UPES to France for summer schools and internships and we have seen that their thinking and problem-solving abilities improve considerably. This year we aim to send 100 students."

About UPES:

University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) was established in the year 2003 through UPES Act, 2003 of the State Legislature of Uttarakhand. UPES is recognized by University Grants Commission (UGC) under Section 2(f) of the UGC Act, 1956 and accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).UPES offers 82 graduate and post graduate courses in the high-growth sectors like oil and gas, power, infrastructure, information technology, transportation, electronics, high technology, design, business, planning and architecture, public policy, legal studies and more. BBA, MBA, B Tech, M Tech, B Des, M Des, LLB, LLM, B Plan, M Plan, MA and many more are offered under these schools and colleges. Because of its multi disciplinary courses, UPES graduates are a preferred choice for the companies. UPES has maintained a consistent placement track record of 85% placements year on year.

This demonstrates UPES' commitment, quality of students, and the holistic approach of its dedicated faculty. UPES is a QS rated university with 5 Stars for both Employability (placements) and campus facilities and 4 Stars for Teaching.

For more information, please visit the official site: http://www.upes.ac.in/

For further information, contact:
Sometimes its good to be reminded of just how good a car is by giving it go once more. In the case of the Mitsubishi Xpander, its the smal...
What if I told you I work in a business that helps farmers in Kenya and Rwanda maintain their standard of living when drought destroys their crops? Or that my company replaces the income of small business owners in Guatemala when their business is shut down after an earthquake?

Executive Summary Monica Ningen, Swiss Res head of property underwriting for the U.S. & Canada and chief property underwriter, offers some ideas about how the insurance industry can fix its talent crisis and attract more young people to the industry. One idea she reinforces: make sure prospective hires know what insurers and their employees do to make society a better place.

If I told you those things you might not realize I work in reinsurance, because Im emphasizing the social good rather than talking about collecting a premium and paying claims. Doing good for society is something insurers shouldnt be ashamed of; we need to reframe the conversation about insurance because we are so much more than risk models and balance sheets. And what better time to reframe this conversation than right now, during the second annual Insurance Careers Month? We have a compelling story to tell and it needs to be told now more than ever as we face up to the challenge of how to attract our next generation of colleagues.

According to a Lumesse report, social responsibility is the new religion for millennials. Employers are embracing this new religion, using their influence and money to facilitate positive outcomes in society. Examples are all around us:

Microsoft deploys its Internet of Things technology to bring solar power to clinics and schools in Nigeria.

Disney partners with the nonprofit LGBTQ community to sponsor a national campaign that helps kids stand up to bullying.

BMW awards grants and assistance to nonprofits around the world that work to bridge cultural and religious gaps in multicultural societies.

Its no coincidence that organizations are investing in the underserved at a time when millennials are saturating the workforce. They want to work for a company with a social conscience, and thats not lost on business leaders. PwC finds 59 percent of CEOs believe top talent wants to work with organizations that share their social values and 67 percent feel it will be important in five years. Moreover, nearly two-thirds of those leaders say corporate social responsibility is core to their business and not a standalone program.

At Swiss Re, our vision is that of a more resilient world, and our mission is to help make it that way. But the societal good we do in the insurance industry is a well-kept secret. As an industry, were not great self-promoters, so we risk losing out on the best young talent to other industries.

When I was growing up, my grandmother advised me to go do good work, work thats good for the world. Armed with a degree in Economics and Business Management I embarked on a career in insurance. Along the way, Ive come to see an industry thats less about underwriting models and more about helping people move forward and face the future after a catastrophe.

In 2011, I had the opportunity to travel to Joplin, Missouri with a client insurance company to deliver a check to a policyholder whod lost their home in that citys historic tornado. As we passed block after block of flattened foundations and twisted trees, the scenes of devastation washing over me, something else began to emerge: the resolve of the people. Witnessing the spirit of the residents and seeing the smiles on their faces as we arrived, I recognized that we as an industry brought a small measure of hope as well as financial stability to that community, to help them put their lives back together.

A few weeks later, I spent the day in Joplin on a service project, gathering and hauling storm debris with about 60 coworkers. We witnessed firsthand the impact of volunteerism and the power of a promiseto be there when people need us. That promise is the heart of insurance, its not just a slogan or an abstract notion. Who wouldnt want to work for an employer that contributes to the rebuilding of lives and communities?

Besides helping people in tough times, insurance is aligned with the millennial ethos in other ways. The sharing economy helps participants gain more benefit from owned assets. Similarly, insurance is about sharing risk and reward.

Lemonade and other startups are borne of innovation. Many of these concepts are inspired by the millennial generation and its imperative that we open our doors wide to the best and brightest of this generation and their ideas. Why? One, because they are tomorrows consumer and two, to remain viable in a rapidly changing world.

Two years ago Deloitte discovered that a sense of purpose inspired six in 10 millennials to work with their current employers. Today the overarching theme is sense of empowerment, the latest survey finding many millennials feel unable to exert any meaningful influence on some of societys biggest challenges; but, in the workforce, they can feel a greater sense of control.

Lets champion their passion by providing them with a long career runway and the tools to develop solutions for a better society.
Zurich Insurance has revamped the structure for its Commercial Insurance business in the Asia Pacific Region, following the combination of its Global Corporate and Commercial units into a single division. The move is part of a broader move to streamline operations.

This simplified structure provides a single point of entry for commercial customers as they look to Zurich for an increasingly diverse range of products, said the company in a statement.

Zurichs move in its Asia Pacific market follows related actions earlier this year. In January, the carrier formally debuted its North America Commercial Insurance Unit, which, as disclosed in November, brings together the former Commercial Markets and former Global Corporate in North America Units.

The new Commercial Insurance business in Asia Pacific is headed by Chris Waterman, who joined Zurich as chief underwriting officer, Commercial, for the region in 2016. Waterman reports to Jack Howell, chief executive officer of Zurich in APAC, and Jim Shea, chief executive officer of Zurichs Commercial Insurance business globally.

The shift towards an increased product and underwriting focus sees the creation of three defined leaders for Casualty, Specialty and Property lines in the region, who each will be responsible for driving results in partnership with the country heads of Commercial:

Penny Seach joined Zurich on Feb. 6 as head of Casualty, APAC, from AIG where she was most recently the regional head of Casualty and Crisis Management.

Alex Morgan, currently chief underwriting officer, Commercial, Japan, will take on the role of head of Specialty, APAC, effective April 3 and relocate to Singapore.

Chris Waterman also takes on the role of head of Property, APAC.

Each of these new positions will be supported by a deputy. Geoff Gillmore will continue to support Property as deputy head; Echo Chen will continue to support Casualty as deputy head but will relocate to Singapore; and Tim Warren, currently head of Credit and Political Risk, APAC, is appointed deputy head of Specialty.

In Singapore, Reg Peacock, currently head of Commercial, Japan, will be appointed as CEO of Zurichs business in Singapore, subject to regulatory approval. Peacock will continue to lead Commercial, Japan until his appointment as Singapore CEO receives regulatory approval. When this approval is granted, Kazuhisa Otani, currently vice president, Distribution, for Commercial, Japan, will assume leadership of the Commercial, Japan team, subject to the necessary approvals.

This simpler structure provides our customers with a streamlined, tailored offering and brings the clarity of focus needed to target Zurichs global resources at the most important opportunities in Asia Pacific, commented Howell.

We are changing our go-to-market approach so we can provide customers and brokers with one single channel to access the tailored insurance and protection solutions they are looking for, said Waterman. With this new structure, we are also empowering each country with the authority and agility they need to make even faster decisions in response to their customer conversations.

Source: Zurich Insurance
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One weird dude Lessons from the Heart

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HARRISBURG  Pennsylvanias Republican Sen. Pat Toomey said Thursday that he was disappointed President Donald Trump has not been more critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and said America needs to get tougher on Russia.

Toomey held a 40-minute town hall-style teleconference from Washington, amid criticism from Trumps critics who have jammed Toomeys office telephone lines, pressing him to oppose Trumps nominees and agenda.

Toomeys criticism of Trump centered on his stance toward Putin and Trumps ban on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations.

On Putin, Toomey ticked off a list of concerns, saying the Russian president is a dangerous man and an authoritarian who has stolen tens of billions of dollars from the Russians and is responsible for the murder of Russians, while Russian forces have invaded Ukraine and massacred civilians in Syria.

Its a long list of very bad behavior by Putin, and I am disappointed that President Trump hasnt been more openly critical of Vladimir Putin, Toomey said.

Toomey said the U.S. needs to push back on Putin aggressively, including strengthening sanctions against Russia and providing help to Ukraine. Toomey said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis fully understand the threat that Putin poses.

Still, Toomey has backed every Trump Cabinet nominee and has said he will support Trumps Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch. He also defended some of Trumps moves, including executive orders to review the 2010 financial oversight law and make it easier for the Keystone XL pipeline to move forward.

Toomey, a conservative, was narrowly re-elected in November to a second six-year term in moderate Pennsylvania. Toomey was critical of Trump during the campaign, but still voted for him.

On the travel ban, Toomey repeated earlier criticism that Trumps travel ban was too broad and poorly rolled out and explained.

Separately, Toomey backed Trumps ouster of Michael Flynn as national security adviser, after Flynn misled Vice President Mike Pence about his discussion of U.S. sanctions with Russias ambassador to the U.S. before the inauguration. However, Toomey also questioned how U.S. intelligence agencies came to know about Flynns conversations and said Flynn had been spied on.

The FBI has wide legal authority to eavesdrop on the conversations of foreign intelligence targets, including diplomats, inside the U.S. On Jan. 26, then-Acting Attorney General Sally Yates contacted White House counsel Don McGahn about the contacts, based on routine recordings of communications with foreign officials who are in the U.S.
Mercedes-Benz will drop the veils off the all-new E-Class Cabriolet at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show, early next month.



Coming to complete the new E-Class family, alongside the sedan, estate, Coupe, All-Terrain and the China-only long wheelbase saloon, the drop-top model will pretty much look identical to the two-door, bar the chopped roof.

It will likely share an identical engine lineup, with Europe to get a 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesel, producing 191 horsepower, a 2.0-liter turbo petrol with 181 HP and 242 HP, and a twin-turbo V6 petrol, rated at 328 HP. The AMG E50 and AMG E63 S Cabriolet will follow at a later stage.

Joining the new E-Class Cabriolet on Genevas floors will be a highly unusual variant of the legendary off-road icon, the G-Class, or in other words, the Mercedes-Maybach G650 Landaulet, unveiled earlier this week. Created by the Maybach division, it will be produced in just 99 examples, all of them powered by a 6.0-liter V12 engine that pushes out 630 HP and 1,000 Nm (738 lb-ft) of torque. This is the final limited edition based on the current G-Class, as Mercedes-Benz has a replacement in development.

Carrying a modified front end and a slightly different rear, the facelifted GLA will be on display in Geneva, as well. The automaker will probably bring the 220 4Matic newcomer, that has 184 HP and 300 Nm (221 lb-ft) of torque, alongside the range-topping AMG 45 4Matic, whose 2.0-liter petrol lump develops 381 HP and 475 Nm (350 lb-ft) of torque.

Besides these vehicles, Mercedes-Benzs parent company, Daimler, will also bring special editions of the SL, SLC, and Smart at the Swiss event, along with several AMG performance models.

Mercedes-Benz E-Class renderings courtesy of TheophilusChin

PHOTO GALLERY
A one-off Evora 410 inspired by probably the most well-known Lotus of all time is the latest car to come out of Lotus Exclusive, the companys in-house personalization department.



In case youre still wondering which model that is, were talking about the Lotus Esprit S1 as seen in the Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me which is currently celebrating its 40th anniversary.

The Lotus Evora 410 is currently the most potent version of the series, powered by a 3.5-litre V6 pumping out 410hp mated to a six-speed manual gearbox, enabling it to hit 60 mph (96 km/h) in just 3.9 seconds.

Its the perfect tribute to such an influential Lotus, but a world away in terms of its abilities and performance, said Jean-Marc Gales, Lotus CEO. Supremely fast and agile, rivals cars look overweight and underpowered in comparison. Lotus was founded on the principle of lightweight engineering and, even today, nobody does it better.

The one-off example features many unique touches, including a black-and-white livery with a color-coded front bumper and a rear one-piece carbon tailgate, a bespoke badge script on the B pillar in the same font of the original Esprit, a cabin lavished in heritage tartan fabric with red stitching and an Alcantara dashboard.

Lotus claims up to 64 kg (141 lbs) of real downforce is delivered from the Evora 410s aero agenda in order to further boost its performance, both on road and on track. The bodywork features real carbon-fiber parts, including the front splitter, revised front access panel, roof section, tailgate, rear quarter panels, as well as the rear diffuser.

Our customers have really embraced the Lotus Exclusive service, with 25% of new cars undergoing some form of personalization, Gales added. It is well established that Lotus cars come with benchmark performance as standard.

Lotus has capped the production of the Evora 410 to just 150 units per year and is currently getting ready to launch their North American version, with the car expected to be introduced this spring.

PHOTO GALLERY
Hyundai released the first teaser image of the new i30 Wagon which is set to make its world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show.



Its no secret that the Korean company intends to expand the i30 family with more variants and the Wagon version is the first one to show up.

Stylistically, dont expect any surprises as Hyundai will keep the sober looks of the regular i30 and just add a longer roofline and -judging from the teaser image- a different set of taillights.

The engine range is expected to mirror that found in the i30 hatchback, including the companys new turbocharged 1.4-litre petrol with 138hp (140PS).

Of course the new Hyundai i30 Wagon will offer a bigger boot that will turn it into a more practical proposition as a family car, going against cars like the Skoda Octavia Estate.

Hyundai is also working on a sportier N version of the i30 which according to the latest reports will be powered by a turbo 2.0-litre petrol, available with 247hp (250PS) and 271hp (275PS) but that version is not expected until the end of the year.

PHOTO
SPRINGFIELD, Mass.  A federal judge in Massachusetts has dismissed a defamation lawsuit against comedian Bill Cosby, although he still faces criminal charges in Pennsylvania.

Judge Mark Mastroianni ruled Thursday that Katherine McKee didn't adequately show Cosby defamed her when his representatives called a 2014 New York Daily News story on her rape allegations defamatory and demanded a retraction.

The former actress alleged the 79-year-old Cosby raped her in a Detroit hotel in 1974.

McKee was among dozens of women to come forward with allegations recently and among at least eight suing for defamation in Massachusetts, where Cosby owns a home.

Cosby's lawyers called Thursday's decision the "correct outcome." McKee's attorneys didn't immediately comment.

In Pennsylvania, "The Cosby Show" star has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a former employee at Temple University.
Mercedes-Benz are getting ready to unleash their first all-electric truck onto the market.



Based on the Urban eTruck study that debuted last year at the IAA, the production version was officially confirmed today, with the Germans already in talks with some 20 potential customers from the disposal, foodstuffs and logistics sector, who have shown interest in it.

Following the world premiere in September 2016, at the International Commercial Vehicle Show, the customer reaction was outstanding. We are currently talking to around 20 potential customers from the disposal, foodstuffs, and logistics sector. With the small series, we are now rapidly taking the next step towards a series product, commented the Head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks, Stefan Buchner.

In order to better suit their needs, 18- and 25-ton versions of the eTruck will be launched and, depending on their applications, they will come with a refrigerated body, a dry box body, or a platform vehicle.

With a zero-emission range of up to 200 km (124 miles), gross vehicle weight rating of up to 25 tons, and a maximum payload of 12.8 tons, the first batch will be handed over to customers in Germany and throughout Europe later this year, to use for a period of 12 months. During this time, they will be supported by the Mercedes-Benz road-testing department.

Daimlers truck division will also launch a global small series production of the light-duty electric truck Fuso eCanter, later in 2017. Roughly 150 units will be delivered to selected customers in Europe, Japan and USA.

PHOTO GALLERY
Thinking about a safari in Africa means bumping into the ubiquitous old SUVs and pickup trucks, but what if we told you that theres a posh alternative to those vehicles?



Were talking about the super limited and expensive Mercedes-Maybach G650 Landaulet, two examples of which were shipped to South Africa for its press launch.

Combining a luxurious interior with rock-crawling abilities, the two hardcore SUVs, accompanied by a few regular versions of the G-Class, took a small team of automotive journalists in search of Africas Big Five: the lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, and buffalo.

One of the lucky few that got to enjoy the Landaulets features before it debuts at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show, next month, is YouTuber Shmee, who may not have had the chance to drive it on the challenging terrain, but he enjoyed the ride from the rear seats, which come straight from the Mercedes-Maybach S600.

And since the first video revolves around the unique adventure, Shmee dropped a second one, where he talks about the features of this Laundalet that will only be sold in Europe, Middle East and Russia.

VIDEOS
Heres our must-see events:

1. Special Guest: Mathieu Labaye

Mathieu Labaye is a Belgian director who has won numerous awards for his works, which explore themes of movement, constraint, and breaking imposed limits. His lauded short films Orgesticulanismus and Le Labyrinthe both investigate ideas around the confinement of ones body, mind, and environment, and the freedom and strength found within inner space. His virtuosic chops and ease with hand-drawn animation are a unique window into these topics. Labayes works allow the viewer to rethink these subjects on a deeper level, through the expertly fine-tuned eye of an artist with an incredibly strong understanding of human motion and its meaning in our lives. Labaye will be present to discuss his work in a Q&A following the screening.

2. Landscapes + Architecture

Through the invention of impossible architectures and the reimagination of existing ones, these films subvert the usual approach to depicting space. Abstracting the familiar and generating chaos from order, in this program the character of a landscape is reevaluated and a background becomes a foreground. The majority of these films utilize computer graphics and manipulated photography to depict a world that is simultaneously structurally recognizable and deeply alien. The frame is used to challenge the frame, the grid is used to veer off the grid.

3. Special Guest: Lei Lei

Lei Lei is a master of style and one of the most exciting young Chinese animators working today. Bold and elegant at the same time, his animations follow characters as they navigate his angled landscapes of bright colors and shifting shapes, each film a kaleidoscope of found imagery, vintage book covers, and imagined worlds. Also a musician, Lei Leis beats and melodies are a distinctive component of his animated universe. His award-winning work has shown in top animation festivals throughout the world, and this retrospective screening will show the growth of his prolific animation practice. Lei Lei will be present for a Q&A following the screening.

4. Post-Sincerity in Animation

On their surface, the films in this program are lacquered with sarcastic playfulness and insincerity. At their core, however, they are in fact deeply sincere films that address difficult emotions. Using humor and absurdity, these works examine some of the repression and pain that comes with being a sentient being. These films reach their emotional register through misdirection. A large smirk wraps around a tenderness that is buried in the deepest layer. Or maybe its the other way around. Are they fucking with you?

5. Special Guest: Masaaki Yuasa

Masaaki Yuasa is a highly acclaimed director working outside the mold of traditional Japanese animation, slicing open the conventions of anime on his own terms. Yuasa is known for directing such works as Ping Pong, Kaiba, and Tatami Galaxy, and has worked in many corners of the field as a storyboard artist, screenwriter, animator, and co-founder of Science Saru animation studio. Utilizing a vibrancy and a crudeness that liberates, Yuasas work is revered for its wildness and invention. His style is infused with a broad variety of influences and his narratives are unapologetically raw, fresh, and bizarre, creating a new form of psychedelia. A special screening of his first feature film Mind Game will be followed by a Q&A with Yuasa led by Nobuaki Doi, animation scholar and director of the New Chitose Airport Festival.

6. Sensual Animation

Animation is a medium that can express the sensuality and stickiness of our inner desires in a way that no other form can. A quivering line. An infinite tongue. A slowly split piece of platonic fruit. It is a flexible space for the expression of id, taboo, fantasy and pleasure. This selection of films probes the psychology of desire and the sensual from a variety of different positions. Libidinal expression has pulsed throughout the history of animation and these films continue the pursuit to scratch that itch. This program is intended to be viewed as a group, side by side in the dark, almost touching.

7. Special Guest: Amy Lockhart

In Amy Lockharts idiosyncratic candy-colored world, all cartoon creatures flex, smear, blink and lick in perpetuity. Lockhart is a multi-faceted artist and teacher who works in animation, sculpture, painting, and comics. Her techniques range from a masterful manipulation of DIY aesthetics like papier mache and painted paper cut outs to irreverent digital Amiga animations that boast their glitches. Lockharts work is embedded with a strong sense of craft and an awareness of animation history, fully owning and repurposing cartoon logic and physics to her own absurdist ends. Are her anthropomorphic hamburgers snickering with you or at you? Youll never know. Join us for complete retrospective of Lockharts films followed by a Q&A.

8. Installation: Pattern Language by Peter Burr

Pattern Language is a term coined by architect Christopher Alexander describing the aliveness of certain human ambitions through an index of structural patterns. Some advocates of this design approach claim that ordinary people can use it to successfully solve very large, complex design problems. In this installation, the vocabulary of Alexanders system is employed towards the construction of an endlessly mutating death labyrinth, projected inside an immersive 4-channel video environment. Audiences enter the environment and may choose to stand, sit or recline on a stepped platform. Peter Burr is an artist from Brooklyn, NY specializing in animation and installation. His work has been presented at venues across the world including Le Centre Pompidou, Paris; Reina Sofia National Museum, Madrid; and MoMA PS1, New York. His recent work explores the concept of an endlessly mutating death labyrinth and is being expanded into a video game through the support of Creative Capital and Sundance. A retrospective of Peters works will be presented in addition to the installation.

GLAS will take place from March 2-5 in Berkeley, California. For more information on programs and attending the festival, visit GLASAnimation.com.

Cartoon Brew is proud to be a major sponsor of the GLAS Animation Festival.
Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

A 20-year-old Hedley man was handed a 42-day sentence and 18 months probation in Penticton court on Thursday for illegally being in possession of a rifle.

Harry Coleman Aiken was facing several charges including the unauthorized possession of a firearm, in this case a family heirloom.

Crown prosecutor Andrew Vandersluys told court that on March 5, 2015, RCMP officers responded to a report of a young man out of control at home in Hedley. Officers were told the young man had been a fight with his brother.

Later the same day, police were called to the home again, his mother came out holding rifle bullets and said she was pushed by her son. She told officers he had a rifle in his room. Upon entering, they found a plastic rifle case in his closet.

Aiken told RCMP that he had a license for the rifle his father had given him. This proved to be untrue, and he was arrested for unauthorized possession of a firearm. The gun was seized.

Aiken was released on a promise to appear in court, but was arrested again in June 2015 on an outstanding warrant following a series of breaches of probation.

This was followed by a domestic assault, involving a young female acquaintance, on Dec. 26, 2016. He was arrested on Jan. 12 on more outstanding warrants, including the domestic assault investigation. He has been in custody ever since.

Forensic and presentence reports did not diagnose Aiken with a major mental disorder, but did find a cannabis use disorder, described as the continuous use of cannabis despite it causing impairment or distress significantly more than usual.

Defence lawyer Nelson Selamaj told the court this is a young person who hasn't quite figured out his life yet, pointing to his lack of criminal record.

In handing down the sentence, Judge Gregory Koturbash told Aiken there was a strong link between his behaviour and use of marijuana, adding that hes still young and still has time to get things under control.

With the credit for time served, he has six days remaining in custody.

Probation conditions include staying away from the person involved in the domestic dispute and not possessing or consuming any alcohol or illegal drugs. He was also handed a three year firearms ban.
Photo: Dustin Godfrey

Isabeau Venables has started her career with the Penticton Fire Department, making her the first-ever full-time female firefighter in the city.

She brings over 10 years of experience with her, including seven years fighting wildfires with the BC Wildfire Service and four years as an auxiliary firefighter with the PFD before recently starting as a full-time firefighter with the department.

"It definitely wasn't something I decided I was going to do overnight," Venables said.

Jumping from auxiliary to full-time at the department isn't always an easy hurdle, with greater responsibilities, but Venables says she's enjoying it so far.

"I'm pretty excited; it's been a bit of a whirlwind the last couple of weeks," she said. "I'm just trying to enjoy the moments as they come and take everything in stride and, of course, learn as much, or soak in as much information as I can."

She says she doesn't focus too much on the issue of gender in the fire department, focusing more on the work itself.

"Because of my background with forestry, I don't really recognize that so much, I just kind of see myself as an individual that ... has knowledge or previous experiences to be able to offer to the career team," she said. "I just see myself as somebody that's really interested in having a career that's super dynamic."

In fact, the notion of being the first female firefighter in the department first came up for her in the form of her coworker's daughters.

"It didn't really hit me until one of my coworkers mentioned that now he is able to shine a light on firefighting as a career for his daughters because he has somebody to be an example to them, now," she said. "I try not to think too hard about it, because I don't want to make myself different from everybody else, but it's definitely exciting."

Venables says she'd like to see more young women and girls looking at firefighting as a career, noting that another woman has joined the auxiliary ranks this spring.

"She is definitely interested in pursuing a career in the fire service, so definitely the interest is there," she said. "I'm 31, now, so it's exciting to see these younger women come up and show interest and really dive into what the auxiliary program for Penticton has to offer."
Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

There has been a steady flow of people looking for work at at a job fair held Thursday in Penticton.

The Cascades Casino Penticton teamed up with YMCA WorkBC to accept resumes and offer on-the-spot interviews at the event at the Lakeside Resort in the afternoon. An evening session is also running from 6 to 9 p.m.

"This is our first job fair and this gives people interested in working at the new casino the opportunity to sit down with managers and learn about the jobs and at the same time we learn about them," said Michael Magnusson, general manager of the casino.

The new casino, now under construction, is looking for 150 new employees to join the existing 140.

The primary focus is on food and beverage services for the restaurant including cooks, hostesses and salaried managers. They are also hiring for gaming positions and support staff.

Two hours in, at 3 p.m., about 150 job applicants had dropped by.

They were welcomed by staff and invited to interview for different positions at stations around the room.

"I am really happy with the turnout," said Magnusson. "One of the things I was looking for from this is it's the first job fair to gauge the interest in the community, which will determine if we have to have subsequent fairs."

Applicant Shawn Burke said he came by because it sounded like a great opportunity.

"I have worked in the hotel industry for years and a casino is a similar industry, and I am looking to diversify and expand my skills," he said. "It's also nice to meet face to face which is important when you are trying to find a job."

Brenda Fenske of Penticton agreed.

"I think it's fabulous for the city of Penticton to get a new facility like this and I'd definitely like to be a part of it," she said

Construction on the new casino is on schedule. It is slated to open in the spring of this year.
Photo: Mike Green

A new distillery is getting ready to open up in the South Okanagan this spring.

Tumbleweed Spirits in Osoyoos is the latest to join a rapidly growing craft distilling industry in the Okanagan.

Originally from the Lower Mainland, with a home in Osoyoos, founder Mike Green said he and his winemaker wife were looking for a vineyard to purchase, but quickly realized it just wouldnt be financially feasible.

The market is pretty saturated with wineries and craft brewing, Green said Distilling is sort of a new and exciting industry.

Tumbleweed Spirits will join Legend Distilling in Naramata, Old Order and Maple Leaf Spirits in Penticton and Dubh Glas in Oliver, making the South Okanagan an exciting region for an already strong B.C. industry.

B.C. is really leading the charge for craft distilleries, there only about 70 in Canada and I think we are up to 39 in B.C. now, Green said.

The products are really interesting, I think thats one of the things thats fuelling it, once you start drinking the craft spirits, when you go back to the mainstream on shelf stuff, gin in particular is pretty boring, he added.

Craft distilleries in B.C. are required to use B.C. ingredients, which prevents them from producing rum, because sugar beets and sugarcane are not grown in the province.

Green says they are trying to convince a local farmer to grow sugar beets, which would allow them to create the provinces only craft rum.

We want to make really different products that showcase all the produce and fruit from the Okanagan, he said.

Rock Creek Rye, made with rye grown in Rock Creek is in the works, alongside a chilli  cucumber vodka, apricot - vanilla vodka and maple moonshine for Canada 150.

The distillery is aiming for a May long weekend grand opening, and will offer tastings, tours and product for sale in 750ml bottles.

The equipment is really cool stuff, all custom made, big stainless tanks and copper stills, it looks like something out of a science fiction movie, Green said.

He anticipates a busy summer season and will likely be visiting farmers markets in the South Okanagan this year selling Tumbleweed products. Green said they plan on targeting local private liquor stores and restaurants in the fall.
Photo: Contributed

How much screen time is too much for a child?

Local experts with Children for a Better Future delivered a presentation Wednesday evening in Penticton to help parents navigate a completely new set of challenges that have emerged over the last decade.

While the average North American adult spends 10.5 hours in front of a screen, new research has shown exposure well below that can have detrimental effects on children.

Kids that spend more than 2 hour a day in front a screen show greater psychological difficulties, regardless of if they spent time outside or not, said presenter Gloria Bucil.

What people have found, if they have a kid that games a lot they get into a really heightened state physiologically, because in a way, they are in a war, or fighting or doing something," she said. "So when they close that computer after a couple hours, their brain doesnt stop being in that fight or flight mode."

Bucil was clear that they are not anti-technology, but stated the importance of limiting screen time and having open conversations with children about the impacts of technology.

When you put limits on the amount of screen time a kid has, they start to show less disruptive behaviours.

Social media proves to be a whole other can of worms for parents.

Between 1999 and 2014, the age group with the highest increase in suicide rate are girls between the ages of 10 and 14, Bucil said.

She again stressed the importance of having frank conversations with children about cyberbullying.

If kids see someone get bullied online they can share that with their parents," Bucil said.

Ive talked to different people who went to Pen High and others who shared some really devastating stories.

Bucil will be holding another session in March at the Shatford Centre, though the date has yet to be determined. Children for a Better Future are also holding small workshops for some parents on the issue. Those interested can get in touch with the group online.
Photo: The Canadian Press

When it comes to negotiating a softwood lumber agreement, British Columbia Premier Christy Clark says she prefers an unpredictable American administration, rather than the previous disinterested U.S. government.

Clark said she feels more confident about Canada's chances of reaching a softwood lumber trade deal after her cabinet was briefed Thursday by Canada's ambassador to the U.S., David MacNaughton, and David Emerson, B.C.'s recently appointed trade envoy on the softwood file.

She said Barack Obama's administration was focused on reaching the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement and barely responded to Canadian attempts to talk about the softwood deal, which expired in 2015.

"They just simply weren't interested," Clark said at a news conference after the cabinet meeting. "So, unpredictable change can sometimes be good if it means we have an administration that, for the first time in a long time in the U.S., is interested in getting this agreement resolved."

MacNaughton said recent behind-the-scenes talks and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's visit to Washington to meet U.S. President Donald Trump have managed to raise the profile of the agreement with the Americans.

"They see it as a small, regional issue," he said. "The most important thing we did was impress upon them how important it was to Canada. It's a national issue that affects hundreds of communities."

Clark said about 40 per cent of B.C.'s rural communities are dependent on forestry. The forest industry provides more than 60,000 direct jobs in the province and last year's value of lumber exports from B.C. to the U.S. was $4.6 billion.

B.C. is Canada's largest producer of softwood lumber, accounting for about half of national production.

The 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement to ensure stable lumber trade between the two countries expired on October 12, 2015.

Last November, the U.S. lumber Coalition, an alliance of large and small softwood lumber producers, filed a petition to the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission to limit Canadian lumber shipments.

The coalition claims Canada unfairly subsidizes it's lumber industry, which harms American workers who are experiencing mounting unemployment.

"The petition alleges that Canadian provincial governments, which own the vast bulk of Canadas timberlands, provide standing trees to Canadian producers for an administered fee that is far below the market value of the timber, as well as a number of other subsidies," said a statement from U.S. Lumber Coalition.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Almost 500 migrants forced their way into Spanish territory in North Africa early Friday by breaking through gates in the 20-foot fence that separates Morocco from Spain's Ceuta enclave.

The Ceuta regional government gave the figures, with officials saying it was believed to be the biggest border invasion in recent years. Ceuta is separated from the rest of Spain by the Strait of Gibraltar.

Some 700 migrants attempted to smash through several gates simultaneously at about 6 a.m., a Ceuta government official told The Associated Press. He refused to be identified, in accordance with government rules.

He said 498 migrants made it into Spanish territory, with two hospitalized due to injuries they sustained in the assault. He said 11 Spanish police were also hurt.

A Civil Guard spokesman said police clashed with the migrants at the Tarajal area of the fence. He declined to disclose his identity in line with internal policy. At least 10 members of Morocco's armed forces were also injured, he said.

More than 30 migrants were treated at a migrant centre for bone fractures and other injuries. Some were also cut trying to scale the fence, which is topped with barbed wire, said Clemen Nunez, director of Ceuta's Red Cross emergency response team.

According to the Civil Guard, a surveillance camera showed hundreds of people approaching the fence, using tools and clubs to break one of the gates.

In video filmed by Faro TV Ceuta, some of the migrants can be seen with blood on their faces and bruises but mostly celebrating the arrival in Spanish territory. Some wrapped themselves with Spanish and European flags and screamed "Freedom, freedom!"
Remember you were a stranger

Dear Editor:

Why has President Donald Trump, who while campaigning represented himself as faithful to Judeo-Christian values, now ordered such shameful, hurtful anti-refugee policies?

The laws given in Exodus and Deuteronomy remind us all that we were once oppressed foreigners: You shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Ex. 23:9)

The prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Malachi, and Zechariah all cry out against abuse and neglect of the stranger in need. Even the music of the Psalms (94) laments such vile action.

Jesus Himself teaches people that want to be His followers to remember HE is being neglected when the needy foreigner is refused.

I was a stranger, and you did not invite me in; naked and you did not clothe me; sick  and you did not visit. (Matt. 25:43)

Jesus did not make this teaching dependent on having a Green Card nor extreme vetting. He taught that outsiders were also part of the Kingdom in stories of the Syro-Phoenician, Samaratins, even a Roman centurion.

Refugees by definition are trying to escape violence in their homelands. They should not be turned away from America, even temporarily. To do so is both cruel and ineffective. Matthew Sorens of World Relief, an agency of the National Association of Evangelicals, points out that since 1980 the U.S. has welcomed over 3 million refugees, and in all that, none admitted under current vetting has committed a terrorist attack in this country.

Further, NO attacks have been carried out in the U.S. by any immigrant from any of the seven prohibited nations.

People of faith need to cry out against the policies of those with hearts of stone that would deny our brothers and sisters safe harbor in our land.

Geoff Von Burg

Carlisle
Photo: DriveBC

UPDATE: 11:35 a.m.

Highway 1 has reopened near Salmon Arm.

ORIGINAL: 7:45 a.m.

A crash has closed Highway 1 about 30 kilometres east of Salmon Arm.

DriveBC says there is no detour and no estimated time of reopening.

There is a warning for water pooling on the highway in the area.
Photo: Kimberley Alpine

The City of Kimberley has applied to the province for funding to capture as many as 50 deer and move them far from the southeastern B.C. city.

Council made the decision based on a recent count of area deer and an increase in complaints about aggressive does.

Councillor Darryl Oakley says it's too late in the winter to consider removing any deer in 2017, so the translocation can't happen until next January, at the earliest.

He says the latest application to move deer is based on expectations that the number of problem animals will increase, but he also notes that this winter has been harsh and he has received anecdotal reports that deer are not surviving.

Kimberley participated in an urban deer translocation program in 2016, which removed 60 deer from East Kootenay communities.

Translocation and culling have been used to control habituated deer in a number of areas around B.C., because the animals can damage infrastructure and can be aggressive toward pets and people, especially during mating and fawning seasons.
Photo: Contributed

Dogs in New Zealand are about to get a taste of the North Okanagan.

True Leaf Pet, a Vernon-based company that manufactures hemp dog treats, has entered into an agreement with a Christchurch, New Zealand, company.

Starting in April, Liberty Premium Pet Products will distribute the chews to pet retail stores across the country.

With no other comparable hemp-based therapeutic dog products already on the market in New Zealand, were enthusiastic about the release of True Hemp and eager to see the response of dog owners to True Hemp, said Libertys managing partner Carl Rees.

True Hemp is already sold across North America, England and Germany.

True Leaf CEO Darcy Bomford said the companys growth is a success story.

Its hard to believe were now on three continents in only our second year, he said.
Photo: The Canadian Press

The relatively low value of the loonie isn't deterring Canadians from travelling to the United States, especially to winter vacation spots in Florida, Arizona and Hawaii, Air Canada said Friday.

Transborder revenues increased 7.2 per cent last year to $2.89 billion, a sign that Canadians are increasingly heading to the U.S., said Ben Smith, the airline's president of passenger services.

"The demand is holding up quite nicely despite the lower Canadian dollar," Smith told analysts during a discussion of its fourth-quarter and 2016 results. That kind of demand wasn't seen in the past when the loonie was low, he added.

In his response, Smith avoided an analyst's question about whether heated political rhetoric in the U.S. has increased bookings to Canada.

Over the past year, the Canadian dollar has traded between the 72-cent and 79-cent US mark. Transborder traffic at Air Canada between the U.S. and Canada grew 13 per cent in that time.

Air Canada, Canada's largest airline, expects overall network traffic will increase again this year with the addition of 18 new destinations. But the company said the pace will slow as it reaches the end of a three-year plan to add seats with the arrival of new Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft and an expansion of its discount Rouge subsidiary.

Capacity grew nearly 15 per cent in 2016 as Air Canada added 28 new destinations, most of which were international.
Photo: Flickr/BC Gov't

Money from Ottawa to fight an ongoing overdose crisis helped sway British Columbia into signing a new 10-year, $1.4 billion health funding deal, says the province's health minister.

Terry Lake stood alongside federal Health Minister Jane Philpott on Friday as she announced the new agreement, which includes $785 million for home care and $654 for mental-health initiatives.

"Our governments will work together to strengthen health-care systems and reach our top priority, keeping Canadians healthy," Philpott said.

Lake has repeatedly said the province would not negotiate a separate deal with the federal government after talks between the provinces, territories and Ottawa broke down in December. They rejected a federal offer that would have poured an additional $25 billion over five years into health care, with money tagged specifically for mental health and home care.

Ottawa has been a tough negotiator, Lake said.

"I would be lying if I said we weren't hoping for more. But now we have this agreement, it's time to get down to work and make sure this money is targeted and achieves our common goals for all Canadians," he said.

Philpott also announced Friday that the federal government will spend $65 million across the country to combat the opioid crisis, which Lake said was "one of the reasons" B.C. signed the health deal.

The money will support what communities have asked for: better lab testing, data and surveillance, she said.

British Columbia has been the epicentre of the crisis and Philpott said the province will get an additional $10 million to help its emergency response.

Lake said the amount B.C. has spent to fight drug overdoses is approaching $100 million.

"It is a staggering amount of money, but (there is) a more staggering human toll that we're talking about here."

The province said Friday that 116 people died last month as a result of illicit drug use, in addition to a record 914 people last year.

There are indications that many of those who fatally overdoses were drug-dependent and hadn't been successful with a variety of treatment programs, chief coroner Lisa Lapointe said in a statement. It would be "wise to seriously consider" providing clean, medical-grade heroin to the "small subset of users for whom nothing else has worked," she said.

Philpott acknowledged in an interview that opioid overdoses have become "arguably the greatest public health crisis of our time," and said a broad range of treatment is necessary.

The federal government has overturned a ban on medical-grade heroin and, from a federal perspective, there's nothing standing in the way of the drug being prescribed to treat addiction, Philpott said.

"We have done our part on making sure that's possible and it will be up to provider groups and provinces to determine which route they will use. But certainly, there should be no tool that's not available to people in appropriate ways," she said.

Lake said the province will take direction from the B.C. Centre for Substance Use on whether an existing prescription heroin program in Vancouver should be expanded. But he said a multi-faceted approach is required to address the issue.
Photo: Contributed

The head of Canada's auto workers union says the country is on the cusp of building its industry again and shouldn't be concerned with the protectionist policies of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Unifor president Jerry Dias said the automotive industry is in an opportunistic time because of a recent commitment by the so-called Detroit Big Three automakers to invest about $1.5 billion in their Canadian operations after weeks of collective bargaining, as well as a shift in policy from the federal government.

He said the next step is continued investment, such as the Liberal's recent decision to change the automotive innovation fund from repayable loans to grants.

Dias isn't worried this continued investment will be jeopardized by President Trump who has called for automakers to build plants in America to create jobs at home.

Dias said the U.S. leader has bigger fish to fry than Canada and is likely to focus on Mexico  which has a disproportionate amount of investment compared to how many cars are purchased in the country  when it comes to big changes to NAFTA.

He said NAFTA has been unfair to workers in all three countries and any tweaks are likely to make things more beneficial for Canada, which should see a number of jobs in the country that reflects the amount of cars sold within its borders.

Ford's commitment to investing $700 million in its Ontario facilities has not wavered since the election of Trump, Mark Buzzell, head of the automaker's Canadian operations, said Thursday.
Photo: Google Street View

UPDATE: 2 p.m.

The federal and British Columbia governments have announced $469 million in upgrades to two stretches of Highway 1 through southeastern B.C., including a section that could be the most expensive stretch of road in Canada.

B.C. Transportation Minister Todd Stone says most of the funding, $450 million, is for improvements to a four-kilometre section of the Kicking Horse Canyon east of Golden.

At an estimated $110 million dollars per kilometre, Stone says the upgrades to Highway 1 through the canyon will likely make the roadwork the most expensive in provincial and Canadian history.

He defends the price, saying the short section of highway has a fatality rate three-times higher than the provincial average.

Work on the section west of Golden is expected to begin later this year, but engineering and other challenges linked to the Kicking Horse upgrade means construction won't start until 2019 and will take at least five years to complete.

"This will be one of the most technically challenging projects in our province's history," Stone says.

"Fundamentally, you are dealing with a very steep canyon on one side and a mountain on the other side, so there is a tremendous amount of blasting required and then the technical challenges come into play, in terms of do you tunnel, do you cantilever out," Stone says.

 The Canadian Press

ORIGINAL: 11 a.m.

Senior levels of government have earmarked about $450 million to upgrade the Kicking Horse Canyon portion of the Trans-Canada Highway.

The announcement was made Friday morning by federal Infrastructure and Communities Minister Amarjeet Sohi and provincial Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Todd Stone.

The project will realign the highway and expand it to four lanes. It will also include median barriers and widening of the shoulders.

It will require a series of bridges, retaining walls, rock catchment ditches and other measures to reduce rock fall over the highway.

The two levels of government also announced $19.4 million to four lane a portion of Highway 1 west of Golden from Donald to Forde Station Road.

The province is investing $247 million, while the feds are kicking in $222 million.

"The Trans-Canada Highway is our province's main connection between the Pacific Gateway and the rest of Canada, and the growth of our economy and communities depends on having a strong transportation network," said Stone.
Photo: Siemens

Energy giant Enbridge Inc. is making big inroads into renewables even as changes in government policies are paving the way for the rapid expansion of its traditional oil and gas pipeline business.

The company said Friday it was investing $1.7 billion for 50 per cent of the Hohe See wind energy project off the coast of Germany, which follows last year's $282-million buy of a 50 per cent stake in a group of French offshore wind projects.

"It's clear that we're going to need all sources of supply to meet growing global energy demand, and that includes renewable supplies," said Enbridge CEO Al Monaco in an earnings conference call.

A day earlier, the Federal Trade Commission approved Enbridge's (TSX:ENB) proposed $37-billion takeover of Spectra Energy Corp., which will greatly expand the Calgary-based company's footprint in the United States just as the new administration there brings in more oil-and-gas-friendly policies.

"The political landscape in North America has shifted to, let's call it a more balanced tone for energy and infrastructure and development," said Monaco.

"We've seen strong conviction from the federal and provincial governments in Canada to advance infrastructure, and we see that happening as well in the United States on economic growth and a positive stance on energy."

For the company's new German wind project, it expects to spend $600 million this year and invest the remaining $1.1 billion through 2019, when the project is expected to be in service.

Power generated by the 497-megawatt wind farm will be sold at fixed prices over a 20-year period under a German government incentive program, with the option to expand a further 112 megawatts of capacity.

The company has yet to give the final go-ahead on the 1,428 megawatts of potential French offshore projects, while the 400-megawatt offshore Rampion project in the United Kingdom, which it owns a 25 per cent stake, should come online in 2018.
Photo: Flickr/BC Gov't Medical health officer Dr. Perry Kendall

The number of illicit overdose deaths was down in January in British Columbia, but the toll of 116 people is still the third-highest on record behind only the previous two months.

The BC Coroners Service says most of those deaths involved people between the ages of 30 and 49 years old, and four out of five of them were male.

Chief coroner Lisa Lapointe says many of those who have died are drug-dependent and didn't succeed in getting off drugs through a variety of treatment programs.

Lapointe says it may be wise to carefully consider a suggestion by the province's medical health officer, Dr. Perry Kendall, of the possibility of providing medical-grade heroin to the group of users where nothing else has worked.

There were 914 overdose deaths in the province last year, most of them linked to powerful, illicit opioids.

The government has scrambled to slow the toll by increasing access to the overdose-reversing drug naloxone and creating overdose prevention centres, where those using drugs can be supervised.
Photo: Google Street View

Is 50 km/h too fast?

Residents on a quiet Coldstream street want the speed limit dropped to 30 km/h.

Robb and Sara Thompson say there seems to be little regard for speed, stop signs and school zones in the Palfrey Drive area.

"On a daily basis I see motorists fail to come to complete stops at stop signs, slow down for school zones and speed through the subdivision on their way to and from home," they say in a letter to Coldstream council.

They say there are a lot of pedestrians in the area accessing Kalamalka Park.

Also, as parents of small children, the Thompsons say their children walk to school and there are no sidewalks  leaving them fearing for their kids' safety.

They say more than half the drivers speed in the area.

"Lets not wait for an accident or terrible tragedy to force a change in our neighbourhood," they write.

The request will be considered Monday at Coldstream's committee of the whole meeting.
CCEA approves contract awards for 44 small oil and gas fields

Published: February 16, 2017

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved to award contract in 31 contract areas of small oil and gas fields belonging to ONGC and Oil India Limited (OIL)

The contract areas include 44 fields, 28 inland and 16 offshore. The will be awarded under Discovered Small Field Policy bid round  2016.

Key Facts

The award of contract is expected to provide faster development of oil and gas fields and facilitate production of oil and gas thereby increasing energy security of the country.

These areas were discovered long back but could not be monetized due to various reasons such as isolated locations, high development costs, small size of reserves, technological constraints, fiscal regime etc.

This move is expected to monetise in-place locked hydrocarbons volume of 40 MMT oil and 22 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM) of gas over a period of 15 years, this supplementing the domestic production.

Background

For early monetization of these fields, Union Cabinet had approved 69 marginal fields in September, 2015 for offer under Discovered Small Fields Policy. Out of these, 67 small fields were clubbed into 46 contract areas and were put on offer through online international competitive bidding. A total of 134 e-bids were received for 34 contract areas from 47 companies (43 Indian companies and 4 were foreign companies). These contract areas were awarded under the new regime of Revenue sharing Model.

Category: Awards, Persons & Places in News

Topics: Business  Cabinet Decisions  Economy  Energy security  National  Oil Sector

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Photo: Contributed

Conservative leadership hopeful Lisa Raitt made a stop Friday in Vernon.

Raitt is one of 14 people vying to lead the federal Conservative Party.

She spoke at the Schubert Centre, a community centre for seniors. Both current North Okanagan-Shuswap MP Mel Arnold and former MP Colin Mayes were in attendance.

While she has played up her East Coast roots in launching her leadership bid, on Friday she was enthusiastic about B.C.

"Always great to be back in beautiful British Columbia. Such a warm reception at our event in Vernon today," she said.

Raitt has been one of the most outspoken critics of O'Leary's decision to join the race. She's launched a website specifically to argue O'Leary is the wrong person to lead the party.

 with files from the Canadian Press
Photo: Twitter

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau used one of Germany's most prestigious black-tie galas to tell business leaders to "get real" about the addressing the anxieties of their workers in an uncertain world.

Trudeau delivered the no-holds-barred message to an audience of 400 politicians, business leaders and other notables at the annual St. Matthew's Banquet in the opulent Hamburg city hall.

The St. Matthew's Banquet is a 700-year-old event in which the elders of the city-states invited foreign guests to celebrate their friendship. It has heard from kings, presidents, mayors and others in what is now Germany's second-largest city.

Last year, former British prime minister David Cameron addressed the gathering and laid out his plan for battling his country's Brexit forces. Cameron failed and Britons voted to leave the European Union, part of a global wave of disruption that culminated with Donald Trump's surprise victory in the November presidential election.

Officials say Trudeau was mindful of the whirlwind global changes that have taken place since, especially in Europe  rising anti-trade resentment and a backlash against immigration  when he accepted the invitation to address the banquet.

Trudeau has spoken repeatedly in Europe this week about the need for politicians to address the "anxieties" of working people, who are fearful of the pace of change, and of being left behind in the globalized world.

And he has spoken of the need for politicians to do a better job explaining the tangible benefits of agreements such as Canada's free trade deal with the European Union  a pact the European Parliament ratified earlier in the week over the objections of a vocal civil society movement.

But the prime minister ramped up the message on Friday night in Hamburg, all but telling the corporate elite seated before him to shape up, and stop profiting at the expense of their employees.

"No more brushing aside the concerns of our workers and our citizens," the prime minister said in prepared remarks. "We have to address the root cause of their worries, and get real about how the changing economy is impacting peoples' lives."
Photo: RCMP handout

A logging truck driver walked away from a rollover crash in Revelstoke Friday morning.

The 33-year-old driver was headed north on Towney Street at about 11 a.m. when he went off the road and rolled down an embankment. The empty logging truck came to rest on Powerhouse Road.

"Fortunately, the driver was able to walk away from the crash," said RCMP in a statement.

He was still taken to hospital for treatment.

Alcohol was not a factor, said police.

The driver, who is from Revelstoke, was charged under the Motor Vehicle Act.
After the murders of six men at a Quebec mosque last month, Canadians quickly rallied around our Muslim neighbours.

The voices that spoke publicly, both Muslim and non-Muslim, were measured and rational, emphasizing our values of inclusiveness and diversity.

How quickly we have forgotten what is important.

In the last few days, my colleague Iqra Khalidthe Liberal MP for Mississauga-Erin Millshas been subjected to a flurry of baseless accusations, hateful spoken attacks and death threats because her motion 103 calls on the House of Commons to quell the increasing public climate of hate and fear; and condemn Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination.

Several constituents have expressed their fear and outrage that Parliament would even consider supporting such a motion, seeing it as an affront to their right to speak out about radical Islam and, in their view, paving the way to a permanent curtailment of their rights.

Much of their fear has been fuelled by misinformation and a misunderstanding of parliamentary process.

The fact is that while reported hate crimes across the country are decreasing, the incidents of reported hate crimes against Canadian Muslims have doubled.

Khalid is a Canadian Muslim woman concerned about growing racism and discrimination in our society, especially against Canadian Muslims.

Yet, in exercising her right to express her concerns, she has been accused of elevating one religion above all others and trying to undermine every Canadians right to freedom of speech.

Khalids motion does none of that.

The motion is neither binding on the government nor can it change our laws or take away our rights and freedoms.

Freedom to speak out against rising discrimination is what makes Canada egalitarian.

Over the 150 years of our history, parliamentarians have tabled motions against racism, anti-Semitism, gender bias and homophobia.

And each time we have identified the discrimination, we have created a more cohesive and diverse society, not a more divided one.

Words do indeed have power and effect, and debate will continue about the use of the word Islamophobia in motion 103.

While I have expressed my preference to remove it, I agree with the spirit of the motion, which is that we have a responsibility to address all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination, including anti-Muslim sentiment, in Canada.

By rejecting racism and discrimination, we are bringing this issue to the surface and acknowledging the difficulties some of our communities face.

If we can make it work here, we will continue to be a beacon for the rest of the world.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
Photo: Facebook

Cougars acting strangely have prompted a warning to residents of Coquitlam.

The B.C. Conservation Service urges caution in and around green spaces, following reports of unusual wildcat behaviour.

Two cougars are believed to be roaming around the Coquitlam River, leading to numerous sightings the past two weeks.

In one incident, a cougar came right up to a dog being walked near Norm Staff Park, and began sniffing the pet.

"Obviously it's abnormal behaviour for a cougar to be that comfortable approaching a pet that close to its owner like that," conservation officer Shawn McNaughton told CTV.

A trap has been set for the animals.

Meanwhile, residents are advised not to let their pets roam free.

If you see a cougar, back away slowly, and don't run  it can trigger the cat's predatory instincts.

 with files from CTV Vancouver
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Reliance Defence signs warship repair pact with US Navy

Published: February 14, 2017

Anil Ambani group led Reliance Defence and Engineering Limited (RDEL) has signed a Master Ship Repair Agreement (MSRA) with the US Navy to provide repair and alteration services for ships of the Seventh Fleet.

With this, RDEL became first Indian company (either public or private) to provide logistical support to the US military within Indian territory.

Key Facts

Under this agreement, RDEL will maintain the vessels of US Seventh Fleet involving 100 vessels operating in the Indian Ocean.

The signing of a MSRA agreement is a follow-up to the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) signed between India and US in August 2016.

signed between India and US in August 2016. These vessels will be serviced and repaired from the RDEL owned private shipyard in Pipavav in Gujarat. This deal is likely to generate Rs. 10,000 crore in revenues for RDEL in the next five years.

The Pipavav shipyard was qualified and approved by US government to perform complex repair and alteration services for the US Navy after a detailed site survey conducted in October 2016.

The US Seventh Fleet looks after the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean. Currently, these vessels visit Singapore or Japan for such works.

Note: RDIL is the first private sector company in India to obtain the licence and contract to build Naval Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) for Indian Navy. Its Pipavav shipyard is only modular shipbuilding facility in India having capacity to build fully fabricated and outfitted blocks.

About LEMOA

It is a tweaked India-specific version of the logistics support agreement (LSA), which US has close military to military co-operation with several countries. LEMOA gives access, to both countries, to designated military facilities on either side for the purpose of refuelling and replenishment. It should be noted that it does not create any obligations on either Party to carry out any joint activity. It does not provide for the establishment of any bases or basing arrangements.

Month: Current Affairs - February, 2017

Topics: Anil Ambani  Business  Defence  Economy  LEMOA  National  Reliance Defence

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Should Drugs do double duty

Nervous about giving a big presentation? Your doctor might prescribe a blood pressure drug like generic propranolol to calm you. Can't sleep? You might leave the doctor's office with a prescription for generic trazodone, an antidepressant often used for insomnia.

But neither drug is approved by the Food and Drug Administration to solve these problems, according to Consumer Reports. Doctors routinely (and legally) prescribe drugs "off label" -- that is, for conditions not approved by the FDA -- for any use they see fit. Most don't tell their patients.

The results of this practice are alarming. A recent analysis in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine revealed that more than 80 percent of off-label prescribing by doctors lacked strong scientific evidence. And patients were 54 percent more likely to experience some kind of harm as a result, compared with those taking the same drug for an approved use.

"Surprisingly, many doctors may not even realize a drug is not approved for the condition they're prescribing it for," says Lisa McGiffert, director of Consumer Reports' Safe Patient Project. "It's no wonder so many people are harmed."

Drug companies have been forbidden to promote drugs to consumers (and doctors) for non-FDA-approved uses since 1962. That's when Congress strengthened the agency's regulatory power after the thalidomide tragedy, when samples of the unapproved drug were given to pregnant women in the U.S. to treat morning sickness -- leading to birth defects.

But FDA rules prohibiting advertising on TV, in magazines and elsewhere for unapproved, off-label uses could soon change. Last November, the agency held a two-day hearing to gather input on whether to give drug and medical-device companies more leeway in promoting off-label use of their products. It was prompted by two recent federal district court rulings that found truthful promoting of off-label use to be a form of protected free speech.

The pharmaceutical industry is lobbying to lift the off-label marketing ban. But a new nationally representative survey of 1,011 adults by Consumer Reports found that 84 percent of people don't want drug companies to be allowed to advertise drugs for a use that hasn't been approved by the FDA.

How You Can Make a Difference

When considering new medication, ask your doctor whether it's been approved for your condition, suggests Consumer Reports Medical Director Orly Avitzur, M.D. "If not, ask why he or she recommends it."

Here are some other tips:

-- Go to the National Institutes of Health's DailyMed website (dailymed.nlm.nih.gov), search for the drug, then click "Indications & Usage" to see whether your condition is listed.

-- If it's an off-label use, ask whether good research supports using it for your condition.

-- Find out whether your health insurer covers payment for off-label use. Some may require evidence of effectiveness or failure with conventional treatments, especially if the drug is expensive.

"Always make sure someone has thoroughly explained the risks and benefits of a medication to you, as well as other options," Avitzur says.

To learn more, visit ConsumerReports.org

5 ways to stop senior citizen scams

One in 10 Americans age 60 and older experience some form of physical, emotional, financial or even sexual abuse over the course of a year, according to the National Center on Elder Abuse, based in Alhambra, California. One in 2 adults with dementia has been victimized.

"Older people are vital, contributing members of our society," noted Kathy Greenlee, assistant secretary for aging and administrator of the Administration for Community Living. "The abuse or neglect of any one of them diminishes us all."

Financial elder abuse, in which a senior citizen is coerced, bullied or tricked into relinquishing hard-earned assets, is the most common form of elder abuse and the fastest-growing, according to Consumer Reports. Yet by one estimate, only 1 in 44 victims report the crime.

Most of the abuse is committed by family members or people the senior knows. Scams by strangers, though less common, often happen more quickly and can result in bigger financial losses. A conservative estimate of annual losses is $3 billion, according to a study published in 2011 by the MetLife Mature Market Institute.

How to Protect Seniors

Consumer Reports offers these five ways consumers can help ensure the safety of the elderly:

1. Regularly call or visit. Be suspicious if a senior citizen has a new "best friend," becomes socially isolated, never seems to be available or able to come to the phone or is hesitant to have contact with others unless a caregiver is present. This could indicate that someone has undue influence on the senior's behavior and decision-making.

2. Provide respite for a caregiver. Caregivers who are stressed financially and emotionally can sometimes steal the assets of those they are supposed to be caring for. Monitor the caregiver and ensure that person gets enough rest.

3. Set up safeguards at the bank. If you're concerned about your relative's financial decision-making, set up a small account at a local bank for her. That account could, for instance, include a debit card and checking with a spending limit of, say, $300. That way, any other finances can be saved in a separate, more secure account.

4. Arrange for limited account oversight. Ask financial institutions to send statements and alerts to a trusted person who has no direct access to the senior's accounts, so that person can check for fraud. Another option is to try EverSafe, a web-based service that consolidates all of a senior's accounts and checks daily for suspicious activity. Consumer Reports found one of its services, called EverSafe Essentials, generally worked as promised. It costs $7.49 per month for one person.

5. Block solicitations. Opt out of commercial mail solicitations. You can arrange for a ban of five years at a time with the Direct Marketing Association's mail preference service. To eliminate unsolicited offers for credit, go to optoutprescreen.com. To eliminate robocalls, try a call-blocking device or Nomorobo, a free service that's available through some landline providers. Consumer Reports found it to be quite effective.

To learn more, visit ConsumerReports.org

Getting the best TV for your buck

Looking to buy a big-screen set for the big game? Consumer Reports put together some general guidelines to help you understand what features to expect within three budgets.

Budget TVs

40" to 43": $170 to $400

49" to 55": $250 to $700

60" and up: $500 to $1,100

Don't need a super-fancy TV loaded with features? You can still get a basic set that delivers great picture quality at a surprisingly low price. The key with an entry-level set is to focus on the few features you care about and understand what you can live without.

What you get. Unless you're shopping for the largest screen sizes, you'll probably be choosing a regular 1080p high-definition screen rather than a higher-resolution 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) TV. Which is fine, because that extra resolution isn't really noticeable until you get into the jumbo sizes -- 65 inches or larger.

What you don't get. If you do manage to score a 4K TV at a budget price, its performance will probably be lower than that of a higher-priced set. Entry-level televisions may also lack the more advanced color- and picture-processing technologies found in more sophisticated sets. And some don't come with smart TV capability.

Midlevel TVs

40" to 43": $350 to $550

49" to 55": $650 to $1,200

60" and up: $950 to $2,300

Mid-priced sets almost by definition represent the sweet spot of the market. These models usually offer the best balance of price, performance and features.

What you get. High-resolution 4K screens are now common on mainstream sets. You can also expect some level of high dynamic range (HDR) capability, technology that boosts the contrast between the lightest and darkest images a TV can produce with HDR-enabled content. On pricier sets, Consumer Reports' testers have found that HDR can reveal richer detail and more dramatic highlights, but the results aren't always so impressive in this price tier.

Most TVs 40 inches and larger are now smart TVs and come with built-in Wi-Fi for connecting to home networks.

What you don't get. Companies reserve their highest performance features for top-of-the-line models. So sets in this range usually don't have very effective HDR performance, precise local dimming or the most advanced video processing.

Top-Tier TVs

40" to 43": $400 to $800

49" to 55": $750 to $3,000

60" and up: $1,600 to $6,000

These TVs are the priciest in a company's lineup and offer the best performance and all the latest features. Many also have slim profiles and designs with ultra-thin bezels.

What you get. This year, sets from major manufacturers are all 4K models with 120Hz refresh rates and bright screens that highlight HDR content. You'll also get more of those contrast-enriching local dimming zones as well as the brand's most sophisticated video processing, which can produce sharper images and better results when converting lower-resolution 1080p content to 4K resolution. Consumer Reports notes that top-tier sets are where manufacturers roll out their most sophisticated smart TV systems and more advanced remote controls. These remotes often have built-in microphones for voice-controlled searches.

What you don't get. You get everything -- except a low price.

To learn more, visit ConsumerReports.org


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Portland, OR, United States

Portland is a city that is located in the US state of Oregon and it is known for its art scene, food, and coffee. There are a lot of interesting places to visit in Portland, such as the Portland Art Museum, where you can see a variety of art from all over the world. Another place to visit is the Powell's City of Books, the largest independent bookstore in the world. If you're looking for a place to eat, Portland has no shortage of amazing restaurants, such as Pok Pok, which serves Thai cuisine, and Le Pigeon, which serves French cuisine. And, of course, no trip to Portland would be complete without trying some of the city's famous coffee, such as Stumptown Coffee Roasters.

Portland Luxury Hotels

Florence, Italy

No trip to Italy is complete without a visit to Florence. This historic city is home to some of the country's most famous attractions, including the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio, and Michelangelo's David. There's also plenty to see and do outside of the city center, including the picturesque Tuscan countryside and the vibrant university town of Arezzo.

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Florence Luxury Villas

Asheville, NC, United States

Asheville is a city in western North Carolina. It is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Buncombe County. Asheville is home to the Biltmore Estate, the largest private home in the United States. The city of Asheville proper had a population of 84,236 in 2010. The city is known for its art deco architecture, mountain scenery and outdoor activities, and as the birthplace of American novelist Thomas Wolfe. It is also home to the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, the second largest craft brewery in the United States.

Asheville Luxury Hotels

Asheville Luxury Cottages

Long Beach, CA, United States

There's plenty to do in Long Beach, California without ever having to leave the city limits. If you're looking for a little adventure, head to the Aquarium of the Pacific for a glimpse of the ocean's creatures or take a walk on the boardwalk at Rainbow Harbor. If you're more of a history buff, the Queen Mary is a must-see. This retired ocean liner is now a hotel and museum with plenty of stories to tell. And no trip to Long Beach is complete without a visit to the iconic Vincent Thomas Bridge.

Long Beach Luxury Hotels

Long Beach Luxury Villas

Cincinnati, OH, United States

Cincinnati is a city located on the Ohio River in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Ohio. The city was founded in 1788 and named after the Society of the Cincinnati, an organization of Revolutionary War officers. Cincinnati is a major U.S. city and the metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million people. The city is well-known for its German heritage, Oktoberfest celebration, and its variety of chili dishes. Cincinnati is home to three major sports teams: the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals, MLB's Cincinnati Reds, and the NBA's Cincinnati Cavaliers. The city is also home to the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University. The city's historic neighborhoods include Over-the-Rhine, Mount Auburn, and Hyde Park. Cincinnati is a popular tourist destination and offers a variety of attractions and places to visit, including the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, the Newport Aquarium, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and the Museum of Contemporary Art.

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Laughlin, NV, United States

Laughlin, Nevada is a great place to visit if you're looking for a fun and affordable vacation. There are plenty of casinos and resorts to choose from, as well as plenty of outdoor activities and attractions. Be sure to check out the local nightlife, and don't forget to take a trip down the mighty Colorado River.

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Laughlin Luxury Resorts

Anaheim, CA, United States

Anaheim, California is home to both Disneyland and California Adventure Park. The parks are just a short walk away from each other, and make for a great day of exploration. Anaheim is also home to the Anaheim Angels and the Anaheim Ducks, so there's always a game to catch. If you're looking for something a little more low-key, Anaheim has a great shopping district and a variety of restaurants to choose from.

Anaheim Luxury Hotels

Santa Cruz, CA, United States

Santa Cruz is a great place to visit! There are so many places to see and things to do. Some of my favorite places to visit are the Boardwalk, the wharf, and the University of California, Santa Cruz. The Boardwalk is a great place to go for a walk, ride on the amusement park rides, and eat some of the delicious food. The wharf is a great place to go for a walk, eat some seafood, and listen to the street performers. The University of California, Santa Cruz is a great place to visit to learn about the history of the area and to see some of the beautiful architecture. I highly recommend visiting Santa Cruz if you are looking for a fun and interesting place to visit!.

Santa Cruz Luxury Hotels

Eugene, OR, United States

Eugene, Oregon is a great city to visit with a lot of places to see and things to do. One of the most popular attractions is the University of Oregon campus, which is home to a number of museums and a large football stadium. The city also has a vibrant arts scene, with a number of theaters and art galleries. Outdoor enthusiasts will enjoy the dozens of parks and hiking trails in the area, and there are also a number of wineries and breweries in the area.

Eugene Luxury Hotels

Branson, MO, United States

There's plenty to see and do in Branson, Missouri, from state parks and amusement parks to theaters and shopping. Here are some of the most popular places to visit: Silver Dollar City is a theme park with rides, shows, and craftsmen demonstrations. is a theme park with rides, shows, and craftsmen demonstrations. The Shepherd of the Hills Outdoor Theatre puts on a variety of shows, including "The Legend of the Shepherd of the Hills" and "The Catfish Fry." puts on a variety of shows, including "The Legend of the Shepherd of the Hills" and "The Catfish Fry." Table Rock State Park has fishing, swimming, and hiking trails, as well as a nature center. has fishing, swimming, and hiking trails, as well as a nature center. The Titanic Museum features a half-sized replica of the ship, along with exhibits about the history of the Titanic. features a half-sized replica of the ship, along with exhibits about the history of the Titanic. Branson Landing is a shopping and entertainment complex on the waterfront. There's something for everyone in Branson, Missouri  come visit and see for yourself!.

Branson Luxury Hotels

Panama City Beach, FL, United States

The white sand beaches and emerald waters of Panama City Beach, Florida, are a popular tourist destination. The city is home to numerous hotels, resorts, and restaurants, as well as amusement and water parks. Visitors can also enjoy fishing, kayaking, and surfing.

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Panama City Beach Luxury Resorts

Monterey, CA, United States

Monterey is a coastal city in Monterey County, California, United States. It stands at the southern end of Monterey Bay, on the Pacific coast. The city is also the home of the Naval Postgraduate School. Monterey is the largest city in the Central Coast region of California. The main attractions in Monterey are the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Fisherman's Wharf, Cannery Row, and the downtown area.

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Norfolk, VA, United States

Norfolk, Virginia is a great place to visit for its historical places and military bases. Some places to visit in Norfolk are the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk Botanical Garden, and the Norfolk Naval Station.

Norfolk Luxury Hotels

Palm Springs, CA, United States

Palm Springs is a vibrant city located in the Coachella Valley and is known for its year-round sunshine, resort atmosphere and Mid-Century Modern architecture. Top places to visit include the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, Palm Springs Art Museum, Indian Canyons and Moorten Botanical Garden. For a truly unique experience, be sure to check out the Palm Springs Modernism Show & Sale  the worlds largest vintage furniture and design event.

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Rochester, NY, United States

Rochester is a city in western New York State and is the county seat of Monroe County. Rochester is known for its annual festivals, including the Rochester International Jazz Festival, the Rochester Fringe Festival, and the Holiday Folk Fair International. Places to visit in Rochester include the George Eastman Museum, the Strong National Museum of Play, the Rochester Museum and Science Center, and the Seneca Park Zoo.

Rochester Luxury Hotels

Pigeon Forge, TN, United States

Visit the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge for a unique experience. This museum is dedicated to the Titanic, one of the most infamous ships in history. Tour the ship and learn about the passengers and crew who were on board. You can even see the actual artifacts recovered from the shipwreck. If you're looking for a little more excitement, head to Dollywood. This amusement park is home to roller coasters, a water park, and plenty of other rides and attractions. Plus, the park is themed around the life and music of Dolly Parton. No trip to Pigeon Forge is complete without a visit to the Great Smoky Mountains. These mountains offer a variety of activities, including hiking, fishing, and horseback riding. Plus, the natural beauty of the area is simply breathtaking.

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Jacksonville, FL, United States

Jacksonville is less than an hour's drive from the beaches of Amelia Island and St. Augustine, and a little more than two hours from Orlando. The city has a lot to offer visitors, including a riverwalk, museums, and a vibrant arts scene. Jacksonville is also home to the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL team.

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Minsk, Belarus

Minsk, the capital of Belarus, is a city that has something for everyone. If you're looking for a little history, Minsk has plenty of it, with churches and monuments dating back to the 12th century. If you're looking for a lively nightlife, Minsk has that, too, with plenty of bars, clubs, and restaurants. And if you're looking for a little nature, Minsk has parks and gardens to enjoy. Here are just a few of the places you can visit in Minsk: The Holy Spirit Cathedral, one of the oldest churches in Minsk, is a must-visit for history buffs. The National Library of Belarus is a huge library with more than 18 million items in its collection. The Opera and Ballet Theatre is a beautiful building that hosts performances of both opera and ballet. The Victory Park is a large park with a war memorial, a children's playground, and a lake. And for a little bit of nature in the heart of the city, the Botanical Garden is a great place to relax and take a break from the hustle and bustle of Minsk.

Minsk Luxury Hotels

Jaipur, India

Jaipur is one of the most popular tourist destinations in India. It is the capital of the state of Rajasthan and is known for its palaces, forts and temples. Some of the places to visit in Jaipur include the Amber Fort, the City Palace, the Jantar Mantar Observatory and the Hawa Mahal. Jaipur is also a great place to shop for traditional Indian handicrafts.

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Chicago, IL, United States

Chicago is a city full of culture and history. There are plenty of places to visit, such as the Willis Tower, Buckingham Fountain, and the Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicago is also home to many restaurants and bars, so there is something for everyone.

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Auckland, New Zealand

Auckland is a beautiful city located on the north island of New Zealand. There are many places to visit in Auckland, including the Sky Tower, the Auckland War Memorial Museum, and the Auckland Domain. The beaches in Auckland are also worth visiting, especially Karekare and Piha. Auckland is a great place to visit, and I highly recommend it!.

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Auckland Luxury Villas

Amsterdam, Netherlands

If you're looking for a city that's got it all, Amsterdam should be your go-to destination. From the city's lively and vibrant nightlife to its charming and quiet neighborhoods, Amsterdam has something for everyone. Be sure to check out the Anne Frank Huis, the Rijksmuseum, and the Van Gogh Museum, as these are some of the most popular attractions in the city. And if you're looking for a little bit of nature, be sure to take a walk or bike ride through Amsterdam's many parks.

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Berlin, Germany

There are so many great places to visit in Berlin that it can be hard to know where to start. From the iconic Brandenburg Gate to the fascinating Reichstag Building, there's something for everyone in this vibrant city. If you're looking for a bit of history, make sure to check out the Berlin Wall Memorial or the DDR Museum. And for those looking for a bit more fun, there's always the Alexanderplatz Christmas Market or the Zoologischer Garten. No matter what your interests, Berlin is a city you won't want to miss.

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Bangkok, Thailand

Bangkok is a city of contrasts with its gleaming temples and skyscrapers, chaotic markets and tranquil canals. While it's a popular tourist destination, Bangkok is a city that can be enjoyed by visitors of all ages. Some of the top places to visit in Bangkok include the Grand Palace, Wat Arun, the floating markets and the Chatuchak Weekend Market.

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Bruges, Belgium

Bruges is a city in Belgium that is worth visiting. It is full of medieval charm and there are a lot of things to see and do. Some of the places to visit include the Markt, the Belfry, and the Begijnhof.

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Brussels, Belgium

Brussels is a city in Belgium that is best known for its chocolate, waffles, and beer. But there is much more to see and do in Brussels than just indulge in the local cuisine. There are a number of interesting historical landmarks to visit, such as the Grand Place and the Atomium, as well as a variety of parks and gardens. And, of course, Brussels is also a great city to explore on foot.

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Budapest, Hungary

Budapest, Hungary's capital, is a city of thermal baths and medival, baroque and art nouveau architecture. Crowded with tourists, the city is bisected by the Danube River into the hilly Buda and the more developed and flat Pest. Among the main places of interest are the neo-Gothic Parliament, the Chain Bridge linking Buda and Pest, the Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion on the Buda bank, and the State Opera House and Heroes' Square on the Pest side.

Budapest Luxury Hotels

Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Home to some of the best beaches in Mexico, Playa del Carmen is a favorite tourist destination for visitors from all over the world. With its lively nightlife, gorgeous coastline and ample shopping opportunities, there's something for everyone in this tropical paradise. Don't miss the opportunity to visit some of the area's most popular attractions, such as the ancient Mayan ruins of Tulum and Coba, or the eco-friendly Turtle Beach. With its friendly people, delicious food and stunning scenery, Playa del Carmen is a place you'll never want to leave.

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Denver, CO, United States

Denver is a great city for visitors. There are so many places to see and things to do. Some of the top places to visit include the 16th Street Mall, the Denver Botanic Gardens, the Denver Art Museum, and the Colorado State Capitol. There are also plenty of great restaurants and shops to explore. Denver is definitely a city worth visiting!.

Denver Luxury Hotels

Dublin, Ireland

Dublin is a city located in Ireland. It's a city full of culture, with plenty of places to visit. Some popular tourist spots are the Guinness Storehouse, Trinity College, and the Dublin Castle. There are also plenty of pubs and restaurants to discover.

Dublin Luxury Hotels

Dusseldorf, Germany

Dusseldorf, Germany is a city with many different places to visit. The city has a mix of old and new buildings, and a variety of activities to do. The best places to visit in Dusseldorf are the Konigsallee, the Rhine Tower, and the Oktoberfest. The Konigsallee is an open-air shopping mall that has many high-end stores. The Rhine Tower is the tallest building in the city and offers great views of Dusseldorf. The Oktoberfest is a week-long festival that celebrates German culture and food.

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Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Edinburgh, Scotland is a beautiful city to visit. The architecture is very old and unique, and there are plenty of historical places to visit, like Edinburgh Castle. There are also plenty of parks and gardens, and lots of shops and restaurants.

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Rome, Italy

Rome is a city rich in history and filled with beautiful places to visit. Make sure to stop by the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Pantheon. Also be sure to visit St. Peters Basilica and the Sistine Chapel while in Rome. If youre looking for a little more nature in your trip, head to the Villa Borghese gardens or the Janiculum Hill for some wonderful views of the city. And of course, no trip to Rome is complete without a gelato!.

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Rome Luxury Villas

New York, NY, United States

There are many amazing places to visit in New York State. Some of my favorites are the Niagara Falls, the Adirondack Mountains, and the Finger Lakes. If you're looking for a city break, New York City is definitely worth a visit. There's endless things to see and do, from touring the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island to visiting world-famous museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History. No matter what your interests are, you'll be able to find something to enjoy in New York State.

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London, United Kingdom

London is a city rich in history and full of amazing places to visit. Some of my favorite places are Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and the Tower of London. There is so much to see and do in London, you could spend weeks here and never run out of things to do. If you're looking for a city full of culture and history, London is the place for you.

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London Luxury Cottages

Madrid, Spain

Madrid is one of the most beautiful and culturally rich cities in the world. From the Royal Palace to the Prado Museum, theres plenty to see and do in Madrid. If youre looking for a little bit of nature, Madrid has plenty of parks, like the Buen Retiro Park, to relax in. And dont forget to try some of the delicious tapas and wine while youre in town.

Madrid Luxury Hotels

Memphis, TN, United States

The birthplace of rock 'n' roll, Memphis is a city rich in history and culture. From Graceland to Beale Street, there are plenty of places to visit in Memphis. Be sure to check out Sun Studio, where rock 'n' roll was born, and the National Civil Rights Museum, which tells the story of the African-American civil rights movement. Memphis is also home to some amazing food, so be sure to try some of the city's famous barbecue and soul food.

Memphis Luxury Hotels

Miami Beach, FL, United States

There is much to explore in Miami Beach, from the famous Art Deco district to the vast beaches and crystal-clear waters. Outdoor enthusiasts will love the opportunities for fishing, kayaking, and paddleboarding, while history buffs can explore the ancient burial mounds at Miami Beach. Shoppers and foodies will find plenty to keep them busy, with vibrant neighborhoods like Lincoln Road and Ocean Drive offering unique boutiques and award-winning restaurants. And of course, no trip to Miami Beach is complete without a visit to world-famous South Beach.

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Miami Beach Luxury Resorts

New Orleans, LA, United States

You can't visit New Orleans without trying some of the local food. Beignets, Po' Boys, and gumbo are just a few of the must-try dishes. While you're in town, be sure to check out the French Quarter, Jackson Square, and St. Louis Cathedral. If you're looking for some nightlife, Bourbon Street is the place to be. And, of course, no trip to New Orleans is complete without a visit to Mardi Gras!.

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Milan, Italy

Milan is a city located in the Lombardy region of Italy. It is a popular tourist destination because of its historical and artistic heritage. Some of the places you should visit while in Milan are the Duomo, La Scala, and Castello Sforzesco.

Milan Luxury Hotels

Naples, Italy

Naples is one of the most beautiful and historic cities in Italy. There are countless places to visit, such as the Royal Palace, the Museum of San Martino, and the Church of Gesu Nuovo. Naples is also home to excellent shopping and dining options. Be sure to enjoy a cup of coffee at one of the city's many cafes and take a stroll through the picturesque streets.

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Paris, France

Paris is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. It's home to iconic landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum, as well as a thriving nightlife and restaurant scene. If you're looking to explore all that Paris has to offer, here are some of the top places to visit: The Eiffel Tower: This iconic landmark is a must-see in Paris. Climb to the top for stunning views of the city, or take a ride on the elevator to the bottom for a closer look at the structure. The Louvre Museum: This world-famous museum is home to some of the most famous works of art in the world, including the Mona Lisa. The Notre Dame Cathedral: This beautiful cathedral is one of the most famous landmarks in Paris. Make sure to climb to the top for some amazing views of the city. The Champs-Elysees: This famous avenue is a popular destination for shopping and dining. Be sure to wander down the street and take in all the sights and sounds. The Arc de Triomphe: This towering arch is another iconic landmark in Paris. Climb to the top for some amazing views of the city.

Paris Luxury Hotels

Paris Luxury Villas

Prague, Czech Republic

Prague is a city rich in history and culture. There are plenty of places to visit, including the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, and the Old Town Square. There are also plenty of restaurants and bars to enjoy, and the nightlife is vibrant. Prague is a truly unique city and a must-visit for anyone traveling to the Czech Republic.

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Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Located on the easternmost tip of the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana is known for its beautiful beaches and turquoise waters. This paradise is a favorite destination for travelers looking for a Caribbean getaway. Punta Cana is home to a wide variety of resorts and activities, from enjoying the sand and surf to golfing, spas, and shopping. Nature lovers can also explore the areas jungles, caves, and waterfalls.

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Marbella, Spain

If you're looking for an idyllic and luxurious Spanish escape, look no further than Marbella. Located on the country's Costa del Sol, Marbella is home to stunning beaches, top-notch resorts, world-class golfing, and much more. A visit to Marbella is the perfect way to experience all that Spain has to offer.

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Marrakesh, Morocco

Marrakesh is a city in Morocco that is full of culture and history. There are several places to visit in Marrakesh, including the Palace of the Bahia, the Ben Youssef Madrasa, and the Saadian Tombs. The souks (markets) are also a must-see, where you can find everything from souvenirs to spices to traditional clothing. Be sure to enjoy a meal in one of the many restaurants or cafes in Marrakesh; the food is delicious and the atmosphere is always lively. Marrakesh is a wonderful city to explore and definitely worth a visit!.

Marrakesh Luxury Hotels

San Francisco, CA, United States

San Francisco is a popular tourist destination, and for good reason. There are plenty of things to see and do in this vibrant city. Here are some of the top places to visit: 1. Fisherman's Wharf: This neighborhood is home to a variety of shops and restaurants, as well as a popular pier where you can enjoy views of the bay. 2. The Golden Gate Bridge: This iconic bridge is a must-see for any visitor to San Francisco. 3. Alcatraz Island: This former federal prison is now a popular tourist attraction. It's a must-see for fans of history and crime dramas. 4. Chinatown: This colorful neighborhood is home to some of the best food in San Francisco. Be sure to check out the Dragon Gate entrance. 5. The Mission District: This trendy neighborhood is home to hip restaurants, bars, and art galleries.

San Francisco Luxury Hotels

Moscow, Russia

Moscow, Russia is a beautiful city with plenty of places to visit. Some of the most popular tourist attractions are the Kremlin, Red Square, and Saint Basil's Cathedral. Other great places to see include the Bolshoi Theatre, Gorky Park, and the Tretyakov Gallery. There are also many churches and other historical buildings to explore. Moscow is a lively city with a lot of culture and nightlife. There is something for everyone to enjoy in Moscow.

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Venice, Italy

Venice is one of the most beautiful places on earth. The city is built on a lagoon in northeast Italy and is known for its canals and gondolas. There are many places to visit in Venice, including the Grand Canal, St. Marks Square, and the Rialto Bridge. Venice is also home to many museums, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.

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Vienna, Austria

Vienna, Austria is a city with a long and rich history. There are many places to visit in Vienna, including the Hofburg Palace, the Ringstrasse, and St. Stephen's Cathedral. Vienna is also home to some of the world's best shopping, including the Karntner Strasse and the Graben. Finally, no visit to Vienna is complete without experiencing the city's world-famous nightlife.

Vienna Luxury Hotels

Zurich, Switzerland

Zurich is a marvelous city located in the heart of Switzerland. It is a city that has something to offer for everyone. From amazing restaurants and beautiful architecture to exciting nightlife and gorgeous parks, Zurich has something for everyone. Some of the most popular places to visit in Zurich include the Bahnhofstrasse, which is the city's most famous shopping street, the Lindenhof, which is a beautiful park with amazing views of the city, and Grossmunster, which is a stunning Romanesque church. Zurich is also home to some of the best museums in the world, including the famed Museum of Art and the Swiss National Museum. With its mix of old-world charm and modern amenities, Zurich is a city that is definitely worth exploring.

Zurich Luxury Hotels

Acapulco, Mexico

If you're looking for a Mexican vacation spot with plenty of history and culture to explore, Acapulco is a great option. From the archeological wonders of the ancient city to the stunning coastal views, there's something for everyone in Acapulco. Plus, with its temperate climate, it's a great escape from colder winter weather.

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Acapulco Luxury Resorts

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Nashville, TN, United States

One of the United States' most interesting places to visit is Nashville, Tennessee. There's plenty to see and do there, from the Grand Ole Opry to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Music is a big part of the city's history and culture, so be sure to catch a show while you're in town. Other popular attractions include the Ryman Auditorium, the Parthenon, and the Jack Daniel's Distillery. Nashville is also a great place to eat, with a wide variety of restaurants serving up everything from barbecue to Mexican food. So if you're looking for an exciting and diverse city to visit, be sure to add Nashville to your list.

Nashville Luxury Hotels

Nashville Luxury Villas

Atlanta, GA, United States

What's not to love about Atlanta? From the iconic Georgia Aquarium to the World of Coke, from the Fox Theatre to Centennial Olympic Park, Atlanta offers a wealth of destinations for tourists. Sports fans will want to check out the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and history buffs will enjoy the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. Braves fans can take a tour of SunTrust Park, and shoppers will enjoy the many boutiques and malls in the city. There's also a great restaurant scene in Atlanta, and music lovers will want to check out the many venues offering live music. Whether you're looking for a fun family vacation spot or a place to explore on your own, Atlanta is a great choice!.

Atlanta Luxury Hotels

Miami, FL, United States

The Magic City is a top tourist destination for a reasonthere are endless things to do in Miami! From exploring the trendy neighborhoods and dazzling beaches to soaking up the Latin culture and nightlife, Miami is jam-packed with amazing places to visit. Here are a few of our favorites: 1. Wynwood Walls: This outdoor art exhibit is a must-see for any art lover. The colorful murals are awe-inspiring and definitely Instagram-worthy. 2. Vizcaya Museum and Gardens: This estate is dripping with luxury and opulence, from the grandiose architecture to the expansive gardens. It's the perfect place for a day of relaxation. 3. South Beach: This world-famous beach is a must-visit for any sun-seeker. The crystal-clear water and soft sand make for the perfect day-long beach getaway. 4. Little Havana: Experience Cuban culture at its best in Little Havana. From delicious food to lively music and dance, there's something for everyone in this vibrant district. 5. Art Deco District: This district is home to Miami's most iconic architecture. Take a stroll down the charming streets and admire the colorful buildings that make Miami so unique.

Miami Luxury Hotels

Miami Luxury Villas

Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo is a must-see destination in Japan. There are endless places to explore in this city - temples, shrines, gardens, and more. The Shinjuku district is a great place to start, with its neon-lit streets and myriad shops and restaurants. For a taste of traditional Japan, visit the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa or the Imperial Palace. Nature lovers will enjoy the Hamarikyu Gardens or the Hama-rikyu Teien Garden. And for a unique experience, take a trip to Mount Fuji.

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Tokyo Luxury Villas

Buenos Aires, Argentina

There are plenty of places to visit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Some popular tourist destinations include the obelisk, the Casa Rosada, and the Puerto Madero district. Every barrio (neighborhood) has its own unique culture and flavor. San Telmo, La Boca, and Palermo are some of the most popular barrios. There are also many parks and plazas, such as Plaza de Mayo and Plaza de la Republica, that are worth checking out.

Buenos Aires Luxury Hotels

Hamburg, Germany

One of the most popular tourist destinations in Germany is Hamburg. From the lively and colorful harbor district to the grandiose City Hall, there is plenty to see and do in Hamburg. Some of the other popular places to visit include the Reeperbahn district with its pubs and nightlife, the Planten un Blomen botanical gardens, and the architecturally stunning Rathausmarkt square.

Hamburg Luxury Hotels

Lisbon, Portugal

The capital of Portugal, Lisbon is a city of fascinating contrasts. From its coastal location, visitors can enjoy stunning ocean views, while its hilly, narrow streets are home to a maze of charming traditional homes and lively nightlife. A city of 7 hills, Lisbon is a bustling metropolis with something for everyone. Here are some of the top places to visit: The Belem Tower, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of Lisbons most iconic landmarks. This 16th-century fortress and lighthouse is a must-see for visitors. The Alfama district, with its winding streets and tile-roofed homes, is the oldest district in Lisbon. This is the perfect place to get lost and explore the citys history. The Lisbon Zoo is a great place to enjoy a day out with the family, with over 2,000 animals from around the world. The Christ the King statue, located atop a hill in the suburb of Almada, offers impressive views of Lisbon and the river Tagus. The Lisbon Oceanarium, located in the Parque das Nacoes district, is home to more than 12,000 marine creatures and is one of the largest aquariums in Europe.

Lisbon Luxury Hotels

Lisbon Luxury Villas

Malaga, Spain

Malaga is an attractive seaside city in southern Spain with a long history. There are many places to visit in Malaga, including the Gibralfaro Castle, the Alcazaba fortress, and the Malaga Cathedral. Malaga is also home to a variety of museums, including the Picasso Museum. The city is well known for its beaches, and there are many delightful places to relax and enjoy the sun and the sea.

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Munich, Germany

When planning a vacation to Munich, Germany, be sure to include these top places to visit: The Marienplatz is a must-see square in the city center, featuring a beautiful Glockenspiel show and the Old and New Town Halls. The Englisher Garten, Europes largest city park, is a great place for a relaxing stroll or a picnic. OlympiaPark is home to the famous 1972 Olympic Stadium as well as a huge amusement park. The Frauenkirche is a stunning church in the old town with a Glockenspiel of its own. Beer lovers will want to visit the Hofbrauhaus, the worlds most famous beer hall. For a bit of history and culture, check out the LudwigMaximilians-University and the Deutsches Museum. There is so much to see and do in Munich  these are just a few highlights!.

Munich Luxury Hotels

Granada, Spain

Granada is a city in southern Spain that is known for its Moorish architecture and history. The city is home to the Alhambra, a palace and fortress that was constructed in the late 1300s. Visitors can also enjoy the citys many churches, including the Cathedral of Granada. Granada is also a convenient base for exploring the other cities and towns in Andalusia.

Granada Luxury Hotels

Bucharest, Romania

Bucharest is a city full of history and culture. There are many places to visit, such as the Palace of Parliament, which is the world's largest civilian building. Other places to visit include the old city center, which is full of charming streets and buildings, and the Botanical Garden, which is the largest botanical garden in Romania.

Bucharest Luxury Hotels

Bologna, Italy

Bologna, Italy is a beautiful city with plenty of places to visit. Some popular tourist destinations include the Piazza Maggiore, the Tower of Asinelli, and the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca. There are also plenty of museums and churches to explore, and the city is full of charming restaurants and cafes. Bologna is an excellent destination for a vacation, and there is something for everyone to enjoy in this amazing city.

Bologna Luxury Hotels

Porto, Portugal

Porto is a port city in Portugal that is well known for its wine. It's also a city with a long and rich history. There are many places to visit in Porto, including the old city center, the Dom Luis I Bridge, and the Clerigos Tower. Porto is also home to the famous Port wine caves, which are a must-visit for wine lovers.

Porto Luxury Hotels

Cologne, Germany

Cologne, located on the Rhine River in western Germany, is a city well worth visiting. The city has a long and rich history, dating back to the time of the Roman Empire. Some of the city's most popular tourist attractions include the Cologne Cathedral, Hohenzollern Bridge, and the RheinEnergieStadion. Additionally, Cologne is home to a wide variety of museums, shops, and restaurants. In fact, the city has been ranked as one of the best places to live in Germany. So, if you're looking for a great European city to visit, be sure to add Cologne to your list.

Cologne Luxury Hotels

Istanbul, Turkey

If you're looking for an exotic and affordable vacation destination, look no further than Istanbul, Turkey. Filled with historical places to visit and bargains to be found, Istanbul offers something for everyone. Be sure to visit the Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, and the Blue Mosque while you're there. Don't forget to bargain for the best prices when shopping in the bazaars, and enjoy some delicious Turkish cuisine while you're at it. Istanbul is sure to leave you with a lasting impression.

Istanbul Luxury Hotels

Istanbul Luxury Villas

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Dubai is a fascinating and exotic city that offers visitors a mix of traditional Middle Eastern culture and modern, cosmopolitan life. There are plenty of places to visit in Dubai, from the towering skyscrapers of Downtown Dubai to the luxury shopping malls and luxurious hotels of the Palm Jumeirah. Don't miss a chance to experience an Arabian night out on an epic dhow cruise, or take a trip out into the Arabian Desert to see the stunning sand dunes.

Dubai Luxury Hotels

Dubai Luxury Resorts

Dubai Luxury Villas

Antwerp, Belgium

Antwerp is a city located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital of the province of Antwerp and has a population of over half a million people. Antwerp is a popular tourist destination due to its many historical buildings, museums, and art galleries. Some of the most popular places to visit in Antwerp are the Cathedral of Our Lady, the City Hall, the Rubenshuis, and the Antwerp Zoo.

Antwerp Luxury Hotels

Lyon, France

Lyon is a beautiful city in the south of France that is full of culture and places to visit. Some of the most popular places to visit in Lyon are the Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourviere, the Place Bellecour, and the Vieux Lyon. The Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourviere is a beautiful cathedral that is a must-see when visiting Lyon. The Place Bellecour is a large square in the heart of Lyon that is full of restaurants and cafes. The Vieux Lyon is a district in Lyon that is full of old buildings and is a great place to wander around and take in the sights.

Lyon Luxury Hotels

Athens, Greece

If you find yourself in Athens, there are definitely some spots you won't want to miss. The Acropolis, Parthenon, and Olympic Stadium are all essential stops, but there are plenty of others, too. If you're looking for a bit of history, the National Archaeological Museum is a must-see, while nature lovers will enjoy a visit to the botanical gardens. If you're looking to relax, take a walk along the beach in Glyfada or head to the Plaka district for a charming and picturesque setting. No matter what you're interested in, Athens has something for you.

Athens Luxury Hotels

Athens Luxury Villas

Helsinki, Finland

While in Helsinki, make sure to visit these popular tourist destinations: The Senate Square and Lutheran Cathedral The Sibelius Monument Ateneum Art Museum Market Square Helsinki Zoo.

Helsinki Luxury Hotels

Vilnius, Lithuania

The capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, is a picturesque city with a rich history. The old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is full of charming churches, narrow streets, and pretty squares. There are also lots of museums and other places of interest to visit, including the Hill of Crosses, Gediminas Tower, and the Presidential Palace. Vilnius is a great city to explore on foot, and there are plenty of cafes, restaurants, and bars to enjoy in the evening.

Vilnius Luxury Hotels

Reykjavik, Iceland

A city of remote beauty, Reykjavik is teeming with interesting places to visit. One of the worlds most northern capitals, Reykjavik offers stunning landscapes and a wealth of cultural experiences. From the iconic Hallgrimskirkja church to the popular Golden Circle tour, theres plenty to see and do in Reykjavik. Be sure to check out the citys lively nightlife scene, too  you wont be disappointed!.

Reykjavik Luxury Hotels

Glasgow, United Kingdom

Some of the most popular places to visit in Glasgow include the Gallery of Modern Art, the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, the Riverside Museum, and the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre. There are also many wonderful parks and gardens to explore, including the Botanic Gardens and Glasgow Green. For those interested in history and architecture, there are many fascinating old buildings to see, such as the Glasgow Cathedral and the University of Glasgow. And for those looking for a lively nightlife, Glasgow has no shortage of pubs, clubs, and restaurants.

Glasgow Luxury Hotels

Los Angeles, CA, United States

As the birthplace of Hollywood and home to some of the world's most recognisable landmarks, there's no shortage of places to visit in Los Angeles. Start by exploring the city's iconic neighbourhoods like Beverly Hills and Hollywood, then venture out to attractions like the Griffith Observatory, Venice Beach and Disneyland. And don't forget to savour the city's world-famous cultural scene, with its abundance of museums, theatres and restaurants.

Los Angeles Luxury Hotels

Los Angeles Luxury Villas

San Diego, CA, United States

San Diego is a city located in California and is a major tourist destination. One of the main reasons people visit the city is for its many beaches. Coronado Beach, Mission Beach, and Pacific Beach are some of the most popular and are all within close proximity to the city center. Other attractions in San Diego include the San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld San Diego, and the USS Midway Museum. Restaurants, bars, and shopping can be found throughout the city, and world-renowned museums, like the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, are also located in San Diego.

San Diego Luxury Hotels

San Diego Luxury Resorts

San Diego Luxury Villas

Washington, DC, United States

Washington, D.C. is a city full of history and places to visit. Some popular places to visit are the Lincoln Memorial, the White House, and the Smithsonian. D.C. is also home to a number of monuments and memorials, like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Korean War Veterans Memorial. There are also a number of museums in D.C., like the American History Museum and the National Air and Space Museum.

Washington Luxury Hotels

Cancun, Mexico

Cancun is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Mexico. Aside from its beautiful beaches, there are plenty of places to visit and things to do in Cancun. Some of the most popular attractions include the ancient ruins of Chichen Itza, the eco-park Xcaret, and the nightclubs and bars in the resort district.

Cancun Luxury Hotels

Cancun Luxury Resorts

Cancun Luxury Villas

Virginia Beach, VA, United States

Virginia Beach is one of the top tourist destinations on the East Coast. From the Virginia Beach Boardwalk to the miles of sandy beaches, there's something for everyone to enjoy. There are also plenty of restaurants, shops, and other attractions to keep visitors busy. Some of the most popular places to visit in Virginia Beach include: The Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center : This aquarium is home to more than 20,000 animals, including sharks, dolphins, and rays. : This aquarium is home to more than 20,000 animals, including sharks, dolphins, and rays. The Virginia Beach Boardwalk: This 3.5-mile boardwalk is one of the most popular attractions in Virginia Beach. It features a wide variety of shops, restaurants, and amusements. This 3.5-mile boardwalk is one of the most popular attractions in Virginia Beach. It features a wide variety of shops, restaurants, and amusements. First Landing State Park: This park offers miles of hiking and biking trails, as well as a beachfront area for swimming and sunbathing. This park offers miles of hiking and biking trails, as well as a beachfront area for swimming and sunbathing. Cape Henry Lighthouse: This lighthouse is one of the oldest in the country and offers stunning views of the Chesapeake Bay. There are plenty of other things to do in Virginia Beach, including dolphin and whale watching tours, kayaking, and golfing. Whether you're looking for a fun family vacation or a romantic getaway, Virginia Beach is sure to please.

Virginia Beach Luxury Hotels

Virginia Beach Luxury Resorts

Beijing, China

If you're looking for an amazing cultural experience, be sure to add Beijing, China to your travel bucket list! With beautiful temples, charming hutongs (traditional alleyways), and a lively food scene, there's something for everyone in this bustling city. Plus, Beijing is home to some of the most iconic attractions in China, like the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City. So if you're looking for an unforgettable East Asian adventure, be sure to add Beijing to your list!.

Beijing Luxury Hotels

Seoul, South Korea

Seoul is a metropolitan city that is home to over 10 million people. It is a city full of culture, history, and a vibrant nightlife. There are plenty of places to visit in Seoul, including the Gyeongbokgung Palace, Changdeokgung Palace, and N Seoul Tower. The Jeongdongne district is a must-see for anyone interested in art and culture, and the Itaewon district is a great place to go for a night on the town.

Seoul Luxury Hotels

South Lake Tahoe, CA, United States

Known for its dramatic lake and mountain scenery, South Lake Tahoe offers visitors plenty of places to visit and things to do. Some of the most popular attractions include floating down the river on a tube, hiking the trails in the summer and skiing or snowboarding the slopes in the winter. The city also has a variety of restaurants and nightlife options, as well as casinos for those looking to try their luck.

South Lake Tahoe Luxury Hotels

South Lake Tahoe Luxury Resorts

Daytona Beach, FL, United States

Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. It is approximately 40 miles northeast of Orlando, and 85 miles southeast of Jacksonville. The city is known as "The World's Most Famous Beach." Daytona Beach is a principal city of the Fun Coast region of Florida. The Daytona Beach area is a popular tourist destination. It is well known for its beaches, sports events, and motorsports. Daytona Beach was the birthplace of NASCAR and home to its first track, Daytona International Speedway. Dayton Beach also features a large number of tourist-oriented businesses, such as motels, restaurants, and bars.

Daytona Beach Luxury Hotels

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The coastline of Rio de Janeiro is breathtaking, and the views from Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf Mountain are unforgettable. Rio's world-famous beaches are the perfect place to relax and enjoy the sun and the surf. The city's rich culture and history can be experienced in its many museums and in the lively nightlife. Rio is also a great place to shop for souvenirs.

Rio de Janeiro Luxury Hotels

Rio de Janeiro Luxury Villas

Jaco, Costa Rica

Jaco is a town on the Central Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. It's about an hour drive from San Jose and is a popular spot for surfers, sunbathers, and tourists. There are a number of beaches in the area, as well as restaurants, bars, and hotels. If you're looking for a place to relax and enjoy the Costa Rican sun and beaches, Jaco is a great option.

Jaco Luxury Hotels

Oslo, Norway

Oslo, Norway is a city with plenty of places to visit. You can find the peace and tranquility of nature parks and green spaces, experience the city's vibrant nightlife, or take in the historical and cultural sights. Here are a few of the top places to visit in Oslo: The Royal Palace: Oslo's Royal Palace is the official residence of Norway's king and queen. The palace is open to the public year-round, and offers a glimpse into the lives of the royal family. Oslo's Royal Palace is the official residence of Norway's king and queen. The palace is open to the public year-round, and offers a glimpse into the lives of the royal family. Vigeland Park: Considered one of Oslo's most popular tourist destinations, Vigeland Park is home to over 200 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland. The park is a great place to spend a sunny day outdoors. Considered one of Oslo's most popular tourist destinations, Vigeland Park is home to over 200 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland. The park is a great place to spend a sunny day outdoors. The Maritime Museum: This museum is home to a variety of exhibits on Norway's maritime history. Visitors can explore everything from Viking ships to modern submarines. This museum is home to a variety of exhibits on Norway's maritime history. Visitors can explore everything from Viking ships to modern submarines. The National Gallery: The National Gallery is Norway's largest art museum, and home to a vast collection of paintings and sculptures from the country's most famous artists. The National Gallery is Norway's largest art museum, and home to a vast collection of paintings and sculptures from the country's most famous artists. Aker Brygge: Aker Brygge is a popular waterfront district in Oslo, home to a variety of bars, restaurants, and shops. The area is a great place to people watch and enjoy the view of the Oslo Fjord.

Oslo Luxury Hotels

Lima, Peru

If you're looking for a city that's bursting with culture and flavor, Lima, Peru is the place for you! This vibrant destination is home to some of the most amazing places to visit in all of South America. From ancient ruins to lush rainforests, there's something for everyone in Lima. Here are just a few of the must-see attractions in this amazing city: The Larco Museum is one of Lima's top tourist destinations. This incredible museum is home to one of the largest collections of pre-Columbian art in the world. The Historic Center of Lima is a must-see for any history lover. This vibrant area is home to some of the oldest architecture in Lima, including the iconic San Francisco Monastery. If you're looking for a little bit of jungle in the city, head to the Parque de la Reserva. This lush park is home to beautiful gardens, a zoo, and even a butterfly farm! No trip to Lima would be complete without a visit to Machu Picchu. This ancient Inca citadel is one of the most iconic sites in all of South America.

Lima Luxury Hotels

Ankara, Turkey

Ankara is the cultural and political center of Turkey. The city is home to many museums, including the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, and is a popular destination for tourists. The Citadel, the Ataturk Mausoleum, and the War of Independence Museum are all popular tourist destinations in Ankara. The city is also home to a vibrant nightlife and is a popular destination for students.

Ankara Luxury Hotels

Birmingham, United Kingdom

There are plenty of great places to visit in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Some of the most popular places to go include the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, and the Black Country Living Museum. These places are all great for tourists, as they offer a variety of attractions, including beautiful gardens, interesting art, and a recreation of an old-fashioned town. Additionally, there are plenty of other great places to visit in Birmingham, such as the Jewellery Quarter and the German Christmas Market.

Birmingham Luxury Hotels

York, United Kingdom

With a rich history that spans back over 1,000 years, York is a must-visit destination in the United Kingdom. Explore the city's medieval architecture and narrow cobblestone streets, or enjoy a leisurely walk along the River Ouse. Visitors can also enjoy a variety of cultural experiences, such as the York Minster cathedral, the Jorvik Viking Centre, and the National Railway Museum. There are also plenty of shops and restaurants to enjoy in York.

York Luxury Hotels

Inverness, United Kingdom

Inverness, Scotland is a must-see destination on any traveler's list. Filled with rolling green hills, historical sites, and plenty of outdoor activities, there's something for everyone in this charming town. Start by exploring the city center, which is home to a variety of shops and restaurants. Make sure to check out the Inverness Castle, which offers commanding views of the area, and the Inverness Cathedral, a beautiful example of medieval architecture. Outside of the city center, there are plenty of other attractions to explore. The Loch Ness Monster is said to make its home in the loch here, and visitors can take boat tours to hunt for the mythical creature. If you're looking for a more active adventure, take a hike in the hills or go fishing on the loch. No matter what you choose to do, Inverness is a beautiful and welcoming town that is sure to charm you.

Inverness Luxury Hotels

Marseille, France

The Vieux Port (Old Harbor) is the oldest port in France. It is a beautiful place to visit with its sailboats, restaurants, and cafes. The Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica is also worth a visit. It offers stunning views of the city. If you're looking for a more lively atmosphere, head to the La Canebiere. It's a wide avenue with plenty of shops and restaurants.

Marseille Luxury Hotels

Marseille Luxury Villas

Honolulu, HI, United States

Honolulu is a city located on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, United States. It is the most populous city in the state of Hawaii and the county seat of the City and County of Honolulu. Honolulu is the cultural, commercial, and financial center of Hawaii. Waikiki Beach is one of the most famous beaches in the world and is located in Honolulu. Other places to visit in Honolulu include Diamond Head, the USS Arizona Memorial, and Hanauma Bay.

Honolulu Luxury Hotels

Honolulu Luxury Resorts

Honolulu Luxury Villas

Bar Harbor, ME, United States

Famous for lobster and stunning ocean views, Bar Harbor is a popular destination in Maine. There are plenty of things to do in the town and its surroundings, including hiking, biking, whale watching, and exploring Acadia National Park.

Bar Harbor Luxury Hotels

Colorado Springs, CO, United States

There are many places to visit in Colorado Springs. Garden of the Gods is a popular park with beautiful rock formations. Pike's Peak is a 14,115 foot mountain that offers great views and outdoor activities. The Broadmoor is a world-renowned resort with lovely gardens and a championship golf course. Royal Gorge Bridge is the world's highest suspension bridge and a popular tourist spot.

Colorado Springs Luxury Hotels

Fort Myers Beach, FL, United States

Just an hours drive from the Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach is a popular tourist spot, especially in the winter when the snowbirds migrate down. The seven-mile-long beach is known for its white sand and clear water and is a popular spot for swimming, sunbathing, fishing, and kayaking. There are also a number of restaurants and bars in the area, as well as a few stores.

Fort Myers Beach Luxury Hotels

Biloxi, MS, United States

There are plenty of places to explore in Biloxi, Mississippi  from the citys iconic Beaches to the picturesque Bay Saint Louis. Venture into the citys downtown area to check out the many shops and restaurants, or take a walk along the shoreline. No matter what you choose to do, youre sure to have a great time in Biloxi.

Biloxi Luxury Hotels

Palermo, Italy

If you're looking for a city with a rich and diverse history, Palermo is the place for you. This coastal city in Italy is teeming with medieval architecture, churches, and cathedrals. Be sure to check out the Teatro Massimo, the largest opera house in Europe, and the Palazzo dei Normanni, the seat of the Sicilian government. Don't miss out on the city's vibrant nightlife and vast array of restaurants that serve up some of the best food in the country.

Palermo Luxury Hotels

Palermo Luxury Villas

Manila, Philippines

The capital of the Philippines, Manila is a fascinating city with a rich history and a vibrant culture. There are plenty of places to visit in Manila, including the walled city of Intramuros, the Rizal Park, and the Manila Bay. The city is also home to a large number of churches, including the Manila Cathedral and the San Agustin Church. Manila is a great city to explore on foot, and there are plenty of restaurants and shops to enjoy.

Manila Luxury Hotels

Zermatt, Switzerland

Zermatt is an alpine village in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It is famous for its ski resort, mountaineering and hiking trails. The views of the Matterhorn from Zermatt are iconic. The village is car-free, making it a cyclists' and pedestrians' paradise. There are many places to visit in Zermatt, including the village's beautiful churches, impressive museums, and great restaurants.

Zermatt Luxury Hotels

Basel, Switzerland

Basel is a city located in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine. Basel has a population of about 176,000 and is the third most populous city in Switzerland. Basel has many interesting places to visit, including the Basel Munster, the Basel Rathaus (town hall), the Basel Zoo, and the Munsterhof, the old town square. Basel also has a number of art museums, including the Kunstmuseum Basel, the Fondation Beyeler, and the Schaulager. Basel is a great city to visit, and I highly recommend it!.

Basel Luxury Hotels

Copenhagen, Denmark

There are a number of places to visit in Copenhagen, Denmark. Some of the most popular tourist destinations include Tivoli Gardens, Nyhavn, and the Rosenborg Castle Gardens. Tivoli Gardens is a beautiful amusement park that has something for everyone. It is perfect for a day of fun with family or friends. Nyhavn is a charming canal district that is popular for its brightly colored houses and lively atmosphere. Visitors can enjoy a relaxing cruise down the canal or take a seat in one of the many cafes and restaurants. The Rosenborg Castle Gardens are home to a majestic castle as well as beautifully landscaped gardens. There is plenty to see and do in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Copenhagen Luxury Hotels

Steamboat Springs, CO, United States

Steamboat Springs is located in northwestern Colorado. The town is named for the steamboats that traveled up the Yampa River in the 1800s. Today, the town is a popular tourist destination, known for its skiing, snowboarding, hiking, and rafting.

Steamboat Springs Luxury Hotels

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates and is home to many tourist attractions. Some popular places to visit in Abu Dhabi include the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the Ferrari World Theme Park, and the Yas Island Waterpark. There are also a number of museums and shopping malls in Abu Dhabi, making it a great destination for those looking for a mix of culture and leisure.

Abu Dhabi Luxury Hotels

Abu Dhabi Luxury Resorts

Abu Dhabi Luxury Villas

Bogota, Colombia

There's a lot to see and do in Bogota. Some of the top places to visit include the historical La Candelaria district, the cobblestone streets of Plaza de Bolivar, the Monserrate mountain, the Bogota Botanical Garden, and the Gold Museum. La Candelaria is home to many brightly-colored colonial buildings, churches, and plazas. Plaza de Bolivar is the center of Bogota and is surrounded by important landmarks like the Presidential Palace and the National Capitol. The Monserrate mountain is a popular tourist destination due to its stunning views of Bogota. The Bogota Botanical Garden is the largest in Colombia and features a wide variety of plants and trees. The Gold Museum is home to the largest collection of Pre-Columbian gold artifacts in the world.

Bogota Luxury Hotels

Cebu, Philippines

Due to its location and its rich history, there are plenty of places to visit in Cebu. Some of the most popular tourist destinations include the Cebu Taoist Temple, the Fort San Pedro, the Yap-San Diego Ancestral House, and the Magellan's Cross.

Cebu Luxury Hotels

Cebu Luxury Resorts

Lagos, Portugal

Lagos is a small town in Portugal with a population of around 22,000. It's located in the Algarve region and is a popular tourist destination. Some of the places to visit in Lagos are the beaches, the old town, and the Marina. The beaches are beautiful and there are a lot of them to choose from. The old town is a maze of narrow streets and alleyways with lots of shops and restaurants. The Marina is a great place to walk around and watch the boats.

Lagos Luxury Hotels

Medellin, Colombia

Some places to visit in Medellin, Colombia are: the Botanical Garden, the Ethnographic Museum, the Jardin Botanico, the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Park of Lights, and the San Pedro Claver Church.

Medellin Luxury Hotels

Genoa, Italy

While there are many places to visit in Genoa, one of the must-sees is the city's cathedral. Dedicated to San Lorenzo, the church features an intricate Gothic facade and a Renaissance interior. If you're looking for a place to take in some stunning views, head to the Genoa Aquarium, which is located on the promenade stretching along the city's harbor.

Genoa Luxury Hotels

Hoi An, Vietnam

Hoi An is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Vietnam. Its a bridge town thats best explored on foot. The narrow streets are a mix of Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese architecture. There are tailors, artisans, and lantern shops galore. The food is also some of the best in Vietnam. Be sure to try the local specialties, like Cao Lau and White Rose dumplings.

Hoi An Luxury Hotels

Hoi An Luxury Resorts

Baku, Azerbaijan

Baku, Azerbaijan is a city with a lot of culture and history. There are a lot of places to visit, like the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and the Maiden Tower. There are also a lot of great restaurants, like the Flame Club, which has a great atmosphere and delicious food.

Baku Luxury Hotels

San Luis Obispo, CA, United States

San Luis Obispo is a city located in the central coast of California. It's known for its natural beauty, relaxed vibe, and abundance of things to do. Some of the top places to visit in San Luis Obispo include the Madonna Inn, Hearst Castle, and the Paso Robles wine country. The city is also home to a variety of beaches, parks, and other attractions. In addition, San Luis Obispo is a great place to live, with plenty of restaurants, shops, and other amenities.

San Luis Obispo Luxury Hotels

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Colombo is the largest city and commercial capital of Sri Lanka. The city is located on the west coast of the island and is the administrative, commercial, and industrial center of Sri Lanka. Colombo is also the center of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, with numerous Buddhist temples. There are a number of places to visit in Colombo, including the Galle Face Green, the Dutch fort, the Pettah Bazaar, and the Sri Lankan National Museum.

Colombo Luxury Hotels

Yogyakarta, Indonesia

The city of Yogyakarta in Indonesia is home to some of the most stunning temples and historical landmarks in the country. The city is also a great place to enjoy traditional Javanese culture and cuisine. Some of the must-see places in Yogyakarta include the Borobudur Temple, the Prambanan Temple, and the Sultan's Palace.

Yogyakarta Luxury Hotels

Cefalu, Italy

Looking for a beautiful and historic place to visit in Italy? Look no further than Cefalu. This town is teeming with history and stunning architecture, and its location on the coast makes it the perfect place to relax and take in the stunning scenery. Don't miss the Duomo di Cefalu, a 12th century Norman church that is definitely worth a visit, or the Palazzo dei Normanni, a former royal palace.

Cefalu Luxury Hotels

San Jose, CA, United States

San Jose, California, is home to a variety of tourist destinations. Some popular places to visit include the Winchester Mystery House, the Tech Museum of Innovation, and the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum. There are also a number of lovely parks, such as Kelley Park and Plaza de Cesar Chavez, that are well worth a visit. San Jose is also home to a number of great restaurants, so be sure to check out the local cuisine. Whatever your interests, San Jose has something to offer visitors.

San Jose Luxury Hotels

Hong Kong, China

Hong Kong is one of the most popular destinations for tourists in China. There are many places to visit in Hong Kong, including the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, Victoria Peak, and the Temple Street Night Market. Hong Kong is also a great place to shop, with many high-end malls and markets.

Hong Kong Luxury Hotels

Hong Kong Luxury Resorts

Orlando, FL, United States

Orlando is a city in the central region of Florida, in the United States. The city is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the metropolitan area also known as Greater Orlando. Orlando is well known for its theme parks, including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando Resort, and SeaWorld Orlando. Other tourist destinations in Orlando include the Holy Land Experience, the Orlando Science Center, and the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art. Orlando is also home to the University of Central Florida, one of the largest universities in the United States.

Orlando Luxury Hotels

Orlando Luxury Resorts

Orlando Luxury Villas

Philadelphia, PA, United States

If youre looking for a place thats rich in history and culture, Philadelphia is the place for you. The city is home to numerous iconic landmarks, including the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Theres also a great variety of museums and other attractions to explore, such as the Philadelphia Zoo and the Please Touch Museum. And, of course, Philly is the birthplace of Americas favorite sandwich, the cheesesteak. So why not visit Americas most historic city and see for yourself what all the fuss is about?.

Philadelphia Luxury Hotels

Nice, France

France is known for its many beautiful places to visit, and Nice is no exception. With its stunning coastline and mild climate, Nice is a popular tourist destination. Some of the most popular places to visit in Nice include the Promenade des Anglais, the Castle Hill, and the Old Town. There is also a wide variety of shops and restaurants to enjoy in Nice. If you're looking for a beautiful and relaxing place to visit in France, Nice is definitely worth considering.

Nice Luxury Hotels

Nice Luxury Villas

Singapore, Singapore

Singapore is a popular tourist destination, brimming with cultural and natural attractions. From award-winning restaurants to serene gardens and pristine beaches, there is much to explore in this diverse city-state. Here are some of the top places to visit in Singapore: 1. Marina Bay: This iconic waterfront district is home to stunning architecture, world-class landmarks, and a vibrant nightlife. 2. Gardens by the Bay: These stunning gardens feature a mix of plants from around the world, as well as towering sculptures and a biodome. 3. Chinatown: This lively district is home to traditional Chinese shops and restaurants, as well as vibrant street markets. 4. Little India: This neighborhood is known for its vibrant culture and colorful temples. 5. Sentosa Island: This resort island is home to sandy beaches, lush rainforests, and a variety of entertainment options.

Singapore Luxury Hotels

Singapore Luxury Resorts

Nottingham, United Kingdom

Nottingham is a city in the East Midlands of England. It is one of the United Kingdom's major cities, with a population of over 321,000. The city is home to two universities, Queen's Medical Centre, and seven football grounds. Nottingham is known for its lace-making and bicycle manufacturing. The city has a rich history, dating back to the Bronze Age. There are plenty of places to visit in Nottingham, including the Nottingham Castle, the Sherwood Forest, and the National Ice Centre. The city also has a lively nightlife, with a variety of pubs and bars.

Nottingham Luxury Hotels

Cannes, France

Cannes is a city located in the south of France. Some of the places to visit in Cannes are the Palais des Festivals et des Congres, the Boulevard de la Croisette, and Le Suquet.

Cannes Luxury Hotels

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Park City, UT, United States

Park City, Utah, offers visitors a wealth of places to visit and things to do. Main Street, with its charming shops and restaurants, is a must-see. The Park City Museum tells the town's fascinating history, and the Park City Utah Temple is a beautiful sight. For outdoor enthusiasts, there's plenty of skiing and snowboarding in the winter and hiking and mountain biking in the summer. And don't forget to visit the Olympic Park, where the 2002 Winter Olympics were held.

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Port Angeles, WA, United States

If you're looking for a quaint, small town to visit in the US, Port Angeles is worth a stop. Located in the state of Washington, it's right on the Pacific coast with stunning views of the Olympic Mountains. There's plenty of things to do in the area, from hiking and fishing to whale watching and enjoying the local restaurants and breweries.

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Fort Lauderdale, FL, United States

If you're looking for a fun-filled Florida getaway, look no further than Fort Lauderdale! With its miles of pristine beaches, world-famous shopping and vibrant nightlife, there's something for everyone in this seaside city. Here are some of the top places to visit in Fort Lauderdale:  Las Olas Boulevard: This popular shopping and dining district is home to some of Fort Lauderdale's most upscale boutiques and restaurants.  The Beach: With its wide, sandy beaches and crystal-clear waters, Fort Lauderdale's beach is a major draw for visitors.  The Everglades: Just a short drive from Fort Lauderdale, the Everglades are home to an abundance of wildlife, including alligators, bald eagles and manatees.  The Broward Center for the Performing Arts: This world-class performing arts center is home to a variety of theater, dance and music performances. So what are you waiting for? Book your trip to Fort Lauderdale today!.

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Myrtle Beach, SC, United States

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is a popular tourist destination. There are plenty of places to visit in the area, including amusement parks, beaches, and golf courses. Myrtle Beach also has a lively nightlife, with plenty of bars and restaurants.

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Salzburg, Austria

Salzburg is one of the most visited places in Austria. It is a city rich in history and culture. There are many places to visit, such as the Hohensalzburg Fortress, the Mirabell Palace, and the Salzburg Cathedral. There are also many hiking trails and parks to enjoy.

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Pattaya, Thailand

Pattaya is an amazing city with plenty of places to visit and things to do. One of the most popular tourist destinations in Thailand, Pattaya offers something for everyone. There are lovely beaches, interesting temples, great shopping, and exciting nightlife. With its moderate climate and affordable prices, it's no wonder Pattaya is a favorite destination for tourists from all over the world.

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Dallas, TX, United States

Dallas is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the ninth most populous city in the United States and the third most populous city in the state of Texas. Dallas is also the main city of the fourth most populous metropolitan area in the United States. The city's prominence arose from its historical importance as a center for the oil and cotton industries, and its position as a major transportation hub for the South. Dallas is home to the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League and the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association. The city's economy is primarily based on banking, commerce, telecommunications, technology, energy, healthcare and medical research, and transportation. The city is home to the world's largest airline hub and the third largest cargo airport in the United States.

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Kolkata, India

Kolkata, also known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. The city is located on the east bank of the Hooghly River. It is the second most populous city in India, after Mumbai, and the third most populous metropolitan area in India, after Mumbai and Delhi. The city is notable for its colonial architecture, art and culture, and for its overwhelming poverty. Kolkata is home to the Indian Museum, the Calcutta Stock Exchange, the National Library of India, and the Indian Statistical Institute.

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San Antonio, TX, United States

San Antonio is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Texas. There are plenty of places to visit in this city, from the well-known River Walk to the exquisite Spanish missions. If you're looking for a fun place to spend the day, you can't go wrong with San Antonio.

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Seattle, WA, United States

There are many wonderful places to visit in Seattle, Washington. Some of the most popular attractions include Pike Place Market, the Seattle Space Needle, and the Museum of Pop Culture. There are also many parks and gardens, such as Volunteer Park and Seattle Chinese Garden, as well as plenty of restaurants and shops. Located on the other side of the world, Western Australia is a great place to visit for those looking for something different. Some of the most popular attractions include Rottnest Island, the Margaret River region, and Monkey Mia. There are also plenty of beautiful parks and gardens, such as Kings Park and Botanic Garden, as well as restaurants and shops.

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Liverpool, United Kingdom

Liverpool is a city located in North West England and is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom. The city is known for its football teams Liverpool and Everton, The Beatles, and its maritime history. Liverpool is a popular tourist destination and is home to various tourist attractions including Mersey Ferry, Liverpool Cathedral, and Albert Dock.

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Malmo, Sweden

Malmo is Sweden's third largest city with a population of over 310,000. It is located in the province of Scania on the country's southern tip. Malmo is a vibrant city with a strong arts and cultural scene. There are plenty of places to visit in Malmo, including the Malmo Castle, the Botanical Gardens, and the Turning Torso skyscraper. Malmo is also home to a large shopping district and a lively nightlife.

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Gothenburg, Sweden

Goteborg, Sweden's second largest city, is a major port on the country's west coast. It's a popular tourist destination, known for its lively nightlife, beautiful architecture and delicious seafood. Some of the city's highlights include the Liseberg amusement park, the Botanical Garden, and the charming old town district. Goteborg is also home to a large number of museums, including the Volvo Museum, the Maritime Museum and the Universeum science center.

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Ljubljana, Slovenia

Ljubljana is the capital city of Slovenia and is a city full of culture and history. There are many places to visit in Ljubljana, such as the castle, the old town, and the cathedral. The city is also home to many museums, art galleries, and parks. Ljubljana is a great city to explore on foot, and there are many restaurants and cafes to enjoy.

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Sydney, NSW, Australia

Australia is a vast country with plenty of stunning places to visit, but Sydney is undoubtedly one of the most popular tourist destinations on the continent. From the iconic Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge to the beautiful beaches and lush national parks, there's something for everyone in this lively city. There's also a thriving food and nightlife scene, so you'll never run out of things to do in Sydney.

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Melbourne, VIC, Australia

There's a lot to love about Melbourne  its lively arts and culture scene, its parks and gardens, its diverse range of restaurants and cafes, and its stunning architecture. Here are some of the best places to visit in Melbourne: - Federation Square: This iconic square is a great place to people-watch and take in the city's impressive architecture. It's also home to a number of museums and galleries, including the Australian Centre for the Moving Image and the National Gallery of Victoria. - Queen Victoria Market: This vibrant market is a must-visit for foodies and shoppers alike. It's the largest open-air market in the Southern Hemisphere, and offers a vast array of fresh produce, meat, seafood, and souvenirs. - Melbourne Cricket Ground: If you're a sports fan, be sure to check out the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which is the largest cricket stadium in the world. It's also home to the Australian Football League, and has hosted a number of major sporting events, including the Commonwealth Games and the Rugby Union World Cup. - Royal Botanic Gardens: These beautiful gardens are a great place to relax and take in some of Melbourne's natural beauty. They're home to a number of different gardens, including the Australian Garden, the Sculpture Garden, and the Japanese Garden.

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Vancouver, BC, Canada

The top places to visit in Vancouver are Stanley Park, Granville Island, Gastown, and Chinatown. These are all must-see attractions that offer an array of activities, scenery, and history. Stanley Park is a world-famous urban park that features greenery, beaches, gardens, and a stunning view of the North Shore Mountains. Granville Island is a vibrant neighbourhood with unique shops, restaurants, and art galleries. Gastown is the city's oldest neighbourhood and is home to charming cobblestone streets and funky boutiques. Chinatown is one of the largest and most vibrant Chinatowns in North America and offers delicious food, interesting history, and vibrant culture.

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Toronto, ON, Canada

From the CN Tower and Hockey Hall of Fame to the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Distillery District, there are plenty of amazing places to visit in Toronto, Canada. With something for everyone, Toronto is a great city to explore. So what are you waiting for? Start planning your trip today!.

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Montreal, QC, Canada

Montreal is a vibrant city with something for everyone. There are plenty of places to visit, including the Notre Dame Basilica, the Olympic Stadium, and Mount Royal. The city is also home to a lively arts and culture scene, with theatres, art galleries, and music venues. Montreal is a great place to visit year-round, with festivals and events happening throughout the year.

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Seville, Spain

Seville is one of the most visited places in Spain for a plethora of reasons: its stunning architecture, tapas bars, flamenco and great weather. The Giralda Tower is a must-see when in Seville as is the Plaza de Espana. Andalusian culture is heavily present in the city and is best experienced by wandering the narrow streets and alleyways, popping into a lively tapas bar for a drink and some snacks or enjoying a flamenco show.

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Ocean City, MD, United States

Ocean City is a seaside resort town in Worcester County, Maryland, on the Atlantic coast. It is well known for its long promenade, its fishing, and its crab cuisine. There are plenty of places to visit in Ocean City, including the boardwalk, amusement rides, shopping, and restaurants. You can also visit the Assateague Island National Seashore, which is home to wild horses, or head to the nearby town of Berlin for more shopping and dining options.

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Cambridge, MA, United States

If you're looking for a quintessential New England town to visit, Cambridge, Massachusetts is the place for you. With its elaborate architecture and Colonial history, Cambridge is a lively town with plenty of things to see and do - perfect for a weekend getaway. Some of the places you won't want to miss include the Harvard University campus, the charming and lively shops and restaurants in Harvard Square, and the leafy paths of the Cambridge Common.

Cambridge Luxury Hotels

Laguna Beach, CA, United States

Laguna Beach, California is a place known for its stunningly beautiful coastline, excellent restaurants, and art galleries. But there's more to Laguna Beach than meets the eye. Here are some of the best places to visit in Laguna Beach: Crystal Cove State Park: This state park is known for its coves, tidepools, and bluffs. It's a great place to go hiking, swimming, and snorkeling. Heisler Park: This park is a great place for a walk or a picnic. It's also home to some of the best views of the Pacific Coast. Downtown Laguna Beach: This charming downtown area is home to art galleries, boutique shops, and excellent restaurants. Aliso Beach: This beach is known for its excellent surfing and swimming conditions. It's also a great place to take a walk or enjoy a picnic.

Laguna Beach Luxury Hotels

Hot Springs, AR, United States

In downtown Hot Springs, Arkansas, you'll find historic buildings, antique shops, and art galleries. For nature lovers, there are also plenty of places to visit, including the Garland County Arboretum, Ouachita National Forest, and Hot Springs National Park. Spa enthusiasts can enjoy a relaxing day in one of the area's hot springs. And no trip to Hot Springs is complete without a visit to the world-famous Bathhouse Row.

Hot Springs Luxury Hotels

Sedona, AZ, United States

There are many places to visit in Sedona, Arizona. Among the most popular are the Chapel of the Holy Cross, Bell Rock, Cathedral Rock, and Boynton Canyon. The town's unique red-rock formations and ancient ruins offer plenty of photo opportunities. Visitors can also enjoy hiking, biking, and horseback riding. Sedona is a great place to relax and take in the natural beauty of the Southwest.

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Boulder, CO, United States

Boulder, Colorado is a breathtaking city nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The city is home to stunning views, ample outdoor recreation, and a lively arts scene. Outdoor enthusiasts will love exploring the city's many trails, parks, and open spaces. History buffs will enjoy checking out the city's museums and historic sites. Culture seekers will appreciate the city's many theaters, art galleries, and restaurants. No matter what your interests, you'll find something to love in Boulder.

Boulder Luxury Hotels

Key West, FL, United States

Key West is a small island off the coast of Florida that is filled with history, charm, and fun places to visit. Its lush tropical setting and the laid-back vibe of the island make it a popular destination for those looking for a relaxing getaway. There are plenty of places to explore in Key West, from the charming historic district to the crystal-clear waters of the Florida Keys. Here are some of the top places to visit in Key West: -The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum: This iconic museum is dedicated to the life and work of Nobel Prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway, who lived in Key West for over 20 years. -Duval Street: This lively street is the heart of Key West's nightlife and is home to many bars and restaurants. -The Southernmost Point: This landmark is located at the end of Duval Street and is the southernmost point in the continental United States. -The Key West Lighthouse: This picturesque lighthouse is a popular spot for tourists and offers stunning views of the island. -The African American Heritage House: This museum is dedicated to the history and culture of African Americans in Key West. -The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory: This attraction is home to over 2,000 butterflies and a variety of other tropical plants and animals.

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Stockholm, Sweden

Stockholm, Sweden is a city with many places to visit. One place is the Vasa Museum, which is home to a ship that sunk in 1628 and was raised from the ocean floor 333 years later. The ship is preserved and on display in the museum. Another place to visit is the Royal Palace, the official residence of the Swedish monarch. The palace is open for tours, and visitors can see the royal apartments, the throne room, and the Hall of State.

Stockholm Luxury Hotels

Destin, FL, United States

Looking for a place to visit in Florida? Look no further than Destin! This city is home to beautiful beaches, wonderful restaurants, and plenty of places to shop. No matter what you're looking for, you can find it in Destin. Be sure to check out the Destin Harbor and the fishing pier for amazing views and plenty of things to do. If you're looking for a place to relax, head to the beach and enjoy the sun and sand. There's something for everyone in Destin, so be sure to visit this amazing city!.

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Ashland, OR, United States

There are many places to visit in Ashland, Oregon. Some of the most popular places are the Shakespeare Festival, Lithia Park, and Mt. Ashland. The Shakespeare Festival is a great place to see some of the best plays in the world. Lithia Park is a beautiful park with a river running through it. Mt. Ashland is a great place to go skiing in the winter.

Ashland Luxury Hotels

Seaside, OR, United States

One of the most beautiful places on the Oregon Coast is Seaside. With its wide, sandy beach and majestic promenade, Seaside is a popular tourist destination. There are plenty of places to eat and shop, and the Seaside Aquarium is a must-see. Visitors can also enjoy fishing, whale watching, or just taking a leisurely stroll along the beach.

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Newport, RI, United States

Newport is a picturesque town located in southern Rhode Island that is home to some of the most visited tourist destinations in the United States. The city is known for its miles of beaches and historic mansions that line the coast. Some popular places to visit in Newport include the Cliff Walk, the Breakers Mansion, the Museum of Yachting, and the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

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Siena, Italy

Siena, Italy is a popular tourist destination, thanks to its well-preserved medieval city center. The city is famous for its art, food, and wine. Siena is located in the heart of Tuscany, making it the perfect base for exploring this beautiful region of Italy. Don't miss the Duomo (cathedral), the Piazza del Campo, and the Torre del Mangia.

Siena Luxury Hotels

Reno, NV, United States

Home to the University of Nevada, Reno and a wide variety of cultural and natural attractions, Reno is a great place to visit. Some of the top places to see in Reno include the Nevada Museum of Art, the Fleischmann Planetarium and Science Center, and the Reno Events Center. Outdoor enthusiasts will enjoy hiking and skiing at Lake Tahoe and biking and kayaking on the Truckee River. In addition, Reno is home to a diverse array of restaurants and nightlife venues.

Reno Luxury Hotels

Atlantic City, NJ, United States

Atlantic City is a popular East Coast tourist destination, known for its boardwalks, beaches and casinos. There are plenty of places to visit in Atlantic City, from the Boardwalk Hall and the Absecon Lighthouse to the Atlantic City Aquarium and Lucy the Elephant. For a more thrilling experience, head to one of the city's casinos, where you can try your hand at blackjack, slots, roulette and more. Atlantic City also offers a wide variety of restaurants, from seafood spots to pizza places, so you're sure to find something to your taste. And if you're looking for some nightlife action, the city has you covered there too. Atlantic City is definitely a place worth visiting!.

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Lake George, NY, United States

Looking for a place to visit in upstate New York? Look no further than the stunning Lake George. This picturesque locale is located in the heart of the Adirondacks and is known for its pristine beauty and terrific recreational opportunities. Visitors can enjoy hiking, biking, boating, fishing, and skiing, among other activities. Don't miss the chance to take in the spectacular views from the summit of Prospect Mountain or from the water's edge.

Lake George Luxury Hotels

Buffalo, NY, United States

If you're looking for a city that has it all, Buffalo is the place to be. From its vibrant downtown district to its abundance of parks and nature preserves, there's something for everyone in Buffalo. Here are some of the top places to visit in Buffalo: 1. The Buffalo Zoo - One of the top zoos in the country, the Buffalo Zoo is a must-visit for animal lovers of all ages. 2. The Albright-Knox Art Gallery - Buffalo's answer to the Louvre, the Albright-Knox is home to some of the world's most famous paintings and sculptures. 3. The Buffalo-Niagara Heritage Village - This living history museum offers a glimpse into what life was like in Buffalo in the 1800s. 4. The Buffalo River - Take a walk or bike ride along the Buffalo River, one of the city's most picturesque areas. 5. Delaware Park - This large park is home to a variety of attractions, including a zoo, a golf course, and a nature preserve.

Buffalo Luxury Hotels

Rochester, MN, United States

Rochester, Minnesota is a city with plenty of places to visit. There's the Mayo Clinic, the Apache Mall, and several other shopping areas, as well as a variety of restaurants. There are also a few parks and golf courses. For those who love the outdoors, Rochester is also close to several state parks and the Mississippi River.

Rochester Luxury Hotels

Duluth, MN, United States

If you're looking for an amazing place to visit, Duluth, Minnesota should definitely be at the top of your list. This city is home to some of the most beautiful scenery in the United States, and there are plenty of things to do here that will keep you entertained for days on end. Some of the most popular places to visit in Duluth include the Aerial Lift Bridge, the Glensheen Mansion, and Chester Creek Park. Additionally, there are a number of excellent restaurants and shopping areas in the city, so be sure to explore everything that Duluth has to offer.

Duluth Luxury Hotels

Maputo, Mozambique

Maputo is the capital of Mozambique and a city full of culture and history. There are many places to visit in Maputo, such as the Jose Eduardo dos Santos Museum, the Maputo Cathedral, and the Rua da Independencia. Maputo is also home to the Maputo Bay, which offers beautiful beaches and great seafood.

Maputo Luxury Hotels

Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona, located on the northeast coast of Spain, is a renowned tourist destination and one of the most popular cities in the world. There are plenty of places to visit in Barcelona, such as the Gothic Quarter, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Parc Guell, La Sagrada Familia, and more. The city is also home to a lively nightlife and some of the best restaurants in the country.

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Split, Croatia

Split is a city on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. It is the second-largest city in Croatia and the largest city in Dalmatia. It has a population of over 200,000 inhabitants. The metropolitan area, which includes the City of Split and the surrounding towns, has a population of over 330,000. Split is a popular tourist destination and is the home of the Diocletian's Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Other popular tourist destinations include the Riva, the Peristyle, the Cathedral of Saint Domnius, and Sustipan.

Split Luxury Hotels

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Dubrovnik, Croatia

Dubrovnik is a city on the Adriatic Sea in Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, a seaport and the administrative center of Dubrovnik-Neretva County. Dubrovnik is nicknamed "The Pearl of the Adriatic".

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Byron Bay, NSW, Australia

Byron Bay is a magical place. It's no wonder that it's one of the most popular destinations in Australia. The town is set in a beautiful location, surrounded by rolling green hills and the bright blue ocean. There's plenty to do in Byron Bay, whether you're looking for a relaxing beach holiday or an adventure-filled trip. Some of the top places to visit in Byron Bay include the iconic lighthouse, the stunning beaches, and the lush rainforest. There's also a great nightlife and plenty of restaurants and cafes to enjoy. If you're looking for an amazing Australian getaway, be sure to add Byron Bay to your list!.

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Wellington, New Zealand

If you're looking for a little slice of heaven on earth, look no further than Wellington, New Zealand. With its gorgeous landscape and plethora of activities, there's something for everyone here. Whether you're a nature lover or a city slicker, Wellington has something special to offer. Top Wellington attractions include the Zealandia eco-sanctuary, the cable car up to the Botanic Gardens, and the sprawling Te Papa museum. For those who love getting out into the great outdoors, there are plenty of hiking and biking trails, as well as lovely seaside towns and villages to explore. And of course, no trip to Wellington would be complete without trying some of the delicious local cuisine  be sure to sample a traditional Maori hangi feast! So what are you waiting for? Book your flight to Wellington today and start planning your perfect holiday!.

Wellington Luxury Hotels

Saint Louis, MO, United States

If you're looking for a fun place to visit with a rich history and plenty of things to see and do, look no further than Saint Louis, Missouri. This vibrant city is home to a variety of interesting attractions, including the Gateway Arch, the Missouri Botanical Garden, and the Anheuser-Busch Brewery. There's also no shortage of restaurants and shopping options in Saint Louis. So, whether you're looking for a place to explore new cultures and cuisines or you're just looking for a place to have some fun, Saint Louis is a great option.

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Bloomington, IN, United States

The city of Bloomington, Indiana is home to a variety of attractions and places to visit. The Indiana University campus is a popular destination, as is the city's historic downtown district. Monroe County Courthouse
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Kerrville, TX (78028)

Today

Mainly sunny. High near 85F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph..

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Mostly clear in the evening then increasing clouds with some scattered thunderstorms after midnight. Low 63F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Holly Lutz and Chelsea Feast with Ring-tailed Lemurs photo by Tennessee Aquarium Red-ruffed Lemur photo by Kevin Calhoon Red-ruffed Lemur photo by Kevin Calhoon Previous Next

Tennessee Aquarium guests have had little cause to look up as they explored beneath the iconic glass peaks of the Ocean Journey building  until now.Leading up to the grand opening of the Lemur Forest exhibit on March 1, anyone planning a visit to the buildings top floor will want to start exercising their neck muscles now.A four-month renovation has completely transformed the Tropical Cove, transporting guests into the spiny forests and rainforests of Madagascar.This lush environment soon will echo with the calls and sway beneath the paws of seven endangered Ring-tailed Lemurs and a pair of critically endangered Red-ruffed Lemurs.These charismatic, acrobatic primates will be leaping through an exhibit space designed, from the ground up, to take advantage of Ocean Journeys most distinctive  and under-utilized  feature: its tremendous vertical space.When you walk in Tropical Cove, there are these huge peaks overhead, but there wasnt much going on up there, said Dave Collins, the Aquariums director of forests and animal behavior. We thought, Is there some way we can use that space to create a more enriching environment for the animals?Lemur Forest is the end result of three and a half years of research and months of consultation with experts at other institutions that care for lemurs. Early in that process, Aquarium staff concluded that, especially when exhibiting two species side by side, it was vital to make their habitat as varied and stimulating as possible.In Lemur Forest, the Ring-tails and Red-ruffs can clamber to perches more than 30 feet above the ground and scamper through more than 120 horizontal feet of terrain full of ups and downs. Part of this habitat includes an aerial skyway arching just over the entrance to the Cove, offering guests an immediate opportunity to lay eyes on the lemurs.Weve created a really dynamic environment that affords these animals a lot of choices, Collins said. The exhibit gives us a lot of options to ensure they remain healthy and happy.Beyond being exciting to watch, lemurs represent an important conservation story. All of the more than 100 known species of lemur are native to Madagascar. Like many islands, this African nation is a hotspot of biodiversity, an environment where three-quarters of the native plant and animal species can be found nowhere else.Lemurs are the most endangered class of mammals on the planet. In Madagascar, all lemur populations are declining, and more than two-thirds are classified as endangered or critically endangered, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.That makes ensuring the health and wellbeing of captive populations all the more important, said Chelsea Feast, a lemur expert who relocated to the Aquarium from the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, Md.They are, from a conservational standpoint, an animal that needs attention brought to it, she said.Although lemurs are the exhibits namesake, they arent the only newcomers to Ocean Journey. The Ring-tails, who spend less time in the trees than the fruit-loving Red-ruffs, will share ground space in Lemur Forest with several knobby-shelled  and critically endangered  Radiated Tortoises, another native Malagasy species.Aquarium guests will be able to enjoy two new Leaping Lemurs presentations each day at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. These additions to the menu of Extraordinary Experiences programs provide opportunities to learn more about these amazing creatures from the experts who care for them. They will also discover how the Aquarium is supporting conservation measures in Madagascar to save lemurs and other imperiled species. Youll see the Red-ruffed Lemurs hanging upside-down using their incredibly strong back feet, Feast said. Well also show how the Ring-tails use their iconic black and white tails for balance. Occasionally youll see them sun-bathing in a yoga-like seated position which looks pretty comical. We call it sun-worshipping.The transformation of Tropical Cove also includes dramatic improvements to Stingray Bay. The walls of the Aquariums largest touch tank are now significantly thinner and smoother to make it easier than ever for guests, particularly younger visitors, to lay fingers on its many ray and shark species.Guests are also now able to enjoy an exotic display of colorful orchids and insectivorous plants housed housed in a lava rock display installed at the south end of the room just before construction of Lemur Forest began.The Aquariums Tropical Cove, Appalachian Cove Forest and Delta Country exhibit have always been popular with Aquarium guests. Recent improvements such as River Otter Falls, Alligator Bayou, and now Lemur Forest make these living forests even more immersive.Aquarium staff and volunteers are eager for everyone to experience Lemur Forest, a project which was shaped by input from so many individuals working as a team, said Jackson Andrews, the Aquariums Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Personally, Im really looking forward to seeing our guests experience how this already popular gallery has become even more fun and captivating.
Modern computer technology is based on the transport of electric charge in semiconductors. But this technology's potential will be reaching its limits in the near future, since the components deployed cannot be miniaturized further. But, there is another option: using an electron's spin, instead of its charge, to transmit information. A team of scientists from Munich and Kyoto is now demonstrating how this works.

Computers and mobile devices continue providing ever more functionality. The basis for this surge in performance has been progressively extended miniaturization. However, there are fundamental limits to the degree of miniaturization possible, meaning that arbitrary size reductions will not be possible with semiconductor technology.

Researchers around the world are thus working on alternatives. A particularly promising approach involves so-called spin electronics. This takes advantage of the fact that electrons possess, in addition to charge, angular momentum - the spin. The experts hope to use this property to increase the information density and at the same time the functionality of future electronics.

Together with colleagues at the Kyoto University in Japan scientists at the Walther-Meiner-Institute (WMI) and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Garching have now demonstrated the transport of spin information at room temperature in a remarkable material system.

A unique boundary layer

In their experiment, they demonstrated the production, transport and detection of electronic spins in the boundary layer between the materials lanthanum-aluminate (LaAlO2) and strontium-titanate (SrTiO3). What makes this material system unique is that an extremely thin, electrically conducting layer forms at the interface between the two non-conducting materials: a so-called two-dimensional electron gas.

The German-Japanese team has now shown that this two-dimensional electron gas transports not only charge, but also spin. "To achieve this we first had to surmount several technical hurdles," says Dr Hans Hubl, scientist at the Chair for Technical Physics at TUM and Deputy Director of the Walther-Meiner-Institute. "The two key questions were: How can spin be transferred to the two-dimensional electron gas and how can the transport be proven?"

Information transport via spin

The scientists solved the problem of spin transfer using a magnetic contact. Microwave radiation forces its electrons into a precession movement, analogous to the wobbling motion of a top. Just as in a top, this motion does not last forever, but rather, weakens in time - in this case by imparting its spin onto the two-dimensional electron gas.

The electron gas then transports the spin information to a non-magnetic contact located one micrometer next to the contact. The non-magnetic contact detects the spin transport by absorbing the spin, building up an electric potential in the process. Measuring this potential allowed the researchers to systematically investigate the transport of spin and demonstrate the feasibility of bridging distances up to one hundred times larger than the distance of today's transistors.

Based on these results, the team of scientists is now researching to what extent spin electronic components with novel functionality can be implemented using this system of materials.
135 decision makers from 15 countries took part in the 1st European Chemistry Partnering in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. 22 small and medium-sized chemical companies and chemical Start-ups described their offerings in short presentations. More than 200 Partnering meetings with investors and industry representatives were held. The organizers expressed their gratitude and confidence. Next year the 2nd European Chemistry Partnering will take place on February 23rd 2018.

The concept of creating a Pitch-and-Partnering event for the chemistry industry and its user industries has proven to be successful. The Conference was fully booked and expectations were exceeded. The international audience attending this pioneering event in Frankfurt am Main, Germany came from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Croatia, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the USA and Germany.

Particularly noteworthy was the high proportion of industry representatives from large companies as well as the number of investors. This group represented 40 per cent of all participants, comprising 30 companies and 10 investors. The participants from chemistry Start-ups and SMEs added-up to 34 per cent. Many founders and managers of SMEs took advantage of face-to-face discussions on an equal-footing with first-tier management of major companies, innovation managers and project managers - as well as investors. The remaining participants came from Clusters and Industrial parks, Trade associations and Service companies, as well as from Research institutes and Universities.

One of the highlights of the 1st European Chemistry Partnering was the Keynote Speech from Dr Sean Simpson, Founder and Head of Research at LanzaTech from the USA. In a lively lecture, he presented his audience the principles of Gas Fermentation. Here, microorganisms convert carbon dioxide into raw material for the chemical industry. Furthermore, Dr Simpson was able to impart valuable advice for successful business development in chemistry to all entrepreneurs based on his twelve years at LanzaTech.

"Chemistry makes the world go around" was the motto of the 1st European Chemistry Partnering. Dr Holger Bengs, the initiator of the event series, said: "We are very pleased that so many people active in the chemistry industry have used the 1st European Chemistry Partnering as an opportunity for further growth and for the initiation of new business contacts. It was a creative and very stimulating prelude, which also challenged us to leave the comfort zones of our own areas of expertise, to look further than our own disciplines and to find new business friends. We are proud of what we have achieved. Next year, the 2nd ECP will not only be significantly larger, but will also be even more valuable to all participants."
Every day when Katie Lord heads to her private office in a coworking space, she makes her way past the guy who props up his shoeless feet on his desk.

He always has his shoes off, said Lord, who runs her own creative agency. I have to walk past this guy  if I bring a client or an interviewee past that, I cringe a little bit every single time.

Though Lord raves otherwise about the shared office space she works in, her fellow workers manners have become a source of frustration.

And shes not alone. The dynamics of a shared workspace can be a little less straightforward than in a traditional office. From knowing whether to chide someone for not doing their dishes to when its polite to pitch your services to a fellow member, the dynamics of a coworking space can be new territory for someone who has traditionally worked in a cube farm or from the comfort of home.

So what are some common offenses? Tenants and managers of coworking spaces gave us the rundown.

The hard sell

One of the upsides of a coworking space is close proximity to workers from different industries, who may one day end up lending a hand with legal advice or a new logo.

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But theres a line between forging new friendships and shoving your business down someones throat.

Dont go to a space and immediately try to sell your s---, said Sam Rosen, co-founder of Deskpass, an online platform that allows coworking operators to share space and manage availability.

Though lawyers, real estate agents and other members in professional services may end up being valuable connections for budding entrepreneurs, Rosen suggests focusing on making genuine connections first and worrying about finding new clients later.

Go to the space and make friends and build relationships and be helpful  most coworking spaces have opportunities for people to share what they do, he said. People dont want to go there to be sold to.

Nicole Vasquez, founder and president of Uptown-based coworking space The Shift, added that spaces have a community manager that can serve as a matchmaker of sorts.

The community manager is also the super connector, so if you're looking to meet someone from a specific industry, to collaborate, to hire, or to be hired, the community manager is the No. 1 person you should talk to, she said in an email.

Pump, don't dump

Ashley Logan, founder and CEO of Chicago-based Yakkety Yak Marketing, returned to work last year after giving birth to her daughter. She needed a place to pump three times a day and said her coworking space designated a handicapped bathroom  which was private and had an electrical outlet  as a "mothers room." She set up a chair and table so she could work in the room.

Unfortunately for Logan, the space drew random members to enjoy a newspaper and do their morning business. She needed 15 to 20 minutes in the space a few times each day but found the space was frequently occupied  or smelled like it recently had been.

To be standing in a hallway waiting for someone to finish up using the bathroom, A, really dug into my productivity time, and B, was disgusting, she said.

It remained a problem until Logan posted a sign on the door: To Those Who Keep Using the Mothers Room.

In the note, Logan politely introduced herself, explained why the room was the only place where she could pump, and asked that members use the other facilities.

Since at this time, there are no additional accommodations provided to me as a nursing mother, I ask that you kindly respect the fact that being a working, nursing mother is hard enough without the daily opposition of those who refuse to relinquish the space for their private use, she wrote.

Within hours, Logan said, management got to work finding her a different space. She said as of January, the coworking space found a new private space for nursing mothers  one without a toilet.

Quiet, please

Being chatty in a coworking space can be a crime  unless you're careful about when or where you do it.

Chrisella Herzog, who works in social media consulting out of a Salt Lake City, Utah, coworking space, said fellow members in the open area made phone calls on speakerphone, so everyone in the room could hear. She eventually opted to upgrade to a reserved desk so she could move away from the noisy group.

Herzog says its polite to approach noise in a coworking space like you might on a subway car: Noise is OK in your personal bubble, but keep it to a minimum.

"You can take a call or listen to music on your headphones, but don't put the boombox down in the middle of the table at full volume," she said, referring to public transportation signs with crossed-out speakers.

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The Shift's Vasquez suggests keeping loud conversations to private phone booths or meeting rooms.

This does not mean you can't take phone or video calls in an open workspace, it simply means watch the volume of your voice  so if you're uncertain how loud you are on the phone, be proactive and just use a phone booth to be safe, she said in an email.

At 25N Coworking , a coworking company with spaces in Geneva and Arlington Heights, founder and CEO Mara Hauser said design plays a big hand in managing noise.

We do have one area where the white noise is louder than in other areas, she said. Those people that are more communicative might sit in that zone, and other people might go find another nook or cranny somewhere else.

And for those who want to include others but dont want to disrupt others, 25N runs a Slack messaging group, so members can put out a siren call for a lunch run or a beer outing  without a peep.

Be a diplomat

Though coworking experts said the spaces tended to attract courteous members, every office has its squabbles from time to time. Whether it's a noisy deskmate or that person who always leaves their dirty dishes strewn around the kitchen, handling an issue with another member can be tricky.

Benjamin Dyett, former president of Grind  and partner at coworking consultancy OpenWork, said he always felt members should feel comfortable taking any major concerns to management. Dyett recently left the company to begin a new shared workspace model.

We wanted to manage those problems  just to keep the community harmonious, he said.

Dyett said members are most often willing to improve.

If you build the right culture, the people that are there are connected to the community.  They dont want to be kicked out, he said. If you point out a problem, theyre going to try to fix it.

At Coco, a coworking space in the West Loop, location manager Alysha-Aubrey Bursey said she's happy to help members resolve issues if needed.

"If you feel uncomfortable or it's a persistent problem, I'd be more than happy to help you," she said. But she said she feels most problems are easy to solve among members.

"We're all here to grow our businesses and be entrepreneurs, and no one is going to bite your head off if you ask them to get out of a meeting room or if they're talking too loud."

mgraham@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @megancgraham
Few companies have been as successful as Boeing Co. in building a cozy relationship with President Donald Trump. The question is how close is too close.

The company found itself in an awkward position this week after Bloomberg reported that Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg had listened in on a phone call last month between Trump and the Air Force general managing purchases of Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter jets. The president, who visited a Boeing plant Friday, has repeatedly criticized the plane for its high costs while suggesting Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet might be a cheaper alternative.

The call, made via speakerphone in Trump's New York office, appeared to catch Muilenburg off-guard. Yet the unusual situation, raising questions of the integrity of the government bidding process, highlights the perils executives face in trying to navigate Trump's unorthodox style. By listening in, Muilenburg potentially could have heard information "related to Lockheed that may not otherwise be available to Boeing," said George Brenkert, a professor of business ethics at Georgetown University.

In such a scenario, Muilenburg may need to simply walk out of the room, said Brenkert, who called it an ethical "test situation."

Representatives of Boeing and Lockheed declined to comment.

Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, who was on the other end of Trump's call, on Thursday defended the discussion. After a hearing before a House subcommittee, Bogdan said there was nothing "inappropriate" about Boeing's involvement because "the things I talked about in front of Mr. Muilenburg were clearly publicly releasable information." The Jan. 17 call was primarily to discuss F-35 affordability, the capabilities of the jet relative to Boeing's Super Hornet and the Air Force One program, Bogdan said.

Since the election, Trump has sought to capitalize on his master negotiator image to both criticize and praise individual companies for actions they take affecting American workers. At times he has called out manufacturers for shipping jobs overseas, praised automakers for building in the U.S. and even slammed retailer Nordstrom Inc. for dropping his daughter Ivanka's brand.

Boeing was one of those targets. In December, Trump lamented the cost of new Air Force One planes in a tweet with the threat, " Cancel order!" Much was at stake. Not only does Boeing make Air Force One but it's also the second-largest U.S. defense contractor, behind Lockheed.

Since then, Boeing has managed to get on the administration's good side. Muilenburg was named to Trump's manufacturing council, establishing a direct line to the Oval Office. Boeing could earn another victory with the possible re-opening of the U.S. Export-Import Bank for financing large deals.

Muilenburg hosted Trump on Friday for the rollout of its 787-10 Dreamliner at a South Carolina factory, where the president said the U.S. is "looking seriously at a big order" of Super Hornets. Trump praised the company repeatedly, closing his speech by saying, "God bless Boeing."

"At this point, Muilenburg's rivals must be feeling kind of envious about the rapport he's developing with the president," said Loren Thompson, an analyst with the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Virginia, and who has consulted for defense contractors such as Lockheed.

Still, the relationship can cut both ways, Thompson said. "Trump is the most forceful president in recent memory, so whatever concerns that might create, companies don't have a choice," he said. "You have to deal with him on his own terms."

Ford faced a similar situation. Initially blasted for building cars in Mexico, the company has won praise from Trump more recently for canceling plans for a $1.6 billion plant in the country. But even as the president calls Bill Ford, the executive chairman, "my friend," the automaker found itself having to speak out against Trump's controversial recent executive order banning certain immigrants and foreign visitors, which was blocked by courts.

Ethical considerations have been in sharp focus at Boeing since a 2003 controversy related in part to a possible tanker contract. That situation, involving an Air Force official's improper discussions with Boeing, led to the resignation of CEO Phil Condit and jail time for Michael Sears, then the chief financial officer, and the former official.

With Trump, Boeing has tried to connect the new administration's focus on U.S. manufacturing jobs to the planemaker's burgeoning overseas jet sales, said Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst with Teal Group. Navigating such a path could prove tricky, particularly if Boeing's international operations conflict with Trump's America-first posture.

"They are running the risk of cozying up to a man whose worst impulses don't agree with their best interests," Aboulafia said.

Bloomberg's Anthony Capaccio and Thomas Black contributed.
Susana Palomo works on a recipe during class Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017 at the French Pastry School. She's fulfilling a dream after working her whole life in factories before being laid off from Mondelez last year. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Susana Palomo couldn't sleep for a week, torn between a dream and reality.

One of the hundreds of workers laid off last year from the Nabisco plant on Chicago's Southwest Side, where Oreos were made for more than six decades, Palomo had embarked on a bold plan to attend college and perhaps open her own small bakery someday. But Mondelez International, the $30 billion global parent company of Nabisco, called her back to work in December.

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Palomo's predicament: Return to the factory job and get paid? Or continue studying at the French Pastry School, where she was thriving?

"I know money is really important in life, but other things also. If you're not happy, money's not everything. ... It's a struggle," said Palomo, a Blue Island woman in her 50s who emigrated from Mexico with her family as a teenager.

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It's been nearly a year since Mondelez laid off almost half of its 1,200 manufacturing workers in Chicago, shifting the work to Mexico. More than 100 employees have been called back, but many of those who lost their jobs struggle to stay afloat financially.

The layoffs, continuing the trend of American companies exporting jobs to take advantage of cheaper materials and labor costs, prompted both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to lambaste Mondelez's decision from the campaign trail. Since taking office, Trump has repeatedly pledged to restore U.S. manufacturing jobs lost to other countries.

But it's hard to envision a meaningful reversal of the manufacturing decline in Chicago, where $25-an-hour factory jobs with benefits have become increasingly rare. In the late 1940s, Chicago boasted almost 670,000 manufacturing jobs, according to city data. Recent estimates by university researchers put the current number at closer to 70,000.

Jobs at the Nabisco bakery, which employed more than 4,000 workers in its heyday, generally paid more than most of the other jobs in the surrounding area, and the plant employed more black and Latino workers than other facilities in the area, according to a recent analysis by the Great Cities Institute at University of Illinois Chicago.

"These are important, good-paying jobs, and not necessarily for people with high levels of educational attainment, in a part of the city that's been losing manufacturing jobs for decades," said Matt Wilson, economic development planner for the Great Cities Institute.

Former Mondelez employee Anthony Jackson helps his daughter Treasure Jackson, 9, with her hair on Feb. 12, 2017, at the Oak Forest home of his mother, Sylvia Wise, who is in the foreground. Anthony Jackson, who was laid off in March from the Southwest Side plant, has become a paid advocate for the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

Jobs with union

Since the 600 job cuts were announced in July 2015, 429 workers have received layoff notices, said Mondelez spokeswoman Laurie Guzzinati. Retirements and attrition helped offset some layoffs.

Of those 429, 120 have returned to the facility after being called back to work and there could be additional callbacks, Guzzinati said. More could be called back depending on operational needs, she said.

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After Anthony Jackson was laid off in March, his apartment in the Englewood neighborhood stayed dark for almost a month because he couldn't pay the electric bill. He fell behind on child support payments for his three daughters. He had to make a hardship withdrawal from his 401(k).

"Originally, it was harsh. It was extremely harsh," said Jackson, 40, a Navy veteran who worked about five years at the plant.

His fortunes improved when he became a paid advocate for the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, by far the largest union at the plant.

Since June, Jackson said he's spoken to college students and labor groups in 19 states, promoting the union's boycott of Mexican-made Nabisco products and calling for the "repatriation of American jobs."

Jackson wouldn't say how much the union pays him, although he said it's considerably less than the $26 an hour he made at Mondelez. But he believes in the cause and takes satisfaction in the work.

"I live in a bad neighborhood. I see the unemployment here. ... I think it's incumbent for me and my family and those around me to fight to try to change that," Jackson said.

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Former Mondelez employee Anthony Jackson is photographed Feb. 12, 2017. Jackson was laid off in March and is now a paid advocate for the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

Michael Smith also joined the baker union's fight. Smith, a 59-year-old Tinley Park resident, had hoped to retire from the Mondelez plant, but has found a new calling as a voice of the union after he was laid off in March.

Unafraid of public speaking, Smith recently delivered a speech to some 3,500 members of the American Postal Workers Union in Florida.

Like Jackson, Smith speaks passionately about what he considers to be the injustice of a company moving American jobs to Mexico and selling products back to American consumers in order to increase profits for shareholders.

If recalled to the plant, Jackson said it would be a "tough decision" on whether to return. Smith said he'd happily get back to work.

"I'm really hoping there's a great possibility that Mondelez will at least call me back," Smith said.

Pursuing a dream

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After getting called back by Mondelez, Palomo returned in December  for one day.

That's all it took for her to realize she was done with factory work.

While she worked for more than 25 years in Chicago-area factories, Palomo longed for a better life for her two daughters.

She decided to pursue the dream she kept for herself. In August, she enrolled at the French Pastry School, housed at Kennedy-King College, where she learned to bake layered wedding cakes adorned with intricate gum-paste flowers that looked real enough to smell.

Susana Palomo works during class Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017 at the French Pastry School. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

Money's tight. Her husband, Pete, also a longtime factory worker now working at a Dean's Dip plant in Thornton, is now the family's only source of income. Household spending has been reined in; needed home repairs have been deferred.

But she has some help. Because the jobs were shifted to Mexico, Palomo and others were able to apply for federal assistance for training through the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers program. In 2016, more than 4,900 workers in Illinois were covered by the program, up from 3,235 the year before.

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Her husband and grown daughters, Ashley and LizMarie, support her decision.

"To be honest, my mom's spent her whole life sacrificing what she wants to do for what she's supposed to do," said LizMarie Palomo, 26, a DePaul University graduate who works at a Chicago marketing firm.

"Seeing her take on something so new and so different shows me that life will always have new chapters, something new to take on. I'm really, really proud."

Susana Palomo still lies awake some nights worrying about money, and after her June graduation, she'll have to find a job. But she feels she made the right decision.

"It's going to be a little tough. I'm not young anymore. But everything is going to be OK," Palomo said. "We have each other."

Uncertain future

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Last summer, the last Oreos rolled off the line at the Nabisco facility, ending a run that dates back to 1953. Oreos are still made in several other U.S. facilities, in addition to Mexico.

Mondelez has defended its decision as important to its ability to compete in a global marketplace. Installing the new production lines in Salinas, Mexico  instead of upgrading the Chicago plant  saves the company about $46 million a year, executives have said.

It's not right. There's no job security. You're working day to day and have no idea if you're going to be laid off again.  LaDonna DeGolyer, 57, laid-off union worker who was recalled by Mondelez

The average worker at the plant in Mexico makes total compensation  including a base wage and the value of benefits  that's equivalent to $7 an hour, which is a competitive salary for that region, said Mondelez's Guzzinati.

The Chicago facility, which continues to produce products like BelVita biscuits and Mini Chips Ahoy cookies, will remain important to its North American supply chain, Guzzinati said.

For those called back to the plant, uncertainty lingers.

Members of the bakers union at the Chicago facility and other plants in the U.S. have worked without a contract since March 1, and negotiations stalled out in early April. Each side accuses the other of walking away from the bargaining table.

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"It's not right. There's no job security. You're working day to day and have no idea if you're going to be laid off again," said LaDonna DeGolyer, 57, who was laid off in March after seven years but called back in August.

Despite the uncertainty, DeGolyer said it was an easy decision to return to Mondelez. When she was laid off from Kraft's Kool-Aid factory in Chicago, where she made about $23 an hour, it took her five years to find a comparable-paying job as a forklift driver at Mondelez, where she makes about $26 an hour, she said.

After losing her job, she couldn't pay her daughter Kayla's tuition at Eastern Illinois University, which led to a delay in Kayla finishing her sophomore year of college. DeGolyer said the financial stress also contributed to a swift decline in her own health. She lost her hair and continues to struggle with headaches and depression.

Back at Mondelez, she feels the toll of the layoffs on a daily basis.

"It was a happy thing (being called back to work), but also a sad thing, because less than half the people you used to work with are still there. You walk through and it's like a ghost town," DeGolyer said.

gtrotter@chicagotribune.com

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Twitter @GregTrotterTrib
Ashley Dingel helps customers test face masks at the new Lush handmade-cosmetics store on Michigan Avenue on Feb. 17, 2017, in Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

Bath and cosmetics-maker Lush moved only two blocks south on North Michigan Avenue, but its new stand-alone store got a big makeover.

A new, 2,200-square-foot shop opened Wednesday in the 700 block of North Michigan Avenue as a replacement for the store in Macy's at Water Tower Place. The move is part of a switch to larger shops with space for customers to touch and feel a wider range of products that are headed to all of Lush's 250 North American stores in the next three years.

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A decadelong expansion kick where Lush tried to get as many shops in as many markets as possible left the company with too many small, cramped stores, said Brandi Halls, Lush's director of brand communications.

New locations are often more than double the size of the stores Lush is replacing. At the Michigan Avenue shop, colorful bath bombs are piled like grocery store produce. There is a dedicated area for consultations and large white sinks for product demos.

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"With a lot of our more innovative products, people aren't always sure how to use them, so demos let customers get their hands in the water and feel it on their skin," Halls said.

Lush will keep some of its larger stores  those with about 1,500 square feet or more  but redesign them to match the new look based on the company's 10,000-square-foot London flagship. The Michigan Avenue store is one of about 30 that have been relocated or redesigned so far, Halls said.

Lush also has stores in the Bucktown, Ranch Triangle and Lakeview neighborhoods and Oakbrook Center, Old Orchard, Orland Square and Woodfield malls, none of which are expected to get a renovation by early 2018.

lzumbach@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @laurenzumbach
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C.  When President Donald Trump took the stage here Friday to mark the launch of Boeing's newest aircraft, it was a scene reminiscent of his airplane hanger rallies during the presidential campaign.

Except, instead of his "Trump" branded Boeing 757 parked behind him, Boeing's newest product, the Dreamliner 787-10, glittered in the sun behind him, and off to the side stood Trump's new ride, Air Force One.

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Trump's somewhat unusual appearance at the launch event for the company's highly anticipated version 10 of the Dreamliner wasn't to roll out new economic policy or even push a specific economic agenda item. Instead, it seemed that Trump was there to boost the company with a presidential endorsement for its American-made fleet, and he in turn would be the face of a major milestone for one of the country's largest job creators.

People take photos before US President Donald J. Trump arrives at the unveiling of Boeing's new 787-10 Dreamliner at their production facility in North Charleston, S.C. (STEPHEN B. MORTON / EPA)

"We're here to day to celebrate American engineering and American manufacturing," Trump said. "We're also here today to celebrate jobs. Jobs!"

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"Jobs is one of the primary reasons I'm standing here as president, and I will never ever disappoint you. Believe me," he added.

Trump's visit to the Boeing plant also comes at a time when the Trump administration is struggling to establish a greater sense of order and focus after weeks of distractions and negative headlines. The White House has aimed to structure his daily schedule with at least one jobs-focused meeting each day. But much of that has been overshadowed by a series of all-consuming stories, the most damaging of which was the ouster of Trump's national security adviser, Michael Flynn, on Monday.

Questions about the Trump administration and campaign's ties to Russia have only intensified after multiple media reports revealed that Flynn discussed sanctions with the Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, despite his statements to the contrary.

Friday's event on the manufacturing floor of Boeing's South Carolina plant offered Trump a much needed opportunity to reset his administration and refocus an economic-based message.

"You look at what's happening with jobs. You look at what's happening with plants moving back to this country. All of a sudden they're coming back," Trump said. "As your president, I'm going to do everything that I can to unleash the power of the America spirit and put our great people back to work.

"This is our mantra, buy American and hire American."

A few months ago, it seemed that Trump's relationship with Boeing was on the rocks before it even really began.

As president-elect, Trump launched into a Twitter fight with the company and its chief executive, Dennis Muilenburg, over the cost of a new fleet of presidential airplanes that would be used as Air Force One. Quickly, Boeing relented, promising to bring down the plane's costs after a series of meetings with Trump.

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Less than a month into his presidency, Trump is back to Boeing on a decidedly more positive note.

"That plane, as beautiful as it looks, is 30 years old," Trump said, pointing to the Boeing 747 that serves as Air Force One. "What can look so beautiful at 30?"

The turnabout is emblematic of Trump's preferred mode of dealing with America's largest and most powerful businesses. It reflects the degree to which Trump has already changed the terms of engagement with the business community, quickly creating an incentive structure where businesses are rewarded with praise from the highest office in the land when they roll out jobs or costs savings for taxpayers -- and credit him for influencing their decision-making.

Over the past several weeks, chief executives like Intel's Brian Krzanich traveled to the White House to announce new American jobs, thanks to new "confidence" in the economy spurred by the new administration.

"They're keeping and bringing thousands of jobs back to our country because the business climate, they know, has already changed," Trump said, highlighting jobs announcements from automakers Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrystler. "We will see more and more of that across the country as we continue to work on reducing regulations, cutting taxes - including for the middle class, including for everyone, and including for businesses."

In this setting, Trump seems at his most comfortable.

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Here in South Carolina, Trump he reveled in his electoral victory and the adulation of a supportive crowd in a state that he won in both the Republican primary and the general election.

"This was going to be a place that was tough to win, and we won in a landslide," Trump declared.

As the restive crowd of Boeing employees waited for hours for Trump to arrive, some cheered when his name was mentioned in the preshow. "Make America Great Again" hats and T-shirts littered the sea of bodies on the plant's manufacturing floor where more than 5,000 employees were gathered.

He toured the new Dreamliner with Boeing executives and could be seen sitting in the plane's cockpit after his speech.

On Saturday, Trump plans something of a repeat performance in what the White House is dubbing the first "campaign" event of his presidency, at an airplane hangar rally in Melbourne, Florida.

Among some Boeing employees, the reception to Trump was reserved, but optimistic.

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Leif Anderson, who started working at the factory six years ago after leaving the Air Force, sat Thursday night at the bar at Domino Lounge, a pool hall three miles from the Boeing plant, smoking cigarillos and sipping a shot of Crown Royal apple whiskey alongside a glass of Bud Lite.

Anderson said he voted for Trump more out of loyalty to the Republican Party, but is "not jumping to conclusions" about the president as a leader.

"I'm really curious to see what he does," said Anderson, who leads a group of workers at the Boeing plant installing the plane's interior. He hopes that Trump's economic policies succeed, which he said would help his own career along with the country as a whole.

"If he does good, then I'm going to do good," Anderson said.

Elliott Slater, a Boeing mechanic, took the day off Friday and did not attend Trump's speech, saying he wanted to avoid the traffic.

"I didn't vote for him, either." said Slater, a veteran of the Navy. "He's not my president. He's got to earn my respect."

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Slater, who supported the union's unsuccessful vote to organize the plant in Wednesday's election, said that Trump would support companies over workers. "He's definitely pro businesses, being a business man himself . . . That's fine, but you know, how does the business treat its workers?"
A blog about life under, and resisting, a dictatorship
Roger Pace, the new owner of the Dillinger replica car takes a drive around the square May 2, 2015, after winning the auction for the Dillinger 1933 Essex Terraplane replica in Crown Point, Ind. (Jim Karczewski / Post-Tribune)

For mobsters like Al Capone, who ran the same Chicago streets that visitors will take to the 2017 Chicago Auto Show, car choice had less to do with horsepower and showy design than features like superior braking and running boards. Enter Capone's 1928 Cadillac sedan.

Low-key or flashy, custom or stock, cars have always been an important part of gangster life, particularly during the Mafia's heyday from the 1920s to the early 1980s. After all, heists required getaways, and corpses needed, well, trunks. Just as in the movies, vehicles often served as mobile whacking sites. Running boards were especially handy during shootouts.

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Although the kind of vehicles gangs preferred ran the gamut, a few were particularly popular. One mobster favorite was the Ford Model V8. Introduced in 1932, it was touted as an affordable big-engine car and swiftly became associated with 1930s gangland. Favored by Chicago gangster John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde and Baby Face Nelson for its iconic design and robust power, the innovative car became known as the height of mobster mobility. Dillinger also is said to have owned a Model A, and Clyde Barrow wrote a letter to founder Henry Ford thanking him for the car's dependability and speed.

Another top marque of La Cosa Nostra was the Lincoln Continental, especially Mark III to Mark VIII. Often spotted on New York streets from the late 1960s through the 1990s, the whip had a bold, slightly threatening presence and was driven by, among others, Carlos Gambino, Paul Castellano and Richard "The Iceman" Kuklinski. "The Godfather" film featured the 1941 Continental.

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Not the most pedestrian of vehicles, the stately Rolls Royce Silver Ghost was particularly popular with mobsters during the Roaring '20s. Wiseguys like Johnny Torrio and Arnold Rothstein each had one, according to www.nationalcrimesyndicate.com.

Other notable underworld wheels include the 1975 Chevy Malibu. Whitey Bulger customized one with a device that could emit smoke or drop oil from the rear. Bootleggers in general liked the inconspicuousness of Chevrolets and Fords, hooking them up with secret compartments, brawny suspensions and a way to dump contraband if they were on the losing end of a cop chase. Ubiquitous Ford Model T's during Prohibition often would be outfitted with fake undercarriages to hold liquor.

While living in exile in Italy in the 1950s, Charles "Lucky" Luciano was known for tooling around in late-model Oldsmobiles with New Jersey or New York license plates, said organized crime historian Christian Cipollini. Meanwhile, Jake "The Barber" Factor, Owney "The Killer" Madden and Dutch Schultz were fans of luxury maker Duesenberg.

"In the '60s, Dodge Darts were big. Some of the older bosses didn't flash  they were more circumspect," said noted mob author Scott M. Deitche. "Wiseguys liked Caddies and Town Cars, but some of the younger ones got a little flashy."

Customizers did brisk business. Capone's Caddy, for example, was painted green and white to match cop cars, and was also outfitted with bespoke features like police band radio, inch-thick glass, and side windows with holes for Tommy guns. The rear window also could be lowered to allow fellow mobsters to blaze pursuers. Doors were lined with more than 3,000 pounds of armor.

Just as nearly all Mafia families had repair garages that serviced only them, most members, for obvious reasons, didn't shop at stores for cars. Capone and his henchmen reportedly bought their rides from a dealer who had married into Capone's family, and from a man who also handled customization. Some mobsters owned dealerships, Deitche said, while others favored stolen cars  usually in a dark color  for use during hits.

"The really bad guys would walk around Brooklyn, and when they needed a car they had people to steal it," Cipollini said. "When they were done with it they'd take it to their favorite junk yard and have mechanics tear it apart and remove any pieces, because they generally had killed someone in the vehicle or around it."

In recent years, organized crime bosses have traded their high-end sedans for luxury SUVs, said mob expert Scott Burnstein. Anthony "Little Tony" Zizzo, a high-ranking mobster and a reputed member of the notorious Chicago Outfit, had been driving a Jeep Cherokee when he disappeared in 2006.

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In the end, you never know: Those new cars on the auto show floor just may be prized for something more than fuel economy and aerodynamics.

Mary Chapman is a freelance writer.
While it's not always possible to have your cake and eat it too, if the timing is right in the real estate market, you just might be able to score a home you love with fewer sacrifices.

These two properties for just over $1 million are the picture of modernity, both with luxury finishes and more than 5,000 square feet of living space. One's in the Lincoln Park area, the other in Riverwoods.

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City or suburbs? You decide.

City: 2663 N. Hermitage Ave., $1,150,000

A single-family Chicago home on the market for $1.15M (Edward Bo / @properties) (Handout)

Pro: The best thing about this 5,100-square-foot home: space. A home of this size doesn't grow on trees in the city. The house's brick exterior and distinctive shape belie its warm interior, with transitional finishes such as hardwood floors, neutral walls and expansive windows that offer an abundance of light.

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Con: Classified as a row home, the unit is part of a series of identical homes that are situated side by side and share walls. While some might appreciate the historic appeal of this housing style  rowhouses date back to 17th-century Europe  others may see it as lacking privacy.

From the agent: "A row home in Hartland Park offers really great, easy city living," says the listing agent, Katie Bishop. "Along with (being) super quiet, it has guest parking and is close to commercial infrastructure and Lincoln Park, so it certainly offers an array of elements that you can't get in the suburbs."

Size: 5,100 square feet

Beds, baths: 5,5

Location: Hartland Park development, in Lathrop Homes neighborhood of Lincoln Park community area

Year built: 2008

Distance to downtown (City Hall): About 5.5 miles

Parking: Two-car, attached, heated garage

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Coffee: Five-minute walk to Starbucks, nine-minute walk to McDonald's

Grocery: Five-minute walk to Aldi, six-minute walk to Jewel-Osco

Restaurants: Seven-minute walk to Rapidito Colombian Gourmet Bites, a Colombian street-food joint; eight-minute walk to Chipotle

Taxes: $19,966 in 2015

HOA Fees: $283/month

Schools: Prescott Magnet Cluster School, Lincoln Park High School; Chicago Public Schools

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Suburbs: 2551 Palmer Court, Riverwoods, $1,200,000

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 26 A Riverwoods home with four bedrooms is currently on the market for $1.2M (Best Floorplans)

Pro: This home is the essence of modern luxury. The 5,806-square-foot space includes a two-story great room, an upper-level wet bar and large basement with a theater. Black granite floors contrast with light-colored walls and floor-to-ceiling windows. What's more, the home is an eight-minute drive from the Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods, which offers art classes and exhibitions, bilingual nature hikes for English and Spanish-speaking visitors, and a summertime film festival in the woods.

Con: The backyard houses an in-ground, fenced swimming pool with a water slide. For some, this would seal the deal, but if you have a dog or yearn for green space, it could be a deal-breaker.

From the agent: "It's a fabulous house for entertaining because of the big open space and one room flows to other," says listing agent Wendi Gordon Shelist. "And the four-car garage  can't get that in the city."

Size: 5,806 square feet

Beds, baths: 4, 5.5

Location: Thorngate Subdivision in Riverwoods

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Year built: 1999

Distance to downtown (City Hall): About 30 miles

Parking: Four-car, attached garage

Coffee: Eight-minute drive to Starbucks, 12-minute drive to Dunkin' Donuts

Grocery: Nine-minute drive to Whole Foods and Jewel-Osco

Restaurants: Four-minute drive to Meritage Restaurant & Wine Bar, an American bistro; five-minute drive to J. Alexander's, a contemporary American restaurant; eight-minute drive to Mi Mexico, a family-friendly Mexican restaurant

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Taxes: $28,830 in 2015

HOA Fees: $125/month

Schools: South Park Elementary School and Caruso Middle School, Deerfield Public School District 109; Deerfield High School, Township High School District 113

smoskop@chicagotribune.com







Watch our latest Real Estate videos.
The former Museum of Holography will be the new home for a bed and breakfast with a wine bar. (HoloMuseum.org)

WEST LOOP  Another Loop building is getting a makeover, as the old Museum of Holography will become the Publishing House Bed & Breakfast. The B&B should open this summer, per its website, and DNA Info reports that Press Room wine bar will take over the basement. Press Room's proprietor, George Saldez, wouldn't divulge more than that right now. 108 N. May St., 312-554-5857, www.publishinghousebnb.com

FULTON RIVER DISTRICT  The new riverside building going up where Randolph Street meets the river nabbed a banner tenant, as Eater reports Small Cheval has signed on. Signage is up for the restaurants second location, which will be the buildings third food-related tenant, along with Starbucks and Hannahs Bretzel. 150 N. Riverside Plaza, 312-788-1815, www.150northriverside.com

WICKER PARK  Coffee continues to crowd the neighborhoods main intersection, as Starbucks has opened its new Starbucks Reserve location at the corner of Damen, Milwaukee and North avenues after renovations that lasted almost a month. According to an email from the company, the Reserve locations focus on the baristas and their coffee-making craft, with more bean options and a choice of brewing method, including siphon and pour-over. It re-joins a highly caffeinated area that includes Bowtruss, Dunkin' Donuts, Stans Donuts, Buzz Killer Espresso and La Colombe. 1588 N. Milwaukee Ave., 773-862-0249, www.starbucks.com

WICKER PARK  The replacement for Jerrys has officially opened, according to DNA Info, as Rhyme or Reason hosted a soft opening this week with plans for a grand-opening party later in the month. The restaurant will double as a 1970s-style gastropub and live music venue. 1938 W. Division St., 773-687-8240, www.rhymeorreasonchicago.com

LOGAN SQUARE  One of the neighborhoods go-to dive bars has become a little less dive-y, as the former Two Way will reopen as Deadbolt this week. The Furious Spoon team bought the bar last year, and theyve worked with mixologist Dustin Drankiewicz of Moneygun to "keep things friendly and neighborhood-focused, Drankiewicz told us in August. 2412 N. Milwaukee Ave., 773-698-6101, www.deadboltbar.com

LOGAN SQUARE  Signage is up for a restaurant on Armitage Avenue called the Spice Room, a self-described "Indian kitchen." 2906 W. Armitage Ave., no phone number or website

LAKEVIEW  The former Kitchen 17 space will get another vegan joint soon, as Pie, Pie My Darling is angling to be the citys first all-vegan bakery when it opens in August, DNA Info reports. Owner/head baker Heather Bodine-Lederman had been hosting pop-ups before snagging the storefront. 613 W. Briar Place, no phone number or website

LAKEVIEW  A falafel spot from Highland Park is making its way into the city, as Mizrahi Grill will open Mizrahi on Clark this spring in the old Meatball Hero space. The 9-year-old restaurants new location will offer a condensed menu focusing on shawarma and falafel, per DNA Info. 3037 N. Clark St., 773-458-3332, www.mizrahionclark.com

NEAR NORTH SIDE  The old Borden Co. building will get its long-awaited occupant in March, when the Fieldhouse Jones hotel/hostel takes over. It will have a cafe in the lobby area, but few details are available. 312 W. Chestnut St., no website or phone number

PORTAGE PARK  A world-traveling husband-and-wife pair opened Bistro 6050 earlier this month, a new spot they bill as a snack bar  something between a restaurant and a cafe, specializing in finger foods and grab-and-go items. DNA Info reports the items on Chris and Roselle Touwaides menu have influences from around the globe, using empanadas and crepes as the primary canvases. 6050 W. Irving Park Road, 312-883-6050, www.bistro6050.com

SCHAUMBURG  Local Mediterranean chain BenjYehuda will open its fifth location in the Chicago area Feb. 21. Look for the fast-casual spot in Schaumburg. 1020 N. Meacham Road, 630-237-4444, www.benjyehuda.com

LINCOLNSHIRE  Marigold Maison has made a move. The eatery recently left its Bannockburn location for northern suburb Lincolnshire. The menu remains the same. 900 N. Milwaukee Ave., Lincolnshire, 847-940-0200, www.marigoldmaison.com

ICYMI:

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GOLD COAST  Celebrity chef Michael Mina is opening his first Chicago restaurant. Two of them, actually.

CHINATOWN  Chicago is getting its first Bonchon, the cult-favorite Korean fried chicken chain.

Closings:

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Three Aces announced that this weekend would be its last in service. LITTLE ITALY  Some sad news out of Little Italy this week, as

Eater had the dish on the end of a few establishments:

LAKEVIEW  The neighborhoods Dollop Coffee location will close this weekend.

UKRAINIAN VILLAGE  The Cotton Duck enjoyed a short life on Damen Avenue, as the combination restaurant/art gallery has shuttered after just opening in September.

EVANSTON  Cash-only cocktail joint the Alcove closed this week for good, according to a Facebook post.

WEST TOWN  Shaman By Chilam Balam has shuttered its doors, but its parent restaurant Chilam Balam remains in Lakeview.

adlukach@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @lucheezy






The Finland Promotion board released a set of emojis to explain some hard-to-describe Finnish emotions, Finnish words and customs, like kalsarikannit, a "feeling when you are going to get drunk home alone in your underwear with no intention of going out." (Finland Promotion Board)

In case no one's told you yet, hygge is having a moment.

Well, was having a moment. Because once you learn the word the Finns have in store for you, you'll be grabbing a wine bottle and leaving hygge behind.

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Let me explain.

In case you skipped 2016, hygge (pronounced hoo-gah) is a Danish word for the concept of finding coziness in everyday living, suddenly celebrated everywhere from the pages of The New Yorker to cookbooks, gift guides and social media.

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No surprise, given that 2016 was, for many, a garbage year. From the stream of high-profile celebrity deaths to the stressful election, Facebook became a lot less fun. The pursuit of hygge gave permission to seek refuge from the world.

Now, though, Finland has upped the ante. The country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs just introduced us to a word aptly describing life in 2017: Kalsarikannit (pronounced cal-sar-y-cuhn-eet), defined as "the feeling when you are going to get drunk home alone in your underwear with no intention of going out."

Rejoice, homebodies and misanthropes, for this is your new guideline to living well.

Is it a noun? A verb? Does one kalsarikannit, or does one take a kalsarikannit? Who cares, frankly  turns out my house has been a temple to kalsarikannit this entire time. I intend to spend every weekend in pursuit of holiness. See ya later, pants.

In the spirit of kalsarikannit, I've put together a list of seven wines I've loved in the cave that I call home. These are wines that work perfectly with no pretension, no stems and no pants. Swirl, if you want, but don't take these too seriously. It's time to Netflix and kalsarikannit, and no one has time for a snob.

Some wines below are available in grocery stores; others, better wine shops. Wines are listed in descending order by price; prices reflect average price on Winesearcher.com and will vary. If your local shop doesn't carry, ask for a similar style.

Scar of the Sea "a|muse" Petillant Naturel Chardonnay (Paso Robles, California) A pet-nat style of wine  lightly fizzy, easygoing bubbly  Scar of Sea's offering is zesty and zippy, loaded with fine bubbles, green apple and lemon flavors and almost enamel-stripping acidity. A wine for Thai food if there ever was one. $29.

Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. >

Chateau Peyrassol Rose (Cotes de Provence, France) Rose, all day. This grapefruit-pink bottle is a blast in the face of acidity and zest, lively enough to keep you awake through a Netflix binge of "Stranger Things" or "The People vs. O.J. Simpson." $23.

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Brovo Spirits "Pretty" Vermouth Made in the style of vermouth blanc  more floral- and herb-driven than its red counterpart  Brovo's Pretty starts life as pinot gris from Washington state's Wahluke Slope before being infused with vanilla bean, cardamom, elderflower, chamomile, lemon peel, and herbs like comfrey and angelica, slightly sweetened by agave nectar. Poured over ice and topped with Topo Chico (an aggressively bubbly mineral water) or good ol' soda water, it's a perfect low-alcohol sipper when you still have to work the next morning. $19.

Tami Frappato (Sicily, Italy) Classified Vin di Tavola (VdT, "table wine"), this wine is anything but humble. A project of one of Italy's most exciting winemakers, Arianna Occhipinti, Tami's frappato is everything a weeknight wine should be: easy on the wallet, crowd-pleasing and gulpable. $19.

Domaine Mosse "Magic of Juju" (Loire, France) Rene Mosse, proprietor of this Loire Valley winemaking outfit, is a leader in the region. This bottle is a blend of wine geek-faves chenin blanc and melon de Bourgogne, from throughout the region  hence the general Vin de France designation. It's as magical as the name suggests, with all the freshness of a grove of green and Golden Delicious apples. Opening this bottle is like an outside world doesn't exist at all. $16.

Chateau d'Oupia "Les Heretiques" (Minervois, France) This $10 table wine is made by one of the Languedoc region's best winemaking outfits, Chateau d'Oupia. Made from carignan, this wine explodes with food-friendly raspberry and blueberry flavors, soft tannins and juicy acidity. Les Heretiques is also occasion-agnostic. Pizza night? This wine. Day-drinking? This wine. You get the point. $10.

Felicette Grenache Rouge (France) There's not much info on this gulping wine  vineyard origins, winemaker profile, that kind of thing  but that's fine, because there are two cat-stronauts on the label! Commemorating Felicette, the understudy lady-cat France sent into space in 1963 (Felix, the boy cat, went missing), this wine won't take you to the moon, but it's so easy to drink and enjoy, you won't mind. $10.

jbhernandez@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @joeybear85






"Mamma Mia!," the much-loved and now ubiquitous ABBA musical, is one of the few West End and Broadway shows that you could say work better in the round. That's the takeaway, at least, from director Rachel Rockwell's new Marriott Theatre production, an intimate and resonant staging of the ever-daffy but beloved 1999 jukebox show that focuses on finding emotional moments of female bonding.

I still dine out on having seen "Mamma Mia!" in London, right at opening. Eighteen years and thousands of shows later  including what must be at least a dozen nights spent watching this very show  I've still never experienced an audience having more delirious fun than on the night when "Mamma Mia!" was new and Benny and Bjorn were reborn before our eyes.

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You should know further that my getting to see live Ulf Andersson, the saxophonist on many of the ABBA recordings (most famously, "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do") and now a special guest on the ABBA tribute circuit, was a highlight of last summer. So if you are looking for a caustic or cynical view of allegedly vacuous Scandinavian pop, you are in the wrong place. Too many albums played and concerts seen, too much personal history, too much thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing.

MOST READ ENTERTAINMENT NEWS THIS HOUR

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Scenes from "Mamma Mia!" at the Marriott Theatre (Chicago Tribune)

In 1999, of course, the audience was far more likely to know all of the music in "Mamma Mia!," and the sport of the night in ABBA-mad London was in guessing how each ABBA greatest hit was going to be used and where it was going to be stuck in a plot about which people cared not a hoot. At this point  when "Mamma Mia!" has grossed more than $2 billion and played to 60 million people, never even mind the movie  most people are repeat visitors who aren't much surprised by anything.

ABBA, a huge phenom in Europe, rarely toured stateside, so as these songs have receded from popularity, the show now plays more and more like a legit musical with standard numbers, instead of the gently campy parody and love fest it seemed at its birth. So goes life. As the great poets Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus noted in their sonnet about the vicissitudes of our journey on this stale promontory, "Slipping through my fingers all the time." The best we can hope for is being known by a Super Trouper.

Rockwell's No. 1 asset in this production is Tiffany Tatreau, who might just be the spunkiest Sophie Sheridan of all time. Her red hair is far removed from the original Swedish look-alike casting trope, Tatreau has the perfect pop voice for this material, along with all the requisite charm and vulnerability. She's delightfully connected to Danni Smith, who reads as young for the lead role of Donna Sheridan, the feminist pioneer of a Greek island taverna, but whose relationship with her daughter (she of the three possible dads) could not be any warmer; the best scene of the night is the wedding dress sequence, when mom and daughter celebrate each other.

The potential sperm donors are fun, too: the possible dads are played with self-effacing charm by Derek Hasenstab, Peter Saide and Karl Sean Hamilton. And the backup section of Donna and the Dynamos are essayed with relish by Meghan Murphy and Cassie Slater, laugh machines the both. Rockwell finds a lot of new humor in those nostalgic numbers and the choreographer, Ericka Mac, has some gentle fun with the big set-pieces.

Also notable is the witty design by Scott Davis, replete with walls and shutters at the rear of the theater, out of which people can pop, singing "Mamma Mia." I also thought this was the most beautifully costumed take on the show I've seen; the gorgeous summer dresses, et al., are the work of Theresa Ham.

If you're someone who'd travel anywhere to see this show, know that this is a much warmer and thus more enjoyable production than the recent Paramount Theatre endeavor, the first major local production after the rights became available following the end of the show's 14-year run. Yep, 14 years. No wonder Bjorn has a private island in Stockholm. Fully deserved, too.

Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.

cjones5@chicagotribune.com

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Twitter @ChrisJonesTrib

"MAMMA MIA!" - 3 STARS

When: Through April 16

Where: Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire

Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes

Tickets: $50-$60 at 847-634-0200 and www.marriotttheatre.com

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MORE FROM THE THEATER LOOP:

They fell, but the Wallendas get back up on the high wire

New Tracy Letts politics play will debut at Steppenwolf, go to Broadway

A pop anthem from 'Ride the Cyclone'







Watch the latest movie trailers.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox)
When Aida Vazin was 15, she decided her mother's Baha'i faith was not right for her.

She spent time studying Islam, her grandparents' religion, but ultimately decided organized religion wasn't for her. When it comes to spirituality and faith, she feels more comfortable with Eastern philosophies on how to live a healthy lifestyle.

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What made Vazin's decision a little smoother for her is that 15-year-olds in the Baha'i faith make the choice to remain or seek another religion  but it still wasn't easy, she said.

"My mom paved the path for me to make my own choice  but she was saddened by it, definitely," Vazin said. "After she did her mourning, she was supportive."

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Vazin said her experience with her mother was vastly different from the reception Vazin's mother received from her own parents when she converted to Baha'i from Islam as a young adult after the family fled Iran during the Islamic Revolution. Vazin's grandparents viewed her mother's conversion as blasphemous.

"My grandfather stopped talking to her for a while," she said. "My grandfather told her she got involved with a cult."

Vazin, who is now a marriage and family therapist in private practice in Newport Beach, Calif., said she's experienced firsthand how these decisions can tear apart families, and she now works, in part, with families struggling with faith questions. And she said that while her grandfather was disappointed that she didn't follow Islam, she said he was happier that she didn't stay Baha'i.

For families with children who are questioning their faith, especially adolescents, it's an extremely difficult time, and there's no right way for parents to react, say several experts, but there are ways parents can communicate with their child during the process.

Harold "Bud" Horell, assistant professor of religious education at the Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education at Fordham University in New York, said that while parents may struggle to respond when a child expresses interest in another religion, it also shows the child is willing to express a vulnerability with his or her parents. (Chris Taggart)

Rebellion is a normal part of adolescence, and in some religions, the idea of straying is understood, said Rachel Weingarten, author of "Ancient Prayer: Channeling Your Faith 365 Days a Year." She pointed to the Amish tradition of Rumspringa, which gives teens the chance to explore the outside world before deciding whether to return to the faith and community.

Harold "Bud" Horell, assistant professor of religious education at the Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education at Fordham University, in New York, said distrust of institutions in general is part of U.S. culture. That's been amplified by recent reports of sex abuse in the Catholic Church, and financial and sex scandals in some Protestant churches, he added.

This may lead some adolescents to talk about being spiritual but not wanting anything to do with organized religion, Horell said. If parents start to see their children pulling away from the family's faith, they should try to remain calm about it, which he admitted is easier said than done.

Wendy OConnor, a marriage and family therapist in the Los Angeles area, said its important for parents to try to get at the root of the childs interest in another religion to find out if its masking something else. (Starla Fortunato)

"Parents (should) approach it with the idea that 'OK, you're raising important issues. Let's talk about them.' De-escalating the anxiety is one of the most important things," Horell said.

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Take the child's age into consideration, Horell said. Preteens may just be reflecting what's going on around them.

Teenagers may be exploring their identity, said Wendy O'Connor, a Los Angeles-based marriage and family therapist in private practice who works with interfaith couples. It's important to acknowledge this interest.

Parents can offer to explore this new curiosity with their child, and they can all learn about the new religion, the experts said. O'Connor said some parents fear educating themselves about a new faith may lead to separation from the family's established religion.

Aida Vazin, marriage and family therapist in Newport Beach, Calif., said that when her mother converted to a different religion, it caused family strife. She eventually sought a different spiritual path from her mother and grandparents. (Dr. Behzad Bernous)

"A family will be much stronger if they explore together. Rather than coming from fear, it comes from an open discussion about what (the child) is looking for or what they're not getting in their current religion," O'Connor said.

Education also offers a chance for the parents to find some common ground. "Don't try to change their mind, but try to show them why you're similar instead of so different," Weingarten said.

Vazin agreed. "Putting religion and faith aside, get down to your core values. What do you want to teach your child? Can you find mutual values in the system of the religion your child is interested in with the one you have?"

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Part of asking questions helps get to the root of the behavior, O'Connor and Weingarten said, as the interest in religion may mask deeper issues. Sometimes the change can be a red flag, revealing other social, academic or psychological problems.

Some teens may use their interest in another religion to provoke their parents, the experts said, but don't argue with them. Instead, parents should remember they are their child's best role model, O'Connor and Horell said.

Rachel Weingarten, author of Ancient Prayer, said children may not necessarily want to completely reject their own faith, but may be looking for aspects in another religion that they cannot find in the familys religious practices. (Rachel Weingarten)

"You need to stay in conversation with them, but if you're consistently and quietly modeling your religious commitments and values, (it) can have a tremendous impact on your kids," Horell said.

Vazin said some adolescents who explore a new faith may convert when they are older, and that will be difficult for the family.

"The way (parents) relate to their child is going to be different. There's a mourning process involved, and it's OK to have a little pain. That's life. People aren't going to stay the same," she said.

O'Connor said she had her own confusion about religious traditions growing up in a Catholic and Jewish home, but her father helped her see faith wasn't compartmentalized.

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"He said, 'Faith is faith, God is God, love is love.' It's the full idea of love and support and of faith," she said.

Debbie Carlson is a freelancer.

RELATED STORIES:

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A Chicago artist has made a line of paper dolls called Dress Like a Woman dolls in response to a report that Donald Trump wants his female employees to "dress like women." The dolls come in all different skin and hair colors, and kids can dress them in military uniforms, astronaut suits, lab gear, etc. (Leah Roszkowski)

My favorite response to the report that President Trump wants his female employees to "dress like women" was that photo collage, shared all over social media, of famous women in their women's wear  Mae Jemison wearing her astronaut uniform, Ruth Bader Ginsburg in her Supreme Court justice robe, Malala Yousafzai in a head scarf and so on.

I say was because I have a new favorite response now, after discovering Chicago artist Leah Roszkowski's dress like a woman paper dolls.

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Roszkowski designed 15 different doll images, with various skin and hair colors, and six interchangeable outfits for them to don: astronaut, scientist, politician, military member and a couple that are ambiguous  farmer and activist? Hipster and yoga instructor? Use your imagination.

The dolls and outfits are free to download and print out.

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"I wanted to create something to inspire young girls," Roszkowski told me. "I'm friends with women who are scientists, surgeons, web developers, creative directors. I thought it would be great to take the stories of real women who've broken gender barriers and glass ceilings and use them to help little girls imagine what they can be."

Dolls that break glass ceilings aren't exactly new, of course. Barbie has had a variety of STEM careers and even ascended to the presidency not long ago.

But the paper dolls are free, which opens the possibility of getting them into the hands of many more girls.

Roszkowski has a spot on her site where visitors can suggest future outfits that she'll draw and add to the collection.

"So far, I've gotten submissions for chef, saleswoman and mom," she said. "Those will be coming soon."

How do you dress like a mom, I wondered.

"I was thinking about a doll wearing one of those Baby Bjorns with a baby's head peeking out," Roszkowski said. "But I was talking to some mom co-workers, and they said Baby Bjorns are sort of out. I guess wraps are in."

Also in: Recognizing that there are a million different ways to dress like a woman.

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hstevens@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @heidistevens13

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It's that time again. The time of the year when winter boots are on sale. You want to scoop them up at a great price, but you also know the tough weather they'll have to make it through.

So what to do? We talked to experts to find out what to consider before investing.

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Materials. Yes, unless you're looking for the $20 boots that will flap apart after the first step onto snow, you'll want a solid material. Ira Evangelou, the styling sales manager for Nordstrom on Chicago's downtown Michigan Avenue, advises something windproof and waterproof for what she calls a "survival" boot.

Think especially about upper-boot material, added Ingrid Muroff, vice president of operations at La Canadienne. And inside, you don't want moisture to accumulate. La Canadienne boots, for example, are lined with microfiber or shearling, which should keep your toes toasty.

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Steger Mukluks & Moccasins, based in Ely, Minn., knows a cold winter. Its footwear is made with rubber soles and moose hides.

Sole: As in, the part that will soak up all that winter salt crunch. A sole with more traction is ideal, says Muroff. Target rubber or a rubber mix, "just like the rubber tires needed for cars in the winter," she said. The Italian-made Giada Weatherproof Riding Boot has a rubber sole but a sleek look, Evangelou suggests.

Function: Is this for your Aspen trip? Or trudging to work? Ideally, you can find a pair that will work for everything. But if you can splurge on a couple of pairs, maybe you play around with a heel or wedge (we like Sorel's Lea Wedge, with a stylish boost and rubber soles that grip) and something that really stands up to snow and ice. For trudging through heavy snow, Sorel's Joan of Arctic, is a no-nonsense boot, in accordingly staid tones of gray, black, brown or tan. It's leather and suede, with a removable felt inner boot.

Check out this story to see what happened when Tribune reporters took a fleet of boots for a test trudge.

Style: Is it possible to have stylish winter boots? This is something office bees have wondered for years, weighing whether to buy functional boots they'll wear all day or stylish boots that might crumple. La Canadienne boots are made of Italian waterproof leathers and suedes.

Sorel, too, believes in fashion and function, said product line manager Marion Minary. For something that can do weekend walking but also pass as a trendy work option, think the Cozy Carnival Boot, which has a sporty look and is best for casual days and heavy rain. Dress it up by picking a crisp red or blue version.

And think a heel height that's versatile, says Stitch Fix fashion director Meggan Crum. "You'll want them to work with all your favorite jeans  like boot cut, flares or skinnies," she said. Don't forget to leave enough room for a layer of warm socks.

Price: For many people who live in cold climates, the most they'll spend on footwear is an investment in winter boots. So you want to make them last. Minary says to aim for boots that will last several cold, snowy winters. Think through the above if spending into the triple digits.

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abowen@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @byalisonbowen

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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 20 Schoolchildren stretch to rub the nose of Abraham Lincoln for good luck during a ceremony at his tomb in Springfield, Ill., on his birthday, Feb. 12, in 2015. (Seth Perlman / AP)

This Presidents Day, travel back in time with a visit to a historic location made famous by one of our nation's previous presidents. See Herbert Hoover's childhood home in West Branch, Iowa. Marvel at nature in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. You can also visit a Midwestern presidential museum. Learn about Abraham Lincoln's early childhood in a log cabin at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Ill. Here are more places you can learn about previous U.S. presidents.
A Trump administration memo that proposed using the National Guard to round up immigrants is "anti-American" and "they should go shred that piece of paper," a visibly emotional Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Friday.

Speaking at a ceremony to honor Butch O'Hare, the World War II flying ace in whose memory Chicago's international airport is named, Emanuel pointedly said that O'Hare's heroism serves as an example of how Americans today can stand "against tyranny."

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Immediately after the speech, he responded to a Department of Homeland Security draft memo obtained by the Associated Press, which the White House has said it had made "no effort" to pursue.

"We're honoring an individual who fought for a set of ideas and values of democracy, light and openness, and our shared humanity during a time of darkness when people were picked on because of their ethnicity  there was a genocide of Jews, Gypsies, gays," the mayor told reporters beside a replica of the small plane O'Hare flew. "Now we're having a moment in which we're even discussing this, that someone wrote a memo to call up the National Guard to round up immigrants?"

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Emanuel, whose family suffered losses in the Holocaust, has in recent weeks been highly critical of President Donald Trump's stance on immigration, including Trump's ban on immigration from seven Muslim-majority nations, which has been temporarily blocked by the courts. But his comments Friday were of a rawer and angrier tenor than any he has yet made.

"This country will never turn its back on people like Butch O'Hare and that moment in time," he said, referring to the generation that won World War II. "The idea that someone would put on a piece of paper a concept of using the U.S. National Guard to round up people in the United States  it's dead on arrival. It's anti-American. ... They should go shred that piece of paper."

Delivered after a 45-minute ceremony, Emanuel's comments stood in contrast to the generally upbeat celebration, attended by 36 descendants of O'Hare who had traveled from as far afield as Alaska for the 75th anniversary of a heroic flight in which O'Hare shot down as many as five Japanese bombers to single-handedly save the USS Lexington.

History buff Ald. Ed. Burke, 14th, who organized the event, described O'Hare as the "greatest aviator of World War II" and said he finds it "sad that millions of people who travel through this airport do not know his story."

O'Hare, who was killed in combat in November 1943, came from St. Louis but had some fascinating Chicago ties. His father, "Easy Eddie" O'Hare, was a lawyer for Al Capone, who turned against the gangster and helped the Feds convict him.

"Easy Eddie" was gunned down in 1939 by Capone's gang, two weeks before Capone got out of prison, likely as a "coming home present" for Capone, Burke said. The alderman added that some historians believe that "Easy Eddie" turned against Capone so that his son, Butch, could secure admission to the Naval Academy at Annapolis. Butch's niece, Patsy Lowry, 76, of Arizona, was one of many family members who told Chicago Inc. how proud they are of the airport and their family history. When she flew in from Phoenix on Thursday night, Lowry said, she nudged the passenger in the seat next to her and told him, "You know, I'm an O'Hare!"

kjanssen@chicagotribune.comTwitter @kimjnews
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Just weeks after returning to civilian life, former president Barack Obama was rated the 12th best U.S. president, while Abraham Lincoln, another president who made his political bones in Illinois, retains the top position.

That's according to a poll of 91 historians rating presidential leadership conducted by C-SPAN ahead of Monday's President's Day holiday. They noted that Obama entered the top rankings for the first time, having not been rated during its last survey in 2009.

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In 10 total categories of presidential characteristics, Obama, the former community organizer and Nobel Peace Prize winner came in at third for the category "Pursued Equal Justice for All," and seventh in "Moral Authority," but only at 39 for "Relations with Congress," and 24th in "International Relations."

One member of the polls' academic advisory team said he was impressed by Obama's 12th place finish, while another member thought he would have ranked higher. Obama came in behind such popular presidents as Ronald Reagan, who came in at ninth, but ahead of Bill Clinton, who ranked at 15.

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Meanwhile Lincoln retained his first spot for the third time the poll was taken by C-SPAN since 2000.

wlee@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @MidNoirCowboy
President Donald Trump calls on members of the press during a news conference Feb. 16, 2017, in the East Room of the White House. (Andrew Harnik / AP)

Half the heads in America exploded in anger during President Donald Trump's wild news conference, and the other half probably filled with the viscous fluids of happiness.

It was at once frightening and charming, crazy and bizarre, with serious talk about deadly issues mixed in with one-liners, like a comic joking around with his pockets full of nuclear weapons, and at times White House reporters even laughed.

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He threw out some whoppers about the size of his election victory, and then attacked the media as being full of "fake news," complaining that journalists  he means TV commentators  exhibit a hostile "tone" toward him.

So pro-Trump and anti-Trump Americans came away validated in their belief that they're right about him and the other side is completely, stupidly wrong and should be locked in the basement.

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Speaking of exploding heads, would you please put your personal politics aside and pity the poor foreign intelligence analysts who have to write reports about it all?

"I don't have to tell you what I'm going to do in North Korea, and I don't have to tell you what I'm going to do with Iran," the president said. "You know why? Because they don't have to know."

Americans might think that's a decent strategy, not telling, but the not-knowing probably drives foreign governments absolutely crazy, and their analysts have to make assessments, or suffer.

Harried Foreign Analyst Nicolai: Boris, Trump said he could shoot our spy ship! I quote, "The greatest thing I could do is shoot that ship that's 30 miles offshore right out of the water  but I won't."

Supervisor Boris: WHAT?! This comes from a man who has publicly discussed the size of his genitals!! A man who brags about the size of his genitals before millions of his countrymen is a dangerous man!!

Nicolai (meekly): Yes, Boris.

Boris: So will he shoot our ship?

Nicolai: I don't know!!!

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Boris: Your head is exploding, and you're spilling your brains all over my exquisite Oriental rug, you fool!

With all the drama and the media slapping, and then endless media reaction over whether they deserve to be slapped for their tone, Trump managed to avoid the main question:

What was his or his campaign staff's involvement with Russian officials during his presidential campaign?

Russia hacked Democratic National Committee email and WikiLeaks dealt the damaging information about collusion between the media and the Democratic Party along with many other negative items. The worst thing about the leaks was that Hillary Clinton could not disprove them. And they helped bleed her campaign dry.

Trump loved those leaks.

He hates the leaks out of his own government of classified information that damages his administration, like those phone conversations picked up by American intelligence monitoring the Russians.

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Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, reportedly talked to the ambassador about American sanctions against Russia before Trump was inaugurated. Flynn was forced to resign because he reportedly lied about them.

And Trump is sick and tired about the Russian thing, which he calls "fake news."

"How many times do I have to answer this question? Russia is a ruse," said the president. "I have nothing to do with Russia. I haven't made a phone call to Russia in years, I don't speak to people in Russia  not that I wouldn't, I just have nobody to speak to.  I have nothing to do with Russia. To the best of my knowledge, no person that I deal with does."

To the best of his knowledge?

If I've heard a politician say "to the best of my knowledge" once, I've heard politicians say it a million times.

There's a part that comes afterward that Trump left out, the part that says, "I can't recall."

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You say "to the best of my knowledge" to a roomful of reporters, and one thing is for sure. It won't go away.

He mentioned Chicago again and the killings in the city. Liberal commentators fly into a rage when he mentions Chicago, fearful that he might win some political advantage in addressing the city's street gang wars.

But the dead don't care who wins. They've already lost. Three babies were killed this week. And Lake Shore Drive was shut down by a fatal shooting at Fullerton before dawn.

Think of it. Lake Shore Drive shut down. If the hit took place just a few hours later, during rush hour, there's a good chance some commuter could have been shot or killed as well.

And the gangs are shooting up the expressways. If you haven't thought on it much, City Hall thinks on it all the time. Panic is setting in. And the coming weekend is expected to be warm.

The last president, the guy from Chicago, ignored the city. But he did make some fine speeches, didn't he?

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"There are two Chicagos as you know," Trump said. "There's the one Chicago that's incredible, luxurious and all and safe. There's another Chicago that's worse than almost any of the places in the Middle East that we talk about and that you talk about, every night on the newscasts. So we're going to do a lot of work on the inner cities."

So far, I haven't seen any work from President Trump on Chicago, only a lot of talk. It was an amazing show on Thursday, and he's been president only a month.

But eventually, people get tired of talk. They tune it out, they turn away.

Listen to "The Chicago Way" podcast with John Kass and WGN's Jeff Carlin  and guests U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and Kristen McQueary  at www.wgnradio.com/category/wgn-plus/thechicagoway.

jskass@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @John_Kass
Tourists were able to enjoy tours along the Chicago River weeks ahead of schedule because of unseasonably warm weather. Feb. 17, 2017. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune) (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

The unseasonably warm weather broke a century-old record on Friday, drawing Chicago area residents and tourists outdoors  many ditching their coats  as other typical winter activities like ice skating rinks closed shop.

Friday's temperature climbed up to 67 degrees, breaking the 60-degree record for the date set in 1880, said National Weather Service meteorologist Charles Mott.

Businesses seized upon the spring-like temps Friday with at least one tour boat company beginning its operations along the Chicago River much earlier than usual.

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Shoreline Sightseeing offered three 75-minute-long architecture tours departing from Navy Pier's Polk Bros. Park and floating down the Chicago River, passing landmarks that include the Tribune Tower, Wrigley Building and Marina City. The company also planned to offer a 40-minute lake tour at various times on Saturday and Sunday.

"The river is not frozen so we're taking advantage," said Amy Hartnett, Shoreline's director of sales and marketing. "We're certainly hoping for a great crowd."

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The weather for the rest of the weekend could break additional records.

Saturday's high is expected to reach 60 to 64 degrees, Mott said, coming close or possibly surpassing the record of 62 degrees set in 1981. It's less likely Sunday's weather would shatter the record of 65 degrees set in 1930, because the forecast called for a high around 60 inland but closer to 40 degrees near the lake, he said. Monday could see a high in the mid-60s inland and 50s near the lake, closing in on the record of 64 set in 1930.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 8 Jim Collins, center, tour guide with Shoreline Sightseeing, on board the Evening Star boat in Chicago on Feb. 17, 2017. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

With those kinds of temperatures looming, the Chicago Park District has closed its seven outdoor rinks  with the exception of Maggie Daley Park's ice ribbon  due to unsafe conditions caused by the unseasonably warm temperatures, said spokeswoman Jessica Maxey-Faulkner.

By Friday afternoon, skaters were still circling the ice skating ribbon downtown but some were wearing T-shirts. Millennium Park, which is operated by the city, also remained open, and tweeted Wednesday that it didn't expect the warm weather to close its ice rink this weekend because it has a cooling system in place.

Out-of-town tourist Priscilla Ssensamba, from Detroit, said she lucked out with such good weather for February. "It's a little bit windy. Overall, it was beautiful," she said Friday after getting off the first Shoreline Sightseeing vessel, which had more than 70 passengers.

Typically, Shoreline begins its tour operations the weekend of the St. Patrick's Day Parade, which will be held March 11 this year. But the company bumped up the start to capitalize on the spring feel.

"If anyone is from here, they know if it gets above 50 degrees in the winter people will be out like crazy," Hartnett said.

The weather was a major factor that led Robin Bell and her husband Stephen to check out the boat tour.

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"I don't think we could've ever done this in February," she said. The couple from London, Ontario was visiting Chicago for the first time. "It's a good way to see a lot from a different view and perspective than walking around," she said.

Tricia Lanctot had been keeping tabs on the weather all week. When her daughter Meaghan saw how nice the weather was supposed to be on her day off from school, she suggested the boat tour. The two from Lake Forest got to play the role of tourists on Friday. "I've lived here almost 30 years and haven't done it," Tricia Lanctot said.

Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. >

Shoreline might extend its service on Monday as well, but that depends on the weather, Hartnett said. Otherwise, regular weekend service for tour operations at docks at Navy Pier and Michigan Avenue will start in March and regular daily service in late April or the beginning of May.

The company's water taxis to the Museum Campus and along the river will begin operating on weekends in May and will run daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Shoreline doesn't expect to have a water taxi stop at Michigan Avenue near Pioneer Court again this season due to the construction of the Apple store. Instead, the water taxis will shuttle passengers along the river from Union Station/Willis Tower to Navy Pier.

Meanwhile, the Wendella river tour boats will begin on March 10, and the Chicago Water Taxi's season will open the next day for the St. Patrick's Day river-dyeing ceremony and parade, according to Andrew Sargis, chief of operations. A week later on March 20, daily water taxi service at seven docks along the river will begin.

The Chicago Architecture Foundation river cruise is set to start April 1, according to its website.

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Additionally, Odyssey and Spirit, both part of Entertainment Cruises' Chicago fleet, are offering dinner cruises on a limited schedule this weekend on Lake Michigan departing from Navy Pier, according to general manager Dan Russell. Its Seadog sightseeing boats will return to the water in late March, he said.

lvivanco@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @lvivanco
Kia Walker, mother of Tommy Schaefer, who is serving an 18-year sentence in a Bali prison in connection with the murder of his girlfriend Heather Mack's mother, speaks after a hearing at Cook County Circuit Court on Feb. 17, 2017, at the Daley Center in Chicago. Walker is seeking custody of Schaefer and Mack's daughter Stella, whom the couple are allowed to raise in prison until age 2 because of Indonesian law. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune) (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

The paternal grandmother of a nearly 2-year-old girl who has lived since birth with her mother in a Bali prison made a plea Friday in a Chicago courtroom to get guardianship of the child.

Kia Walker said it is in the best interest of the toddler, named Stella, that the grandmother be allowed to bring her back to the U.S. and raise her.

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The child was born in Indonesia on March 17, 2015, as her parents, Heather Mack and Tommy Schaefer , faced charges in the slaying of Mack's mother, Sheila von Wiese-Mack, whose battered body was discovered stuffed in a suitcase outside a luxury Bali resort during an August 2014 vacation.

The former couple was later convicted and sentenced to prison, but Indonesian custom allowed them to care for their daughter behind bars until she turns 2.

As the deadline approaches, Walker is seeking guardianship in Cook County. She is Schaefer's mother.

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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 83 Kia Walker, Tommy Schaefer's mother, speaks to the media regarding her son and also her granddaughter, Stella, at O'Hare International Airport Terminal 5 in Chicago on Nov. 3, 2021. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

"My agenda today is the welfare of my granddaughter  and what happens next," Walker, 44, of River Forest, told reporters outside of court Friday. "I'm just here to speak up. I'm her grandmother and I'm her voice."

Minutes earlier, Judge Neil Cohen denied the grandmother's request to intervene on the guardianship issue in a long-ongoing civil case concerning Heather Mack's $1.56 million trust. The judge noted Walker's good intent but said his chancery courtroom was not the proper venue for the matter.

Afterward, the grandmother's attorney, Michael Goldberg, promptly filed the petition in the court's probate division.

Mack, though, wants her daughter to remain in Bali near her, according to attorney Vanessa Favia. Mack, 21, has made arrangements for Stella to live with a local family on the island with whom she and the girl have close ties until Mack is released from prison, Favia said. Mack is serving a 10-year sentence.

"She loves her child," Favia said of Mack.

Sheila von Wiese-Mack, 62, named her brother, William, to serve as trustee shortly before her death. William Wiese argues that Mack should not be permitted to profit financially from her crime under Illinois' slayer statute, which states that a person who unjustifiably causes the death of another person cannot receive property as a result of that death.

Stella would be next in line for the money.

So far, Mack has indicated she will invoke her Fifth Amendment privilege to remain silent in the upcoming civil proceeding. Lawyers have been trying to hammer out a settlement agreement with Mack in the trust matter, but they said Friday that their efforts have been unsuccessful.

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Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. >

Walker said she has had regular contact with her 23-year-old son and has visited him in prison, and he has indicated he wants Stella to be raised by Walker in Chicago, according to the petition.

Although Stella was born in Indonesia, the court documents say she is a U.S. citizen through acquisition because both her parents are U.S. citizens and resided here before traveling abroad on a tourist visa. Indonesian law says a child born there to non-Indonesian parents would not automatically be considered an Indonesian citizen.

The murder case has drawn interest across the world, including earlier this month when Mack confessed in videos posted on YouTube that she alone killed her mother.

Then, in yet another bizarre turn, a statement released days later by Mack said the claims she made in the videos were untrue and written by Schaefer. Mack said they were recorded under pressure and posted online by another party who created a fake account using Mack's name.

Schaefer, formerly of Oak Park, is serving an 18-year prison term. He testified during his trial that von Wiese-Mack became angry when he came to her hotel room to tell her that Mack was pregnant; he said he struck her with a heavy metal fruit bowl handle after she threatened to harm the unborn baby and then began strangling him. But emails obtained by the Tribune show von Wiese-Mack was aware of her daughter's pregnancy before the trip to Bali.

cmgutowski@chicagotribune.com

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Twitter @christygutowsk1
Amtrak police Officer LaRoyce Tankson, inset, has been charged with first-degree murder in a fatal shooting while he was on dutyin the 300 block of South Canal Street on Feb. 8, 2017. (Chicago Police Department; Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

An Amtrak police officer just 18 months on the job was charged with first-degree murder for fatally shooting an unarmed man fleeing after being stopped over his suspected possession of marijuana, Cook County prosecutors said Friday.

The officer, LaRoyce Tankson, unholstered his service weapon, "assumed a crouched firing stance" and fired once as the victim was about 75 to 100 feet away and running at full speed, prosecutors said.

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The victim, Chad Robertson, 25, was shot in the back of his shoulder, according to the medical examiner's office. He had been in Chicago for only about a half-hour Feb. 8 while on a stopover at Union Station waiting on a bus to Minneapolis.

Late Friday afternoon, Tankson, 31, was released from Cook County Jail on $250,000 bail and was shielded from reporters by uniformed officers as he ducked into an unmarked police vehicle and was driven away. Prosecutors had sought to hold him without bail.

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The officer's lawyer, William Fahy, said Tankson opened fire "in defense of himself and others" after seeing Robertson reach his left hand toward his pocket while turning toward the officer as he ran away.

Tankson "really believed he was about to be shot," Fahy said. "That's not first-degree murder, judge."

Fahy said a small amount of marijuana was found on Robertson, a father of two who lived in Minneapolis.

Prosecutors said none of six witnesses to the shooting in the 300 block of South Canal Street saw Robertson gesture or turn toward the officer. In addition, Tankson's partner did not see a weapon or anything else in Robertson's hand and never opened fire himself, according to prosecutors. No weapon was found on Robertson, they said.

After the bond hearing, Robertson's family, who have filed a federal lawsuit over his death, blasted the bond as far too low and said police too often falsely claim they feared for their lives in fatal shootings.

"How many times are they going to keep saying that that was why they're killing us?" Robertson's sister Nina told reporters at the Leighton Criminal Court Building. "It's unfair, it's unfair, and it's an injustice."

"They shouldn't be able to shoot people for running away," said Robertson's father, Leroy Martin. "They shouldn't be able to shoot people like that."

Another sister, Laniesha Taylor, questioned why Tankson didn't give chase instead of opening fire so soon.

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"You didn't think to go after maybe your Taser or even chase him like cops used to do?" she said. "You didn't take a step to try to run, and that's what breaks my heart the most, that you didn't even try and without a thought in your mind killed my brother."

Fahy said Tankson is married to a Chicago firefighter and has three children. His mother, he said, is a "career law enforcement" officer. Before becoming an Amtrak cop 18 months ago, Tankson worked as a locomotive engineer for eight years, according to Fahy.

Following the shooting, Amtrak said the officers had been placed on administrative assignment, standard practice following a shooting. On Friday, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said that status remained unchanged after the filing of murder charges against Tankson. He could not say if Tankson continues to be paid by Amtrak.

The charges came little more than a week after the shooting, and the charges marked the second time in State's Attorney Kim Foxx's three months in office that a police officer has been charged with murder.

Veteran Chicago police Officer Lowell Houser was charged last month with first-degree murder in the shooting of an unarmed man with whom he had an ongoing feud during an off-duty incident Jan. 2. Fahy, who also represents Houser, said the officer acted in self-defense after the victim, Jose Nieves, threatened to shoot him and reached toward his waistband. In a decision criticized by many veteran lawyers, Judge Donald Panarese Jr. ordered Houser freed on bond on electronic monitoring without posting any money.

Prosecutors said Robertson arrived in Chicago on Feb. 8 on a bus from Memphis. The driver dropped him and two other passengers at Union Station at 8 p.m. so they could stay warm as they waited to catch another bus to Minneapolis.

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About 8:30 p.m., Tankson and his partner were on patrol outside the station when they caught the three smoking marijuana, according to Assistant State's Attorney Ahmed Kosoko. The group stopped smoking at Tankson's request and Robertson apologized, Kosoko said.

The three were allowed to leave and walked to a nearby restaurant to wait for their 9:45 p.m. bus.

But moments later, the officers again approached and ordered the three to stand against the glass wall of an elevator shaft attached to a parking garage on Canal Street, Kosoko said. Prosecutors said Tankson had no reason to think the three had done anything wrong other than possess marijuana.

As Tankson began patting down Robertson, he took off running, prosecutors said.

Fahy told the judge that Tankson's partner had felt a "hard metallic object," possibly a gun, while patting down one of Robertson's companions. When the partner asked, "What's this?" Robertson ran, Fahy said.

Fahy said that "thousands of dollars" in cash were recovered in baggage that belonged to the group and that Robertson had been acting "suspiciously" and was resisting being patted down.

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But the Robertson family lawsuit, filed in Chicago on Tuesday, alleged that Tankson and his partner illegally detained Robertson and his companions and began to conduct illegal searches of them.

Tankson was "very aggressive, disrespectful and again used a great deal of profanity during the illegal search," the suit said.

The suit alleged Robertson "feared for his life" and took off running.

According to the suit, Tankson "calmly dropped to one knee, removed his gloves, unsecured his weapon" and opened fire.

Tankson announced no commands, saying only, "It's a gun out. It's a gun out," according to the suit.

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The officer handcuffed the collapsed Robertson as "he lay in the street clinging to life," the suit alleged.

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The shooting left Robertson paralyzed, and he died a week later, at 11:20 p.m. Wednesday, according to the medical examiner's office.

At the courthouse, Robertson's family said Tankson opened fire without justification.

"He had dreams and aspirations," Nina Robertson said. "I'm devastated. I'm devastated that his life was taken."

Chicago Tribune's Jeremy Gorner contributed.

sschmadeke@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @SteveSchmadeke
Chicago police Officer Francisco "Frank" Perez was fired Thursday night for shooting 16 times at the wrong car during an off-duty incident more than five years ago. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

A longtime Chicago police officer was fired Thursday night for shooting 16 times at the wrong car during an off-duty incident more than five years ago.

In an 8-0 vote, the Chicago Police Board voted at its monthly meeting to dismiss Officer Francisco "Frank" Perez for the 2011 shooting outside a Mexican restaurant in the East Ukrainian Village neighborhood. One board member, John O'Malley, did not vote because he's new to the board.

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Lori Lightfoot, who heads the Chicago Police Board, said the board found Perez at fault for not identifying the appropriate target and not taking "reasonable precautions" before firing his gun at the wrong car. But he was not dismissed for allegations that he made false statements to IPRA investigators about how the shooting unfolded.

The case marked the first time since its inception in 2007 that the Independent Police Review Authority, the city's much-maligned police oversight agency, had recommended that a Chicago police officer be dismissed for a shooting.

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Perez, an officer since 1999, could appeal his firing to Cook County Circuit Court.

The driver of the car that Perez fired at was wounded.

Perez's firing comes weeks after the U.S. Department of Justice issued a scathing report on Chicago police that, among other things, faulted officers for resorting to force too often and criticized officer training as woefully inadequate.

According to authorities, the shooting occurred shortly before 4 a.m. Nov. 5, 2011, outside the La Pasadita restaurant in the 1100 block of North Ashland Avenue. Perez was off-duty and working security for the restaurant when an occupant of a red Mitsubishi Galant opened fire after pulling up beside a blue Chrysler 300M that was double-parked in front of the restaurant.

Three people standing outside the restaurant were shot, one fatally.

The evidence against Perez hinged largely on video obtained from a surveillance camera outside the restaurant.

After the Mitsubishi had sped from the scene, the footage showed Perez moving toward the Chrysler and firing his weapon at the rear of the vehicle, according to IPRA. Perez continued to fire as the Chrysler took off, IPRA said.

Yet even after viewing the video in 2015, Perez continued to maintain that he had fired at the red car.

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In testifying before a Police Board hearing officer last year, Perez did not dispute that he mistakenly shot an occupant in the Chrysler but said he was aiming at the red car seconds after the drive-by shooting.

A lawyer representing the Police Department contended that Perez should be fired for lying and shooting an "innocent bystander."

But Perez's lawyer, Daniel Herbert, described his client as a hero and dismissed the allegations against him as preposterous.

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John Farrell, who testified as an expert on use of force on behalf of Perez, defended the off-duty officer's decision to open fire because the gunman in the red car had just committed a forcible felony and was attempting to escape.

Farrell also criticized the quality of the video as not "top notch." He said the video did not depict what Perez saw that night because the camera captured the scene from a different angle than what the off-duty officer viewed. It also gave a limited view of what took place that night, he said.

In addition, Farrell testified that outside factors, including tunnel vision and an inability in the poor lighting to distinguish the colors of the two cars, could have played a role in the incident.

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But the Police Department lawyer, Special Assistant Corporation Counsel James Fieweger, told the hearing officer that he was skeptical that Perez intended to fire at the Mitsubishi because the car was a full block and a half away when he opened fire. The odds that Perez would be successful in hitting the moving vehicle in the dark at that distance were minuscule, he said.

"I think Officer Perez was trying to do the right thing, but he was ill-informed and made a horrible mistake," Fieweger said. "He's been offered multiple opportunities to correct his story. If an officer's gonna lie to cover that up, what else is he gonna lie about?"

jgorner@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @JeremyGorner
A 21-year-old driver with a history of speeding may have been traveling faster than 100 mph in a 40 mph zone when he slammed into another car in Des Plaines, killing himself and three members of a close-knit local family, officials said Friday.

After the wreckage cleared, a veteran suburban police chief called the crash the worst accident he has seen in 40 years.

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"I can't remember the last time I saw a quadruple (fatal) crash. It's just horrific, the impact," Des Plaines police Chief William Kushner told reporters Friday following a news conference. "Cars are safer now than they've ever been  seat belts, air bags  and it didn't save anybody."

Those killed in the crash were identified as Arlington Heights residents Anita Crawford, 50; her husband, Kevin Crawford, 52; and their eldest daughter, Kirsten Crawford, 20, the Cook County medical examiner's office said.

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Piotr Rog, 21, of Des Plaines, the driver of a Mercedes that investigators said was at fault in the crash, was also pronounced dead.

Des Plaines police said Rog was driving the Mercedes at a "high rate of speed" west in the 100 block of East Northwest Highway around 8:55 p.m. Thursday when it slammed into a Chevrolet Impala driven by Kevin Crawford, who was turning into the Lattof YMCA parking lot from the eastbound lanes of Northwest Highway.

The Impala was pushed into a Toyota Highlander traveling east, police said.

A passenger in Rog's Mercedes remained in critical condition Friday at Lutheran General Hospital, police said, with two people in a third car treated at the scene for minor injuries.

Kushner said the Crawford family's car was so heavily damaged in the crash that "it looked like a ball of aluminum foil," with the car's transmission found by police officers more than 50 feet from the site.

"I can tell you, I was out at the crash scene from 9:15 p.m. to 2 a.m., and I could not find the front tire of their car," Kushner said. "There were no skid marks on the road, and you don't get that kind of damage unless (Rog) was driving at least double the posted 40 mph speed (limit), or more than 80 mph." Kushner said in the news conference that Rog could have been driving even faster  more than 100 mph  at the time of the accident.

While investigators are expected to release a reconstruction report of the fatal crash next week, Kushner said toxicology reports will not be available for at least six weeks.

Rog, the driver of the Mercedes that crashed into the Crawfords' car, had a history of traffic violations, court records show.

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In the years since 2011, Rog had been ticketed for nine separate traffic-related offenses, including at least five times for traveling 15 or more mph over the speed limit, according to Cook County records. He was twice ticketed  once in Mount Prospect and another time in Glenview  for traveling 21 to 25 mph higher than the speed limit, according to court records. His most recent Cook County ticket, the Glenview offense, was in August 2015, records show.

David Druker with the Illinois secretary of state's office said Rog's license had been suspended on three different occasions between April 2013 and October 2015 for moving violations, but Druker said Rog did have a valid driver's license at the time of the crash.

A man answering a phone number listed as belonging to a relative's of Rog's said the family would have no comment.

On Friday, Anita Crawford's father, Erwin Schmidt, 77, said he and his wife, Ursel, 73, were devastated after police arrived at their Mount Prospect home Thursday night to tell them of the fatal crash that killed his daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter, a Harper College student.

Schmidt said the couple's other two children, 15-year-old Hailee, a sophomore at Prospect High School, and 9-year-old Christian, a fourth-grader at Windsor Elementary School in Arlington Heights, are staying with him and his wife now.

"We've got support from family and neighbors," Schmidt said.

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Anita Crawford's sister, Erika Schmidt, 47, of Schaumburg, said both Anita and her eldest daughter, Kirsten, were members of the same women's soccer team. At the time of the crash, they were heading to play a game at the Lattof YMCA, she said.

"They were always there for everyone in the family," said Schmidt, adding that her sister, an employee at Aon Hewitt in Lincolnshire, was a 1984 graduate of Forest View High School in Arlington Heights.

Schmidt said her niece Kirsten had attended the University of Iowa but recently transferred to Harper College in Palatine. She was looking forward to starting a new job next week at the Lutheran Home, a retirement community in Arlington Heights, Schmidt said.

Everyone in the Crawford family was athletic and passionate about soccer and other team sports, she said, recalling that the family also enjoyed taking vacations to Florida together.

"They were all very family-oriented and always upbeat," Schmidt said.

Fadi Houma, an assistant director of the Mount Prospect-based Chicago Fire Juniors Gold, a youth soccer club, said Kevin Crawford had founded the organization to provide opportunities for local children and teens "to play the beautiful game of soccer."

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"He started a scholarship program for underprivileged kids and was flexible in terms of payment because he wanted to provide the kids with opportunities," Houma said.

Crawford had stepped down from his role in the organization in recent years, but he remained a strong supporter of the program, Houma said.

The Crawfords appeared to have deep ties in the community. According to a neighbor, the family had lived along Forrest Avenue in Arlington Heights for at least 15 years.

"They were terrific neighbors," said Carl Bjorndahl, who lives down the block from the Crawford home.

On Friday morning, all was quiet at the Crawfords' tidy, red brick ranch on South Forrest Avenue, with a decorative sign on the front door proclaiming, "Believe in Miracles," and their recycling bin awaiting pickup at the curb.

Bjorndahl remembered Kevin Crawford, a local insurance agent, shoveling the snow and mowing the lawn for older neighbors.

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He said the Crawfords had visited Door County in Wisconsin last fall, and while there, took a picture of a home that Bjorndahl and his family had once owned for many years. After the vacation, they shared the photo with the Bjorndahls.

"This is such a tragedy," Bjorndahl said.

Arlington Heights Mayor Thomas Hayes also described the crash as "very tragic," adding that "this is a time for neighbors to pull together to support the survivors."

A spokeswoman for Township High School District 214 said school officials would be "offering supports to the family, as well as anyone else in our school community, impacted by this tragedy."

Houma at the youth soccer club recalled the last time he saw the Crawford family, a few weeks ago at a soccer game.

"They all looked so healthy and happy, and even though Anita had lost her game, they still had positive attitudes," Houma said. "Kevin walked up to Anita after the game and gave her a hug and a kiss, and they walked out together.

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"We will always be there for Hailee and Christian, our organization and the entire local soccer community," Houma said. "This has been a big loss to all of us."

Chicago Tribune's Megan Crepeau contributed.
John Williams, 73, went missing Feb. 14, 2017, in the city's Chatham neighborhood. (Chicago Police Department)

Police are asking for the public's help locating a 73-year-old man who went missing Tuesday in the Chatham neighborhood.

John Williams was last seen Feb. 14 in the 8800 block of South Calumet Avenue. He was wearing a black coat and blue jeans, police said.

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Williams was driving a dark blue Pontiac Grand Am with temporary license plates. Police said Williams suffers from asthma.

He is described as black with a medium complexion, brown eyes, about 5 feet 5 inches tall and about 180 pounds, police said.

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Anyone with information on his whereabouts should contact the Area South Special Victims Unit at 312-747-8274 or call 911
Representatives of a Des Plaines mosque reported Thursday that a man entered the building the previous day and made a comment that was interpreted as a possible bomb threat.

The man, who was on roller blades and was wearing fatigues and carrying a backpack, entered the Islamic Community Center of Des Plaines on Wednesday morning, went into its basement and, when asked by a janitor what he was doing there, "responded by saying on Friday everything will go boom, making a bomb sound," Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Chicago, said at a news conference Thursday.

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The man was asked to leave and did so, the group said.

Friday is traditionally a day when Muslims gather for communal prayers, and the Islamic group cited a recent, deadly attack on a mosque in Quebec City as one reason for heightened concern about security.

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It's "really sad to say this is not the first incident and will not be the last at other houses of worship," said Bassam Osman, chairman of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, who also spoke at the press conference.

Des Plaines Police Chief William Kushner said several hours went by before someone at the mosque contacted his agency, contradicting a statement at the news conference that authorities were alerted "immediately."

Based on the description provided by a mosque representative, Kushner said authorities identified the trespasser as someone who'd had prior contact with police, had a history of mental illness and who, earlier that morning, had entered City Hall on roller blades and caused a disturbance.

After receiving the report from the mosque, the chief said, an officer was dispatched to the man's residence, and he was taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. The chief said the man is "well known to us" and has in the past been deemed not to be threat to himself or others.

Kushner said no one from the mosque had indicated an intention to sign a complaint against the man or requested additional security from police.

Rehab said he has encouraged members of the mosque to seek criminal charges against the man to make sure the situation is fully investigated.

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"The idea that someone who is mentally unstable will perform an act of violence is problematic ... so is the notion that by being mentally unstable, you cannot possibly commit an act of violence," Rehab said. "Nothing can guarantee such a person cannot do good on his threat unless he is properly vetted."

The situation prompted the mosque's school to cancel classes temporarily.

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Azhar Usman, a comedian and actor whose child attends the mosque's school, also spoke at the press conference.

"I'm here as a parent and community member to say we're not scared of terrorists on roller blades," he said. But he added the incident was emblematic of "a much larger dynamic."

Usman expressed gratitude to police but said the media needs to be "more balanced and fair," adding that the situation would be treated differently if the man who trespassed was a person of color.

Osman cited a cultural shift in which "people who are bigots, who are Islamophobic, who are anti-Semitic feel they don't need to pretend anymore or hide anymore."

Lee V. Gaines is a freelance reporter.
From its very first fraternity  which had to shut down during the Civil War  Northwestern University's Greek system has been a pillar of campus life for virtually all of the school's 166-year history.

And its presence still looms large on the Evanston campus. Fraternity brothers regularly paint an iconic campus boulder in chapter colors, lamppost stickers encourage would-be pledges to "rush," and Greek letters stand out on stately houses along Sheridan Road.

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But Northwestern's fraternity system finds itself in crisis mode following reports of possible drugging and sexual assault involving two Greek chapters. Now one chapter has been ordered to cease operations temporarily, and social activities at the campus' largest fraternal network have been suspended. A governing council has released a statement decrying fraternities' "toxic masculine culture" and has vowed a complete overhaul of the system. The student government also intends to address the issue.

The situation at Northwestern comes at a time of heightened attention nationwide to how college campuses, their police departments and the Greek system address claims of sexual violence. The University of Illinois issued two safety alerts about possible sexual assaults at fraternities within days of Northwestern's. There's also uncertainty about whether the U.S. Department of Education under new Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will continue to make the investigation and prevention of campus sexual assault a priority.

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And the spate of new claims of sexual violence has led some at Northwestern and other college campuses to debate whether the Greek system is outdated and should be abolished altogether.

Michael Gross, a Northwestern art student, said the reaction on campus to the latest allegations "has been an overwhelming outcry against" the fraternity chapter that has been suspended.

"I haven't found many voices ... against (the suspension)," he said. "It's been overwhelmingly an environment that's been supportive of victims of sexual assault."

Despite growing pressure on fraternities over their members' conduct, many students still credit them with providing a social outlet for students and for doing charity work.

An exterior view Feb. 15, 2017 shows a quadrangle bordered by fraternities on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston. The Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, in the building at left, has had its chapter suspended by the fraternity's national headquarters after allegations of sexual assault. (Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune)

Ege Aykol, a sophomore engineering student, said fraternities and sororities are social hubs, especially for undergraduates who have few other options because they're underage.

Still, he said of the Greek system: "To a certain extent, it's divisive. It's separating students. I think it's a good way to socialize on campus, but I feel that it is segregating more than uniting."

Like at many other campuses, fraternities and sororities constitute a huge part of the social scene at Northwestern. The school reports that about 3,000 students, or 40 percent of the student body, participate in the Greek system.

The current ban on social activities at Northwestern applies to the 17 fraternities that are members of the Interfraternity Council, school spokesman Bob Rowley said. The school lists three other governing bodies for fraternities and sororities, overseeing some 28 other organizations that are not affected.

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The latest allegations came to light Feb. 2, when the school received a report that on Jan. 21, four female students attending an event at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house were possibly given a date-rape drug. The report alleged that two of the students believed they were also sexually assaulted.

On Feb. 3, the university received a separate anonymous report alleging that the night before, a female student who had attended an event at another, unspecified fraternity house had been sexually assaulted, also possibly after being given a sedative.

The university's Sexual Harassment Prevention Office is investigating, and officials encouraged anyone with information to report it, but no complaining witnesses had filed a report with university police as of Wednesday.

So far, SAE has received no further information to substantiate the allegations involving its chapter, national headquarters spokesman Brandon Weghorst said.

Despite such criticisms, Weghorst said, fraternity life still offers a wide range of benefits.

"There's very much still a need for Greek life on campus," he said. "There are many benefits to the fraternity system that the average person may not realize. A lot of people just hear the negatives. Members of fraternities and sororities are, I don't want to say stereotyped, but they're put into a particular box."

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Each chapter typically performs community service. Weghorst cited the case of the SAE chapter at the University of California in Los Angeles that gained national attention when it provided assistance to a girl with cancer, and an SAE house in Pittsburgh that started a "Donut Dash" race that reportedly raised more than $200,000 for research into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

Last year, SAE's 330 member houses performed 16,000 hours of service connected with Global Youth Service Day, Weghorst said, doing things like painting playgrounds, visiting nursing homes and volunteering in soup kitchens and shelters.

And problems like sexual misconduct and alcohol abuse are broader issues that go far beyond the Greek system, Weghorst said. Organized houses offer help to fight those problems, such as ongoing education and training that students otherwise might not get, and can face university sanctions that other students do not.

In 2014, following deaths, lawsuits and bad publicity, SAE ended the practice of pledging, the traditional probationary period for new recruits, a time when hazing can occur. The fraternity touted instead an educational program called the "True Gentleman Experience," aimed at helping its members develop personally and professionally.

Still, at Northwestern, a renewed push is on toward even greater accountability.

Christina Cilento, president of Northwestern's Associated Student Government, said the group's executive board met Wednesday to consider proposals to immediately and permanently expel students and fraternities found culpable in sexual assault, and to provide more funding for prevention and education about the issue.

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The group's leaders also met Wednesday with university officials regarding additional steps to take to prevent sexual misconduct. Student government representatives also met informally with Greek leaders, protesters and others to discuss what steps to take next.

"We have a lot of work on our hands," Cilento said.

The university's Political Union, which holds regular debates about timely topics, held a meeting Monday to discuss whether to abolish the Greek system at the school.

Northwestern University is investigating reports that at least three students were sexually assaulted and may also have been drugged at fraternity houses in recent weeks. (Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune) (Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

Participants voted 15-14 to end the system, though Co-President David Gernon said there was no way to tell if the vote gauged overall student sentiment. He doubted the vote would have any effect, and said the event was planned long before the latest controversy.

Critics argued that the costs of Greek life outweigh the benefits, and that its attributes could be made up by students in other settings. Defenders of the system emphasized that members not only make friends and network, but also support many worthy causes.

They also warned that abolishing the houses would not end drinking and sexual misconduct, but rather move it to places that are not under university oversight and sanctions.

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"It turned out to be very timely," Gernon said. "There was a wide range of opinions, and everyone was civil."

The debate followed a demonstration days before in which hundreds of protesters marched from the SAE chapter house in Evanston to the SAE national headquarters, about a mile away, calling for the removal of the fraternity.

Northwestern's Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life promotes the benefits of Greek life as a "home away from home" for emotional and scholastic support, where new friends can last a lifetime. Greek members get better grades, the office reports, and develop networking and leadership skills that prove invaluable in the working world.

Like many fraternity members, Northwestern's Cameron MacPherson cited the camaraderie the organizations provide.

"A lot of my friends and I joined the same place because we felt a sense of brotherhood and a place where we could all thrive and grow together," said MacPherson, 19 and a member of Sigma Chi.

He was surprised by the allegations of sex assaults and said he wanted to hear more facts before forming an opinion.

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"I think most houses on campus are very safe havens, at least Sigma Chi is," he said.

A 20-year-old Northwestern fraternity member who declined to give his name said he's made good friends through his house, but called alleged assaults "clearly unacceptable."

"It shouldn't be tolerated," he said. "It gives a bad reputation to all Greek life. It's not only SAE. It's every chapter that is affected by this."

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The Interfraternity Council announced that it will form a task force to look into topics including sexual assault, hazing, drugging, risk management and "toxic masculine culture," according to an online statement. The task force will also explore fraternity recruitment and values, and will include members from outside the IFC.

"Echoes of the toxic ideology on which social fraternities were founded still ring today," the statement read. "We are acutely aware of the exclusivity, financial elitism, sexism, heterocentrism, and discrimination that have and still continue to exist in our community."

The group plans to hold open forums in the upcoming weeks, and to "completely" revise its constitution, which it called "an antiquated document" that fosters ambivalence toward sexual assault, hazing and drugging.

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"We have to start from the ground and work our way up if we are truly going to change the culture of IFC," the group stated.

Freelance reporter Brian L. Cox contributed.

rmccoppin@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @RobertMcCoppin
A tentative settlement agreement has been reached in a long-standing lawsuit that alleged inequities and discrimination in Illinois' education funding system, forcing the state to stop "prorating" state aid dollars to schools when money is short.

The practice, pervasive during the state's budget crisis, cut state aid to districts by a certain percentage across the board, hurting disadvantaged districts more than affluent ones and creating disparities considered discriminatory, according to the terms of the settlement.

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The agreement, scheduled for a vote next week at the Illinois State Board of Education meeting, would require ISBE to set up new methods to distribute state aid in the event that Illinois doesn't allocate enough money to cover its full share of pay for teachers, school maintenance, bus transportation and other school expenses.

Illinois has had long-standing issues with the way the state finances public schools, with affluent districts able to raise and spend far more dollars on schoolchildren than districts that have lower property values and many low-income children.

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In 2008, the Chicago Urban League sued the state and ISBE, describing Illinois' education finance system as a "failed school funding scheme" that creates wide financial gaps between school districts and discriminates against minority students  predominantly black and Latino children.

The 5-page tentative settlement agreement does not include solutions to the broader challenges that plague Illinois' school funding program, instead focusing on the proration issue.

ISBE on Friday did not elaborate on the broader issues.

"The Chicago Urban League and the Illinois State Board of Education have reached a tentative settlement agreement in the matter of Chicago Urban League v. Illinois State Board of Education. The board will consider and vote on the tentative settlement agreement during the Feb. 22 regular meeting," ISBE spokeswoman Jackie Matthews said.

The agreement was included in materials released Friday related to the ISBE meeting, but "the board will not comment on this matter until after the vote," Matthews said.

Word of a tentative settlement comes at a time of continued concern over school funding, with Chicago's Board of Education earlier this week suing Gov. Bruce Rauner and ISBE, among other defendants.

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The financially ailing Chicago Public Schools accused the state of employing "separate and unequal systems of funding for public education in Illinois." The lawsuit focuses solely on CPS, where about 85 percent of students are black or Latino as well as low-income. Illinois treats those children as "second-class" and "relegated to the back of the state's education funding school bus," according to the lawsuit.

Urban League officials this week said the two suits differed primarily because the CPS action was limited to Chicago, while the league's suit applied to the entire state. A CPS spokeswoman said the district has yet to review the tentative agreement in the Urban League's lawsuit.

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That agreement states that Illinois failed to allocate the dollars needed to cover state aid payments between 2011 and 2015, so districts got prorated payments, meaning aid was cut by a certain percentage. Based on the way the school funding formula worked and how the proration played out, the less affluent districts with low-income minority kids suffered greater losses, according to the agreement.

If there's not enough money allocated for state aid in the future, ISBE "shall not utilize proration in determining how to distribute" state aid, instead using methods such as basing payments on the needs of a particular district, according to the agreement. ISBE would also have to provide notice to the public when the state fails to allocate enough state aid dollars, among other conditions.

A school funding reform commission created by Rauner has recommended changes in the school funding program to focus on the unique needs of schools and increase dollars to districts with high student poverty, among other proposals. Those recommendations are being considered by lawmakers.

Tribune reporter Juan Perez Jr. contributed.

drado@chicagotribune.com
Chicago aldermen next week are expected to approve a $370,000 payout to a former city employee who accused police of falsely arresting him on a charge of soliciting a prostitute.

Charges against former Chicago Department of Transportation supervisor Hugo Holmes ultimately were dropped, but the arrest triggered the impoundment of his car, a suspension from his job and "public humiliation (and) exposure to hate mail," according to the lawsuit Holmes filed in federal court.

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Holmes alleged that police in April 2008 arrested him near Washtenaw Avenue and 47th Street, even though he refused a solicitation from an undercover officer posing as a prostitute.

The proposed settlement is the largest of four, totaling more than $1 million, to be considered Tuesday by the City Council Finance Committee, which routinely approves settlements negotiated by Law Department attorneys. The other three are related to accidents that involved police vehicles.

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One involves now-First Deputy Superintendent Kevin Navarro, whose police-issued SUV was struck by a drag-racing motorcyclist on South Chicago Avenue near 85th Street early on an August 2011 morning. That case would be settled for $250,000.

The injured cyclist, Carlos Russian, was racing another motorcyclist south on Chicago Avenue when Navarro, who was heading north, drove into the southbound lane in the path of the drag racers, according to the lawsuit. One cyclist evaded the SUV, but Russian hit it head-on and was thrown 30 feet, according to the lawsuit.

Navarro maintained that he was pulling over to talk to people watching the race. Russian and his attorney, Leonard Becker, maintained Navarro intentionally blocked the cyclists' path, aldermen were told Friday during briefings on the settlements.

The other two cases also involved the actions of officers who were driving police vehicles.

Carmen Carrillo sued the city after suffering a broken arm, torn rotator cuff and broken leg when an officer in August 2013 turned left onto Ashland Avenue from 17th Street. Carrillo, who was crossing Ashland with her daughter-in-law, either was struck or fell as the police vehicle made the turn while on routine patrol, aldermen were told. That case would be settled for $213,500.

Dereks Norman sued the city after being struck by a police vehicle in July 2014 while crossing Ashland near 63rd Street. The vehicle had its lights and siren activated while responding to a police call and struck Norman while making a left turn onto Ashland from 63rd, aldermen were told.

hdardick@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @ReporterHal
SPRINGFIELD  Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan said Friday that lawmakers will consider a plan backed by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner to sell the hulking, glass paneled Thompson Center that houses state offices in Chicago's Loop.

The move could be interpreted as Madigan extending an olive branch to his chief political rival, though skeptical Republicans might note the speaker's propensity for using the legislative process to kill ideas pushed by Rauner.

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Either way, the announcement continues a change in tone for Madigan, who has been criticized by members of his own party for appearing as an obstructionist amid the state's record-breaking budget impasse. Rauner has helped shape that image by donating millions of dollars to the Illinois Republican Party that's led attacks against the Southwest Side Democrat, who also leads the state Democratic Party.

Earlier, Madigan also had broadcast a willingness to take up ideas to grow the economy, a charge Rauner has linked to a larger budget deal. But Madigan hasn't engaged with many of the governor's specific requests.

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In a statement Friday, Madigan said a House panel will examine the Thompson Center proposal after Rauner identified the sale as a priority in his annual budget speech this week. Rauner has been eyeing the idea since soon after he took office two years ago without much movement.

"While technical questions pertaining to the sale remain, it is my intention to work with the governor on developing a course of action for the Thompson Center that best serves the interests of the people of Illinois," Madigan said.

Built as the State of Illinois Center, the building was named after James R. Thompson, the state's longest-serving governor who held office from 1977 to 1991.

The 17-story, 980,000-square-foot building was designed by Helmut Jahn and opened in 1985 at a cost of $172 million  twice what had been expected. Its sweeping design featuring massive glass panels was always controversial, and the open-air atrium design has proved costly and inefficient to maintain, heat and cool.

Inside, carpets are ripped, cockroaches are a frequent presence and workers have even been forced to deal with a bedbug infestation. In 2009, a 600-pound granite panel fell off a column in the pedestrian arcade and crashed onto Clark Street. No one was injured.

Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton moved their offices out of the building years ago for renovated space across LaSalle Street at the Michael A. Bilandic state building. The governor and other statewide officials have kept their offices there, as well as various other stage agencies.

Rauner estimates the state could net $200 million from the sale of the building, which sits on prime real estate directly across from City Hall.

"For years, the state has failed to properly maintain the building, and now we face deferred maintenance costs in the hundreds of millions of dollars," Rauner said in his budget speech. "Everyone benefits from the sale. The city of Chicago stands to gain major new property tax revenue, along with the jobs that come with a massive development."

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Rauner's team has also noted the sale could benefit the city's tax rolls to the tune of $45 million.

"We are encouraged the House will take up the sale of the JRTC," Rauner spokeswoman Eleni Demertzis said.

But some lawmakers have raised questions about the cost of moving the building's roughly 2,200 workers to other state-owned or leased property in Chicago and Springfield.

They've also questioned the impact on CTA passengers who access the Blue, Green, Brown, Orange, Purple and Pink lines via the Clark/Lake station at the Thompson Center, one of the busiest stations.

Any deal Rauner might strike could be complicated by the fact that any future changes at the site would require approval by Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration. A City Hall sign-off would be required for any zoning changes, building permits and changes to the CTA station. Emanuel in recent weeks has ramped up his criticism of Rauner, particularly when it comes to the funding of Chicago Public Schools, and the mayor could raise Rauner's desire to sell and redevelop the Thompson Center in legislative talks.

The Tribune's Bill Ruthhart contributed.

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mcgarcia@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @moniquegarcia
That, at least, is the result of a poll published Friday by FG Wahlen for public broadcaster ZDF, in which a whopping 78 percent of Germans asked said they were "very concerned" about Donald Trump's policies, up from 62 percent in January. Meanwhile, 58 percent said they were worried about the politics of Russian President Vladimir Putin, while 40 percent said they weren't.

The poll, conducted Feb. 14-16, surveyed 1,231 Germans.

The poll results suggest the fast-wavering trust in Trump's America unfolding in Germany, Europe's largest economy and a key U.S. ally. On Friday, the same day as the poll was published, German commentators were describing Trump's rambling news conference on Thursday as surreal.

"It sounds tough, but after this memorable press conference one hopes that there's a good medical department in the White House to check whether everything really is all right with this man," wrote Veit Medick, a Washington correspondent for Der Spiegel.

Also Friday, Germany's Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen blasted Trump's policies and statements, although without directly mentioning his name, at a major security conference in Munich. With Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly in the audience, she said NATO's values did not leave "any room for torture." She also warned against turning the effort to combat international terrorism into a "front against Muslims and Islam."

On Saturday, Merkel is set to deliver a speech at the same conference singling out the need for multilateral cooperation at a time when Trump has seemed to offer conditional support for the transatlantic alliance.
MUNICH  Making his debut on the world stage, Vice President Mike Pence is looking to reassure skeptical allies in Europe about U.S. foreign policy under President Donald Trump, who has made his "America First" mantra a centerpiece of his new administration.

Pence arrived Friday in Germany, his first overseas trip as vice president, on a mission to ease concerns about the U.S. commitment to multinational institutions like NATO and the European Union. The visit, which will include a stop in Brussels on Sunday and Monday, comes amid worries in Europe about Russian aggression, and amid lingering questions about Trump's relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and whether the new president may promote isolationist tendencies.

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The dismissal of Trump's national security adviser, retired Gen. Michael Flynn, has also put Pence and his stature within the administration under new scrutiny. Flynn was forced to resign Monday following reports he misled Pence about contacts with a Russian diplomat, which the vice president learned about through media accounts.

Landing on a cold, rainy evening, Pence was greeted by about two dozen members of the Bavarian Honor Guard and local dignitaries at Munich's airport. On Saturday, he will deliver a speech at the Munich Security Conference and then meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

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Pence is also scheduled to sit down with the leaders of the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko  countries facing the threat of Russian aggression  along with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.

"These are pretty blunt-spoken people and they are very nervous. Pence is looking like an adult," said James Jeffrey, a U.S. ambassador to Iraq during the Obama administration and a distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "The question is will Trump listen to him?"

Pence was also expected to meet with the leaders of Iraq and Afghanistan, where the U.S. is embroiled in two separate wars. In the earliest days of his presidency, Trump declared his intention to fight and defeat the Islamic State group. But he also remarked that the U.S. may get a second chance to take Iraqi oil as compensation for its efforts in the war-torn country, a notion rebuffed by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who will be meeting with Pence.

Trump's immigration and refugee ban has also ruffled feathers with a number of Muslim-majority countries affected by the order currently tied up in court, including Iraq  a close ally in the fight against IS.

The American allies will be seeking clues from Pence as to how the Trump administration plans to deal with Russia in the aftermath of Flynn's departure, U.S. inquiries into Russia's involvement in the presidential election and Trump's past praise for Putin.

European countries along Russia's border were rattled about deeper U.S.-Russian ties after Trump suggested sanctions imposed after Russia's annexation of Crimea could be eased in exchange for a nuclear weapons deal and the president referred to NATO as "obsolete" in an interview before his inauguration. Trump has since tempered his language, telling foreign leaders in phone calls about the importance of the NATO alliance.

NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is a military alliance of European and North American democracies created after World War II to strengthen international cooperation as a counter-balance to the rise of the Soviet Union. In 2014, the 28-member alliance created a rapid-reaction force to protect the most vulnerable NATO members against a confrontation with Russia.

But Trump cast doubt as a candidate about whether the U.S. might fulfill its NATO obligations if he won the White House, saying in a July interview that he would decide whether to protect the Baltic republics against Russian aggression based on whether those countries "have fulfilled their obligations to us."

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Pence will travel to Brussels, Belgium, on Sunday for meetings related to NATO and the European Union. His Monday itinerary includes face-to-face meetings with EU Council President Donald Tusk, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

As part of his message, Pence is expected to press allies in Europe to raise their defense budgets to NATO's target of 2 percent of GDP. Germany has been wary of the costs and pointed to its expenditures from supporting refugees and investing in international development.

As Indiana's governor, Pence led a number of foreign trade missions, and he traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan as a member of Congress. But he is just beginning his relationships with foreign leaders and aides said the trip was also aimed at establishing personal ties with U.S. partners.

"There's considerable concern, but because they don't know (Pence) they're willing to give him a chance," said Julianne Smith, a former deputy national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden. "This is the opportunity for the administration to reassure very skittish allies across the European continent and beyond."

Associated Press writer Vivian Salama contributed to this report.
New York real estate scion Robert Durst admitted during a dinner conversation in 2014 to killing writer Susan Berman, according to the testimony of a man who says he was a close friend of both the victim and her alleged killer.

Nathan "Nick" Chavin, 72, said in court Thursday that Durst made a remark he took as a confession to the execution-style slaying of Berman after the pair had dinner in New York City three years ago.

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"I had to. It was her or me; I had no choice," Durst said at the time, according to Chavin.

Chavin testified at a special hearing in the case against Durst, who is charged with shooting Berman in the back of the head 17 years ago inside her Benedict Canyon home.

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Prosecutors allege that Durst killed Berman, his confidant, because he feared she was going to talk to detectives about the 1982 disappearance of his wife, Kathleen Durst.

Earlier on Thursday, Chavin testified that Berman had told him that Durst confessed to her that he had killed Kathleen.

"Susan said to me, 'Bob killed Kathie,'" Chavin testified, adding that Berman told him the confession came from Durst himself.

Chavin, a longtime friend of both Durst and Berman, was hustled into court earlier in the week as a "secret witness," flanked by bodyguards. Durst's trial in Berman's slaying is not likely to take place until at least 2018, but prosecutors had asked that Chavin testify early out of fear he might be killed before trial.

Chavin's testimony may prove crucial, as prosecutors contend Durst made the decision to kill Berman after learning she planned to speak with investigators in New York about his wife's disappearance.

Asked why he hadn't told police of the admission earlier, Chavin said Thursday that Berman had insisted they protect Durst.

"Kathie's dead, we can't do anything about it," Chavin testified Berman told him. "We have to protect Bob."

Recalling the 2014 conversation, Chavin said Durst had invited him to dinner to discuss Kathleen's disappearance and Berman's death, but the topic didn't come up until they exited the restaurant.

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"You wanted to talk about Susan?" Chavin asked as they stepped onto a sidewalk, prompting Durst to give what he considered to be a confession.

As Durst walked away, Chavin said, he then asked about Kathleen. Durst continued silently, Chavin recalled.

"This is not easy," Chavin said Thursday, his eyes welling up with tears on the stand.

Asked how he felt about testifying, Chavin said he felt "like it's something I have to do."

"As you sit here, do you still feel a bond  and a warmth  toward Bob Durst?" a prosecutor asked.

"It sounds ridiculous, but yes," he said. "This is a best friend who admitted to killing my other best friend."

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Chavin said he first told police of Durst's supposed confession to Berman in 2001, when he was interviewed by New York State Police Investigator Joseph Becerra. But at that time, Chavin said, he didn't believe Durst had played a role in any of the slayings, believing Kathleen had been killed by a drug dealer.

His view changed seven months after the interview, when Durst was arrested in connection with a grisly slaying in Galveston, Texas. Durst's admission that he had dismembered the corpse of neighbor Morris Black struck Chavin as disturbing. Until that point, Chavin testified, he had never believed Durst was "capable of hands-on violence."

"It was like taking the gloves off," Chavin said.

Durst was acquitted of murder in the Galveston case after arguing that Black had been killed as the two men struggled over a gun that went off.

Edward J. Imwinkelried, a professor emeritus at UC Davis who co-authored the annotated California Evidence Code, said Durst's attorneys would have a difficult time trying to prevent jurors from hearing Chavin's testimony about Durst's confession to killing Berman.

"Since [Durst] evidently makes this statement to a private party, who I assume at that point isn't acting as an agent of the government, you don't have any due process problems," Imwinkelried said.

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It is less likely that a jury would hear Chavin's testimony about Durst's supposed confession to killing his first wife, Imwinkelried said. Because Chavin said that he didn't hear the confession himself but heard about it from Berman, a judge would consider it "double hearsay" and might not allow the testimony at a trial, the professor said.

"Judges are understandably, and quite justifiably, concerned about only admitting reliable testimony. When you've got double hearsay, you've got double the problem," Imwinkelried said.

During his testimony earlier in the week, Chavin  a New York advertising executive  said that Kathleen Durst was afraid of her husband, even fearing he might physically harm her. Despite that fear, he testified, she never said anything to indicate her husband had been physically violent with her.

A prosecutor also asked Chavin on Wednesday whether he believed Durst was involved in his first wife's disappearance at the time that she vanished.

"No," Chavin, 72, said emphatically.

Chavin told the court that Durst was best man at his wedding, and that the two had known each other for nearly three decades. Durst drastically changed the trajectory of Chavin's career by asking him to do advertising for some of the Durst Organization's holdings, he said. The family-run company is a dominant player in the prime Manhattan real estate market. Durst's father, Seymour, became one of Chavin's mentors.

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Chavin's relationship with Robert Durst crumbled in the early 1990s, however, when Chavin took a meeting with Durst's brother Douglas, whom the defendant despises, the witness said.

Douglas Durst had asked Chavin to visit the family business, where Robert Durst was also working at the time. Aware that his friend was inside the company's New York headquarters, Robert Durst asked if Chavin wanted to come down to his office, but Chavin replied that he couldn't because he had a meeting with Douglas, according to Chavin's testimony.

Chavin said he immediately regretted the comment. That was the last time the two had contact for several years, until Durst's father died in 1995.

Chavin made several attempts to mend the fractured friendship, even writing Durst a long letter telling him how sorry he was about his father's death. Durst didn't write back, but Chavin eventually received a phone call from Durst's second wife, Debrah Lee Charatan, relaying a message from the real estate tycoon: "It's maudlin."

The message made him feel awful, Chavin testified, saying he had poured his heart out in the letter.

On Wednesday, Chavin described Berman as an exceedingly generous person  the type of friend, he said, who gave him a navy blazer worth about $400 after he moved to New York. She told him it was a must-have in work circles, knowing he was clueless about such things, he said.

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Chavin grew up in El Paso, worked for a while as a musician and received a master's degree in creative writing from San Francisco State University. He said he met Berman in the Bay Area in the late 1970s, soon before relocating to New York and getting work as a copywriter at an advertising agency. Before long, the witness said, Berman introduced him to Durst, and the trio became close friends.

marisa.gerber@latimes.com

@marisagerber
Environmental Protection Agency staffers rally in Chicago against the nomination of Scott Pruitt as agency head on Nov. 6, 2017. (EPA staffers are forbidden from being politically active on agency time and made it explicit that they are acting on their lunch hour in their private capacity.) (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)

President Donald Trump is planning to sign directives aimed at dismantling Obama-era policies governing carbon dioxide and water pollution soon after a new leader is installed at the Environmental Protection Agency, according to two people familiar with the strategy.

The measures will set in motion Trump's campaign promises to rescind both the Clean Power Plan and the "Waters of the U.S." rule, while signaling the start of a new era at the federal agency that President Barack Obama put on the front lines of his battle against climate change. The directives are set to compel the EPA administrator to take any needed steps to withdraw those regulations, according to the people who described the documents and spoke on condition of anonymity about internal discussions.

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Trump's nominee to lead the EPA, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, is on track to be confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate Friday, over the objections of most Democrats who say he is unsuited to lead the same agency he has dedicated his political career to fighting. Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine has said she will vote against Pruitt's confirmation; Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota have said they will vote for him.

Trump Aides Said to Prepare List of First Days Changes on Energy

"Trump is the only Republican who repeatedly promised to rein in EPA," said Steve Milloy, an attorney with the Energy and Environmental Legal Institute, who served on the Trump transition team focused on the agency. "That's going to be Scott Pruitt's job -- to rein in the EPA."

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The actions could be taken during a welcome ceremony for Pruitt said to be planned for Tuesday -- mirroring Trump's decision to sign two executive orders at the Pentagon during a Jan. 27 swearing-in for Defense Secretary James Mattis.

Other directives the Trump administration is expected to issue in coming weeks include one to suspend the government's use of a metric known as the "social cost of carbon" until it can be reviewed and recalculated. Another would effectively nullify guidance from Obama's Council on Environmental Quality that climate change should be factored into government agencies' formal environmental reviews.

Trump already signed legislation Thursday to repeal an Obama-era regulation requiring coal mining companies to clean up streams after they are done with their work.

"In eliminating this rule I am continuing to keep my promise to the American people to get rid of wasteful regulations," Trump said at a White House signing ceremony.

Environmentalists warned that these reversals would mark a major change in the role the U.S. plays internationally on climate change.

"Undermining the international leadership the U.S. has shown on climate action would be an enormous mistake of historic consequence," said John Coequyt, global climate policy director for the Sierra Club. "If Trump does follow through, it would mean he is declaring open season on our air, water and climate while further destabilizing our role in the world."

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator-designate, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Feb. 16, 2017. (J. Scott Applewhite / AP)

Clean Power

Both on the campaign trail and in the White House, Trump vowed to rescind the Clean Power Plan, which aimed to cut carbon-dioxide emissions from electricity 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. Under Pruitt, Oklahoma joined more than two dozen other states in challenging that EPA rule, arguing that the agency overstepped its regulatory authority by giving states broad carbon-cutting mandates.

As long as the Washington, D.C.-based Court of Appeals has not ruled on the lawsuit, the Trump administration can ask the panel to put the matter on hold. Once it's on hold, the EPA could begin the process of rescinding the Obama-era rule and -- possibly -- replacing it with a rule that would have negligible impact. Environmentalists who support the measure have vowed to fight such a move -- and use new lawsuits to prod the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide emissions.

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The other early target is the 2015 Waters of the U.S. rule, which defined waterways subject to pollution regulation. Critics, including more than a dozen states that fought the measure in court, say it unfairly expanded EPA's Clean Water Act jurisdiction to include dry creek beds, prairie wetlands and other territory that they say strays far from the "navigable waters" subject to oversight under the law.

Repealing the rules -- much less replacing them -- would be a lengthy process that could span years.

United Nations

Conservatives want Pruitt to make deep changes in the structure and approach of the EPA, including by revisiting the agency's 2009 conclusion that greenhouse gas emissions endanger the public health and environment. Former Trump adviser Myron Ebell also has called for the agency to overhaul the way it uses science to set policy.

It is not clear when -- and if -- Trump will make good on his frequent campaign promise to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord, a 2015 United Nations agreement to curtail greenhouse gas emissions that was adopted by nearly 200 countries.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told senators last month that the U.S. should remain part of the Paris pact to "maintain its seat at the table." The U.K. government also is pressing Trump to stick with the accord.

Trump has relatively wide latitude to unilaterally withdraw from the Paris deal, because it was treated as an executive agreement, rather than a treaty requiring Senate approval. Under its terms, parties to the deal must wait until November 2019 to submit a notice of withdrawal, but Trump could pull out more quickly by removing the U.S. from the underlying 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, its parent treaty.
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Roy White, a member of ACT for America, speaks at the Texas State Capitol in Austin on Jan. 30, warning lawmakers about Muslim activists. (lana Panich-Linsman / The Washington Post )

AUSTIN, Texas  Roy White wants to inform as many Americans as possible about the terrorists he sees in their midst.

The lean, 62-year-old Air Force veteran strode into the Texas State Capitol in late January wearing a charcoal-gray pinstripe suit and an American flag tie, with the mission of warning all 181 lawmakers about a Muslim group sponsoring a gathering of Texas Muslims at the Capitol the following day. Although the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) works to promote Muslim civil rights across America, White wanted to convince lawmakers that it is actually working to infiltrate the U.S. government and destroy American society from within.

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"They're jihadists wearing suits," White said of CAIR and other Muslim organizations. "That's a tough thing for us to wrap our heads around because we don't feel threatened."

White is the San Antonio chapter president of ACT for America, an organization that brands itself as "the nation's largest grass-roots national security advocacy organization" and attacks what it sees as the creeping threat of sharia, or Islamic law, in the form of Muslim organizations, mosques, refugees and sympathetic politicians.

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The group has found allies among a coterie of anti-Muslim organizations, speakers and Christian fundamentalists, as well as with some state lawmakers. Bill Zedler, a Texas Republican state representative, said during a recent forum supported by ACT that he fears political correctness is masking the real problem: "Regardless of whether it's al-Qaida, or CAIR, or the Islamic State, they just have different methodology for the destruction of Western civilization."

ACT, which has been a vocal advocate for President Donald Trump and his administration, says it now has "a direct line" to the president and an ability to influence the direction of the nation.

"We are on the verge of playing the most pivotal role in reversing the significant damage that has been done to our nation's security and well-being over the past eight years," ACT's founder, Brigitte Gabriel, wrote in a December solicitation for donations.

Stephen K. Bannon, the former executive chairman of Breitbart who has described Muslim American groups as "cultural jihadists" bent on destroying American society, is Trump's chief strategist. Breitbart has published several articles Gabriel has written. Trump's CIA Director, Mike Pompeo, has spoken at ACT's conferences and sponsored an ACT meeting at the Capitol last year.

Retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, who sits on ACT's board of advisers, served as the president's national security adviser before stepping down after revelations that he might have violated the law in communications with a Russian diplomat.

In the first days of his presidency, Trump signed an executive order temporarily banning travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries - and all refugees - from entering the United States, an order that has been put on hold as it faces court challenges.

Ahmed Bedier, former executive director of CAIR's Tampa chapter, said ACT distorts Islam and works to present it as a belief that doesn't deserve religious protection in the United States. He considers that a very dangerous proposition for the American Muslim population.

"These guys are the fringe of the fringe, and now they have people on the inside of the most powerful government in the world," said Bedier, who has frequently sparred publicly with ACT. "They're fascists. They don't want any presence of Muslims in America. And the only Muslim that is acceptable to them is a former Muslim."

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ACT, based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, has nearly 17,500 volunteers and 17 staff members, according to tax records. Gabriel says ACT has 500,000 "relentless grass-roots warriors," such as White, who are "ready to do whatever it takes to achieve our goal of a safer America."

A safer America, to ACT, means a nation free of all Islamic influence, a goal that has led some civil rights activists to call it a hate group akin to white supremacists. It wants groups that practice or advocate sharia - the guiding principles of Islam - to be forced to disband, supports President Donald Trump's attempt to ban travelers from several Muslim-majority countries, and opposes the resettlement of Muslim refugees in the United States. It supports preserving the Constitution and its concept of American culture, which ACT says on its website means "recognizing that we are the greatest nation on Earth and that if you are an American you must be an American first."

Since it began its work a decade ago, ACT claims 22 legislative victories in Republican-controlled statehouses, many of them laws that stiffen criminal penalties for terrorism, keep Islamic or foreign influence out of U.S. courts, or aim to protect free speech. ACT also led a successful campaign to get "errors" removed from Texas school textbooks, including what leaders consider pro-Islamic, anti-Christian, anti-Western statements.

Rick Ellis, a protester, yells profanities at the crowd and Muslim attendees at Muslim Capitol Day in Austin. (lana Panich-Linsman / The Washington Post)

In recent weeks, ACT has lobbied on behalf of Trump's travel ban. On Wednesday, it circulated a message to its followers claiming that Flynn's fall was the work of "rogue weasels" and "shadow warriors" within the U.S. government trying to destroy Trump.

Much of ACT's philosophy is rooted in the belief that America is the target of a vast international conspiracy.

Two days before White set off down the halls of the state Capitol with an armful of papers accusing CAIR of being a terrorist organization, he and a guest speaker convened a meeting of ACT's San Antonio chapter at a Baptist church on the west side of town.

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A few dozen residents - mostly consisting of older, white Trump supporters who arrived in cars with bumper stickers identifying themselves as "Deplorables" and those wanting to "put God back in America" - gathered in the pews for a screening of "Enemies Within." The film, which White planned to show at the statehouse, purports to document an ongoing communist and Muslim conspiracy to infiltrate the U.S. government. Afterward, the group was abuzz with fresh outrage.

"They should be hauled out of Congress and taken to Guantanamo!" a military veteran said of the few dozen elected officials - including Hillary Clinton and the only two Muslim members of Congress - identified in the film as having connections to terrorists. "Can't we get a law passed so we can go in and get these people the hell out of our government?"

White and the filmmaker, Trevor Loudon, assured the group that there is "a new sheriff in town."

Trump's election has presented a "God-given opportunity," Loudon said. "The fate of the Western world" now depends on how they use it.

"We have four years - the most important four years of our lives - to redouble the efforts," he said. "If we blow it, our kids live in slavery. If we succeed, we can have a new golden age, not just in America, but all over the world."

White urged the group to start by calling, writing and visiting their lawmakers. He said he needed volunteers to "begin to do some deep research" into a list of about 400 addresses that he had compiled of mosques and Muslim-affiliated "entities" to begin to "connect the dots."

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At the next meeting, he added, a visiting speaker would talk to them about "how to push back against building mosques in your communities."

ACT's leadership acknowledges that it gets a bad rap. The Southern Poverty Law Center and other civil rights watchdogs label it an extremist group that demonizes Muslims. ACT argues that the perception comes from ignorance or because the media, Democrats and Muslims hide the truth in a bid to destroy the country.

In a recent message to members, the group said that Islamophobia is a "deceptive narrative," that the mainstream media propagates "fake news" and that refugee advocates are "fanatics."

Texas Muslims visited their lawmakers during the annual Muslim Capitol Day organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. (lana Panich-Linsman / The Washington Post)

ACT has urged supporters to lobby their lawmakers to support Trump's executive order banning citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States, a policy that legal experts say amounts to a "Muslim ban" and that an appeals court unanimously kept on hold this month amid arguments that it violates the Constitution.

"First of all, there is no 'Muslim ban,' contrary to what the fake news media would have you believe," Gabriel wrote last week in an article for Breitbart, claiming that the countries subject to the order are "terrorist-infested." "It isn't President Trump's fault all seven of those countries happen to be almost entirely Islamic."

Gabriel did not respond to requests for comment.

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White, a commercial airline pilot and retired lieutenant colonel in the Air Force, said the group has faced an uphill battle.

"I've had family members who - I've talked like this for the last four years - at first thought I was the crazy, loony uncle because they had never heard any of this stuff, because 'it's a conspiracy,' " White said as he took a break from handing out pamphlets at the Texas statehouse in Austin.

But, White says, he's not a conspiracy theorist and he's not chasing UFOs: His conviction is grounded in facts and in spiritual conviction.

"It's a spiritual battle of good and evil, and a lot of folks on the left have a difficult time thinking that there is actually good and evil," he said.

White, a devout Christian, believes that sharia, the guiding laws and principles of Islam, are the embodiment of that evil; that the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamic movement that is a force in Middle Eastern politics, is working to spread sharia throughout America; and that CAIR, the Islamic Society of North America, the majority of American mosques, and a host of other Muslim leaders and organizations are outgrowths of the Brotherhood on U.S. soil. The Trump administration has been considering adding the Brotherhood to its list of designated foreign terrorist organizations; ACT considers that a top priority.

White hopes that Trump's travel ban will prevail and that other Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt, will be added. He wants mosques and American Muslim groups to denounce sharia or be disbanded, and he wants the government to bar people who associate with those groups from public office.

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"We are going to arrest those people who promote sedition," he said. That would mean any "sharia-compliant Muslim," he added.

Islamic scholars, Middle East experts and Muslim religious leaders say ACT's interpretation of Islam is wrong. Sharia is not a coded rule book, but a vast body of religious and legal texts, subject to a range of interpretations and practice, much of which is not taken literally.

"Sharia as a legal system doesn't exist," said Sahar Aziz, a Texas A&M law professor, noting that a Muslim who claims to follow sharia is similar to a Christian saying he lives his life "in accordance with Jesus Christ."

ACT's critics argue that going after sharia is a subtle way to more broadly attack Muslims. They also say it's dangerous.

The night before White visited the Capitol in Austin, a gunman who expressed support for nationalist and right-wing causes killed six people and wounded 19 others in an attack on a Quebec City mosque. The day before, a fire destroyed a mosque that had previously been burglarized and vandalized in Victoria, Texas. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Florida handed a 30-year sentence to a man who set a small-town mosque on fire because he saw the teachings of Islam as a threat.

White says some people come to his meetings "who are a little bit off the mark, get a little too fired up." He turns them away, but he vows to continue pushing.

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"I'm never going to stop telling the truth for fear of the consequences of telling the truth to people."
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos speaks at the Magnet Schools Of America Conference on Feb. 15, 2017, in Washington, D.C. DeVos addressed a recent protest at a public school she visited following her controversial nomination to the post by President Donald Trump. (Mario Tama / Getty Images)

The U.S. Marshals Service says they are now providing security for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, after a handful of protesters blocked her from entering a Washington middle school.

The move is unusual for the Education Department, which typically has a team of civil servants guarding the secretary, and for the marshals, law enforcement officers who are generally responsible for protecting federal judges, transporting prisoners, investigating fugitives and protecting witnesses.

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The last Cabinet member protected by marshals was a director of the Office of National Drug Policy, according to Lynzey Donahue, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Marshals Service. That office ceased to be a Cabinet-level position in 2009.

Donahue said that for security reasons, she could not provide any information about the number of marshals assigned to DeVos, nor whether they are providing round-the-clock protection. It is unclear how long the arrangement will last.

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Protesters, including Ari Schwartz, center, gather outside Jefferson Middle School in Washington on Feb. 10, 2017, where Education Secretary Betsy DeVos paid her first visit as education secretary in a bid to mend fences with educators after a bruising confirmation battle. (Maria Danilova / AP)

Education Department officials did not respond to repeated requests for information about why they have called on the marshals or what the security team normally assigned to cover the secretary is doing now.

Federal policy allows the Education Department to pay other agencies for services, but it is unclear whether the department is reimbursing the marshals for the cost of deploying a security team.

Marshals began providing security for DeVos on Monday, Feb. 13, the first weekday after DeVos encountered protesters outside the District's Jefferson Middle School Academy, Donahue said.

The demonstration was mostly peaceful, but several protesters attempted to block a government car from entering the street in front of the school, and a few others tried to bar DeVos from entering the building. Video circulated by WJLA, the local ABC television affiliate, showed a member of the department's security team steering DeVos away from the protesters, guiding her by the arm as she returned to her government vehicle.

One of the protesters who blocked the secretary appeared to have touched her, according to a video circulated by Fox5DC. D.C. police arrested one person for assaulting a police officer.

The incident was a sign that DeVos entered office as a deeply polarizing figure after winning confirmation only by the slimmest of margins. A Michigan billionaire, she spent three decades lobbying for private school vouchers, charter schools and other alternatives to traditional public schools. While her supporters say she is a bold reformer, her detractors worry DeVos aims to undermine public schools by redirecting taxpayer dollars to private and religious schools.

The protest DeVos encountered was not the first for the team responsible for protecting the education secretary. In 2015, for example, anti-testing protesters confronted then-Education Secretary Arne Duncan when he visited an elementary school in Chicago. Duncan's driver turned down a dead-end alley, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, compelling Duncan to exit his vehicle and walk past chanting protesters about a half block to the school.

"I entrusted my life and my family's lives to that team for seven years," Duncan said of the department's security detail. "They could not have been more professional, more committed, more thoughtful. I can't say enough about how much I respected them. A couple protesters? That's part of the job. You embrace that. You don't run away. You have to deal with people. You have to work outside your comfort zone."

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Many of the security personnel are former Secret Service personnel who have been at the department for many years, as far back as Education Secretary Rod Paige, who served from 2001 to 2005 under former President George W. Bush, according to former department officials. One former official said the agency's security detail has protected multiple secretaries and are "top-notch security professionals." Duncan said he "never for one second doubted" the security team's ability to do their jobs, and he never saw a need to ask for additional protection.

"That's a waste of taxpayer money," Duncan said of the use of U.S. marshals.

In an interview Wednesday with the conservative publication Townhall, DeVos said she had concerns that some Education Department employees were sympathetic to the Obama administration based on experiences she had in the first few days on the job.

"I . . . would not be surprised if there are also those that would try to subvert the mission of this organization and this department," Devos said. Asked what she could do about that, the Education Secretary said, "Whatever can be done will be done and it will be done swiftly and surely."
An Oklahoma judge on Thursday ordered Scott Pruitt, the state's attorney general and President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, to turn over thousands of emails related to his communication with the oil, gas and coal industry.

The Center for Media and Democracy has been seeking the release of Pruitt's correspondence with fossil-fuel representatives under public records laws for more than two years. The group filed suit over Pruitt's refusal to turn over the documents and requested the expedited hearing that led to the judge's decision, which was first reported by E&E News.

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The ruling by District Court Judge Aletia Timmons, who said there had been "an abject failure to provide prompt and reasonable access to documents requested," came a day before the Senate is expected to vote on confirming Pruitt to head the EPA, an agency that he has sued repeatedly during former President Barack Obama's years in the White House.

Timmons gave the attorney general's office until Tuesday to release the records, meaning they likely won't come to light until after he is sworn in to his new position.

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"It should never have come to this," Nick Surgey, the advocacy group's director of research, said in an interview. "We shouldn't have had to go to court to force the release of emails that were requested more than two years ago. . . . It makes it pretty difficult for people to vet his record."

The ruling led environmental groups and some Senate Democrats to immediately call for a delay of Pruitt's confirmation vote until lawmakers and the public have a chance to review the emails.

"A rushed Senate vote to confirm Pruitt as EPA Administrator right now would be a travesty," Elizabeth Thompson, president of climate and political affairs at the Environmental Defense Fund, said in a statement. "The documents in question are related to Pruitt's fitness to serve as head of EPA. Senators should exercise due diligence when confirming nominees, and they can't do that when they've been denied access to relevant information."

But those calls are likely to fall on deaf ears among Senate Republicans. Formal debate on Pruitt's nomination was already underway on the Senate floor Thursday.

"Attorney General Pruitt has been more thoroughly vetted than any nominee for EPA administrator," Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said in a statement. "Democrats have been stalling nominees across the Senate. The EPA needs an administrator. It is time to confirm him."

Pruitt's close ties with the fossil fuel industry have long been the focus of criticism from environmental advocates.

He has received more than $300,000 from oil and gas companies during his campaigns over the years. He also led the Republican Attorneys General Association, which received substantial sums of money from Koch Industries, ExxonMobil, Murray Energy and other firms. In 2014, the New York Times reported that a letter ostensibly written by Pruitt alleging the EPA had overestimated air pollution from natural gas drilling was actually written by lawyers for Devon Energy, one of Oklahoma's largest oil and gas companies.

"That's actually called representative government in my view of the world," Pruitt later said of the letter.

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He has continued to defend his alliances with fossil fuel firms, saying during his recent confirmation hearing that he has never sought to represent a single company but rather stand up for the concerns of one of his state's largest industries.

During that same hearing, Pruitt told lawmakers that as EPA administrator, he would steer the agency away from what he called an era of overzealous and unlawful regulation during the Obama years. He said the EPA under his leadership would respect the authority of states and be open to a "full range of views."

Thursday evening, the attorney general's office said it "remains committed to following the letter and spirit of the Open Records Act." Spokesman Lincoln Ferguson said that in light of the court ruling, "we are reviewing all of our options in order to ensure fairness to all requestors rather than elevating the importance of some requests over others."
When reporter April Ryan asked President Trump if he would include the Congressional Black Caucus in discussions about his agenda for addressing urban policy, he responded by asking her if she wanted to set up the meeting. (C-SPAN) (C-Span/Internet - Fair Use)

WASHINGTON  Over the course of the lengthy and bizarre news conference that President Trump held Thursday, few moments crystallized the unusual nature of his presidency as effectively as an exchange he had at the end with April Ryan of American Urban Radio Networks.

Ryan asked Trump if he would include the CBC in discussions about his agenda for addressing urban policy. The CBC is the Congressional Black Caucus, a group of African-American legislators that is often a leading voice on the Hill for issues dealing with the black community. Trump appeared briefly to be unaware of what the initials stood for, and so Ryan asked more pointedly.

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"Am I going to include who?" he asked.

"Are you going to include the Congressional Black Caucus," Ryan, who is black, asked, "and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus as well as . . .?"

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I am a journalist not a convener! But thank you for answering my questions. https://t.co/fe9cGXG46w  AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) February 16, 2017

"Well, I would," Trump interrupted. "Tell you what, do you want to set up the meeting? Do you want to set up the meeting? Are they friends of yours? Set up a meeting."

Ryan pointed out to the president that she is a journalist and that, while she does know members of the CBC, that's not her role. "I'm sure some of them are watching right now," she added.

Trump went on to say that he had been trying to set up a meeting with Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee and a CBC member. He then claimed that Cummings had balked at following through, but the CBC tweeted its side of the story.

The tweet read: "Hi, @realDonaldTrump. We're the CBC. We sent you a letter on January 19, but you never wrote us back. Sad! Letter: https://t.co/58KiuHmITF."

Hi, @realDonaldTrump. Were the CBC. We sent you a letter on January 19, but you never wrote us back. Sad! Letter: https://t.co/58KiuHmITF  The Black Caucus (@TheBlackCaucus) February 16, 2017

This wasn't the first dust-up between Ryan and the White House.

On Monday, Ryan accused Trump aide Omarosa Manigault of having physically intimidated her near the Oval Office and that Manigault claimed the administration was maintaining "dossiers" of information on members of the media. (White House press secretary Sean Spicer denied that this was the case in his daily briefing on Wednesday.)

During the campaign, Manigault accused Ryan of being on the payroll of Hillary Clinton, thanks to a misinterpretation of an email released by WikiLeaks. This history is probably why Trump also told Ryan that her question was "very professional, very good."

However, the weirdness of the Trump-Ryan exchange on Thursday extends beyond the reporter's relationship with the administration. Trump's suggestion that a black reporter is somehow allied with or working on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus is fraught for obvious reasons, but also came shortly after Trump insisted, without being prompted, that he was not racist.

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"Racism: [I'm] the least racist person," he said in response to one question. "In fact, we did very well, relative to other people, as a Republican."

In this Jan. 5, 2017, file photo, House Assistant Minority Leaser James Clyburn of S.C speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus expressed bafflement and dismay on Feb. 16, after President Donald Trump asked a black reporter to set up a meeting with them. Clyburn said there is "an element of disrespect" in Trump's comment to journalist April Ryan, asking her whether she was friends with CBC members and could convene a get-together. (Zach Gibson / AP)

That's misleading. He did better than John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012 - both of whom were running against the first black president in American history. Otherwise, he did worse with black voters than any Republican candidate since exit polling began tracking the numbers.

But the rest of the question that prompted him to note that he isn't racist is worth mentioning.

Jake Turx of Ami Magazine, a publication with a Jewish readership, asked Trump about reports of bomb threats being called in to Jewish community centers.

"Number one, I am the least anti-Semitic person that you've ever seen in your entire life," Trump responded, after calling the query "not a fair question." "Number two," he continued, "the least racist person."

When Turx tried to clarify the response he sought - which explicitly wasn't about Trump being anti-Semitic - Trump shot him down. "Quiet, quiet, quiet!" Trump told Turx, who was wearing a yarmulke.

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He summarized his lack of anti-Semitism by pointing to the embrace of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Wednesday. "You should take that," Trump said to Turx, "instead of asking a very insulting question."

Trump was asked about anti-Semitism on Wednesday, as well. He answered by talking about the electoral college.

It's by no means the case that only black and Jewish reporters were subject to aggressive or unusual responses from Trump. It is the case that both Ryan and Turx earned responses that seemed to hinge on their cultural or racial identities: That Ryan might be friends with black legislators and that Turx should "take" the endorsement of Netanyahu.

At one point Trump also said that he hoped to unify the "very divided" country as president. Black and Jewish voters overwhelmingly preferred his opponent. It seems unlikely that his responses today will improve his relationships with those communities.
President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference, onFeb. 16, 2017, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (Shawn Thew / EPA)

CHARLESTON, W.Va.  Critics of President Donald Trump saw in his Thursday news conference a combative, thin-skinned chief executive who continues to blame the media for the controversies roiling his administration.

His supporters saw something else: A champion of Middle America who is taking on the establishment and making good on his campaign promises to put the country first.

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The Associated Press contacted Trump supporters across the country to see how they viewed a news conference in which the president said his administration was running like "a fine-tuned machine" despite the resignation of his top national security adviser, a court setback on his immigration order, a defeat for his nominee as labor secretary and reports of internal divisions.

Here are views of some of those supporters:

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President Donald Trump during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP)

'You either love it or get out'

Richelle Kirk of Logan, West Virginia, watched some of Trump's news conference on Thursday and didn't see any head-scratching comments from the president.

"I back him 100 percent," said the 42-year-old stay-at-home mom. "You either love it or get out, is my opinion."

During Barack Obama's presidency, her husband was laid off from his coal-mining job, a loss they blamed on Obama's environmental policies. She said they lost a home and "everything we owned."

After West Virginia voters resoundingly rejected Obama during his 2012 re-election, "we didn't show our hind ends when Obama was re-elected," Kirk said. So she believes people shouldn't overreact to Trump, either.

She particularly agreed with the president when he took credit for an optimistic business climate and a rising stock market, saying Trump is beginning to fulfill his campaign promise to put people back to work.

Reporters, she said, "need to leave him alone. He's just doing what he said he's going to do."

'We can make up our own mind'

Regina Lenoir of Picayune, Mississippi, enjoyed watching Trump's news conference and said the president "looked more relaxed."

Lenoir, 69, said she was most interested in the president's comments about the alleged leaks that led to the resignation of Michael Flynn as national security adviser.

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"We don't know the conversation that happened between him and (Vice President Mike) Pence. Only they know. But the news media gets out there (and) says such and such with no corroboration," she said. "I'm sick of them making up stories. You know, we're intelligent people. We can make up our own mind on whether they're telling the truth."

She agreed with Trump's take on how the media has covered his administration and campaign, saying those covering his administration are good reporters but biased.

She said if people gave Trump a chance, "he might just surprise everyone.

"He wasn't my first choice, but he is my president," Lenoir said. "I think he handled the news conference very well."

'He's not anti-Semitic at all'

Joseph Gatlin of Virginia Beach, Virginia, said he did not watch the news conference but heard about the question a Jewish reporter asked Trump about a rise in anti-Semitic incidents around the country.



Trump told the reporter to sit down and said it was not a simple or fair question before describing himself as "the least anti-Semitic person you've ever seen in your entire life."



Gatlin, who is Jewish and who was born in Israel, said the media needs to move on from "asking the same question."



"He's not a racist. He doesn't believe in racism," said Gatlin, who owns a flooring company. "He's not anti-Semitic at all."



Gatlin pointed to the number of Jewish people in Trump's inner circle, including his son-in-law and White House adviser, Jared Kushner. He said the media instead should be asking Trump about terrorism and the economy.



"I think that it's become ridiculous," Gatlin said. "He wants the serious questions. He wants people to ask him questions that people care about. You can't mention racism in every speech. They're looking at the wrong things."

A 'most impressive' performance

Kevin Felty of Norfolk, Virginia, said it was the "most impressive presidential press conference" of his life.

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"Largely because it was so unorthodox," said Felty, 48, who works as a surgical assistant and sells life insurance. "It was hyper adversarial between the president and the press. And yet he was able to control the questioning and the tone and the mood in the room."

Felty said the media needs to move on regarding Russia and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

"There was nothing illegal that General Flynn had done at that time," Felty said. "What he did do is make a mistake in not being accurate with the vice president."

He also said he believes Trump is trustworthy as president.

"He doesn't need the media to chide him to make the right decisions," Felty said. "It's something he's been doing well for decades."

'That's what people voted for'

Scott Hiltgen, a 66-year-old office furniture sales broker from River Falls, Wisconsin, said he was glad to see the president push back against the media. He said reporters have no proof Trump or anyone around him did anything wrong.

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"They're trying to make up a story that Trump worked with the Russians to rig the election," he said. "Now they're trying to make a big deal out of (former national security adviser) Mike Flynn. He was doing what he was supposed to do. He was talking to his counterparts. He was talking to the Russians. He got fired because he lied to (Vice President Mike) Pence. There's no story there. The left media is so excited. They think they took this guy down. No. He made a mistake. He just lied."

Hiltgen said he remains squarely behind the billionaire president because he has done what he said he would do on the campaign trail.

"He's accomplished more in, whatever, three weeks, regarding the stuff he talked about," Hiltgen said. "That's what people voted for. I can't believe there's actually a politician doing what he says he would do. That never happens."

Associated Press writers Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; Chevel Johnson in New Orleans; and Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.
Jordan's Prince Faisal, left, Army's head of operations and training Major General Awni Adwan, center and deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Robert S. Harward attend the "Eager Lion" joint military exercise at the King Abdullah Special Operations Training Centre in Amman on May 27, 2012. Harward turned down the national security adviser job, after the resignation of Trump's national security adviser Michael Flynn. (KHALIL MAZRAAWI / AFP/Getty Images)

Vice Admiral Robert Harward has turned down an offer to be President Donald Trump's new national security adviser, the latest blow to a new administration struggling to find its footing.

Harward told The Associated Press that the Trump administration was "very accommodating to my needs, both professionally and personally."

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"It's purely a personal issue," Harward said Thursday evening. "I'm in a unique position finally after being in the military for 40 years to enjoy some personal time."

Asked whether he had requested to bring in his own staff at the National Security Council, Harward said, "I think that's for the president to address."

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Following Flynn's ouster, administration officials said his deputy, KT McFarland, was staying on at the NSC. McFarland is a former Fox News analyst.

Harward would have replaced retired Gen. Michael Flynn, who resigned at Trump's request Monday after revelations that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about discussing sanctions with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. during the transition. Trump said in a news conference Thursday that he was disappointed by how Flynn had treated Pence, but did not believe Flynn had done anything wrong by having the conversations.

Harward, a former Navy SEAL, served as deputy commander of U.S. Central Command under Gen. James Mattis, who is now defense secretary. Harward served on the National Security Council under President George W. Bush and commissioned the National Counter Terrorism Center.

Upon retirement in 2013 after a nearly 40-year career in the Navy, Harward became chief executive officer for defense and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin in the United Arab Emirates. Trump has recently been in very public negotiations with Lockheed over the cost of its F-35 fighter jet.

Officials said earlier this week that there were two other contenders in the running for the job: acting national security adviser Keith Kellogg and retired Gen. David Petraeus.

Petraeus, a retired four-star general, resigned as CIA director in 2012 and pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information relating to documents he had provided to his biographer, with whom he was having an affair.

He was also fined $100,000 and remains on probation.
Dr. Jorge Galante improved how joint replacement is done, and he even did a hip replacement on a Brookfield Zoo gorilla named Beta. (Family photo)

Dr. Jorge Galante, the first chairman of the orthopedic surgery department at what is now Rush University Medical Center, was a skilled surgeon and pioneering researcher who helped revolutionize the science of joint replacement.

"He was a rare breed, at the same time a surgeon and a very rigorous scientist," said Dr. Joshua Jacobs, Galante's partner and now chairman of orthopedic surgery at Rush.

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Galante, one of the first surgeons in the Chicago area to do total hip replacements, noticed that the bone cement used in the joints was a problem. While the cement worked in older, less active patients, it didn't hold up in younger, more active patients.

"Bone cement was a weak link," Jacobs said.

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Recognizing the problem and working with metallurgists and other scientists, Galante developed a porous metal fiber coating for prosthetic devices to allow natural bone growth to fix the device in the patient's bone.

"The porous metal surface allows the (patient's own) bone to grow in, and was extremely successful," Jacobs said.

Galante, 82, died of complications from cancer Feb. 9 in his Florida home on Sanibel Island, said his son, Charles. He also had a 600-acre farm in Clinton, Wis.

Galante was born in Buenos Aires and was educated through medical school in Argentina before coming to Chicago in 1958 to intern at the now-defunct Michael Reese Hospital.

He completed his residency in orthopedics in 1964 at the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago. From 1964 to 1967, he studied as a research fellow at the University of Goteborg in Sweden, receiving a doctorate of medical science. He returned to Chicago in 1968 and worked at the University of Illinois Hospital until he was appointed the first chairman of orthopedics at Rush in 1972.

He had become interested in orthopedics while in Sweden, his son said. Back in Chicago, he began doing hip replacements, following a procedure developed by British surgeon Sir John Charnley.

Jacobs said Galante and others went to Britain to train with Charnley, who used an acrylic cement to fix prosthetic components to patients' bones. Jacobs, who was a medical student when he met Galante, said his mentor was working to understand the scientific basis of joint replacement to make better, longer-lasting and more effective devices.

"He developed a unique biologic agent," Jacobs said. The coating Galante developed with others started with tiny bent titanium fibers, porous metal surfaces that were bonded to the surface of the prosthetic to provide a structure into which a patient's living bone could grow.

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"That's the innovation he extensively researched," Jacobs said. "The technology is still used today."

Galante's skills in orthopedics even impacted the animal world. In 1986, he and a veterinarian and others donated their services to perform hip replacements on Beta, a 25-year-old female gorilla at the Brookfield Zoo. Beta had lost use of both legs due to arthritis. The surgery was successful, and Beta lived another 22 years pain-free.

"He was a brilliant physician-scientist," said Dr. Gunnar Andersson, who followed Galante as department chairman. "He was one of the first to understand the importance of the connection between bone and prosthesis in hip and knee replacements."

Andersson said Galante not only helped develop and patent the fiber metal coating, but went on to work with others on the design of prosthetic knees and hips.

"The Miller-Galante knee and the Harris-Galante hip were the most popular in the world," Andersson said.

Galante retired as chairman at Rush in 1994 but continued operating for several years and followed patients even after that.

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Jacobs said Galante was still helping him and others on research issues just weeks before he died.

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"He also placed Rush on the map in terms of orthopedic surgery by combining excellence in research with clinical excellence in patient care," Andersson said.

Ironically, for an orthopedic specialist, Galante had what his son called a "bad back." He had enjoyed horseback riding as a youngster in Argentina and about the time he retired he bought the Wisconsin farm and decided to get back into riding.

He found that a breed of horse called the Peruvian Paso had an unusually smooth gait. The search for a comfortable riding horse led to deep involvement with the breed. He started breeding the horses and showing them, even in South America. He once had as many as 40 horses in a sprawling operation on his farm.

Galante's wife, Sofija, whom he met in 1960 and married in 1963, died in 2010.

In addition to his son, he is survived by a brother, Juan Carlos, and four grandchildren.

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Plans are being made for spring services.

Graydon Megan is a freelance reporter.
When asked if Putin was testing Trump, he said he did not believe so.

Donald Trump assured Americans Thursday that he is not acting in covert concert with Russian President Vladimir Putin . "I have nothing to do with Russia," he said during his news conference, insisting, "The whole Russian thing, that's a ruse."

Those statements followed the firing of his national security adviser, Michael Flynn , after it was reported that Flynn had lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his pre-inauguration phone conversations with the Russian ambassador. Flynn's deception was notable because it suggested he had something to hide.

When BuzzFeed published a secret dossier on Trump that contained all sorts of disturbing allegations, the fear was that the Russian strongman had the means to blackmail the incoming president. But the salacious bits were so outlandish that they discredited the entire story.

Given his record, the fact that Trump denies something automatically raises strong suspicions that it's true. Maybe it's not. But here's the crucial question: If Trump were in fact being directed by Putin, would he be doing anything different from what he has done?

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Trump has taken a friendlier and more optimistic view of the regime in Moscow than anyone in American politics. As a candidate, he welcomed Russia's military intervention in Syria on behalf of a vicious dictator. He said he would consider recognizing Russia's seizure of Crimea and lifting the sanctions imposed in response to it.

He bragged that Putin had called him "brilliant," and he extolled Putin as a stronger leader than Barack Obama. He invited the Russians to hack into Hillary Clinton's email.

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President Donald Trump speaks on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office of the White House, Jan. 28, 2017, in Washington, D.C. Also pictured, from left, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Vice President Mike Pence, and White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon. (Drew Angerer / Getty Images)

It's already hard to remember how bizarre this once would have seemed for any American politician  particularly a Republican and particularly a president. Distrust of Russia has been a bone-deep instinct among Republicans since Warren G. Harding's day. One of their most durable themes was that they were tougher and less gullible about Russia than the Democrats. Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan made their names as implacable foes of Soviet communism.

Trump had nothing obvious to gain during the campaign from offering a rosy view of Putin. The voters who proved decisive to his victory  working-class whites, particularly men  had no history of affection for the Kremlin; just the opposite.

There is nothing in conservative ideology that argues for overlooking the human rights abuses and state-dominated economy that characterize Putin's country; again, nothing could be less compatible. If a Democratic candidate had taken a similar posture five, 20 or 50 years ago, Republicans would have vilified him as a cowardly appeaser.

Nor does Trump's indulgent posture serve any obvious American interest. The United States doesn't help itself by excusing Putin's aggression against Ukraine, which could lead him to destabilize other pro-Western nations on his borders. Weakening NATO likewise would reduce our influence in Europe while ceding leverage to Russia.

The Trump record goes beyond mere statements. The New York Times recently reported that phone records indicate members of his campaign team "had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election." Trump has denied it, but Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov confirmed the campaign was in regular communication with his government.

U.S. intelligence agencies say the Kremlin was behind the hacking of computers at the Democratic National Committee. Flynn had been a regular guest on Putin's TV propaganda organ, RT.

Trump's first campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, had done an abundance of business in Russia. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson got the Order of Friendship medal from Putin. And we know very little about Trump's personal business interests in Russia  which Donald Jr. once said were significant  because he won't release his tax returns.

He made it plain Thursday that he was angrier at the press for reporting Flynn's lie than he was at Flynn for lying. Trump didn't fire him for more than two weeks after learning about the deception  and Flynn probably still would be national security adviser if The Washington Post had not broken the story.

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That lengthy and mysterious delay helps to explain why people inside the government leaked the information. Their fear was that Flynn's secret made one of the most important figures in the White House vulnerable to Russian extortion. Trump was aware of that concern but did nothing until the truth came to light.

At this point, the Kremlin could hardly ask for more than it's gotten from Trump. And if we can't tell from Trump's policies whether he's being blackmailed or being naive, maybe it doesn't matter. Either way, we lose.

Steve Chapman, a member of the Tribune Editorial Board, blogs at www.chicagotribune.com/chapman.

schapman@chicagotribune.com Twitter @SteveChapman13
There was some cosmic justice. After stringing along a slew of nominees for secretary of state, ultimately humiliating Mitt Romney, President Donald Trump got a dose of his own medicine. The Post reports:

"Retired Vice Adm. Robert Harward has turned down President Trump's offer to become his new national security adviser, according to two people with knowledge of the decision.

"Harward would have replaced Michael Flynn, who announced his resignation late Monday amid allegations that he discussed U.S. sanctions with a Russian official before Trump took office and then misrepresented the content of that conversation to Vice President Pence and other administration officials.

"One factor in Harward's decision was that he couldn't get a guarantee that he could select his own staff, according to a person close to Trump with knowledge of the discussions."

No, it's not normal for a high-level pick to turn down the president  publicly.

Multiple former national security experts conjectured that the hang-up specifically was Trump's deputy national security adviser, KT McFarland, a TV commentator who has not served in government since the Reagan era. Few foreign policy professionals consider her qualified for the job.

An experienced former foreign policy official tells me: "Harward insisted on a very reasonable condition, which was naming his own deputy. Now the administration has an even deeper problem: either the next candidate will make the same demand, or he or she will appear to be weak and overly ambitious by accepting conditions Harward turned down." The official suggested: "The way out of this is to give KT McFarland a nice, sunny embassy  fast."

Harward certainly knows the struggles that Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have had hiring their own staff  neither has an announced deputy; Harward was not about to subject himself to the same micromanaging from the White House.

Former State Department official and vocal Trump critic Eliot Cohen says, "It makes it very difficult for any serious person to take the job under less reasonable conditions than Harward seems to have demanded, i.e., control of staffing." He explains, "No sane person would take this extremely important and difficult job without (a) control of staffing, and (b) eliminating or neutering Bannon's shadow NSC staff." He adds: "Without those things you're doomed not to frustration, but failure. The question will be whether Trump can bring himself to accept that, or go looking for a mediocrity  who will, in turn, help facilitate more failure."

Harward's decision reflects how far the president and this administration have fallen in the eyes of esteemed national security experts, including current and former officials. The White House is without an experienced chief of staff or normal internal decision-making procedures. Stephen Bannon got himself inserted into the National Security Council's principals meeting; Trump plans to bring on a crony, Stephen A. Feinberg, to "review" the intelligence operation. The president is in the middle of a crisis of his and Bannon's making. Trump delivered an unhinged monologue at his news conference on Thursday, which re-raises questions about his emotional and mental health.

As CNN's Jake Tapper tweeted, "Vice Admiral Harward declined the NSA job yesterday, having told a friend the WH was too chaotic and the offer a "(expletive) sandwich."

Sooner rather than later, we hope that for the country's sake, Jared Kushner or Ivanka Trump (or someone else Trump will listen to) will lay it out bluntly: He can have Bannon running roughshod over the administration, or he can be a successful president; he cannot have both.

Bannon has intruded into national security matters and wound up embarrassing the president with, among other things, the failed travel ban. Bannon's pro-Soviet tilt is unacceptable to Cabinet-level hires, to both political parties and to our allies. That Bannon would not foresee this nor understand the folly of his effort to push Trump into the embrace of an aggressive foe is political malpractice of the highest order. He has managed to make half of the country think Trump is a Russian spy or up to his eyes in financial debt to Vladimir Putin.

Trump  not unlike President Bill Clinton after an ineffective first year in office  should clean house, find a heavyweight chief of staff and banish Bannon, who has no clue how to develop and implement policy, at least not any policy that withstands scrutiny. Bannon can head up Trump's political operation, or cut out the middle man and be a lobbyist for Russia.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., outlined a health-care plan to his members Thursday. Surprisingly, it did not include much detail, either because the speaker has not gotten that far or because he's afraid of the reaction when the numbers are revealed.

The basic outline comes from his "A Better Way" health-care plan. The Associated Press reports:

"It features a revamped Medicaid program for the poor, tax breaks to help people pay doctors' bills and federally subsidized state pools to assist those with costly medical conditions in buying insurance.

"Lawmakers called the ideas options, and many were controversial. One being pushed by Ryan and other leaders would replace the tax increases in Obama's law with new levies on the value of some employer-provided health plans  a political no-fly zone for Republicans averse to tax boosts.

"'You have to legislate with a sense of political reality,' said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., who said backing that proposal 'would set up an ad against you from multiple directions' during upcoming elections."

In lieu of an individual mandate and subsidies to buy insurance from the exchanges (according to a sliding scale by income), the GOP plan gives rich and poor alike a tax credit, which would be adjusted by age. It's not yet clear the amount of the credit or what it would buy (a catastrophic plan?). The absence of dollar amounts is striking. Unless the amount of the credit is linked to the cost of coverage comparable with what people received under the Affordable Care Act (and subject to indexing), it will represent a reduction in coverage (or higher costs if people want to "buy up"). If people will be reduced to buying catastrophic coverage, their deductibles may be larger, not smaller than they were under Obamacare policies. That's a step backward for many Americans, who complain that the deductibles are too high already. Moreover, depending on the differential between the credit for older and younger Americans, older people (who use more health care) may wind up paying more. These also happen to be the most regular voters.

Equally problematic is the use of health-care saving accounts in lieu of the subsidies available on the Obamacare exchanges. If working-class people do not have the extra income to contribute (albeit on a pre-tax basis), once again they will be worse off than they were previously. Democrats will also see this as cost-shifting from rich to poor since the rich in higher income brackets get a bigger benefit from pre-tax dollars than do people in a lower income bracket.

Ryan's solution to pre-existing conditions is to dole out grants to states to maintain high-risk pools. But what if the amounts are not enough to cover these people?

The most controversial element may be in the Medicaid arena. "According to documents distributed to members and obtained by The Associated Press, the expansion of Medicaid to millions of additional poorer people  almost entirely financed by federal taxpayers  would be phased out. In a compromise aimed at resolving a bitter dispute, extra Medicaid money would flow to the 31 states that accepted that expansion and the 19 that didn't, though it would end 'after a certain date' left unspecified." How are states to continue covering people  or are they expected to kick poor people off the Medicaid rolls?

For Medicaid, Ryan envisions moving to either a block grant or per-capita cap. In essence, Medicaid would go from a defined benefit to a defined contribution plan. Without numbers, it is hard to see whether those getting benefits now will be cut off or have higher out-of-pocket costs.

When you look at this on paper, the central question remains: From the point of view of the consumer, how is the GOP plan better? We know the problems with Obamacare, but Republicans have been claiming that their plan will be more flexible, more generous and cheaper while also offering higher-quality care. Based on the scant details we know so far, this does not come close  for a very good reason. Without massive new taxes to pay for it, it's hard to deliver more coverage for less. In other words, Republicans promised more and are delivering arguably less than Obamacare does.

No consensus exists for this plan  or any other plan. And when President Donald Trump figures out that the GOP plan may adversely affect his strongest supporters (older, working-class voters), he may well turn around and attack his party. (No wonder many House members are paralyzed.) Moreover, even if Republicans can agree among themselves, it's hard to come up with the names of eight Democrats who would go along with their plan.

Meanwhile, the task of cost containment still looms. Republicans hope that allowing insurance sales across state lines and use of health-care savings accounts will help rebuild the insurance market, increase competition and thereby lower costs. That's the theory, but no one really knows how effective that will be. Moreover, even if coverage costs come down over time, ordinary Americans may be footing higher medical bills in the short term.

This is not an argument for the ACA or against reform. We simply point out the gap between what Republicans have been promising and what they are willing to deliver. That gap, the unfavorable comparison with Obamacare benefits and the lack of a funding mechanism do not bode well for a "repeal and replace" plan.

You do wonder when Republicans will come around to a piecemeal approach. Try to fix rural health care in one bill, for example. Perhaps attempt to rejigger the requirement that insurance companies spend at least 80 percent of the money they take in from premiums on actual health care so as to try to induce them back into the market. Instead of high-risk pools, allow states to experiment, as Alaska did successfully, with reinsurance systems. In addition, it might be necessary to leave those Obamacare taxes in place to pay for all this.

These might work, but, of course, it would not constitute a "repeal" of Obamacare in any sense of the word. Such reforms will not be "big" enough for many Republicans or for Trump, who promised the sun and the moon and remain hemmed in by their no-tax-hikes-anytime doctrine. No doubt Democrats would respond to their colleagues by saying: It's your own darn fault. They have a point.
Washington  It's a Watergate-era cliche that the cover-up is always worse than the crime. In the Michael Flynn affair, we have the first recorded instance of a cover-up in the absence of a crime.

Being covered up were the Dec. 29 phone calls between Flynn and the Russian ambassador to Washington. The presumed violation was Flynn negotiating with a foreign adversary while the Obama administration was still in office and, even worse, discussing with Sergey Kislyak the sanctions then being imposed upon Russia (for meddling in the 2016 elections).

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What's wrong with that? It is risible to invoke the Logan Act, passed during the John Adams administration, under which not a single American has been prosecuted in the intervening 218 years. It prohibits private citizens from negotiating with foreign powers. Flynn was hardly a private citizen. As Donald Trump's publicly designated incoming national security adviser, it was perfectly reasonable for him to be talking to foreign actors in preparation for assuming office within the month.

Worst case: He was telling Kislyak that the Trump administration might lift sanctions and therefore, comrade, no need for a spiral of retaliations. How different is this from Barack Obama telling Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, on an inadvertently open mic, during his 2012 re-election campaign, "This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility."

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Flynn would have been giving the Russians useful information that might well have contributed to Russia's decision not to retaliate. I'm no Russophile. But again: What's wrong with that? Turns out, the Trump administration has not lifted those sanctions. It's all a tempest in an empty teapot.

The accusations of misbehavior by Flynn carry a subliminal echo of a long-standing charge against Richard Nixon that he interfered in the Paris peace talks in October 1968 to prevent his Democratic opponent from claiming a major foreign policy success on the eve of the presidential election.

But that kind of alleged diplomatic freelancing would have prolonged a war in which Americans were dying daily. The Flynn conversation was nothing remotely of the sort. Where's the harm?

The harm was not the calls but Flynn's lying about them. And most especially lying to the vice president who then went out and told the world Flynn had never discussed sanctions. You can't leave your vice president undercut and exposed. Flynn had to go.

Up to this point, the story makes sense. Except for one thing: Why the cover-up if there is no crime? Why lie about talking about sanctions? It's inexplicable. Did Flynn want to head off lines of inquiry about other contacts with Russians that might not have been so innocent? Massive new leaks suggest numerous contacts during the campaign between Trump associates and Russian officials, some of whom were intelligence agents. Up till now, however, reports The New York Times, there is "no evidence" of any Trump campaign collusion or cooperation with Russian hacking and other interference in the U.S. election.

Thus far. Which is why there will be investigations. Speculation ranges from the wildly malevolent to the rather loopily innocent.

At one end of the spectrum is the scenario wherein these campaign officials  including perhaps Flynn, perhaps even Trump  are compromised because of tainted business or political activities known to the Russians, to whom they are now captive. A fevered conspiracy in my view, but there are non-certifiable people who consider it possible.

At the benign end of the spectrum is that the easily flattered Trump imagines himself the great dealmaker who overnight becomes a great statesman by charming Russian President Vladimir Putin into a Nixon-to-China grand bargain  we jointly call off the new Cold War, join forces to destroy the Islamic State and reach a new accommodation for Europe that relieves us of some of the burden of parasitic allies.

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To me, the idea is nuts, a narcissistic fantasy grounded in neither strategy nor history. But that doesn't mean Trump might not imagine it  after all, he maintains that if we had only stayed in Iraq to steal its oil, we wouldn't have the Islamic State. And if this has indeed been his thinking about Russia, it would make sense to surround himself with advisers who had extensive dealings there.

I believe neither of these scenarios but I'm hard put to come up with alternatives. The puzzle remains. Why did Flynn lie? Until we answer that, the case of the cover-up in search of a crime remains unsolved.

Washington Post Writers Group

Charles Krauthammer is a Washington Post columnist.

letters@charleskrauthammer.com
In recent days Chicago's police chief and an 11-year-old girl killed in this city's street violence have intersected in a surprising way: Superintendent. Eddie Johnson disclosed that he needs a transplanted organ. The family of Takiya Holmes has donated six such organs  her kidneys, lungs, pancreas and liver.

Johnson's revelation that he requires a replacement kidney brought instant and heartening offers from fellow officers and from citizens he helps protect. "We have people dialing 911, asking officers to come over to their homes, so they can give them their information," Johnson said at a news conference in late January. "I've gotta tell you guys, that's a humbling, humbling feeling. It really is."

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Takiya, shot in the head Feb. 11, died Tuesday (see companion editorial). One of her kidneys was transplanted Thursday to Darvece Monson, 36, a half sister of Takiya's aunt. Monson, who has suffered from renal failure, said Takiya's mother, Naikeeia Williams, told her that giving Takiya's kidney to her would "honor her baby's memory." "She said: 'This is what she would want. My daughter is my mini-me and this is what she would want. There's not a doubt in my mind."

Five other recipients of Takiya's organs range in age from 7 months to 67 years.

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Johnson and Takiya, teaching us all about a relentless need for organ donors.

Despite his high-profile job, Johnson is just another of 98,000 people on the national waiting list for kidneys: On average, 22 people die every day waiting for a transplant, not just kidney but liver or other organs. Every 10 minutes, someone joins the waiting list of the United Network for Organ Sharing, a private nonprofit organization that manages the nation's transplant system under contract with the federal government.

For years, transplant specialists have proposed ways to increase donation rates. Years ago we were intrigued by the idea of paying potential donors a modest fee as incentive, with safeguards built in to prevent abuses. But that concept has failed to gain Congress' support over fears that the rich would buy their way to the front of the line or that the poor would be induced to sell organs.

In 2005 the American Medical Association urged doctors to support pilot studies for an "opt-out" system for donors. Such a system presumes everyone has given consent to be a donor unless a person has specifically said he or she doesn't want to donate. We worried then that two suspicions  of organ-snatchers at the instant of death, or of doctors who might not take heroic measures to save a potential donor  could scare some people away.

CPD Supt. Johnson nearly fainted during a press conference given by Mayor Emanuel on Jan. 27, 2017. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune)

But France recently adopted the policy, as have several other European countries. One astonishing stat: In Austria, nearly 99 percent of citizens consent to donate, behavioral economist Richard Thaler wrote in The New York Times in 2009.

Lawmakers in Texas, New York and elsewhere have mulled opt-out laws. "On the face of it, it appears to be a magic bullet, but our experience and the data we have about public sentiment doesn't show support for it," Suzy Miller, executive director of Donate Life Texas, tells us. In a 2011 survey, about 57 percent of respondents indicated they opposed such a system, she said. Still, we'd like Illinois legislators to debate a pilot program.

Less controversially, state lawmakers are moving to expand the pool of potential donors via a bill that would let 16- and 17-year-olds register as donors when they get a driver's license or state ID. A teen's parents or guardian would still have the power to overturn the decision. Many states have similar laws, according to Secretary of State Jesse White. Illinois should join them.

Transplant rules have evolved to cut waste and ensure that candidates expected to live for years get organs that will last longest. Right now, every kidney is scored for how long it is expected to last in the body. People who need transplants are also assigned a score for how long they may survive after a transplant. The 20 percent of kidneys expected to last the longest are offered first to the 20 percent of people expected to live the longest after a transplant. Many of the best kidneys go to young, otherwise healthy people. The system also has been retooled to cut the number of patients who may require a second or third transplant and to reduce the number of kidneys discarded.

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The number of U.S. transplants has been rising in recent years, fueled, in part, by an unfortunate trend: more people dying of drug overdoses. There is some solace for surviving families, knowing that donated organs can help save or improve as many as eight other lives.

We hope Johnson's quest yields the kidney he needs. We applaud the generosity of Takiya's family. And we hope their stories encourage more Chicagoans  more Americans  to sign up to donate.

Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.
NATO is a 28-nation alliance built on the premise that an attack on one member is an attack on every member. That's a healthy dose of reassurance in a world where terrorism and Russia pose menacing threats. Yet 23 of those countries don't pay their fair share for that NATO protection.

The U.S. bears most of the burden for propping up NATO, a long-standing disparity previous administrations, including Barack Obama's, have groused about but never tackled. But this week, the Trump team gave its allies a sobering ultimatum. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis showed up in Brussels to give notice to the laggard nations: Pull your weight or risk a White House decision to scale back America's commitment to the alliance. "No longer can the American taxpayer carry a disproportionate share of the defense of Western values," Mattis told his counterparts at a NATO defense ministers meeting. "Americans cannot care more for your children's future security than you do."

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Well said, Secretary Mattis. It's a line of thinking that echoes the remarks that President Donald Trump has made about NATO that make sense, and ignores the ones that don't. Trump is dead wrong in his repeated labeling of NATO as obsolete. "It's obsolete because it wasn't taking care of terror," Trump said in a joint interview with the Times of London and Bild, a German newspaper, just days before taking office.

Has Trump forgotten  or is he unaware of  the only time Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty has been invoked? Article 5 says an attack against one ally is regarded as an attack against all. It was used for the benefit of the U.S., after the 9/11 attacks. NATO nations fought alongside the U.S. in the battle against al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan. And they're training fighters in the Middle East battling the Islamic State. That's called "taking care of terror."

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But Trump is right to criticize the lopsided burden shouldered by the U.S. NATO asks member nations to spend at least 2 percent of their annual gross domestic product on defense. The aim is to ensure that the cost of providing military capability is spread evenly among members. Right now, no country comes close to America's contribution. In Afghanistan and every other NATO endeavor, the U.S. role always dwarfs the troop and resource commitment made by its allies. In 2016, the U.S. spent about $664 billion on defense, more than double what the other NATO nations spent on defense combined.

In fact only five countries  the U.S., Britain, Poland, Estonia and, yes, debt-ridden Greece  meet the 2 percent mark. The spongers include countries with robust economies, including France (1.78 percent), Germany (1.19 percent) and Canada (.99 percent). The U.S. commitment: 3.61 percent.

Getting every country to the 2 percent mark won't be easy, especially at a time when European Union mandates compel member nations to trim their budget deficits. But any country seeking incentive only needs to look east  toward the Kremlin and its desire to put Eastern Europe back under its wing.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has pilfered parts of Ukraine and has heavily fortified the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, sandwiched between NATO nations Poland and Lithuania. Russia has also reportedly deployed a ground-launched cruise missile system in violation of a 1987 treaty that bans U.S. and Russian land-based intermediate range missiles.

Mattis alluded to facts on the ground: "Events of 2014 were sobering," he said, referring to Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea. Noncompliant Germany seemed to get the message. In an op-ed in a German newspaper, the country's defense minister, Ursula von der Leyen, wrote, "Germans and most Europeans have for too long relied on the broad shoulder of our American allies."

Recognition is always the first step. Now for Step Two: Ante up.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell put the brakes on Sen. Elizabeth Warren's speech against then-Sen. Jeff Sessions, and suddenly, a war on women was ignited.

Now that Donald Trump, a Republican, is president, apparently 20 million people will die, our lakes and rivers will catch fire, and smog will blanket our cities.

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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi declared that the nominating of Neil Gorsuch was "a very hostile appointment" and "a very bad decision, well outside the mainstream of American legal thought."

Nearly 70 Democrats boycotted the president's inauguration. Protests have been constant, and when violent, that appears acceptable to the Democratic Party.

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Finally, the Democratic Party's "slow-walking" of the president's Cabinet appointments shows that it has little regard for the functioning of our government.

It seems like only yesterday that Republicans were labeled the "Party of No" and that anyone who disagreed with the president was a "racist."

We know that President Barack Obama steeredthe Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate accord directly to the U.N. This meant circumventing Congress, the representatives of the people. We can look back to Sen. Harry Reid letting scores of bills passed by the Republican-majority House pile up and preventing them from going to a vote.

Since the election of Trump, the actions of the Democrats, no longer in control of any branch of government, have shown us their heart of hearts, and it's abundantly clear they are the obstructionists, the "Party of No."

 Tony Blasco, Lemont
You are correct in stating that "Illinois has the wrong legislature" in the editorial by the same name. But the only way to get the right legislature is to redraw districts that ensure competitive races.

When over 60 percent of the members of the current General Assembly had no opponents in 2016 and many of the rest had an opponent in name only, is it any wonder that this body is dysfunctional?

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When a representative of the people has to represent constituents of opposing viewpoints, he or she has to find middle ground. That is the foundation upon which representative democracy is based. Our leaders should reread the "Federalist No. 10" by James Madison if there is any doubt about the necessity to work out differences among factions.

Middle ground has been put forth by Senate leaders John Cullerton and Christine Radogno in a bipartisan effort and in a spirit of compromise. Cullerton has made some movement on workers' compensation (an issue most Democrats do not want to see changed) and Radogno has made some movement to increase taxes (something anathema to most Republicans). This opportunity should be seized by all in Springfield.

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After this budget crisis is over, the General Assembly must put a redistricting amendment on the ballot in 2018. It is the only way to move this state back into economic and political reality.

 Jan Goldberg, Riverside
Hassan Abed, the owner of the Star Market convenience store in Mount Prospect, said he decided to close up shop six hours earlier than usual to show support for the nationwide "A Day Without Immigrants" protest Thursday. (Karen Ann Cullotta / Pioneer Press)

Thousands of students were absent from classes and some local businesses were shuttered across the northwest suburbs on Thursday, as local residents joined forces to show solidarity with the national "A Day Without Immigrants" protest.

More than 1,000 of the 6,700 students who attend pre-K through eighth grade classes at Wheeling-based Community Consolidated School District 21 were absent on Thursday, compared with just 364 students absent on Wednesday, officials said.

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"We did have higher levels of students absent today, and we had some parents who shared that they were taking their children out of school for the protest," said Kara Beach, a communication specialist for District 21.

Similar protests unfolded in cities and villages across the country as organizers behind the "A Day Without Immigrants" encouraged strikes and boycotts to protest recent hard-line immigration policies and showcase the importance of immigrants to the U.S. economy.

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In Arlington Heights-based Township High School District 214, officials said that some parents indicated they were calling their students out of school as a way to take part in the national protest.

School officials said only 86 percent of students attended classes Thursday at Wheeling High School, while 88 percent of students at Elk Grove High School and 89 percent at Rolling Meadows High School attended classes  down roughly six percent from the 94 percent average attendance rate over the past five months, officials said.

Students who were called out by parents were marked with a parental excused absence, meaning that they were absent for a reason that has been approved by the parent, such as when a student is excused for an illness or other reasons, said District 214 spokeswoman Jennifer Delgado.

Officials with Elgin-based School District U-46 said that 85 percent of the district's almost 40,000 students attended classes on Thursday, down eight percent from the 93 percent attendance rate on Wednesday.

Some parents explained they were participating in the "A Day Without Immigrants" protest when they called their school's attendance office, said District 46 spokeswoman Mary Fergus.

In a weekly column for staff members that was posted to the district's website on Thursday, District 46 CEO Tony Sanders wrote how the district "certainly felt the impact" of the protest day.

"I want to use the occasion of A Day Without Immigrants to clarify that public school districts serve any students who reside within the district's geographic boundaries," Sanders wrote. "In 1982, the United States Supreme Court ruled that states cannot deny access to a free public education for any student, regardless of immigration status (Plyler v. Doe). This is the law of the land and we affirm it in U-46."

Sanders also wrote that at three of the district's elementary schools, attendance was just 70 percent.

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At Palatine High School, principal Gary Steiger made an announcement just before the end of the school day on Wednesday, urging students not to skip class and recognize the "A Day Without Immigrants" in a positive way.

"Many of our student leaders from our Palatine community have approached me throughout the day about things they saw on social media about not attending school tomorrow," Steiger said. "They and I would like to take this opportunity to personally encourage all students to be in school tomorrow and remind you that we believe everyday at PHS is an important one."

Instead of taking the day off, Steiger urged students to get involved in the high school's Palatine Political Action club and other activities that promote cultural awareness, as well as showing their support for each other by donning their Pirate spirit wear.

Marilu Velasquez, 33, an Elgin resident and an employee at the Star Market convenience store in Mount Prospect, said after much deliberation, she allowed her two teenage daughters to stay home from school on Thursday to show support for the protest.

"They were getting calls from all their friends last night, so I finally said 'yes,'" said Velasquez, who said she immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 9 years old.

"I think it's important for them to support our culture, and they know what's going on right now, and that a lot of families are going to be hurt if they are split apart," Velasquez said.

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Hassan Abed, 28, the owner of the three Star Market convenience stores, including the Mount Prospect store where Velasquez is employed, said while he typically stays open until 10 p.m. on Thursday nights, he decided to close just after 3 p.m. to show support for his customers  the majority of whom are Latino immigrants.

"I'm Muslim, and even though my family is from Jerusalem, I had a family member who flew into O'Hare last week and was questioned for about two hours to make sure she was not from Syria before they said it was OK for her to enter," Abed said.

"For Muslims, we're having problems at the airports, and for my Latino employees and customers, they have to listen to the president talking about building a wall and ICE checkpoints," said Abed, who was born in the U.S. "Both groups are kind of dealing with all of this, and my hope is that President Trump changes his mind so everyone can live here with freedom."

kcullotta@tribpub.com

Twitter @kcullotta
Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis was at the holiday party where the county circuit clerk is accused of committing battery by pushing one of her employees in the head.

Weis said he didn't see what allegedly happened and knows of no conflict that would prevent his office from prosecuting the case.

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The criminal charge against Kendall County Circuit Clerk Robyn Ingemunson stems from a complaint filed by one of her employees about an alleged incident at the Kendall County Association of Chiefs of Police Christmas party, according to emails obtained by The Beacon-News through a Freedom of Information Act request.

In addition to working under Ingemunson in the clerk's office, the complainant is married to Ingemunson's ex-husband.

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Ingemunson is charged with battery making physical contact, a criminal misdemeanor, in connection with the alleged Dec. 21 incident at Lakeview Grille, a restaurant on the 600 block of West Veterans Parkway in Yorkville, according to police and court records. Ingemunson, 49, of the 2300 block of Iroquois Lane in Yorkville, has been out on $150 bond.

While attending the party, Ingemunson was talking with another woman and became upset, according to police reports. With an open hand, Ingemunson pushed the side of the other woman's head once, according to police reports.

"I am not a witness to or party to anything that happened between the two of them," Weis said. "Whatever happened."

The conflict occurred after the party as scheduled had ended, said Yorkville police Deputy Chief Terry Klingel, the association's vice president.

Ingemunson has not responded to requests for an interview.

While the state's attorney's office has a history of prosecuting county employees, as is its "duty and responsibility," Weis can't think of a case in which both the complainant and defendant were employed by the county, he said. Even more unusual is Ingemunson's role as boss of the complainant in her case.

"I assume that Robyn (Ingemunson) has put procedures in place to accommodate that situation," Weis said. "But she does still work for the elected official, which is Robyn."

Reached by The Beacon-News, the woman making the charges said she was on a paid leave of absence while the county conducted an investigation but returned to work last week, now reporting to the chief deputy clerk rather than to Ingemunson. The woman otherwise declined to comment on the case.

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As the situation stands, Weis said, his office is handling Ingemunson's case as it would any other. It's assigned to the misdemeanor division, where cases are typically distributed in alphabetical order, but it's also possible a courtroom supervisor would get the case, Weis said.

"She (Ingemunson) will be treated as anyone else that goes through the court system," Weis said.

Going forward, if a conflict of interest were to arise, the appointment of a special prosecutor would be sought, Weis said.

hleone@tribpub.com

Twitter @hannahmleone
Additional charges have been filed and bonds have been set for the five Aurora area adults arrested Tuesday morning in connection with a Radio Shack burglary and police pursuit through rural Wisconsin.

Three suspects remain at large, and it's "a good possibility" they're also from around Aurora, said Monroe, Wisconsin, Police Chief Frederick Kelley.

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Each of the five adults arrested as a result of the pursuit was initially charged with one crime each. After initial court appearances, additional charges were filed Thursday in Green County court.

Diamond Rikki Madison, 21, of the 200 block of Gregory Street, Aurora, is charged with operating a vehicle while fleeing or eluding an officer, a Class I felony; burglary to a building or dwelling, a Class F felony; theft of movable property valued at greater than $10,000, a Class G felony; and criminal damage to property, a Class A misdemeanor, according to Green County court records.

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Alexis Marie Beyer, 18, of the 100 block of West Galena Boulevard, Aurora, is charged with operating a vehicle while fleeing or eluding an officer, a Class I felony; burglary to a building or dwelling, a Class F felony; theft of movable property valued at greater than $10,000, a Class G felony; and criminal damage to property, a Class A misdemeanor, according to Green County court records

Straight cash bonds for both Madison and Beyer have been set at $15,000 with the conditions of no contact with the Monroe Radio Shack and the defendants to remain within Kane and DuPage counties, except for purposes of meeting with counsel and for court appearances.

Michael Lavell Bush Jr., 25, of the 2200 block of Reflection Drive, Aurora, is charged with burglary to a building or dwelling, a Class F felony; theft of movable property valued at $10,000, a Class G felony; and criminal damage to property, a Class A misdemeanor.

Tynario Rashard Brown, 21, of the 400 block of Spruce Street, Aurora, is also charged with burglary to a building or dwelling, a Class F felony; theft of movable property valued at $10,000, a Class G felony; and criminal damage to property, a Class A misdemeanor.

Straight cash bond for Brown and Bush is set at $20,000 with the same conditions as Madison and Beyer.

Kneirah Victoria Johnson, 18, of the 2400 block of Prairie Crossing Drive, Montgomery, is charged with burglary to a building or dwelling, a Class F felony; theft of movable property valued at $10,000, a Class G felony; and criminal damage to property, a Class A misdemeanor.

Johnson has been assigned a combination $2,500 cash and $2,500 signature bond, meaning she must post $2,500 to get out, but she must also sign for another $2,500, which she could have to forfeit for violating any of her conditions. Johnson was given the same conditions as Brown and Bush.

All five are next to appear for a preliminary hearing at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 23 on the second floor of the Green County court building.

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According to police, the five are charged in connection with the burglary of a Radio Shack in Monroe at 2:49 a.m. Tuesday. A witness told police that five people, dressed in black with their faces concealed, ran out of the closed Radio Shack "carrying items." Some got into a Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV and others got into a Kia Optima sedan and drove off, according to a news release.

After about two miles, Monroe police and Green County Sheriff's Office vehicles caught up to the getaway cars and began a pursuit, which continued at high speeds east on State Highway 11, according to the news release.

Officers' reports indicate at least during the first half of the chase, speeds were close to 100 miles an hour at points, Kelley said.

Near Highway 11 and County Highway OK, the Sheriff's Office deployed tire deflation devices to stop the cars, according to Monroe police.

The devices, called stop sticks, don't immediately blow out the tires, but cause air to rush out of the tires within about a hundred yards, Kelley said.

One car ran over the devices and continued on flat tires for about a mile before stopping, where the driver, Beyer, was taken into custody, according to police. Three other suspects ran from the Jeep south into farm fields and remain at large, according to the news release.

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Meanwhile, the other car continued east on Highway 11 into Rock County, according to the news release. Attempts to stop the vehicle with tire deflation devices were made, and finally in Janesville, the vehicle's tires were deflated and it was stopped by Rock and Green county deputies, Janesville police and Brodhead police, according to the news release.

The driver, Diamond Rikki Madison, 21, of Aurora, and passengers, Michael Lavell Bush Jr., 25, of Aurora, Tynario Rashard Brown, 21, of Aurora, and Kneirah V. Johnson, 18, of Montgomery, were all taken into custody, according to police.

Initial reports indicate that about $90,000 worth of cellphones and equipment were taken from the Radio Shack, "a large amount" of which may have been recovered, according to police.

As for what the Aurora area residents were doing in Monroe, the chief said, "Our guess would be for criminal reasons."

hleone@tribpub.com

Twitter @hannahmleone
To dispel a mindset that learning does not begin until children enter kindergarten, SPARK Aurora Early Childhood Collaboration began providing communitywide developmental screenings two years ago for children from birth to age 5.

Trish Rooney, the director of SPARK, said the group found there was not an emphasis on the importance of screening young children.

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"In Aurora, we were seeing children entering kindergarten who were not ready," she said. "We were also seeing parents who did not know what their role was in their child's learning and development and a community as a whole that was not placing value on early learning."

Based on the screenings, which are held throughout the year at Aurora public libraries, SPARK has referred 229 children to early childhood programs and services.

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Parents also can connect with SPARK to set up an individual screening appointment.

Begun in 2012, the SPARK Aurora Early Childhood Collaboration is made up of local entities including the city of Aurora, Fox Valley United Way, West Aurora School District 129, East Aurora School District 131, Indian Prairie School District 204 and Community Unit School District 308.

Bringing these groups together, SPARK's purpose is to empower parents to be engaged as their child's first teacher, Rooney said. She said the group also works to identify issues that need to be addressed to ensure that all children in Aurora  where nearly one-half of all families qualify for reduced or free school lunch  have equal access to early childhood care and education.

Utilizing a questionnaire for families with children from birth to age 5, the screening looks at communication skills, gross motor skills, fine motor skills, problem solving skills, and personal and social skills, said Kassia Eide, a family engagement coordinator for SPARK.

SPARK assists parents through the screening process with the understanding that each child develops differently, but if further screening or assistance is needed, there are organizations available to support the family, Eide said.

Catching developmental delays earlier in a child's life and providing the appropriate intervention can help that child be more successful once they enter preschool and kindergarten, Rooney said.

Illinois has a statewide early intervention program that assists children from birth to age 3, she said. After age 3, the school districts provide early intervention services.

The goal for SPARK is two-fold, Rooney said.

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"To catch developmental delays early and also help parents build their confidence in supporting their child," she said. "We are working as a partnership, so our young kids can reach their full potential and be prepared as they enter kindergarten."

Cathy Janek is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
Bryan McDaniel, director of governmental affairs for the Citizens Utility Board, left, talks with Aurora resident Ernesto Ochoa about energy saving light bulbs after a presentation at the Prisco Center in Aurora. (David Sharos / The Beacon-News)

Energy bills, scams, cable TV and more were the focus of a recent Citizens Utility Board meeting at the Prisco Community Center in Aurora.

The event was sponsored by the board as well as state Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora, who is running for mayor of the city. She said the board has been around for more than 30 years to help energy customers in Illinois.

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"We've seen a lot of price gouging over time, and a program like this is important because everybody pays utility bills," Chapa LaVia said.

Jim Chilsen, director of communications for the CUB, said that the event was all about creating consumer power.

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"We have a small staff of about 20 to 25 people, but there are anywhere from 400 to 500 CUB events held throughout the state each year, which means there is probably a CUB event happening somewhere every day," Chilsen said. "We've found that when it comes to the utility market, knowledge is power, and we want to help consumers reduce their bills as much as possible as well as avoid scams."

Residents who came to the program said they had questions about their bills and were also looking to learn more about using new smart meters.

"I'm disappointed in my last two electric bills and want to know what the consumption rate per hour is," said Mike Kline, of Aurora. "I know they have these things about usage and peak times, but I need to learn more about it."

Ernesto Ochoa and his wife, Kit, of Aurora, said their bills are also too high.

"We've seen so many increases, and despite all the energy efficiency things we have, our bills are still sky high," Kit Ochoa said. "We're looking to learn more about these charges and what else we can do."

Bryan McDaniel, CUB's director of governmental affairs, was the featured presenter and offered a range of tips for participants at the meeting.

"There are a lot of pitfalls out there when it comes to the energy companies, and we've found that a lot of these alternative energy companies' rates are actually higher," McDaniel said. "When it comes to changing from ComEd or Nicor, you really have to shop."

McDaniel said that spinoff companies using the Nicor name in their product like to sell things people don't need.

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"There is a company with the name of Nicor Home Solutions that sells a product called ComfortGuard for pipe or refrigerator leaks in your house," he said. "People think they should have it because it has the Nicor name in it. There is also a Nicor Advanced Energy that is an unregulated supplier selling energy at a much higher rate."

McDaniel also said Nicor offers consumers a no-cost energy audit, which includes a home visit as well as a free programmable thermostat.

"Being energy efficient is the best way of all to lower your bill," he said.

Regarding cable and phone service, getting rid of your landline "reduces competition," McDaniel said, making cable or internet service your only options. McDaniel urged residents to be very proactive regarding their cable service.

"The fact is that Comcast or AT&T treats their new customers better than the people that have been with them for 10 years," he said. "You have to aggressively negotiate your cable bill by calling the company and asking for the retention department. It's their job to keep you as a customer and prevent you from going somewhere else."

David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
Aurora's commercial areas were emptier Thursday as some workers and businesses tried to demonstrate what a day without immigrants would be like.

Many stores, restaurants and other businesses closed to recognize the nationwide Day Without Immigrants protest  an attempt to show just how many everyday places are run by people who came to America from somewhere else.

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A student at Waubonsee Community College was standing at the door of Taqueria El Tio on River Street, near Benton Street, in downtown Aurora, wondering why the popular family-owned restaurant would be closed at lunchtime  until she read the sign proclaiming it closed for Day Without Immigrants day.

"Aww, I was going to have lunch there," the woman said.

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Inside, while the restaurant was closed, an employee was getting some work done. She said even if the restaurant had wanted to be open Thursday, it would have been difficult because all the businesses' suppliers were closed.

But the decision was made before that, she said, to honor the protest.

"It started with our head cook, and everyone just agreed," she said.

No one was around another popular downtown Aurora restaurant, Tacalitan, which posted a sign announcing the closing for that day only, too. And two Mexican-run bakeries, La Central and La Francaise, on Galena Boulevard, were closed.

Several Mexican groceries were closed, too, including La Chiquita in the southeast side of town.

El Palenque in Aurora, a store that sells Mexican goods, was also closed.

Owner Efrain Corral said he got wind of the protests on Facebook and from calls from vendors and other stores asking if he would close. He decided to do so to support his mostly Mexican customer base and "so that they know that the U.S. is made by immigrants."

"We will feel it," he said of forgoing a day of business, "but we can handle it."

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La Villita Liquors, 1415 E. New York St., announced it was closing in support of the protest with a posting on Facebook.

Jalapeno Grille at 1316 N. Route 59 on the border of Naperville and Aurora posted its plan to be closed Wednesday on social media.

"We are an immigrant owned business and stand in solidarity with our family, friends, employees, and immigrants across the country," a post on the restaurant's website read.

The Jalepeno Grille's St. Charles location at 602 Geneva Road was also closed Thursday.

Standing in solidarity with immigrants by deciding to close the restaurants Thursday was important, said Maria Calderon, who owns both restaurants with her husband, Anastacio.

"We believe everyone should have access to the American Dream," said Calderon, who is also a registered nurse. "People come from all over for a better life, either for economic or safety reasons."

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Calderon was born in Chicago after her parents immigrated to the United States from Coahuila, Mexico, for work and to have a better life, she said. They became citizens in the 1970s. Anastacio also immigrated to the U.S. from Guanajuato, Mexico, and became a citizen a few years ago, Calderon said.

The business owners were initially nervous about closing the business for the day and posting the announcement on Facebook, Calderon said.

"We are a small family business and love to serve the people of our communities," Calderon said. "We did indeed receive some negative comments but we received even more support. Everyone has the right to their opinion, negative or positive, it is one of our freedoms."

National stores in the area were not immune from the protest.

Across town, at Galena Boulevard and Locust Street, on the near West Side, a sign on the McDonald's restaurant announced the closing and referred people to other McDonald's that were open.

In East Aurora School District 131, preliminary numbers showed attendance Thursday was below average, said Beatrice Reyes Childress, assistant superintendent for educational services.

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Typically, attendance rates for each school hover between 93 percent and 96 percent, she said. Thursday, attendance rates in several buildings were in the low 80 percentages, she said.

She said the lower attendance likely was not due to one factor  Thursday was a half-day for students, when attendance sometimes is lower, and many students have been sick. Still, she said the Day Without Immigrants likely was a factor.

"Do we think it maybe has had an impact? Yes," she said. "But we can't tell you how much of an impact."

In West Aurora School District 129, the number of students who missed school Thursday was about double the number who missed school the week before, Assistant Superintendent of Operations Angie Smith said. She said roughly 17 percent of students were out.

Like East Aurora officials, Smith said there is no way to know whether the Day Without Immigrants played into that, pointing out it is cold and flu season. However, she suspected the protest did have some impact.

slord@tribpub.com

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Darrell Willis registered a fake business with a name similar to Aurora-based Cyl-Tec as part of a scheme to take nearly $450,000 from the company last year, according to authorities.

Willis, a 34-year-old accountant from Newark, is charged with two counts of felony theft from Cyl-Tec between March and May 2016. Aurora police confirmed that the case involves $444,000 in checks, as well as $4,035 in Amazon purchases and $1,177 for airline tickets. Willis, who is free on $30,000 bail, appeared for a status hearing before Kane County Judge John Barsanti Friday.

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Prosecutors are asking Barsanti to quash a subpoena issued by Willis' attorney that seeks a bevy of information - including computer servers, a wide range of financial documents and emails - from Cyl-Tec. Prosecutors contend the materials as a whole have no relevance to the theft allegations.

The filing describes how Willis created a fictitious, but similarly named, business and registered it with the state of Illinois. Using a stamped signature of one of the owners, Willis wrote checks from a Cyl-Tec account to the fake company and deposited them into an associated account before transferring money into his personal account, according to the motion, which also mentions he purchased a TV from Amazon and two plane tickets.

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Barsanti scheduled a hearing for March 22.

Dan Campana is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News
A $12 million assisted-living and memory care facility for seniors could be coming to Yorkville.

Missouri-based Dover Development at a public hearing recently before the Yorkville City Council requested approval to amend an existing planned unit development as part of an annexation agreement for land previously planned as a commercial development in 2000.

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The developer's proposal for a 73-unit, two-story assisted-living and memory care facility on a 6.7-acre parcel at the northeast corner of Veterans Parkway (Route 34) and Cannonball Trail has strong support from the city.

"This is definitely a welcomed and needed facility," Yorkville Mayor Gary Golinski said after the hearing.

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Jordan Dorsey, vice president and deputy general counsel, represents the Dover Family of Companies that operates eight facilities primarily in the St. Louis and Kansas City metropolitan areas, while others are planned to open in downstate Illinois.

He said the facility is designed to provide not only assisted living but also memory care services for people with Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia.

Dover envisions serving seniors in Yorkville and those from surrounding communities.

"All of our current operational facilities have waiting lists," Dorsey said

Dorsey said the plan is to break ground for Cedarhurst of Yorkville this spring if approval is given by the city.

"We manage all of our own communities," Dorsey said.

Dorsey said Dover is the contract purchaser of the Route 34/Cannonball Trail property.

"We have not closed on the property yet. We will close after receiving all of the city approvals," he said.

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Dorsey said he researched the area and located the available parcel that has been undeveloped.

"We do internal market studies and have a third market study to support our data. When we looked at communities, Yorkville in particular does not have memory care facilities. We will be able to provide the only memory care facility in the community," he said.

He said the future facility would be in close proximity to existing health care services and Target.

Dorsey said the memory care facility would be built as a secured facility for residents with Alzheimer's disease or dementia. The facility would also have a movie theater, salon, four-season rooms and courtyards.

The Yorkville City Council has final approval on the project.

Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
Will County board member Steve Balich came under fire for comments he posted on his "Will County News" webpage that referred to participants in the women's march last month as "grumpy old women and their wives."

During the public comment period of the Feb. 16 county board meeting, three women lashed out at Balich, calling his remarks "distasteful," and "disrespectful." At least one other official said he had fielded several complaints about the comments, including calls for Balich's resignation.

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The comments, which the Homer Township Republican said he copied from a conservative website  upstream-ideas.com  have since been taken down.

The statement, which remains on the upstream-ideas website, read: "And so Trump's unity-signaling inaugural address was quickly followed by a protest march of grumpy old women and their wives to which Susan B. Anthony would not have been welcome."

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Balich posted the comments Jan. 20, the day before the march, and took it down four days later, the women said.

Virginia Rimeika, who lives in Balich's district, said she and her husband participated in the Jan. 21 march in Chicago, part of 3.2 million who marched nationwide "without incident," protesting issues tied to President Donald Trump.

"You represent all people in your district and should apologize to those who marched for using inflammatory language so carelessly," she told Balich. "I'm tired of the callous, sexist attitude women experience every day and I am very motivated to make a positive difference in our political culture."

After the meeting, she said she was "insulted," by his comments and felt compelled to go to Thursday's meeting "because he will not shut up."

Rebecca Hosford said, "I am beyond grumpy that we are still in 2016 facing disrespect."

"We need to address each other with respect and dignity," she said.

Jessica Sredzinski also accused Balich of using his elected position to post anti-Muslim sentiments.

On his "Will County News" site, Balich identifies himself as a Will County board member, giving the appearance that this is county board news, she said, calling it "fraudulent."

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While some people would like an apology, Sredzinski said later she would rather see Balich "temper his words a bit."

"Will County is a very diverse community, and it is wrong to target, demoralize, disrespect or diminish any group in our community. As a board member, he should be respectful to all constituents," she said.

The county board's Democratic minority leader Herbert Brooks Jr., D-Joliet, said he received about a half dozen complaints about Balich's posting, and was aware that people were calling for his resignation.

Balich apologized to the county's executive committee at its Feb. 2 meeting after board Speaker Jim Moustis, R-Frankfort Township, mentioned the responses he received from constituents regarding Balich's comments, Brooks said.

"Apologizing to the committee does not mean a lot because we are not the ones he offended," Brooks said.

"I felt he should have apologized at (Thursday's) county board meeting. His message would have carried further," he said, adding that he does not believe Balich should resign.

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"As an elected official, we have to be mindful of our remarks," he said.

Brooks commented during the meeting, after the women spoke, saying he "certainly did not agree" with the posted comment.

Moustis and other Republican leaders did not respond to calls seeking comment.

Balich, co-founder of the Homer Township Tea Party, said he has had "Will County News," for seven years, describing it as a "personal blog" that has "nothing to do with the county."

He said he has 50,000 followers and people who know him, know that he posts "very conservative" viewpoints, he said. "People don't have to read it."

"It was not my opinion. It was written as satire," he said of the comments. "I am sorry if I offended anyone. It's not my intent to hurt anyone."

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He said he would not resign.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Balich said he was in downtown Chicago during the Jan. 21 march and saw "all the craziness."

"I could not believe how vulgar it was," he said. "It was not about the individual rights of women, it was anti-Trump."

"This group is far, far left and they don't like me because I'm a right-wing conservative," he said. "I have a lot of support in my area. They know where I'm coming from."

Balich said he supports equal pay and other women's rights "100 percent" and the rights of "all citizens."

"I'm old school. I believe women should have the door held open for them, and be treated special," he said.

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He also denied being anti-Muslim, but said he supports "legal immigration."

slafferty@tribpub.com
Will County will receive a $750,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation to create a comprehensive freight mobility study with a goal of making intermodal transportation safer and more efficient, officials said.

The grant was accepted at Thursday's county board meeting.

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The Will County Community Friendly Freight Mobility Study will identify what infrastructure is needed to improve the flow of freight traffic, support a growing freight economy, keep trucks off residential streets, and allow commuters to get to and from jobs, while having minimal impact on the communities.

Beyond addressing congestion, and road improvements, the study will discuss the need for coordinating land use planning and having a well-prepared workforce with easy access to jobs.

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It also could consider how to segregate freight traffic from commuters and school zones, and minimize impacts on busy retail areas and residential areas.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

The county has hired Ann Schnieder, former IDOT secretary, as project director.

The process will include public open houses, focus group discussions, interviews and surveys as they seek information from those who work in the trucking industry, as well as the public.

The plan will identify freight corridors and key freight infrastructure projects and prioritize improvements that are needed.

Once the study is complete, the county plans to seek federal funds through the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, to finance infrastructure improvements.

The county has become the largest inland port in North America, with its two intermodal centers  the 6,400-acre CenterPoint Intermodal Center in Joliet and Elwood, and the 1,000 RidgePort Logistics Center in Wilmington  and its numerous warehouses, distribution centers and trucking firms, all of which create an "intense amount of freight," and have increased traffic congestion, officials said.

"This study will provide a regional and national perspective to the transportation network in will County," John Greuling, president of the Will County Center for Economic Development, said in a news release. "This is an important study to allow national and international businesses to thrive while protecting the quality of life for residents."

slafferty@tribpub.com
President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference, onFeb. 16, 2017, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (Shawn Thew / EPA)

There's a lot to unpack from President Donald Trump's historic news conference Thursday afternoon.

He eerily described nuclear holocaust. He awkwardly invited an African-American reporter to set up a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus. He asserted the White House is "running like a fine-tuned machine," despite numerous accounts depicting a chaotic administration.

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I think it's best to focus on three questions moving forward: Why is Trump so combative with media, what role did Russia play in helping his campaign, and why won't he release his tax returns?

First, I think Trump criticizes the media when he feels they are close to exposing truths that will prove damaging to him. He referred multiple times Thursday to the "failing" New York Times and coined a new description for CNN: "Very fake news."

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Trump gave spirited responses to questions about Gen. Michael Flynn's resignation Monday as national security advisor after a record-short tenure. Flynn, we were told, resigned because he told Vice President Mike Pence he never discussed sanctions with Russia before Trump took office.

American intelligence sources, however, leaked information to the media that Flynn did discuss sanctions with Russia while he was a civilian. The New York Times reported Flynn and others working for Trump's campaign were in "constant contact" with Russian authorities before the election.

Trump's response has been to condemn the media and members of the intelligence community who leaked the information.

Critics, including Democrats in Congress, say Americans deserve answers to the underlying questions about Russia interference in the election. President Barack Obama, after all, expelled 35 Russian diplomats and imposed additional sanctions Dec. 29 because of evidence that Russia tried to help Trump win.

Trump and Republicans who hold power in Congress would prefer to "move on" from questions about how Russia helped elect Trump. The president is apparently irked the media just won't let it go.

This frustrates Trump. Authoritarian regimes usually succeed in countries where tyrants can control the media. In American democracy, the free press is a "fourth estate" that checks and balances all three branches of government.

Trump dislikes how "unfair" media exposed Flynn and his campaign's dealings with Russia instead of focusing on all the good things Trump has accomplished during his first four weeks in office, he said Thursday.

Why is Trump so critical of the media? Because they  and the judiciary  can block or slow progress on his agenda.

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At present, the GOP-controlled Congress shows little interest in fulfilling its role of checking the president's power. Despite Democrats' calls for a select committee to investigate Russia's involvement in the election, Republican lawmakers are only allowing separate probes by the House and Senate intelligence committees.

I think it's hypocritical for Republicans to resist a thorough and independent investigation of Russian meddling in our election. The GOP Congress used select committees to investigate the Benghazi tragedy and Planned Parenthood, but I guess a foreign power's undermining of our democracy isn't as important.

"I just don't think it's useful to be doing investigation after investigation, particularly of your own party," Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul said Tuesday.

"We'll never even get started with doing the things we need to do like repealing Obamacare if we're spending our whole time having Republicans investigate Republicans."

Democrats like Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey said Flynn's resignation raises more questions about Russia's efforts to influence the outcome of November's election.

"Congressional Republicans' silence in response to these developments is deafening, and suggests they will simply accept whatever explanation the Trump White House provides," Booker said in a statement. "Thus far, Congressional Republicans have slow-walked any transparent investigation to these issues."

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It's apparent to me that Trump is a compulsive liar. I believe he most passionately attacks the truths he finds most threatening. What he calls "fake news" is most likely true, in my estimation.

Republicans in Congress may be willing to look the other way, but Democrats keep pressing. That leads to the third question, about Trump's taxes.

I believe Trump's tax returns are key evidence in the investigations into the extent of Russian interference in the election andshould be made public or at least provided to Congress.

Congressional Democrats believe this, too. Rep. Bill Pascrell, of New Jersey, asked the House Ways and Means Committee to obtain Trump's tax returns.

"There is not one person on this committee who can say absolutely that there is no economic relationship between the president of the United States and investments in Russia. Not one. Because we don't know," Pascrell was quoted as saying during a committee meeting this week. "Let's do our job. This is checks and balances, Mr. Chairman."

The committee then voted 23-15 along party lines Tuesday to reject the request. Republicans voting down the move included Rep. Peter Roskam of Wheaton.

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Much was made during the campaign about Trump's refusal to release his taxes, breaking nearly 40 years of tradition in American politics. The tradition dates back to the Congressional investigation of the Watergate scandal and is directly tied to President Richard Nixon's infamous quote, "I am not a crook."

Trump's tax returns are important because this president cannot be trusted when he says, as he did Thursday, that his business dealings pose no conflicts with Russia. If that's true, his tax returns should support that claim and he should want to make them public to clear the air.

Democrats are trying another tactic to force the release of Trump's returns. Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, is pursuing a "resolution of inquiry."

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

The Washington Post described the maneuver as "a relatively obscure parliamentary tactic used to force presidents and executive-branch agencies to share records with Congress. Under House practice, such a resolution must be debated and acted upon in committee or else it can be discharged to the House floor for consideration."

Nadler has said that at the very least House members will have to say why they believe the resolution should not move forward.

"Republicans have shown zero willingness to follow through on their duty to conduct oversight, and they must be held accountable if they are truly willing to abdicate this constitutional obligation and must be made to answer to the American people for that failure," he said in a statement.

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I think Trump's adversarial relationship with the media is a sign the press is on the right track. I expect the pursuit of the truth about Russia's involvement in the election to continue.

Republicans will pursue their agenda, but tough questions about Trump's conflicts will only intensify. His insistence that his tax returns remain secret only convinces me of their importance to the investigations by Congress and intelligence agencies.

tslowik@tribpub.com

Twitter @tedslowik
waitingtables said: Yes we have hed them for sure, none of the later era were any where near what Putin is and what he does to his own people. Click to expand...

Let's be honest here: the US deep state operatives have not spent over 20 years trying to hatch a grand plan of collapsing Russia with breakaway states because of their concerns over whether or not Putin has 'killed his own people! or to promote democracy!Over 20 years ago, the CIA engineered the coup d'etat that established the disastrous Boris Yeltsin regime and compare how their house organ: Time Magazine covered Yeltsin's coup establishing an all-powerful presidency after killing an estimated 2000 Russian resisters to how they cover Putin now:Time called it "Rescuing Boris," while 20 years later, they pretend US interference had nothing to do with the backlash against the US or Yeltsin's hand-picked successor's actions to hold on to power.Even when it comes to deaths of journalists, I never see any analysis asking why that list was so long, and so ignored by western media during the 90's under Yeltsin's watch! I guess it's similar to the murders of journalists in up-till-now US ally - Mexico, which has hardly got a mention in mainstream US media even though it's right on the US border!*My prime directive is that Russia has no effect on what happens positive or negative where I live, while it's the exact opposite with the US...since we live within the umbrella of the American Empire. Now that the Empire has a strong desire to cast worries over nuclear annihiliation aside and start some big wars against nuclear-armed adversaries, I conclude that the US Empire is the greatest threat to life on Earth/ not Russia or China or Iran etc.!
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An Introduction to Doing Business in ASEAN 2016

An Introduction to Doing Business in ASEAN 2016 introduces the fundamentals of investing in the 10-nation ASEAN bloc, concentrating on economics, trade, corporate establishment and taxation. We also include the latest development news in our Important Updates section for each country, with the intent to provide an executive assessment of the varying component parts of ASEAN, assessing each member state and providing the most up-to-date economic and demographic data on each.

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.

An Introduction to Doing Business in Hong Kong 2017

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An Introduction to Doing Business in India 2017

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An Introduction to Doing Business in Singapore 2017

An Introduction to Doing Business in Singapore 2017 provides readers with an overview of the fundamentals of investing and conducting business in Singapore and outlines the citys role as a trading hub within ASEAN. The guide explains the basics of company establishment, annual compliance, taxation, human resources, and social insurance in the city-state.

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An Introduction to Doing Business in Vietnam 2017 will provide readers with an overview of the fundamentals of investing and conducting business in Vietnam. Compiled by Dezan Shira & Associates, a specialist foreign direct investment practice, this guide explains the basics of company establishment, annual compliance, taxation, human resources, payroll, and social insurance in this dynamic country.
By Dezan Shira & Associates

Editor: Weining Hu

On February 6, 2017, the Ministry of Public Security of the Peoples Republic of China (MPS) announced that it would launch a joint effort with 20 departments to assess methods to improve the practical utilization of foreign permanent residence cards in China. The MPS also confirmed that a new version of the foreign permanent residence card, also known as Chinas green card, will be available this year. Requirements and application for which can be seen here.

On the same day, President Xi Jinping held the 32nd meeting of the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reform (the CLG), where senior Chinese officials approved a set of reform proposals, including a decision to upgrade the security and identification features of the new green card.

Both the MPS and the CLGs efforts aim to effectively implement existing policies concerning benefits of foreign permanent residents, who will be granted the same social and economic rights as their Chinese counterparts. Through upgrading its green card policies and enhancing the implementation of existing immigration regulations, China hopes to nurture a friendly working and living environment. The effort is part of a bid to attract high-end talents from a wide range of professions, injecting technological and entrepreneurial resources to support the countrys economic reform during the so-called stage of the New Normal.

With reform deepening and fastening in todays China, it is not only existing green card holders who should keep up with Chinas immigration policies. Foreigners working in China or those who are considering business opportunities should also examine the ongoing reform to be equipped for future immigration decisions.

Existing green card scheme

China began issuing permanent resident permits in 2004. However, it wasnt until eight years later in 2012 that the central government issued a regulation allowing green card holders the same social and economic benefits as Chinese citizens. In September 2015, the SLG issued an Opinion on Strengthening the Administration of Permanent Residency Services for Foreigners, which provided guidelines for the reform of immigration policies.

Following approximately a years analysis of the reform, the MPS released Regulations for the Administration of Foreign Permanent Residency (Draft), which lowered the green card application threshold, streamlined the application procedures, and clarified foreign permanent residents social and economic treatments.

The draft is currently under review by the State Council. Once the revised draft is approved, governance of foreign permanent residency in China will be incorporated into the law. During this transitional period, many card holders have found it difficult to conduct official business in China by using their green card, even though the card is a legal form of identification documentation and a substitute for a passport.

There is an operational gap between what has been stipulated in the regulations and practice. Over the past few years, the MPS has been working across departments in an attempt to strengthen the security and identification features of the green cards. The new version of the green card is an effort to resolve the aforementioned issue and to ease foreign permanent residents life in China.

RELATED: Payroll and Human Resource Services

New green card social and economic benefits

As stipulated in the draft, green card holders receive the same rights as Chinese citizens in areas such as education, social welfare, housing, business formation, banking and travel. Below is a list of some of the key benefits listed in the draft:

Identification Feature: Permanent foreign residents can use the new green card as a proof of identity to conduct residency services in sectors of finance, education, medical care, transportation, telecommunication, employment, tax, social insurance, property registration, litigations, and other services where an ID is requested at the counter.

Entry and Exit: With a passport and Chinese green card, entry and exit can now be made through Chinas customs without a separate re-entry visa. The new green card saves time and expense needed for getting a re-entry visa.

Employment: With the Chinese green card, holders are able work in China without applying for a separate work permit. Green card holders are also allowed to participate in construction projects, and science research projects that are associated with high-level of security clearance, as long as it is approved by related governing bodies. They are also eligible for government awards in fields of natural science and technology innovation.

Housing: With a green card, holders can buy commercial housing for personal use in compliance with the local regulations, enroll in the housing provident fund, and withdraw or transfer the housing provident fund when leaving the work place.

Investment: Green card holders enjoy the same investment advantages as other foreigners in China. They can establish or acquire companies via technology or capital investment.

Conclusion

Since the draft is undergoing rigorous discussion and review with multiple government agencies, it is worth our attention to monitor whether the draft revision will lower the threshold of green card applicants and provide more details and guidelines for benefits of foreign permanent residents. At least one thing for sure is that Chinas government is making efforts to optimize the immigration rules for foreign permanent residents and their treatment. By ensuring the effectiveness of the green card, the Chinese government is increasing its ability to attract top-tier foreign talents across the globe to benefit the countrys economic reform. If the government can send the message concerning Green Card status to downstream officials, then these amendments may be useful for long-term expats in China. But the gap between issuance and acceptance by officials needs to be closed in order for the Green Card to present value.



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.

Dezan Shira & Associates Brochure

Dezan Shira & Associates is a pan-Asia, multi-disciplinary professional services firm, providing legal, tax and operational advisory to international corporate investors. Operational throughout China, ASEAN and India, our mission is to guide foreign companies through Asias complex regulatory environment and assist them with all aspects of establishing, maintaining and growing their business operations in the region. This brochure provides an overview of the services and expertise Dezan Shira & Associates can provide.

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.



Navigating HR Audits in China

Recent changes in Chinas labor market have underscored the importance of having both an efficient HR system and a satisfied and reliable workforce, and the HR audit is a useful tool to ensure this. In this issue of China Briefing magazine, we provide a guide for conducting HR audits in China. We analyze why the HR audit is especially important for foreign companies operating in the country, and then detail the different HR audit models and procedures that are available to firms.
QUESTION



(inaudible) clarification here. During your campaign, did anyone from your team communicate with members of the Russian government or Russian intelligence? And if so, what was the nature of those conversations?



DONALD TRUMP



The failing New York Times wrote a big, long front-page story yesterday. And it was very much discredited, as you know. It was -- it's a joke. And the people mentioned in the story, I notice they were on television today saying they never even spoke to Russia. They weren't even a part, really -- I mean, they were such a minor part. They -- I hadn't spoken to them.



I think the one person -- I don't think I've ever spoken to him. I don't think I've ever met him. And he actually said he was a very low-level member of I think a committee for a short period of time. I don't think I ever met him. Now, it's possible that I walked into a room and he was sitting there, but I don't think I ever met him. I didn't talk to him ever. And he thought it was a joke.



The other person said he never spoke to Russia; never received a call. Look at his phone records, et cetera, et cetera. And the other person, people knew that he represented various countries, but I don't think he represented Russia, but knew that he represented various countries. That's what he does. I mean, people know that. 

DONALD TRUMP:

Well the leaks are real. You're the one that wrote about them and reported them, I mean the leaks are real. You know what they said, you saw it and the leaks are absolutely real. The news is fake because so much of the news is fake. So one thing that I felt it was very important to do -- and I hope we can correct it. Because there's nobody I have more respect for -- well, maybe a little bit, but the reporters, good reporters.



It's very important to me and especially in this position. It's very important. I don't mind bad stories. I can handle a bad story better than anybody as long as it's true and, you know, over a course of time, I'll make mistakes and you'll write badly and I'm OK with that. But I'm not OK when it is fake. I mean, I watch CNN, it's so much anger and hatred and just the hatred.



I don't watch it any more because it's very good -- he's saying no. It's OK, Jim. It's OK, Jim, you'll have your chance. But I watch others too. You're not the only one, so don't feel badly. But I think it should be straight. I think it should be -- I think it would be frankly more interesting. I know how good everybody's ratings are right now but I think that actually -- I think that'd actually be better.



People -- I mean, you have a lower approval rate than Congress. I think that's right. I don't know, Peter, is that one right? Because you know I think they have lower -- I heard lower than Congress. But honestly, the public would appreciate it, I'd appreciate it -- again, I don't mind bad stories when it's true but we have an administration where the Democrats are making it very difficult.

The entire transcript of Trump's news conference today can be found at the link.It's painful to read some things our president said.Let's do one more:Trump cleared it up:Bingo.Sadly, there are tons more here: Transcript And Analysis: Trump Press Conference Thursday On Labor Secretary, Russia : NPR
The fast-growing and open China will remain a powerful magnet for foreign investment in spite of the temporary drop in foreign direct investment (FDI) last month over seasonal factors.

FDI inflow to the Chinese mainland dropped 9.2 percent year on year to 80.1 billion yuan (12 billion U.S. dollars) in January 2017, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Thursday in a statement.

The figure was also lower than 81.42 billion yuan in December 2016.

MOC spokesperson Sun Jiwen said at a press conference that the year-on-year drop was mainly due to a high comparison base in the same month of 2016.

"Meanwhile, the Spring Festival holiday also led to the decline," Sun said.

Spring Festival, the Lunar New Year holiday, was in January this year and February last year. Chinese people enjoy a seven-day holiday around the festival.

The drop does not represent any trend for FDI inflow in the full year, as China still boasts strong favorable conditions for attracting foreign investment in the medium-to-long run, Sun added.

China's GDP grew 6.8 percent in the last quarter of 2016, higher than the 6.7 percent in the previous three quarters. Full-year growth was 6.7 percent, within the government target of between 6.5 and 7 percent.

The economy may grow at an average annualized rate of more than 6.5 percent in 2016-2020, still among the world's fastest-growing economies, Sun said.

China's competitiveness in absorbing investment will remain, as the nation expands domains of opening up, improves the modern market system and optimizes the business environment, Sun said.

In 2016, the country amended laws on foreign investment and unveiled measures to simplify approval procedures for foreign companies.

The country will build a law-based market environment and attract more foreign investment to give them a bigger role in China's economic development, according to the Central Economic Work Conference in December.

Despite the overall FDI decline last month, investment inflow to the high-tech manufacturing sector surged 39.9 percent, in sharp contrast to the 9.5-percent decline in the whole manufacturing industry.

FDI to high-tech service sector also registered an increase of 11 percent, compared with a decline of 9.3 percent for investment in service industry, MOC said.

Strong growth in the high-tech sector was in line with the direction of China's industrial upgrading, Sun said.

In January, 2,010 new foreign companies were established, slightly up by 0.1 percent from a year ago.

A report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said that China received 139 billion dollars of FDI in 2016, third in the world behind the United States and Britain.

The figure was higher than 126 billion dollars reported by the MOC.

China will continue to be one of the most alluring destinations for foreign investment and its FDI will remain at a high level in 2017 due to its fast growth and easier access for foreign companies, according to James Zhan, a UNCTAD official in charge of investment and enterprise.

China's non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) dropped 35.7 percent to 53.27 billion yuan in January, with Chinese companies investing in 983 overseas companies in 108 countries and regions, MOC said.

Chinese companies have paid special attention to the real economy and emerging industries during the process of outbound investment, Sun said.

The Belt and Road Initiative was a strong boost to cooperation between Chinese and foreign firms, with ODI to countries along the Belt and Road representing 10.6 percent of the total in January, up from a share of 8.5 percent in 2016.
The Chinese government is encouraging steel companies to sign long-term contracts with coal and downstream steel consuming companies while improving their product quality.

The measure, set out in a document issued by five ministry-level bodies, is aimed at stabilizing recently fast growing steel prices and further cutting the industry's overcapacity.

The document, jointly released by National Development and Reform Commission and other four ministries, said that although progress had already been made to cut overcapacity in the steel industry in recent months, the elimination of outdated capacity remains a major challenge.

Despite the rapid rise of spot and future prices for steel in the short term and the recent recovery in output and sales performance of steel companies, companies should carry out further efforts to reduce capacity to support economic growth, as the country's oversupplied steel sector has experienced years of plunging prices and factory shutdowns due to a sluggish economy, it said.

Analysts said despite the surge in steel price since the beginning of this year, the supply-demand situation has not changed and the government document aims to stabilize the market and prevent steel price from overheating and disproportionately rising.

According to Wang Guoqing, director of the Lange Steel Information Center, despite the surging steel prices, steel inventories remain high.

Figures from the center released that the total inventory of steel in 29 major cities in China exceeded 12.39 million metric tons as of Feb 10, a 35 percent increase compared with three weeks ago, surpassing the peak of 2016.

The construction steel saw the biggest growth, more than 8.31 million tons as of Feb 10, 50.8 percent higher than three weeks ago, it said.

The government needs to ensure that cutting overcapacity proceeds as planned, he said.

According to Huatai Futures, considering the current stable increase in steel output and off-season demand, the inventory for steel in 2017 is believed to exceed 18 million tons, the highest of the past three years.

China's crude steel output rose slightly last year, with crude steel production increased 1.2 percent year on year to 808.37 million tons in 2016, compared with a 2.3 percent decrease in 2015, according to the National Development and Reform Commission

China plans to reduce steel output by an additional 100 million tons to 150 million tons by 2020. Its 2016 target to cut 45 million tons was achieved ahead of schedule.

China will enact stricter rules for trimming steel overcapacity in 2017 after making significant progress in 2016, according to experts.
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Information on a total of 108,100 cases was put online by Chinese procuratorates in 2016, an increase of 36.2 percent, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said Thursday.

Www.ajxxgk.jcy.gov.cn, a website opened in October 2014, provides a platform for procuratorates at all levels to publish information on cases, usually those of major social influence.

It also enables parties involved in cases to make inquiries online.

Xu Shansong, an SPP official, told a press conference that transparency had improved as the content and audience of information expanded.

In addition to the website, procuratorates use microblogs and Wechat accounts to release information. Wechat is China's top instant messaging app.
Senior Communist Party of China (CPC) leader Liu Yunshan on Thursday urged officials to safeguard the authority of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core.

Liu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks at the closing ceremony of a workshop attended by ministerial and provincial officials at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

During the workshop on the Sixth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, attendees strengthened their understanding of various remarks by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, and their understanding of comprehensive and strict governance of the Party.

Liu told attendees that safeguarding the authority of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core should be the top political requirement of officials.

He called for deepening ideological education, tightening political discipline, and strengthening management and supervision over Party members and cadres.
Residents gather for a banquet in Anshun, Guizhou province. [Qiao Qiming/China Daily]

A city in Southwest China has banned locals from hosting elaborate banquets as a way of reducing food waste and preventing unnecessary expenditure.

There are many government departments in China, both local and central, but few have a brief as unusual as the department that regulates the number of banquets local residents are allowed to host in Anshun, a city in Guizhou province, Southwest China.

The office may sound like a joke, but the problem it was set up to address is anything but amusing. The exorbitant number of banquets being held resulted in lost work hours and a huge waste of food. Moreover, people were gradually sliding into poverty because of the large amounts of money they were expected to hand over to the hosts as cash gifts, a must when attending a banquet in the city.

A "banquet ban" team was established in February last year in Puding county, which has a population of more than 470,000 and is one of six counties or county-level districts in the city, which is home to about 2.3 million. The county, which is administered by the Anshun government, also set up an office for the team in the building that houses the local commission to guide cultural and ethical progress.

The crackdown, which was overseen by the local commission for discipline inspection, was initially part of the central government's anti-corruption campaign and was aimed at regulating the behavior of public servants. However, the city government was dismayed to discover that the number of banquets being held by local residents was rising sharply, even as the campaign against official waste began to bite.

According to a statement provided to China Daily by the Puding commission to guide cultural and ethical progress, the problem was getting out of hand: "There were too many banquets. On average, each household spent about one-third of its annual income on cash gifts. To raise the money to provide cash gifts, some villagers sold crops they had earmarked as food for the family and even borrowed money at usurious rates. For the hosts, the banquets became a method of raising money, but for those attending, the practice resulted in a huge financial burden that led to many people suffering."

The statement also noted that some locals who lived in other towns and cities as migrant workers were pressured to return home regularly to attend banquets, further wasting time and money.

As a result, the focus of the regulatory team's activities was widened to target extravagant meals hosted by local residents.

At one point, banquets were held so frequently that some locals decided the only way to avoid the pressure to attend was to relocate to distant towns and cities.

Zhang Qingsong, from Tangyue village in Anshun's Pingba district, was one of the "emigres". He returned to Tangyue in 2014 after more than a decade away. During his time outside the village, he didn't even return for Spring Festival, China's most important holiday.

"Everybody held banquets. If you worked in my hometown, it was almost certain that you would become poorer and poorer. The money you made would not be enough to provide all the cash gifts," the 44-year-old said.

"Sometimes I received more than 10 invitations a month. It was a face-related issue: If you didn't ask for leave to attend banquets, other people wouldn't attend yours, so you lost face. However, if you worked a long distance away, you had an excuse to not to attend."

Wang Hai, Party secretary of Jinma village in Anshun, said people who gave cash gifts always wanted to recoup their outlay, so they would use any excuse to host a banquet, often to mark events that were not on the list of traditional celebrations.

The problem was exacerbated by the fact that many people believed they had to give their host a bigger cash gift than they had received from him at their own banquet.

The reasons for hosting banquets ranged from the traditional to the tawdry. Some people adhered to conventional celebrations, such as marking the 30th and 100th days after the birth of a baby, while others toasted a child's enrolment at college or entry into the army. However, some people held banquets whenever they added another story to their house.

In 2013, Chen Qiang bought a new apartment in Jinma, so he held a housewarming banquet with the aim of recouping the money he had spent on his new home.

Unfortunately for Chen, the plan wasn't a success. "I spent 30,000 yuan ($4,370) on the banquet, and received about 40,000 yuan in cash gifts. However, the extra 10,000 yuan was quickly eaten up by the cash gifts I had to give at other banquets. It was troublesome, and all money was wasted on eating and drinking," said the 41-year-old former migrant worker.

Wang, the Party secretary, said the desire to keep up with the Joneses resulted in everyone losing out because the banquets became increasingly elaborate and expensive.

Wang Mingyun, a 61-year-old Jinma resident, elaborated: "If a family offered 16 courses at a banquet, other people were tempted to try and gain face by offering 18. It was common to see about half of the food provided being thrown away. It was a huge waste."
The operator of Xi'an's subway system has defended a controversial mural of an ancient monk that commuters have criticized as historically inaccurate. [Huo Yan/China Daily]

The operator of Xi'an's subway system has defended a controversial mural of an ancient monk that commuters have criticized as historically inaccurate.

The wall painting, which depicts Xuanzang, a monk from the Tang Dynasty (618-907), visiting the Taj Mahal, is only a work of art that highlights the cultural links between China and India, according to Xi'an Metro Co.

Lotus Temple in Delhi, completed in 1986, also appears, the company said in a statement, adding, "The use of two symbolic elements of different times showcase the change and development of Indian culture."

A senior employee with the subway operator, who did not want to be identified, said on Thursday that there was no plan to change or remove the mural, which is at Dayanta Metro Station on Line 3. No mistake was made, he added.

The painting sparked debate on social media, as netizens said that the construction of the Taj Mahal is not from the time when Xuanzang, a key figure in Chinese Buddhism who set off on an arduous trip to India, studied there for 17 years, then brought back many Buddhist sutras and translated them into Chinese during the early Tang Dynasty.

The Taj Mahal, built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 during the Mughal Empire, is reckoned by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre to be the "jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage".

"The Mughal Empire at that time was an Islamic state. So did Xuanzang go to India to study the Quran?" Xi Wuyi, a professor of Marxism studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, wrote on Sina Weibo. The post was reposted close to 2,000 times.

Mei Xinyu, a newspaper columnist, also directed a jab at the Xi'an Metro for the seeming historic inaccuracy, saying that it could stain the city's image.

Yu Yingquan, a Xi'an resident who lives near the Dayanta Metro Station, said she does not believe that art has to be 100 percent accurate. "In the process of artistic creation, each element can be flexible," she said.

Wall paintings in other subway stations in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, also received criticism as some residents said they have wrongly mapped out the geographic locations of some cities in the world, local media reported.
Zhou Xingbai (L) stands trial on Feb. 17, 2017 for a blast that he carried out at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport last June. [Photo: Weibo.com]

A man was sentenced to eight years in prison for setting off two homemade explosive devices in Shanghai Pudong International Airport in June 2016, a court in Shanghai announced Friday.

Shanghai No. 3 Intermediate People's Court handed down the sentence to Zhou Xingbai and also stripped his political rights for two years.

The court found that Zhou formed the idea of setting off bombs at the airport and ending his own life in May 2016, due to dissatisfaction with his personal life.

Zhou set off two homemade explosive devices in beer bottles at a check-in counter in Terminal 2 at around 2:30 p.m. on June 12, 2016. Three passengers were slightly injured by flying glass, and a few flights were affected.

He cut his own throat with a knife at the airport, but was taken to hospital for medical treatment.

On his WeChat account, he wrote that he owed many people money and was going to do something "very crazy."

Zhou has no mental illness and should take full criminal responsibility for his actions, according to the court.
[By Zhai Haijun/China.org.cn]

Eight suspected telecom scammers who allegedly cheated 17.6 million yuan, or US$2.57 million, out of a Tsinghua University professor last year were arrested on Wednesday in Taiwan.

In July 2016, a 54-year-old professor surnamed Huang from Tsinghua University called the police, saying she was scammed out of 17.6 million yuan by a group of phone swindlers who posed as officials from law enforcement and judicial departments.

Police in Taichung City found some the money cheated from Huang was withdrawn from an ATM, while some was transferred to a Tecent QQ account with an IP registered in Taiwan.

The suspects were found to have contacted each other through some mainland QQ and WeChat accounts to avoid being tracked.
President Xi Jinping on Friday called for an overall national security outlook at a seminar in Beijing, emphasizing security concerns related to politics, the economy, sovereignty, society, and the Internet, among others.

Xi, who heads the National Security Commission (NSC), presided over the seminar on national security on Friday. Premier Li Keqiang and top legislator Zhang Dejiang, the two deputy heads of the NSC, were present at the seminar.
President Xi Jinping has called for all Chinese, whether at home or abroad, to unite toward achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Xi made the remarks in a written instruction delivered at a national meeting on overseas Chinese affairs held in Beijing Friday.

It has been a key task for the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the state to encourage overseas Chinese as well as returned Chinese and their relatives to play a positive role in realizing the great revival of the Chinese nation, said Xi, who is also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.

Xi acknowledged that Party committees, governments and authorities working for overseas Chinese affairs at all levels play an important part in protecting the rights of such groups, as they support the nation's development and peaceful reunification, and boost friendly cooperation between China and other countries.

Xi called on people working for overseas Chinese affairs to make the most of the strength of returned overseas Chinese and those still residing abroad, in a bid to make greater contribution to realizing the country's "two centenary goals" and the Chinese dream of great national renewal.

Premier Li Keqiang called on government departments in charge of overseas Chinese affairs to unite closely around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core throughout the 13th Five-Year Plan period, urging them to play a greater role in national economic and social development and in promoting national reunification, according to his written instruction read at the same meeting.

The meeting also honored outstanding entities and individuals from overseas Chinese affairs authorities nationwide.
US President Donald Trump (R) and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pose for a photograph as they walk to board Marine One departing for Andrews Air Force Base en route to West Palm Beach, Florida, after their joint press conference at the White House in Washington DC, US on Feb 10, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

In his first weeks in power Donald Trump has caused domestic and international concern due to some of his executive orders and the subsequent activation of checks and balances. If there is a policy area, however, where he seems to be particularly careful, it is his country's strategy vis-a-vis Asia. In spite of his phone call with Taiwan's leader Tsai Ing-wen before taking office, he has now realized China's sensitivity on the issue and is committed to adhere to the one-China policy. This was confirmed during his telephone conversation with President Xi Jinping.

More can be written about U.S.-Japanese relations. That is because Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the U.S. and became the second foreign leader to meet the 45th president after British Prime Minister Theresa May. In his pre-election campaign, Trump alarmed Tokyo by promising a new type of isolationism, which would affect both Japan and South Korea. Instead of reiterating traditional American support, he advised a different model of self-protection and self-defense.

As a result, the announcement of Trump's victory last November was received with disappointment and frustration in Japan. This is the case not only for political elites but also for the public. The main sentiment was a combination of "shock and worry" according to interviews conducted by the Japan Times. Then Abe travelled to the U.S. only a few days after the presidential election to meet the then president-elect in an effort to build trust and possibly solve the misunderstanding. Several telephone conversations between them followed.

Within this framework, the recent visit of Prime Minister Abe to the U.S. and his talks with now President Trump are not surprising. As opposed to the pre-election period, the U.S. administration is no longer showing reserve in publicly acknowledging its "tremendous interests" in Asia. At first glance, one conclusion to be reached is that no serious turn in security priorities is expected.

It has become clear from the White House that the Trump administration will respect the bilateral Security Treaty and will apply Article 5 if required. This article "recognizes that an armed attack against either party in the territories under the administration of Japan would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and declares that it would act to meet the common danger." Thus, it theoretically means that Washington will support Tokyo over the Diaoyu islands dispute.

For Beijing to hear that the U.S. will preserve its military collaboration with Japan and will possibly strengthen their alliance does not constitute any breaking news. What is certainly more interesting is to analyze how economics will be interwoven into foreign policy choices. In his press conference with Abe, Trump mentioned nothing about the cost of maintaining U.S. forces stationed in Japan. This probably deliberate omission raises questions on the level and nature of bargaining between the two sides in the field of trade. This issue becomes even more important after Trump's decision to withdraw his country from TPP.

The U.S. president's insistence on reducing trade deficits, which amounted to $69 billion in 2016 in the case of Japan, proceeding with bilateral trade deals and achieving greater access to foreign markets can weaken the position of the Japanese prime minister at last. In order to serve its national security interests with American support, Tokyo will be tempted to accept a significant part of Washington's economic agenda. For the time being, no agreement on terms can be seen in the short-term. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Japanese Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso are assigned to launch new rounds of negotiations to break the ice.

On the whole, the meeting between Trump and Abe ended with the latter avoiding a public shock similar to that of the pre-election period while the former was the real winner for the future evolution of the bilateral relationship.

Nonetheless, the most critical point during their press conference was perhaps the U.S. president's reference not to Japan but to China. As he publicly said following his "warm conversation" with Xi: "I think we are on the process of getting along very well." Although this remark does not necessarily mean that differences with the Beijing administration will be overcome soon, it is indicative of his general approach towards Asia. By valuing the role of China at the international and regional levels, Trump can better understand developments and have a greater chance of succeeding in his policies.

By chance, on the same day of his press conference with Abe, North Korea launched an unknown type of ballistic missile. This is a new signal of fragility in the region, the gravitas of China in diplomatic efforts and the miscalculations of some of the choices the U.S. has made.

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.
Japanese education ministry's move to issue new curriculum guidelines to teach students that China's Diaoyu Islands and a group of disputed islets controlled by South Korea are "inherent" territories of Japan has riled the international community, and is further evidence of Japan's continued efforts to whitewash history.

In an unprecedented move, the education ministry is now opting to state in its legally binding guidelines that China's Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea and the Takeshima islands in the Sea of Japan, known in South Korea as Dokdo, are "inherent" parts of Japanese territory.

In doing so, it threatens to severely warp historical facts and the minds of future generations here.

The controversial guidelines will be formally published in March and fully implemented for elementary schools from fiscal 2020 and for junior high schools in fiscal 2021. The most prominent revision was that Japan's official position on the Diaoyu Islands is that there is "no dispute" over their sovereignty.

Ties between Japan and its closest neighbors have been particularly strained of late regarding Japan's unrelenting effort to whitewash its history, not just in terms of its diplomatic and political stance on issues of history and territory, but also owing to its ardent push to institutionalize its wrongful agenda. The education ministry has repeatedly implemented the dilution of facts in its humanities textbooks such as downplaying the Nanjing massacre in line with the rightwing, revisionist agenda of the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Nanjing Massacre

Abe has, on a number of occasions, stated that Japanese young people do not have to keep apologizing in the future for Japan's atrocities committed before and during World War II, exposing his absolute reluctance to face up to history, and his dedication to delivering misguided and unsound messages to the younger generations here.

In March, 2016, the education ministry revised some passages of junior high school text books regarding Japan's World War II barbarities, much to the consternation of the international community and historians, who have presented the truth of the matter on countless occasions and through numerous reputable outlets, including highly respected history books, journals and through international media.

Experts close to the textbook controversy have stated that Japan daring to dispute the facts of the Nanjing Massacre is nothing short of churlishness and a reflection of the current administration's ever-right leaning ideology and obsessive fixation with trying to rewrite history. The Nanjing Massacre in 1937 saw the Imperial Japanese Army steamroll through the then capital of China and savagely murder as many as 300,000 civilians and unarmed combatants in one of the bloodiest, most barbaric campaigns known in history.

"Senior politicians and bureaucrats connected to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) have publicly declared their skepticism or outright denial that the Nanjing Massacre ever occurred, and for those of us who speak with authority on matters of history and undertake our own independent studies to achieve the truth, while conversing with the best historical minds the globe over, such attitudes are disgusting," pacific affairs research analyst, Laurent Sinclair, previously told Xinhua.

Whitewashing

"The events that occurred in 1937 involving the hundreds of thousands of lives lost at the hands of the Imperial Japanese Army is one of the world's most unforgivable tragedies, and the massacre was well documented by global media including the New York Times, the Associated Press, the Chicago Daily News and other respected outlets," Sinclair said, adding that refuting the incident, the severity, or the numbers of civilians slaughtered is wholly undignified and a clear sign of Japan's inherent inability to face up to its past.

In 2015, the education ministry announced it had authorized textbooks for use in junior high schools' social studies classes that contained content that served to fan the flames of historical and territorial disharmony between Japan and its closest neighbors. Two years ago, as is still the case now, at the crux of the controversy is the textbooks' content overtly toeing the rightwing, revisionist line of the current administration.

The approved textbooks reflected the government's equivocal view that the contested islands are inherently Japan's and the teachers who use them will now be under legal pressure to pass on the government's misguided message.

"Territory-related descriptions in school textbooks have certainly been on the rise in the recent past and this is worrisome, as teachers are duty-bound to teach a prescribed curriculum even if it's one that has been politicized by the government," David McLellan, a professor emeritus of postgraduate Asian Studies formerly told Xinhua.

"Disputes over land or territory are nothing new in the world, but in terms of education, progressive countries tend to firstly concede there is in fact a dispute in the first place as a point of historical fact, and then present a balanced view of the situation to better inform the students, rather than dictate to them," he said.

Political observers have highlighted further instances of, not just the whitewashing of historical acts of aggression and brutal behavior by Japan, but, again, the removal of Japan as the perpetrator. Previous content in the textbooks that stated, "... Japan's acts of atrocity were condemned ..." have been entirely deleted from the latest editions.

On the land survey during Japan's occupation of Korea, previous textbooks stated that the move was, "under the banner of modernizing Korea," but subsequent books described the move as, "...with the purpose of modernization ..."

And the Imperial Japanese Army forcing Okinawans to commit mass suicide at the end of the Battle of Okinawa has been phrased in new textbooks as, "...many Okinawans falling into a hopeless situation of suicide ..." Education experts like Hidenori Fujita have stated that historical and geographical education here is rapidly going awry.

Militaristic connotations

The Kyoei University professor has said that textbooks here lack balance and fail to represent the feelings of unjustness from countries like China and South Korea, and are lacking in detail about the specific claims from non-Japanese parties regarding issues of territory and history.

In one such example, the Manchurian Incident was barely mentioned on one page in a textbook, and the Nanjing Massacre, "comfort women" issue and even the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are barely footnotes in the textbooks. Some experts speaking with authority on the matter have accused Abe of flaunting his revisionist, militaristic and imperialistic stance and in doing so mocking his detractors.

They also maintain the textbooks and the education ministry in particular are also forcing nationalism onto children by way of requiring them to "get familiar with the national anthem and flag ..." both of which have overt militaristic connotations.

"Of course subjects like mathematics and science are taught differently, particularly the former, as learning a particular formula will always lead to the same objective results. Put simply, one plus one will always equal two," explained McLellan.

"But the social sciences are supposed to develop critical thinking and interpretation, not spoon feed children rewritten governmental indoctrination. This is hugely irresponsible and dangerous and not in the best interests of raising and educating children to become balanced global citizens," said the expert.
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The Russian and U.S. intelligence services should join efforts to fight international terrorism, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

"Restoration of dialogue with special services of the United States and other members from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is in the common interest," Putin said in an address to a meeting of senior Federal Security Service (FSB) officials.

He said bloody conflicts involving international terrorist groups are plaguing a number of Middle Eastern, Asian and African countries.

"Even a simple exchange of terrorists' funding and personnel information will greatly increase the efficiency of anti-terror missions," said Putin.

He also called for strengthened cooperation with the United Nations, the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Over the past year, many of the existing challenges and threats have aggravated, rather than abated, the Russian president said.

Attempts to interfere in Russia's internal affairs with the aim of destabilizing its social and political situation have not stopped, Putin told the officials.

He asked the FSB to continue to foil terrorist activities and prevent cyber attacks on Russian government data servers as the number of such hackings tripled in 2016 from the previous year.
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A senior Malaysian police official said on Thursday that a third suspect has been arrested by police in the death of a man from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Also Thursday, the Malaysian government confirmed that the man was Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of DPRK top leader Kim Jong-un.

Abdul Samah Mat, the police chief of Selangor state, told Xinhua that the suspect, a 26-year-old Malaysian man, was arrested in Ampang.

The man is believed to be the boyfriend of the second suspect, a woman with an Indonesian passport who was arrested on Thursday morning.

The police have been looking into connections between the suspects and trying to pin down what their roles may have been in the death of Kim Jong-nam.

The police have been investigating Kim's sudden death as a murder case, and a local court has granted a seven-day order remanding the first two suspects into custody.

The first female suspect, holding a Vietnamese passport, was arrested on Wednesday at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport's second terminal, where Kim had sought help after feeling unwell on Monday.

Kim died later on Monday en route to a hospital. His body was taken to a hospital in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday for an autopsy. Results had not been released by Thursday evening.

Kim had a liquid sprayed in his face when two women set upon him, Agence France-Presse quoted Malaysian police as saying.

Malaysian police issued a statement on Wednesday saying that the man was a 46-year-old from the DPRK who it identified as Kim Chol, born on June 10, 1970 in Pyongyang, based on his travel documents.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said on Thursday that the man was Kim Jong-nam, adding Malaysia would release the body only after an autopsy.
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The death toll of a deadly suicide blast at a shrine in Sehwan town of Pakistan's south Sindh Province has risen to 72, local police said.

Pakistani people gather at the main gate of a shrine following a suicide blast in Sehwan town, southern Pakistan's Sindh Province, on Feb. 16, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

Inspector General of Sindh police A.D. Khawaja said that over 200 people were also injured in the explosion.

Faisal Edhi, head of rescue team which shifted the injured to hospitals, said the killed included 43 men, 20 children and nine women.

Rasool Bux, Senior House Officer (SHO) Police, said that the suicide bomber entered the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine from crowded golden gate and blew himself up in a group of people performing Dhamal (Sufi dance) inside a compound in Sehwan, a small town located some 284 km away from the provincial capital of Karachi.

He said there were 500 to 800 people inside the shrine as Thursday evening is considered as the most sacred time to pray in the shrine and a large number of people from across the country were there to pay homage to the late saint and perform Dhamal.

Talking to local media, an injured eyewitness said that he saw the operator of the CCTV room running out of his office and after a few moments the explosion happened. "May be the CCTV operator saw the bomber in the camera and ran away for his life," he added.

Another eyewitness said they were praying inside the shrine when a loud explosion was heard and there were heaps of bodies and injured people everywhere.

The injured people have been shifted to Sehwan hospital from where the critically wounded victims were sent to hospitals in Karachi and neighboring Nawabshah district via army planes and helicopters.

In a tweet, Major General Asif Ghafoor, director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army's media wing, said army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has directed army and paramilitary troops rangers to provide assistance to the blast victims.

He added that night vision helicopters from Pakistan navy and a C-130 plane from Pakistan Air Force have been provided to shift the injured people to hospitals in Karachi.

The navy hospital in Karachi has been put on high alert and the injured will be shifted there via night capable helicopters.

Heavy contingent of police reached at the blast site and cordoned it off for investigations shortly after the blast.

Global terror group Islamic State (IS) claimed the attack. On its Arabic AMAQ website, IS said a suicide bomber "exploded his vest in Shia shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Pakistan's south Sindh province."

This is the second time when IS claimed an attack targeting a shrine in Pakistan over the last three months.

Earlier on Nov. 12 last year, at least 52 people were killed and over 100 others injured when an IS suicide bomber blew himself up in a shrine in the country's southwest Balochistan province.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had condemned the suicide attack and directed departments concerned to provide best possible medical treatment to the injured people.

The country's army chief General Bajwa appealed the nation to stay calm.

"Your security forces shall not allow hostile powers to succeed. Each drop of nation's blood shall be revenged, and revenged immediately. No more restraint for anyone," Bajwa said in a statement.
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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Russian counterpart on Thursday, stressing the need for both nations to continue playing the role of securing strategic stability in global affairs.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) shakes hands with German Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel in Bonn, Germany, Feb. 16, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

Wang met with Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) foreign ministerial meeting held in Germany's western city of Bonn.

Against the backdrop of complex changes in international and regional situation, China and Russia, as comprehensive strategic partners of coordination, should continue supporting each other firmly, Wang said.

Both countries should continue deepening comprehensive cooperation and playing the role of securing strategic stability in global affairs, he said.

Look ahead, China is willing to maintain high-level exchange with Russia, and strengthen alignment and cooperation between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Euroasian Economic Union project, Wang said.

China is also willing to maintain close communication and coordination with Russia on major international and regional issues, and unswervingly build a comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination with Russia, so as to jointly cope with various global challenges, Wang said.

Lavrov said Russia will work together with China to arrange major bilateral agendas this year, and enhance strategic communication and cooperation on global issues.

The two top diplomats also exchanged views on bilateral cooperation under the frameworks of G20 and BRICS.

Both agreed to deepen communication and coordination between the two nations under the framework of G20.

They endorsed an open and inclusive mechanism of global economy and multilateral trade, agreed to improve global governance and facilitate a successful G20 Hamburg Summit.

Wang and Lavrov praised the fruitful results during the past ten years of cooperation among the BRICS nations, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The two nations agreed to deepen practical cooperation in various fields and enable the BRICS mechanism to play a more important role in progress toward a multipolar world.

Wang and Lavrov also expected fruitful results from the ninth BRICS leaders' summit, which will be held in southeast China's coastal city of Xiamen in September.

On situation in the Korean Peninsula, they agreed to continue strengthening cooperation to maintain peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula, and make fresh efforts to restart talks.
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U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he will rescind his controversial executive order temporarily barring entry to refugees and immigrants and replace it with a new one next week.

"The new order is going to be very much tailored to what I consider to be a very bad decision," said Trump during a news conference in the White House, referring to a decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that blocked his travel ban earlier this month.

The travel ban is aimed at what the president said to keep out "radical Islamic terrorists."

"We are issuing a new executive action next week that will comprehensively protect our country," Trump said.

Also on Thursday, the Department of Justice asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals not to review a decision by a three-judge panel to keep the immigration policy on hold while it moves through the legal system, citing plans to soon replace the order with a "superseding" one.

"Rather than continuing this litigation, the president intends in the near future to rescind the order and replace it with a new, substantially revised Executive Order to eliminate what the panel erroneously thought were constitutional concerns," the department said in a document to the court of appeals.

"In so doing, the president will clear the way for immediately protecting the country rather than pursuing further, potentially time-consuming litigation," it said.

On Feb. 9, three judges sitting on the motions panel of the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, based in San Francisco, wrote unanimously at the end of the ruling: "the emergency motion for a stay pending appeal is DENIED."

The motion, by the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf the White House, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State, was to overrule a temporary restraining order (TRO) imposed by a lower court judge against the travel ban.

In response at the time, Trump tweeted "SEE YOU IN COURT," vowing to win the legal battle in the end, while accusing the court of appeals of making a "political decision."

Trump signed the controversial executive order on Jan. 27, which temporarily bars U.S. entry to all refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries including Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The travel ban almost immediately sparked nationwide protests and worldwide criticism.
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The death toll from a car bomb attack Thursday in southwestern Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, rose to 45 and 56 others wounded, a police source told Xinhua.

"Our latest report said that 45 people were killed and some 56 others wounded by the massive car bomb blast in Baiyaa neighborhood," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The blast occurred in the afternoon when a booby-trapped car detonated near a crowded commercial area in Baiyaa neighborhood, it added.

The massive explosion destroyed many civilian cars and caused damages to many shops and buildings, the source said.

Earlier, the source put the toll at 16 killed and 25 wounded by the blast.

The attack came a day after another deadly attack by a suicide minibus bomb in the heavily populated neighborhood of Sadr City that left nine people killed and more than 30 wounded.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the Islamic State (IS) militant group, in most cases, is responsible for deadly attacks targeting crowded areas, including markets, cafes and mosques across Iraq.

Terrorist acts, violence and armed conflicts killed 382 Iraqis and wounded 908 others in January across Iraq, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq said.

The attack also came as the Iraqi security forces backed by anti-IS international coalition are carrying out a major offensive to drive out the IS militants from its last major stronghold in and around Mosul.
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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday met with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on the sidelines of the Foreign Ministers Meeting of the Group of 20 to exchange views on bilateral ties and issues of mutual concern.
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The Spanish King Felipe VI's sister Princess Cristina was found not guilty in a tax fraud case, while her husband Inaki Urdangarin was sentenced to six years and three months in prison, authorities said Friday.
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China on Friday said the United States should adhere to one-China policy and properly handle issues regrading Taiwan.

"We hope the U.S. will abide by one-China policy and principles of the three China-U.S joint communiques," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said when answering a question on the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).

According to reports, a former chief of the AIT Thursday said that the U.S. side will send marine corps to protect the new AIT site.

"China has always objected U.S.-Taiwan connections through official and military channels," Geng said, adding that China will keep an eye on the situation.
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Restaurants, schools and construction sites staffed by Mexican workers in Denver were silent Thursday.

Thousands of "immigrants" in this western U.S. city stayed home to support the national "A Day Without Immigrants" movement that saw participation of millions across the country, in reaction to Trump's anti-immigration policies.

In Denver, Julia Torres, 36, a high school teacher, noted on Twitter that only 6 out of 24 students were in class at the end of the day.

That was because parents of the students were taking a day off from work for the movement and they wanted to stay home with their kids, school officials said.

Denver employers reported that employees who had "worked for 20 years without missing a day" were gone Thursday.

One Denver restaurateur said that his Latino staff had done their "prep work" the day before so their absence meant no loss of revenue. But they were still noticeably absent Thursday.

Local celebrity chef Frank Bonanno, who owns several restaurants in Denver, closed Osteria Marco and Russell's Smokehouse Thursday in support of the movement.

Bonanno, of Italian descent, was quick to support his "Latino" workers.

Although the modern term "Latino" refers to 700 million people living in Central and South America, the word also applies to those whose native language originates from Latin.

So, "Latin" also represents Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and other ethnic groups of Old World Latin nations.

Maria Empanada, an Argentinean restaurant on South Broadway in Denver, was also closed for the day.

Lorena Cantarovici, the restaurant's owner, said on Facebook she's a "proud immigrant who came to America for a better life," and she could not condone Trump's policies.

While the widespread absence of immigrants from their workplaces showed that they too represent a considerable part of the U.S. economy, those who had to abandon the idea of taking part in the movement exposed their weakness.

Miguel Mendoza, a construction worker from Veracruz, Mexico, told Xinhua he had to work because his boss, a big Trump supporter, told him, "take the day off, but I'm not going to pay you."

"I'm only working today because I need the money," said Mendoza, 35, a Denver resident for 10 years.

He received his green card two years ago, making him a legal resident of the United States. But back home south-of-the-border, he has children to support and bills to pay.

"My boss likes Trump, so I am worried I might get fired," Mendoza told Xinhua. "If I did not come to work, he would hire someone else to take my place."

Mendoza's boss runs a small construction company in Longmont, Colorado, a small, conservative, blue-collar city 60 miles (97 km) north of Denver.

Like many such small American businesses, Mendoza's white boss employs Americans of Mexican or Latino decent.

The same scenario greeted Jesus Gonzales in Rifle, Colorado, who works for an American-owned fencing company in Colorado's remote Western Slope.

"My boss is an American businessman. He doesn't like Trump, but if I show up late for work or take a day off, I might get fired," he said.

Gonzales has a wife and four children to feed, so he worked Thursday without complaining.

"Sure I'd like to protest, and I think that deep inside, Trump dislikes many immigrants, but I must support my family," he told Xinhua.
Garry Joe Davis, 68, of Albany died Wednesday at his home. A celebration of his life will be held at a later date. Huston-Jost Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
A worker at the factory of Dongbei Special Steel Group Co Ltd in Dalian, Liaoning province. LIU DEBIN / FOR CHINA DAILY

Govt document says companies should carry out further efforts to cut capacity

The Chinese government is encouraging steel companies to sign long-term contracts with coal and downstream steel consuming companies while improving their product quality.

The measure, set out in a document issued by five ministry-level bodies, is aimed at stabilizing recently fast growing steel prices and further cutting the industry's overcapacity.

The document, jointly released by National Development and Reform Commission and other four ministries, said that although progress had already been made to cut overcapacity in the steel industry in recent months, the elimination of outdated capacity remains a major challenge.

Despite the rapid rise of spot and future prices for steel in the short term and the recent recovery in output and sales performance of steel companies, companies should carry out further efforts to reduce capacity to support economic growth, as the country's oversupplied steel sector has experienced years of plunging prices and factory shutdowns due to a sluggish economy, it said.

Analysts said despite the surge in steel price since the beginning of this year, the supply-demand situation has not changed and the government document aims to stabilize the market and prevent steel price from overheating and disproportionately rising.

According to Wang Guoqing, director of the Lange Steel Information Center, despite the surging steel prices, steel inventories remain high.

Figures from the center released that the total inventory of steel in 29 major cities in China exceeded 12.39 million metric tons as of Feb 10, a 35 percent increase compared with three weeks ago, surpassing the peak of 2016.

The construction steel saw the biggest growth, more than 8.31 million tons as of Feb 10, 50.8 percent higher than three weeks ago, it said.

The government needs to ensure that cutting overcapacity proceeds as planned, he said.

According to Huatai Futures, considering the current stable increase in steel output and off-season demand, the inventory for steel in 2017 is believed to exceed 18 million tons, the highest of the past three years.

China's crude steel output rose slightly last year, with crude steel production increased 1.2 percent year on year to 808.37 million tons in 2016, compared with a 2.3 percent decrease in 2015, according to the National Development and Reform Commission

China plans to reduce steel output by an additional 100 million tons to 150 million tons by 2020. Its 2016 target to cut 45 million tons was achieved ahead of schedule.

China will enact stricter rules for trimming steel overcapacity in 2017 after making significant progress in 2016, according to experts.
A girl plays with toys at a store in Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily]

It's been a busy week for US toymaker Mattel.

On Tuesday, the California company announced a strategic partnership with Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd to develop products for Chinese e-commerce site Tmall.com.

Mattel also announced that one of its companies, popular doll maker American Girl, would add a boy doll, a drummer named Logan Everett, to its lineup.

Mattel will market and sell to China via Alibaba's business-to-consumer marketplace Tmall.com.

But it also said in a statement it would be "leveraging the company's media ecosystem to develop and promote learning resources and educational contentinspired by Mattel's beloved brands and charactersto help parents and families get the most out of play".

Mattel will in addition work with Alibaba's artificial intelligence lab to develop products designed to aid child development through the use of technology and interactive learning.

"Play has a tremendous impact on a child's cognitive, social and emotional growth," said Margo Georgiadis, a former Google executive who took over as Mattel CEO on Feb 8.

"By combining Mattel's unmatched expertise in childhood learning and development with Alibaba's immense reach and unique consumer insights, our goal is to help parents in China raise children to be their personal best," she added.

Daniel Zhang, Alibaba CEO, said the company looked forward to "supporting Mattel's growth through our robust data and commerce technology infrastructure, which will help to elevate their overall business from product development to brand-building to rural penetration for this unique and massive market".

Georgiadis added that the multibillion dollar toy category in China is highly fragmented, with tremendous potential for growth. Working with Alibaba, we see a terrific opportunity to develop and lead the category.

Mainland parents buy fewer toys for their children compared with parents in some other countries, according to Patty Wu, Mattel's vice-president of China Growth, in an article on Alizila.com, a website for Alibaba news.

Wu said many parents believed idle play distracted them from homework and hurt academic performance.

She said that was a reason why toy sales in China underperformed relative to other child-related products. The market in China for baby formula is three times that of the US, while the diaper market is 30 percent larger according to Wu.

"But in terms of the toy category, China is only 30 percent the size of the US," she said.

Mattel, which began selling offline in China through distributors in 1999, opened its first flagship online storesfor Barbie and Fisher-Pricethrough Tmall.com in 2011.

Fisher-Price, Mattel's infant toy and product line, has been the leader in the toy category during Alibaba's 11.11 shopping day for five years in a row.

"Many first-time parents are seeking advice and knowledge," said Jeff Wang, head of Mattel Greater China, adding that "they hop onto the internet for guidance and advice on parenting and to shop for quality goods for their kids".

Wu said that "the post-1980 and post-1990 generation in China, people who are just now becoming parents, are starting to realize that children need intellectual development in a wider sense".

The exposure in China could help Mattel, which reported holiday-quarter sales and profit far short of analysts' estimates last month, hurt by increased competition from rivals such as Hasbro Inc and weak demand in North America.
View of Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Youth Innovation and Entrepreneur Hub in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, Aug 19, 2015. [Photo/VCG]

New research released on Wednesday by universities found that entrepreneurship in Hong Kong and Shenzhen is alive and well and on the rise, and said both cities could join hands to create an unparalleled ecosystem for business startups.

The findings were released by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitora comparative study used by such organizations as the UN and World Bankin its Hong Kong and Shenzhen Report.

It found that all types of entrepreneurial activities recorded an increase in both cities, in contrast to declining entrepreneurship levels in other cities in China.

However, Shenzhen had a stronger entrepreneurship culture than its neighbor, it said.

In mid-2016, the proportion of Shenzen's adult population involved in early stage entrepreneurial activities was estimated at 16.04 percent, while it was 9.44 percent in Hong Kong, although the latter experienced rapid growth compared with the level of 3.64 percent in 2009.

The report also found that Shenzhen citizens held a more optimistic view on starting their own business. About 70 percent regarded entrepreneurship as desirable career choice, while only 58 percent of Hong Kong residents believed the same.

But the two cities provided different advantages for startups and by working together they could strengthen their competitiveness in both domestic and international markets, said Kevin Au at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Marta Dowejko, research assistant professor at Hong Kong Baptist University's School of Business, compared the two cities and concluded that Shenzhen was driven by highly skilled and self-selected "crea-preneurs", while Hong Kong was driven by market-focused and sustainable "develop-preneurs".

"Shenzhen is strong in manufacturing capabilities and supply chain integration, while Hong Kong had easier access to global markets, funding opportunities and skilled employees," she explained. "So together, they can provide better services for startups."

Moreover, Shenzhen's startups are well geared to deliver innovative ideas with high growth potential and its strong entrepreneurship culture attracted many skilled staff and funding, she added.
European farmers benefitted from a doubling of pork exports to China in 2016, according to an official industry organization.

Countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and Denmark led the list of exporters.

The UK's Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board noted that global pork shipments to the world's second-biggest economy reached 1.6 million metric tons.

The board cited the restructuring of the Chinese pig industry as the main reason for the increase in hunger for the product.

The European Union supplied around two-thirds of China's imported pork.

"This was particularly true early in 2016, driven by plentiful supplies, competitive prices and hormone-free production systems," said Bethan Wilkins, an analyst at the board.

But EU farmers are likely to see increasing competition from the United States and Brazil in the future. After gaining increased access to the Chinese market, Brazil became its eighth-largest pork supplier last year.

Shipments of pig meat from the UK to China shot up last year, reaching 43,000 tonsa rise of 31 percent compared to 2015. Pig meat refers to various cuts and products, as opposed to the whole pig carcass.

"Higher pig prices in China enabled average unit prices to rise," said Wilkins. "So, the value of these imports was up ahead of volume, almost reaching 50 million pounds ($62 million).

Offal imports were up 72 percent to 1.3 million tons worldwide, while the EU remained the dominant supplier. Offal shipments from the UK were up 32 percent, but volumes exported during the final quarter were 9 percent lower than they were in the same period in 2015. The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board said this was due to increased competition from the US and because of falling UK production.

In the coming year, the board expects Chinese domestic production to increase, which will reduce demand for imports.

"This will be a concern for the global pork market, as China has been a key outlet in a background of lackluster demand for pig meat in Europe and the US," Wilkins said.
BONN, Germany - China and Britain agreed to safeguard global free trade mechanism and promote free trade as foreign ministers of the two nations met on Thursday.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his British counterpart Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) foreign ministerial meeting held in Germany's western city of Bonn.

Wang said Chinese President Xi Jinping held the first meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May last year on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the eastern city of Hangzhou, during which the two leaders reaffirmed the "Golden Era" of bilateral relations between China and Britain.

As 2017 marked the 45th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-British ambassadorial level diplomatic relation, China is willing to work with Britain to review the past experience and map out future plans, Wang said.

Through close high-level exchanges, both nations look to guide the general direction of the "Golden Era" and enrich the content of the "Golden Era", so as to lift the "global comprehensive strategic partnership for the 21st century" between the two countries to a higher level, he said.

Wang said China, together with Britain, will respect each other's core interests and major concerns, promote flagship cooperation including the nuclear power station projects at Hinkley Point.

The two countries will also join hands in maintaining global free trade and build an open world economy, said Wang.

Johnson said the two countries share many common interests and should maintain the good momentum of bilateral relations and expand British-Sino cooperation in an innovative way.

Britain will strengthen strategic cooperation with China on international affairs, promote bilateral and global free trade, and make the world more stable and prosperous, he said.

Johnson reiterated that Britain will stick to the one-China policy and support the principle of "One country, Two systems" in Hong Kong.
BONN, Germany - China and Europe should send a positive signal to the world that the two sides would join hands in promoting an open world economy and safeguarding the global trade system based on the World Trade Organization, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday.

Wang made the statement when meeting European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty foreign ministerial meeting held in Germany's western city of Bonn.

Wang told Mogherini that China and Europe should further increase strategic consultation and cooperation because the two sides have the same or similar views on many major global issues.

The top Chinese diplomat also expressed hope that the EU can fulfill its obligations under Article 15 of the protocol on China's accession to the WTO at an early date.

In accordance with Article 15, WTO members should cease the surrogate country approach in anti-dumping investigations on China after Dec 11, 2016, which expires exactly 15 years after China's admission.

Mogherini responded that the EU will make continuous efforts to deal with the fulfillment of its obligations under the WTO.

The top EU diplomat spoke highly of the keynote speech delivered by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year, saying that this provides new opportunities for Europe-China cooperation.

She said it is more important than ever before for Europe and China to strengthen bilateral cooperation under current international situation, and the EU has always treated China as a cooperative partner instead of a "threat". She reiterated that the EU adheres to the one-China policy.

Mogherini said the EU will increase strategic cooperation with China in areas covering global development, climate change, African affairs, Afghanistan, Syria, and the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.
A pedestrian walks through the financial district of Shanghai on October 16, 2013.[Photo/VCG]

Shanghai has unveiled new measures to reform State-owned enterprises (SOE), including allowing employees of 10 pilot SOEs to hold shares, the 21st Century Business Herald reports.

Shanghai plans to help two or three SOEs to publicly list their entire company or their core business assets this year. The city would also promote 10 qualified mixed-ownership models with employees given shares.

Two or three scientific research institutes have also been urged to deepen reforms and establish diversified investment and a market-oriented management mechanism.

Deepening SOE reform and developing a mixed-ownership economy is the top priority this year. Other major tasks discussed at the meeting included improving State-owned assets operation platforms and incentive mechanisms.

Shanghai previously proposed that more than 85 percent of State-owned assets focus on strategic emerging industries, advanced manufacturing, modern service, infrastructure and other major sectors related to social well-being, by the end of the 13th five-year plan period.

In 2017, Shanghai will adjust the structure of State-owned assets, increase investment worth of 400 billion yuan ($58.28 billion) to the target sectors, according to the meeting.

China has about 150,000 SOEs which hold more than 100 trillion yuan in assets and employ over 30 million people.

China earlier published complete guidelines on its SOE reforms, promising to start mixed-ownership pilots, opening up more industries to private capital, and build modern enterprise systems.
The pipe 'doctors' use a stethoscope-like instrument to listen for water leaking from underground pipes in Qingdao, Shandong province, Feb 10, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

They are protectors who work in the middle of night to maintain the water supply system in cities and reduce water waste.

Wang Meng and Liu Xiaoshuang are maintenance workers at a water company in Qingdao, Shandong province.

Just like doctors use a stethoscope to examine patients, they use listening devices to check for water leaking from underground pipes.

In order to avoid noises that disturb their work, they listen for the sound of leaks from 10 pm to 2 am. Wang and Liu inspect about 10 kilometers of pipes every night.

Acute hearing is, of course, necessary and they also very knowledgeable about hydromechanics and electricity.

The job requires extensive experience.

While high-tech devices give them support, Wang Meng said they rely on that experience.
An investor checks stock information on his mobile phone in front of an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Beijing, Feb 16, 2016.[Photo/Agencies]

A total of 360 billion yuan ($52.5 billion) in pension funds has been freed up at a provincial level to pursue long-term asset growth, clearing the way for the funds to flow into the stock market, Securities Daily reported.

Seven provinces and municipalities including Beijing and Shanghai have started to grant local pension managers more flexibility in investment operation, You Jun, vice minister of Human Resources and Social Securities, said at a work conference on Thursday, according to the newspaper.

"The pension funds will most likely invest in blue-chips with a high dividend payout," Dong Dengxin, finance professor at Wuhan University of Science and Technology, told the media, adding that there should be an initial cap on equity asset of 10 or 15 percent.

In an earlier report, Huatai Securities estimated that provincial-level pension funds will eventually invest about 400 billion yuan in A shares, representing less than 1 percent of the total market value.

The move is a bid to boost yields of pension funds managed at a local level whose investments were limited only to deposits and government bonds.

The move also coincides with the government's decision to ease restrictions on domestic stock index futures trading, signaling lowered market risk.

Commission fees for intra-day position-closing will be lowered to 0.092 percent of the transaction volume from the previous 0.23 percent. According to the China Financial Futures Exchange, margin requirements for non-hedging transactions on Hushen 300 index futures and SSE 50 index futures will be reduced from 40 percent of the contract value to 20 percent.
It's just a couple of weeks into the legislative session, and it's becoming clear that at least some legislators are drawing a bead on Oregon businesses to help fill at least some of the looming budget shortfall.

Earlier this week, for example, members of the House Revenue Committee heard a report about a study from the Council on State Taxation, the State Tax Research Institute and the accounting firm Ernst & Young. The conclusion of the report: Oregon is one of the few states in which businesses receive more in state services than they pay in taxes. The report concluded that for every dollar in state services businesses receive, they pay just 80 cents in taxes. (The study assumes that 50 percent of a state's education spending benefits businesses.)

The implication of the study was clear: Oregon businesses aren't paying their fair share of taxes. It's the same argument that drove the debate over Measure 97, the proposed tax on the gross receipts of some state corporations. You might recall how voters dealt with that particular argument in November.

And it's an argument that doesn't tell the whole story: While it is true that Oregon rates relatively low in terms of business taxes, that's because the state doesn't have a sales tax. If sales taxes were removed from the picture, Oregon moves up to the 26th-lowest rate of business taxation in the nation, right about in the middle of the pack.

This new focus on business taxes isn't an unexpected development, especially as legislators try to find ways to plug that budget shortfall. But it does come with some political risks, especially for Democrats, who need at least some votes from Republicans to approve any increase in taxes. If the partisan lines become too divisive, the session runs the risk of stalemating the way it did in 2015, when the lack of a single Republican vote doomed prospects for a transportation package. (At the time, Republicans said they could not support an increase in the gasoline tax to pay for the transportation package because they believed the state's Clean Fuels Program would increase the price of gas; it amounted to hitting Oregon citizens twice at the pump, Republicans argued. When Democrats weren't willing to budge on the Clean Fuels Program, Republicans declined to budge on the gas tax.)

In this session thus far, business leaders and Republicans consistently have suggested that they might be willing to come to the table and discuss business taxes, but they've put a couple of conditions on that: First, Republicans have said, they want to see progress toward reform of the state's public pension system, which is struggling under the weight of an estimated $22 billion unfunded liability and which increasingly is strangling local governments as they scramble to find ways to cover the cost of rising premiums.

And Republicans have said they want the Legislature to take big steps toward crafting a transportation package to help pay for needed work on the state's roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

Neither of those tasks will come easily, as we saw in 2015. But the Legislature, to its credit, has started work on the public pension issue. And a joint transportation committee is continuing its work. So, on both those fronts, the Legislature appears to be ahead of where it was in 2015. That doesn't guarantee anything, but it's a promising start.

At the end of this week's presentation, Phil Barnhart, the chair of the Revenue Committee, told attendees that the conversation on revenue reform would continue throughout the session. It would seem to go without saying that the conversation should include Republicans and business leaders as well, but we'll see. (mm)
A woman takes a photo of an Audi TTS at an auto show in Shanghai. AFP

Audi AG's dealers in China on Thursday expressed a new wave of opposition to the German carmaker's intention to produce and sell cars with SAIC Motor Corp Ltd, worrying that a new dealer network would worsen their already heavy losses.

The dealers claimed they lost 28 billion yuan ($4.08 billion) from 2014 to 2016 as Audi's ambitious estimates failed to materialize.

That was according to the new Audi dealers association, which was set up on Thursday in Sanya, Hainan province.

The association said Audi estimated in 2012 that its China sales would hit 1 million units in 2020, with a sales network of 580 dealers, a projection that motivated dealers to expand their investments. Currently there are around 530 authorized dealers.

"Each store costs 70 million yuan to 80 million yuan and the investments have led to heavy losses," it said in an open letter, which said under the current arrangement they were due to suffer "great injury".

"We would like to join with Audi to realize the goal of selling 1 million cars by 2020 and after the goal is realized, we will not object to its intention of building new partnerships," it added.

Audi did not comment on the dealers' demands.

"We are looking forward to closely working together with the dealers association for the mutual benefit of the Audi brand and our network partners in China," Audi said in an email to China Daily.
Mary Barra, chief executive officer of General Motors Co, speaks at the World Economic Forum in Davos. [Photo provided to China Daily]

General Motors Co Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra embarked on a charm offensive to win German support for a sale of Opel to PSA Group as the French automaker tried to alleviate concerns that a combination would lead to a massive overhaul of the brand.

Barra and GM President Dan Ammann plan to meet with German government officials at some point in the near future, according to a source. She also sent a memo to staff in Germany and the US saying the deal would be good for GM's future growth plans, shareholder value and for the longevity of Opel's German operations, the person said.

For his part, PSA CEO Carlos Tavares is open to maintaining Opel's current management structure and intends to keep the unit as a German company and brand, said a person familiar with Tavares's thinking. GM and Peugeot declined to comment.

"The government has an interest in a successful future for the company and its sites," Steffen Seibert, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief spokesman, said in Berlin earlier in the day. "The government will, in light of the talks it's holding with all parties involved, form an opinion."

Merkel's government discussed the sale at its Cabinet meeting on Wednesday in a sign of the high degree of scrutiny the proposal is likely to face at a time of political turmoil in Europe.

The UK is negotiating post-Brexit economic ties with the EU, the French presidential election has been upended by a nationalist groundswell for Marine Le Pen and Merkel's own bid for a fourth term is on the line with a resurgent Social Democratic Party.

At stake are scores of jobs: PSA employs 184,000 workers, while Opel has 34,500 employees, with nearly half of them in Germany.

Growth opportunities

GM is making the case that selling Opel to PSA would position the brand to grow and provide better long-term job security than the status quo, one of the people said. In the memo, which was signed by Barra and Opel Chairman Karl-Thomas Neumann, the two executives said the sale would be better for everyone involved.

"I assume that in discussions with Peugeot the chancellor will insist on the importance of keeping jobs primarily in Germany," Franz Josef Jung, a lawmaker from Merkel's Christian Democrats whose constituency is home to Opel's headquarters, said in an interview. Jung previously under Merkel ran the defense and labor ministries.

A combination would create a manufacturer with about 16 percent of the European car market, pushing past Renault SA to become the region's second-biggest auto group after Volkswagen AG.

Reducing costs without cutting jobs would be difficult because the two carmakers have overlapping product offerings and there is overcapacity in the region.

Opel is set up as a German Aktiengesellschaft, which means labor representatives occupy half the seats on the supervisory board, which hires and fires management and signs off on major strategy decisions. Tavares is intending to keep Opel as a German company, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private.

"Almost all experts say that with this deal now being prepared between the large French, almost state-owned conglomerate and Opel, that especially the German Opel plants may be on the losing side," Rainer Einenkelformer works council chief at Opel's Bochum plant, which was shut downsaid on Deutschlandfunk radio. "You have to assume that the German plants are under acute threat."

British union Unite is "disappointed and angry" with how the potential deal emerged, General Secretary Len McCluskey told reporters in London after meeting with the UK authorities. Opel's Vauxhall sister brand, which would be included in the sale, is based in the UK.

"Peugeot will of course have a significant French government involvement, so it's important that our government is involved," and the union won't support the loss of "a single job" as a result of a deal, McCluskey said.
Dongfeng Motor Corporation's stand at Auto China 2016 in Beijing, May 3, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

Dongfeng Motor Group Co has seen its stake in PSA Group more than double in value to 2.2 billion euros ($2.3 billion), since bailing out the maker of Peugeot and Citroen cars in 2014.

Now, China's second-largest carmaker stands to gain even more should the French company succeed in buying GM's Opel.

The German unit's technology, already used in popular Chinese models like the Buick Regal, could further boost Dongfeng's ambitions.

While General Motors Co has pulled Opel out of China in favor of brands like Buick and Chevrolet, the European nameplate's engineering and development expertise could be a boon for Paris-based PSA and Dongfeng's stalled efforts to expand in the world's largest auto market.

PSA said on Tuesday it's exploring an acquisition of GM's European operations after Bloomberg News reported the talks. A purchase would vault the French manufacturer past Renault SA into the No 2 spot among the region's automakers, behind Volkswagen AG. However, it's in China, a market that Opel exited in 2015, where its technology could be put to added use.

"Although Opel hasn't been a successful brand in China, many of the popular GM models were actually developed based on Opel's platforms," said Zhou Jincheng, a Nagoya-based analyst with Fourin Inc, an automotive-industry research company.

"Opel could contribute to PSA-Dongfeng by joint development of models for China under PSA brands, or even providing its technologies to Dongfeng's own brands."

Zhou Mi, a Dongfeng spokesman, declined to comment on the implications of such a deal for the Chinese carmaker.

Dongfeng's operations with PSA could do with some help. The two brands suffer from a dearth of sport utility vehicles at a time when consumer preferences are shifting away from the traditional sedan.

Bloomberg
A man demonstrates a prototype VR headset at the Lenovo booth during CES unveiled before CES International in Las Vegas. The VR headset tracks head movements using cameras in the headset. [Photo / Agencies]

Lenovo Group Ltd's December quarter earnings missed projections as the world's biggest personal computer maker continued its struggle to reboot a floundering PC and smartphone business.

Net income fell 67 percent to $98 million in the quarter that ended December, Lenovo said in a statement.

That compares with the $145.9-million average of analysts' estimates. Revenue was down 6 percent to $12.2 billion compared with estimates for $11.7 billion. The Chinese company warned on Thursday that its market would remain challenging because of macroeconomic uncertainty and rising component prices.

Lenovo remains the world leader in a personal computer market struggling through a prolonged downturn as people opt for smartphones to handle everyday tasks. But it barely maintained pole position over HP Inc during the quarter as its chief rival widened its share of the North American market, according to research firm IDC.

A rise in component prices also pressured margins. The Beijing-based company is now negotiating a deal to tie up with Japan's Fujitsu Ltd and shore up its position, an imperative given the smartphone business it bought with Motorola remains unprofitable.

"Lenovo is as keen as Fujitsu to close a deal soon, so that it can comfortably retain its No 1 PC crown," said Huatai Financial Holdings analyst Ken Hui, in a research note ahead of the earnings statement.

Lenovo is cutting jobs, selling assets and pushing into higher-end devices to weather shrinking demand and competition in PCs.

Three years after Lenovo closed its $2.9 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility, the smartphone business remains well behind vivo, oppo and Huawei Technologies Co in terms of market share.

Its mobile business turned in an operating loss of $112 million after revenue slid 23 percent to $2.2 billion. Worldwide smartphone shipments dived 26 percent as its market share slipped to 3.5 percent.

Lenovo had pinned its hopes on premium phones, such as one with augmented reality capabilities, to help stabilize the division in the second half and revive its faltering consumer business. Yet it has relinquished smartphone market share at home to rivals that are winning users over with aggressive sales tactics and nationwide store coverage.

Phone shipments, including Motorola's, dived more than 30 percent in 2016, Counterpoint Research estimated. The company was ranked ninth globally during the holiday quarter, ahead of Alcatel but behind South Korea's LG.

Lenovo has said it expects the smartphone business to turn profitable this year, though a paucity of new models cast doubt on its outlook, BOCOM International analyst Chris Yim wrote in a note ahead of the earnings.

Bloomberg
It will be part of a huge network that will expand the nation's Wi-Fi access

China will launch its most advanced communications satellite in April as it builds a large capacity network that will enable passengers on jetliners and high-speed trains to use the internet.

Shijian 13, developed by the China Academy of Space Technology, will be lifted on a Long March 3B carrier rocket from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province.

The satellite, which weighs 4.6 metric tons, will stay for 15 years in a geostationary orbit about 36,000 kilometers above Earth, the academy said.

The satellite features a Ka-band broadband communications system capable of transmitting 20 gigabytes of data per second, making it the most powerful communications satellite the nation has developed.

Shijian 13 will use electric propulsion after it enters orbit, which will extensively reduce the chemical fuel the satellite carries. Moreover, it will conduct space-to-ground laser communications experiments, the academy said.

In June, the Shijian 18 communications satellite, the first developed based on China's new-generation DFH 5 satellite platform, will be lifted by a Long March 5 rocket at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, according to the academy.

It said the transmission capacity of the satellite to be launched in June is double that of current Chinese communications satellites, allowing more television channels and clearer programs to be transmitted. The new satellite will also improve internet connectivity and accessibility as well as reduce users' costs.

Wang Min, deputy head of the academy's Institute of Telecommunication Satellite, said China plans to establish a constellation of advanced communications satellites based on DFH 4 and DFH 5 platforms by 2025 and, after the plan is fulfilled, people will be able to use high-quality Wi-Fi service anywhere and anytime, including on bullet trains and planes.

Li Feng, chief designer at the institute, said many domestic users have said they look forward to the service of new-generation communications satellites, while some foreign satellite operators have also expressed interest.

The academy has made seven communications satellites for overseas users, including Pakistan, Venezuela and Laos, and is implementing export contracts for more than 10 such satellites, said Zhou Zhicheng, head of the Institute of Telecommunication Satellite.

However, he said the country still needs to catch up with the top developers of communications satellites in the United States and Europe, such as Boeing and Thales Alenia Space, when it comes to satellite technology and capacity.
Time for deliveries will be shortened from more than 30 days to about 10

Pakistan is to start exporting seafood to the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region using a land route that China will use to ship oil and natural gas from the Middle East.

Frozen seafood will depart Pakistan's Gwadar Port on the shores of the Arabian Sea in container trucks and enter China via the Khunjerab Pass, a land port in southern Xinjiang's Kashgar prefecture, a more than 1,500-kilometer journey.

After a successful trial last month, regular shipments are to start on April 1, according to Mufeng Biological Technology Co, which will ship products from its cold-storage distribution center near Khunjerab, a seasonal port open eight months of the year.

"It takes about 10 days for the seafood to be transported and cleared by customs on the land route," said Chen Haiou, company chairman. "Normally, it takes more than 30 days to transport seafood by sea from Pakistan to ports in South China's Guangdong province."

Last month, the company shipped 7.46 metric tons of seafood, including squid, shrimp, pomfret and bonefish, from Khunjerab to be sold at markets in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, as well as Beijing and Shanghai.

"We will focus on importing seafood that is in highest demand in Xinjiang," Chen said. "The wholesale price of those products will drop by 10 to 20 percent after the shipments become regular."

China is Pakistan's biggest seafood importer, with about 75 percent of the country's shrimp products sold to China, he said, adding that his company is also considering shipping live seafood.

China Overseas Port Holding Co took over management of the deep-sea Gwadar Port from the Port of Singapore Authority in 2013. The takeover was viewed as a move by China to seek an alternative to the Strait of Malacca, through which more than 80 percent of the country's imported oil passes.

To further enhance the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor along the land route, China will provide about $1 billion in loans for three new road projects along the western route of the corridor, connecting the shortest route from Gwadar to China. The two countries also plan to build a railway connecting the port and Kashgar.
Residents gather for a banquet in Anshun, Guizhou province. [QIAO QIMING/FOR CHINA DAILY]

A city in Southwest China has banned locals from hosting elaborate banquets as a way of reducing food waste and preventing unnecessary expenditure. Yang Jun reports from Anshun, Guizhou province, with Hou Liqiang in Beijing.

There are many government departments in China, both local and central, but few have a brief as unusual as the department that regulates the number of banquets local residents are allowed to host in Anshun, a city in Guizhou province, Southwest China.

The office may sound like a joke, but the problem it was set up to address is anything but amusing. The exorbitant number of banquets being held resulted in lost work hours and a huge waste of food. Moreover, people were gradually sliding into poverty because of the large amounts of money they were expected to hand over to the hosts as cash gifts, a must when attending a banquet in the city.

A "banquet ban" team was established in February last year in Puding county, which has a population of more than 470,000 and is one of six counties or county-level districts in the city, which is home to about 2.3 million. The county, which is administered by the Anshun government, also set up an office for the team in the building that houses the local commission to guide cultural and ethical progress.

The crackdown, which was overseen by the local commission for discipline inspection, was initially part of the central government's anti-corruption campaign and was aimed at regulating the behavior of public servants. However, the city government was dismayed to discover that the number of banquets being held by local residents was rising sharply, even as the campaign against official waste began to bite.

According to a statement provided to China Daily by the Puding commission to guide cultural and ethical progress, the problem was getting out of hand: "There were too many banquets. On average, each household spent about one-third of its annual income on cash gifts. To raise the money to provide cash gifts, some villagers sold crops they had earmarked as food for the family and even borrowed money at usurious rates. For the hosts, the banquets became a method of raising money, but for those attending, the practice resulted in a huge financial burden that led to many people suffering."

The statement also noted that some locals who lived in other towns and cities as migrant workers were pressured to return home regularly to attend banquets, further wasting time and money.

As a result, the focus of the regulatory team's activities was widened to target extravagant meals hosted by local residents.

At one point, banquets were held so frequently that some locals decided the only way to avoid the pressure to attend was to relocate to distant towns and cities.

Zhang Qingsong, from Tangyue village in Anshun's Pingba district, was one of the "emigres". He returned to Tangyue in 2014 after more than a decade away. During his time outside the village, he didn't even return for Spring Festival, China's most important holiday.

"Everybody held banquets. If you worked in my hometown, it was almost certain that you would become poorer and poorer. The money you made would not be enough to provide all the cash gifts," the 44-year-old said.

"Sometimes I received more than 10 invitations a month. It was a face-related issue: If you didn't ask for leave to attend banquets, other people wouldn't attend yours, so you lost face. However, if you worked a long distance away, you had an excuse to not to attend."

Wang Hai, Party secretary of Jinma village in Anshun, said people who gave cash gifts always wanted to recoup their outlay, so they would use any excuse to host a banquet, often to mark events that were not on the list of traditional celebrations.

The problem was exacerbated by the fact that many people believed they had to give their host a bigger cash gift than they had received from him at their own banquet.

The reasons for hosting banquets ranged from the traditional to the tawdry. Some people adhered to conventional celebrations, such as marking the 30th and 100th days after the birth of a baby, while others toasted a child's enrolment at college or entry into the army. However, some people held banquets whenever they added another story to their house.

In 2013, Chen Qiang bought a new apartment in Jinma, so he held a housewarming banquet with the aim of recouping the money he had spent on his new home.

Unfortunately for Chen, the plan wasn't a success. "I spent 30,000 yuan ($4,370) on the banquet, and received about 40,000 yuan in cash gifts. However, the extra 10,000 yuan was quickly eaten up by the cash gifts I had to give at other banquets. It was troublesome, and all money was wasted on eating and drinking," said the 41-year-old former migrant worker.

Wang, the Party secretary, said the desire to keep up with the Joneses resulted in everyone losing out because the banquets became increasingly elaborate and expensive.

Wang Mingyun, a 61-year-old Jinma resident, elaborated: "If a family offered 16 courses at a banquet, other people were tempted to try and gain face by offering 18. It was common to see about half of the food provided being thrown away. It was a huge waste."
The operator of Xi'an's subway system has defended a controversial mural of an ancient monk that commuters have criticized as historically inaccurate.[Huo Yan/China Daily]

The operator of Xi'an's subway system has defended a controversial mural of an ancient monk that commuters have criticized as historically inaccurate.

The wall painting, which depicts Xuanzang, a monk from the Tang Dynasty (618-907), visiting the Taj Mahal, is only a work of art that highlights the cultural links between China and India, according to Xi'an Metro Co.

Lotus Temple in Delhi, completed in 1986, also appears, the company said in a statement, adding, "The use of two symbolic elements of different times showcase the change and development of Indian culture."

A senior employee with the subway operator, who did not want to be identified, said on Thursday that there was no plan to change or remove the mural, which is at Dayanta Metro Station on Line 3. No mistake was made, he added.

The painting sparked debate on social media, as netizens said that the construction of the Taj Mahal is not from the time when Xuanzang, a key figure in Chinese Buddhism who set off on an arduous trip to India, studied there for 17 years, then brought back many Buddhist sutras and translated them into Chinese during the early Tang Dynasty.

The Taj Mahal, built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 during the Mughal Empire, is reckoned by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre to be the "jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage".

"The Mughal Empire at that time was an Islamic state. So did Xuanzang go to India to study the Quran?" Xi Wuyi, a professor of Marxism studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, wrote on Sina Weibo. The post was reposted close to 2,000 times.

Mei Xinyu, a newspaper columnist, also directed a jab at the Xi'an Metro for the seeming historic inaccuracy, saying that it could stain the city's image.

Yu Yingquan, a Xi'an resident who lives near the Dayanta Metro Station, said she does not believe that art has to be 100 percent accurate. "In the process of artistic creation, each element can be flexible," she said.

Wall paintings in other subway stations in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, also received criticism as some residents said they have wrongly mapped out the geographic locations of some cities in the world, local media reported.
77 judges in Gansu are multilingual, up from fewer than 10 three years ago

China's top court said on Thursday that it will take a series of measures this year to educate more ethnic judicial talent in order to solve legal disputes in regions inhabited by ethnic groups more efficiently.

The major measures include judicial exchanges and the publication of legal materials in ethnic languages, according to a statement by the Supreme People's Court.

Under the Constitution, ethnic litigants have the right to use their language to file a lawsuit.

"We will send more judges from the highest justice chamber and courts in developed cities to western regions, while welcoming those from areas inhabited by ethnic groups to eastern regions to educate them on case hearings," said Xu Jiaxin, director of the SPC's political department.

The exchange will help narrow the gap in legal resources across the country, Xu said.

Meanwhile, the top court plans to publish legal materialssuch as law dictionaries and judicial interpretationsin ethnic languages later this year, the statement said.

"We want to increase the number of people who can provide legal services for ethnic litigants and ensure access to justice in regions inhabited by ethnic groups," Xu said.

In 2015, the top court launched a project to train 1,500 judges to speak ethnic languages by 2020, "and we've made further efforts since then", he said.

Last year, for example, the top court went to the Tibet autonomous region to provide training sessions to more than 1,500 local judges and cooperated with three colleges, including Minzu University of China, to educate ethnic students on law.

"Dealing with cases in ethnic languages will ensure ethnic litigants can better understand laws and accept verdicts. Moreover, it's a way of protecting their rights," Xu said.

He Zijun, a judge from Northwest China's Gansu province, where the ethnic population is about 2.4 million, said that the number of people who can hear cases and translate legal documents in ethnic languages increased to 77 last year, compared with fewer than 10 three years ago.

"Judges in our province have received a total of 74 training sessions on how to speak Mongolian and Tibetan languages, which helps them to communicate with ethnic litigants," He said.

In the past, some Tibetan litigants mistook a suspended death sentence to mean the release of a defendant, because the legal jargon has no equivalent wording in their language, he said.

"The language barrier made it difficult to communicate and state facts clearly during case hearings," he added.

However, after learning some Tibetan languages in the training sessions, "it's easier for us to explain verdicts to Tibetans and to solve their disputes", he added.
A top transplant specialist has undergone emergency surgery after being stabbed in his office on Thursday at a hospital in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province.

Sun Beicheng, head of Jiangsu Province Hospital's liver transplant unit, was stabbed in his left leg and suffered a fractured jaw and mouth lacerations in the attack, which happened at about 8:30 am.

The hospital said the doctor received immediate medical treatment and is in stable condition.

Increased numbers of security workers have been put on patrol to ensure the safety of medical staff, while services have been provided to hospital workers to help ease stress, the hospital said.

A doctor surnamed Chen said the suspect, a young man, entered Sun's office and locked the door. "Colleagues had to break in to save Sun after hearing strange noises, which sounded like someone struggling. There was a lot of blood in the office," he said.

Sun, who returned to China from the United States in 2004, has conducted 250 liver transplant operations and 1,500 liver resection surgeries.

According to the hospital, Sun often gives patients his cellphone number, telling them to call him if they experience problems concerning their transplant.

Police in Nanjing's Gulou district have detained a suspect, but said he was not a patient or a relative of any patient of Sun's. An investigation into the motive of the attack is underway.

Police said it was an isolated incident, but others referred to it as the latest in a string of attacks on medical workers.

In May, Chen Zhongwei, a dentist in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, died in a hospital after being stabbed 38 times by a former patient.

In June, the 10-year-old son of a medical worker at Yuejiaqiao Health Center was stabbed by a man in Yiyang, Hunan province. The worker had previously treated the attacker for emphysema.

In July, a man in Hebei province stabbed a doctor to death with a jackknife, blaming him for his leg infection. The doctor had treated him 13 years earlier after he was injured in a car accident and lost the full use of his leg following treatment.

A survey conducted last year by Beijing News, the National Health and Family Planning Commission and the National Bureau of Statistics showed that only one-sixth of the 600,000 Chinese mainland citizens who obtained qualifications to practice medicine from 2010 to 2014 gained employment as medical workers.
China will continue to be open and active in its technological cooperation on the world stage, the Ministry of Science and Technology said on Thursday.

In June, Beijing will host the Eighth Clean Energy Ministerial, followed by the Fifth BRICS Science and Innovation Ministerial in July, said Ye Dongbai, the ministry's director of international cooperation.

In addition, dialogue on innovation and technology will be held with Russia, Germany, France, Italy, Israel and other countries this year to facilitate practical cooperation, Ye said.

"International cooperation in science and technology can increase China's global influence, promote breakthroughs in scientific and industrial bottlenecks, and create a friendly environment to facilitate economic reform," he said.

Beijing has established cooperative ties in science and technology with 158 countries and regions, inking 111 intergovernmental agreements, he added.

It has also joined more than 200 intergovernmental organizations dedicated to boosting such cooperation, as well as sending 146 technology diplomats to 71 Chinese embassies and consulates abroad.

China has become a major global research and development player, accounting for 20.4 percent of the world's total R&D spending last year, according to the Industrial Research Institute, a US nonprofit think tank for industrial management and innovation.

Last year, the country broke into the world's top-25 innovative economies, becoming the first middle-income country to do so, according to a report by the United Nation's World Intellectual Property Organization, INSEAD Business School and Cornell University.

"China should actively propose new ideas, new initiatives and new plans on the world stage, so that we can play a leading role in facilitating cooperation in global production and equipment manufacturing," Ye said.
Owning a pair of iron gates used to be Hui Yuzhu's dream, but today the ones he owns are lying in a storeroom gathering dust.

"In the past, I was too poor to install the gates," said the 65-year-old farmer, "but now my house is too good for them."

In rural areas of China, such as Hui's home village of Zhongdagou in the Tianzhu Tibetan autonomous county, Gansu province, iron gates used to be a status symbol.

Hui got married in 1982 and spent all his savings building a three-room mud-brick house on a hillside. Using 300 yuan ($44) that he had borrowed, he purchased a pair of iron gates.

He had planned to hold an elaborate ceremony to unveil the gates to his neighbors, while dressed in a red silk scarf. "But I didn't have enough money for the ceremony, so I decided to wait, and put the gates in a storeroom," he said.

As the years passed, Hui struggled to save any money. A lack of rain meant poor harvests and the wheat, corn and peas he planted on his tiny patch of land only brought him about 2,000 yuan ($292) per year.

He was not alone. Tianzhu is an impoverished county, tucked away deep in the mountains.

To combat rural isolation and alleviate the associated poverty, China began relocation programs in 2001. By 2011, one such program was instigated in Tianzhu.

"I thought to myself that the government would help us build better houses, where I could finally install my gates," said Hui, who was among the first villagers to be moved.

In 2014, he was able to build a new, two-story house using a 100,000 yuan-plus grant from the local government, combined with a similar amount that he had saved and borrowed.

Close to a main road, school and hospital, the new house is certainly an improvement over the last. Hui describes the building as "fashionable", adding that the iron gates "seem out of date" by comparison.

So instead of installing them, Hui, once again, put his gates back in a storeroom.

His ambition now is to raise livestock, using another 10,000 yuan grant given to him by the local government. He expects his son and daughter-in-law, who live and work in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, to return home and help him with the business.

"This year we will begin feeding livestock. Then they will no longer need to leave," he said.

According to Hui's estimates, the new job could fetch him as much as 10,000 yuan per year, more than five times what he earned farming on the hill.

But those old iron gates have not been forgotten.

"I spent a fortune on them and will not throw them away," Hui said. "When it gets warmer we will build a bigger store room, and install the iron gates there."

More than 40,000 people from 9,583 households in Tianzhu have been relocated, according to Liu Ziyun, director of the county's relocation office. In 2013, Tian-zhu was home to 56,300 people living in poverty, but that number had dropped to 13,700 by the end of last year.
"Eagle Dad" He Liesheng and his son He Yide attend a 5.5-kilometer race in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, in December 2014.[Liu Jianhua/For China Daily]

Self-styled 'Eagle Dad' says his sometimes controversial parenting style helps to toughen his son up

A man known throughout China for his uncompromising parenting style has courted controversy once again by signing his 8-year-old son up for an entrance exam to an elite university.

He Liesheng, 47, first hit the headlines in February 2012, when he uploaded a video of his then 4-year-old son, He Yide, crying and running nearly naked through the snow in New York.

The video drew both criticism and praise, but the self-styled "Eagle Dad" said such techniques would toughen up his son, who was born prematurely with several health problems, including water on the brain, which led doctors to diagnose him with cerebral palsy.

In the years since, He's son has been made to sail solo in a dinghy on the open ocean, march most of the way up the 3,776-meter Mount Fuji in Japan and in 2013, he broke a Guinness World Record for the youngest person to pilot a plane, age 5.

Now, "Eagle Dad" has registered his son, and himself, for a marketing management program run by Nanjing University in their hometown of Nanjing, Jiangsu province.

Some might argue that 8 is too young to be attending university, but He says he pays no attention to netizens' criticisms, insisting that his methods, though unconventional, are the best way to bring up his child.

The boy is home-schooled using textbooks developed by his father and does well in most courses, including Chinese, mathematics and physics, with an academic level equal to that of a grade nine student, according to He Liesheng. "He performs better than other children his age, shows strong self-discipline and is very effective at learning," he said.

Every day, the 8-year-old gets up at 5:30 am and goes to bed at 8 pm. He even has to study at the weekends, sometimes.

Yet he does not complain and feels proud of his academic achievements, according to his father.

"Sometimes the boy envies other children's slow pace of learning, but he also enjoys his studies and his life," he said.

"You cannot protect your children forever. You should make them compete and push them to progress, like how eagles train their offspring."

However, Wang Liping, an education expert and former principal of the Nanjing Zhongshan Elementary School, warned against the negative effects of such strict teaching methods.

"Parents have the freedom to educate their children the way they believe is best, but a child's growth has certain patterns and rules," Wang said.

"It's against their nature to be educated too harshly."
A young woman attends a job fair in Beijing in January 2017. [Photo/VCG]

College students in China won't have to fear failure as much when launching start-ups under a newly-amended Ministry of Education regulation.

According to the new rules, students who want to start their own business can apply to take a gap year between finishing high school and starting college.

Students who have started their college studies can also apply for leave for several semesters and their period of schooling can be extended. The approval process will also be streamlined.

When they are ready to return to their studies, they will also be able to change their majors. In addition, they can earn academic credit for experience relating to their major requirements such as attempts in innovation and entrepreneurship, publishing academic papers and patent licensing.

Experts think the new regulation will effectively ease the pressure on college students by encouraging and supporting more of them to try innovative activities and start businesses.

College graduates now face severe competition for jobs, as the number of those who are entering the job market grows each year. Last year saw a record high of 7.65 million graduates.

Professor Ma Huaide, vice-president of China University of Political Science and Law, told the Beijing News, colleges should set up a special body to provide one-stop shop providing services and guidance to students who want to start a business.

It is the first major amendment to the regulation covering all aspects of student's college life since it was enacted 12 years ago.

In another significant addition, a new chapter on students' appeals aims to ensure students will be treated justly and equally when being punished.
Legal experts and lawyers have called for the government to clarify how much damages should be awarded for wrongful detention under the State Compensation Law.

In recent years, a series of problematic cases have been overturned or corrected, featuring litigants who were wrongly detained or convicted and were given the right to apply for State compensation.

The amount of compensation subsequently awarded has varied widely, however.

Last year, for example, Chen Man, who was wrongfully imprisoned for 23 years for homicide and arson, received 1.85 million yuan ($270,000) in compensation for restriction of personal freedom as well as 900,000 yuan for mental anguish.

But when Gao Chao, a native of Yingkou, Liaoning province, applied for about 177,000 yuan in compensation after being wrongly convicted of organizing crime, he only received 10,000 yuan.

Shi Likang, a criminal lawyer at the Beijing-based Jingshi Law Firm, said during a seminar on Thursday that the State Compensation Law was not clear on how much money should be awarded for mental anguish.

"There is a big variation in the amount of compensation awarded among criminal cases," Shi said, adding that this was detrimental to the pursuit of justice.

Zhang Jianwei, a law professor at Tsinghua University, agreed with Shi, saying that the amount of compensation for mental anguish is generally less than 35 percent of the total compensation offered, under a guideline made by the Supreme People's Court, "but this allows for exceptions".

Wang Jingbo, a law professor at China University of Political Science and Law, suggested that the government and lawmakers highlight elements that should be taken into consideration when calculating the amount of compensation to be awarded.

"It is necessary to make the calculations transparent, with the aim of ensuring the compensation is fair," Wang said.

In addition to compensation, Zhu Wei, another legal researcher from the university, called on courts to apologize to defendants or publish new verdicts when they overturn previous ones, so as to prevent wrongful convictions from affecting the futures of those who have been exonerated.

caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn
The father and his son. [Photo/Hangzhou City Express]

A Chinese father's letter to his post-90s son to "end their father-son relationship" and become "brothers" has sparked controversy and prompted people to reflect on their relationship with their parents.

The statement, titled Guan Shaochen, I will end the father-son relationship with you, was published in City Express, a local newspaper in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on Feb 15.

In the letter, the father first recalled the intimate moments he and his son shared when he was a child.

"When you were a boy, you said I was your hero. You liked following me on almost every occasion - whenever I went to work, to gatherings, or was on business travel."

"I taught you how to play Chinese chess, poker and ping pong We played video games late into the night and were scolded by your mother."

As the boy grew older, communication between father and son became less and less, the father said in the letter.

"You started ignoring me. You blocked me from your WeChat Moments (a popular Chinese social network). When I call you, you leave the phone on while doing your own business. You rarely come back home and when you do, your eyes are glued to the mobile phone or the TV. When I approach you, you walk away."

"There seems to be a spring between us  the harder I try to get closer to you, the farther you stay away from me."

The father said that he tried to walk into the world of his son by acquainting himself with things the post-90s are interested in. He came to know the websites and video games they like and the popular stars they are obsessed with.

In the later part of the letter, the father said he will "end the father-son relationship" with his son and became a "brother" to him.

A cartoon about the father and son. [Photo/Hangzhou City Express]

"In my eyes, our relationship should be like brothers, hand in hand and doing great things together."

"In the past 20 years, you were my son; in the next 60 years, you are my brother!" the father concluded.

The post-90s need to talk with people sharing the same values with them, the City Express commented in an article published on its public account on WeChat. They are the generation that dares to "live on their own terms", and the world would not be as lively and colorful without them, the paper said.

While publishing a personal letter in a newspaper seems to be unorthodox, the father expressed what many parents want to say. The father is not wrong, nor is his son. The problem results from the generation gap that lies between them, said the article.

The generation gap might be hard to bridge. However, if a father tries to understand the world of his son and communicate with him, the "gap" is only a piece of paper to be poked through, the article said.

Netizens have mixed views about the news.

An internet user on Sina Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, said: "It is essentially a (moral) hijacking, a typical Chinese way of parenthood. If your son has his hobbies, why must you approach him and play up to him. You could enjoy your own life and lead a wonderful life yourself. Then maybe your son will see you as a hero again."

Another internet user is on the side of the father, saying: "I am about the same age of the son. I feel sad for the father. I think it is worth spending some time to make my father happy."
China asks US to 'properly handle' Taiwan issue

Xinhua | Updated: 2017-02-17 19:44

BEIJING -- China on Friday said the United States should adhere to one-China policy and properly handle issues regrading Taiwan.



"We hope the US will abide by one-China policy and principles of the three China-U.S joint communiques," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said when answering a question on the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).



According to reports, a former chief of the AIT Thursday said that the US side will send marine corps to protect the new AIT site.



"China has always objected US-Taiwan connections through official and military channels," Geng said, adding that China will keep an eye on the situation.
JINAN - Sun Hongzhi, former vice minister of the State Administration for Industry & Commerce, was sentenced Friday to 18 years in prison for corruption.

Taian Intermediate People's Court in east China's Shandong Province charged Sun with accepting bribes, embezzlement of public funds and holding a huge amount of property from unidentified sources.

The court imposed a fine of 3.6 million yuan (around 526,000 U.S. dollars) on Sun, and ordered that all his illicit gains, which included the skins of a tiger and a leopard, be confiscated and turned over to the national treasury.

The court also required that all public funds he embezzled be returned to the government of Songyuan City in northeast China's Jilin Province.

Sun took advantage of his various official posts from 2002 to 2014 to seek benefits for entities and individuals in obtaining loans, contracts and promotions, and accepted cash and property worth over 14.2 million yuan either himself or through his wife, according to the court.

When he served as mayor of Songyuan City from 2009 to November 2014, Sun embezzled public funds of more than 1.64 million yuan, according to the verdict. He also held property worth over 9.53 million yuan with unidentified sources.

The court showed leniency, taking into consideration his confession, remorse and the fact that he voluntarily turned over some ill-gotten gains.
President Xi Jinping, who heads the National Security Commission (NSC), presides over a seminar on national security in Beijing, Feb 17, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

President Xi Jinping called on Friday for all-out efforts to improve China's national security.

He told a national security seminar in Beijing that the government will strengthen its capability for safeguarding the country's safety through the introduction of new technologies, equipment, laws, mechanisms and professionals.

Xi, also chairman of the National Security Commission, said security in politics, the economy, sovereignty, society and the internet are priorities.

He urged the government to enhance cyberspace security, asking for better protection of key infrastructure and more investment in core technologies.

Xi also asked government agencies to closely monitor security issues of the internet and big data and to respond to emergencies in a timely manner.

The president said the world is still witnessing multipolarization of geopolitics, economic globalization and democratization of international relations. China should continue to guide the international community toward a new order that is more just and reasonable.

He told officials to maintain their "strategic focus, strategic confidence and strategic patience" in dealing with national security affairs, no matter how the international situation changes.

Xi also asked officials to improve public security and to uproot the sources of conflict among members of the public. In addition, he said the government should take good care of national security professionals.

The seminar was held to solicit opinions and suggestions from those attending, to analyze the national security situation and to determine related measures, according to Xi.

Premier Li Keqiang and top legislator Zhang Dejiang, the two deputy heads of the NSC, were also at the meeting.

Guo Shengkun, public security minister, Zhang Yesui, vice-foreign minister, Jiang Chaoliang, Party chief of Hubei, and his counterpart in Xinjiang, Chen Quanguo, spoke at the seminar.

Strengthening national security has been one of Xi's priorities since he became top leader in November 2012.

In November 2013, the National Security Commission was set up.

In April 2014, Xi published his vision for an overall national security outlook.

In May 2015, Xi met with members of national security authorities who were awarded decorations.

In July the same year, China enacted the National Security Law, which sets April 15 as National Security Awareness Day.
Visitors watch Bao Bao at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, DC, during a Friends of the National Zoo members-only goodbye party held recently for the 3-year-old giant panda, who will leave for China on Tuesday. SARAH L. VOISIN/THE WASHINGTON POST/GETTY IMAGES

Bao Bao, the giant panda at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, DC, did not disappoint at her Chinese dumpling farewell party on Thursday morning.

As a crowd gathered outside her yard, Bao Bao, who will return to China on Tuesday, wandered about. She munched on bamboo and then napped on a tree trunk, leaving many to wonder how long the nap would last and when she would come and open a special food box, on the outside of which was drawn a jiaozi (Chinese dumpling).

The siesta lasted about 10 minutes. But before strolling toward the food box, she climbed a tree, sat near the top and relaxed before coming down 12 minutes later to get her special treat.

Bao Bao has been in the spotlight since the zoo announced her departure in October. The dumpling party, with food provided by the Chinese embassy, was one of a series of celebratory events.

Helen Gonzales, who lives not far from the zoo, said she has visited the giant pandas on most weekends since 2006, when Tai Shan, the first surviving panda born at the zoo, was only 9 or 10 months old. Tai Shan returned to China in 2010 to join the breeding program.

"It's sad. I know I will cry," she said of Bao Bao's upcoming departure.

Bao Bao was born on Aug 23, 2013, to giant panda Mei Xiang through artificial insemination. Bao Bao was the first surviving cub at the zoo since 2005 after Tai Shan's birth.

At the beginning of the dumpling party, Lisa Washam of Ohio wrote on wish cards prepared by the zoo.

"You are an amazing panda and the best is yet to come. I am very excited for you to take the next step," she said while reading her message to reporters.

Laurie Thompson, assistant curator of giant pandas at the zoo, described Bao Bao as "very unique".

Panda Bao Bao.

"She is a very independent girl. She loves to do what she wants. She vocalizes a lot when she wants something, a lot like her dad," said Thompson, referring to Tian Tian, the zoo's 19-year-old giant panda.

Thompson called Bao Bao "a sweetheart".

"We love her here. But we know that our work here is done, we need to send her off," she said.

Under a loan agreement between the zoo and the China Wildlife Conservation Association, cubs born in the zoo by giant pandas on loan from China should move to China before they reach the age of 4.

The zoo began training Bao Bao in recent months to acclimate her for a 16-hour flight to China in a huge shipping crate.

Michael Brown-Palsgrove, curator of giant pandas, said Bao Bao is now quite comfortable with the crate. "She has no hesitation to enter that space. I think she will be comfortable on the trip," he said.

Bao Bao will be accompanied by a panda keeper and a veterinarian, as well as by some of her favorite foods, such as bamboo, sweet potatoes, apples and biscuits.

While some news reports said that giant pandas returning to China from Zoo Atlanta had encountered language barriers, keeper Stacey Tabellario at the National Zoo said it should not be a big problem for Bao Bao. The hand signals used by Tabellario and her colleagues are the same as those in China, she said.

Online, the zoo has been sharing a video, Best of Bao Bao, which shows fun moments including her naming ceremony, a roll in the snow in her yard and a climb on an ice cake on her first birthday.

Besides Washington, giant pandas are also housed in three other US zoos, in San Diego, Atlanta and Memphis, Tennessee.
A group of children from Belarus look at Chinese books at the book fair, Minsk, Belarus, Feb 8, 2017. [Photo/Chinaculture.org]

The 24th Minsk International Book Fair was held in Minsk, Belarus, from Feb 8 to 12.

More than 100 publishers and delegates from 31 countries, including China, Russia, Germany, Iran and the United States attended.

Books on Chinese culture, Chinese contemporary literature and children books were displayed at the fair. Many Chinese publishers participated in the fair, including Beijing Publishing Group and Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

During the book fair, members of the Chinese delegation had discussions on cooperative publishing with a series of publishing houses and universities from Belarus.
Nefertiti in Ibiza, featuring embroidery and applique, is one of the three themes of the recent Ital-ian fabric show.[Photo provided to China Daily]

The recently concluded 24th edition of Milano Unica, the Italian Textiles and Accessories Trade Show, provides a hint about what to expect in the 2018 spring/summer collections. Sun Yuanqing reports.

Italy is well known for its luxury fashion brands, but to understand the phenomenon, one has to look at its fabric industry, which fuels the fashion powerhouses.

Meanwhile China is a big fan of Italian textiles. last year, China surpassed Germany to become the top market for Italian fabric, according to Sistema Moda Italia, the National Textiles and Fashion Association.

Made-in-Italy textiles recorded total sales of 7.86 billion euros ($8.34 billion) in 2016, a 0.6 percent decrease from 2015, due to the weak international markets. So, what does 2017 have in store for the Italian textile industry?

A glimpse of the future was on show at the 24th edition of Milano Unica, the Italian Textiles and Accessories Trade Show, which was held in Fiera Milano Rho from Feb 1-3.

A total of 427 exhibitors participated in the show - 365 Italian and European exhibitors, and 40 Japanese and 22 Korean ones.

At the show, the 2018 Spring/Summer collections were based on three themes: Nefertiti in Ibiza, Malevich in Sorrento and Mollino in Teheran. The collections were showcased in the Trend Area using multimedia.

The Nefertiti in Ibiza theme showcased embroidery and appliqu, the Malevich in Sorrento section featured cotton and wool fabric with color blocks and graphics. And the Mollino in Teheran theme offered exotic and surreal jacquard designs.

A special session called Back to School had renowned British designer Paul Smith do a seminar on how "you can find inspiration in everything" for students from fashion schools.

In a section called Magazzini Aperti, seniors from 10 selected schools showcased their design projects using fabrics and accessories contributed by Milano Unica exhibitors.

In the Vintage Area, retro clothing and accessories offered a glimpse Italian fashion's heritage.
Chinese designer Zhang Yichao (third from right) shows her collection of linen gowns and cocktail dresses at a recent fashion show in Perth, Australia.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Traditionally, Chinese linen is not seen as glamorous. But for Chinese designer Zhang Yichao, who recently took part in a fashion show in Perth, Australia, during the Spring Festival, it can be as sophisticated as silk and brocade.

And she proved it at a fashion show in Perth organized by the China Fashion Association and Fashion Council Western Australia.

Zhang's collection at the show, which also featured 12 Australian designers, comprised linen gowns and cocktail dresses in red, purple and green.

The collection made its debut in Beijing at the China Fashion Week last year.

Zhang, for whom the Perth show was her first foray outside China, is known for her bold use of colors.

She discovered linen via the Chongqing Fashion Week, for which she has served as art director for the past three years.

While working with the Chongqing Fashion Week organizers, Zhang was introduced by the local government to xiabu, or Chinese linen, which is handmade and dyed using natural materials.

The fabric has been exported to Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia over the years, but has rarely been used in the fashion industry.

So, Zhang, who won the 9th China Top Ten Fashion Designers Award and the China Best Womenswear Design Award of the Year in 2003, decided to take the lead.

Speaking about what prompted her to use Chinese linen mixed with silk and brocade to create a new look, Zhang, who is an executive member of the fashion art committee of the China Fashion Association, says: "While linen is part of our cultural heritage, we have to modify it so that it can be accepted by a wider market."

The collection's designs also included Chinese elements like the folding fan and porcelain.

This show is just the starting point for the fabric to develop into a more commonly used material for the mass market, says Zhang.

Kate O'Hara, the chair of Fashion Council Western Australia, says that Chinese New Year celebrations have been part of Perth's cultural landscape for many decades now because of its multicultural community

"Western Australia has a long history of business and trade with China but unfortunately not much when it comes to fashion and art," she says.

"So, this program meant Fashion Council WA could help celebrate the friendship with fashion, culture and art, and this is a significant step for our government and community."

As to how Zhang was chosen to showcase her collection in Perth, the ball got rolling at the Mercedes-Benz China Fashion Week in Beijing in October last year when O'Hara and Mariella Harvey, the creative director of the Fashion Council Western Australia, saw her clothes at the show.

Meanwhile, the Fashion Council WA and the China Fashion Association plan to work closely to develop a relationship to help young designers in both countries.
At Nooxo, a Hulk smoothie bowl is made from dried banana, house-made granola and black and white sesame seeds.[Photo by Feng Yongbin/China Daily]

A new food hall in Beijing combines pop-ups, food artisans and a quest for variety to give visitors plenty to choose from, Mike Peters reports.

Under the long roof of this former Beijing factory you can find grilled grass-fed lamb. French-style artisan cheese. American-style barbecued ribs that smell like heaven. Elegant pastries. Beer and wine. Picture-perfect vegetarian meals in a bowl.

But Hsu Li is quick to shake his head when someone suggests that Yu Food and Lifestyle is a "food court".

"That's what you have in the basement of a mall," he says, "where the cheap fast-food is."

The co-founder and general manager of Yu, which now houses 22 small kitchens, says it's best described as a "food hall" of great variety.

The spaces are rented out to entrepreneurs who have a pop-up concept, he says, but people have different reasons for setting up shop here. The facility is also known as "The Crib", and while some vendors will take advantage of the shared roof, space and delivery platform to eventually launch a free-standing shop elsewhere, others are looking for something more long-term than the usual pop-up. Longtime Beijing cheesemaker Liu Yang liked the idea of having a retail space where he could engage customers, and so did the team at Mengba Warriorsa lamb wholesale operation in Inner Mongolia. A few meters away is Yaksa Thai, one of the busiest shops in the hall, which is run by a group that previously worked in a popular small Thai restaurant group and decided to strike out on their own.
[Photo/Xinhua]

The State Tobacco Monopoly Administration issued a ban on high-price tobacco products in March 2012, forbidding sales of cigarettes labeled or actually sold for more than 1,000 yuan ($146) per 200. However, there are now shops selling cigarettes at three times that price. China Youth Daily comments:

In order to prevent its ban from becoming just a scrap of paper, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration needs to investigate and punish those shops that are flouting the ban. If a shop that breaks the ban goes unpunished, there is danger of other shops following suit.

However, in order to solve the problem, we need to ask why the shops are selling high-price cigarettes despite the ban?

One detail in the media report that first raised the issue might answer that question. When a journalist asked for "luxurious cigarettes", a shop salesman proposed a luxuriously packed product with a price of 1,300 yuan for 200 cigarettes, saying "That's our bestseller as a gift."

His words best explain why high-price cigarettes are still made: They are given as gifts. He did not say where these gifts go, but many media outlets have found they go to the hands of powerful officials instead of to friends or relatives.

Now it becomes clear: Behind the consumption of luxurious cigarettes are corrupt officials, who get luxurious "gifts" from those who buy them and bend their power for the gift senders in return.

That applies not only to cigarettes. For long, luxurious consumption has been associated with corruption. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China, the nation's top anti-graft watchdog, has long forbidden officials who are Party members to enjoy such kinds of luxurious consumption, yet recently the custom seems to have been revived.

The revival of luxurious cigarettes in the market is a sign of possible corruption and it is better to nip it in the bud. It is time for various levels of anti-graft watchdogs to pay attention to this.
US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin walk into a photo opportunity before their meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in New York September 28, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

The resignation of retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn as US national security adviser after only two weeks in office is a significant blow to President Donald Trump's stated aim of greatly improving relations between the United States and Russia.

The move gives a huge boost to the many opponents in Washington to any effort to defuse tensions with Moscow among the hawkish majorities of both the Republican and Democratic parties in Congress, especially in the US Senate.

It will also embolden Trump's determined foes in both Congress and the US media to seek to embarrass and further undermine him by exposing any alleged examples of contact with the Russians that they can find.

The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that leading Senate Democrats had agreed to push for an extended investigation into all possible contacts with Russian government figures that any Trump campaign official had before the Nov 8 US election.

The aim of such an investigation is clear: It is to try and destroy Trump's credibility as US president.

This is an extraordinarily dangerous game. No such effort to delegitimize a new president right after he has taken office has ever occurred in US history.

At the very least, the broad efforts to undermine and delegitimize Trump across the US political establishment will probably succeed in deterring him from making any move to lift the economic sanctions on Russia.

Already, legislation is being prepared in the Senate supported by Republican Senators John McCain, Lindsay Graham and Marco Rubio, all of them unsuccessful presidential candidates and bitter political enemies of Trump, to try and impose a congressional veto over any effort by the president to use his legitimate executive power to end the sanctions.

Indeed, in the current climate, any effort by Trump to lift the sanctions could trigger an all-out attempt to impeach him and remove him from office.

Less than six months after taking power, on June 15, 2001, then US president George W. Bush announced in a speech in Warsaw, Poland, that the United States had to pull the three Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia into NATO as a foreign policy priority, and this was done.

Under Bush, the United States supported the so-called Orange Revolution in Ukraine and other "color" revolutions toppling established governments in other Soviet republics, such as Georgia and Kyrgyzstan.

Barack Obama for all his talk of a "reset" in relations enthusiastically supported the violent toppling of the democratically elected government of Ukraine in February 2014. He also approved an unprecedented NATO military buildup in Eastern Europe.

To have any credibility in Moscow, Trump's neo-detente policy would have to take concrete steps to reverse this dangerous and provocative military buildup. But if he does so, the super-hawks in Congress, led by McCain, Rubio and Graham in his own party, will go all out in their attacks on him.

Russia genuinely wants improved relations with the United States, but the Russian list of demands before this can happen is very clear: Trump would have to end and reverse the US military buildup in the NATO member-states of Central and Eastern Europe, especially the three Baltic states. He would also have to end US support for the current governments of Ukraine and Georgia. Economic sanctions on Russia would have to be lifted.

It is already very clear that Trump may not be allowed to do any of these things, however much he personally might wish to.

The author is a national columnist for the Post-Examiner online newspapers in the US and senior fellow of the American University in Moscow.
US President Donald Trump (R) laughs with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a joint news conference at the White House in Washington on Wednesday. [Photo/Agencies]

US President Donald Trump has taken a lot of heat for stating in a "lengthy" and "extremely cordial" phone talk with President Xi Jinping last week that he would honor the one-China policy. He was mocked and criticized for "backing away from a fight" and "blinking first".

His critics seem anxious to stir up trouble between the world's two largest economies.

What Trump did is simply correcting a mistake he made in the past few months, when he spoke on the phone with Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen in early December, when he told Fox News a few days later that "I don't know why we have to be bound by a one-China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things" and when he told the Wall Street Journal in January that "everything is under negotiation, including 'One China'".

Such a departure from the diplomatic protocol of China-US relations naturally drew strong protests from China, and rebukes from many in the United States, including ironically some who later chided him for his about-face.

Zhicuo nenggai, shan modayan is a Chinese proverb from a story about China's Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC) more than 2,000 years ago, which is equivalent to the Western saying of "A fault confessed is half redressed."

Should we expect Trump not to reverse course but go down the wrong path of flirting with ending the one-China policy? That would spell disaster for the US, the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, and indeed the region and world.

Such a correction mechanism has also been seen with regard to the remarks of Rex Tillerson. During his confirmation hearing for secretary of state on Jan 11, Tillerson said China could be denied access to some of the islands in the South China Sea, raising speculation that tensions would escalate in the waters.

That speculation, however, was largely defused when US Defense Secretary James Mattis said in Tokyo early this month that the US does not see any need for dramatic military moves in the South China Sea.

The same diplomatic wisdom was exhibited by Trump at his joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last Friday. When a reporter from Sankei Shimbun, a right-wing nationalistic paper in Japan, asked how he intends to deal with China in the South China Sea and on currency, Trump did not take the bait, as his predecessor Barack Obama probably would have.

Instead, Trump emphasized that he had "a very, very good" conversation with Xi. "I think we are in the process of getting along very well. And I think that will also be very much of a benefit to Japan," Trump said.

Besides being diplomatic, Trump's answer reflects much-needed wisdom that was lacking in the Obama administration. Obama's rebalancing to Asia strategy was aimed at driving a wedge between China and its neighbors.

That zero-sum thinking has not faded away today despite the fact that Obama has stepped down. Many pundits and interest groups continue to peddle articles and research papers advocating that policy these days trying to influence Trump's policy.

Many Chinese were not sure about Trump at all before he took office, yet were willing to bet that a businessman is usually a realist who likes win-win game.

It's a big bet. But as long as the Trump administration discards the zero-sum mentality, and works with China to expand cooperation and manage disagreements, it might be a worth-while bet.

The author is deputy editor of China Daily USA.

chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com
For years, the independent admission exams of arts colleges have drawn wide public concern, because of the serious corruption associated with them.

In recent years several serious corruption cases have been reported. In 2014, the former secretary of the Party committee in Hubei Institute of Fine Arts Liu Gang was sentenced to 11 years in prison for taking advantage of his position to make illegal profits from the college's admission exam. In 2016, Meng Xinyang, former dean of the music college, Minzu University of China, was sentenced to five years imprisonment for accepting 1.23 million yuan ($180,000) to help 13 students pass the college's admission exam.

The reason that the admission exams for arts colleges have bred corruption is that the evaluation of an applicant's performance in an arts exam is highly dependent on the examiners' judgment. It is much easier for the examiners to practice favoritism during these exams compared with other exams with strong objective standards.

However, it doesn't mean the admission exams for arts colleges don't have any standards at all. For the experts in this field, it is not too difficult to judge whether the examinees have passed the exams or not.

The more important reason for the corruption though is the lack of a necessary supervision system.

A complete profit chain has formed around the admission exams for arts colleges. It involves the examinees and their parents, arts exam training agencies as well as the examinees, because many examinees also become teachers of the exam training agencies. Strict inspection and supervision is necessary to break these chains of corruption.
After the horrific attack on the Berlin Christmas market, the EUs approach to refugees is once more in the headlines. In his 2016 state of the union address, delivered on the 14th of September to the European Parliament, Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission, stated that:

When it comes to managing the refugee crisis, we have started to see solidarity. I am convinced much more solidarity is needed. But I also know that solidarity must be given voluntarily. It must come from the heart. It cannot be forced.

Few however, would agree with his broadly optimistic tone, because the issue manifestly divides the EU at present, with some seeing it through the lens of moral obligations to assist fellow humans at risk, while others see migration more a threat to security and national identity. The nub of the refugee problem for the EU is that the capacity to deal with it lies with the individual Member States, not the EU collectively. Some, such as Germany, following Angela Merkels moral commitment to the open doors approach, now cruelly challenged in Berlin, have been willing to accept substantial numbers, but others, for differing reasons have resisted,

Plainly, the sheer number of displaced persons is a global challenge and is not confined to the EU. Syrian refugees alone account for some 5 million. The fall of Aleppo may, at last, signal an end to the Syrian civil war, but displaced Syrians still represent a major challenge for the EU as a close neighbour, with some 4 million in camps in Lebanon, Jordan and, especially, Turkey. By contrast, around 1.1 million Syrian applications for asylum have been received in Europe since 2011. Most of those now in Europe, are concentrated in Germany (their preferred destination), Greece and Serbia (both transit countries); only a handful of other EU countries have been willing to accept more than a few thousand Syrians. The difficulty in the EU, as a whole, is not the overall capacity to absorb refugees, but the politics of how to share the burden..

The evident preference of migrants to be settled in Germany, Sweden or (at least for some) the UK also has to be taken into account. For the UK, the scale of immigration was much the most powerful argument for voting to leave the EU. The concern for UK voters was mobility of EU workers, a right enshrined in the Unions single market, but in the referendum campaign, it became conflated with the refugee problem, even though the latter is an entirely separate issue.

A solution proposed at the European level was to have national quotas for taking-in displaced persons, but this has proved to be politically unacceptable, especially to the countries of central and Eastern Europe. They argue that an influx of Muslim refugees would undermine their national identity in what are predominantly Christian countries and have raised questions about security. Leaders of these countries also argue that, in any case, the refugees want to go to Western Europe and would simply leave if they are initially settled in Poland or Hungary. At the informal summit of EU leaders held in Slovakia in mid-September, the Germans (who had been the strongest advocates of quotas, along with the European Commission) accepted that the idea would have to be abandoned and it was noticeably absent from the conclusions of the December European Council..

German and Swedish citizens, meanwhile, complain that their countries are being asked to shoulder an unfair burden and have become increasingly hostile to their governments positions on migrants. The Berlin attack, with the federal election in German now just a few months away, means that the refugee policy will inevitably become an even more heated campaign issue, likely to give momentum to the right-wind populists of the Alternative fur Deutschland part which is taking votes from Merkel.

The political problem for Europe is compounded by the number of economic migrants from economically poorer areas, such as sub-Saharan Africa, also keen to move to Europe. The distinction between a refugee and an economic migrant is analytically clear, but blurred in practice. Many of those eventually moved from the jungle camp in Calais in northern France, were qualified workers simply looking for better jobs in the United Kingdom. Who paid people smugglers to help them to evade UK controls. Many deliberately destroy their identity documents to enable them to be treated as refugees.

Europe as a whole lacks a political basis for a solution. A deal with Turkey eased the immediate pressure on Europe because it resulted in a much stricter control of illegal movement from the Turkish coast to the Greek islands  a sea-crossing of just a few kilometres to the islands closest to the Turkish mainland. Some attempt has also been made to curb the number of boats sailing from the Libyan coast to Italy. But control cannot be a comprehensive or lasting answer and EU relations with both Turkey and the various factions controlling Libya are strained.

Instead, in the longer-term, the EU will have to come up with a range of policy initiatives. A first is geo-political: so long as conflicts continue (not just in Syria, but also in the horn of Africa), there will be a steady outflow of refugees, hence the need for more effective attempts to resolve the conflicts.

Second, the EU, as one of the richest global regions has a moral responsibility to develop a policy for absorbing and resettling refugees, but it will also face harder choices about how welcoming to be to economic migrants. Several EU countries, including Germany, Italy and Finland are on the cusp of a decline in their population because of demographic trends, but others are not, and this adds to the complexity of the policy decisions.

The third element in a tricky package will be how to revise the rules on refugees, given the sheer numbersarriving. The current arrangement, based on what is known as the Dublin convention, is for refugees to be registered in the country in which they arrive in the EU, but this manifestly puts excessive pressure on the frontline states, especially Italy and Greece.

One dimension of this will be the budgetary cost of processing and accommodating migrants. For Greece, already facing acute pressures on its public finances, the extra burden is a major concern, making it likely that the common EU budget will be called upon to contribute more. However, several of the net contributors to the EU budget may resist taking on new commitments, not least because Brexit will already mean a net loss for the EUs finances.

Then there is security. Rightly or not, many European governments fear that large-scale migration will make it easier for terrorists to enter their countries by pretending to be displaced persons, something the Berlin attack, (and the November 2015 attacks in Paris) can only have reinforced. Populist parties, such as in France and the Netherlands, have played on this fear and the Dutch populist leader Geert Wilders was quick to blame Angela Merkel s open door policy for what happened in Berlin.

Despite the intensity and intractability of the migration and refugee challenges, there are no real signs yet of any demand to abandon the Schengen agreement by restoring controls on the EUs internal borders. Like the euro and the single market, free movement inside the Schengen area is one of the defining features of European integration. But Schengen is facing criticism because of its links with the migrant crisis, and a weakening of it cannot be excluded, despite continuing support from mainstream political voices. Whether for EU workers looking for jobs in other countries or Chinese tourists who can take advantage of a single visa to visit so many countries, the risk is real and if Schengen is undermined, it will be widely seen as a further weakening of support for the EU in general.

Iain Beggis a Professorial Research Fellow at the European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science, and Senior Fellow on the UK Economic and Social Research Councils initiative on The UK in a Changing Europe
Wang Fugang, the author of the book New Thinking Method in the Mobile Internet Era and a senior journalist who has worked at Sohu.com, a Chinese online media company, for more than 10 years. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Editor's note: The year 2016 witnessed the emergence of paid content providers like the audio-based, knowledge-sharing platform Fenda. Paid subscriber content, such as the Luogic Show and Ma Dong's Talk A Good Talk, are attracting thousands of users paying to enjoy the content. These successful cases have, no doubt, given content providers the incentive and hope to continue down this path. However, when users are paying for this content, are they contributing to the development of the knowledge-monetization industry, or merely a crazy fad? How will this model develop in the future? With these questions, China Daily website spoke to Wang Fugang, the author of the book New Thinking Method in the Mobile Internet Era and a senior journalist who has worked at Sohu.com, a Chinese online media company, for more than 10 years.

Q: You have discussed the development of the media industry and individuals' thinking methods over the past decade, and mentioned the changing business model in your newly-published book. In your opinion, what factors attribute to the success of the cash-in model for content in the era of fragmented digital reading?

A: Content payment is becoming acceptable for three main reasons. First of all, the surge in smartphones, tablet computers and broadband speeds has encouraged more people to pay for content they can carry around with them. According to a report by the Internet Society of China, the number of smartphone-based mobile internet users in China reached 780 million last year, representing 57 per cent of the population. "All-access" services, such as Sohu TV and Youku (for film and TV) or QQ music (for music), which give unlimited content on mobile devices for a monthly or yearly fee, are prompting people to spend more on digital products.

Secondly, major technological advancement has allowed people to accept payments on debit and credit from almost anywhere at anytime. Mobile payment has made it easier and more convenient than ever for consumers to pay on the move and has ensured that accepting mobile payment is not only a thing for big business.

Lastly, the information overload. We are receiving news every few minutes, and "moments" on WeChat are constantly posted on our feeds. Cheap and time-wasting information continuously bores us and sometimes makes us feel anxious. Never before has good content revealed its true value. Consumers now realize "cheapest is dearest".

Q: How do they get people to pay for content?

A: People will pay for convenience, especially if time is an issue. I've seen some successful models that focus on a particular life stage, such as pregnancy, and offer subscriptions to receive regular updates that cover that particular period. I would assume there is a similar opportunity for travel, but haven't seen anyone capitalize on it.

Another way to convince consumers to pay for content is to develop a product that is truly unique and professional. Like Ma Dong's Talk A Good Talk, people trust Ma Dong's professional insight, that's why they are willing to pay for his content. (Ma Dong has worked at CCTV for more than 20 years; he is well-known for his witty and humorous style.) It's apparent that making use of the names of thought leaders in the internet industry has become a common method to promote content.
FM urges Germany to back China's acceptance as market economy

Beijing sent a strong signal to the European Union to scrap protectionism with Foreign Minister Wang Yi calling on Germany to prompt the EU to redress a lapse in World Trade Organization protocol.

Meeting with Wang on Thursday, German Vice-Chancellor and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Berlin would help promote talks on the China-EU Bilateral Investment Treaty and welcomed Chinese investment.

The meeting on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Bonn raised the issue of protectionism, which clouds the EU's ties with its second-largest trade partner, China.

Wang told Gabriel that China hopes Germany will further play an active role in prompting the EU to honor at an early date Article 15 of the Protocol on China's Accession to the WTO.

According to Article 15, the use of the "surrogate country" approach in anti-dumping probes against China should have expired on December 11.

Through that approach, WTO members use the costs of production in a third country to calculate the value of products from countries on a "non-market economy" list, permitting high tariffs to be levied in trade disputes.

The surrogate country approach leads to discriminative antidumping probes and has triggered widespread complaints by Chinese businesses, observers said.

The EU failed to comply with Article 15, and China launched dispute settlement procedures in December at the WTO by requesting consultations with the EU and the United States.

Cui Hongjian, director of the European Department at the China Institute of International Studies, said what the EU had done "posed a barrier to reinforced China-EU trade cooperation".

Although China has sought WTO dispute settlement procedures, Wang indicated on Thursday that Beijing was willing to resolve this issue in a bilateral context, Cui said.

Cui said it was time for the EU to rethink the issue as it faces a changing trade landscape, and the administration of US President Donald Trump was pressuring the EU on trade and financial issues.

Chen Fengying, a senior researcher on world economy at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said the EU's failure to honor Article 15 sabotaged equality and affected talks on the China-EU Bilateral Investment Treaty.

Germany's hosting of the G20 meetings this year provides a good chance for it to work with China, the host country last year, to promote fair trade, Chen said.

In another development, media have speculated that Wang and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson could possibly meet this week.

Analysts said the two countries should seize the chance to talk on key topics, such as the South China Sea issue, to keep their relations on track.

Amid simmering tension on the Korean Peninsula, the meeting of the US and Chinese diplomats would be the first high-level one since Trump took office on Jan 20.

When asked on Thursday whether they would meet on the sidelines, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he had no information on the matter.

On issues likely to be raised at the potential meeting, Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, said China would focus on the South China Sea situation.

Fan Jishe, a researcher of US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the meeting was needed to outline the diplomatic road map for working-level contacts.
US President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, US, February 2, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will issue a new executive order to replace his controversial directive suspending travel to the US by citizens of seven mostly Muslim countries.

At a White House news conference on Thursday, Trump said the new order would seek to address concerns raised by federal appeals court judges, who temporarily blocked his original travel ban.

"The new order is going to be very much tailored to what I consider to be a very bad decision," Trump said, adding: "We had a bad court."

Trump gave no details about the replacement order. Legal experts said a new directive would have a better chance of withstanding courtroom scrutiny if it covered some non-Muslim countries and exempted non-citizen immigrants living in the US legally.

The original order, issued on Jan. 27, triggered chaos at some US and overseas airports, led to international protests, complaints from US businesses and drew more than a dozen legal challenges.

In a court filing on Thursday, the Justice Department asked for a pause in proceedings before the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which sided with a federal court in Washington state to suspend the travel ban, while litigation over its legality according to the US Constitution played out.

The Justice Department asked the court to vacate that ruling once the administration has rescinded its original order and issued a new one.

The ban has been deeply divisive in the United States, with a Reuters/Ipsos poll indicating about half of Americans supported it shortly after the order took effect.

Trump's decision to issue a new directive plunges court proceedings over his earlier order into uncertainty. Litigants around the country said they will carefully examine any new policy to see if it raises similar constitutional issues and will continue to pursue legal action if necessary.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who filed the case that produced the 9th Circuit ruling, claimed victory on Thursday.

"Today's court filing by the federal government recognizes the obvious - the president's current executive order violates the Constitution," Ferguson said, in a statement. "President Trump could have sought review of this flawed order in the Supreme Court but declined to face yet another defeat."

Trump has said travel limitations are necessary to protect the United States from attacks by Islamist militants. His original order barred people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the country for 90 days. Refugees were banned for 120 days, except those from Syria, who were banned indefinitely.

Trump said on Thursday that the widely criticized rollout had been "very smooth" and once again blamed the court for "a bad decision."

The Justice Department court filing on Thursday said Trump's order would be "substantially revised" but provided no more details than the president did at his press conference. Last week an congressional aide who asked not to be identified told Reuters that Trump might rewrite the original order to explicitly exclude green card holders, who have legal permission to live and work in the United States.

Stephen Griffin, a professor of constitutional law at Tulane University, said adding non-Muslim countries could also help a new order withstand accusations that it discriminates based on religion. Given that the administration already identified the seven Muslim-majority countries as a threat, he said, it would be unlikely to remove any of those.

"I'd speculate they would add to the list, as opposed to walk it back," he said.
National security adviser General Michael Flynn arrives to deliver a statement during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington US, February 1, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON, Feb 16 - US President Donald Trump's choice for national security adviser, retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward, has turned down the offer, sources familiar with Harward's decision said on Thursday.

Harward was offered the job after Michael Flynn was fired by Trump on Monday for misleading Vice President Mike Pence over his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the United States.

Two sources familiar with the decision said Harward turned down the job in part because he wanted to bring in his own team.

That put him at odds with Trump, who had told Flynn's deputy, K.T. McFarland, that she could stay.

Trump appeared to refer to Harward earlier in the day at a presidential news conference, saying, "I have somebody that I think will be outstanding for the position."

The president also made clear why he asked Flynn to resign on Monday, saying it was because the retired general had not been completely truthful with Pence about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak.

"The thing is, he didn't tell our vice president properly, and then he said he didn't remember. So either way, it wasn't very satisfactory to me," Trump said.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) meets with his British counterpart Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) foreign ministerial meeting in Bonn, Germany, Feb 17, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

Beijing and London are hoped to further champion the global free-trade system and shape a world economy of openness, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday.

He made the remarks when meeting with his British counterpart Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) foreign ministerial meeting held in the German city of Bonn.

Johnson said Britain is willing to strengthen strategic cooperation with China on international affairs and jointly promote bilateral and global free trade to enhance stability and prosperity.

China is ready to further promote the flagship cooperative programs between the two countries, including the Hinkley Point nuclear project, Wang said.

Also, Johnson reassured Wang that London subscribes to the one-China policy, and said there will be no change in the British position of upholding the "one China, two systems" policy in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of ambassadorial-level diplomatic relations between China and Britain.

Wang said Beijing would like to work with London to boost high-level exchanges and promote the value of the two-way ties in the "golden age".
Giant panda Bao Bao at the Smithsonian's National Zoo enjoys her special treat at a dumpling party on Thursday morning. [Photo by Chen Weihua/China Daily]

Bao Bao, the giant panda at the Smithsonian's National Zoo, did not disappoint at her Chinese dumpling farewell party on a frigid Thursday morning.

As a crowd gathered outside her yard, Bao Bao, who will return to China on Tuesday, wandered about, munching on bamboo and then napping on a tree trunk, leaving many to wonder how long the rest would be and when she would come and open a special food box with a jiaozi (Chinese dumpling) drawing outside. It was put in the yard earlier by her keeper.

To the delight of partygoers outside her yard, the siesta lasted about 10 minutes. But before strolling toward the food box, she climbed a tree, sitting near the top, looking around and relaxing before coming down to get her special treat 12 minutes later.

Bao Bao has been in the spotlight since the zoo announced her departure last October.

The dumpling party, with food provided by the Chinese embassy, was one of a series of celebratory events leading to her departure.

Helen Gonzales, who lives not far from the zoo, said she visits the giant pandas on most weekends since 2006, when Tai Shan, the first surviving panda born at the zoo, was only 9 or 10 months old. Tai Shan returned to China in 2010 to join the breeding program.

"It's sad. I know I would cry," she said of Bao Bao's upcoming departure. But Gonzales said she knew there is a good and important reason for them to go back.

"But I'm still going to miss Bao Bao, amazing panda," she told China Daily.

Visitors sample jiaozi (dumplings) provided by the Chinese embassy in Washington in a dumpling party on Thursday morning at the Smithsonian's National Zoo. It was part of a series of celebratory events to bid farewell to giant panda Bao Bao. [Photo by Chen Weihua/China Daily]

Bao Bao was born on Aug 23, 2013, through artificial insemination of giant panda Mei Xiang. Bao Bao was the first surviving cub at the zoo since 2005 after Tai Shan's birth.

At the beginning of the dumpling party, Lisa Washam of Ohio was writing on wish cards prepared by the zoo. "You are an amazing panda and the best is yet to come. I am very excited for you to take the next step. I can't wait to see your lovely cubs soon. And I am sure they are going to be as beautiful as you are," she said as in reading her message to reporters.

Washam had traveled to Washington in the past years for the debut of Bao Bao and her brother Bei Bei, born in August 2015.

Laurie Thompson, assistant curator of giant pandas at the zoo, described Bao Bao as "very unique".

"She is very independent girl. She loves to do what she wants. She vocalizes a lot when she wants something, a lot like her dad," said Thompson, referring to the zoo's 19-year-old giant panda Tian Tian.

Thompson called Bao Bao "a sweetheart. We love her here. But we know that our work here is done, we need to send her off on her way. Almost an adult now, so we need to let her go," she said.

Under a loan agreement between the zoo and the China Wildlife Conservation Association, cubs born in the zoo by giant pandas on loan from China also belong to China and should move to China before they reach the age of 4.

The zoo began training Bao Bao in recent months to acclimate her for a 16-hour flight to China in a huge shipping crate.

Michael Brown-Palsgrove, curator of giant pandas, said Bao Bao is now quite comfortable with the crate. "She has no hesitation to enter that space. I think she will be comfortable on the trip," he said.

Giant panda Bao Bao at the Smithsonian's National Zoo climbs a tree on Thursday morning at a dumpling party for her departure to China on Feb 21. [Photo by Chen Weihua/China Daily]

Bao Bao will be accompanied by a panda keeper and a veterinarian, plus some of her favorite foods, such as bamboo, sweet potatoes, apples and biscuits.

"She will probably just be resting, doing her normal routine  eating, drinking and sleeping," Brown-Palsgrove said.

While some news reports said that giant pandas returning to China from Zoo Atlanta had encountered language barriers, keeper Stacey Tabellario at the National Zoo said it should not be a big problem for Bao Bao because the hand signals used by her and her colleagues will be the same as those in China.

Online, the zoo has been sharing a Best of Bao Bao video, which shows her fun moments of looking like a stick of butter, her naming ceremony, her rolling down the snow in the yard and climbing on an ice cake on her first birthday.

Keepers also shared their favorite memories online. The dumpling partygoers on Thursday morning were lucky.

"On Christmas Eve in 2014, Bao Bao climbed a tree and did not come down when called, so I stayed late. I expected that I would have to stay well into the next day, but just before midnight, Bao Bao made her way down the tree and into the Panda House. It was our own Christmas miracle," wrote keeper Shellie Pick.

Besides Washington, giant pandas are also housed in three other US zoos, in San Diego, Atlanta and Memphis, Tennessee.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) meets with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) foreign ministerial meeting in Bonn, Germany, Feb 17, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

China and Russia vowed to strengthen communication and cooperation in international affairs as their two foreign ministers met in Bonn on Thursday.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministerial meeting that the countries should continue their firm support for each other and deepening comprehensive cooperation against the backdrop of the complicated development of international and regional affairs.

Also, China and Russia should go on helping maintain strategic stability in international affairs, Wang added.

China, he said, hopes to maintain high-level exchanges with Russia and communicate closely with it over major international and regional issues, and will firmly develop a bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination to jointly deal with various global challenges.

Lavrov said Russia hopes to work with China to arrange major bilateral agendas and strengthen strategic communication and cooperation on international affairs.

Both Wang and Lavrov agreed the countries should strengthen communication and coordination under the framework of the G20 and support an open and inclusive mechanism for the world economy and bilateral trade. They also agreed to enhance the role of the BRICS mechanism in the process of building a multilateral world.

The two also discussed the Korean Peninsula issue, agreeing to continue strengthening cooperation and make fresh efforts to help restart negotiations.
Birmingham Airport may be close to resurrecting a direct air route to China, while Edinburgh Airport is also hoping to invigorate Scottish tourism and business links with China through its own long-haul connection.

Birmingham Airport wants to restart a direct flight link to China. [China Daily]

If negotiations with the as yet unnamed airline succeed, it will be the first link between Birmingham and China since 2015, when a Chinese tour operator ran summer charter flights bringing holiday makers to the Midlands.

"Demand for flights to China from Birmingham is significant, driven mainly by the Midlands' strong trading relationship with China and we are in discussions with a carrier to reinstate services in the future following our successful Beijing operations in 2014 and 2015," a spokesperson for Birmingham Airport said.

In October, China and the UK's transport departments agreed to increase the maximum number of weekly flights between the two nations from 80 to 200. There are currently 38 flights a week operated by Chinese Airlines between both countries, while British airlines operate 29. The news was welcomed by industry players, however, it is challenging for UK airports that are not large transfer hubs to convince airlines to establish new long haul routes, according to Zheng Lei, director of the Centre for Aviation Research at the University of Surrey.

Zheng said: "For airlines, the biggest concern is demand. The airport needs to convince the airline there is sufficient demand in the airport's catchment area. And it's very difficult to get enough traffic for long-haul flights on a daily basis, that's why they operate on hub networks. Airports such as Edinburgh, Birmingham and Manchester are not hubs, so it's very difficult to convince airlines to fly direct into their region. They have to rely on local traffic rather than transfers and the local market may not be big enough."

Tourism and transport officials in Edinburghin the top five urban centers in the UK visited by Chinese touristshave officially lobbied for a direct link with China since 2015 when Marketing Edinburgh, the City of Edinburgh and Edinburgh Airport launched the Edinburgh China Air Link Project. Last week the project landed its first commercial sponsor, jeweler Laing Edinburgh.

Rob Laing, head of marketing at Edinburgh Airport, said: "Private sector support shows the nature of the commitment the city has to a direct air route. Edinburgh is the second most popular destination with Chinese tourists, behind London, in the United Kingdom, and we want to make sure that any potential airlines appreciate the scale of the support the private sector will of er as well."

A number of major airlines offer direct routes between London and China, including Virgin, British Airways, and Air China, while Hainan Airlines connects China and Manchester. In October 2016, British Airways terminated its direct route from London to Chengdu, stating it was no longer commercially viable. An end to financial support from Chengdu's local government and the absence of local affiliate airlines that were members of BA's alliance One world contributed to the cancellation.
The coming two sessions will draw world attention as China's growth remains strong despite the many global uncertainties, said Shakhrat Nuryshev, Kazakhstan's ambassador to Beijing.

The annual two sessions of the NPC, the top legislative body, and the CPPCC, the top advisory body, will be held in March, and their discussions will attract the attention of all foreign diplomats, Nuryshev said.

He told China Daily that China's economy, with sluggish global conditions and the "new normal" reducing the volume of foreign trade as well as overproduction in some sectors, is actively seeking new growth drivers.

Nuryshev said China, despite the status of a developing country, is one of the largest economies in the world and a key player in the international arena. In recent years under the leadership of President Xi Jinping China had demonstrated an active foreign policy and boldly seeks out new foreign markets. The role and place of China, as a responsible world power, is growing day by day, he said.

"Therefore, I can firmly state that the issues at the upcoming "two sessions" will not be a minor issues for us. All questions will be important in terms of the need for an in-depth study of China's future plans and strategies for further development," he said.

"How successful China will be in overcoming the existing difficulties and to ensure economic growth within the 6.5-7 percent range has attracted the attention of the entire world community," he said. "This is primarily due to the fact that China provides for about a quarter of global economic growth and has a direct impact on the economic situation of countries that are its trade and economic partners."

The ambassador said Kazakhstan is the closest neighbor, a reliable friend and strategic partner of China and occupies one of the most important places in the Silk Road Economic Belt.

The Silk Road Economic Belt proposal was announced by President Xi Jinping during a visit to Kazakhstan in September 2013. It has a deep symbolic and practical meaning, as the main transport corridors from China to Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Middle East and the Persian Gulf have already been built, put into operation and tested in the territory of Kazakhstan, according to the ambassador.

"That is why the two heads of state agreed on the conjugation of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Program of Infrastructure Development of Kazakhstan (Nurly Zhol)," he said.
Beijing is ready to "strengthen communication, boost mutual trust, manage and control differences and deepen cooperation" with Washington, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told new US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday.

Beijing's goal is to "achieve a greater development of China-US ties" during the tenure of US President Donald Trump, Wang added.

They met for the first time since Tillerson assumed his current post, on the sidelines during the Group 20 foreign ministers' meeting in Bonn, Germany.

This is the first high-level, face-to-face contact on diplomacy between the two governments since Trump entered the Oval Office on Jan 20.

Tillerson said only friendship could define the relationship, and the US expects to conduct high-level exchanges with China, according to an official release from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

The two countries hope to maintain, improve and reinforce dialogues and the cooperative mechanism in various spheres and have stronger cooperation in areas that include the economy, finance and security, Tillerson added.

In a telephone call earlier this month, Trump told President Xi Jinping the new US administration honors the one-China policy, and they both envisioned a better development of ties at a new starting point.

On Friday, Tillerson also reassured Wang on the one-China policy.
LONDON  Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair launched a campaign Friday to persuade the UK to rethink its decision to leave the European Union, saying those who want to remain should rise up and make their wishes known.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair delivers a keynote speech at a pro-Europe event in London, Britain, February 17, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

Blair argued that the Conservative government's drive to leave the EU "at any cost" will hurt future generations and damage the unity of the country itself.Last year's vote to leave the 28-nation bloc was "based on imperfect knowledge" and Britons made their decision without knowing the true terms of Brexit, he said in a speech in London."As these terms become clear, it is their right to change their mind," said Blair, the former Labour leader. "Our mission is to persuade them to do so."Blair's intervention reflects the bitter divide that has gripped Britain since the June 23 referendum. While 51.9 percent voted to leave the EU, the terms were not specified and Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May has been reluctant to discuss her plans fearing it will hurt the UK's bargaining position.Many in this country of 64 million have expressed disquiet at the potential consequences."They will say we don't represent the people. We do, many millions of them, and with determination, many millions more," Blair said. "They will claim we're dividing the country by making the case. It is they who divide our country - generation from generation, North from South, Scotland from England, those born here from those who came to our country precisely because of what they thought it stood for and what they admired."Blair spoke on behalf of Open Britain, which is campaigning for the government's Brexit legislation to be amended to ensure that Parliament has "proper scrutiny" over any deal May negotiates with EU leaders. Among the group's goals is for Britain to remain part of the bloc's single market, guaranteeing unfettered access to 500 million people.May has offered only broad outlines of her strategy, with reducing immigration a priority. She has argued that she must keep the Europeans guessing about the U.K.'s negotiation position, but pressure for details has been building as she prepares to invoke Article 50, which will trigger Britain's departure from the bloc.While supporters oppose any attempt to slow the drive toward Brexit, calling that undemocratic, Blair argued that the people have a right to change their minds. The leave campaign benefited from a mood of revolt stemming in part from changes in the global economy, but such opinions aren't set in stone, he said."The Brexiteers were the beneficiaries of this wave. Now they want to freeze it to a day in June 2016," he said. "They will say the will of the people can't alter. It can. They will say leaving is inevitable. It isn't."It wasn't immediately clear how much support Blair may have in creating a wave of sentiment against May's plans. The once-popular Labour Party leader suffered a fall from grace after he supported the United States in its intervention in Iraq.Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson dismissed the speech, telling the BBC that people should "rise up and turn off the TV" when Blair comes on.Blair was well aware he would be criticized and didn't spare his own party in his critique, declaring Labour to be ineffectual and a "facilitator of Brexit." He also challenged sections of Britain's media for what he described as a relentless pro-Brexit stance.Blair said he plans to build alliances across party lines to create a movement that has the weight and reach to fight back."This is not the time for retreat, indifference or despair," he said. "But the time to rise up in defense for what we believe."
US President Donald Trump shows Resolution 38, which nullfies the "stream protection rule", after signing at the White House in Washington, US, February 16, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

US President Donald Trump is poised to tap a Republican media relations firm owner to oversee his White House communications, according to media reports on Friday.

Crossroads Media founder Mike Dubke is expected to be named White House communications director, CNN, NBC and Fox News reported, a move that could help spokesman Sean Spicer, who has handled both duties since Trump took office last month.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the reports, and Crossroads Media did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

CNN, citing two administration officials, said the announcement could come as soon as Friday, adding that Dubke did not respond to a request for comment.

The appointment would help round out Trump's communications team, which also includes Hope Hicks, director of strategic communications, and Dan Scavino, director of social media.

Trump's previous choice to serve as director of communications, Jason Miller, declined the job in December.

Dubke's appointment could help shore up Trump's messaging efforts.

Spicer and Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway gave differing accounts on Monday before Michael Flynn resigned from his post as national security adviser amid controversy over his contacts with Russia. Conway told a television network that Flynn had Trump's full confidence, while Spicer soon after told reporters that Trump was evaluating Flynn.

Conway also publicly endorsed Ivanka Trump products in a recent television interview, prompting a call by the Office of Government Ethics for disciplinary action for appearing to violate government ethics rules.

A graduate of Hamilton College in New York, Dubke helped launch another communications firm in Virginia, the Black Rock Group, according to Crossroads' website.
The view from Comb Ridge is pictured in Utah's Bears Ears area of the Four Corners Region, Utah, US December 18, 2016. Picture taken December 18, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

When Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz of Utah introduced legislation last month to transfer about 3 million acres offederally-held public land to state control, he was bombarded by thousands of angry phone calls, letters and social media postsurging him to back off.

The pressure came not only from liberal environmentalists but also from gun-toting, often conservative outdoors enthusiasts who are central to Chaffetz political base. Both camps fear that transferring federal lands to state control could open them up to drilling and coal mining rather than recreation and preservation.

"I hear you," Chaffetz wrote in a post on his Instagram account announcing the withdrawal of the bill. "I am a proud gunowner, hunter and love our public lands."

Chaffetz's office did not respond to requests for comment onhis reversal.

Outdoor sporting groups - long associated with conservatism because of their support for guns rights and small government -are now collaborating with the environmental left to fight U.S.

President Donald Trump's push to open more public lands toenergy development. Such areas include national forests, parksand Native American tribal territories and account for about one fifth of the United States.

Recent funding data from the Foundation Center database,which aggregates information from tax filings, shows groups such as the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and the Outdoor Alliancehave accepted grants from big environmental and liberal foundations, including the Turner Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

The Hewlett Foundation gave $100,000 in 2015 to Backcountry,a conservation group created in 2004. The money accounted formore than two-thirds of its foundation grants that year, and Backcountry told Reuters it is an annual gift with no conditions.

Hewlett said it supports Backcountry because of its"critical work to preserve America's outdoor heritage of huntingand fishing and protect wild places."

The Turner Foundation gave an unrestricted donation of$100,000 to the Outdoor Alliance in 2015, the group's onlyfoundation grant that year.

"Conservation is a nonpartisan issue, and it is a shame itis being politicized," said Judy Adler, president of the TurnerFoundation.

The Environmental Policy Alliance, a pro-development organization, has said environmentalists finance sportsmens'groups as a way to provide conservative cover for a liberal agenda - turning the outdoors groups into green decoys.

The alliance, which says it aims to "uncover the funding and hidden agendas" of environmentalists, did not respond torequests for comment.

Highlighting the odd-bedfellows nature of such collaborative lobbying, the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers counts the president's son, Donald Trump Jr., as a lifetime member.

Officials at the Trump Organization, where Donald Trump Jr. is an executive, did not respond to requests for comment. A Trump administration official declined to comment.

Trump has made previous statements opposing the transfer offederal land to states, but has strongly supported more energy development in such areas.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meet on the sidelines of a gathering of foreign ministers of the G20 leading and developing economies at the World Conference Center in Bonn, Germany, on Friday. CHINA NEWS SERVICE

The first meeting between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday ended with an upbeat tone, which observers said will help clarify the US policy toward China and boost collaboration between the two countries on major bilateral and international affairs.

Beijing is ready to "strengthen communication, boost mutual trust, manage and control differences and deepen cooperation" with Washington, Wang told Tillerson as they met on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Bonn, Germany. It was the first high-level official meeting between the two countries since President Donald Trump took office.

The goal is to "achieve a greater development of China-US ties" during Trump's presidency, Wang said.

Tillerson said that only friendship could define the relationship, and the two countries will maintain and improve dialogue and cooperation in such areas as the economy, finance and security, according to the Foreign Ministry.

The media and many experts have paid attention to the talk since Tillerson, the former CEO of Exxon Mobil, told his Senate confirmation hearing that the US should block China's access to islands in the South China Sea.

On Friday, Tillerson also reassured Wang on the one-China policy.

During a phone call earlier this month, Trump told President Xi Jinping the new US administration honors the one-China policy, and they both envisioned a better development of the ties from a new starting point.

Ruan Zongze, vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies, said "the talks further clarified the new US administration's China policies", and Tillerson's reaffirming the one-China policy helps dismiss widespread doubts over the bilateral ties.

Ruan said many international issues, including the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue and Syria, need renewed coordination between China and the US.

Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, said the meeting was pragmatic and indicates that key mechanisms, such as the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue, will continue in previous or similar forms.

Zuo Xiying, a research fellow at the National Academy of Development and Strategy at Renmin University of China, said the two countries can strengthen, and even create, mechanisms for exchanging views on strategies and policies.

Wang also met with his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, on Friday and warned him over "negative moves taken by Tokyo recently over major sensitive issues".

Earlier this month, Tokyo asked the Trump administration for, and was given, reassurance that China's Diaoyu Islands are covered by the security umbrella of a US-Japan defense treaty.
Building a community of common destiny is "pretty significant" and "in the long run, it profits us all", said Philipp Charwath, chairman of the 55th session of the United Nations Commission for Social Development.

For the first time, the concept, which was proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2012, was incorporated in a UN resolution that was approved by the commission.

The resolution, presented recently as recommendations to the UN Economic and Social Council, calls on the international community to enhance the support for Africa's development "in the spirit of win-win cooperation and to create a shared future, based upon our common destiny".

The draft resolution won support from the group of 77 developing countries at the UN.

Charwath said the landmark concept is of great value to all UN member states and the UN itself in joint efforts to build a better world.

"It basically is an acknowledgement that we all depend on each other," Charwath said,

Climate change is one example, he said. Europe, China and the United States reached an agreement in Paris in December 2015 because "we all understand that we have only one shared future".

The concept also applies to economic development, he said.

"We cannot be happy with what we achieved in one part of the world if our neighboring region is suffering."

Charwath noted that Xi, in speeches in Switzerland in January, renewed his call for building a community of a shared future for mankind, offering inspiration to a world beset by rising challenges and risks.

"China is a country with a long history. Usually your perspective and how you look at things is longer than other countries," he said. "So look at the concept: It is a long-term vision."
Zhao Yumin, deputy consul general of China in Houston, talks about China's One Belt One Road initiative at Texas Southern University and how the US can participate in it. MAY ZHOU / CHINA DAILY

China's One Belt One Road initiative is not just for China and other countries are invited to participate, said Zhao Yumin, the deputy Consul General of China in Houston.

Zhao and Consul of Egypt Rahem Kholeif discussed One Belt One Road on Thursday at Texas Southern University and what it means for China, Egypt and the world, and how it can benefit the US.

"It's a colossal program, China can't do it alone. If the initiative can't benefit others, nobody would join. China is seeking win-win solutions for all to progress. It's important to have shared benefit," Zhao told the audience.

He said One Belt One Road, is not a new concept, and recounted the history of the ancient Silk Road of more than 2,200 years ago that peaked during the Tang Dynasty. It was a land route that began in western China's Xi'an and went into East Europe.

When Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the One Belt One Road initiative in 2013, he referred to that historical trade route, and it means connectivity and inclusiveness in a world rapidly going global, said Zhao.

One Belt One Road has made headway in the past three years, he noted. China and 21 nations have set up 56 economic cooperation zones. In 2016, China invested $14 billion in One Belt One Road countries and had $900 billion in trade with them.

"This region has 4.4 million population accounting for 63 percent of the world's population, but GDP is only 29 percent of world total," Zhao said.

The average per capita GDP in the countries is only $4,000. The total GPD is valued at $21 trillion. It means there is a lot of room for development, he said.

China is planning a summit in Beijing in May to discuss strategies and projects of One Belt One Road. Zhao said that under the current atmosphere of de-globalization and protectionism, the summit wants to stress the importance of interconnection and inclusiveness.

The US can benefit from One Belt One Road, Zhao said, noting that there are so many high-speed railway, road and power plant projects in the region. US companies can profit by investment and technology transfer to do some of the projects, he said. "We often refer some projects to US companies," Zhao said.

While it's relatively easy to attract US companies to participate in One Belt One Road projects because of economic gains, Zhao said it's hard to get US government support for it.

"However, we work hard to communicate. The atmosphere is changing since last call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. We are working hard with your government. We need to do a lot with government at state, city and county level. We want to persuade American people that China is willing have a stronger relationship with the US, and US company can benefit from One Belt One Road."

"It is China's initiative but it belongs to the world. China wants to build its own economy but also help with global economy," Zhao said.

Consul of Egypt Rahem Kholeif discussed her countrys participation in OBOR with the audience. "When in 2013 Chinese President Xi announced OBOR, Egypt and China relationship entered a new phase  partnership," said Kholeif.

Why is Egypt interested in Chinese initiatives? Kholeif said thats because the OBOR initiatives are in line with Egypts objectives: economic cooperation, people interaction, and working together those are the key to create a peaceful world.

Kholeif also discussed Egypts importance in OBOR: its location enable it to provide logistic services to the Middle East and Africa. "China can access 2 billion people market through Egypt," said Kholeif.

China and Egypt have signed MOU with China to invest $15 billion in Egypt, and Egypt to allocate 75 million sqft in the Suez Canal Zone, Kholeif said.

Kholeif also said OBOR can help bring peaceful solution for ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. "Economic cooperation may be a new viable solution when diplomatic and military measures have failed. These initiatives may overcome the source of conflicts," Kholeif said.
(Photo : US Army) U.S. Army infantry.

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The Pentagon has neither confirmed nor denied reports President Donald Trump has approved plans to send thousands of regular U.S. Army soldiers to Syria to do battle alongside rebel allies fighting to destroy the terrorist group ISIL now close to total collapse after heavy battlefield defeats.



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U.S. media said the deployment might occur as early as March. They also said the Pentagon is crafting plans that will send an unspecified number of regular U.S. Army combat troops and their supporting personnel into Syria to bump-up the force of 500 combat advisers coordinating efforts to destroy ISIL.



They report Trump has directed the Pentagon to accelerate plans for defeating ISIL. Trump was also reported to have expressed a willingness to expand the United States' military presence in Syria.



Some sources claim the army is considering deploying up to 30,000 men in Syria to attain Trump's campaign promise of speeding-up the prosecution of the fight against ISIL, and to protect safe zones for the 11 million Syrian refugees who have fled the fighting.



Other political observers said such a massive commitment of U.S. ground troops not seen since the surge in U.S. ground troops committed to the Iraq War by former U.S. president George Bush in 2007 will be deeply unpopular with the war-weary American public.



The 2007 surge saw the deployment of over 20,000 American infantry and was a militarily successful gamble that severely weakened the Sunni-led insurgency in Iraq.



It is not clear if the 30,000 figure refers to the combined total of combat troops and support troops. If it does, this means fewer than 10,000 of these men will be combat infantry. The rest will be support personnel. If it doesn't, and refers only to combat troops, it means over 100,000 men will be shipped to Syria.



There are currently some 500 U.S. troops deployed to Syria and another 5,000 in Iraq. The need for American combat infantry is apparently being driven by the need to seize Raqqa, the capital of the ISIL caliphate, much faster than planned.



The commitment of a U.S. force that will be the equivalent of two U.S. infantry divisions will break completely with the strategy of former U.S. president Barack Obama, who relied on small teams of elite warriors from the United States Special Operations Forces (SOF) to advise and guide the Syrian Democratic Forces fighting both Assad and ISIL.



Sources in the army revealed that some 2,000 men from the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team (BCT) stand ready to be deployed to Syria. Some 1,800 men from the 2nd BCT are in Iraq as part of the U.S. military's train-and-advise mission.



The big question now is how Russia will react to this massive U.S. military deployment that also threatens the regime of its ally, Bashar al Assad.



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TagsPentagon, President Donald Trump, U.S. Army, Syria, ISIL, Barack Obama, 82nd Airborne Division, 2nd Brigade Combat Team
(Photo : Getty Images. ) The war is considered as a sore chapter in the history of the bilateral relationship between both countries, which has also been marred by territorial dispute over South China Sea region.

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Dozens of Vietnamese people gathered in the capital city of Hanoi on Friday to commemorate the 38th anniversary of Sino-Vietnam war. The brief bloody war considerably strained the relationship between China and Vietnam for nearly a decade, before both countries normalized their relation in the early 1990s.



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The commemoration event happened amid heavy police presence as participants laid flowers and lit incense in front of the statue of King Ly Thai To, the founder of Hanoi city. The police used loudspeakers to regulate the crowd and urged them to disperse as soon as possible.



"I was moved because many people came here to lit incense to remember these heroic martyrs who sacrificed themselves defending Vietnamese borders," said Phung The Dung, one of the participants. He claimed that the police were trying their best to limit the public commemoration.



The Vietnam's government has tried to maintain a distance from the event as it clearly does not want to irk China. The country's online newspaper Vnexpress accused the government of trying to suppress the war's legacy. It claimed that most history text books in schools rarely mentioned about the war.



Nearly 38 years ago, China attacked Vietnam in response to the latter's invasion of Cambodia. The brief war ended after China pulled back its forces nearly one month later with both countries claiming victory.



The war is considered as a sore chapter in the history of the bilateral relationship between both countries, which has also been marred by territorial dispute over South China Sea region. However, recently there has been a thaw in their bilateral relationship.



Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc visited Beijing in September last year to mend ties. This was followed by Vietnam's communist party chief Nguyen Phu Trong's visit to China last month.



During these two high profile visits, both countries vowed to peacefully settle their differences over the South China Sea.



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(Photo : Getty Images. ) The pledge to deepen the economic cooperation was made during a meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson in the German city of Bonn. Both foreign ministers met on the sidelines of G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting.

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China and Britain have made a fresh vow to promote free trade and work on building a liberalized global economy as both countries speedup their efforts to start the much talked about "golden era" in their relationship, Chinese state media Xinhua reported on Thursday.



The pledge to deepen the economic cooperation was made during a meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson in the German city of Bonn. Both foreign ministers met on the sidelines of G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting.



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Wang said both nations would enhance cooperation on vital projects such as the Hinkley Point Nuclear Project and also seek to consolidate collaboration on trade issues through high-level exchanges.



Johnson responded by saying that Britain will continue to work on strengthening its relationship with China on international affairs.



The British government has stated that it is hopeful that China will sign the free trade agreement as soon as it leaves the European Union later this year. It is equally hopeful that the Brexit issue will not adversely affect Chinese investment into the country.



Last year, China and Britain's bilateral relationship was temporarily hit by a row over the Hinkley Nuclear Project. British Prime Minister Theresa May postponed the ambitious nuclear project in July, after citing security concerns over Chinese investment.



Although May approved the project a couple of months later, her initial decision to defer the project did not quite go down well with the Chinese government. However, the British leader wrote a special letter in August to the Chinese leadership before approving the Hinkley project in a bid to repair the ties between both nations.



May is now expected to visit China later this year to attend the new Silk Road Summit. This would be her second visit to the Asian country in less than a year. She visited the country to attend the G20 summit in September last year.



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Tagschina, Britain, China and Britain, China and Britain Free Trade, free trade, Hinkley nuclear power project
(Photo : Indian Navy) The aircraft carriers INS Vikramaditya and INS Viraat during TROPEX 2015.

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The Indian Armed Forces' largest annual combat exercise -- the Theater Readiness Operational Exercise or TROPEX -- this year is being directed against a new enemy -- China.



Begun Jan. 27, the month-long TROPEX 2017 is being held in the Arabian Sea and in western India and involves the Indian Navy; the Indian Air Force; the Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Army. Warships and aircraft of the navy's Western Naval Command and Eastern Naval Command are leading the exercise.



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TROPEX 2017 is the largest ever TROPEX, the first of which was held in 2006.



TROPEX is designed to test the combat readiness of all three armed services and the Indian Coast Guard. It also seeks to strengthen interoperability and joint operations in complex combat environments.



Over 60 warships, among which are the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (069), the largest ship in the navy; the amphibious transport dock INS Jalashwa (L41); five submarines (including the nuclear-powered attack submarine INS Chakra), and more than 70 aircraft from the Western and Eastern Naval Command are taking part in TROPEX 2017.



The air force is deploying its Sukhoi Su-30MKI air superiority fighters; SEPECAT Jaguar attack aircraft; DRDO Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEWACS) aircraft; Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules military transport aircraft and the Ilyushin Il-78MKI aerial refueling tankers.



A highlight of TROPEX 2017 was the firing of a BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from the guided missile destroyer INS Chennai (D65), and the firing of a Kh-35 anti-ship missile from an upgraded IL-38 Sea Dragon maritime patrol plane.



The missile launches were witnessed by Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief of the Naval Staff; General Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Army Staff and Vice Admiral Girish Luthra, Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command.



The INS Chakra conducted simulated attacks on other Indian Navy's submarines that played the roles of Chinese and Pakistani submarines.



TROPEX 2017 also features Large Force Engagements (LFEs) by navy fleet units against threats simulated by the Indian Air Force, whose Su-30MKI, Jaguars, AWACS and Il-78MKI tankers represented enemy aircraft from the People's Liberation Army Air Force and People's Liberation Army Navy.



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TagsIndian Armed Force, Theater Readiness Operational Exercise, TROPEX, TROPEX 2017, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force, Indian Coast Guard, Indian Ar, Indian Army, INS Vikramaditya, Admiral Sunil Lanba, General Bipin Rawat
(Photo : Lintao Zhang/Pool/Getty Images) Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong (R) hug Androulla Vassiliou (L) of European Union Commissioner after the signing ceremony during the second meeting of China-EU high-level People-to People Dialogue at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China.

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The Chinese government has asked the European Union to do away with trade protectionism to ensure the success of the China-EU Bilateral Investment Treaty.



The call was made by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who urged the EU's leadership to resolve the issue during a meeting on Thursday with German Vice-Chancellor and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, China Daily reported.



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The meeting between the two diplomats took place on the sidelines of the G-20 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Bonn, Germany.



It was during the meeting that concerns over protectionism, which is considered as a lapse in the World Trade Organization's (WTO) protocol, were raised by the Chinese envoy.



Policy analysts say that unless this matter is decisively resolved, it would be difficult to move the China-EU Bilateral Investment Treaty forward.



In particular, Wang appealed to the German government to exert more pressure on the EU to honor an early date that operationalizes Article 15 of the Protocol on China's Accession to the WTO.



Article 15 states that the use of the "surrogate country" approach in anti-dumping probes against China should have already been scraped since Dec. 11.



With this approach, WTO members use the costs of production in a third country to determine the value of products based on a "non-market economy" list.



Unfortunately, this practice has not augured well for the world economy in general, as it has allowed high tariffs to be slapped on "erring" member-nations during trade disputes.



It also provides a disincentive for trade deals such as the China-EU Bilateral Investment Treaty.



Moreover, the strategy has resulted in discriminative antidumping probes and prompted widespread complaints from Chinese companies.



In the meantime, a European expert on China-EU cooperation that greater collaboration between China and Germany will be a boon to both countries, the Europerter reported.



In an interview with Xinhua, Luigi Gambardella, president of ChinaEU, a Brussels-based business-led association, said that he expects China to import eight trillion euros worth of goods and attract 600 billion euros of foreign investments.



Gambardella also anticipates China to pour in around 750 billion euros in outbound investments, and Chinese tourists to make 700 million overseas visits to the EU.



With these developments, concerned officials must ensure that the China-EU Bilateral Investment Treaty receives the support that it deserves to ensure its success in the coming years.



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An Egyptian Coptic Christian was gunned down by suspected ISIS militants as he made his way to the school where he teaches.

According to Christian Today, Gamal Tawfiq, 50, was targeted by the militants who shot him in the head as he made his way to El-Samran School in el-Arish, Northern Sinai, where he works as a teacher.

The suspected militants were riding a motorbike and reportedly followed Tawfiq from his home.

Tawfiqs murder marks the second Christian killed in under a week.

Another Coptic Christian, Bahgat Zakher, was also killed by militants. In recent months, there have been several other Christian-targeted killings in Egypt, including five Coptic Christians who had their throats slashed in January, and a massive suicide bombing of a church in December that killed 27 people and wounded over 40.

Christian persecution has been increasing in Egypt, which is number 17 on Open Doors 2017 World Watch List for Christian persecution.

"For long, incidents of shooting and killing Christians were sporadic, but recently we are witnessing an increase that I think will turn into a repetitive pattern in el-Arish," said Ishaq Ibrahim, a researcher at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.

The majority of Egypts population is Sunni Muslim, while Christians account for about 10 percent of the population.

Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotots.com

Publication date: February 17, 2017
The states of South Dakota and Virginia both recently declared pornography a public health crisis, joining the state of Utah in recognizing the severity of porns effect on society.

In South Dakota, the resolution passed unanimously among legislators who noted that children are being exposed to porn at an alarming rate, and that porn is linked to a lessening desire in young persons to marry.

In Virginia, legislators acknowledged similar negative effects or porn, noting that exposure to porn has a direct correlation to lessening desire in young men to marry, dissatisfaction in marriage and infidelity, according to Relevant Magazine.

Last year, when Utah declared porn a public health crisis, many organizations applauded the resolution. Dawn Hawkins, the executive director of the National Center of Sexual Exploitation stated at the time, "The research is clear: pornography is significantly linked to decreased brain matter in regions of motivation and decision-making, and to increasing cases of sexual dysfunction.

"Beyond the negative impact pornography can have on one's physical health, it is also associated with alarming social ills like increases in sexual violence and increased beliefs that women enjoy rape," she added. "Pornography is clearly a poison that any society striving for ideals of personal well-being, equality, and respect cannot tolerate.

The new resolutions aim to not only raise awareness of porns negative effects, but to encourage action steps that can be taken to combat this national scourage.

The virginia resolution calls for more education, prevention, research, and policy change at the community and societal level in order to address the pornography epidemic that is harming the people of the Commonwealth and the nation.

Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com

Publication date: February 17, 2017
Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Washington State issued its much-anticipated opinion in State of Washington v. Arlenes Flowers and Ingersoll v. Arlenes Flowers.

The only way to see this decision is as a major setback for religious freedom.

The case involved an anti-discrimination complaint brought against Barronelle Stutzman, the 71-year-old owner of Arlenes Flowers, and I might add, one of the nicest people on the planet. Three years ago, a long-time customer whom Stutzman considered to be a friend, asked her to create a floral arrangement for his same-sex wedding.

Stutzman declined because her Christian belief that marriage is the union of one man and one woman prevented her from using her artistic talents to promote contrary ideas about marriage. Instead, she referred him to three other floral design artists who she knew would do a good job.

The customer then filed suit against Stutzman and was joined by the State of Washington.

In 2015, the trial court found that Stutzman had violated Washingtons anti-discrimination law and ordered her to pay a $1,000 fineand the ACLUs legal fees, which could approach a million dollars. Also, Stutzman could no longer operate her business according to her beliefs without risking further legal sanction.

The appeal to the state Supreme Court drew so much interest that arguments were held in an auditorium at a local college instead of at the Courts facilities. Judging by the justices questions and response, they didnt appear to be sympathetic to Stutzmans plight.

So sadly, it was no surprise that the Court ruled unanimously against Stutzman. It rejected her claim that any discrimination, if it existed, was on the basis of marital status and not sexual orientation. In a case of deja vu all over again, it cited Obergefells language and then took it even a step further, claiming that to not service a same-sex wedding serves to disrespected and subordinate gays and lesbians. For this and other reasons, the Court concluded that Washingtons anti-discrimination law applied to Stutzman.

The court then turned to the question of her rights under the U.S. and Washington State constitutions. And to put it straightforwardly, the Court was unsparing in its rejection of her claims.

It ruled that her floral arrangements werent speech but instead conduct, and that this conduct does not inherently express a message about [a same-sex] wedding, any more than providing flowers for an Islamic wedding amounts to endorsing Islam.

Citing Employment Division v Smith and analogous cases under Washingtons constitution, it rejected her free exercise claim that the Washington law could only be upheld if it served a compelling governmental interest in the least restrictive means possible.

Justice McCord wrote that even assuming that [the Washington law] substantially burdens Stutzmans religious free exercise, [it] does not violate her right to religious free exercise under either the First Amendment or (the Washington Constitution) because it is neutral, generally applicable law that serves the state governments compelling interest in eradicating discrimination in public accommodations.

As our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom, who represented Stutzman, put it bluntly: [T]he Washington Supreme Court has punished Barronelle Stutzman for peacefully operating her business consistently with her faith. Now ADF will appeal to the Supreme Court. In the meantime, they ask us to pray for Barronelle and to urge President Trump to keep his campaign promise and make religious liberty a first priority by signing an executive order to protect religious freedom.

Look folks, for more than 40 years weve been fighting the courts to save the unborn. Now we find ourselves at the beginning of a long march to restore religious freedomour first freedom under the constitution. We cannot grow weary.

And I ask LGBT advocates, is this really what youre fighting for, to destroy people like Barronell Stutzman, your neighbors who have served you and the community kindly for so many years?

Come to BreakPoint.org for more on yesterdays tragic ruling and to find out what you can do to support Barronelle Stutzman and religious freedom.

BreakPoint is a Christian worldview ministry that seeks to build and resource a movement of Christians committed to living and defending Christian worldview in all areas of life. Begun by Chuck Colson in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on todays news and trends via radio, interactive media, and print. Today BreakPoint commentaries, co-hosted by Eric Metaxas and John Stonestreet, air daily on more than 1,200 outlets with an estimated weekly listening audience of eight million people. Feel free to contact us at BreakPoint.org where you can read and search answers to common questions.

John Stonestreet, the host of The Point, a daily national radio program, provides thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.

Publication date: February 17, 2017
The federal government has canceled a request to an appeals court judge asking for the Obama administrations guidance on bathrooms to remain in place for several states.

The withdrawal was filed on February 10 to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In 2016, the Obama administration issued a guidance to all public schools, directing them to allow students to use bathrooms according to their gender identity.

However, 13 states sued the administration, during which case a federal judge ruled in the suing states favor and forbid schools across the country from applying the guidance. The Obama administration thereafter appealed, and asked the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to allow the directive to apply to all other states except for the 13 which sued the government. The hearing on that latter request was scheduled to take place on February 14, but the current Department of Justice withdrew that request.

The Trump administration has previously shown support for the LGBTQ community, and has stated on January 30 that it would continue protections placed by the Obama administration for LGBTQ federal workers. LGBT community activists have expressed concern that the federal government is taking a step back from its support.

Our concern is that its a very clear signal that at a minimum the Department of Justice  and possibly more broadly throughout the Trump administration  will not protect transgender students, said Sarah Warbelow, legal director for the Human Rights Campaign.

The Human Rights Campaign and other LGBT rights organizations sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Monday asking them to keep the Obama administration bathroom directive.

Each of these guidance documents is based on years of careful research to accurately reflect a substantial body of case law and proven best practice from schools across the country, the organizations state in the letter.

Meanwhile, conservatives like Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council lauded the move.

The Trump administration is right to stop the legal defense of an indefensible edict that violates the rights of parents and the privacy of schoolchildren nationwide, Perkins stated. While this is a welcome first step, we are hopeful that the Trump administration will formally withdraw the Obama edict so that parents and schools will remain free to protect the privacy and safety of every student.
For most of my adult life, I have been a believing Christian and a committed conservative. I didnt see any conflict between the two until my wife and I welcomed our firstborn child into the world in 1999. Nothing changes a mans outlook on life like having to think about the kind of world his children will inherit. And so it was with me. As Matthew grew into toddlerhood, I began to realize how my politics were changing as I sought to raise our child by traditionalist Christian principles. I began to wonder what, exactly, mainstream conservatism was conserving. It dawned on me that some of the causes championed by my fellow conservativeschiefly an uncritical enthusiasm for the marketcan in some circumstances undermine the thing that I, as a traditionalist, considered the most important institution to conserve: the family.

I also came to see the churches, including my own, as largely ineffective in combating the forces of cultural decline. Traditional, historic Christianitywhether Catholic, Protestant, or Eastern Orthodoxought to be a powerful counterforce to the radical individualism and secularism of modernity. Even though conservative Christians were said to be fighting a culture war, with the exception of the abortion and gay marriage issues, it was hard to see my people putting up much of a fight. We seemed content to be the chaplaincy to a consumerist culture that was fast losing a sense of what it meant to be Christian.

In my 2006 book, Crunchy Cons, which explored a countercultural, traditionalist conservative sensibility, I brought up the work of philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, who said that Western civilization had lost its moorings. MacIntyre said that the time is coming when ...

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Egypts top Anglican leader is accusing its top evangelical leader of attempting a hostile takeover to prevent Egyptian Anglicans from achieving state recognition as an independent national church.

The dispute first surfaced in 2001, but this past summer Egypts High Administrative Court ruled against Anglican independence. This means the Anglican Diocese of Egypt must function as a full member of the Protestant Churches of Egypt (PCE).

Representing 18 denominations, the umbrella group coordinates the registration of marriages, deaths, property ownership, visas, and other legalbut not doctrinalmatters.

The most important thing for me is the unity of the Protestant community, said Andrea Zaki, president of the PCE and a Presbyterian pastor. I dont want it to be divided. This would weaken Protestants, and not develop the strengths we have.

The Anglicans originally filed their case against the Egyptian government. The PCE says soon after, the court obliged them to join as defendants in the Anglican effort at independence.

After the June 2016 ruling, Anglican bishop Mouneer Anis filed a new suit in a lower court. Zaki followed up with key Egyptian agencies to apply the ruling, and the Ministry of Interior informed the Anglican diocese in September that it needed PCE approval for a visa application for an overseas worker.

At a December court hearing, Anglican attorneys addressed procedural faults in the June ruling. That court did not address their petition for the Egyptian president to recognize their denomination as independent, as they believe the law gives him the right to do.

We were in Egypt before the Protestant church formed, said Anis, ...

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One morning this past September, Gene Luen Yang was backing out of his driveway in San Jose, California, to go to his writing studioa nearby Panera Breadwhen he got a call. Someone from the MacArthur Foundation was on the other end, informing him that he was among 23 winners of the $625,000 MacArthur Fellowship. Also known as genius grants (a term the foundation dislikes), the annual award recognizes innovative, creative leaders in any industry who are American citizens or residents.

I eventually made it to Panera, the Chinese American graphic novelist, writer, and cartoonist told Vulture. But I didnt get much work done.

A MacArthur Foundation statement said that Yang was recognized for bringing diverse people and cultures to childrens and young adult literature and confirming comics place as an important and creative force within literature, art, and education.

As our news sources, social media feeds, and even our churches are increasingly siloed, many Christians feel disconnected from their neighbors and the world. Yangs work counteracts this trend, nudging us to explore the different and the unfamiliar to better understandand loveperspectives that are not our own.

Yang is among a distinguished slate of Americans who have been awarded the no-strings-attached prize, including paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould, activist Marian Wright Edelman, sociologist William Julius Wilson, and writers George Saunders and Ta-Nehisi Coates. Yang, 43, is only the third graphic novelist to receive the honor in its 35-year history.

I dont know if it will ever actually sink in, Yang admitted to me in an interview two ...

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I had the privilege or reading a pre-release version of "God Shines Forth: How the Nature of God Shapes and Drives the Mission of the Church." Here are 20 quotes from the book, which you should pick up.
African American enslaved Christians bore witness to the gospel despite the threat of punishment at the hands of fellow Christians.

Most of us would recall the early centuries of the Church as the era of persecution, when thousands of Christians became confessors or martyrs by suffering or dying for their faith at the hands of the Roman authorities.

And, in a discussion of the topic, we probably would mention the modern waves of persecution that swept over Christians under the antireligious regimes of Communist states in Eastern Europe.

Few, I think, would identify the suffering of African-American slave Christians in similar terms, as a prime example of the persecution of Christianity within our own nation's history. And yet the extent to which the Christianity of American slaves was hindered, proscribed, and persecuted justifies applying the titles confessor and martyr to those slaves. Like their ancient Christian predecessors, they bore witness to the Christian gospel despite the threat of punishment and even death at the hands of fellow Christians.

For example, slave Christians suffered severe punishment if they were caught attending secret prayer meetings which whites outlawed as a threat to social order. And yet they endured suffering rather than forsake worship.

In 1792 Andrew Bryan and his brother Sampson were arrested and hauled before the city magistrates of Savannah, Georgia, for holding religious services. With about 50 of their followers they were imprisoned and severely flogged. Andrew told his persecutors "that he rejoiced not only to be whipped, but would freely suffer death for the cause of Jesus Christ."

Eli Johnson claimed that when he was threatened with 500 lashes for holding prayer meetings, he stood up to his master and declared, "I'll suffer the flesh to be dragged off my bones  for the sake of my blessed ...
Christians Sentenced To 80 Lashes Of The Whip  For Taking Holy Communion

Three Christian converts in Iran are appealing against a sentence of 80 lashes each  for the crime of receiving Holy Communion.

Yaser Mosibzadeh, Saheb Fadayee and Mohammad Reza Omidi were arrested last May.

All three men, along with their pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, were charged with acting against national security but the three lay Christians were also charged with consuming alcoholic communion wine. Last September they were sentenced to receive 80 lashes each and are now appealing against this, Open Doors reports.

They have also been warned by Iran's Revolutonary Guard against meeting together or attempting any kind of evangelism.

According to their lawyer, it should not be illegal for them to drink wine because they are Christians. Alcohol is only banned for Muslims in Iran.

However, problems arise when Iran refuses to recognise conversions and insists on treating new Christians as Muslims still.

Open Doors is appealing for prayers that the judge will overturn the sentence of 80 lashes and that Iran will start to recognise Christian converts.

Nadarkhani became an international symbol of the fight for religious freedom when he was first sentenced to death for apostasy, and then acquitted, then charged again with 'acting against national security'.

He was also accused of being a Zionist and told he was banned from evangelism.

Iranian security staff had raided their home among 10 other Christian homes they targeted in Rasht.
Could This Be The End For Britain's Ugliest Cathedral?

Guildford Cathedral, the 20th century redbrick structure condemned by critics as 'looking half finished', faces possible closure.

The Grade-2* listed cathedral, which is in financial crisis with an annual deficit of up to 100,000, is on Stag Hill, where kings used to ride to hunt deer. It now overlooks the University of Surrey.

The plan to build 134 homes on land neighbouring the cathedral was intended to replenish the coffers.

But councillors at a planning meeting were told that the new homes would give the cathdral 2 million and an annual income of a few hundred thousand pounds, falling well short of the 17.2 million needed to save it.

Bishop of Guildford Andrew Watson told the meeting: 'The truth is this: that the cathedral faces the real possibility, in fact probability, of financial failure, of closing its doors, if this planning permission is not granted.'

Dean of Guildford Dianna Gwilliams said: 'There is no plan B, we welcome more than 90,000 people a year and the running cost of the building is immense,' according to the local website, Guildford Dragon which reported the meeting

The Dragon also quoted Richard Vary, a judge and a local resident, who said: 'It's accepted that this development does not comply with planning guidelines: poorly laid out, lacking green space, less than optimal living environment, overlooking neighbours, significantly exceeding the Local Plan.'

Just three councillors voted against a motion to refuse the planning application.

Guildford became a diocese in 1927. The cathedral was designed by architect Sir Edward Maufe. Work began in 1936 but war-time and other delays held back completion until May 1961, during which Holy Trinity church in the city served as the temporary cathedral.

If the cathedral closes for good, Holy Trinity is most likely to become its replacement.

Holy Trinity is far more conducive to the style of new church as witnessed in the Fresh Expressions initiatives which now make up more than 15 per cent of church communities. An example in the Guildford diocese is the cafe church of St Paul's, Dorking, which takes place on the first Sunday of the month and where juice, hot chocolate, tea, coffee, croissants and cakes are served, with music playing and Sunday newspapers to enjoy.

Such churches attract young people and families and could not be further removed from Guildford Cathedral, a building which, in spite of the best efforts of clergy and volunteers, is more like an afterthought on top of a hill than an invitation to meet Jesus.

One way it was financed was by inviting people to 'buy a brick' for Guildford.

In his new book, England's Cathedrals, former Times editor Simon Jenkins writes: 'As a child, I "bought a brick" for Guildford. When later taken to see it in place, I was mortified. It was lost among millions of bricks, among cliffs of interminable, relentless brickwork. Disappointment still hangs about this place, lonely on its hill outside the town.

'Cars stream along the A3 below, scarcely noticing. Even the approach road has been likened to the entrance to a crematorium.'

Jenkins gave it just one star in his five-star cathedral ratings guide in the book, making it equal bottom with others such as Derby and Bradford, and also Brentwood Roman Catholic Cathedral.

The cathedral chapter said in a statement: 'Clearly we are disappointed by the decision reached by Guildford Borough Council. As Trustees, members of the Guildford cathedral chapter have a responsibility to consider all options open to securing the Cathedral's long-term future. We will carefully consider the reasons for refusal before deciding the next steps.'
Egyptian Christian Gunned Down By Suspected ISIS Militants

An Egyptian Christian school teacher has been gunned down on the way to work by suspected ISIS militants in Sinai, Egypt.

It was the second killing of a Christian in under a week in the area.

Gamal Tawfiq, 50, was shot in the head on the way to El-Samran School in el-Arish, Northern Sinai. His two killers rode by motorbike and had followed Tawfiq from his home, Associated Press reports.

There has been no official claim of responsibility, but a security official said that ISIS militants in Sinai were the main suspects.

Less than a week before on Sunday, militants shot and killed a local vet Bahgat Zakher, in el-Arish. In January Wael Milad, a merchant was gunned down by militants in his shop. Both men, like Tawfiq, were Coptic Christians.

In a brutal killing spree in January, five Coptic Christians in Egypt were murdered, all found with their throats slashed.

ISIS claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing of a Cairo church in December that killed 27 people and wounded over 40. The terrorist group called the attack a 'martyrdom operation' targeted at 'infidels' and 'apostates'.

Egypt has an estimated population of nine million Christians. Mostly Orthodox Copts, they account for about 10 per cent of Egypt's population, which is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim.

'For long, incidents of shooting and killing Christians were sporadic, but recently we are witnessing an increase that I think will turn into a repetitive pattern in el-Arish,' said Ishaq Ibrahim, a researcher at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.
Franklin Graham Defends Describing Transgender People As 'Weirdos' - 'Jesus Wasn't Real Loving Sometimes'

Franklin Graham has defended his judgmental language towards Muslims, gay people and political opponents by saying Jesus himself used harsh words sometimes.

In an interview with WBTV  a South Carolina based channel  Graham described transgender people as 'weirdos that want to force themselves into girls' locker rooms and to women's bathrooms' and called on Trump not to tone down his rhetoric towards immigrants.

'Jesus wasn't real loving sometimes. He called the Pharisees vipers, snakes, whitewashed tombs,' he said.

'So, you have to understand the world in which we live is dangerous.'

Asked whether Trump should tone down his aggressive rhetoric to unite America, Graham disagreed and said the country should 'look to God for healing' instead.

'No, I'm not going to tell him to tone it down,' Graham said. 'I mean, my goodness, he got to where he is by being who he is.'

The son of evangelist Billy Graham also repeated his attacks on former President Barack Obama for not backing police 'the way he should have' in the Black Lives Matter protests.

And he seemed to repeat Donald Trump's call for tougher police action.

'It sends a message that 'I'm not going to stand by and let y'all do this. Y'all want to riot and burn your streets? Well guess what? We're going to come in there with federal officers if need be and we're going to put a stop to it.''

But in a softer moment he admitted his 98-year-old father struggles to hear or see well.

'Communication is very difficult with him,' Franklin Graham said.

'He kind of shuts down. Maybe one or two word kind of sentences.'

He added: 'Of course, you'd like to see him like he was 20 years ago. But this is part of life.'
How Christians Can Strengthen Their Quiet Time With God

Sharing a quiet moment with God on a daily basis is easier said than done, and a lot of Christian struggle in sustaining this habit.

Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church wrote on his website that believers need not beat themselves up over this struggle. "The good news is that with a common problem come some common solutions. Next time you find yourself struggling with your daily quiet time  or even before you start to struggle  try some of these solutions," he suggested.

First, Warren said Christians should make a covenant and commit to God how much time they want to spend with Him everyday. It does not matter if it's just two minutes or it's as long as two hours, said Warren, because what's important is how Christians use that time to strengthen their spiritual lives.

Next, Warren said it would help if Christians specify their quiet time on their weekly schedule, be it on their computer, phone, or planner. "Block out in advance a time to meet with God every day, just as you would a doctor's appointment, a business lunch, or a meeting with your boss," he said.

Third, Warren said Christians should be prepared for attacks of the devil, because he will definitely do everything he can in his power to stop people from drawing closer to God.

It would also help if Christians try to make this commitment for six straight weeks at first. "Psychologists say it takes about six weeks for a habit to develop," explained Warren. "It takes about three weeks to get familiar with a new task or new behavior. It takes about another three weeks before it becomes a solid habit in your life."

Warren said a lot of people have never been consistent about their daily quiet time with God because they've never managed to make it past the six-week mark without missing a day. This is why it's very important for people to rely on God-power and not willpower, the pastor stressed.

"You can only succeed by the power of God's Spirit. Ask God to strengthen you and give you the mind of Christ, so you'll depend on him to help you develop this habit. If you just depend on willpower, you don't have any hope to stay consistent," he said.

Earlier, Warren also discussed the benefits of reading the Bible. He said that God's Holy Book was written for Christians' encouragement, so they would definitely get hope and wisdom every time they read its pages.

"God's Word has the power to change your life. It has God's power in it. Nothing else does. The Bible will give you the 'real stuff'  true encouragement," he said.
How The Fight For Religious Liberty Is Harming Christian Witness

Barronelle Stuzman, the Washington Florist convicted under anti-discrimination legislation after refusing to provide flowers for a gay wedding, has lost her appeal against conviction. The Alliance Defending Freedom, which backed her, is seeking to raise $24 million to take her case to the Supreme Court.

As things are, she will lose. But President Trump has signalled, in a leaked draft document, that there's change on the way. He wants to give sweeping exemptions to anti-discrimination laws to people of faith on conscience grounds. If he gets his way  and it's a big if  people like Barronelle will be able to serve whomever they please.

For US conservatives, this is a big deal. They see what they regard as godless and immoral lifestyles privileged above their own normal, decent standards. They don't see why the government should tell them what to do. They are completely unmoved by appeals to the 'rights' of LGBT people  what about theirs? And they are entirely unconvinced by the argument that sexuality should be a protected characteristic, like race. They're just not the same.

Stutzman is a long way from being the only US religious freedom cause. Christian bakers and hoteliers have also fallen foul of the law, as they have in the UK: hoteliers Peter and Hazelmary Bull lost a long-running discrimination case brought when they refused to allow a gay couple to share a bedroom. For US conservatives like Russell Moore, Stutzman is 'the target of a government that wants to steamroll her constitutional rights'. For UK conservatives like Mike Judge, whose Christian Institute backed the Bulls, 'the elite institutions are saturated with a liberal mindset which cares little about religious freedom'.

And the trouble is, the way the debate is framed has become so antagonistic that litigation has come to seem like the only way forward. Christians play the world's game, and that means that even if they win, they lose.

In Stutzman's case, if she wins  or if Trump does bring in his religious liberty executive order  it gives the wider world even more permission to paint Christians as 'those people who hate gays'  though Stutzman clearly doesn't, any more than the owners of Ashers Baking Company do in the UK. Equality and anti-discrimination legislation was brought in to protect people who really had suffered discrimination against those who had traditionally inflicted it, and want, in many cases, to continue doing so. Resisting it aligns Christians with the wrong side and talk about our 'rights' is entirely beside the point.

Does that mean religious liberty can just be set aside? Absolutely not: it's of fundamental importance. But no liberty is absolute. Christian freedom will sometimes clash with another freedom, and it's a puzzling argument, to say the least, that says Christians should always win. There has to be give and take. Compromise is not a dirty word; compromise is about respecting the rights of other people and acknowledging their humanity.

Here's what I think is wrong about the way these debates play out at the moment.

I think laws forbidding discrimination are, in principle, correct. I don't believe you should be able to refuse to serve someone just because they're gay and you're not  or vice versa. And I really do know and understand what that means for people who believe that their sincere, deep and perhaps costly views about sexuality mean that they can't comply. I can see what it means for the bed and breakfast owner who feels profoundly that hosting a gay couple would mean conniving at sin. I think they're wrong  I think that someone's personal moral decisions are virtually irrelevant beside the huge question of whether they know Christ as their saviour  but I understand.

But I also see what it means for a gay couple who are turned away at the door. I can imagine the hurt, the perceived insult and the anger.

I do worry about a moral uniformity being imposed on us which leaves less and less space for dissenters. But I'm not happy, either, with the image of the Christian as the person who is always saying 'No', resisting change to the last ditch, convinced that he or she is the world's victim.

I'm sorry about Barronelle Stutzman, just as I was sorry about the Bulls and about Ashers. But there's a third way, that I don't think enough conservative Christians are exploring. What happens if Christians resolve not to play the world's game at all? What happens if we don't stand on our rights and if we don't feel that we have to adjudicate other people's moral decisions? What happens if, instead of trying as hard as we can to win our case, we try as hard as we can to show grace?

So imagine this: instead of standing up for their rights, going to court and providing the media with great stories about discrimination against Christians  or Christians discriminating against other people  Christians who believe that homosexual relations are profoundly wrong decide to do something completely different.

They realise that their disapproval probably isn't going to make anyone agree with them. It won't make anyone act any differently. All they'll know is that Christians are people who reject them. So these conservative Christians decide that they'll bake that cake or offer that hotel room or officiate at that wedding, and do it gladly  and leave the outcome to God.

I suspect this will be a minority response. There are powerful advocacy groups whose identity  and income  derive from fighting just these sorts of cases. But I'd like more Christians to pause before becoming outraged about how their rights are being infringed. It would, I think, be more Jesus-like.

Mark Woods is the author of Does the Bible really say that? Challenging our assumptions in the light of Scripture (Lion, 8.99). Follow him on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods
Islamist Extremists Spill More Christian Blood In Egypt Amid Fears That More Attacks Are Forthcoming

Christian blood was spilled a second time in less than a week in Egypt, raising fears that Islamist extremists could be planning more deadly attacks on the country's Christian community.

Suspected extremists gunned down a 50-year-old Coptic Christian teacher, on his way to school in el-Arish, northern Sinai on Thursday, Crux Now reported. He was shot in the head by two militants on a motorbike, authorities said.

On Sunday, suspected militants shot dead a veterinarian in the same Egyptian province.

Last month, in a span of two weeks, five Coptic Christians in Egypt were killed in a series of brutal attacks. All of them had their throats slashed, the World Watch Monitor (WWM) reported.

Killed from Jan. 3 to Jan. 16 were a Christian store owner in Alexandria, a 60-year-old Christian man and his 48-year-old wife in northern Egypt, a 35-year-old surgeon, and a 37-year-old married father of two in Cairo.

In all these five cases, the victims were reportedly killed in their own homes with no signs of a struggle or robbery. In one of the cases, a Muslim man confessed that he killed the Christian store owner for selling liquor in his store.

Before January ended, suspected extremists stormed a Christian shop and killed another merchant.

All the attackers in the remaining cases remained unknown.

Egyptian authorities claimed robbery was the motive in most of the cases even though no valuables were found to have been taken from the victims.

"Copts have been terrified by the nature of the killings and believe the victims were singled out because of their faith," WWM said.

Egypt is ranked as the 21st worst nation persecuting Christians, according to Open Doors USA's 2017 World Watch List.

Also in January, Egyptian prosecutors dropped a case against a group of Muslims accused of stripping a 70-year-old Christian grandmother naked and parading her in the streets in Egypt.

The prosecutors said they didn't have enough evidence to convict the accused despite oral testimonies presented in court supporting the victim's claims from family members and the police officers who were present at the scene of the crime, which happened in May 2016.

Egypt has an estimated population of nine million Christians, mostly Orthodox Copts, accounting for about 10 percent of Egypt's population of 92 million, which is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim.

The Copts have long complained of discrimination and have frequently been targeted by Islamist extremists.

In December, a suicide bombing in a packed Coptic church in Cairo claimed by the Islamic State killed nearly 30 worshippers.
Mexican Mother Of Four Hiding Out In Colorado Church To Avoid Deportation

A Mexican mother of four is seeking refuge inside a church in Denver, Colorado to avoid being deported by federal immigration authorities.

Jeanette Vizguerra, who has lived in the U.S. for over 20 years and has three children ages 6, 10, and 12  all born in the U.S.  said she fears being deported after the White House announced a stricter stance on illegal immigration.

She decided to stay at the First Unitarian Society church after Immigration and Enforcement officials refused to grant her another "stay of removal" while waiting for the outcome of her visa application, according to the CS Monitor.

Vizguerra has applied for a U.S. visa, which is often given to people who have been victimised by crime. She was already given five extensions during the Obama administration, because officers understand that applications like these can last over two to three years.

But during her scheduled check-in with Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) officials in the Denver suburb of Centennial, Vizguerra failed to show up. Her lawyer Hans Meyer and a minister went in lieu of her, and they were told that her sixth extension would not be granted.

"This is a big, huge red flare that the Trump administration has plans to deport as many people as possible," said Meyer.

ICE spokesman Shawn Neudauer said Vizguerra was an "enforcement priority" because she had two misdemeanor convictions. The first one was for using falsified documents, and the second one was for re-entering the U.S. illegally after going to Mexico for her mother's funeral.

Vizguerra, who is a former union organiser and house cleaner, said the crimes for which she stands accused were related to her work in the country. She admitted that she forged her identity documents and Social Security number because she wanted to have a job to support her family.

"You can see the reasons behind me why I am fighting so hard to win my case," she said.

Meanwhile, several economic experts have warned that Trump should be careful with his new immigration policy because the U.S. economy and workforce would actually be a "disaster" without immigrants, ABC News reported.

"If all immigrants were just to disappear from the U.S. workforce tomorrow, that would have a tremendous negative impact on the economy," said Daniel Costa, the director of immigration law and policy research at the Economic Policy Institute, an economic research think tank based in Washington, D.C.

"Immigrants are overrepresented in a lot of occupations in both low- and high-skilled jobs," he explained. "You'd feel an impact and loss in many, many different occupations and industries, from construction and landscape to finance and IT" if they are deported to their home countries.
More Babies Born At 23 Weeks Are Surviving, Thanks To More Widespread Use Of Steroid Treatment

A new study has revealed that fewer premature babies are dying, and it's all because of the more widespread use of steroids on women.

The study was conducted on 4,500 babies between 2000 and 2011, according to the Daily Mail. The study showed positive results since those born between 23 to 37 weeks gestation showed better chances of survival.

The research's chief author, Dr. Noelle Younge of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, said this can be credited to mothers having more access to steroids prescriptions. Because of this, women suffering from risky pregnancies can get their foetus to grow faster.

"At 23 weeks we did see an improvement over time," said Younge, who is a neonatologist and assistant professor of paediatrics at Duke.

Younge's group checked data from three periods  from 2000 to 2003, from 2004 to 2007 and from 2008 to 2011. They considered a typical pregnancy to last about 40 weeks, while babies born before 37 weeks are preterm. Those who are born much earlier, around 22 to 24 weeks, are considered to have the most serious neurological problem.

However, they discovered that the overall wellbeing of those who were born at 22 to 24 weeks showed a 4 percent improvement compared to the earliest study period, since their rate of survival without neurodevelopmental impairment actually improved.

Their death rate declined from 70 percent to 64 percent in 2011, and their impairment-free rates went up from 7 percent to 13 percent.

However, the research team warned that "there is likely to be substantial variation" in the long-term functioning of children.

"Although early neurodevelopmental assessment is important for the timely identification of children at risk for long-term neurologic impairment or developmental delay, its capacity to predict later functioning is limited," their study reads.

Meanwhile, a different study conducted by a team from The Stockholm Environment Institute at the University of York blames polluted air for premature birth.

"In 2010, about 2.7 million preterm births globally  or 18 percent of all pre-term births  were associated with outdoor exposure to fine particulate matter," the study revealed, according to India Today. Other risk factors include the mother's age, illness, poverty, and other social factors.
Mother Of Man Who Killed Pastor Turns To Christ After Church Shows Forgiveness, Compassion

Her son had killed a pastor, but instead of anger, the pastor's congregation showered her with love and forgiveness.

Overwhelmed by the show of Christian virtues, the unidentified woman from Vietnam embraced Jesus Christ, the Gospel Herald reported, citing a source from the Christian Aid Mission (CAM).

"She saw the love of the people towards her, and so she believed in Christ," the Christian ministry director based in Vietnam's Nghe An province said.

The woman's son, also unidentified, was reportedly the driver of a car that fatally ran over the pastor of a local ministry in an incident that happened last year, CAM said.

Another astonishing development happened following the death of the pastor, the unnamed ministry director revealed.

He said the director of another ministry in the region went to the pastor's congregation to offer his condolences. When he asked them if anyone was interested in serving as a replacement for the late pastor, 30 men raised their hands and volunteered to serve the Lord in a region in Vietnam where residents have shown resistance to the Gospel.

Because of the congregants' eagerness to pursue what the fallen pastor started, there are now 12 other churches in the area, the ministry director revealed.

Vietnam ranks 17th on this year's Open Doors USA's World Watch List of 50 top Christian persecuting countries, up three spots from the 2016 list. Christians account for just 9.5 percent of the country's population of 92.7 million.

Vietnam saw a rise in religious freedom violations last year, according to persecution watchdog International Christian Concern (ICC).

It said Catholic and Protestant groups and even members of unrecognised forms of Buddhism were barred from attending services. Government agents brutally attacked Christians and removed the crosses from their churches, it added.

The report was backed up by the Vietnam-based Association to Protect Freedom of Religion, which also noted an increased level of harassment by the authorities on Christians.

"The instances of religious persecution got increasingly worse," Father Anthony Le Ngoc Thanh, head of the association, told Uca News.

He said authorities coerced religious leaders into giving up church property, and prevented Christians from attending services, even during last Christmas.
Pope Francis Says It's Okay To Brag About This 'Thing'

Christians are told not to brag, but Pope Francis said there's one thing they should not hesitate to brag about  their hope in Jesus Christ.

The Pope told pilgrims during the general audience in the Pope Paul VI hall on Wednesday that bragging often tears people apart with envy and greed, but boasting about Christ actually does the opposite.

"The hope that we have been given (in Christ) does not separate us from others," he explained, according to the Catholic News Agency, and nor does it lead people "to discredit or marginalise them."

"Instead, it is an extraordinary gift for which we are called to become 'channels,' with humility and simplicity, for all," he added.

Pope Francis was reflecting on apostle Paul's Letter to the Romans during his catechesis. In the letter, Paul was boasting "in hope of the glory of God."

"So our greatest pride is to have as a Father a God who has no favorites, who does not exclude anyone, but who opens His home to all human beings, beginning with the last and the distant, because as His children we learn to console and support each other," he said.

God is "above everything," the pope said. Once people accept that, they will experience true peace and freedom in their lives. "And then this peace extends to all areas and to all the relationships in our lives: we are at peace with ourselves, we are at peace in the family, in our community, at work and with the people we meet every day on our way," he said.

Earlier, David Scudder of Bethel Church also talked about Christian bragging. He said Paul used to brag being a pure blooded Jew who was fluent in the Hebrew language. He was also a Pharisee the strictest of all the religious leaders. However, his bragging came to a screeching halt after he met Jesus.

"Paul learned that without Christ he had no hope, but that with Christ he had his sins forgiven and an eternal friend. If Paul only had Christ, then he knew that he had all he needed. All those things he used to brag about now meant nothing to him," said Scudder.
Priest On The Front Line Of The Refugee Crisis Speaks Out

A priest who acts as an Army chaplain has spoken about the conditions aboard the board where he is stationed.

Speaking to the Catholic News Agency, Father Alberto Gaton talked about his position on a Spanish rescue ship which patrols the Mediterranean Sea and rescues boats which have got into difficulty.

In recent months he says the team has rescued around 3,000 people. 'Seventy percent of them are Christians fleeing from persecution in their countries,' he told CNA. 'They're fleeing persecution from Boko Haram in Nigeria, the terrorists groups, the situation in their countries.'

The clergyman celebrates communion every day on board the resuce boat. He says that in five months, he has yet to see a rescue that wasn't successfully carried out. 'Thanks be to God,' he said, 'we were able to rescue all the boats we were responsible for, even though some of them were in very bad sea conditions.'

As a Roman Catholic Priest, he has been meeting Christians of other denominations on the boat. He says he spent some time with a Protestant pastor who was on the run from persecution. 'I helped him in everything I could,' Fr Gaton said, 'I am always there with the families, with the sick.'
Tory MP: Some Conservative Anglicans Are The Same As ISIS

A former vice-chair of the Conservative party has compared some conservative Christians to the militant jihadist group ISIS in an article calling on the Church of England to 'fully embrace the 21st century'.

Michael Fabricant, MP for Lichfield, told the Church 'to take a tough line on its less progressive elements' as he suggested it is time for the worldwide Anglican Communion to split.

'Simply opting for more of the same for the sake of unity amongst a diverse Communion  some of whose views differ little from ISIL  is a choice of quantity over quality,' he wrote in the Telegraph.

'Perhaps the Church should take a tough line on its less progressive elements: get with the times or get out. The longer the Anglican Communion shies away from modern liberal values, the greater the chance that its British, American and Commonwealth Churches will become mere shells of their former selves.'

The Tory MP admitted he is an 'agnostic' but added 'there is much to admire about the Church of England' and said he wants it to thrive.

'Embracing liberal Christianity may actually halt the fall in the Church of England's congregation numbers as well,' he wrote.

'Religiosity may be declining in the UK but it does not have to be this way. Perhaps if the Church's teachings were more in-step with the population at large that would in turn lead to more churchgoers.'

He added: 'Surely the most important thing is that the core teachings of Jesus, based around love and charity, are heard by all? If some in the Communion want to break away and follow a more conservative version of Christianity so be it, but let the Church of England and the Anglican Communion fully embrace the 21st century.'

But at the same time the Church faces diametrically opposing calls over its next steps from the conservative Anglican grouping GAFCON UK.

After a report the CofE's ruling body threw out keeping a conservative line on sexuality, GAFCON responded by suggesting a 'better way' for a Church that 'now finds itself in disarray'.

In a statement after the biannual general synod, the fringe body with links to a number of the more conservative Anglican provinces in the global south, laid out seven principles for 'a better church future'.

Claiming the traditional Anglican Communion had failed, they called 'orthodox Anglicans' to unite around GAFCON's own statement of faith as an alternative and rival body of churches.

They called for firm boundaries excluding those who reject church teaching even it is 'costly'.
Turkey Nightclub Massacre Gunman Says He Wanted To Kill Christians  But Murdered Mostly Muslims Instead

"My purpose was to kill Christians."

That was the terse explanation given by the man charged with killing 39 people on the first hour of 2017 at Istanbul's exclusive Reina nightclub, the World Watch Monitor (WWM) reported.

Abdulkadir Masharipov, an Uzbek national, made the statement while testifying before a Turkish court last week, nearly a month after he was arrested by police in Istanbul.

But there is one glaring problem in his testimony: There were few, if any, known Christians among the people he killed and injured in his seven-minute rampage at the nightclub just after New Year's Eve on Jan. 1, 2017.

The fatalities included 12 Muslim Turkish citizens. The rest were visiting foreigners, more than half of them Muslim Arab nationals, including seven Saudis, according to WWM.

About 600 New Year's Eve revellers were at the nightclub when Masharipov mowed them down with his Kalashnikov assault rifle.

Turkish security sources said the attacker was a highly trained killer who used special forces techniques to cause maximum mayhem, the Daily Mail reported. He used armour-piercing bullets known for their tendency to ricochet as well as penetrate barriers, creating terrible carnage in the crowded nightclub, they said.

He even used flares to light up his targets, the sources said.

Eyewitnesses also said the attacker appeared calm while systematically killing his victims.

During the hearing, Masharipov admitted that he was a member of the Islamic State (ISIS), which had claimed responsibility for the attack. ISIS claimed that the massacre was in revenge for Turkey's military support for the coalition battling the jihadist forces in Syria.

But Masharipov reportedly claimed that his attack was not against the state of Turkey although the first person he shot dead was a Turkish policeman stationed outside the nightclub.

"I believed it was an act of revenge against the murderous actions carried out by the world's Christians, an act of retaliation on their holiday," Masharipov told the court, according to Hurriyet newspaper, which based its report on a confidential court document.

The self-confessed ISIS terrorist said he had planned to commit suicide after the attack rather than be captured. He also declared that he did not regret what he had done, even urging the court to sentence him to death.
Vatican Embassy Opened By Palestinians As Part Of Statehood Bid

A new embassy for Palestinians has been opened at the Vatican. The National Catholic Register reports that the move comes after an agreement signed by the Vatican and Palestinian leaders in 2015. The move is partially symbolic, given that there is currently no State of Palestine  although that remains a goal of some Palestinian politicians.

It was possible to open the Embassy because the Vatican is not only the centre of the Roman Catholic Church, it is also a small state in its own right, which means it can agree its own diplomatic arrangements.

Around two per cent of the Palestinian population is Christian  and there are significant Roman Catholic sites within the Palestinian territories  such as Bethlehem.

Israel has discouraged unilateral moves to extend statehood-like arrangements to the Palestinians. Meanwhile Donald Trump's new administration has been unclear on the future path it plans to take on the likelihood of a Palestinian State alongside Israel.

It seems unlikely that any moves towards full statehood will begin in the near future. Even so, speaking about the new embassy, Issa Kassissieh, the Palestinian ambassador to the Holy See, called the move "a significant achievement for the Palestinian people."

The Vatican's relationship is with the Palestinian Legislative Council, based in the West Bank. It is said to have no relationship with Hamas, which runs Gaza.
What About The Rights Of The Gay Christians Who Choose Celibacy?

As a former anti-Christian gay rights campaigner and a 27 year old theology student, I now live a joyful life of celibacy in Christ. General Synod's action to vote down the Bishop's report felt like a blatant rejection of people like myself. I stand with 1000s around the world who live similar lives and joyfully so, but also who desperately need support from our Gospel-believing brothers and sisters, a breaking of the culture of silence but also not to be identified or valued alone for our sexuality. What the gay rights world has forgotten is 'what about our rights?'

I have often heard contributors say that the bishops didn't listen to the Shared Conversations, in which I took part. This is the furthest from the truth  the bishops listened to gay and same-sex attracted people like myself who are obeying scripture's clear command and wanting to ensure our rightful place in our Church.

We are a minority within a minority; a minority in the Christian world and a minority in the gay, secular world. We are arguably the most vulnerable group and we were very hurtfully accused of so many lies in this one-sided mudslinging match. What I noticed in all the exchanges, was that two Christians, Samuel Allberry and Ed Shaw, both on the Living Out team with me, were totally gracious. They did not accuse others of anything but kept their contributions focused on Jesus Christ and His will for the Church.

As a gay teenager and an anti-Christian gay activist, what made my life so difficult was the sheer confusion and fear in the Church, and in secular society, where, as Michel Foucault predicts in the History of Sexuality, sexuality has replaced the human soul.

In the Church, either the teaching of scripture was taught like a law hung over my head, where homosexuality was the worst sin, or I was told gay marriage was totally fine. None of these options were true to the Bible I read or the reality of Jesus Christ, who I met miraculously in a pub in the gay quarter of Sydney seven years ago. He is a loving, gracious, but truthful friend, who didn't expect me to understand His teaching on these matters straight away. He is patient, kind, longsuffering and doesn't keep a record of wrongs. Acceptance and not affirmation is the hard line that Jesus maintained. That is a rare diamond in the rough of moderation that is becoming increasingly hard to find. If we lose scripture, we lose Jesus Christ.

Confusion in Christians, fear, profound hurt and an incapacity to understand Christians in the gay rights world and pressure from the media sphere which treats this issue like a game is what made my life so difficult. It was a lack of support, a lack of grace, a lack of love from everyone. It was never loving to either deny or change the truth of God's clear teaching on marriage and sexuality, but it was to provide the grace to understand it. Only Jesus ultimately provided that for me. To him I give the praise.

As a gay Christian man who has chosen to give my life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, sexuality included, I stand in line with millions of saints who followed Jesus Christ in the same way, leading chaste lives. We share the beautiful life of getting to enjoy heaven now, where there will be no sex or marriage but perfect friendship and love between all.

Being gay or same-sex attracted is not ultimately about romance or having sex, it is about a shared experience of awakening to same-sex desire in a world that often doesn't understand that desire. There is a shared experience in that, and not all gay people, like myself, choose to enter into relationships because of our faith.

Yet, we are not talking about the state, or the world 'out there' in this discussion. I would not usually stand up, or even write this article regarding changing the definition of marriage in government, if it were concerning the secular world. Let us not forget that we are talking about the doctrine in Jesus' Church. His Word is first. The history of the Church of England has been to offer safe space to work out one's relationship out with God. It is a place where you can wrestle with profound intellectual, spiritual, and emotional questions relating to God, but where ultimately, God's Word goes.

Richard Hooker, the Reformer who embodied the Anglican spirit combined both the high authority of scripture, with reason and tradition, to allow space for broader questioning and unity between traditions in the Church. If the definition of marriage changes, the Church of England will no longer be a place which I, and thousands of other faithful Christians, can call our sojourning home. We are not trying to push some agenda on the Church. We are just asking for it to be true to itself.

The recent General Synod then comes down to this question: does the Church of England make its decision based on scripture, tradition, and reason and the experiences of gay/same-sex attracted people like myself or do they go with the experience of some who say contrarily to this combination of all four? I think the answer is obvious.

We all like to pretend there is a middle way. A via media between the choices on the table. Jesus doesn't allow us that. We all like to live comfortable secular or Christian lives where our basic success is not threatened and where we can just get on with the business of middle class life.

For the disciple of Christ who is same-sex attracted or gay like myself, standing up for what the Spirit is clearly saying in our stories and in the Word of God, and in the tradition of 2000 years, there is no such thing. Either God in scripture, tradition, reason and in my story has spoken or He is lying. Either our God is different to us, or he is made in our own image. The next step is to love each other in light of this. This is what the clergy really need to be showing us. The Bishops tried, and for that I am truly grateful.
Why We Should Not Take Ourselves Too Seriously: 7 Fun Looks At Evangelical Christian Culture

No one in life should take themselves too seriously, and certainly not Christians. The Church has a beautiful, radical, profound message to share with the world, one that should be celebrated and taken seriously. But the Church also participates in a lot of silliness that from time to time just needs to be called out, and somehow evangelical Christians seem to be the most ripe for lampooning.

Here are seven fun videos that lovingly but provocatively mock evangelical Christian subculture. It's 500 years since the Reformation, when Martin Luther first called out the Church of the day for how it was going wrong. With his '95 theses' you might say Luther really coined what became the millennial obsession with 'lists' that put the world to rights. We're just carrying on the tradition.

1. The modern church service

Evangelicals may like to reject the 'liturgy' and 'religious traditions' that other denominations might rely on, but they've made plenty of their own in contemporary worship services. All the usual suspects are here, from the hip pastor to the pretentious preacher, and the resounding chorus of 'This is the closing song, with strings that will make you cry.'

2. Shoot Christians say

This glorious assembly of ridiculous sayings and tropes from the contemporary Christian world is a joy to behold. If you've never seen these before, then bless you.

'I think he's backsliding...Hows your heart?'

3. The Evangelism Linebacker

Some people have the gift of evangelism, and are able to share their faith in a loving, thoughtful and compelling way. Others take a more direct approach, and the admirably zealous 'Evangalism linebacker' shows why furious Bible-bashing (or tackling someone into a wall) can be a little unhelpful. But hey, he gets results.

4. St Patrick's bad analogies

This brilliantly sharp piece from 'Lutheran Satire' makes fun of just how hard it is to understand and explain the doctrine of the Trinity without getting it horribly wrong. Poor St Patrick gets schooled by some Irish peasants for his constant heretical attempts to describe how God can be one, in three persons. It's really quite educational.

5. Why men shouldn't be pastors

This slightly more provocative video shows takes reasoning often used to show why women shouldn't be pastors to explain why in fact men should not be pastors. Some will disagree with the conclusion of course, but it's at least a fun reminder not to use certain nonsensical cliches when talking about such a sensitive topic.

6. How to write a worship song

This witty tutorial teaches you how to write a classic Christian worship song. As it says: 'One thing in your song should always be on fire. Be it our hearts, our souls, this generation...something needs to be in flames.'

7. Christian Tingle

Ever struggled with the concept of Christian dating and relationships? 'Christian Tingle' delightfully lampoons just how awkward, cheesy and cringe-worthy the enterprise can be.

'If you're looking for someone to date, other than Jesus, look no further than ChristianTingle.com...because God can use the internet too.'

You can follow @JosephHartropp on Twitter
I had only one wish: to help Le Corbusier get the recognition he deserved

Le Corbusier: Important Works from the Heidi Weber Museum Collection will form a centrepiece of the Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale , the first auction in the 20th Century season in London (28 February10 March)

Heidi Weber first met Le Corbusier in the summer of 1958 at Cap Martin on the Cote dAzur. The encounter marked the beginning of a close and remarkably productive partnership between the pair. With passion and determination, Weber embarked on a number of collaborative projects with Le Corbusier, from the successful commercial adaptation of his furniture designs to publishing his graphic works and nurturing the market for his art. I had only one wish: to help Le Corbusier get the recognition he deserved for his paintings and sculptures, she once said. Weber also funded the construction of his last building, the Heidi Weber Museum  Centre Le Corbusier on the shores of Lake Zurich in Switzerland, which was completed in 1967, two years after Le Corbusiers death.

Described variously as the leading ambassador, spiritual heiress and mentor of Le Corbusier, Heidi Weber was, in Le Corbusiers own words, a monster of perseverance, devotion and enthusiasm. She developed an unparalleled collection of his work, from the elegant, rigidly structured Purist compositions of the late 1910s and early 1920s, to the exuberant multi-hued creations of his later years. The diversity that characterises Le Corbusiers oeuvre can be seen in the three oil paintings, tracing Le Corbusiers career from the 1920s to the 1940s, and four works on paper that feature in the Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale and Works on Paper sales in London during 20th Century season at Christies (28 February to 10 March).

The selection of three oil paintings and four works on paper demonstrates the range and plasticity of Le Corbusiers oeuvre, and reveals an artist who constantly defied definition

Although Le Corbusier regarded himself first and foremost as a fine artist, he rarely exhibited this side of his practice, choosing instead to keep it hidden from critics and a wider public. One of the first to recognise the importance of his painting, drawing and sculpture, Weber dedicated herself to the promotion and dissemination of this aspect of his work.

Open a larger version of this image Le Corbusier (1887-1965), Accordeon, carafe et cafetiere, 1926. Oil on canvas. 51 x 35 in (130.2 x 88.9 cm). Estimate: 1,500,000-2,500,000. This work is offered in the Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale on 28 February at Christies London.  FLC/ ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2017

Created in 1926, Accordeon, carafe et cafetiere (estimate: 1,500,000-2,500,000) shows the growing complexity of Le Corbusiers pictorial vocabulary as he reached the heights of his mature Purist style. Having co-founded Purism alongside Amedee Ozenfant in 1918, Le Corbusier spent much of the early half of the 1920s refining his still life compositions to best reflect the theories of order and purity which underpinned the movement. He reduced forms to pure geometric shapes, and minimised his use of colour to a palette of restrained hues. Following his break with Ozenfant in 1925, however, Le Corbusiers paintings became decidedly less rigorous in their formulation. The artist moved away from the strict geometry of forms which had characterised his earlier work, introducing increasingly dynamic shapes and bright colours. Key among the developments that occurred during this period was Le Corbusiers expansion of the types of objects he included in his still lifes.

Open a larger version of this image Le Corbusier (1887-1965), Femme grise, homme rouge et os devant une porte, 1931. Oil on canvas. 57 x 44 in (146 x 114 cm). Estimate: 1,200,000-2,000,000. This work is offered in the Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale on 28 February at Christies London.  FLC/ ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2017

Produced during a period of intensive experimentation in his painting, Femme grise, homme rouge et os devant une porte (1931, estimate: 1,200,000-2,000,000) highlights the emergence of several key motifs in Le Corbusiers work. From the voluptuous curves of the nude female body, to the symbolic open hand at its centre, the composition features a series of themes that would prove essential to Le Corbusier throughout the rest of his career. At its heart stand two monumental figures, the man and woman of the title, their forms appearing to almost melt into one another. To their left, a fragmented bone  one of the artists so-called objets a reaction poetique (objects with poetic effect)  appears in a series of segments, its form almost completely abstracted as the artist explores a variety of cross-sections and different profiles. The bright colouring and amorphous forms of this portion of the painting lend the scene an almost Surrealist air, particularly when contrasted against the neighbouring figurative elements, and point towards the art of his Parisian contemporaries. The inclusion of both this natural, found object and the human figure in Femme grise, homme rouge et os devant une porte reflects the increased importance of nature in Le Corbusiers art at this time, as he broke away from the constraints of his earlier Purist style.

Open a larger version of this image Le Corbusier (1887-1965), Nature morte et figure, 1944. Oil on canvas. 44 x 57 in (113.8 x 145.5 cm). Estimate: 1,500,000-2,500,000. This work is offered in the Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale on 28 February at Christies London.  FLC/ ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2017
Rahban Algazzali of San Leandro regrets the decision he made Nov. 8, which his friends and family have not let him forget.

After the Yemen native and Muslim American voted for Donald Trump, and after Trump tried to ban citizens of several majority-Muslim countries from entering the U.S., Algazzali sent a rather ordinary photo of his son dressed in traditional Yemeni garb to family members.

Your son should get used to wearing those clothes, one of his relatives responded, because we are going to be sent back to Yemen with the president that you voted for.

On Thursday, the contrite Algazzali shut down all five of the Oakland markets he co-owns as part of the Day Without Immigrants, a nationwide protest attacking Trumps moves to restrict immigration.

One of the shops  Gazzalis Supermarket  is a popular store in the heart of East Oakland. Algazzali said he had never before shut down any of the stores, for any reason, in the more than 10 years theyve been open.

In the Bay Area and beyond, scores of businesses from corner stores to high-end restaurants took the day off, while many students stayed off campuses  an effort to display how central immigrants are to the countrys fabric.

More for you Bay Area businesses and restaurants that will be closed for the Day Without Immigrants

I felt like they had the right to say it  I should be ashamed of myself, Algazzali, 36, said of the criticism he received from family members. I feel like I want to put the message out that I am ashamed that I gave him my vote, and I wish I could repeal and replace my vote for him.

The Day Without Immigrants action reflects the desire of Trump opponents to keep momentum behind a protest movement. It comes after Trump signed a string of executive orders authorizing, among other things, a wall at the Mexican border and a U.S. entry ban on citizens of several majority-Muslim countries  which was overturned by the courts.

In the Bay Area alone, more than two dozen restaurants, including Tommys Mexican and Little Chihuahua in San Francisco, shut down for the day. Celebrity chefs Rick Bayless in Chicago and Jose Andres in Washington closed their restaurants, and even the Pentagon was affected, with six shops, including Starbucks, shuttered.

Dominica Rice-Cisneros, the owner and chef at Mexican restaurant Cosecha in downtown Oakland, said she closed as a form of solidarity. Rice-Cisneros, a 43-year-old Mexican American, said most of the neighbors with whom she shares space in Swans Market were also closed.

We want them to realize how lonely and sad it is when the market is closed and when there isnt great activity, Rice-Cisneros said. Without that mix of Mexican Americans, Asian Americans and immigrants there is no community.

The movement spread to San Francisco as well. On Wednesday, chef Gabriela Camara was nominated as a semifinalist for a prestigious James Beard Award. A day later, she shut down her restaurant Cala in Hayes Valley. Camara runs several prominent restaurants in Mexico City.

We cannot forget that here in the U.S. we are all immigrants, she said.

Many schools across the region felt the impact of the protest. San Joses Franklin McKinley School District, composed of 17 schools, had more than 1,100 absences Thursday, 13 percent of the student body.

The district stands with the community in solidarity in recognizing that these are difficult times. The district will always be a beacon of support, said Rolando Bonilla, a district spokesman.

In Fresno County, upward of 1,700 students were absent in the Mendota Unified School District  more than half of the student body.

One of the Bay Area students who stayed home was Yinia Yanez, an 18-year-old senior at Mission High in San Francisco who was accepted into Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, a federal program to allow temporary residence to certain people who had entered the U.S. as children.

Yanez said she felt defeated after learning of Trumps executive orders denying federal funding to sanctuary cities and expanding the group of people who could be targeted for deportation.

Then this week she saw reports of a 23-year-old native of Mexico who was also in the DACA program being detained in Seattle. Shes now wondering whether its worth it to apply to college  though she spent Thursday working on scholarship applications.

I think its important to be in this together, said Yanez, whose mother stayed home with her, missing work for what she said was the first time. This country is run by immigrants and todays absence is going to show how crucial and how important we are.

Thursdays actions came as Trump announced his administration is working on a new version of its travel ban after the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put a halt to the original version last week.

Yemen was one of the countries included in the original order, which caused chaos and confusion at airports across the globe, including San Franciscos.

Algazzali closed his stores as part of an effort led by the Yemeni Alliance Committee, a local community organization formed after President Trump was inaugurated. Leaders of the demonstration estimated that roughly 300 businesses owned by Yemeni Americans, from Richmond to Bakersfield, closed as part of the protest, which comes weeks after hundreds of Yemeni American-owned shops in New York closed in protest of Trumps travel ban.

It was long overdue that the Yemeni American community stands up in the Bay Area. We saw what they did in New York a few weeks ago and were following their lead to raise awareness to these unjust policies impacting our communities, said Jehan Hakim, a spokeswoman for the organization.

Algazzali now says he didnt think Trump would end up implementing policies like the travel ban. He voted for Trump, he said, because he viewed him as a businessman and outsider.

I wished I could send him a message, Algazzali said. Hey, Im a Muslim American citizen originally born in Yemen who gave you my support in hope of you making America great again  and this is what I get for my vote and support?

Hamed Aleaziz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: haleaziz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @haleaziz
Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle

Almost half of Germans with an interest in traveling to the U.S. won't do so now because they feel unwelcome or don't want to endorse President Donald Trump.

About 46 percent of Germans who would like to visit the U.S. "in principle" have changed their views on that destination since Trump took office and won't travel there as a result, according to a survey by GfK SE published in travel-industry magazine fvw.
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Without a script and only a "little, old Android" phone, a San Antonio comedienne has amassed a huge Facebook following who tune in to see what the chola (and her mega-fleek eyebrows) will do next.

La Tiny's Facebook presence is the opposite of what her name implies. With more than 10 million views on a single video and more than 400,000 likes and followers combined, it's safe to say her online persona is a giant.

Myra Alix, a 35-year-old legal assistant, said she thought up and began playing La Tiny in May 2016 after two friends suggested the idea.

RELATED: Meet the S.A. mom who makes up to $1,600 a week from professional 'cuddling'

"My character is a satire of the typical chola female and while most cholas are considered to be tough and mean, my chola character is quite the opposite despite her 'look,'" Alix explained. "She tends to be sweet, soft-spoken with a high-pitched voice and is completely unaware that her look is outdated."

Alix, an improvisational comedienne, employs a "turn on and go" approach in producing her hit videos.

"All of my videos are 100% improvised and shot on my little old Android," she added. "There is no script, there is no editing nor sound effects. It is usually just one take from start to finish if I have no interruptions."

She said her first video, "Meet Gabriela AKA La Tiny," was intended solely for her friends' amusement and like many internet stars, she did not expect the attention that followed.

The comedienne did have some experience. As a child, she was the on-hand talent for family parties. She realized her knack for making people laugh and her love for it from an early age. In 2014, she enrolled in classes at Performing Arts San Antonio.

RELATED: San Antonio residents, stories that went viral in 2016

"My love for comedy grew instantly even more than before," Alix said.

Alix eventually hopes to take La Tiny to stand up and is working with a local film maker on an upcoming web series.

Most of the responses to the videos have been positive. The local social media star said chronically ill or depressed people have told her she's their comedic relief.

"I was moved to tears when I read that my silly videos made them smile for the first time in a long time," she added.

Some have taken offense to the videos, too.

"(They) accuse me of giving Latina women a bad name," she said. "However that is not at all what my intention is. My goal is to make people laugh."

mmendoza@mysa.com

Twitter: @MaddySkye
Transcription

1 MINISTRY OF ECONOMY, TRADE AND ENERGY SEPTEMBER, 2010

2 1. Overall context 2. A regional perspective 3. Government s policy and investments in the electricity sector 4. The gas sector 5. The petroleum sector

3 Positive economic growth driven by increasing foreign investments in the country Stable macroeconomic environment Attractive business climate Improved infrastructure Increased industrial and trading activity. Leading to upside pressure on energy demand

4 associated with: Estimated electricity gap at MW (based on current production capacity) for the next decade Clean domestic production Improving payment discipline (distribution privatization) Market model effectively in place Improving interconnections (and relations) with the region Limited supply in the regional market Attractive environment for investments Raising energy prices

5 modernization and expansion of the national energy sector, in order to guarantee the security of energy supply, is among Albania's key objectives towards further social and economic development, and EU integration. Government s approach to this objective has to be achieved by the development of energy sources and infrastructure, and through strengthening the regional coordination and cooperation.

6 The energy offer and supply is more and more depending from the developments of energy network and infrastructures in the regional and European level. On this prospective: REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE existing scarce of primary energy sources in the South East Europe, the limited of available generation and transmission capacities, the level of energy markets monopolies and dominant positions, etc. have created various obstacles, for a serious and very cooperative development of the energy sector in local and regional dimension. Despite the efforts and commitments made in local and regional level for new generation and network capacities, the perspective developments are far from being adequate to cover the long term demand. The studies have indicated that uncoordinated developments policies of individual countries in the region and non achievement of the power system adequacy in most of them, are the main obstacles to our common future objectives.

7 REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE In order to develop an efficient energy sector, to improve energy cooperation with neighboring countries and to enhance the security of supply in the country, Albania has joined other countries of the region in the Athens Process and the Energy Community thereafter, by signing the establishing Energy Community Treaty. The long term objective of this very important instrument of regional cooperation towards the future challenges is to establish a broad scale and Integrated European Energy Market, providing more benefits to all participants.

8 REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE Albania has adopted its Energy Sector Policy and Action Plan, supported by necessary legal and institutional framework to achieve the objectives of the Treaty. The scope of these interventions is to develop a modern energy sector which guarantees the security of energy supply in general and the electricity supply in particular, based on market economy principles, transparency and EU energy policy development. The Action Plan of Albania aims towards fulfilling the Treaty requirements in relation to energy sector network and energy market regulation as well as their integration to the Energy Community.

9 REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE Albania (as other EC Contracting Parties) is characterized by: a small size energy market, lack of primary energy sources, insufficient local crude oil production, limited power generation and transmission capacities unbalanced power system, A specific feature of the Albanian Power System is its limited interconnection capacity of power transmission system with neighboring systems, The lack of alternative energy sources as the natural gas, is another particular feature of the country, which are causing a heavy reliance of the energy supply on imports, where in dry seasons like 2007, account for over than 50 % of Albanian electricity demand.

10 REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE Other countries in the region, (including Greece and Italy), cannot satisfy their domestic energy demand by using only local resources. Croatia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Macedonia, even Serbia have also experienced an increasing of their electricity, and oil byproducts imports in the last years. Recently the security of energy supply in the region, has been mainly conditioned by insufficient power generation and transmission capacities, due to capacity decreases, limited gas supply, lack of investments and monopoly positions, including protection positions in few cases. These regional insufficiencies, particularly in case of Albania, whose power generation is highly sensitive to weather conditions, translate into severe and repeated energy crisis, which can impede social and economic development of the country.

11 ELECTRICITY SECTOR Policy & Investments The government s policy on the Power Sector reflects the regional environment perspective as well as its regulatory role, improvement of the legal framework and the creation of an attractive environment for investments. Primary and secondary legislation in the Power Sector has been established, targeting improvements in exiting legislation, institutional organization, unbundling, public service and customer protection, market model, tendering procedures and privatization as well as cost reflective prices, tariff reform and public utilities performance. According to the Power Sector Law, the national regulator, is the responsible institution in proposing and monitoring the market model, in implementing market rules and the approval of grid codes.

12 ELECTRICITY SECTOR Policy & Investments The ERE has been focused extensively in reviewing existing regulation and developing relevant technical and market rules regarding technical and commercial relations of market participants, to support market environment and to facilitate investments in the energy sector. According to the Power Sector Law provisions, the transmission activity has been unbundled from generation and distribution activities in its legal, organizational, decision making and ownership form, with the establishment of Transmission System Operator (TSO), in 2007.

13 ELECTRICITY SECTOR Policy & Investments Based in the law, among the others, TSO is responsible for the operation, maintenance and expansion of the transmission network and managing transit of electricity between power systems using the Albanian network. The Distribution System Operator (DSO) unbundling has been completed during A major milestone in the electricity sector reform has been the privatization of the Distribution System Operator (DSO).

14 ELECTRICITY SECTOR Policy & Investments The DSO designation and duties are provided by the legislation. The DSO owns, maintains, expands and operates the distribution system, including metering, billing and collection of electricity payment. A new Market Model which is characterized by bilateral contracts and outlines the responsibilities as well as the relationship among the market participants and the ERE, is in place since 2008.

15 ELECTRICITY SECTOR Policy & Investments In the current situation of the energy sector development, both in local and regional level, Albania is under pressure to increase and to mix generation capacities, taking into consideration all the feasible generation options in the country. A predictable program for the security of energy supply, combining domestic production with imports, local and regional infrastructure capacities is in place, since 2007.

16 ELECTRICITY SECTOR Policy & Investments By this program the Power Sector Policy, adopted by the GoA, is addressed to a balance situation of the Power System. Based on defined objectives there are necessary additional generation capacities of MW both in thermo and hydro basis, to be developed by In line with our goals of improving energy system, increasing the security of supply and integration within regional network another dimension of Albania infrastructure development is the full link of the Power System with neighboring systems, which means to increase our interconnection capacities.

17 ENERGY BALANCE

18 ELECTRICITY SECTOR Policy & Investments Key ongoing generation investments: Devoll cascade HPP s (EVN+Statkraft), 350 MW Ashta HPP (Verbund + EVN), 45MW Kalivac HPP (Italian company Bechetti), 100 MW Around 200 small HPP s, 150 MW Thermo power plant in Vlora (public), 97 MW Onshore wind farms, 1350 MW Potential: Skavica HPP Vjosa river cascade Osum river cascade Small HPP s Thermo power plant in Porto Romano Other thermo power plants Onshore wind farms Offshore wind farms Biomass projects Nuclear etc.

19 ELECTRICITY SECTOR Policy & Investments Interconnection of the Albanian Power System : kv line project Elbasan (Albania) Podgorica (Montenegro) in its final phase of implementation. - New 400 kv line Tirana-Prishtina has entered now in the implementation process and a doubled transmission capacity with Kosovo, will be operational by the end of 2012 or beginning The next step in this extension are a submarine cable with Italy and a 400 kv line with Macedonia, both of them very important for the future of Albanian transmission system and its integration in Regional and European Energy Networks.

20 THE GAS SECTOR Legal and Institutional Framework Albania has adopted a law on the gas sector, (no. 9946, "On the natural gas sector ), in line with the Energy Community Treaty requirements. The purpose of the law is to establish the legal and institutional framework for the development and regulation of the natural gas sector and gasification of Albania. The Energy Sector Policy of Albania provides that the long-term development of energy sector should take into consideration a possible development of the natural gas industry in the future. Currently the government is engaged in preparing the legal acts deriving from this law.

21 GAS SECTOR Investments WHY INTERNATIONAL Natural-Gas CONNECTIONS SHOULD TAKE ADVANTAGE FROM CROSSING ALBANIA? Albania is now a member of NATO and looks forwards to the EU membership. Has historically been a factor of peace and stability in the region Its excellent geographical position offers the shortest and therefore the most cost efficient link for N-G pipes from Caspian areas to Southern Italy Has important capacities for underground storage Despite its modest size the Albanian economy is growing steadily.

22 GAS SECTOR Investments THE IONIAN ADRIATIC PIPELINE The Ionian Adriatic Gas Pipeline (IAP) is related to the development of Western Balkans gas pipelines, from Croatia towards Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania. This project is planned to function in two directions, where the gas supply can be made from north, via the Croatian network and from south via Albania network (TAP, LNG, and other). The Ionian-Adriatic Pipeline shall be at the same time part of the Western Balkan Ring system, which is considered a regional project of the Energy Community. A Ministerial Declaration between Albania, Croatia and Montenegro has been signed for the IAP project in Zagreb, on September 2007 and Bosnia & Herzegovina has co-signed this Declaration, in Tirana, on December The feasibility study for the IAP project has been completed by the company EGL and PLINACRO, while in April 2009 the PLINACRO company has completed the hydraulic study and cost comparison.

23 GAS SECTOR Investments TRANS ADRIATIC PIPELINE The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is a project being promoted by the Swiss Elektrizitats-Gesellschaft Laufenburg (EGL). EGL signed an agreement in February 2008 with Norway s StatoilHydro to establish a 50/50 joint venture to build and operate the TAP. Since May 2010 E On Rhurgas is the new shareholder of TAP Project. This pipeline will open a new corridor and market outlet for natural gas (Forth Gas Corridor for EU), from Caspian Sea and Middle East regions into Europe, through Turkey-Greece-Albania corridor. TAP will be interconnected with the gas system in Greece The project through a separate spur line along the Balkan coast towards Croatia (the Ionian-Adriatic-Pipeline) promote the development of a broader regional gas market in SEE

24 GAS SECTOR Investments LNG Terminal This project consist on the construction and operation of a LNG deposit and re-gasification plant in the coastal area of the Fieri region, in Albania. Several companies have expressed interest in building LNG terminals in Albania. The Albanian Government has approved an area in the Semani zone when LNG terminal shall be constructed, realizing in this framework the Permit Contract with the Trans European Energy B.V company. The LNG Terminal shall have a capacity around 8 billion m3 gas per year (8bcm) and shall be able to unload ships of the capacity up to m3.

25 GAS SECTOR Investments In reference to these project-proposals the main connection point in Albanian territory shall be the interconnection point between TAP, the IAP project and the LNG Terminal, which shall be an important transit point near the Fieri town. In this prospective, in line with development of identified projects, both in electricity and gas, Albanian seems to play an important role in the Energy Community, transiting energy from the Western Balkan to Western and Central Europe.

26 THE OIL SECTOR The current Albanian petroleum demand is estimated around 1,2 million toe, partially covered by domestic production. The imports of oil by-products for 2009 was more than 60 % of total consumption. Local production of crude oil for 2009 has been about ton and is expected to reach tons for Albania has planed to review the legal framework as regard the for Emergency oil stocks. The public company Albpetrol is currently under privatization procedures.

27 THE OIL SECTOR Limestone Sendstone consumption

28 OIL SECTOR Petroleum agreements on exploration Actually are under operation for the exploration oil and gas the following agreements: Durresi block offshore, with the company ISLANDROCKALL Jv. And the Australian company Beach Petroleum Ltd Joni 5 block offshore, with the company Medoil, which was bought by Cairn Energy company and the Agreement for this block is covered by the branch h Capricorn Albania Ltd A-B B blocks onshore and the Agreement on blocks D-E E onshore,, with company DWM Petroleum AG Blocks 2-32 onshore, with company DWM Petroleum AG Block F with Bankers-Petroleum (under approval) Block 4&5 and Block of Dumre with Sky Petroleum (under approval).

29 OIL SECTOR PETROLEUM AGREEMENTS ON DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION Activities concerning gas and oil development and production from the existing fields Albpetrol Sh.A. State company will continue its investment program mainly in the oil and gas fields infrastructure under its administration. Bankers-Petroleum ALBANIA. On the Patos- Marinza oilfield. Stream Oil & Gas Ltd. On limestone oilfields Ballsh-Hekal, Cakran-Mollaj, Gorisht-Kocul and Delvine. Sherwood International Petroleum Inc. On the oilfield of Kucove IEC Visoka Inc. On the oilfield of Visoke.

30 INSTITUTIONAL RELATIONS ON REGIONAL COOPERATIONS TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPING OF THE ENERGY SECTOR AND THE REGIONAL ENERGY INTEGRATION LBANIA HAS SIGNED: The Agreement between the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania and the Republic of Italy concerning the development and integration of electrical and natural gas systems, signed in Tirana, on The Agreement between the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania and the Republic of Greece, On cooperation in the energy field, approved by DCM No 710, dated , On the approval of the Agreement, between the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania and the Republic of Greece, on cooperation in the energy field. Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Energy and Mines of the Republic of Kosovo and the Ministry of Economy, trade and Energy of the Republic of Albania, on cooperation in the energy field, signed in Pristina, on The Ministerial Declaration on the Ionian Adriatic Gas Pipeline Project, between Croatia, Montenegro and Albania, signed in Zagreb (Croatia) on 25 September Bosnia&Herzegovina joined this Ministerial Declaration on 11 December 2008, during the Ministerial Meeting of the Energy Community Treaty, which was held in Tirana.

31
Sheriff's deputies are asking the public to help find a pair of masked men accused of holding up a convenience store in Spring.

Montgomery County deputies said two men wearing dark clothing with bandanas covering their faces struck about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at a Shell station in the 28000 block of northbound Interstate 45.
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Police are investigating a shooting late Thursday that left a man dead in the front yard of a home in southeast Houston.

Residents living near the 4900 block of Yellowstone near Milart told Houston police they heard what sound like 12 gunshots about 7:30 p.m., according to initial Houston police reports.

The gunfire sounded like it was coming from at least two different firearms, HPD officials said.

The dead man was identified as 22-year-old Alan Jones by Darris Lee, who said they grew up together and were close friends.

"He was a good dude. He didn't deserve this," Lee said.

The man's body was covered with a white sheet and Houston police continued their investigation into the slaying.

HPD homicide detective Chad Hogue said the dead man was walking along the street with his brother when "a person or persons" approached him and opened fire.

Police said the man's brother wasn't hit by gunfire and was being interviewed late Thursday by investigators.

As for a motive in the slaying, Hogue characterized it as possibly part of an "ongoing cycle of violence" in the area.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
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This is indeed the first rodeo for more than half of the acts on the 2017 RodeoHouston lineup. A total of 11 performers will take their inaugural spin on the revolving stage inside NRG Stadium, including girl group Fifth Harmony, Texas country star Aaron Watson and pop-punk holdover Blink-182.

This year also will see debuts from country acts Chris Stapleton, Old Dominion and Thomas Rhett.
AUSTIN -- Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, parroting President Donald Trump, has recently taken to calling news coverage he dislikes "fake news." As a distraction, it works.

When it comes to transparency, the Texas Senate's recent moves to restrict media coverage are in line with Patrick's order to the Legislative Budget Board to suppress staff reports -- a move later thwarted by his LBB co-chair, House Speaker Joe Straus.

Meanwhile, Gov. Greg Abbott, the "ethics" governor, has a new Secretary of State Rolando Pablos, who drew the ire of Republican and Democratic senators when he asked them this past week to sign nondisclosure agreements before he would share what he claims is evidence of voter fraud.

Abbott, perhaps more Trump-like than Patrick in a legislative sense, has little if any relationship with the presiding officers of the House and Senate, and prefers to tweet rather than engage in conversations with those he will need to collaborate with to pass his priorities into law.

Amid Patrick and Trump's accusations of "fake news" and the Secretary of State's demands for a veil of secrecy to discuss voter fraud, prosecutors seeking a change of venue argue that Attorney General Ken Paxton depends on a network of secretly-funded organizations directed by Tim Dunn and his allies posing as news outlets to taint the jury pool in Collin County for his felony trial.

In their bombshell legal filing late last week, prosecutors said Watchdog.org, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, "has close ties to Dunn, a Midland oilman, a noted Paxton supporter who guaranteed a million-dollar loan for him in the darkest days of his 2014 runoff election" and pointed out that Dunn's Empower Texans PAC "gave Paxton a $100,000 campaign contribution" at that time.

That's the same Empower Texans that tried and failed in applying for a media credential at the Texas Capitol, denying floor access to a group that routinely makes campaign expenditures and has a case of alleged illegal lobbying pending in the courts. None of that has stopped the Empower Texans "Scorecard" from dispatching one of their "correspondents" to Capitol press conferences to serve up softball questions to the likes of Dunn beneficiary Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford.

Another prime example of how all this works: An entity called Direct Action Texas gained a bit of notoriety last year by spreading allegations of voter fraud in Tarrant County and in the Texas House district represented by State Affairs Committee Chairman Byron Cook, R-Corsicana. Cook is one of the victims in the criminal case against Paxton and continues pushing to bring Dunn's political spending into the light through greater disclosure.

Direct Action Executive Director Aaron Harris has aided Paxton in creating scenarios of alleged voter fraud for Paxton's office to investigate. Harris also filed the judicial complaint against the judge in the Paxton case and then wrote op-eds about it, appearing in newspapers like the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Missing from almost all news coverage of Direct Action Texas' accusations has been the fact that the group is actually a for-profit company, an LLC, founded by another major donor to Paxton, Dallas hotelier Monty Bennett. Bennett and Harris are business partners in the LLC called "Grassroots Groundgame" operating under the dba "Direct Action Texas." On its website, the company calls itself a "political advocacy organization in the DFW area."

Bennett was also central to efforts during the last GOP primary cycle to oust Republican members of the Texas House who support Speaker Straus. Bennett joined with Texas Public Policy Foundation board members Dunn, Jeff Sandefer, Jim Leininger and others in spending more than $3 million against the Straus leadership team and the Speaker himself. In Dunn fashion, Bennett faces a longstanding pending complaint about his political activities before the Texas Ethics Commission. Bennett is accused of not disclosing an estimated $200,000 in local elections in Tarrant County.

Bennett's Direct Action Texas led the charge claiming voter fraud in Rep. Cook's race in Hill County and local races in Tarrant County. Those claims were amplified by Watchdog.org.

But Abbott's new Secretary of State Pablos, while refusing to publicly give evidence for voter fraud, did tell senators on the Nominations Committee that the controversy over Chairman Cook's did not seem to be voter fraud at all. As originally reported by QR's Kimberly Reeves, Pablos said the Hill County situation could be attributed to human error, "a failure to follow directions," and suggested better training.

"I very quickly began to realize, particularly with Hill County, the Secretary of State's office is there to educate, train, support the counties. In the Hill County situation from what I understand, it was human error, failure to follow procedures," Pablos said. "We have mechanisms in place that help us identify potential situations like that early on, were able to look for patterns as they emerge, but sometimes that doesn't happen."

Bias could be said to exist in all media, but that misses the point entirely.

Watchdog.org, while flogging Rep. Cook with those allegations of voter fraud, also purchased political radio ads in DFW  where AG Paxton's trial is scheduled  to promote a lawsuit filed against Cook.

All of this unfolding in Texas adds to the public's growing uncertainty about what constitutes "fake news." Given that, it is more important than ever that organizations are up front about who is bankrolling their efforts and how their resources are spent.

Can there at least be broad agreement that news organizations do not make political expenditures supporting or opposing candidates and officeholders?

Copyright 2017, Harvey Kronberg,http://quorumreport.com/index.cfm, All rights are reserved. This story is presented as part of the Houston Chronicle's collaboration with Quorum Report. For inside information on Texas politics and government and to sign up for real-time updates, go here.
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1 STATE OF CALIFORNIA Nate Beason, 1st District Ed Scofield, 2nd District Dan Miller, 3rd District (Chair) Wm. Hank Weston, 4th District (Vice-Chair) Richard Anderson, 5th District ****** Julie Patterson Hunter, Clerk of the Board Richard A. Haffey, County Executive Officer Alison Barratt-Green, County Counsel Tuesday, COUNTY OF NEVADA 9:00 AM BOARD OF SUPERVISORS 950 Maidu Avenue Nevada City, CA (530) Fax: (530) Date Time Location Board Chambers, First Floor Eric Rood Administrative Center 950 Maidu Avenue Nevada City, California This meeting is broadcast live on NCTV Channel 17 in the Western County and on Truckee-Tahoe Community TV (TTCTV) Channel 18 in the Eastern County and can be viewed live through the web at Video Conferencing at 9:30 a.m. for Public Comment located at the District V Board of Supervisors Conference Room Nevada County Sheriff s Substation, 10879A Donner Pass Road, Truckee, California The Board of Supervisors welcomes you to its regular meetings that are scheduled the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month. Your interest is encouraged and appreciated. ANY MEMBER OF THE AUDIENCE DESIRING TO ADDRESS THE BOARD ON A MATTER ON THE : Please approach the rostrum and, after receiving recognition from the Chair, give your name and comments or questions as all meetings are recorded. In order that all interested parties have an opportunity to speak, please limit your comments to the specific item under discussion. Time limitations are explained on the last page of the agenda. The meeting room is accessible to people with disabilities. Anyone requiring reasonable accommodation to participate in the meeting should contact the Clerk of the Board s office by calling (530) at least four days prior to the meeting. TTY/Speech-to-Speech users may dial for the California Relay Service. The agenda and all supporting documents are available for review during regular business hours at the Clerk of the Board office, 950 Maidu Avenue, 2nd Floor, Suite 200, Nevada City, California. This agenda and certain supporting documents may be obtained on the Clerk of the Board s website at To view the supporting documents on this agenda for a particular item, click on the SR number to the left of the item. Please note that the on-line agenda may not include all related or updated documents. Proposed actions and supporting documents are considered draft until acted upon by the Board. All items listed on the agenda may be acted upon by the Board of Supervisors. COUNTY OF NEVADA Page 1

2 REGULAR MEETING: 9:00 AM STANDING ORDERS: Call the meeting to order. Pledge of Allegiance. Corrections and/or deletions to agenda. SCHEDULED ITEMS: 9:01 A.M. 1. SR Resolution proclaiming 2016 as the 20th anniversary of the opening of Sierra College - Nevada County Campus. (Ms. Stephanie Ortiz, Executive Dean, Nevada County Campus) 2. SR Certificate of Recognition for Game Warden Jerry Karnow, upon his retirement from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. 3. SR Nevada County 4-H All Stars 2016 Annual Activities Report. (Ms. Tracy Ivey, Nevada County 4-H All Star Advisor) PUBLIC COMMENT: 9:30 A.M. Members of the public shall be allowed to address the board on items not appearing on the agenda that are of interest to the public and are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Board. (Video-Conferencing for the public comment portion of the meeting is also available in Truckee at the District V Board of Supervisors Conference Room, east (left) side of the Sheriff s Substation at 10879A Donner Pass Road.) CONSENT CALENDAR: These items are expected to be routine and noncontroversial. The Board of Supervisors will act upon them at one time without discussion. Any Board member, staff member or interested party may request that an item be removed from the consent calendar for discussion. Behavioral Health Director: Rebecca Slade 4. SR Resolution approving Amendment 1 to the contract between the County of Nevada and Charis Youth Center pertaining to the provision of specialized mental health residential treatment services for seriously emotionally disturbed youth and young adults ages (PESK3101), increasing the maximum contract price from $25,000 to $65,000, for the period July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017, authorizing the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to execute the Amendment, and authorizing and directing the Auditor-Controller to release fund balance and amend the Behavioral Health Department s Fiscal Year 2016/17 budget. (4/5 affirmative vote required.) COUNTY OF NEVADA Page 2

3 Public Health Director: Jill Blake 5. SR Resolution approving a renewal Contract for Services between the County of Nevada and the County of Placer for the provision of microbiological, rabies testing and other laboratory tests and consultation services through the Placer County Public Health Laboratory for the Nevada County Public Health Department and the Sheriff s Animal Control Division, for a total aggregate contract maximum amount of $30,000, for the period July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2019, and authorizing the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to execute the Contract. 6. SR Resolution approving the renewal Standard Agreement between the County of Nevada and the California Department of Public Health, Office of AIDS, which provides funding for services related to the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) Program, in the maximum amount of $78,735, for the period July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2019, and authorizing the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to execute the Agreement. 7. SR Resolution approving Amendment A03 to Agreement between the County of Nevada and the California Department of Public Health pertaining to funding local Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP), Pandemic Influenza (Pan Flu), and the Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) (Res ), decreasing the maximum amount payable from $1,107,717 to $1,097,757, for the period July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2017, and authorizing the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to execute the Amendment. Director of Social Services: Mike Dent 8. SR Resolution approving a Software License and Support Agreement between the County of Nevada and JUMP Technology Services, LLC pertaining to the provision of User Software Licenses, Subscription and Support Agreement Services to provide access to the automated elder care and dependent adult services system for Adult Protective Services (APS) known as AACTS, for a total maximum amount of $38,880, for the period July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2019, and authorizing the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to execute the Agreement. 9. SR Resolution approving Amendment 1 to the contract between the County of Nevada and Helping Hands Nurturing Center, LLC for the provision of Nurturing Parenting Program (NPP) services as referred to by Child Protective Services (CPS) (Res ), amending Exhibit A Schedule of Services and revising Exhibit B Schedule of Charges and Payments, in the maximum amount of $255,000, the period July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2018, and authorizing the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to execute the Amendment. COUNTY OF NEVADA Page 3

4 Director of Public Works: Steven Castleberry 10. SR Resolution authorizing the Director of the Department of Public Works to file a Notice of Exemption with the Nevada County Clerk-Recorder's office for Environmental Clearance for the 2017 Microsurface Project. 11. SR Resolution approving the proposed 2017 Nevada County Annual Striping Project (Phase 1 and Phase 2) and authorizing the Director of the Nevada County Department of Public Works to file a Notice of Exemption with the Nevada County Clerk-Recorder's office for Environmental Clearance for the 2017 Nevada County Annual Striping Project (Phase 1 and Phase 2). 12. SR Resolution authorizing the Director of the Department of Public Works to file a Notice of Exemption with the Nevada County Clerk-Recorder's office for Environmental Clearance for the Nevada County Sign Update and Roadway Safety Signing Audit (RSSA) Project. 13. SR Resolution approving an Indemnification Agreement between the County of Nevada and New Verde Mines, LLC relating to the North Star Water Treatment Project located at Allison Ranch Road, Grass Valley, authorizing the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to execute the Agreement, and authorizing the Director of the Department of Public Works to execute the Certificate Accepting Offer of Dedication. (Dist. III) 14. SR Resolution awarding and approving the contract between the County of Nevada and Innovative Construction Solutions for the McCourtney Road Landfill Leachate Pump Improvements Project (Res ), in the amount of $169,995 plus 10% of base bid contingency in the amount of $17,000, for a maximum amount not to exceed a grand total of $186,995, and authorizing the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to execute the contract. (Sanitation) Chief Information Officer: Stephen Monaghan 15. SR Resolution accepting the Fiscal Year 2016 Homeland Security Grant from the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services funded through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism and other catastrophic events, in the amount of $175,166 for use during the period September 1, 2016 through May 31, 2019, and authorizing the Director of Emergency Services to fulfill the requirements of the Fiscal Year 2016 Homeland Security Grant Program. (Emergency Services) COUNTY OF NEVADA Page 4

5 County Counsel: Alison Barratt-Green 16. SR Resolution approving Amendment 4 to the contract between the County of Nevada and Porter Scott, A Professional Corporation, for legal services (Res ), increasing the contract amount by $100,000, for a maximum contract price of $240,000, and authorizing the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to execute the Amendment. County Executive Officer: Richard Haffey 17. SR Resolution amending various Nevada County budgets through the First Consolidated Budget Amendment for Fiscal Year 2016/17. (4/5 affirmative vote required.) Individual Board Member Item: 18. SR Request for letter in support of Sierra Business Council requesting that the Fiscal Agent of record for the portion of the Rural and Regional Consortia grant application covered in Resolution T on the November 10, 2016 Public Utilities Commission of The State of California agenda be changed from Sierra Economic Development Corporation (SEDCorp) to Sierra Business Council. Clerk of the Board: Julie Patterson Hunter 19. SR Approval of the Penn Valley Fire Protecton District's amended Conflict of Interest Code. 20. SR Acknowledge Supervisor Miller's reappointment of Mr. Jonathan Keehn as District III representative to the Building and Accessibilities Standards Board of Appeals, for a four year term expiring July 1, SR Acknowledge Supervisor Weston's reappointment of Mr. John Payne as District IV representative to the Building and Accessibilities Standards Board of Appeals, for a four year term expiring July 1, SR Appointment of Ms. Lauren Garrison as a Discretionary member to the Child Care and Development Planning Council, for an unexpired term ending June 30, SR Reappointment of Mr. James Rees as a regular member, for a three year term ending September 30, 2019, and Mr. Richard Corn as an alternate member, for a one year term ending September 30, 2017, to the Assessment Appeals Board. 24. SR Appointment of Ms. Jill Blake as Public Health Director representative to the First 5 Nevada County Children and Families First Commission, for a two year term ending October 31, SR Acceptance of Board of Supervisors Summary Minutes for October 25, COUNTY OF NEVADA Page 5

6 DEPARTMENT HEAD MATTERS: Environmental Health Director: Amy Irani 26. SR Resolution approving a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Nevada County Environmental Health Department, the County of Placer, the Town of Truckee, the Truckee Donner Public Utility District, the Placer County Water Agency and the Northstar Community Services District (collectively referred to as the Martis Valley Groundwater Basin Group Parties) for the development and implementation of the Martis Valley Groundwater Basin Alternative Plan, and authorizing the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to execute the MOA. (Dist. V) Chief Probation Officer: Michael Ertola 27. SR Resolution approving the Nevada County Community Corrections Partnership Plan for Fiscal Year 2016/2017. SCHEDULED ITEM: 10:00 A.M. 28. SR Public hearing to consider an Ordinance amending Chapter V of the Land Use and Development Code of the County of Nevada, adopting the 2016 California Building Standards, and local amendments thereto, and adoption of express findings of reasonable necessity for changes and modifications to the California Building Standards Code based on local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions. (Introduce/Waive Further Reading) An Ordinance amending Chapter V of the Land Use and Development Code of the County of Nevada, adopting the 2016 California Building Standards, and local amendments thereto: and adoption of express findings of reasonable necessity for changes and modifications to the California Buildings Standards Code based on local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions. DEPARTMENT HEAD MATTERS: (Continued) Chief Information Officer: Stephen Monaghan 29. SR Resolution approving a contract between the County of Nevada and LDA Partners, LLP, for professional architectural design services for the Nevada County Operations Center located at La Barr Meadows Road, Grass Valley, in the maximum contract price of $1,044,900, for the period November 1, 2016 through December 31, 2018, authorizing the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to execute the contract, and directing the Auditor-Controller to amend the Fiscal Year 2016/17 Capital Facilities budget. (Facilities) (4/5 affirmative vote required.) COUNTY OF NEVADA Page 6

7 *CLOSED SESSION: SR Pursuant to Government Code Section (d)(2), County Counsel is requesting a closed session with the Board of Supervisors to discuss one matter in which there is significant threat of litigation against the County. INDIVIDUAL BOARD MEMBER ITEM: 30. SR Acknowledge the Chair of the Board of Supervisors dissolution of the Interim Ordinance Subcommittee, formation of a new Marijuana Regulations Subcommittee, and appointment of Supervisors Hank Weston and Richard Anderson to the new Marijuana Regulations Subcommittee. *ANNOUNCEMENTS: Pursuant to Government Code Section , Board members and County Executive Officer may make a brief announcement or brief report on his or her activities. Board members and County Executive Officer may also provide a reference to staff or other resources for factual information, request staff to report back to the Board at a subsequent meeting concerning any matter, or take action to direct staff to place a matter of business on a future agenda. ADJOURNMENT: *(The Board of Supervisors can discuss these items at any time during the meeting.) This agenda was posted on bulletin boards 72 hours in advance of the meeting at the following locations: 1. Eric Rood Administrative Center; outside Board office, outside Board Chambers, and outside main entrance. 2. Madelyn Helling Library. 3. Truckee Town Hall. Posted November 3, Notice was also posted at the District V Board of Supervisors Conference Room, Truckee Joseph Center, Truckee Library and the Grass Valley Library. COUNTY OF NEVADA Page 7

8 PERSONS DESIRING TO ADDRESS THE BOARD CONTROL OF MEETING: The Board Chairperson shall first caution any person at the meeting who is abusive, disruptive, or out of order, and then ask that person to leave if the person will not stop; additionally, the Chair reserves the right to recess the meeting until the person leaves or is escorted out and order is restored. PUBLIC COMMENT: Matters on the Agenda: The Board shall allow public comment on items appearing on the agenda during the time the agenda item is considered by the Board. The Chair may limit the total amount of time for comment on any agenda item to no less than 3 minutes for each individual. Comments by the public must be relevant to the item on the agenda being considered by the Board. Matters not on the Agenda: At regular meetings of the Board, members of the public shall be allowed to address the Board of Supervisors on matters not appearing on the agenda which are of interest to the public and which are within the subject matter jurisdiction the Board. Pursuant to the Ralph M. Brown Act, the Board shall not take any action or discuss any matter not appearing on the agenda; although staff may be asked to briefly respond to or follow up on such items. The Board will allocate at least 15 minutes for receiving public comment during any Board meeting. The chairperson of the Board may limit any individual desiring to address the Board to no less than 3 minutes. Time to address the Board will be allocated on the basis of the order in which the requests were received. At special meetings of the Board, there will not be a scheduled public comment period allocated for items not on the agenda. Public comment will only be allowed on matters appearing on the agenda at the time they are discussed by the Board. PUBLIC HEARINGS: All members of the public shall be allowed to address the Board as to any item which is noticed on the Board s agenda as a public hearing. The Board may limit any person s input to not less than three (3) minutes. Any person may provide the Board with a written statement in lieu of or in supplement to any oral statement made during a public hearing. Written statements shall be submitted to the Clerk of the Board. COUNTY OF NEVADA Page 8

9 Whenever a public hearing is conducted, the public hearing is closed, and the matter is continued to a subsequent meeting for Board deliberation and/or action, the Board shall not allow public comment and/or testimony on that item at the subsequent hearing. However, at the initial public hearing, prior to taking action, the Board may, at its sole discretion, elect to continue the matter and to reopen the public hearing. At the subsequent hearing, all information will be considered. The Board may also, at the initial public hearing, prior to taking action, announce that the public hearing is being continued for specific information and the public testimony will only be heard on new information specific to the Board s direction. After the public hearing is closed, if the Board later decides to reopen the public hearing for public testimony, appropriate notices must be published. ORDER AND DECORUM: Individuals or organizations desiring to address the Board shall: 1) Address the Board from the podium after giving name and city of residence. Speakers shall direct their comments to the Board, not the audience; 2) Comment on the specific matter before the Board with reasons for the position taken; 3) A time limit of at least three minutes per speaker will be provided for all oral comments. Time limits may be increased at the Chair of the Board s discretion; 4) The chair may, at his or her discretion allow five (5) minutes for those who are serving as a spokesperson for a group or organization; 5) A speaker may not yield time to another speaker; 6) No individual may speak more than once during the Public Comment period or on an item on the agenda unless recognized by the Chair as having new information; 7) In the interest of civil discourse, the same rules specified in the Board Order and Decorum (adopted every year by Resolution) and Robert s Rules of Order (General Henry M. Robert) shall apply for this section as well, and are hereby incorporated by reference. It shall be the responsibility of the Chair to ensure public comments are conducted in such a manner that avoids disruptive activity, promotes mutual respect, keeps comments focused on issues, and avoids personal attack; and 8) Applicants, applicant representatives and appellants desiring to speak shall be permitted to speak first during the public comment portion of a public hearing for not more than ten (10) minutes (or fifteen (15) minutes at Appeal Hearings), unless different rules for conducting the hearing are provided by County code. Time limits may be increased at the Chair of the Board s discretion. COUNTY OF NEVADA Page 9

10 ORDINANCES: By statute, an ordinance may be passed immediately upon introduction only after notice and a public hearing. An urgency ordinance may be passed immediately upon introduction. Ordinances shall not be passed within five days of their introduction, nor at other than a regular meeting or at an adjourned regular meeting unless authorized by statute as indicated above. The Board of Supervisors will address ordinances at first readings. The public is urged to address ordinances at first readings; as passage of ordinances will be held at second readings, after reading the title. Adoption of the ordinance is made by majority vote. The Board reserves the right to amend any proposed ordinances and to hold a first reading in lieu of a second reading. (Gov. Code Section 25131, et seq.) INFORMATIONAL CORRESPONDENCE: The Board may direct any item of informational correspondence to a department head for appropriate action. REFERENCES: Nevada County Resolution (Public comment) Ralph M. Brown Act, California Government Code Sec , et. seq. (Open meetings law) Nevada County Land Use Code Sec. L-II 5.12 (Appeals) COUNTY OF NEVADA Page 10
WASHINGTON - The organizers behind the Women's March on Washington are calling for a general strike next month to show the country what a day without women would look like.

The strike is planned for March 8.

"In the spirit of women and their allies coming together for love and liberation, we offer a Day Without A Woman," a statement from the organizers read. "We ask: do businesses support our communities, or do they drain our communities? Do they strive for gender equity or do they support the policies and leaders that perpetuate oppressions."
Friends of Liberty County Pct. 1 Constable Justin Johnston have established a benefit fund to help the constable and his family while he recovers from injuries received Wednesday afternoon after being struck by a vehicle while directing traffic on SH 146 south of Dayton.

After the accident, the constable was airlifted to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston where he has since undergone life-saving procedures.
Houston's love affair with ramen will be underscored when Ramen Tatsu-Ya opens its first store outside Austin on Feb. 20 at 1722 California in Montrose.

Recognized nationally for its delectable bowls of brothy noodles, Ramen Tatsu-Ya will follow in the footsteps of the two existing ramen shops in Austin which are described as "traditional Japanese ramen meets DJ culture" thanks to owner and co-executive chef Tatsu Aikawa and his partner and co-executive chef Takuya "Tako" Matsumoto. The pair, both former hip-hop DJs, opened Ramen Tatsu-ya in Austin in 2012 and immediately drew fans and long lines for its ramen bowls featuring a thick, creamy pork bone broth (tonkotsu) and thin noodles. A second Austin store came later, and so did adulations. Time Out magazine put the restaurant at the top of its list of the 15 Best Ramen Restaurants in America. Bon Appetit magazine including the restaurant in a short list of best ramen in the country, praising its bowl of "Mi-So-Hot" ramen as a fiery, porky spice bomb. The Austin American-Statesman also wrote that Ramen Tatsu-ya is "ground zero for Austin's nascent ramen craze."
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Sara Fitzgerald came to the Heights from Bellaire in 1975 because she heard a rumor: Someone was offering home loans to single women without a male cosigner  an uncommon practice then.

She met with Marcella Perry at Heights Savings Association, one of the only banking institutions in Houston headed by a woman in the 1970s.

Perry granted her the home loan and the 30-year-old moved to the neighborhood where she soon fell in love with an old crumbling building built in 1918 by Polish immigrants on White Oak Drive.

She eventually turned that locale into the landmark venue Fitzgerald's, helping crown her the matriarch of local music.

FACEBOOK POSTS: Fitzgerald's owner addresses 'lively dialogue'

But now, at 68, she's being talked about not for her business acumen, but for what some are calling racist comments she made in an email conversation Feb. 7 with music producer Garrett Brown, who also performs as Trakksounds. The controversy has sparked calls to boycott Fitzgerald's, or Fitz to locals, threatening the standing of one of Houston's music institutions where thousands of artists have performed for countless fans since 1977.

Brown contacted the club owner to inquire about booking successful hip-hop act Starlito and Don Trip. Fitzgerald listened to a song they sent her and replied to Brown saying she didn't approve of lyrics she considered misogynistic and that contained offensive racial expletives. She said some of the language in her email that people are offended by are direct quotes from the artist's songs, while others have expressed anger about her comments regarding hip-hop audiences.

Trakksounds

"Music fans that wear their pants under their a-- with 18 inches of underwear showing, buy little, tip little and create big disharmony  no thanks," read a portion of her email.

Since then, local musicians, producers and bookers have scrambled to find alternate venues in the city for shows originally scheduled at Fitz.

The public departure of artists is surprising to Fitzgerald. For decades little-known bands have sought out gigs at the club as a rite of passage. She takes pride in being the venue that will give an upcoming artist a chance, and always hopes to see them break into mainstream music.

Fitz hosted R.E.M. in the early 1980s while they were still a college radio band. She paid them $100 and lost money on the show. And her roster of Blues acts includes B.B. King, Lightning Hopkins, Bo Didley and Etta James.

Fitzgerald said this week she's had some artists cancel on her, but others have called to take their slots almost immediately. Still, the last-minute cancelers have caused her to shut the doors on a few recent nights.

Despite the early dip in business and the deluge of social media backlash, the 68-year-old isn't exactly taking her words back. But she does think she could have expressed herself better when she declined to book the act, saying she was exhausted and had just come off working "100 hours" in the club the night before.

WIDESPREAD ATTENTION: Comedian Hannibal Buress boycotts Fitz's

"The language has been hurtful and that's not who I am," she said. "After my breadth of work for 40 years, being branded like this is hurtful."

However, a number of promoters aren't backing down from boycotting the venue.

"Every show I've played there was a rap show with an audience that did not fit the description in that email," said Roosh Williams, a Houston rapper who played his first show at Fitz in 2008. "I have no sympathy for any backlash she is receiving from her comments. How can you bash people who spend their money at your establishment?"

The conversation Brown made public on social media prompted Chris Wise to cancel four shows he had booked there. Wise is a talent buyer with Margin Walker Presents, who grew up in Houston going to shows at the wooden two-story building.

"It's certainly unfortunate, but I don't hold any place so sanctimoniously with what was said," Wise said. "It wasn't a bartender. It's the owner of the club."

Fitzgerald maintains her stance that declining to book the show wasn't racially motivated, and the "feminist in me came out," she said regarding some of the lyrics she found to be offensive to women.

"It's not a color issue. It's in rock n' roll too, and it's hard to filter," she said.

Drew Brown, a visiting scholar in African American studies in The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at University of Houston, has studied race and popular culture. He said the type of language used in rap and hip-hop is, indeed, heard in all popular music. Yet in rap as a genre, it comes from a group of people who have been marginalized and carry an attitude of resistance, and that rejection of hip-hop by older generations is not a new phenomenon.

"There's no looking past it (offensive language). There's just understanding the message and the culture," Brown said. "People enjoy that music because it speaks to some of their realties. If you don't understand what those are in that music, then you're just not a fan of that music. That doesn't mean it's not good music."

He said it's unfortunate when people in positions of power criticize the genre because it affects how the music is perceived by those who don't understand it.

Still, some have stood by Fitzgerald through the controversy.

Mandy Parker, a former promoter who booked with Fitz and continues to do business through an alcohol brand she represents, said "I can only speak for me, as an African American female, that she's never come off as someone who is racist, I don't believe it was a racial attack."

Parker has known the club owner for three years and said she was disheartened by the words, but has talked with Fitzgerald over the years about different social issues.

"There's a mural on the back patio, and Sara's only request to the artist is that it included people of all backgrounds because that's what she felt Fitz is," Parker said.

The outspoken club owner said she will continue to book hip-hop artists without any qualms, but is concerned about the future of her club.

"They were concerned I was being discriminatory towards kids with pants that hang low. ... The grandma in me came out. Did it hurt my business? Yes," she said.
Humble Area Assistance Ministries will host Pillars of the Community, the agency's largest fundraiser of the year, on March 31 at the Clubs of Kingwood to honor three Kingwood residents.

"We rely on the generosity of the club as well as the wonderful people and businesses in our community, such as Insperity, who support this event," said Devon Alexander, banquet chair.

HAAM has responded to more than 70,000 requests that range from service to the distribution of 2,000 nutrition packs to 886 families with children.

"We just couldn't do what do we for our community without the generous support from our coalition of churches and organizations as well as the generosity of those in our community who support Pillars of the Community," said Millie Garrison, HAAM executive director.

Houston Food Bank and Montgomery County Food Bank are just a couple of the organizations that HAAM collaborates with on projects that serve the community.

Along with assisting clients at a job center, HAAM offered Christmas toys to children and food to families.

"This is the one time of the year when we ask our Lake Houston community to help us continue HAAM's mission of help and hope," Alexander said.

The Pillars of the Community fundraiser will honor three Lake Houston-area couples. Byron and Ginger Bertrand, Darryal and Connie Chandler, and Frank and Marlene Kopta.

HAAM encourages all of the Lake Houston residents who are not able to attend to continue to support their work by donating.

To purchase seats or a table,or to donate to HAAM, visit www.haamministries.org or contact one of the HAAM board members.
A critical step has been taken in moving the Northpark Drive Project forward in the Transportation Improvement Program application process.

Stan Sarman, chairman of the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority and Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone 10, announced Feb. 9 that both the Houston Galveston Area Council's Technical Advisory Committee and its Transportation Policy Council agreed to include the proposed Northpark Drive overpass and expansion project in the Regional Transportation Plan during their December 2016 meetings.

The redevelopment authority and city of Houston Public Works and Engineering Department commissioned a Kingwood Area Mobility Study in May 2015 to determine a list of mobility projects needed in the area.

The Northpark Drive project was one of the project proposals that resulted from this study.

It includes the construction of an overpass across Texas 494 Loop and the railroad tracks, as well as the widening of Northpark Drive to a six-lane boulevard from U.S. 59 to Woodland Hills Drive.

Data collected for the Northpark Drive Mobility Improvement Project shows that as of Nov. 21, Northpark Drive is operating over capacity at approximately 40,000 trips per day. The existing capacity for daily traffic in 2015 was 27,200 trips.

On average, the Northpark Drive improvements may save a regular commuter up to 66 hours annually and could reduce crashes by 15 percent.

Sarman called the approval for inclusion in the Regional Transportation Plan an important step. The next step, he said, is to wait for the Houston Galveston Area Council to have a call for projects, anticipated to occur in fall 2017.

"Then it will take a year for HGAC, and the process they go through, to come up with a short list of projects and that would be the fall of 2018," Sarman said. "Then it will take a year to do the final programming of the project, which will take until fall of 2019 to finish the construction (plans) because we can't really finish the construction plans until we've entered into an agreement with TxDOT and funding is available; that's a part of the programming."

On the project's current track, Sarman's best estimate for the start of construction on the Northpark Drive project is the year 2020.

"As we move along here, if we are made aware that there is some function or work that we can complete that will help us in moving us up the pecking order, then we will," Sarman said. "It's not a fast process, but there is a source of funding there."

Sarman also delivered an update to the board regarding intersection improvement projects planned for the Kingwood area in the near future. Originally, three intersection projects were expected to move forward, including mobility improvements to West Lake Houston Parkway at Northpark Drive, West Lake Houston Parkway at Kings Crossing, and Hamblen Road at Forest Cove Drive. However, it was decided during the January Forest Cove Property Owners Association meeting that the Hamblen Road intersection mobility improvements would not move forward due to resident disapproval.

The two remaining intersection improvement projects will move forward as a single project.

According to sketches of general improvements proposed for the intersections provided by Houston Councilman Dave Martin's office, improvements for West Lake Houston Parkway at Northpark Drive include the addition of eastbound and southbound right turn lanes, the reduction of the intersection's west median, the realignment of the street right-of-way and the lengthening of the northbound left turn bays.

At West Lake Houston Parkway and Kings Crossing Drive, intersection improvements include the addition of a westbound right turn lane, new ramps and sidewalk across the intersection's east median, and new curb ramps and sidewalk markings.

"The other two projects, we're going to combine them together and put them out as one project," Sarman said. "The rough estimated cost of those two intersections is approximately $1.2 million."

Walter P. Moore representative Bryan Brown said the two intersection projects were expected to receive city approval before the March redevelopment authority board meeting. After receiving city approval, the projects will be advertised for bid.

"That would put us roughly on schedule to accept bids sometime in March, make a (contractor) selection and hopefully - what we've discussed is - it would be a good potential target to ask the contractor that's selected to start mobilizing on construction sometime after school gets out (around) late May, early June," Brown said. "As the traffic dies down a little bit, it will cause a little less pressure on these intersections during the construction."

Brown estimated construction on the two intersection projects would take approximately 60 to 75 days.
Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley is busy chipping away at his list of projects funded by the November 2015 $280 million road bond referendum.

According to Riley, his list of 13 construction projects and six rehab projects will increase mobility and safety for drivers in the Magnolia area.

Topping his list as the largest project is the widening of Fish Creek Thoroughfare. Riley said he has broken that project into two sections, the first from Honea Egypt to the Lake Creek Bridge and the second from the Woodforest Development to FM 2854. The total cost of both sections, about 5 miles long, is approximately $17 million. The plan is to widen the road from two lanes to four lanes along both sections.

"Bleyl (Engineering) is finishing up with those plans and we should be able to advertise for construction this month," Riley said about the first section. As for the second section, he said there are a couple of parcels left to acquire.

Once those parcels are purchased, Riley will advertise for construction for that section.

Those projects do not include the bridge over Lake Creek or the overpass at Fish Creek Thoroughfare and FM 2854. Riley said he plans to submit both bridge-widening projects to the Houston Galveston Area Council for federal funding, likely an 80/20 split.

"We feel pretty confident we will get both of those," he said.

HGAC is a regional council of governments operating under the laws of the State of Texas and governed by a board comprised of 36 elected officials from the 13-county region. The organization helps provide the research, resources and customer service needed to make procuring goods and services more easy and efficient.

Other projects moving forward are the widening of Research Forest from Alden Bridge to Egypt Lane and the realignment of Nichols Sawmill Road. The 2.3-mile project is estimated to cost about $8 million.

Riley said the bids for the addition of two lanes on Research Forest will be open this month and considered by commissioners later this month.

For the realignment of Nichols Sawmill Road, Riley said the right of way has been cleared and the environmental work started.

"It will be summer before we actually put that out to bid," he said.

To date, the county has sold about $141 million in bonds of the $280 million approved by voters. Those funds are divided between each precinct.

According to County Judge Craig Doyal, it is standard to sell the bonds in increments to avoid paying interest when all the projects are not "shovel ready."

Riley's other projects, which are not yet funded, include:

1. Keenan Cutoff  Cost: $10 million

2. FM 1774 overpass at FM 1488 - Cost $5 million

3. Magnolia Bypass. Cost - $10 million (matching funds)

4. Texas 242 at Gosling Road, add turn lane - Cost: $636,000

5. Texas 242 at Greenbridge Drive, add turn lane - Cost: $137,000

6. FM 1488 at Kuykendahl, add turn lane - Cost: $613,000

7. Old Hockley (rehab) - $800,000

8. Coe Loop (rebab) - $100,000

9. Decker Prairie Rosehill (turn lane) - $300,000

10. Hardin Store (shoulders, turn lane) - $300,000

11. Dobbin Huffsmith (shoulders, turn lane) - $200,000

12. Pine Lake Road (rehab) - $200,000

13. Old Highway 105 (rehab) - $200,000

14. Spring Branch Road (rehab) - $200,000

15. Goodson Loop (rehab) - $200,000
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Montgomery ISD is mourning the loss of an elementary teacher who is the second person to die after a head-on crash on FM 2854 Wednesday.

Jenny Runnels, a Lone Star Elementary School fourth-grade teacher, died after being hospitalized from the crash that also killed another person. Runnels was driving her 10-year-old daughter, who is in stable condition at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, school officials said.

DPS troopers said Thursday that Floyd Nelms, Jr., 31, was the other driver who died at the scene.

HEAD-ON CRASH: Sam Houston State University student killed in FM 1488 wreck

Runnels' birthday was days away, and she was in her third year of teaching at Lone Star Elementary School.

"We will have additional counselors and administrators on hand throughout the week for our boys and girls," LSE Principal Catherine Bartlett said in an email to parents Wednesday. "We will work to provide a sense of love and normalcy at the campus."

Emergency crews responded to the collision on FM 2854 near Honea Egypt Road near the school around 4:30 p.m. Nelms, who was westbound on FM 2854, crossed the center line and slammed into Runnels SUV.

Both vehicles sustained heavy damage. The 911 callers told dispatchers there were people trapped in the vehicles, including the one that reportedly caught fire.

The impact forced the two vehicles off of the roadway, one landing on the south side and the other on the north side of FM 2854. Runnels and her daughter were taken to the hospital, though Runnels died shortly after arriving at the hospital.

Firefighters with the Lake Conroe Fire Department as well as the Conroe Fire Department initially responded. Personnel with Montgomery County Hospital District, Montgomery County Sheriff's Office and Montgomery Police Department also responded.

DPS troopers spent hours investigating the crash. A balloon release in honor of Runnels' birthday is scheduled for 9 a.m. at Lone Star Elementary, located at 16600 FM 2854.
New photos out of Mexico purportedly show cartel members gearing up for war now that Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has been extradited to the U.S. and is fully out of the picture.

Groups are readying for an all-out fight for turf and power with Guzman's sons and brother, Blog del Narco, a Mexican publication, reported Tuesday.
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1 Distributing medical products in Cameroon status quo and measures to enhance logistic performance Axel Schumann, Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen University of Applied Sciences, Germany Liliane Streit-Juotsa, Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen University of Applied Sciences, Germany Abstract This contribution deals with special challenges in distributing medical products to the people in need in Cameroon: Bottlenecks caused by missing infrastructure (e.g. the seaport or in the hinterland), low logistic performance indicator and high corruption indicator. The actual situation is as well documented as first solutions by case studies. Keywords: medical products, logistic performance, Cameroon Introduction Distributing medical products in Cameroon is a great challenge. This challenge can be documented by some introducing facts. Cameroon is an African country with a poverty ratio of about 39.9 % of the population (AEO 2013) and approximately half of the population ruralizes with a distance of at least 4 kilometers (about 2.5 miles) to the next drivable street (Ngoumbe 2004). There is a need to provide the people in need with medical products and other goods under special surrounding conditions. The condition of the infrastructure, the educational background of the operative laborer, the problem of corruption, and some other challenges motivated the authors to deal with the topic more detailed. Due to existing contacts to universities and other institutions as well as other relations to the country determined the authors to deal with Cameroon within the analysis. First on-site findings in Cameroon in 2012, deeper analysis of statistical background and the logistical distribution processes to and in Cameroon and a second on-site finding in the year 2013 (Streit-Juotsa 2014) are essential for this publication and case study. Distributing medical products in Cameroon can be assigned to the wider field of humanitarian logistics which is defined as the process of planning, implementing and controlling the efficient, effective flow and storage of goods and materials, as well as related information, from the point of origin to the point of consumption for the purpose of alleviating the suffering of vulnerable people. The function encompasses several activities such as preparedness, planning, procurement, transport, warehousing, tracking and tracing, and customs clearance (Thomas and Kopczak 2005, p. 2). In addition the aims and goals are part of the 1

2 definition: efficient, effective and for the purpose of alleviating the suffering of vulnerable people. From the wide range of humanitarian logistics inside this publication the distribution is centered from the wider context of logistics, medical products especially pharmaceuticals are the goods in focus, and Cameroon is the location of note. The aim of the analysis is to enhance the distribution in Cameroon in terms of an efficient and effective supply of the medical products. For this purpose this case study first gives some fundamental information about Cameroon. Afterwards the status quo of the distribution in Cameroon is described and analyzed in detail so that weaknesses are identified. This is the basis for first recommendations which can be generated to enhance the distribution of medical products in Cameroon. The findings are addressed to logisticians, humanitarian aid organizations, pharmacists, political actors, researchers, and other actors who deal with humanitarian logistics in African countries. According to the special circumstances in other African countries some of the findings perhaps can be transferred. Fundamental information about Cameroon The following figure 1 gives an introducing overview of the geographical position of Cameroon on the African continent and with access to the Atlantic. Over that the transport infrastructure is illustrated with the main sea- and airports, road and railway connections. a) b) Figure 1- Maps of Cameroon: a) regions (WP 2014) and b) transport infrastructure (OECD 2006) In addition to the basic information about geography and infrastructure above some other fundamental information about Cameroon should be given. Cameroon with its typical African landscape, climate conditions, and problems is denominated in the national French language as Afrique en miniature. Some of the mentioned problems in Africa in its whole and in Cameroon 2

3 are a high rate of birth, a poor medical care, poverty, low expectancy of life, and low economic power. Table 1 compares some characterizing parameters from Cameroon, the U.S. and Germany which describe the general living conditions in the counties. Table 1 - Comparison of basic life conditions between Cameroon, U.S. and Germany (WHO 2013a,b) Cameroon USA Germany Total population (2012) 21,700, ,000,000 82,800,000 Gross national income per capita (PPP international $, 2012) Life expectancy at birth m/f (years, 2011) 51/54 76/81 78/83 Probability of dying under (per live births, 2012) Probability of dying between 15 and 60 years m/f 415/ /77 96/51 (per population, 2011) Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2011) 128 8,608 4,371 Total expenditure on health as % of GDP (2011) Distributing medical products in Cameroon: Description and analysis of the status quo The reliable distribution of medical products and medicines can be stated as a logistical challenge. Some of the reasons will be worked out in a short manner: First the status quo of Cameroons infrastructure, the constraints for logistics and the transport of medicines and secondly the widespread corruption and bureaucracy in Cameroon. Infrastructure, logistics, and transport The World Bank Logistics Performance Index (LPI) evaluates regularly the performance of infrastructure and logistics in the countries of the world. Whereas industrialized countries such as Singapore, Germany and the U.S. are ranked with scores between 3.93 and 4.13 under the top ten countries, Cameroon appears like other developing countries with a low score (2.53) on position 106 out of 155 evaluated countries. The column (%) compares each score with Singapore on rank 1 (Arvis 2012). Table 2 - Logistics Performance Index 2012 (subset) based on (Arvis 2012) Rank Country Score % 1 Singapore Germany Japan United States China Central African Republic Cameroon Nigeria Chad Burundi

4 Reasons for Cameroons low LPI are e.g. the low developed infrastructure for transport and communication, the missing offer of logistics service providers (LSP), the control hierarchies with bureaucracy and corruption. The services of internationally active LSPs often end up in Cameroons seaports because of lacks in the local oriented know-how and relationships to the local providers. Airports and especially seaports are the gates for international deliveries to Cameroon. The four seaports Douala, Kribi, Limbe, und Garoua under which Duala is the most important connect Cameroon with the international sea routes. With Cameroons seaports and their connections into the hinterland other African countries such as Chad and Central Africa are connected to international deliveries, as well. Cameroons LPI includes the high duration of goods and logistic costs at the seaports (Kessler 2013, p. 61). Speaking about water transportation it can be added that inland waterway transportation is rare because of the missing infrastructure and because of challenging weather conditions. In comparison to the seaports low amounts of cargo is flown in through the three international airports Douala, Yaounde-Nsimelen and Garoua. Five national airports in Gaoundere, Maroua-Salak, Bertoua, Bafoussam und Bamenda and some other regional airports also have an inferior position in the transport system. The railway network in Cameroon is in a poor condition and approximately 1,000 kilometres long. It consists of the main connection Douala Ngaoundere and a further connection Douala Nkongsamba which almost can t be passed in practice. Railway connections are especially used for the transport of cargo Out of towns the road network which can be passed by transport vehicles consists of 50,000 kilometers streets. The conditions of the streets are unequal. Just about 5,000 kilometers are bituminized. The other streets within the non-urban Cameroon road network, as they are documented in table 3 (priority and rural) cannot or just hindered be passed during the rain season or other difficult weather conditions. In spite of these bad conditions of the road network it is passed at the same time by heavy load (logging and other raw materials), busses, automobiles, motorbikes, animals, people with hand trucks and other means of transport. Hazards for accidents are high. Table 3 - Cameroon road network (non-urban) [km] based on (INSC 2012) Region Bituminized Priority Rural Total Far north 579 2,235 2,526 5,340 North 672 1,834 2,252 4,758 Adamawa 377 1,928 1,856 4,161 Northwest 205 2,005 2,252 4,462 Southwest 269 1,694 1,036 2,999 West 467 2,500 1,452 4,419 Littoral 482 1,469 1,043 2,994 Centre 1,029 5,179 4,885 11,093 East 348 2,511 2,152 5,011 South 583 2,203 1,728 4,514 Cameroon (Sum) 5,011 23,558 21,182 49,751 4

5 Figure 2- Terms of road transport, Cameroon 2012, own source 5

6 Table 4 - Average people walk distance [km] to all year trafficable road based on (Ngoumbe 2004) Region Population Average distance to road [km] Far north 2,553, North 1,145, Adamawa 681, Northwest 1,702, Southwest 1,153, West 1,843, Littoral 1,861, Centre 2,272, East 711, South 514, Cameroon (Sum) 14,439, The streets don t reach all of the locations and habitations of where humans live. For half of the Cameroon population the distance from the habitation to the next road which can be passed all over the year is more than four kilometers long (see table 4). For this reason people especially the rural population have to carry (heavy) goods personally and sometimes on their head at distances of several kilometers. The electricity produced in Cameroon doesn t cover the increasing needs of the population and industry, so that unpredictable power cuts occur repeatedly during a day. A reliable electric power supply of IT equipment or cooling equipment is not possible without local standby generators. The mobile phone is used mainly for telephone communication, because it is widespread available in the urban areas. Coverage in the rural areas is not ensured continuously. The landline telephone by the public CAMTEL is not satisfactory in the cities and often not existent in rural areas. Bureaucracy and corruption Some sources about bureaucracy and corruption in Cameroon are available and will be denominated in the following. But some experiences of the authors gathered during the visits in Cameroon, are still not documented. These results from interviews with experts in Cameroon and Europe will be added in the following. The interviews and sources are documented but can t be given in this publication because of the sensitivity of the data and necessary prevention of the interview-partners. The public administration in Cameroon is characterized by strict hierarchical structures, which are infiltrated to a large extent of corruption (Schwarz 2012, p. 99). In the Corruption Perceptions Index (TI 2013) Cameroon is ranked 144 of 175 countries listed. Among the many socio-economic reasons for the corruption in all levels of society are e. g. low and irregular income also in public services, lack of control over the entire management system, lack of knowledge of the people regarding their rights against the arbitrariness of the officials. Thus, the high costs of training for customs officials and the subsequent low income almost forced to corrupt behavior. The so-called "motivation" is 6

7 expected and required in order to achieve an income that allows a life above the poverty line for their families. Sometimes importers ask for lower import fees and therewith initialize corruption. Table 5 - Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 (subset) based on (TI 2013) Rank Country Score 1 Denmark Germany Japan United States China Russia Cameroon Chad Somalia 8 The complex and sometimes corrupt import procedures often cause long delivery times in the ports. There exist a variety of possibilities to hinder import and transport by apparently legal bureaucratic procedures (e. g. incorrect and manipulated documents, lengthy questions, roadside checks with additional charges, etc.) Figure 3 - Bureaucracy and loading, Cameroon 2012, own source Distribution of medical products The import quota of medical products in Cameroon is about 95%. Deliveries are made primarily by global pharmaceutical companies from Europe and Asia by sea or by air. Sensitive and refrigerated medications are particularly delivered by air. Medicines can only be imported by importers who meet the import requirements for medical products and have approvals from the responsible authorities "Ministere de la sante publique and Ministere des Finance". The last mile begins at the ports in Cameroon with customs clearance and ends with the end users (publication, hospitals, pharmacies, physicians, etc.). Experience in dealing with the local authorities is necessary to make a fast processing of customs formalities possible. Private domestic distributors receive the medical products at the seaport or airport after customs clearance and afterwards supply pharmacies and hospitals in the large and small cities. On the public level, especially in rural areas, the CENAME ("Centrale Nationale d'en 7

8 Approvisionnement Medicaments et consommables medicaux Essentiels") provides public hospitals and health facilities. The CENAME possesses and operates a central warehouse in Yaounde (Yadav, P. et al. 2011) (Angwafo, F 2011) From this central point the medicines are delivered to the decentralized warehouses of CARP "Regional Pharmaceutical Drugs Procurement Center" in the capitals of the ten Cameroon regions (Figure 1). The capacities of the warehouses are too low, and in addition lacks in the thermal insulation and insulation against moisture can be stated (Figure 4). Due to the unstable power supply a continuous cooling can only be ensured if standby generators are employed. From the locations of decentralized warehouses the supply of district hospitals in some rural areas is only possible on dirt tracks or by boats on rivers, because roads and bridges are missing. The organization, planning, and implementation of the transport processes are subject to the CARP. As the main means of transport pick-up trucks or off-road vehicles are used when the roads are passable. For non-drivable roads the support of the villagers is necessary to carry the medicines to the last destination. Boats are used in the coastal regions or in regions which are accessible on rivers. Roof Waterspots Figure 4 - Warehouse and transport units, Cameroon 2013, own source In addition to the legal distribution of medical products, there is a large illegal market for original and counterfeit medicines. They are imported illegally as well through the porous borders with neighboring countries as directly through the customs through bribery. The illegal market is additionally supplied with legally imported drugs that are "diverted" from the supply chains, warehouses, pharmacies and clinics in the country. First recommendations and measures As it is described above, the reliable supply of the population in Cameroon with medicines, especially in the rural areas is difficult and challenging. The poor transport and communications infrastructure, problems with energy supply and storage, lack of equipment and capabilities of logistics service providers and pervasive corruption are some of the main problems which have to be solved to improve the situation. The key issues to develop logistics and the distribution of medical products are the improvement of energy, infrastructure, education and the reduction of corruption. Measures to improve the situation should be developed by the Cameroonian society itself step by step. But financial support and the transfer of know-how of the international community is essential, as well. 8

9 Some of the mentioned challenges are under governmental responsibility and can only be tackled with great financial and international support: the development of energy supply through better use of unused hydropower resources, the development of the transport infrastructure at sea- and airports, for the railway- and road-network. For rural areas it is imaginable and still realized that the expansion of rural roads and traditional bridges is pushed forward directly by the rural population itself. The use of simple and appropriate technologies and means of transport such as Cross-motorcycles, handcarts and of traditional boats can lead faster to improvements than waiting for the construction of asphalt roads. Education and training of the people are important requirements (Schwarz 2012) as well for the development of large solutions in the public sector as for small and appropriate technologies at the local level of cities and rural villages. A huge potential of young people for education and training on all necessary qualification-levels is available in Cameroon. However, the expansion of the education system starting from primary schools to vocational or university education must be promoted so that it is accessible and affordable for all classes of society. Figure 5 - Education at universities, Cameroon 2012, own source Also for the fight against corruption a long process of development in the Cameroonian society is necessary. A reasonable payment in the public administration and reduction of hierarchical structures are necessary steps in this direction. Cantens et al. (2010) show how success has been achieved with measures of "Performance Measurement" in the port of Douala. 9

10 Poor medical care and poverty of the population usually occur simultaneously, and often amplify each other. Therefore it must be a goal to make a significant step towards improving the living conditions of people in Cameroon via the reliable supply of medical products. Bibliography Angwafo, F. F. ed Profile pharmaceutique du pays. Publie par le Ministere de la Sante a Yaounde en collaboration avec l Organisation Mondiale de la Sante. Available at pdf Arvis, J.-F., M. A.Mustra et al Connecting to Compete Trade Logistics in the Global Economy.The Logistics Performance Index and Its Indicators. The World Bank. Available at Cantens, T., G. Raballand et al Reforming Customs by measuring performance: a Cameroon case study. World Customs Journal 4(2): Available at INSC. 2012, Annuaire Statistique du Cameroun Institut National de la Statistique, Yaounde Cameroun. Available at Kessler, M Logistics Network Design in Africa. Integrating Aid Flows and National Self Supply. Haupt. Berne. Ngoumbe, Z., D. Ekwalla Bouma Rapport sur les indicateurs de performance du secteur des transports au Cameroun. La Banque Mondiale Available at OECD African Economic Outlook : Cameroon. OECD. Available at AEO African Economic Outlook 2013: Cameroon. Available at %20African%20Economic%20Outlook.pdf Schwarz, J. R Humanitare Logistik fur die Versorgungsproblematik in Subsahara-Afrika Aufbau von Logistikkapazitat durch Wissenstransfer. Schriftenreihe Logistik der Technischen Universitat Berlin. Band 21. Universitatsverlag der Technischen Universitat Berlin. Berlin Streit-Juotsa, L Medikamententransport nach Kamerun. Master thesis. THM University of Applied Sciences, Friedberg, Germany. unpublished TI Corruption Perceptions Index Transparency International. Available at Thomas A., L. Kopczak. 2005: From Logistics to Supply Chain Management The path forward to the humanitarian sector, Fritz Institute. Available at WHO. 2013a. WHO Countries statistics Available at WHO. 2013b. Global Health Observatory Data Repository. Available at WP Wikipedia. Kamerun. Available at and Yadav, P., H. L. Tata et al Storage and Supply Chain Management. World Medicines Situation Report. World Health Organization. Geneva. Available at Photos Schumann, A. (2012), Streit-Juotsa, L. (2013) 10
Authorities are on the hunt for a 41-year-old man accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl for nearly 20 months, the Harris County Sheriff's Office said Thursday.

The sexual accusations came to light after the now wanted man, Reynaldo Zepeda, was charged in another related case involving the teen's mother and 14-year-old brother.
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A Houston man arrested for the sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl was sentenced to more than 18 years in prison Friday, according to federal prosecutors.

In addition to the sentence, the judge also ordered DeAngelo Tate, 27, to serve 10 years of supervised release and to pay $20,000 in restitution to the girl. Tate pleaded guilty to one count of sex trafficking of children in December.

According to admissions by Tate, between Jan. 13, 2015 and March 16, 2015, Tate posted classified advertisements on backpage.com promoting the prostitution of the 17-year-old female, but stating she was 19 or 22.

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Tate admitted he also rented hotel rooms in Corpus Christi and Houston to serve as the location for commercial sex acts between the minor female and male customers.

Tate moved the girl to Corpus Christi from Houston after she was previously arrested for prostitution by the Houston Police Department.

According to court documents, Tate transported the girl to the hotels, collected all of the money from the completed sex acts and became violent with her if she did not follow his orders.

He was arrested on March 16, 2015 after police officers in Corpus Christi received a 911 call from a local inn. The then 17-year-old girl told an operator she was hiding from Tate in the bathroom.

Officers arrived to the inn and kicked down the door after several attempts to contact someone inside. Two females were found, one being the 17-year old caller. Tate told officers he had just met the females.

The victim told officers that she was being held against her will by Tate and the second female. She also told investigators Tate had been her pimp for about two months.

Tate will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The FBI investigated this case with assistance of police departments in Houston and Corpus Christi.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri L. Zack and trial attorney Lauren Britsch of the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.

For information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.
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Houston Police Department officers are searching for a man charged in the fatal shooting of a mother of three whose body was discovered Thursday night.

Police say Jerald Dewayne Watt, 40, who was charged in the slaying, was the common-law husband of the victim, Rena Marie Hodges, 35.

Hodges was found dead in her bedroom, according to Houston Police Department officers. Her body was found at about 9 p.m. in the 6000 block of Peacock Hills Drive in southwest Houston near Westbury.

According to a police report, she suffered at least one gunshot wound.

HPD homicide detective Sgt. Kenneth Daignault said a concerned family member went to the victim's home after not hearing from her for a couple of days. That's when a security guard on the property entered the victim's home with a key and found her body upstairs in a bedroom.

Daignault said there were no signs of forced entry.

The detective said the Hodges had three children. The children were staying with a relative at the time their mother's body was found. Court documents show the suspect was not the biological father of the three children.

Police are now interviewing family members to piece together the moments leading up to the mother's death.

Police said Watt could be driving in two vehicles: a 2002 blue Ford Explorer with Texas license plates FJW-9847 or a 2010 white Nissan Versa with Texas handicapped license plates.

Police asks anyone with information Watt's whereabouts to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
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To press the point that enforcement of immigration laws is an emergency, Texas Governor Greg Abbott tells the story of Juan Rios.

In his State of the State address, for example, Abbott described Rios as a "criminal alien" previously arrested and deported three times.

"Last September, he went on a crime spree across Texas, killing two people and kidnapping another," Abbott said in his Jan. 31 address to the Legislature.

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Rios has used a variety of names and is also listed in law enforcement records as Silvestre Franco-Luviano. He was arrested Sept. 27 in Georgetown and remains in custody, charged with murder in Dallas.

Because such crimes are repeated too often in Texas, Abbott said the state must take a stand.

"Some law enforcement officials in Texas are openly refusing to enforce existing law," Abbott said.

At issue is whether local police should honor every federal immigration request by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain immigrants who are in the country illegally until federal officials decide what to do with them. The decision to honor these requests, known as detainers, is voluntary.

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Abbott's remark at his State of the State address was considered to be a reference to Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez, over that county's new policy of not cooperating with most federal immigration detainers.

At the time, Hernandez said the new policy would not apply to those charged with murder, aggravated sexual assault or human smuggling. Nonetheless, Abbott went ahead and stopped more than $1.5 million in criminal justice grants through his office to Travis County.

But Senate Bill 4, the legislation Abbott is pushing, wouldn't have made a difference in the case of Rios, according to the Dallas Morning News.

MILLION-PLUS: Immigrants living illegally in Houston and Dallas top 1 million

The bill, which has passed the Texas Senate and has gone to the state House of Representatives, would not have required the officer who stopped Rios on a traffic violation to ask about his immigration status.

"SB4 would make absolutely no change to the existing situation..." Denise Gilman, director of the University of Texas School of Law's immigration law clinic, told the Morning News. "To home in only on immigrants really suggests that preventing crimes isn't the motivation, but rather there's an anti-immigrant motivation."

Abbott and other SB4 supporters say they are not opposed to legal immigration.
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The last two years have heightened the divisions of race, religion and politics around America. It's no surprise that the hate groups who take these ideas to the extreme have also grown, capitalizing on the fear, anger and misinformation that has come with the election.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization identifies, tracks and raises awareness of hate groups, recently published a troubling report that found a second-year of growth in the number of hate groups across the United States.

In a nutshell, the report describes a disturbing reality: After half a century of relative dormancy, the radical right has reentered the mainstream.

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According to data collected by the organization, anti-Muslim hate groups tripled from 34 in 2015 to 101 in 2016.

The Islamophobia that spurred the creation of these groups also lead to a 67 percent increase in hate crimes against Muslims.

However, Texas seems to be bucking the national trend, with the number of hate groups actually dropping from 84 to 55, according to Mark Potok, senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center and editor of the report.

Although it may seem like good news, Potok said it was an accident of history, explaining that there's no correlation between a drop in the number of hate groups and the number of hate-related crimes.

"Fewer than 5 percent of hate crimes are committed by members of an organized hate group," said Potok. "More or less, they're just every day people."

The drop in hate groups, he said, is because these organizations often go "out of business" due to their small numbers.

The senior fellow also pointed to the burning of two mosques in Austin and Victoria as extraordinary evidence for a "very real, very traumatic nation wide trend."

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And while the Texas numbers have fallen, the report seemed confident that President Donald Trump had electrified the radical right with his incendiary rhetoric.

"2016 was an unprecedented year for hate," Potok said in a prepared statement. "The country saw a resurgence of white nationalism that imperils the racial progress we've made, along with the rise of a president whose policies reflect the values of white nationalists. In Steve Bannon, these extremists think they finally have an ally who has the president's ear."

The SPLC's new study also discovered that children were not shielded from the growing prejudice. In a survey of 10,000 educators, 90 percent said that the "climate at their schools had been negatively affected by the campaign," while 80 percent said there was "heightened anxiety and fear among students, particularly immigrants."

Houston, despite its diverse population, is no exception.

Speaking to Houston Public Media, The Anti-Defamation League said the number hate-related incidents in the greater Houston area had reached 25 in the first few months of 2017-- nearly half the number the organization usually deals with over the entire year.

SHUTDOWN: Trump Barred From U.K. Parliament Over 'Racism and Sexism'

Click through above to see hate groups found throughout Texas.
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In the months after a West Texas college student went missing, drivers heading into the small town of Alpine were met with a flashing traffic sign: "$200,000 reward for information leading to the safe return of Zuzu Verk."

Posters with images of Verk even reached as far as Marfa, 30 minutes west of Sul Ross State University, where the 22-year-old studied, and pleas to #FindZuzu online were the norm.

But nearly five months after Verk disappeared, when human remains were discovered outside of Alpine Feb. 3, 2017, the hope faded and the Sul Ross community began to cope with her loss.

RELATED: Tributes pour in online for West Texas college student whose remains were found

"Alpine is the last place you would expect this to happen," said Beau Marcott, a 19-year-old biology freshman at Sul Ross who didn't know Verk.

On Oct. 14, 2016, when news broke Verk had gone missing, Marcott, who graduated from Alamo Heights High School last spring, said rumors swirled on campus. Some speculated that she'd gone to El Paso for the weekend and failed to tell anyone. Others said she'd been kidnapped and taken to Mexico.

"This is so out of the ordinary," she said of the sleepy, quiet, retirement town where she attends a college the size of her high school in San Antonio.

RELATED: Human remains found in Alpine confirmed to be those of West Texas college student

When human remains were found in a shallow grave outside of Alpine at the beginning of February and arrests were made in the case, students and the Alpine community finally learned what police had discovered in the investigation.

Click through the slideshow above for a detailed timeline of what happened the night Verk was last seen alive, according to police.

The arrest affidavit for Robert Fabian, who was Verk's boyfriend, gives a police account of the chaotic days that followed Verk's disappearance on Oct. 11, specifically following the actions of Fabian and his friend, Chris Estrada.

On Oct. 14, when police finally searched Fabian's apartment, they did not find any sheets or pillow cases on his bed, according to the arrest record, and found only one of the plastic painter's drop cloths Fabian and Estrada purchased the night of Oct. 12.

The night of the 14th, when Verk's disappearance was made public, Fabian's friend quoted him as saying, "If I know a really big secret and two people know it, then the other has to be dead."

According to the affidavit, Fabian saw that his friend looked concerned over the statement so he told him he was joking.

As time passed with only few leads in the case, the feeling on the Sul Ross campus changed.

"After about a week, and two weeks, and it stretched on, we all started assuming the worst," Marcott said. "We started getting tenser and tenser."

RELATED: Missing Texas college student's boyfriend named a suspect, drones used to search

At the end of October, Alpine police named Fabian a suspect in Verk's disappearance. Reports from the time indicated that Fabian was not cooperating, but several witnesses came forward with pieces of the puzzle.

The initial panic surrounding Verk dissipated on campus in December  it was time for final exams at the university. But, Marcott said, it wasn't like people had forgotten about the 22-year-old. People just got busy.

"And that's just kind of how it was," Marcott said. "We didn't hear anything for so long, we all just figured she passed away."

And when the new semester started and border patrol found human remains Feb. 3 in a shallow grave near Alpine, later confirming them to be Verk's, things changed at Sul Ross.

"A lot of people got freaked out," Marcott said.

Fabian was arrested Feb. 4 and Estrada was arrested Feb. 6 in Arizona. Both were charged with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence in concealing a human corpse.

RELATED: West Texas police arrest 25-year-old boyfriend in Zuzu Verk case

"I want forensics to do everything they can, I want them to be able to find every bit of evidence they can, because this was not a natural death," Lori Verk said.

Investigators confiscated digging tools and soil samples from the home of Fabian's sister, a person of interest in the case, the same day they took Fabian into custody. Authorities said Fabian's mother and brother are also persons of interest in Verk's disappearance.

A cause of death for Verk was still pending two weeks after the body was identified.

"It was closure. It was closure. I mean to know, just to know," Lori Verk, Zuzu's mother, told CBS7. "This is still going to go on for a long time, but just to know there's no more question."

Sul Ross students decorated their campus with ribbons in honor of Verk, who "everyone I've talked to about her said she was really sweet, she was lively," Marcott said. "She was really bubbly."

Verk was a couple years ahead of Marcott in the biology sequence.

"I'm still taking core classes," said Marcott, who just finished her first semester in college. "But I can't wait to get there."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

kbradshaw@express-news.net

Twitter: @kbrad5
A state district judge denied a request Thursday to temporarily block the Uptown Development Authority from spending money and issuing additional bonds ahead of a full hearing on a lawsuit over the authority's constitutionality.

Restaurateur Russell Masraff and condominium resident Jim Scarborough alleged in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that Uptown and the tax increment reinvestment zone that feeds it were created in violation of the Texas Constitution, arguing that the west Houston neighborhood did not qualify as "blighted, undeveloped or underdeveloped" when the city formed the economic development zone in 1999.

"This TIRZ was established in order to create a pot of money to revitalize infrastructure in an area that was not only not blighted, but was an economic generator," plaintiffs' attorney Joe Larsen said, asking District Judge Dan Hinde to suspend Uptown's future payments and ability to issue another $65 million in debt.

City Council delayed a vote Wednesday on authorizing Uptown's bond issuance, which would support widening Post Oak Boulevard and adding dedicated bus lanes, as well as improving Memorial Park.

Assistant City Attorney Lucy Anderson said the plaintiff's constitutional challenge was not "sufficiently articulated" and added that other questions about the legality of Uptown's creation would have needed to be raised within the required three-year window for challenging city ordinances.

Anderson also cited the potential for disruption if a temporary restraining order were to be authorized.

"We're just paying for an obligation that we've already undertaken. Construction is already underway," she said.

Kelly Sandill, an attorney representing Uptown, pegged the cost of delaying bond issuance and halting and resuming Uptown's work at roughly $1.5 million.

She also emphasized that economic development zones may be created in undeveloped or underdeveloped areas, not just blighted ones.

The city argued in forming the Uptown TIRZ that the area "substantially impairs and arrests the sound growth of the City" because it lacked adequate streets and sidewalks.

"I think the plaintiffs like to focus on the blighted concept because it sounds more dramatic," Sandill said.

A subsequent hearing in the case has yet to be scheduled, Harris County District Clerk records show.
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More than 4,000 years ago, while the great Egyptian pharaohs built the pyramids, living, breathing woolly mammoths stomped about in modern day Russia.

Today, humanity's best understanding of these extinct creatures are from their frozen carcasses, as well as the movie "Ice Age."

But a team of Harvard scientists are attempting to bring the woolly mammoth back to life, restoring the privilege early man unknowingly had by living with these ancient beasts.

NUMBER EIGHT: Geologist discover new continent under New Zealand

The Guardian recently reported the team's progress, which spoke at an annual meeting for the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

"Our aim is to produce a hybrid elephant-mammoth embryo," said geneticist George Church, as reported by The Guardian. "Actually, it would be more like an elephant with a number of mammoth traits. We're not there yet, but it could happen in a couple of years."

So far, scientists have spliced 45 pieces of mammoth DNA into the elephant genome, resulting in what some are calling a "mammophant."

With this half-mammoth, half-elephant DNA cocktail, researchers are hoping to create an embryo capable of being born into a full-fledged mammophant-- Jurassic Park style.

According to Church, the mammoth's de-extinction is just the tip of the iceberg when dealing with this level of gene and DNA manipulation. The Harvard-educated geneticist also predicted that age-reversal will become a reality within a decade thanks to developments in genetic engineering.

TRAPPED IN AMBER: Scientists seek to unlock the mysteries of ancient insect

Click through to learn some shocking facts about wildlife extinction.
Transcription

1 COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND ENVIRONMENT, LEXINGTON, KY, AJ-02P0 Kentucky 4-H Chicken and Turkey Barbecue Project Tony Pescatore, Wendy Stivers, and Jacquie Jacob, Department of Animal and Food Sciences Cooking barbecue is a national pastime as American as apple pie. What is more welcome than the aroma of food cooking on an outdoor grill? Barbecue cooking is for almost everyone, so get ready to develop skills you will use the rest of your life. In this project you will: Cut up a chicken and/or a turkey for barbecue Handle poultry properly to prevent growth of bacteria that can cause food poisoning Start a fire in a charcoal grill Cook chicken and/or turkey on the grill Keep a record of your 4-H poultry barbecue activities You also may: Enter a 4-H poultry barbecue contest Give demonstrations on barbecuing poultry Provide leadership to younger 4-Hers First Things First The first thing you need to know about cooking poultry is the importance of sanitation. Salmonella, bacteria that may grow quickly on poultry, can cause serious food poisoning. Therefore, it is important to follow these food safety guidelines: Always wash your hands with soap and water before and after handling raw poultry. Use a paper towel to dry your hands instead of a towel. Keep raw poultry cold, either in a refrigerator or in a cooler packed with ice. Keep cooked poultry hot. Serve it immediately; do not leave it at room temperature any longer than necessary to complete the meal. Wash cutting boards, countertops, knives, and other surfaces touched by the raw poultry with soap and water. Again, use paper towels to dry, and then throw them away. Be sure to have the fire hot before placing raw poultry on it to cook. A low fire provides a good environment for bacteria to grow. Getting It All Together Any time you cook out, you want to have all the equipment you need close by. You will find it frustrating to need tongs or water to put out a flame and have to run to the house in a hurry. Being prepared can make the difference between a successful barbecue and a disappointing one. Agriculture and Natural Resources Family and Consumer Sciences 4-H Youth Development Community and Economic Development EXTENSION

2 To prepare the poultry you will need: Sharp knife (6-inch boning or butcher knife) Cutting board Platter Plastic bag or wrap Water Soap Paper towel or hand towel To barbecue the poultry you will need: Barbecue grill Long tongs for handling briquettes Long-handled lighter or matches Charcoal briquettes and lighter fluid Vegetable-oil spray Spray bottle Table for work area Paper towels Apron Second tongs for handling meat Basting brush Cooler with ice to keep sauces cold and to store raw chicken when not being handled Container for sauces Garbage bag Aluminum foil Platter Starter can and pliers (optional) Never use gasoline or kerosene as fuel to start a fire. Never pour more fuel on charcoal that has already ignited. It might blaze up and burn you. Now that you know the safety rules, you are ready to learn how to build a charcoal fire: Line your grill area with aluminum foil with the shiny side up. Place enough charcoal in the grill to cover the grill area with briquettes a half-inch apart. Mound the charcoal up or use a starter can. A starter can may be built by taking a 3-pound coffee can (7 inches tall, 6 inches in diameter) and removing both ends of the can. Punch holes around the bottom of the can about 1-inch from the bottom edge. Space holes every inch or two. Soak the briquettes with charcoal lighter fluid. (Do not use gasoline or kerosene.) Light the charcoal with a long handled lighter or match. If a starter can is used, use pliers to remove the can when all the charcoal briquettes have a white edge around them. When the charcoals are covered with a white ash, the fire is hot enough for cooking. Spread the charcoal so that all the poultry will have even heat. Where There s Smoke Let s learn how to have a good charcoal fire. Before you start a fire, there are a few safety rules you must know. Charcoal cooking is safe when done properly, but you can be burned if you do not know and follow safety precautions. If you have never started a charcoal fire before, have an adult who has done so help you. Do not wear loose or hanging clothing when building a fire. A well built charcoal fire using a starter can. 2

3 Spray the grill rack with vegetable-oil spray, and place the rack on the grill 6 inches above the fire. If the fire supplies insufficient heat to complete the cooking process, you can make the fire hotter by knocking the ashes off the burning coals or moving the coals closer together. Do not add lighter fluid to hot coals. If the previous steps were not sufficient to increase the heat generated by the coals, add more charcoal. If the fire is too hot (which can result in burning your chicken or turkey), sprinkle the coals with water or move some of the coals to one side. If the fire flames up, sprinkle water on that area of the coals. Use the longhandled tongs to move the charcoal. Once you have barbecued poultry, all the steps will become easy for you. While your coals are heating, you can prepare the chicken or turkey. Until you have practiced, you may have to allow more time. Or you may want to practice building a fire before you actually need it for cooking. Bring on the Bird Oven-ready chicken weighing two to three pounds are ideal for barbecuing. A typical serving size for lean meat is 3 ounces so allow one quarter chicken per person (8-12 ounces). Turkeys under 16 pounds are ideal for barbecuing. If you purchase a whole turkey or turkey breast with bone, allow 7-8 ounces of turkey per person. If you purchase a boneless breast allow 5-6 ounces of boneless breast per person. You can buy poultry fresh or frozen. Whichever you buy, it must be kept cold. Fresh chicken may be stored two to three days in the refrigerator or longer in the freezer. If you are taking the chicken somewhere else to cook it, you must store it in an ice chest or cooler with plenty of ice. Thaw frozen chicken in the refrigerator or under running cold water. Never thaw chicken at room temperature. Allow five hours per pound of meat to thaw in the refrigerator. Allow one half hour per pound of meat to thaw under running cold water. Always wash your hands with soap and water before and after handling raw poultry. Use a paper towel to dry your hands instead of a towel. Ready for the Butcher Block Part of what you will learn in this 4-H project is how to cut up a chicken or turkey for barbecuing. In order to do a good job, you need to know something about the anatomy of poultry. In order to do a good job, you need to know something about the anatomy of poultry how it is put together! Study the drawing below. Now you are ready to cut up your poultry. This takes a little practice and must be done with care. 3

4 Cutting Your Chicken Broilers are normally split in half for barbecuing as described below. Place the chicken on its breast. Place the knife in the indentation beside the tail. Some may find it easier to use cutting shears to split the back of the chicken. Cut through the backbone to the neck. Leaving a portion of the back on each half will make it easier to turn the chicken while grilling. Spread the chicken apart to expose the keel (breast bone). The keel is part hard bone, but is mostly cartilage. Place the knife on the keel bone. Apply pressure to split the bone. Once the bone is split, cut through the cartilage. Separate the two halves by splitting the breast. Optional: Remove the tail. Optional: Nick the wing joint so the half will lay flat on the grill. Remove the excess fat from the chicken to prevent fire flare-up from dripping fat. Rinse each piece thoroughly under cold running water. Wash your hands, and clean all utensils and surfaces that have come into contact with the raw chicken. Drying with paper towels is best. 4

5 Cutting Your Turkey Follow the steps described below for preparing a whole turkey for barbecuing. If you have a whole turkey, lay it on its back. Remove both wings. Remove both legs. (The wings and legs can be cooked separately.) Loosen the back. Remove the back. Draw the knife along the side of the breast point. Loosen the breast meat from the breast bone, and carefully remove the breast meat. Be sure to remove both the large and small breast muscle (tenderloin). Trim around the wing and along the back to remove the meat from the bone. Repeat for the other half of the breast. The remaining back and breast bones can be used to make soup stock. Optional: Remove the smaller breast muscle (tenderloin) for cooking separately. You can grill your turkey breasts with the skin on or off. To remove the skin, just pull it back over the breast. Wash the turkey breasts under cold running water and refrigerate until you are ready to cook. Wash your hands and clean utensils and surfaces that have been in contact with the raw turkey. Paper towels are best for drying hands and surfaces. 5

6 Stand Aside for the Cook You are almost ready to cook. Just one more detail: What will you use to baste your poultry? Basting is the use of a liquid or sauce to moisten meat as it is cooking. Basting helps keep the meat moist and adds flavor. There are many different recipes for barbecue sauce. You may want to try one of those listed. Do not use a tomatoor sugar-based sauce for basting because they have a tendency to burn. If you do use a tomato or sugar sauce, apply it to the meat as a final basting for color and flavor. Baste with another sauce to keep the meat moist. Kentucky Barbecue Sauce 2 cup water 1 tablespoon sugar 2 teaspoon black pepper 2 tablespoons butter  cup vinegar 2 teaspoons salt 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce  onion 1 teaspoon powdered mustard  teaspoon Tabasco sauce 1 clove of garlic, minced Combine all ingredients, and bring to a boil. Keep hot during basting servings All-Purpose Barbecue Sauce 1 teaspoon salt 4 teaspoon sugar  cup ketchup  cup vinegar 1 teaspoon pepper  teaspoon garlic salt  cup tomato juice  cup butter, margarine, or salad oil 1 teaspoon paprika 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1 cup water 2 small onions, finely chopped Blend ingredients together, and bring to a boil. Keep sauce hot during basting servings Oil & Vinegar Sauce 1 cup water 1 pint vinegar 1 teaspoon salt  pound butter or 1 cup of salad oil Blend ingredients together, and stir frequently to prevent separation of oil servings Marinate Sauce for Turkey 2 cups of lemon-lime soda 1 cup salad oil 1 cup soy sauce 1 teaspoon garlic salt Mix ingredients together, and stir well. Sauce can be used to marinate (soak meat in sauce prior to cooking turkey) or can be used as a basting sauce. 12 servings 6

7 Double-check to see that you have everything you need, put on your apron, and let s cook. Cooking the Chicken or Turkey 1. Place the chicken or turkey on a properly prepared grill, skin side up to seal the juices into the meat. 2. Turn the chicken and turkey frequently (5-10 minutes) to prevent burning. Use tongs to turn the meat. Do not use a fork, because it will release the juices and the finished product will be dry. 3. If the fire flames up on the meat, use the spray bottle to put out the flare-ups. 4. Baste the meat frequently to help retain moisture and prevent burning. (Remember, a tomato- or sugar-based sauce has a tendency to burn.) 5. Cook poultry until it is well done. When the chicken is done, the drumstick will twist out of the thigh joint and the wing joint will open easily. No red meat should be in any of the joints. Turkey meat, when fully cooked, will be white in color with a slight pink tint. Bright pink color indicates the turkey is not done. 6. Place poultry on a clean plate. Do not use the same plate you had raw poultry on unless it has been thoroughly washed. Poultry Par Excellence How will you know when your poultry is an excellent product? Well, the best way is your taste test. The experts will say you have an excellent product when: The poultry has an appealing appearance with uniform color The poultry is free of burned skin and blisters There is no ash dust or foreign material on the poultry The poultry has a pleasant, normal poultry odor and a good taste The sauce complements, but does not overwhelm, the meat Let s Have a Cookout Barbecued poultry is good, but it s better when you have something else to go along with it. As an entree, poultry goes well with many food combinations. You can cook the meat, vegetables, and bread outdoors by taking advantage of the barbecue fire, or you may prefer to prepare the vegetables and salad indoors. You may barbecue poultry ahead and hold warm or re-warm prior to serving. Remember to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold to avoid food poisoning. 7. Keep the poultry meat hot until served. Some tips for cooking the turkey: Marinating the turkey prior to placing it on the grill will improve the flavor and moisture of the finished product. Remember to keep the turkey and the marinade cold during the marinating period. The turkey breasts can be cooked by wrapping the turkey in aluminum foil with the dull side out. This will help prevent the turkey from burning and will prevent moisture loss. In addition, the aluminum foil makes the turkey easier to handle. The turkey can be basted during cooking by opening the aluminum foil and basting the meat. You might want to add extra sauce to the meat and then close the aluminum foil. Remember to use clean utensils, hands, and dishes when working with raw poultry to prevent contamination. 7

8 The following are menu suggestions that go well with poultry. Most of these foods are easy to prepare, and you can find recipes for them in most cookbooks. Menu 1 Creamy potato salad Sliced tomatoes Celery sticks Buttered rolls Apple cobbler Menu 2 Pork and beans Tossed salad Buttered rolls Cherry pie Menu 3 Corn on the cob Green beans Tossed salad Biscuits Lemon pie Menu 4 Stuffed baked potato Broccoli Apple-celery salad Corn bread Brownies Menu 5 Wild rice casserole Peas with sauteed mushrooms Peach and cottage cheese salad Buttered rolls Rhubarb and strawberry cobbler Menu 6 Baked potato Spiced apricots Buttered broccoli Sliced cucumbers and sour cream Bran rolls Lime sherbet State 4-H Chicken/Turkey Barbecue events The State 4-H Chicken and Turkey Barbecue Events are held each year. Their purpose is to help 4-Hers develop skills in the preparation and use of barbecued chicken or turkey. Both juniors and seniors are allowed to participate in the state contest. Contact your local 4-H agent for the latest information on registration forms, event dates, score sheets, and rules and regulations governing the events. Up-to-date information is in the 4-H Agents Awards and Events Handbook. State senior winners in chicken barbecue and in turkey barbecue contests proceed to the National 4-H Chicken/Turkey Barbecue contest held in November in Louisville. Demonstrations An illustrated presentation is required of state level winners in the Chicken and Turkey Barbecue Contest who proceed to the National 4-H Chicken/Turkey Barbecue Contest. An illustrated presentation is not required at the state level. However, you may want to prepare a project demonstration for your county 4-H Communications Day activities. It would fit in the Other Foods category and would help you prepare for national competition if you have aspirations in that area. Topics that would be appropriate include: Information about purchasing broilers/ turkeys Selecting an outdoor grill, fire preparation, and safety tips Equipment checklist for outdoor cooking Barbecue sauces Testing for doneness Preparing and cutting up a chicken/turkey Preparing your own turkey breast steaks Cholesterol in chicken/turkey compared to other meats How to fire up your grill (direct heat, indirect heat, rotisserie grilling, smoke roasting) Barbecuing a whole turkey Marinades, sauces, glazes what they are, how to make them, how to use them 8

9 Citizenship/Leadership Activities Have a county 4-H chicken/turkey barbecue contest. Have your 4-H council prepare the remainder of the meal. Invite representatives from the following organizations: school board, county and city governments, Extension district board, and school administrators and personnel. Conduct a county 4-H chicken/turkey barbecue contest at a local nursing home or senior citizens center. Invite the elderly to share your meal. See if the local grocery store will donate the poultry. Ask if the nursing home or senior citizens center will sponsor or prepare the remainder of the meal. Conduct your county 4-H chicken/turkey barbecue contest at the county fair, local mall, or local park and recreation department. Have brochures available on the local 4-H program to pass out to interested people. Develop a poster or sign advertising the county 4-H chicken/turkey barbecue contest and display in a prominent area. Plan a media campaign on the activity radio, television, newspaper. Teen 4-Hers could serve as barbecue project leaders for 4-H youth ages Use this project book and follow up to practice your barbecue skills and organize and sponsor a county contest for junior 4-Hers. Project Records You should include the following record sheets with any of your foods and nutrition record books. Educational programs of Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability, or national origin. Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, M. Scott Smith, Director, Land Grant Programs, University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Lexington, and Kentucky State University, Frankfort. Copyright 2012 for materials developed by University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension. This publication may be reproduced in portions or its entirety for educational or nonprofit purposes only. Permitted users shall give credit to the author(s) and include this copyright notice. Publications are also available on the World Wide Web at Revised Photos on pages 1,3, 6 and Photos.com, a division of Getty Images

10 Kentucky 4-H Poultry Barbecue Project Record Name Birth date Address Street & Number / Rural Route Town Zip School Grade County Fill in the following chart telling about your experience barbecuing poultry. Date: Date: Date: Location or event Amount of poultry barbecued Type of grill used Inches from coals to grill Type of starter fuel used Minutes required before fire was ready Number of times you turned poultry Minutes required to cook poultry Number of people fed Sauce (homemade, purchased, or none) EXTENSION Agriculture and Natural Resources Family and Consumer Sciences 4-H Youth Development Community and Economic Development 4AJ-02P0: Kentucky 4-H Chicken and Turkey Barbecue Project - Cooperative Extension Service University of Kentucky College of Agriculture

11 Do you think this poultry barbecue was excellent, good, fair? What could you have done to make this a better product? List other foods served with the barbecued poultry (circle those you prepared) List all 4-H Chicken/Turkey Barbecue activities you completed (demonstrations, speeches, field trips, posters, etc.) Type of Activity Where Date Award or Recognition List related leadership/citizenship activities you completed for this project. Type of Activity Where Date Award or Recognition Attach a project story telling about the new skills and knowledge the 4-H Poultry Barbecue project has helped you develop. Member Date Leader Date You should include this record sheet with any of your foods and nutrition record books. 4AJ-02P0: Kentucky 4-H Chicken and Turkey Barbecue Project - Cooperative Extension Service University of Kentucky College of Agriculture
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A Florida great blue heron is making us question the order of the universe by eating a whole live baby alligator in an inexplicably disturbing video.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission posted the video on its Facebook page and spoke with photographer Scott Martin, who took the video in the Viera Wetlands near Melbourne, Florida.
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.
In defiance of multiple UN Security Council resolutions, North Korea recently launched a ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast. This was North Koreas first ballistic missile test in 2017, following an unprecedented 24 ballistic missile launches last year.

Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said the United States strongly condemned North Koreas ballistic missile launch and would take all necessary measures to deter and defeat threats to the citizens and territories of the U.S. and its allies.

The launch occurred near the North Korean northwestern city of Kusong and the missile flew about 500 kilometers roughly due east into the Sea of Japan.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command determined the missile did not pose a threat to North America or its allies in the region.

Nevertheless, said Captain Davis, [Such launches from North Korea are] all serious. This is a program they are moving forward on, to try to develop this capability, and theyve been doing it in defiance of multiple [United Nations Security Council] resolutions and actions to try to get them to stop. They are very open and transparent about their desire to build this capability, and we are open about our ability to defeat it.

Our commitment to the defense of our allies in the face of these threats, said spokesman Davis, especially the Republic of Korea and Japan, is ironclad.

Shortly after the launch, the State Departments Special Representative for North Korea Policy, Ambassador Joseph Yun, spoke with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts - South Korean Special Representative Kim and Japanese Director General Kanasugi, affirming close coordination with the South Korean and Japanese governments.

In a written statement, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called on all members of the Security Council to use every available resource to make it clear to the North Korean regime  and its enablers  that these launches are unacceptable. It is time to hold North Korea accountable  not with our words, but with our actions."

The launch occurred during Prime Minister Shinzo Abes visit with President Trump, and the two leaders issued a joint statement reiterating that The United States and Japan strongly urge North Korea to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and not to take any further provocative actions. The statement also emphasized the full commitment of the United States to defending its homeland, forces, and allies through the full range of U.S. military capabilities.
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Ridge View to keep on sharing The Galva-Holstein and Schaller-Crestland School Districts have reached a tentative agreement that will likely reflect Schaller-Crestlands consolidation to a single...

Pipeline company sought to limit required safeguards for soil Navigator CO2 Ventures wanted to reduce its obligations to sample and restore topsoil for the construction of its proposed carbon...
Montreal Named Best City in the World for Students CIC News Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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Montreal has replaced Paris, which had held the title for four years, as the best city in the world for international students. The ranking was released by QS Rankings, which conducts regular major surveys of students worldwide to find the top cities and countries for higher education across various categories.

This survey questioned 18,000 students about the desirability of cities around the world. It also researched a number of factors, including the quality of universities, student facilities, cost of living, employment opportunities, and levels of tolerance and openness in order to reach its conclusion. In total, six categories were assessed: student mix, desirability, employer activity, affordability, student opinion, and the number of institutions in a city that place in the QS University Rankings.

Canada as a whole was well represented in the rankings, with Vancouver claiming the 10th spot and Toronto the 11th. Ottawa and Quebec City also placed in the top 100 cities worldwide, at positions 26 and 72, respectively. This data reinforces recent statistics showing that increasing numbers of individuals are looking to study in Canada, attracted by its high quality of life, world-class education system, and permanent immigration opportunities.

Why Montreal?

With a student population of almost 250,000, Montreal has the highest proportion of post-secondary students in any major Canadian city. The city hosts 11 universities, including two of Canadas top English-language universities: McGill University and Concordia University. According to QS, McGill University is the top-ranked university in Canada.

The bilingual nature of the citys education system is a major lure for many international students: there are plentiful opportunities to live and study in English and/or French. International students are also drawn to Montreal for its comparatively low costs of living, lively arts scene, and unique ambience that is often compared to a city in Europe. The citys tolerant culture, diverse opportunities, and vibrant clash of North American and European values were also valued by students.

Quebec offers unique pathway to permanent residence

Another major lure of Montreal as a study destination for international students is the Quebec immigration system. The province has recently launched an initiative to retain international students in Montreal after graduation, and the policies are in place to support this. Quebec is the only province in Canada that does not require international graduates from an undergraduate or college study program to obtain a job offer or skilled work experience in order to apply for permanent immigration to Canada.

International students who graduate from an eligible program at a in Quebec may apply to the province for a Certificat de selection du Quebec  Quebec Selection Certificate, or CSQ  and, after receiving a CSQ, they may apply to the federal government for permanent resident status. For international graduates, there are two main routes towards obtaining a CSQ:

The Programme dexperience quebecoise (Quebec Experience Program, or PEQ) is a fast-track route to obtaining a CSQ for candidates who meet the selection criteria. If the application is complete and eligible, a CSQ is usually issued within 20 days. Eligibility criteria include an advanced-intermediate level of oral French, in addition to an eligible diploma from a recognized post-secondary institution. Interestingly, candidates do not need a job offer or skilled work experience in order to be eligible.

The Quebec Skilled Worker Program (Travailleurs qualifies du Quebec, or QSWP) is a popular option for international students who may be unable to meet the language requirement of the PEQ. Candidates are assessed on the basis of points awarded for civil status information, education and work history, language ability, and other factors. If candidates are otherwise eligible on the basis of their points evaluation, a job offer and skilled work experience may not be required.

Find out more about the differences between the PEQ and QSWP.

Learn more about studying in Quebec.

Toronto and Vancouver place high

Ontario and British Columbia are, by a large margin, the two most popular destination provinces in Canada for international students. The University of Toronto places second in the QS Ranking for overall top university in Canada, and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver places third.

As Canadas largest city, Toronto can boast a level of diversity and opportunity that rivals that of other major cities worldwide. Its universities and colleges perform strongly year over year, and include well-known institutions such as the University of Toronto, Ryerson University, York University, Centennial College, and the Ontario College of Art and Design.

Vancouver is another top destination for international students, who are attracted by its mild climate, stunning coastal location, innovative job opportunities, and strong links to US and East Asia. In recent years, British Columbia has supported several initiatives to attract and support international students, including options for pursuing permanent residence after graduation.

To learn more about the immigration options available to international graduates in Canada, consult this comprehensive table.

Subscribe to the Canada Study News monthly newsletter for more updates on international education in Canada.

International students in Canada, as well as graduates on a Post-Graduation Work Permit, may also join the exclusive CanadaVisa Study Hub and discover their pathway to permanent residence.

To find out if you are eligible to immigrate to Canada permanently, fill out a free online assessment form.

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BNM anunta concurs pentru postul vacant de expert coordonator (durata determinata) responsabil de control pe teren si din oficiu a sistemelor de plati
President Trump is an avowed admirer of Vladimir Putin, and his administration is under investigation for its ties to Russia. But Trumps governing style in the first few weeks has more in common with the Latin American populists who have risen to power in the last several decades. In particular, Trumps unrelenting attacks on the media and attempts to undermine its credibility and paint it as an opposition force are straight out the Latin American populists playbook. Thursdays press conference, in which he railed against very fake news, was a case in point.

While Trump is on the right and most of populist movements of Latin America are leftist-oriented, there are remarkable similarities between the two in the rhetoric they employ to mobilize supporters. Ecuadors Rafael Correa, Nicaraguas Daniel Ortega, Bolivias Evo Morales, and Argentinas Cristina Kirchneralong with the late Hugo Chavez of Venezuelaall rose to power in campaigns that targeted the media. In office, they continued their attacks.

The No. 1 enemies of Evo Morales are the majority of the media, the Bolivian president said in September 2006, a day after his government published a list of the countrys most hostile media outlets. Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa has described critics in the press as ignorant, trash-talking, liars, unethical, mediocre, ink-stained hit men, and political actors who are trying to oppose the revolutionary government. Daniel Ortega calls journalists children of Goebbels and enemies of the Nicaraguan people. Hugo Chavez frequently called the media opposition coup plotters and fascists. More mildly, Argentine President Nestor Kirchner and Uruguayan President Tabare Ramon Vazquez Rosas refer to the press as the unelected political opposition. Sound familiar?

For these leaders, the shared insight is that a mobilized and committed base is more important than broad popular support in advancing their political agenda. This realization turns standard political practice on its head: Creating a more polarized societyrather than a more unified onebecomes an explicit political goal. For example, soon after taking office in 1999, Chavez rallied his supporters behind a Constitutional Referendum. It passed with 88 percent of the votebut a 60 percent rate of abstention.

The necessary first step of a strategy of fomenting greater political polarization is to marginalize the media, and more broadly to undermine its ability to provide a shared, unifying narrative. In Latin America, this process was aided by the fact that the traditional media has been allied with oligarchic interests. When Correa or Morales denounce the media it resonates with their supporters. Trumps larger goal seems to be similar; certainly his tactics are.

Lashing out at the media at public events; denouncing and vilifying individual journalists, expelling reporters, blocking access, and threatening lawsuits: Trump and Chavez have these things in common. Like Trump, Chavez insisted on his own version of reality (now known as alternative facts) and his perspective was amplified by the segment of the media that supported his political project. Later in his administration, he built a government-funded media network that, not surprisingly, agreed with everything he said.

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Like Trump, Chavez effectively used Twitter to do an end run around media he didnt trust and to communicate directly with his supporters. Argentinas Kirchner also used Twitter to attack and undermine her critics, becoming so obsessed with social media that she refused to relinquish control of the official presidential account after being voted out of office.

These systematic attacks on the media accomplish two things. First, they fire up the base, which believe that traditional media do not represent their interests or concerns. Second, they provoke the media itself, which feeling threatened, adopts a more oppositional posture. This in turn further fuels the polarization on which the leaders depend and paves the way for the government to introduce legal restrictions.

The most dramatic example was in Venezuela, where elements in the media embarked on a campaign of open warfare, engaging in overtly partisan coverage intended to undermine Chavezs rule. Some media owners were alleged to have conspired in a 2002 coup that briefly ousted the president. Once Chavez returned to power, he rallied his supporters behind a new law imposing broad restrictions on what the media could and could not cover under the guise of ensuring the right to truthful information. Across the hemisphere, other restrictive legal measures were adopted, including Ecuadors notorious 2013 Communications Law, which criminalizes the failure to cover events of public interest, as defined by the government. In the first year, approximately 100 lawsuits were filed under the law, stifling critical reporting.

The situation is obviously very different in the US, where we have a robust, independent and financially viable media; a highly protective legal framework; and a journalistic culture that values objective reporting. But Trumps intent is clear. Through his relentless attacks, he seeks to create an environment in which critical media is marginalized and the truth is unknowable. The experience in Latin Americawhich, unlike Russia, has a democratic tradition, a robust civil society, and a history of independent mediashows that the strategy can work.

But only if the US media takes the bait, and starts acting more like the opposition. The high-impact reporting in recent days on the links between Trump aides and Russia shows that the media retains sufficient credibility in the US to change the political dynamic. It is also a vivid reminder of whats at stake.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Joel Simon is a fellow at Tow Center for Digital Journalism. His next book is The Infodemic: How Censorship Made the World Sicker and Less Free co-authored with Robert Mahoney.
Im joined by Delacorte Fellow Pete Vernon to discuss why it matters that White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer primarily allows friendly outlets to ask questions at press briefings. CJR United States Project correspondent Corey Hutchins calls in to discuss fake news at the local level. And freelance journalist Jenni Monet, who was arrested while reporting at Standing Rock, joins to discuss coverage of the Dakota Access Pipeline protests.

Sign up for weekly emails from the United States Project

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David Uberti is a writer in New York. He was previously a media reporter for Gizmodo Media Group and a staff writer for CJR. Follow him on Twitter @DavidUberti.
A federal prosecutor says seven Oklahomans were involved in a bold but quick 2015 jewelry store robbery in Little Rock, including two men arrested Monday.

U.S. Attorney Chris Thyer said Tuesday that Quinshod Shaw, 27, was arrested in Norman, Oklahoma, while Darris Denton, 29, was served with a warrant at a prison in Stringfield, Oklahoma. Both men are from Oklahoma City and have not yet had a court appearance in Arkansas. Five others were arrested previously, and two have pleaded guilty.

Shaw and Denton are accused of pointing guns at jewelry store workers and customers during a lunchtime robbery Sept. 22, 2015. Another man smashed display cases while a fourth grabbed jewelry including diamond earrings, bracelets and rings and placed the items in a bag. Thyer said more than $300,000 worth of merchandise was stolen and that none was recovered.

Tony Gabriel, 49, and Siee Ramon Russell, 38, both from Oklahoma City, have pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime and are to be sentenced later by U.S. District Judge J. Leon Holmes, the prosecutor said. They face seven years to life, though under sentencing guidelines their terms could be less. Three others are set for trial April 24.

The robbery took only a few minutes. Prosecutors say the four who entered the store and three getaway drivers abandoned a stolen truck at a church and school a block away, then returned to Oklahoma City in two vehicles. Blood recovered from glass shards in the store led investigators to Russell, while DNA recovered from a hat in the abandoned truck led them to Gabriel.

Thyer announced the arrests while touting a joint operation among state and local agencies that has resulted in the arrest of 41 people under a Violence Reduction Network initiative that targeted gun- and drug-related crimes.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Computer chips that store personal information and could be used to pinpoint someones location could not be implanted in humans without consent under a bill Nevada state lawmakers weighed on Monday.

Lawmakers on a judicial panel considered whether Nevada should join at least four other states in banning mandatory identification markers in people as a precaution to keep the emerging technology from creeping into workplaces, prisons or hospitals.

Republican Sen. Becky Harris of Las Vegas, sponsor of the legislation, said shes worried computer chips could pose serious risks to human rights and public health.

This is a completely new issue, Harris said. I just want a safety measure in place until we better understand the technology and the reasoning behind peoples desire to require implanting chips.

ACLU of Nevada Policy Director Holly Welborn said theres no impending need to protect people against mandatory microchipping, but theres no question the technology would violate rights to personal autonomy and privacy.

There really arent, under any circumstance, any justifications for that type of a tracking device on a human being, Welborn said.

The chips are currently used to track goods, find lost pets and make no-swipe credit card purchases.

Sean Sullivan, Washoe County deputy public defender, said the bill may also prohibit radiologists from using tattoos as permanent identifiers of where on patients to aim treatment. Others voiced concerns that it would forbid families and legal guardians of Alzheimers patients from deciding to put computer chips in those patients, who often wander in later stages of the disease.

The Senate Committee on Judiciary did not vote Monday on Senate Bill 109.

Radio frequency identification or RFID technology can be encapsulated in glass tubes roughly the size of two grains of rice and can be injected under skin.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the chips for use in humans in 2004. Two employees at an Ohio-based surveillance company stirred public debate in 2006 when they embedded the chips in their forearms to access protected vaults and police images.

Wisconsin, North Dakota, California and Oklahoma subsequently enacted legislation banning any required implantations, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Welborn said municipalities in Canada, Sweden and Australia have considered, but not enacted, laws mandating the chips for certain groups, such as criminals considered a potential threat to society.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The Pentagon's F-35 program head told a House Armed Services subcommittee on Thursday the price of the fighter is "on track" to reach as low as $80 million in 2019, which is lower than previously indicated.

Lt. General Christopher Bogdan, the Defense Department's F-35 program executive officer, also confirmed in his testimony that he had a phone call with President Donald Trump days before the inauguration and Boeing's CEO was in the same room as Trump and overheard their conversation. Analysts say the call was somewhat surprising given Boeing's F-18 Super Hornet fighter jet is a competitor to Lockheed Martin's F-35 aircraft.

"That strikes me as unusual," Morningstar defense analyst Chris Higgins told CNBC.

Even so, the analyst said conversations between acquisition officials and companies take place all the time. "It depends what the content of the conversation was," he said.

"It's important to understand that the discussions  we had were all pre-decisional," said Bogdan. "There were no decisions made during those conversations."

According to Bogdan, he and Trump had two separate phone conversations before the inauguration  Jan. 9 and Jan. 17  that followed Bogdan and other military officers' December meeting with the president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

The calls were first reported by Bloomberg. Talking to reporters after the hearing, Bogdan said Trump's call, which Boeing's CEO listened in on, "was not inappropriate."

A Pentagon official told CNBC they had no additional comment.



The Trump call when Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg was in the room took place Jan. 17, three days before Trump's inauguration.

A Boeing spokesman emailed CNBC, saying the company had no comment about the call. Lockheed also declined comment on the presidential call.

Thursday's hearing before the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces was scheduled to provide an update on the F-35 program.

Bogdan's remarks about the Trump calls were in response to a comment from the chairman of the subcommittee, Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio). "There's been some media reports that the president has called you directly and that that's a break in the chain of command," he said.

"It is my belief that President-elect Trump at the time was attempting to gain more information about the F-35 and its affordability," Bogdan replied. "Trying to get more information about the F-35's capabilities relative to the Super Hornet [made by Boeing]. And trying to get more information about the presidential aircraft replacement program."

The presidential aircraft replacement program is the government's plan to buy new Boeing 747 Air Force One jets.

Bogdan maintained that the questions the president-elect asked later formed the foundation of the F-35 review ordered by Defense Secretary James Mattis. He explained that the secretary's order includes looking at both the "affordability of the F-35 now and in the future" as well as the "complementary mix" of the F-35C and F-18 on Navy carrier decks.

Lockheed has been under pressure to reduce the costs of the F-35 aircraft, a program expected to cost more than $1 trillion over its life cycle, last estimated at about 53 years. The next-generation fighter is the Pentagon's most expensive program ever.

There are three different variants of the F-35 fifth-generation fighter, the F-35A for the Air Force, the F-35B for the Marines and the F-35C for the Navy.

The total U.S. military buy on the F-35 program is expected to reach 2,443 planes, and out of that 1,763 jets will be the Air Force variant.

There also are foreign military partners participating in the acquisition program. When including the foreign sales, there will be around 3,000 F-35 aircraft.

Lockheed has already delivered more than 200 F-35 planes.

Earlier this month, Lockheed reached an agreement with the government for lot 10 of the F-35 fighter. The deal was for 90 F-35 aircraft, including the F-35A variant selling for $94.6 million apiece  a decline of 7.3 percent from the prior lot and the first time it was below the $100 million mark.

"We believe we are on track to continue to reduce the price of the F-35," said Bogdan. Specifically, he said in 2019 the F-35A variant will cost between $80 million and $85 million.

If the $80 million price target is realized on the F-35A, that would represent about 15 percent savings on the plane when compared with the last production lot contract.

Higgins, the defense analyst, said there needs to be larger block buys to get the production costs down.

"They've been saying $85 million is kind of the target they're looking at for a fly-away cost on it," said Higgins. "So it's a little lower than they've been talking about."

Bogdan said the military plans to increase production lots significantly as part of what he termed the "largest ramp up in the program's history."

"The government-industry team remains laser-focused on driving the cost of buying the F-35's down. We continue to see lot-over-lot price reductions."

Back in December, Trump tweeted about cost issues with the F-35 and added, "I have asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet."

The F-18 is a fourth-generation fighter jet and doesn't have the advanced stealth capabilities found in the F-35 aircraft.

The F-35 has been a controversial program and plagued by cost overruns and technical issues over the years. Last fall, the Air Force grounded around a dozen F-35 jets when it found faulty insulation in fuel tank lines.

Bogdan said the insulation issue was resolved. He added that aircraft deliveries are recovering and will be back on production schedule by this summer.

Several other senior military officials testified that the U.S. military needs the F-35 more than ever.

In testimony at Thursday's House hearing, Navy Rear Admiral DeWolfe Miller praised the F-35C's capabilities and said the fighter "will form the backbone of the Navy air combat superiority for decades to come."

Miller contended that the F-35C "provides unique capabilities that can't be matched by modernizing fourth-generation aircraft." Specifically, he cited the Lockheed plane's stealth technology and advanced integrated systems that "greatly enhances a carrier strike group's battle space awareness and survivability to prevail in a high-end conflict."

Similarly, Marine Corp Lt. General Jon Davis was effusive in his remarks about the F-35. He also said the Marine Corp needs the F-35 because of its aging fighter fleet in the field.

Said Davis, "I'm becoming increasingly convinced that we have a game-changer, a war winner on our hands. We can't get into those airplanes fast enough."
All work has stopped at Freeport-McMoRan 's giant copper mine in Indonesia and its workers are planning a demonstration against the government's move last month that halted exports of copper concentrate to boost domestic industries, a union said.

A prolonged stoppage at the world's second-biggest copper mine would support copper prices, near 21-month highs this week, but would also deny the Indonesian government desperately needed revenue from one of its biggest taxpayers.

Freeport had said the Grasberg mine would have to slash output by 60 percent to approximately 70 million pounds of metal per month if it did not get an export permit by mid-February, due to limited storage.

But a strike at Freeport's sole domestic offtaker of copper concentrate, PT Smelting, expected to last at least until March, has limited Freeport's output options, and Grasberg's storage sites are now full.

"Everything has stopped completely. It's just maintenance now," Freeport Indonesia worker union chief Virgo Solossa told Reuters on Thursday, stopping short of saying how many of an estimated 33,000 workers had been sent home.
This photograph taken on December 15, 2016, shows a nurse holding a baby at an infant care centre in Yongquan, in Chongqing municipality, in southwest China.

Despite being banned on the mainland, the business of surrogacy is thriving, as shown by the fast growth of a Shanghai-based agency reported on by domestic media.

AA69, one of the mainland's first surrogacy businesses, had seen some 10,000 babies born via its services since its launch in 2004, China Newsweek reported on Thursday.

Customers had to pay about a million yuan (HK$1.13 million) for a baby delivered through a surrogate mother, said its founder, Lu Jinfeng, who styles himself as the "godfather" of the country's surrogacy sector.

"The supervision [of the industry] is in a vacuum and there is tacit approval from the authorities," he was quoted as saying.

More from the South China Morning Post:

End of China's one child policy sees births rise to 18.46 million in 2016 ... but it's still not enough

China looks at making surrogate motherhood legal

China's government admits birthrate too low after decades imposing one-child policy

"Based on the high infertility rate in China today, it's not likely for the authorities to step up a crackdown against [surrogacy],"

Lu regards the surrogacy business as a "traditional one" that has been industrialised. "It's not so hidden as the public thinks," he was quoted as saying.

At his company, sales staff look for infertile and wealthy couples. Another team hires women, mainly from rural areas, to be surrogate mothers. Doctors are also hired at a million yuan per year to moonlight for AA69 outside of the hospitals where they work full time.

Lu's company has branches in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing and a city in Shandong province. All of them were registered as biological science and technology firms, the magazine reported.
After being left out of opportunities to advance her career, Clare Lim quit her job in the communications industry last year and went back to school in hopes of getting a better-paid opportunity when she graduates.

"A supervisor once hinted that I wasn't given bigger tasks because without a university education, I wasn't capable enough. So, even though they have never explicitly said it, I know bosses favor degree holders, which was probably why I was never promoted," the 24-year-old Singaporean said.

"I was paid S$2,300 ($1,617) when I started. When I left, that's four years and eight months later, I still drew less than a university graduate's starting pay, which I learnt is about S$2,800 ($1,968)," she added.

Lim's experience is not uncommon in Singapore, a country that has long relied on academic grades as a yardstick for ability and potential. Students as young as 12 sit for nationwide examinations that determine the schools they attend and how far they can go in their academic pursuit. Critics have said that streaming students based on their examination performance that early hinders late bloomers from meeting their potential later in life.

But in recent years, the emphasis on examination results and paper qualifications has eased. The government now pushes for a culture of life-long learning, in which a tertiary education is no more important than the continuous upgrade of skills and knowledge.

One key development in that shift is the setting up of the SkillsFuture program in 2014, which subsidizes and pay for courses ranging from IT to languages as a way to encourage people to pick up new skills that can help their careers.

That idea was reinforced when the Committee on the Future Economy (CFE) said, in its report on Feb 9, that the country should move away from "the pursuit of the highest possible academic qualifications early in life" and towards life-long learning and retraining approaches. CFE was established to develop growth strategies for the country.

Recommendations put forth included having universities offer short, modular learning courses so that Singaporeans can gain new capabilities without disrupting their careers or personal commitments.

It also suggested the government nudge firms to hire based on skills and competencies, rather than just the degree.

Singapore's obsession with grades and paper qualifications stems from having to meet demand for skilled labor by multinationals, who played a big part in the city state's early economic success.

The competitive education system has resulted in a lucrative tuition industry. It is common for parents to send children to additional lessons after school and during the weekend to boost their chances at examinations.



"In meritocratic Singapore, academic qualification is the main deciding factor in the outcome of many stages of a Singaporean's life, be it in the progression of studies or work," said Timothy Chan, academic division director at SIM Global Education, a private tertiary education institution in Singapore.

"Therefore, it is not surprising that Singaporeans are obsessed with the pursuit of academic qualifications and grades."
Contract manufacturing firm Samsung BioLogics has denied allegations it juggled its accounting to show a surprise profit ahead of a listing last year on the South Korea stock exchange, saying a revaluation of its stake in biosimilar maker Samsung Bioepis was in line with accounting practices, The Korea Herald reported on Friday.

A South Korean legislator, Sim Sang-jeung, chairwoman of the minor opposition Justice Party and local civic group People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, suggested that Samsung BioLogics, which was unprofitable since starting operations in 2011 reported a net profit of 1.9 trillion won ($1.66 billion) in 2015 based on a revaluation of its holdings in the Samsung Bioepis unit in which US-based Biogen holds about 8 percent.

The listing of Samsung BioLogics in November last year was the second largest in on record and raised 2.25 trillion won ($1.97 billion).

Samsung BioLogics makes drugs for firms such as Swiss-based Roche under license, while it owns a stake of more than 90 percent of Samsung Bioepis, which makes biosimilars, versions of complex molecule drugs such as autoimmune disease therapy Enbrel.

Read the full report here.

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Others were also optimistic about the changes.

He noted that there's also "no shortage" of venture capitalists passing through Singapore seeking potential investments, but overseas funds had balked at setting up an office because the cost of entry was too high.

But he added that many of these groups didn't become formal venture-capital funds because of the high costs and regulatory requirements.

Chia noted that Singapore already had a significant number of early-stage incubators for entrepreneurs, with these groups helping start-ups to either raise money or offering seed funds.

Chia Tek Yew, head of financial services advisory at KPMG in Singapore, said he expected the MAS would fast-track the new regulations and that venture capitalists might start setting up shop in the city-state within six to 12 months.

But the central bank noted that in part due to long lock-up periods, it likely wasn't necessary for venture capital funds to meet the same higher capital requirements as other fund managers. Additionally, the MAS proposed easing the licensing requirements for venture-capital-fund managers.

Under the current regulatory framework, managers of venture capital funds are treated like other fund managers.

Earlier this week, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) introduced proposals to simplify the authorization process for venture capital funds.

Singapore, nicknamed the "little red dot," is eyeing a sliver of Silicon Valley's pie, aiming to attract venture capitalists to grow a stable of start-ups in the regional financial hub.

An employee works at the Garena Interactive Holding Ltd. headquarters in Singapore.

Patrick Yeo, venture hub leader at PwC Singapore, called the changes "a good starting point."

Yeo expected the changes would raise Singapore's profile and attract more players.

"It sends a strong message that the government wants to improve the funding landscape for start-ups," Yeo said. "It will help change the impression of certain players who are planning to come to Asia, or who are considering between Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney. Hopefully, it will swing things in our favour."

The proposed changes to venture-capital regulations come hard on the heels of the city-state's long-awaited report from its Committee on the Future Economy (CFE), released earlier this month.

The CFE was set up last year to develop strategies to prepare the workforce for economic and social challenges, including digital disruption and an aging population.

The report's recommendations included efforts to deepen programs aiming to turn Singapore into a regional start-up hub and to encourage partnerships between small and large enterprises and improve access to venture capital.

Another factor that may boost Singapore's appeal for venture capitalists: Rising anti-immigrant sentiment and the potential for travel and immigration restrictions in the U.S.

Singapore's policies for obtaining permission to work in the city-state are relatively liberal.

"If you look at anything technology or innovation oriented, the immigration component of that is pretty high," KPMG's Chia said. "Whether it's a start-up or venture capital or established tech companies like Oracle or HP or Microsoft, there's a huge component of immigrant expertise."

He said companies may eye Singapore as a Plan B or Plan C to spread talent to other locations, creating a network.

To be sure, the city-state isn't likely to be eating Silicon Valley's lunch anytime soon.

KPMG's Chia said it's more likely that venture capital funds will set up in Singapore as part of a network.

He said that after start-ups reach the commercialization phase in other countries, they'll look to expand to other regions, using that network.

Some also expected the expansion of venture capital in Singapore would be more gradual.

Bob O'Donnell, chief analyst at TECHnalysis Research, a technology and financial consultancy, said he expected it would be a while before Singapore saw benefits from the regulatory changes.

But he added that Singapore was an obvious location for a "Silicon Alley," as many large technology companies already have their Asia-Pacific headquarters in the city-state.

In addition, Keoy Soo Earn, regional managing partner for financial advisory at Deloitte Southeast Asia, noted in emailed comments on Friday that increasing access to venture capital was just one of the "puzzle pieces of a jigsaw" to develop a vibrant start-up community.

For one, Keoy noted that Singapore will need to be able to facilitate access to a larger market than just the city-state, which has a population of only around 5.8 million and a land area less than a quarter of the size of the state of Rhode Island.

Singapore's state-owned investment company Temasek has also eyed what the U.S. tech scene has to offer, announcing on Friday that it opened an office in San Francisco.

The fund, which had a portfolio valued around $180 billion at the end of March 2016, was eyeing how to expand U.S. investments beyond their home country.

"Many companies we look at here in the U.S. are developing products and services that cater to users beyond the domestic market," Lim Boon Heng, chairman of Temasek Holdings, said in a statement. "They play to the changes in demographics in places like Asia and Latin America. We see a continuing focus on sectors that are a natural complement to what this region does well  technology, life sciences, and particularly, the congruence of the two."

By CNBC.Com's Leslie Shaffer; Follow her on Twitter @LeslieShaffer1



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Kraft Heinz 's proposed merger with Unilever marks another consolidation effort in the food industry by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and Brazilian private-equity firm 3G Capital.

A more than $140 billion tie-up between Unilever and Kraft Heinz would be the biggest U.S. acquisition of a foreign company and the largest in the consumer staples sector, said Richard Peterson, senior director at S&P Global Market Intelligence. From a global perspective, the proposed deal would be the third largest on record without considering the value of corporate investments, he said.

"3G and Berkshire, they're noted for trying to find efficiencies, and this is on a massive scale," Peterson said.



The two investor groups together own just over half of Kraft Heinz. As of December, Berkshire had a 26.7 percent stake in the food company's outstanding shares and 3G owned 23.9 percent, according to S&P.

Spokespeople for the Buffett-led conglomerate and 3G did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.

Hellmann's mayonnaise owner Unilever rejected Kraft Heinz's offer Friday, saying the proposal "fundamentally undervalues" the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant. Kraft Heinz said in a statement that it still looks forward to reaching an agreement on a deal, but added that it's uncertain whether another offer will be made.
Soft red winter wheat is harvested with a John Deere & Co. combine harvester in aerial photograph taken over Kirkland, Illinois.

Deere is seeing signs of stabilization in key agriculture markets, including strong growth from Brazil, the farm machinery giant said Friday.

Meanwhile, the used equipment market appears to be leveling off, fueling the company's more optimistic outlook for the current fiscal year.

Deere raised its revenue guidance for fiscal 2017 to an expected 4 percent increase, compared with the 1 percent decline it forecast back in November.

"There are signs the large ag market is nearing bottom," Josh Jepsen, Deere's manager of investor communications, said on the company's first-quarter earnings call Friday.

The U.S. agriculture market has been struggling since 2012 due to low commodity prices for key crops such as corn, which has weakened farmer incomes. It also has led to a continued slump in farmland prices.

But trends appear to be improving. Along with its improved revenue outlook, Deere lifted its full-year net income forecast by $100 million. The new projection of $1.5 billion is significantly ahead of analysts' consensus estimate of $1.3 billion.

The updated forecast implies earnings per share of $4.75 versus $4.40 previously, Jefferies analyst Stephen Volkmann said. Thomson Reuters had pegged Wall Street's consensus estimate at $4.53 per share.

Deere shares were up about 3.5 percent premarket, but lost steam and shortly turned lower. They were last trading hands fractionally higher, at $109.65. The stock is up more than 30 percent over the past 12 months.

By segment, the company sees full-year worldwide sales in the agriculture and turf equipment business increasing by about 3 percent, compared with a 1 percent decline previously expected. Improvement in Brazil is one of the big reasons for the improved outlook.

"Profitability for Brazilian farmers remains at good levels as crops are sold in dollars," Jepsen said. Fundamentals in the country are improving, with the crop value of agriculture production expected to increase about 8 percent in U.S. dollar terms due to record acreage and expected yields.

Also helping is more budgeting for government-sponsored financial programs in the country's agriculture sector. Brazilian crops are becoming more competitive with the U.S. agriculture industry.

Within the U.S. and Canada, however, Deere still expects agriculture and turf retail sales t be tough, falling 5 to 10 percent in 2017. That's unchanged from its prior guidance. But South America agriculture sales are forecast to increase by 15 percent to 20 percent, compared with the prior guidance for about 15 percent growth.

Deere Chief Financial Officer Rajesh Kalathur indicated there's "also more enthusiasm in Argentina and a little bit more in Mexico."

As for Europe, Jepsen said economic growth in the region is showing improvement "at a moderate pace." But he added that "geopolitical risks such as Brexit and populous sentiment remain elevated, as does currency volatility."



Deere indicated that Asia sales of agriculture and turf in 2017 are projected "to be flat to up slightly, with growth in India being the main driver."



Elsewhere, Deere said the company's construction and forestry segment is seeing "a slight improvement." Worldwide segment sales are forecast to rise about 7 percent for 2017, better than earlier guidance for a roughly 1 percent increase.

For the fiscal first quarter ended Jan. 29, Deere reported earnings of 61 cents a share, down about 24 percent from 80 cents a share a year ago. Still, that was above the 55 cents per share consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters. The company said a higher tax rate in 2017 reduced quarterly results.

Net sales of the equipment operations were $4.7 billion, down 1 percent from a year ago.

By segment, worldwide agriculture and turf sales were unchanged for the quarter. Operating profit in the segment was up about 48 percent, driven mainly by a gain on the sale of a partial interest in a landscape supply business and partially offset by an employee-separation charge.

The construction and forestry segment's global sales in the quarter fell 6 percent. Operating profit in the segment dropped 51 percent, reflecting higher sales-incentive expenses and the company's voluntary employee-separation program.
Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas. Bill Clark | CQ Roll Call | Getty Images

Banks have been pushing for changes to America's consumer watchdog agency ever since it was established in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Now, they might get more than they bargained for.

A draft bill from Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, would fundamentally alter the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by allowing the president to fire the agency's director, according to a document obtained by CNBC. Currently, the director is a political appointee but can only be removed in extreme circumstances.

watch now

"We have set up, basically, a dictator," Hensarling said in an interview Thursday on CNBC. "I'm not offended by having consumer financial protection in one agency, but not an agency that is unaccountable to the president." Banks say the proposal goes too far. Instead of a director who can be fired, industry groups have called for a bipartisan five-member commission to lead the CFPB. The structure mirrors that of other regulatory agencies  such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission  and industry groups are now hoping that Hensarling will scale back his plans. "Our legislative, statutory policy position has always been for a broader five-member bipartisan commission rather than a single director," said Paul Merski, executive vice president at the Independent Community Bankers of America. "When you have a single director, depending on who is in power and who appoints that single director, you could have the regulatory pendulum swinging back and forth dramatically."

watch now

In other words, a regulation-slashing director installed by President Donald Trump might be welcomed by the industry in the short term, but it all could be reversed after the next presidential election. In the long run, banks say they prefer the relative stability of a commission. Four key industry groups  the Consumer Bankers Association, the Credit Union National Association, the Independent Community Bankers of America and the National Association of Federal Credit Unions  outlined that goal in a letter to Senate leadership late last year. "This agency is very powerful in that it regulates a huge influential industry," said Elizabeth Eurgubian, senior counsel at the Credit Union National Association. "Several perspectives are needed so that rules and enforcement actions are thought out and good policy can take place."

Dueling proposals

An earlier version of Hensarling's bill, known as the Financial Choice Act, did adopt banks' recommendation of a commission. But with Republicans now in control of both chambers of Congress, Hensarling has a better chance of passing even more dramatic changes. A spokesman for his office said the legislation is slated to be introduced in a matter of weeks. It is unclear whether it has been updated since CNBC reviewed the changes earlier this month.

watch now

Hensarling's proposals carry particular weight because he is chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. Other bills introduced in the Senate recently have also taken aim at the CFPB. Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., and 11 of his colleagues have proposed subjecting the agency to the appropriations process; the CFPB is currently funded through the Federal Reserve. Another bill from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, would repeal the agency altogether. "It was intentionally created to protect it from political interference and the political allies of finance killing it," said Dennis Kelleher, chief executive of Better Markets. "We knew that an effective consumer protection agency would immediately become the number one priority target of finance." Doing away with the CFPB could prove dicey despite GOP control of Congress. A D.C. court said Thursday it would give a second look at a lawsuit that argues the agency's structure is unconstitutional. White House attempts to remove the CFPB's current director, Richard Cordray, before his term ends next year are also sure to face legal challenges. Republicans "have to stop pretending their attacks on Director Cordray and the agency are about anything other than carrying water for big banks, payday lenders and debt collectors," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who is credited with setting up the agency.



With consumer advocates in full alarm and the banking industry missing its target, neither side is entirely happy right now in the fight over the CFPB.
" We see this in you, Warren . Your success didn't create your optimism; your optimism led to your success."

"Optimism is a huge asset," Melinda Gates writes in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's annual letter , addressed, this year, to Buffett. "We can always use more of it. But optimism isn't a belief that things will automatically get better; it's a conviction that we can make things better.

According to his friends and fellow billionaires, Bill and Melinda Gates, the secret to the octogenarian's success is his unceasing optimism.

No matter where things are right now, he knows in the long run they're getting better.

Buffett's deep conviction that the world will be a better place in the future than it is today has guided his investing strategy.

"He's optimistic about the country, about the future and about you," the Gates write in an op-ed published on CNN.com earlier this week. "No matter where things are right now, he knows in the long run they're getting better. You doubt it? Don't bet against it; he's made billions investing in that belief."

As if Buffett's billions of dollars aren't proof enough, scientific research says that optimism leads to success, too.

"Optimism changes subjective reality," says cognitive neuroscientist Tali Sharot in a popular TED talk on the topic. "The way we expect the world to be changes the way we see it. But it also changes objective reality. It acts as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Controlled experiments have shown that optimism is not only related to success, it leads to success."

There's no guarantee that optimism will bring you billions, as it has for Buffett  but it certainly can't hurt.
The border-adjustment tax will take money out of the pockets of middle-class Americans to pay for tax cuts for corporations and wealthy individuals, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-California, told CNBC on Friday.

The measure is part of the Republicans' broader corporate tax reform package and would tax imports coming into the U.S. and exempt exports.

"The plan would basically be a tax on middle-class Americans and working families. They would be paying more for gas, more for food, more for their cellphones, more for clothing and it's basically reverse redistribution," he said in an interview with "Power Lunch."

The border-adjustment tax has not only faced resistance from Democrats but from U.S. corporations that import goods, like retailers. On Wednesday, a number of retail executives met with President Donald Trump and lawmakers to voice opposition to the plan.

Some Republicans are also questioning the viability of the tax. Earlier this week, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, has said he has "serious concerns" about it.

It also appears it is unlikely to become law. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, told Bloomberg he didn't see the votes lining up, saying "the hard reality is the border tax is on life support."

Plus, President Trump has yet to publicly back the measure. His own tax plan is expected to be released in the next few weeks.

Alan Auerbach, a professor at University of California, Berkeley, has been talking about this issue for a decade and his research is the basis for the GOP plan. He argues the tax will not increase the cost of consumer goods.

That's because markets and currencies react to these types of provisions, he told "Power Lunch."

Instead of boosting the price of imports, the tax would change the incentives of companies, Auerbach argued.

"This is a plan that would encourage companies ... to locate production facilities in United States and it would be quite progressive because it would help the wages of American workers," he said.

However, Khanna said Japan tried this type of tax and its currency didn't appreciate.

"To have some theory that five years later it's going to appreciate and in the meantime working families get hurt to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals is just wrong," he argued.

 CNBC's Kerima Greene and Patti Domm contributed to this report.
Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell:

,  Kraft Heinz confirmed that it has made a takeover proposal to Unilever. Although its initial proposal was turned down, Kraft said in a statement that it looked forward to coming to terms on a deal while warning there is no guarantee one will be reached. Unilever, however, said the $143 billion offer undervalues the company and that it does not see any basis for further talks.

 Deere earned 61 cents per share for its latest quarter, 6 cents above estimates, and its revenue also exceeded forecasts despite what Deere calls softness in its farming and construction equipment markets.

 The parent of North Face, Wrangler, and other apparel brands matched estimates with adjusted quarterly profit of 97 cents per share, though revenue was slightly short. VF said it was pleased with its performance given the inconsistency of the U.S. marketplace.

 The bond rating service earned an adjusted $1.23 per share for its latest quarter, 1 cent below estimates. However, revenue exceeded forecasts, and Moody's also gave an upbeat outlook for the full year.

 The parent of Outback Steakhouse and other restaurant chains matched estimates with adjusted quarterly profit of 31 cents per share, though revenue came in below Street projections. The company sees 2017 comparable restaurant sales flat to slightly lower for 2017, and that it will close 43 underperforming restaurants.

 Credit Suisse downgraded the car rental company's stock to "underperform" from "neutral," pointing to a weak volume growth environment and "flattish" pricing.

 Activist investor Mantle Ridge said it was willing to adjust its demands regarding leadership at the railroad operator. Mantle Ridge owns about 4.9 percent of CSX and wants to install former Canadian Pacific Railway CEO Hunter Harrison as CSX Chief Executive Officer.

 The mobile payments company was rated "buy" in new coverage at Citi, which said Square could have potential 44 percent upside on its capability to disrupt the payments market.

 The company said it would be exploring strategic alternatives, which could lead to a sale of the company. It did not give a timetable for any decision, however. Separately, WebMD reported quarterly profit of 73 cents per share, 7 cents above estimates, with the medical website operator's revenue just above Street forecasts.

 TrueCar reported an adjusted loss of 1 cent per share for its latest quarter, smaller than the 5-cent loss than analysts had been predicting. The car-buying website operator also reported revenue that beat estimates, and its current quarter outlook also exceeds Street forecasts.

 Nu Skin missed estimates by 1 cent with adjusted quarterly profit of 79 cents per share, and the beauty and nutritional care products maker saw revenue miss forecasts as well with deferred revenue issues and product shortages in certain markets impacting its performance. Nu Skin also gave weaker than expected guidance for the current quarter and said it would name a new chief financial officer within a few weeks.

 Raytheon signed a memorandum of understanding with Germany's Rheinmetall to cooperate on defense technology.

 Chief Executive Mary Barra visited German carmaker Opel's headquarters and gave assurances that it would remain an independent company if a potential deal with Peugeot parent PSA Group comes to pass, according to published reports. The two sides have acknowledged that they are in talks about a possible sale of Opel.

 UnitedHealth is a legal target of the Justice Department, which has joined a 2011 lawsuit accusing the health insurer of overcharging Medicare by hundreds of millions of dollars. The company said it rejects the charges and will contest them vigorously.

 Mattel struck a partnership with China-based parenting website Babytree. The toymaker will create an online learnings platform aimed at early childhood development.

 The automaker reported a 4.9 percent drop in global January sales compared to a year ago.

 AT&T opened its unlimited wireless data plan to all customers, a few days after rival restored unlimited data plans for the first time since 2011. Previously, AT&T had only offered such plans to customers of its DirecTV service.

 Brookdale is in talks to be bought by health care facility operator , according to the Wall Street Journal. Private equity firm had been considering a purchase of Brookdale but dropped out. Ventas is said to be considering both a full or partial purchase of the senior living center operator.

 Cree canceled its deal to sell its Wolfspeed Power division to German chipmaker , after the U.S. government expressed security concerns relating to the $850 million transaction. The LED lighting maker will receive a termination fee of $12.5 million as a result of the cancellation.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has said Europe should resist U.S. pressure to spend more spending on defense. U.S. President Donald Trump has criticized the NATO defense alliance, suggesting he could withdraw support if European countries did not raise defense spending to at least 2 percent of their economic output.

Jean-Claude Juncker speaks during a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels. Dursun Aydemir | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

In a speech on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference Thursday, Juncker, who heads the European Union's executive arm, suggested some resistance to Trump's threat was in order.

"It has been the American message for many, many years. I am very much against letting ourselves be pushed into this," he said.

Juncker also said the EU's other spending commitments made up for any shortfalls in military funding. "Modern politics cannot just be about raising defense spending," he said according to Reuters. "If you look at what Europe is doing in defense, plus development aid, plus humanitarian aid, the comparison with the United States looks rather different," he said.

Juncker added that European nations should bundle their defense spending better and spend the money more efficiently.



Estonian Special Forces soldiers seen reading a map after raiding the woods during a NATO troop exercise in Estonia. Dmitri Beliakov | Washington Post | Getty Images
With love in the air for Valentine's Day earlier this week, contraception might be on the minds of many. But while the development of contraceptives aimed at men, rather than women, is gaining ground, interest in male birth control from large pharmaceutical companies just isn't there, according to one expert.

"Big pharma has largely lost interest in the development of male contraceptives," Elaine Lissner, founder of the Parsemus Foundation, told CNBC via e-mail. Her California-based organization is aimed at funding medical research that has failed to find the support of the wider pharmaceutical industry.

One such project is Vasalgel, a contraceptive gel that is injected into men to impede the flow of sperm. The effect of the treatment can be countered with a second injection. Vasalgel gained media recognition earlier this month after the release of a study demonstrating that the drug had been successful in monkeys. Despite the project having over 30,000 people signed up to receive updates and, according to Lissner, an "overwhelmingly positive" public response, it had "not tried to get pharmaceutical companies to support the research."

This was because the project did not tick the right boxes for big pharma. Lissner explained that "in for-profit companies, a daily pill or monthly method (of contraception) would be most appealing, since it entails many years of continued payment." Vasalgel is a long term treatment and therefore does not fit this remit. Lisser added that "the development of male contraception may also interfere with the income stream that pharmaceutical companies receive from female contraceptives, cannibalizing their current market."

Contraceptives aimed at men have met other stumbling blocks. One study last year into hormone-based contraception in men revealed severe side effects including a link to depression. One participant committed suicide - though this is not believed to be linked to the drug that was being tested.

Other examples of contraceptive methods aimed at men currently in development include tablets such as the Clean Sheets Pill and Gendarussa, which aim prevent unwanted pregnancies by preventing the release of semen and its ability to fertilize an egg, respectively. The Clean Sheets Pill could also help prevent the spread of HIV.

Vasalgel is hoping to gain regulatory approval to begin human clinical trials in 2018.

CNBC contacted several major drugs companies about their interest in contraceptives aimed at men, but all either had no-one in house able to discuss the topic or else declined to comment.

Dr. Mario Festin, medical officer at the World Health Organization's Department of Reproductive Health and Research, told CNBC via e-mail that with regards to male contraceptives, "research funding is available from some interested donors, but is limited." Festin added that "if ongoing research studies were to prove efficacy and safety, and with high acceptability, these would be commercially viable. It may take some time before these studies are completed."



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Traffic passes around the Old Street roundabout, also referred to as 'Silicon Roundabout,' in the area known as 'Tech City' in London, U.K.

Fears about the fallout for London's financial services industry in a post-Brexit world have caused some to turn to the tech sector as a possible savior.

The number of people working in the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sector has been increasing since 2013 and been the largest source of the capital's office demand for the past six years, according to a report out from real estate agency Knight Frank on Thursday.

The agency contends that if the TMT sector was to maintain its average growth rate for the next three years, it would be sufficient to offset as much as a 15 percent drop in the post-Brexit financial services sector's staff numbers.

Fears have been rising that, once the U.K. leaves the European Union and thereby loses its open access to Europe's markets, there will be an exodus of banks and financial services companies out of London.

FinTech (financial technology) is an industry highlighted as a key potential source of growth for London, with the report's authors stressing the benefits for its firms to be located near to established financial sector firms within the City of London.

Yet the threat posed by the U.K.'s impending exit from the European Union (EU) to all sectors which rely on talented employees who are often drawn to London from overseas is acknowledged in the report.

"The political pressure to cut immigration is high, and this is probably the main risk facing the London economy," writes James Robert's, chief economist at Knight Frank.

Indeed, for FinTech firms, the challenges raised by the looming Brexit process are already being felt.

London is still extremely attractive with one of the world's strongest FinTech ecosystems and an unparalleled talent pool, says Emmanuel Lumineau, founder of real estate online financial marketplace, BrickVest and Goldman Sachs alumnus, however Brexit has increased recruitment challenges for his company.

"Our industry relies heavily on talent with a creative and global mind and Brexit has exacerbated the challenges for U.K. companies to obtain visas or even provide visibility for such talent to come and invest their future in the country," he explained.

"The lack of support for visas, the uncertainties around the status of EU citizens post-Brexit coupled with London's high cost of living has become a real repellent for hiring international talents since last June's vote," Lumineau added.

These sentiments were echoed by Lawrence Wintermeyer, chief executive officer of Innovate Finance, the independent not-for-profit association representing the U.K.'s global FinTech community, who also spoke to broader the effects of the Brexit vote on the sector.

"Venture investment into U.K. FinTech slowed in 2016 which many in the community attribute to the uncertainty of Brexit. Leaving the single market will have a material impact on FinTechs delivering European cross border payments but many other FinTechs will remain largely unaffected," he began.

"The number one issue for Innovate Finance FinTech members is the ability to hire global talent which many fear will be impacted by a hard Brexit We will look to the U.K. Government to provide clarity on how UK FinTech can continue to attract global talent and scale across Europe," Wintermeyer concluded.

Yet Knight Frank's Roberts suggests a scheme similar to those used by some of the U.K.'s continental cousins may offer guidance for a possible partial solution for the county's capital once it leaves the trading bloc.

"In part we expect the allocation of work visas post-Brexit to be heavily biased towards skilled workers, which should ease the impact on London's economy. Moreover, there has been discussion of a 'London visa'. This is inspired by similar schemes in Australia and Canada, where it is possible to grant immigration visas to live in a specific area of a country," explained the economist.

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Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to visit Singapore this weekend, marking an Israeli head of state's first official visit to the city-state since the mid-1980s.

Singapore's ties with Israel run long and deep.



Shortly after Singapore was declared independent of Malaysia in the mid-1960s, it sought Israel's assistance in establishing its military, after being turned away by several other countries, including its one-time colonial master, the U.K.



To keep the presence of Israeli soldiers in the city-state a secret, Singapore called them Mexicans.



There's also a long history of business ties, not just in the defense industries, but across the technology, solar and water segments.



Recently, Israeli officials have also traveled to Singapore to study the city-state's public housing system for ideas on how to help ease its own housing shortage. Ironically, in the 1960s, Singapore set up its own system after studying Israel's.



Netanyahu's trip comes after Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last year visited Israel as part of a tour of the Middle East. Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately return an emailed request for comment.



But there's been a long hiatus since an Israeli head of state last visited Singapore.



In 1986, Israel's then-President Chaim Herzog became the first Israeli head of state to visit the city-state. But when the Israeli embassy in Singapore announced the visit about a month ahead of time, it sparked protests across Muslim-majority countries Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, as well as diplomatic ire and pressure to cancel the visit. Both Malaysia and Indonesia removed their heads of mission during the visit.
The premium would essentially become a food multiple for Unilever shareholders. On paper, the company looks more like a packaged goods distributor than a food producer, with only roughly 38 percent of Unilever's EBITDA, or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, coming from its food products.

In its statement, Unilever said the deal put an 18 percent premium on Unilever's share price, the main area where the company claimed it was undervalued.

A Kraft deal with Unilever would add Hellmann's mayonnaise, Ben & Jerry's ice cream and Knorr soups to a portfolio that includes Heinz ketchup and Kraft Macaroni & Cheese.

Kraft is backed by Brazilian private equity firm 3G Capital and Warren Buffett . Two years ago, H.J. Heinz, owned by Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and 3G, announced a $45 billion takeover of Kraft Foods.

"While Unilever has declined the proposal, we look forward to working to reach agreement on the terms of a transaction," Kraft said in a statement. "[But] there can be no certainty that any further formal proposal will be made to the Board of Unilever or that an offer will be made at all."

Sources told CNBC, however, that it would be unlikely for Kraft Heinz to pursue a deal, if Unilever's board rejects the offer by March 17.

"Unilever rejected the proposal as it sees no merit, either financial or strategic, for Unilever's shareholders. Unilever does not see the basis for any further discussions," the statement said.

But the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant has declined, saying in a statement the offer "fundamentally undervalues" the company.

Kraft Heinz announced on Friday a proposed $143 billion merger with Unilever in what would be one of the biggest deals ever.

Pablo Zuanic, senior equity analyst at Susquehanna International Group, said that if the deal goes through, Unilever may have to spin off its household products business, which includes brands like Dove and Axe, to make it worthwhile.

"We expect them to divest or sell the household personal care business, otherwise the deal is not doable based on the math," Zuanic said on Friday. "Even with 25 percent equity, you have to divest the HPC business to end up north of five times net EBITDA."

"Kraft Heinz ... their focus is to be a global powerhouse in food and beverage, not [in] HPC, so ... Unilever, on the food, which is what they will keep, is aligned with a global strategy," he continued.

On Friday, Consumer Edge Research's Jonathan Feeney said that Kraft's posturing is a traditional response to initial merger disagreements.



"It certainly sounds like a typical opening salvo of a merger approach," the consumer staples analyst told CNBC's "Squawk Box." "It's hard to tell at this point what's actually friendly and unfriendly. Often times it's standard procedure."

But the deal would undoubtedly be a key strategic play for Kraft Heinz because it would broaden the company's international scope, he said.

"What this does is a lot more than just margin opportunity," he said. "You get Kraft Heinz into long-term growth opportunities structurally in developing markets that are very, very attractive."

"The real structural growth opportunity is building those adoption rates of high-margin products all around the world," he continued. "I think that's what this transaction signals."

Zuanic, who appeared on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street," said that in addition to the deal giving Kraft more global exposure, political uncertainty in the United States temporarily rules out American deal contenders.

"We have lowered the probability of Kraft Heinz going for a U.S. food company for the time being," Zuanic said. "So, you know, that's why General Mills, Campbell's, Mondelez are done."

Kraft has been expected to do a deal this year, given earlier reports that 3G's Brazilian principals were raising a new fund.

But the food conglomerate hardly needs the deal to continue being successful, Feeney said.

"I think this is the best Idea I've heard in a while, but they can always walk," he said. "It's one that's going to require some very creative financing, but it's the best idea I've heard in a long time."

In December, rumors arose that Kraft Heinz was exploring an acquisition of American packaged foods maker Mondelez International , which sources close to the matter quickly denied.

Shares of Mondelez were down 2 percent on Friday.

"The structural opportunity that Mondelez represents versus its food peers remains, and if Kraft Heinz doesn't want to be the one to do that now or ever, certainly a proposal with Unilever makes their shopping list bigger," Feeney said.

Still, the consumer staples analyst said "there's enough structural growth opportunity selling high-margin chocolate and gum to developing market consumers that [make] Mondelez somewhat attractive in its own right," so a deal with the Cadbury egg maker could still happen.

Under U.K. takeover law, Kraft has until March 17 to make a formal offer. Unilever's board will then make a recommendation and decide, together with shareholders, if the company should take the deal.

Zuanic, the Susquehanna analyst, suggested that investors think about the consequences this deal could have for competitors over the medium and longer term.



"The piece that people maybe want to look at is implication[s] for Pepsi," Zuanic said.

The food and beverage analyst pointed out that Unilever and Pepsi are both in the ready-to-drink tea business, for example, which could suggest more intense competition in the U.S. tea and coffee market over the longer term.

 Reuters, AP, CNBC's Matthew J. Belvedere and David Faber contributed to this report.

Correction: This story was revised to correct that the 10 percent decline in Unilever's premarket price was Friday.
Technology is often blamed for destroying traditional working-class jobs in sectors like manufacturing and retail. But blue collar jobs aren't the only ones at risk. The legal profession  tradition-bound and labor-heavy  is on the cusp of a transformation in which artificial-intelligence platforms dramatically affect how legal work gets done. Those platforms will mine documents for evidence that will be useful in litigation, to review and create contracts, raise red flags within companies to identify potential fraud and other misconduct or do legal research and perform due diligence before corporate acquisitions. Those are all tasks that  for the moment at least  are largely the responsibility of flesh-and-blood attorneys. Increasing automation of the legal industry promises to increase efficiency and save clients money, but could also cut jobs in the sector as the technology becomes responsible for tasks currently performed by humans. Advocates of AI, however, argue there could actually be an increase in the sector's labor force as the technology drives costs down and makes legal services more affordable to greater numbers of people.

Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images

"It's like the beginning of the beginning of the beginning," said Noory Bechor, CEO of LawGeex, a leading AI-powered platform for legal contract review. "Legal, right now, I think is in the place that other industries were 10 and 15 years ago, like travel," he said.

Replacing drudge work

Bechor's transition from lawyer to AI advocate came as a result of his own experience working at a large law firm in Israel. "I did a lot of contract work for small companies, as well as for investors and multinational companies," he said. The work was drudge-like and often almost mechanical.

watch now

"For me, it was mind-blowing that I needed to reinvent the wheel each time I needed to create a contract or each time I needed to review a contract." And, "I was feeling this pain, day in and day out, working these crazy hours," he said. But Bechor also began realizing that as he reviewed more and more contracts, he became better at doing the tedious work. "You get the hang of it," he said. "You have it in your head what a contract should and should not contain." "That's what convinced me that a significant part of this could be automated," Bechor said. The LawGeex platform, he said, "can take a new contract, one that it's never seen before, read it and then compare it to a database of every similar contract that it's seen in the past." Like other AI platforms, LawGeex also learns from each review it performs  just like Bechor and other humans in the profession learned to do as young lawyers.

What machines do better than people

One question raised by the introduction of AI legal platforms is how well they do their jobs compared to a flesh-and-blood lawyer, who has years of experience under her belt. Will the machine miss things that a good lawyer with a lot of experience would otherwise catch? Proponents don't think so. "That's an argument that been refuted quite a bit," said Jay Leib, founder and managing member of NexLP. Leib's Chicago-based company offers eDiscovery, an AI platform that searches documents for information relevant to lawsuits and other litigation. "Can you miss anything? Sure," Leib said of AI legal tools. "But since 1985, we've known that human beings are not very good at keyword searches," he said. "There's this fallacy that human beings looking at documents is the gold standard. Not true. They're missing things." He also said the explosion in the amount of electronic data generated today makes it hard for human workers to keep up. "There's just so much more data now that you need these technologies to boil the ocean for you" and find relevant material, Leib said. Leib said NexLP is "not just looking at the text" of a document or email. "It's looking at the tone of the conversation, who sent it," to see if the item should be flagged for review in litigation, he said. Leib also pointed out that computers "don't get tired, they don't get hungry, they don't sleep in." "All of the things that are biological problems that can happen to a human being can't happen to computers." The big international law firm Reed Smith recently put that question to the test with RAVN ACE, the AI platform from RAVN Systems. Reed Smith had RAVN conduct a review of hundreds of pages of documents. "We took a deal that we'd already done, which we'd done manually," said Lucy Dillon, chief knowledge officer of Reed Smith. "And we put it through the RAVN system to see how it compared. And it compared very favorably." Dillon said the RAVN platform "didn't always get it right" when asked to identify and pull out certain items in contracts. But lawyers were able to add information to their queries and improve their results. Plus, the platform "picked up some things that we had missed" when humans did their first review of the documents, she said. "The system had high levels of accuracy. And it was a great tool to use." And the RAVN was faster than its human counterparts. Much faster. "We're talking minutes versus days," Dillon said.

Large firms beginning to get on board

The legal sector has been slow to change, technologically or otherwise. But that's changing as firms, particularly larger ones, begin to see the advantage of AI. ROSS Intelligence makes a legal research platform based on IBM's cognitive computing system Watson, which is being used by a number of the world's biggest law firms, including Dentons, as well as Latham & Watkins. Andrew Arruda, ROSS Intelligence's CEO and co-founder, said his company "is working with lawyers from every type of organization  in-house, big, medium, small, solo [practitioners]  as well as law schools and bar associations." He noted that his company's still young platform "is already saving 20 to 30 hours of research time per case" for its clients. Leib of NexLP noted at "about 70 percent of the cost of discovery"  the process of exchanging information that is relevant to a legal case or review  "is human cost, people looking through documents and emails and all different things." "If we could reduce that from 70 percent to 2 percent, we're looking at dramatic cost savings," he said. "That's just money back in the hands of corporations and business," Leib said. "It really attacks the bottom line." Leib believes that customers rather than partners will determine how quickly law firms adopt AI platforms. "I think companies are going to demand that their firms use these technologies because they're not going to want to pay these fees" for having humans sift through vast amounts of documents, Leib said. Asked when he thinks AI will be in use broadly across the legal industry, Leib said, "I think the time frame here is between 2020 and 2025." Bechor of LawGeex said that the current lack of widespread adoption of AI by law firms has the effect of keeping prices high in the legal sector, for now. "There is a cost to this inefficiency," Bechor said. "Legal is now considered a premium product," he said. "It's not something that a lot of people and businesses can afford."

"If you can't beat 'em..."

If AI solutions become pervasive, law firms may cut staff. A Deloitte Insight report released in 2016 said that "profound reforms" will occur in the legal sector over the next decade, estimating that nearly 40 percent of jobs in the legal sector could end up being automated in the long term. A 2013 Oxford University paper, titled "The Future of Employment: How Susceptible are Jobs to Computerisation?" suggests that lower-level employees at law firms are more likely to feel the effects of downsizing as a result of AI technology  at least in the near term. "We find that paralegals and legal assistants .... [are] in the high risk category," the paper's authors wrote. "At the same time, lawyers, which rely on labor input from legal assistants, are in the low risk category," the authors wrote. Bechor from LawGeex agrees. "There's a romantic notion of AI being able to replace all lawyers," he said. "I don't see that as something that will happen in the next couple of years." Arruda of ROSS Intelligence is even more optimistic, believing that AI will increase the total number of jobs in the legal profession. "I think we will see a rise of more jobs in the legal market" as a result of AI," Arruda said. "At the firms where ROSS is at, we see more work being done, more clients being able to be served, and therefore not a decrease in staff, but an increase in productivity and output." He also saw another benefit. "At present," Arruda said, "the majority of individuals who need a lawyer cannot afford one. Yet on the other hand, [many] law graduates are saddled in debt and cannot find work." Leib and Arruda also dismissed concerns that the expansion of AI in the legal sector would make it more difficult for young lawyers to acquire necessary experience through brute-force gruntwork.

"Theoretically, attorneys can be more efficient from day one because of the technology," Leib said. Arruda said, "This question gets asked a lot when new technology comes out. Think of the calculator, for example." "But I think it's the wrong question, really," Arruda said. "The activities that AI excels at are not [the ones people] typically excel at  think data retrieval." Perhaps the best take came from Sofia Lingos, a lawyer and board member of the Legal Technology Resource Center of the American Bar Association. Last year at a roundtable discussion hosted by the American Bar Association, the moderator asked if lawyers should be afraid or encouraged by artificial intelligence. "Both," Lingos answered. "It is wise to embrace it now so that it can be a tool as opposed to an impediment. No one wants to be competing against Watson," Lingos said, referring to IBM's cognitive computer system. "But if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!" WATCH: Meet Flippy, the burger-flipping robot poised to transform fast food
Vladimir Putin orders to Russian army to finish drills in west and center military region in Leningrad, Russia on March 3, 2014. Kremlin Press Information Centre | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Ten years ago Vladimir Putin angrily declared that the post-cold war order was a sham. Standing before the western military and diplomatic establishment at the Munich Security Conference, the Russian president accused the US of plunging the world into chaos by warmongering, meddling in other countries' affairs and disregarding international law. For many, it marked the moment that Mr Putin became an adversary. Now, as foreign policy and security officials gather again in the Bavarian city, the western order that Mr Putin railed against suddenly looks fragile. The agenda-setting security report for this year's Munich Security Conference asks whether the west is collapsing after public discontent triggered the UK's exit from the EU and brought Donald Trump to power in the US. And the sidelined, victimised Russia that Mr Putin described in 2007 is gone, replaced by a country that has forced its way back on to the world stage with the invasion of Crimea, decisive intervention in Syria and western countries' accusations of disrupting their elections.

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Co-founder of 'Wolf of Wall Street' studio fights asset seizure At his confirmation hearing last month, US secretary of state Rex Tillerson, the former ExxonMobil chief executive, said Nato allies were right to be alarmed at a "resurgent Russia"  a phrase that has been echoing through western capitals. Mr Putin has "staked out a position that thrives on asserting Russian interests in the world at the expense of the US," says Eugene Rumer, director of the Russia and Eurasia programme at the Carnegie Endowment in Washington. Moscow has "positioned itself as the challenger to the global liberal international order that the US has upheld and promoted the world over since the end of the second world war", he adds.



Cautious Kremlin

But even amid this talk of Russian resurgence, the mood in Moscow is cautious  particularly about the disorder in Washington. In the US there may be a perception that Russia is revelling in Mr Trump's election, but the rollercoaster ride of contradictory policy pronouncements and the failure to quickly establish top-level communication with the US president are upsetting previously high Russian expectations. Russian officials had been cautiously optimistic that the US under Mr Trump could rebuild relations with Moscow but they have turned guarded and in some cases suspicious and frustrated, mirroring sentiment in European capitals. "If we wanted, we could have taken advantage of the fact that they are not ready yet over there," says one senior official in the Russian administration. "We could probably have gotten some kind of agreement to have Trump and Putin meet quickly, and they might have hit it off. But what then?" Even arranging talks between Mr Tillerson and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov at the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bonn proved difficult, though a meeting took place on Thursday. "It looks like the massive western media campaign against Russia has made contact with us so toxic that Mr Trump, a leader who was determined to make a new start with Russia, is now shying away," the Kremlin official says. Even beyond these difficulties, Russian observers say the west vastly overestimates Russia's power and misinterprets its motives. "It is not the goal of Putin's foreign policy to become a new superpower or even to establish himself as the biggest dude on the block," says Andrei Kortunov, director-general of the government-backed Russian International Affairs Council. "The Kremlin sees its actions much more as defensive and responsive against moves encroaching on Russia's interests." However, some Russian ideologues are triumphant, believing that an irreversible decline of the west is lifting their country's status and global weight. "The golden age of the liberal international order is over," says Natalia Narochnitskaya, a conservative nationalist former lawmaker and diplomat. She claims that many European citizens are disillusioned about the EU's ability to serve the continent. "Putin, for them, is the only leader who dares raise the banner and openly, without excuses, declare that he will defend traditional values," she says. A postmodernist Europe would fail to survive the challenge by other civilisations, Ms Narochnitskaya says: "Only together can Russia and Europe become one side of the global power triangle  Eurasia, the US and China."

Tackling Nato

It was a long way to this self-assured attitude from Mr Putin's 2007 criticism. Moscow started taking things into its own hands in Russia's "near abroad"  the former Soviet republics that it sees as its rightful sphere of influence. Eighteen months after his Munich speech, Russia waged a week-long war with Georgia ostensibly to protect a pro-Russian minority in a breakaway region. It came only months after Nato's Bucharest summit had issued a declaration that Georgia and Ukraine would become members. Despite the shock over the conflict, the west tried to seek a new start in ties with Russia. The Georgia war had only been the first shot, however: in 2014, Moscow annexed Crimea while stoking separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine after what it saw as US-backed street protests toppled Viktor Yanukovich, Kiev's Russian-leaning president. The Ukraine conflict led to a full breakdown of Moscow's relations with the west. But Mr Putin did not stop there. As the US and the EU tried to punish him with sanctions and isolation, he intervened in Syria, helping President Bashar al-Assad regain ground in the civil war and derailing US-led attempts to broker a political transition.

If the US intelligence community is to be believed, Moscow is preparing to reap the top prize. According to the assessment of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Moscow meddled in the US election with an "influence campaign" of hacking and propaganda. Less than a month after Mr Trump's inauguration, the resignation of Michael Flynn over the national security adviser's lies about discussing sanctions with the Russian ambassador before taking office has further stoked fears in Washington of a Russian puppet master behind the US government. Such concerns are fuelled by talk in Moscow of a "grand bargain" that Mr Putin could strike with Mr Trump. At a round table organised by state news agency Rossiya Segodnya late last month, political analysts said they believed Moscow and Washington could make a deal by respecting each other's spheres of influence. Some Russian strategists suggest that resolution of the Ukraine crisis and co-operation in the fight against global terror could become bargaining chips in such a deal.



A senior Russian foreign policy official says the Trump administration's attitude towards who carried the blame for the non-fulfilment of the 2015 Minsk agreement on Ukraine could help isolate German chancellor Angela Merkel in her hawkish stance against Russia. Alexei Chesnakov, a former Kremlin official who heads the Centre for Current Politics, a Moscow think-tank, says he expected the French election this spring to contribute to this shift because the rightwing candidates are more sympathetic to Russia.

Russia has its own post-imperial trauma, like many countries in Europe. A key priority for the Kremlin is therefore to bring Russia back as an important player. Andrei Kortunov director-general of Russian International Affairs Council

He floats the idea that Ukraine was starting to resemble a "failed state" and could therefore be seen as a source of terrorism  a characterisation not shared by western capitals. "In that sense, it becomes part of the agenda for jointly countering international terrorism for the US and Russia," he said. Mr Kortunov believes that under a different leader Russia's search for a new place in the post-Soviet world could have turned out more benign and the Ukraine conflict might have been avoided. But he says Moscow would still have run into disagreements over the enlargement of the EU and Nato. Mr Putin has compared Moscow's foreign policy and security moves to a Siberian bear that has no desire to leave its habitat. However, that habitat, or the area where Russia sees its national interests, appears to range vastly beyond the country's borders. In step with the intervention in Syria, Moscow has revived ties with almost every country in the region. Exploiting the US's waning presence, Russian diplomats presented themselves as a dialogue partner for countries with contradictory interests, thus building a network including Nato member Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. As a result, no state will be able to bypass Moscow when resolving regional conflicts. Already, France and Italy are turning to Russia to help integrate Khalifa Haftar, the Libyan military strongman whom Moscow has cultivated, into a UN-backed political arrangement.

Asian pivot
The Netherlands may have found a way to improve safety without prying pedestrians away from their phones.

The Dutch town of Bodegraven is trialing a new ground level traffic light system in the hope that they will be more effective in attracting the attention of distracted smartphone users and reducing traffic accidents.

A series of LED lights, which alternate between red and green signals, like traditional pedestrian traffic lights, have been embedded into the ground at crossings near to three schools in the town.

The system, called +Lichtlijn (+Lightline), was created by Dutch firm HIG Traffic Systems, and is expected to be rolled out more widely across the Netherlands if the pilot proves successful.

Kees Oskam, councilor of Bodegraven-Reeuwijk, said that the plans could provide a solution to the distractions caused by the social media and mobile gaming.

"As a government, we probably cannot easily reverse this trend (towards smartphone use), but we want to anticipate it," said Oskam in a press release from HIG Traffic Systems.

This is not the first time the Netherlands has piloted experimental traffic measures.

As part of the country's wider measures to meet sustainability targets, it has also introduced glow-in-the-dark road markings, a move to reduce the need for streetlights, and trialed plans for on-the-go 'charging lanes' for electric vehicles.

In 2015, it also installed two noise barriers which double as solar energy generators along one of the country's busy highways.

The new pavement traffic lights have however faced criticism from Dutch road safety organisation VVN, who claim that it "rewards bad behaviour", according to Dutch News.

If nothing else, it's certain to add new complexity to the question 'why did the chicken cross the road?'


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China should be more worried than the U.S. about this week's murder of Kim Jong Un's half brother Kim Jong Nam and a missile test, some analysts say. "China must do something otherwise they no longer look like a serious power," said Bruce Bennett, senior defense analyst at research organization Rand Corp. "These two particular cases"  the assassination and the launch  "look like they're really against Chinese interests," he said. "The U.S. needs to really sit down with China and say look, this was as much against you as it was against us." Last weekend, North Korea test launched a missile from a region near its border with China called Panghyon, Reuters reported, citing South Korea's Office of the Joint Chief of Staff. The missile flew about 500 km (300 miles) into the Sea of Japan, the report said. Potential range of missile from Panghyon, North Korea



Geng Shuang, China's foreign ministry spokesman, said in news briefings this week that China opposes North Korean missile tests which violate UN Security Council resolutions and is monitoring developments following the death of Kim Jong Nam in Malaysia. The two countries have "a tradition of friendly exchanges," Shuang said. However, newswire service United Press International reported Wednesday, citing Hong Kong's Oriental Daily News and the nongovernmental Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, that Beijing has deployed 1,000 additional soldiers to the North Korean border. Beijing has not issued a statement on the military move, the newswire said, although locals confirmed the troops' arrival to the Hong Kong newspaper. From the Chinese perspective, North Korea has long served as buffer between itself and U.S. ally South Korea, where almost 30,000 American soldiers are stationed. There are another 49,000 U.S. troops in Japan.

The reason China has a lot more to fear is that North Korea could collapse. Isaac Stone Fish senior fellow, Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations

An estimated two-thirds or more of North Korea's trade is with China, and the U.S. has repeatedly but ineffectively pressured Beijing to curb North Korea's missile tests. "The reason China has a lot more to fear is that North Korea could collapse," Isaac Stone Fish, senior fellow at Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations. He pointed out that a failed state would likely result in hundreds of thousands of refugees going into China's economically weak northeast region, while the collapse of North Korea would also likely strengthen the presence of U.S. ally South Korea on the peninsula. Presumably, a unified Korea would look a lot more like U.S. ally South Korea than like isolated pariah state North Korea. Meanwhile, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un appears to have further asserted his control following this week's assassination of his half brother Kim Jong Nam. Many international observers believe that Kim Jong Nam was under the protection of China as potential leverage against the rogue state's dictator. "That side of the family seemed to have more of China's interests in mind than Kim Jong Un," Fish said.

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Shares of cosmetics manufacturer Nu Skin Enterprises fell Friday, a day after reporting sales and quarterly guidance that disappointed investors.

On Thursday, Nu Skin reported adjusted fourth-quarter earnings of 69 cents, which included a 10 cent tax charge but still missed consensus analyst estimates. The company's revenue of $531 million also missed expectations of $553 million.

Guidance for the first quarter also missed expectations. Nu Skin said earnings per share should come in at 47 to 51 cents, versus the 55 cent estimate, while the revenue range of $480 million to $500 million was at the low end of $500 million estimate.

Shares fell 12 percent Friday, clinging to a 1 percent gain for the year so far.

The beauty and nutritional care products maker said deferred revenue issues and product shortages in certain markets impacted its quarterly performance. Nu Skin also said it would name a new chief financial officer within a few weeks.
A survey by volunteers in the U.K. has found that nurdles  small plastic pellets  are posing a big problem to shorelines across the country.



Between February 3 and 5, more than 600 volunteers trawled U.K. beaches looking for them, with nurdles found on 73 percent of the locations searched.

The weekend was a collaborative effort between Scottish charity Fidra  which set up and ran the hunt  and the Marine Conservation Society, Fauna & Flora International, the Environmental Investigation Agency, Greenpeace and Surfers Against Sewage.

On one beach in Cornwall, in the south west of the country, 33 volunteers from the Widemouth Task Force found 127,500 nurdles on a 100 meter section.

"The information we've gathered will be vital to show the U.K. government that pellets are found on beaches all around the UK, and, importantly, that so many people care about the issue," Madeleine Berg, projects officer at Fidra, said in a statement.



Nurdles may sound harmless, but the lentil-sized plastic pellets can soak up chemicals and be eaten by animals, causing significant harm. Fidra say that nurdles can attract and concentrate "background pollutants" such as DDT and PCBs  polychlorinated biphenyls  to very toxic levels.

"Simple precautionary measures can help prevent spillages and ensure nurdles don't end up in our environment," Berg added. "We are asking the U.K. government to ensure best practice is in place along the full plastic supply chain, and any further nurdle pollution is stopped."

While the news regarding nurdles may be sobering, some progress is being made when it comes to tackling other forms of waste and pollution on U.K. beaches.

Last year, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) announced that the number of plastic carrier bags found on U.K. beaches had fallen by almost half in only one year thanks to a supermarket surcharge.

Nevertheless, the MSC added that its volunteers had still found a large amount of rubbish, with more than 268,000 individual pieces being removed from beaches between 2015 and 2016.
Here are some of the key stories CNBC is following this hour:

Defense Secretary James Mattis arrived at the Munich Security Conference. Vice President Mike Pence and Homeland Security Secretary Kelly are also part of the U.S. delegation. Mattis has called on NATO allies to carry their proportionate share of the defense burden.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with the Chinese foreign minister on the sidelines of the G20 summit meeting in Bonn. He was told by his counterpart that common interests between Beijing and Washington far outweigh their differences.



The intense competition for customers continues in the wireless space. On Friday, Sprint announced that its unlimited data plan will now include both high-def video streaming and 10 gigabytes of mobile hot-spot data. The deal also includes a free iPhone 7 for the next 18 months, with a trade-in.
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong (front) enters a Seoul court for hearings in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb. 16, 2017. Lee Sang-ho | Xinhua | Getty Images

The arrest of Samsung Group chief for his alleged role in a corruption scandal in South Korea is unlikely to impact the brand's global standing, analysts told CNBC on Friday. Jay Y. Lee, the 48-year-old scion of the Lee family, was taken into custody at the Seoul Detention Centre and was being held in a single cell with a TV and desk, after waiting there overnight for the court's decision, Reuters reported. Lee is a suspect in an ongoing investigation into an influence-peddling scandal, which led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye in parliament late last year. Samsung and Lee have denied wrongdoing in the case. In a statement after the arrest, a Samsung spokesperson said, "We will do our best to ensure that the truth is revealed in future court proceedings."



Impact on Samsung's consumer business

Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" while there was nothing positive about the news, there was one reprieve for Samsung  Lee is not the global face of the brand. "Mr. Lee, globally, isn't aligned with the global brand and consumers, and he's not really involved in the day-to-day activities," he said, adding Samsung followed a stovepipe organizational structure where each unit is a business itself. "I don't see any short-term impact," he said.

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Indeed one of the key figures of the flagship brand  Samsung Electronics  is its chief executive, Oh-Hyun Kwon, who is navigating the smartphone giant through the aftermath of the exploding Galaxy Note 7 debacle. Analysts said much of Samsung's key businesses were consumer-oriented  from selling smartphones to providing other tech companies with memory chips and display panels. They said the developments in South Korea will unlikely affect the purchasing decisions of global customers.

One analyst pointed to the fact that despite the Note 7 fiasco, the Samsung brand was resilient. Profits jumped 50 percent on-year in the Oct-Dec 2016 quarter. "The semiconductor businesses are doing very well and also the LCD business is coming up," said Daniel Yoo, head of global strategy at Kiwoom Securities. He told CNBC's "Squawk Box" the handset business was an area of concern, ahead of the launch of the new flagship Galaxy S8, expected in the first half of 2017. Recently, Samsung saw its marketshare trimmed and was overtaken by Apple for the first time in eight quarters due to the Note 7's failure. Samsung Group shares performed mixed on Friday. Shares of Samsung Electronics closed down 0.4 percent at 1,893,000 Korean won; Samsung SDI was up 0.8 percent, Samsung Electro-Mechanics higher by 0.7 percent, while Samsung C&T dropped 2 percent and Samsung Engineering was off by 1.2 percent.

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The future of 'chaebols'

Lee's arrest cast fresh light on the future of large family-run conglomerates like Samsung, which are informally known chaebols and have had close relationships with South Korea's political elite in the past. Citizens have long demanded government policies to curtail the power of chaebols, which control vast network of companies through a circular holding structure and their control typically exceed cash-flow rights. This means families often wield undue influence over group companies in spite of small direct shareholdings. Jeong-ho Roh, director at the Center for Korean Legal Studies at Columbia Law School, told CNBC's "Street Signs" that Lee's arrest implied that South Korea will no longer tolerate the special privileges that chaebols enjoyed under previous governments. "From a legal perspective, he has, in the eyes of the prosecution, committed a crime, which is legally punishable. And he will be held accountable for this," said Roh. "This is the entire process we're seeing right now, that is the process of establishing the rule of law in (South) Korea."

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Scott Pruitt testifies during his Senate confirmation hearing for EPA administrator, Jan. 18, 2017. Getty Images

The Senate confirmed President Donald Trump's nominee, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday in a mostly party line vote.

The confirmation vote came after contentious hearings during which Democratic lawmakers questioned Pruitt over his ties to fossil fuel companies, his multiple legal challenges to EPA regulations and his public statements questioning the science behind climate change. Senate Democrats boycotted a committee vote to move forward Pruitt's nomination earlier this month and stretched debate before the full Senate into the early hours of Friday. On Thursday evening, some Democrats again called for Pruitt's confirmation vote to be delayed after an Oklahoma judge ordered his office to turn over thousands of communications with fossil fuel companies to a watchdog group.

But the nominee appeared to have the votes needed to win confirmation on Friday. Democrats Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, both from energy-producing states, voted with Republicans to confirm Pruitt. Just one GOP senator, Susan Collins of Maine, voted against Pruitt. The final vote was 52 to 46 in favor of confirmation.

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While Democrats and environmentalists bristled at Pruitt's nomination from the start, conservatives and the energy industry have welcomed his efforts to place more power over drilling and mining regulations in the hands of states. He set up a "federalism unit" at the office of the Oklahoma attorney general to "combat unwarranted regulation and overreach by the federal government." Pruitt is seen as an ideal candidate to execute Trump's promises to scale back the EPA's Obama-era initiatives. He has been a leading figure in a campaign by Republican attorneys general to sue government agencies over some of President Barack Obama's landmark achievements, including the Affordable Care Act and regulations to reduce the impacts of climate change. A Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times investigation found Pruitt's office in 2011 signed a letter criticizing environmental regulations that was drafted by lawyers for Devon Energy . During his confirmation hearing, Pruitt rejected the claim he acted on behalf of energy companies in suing the EPA more than a dozen times. He said the suits were in the interest of Oklahoma citizens given the role of energy in the state's economy. Trump plans to announce executive orders during Pruitt's swearing in at EPA headquarters, Reuters reported this week, citing sources who were briefed on the plans. Earlier in the week, Beltway newsletter Inside EPA reported the planned orders may impact the agency's work on climate change, citing an administration source. The president has vowed to cancel Obama's Climate Action Plan, a framework for reducing greenhouse gas pollution, and the Clean Power Plan, a rule limiting carbon emissions from power plants. He has also threatened to defund the Paris Agreement, an international accord aimed at reducing the impact of climate change. Trump promises to increase U.S. coal, natural gas and crude oil production, in part by making federal land more readily available to drillers and miners.

Watch: Controversy swirls around Pruitt
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said Friday that the company was investigating a small leak in the rocket it plans to launch on Saturday. The entrepreneur later said that the launch was still planned, but that an "abort trigger" had been added.

Elon Musk: Investigating a (very small) leak in the upper stage. If ok, will launch tomorrow.

Elon Musk: Looks like we are go for launch. Added an abort trigger at T-60 secs for pressure decay of upper stage helium spin start system.

The rocket is scheduled to launch at 10:01 a.m. from the historic Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, the same launch pad used for the Apollo and space shuttle missions.

The SpaceX rocket will carry cargo for an International Space Station (ISS) resupply mission.

This is SpaceX's second planned launch this year. The company successfully launched a handful of satellites for Iridium Communications from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base in January, following a few postponements. That was SpaceX's first launch since a Falcon 9 rocket exploded on another Cape Canaveral launchpad during fueling in early September.
Source: Recursion Pharmaceuticals

Cerebral cavernous malformation isn't the kind of disease the average person is familiar with. But for the 0.5 percent of the population afflicted with the genetic affliction  which causes blood vessels in the brain to grow irregularly  every day can be terrifying. "There's no treatment," says Dr. Christopher Austin, director of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at the National Institutes of Health. "So you walk around all the time knowing that you have this time bomb in your head, that any moment you have a headache it could be a fatal bleed in your brain." While seeking a treatment for cerebral cavernous malformation as part of his doctoral dissertation at the University of Utah, Dr. Chris Gibson arrived upon an idea. The lab in which he was working had spent roughly a decade seeking a drug to treat the rare disease, only to find in tests that it didn't work. "In the realm of rare diseases, the biology often isn't well understood," Gibson says. "So is there a better approach, one that is more agnostic to the biology we think we know and that embraces the complexity of the biology we don't understand?" The idea gave birth to Recursion Pharmaceuticals, a Salt Lake City-based start-up tapping into advances in machine learning, computer vision and robotic automation to allow software to analyze hundreds of thousands of extremely detailed microscopic images of cells every week in search of treatments for hundreds of rare diseases simultaneously. The notion of augmenting high-throughput drug research with powerful software is by no means entirely novel. But in just two years Recursion has managed to do so at unprecedented resolution, offering hope for millions of people suffering from rare diseases for which no treatment currently exists. The company's 40-person team has already identified more than a dozen promising treatments that are in various phases of testing, with one such treatment for CCM headed for clinical trials sometime later this year.

A medical conundrum

In the United States the term "rare disease" describes a condition that affects less than 200,000 people, though many such diseases affect far fewer than that (cystic fibrosis, a commonly known rare disease, affects just 30,000 people in the United States). Still, there are nearly 7,000 rare diseases that have been identified, many resulting from a single defective gene. Taken in aggregate, rare diseases really aren't so rare, affecting an estimated 30 million in people in the United States alone. But because each individual rare disease may not affect a wide swath of the population, many do not receive the same degree of investment and research that drug producers dedicate to more widespread diseases (though Congress has in recent years created financial incentives for companies that pursue rare disease treatments). More from Modern Medicine:

Edited DNA OK for health, but not babies

Scientists uncover an algorithm that predicts autism in high-risk babies

Genetic editing gets OK for health but not designer babies, panel says Recursion aims to accelerate the search for rare disease treatments by automating the process by which cellular biology experiments are prepared and analyzed. Through advanced robotics, computer vision and machine-learning software, the company can run experiments for and perform analysis on hundreds of diseases simultaneously. At it's Salt Lake City laboratory, Recursion's team is able to prepare tens of thousands of small experiments per week, creating and then microscopically photographing cells engineered to mimic those affected by various rare genetic diseases. The team then automates the capturing of roughly 200,000 microscopic images weekly, each of which is then fed to Recursion's analysis algorithms, which measure roughly 1,000 aspects of each cellular model. The software then cross-references those cellular models against a database of 2,000 known chemical compounds  many of them existing drugs developed to treat other conditions or compounds that never made it to market  looking for treatments likely to counteract the specific abnormality in each cell.

Human cells modeling a rare genetic disorder known as Kabuki syndrome that causes congenital abnormalities. Source: Recursion Pharmaceuticals

In other words, Recursion's system creates abnormal cells in the likeness of genetic disease, then uses image-recognition software  not unlike the algorithms deployed by Google and Facebook to recognize faces or match similar images  to automatically find an existing, known compound that will make the cell look healthy again. The fact that Recursion is looking for potential treatments among compounds already familiar to medical researchers and regulatory agencies means they can move promising candidates into testing much more quickly than if they were looking for novel, new treatments. "If you could just take these drugs that we already know are pretty safe and find new indications for them, that's a huge short-cut," says Austin of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. The center at NIH provided Recursion with a $1 million small-business grant in 2014 to help Gibson and company explore the method and get the idea off the ground. Recursion has since attracted $19 million in funding from venture capital firms like Lux Capital Obvious Ventures, the VC firm founded in part by Twitter co-founder and former-CEO Evan Williams, as it continues to scale its lab. "We're doing 30,000 small experiments per week now," Gibson says. "I expect hundreds of thousands of experiments per week in the near future."

On the fast track to discovery
President Donald Trump brought his America First message to Boeing 's South Carolina plant Friday, touting his goal to boost U.S. manufacturing and threatening companies that consider moving jobs abroad.

Standing in front of a new Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner passenger aircraft made at in North Charleston, Trump repeated his campaign promises to promote American production that partly fueled his dizzying path to the White House. He warned of a "substantial penalty" for companies that move jobs out of the United States.

"We want products made by our workers in our factories stamped with those four magnificent words  made in the USA," Trump said.

Trump's trip comes at a complicated time for his economic agenda of tax cuts and regulatory rollback. Trump has promised a tax reform plan in the coming weeks, but Republican congressional efforts to introduce a health-care bill and disagreements among lawmakers and business stakeholders about tax legislation threaten to hold up tax reform for months or even into next year.

A possible border adjustment provision, part of House Republicans' tax plan, complicates Trump's made in America pledges and could affect numerous companies like Boeing. Boeing gets some of its parts from outside of the U.S.

"Our goal as a nation must be to rely less on imports and more on products made here in the USA," Trump said.

The president repeated his administration's goal to "buy American and hire American," something his family's companies have not consistently done.

Trump's visit to Boeing also came two days after an attempt to unionize the plant fell far short, dealing a blow to organized labor, which largely backed Democrat Hillary Clinton in the election.

Trump has repeatedly used his position to try to extract promises out of American companies. He put Boeing on notice in December before he took office, slamming the company for the cost of its Air Force One program and sending its shares lower.

Boeing has since pledged to cut the program's costs.

Trump said "it looks like we're getting closer and closer" to reaching a deal on Air Force One cost cuts. He added that "we are seriously looking at a big order" of Boeing F-18 Super Hornet fighter jets, which would mark a blow to Lockheed Martin and its F-35 program.

The president has previously appeared to pit the two aircraft makers against one another.

Trump's divisive executive order on immigration, which included countries like Iran and Iraq, also put about $20 billion worth of Boeing commercial aircraft orders at risk.
European countries should simply increase their defense spending and adhere to the NATO alliance as U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded, Finland's President Sauli Niinisto told CNBC on Friday.



Trump has previously criticized the NATO defense alliance and indicated he would be prepared to withdraw support unless European countries raised their defense spending to at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product.



"Our position is what has been agreed (between NATO countries) should be fulfilled, that's so simple in my opinion," Niinisto told CNBC on Friday.



"I think that Europeans start to understand that they have to take more responsibility of their own security in spite of the fact that they are members of NATO and have a lot of trust to NATO," he added.



U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had earlier echoed Trump's warnings that the new administration could moderate its commitment to NATO if members failed to increase their spending at a meeting in Brussels on Friday.



However, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker responded to urge countries in Europe to resist pressure from the U.S. to spend more on defense, according to a Reuters report.



Niinisto confirmed Finland has pledged an additional 55 million euros to improve troop readiness from 2018. The Nordic country is not a member of the NATO alliance but does have compulsory service.

Combination of external threats



Finland's President dismissed the notion that Russia's President Vladimir Putin was the major external threat to the continent and instead described a combination of risks moving forwards.



"It's a combination it is terrorism and migration and also Russia (with) what happened in Crimea in Ukraine," he said.



"Surely we hope that those discussions between the United States and Russia go on and if they go on respecting the international laws (and) the international order that would be (a) good thing but they should go further on that path," Niinisto concluded.
President Donald Trump hinted Friday at possible replacements for his national security advisor, one day after a potential taker for Michael Flynn's key position turned it down.

Retired Navy Vice Adm. Robert Harward decided against an offer to serve in the top position. He told The Associated Press it was "purely a personal issue," though some reports suggested he thought the White House was too chaotic.

Flynn resigned Monday following reports that he talked about sanctions against Russia with Russia's ambassador and misled Vice President Mike Pence about what was discussed. Trump said Thursday he "fired" Flynn "because of what he said to Mike Pence," not because of what he discussed on the calls.
President Donald Trump stands during a news conference announcing Alexander Acosta as the new Labor Secretary nominee in the East Room at the White House on February 16, 2017 in Washington, DC Getty Images

President Donald Trump has so far shown himself to be not much of a fan of economists. And the feeling appears to be mutual. Not only has Trump rejected economic data, raising questions about its veracity with no evidence, he has also repeatedly misstated it. And he recently decided to demote the Council of Economic Advisers from his Cabinet while failing, to this point, to appoint a chairman. But economists from both sides of the political aisle have similarly rejected much of Trump's economic worldview, ranging from his assessment of the current state of the economy, his diagnosis of what's wrong with it and many of his prescriptions to fix it. "The Trump administration is threatening to drive a silver-spike into the heart of the innovation process,'' Ned Phelps, a Nobel prize-winning economist from Columbia University, said at a recent conference. Phelps, known as a conservative economist who favors deregulation, was speaking about Trump's penchant for intervening directly with companies. He says such policies favor existing companies at the expense of new ones and likened it to the German and Italian "corporatist" economies of the 1930s.

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"By expanding protection and interference in the business sector, the Trump administration may very well block the innovation of outsiders and newcomers more than it will stimulate the output of insiders," Phelps said. To be sure, there are ideas at the heart of the president's economic agenda many economists embrace. Lower taxes and a simpler tax system are often preferred by most economists because they reduce distortions in decision-making and can boost growth. And many agree the U.S. corporate tax rate needs to be more globally competitive. "Corporate tax cuts could deliver a sustained increase in wage growth by stimulating business spending and thus raising productivity growth," wrote Deutsche Bank economist Joseph LaVorgna. And deregulation is seen as a winner for boosting economic growth, though economists tend to place value on the benefits of regulation along with counting its costs. All told, several surveys have suggested that the positive side of Trump administration policies add up perhaps to half or a full percentage point at most of gross domestic product, not the many full points touted by the president and his advisors. At his wide-ranging press conference on Thursday, Trump said: "I inherited a mess.'' But many economists suggest nothing could be further from the truth. In testimony this week before Congress, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the economy was at or near its potential growth rate and close to full employment. The unemployment rate of 4.8 percent is just a 0.1 point above what the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office judges to be the natural rate of unemployment. However, the broader measure of under and unemployment, the so-called U-6 that accounts for those who have dropped out of the workforce and those working part time for economic reasons, is as much as a full percentage point above its prerecession level.

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That suggests room to improve on jobs numbers and bring Americans who have dropped out of the workforce back into the fold. Yet, when it comes to job losses, and how to put people back to work, many economists vastly disagree with the Trump administration. Trump has blamed unfair trade practices, but many economists don't see trade or efforts to reduce trade deficits as helping U.S. employment much. That's the view, interestingly enough, of Goldman Sachs economists, among others. It's ironic because the two highest ranking economic officials in the Trump administration are Goldman alums  National Economic Director Gary Cohn and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. Neither has an economics degree or appears to have much experience with public policy. But a recent Goldman Sachs research paper concluded that "offshoring and reshoring account for a modest share of job losses and gains, and any policy-driven changes would have a limited effect on total employment." A recent report from Ball State University's Center for Business and Economic Research found that 87 percent of manufacturing job losses "are due to productivity gains, including better supply chains, more capital investment and advanced technology (robots)." It went on to note that, nevertheless, since the end of the recession, the U.S. has added 750,000 manufacturing jobs. Economists don't generally dispute the idea that manufacturing job losses and even losses due to international trade have resulted in economic pain to a part of the population. And many have suggested greater use of job retraining programs to alleviate the economic fallout. But they see the labor force generally adjusting. It's worth noting that Trump made a big deal about saving jobs when he traveled to the Carrier manufacturing plant in Indiana. But he failed to note that manufacturing employment in Indiana has risen by 18 percent since the nadir of the recession in 2009, although it has remained below its prerecession level. The unemployment rate where the Carrier plant is based, Huntington, Indiana, is one of the lowest in the country at just 3.5 percent. Perhaps the biggest area of disagreement is the Trump administration's claim that it can boost economic growth to 4 percent. Yellen has called growth "disappointing" but suggested that the real problem with the economy is productivity and labor force growth. The reason labor force growth is so slow, Yellen and others have said, is mostly the result of an aging population. Older people retire and participate less in the workforce. And the pace of innovation, at least as measured in productivity statistics, looks to have slowed as well. It is possible that a combination of tax cuts and government spending could ratchet up GDP. But economists worry about a sugar high and instead urge Washington to focus on changing what they call potential growth, which is akin to the economy's speed limit. Because both labor force gains and productivity have slowed, many economists don't see the GDP potential as much greater than 2 percent right now, which is about the current growth rate of the economy. So, contrary to a president who sees the economy as a mess, economists would judge the United States as meeting its lower potential. Most studies, including a recent one from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, predict lower global growth in both emerging and advanced economies in the years ahead. Few doubt the president's sincerity in wanting to improve the U.S. economy. But many worry that his policies could be counterproductive. For example, there is real concern the president could reduce immigration into the U.S. But Yellen noted that doing so could reduce both employment growth and overall growth since immigrants are major contributors to the already slow population increases in the US. "The immigration ban affects only around 0.1% of arrivals in the U.S., but its symbolic nature resonates beyond its magnitude," noted Oxford Economics. "The contributions of immigration to the U.S. economy via labor, education and tourism should not be underestimated."
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President Donald Trump travels to Boeing's South Carolina plant Friday where he says he will "talk jobs" with the company he has previously criticized.

The visit comes two days after an attempt to unionize the plant fell far short, dealing a blow to organized labor, which largely backed Democrat Hillary Clinton in the election.

Trump is visiting Charleston for the unveiling of Boeing's 787-10 Dreamliner model, a long-haul plane that can seat more than 300 passengers. The aircraft is built in South Carolina and will be delivered to customers starting next year, according to Boeing.

Since his election, Trump has held several joint events with companies in which they promote investment or job creation in the United States. The president has touted his efforts to get companies to create jobs domestically.

Trump has repeatedly used his position to try to extract promises out of American companies. He put Boeing on notice in December before he took office, slamming the company for the cost of its Air Force One program and sending its shares lower.

Boeing has since pledged to cut the program's costs.

Trump's divisive executive order on immigration, which included countries like Iran and Iraq, also put about $20 billion worth of Boeing commercial aircraft orders at risk.
Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Boeing will roll out the newest iteration of its 787 Dreamliner at its facility in North Charleston, South Carolina, this afternoon, but for the aerospace giant and a number of other U.S. manufacturers, the big reveal will come via the event's special guest. President Donald Trump is expected to make an announcement about the future of the Export-Import Bank, which has been operating with limited authority for more than 18 months. Democrats expect Trump to come out in support of the U.S. federal export credit agency, which backstops loans made to foreign companies seeking to purchase U.S. export goods. Doing so would represent a reversal of views the president expressed on the campaign trail when the then-candidate said the United States could "do well without it." Embracing the Export-Import Bank now would also signal a warming of relations between the new president and major U.S. manufacturers, like Boeing and GE, both of which have drawn criticism from Trump over the high cost of U.S. government contracts and the outsourcing of jobs.

More from Global Investing Hot Spots:

Global stocks surge to new record highs

Investors beware: 5 risks that can unravel the EU in 2017

Red alert: North Korea one step closer to the missile test that could rock the US The president could also choose to say nothing at all on the matter, a gesture that would be equally significant. A contingent of Congressional Republicans view Ex-Im (as the agency is often known) as a kind of "corporate welfare" in which the government assistance in helping U.S. companies secure business abroad disproportionately benefits just a handful of large corporations, Boeing among them. However, North Dakota Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp said last week following a lunch at the White House that President Trump told her he would soon nominate someone to Ex-Im's five-member bipartisan board to provide it with a quorum, breaking the logjam that has kept the agency operating with just two board members (and at a very limited capacity) since 2015. Ex-Im guarantees billions of dollars of U.S. trade financing annually, supporting thousands of U.S. jobs. But in June 2015, Congressional Republicans allowed Ex-Im's authorization to expire, arguing that the agency disproportionately benefits a handful of companies like Boeing and GE that have a lot of political clout. Though Ex-Im was revived six months later, Republicans blocked nominations of new board members appointed by the Obama administration.



The credit agency's uncertain future

Ex-Im has been operating with just two board members ever since  one board member shy of the number required to approve transactions greater than $10 million in value. That has severely limited Ex-Im's ability to support the financing of major deals for U.S. companies and  according to the agency's former chairman  cost the U.S. a significant number of jobs. In an interview with CNBC in December, Fred Hochberg  at the time Ex-Im's chairman and president  said the agency supported $20 billion in financing, which in turn supported some 165,000 jobs by the bank's estimates. In 2016, following the loss of its quorum the previous year, the bank supported just $5 billion and 52,000 jobs. (Ex-Im's two acting board members could not be reached for comment.)

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Following last week's White House meeting, Sen. Heitkamp said Trump agreed to nominate someone to the board, providing it obtains the quorum it needs to go back to conducting business as usual. "It's great news he agreed and said he would nominate someone to serve on the Ex-Im Bank Board very soon so the agency, which has been stalled for a year, can fully function and keep supporting American workers and small businesses, including many in North Dakota, just as it has done for more than 80 years," she said. There are additional reasons to believe the president will come out in favor of Ex-Im. For one, the president's various pledges to bolster U.S. manufacturing, support domestic job creation and boost the competitiveness of American exports could be difficult to reconcile with a decision to shutter Ex-Im entirely. The agency currently has a backlog of $30 billion in potential financing for U.S. export goods that it currently cannot approve without a third board member, a number that's difficult to ignore in terms of both revenue and jobs.

Boeing Dreamliner 787 planes sit on the production line at the company's final assembly facility in North Charleston, S.C. Travis Dove | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Proponents of the agency also note that roughly 100 countries around the world have export credit agencies helping their own domestic manufacturers secure financing for their exports. Shutting down Ex-Im would be equivalent to voluntarily eroding U.S. competitiveness abroad, they argue.



A corporate beneficiary
The world's largest sovereign wealth fund will undergo the most drastic changes to its mandate in decades as it ratchets up investment risk and pulls back on the amount of oil money it can spend if the Norwegian government's proposals are approved.

The 7.48 trillion Norwegian krone ($903 billion) fund  the largest sovereign fund by assets under management - currently receives all of Norway's oil and gas income and parliamentary approval would be required to ensure the changes are ratified. The fund currently targets an equity allocation of around 60 percent but Prime Minister Erna Solberg's government hopes to see this dialed up to 70 percent.

"The Government Pension Fund Global has a long investment horizon. The assessments of the equity share is henceforth based on long term considerations, including assessments of expected return and risk and the state's ability to carry risk in the Fund. Returns are likely to be lower going forward, as assessed by two separate public commissions and Norges Bank. We must adapt to this fact and therefore propose to adjust the return estimate downwards," Siv Jensen, Norway's Finance Minister told CNBC via email on Friday.

The vast reach of the fund is exemplified by the fact it already invests in 78 countries, owning around 1.3 percent of listed companies worldwide and 2.3 percent of listed companies in Europe.

Bonds, which currently have a target allocation of around 35 percent of investments, are set to be the spurned asset class as the fund attempts to boost overall returns. In general, equities have both a higher risk and expected return profile than fixed income investments. Real estate will continue to comprise the relatively small remainder of allocated funds.

This change is being pushed forward alongside another which determines the amount of the fund that government can spend in its annual budgets. The proposal is for the current rate of 4 percent to be dropped to 3 percent, an initiative largely driven by the fund's rampant growth since its 1998 launch.

The fund achieved an average growth rate of around 5.6 percent (before expenses) between 1998 and 2015, leading to an absolute growth in assets of around twenty times and a treasure chest now almost twice the size of Norway's economy. Last year marked the first year in its history that the government removed more money from the fund than the latter received from oil revenues due to the slump in the commodity's price.

Norway's central bank governor has been vocal over the past several months in asserting that the government must desist from spending so much of the fund's assets.

"It would be unwise to increase petroleum revenue spending from today's level even if the [fund] continues to grow," ystein Olsen, governor of Norges Bank stated on Thursday, adding that the government risked running a budget deficit of up to 8 percent of GDP (gross domestic product) excluding contributions from oil and shipping.

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The Shenendehowa School District Board of Education Feb. 7 recognized the service of the districts military veterans and approved a partial veterans tax emption.

The board passed the resolution that gives veterans who qualify the basic level of exemption. The vote was approved 6-0 with board member Christina Rajotte absent due to illness.

The state law creating veterans tax exemptions was enacted in 1984 and originally applied to municipalities only. In 2013 Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill into law that made it available to the states public school districts. Whether the districts enact it is up to the individual school boards.

The resulting tax relief from the exemption is not reimbursed by the state. The tax levy due the district remains the same. The monetary difference between the amount of relief awarded the veterans and the tax levy due the school district will be collected from tax payers in each school district.

According to 2015 figures, the Shen School District has a total of 22,767 taxable parcels, with 2,242 potentially eligible for the partial veterans tax exemptions.

In the fall the Shen administration posted a Q&A information sheet on its website with a graph of the various monetary amounts and levels of eligibility.

Immediately preceding the Feb. 7 board meeting, the district held a public hearing on the issue. The hearing drew three speakers, all of them veterans.

World War II and Battle of the Bulge veteran Allan Atwell had spoken in support of the exemption at several prior. He did so again at the public hearing.

I urge the board to pass this resolution, he said. A veteran is someone who wrote a bank check to the U.S. for an amount up to and including his life.

Vietnam veteran Larry Friedman also urged the board to adopt the resolution. In his remarks Friedman gave a moving account of how his life was completely transformed after getting drafted during the war, a situation from which he said he has never fully recovered.

I dont think you realize how much the war played on our lives, he said. I was a college graduate ready for law school and looking at taking over my fathers business when I was drafted. I came back to no career, my father had sold the business, and I couldnt get a job. I lost a good three years there while others were starting their careers. Economically Ive never recovered.

Friedman told the board that just one percent of the population has served in the military.

If you dont think you owe them a debt of gratitude you have something to think about, he said.

As the individual board members discussed their feelings on the issue, board members Gary DiLallo and board president Robert Pressly said Friedmans remarks had affected them.

Pressly, a combat veteran who served in Afghanistan and who is eligible for the exemption, at first said he would abstain for ethical reasons.

Hearing that, Friedman made an additional plea directly to Pressly asking him to think of his brother veterans.

Its shortsighted in my opinion, Friedman said. Youre being more unethical turning your back on your brothers.

DiLallo said he was prepared to oppose the measure, hesitant to ask people who had not served in the military to pay more. However, upon hearing Friedman he changed his mind.

Beyond everything they did, there was an on-going cost and we can do something about it here. We can socialize that cost to a degree, he said.

A basic max level exemption, as approved by the board, has three levels of eligibility, war time, combat zone, and disability. Each level generates a different amount of relief. Municipal assessors are integral to meeting the March 1 filing deadline.

On Wednesday Clifton Park assessor Walter Smead was surprised by the school boards timing and described the calculations that must be made and the short time frame for filing.

Halfmoon assessor Jo Ann Smith was also surprised. She noted that an exemption for partial tax relief on the school tax bill will most likely draw more interest than a partial county tax exemption.

The nights speakers were glad they attended the hearing.

I respect that they listened to what I had to say, Friedman said afterward. Im glad I came.

Im happy they passed it, Atwell said. I feel sorry for those school districts that havent passed it. Shen did the right thing.

Pressly acknowledged afterward that he may have fixated on a possible conflict of interest.

The comments from Larry (Friedman) and Bill (Casey) made me see it was less of a factor, he said. It was an unusual meeting in that a significant number were swayed by the perspectives of others. The public hearing did what it was supposed to do, allow the public an opportunity to speak and see what they can provide.

-30-
DeWITT, N.Y.  MACNY, the DeWittbased Manufacturers Association of Central New York, announced it will induct the late Raymond Currier, founder of Auburnbased Currier Plastics, Inc., and Arnie Rubenstein, board chairman of DeWitt electronics firm United Radio, into its Manufacturers Wall of Fame this May.

MACNY will recognize Currier and Rubenstein at the organizations 104th annual dinner on May 18, the association said in a news release.

More than 700 business and community leaders are expected to celebrate their accomplishments, which MACNY will commemorate with a plaque on the Manufacturers Wall of Fame at its headquarters.

The Manufacturers Wall of Fame celebrates individuals who have demonstrated long-term dedication to manufacturing in central and upstate New York.

Currier and Rubenstein represent the 17th class of members inducted into the Manufacturers Wall of Fame.

They join a prestigious group of manufacturing leaders who have been honored since the Wall of Fames inception in 2001, MACNY said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
CAZENOVIA, N.Y.  Nine students at Morrisville State College spent time this semester learning about hospitality functions at the Hampton Inn and Suites by Hilton location in Cazenovia.

John Felton, assistant professor of hospitality at Morrisville, conducted his hotel-operations class at the hotel for part of the semester, Morrisville said in a news release issued Tuesday.

The college wanted the students to observe the actual operations of a major hotel corporation.

Its enhancing the educational experience for our students, Felton said. They get to learn in a brand new, outstanding facility which is affiliated with Hilton, an industry leader.

The 80-room, four-story franchise hotel with a 5,000-square-foot conference center and located just off Route 20 in Cazenovia, opened in July 2016.

The students learned about four areas of hotel operations, including front-office operations, sales and marketing, housekeeping. and general management.

Young Goodyear, guest-services agent from Cazenovia, was among the Hampton Inn employees demonstrating the various aspects of her job.

Im introducing them to everything we do at the front desk and discussing what a typical day is like, she said.

Kathy Shue, the hotels general manager, spoke with students about how to operate a hotel, her specific role, and how to communicate with employees. It gave Shue the chance to learn more about the Morrisville students participating, the college said.

They are potential members of our staff, Shue noted in the schools release.

The on-site instruction wasnt the first time that the hotel had hosted Morrisville students.

With its close proximity to the Morrisville campus, the Hampton Inn and Suites by Hilton hosted the schools Harvest Dinner last year.

The event provided the schools hospitality students a chance to do a little bit of everything, including setting and waiting on tables and plating food.

The industry is saying, we want graduates with hands-on experience and this is one way for them to get it, Felton said about working with the Cazenovia hotel.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

PHOTO CAPTION: Dustin Sherman of Tioga Center (left) and Miranda Stocking of Cooperstown get tips about front-desk operations from Young Goodyear, guest-services agent at the Hampton Inn and Suites by Hilton in Cazenovia. Both Sherman and Stocking are studying travel and tourism at Morrisville State College. (Photo credit, Morrisville State College)
What did Eli Drinkwitz say after Missouri's game vs. Kentucky?
With each iteration of the iPhone, Apple seems determined to make its smartphone thinner and reduce the number of physical ports it has.

The latest speculation -- that the company may introduce wireless charging on the next iPhone -- indicates Apple may be considering cutting wires (and another port) all together.

Earlier this month,Ming-Chi Kuo, a financial analyst highly regarded for his accurate Apple predictions, asserted that the next iterations of the iPhone will include wireless charging.

And earlier this week, it was revealed that Apple in January joined the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), which promotes the Qi magnetic resonance charging specification.

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While Apple is often a technology follower -- preferring to let others push the envelope first before it moves into a market with its own advances -- it does have a history of changing user behavior through interfaces. That may mean wired charging could be missing completely on the next iPhone, said Rob Rueckert, the managing director at Sorenson Capital, a private equity and venture capital firm.

"They forced users into a different model with the wireless Earbuds [AirPods]," Rueckert said. "If you buy an iPhone 8, or whatever future versions they have, are they going to take it to the point where they only allow wireless charging?"

Creative Commons Lic. Apple's AirPods, which use wireless Bluetooth to connect to a mobile device, ushered in iPhones without analog audio ports.

While the WPC's version of magnetic resonance wireless charging requires a mobile device to be in direct contact with a pad, it's unlikely Apple would move in that direction and keep a hardwired charging cord.

The problem with allowing both wired and wireless charging, Rueckert said, is there's no benefit of one over the other; why would users pay for a separate wireless charging pad when the device still requires a wire to be plugged into an electrical outlet?

"If they still allow you to plug it in, users will have to decide if they want to buy the expensive charger -- a feature I don't find overly compelling," Rueckert said.

Plus, magnetic wireless charging requires an additional element in the mobile device: a copper receiving coil, which takes up valuable real estate inside the ever-thinner iPhone.

Rueckert believes if Apple does choose to roll out wireless charging with the next iPhone, it'll likely go all in.

"They've done it before. They've been bold movers in changing features, and because of the loyalty to the Apple brand, people will embrace it; it wouldn't surprise me," Rueckert said.

Broadly speaking, there are three types of wireless charging technologies the industry is pursuing: charging pads that typically use magnetic inductive or resonance technology, which Samsung has adopted in its devices; charging bowls or through-surface type chargers, which can charge from a few centimeters away and also use magnetic resonance charging technology; and WiFi-like wireless charging, which is typically known as uncoupled. It produces less charging power but has a longer range allowing users to move freely while a device powers up.

(Apple, according to MacRumors, has also been eyeing WiTricity, which licenses a magnetic resonance charging technology.)

While systems being demonstrated by companies like Energous and Ossia, according to Green use Wi-Fi-like charging, the new Dell/WiTricity tablet system announced at CES uses the the AirFuel Resonant specification; it works with charging bowls and through-surface charging, according to David Green, research manager for the Wireless Power & Smart Utilities Infrastructure Group at IHS.

"In terms of progress and industry readiness, charging pads have been shipping in volume since 2015, charging bowls/through-surface type are really just launching this year, and charging across a room is probably still at least a year away from commercial high-volume reality," he said.

Energous An illustration of how Enerous' WattUp ecosystem works. A Far Field transmitter embedded in the bezel of a TV or sound bar or mounted on the wall or ceiling, enables meshed-network coverage where linked transmitters cover larger spaces.

One thing is clear, Green continued, in 2017 users are not going to see "a device offering full-speed wireless charging across a room."

Even if Apple chooses magnetic resonance wireless charging for the iPhone, it will likely be a "baby step" toward an eventual changeover to the Holy Grail of wireless charging: charging over distance with a W-iFi-like connection.

Ossia and Energous have demonstrated wireless charging beyond 15 feet.

"I've used both. The technology works," Ruekert said.

Both Energous' WattUp and Ossia's Cota mobile device charging systems work much like a wireless router, sending radio frequency signals that can be received by enabled mobile devices, such as wearables and mobile phones. A small RF antenna in the form of PCB board, an ASIC and software make up the wireless power receivers.

Ossia Ossia's wireless RF charging router.

Another advantage of using radio frequencies to charge a mobile device is that a traditional magnetic charging coil is no longer needed. A mobile device's Wi-Fi receiver chip can simply be modified so that it receives both the wireless signal for communication and charging.

Whatever wireless charging method Apple chooses, if indeed it does so this year, there will likely be something proprietary added to it, Ruekert said.

Over the last decade, Apple has filed several patents on wireless charging.

In 2005, an Apple patent described technology for an iPod using zero-contact induction for not only charging but data transfer -- most likely to manage device charging.

Apple The Apple Watch, launched in 2015, uses a proprietary form of inductive wireless charging.

In a 2012 Apple patent filing, the company described a near field magnetic resonance (NFMR) power supply "arranged to wirelessly provide power to any of a number of suitably configured devices."

Apple's patent description indicated a charging distance of about one meter, which could be projected out from a desktop computer such as the iMac to power peripheral devices such as a wireless mouse.

While "second guessing exact Apple product specifications is a fool's game," wireless charging is quickly on the uptake by most leading mobile technology providers, Green said.

In 2016, 200 million wireless charging-enabled devices shipped, with almost all of them using some form of inductive (charging pad) type design, Green said.

"If this was any other manufacturer, you would predict inductive charging pad-type technology as the start point," Green said. "But I wouldn't be surprised if they're looking at more than one method of wireless charging as part of the overall experience."
Agility Recovery, the Denver-based disaster recovery company that helps companies recover from hurricanes, floods, fires, blizzards and other challenging situations, is opening more than 3,200 locations across the country and internationally as part of its new ReadyComplete suite of services. The company provides its customer businesses with power, communications, computers and office space.



"Agility is providing access to thousands of office locations across the US and Canada, as well as overseas," explains Scott Teel, Agility Recovery marketing VP. "They are not Agility-owned office locations but are instead powered by the extensive portfolio of Regus -managed facilities."

The expansion is being funded by its investor, LLR Partners, Teel says. As the company expands it will add more positions both in Colorado and across the country. "We expect a company-wide head count increase of more than 10 percent for 2017 and continued growth over each of the next three years," Teel says.

Agility relocated its headquarters from Charlotte, NC, to Denver in Oct. 2016, creating more than 40 jobs. "In 2016 we nearly tripled the number of employees on the Colorado team," Teel explains. "Some of these were transfers from the Charlotte office, but many were new hires. In January, we grew our Denver staff by 10 percent."

Teel says the company also expects to add more positions here. "We expect to add about 10 percent to our Denver head count over the course of 2017. Though we are always seeking to increase productivity and scalability through improved process and technology, we are still predicting even greater employee head count growth in Denver in 2018-19."

The growth comes as the market for recovery services is growing. It's currently valued at $40 billion and growing by 10 percent annually, according to TechTarget figures.



Contact Confluence Denver Innovation & Jobs News Editor Chris Meehan with tips and leads for future stories at chris@confluence-denver.com.
Iain Dale is Presenter of LBC Drive, Managing Director of Biteback Publishing, a columnist and broadcaster and a former Conservative Parliamentary candidate.

So unemployment is down by a further 7,000. Productivity is up 0.3 per cent. Wages are up by 2.6 per cent.

All this economic good news continues to be reported with hashtag #despitebrexit. In addition, earlier this week, the European Commission made a complete fool of itself by being the only organisation to cut Britains economic growth forecast by 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent this year.

And surprise, surprise, they reckon that in 2019, the year we are actually due to leave the EU, growth in the Eurozone economies will overtake that of Britain. Well, they couldnt really say anything else, could they?

         

I found Liz Trusss speech on prison reform this week disappointing in the extreme. It was as if we had gone back 20 years and were listening to Michael Howard telling us that prison works. But the only sense in which prison works at the moment is that the people inside it unable to commit further crimes. Beyond that, it doesnt work at all: just look at this countrys rate of repeat offending.

The Justice Secretary doesnt seem at all concerned that our prison population is at an all time high. Indeed, its double what it was in 1993, and yet were told that crime rates are at an all time low. Something doesnt compute there, does it?

I am very happy to lock up serious offenders  people who are a danger to society. Indeed, Id lock most of them up for far longer. However, there are thousands of people in prison who dont need to be there, and wouldnt be were we able to dream up other forms of punishment. What is the point of putting people in prison if they are no danger to society? What is the gain from imprisoning someone for not paying a TV licence fine or council tax?

And of course once many people get to prison, they are set upon the highway to hell. Theyre locked up in their cells for most of the day, due to a chronic lack of prison officers to look after them. Educational resources are at a minimum. Sixty per cent of released prisoners cant read or write. Is it any wonder that its becoming increasingly difficult for recently released prisons to find a job?

And then there are the drugs. Stories are legion of people who go into prison never having taken an illegal substance in their lives, but come out addicted to hard drugs. There are constant calls for prison regimes to be tougher and less like holiday camps. This is short-sighted thinking. If you treat people like animals while they are incarcerated, dont be surprised if their behaviour doesnt change when they are released.

Im not saying that prisoners should live in the lap of luxury, but surely losing their freedom is punishment enough for the crime they have committed. Imposing Victorian conditions merely means that violent rebellions are at some point inevitable. I believe Michael Gove understood all this, and was on the point of radically changing our prisons system for the better. Liz Truss seems to be putting all this into reverse gear, purely for the sake of some red meat headlines. Shame.

         

As usual nowadays when a Cabinet Minister makes a big speech, Truss wasnt available for interview on Monday, so I interviewed her Labour opponent instead, Richard Burgon. It rapidly became clear that he had little alternative policy to present, but he did commit a Labour government to recruiting 6-8,000 new prison officers on top of the 2,500 already being hired by the current government. I reckon that at a conservative estimate thats a new spending commitment of more than 200 million.

         

Next weeks by-elections could well shape a lot of our domestic politics over the next two or three years. If Labour loses both, is it really tenable for Jeremy Corbyn to continue? I cannot see how he or his supporters could explain two losses away. At the moment, many people seem to think that Labour will hold on to Stoke, but lose Copeland to the Conservatives.

If this happens, it will be the first time a governing party has gained a by-election from the opposition party for 35 years. Even an ostrich can now see that Labour cant possibly win a general election with Corbyn in charge. The trouble is, it doesnt seem to matter to them. Many on the Left are far happier going on protest marches against the wicked Tories than having the responsibility of power. And long may it remain so.
CORNWALL, Ontario  In the month of February, the Boys & Girls Club has really focused on bullying and are using artistic ways to show its effects.

On Wednesday afternoon Boys & Girls Club members gathered at General Vanier to create Wrinkled Wandas and Wrinkled Wyatts/

Wrinkled Wandas and Wrinkled Wyatts are drawings of girls and boys respectively. The Boys & Girls Club kids then added hurtful names or other hurtful things that they have been told to the picture.

The Wrinkled Wandas were then crumpled up and when they were smoothed out again, all of the creases and wrinkled stayed to show that when these hurtful words are spoken, the damage can never fully go away and the words cannot be taken back.

Bullying affects a lot of peoples lives and sometimes you dont see it but its there, said 11-year-old Bailey Duval.

The Boys & Girls Clubs Trevor Smith said that this exercise was useful because it was made to show the kids the damage bullying could cause.

Whenever you do something thats hands on they tend to remember that more and theres more of an impact on their life, he said.
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Play therapy helps children communicate with people to prevent or resolve psychosocial challenges. Two of the biggest e-tailers in world, Mattel and Alibaba, team up to develop interactive and educational toys to aid child development in China.

Mattel is reported to market and sell its toys via Alibaba's platform Tmall.com. Using artificial intelligence, the two companies will develop new and innovative products through interactive learning. Consumers can expect the educational toys to be in the market middle of this year.

Margaret Georgiadis, Mattel CEO, believes that play has a tremendous impact on the children's cognitive, emotional and social growth. The company expects to help parents in China raise children to be at their personal best. Play is a fun and enjoyable activity that can elevate the spirit and brighten the outlook in life. Toys are also considered as the children's words.

Georgiadis added that Mattel has an unmatched expertise in childhood learning and development. On the other hand, Alibaba has an immense reach and unique consumer insights. Mattel's core brands include American Girl, Barbie, Fisher-Price and Hot Wheels.

Play therapy, which has been around for 70 years, allows the adults to see how children see the world around them, how they think about the people in their lives. It also allows the therapist to intervene and teach the kids skills to manage whatever struggles they are going through, according to Brigid Christianson, a licensed clinical social worker.

Play therapy is common to children aging three to 11 years old. Usually, a therapist observes a child playing with toys such as play houses, pets, dolls or cars. If the child has a disturbed behaviour, the cause can be determined during the course of play. However, some experts say that caution should be taken when using play therapy for assessment or diagnostic purposes.

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A recent study has revealed that daylight saving time (DST) may be related to the risk of miscarriage among women going through artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization (IVF).

According to US News, researchers from Boston Medical Center (BMC) have found that the number of miscarriage in patients undergoing IVF was much higher with those who received an embryo 21 days after the time in spring changed compared to those who were given the embryo before or far from the change in time.

The study, published recently in the journal Chronobiology International, did not provide evidence that daylight saving time is responsible for IVF failure rate to drop. There were also no connections that could lead researchers to conclude that the fall time change or the change in time in any seasons of the year could increase the rates of IVF miscarriage.

However, the study may give an explanation of how changes in the circadian rhythm can affect fertility and reproduction, the researchers said. Corresponding author Dr. Constance Liu, a physician in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Massachusetts General Hospital, explained in a BMC news release that according to their knowledge, there are no other studies that are examining the effects of DST in the outcomes of fertility.

She also added saying that they knew that they were looking into an uncharted field, and it was important for them to understand the effect of a one-hour change on patients' going through IVF. Liu took part in the study during her residency at BMC, reported Health Day.

Meanwhile, senior study author Dr. Wendy Kuohung, director of the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at BMC explained: "While our findings on the impact of [daylight savings time] on pregnancy loss among IVF pregnancies are intriguing, they need to be replicated in larger IVF cohorts in different parts of the world that observe [daylight savings time]."

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Being an astronaut or an explorer is just some of the dreams people had when they were younger. Now, thanks to a recently launched website by NASA, the public can help the space agency find the hidden worlds in space.

A collaboration between NASA, UC Berkeley, Arizona State University, the American Museum of Natural History, the Space Telescope Science Institute and Zooniverse, an online platform for science projects, the Backyard World: Planet 9 project aims to have the public become citizen scientists who will help scientists assess images from the data collected from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission.

Currently, there are eight planets in the Solar System. Pluto, once considered the ninth plane of the Solar System, is now relegated as the King of the Kuiper Belt. However, scientists still believe that somewhere in the far reaches of our space system, a ninth planet, dubbed Planet 9 or also known as Planet X exists.

The Backyard World: Planet 9 project aims to find not only hypothesized Planet 9, but also other celestial bodies currently hidden throughout space. In fact, due to recent discoveries and improvements in technology, scientists also believe that there is a hidden population of brown dwarfs throughout the Solar System.

Brown dwarfs are celestial bodies that are too small to be considered stars and are also too big to be considered planets. In fact, within the population of brown dwarfs, there exist the coldest known brown dwarfs known as "Y dwarfs". By finding these dwarfs, scientists will have a better understanding of the formation of both stars and planets.

In order to find these hidden worlds, the Backyard World: Planet 9 needs the help of citizen scientists to help them comb through millions of data collected from NASA's WISE. A systematic search is needed to find the moving objects, the planets or stars, in the images from WISE. Human eyes are the best to successfully find and identify these hidden celestial objects as image processing software often overlook them.

On the website, the citizen scientists are presented with a set of flipbooks or a collection of brief animations from a patch of space. People are then tasked to mark objects, either dipoles or movers, and the marked objects are examined by a team of scientists to authenticate the observations. If the citizen scientist has successfully identified a real brown dwarf or any genuine space objects, they will be credited with the discovery.

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A 64-year-old Spanish woman has given birth to healthy twins on Tuesday via caesarean section. The twins are a boy weighing 5.3 pounds and a girl who weighed 4.9 pounds.

The woman who has been identified only by her initials, MIA, had her first child at age 58. In 2014, MIA's daughter was taken into care by social services due to welfare concerns. Social workers said the girl was isolated, poorly clothed, had bad personal hygiene, was not sent to school and not properly cared for.

She became pregnant again after seeking IVF treatment in the US. The hospital and the regional government's social services had discussed the woman's ability and resources to take care of the babies. No decision has been made yet about her twins.

According to The Guardian, Enrique Martin, medical director at Recoletas hospital who delivered the twins said he was proud of his team's achievement in providing an adequate medical response to a difficult situation. Martin said MIA showed up four months' pregnant at the gates of the hospital all they could do was face the situation and react.

According to Spanish Laws there is no limit on the maximum age for assisted reproduction. But the Spanish Fertility Society discourages treatments for women aged over 50.

Last year, Lina Alvarez, a 62-year-old doctor from Lugo, Spain, appeared before cameras holding her own third baby in her arms. She specializes in IVF treatments and became a symbol for many older women wishing to conceive. She was also criticized along with Carmen Bousada, a woman from Cadiz who gave birth at age 66.

Bousada died of cancer in 2009, less than three years after giving birth to her twins. Her children are now in the care of her nephew.

BBC reported a similar case in April 2016 with an Indian woman in her 70s that underwent fertility treatment. Daljinder Kaur gave birth to a healthy baby boy in India's Haryana state.

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Red River Promotes Sessions To CEO, Outgoing Chief Will Lead M&A Efforts

Michael Novinson

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Red River President Jeff Sessions has shifted into the CEO role, with longtime CEO Rick Bolduc planning to spearhead a massive M&A spree as executive chairman.

The Claremont, N.H.-based company, No. 52 on the CRN Solution Provider 500, said that Sessions' initial responsibilities would include hiring senior execs to accommodate the company's planned growth. Red River today has no C-level executives aside from its CEO, Sessions said.

Sessions has worked closely over the past decade with Bolduc, who has been Red River's only CEO since the company's founding in 1995. Bolduc will transition to lining up mergers and acquisitions for Red River in high-growth areas such as security, application development, hybrid cloud and the Internet of Things (IoT), Sessions said.

[RELATED: Government VAR Red River Expands Commercial Business With Acquisition]

"This is part of a long-time corporate management transition plan," Bolduc told CRN. "It's a wonderful, very closely-aligned strategy for future growth."

The shift in responsibilities has happened gradually over the past year, Sessions said, with Bolduc spending more time focused on inorganic growth and working with external firms while Sessions' gained more and more oversight over internal operations. Sessions officially took over as CEO Feb. 6, and the news was announced on Wednesday.

Under Bolduc's tutelage, Red River has been profitable for each of the past 21 years and enjoyed annual growth rates of at least 7 percent to 8 percent every single year, including growth rates of more than 20 percent annually for the past decade.

But Red River has found it needs to grow its IT capabilities even faster to satisfy the business requirements of its federal customers, Sessions said. The company is focusing both on organic capabilities in areas such as security and app dev, as well as opportunities around new and emerging verticals, he said.

"To expand our capabilities organically takes more time than we have today," Sessions said.

The company kicked off its acquisition spree in October by purchasing Accunet Solutions, a solution provider specializing in Dell EMC and serving commercial accounts. Just 10 percent of Red River's customers today are in the commercial sector  with many of those coming over in the Accunet deal  and the company expects to expand its commercial sales base via acquisition, Sessions said.

Red River under Sessions will also look to grow its state and local government business in locations where the company has a physical presence, which include New England, greater Washington D.C. and Austin, Texas.

In his new role, Sessions said he would explore hiring executives in legal, compliance, revenue-generation and marketing. As president, Sessions oversaw the company's customer-facing, market-facing, and revenue-generating arms, but the people running back-office areas such as finance and legal reported directly into Bolduc.

Sessions expects Red River to have divisions in areas such as federal, state, local and commercial, as well as a more traditional corporate structure with directors and vice presidents having profit-and-loss responsibilities for a specific functional area. This should help empower more Red River executives with decision-making authority, Sessions said.

Red River today employs 250 people, with roughly 100 of those people joining the company within the past year, Sessions said. Some 30 of the new workers came were brought over from Accunet, Sessions said, with the remaining 70 coming on to take roles in operations and field engineering.
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Report: Softbank Willing To Give Up Sprint Control To Seal Merger Deal With T-Mobile

Gina Narcisi

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Wireless carrier Sprint's parent company, Japan's SoftBank Group, would be willing to relinquish control of Sprint to T-Mobile's parent company, Deutsche Telekom, in the event of a merger, according to a report from Reuters published on Friday.

The two carriers will reportedly begin negotiation talks in April, following the conclusion of ongoing airwave auction. SoftBank has been unable to lay out a deal in front of Deutsche Telekom because of anti-collusion rules that ban discussions between rival carriers during auctions, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

A merger between Sprint and T-Mobile, or even one or both carriers being purchased by another company wouldn't come as a surprise at all, especially because of the new regulatory environment, according to one Sprint partner that requested anonymity.

"I think Sprint will for sure be gobbled up soon, and if it's a merger, I think T-Mobile would be the parent in that relationship," the solution provider said.

[Related: Partners: Sprint, T-Mobile Could Merge Under A Republican Administration]

This isn't the first time M&A speculation has swirled between the two carriers. SoftBank, which owns about 83 percent of Overland Park, Kansas-based Sprint, walked away from discussions regarding the carrier acquiring T-Mobile in 2014 after facing opposition from U.S. antitrust regulators. Dallas-based carrier AT&T in 2011 attempted to buy T-Mobile for $39 billion in a bid that was thwarted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) led by Democrat Tom Wheeler.

While SoftBank is willing to give up its stake in Sprint, it is reportedly asking to retain a minority stake in a merger with T-Mobile.

In one of his first moves in office, President Donald Trump appointed Republican Ajit Pai to head up the FCC. Pai, who served on the FCC under former President Barack Obama, has also worked at a lawyer for telecom giant Verizon and has more supportive of communications industry consolidation than his Democratic FCC counterparts were during the last administration.

With the new FCC in place under Trump's administration, a Sprint-T-Mobile tie-up could face less opposition, the anonymous partner said.

"There will definitely be less resistance to a merger like this," the partner said.

Reports of a potential merger sent stocks for both wireless carriers high. Sprint is currently up $0.31 (3.39%) to $9.31, after trading down all day, and T-Mobile jumped up $3.01 (4.97%) to $63.62.
Unlimited Is In

In an effort to up the ante in an already crowded, competitive wireless market, carriers are bringing back the ever-stylish unlimited data plan of years past.

The caveat? The new plans have some limits. While AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon are all coming to the table with unlimited data offerings, many of these plans include data caps that ratchet users down from their 4G LTE networks to a slower network speed after a specified amount of gigabits (GBs) are used each month. Some carriers are also downgrading video quality after a data cap is reached.
CARSON CITY  Nevada Rural Housing Authority presented an award of recognition to Elko County Commissioner Delmo Andreozzi for his outstanding support of NRHAs mission to promote, provide and finance affordable housing opportunities for all rural Nevadans.

Our agency is only as successful and strong as our partnerships, Gary Longaker, NRHA executive director, said, Delmos partnership with NRHA is truly invaluable. His brand of unwavering support is the reason were able to achieve what we do in Elko and throughout rural Nevada.

A lifelong member of the Elko community, Andreozzi is the marketing and public relations director at Centruy 21, Gold West Realty. He is also an Elko County Commissioner serving District No. 2.

Andreozzis partnership and support of NRHA has come in many forms. From providing homebuyer education and hosting homebuyer seminars to helping train realtors on NRHAs Home At Last program, his number-one priority is helping the citizens of Elko and Nevada.

His efforts ensure that eligible homebuyers are aware of the programs that can help them get into homeownership. And as an Elko County Commissioner, he has supported measures to help fund the Home At Last Mortgage Credit Certificate program, providing even more opportunities to those wanting to purchase a home of their own.

Home  its so much more than a house. Its a home! Andreozzi said. The Home At Last program is truly a great program, and one of the things we need to make sure of is that its not the best kept secret.
Come to the RSA show, and youll find plenty of cybersecurity technology. The top vendors from across the industry are here, showing products for fighting ransomware, preventing data breaches and more.

But even the best security software is useless if users and businesses arent taking the right steps to protect themselves. So we asked experts at the show for their best cybersecurity tips.

Joe Stewart, director of malware research at Dell SecureWorks

He advises everyone to set up two-factor authentication to protect their internet accounts, especially email. It can be particularly useful when stopping hackers who are trying to steal login passwords from users, whether through malware or email phishing schemes.

Even if the hacker manages to loot your passwords, two-factor authentication ensures youre still protected from all but the most sophisticated attacks. Access to your account will require another form of authentication, such as your fingerprint or a text message from your mobile phone.

This would stop most of these fraudsters cold, Stewart said. Because they are not operating on that level, with things like banking malware that can manage to bypass two-factor authentication.

This would cut out most of the business email compromise right there, he said.

Mike Sentonas, vice president of technology strategy at CrowdStrike

Businesses need to first think about what assets theyre trying to protect from cyber threats, as opposed to blindly buying the latest security products, Sentonas said.

Those assets might be your staff, your intellectual property, your customer database, or something else. Everybody has something of value, he said. Understand what you have thats valuable. And then understand where it is, and who has access to it.

Thats going to generate conversations around: 'Do we need education? Do we need people to come in to help us build a stronger architecture? Sentonas said. Its not always about buying the latest and greatest widget. Sometimes, it ends up there. But it shouldnt be the starting point.

Mike Buratowski, vice president of cybersecurity services at Fidelis Cybersecurity

Many people still think hackers will never target them. But that assumption is wrong, Buratowski said. Everybodys information is valuable, he said.

Although people dont need to be paranoid, they do need a healthy sense of awareness that cyberattacks are real and often involve hackers trying to exploit gullible victims, he said. For example, employees are often quick to respond to email phishing schemes, thinking the message came from a legitimate source.

The person on the other end may not be who they say they are, he said.

Chris Wysopal, chief technology officer at Veracode

Dont completely trust the technology. That includes the software and internet services you use or buy. For all you know, none of it is secure, and it may be easy to breach, Wysopal said.

Expect it to be compromised, he said. Dont put data out there, into Facebook or something, unless you really want to share that out to the world.

Users and businesses need to be skeptical. The security risks come not only from hackers, but from vendors that havent done their due diligence in securing their products.

Make them earn your trust, he said. Make them demonstrate why you should trust them.

Jeremiah Grossman, chief of security strategy at SentinelOne

He recommends businesses do an inventory of every asset they own. This can help determine what company resources are online and where they might be vulnerable.

When a company gets hacked, it's largely because there's a computer, a box, a website that they didn't know they owned, he said.

For a small business, an inventory may take a day, while for a Fortune 500 company, it can take a few weeks, he said. It can be done internally or outsourced to a consulting firm.

His advice for a company's IT security staff : If I were to jump into a new company, what is it that Im protecting?
SAN FRANCISCO  Alphabet chairman Eric Schmidt says artificial intelligence is key to advances in diverse areas such as healthcare and datacenter design and that security concerns related to it are somewhat misguided. (Alphabet is the parent company of Google).

In a wide-ranging on-stage conversation here at the RSA Security conference with Gideon Lewis-Kraus, author of The Great A.I. Awakening, Schmidt shared his insights from decades of work related to AI (he studied AI as a PhD student 40 years ago) and why the technology seems to finally be hitting its stride.

In fact, last year Google CEO Sundar Pichai said AI is what helps the search giant build better products over time. "We will move from a mobile-first to an AI-first world, he said.

Asked about that, Schmidt said that Google is still very much focused on mobile advances. Going from mobile first to AI first doesnt mean you stop doing one of those, he said.

Googles approach to AI is to take the algorithms it develops and apply them to business problems. AI works best when it has a lot of training data to learn from, he said. For example, Google used AI to develop picture search, using computer vision and training the system to recognize the difference between a gazelle and a lion after showing it thousands of pictures of each. That same mechanism applies to many things, he said.

As for business problems, Schmidt said Googles top engineers work to make their data centers as efficient as possible. But using AI weve been able to get a 15 percent improvement in power use.

In healthcare, Schmidt said machine learning can help with medical diagnosis and predict the best course of treatment. Were at the point where if you have numeric sequence, (AI software) can predict what the following number will be. Thats healthcare. People go to the hospital to find out whats going to happen next and we have small projects that I think show it can be done (using AI).

Schmidt said because computer vision technology is much better than human vision it can review millions of pictures  far beyond what a human being could process  to better identify problem areas. Speech recognition systems are also capable of understanding far more than humans do. But these are tools, he said, for humans to leverage. Computers have vision and speech, thats not the same as AI, he said.

Lewis-Kraus addresses fears that if AI systems become self-aware they could threaten humanity. The work in AI going on now is doing pretty much what we think its supposed to do. At what point can the system self-modify? Thats worth a discussion, but we are nowhere near any of those stages, were still in baby steps, said Schmidt. You have to think in terms of ten, 20 or 30 years . Were not facing any danger now.

Keep the internet open

Schmidt also raised concern that security fears and other factors could lead governments to limit access to the internet as countries such as China already do. I am extremely worried about the likelihood countries will block the openness and interconnectedness we have today. I wrote a book on it (The New Digital Age), he said.

I fear the security breaches and attacks on the internet will be used as a pretext to shut down access, Schmidt said, adding he would like to see governments come to an agreement and mechanisms to keep access to the Internet open. In the area of AI he wants to see the industry push to make sure research stays out in the open and not controlled by military labs.

Addressing the hall packed with security professionals, Schmidt made the case for open research, noting that historically companies never want to share anything about their research. Weve taken opposite view to build a large ecosystem that is completely transparent because it will get fixed faster, he said. Maybe there are some weaknesses, but I would rather do it that way because there are thousands of you who will help plug it.

Security is not one layer. Naive engineers say they can build a better firewall, but thats not really how things work . If you build a system that is perfect and closed, you will find out its neither perfect or closed.

This story, "RSA: Eric Schmidt shares deep learning on AI" was originally published by CIO .
Android applications that allow millions of car owners to remotely locate and unlock their vehicles are missing security features that could prevent tampering by hackers.

Researchers from antivirus vendor Kaspersky Lab took seven of the most popular Android apps that accompany connected cars from various manufacturers and analyzed them from the perspective of a compromised Android device. The apps and manufacturers have not been named.

The researchers looked at whether such apps use any of the available countermeasures that would make it hard for attackers to hijack them when the devices they're installed on are infected with malware. Other types of applications, such as banking apps, have such protections.

The analysis revealed that none of the tested applications used code obfuscation to make it harder for attackers to reverse engineer them and none of them used code integrity checks to prevent malicious manipulation.

Two applications didn't encrypt the login credentials stored locally and four encrypted only the password. None of the apps checked if the devices they're running on are rooted, which could indicate that they're insecure and possibly compromised.

Finally, none of the tested applications used overlay protections to prevent other apps from drawing over their screens. There are malware apps that display fake log-in screens on top of other apps in order to trick users to expose their log-in credentials.

While compromising connected car apps might not directly enable theft, it could make it easier for would-be thieves. Most such apps, or the credentials they store, can be used to remotely unlock the vehicle and disable its alarm system.

"Also, the risks should not be limited to mere car theft," the Kaspersky researchers said in a blog post. "Accessing the car and deliberate tampering with its elements may lead to road accidents, injuries, or death."

While manufacturers are rushing to add smart features to cars that are meant to improve the experience for car owners, they tend to focus more on securing the back-end infrastructure and the communications channels. However, the Kaspersky researchers warn that client-side code, such as the accompanying mobile apps, should not be ignored as it's the easiest target for attackers and most likely the most vulnerable spot.

"Being an expensive thing, a car requires an approach to security that is no less meticulous than that of a bank account," the researchers said.
Panic! At The Disco  the rock/punk band fronted by Brendon Urie  was nominated for numerous awards after its 2016 release of Death of a Bachelor. Inspired by the late Frank Sinatra, the album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. It also yielded hits such as Hallelujah and Victorious.

Panic! at the Disco performed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show earlier this month and is touring the country, with a Connecticut stop set for Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday, Feb. 24.

Urie, 29, has said his mind is continuously swarming with music, and hes been a fan of Sinatra since he was a child. With Death of a Bachelor, he wanted to springboard off his appreciation for the crooner, while taking cues from jazz. He wrote the music on a piano in his living room and the soulful title track is a jazzy tribute to Ive Got The World on a String.

Other songs on Death of a Bachelor include Crazy=Genius, which could be easily be the swinging soundtrack to a roaring 20s party. Impossible Year is a poignant ballad that strips away everything but Uries voice and piano, and accompanying horns.

Panic! at the Disco hails from Nevada and has been around since 2004. The bands special guests at Mohegan Sun will be Misterwives and Saint Motel.

Mohegan Sun Arena, 1 Mohegan Sun Blvd., Uncasville. Friday, Feb. 24, 7 p.m. $59.50, $49.50, . 800-745-3000, mohegansun.com
A Beijing, China resident pleaded guilty to currency violations Thursday at U.S. District Court in Bridgeport, after an extensive investigation in which the Stamford police participated.

U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly said Da Ying, 56, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty to engaging in a pattern of financial transactions to evade reporting requirements.

According to court documents and statements made in court, between April 2011 and March 2012, while he was a resident of Farmington, Ying structured or caused to be structured 50 cash deposits in amounts less than $10,000.01 into his and his wifes six accounts at four banks in Connecticut.

The cash deposits, which totaled $464,400, were frequently made on the same day at different banks or on sequential days at the same or different banks. Ying knew that banks are required by federal law to report currency transaction of more than $10,000, and officials said his structuring activity was intended to evade the transaction reporting requirements.

Structuring involves the repeated depositing or withdrawal of amounts of cash less than the $10,000.01 limit, or the splitting of a cash transaction that exceeds $10,000 into smaller cash transactions in an effort to avoid the reporting requirements.

Even if the deposited funds are derived from a legitimate means, financial transactions conducted in this manner are still in violation of federal criminal law, Daly said in a press statement.

Judge Stefan Underhill scheduled sentencing for May 11, when Ying faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of up to $500,000. He was released pending sentencing.

As part of the resolution of this case, Ying agreed to forfeit $175,938 of the money he structured in Connecticut. He also agreed to pay the Internal Revenue Service $113,195 in unpaid federal taxes, plus penalties and interest for 2009, 2010 and 2011.

The case was investigated by the criminal investigation untit of the IRS and U.S. Homeland Security, with the assistance of the Hartford and Stamford police departments. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter S. Jongbloed.
HARTFORD-A Fairfield doctor who wrote stacks of narcotic pain-killing prescriptions for a former state couple avoided federal prison Friday.

Instead U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson sentenced Dr. Paul Bellofiore, a 56-year-old Trumbull resident to two years probation for illegally prescribing oxycodone. The judge also ordered Bellofiore to perform 200 hours of community service, and prohibited him from writing prescriptions for controlled substances until October 13, 2017.

The federal sentencing guidelines recommended a term between zero and six months in prison.

Regrettably, since Paul was convicted he lost his ability to write prescriptions as a condition of his release; was fired from his job; and voluntarily surrendered his medical license while the state licensing board investigates the conduct surrounding this matter, Paul McConnell, Bellofiores lawyer advised the judge

The investigation uncovered Oxycodone and Percocet prescriptions written to Harry and Sandra Duren, a former Connecticut couple who moved to Florida in 2011. Both are charged with conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute and distributing oxycodone and awaiting trial before Thompson.

They are accused of participating in a scheme to resell some of the narcotic pain-killers through a third party in and around Waterbury.

The Durens, who live in Florida, traveled to Connecticut twice a year to appointments with Bellofiore during which he game them six months of predated prescriptions, according to court documents. When they were unable to travel to Connecticut, Bellofiore left the prescriptions for a relative or friend who would pick them up, fill them at a local pharmacy and mail them to the Durens, Assistant U.S. Attorney Avi Perry charged in his sentencing memorandum.

...without seeing the Durens regularly, Dr. Bellofiore could not meaningfully provide treatment to them or ensure they were taking their prescription medications as directed, Perry wrote.

The prosecutor further claimed that the doctor also learned in approximately 2014 that, for several years, Harry Duren had been obtaining duplicate prescriptions for the exact same opioid medications from Bellofiore and another Connecticut physician at the same time. 

Under the law, a doctor may not issue multiple prescriptions at any single time authorizing a patient to receive more than a 90-day supply of a Schedule II controlled substance.

McConnell said Bellafiore neither received a kickback or anything of value from the Durens.

The investigation is being conducted by the DEAs New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad, which includes officers from the Bristol, Greenwich, Hamden, Milford, New Haven, Shelton, Vernon and Wilton Police Departments.
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BRIDGEPORT - Facing pressure from black leaders, Mayor Joe Ganims administration has decided a statue of a 19th century African-American inventor from the South End will stay put.

Lewis Latimer is a significant inventor in world history, and he is a proud symbol of everything Bridgeport strives to be: hard working, creative, brilliant, and a light unto the world, said Ganim in a statement declaring the statue will stay in front of the Margaret E. Morton government center.

The light unto the world references both Latimers story and the bronze statue, commissioned in 2015 and installed on the plaza outside of the downtown government offices.

The son of slaves, Latimer, according to a brief biography on the public librarys website, is considered by some to be the actual inventor of the modern light bulb, rather than Thomas Edison.

And the statue features Latimer holding up a light bulb.

Lewis Latimer is one of Bridgeports most prominent global citizens and we are extremely proud to honor him in front of our government center, said Ganim. (The statue) should remain standing proudly in front of the Margaret Morton building as an inspiration to all who see it and as a reminder of everything Bridgeport can be.

State Sen. Marilyn Moore, one of the most vocal critics of the proposed relocation of Latimers likeness, said the reversal makes good sense.

And it also should be an indication to the entire community that if we speak up in a united voice, we cannot be silenced, Moore added. Im appreciative of the members of the City Council and community who spoke up regarding the statue.

As previously reported, Ganims administration had proposed moving Latimer to the University of Bridgeport campus in the South End. City officials attributed their decision to how ex-Mayor Bill Finch paid for the statue.

Finch spent $66,000 out of a $1 million state grant intended for streetscape improvements.

City Hall said that the statue should at the least be relocated to a neighborhood that was a grant recipient, and the South End made the most sense because Latimer had lived there. UB was chosen because it was a secure spot and the university would maintain the statue.

There was some speculation the motive had more to do with taking a shot at Finch, whom Ganim ousted in a bitter 2015 Democratic primary. Finchs name is prominently displayed on the statues granite base. And Ganim has also been trying to improve relations between City Hall and UB after Finchs one-sided feud with the academic institution.

But black leaders like Moore, George Mintz, head of the NAACP and of the annual Juneteenth abolition of slavery celebration, and members of the City Council this week protested the relocation.

They told Hearst Connecticut Media the government center at State and Broad streets was a more prominent spot, particularly since it has been renamed to honor the late Morton, the first black member of the state House of Representatives.

Critics of sending Latimer to UB also feared the statue might be damaged in the move.

Susan Clinard, the New Haven artist who sculpted Latimer, in an interview last month said, The base is one ton and the sculpture itself is probably only about 350 pounds. But its drilled and anchored in with these pins. It has to be done professionally or it can crack the granite base.  Statues arent really supposed to be moved once in.

Councilwoman M. Evette Brantley said she was happy city officials had changed their minds. She said the proposal never should have gotten as far as it did.

Whose hare-brained idea was that? Brantley said. All of a sudden theyre creating all these reasons why they want to move it.
BRIDGEPORT - A 35-year-old city man was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl.

Rashene Campbell, of Harriet Street, pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor as his case was about to go to trial.
For a startup to get through the teething stage and gain recognization, it must have its own unique system. It must consider as all-important such activities as hiring, training and the outsourcing of development, plus such elements as brand, structure and values.

Related: 5 Things Small Businesses Should Outsource

Along the way, outsourcing is a common practice many startups use to complete these tasks. In fact, I know startup entrepreneurs who outsource virtually every task.

There's good reason for that: Outsourcing can lead to high levels of productivity at relatively reduced costs. A study by Intetics revealed that outsourcing can save companies 60 percent on overhead costs.

What you outsource depends on the nature of your business and your goals, of course. But youve got to approach outsourcing the right way or risk losing money and even putting your business at risk.

For example, you may want to outsource the development of your mobile app, because you dont have the technical expertise required. Better yet, you may want professionals to handle things at a lower cost so you can focus on a a higher revenue-generating task, such as marketing.

The truth is, you can outsource every aspect of your business if you choose, but considering how vital one aspect -- development -- is to every startup, you should look particularly closely at the following seven things to know about outsourcing it.

1. Choose the right third party to work with.

Creating a brand that youll be proud of requires deliberate efforts. One of the daring steps involved here is deciding who handles your development (e.g., app development). Should you hire an agency or freelancers? Most of the startup entrepreneurs Ive interacted and worked with prefer working with agencies.

However, if youre tight on budget (most startups are), seriously consider going to a place like Meetup.com to find a technical co-founder.

Remember that whether youre going to hire an agency or individual freelancers, there are both pros and cons to each. Conduct your research first.

2. Consider technology standards.

Technology has redefined web and app development, or any type of development for that matter. For this reason, when outsourcing, consider the technology standards you're using.

As an example, mobile usage has almost drowned desktop usage, with a 58 percent growth rate year over year. If youre developing a website for your startup, you cant possibly hire professionals who dont understand responsive design.

More so, if you plan to generate traffic, leads and customers from search engines, Google expects you to make your web and mobile applications mobile-friendly.

Chaim Sajnovsky, founder at B7Dev.com, suggests that, Being able to feature up-to-date technologies in your development is critical. Otherwise, your project will be outdated.

3. Include personalized communication.

Dont outsource development if theres no guarantee of a personalized communication. Why? Because sooner or later you'll encounter technical issues after the project has been completed.

To ensure a seamless communication, be aware of the time-zone difference to help you make smart decisions about when to outsource your services, and whom to put in charge.

If youre based in California, for example, and youre in the process of hiring an agency/freelancer in Johannesburg, South Africa, do well to understand when to send emails, put a call across or submit a support ticket.

Related: 5 Tasks Entrepreneurs Are Better Off Outsourcing

4. Don't neglect intellectual property considerations.

What rights do you have on your mobile app properties? Im not an attorney, but from my personal experience, Ive found that some legal jurisdictions have little or no regard for intellectual property like software.

It may interest you to know of estimates that say approximately 61 percent of software used in most Asian countries and 58 percent in India are pirated. How many of these crimes have resulted in lawsuits? How many of those lawsuits have been litigated?

That said, when outsourcing developments (web, app, software, etc.), its your responsibility to secure your intellectual property against misuse and theft. So, create those limitations by drafting contracts and nondisclosure agreements which the freelancer/agency will be required to sign and adhere to.

As always seek professional legal advice if you have any questions.

5. Consider the unique quality of your software or other product.

There are some delicate developments you should never outsource to a third-party. Why? Because if you're talking about a key competency -- a key product or service that makes the company unique -- you don't want other people to hijack your edge.

This is your companys secret sauce, so trade it with extra care. If you truly want to get the project done, consider hiring an in-house developer to handle it.

You may want to outsource operational products such as reservation systems or process automation, but when it comes to creative products like architectural rendering, chip-design programs or consumer games, dont reveal the secret. Work on these in-house.

6. Get regular updates on your company's progress.

Youre in control of your business. So don't be like all those other CEOs and founders out there who relinquish to a third party 100 percent control of their company's development. Thats not ideal.

Inasmuch as outsourcing development is important, you need to get regular updates to keep abreast of the behind-the-scene processes.

Dont be interested in just the end result, such as the functional software, either. Rather, get involved in the ongoing development. Provide ideas, answer questions, give suggestions. Youll learn a lot more from the processes than from the end result.

If youre ignorant of software malfunction, or even some minute fact about app development, you may make irrelevant decisions.

7. Get what you pay for.

At any phase of your startup, be careful not to think that getting cheaper services is the best way to go. I know that you want to save money, and that's important: 46 percent of startups that fail do so because they run out of money. Specifically, not seeing projected ROI is the reason why fully 80 percent fail.

However, you need to keep in mind that you always get what you pay for. That's a fact of life. And Im not necessarily suggesting that you should make expensive hires.

The bottom line is, choose freelancers/companies that have the experience, modern tools and right skills required to handle your project. At the worst, pay the industry standard fee when outsourcing developments of your software applications.

Conclusion

In a world where youre required to be creative, productive and tenacious in order to cut through the noise, consider outsourcing as your master key. If youve tried it in the past but didnt get the results that you wanted, dont give up.

Related: Why Your Company Should Consider Outsourcing Content Creation

Use the above seven-item checklist. Of course, you dont have to implement everything at once, but be disciplined enough to resort to these tips every so often. That way, youll be assured that your startup is in good hands when you outsource development.

Related:

Customer Service Representatives Are Your Public Face

7 Things Startups Should Know About Outsourcing Development

#5 Common Mistakes Done By Small IT Companies



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
It is August 1992. The United States, Mexico and Canada have just signed a document agreeing to create the biggest free trade area in the world to date. The leaders from all three countries exchange congratulatory remarks and make bold predictions about the benefits of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

A GM assembly plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. R. Blackwell (AP)

More information La brecha que el TLC no ha conseguido cerrar

The treaty means more and better paid jobs for Mexicans, announced Carlos Salinas de Gortari, then the president of Mexico. His trade secretary, Jaime Serra, went even further: The wage differential [between Mexico and the US/Canada] will tend to shrink over time.

Neoclassical economic theories and observable trends in the previous five years (1988-1992) appeared to reinforce these views. But the reality has proved otherwise, even if living standards have risen in Mexico, as elsewhere in the world.

More than two decades after NAFTA was signed, the gap between the per capita income of Mexico and its partners has actually widened. World Bank figures show that between 1994 and 2015, average per capita GDP multiplied by a factor of 1.91 in Mexico, 1.96 in Canada and 2.02 in the US.

NAFTA was essentially about making it easier for American companies to take advantage of cheap Mexican labor

Elsewhere in Latin America and the Caribbean, average per capita GDP increased by a factor of 2.83, casting doubts over the benefits of NAFTA for Mexico at a time when the new US administration is questioning its very existence.

Part of the idea behind NAFTA was this promotion of convergence, and that did not happen: salaries did not converge as expected, not by a long shot, says economist Gerardo Esquivel of the Colegio de Mexico institute of higher education. This refutes the notion that all the benefits went to Mexico, as Trump holds.

Although NAFTA was positive to the three partners in overall terms, the results have been a lot less favorable than people were told they would be.

The reforms introduced by Enrique Pena Nieto are viewed as too little, too late by experts. EFE

Theres been a group of winners and a group of losers, but net earnings growth in Mexico has been very weak, says Esquivel.

Why did the forecasts about income convergence fail? Raymond Robertson, of Texas A&M University, points out several landmark events over the course of the last two decades.

The Mexican peso crisis of December 1994 [the so-called Tequila Crisis] drastically reduced the wages of Mexican workers, he notes.

Following that monetary crisis and the ensuing economic debacle, per capita GDP started a period of sustained growth until 2001, although it never fully recovered.

That year, the US entered a recession and China joined the World Trade Organization  a turning point for the Mexican economy. Chinas accession represented a greater source of competition for Mexico and pushed wages down.

The treatys initial push was not sustained in time due to the absence of reforms

Monica De Bolle, Peterson Institute

Since then, he argues, and despite the Great Crisis of 2008 and 2009, which had much more of an impact on the United States, Mexican per capita GDP and workers salaries have been on a clearly different path from its neighbors to the north.

And thats despite the fact that Mexico has done what economic theory prescribed in order to achieve growth, notes Robertson. However, several external factors and events seem to have prevented the gap from closing.

But productivity is the single factor that has slowed down the possibility of real convergence the most, says Monica de Bolle of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington DC.

It was believed that the agreement would help income levels converge, but the gap has little to do with the free trade treaty and a lot more to do with productivity, she says.

Carlos Salinas de Gortari, the Mexican president who signed the NAFTA treaty. Rodolfo Valtierra

While labor productivity in the United States and Canada continued to grow after NAFTA went into effect, in Mexico it remained stable. De Bolle disagrees with Robertson about the Mexican authorities ability to introduce domestic changes that could have changed the course of events.

The treatys initial push was not sustained over time due to the absence of reforms, she says.

Roberto Duran-Fernandez of McKinsey, agrees. To him, the 2012-2013 reform package introduced by President Enrique Pena Nieto came a decade too late.

The NAFTA-driven push to the Mexican economy began to peter out much earlier than the 25 years that had been initially calculated, he says. Added to this was a lack of investment, particularly painful in the infrastructure sector, which has had a big effect because infrastructure conditions economic development.

From the moment the treaty was signed, there were two different Mexicos: a developed and industrial one that developed and industrialized further, fundamentally in the north, although not only there, with very good connections to the United States. There was also an unconnected one, fundamentally in the south, he notes.

Jose Romero Tellaeche, director of the Center for Economic Studies at the Colegio de Mexico, is most critical.

Far from promoting greater industrialization, it has produced a slight de-industrialization, he says. And Mexico was left without monetary, fiscal and exchange policies, with the United States as the sole engine of growth.

Romeros view is that NAFTA was essentially about making it easier for US companies to take advantage of cheap Mexican labor.

In the long run, this has caused an income gap between both countries and a buildup of resentment in the United States, he adds. The end result is the election of Donald Trump as president.

English version by Susana Urra.
Foreign PolicyBY SIOBHAN O'GRADYAPRIL 20, 2016Since March, the mutilated corpses of at least six Zambians have been found in and around the capital of Lusaka, their ears, hearts, and genitals missing in what local police have labeled a spate of ritualistic killings.The brutal murders have gone unsolved, putting the city of some 2 million people on high alert and looking for people to blame. This week, rumors began to float that it was Rwandans who were responsible for the murders, and that they had carried them out believing that the witchcraft would act as a charm and ensure better business in their many Lusaka shops.In response, angry mobs of Zambians looted and destroyed roughly 60 Rwandan-owned businesses in the city.On Wednesday, police spokeswoman Charity Munganga said in a statement that two Zambian nationals were burned alive with tires and firewood. Home Affairs Minister Davies Mwila said they were mixed up in the confusion of the riots. They were likely mistaken for Rwandans, a small population of whom have lived in Zambia since they fled the genocide in their native country in 1994.Many of them were Hutu genocidaires who moved to Zambia instead of joining the Rwandan exodus to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Rwandans are now the predominant immigrant group in Zambia, although many were forcefully repatriated after the United Nations determined it was safe for them to return to their home country in 2013. This week, many of the Rwandans who remain in Zambia sheltered at police stations to avoid being targeted in the attacks.Munganga insisted that Rwandans shouldnt be blamed for the murders and stressed that the riots were based on faulty information.No baby or human body parts were found in any fridge belonging to any foreign national, she said Wednesday. These statements are coming from people with criminal minds to create alarm among the members of the public and justify their criminality.Zambian police have arrested more than 250 people complicit in the riots and that those who continue to spread rumors about the ritualistic murders would be arrested regardless of the medium they are using. Another 11 people were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the killings that sparked the riots to begin with.We are appealing to the members of the public not to believe any statement they see on social media which is not confirmed by the police, she said.
How to create paradise: A tale of love, death and nature Twenty-five years ago Douglas Tompkins and Kristine McDivitt Tompkins purchased thousands of hectares of land in Chile and Argentina and brought in expert help to restore the land to its pristine glory. The land is now being handed back to local governments. This is their dream come true in the heart of South America.

The Ibera Wetlands in the province of Corrientes, in northeastern Argentina. Paula Teller

She has just finished gulping down half a chicken as if it were an appetizer and the main course is still to come. But first, she has to go to school to learn how to hunt. When the whistle blows and the cage door opens, Tobuna bursts out with feline speed towards the corral, where she follows the scent of entrails through the meadow. It smells like blood, but it will still take her a few seconds to find whats left of the prey. Tobuna is the first female jaguar to be introduced in the region, where the other members of her species have become extinct. This reinsertion project is led by the Conservation Land Trust (CLT) organization in San Alonso, in the northeastern Argentinean province of Corrientes.

The project, located 700 kilometers north of Buenos Aires, is one of many that the CLT has launched in the Ibera Wetlands reserve, where, between 1997 and 2002, the organization bought up 150,000 hectares of private land. The CLTs objective is to restore the zones original landscape and fauna before handing it back to the state of Argentina.

A female jaguar in her corral in the San Alonso reserve. The job of her caretakers is to teach her how to hunt before releasing her into the wild Paula Teller

The story of San Alonso began 20 years ago in the Ibera Wetlands, the second-largest wetland reserve in the world. It holds 13,000 square kilometers of fresh water (slightly smaller than the state of Connecticut) and offers an array of landscapes  lakes, reservoirs, palm groves, meadows, forests  a natural paradise that rivals Floridas Everglades. Here silence is written in green. Its a place where you can contemplate the sunset over the Ibera Lagoon (Ibera means waters that shine in the local Guarani language) while surrounded by crocodiles, monkeys, deer and wading birds that stand only a few meters away.

The CLT was founded by Douglas Tompkins, an American businessman who amassed millions of dollars through his clothing brands North Face and Esprit, and his wife, Kristine McDivitt Tompkins, former CEO of the Patagonia clothing company. Tompkins died in 2015 in a kayak accident in southern Chile.

The foundation is considered by many to be an inspirational ecological project. It recently won the BBVA Award for conservation and biodiversity work in Latin America and has attracted scientists and biologists from all over the world. Among them are four Spaniards who now call the region home. Besides helping and studying nature, they are also learning how to dance the chamame, an accordion-fueled regional dance.

A small portrait of Douglas Tompkins and his wife Kristine McDivitt Tompkins, the couple behind the project, in their office in El Socorro Paula Teller

Its happy music, but with a deceptively slow rhythm, I still need to go to classes even though Ive been practicing for the entire four years that Ive been here, says Jorge Pena Martinez, a veterinarian at the CLT, who worked at Madrid Zoo, before switching the conversation to the antibiotics he just gave to two tapirs in quarantine.

The idea of reintroducing jaguars had fascinated Tompkins since he bought a residence in San Alonso in the 1990s, but it wasnt until 2013 that the project got going. Jaguars are the largest felines in America, only 200 are left in Argentina and their reintroduction into the wild is one of the CLTs most complicated undertakings. It took two years and millions of dollars just to build the corrals. The actor Leonard DiCaprio, just one of the benefactors, donates $300,000 each year. Nearby towns see the return of jaguars as promising. A hotel named Tobuna Suites, after the hungry female, has just been opened in Concepcion, one of the oldest towns in the province of Corrientes, with a population of 4,800.

With amber eyes and a powerful gait, Nahuel, the male jaguar, paces nervously from one extreme of the corral to the other, while he waits for his lunch. His routine is similar to Tobunas  he gets half a chicken for free and then he has to work for the rest to train his nose.

One phrase inspired everything Douglas Tompkins did: That which is beautiful is good

They come here from zoos or rescue centers and have to relearn their habitats and how to make it on their own. If the female gets pregnant, she will have to teach her cubs how to hunt, and we wont be in contact with her anymore. The felines conserve their instinct to stalk and kill, but today, when they trap an armadillo or a capybara [a type of rodent], they dont know how to open them or eat them; thats where we come in, says Karina Sprring, an animal-behavior expert from Denmark, in charge of the jaguar project.

She decided to go to the CLT in Ibera because she heard they were doing something new. I knew that there was a crazy guy from Valencia [Ignacio Jimenez Perez, current head of conservation for the foundation] who worked with giant anteaters. So I came, she says.

That was more than six years ago, she recalls, while she shows off the security cameras that they use to monitor the animals. Everything in San Alonso is powered by solar energy. Even the detergent is ecological and phosphate-free.

Ms. Kris [McDivitt Tompkins] doesnt allow us to bring in any other kind, she adds.

The CLT has been working in Chile and Argentine for a quarter of a century and has created and expanded eight large protected areas covering a million hectares. These were brought from private sellers and returned to the two countries for public management.

An aerial image of the eastern part of the territory, which is recuperating its original ecosystem thanks to the work of the Conservation Land Trust (CLT) Paula Teller

In Ibera were at this stage right now, says Sofia Heinonen, a biologist from Buenos Aires who watched her two children, now adolescents, grow up in the wetlands. She currently presides over CLT Argentina.

On November 6 we are going to hand the first of the areas, Cambyreta, over to the National Parks entity, she says. The areas 23,700 hectares will go from being managed by the NGO to the Argentinean state, as per Douglas Tompkins original wishes. His death did not change that. For the next decade the CLT will still maintain the right to manage the parks wildlife, guaranteeing the transition and backing of the management model he created. The areas of San Alonso, San Marcos, San Nicolas and Carambola will follow suit.

The CLTs objective is to have donated 150,000 hectares of land that will be converted into protected areas. It is ambitious and not limited to the flora and fauna. In both the Ibera Wetlands and in the organizations projects in the Patagonia, it highlights the notion of producing nature to foster local human development. If other regions produce wheat or cars, the organization wants to learn how to produce deer, alligators and jaguars and let the region grow from there, thanks to ecotourism.

Armadillos are common in the area. Paula Teller

Whats really exciting is to feel that every action is contributing to restoring a complete environment. A lot of what we do in these projects is being tried for the first time and could turn into a model for reintroducing species throughout Latin America, explains Sebastian Di Martino, a biologist who has been working in national parks for 18 years and now coordinates the conservation and management of species throughout the Ibera reserve.

This project involves two distinct tasks. To restore the ecosystem, it is necessary to reintroduce animals that disappeared because of indiscriminate hunting or environmental changes. At the same time, animals that have lived in captivity need to be taught how to hunt, breed and live in the wild. Around 70 people are employed in these tasks in Ibera.

Another of the CLTs reserves is the Estancia Rincon del Socorro. The nearest town is Colonia Carlos Pellegrini. With a population of around 700 and a network of dirt roads, it is where the Tompkins built a house.

A large part of the economy is based on the strange-tailed tyrant, explains Di Martino, referring to a tiny bird, with an orange beak and neck, whose long tail ends in two comically long black feathers. It is a bird-watchers dream.

Yesterday the birds delighted a group of English tourists who were pleased to add the species to the list of rare birds that theyve observed, he says.

Anteaters were the first animals to be reintroduced into their natural environment by the CLT. Scientists released the first batch into the wild in 2007 and now they estimate that there are between 50 and 60 roaming freely in the area. Besides anteaters and jaguars, the NGO is also reintroducing tapirs, collared peccaries, red macaws and pampas deer into the reserves.

One of the bird hides in the middle of the Ibera lagoon. Paula Teller

Mishky, a female anteater who came from a rescue center in Argentinas Tucuman province, had half of her tail destroyed. Despite her troubled past, she now lives freely in the Rincon del Socorro, one of the organizations five reserves in the Ibera Wetlands. We found her with her offspring clinging to her back, after tracking her through the sound of the radio transmitter that allows the scientists to monitor her. Sporting rubber boots, the scientists walk following the beep that sounds like a heartbeat, navigating through yellow pastures (more reminiscent of the African savanna than the jungle), extremely careful not to step on snakes and hoping that the lingering black clouds dont turn into rain. Eventually the anteater comes into sight, calm and curious. She approaches us and sticks out her tongue, thin and large, like a red thread that adds half a meter to her length.

Move slowly, advises Emanuel Galetto, a park ranger who is in charge of monitoring the reintroduced species. He keeps Mishky at a distance with a long stick that, every once in a while, he uses to scratch the animals back. And she appreciates every touch. Anteaters arent aggressive, he explains, but if they feel threatened, they can attack with claws that cut like knives.

Thats why some neighbors shoot at them. When they are defending themselves, the anteaters will kill dogs and in return, they receive a bullet. Even so, people dont dare kill the baby anteaters so they bring them to rescue centers and thats how they come to us, he says.

In Cambyreta, situated in the locality of San Ignacio, 25 minutes by airplane from San Alonso, there are different animals, but the zeal of the team is identical. It seems as though Noelia Volpe isnt bothered by the fact that every cubic centimeter of air that surrounds her buzzes with the sounds of frenetic little wings belonging to every insect imaginable. Shes a biologist in her thirties from Buenos Aires. She is in charge of the macaw project and is working on her doctoral thesis about the reintroduction of this species that, in the past, had disappeared from the region. Volpe talks about the birds and their achievements affectionately.

We train their muscles so they have resistance when they fly, because before they had only flown in zoos, she explains. The bright-red, turquoise and green hurricane that weighs a total of 1,052 grams is called Gnocchi. She flies from one end of a training beam to the other with such a commotion that you can hardly hear the whistle that signals the beginning of the exercise. She knows that every time she completes the drill she gets the opportunity to stick her head in a trough and eat a ration of sunflower seeds  the ultimate delicacy in this aviary.

The CLT has been working in Chile and Argentine for 25 years and has created and expanded eight protected areas covering a million hectares

Douglas Tompkins, the successful businessman and environmental activist, was an admirer of the Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess and his idea of deep ecology, which considers all beings (including humans) to be equal. Tompkins was also a lover of nature and extreme sports. He fell in love with the Patagonia region in the 1970s  climbing the 3,405m of Monte Fitz Roy in the Andes mountain range, two decades before El Chalten, Argentinas youngest town, was founded, and when there was nothing more than wind, ice and adrenaline.

His eventual establishment in the south of Chile, 25 years ago, was accompanied by suspicion, criticism and controversy. Locals accused the gringos (a name which some in Ibera continue to use for the couple) of wanting to keep the thousands of hectares of land for themselves and of attacking progress and local production. The Tompkins declared intention to return the land to the government after restoring it to its original glory, sounded too good to be true.

Doug Tompkins always said that people judged him without paying attention to the tradition, which is common in the United States, of simply donating money to causes that one cares about. The idea of legacy was essential for him, explains Heinonen, the biologist, as she drives through Rincon del Socorro in an off-road truck (the only kind of vehicle capable of cutting through the muddy terrain when it rains). As if we were stopping at a regular highway tollbooth, we come to a halt to allow a dozen of the worlds largest rodents  capybaras, weighing up to 50 kilos  continue following their path. We give way to other animals too, such as rheas (ostrich-like walking birds) and a native deer species.

Tourists on the Ibera lagoon. Paula Teller

Without responding to any of the local criticism, the Tompkins invested $450 million, most of it on land, over 25 years in Chile and Argentina. Now, the international awareness of Doug Tompkins tragic death has seen the dawning of a new era. Its as if after his absence the locals have reevaluated their opinion, realizing that he didnt want to steal Iberas water, but instead to create a new model for conservation, says Heinonen.

Although more than a year has passed since his death, the people in Rincon del Socorro, where he lived six months out of every year, speak fondly of him. He is remembered above all for his perfectionism, the daily flights that he took in private plane over the lands, his respect for the authentic and for a phrase that inspired everything he did: That which is beautiful is good.

English version by Alyssa McMurtry.
A team of Spanish university students is to present their prototype of a train capable of traveling up to 1,000km/h this summer in the next phase of the Hyperloop Pod Competition, the contest to create a long-distance, high-speed transportation system set up by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, the co-founder of the Tesla electric car company , among other tech initiatives.

Daniel Orient and Juan Vicen with a model of their prototype. JOSE JORDAN

Five students from the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) began work on their project more than a year ago and have now been joined by 25 others with the goal of presenting the train at the final Hyperloop trials this summer to be held at Musks SpaceX headquarters in Los Angeles. Musks challenge to universities around the world is to come up with a system to propel a pod-like vehicle through a near-vacuum tube at more than airline speed.

The UPV team was selected in January 2016 by a SpaceX panel from dozens of universities to present their project. After securing sponsorship, UPV Hyperloop is now further honing their design of a two-meter-long, 1.5-meter-high pod, which has cost some 100,000 and will be tested at SpaceX in a few months.

Musk is like a rock star. He insisted that we were taking part in something unique Juan Vicen, UPV team member

The team was set up after one of its number learned about Musks Hyperloop initiative in 2015. It is now competing with around 30 institutions, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), whose prototype was chosen as best design in 2016; Munich University, which was judged to have come up with the fastest and most stable model; and Delft University, which won the most points in all categories at the January 2017 Hyperloop event, held at SpaceX headquarters in Los Angeles.

In January of this year, the team traveled to Los Angeles, where they were able to see the Hyperloops 1.5 kilometer test circuit, one of the largest vacuum chambers in the world.

We saw prototypes that can fit in a suitcase and others that weighed more than 1.5 tons, says Juan Vicen, a founder member of the team.

The technology already exists and is being used in different fields: the idea now is to combine it and apply it to this project, says fellow founder member Daniel Orient, explaining that the concept is a combination of a train infrastructure with aviation technology.

Vicen says he doesnt know what will happen after the second phase of the competition this summer. Nobody can guarantee that when you invent a means of transport it will work perfectly, but there are signs that this could be viable and we want to do everything possible to contribute to it, he explains. The UPV team says the technology could be used to connect Europes main ports for the transportation of goods.

Musks challenge is to devise a system to propel a vehicle through a near-vacuum tube at more than airline speed

The team members say they were impressed by Musk. Hes like a rock star. He encouraged us to continue and insisted that we were taking part in something unique, says Vicen.

Elon Musk dubbed Hyperloop the fifth form of transportation when he launched the idea in 2012. The concept is not dissimilar to Japans bullet train, which uses magnetic fields to float above rails. But Hyperloop aims to reach speeds of up to 1,000km/h by avoiding air friction.

Musk put together a team to work on a theoretical model in 2013, and since then, has invited the scientific community to come up with the best way to put theory into practice.

Hyperloop One and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) are two US companies now working on their own prototypes. The first has already secured 130 million in financing and is now building installations to put the technology needed to the test, saying it intends to come up with a working system by 2020. In May 2016 it demonstrated its progress in Las Vegas.

HTT will be based in the French city of Toulouse. Although it has so far only raised 25 million to date, it has already reached an agreement with the Slovak government and the city of Brno to carry out a viability study to link it with the Czech city of Bratislava. The companys director aims to have built a prototype by the end of the year.

English version by Nick Lyne.
We must rethink the U.S. response to infectious disease. Here's why.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoys demand that Venezuela free imprisoned opposition leaders has met with an angry response from the countrys president, Nicolas Maduro  a reply that contrasts with the caution shown by Caracas over the same calls from US President Donald Trump.

Nicolas Maduro with Vice President Tareck El Aissami to his left, on Thursday. EFE

Rajoy and former Spanish prime ministers Felipe Gonzalez and Jose Maria Aznar attended an event in Madrid on Thursday in support of Venezuelan opposition leaders, among them Leopoldo Lopez, who will have spent three years in jail on Saturday. Afterwards, the Spanish prime minister posted a tweet calling for Lopez to be released. He and his predecessors have issued a statement calling on the Organization of American States to take measures against Venezuela for the deterioration of democracy and the existence of political prisoners.

Speaking at an event in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, Maduro responded to the tweet, telling an audience of the youth wing of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela that Rajoy would have his teeth smashed in if he interfered with Venezuela, adding: Not just him, but the whole failed international right wing. He called Rajoy a bandit and protector of criminals and murderers.

It's three years since @leopoldolopez went to prison. We ask for justice, human rights and liberty for Venezuelan political prisoners

Maduro also hit out this week against US news channel CNN, blocking its Spanish-language service on Wednesday, a week after the broadcaster linked Vice President Tareck El Aissami and others to more than 150 Venezuelan passports and identification papers it says were issued to people in the Middle East. El Aissami was also placed on a black list of drug traffickers by the US Treasury Department this week.

Spain has recalled its ambassador to Venezuela twice in the last two years after Maduro insulted Rajoy.

Maduros tirade against Rajoy contrasts sharply with the caution he has shown toward Donald Trump, who this week met with three Latin American presidents to discuss the crisis in Venezuela, and who has also called for the release of Lopez after meeting with his wife, Lilian Tintori, in Washington.

Maduros tirade against Rajoy contrasts sharply with the caution he has shown toward Donald Trump

Caracas has suggested in recent weeks that Trumps comments were a result of poor advice, and has instead continued attacking former president Barack Obama. It remains to be seen how long a government characterized for its volatility, divisions and marked anti-US posturing can remain patient.

English version by Nick Lyne.
Cristina de Borbon , sister of Spanish King Felipe VI , has been acquitted of tax fraud complicity in a high-profile corruption trial known as the Noos case. Her husband Inaki Urdangarin , considered one of the masterminds behind a scheme that obtained no-bid contracts from regional governments, has been sentenced to six years and three months in prison.The judgment was entered on Friday, but questions still linger about the future of the people involved in the case.

Cristina de Borbon and Inaki Urdangarin in Mallorca in February 2016. ATIENZA (EFE)

WHAT WE DONT KNOW

Will Inaki Urdangarin go to prison immediately?

The prosecutor in the case, Pedro Horrach, has said that he will petition the court for provisional remedies against the guilty parties. According to prosecution sources, he will request immediate prison for Urdangarin and Diego Torres, although it will be up to the court to make a final decision on whether or not to apply measures that could range from preventive prison to bail, passport confiscation or an order to show up in court regularly.

Mario Pascual Vives, Urdangarins defense attorney, sees no reason for his client to go to prison immediately. Theres no reason for it, because each of the crimes entails sentences of under three years, even if the collective figure is over six years, he said outside his law firm in Barcelona on Friday.

Which prison will Urdangarin go to?

Urdangarin, like any other convict, has the legal right to select the penitentiary of his own choice (there are exceptions for cases of terrorism or a court-mandated order saying otherwise).

Will the sentence be appealed?

Urdangarins lawyer, Mario Pascual Vives, has suggested in recent days that he will appeal if his client is not satisfied with the ruling. Because he has been sentenced to prison, Urdangarin is likely to want to challenge the decision, although his defense has yet to confirm it. Parties have five working days to file an appeal.

Will Cristina de Borbon give up her rights to the throne?

The Spanish royal has repeatedly rejected entreaties by the kings closest circle to give up her rights to the throne. The Infanta is sixth in line, so renouncing her rights would have no practical consequences. It would not even affect her children, who would climb one rung in the succession ladder. But Cristina de Borbon has repeatedly said that she will not renounce her inherited rights, precisely because of her children.

WHAT WE DO KNOW

Request for prison

The prosecution will seek immediate entry in prison for Inaki Urdangarin and Diego Torres, according to sources briefed on the matter. The Attorney Generals Office does not have a single criteria for requesting prison as a provisional remedy. But sources at the Balearic Prosecutors Office said that immediate incarceration will be requested for Urdangarin and Torres because the court has handed down sentences of over six years, considered a threshold. The court will take into account whether the guilty parties are a flight risk. It also bears noting that Fridays judgment is still appealable.

The convictions

Inaki Urdangarin has been sentenced to six years and three months in prison, and fined 512,000. His associate Diego Torres has been sentenced to eight years and six months in prison, and fined 1,723,843.10.

Why does Torres get a tougher sentence than Urdangarin?

According to the courts, Torres incurred in additional criminal behavior: he evaded over 120,000 in tax by filing personal income as corporate earnings, then used an international network of companies based in Belize and the United Kingdom to conceal the evaded amounts, transform them, and return them to legal circulation through successive fund transfers that ended up in accounts in his name.

Acquittal of Cristina de Borbon and Ana Maria Tejeiro

Cristina de Borbon has been acquitted of two counts of tax fraud complicity that a far-right pressure group called Manos Limpias had charged her with, acting as the private prosecution. She will, however, have to pay a 265,088 fine over her civil responsibility in the case. Because she had already deposited a civil bond 587,000 in December 2014, as requested by the prosecution, she will in fact be receiving a 372,000 refund from the state.

Ana Maria Tejeiro, the wife of Diego Torres, has also been cleared of tax crimes, but fined 344,934.

The court finds that both women were unaware of the tax crimes that their husbands were incurring in, and that they did not participate in their perpetration. However, the money that was concealed, and the taxes withheld eventually ended up becoming available to both women as personal income. Cristina de Borbon spent 265,088 on a credit card that drew funds from Aizoon, the company set up by her husband to channel Noos funds. This is the amount that the court is making her return.

Jaume Matas

The former premier of the Balearic Islands has been sentenced to three years and eight months in prison, and barred from holding public office for seven years. The court finds that Matas issued orders to arbitrarily hire the services of Urdangarins Noos Institute because of his high-placed connections, rather than through a public tender for bids. Matas has already done jail time for a related case.

English version by Susana Urra.
Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector

STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH

SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

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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".

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The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

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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
As small firms across Britain battle for their very survival against the imposition of usurious new business rates, they may be wondering why Communities and Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid is not desperately fighting their corner.

The son of a shopkeeper and a former Business Secretary, Mr Javid has long claimed to be the champion of the small business community. Yet when they need him most, he seems to have left the field.

Every day this unjust rate revaluation becomes more chaotic. In areas where property prices have risen sharply in recent years, rates are to rocket by up to 300 per cent and we report today that appeals against these rises can take as long as seven years to be heard.

As small firms across Britain battle for their very survival against the imposition of usurious new business rates, they may be wondering why Communities and Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid is not desperately fighting their corner

Meanwhile giant tax-avoiding online retailers like Amazon  which have their vast warehouses in areas where property prices are low  will benefit from substantial cuts in rates.

Its against every notion of fair competition and threatens the death of the high street.

Two years ago, Mr Javid made a solemn pledge to small firms. If youre striving to do what my parents did a generation ago  build a business, create jobs, improve the prospects of your children  you have my utmost respect and my total support We are right behind you.

Isnt it time for him to live up to those fine words?

Project Fear goes on

Will Project Fear never end? In the latest piece of shameless scaremongering, Europol chief Rob Wainwright warns that leaving the EU would make Britain more vulnerable to terrorism.

Brexit, he says, could bring an end to close security ties with the rest of Europe. This is, of course, utter nonsense.

America isnt in the EU yet still has agents working inside Europol. Also Britain has one of the most effective anti-terrorist networks in the world and  in GCHQ  one of the most powerful surveillance systems. Why on earth would Europe risk losing access to them in these perilous times?

As ex-MI6 chief Richard Dearlove said last year, the biggest security threat to the UK is not leaving the EU but staying in. Unless we control who comes across our borders, we will never be safe.

Politics and the law

The Mail unequivocally accepts that Lord Neuberger  President of the Supreme Court  is a man of outstanding intellect and integrity.

But we have difficulty in accepting his view that media criticism of High Court judges following their decision that Brexit could only be triggered by Parliament  thereby flouting the will of 17.4million voters in the referendum  threatened to undermine the rule of law.

Lord Neuberger also claims there was no good reason for the criticism, as the courts decision was purely a legal one.

The Mail unequivocally accepts that Lord Neuberger  President of the Supreme Court  is a man of outstanding intellect and integrity

Again, we disagree. The judges, all drawn from a narrow, self-selecting elite, were making an unprecedented decision on a vital constitutional  and highly political  matter.

It was a matter of opinion as much as law, as was proved when three out of 11 Supreme Court judges disagreed with the High Court decision, thereby taking the Mails position.

When the judiciary moves into the political arena, the public has a right to know what may have influenced them in their decision. In a democracy, scrutiny of judges doesnt damage the rule of law  it strengthens it and gives it legitimacy.

To quote former Tory leader Lord Howard, himself a distinguished lawyer: The fact that the judiciary is not in any conventional sense accountable to anyone makes it all the more important that it should not be immune from criticism  however robust.
Lord Neuberger said ministers should have been 'quicker and clearer' to defend three senior judges who ruled in November that Parliament must have a vote on triggering Britain's exit from the EU

The tone was sweet reason, but the message was laced with menace and grievance.

Lord Neuberger, president of the Supreme Court, declared that newspaper criticism of judges was 'undermining the rule of law'.

He complained that politicians had been too slow to defend the judiciary in the wake of last November's ruling that Parliament, not the people, must have the decisive vote on Brexit.

His Lordship didn't name any publications, but he was presumably referring to headlines in the Daily Telegraph (The Judges Versus The People) and the Mail (Enemies Of The People) that were critical of the three High Court justices.

He said in a radio interview: 'The rule of law together with democracy is one of the two pillars on which our society is based.'

Up to a point, Lord Neuberger. There is a third pillar which is equally vital  a free Press to scrutinise politicians only too willing to defy the will of the people, and unelected judges, who increasingly interpret the law to reinforce their own political agenda.

He acknowledged: 'The Press and the media generally have a positive duty to keep an eye on things . . . But I think with that right, that power, comes the degree of responsibility.'

And he said that in the wake of the Brexit ruling: 'We [judges] were certainly not well treated. One has to be careful about being critical of the Press, particularly as a lawyer or judge, because our view of life is very different from that of the media.'

But he warned that unjustified attacks on the judiciary risk 'undermining our society' and said politicians should have been much more robust in defending judges.

Lord Neuberger said the judiciary was 'not well treated' by the media

He's correct to say that the judiciary's view of life is different from that of the media. Judges demonstrate that every day in some of the perverse rulings they hand down, especially when European 'human rights' laws are involved.

They seem to delight in turning natural justice on its head  refusing to deport foreign murderers, rapists and terrorists, for instance.

Far too many judges seem to think they have the right to mould the law in any way they choose, regardless of whether their decision reflects the original intention of the statute or whether the consequences are in the wider public interest.

I'm not going to revisit every cough and spit of the legal squabble over Brexit, other than to restate my own view that the courts should never have been involved in the process. Parliament voted six to one to hold the referendum, the Government guaranteed the result would be implemented, and the British people decided by a clear majority to Leave.

So the Press was absolutely justified in criticising those judges who sided with resentful, defeated Remainers trying to use the courts to overturn the result and keep Britain in the EU.

If His Lordship thinks some of the criticism was intemperate  well, sorry old son, tough. Millions of people were furious that the courts were being used to frustrate democracy. Sections of the media reflected that righteous anger. The subsequent sight of all 11 puffed-up Supreme Court justices crammed in to the appeal hearing turned a three-ring circus into a full-blown farce.

The fact that three of them sided against the Remoaners proves that this wasn't a purely black-and-white issue of law, it was a matter of interpretation.

Sir Brian Leveson, who conducted that costly fiasco with a level of understanding of my trade which bordered on the cretinous, is now one of the leading names being tipped to succeed Lord Neuberger as head of the Supreme Court

Consequently, the Press has every right, if not to question any individual judge's integrity, then certainly to examine the backgrounds of those handing down the ruling. The Supreme Court itself is a European-style institution, set up by Labour, and subordinate to European laws. Lord Neuberger himself has praised the influence of the EU on British law and is on record as saying he opposes withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights. His wife Angela called the referendum 'mad and bad'.

It has not been suggested that any of his private beliefs influenced his impartiality, but we are nonetheless entitled to be told where he's coming from.

Under Lord Neuberger, who stands down later this year, our courts have become dangerously politicised  which was Labour's intention all along. Yet he is opposed to Parliamentary scrutiny of judges, fearing that this will take Britain down the American route, in which all senior judicial appointments are overtly political.

But, as the Brexit wrangle clearly demonstrates, Britain is already heading in the same direction as America, where activist judges are trying to derail Donald Trump at every turn.

Most worryingly, the politicisation of the courts has gone hand in hand with the sinister attempts by the Establishment to shackle our free Press and impose new secrecy laws by stealth. We've had dozens of journalists dragged from their homes in dawn raids and put on trial for the non-existent crime of simply doing their job.

Time after time, thankfully, sensible juries sided with the journalists against the forces of law and order and reached not guilty verdicts.

The threat of forcing newspapers to accept a statutory State regulator  packed with embittered anti-Press fanatics  still hasn't gone away. Nor has the scandalous attempt to make newspapers pay the legal costs of anyone who brings a libel action against them  win, lose or draw.

We've had the hapless, retiring Met Police chief Bernard Hyphen-Howe effectively criminalising all contact between his officers and crime reporters.

Only this week, we learned that the Law Commission proposed sending journalists to jail for publishing  indeed, even handling  confidential material which has been leaked to them by whistleblowers.

His Lordship didn't name any publications, but he was presumably referring to headlines in the Daily Telegraph (The Judges Versus The People) and the Mail (Enemies Of The People) that were critical of the three High Court justices

Downing Street quashed that outrageous plan in double-quick time. But who is to say it won't rear its ugly head again in the future?

Most politicians only pay lip service to the notion of a free Press. Call Me Dave, a so-called liberal Conservative, set up the ludicrous Leveson witch-hunt.

Sir Brian Leveson, who conducted that costly fiasco with a level of understanding of my trade which bordered on the cretinous, is now one of the leading names being tipped to succeed Lord Neuberger as head of the Supreme Court.

One of his recommendations was that whistleblowers  in public bodies like the police and government departments  should have to report their concerns to their own employers rather than to the newspapers.

All that would achieve would be to institutionalise the culture of cover-up and prevent the paying public finding out what is being done in their name.

The truth is that neither politicians nor judges like too much scrutiny, especially when it filters down to the Great Unwashed.

That's why the 'third pillar'  a free Press, unafraid and unrestrained from speaking truth to power  is essential if the will of the people is to be upheld and Britain can go on calling itself a democracy.

Regular readers will need no reminding that this column collects daft stories about rare species and the impact of preservation on progress.

Over the years, I've brought you a catalogue of construction projects which have been disrupted by the need to protect an assortment of obscure molluscs and creepy-crawlies.

There was the bypass on the A47 in Norfolk delayed by the presence of a colony of Little Whirlpool Ramshorn Snails, said to be close to extinction.

A housing development in a disused limestone quarry in Plymouth had to be abandoned after it was identified as the natural habitat of the Nothophantes Horridus, aka the Horrid Ground- Weaver Spider.

In North Wales, new high-intensity street lights installed at a beauty spot popular with members of the dogging community were switched off because they were interfering with the sex lives of glow worms.

While these stories always raise a chuckle  and give Gary a wealth of material for his brilliant cartoons  they can also be a source of frustration and anger when they elevate the rights of arachnids and related pond life above those of humans.

Consider all those people in the Thames Valley who were flooded out of their homes because the Environment Agency stopped dredging to protect the Depressed River Mussel.

Residents of Aberaeron in Wales are now facing a similar threat after a plan to build a sea wall was scrapped because it would disrupt the natural habitat of the Marine Honeycomb Worm, or Sabellaria alveolata  to use its Latin name.

We keep being told that Britain's coastal defences must be upgraded urgently because of 'climate change'. But clearly not if it inconveniences the Marine Honeycomb Worm.

So homes and businesses face a real risk of being sacrificed, with all the human misery and expense that would entail, to save a species few people even knew existed.

Conservation is a laudable pursuit, but can't they just scoop up the worms, relocate them or create a new home for them in an aquarium?

They could always share a tank with the Depressed River Mussels.

I knew General Mike Flynn, who was forced to resign as Donald Trump's national security chief this week, reminded me of someone.

So I'm grateful to Mail reader John Pennington, from Nelson, Lancashire, for putting me out of my misery.

John writes to say that Flynn is a dead ringer for Tony Driscoll, the shorter of the two Driscoll Brothers, Peckham's answer to the Kray Twins in Only Fools And Horses.

Coco de Mer, Rodney!
Sir Mick Jagger was proud of becoming a father again at the age of 73, but travel tycoon Geoffrey Kent has gone one better than the Stone.

The 74-year-old co-founder of luxury holiday company Abercrombie & Kent is celebrating the arrival of twins with his Brazilian wife, Otavia, 39 years his junior.

They have called their son Geoffrey Jr and their daughter Valerie.

Mr and Mrs Geoffrey Kent with twin babies Geoffrey Jr and Valerie

Theyre so sweet and cute, says Kent, who organises trips for Hollywood stars such as Cameron Diaz and Hugh Jackman.

Im enjoying being a new father very much. Age is nothing but a statistic.

'I still run three miles five days a week.

Im enjoying being a new father very much. Age is nothing but a statistic,' said 74-year-old Mr Kent

Former model Otavia did not have a baby bump before the twins were born in December, and Kent declines to say if they used a surrogate mother

Former model Otavia did not have a baby bump before the twins were born in December, and Kent declines to say if they used a surrogate mother.

Surrogacy is becoming a popular choice in elevated circles: Viscountess Weymouth, whose husband runs the Longleat estate in Wiltshire, revealed last month their son Henry had become the first member of the British aristocracy to be born by surrogacy.

Globetrotter Kent wants the twins to follow in his footsteps: Well take them travelling with us as soon as we can.
In an age of selfies, many have become concerned with perfecting their pout.

Now scientists claim to have found the secret to what makes lips look most attractive.

A study found having full luscious lips was important  but women with a lower lip that was twice as big as the top were deemed to have the most beautiful pouts.

But the findings also came with a warning for those looking to enhance their pout artificially. The researchers said women who increase the size of their lips by more than 50 per cent risk leaving their face looking out of proportion.

Perfect pout: Miranda Kerr (left) and Taylor Swift (right) both have the perfect 1:2 top lip to bottom lip ratio

The report suggests stars such as Taylor Swift and model Miranda Kerr have been blessed with the 1:2 lip ratio. But Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini had the less fortunate 1:1 ratio.

However the scientists pointed out the overall attractiveness of a face comes from more than the lips  and Miss Huntington-Whiteley and Miss Fernandez-Versini are certainly still considered beautiful.

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine asked groups of men and women to assess the attractiveness of 160 pictures of white womens faces.

They found that while the overall surface area of the lips was important, it was the ratio between them that most determined whether a womans mouth was seen as attractive.

Too even: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (left) has evenly shaped lips, but a ratio of 1:1. Cheryl (right) has a dazzling smile but her lip ratio falls foul of the rule

A 1:2 ratio of upper to lower lip, with a full pout making up about 10 per cent of the lower third of the face, was deemed to be the most attractive.

However another study at the University of California, Irvine found models in Vogue in the past 50 years had lower lips on average 47 per cent larger than the top.

Dr Brian Wong, a specialist in facial plastic surgery at the university, said women who do not have the ideal lip ratio should not despair.

He said: Many attractive people do not have numerical measurements of attractiveness. In other words, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

The team hopes their findings, published in journal JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery, will help plastic surgeons advise clients.
A makeup artist who turns herself into everything from a wild animal to an Edvard-Munch inspired optical illusion has become an Instagram star thanks to her astonishing transformations.

Belinda Maines, 24, from Gateshead, has gone from sharing the odd snap of her work with friends online to an Instagram following of almost 40,000 - after turning her 'weird little hobby' into a thriving business.

The mum-of-one, who is now launching her own line of vegan-friendly face paint, is already fully booked for Halloween eight months in advance, and says she has even taken calls about the 2018 holiday.

The startling results of Belinda's makeovers include one that makes her appear as though the top of her scalp has been removed

The mum-of-one, from Gateshead, is already fully booked for Halloween and is even getting calls about October 31 2018

Realistic drops of water cover Belinda's face in this Avatar-inspired look

Few Halloween costumes could compete with a Dia de los Muertos makeover on this scale

I am woman, hear me roar: Belinda is unrecognisable beneath her animal-inspired makeup

An especially jaw-dropping transformation from Belinda, with echoes of the famous Edvard Munch painting The Scream

The trained makeup artist spends hours perfecting each look, and even ropes in her boyfriend, Robert, to let her practice on him.

'Robert is really supportive - even though sometimes when I am painting him he falls asleep,' she says.

'I am completely booked up for Halloween this year and have been for quite a while,' says Belinda.

'I have even taken bookings for Halloween 2018 - which is amazing.

'I know I will still be doing this then, because I love what I do, but I can't believe people have planned that far ahead - it is absolutely crazy.

'Halloween is definitely my busiest day of the year - the rest of the time it is mainly just make-up for photo-shoots, no-one wants to look like a lion or a zombie the rest of the year.'

Beneath the layers of dramatic make-up, Belinda looks like any other fresh-faced 24-year-old

The 24-year-old trained as a year as a make-up artist in Gateshead, before going freelance and moving into the niche of face-panting.

'I don't know what I would really call my work - when people think of face painting they always immediately think of kids rather than adults.

'I started out by posting the pictures on my Instagram, but I was worried in case my friends thought I was posting too much and spamming them, so I set up a different one and got loads of followers.

A white tiger formed the basis of this transformation - and Belinda added a fleece robe for a final flourish

Feline fine: Belinda's hair provided the 'mane' for this lion-inspired transformation

The mother-of-one says Halloween has become her busiest time of year for bookings

'People are always shocked when I show them my art, but that's what I go for - I like it to be shocking and to make a statement because that means people will remember it.

'I just can't believe that I am doing this for a living - I still think of it as my weird little hobby.'

The talented mother-of-one creates the memorising images using her own brand of face paint - called Beauty by Belinda - which is vegan and animal cruelty free, which will is launching online this weekend.
A trio of nearly naked models dressed in little more than lingerie and crocodile masks have crashed the first day of London Fashion Week.

The trio were brandishing signs proclaiming, 'Cruelty to Crocodiles Unmasked' and 'Animals Die for Exotic Skins' on behalf of the animal rights charity PETA.

The action follows a recent PETA expose of crocodile farms in Vietnam, including two that have supplied skins to a tannery owned by Louis Vuitton's parent company, LVMH.

Scroll down for video

A trio of nearly naked models, dressed in little more than lingerie and crocodile masks, crash the first day of London Fashion Week to protest the use of reptile skin by the fashion industry

The scantily clad trio braved cold temperatures in nothing but lingerie to highlight animal rights issues

It revealed that the animals are confined to tiny pits and sometimes hacked apart while they're still alive and thrashing.

'For every crocodile-skin bag or belt, animals were beaten and were likely still conscious as their skin was torn off', says PETA Director Elisa Allen.

'With so many beautiful, luxurious vegan fabrics available, it's easier than ever to get that killer look without killing animals.'

PETA  whose motto reads, in part, that 'animals are not ours to wear'  has exposed cruelty on reptile farms on three continents, revealing in each case that intelligent, sensitive animals are forced to live in squalid conditions before being killed in violent and painful ways.

PETA has recently exposed cruelty on rocodile farms in Vietnam n including two that have supplied skins to a tannery owned by Louis Vuitton's parent company, LVMH

The models attracted a lot of attention as they crashed the opening of London Fashion Week to make their protest

Security guards to their best to ignore the protesters brandishing handbag-shaped signs to highlight cruelty to crocodiles in the fashion industry

At the end of last year, an undercover film released by PETA showed how the animals in one farm in Vietnam are pinned down on a table before having their necks' slit.

A steel rod is then shoved down their spine to ruin nerve tissue.

The inhumane practice is known as 'pithing' and is meant to render the animal immobile, however the video shows how some crocodiles continue to move once their skins have been removed.

One worker filmed in the video said: 'When you skin them they can still be alive for about another four or five hours until entirely dead.'

Consultant biologist Clifford Warwick reportedly told PETA that 'the neck incisions would have been very painful and inhumane', and 'there is no probability that these animals 'died instantly''.

Reptiles were also filmed lying motionless in tiny concrete cells, some narrower than their own bodies.

Others were jam-packed by the dozens into barren concrete pits.

The expert described the tiny concrete pits in which crocodiles are kept for more than a year before being killed as 'overly-restrictive, under stimulating, and inhumane' for larger crocodiles.

Once the animals are skinned their skins are reportedly sent to a tannery to be turned into bags, shoes and watches.
To most of the 2.5 million people who visit Madame Tussauds in London every year, the name above the door is no more than a curious brand.

But the woman who created Britains second-most-popular paid-for attraction (beaten only by the Tower of London) and a chain of waxwork museums around the world had a life as colourful, and at times as gruesome, as the famous people featured inside.

When Marie Tussaud died in 1850 she was hailed as a national institution with a reputation unrivalled.

Madame Tussaud's story is told in a BBC4 programme, Madame Tussaud: A Legend In Wax

Queen Victoria was a fan, taking her children to Madame Tussauds on a regular basis, and the Duke of Wellington would visit to watch the crowds admire his sculpture.

But her garlanded death was a far cry from her humble beginnings. The details are murky thanks to the woman herself, who was as adept at crafting her own mythology as she was at sculpting royalty.

But now her story is told in a BBC4 programme, Madame Tussaud: A Legend In Wax.

Marie Tussaud made death masks from freshly guillotined heads. Pictured: Models being prepared at Madame Tussauds 1900

Most of what we know of her past comes from Tussauds own memoirs, which she dictated to a friend when she was nearly 80. For her, truth was as molten as wax, says Kate Berridge, her most recent biographer.

Tussaud was born Anna-Maria Grosholtz in Strasbourg and her father Joseph came from a long line of public executioners, a trade passed from father to son. Joseph died before Marie was born in 1761, but some biographers have wondered whether her fascination with blood and gore was inherited.

Her mother moved to Switzerland to work as a housekeeper to Dr Philippe Curtius, an anatomist who had started specialising in wax models of the human body for teaching, and young Marie became his apprentice.

Curtius soon branched out into sculpting famous people. First he made a clay sculpture, then a plaster cast into which was poured molten beeswax and vegetable tallow.

The finished sculpture was touched up and painted, before glass eyes, teeth sourced from itinerant tooth pullers and wigs were added. A similar process is still used at Tussauds today.

Before long, Curtius and Marie ended up in Paris where leading figures would come to be sculpted in their salon. Members of the public could pay to visit the works, as well as the accompanying Cavern of Great Thieves, a forerunner of the Chamber of Horrors. The first person Marie sculpted herself was the philosopher Voltaire in 1777.

And she claimed that she spent nine years at Versailles teaching art to Louis XVIs sister Elisabeth. Most believe this to be a Tussaud flight of fancy. However, she and Curtius were monarchists who had to hide their busts of the Bourbons during the French Revolution.

The Revolution initially provided a boost to business, according to Pamela Pilbeam, professor of French history at Royal Holloway, University of London. Their exhibition was a bit like the Ten OClock News, she says in the programme. Youd go to a wax exhibition to see who was now in charge in the Revolution.

It was during these years that Marie honed her skill by undertaking the grisly task of making death masks from freshly guillotined heads. The story of her sitting on the steps of the execution platform, catching heads as they rolled into her basket, is a Tussaud embellishment, but severed heads were brought to her studio.

The most famous belonged to Marie Antoinette, for whom Tussaud not only created a death mask but also a waxwork recreation of the severed head.

The Revolution, however, soon brought a downturn in the economy as tourists deserted Paris.

Marie, who had married a feckless engineer called Francois Tussaud, abandoned not just her husband but also one of her young sons to try her luck in Britain. She would not see the child for another 16 years, suggesting she was as ruthless as many of the people she sculpted.

When she arrived in 1802, Britain was fascinated by all things French, and she proved a roaring success, spending decades travelling the country, exhibiting her work in assembly rooms or theatres.

By 1835, shed done well enough to hire a permanent space in Baker Street, London. The attraction became as popular as the British Museum.

There was a final twist to Maries life. When the chapel in which she was buried in Pavilion Road, Chelsea, was demolished in 1890 she was reinterred in St Marys crypt nearby. Rumours swirled that she was wearing 50,000 in jewels  which prompted a gang of thieves to raid her new resting place.

They were interrupted and left empty-handed but within a year three of the gang had died in mysterious circumstances. Its a suitably grisly postscript to the life of a woman who celebrated the macabre.

Madame Tussaud: A Legend In Wax, Thursday, 9pm, BBC4.
Epic betrayals, dastardly shenanigans and underhand dealings  even within families, perhaps especially within families  do make the history books sing.

When the recriminations are personal though, it offers a chilling perspective.

Princess Olga Romanoff, of the doomed Russian dynasty, breaks down in tears as she recalls something that happened nearly 100 years ago.

The tsarevich of Russia, later Tsar Nicholas II, with his cousin the Duke of York, later King George V

My father never said it was Georges fault, she says. He always thought it was the prime minister  but apparently it was the king. Im very glad my father died before the letter was found because he would have been really upset.

Princess Olga is speaking as part of a startling new six-part Channel 4 documentary series marking 100 years of the House of Windsor.

The king shes referring to is King George V, first cousin of her great-uncle, Tsar Nicholas II, the most famous of the Romanovs  Princess Olga, who now lives in the UK, uses the British spelling of the name.

At the start of the century, the two royal cousins  both grandchildren of King Christian IX of Denmark  were very close. They holidayed together, counselled each other and let it be known (and the letters exist to prove this) that they were devoted to each other.

George V with Queen Mary in 1914

When the imperial Russian family was threatened by the Bolsheviks in 1917 then, it was only natural that Nicholas should seek asylum in Britain and his first request for help from the Government was received with an immediate of course.

For reasons that have only recently come to light, however, the invitation was rescinded. Everyone knows what happened next: the tsar, his wife Alexandra and their five children  Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei  were herded into a cellar and shot.

The full story of how they died would not be released for 75 years, but Princess Olga (whose grandmother, the tsars sister, was later welcomed to the UK with open arms) grew up believing that it was Lloyd George, the then prime minister, who had blocked her familys flight. What a blow to discover it was the king himself  acting on advice from his adviser Lord Stamfordham  who was responsible.

Letters revealed in a 1984 biography of George V claim that the mood in the country would not have supported the granting of asylum to the imperial family.

Its damning proof, argue historians, that George put his own popularity, and the future of the British royals, before wider family ties. Can there be a better example of our Royal Familys talent for self-preservation?

The series asks this question, and often in brutal terms. We may love our royals, but the story of how they came to power  and stayed there  is not one that lends itself to soft-focus.

Drawing on private correspondence and the analysis of an army of historians, the series charts how the Windsors became the embodiment of all things British despite being German to the core.

Earl Mountbatten and Countess Mountbatten with Prince Charles Princess Anne in Malta in 1954

It opens with a devastating account of the First World War bombing of a primary school in Poplar, east London (the same area weve followed in the later-set TV series Call The Midwife), and the revelation that the German planes were called Gothas, similar to the reigning Royal Familys name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, a German Duchy dating to 1826 of which Queen Victorias husband Prince Albert was an heir.

The anti-German mood was making those close to the Royal Family (who had not a jot of English blood in them according to historian Miranda Carter on the show) nervous. A new name was required.

The programme paints an incredible picture of royal aides flicking through the history books seeking a new name.

Tudor was rejected, as were Stuart and Fitzroy. Eventually, someone hit on the idea of Windsor which was, according to Miranda, a fantastic piece of branding, conjuring up just the required images of green rolling landscapes, tea and cakes. On 17 July 1917, George made the change of name public.

For the series, researchers were granted access to the Queens records in the Royal Archives. There are a lot of personal letters from key players, says producer Denys Blakeway. In fact the only personal letters that have not been published are the Queens. These are being saved for her biography after her death.

And what stories theyve discovered in the letters theyve reopened. One episode sheds light on letters sent by the late Earl Mountbatten to Prince Charles, who called Mountbatten his honorary grandfather, before he married Diana, suggesting there were fears Charles would go down the same route as Edward VIII, who abdicated. That crisis was the biggest in the familys history  and one which, even today, they are terrified of repeating.

Charles received a number of letters warning him that he was going down the slippery path of his great-uncle by dating Camilla and others and not settling down, and if he didnt mend his ways the same fate would happen to him, says Denys.

Its a tremendous irony. Charles has always wanted to do his duty and when Mountbatten died he was devastated. Then, when he met Diana, the first thing she said to him was that she was sorry about the death of Mountbatten.

'He felt he should do his duty and marry the right woman  but she turned out to be the wrong woman. The ironies of history! He did the right thing and it all went wrong.

So what will the royals themselves make of their history being so comprehensively raked over? Well, they are a brilliant PR operation and control their image closely, but this series has been made outside their PR machine, says Denys.

Maybe theyll dislike it because they dont like being questioned, but I dont think theyd be right to. Its not hostile. You have to understand institutions to appreciate them.

What of the central question  how has the House of Windsor survived for 100 years? The answer, says Denys, is straightforward.

By looking after its image, ensuring that those who dont step up to the mark are expunged and by making sure the ideals of George V  duty, service and discretion  are observed, often ruthlessly so.

The Royal House Of Windsor begins on Wednesday at 9pm on Channel 4.
Skincare entrepreneur Deborah Mitchell has become known for her links with the Royal Family.

The mother-of-two from Wolverhampton, 51, fronted a 'royal beauty' segment on This Morning this week, which saw her telling viewers they could emulate the Duchess of Cambridge's BAFTA red carpet glow on a budget with the help of chocolate spread facials and a foot treatment made from mashed banana.

The businesswoman was introduced as 'the beauty therapist to Camilla and the Duchess of Cambridge', and hinted at her connections to the royals.

But Kensington Palace has since denied the Duchess of Cambridge has ever been a client of Mrs Mitchell.

Royal links: Skin entrepreneur Deborah Mitchell, left with client Tess Daly, fronted a 'royal beauty' segment on This Morning this week and was introduced as Kate's beauty therapist

Tips: Deborah showed viewers how to recreate the Duchess of Cambridge's BAFTA red carpet glow, pictured. She avoided the question when asked whether she had created the look

Home remedies: One part of the segment saw Deborah spreading Nutella as a skin treatment

Mrs Mitchell, who is founder Heaven Skincare, is best known for innovating bee venom products - including a bee sting facial kit. Her star-studded clients include Duran Duran, Danni Minogue and Tess Daly.

She appeared on This Morning on Wednesday to show viewers how to achieve Kate Middleton's radiant BAFTA look with the contents of their kitchen cupboard.

While Mrs Mitchell never said she was the duchess' beauty therapist, repeated references were made to her royal connections.

Mrs Mitchell described how she had been 'flying all over the world' to visit royal clients and revealed she 'visits the Palace regularly'.

A-list treatment: Filling a bath of milk may be extravagant for some but Deborah pointed out you can recreate your own Cleopatra Bath with a sock full of porridge oats

When pushed on whether she 'had a hand' in creating Kate's red carpet look, Mrs Mitchell replied: 'She is very beautiful but I can't discuss my clients.'

A spokesperson from Kensington Palace later clarified the duchess was not one of Mrs Mitchell's clients.

This was also confirmed by Mrs Mitchell, who told MailOnline: 'I have never claimed the Duchess of Cambridge has been a client.'

Kensington Palace said the Duchess of Cambridge was not a client of Mrs Mitchell, pictured

She said: 'I have treated royalty all over the world, I have treated a lot of celebrities and a lot of celebrities use my products,' but explained: 'I like to keep my customers' confidentiality.'

Mrs Mitchell was just 17 when she became a mobile beauty therapist and has built her empire since, opening Heaven Skincare in 1995.
Sasna Dzrer group member was not brought to court

The hearing in the case of Tatul Tamrazyan, one of the members of the Sasna Dzrer group that seized a police station in Yerevan in July, has been adjourned at the Criminal Court of Appeal. The point is that Tamrazyan, who is believed to be kept in custody illegally, was not brought to court. Tamrazyans lawyer, Monika Margaryan, was informed on the phone that it was not possible to ensure his presence in the hearing. The lawyer was also told that although Tamrazyan had not submitted an application to ensure his presence, Judge Manushak Petrsoyan wanted him to attend the trial. Monika Margaryan has been unable to see her client, Tatul Tamrazyan for two week. Tatul is kept in the Hospital for Convicts penitentiary institution. Before having a private conversation with Tatul, prison officers wanted to search the lawyer, but she did not agree. Tamrazyan, 26, and his lawyer lodged an appeal against the investigators' inaction. Tatul was wounded on July 17 during the seizure of the Erebuni police station by the Sasna Dzrer group and was kept in the Erebuni medical centre until August 6 without a status. While in hospital, his relatives and lawyer were not allowed to see him or talk on the phone.
These days many fashion lovers go out of their way to avoid careful colour coordination for fear of appearing too 'matchy matchy'.

But Queen Mathilde of Belgium - who stepped out in top to toe grey in Brussels today - is proof that sticking to a single shade is no bad thing.

The 44-year-old mother of four, who was attending a mass to commemorate the deceased members of the Belgian royal family, looked dazzling in a striped grey coat with matching hat, gloves and heels.

Queen Mathilde stepped out in top to toe grey for a mass to commemorate deceased members of the Belgian royal family today

The Belgian Queen was quickly surrounded by excited schoolchildren gathered outside

Queen Mathilde, who was joined by her husband King Philippe, accessorised with a statement brooch, a gold watch, and a pair of pearl drop earrings.

The monarch stopped to chat to excited children gathered outside the Church of our Lady ahead of the service.

Mathilde smiled for the camera as the schoolchildren huddled around her for a photograph, and stopped to chat to one young boy before making her way up the steps of the church for the service.

The King and Queen were also photographed inside the church, where they appeared solemn during the mass to commemorate members of the Belgian royal family who have passed away.

The monarch stopped to shake the hand of one young boy as she made her way up the steps at the Church of Our Lady in Brussels

Children were thrilled to pose for a picture with the Queen, who looked equally delighted
A bride-to-be and her paraplegic fiance have captured the hearts of millions after posing for a very cheeky photo to announce their surprise pregnancy.

Although Amanda Diesen and Todd Krieg were told by doctors that it would be nearly impossible for them to conceive naturally, the two were thrilled  and shocked  to learn that they are expecting their first child together.

The couple from Ohio planned a heartwarming pregnancy photoshoot to announce the news to their family and friends, but one witty shot has taken the internet by storm.

Going viral: Bride-to-be Amanda Diesen and her paraplegic fiance Todd Krieg have become online stars thanks to their witty pregnancy announcement

Cheeky: The comical image taken by photographer Kayla Duffin sees Todd giving a thumbs up in his wheelchair while posed in front of a brick wall that has 'It still works!' written in chalk

The comical image, taken by photographer Kayla Duffin, sees Todd giving a thumbs-up in his wheelchair while posed in front of a brick wall that has 'It still works!' written across it in chalk.

Amanda is standing next to him and pretending to be embarrassed as she holds up her ultrasound photo.

'We definitely weren't trying to have a baby  we wanted to get engaged, get married, and then start trying in a few years,' Amanda told Today.

'We found out at the beginning of December and were extremely shocked and overwhelmed. We took a test together and just about freaked out.'

All smiles: The couple from Ohio are expecting a baby boy in August 2017

Amazing surprise: Although doctors said it would be difficult for them to conceive without the help of IVF or other treatment, Amanda said the pregnancy was 'au naturel'

The expectant mom, who is 14 weeks pregnant and due in August, said she was looking at pregnancy announcements on Pinterest when she came across one of a dad holding up a sign that reads, 'I did that.'

That image inspired her to incorporate the line, 'It still works,' into their own portrait, and the end result has caused quite a stir online.

The couple's friend ended up posting the photo on Reddit, and it has earned them millions of fans.

Amanda noted that doctors told them that although it was possible for her to get pregnancy naturally, it would probably unlikely without IVF or other treatments. However, the two defied the odds and conceived 'au naturel'.

Fate: Amanda noted that they weren't trying for a baby, and they actually planned on waiting a few years before they started trying

Engaged! During the shoot, Todd surprised Amanda once again by proposing to her

The couple are expecting a baby boy, and in another image from the shoot, Amanda and Todd are celebrating while someone on a ladder dumps a box of blue balloons over their heads.

Amanda and Todd look as happy as can be in the photos, many of which see the mom-to-be cuddling and kissing Todd.

And it's not just viral fame that has made the photoshoot unforgettable. While they were posing for pictures, Todd surprised Amanda once again by proposing to her.

After she said 'yes', Amanda shared their story with Brides.com in hopes of winning the bridal website's contest offering a free wedding.

Brought together: Todd became paralyzed from the chest down after suffering a dirt bike crash in October 2014, and he met Amanda a year later during physical therapy

Celebration: The couple are expecting a baby boy, and another image from the shoot sees Amanda and Todd having blue balloons dumped over their heads

Amanda explained in the post that she was working as a therapist at the paralysis recovery center, Project Walk in Carlsbad, California, when she met her fiance in 2015.

Todd, who is from Elyria, Ohio, became paralyzed from the chest down after suffering a dirt bike crash in October 2014. The former motocross rider visited Project Walk a year later for therapy in hopes of regaining back some function, but he also ended up meeting his future wife.

Amanda recalled how Todd called her the 'cute therapist', and while she also found him attractive, she worried about seeming unprofessional. That Halloween, Todd made his feelings known and the two became a couple.

Cracking up" Amanda gushed that they are always making each other laugh despite the fact that he is in constant pain because of his injuries

Family of three: One of the images from the shoot sees Todd and Amanda's sneakers lined up next to a tiny pair for their baby

In love: 'We are blessed to have each other and are truly a perfect match,' Amanda said

When it was time for Todd to move back to Ohio in the summer of 2016, Amanda made the decision to go with him because she knew she didn't want to be in a long distance relationship.

Amanda noted she would like to get married in Orange County, California, where she grew up  and they fell in love  but now that they have a baby on the way, she admitted that she was entering the contest because they shouldn't be spending 'loads of money' on her dream wedding.

Amanda gushed that Todd is her best friend, and they are always making each other laugh despite the fact that he is in constant pain because of his injuries.

'I am so thankful I've been given the opportunity to spend my life with this man. We are blessed to have each other and are truly a perfect match,' she wrote.
A young man has earned widespread internet attention after sharing a photo of himself standing under a loose Walmart sign that looks like it is about to fall on his head.

On February 14, Manuel Garcia, 25, spent over four hours waiting outside a Walmart, hoping that the loose letter P in the word Pharmacy would topple off the wall and onto his head so that he could attempt to sue the corporation.

The Weslaco, Texas man posted a photo of himself in the precarious position with a Facebook caption redaing: 'Here waiting for the P to fall and knock me out to be able to sue Walmart [sic].'

An ingenious plan? A young Texas man, Manuel Garcia, 25, stood under a loose Walmart sign for over four hours hoping the sign would hit him in the head

Word of Manuel's plan soon spread to Twitter when a man named Toyin posted the photo of Manuel on his account.

On the social media platform, people quickly responded to the photo by praising Manuel for both his patience and his ingenuity.

A Maryland area man suggested that once hit, Manuel should show up at Walmart in a wheelchair, wearing a neck brace while eating a box of Nilla wafers - making it look like an enviable fate.

Another man posted a photo of Manuel's potential future, using a photo of a sleeping man lounging across a bed of money.

The ultimate side-hustle: Manuel posted a photo of himself standing under the sign to his Facebook page where it received a huge amount attention, even spreading over to Twitter

A nod towards the future: Many Twitter users have praised Manuel for his patience and ingenuity

Cookie Monster even got involved, when a man named Warren Richardson posted a GIF of the Sesame Street character tapping his fingers in impatience with the caption: 'His lawyer is waiting, too [sic].'

A man from Seattle even commented on Manuel;s creative plan by declaring that he is an 'entrepreneur'.

When the P failed to fall on February 14, Manuel returned to the same location the next day to try his luck again.

Patiently waiting: Cookie Monster even got in on the fun when Warren Richardson posted a GIF of one Sesame Streets most famed characters tapping his fingers in impatience

The highest praise: When the P failed to fall on February 14, Manuel returned to the same location February 15 to try his luck again

A MAJOR payday! A GoFundMe campaign named 'Ladywalmart' has been started with a goal of raising $1,000

Though both attempts where unsuccessful, Manuel's original photo has earned 19,000 likes and has been shared on Facebook over 45,000 times.

Manuel has seemingly given up hope on suing Walmart. However a woman named Meli Garcia, who may be related to Manuel, has started a GoFundMe page named 'Ladywalmart' with a goal of raising $1,000.

While the campaign is not incredibly detailed, it does ask that potential contributors 'pitch in so he doesn't have to sue Walmart! Bring him back home lol!'
A little girl with a very big heart has started her own business, Peace. Love. Bracelets., in order to bring a bit of happiness to cancer-stricken children.

Bella Fricker, nine, began making and selling homemade bracelets so that she could purchase bald American Girl dolls to gift to children with cancer.

Selling over 500 bracelets thus far, Bella has purchased six dolls for little girls who are battling cancer, and gifted four.

An enormous heart: Bella Fricker, nine, has created her own business - called Peace. Love. Bracelets. - to help children who have been diagnosed with cancer

Bella was moved to start Peace. Love. Bracelets. after four children from her community were diagnosed with cancer.

Bella's mother, Valerie Fricker spoke to The Huffington Post about Bella's budding business.

'Unfortunately, four children in our community over the years have had cancer and really left an impression on her,' she said. 'I have been personally involved in the fundraising efforts within the community in the past [sic].'

The nine-year-old philanthropist has turned a portion of her playroom into an office where she crafts, packages, and ships out her bracelets to those who have purchased them.

Kindness matters: The Georgia third grader makes and sells bracelets in order to purchase bald American Girl dolls for children in need

A pint-sized business owner: Thus far, Bella has purchased six dolls and donated four

Anyone can buy one of Bella's creations, which range from $3 for a basic bracelet to $15 for a matching 'Dolly & Me' bracelet and necklace combo. There is also a 'grab bag' option for adventurous buyers.

Bella and her mother have teamed up with Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) to make sure that her dolls are going to little girls who need them most.

She has even been lucky enough to meet some of the recipients of her lovely doll donations, which has been a dream come true for Bella.

Peace. Love. Bracelets.: Bella uses her playroom to craft, package and ship out her bracelets to those who have purchased them

A strong character: Bella is looking to expand her business across the country

Future goals: The nine-year-old hopes to work with Build-A-Bear so that she can donate to children who dont necessarily like to play with dolls

For now, the pint-sized entrepreneur owner hopes to donate 15 dolls to CHOA.

She then wants to expand and donate 20 dolls to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Tennessee, and from there she hopes to give approximately 15 American Girl dolls to Texas Childrens Hospital in Houston.

Bella is not merely sticking to American Girl dolls either. Her mother says she wishes to work with Build-A-Bear so that she can donate to children who dont necessarily like to play with dolls.

Ultimately, Valerie is just happy to see her daughter doing such amazing things. She said: 'I hope people are inspired to do good for others by reading about Bellas mission.'
Advertisement

These are the first photos inside the lab at America's only clinic dedicated exclusively to egg freezing.

Extend Fertility, a 'boutique' clinic in New York City's Midtown, is focused solely on removing and storing a woman's eggs - as opposed to also treating infertility and offering in-vitro fertilization (IVF).

It was designed to offer a less clinical atmosphere to 20- and 30-somethings who do not need to discuss the medical issue of fertility, but rather want to prepare a back-up to ensure they can have children down the line.

The entire pre-op space - with its rounded walls, pastel colors, and a view of Carnegie Hall out the window - has more of a spa feel than a medical center. Staff are chatty, the seats are plush, and the lights are warm.

Through a small square window in the operating room, you can catch a glimpse of the one off-limits space: Extend's state-of-the-art lab.

This week, the lab became fully operational to become the first place on the East Coast using the latest freezing method, Cryotec. With that move, they make a staggering claim that they can ensure almost 100 percent survival rate of 12 eggs per patient, or up to four cycles.

Experts have hailed the clinic as groundbreaking.

And now, Daily Mail Online can offer a rare look inside that process, beyond the multiple sets of doors that seal the lab's specific air flow and temperature to protect hundreds of patients' eggs before they are sent to a natural-disaster-proof facility just outside Boston, Massachusetts.

Extend Fertility is America's first egg-freezing-only clinic, as in it doesn't also offer IVF or fertility treatment. This week, the clinic launched new state-of-the-art lab designed by rising star embryologist Dr Leslie Ramirez (pictured)

The lab the first place on the East Coast using the latest freezing method, Cryotec. With that move, they make a staggering claim that they can ensure nearly 100 percent survival of at least 12 eggs per patient. Pictured: eggs in -196C liquid nitrogen

With these images, Daily Mail Online can offer a rare look inside Extend's 'groundbreaking' process, beyond the multiple sets of doors that seal the lab's specific air flow and temperature to protect hundreds of patients' eggs. Pictured: inside the lab

WHAT DOES EGG-FREEZING INVOLVE FOR PATIENTS? 1. CONSULTATION The patient discusses their desire to freeze their eggs with a fertility specialist. The patient can decide whether to go straight ahead or wait weeks, months, or longer to proceed. 2. HORMONE INJECTION Women inject high levels of hormones for a week in order to ovulate as many eggs as possible. Patients typically have to pay anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000 for these - whether at Extend or elsewhere. This hormone is called AMH (Anti-Mullerian Hormone), which is secreted in the ovarian follicles. AMH levels are a marker of one's fertility: women with a high level are likely to produce more eggs. The patient's doctor will perform a blood test to check their AMH levels and determine the exact concentration of hormones they need. At Extend, the patient is then guided through how to mix the formula at home and self-administer the hormones, injecting them into the belly. 3. EXTRACTION After about 10 days, the patient comes in for their retrieval. At Extend, they are first taken to a pre-op room. They are then moved to the operation room and given anesthetic. The surgeon retrieves the eggs through the vaginal wall. The patient is then taken to the post-operation area. Extend Fertility says it is their policy to make sure they have a friend or relative waiting there for when they come out to take them home. 4. NEXT RETRIEVAL OR FREEZING The patient will be immediately told how many eggs were retrieved. Within a couple of days, they will learn how many of those eggs were 'mature' - i.e. how many can be frozen. In every clinic aside from Extend, patients with fewer than 12 eggs will then have an option: to settle with that or to pay for another cycle. At Extend, patients with an AMH of 1.0 or up will automatically be enrolled for another round included in the price. For those who have a lower AMH, they can discuss alternative pricing plans. Those with 12 or more will then set up payment for storage. Extend sends all patients' eggs to a natural-disaster-proof storage center in Massachusetts for a free six months, then an extra cost thereafter. Advertisement

The lab is the brain-child of Dr Leslie Ramirez, a young star in the field of fertility and embryology.

Originally from Queretaro, Mexico, she has trained with the industry's leading figures - Dr Carlos Simon in Spain and Japan's Dr Masashige Kuwayama, who invented the most effective egg-freezing method to date: Cryotec.

She was then headhunted by Dr Joshua Klein - formerly of RMA of NY - to develop a lab that did away with the other elements, and brought the world's top freezing methods to the US.

Dr Ramirez is supported in the lab by Alexis Adler, Extend Fertility's senior embryologist, who has more than 20 years' embryology experience with Weill Cornell and at NYU Fertility Center.

NEW FREEZING METHOD

HISTORY OF EGG-FREEZING

Egg-freezing first began in 1986.

One of the early problems with the process was that, unlike sperm which freeze and thaw easily, eggs contain lots of water.

It means that, if the process isn't done correctly, ice crystals could form, destroying or damaging the eggs.

That was the key issue with the first method, known as the 'slow-freeze', which was used almost everywhere until around 2009.

It involved gradually reducing the egg's temperature to -196C over the course of hours.

Initially, it was thought this slow process was necessary to delicately allow the egg to adjust its temperature. Scientists now believe the more time, the more likely crystals will form.

In the past eight years, there has been a surge in clinics employing a flash-freezing method called vitrification that appears to overcome that challenge.

Vitrification is so named because during the process the eggs transition to a vitreous, or 'glass-like,' state.

A combination of cryoprotectants and faster cooling (compared to the slow freezing method) reduce the opportunity for damaging intercellular ice crystals to form during the process.

Studies have found eggs frozen via vitrification have, on average, a 91 percent chance of surviving the freeze-and-thaw process.

THE LATEST

The Cryotec method, invented by Dr Kuwayama, is the latest version of vitrification, bringing the egg to -196C in immediately. Every egg frozen and thawed with Cryotec has survived thus far.

At Extend, they have honed the technique even further, controling the air quality, air flow, and temperature of the entire lab as well.

Dr Ramirez is one of the only people in America qualified to perform Cryotec.

Extend Fertility is the East Coast representative laboratory on the east coast; Anyone else that wants to use it must train with Dr Ramirez or with Dr Kuwayama.

It is likely that Cryotec will one day become the standard method across the country.

FROM START TO FINISH WITH DR RAMIREZ

Retrieving and cleaning

On the day of retrieval, the doctor will retrieve the patient's eggs via a needle inserted through the vaginal wall.

They put that in a test tube, which is placed in a gap in the wall leading to the lab.

Once the surgeon shuts the window on their side, Dr Ramirez opens the window on her side (to keep the external air from flowing in and tampering the atmosphere).

She retrieves the tube, carefully empties it into a labeled petri dish, and looks for the eggs, then starts the cleaning process. The eggs will then sit in an incubator for a few hours.

Checking for mature eggs

That day, the patient will be told how many eggs were retrieved.

Meanwhile, Dr Ramirez will be examining the eggs with a microscope to check whether they have extruded the polar body.

Through a small square window in the operating room, you can catch a glimpse of Dr Ramirez in her state-of-the-art lab

The surgeon puts the retrieved eggs in a test tube in this window in the wall. Dr Ramirez then opens the window from her side

Finding the eggs: She carefully empties it into a labeled petri dish, and looks for the eggs, then starts the cleaning process

Among other products, Dr Ramirez sourced a new kind of incubator - a $16,000 contraption by BenchTopInc (pictured) - which keeps the eggs at 36.8C. It consists of six spaces, as opposed to the large incubator tanks normally used to hold many

Once inside, the incubators have a peep-hole to look through to check the eggs' progress without changing the temperature

Dr Ramirez examines the eggs with a microscope to check whether they have extruded the polar body. To a layman's eyes, that broadly means a small dot in the egg has been pushed outside of the main circle. When that happens, it is mature

To a layman's eyes, that broadly means a small dot in the egg has been pushed outside of the main circle. When that happens, it is mature.

Once they have the batch to freeze, Dr Ramirez starts the freezing process.

Freezing: the Cryotec method

In the process of vitrification the eggs are first placed in special solutions, and then immersed in liquid nitrogen.

The eggs have to sit in a petri dish in an incubator at 37C for at least one hour before freezing so the eggs can stabilize.

Then, over the course of 15 minutes, they will be placed into two different solutions to vitrify them at room temperature.

Meanwhile, Dr Ramirez prepares a small blue open-topped box of -196C liquid nitrogen.

Once the eggs have been prepared in the vitrification solution, she places them on a minuscule pointy-ended stick called a straw that was designed specifically for the Cryotec method.

The straw is then swiftly inserted into a large cylindrical blue-and-silver stick called a cane, which is in turn placed in the liquid nitrogen and covered.

Each patient's cane is sealed and labeled with their medical information, and placed inside a grenade-shaped tank. These tanks can hold up to 300 patient canes for six months before going to the storage unit in Massachusetts.

'TREATING 21st CENTURY WOMEN'

The ability to conceive begins dropping around 35 and more rapidly as the 40s near.

Women have fewer eggs left, and these older remaining ones aren't as healthy, meaning even if the woman can get pregnant she's more likely to miscarry.

However, current lifestyles do not fit that timeline.

Today, about one in five U.S. women now have their first child after age 35, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This is the tank of liquid nitrogen (in gray), sat next to the space where Dr Ramirez vitrifies the eggs in two solutions

The eggs have to sit in a petri dish at 37C for at least one hour before freezing so they don't degrade. Then, over the course of 15 minutes, they will be placed into two different solutions (pictured in tubes beforehand) to vitrify them at room temperature

Once full shrinkage of the eggs is achieved, she retrieves the eggs from the solution by picking them up with a minuscule pointy-ended stick called a straw that was designed specifically for the Cryotec Method (pictured)

While the eggs are in their solution, Dr Ramirez prepares -196C liquid nitrogen to put in a blue open-topped box (pictured)

The Cryotec method, invented by Japan's Dr Masashige Kuwayama, is the latest version of vitrification, bringing the egg to -196C immediately in liquid nitrogen (pictured). Every egg frozen and thawed with Cryotec has survived thus far

Earlier methods, known as the 'slow-freeze', cooled the eggs over hours, meaning ice crystals could form, destroying or damaging the eggs

This shot captures Dr Ramirez with the box of liquid nitrogen, the room-temperature incubator, and the eggs in solution

Here, Dr Ramirez is pictured putting the Cryotec into the -196C liquid nitrogen solution

The Cryotec is then inserted into a large cylindrical blue-and-silver stick called a cane (pictured) in the liquid nitrogen

Each patient's cane is sealed and labeled with their medical information, and placed inside the tank (pictured). The tanks can hold up to 300 patient canes. They stay in Extend for up to six months before going to the storage unit in Massachusetts

INTERIOR DESIGN: CREATING A LAB WITH THE SMALLEST MARGIN FOR ERROR CONTROLLING THE AIR The lab has an air-isolating system designed to keep the number of air particles per cubic foot below 1,000. Typically, an office building has between 500,000 and a million particles per cubic foot of air. CUTTING SPACE The space is designed so that all surfaces and areas that the eggs could be kept in are 36.8C - body temperature. The room is small, with each incubator, work surface, microscope, or tank positioned in close proximity, meaning the eggs do not have to travel far. EQUIPMENT Among other products, Dr Ramirez sourced a new kind of incubator - a $16,000 contraption by BenchTopInc - which further controls the temperature and space. It consists of six small pockets, which fit one petri dish each, as opposed to the large incubator tanks normally used to hold many. Once inside, they have a peep-hole, which the team can look through to check the progress without changing the temperature. Advertisement

The shift has led to a surge in women looking to freeze their eggs.

But while the option has been around for 30 years, studies show it is still something of a taboo culturally.

A recent survey of more than 1,000 US women aged between 25 and 35 found most of them had never discussed age and fertility with their gynecologist.

Seventy-eight percent of them had never discussed age as a factor in becoming pregnant, and 96 percent had never discussed treatment options to maximize their chances of fertility.

LUMPED IN WITH THE REST

Dr Klein, who trained at Harvard then Brigham & Women's Hospitals, heaps praise on the capabilities of his previous place of work (Reproductive Medicine Associates of New York in Brooklyn).

However, without naming it, he says his time there introduced him to an under-served client base.

'I was involved from the conception,' he says (chuckling, 'I'm sorry, there too many fertility jokes').

'I worked for many years at a large university. One of the thing was that I had an increasing number of women wanting to talk about fertility preservation.

'Even though the place I worked was excellent, the egg freezer patients weren't served as well as I felt they should be.'

Fertility clinics, he explained, are usually designed for couples.

Usually, they are coming to the table with the recognition that there is some medical problem. First they need a diagnosis, second they need a way to fix it.

'The egg freezing patient doesn't have a problem per say, except being a woman in the 21st century,' Dr Klein explains.

'They want to do something pro-actively; they want to make chances that make sense to them in their lives. But they were not well served by the environment.

'Many of them felt like the ugly step sister of the fertility problems. From a fitting in stand point, it wasn't a very comfortable environment.'

PRICING

The idea of freezing eggs for a later pregnancy is hardly light on the pocket.

Retrieving eggs is an outpatient procedure that can cost $10,000 to $15,000 per cycle.

Patients also have to pay up to $4,000 for hormone injections to get them ovulating as many eggs as possible.

After that, clinics charge a storage fee of around $500 a year.

Women who wind up using their eggs will pay thousands more to undergo in vitro fertilization.

'By far the most common reason women don't follow through or follow up is that it's such an expensive proposition,' Dr Klein said.

'For these other clinics, they have so many services, and that has to be offset by their pricing structure - offering IVF, IUI, male fertility, female fertility, genetic testing... that creates certain level of pricing.

'When you remove one line out of the equation you can change that - and even improve quality, but at a different price point. The lowest, to be exact.'

Extend caused a flurry of headlines last year after announcing its plan to offer a $4,990 'all-inclusive' service.

To be clear: the price does not include everything listed in this section. Extend's patients are still required to buy up to $4,000 for hormones, since the clinic doesn't have a license to prescribe them, and the storage is extra.

Still, Dr Klein insists, you can't argue with the fact that it's half the market rate - and includes up to four cycles.

'One of the things that we changed about the delivery of care is that we don't want women to come in for 'you get what you get',' Dr Klein said.

'The pricing includes the idea that one cycle might not be enough.

The entire pre-op space - with its rounded walls, pastel colors, and a view of Carnegie Hall out the window of the consultation room (pictured) - has more of a spa feel than a medical center. Staff are chatty, the seats are plush, and the lights are warm

In the exam room, patients are given an ultrasound and blood tests to start the process and check their hormone levels

On the day of the procedure, they will start in the pre-op room (pictured), which is a floor above the consultation room that they have been visiting with their fertility advisor for the past days, weeks or months - depending on the time frame they pick

Procedure room: On the day, they will lie in this chair, be given anesthetic, and have their eggs retrieved via a tube in their vaginal wall. Scroll down for a first-person account of her experience getting her eggs retrieved at Extend Fertility

Finally, the surgeon will put the eggs in a test tube and place them in this window to Dr Ramirez's lab

'We decided each patient should be able to have at least 12 eggs frozen, so she doesn't walk away from the whole thing empty handed.

'That gives a woman in her 20s about an 80 percent chance. For a woman in her 30s it's about 50-70 percent.'

CAN PATIENTS BE CERTAIN THEY WILL HAVE KIDS?

'That's the million dollar question,' Dr Klein admits.

Cryotec touts a 100 percent survival - though Dr Klein cautions that he never likes to say '100 percent' about anything.

Nonetheless, that simply refers to the survival of the egg through the thawing process.

Whether that egg becomes a baby is another matter.

The degree that women can be confident depends on two factors: first, the age at which these eggs are frozen; second, how many eggs are frozen.

Any individual egg - thawed or frozen - has a possibility of becoming a pregnancy.

But 20-year-old eggs have a higher probability of making it than 40-year-old eggs.

As a result, 20-something can bank fewer eggs and still be confident.

'I WENT SHOPPING WITH MY FRIEND AFTER': ONE WOMAN EXPLAINS WHY SHE PICKED EXTEND Ayelet Raymond, an actress and children's entertainer from Israel, is single in her late 20s. With no medical or fertility issues, she could have kids today no problem. But like most of her friends in New York City, that's not on the agenda any time soon. 'I love children and I work with children. I know I want to have kids, but I don't want them now,' Ayelet told Daily Mail Online. 'When I heard about egg freezing I said to myself, it's an amazing opportunity. 'To have children is the most valuable thing. If you get older and you cannot... Well, I don't want that.' Despite coming from an orthodox religious family ('they don't understand it; my brother thought it was weird'), Ayelet felt set in her mind, and started pursuing the process about 18 months ago at a one of New York's large established clinics. To me I look at it as something I achieved in my life, like any other achievement... like graduating university Ayelet's was the classic case Dr Klein described seeing time and again. Her rolling list of complaints echoes everything you see if you take a gander on a few egg-freezing forums. 'I just didn't get the right attention. I was in this huge place, had to pay a lot of money, but everything was so random. No one explained anything to me, there were so many people running around... I didn't feel confident in it at all.' Looking back, she can remember the moment that drove her to quit the process halfway through. 'I was sitting in the room with eight girls about to get our hormone injections. But none of us knew what it was or how to use it. Every girl had to have a different levels of hormones, so we couldn't talk or help each other.' Around November, a friend gleefully announced she had gotten her eggs frozen at America's first egg-freezing-only clinic, Extend Fertility, which opened in August 2016. As Dr Klein insisted, the entire premise of the place is to give a more personal feel to the Ayelets of today: making women feel comfortable, like they are in a living room with people they come to know like friends. Case in point: Ayelet loved it. 'I had already gone through it already so I could see a difference, the way everything was. It was like a spa. Everybody was there for me, I knew what was going on around me. 'I was able to review all the people on the website, I could see all their pictures and names.' She was introduced to a fertility advisor, who then became her contact for the next few weeks. They taught her about the hormones she would be injecting (FSH, follicle stimulating hormone and LH, luteinizing hormone) to boost her ovulation, and how to administer it - something Ayelet claims directly contrasted with her experience at the larger fertility clinic. 'It was great. I could call late at night if I have a question, like how to mix the hormones or anything. And I did, I called when I needed to. 'They give me the opportunity to understand what everything was - I didn't know I had no clue. They were smart enough to teach me so I could feel confident about what I was doing. 'The last place didn't explain to me what AMH is.' AMH (Anti-Mullerian Hormone) is secreted in the ovarian follicles. Its levels are a marker of one's fertility: women with a high level are likely to produce more eggs. The patient's doctor will perform a blood test to check their AMH levels and determine the exact concentration of FSH they need. 'They educated me [at Extend Fertility]. My friend had her eggs out somewhere else and she still doesn't know what AMH is. They told her she didn't produce enough eggs but didn't explain why.' At the other clinic, I was sitting in a room with eight girls about to get our hormone injections. But none of us knew what it was or how to use it Her description of the day itself is the lightest part of her entire recollection. 'It's like 10 minutes anesthesia. It's more easy than going to the dentist, you don't feel anything,' she says. 'I went shopping with my friend after. It's really light, relaxed and fresh,' she added, as if it were some kind of beauty salon treatment. 'That was it, now I can move on with other things in my life. I don't think I need to think about having kids yet. 'When I actually think about it, it's emotional, you get something so valuable. I'm preserving my future. I can have children naturally, it's a back-up. 'To me I look at it as something I achieved in my life, like any other achievement... like graduating university.' Advertisement




Online pharmacies are fuelling the superbugs crisis by freely selling antibiotics without a prescription, a major study finds today.

It warns that British patients are risking their health by ordering antibiotics from pirate websites and foreign pharmacists, which then ship the pills to the UK.

Even some legitimate British pharmacies that do ask for a prescription are allowing people to choose their own antibiotics  and their own dosage  before signing off the order.

Scientists at Imperial College London found that antibiotics were illegally available without prescription on 45 per cent of the first 20 online pharmacy websites they looked at.

Online pharmacies are fuelling the superbugs crisis by freely selling antibiotics without a prescription, a major study finds today

These companies were either abroad  in India or Cyprus  or were unregistered firms with no record of their host country.

But shockingly, the researchers found that 80 per cent of websites, including at least one legally registered British firm, allowed patients to choose the dose, duration and type of antibiotic even if a prescription was provided.

Only 30 per cent of websites asked patients any health questions at all before drugs were purchased.

Professor Dame Sally Davies, the Governments Chief Medical Officer, last night reacted with fury to the revelations.

PATIENTS PRESSURE GPS TO HAND OUT PILLS Doctors prescribe more antibiotics when patients pressure them for drugs, studies have found. They do so even for a common cold or when they think the probability of bacterial infection is so low that the drugs will not work. A study of 436 GPs found 52 per cent of those treating an adult patient with symptoms of an ear infection who expected antibiotics from their appointment would prescribe them. But, asked if they would prescribe them under no such pressure from the patient, only 41.5 per cent would do so. Lead author Dr Miroslav Sirota, of the University of Essex, said: We do not intend our study to criticise physicians and how they prescribe antibiotics. Rather, we want to point out that the over-prescribing of antibiotics is a serious systemic issue. We should all work together, from patients having more realistic expectations about antibiotic effectiveness to physicians managing patients expectations when contradicting clinical guidelines. The study, published in the American Psychological Association journal Health Psychology, found the same principle applied to child patients. Advertisement

Clinicians across the country are making great progress in reducing inappropriate prescriptions and this cannot be undermined by reckless illegal online pharmacies, she said.

It is essential that we look after our antibiotics and only use them where clinically appropriate. Inappropriate use drives the development of drug-resistant infections which could halt treatments and operations that we consider routine, such as hip operations, chemotherapy and caesareans.

The overuse of antibiotics means superbugs are rapidly becoming resistant to treatment, a problem which experts say will kill 10million people a year by 2050. They warn that medicine will be taken back to the dark ages if antibiotics are rendered ineffective, with even minor operations becoming impossible without drugs to turn to.

But while NHS doctors are under huge pressure to reduce prescriptions, websites seem to be freely doling them out with few checks.

Antibiotics prescriptions given out by GPs dropped by 2.6million last year. But experts worry patients who are denied the drugs turn instead to the internet.

Martin Astbury, president of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, last night called for online provision of antibiotics to be banned until the industry is properly regulated. Unnecessary antibiotic use can result in serious side-effects in individuals and has a major impact on wider public health by increasing antibiotic resistance, he said.

We cannot support access to antibiotics through a web form until the standards for prescribing by private providers reflect the standard of face-to-face consultations in the NHS.

The Imperial team, whose findings are published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, did not name any of the companies.

But they have passed the details to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, with which all legal online pharmacies are registered.
A mother-of-two has been left struggling to move as a result of an incurable one-in-a-million condition.

Antoinette Acosta, 47, suffers from Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS), which causes her muscles to tense uncontrollably.

Dubbed 'the human statue', she is often left gasping for breath as her chest goes into spasm.

As her voicebox is also prone to spasms, her speech is often slurred  causing strangers to assume she's drunk.

Antoinette Acosta, 47, suffers from Stiff Person Syndrome, which causes her muscles to tense uncontrollably (pictured in 2017)

The mother-of-two, who lives in New York, said: 'People look at me when I go out and assume I'm perfectly healthy, but I want people to realise that just because I look fine, it doesn't mean I am.

'I fight every day just to live my life and fulfil my basic needs. When I hear people complain about a cough or a cold, I just shake my head.

'I'd love to have that commodity, or to be able to work and see my friends like I used to.

She added: 'I struggle to go grocery shopping, and can't even shower every day because lifting my arms to wash my hair makes me spasm.

'My feet will stiffen and spread out, almost like a claw, and sometimes my head will feel so heavy, like a 70lb bowling ball, that I can't turn left or right.'

Before developing SPS, Miss Acosta was fit and healthy.

But in 2009, she started having problems with balance and experienced mysterious tremors.

On one occasion, she fractured her leg in two places after falling from an attic ladder during a spasm.

Currently incurable, the disease is believed to affect just one-in-a-million people (pictured: her foot stiffening up during a spasm)

The mother-of-two said: 'I struggle to go grocery shopping, and can't even shower every day because lifting my arms to wash my hair makes me spasm' (pictured: her hand tensing up)

She said: 'I had no idea what was wrong, but I couldn't stop it. I'd trip over and lose balance for no reason.

'I'd be cleaning my teeth and suddenly jam the toothbrush down my throat, or I'd be eating and my jaw would suddenly lock.

'Sometimes I'd bite down so hard on my cheek it would bleed.'

Doctors were just as baffled as her, particularly after tests for Lyme disease and Guillian-Barre syndrome came back negative.

My feet will stiffen and spread out, almost like a claw, and sometimes my head will feel so heavy, like a 70lb bowling ball, that I can't turn left or right Antoinette Acosta, 47

By this point, Miss Acosta's symptoms were taking over her life, leaving her so exhausted she could barely speak.

After suffering for years, in 2014 Miss Acosta reached out to a specialist doctor through the big healthcare company she used to work for.

The doctor mentioned in passing her symptoms matched those of an SPS patient and sent her for blood tests.

Miss Acosta said: 'I was just about to move to Tennessee when I was referred to the new doctor, and the test results came back after I'd left.

'After he mentioned SPS, a friend looked it up for me and told me it matched a lot of my symptoms.

'I didn't want to look myself until I had the results back, though. I was tired of thinking I had all these different conditions only to be told I didn't.'

But as Miss Acosta was settling into her new home, her doctor called to tell her the test results were positive.



In 2009, she started having problems with balance and experienced mysterious tremors (pictured with her son Dietrich, now 15, in 2012)

In an unfamiliar town, she worried she wouldn't find anybody to treat her.

Thankfully, a local doctor had come across the rare condition before.

She was prescribed a cocktail of medication, including Valium, to help ease her symptoms and is waiting to hear if she qualifies for an upcoming medical trial.

There is also a possibility that a stem cell transplant or plasmapheresis  a procedure that replaces blood plasma to stop antibodies attacking healthy cells - could help.

But for now, life can be difficult for Miss Acosta, who is believed to be the 317th person to be diagnosed with SPS ever in the US.

As well as leaving her unable to work, Miss Acosta's condition also makes eating difficult, causing her to loose 34lb in just six months. Her memory is also affected.
A heartbroken mother has revealed how her four-year-old son is often bullied by other children for looking like an 'alien' because of a mysterious condition.

Nate Williams, from Burntwood, Staffordshire, was born with an abnormal-shaped head, but doctors still remain baffled as to why.

Not only has he been plagued with an underdeveloped skull, but he also suffers from cataracts and has breathing difficulties.

And this has caused the boy, who attends a special-needs school for disabled children, to endure torment from other youngsters, his mother Jo, 45, says.

Experts are unsure how long he has left to live, forcing his family to make as many memories as possible.

Nate Williams was born with an abnormal-shaped head, but doctors remain baffled as to why

Ms Williams said: 'Some children have called him an alien, but teachers sat them down and explained he is different to others.

'He can't walk on his own, run, or climb like other little boys, but he's determined to do what all the other kids do, and so are we.

'We don't know what Nate's prognosis is, so we want to make as many memories as we can with him, to make as much of his life as we can.

'Nate is at the top of the class and is such character. He's such a happy kid, who just gets on with life and never complains.'

At her 20-week scan at the Birmingham Women's Hospital, Ms Williams found out that her pregnancy was going to become difficult.

Doctors noticed the shape of Nate's head wasn't normal, forcing them to test for Edwards' syndrome - a serious, genetic condition with a low survival rate.

Not only has he been plagued with an underdeveloped skull, but he also suffers from cataracts and has breathing difficulties

And they also discovered he had a small hole in his heart.

Ms Williams and her partner, Andy, 32, were offered a termination because of the severity of his misshaped head.

However, they refused as 'there was no way' they were giving him up because they had already become so attached.

Some children have called him an alien, but teachers sat them down and explained he is different to others His mother, Jo Williams, 45

To their relief, the test showed their baby didn't have the deadly condition.

But he did have Klinefelter syndrome, a more common genetic disorder that can cause boys to produce less testosterone than normal.

The family were told it wasn't life-threatening but his learning would be delayed. He would also need testosterone injections before puberty.

From then onwards, Ms Williams was deemed a high-risk pregnancy and needed a scan every two weeks.

At 34 weeks, she was induced at Burton Hospital after doctors discovered she didn't have enough amniotic fluid, putting Nate at high risk.

And this has caused the boy, who attends a special school for disabled children, to endure bullying from other youngsters (pictured with his mother, Jo, 45)

Experts are unsure how long he has left to live, forcing his family to make as many memories as possible (pictured left using his walker to get around and right in summer 2016)

Not having enough amniotic fluid can lead to infections and because Nate was so small, doctors needed to act quickly.

But two days into labour, and one centimetre dilated, she was given an emergency Caesarean section because he was becoming distressed in the womb.

Ms Williams added: 'I was just so desperately hoping our baby was going to be okay. We didn't know what to expect. Doctors thought that he might not make it.'

Born at just 34 weeks, Nate weighed a tiny 2lb 6oz and was kept in hospital for eight weeks

But when Nate was finally delivered, weighing a tiny 2lb 6oz, his cry gave his parents some hope.

Ms Williams said: 'He let out a cry and then we both started crying too. He looked so well, even though he was so small.

'But we were still very worried he wouldn't make it through the first night. Because he was so tiny, he was a high risk already.

'He was wrapped in a little blanket, with a hat on. He looked perfect. So tiny, but with his little nose and mouth he just looked like a perfect bundle to us.

'We gave him a kiss and he looked so peaceful and content.'

As his condition causes him to make less testosterone, Nate will need injections at puberty

Despite his condition, doctors are unsure why Nate looks so different to other children (pictured with his mother in 2014)

Doctors quickly transferred him to the neonatal unit, giving Ms Williams some time to think.

As she replayed Nate's birth in her mind, she started to fear something wasn't right with her newborn.

WHAT IS KLINEFELTER SYNDROME? Around one in 600 newborn boys are born with Klinefelter syndrome. The condition means sufferers are born with an extra X chromosome. This happens randomly during the formation of the egg or sperm, the extra chromosome is not inherited. Females born with an extra X chromosome, is called Triple X syndrome, which is slightly different. Adult males with the condition may not be able to produce enough testosterone, the hormone responsible for the development of male characteristics. The result is low energy and sex drive, a lack of muscle and too much body fat around the middle. Many men will live their life unaware of their chromosome variation. But in some cases, boys will reach puberty and because of a lack of testosterone, they may grow breasts, and notice their small testicles and penis and a reduced amount of facial and body hair. Source: NHS Choices Advertisement

She added: 'His fingers and the shape of his heard didn't look quite right.

'Andy didn't notice anything, but I think it must have been a mother's instinct. I was just desperate to see him.'

Sadly, her instincts were right and doctors discovered a catalogue of things wrong with Nate, including an undeveloped skull, cataracts and breathing difficulties.

Ms Williams was sent home after two days, but returned to the hospital every day to be with Nate, who was kept in for eight weeks.

But just two days after being allowed home, he was rushed back into hospital with bronchiolitis, a common lung infection in children.

After a further six weeks in hospital, doctors said he would need to be on oxygen constantly because of his situation.

Doctors are still baffled as to why Nate, who attends a school for children with disabilities, looks so different to other children.

They don't believe his appearance is related to Klinefelter syndrome.

The family have been unable to take Nate on a foreign holiday, because of the cost to insure him.

So they set up a fundraising page to raise 2,000 to take him on a cruise around the Canary Islands.

Ms Williams added: 'It would mean so much to us to take Nate on a family holiday. He's been through so much and deserves something that all other kids get.'

Anyone wanting to donate can do so here.

After finally going home, Nate was rushed back to hospital two days later with bronchiolitis
A 'master switch' in the brain could prevent Parkinson's disease, scientists have revealed.

The breakthrough could pave the way for a drug that potentially cures the condition by stopping brain cells from dying.

By turning on proteins that boost the energy of neurons, it would protect them from destruction, a study found.

A 'switch' in the brain that boosts the energy of neurons may help prevent Parkinson's disease

Researchers from the University of Leicester found that a gene known as ATF4 plays a key role in the onset of Parkinson's in fruit flies.

Acting as a switch, ATF4 helps to control the energy stations of cells - known as mitochondria - including neurons.

Study author Dr Miguel Martins said: 'When the expression of ATF4 is reduced in flies, expression of these mitochondrial genes drops.

'Interestingly, when we over expressed these mitochondrial genes in fly models of Parkinson's, mitochondrial function was reestablished and neuron loss was avoided.'



This groundbreaking discovery could help to prevent or delay Parkinson symptoms.

Dr Martins said: 'Studying the roles of genes such as ATF4 in human neurons could lead to tailored interventions that could one day prevent or delay the neuronal loss seen in Parkinson's.'

Experts say the breakthrough discovery could pave the way for new Parkinson's treatments

In the UK, Parkinson's affects one in 500 people and involves parts of the brain become progressively damaged over many years.

Although most of the 10,000 people diagnosed each year are aged over 60, one in 20 is under 40.

BLOOD TEST FOR PARKINSON'S A blood test could give doctors the first quick and simple way of diagnosing Parkinson's disease, a study suggested earlier this month. Until now, patients have had to undergo a spinal fluid test to determine whether symptoms are caused by Parkinson's. But experts at Lund University in Sweden discovered a protein in the blood which is an accurate marker of the disease. Advertisement

Figures in the US suggest that the neurological condition affects around a million adults.

The three main symptoms are involuntary shaking of particular parts of the body, slow movement and stiff and inflexible muscles.

Current drug treatments only deal with symptoms of the condition, such as tremors, but don't cure the disease or prevent it from worsening.

Most cases have no known cause although scientists suspect a mix of genetic and environmental factors.

Air pollution, traffic and pesticides used in farming may increase a person's risk of developing Parkinson's, however, this is unproven.

This comes after groundbreaking research in December found that Parkinson's disease may start in the stomach.

Scientists from California Institute of Technology found the first ever conclusive link between gut microbes and the development of Parkinson's-like movement disorders in mice.
Abigail Earnshaw had been playing with her older brother when she was struck in the face by a foam dart from a Nerf gun in January

A nine-year-old girl was hospitalised with a bleed in her eye after being shot by a Nerf gun.

Abigail Earnshaw had been playing with her older brother when she was struck in the face by one of the popular toy's foam darts.

Her terrified mother, Amanda, 42, said she heard a 'horrible, piercing scream' before rushing to her daughter's aid.

A dark patch of blood slowly formed across half of her eye, but luckily the youngster recovered and had no lasting issues.

But eye surgeons are concerned over the increasing power of foam dart guns, scared that someone could be left blind after an accident.

While Ms Earnshaw, from Harrogate, is now appealing to manufacturers to include eye goggles with every gun sold.

Hasbro, which manufacturers Nerf, makes it clear that special masks should be worn by users - but they are sold separately.

She told MailOnline: 'Obviously, like most parents, we have ground rules for the kids when it comes to playing with the foam dart guns. But as our case proved, accidents do happen.

'We took her to the walk in centre for peace of mind and I am so glad I did. But it's been a month of worry, hospital appointments and time at home.

'I would urge the manufacturers to promote safety goggles more actively and certainly as the models evolve and become more powerful they should, I believe, be encouraged to include them in the set to advocate safe fun for children.'

Doctors found that Abigail had suffered a hyphaema - a pooling or collection of blood inside the anterior chamber of the eye.

A dark patch of blood slowly formed across half of her eye, but luckily the youngster recovered and had no lasting issues

A dark patch of blood slowly formed across half of her eye, but luckily the youngster recovered and had no lasting issues

Not only is it a painful condition, but if left untreated it can cause permanent visions problems.

It covered half of her iris - the coloured part of the eye - but reduced overnight, her family claim.

Abigail was taken to a walk-in centre the day after the incident in January after she was still suffering from pain.

Direct injury to the eye can cause retinal detachment. Without prompt treatment - typically surgery - it will lead to blindness in the affected eye. Dr David Allamby, founder of London's Focus Clinic

But they immediately referred her to St James' University Hospital, Leeds, where she also spent the following Tuesday and Friday.

Overall, she required three trips to the hospital, being given emergency eye drops and diagnosed with abnormal pressure in her eye.

Doctors advised the family that Abigail should have a week off school to try and prevent further bleeding.

She had the full week off school and was told no playtimes or physical activity the following week. Abigail has since been discharged and told there is no lasting damage.

Dr David Allamby, founder of London's Focus Clinic, a vision correction centre, said: 'A projectile hitting the eye, whatever it might be, carries serious risks.

'And with foam dart guns becoming more powerful as the years go by, they pose a significant threat when it comes to eye injuries.'

Eye surgeons are concerned over the increasing power of foam dart guns, such as those made by Nerf (pictured), scared that someone could be left blind after an accident

He added that a typical rifle can shoot a dart around 75ft (23m).

Despite being made out of soft plastic or rubber, it is travelling at a speed where it can cause of a rupture of blood vessels in the iris.

It can also inflict a corneal abrasion - a scratch on the surface of the eyeball, Dr Allamby added.

A SIMILAR TALE... A post in December last year on the popular website Mumsnet - by 'user1481884115' - told an equally harrowing tale. It read: 'A few weeks ago my husband and son were playing with foam dart guns when my son accidentally caught my husband in the eye with a bullet as he bent down to pick another bullet up. 'Immediately he started screaming in agony, his eye went black with blood and he went blind. He spent the day in hospital having it checked and was told the blood vessels in the eye ball have popped, and it is bruised badly. 'The doctor said that if the bullet had hit a child's eye then they would probably be blind.' Advertisement

He said: 'While it sounds like a minor ailment, a bad tear can then result in all manner of potentially sight-threatening complications, such as corneal infections, recurrent erosion ulcers or long-term scarring of the cornea.

'In other rare cases, direct injury to the eye can cause retinal detachment. Without prompt treatment - typically surgery - it will lead to blindness in the affected eye.'

'As these sort of toys continue to grow in popularity, I'd urge all manufacturers of foam dart guns to sell their products with proper eye protectors.

'Otherwise I'd expect to see an escalation in injuries over the next 12 months.'

While most guns manufactured by popular brands such as Nerf are aimed at children aged 8 years and over, others are designed for teenagers and adults .

The Nerf Rival Blaster, costing from 20 ($25) and unveiled in 2015, fires dimpled balls rather than darts.

And the balls can exit the barrels at speeds of up to 70mph.

In a promotional video, one of the designers at Nerf said: 'We went out and talked to kids and they were looking for speed, power and accuracy.

Hasbro, which manufacturers Nerf guns, has been approached for comment.
When elderly people fall it can be potentially catastrophic for their health or even fatal.

But now a revolutionary home monitoring system can predict whether an old person will fall three weeks in advance.

While it may sound like science fiction, infra-red monitors can detect subtle changes that can foretell with a high degree of accuracy health changes that put an old person at risk of collapse.

The pioneering system which uses sensors in each room of the house allows medical personnel to intervene before a potentially lethal collapse becomes likely to happen.

A revolutionary home monitoring system can predict whether an old person will fall three weeks in advance, scientists claim

By preventing falls, the system allows old people to live longer independently for to 2.5 years longer than average  which could possibly save millions from social care bills.

The device works by measuring walking speed and length of stride of the elderly person within the home.

Experts found small changes can predict if an elderly person is becoming very frail and about to suffer a dangerous fall.

The system which is made up of several wall-based movement sensors, then automatically triggers an alert by text or email for doctors to help.

The sensors measure movement using infra-red light, and are similar to motion sensor detectors used in video games such as Kinect, on Microsoft's XBox.

A person's risk of falling goes up more than four times if their walking speed slows.

Researchers found pensioners had an 86 per cent chance of falling within three weeks if it decreased by 5.1cm per second

By comparison it was 20 per cent in those with no changes.

A drop in stride length of 7.6cm predicted a 51 per cent chance of OAPs collapsing.

US scientists developed the technology to help elderly residents live independently for longer.

By preventing falls, the system allows old people to live longer independently for to 2.5 years longer than average, experts say

Falls are one of the main causes of broken hips in the UK and can reveal undiagnosed health problems.

One in three pensioners has fallen at least once in the past year  with a cost to the NHS of around 2.36billion a year

And they cost the NHS 2.3 billion a year.

Lead researcher Professor Marjorie Skubic, from the University of Missouri discussed the system at the American Association for the Advancement of Science' s annual meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.

HOW DO THE SENSORS WORK? The device, created at the University of Missouri, works by measuring walking speed and length of stride of the elderly person within the home. Made up of several wall-based movement sensors, the system then automatically triggers an alert by text or email for doctors to help. Sensors measure movement using infra-red light, and are similar to motion sensor detectors used in video games such as Kinect, on Microsoft's XBox. Advertisement

She devised the system after her mother-in-law suffered a bad fall and damaged her shoulder.

At present, most interventions to help stop elderly people falling happen after the event.

She said: 'It doesn't have to be that way. If you ask people where they want to age, they say they want to age in their own home. They do not want to move.'

And keeping people in their own homes is much cheaper than having to house them in a fully-staffed home.

Professor Skubic used the system to help 23 OAPs with an average age of 85.

It helped them remain independent for twice as long as those living in other settings.

Those monitored by the technology stayed in their own home for an average of 4.3 years, compared to 1.8 years elsewhere, an extra 2.5 years of independent living.

Researchers say elderly people find that they make them feel safer, and soon forget they are there.

As well as predicting falls, the system can detect when falls occur.
It's one of the most profitable drugs in America that is supposed to treat depression.

But hundreds of users claim it has driven them to binge on gambling, sex, food and shopping.

Abilify, the antipsychotic drug, has been accused in hundreds of lawsuits for causing compulsive behavior, especially gambling.

And now patients are demanding answers from the makers and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), accusing them of hiding the 'life-ruining' side effects.

The anti-psychotic drug Abilify is at the center of hundreds of lawsuits accusing the drug of dangerous side effects including binging on gambling, eating, sex, and shopping

A woman, who spoke to FOX31 on the condition of anonymity, was prescribed Abilify for depression in 2008. She said things took a downward spiral soon afterwards.

'Eventually, I was asked to leave my parents' house because I couldn't stop gambling,' she said.

The mother-of-two ended up losing custody of her kids and possession of her house to her gambling habit.

Living in Las Vegas at the time, the woman said she never was tempted to gamble until she started taking the drug.

One time she missed two flights while gambling at the city's airport - McCarran International.

'I had to reschedule the first flight I missed and then I went back to the machine waiting for the second flight and I ended up missing that as well,' she said.

She estimates her gambling habit cost her between $1 million and $2 million in less than five years.

Attorney Mike McDivitt is representing nearly 200 clients in cases against Bristol-Myers Squibb and Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, the makers of Abilify.

He believes the drug acts on the brain's dopamine receptors, which crave pleasure. Gambling, shopping, overeating and hyper-sexuality can fulfill these needs.

'Individuals have uncontrollable urges. If you don't put a warning label, the doctors are more inclined to prescribe it,' he told FOX31.

The former patient admitted she even engaged in prostitution, something she says she's not proud of it.

'I [also] gained about 70 pounds and then lost it subsequently after stopping Abilify,' she said.

WHAT IS ABILIFY? Abilify (aripiprazole) is an antipsychotic medication. It works by changing the actions of chemicals in the brain. It is used to treat the symptoms of psychotic conditions such as schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder. In 2016, the FDA issued a warning 'that compulsive or uncontrollable urges to gamble, binge eat, shop, and have sex have been reported with the use of the antipsychotic drug aripiprazole (Abilify, Abilify Maintena, Aristada, and generics)'. In Europe, complusivity warnings were issued as early as 2012. The drug is now at the center of hundreds of lawsuits alleging that the makers and the FDA did not do enough to issue warnings. Abilify is the second best-selling drug in the US, pulling in $7.8 billion each year. The FDA said in 2015 that 1.6 million Americans used Abilify or a related aripiprazole drug. It secures 8.7 million prescriptions a year. Advertisement

In 2002, the FDA approved Abilify for treating schizophrenia. Over time, approval was expanded to also treat bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder irritability associated with autism, and Tourette's disorder.

The former patient said she only got better after moving to Colorado in 2012. Her new doctor refused to prescribe Abilify.

In May 2016, the FDA issued a safety announcement, 'warning that compulsive or uncontrollable urges to gamble, binge eat, shop, and have sex have been reported with the use of the antipsychotic drug aripiprazole (Abilify, Abilify Maintena, Aristada, and generics).

'These uncontrollable urges were reported to have stopped when the medicine was discontinued or the dose was reduced.'

'If it ruins your life. That's a pretty bad side effect,' Gary Wilson, a Minneapolis-based attorney who has Abilify clients nationwide, told FOX31.

He also added that Europe issued compulsive behavior warnings about Abilify as early as 2012.

'That is the tragedy here. The American patients did not learn about the connection between gambling and compulsivity until almost four years after the European patients did,' Wilson said.

The former patient says the makers of Abilify should have put out a warning years ago, long before she gambled her life away.

'It's not the money for me,' she said.

'It's the time that I lost with my children, it's the time that I lost with my parents, it's the time that I devalued myself and lost my soul.'

Other side effects have been reported including heartburn, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain, blurred vision and even stroke in the elderly.

The FDA said in 2015 that 1.6 million Americans used Abilify or a related aripiprazole drug. It secures 8.7 million prescriptions a year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb in the US and Otsuka Pharmaceuticals in Japan said they have no comment on the reported side effects of the drug.
Amid charges of manipulations in the field trials, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has formed a committee to probe the allegations concerning the procurement of anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) from Israel.

The deal is expected to be worth over Rs 4,000 crore for the buying of third generation ATGMs from an Israeli firm. However, the weaponry has been in the making since 2009 and has been delayed many a times due to various reasons.

'There were allegations that some manipulations had taken place when the Israeli ATGM was going through trials.

Defence minister Manohar Parrikar has formed a committee to probe the allegations concerning the procurement of anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) from Israel

'The defence minister has formed a committee to probe the charges and it will submit its report shortly to him,' senior government sources told Mail Today here.

When asked about Parrikar's decision to form the committee, Army sources said they were not aware of the developments.

The Israeli firm has claimed to have maintained total transparency and probity in the whole tendering process.

Sources said there have been allegations that the there is a mismatch between the actual performance of the Israeli missile in the trial process and the report which was filed by the officials later.

The missile was put to trials in all the possible terrains in Indian conditions including the high-altitude areas, plains and deserts.

Earlier also, there were complaints which suggested that the main issue with the report is about the trials done in desert conditions.

At the time of the initiation of the deal, American firms were also in the race to supply the third-generation anti-tank missiles but were not considered while taking a final decision as they were not ready for sharing the full technology of the missiles.

An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) blasting off (picture for representation only)

The Army has plans of buying over 270 antitank guided missile systems with over 8,350 missiles which will have a range of over 2.5- km and fire-and-forget capabilities.

The missile system would be used to equip all its 382 infantry battalions and 44 mechanised infantry units.

The deal also includes a technology transfer to India's state-owned Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) to build another 1,500 systems and around 30,000 additional missiles in the future as the Army increases its induction.

After the NDA government gave a 'go-ahead' to the project after coming to power in 2014, there have also been issues related to contract negotiations between the two sides.

If the deal is signed, the deliveries will take 48-60 months to commence after which the BDL would come into play.

At present, infantry units are making do with second-generation Milan (2-km range) and Konkurs (4-km range) ATGMs, produced by BDL under licence from French and Russian companies, which are wire-guided and do not have fire-and-forget capabilities.

Overall, the Army is sanctioned to keep over 81,000 different kinds of ATGMs, which are critical to stem enemy armoured attacks, but does not have even half of that number in its inventory due to delays in the procurement of new systems.
Anubhav Mittal, the man behind one of India's biggest internet scams in recent years was a genius mathematician who narrowly missed out on his dream of making it to an IIT.

According to the investigating officer in the Ponzi scam, Mittal was the All-India topper in the math section of the Joint Entrance Exam but was unable to secure admission due to a low chemistry score.

From here, started his journey towards building the biggest ponzi scheme in the country, and now stands accused of swindling Rs 3,700 crore from over 6.5 lakh people across India.

The two accused Anubhav Mittal and Sridhar Prasad were arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) for an online trading scam worth over Rs. 3,700 crore in which around 6.5 lakh people were cheated

After failing to make it to the premier engineering institution, Mittal took admission in Skyline Institute of Engineering & Technology in Greater Noida.

Sunny Leone was among the celebrities at Mittal's launch, an STF officer said

'It was here where he started weaving a web of his multi-level marketing business. While studying in the college he floated his company and his hostel room was first office from where he developed software,' said a senior officer investigating the case.

The officer claims that the initial years didn't bring him much money and he lived a fairly ordinary lifestyle.

But dreaming big, he started studying up on all the multi-level marketing business including Speak Asia, an online survey marketing company which sold web subscriptions, also now facing legal action.

'Mittal examined the business model and tried to fix it in his own venture. In 2015, he hit gold when he came up with the idea of 'online barter system' and a web address, socialtrade.biz.

Later to cover-up his ponzi scheme, Mittal brought the idea of 'trade in likes' to the investors.

At no point he thought he will be caught and was in process of launching a merchandise company as its online retail venture and a social media networking platform,' the officer said.

A large group of people gathered at Jantar Mantar to protest against his arrest and demanded his release immediately

Cops claim that Mittal was confident about his business model but failed as he lacked legal advice. They said that the 26-year-old may not have realised the severity of his fraud as he dealt in thousands of crores.

Officers said that the company did not maintain proper book of accounts. When officials running his companies were questioned, they revealed that they cannot say how much money came into the companies.

They could also not disclose profit or loss made by the companies. Nor did they have any information about any outstanding loans.

Modest

Mittal had lived a modest life till 2015 but soon money started flowing in and his personal wealth grew exponentially. He owns three luxury sedans including an Audi.

He also bought a lavish villa in Greater Noida and also owned a commercial property worth Rs 7 crore in Connaught Place in Delhi.

Police are still examining his wealth and bank accounts. Officials say he had started withdrawing money from the accounts in 2016 when the number of his investors had increased.

Pictures of Mittal with bollywood celebrities like Sunny Leone and Amish Patel went viral on the social media but Mittal only roped them for promotion of his business and attract more investors.

Investigators claim that it took Mittal more than five years to become what he is today, a conman for officials and a Robin Hood for his investors.

His social media pages filled with inspirational messages.

For his fellow-students at a private engineering college, he was Phunsukh Wangdu, a genius fictional character played by Aamir Khan's in 3 Idiots.
For the first time in the Supreme Court the Modi government has opposed the triple talaq practice on the grounds of gender equality, secularism and binding international covenants.

Triple talaq is a controversial law that allows Muslim men to divorce their wives by saying 'I divorce you' three times. The practice is banned in Muslim majority countries Pakistan and Bangladesh, but not in India

The Centre framed a number of questions for the Supreme Court's consideration on the issue:

Triple talaq is a controversial law that allows Muslim men to divorce their wives by saying 'I divorce you' three times

Firstly, 'are the practices of talaqe-biddat, nikah halala and polygamy protected under Article 25(1) of the Constitution of India?'

And, 'are they compatible with India's obligations under International treaties and covenants to which India is a signatory?'

A bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar said these 'were constitutional issues of very significance and needed to be considered'.

The apex court was hearing a batch of petitions filed by aggrieved women and and one of them taken suo motu (by Supreme Court) by itself on the contentious issue and recurring complaints of gender discrimination suffered by Muslim women due to the practices of triple talaq and polygamy.

This is the second time that the government is opposing the practices in writing.

Earlier, in an affidavit the government said there is no reason that women in India should be denied their Constitutional rights when 'Muslim countries where Islam is the state religion have undergone extensive reform' in this sphere.

'The fact that Muslim countries where Islam is the state religion have undergone extensive reform goes to establish that the practices in question cannot be regarded as integral to the practice of Islam or essential religious practices.

'Secularism being a hallmark of Indian democracy, no part of its citizenry ought to be denied access to fundamental rights, much less can any section of a secular society be worse off than its counterparts in theocratic countries, many of which have undergone reform,' the government's affidavit said.

A man in West Bengal raises a sign against the ban on triple talaq: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board decided to oppose Union Governments initiative against the triple talaq and the imposition of Uniform Civil Code in the country.

The Centre argued that triple talaq is 'misplaced' in a secular country like India.

Meanwhile, the court asked all sides, including aggrieved women petitioners, Centre, All India Muslim Personal Board and women rights bodies to submit written submissions by March 30 on the issue of triple talaq, polygamy and nikah halala.

The bench said a detailed hearing of petitions challenging the validity of the practices will commence from May 11.

'It is such an important issue...we cannot rush through..it will take time..there are so many nuances to it and we have to consider each one of them,' the bench said.

Strongly defending the practice, AIMPLB said the Constitution does not touch upon the personal laws and therefore the SC cannot examine the question of constitutional validity of the practices of marriage, divorce and maintenance in Muslim personal law.

The Centre has argued that triple talaq is 'misplaced' in a secular country like India




BSP supremo Mayawati

With the second phase of voting over in 67 assembly constituencies across 11 districts of Uttar Pradesh, speculation has started on which party will be victorious once the votes are counted.

So far, the appeal made by Muslim clerics - the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid in Delhi and Maulana Kalbe Jawad, besides the AMU Students Union, in favour of the BSP, appears to have been a boon for the BJP.

Even those Muslims, who were angry with the BSP, were seen voting in favour of the party, giving the BJP an added advantage against the SP-Congress coalition.

At present, the local leaders of all parties are busy assessing the situation and speculating about the results on March 11.

Social activist Vijay Upadhyay told India Today that after the second phase of elections, the BJP camp in the Braj region is overjoyed while the faces of the supporters of other parties clearly indicate that the first phase of polling didn't go in their favour.

Upadhyay said that at the beginning of the election process, the BJP was worried that the business community, which is the traditional vote bank of the party, was angry with the party due to demonetisation as Modi's step had adversely affected the businesses, but after the first phase of polls, this fear has evaporated and the party workers are filled with energy, confident of their victory.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves at an election campaign rally at Barabanki district

The way, RLD created distance from the SP-Congress alliance, made the Jat community angry and probably keeping this anger in mind, the BJP's star campaigners had begun polarising the Hindu voters towards the party, a week before the elections.

Akhilesh Yadav launched his bid to retain power in Uttar Pradesh, one of India's poorest and most populous states, in one of the most spectacular buses South Asia has ever seen

Not just that, the BJP's manifesto had also tried to gain the female votes by promising to setup 'anti-romeo' squads, which was also publicised as an anti-Muslim move by a section of the media, polarising more Hindu votes towards the BJP.

PM Modi himself, as well as the BJP president Amit Shah made eve-teasing an issue in their public rallies, which resulted in a lot of voters, who were angry with the BJP post-demonetisation, returning to the party, creating an almost unipolar Hindu vote-bank in the party's favour.

The appeal made by the Muslim clerics in favour of the BSP also helped in this polarisation of Hindu votes.

Similarly, the large number of Muslim candidates fielded by both the SP and the BSP became a major issue for the Hindu voters, many of whom voted for BJP in protest of the fielding of so many Muslim candidates.

Most of the Jat voters in Agra, Aligarh, Meerut and Saharanpur regions had forgotten their anger against the BJP by the time they reached the polling booths and cast their votes in favour of the BJP, although quite a few of them also voted for the RLD, but that did not make a very big dent in the BJP's vote base.

The first phase of polling also showed that despite BSP Supremo Mayawati's efforts, the Muslim voters did not vote enmasse for the BSP and major section of the Muslims were still leaning towards the SP-Congress coalition.

In quite a surprising development, quite a number of BSP candidates were also successful in getting Dalit votes, which rings alarm bells for the future of BSP although it remains to be seen which way the political breeze blows in the remaining six phases of elections.
It has been a very rewarding trading week for investors in Aussie-focused Falcon Oil & Gas with shares up over 150% in that period.

The reason? Falcon finally provided a clue as to what lies beneath the surface of its acreage in Northern Territorys Beetaloo Basin.

The numbers are big, really big. Citing a report produced by Origin Energy, its partner in and operator of 16,000-square kilometres of licences, the gross best estimate of gas in place is put at a world-class 496 trillion cubic feet (TCF).

Flying high: Falcon believes the Northern Territory has more in its rock than red sandstone.

Converting that to oil equivalent, it stacks up to 82bn barrels of the black sticky stuff.

Now before the bunting is rolled out and chief executive Philip OQuigley and the Falcon team are carried shoulder-high through the City of London, there is the small matter of a drilling moratorium in Northern Territory.

An inquiry is currently taking place into hydraulic fracking. However the scale of the discovery is likely to crystalise the thinking of the lawmakers of Northern Territory.

Falcon brought in Origin and South Africas Sasol as part of a shrewd deal that will see it carried through US$200mln of drilling while still retaining a 30% stake in the Beetaloo licence.

Falcon is one of three juniors sitting on some fairly big discoveries.

Sound Energy (up 430% in the last year) has found dial-moving accumulations of gas in Morocco, while Hurricane Energy (up 440%) has uncovered a new oil play that could transform the fortunes of the UKs offshore oil industry.

The one thing is rarely discussed is the potential challenges faced by this trio of companies. While Falcon has two international oil companies helping with the exploration effort, the other two will require partners with deep pockets to really make the most of what they have found. This is just the start of the journey for all three.

And remember size isnt always a guarantee of success. Just look at how punters favourites Xcite Energy and Gulf Keystone Petroleum struggled after apparently hitting the oily mother lode.

The financial burden of developing the assets sunk Xcite and brought GKP very close to the brink when the oil price collapsed.

Hurricane's new discovery could transform the fortunes of the UKs offshore oil industry.

Looking at the wider market, growth companies outperformed the blue-chips over the last week with the AIM All Share up 0.8% compared with an almost static FTSE 100. The small-cap index has enjoyed a decent start to the year as it has advanced 7.5% in just six weeks.

It would seem to be a death by a thousand cuts for investors in Strat Aero, the drones specialist which chose Valentines Day to share the love with investors by issuing more equity.

That appears to have gone down about as well as my bunch of garage-bought flowers did with my significant other. Anyhoo, I digress.

The stock fell a further 36% in the wake of the 850,000 cash call and is down 97% in the past year.

Readers of this column will know 2016 was a truly dreadful chapter in the Strat Aeros short corporate history. The problem is, 2017 doesnt appear to have begun in any better.

Kiss of death: drones specialist Strat Aero issued more equity on Valentine's Day only to see its share price fall by a further 36%.

Dispute resolution specialist Driver Group was in the dog-house as it too pushed through a City fundraiser while unveiling a loss.

Finally it has been a decent week for Chaarat Gold, whose stock advanced more than 50%. The catalyst for the movement was the very positive noises coming from the upper echelons of government of the Kyrgyz Republic, home of the companys mine development.

The company owns the Chaarat Project, host to a resource of over 7mln ounces of the precious metal, with a reserve of nearly 5 mln ounces.

Now financing an undertaking of that scale is a huge undertaking, so the AIM-listed business plans to build a low cost gold mine, starting with a smaller operation and then scale up.

The bankable feasibility currently underway at the Tulkubash project, part of the wider Chaarat gold property, is scheduled for completion by the end of the first half and it will be a precursor to finding debt finance.

At this stage the idea is to mine around 20mln ounces of ore to produce 800,000 of gold over the life of this starter pit.

The current thinking is that finance for construction could be put in place by the end of the third quarter of 2017, and that first production could then take place around 2019. Well-known mining specialist merchant bank Endeavour Financial has been appointed to help advise on financing options.
Lloyd's job? Moneysupermarket chairman Bruce Carnegie-Brown

A puff of white smoke over at Lloyd's of London.

The insurance giant's new chairman, I am informed, will be Moneysupermarket's Bruce Carnegie-Brown.

Father-of-four Bruce, 57, former boss of insurers Marsh & McLennan, will replace John Nelson who stands down in May.

Enough time for thirsty Lloyd's workers, frothing at the gills over the company's recent lunchtime booze ban, to have calmed down.

Private equity doyenne Dominique Senequier, 63, elegant founder of French investment firm Ardian, is adamant Paris will not replace London as a financial centre after Brexit.

She says: 'French people are less financially minded. I am not afraid to say that because I say it very regularly.

'We have many other things. We are very good cooks.'

Quite so. I'm told City firms gave the French government's recent attempts to woo them a comprehensive nul points.

Glossy-maned BT boss Gavin Patterson, still tottering after a 530million accountancy black hole recently sent the firm's share price crashing, will give the Marketing Society's annual lecture on March 29.

For those willing to fork out 150 for a ticket, Patterson 'will talk openly about his career and life as head of one of the world's largest communications companies'. Riveting stuff.

Let's hope that 5.4million a-year Gav, 49, is still around by then.

Geeky-looking Google boss Sundar Pichai surprised British schoolgirl, seven-year-old Chloe Bridgewater, by responding to a charming note that she wrote to him inquiring after a job.

Pichai, 44, who earned 159million last year, advised: 'If you keep working hard and following your dreams, you can accomplish everything you set your mind to  from working at Google to swimming at the Olympics.'

No handy pointers offered on how to get away with paying peanuts in UK taxes as Google manages to do, more's the pity.

Gruesome twosome alert. I'm hearing one of the City's foremost movers and shakers has been canoodling with a well-known presenter.

Busy boy, this one. Might be time for his wife's divorce lawyers to get their silks on.
Board members at insurer Beazley cashed in almost 4.9million of shares after a recent surge in the stock.

Five executives at the firm sold share options, offloading more than 1.2m shares in the business, in total.

Chief executive of the insurance firm Andrew Horton sold 352,527 shares at an average price of 424p each, totalling almost 1.5million.

His colleagues Neil Maidment, chief underwriting officer, and Clive Washbourn, head of marine, each sold 236,928 shares.

Some of the shares were part of a deferred share award scheme while the rest were part of the company's long-term incentive plan.

Windfall: Insurer Beazley has surged 10 per cent so far this year allowing board members to cash in

Beazley soared earlier this month after a confident update where it announced plans to expand in the US and Canada and to hire more staff in Ireland. The stock is up almost 10 per cent so far this year.

Yesterday shares edged up 0.5 per cent, or 2.3p, to 427.6p.

The FTSE 100 finished down 0.3 per cent, or 24.49 points, at 7277.92.

Challenger banks were in focus as Panmure Gordon gave its thoughts on the sector.

The stockbroker said that specialist lenders were in a sweet spot as large banks focused on cost cutting.

Some of the upstart banks have been shunned since the Brexit vote amid fears that the economy will slow down and concerns that the new stamp duty levy on second homes would hit lending.

STOCK WATCH - SIMIGON SimiGon slipped as it revealed contract delays meant it would not meet market expectations for the year. The business, which provides simulation training technology, said revenue for the year should be around 4.8million with pre-tax profit of 240,000. SimiGon said it was optimistic it would meet forecasts for the year and blamed performance on circumstances beyond its control. It has taken on more work for clients but not received the revenue for it. Shares tumbled 2.5 per cent, or 0.5p, to 19.75p.

But Panmure points out that smaller lenders only need tiny market share gains to significantly boost their assets.

Its favourite stock in the sector is Shawbrook, which it said was the most specialised of the smaller lenders.

The bank focuses on small and medium-sized businesses. Shares yesterday jumped 2.3 per cent, or 6p, to 266p.

Panmure put a 'buy' rating on Virgin Money, which it said was the truest challenger as its business most closely resembled high street banks. Virgin shares were off 1.6 per cent, or 5.7p, to 342.3p.

The broker has a 'sell' rating on CYBG (down 2.9 per cent, or 8.3p, to 278.1p), which it said was reminiscent of the low growth and continual restructuring costs at large banks, and Metro Bank (down 1.7 per cent, or 64p, to 3605p) which looked overvalued.

BHP Billiton slipped as it announced non-executive director Pat Davies had stepped down from the board.

Davies will leave on April 6 to focus on his family business and pursue other interests. He has been on the board since 2012.

Grant King will join as non-executive director from March 1. The 62-year-old was chief executive at Australian energy retailer Origin Energy from 2000 until last year as is president of the Business Council of Australia. BHP shares lost 0.4 per cent, or 6p, to 1414p.

Custodian REIT edged up after it sold a pub in Portsmouth. The building is let to JD Wetherspoon on a lease which runs until 2040.

Custodian has offloaded the site for 1.7million, some 200,000 more than it was valued at the end of the year. The real estate investment trust first bought the pub as part of a portfolio in August 2014.

It said it would use the proceeds to fund new acquisitions better suited to its long-term investment strategy. Shares climbed 0.5 per cent, or 0.5p, to 109.75p.

Another real estate investor also climbed after announcing a sale.

McKay Securities has offloaded Pinehurst Park in Farnborough, Hampshire, for 5.9million.

The group bought it in 2012 for 3.5million, selling part of it a year later for 1.2million after obtaining planning consent to allow homes to be built on the site.

This latest sale sees McKay dispose of the rest of its stake in the site  an office building which is let to IBM for 750,000 a year.

McKay would have made a total of 6.4million from the two sales  a return of 72 per cent on total costs. Shares nudged up 0.2 per cent, or 0.38p, to 204.38p.
The French firm planning to take control of British car maker Vauxhall has slashed more than 15,000 jobs in the last three years  and doubled its boss's pay.

Peugeot and Citroen owner PSA Group is in talks to buy the European arm of General Motors (GM)  including Vauxhall in the UK and Opel on the Continent.

The row over the takeover escalated last night as Business Secretary Greg Clark headed to Paris for crisis talks with French ministers and Peugeot chiefs. Clark was yesterday under mounting pressure to safeguard British jobs.

It is feared the deal will result in the closure of the Vauxhall plants at Ellesmere Port in Cheshire and Luton in Bedfordshire.

Ruthless: Peugeot boss Carlos Tavares earned 4.5m after cutting costs and slashing thousands of jobs

Experts said PSA chief executive Carlos Tavares  who has a reputation for ruthless cuts  would have 'little choice' but to shut UK factories to make the takeover work.

The French firm closed its last British factory  the Peugeot plant in Ryton, Warwickshire  in 2006 with the loss of more than 2,000 jobs.

It has since axed 15,559 jobs in its automotive division between 2013 and 2015  with many of the job losses coming under Tavares, 58.

He took over at PSA in 2014 as it faced ruin and has won praise for turning one of France's biggest manufacturers around.

FACTFILE: CARLOS TAVARES Carlos Tavares, 58, earns 4.5m as the boss of Peugeot and Citroen owner PSA group

Tavares collects classic cars and owns a 1979 Peugeot 504 V6 Coupe, a 1976 Alpine A110, and a 1966 Porsche 912

He once drove the four-day, 2,000km Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique across southern France, finishing 64th out of 300

PSA employs 182,000 people, including more than 95,000 in its automotive division

The Citroen part of the business is run by British businesswoman Linda Jackson, who was appointed in 2014

The latest figures from the company show staff numbers in its automotive division fell from 111,228 in 2013 to 95,669 in 2015.

It is understood there were further job cuts during 2016.

Tavares was criticised after his pay nearly doubled in 2015 to 4.5million.

France's ex-prime minister Manuel Valls said it did 'not correspond to the reality of the employees of this great company'.

British ministers are now under pressure over the new deal.

Vauxhall has 1,830 staff at Ellesmere Port and 1,530 in Luton. John Colley, a professor at Warwick Business School, said: 'Tavares has little choice but to close Ellesmere Port and Luton to make the Opel acquisition work.

The cost of closing the high-cost German plants will be at least triple that of the UK plants.

'Not only will they have to placate the powerful German unions but redundancy costs are around three times the level of the UK.'

Business Secretary Clark held talks with GM president Dan Ammann and Unite union boss Len McCluskey yesterday and said he was 'reassured by GM's intention to build on the success of these operations rather than rationalise them'  even though GM is in talks to sell the plants.
Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector

STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH

SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces

There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS

There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur

EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol  Armenia and Azerbaijan  to do so without delay

An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".

UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

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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
Brexit boost: Leading economists have more than tripled their growth forecasts for the UK

Leading economists have more than tripled their growth forecasts for the UK this year in a stunning admission they were wildly wrong about the impact of Brexit.

The average forecast for growth in 2017 was slashed to just 0.5 per cent in July but that has now been raised to 1.6 per cent by the economists monitored by the Treasury.

Bankers Nomura predicted a 1.3 per cent slump in output this year but now expects 1.8 per cent growth.

The Bank of England thinks output in the UK will rise by 2 per cent  six months ago it forecast 0.8 per cent growth.

Leading Brexit campaigner John Longworth said the revisions recognised Britain was on the way to a bright post-Brexit future.
The moment King of Swaziland caught minister under love-cheat wife's bed



The polygamous king of Swaziland has fired his justice minister after the politician was caught red-handed having an affair with one of the kings 14 wives.

King Mswati III acted after pictures emerged of his minister Ndumiso Mamba hiding in the base of his adulterous wifes bed.

The astonishing images show security officials standing around the upturned bed looking down at the forlorn minister.

Rumours that King Mswati III's twelfth wife, 22-year-old Nothando Dube  a former Miss Teen Swaziland  had been having an affair have circulated inside the country for weeks.

Caught red-handed: The moment Swaziland's former justice minister Ndumiso Mamba was caught by state security agents holed up in a hotel room with King Mswati III's 12th wife, Nothando Dube Now what? As security officials move around him the Justice Minister emerges out from the base of the bed While local media are banned from reporting the scandal, it was widely rumoured that Mrs Dube liked to disguise herself as a soldier in order to sneak out of the royal palace and meet her lover undetected. The 42-year-old monarch of the small African stateis an enthusiastic practitioner of the tribal tradition of polygamy. He famously chooses a new bride each year at a traditional reed dance in which all the impoverished countrys unmarried young girls are paraded in front of the monarch.

Cuckolded: King Mswati III has placed Nothando Dube (pictured) under house arrest and fired his justice minister

Jailed: Ndumiso Mamba

Last week, police raided the exclusive Royal Villas hotel just seven miles from the palace on the outskirts of the Swazi administrative capital Mbabane. They discovered Mr Mamba hiding inside the base of the queens double bed.

At a five-minute long press conference last week, the countrys Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini announced Mambas resignation as minister and senator.

The Prime Minister gave scant details, explaining only that Mamba had resigned 'following certain allegations circulating in the country'.

Mr Mamba, who is incarcerated, is likely to spend a lengthy period in prison for his actions. Mrs Dube, who has born the king two children, will spend the rest of her life under 24-hour surveillance while living with the kings mother.

King Mswati III, who has at least 23 children, has been heavily criticised by human rights groups as a luxury-loving dictator who runs the country of a million people as a personal fiefdom.

Sandwiched between South Africa and Mozambique, Swaziland won independence from Britain in 1968 but has been without a constitution since 1973. Political parties are banned, it is the king who appoints the government.

Experts on the political situation inside the country said that the King hesitated before firing Mr Mamba, as the two men  who have been friends since childhood  have collaborated on numerous business deals.

'Mamba knows too much, so Mswati has to find a way of dealing with this,' one expert said. 'If he flees into exile with the royal secrets, that would be a major problem for Mswati.'

Mrs Dube is not the first of King Mswatis wives to wander. In 2004 two other wives fled the country to London as rumours of their alleged infidelity spread across the country.

High chieftain: Mswati III rules as an absolute monarch and enjoys lavish parties
Mr Kaba (left), 24, was allegedly part of a group of five men who went to a Notting Hill Carnival after-party (inset) in east London in the early hours of August 30. They are suspected of conspiring to murder a 23-year-old rival who was shot on the dance floor at the Oval Space nightclub in Cambridge Heath. The victim was chased out of the nightclub and shot twice by a gunman before being taken to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. He was treated for gunshot wounds to both legs, but survived the attack. The four men appeared at Thames Magistrates Court on October 28 charged with conspiracy to murder. The newspaper reported that the prosecution will allege Mr Kaba helped plot the attack and was present at the incident. Mr Kaba, who died in Streatham Hill (right), south London, on September 5, was being followed by an unmarked police car with no lights or sirens turned on in the minutes before the shooting, Inner South London Coroner's Court was told last month.
Rev Jonathan Blake has been found guilty of four counts of breaching a restraining order

A controversial Archbishop has been found guilty of breaching a restraining order after posting 'unwanted' and 'abusive' messages.

Rev Jonathan Blake, 60, who conducted the wedding of tragic Big Brother star Jade Goody, was found guilty of four counts of restraining the order.

The original restraining order has since been lifted but he was still convicted of breaching it while it was in place.

He presided over the wedding of popular celebrity Jade Goody to partner Jack Tweed in 2009 in Essex when she was terminally ill with cervical cancer.

But on Monday he was sentenced to 100 hours community service, ordered to pay 1,000 in costs and issued with a new restraining order after a police investigation.

Blake, who is Archbishop of The Open Episcopal Church set up in 2001, harassed two complainants for several years by bombarding them with abusive messages.

Police say he ignored repeated requests to stop contacting them and so they reported the harassment to the police on May 1 2015.

Blake was issued with a restraining order from Bromley Magistrates' Court on December 9, 2015, but he breached it.

He was first arrested for breaching the order on March 4, 2016, and subsequently charged on June 17, 2016.

But Blake, from Welling, Kent, continued to breach the Restraining Order and was arrested again on July 28 2016. He was charged later that day.

Detective Constable Anna Brown, from Greenwich CID, said: 'Blake has caused his victims years of embarrassment by harassing them and then posting messages about them online.

'He also caused them great distress by posting abusive and humiliating posts online.

Rev Jonathan Blake, 60, conducted the wedding of tragic Big Brother star Jade Goody to Jack Tweed in 2009 in Essex (pictured

In 2001 he conducted the first gay marriage on live television on ITV's This Morning show presented by Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan

'He has shown no remorse and continues to deny any wrong doing. I am pleased with the jury's decision. I hope Blake will reflect upon his actions and think about the harm he has caused his two victims.

'I'd like to praise them for their courage in coming forward and greatly assisting police with our investigation. I hope the verdict and restraining order gives them the security and peace of mind they need for the future.'

He was sentenced to 100 hours community service, ordered to pay 1,000 in costs and issued with a new restraining order

Blake was found guilty of four counts of breach of restraining order at Woolwich Crown Court, south east London, on Monday, 13 February.

Blake broke away from the Church of England in 1994 - when he was serving as a vicar in Kent - to set up an independent church.

In 2001 he conducted the first gay marriage on live television on ITV's This Morning show presented by Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan.

As well as being the priest at Jade Goody's wedding, he also said prayers at her wake after she passed away.

In a blog post on his website, Blake today said that he will be appealing against his conviction.

He said: 'I have prepared papers applying for permission to appeal that I will lodge at the court today.'

He added that due to the 'restraining order and because of the reporting restrictions' he is unable to comment anymore.
A man who began an anti-crime group in response to Melbourne's gang crisis broke down during a live interview on Friday.

Hayden Bradford started Protect Victoria on Facebook on Wednesday night in response to the city's youth crime epidemic and the rise of gangs such as Apex.

On Friday, an emotional Mr Bradford told Channel Nine's Today program he wanted the government to do more to prevent gang activity.

'We're in real trouble in this city and in the state of Victoria,' he said, fighting back tears.

Mr Bradford began Protect Victoria, an anti-crime group, on Facebook on Wednesday night in response to an increase in gang activity, specifically members of the Apex gang (pictured)

'And the current government - the Daniel Andrews government - will not do a God damn thing to protect us. We're hurting here, we're grieving. We are worried about the future of our children.'

Mr Bradford added: 'We want to convince the government of Victoria that we actually have a problem with crime in Melbourne.

'We are a peaceful group. We're certainly not a violent group. We're not a neo-Nazi, right-wing - beat people up-type group. That's not our style.'

By Friday morning the group had accumulated over 400 members, a handful of which said they had been victims of gangs and were too scared to walk around their own suburbs.

On Friday, an emotional Mr Bradford told Channel Nine's Today program he wanted the government to do more to prevent gang activity

Mr Bradford (pictured) has created a neighbourhood watch group to protect Melbourne's communities after an increase in carjackings and home invasions by gangs in the past two years

It was a stampede of up to 70 youths at Melbourne's Summersault festival (pictured) on Saturday night that was the last straw, Mr Bradford said

Mr Bradford, who was in the Army before becoming a share market investor, told Daily Mail Australia Protect Victoria is not a political, racist or hate group, but simply wants to bring the crime rate to the attention of the state's government and encourage harsher punishments.

Mr Bradford said to his knowledge there are about 2,300 vigilantes already patrolling the streets of Melbourne on a regular basis, so Protect Victoria will work on the problem from another side.

They plan on holding peaceful protests and lobbying the state and federal governments for a change to criminal laws  inflicting longer sentences and releasing fewer people on bail.

'It's carnage down here and the judicial system is an absolute sham,' he said.

'These gangs now have no fear of the police, they have no fear of our judicial system and no fear of jail.'

'In 2014 we were having the odd home invasion, the odd carjacking  terrible stuff, but it wasn't happening daily like it is now.'

'The last six months in Victoria were still seeing lots of them, but now we're seeing bigger gangs operating.'

Mr Bradford claims Victoria police have been instructed not to arrest members of the ethnic gangs for fear of being accused of racial profiling

It was a stampede of up to 70 youths at Melbourne's Summersault festival on Saturday night that was the last straw, Mr Bradford said.

The large group stormed through the festival field as the fireworks began at 10pm and snatched phones from spectators.

Mr Bradford claims Victoria police have been instructed not to arrest members of the ethnic gangs for fear of being accused of racial profiling.

'Police aren't allowed to grab these punks unless they see them committing a crime and if they do, nine times out of 10 the punks will get bail,' he claimed.

Mr Bradford said Protect Victoria already has a diverse membership and he has turned down requests from right-wing activists.
A woman who was going on vacation to celebrate being cancer-free ended up having the trip of a lifetime after the airline heard about her struggle and remarkable story.

Hannah Smith, 26, from became ill two years earlier with a rare malignant tumor.

The rare illness which attacked her nerves saw Hannah undergo a series painful treatments for an entire year which left her with difficulties walking.

Hannah Smith, 26, from became ill in 2014 from rare malignant tumor

Hannah had to undergo a year of treatment but set herself some goals including a vacation

Hannah and her friends were upgraded by the airline after they heard about her story

Hannah and her friends got to travel from London to Vegas in the lap of luxury

The crew of the aircraft welcomed Hannah and her friends onto the flight deck

Throughout her illness she had long planned for the day when she would be finally free of hospital waiting rooms and would be free to plan a huge get-together with her friends.

Her Las Vegas trip turned into something more akin to that enjoyed by Hollywood celebrities as they entire group were upgraded to first class after British Airways heard about her difficult year.

After a luxurious flight, Hannah and her friends were whisked off to one Las Vegas' most iconic resorts, Caesars Palace.

The hotel also knew about Hannah's road to recovery and upgraded her group to a suite at the Nobu hotel with a sweeping view of Las Vegas Boulevard.

The two-bedroom suite enjoyed by the group at the Nobu hotel offered sweeping views

The airline also told the hotel they were staying at about Hannah's plight and gave her and her friends stellar service

The group were whisked around Las Vegas in a stretch limousine

While the group were in Las Vegas, they also took time to visit Grand Canyon nearby

'Being ill makes you realize that life is for living - and Las Vegas is certainly a place to feel alive!

'Our trip turned from a holiday in to a something out of a Hollywood film, with limos, helicopters, a glamorous hotel suite, even a private breakfast for us with a local celebrity chef overlooking the Grand Canyon. It was more than I could ever have dreamed of, I'll never forget it.'

The airline is inviting customers who have booked trips with them in 2017 to email their stories for the chance to win the same treatment.

Adam Daniels, British Airways' chief commercial officer, said: 'One of the nicest things about flying customers all over the world is having the opportunity to make their trip special.

'Hannah and the friends who supported her deserved a really memorable trip, and with our good friends in Las Vegas, we were able to create something really magical.'

The group were flown from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon in neighboring Arizona

The group were even given a fine dining experience alongside the Grand Canyon

The friends enjoyed a ride on Las Vegas's own 550-foot tall big wheel called the High Roller
A man accused of setting fire to a Commonwealth Bank branch and injuring 36 people has faced court on 92 charges.

The accused, 21, allegedly set fire to the bank branch in Springvale, in south-east Melbourne, in November last year.

Among his charges are counts of conduct endangering life, criminal damage by fire, gross violence and intentionally causing serious injury.

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A man, 21, is accused of causing a fire at the Springvale branch of Commonwealth Bank in Melbourne in November last year (he is pictured at the scene with emergency services)

A burnt-out ATM is pictured at the scene of the fire at a Springvale Commonwealth Bank branch in Melbourne

Staff and customers, including children, became trapped in the bank when a fire was lit.

Dozens of people were treated for burns as a result.

The man appeared in Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Thursday evening and was remanded to appear again on May 11.

The 21-year-old is a Rohingya asylum seeker from Mynamar.

The fire at the Springvale branch of Commonwealth Bank in Melbourne is pictured

Emergency service workers are pictured at the scene of the fire last November

A fire engine and emergency service workers are seen at the Commonwealth Bank branch in Springvale, southeast Melbourne

The man accued is allegedly pictured with a plastic container of petrol
Online users are upset that some Australian businesses have imposed double-digit minimum amounts for paying by card.

A picture of a sign reading 'Our minimum EFTPOS purchase is $30' generated discussion on the internet forum Reddit.

'I'll take my business elsewhere then,' wrote one user.

Online users are upset that some Australian businesses have imposed double-digit minimum amounts for paying by card

One Reddit user uploaded a picture of a China Bar restaurant sign, that announced a similar $30 minimum transaction amount

A person who said they were from New Zealand seemed shocked at the inconvenience:

'As a NZer who has no business here. The f**k is this s**t? Even our Sunday vege market stalls at the local schools have eftpos,' the user wrote.

Another user responded with a picture of a China Bar restaurant sign, that announced a similar $30 minimum transaction amount.

It is unclear where the two photos were taken. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to the uploaders for comment.

As some Reddit users pointed out, some Australian banks restrict merchants from imposing minimum EFTPOS amounts.

Commonwealth Bank writes in its merchant agreement rules that businesses 'must not impose any minimum transaction amount for card transactions.'

National Australia Bank has a similar stipulation in its merchant agreement, while ANZ, Westpac and St George banks don't appear to regulate minimum amounts.
Seyran Ohanyan: There was a small incident with Pavel Manukyan in my office (video)

There are not infallible people Yes, there was a small incident with Pavel Manukyan in my office, but no one spat into anothers cup I even feel uncomfortable to speak about it, but there was not such a thing, former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan said on Feb. 18 during a news conference convened by the alliance comprising Chairman of the Heritage party Raffi Hovannisian, former Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian and himself. Ohanyan, who tops the list of the alliance, said this in reply to a journalists question who wanted to know whether Ohanyan beat up Manukyan and even spat into his cup while he [Ohanyan] was in office in Artsakh in 2005. Seyran Ohanyan says after the incident he worked with Pavel Manukyan for many years and their relations were at a high level. During my tenure of office, I was on good terms with Pavel Manukyan and his friends and I tried to help them as much as I could, he said. Asked whether there are political prisoners in Armenia, Ohanyan gave an evasive answer, The deep contradiction between the government and people is apparent. Confidence in the investigation of criminal cases gives rise to contemplations. We have no right not to believe our people. Speaking about the March 2008 tragic events, Seyran Ohanyan said the authorities in Armenia have done are doing relevant work to disclose the post-election bloodshed. The army did not participate in the March 1 events. If we come to power, we shall fully reveal the bloodshed.
The moment a schoolboy, 16, was brutally attacked by a fellow student without warning in front of dozens of class mates has been captured on camera.

Daniel Polaris, 16, was leaving class at Ashdale Secondary College in Perth when he was attacked by a 15-year-old student on Tuesday.

The fight left Daniel with a concussion and serious facial injuries.

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Daniel Polaris, 16, suffered a concussion and serious facial injuries after being attacked at school

The video shows the 15-year-old confronting Daniel, before the pair exchange punches in front of fellow students

'I was just walking out of class ready to go to recess and eat,' Daniel told 9 News.

'The next thing I know I'm on the floor,' he said.

The video shows the 15-year-old confronting Daniel, before the pair exchange punches in front of fellow students.

They fall to the ground, before someone manages to separate them.

Doctors diagnosed Daniel with a concussion. He suffered a black eye, facial injuries and needs braces to repair his teeth.

Daniel's mother Marie has called for the offender to be expelled.

Doctors diagnosed Daniel with a concussion. He suffered a black eye, facial injuries and needs braces to repair his teeth

Daniel's mother Marie has called for the offender to be expelled

'I just don't want Daniel going back with that boy present at school,' she said.

The school is considering expelling the year 10 student but needs confirmation from the Director of General Education.

Police are investigating the incident.
President Donald Trump scolded a Jewish reporter at his White House press conference today, after Jake Turx of Ami Magazine asked how the government planned to curb rising anti-Semitism.

'See, he lied about  he was gonna get up and ask a straight, simple question, so you know, welcome to the world of the media,' the president said, classifying Turx's query as a 'very insulting question.'

Turx had prefaced his question by noting how nobody in the community was accusing the president or his staff of being anti-Semitic and noted Trump's three Jewish grandchildren.

'However, what we are concerned about and what we haven't really heard being addressed is an uptick in antisemitism and how the government is planning to take care of it,' Turx said, quoting a report that said there have been 48 threats made against Jewish centers in January.

Scroll down for video

Jake Turx of Ami Magazine asked President Donald Trump about the rise in anti-Semitism and how his government planned to combat it - what he received was a rant

President Donald Trump called out a Jewish reporter for asking a 'very insulting question' at today's White House presser

The reporter in question, Jake Turx, said he believed Donald Trump had misunderstood his query, as he asked about rising anti-Semitism, not if the president was anti-Semitic

Trump, who had already spent much of the press conference berating the press, wasn't having it.

Before even calling on Turx he had surveyed the room asking for a 'friendly reporter.'

What Turx asked wasn't Trump's interpretation of 'friendly.'

'He said he was gonna ask a very simple, easy question. And its not, its not, not  not a simple question, not a fair question. OK sit down, I understand the rest of your question,' Trump said.

WHAT JAKE TURX ASKED DONALD TRUMP 'I haven't seen anybody in my community accuse you or any members of your staff of being anti-Semitic. There's an understanding you have Jewish grandchildren. However, what we are concerned about and what we haven't really heard being addressed is an uptick in antisemitism and how the government is planning to take care of it. There was a report out that 48 bomb threats have been made against Jewish centers all across the country in the last couple of weeks. There are people who are committing anti-Semitic acts or threatening to.' Advertisement

The president then defended himself against accusations of anti-Semitism and racism, which wasn't what the reporter had asked.

'So heres the story, folks. Number one, I am the least anti- Semitic person that youve ever seen in your entire life,' Trump said.

'Number two, racism, the least racist person,' Trump continued.

When Turx tried to repeat what he had asked, Trump yelled 'quiet, quiet, quiet,' from the podium and then called the journalist a liar.

'But let me just tell you something, that I hate the charge, I find it repulsive,' the president continued.

'I hate even the question because people that know me and you heard the prime minister, you heard Ben Netanyahu yesterday, did you hear him, Bibi? He said, Ive known Donald Trump for a long time and then he said, forget it,' Trump said, referencing a defense made yesterday by the Israeli prime minister against any charges of anti-Semitism made against Trump and his White House.

Trump told the Jewish reporter that he should take Netanyahu's word.

'See, it just shows you about the press, but thats the way the press is,' the president quipped before moving on.

After the dust-up, Turx took to Twitter to clear the air.

'President Trump clearly misunderstood my question. This is highly regretful and I'm going to seek clarification,' Turx said.

Press Secretary Sean Spicer was spotted today at President Donald Trump's contentious press conference where he tore into the media for much of the hour-plus affair

Several minutes later, SiriusXM POTUS channel's White House Correspondent Jared Rizzi tried broaching the topic again.

'It's not about your personality or your beliefs, we're talking about a rise in anti-Semitism around the country, some of it by supporters in your name,' Rizzi explained.

Trump suggested that 'some of it'  referencing 'racism and horrible things'  was the work of his political opponents, not his supporters.

'Some of the signs you'll see are not put up by the people that love or like Donald Trump, they're put up by the other side and you think it's like playing it straight?' the president mused.

'No,' he said, answering his own question.

'But you have some of those signs and some of that anger is caused by the other side,' he said. 'They'll do signs and they'll do drawings that are inappropriate.'

Trump was likely referencing swastikas and other racist graffiti that has popped up in recent months. One viral video depicts people on the New York City subway cleaning off the Nazi anti-Semitic marks, which were drawn all over the interior of one of the trains.

'It won't be my people,' Trump said of such antics. 'It will be the people on the other side to anger people like you. OK.'
Theresa May gave her French counterpart a warm welcome to Downing Street today as she warned that hundreds of thousands of jobs in the EU depend on ties to Britain.

The Prime Minister highlighted the importance of keeping economic links as she hosted Bernard Cazeneuve for talks in No10.

But she also reassured the Brussels club that the UK will not seek to 'cherry-pick' which parts of membership it wants to keep in the looming negotiations.

Theresa May, pictured greeting French counterpart Bernard Cazeneuve at No10 today, has highlighted the number of jobs that depend on the strength of links between the EU and UK

The PM welcomed Mr Cazeneuve warmly to Downing Street today. They are expected to discuss a range of issues including Brexit and Russia

In an article for French newspaper Le Figaro, Mrs May addressed warnings from European leaders that the UK must not be allowed to pick out the benefits of being in the bloc without bearing the responsibilities.

'As we leave the EU, we will seek the greatest possible access to the European single market through a new, comprehensive, bold, ambitious free trade agreement,' she wrote.

'This cannot, however, mean retaining membership of the single market.

'President (Francois) Hollande and other European leaders have been very clear that this would mean accepting the "four freedoms" of goods, capital, services and people and I respect their position.

'Britain understands that EU leaders want to continue with the process of integration.

'We do not, to borrow the phrase, seek to cherry-pick which bits of membership we desire.'

Mrs May also highlighted French interest in a good Brexit deal, pointing out that the UK is France's fifth-largest export market with bilateral trade worth more than 50 billion euros last year.

'UK companies are responsible for an estimated 230,000 jobs in France, and French companies for about 370,000 jobs in the UK,' she added.

Mrs May also stressed the UK will remain an 'open and tolerant' country and that French people will 'always be welcome in Britain'.

French PM Bernard Cazeneuve and Theresa May know each other from when they were both in charge of home affairs for their respective governments (pictured in August 2015)

She reiterated her aim of guaranteeing the rights of EU nationals already in the UK, including more than 300,000 French people, and said she hopes France will do the same for Britons living there.

'I will make securing this reciprocal agreement a priority as soon as the negotiations begin, because this is in everyone's interests,' she said.

Mrs May and Mr Cazeneuve are also set to agree to maintain pressure on Russia over its 'aggressive and destabilising' actions in Ukraine.

The PM said she is 'sure' they will agree on the importance of pushing Russia in response to the 'drastic deterioration' in the humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine.
Free business class travel for all former federal politicians has finally been axed, as parliament legislates for an expenses watchdog to hold MPs to account.

The life gold travel pass has been immediately axed after legislation cleared parliament on Thursday night in a bid to rebuild voter trust following the expenses scandal that claimed the scalp of former health minister Sussan Ley.

The legislation passed despite objections from coalition senator Ian Macdonald, and means free travel will now be limited to former prime ministers.

Malcolm Turnbull is pictured on Wednesday at Parliament House in Canberra

Veteran Coalition senator Ian Macdonald is pictured speaking on politician entitlements in the chamber at Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday

New laws to establish an expenses watchdog to hold federal politicians to account over how they spend taxpayer money also cleared parliament.

The watchdog will audit and report on parliamentary work expenses as well as provide advice, monitor and administer claims for travel expenses and allowances by parliamentarians and their staff.

The Senate was forced to sit late into the night after Senator Macdonald staged a one-man filibuster over the gold pass, attempting to move several amendments that were rejected by the chamber.

Greens and other crossbenchers including ex-Liberal Cory Bernardi also attempted to move amendments which were rejected by Labor and the government.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced the changes in January amid public outrage following revelations senior ministers were using taxpayer funds to attend parties and sporting events

An expenses scandal claimed the scalp of former health minister Sussan Ley

Senator Macdonald objected to the retrospective nature of the gold pass axing, insisting 'elderly retired' politicians should not be stripped of an entitlement they were promised in the past.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said there were plenty of schools, hospitals and charities that needed the money more than former politicians.

'If we're going to ask the people of Australia to pull their belts in... we as leaders of this nation should show by example,' she said.

Special Minister of State Scott Ryan said while retrospective laws were reserved for exceptional circumstances, they weren't unheard of.

'The abolition of the life gold pass decision... that the government and I took over summer is an example of bringing public trust and rebuilding public trust in the expenses framework,' he told parliament.

The independent watchdog, expected to be running by mid-year, was one of the most significant changes in a generation, he said.

The gold travel pass gave former MPs free business class travel for life

'(It's) an important step in rebuilding and maintaining public trust in our use of scarce public resources in our job.'

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced the changes in January amid public outrage following revelations senior ministers were using taxpayer funds to attend parties and sporting events.

Government backbencher Warren Entsch told parliament the 'knee-jerk' decision to axe the gold travel pass was 'shameful'.

Mr Entsch told parliament it was going to affect people who had long since left politics.

'At the same time, the people making this decision have made sure that they're not going to be impacted by it,' he said on Wednesday.

'For all those backbenchers who earned it over an extended period of time, I think it's shameful to take it away from them after they have left parliament.'

The new law means free travel will now be limited to former prime ministers (Mr Turnbull pictured on Thursday)

Mr Entsch said those politicians - who needed to serve seven terms, or 21 years, to be eligible for the pass - have not been given a chance to present their case.

The perk was meant to be an incentive to keep people in parliament 30 or 40 years ago when their pay packets were less generous than now.

'My argument is on behalf of those on all sides of the chamber,' he said during debate on the bill in the lower house.

'My key concern is that we are establishing a very dangerous precedent of retrospectivity that can apply to anything in the future.'

The 66-year-old, first elected in 1996, argued that if the government wanted to go ahead with scrapping the pass and applying it retrospectively, it should cover everyone, including former prime ministers.

Senator Macdonald objected to the retrospective nature of the gold pass axing, insisting 'elderly retired' politicians should not be stripped of an entitlement they were promised in the past

The Senate was forced to sit late into the night after Senator Macdonald staged a one-man filibuster over the gold pass, attempting to move several amendments that were rejected by the chambe

At the very least, he wants it to be limited to ex-PMs who have served a minimum five years, ruling the likes of Tony Abbott, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and even Paul Keating ineligible.

Liberal-turned-independent senator Cory Bernardi has flagged his intention to amend the legislation in the upper house to apply a four-year limit.

Mr Entsch also noted that Malcolm Turnbull's proposed new independent authority to manage parliamentary expenses would 'cost more to establish than what they claim the savings are' in relation to the abolition of the gold pass.

'I just find it amazing that they would actually do this,' he said.

Labor supports the changes, although leader Bill Shorten hinted the opposition was open to scrapping the gold pass for former prime ministers, too.

'Probably. We will have a look at it,' he told reporters in Canberra.

'The reason I say probably is I think our former prime ministers deserve dignity and respect. They do good work for the public; it is a balance proposition.'

The bill, which also places limits on travel entitlements for spouses and children, passed the lower house late on Wednesday morning.
Boris Johnson laid into Tony Blair over his 'condescending' bid to reverse the EU referendum vote today - saying people should switch off the TV when the former PM appears.

Mr Blair faced a huge backlash after he used a speech in London to unveil his 'mission' to keep us in the EU - despite conceding that the public do not agree with him.

The ex-premier demanded that voters stop worrying so much about immigration and 'rethink' their decision before the country goes 'over a cliff edge'.

But Foreign Secretary Mr Johnson delivered a devastating response, pointing out that Mr Blair had wanted to join the euro and 'dragooned' the UK into the disastrous Iraq war.

'I urge the British people to rise up and turn off the TV next time Blair comes on with his condescending campaign,' he said.

Former PM Tony Blair demanded the public 'rethink' their decision as he delivered a call to arms for pro-Europeans today

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson led the Brexiteer backlash against Mr Blair, saying the public had rejected 'claptrap' about economic catastrophe during the referendum

Speaking at an event organised by the pro-EU Open Britain think tank, Mr Blair insisted leaving the Brussels club was not 'inevitable' and the public should change their minds once the consequences became clear.

In an hour-long address that was dismissed by critics as an attempt to 'resurrect his political corpse', Mr Blair:

Called on Remain supporters to keep fighting against Brexit and raised the prospect that the referendum result could be overturned in a second referendum or general election.

Lashed out at the way the referendum was conducted with 'hideous abuse' of patriotism, and accused Theresa May or pursuing 'Brexit at any cost'.

Argued that immigration fears were overblown and leaving the EU would only cut numbers by 12 per cent.

Conceded that he did not 'spend a lot of time on the doorstep' and did not have 'special knowledge' of the public's views.

Blamed the 'debilitation' of the Labour Party under veteran left-winger Jeremy Corbyn for letting the Brexit vote happen.

Launching his bid to create a 'movement' against Brexit, Mr Blair said: 'I accept right now there is no widespread appetite to re-think.

'But the people voted without knowledge of the true terms of Brexit. As these terms become clear, it is their right to change their mind.

'Our mission is to persuade them to do so.'

Mr Blair hinted that the decision to leave could be overturned through a second referendum or a snap general election.

He accused ministers of leading us into 'Brexit at any cost', saying Mrs May was damaging the economy by ruling out continued membership of the single market.

Mr Blair also complained that the Brexiteers were 'hideously abusing' the 'mantle of patriotism' and diminishing our national interest.

The ex-PM - who oversaw the dropping of immigration controls for eastern European states - said people were wrong to worry so much about numbers coming in from the EU.

In his speech in central London today, Mr Blair conceded there was 'no widespread appetite to rethink' the outcome from June 23 last year

Even shadow Brexit minister Jenny Chapman, a fan of Mr Blair, lamented that his intervention in the speech today would 'not help'

But the former PM did get staunch backing from Lib Dem ex-leader Nick Clegg

'Net immigration into the UK was roughly 335,000 in the year to June 2016,' he said.

'But just over half was from outside the EU.

'I know, in some parts of the country, there is a real concern about numbers from Europe and the pressures placed on services and wages.

'However of the EU immigrants, the PM has recently admitted we would want to keep the majority, including those with a confirmed job offer and students. This leaves around 80,000 who come looking for work without a job.

KEY POINTS: BLAIR'S REASONS FOR BLOCKING BREXIT Tony Blair made a series of claims about why Brexit should not go ahead. He argued: People voted in the EU referendum 'without knowledge of the true terms of Brexit'

Says Brexit campaign won by hijacking the referendum with a 'hideous abuse' of patriotism

Theresa May doesn't have a mandate for her plan to drive through a 'Brexit at any cost'

Voters must be told how 'proceeding will cause real damage to the country'

Claimed voters care more about non-EU immigration, which will not be affected by Brexit

Says the Government appears focussed solely on regaining control of our borders but there are many other aspects of quitting the EU that must be addressed

The 'debilitation' of the Labour party under Jeremy Corbyn had 'facilitated' Brexit

We should only proceed with Brexit when 'we have a clear sense of where we're going' Advertisement

'Of these 80,000, a third comes to London, mostly ending up working in the food processing and hospitality sectors. It is highly unlikely that they're 'taking' the jobs of British born people in other parts of the country.'

Mr Blair predicted that Brexit was only likely to cut immigration by around 12 per cent and what actually concerned the public was non-EU migration, which raised issues of 'assimilation and potential security threats'.

He also launched a bitter attack on Jeremy Corbyn's role in the referendum campaign, accusing him of 'facilitating' Brexit by being so unpopular.

Leave campaigners accused the ex-Labour leader of trying to 'resurrect his political corpse' by deceiving the British people.

And even supporters criticised him for wading in, with shadow Brexit minister Jenny Chapman saying that while he was a 'great Labour leader' his intervention 'won't help'.

Mr Johnson said: 'This is a discussion we had most of last year and it came out very firmly in favour of leaving the EU.

We heard all these arguments last year - not a thing has changed - and I think it really is insulting the intelligence of the electorate to say that they got it wrong.

Tory MP Dominic Raab said the public just wanted the government to 'get on with making a success of its new place outside the EU'.

'Tony Blair, who allowed uncontrolled migration from the EU when Labour was in power, refuses to accept the decision people made last June,' he said.

'He wants to go on putting the question over and over again until he gets a different answer.

'It is the height of arrogance and nothing could be more likely to convince the EU to offer the UK the worst possible deal than his suggestion that the decision could be overturned.'

Former Cabinet minister Michael Gove said: 'People want politicians to get on with the job of making a success of leaving the EU rather than fighting old political battles.

'Tony Blair had his say during the referendum - he should now respect the fact that the British people voted to leave.'

It follows an intervention last October, when Mr Blair said Brexit could be halted if the people decided the costs of leaving the EU greatly outweighed any benefits.

At the time, he said Britain should keep its 'options open' and not rule out a second referendum.

Describing the June 23 vote as a 'catastrophe', he said the views of the 16million who backed Remain should not be ignored.

'If it becomes clear this is either a deal that doesn't make it worth our while leaving, or alternatively a deal that's going to be so serious in its implications, people may decide they don't want to go,' he said.

'There's got to be some way, either through Parliament, or an election, or possibly through another referendum, in which people express their view.'

WHO IS BEHIND THE OPEN BRITAIN THINK-TANK? Open Britain is a cross-party group formed out of the defeated Remain campaign that is pushing for the closest possible deal with the EU after Brexit. Senior politicians from past and present - including Tony Blair, Nick Clegg and Tory Remainers such as Anna Soubry and Nicky Morgan - have made a series of interventions in the name of Open Britain since the June 23 referendum. They campaigned for Britain to stay in Europe's single market and want a second referendum, claiming the Brexit vote did not give Theresa May a mandate to take us out. The group, run by former Clegg aide James McGrory and ex-Labour adviser Joe Carberry, wants to retain freedom of movement, arguing that closing our borders would hurt the economy. The masterminds of Open Britain are the two arch-Europhiles Lord Mandelson ad the millionaire City public relations man Roland Rudd, the brother of the Home Secretary Amber Rudd. Both men previously tried to drag Britain into the euro and were prominent figures in the failed Remain referendum campaign. Advertisement

Meanwhile, Mrs May has warned that hundreds of thousands of jobs in the EU depend on ties to Britain.

As she prepares to meet her French counterpart in Downing Street today, the PM also pledged that the UK will not seek to 'cherry-pick' which parts of membership it wants to keep after Brexit.

In an article for French newspaper Le Figaro, she said: 'As we leave the EU, we will seek the greatest possible access to the European single market through a new, comprehensive, bold, ambitious free trade agreement.

'This cannot, however, mean retaining membership of the single market. (French) President (Francois) Hollande and other European leaders have been very clear that this would mean accepting the 'four freedoms' of goods, capital, services and people and I respect their position.

'Britain understands that EU leaders want to continue with the process of integration.

'We do not, to borrow the phrase, seek to cherry-pick which bits of membership we desire.'

Mrs May also highlighted French interest in a good Brexit deal, pointing out that the UK is France's fifth-largest export market with bilateral trade worth more than 50 billion euros last year.

'UK companies are responsible for an estimated 230,000 jobs in France, and French companies for about 370,000 jobs in the UK,' she added.

Mrs May also stressed the UK will remain an 'open and tolerant' country and that French people will 'always be welcome in Britain'.

She reiterated her aim of guaranteeing the rights of EU nationals already in the UK, including more than 300,000 French people, and said she hopes France will do the same for Britons living there.

'I will make securing this reciprocal agreement a priority as soon as the negotiations begin, because this is in everyone's interests,' she said.

Mr Blair suggested Parliament and the public should have the last word on the final deal Theresa May (pictured) strikes with Brussels
A former Utah State University student who was raped at an off-campus fraternity house party in July 2015 has described her horrifying ordeal.

Victoria Hewlett recalled the attack carried out by Jason Relopez, an ex-US Air Force Staff Sergeant, to kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart, who is now a special correspondent for Crime Watch Daily with Chris Hansen.

Hewlett, who was a USU student at the time of the rape, said: 'He put me on the bed. It was like I saw a switch flip, and I saw darkness in his eyes.

'As in, they were just black. Like he was possessed, like a demon was inside him.'

'And he hit me, across the face as hard as he could. And I remember my face was just stinging and I like, was in shock. I didn't realize like, I had never had a man hit me, and it was scary.'

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Victoria Hewlett (pictured) has spoken out about the rape perpetrated against her by Jason Relopez, who is an ex-US Air Force Staff Sergeant

Hewlett sat down with kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart (pictured). Smart is now a special correspondent for Crime Watch Daily with Chris Hansen

She told Smart: 'I remember him pressing my arms down and saying to me "Do you want to know something?" And I said "What?"

Jason Relopez (pictured) admitted to raping Hewlett and fellow USU student Morgan Klinkowski

'And he said: "I'll win tonight because I'm stronger than you and we both know that."'

Hewlett said that Relopez, who was a USU student and a Sigma Chi fraternity member, 'would just pull my legs, and he began raping me'.

She recalled: 'Seeing my reflection in the mirror of like, my bruised body, and like the blood and the cuts [...] I had never felt so worthless. And like I - I didn't recognize who I was looking at.'

Hewlett reported her rape, and claims she later discovered five other women had complained about Relopez, Crime Watch Daily says.

She claims USU and Sigma Chi were aware of the incidents and let him be a student and stay in the fraternity, the news outlet reported.

Hewlett's suing USU and Sigma Chi for allegedly not protecting her, Crime Watch Daily said.

USU and Sigma Chi told Crime Watch Daily that they take campus rape reports seriously. The school denied that it received five complaints, and acknowledged a single prior complaint, the news outlet said.

Smart asked Hewlett in the sit-down: 'Five women prior to you had come forward with complaints. How did you find out about those women?'

Hewlett alleged that a Greek advisor asked her for the name of her attacker, and that she gave Relopez's name.

'I just remember him shaking his head, and saying "Not again,"' she claimed.

Hewlett said: 'Seeing my reflection in the mirror of like, my bruised body, and like the blood and the cuts [...] I had never felt so worthless'

Relopez's LinkedIn profile says he was an air traffic control watch supervisor for the US Air Force from July 2006 to March 2014 and an air traffic control liaison for the US Air Force from July 2013 to January 2014

Hewlett told police that Relopez raped her at a Sigma Chi house party in July 2015, according to Fox 13.

Fellow USU student Morgan Klinkowski reported an October 2014 attack. She was sexually assaulted by Relopez while they did homework in her apartment, the TV station reported.

Relopez pleaded guilty to first-degree felony attempted rape and third-degree felony attempted forcible sexual abuse.

He also admitted to raping the two women, and received a one-year jail sentence in May 2016. The former Sigma Chi member was sentenced after accepting a plea deal, Cache Valley Daily reported last May.

Hewlett told Smart: 'I lost a lot of things that night that I'll never get back.

'And I've learned to see that I've also gained things that night, of courage and strength and things that will hopefully help other women.'

'I think what you've just said makes all the difference between a victim and a survivor,' Smart said.

USU student Morgan Klinkowski (pictured) reported an October 2014 attack. Relopez admitted to raping both Klinkowski and Hewlett
Diane Abbott reportedly hurled a four-letter insult at Cabinet minister David Davis when he tried to give her a kiss after she voted for his Brexit Bill

Diane Abbott reportedly hurled a four-letter insult at Cabinet minister David Davis when he tried to give her a kiss after she voted for his Brexit Bill.

The hard-Left radical has, however, accepted the warm embrace of the Establishment.

For I can reveal that Abbott, 63, who once co-authored a pamphlet calling for the dismantling of the monarchy, went down on one knee in front of the monarch at Buckingham Palace this week.

She kissed the Queens ring before swearing the oath of allegiance as part of the ceremony in which she became a member of the Privy Council.

Abbott (pictured) was invited to join the body, which advises the Queen, because of her role on the Labour frontbench  a job handed to her by the partys Loony Left leader, Jeremy Corbyn, her former lover.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman declines to comment on the ceremony, which took place on Wednesday, but a fellow Privy Counsellor, who was present, confirms that Abbott took part in the traditional ceremony for new members.

A spokesman for Abbott tells me: Diane was sworn in, but shes been advised not to talk about the procedure and exactly what happened.

The MP, who provoked an outcry when she failed to turn up for one of the votes over the Brexit Bill  claiming to have been suddenly taken ill  will now be allowed to style herself as Right Honourable. Her new status will permit her, as shadow home Secretary, to be briefed on state secrets.

Also sworn in was shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry. The feminist recently complained formally to the House of Commons Speaker after Theresa May referred to her as Lady Nugee (her husband is High Court judge Sir Christopher Nugee).

Thornberry was, though, also prepared to accept tradition by going on bended knee before the Queen and swearing the oath of allegiance.

There was controversy in 2015 when Buckingham Palace made allowances so that Corbyn, an anti-Monarchist, could join the Privy Council but not have to kneel before the Queen.

He was accused of snubbing the Monarch by refusing to be sworn into the Council by going on a short break to Scotland rather than meeting Her Majesty for the ceremony. He finally joined weeks later.
A lawyer for accountant to the stars Anthony Bell has told a court he has been served with a document that will 'completely destroy' the AVO application against him by his estranged wife Kelly Landry.

Mr Bell appeared at Waverley Local Court for the first time on Friday as criminal defence lawyer Chris Murphy told the court he would be applying for the AVO to be 'dispensed with', or revoked.

Mr Murphy told Magistrate Michael Barko: '(Mr Bell's) here He has been put under a lot of stress by this. He's here with his 85 year old mother she's very stressed by the proceedings (involving) her son'.

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Anthony Bell with his lawyers leaving Waverly Court on Friday after facing court over the application slapped against him by his estranged wife Kelly Landry

Celebrity accountant Anthony Bell leaves Waverly Court on Friday

Anthony Bell is fighting an AVO application against him by his estranged wife Kelly Landry (pictured) on Friday

Mr Murphy said he would be applying for the matter to be dispensed with, for costs from police and for an article by News Corp to be referred to the Supreme Court for contempt of court.

'We we have been served with a document that completely destroys the prosecutions case,' Mr Murphy claimed to the magistrate.

Mr Bell appeared in fine spirits in court, where he appeared for the first time since Daily Mail Australia first revealed the AVO application in January.

Ms Landry, his former Getaway presenter wife, did not attend, although a Bondi woman acting as her counsellor kept a keen eye on the proceedings in the back row.

Magistrate Barko referred the matter to the Downing Centre on Friday afternoon, with Mr Bell declining to comment outside because the 'matter was before the courts' and racing to the other courtroom.

Celebrity accountant Anthony Bell arrives at court after being slapped with an AVO application

Businessman Anthony Bell arriving at Waverly Court on Friday with his lawyer claiming he has a document which would, 'completely destory' the AVO application

Anthony Bell and his lawyer will be applying for the matter to be dispensed with on Friday

At the Downing Centre, Mr Murphy's attempts at having the AVO withdrawn were unsuccessful, with a hearing date being set for May.

Mr Murphy introduced his client to Magistrate Megan Greenwood as the winner of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

'I don't care,' Ms Greenwood replied.

Both the prosecution and Mr Bell's team are expected to call multiple witnesses when the hearing runs from May 1 through to May 5.

Mr Bell's lawyer Chris Murphy fought for the matter to be resolved before returning to court.

'He wants to give police a history of text messages, introduce them to witnesses that would resolve this,' Mr Murphy said.

Anthony Bell will be fighting the AVO application against him by his estranged wife at Waverly caught on Friday

Outside court, Mr Bell escorted his mother, Shirley, down the stairs an helped her into the back of a waiting 4WD, before he delivered his first remarks to the media about the case.

'I have complete faith in the legal system and I'm looking forward to the truth coming out in this matter,'Mr Bell said.

The interim AVO order has been extended.
A commander is the 12th Navy official to be charged in a wide-ranging bribery case involving a Malaysian defense contractor nicknamed 'Fat Leonard.'

Commander Mario Herrera from Helotes, Texas, was accused in a complaint unsealed Thursday of accepting prostitutes, luxury trips, and $1,800 in steaks from Leonard Glenn Francis in exchange for classified information.

He was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery in connection with interactions with Leonard Francis, the former CEO of Glenn Defense Marine Asia - a defense firm based in Singapore, according to a Justice Department release.

A commander is the 12th Navy official to be charged in a wide-ranging bribery case involving a Malaysian defense contractor nicknamed 'Fat Leonard.' Pictured is the Navy 7th Fleet - which was involved in the alleged incidents

According to the complaint, Herrera and other U.S. Navy 7th Fleet officers who helped Francis called themselves the 'Band of Brothers' and the 'Wolf Pack.'

'Herrera provided Francis with internal, proprietary U.S. Navy information and intervened on GDMA's behalf in contract disputes,' a DoJ statement read.

'Herrera directed ships to take alternative routes that benefitted GDMA on two separate occasions, costing the U.S. Navy $3.6 million.'

A total of 17 people have been charged so far in the case that has taken down officials for about three years.

The Justice Department's Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco (left) was one of the people to announce the charge on Thursday. Herrera was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery in connection with interactions with Leonard Francis (right), the former CEO of Glenn Defense Marine Asia

Francis pleaded guilty to fraud involving his ship supply company. Prosecutors say Glenn Defense Marine Asia bilked the Navy out of $35 million.

The Justice Department's Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco was one of the people to announce the charge on Thursday.

Herrera could not be reached for comment.

Some of the other officials charged are: Admiral Robert Gilbeau, Captain Michael Brooks, Commander Bobby Pitts, Captain Daniel Dusek, Commander Michael Misiewicz, Lt. Commander Todd Malaki, Commander Jose Luis Sanchez, former NCIS Special Agent John Beliveau, and US Petty Officer First Class Daniel Layug.
Historic pews in Englands largest parish church are being removed to enable the building to host money-making pop concerts.

The Church of England has angered conservationists by granting planning permission for controversial renovations of Hulls Grade 1 listed Holy Trinity Church.

The church  to become known as Hull Minster in May  survived being bombed in World War One and the blitz in World War Two.

The Grade 1 listed Holy Trinity Church in Hull, which is the size of a cathedral, dates back more than 800 years

But now its unique Victorian pews are being broken up and removed under a 4.5 million scheme to host pop and classical concerts.

Eyebrows had already been raised by the hosting of a real ale festival last year in the church, which dates back to 1300.

Church officials said the cathedral-sized building was losing up to 70,000 a year and the changes were necessary to avoid bankruptcy.

The Victorian Society lost a three-year battle to fight the proposals in the church court.

Peter Collier QC, Chancellor of the Diocese of York, agreed with experts that the pews were one of the most magnificent and extensive suits of Victorian church seating in the country.

But passing judgment at the Church of Englands Consistory Court, he reluctantly ruled their removal was the price of ensuring the churchs financial survival.

Officials have promised some of the biggest names in pop will play at the church once the work is complete.

Workers have already begun stripping out all 36 forward facing pews in the nave. The work will enable an underfloor heating system, lighting cables, a sound system and smoke machine to be installed.

Canon Dr Neal Barnes (pictured, left) has previously raised eyebrows by allowing a real ale festival to take place inside the historic building

The pews will be cut down in size and 24 returned to the nave. They will be removed for events with a hydraulic lift.

Some visitors have been upset by the changes. Patricia Brown, who visited from Lincolnshire for the recent visit of the Prince of Wales, said: They call it restoration. I call it vandalism and the devils work.

They would have better off selling the pews intact to someone who really appreciates them.

Jesus cast out those who abused the temple as a place of worship. He didnt invite them all in and charge them.

Christopher Costelloe, director of the Victorian Society, added: The pews are Grade I quality fittings in a Grade I listed building and their loss would rob the building of much of its character.

Much of the time the nave would be a vast empty space, or filled with temporary staging, tables, chairs, lighting and sound rigs.

The Society argued that the church could host events by making much less drastic changes to the layout, such as widening the aisles.

But the churchs vicar, Canon Dr Neal Barnes, said: The kind of events we need - big concerts and banquets - are just not possible with fixed pews. Some of them may require no seating at all.

Unless we get this increased income we will go bankrupt and have to shut the doors - then no one can enjoy the Victorian or medieval heritage.

We are not just stripping out all the pews and throwing them away. All the beautifully carved pew ends will come back as moveable ones and be cherished.
One of the lead authors, Professor Martin McKee, is an outspoken Remain campaigner who has written blogs on the dire consequences of leaving the EU

A row has broken out over social care cuts after a study claimed they had caused the deaths of tens of thousands of elderly Britons.

Oxford University research showed there were 30,000 excess deaths in 2015 compared to the previous year  the biggest leap in more than 70 years.

The authors blamed relentless cuts to health and social care budgets, which were leading to longer waits for operations, ambulances and in A&E.

But the Government hit back by accusing the researchers of being biased and politically motivated.

One of the lead authors, Professor Martin McKee, is an outspoken Remain campaigner who has written blogs on the dire consequences of leaving the EU.

Labour and the Lib Dems accused ministers of creating a social care crisis that is leading to thousands of the elderly dying needlessly.

The research, published today in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, showed that the increase in excess deaths for 2015 compared to 2014 was the highest since the Second World War.

Excess deaths refers to the number of people who died in one year compared to what would be expected based on the population and age breakdown. The authors looked at data from the Office for National Statistics. Around 30,000 more patients died compared to the previous year and most were the frail elderly, dependent on the health and social care system.

The academics ruled out other possible causes for the rise, including colder weather, a flu epidemic or a data blip. Our findings should be seen in the context of the worsening financial situation of the NHS, they wrote. The evidence points to a major failure of the health system, possibly exacerbated by failings in social care.

Since the 2010 election, the impact of cuts resulting from the imposition of austerity on the NHS has been profound.

Expenditure has failed to keep pace with demand, and the situation has been exacerbated by dramatic reductions in the welfare budget of 16.7billion and further reductions in social care spending.

The authors highlighted long waits in A&E or for an ambulance as well

as delays and cancellations for routine operations and surgeries.

Although the NHSs budget has increased every year  it is currently around 106billion annually  it is struggling to keep pace with rising demand. But social care budgets, held by councils, have been cut by about 3.5billion since 2011.

Fellow author Professor Danny Dorling explained: It may sound obvious that more elderly people will have died earlier as a result of government cutbacks, but to date the number of deaths has not been estimated and the Government have not admitted responsibility.

Oxford University research showed there were 30,000 excess deaths in 2015 compared to the previous year  the biggest leap in more than 70 years

But a spokesman for the Department of Health said: This report is a triumph of personal bias over research  for two reasons. Every year there is significant variation in reported excess deaths, and in the year following this study they fell by nearly 20,000, undermining any link between pressure on the NHS and the number of deaths.

Moreover, to blame an increase in a single year on cuts to the NHS budget is arithmetically impossible  given that the budget rose by almost 15billion between 2009-10 and 2014-15.

Figures highlighted by the Mail two months ago suggest the excess deaths this winter may have been even higher.

Data for the week ending December 9 shows that 11,223 deaths were registered, a 12.7 per cent increase on the previous five-year average.

And for the week ending February 3, the rate was 12.2 per cent higher than the five-year average with a total of 12,485 deaths registered.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: It is a national scandal that in one of the richest countries in the world, vulnerable older people are missing out on the services they need and may even have died due to poor care.

Day after day we hear more stories about services being cut back and targets being missed, yet there is a deafening silence from No 10 and the Department of Health.

And Labour MP Barbara Keeley, the shadow cabinet member for social care, said: The Tories have created a crisis in social care.

They have cut billions of pounds from council budgets and care is suffering as a result.
The FBI will not be pursuing charges against President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn, CNN reported tonight, for what he said in interviews dealing with his conversations with Russia's ambassador.

Though there are still unanswered questions about the former administration official's relationship with Russia, which could result in further rebuke, as both the FBI and Congress are looking into it.

For instance, the Pentagon informed lawmakers that there are no records of a 2015 trip that Flynn took to Moscow, where he rubbed elbows with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, according to Politico.

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The FBI won't pursue charges against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn over statements he made about conversations with Russia's ambassador during the transition

Michael Flynn (right) was asked to resign from his position as national security adviser after he withheld information from Vice President Mike Pence (left)

Flynn may have also received unconstitutional payments from a foreign government because of this appearance, as the Constitution's Emolument's Clause has been interpreted to apply to retired military officials.

The clause prohibits a person holding public office from benefiting financially from a foreign entity.

Acting Army Secretary Robert Speer confirmed to the chair and ranking member of the House Oversight Committee that Flynn did not document the trip.

In turn, the lawmakers signed onto a letter to the speakers bureau, Leading Authorities, which set up the excursion, asking for information about payments made to the official.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the Republican chair of the committee, has also called for an investigation into the leaks plaguing the Trump administration, which the president railed against today from a White House podium.

Chaffetz so far has ignored pleas by his Democratic colleagues to investigate Trump campaign officials' correspondence with Russian intelligence officials, conversations that the New York Times first uncovered this week.

When the president was asked about it today, he skirted the question by bringing up Flynn.

'Can you say whether you are aware that anyone who advised your campaign had contacts with Russia during the course of the election?' one reporter asked.

'Well I told you, Gen. Flynn obviously was dealing. So thats one person,' the president answered.

The contact in question happened before the president was elected, while Flynn's problematic correspondence took place during the transition.

Flynn had originally told investigators that he didn't discuss sanctions when speaking to Russian Amb. Sergey Kislyak as Trump's incoming national security adviser.

CNN reported that FBI agents then challenged Flynn and then the ex-military official said he didn't remember.

Officials told the news network that they didn't believe Flynn was deliberately misleading them and thus charges wouldn't be pursued.

There is, however, a broader FBI probe into Flynn's Russian dealings.

The national security adviser was asked by the president to resign this week over withholding the content of his conversations with the Russian ambassador from Vice President Mike Pence.
Accused Bourke Street killer driver Dimitrious Gargasoulas might not go to trial over the rampage that claimed six lives until next year.

He was not in the Victorian Supreme Court for a special hearing before Justice Lex Lasry on Friday on the progress of the case.

'It seems a very long time to me, with all due respect, for all those involved,' Justice Lasry said.

Accused Bourke Street killer driver Dimitrious Gargasoulas (pictured) may not face trial over the rampage that claimed six lives for at least another year

Six people died after Gargasoulas' alleged rampage through Bourke Street in Melbourne's city centre on January 20

'There is obviously a significant public interest in this case and there will be a public interest in the prosecution of Mr Gargasoulas.'

Gargasoulas, 27, already faces five counts of murder and is expected to be charged over the death of a sixth victim.

Gargasoulas was granted a request to stay in the custody cells when his case first went before a magistrate in January.

Director of Public Prosecutions John Champion SC told the court on Friday it's likely Gargasoulas won't face a committal hearing until 2018.

Mr Champion said there are more than 1000 witnesses involved in the enormous police investigation into the events of January 20 across multiple crime scenes.

Gargasoulas is accused of deliberately driving a car into pedestrians at Bourke St mall before crashing after police shot at and wounded him.

One of the five people who died after the tragedy, Jess Mudie, 22, from Sydney

'The investigation is a complex one,' Mr Champion said.

'It's countless hours of video footage, CCTV, footage from mobile telephone devices and so on.'

The director said there were multiple crime scenes and described the police investigation as being in its 'infancy'.

'I would suspect this is the biggest investigation of its type,' Mr Champion said.

'The investigation will take a long time to play out.'

Justice Lasry said the Supreme Court, which is ultimately where murder trials are heard, wants to ensure the criminal justice process is moving along 'as efficiently as possible'.

Matthew Si, 33 (left), and Thalia Hakin, 10 (right) were also killed in the incident

People flocked to Melbourne to lay floral tributes and mourn for the victims of the Bourke Street attack in January

'The court is anxious to be involved in the management of the matter,' he said.

Justice Lasry said the charges against Gargasoulas involved many victims and their families.

'Cases like this tend to get lost on the list, sometimes for months, for years,' he said.

'The community has to wait for the criminal justice system to take its course.'

Gargasoulas' matter will not return to the Melbourne Magistrates' Court until August.
Two types of Sargento cheese and five varieties of Ruth's Salad pimento sold at Publix in Florida were added to a national recall over listeria concerns.

Florida was neglected to be on the expanded February 9 recall list, according to the Miami Herald. There are 774 Publix supermarkets in Florida.

The products under recall sold at the grocery chain are Sargento Off The Block Shredded Fine Cut Cheddar Jack Cheese with a sell by date of July 5, 2017 and Sargento Chef Blends Shredded Taco Cheese with sell by dates of June 14, 2017 and June 28, 2017, according to the outlet.

Ruth's pimento spread is part of the nationwide recall, sold at Publix

Two brands of Sargento cheeses and five brands of Ruth's pimento are sold at Publix in Florida

LISTERIA: KEY FACTS Listeria is a foodborne illness that is especially dangerous to pregnant women, newborns, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. It rarely causes serious illness in healthy people and can be treated with antibiotics. Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, nausea and diarrhea. Because it can be so serious for some people, outbreaks of listeria generally cause more deaths than other pathogens, such as salmonella or E. coli. Scientists recommend people with a weak immune system should avoid soft cheese unless it is labeled as made with pasteurized milk. Advertisement

It also includes Ruth's Original Spread in the 7-ounce and 12-ounce containers; Ruth's Old Fashion Pimento Spread in 16-ounce containers; Ruth's 12-ounce Jalapeno Pimento Spread; and 12-ounce Ruths Lite Pimento Spread.

Customers with the products can return them to the store for a refund.

The recalled Ruth's spread was also distributed in grocery stores in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and parts of Virginia and Tennessee.

Consumers should check the label: Any spread from Lot #16, with a sell-by date of April 30, 2017, are urged to return it to the place of purchase for a full refund.

The listeria monocytogenes issue started at Deutsch Kase Haus cheese factory in Indiana. The possible contamination was traced to a LaGrange County cheese plant, reported WANE.

Brands of cheese potentially affected included Sargento, Meijer-brand, Amish Classics and other brands.

Health inspectors in Tennessee found the bacteria in a sample of cheese from a grocery store there, said the outlet. Deutsche Kase Haus is owned by Michigan Milk Producers Association.

Listeria monocytogenes (pictured) can cause food poisoning in pregnant women, newborn babies and those aged over 60 and it can lead to deadly conditions including meningitis

Also part of the recall are Sargento Chef Blends Shredded Taco Cheese and Sargento Off the Block shredded Cheddar Jack cheese

Spokesman Mark Hubbard said all production at the LaGrange County plant had been halted until the FDA could ascertain the source of the problem.

No illnesses have been reported.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 260 people die of listeria infection every year.

Most at risk are those with weakened immune systems such as pregnant women, newborns, those over 65 and those with illnesses.

Sargento said that customers will be refunded if they contact the company at 1-800-243-3737 or email them via the 'Contact Us' page on Sargento.com.
The Bishop of Coventry, the Right Reverend Christopher Cocksworth, accidentally pushed the wrong button

An Angilcan bishop pressed the wrong button and voted against his colleagues to uphold the Church of Englands opposition to gay marriage.

The Bishop of Coventry, the Right Reverend Christopher Cocksworth, accidentally backed same-sex marriage supporters in a key vote in the Church of Englands parliament, the General Synod.

His error added a taste of farce to the Synod defeat for Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, which means bishops hopes of finding a compromise in the Churchs long-running war over gay rights have been wrecked.

The Synod vote was taken by houses, a system that means a motion falls if it loses in any one of the three voting categories of bishops, clergy and laity.

The Welby gay marriage report won easily on the votes of the bishops and lay members, but was defeated by 100 votes to 93, with two abstentions, among the clergy.

Yesterday Archbishop Welby and Archbishop of York the Most Reverend John Sentamu ordered talks between Synod members and bishops in every diocese to try to overcome the acrimony.

They promised a new teaching paper on how churches should deal with gay marriage and gay rights, saying the bishops must lead the Church no matter what the decisions of its elected membership may be.

Dr Cocksworth apologised after pressing the wrong button on his electronic handset in a moment of distraction and some confusion over the voting process.

The Synods bench of bishops produced the plan to maintain the doctrine that CofE weddings must be between a man and a woman.

Peter Tatchell (second right) joins activists from the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement outside the General Synod

As a compromise, the bishops offered same-sex couples officially-approved services that could be used in all churches to bless their unions.

But the mistaken vote by the Bishop of Coventry produced a bizarre result in which 43 bishops voted to take note of the scheme and one against .

Dr Cocksworth said: Much to my embarrassment, however, I have managed to give the impression that there was not complete agreement in the House of Bishops that the report provided us with the best way forward.

Due to a moment of distraction and some confusion over the voting process I pressed the wrong button on my handset, thus registering a vote against taking note rather than a vote for taking note of the report.

I have apologised to my colleagues in the House of Bishops and to the Archbishops for my mistake.

The error added a taste of farce to the Synod defeat for Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby

There were claims yesterday that confusion over the Synods complicated procedures and electronic voting system may have swayed the vote against the bishops.

The result meant an alliance of gay activists and liberals who want to see same-sex church marriages, and conservative evangelicals who resist any recognition of gay rights, have blocked Archbishop Welbys compromise plan and ensured there will be more years of Church conflict over sexuality.

Two bloggers, neither one a member of Synod, suggested yesterday that the result would have been different if four clerics had voted wrongly against the motion.

However, the only evidence that anyone apart from Dr Cocksworth voted by mistake was the suggestion from one blogger that an un-named lay member had been confused and had voted the wrong way.

The Synod has operated an electronic voting system for nine years. The most recently-elected intake of members, who joined in 2015, have had four Synod meetings to get used to it.

The Synods bench of bishops produced the plan to maintain the doctrine that CofE weddings must be between a man and a woman

In a statement yesterday the Archbishops of Canterbury and York said: How we deal with the real and profound disagreement - put so passionately and so clearly by many at the debate - is the challenge we face.

While the principles are straightforward, putting them into practice, as we all know, is not, given the deep disagreements among us.

We are therefore asking first for every diocesan bishop to meet with their General Synod members for an extended conversation in order to establish clearly the desires of every member of Synod for the way forward.

We, with others, will be formulating proposals for a large scale teaching document around the subject of human sexuality.

In an episcopal church a principal responsibility of bishops is the teaching ministry of the church, and the guarding of the deposit of faith that we have all inherited. The teaching document must thus ultimately come from the bishops.
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Britain's spell of warm weather is set to continue next week just as half term comes to an end and many return to work.

Temperatures in the UK will be hotter than Greece, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, while the weather is also set to be fine this weekend thanks to a 'blast of hot air from the Caribbean', bringing weather fit for a barbecue.

It comes after many enjoyed unseasonably warm temperatures during the week - with people even seen sunbathing in Britain's parks.

After last weeks bitingly cold temperatures, spring looks to be well on its way with balmy highs of 17C by Monday due to a southwesterly airflow.

People in the UK were seen sunbathing today (pictured above) - a stark contrast to last week's chilly temperatures

After last weeks bitingly cold temperatures, spring looks to be well on its way with balmy highs of 17C by Monday due to a southwesterly airflow (pictured: people relaxing on Clapham Common)

People enjoy the mild temperatures along The Long Walk in Windsor Great Park with Windsor Castle visible in the back ground

Dozens took in the picturesque walk in Windsor as temperatures soared around the capital on Friday with rises expected after the weekend

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Met Office meteorologist Steven Keates said Monday should be the warmest February day since February 23, 2012, when it reached 18.7C in northern Wales.

But it is not all plain sailing as storms are expected to come in at the end of next week, with gusts of up to 70mph possible.

The air mass is set to continue the unseasonable warmth of the last week as parts of the UK prepare for highs of 17C on Monday, following a spell of mild weather.

The cloud of hot air is making its way over the Atlantic Ocean from Florida and parts of the Caribbean, and is expected to reach the British Isles over the weekend, the Met Office said.

Aberdeen, Wattisham and London are all tipped as likely locations for the highest temperatures, with the east of the country broadly enjoying the best of the warmth.

The rise could make the UK among the hottest locations in Europe, following bouts of snow and freezing temperatures that took hold earlier this month.

Mr Keates said: It will reach up to 16-17C in areas downwind, east of the Welsh mountains, the Midlands and southern England.

We will get some particularly warm air originally from Florida and the Caribbean.

Parts of the country will possibly be hotter than it is in Greece, with similar temperatures to Sicily and eastern Spain.

Parts of the Middle East have been quite cold recently and Dubai could be about 14C while we are at the hottest.

It will be quite breezy though, which might offset some of the mild feel.

Friday will be mainly dry for most areas but with occasional rain or drizzle in western areas of northern England, Scotland and Wales.

Saturday and Sunday will be dry for most areas with patches of brightness and unseasonably warm temperatures.

The hottest recorded day in February was in 1998, when thermometers reached 19.7C.

A black swan enjoys the mild weather at Leeds Castle in Kent on February 17

Dozens of families made the most of half-term and the pleasant weather to take in Leeds Castle on Friday

Temperatures will be hotter than Greece and Dubai as temperatures continue to soar, and could reach 17C

The Met Office tweeted yesterday: It is set to turn even #milder over the coming days thanks to a warm southwesterly airflow - temperatures could reach 17C by Monday!

A spokesman for the Met Office said the warmest temperatures on Monday will be experienced 'east of high ground', most likely in the Midlands, east Wales and other parts of central England.

Temperatures will then fall as the week goes on but remain fairly mild, remaining at or above average highs for this time of year - usually between 7C and 9C.

Although storms and rain will blight the north and west of the UK, it should remain relatively dry in the south and east of England.
This is the Australian nurse who miraculously survived a horrifying massacre carried out by the Japanese during the Second World War.

Sister Vivian Bullwinkel (pictured) was the sole survivor of the Banka Island massacre on February 16, 1942

On 16 February, 1942, 75 years ago, a group of Australian nurses from the 13th Australian General Hospital were marched into the ocean off an Indonesian island and shot by Japanese soldiers.

The sole survivor was Sister Vivian Bullwinkel, 27, who received a bullet to her hip and lay facedown in the water pretending to be dead until the soldiers left.

The massacre is one of the most infamous war crimes carried out by the Japanese during the war.

The 21 nurses and one civilian had recently escaped from the ship SS Vyner Brooke, after it was sunk by Japanese aircraft, and made it to shore at Radji Beach on Banka Island.

While some civilians, including women and children, went to surrender, the group of nurses, about 100 British soldiers and the wounded waited on the beach.

Japanese soldiers arrived and killed the men, and then motioned for the women to walk into the sea.

Recounts of the shocking event include Sister Esther Sarah Jean Stewart saying: 'Girls, take it, don't squeal.'

Another nurse is said: 'There are two things I hate in life: the Japs and the sea, and today I've got both.'

A group portrait of the nursing staff of 2/13th Australian General Hospital who were gunned down by Japanese soldiers in the Banka Island massacre on 16 February, 1942

The nurses (some are pictured) had escaped from the SS Vynka Brooke when it was sunk by Japanese aircraft. Along with civilians, 100 British soldiers and more who were wounded, they waited on Radji Beach until they were discovered by Japanese soldiers

Matron Irene Drummond said: 'Chin up, girls. I'm proud of you and I love you all' before the group became waist deep in the water and were gunned down by machine guns on the beach.

After the soldiers left, thinking Sister Bullwinkel was dead, she hid with a wounded British soldier for 12 days before the solider died and she decided to surrender.

Sister Bullwinkel was sent as a prisoner of war to the Palemburg camp on Sumatra and remained in the camp for the next three-and-a-half years.

She joined 300 women and children in the camp who were captured after the fall of Singapore.

On Thursday Banka Island (pictured) hosted an official memorial service for the victims of the 1942 massacre, attended by more than 80 people, including friends and relatives of the nurses and civilian internees and existing members of the Australian Army Nursing Corps

Sisters of the 2/13th Australian General Hospital are pictured enjoying a cup of tea on the verandah of ward C1. Pictured (left to right) is Sister (Sr) Vivian Bullwinkel, Matron Irene Drummond, Sr M Anderson and Sr M Selwood

According to Australian War Memorial records the nurses kept busy in the early days of their captivity with educational activities and musical concerts.

However, conditions worsened with each transfer to a new camp, food and medical supplies were inadequate, and the death toll rose.

After the war Sister Bullwinkel returned to Australia and retired from the army.

She continued to work as a nurse and to honour her colleagues killed on Banka Island, eventually becoming president of the Australian College of Nursing.

She was awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal, an MBE and the AM for her services.

Sister Bullwinkel died in Perth, Western Australia on July 2, 2000.

Group portrait of Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) nurses, who were former prisoners of war on board the hospital ship Manunda on its arrival in Australia. Most of the group were staff members of the 2/10th and 2/13th Australian General Hospital

Members of the Australian Army Nursing Service at a homecoming celebration. Sister (Sr) Vivian Bullwinkel, (2/13 AGH) is pictured second from left and Sr Wilma Oram (2/13 AGH) is second from the right. Both were held as prisoners of war for three and a half years in Sumatra

Sister Vivian Bullwinkel (pictured) also attended the War Crimes Tribunal in Tokyo in 1946. She is seen sitting in court as a witness

On Thursday, an official ceremony was held at Radji Beach and attended by more than 80 people, including friends and relatives of the nurses and civilian internees and existing members of the Australian Army Nursing Corps.

Sydney resident Michael Noyce, whose aunt Kath Neuss was one of the nurses executed in the massacre, told Fairfax Media the memorial was once of the last chances the first generation of relatives would have to celebrate the women's lives.

He took with him a 20kg bronze plaque to place at the site to remember the women who lost their lives.
Outgoing Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe (pictured)

Britain's biggest police force will have to ration its services making officers slow to respond to crime if budgets are cut, its chief has warned.

Outgoing Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has threatened that the force will have to introduce NHS-Style rationing of its services to the public.

This is likely to result in a surge in crime rates unless the threat of swingeing government spending cuts is lifted, he warned

Sir Bernard said thousands of officers will have to be axed to make savings under a scheme to divert money for London to regional forces to address imbalances in the way that the policing budget is currently allocated.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said up to 700 million could be cut from Scotland Yards central Home Office grant as a result of a shake-up of policing funding that is currently being examined by ministers.

Yesterday Sir Bernard waded into the row just a week before he is due to retire and even suggested that taxes should rise to prevent the cutbacks, which he said would lead to management having to prioritise some crimes ahead of others and would threaten the forces ability to police major events.

We havent been very precise about numbers because its such a toxic thing, but you are not talking about a few hundred, you are talking about potentially a thousand, or thousands, of officers less, he told the Evening Standard.

My judgement would be that if you drop below 30,000 officers that would be challenging, particularly as the city gets bigger.

It will get harder so what we will have to do is ration, which is what the health service does, and your way of rationing is doing it slower. Thats what happens. You cant ignore things, you can do it slower and worse.

It gets harder to have flexibility. You havent got as many officers in cyber-crime, which is going through the roof, or female genital mutilation, or all the other things that we do. At the moment, we do it a lot by overtime.

But you need to have the officers  you cant fill the gap by asking officers who dont exist to do overtime.
Lord Neuberger said ministers should have been 'quicker and clearer' to defend three senior judges who ruled in November that Parliament must have a vote on triggering Britain's exit from the EU

The country's most senior judge criticised politicians yesterday for being too slow to stand up for the judiciary in the row after the Brexit court challenge.

Lord Neuberger said ministers should have been 'quicker and clearer' to defend three senior judges who ruled in November that Parliament must have a vote on triggering Britain's exit from the EU.

He added the judiciary was 'not well treated' after the High Court decided that Theresa May could not invoke Article 50, starting the process of leaving the EU, without the consent of MPs and peers.

It led to a backlash from Leave campaigners, including pro-Brexit MPs, newspapers and social media, who accused the judges of 'defying the referendum result'.

Lord Chancellor Liz Truss was criticised for staying silent for several days before speaking up for the independence of the judiciary.

Last month the Supreme Court rejected the Government's appeal against the ruling.

Asked whether politicians responded rapidly enough after the controversial judgment, Lord Neuberger, president of the Supreme Court, said: 'They were certainly vocal enough quickly enough after our hearing.

'After the [High] Court hearing, I think they could have been quicker and clearer. But we all learn by experience, whether politicians or judges

'They were faced with an unexpected situation from which, like all sensible people, they learned.'

He said on Radio 4's Today programme yesterday that some of the criticism directed at the High Court judges undermined the rule of law.

Lord Neuberger (right) with Deputy President Lord David Hope (left) said the judiciary was 'not well treated'

He did not single out any newspapers, but is presumed to have been referring to headlines such 'The judges versus the people' in The Daily Telegraph and 'Enemies of the people' in the Daily Mail.

He said: 'We were certainly not well treated. One has to be careful about being critical of the Press, particularly as a lawyer or judge, because our view of life is very different from that of the media. Certainly in our terms they were quite off beam in terms of what they were concentrating on.

'I wouldn't criticise them, save to the extent that undermining the judiciary for no good reason is no good for the rule of law. I think some of what was said was undermining the rule of law.'

Defending the media's role, Lord Neuberger said he accepted that 'most of what was said, even if I didn't agree with it or think it was fair, was well within the ambit of what a reasonable press could do'. He added the media had a positive duty 'to keep an eye on things'.

Lord Neuberger, who is due to retire later this year, was one of the Supreme Court judges who rejected the Government's appeal in an eight-three majority ruling.

That led former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith to say judges had gone too far in 'deciding to tell Parliament how to run its business'.

Miss Truss, who is also the Justice Secretary, said last night: 'I am delighted that Lord Neuberger is proactively talking about the role of the judiciary in public.'
Business secretary Greg Clark rushed to Paris last night in a desperate bid to save 3,500 British jobs threatened by a proposed takeover of Vauxhall.

The French car giant that owns Peugeot and Citroen is in talks to buy Vauxhall  taking control of its two factories in Bedfordshire and Cheshire.

But it is feared the move will result in thousands of job losses and even the closure of the Vauxhall plants at Ellesmere Port  which is known as the Home of the Astra  and Luton.

The row over the future of Vauxhall comes just weeks after Theresa May launched her industrial strategy for post-Brexit Britain.

Ministers are under pressure to protect British companies vulnerable to overseas predators amid warnings that a string of high profile foreign takeovers have resulted in the loss of jobs, expertise and ideas.

It is feared the move will result in thousands of job losses and even the closure of the Vauxhall plants at Ellesmere Port (pictured)  which is known as the Home of the Astra  and Luton

Mr Clark travelled to Paris by Eurostar last night for crisis talks with bosses at Peugeot and Citroen owner PSA Group.

The business secretary will also meet French industry minister Christophe Sirugue in an attempt to safeguard British jobs.

The proposed deal would see PSA Group buy the European arm of American giant General Motors which includes Vauxhall in Britain and Opel on the Continent.

Vauxhall employs 1,830 staff at its factory in Ellesmere Port where it makes the Astra and a further 1,530 at the plant in Luton where it produces the Vivaro van.

Vauxhall has a total of 35,000 staff in the UK including 20,000 in its dealerships around the country and 7,000 in the supply chain as well as its factory workers.

It is feared that PSA Group would rather shut Vauxhall plants in Britain than Opel factories in Europe, including in Germany and France, given the French government owns a 14 per cent stake in the company.

But British union chiefs have demanded that the government offer PSA Group incentives to keep Ellesmere Port and Luton open  just as it did with Nissan to convince the Japanese car maker to increase its investment in Sunderland.

Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, said the union is not prepared to accept a single job loss in the UK as a result of the deal.

He described Vauxhall as a jewel within the crown of GMs European business.

I will be seeking reassurances on behalf of the 35,000 workers across the UK that rely on this company for a job, said Mr McCluskey.

We will not accept a single job loss from this process because these plants and their workforces are world-class and deserve a future.

Mr Clark earlier held talks with GM president Dan Ammann.

He said he had been reassured by GMs intention to build on the success of these operations rather than rationalise them  even though GM is planning to sell the plants.

Germany has also expressed concerns at the proposed takeover amid concerns about what impact the tie-up would have on the 19,000 German jobs at Opel.

French giant PSA Group has a record of cost-cutting and closed its last British factory  the Peugeot plant in Ryton in Warwickshire  in 2007 with the loss of more than 2,000 jobs.

The cuts have continued in recent years and the companys latest figures show it axed 15,559 jobs in its automotive division between 2013 and 2015.

GM has made major investments in its UK operations in recent years.

The American giant put 140million into Ellesmere Port in 2012 so the plant could produce the new Astra in a move that guaranteed 2,000 jobs.

Two years later it invested 185million in the Luton plant.

But the Vauxhall and Opel car businesses have failed to make a profit for GM since 1999  and it is now planning to offload them.

Describing his meeting with GM yesterday as constructive, Mr Clark said: I emphasised the importance and successful presence of Vauxhall in the UK and welcomed GMs recognition of the excellent and committed workforce at Ellesmere Port, Luton and across the UK.
Vahan Shirkhanyan not to be transferred to another prison (video)

Vahan Shirkhanyan, a former Minister of Defense, will not be transferred from the Yerevan-Kentron penitentiary institution to another prison. When they decided to transfer him (Shirkhanyan) to the Armavir prison we appealed to all possible instances, even to the European Court. One of the questions of the European Court concerned Shirkhanyans health and the necessity to transfer him to another, a much farther prison given his health condition, lawyer Hayk Alumyan said. On November 25, 2015, Armenias National Security Service (NSS) said it had uncovered a criminal gang in one of the house of Yerevans Nork district, which had hidden arms and ammunition inside the building. The NSS claimed that the gang planned to stage serious crimes and that Artur Vardanyan, a citizen of Armenia living in Spain since 1997, was the mastermind of the gang. Shirkhanyan is one of the defendants in the case. He is charged with being an accomplice to the conspiracy. At present, Shirkhanyan cannot attend the trail because of health problems. He has asked for a stretcher. He simply cannot sit in his place for more than 25 minutes. He wants to participate in the hearings. If he is given a stretcher, he will show up in the sittings The next court sitting is scheduled for March 10.
Major General Rupert Jones said the militant group were using off-the-shelf drones to drop grenades on civilians in Mosul in inhuman and indiscriminate attacks

Commercial drones are becoming an increasingly insidious threat in Iraq as Islamic State use them to kill and maim civilians, Britains top commander in the region said.

Major General Rupert Jones said the militant group were using off-the-shelf drones to drop grenades on civilians in Mosul in inhuman and indiscriminate attacks.

In a rare briefing from Baghdad, he said the scars will remain long after the battle as IS tries to continue its reign of terror in liberated towns across Syria and Iraq.

He said: The enemy has tried unsuccessfully to infiltrate back into the east of the city and has indiscriminately fired mortars, rockets and artillery into liberated areas on more than 300 occasions in the last week with a characteristic disdain for human life.

This tactic, together with their continued use of off the shelf commercial drones is all they have left with which to attack the east as they await their fate.

He said liberated towns such as Ramadi and Fallujah were left riddled with explosives.

Booby traps were left in homes in cupboards in fridges in schools and hospitals all aim to kill and maim innocent civilians, he added.

Quizzed about the use of drones he said they were becoming an increasingly insidious threat in Iraq.

He added: They are used for surveillance but in a way the thing that is most concerning is they are being used increasingly to drop grenades and other explosive munitions on innocent civilians in east Mosul and elsewhere.

While this is a particularly Inhumane and indiscriminate weapon by Daesh, it is not a game changer.

Commercial drones are becoming an increasingly insidious threat in Iraq as Islamic State use them to kill and maim civilians, Britains top commander in the region said

Quizzed about the use of drones he said they were becoming an increasingly insidious threat in Iraq

'Weve got technical defences to mitigate against it.

He also said experts were wading through a huge amount of material that had been gathered in Mosul as it is liberated.

He said it was likely that information would be found that would point to terror plots against the West.
Police are scrambling to warn the public of the deadly risks associated with a powerful synthetic drug now being imported into Australia.

The deadly c arfentanyl, or carfentanil, drug was first seized in Sydney in December and now it's just been detected in Brisbane.

A 0.002mg dose of the drug, commonly used to bring down enormous animals such as elephants, is enough to kill a person.

'The drug is based on Fentanyl, but is significantly more potent. A small dose has the capacity to kill  this is not a drug anyone should be taking a risk with,' Detective Superintendent Jon Wacker, Queensland Police Service Drug and Serious Crime Group, said on Friday.

Police have issued a warning over the use of carfentanil (pictured) after the drug was detected in Brisbane

Detective Superintendent Jon Wacker of Queensland Police Service is concerned carfentanil has been detected in Queensland

'Make no mistake, these are not party drugs.

'These are dangerous drugs and its not a matter of if it will kill you. This drug will kill you.'

He said he was 'very concerned to see this drug in Queensland'.

Police said the drug was intercepted by the Australian Border Force at a Brisbane mail centre.

Carfentanil is one of the world's deadliest drugs and is 10,000 times stronger than morphine.

The drug is so powerful one microgram - a dose 100 times smaller than a grain of salt - would cause a reaction in humans and the drug has been linked to a spate of deaths across Canada and the U.S.

Only 2mg of carfentanil is used to tranquilise a fully grown male elephant weighing up to 900kg.

Carfentanil, one of the world's deadliest drugs, is 10,000 times stronger than morphine (Stock Image)

Carfentanil was seized by Australian Border Force at a Brisbane mail centre

Only 2mg of carfentanil is used to tranquilise a fully grown male elephant weighing up to 900kg (Stock Image)
Disgraced former Sydney deputy mayor Salim Mehajer has paid tribute to a friend who died in a horror motorcycle crash.

The friend, who was identified as Fathi Khara-Hassan, 24, crashed his Suzuki motorcycle into the back of a Mercedes van about 9.20pm on Thursday while riding on King Georges Road near Wiley park train station, in Sydneys west, police said.

Mr Khara-Hassan crashed with such force that his helmet was thrown several metres, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Salim Mehajer (left) paid tribute to his friend Fathi Khara-Hassan (right) who died in a motorcycle crash on Thursday

Mr Khara-Hassan was driving down King Georges Road in Sydney's west when his life was tragically cut short

Mehajer, who was suspended as deputy mayor of Auburn City Council last year after he was found to have inappropriately benefited from a council decision, wrote a touching tribute to his friend on Instagram.

'RIP beautiful soul... You have been our greatest source of inspiration and courage. Deep in our hearts we will always keep your image,' the former deputy mayor said.

It was unclear how Mehajer knew the victim, who was described by another friend as a tradie who spent his free time operating a cross fit gym.

Police said they were urging witnesses to contact investigators with information about Thursday's crash.

Witnesses told police a second motorcyclist was spotted riding along with the victim.

The second rider was seen stopping after the crash, but left before police arrived, the witnesses said.

Mourners crowded the crash scene on Friday morning, including some of Mr Khara-Hassan's family members, a law enforcement source told Daily Mail Australia.

A friend described the victim in a social media post: 'Nicest bloke man, fit and healthy and did no one wrong. Always a smile on his face.'

Another friend told The Daily Telegraph: 'He has been part of my family for years and has just recently came back from Thailand with my brother on a two week holiday.'

A friend described the victim in a social media post: 'Nicest bloke man, fit and healthy and did no one wrong. Always a smile on his face'

Mr Mehajer was suspended as deputy mayor of Auburn City Council last year after he was found to have inappropriately benefited from a council decision

A social media profile belonging to the deceased man shows him posing with motorcycles and working out at a gym.

The 51-year-old van driver was uninjured, police said.

He underwent a breath test on the scene and returned negative results, and was taken to Canterbury hospital for mandatory urine and blood testing, police said.

Police said they were preparing a brief for the Coroner.

But a spokesperson for the NSW Coroner's Court said Mr Khara-Hassan was not listed in the office's computer system.

In January last year, then-deputy mayor Mehajer was found to have voted in favour of making changes to planning codes that would have increased the value of a property he owned, without disclosing his financial stakes, according to a Civil and Administrative Tribunal decision.
Comedian Seth Rogen has found a unique way to attack Donald Trump on social media.

Instead of shouting aimlessly into the social media void as so many others do when it comes to the president's controversies, Rogen instead took advantage of the fact Trump's son, Donald Jr, was a fan of his and followed his account.

After spotting that, the comedian decided to send Trump Jr a series of direct messages outlining why he thinks Don's dad should walk away from the White House.

'Yo! @DonaldJTrumpJr! I noticed you follow me on Twitter. Please ask your dad to resign before he destroys the planet. Thanks dude,' Rogen wrote.

This is the first of a series of messages Rogen sent to Trump Jr on Twitter on Thursday

He then posted a series of pictures showing lengthier messages he sent to the president's son.

'Hey man! It's Seth. Your father is trying to discredit our media, collude with Russia, and destroy the environment. It would be super cool of you to be like, "yo, dad, why don't you stop all this and go back to being just a guy on TV." The majority of the world would be pretty psyched. Thanks!!!' the first message read.

'Also, please tell your dad that this guy Jason Chaffetz, you know the dude with the awesome Twitter handle @jasoninthehouse should probably investigate Flynns connection to Russia because he got fired over it. Thanks man! Have a good one.'

Rogen posted pictures of a series of messages he sent to Trump Jr on Thursday on Twitter

'Hey man. I dont mean to come across as a weirdo or anything. Ive just realized I could message you so I thought I would.

'So, maybe, ask your dad to investigate if his campaign was in talks with Russia leading up to the election? Or maybe just have someone investigate Flynns ties to Russia? Or maybe just ask your dad to go to hosting game shows? I bet he would prefer that. He doesnt seem to like this. Thanks dude! Peace!!!'

Trump Jr has not publicly responded to Rogen's requests.

Donald Trump Jr walks through the lobby of Trump Tower in New York City on January 2
An image of a pregnant Donald Trump being held lovingly by Vladimir Putin has gone viral after it was projected onto a succession of buildings across Brooklyn and Manhattan.

The startling image - accompanied by the hashtag #lovethroughhate - caught the imagination of New Yorkers after it began appearing on Valentine's Day.

But what appears to be a satirical illustration is actually an ad campaign for a new dating app that links people together through shared hatreds.

Baby daddies: This image of Vladimir Putin and a pregnant Donald Trump was projected onto buildings in New York over the past few days - including the Chelsea Apple Store (pictured)

App of their eye: The image - projected here near Greenwich Village - was to promote Hater, an app that links people based on what they loathe

The image first appeared on Valentine's Day at the corner of West 14th Street and 8th Avenue, the borderline between two districts: Greenwich Village and the fashionable gay hub of Chelsea.

It then popped up again that evening at the corner of Wythe Avenue and North 6th Street in Brooklyn, and returned to Chelsea on Wednesday, when it was projected onto the Apple store.

Predictably, New York's army of cynics loved the stunt, taking to Twitter to share photos of the ad and joke around about its content.

And of course, many were happy to make sure the president was aware of the pop-up installation.

'What a warm and lovely embrace!' remarked Dustin Osterman. '@realDonaldTrump you're glowing!'

'Putin didn't pull out of Crimea either,' joked Sir Pennypacker.

And a user named Mercedes had a more positive take on the stunt: 'Through humour, hate can turn into love.'

The image clearly references the ongoing revelations about links between Trump's election aides and the Russian government, which also hacked and leaked Democratic Party emails during the election.

But in fact there was no grand political message behind the project - the whole thing was designed to promote Hater, a new dating app for the bile-fueled and furious.

Jokers: The photos went viral online, as people lined up to poke fun - like this user, who joked about Putin's annexation of Crimea in 2014

'Glowing': This user wanted to make sure that the Commander in Chief was aware of the poke at the relationship between his election and campaign aides, and the Russian government

Hopeful: This user saw a more hopeful message in the illustration, about turning hate into love - but it was an advert all along

The app, created by Goldman Sachs employee-turned-comedian Brendan Alper, works like Tinder - but instead of swiping people, you're swiping concepts.

What do you think of building the wall, the app asks? Or Cargo shorts? Or avocados?

Users swipe down to hate, up to love, left to dislike or right to like, and the app then matches them up with similarly angry folks nearby.

It's been in trial in New York since December, writes Mashable, and the number-one most hated topic is, as you might expect from the ultra-liberal city, the recent presidential election.

That likely inspired the company's choice of advertisement - and the rapturous response it's had.

The company even has a picture of Trump on its website, as one of three example dislikes; the others being slow walkers and paying extra for guacamole.

For the record, New York's other two top dislikes are poor sidewalk etiquette - which will surprise no one who's been within earshot of a New Yorker - and drain hair.

Hater is available now for iOS; an Android version is planned for the spring.
Cases of Ross River virus have surged on Australia's east coast after inland flooding has created perfect conditions for mosquito breeding.

More than five times as many people contracted the virus in December 2016 and January 2017 than they did in the same period last year, with 560 cases reported compared to 96 the year before, reported the Sydney Morning Herald.

In December and January there was also an increase in the cases in Sydney and Melbourne.

Cases of Ross River virus have surged on Australia's east coast after inland flooding has created perfect conditions for mosquito breeding (stock image)

Opposition health spokesperson Walt Secord (left) has called on health minister Brad Hazzard (right) to spray affect river areas and to increase public education on the illness

The virus is generally associated with warmer inland areas in states such as Queensland and South Australia, reported the ABC.

It is carried by a certain type of female mosquito, who get the disease by biting infected animals and humans and then passing it on.

Symptoms of Ross River virus can include a fever, chills, aches and pains, joint stiffness and soreness and general feelings of being tired, unwell or weak.

NSW Health Pathology senior scientist Stephen Doggett told the Sydney Morning Herald they'd seen a huge amount of mosquitoes, probably the highest they had ever seen.

Ross River virus is carried by a certain type of female mosquito, who get the disease by biting infected animals and humans and then passing it on (stock image)

Areas in New South Wales where high numbers of mosquitoes have been reported breeding include the Hawkesbury River (pictured is Dangar Island on the river) and Georges River

"They were many, many times higher than our previous records and we've been doing this work since the late 80s,' Prof Doggett said.

Opposition health spokesman Walt Secord has said the government needs to consider spraying areas where high numbers of mosquitoes have been reported breeding.

In NSW these areas include the tidal areas of the Georges River, Parramatta River and Hawkesbury River.

NSW Health Pathology senior scientist Stephen Doggett said they'd seen a huge amount of mosquitoes, probably the highest they had ever seen. Pictured is the Parramatta River where high numbers of mosquitoes have also been reported

A high number of cases have also been identified in the Hunter-New England and suburbs around the Georges River, including Alfreds Point, Lugarno and Illawong.

Mr Secord has also pushed for more education campaigns around the illness.

According to a report from the ABC there are usually about 5,000 cases of the illness reported annually.

This year there have already been 155 cases reported in Queensland and 436 in NSW but the highest has been Victoria, with 708 cases reported compared 34 in 2016.

WHAT IS ROSS RIVER VIRUS AND HOW IS IT SPREAD? Ross River fever is one of a group of viruses called arboviruses (or arthropod-borne viruses) which are spread by the bite of infected mosquitoes. The virus is spread by certain types of female mosquitoes. Female mosquitoes feed on animals and people. If they feed on the blood of an infected animal, the mosquito may become infected. The virus then multiplies within the mosquito and is passed to other animals or people when the mosquito feeds again. The symptoms of Ross River virus can include: - Fever, chills, headache, aches and pains in muscles and joints - Joint swelling and stiffness, particularly noticeable in the morning - Rash on the body, arms or legs which usually disappears after 7 to 10 days - General feeling of being unwell, tired or weak may also occur at times - Symptoms usually develop about 7-10 days after being bitten - Majority of people recover completely in a few weeks. Others may experience symptoms such as joint pain and tiredness for many months Source: NSW Health Department Advertisement




Uber drivers will have to pay 10 per cent goods and services tax, just like taxis, after a long-running legal battle.

The ride sharing service lost its legal battle with the Australian Tax Office in the NSW Federal Court on Friday.

Uber had challenged an ATO ruling that its drivers were legally classified as providing taxi travel and therefore needed an ABN and be registered to pay GST.

Uber drivers will have to pay 10 per cent GST, just like taxi operators, after a long-running legal battle (stock image of Uber mobile phone app)

But Federal Court Justice John Griffiths ruled that a 2015 Uber trip at the centre of the case did constitute 'supply 'taxi travel' within the meaning of (the GST Act)'.

That means Uber drivers must pay 10 per cent GST on their earnings.

'Broadly construed, and having regard to other relevant matters of construction, I consider that the word 'taxi' is sufficiently broad in its ordinary meaning to encompass the uberX service supplied,' Justice Griffiths said in his judgment.

The court found the case study, Uber driver Brian Fine, would count as a taxi driver.

But Justice Griffiths rejected the ATO's argument that the UberX service was also a limousine service - but mostly because Mr Fine drove a Honda Civic.

Justice Griffiths left open the possibility that other UberX drivers could be considered to offer limousine services, depending on the type of vehicle they drive.

In a statement supplied to Daily Mail Australia, Uber said: 'We are disappointed in the Federal Court's decision today. We are now reviewing the decision and will provide our driver-partners with more information as soon as we can.'

'Broadly construed, and having regard to other relevant matters of construction, I consider that the word 'taxi' is sufficiently broad in its ordinary meaning to encompass the uberX service supplied,' Justice Griffiths said (stock image)

In a statement, Australian Taxi Industry Association CEO Blair Davies said taxi drivers and ride-sourcing drivers are effectively in the same business.

'UberX drivers cannot expect to be treated as though they operate in a tax free zone. They should pay tax just like their taxi driver counterparts,' Mr Davies said.

'There is nothing unfair about it. The ATO hasn't singled out ride-sourcing drivers for extra or harsher treatment, it's actually treating them exactly the same as everyone else who provides the same sort of personalised transport service.'
Seven Hong Kong police officers were jailed for two years today for what the judge described as a 'vicious' attack on a protester in 2014.

The protester was attacked during a pro-democracy rally on October 14, 2014 which was calling for the ability to vote in the elections for Hong Kong's future leaders.

Footage of police handcuffing and beating Ken Tsang Kin-chiu, a member of the Civic Party was widely shared online.

Arrival: Five of the seven Hong Kong officers arrive at the district court in Hong Kong

Footage of the officers beating the protester while he was handcuffed was shared online

Shocking: Tsang was handcuffed and beaten into a corner by the police officers

Pro-police demonstrators turned up in support for the men and vow to protest their sentence

Seven officers were convicted of assault causing actual bodily harm to Ken Tsang during a series of street protests known as Occupy Hong Kong or Umbrella Movement.

They were handed a sentence of two years.

A more serious charge of grievous bodily harm with intent was acquitted.

One officer stamped on 41-year-old Tsang and hit him with a baton while four other officers kicked him. Two officers did not take part in the beating but stood by and watched.

At the time, photographs showing Tsang with bruising on his face and body, released by democracy activists, sparked anger and condemnation. Human rights group Amnesty International said the police involved in what appeared to be a 'vicious attack against a detained man' should face justice.

The whole incident involving plainclothes police was filmed and broadcast by a tv network

Violent: Judge David Dufton said it was a 'vicious' attack on a protester by the individuals

Ken Tsang (C): seven Hong Kong police officers have been jailed for two years for assaulting the Civic Party activist during pro-democracy protests in 2014

Seven Hong Kong police officers are jailed for two years after being found guilty of assualt on a pro-democracy demonstrator in 2014

One of the officers involved in kicking Tsang was also found guilty of common assault for slapping him in the face twice after he was taken to a police station.

In court, judge David Dufton said that police officers who break the law 'have to be made an example of.'

Social worker Tsang was not in court on Friday to hear the sentence but told a reporter from AFP: 'I hope the government and the police will do something, think about what they have done and say sorry to Hong Kong citizens.'

A QUICK LOOK AT HONG KONG'S UMBRELLA MOVEMENT Police try to control the situation as protesters holding umbrellas clash For 79 days in 2014, pro-democracy protesters rallied on the streets of Hong Kong for universal suffrage. There are 70 seats on Hong Kong's Legislative Council which passes laws however only 35 seats are directly elected by the population. The remaining seats are elected by people from particular professions or trades - just 6 percent of the population. Originally a civil disobedience movement led by Occupy Central, the movement began on September 28, 2014 as protesters blocked roads in the city's financial and political centre. A protester wears goggles and a material over his face during the umbrella movement Many were young people hoping for a brighter future for the special administrative region while some older citizens had turned out to protest against increasing control from Beijing. Protesters parked their tents in three neighbourhoods demanding that they would not leave until Hong Kong was given universal suffrage. However as time went on, the protests became more violent as pro-democracy and pro-Beijing protesters clashed with each other and police. A single image of a protester holding an umbrella in the middle of a mist of tear gas became the movement's symbol and the protests came to be known as the umbrella movement. On December 11, 2014 the Occupy sites were cleared by police and the movement came to an end. Advertisement

Police have been criticised for their treatment of protesters during the Occupy movement.

However in court, the defense was that officers had been under intense pressure during the protests, which they said had dented morale with a number of police injured.

Both pro-police and pro-democracy supporters gathered outside the court. The pro-police demonstrators said that they would march in protest on Saturday.

Tsang appeared in court last year and was found guilty of assaulting and resisting officers on the same night the beating took place. He had splashed liquid on police. He was handed a five-week sentence and has said that he will appeal the ruling.
The Apple store in Sydney was evacuated after a suspected bomb threat.

Police were seen at the George Street store just after 1.30pm on Friday, with bomb disposal teams and sniffer dogs at the scene.

One of those evacuated tweeted he 'heard store employees talking about a bomb threat, not a drill,' according to news.com.au.

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Police outside the Sydney Apple store, which was evacuated after a suspected bomb scare

Police spent about an hour outside the store before giving the all clear

Police reportedly spent about an hour at the scene before giving the all clear.

'The police operation has been resolved without incident,' a New South Wales police spokesman told Daily Mail Australia.

Police would not comment on the specifics of the operation.

The store has now reopened and a huge queue of customers could be seen trying to get back into the store.
From choosing a destination to booking accommodation - planning a holiday can be a hassle.

After analysing data from more than 250 million flights over the past three years, the cheapest months to fly have been revealed as May and November, with savings of at least 10 per cent.

The analysis, performed by website Skyscanner, means travelers can choose the best time to book domestic and international flights.

The cheapest months to fly domestically and internationally from Australian cities are May and November, Skyscanner data has revealed (stock image)

The website's new planning tool also reveals how far in advance flights to popular destinations should be booked to snag the cheapest fare. Above, a stock image of a young backpacker couple checking in at an airline counter

The findings revealed savings of at least 10 per cent can be made during the off-peak periods compared to the average flight price.

The website's new planning tool also reveals how far in advance flights to popular destinations should be booked to snag the cheapest fare.

Flights to London are best booked 25 weeks prior from most capital cities, while a trip from Melbourne to Bali is cheapest 11 weeks ahead of time.

The travel website analysed data from more than 250 million flights over the past three years (stock)

December is the most expensive month to travel with prices skyrocketing by over 25 per cent (stock)

WHEN ARE THE BEST DEALS? Flights to London are best booked 25 weeks ahead of time Flights from Melbourne to Bali are cheapest 11 weeks ahead of time Flights to Brisbane, Cairns or the Gold Coast should be booked 19 weeks prior Advertisement

Unsurprisingly, December is the most expensive month to travel with prices skyrocketing by over 25 per cent.

According to the data, trips from Sydney to Melbourne should be booked 13 weeks in advance - as should flights from Perth to Melbourne.

The cheapest flights to Brisbane, Cairns or the Gold Coast are most likely to be found 19 weeks ahead of time.

Skyscanner's 2017 Best Time To Book tool can be found here.

Flights to London are best booked 25 weeks prior from most capital cities (stock image)
A Chinese property investor's billboard in Sydney has been vandalised with racist slurs.

The poster reading 'No more Asians. It's not the face of Australia. We speak English,' was found at a construction site in Ryde, Sydney on Monday.

It covered the faces of Chinese Australian real estate agents on an outdoor billboard.

A Chinese property investor's billboard in Sydney has been vandalised with racist slurs (pictured)

Chinese Australian property investor Mr Yancheng Wang told SBS it was the second time he had found such a poster on his billboard.

'It makes me angry and upset at the same time,' he said.

The lengthy black and white poster also says: 'Stop the 457 work visa, it's a scam, it puts Aussie's out of work.'

'Save our Aussie culture. Australia is not Asia.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted NSW Police regarding the poster.
US Vice President Mike Pence is travelling to Europe to soothe allies unnerved by his boss' unorthodox statements on Russia and NATO.

Pence will stress America's commitment to Europe during the first major foreign address for the Trump administration, telling the annual Munich Security Conference that Europe is an 'indispensable partner' for the United States.

He is also set to repeat the message privately in meetings with a dozen leaders over the weekend and on Monday, a senior White House foreign policy adviser told reporters.

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Pence will stress America's commitment to Europe during the first major foreign address for the Trump administration

The Vice President tweeted a picture of himself and second lady Karen Pence setting off for Europe saying he was looking forward to sharing Trump's message of a 'stronger, safer world'

'We are the most secure and most prosperous when both the US and Europe are strong and united,' the adviser said, previewing Pence's trip.

President Donald Trump alarmed allies during his campaign for office by breaking with traditional Republican views on the transatlantic relationship.

Trump has expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom he said he would like to work to fight Islamic State militants, and has questioned the value of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

In Munich, Pence will hold a series of meetings with leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, and leaders from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Pence will tell the annual Munich Security Conference that Europe is an 'indispensable partner' for the United States

Pence will emphasize that Russia and Ukraine need to fully implement the Minsk ceasefire agreement, and will stand firm on economic sanctions on Russia related to its aggression in Ukraine, the adviser told reporters.

He plans to discuss counterterrorism in a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, and the fight against Islamic State in meetings with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, the adviser said.

On Monday, Pence will hold several discussions with European officials in Brussels, including with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

He is due to meet privately with a dozen leaders over the weekend, including German chancellor Angela Merkel

His trip comes amid turbulence at the White House. Trump fired his national security advisor on Monday for misleading Pence over his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the United States. The president was then turned down by a replacement candidate on Thursday.

While Pence's sentiments may be welcomed, it may take more than soothing words to provide comfort, given the depth of anxiety in Europe about Trump's foreign policy, said Derek Chollet, a top defense policy adviser to former President Barack Obama.

'He will be trying to be reassuring, try to soften the edges of some of the presidents recent comments about Europe, put into context or explain - but I have to think that it's not going to solve the problem,' said Chollet.
Christopher Whitaker, 44, is charged in the death of 14-year-old school girl Alianna DeFreeze

A registered sex offender who could face the death penalty for the slaying of a 14-year-old Cleveland girl has pleaded not guilty.

A judge on Thursday refused to set bond for 44-year-old Christopher Whitaker, of South Euclid, who previously spent only four years in prison for raping and stabbing a woman.

He faces charges of aggravated murder, kidnapping, rape and abuse of a corpse in the death of Alianna DeFreeze.

The girl died of stab wounds, reported Cleveland.com. The state is seeking the death penalty.

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DeFreeze was switching buses to get to school in Cleveland when she disappeared

DeFreeze didn't show for school and her mother called police; her body was found three days later

'The facts of this case together with his violent criminal history compels this Office to seek the death penalty,' said Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley.

The girl's body was found in an abandoned home on Fuller Street in Cleveland on January 29, three days after her mother reported her missing when she didn't arrive at school, according to Fox News 8.

Whitaker was arrested February 2. Authorities have said his DNA was matched to evidence from the slaying.

Whitaker was denied bail on Thursday and pleaded not guilty; he is a registered sex offender who had already spent four years in prison for the sexual assault and stabbing of a woman

DeFreeze was found in an abandoned house on Fuller Street in Cleveland, above, where mourners left balloons, toys, and cards in her memory

Whitaker has a lengthy criminal record, including spending four years in prison starting in 2005 for felonious assault of 45-year-old woman. He is listed as a sex offender, reports Cleveland 19.

In 2005, Whitaker asked a 45-year-old woman to use her bathroom. When she let him inside, he choked her until she passed out, raped her, and stabbed her twice in the neck with scissors.

He also had numerous previous burglary convictions.

His last known address is South Euclid but sources told the outlet that Whitaker was living off and on at a home on East 84th Street near Superior Avenue.

DeFreeze was last seen alive on surveillance video on January 26 around 6:30am when she got off a bus at nearby E. 93rd Street and Kinsman Avenue to switch lines.

Around 4:15pm her mother was notified by the school that DeFreeze didn't show up and she called police.

A family member told the outlet that the girl and her family did not know Whitaker.
Advertisement

Incredible photos have emerged from the Christchurch fires that have devastated more than 450 households evacuated and 11 homes destroyed.

The blazes, which started in Marleys Hills, were ravaging more than 1800 hectares by Friday and a state of emergency was declared on Thursday.

Firefighters believe they may have contained the fire and are hoping a forecast of a change in wind direction later in the week could help slow the fire's progress.

A photo shows the intense nature of the blaze glowing in the night sky over a suburb of Christchurch.

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The blaze that forced more than 450 people to evacuate their homes in Christchurch lights up the night sky

About 450 homes were officially evacuated on Thursday morning, while more people are believed to have left of their own accord

The blaze started as two separate fires on Monday and sparked a local state of emergency

Much to the relief of Christchurch residents, more than 1400 evacuees were allowed to return home as firefighters contained the blaze.

The cause of the blaze still remains a mystery to the authorities but there does not seem to be any factor to indicate it was deliberately lit.

Emergency management spokesman Richard McNamara described the ferocity of the fire as a 'monster'.

The fires were fanned by strong winds and merged into one. It covered more than 1850 hectares on Wednesday night

Rain is not expected in the area until Friday afternoon. Pictured is a man watching the fire and smoke near Sugarloaf communications tower

Sixteen helicopters with monsoon buckets (pictured) were brought in to help fight the blaze

'Yesterday we were chasing a monster  we were trying to catch it, and you add in wind and it becomes totally uncontrollable,' McNamara told Radio New Zealand.

'Yesterday afternoon some of the fire behaviour was some of the worst I've [ever] seen, and I've seen fire behaviour in the western US and Australia.'

The maximum number of aircraft, fifteen helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, were deployed to tackle the ferocity of the blaze - with more than 200 firefighters on the ground.

Tragically pilot Steve Askin lost his life when his helicopter crashed while battling the blaze on Tuesday.

At least seven houses have been destroyed in the blaze. Pictured are people watching smoke and fire light up between Sugarloaf communications tower and Christchurch Adventure Park
Fresh off his latest attack of the 'mainstream media', Donald Trump is asking his supporters if they endorse his 'fake' news beliefs.

Trump sent out a quiz, titled the 'Mainstream Media Accountability Survey,' to his fans on Thursday night.

The opening question in the survey asks: 'Do you believe that the mainstream media has reported unfairly on our movement?'

It offers up a quartet of options - 'yes', 'no', 'no opinion', and 'other, please specify'.

The next few questions then ask his fans to comment on whether or not they trust specific news outlets: MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News.

Donald Trump has asked his supporters to file out a bizarre survey about the media just hours after he ranted against the press on Thursday

Trump emailed his supporters a link to his, 'Mainstream Media Accountability Survey' on Thursday

The questions are written in a way that supports Trump's frequent claim he has been the victim of a big, bad, media class that is out to get him.

'On which issues does the mainstream media do the worst job of representing Republicans?' one question asks.

'Do you believe that the media creates false feuds within our Party in order to make us seem divided?' another reads.

In total, there are 25 questions covering a series of issues Trump has raised on a number of occasions with the media - which has been referred to by his chief strategist Steve Bannon as 'the opposition party'.

There were 25 questions - many of which focused on a number of issues Trump has claimed exist in recent months

The letter Trump sent to people on his mailing list, along with a link to the quiz, set the table for how the president wanted recipients to feel when they answered the questions.

'Please take the Mainstream Media Accountability Survey to do your part to fight back against the medias attacks and deceptions,' it read.

'You know that I dont trust the media to report on anything we achieve. Instead, you  the American people  are our last line of defense against the medias hit jobs.

'You are our greatest asset in helping our movement deliver the truth to the American people.

'Over these next four years, our movement will be subjected to some of the nastiest attacks you can imagine.

'But just like during the campaign, we need to stay focused on getting the job done and accomplishing our shared goal to Make America Great Again!

'Thats why Ive made it a point to cut through the medias noise and go straight to the American people. It worked during the campaign, and it will work again over these next four years.

'But I cant do it alone. I need you by my side, supporting our message and doing your part to get the truth to the American voter.'

Trump attacked almost all media outlets during his bizarre press conference on Thursday, but singled out CNN and the BBC for additional vitriol.

He referred to CNN as 'very fake news', which is seemingly a step up from his previous claim the network was 'fake news'.
Video has emerged of Stephen Miller, Donald Trump's 31-year-old policy aide, being booed off stage at his California high school for offending students with 'classist and racist' remarks.

Miller, who has represented Trump on TV and acted as his 'warm-up man' during rallies, is seen being ushered off-stage in 2002 after upsetting the Santa Monica High crowd with his speech for school government.

'Am I the only one who is sick and tired of being told to pick up our trash when we have plenty of janitors who are paid to do it for us?' he asked in the video obtained by Univision.

That remark looks innocuous, but some ex-students believe it was a racist jab at the school's all-black or Latino janitorial staff - and others say it wasn't the first time he'd made prejudiced comments about Latinos.

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Booed: Trump aide Stephen Miller is seen here in 2002, giving a speech to his high school. He was booed off stage by other students, who said his remarks about janitors were racist

Aide: Miller, (pictured this week, aged 31), is now a top aide to Trump. Some classmates said he made racist comments to Latinos, but a pal said he was just a joker who liked to get a reaction

(Video via The Washington Post)

Miller's speech began 'Im the only candidate up here who stands out. I would say and I would do things that no one else in their right mind would say or do.'

Natalie Flores, a former student at the ultra-liberal school, had no doubt that Miller's remarks were intended as coded racism because the janitors were all black or Latino.

'It was a racist remark because we all knew that our janitors were people of color,' she said.

But Justin Brownstone, who was the student president at that time, believes that Miller was mostly just out to get a reaction.

'He enjoyed saying things that were perceived as racist,' he said. 'The more he offended, the happier he was.'

The video, made months after the speech, intercuts snippets of Miller's remarks on stage with talking heads from other students at the school.

Escorted: Miller (center) was escorted off the stage after he asked why he should pick up trash and not janitors. Some students said that was racist as the janitors were all black or Latino

One of those talking heads is Christopher Moritz, one of Miller's few high school pals.

He agrees that Miller wanted a reaction, and says there was no real racist intent behind the speech.

'That speech ... as I remember, it's really written more as a satire,' he told Univision. 'I think most people understood that.

'No-one took it seriously ... it was a joke, kind of a senior prank sort of thing.'

He added that Miller had a diverse crowd of friends at Santa Monica High, including a black conservative radio host.

Signing off: Miller left school with this quote about be '100 percent Americanism.' One man said Miller killed their years of friendship at 14 because he was a Latino

Others, however, told Univision they recalled Miller making multiple racially-charged remarks about and to non-white students.

'I think his big problem was the Latinos,' Flores told Univision last week. 'He thought they lived off welfare.'

Moises Castillo said that he heard Miller tell members of MEChA, a group that promotes Mexican-American identity: 'This is the United States. Speak English.'

Another Latino ex-student who did not wish to be named said Miller shouted at him to 'Go back to your country' and 'speak English.'

And Charles Gould, who claims to be a former schoolmate of Miller's, describes him as 'hands down the most un-liked person on campus' and 'an unabashed racist' in a tweet on Sunday.

'No I'm not being over sensitive and I'm not using the "r" word where it doesn't apply,' he wrote.

'In private conversations he was constantly making disparaging remarks about the African-America, Latino and Asian students at our school.'

I went to elementary thru high school with Stephen Miller Senior Policy Advisor to @realDonaldTrump. Here's what I remember about him: pic.twitter.com/NlacDXM7b2  charles gould (@middleKidGould) February 12, 2017

Last week, Jason Islas, who had made friends with Miller when he was young, came forward to claim that Miller had rejected him before attending high school because of his ethnicity.

Islas told Univision that the 14-year-old Miller outright said: 'I can't be your friend any more because you are Latino.'

Islas said he was puzzled by Miller's apparently sudden adoption of right-wing views, as he had been invited to Miller's Bar Mitzvah and that Miller had a stable family life.

MILLER'S RANTS While at Duke University, Miller wrote a series of columns for campus paper The Chronicle in which he ranted about pet peeves. Here are excerpts. On closing the pay gap 'It would mean [women] trading in jobs like housekeeping for night shifts doing road repairs; it would mean giving up the joy of being home during your child's first years of life.' ('Sorry Feminists,' November 22, 2005) On 9/11's fifth anniversary 'We oppose common-sense security measures. We give driver's licenses to illegal aliens. Meanwhile our enemy yearns to attack with all the force of Sept. 11 multiplied a hundred times. What will it take for us to understand?' ('9.11.01,' September 11, 2006) On multiculuralism 'Inside our borders, the nation of E Pluribus Unum threatens to be fractured across ethnic lines by racial animus and divisive multiculturalism. We suffer from sagging patriotism, growing malaise and a loss of faith in the noble history and principles that have made us great.' ('Farewell', April 23, 2007) Source: Slate Advertisement

If Miller was just looking to ruffle feathers, he found a more consistent outlet in writing than in speeches.

In 2002, the same year he gave his controversial speech to the school, Miller wrote to local magazine The Lookout, arguing that bilingual signs were a 'crutch' for Spanish-speaking students.

'When I entered Santa Monica High School in ninth grade, I noticed a number of students lacked basic English skills,' he wrote.

'There are usually very few, if any, Hispanic students in my honors classes, despite the large number of Hispanic students that attend our school.'

He continued to write when he went to Duke University in North Carolina, where he produced regular columns in which he bemoaned feminism, multiculturalism and liberal politics.

Miller also defended Bill Bennett after the former Education Secretary said America could reduce crime rates by aborting 'every black baby in this country.'

'The real problems facing the black community are not - gasp - conservative commentators but the fact that, as some studies have shown, about 194,300 black men between the ages of 20 and 29 are sentenced federal or state prisoners,' he wrote in an October 26, 2005 article called 'Tricky Extrapolations'.

He also claimed that 'two-thirds of black children are born out of wedlock; and 12 percent of black students in the eighth grade are at or above a proficient reading level.'

'I'm sure to be called a racist just for shedding light on these troubling issues,' he concluded.

When Miller left Santa Monica, he signed off with a yearbook quote from Theodore Roosevelt: 'There can be no 50-50 Americanism in this country. There is room here for only 100 percent Americanism, only for those who are Americans and nothing else.'
A WA woman was allegedly caught speeding and drink driving with her three young children in the car.

Police officers in the town of Cue posted a receipt from the breath test to Twitter and wrote: 'This is why we breath test at all hours.'

The 27-year-old woman was stopped by officers on the Great Northern Highway in the Shire of Mt Magnet before 9.15am on Thursday.

A WA woman was allegedly caught speeding and drink driving with her three young children in the car. Police officers in the town of Cue posted a receipt from the breath test to Twitter

Police say the Geraldton resident had three of her children in the car, all of whom were under 10 years old, Cue Police Sergeant Clint Brennan told Daily Mail Australia.

Police accused the woman of driving 160km/h in a 110km/h zone.

They also alleged a breath test showed the woman had a blood alcohol content of 0.043g.

Since the woman was a P-plater, any amount of alcohol discovered in her blood would have been an alleged offence. The limit for non-probationary drivers in WA is 0.05 grams.

The woman faces a fine of up to $300 and three months disqualification from driving.

Her car will be impounded for 28 days, police said.
A 23-year-old pimp has been put behind bars on human trafficking and assault charges after harrowing audio recorded by a 'hero' hotel maid captured him beating a prostitute.

Marcus Jamal Lindsey was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Wednesday after he punched the 20-year-old woman in the face multiple times when she tried to escape his prostitution ring at the Radisson Hotel in Rockville, Maryland last year.

A key piece of evidence used in his trial by prosecutors was an audio recording made by a hotel maid outside the room where Lindsey was holed up with the victim and another prostitute.

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Marcus Lindsey, 23, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Wednesday after he attacked a woman when she tried to escape his prostitution ring at a Radisson Hotel in Maryland last year

The maid, dubbed a 'hero' during court proceedings, was in the hallway when she heard screaming and decided to put her phone at the base of the door to record what was happening inside.

'Marcus, stop it,' the woman could be heard screaming in the two minute recording.

The 23-year-old was convicted on human trafficking and assault charges

She could later be heard crying: 'I don't want no part in this life.'

Lindsey and the two women had been staying in the hotel room for two days when the incident unfolded on March 3 last year, ABC7 reports.

Court documents state the victim told police Lindsey had choked her and punched her when she tried to leave and stop working as a prostitute for him.

Lindsey had taken out Backpage.com ads selling the victim's sexual services prior to the assault. She said she wasn't allowed to keep any of the money so decided to leave.

The woman managed to escape the hotel room following the attack and made a hotel lobby employee call 911.

Audio of the 911 call recorded the woman telling the operator she was 20 years old and that she had been attacked.

Lindsey left the hotel but was later arrested.

Several phone calls he made from Montgomery County jail recorded him saying his victim wouldn't testify against him.

Lindsey and the woman had been staying in a room at the Radisson Hotel in Rockville, Maryland for two days before the incident occurred in March 2016

'So if there's no victim, I should be good on this right?' he could be heard saying in one phone call.

The woman, who authorities were not able to locate presumably because she was in hiding out of fear, did not testify in court.

But prosecutors were still able to get a conviction using the hotel maid's recording and other evidence.

He was convicted by a jury in December and sentenced to 20 years in prison this week.
An illegal alien who got into a car accident now sits in a detention center and might soon be deported, despite having an American wife and three children.

Armando Chavez Corona was rear-ended last week along Interstate 5 in Tacoma, Washington. The collision involved multiple vehicles and Corona was not the cause of the accident, said The News Tribune.

However, when Washington State patrol checked his drivers license, it found a notice from Immigration and Customs Enforcement that Corona was a deported Mexican felon who'd been convicted of a drug charge, reported the outlet.

Armando Chavez Corona (not pictured) was rear-ended in Tacoma then seized by ICE agents (stock image)

The trooper contacted ICE and less than two hours later, he was taken into custody.

ICE said he'd already been removed four times between 1996 to 2000.

Corona was with his US-born wife, Grace, at the time, and she says she panicked when she realized what was happening.

'All of a sudden, I don't know why, I glanced to the back and I see an agent that says 'ICE Police'. And so I run toward my husband and I'm going to be honest with you, I tried to body barricade him,' she told KOMO.

She said she knew nothing about his felon status.

Despite the round-ups happening since the Obama administration, Donald Trump's very outright stance on illegal immigrants had made Grace believe her husband's arrest has more to do with him.

'You hear about it more and more so, yes, I believe it has to do with Trump.'

'Gang members, drug dealers & others are being removed!' Trump recently tweeted.

However, now there's a family, including three children, without a father who supported them.

A state trooper ran his license and found out about his deported status

'It's unfair because my dad was a hard worker and made sure we had everything we needed to live,' said daughter Elizabeth.

Homeland Security Department said Monday that 680 illegal immigrants were arrested last week, 75 per cent of them felons.

Washington State Patrol says it has no authority to arrest illegal aliens, but can call ICE. It said ICE then decides whether or not to respond.

A review began Wednesday a review was underway to ensure the patrol wasnt violating its policies.

'I don't know if we'll ever see him again,' said a tearful Elizabeth.

The family suspects he might be deported by February 21.
Donald Trump should stop complaining about the media and instead use it to get his message out, Malcolm Turnbull said.

The Australian Prime Minister cited a famous 1984 quote by British politician Enoch Powell, though Mr Turnbull wrongly attributed it to Winston Churchill.

'A very great politician, Winston Churchill, once said that politicians complaining about the newspapers is like a sailor complaining about the sea,' he told reporters in New Zealand on Friday.

Donald Trump should stop complaining about the media and instead use it to get his message out, Malcolm Turnbull said

The Australian Prime Minister cited the example of British wartime leader Winston Churchill, who famously said it was pointless

'There is not much point. That is the media we live with and we have to get our message across and we thank you all in the media for your kind attention,' he said.

Mr Turnbull was speaking from experience as he faces a constant stream of questions from domestic media about his leadership, with opinion polls showing the popularity of his centre-right government sinking to its lowest in more than a year.

U.S. President Trump repeatedly described media criticism of him as 'fake news' since taking office last month, labelling the media as the 'opposition party'.

Don't believe a word you read: Trump claimed his administration was a 'finely-tuned machine' during an hour-long press conference on Thursday

Lying media: Trump used the bully pulpit to launch attack after attack against the White House press corps

TRUMP'S VERBAL SALVOS AT THE PRESS The president used the East Room to launch attack after attack on the media. On CNN: 'I mean, I watch CNN. It's so much anger and hatred, and just  the hatred!' On the media generally: 'I turn on the TV, open the newspapers  and I see stories of chaos, chaos.' On the New York Times: 'Front page, big massive story. And it was nasty.' On claims Russia hacked the election: 'Russia  this is fake news put out by the media.' On the BBC: 'Here's another beauty' On the headlines he expects from the press conference: 'Tomorrow they will say, "Donald Trump rants and raves at the press." I'm not ranting and raving. I'm just telling you you're dishonest people.' Advertisement

On Thursday, he dismissed a growing controversy about ties between his aides and Russia as a 'ruse' and a 'scam' perpetrated by a hostile news media.

Relations between the U.S. and Australia hit a low point earlier this month when Mr Trump said on Twitter that a planned refugee swap between the two nations was a 'dumb deal'.

That followed a Washington Post report about an acrimonious telephone call between the two leaders that attracted headlines worldwide.

'President Trump and I have had several calls now, very constructive calls. It was frank and forthright and it was very valuable,' Mr Turnbull said.

Australia is a staunch U.S. ally and is currently flying combat missions in Syria. It has also said it was open to stepping up its military commitment against the militant Islamic State group.

With his promise to put 'America First', Mr Trump also scrapped or promised to renegotiate trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the North American Free Trade Agreement since coming to office

But Mr Turnbull warned against a more protectionist U.S. trade stance.

'Protectionism is not the ladder to get you out of the low growth track, it is the shovel to dig it deeper and deeper and deeper,' he said.
Donald Trump has reportedly chosen his new communications director.

The White House has picked Mike Dubke, with an announcement potentially as early as Friday morning, according to CNN.

Politico reported that the appointment is a done deal, citing multiple administration sources.

Dubke founded Crossroads Media  a media placement firm  in 2001, but it did not rise to prominence until 2008.

The White House is set to name Mike Dubke (pictured) the new communications director - with an announcement potentially to be made as early as Friday

However, the reported appointment could further ruffle feathers in the White House, with the network claiming some of Trump's long-time team members will be angered by the choice.

'Dubke and his Crossroads friends did everything they could to kill the Trump movement and failed,' one person told CNN.

But the rumored appointment could serve as welcome relief for Sean Spicer, Trump's under-fire press secretary, who has been forced to fill both roles.

Former Trump transition spokesman Jason Miller had been picked to serve as communications director, but he hastily resigned just one day before Trump was sworn in as president.

Though Spicer is currently taking on both the communications director role and the job of press secretary, the two positions have different responsibilities.

The White House Press Secretary is responsible for briefing the press and presides over televised press conferences.

Dubke will be filing the spot left vacant by Trump's original pick for the role, Jason Miller, who resigned last month

He or she acts as a spokesperson for the government and manages the public relations of government officials and builds relationships between political agencies and the media.

Meanwhile, the White House communications Director ensures that all aspects of communications are covered and that the current administration's message is delivered successfully.

It is his or her job to promote the president's agenda and organize press conferences, statements to the press and State of the Union Addresses.

Dubke described company Crossroads Media as 'the premier Republican media services firm', on its website, before saying he has: 'a unique understanding of the relationship between political strategy and public policy development'.

His fellow co-founder of Crossroads, Steven J Law, served as former President George W Bush's US Deputy Secretary of Labor.

Since 1988, Dubke has been involved in local, state and national politics and public policy advocacy, according to his company's website.

The rumored appointment could serve as welcome relief for Sean Spicer (pictured on Thursday), Trump's under-fire Press Secretary, who has been forced to fill both roles

Prior to starting Crossroads Media, Dubke served as the president of Americans For Job Security and the executive director of the Ripon Educational Fund, where he 'oversaw the growth of the TransAtlantic Conference'.

Dubke, who graduated from Hamilton College, is also a founding partner at the strategic communications and public affairs firm, Black Rock Group.

The rumored incoming director lives in Virginia with his wife, Shannon, and their two children.

The appointment of Dubke could take some pressure off of Spicer, who's had a rocky start to his role in the White House.

Early reports out of the White House suggested that Trump didn't like Spicer's style behind the podium and he didn't care for the spokesman's boxy suits.

There was chatter, quickly knocked down, that the Trump administration was already interviewing for a new press secretary, as Spicer wasn't getting the job done.

Trump also was reportedly upset following Saturday Night Live's portrayal of Spicer, who was inpersonated by Melissa McCarthy on the show.

He was apparently unhappy to see a male member of staff being played by a woman.
The woman wearing a LOL top accused of killing Kim Jong-Un's half brother stayed in cheap hotels, carried a wad of cash and cut her hair a day before the attack, it has been claimed.

A receptionist at one of the Kuala Lumpur hotels said a woman checked in under the Vietnamese name of Doan Thi Huong on Sunday before borrowing a pair of scissors from the front desk.

The next day she left early in the morning wearing a top with LOL emblazoned on the front and returned later, showing no signs of stress.

Police believe she was the person who, at around 8.20am that day, had approached Kim Jong-Nam from behind at the Malaysian capital's budget airline terminal and thrust a deadly poisonous substance into his face.

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The 'LOL assasin' (left) who allegedly murdered Kim Jong-nan, right, by wiping poison on his face may have been 'duped into killing him' by 'friends who told her it was a harmless prank'

A photo has emerged showing the first arrested suspect (pictured wearing a yellow top) being led into a police car

His second wife, Lee Hye-Kyong, son Kim Han-sol, 21, and the daughter Kim Sol-hui, believed to be 18, have been taken into protective custody, the South China Morning Post reports.

According to Malaysian media reports, Doan told police she had been duped into what she thought was a harmless practical joke. A second woman who has been detained, an Indonesian national, also thought she was involved in a prank, some media reports said.

However, staff at two hotels in a rundown area near the airport gave details of Doan's movements before the killing that appeared both calm and deliberate.

A private investigator told Reuters her behaviour bore the hallmarks of an intelligence operative.

Doan went first to the two-star Qlassic Hotel, checking in on Saturday, February 11. A staff member who asked not to be named said she stayed in the cheapest room, which had no windows.

'I remember she had wanted to extend her stay here, and was ready to pay with a stack of money in her hand,' said another member of the Qlassic's staff, a front-desk employee who only identified herself as Sia.

After one night, Doan checked into the CityView Hotel, arriving with a suitcase, a backpack and a large teddy bear, the receptionist told Reuters, declining to be named. She said Doan spoke understandable English.

Kim Jong-nan, pictured, is believed to have been killed in an attack that lasted just 'five seconds' at an airport in Malaysia

It is believed one of the attackers distracted him in the check-in queue while another 'came from behind, locked in a chokehold and administered poison'. Pictured is one of the suspects on CCTV, wearing a white top branded with LOL

She borrowed a pair of scissors from the front desk the evening before the attack, and a member of housekeeping staff found hair on the floor and in the waste basket the next day.

'She found the scissors on the room desk. And there was hair strewn on the floor in the room, (Doan) had thrown some in the bin but there was still a mess,' the receptionist said.

She said that the next day Doan had on the shirt she was seen wearing in an airport CCTV grab that has earned her the nickname 'LOL Girl' in Malaysian media.

Doan was out for much of the morning and, on her return, she seemed 'relaxed' and 'didn't look angry or worried'.

Doan complained about the Wifi in her room and when she was told it couldn't be fixed until the afternoon, she checked out and left.

She then checked into the SkyStar Hotel, also nearby, and left after one night, an employee said.

It is not known where Doan went next. Police said she was arrested on Wednesday morning, about 48 hours after the murder, in the same terminal where Kim Jong Nam was attacked.

'If you ask me, do her movements indicate that she was an intelligence operative, then I would say yes,' said a private investigator in Kuala Lumpur who asked not to be named.

It comes as a second woman named as Siti Aishah (pictured in the passport profile image), 25, from Indonesia and her Malaysian boyfriend were arrested over the death

Kim Jong-Nam is believed to have been targeted as he prepared to board a plane in Kuala Lumpur

'That is how they operate. Change of appearance, cash transactions, no paper trail and constantly on the move.'

The Indonesian woman who was arrested on Thursday, Siti Aishah, was duped into thinking she was part of a prank on a TV comedy show, according to Indonesia's national police chief.

Tito Karnavian told reporters in Indonesia's Aceh province that Siti Aisyah, 25, was paid to be involved in Just For Laughs- style pranks, a reference to a popular hidden camera show.

He said she and another woman performed stunts which involved convincing men to close their eyes and then spraying them with water.

'Such an action was done three or four times and they were given a few dollars for it, and with the last target, Kim Jong Nam, allegedly there were dangerous materials in the sprayer,' Mr Karnavian said.

'She was not aware that it was an assassination attempt by alleged foreign agents,' he said.

A male relative of Aisyah has said she had been hired to perform in a short comedy movie and travelled to China for the work.

She had previously lived a quiet life in a slum district of Jakarta before going to find work in Malaysia, residents in the western neighbourhood of the Indonesian capital said.

According to Malaysian media reports, she stood in front of Kim to distract him while her accomplice approached from behind.

In Jakarta, Aishah had worked for a time in the tailoring business in the house of her ex-husband's family, sewing clothes by hand, former neighbours in the Tambora district said.

'I can't believe the news. Her background was very simple,' said community leader R. Yusri.

The couple moved to Malaysia several years ago but separated in 2012. Aishah's former father-in-law said she had returned to Jakarta on January 28 to visit her seven-year-old son. She had looked thinner than usual and had a cough.

A woman walks past an oceanfront villa (centre, left), one of the properties where Kim Jong-Nam, half-brother of a North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, was believed to have lived in Macau

The streets in Tambora district are too narrow for cars to pass through. A tangle of washing lines hangs above small concrete and makeshift homes, many housing small businesses or selling clothes and food.

Ida Anisafitri, a neighbour, said Aishah kept a low profile when she visited there.

'We would see her briefly with the child and then she would go back inside the house,' Anisafitri said, as a loudspeaker from a nearby mosque sounded with the call to prayer.

Earlier today it emerged that Jong-Nam's last words after being targeted by a poison squad were 'very painful, very painful, I was sprayed liquid'.

He is said to have staggered about 50ft to an information desk before muttering the words with a pained expression on his face. The 46-year-old then collapsed in front of shocked staff and lost consciousness.

This morning, it also emerged that Jong-Nam was killed in just five seconds by a 'hit squad' thought to have been sent by the North Korean leader.

How the chillingly audacious murder of North Korean tyrant's brother in a major airport may have involved a poisonous handkerchief and fountain pen

Investigators in Malaysia are still piecing together details of the case around the death of Kim Jong-nam, including the widespread assumption that Kim Jong-un dispatched assassins to kill him.

Kim Jong-nam was waiting to use a check-in machine when the quick fire attack happened. According to the New Straits Times, the assassins had been watching Jong-nam in the queue before striking.

Within five seconds, one of the attackers distracted him while the other came from behind and 'locked him in a chokehold', pulled a cloth drenched in some chemical from a blue handbag, reached around his head and clamped it onto his face.

Sources inside neighbouring South Korea have claimed the death must have been a 'direct order from Jong-un'.

Federal Police Special Branch director Datuk Seri Mohamad Fuzi Harun told the New Straits Times that his men were working on intelligence to narrow down all leads.

He said: 'We have reason to believe that this might be the work of foreign agents.

'There are definitely other individuals involved, apart from the two assailants,' he said.

Meanwhile Cheong Seong-Chang, an analyst at the Sejong Institute think tank in Seongnam, South Korea, said it was 'unthinkable' the North Korean leader was not involved.

South Korea has pointed the finger of blame at the North, citing a 'standing order' from Jong-Un to kill his sibling and a failed assassination bid in 2012 after he criticised the regime.

Kim Jong-nam's bod will not be released until his family have provided DNA samples, Malaysia said on Friday, despite a request from Pyongyang.

Forensic specialists were carrying out tests on samples from the dead man's body today try to determine the toxin that was apparently sprayed in his face as he readied to board a plane earlier this week.

North Korean diplomats have objected to the post-mortem examination, Malaysian officials say, but Kuala Lumpur has stood firm, and said Friday it would not release the body until procedures were complete.

'So far no family member or next of kin has come to identify or claim the body. We need a DNA sample of a family member to match the profile of the dead person,' Selangor state police chief Abdul Samah Mat told AFP.

'North Korea has submitted a request to claim the body, but before we release the body we have to identify who the body belongs to,' he added.

DNA from a child, sibling - or even half-sibling - would be enough to provide a 'kinship match' and confirm the identity, a Malaysian forensic investigator told AFP.

DID 'CARELESS' FACEBOOK USE LEAD TO KIM JONG-NAM'S DEATH? Kim Jong-Nam's 'careless' use of Facebook and emails may have led to his assassination, it has been reported. The 46-year-old half-brother of Kim Jong-un, poisoned to death by two female operatives in Kuala Lumpur, posted numerous pictures of himself online along with comments. His Facebook page was under the name 'Kim Chol', the same name used on the passport he had in his possession when he died on Monday. Kim Jong-Nam's 'careless' use of Facebook and emails may have led to his assassination, it has been reported. He is shown in one of his Facebook photos The 46-year-old half-brother of Kim Jong-un, poisoned to death by two female operatives in Kuala Lumpur, posted numerous pictures of himself online along with comments Jong-nam's Facebook profile shows a squirrel along with a French flag filter - possibly added in solidarity with Paris in the wake of the November 13 ISIS terror attacks South Korean intelligence chiefs say he was poisoned by agents from the North as he walked through Kuala Lumpur International Airport on his way to board a flight. Asian news websites are now reporting that the Facebook profile is that of the estranged relative of North Korea's dictator who had been living in exile in Macau. But a former intelligence secretary to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak claims that his 'careless' use of emails and social media may have prompted his assassination. Cha Du-hyeogn told NK News Jong-nam was known to have used commercial e-mail addresses to communicate. He said: 'Open activities like these do not look like they are coming from a person who is constantly under the death threats. A former intelligence secretary to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak claims that his 'careless' use of emails and social media may have prompted his assassination In 2010, he added another photo where he was posing in front of the five-star hotel Wynn Macau. He said of the image: 'Nice place!' His profile suggests he studied at the International School of Geneva and at the Lycee francais de Moscou 'I think it is possible that Kim (Jong-nam) was careless, leading to his unsuspecting death.' Jong-nam's Facebook profile shows a squirrel along with a French flag filter - possibly added in solidarity with Paris in the wake of the November 13 ISIS terror attacks. One of his photos posted in October 2008, shows him standing on a yacht with an unknown man. Five years later he commented on the photo, saying: 'I miss Europe!' In 2010, he added another photo where he was posing in front of the five-star hotel Wynn Macau. He said of the image: 'Nice place!' His profile suggests he studied at the International School of Geneva and at the Lycee francais de Moscou. A number of his Facebook friends use French language to comment on his photos. Advertisement

Laboratory technicians working on blood and tissue samples from the autopsy would conduct tests 'as soon as possible' to determine the cause of death, Dr Cornelia Charito Siricord of the science ministry's chemistry department told national news agency Bernama.

It comes as the woman accused of killing Kim Jong-nam was pictured in handcuffs as she was arrested by Malaysian Police yesterday.

The 'LOL assassin' was led out of a building and into a police car by officers in Kuala Lumpur on suspicion of murdering North Korean Kim Jong-nam.

It emerged that the suspect may have been tricked into the murder of Kim Jong-un's brother by 'friends' who told her to 'wipe poison on him as a prank'.

Police stand outside the grounds of a residential building where Kim Jong-Nam, half-brother of a North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, was believed to have lived, in the Taipa district of Macau

It has also been claimed that a man dressed as a woman helped assist the killing by holding Kim from behind.

Doan is believed to have told police she was 'abandoned' by a group she was on 'holiday' in Kuala Lumpur with after allegedly applying a toxin to his face.

She was named as the woman captured on CCTV at Kuala Lumpur Airport wearing a white t-shirt branded with LOL and a blue skirt.

Police sources said Doan - which may be a false name - had told officers that she had been convinced by another woman and four men to play a prank on Kim and it was never her intention to kill or even hurt him and she thought it was 'a harmless joke'.

The New Straits Times said today that the attack on Kim Jong-nam had been captured on one of a number of CCTV cameras and the vision had revealed the movements of the two women said to be involved.

The paper said that the assailants had moved separately as Kim was preparing to check in for his flight to Macau at the self-service check in booths.

'It is understood that one of the suspects, who was picked up from the same airport yesterday, was the one who had apparently finished the job,' said the paper, referring to the woman seen wearing a top with LOL emblazoned on the front.

Security camera footage reportedly shows the same woman wearing a dark-coloured glove on her left hand as she walked towards the taxi stand. By the time she reached the taxi area, she was no longer wearing the glove.

Former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il (bottom left) poses with his first-born son Kim Jong Nam (bottom right), in this 1981 family photo in Pyongyang, North Korea

There are suggestions that the glove might have been laced with poison when it was wiped across Kim's face.

He had headed to the washroom immediately after the attack, but had then turned back to the information counter to seek help complaining of pain in his eyes.

The paper said it had seen footage of Kim, who was wearing a dark blue polo T-shirt, light blue jeans and brown shoes, slumped in an armchair.

'His eyes were shut and he appeared to be grimacing in pain.'

And in a startling claim the New Straits Times said it had been told there was a likelihood that one of the assailants who approached Kim - one from the front to distract him, the other to grab him around the throat from behind - was a man disguised as a woman.

THE ASSASSINATION: WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR The mystery of just what happened to the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as he waited for a flight in a Malaysian airport has only deepened since news of his death emerged. Was Kim Jong Nam poisoned? Are the two female suspects trained killers or dupes? How can we be sure that North Korea, which seems the obvious culprit, was even involved? South Korea's National Intelligence Service - no friend to Pyongyang - and eager reporters across Asia have assembled a dramatic profile of the last hour of Kim's life. But unanswered questions remain. Here are a few: WAS HE POISONED? This one could be answered fairly soon. Kim complained of being sprayed in the face with some sort of chemical before he died. Presumably Malaysian authorities' autopsy, which has been completed, will determine whether poison killed Kim, and, if so, what kind. South Korean security experts believe North Korea, under dictator Kim Jong-Un (pictured), may have ordered the assassination A big question is how possible killers would have managed to quickly inflict a fatal chemical dose on someone in the middle of a busy airport. South Korea's intelligence service says Kim almost certainly was poisoned, but it's unclear whether a needle or spray was used, and the spy agency didn't elaborate. One possibility for the poison is neostigmine bromide, which South Korean officials said was contained in a pen-like weapon used in a failed North Korean attempt to kill an anti-Pyongyang activist in 2011. Or it could have been cyanide or sarin gas, according to a Seoul university professor who didn't want to be identified because Kim's autopsy results weren't out yet. Sarin gas was used in a deadly attack on Tokyo's subways in 1995. And if it turns out that Kim wasn't poisoned? Expect furious media backtracking, and flustered explanations in South Korea from the spy agency. WAS IT REALLY NORTH KOREA? North Korea, of course, is the easy answer. South Korea's spy service considers the North the bogeyman and almost immediately, in a private briefing to lawmakers in Seoul, pointed the finger at North Korean agents for the death, saying that Kim Jong Nam had been targeted for five years because of Kim Jong Un's 'paranoia.' Kim Jong-nam was poisoned close to an information desk at Kuala Lumpur International Airport Most news media have run with this, but, so far, Malaysian officials have provided no solid links to North Korea. When asked Thursday if North Korea was behind the murder, Malaysian Deputy Home Minister Zahid Hamidi said, 'That is speculation.' This doesn't mean that North Korea couldn't have orchestrated such an attack. It does fit a certain profile: North Korean agents have, at times, run wild in South Korea, killing defectors, sometimes with poison, and critics. WHO ARE THE ARRESTED WOMEN? The two women arrested in connection with Kim's death were spotted on surveillance video at the airport where Kim fell ill. Both are reportedly in their 20s. One held an Indonesian passport. The other had Vietnamese travel documents and was seen in grainy photos waiting for a cab while wearing a white jumper emblazoned with 'LOL' - internet-speak for Laugh Out Loud. But their possible involvement in Kim's death is still unclear. Were they simply in the wrong place at the wrong time? Were they North Korean agents, maybe even North Korean nationals using false passports? Kim Jong Nam, in one of his lowest moments, was humiliated while trying to sneak into Japan to visit Disneyland - with a Dominican passport. Police are trying to verify if the women's travel documents are genuine, according to the Malaysian minister. Police said they have also arrested a third suspect, a Malaysian man thought to be the boyfriend of the suspect with an Indonesian passport. A diplomatic vehicle leaves the North Korean Embassy as members of the media crowd near the building's main entrance, in Kuala Lumpur If this was a carefully planned assassination - years in the making, as South Korean intelligence claims - it begs more questions: Would North Korean agents be so easily arrested - one of the women was picked up back at the airport, two days after Kim's death? Would they really take taxis from the scene of the crime? ARE OTHER EXILED NORTH KOREANS IN DANGER? South Korea's government said it was boosting security for high-profile defectors in the South, many of whom already have police protection. Kim Jong Nam was long protected in his Macau base by China, according to Seoul's spy service. South Korean officials say he leaves behind two sons and a daughter between two different women living in Beijing and Macau. Ha Taekeung, a South Korean lawmaker and North Korea human rights activist, said in a radio interview Thursday that Kim Jong Nam's son, Kim Han Sol, could be in danger because he knows sensitive secrets about Kim Jong Un's personal life. Kim Han Sol, who lived with his father in Macao, referred to Kim Jong Un as a 'dictator' in a 2012 interview. WHAT WILL CHINA DO? China, North Korea's most important ally, has said little officially about the death. Beijing reportedly saw Kim as a potential leader should North Korea's government ever collapse. An editorial in Global Times, the ruling Communist Party's English-language newspaper, said Thursday that China would offer condemnation if Kim was found to have been assassinated. 'Regardless of how intense a country's political struggle might be, there is no doubt that it should never rely on assassination methods as means for its advancement,' said the editorial. 'Although a final conclusion has yet to emerge regarding Kim Jong Nam's sudden death, speculation remains sharply pointed at Pyongyang.' Advertisement

The paper said the man police might be looking for could be a 40-year-old agent from the North Korean intelligence agency known as the Reconnaissance General Bureau.

It was reported that Kim had high blood pressure when he died. Following an autopsy, his tissue, urine and blood samples have been sent to a laboratory for analysis, which might take a week.

Kim Jong-nam had lived with the threat of death for years, since fleeing North Korea in fear of torture and execution. There had already been one botched attempt on his life.

He travelled with bodyguards on his regular trips in Asia and occasionally Europe, usually on a false passport, in this case under the name of Kim Chol.

But a brief lapse in his personal security between arriving at the airport and proceeding to passport control for his flight to Macau, where he lives in exile, left Kim Jong-nam alone, giving an assassin the chance to strike in the shopping concourse.

The playboy half-brother of Kim Jong-Un (pictured, centre) was killed by two female assassins with poisoned needles at an airport in Malaysia, it has been claimed

Kim Jong-Nam was once considered heir apparent but fell out of favour with his father Kim Jong-Il following a botched attempt in 2001 to enter Japan on a forged passport and visit Disneyland

An agent arrested on a mission last year revealed how he was equipped by North Korean Intelligence with what looked like a Parker pen, but contained a retractable needle for administering a fatal dose of a toxin described as 'more potent than cyanide'.

It caused muscle paralysis, breathlessness, suffocation and death, and was the method of choice for covert killings.

Jong-nam's killing was probably motivated by a recent news report that he had sought to defect to the EU, the U.S. or South Korea as far back as 2012, it has been claimed.

'LITTLE GENERAL' WHO FELL OUT OF FAVOUR WITH PYONGYANG They used to call him the 'Little General' but Kim Jong-Nam - once heir-apparent to his father and North Korea's then-leader Kim Jong-Il - fell from grace in 2001 after a spectacular blunder. On Tuesday, after more than a decade in exile from the North, Jong-Nam - the 45-year-old half-brother of current leader Kim Jong-Un - was widely reported by South Korean media to have been assassinated in Malaysia. Born from his father's relationship with actress Sung Hae-rim, Jong-Nam is known to have been a computer enthusiast, a fluent Japanese speaker and a student in both Russia and Switzerland. He lived in Pyongyang after finishing his overseas studies and was put in charge of overseeing North Korea's information technology policy. But the chubby eldest son of the supreme leader was already seen by Seoul experts as something of a political lightweight when in 2001 he fell out of favour. Jong-nam (pictured) was reportedly close to his uncle Jang Song-Thaek, once the North's unofficial number two and political mentor of the current leader He was embarrassingly detained at a Tokyo airport, trying to enter Japan to visit Disneyland on a false Dominican Republic passport, accompanied by two women and a child. Jong-Nam and his family afterwards lived in virtual exile in Macau, Singapore and China. Jong-Nam's half-brother Jong-Un took over as North Korean leader when their father died in December 2011. In an email exchange with a Japanese journalist published in 2012, Jong-Nam spoke disparagingly of Jong-Un, saying he lacked 'any sense of duty or seriousness' and warned that bribery and corruption would lead to North Korea's eventual collapse. In another exchange with the same reporter in 2012, Jong-Nam said: 'Anyone with normal thinking would find it difficult to tolerate three generations of hereditary succession.' Kim Jong-Nam was once dubbed the 'Little General', but fell out of favour with his father In October 2012 South Korean prosecutors said a North Korean detained as a spy had admitted involvement in a plot to stage a hit-and-run car accident in China in 2010 targeting Jong-Nam. In 2014 Jong-Nam was reported to be in Indonesia - sighted at an Italian restaurant run by a Japanese businessman in Jakarta - and was said to be shuttling back and forth between Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and France. In 2012 a Moscow newspaper reported that Jong-Nam was having financial problems after being cut off by the Stalinist state for doubting its succession policy. The Argumenty i Fakty weekly said he was kicked out of a luxury hotel in Macau over a $15,000 debt. Jong-Nam's son Kim Han-Sol studied at university in Paris. Back in 2012, when at school in Bosnia, he labelled his uncle Kim Jong-Un a 'dictator' in an interview. 'My dad (Jong-Nam) was not really interested in politics,' Kim told the interviewer when asked why his father was passed over for the dynastic succession in favour of his younger brother. Advertisement

Just days after the international condemnation of North Korea's 'game-changing' latest ballistic missile test, the assassination on foreign soil has prompted further outrage.

For 33-year-old Kim Jong-un, the burial of his half-brother will bring to a triumphant end to a long-running saga of jealousy, paranoia and, ultimately, fratricide that would not have seemed out of place in Ancient Rome.

Kim Jong-nam was once the heir apparent of North Korea, the eldest, albeit illegitimate, son of the 'Dear Leader', Kim Jong-il, by a South Korean actress (who died in mysterious circumstances in Moscow in 2002).

His existence was kept secret by his father for many years, and he was not allowed to mix with his siblings from Kim Jong-il's other affairs and marriages.

A North Korea embassy official sits inside his car beside armed police outside a morgue at Kuala Lumpur General Hospital where Kim Jong-nam's body was taken

North Korean ambassador Kang Chol pictured inside the mortuary of the Kuala Lumpur Forensic Department. North Korea has ordered Malaysia to hand over the body

However, he wanted for nothing, living in a mansion, surrounded by the latest toys from Europe and being driven on jaunts around the North Korean capital in a black Mercedes. At the age of ten he was sent abroad to study at the International School of Berne in Switzerland, where he became fluent in French.

On his return to North Korea aged 17, Kim Jong-nam enrolled at a university. But his relationship with his father had deteriorated and he blamed his younger half-brother, Kim Jong-un, for taking advantage of his father's loneliness while he was out of the country.

But Kim Jong-nam was a young man whose European experiences had filled him full of 'dangerous ideas', such as free market reforms to end rampant poverty and starvation in his home country.

JONG-NAM 'PLEADED FOR HIS LIFE TO BE SPARED' The half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un pleaded for his life to be spared after a failed assassination bid in 2012, lawmakers briefed by Seoul's spy chief have claimed. Jong-Nam, the eldest son of the late former leader Kim Jong-Il, was once seen as heir apparent but fell out of favour following an embarrassing botched bid in 2001 to enter Japan on a forged passport and visit Disneyland. He has since lived in virtual exile, mainly in the Chinese territory of Macau, while Jong-Un took over the isolated, nuclear-armed state after the death of his father in December 2011. The North in 2012 tried to assassinate Jong-Nam - known to be a supporter of reform in Pyongyang - Seoul lawmakers said following a closed-door briefing by the chief of the National Intelligence Service, Lee Byung-Ho. The half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un pleaded for his life to be spared after a failed assassination bid in 2012, lawmakers briefed by Seoul's spy chief said today 'According to (Lee)... there was one (assassination) bid in 2012, and Jong-Nam in April 2012 sent a letter to Jong-Un saying 'Please spare me and my family,'' Kim Byung-Kee, a member of the parliamentary intelligence committee, told reporters. 'It also said 'We have nowhere to go... we know that the only way to escape is suicide',' he said, adding Jong-Nam had little political support at home and posed little threat to Jong-Un. Jong-Nam's family - his former and current wives and three children - are currently living in Beijing and Macau, said another committee member, Lee Cheol-Woo. 'They are under the protection by the Chinese authorities,' he said, adding Jong-Nam had entered Malaysia on February 6, a week before his death. Jong-Nam's murder is the highest-profile death under the Kim Jong-Un's regime since the execution of the leader's uncle, Jang Song-Thaek, in December 2013. Jang, known to be close to China and an advocate of economic reform in the North, was charged with treason. Jong-Nam, believed to have ties with Beijing's elite, was a relatively outspoken figure, publicly criticising Pyongyang's political system. The 45-year-old said he 'personally opposed' the hereditary power transfer in his own family, during an interview with Japan's Asahi TV in 2010. One of his sons - Han-Sol - also described his uncle, Jong-Un, as a 'dictator' in a rare interview with a Finnish TV station in 2012 while he was studying in Europe. Advertisement

These suggestions outraged his father and caused apoplexy among the ruling elite. 'I was viewed with suspicion,' he admitted.

His spell in Switzerland had also introduced him to life's luxuries  and to sex.

Despite Japan being a sworn enemy of the regime, he would regularly fly to Tokyo using a false passport to indulge his playboy lifestyle in nightclubs, casinos and the city's red-light district.

The tubby Korean, just 5ft 2in tall and weighing 14st, was a regular at an establishment known as Soap Land, where hostesses charge clients up to 300 an hour for their services.

In 2001 he was caught in Tokyo on a false passport, on a trip to Japan's Disneyland. Retribution was swift and he was imprisoned for three days by his father before being banished from North Korea for ever.

He lived in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and France, acquiring two wives and a son, before settling in the Chinese territory of Macau, where his lavish lifestyle was bankrolled by China  a huge power behind the scenes in North Korea.

Beijing saw the exiled brother as a useful asset should they ever need to attempt to replace the 'Supreme Leader' with another member of the dynasty.

When Kim Jong-un came to power in 2011 after the Dear Leader's death, his half-brother never lost an opportunity to attack his regime, claiming that without reforms North Korea would collapse and decrying the herditary transition of power, and he recklessly encouraged speculation that he could one day replace his half-brother.

North Korea has so far made no comment about a murder that is making headlines around the world.

Significantly, the death of a close relative of the ruling family in such strange circumstances has not merited a single word in the state-controlled media.
This is the terrifying moment police catch a Florida man who allegedly tried to abduct a 16-year-old girl, only to find him with a teddy bear, lotion and his fly down.

Jonathan Buchanan, 26, pulled up alongside the teen at 6am Thursday morning in Ponce Inlet, then grabbed her arm and buttocks and tried to pull her into her car until she fought back, police claim.

He was then pulled over a short time later, at which point police made the bizarre discoveries in his car, WESH reported.

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Arrested: Police footage shows James Buchanan (left, and in mugshot right) exiting his car with his pants open. Cops say he tried to kidnap a 16-year-old girl early Thursday morning

There was a teddy bear on the front seat and creams and lotions inside, police said.

The video shows the man looking awkward as he exits his vehicle, his pants fully open and hanging low.

He adjusts them as he shuffles around the back of the vehicle at the officer's request.

The girl was walking alone when Buchanan's silver Buick LeSabre pulled up alongside her and the man got out to ask her what she was doing, police chief Frank Fabrizio told The Daytona Beach News-Journal.

'He grabbed her rear end and her hand,' the chief said, and then put his hand around her mouth as he tried to pull her into his car.

But the plucky teen fought back, biting down on his hand to free his grip, then screaming for help as she struggled, Fabrizio said.

Fumbling: Buchanan can be seen fumbling with his belt as police tell him to exist the vehicle. Inside the car they say they found a teddy bear, lotions and creams

He is then alleged to have let go and sped off while the girl called a description through to 911.

Police apprehended Buchanan shortly afterward in the parking lot of an Aunt Catfish restaurant, WESH reported.

Fabrizio told the News-Journal that Buchanan was taken back to the police station but refused to unclench his fists so that investigators could look for bite marks.

They eventually managed to get a search warrant that allowed them to force the hands open.

There was a mark on his hand that could have come from a tooth, they said.

Police said they don't know whether the suspect was looking for that girl specifically, or was just looking for anyone.

Buchanan was reported to police in 2015 for pleading a teenage girl walking home from the beach to have sex with him. He was not charged at that time, WESH said.
A hospital porter sacked for supposedly stealing a bacon and egg sandwich from the canteen has been told he can have his job back.

Aldren Tomlinson, 45, was fired earlier this month for taking the snack despite telling catering staff he would pay them later after he forgot his wallet.

But he was reinstated after staff threatened strike action and around 400 co-workers signed a petition demanding he get his job back.

A protest was also scheduled for yesterday afternoon but was called off after catering company Sodexo reversed its decision to fire him.

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Aldren Tomlinson, 45, pictured, was fired from his job of 15 years as a porter at King George Hospital, east London, after taking a bacon and egg sandwich without paying

Catering bosses at the hospital, pictured, heard he claimed to have forgotten his wallet and would 'pay later' but said he had 'not been given permission' to take the food

Mr Tomlinson was fired from his job of 15 years at King George Hospital in east London, because he asked to pay for his lunch later after forgetting his money.

But two hours later the 45-year-old was told he would be suspended for stealing the cup of tea and a bacon and egg sandwich.

Mr Tomlinson said he ordered before realising that he had forgotten his wallet so asked a chef if he could pay later and got a nod back in reply.

But his employers, hospitality outsourcing company Sodexo, originally disputed this and ruled at a disciplinary hearing he had not been given permission to take the refreshments.

The French multi-national company said the chef did not hear Mr Tomlinson ask to pay later and he should have gone to a manager to get authorisation.

Father-of-three Mr Tomlinson said: 'I am not and have never been a thief, I wound never steal anything, I can guarantee that.

The father-of-three, pictured with a similar sandwich, has now been reinstated after staff threatened to go on strike over the matter

'It felt so bad to be called a thief, it rested heavy on my heart, it was a really dark time.

'But I had so many people in my corner to fight for me and so many of my colleagues came out to help me.

'Without them I don't know what I would have done, they were the only thing giving me hope.

'They tell me now I can go back to work, I can't believe it, it's great. I can't put into words how happy I am.

'Words can't express how I feel, I just want to say thank you to everyone who helped me.'

A Sodexo spokesman said: 'We received an appeal, reviewed the situation and offered the employee reinstatement, which he has accepted.

'We look forward to seeing him back at work on Monday.'

Michael Dooley, GMB union representative for the Redbridge branch said: 'There was an appeal process scheduled for Wednesday but as part of that appeal they have asked us to drop the protest while they look at the appeal.

'They have said he will be reinstated but we still have to get confirmation to make sure there's not going to be any catches like he gets moved to a hospital on the other side of London.'

Speaking before he was reinstated, Mr Tomlinson said: ''When they told me I lost my job I couldn't stop crying.

'I can't even think about what's going to happen, I'm just thinking about my kids at the moment and about how I'm going to support after my family.

Hundreds of co-workers also signed a petition demanding Mr Tomlinson, pictured, be given his job back

'It's literally so stressful, I don't know how I'm going to cope, it's a nightmare.

'I've never been accused of stealing in my life, I pay my own way.'

Mr Tomlinson was originally sacked for gross misconduct by a disciplinary panel in line with its zero tolerance policy on February 7.

It concluded: 'The management stated that you had been seen taking food from the restaurant without paying for it, two witness statements one stated that you had asked for a fried egg, serving yourself other items from the counter in a takeaway box and made a tea, not hearing what you said, walked away and past the till not paying.

'The other witness on the till stated that you had approached to obtain a knife and fork only.'

It noted he had apologised and in mitigation 'stated that you had said that you were hungry from dealing with a domestic issue the night before and that you had arrived realising you had no money to pay.

Sodexo, which runs catering services at the hospital, pictured, said it had received an appeal over the sacking and had offered Mr Tomlinson his job back

'Additionally you stated that there was no evidence to suggest there had been other occasions, you had stated to the chef and received a nod that you took as an indication you could pay later.

'You also stated that it is normal for colleagues to assist each other in need and that the amount was not significant but acknowledged a breach of trust and confidence could exist between the parties and requested leniency.

'You stated that you did not wish the humiliation of asking colleagues to borrow money and stated you felt less embarrassed to deal with things in the manner described.

'It is clear that there was a misunderstanding although on balance the panel believes that the misunderstanding was yours in that a cursory comment and nod could be interpreted as requesting permission and receiving permission and confirmed.'

It added his 'request was not directed at somebody in authority.'
A woman who stabbed her abusive ex-husband twice during sex and ended up with his intestines in her hands has walked free from court.

A jury at Birmingham Crown Court took just two hours to clear Dalya Saeed of attempted murder and wounding with intent after she claimed it was self defence.

The 35-year-old, who told the court Bilal Miah, 31, wanted to kill her, burst into tears when the jury set her free.

The couple had met at her home after their divorce to discuss custody of their daughter and Mr Miah said they had consensual sex.

Mrs Saeed, whose ex-husband only avoided deportation because they have a child, said he raped her so she stabbed him twice in the stomach.

She said: I saw a piece of intestine in my hand. I threw it on the floor and at that point I saw Bilal's intestines fall out.'

Walking free: A jury at Birmingham Crown Court took just two hours to clear Dalya Saeed of attempted murder and wounding with intent of her ex-husband Bilal Miah in an attack that saw his bowels fall out

Mr Miah had met Ms Saeed when they worked in a restaurant, they married, had a daughter together but split up in 2013 and he had remarried after their divorce.

Taxi driver Mr Miah said that on October 19, 2015, his ex-wife had phoned him and asked him to come to her home in Moseley, to discuss their daughter.

He said they had consensual sex but had then argued, the court heard.

They then started to have sex again but she suddenly stabbed him twice in the stomach before taking hold of his intestines and pulling them, jurors heard.

Ms Saeed disagreed with his version of events and said in her evidence that she had acted in self-defence.

'I fully believed it was going to be my final night,' she said. 'I was just looking for something to cut. I stabbed him twice.'

She said she fled to a storage area and that Mr Miah had attacked her with a wooden stick.

'I put my hand up in order to stop him and touched his body,' she added.

'Then I saw a piece of intestine in my hand. I threw it on the floor and at that point I saw Bilal's intestines fall out.'

He managed to get out of the flat but she continued the attack in the street, the court heard.

Trial: Birmingham Crown Court (pictured) that her former husband suffered 30 separate wounds

Ms Saeed said she had pursued him outside to make sure he did not come back.

He was only discovered in a nearby doorway at 3am when neighbours heard his screams and called police.

Prosecutor Adam Western told the jury: 'The cuts were so severe part of his small bowel ended up on the carpet.

'She caused his injuries. Her intention was nothing less than to kill him.'

The court heard Saeed told police she attacked her ex-husband in self-defence after he raped her.

During cross-examination by her barrister Patrick Upward QC Mr Miah accepted he had been physically and verbally abusive towards her during their two-year Islamic marriage.

The jury also heard both he and Saeed had been at risk of being deported as illegal immigrants.

Mr Miah came to the UK in 2010 on a student visa but was classed as illegal because he had dropped out of college and Iraqi Kurd Saeed was only granted asylum in 2012.

The court heard Mr Miah spent four months in a detention centre in 2012 but was allowed to stay because he has a child in the UK.
Roger Lee Largent in Hagerstown, Maryland, was found dead in his prison cell. His rape conviction was overturned four days later

An man serving a jail term for raping a disabled woman was found dead in his cell four days before a court tossed out his conviction.

Roger Largent was found beaten to death on Saturday at the maximum-security Western Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Allegany County, Maryland.

Authorities suspect Largent's cellmate in the slaying, but they have not cited a motive or filed charges.

On Wednesday, a Maryland appeals court threw out Largent's conviction and said he should get a new trial because the jury verdict last year hinged largely on a prosecution witness' improper testimony.

The assault happened in 2015 when Largent went to the mentally disabled woman's house to give her and her blind husband a ride to a doctor's appointment.

The woman testified at trial that Largent walked up behind her, covered her mouth, pulled down her pants and raped her in the kitchen while her husband was upstairs.

'If I screamed or said anything, he would kill me,' the woman testified, according The Herald-Mail newspaper.

The woman told her husband what happened later that night, and Largent was questioned by police.

Largent, 69, was serving time at the maximum-security Western Correctional Institution, pictured, when his body was found. Authorities have not released many details, except to say they suspect his cellmate. No charges have been filed

In a videotaped interview with police, Largent initially denied having sex with the woman, a family member in her late 40s.

When a detective told Largent that his DNA was found on the woman, Largent said it was consensual sex and that 'she came on to me first'.

The officer later acknowledged that his statement during the interrogation about DNA was not true.

At trial, assistant public defender Amy Taylor suggested that the woman made the rape allegation because she felt guilty about being unfaithful. Taylor noted that the accuser did not have any bruises or scratches.

That made the testimony of the nurse who examined the woman, Ashley Hall, crucial to the case. Hall testified that a woman can be raped but show no bruising or other physical signs of an assault.

Although Hall was trained in the examination of sexual assault victims, prosecutors did not seek to qualify her as an expert despite defense objections that her testimony would amount to an expert opinion.

Deputy Washington County State's Attorney Gina Cirincion said Thursday that she did not ask the court to qualify Hall as an expert because the nurse had little trial experience and had only recently completed her training.

Largent's lawyers said Hall's testimony provided 'critical guidance as to the only contested point at trial' - whether the intercourse was consensual. The appellate court agreed.

The trial court 'abused its discretion in permitting Ms. Hall to offer a lay opinion,' the ruling said. Hall 'relied on scientific and medical training beyond the understanding of the average juror when offering her testimony.'

The state asked the appeals court Thursday to recall its opinion in light of Largent's death.

The public defender's office asked the court to delay the proceedings so his family or estate could appoint someone to make legal decisions.

Taylor said Largent's death was a shock, making the appellate victory bittersweet.

'I thought it had a good chance of being reversed,' she said. 'We were right, and he was going to get this fair trial and now he's been deprived of that opportunity.'

Cirincion, the prosecutor, said the state would have retried and convicted Largent again if he were alive.

'Roger Largent was where he belonged at the time of his death,' she said.

According to the Herald Mail he had been held behind bars without bail since the 2015 attack.

In 1999, Largent was convicted of a third-degree sex offense against a juvenile female family member and had to register as a sex offender.
Karen Pence is using her role as America's second lady to promote art therapy as a way of helping people with mental health problems.

The wife of Vice President Mike Pence has been a passionate advocate of art therapy for many years, including during her service as first lady of Indiana.

She now hopes to use her new and loftier public profile to raise awareness of the mental health profession and help change the public's perceptions about what art therapists actually do.

'They can do things that help the patient have a little more control,' Mrs. Pence told The Associated Press.

Karen Pence wants to use her new public profile to raise awareness of art therary

Art therapists use art, the creative process and the artwork patients create to help them explore feelings, resolve emotional conflicts, manage behavior and addictions, reduce anxiety and boost self-esteem, among other benefits, according to the American Art Therapy Association.

One of the main goals of art therapy is to improve or restore a patient's functioning and sense of personal well-being.

Mrs. Pence, an artist whose specialty is painting watercolors of homes and historical buildings, plans to observe European art therapy programs when she accompanies her husband to Germany and Belgium on Friday, his first overseas trip since taking office on January 20.

Karen Pence is an artist herself, whose specialty is painting watercolors of homes and historical buildings

She is scheduled to speak with art therapists in Munich and visit an art therapy program in Brussels.

As Indiana's first lady from January 2013 until last month, Mrs. Pence visited art therapy programs across the state, as well as in Israel, Canada, Japan and Germany.

The field is growing, but is not well understood, she said. The American Art Therapy Association says it represents more than 5,000 professional art therapists and others related to the profession.

'One thing I can bring to this as second lady is making people aware of what art therapy is and how it works,' Mrs. Pence said. 'It's not arts and crafts.'

The former elementary school teacher said she was first exposed to art therapy during a visit to a Washington hospital more than a decade ago. Her husband represented Indiana in Congress, and the Pences lived in Washington during his six terms in the House before his fellow Hoosiers elected him to be governor.

Vice President Mike Pence dances with his wife Karen at the Liberty Ball in Washington

She said she has a master's degree in art education, but learned that art therapy 'wasn't even something that I would be qualified to do.'

Mrs. Pence said art therapy usually is not paid for by insurers, but she doesn't think it's her place to use her new platform to try to encourage them to provide coverage.

'I don't really see my role as policy maker or policy changer,' she said. 'I just want to make people aware of what art therapy is.'

She has served on the board of Tracy's Kids, an art therapy program for youth cancer patients, since 2011. The organization recently honored her with its Courage Award.

As for the return to Washington, Mrs. Pence described it as a 'pretty smooth transition since we lived in Washington for 12 years.'

'We have friends, we have places we like to frequent and we know the neighborhood' around the vice president's official residence on the grounds of the Naval Observatory in Northwest Washington, she said.

'We're familiar with Washington. It kind of just feels like we're coming back.'
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Historic photos show the peaceful life of World War II soldiers' just days before Japanese planes dropped 'bombs like confetti' and forced northern Australia into the conflict.

On February 19, 1942, 188 Japanese planes attacked Darwin in two air raids, killing 235 people, wounding 400 and drawing Australia into World War II. A series of photos of soldiers stationed in Darwin have been released to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the bombings.

It was the largest and most destructive single attack ever mounted by a foreign power on Australia and led to the worst death toll in the nation's history.

Now, one of the last surviving World War II veterans to witness the Darwin bombings says the soldiers were never prepared for the attacks.

Historic photos show the peaceful life of World War II soldiers' just days before Japanese planes dropped 'bombs like confetti'. Force members are pictured with a sign reading, 'Abandon hope all ye who enter here', in Darwin in 1942

Seventy-five years ago on February 19, 1942, 188 Japanese planes attacked Darwin in two air raids. A reinforcements truck is pictured bogged down in water as it makes its may to Darwin in 1942

In 1942, Darwin was a small town with limited civil and military infrastructure but, due to its strategic position in northern Australia, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) had constructed bases near the town. Pictured are soldiers posing for photos in a road into Darwin

One of the last surviving World War II veterans to witness the Darwin bombings says the force was never prepared for the attacks. A military commander's goat being milked by a young soldier is pictured

It was the largest and most destructive single attack ever mounted by a foreign power on Australia and led to the worst death toll in the nation's history. Oil tanks burning are pictured burning in Darwin after the attack

Tasmanian Brian Winspear (pictured), one of the last surviving World War II veterans to witness the Darwin bombings, says some of the stories still remain untold after politicians in the south fell silent and censorship was rife in fear of sparking panic

Tasmanian Brian Winspear says he can still picture the sun glinting off the bombs like confetti as hell rained down on the city.

The then 21-year-old air gunner bolted for the trenches close to the RAAF hangar when the first of 188 enemy aircraft appeared on the horizon.

The assault was more savage than Pearl Harbor; more bombs fell on Darwin, more civilians were killed, and more ships were sunk.

He says that three quarters of a century on, some of the stories remain in the shadows after politicians in the south fell silent and censorship was rife in fear of sparking panic.

'At the time there was no publicity whatsoever, the government was so ashamed of being caught with their pants down with no defence,' he said in Darwin on Friday.

Soldiers are pictured preparing for a fishing trip at the Howard River. Mr Winspear said the Australian Government was 'ashamed' of being caught with 'no defence' after the attacks happened

A series of photos of soldiers stationed in Darwin have been released to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the attacks. Cooks of the HMAS Melville are pictured in 1942.

Soldiers are pictured relaxing on Darwin's famous Mindil Beach. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Darwin during World War II

Despite Darwin's strategic importance to the defence of Australia, the city was actually quite poorly defended. A sleeping quarters at Larrakeyah Barracks in Darwin is pictured in 1942

The Australian Army's anti-aircraft defences comprised of sixteen QF 3.7 inch AA guns and two 3-inch AA guns to counter aircraft flying at high altitude and a small number of Lewis Guns for use against low-flying raiders. A Vickers machine gun is pictured firing in Darwin in 1942

'It's an insult to the politicians of the day... it shouldn't have happened.'

The 96-year-old digger has now travelled thousands of kilometres back to ground zero to mark Sunday's anniversary of the attack.

In 1942, Darwin was a small town with limited civil and military infrastructure but, due to its strategic position in northern Australia, the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force had constructed bases near the town.

Despite Darwin's strategic importance to the defence of Australia, the city was quite poorly defended.

Mr Winspear was holding the line against formidable Japanese forces in Indonesia when he was evacuated to Darwin, arriving just two hours before the raids began.

Once in the trenches he put a tin helmet on and a cork between his teeth 'to stop concussion' as planes flew overhead.

Gun crews had conducted little recent training due to ammunition shortages. Smiling soldiers are pictured watching a raid and dog fights in the skies above Darwin in 1942

Nearly 2000 people were evacuated before the attack, mainly women and children, but there was widespread panic and about half of Darwin's remaining civilian population fled in the immediate aftermath. Picture is bomb damage at the Don Hotel

The assault was more savage than Pearl Harbor; more bombs fell on Darwin, more civilians were killed, and more ships were sunk. Pictured: A sign for an emplacement known as 'Hell Fire Corner' (pictured).

The assaults on northern Australia continued for the next two years, with more than 200 raids from Exmouth in the west to Townsville in Queensland. Pictured left are battalion pipers with local children and, right , a soldier on guard in 1942

The raids on Darwon were planned and led by the commander responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor ten weeks earlier, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto

From this terrifyingly close vantage point, Mr Winspear said he could see the Japanese pilots grinning from the cockpit.

He said: 'It was bloody hell. As we looked up the sun glinted on the bombs... it was just like confetti.'

Mr Winspear is among 29 diggers who have made the pilgrimage back to Darwin from across the country to make sure the true cost of war is never downplayed again.

'When my generation goes... you can bet your yellow socks that in another five or ten years time someone around a table will say 'let's have another war',' Mr Windspear said.

'For goodness sake, don't forget to remember.'
A young Humboldt penguin was stolen from a zoo and found decapitated near a car park.

Prosecutors have opened an investigation and are appealing for witnesses after the animal was stolen from a zoo in the south-west German city of Mannheim on Saturday.

It's body was found on a fence by a car park nearby.

A young Humboldt penguin that had been stolen from a zoo and found decapitated near a car park on Thursday (stock pictured). It had been decapitated and dumped on a fence

The penguin, which could be identified by the number 53 on its wing, was found by a passerby, a police spokesman said.

Officers said the unknown thief probably dropped the penguin near the car park.

It was not clear whether the bird was already dead at the time.

The zoo's director called the death of penguin number 53 the 'worst possible outcome'.

Joachim Koeltzsch said: 'All of us are shocked about the death.'

The zoo's director called the death of penguin number 53, who was reported stolen on Saturday, the worst possible outcome (stock pictured)

The Humboldt penguin is a South American breed native to coastal Chile and Peru.

The breed is known for its kind nature and intelligence. In 2012 one of the 135 Humboldt penguins living at Tokyo Sea Life Park escaped after apparently scaling a 13 foot high wall.

It reportedly managed to survived 82 days in the wild before it was recaptured by the zoo keepers.
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These were the dramatic scenes as hundreds of bloodied and emotional African immigrants exploded with joy after storming a border fence to reach Spain this morning.

The men shouted: 'Viva Espana', 'We Love You Espana' and 'Boza, boza' - 'Victory, victory' as they beat their chests in a show of joy at making it to Europe.

Many were bare chested and barefoot - and others were bleeding from deep cuts they had suffered after managing to reach Spain's north African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco.

One did a somersault as crowds of migrants were seen walking along a road in the seaside community which is ringed by a double wire fence that is five miles long. The 20-foot high fence also has rolls of barbed wire.

Local authorities said they believed around 900 immigrants had attempted to storm the fence - and more than 400 had managed to cross it.

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Overjoyed migrants hold the European flag as they wait to be processed this morning having stormed the fence around Ceuta

Police were called in after up to 500 migrants stormed over a fence around the city of Ceuta in the earlier hours of this morning

The men shouted: 'Viva Espana', 'We Love You Espana' and 'Boza, boza' - 'Victory, victory' as they beat their chests in a show of joy at making it to Europe

Overjoyed: One man could be seen performing a somersault ahead of a crowd of migrants making their way though the streets this morning

The mass assault happened around just before dawn this morning.

Local TV station Faro TV Ceuta broadcast extraordinary footage of the men celebrating after reaching Europe.

Some of the immigrants were filmed jumping up and down with joy as they turned to others near the top of the fence who had failed to get across and were still stuck in Morocco.

One - bare chested and barefoot - did a somersault as he ran in the darkness ahead of other men towards a temporary migrant holding centre where they received medical attention.

It was not clear today how the centre - known as a CETI where the immigrants are given three meals a day, Spanish lessons and psychological support and stay for months at a time before being transferred to the mainland to relieve the pressure on living conditions - would cope.

In December, local governors ended up having to house the immigrants in army tents they mounted in a municipal equestrian centre car park after more than 400 undocumented Africans stormed the border fence.

The tents were taken down just before the New Year after 74 men and five women were transferred to different parts of the Spanish mainland.

There were scenes of jubilation as migrants reached the otherside of the fence. They are pictured sitting on the grounf in front of police

Migrants sit on the ground next to Spanish police officers after storming a fence to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta

Relief: Exhausted refugees collapsed on the road as they waited to be processed in Ceuta. Some 500 were able to scale the fence

Up to 500 migrants have stormed a fence to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco, it has emerged

A migrant with wounded hands lies on the ground after crossing over the wall at the Tarajal border in Ceuta, Spain

As well as mass assaults on the fence at Finca Berrocal (mapped out in red and pictured top right) separating Ceuta from Morocco, other immigrants reached the Spanish enclave by sea or hidden in cars

At the time Ceuta's CETI was said to be housing 948 people, nearly double the 512 it was built to accommodate.

As well as mass assaults on the fence separating Ceuta from Morocco, other immigrants reach the Spanish enclave by sea or hidden in cars, with some even risking their lives by curling into balls so they can be smuggled across the border under the bonnets of modified vehicles.

Fifty Moroccan and five Spanish border guards were injured on New Years Eve when 1,100 African immigrants tried to scale the 20ft fence around 4am on New Years Day.

Only two managed to make it to Ceuta. One border guard is said to have to lost an eye.

The attempt was described at the time as 'extremely violent and organised' by Spain's government representative in Ceuta.

An emergency team in Ceuta is assisting hundreds of migrants who crossed the fence surrounding Spain's enclave in North Africa earlier today

A migrant who made it over the fence shows the injures on his hand as he sits on the ground in ceuta this morning

Many were injured in their attempts to scale the fence this morning, including this man with cuts on his face. The incident unfolded at about 5am

European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex revealed earlier this week that 1,000 immigrants managed to cross the Ceuta and Melilla border fences last year

Local TV station Faro TV Ceuta broadcast extraordinary footage of the men celebrating after reaching Europe

Ceuta, 18 miles across the water from Gibraltar, is one of Spain's two north African enclaves. The other, Melilla, also has a high border fence, which has witnessed spectacular mass assaults by sub-Saharan African immigrants who in some cases have spent years trying to reach Europe.

European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex revealed earlier this week that 1,000 immigrants managed to cross the Ceuta and Melilla border fences last year.

This morning's assault on the fence in Ceuta is believed to have taken place at four different points, suggesting it was also a highly-organised attempt designed to complicate the work of Moroccan and Spanish police trying to stop them.

A spokesman for a local emergency coordination centre said early this morning: 'Red Cross Ceuta is assisting some 400 people in the CETI, although that's not a definitive figure.

'We have not yet got information about how many are injured and possible transfers to hospital.

'Civil Guard indicate up to 500 people may have managed to make it into Ceuta.'

Hundreds of bloodied and emotional African immigrants exploded with joy after storming a border fence to reach Spain this morning

Spain's Civil Guard said that a surveillance camera registered how more than 500 people approached the fence with tools and clubs that they used for breaking one of the gates

The last mass border crossing attempt occured on December 9, when some 438 Sub-Saharan immigrants managed to enter the country
A mother who fought for nine years to prove she was raped by a bouncer in her bedroom just yards from her sleeping children finally feels vindicated after a court ruled she deserves 10,000 compensation.

Anita Grinham, 43, told officers she was sexually assaulted in her own home by a man who had spiked her drink in an Ipswich nightclub in 2008.

But she says the detectives did not take her allegations seriously and sided with her attacker, who was arrested but never prosecuted due to lack of forensic evidence.

Vindicated: A court has ruled that Anita Grinham, 43, was sexually assaulted in her own home by a man who had spiked her drink in an Ipswich nightclub in 2008

A burning sense of intense anger and pure rage drove the brave mother-of-four to seek official acknowledgement that she had been raped by making a claim to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA).

Yesterday an appeal tribunal in London upheld an earlier court ruling which stated that she was probably attacked and deserves a payout.

Ms Grinham said the compensation was 'not a lot' and would be given to her boys.

The mother, who lives near Ipswich, Suffolk, says she was raped by a bouncer who spiked her drink when she went to the toilet and drove her home to attack her.

She reported the nightmare assault to police five weeks later but the investigation got nowhere.

Suffolk Police has admitted that the force's probe into the rape was 'inadequate' after an internal inquiry found key witnesses were not interviewed and the suspects house and car were left unsearched.

Speaking after winning her epic desperate fight for justice, Ms Grinham said last night: 'I've had to go to hell and back to prove I was right.

'I got angry and that's probably my saving grace. I thought 'I'm not having this. If I know I'm right, I'm right. I will stand up for what I believe.

'This has got nothing to do with money. It's that I have been raped.'

My whole life has changed. I went from being bubbly and outgoing to being paranoid and scared

She insisted: 'I'm really angry because I've been abused in my own home and I feel no one has ever taken it seriously. I don't think I'm ever going to get over this for the rest of my life. I'm absolutely fuming.'

Ms Grinham, who's bravely waived her right to anonymity, said her whole life and her health have been shattered since the horrific attack that still haunts her every day.

'I suffer insomnia and panic attacks,' said the businesswoman who opened a beauty salon. 'I went from being bubbly and outgoing to being paranoid and scared.'

Ms Grinham said she rages when she sees her attacker - who the appeal tribunal said has been charged in the past with indecent assault as well as other offences - brazenly walking around Ipswich free as a bird.

'Shame on him,' she snapped. 'Shame on the police. I want him to know while he is walking around I have not forgotten.'

Ms Grinham said last night: 'I've had to go to hell and back to prove I was right'

The tribunal panel judgment decided that it was probable Ms Grinham was the victim of a crime of sexual violence.

The ruling stated: 'The Appellant had sexual intercourse in her bedroom in circumstances in which she did not in fact consent and was incapable of giving consent by reason of intoxication or having had her drink 'spiked' earlier by her assailant.

'The appellant's account of finding her assailant in the act of intercourse with her was consistent throughout.'

It also stated Ms Grinham's attacker had been charged previously with indecent assault, assault, common assault, and other offences.

The ruling continued: 'The appellant's demeanour after the event was suggestive of a traumatic incident.'

It added the lengths Ms Grinham had gone to were 'highly suggestive of an assault rather than a regret over a retrospectively unwise sexual encounter'.

Ms Grinham was attacked after a night out with friends in Ipswich in July 2008 to celebrate the opening of her beauty salon.

She was driving so bought only one glass of wine, which she asked a doorman to look after while she went to the toilet.

Reliving her worst nightmare, traumatised Ms Grinham said in 2012: 'I know exactly what happened to me, I was violated in the most horrendous way.

'Someone raped me and no one's been punished. But I was made to feel like a liar.

'My whole life has changed. I went from being bubbly and outgoing to being paranoid and scared. I lost my business.

'I suffer from panic attacks, depression and was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.'

She added: 'Sorry is not good enough. My life stopped when I was raped. I have spent all my time since then trying to get justice.

'I just hope what I have been through helps change things for other victims.'

Suffolk Police has admitted that the force's probe into the rape was 'inadequate' after an internal inquiry found key witnesses were not interviewed. Pictured: Suffolk police HQ

Suffolk Police spokeswoman Anne-Marie Breach said: 'The original investigation into Ms Grinham's complaint recognised that the standard of investigation into her criminal allegation was inadequate, and that the service provided was not up to the requisite standard.

'While no misconduct was identified, the IPCC (Independent Police Complaints Commission) made recommendations including that advice be given to investigator's supervisors, which was carried out in 2012.

'A formal apology was also made in writing at this time. Suffolk Constabulary treats the investigation of rape and other serious sexual offences as one of its priorities and has continued to build on the changes that took place after 2008.'

She added: 'The specialist rape investigation teams remain in place and there has been significant investment by the constabulary and the Police and Crime Commissioner in increasing the numbers of investigators in these teams.

This has got nothing to do with money. It's that I have been raped

A CICA spokeswoman said: 'We deeply sympathise with all victims of crime, but cannot comment on individual cases.

'Compensation can be paid without an offender being caught or convicted, and we closely assess each case using all available evidence.

Applicants can apply for a review if they feel their case was not fairly assessed, bringing it to a tribunal if necessary.'

'The Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) now provides a high quality service to both adult and child victims of these offences.

'It combines much better medical facilities with enhanced victim support provision through the use of Independent Sexual Violence Advisors.

'They are able to support and guide victims following a rape and help them through the Criminal Justice process if required.'

Jane Basham, director of Suffolk Rape Crisis, said: 'We need to get to a place where women and girls feel confident to come forward and feel confident they will be believed.

'The reality is that the impact of sexual violence lasts a lifetime. This idea of being believed is so important.'
Diplomatic experts in the State Department were laid off on Thursday as part of the transition into the new administration.

Multiple employees in the Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources and the Counselor offices lost their jobs.

The lay-offs were carried out by Rex Tillerson's aides as the Secretary of State embarked on his first foreign trip in his new role to Germany.

The lay-offs were carried out by Rex Tillerson's aides as the Secretary of State embarked on his first foreign trip in his new role to Germany

The move has fueled speculation that the Trump administration seeks to stamp its authority on global affairs with key foreign policy being controlled directly from the White House, instead of by diplomats.

Among the lay-offs is rumored to be veteran Counselor of the State Department Kristie Kenney.

Staff working for the former ambassador, who served under the Obama, Bush and Clinton administrations, were told her role will not be filled in the near future.

Former Assistant Secretary for Non-Proliferation Tom Countryman, who was let go last month, criticized the redundancies and said he feared the White House is planning to not rely on State Department experts when conducting foreign policy.

'It is irresponsible to let qualified, nonpartisan, experienced people go before you have any idea of their replacement,' he told CBS News. 'You can't do foreign policy by sitting in the White House, just out of your back pocket.'

Mr Tillerson, pictured in Bonn on Thursday, took over as Secretary of State two weeks ago

There were no State Department officials present at Mr Trump's meetings with Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday although Mr Tillerson, who took over his role two weeks ago, did meet with the two leaders for dinner on Tuesday night.

The Secretary of State was in Bonn on Thursday to meet his foreign counterparts at a G20 event.

A spokesman for the State Department said: 'As part of the transition from one administration to the next we continue to build out our team.

Mr Trump promised his administration would 'take care' of 'mass instability overseas'

'The State Department is supported by a very talented group of individuals, both Republicans and Democrats.

'We are appreciative to any American who dedicates their talents to public service.'

At a press conference at the White House on Thursday, Mr Trump referred to 'mass instability overseas', citing the Middle East and North Korea.

But he promised his administration would tackle the issue.

He said: 'We'll take care of it folks; we're going to take care of it all. I just want to let you know, I inherited a mess.'
An teenager who was the subject of an Amber Alert earlier this week when police found her mother stabbed to death inside their family home has now been charged with her murder.

Cops said they feared Chastinea Reeves, 15, was in 'extreme danger' on Monday when they found her mother's body in the house in Gary, Indiana.

The teen went missing at about 2am  ten minutes before police found her mother, 34-year-old Jamie Garnett, dead.

Cops feared that Chastinea had been kidnapped and mounted a huge search for her until she was found safe on Tuesday afternoon.

Chastinea Reeves, 15, has been charged with murdering her mother by stabbing her to death

According to the ABC7, the teenager ran to the home of her aunt, Kelli McMillan, with a younger sibling.

Mcmillan later claimed that the teen was 'hysterical', saying: 'Two children came to my door a little after 2am and they said someone had come in, somebody had did something to their mom,' McMillan said.

'She run out the back door when the police come.'

According to the Times of North West Indiana, Lake County prosecutors charged the young girl with her mothers murder on Thursday night.

She is currently being detained at the Gary juvenile center.

Police found Jamie Garnett stabbed to death inside her family home

Earlier in the evening, the local coroners office confirmed Garnetts cause of death to be stab wounds in the manner of a homicide.

The teen appeared in juvenile court on Thursday and is expected back on April 12.

County Prosecutor Bernard Cater said his office is seeking a waiver from a juvenile court judge to move Reeves to adult court.

Police did not release any details of a motive or any further information about the investigation.
French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has admitted setting up a fake job in the European parliament for her ex-paratrooper bodyguard nicknamed 'The Gorilla', according to a report by the European Anti-Fraud Office.

It was all part of a criminal scam worth up to 300,000 to Ms Le Pen's far-right National Front (FN) party that could now see the 48-year-old jailed.

A previously confidential report by Olaf, the European Anti-Fraud Office, contains the allegations, all of which are today published in French investigative outlets Mediapart and Marianne.

Le Pen has denied the allegations and said on Friday that she has not admitted to the claims.

Marine Le Pen (right) has admitted setting up a fake job in the European parliament for her ex-paratrooper bodyguard Thierry Legier (left) nicknamed 'The Gorilla'

They show how Ms Le Pen, who is an MEP, made Thierry Legier - the 6ft 2ins, 16 stone former soldier who revels in his 'Gorilla' nickname - a 'parliamentary assistant' on 6000 plus a month.

Mr Legier, 51, is regularly seen accompanying Ms Le Pen to events, and in the past has protected Hollywood celebrities ranging from Charles Bronson and Mel Brooks to Sean Penn.

Before starting work for Ms Le Pen in 2011, he spent decades looking after her father, the convicted racist and anti-Semite Jean-Marie Le Pen, who founded the FN in the 1970s.

But Mr Legier has never been linked to any EU work whatsoever, meaning that the thousands received from European taxpayers - including British ones - should never have been paid.

Ms Le Pen was also said to have produced a false employment contract on behalf of Catherine Griset, a long-time friend, as part of the same money-spinning arrangement.

Ms Grist was meant to be a parliamentary assistant in Brussels from December 2010, but in fact spent all her time at the FN headquarters in Nanterre, the Paris suburb.

According to the leaked papers, Ms Le Pen has 'finally admitted' the charges, saying she had simply wanted to 'regularise unpaid salaries and charges.'

Mr Legier, 51, is regularly seen accompanying Ms Le Pen to events (pictured). Before starting work for Ms Le Pen in 2011, he spent decades looking after her father, the convicted racist and anti-Semite Jean-Marie Le Pen, who founded the FN in the 1970s

Ms Le Pen, who is an MEP, made Thierry Legier - the 6ft 2ins, 16 stone former soldier who revels in his 'Gorilla' nickname - a 'parliamentary assistant' on 6000 plus a month

But she is refusing to pay the money back, and said that she is victimised for political reasons.

Details were sent to Paris by the president of the European Parliament who has estimated the total loss to the taxpayer of the two fictitious salaries at approaching 300,000.

Ms Le Pen spent months denying the charges, but then changed her story in the face of overwhelming evidence.

She again on Friday furiously rejected reports that she has admitted to giving her bodyguard a fake job as a European parliamentary aide.

"It's a bare-faced lie. I never admitted to anything of the sort," Le Pen told France Bleu radio during a campaign stop in eastern France, saying she had never even met EU investigators to discuss the matter.

Le Pen on Friday admitted to "an accounting settlement" but denied that Legier's contract had been fictitious.

The 48-year-old (pictured) is now facing jail over the allegations. According to leaked papers, Ms Le Pen has 'finally admitted' the charges, saying she had simply wanted to 'regularise unpaid salaries and charges'

A spokesman for Olaf said an enquiry 'revealed that the MEP has produced a purely fictional work contract concerning one of her assistants', Thierry Legier.

In turn, Ms Griset did not 'provide direct assistance in the European Parliament to her MEP as required by the rules in force, but lived in the neighborhood of Paris and was active in the party,' said the spokesman.

Le Pen, who is riding high in polls ahead of the two-stage April 23-May 7 election, has steadfastly denied the claims.

Faced with her refusal to repay the money, the European Parliament has said it will start docking her salary in order to recover the funds.

Paris prosecutors have opened a judicial investigation for a variety of corruption charges including breach of trust and organised fraud - all of which carry prison sentences of up to ten years.

The scandal comes as Francois Fillon, the right-wing Republicans party candidate for the presidency, also faces charges for a fake jobs scandal involving his British-born wife, Penelope, and their two children.

Fillon's campaign has been adrift since it emerged that his wife netted at least 680,000 euros for a suspected fake job as a parliamentary assistant over a period spanning 15 years. He has denied the allegations.

As the French right faces up to such sleaze scandals, independent candidate Emmanuel Macron is currently the favourite to win the presidential elections in May.




Bolton Crown Court heard bogus financial advisor Rafiq Master, 55, (pictured) said he would help Jaswinder Singh to buy the house

A father-of-three was cheated of buying his dream family home after a bogus financial advisor duped him out of his deposit money and used it to pay for shopping trips and restaurant meals.

Jaswinder Singh, 50, had previously tried to buy the 750,000 six bedroom Victorian property but had to give up because it was too expensive.

When he discovered it was being offered up for auction at a knock down price two years later he could not believe his luck.

He decided to enlist the services of independent financial advisor Rafiq Master, 55, who claimed to have access to 10million and could arrange property mortgages for clients.

But a court heard that Master was lying about being a professional and reputable IFA, and after getting the Mr Singh to release a total 85,000 as down payments for the property, Master spent the money on shopping trips, petrol and meals out.

A devastated Mr Singh only realised he had been conned when he found out the house had been already sold to someone else.

Police were called in after Mr Singh decided to angrily confront Master at his 500,000 home in Lostock, Bolton, Greater Manchester and the conman's unsuspecting family dialed 999.

A court heard that Master was lying about being a professional and reputable IFA, and after getting the Mr Singh to release a total 85,000 as down payments for the property, Master spent the money on shopping trips, petrol and meals out

At Bolton Crown Court Master was jailed for three years after he pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position.

The court heard father-of three Mr Singh first saw his dream home in Fulwood, Preston, in 2011, but felt the 750,000 price tag meant it was out of his reach.

But in 2013 the house was repossessed and Mr Singh discovered it was being offered up for auction with a guide price of 450,000.

He approached Master following a recommendation and the fraudster told him he could arrange a loan from a lender in the Middle East which specialised in buying property in the UK.

The businessman - who was the director of BFX Capital Ltd and Tijori Ltd - falsely claimed his companies were registered with the Financial Services Authority and that he was an independent financial advisor accredited by the Financial Conduct Authority.

On his Twitter page he posted a picture of himself sat in a leather chair and one of his tweets read: 'We now have access to a 10million tranche of funds to facilitate lending on Private Emergency Bridging and Financial Restructuring.'

During subsequent meetings Master persuaded Mr Singh that he could arrange a loan for a 35,000 fee plus a deposit for the property, telling him there was not enough time to go through solicitors and to wait for documentation from the bank selling the home.

The following day Mr Singh transferred 25,000 into Master's personal bank account followed by a series of other payments with cash raised from family members and on credit cards.

Mr Singh was said to be 'scrabbling around' and paid in total 84,556 in installments until October 2013 when he discovered the house had in fact been sold to another buyer the previous August.

When asked about the sale, Master told Mr Singh there had been a 'mistake by the auction house' and claimed it had sold the house 'under the table'.

But when Mr Singh asked for his money back, Master lied and claimed the funds were in Dubai. He then sent the victim a cheque which bounced.

Police were called after the Master's family rang them saying men were banging on the door of their property.

When officers arrived they advised Mr Singh to leave, but were so concerned about his story that they decided to investigate further.

Master later claimed he used money to repay others who were also demanding cash be returned. He has promised to pay back Mr Singh.

Passing sentence the judge Mr Recorder Ciaran Rankin told Master: 'You misled Mr Singh from the outset, taking advantage of mutual friendships, and you were thoroughly dishonest throughout.

'You made Mr Singh's life a living nightmare, ruining him financially and this affected his family life and his marriage.

'You kept being extremely evasive and lied to Mr Singh, fobbing him off, in effect, for a period of time.'

Detective Constable Ryan Mackenzie, of GMP's Fraud Investigation Team, said: 'This was a cruel and calculated crime where Master systematically lied to and deceived a man who had dreams of buying a bigger family home.

'He took payments from a victim who, by raising the funds from family members and taking out extra credit, has now been landed with significant debt and emotional trauma.

'Master's lies have caused untold distress and heartache to the entire family, who are still living with the financial consequences and will struggle to ever fully recover from the ordeal. Fraudsters who think they can get away with deceiving honest people will be caught and brought to justice with robust consequences.'
RAF doctor Tom Cullen's family did not know about his death-defying escapade until a few years ago

A British serviceman's daring escape from a Nazi PoW camp in which he tiptoed over a frozen lake and scaled a barbed wire fence has been told publicly for the first time.

RAF doctor Tom Cullen's family did not know about his death-defying escape until a few years ago when he finally revealed his war story.

He has now spoken publicly for the first time, just days after his 100th birthday, about his dramatic journey to freedom from Stalag XXA near Torun in northern Poland.

Talking from his home near Colchester, Essex, the slightly built centenarian humbly states it was his duty to escape as he simply did not know when the savage fighting would end.

He said: 'Put it like this, no-one knew when the war would end so you always thought if they could get home they would.

'There were two things about this - if you escaped from your camp that's one thing, having got outside the camp how did you get to your country?

'My view was if you didn't know how to get out of the country, why would you escape?'

He added: 'It became known that if people could get out of the camp there would be Poles that would help them get out of the country.

'I was asked by another prisoner and I thought I'd give it a go and I did.

'I don't know if you feel nervous, we were a bit excited - there was just nothing we could do about it once we were out.

'It was likely the Germans would shoot us on sight, which they did sometimes.'

Mr Cullen miraculously fled the hellish nightmare that was his home since February 1944 after he had been captured during fierce fighting in Maleme, Crete, three years earlier.

Tom has spoken publicly for the first time, just days after his 100th birthday, about his dramatic journey to freedom from Stalag XXA near Torun in northern Poland

Feeling the tide was changing in the war after the Battle Stalingrad he and army officer John Grieg hatched a plan with Red Cross workers to escape.

After weeks of planning the pair enlisted others in the non-combatant camp who help stitch mock-Polish clothes for them.

Whilst a set up riot distracted guards the two troops carefully walked across a frozen moat with a ladder in tow and scaled an 8ft barbed wire-topped metal fence.

Ingeniously they had attached ropes to the ladder which was meant to be carefully lowered back to the frozen ground but instead it crashed to the floor.

After the nerve-wracking climb the pair snuck into a bush and waited patiently for a truck to pull up.

Reliving the incredible escape he said: 'The moat was frozen over and took this ladder with us, it had rope on the ladder and they were able to pull it back.

'It made a crash but thankfully the guards were distracted.

'I just remember we got over it, then we had to go past the guard room into a field and we hid into a hedge and wait for a truck to come up the road.

'We were just waiting to see what would happen next.'

Thankfully it arrived quickly and a resistance driver took them to the coast 'much the same way these people get from Dover to Calais' - where a compartment was built for them out of boxes.

Feeling the tide was changing in the war after the Battle Stalingrad he and army officer John Grieg hatched a plan with Red Cross workers to escape in 1944 (Tom on his wedding day, right, to Catherine who died in 2006)

After a few days hopping to different safe houses they made it to Gdynia , near Gdansk, where they had one last risk to take.

'We stayed on a farm there and we waited for a suitable ship and they took us to the city,' he said

'A chap went with us and we had to get a bus into the city and we sat near the back and tried not to talk to anybody.

'We followed 50 yards behind him on the docks and gave us a shovel and said 'We are going to shift coal on the ship'.

They then hid in the hold for 36 hours hours in pitch darkness with no toilets until they revealed themselves.

After they thought they were in the clear they banged on the door, alerting the crew, who gave them much-needed sustenance but did not tell the captain about the stow aways.

He added: 'When we knocked on the hatch they gave us some food and clothes and said we won't tell the captain as he'll be upset.'

After three gruelling days the tramp arrived in Malmo in neutral Sweden, they were handed to the police and then passed to the British ambassador who got them back to Britain.

Amazingly Mr Cullen never met his fellow escapee again claiming 'we never had much in common apart from we escaped together'.

The modest great grandfather only opened up to his stunned family in recent years about his incredible escape.

He recalled how, having been captured by German paratroopers, he was forced to toil alone, attempting to care for more than 1,000 wounded men as enemy soldiers crept ever closer.

For this work he received the prestigious MBE military honour for 'devotion to duty and courage of the highest order'.

Recalling his original capture, he said: 'We all knew the invasion was coming, we didn't know what it would be like.

Amazingly Mr Cullen never met his fellow escapee again claiming 'we never had much in common apart from we escaped together'

'We all thought we probably get killed, the whole campaign in Crete was a complete mess up.

'When the Germans came and I had to put my hands up, you have to if they are pointing guns at you.

'I was taken to a barn and I had to try and do what I could for the wounded, I didn't have any equipment though.

'I just had to get on with it, there was no way out. Even if you hadn't done the operations before, you just had to deal with the war wounds as best you could.'

Although his memory is failing him Mr Cullen, who reached the rank of squadron leader with 33 Squadron, vividly recalled his very own 'Colditz', where he nearly three miserable years

'It just looked like an old fort surrounded by a moat, it was partly underground.

'The Germans just had us locked up and provided us some food as best they could and that was that.

'Time went slowly though, it was boring. There was nothing to do but play bridge with three others every day,' he added.

Whilst under lock and key he wrote home once a week and often asked about the pet dogs, how the family vegetable patch was looking and what was happening around his hometown of Kelvedon, Essex.

Back in Britain he was sent to RAF Hilton until demobilisation where he met his wife Catherine Mary Lockerbie.

Mr Cullen is a father of four children, 11 grand children and 11 great grandchildren and forged a career as a surgeon.

His beloved wife died in 2006.

His son Richard Cullen only became aware of his father's heroics in his later years but is glad he has passed on his amazing story to the public after his landmark birthday this month.

He said: 'We only found out in the last 20 years and it has just come more to the fore.
A Japanese retail giant has Australia's market in its sights and experts warn the fast-spreading highly successful business could cause local companies to close.

The company is Miniso  it was established in 2013 in Tokyo with stores soon popping up in China.

Now the company, headquartered in Guangzhou, China, has been approved to set up shop in more than 40 countries.

In three years, 1,800 stores were opened by the chain, which was founded by Japanese designer Junya Miyake and Chinese entrepreneur Ye Guo Fu.

A Japanese retail giant has Australia's market in its sights and experts warn the fast-spreading highly successful business could cause local companies to close

Miniso already has three stores in Sydney: Chatswood, Hurstville and Bondi Junction.

They sell cosmetics, accessories, homewares and fashion and according to their website are already grossing AUD1billion per year  with plans to earn more than AUD11.7billion by 2020.

Lawrence Brown, the managing director of Complete Retail Services told The Age brands like Dotti, Supre and Valley Girl will feel the heat from the new arrival because the store is aimed at women aged between 18 and 30.

The company will open in malls in Sydney as they need 'flow through' foot traffic - but will consider street-front locations in markets like Melbourne.

They sell cosmetics, accessories, homewares and fashion and according to their website are already grossing AUD1billion per year

The group is planning to have 6000 stores world-wide by 2020

'Given the current turnovers I believe that this concept will continue to thrive. There are some 300 new items every month that will appear in the stores and really at a great price point,' Mr Brown said.

'The mix caters for all genders and age groups, and I do believe that by 2020, we will be Australia-wide. And as a group they are planning 6000 stores worldwide.'

By 2018, the stores will already be well-established in Sydney and Melbourne, according to the expert, who says once that happens they will expand to Queensland.

They will 'cover the whole country eventually' according to Mr Brown. Stores are also opening in America, on average world-wide the company opens between 80 and 100 stores per month.
Peers will water down the historic Brexit Bill when it comes to the House of Lords, Baroness Chakrabarti has vowed.

The Labour frontbencher said she believed the upper chamber would take the 'opportunity' to amend the legislation.

The new laws are due to be considered by peers for the first time on Monday at the start of detailed scrutiny a fortnight after the Bill was agreed by a landslide in the Commons.

Labour frontbencher Shami Chakrabarti, pictured on the BBC's Question Time last night, said she believed the upper chamber would take the 'opportunity' to amend the legislation

The new laws are due to be considered by the House of Lords (pictured) for the first time on Monday at the start of detailed scrutiny

Amendments on the rights of EU citizens currently living in Britain after Brexit and the timing of Parliamentary votes on Brexit deal are expected to be the focus of any rebellion.

Other proposals down for debate include the Liberal Democrat plan for a second referendum.

Defeat for the Government would not derail the new laws but would force the Bill to be returned to the Commons for further debate - almost certainly meaning a delay to it becoming law.

Speaking on the BBC's Question Time last night, Lady Chakrabarti was asked by host David Dimbleby whether she believed the House wanted the 'process of negotiation checked as it goes along'.

'I believe that is the ambition of many peers of different parties and of no parties. That is the opportunity, that is the ambition of many people in the weeks ahead.'

Labour has vowed not to provoke any long delays to the legislation but has tabled eight amendments of its own for the committee stage of the Bill.

Lady Chakrabarti was appearing on the latest edition of the flagship BBC show last night, which was filmed in Glasgow

The Prime Minister has vowed to invoke Article 50 before the end of March but delays to the legislation look likely to stop her doing so at the EU summit on March 9

Ministers would be confident of overturning any defeats in what is known as Parliamentary 'ping pong' - triggered when the Commons and Lords disagree on amendments to legislation.

Brexit Secretary David Davis appeared to accept the likelihood of ping pong on a visit to Sweden this week when he played down the chances of Mrs May invoking Article 50 at the EU summit on March 9.

The Prime Minister has vowed to do so before the end of March and she is thought to be determined to do so before a landmark EU summit in Italy on March 25 marking the 60th Anniversary of the Treaty of Rome.
A professor in Canada claims to have discovered the only existing footage of French novelist Marcel Proust.

Proust, a giant of French literature, best known for the his seven volume series, In Search of Lost Time, died in 1922.

While generations have studied his work no footage of him has ever emerged making this a potentially enormous find.

A Canadian professor claims to have found the only existing footage of renowned French writer Marcel Proust

The brief clip, taken at a wedding in 1904, appears to show Proust briefly walking down some steps, dressed in a smart grey suit a neat moustache and bowler hat

Jean-Pierre Sirois-Trahan, an academic at Laval University in Quebec, believes the film, found in the Centre National du Cinema in Paris, could be the only known footage of him in existence.

The footage was captured in 1904, at the wedding of Elaine Greffulhe, the daughter of one of Prousts closest friends.

Although there is only the briefest glimpse of a man in his 30s wearing a bowler hat and smart grey suit, with a neat moustache descending some stairs alone, experts are confident it is indeed the French master.

The 133-year-old footage, emerging 95 years after the novelist's death in 1922, would be the only footage ever found of Proust - if authenticated

The clip is 113 years old and, if authenticated, would be the only known footage of Proust ever discovered.

One of Proust's themes in his writing was sexuality.

Academics have debated Proust's own sexuality with many of his contemporaries either suggestion or suspecting he was homosexual.

However Proust never declared he was gay, and in 1897 fought a duel with a man who suggested he was - with both men surviving.

Many of the French writer's characters in his works, both men and women, were either bisexual or gay and his radical, influential writing style made him one of the greatest writers of the previous century.
Rutgers University has issued an apology after it banned students from its annual career fair for not adhering to its strict new dress code.

Colored shirts, blue suits and brown shoes were all banned at the event on February 10, leading to students being turned away at the door.

Students were required to wear black or dark gray suits, according to the dress code and it is believed around 40 people were denied entry.

Rutgers University has apologized after it banned students from its annual career fair for not adhering to its strict dress code

The move sparked outrage from students at the university, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and they started an online petition on change.org demanding an apology.

A message on the site reads: 'Not only does the Rutgers Business School student body deserve an apology, the "no navy business suit" policy needs to be eliminated. Navy is the most popular color on Wall Streets for suits.

'It is very unfortunate that students were turned away from the career fair for committing the crime of being fashionable.

'RBS needs to recognize navy as appropriate business attire because the whole world already does.'

In a written statement to Rutgers student news paper The Daily Targum, RBS Dean Lei Lei apologized for the decision to turn students away and said the dress code would be under review.

She said: 'The administration at Rutgers Business School apologizes to the students who were turned away.

The university's Business School said it will be reviewing the rules

Outraged students created an online petition demanding an apology from the University

'We take great pride in our students, both academically and professionally.

'We regret that the actions at last weeks career fair adversely affected some of our students and cast a shadow over the success we have achieved in helping our students secure meaningful internships and jobs.

'Our career management process is not perfect, and we look forward to working with our recruiters and students to further improve our practices, including the dress code guidelines.'

Dress code for men Dark gray or black professional business suit; pants and jacket must match White dress shirt Conservative, professional tie with a solid or simple pattern. No bright colors or graphics Dark socks that match shoes or pants; no patterned or white socks Clean, polished dark dress shoes; no sneakers or boots No facial jewelry; minimal accessories (dark belt, watch, ring) Hair well groomed Clean shaven or well-groomed facial hair Clean, trimmed nails Minimal fragrance, if any Advertisement
Jonathan Norbury, 35, kissed one girl in his classroom store cupboard and took the virginity of another on his parents' lounge floor

A shamed deputy headteacher has been banned from schools for at least ten years for having sex with teenage girls.

And education chiefs have launched an inquiry after Jonathan Norbury, 35, was given an 8,000 pay-off with a glowing reference despite his 'sexually motivated' actions being known.

Norbury kissed one girl in his classroom store cupboard and took the virginity of another on his parents' lounge floor.

He also got one girl drunk in a park before making her strip naked and grope him sexually.

A disciplinary panel found 17 allegations of unacceptable professional misconduct proved against Norbury - two years after he was cleared of criminal charges for having underage sex with the girls in court.

The disciplinary hearing was told Norbury was a primary school teacher and a church deacon while he exchanged flirty texts and met up with the three teenagers for kissing, touching and sex.

Case presenter Cadi Dewi said: 'He had a unique level of charisma and boys and girls flocked to him.'

She said the girls - then aged as young as 15 - were 'chuffed' and 'flattered' when Norbury began contacting them.

Norbury began picking up one girl referred to as Girl A in his car when she was 15 in 2005 where he would touch her sexually, the tribunal heard.

She later lost her virginity to Norbury on the floor of his parent's lounge just days after she turned 16, and continued to meet up including in hotels where they would perform sex acts on each other.

The deputy headteacher (pictured with his wife, Katie, on their wedding day) also got one girl drunk in a park before making her strip naked and grope him

Education chiefs have launched in inquiry after Jonathan Norbury, 35, was given an 8,000 pay-off with a glowing reference despite his 'sexually motivated' actions being known

Case presenter Cadi Dewi said: 'He had a unique level of charisma and boys and girls flocked to him'

A second woman - Girl B - told the hearing she was 15 when Norbury began to send her text messages including saying 'you look hot', and was 'chuffed' at the attention because he was 'older and good looking.'

The panel heard the teen visited Norbury in his classroom at Pontarddulais Primary School in Swansea, South Wales, dressed in her school uniform, and he took her into a store cupboard to kiss and touch each other and she showed him her underwear.

On another occasion they arranged to meet at night in an alleyway next to the Farmer's Arms pub in Swansea where they kissed and he allegedly touched her sexually.

They continued to meet up until she was 17 when Norbury began dating his now wife, Katie.

A third woman - Girl C - said Norbury took her into woodland at Coed Bach Park in Pontarddulais when she was 16, and gave her a flask of Malibu to drink which made her feel 'dizzy'.

A disciplinary panel found 17 allegations of unacceptable professional misconduct proved against Norbury - two years after he was cleared of criminal charges for having underage sex with the girls in court

Norbury undressed her and persuaded her to grope him sexually before making her walk a 20 minute journey alone back to her home in the early hours of the morning.

Father-of-three Norbury denied any sexual contact took place with any of the girls before they turned 16, admitting some of the allegations took place but arguing the women had mistakenly or deliberately gotten their dates wrong.

The disciplinary panel found 17 of the 20 allegations against Norbury, relating to between 2005 and 2010, proved after a two-week hearing, and amounted to unacceptable professional misconduct.

David Harris, for Norbury, told the hearing: 'Whatever his character was up until 2010, he's now a changed man.'

The Education Workforce Council handed Norbury a prohibition order, which will see him struck off the teaching register for at least 10 years.

Panel chair Steve Powell said: 'Mr Norbury showed no insight into his conduct and repeatedly ignored advice from colleagues.

'Though he admitted some allegations, he continued to deny others. In those denials we find he had lied.

'His conduct is fundamentally at odds with him continuing to work as a teacher.

'Although now in a stable relationship his lack of insight means the committee cannot be satisfied there will be no repetition of this type of behaviour in future.

'He engaged in sexually motivated conduct with three young girls. Two of whom were under 16 during this time.

'These girl were of varying levels of vulnerability and his actions had the potential to have a detrimental effect on them.'

Norbury was cleared in court two years ago of allegedly having underage sex with two of the girls, after insisting nothing had happened until they had turned 16.

The disciplinary hearing was told Norbury was a primary school teacher and a church deacon while he met up with the three teenagers for kissing, touching and sex. Pictured with his wife

But education chiefs launched their own investigation - and sacked Norbury from his job as deputy head of Casllwchwr Primary School in Swansea for gross misconduct after the trial in 2015.

Norbury was handed an 8,000 pay out after being sacked from his job and handed a glowing reference for future employment.

The reference from the council said: 'Jonathan Norbury joined Casllwchwr Primary School with good references and a clear CRB check.

'He was employed as a year six teacher with some management responsibilities and he was later appointed acting deputy head teacher.

'While employed at the school he was a valued and conscientious teacher who always put learning outcomes and the needs of pupils first.'

A council spokesman said: 'We welcome the decision of the panel. Their decision demonstrates we took appropriate action in dismissing Mr Norbury and referring him to the EWC.

'However we are concerned about the processes which led to Mr Norbury receiving his reference, and have therefore commissioned an independent review.'
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Forgotten images of a female pilot who flew spitfires during the Second World War have been released two weeks after she celebrated turning 100.

Mary Ellis was one of the 'Ata-girls', the select gang of female pilots who flew Britain's fighters during the war.

Originally from Oxfordshire, she had her first flying lesson in 1938 and flew for pleasure until 1941 when she heard a BBC radio appeal for women pilots to join the auxiliary service and so release male pilots for combat duty.

All smiles: ATA women pilots at No.15 Ferry Pool, Hamble, in 1943. Here Mary is with friends, standing second right of the picture. In the front row, left to right, are: Rita Baines, Rosemary Bannister, Faith Bennett, Rosemary Rees, Margot Gore, Veronica Volkersz, Jackie Sorour, Mary Wilkins, Margaret Frost. In the back row, again left to right, are: Pam Tulk- Hart, Joy Gough, Sylvia Edwards, Monique Agazarian and Helen Kerly

Lined up: This photo shows Mary's fellow pilots at Ferry Pool in Hamble. Mary is seated in the middle row, third from right of the picture. Margot Gore, is sixth from the left of the picture, middle row. Seated to her right is Flight Captain Philippa Bennett. Seated to Margot's left is deputy Flight Captain Rosemary Rees (later Lady du Cros). Third Officer Joy Gough (Lofthouse) is seated front row, second left of the picture

A new book titled A Spitfire Girl recounts the First Officer's incredible journey at a time when her nation needed her most.

Author Melody Foreman said: 'The book charts the life and times of one of the world's greatest female ferry pilots  First Officer Mary Ellis of the Air Transport Auxiliary.'

'She flew 400 Spitfires and 76 different types of aircraft, including heavy bombers during World War Two.

'Mary helped the war effort by delivering much needed aircraft including Wellington Bombers, Mustangs and many more to the aircrews of RAF fighter and bomber command squadrons.'

Working hard: One of the women's jobs every morning was to collect aircraft delivery chitties at their Hamble base

This image shows the Spitfire MT719, which Mary flew during the war. Today it resides in a museum in Texas, USA

Enjoying serving their country: Mary with three brave men of Bomber Command, standing next to a Wellington aircraft

In this series of photos Mary can be seen smiling and posing in front of her beloved Spitfire with her other female colleagues.

'She flew 400 Spitfires and maintains that it is her favourite aircraft of all time. It is a symbol of freedom and liberty,' said Ms Foreman.

'When the ATA was closed in November 1945, Mary was seconded to the RAF to fly the new Meteor fast jet.

'The next few years saw her working as a personal pilot to a wealthy businessman and by 1950 she became the boss of Sandown Airport on the Isle of Wight.

'Mary became Europe's first female air commandant and remained as managing director of Sandown until 1970.'

The unveiling of the ATA Memorial at Hamble, Hampshire, on 10 July 2010. From left to right are Margaret Frost, Joy Lofthouse, Annette Hill, Mary, Peter George, and Peter Garrod

Happy days: Flight Captain Joan Hughes and First Officer Mary Wilkins on a summer's day infront of a Spitfire

Group photo: The Hamble women ATA pilots around a Spitfire. Mary is standing on the far left of the picture

Mary standing directly beneath the Polish emblem on this Spitfire. Friends around her include 'Chile', who is seated on the wing with her hand on the exhausts

Inspirational Mary has been passionate about flying from an early age. At just twenty-one-years-old she gained her pilot's licence.

'In October 1941 [she] heard an appeal on the radio from the BBC for women pilots needed to help the war effort,' Ms Foreman added.

'She joined the Air Transport Auxiliary, an organisation which ferried aircraft from factories and maintenance units to RAF airfields all over Britain.'

In one image a beaming Mary can be seen wearing a helmet inside her favourite aircraft and in another with veterans at the ATA Memorial at Hamble in Hampshire back in 2010.

In the 1990s the ATA girls met again at the Royal Air Force Yacht Club at Hamble. Picture shows Mary second on the right in the front row, Lettice Curtis, Freydis Sharland and Molly Rose, with Jackie Moggridge kneeling in front. Diana Barnato Walker and Margot Gore are in the front row and Joy Lofthouse is standing back row, fourth right

MARY ELLIS: THE WWII FEMALE SPITFIRE PILOT Mary, from Oxfordshire, learnt to fly in 1938 and flew for pleasure until 1941 when she heard a BBC radio appeal for women pilots to join the auxiliary service and so release male pilots for combat duty. Mary was usually found at the joystick of a Spitfire or a Hurricane but ultimately flew more than 50 types of aircraft, logging 1,100 hours of flight, much to the astonishment of some colleagues. As she sat on the airfield ready to deliver her first Spitfire, the mechanic standing on the wing asked how many of them she'd flown. When she said it was her first, he was so startled he fell right off. The largest aircraft she flew solo was the Wellington bomber. After landing at an East Anglian airfield, Mary was greeted by the ground crew who asked where the pilot was. 'I'm the pilot,' she said. They insisted on searching the aircraft before they believed her. It was dangerous work. Mary was sometimes ordered to move combat-damaged planes that were not officially fit to fly, but had to be taken for repairs. She crash-landed twice and was shot at once. Mary  who to this day needs no spectacles, nor a walking stick  was one of the last six women serving in the ATA when it disbanded after the war. She remained a private pilot and then became managing director of Sandown Airport on the Isle of Wight. She married Don Ellis, a fellow pilot, in 1961, but was widowed in 2009. Matt Jones, who flies Spitfires for Goodwood-based Boultbee Flight Academy, reunited Mary with MV154 after first meeting her in 2015. He conspired with the plane's current owner, pilot Maxi Gainza, to bring it to the UK from its base in Bremgarten, Germany. Advertisement

Mary turned 100 on 2 February and a surprise party was held in her honour at Sandown Airport, where over sixty guests attended.

Mary said at the event: 'The war was a challenge and one had to do something about it. I went on and on until I flew everything. I love the Spitfire  it's my favourite aircraft, it's everyone's favourite, it's the symbol of freedom.'

Then as part of her celebrations Mary was handed the controls of a 275mph twin-seater Spitfire as it swooped over West Sussex.

November 1945: The ATA flag is lowered for the last time at White Waltham Church, Berkshire. From left to right are: Ron Elliot, Eric John Crowder, Ann Wood (USA), Diana Barnato Walker, Faith Bennett, Jim Qualfe, Dick Martens

Mary in the cockpit of a Spitfire. This picture was taken towards the end of the war as the aircraft has a five-bladed propeller associated with the later Marks

In 1994 Mary was first re-united with Spitfire MV154, which still had her signature written on the inside of the cockpit in 1944. Here Mary is in her ATA tunic as MV154 is refuelled behind her at Sandown

Mary with Spitfire Mk.Vb BM597 in 2013. The largest aircraft she flew solo was the Wellington bomber during World War Two

After about 15 minutes, she turned for home, and told her co-pilot Matt Jones: 'Goodwood on the nose, you have control'. Then she settled back to enjoy the ride back to base.

Earlier, Mary watched in delight as Spitfire MV154 took its place beside her in an extraordinary airborne tribute. It was a plane she had delivered to RAF Brize Norton from Southampton on September 15, 1944, and it hides a sentimental secret.

For at the end of the 25-minute wartime flight, she signed the cockpit, scrawling her maiden name Wilkins and the initials ATA.
A British holidaymaker was hit around the face with a shoe by an angry bar worker, before being punched and kicked in the crotch - for refusing to pay a 27 bar bill.

David Lodge, 63, stormed out of the bar, claiming he could buy beer for less at the local 7/11 store.

He and his wife were drinking with friends in Pattaya, Thailand, last night, when they received the bill for 'six or seven' drinks.

British tourist David Lodge was left with injuries to his face after the attack in Pattaya, Thailand

The bar worker flew into a rage after Mr Lodge refused to pay the full bill last night

Shocked Mr Lodge refused to pay 1,200THB - the equivalent of 27.50 - and instead coughed up half that amount.

Furious bar worker Rungnapa Pleumjai, 43, who had been serving the group, took off her shoe and hit him in the face, before chasing him into the street and hitting and kicking him.

Footage taken by Thira Phengrat shows the woman arguing in the street with the couple before chasing after the woman and pulling her dress. She then kicked David in his crotch.

Mr Lodge and his wife were attacked by furious bar worker Rungnapa Pleumjai

Thira said: 'The girl was very, very angry. The British couple should have paid their bill but she should not have attacked them. It was not a big bill for about six or seven drinks at a bar.

'They thought that it was a scam but if they buy a drink for a girl who works at a bar, they also have to pay for that.'

Rungnapa was later arrested after the British couple reported the assault at the Patsy Beer Bar to police.

Mr Lodge said: 'We were overcharged for the drinks. They were ripping us off. They're much cheaper at the local supermarket.

Mr Lodge complained to police, and the bar worker was charged with assault

'I paid the price that the drinks should have been. Then she attacked us so I reported it to the police.'

Police interviewed the bar worker, and she told them that the prices were higher than the supermarket because it was a bar.

She said after the attack: 'Everybody knows you go to a bar and beer is more than the supermarket because there are bills to pay.

'The couple knew the prices. They were on the menu. We tell them the price and they get a bill after each drink.

'Why do they think they can run up a bill then leave without paying? Is it any surprise I am angry? How I can get my wages if customers don't pay?'

But officers at Pattaya Police Station sided with the British couple and the bar worker was charged with assault for 'damaging the image of tourism in Pattaya.

A spokesman said today: 'People should not attack tourists. If they have a problem it should be reported to the police first for us to investigate.'
A couple have been arrested after they allegedly deserted their five-year-old daughter with a complete stranger on Valentine's Day.

Shane White, 37, and Lacey Allen, 32, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, allegedly left their daughter with an unknown woman at around 1pm on Tuesday afternoon, saying they would return in 45 minutes.

But after they had not come back two hours later, the woman called police.

Lacey Allen and Shane White were arrested and charged with child desertion and two counts of cruelty to juveniles

Officers interviewed the child and went to the couple's residence at the Wood Acres Motel at around 8pm but no one was home.

When White and Allen arrived later, cops found their other daughter, two, in a trash-ridden vehicle piled with dirty diapers.

They searched the family's room, which consisted of a queen size bed, two tables and a night stand, and found it to be in a similarly 'filthy' state with rotting food on the kitchen stove and the floor.

Officers said the refrigerator was empty except for a nearly empty bottle of milk.

Together: Shane White, 37, and Lacey Allen, 32, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, allegedly left their daughter with an unknown woman

Abandoned: Officers interviewed the child and went to the couple's residence at the Wood Acres Motel at around 8pm but no one was home

White and Allen were arrested and charged with child desertion and two counts of cruelty to juveniles.

The children were taken into the custody of the Department of Children & Family Services.
A man has admitted hiding the body of his dead girlfriend in an airing cupboard for over a year.

Andrew Colin Reade, 43, pleaded guilty to concealing the body of Victoria Cherry for 15 months when he appeared before a judge at Bolton Crown Court.

His neighbours on Toronto Street, a quiet Bolton cul-de-sac, have paid tribute to Victoria, 44, and told of their horror that Reade had hidden his dark secret for so long.

Victoria Cherry, 44, was reported missing by her family in October 2015. Andrew Colin Reade pleaded guilty to concealing her body for 15 months

Police discovered her in an airing cupboard in Reade's house in Toronto Street, Bolton, after raiding it on January 16

They recall 'a strange smell' but said Reade insisted Victoria had left to stay with her mum.

He also invited them round for tea in his one bedroom flat as her body decomposed in the closet, they claim.

But Victoria, whose death has left relatives heartbroken, had in fact not been by anyone since October 2015.

Her family filed a missing persons report in October 2016 after they were unable to trace her and Greater Manchester Police officers found her body during a raid on January 16 this year.

Bolton Crown Court heard a psychiatrist is set to see Reade, who will await sentence on remand at Forest Bank Prison

Neighbours have told of their grief, shock - and disbelief that Reade managed to keep Victoria's body hidden for so long

Bolton Crown Court heard that police are still investigating the cause of her death.

Nick Ross, defending Reade, said: 'This is a very unusual case, a very difficult and sensitive case and a very serious case.'

He said there had been a post mortem but that police were still analysing toxicology results and making further investigations.

Judge Timothy Stead said: 'The length of time for which this body appears to have rested in an airing cupboard will have made the pathological tests more difficult.'

The court heard a psychiatrist would see Reade, who will await sentence on remand at Forest Bank Prison.

The defendant, who wore tracksuit trousers and a blue anorak, spoke only to enter guilty pleas to two charges.

The first was intending to prevent the lawful and decent burial of Victoria Cherry and concealing her body between October 1, 2015 and January 16, 2017.

He admitted intending to pervert the course of justice by giving misleading and inaccurate information about the whereabouts of Victoria Cherry to police officers, pharmacists, and family members.

Reade, who was warned to expect a 'custodial sentence of some length', was remanded in custody until April 13.

Neighbours have told of their grief, shock - and disbelief that Reade managed to keep Victoria's body hidden for so long.

After the hearing, friends of the couple described Victoria as a 'quiet and lovely' mum and grandmother.

Neighbours Glen Kerwin (left) and Gary Sleeman (right) have paid tribute to her and said her death was a tragedy

Gary Sleeman, 37, said the case had shocked the community, adding: 'Vicky was so lovely, she had so much time for everyone and made you feel better about yourself.

'This is a tragedy.'

He said he had spent many hours at the house before the death - and had even stayed there as Reade's friend since her disappearance.

He added: 'He said she had left him. I'd sleep on their couch regularly - while Vicky was there and afterwards.

'I've slept right near the cupboard where she was. I can't explain it, there are so many feelings going on at once.

'I feel shock and I feel tragedy for Vicky.'

Glen Kerwin, 54, lived next door to Reade for three years.

He said: 'It's sad - Vicky was a nice girl, really pleasant to get on with.

'Dodgy smells started coming through but Andy explained it away. He told us it was from an older occupant that used to live there before him.

'He also dragged an old carpet into the hall to mask it and had air freshener.

'It's shocking that he kept her body in there so long. He told me she had up and left.'

Glen, who would often watch fooball at Reade's home, said: 'We had no reason to doubt him. He said he'd gone back to her mum's. He kept up a good front.

'How did he manage to keep it under wraps for so long?'
Pets like having fun their own way and that's okay - until something unexpected happens.

This lovely cat got a bit too obsessed with his owner's robotic vacuum cleaner that he sat on top of the machine as it was cleaning the house.

However, the 23-month-old male Ragdoll bumped into a coffee table head-on after the appliance went underneath the furniture.

That hurts! The cat was so taken by his owner's vacuum cleaner he didn't see the coffee table

The footage was first posted on February 14 by a user known by the screen name of 'Candicedolls' on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter.

The uploader said that he runs a cat breeding business and the feline belongs to one of his clients.

After the video appeared online, it quickly became popular. It has gathered more than 10 million views and 180,000 comments after being shared by different users on Weibo.

Vacuum cleaner is a cat's best friend! The pet's Chinese owner said the animal becomes very excited whenever they put the machine to work

The cat, named Ice, lives in Kunming, southern China's Yunnan Province

The 10-second clip shows the Ragdoll donning a dungaree and a checkered shirt as he rode the vacuum cleaner.

The cat appeared to be so mesmerised by the spinning brushes he didn't notice the robotic machine was going towards a coffee table.

As the vacuum cleaner went underneath the table, the moggy hit the table head-on and fell to the ground. The cat then looked at the cleaner in despair as it swept under the furniture.

The pet, named Ice, lives in Kunming, southern China's Yunnan Province.

Owner Huang Xiaoyu said Ice likes her vacuum cleaner a lot, but he is scared of her hoover

His owner, Huang Xiaoyu, describes the pet as 'silly, naughty and absolutely adorable'.

The 23-year-old woman said she had just bought the new costume for her cat that day.

Ice was said to be so happy when he put on the costume that he got carried away after Huang's husband had put him onto the vacuum cleaner.

Huang told MailOnline: 'He is scared of my handheld hoover, but he likes the robotic vacuum cleaner a lot. Every time when we use the vacuum cleaner, he becomes very excited - as if he is meeting his best friend.'

On Huang's social media account, she keeps a series of videos showing the hilarious moments Ice played with the machine.

His owner said Ice loves taking baths (left) and considers the vacuum cleaner his best friend. The moggy is pictured lying in a box with another cat belong to Huang (right)

Apparently, cats love riding vacuum cleaners. Similar videos can be easily found on the Internet.

In 2015, iRobot Roomba announced a cat-proof version which allows the vacuum cleaner to work continuously even when a cat stands on top of it and blocks the machine's sensors.

Christian Cerda, the Chief Operating Officer of iRobot, explained that the Roomba has sensors fit underneath it and these sensors act like an optical mouse.

This allows the machine to continue working with a pet on top.
An elite Manhattan prep school has scrapped its annual ice-skating party at Trump Wollman Rink in Central Park after liberal parents complained about the event.

Parents at The Dalton School reportedly refused to send their kids in protest against the president, forcing the school to pull the plug on the event.

The Parents Association sent out a letter on Thursday announcing that the 'Dalton on Ice' event had been cancelled.

Staff at the $40,000-a-year institution said 'it would not be financially prudent' to hold the party because of 'significantly lower attendance.'

An elite Manhattan prep school has scrapped its annual ice-skating party at Trump Wollman Rink in Central Park (above) after liberal parents complained about the event

CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper and actress Claire Danes both studied at Dalton

Dalton's PA president, LaMae DeJongh, declined to comment when approached by the New York Post, but the newspaper reports that sources said the decline in numbers was down to anti-Trump sentiment among parents at the exlusive private school.

The Upper East Side school boasts a host of famous alumni including CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, actresses Claire Danes and Jennifer Grey, and fashion designer Jill Stuart.

'I think it is completely insane,' one Dalton parent who disagrees with the protest told the New York Post.

Parents at The Dalton School, pictured, reportedly refused to send their kids in protest against the president

'Like him or not, it feels like a strange place for New Yorkers to protest. And sad that kids now have no skating party.'

While another Dalton parent told the newspaper that a clique of anti-Trump 'liberal moms' had pressured the headmaster to call off the event.

In 1986 Trump renovated the rink, after he persuaded Mayor Ed Koch to let him complete works that had left it closed for six years.

Trump offered to pay for the renovations himself with the stipulation that he be allowed to run the venue and an adjacent restaurant and use the profits to recoup his costs, and the works were completed in four months.

The Trump name is prominently displayed on the walls of the rink, which was initially opened in 1949 with funds donated by Kate Wollman to commemorate her family.

Trump Wollman Rink made no immediate comment to the New York Post, and Dalton's Headmaster Ellen Stein could not be reached for comment.
Two airliners clipped wings at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Thursday night.

A Frontier Airlines plane was pushing away from its gate at Terminal 3 at around 8pm when it 'clipped the wings' of a Southwest Airlines aircraft that was taxiing nearby, an airport spokesperson said.

No injuries were reported in the incident, but the collision caused a fuel leak on one of the planes.

A Frontier Airlines plane was pushing away from its gate Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Thursday around 8pm when it 'clipped the wings' of a Southwest Airlines aircraft that was taxiing

No injuries were reported in the incident, but the collision caused a fuel leak on one of the planes

Southwest Airlines Flight 4182 had just arrived at the airport from Oklahoma City and had 174 passengers on board.

The flight was expected to continue on to Denver, but the plane was put out of service for repairs following the crash. The airline helped put passengers on to a new flight.

Frontier Airlines Flight 765, and Airbus A320, was headed to Denver with six crew members and 163 passengers on board.

The aircraft had been cleared to leave the gate when the collision occurred. Passengers were put on another flight after the incident.

Southwest Airlines Flight 4182 had just arrived at the airport from Oklahoma City and had 174 passengers on board. The flight was expected to continue on to Denver, but the plane was put out of service for repairs following the crash

National Transportation Safety Board and FAA were performing an investigation as of Thursday night

Megan Whor, who was on the Southwest Airlines plane when it was hit, said her plan suffered more damage.

'It took me a second to realize what happened,' Whor told KPHO. 'It felt like a speed bump more than anything else.'

She said that everyone remained calm and that the pilot was informative and polite following the clipping.

Frontier said in a statement after the collision: 'Frontier is cooperating with the NTSB and FAA in the investigation and is working with customers to accommodate them on other flights.'
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte may have ordered police to withdraw from his brutal drug war, but the bodies continue to pile up at a rate of 10 a day.

Shadowy assassins have killed nearly 150 people since the end of last month, human rights groups have said.

Duterte pulled police from his seven month 'war on drugs' on January 31. Official figures state 2,555 drug suspects were killed by law enforcers in this time, while 3,930 people were murdered in unexplained circumstances, prompting outrage over extrajudicial killings.

Police investigators at a crime scene where two alleged robbers were killed by police in Manila

A dead body is removed by coroners officers after a shooting by an unidentified gunman in Manila today

The latest police figures, given to AFP, show there were 4,076 'murder cases under investigation' on Monday this week.

The increase of 146 showed extrajudicial killings had slowed, but were nevertheless continuing in the drug war, activists believe.

'The targets are still the same, as far as we are concerned: people linked to drugs and who live in poor neighbourhoods,' Wilnor Papa, campaign official for the Philippine branch of Amnesty International said.

Papa said unknown assailants were now killing between nine and 10 people daily.

Police investigate a crime scene where two alleged robbers were shot dead by officers last week

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte ordered police to withdraw from his war on drugs on January 31

This compared with about 30 people a day being killed by police and unknown assailants when officers were still leading the crackdown.

On Thursday police found four men shot dead inside a shanty in northern Manila, in a scene very similar to those covered at the height of the drug war.

Witnesses said gunmen broke into the house and started shooting, while three other men were shot dead in separate incidents elsewhere in the same district that night.

Duterte's order to end police involvement in the drug war came after rogue anti-drug officers kidnapped and murdered a South Korean businessman, Jee Ick-joo, inside the national police headquarters as part of an extortion racket.

A suspected drug dealer is found dead inside a house after being gunned down by mystery assassins in the capital of the Philippines

But Duterte promised the war would continue and more addicts, as well as traffickers, would be killed as he sought to eradicate drugs in society.

Amnesty published a report this month accusing police of systemic human rights abuses in the drug war, including gunning down defenceless people, paying assassins to murder addicts and stealing from those they killed.

It also said police were being paid by their superiors to kill.

Duterte has since ordered the much smaller Drug Enforcement Agency to lead the drug crackdown, with the support of the military.

Derrick Carreon, spokesman for the 1,791-member drug agency, told AFP there had been far fewer killings by authorities since it took charge, without giving figures.

'(But) there is no point in comparing these figures because the police is a much larger organisation, capable of conducting more operations,' Carreon said, adding the military had mostly acted as observers so far.

The national police force has 160,000 officers.
Princess Cristina of Spain's husband has been sentenced to more than six years in prison in a tax fraud case, while she was found not guilty on Friday.

A panel of judges ruled that Cristina, the sister of King Felipe VI, will be required to pay nearly 265,000 euros (more than 227,00) in fines because the court considers that she indirectly benefited from the fraud.

Her husband, Inaki Urdangarin, was found guilty of evading taxes, fraud and various other charges.

The trial centered on accusations that Urdangarin used his former title, Duke of Palma, to embezzle about 6 million euros (5 million) in public funds for the nonprofit Noos Institute.

Spain's King Felipe VI's sister Princess Cristina de Borbon (L) and her husband Inaki Urdangarin (R) in Palma de Mallorca, in 2016

Urdangarin was sentenced to six years and three months in prison in a decision that can be appealed to the Supreme Court.

His institute organized conferences and sports-related events and was run with a partner, Diego Torres, who was sentenced to eight years and a half in jail in Friday's ruling by a provincial court in Palma de Mallorca, in the Balearic Islands.

Among the companies they used was Aizoon, a real estate consulting company jointly owned by Cristina and Urdangarin.

A lawyer with Cristina's defense team, Miquel Roca, said that the princess was 'satisfied for the acknowledgement of her innocence' but that she was still convinced that her husband wasn't guilty.

'If we believed in the judicial system when the princess was made to sit in the dock, I think citizens can trust in it when she's absolved,' Roca told reporters in Barcelona.

A spokesman for the Royal House told Spanish media that the royal family respected the court's decision.

There were no immediate comment from Felipe and Queen Letizia, who received news of the ruling during a visit to a museum in Madrid with the Hungarian president.

Spain's Princess Cristina arrives at the courthouse in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, in 2014

Inaki Urdangarin, the Duke of Palma and the husband of Spain's Princess Cristina arrives at the courthouse during a corruption trial in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, in 2012
Controversial One Nation leader Pauline Hanson was forced to 'move on' during a press conference on Friday because she didn't 'have permission' to be holding it on private property.

The press conference, which occurred outside a shopping centre in Nambour, Queensland, was interrupted just 11 minutes in when the political group and interviewing media were asked to go.

A manager of the building stood before the cameras, and alongside Hanson and Liberal party defector Steve Dickson, as she announced the group had to move to the public foot path  about a metre behind the reporters' scrum.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson looked distressed as a woman interrupted her press conference with Steve Dickson on Queensland's Sunshine Coast

Hanson and Mr Dickson did not have permission to be holding the conference at the shopping centre which is private property, the woman claimed

'You actually don't have permission to be here, this is private property,' she said.

'We have tenants who won't appreciate that this is happening here.

'We're going to ask you to move on.'

Hanson looked less-than-impressed with the unplanned interruption, her political offside immediately took a step backwards and offered the manager the spotlight after she faced him and said 'you were told you didn't have permission to come'.

The woman asked the media and the politicians to leave just 11-minutes into the conference

'I have just got here, please jump in front, the journalists have lined up,' Mr Dickson said.

'We are appeasing the media.'

The woman was not impressed with that answer as she claimed the group had been told prior to the conference they wouldn't be allowed to do it on the premises.

Hanson looked less-than-impressed as the woman forced the media to move to the footpath

Mr Dickson took another step toward the door of the building before telling the media they had been 'asked to move'.

One member of the media at the conference said they didn't have a problem moving to the street as the building manager left the group.

Hanson grinned proudly as her candidate spoke to the media after being asked to move on.
The family of murdered schoolgirl Paige Doherty are heartbroken after the shop owner who left her with fist-sized stab wounds had his sentence cut by four years today.

John Leathem, 33, admitted killing the 15-year-old when she stopped for a breakfast roll at his Delicious Deli in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, on March 19 last year.

Paige suffered 61 stab wounds and 85 slashes to her face, head and arms in the 'savage and frenzied' murder.

Last year he was given a life sentence after he admitted murdering the 15-year-old and told he must serve at least 27 years in jail.

But today judges agreed his sentence should be cut by four years because the killing was not pre-meditated and he had shown contrition.

Killer: John Leathem admitted killing 15-year-old Paige Doherty when she stopped for a breakfast roll at his Delicious Deli in Clydebank on March 19 last year and was jailed for 27 years

Bereft: Her family say they are heartbroken after his jail term was cut by 4 years today because the killing was not pre-meditated

Campaign: Pamela Munro, the mother of Paige Doherty leaves the High Court in Glasgow alongside her husband Andy Munro , after the shop owner was jailed for at least 27 years for the murder of the teenager last year

Her family say they are 'heartbroken' by the decision and expressed their disbelief that Leathem will now be walking the streets earlier.

Victim: Paige suffered 61 stab wounds and 85 slashes to her face, head and arms in the 'savage and frenzied' murder

On their Justice for Paige Facebook page they said: 'The verdict is out. The man who brutally murdered a 15 year old defenceless child has been given more time off his sentence. He will only have to serve 23 years.

'There is no words to describe how we feel. It's heartbreaking and serves no justice to Paige and her family. She had her whole life ahead of her and it's been ripped apart. In 23 years her killer will walk the streets.

'Thank you for your continued support. It will never be forgotten'.

He was given a mandatory life sentence at the High Court in Glasgow in October and ordered to spend at least 27 years behind bars, but launched an appeal against the minimum jail term later that month.

Senior judges at the Appeal Court in Edinburgh have now quashed the original punishment and imposed a 23-year sentence.

The judges reduced the sentences because he had since shown remorse and had not pre-planned her murder.

After killing Paige in March last year, Leathem stored her body in a shed at his nearby home before dumping her remains in bushes two days later on March 21.

He was jailed last year as her family screamed 'rot in hell' and 'monster' from the public gallery.

In January this year he launched an appeal against the length of his sentence.

In January her mother Pamela Munro said: 'Paige had a hole the size of a man's fist created by a further continuous uncountable amount of stab wounds.'

Ms Munro wrote: 'As Paige's mum, I take no pleasure in disclosing these details and do not wish anyone to be upset, it breaks my heart to say it out loud as I picture her wee face and how bad she looked.

'But I feel that for as much support and help as we need then people need to know the true facts.

'This "man" is now being protected to the highest level in HMP Dumfries, a prison where you can invite you family in to cook them a meal, where you can get a personal trainer, access to a skills centre possibly gaining a degree, a parenting system for dad's to rebuild relationships with their kids.

'Apparently this is his "human rights". Where was Paige's human rights when he overpowered her?'

CCTV footage shows schoolgirl Paige's final moments as she walked towards the deli last year - Leatham then killed her

Leathem, 33, was given a life sentence after he admitted to stabbing the teenager 61 times in a 'savage and frenzied' attack at his deli in Clydebank, pictured

After killing Paige in March last year, Leathem stored her body in a shed at his nearby home before dumping her remains in bushes two days later on March 21.

Passing sentence, judge Lady Rae told the court the killing was 'truly reprehensible and impossible to comprehend'.

But three judges in Edinburgh have now decided that the 27 year term was too long.

The opinion of the court, delivered by Lord Turnbull, reiterated that Leathem had committed a 'most appalling murder' but said other circumstances needed to be given 'proper weight'.

At a hearing in December, Leathem's lawyer Iain Duguid QC said the punishment part of his client's sentence was higher than other child murder cases and 'represents a significant increase in the tariff' for such offences.

He compared the sentence handed down in other cases such as the 23 years given to Alexander Pacteau for the murder of Irish student Karen Buckley.

Ruling on Leathem's appeal, the judges said: 'The appellant was a family man of previous good character who had not offended before and who had expressed remorse.

'The murder was not premeditated. The extent of his efforts to defeat the ends of justice can be measured against certain of the conduct which took place in some of the other cases referred to above.

'When these circumstances are all taken account of, we think it can be said that the length of the punishment part selected in this case was inconsistent with current sentencing practice and was excessive.'

The opinion ended: 'For the reasons which we have set out above, we shall quash the punishment part imposed in this case and substitute therefor a period of 23 years.'
France has warned the Kremlin against meddling in its elections after a leading candidate was forced to publicly deny he is gay and his aides accused Russian media of waging a smear campaign against him.

Foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault threatened 'retaliatory measures' in the event of interference in upcoming presidential elections in April.

His warning comes after American intelligence accused Moscow hackers of helping Donald Trump win the US presidency.

Ayrault spoke out as aides to one of the leading French candidates, Emmanuel Macron, this week accused Russia of trying to derail his bid.

It comes after an article by Russia's Sputnik news agency said staunchly pro-Europe Macron was backed by a 'wealthy gay lobby'. Macron, who is married, last week denied rumours of having had a gay affair.

Rumours spread in France claimed the 39-year-old was seeing Mathieu Gallet, the 40-year-old boss of Radio France.

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Foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault (pictured) threatened 'retaliatory measures' in the event of interference in the upcoming presidential elections in France in April

It comes amid a period of heightened tensions between Russian president Vladimir Putin and the West

Staunchly pro-Europe Emmanuel Macron (pictured) has accused Moscow of being behind a flurry of cyber attacks on his campaign website and email servers over the past month

MARRIED CANDIDATE DENIES 'SECRET LIFE' GAY CLAIMS AMID FEARS OF RUSSIAN MEDDLING Married presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron was this week forced to deny having an extra-marital gay affair with a high-profile media chief. The 39-year-old former economy minister had been rumoured to be seeing Mathieu Gallet, the 40-year-old boss of Radio France. This is despite Mr Macron being married for the last decade to Brigitte Trogneux, who is 20 years older than him. Addressing the rumours head on during a presidential campaign rally on Monday night, Mr Macron said: I hear people saying that I have a secret life or something. Its not nice for Brigitte. Because I share all my days and nights with her, she asks me how I manage it. On Sunday, Jean-Luc Melenchon, one of Mr Macrons rivals to become president in May, used a hologram of himself at a rally in Paris. Mr Macron said: If they say I have a double life with Mathieu Gallet, it must be my hologram, but it cant be me. The Russian state news agency Sputnik has made allegations that that Mr Macron is backed by a homosexual lobby. They quoted French MP Nicolas Dhuicq, of the conservative Republican Party, saying: Concerning his private life, it is becoming known.He is supported by a rich, gay lobby. The interview has prompted fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to interfere in the French election. Putin is a friend of Francois Fillon, the conservative Republican candidate who is currently at the centre of sleaze allegations involving setting up fake jobs to family members, including his Welsh-born wife, Penelope. Mr Macron, who served in Frances current Socialist government, has become increasingly popular as the Fillon scandal deepens. He is now predicted to make the second round run-off against Marine Le Pen, of the far-right National Front, and then win by a landslide. Advertisement

The article called 'Ex-French Economy Minister Macron Could Be "US Agent"' was the result of an interview with a politician who backs conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon.

Macron's aides accused the state-owned Russia Today (RT) channel and Sputnik news agency of waging a smear campaign against the 39-year-old former economy minister.

Macron also accused Moscow of being behind a cyber attacks on his campaign website and email servers over the past month.

'Half of the attacks, and there are hundreds a day, come from Ukraine, which is known for its links to hackers and people responsible for cyberattacks in Russia,' said his spokesman Benjamin Griveaux, accusing the Kremlin of trying to boost Fillon and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, both of whom urge closer ties to Russia.

Ayrault warned the French parliament: 'We will not accept any interference whatsoever in our electoral process, whether by Russia or any other state,' said Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.

'After what happened in the United States, it is our responsibility to take all steps necessary to ensure that the integrity of our democratic process is fully respected.'

He said France would set clear limits, 'including retaliatory measures when that is necessary, because no foreign state can influence the choice of the French, no foreign state can choose the future president of the Republic.'

Speaking at the National Assembly, Ayrault also took aim at Fillon and Le Pen, saying it would be better if 'certain candidates who see themselves favoured by, in particular, a country we know well - Russia - protest against this type of influence'.

It comes amid a period of heightened tensions between Russian president Vladimir Putin and the West.

This has been increased amid a furore over Russia's alleged interference in the US campaign that has already forced out one of Trump's top aides.

Trump's national security advisor Michael Flynn resigned on Monday after it was revealed that he misled top officials over his contacts with Russia during the campaign.

US intelligence agencies had already accused Russian intelligence of hacking Democratic Party emails that embarrassed Trump's rival Hillary Clinton.

Putin has moved troops closer to his borders while NATO has responded by bolstering defences in eastern Europe. Tanks are pictured arriving by train at the US base in Mihail Kogalniceanu, eastern Romania on Tuesday

Ayrault's remarks come as aides to one of the leading French candidates this week accused Russia of trying to derail his bid

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country will hold a general election in September, has also voiced fears that Moscow could try to influence the vote through cyberattacks or disinformation.

Putin has moved troops closer to his borders while NATO has responded by bolstering defences in eastern Europe.

Last last year, British warships were deployed to escort the Russian aircraft carrier General Kuznetsov as it made its way through the English Channel.

Meanwhile, Macron remains the front-runner in France's presidential race, with 39 percent of those surveyed by Ipsos giving him a favourable opinion.

In the poll released by the magazine Le Point on Wednesday, Macron was followed by Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon, with 38 percent, while Fillon tumbled 18 percentage points to 25 percent, just behind Le Pen, at 26 percent.

Trump's national security advisor Michael Flynn resigned on Monday after it was revealed that he misled top officials over his contacts with Russia during the campaign

France has warned Russia against meddling in its elections after American intelligence accused Moscow hackers of helping Donald Trump (pictured) win the US presidency

Fillon's campaign has stumbled as it tries to fend off claims he used public funds while a senator to hire his wife and children for fake jobs.

Moscow on Tuesday vehemently denied the Macron camp's allegations of meddling.

'We never had, and do not have, the intention of interfering in the domestic affairs of other countries, and especially not in their electoral process,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

RT and Sputnik echoed the denial.

Earlier on Wednesday, French President Francois Hollande asked his security cabinet to brief him on the 'specific vigilance and protection measures being taken during the electoral campaign, including in the cyber domain', the presidency said.

Hollande, who is not himself seeking re-election, did not say what kind of threat the two-stage April 23-May 7 presidential election faces, nor did he point the finger at any group or country.
An 18-year-old man who shot a friend and then posed for a selfie with the dying teen has been convicted of a less serious charge after a jury concluded he did not kill him intentionally.

Maxwell Morton was convicted Thursday of third-degree murder in the shooting of 16-year-old Ryan Mangan in February 2015.

The Westmoreland County jury deliberated six hours before rejecting prosecutors' arguments that Morton intentionally killed Mangan.

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Maxwell Morton was found guilty of killing his friend Ryan Mangan in court on Thursday (pictured arriving at court, center)

Morton testified Thursday that the teens were playing with a handgun and he thought it was not loaded when he pointed at Mangan and pulled the trigger.

He said he took the selfie to document what happened and said he planned to kill himself.

Morton testified that people think that he's a monster, but that he's actually a 'chill kind of guy'.

After shooting dead Mangan (right), Morton (left) posed with his friend's dead body in a Snapchat photo

Mangan's body was later found in his home (seen above). Morton took the stand during his trial and said that the shooting was an accident

At times, he broke down in tears while describing his friendship with Mangan and the details of his death.

Morton displayed little emotion as the verdict was announced, but defense attorney Pat Thomassey said his client was pleased.

'He's out from under a possible life sentence. The poor kid did a lot of stupid things that we had to overcome at trial,' Thomassey said.

Morton faces up to 40 years in prison when he is sentenced in May.

Mangan's parents declined to comment as they left the courtroom.

Earlier this week, jurors were shown the selfie during testimony from a Springville, Wisconsin, teenager who said Morton bragged about the killing as they played an online video game that evening, saying he 'got his first body'.

The teen said he thought it was a prank until Morton texted a link of a news item about the death and sent the selfie via Snapchat. The message was followed with a text that said, 'Told you,' he testified.

The teenager said he immediately took a screen shot of the selfie and told his mother, who called police in Pennsylvania and testified she told authorities, 'you probably won't believe this, but we have a Snapchat of the murder'.

A forensic pathologist testified Wednesday that Mangan didn't die immediately and 'would have survived with appropriate medical care'.
Ukip started the political revolution that swept parts of the Western world last year, Nigel Farage claimed today.

But 2016 was just the 'beginning of something very much bigger' he said as he predicted another populist wave of dissent will usher in change 'across the entire Western world' this year.

Elections in France, Germany and Holland are among major challenges for establishment parties in the West who are facing insurgent populists.

Turning to the domestic agenda Mr Farage said immigration is now a bigger concern for voters than during the EU referendum campaign last year.

Ukip started the political revolution that swept parts of the Western world last year, Nigel Farage, pictured at the party's spring conference in Bolton, claimed today

His comments come two days after official figures revealed that Britain's boom in employment was driven entirely by migrant workers.

A massive 431,000 foreign-born workers are now in Britain, while at the same time the number of British-born people in jobs plummeted by 120,000.

Mr Farage told Ukip delegates today: 'People aren't interested in arguments about the economy, in arguments about growth, in arguments politicians make about jobs, they are not interested.

PAUL NUTTALL BLASTS CRITICS FOR 'EVIL SMEAR CAMPAIGN' Ukip leader Paul Nuttall, pictured, has faced claims he lied about being at the Hillsborough disaster Ukip leader Paul Nuttall launched a furious attack on critics for waging an 'evil smear campaign' by claiming he lied about being at the Hillsborough disaster. Earlier this week he was forced into making a humiliating confession that he did not lost 'close personal friends' in the 1989 stadium tragedy - despite claiming he did in a blog post on his website. It came days after a report cast doubt over Mr Nuttall's claim that he was a Hillsborough survivor and the negative media attention could cost him at the polls when Stoke-on-Trent votes for its new MP at the key by-election next Thursday. But last night he hit back, accusing those making the claims of 'digging beneath the barrel'. He is neck-and-neck with Labour candidate Gareth Snell in the Stoke by-election, who has also landed himself in trouble after sexist tweets were unearthed from his past. Advertisement

'And do you know why? Because they simply don't believe what they are being told. After all, wasn't our economy going to fall off a cliff if we voted for Brexit?

'What people care about is national identity, what people care about is their community.

'And I'll argue that people in this country and across the West are now beginning to see immigration as a far bigger issue than they even saw it during the referendum campaign last year. 'None of this is going away,' he warned.

Mr Farage piled the pressure on his successor as Ukip leader Paul Nuttall in his speech by saying it is 'fundamental' that he wins next Thursday's Stoke by-election.

Mr Nuttall has been beset by false claims about the Hillsborough disaster, which threaten to derail his campaign to become Ukip's second MP by ousting Labour in the Staffordshire seat.

Mr Farage, who failed seven times to become an MP, said it 'matters and it matters hugely' that Ukip triumphs in Stoke.

Since quitting as Ukip leader Mr Farage has spent much of his time abroad - in the US and across Europe making the pitch for populist parties and became the first British politician to meet Donald Trump after his shock election in November.

Mr Farage aid Brexit and the election of his friend Mr Trump in the US would make 2016 'one of those years that children will read about in history books in 100 or 200 years' time'.

But the atmosphere of 'change in public attitudes' won't stop in 2016, he predicted.

'Political revolution in the United Kingdom, huge - a word he [Mr Trump] uses quite a lot - huge political revolution in America, and of course we saw, in December, the Italians getting rid of their prime minister in a referendum.

Boldly claiming credit for causing the change, he added: 'It was a year of political revolution, and the most remarkable thing about it is it was all started by Ukip.'

He dismissed critics who say the discontent 'is nothing more than a blip' and that Britain will wake up and 'come back from our collective senses across the Western world and return to that comfortable, midway 1990s consensus'.

Turning to the domestic agenda former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, pictured at the spring conference in Bolton, said immigration is now a bigger concern for voters than during the EU referendum campaign last year

He added: 'I have to tell you, I am now absolutely certain that the political revolution of 2016 was actually just the beginning of something very much bigger that is going to happen across the entire Western world.

'The change in public attitudes towards politics, towards the political class, towards large sections of our establishment liberal media - those changes in attitudes are absolutely fundamental. Far from receding, they are brewing with every month that goes by.'

Mr Farage was followed by his successor as Ukip leader Paul Nuttall, who addressed his first Ukip spring conference since as the party's chief.

He set out his vision to woo Labour voters in Brexit Britain, promising to scrap VAT on fish and chips.
Saddam Awadallah, 26 (pictured), was arrested in Tennessee and extradited back to Delaware on February 13 to face several burglary charges

An Uber driver has been arrested for burglarizing the homes of the riders he picked up in Sussex County, Delaware.

Saddam Awadallah, 26, was arrested in Tennessee and extradited back to Delaware on February 13 to face several burglary charges.

Bethany Beach Police say they had been investigating Awadallah since August.

Police say Awadallah would pick the victims up from their homes as as driver for Uber in his White 2004 Toyota Sienna, and then return to burglarlize their homes while they were away - taking credit cards, computers, watches, cellphones, tablets, sunglasses and other items.

They say the Frankford, Delaware man is behind multiple burglaries in the area.

The burglaries only ever occurred in the narrow time frame when they were out of the house during the evening.

Awadallah was an Uber driver. Police had been investigating him for six months (file photo)

Awadallah faces three counts of second-degree burglary, 11 counts of theft and criminal mischief, and charges of possession of burglar tools and theft of a victim older than 62.

He remains in jail on $31,000 bond.

Anyone with information on Awadallah and his alleged crimes is being asked to call Detective T. Powell at 302-752-3807.

Tipsters can also call the Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-333 or they can submit their tips to www.delaware.crimestoppers.web.com or a text to 274637 using the keyword DSP.
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Top secret documents revealing ceremonial details and route maps for Sir Winston Churchill's state funeral have been unearthed more than 50 years on.

They show the twelve years of meticulous planning that went into organising the event, which took place in London on January 30, 1965.

Dignitaries from 112 countries - including six monarchs, six presidents and 16 prime ministers - gathered in St Paul's Cathedral to celebrate Churchill's life.

Top secret documents revealing ceremonial details and route maps for Sir Winston Churchill's state funeral have been unearthed more than 50 years on

They show the 12 years of meticulous planning that went into organising the wartime hero's funeral, which took place in London on January 30, 1965

More than a million people lined the streets as Churchill's coffin took its final journey to his place of burial in Bladon, Oxfordshire

It was the largest state it British history, and a plan called Operation Hope Not involved more than 1,000 military and police personnel providing security

Included in the documents are maps of the route Churchill's coffin took, beginning at Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament and finishing at St Paul's Cathedral

The funeral procession then took to the water as the casket was carried aboard the launch Havengore for a short sail up the River Thames

In a memorable scene on The Thames, dockers dipped their cranes as Churchill sailed by on his way to Waterloo Station

The Royal Family (from left to right) Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles, Princess Anne, pictured on the steps of St Paul's

It was the largest state funeral in British history, and a plan called Operation Hope Not involved more than 1,000 military and police personnel providing security.

More than a million people lined the streets as his coffin took its final journey to Churchill's burial place of Bladon, Oxfordshire.

The documents were enclosed in an envelope titled 'Her Majesty's Service' and dated January 26, 1965 - just four days before the former Prime Minister was laid to rest.

They belonged to police officer Philip Bainbridge from the B2 team of Scotland Yard in 1965, which planned and researched the route of the funeral.

In later years, he passed them on to his daughter Janet Burnett as an anniversary present. Now, she has decided to put them up for auction and the documents are tipped to sell for 600.

Included in the documents are maps of the route Churchill's coffin took beginning at Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament and finishing at St Paul's Cathedral.

The funeral procession then took to the water as the casket was carried aboard the launch Havengore for a short sail up the River Thames.

In a memorable scene, dockers dipped their cranes as Churchill sailed by.

Finally, Churchill's casket was taken to Waterloo Station and placed on a specially prepared train filled with family and friends for his final journey.

This took the coffin to a quiet churchyard in the village of Bladon, near his birthplace of Blenheim Palace, where he was buried.

Members of the public file past the catafalque in Westminster Hall where Churchill's coffin was lying in state, surrounded by royal guards

An aerial view of the procession as Churchill's coffin left Westminster Hall, where it had been lying in state

A queue form along the Embankment of the River Thames in preparation for viewing Churchill lying in state in Westminster Hall

A man catches a sight of Churchill's coffin on a telescope as it passes through central London during the funeral

Churchil's funeral cortege passes by the Cenotaph on its way to St Paul's Cathedral after leaving the lying-in-state at Westminster

A colour image of the coffin, bourne on a gun carriage pulled by a detachment from the Royal Navy, escorted by officers of the RAF moves up Whitehall, London and passes the Cenotaph heading towards Trafalgar Square

Crowds throng the streets of London as a gun carriage passes by bearing the coffin of the great wartime Prime Minister

Soldiers carry Churchill's coffin, wrapped in a Union Flag, up the steps of St Paul's where the funeral service took place

A colour image, taken from a different angle, of soldiers carrying Churchill's coffin up the steps of St Paul's and into the nave

This was the moment Churchill's coffin was loaded onto the gun carriage. The troops accompanying the coffin stood at attention as a mark of their respect

A colour image of soldiers carrying Churchill's coffin towards the gun carriage. Guests and mourners followed the coffin down the steps of St Paul's

Police searched buildings along the route of the procession and took up guard positions in them, with some armed men adopting vantage points on the rooftops

Soldiers guard Churchill's coffin as it goes towards St Paul's,(left) and then comes back out of the cathedral (right)

Mrs Burnett, 76, of Westerham, Kent, said: 'My father was working on the operation quite a while before the funeral took place.

'His job was to figure out a way in for all the lorries to London on that day and where they could park so they weren't in the way of anything.

'He then walked the route with a measuring device so they could work out the paces and how much room was needed to get everyone around the procession without a problem.

'There's so much detail in the document. It showed where everyone was meant to stand at any time. If you wanted to know where the Grenadier Guards were meant to be at 11.05am it would tell you.

Churchill was laid to rest in a private service at the churchyard of St Martin's, where he was placed by the graves of his father, Lord Randolph, his brother, John, and his mother Jennie

'It was a sad day but my father was proud to be involved and would talk to me a lot about what he had done for Churchill's funeral.'

The event was a massive military operation - military personnel started moving into position at 10pm the night before the procession.

They searched buildings along the route of the procession and took up guard positions in them, with some armed men adopting vantage points on the rooftops.

The name of every person in every building in the line of sight was supplied to the police beforehand.

These names were checked with a national list of politically uncertain people who might bear a grudge against particular leaders.

The documents show on the day the itinerary was timed to the second, including the planes flying overhead.

At 9.45am, Big Ben chimed before falling silent then cannons in nearby Hyde Park thundered 90 shots, one for each year of Churchill's life.

Two minutes and 35 seconds were allowed for gun salutes and there were even instructions for how the music should be directed, with pipers beginning to play and fading out after exactly two minutes and 45 seconds.

The planning for Churchill's funeral tentatively began in 1953 when he suffered a stroke and by 1958, protocols had been drawn up for various Government departments in the event of Churchill's death.

In 1963, an official committee was formed to handle 'Operation Hope Not' with the Duke of Norfolk as its chairman.

However, some plans had to be rewritten over time because Churchill, according to Lord Mountbatten, 'kept living and the pallbearers kept dying'.

In the days before the funeral more than 320,000 people passed by his coffin at Westminster Hall, queuing for more than a mile.

The documents were enclosed in an envelope titled 'Her Majesty's Service' and dated January 26, 1965 - just four days before the funeral

The documents belonged to police officer Philip Bainbridge from the B2 team of Scotland Yard in 1965, which planned and researched the route of the funeral

The name of every person in every building in the line of sight of the procession was supplied to the police beforehand

These names were checked with a national list of politically uncertain people who might bear a grudge against particular leaders

A wreath and note from Queen Elizabeth II on Churchill's grave in Bladon, Oxfordshire. His body was taken to Bladon on the railway from London Waterloo

During the procession, Churchill's gun carriage rolled past the offices where he had served as the First Lord of the Admiralty during two world wars, Fleet Street newspaper offices where he worked as a journalist and 10 Downing Street.

After an hour, the procession finished its journey at St Paul's Cathedral.

As the locomotive made the 60-mile journey to Bladon, mourners stood silently on station platforms along with uniformed Second World War veterans with arms raised in salute.

He was laid to rest in a private service at the churchyard of St Martin's, where he was placed by the graves of his father, Lord Randolph, his brother, John, and his mother Jennie.

Catherine Southon, of Catherine Southon auctioneers who are selling the collection of documents, said: 'It is a massive document and you can see they have gone into real detail pinpointing to the very last minute what was supposed to happen on the historically significant day.

'The vendor's father was part of the team which planned and researched the route. It is an incredibly interesting collection of documents and we are hopeful it should do well.'

The auction takes place on February 22 in Selsdon, Surrey.
Thousands of pounds worth of cannabis plants have been discovered washed up on a popular British beach.

The haul was spotted by a dog walker who called police after several carrier bags full of the plants came ashore in the tide at Slapton Sands in Devon.

Twelve members of the Coastguard Search and Rescue Team and four police officers attended the scene around 10.30am on Wednesday morning.

The haul (pictured) was spotted by a dog walker who called police after several carrier bags full of the plants came ashore in the tide at Slapton Sands in Devon

It comes just a week after cocaine with a street value of 50million was discovered on a beach in Norfolk.

Estimates say the cannabis discovered on Wednesday was worth 'several thousand pounds.'

A Border Force craft was seen patrolling along the coastline as police and coastguard officers combed the beach looking for further plants.

Buds were still attached and officers suspect that they were dumped in a hurry.

Around five full carrier bags were located around the centre of the beach

Around five full carrier bags were located around the centre of the beach.

One officer said he suspected that plants had been home grown and had been dumped on the outgoing tide, only to resurface when the tide came back in.

The Border Force crew said they did not think the cannabis had been imported.

Exactly a week ago around 360k of cocaine with a potential value of 50 million washed up on two beaches in Norfolk.

The National Crime Agency said a number of holdalls were found at Hopton-on-Sea and a 'small number of packages' were discovered at Caister-on-Sea on Friday.

Both locations are near Great Yarmouth.

Matthew Rivers, from the NCAs border investigation team, said: 'We are now working with Border Force, the Coastguard Agency and Norfolk Police to try and establish how the bags ended up where they did; however, it is extremely unlikely that this was their intended destination.

It comes a week after cocaine with a street value of 50m was discovered on a Norfolk beach

'This is obviously a substantial seizure of class A drugs, and its loss will represent a major blow to the organised criminals involved.'

A member of the public had alerted Norfolk Police to the holdalls at Hopton-on-Sea, and the separate find at a location near Caister-on-Sea forms part of the NCA investigation.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau can add German Chancellor Angela Merkel to his legion of female fans.

This week the 45-year-old whipped social media users into a frenzy when photos of Ivanka Trump appearing to gaze longingly at him circulated.

He has previously had a similar effect on figures including the Duchess of Cambridge and actress Emma Watson.

By the look of pictures taken today, the German leader is also under his spell.

Trudeau, who is on a two day state visit to Germany, was greeted by Merkel outside the Chancellory in Berlin this morning.

The two were also pictured dining together last night at the Regent hotel in the German capital, where they held a private meeting.

Special moment: Trudeau and Merkel were pictured smiling at each other in Berlin this morning, where the Canadian Prime Minister is on a state visit

Last night the leaders dined at the Regent hotel in Berlin, where they held a private meeting

Snaps showing Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka looking captivated by Trudeau were popular on social media earlier this week

Yesterday Trudeau hailed a new trade pact with the European Union, telling the EU parliament that the deal they approved this week will create jobs and boost the middle class on both sides of the Atlantic.

In his address, the first by a Canadian leader to the European parliament, Trudeau said that 'trade that is free and fair means that we can make the lives of our citizens more affordable'.

It came just days after he met US President Donald Trump at the White House.

Greetings: Trudeau with Angela Merkel this morning, as the two met during the Canadian Prime Minister's state visit to Europe

Warm welcome: Angela Merkel greeted Trudeau as he arrived at the Chancellory in Berlin today

'My message Monday in Washington is the same as my message here in Strasbourg,' Trudeau told journalists.

'We have to work as governments and in between governments to create jobs for the middle class. and opportunities for those trying to join them.'

While the Canadian prime minister acknowledged there may be differences in perspectives on how to approach that and denounced the politics of fear at a time of great anxiety across the world, he made no criticism of Trump.

'What I saw from the American president, was a focus on getting things done,' he said.

Aside from his chiselled looks, Mr Trudeaus self-declared feminist beliefs also appear to explain why women find him irresistible.

Following his election to office in 2015 he created a cabinet with equal numbers of women and men.

And in May last year, he insisted on taking a day off from bilateral talks in Japan to celebrate the 11-year anniversary of his wedding to glamorous wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau.

Charmer: The Canadian Prime Minister enjoys a joke with the Duchess of Cambridge in September last year

Star-struck: Actress Emma Watson, who met Mr Trudeau in September last year, also featured

Even the Queen appeared delighted to meet the married father-of-three during a private audience at Buckingham Palace in November 2015

Viral sensation: Sparked by photos of Ivanka Trump staring wistfully at Justin Trudeau, top right, one social media user pointed out other celebrities had been charmed by the politician
Busted: Jaynie Renner pleaded guilty to fraud

A shopping channel presenter nicknamed 'Super MILF' for selling slimming underwear on TV cheated the taxpayer out of more than 60,000 in a six-year fraud.

Jaynie Renner, 53, was making more than 80,000 a year as a QVC presenter where she attracted a legion of followers by stripping to her bra.

But she failed to pay VAT and income tax for her lucrative clothing business selling high end scarves, sarongs and fur hats at craft fairs and shows.

Police clocked on and dramatically arrested her on board a plane at Heathrow Airport bound for Canada, where she planned to emigrate with her new husband.

Appearing at Leeds Crown Court under her real name of Sheila, she was handed a suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to five offences of fraudulent evasion of VAT and one of fraudulent evasion of income tax.

Howard Shaw, prosecuting, said the offending took place between 2009 and 2015.

Renner's annual turnover for her clothing business exceeded the threshold for VAT registration in 1999.

Hard at work: The so-called 'busty MILF' was making more than 80,000 a year as a QVC presenter

She failed to pay VAT and income tax for her lucrative clothing business selling high end scarves, sarongs and fur hats at craft fairs and shows

Mr Shaw explained there had been no problems until May 2009 when Renner failed to submit any tax returns to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Renner failed to submit tax returns up until 2015 when the offending came to light.

The total amount of unpaid VAT was 49,793. Further investigations revealed she had also failed to pay income tax. The total loss to the taxpayer was 61,690.

Sell, sell, sell: Jaynie Rayner on TV

Renner, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, has a previous conviction for false accounting in 1995, for which she served a six month prison sentence.

The court heard she had lost her job with the shopping channel as a result of the convictions.

Mark McKone, mitigating, said the offending took place at a time when Renner was 'drowning in debt'.

He said: 'She buried her head in the sand and is truly sorry for what she has done.'

Mr McKone said Renner had sold home in order to re-pay the money.

The court heard Renner had married a new partner who is a Canadian national and had been heading out to North America to live with him at the time she was arrested.

Mr McKone said Renner planned to move to Canada after completing her sentence and was hoping to get a job working for an animal charity.

Renner was given a 22-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and was ordered to do 300 hours unpaid work.

Judge Christopher Batty told her: 'You have lost your job, you have lost your business, you don't have a home.

'In those exceptional circumstances I am prepared to suspend the sentence.'
A massive saltwater crocodile has been snared in a popular tourist swimming spot, sparking a warning from national park rangers.

The 3.7 metre apex predator was caught in a baited trap 30 kilometres north-east of Katherine in Nitmiluk National Park - the sixth croc caught there since 2009.

Rising water levels this wet season have seen crocodiles venturing into wider habitats, putting homes and popular swimming spots in danger, reports ABC.

Images show four wildlife officers standing around the 3.7 m saltwater crocodile with its jaws and legs secured

The parks acting district ranger, Andrew McPhee, said the latest capture was 'big enough to cause problems,' he said.

Images show four wildlife officers standing around the man-eater with its jaws and legs secured.

Mr McPhee said heavy rains have made crocs more mobile, allowing the creature to make its way into the gorge system.

'You always know at this time of year when the river rises, especially when it starts to settle and slow down, it makes it an easy path for any size saltwater crocodile to move up from downstream into the gorge system,'

He said rangers would be waiting for water levels to level off before launching their intensive management project, and issued a warning to swimmers in the region.

'They're around, they can see you, you can't always see them, so it's just safety on the banks and river edges at all times.'
The woman who was raped by Roman Polanski when she was 13 years old has spoken out, saying she hopes the film director will become a free man once more.

Samantha Geimer said she believes details of her 1977 case are being kept under wraps because both the district attorney and the court want to 'cover up their own misconduct.'

She told TMZ: 'I'm all for the truth getting out. He's apologized. I forgive him. I know that he's sorry and he didn't mean to hurt me.

'And he's admitted what he did. He went to jail. I'm not going to carry a bunch of resentment. And much worse things have happened to people, so I feel like bad things happen.'

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Samantha Geimer, left, has expressed her support for Roman Polanski's action to unseal details of the 40-year-old plea arrangement in her rape case. Polanski, right, claims a judge reneged on a deal to serve only 48 days in jail for the rape of Geimer, then 13

Geimer said: I'm all for the truth getting out. He's apologized. I forgive him.' Polanski's lawyer is alleging that Judge Laurence Rittenband reneged on the plea deal

Polanski's lawyer, Harland Braun, has petitioned LA County Superior Court to unseal details of the 40-year-old plea arrangement, which Polanski claims will show he has served enough time in prison, TMZ reported.

Braun alleges that details include testimony from prosecutor Roger Gunson which would reveal an agreement with Judge Laurence Rittenband in 1977 which stated Polanski only had to serve 48 days in jail for the rape.

Under the terms of the deal, Polanski admitted to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.

Following his arrest in 1977, He spent 42 days in China State Prison before he was released.

Polanski, 83, has spent the past 40 years on the run following allegations he raped Geimer, who was 13 at the time, in 1977.

The director, who has Polish and French nationality, said Judge Rittenband reneged on the deal and insisted Polanski should spend 50 years behind bars.

Polanski claims the time in state jail along with almost a year he spent on remand in Switzerland while fighting extradition more than covers the original 48-day term stipulated in the deal.

It is understood Polanski wants to be able to visit his wife Sharon Tate's grave. Ms Tate was murdered by Charles Manson's gang.

Last month, Polanski had to turn down an invitation to head the jury at the French Cesar film awards - the country's equivalent of the Oscars - following an outcry by women's groups.

In a statement, Polanski's spokesman claimed: 'This controversy has been generated by totally unfounded information, forty years after the issue in question. It has deeply saddened Roman Polanski and his family.'

The Polish-born Polanski, now aged 83, pleaded guilty in 1977 to having sex with a 13-year-old girl during a photo shoot in Los Angeles. He served 42 days in jail after a plea bargain but later fled the United States fearing a lengthy jail time if the deal was overruled.

His case remains an international cause celebre, where some argue it is time to drop US demands for his extradition but others say he must be punished.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has long insisted Polanski remains a fugitive and subject to immediate arrest in the United States because he fled the country before sentencing.

It says his case cannot be resolved until Polanski, who has both French and Polish citizenship and lives mostly in Paris, returns to California to face justice.

France does not extradite its nationals. A Polish court last year ruled against his extradition to the United States and an earlier attempt to have him extradited from Switzerland when he went there also failed.

Braun alleges that details include testimony from prosecutor Roger Gunson which would reveal an agreement with Judge Rittenband which stated Polanski only had to serve 48 days in jail. Under the terms, Polanski admitted to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor

The director, who has Polish and French nationality, said Judge Rittenband reneged on the deal and insisted Polanski should spend 50 years behind bars. Pictured: Polanski with his then-wife Sharon Tate, who was murdered by Charles Manson's gang

It is understood Polanski wants to be able to visit his wife Sharon Tate's grave. Ms Tate was murdered by Charles Manson's gang.

Last month, Polanski had to turn down an invitation to head the jury at the French Cesar film awards - the country's equivalent of the Oscars - following an outcry by women's groups.

In a statement, Polanski's spokesman claimed: 'This controversy has been generated by totally unfounded information, forty years after the issue in question. It has deeply saddened Roman Polanski and his family.'

The Polish-born Polanski, now aged 83, pleaded guilty in 1977 to having sex with a 13-year-old girl during a photo shoot in Los Angeles. He served 42 days in jail after a plea bargain but later fled the United States fearing a lengthy jail time if the deal was overruled.

His case remains an international cause celebre, where some argue it is time to drop US demands for his extradition but others say he must be punished.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has long insisted Polanski remains a fugitive and subject to immediate arrest in the United States because he fled the country before sentencing.

It says his case cannot be resolved until Polanski, who has both French and Polish citizenship and lives mostly in Paris, returns to California to face justice.

France does not extradite its nationals. A Polish court last year ruled against his extradition to the United States and an earlier attempt to have him extradited from Switzerland when he went there also failed.
The boyfriend of Towie star Cara Kilbey told a jury he had 'champagne tastes' but 'lemonade money' as he denied living in luxury from an illicit drugs trade.

Daniel Harris, 33, allegedly made huge profits as boss of a gang delivering cocaine around central London with moped couriers disguised as trainee taxi drivers.

Giving evidence in his Old Bailey trial, Harris, who is originally from Liverpool, said he was 'broke' in the months before he met Ms Kilbey and lived 'frugally' in Spain.

Cara Kilbey posted a Valentine's Day message of support to her partner Daniel Harris at the start of his trial at the Old Bailey

Daniel Harris, 33, (left, with Ms Kilbey) allegedly made huge profits as boss of a gang delivering cocaine around central London with moped couriers disguised as trainee taxi drivers

Cross-examining, prosecutor Peter Clement said: 'Would you say you are a man with expensive tastes?'

Harris replied: 'Champagne tastes, lemonade money, yes.'

The former Royal Bank of Scotland banker told how he cashed in two cars he was given by his parents for just under 20,000 to pay for his lifestyle.

By January 2014, when he went to stay with his father in Spain, Harris told jurors he was 'completely and utterly broke'.

Cross-examining, prosecutor Peter Clement said: 'Would you say you are a man with expensive tastes?' Harris replied: 'Champagne tastes, lemonade money, yes'

The former Royal Bank of Scotland banker told how he cashed in two cars he was given by his parents for just under 20,000 to pay for his lifestyle. Pictured: Harris and Ms Kilbey

By January 2014, when he went to stay with his father in Spain, Harris told jurors he was 'completely and utterly broke' (Harris and Ms Kilbey together)

He said: 'I have lived pretty frugally. I borrowed money from my mum. I was paying the bills I had outstanding.'

Asked what he was doing for money, he said: 'I borrowed money off my mum and sister and my dad helped me out as well.

Pictured is Towie star Ms Kilbey (right) leaving Wandsworth Prison after visiting Harris

'I went to Crossfit gym and lazed about to be honest with you, a nomad. I had a girlfriend at the time and she paid for the flights.'

By July 2014, when Harris met Ms Kilbey in Spain, he said 'to put it bluntly' the other woman went out of the picture.

He moved back to Britain in September of that year and moved in with his celebrity girlfriend after she became pregnant, the court heard.

His expensive purchases included a pair of 300 Louis Vuitton sunglasses and a 1,900 bag as a birthday present for Ms Kilbey, he said.

He also spent 2,000 in Harrods, bought designer Brunello Cucinelli shoes for 370 and splashed out 1,200 on a Hermes leather jacket, the court heard.

Harris, of Theydon Bois, Essex, has denied that any of the money came from drugs.

He denies plotting to supply cocaine and heroin and possessing criminal property, cash totalling 116,000 which was found stashed in his young daughter's nursery following his arrest.
Convenience stores across NSW are urging for a change in regulations so they can sell alcohol like the major supermarkets.

Supermarkets like Aldi control 60 per cent of the alcohol industry which makes them around $16.2 billion-a-year, and Australasian Association of Convenience Stores Limited chief Jeff Rogut said the convenience sector wants to compete.

'These days you can order alcohol online and have it delivered to your home or use a drive-through bottle shop at all sorts of hours and buy alcohol.

'It's about time the government was open to looking at other opportunities for our businesses,' Mr Rogut told The Daily Telegraph.

Convenience stores across NSW like Jack and Co (pictured), are urging for a change in regulations so they can sell alcohol like the major supermarkets

It's currently illegal to sell alcohol alongside petrol in NSW, a law that the director of convenience store chain Jack and Co. says is hypocritical - due to the existence of drive-through bottle shops.

'We're at risk of becoming inconvenience stores by making people stop elsewhere for alcohol,' Wade Death told the Telegraph.

'We don't want to become alcohol stores, it wouldn't be our core business. It's about giving convenience to the consumer in a broad range of ways.'

Adding alcohol alongside the usual wares sold by Jack & Co or 7-Eleven could boost the sector by $600 million a year according to Mr Rogut.

Currently Aldi sell alcohol in a separate section within their stores.

Supermarket giants like Coles and Woolworths sell alcohol through affiliated stores like Liquorland and BWS respectively.

A Liquor and Gaming NSW spokesman told The Daily Telegraph that the sale of alcohol at convenience stores and petrol stations is restricted to reduce underage drinking and drink-driving.

It's currently illegal to sell alcohol alongside petrol in NSW, a law that the director of convenience store chain Jack and Co. says is hypocritical
While brands like Uber and Nordstroms have taken a stand against President Donald Trump after boycotts from consumers, one make up company is going a step further by asking its customers to take an 'anti-facism pledge'.

Illamasqua, a UK-based make-up brand available to American customers online, issued a strong statement on Thursday asking its customers to take a stand against discrimination and accept responsibility for issues like climate change.

The company's founder Julian Kynaston also told anyone who disagreed with the pledge to stay away from buying the brand's products.

Illamasqua, a UK-based make-up brand, issued a statement on Thursday paired with images of a black woman and a woman in a gold hijab

The founder Julian Kynaston asked customers to take an 'anti-facism pledge' which includes refusing to discriminate and accepting responsibility for issues like climate change

Many consumer brands have struggled to walk a thin line under Trump's presidency.

Nordstrom, for example, was applauded for dropping First Daughter Ivanka Trump's eponymous line after protesters called for a boycott.

But the move angered Trump supporters, many of whom deleted their accounts with Nordstrom and filmed themselves shopping at Dillard's instead.

Without any apparent pressure from its consumer base, Illamasqua has taken a proactive political stance in asking its fans to take an 'anti-fascism pledge'.

The company issued a statement that read: 'Illamasqua believe in the freedom of expression, equality and diversity.

'Thats why we are horrified by President Trumps actions to date. We refuse to remain silent while extreme right-wing populism gains momentum wherever it is happening.

As such, we will never knowingly sell our products to people who support President Trumps values.

It asked customers to pledge to its 'Human Fundamentalism values', which include refusing to discriminate based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or disability, accepting responsibility to challenge climate issues, and 'speaking for those who cannot speak up for themselves'.

Kynaston (pictured right, with a make up artist) asked people who did not agree with his views not to buy from the Illamasqua brand

Many consumer brands have struggled to walk a thin line under Trump's presidency

The statement went on to say: 'Were realistic. We know we cant stop anyone buying our products. But we also know that no matter how hard some people work to make themselves beautiful on the outside, make-up can never hide the ugliness inside.

'So please, if you dont agree with the above DONT BUY US.'

The statement was paired with an image of a woman in a gold hijab on Instagram, and a picture of a black woman accompanied the announcement on the Illamasqua website.

Proceeds from one of the company's lipsticks will be donated to the Sophie Lancaster Foundation, a charity challenging prejudice and intolerance.

Illamasqua was previously available at Sephora around the US, but now reaches American customers through online retailers. It does not have any brick and mortar stores in the country.

The statement attracted a divided response. One woman said she was 'proud' for Illamasqua's stance against Trump

One feminist fashion and beauty writer pointed to Illamasqua's controversial advertising campaign featuring a model in blackface who resembled a minstrel show performer

Pictured, the blackface ad campaign that landed Illamasqua in hot water in 2012
A sexual predator who raped two teenagers in separate attacks in the 1990s will spend the next 12 years behind bars after finally being linked to the crimes.

Robert William Barry was 29 when he raped his first victim, 17, in the car park of Perth's Westfield Carousel in September 1991, two years later he attacked a 15-year-old in a school toilet block in Albany.

The first victim said the attack 'disintegrated' everything she was and left her with a 'catastrophic lack of confidence' Perth Now reports.

Robert William Barry was 29 years old when he raped a 17-year-old girl, two years later he raped a 15-year old

The married father-of-three's attack on the 17-year-old happened at Perth's Westfield Carousel, pictured, in September 1991

The woman also described her fear of unfamiliar places in her victim impact statement.

The court heard Barry took the woman by the throat before repeatedly sexually assaulting her.

The second teenager was just 15 when she was attacked by the married father-of-three in 1993.

She was walking through Albany Primary School, south of Perth, when Barry took her in a headlock, dragged her to the toilet block and assaulted her.

In August 1991 Barry also ejaculated on a store counter in front of a 16-year-old.

His lawyer Jeremy Morris told the court his client admitted to being 'that man' before  but had since changed his ways.

But District Court Judge Julie Wager was not moved by Barry's change of life and jailed the 54-year-old explaining the community needs to know such actions wouldn't be tolerated.
Donald Trump may think Alec Baldwin's SNL impersonation is 'unfunny', but Hillary Clinton clearly has no such problem with her own double, Kate McKinnon

Enough, in fact, to have been spotted having a cozy dinner with McKinnon and a third party, likely SNL's head writer Sarah Schneider.

Before seeing Glenn Close in 'Sunset Boulevard' on Wednesday evening, the defeated presidential candidate had dinner with Kate McKinnon at Orso restaurant, where a source told Page Six that 'lots of laughter emanated from their table'.

The source also said that a rowdy restaurant-goer began the chant 'Lock him up!' as a riff on Trump's anti-Clinton cheer.

Scroll down for video

The Two Hillarys: Clinton was spotted on Wednesday evening having dinner with Kate McKinnon and a third party who is likely SNL's head writer Sarah Schneider at New York City's Orso restaurant

The last time that the two Hillarys were pictured together was in an SNL sketch (pictured) in the fall of 2015, before Clinton had cinched the Democratic nomination

It's not too likely that you'd see the other political dopplegangers, such as Trump and Baldwin, or perhaps Sean Spicer and Melissa McCarthy cozying up to dinner together.

The meeting could have also been related to NBC's live 90th anniversary special coming this weekend.

Though that is not entirely surprising, as Lorne Michaels and the rest of the SNL crew have been none too friendly to the new administration.

For the months leading up to the election, and the months following, SNL has mercilessly mocked President Donald Trump and his administration.

For the months leading up to the election, and the months following, SNL has mercilessly mocked President Donald Trump and his administration, with Alec Baldwin (left) making many appearances to play the new American President Donald Trump (right)

Unlike Clinton and McKinnon, you are unlikely to see Sean Spicer (right) and Melissa McCarthy (left) cozying up to dinner together

They have been particularly harsh in the past few weeks following his inauguration, with Melissa McCarthy making a surprise appearance on SNL as White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

President Trump has noticed, and is not amused.

While he is no longer tweeting about the 'not funny' show, sources in the White House have reported that he is obsessed with the portrayal of him and his administration on the comedy show.

He is particularly mad at the fact that the show has started portraying his (male) administration members, such as Spicer and now Jeff sessions, as women.

Now that the writers know just how frustrated it is making the President, they are unlikely to stop.

The last time that the two Hillarys were pictured together was in an SNL sketch in the fall of 2015, before Clinton had cinched the Democratic nomination.

The three women pictured together prompts the question of whether or not the former Secretary of State will be making another appearance on SNL. However, it is not confirmed that the third woman is Schneider, as she was in Paris earlier this week.

Clinton was greeted with a round of applause and a standing ovation when she was spotted in the audience of the Broadway show

Clinton and Glenn Close as 'Norma Desmond' pose with the cast and orchestra backstage at the hit musical 'Sunset Boulevard' on Broadway

Though she would likely rather be in Washington, the former first lady seems to be making the most of her failed presidential bid, spending time catching shows and mingling with the stars she counts as close friends.

Later that evening, the former first lady was a special guest in the audience at hit musical Sunset Boulevard at The Palace Theater on Broadway, where she was greeted with a round of applause and a standing ovation.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's Broadway musical Sunset Boulevard starring Glenn Close is extending its run an additional four weeks, producers have announced

She was pictured backstage at the performance with six-time Academy Award nominee Glenn Close, who plays Norma Desmond in the show, and has also impersonated Hillary in a performance at the 2016 Tony Awards.

Clinton was happy to pose for pictures with the cast backstage - who looked equally pleased to have their pictures taken with her.

Any attempts to slip in unnoticed did not go to plan, and she was greeted by cheering audience members who recognized her immediately - despite her new haircut.

As the lights went down as the performance was about to begin, an audience member shouted out 'We love you, Hillary', prompting the crowd to applauded through the beginning of the overture, Playbill reports.

Fun times: Hillary Clinton joined her longtime friend and celebrity backer Anna Wintour (together above) on Thursday for a special USPS Oscar de la Renta Forever Stamp unveiling

The former Democratic presidential nominee and Vogue Editor-In-Chief seemed to be having a great time at the event at Vanderbilt Hall in Grand Central Station in New York

On Thursday, Hillary met crowds of supporters again at an event for New York Fashion Week.

Clinton joined her longtime friend and celebrity backer Anna Wintour for a special USPS Oscar de la Renta Forever Stamp unveiling during the last day of Fashion Week.

Clinton was given the opportunity to speak, and used the ceremony to praise the contributions of immigrants like the Dominican-born fashion designer.

During her presidential campaign, Wintour was one of many celebrities who openly supported Clinton, the twohugged each other during the event on Thursday in New York City

Speaking at the US Postal Service ceremony dedicating a series of 11 stamps honoring de la Renta, Clinton said the designer was an immigrant who had come to America to pursue his dreams 'and aren't we proud and grateful that he was?'

'Let there be many, many more immigrants with the love of America that Oscar de la Renta exemplified every single day,' she added.

De la Renta, who died in 2014 at age 82, dressed every first lady from Jacqueline Kennedy to Michelle Obama. First daughter Ivanka Trump carried on the tradition by wearing his company's designs during last month's inauguration festivities.
A Red Arrows pilot and Falklands War hero hanged himself in a hotel after becoming depressed following his semi-retirement, an inquest heard.

Peter Collins, 62, was one of Britain's most experienced test pilots having joined the RAF in the mid-1970s and trained on their Sea Harrier FRS1 fighter.

During the Falklands War he flew Sea Harriers with the decorated 809NAS (Naval Air Squadron) on patrol from aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious.

Peter Collins, 62, (pictured) was one of Britain's most experienced test pilots having joined the RAF in the mid-1970s and trained on their Sea Harrier FRS1 fighter

From 1986 to 1988 he was promoted to Squadron Leader as he took the highly coveted Red Arrows seat of 'Red Two', flying the famous red Hawk T1 in displays around the world.

An inquest heard Mr Collins, of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, later became a test pilot but in 2015 decided to semi-retire and started to suffer from depression.

The hearing was told last August 24, 2016, at the Holiday Inn in Chester, Cheshire, he tragically hanged himself after a 'depressive episode'.

Heartbroken widow Gudrun Collins told Warrington Coroner's Court how her devoted husband had become increasingly 'anxious' after semi-retiring and regretted his decision to ground himself.

An inquest heard Mr Collins, of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, later became a test pilot but in 2015 decided to semi-retire and started to suffer from depression

She said: 'He was anxious, thinking he had made the wrong decision. He was not coping with the changes.

'He made a major life decision and regretted what he did and was worried about the future.'

Mrs Collins said they had discussed what would happen if Mr Collins was unable to find work to support his family.

But she said they would have been able to 'tighten their belts' as she worked as a health care professional and he was worrying too much.

During the Falklands War he flew Sea Harriers with the decorated 809NAS (Naval Air Squadron) on patrol from aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious

Mrs Collins said there was no indication of what was to come when he left their home on August 21, 2016, to travel to Cheshire for work.

She added: 'He was going back to work to do a job he loved. His death was a total surprise for us.'

She told the inquest she last received a text from her husband on August 23 at 6.15pm.

A GP report read to the inquest from Dr Gemma Atkins said Mr Collins had seen a doctor complaining of sudden weight loss and anxiety.

He went through a battery of tests before putting him on some anti-anxiety medication.

Just three weeks before he died, his daughter had found him unresponsive at home with an apparent suicide note and called an ambulance.

He came around in the ambulance and told the paramedics he had drunk two bottles of whisky.

The GP report also said Mr Collins had been to the Priory clinic in 2002 after being diagnosed with severe depression and was discharged later that year.

A post-mortem examination found Mr Collins had the equivalent of a couple of glasses of wine in his system and had died from hanging. He had left a suicide note

A colleague of Mr Collins, Richard Haughton, who works at Raytheon Systems Ltd, based in Hawarden Airport, in Cheshire, told the inquest Mr Collins was still working for his company after his semi-retirement the year before.

He said he had shown up to work on August 22 and 23 but did not arrive for a 9am meeting on August 24.

Mr Haughton said Mr Collins seemed 'normal' except he had lost some weight.

He said: 'He was full of life, a real character. He was good friends with a number of people around the office and as far as I'm aware he didn't say anything to anyone.'

He said Mr Collins seemed slightly quieter than usual when he was helping to test aircraft on August 22 and 23 but he was unaware of any particular concerns or worries.

A post-mortem examination found Mr Collins had the equivalent of a couple of glasses of wine in his system and had died from hanging. He had left a suicide note.

Recording a conclusion of suicide, senior coroner for Cheshire Nicholas Rheinberg said Mr Collins died after a 'depressive episode'.

Mr Rheinberg said: 'Mr Collins was a successful man and had a long career.

'He made a decision to retire and become self-employed but it is clear from the evidence that he regretted that decision.

'I am satisfied that beyond reasonable doubt that there were no suspicious circumstances and that he took his own life.'

Mr Collins was one of Britain's most well-known and experienced test pilots, flying a total of 119 different fixed-wing planes with over 10,000 flight hours.

He wrote for Flight International magazine for 12 years as a contributor, test flying an array of aircraft for the magazine as their version of Top Gear's 'Stig'.

After his time with the Red Arrows, he went to the Empire Test Pilots' School at Boscombe Down, graduating as an experimental test pilot in 1989.

After leaving the air force in 1993, Collins tried the airliner route, for a while working with both Air UK and KLM UK.

He then joined Raytheon Systems UK in 2004 as head of flight operations and chief test pilot.

During the following years he worked on the development and in-service enhancement of the RAF's Bombardier Sentinel surveillance aircraft.

Leaving Raytheon in 2015 to semi-retire, he turned his attention to his own private firm '4front Aviation', offering services such as flight-test expertise and technical support.

He had his own Twitter page @TestPilotPete which he used to show him flying aircraft all over the globe.

On 31st August his family updated the Twitter page with a black and white picture of Mr Collins in the RAF - and revealed he had tragically taken his life.

The update read: 'It is with heavy hearts and deep sadness that the family of @testpilotpete must announce his passing last week.'

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.
A 16-year-old girl who fell into a frozen lake when she was thrown off a snowmobile was dramatically rescued by three Good Samaritans.

The incredible footage shows the trio shuffling on the ice and using a rope get to the teen who fell into open water in the frozen Little Ossipee Lake in Waterboro, Maine.

The men had been ice fishing at the time of the incident and watched it all unfold before springing into action.

The driver of the snowmobile attempted to save her by diving into the frigid waters twice, but he could not reach her, WGME reported.

Fishermen to the rescue: The man, identified as Bill Rodgers is shown tossing mountain climber rope with a flat object attached to the end of it

The driver of the snowmobile is seen on the ice near the girl catches the rope before throwing it in

The dramatic rescue was captured on a helmet camera of one of the men who had been riding an ATV. The fishermen are seen using mountain climber rope as a lifeline and throwing it to the girl to pull her out.

'Hold on tight! Hold on tight, do not let go!', the fisherman is heard shouting as he pulls on the rope.

The man, identified as Bill Rodgers, is heard instructing the girl to hang tight and to kick both her feet until they are able to get her back on the ice.

Police said the men took a risk by rescuing the teen, but commended them for their heroism.

Rodgers told the news station it felt 'funny' to be called a hero, and said anyone around would have done the same thing to help the girl.

The unidentified teen was taken to an ice shack with some heat to recover.

Heroes: Three men sprang into action after a 16-year-old girl fell into open waters of the frozen Lake Ossipee

Hanging on tight: The fishermen are seen pulling the teen out of the frigid waters using mountain climber rope as she makes it back on the ice

Dramatic rescue: The teen makes it back on ice safely after the ordeal. The fishermen took the girl back to a shack to get some heat
A police constable has been stood down over accusations he defecated in an Uber vehicle during drunken Australia Day celebrations.

The 26-year-old elite Rapid Action Patrol officer was off-duty during the alleged incident, which parked an official complaint, the Gold Coast Bulletin reports.

The police Ethical Standards Command launched an internal investigation into the incident - the latest in a spate of Gold Coast officers being accused of misconduct.

A Gold Coast police constable has been stood down over accusations he defecated in an Uber

Queensland police said in a statement that a constable was under investigation over allegations of wilful damage and public nuisance while off-duty.

This month, a Broadbeach sergeant was stood down over allegations of an on-duty assault of a member of the public.

A senior-constable, 48, was stood down in December after allegedly returning an on-duty positive drug test.

All of these officers have been suspended or stood down from frontline duties pending the completion of investigations into their respective misconduct.
A convicted killer at the centre of a 30-year murder mystery is being considered for parole despite not admitting what he did with his wife's body.

Russell Causley claimed Carole Packman left him and ran away when she disappeared from their family home in Bournemouth in 1985.

But after being investigated by police for a separate insurance scam 11 years later, Causley was convicted of her murder despite Ms Packman's body never being found.

Carole Packman (right) disappeared from her family home in Bournemouth in 1985 and her husband Russell Causley (left) claimed she left him and ran away

The events were the subject of 'a 'Making A Murderer-style' documentary on ITV called The Investigator last summer.

After three decades of anguish, Causley finally 'confessed' to the murder last year when he suggested he set fire to Ms Packman's body before claiming he actually buried her.

Causley, now 72, then retracted his confession altogether and said he was innocent. So after 32 years Ms Packman's family still don't know what happened to her.

Her daughter, Samantha Gillingham, and grandson, Neil Gillingham, have made repeated pleas for their Causley to make a full confession.

But their ongoing agony has been compounded by recent news that a parole hearing will take place in the coming weeks - even though the probation officer will recommend he stays behind bars.

They have long campaigned for Causley, who was sentenced to life, to remain in prison until he tells them where he disposed of the body of Carole Packman.

Mr Gillingham said: 'He is playing games and to me it is totally baffling that he is going to get another parole hearing.

Causley (pictured with his daughter) was convicted of Ms Packman's 1985 murder after being investigated by police for a separate insurance scam in 1996

Family photo: Carole Packman, Russell Causley and Samantha Gillingham in the 1980s

'It will take months for the result to be announced while my mother and myself are supposed to be just getting on with our everyday lives.

'It is totally draining because it is difficult to think about anything else.

'He plays horrible games and his mindset has not changed since he first went to prison. He seems to have more rights than we do.'

Carole Packman, whose real name is Veronica, disappeared from her home shortly after visiting a solicitor supposedly seeking advice about a divorce.

A TIMELINE OF THE MYSTERY 1985 Veronica Packman goes missing from her home in Bournemouth 1996 Causley is jailed for two years after trying to fake his own death in insurance scam 1996 Police then re-open case of his wife's murder and Causley is convicted at Winchester Crown Court 2003 His conviction was quashed on appeal 2004 He was found guilty again at a retrial and given a life sentence 2015 Causley's daughter Samantha Gillingham begged for him to reveal the whereabouts of her mother's body 2017 She receives a letter saying he is subject to a parole review Advertisement

She apparently left a note for her daughter, then 16, saying she had left and wanted no further contact with the family.

Mrs Gillingham found her mother's clothes, jewellery and Rolex watch still in the bedroom and her favourite red evening dress had been deliberately ripped.

Former electronics engineer Causley had moved his mistress, Patricia Causley, into their family home under the pretence that she needed somewhere to stay.

He then changed his surname to the same as his lover by deed poll.

But 11 years later Causley was jailed for two years after he tried to fake his own death in a boating accident in a million-pound insurance scam for which he was given a two-year prison sentence.

The fraud case prompted police to look into the disappearance of his wife and he was subsequently charged with murder.

The landmark trial at Winchester Crown Court in 1996 saw him become one of the first people in the UK ever to be convicted of murder without a body being found.

Causley's conviction was quashed on appeal in 2003 but he was found guilty again at a retrial in 2004.

While in prison, Causley confessed to three inmates that he had killed his wife. He is also said to have told one that he gassed her before dissolving her body in acid.

He then made further admissions in August 2014, at which time Mrs Gillingham and her family were given hope that he would tell them everything, in exchange for being moved to a lower-category prison but he remained silent.

Murderer: Russell Causley pictured with his former wife Carol and daughter Samantha

She has now received a letter from the Probation Service saying: 'I am writing to inform you that the above named offender (Russell Causley) is subject to a further parole review.'

It goes on to say that Causley's probation officer will recommend he remain behind bars at HMP Littlehey in Cambridgeshire.

Speaking about when she begged for her depraved father to reveal the whereabouts of her mother's body, Mrs Gillingham said: 'It is my father who approached us to speak, we responded to listen to what he has to say, only for him to cancel four days before.

'I am asking for help; I need to ask once again if there is anything that someone knows, who has not previously come forward for whatever reason - please rethink on your silence.'
Princess Tessy of Luxembourg announced she is divorcing her husband Prince Louis on their wedding day in 2006

The marriage of Prince Louis and Princess Tessy of Luxembourg has ended in London.

The undefended 'quickie divorce' obtained by Princess Tessy on the grounds of 'unreasonable behaviour' took just a few minutes at the Central Family Court today.

The couple, who live in London, were not present when they were granted a decree nisi by District Judge Richard Robinson.

Their marriage was solemnised at the Grand Ducal Palace in Luxembourg in September 2006 and they have two sons, Prince Gabriel, 10, and Prince Noah, nine.

Among the court papers made public was a sworn statement signed by 31-year-old Princess Tessy in January which said that 30-year-old Prince Louis's behaviour, as set out in her petition, was continuing.

The paperwork stated that a judge found that Princess Tessy was 'entitled to a decree of divorce, the marriage having irretrievably broken down, the facts found proved being the respondent's unreasonable behaviour'.

The former couple are seen with their sons at the baptism of Princess Amalia of Luxembourg in the summer of 2014

Prince Louis, one of the duke and duchess' five children, reportedly met Tessy during a visit to the Army, which she joined aged 18. Pictured, the couple in September 2013

The couple have two sons together, Prince Gabriel (left), 10, and Prince Noah (right), nine. The family are seen here in July 2014

Details of the unreasonable behaviour were not given.

The couple's case was fourth in a list of six before the judge, appearing as 'Princess of Luxembourg H R H T v Prince of Luxembourg H R H L X'.

Court papers gave their full titles as Her Royal Highness, Princess Tessy of Luxembourg, Princess of Nassau and Princess of Bourbon-Parma and His Royal Highness, Prince Louis Xavier Marie Guillaume of Luxembourg, Prince of Nassau and Prince of Bourbon-Parma.

Prince Louis, who works in the field of social corporate responsibilities, is the third son of the Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg.

The couple were reported to have met for the first time while Prince Louis was visiting the Luxembourg Army where his future wife served as a corporal, taking part in the 2004 United Nations peace-keeping mission in Kosovo.

The princess cited 'unreasonable behaviour' as the reason for the divorce, which was granted by District Judge Richard Robinson at Central Family Court today

The couple's case was fourth in a list of six before the judge, appearing as 'Princess of Luxembourg H R H T v Prince of Luxembourg H R H L X'

Upon their marriage Prince Louis, aged 20 at the time, had to give up his succession rights as his bride, then aged 21, was not of royal blood.

Although he retained the title of Prince of Luxembourg, his wife and sons were originally given the surname Nassau and no titles.

This changed on Luxembourg National Day on 23 June 2009, when Tessy was given the title Princess of Luxembourg and their sons and future heirs the title, Prince of Nassau.

The divorce will not be made final until an application is made for the decree absolute, which can be done in six weeks.

Princess Tessy released a statement in January confirming their 'extremely sad' divorce but said they will 'always remain unified by parenthood to our two precious boys'.

She said: 'I am very sad to confirm that Louis and I are getting divorced after 12 years together.

Upon their marriage Prince Louis, aged 20 at the time, had to give up his succession rights as his bride, then aged 21, was not of royal blood

In January, Princess Tessy published a statement which said: 'I am very sad to confirm that Louis and I are getting divorced after 12 years together'

'Despite our separation, we will always remain unified by parenthood to our two precious boys.

'It is extremely sad for both of us to realise that we will walk separate life paths from now on.

'In these challenging times, I ask for privacy for both of us and especially the privacy of our children to be respected. No further comment will be given at this stage.'

The most recent high-profile royal separation was between Princess Martha Louise of Norway and her husband Ari Behn, who announced they were divorcing in August last year.

Prior to that, Princess Alexandra of Denmark and Prince Joachim officially ended their marriage in 2005.
The U.S. Secret Service is feeling the strain  and taxpayer costs are already mounting  over the burden of protecting President Donald Trump's family as they jet between various residences and far-flung locales.

President Trump's weekend getaways at Mar-a-Lago in West Palm Beach require Secret Service agents to travel, do advance work and provide protection  while other assets patrol waterways to ensure the safety of the president.

His three visits there alone during his young presidency likely cost the government $10 million.

Meanwhile, first lady Melania Trump remains in New York  also getting government protection. Costs of protecting the building could reach $183 million per year, the Washington Post reported in a story adding up the costs.

THIS COULD ADD UP: The Secret Service is feeling the strain as it protects President Trump and his family members as they travel the country and the world

The paper earlier reported that Eric Trump's trip to Uruguay to visit a Trump Organization condo property cost taxpayers $100,000 for security and embassy costs associated with the trip.

The assignments appear to be straining the agency charged with protecting Trump and his close family members. All the while, the agency must keep a close watch on the White House, after years worth of embarrassing and high-profile security missteps.

Trump's three trips to Mar-a-Lago could cost $10 million in security costs

First lady Melania Trump says goodbye to Sara Netanyahu, wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She came to Washington from New York for the event

The Defense Department is considering renting space in Trump Tower

President Donald Trump as he reaches out to shake hands with Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy during the reception for law enforcement officers and first responders in the Blue Room of the White House. Clancy has announced he is retiring

GOOD VIEW: Members of the U.S. Secret Service's counter assault team watch from a rooftop before the arrival of President Donald Trump aboard Air Force One in West Palm Beach, Fla., Friday, Feb. 10

'There was an anticipation of how stressful it was going to be on the agency, but the harsh reality is that the stress is just overwhelming, Jonathan Wackrow, a former member of President Obama's detail and a 14-year Secret Service employee told the paper.

He called protecting the sprawling Trump family a 'monumental' task.

Its a logistical nightmare, Wackrow said, warning that agents are at severe risk of burnout, and the very last thing you want is to have your agents burned out.

One presidential getaway Trump has yet to visit is Camp David. The tranquil retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains overs quaint cottages and the chance to get out of Washington. But it is not equipped to the luxury standards Trump has become accustomed to as a real estate mogul.

The retreat is already fortified, and can be reached via a short helicopter ride after taking off from the secured South Lawn of the White House.

The military is looking to rent space in Trump Tower to meet security requirements, CNN reported this month. The floors available to be rented would cost $1.5 million a year  with the funds presumably going to bolster the bottom line of the Trump Organization.

President Trump says he put the company in a trust under the direction of Eric Trump and Don Jr. and a company executive.

Judicial Watch estimated that the travel costs of protecting President Obama and his family reached $96 million over eight years.

Mar-a-Lago recently doubled its membership fee, to $200,000. Members got to mingle with Trump during his recent visits there.

The president stopped by the wedding of a former contributor, and dined with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe outdoors while surrounded by other guests.

Politico concluded that a single trip to Mar-a-Lago could cost $3 million, based on a government report of an Obama trip to West Palm Beach.
House prices in Sydney are rising by hundreds of dollars a day - more than the salary of Australia's highest-paid professionals.

Market values across the city skyrocketed $222 a day on average in the housing boom began in mid-2013, $2,000 more than the average wage.

But this was tiny compared to the most sought-after suburbs, where prices went up more than $600,000 in the past year, according to the Daily Telegraph.

House prices in Sydney are rising by and average of $222 a day but in 14 of the most sought-after suburbs it was more than $1,000 a day

The beachside suburb of Clovelly saw the biggest increase of $1,931 a day

These massive value increases were higher than the $577,674 average annual wage of neurosurgeons, the highest-earning professionals in the country.

The beachside suburb of Clovelly saw the biggest increase of $1,931 a day, followed by Manly at $1,808 and Northbridge on the north shore on about $1,600.

Another 11 suburbs jumped more than $1,000 a day including Darlinghurst, Hunters Hill, Kensington and Bondi Beach.

Manly was in second place at $1,808 a day, far in excess of the city's average

Northbridge on the north shore rose about $1,600 because of views like this

The news wasn't quite as bad for units which increased an average of $129 a day because of a bigger supply of new apartments and lower demand.

Core Logic analyst Cameron Kusher told the newspaper rising prices far outstripped the three to four per cent yearly wage increases of most workers.

'Prices went up by an average of about 15 per cent last year. Most people cant even save that fast,' he said.

Another 11 suburbs jumped more than $1,000 a day including Kensington (pictured)

To likely the surprise of no one, Bondi Beach was also on the list of suburbs rising by more than $1,000 a day

He said rich overseas investors, a decade-long housing shortage, and a large number of immigrants creating new demand for housing were driving up property prices.

However, owners could only realise the value on their homes if they rented them out or sold them, leaving owner-occupiers competing in the same overvalued market.

'To unlock that value they have to leave Sydney to somewhere cheaper or be a downsizer buying at a much lower price point,' Mr Kusher said.
A bizarre security video has revealed the naked truth about the lengths some crooks will go to for shoplifting.

A thief reported to have been caught stealing from a clothes shop in Zimbabwe has become a reluctant social media star after security staff filmed her undie-cover secret.

Beneath her wide skirted dress she can be seen wearing a pair of specially adapted Spanx-style knickers with a slit cut in the front to create a huge pouch.

A woman in Zimbabwe was caught using a specially made Spanx-style undergarment for stealing clothes. She was caught by a female security guard while onlookers filmed the scene

In the video, the suspected thief is ordered to stand still in the middle of the shop while a female shop assistant searches her.

Using her fingertips,the assistant fishes unpaid items out of her pants, dropping them to the ground one by one.

More than seven items of clothing were pulled from the woman's secret hiding place.

The security guard uncovered a red t-shirt and a stripey top.

As the shop staff frisk her, the unnamed woman - without any apparent hint of embarrassment - is seen calmly making a call from her mobile phone.

The bizarre scene has been seen by thousands of watchers on social media.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer forcefully denied on Friday that the Trump administration is considering a proposal to mobilize as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up illegal immigrants, including millions living nowhere near the Mexico border.

'This White House has no plans in any capacity to use the National Guard to round up people,' the White House's principal deputy press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, told reporters aboard Air Force One as it flew from Charleston, S.C. to West Palm Beach, Fla.

'This White House and this president has had no plans in any capacity to use the National Guard to round up' immigrants, she said.

Earlier, press secretary Sean Spicer issued a more pointed denial to journalists before the president's plane took off from Joint Base Andrews, near Washington, D.C.

'That is 100 per cent not true. It is false. It is irresponsible to be saying this,' Spicer said.

'There is no effort at all to round up, to utilize the National Guard to round up illegal immigrants.'

An 11-page document seen by The Associated Press and later obtained by DailyMail.com calls for the unprecedented militarization of immigration enforcement as far north as Portland, Oregon, and as far east as New Orleans, Louisiana.

A proposal making the rounds at President Donald Trump's Department of Homeland Security would identify 11 immigrant-heavy states and ask them to mobilize troops to remove illegal immigrants

National Guardsmen and women could be pressed into service to round up border-jumpers in their own communities if a draft memo were to become Trump administration policy. The Guard have previously been deployed on the border - including in 2010 - by Obama

National deployment: Guardsmen from New York were sent to the border in 2007 to back up the Border Patrol - but the use suggested in the latest report would unprecedented

Show of strength: In 2010 the National Guard was sent to the Californian border to increase patrols over concern about drugs and illegal immigrants streaming through

Immigration protesters are already drawing battle lines against the Trump White House as they fear deportations that would focus only on some parts of existing family units

Marked 'from' Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly  although Sanders insisted that 'Secretary Kelly did not draft that memo'  the draft directs the department to work with governors 'of the States adjacent to the land border with Mexico and those States adjoining such border States.'

That, it says, would allow governors to deputize guard and state militia units 'to perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension, and detention of aliens in the United States.'

Spicer insisted that 'It is not a White House document' but didn't deny it may have come from the DHS. He also conceded that 'I don't know what could potentially be out there' but added that 'I know that there is no effort to do what is potentially suggested.'

Trump's spokesman did not say the idea hasn't been considered. A White House aide confirmed to DailyMail.com Friday morning that the idea 'has been discussed,' but wouldn't say whether a plan has been formalized or recommended to the president.

DailyMail.com's White House source said the idea is to hasten the removal from the U.S. of 'criminal aliens' like those Trump railed against during one campaign stop after another last year.

An executive order the president has signed greatly expands that group and may include people whose only 'crime' was sneaking across the border.

Spicer tweeted before boarding Air Force One on Friday that the AP report 'is not true. DHS also confirms it is 100% false.' He was responding to an Associated Press tweet that said the draft memo 'shows Trump considering mobilizing the National Guard.'

Department of Homeland Security spokesman David Lapan told DailyMail.com and other outlets on Friday: 'It's incorrect. The Department is not considering mobilizing the National Guard for immigration enforcement.'

Separately, a DHS official said: 'The report referenced by the AP was a very early, pre-decisional draft that never made it to the secretary and was never seriously considered by the Department.'

This language from the draft memo directs DHS to work with governors to deputize National Guard troops so they can become de facto immigration enforcers

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied the report forcefully, calling it 'false' and the AP 'irresponsible'

President Trump's spokesman tweeted that the AP's story is 'not true' and said the Department of Homeland Security has denied it as well

Under the reported plan, governors in states nowhere near the Mexican border could call up National Guard troops

But the AP reported Friday that '[t]he draft document has circulated among DHS staff over the last two weeks. As recently as Friday, staffers in several different offices reported discussions were underway.'

And the liberal website Vox published a copy of what it said was the memo on Friday, lending the story credence.

Four states that border on Mexico are included in the draft proposal  California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas  but it also encompasses seven states contiguous to those four: Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

DEVIL IN THE DETAILS The memo appearing to be 'from' Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly includes this language that would authorize governors to mobilize National Guard units to apprehend and detain illegal immigrants: 'I am directing the Commissioner of CBP and the Director of ICE to immediately engage with the Governors of the States adjacent to the land border with Mexico and those States adjoining such border States for the purpose of entering into agreements under section 287(g) of the INA to authorize qualified members of the State National Guard, while such members are not in federal service, or qualified members of a state militia or state defense force under the command of the Governor, to perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension, and detention of aliens in the United States.' Advertisement

Governors in the 11 states would have a choice whether to have their guard troops participate, according to the memo, written by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general.

While National Guard personnel have been used to assist with immigration-related missions on the U.S.-Mexico border before, they have never been used as broadly or as far north.

The memo is addressed to the then-acting heads of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

It would serve as guidance to implement the wide-ranging executive order on immigration and border security that President Donald Trump signed Jan. 25. Such memos are routinely issued to supplement executive orders.

Also dated Jan. 25, the draft memo says participating troops would be authorized 'to perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension and detention of aliens in the United States.'

It describes how the troops would be activated under a revived state-federal partnership program, and states that personnel would be authorized to conduct searches and identify and arrest any illegal immigrants.

The AP's requests to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security for comment and a status report on the proposal were not answered before it published its report.

It's unclear who wrote the memo draft, but it was prepared for DHS Secretary John Kelly to issue under his own name

Trump tweeted last weekend that removing 'illegal criminals' is in line with campaign promises he made repeatedly last year

If implemented, the impact could be significant. Nearly one-half of the 11.1 million people residing in the U.S. without authorization live in the 11 states, according to Pew Research Center estimates based on 2014 Census data.

Use of National Guard troops would greatly increase the number of immigrants targeted in one of Trump's executive orders last month, which expanded the definition of who could be considered a criminal and therefore a potential target for deportation.

That order also allows immigration agents to prioritize removing anyone who has 'committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense.'

Under current rules, even if the proposal is implemented, there would not be immediate mass deportations. Those with existing deportation orders could be sent back to their countries of origin without additional court proceedings. But deportation orders generally would be needed for most other illegal immigrants.

The troops would not be nationalized, remaining under state control.

Spokespeople for the governors of Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Colorado, Oklahoma, Oregon and New Mexico said they were unaware of the proposal, and either declined to comment or said it was premature to discuss whether they would participate. The other three states did not immediately respond to the AP.

The news unfolded as Trump prepared to leave for Charleston, S.C. where he will make an afternoon appearance at a Boeing plant; he's seen walking grandchildren Arabella Kushner (L) and Joseph Kushner to board Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House

In this Feb. 24, 2015, file photo, members of the National Guard patrol along the Rio Grande at the Texas-Mexico border in Rio Grande City, Texas

The proposal would extend the federal-local partnership program that President Barack Obama's administration began scaling back in 2012 to address complaints that it promoted racial profiling.

The 287(g) program, which Trump included in his immigration executive order, gives local police, sheriff's deputies and state troopers the authority to assist in the detection of immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally as a regular part of their law enforcement duties on the streets and in jails.

The draft memo also mentions other items included in Trump's executive order, including the hiring of an additional 5,000 border agents, which needs financing from Congress, and his campaign promise to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

According to its wording, the militarization effort would be proactive, specifically empowering Guard troops to solely carry out immigration enforcement, not as an add-on the way local law enforcement is used in the program.

Allowing Guard troops to operate inside non-border states also would go far beyond past deployments.

In addition to responding to natural or man-made disasters or for military protection of the population or critical infrastructure, state Guard forces have been used to assist with immigration-related tasks on the U.S.-Mexico border, including the construction of fences.

In the mid-2000s, President George W. Bush twice deployed Guard troops on the border to focus on non-law enforcement duties to help augment the Border Patrol as it bolstered its ranks. And in 2010, then-Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer announced a border security plan that included Guard reconnaissance, aerial patrolling and military exercises.

In July 2014, then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry ordered 1,000 National Guard troops to the border when the surge of migrant children fleeing violence in Central America overwhelmed U.S. officials responsible for their care. The Guard troops' stated role on the border at the time was to provide extra sets of eyes but not make arrests.

Bush initiated the federal 287(g) program - named for a section of a 1996 immigration law - to allow specially trained local law enforcement officials to participate in immigration enforcement on the streets and check whether people held in local jails were in the country illegally. ICE trained and certified roughly 1,600 officers to carry out those checks from 2006 to 2015.

The memo describes the program as a 'highly successful force multiplier' that identified more than 402,000 'removable aliens.'

But federal watchdogs were critical of how DHS ran the program, saying it was poorly supervised and provided insufficient training to officers, including on civil rights law. Obama phased out all the arrest power agreements in 2013 to instead focus on deporting recent border crossers and immigrants in the country illegally who posed a safety or national security threat.

Trump's immigration strategy emerges as detentions at the nation's southern border are down significantly from levels seen in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Last year, the arrest tally was the fifth-lowest since 1972. Deportations of people living in the U.S. illegally also increased under the Obama administration, though Republicans criticized Obama for setting prosecution guidelines that spared some groups from the threat of deportation, including those brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Last week, ICE officers arrested more than 680 people around the country in what Kelly said were routine, targeted operations; advocates called the actions stepped-up enforcement under Trump.
Simon Fletcher has quit as Labour's campaigns director

Jeremy Corbyn suffered fresh woe today as one of his closest aides quit less than a week before crucial by-elections.

Simon Fletcher is thought to have resigned as Labour's campaigns director after becoming disillusioned by the party's direction.

The 48-year-old - who served as chief of staff to Ken Livingstone when he was London Mayor - has been a key member of Mr Corbyn's inner circle since his shock leadership victory in 2015.

A party spokesman said he was leaving to 'take on other projects and opportunities'.

Labour is bracing itself for disaster next week as they face the humiliating prospect of losing both the Copeland and Stoke by-elections.

In the Stoke-on-Trent constituency - which Labour has held since the 1950s - Ukip leader Paul Nuttall is neck-and-neck with Labour candidate Gareth Snell, who was embroiled in a sexism row this week after offensive Twitter posts were unearthed from his past.

But Mr Nuttall also faced humiliation after he was forced into making the humiliating confession on live radio yesterday that he had not lost 'close personal friends' at the disaster after appearing to be surprised at the words published under his own name on his official website.

In Copeland three in ten Labour voters from 2015 have deserted the party, which only held the seat two years ago by 2,500 seats.

Losing both seats could spell the end for Mr Corbyn, who was last week forced to make the fourth reshuffle of his 18-month leadership after four shadow cabinet ministers quit in protest at his support for Brexit.

Mr Corbyn's unpopularity means Labour campaigners in the Cumbria constituency have told him to stay away.

Mr Corbyn has already been barred from visiting the other by-election campaign in Stoke, according to insiders, who say the veteran left-wing socialist is 'not a plus on the doorstep'.

Aides have confirmed the Labour leader will not visit Copeland again ahead of the February 23 by-election.

Last week a YouGov survey revealed Mr Corbyn had negative approval ratings among all demographics - including among Labour's traditional working class base, northern voters, women and young people.

Mr Corbyn, pictured on a visit to Tameside last week, has dire personal poll ratings

This week a UK-wide poll put Labour in third place among working class voters for the first time.

A YouGov survey suggested the party has the support of just 20 per cent of working-class voters  behind the Tories, on 39 per cent, and Ukip on 23 per cent.

Another dire poll showed Labour was set for a complete wipe-out in May's local elections in Scotland.

Just 14 per cent of Scots say they will vote Labour - nearly half the number saying they will back the Tories.

Tony Blair today claimed that the 'debilitated' state of Labour under Mr Corbyn's stewardship was to blame for Brexit.
Commuters faced travel chaos after a woman was hit by a train at London's Victoria Station.

She was 'removed from the tracks' by police and treated at the scene before being taken to hospital.

A second woman was treated for shock after witnessing the incident.

The Circle and District Lines were plagued with severe delays leading into rush hour at 3pm today as emergency services descended on the scene.

A British Transport Police spokesman told MailOnline: 'Officers were called to Victoria London Underground station following reports of a person struck by a train.

'The call came into police shortly after 3pm today.

'Officers attended alongside paramedics. A woman was removed from the tracks and taken to a place of safety. The incident is not being treated as suspicious.'

The incident at Victoria Tube station plunged some of the Underground network (pictured above) into chaos

It is understood that the incident has now been resolved and services have returned to normal with trains stopping at the station.

A London Ambulance Service spokesman added: 'We were called at 3.05pm today to reports of an incident at Victoria Underground Station.

'We sent an ambulance crew, a paramedic on a motorcycle and an incident response officer to the scene.

'The first of our medics arrived at the scene in under five minutes.

'We treated a woman at the scene and took her to hospital.

'A second woman was treated at the scene but was not taken to hospital.'

A spokesman for Transport for London said: 'There was a person under a train at Victoria Station.

'Customers should check the TfL website for live up to date travel information.'

An earlier update from TfL said: 'Severe delays between Tower Hill and Richmond / Ealing Broadway due to a customer incident at Victoria.

'Also, westbound trains are not calling at Victoria. Tickets are being accepted on local buses.'
South Korea may announce the death of Kim Jong-un's half brother through loudspeakers at the North Korean border as the country maintains a high level of readiness to deal with national security threats since the suspected poisoning.

Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the country was taking the death of Kim Jong-Nam, the half bother of the North Korean leader, very seriously and is waiting for the results of an autopsy.

Kim Jong-un's estranged half-brother died in a Kuala Lumpur airport on Monday and was the victim of a suspected North Korean hit although the secretive state say they will 'categorically reject' autopsy results.

Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the country was taking the death of Kim Jong-Nam (right), the half bother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (left), very seriously and is waiting for the results of an autopsy

South Korea may announce the death of Kim Jong-un's half brother through loudspeakers at the North Korean border (pictured) when the cause of death is officially announced

South Korea started loudspeaker announcements on the border in August 2015, when soldiers were maimed by land mines in DMZ

According to Yonhap New Agency a JCS official said: 'If the cause of the half brother's death is officially announced by [the Malaysian government], we may consider delivering the news through loudspeakers to North Korean soldiers and citizens near the border.'

The South Korean military has also strengthened intelligence sharing and bolstered its surveillance and defense capabilities since the suspected murder, the JCS official added.

South Korea started loudspeaker announcements on the border in August 2015, when soldiers were maimed by land mines in DMZ. At the the time the North threatened to attack the speakers.

Malaysia has reportedly completed an autopsy on Kim Jong-nam but has not yet announced the results.

North Korean Ambassador to Malaysia, Kang Chol, said his country will 'categorically reject' the results of an autopsy and says the move disregarded 'elementary international laws and consular laws.'

Kang Chol told reporters gathered outside the morgue in Kuala Lumpur on Friday night that Malaysia conducted the autopsy 'unilaterally' and prevented North Korean representatives from attending.

Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of former leader Kim Jong-il, is widely believed to have been killed by female assassins.

One of the suspects was caught on CCTV wearing a top with the letters 'LOL' on the front as she made her way through the Malaysian airport.

Siti Aishah, an Indonesian woman who was arrested on Thursday in connection with the murder, was duped into thinking she was part of a prank on a TV comedy show, according to Indonesia's national police chief.

The 'LOL assasin' (left) who allegedly murdered Kim Jong-nan, right, by wiping poison on his face may have been 'duped into killing him' by 'friends who told her it was a harmless prank'

Tito Karnavian told reporters in Indonesia's Aceh province that Siti Aisyah, 25, was paid to be involved in Just For Laughs-style pranks, a reference to a popular hidden camera show.

He said she and another woman performed stunts which involved convincing men to close their eyes and then spraying them with water.

'Such an action was done three or four times and they were given a few dollars for it, and with the last target, Kim Jong Nam, allegedly there were dangerous materials in the sprayer,' Mr Karnavian said.

Former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il (bottom left) poses with his first-born son Kim Jong Nam (bottom right), in this 1981 family photo in Pyongyang, North Korea

The playboy half-brother of Kim Jong-Un (pictured, centre) was killed by two female assassins with poisoned needles at an airport in Malaysia, it has been claimed

Jong-nam was once seen as the future ruler of North Korea but his sibling took power after his father's death in December 2011.

It is believed his family deemed him 'too westernised' to run the hermit kingdom. He fell out of favour with his father following a botched attempt to enter Japan on a forged passport and visit Disneyland in 2001.

His assassination happened just after Pyongyang test-fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile.

The missile is viewed as being more powerful and harder to detect than the current liquid-fueled rockets that North Korea possesses.

Kim Jong-Nam was once considered heir but fell out of favour with his father Kim Jong-Il following a botched attempt in 2001 to enter Japan on a forged passport and visit Disneyland
Germany's Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen on Friday warned Washington, DC, against hurting European cohesion and seeking a rapprochement with Russia behind the backs of its allies.

Europe has been rattled by President Donald Trump's praise for Britain's decision to quit the EU, his criticism of NATO, and his softer approach toward Russia.

'Our American friends know well that your tone on Europe and NATO has a direct impact on the cohesion of our continent,' the German minister told the Munich Security Conference.

'A stable European Union is also in America's interest, as is a strong and unified NATO,' she said.

Germany's Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday that a 'stable European Union is also in America's interest' and so is a 'strong and unified NATO'

Europe has been rattled by President Donald Trump's praise for Britain's decision to quit the EU, his criticism of NATO, and his softer approach toward Russia

She also cautioned the United States against taking transatlantic ties for granted, pointing out that it should not put its allies and Russia on the same footing.

'There cannot be a policy of equidistance to allies and to those who openly question our values, our borders and international law,' she said.

While pursuing a reliable relationship with Russia as a whole, allied nations must not be 'going above partners' heads in bilateral negotiations', she added.

Since taking office Trump has said he fully backs NATO, but he spoke with disdain about the alliance while campaigning for election, calling it 'obsolete'.

He has repeatedly praised Putin and called for better cooperation with Russia, including in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria.

Germany signed a series of agreements with its NATO partners to jointly buy transport aircraft and submarines and develop new weapons.

Details of the agreements seen by The Associated Press Thursday show Germany aims to buy eight Airbus A330 transport planes along with the Netherlands and Luxembourg if Norway and Belgium also sign up.

NATO allies have long struggled to find enough transport planes to deploy troops and equipment.

Von der Leyen also cautioned the United States against taking transatlantic ties for granted, pointing out that it should not put its allies and Russia on the same footing. Pictured above is Russian President Vladimir Putin

Germany and Norway plan to buy six submarines together and replace their aging missile systems.

Berlin will also work together with France to set up a smaller air transport unit aimed at supporting special operations and for helping German nationals in trouble abroad.

Von der Leyen also took aim at Trump's move to ban migrants from majority-Muslim nations.

Although the initial decree to block people from seven mainly Muslim nations from entering the United States was scrapped as it fell foul of the law, Trump has said he is considering drafting a new order.

'We should be careful that this fight (against terror) does not become a front against Islam and Muslims,' said von der Leyen.

'Otherwise we run the risk of digging ourselves into a deeper grave in which violence and terror only grow further. Rather, it is right to seek partnership with like-minded Muslim and Arab nations,' she said.
Disgraced: Sanjay Roy was disbarred today

A family law barrister was today disbarred for treating his pregnant girlfriend like a slave and threatening to 'cut her throat' if she didn't have an abortion.

Sanjay Roy made Bibi Taylor-Wilcott refer to him as 'master' during an abusive and controlling relationship in which he beat her with a belt buckle and a picture frame.

The lawyer from Luton in Bedfordshire even had control of her email and bank accounts, having the final say over nearly every penny she spent.

Last year he pleaded guilty to causing fear of violence by harassment at the first day of his trial at Nottingham Crown Court and was sentenced to 18-months in prison, suspended for two years.

Today the 33-year-old, who practised family law from Northampton Chambers, cried when he was disbarred after a disciplinary hearing at the Bar Standards Board where he admitted two counts of professional misconduct.

Prosecutor Stuart Samson told the panel that Roy met the victim in Houston, Texas, in 2012 after she broke up with an abusive ex-boyfriend when living in the US.

They started a long distance relationship and were together from between August 2013 and September 2014.

They would both travel to the UK and America to meet and stay with one another, and over time he became more and more physically and verbally abusive towards her, sending her thousands of emails and texts.

Sampson said she admired him as 'something of a super hero.' He then read the sentencing remarks from the July trial from Mrs Justice Cox.

In them the judge said: 'You began a relationship with her yourself and to begin with, it seems to be a happy relationship and she regarded you, in her own words, as something of a superhero.'

Last year Roy pleaded guilty to causing fear of violence by harassment at the first day of his trial at Nottingham Crown Court (pictured)

In early 2013 she told him she had seen her previous boyfriend which upset Roy.

Mrs Justice Cox said: 'She thought that you had decided to put that behind you and that you could move on together, but your jealousy and the intensity of this relationship is demonstrated by your subsequent conduct.

'The evidence shows that what had started as an apparently loving and caring relationship turned into a relationship characterised by verbally abusive, controlling and manipulative behaviour on your part with episodes of physical violence on occasions when you were together.'

The panel heard in July 2014 when she became pregnant with his child he ordered her to have an abortion, and said 'If you even think of having a child, I'll cut your throat.'

He also threatened to kill her and kill himself in fit of rage during telephone conversation.

But the sentencing judge did accept Roy was 'genuinely remorseful' for what he did, that he accepted his 'behaviour towards the complainant was totally unacceptable' and he 'wanted to apologise'.

In mitigation Maria Savvides for the defence said: 'This is a very sad case.. Sad for the complainant, sad for the man before you today. This case has been horrific for all involved.'

Roy cried today when he was banned from practicing law

She told the hearing that Roy was subjected to 'horrible online abuse and press reporting' following his sentencing last year.

She said: 'This man comes from a honest hard working decent family of professionals.

'He has lost his profession, his home and is now living at home with his parents and finds himself on state benefits.'

The defence also said following the sentencing, Ms Taylor-Willcott had told the defendant the child may not be his, and she had refused to take a DNA test.

Ms Savvides told the panel he was 'deeply remorseful for what he had done'.

However panel chair John Rylance asked for an explanation of a letter sent by the defendant shortly after this sentencing to the BSB, saying he was only sentenced for swearing at the victim.

The panel said the letter partly 'diminishes his expression of remorse' to which the defence said: 'Maybe it did then but it doesn't represent his recourse now.'

She added: 'He barely recalls drafting this. He was subject of media scrutiny and online abuse and lost career.

'I would ask you to be merciful about this, as I hesitate to call it correspondence.'

The panel of five members took just 30 minutes to consider their findings.

Chair of the panel Judge John Rylance said: 'Those who diminish the bar and its members will inevitably face punishment, and a severe one at that.

'The concerning point about this was this was a vulnerable victim, vulnerable right from the start.

'And you then made her more vulnerable by the harm you inflicted on her.

'In our view there can only be one outcome in this case. Sanjay Roy for these matters for which you have admitted you will be disbarred.'

Roy looked stunned as the sentence was read out and quietly wept in his chair after he sat down.
PC Joanne Haslam has been fired from Cleveland Police after a drunken brawl

A police force has sacked a female officer who pulled a woman to the floor by her hair in drunken pub brawl.

Emma Tate flagged down police officers outside a pub in Redcar, North Yorkshire, while holding a clump of her own hair in her hand in December 2014.

She told them she was lunged at by PC Joanne Haslam, from Cleveland Police, while drinking in the pub and was pulled to the floor by her hair.

PC Haslam, who was off duty at the time, became verbally abusive after being asked to sit at the side of the police van while officers made enquiries.

A misconduct hearing at Cleveland Police Headquarters heard how she shouted: 'You're all f***ing B*******' and 'f***ing s**g' as she was arrested by an officer on suspicion of common assault.

DC Chris Keightley, from Professional Standards, told the hearing how the arresting officer stated she appeared 'extremely intoxicated, her speech was slurred and she was unsteady on her feet'.

PC Haslam was also arrested on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly and taken to Hartlepool custody office following the incident in the early hours of December 30, 2014.

She was suspended by Cleveland Police later that day and told there was to be a disciplinary investigation into her conduct.

This was due to a possible breach of the standards of professional behaviour in respect to discreditable conduct.

The hearing heard how Ms Tate had checked on PC Haslam's welfare in the ladies toilet prior to the attack as she was extremely drunk and was told by her to leave in an aggressive fashion.

Mr Keightley told the hearing how PC Haslam was interviewed twice by police following the incident.

During the first interview, she denied the offence of assault and said CCTV did not show her assaulting anyone.

She stated she had been assaulted herself and could not remember a thing about the incident.

During the second interview, PC Haslam said she saw Ms Tate rifling through the pockets of a jacket she believed did not belong to her and her actions were to prevent her from doing this.

She said she was assaulted by Ms Tate and acted in self-defence.

PC Haslam described her behaviour with police officers as 'frustration' as nobody was listening to her as a victim.

She was found guilty and convicted of both offences at Newcastle Magistrates Court on March 18, last year.

PC Haslam at her home following the verdict. She also became verbally abusive to her former colleagues after the incident

Despite not attending the court and being convicted in her absence, PC Haslam indicated she was going to appeal the conviction.

She later abandoned her appeal against conviction due to her ill health.

PC Haslam did not attend the hearing, which had been suspended following the outcome of a criminal investigation, today.

Iain Spittal, Chief Constable for Cleveland Police, found PC Haslam's behaviour amounted to gross misconduct.

He told the hearing: 'The witnesses paint a clear picture of PC Haslam being the woman who was drunk, aggressive and violent.

'It's my firmly held view that the public would expect an officer that has behaved in his manner and convicted of a criminal assault is removed from the service.

'The public would be rightly outraged if she remained in the service.

'PC Haslam will be dismissed with immediate effect.'

In a statement read to the hearing PC Haslam said she was going through a divorce at the time and her mental health was suffering.

She said she was going through stress and anxiety and her doctor had told her she was not fit to stand trial.
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President Donald Trump paraded his grandchildren Arabella and Joseph across the South Lawn before boarding Marine One on their way to South Carolina on Friday.

Trump left the White House with the two kids, dressed in their winter coats and boots, ahead of his visit to unveil Boeing's newest aircraft in North Charleston.

First Daughter Ivanka Trump shared photographs of her two older children, aged five and three, eagerly waiting for their grandfather.

Ivanka posted photographs of her two older children, Arabella and Joseph, to Instagram which showed them eagerly looking out the window of the White House, waiting for their grandfather. Joseph was seen pressing his face up against a glass window in anticipation.

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President Donald Trump spent some time with his grandchildren Arabella and Joseph today before boarding Marine One on his way to South Carolina

He strolled across the South Lawn with the two kids, ages five and three, decked out in their adorable winter coats and boots

Pictured left, a photo Ivanka posted to her Instagram. Right, Joseph Kushner was pictured pressing his face up against a glass window in anticipation

The president held onto Arabella and Joseph, who walked on each side of him, before the president quickly saluted a Marine and helped his grandson board the aircraft.

The toddler initially struggled to scale the stairs, but soon ran into Marine One with Arabella just behind him. Ivanka's youngest son Theodore was nowhere to be seen, and it remains unclear whether he was left behind in DC.

Ivanka, dressed in a white, double-breasted coat with towering black heels, walked hand in hand with husband Jared Kushner who wore a navy suit, before they too boarded the aircraft.

Left, Arabella, five, looking up at her grandfather, and right: Trump spending some time with his grandkids on the South Lawn

Pictured, Trump and his grandchildren boarding Marine One ahead of a short trip to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland

They made a brief stop at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, before the president and his family, along with Chief White House Strategist Steve Bannon and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus boarded Air Force One.

Trump tweeted earlier on Friday: 'Going to Charleston, South Carolina, in order to spend time with Boeing and talk jobs! Look forward to it.'

Boeing will unveil the new 787-10 Dreamliner, and Trump will appear alongside Governor Henry McMaster, who took over for Nikki Haley after she was tapped to become US Ambassador to the United Nations.

Reverend Eric Manning, of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, where Dylann Roof shot dead nine black parishioners in 2015, is also slated to speak at the event.

Ivanka, who wore a white, double-breasted coat with towering black heels, followed behind them with husband Jared Kushner who wore a navy suit

Ivanka looked lovingly at her husband, who has been tapped as a senior adviser to the president and hailed as a force to broker peace between the Israelis and Palestinians

Ivanka Trump carried a black saddle bag from her own eponymous line, which she stepped down from ahead of her father's inauguration. The brand has become the subject of fierce debate after consumers boycotted it

In December, Trump slammed the company and said the US Air Force should cancel its order for a pair of planes to serve as the new Air Force One and a backup aircraft.

'Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4billion. Cancel order!' Trump tweeted.

He met with Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg in January, who told reporters: 'We discussed Air Force One, we discussed fighter aircraft.

'We made some great progress on simplifying requirements on Air Force One, streamlining the process. All that is going to provide a better airplane at a lower cost. I'm pleased with the progress there.'

Pictured, Trump during a brief stop at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, before transferring to Air Force One

Ivanka and Jared walked alongside Chief White House Strategist Steve Bannon (second from right) and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus (right)

Trump tweeted earlier on Friday: 'Going to Charleston, South Carolina, in order to spend time with Boeing and talk jobs! Look forward to it.' The company is expected to unveil its new 787-10 Dreamliner

Acting National Security Adviser Keith Kellogg, who Trump said was 'very much in play' to replace Mike Flynn, waited for the president at the top top of the steps of air Force One

In December, Trump slammed Boeing and said the US Air Force should cancel its order for a pair of planes to serve as the new Air Force One and a backup aircraft before meeting with Boeing executive Dennis Muilenburg

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said earlier this week: 'This trip has been months in the making and we're thrilled to celebrate the roll out of this amazing plane.'

Trump was last in South Carolina on the campaign trail, and he won the state with a 14 point margin over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

He will head to Melbourne, Florida, on Friday, for a campaign rally.

Ivanka descended the steps of Air Force One holding hands with her husband while wearing a black top paired with a long striped skirt

Boeing employees and guests were seated inside the South Carolina plant with welcome signs. Another poster warned: 'Don't believe the liberal media!'

Trump arrived at the Boeing plant on Friday afternoon and posed with executives ahead of his remarks

Pictured, Trump touring the South Carolina facility with Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, third from left, on Friday
A California veteran had records and memories of his military service locked inside a black suitcase for nearly 50 years before they were stolen on Monday.

Mike Pomeroy left the army in 1968, and has suffered from PTSD ever since, still struggling to talk about his time in Vietnam.

However, the truth about his time in the army came out this week, though it was not on his terms.

Yuba City, California, issued an evacuation order Sunday after serious erosion was spotted on the emergency spillway at Lake Oroville and threatened to collapse.

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MIke Pomeroy, pictured, left the army in 1968, and has suffered from PTSD ever since, still struggling to talk about his time in Vietnam

Mike Pomeroy (pictured right) was drafted into the army in 1967 when he was 19 years old, and served as an army medic for 21 months

The couple left their home as instructed, but returned to find that it had been broken into, and Pomeroy's Purple Heart, and other medals, were gone.

'The people that stole them, I don't know why they took them, they're nothing to them,' Pomeroy told KCRA news.

'They were a really traumatic part of my life, and I know I didn't stand around to get them,' he added.

The robbery was discovered by their son, Kevin Pomeroy, who discovered the door wide open and a mess in their bedroom upstairs.

Though the thieves took the medals, they left the certificates that accompanied those medals and a written explanation from a commander of just how Pomeroy earned the Purple Heart (pictured)

The couple left their home as instructed, but returned to find that it had been broken into, and Pomeroy's Purple Heart, and other medals, were gone. Pictured left is the certificate that explains how he earned the Purple Heart, and left is a stock image of what the medal will have looked like

His wife, Gaylene, said she had no idea that her husband was awarded 24 military medals or what he did to deserve those.

She told KCRA: 'Well to tell you the truth, I only knew that my husband was a highly decorated war veteran because he had been so private. I didn't know, and still really don't know the extent of the commendations he received.

'I don't know why someone would want to take that away from somebody - take a part of their life away.'

Mike Pomeroy (left) and his wife Gaylene (right) shared their devastation at finding that all 23 medals, and a Purple Heart, were stolen from their home

Following the robbery, Pomeroy finally shared the hidden part of his life with his family.

Mike Pomeroy was drafted into the army in 1967 when he was 19 years old, and served as an army medic for 21 months.

He earned a Purple Heart nearly 50 years ago, when his air ambulance responded to a military aircraft down in enemy territory, and he hoisted himself onto the ground and saved two airmen from the burning wreckage.

While down there mortar exploded feet away from him, sending shrapnel into his arm. Pomeroy explained that they would have been passed down to his family, so that down the road they could sort out what he did or didn't do.

Though the thieves took the medals, they left the certificates that accompanied those medals and a written explanation from a commander of just how Pomeroy earned the Purple Heart.

'Whoever did it, if there's a way you can return that stuff to my father ... I'm sorry ... it's just not right to do that to a hero,' the couple's son Kevil Pomeroy told Fox 40.

During the evacuation period Yuba City saw a high number of burglaries and theft, with police reporting 10 burglaries in less than 48 hours.

A laptop, jewelry, and some cash were also taken from the family, but other high-end items were left.

They do not expect to get their things back, but hope whoever took the medals will realize their significance and worth to the person who earned them, and return them.
Perp dad: Stacey Groves, 26, of Michigan, was arrested Wednesday, accused of stealing two police vehicles with his 7-month-old son in his care

A Michigan father is facing a slew of criminal charges after police say he took his 7-month-old son along as he stole two squad cars and later led police on a foot chase after leaving the baby with a complete stranger.

Stacey Groves, 26, was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of auto theft, residential entry, resisting with a vehicle and child endangerment, all felonies.

The father-of-one from Benton Heights also faces a number of misdemeanor counts, among them resisting, criminal mischief and leaving the scene of a property damage.

According to a statement from Porter County Sheriff's Office, the incident began unfolding at around noon on Wednesday when Groves stole an unmarked Hobart Police Department cruiser, a black Dodge Charger, during a traffic stop on the Indiana Toll Road near the 39 mile marker.

An Indiana State Trooper who was at the scene went in pursuit of Groves driving the stolen cop car, with his 7-month-old son riding in the vehicle.

Hot car: Police say Groves stole an unmarked Hobart Police Department cruiser (similar to the one pictured) during a traffic stop and lead cops on a chase with his baby in the car

The trooper eventually lost Groves, who continued westbound on the Toll Road, swerving through and around traffic.

After driving the squad car through a cattle fence and crossing a field, Groves got onto County Road 1000 North and headed east.

A short time later, he abandoned the car on County Road 475 East and walked to a nearby home with his infant son in his arms.

According to police, the 26-year-old forced his way inside the residence and handed his baby to the homeowner, whom he asked for help.

Someone inside the house called 911, as did a neighbor who reported an unmarked squad car that was left in the middle of the road.

Porter County deputies responded to the scene, unsure whether Groves was armed.

As the two officers entered the house, Groves apparently jumped from a second-story window and jumped inside their marked Porter County squad car, which he drove into the nearby woods.

After leaving his baby with a stranger, Groves allegedly took off in a Porter County squad car and headed into the woods

Officers went in pursuit of the suspect on foot while a Lake County helicopter, Eagle 1, circled overhead searching for Groves from the air.

Eventually, Groves was spotted in a field and was observed to be surrendering. He was taken into custody without incident by a helicopter co-pilot and transported to the Porter County Jail, where he was being held on $5,000 cash bond.

Besides the charges stemming from the two car thefts, the 26-year-old was wanted on an active warrant in Berrien County, Michigan, and he has possible charges pending against him in Hobart, reported Chicago Tribune.

During the manhunt for Groves Wednesday afternoon, Jackson and Liberty elementary schools were placed on lockdown.

Groves' seven-month-old son was later released into the custody of his mother.
Gary Gardner is accused of keeping the money raised through a series of charity events (He is pictured outside Leicester Crown Court today)

A fundraiser accused of spending money raised during charity events for murdered soldier Lee Rigby's infant son has denied he spent the cash on recording a song with his band.

Gary Gardner, 54, of Medbourne, Leicestershire, is accused of keeping the money raised through events he organised in aid of Fusilier Rigby's six-year-old son, Jack.

A court heard pastry chef Garder put on three truck-pull events in 2013, 2014 and 2015 in Medbourne and Market Harborough and even recruited a number of celebrities to take part.

They were attended by thousands of people, including Fusilier Rigby's widow Rebecca, 33, and Jack.

Gardner today denied three charges under the Fraud Act when he appeared at Leicester Crown Court.

The first charge was that between May 2013 and February 2016 he abused his position as a trustee of money charitably donated in aid of Jack Rigby, by failing to account for the total monies donated.

A court heard pastry chef Garder put on three truck-pull events in 2013, 2014 and 2015 in Medbourne and Market Harborough and even recruited a number of celebrities to take part (He is pictured, front, at one of the events with Harry Potter star Rupert Grint)

The charity events were attended by thousands of people, including Fusilier Rigby's widow Rebecca (pictured right, with Jack, at Lee's funeral. Left: Lee Rigby and an infant Jack)

The second charge was that between May 2013 and February 2014 he abused his position as a trustee of money donated in aid of Jack Rigby, by using the money to pay for the production of a music single.

The third charge was that between May 2013 and an unknown date he abused his

position as a trustee of money charitably donated in aid of Jack Rigby, by failing to transfer any donated money to Jack Rigby.

Judge Michael Chambers QC gave Gardner unconditional bail and ordered him to return to court for trial on October 2.

Music, media and event specialist Gary Gardner, 54, organised charity truck-pull events in Leicestershire between 2013 and 2015 to raise money for Rigby's son Jack

Gardener (pictured) is accused of pretending to raise money for murdered Fusilier Lee Rigby's son but keeping the profits for himself

Gardner set up truck-pulls which attracted thousands of onlookers to raise cash to put into a trust for Jack and other charities.

Music, media and event specialist Gardner manages a band called Together in Harmony which he says is a 'group of up and coming artists from all over the UK' supporting many different charitable causes.

He claimed on his Linked In profile that it released a 'charity single' which was 'raising funds for the Fusilier Aid Society and a trust fund for Fusilier Lee Rigby's son'.

Gardener's Facebook page shows the media and event specialist posing with pop star Will.i.am

The events in took place in Leicestershire between 2013 and 2015 to raise money for Rigby's son Jack

But it is alleged the youngster never received a penny from any of the events.

Jack was aged two when his dad was killed by Michael Adebolajo, 29, and Michael Adebowale, 22, when he was attacked outside Woolwich Barracks on May 22, 2013.

Adebolajo was given a whole-life term and Adebowale was jailed for a minimum of 45 years for the murder of Fusilier Rigby, who was from Middleton, Manchester.

Rigby, a drummer and machine-gunner in the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was wearing a Help for Heroes hooded top when he was attacked.
Vauxhall's brand and 'committed workforce' are highly valued, Business Secretary Greg Clark was told during crisis talks in Paris today in a desperate bid to save 3,500 British jobs threatened by a proposed takeover.

He travelled to the French capital to meet French industry minister Christophe Sirugue and board members of PSA Group, which is in talks to acquire General Motors' loss-making European operation.

The deal would include Vauxhall, which has plants at Ellesmere Port and Luton employing around 3,500 staff.

It is feared the move will result in thousands of job losses and even the closure of the Vauxhall plants at Ellesmere Port (pictured)  which is known as the 'Home of the Astra'  and Luton

Mr Clark said talks had been 'constructive' with his French counterparts, who explained the rationale behind the potential alliance.

'They stressed that they valued highly the enduring strength of the Vauxhall brand, underpinned by its committed workforce,' he said.

'While discussions are still ongoing, they made clear to me that in any deal these were strengths they would wish to build on.

'We agreed to remain in close contact during the period ahead.'

It comes after GM said it would put Vauxhall in the 'strongest possible position for the future' after attending talks with the Government and unions at Westminster on Thursday.

GM president Dan Ammann met Mr Clark and Unite general secretary Len McCluskey as concerns mount over Vauxhall's 35,000-strong UK workforce.

Mr McCluskey said he had received 'no assurances at the moment' over Vauxhall's workforce, but believes 'concrete proposals are imminent'.

However, Mr Clark struck a more positive note, saying the GM talks had been 'constructive' and he was reassured that the plants would not be 'rationalised'.

Unite is also seeking a meeting with PSA Group at the earliest opportunity to discuss the proposed deal which would see Vauxhall and Opel shift to the French government-backed automotive giant.

Business Secretary Greg Clark, pictured, said talks had been 'constructive' with his French counterparts, who explained the rationale behind the potential alliance

The tie-up would cause GM to exit the UK and Europe, while transforming PSA Group into Europe's second-largest car maker with a 16% share of the market.

Following the GM talks, Mr Clark said he 'emphasised the importance and successful presence of Vauxhall in the UK and welcomed GM's recognition of the excellent and committed workforce' at Ellesmere Port and Luton.

'There is some way to go in discussions between GM and PSA, but I was reassured by GM's intention, communicated to me, to build on the success of these operations rather than rationalise them.'

Vauxhall is a major employer in the UK, with around 35,000 staff, including 23,000 in its retail network, 300 at a customer contact centre in Luton and 7,000 in its supply chain alongside workers at its two factories.

Mr McCluskey said the UK Government should demand that it has a seat at the table whenever PSA Group and GM meet for talks with the French and German governments in the future.

Earlier this week, the union leader said Vauxhall's UK plants must be offered the same Government assurances as Nissan, adding: 'It does seem as if Brexit is a factor in this decision as GM does rely heavily on its links throughout the EU supply chain.'

Nissan announced in October that it was investing in production of new Qashqai and X-Trail models at Sunderland after receiving Government assurances that EU withdrawal would not affect the plant's competitiveness.

Germany has already expressed concerns at the proposed takeover, with Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet discussing on Wednesday what impact the tie-up would have on the 19,000 German jobs at Opel.

PSA Group, which owns the Citroen and DS brands, formed an alliance with GM in 2012 in an attempt to make production more efficient by combining purchasing power and larger scale.

GM said last year that it had to raise UK car prices by 2.5% after the plunge in the value of the pound following the EU referendum result caused the British car industry to hit a 'speed bump'.

Announcing its full-year results last week, the Detroit-based firm behind Chevrolet and Cadillac said GM Europe had narrowed losses to 257 million US dollars (206 million) in the year to the end of December, from a loss of 813 million US dollars (651 million) the year before.

The row over the future of Vauxhall comes just weeks after Theresa May launched her industrial strategy for post-Brexit Britain.

Ministers are under pressure to protect British companies vulnerable to overseas predators amid warnings that a string of high profile foreign takeovers have resulted in the loss of jobs, expertise and ideas.

Former business secretary Sir Vince Cable warned that uncertainty over Britain's exit from the EU would make negotiations more difficult.

He told the Today programme: 'There is a new element of course which is uncertainty over Britain's participation in the single market and the customs union.

'Vauxhall are part of the integrated European operation, most of their exports go to the European single market, most of their components come from the European supply chain.

Former business secretary Sir Vince Cable, pictured, warned that uncertainty over Britain's exit from the EU would make negotiations more difficult

'If you are the new owners - Peugeot - you are going to be extremely worried about what will happen when Brexit occurs.'

Vauxhall employs 1,830 staff at its factory in Ellesmere Port where it makes the Astra and a further 1,530 at the plant in Luton where it produces the Vivaro van.

Vauxhall has a total of 35,000 staff in the UK including 20,000 in its dealerships around the country and 7,000 in the supply chain as well as its factory workers.

It is feared that PSA Group would rather shut Vauxhall plants in Britain than Opel factories in Europe, including in Germany and France, given the French government owns a 14 per cent stake in the company.

But British union chiefs have demanded that the government offer PSA Group incentives to keep Ellesmere Port and Luton open  just as it did with Nissan to convince the Japanese car maker to increase its investment in Sunderland.

Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, said the union was 'not prepared to accept a single job loss' in the UK as a result of the deal.

He described Vauxhall as 'a jewel within the crown' of GM's European business.

'I will be seeking reassurances on behalf of the 35,000 workers across the UK that rely on this company for a job,' said Mr McCluskey.

'We will not accept a single job loss from this process because these plants and their workforces are world-class and deserve a future.'

Mr Clark earlier held talks with GM president Dan Ammann.

He said he had been 'reassured by GM's intention to build on the success of these operations rather than rationalise them'  even though GM is planning to sell the plants.

Germany has also expressed concerns at the proposed takeover amid concerns about what impact the tie-up would have on the 19,000 German jobs at Opel.

French giant PSA Group has a record of cost-cutting and closed its last British factory  the Peugeot plant in Ryton in Warwickshire  in 2007 with the loss of more than 2,000 jobs.

The cuts have continued in recent years and the company's latest figures show it axed 15,559 jobs in its automotive division between 2013 and 2015.

GM has made major investments in its UK operations in recent years.

The American giant put 140million into Ellesmere Port in 2012 so the plant could produce the new Astra in a move that guaranteed 2,000 jobs.

Two years later it invested 185million in the Luton plant.

But the Vauxhall and Opel car businesses have failed to make a profit for GM since 1999  and it is now planning to offload them.

Describing his meeting with GM yesterday as 'constructive', Mr Clark said: 'I emphasised the importance and successful presence of Vauxhall in the UK and welcomed GM's recognition of the excellent and committed workforce at Ellesmere Port, Luton and across the UK.'
A Democratic lawmaker says he's so concerned about Donald Trump's 'erratic behavior' that he wants to revise the 25th Amendment in case the president demonstrates that he does not have the 'mental and emotional capacity' to do his job.

Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer, who represents the liberal city of Portland, Oregon, says he sees a 'glaring flaw' in the wording of the amendment that was ratified in 1967 in response to JFK's assassination.

'For a mentally unstable, paranoid or delusional president, the 25th Amendment has no guarantee of its application. In fact, its likely that it would fail,' Blumenauer said in a speech this week on the House floor.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

Democratic lawmaker Earl Blumenauer says he's so concerned about Donald Trump's 'erratic behavior' that he wants to revise the 25th Amendment in case the president demonstrates that he does not have the 'mental and emotional capacity' to do his job.

Blumenauer is one of several Democrats suggesting that Trump's unsupported statements about large-scale voter fraud and other issues are a reflection of his mental state.

Rep. Ted Lieu of California is working on legislation that would psychiatrist or psychologist to be on hand at the White House, The Hill reported.

Al Franken, a senator from Minnesota, revealed on a TV program that some Republicans in Congress have told him privately that Trump's 'not right mentally.'

The 25th amendment says in part that the vice president and 'a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide' can demand the president's removal from office if they decide he is 'unable to discharge the powers and duties.'

Blumenauer said in a Wednesday op-ed that appeared on OregonLive.com that the amendment isn't strong enough.

'It has inherent flaws that need to be addressed. The amendment's default decision-makers-- the vice president and the cabinet -- have a natural bias toward the existing officeholder that would make them reluctant to acknowledge the president's inability to serve,' he said.

'Additionally, in the case of a president who is suffering from mental illness and is emotionally unstable or irrational, there is no fail safe to prevent him or her from simply firing the entire cabinet to prevent the application of the amendment.'

Blumenauer called attention to the issue again later that day on the House floor.

'Like many people, Ive noticed renewed interest in the 25th Amendment, as weve seen erratic behavior out of the White House and inability of Donald Trump to even tell whether it rained on him during his inaugural speech and repeating false statements that are demonstrably wrong,' the Democrat said.

The Congressman has proposed a 'fail-safe' to ensure impartiality, should observers determine the president is 'emotionally unstable' - a panel comprised of living presidents and vice presidents.

'We need to have a mechanism that can be reliable, command public confidence and be above politics,' he said.

Several Democrats have suggested Trump's unsupported statements about large-scale voter fraud are a reflection of his mental state

In his op-ed Blumenauer said he was looking at legislation that would designate his proposed panel as the 'other body' capable of removing a sitting president.

Blumenauer insisted, when pressed by The Hill, that he was not saying that Trump is unwell.

'All Ive said is that this is strange behavior. Its not normal in the circles I run in. And it raises questions. People can make their own diagnosis. Im not.'

No other lawmakers have joined onto Blumenauer's effort in public, but Franken, on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, said Republican legislators are privately concerned about President Trump.

'Some will say that he's not right mentally,' Franken said last Friday to laughs. 'And then some are harsher.'

CNN's Jake Tapper asked the Democrat about the statement in a follow-up interview on Sunday.

'So I know that was comedy, but is it true that Republican colleagues of yours express concerns about President Trump's mental health?' he asked.

Franken answered in the affirmative.

'A few,' the senator said. 'Yes. It's not the majority of them. It's a few.'

Sen. Al Franken said Sunday on CNN that a 'few' of his Republican colleagues are worried that Trump's mentally unstable

Their worries stem from Trump's relationship with facts, he said.

'He lies a lot. He says things that aren't true. That's the same as lying, I guess,' Franken stated. 'You know, three million to five million people voted illegally. There was a new one about people going in from Massachusetts to New Hampshire.'

Franken said, 'That is not the norm for a president of the United States or actually for a human being.'

Approached by The Hill with Blumenauer and Franken's statements, two Republican representatives responded with laughter.

'Are you serious?' Congressman Duncan Hunter asked the publication. 'Yeah, I dont care what they say,' the California lawmaker added.

Mike Simpson of Idaho, said, 'I think thats a stretch.'

Simpson admitted, however, that Trump 'behavior is somewhat disturbing.'

'The concern I have  how do I say this and still be respectful? Every presidency, no matter who it is, theres going to come a point in the presidency where youre going to have to go to the American people and get their support for something,' he told the inside-the-Beltway publication.

'If this continues much longer, hes going to lose the ability to rally those people.'
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After hours on the red carpet and a three-and-a-half hour ceremony, dozens of A-listers will dine on more than 50 decadent dishes at the famed post-Oscars celebration, the Governor's Ball.

About 1,500 guests will attend the official after party where 32,000 plates will be served by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck.

The menu is set to be just as luxurious as the ceremony serving classics such as smoked salmon, baked macaroni and cheese and Puck's coveted black truffle chicken pot pie.

Master Chef Wolfgang Puck (left) gave a sneak peek of what's to come at this year's Governor's Ball after the 89th Academy Awards

Decadent night: A sushi bar as well as an assorted display of crayfish and fancy seafood will be served after the ceremony

Hollywood menu: The chef revealed he added several new menu items such as taro root tacos with shrimp and mango

Celebrity sweet tooth: After feasting on delicious savory dishes, celebrities will have an array of fancy desserts to indulge in such as Takoyaki cake balls which will be made to order

But during a press sneak-peek of the party, the celebrity chef unveiled new eclectic menu items that you're only likely to find in Hollywood.

Austrian chef Wolfgang Puck has been catering the award show party for 23 years

Celebrities will be treated to gold-dusted popcorn, spice gougeres with black truffle dust, lobster corn dogs, sweet pea falafel, taro root tacos with shrimp and mango, Moroccan spiced Wagyu. To add to the decadence, they'll also be serving baked potatoes with caviar, gnocchetti with braised mushrooms and cashew cream and Kobe sliders, Variety reported.

With more than 30,000 plates to be served, 350 pounds of Atlantic tuna, 7,500 shrimp, 15 pounds of truffles, and 150 pounds of arugula will be needed to feed the hungry actors.

Also, 3,500 miso tuile cones, 2,375 pretzels, and 4,250 pieces of handmade gnoccetti.

The Austrian chef, who has been catering the party for 23 years, said guests should not expect big portions of any of the dishes, but more of smaller plates.

'It's 9.30 at night, you're really hungry, so if it's minute-burgers, our pizzas, or the sushi station, you're going to hit it hard' he told ABC 6.

Puck also said his chicken pot pie has become a favorite with celebrities, namely, Barbra Streisand.

Eating in luxury: Smoked salmon and caviar will be served on Oscar statuette-shaped matzo crackers

Small gold dusted chocolate Oscar statuettes were served during the Governors Ball preview in 2015

Just desserts: A dessert station will be feature macarons, chocolate , and lava cakes

After feasting on delicious savory dishes, celebrities will have an array of fancy desserts to indulge in. The station will provide lava cakes, red velvet waffles, and made-to-order Takoyaki cake balls.

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The chocolate buffet will have caramel cappuccino Oscar lollipops and movie theater flavored sweets such as Sour Patch Kids.

Of course the luxurious dinner will not be complete without expensive bottles of champagne. More than 1,500 bottles of fizz will be served on the night provided by the Francis Ford Coppola winery.

Two specialty wines were created for the occasion: Directors Cut Russian River Valley chardonnay and Sonoma County red, Variety said.

Each guest will take home Piper-Heidsieck champagne in a limited edition magnum bottle.

The venue will be decorated in red, white, and gold and will be filled with flowers.

Not only will they be treated with a night of specialty dishes and upscale wines, but some select actors will receive a goodie bag containing even more luxurious gifts.

The post-event goodie bag is said to contain close to $200,000 worth of treats. In addition to being gifted with tropical getaways, there is also an array of quirky health and beauty handouts.

Stars including Meryl Streep, Mel Gibson, Nicole Kidman, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling will be among the chosen few to receive the coveted collection of freebies handed out to coincide with the 89th Academy Awards later this month.

Best part of the night: More than 1,500 bottles of fizz will be served on the night provided by the Francis Ford Coppola winery and each guest will get to take a bottle home

Clint Eastwood and Christina Sandera at the 87th Annual Academy Awards Governor's Ball on in 2015

Projector reels partly made with chocolate was on display during the 2015 Academy Award after party

The chocolate buffet will serve caramel cappuccino Oscar lollipops and other sweets
Dr Madhlangobe was voted secondary school teacher of the year in London in 2008

An award-winning headmaster who turned to fraud in a failed attempt to get another job has been fined and told he will probably never teach again in this country.

Dr Tawanda Madhlangobe, 47, forged a letter from one school to cover up a caution for common assault on his wife in 2009.

The first school had rejected him because of the offence and he tried to hide that when he applied to Horton Education and Care school in Hull in 2015.

Prosecutor Stephen Sparks said: 'He used the first school's letterhead and paper. He was shortlisted and interviewed at the second school.

'After the interview there were concerns, and they wanted to test the letter's legitimacy.

'When they contacted the first school, it transpired that the letter was fraudulent.'

Madhlangobe, now unemployed, was arrested by police after landing at Heathrow on a flight from his home country of Zimbabwe.

He was voted secondary school teacher of the year in the 2008 London Teaching Awards.

He admitted fraud and was fined 910 by magistrates in Colchester, Essex.

Mitigating, Jemima Ivens said: 'The caution in 2009 was for a row with his wife. He kicked an ironing board, but there was no laying of hands.

'This caution has been radioactive. It has suddenly come to life and caused tremendous hardship in his life.

Dr Madhlangobe had applied to the Horton Education and Care school in Hull (pictured)

'He may have misunderstood whether he had to disclose it. He is never going to come back before the court, and he is filled with shame and embarrassment.

'He has always been a very good teacher. His career now stands in tatters.'

District Judge John Woollard told Madhlangobe he was the author of his own misfortune.

He said: 'I took into account that you have contributed to the lives of children. You will probably not obtain another teaching job.

'You applied for a sensitive job involving children, and you brought the whole system crashing down on you.'

Madhlangobe's case may be now referred to the National College for Teaching and Leadership who authorise teachers for the Department of Education.
Amtrak police officer LaRoyce Tankson has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a Minneapolis man outside Chicago's Union Station

An Amtrak police officer has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a Minneapolis man outside Chicago's Union Station, prosecutors said Friday.

LaRoyce Tankson is charged in the February 8 shooting of 25-year-old Chad Robertson, who died Wednesday, the Cook County State's Attorney's office said.

Tankson, 31, surrendered to police on Thursday.

Robertson was taking a bus from Memphis, Tennessee, to Minneapolis and was on a stopover in Chicago when the shooting occurred.

Robertson and two friends went to Union Station to stay warm while they waited for their onward bus, but two officers aggressively confronted them so the three friends got up to leave, Robertson's sister, Nina Robertson, has said.

The officers then confronted them again outside the station and accused one of them of smoking marijuana.

An officer searched the men and when he put his hands in Robertson's pockets, he ran, the sister said.

Tankson has surrendered to police, and will now face charges in the slaying of Chad Robertson (pictured top tight with his family)

That's when one of the officers opened fire.

Chicago police say they found cash and narcotics on Robertson, but no weapon.

'I'm very pleased that he's been charged with first-degree murder,' Robertson's aunt, Theresa Love Williams, said Friday. 'Now that he's been charged, we need to get a conviction. So we still have a fight ahead of us.'

The Associated Press left messages seeking comment Friday from attorney Dennis Hopson, who is representing Robertson's family.

Lanisha Taylor, sister of Chad Robertson speaks to the media during a press conference conference at John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital in Chicago

His other sister Nina also shed tears as she spoke about the slaying of her brother last week

He previously said the family is considering a wrongful death lawsuit.

Amtrak officials said Friday that they are cooperating with Chicago police and prosecutors but that they can't comment further. Amtrak has put the officers involved on administrative assignment.

Civil rights activist Mel Reeves said the charges filed against the officer indicate 'something went wrong severely that night. That clearly (the officer) had no reason to shoot Chad Robertson.'

Tankson did not immediately respond to phone messages left Friday seeking comment. He is scheduled to appear in bond court Friday.
Emily Lyon, 17, collapsed after taking two lots of the party drug MDMA at a music event attended by Lily Allen and a host of grime stars at the O2 last June, the inquest heard

A teenage girl who died after taking ecstasy at the O2 took a fatal overdose in the queue because she feared sniffer dogs would discover her stash.

Emily Lyon, 17, collapsed after taking two lots of the party drug MDMA at a music event attended by Lily Allen and a host of grime stars at the O2 last June, the inquest heard.

The pretty teenager swallowed the first quarter of a gram of the powder while on the train from her home in Teddington, Middlesex, to Waterloo station, the hearing was told.

She then 'bombed' a second quarter of a gram before going into the Red Bull Culture Clash DJ competition because she was concerned sniffer dogs would detect the narcotics, the inquest heard.

But she complained of feeling unwell, became overheated and had trouble standing, the hearing was told.

Emily was rushed to hospital just before 10pm but doctors could not save her and she died a short time later at around 12.50am on June 17.

A teenager who supplied the ecstasy that killed Emily is the son of a top planning consultant behind the London Olympics canoeing centre.

Emily had gone with friends to the star-studded bash, which featured Mobo award-winning grime MCs Wiley and Stormzy as guests.

The under 18 event which saw four teams of DJs and MCs competing to be crowned champion, was due to finish at 11pm.

The A-level student was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Greenwich where she was resuscitated, but then deteriorated and pronounced dead shortly before 12.50am.

She took half a gram before going into a Red Bull Culture Clash DJ competition at the O2

A 16-year-old boy at the event was also taken to hospital suffering from the effects of taking illegal drugs along with four other teenagers were also treated by paramedics at the O2.

The inquest at Southwark Coroner's Court in south London heard that a post-mortem found the cause of death was from taking half a gram of powdered MDMA.

A report from paramedic London Ambulance Service, Michael O'Connell, read by Assistant Coroner Philip Barlow, stated Emily had taken half a gram of MDMA and suffered a seizure before paramedics arrived.

He said: 'We arrived into the loading bay of the O2 Arena where we were guided to the medical room where a patient who was unconscious had already suffered a seizure.

'We were told the patient had injested half a gram of MDMA.

'Everyone of the patient's friendship group had taken a quarter of a gram of MDMA, there was 0.25 of a gram left which the patient had then taken, taking the patient's dose up to 0.5 of a gram.'

One of Emily's friends had bought two grams of the drug on the day of the event and the group, who had experimented with the drug before, wrapped it up in a cigarette paper 'bomb' to swallow whole.

DC Scott Albert, of the Met Police, told the court that Emily took the extra and fatal dose because she was worried about getting through security with the remaining drugs.

He said: 'From speaking to Emily's friends the group bought the drugs from a peer at Esher College and it was divided up before they got to the venue.

'Drink was taken on the train into London Waterloo and this is where Emily took 0.25 of a gram.

'In the queue on the way into the venue, she was concerned about drugs dogs and she was waiting to get through security, this is where she took the second, fatal dose, and had taken more than what her friends had.

'She complained of being extremely hot, she had to be helped to her feet by two friends as she was having difficulty standing.

'She mentioned to a friend she felt unwell and it was due to the second dose.

'The venue was very crowded and very hot.

'Some of her friends did not realise how unwell she was and there was a lot of shock and disbelief when they found out.'

DC Joel Brown told the court Emily did not think the first quarter of a gram had given her enough of a 'buzz' and she wanted to buy twice as much as her friends to 'ensure she had a good night' after finishing her exams earlier in the summer.

Luke Villars, 18, pictured, was arrested in Kingston the day after Emily's death where he admitted supplying the MDMA to her and three others

DC Albert said police were never told the make-up of the batch of drugs the group had taken.

He added: 'It's unclear if the person who supplied the drugs knew what the weight and purity of the batch was.

'We have asked that question but have never received an answer and will probably never know as we cannot analyse this batch of drugs now.'

Luke Villars, 18, was arrested in Kingston the day after Emily's death where he admitted supplying the MDMA to her and three others.

His father Phil, 53, is managing director of Indigo Planning and was lead consultant on securing planning permission for the 2012 Games canoe slalom venue at the Lee Valley White Water Centre.

His other high profile clients include West Ham United and Royal Bank of Scotland.

Villars was given a 12-month jail sentence suspended for two years at Woolwich Crown Court and was ordered to do 80 hours' unpaid work.

The Assistant Coroner recorded a verdict of drug-related death.
A builder who became a millionaire on an ITV gameshow has been cleared of burgling a client after claiming it was an insurance job devised by the customer, who he wanted to have sex with.

Nathan Hageman continued to work after winning the top prize on the Ant and Dec gameshow Red or Black in 2011, and was hired by Rebecca Varley to re-fit her bathroom, a court heard.

The 37-year-old was acquitted of burglary at Reading Crown Court after telling how she approached him about an 'insurance job' burglary and went through with it to have sex her with.

Nathan Hageman pictured after winning 1million on the ITV gameshow Red or Black in 2011

Ant McPartlin jumps into Mr Hageman's arms after he won the top prize on the programme, as confetti rains down in the studio

Mr Hageman forced his way into the home in Crowthorne, Berkshire, along with apprentice scaffolder Nathan Taylor, were wearing masks and gloves, and carrying a ladder and crowbar.

The court heard how they took 8,000 in the safe, which had been the savings of Miss Varley's daughter April for a deposit down on a house.

Mr Hageman told the jury: 'I did fake the burglary to sleep with her. She told me we wouldn't get caught.'

Mr Hageman appearing on This Morning after his TV success

'I didn't need to burgle to get money. I'm a homeowner, I could get a loan. The 2,000 for the car is nothing to me. I don't need to rob to get cash.'

Shortly after scooping the jackpot, Mr Hageman revealed he had spent 65,000 on a Range Rove, a BMW, an Armani watch and an holiday to Cuba.

The whole incident lasted less than two minutes - but within two hours Taylor was asking for assistance on social media before quickly spending the cash.

He asked on Facebook if 'anybody had a disc-cutter which he needed to use ASAP' two hours after snatching a safe from a home his friend had been carrying out work on.

The 29-year-old bought a 2,000 Toyota Corolla the next day before posting a picture of a newly-bought iPad on Facebook with the caption 'treated myself.'

The father-of-one admitted one count of burglary and one count of converting criminal property.

Prosecuting, Dickson Edwards said: 'Mr Taylor made a significant post at 9.15am on the Saturday asking if anyone had a disc-cutter which he needed to use ASAP.

'That weekend he purchased a Toyota Corolla with some 2,000 in cash. In addition he posted on Facebook a picture of an Apple iPad with the words "Treated myself".

Mitigating, Fergus Malone insisted that Taylor, who had not been working at the property with Mr Hageman, was a late addition to the heist.

'Mr Taylor was a late recruit to the enterprise of removing the safe and carrying out the burglary,' he said.

After taking a moment to compose himself, he posed for a picture with the presenting duo

Mr Hageman pictured with Simon Cowell in the Red or Black studios after becoming the show's first millionaire

'Undoubtedly the decision to burgle the propoerty was made on May 22 when Mr Hageman and Mr Aslam were at the house and the whereabouts of the safe became known to them.

'It's fair to say that as far as Mr Taylor is concerned, he wasn't directly involved in the planning. He wasn't the brains of the enterprise.'

Judge Alexia Durran read out a letter Taylor had written to her, before sentencing him to 36 months' behind bars.

'You described the condition you were in at the time of that offence as a living hell and that you were taking crack cocaine,' she said.

Mr Hageman was acquitted of burglary at Reading Crown Court after telling how she approached him about an 'insurance job'

'You were just trying to get your next fix and the drug dealers were putting pressure on you.

'You described [the offence] as the most stupid and thoughtless decision of your life and you insist your life has changed significantly since the birth of your son Jordan.

'It seems to me that you are a changed person from the one that was involved in the enterprise of May 2015.

'You say you have been misled by others and it seems to me that you have. It's a great shame that having been out of trouble for a number of years, no doubt out of a mis-placed sense of friendship, that you got yourself involved in this enterprise.'

Taylor, of Reading, admitted one count of burglary and one count of converting criminal property.

He was sentenced to 30 months for the burglary and two months for the converting criminal property with both sentences to run concurrently. No costs were made with confiscation proceedings still ongoing.
Billy Bush was spotted hurrying to answer a hidden cell phone after a midday workout in Los Angeles on Thursday.

The disgraced television personality was returning to his car and putting his gym bag in the backseat when he suddenly rushed to the driver's side of the car and reached in to answer a flip phone.

The unemployed 45-year-old spent a few minutes chatting on his flip while holding his iPhone in his other hand, then changed into some a fresh pair of khakis and dress shoes in the parking lot before racing off.

His midday spin class and phone call come four months after Bush lost his job at Today in the wake of the 'P****gate' scandal.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, the man who could be heard on those damning tapes with Bush was giving a lengthy speech about how unfair the media is to him at around the same time from his new job at the White House.

'Much of the media in Washington, D.C., along with New York and Los Angeles speaks not for the people, but for the special interests,' claimed President Donald Trump, who was elected to the highest office in the country just a few weeks after Bush lost his job.

Scroll down for video

Hello from the other side: Billy Bush was spotted taking a call on a flip phone from inside his car on Thursday (above)

Comfort first: Bush, 45, had just completed a spin class at the time and was outfitted in his gym attire and a pair of clogs

It takes two: The disgraced television personality was seen holding an iPhone (above) while he spoke on the flip

There is still no word on what Bush's next move might be, though there have been rumbling about him joining the cast of Dancing With the Stars.

Since his exit from NBC, Bush has been keeping a low profile and seems to be spending as much time as possible with his family.

That includes his famous uncle, who had paid a visit to last week.

Bush posted a photo of himself and former president George W. Bush on Instagram, writing: 'As we're taking the pic he says "still here!" Oh yes and we practiced flipping the coin for the #superbowl tonight. he's ready. #legend #lovethisman.'

Bush joined NBC's flagship morning show in August after signing a deal that was said to be worth $3.5million a year.

In the tape, Bush can be heard calling actress Arianne Zucker, who was then on Days of Our Lives, a 'hot as s***,' and also saying nothing while Trump goes on about his co-host Nancy O'Dell.

'I did try and f*** her. She was married,' Trump tells Bush on the tapes, the transcript of which was first published by The Washington Post on Friday.

'And I moved on her very heavily. In fact, I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture. I said, "Ill show you where they have some nice furniture."'

Trump went on to say: 'I moved on her like a b****, but I couldnt get there. And she was married.

'Then all of a sudden I see her, shes now got the big phony tits and everything. Shes totally changed her look.'

On the move: After finishing the call, Bush quickly changed his clothes in the parking lot and rushed off

New man: Bush reemerged in a pair of khakis and dress shoes (above) before dashing off

Family ties: Bush posted a photo of himself and his uncle, former president George W. Bush, on Instagram last week (above)

Bush later apologized, but according to one insider that was not enough for the network.

'What is stunning is how self-important Billy is. He bragged about this in Rio and many people believe Access Hollywood management knew about this for much longer than they are saying and they were protecting Billy while not doing the right thing and informing NBC News,' the source told DailyMail.com.

That individual went to to say that Bush was 'never a fit' for the program.

'What angers a lot of people is that before Billy even started on the show, he was trying to position himself as the heir to Matt, but hes not even close to being in Matts league. Billy is a presenter, not a journalist and NBC was never going to let that happen,' said the source.

The source also said at the time that the network at no point tried to edit Bush out of the damning tape, despite reports to the contrary that had emerged in the wake of its release.

Bush, who is married with three teenage daughters, released a statement shortly after the 2005 tape surfaced two weeks ago.

'Obviously Im embarrassed and ashamed. Its no excuse, but this happened eleven years ago. I was younger, less mature, and acted foolishly in playing along. Im very sorry,' said Bush, who was 33 at the time.

Damning audio: It has been four months since Bush lost his job at Today in the wake of the 'P****gate' scandal (above in 2005 video frame)

Mad man: At the same time he was working out, the other man on the tape, President Trump, was attacking the media at the White House

Zucker, the Days of Our Lives actress who Bush referred to as 'hot as s***' also released a statement at that time.

'My name is Arianne Zucker and I am a strong, independent, hard working mother, business woman and partner to a great man. I have grown to learn that the words of others cannot effect the value of my self worth or define the content of my character,' said Zucker.

'How we treat one another, whether behind closed doors, locker rooms or face to face, should be done with kindness, dignity and respect. Unfortunately, there are too many people in power who abuse their position and disregard these simple principles and are rewarded for it.'

She closed out her statement by saying: 'In understanding the magnitude of this situation, I choose to stand tall with self respect and use my voice to enrich, inspire and elevate the best of who we are as people.'

Bush also did a poor job trying of distancing himself from Trump after the release of the tape.

A call to his work phone the weekend after the tape's revealed that his voicemail said: 'You've reached Billy Bush's office, he's busy making America great again, please leave a message.'
The defence secretary issued a stark warning to Russia not to interfere in Libya as he pledged to step up Britains role in the region.

In a message to Vladimir Putin, Sir Michael Fallon said the UK did not need the bear sticking its paws in the chaotic country.

Speaking at Munich Security Conference on Friday, he said the Russian President was testing the west and at any point he sees weakness he pushes home.

Sir Michael Fallon said the UK did not need the bear (Russia) sticking its paws in the chaotic country

He declared that was why it is important we stand up for our values and continue to support the UN-backed Libyan government of Fayez al-Sarraj.

His fierce comments come amid mounting concerns that Russia is turning its attention from Syria and towards Libya as it seeks to exploit the civil war and exert influence in the region.

This week Natos chief also revealed the alliance was currently considering plans to help the government strengthen its security institutions.

Just weeks ago Libyas Khalifa Haftar, a commander in the east, was invited on board the Russian aircraft carrier as it returned from its bombing campaign in Syria.

Field Marshall Haftar is a figurehead for east Libyan factions and there are concerns Russian support could embolden him to make a play for power in Tripoli.

Such a move would threaten to push the country into further turmoil after it descended into chaos following the overthrow of Colonel Gaddafi in 2011.

It could also create greater instability in Europe by pushing more migrants across the Mediterranean.

Sir Michael said allowing Field Marshall Haftar onto the Admiral Kuznetsov - which he has branded the ship of shame - was a symbolic act.

In a briefing he said: We continue to urge the Sarraj government to reach out to the east.

Natos chief Jens Stoltenberg said he had received a formal request from conflict-torn Libya to help strengthen its security institutions

It is important that that government does reflect the strengths of the east and the military leadership too in the east.

Equally Field Marshall Haftar needs to reflect the interests of Misrata and Tripoli over in the west.

But we certainly dont need Russia, we dont need the bear sticking its paws in.

Speaking about Haftars visit to the carrier, he said: He went on the aircraft carrier for a video call with Shoigu (Russian defence minister), thats not interference is it, yet.

Asked if Putins game plan is to create chaos in Libya and consequently Europe, he said: Putin is testing the west, he is testing the alliance and at any point he sees weakness he pushes home.

Thats why it is important we stand up for our values and we continue to back the Sarraj government while urging it to be more representative of the interests of the east.

Earlier in the week, Natos chief Jens Stoltenberg said he had received a formal request from conflict-torn Libya to help strengthen its security institutions.

He said the alliance is looking into exactly what can be done and said that the 28 allies could help build up the Libyan defence ministry and military command structure.

The prospect of Nato stepping up its role in Libya to help the government - as Russia cosies up to a commander - could lead to another flashpoint with the Kremlin.

Sir Michael said the Libyan government had already asked for help in strengthening the coast guard.

A handful of Royal Marines have been training the coast guard off the coast of Libya on a Dutch ship as part of an EU training mission.

Just weeks ago Libyas Khalifa Haftar, a commander in the east, was invited on board the Russian aircraft carrier. Above shows a Russian war ship in Havana, Cuba in 2015

He said: Britain is playing a part in that, I went to the headquarters of that training in Rome last Thursday.

We are going to increase now the pipeline of trainees coming from Libya because that is something that can be done immediately.

He said the EU did not have permission to go into Libyan waters, but what we can do is improve the capacity of the Libyan coastguard, he added.

He said: The Royal Marines are involved in that, in the training, and we will continue to increase that, looking at the pipeline of the trainees coming through.

He added: Theres a step change in Russian behaviour over the last couple of years which cannot be ignored.

Hitting back at criticisms of his tough-stance by Russia, he said: Alexander Litvenenko was not a terrorist, civilians on board MH17 were not terrorists, they were innocent civilians bombed down by a Russian missile.

In September, a scathing report from MPs said David Camerons ill-conceived military intervention in Libya led to the rise of Islamic State in North Africa.

The former Prime Minister took the country to war against Col Muammar Gaddafi on a series of erroneous assumptions and then drifted into an opportunistic policy of regime change that left Libya in chaos.

Attacking Mr Camerons leadership, MPs accused him of misunderstanding what was happening on the ground, and doing too little to find a political way to get the dictator to stand down.
This is the adorable moment a baby sees properly for the first time.

Little Emil is given +7.0 glasses by his mother in a sweet video that is taking the world by storm.

The clip shows Emil sitting in a baby carrier as his mother pops on his new glasses.

Emil is sitting in a car seat when his mother pops his new glasses on his face, and the world opens up around him

Emil starts to smile up at his mother and giggles as he realises how much he has missed out on in the world with his poor eyesight

As the world comes into focus, Emil is clearly thrilled with the sights that he can see clearly now.

His mother speaks to him and he smiles and giggles, his eyes widening at the views and at seeing his mother's face.

Emil's mother Christine Rosenhj, posted the video on Instagram with the comment: 'Today is a great day, Emil got his glasses.

Emil's giggle has made thousands of people fall in love with the sweet baby boy, and the clip has been watched tens of thousands of times

Emil's mother said his newfound fame hasn't gone to his head, but that Emil is already used to so many visitors

'The journey has been long and our little baby has a lot to go through to sit here and smile with his small glasses, but now they are here.

'Welcome to +7.0 baby glasses and a lot of eye contact with mom & dad.'

Since she posted it online four days ago, the little boy's priceless reaction has gone viral, watched 17,000 times on her own social media but by hundreds of thousands more across sites in Europe and even Bahrain.

Ms Rosenhj, from Nakskov, Denmark, told TV East that her baby son was not too influenced by his new found fame.

She said: 'I do not believe that Emil is aware of it. He is accustomed to visits, so he takes it all very quietly. He is not the mark of his new fame.'
A hairdresser was left fuming after he was refused entry to a Manchester pub because he was dressed in a minidress and heels.

Adam Murphy, 24, was turned away by a Slug and Lettuce bouncer on Deansgate with friend Thomas Robinson after the pair attended an open audition for Big Brother.

Mr Murphy was wearing a silver sequin minidress and black thigh high stiletto boots and Mr Robinson wore matching silver trousers.

Hairdresser Adam Murphy, 24, (right) was refused entry to a Slug and Lettuce on Deansgate, Manchester, with friend Thomas Robinson (left), because he was wearing a dress

The doorman told the shocked hairdresser that it wasn't the pub's policy to allow 'men in dresses' in, according to Mr Murphy.

He said: 'It was about 7pm on Saturday night, and the doorman stopped me and my friend and said 'you're not coming in in that dress.'

'I was like, 'are you being serious?' He said yes and when I asked why, he told me that it was policy that men cannot come into the pub in a dress.

Mr Murphy said the pub bouncer told him it wasn't pub policy to allow 'men in dresses' in. The hairdresser was wearing a silver sequin dress with black leather thigh high stiletto boots

'I asked to speak to a manager, but he said that she was busy. I was embarrassed and it made me feel horrible. You don't expect anything like this to happen in Manchester.'

Mr Murphy and Mr Robinson had auditioned for the new series of Channel Five reality show in the city centre earlier in the day, so had made a particular effort to look glamorous.

The hairdresser said: 'When it was clear he wasn't going to let us in at the Slug and Lettuce, we left there and went just along Deansgate to The Living Room, where they were fine with what I was wearing.

'I wasn't dressed like a tramp, I wasn't that extreme, and I wasn't in a joke outfit - on a weekend and nights out in Manchester this is how I would normally dress.'

Adam says he always likes to mix both masculine and feminine fashions - and proudly wears high heels to work every day.

He says: 'How can you talk about equal rights when a woman wearing this type of outfit is let into a pub but not me?

Mr Murphy attended an open audition for Channel Five reality show Big Brother earlier in the city centre and had made a particular effort to look glamorous

'In fact there were girls being let into the pub wearing a lot less clothing than I was.'

Mr Murphy rang the pub's management to complain on the night.

The manager emailed to apologise, and offered him a bottle of prosecco on his next visit back to the pub.

He said: 'I don't particularly want to go back there now after the way they made me feel.'

The hairdresser said he wears high heels to work every day and likes to 'switch the masculine and feminine looks up'

The Slug and Lettuce said they had apologised to Adam, and that the doorman in question is 'no longer employed at the venue'.

They also confirmed it is not company policy to bar men wearing dresses at their pubs.

A spokeswoman said: 'The management team were not aware of Mr Murphy's entry refusal until after the event.

'This does not reflect our company policy and the doorman in question is no longer employed at the venue.

'We have apologised personally for any offence caused.'

The Slug and Lettuce chain, which has 70 pubs across the UK, boasts on its website of offering a 'comfy, safe, welcoming environment' to all customers.

Adam admits the way he likes to dress does attract attention, but he is proud of his individual style.

He said: 'I like to switch the masculine and feminine looks up, and I do get a lot of homophobic comments thrown my way but I'm not going to let that get in the way of how I want to live my life.'
Just days after intelligence experts criticized President Donald Trump for preparing his response to the firing of a test missile by North Korea while dining among members of his private Palm Beach club, the club will be closed to its members through this weekend, DailyMail.com has learned.

Two members  who paid $100,000 to join the beach side club and plunk down $15,000 a year in dues  said they are angry after being told they wouldn't be let in tonight and Saturday night as Trump visits for the third weekend in a row.

'We are pi**ed off to no end,' said one of the Mar-a-Lago members who asked that his name not be used. The 66-year-old businessman said he fears being shunned by Trump if he talks to the press.

'I personally paid $100,000 years ago (the initiation fee was upped to $200,000 last month) to join and I go to dinner at Mar-a-Lago every Saturday.

Mar-a-lago Club in Palm Beach will be closed to its members through this weekend and perhaps whenever the president is on site, DailyMail.com has learned

The sudden ban comes a week after Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe learned of the firing of a North Korean missile toward Japan while having dinner on the terrace in the middle of a dozen tables with about 100 members

'HOLY MOLY !!!' Mar-a-Lago member Richard DeAgazio wrote on his page. 'It was fascinating to watch the flurry of activity at dinner when the news came that North Korea had launched a missile in the direction of Japan.' Pictured, aides shine flashlights from their phones onto secure documents

'This is the first time I'm told I can't go in. Not even for a drink at the bar!

'This has never happened before. Friends of mine have been calling the club to tell them they want credit for not being able to go in. This president thing is getting old quickly. Donald's going to lose members.'

A charity gala planned months ago to benefit the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute will be allowed to go on Saturday night. But gala goers who paid $1,250 each to attend will not be allowed to mingle in the entire club like those who attend previous events were allowed to do, and will be confined to the ballroom.

The Mar-a-Lago member said Mar-a-Lago's reservations clerk told him the Secret Service is no longer allowing members in while Trump is at the club.

Another member was told the president's security apparatus wants to limit the number of people on the property.

When called for comment the Mar-a-Lago receptionist said she couldn't discuss anything pertaining to the club with the press.

Mar-a-Lago Managing Director Bernd Lembcke said: 'We cannot discuss anything pertaining to our members. You know this is a private club.'

The sudden ban comes a week after Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe learned of the firing of a North Korean missile toward Japan while having dinner on the terrace in the middle of a dozen tables with about 100 members.

Some of those members who saw the kerfuffle of aides walking fast and handing the statesmen pieces of paper started taking photos and posting them on Facebook.

White House Spokesman Sean Spicer claimed on February 14 that Trump and Abe had been briefed in a secure location inside the club before having dinner

The two world leaders conferred and then went into another room for a hastily arranged press conference. U.S. senators Tom Udall and Sheldon Whitehouse wrote a letter to the White House to ask how Mar-a-Lago guests are screened to prevent security risks

One of the Mar-a-Lago members interviewed by Dailymail.com said he watched Trump walk from table to table during the Christmas break, before the inauguration, to ask members of his club who they thought he should name Secretary of State. Pictured, a car carrying Trump drives down a road lines with protesters in West Palm Beach

'HOLY MOLY !!!' Mar-a-Lago member Richard DeAgazio wrote on his page, 'It was fascinating to watch the flurry of activity at dinner when the news came that North Korea had launched a missile in the direction of Japan.

'The Prime Minister Abe of Japan huddles with his staff and the president is on the phone with Washington DC. The two world leaders then conferred and then went into another room for hastily arranged press conference. Wow.....the center of the action!!!'

White House Spokesman Sean Spicer claimed on February 14 that Trump and Abe had been briefed in a secure location inside the club before having dinner.

And the photos that showed them huddled over documents with a concerned look on their faces showed them simply organizing a joint press conference to address the crisis.

U.S. senators Tom Udall and Sheldon Whitehouse, both Democrats, wrote a letter to the White House to ask how Mar-a-Lago guests are screened to prevent security risks.

The White House has yet to respond.

One of the Mar-a-Lago members interviewed by Dailymail.com said he watched Trump walk from table to table during the Christmas break, before the inauguration, to ask members of his club who they thought he should name Secretary of State.

'A lot of names were being tossed at him from the tables,' the member said, 'including (former presidential candidate) Mitt Romney and (Palm Beach resident) Rudy Giuliani.'

In time, Trump picked former Exxon executive Rex Tillerson.
Just in time for Valentines Day, a rowdy bunch of fifth-graders in Ohio got a surprise lesson in romance when their science teacher popped the big question to their unsuspecting math teacher during class.

The proposal was recorded on video and posted on YouTube, showing Jason Steifer getting down on one knee before a stunned Ally Barker, eliciting squeals of delight from their overjoyed students witnessing the romantic gesture.

And in case anyone was wondering, Steifer's Valentine said 'yes.'

A lesson in romance: Ohio science teacher Jason Steifer, 39, surprised his students when he decided to ask his colleague, Ally Barker (right), to marry him during class on Valentine's Day

Steifer, 39, has been teaching science at Harry Russell Elementary School in West Carrollton, Ohio, for 17 years.

Two years ago, Ally Barker, 28, joined the staff as a math teacher and became fast friends with her more senior colleague.

Then sometime last year, Barker and Steifer began dating. Both have children from previous relationships.

Speaking to ABC News, the groom-to-be said he knew his students have been suspecting that he and Barker were in a relationship, and some have even looked them up on Facebook.

'There would be a brave kid that would make some comments like, I heard you and Miss. Barker were dating. I'd say, Really? You heard that? I hadn't really heard that yet!"

Steifer and Barker made no secret of their blossoming romance, openly sharing photos on social media depicting the happy pair posing up with family.

Valentine's viral video: A fellow teacher recorded the moment Steifer got down on one knee, opened a ring box and said: 'I was wondering if Miss Barker would like to become Mrs. Seifert'

She said 'Yes'! The 28-year-old math teacher appeared thunderstruck and clapped her hand over her mouth before nodding her ascent and rushing into her now-fiance's arms

Steifer has been a teacher at Harry Russell Elementary School in West Carrollton, Ohio (pictured), for 17 years

In November, Steifer even changed his relationship status on Facebook to reflect that he and Barker were dating, and earlier this year, he decided to propose at school on Valentines Day.

I pretty much figured that we met because of that school, we became friends because of that school, we fell in love because of that school, so it made sense, he said.

Fellow fifth-grade teacher Kristine Gillespie had her phone camera at the ready when on February 14, Jason Steifer stood before his class, with Ally Barker at his side, and asked if they heard a rumor about him and Miss Barker dating. All the students raised their hands.

The answer is yes, we are dating, Seifert said, causing a pandemonium of whoops and cheers to erupt.

Struggling to quiet down the overexcited students, Steifer went on to say that he and Barker were 'a little bit more than dating... because I am completely in love with her.'

Happy duo: Steifer and Barker made no secret of their blossoming romance, openly sharing photos of the two of them on social media

New family: Barker has a 5-year-old daughter from a previous relationship (pictured)

As if on cue, the kids went berserk, screaming in delight at the top of their lungs and drowning out Steifer, who repeatedly pleaded with them to be 'quiet, please.'

When he was finally able to make himself heard over the din of jubilant fifth-graders, the veteran teacher said: 'I was wondering if Miss Barker would like to become Mrs. Seifert.'

At that moment, he turned to the overwhelmed Barker, knelt before her and popped open a black ring box.

The 28-year-old math teacher and mother-of-one appeared thunderstruck and clapped her hand over her mouth before nodding her ascent and rushing into her now-fiance's awaiting arms for a hug.

The newly engaged couple are planning a fall wedding, which would be attended by Barker's 5-year-old daughter and Steifer's two kids, a 15-year-old daughter and a 19-year-old son.
Evan McMullin, who failed in his independent presidential bid to beat Donald Trump in Utah, has penned an op-ed where he says a Republican congressional leader wondered in a closed setting whether Trump was an agent of Russia.

McMullin, who has poked at Trump in television interviews during the campaign and since his improbable win, made the stunning claim in an opinion article in the New York Times where he called Republican leaders to account for not doing enough to counteract Trump.

In the piece, McMullin, who was policy director for the House Republican Conference, references a time in the campaign when Trump made a series of complementary statements about Russian president Vladimir Putin and praised the strongman's leadership.

'Suspect public comments like these led one senior Republican leader to dolefully inform his peers that he thought Mr. Trump was on the Kremlin's payroll, suggesting that Mr. Trump had been compromised by Russian intelligence,' McMullin wrote.

Donald Trump's campaign praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin prompted an unnamed GOP leader to suggest Trump was on the Kremlin payroll, according to Evan McMullin

'Other leaders were surprised by their colleague's frank assessment, but did not dispute it.'

McMullin did not reveal the location of the startling statement, or say who else was present. One possibility is that it came up at a weekly meeting of elected House leaders.

McMullin, who got 21 per cent of the vote in his native Utah, missing out on the chance to beat Trump, who more than doubled him there, faulted GOP leaders for failing to confront Trump.

Some, he wrote, were anxious to recapture the White House to advance their policy goals.

'Others saw career opportunities in supporting Mr. Trump, who had yet to select a running mate and, if elected, would also make cabinet appointments,' he said.

Then, without naming names, he vented that some of those who had warned about Trump became vocal supporters.

'Shockingly, some of the leaders most concerned about Russian subversion and Mr. Trump's possible compromise were his first and most vocal supporters among congressional leaders  some publicly, some privately,' he wrote. 'It was an inauspicious trade of national security for political self-preservation and partisan ambition,' he wrote.

Independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin, who came in third in Utah, wrote an op-ed blasting how GOP leaders have handled Donald Trump. He spoke to supporters at an election night party on November 8, 2016 in Salt Lake City, Utah

'Other leaders were surprised by their colleague's frank assessment, but did not dispute it,' McMullin wrote

McMullin claims an unnamed congressional leader said Trump was being controlled by the Kremlin

President Donald Trump, center, hosts a reception for House and Senate leaders in the the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 23, 2017

McMullin expresses some disillusionment, because 'Early in 2015, senior Republican congressional leaders visited Ukraine and returned full of praise for its fight for independence in spite of Russia's efforts to destabilize the country and annex some of its regions.'

'And in June, coincidentally just before Mr. Trump announced his campaign for the Republican nomination, they met with Ukraine's prime minister in Washington  one of many meetings I attended as a senior aide to the House Republican Conference,' he continued.

McMullin also spent 10 years in the CIA, stationed in a southwest Asian country and in Iraq.

McMullin's piece does not mention the names of other congressional leaders. It seems unlikely he would be referring to Speaker Paul Ryan, who replaced John Boehner in the fall of 2015. McMullin had a famously arms-length relationship with Trump during the campaign, saying he was 'not ready' to support him at one point and later disinviting Trump from a Wisconsin campaign rally.

One leader who enthusiastically advocated for Trump's election is Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California. He was part of a congressional delegation that met with Ukrainian leaders in Kiev in March of 2015, and who has taken an issue in Russian aggression.

McCarthy blasted Russia in a speech before the John Hay Initiative in 2015, where he spoke about his trips to Eastern Europe, although he committed a slip of the tongue.

'In the past few years alone, I have visited Poland, Hungria, Estonia, Russia and Georgia' McCarthy said, misstating the name of Hungary while engaging in tough talk against Russia, Salon reported at the time.

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy was part of a delegation that traveled to Kiev in 2015

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy blasted Russia's killing of civilians in Syria on Twitter last August

Former CIA operations officer Evan McMullin during an interview with host Seth Meyers on February 14

'It defies belief that the president would allow the ban on Iranian oil exports to be lifted. And also stand by while Russia blackmails an entire continent, all the while keeping the place of the band on America.'

McCarthy went after Russia on Twitter in August, writing: 'Report indicates Russia has killed more innocent civilians in Syria in one year than ISIS has in 3.'

In May of 2016, McCarthy signed up to be a delegate for Donald Trump, at a time when Ryan was still 'not ready' to get on board.

As Politico noted earlier this month, when other Republicans were anxious about Trump, McCarthy talked up his chances. 'Trump's message ... if you look at different pockets, he brings Democrats over,' he told a policy forum in Sacramento.

Trump talked up McCarthy at an inaugural brunch. 'Kevin would call me in the heat of battle, right Kevin? And I'd be fighting with Paul. And I appreciate it, Kevin!' Trump said.

A leadership source told DailyMail.com, 'I don't know which member Evan is referring to specifically but by late summer 2016 to the end of the campaign you heard such talk in GOP circles more frequently, albeit, quietly.'

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana wrote in an August op-ed about Trump, 'Donald Trump brings the leadership and experience to get our country moving.'

Scalise issued a statement strongly supporting a resolution in favor of providing arms to Ukraine to protect its sovereignty.

'When Ukrainian President Poroshenko addressed Congress in September, he asked the United States to help defend their people and their democratically elected government from the aggression Vladimir Putin and his Russian-backed separatists,' Scalise said in the statement.

'Unfortunately, his words fell on deaf ears at the White House. Today's vote reaffirms Congress' steadfast support for the people of Ukraine, and shows our commitment to their military and the need for additional economic pressure on Russia. President Obama needs to act quickly. If not, the conflict will only intensify and continue to destabilize the region. It is critical that the United States step up and help Ukraine combat the growing threat of Russia's continued aggression in Eastern Europe.'

Aides to McCarthy, Speaker Paul Ryan, and Scalise didn't immediately respond to inquiries. The fourth-ranking member of the GOP leadership, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, is a woman, and wouldn't fit McMullin's description.
A Dallas middle school teacher who was fired for appearing in adult films nearly two decades ago claims she was a teenage victim of 'sex slavery'.

Resa Woodward, 38, is fighting for her job as a sixth grade science teacher at the Young Women's Science Technology Engineering and Math Academy at Balch Springs Middle School after she was dismissed in December.

Woodward, who appeared in at least 16 productions, said she was forced into pornography at the age of 19, and has since received a master's degree and become a successful teacher.

Resa Woodward (pictured) taught sixth grade science at the Young Women's Science Technology Engineering and Math Academy at Balch Springs Middle School

When her past as an adult film actress was revealed on Facebook, the school put her on administrative leave before firing her in December 2016

Woodward, who worked as an adult film actress under the name Robyn Foster, appeared in at least 16 films, mostly between 2001 and 2004.

Some compilation films that included her past performances were released as recently as 2013.

Woodward claims she was forced into pornography in times of financial strain by an older man she was living with, and said: 'That involvement was not of my own choosing.'

According to the Dallas Morning News, she appealed to Education Commissioner Mike Morath and wrote: 'Young, stupid and afraid, I complied to avoid his wrath.

'Only a woman who has been through such a horrifying experience could fully understand, but Im asking you to understand and re-consider the terrible charges being brought against me, the victim of an abusive past.'

She also pointed to her credentials. Woodward received an 'exemplary' rating last year, and told WFAA: 'I was nominated for teacher of the year 11 out of 15 of my teaching years.'

One mom, Breanna Guerra, whose daughter was in Woodward's class, stood up for the teacher and told the local news channel: 'She's turned her life around.'

Guerra said the teacher was extremely kind, and helped her daughter catch up.

The agency is reviewing Woodward's case. An ethics code requires Texas teachers to have good moral character.

Woodward's attorney, Calvin Johnson, told WFAA-TV that she should be commended for bouncing back from adversity.

Woodward claims she was forced into pornography by an older man she was living with during times of financial stress

Woodward taught for 15 years before the Dallas Independent School District received an anonymous tip regarding Woodward's past on March 10.

But the ensuing investigation concluded that 'Woodward's past participation in pornography does not in itself constitute a policy violation', according to records obtained by the Dallas Morning News.

The 38-year-old said she was allowed to continue teaching as long as her past remained private, she said.

Months later, Woodward, who is an active member of the Libertarian Party of Texas, shared an experience she had calling the police on a drunk driver.

She shared the post on Facebook, and a Libertarian man from another state opposed her views of the police and revealed her past on social media.

When Woodward told the school district, they placed her on administrative leave before firing her on December 13.
Celebrities, lead by notorious Trump-mocker Alec Baldwin, were up in arms after the President held a surprise press conference on Thursday.

While the conference went on, and for many hours after it ended, Twitter exploded with tweets about the Trump presser.

The 75-minute, combative White House press conference on Thursday was held so he could announce his pick for labor secretary, Alexander Acosta, after his first pick Andrew Puzder withdrew on Wednesday.

Scroll down for video

The hours-long, combative White House press conference on Thursday was held so the President could announce his pick for labor secretary, Alexander Acosta, after his first pick Andrew Puzder withdrew on Wednesday

However, he spent the majority of the conference talking about the margin by which he won the presidency, and criticizing the media for being 'out of control'

However, he spent the majority of the conference talking about the margin by which he won the presidency, and criticizing the media for being 'out of control.'

The presser turned quickly when President Trump lashed out to vehemently defend his presidency and 'call out' the 'dishonest' press for publishing 'fake news'.

The avid Twitter-using President spent the majority of the conference frustrated with different members of the press for asking 'insulting' or 'complicated' questions.

Alec Baldwin, tweeting from his foundation's account, commented during the conference: 'This guy is so wired in front of the press. Like he's gonna blow a rod. Imagine what he's like behind closed doors...

Usually it is Trump who tweets about the 'unfunny' Alec Baldwin for his portrayal on SNL, but this week Baldwin tweeted from his foundation's account about the bizarre press conference

Alec Baldwin, tweeting from his foundation's account, commented during the conference: 'This guy is so wired in front of the press. Like he's gonna blow a rod. Imagine what he's like behind closed doors...'

While he did not use any hashtags, and did not include the President's twitter handle, many people retweeted his tweet, and others along the same lines, with the hopes that the president will see it.

J.K. Rowling, who has grown increasingly adversarial in her comments about the American president tweeted: 'Up until an hour ago, the scariest thing I'd ever watched was psycho.'

She included the hashtag #TrumpPresser, which became one of the most commonly used to discuss the conference online.

J.K. Rowling, who has grown increasingly adversarial in her comments about the American president tweeted: 'Up until an hour ago, the scariest thing I'd ever watched was psycho'

So many people tweeted about the press conference, famous and not, that it became a trending topic quickly, and stayed that way for most of the day.

Josh Gad tweeted at Alec Baldwin at one point, to suggest that he look for another job, because Trump would be appearing on SNL to play himself this week.

During the conference, Trump was particularly bothered by the way that the press are covering his Russian scandal, claiming that his disgraced ex- National Security Advisor Michael Flynn did nothing wrong.

'The press has become so dishonest that if we don't talk about it we are doing a tremendous disservice to the American people,' Trump said to reporters.

Trump claims that that the media is attacking the administration because they are unhappy with Trump 'following through on pledges' that he made during the election.

Josh Gad tweeted at Alec Baldwin at one point, to suggest that he look for another job, because Trump would be appearing on SNL to play himself this week

During the conference, Trump was particularly bothered by the way that the press are covering his Russian scandal, claiming that his disgraced ex- National Security Advisor Michael Flynn did nothing wrong

He then said: 'I turn on the news and I see stories of chaos. And yet it is the exact opposite. The administration is running like a fine-tuned machine.'

As he spoke, Twitter exploded with different people mocking the way that the President addressed the press.

Mark Cuban tweeted: 'It's a waste of time to try to turn Pinocchio into a real President. The focus needs to be on the Gepetto's and legislators around him.'

His tweet, like many others, was a combination of a joke and a serious message, with Cuban presenting a call to arms in the other branches of government.

Mark Cuban tweeted: 'It's a waste of time to try to turn Pinocchio into a real President. The focus needs to be on the Gepetto's and legislators around him.' His tweet, like many others, was a combination of a joke and a serious message, with Cuban presenting a call to arms in the other branches of government

Other celebrities joined in the Twitter roast, pointing out different aspects of the President's solo press conference and what was strange about it. Kathy Griffin commented that Trump was having a full meltdown, and Tyler Oakley, on a similar note, said it seemed that the President was close to cracking at any moment

Along with tweets and impersonations, people also took the time to create memes about what many are calling a catastrophe of a press conference.

One of the most commonly made jokes was the way that this will be portrayed in the coming weeks' episodes of SNL.

A Twitter user, DKT, posted a meme of Kermit the frog rapidly typing on his typewriter - saying that this must be what the writers for the saturday night comedy show looked like during the conference.

Another twitter user posted a picture of Mount Rushmore, showing the founding fathers covering their eyes and mouths in horror at the state of affairs.

A Twitter user, DKT, posted a meme of Kermit the frog rapidly typing on his typewriter - saying that this must be what the writers for the saturday night comedy show looked like during the conference

Another twitter user posted a picture of Mount Rushmore, showing the founding fathers covering their eyes and mouths in horror at the state of affairs

That evening, Jimmy Fallon mocked Trump's wild solo press conference on the Tonight Show.

Though Fallon just had a few hours between the reality star turned POTUS' Thursday morning address, he nailed it bigly.

Jimmy's impression certainly competes well with the much celebrated impersonation by Alec Baldwin on SNL.
Vindictive Lisa Marie Presley broke court rules by revealing claims that her estranged husband is being investigated over hundreds of raunchy pictures and disturbing videos of children that she found on his computer, he claimed Friday.

I am disgusted that (she) described unproven allegations about mein a declaration that she filed in this courts publicly accessible records, Michael Lockwood said in papers filed in the latest round of their bitter divorce battle.

As I experienced during our more than 10-year marriage and as I believe this court will learn (Presley) has great difficulty being honest and she rarely, if ever, accepts personal responsibility for her own wrongdoing, he added.

It is particularly distasteful that (she) has placed more value on trying to damage my reputation than on the fact that her false statements may be brought to our daughters attention.

Michael Lockwood is fighting back against his estranged wife's claims she found inappropriate pictures of children on his computer. The shocking allegations are laid out in court papers filed as part of their divorce

Daughters Finley and Harper Lockwood are in the care of California's Department of Children and Family Services, court documents state

And he said there are also allegations against his wife. For the time being I will not say anything else about such statements in (Presleys) declaration other than that the allegations against both of us have not been unproven.

Lockwood, who was married to Elviss only child for 10 years made the claims in court papers filed on Valentines Day in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Early on Friday, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that the couples eight-year-old twins Finley and Harper were taken into care by California Child Protective Services after Lockwoods computer was searched.

A court hearing is scheduled for next month to determine their fate.

Lisa Marie, 49, claims that Lockwood had hundreds of disturbing pictures on his computer and that cops in California and Tennessee are investigating further.

Lockwood's estranged wife claims police found 80 of his devices during a raid on her home, according to court papers

I was shocked and horrified and sick to my stomach, she said in court papers filed as part of her ongoing divorce from Lockwood.

She said police seized 80 of Lockwoods devices and are still going through them to find exactly what is on them. I have no idea what else may be on those devices and fear that there are more and worse images and evidence in these unanalayzed devices, she said in her filing.

But Lockwood said she broke the rules by revealing the unproven allegations and that she is out to destroy his reputation.

And his lawyer, Jeff Sturman, said that Presleys attorney Mark Gross called his office with a threat that he would go public unless Lockwood abandoned his bid to get $40,000 a month in spousal support and $100,000 towards his legal fees from The Kings daughter.

He said he needs the money to pay his legal fees as it is the only way he would be able to afford to protect his rights against a very wealth (sic) and vindictive person like Lisa Marie.

Beatrice Fung, another of Lockwoods lawyers, said a judge made an order in September last year that prohibits both parents from discussing the allegations.

Priscilla Presley is seen for the first time on February 17 since it was revealed two of her grandchildren have been taken into care

Presley and Lockwood, 55, a musician who has worked with Fiona Apple and Aimee Mann among others, were married in a lavish $340,000 ceremony in Kyoto, Japan in 2006. Her first husband, Danny Keough was best man. They separated last June.

Presley, who claims nearly all of her $300 million fortune is gone, said that she has to pay for two nannies to go along as monitors when her husband visits the children.

DailyMail.com reported exclusively last month that Lockwood was demanding that a post-nuptial agreement that the two had signed in 2007 should be torn up. That document said neither party should have a claim on the assets of the other in the event of the marriage breaking down.

In the Valentines Day papers, Lockwood said Presley is hiding a vast fortune by pretending to be broke. At one time she was said to be worth $300 million.

He claimed she still receives $466,000 a month  $5.6 million a year  from the trust Elvis set up for her before his death in 1977.

He said her tax returns showed that from 2013-2015 she also got more than $4.5 million a year in dividends and capital gains and she receives way more than the $100,000 a month that she claims.

He said in the same three-year period he earned an average of just $55,017  less than one percent of her income.

Presley (above with her parents Elvis and Priscilla) claims in court papers filed as part of her divorce that nearly all of her $300 million fortune is gone

Now he said he cannot find work because Presley insisted he concentrate on her career throughout their marriage. The music industry changed during that time and I lost most or all of my professional connections, he said.

Further, I believe (Presleys) allegations in her declaration will ruin my reputation and it will be difficult or impossible for me to get a job.

Lockwood even slammed his wife over her claim that he had bought the twins an expensive, fully-stocked saltwater fish tank. He said there were just two goldfish in the small tank.

He said the cell phones she claimed he had bought them cost $18 each from Target. They play with them, he said.

I continue to live a below poverty line existence and need financial assistance to pay my expenses, and my fees and costs, Lockwood added.

Presley had claimed she was broke and has been forced to move in with her actress daughter Riley Keough. She said she hadnt been on a plane in 18 months and couldnt remember the last time she bought clothes and shoes of any value.

I am disgusted that (she) described unproven allegations about mein a declaration that she filed in this courts publicly accessible records, Michael Lockwood said in papers filed in the latest round of their bitter divorce battle

She said Lockwood and a business manager had defrauded her of millions of dollars and she now owes $7.3 million in back taxes and has another $655,000 of other debt, including $212,000 owed on credit cards.

Presley listed 11 bank accounts, mainly held in banks in Jacksonville, Florida. One has just $6.50 in it and another has $9.88. The amounts total nearly $105,000.

In her filing, Presley mentioned only Coes Hall, her home in Sussex, England, saying it was worth just $2 million, while she owes more than $5 million on it.

But Lockwood said she failed to disclose material information and attempted to mislead the Court.

He said she has been paying for five other homes, three in California, one in Tennessee and one in Hawaii.

Daily Mail.com has reached out to Lisa Maries representatives and her lawyer Mark Gross. Neither immediately returned phone calls.

In opposing Lockwood's petition for spousal support, Lisa Marie asks the court to deny his request

In her declaration in court papers, Lisa Marie reveals that her twin daughters are under the care of child services

A trial is set in March regarding allegations of sexual abuse and neglect by Lockwood. Lisa Marie alleges in the papers that she discovered hundred of inappropriate photos and video on his computer
On a hospital ward, patients were writhing and screaming in agony. Their organs were failing, their heads swollen and many were projectile vomiting as their immune systems began to completely shut down. It looked like a scene from a horror film, yet this was the appalling reality for six young men who had been in perfect health until they signed up to take part in a drugs trial a decade ago.

It was, they believed, a chance to make some easy money and do their bit for medical science at the same time.

But what should have been a routine trial in a private clinic at Northwick Park Hospital, North-West London, soon spiralled into one of the most infamous medical emergencies, and became known as the Elephant Man drug trial because of its shocking side-effects. Now a BBC documentary is to revisit the dramatic events that resulted in the young men fighting for their lives.

Ryan Wilson, who nearly died, has been left with fingers and toes like stone and that are now gradually falling off

Featuring extraordinary personal testimony from those who took part in the trial, the doctors who treated them and the investigators tasked with discovering what went wrong, it tells the story of what happened and how it changed the way drug trials are conducted.

One of the men, Ryan Wilson, then just 21, spent four months in hospital and had his fingers and sections of his feet amputated following the trial. Shockingly, he, along with the other five, will never truly know the extent of the long-term damage caused to their bodies.

Of course, none of the eight volunteers had any idea what lay ahead when they gathered in March 2006 at a private unit at Northwick Park run by Parexel, an American company that helps pharmaceutical and biomedical companies develop and launch their products.

The group, aged between 19 and 34, had signed up to take part in the Phase 1 trial, meaning they were the first humans to test the drug known only as TGN1412. It was designed to manipulate the immune system with the hope being that it would eventually revolutionise cancer treatment.

Having been successfully tested on monkeys, expectations were high.

They were split into two groups of four, with one in each receiving a placebo  although no-one, including the clinicians, knew who.

The atmosphere was relaxed and light-hearted, as Rob Oldfield, then 31 and recently returned from an acting course in LA, recalls.

A friend of mine had done trials and he said I should sign up. They were offering 2,000 and I thought that was ok, he says. I was interested in the scientific contribution I could be making. It was a medicine being tested in a laboratory approved by the Government. What could go wrong?

For Raste Khan, then a 23-year-old recent graduate, the motivation was even simpler.

Medical trials were like a get-rich-quick-scheme, he says. A no brainer.

All knew there was risk involved, and filled in an 11-page consent form which detailed the hazards of taking part  to an extent.

We all knew there was a tiny amount of risk but the side-effects were you might get hives, you could get anaphylactic shock  which you can get from a bee sting, recalls Rob.

Dispatched to their beds on their ward, the drug was administered intravenously with each man receiving their dose ten minutes apart.

Patient 001, and the first to receive the drug, was David Oakley. Newly engaged to fiancee Katrina, he was in the midst of planning their wedding when he signed up.

I had lots to look forward to, he recalls.

But within minutes of receiving the drug David contracted a headache which rapidly got worse.

The group, aged between 19 and 34, had signed up to take part in the Phase 1 trial, meaning they were the first humans to test the drug known only as TGN1412

I told the nurse that I was having a major headache, he says.

She arranged a cold compress on my forehead, but didnt give me anything for it as they didnt want to taint the effects of the drugs they were testing.

Excruciating back pain followed.

I had severe pain in my lower back  it was way worse than the migraine, David recalls. I was trying my hardest to twist and turn to find a position where I could feel less pain. I couldnt understand. It was horrible.

Raste, meanwhile, could only look on in horror at Davids plight. Unaware he had been given the placebo, he believed he was shortly to undergo the same horror. I was assuming that my body was maybe a bit slower and it was going to kick in shortly. It was daunting, extremely scary, he says.

As subject number seven, Rob received the drug almost an hour later than David  who by then was already experiencing his adverse reactions  and recalls feeling almost immediately as though he had been dipped into ice.

My whole body went freezing cold and I started shaking, he says. This wasnt something you could stop, it was so extreme. It was horrendous.

Events accelerated. Four hours into the trial, the patients were screaming in agony while the bewildered clinical team descended into panic.

It was all manic, everything was happening all at once, Raste says. They were vomiting, they were screaming in pain, people were fainting, they couldnt control their bowels . . . it was like a horror movie.

I remember the doctors not knowing what to do, adds David. They probably hoped it would only last a short time. They werent expecting it to carry on and get worse.

Raste Khan, a 23-year-old recent graduate, said: 'Medical trials were like a get-rich-quick-scheme. A no brainer'

But it did get worse as, one by one, the men tumbled like dominoes.

Daniel Bradford, the doctor in charge of the trial, ran down two flights of stairs into the hospitals intensive care unit to grab the first two doctors he could see. In a recent newspaper interview, he confessed he felt completely out of control.

As well he might. His patients bodies were shutting down, some more rapidly than others.

On his ward Rob remembers Ryan  whom he had chatted to at the start of the day about how he was taking part to fund driving lessons  being wheeled away connected to beeping machines.

Ryan was rushed to Northwick Parks intensive care unit, where off-duty consultant Dr Ganesh Suntharalingam had been called in by panicked colleagues.

He was really as unwell as anyone Id ever seen, he recalls of his first patient. It was clear this was a very serious situation. We also knew there were five more people up there who had received the same drug. The clock was ticking, the rate at which they were deteriorating was very rapid.

As the intensive care beds filled up one by one with the critically ill human guinea pigs, outside police vans were criss-crossing London carrying extra equipment to help in the escalating crisis.

The consultants, meanwhile, were desperately trying to understand what had happened  and how to treat it.

For while the mens symptoms  organ failure and unstable blood pressure  looked like an extreme immune reaction known as a cytokine storm they could also have been occurring as the result of infection. The two required different treatment  and if the medics made the wrong call the results could be fatal.

There was really no margin for error, Dr Suntharalingam admits today. It was a big decision to take but it was one we had to get on with. We made the decision we would treat them as cytokine storms.

That meant administering a significant dose of steroids. After that, all anyone could do was wait  and pray.

Meanwhile, the patients families had to be informed. At 2am the following morning, medical staff called Robs mother and told her to come to the hospital. The doctors were saying this is your goodbye perhaps, he recalls.

Davids fiancee Katrinas telephone call came at 3.30am after which, heart pounding, she too raced to the hospital to see her critically ill partner.

I dont think anything could prepare you for what you saw when you first went in, she says now.

His cheeks were very swollen, so much so that his eyes looked more like slits. His face was just round like a ball and his stomach was huge. It was pretty scary to see somebody you love so disfigured.

While police investigators declared the unit where the trials had taken place a crime scene, the six men continued to fight for their lives.

David was in and out of consciousness. He would have enough strength to squeeze my hand, but that was about it before he would drop off, recalls Katrina. Then, 48 hours after they had been admitted to intensive care, Dr Suntharalingam recalls there was a sea-change.

Suddenly, on Wednesday morning, we were doing a ward round and I thought Somethings happened. The four patients who were awake told us within about an hour of each other that they suddenly felt much better.

Yet, while their vital signs had improved, they were far from out of the woods. It would be another five days before Rob and David were moved out of intensive care on to a regular NHS ward and another two weeks before they left hospital. Even then, they were shockingly weak, their immune systems depleted.

My organs were back working, but I was like an 80-year-old, my muscles were wasted away, David recalls. We had no immune system at all, we were given instructions not to go on the Tube, trains or buses in case someone was to cough near us.

Then came the bombshell realisation that their future health was likely to be affected. It was a question that appeared all the more urgent when further tests revealed an anomaly in Davids blood which sometimes appears prior to cancerous lymphoma.

It has since been shown to be unrelated to TGN1412, but for many months the discovery cast a long shadow. I got married roughly three months after the drug trial and normally youd think about having children afterwards, says David. That was something I was worried about. Could the drug flow into a childs system? I was very down.

The drug was administered ten times more quickly into the mens bloodstream than it had been in monkeys.

Both men were, at least, in a better state than Ryan Wilson, who remained in hospital for four months fighting the symptoms of pneumonia, septicaemia and dry gangrene which meant his fingertips fell off and part of his foot and toes had to be amputated.

I remember him showing his hands like Hey, what about my hands, Rob recalls. I saw that his fingers had blackened and there was no hope for saving them. I realised hed come out of this in a bad way and someone was the reason for that.

Now, as then, his feeling was that all the men were just cogs in the machine.

A subsequent investigation by the Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) served to underline that sentiment. In a report two months later, it declared that not only was there no formal system in place to provide 24-hour medical cover, but clinicians had not properly considered the safe dosage of the drug for humans.

The drug was administered ten times more quickly into the mens bloodstream than it had been in monkeys. The report added that an inspection of the Parexel unit did not find anything which they believed had contributed to the effects suffered.

The MHRAs report paved the way for a further independent report which made 22 recommendations to improve the safety of first-in-man (Phase 1) trials  among them that volunteers cannot be dosed all in the same day. They now apply throughout Europe.

It means, according to David Webb, professor of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Edinburgh, that clinical trials are safer than they have ever been. It comes as some consolation to Rob and David, who in 2009 received undisclosed compensation from Parexel in an out-of-court settlement.

Im glad to have been part of something that has reformed the whole industry, says Rob, who today is still pursuing a career as an actor.

Its a sentiment echoed by David who is now a father of three despite his fears that he would never be a parent. He remains convinced that medical trials are at the forefront of science.

Its not until you have a loved one that is really sick and could be dying and theyre saved by a drug which obviously went through this sort of drug trial initially that you fully appreciate how important those things are, he says.
Cruise companies are raking in millions of pounds in rip-off credit card fees.

New laws have been introduced to ban excessive charges for paying by plastic.

But consumer campaigners say they are being flouted, with the travel industry a major offender.

Cruise giant ROL charges a 2.5 per cent fee, while P&O owner Carnival charges 1.5 per cent, and Cunard charges 1.5 per cent (file picture)

Customers who purchase a luxury cruise with some of the biggest operators face hundreds of pounds in charges if paying by credit card.

Cruise giant ROL charges a 2.5 per cent fee, while P&O owner Carnival charges 1.5 per cent, and Cunard charges 1.5 per cent.

Booking a Caribbean cruise for two with ROL with a credit card will incur a fee of more than 150, on top of the 6,118 price tag for the trip.

A luxury 16-night cruise for two people from Beijing to Bangkok will cost almost 900 in credit card fees on a 35,598 trip.

Airlines are also hitting customers with swingeing charges to pay by credit card, with Ryanair levying a 2 per cent fee, and Flybe charging 3 per cent.

But others such as Wizzair charge nothing, while Monarch Airlines recently scrapped its fee.

Consumer campaign group Fairer Finance says customers are being ripped off.

A 0.3 per cent cap was introduced in December 2015 for so-called interchange fees paid by firms to their bank when they process a credit card payment. Other costs of processing the transaction have not been capped.

But experts insist the total cost should amount to little more than 0.6 per cent. Separate laws stipulate that traders can only pass on costs they incur for processing the transaction to customers and cannot use card fees to make extra profit.

But consumer campaigners have accused firms of profiteering and claim government and other authorities meant to police these rules  Trading Standards and the Payment Systems Regulator  have been allowing this to happen.

Customers who purchase a luxury cruise with some of the biggest operators face hundreds of pounds in charges if paying by credit card

James Daley, of Fairer Finance, said: Customers, including people booking expensive cruises, are being ripped off. These firms are profiteering.

Labour MP Chris Leslie, a former shadow chancellor, said: If the law has been changed it has to be enforced. Councils are exempt from the crackdown on credit card charges, but have also been blasted for imposing hefty fees.

Ealing, West Dorset, North Norfolk and South Cambridgeshire are just some of the authorities which levy a 2.5 per cent charge on credit card payments for anything from council tax to parking permits.

Lichfield, Tameside, Wealden and East Hertfordshire charge 2 per cent.

The cruise companies, airlines and councils claim they are simply passing on their costs to customers. But ROL Cruise said it has decided to reduce its credit card charge to 1.5 per cent from March 1.

A spokesman said: We do make all customers aware of the credit card fee at the time of booking.

A spokesman for Cunard said: We follow the guidance issued by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in relation to credit card fees to ensure the fees we charge are fair and legal.
If 2016 was considered the year of the dumpster fire, 2017 can be summed up by this incredible photograph of a raccoon clutching onto the back of a garbage truck.

Helena B. Evich, a reporter at Politico, took a photo of the raccoon as it hung onto the ladder at the back of the American Disposal Services truck around 11am on Friday.

Evich notified the driver, who was traveling from Rosslyn to Falls Church, Virginia, and an animal control team safely removed the animal.

Helena B. Evich, a reporter at Politico, took a photo of this raccoon as it hung onto the ladder at the back of the American Disposal Services truck on Friday

Evich snapped the photo of what has already been dubbed 'trash raccoon' while she was driving to work on Friday morning.

The animal looked perfectly balanced on the ladder as it peered out at the traffic with its front paws clutching onto the rungs.

Evich posted the photo, which has already been viewed more than 700,000 times, and tweeted: 'This raccoon is having a rough morning - just wanted some trash & ended up in Rosslyn!'

She managed to flag down the driver and later called the sanitation company once she got to work.

An animal control team in Falls Church managed to safely remove the animal.

While many Twitter users marveled at how cute the raccoon looked, others couldn't help but take it as a metaphor for the political climate

While many Twitter users marveled at how cute the raccoon looked, others couldn't help but take it as a metaphor for the political climate.

One user, tweeting under the handle @gbracke, wrote: 'We are all that raccoon hanging onto the ladder as the garbage truck Trump is making the US barrels down the road.'

Susan Bordson wrote: 'I saw this as a visual metaphor for GOP legislators right now...quietly hanging on. A little nervous.'

Others joked the raccoon was simply doing its job, and Scott Merritt wrote: 'I see the disposal services are cutting help now days too. Cheaper more efficient help.'

One social media user even turned the image into a motivational poster by superimposing the words 'hang in there' over the photo.
A resilient 75-year-old survived by eating grass for two days after getting lost in the bush.

Bernie Howell disappeared on Wednesday while out walking with his family near the town of Pingelly in Western Australia.

Mr Howell was found on Friday morning, and had only suffered some cuts and bruises, Seven News reported.

Bernie Howell disappeared on Wednesday while out walking with his family near the town of Pingelly in Western Australia

The resilient 75-year-old survived by eating grass for two days after getting lost in the bush

His family learned he had walked five kilometres into the bush after stopping for a rest.

Mr Howell, who suffers from dementia, had made a 'bed of leaves,' his daughter Danette told Seven News.

'He's been eating grass, tried to find water,' she said. 'He's just resilient.'

The daughter thanked police and the State Emergency Services for their help in the search.

'It's just absolute overwhelming relief,' she said.
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Every morning, just after sunrise, an army of charity workers descends on a grand, white building overlooking the Mediterranean in a suburb of Athens.

They bring duvets, crates of sandwiches, piles of clothes  even prayer mats  to the 1,600 migrants who have transformed what was once a glitzy international airport into a sprawling makeshift camp.

As the day goes on, groups of migrants hailing from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq emerge to queue at the bus stop outside. It is a ten-mile ride to the capitals shopping streets, parks  and hospitals, where many can get free medical care.

Manthos Zymaris, a former builder, is 82, a forgotten victim of decades of feckless government, and now the draconian measures imposed on Greece by its European Union masters. He has no pension or medical insurance

Neither the migrants nor the charity workers pay any attention to a small shack opposite the bus stop, or to its occupants. This was once a smart cafe-bar, serving cocktails and pastries to people waiting for planes to arrive  but that was in the heyday of Hellinikon airport, which closed in 2001 and has been left to decay ever since.

Now, the cafe is a derelict shell, with a mud floor, no doors, no window panes and no heating. Its flat roof is patched up with bits of sacking  but these dont stop the pigeons flying in and out through the gaps.

Inside, I found an elderly man sitting in a basket-weave chair in temperatures close to freezing. No charity workers have come with warm clothes, a duvet or new shoes for him.

And when I touched his hands, they were ice-cold, his eyes half-shut as he clutched damp blankets around him.

Manthos Zymaris, a former builder, is 82, a forgotten victim of decades of feckless government, and now the draconian measures imposed on Greece by its European Union masters. He has no pension or medical insurance, nor can the beleaguered Greek state afford to put a decent roof over his head.

His daughter Maria  who lives here, too  is reduced to scavenging for sandwiches dropped by the migrants, or creeping into the camp at night to look for leftovers. She said: We Greeks believe we are European, but what has the EU given us

To Maria, the comfortable, middle-class life they used to lead is a distant memory. Like many, she and her elderly father are now reduced to fighting for survival in a once-proud country brought to its knees by crushing debt. The debt, of course, was racked up by Greeces huge profligacy after joining the euro 16 years ago, when it milked the system for all it could get

And he has lived in this squalor for three years after losing the family house, in the nearby seaside suburb of Kalamaki, when he defaulted on his mortgage payments.

His daughter Maria  who lives here, too  is reduced to scavenging for sandwiches dropped by the migrants, or creeping into the camp at night to look for leftovers.

We Greeks believe we are European, but what has the EU given us? asks Maria, 61, a divorcee. I look after my father because there is no one else to do it. We used to live so nicely. It was a different world then.

But, despite everything, she says they are lucky to have found somewhere to shelter.

A cafe is a derelict shell, with a mud floor, no doors, no window panes and no heating. Its flat roof is patched up with bits of sacking  but these dont stop the pigeons flying in and out through the gaps

We are grateful to have found this place, she says. Its better than the pavement.

From a box by her fathers feet, a tearful Maria produces a dog-eared family photo album. It shows the family in happier times: her smiling on a plane taking her to London for a holiday during the Seventies.

Another picture is of her, as a girl, racing her pony across the beach. A third shows Mr Zymaris as a handsome 40-year-old.

To Maria, the comfortable, middle-class life they used to lead is a distant memory. Like many, she and her elderly father are now reduced to fighting for survival in a once-proud country brought to its knees by crushing debt. The debt, of course, was racked up by Greeces huge profligacy after joining the euro 16 years ago, when it milked the system for all it could get.

Ekbal Markos, a 34-year-old Egyptian visits a clinic run by private doctors who give the poorest Greeks  and, increasingly, migrants, too  free drugs, childhood vaccinations and baby milk with her two-month-old son, Alven, asleep in a pushchair

The public sector wage bill doubled, the benefits system swelled and corruption flourished. Paying taxes had always been considered optional by many Greek citizens  but now, ignoring tax became the norm.

The gravy train raced on until, in 2009, the EU belatedly realised its most troublesome member was near to bankrupt.

Not only that, it was at risk of endangering the entire Eurozone project.

If Greece defaulted, the shock would have disastrous consequences for other EU countries who are its main creditors, and risk another banking crisis. And there would be calls for Greece to leave the Eurozone  and perhaps the EU altogether.

In return for 300 billion in bail-outs, savage austerity was imposed on Greece by the EU establishment and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). EU finance chiefs demanded a tough crackdown on benefits and state pensions  and hiked taxes to the skies. But the austerity programme not only failed to make the debt sustainable, it recreated the kind of poverty western Europe thought it had left behind.

The truth is that Greece has been crippled. One million jobs have disappeared and a third of its population live in poverty.

A quarter of adults are unemployed  as well as 44 per cent of under-25s. The retirement age has been put up to 67  12 years higher than the good old days (when even hairdressers stopped snipping at 55 due to arduous conditions) and pensions have been slashed a dozen times.

Hospital budgets are down by a third, while VAT has soared to 24 per cent. Against this bleak backdrop, the divorce rate in this traditional, family-oriented nation is rising, as financial pressures tear couples apart. Babies are abandoned in maternity wards because mothers cant afford to feed or clothe them, while bereaved families are pursued over unpaid invoices for the burial of their loved ones.

But the debt crisis is far from over  in fact, things are feared to be getting worse. The Greek economy shrunk in the final three months of last year; its debts are now a terrifying 177 per cent of its GDP.

And, in a bleak warning to both Greece and the EU this week, the IMF said that, by 2030, the Greek debt load would become explosive. It stated that substantial debt relief from its European partners was needed.

But the European Central Bank insists writing off Greeces debts is out of the question.

This week, an EU envoy was dispatched to order Greece to agree yet more austerity measures, in return for the EU unlocking more funds from what will be a third multi-billion-pound rescue programme.

Officials hoped for an agreement before a meeting of EU finance ministers on Monday. But so far, no deal has been reached.

To force the country to stand on its own two feet, the EU wants Greece to impose a tougher tax collection system, and lower the tax-free allowance on incomes to around 5,550 a year.

They have a point: some studies suggest as much as 89 per cent of the countrys tax receipts remain uncollected. In Germany, the figure is around 2 per cent.

Across town, on a scrap of land near the sea, I found Victor Mpakopoulos, a 69-year-old retired postman, collecting herbs in the undergrowth. He says he sometimes paid his taxes, but that whatever the mistakes of the past, Greeks have taken enough punishment from the EU

We dont like Mrs Merkel or Mr Juncker, he says with fervour. We are better out of the Euro and Europe. I congratulate Britain for voting Brexit, closing borders, and hope we do the same thing because it will be better for us. His sentiment is shared by many Greeks

Its proof that the national habit of tax-dodging has not gone away: last year, 10 billion owed never made it to the nations coffers. Unsurprisingly, the Greeks are starting to loathe the EU, its German masters and the stranglehold they have placed on their country.

Polls show more than half believe scrapping the old currency, the drachma, and joining the Eurozone was a mistake  one in three would like to ditch the Euro altogether.

Meanwhile, the beleaguered country faces an additional crisis.

The unprecedented influx of migrants is costing Greece far more than the 512 million originally estimated, the Bank of Greece has warned.

Lena Tzika, 46, with son Christos, 3. Lena has been in Athens for a year because her husband is awaiting a heart transplant at the Onassis Hospital. As he is a critical case, the state is paying for his treatment

The reason? Most of those arriving in Greece from North African ports were expected to travel quickly onwards, to once-welcoming Germany or ever-popular Britain.

But now, border closures and razor wire fences en-route have stopped that. And, as a result, Greece is playing unwilling host to tens of thousands of foreigners who do not want to be there anyway.

Those migrants who make the journey northwards to Macedonia  from where they hope to travel on to Western Europe  are turned back. Most end up at Athens old airport. These unexpected guests are a huge burden on the already creaking health system, too. One newly arrived five-year-old Syrian boy with the life-threatening blood-clotting disorder haemophilia was treated for three months last year at St Sophia, the state hospital for children in Athens.

Marble Ossuaries at the Cemetery of Paleo Faliro in Athens, where dead people's bones are kept after their bodies are exhumed. Families have to pay for exhumation, but many cannot afford to pay even for this limited dignity in death

A migrant child playing on an Olympic Airlines stairway fixture at the former Hellenikon Airport in Athens. The former Hellenikon airport in Athens is now a camp for over 1,600 migrants

The drugs and care he needed cost 645,000. Hospital director Manolis Papasavas explained: We do not turn away children wherever they come from  even though we could never afford to treat three patients like him each year.

Not long ago, a two-month-old baby was found abandoned at the door of a hospital. A desperate mother or father had left a note, saying: I dont want this child, I cant afford to take care of it. Please take it.

He was looked after by nurses, then sent to an already over-stretched childrens home. His family, thought to be from Albania, never returned to claim him.

Across town, on a scrap of land near the sea, I found Victor Mpakopoulos, a 69-year-old retired postman, collecting herbs in the undergrowth. He says he sometimes paid his taxes, but that whatever the mistakes of the past, Greeks have taken enough punishment from the EU.

We dont like Mrs Merkel or Mr Juncker, he says with fervour. We are better out of the Euro and Europe. I congratulate Britain for voting Brexit, closing borders, and hope we do the same thing because it will be better for us. His sentiment is shared by many Greeks.

Not long ago, a two-month-old baby was found abandoned at the door of St Sophia Childrens Hospital, Athens. A desperate mother or father had left a note, saying: I dont want this child, I cant afford to take care of it. Please take it.

Hospital director Manolis Papasavas explained: We do not turn away children wherever they come from  even though we could never afford to treat three patients like him each year'

Along the coast, there is a clinic run by private doctors to give the poorest Greeks  and, increasingly, migrants, too  free drugs, childhood vaccinations and baby milk.

Ekbal Markos, a 34-year-old Egyptian is here with her two-month-old son, Alven, asleep in a pushchair. Shes taken a half-hour bus ride from the familys tiny apartment in central Athens to collect powdered milk.

She says her three boys  Christian, eight, Kelvin, six, and baby Alven  will be raised as Greeks.

Four years ago, she ran away from Egypt to join her husband Hannah, 36, in Athens, where he worked as a painter.

We are Coptic Christians and are afraid of the Islamic fundamentalism back home. We are relieved to be in Greece, said Ekbel, with a beaming smile.

But the financial crisis hit this family hard. Hannah, who has no medical insurance, lost his job because the Greeks now paint their own homes to save money.

When Alven (pictured) was born in December, Ekbal got a bed in a state maternity hospital by giving a wad of euros to a doctor

When Alven was born in December, Ekbal got a bed in a state maternity hospital by giving a wad of euros to a doctor.

We survive because my husband gets bits of work in the summer, and we save that money for the rent and other things like that, she says. Its impossible not to feel sympathy.

Next in the queue is a Greek-born mother also needing help.

She is Lena Tzika, a 46-year-old with a three-year-old son, Christos, who has a bad cold and cough. Her husband, Christos Senior, is 59 and being treated for heart failure in an intensive care unit of an Athens state hospital.

He is being treated for free as an emergency patient. But without a transplant, he will die.

The family moved from Larissa, a city north of Athens, to save his life.

They had to give up their taxi business and rent a house in the citys suburbs. But after a year, they have run out of money. We come to the clinic because it is free, but it is often busy because so many others need help, says Lena.

She and her son face a long wait in a room full of mothers and children  some from Nigeria and Albania.

Back at the airport camp, the migrants appear well-fed and warmly dressed in the unseasonably cold weather, thanks to the generosity of Greek charity organisations.

One woman in a black parka jacket runs for the bus holding her seven-year-old daughter with one hand and an H&M bag in the other.

A teenage girl, in an orange hijab and a grey Gap top, follows closely behind, while her friend by her side jumps over muddy puddles to protect her new trainers.

Twelve days ago, discontented Afghans staged a riot here. They want to get out of Greece or  if forced to stay  be given better living conditions.

Scores of protesters climbed on the metal gates shouting We Go, Go at Greeces migration minister when he visited.

Mubashar Elisan, 24, lives at the camp, but did not join the protest. He and his friend, Mohammed Awais, 20, are from Lahore in Pakistan, and have been there for months.

They say they were students who left because of corruption and want a better life in Europe.

Stonemason Andreas Dumas at the Cemetery of Paleo Faliro in Athens. Cemeteries in Greek cities are so overcrowded that bodies are often only kept in the ground for three years

Neither the migrants nor the charity workers pay any attention to a small shack opposite the bus stop, or to its occupants. This was once a smart cafe-bar, serving cocktails and pastries to people waiting for planes to arrive  but that was in the heyday of Hellinikon airport, which closed in 2001 and has been left to decay ever since

Three times, they have tried to get out of Greece by going up to the border with Macedonia.

They paid traffickers to get them through, but were caught and sent back.

The Macedonian police shot Mohammed, injuring his little finger on his left hand, which is now permanently crooked.

The Pakistanis are polite, immaculately dressed in ski jackets and squeaky-clean designer trainers given to them by charity workers.

They would seem an asset to any country. Yet they are only bringing more problems to Greece.

Mubashar needs regular medical treatment, which  as a migrant claiming asylum  he gets for free.

He will not say if he really came to Europe for free treatment with expensive drugs for a long-term illness. Whatever the truth, he is another migrant who is blissfully unaware that some of the Greek people are worse off than him.

We stand outside the airport near the bus stop. The young Pakistanis are about to catch a bus to Athens, and I point out the shack over the road where Maria and her near-to-death father are being left to rot.

I tell them that these two impoverished Greeks have no new clothes or duvets, and are forced to survive on scraps from the camp.

The young men stare blankly at me. For, like many in Greece, whether born here or not, it is all about survival.

Back in Brussels, EU leaders care little for these countless personal tragedies. All they care about is that their grand European project doesnt fall apart.
The Treasury could rake in up to 15million by charging for business rate appeals.

Ministers are seeking powers to make small firms pay 150 if they want to challenge their new rate and take it to a tribunal. Larger companies will pay 300.

They also plan to fine businesses up to 500 if they make a careless or deliberate mistake while filling out their forms.

Officials claim it will deter businesses from lodging appeals backed with little or no evidence. This should help to clear a backlog of 280,000 appeal cases that stretch back to 2010.

Treasury minister David Gauke has attempted to defend the plan to charge firms if they want to challenge their new business rates

Assuming just a fifth of the businesses facing a hike lodge an appeal with the independent tribunal and pay the lower fee of 150, the Government could net up to 15million in five years.

Treasury minister David Gauke attempted to defend the plan yesterday. But he sparked anger by claiming too many businesses were clogging the system. He also accused traders of using no-win, no-fee firms to make speculative appeals, contributing to the Valuation Office Agencys seven-year backlog.

He said: Nobody is going to be stopped from appealing. We have to recognise what is currently happening in the system is that there are a huge number of very speculative appeals that are going in, first encouraged by agencies on a no-win, no-fee basis, chancing their arm hoping that there will be a reduction in their business rates.

That is frankly clogging up the system and getting in the way of appeals for those who have a genuine problem.

Jan Blumire, 66, who owns Chelsfield Equestrian Centre in Orpington, south-east London, will have to pay an extra 5,000 a year in business rates and says she does not know how her venture will manage. Commenting on the appeals process, she said: Its just wrong for them to take 150 off you when you challenge the rates at tribunal for being unfair.

Things are tight enough as it is. You cant afford to lose more money paying unfair charges. It will definitely put people off making appeals  thats if they are able to stay open long enough to lodge an appeal.

Assuming just a fifth of the businesses facing a hike lodge an appeal with the independent tribunal and pay the lower fee of 150, the Government could net up to 15million in five years. Above, Philip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer

Even if businesses are successful in appealing, they may get no help if the disputed amount is within a margin of error. Instead, it will be left up to the judgment of valuers to approve any rate change.

Several other changes have also been made to the appeals process that will make it harder for businesses to complain. Previously, it was a two-stage process involving a simple form and no fees were charged.

Now, it is expected to become a three-stage process, including an initial checking stage where firms must confirm that every part of their property which the valuation is based on is accurate. Experts say businesses will also be required to submit more formal evidence than before. If the appeal has still not been resolved, the final stage is a tribunal, when a fee is charged.

The fees go into the Governments general funding pot and are refunded if the appeal is successful.

Yesterday, councils complained they had been forced to put aside 2.5billion in case they needed to pay back businesses which had been charged the wrong rate. They backed Government changes to the appeals process however.

Andrew Silvester, of the Institute of Directors, said: On top of hefty increases for hundreds of thousands of businesses, changes to the appeals process will just pile on the pain.

A few thousand pounds here and there might be a rounding error in the Governments finances but to many small businesses it can be the difference between surviving and going under.

The Communities Department also plans to fine small businesses up to 200 for careless and deliberate errors in their appeal claims, rising to 500 for larger companies.

A Government spokesman said: We are not stopping anyone from either querying or appealing their business rate bills  nor are we charging anyone who makes a genuine mistake.

In fact, we are looking to make the appeals process easier by reducing the number of spurious claims so people with genuine concerns have their cases heard and resolved much quicker.

Were proposing that anyone who has gone through the more thorough valuation checking process and is still looking to make an appeal to the Valuation Tribunal pays a small fee.
Officer Tony Bernardo and two others worked to extricate an 11-ft python from a college student's car in Davie, Florida. The snake slithered into the car's engine compartment

A Florida college student found an unwelcome surprise hiding under his friend's car - an 11-foot python.

Ross Price and his roommate, James Hand, called police on February 1 after an exterminator couldn't come at the late hour in Davie, about 25 miles north of Miami.

Officer Tony Bernardo and two other officers arrived at the scene.

They did battle with the slithering python, which tried to snake its way farther and farther into the Toyota Camry's engine compartment, the Sun-Sentinel reported.

After a 15-minute ordeal, the snake was extricated.

Price, a 24-year-old student at Nova Southeastern University, told the Sentinel: 'You just don't expect something like that wandering around your house.'

Hand, 25, said: 'What if it had crawled up into my car and made its way inside as I was driving?'

After a 15-minute ordeal, the snake was extricated, Officer Bernardo later appeared in a video holding up the python. Davie Police said the snake, which has since been turned over to a care company, was most likely a pet

Officer Bernardo later appeared in a video holding up the python.

The video shows him playfully wrangling with the python in what appears to be an office room.

Davie Police said the snake, which has since been turned over to a care company, was most likely a pet and it was not a Burmese Python.
A devastating bushfire which destroyed more than a dozen homes on Friday has left wildlife and livestock stranded on burnt out land.

Firefighters are still working to contain the blaze at Carwoola, near Canberra, which has blackened more than 3,500 hectares.

Heartbreaking images of kangaroos and horses roaming the scorched earth emerged on Saturday, while another shows a burnt out tortoise shell.

A wild bushfire which destroyed more than a dozen homes in Carwoola, near Canberra, on Friday continues to burn. Heartbreaking images showed kangaroos roaming the blackened earth on Saturday

100 new fires began after a band of electrical storms hit NSW on Friday

A small horse is seen after the devastating fire swept through Carwoola

A huge plume of smoke is seen in an aerial shot of the fire taken on Friday afternoon

Residents were forced to flee for their lives when the fire swept over the region on Friday afternoon.

Kevin and Vanessa Linley watched on as their home went up in flames.

'The sky changed colour at a quarter to 12, and three hours later we've lost everything,' Mr Linley told The Mercury.

Mr Linley told the publication the couple grabbed everything they could before they were forced to flee.

'I was prepared to fight, I had a thousand litres of water in the tanks all ready to go  then the fire came over the shed, double the height of the shed and the shed is six feet tall,' he said.

'It just moved so fast. One minute it was clear blue skies, and one change in the wind and we were in thick dark black smoke and that's when I said we had to go.'

Families were forced to flee as they watched their homes go up in flames. Pictured, a burnt tortoise shell

A burnt out building is seen after the out of control bushfire broke out on Friday at Carwoola

The blaze proved a challenge in Friday's hot and windy conditions and has blackened more than 2500 hectares

Smouldering shipping containers pictured on Saturday morning

Sue Tully was another who fled for her life, along with four dogs and two of her cats. She left behind her pigs, chickens and pet kangaroos.

Mrs Tully was at home on her own as the blaze approached from three sides of the property.

'I could see the hills behind us on fire... but it looked as though it was going to be alright.'

It's believed 15 homes have been lost in the 3,500-hectare fire, one of 89 burning across the state.

Mrs Tully believed a fire in the area was overdue after the last one came through in the mid-1980s.

'We knew it was inevitable to come back at some time,' she said.

It's believed 15 homes have been lost in the 2,900-hectare fire, one of 89 burning across the state

Carwoola residents said they grabbed everything the could from their homes before they were forced to flee

Authorities were hopeful falling temperatures and easing winds had allowed firefighters to contain the blaze

She hasn't heard whether other homes in her local area are among those destroyed but doesn't hold much hope for her own.

'I knew we would lose the house or have it damaged as I got in the car and left,' Mrs Tully said.

Carita Brough has lived in the area nearly 40 years and stayed to protect her home, which survived the blaze despite coming terrifyingly close.

'We had our mother-in-law there who's 94 so locked her inside before police came to pick her up,' she told AAP on Saturday.

'The four of us who stayed put all the sprinklers on, wet everything down and waited.'

Authorities were hopeful falling temperatures and easing winds had allowed firefighters to contain the blaze.

'Crews are doing very well at this stage in pulling up and slowing the fire front,' RFS spokesman James Morris said on Friday evening.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has commended firefighters battling the blaze.

'I just want to thank and commend the firefighters there and all the first responders who are again showing that selfless service to the community battling the worst that nature can fling at us,' he told reporters before flying out of Queenstown, New Zealand on Saturday.

The RFS said 100 new fires began after a band of electrical storms swept NSW, lashing greater Sydney on Friday

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has commended firefighters battling the blaze

While hot, windy conditions and low humidity tested crews, Saturday's forecast appeared more forgiving

Police said they are working with RFS to find out how the bushfire started.

'Officers attached to Monaro Local Area Command will continue to investigate the circumstances and prepare a brief of information for the Coroner,' a police spokesperson said.

The RFS said 100 new fires began after a band of electrical storms swept NSW, lashing greater Sydney on Friday.

While hot, windy conditions and low humidity tested crews, Saturday's forecast appears more forgiving.

Across the Southern Tablelands, the Bureau of Meteorology expected a 50 per cent chance of showers and the chance of a thunderstorm.

Temperatures were expected to reach the mid to high 20s, with light winds becoming northwest to southwesterly at 15 to 25km/h.

The ACT's fire danger was rated as very high by the bureau, while the Southern Ranges were tipped to experience a high danger rating.

The ACT's fire danger was rated as very high by the bureau, while the Southern Ranges were tipped to experience a high danger rating
Daphney Sanasie outside court in Dublin

A model who once participated in a dating show has been spared a criminal conviction for harassing a celebrity chef after a judge said he gave her mixed signals and once called her darling.

Daphney Sanasie, 26, was ordered to at all times stay away from former MasterChef Ireland judge Dylan McGrath, 39, after bombarding him with messages after two dates.

But the South African avoided jail as Mr McGrath sent messages in summer 2015 that said: Whats wrong darling. Im having dinner at a conference in Spain, and I love that coat in your photo.

Judge Michael Walsh at Dublin District Court said relations then took a nasty turn when Mr McGrath sent Sanasie a message that was impolite to say the least, unacceptable in most peoples eyes and hurtful to say the least to Ms Sanasie.

Yesterday Sanasie  who pleaded guilty to harassment last month  was ordered to at all times stay away from the former MasterChef Ireland judge and never to turn up at his home or business premises. As a result, she avoids a criminal record.

The student claimed that she first met Mr McGrath through a mutual friend in 2014 and went on two dates with him before relations turned sour.

Sanasie once appeared on RTE's version of the show First Dates.

But the restaurateur complained to gardai that she had bombarded him with unwanted text messages and nuisance phonecalls following their two dates that left him in fear.

Sanasie was first arrested and brought before Dublin District Court last May and initially pleaded not guilty to the charges of sending nearly 120 messages via encrypted messaging service WhatsApp  plus further text messages and phone calls  between September 9 and November 21, 2015.

But last month she pleaded guilty to harassing Mr McGrath.

Sanasie was ordered to at all times stay away from former MasterChef Ireland judge Dylan McGrath

She arrived at Dublin District Court yesterday in a green jumpsuit and black and white high heels to be sentenced. Later, she smiled broadly as she walked free from the courts complex, thanking all my fans who had sent her lovely messages.

She told reporters after the hearing: I am very delighted with the whole outcome. Its been a very difficult time for me because it took the whole year. Im just glad that eventually its over and I hope everybody else can just move on with their lives.

She said she wished Mr McGrath all the best and had no hard feelings over what happened. She claimed that there obviously was a misunderstanding with everything, adding: I thought it was going to lead to something more, and obviously that wasnt the case.

Former MasterChef Ireland judge and restauranteur Dylan McGrath

Prosecution lawyers had told the court last month how Sanasie had texted Mr McGrath indicating that she knew where he lived after he changed address and sent him images he found disturbing, mentioning demons and souls.

In one text  sent during a period when Mr McGrath was ignoring her messages  she claimed to have been involved a car accident when there was no such accident, the court had also heard.

Yesterday, when her case was called, she parted company with the legal team that represented her at last months hearing and brought in a new defence team.

Judge Walsh said the evidence hed seen from a lengthy log of all relevant communications between the pair doesnt meet the threshold necessary to impose a conviction.

The judge said there had been mixed signals coming from Mr McGrath.

The result means that although Sanasie remains guilty of harassing Mr McGrath on foot of her plea entered on January 20 last, she avoids a criminal record. Instead, Judge Walsh ordered Sanasie to have no contact in any way directly or indirectly, by internet or websites with Mr McGrath.

The ban will last for all time.

The court also heard a number of phones seized from Sanasie after her arrest last year will now be returned to her.

Earlier, Seamus Clarke, prosecuting, told the court Sanasie had posted on Facebook within days of the last court hearing  even though she had been ordered by the judge not to tweet or post on social media about the case.

After examining a print-out of the Facebook post, which was not read to the court, Judge Walsh said he thought that the sentence he was about to give will encapsulate that kind of behaviour going forward.
Walter Gaines III (pictured) allegedly shot girlfriend Shaquenda Walker and her mother Deborah Walker before taking his life

Two children under the age of five are thought to have been trapped inside a home for days with their murdered mother, grandmother and mother's boyfriend.

Walter Gaines III allegedly fatally shot his girlfriend Shaquenda Walker, 24, and her mother Deborah Walker, 55, before taking his own life in Richmond, Virginia.

Three bloody, bodies were discovered after sitting in the apartment for an unknown number of days.

Horrifyingly, Shaquenda's two children, ages two and four, were at the residence at Oliver Crossing Apartments with the corpses.

On Thursday, the children knocked on their neighbor's door saying their mother and grandmother would not wake up according to WTVR.

It is not clear if the children witnessed the grisly murder suicide.

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Shaquenda Walker (pictured), 24, was found dead with her boyfriend and mother when her two children told neighbors they wouldn't wake up

Shaquenda's two children, ages two and four, were at the residence (pictured) at Oliver Crossing Apartments with the corpses for an unknown number of days

Virginia Commonwealth University psychologist Micah McCreary told the station: 'Hopefully they ran and hid and didn't look at it, but there's no telling.'

'It seems like nothing, but it really helps to get it out of you, because this stuff bubbles up and it explodes.

'To actually take away someone's mother, grandmother, then your own self is just the epitome of rage and hurt.'

The medical examiner is still determining the time and cause of death.

Gaines, 23, had a violent criminal history which included robbery and felony accessory after the fact charges according to WRIC.

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney told the station: 'This seems to be once again a senseless act, but something thats not random. It seems very isolated, like some of the acts that happened in the past.'

Detectives believe this is an isolated incident of senseless violence. However, authorities noted the uptick in crime this year.

This time last year there were nine homicides by this time and this year there are 13.

Police Chief Alfred Durham told the Richmond Times-Dispatch: 'This has to stop. This is not the city of Richmond. We experienced this 20 years ago, and we dont want to go back to where we were then.'
Satellite images show the steady increase of water levels at California's Oroville Dam, where the threat of overflowing has prompted a state of emergency.

When comparing June 2016 to February 2017, there is a noticeable change in water height and color at the world's second tallest dam.

Engineers have been conducting preventative procedures to siphon off the water and clear debris from the dam's crumbling exterior this week.

 Slide me  Satellite images on June 27 2016 (left) and February 14 2017 (right) show the steady increase of water levels at California's Oroville Dam, where the threat of overflowing has prompted a state of emergency

June of 2016 compared to just eight months later in February 2017 - a noticeable change in water height and color can be seen at the world's second tallest dam

Engineers have been conducting preventative procedures to siphon off the water and clear debris from the dam's crumbling exterior this week

Efforts have been undertaken to ensure that the water levels don't reach 901 feet - the height in which the emergency runoff river would be used.

In the 48 years since the dam was created, water elevation has never been high enough to require the use of the unpaved runoff area, until last week.

Despite hopefulness entering last weekend, where enough water was removed to calm fears of an overflow, heavy rains are anticipated in coming days.

Southern California was pounded by torrential downpours on Friday, prompting flash-flood warnings affecting more than 21 million people in the Los Angeles area.

Despite hopefulness entering last weekend, where enough water was removed to calm fears of an overflow, heavy rains are anticipated in coming days

On Monday and Tuesday, weather officials predict the storm will hit the northern California area, catalyzing concerns about the lake's water levels.

'The Oroville Dam and areas around it will see some rain Friday, but the bulk of the rain has shifted south. ... Unfortunately, it looks like another storm will pound the region again on Monday,' said CNN senior meteorologist Dave Hennen.

'Over the next week, areas around the dam could pick up another foot of rain, which will again likely raise the lake level.'

California Governor Jerry Brown's request for federal emergency funding to help the dire situation at the Oroville Dam was approved by President Trump's administration on Tuesday evening.

Evacuees were then told they could go home after engineers patched up the emergency spillway, which is now being supported now by boulders and rocks.

Southern California was pounded by torrential downpours on Friday, prompting flash-flood warnings affecting more than 21 million people in the Los Angeles area

On Monday and Tuesday, weather officials predict the storm will hit the northern California area, catalyzing concerns about the lake's water levels

It will hold if the water level in Lake Oroville rises to capacity again but that too is unlikely, the Department of Water Resources claims, given the quick rate at which the water is currently being drained.

Despite their confidence that the emergency spillway will hold and the lake won't fill its 901ft capacity, police are still issuing an evacuation warning.

Communities directly below the dam are especially at risk, as authorities have warned that if the dam were to abruptly give way, residents below would not receive notice quickly enough to evacuate.

According to SF Gate, regulators warned as early as six years ago that public officials should implement better warning systems around the dam.

State officials, however, have reportedly not taken the suggested steps towards public safety - such as improving escape routes and providing consistent briefings on the dam to the community.
Video footage has caught the horrifying moment a huge blast ripped through a karaoke parlour in Changde, China's Hunan province.

Two people were injured in the blast which occurred today just after 5pm local time, reports the People's Daily Online.

According to the most recent update, two people were injured and the explosion is thought to be caused by a gas leak.

The explosion was caught on surveillance cameras today in Changde, China's Hunan province

Shocking moment: In the footage, the karaoke parlour can be seen suddenly exploding

The incident took place in a karaoke bar attached to a hotel earlier today at around 5.20pm local time.

Footage shows the building of the karaoke parlour suddenly exploding.

Glass can be seen flying everywhere.

Smoke can be seen billowing from the building.

Before: Two people working in the lounge were injured in the incident and taken to hospital

Destruction at the KTV: The explosion also caused damage to a nearby bus and a taxi

Two people working in the lounge were injured in the incident and taken to hospital.

The explosion also caused damage to a nearby bus and a taxi.

Government staff attended the scene and started an investigation. They found that the explosion was caused by a gas leakage.
On estate agents' websites, compact studios and one-bedroom apartments are as ship-shape as cabins on a cruise liner.

Crammed in: Storage beds like this daybed from Ikea help to save space and putting shelves up high keeps belongings above eye-level

It's only when you're ushered in, past piles of clothes, magazines and holdalls that you wonder who on earth can live in such a tiny space.

And yet more and more of us are doing so. House prices are climbing and new build homes are getting smaller.

Britain notoriously constructs the teeniest homes in Europe, with an average 500sqft per one-bedroom flat  around the same size as a London Underground carriage.

Then there are the legions of people who have bought a pied a terre in town, or find themselves downsizing from a family home to a neater apartment.

'The key to making it work is planning,' says Olga Alexeeva, who owns the interior design firm Black and Milk, blackandmilk.co.uk. 'Take into account every inch of your space.'

Multi-functional: A room designed for multi-use by interiors company Black and Milk

She should know: until recently Alexeeva lived in a 270 sq ft flat in Central London, where she and her husband would throw dinner parties at their extendable table.

'The furniture has to be correct,' she stresses. 'I don't mean small. I use low furniture so it won't overwhelm.' She also has a low back sofa with no legs, to 'anchor' the main living area, complemented by slim-line armchairs.

In a tiny space, the sofa will also double as your sleeping area: whether it pulls out into a bed, or is a day-bed. The Pat ottoman at small space specialists bonbon.co.uk opens up to reveal hidden storage and its fabric can be matched to a range of sofa beds.

If you have a second bedroom or box room, interior designer Kia Stanford (kiadesigns.co.uk) suggests a pull-down bed so you can use the space for other purposes.

'A lot of people think they will have more people to stay than they do. Most of the time, what you really want is a study.'

Space savers: Furl specialise in furniture - like this flip down desk - which makes the most of limited room

Furl has a nifty wall-bed that also comes with desk and shelving so you don't waste the area in front. When the bed swings down, the surfaces stay flat (from 1,790 for a small double, plus 595 for the desk, furl.co.uk).

L-shaped brackets attached to rotating hinges allow the shelves to remain horizontal.

Custom-made items can be worth the outlay: a shallow wardrobe to allow your bed to fit comfortably in a tiny bedroom, or a chest of drawers that slots into an irregular corner.

'In old buildings, you tend to find these weirdly shaped spaces. You can make the most of them with bespoke pieces,' says Kia Stanford. Standard furniture can also be adapted to fit your needs.

The Holding Company offers everything from stackable cubby holes to fabric shelves that hang from the rail, theholdingcompany.co.uk.

High ceilings present opportunities. Books can be stored, for example, on shelves running around the top of the room. Wall lights are another space-saving option, allowing you to keep tightly rationed surfaces clear of table lamps.

Height advantage: Long curtains, like these from Ikea, can make a room seem loftier and also create private areas within a room

When it comes to decorating, long, lightweight curtains create a vertical line down to the floor and offer a sense of height. They should be fixed to the ceiling and run slightly wider than the window, so the material can be pulled aside to let in every scrap of light.

Using the same floor material across the whole of your space means that the eye isn't 'stopped', says Olga Alexeeva. While placing a small rug in a small room can make it looks less generous; one big enough to stretch under the sofa gives the illusion of more floor space.

Beware the temptation to make a small space feel grand in an effort to camouflage its size. 'Don't have too many details or ornaments. Simplicity adds more value than busy wallpaper or too much pattern,' says Alexeeva.

Painting walls light colours to make a space feel more airy does work, she notes. Add colour using art and cosiness through texture  heavy weaves on cushions or a soft throw.

And there's no point moving into a teeny flat only to fill it with stuff. 'You have to be brutal with your belongings,' says Stanford.
Apple could add a nostalgic feature to its Apple Watch - but with a modern twist.

The Cupertino company has received a new patent that describes a charging mechanism capable of generating electricity by manually winding the device.

The application illustrates a system that uses a rotational magnetic field to power an electric generator  and a watch is shown in the images as an example.

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Apple received a patent for a charging mechanism capable of generating electricity by manually winding the device. It illustrates a system that uses a rotational magnetic field to power an electric generator  and a watch is shown in the images as an example

WINDING MECHANISM Apple's latest patent suggests the firm could make a winding mechanism to charge the Apple Watch. The patent suggests designing the charging or winding station in a fashion that lets it spin a master rotor that is magnetically attached to a slave rotor  the latter of which resides on the portable device. And when the master rotor spins, the slave rotor follows  generating a magnetic flux effect. The system could work well in the Apple Watch, as it already uses the Digital Crown as a controller. Advertisement

In traditional wind up devices, the winding is generally done by a user manually exerting a rotational force on the dial.

And although it has been a feature in watches for years, it is also deemed an inefficient method  the user has to exert their own energy to power it.

However, Apple believes they can bring back the classic design, but with a modern twist.

The patent, entitled 'Connector-free magnetic charger/winder', was filed in April 204 and first spotted by Apple Insider.

Apple believes their technology could be successful with an additional power generator fitted inside the Watch's circular dial, or Digital Crown, which is used to control the device.

The firm suggests designing the charging or winding station in a fashion that lets it spin a master rotor that is magnetically attached to a slave rotor  the latter of which resides on the portable device.

And when the master rotor spins, the slave rotor follows  generating a magnetic flux effect.

'A method and apparatus for charging an electronic device include rotating a magnetically attractable element, or element, within the electronic device,' reads the patent.

The system proposed in the patent would store up electricity in the battery cell, which in turn would keep devices, like the Apple Watch, alive much longer

Apple believes their technology could be successful with an additional power generator fitted inside the Watch's circular dial, or Digital Crown, which is used to control the device. The firm suggests designing the charging or winding station in a fashion that lets it spin a master rotor that is magnetically attached to a slave rotor

'Rotating a magnet external to the electronic device simultaneously rotates the element.'

'Rotating the element causes an electrically generating device, such as a generator, to create an electric charge in the electronic device.'

'The electric charge may be used to power the electrically generating device, or the electric charge may be transmitted to an internal power supply in order to charge another component or components.'

'In another embodiment, the external magnet may wind a spring inside a device.'

The patent images also highlight what appears to be an iPhone with the same winding mechanism. This suggests that when you're smartphone starts to lose power, all you would have to do is wind it back up

The system could work well in the Apple Watch, as it already uses the Digital Crown as a controller.

However, the circular dial currently works 'by interpreting light signals instead of gear meshing, the component's stem might still be attached to an onboard generator if Apple opted to do so,' reports Apple Insider.

The system would also store up electricity in the battery cell, which in turn would keep devices alive much longer.

APPLE PATENTS WEARABLE BATTERY CHARGER FOR WATCH The wearable charger will likely use a magnetic charge point for easy snap on / snap off access. Apple is always looking for ways to improve. Another patent (pictured) revealed it could be working on a wearable charger for the Apple Watch Two different charger designs are described in the patent. One shows the charger embedded into the wristband of the watch. The second depicts a separate module that sits underneath the chassis of the watch and then attaches to the band. Apple has proposed the use of special 'heat-dissipating' circuitry to stop the battery module burning users. The patent suggests that the wireless unit could be plugged in to recharge when not in use. It remains unclear whether Apple will ever actually make the wearable charger. Advertisement

'Such an arrangement would allow for manual charging by the user and the winder described in today's patent application.'

The patent images also highlight what appears to be an iPhone with the same winding mechanism.

This suggests that when you're smartphone starts to lose power, all you would have to do is wind it back up.

Apple has filed hundreds of patents in the past and a majority of them never leave the paper, so it is unclear if this technology will ever be implemented into its devices.
In the hope of bringing internet access to even the most remote corners of the globe, Google parent Alphabet's 'Loon' project has taken a big step closer.

Alphabet said artificial intelligence-infused navigation software has significantly sped up plans, helping to smartly guide high-altitude balloons to improve coverage.

While the firm has not said when it expects the balloons to be up and running, Astro Teller, head of the team at Alphabet unit X said: 'We are looking to move quickly, but to move thoughtfully.'

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Alphabet said artificial intelligence-infused navigation software has significantly sped up plans, helping to smartly guide high-altitude balloons to improve coverage. Pictured is a Project Loon balloon on display at the Airforce Museum in Christchurch

Teller said: 'Our timelines are starting to move up on how we can do more for the world sooner.'

The acceleration was credited to software leaps that allow internet-serving balloons to ride high-altitude winds to ideal locations or loop in patterns that create consistent webs of internet coverage in the sky.

'We've been working to make the balloons smarter; almost like a game of chess with the winds,' Teller said.

WHAT IS PROJECT LOON AND HOW DO THE BALLOONS WORK? Project Loon is a network of balloons travelling on the edge of space, designed to connect people to the internet in remote parts of the world. The balloons travel approximately 12 miles (20km) above the Earth's surface in the stratosphere. Winds in the stratosphere are stratified, and each layer of wind varies in speed and direction, so Project Loon uses software algorithms to determine where its balloons need to go. It then moves each one into a layer of wind blowing in the right direction. By moving with the wind, the balloons can be arranged to form one large communications network. Winds in the stratosphere are stratified, and each layer of wind varies in speed and direction, so Project Loon uses algorithms to determine where its balloons need to go. It then moves each one into a layer of wind blowing in the right direction (illustrated) The inflatable part of the balloon is called a balloon envelope made from sheets of polyethylene plastic that are 49ft (15 metres) wide and 40ft (12 metres) tall when inflated. The balloons harness power from card table-sized solar panels that dangle below them, and they can gather enough charge in four hours to power them for a day. Each balloon can provide connectivity to a ground area of around 25 miles (40km) in diameter using LTE, also referred to as 4G, technology. Project Loon is partnering with telecommunications companies and mobile networks to share cellular spectrum. Ground stations with internet capabilities around 60 miles (100km) apart bounce signals up to the balloons. The signals can then hop forward, from one balloon to the next, along a backbone of up to five balloons. Advertisement

He expected Loon to be partnering in coming months with telecom companies to provide internet to 'real users,' in a step up from tests done to see how well the high-floating technology works with networks on the ground.

Teller declined to specify where Loon might first be integrated into telecommunications networks providing service to customers.

'We are not going to all of a sudden be everywhere,' Teller said.

'We intend to be part of an ecosystem - in any country where we are doing testing we would work with a local telco.'

Loon could soon be partnering in coming months with telecom companies to provide internet to 'real users,' in a step up from tests done to see how well the high-floating technology works with networks on the ground (pictured)

Part of the money-making vision for Loon would be to get revenue from telecom operators for extending their reach.

Teller said Loon is one of the more mature projects at X and that it 'would be a natural state to graduate into its own company' but there were not plans at the moment for that to happen.

The word of speedy progress came the same day that the venture to beam the internet to the ground via balloon hit a legal snag in Sri Lanka that could see the project abandoned on the island.

The inflatable part of the balloon is called a balloon envelope made from sheets of polyethylene plastic that are 49ft (15 metres) wide and 40ft (12 metres) tall when inflated

PROGRESS SINCE 2013 In 2013, Google launched 30 balloons into the stratosphere from New Zealand. These balloons floated at altitudes up to 15.5 miles (25km) and travelled as fast as 200mph (324 km/h). In 2014, Google tested the Project Loon balloons in Piaui, Brazil, marking its first LTE experiments near the equator. In February 2014, the record streak for a balloon lasting in the stratosphere was 50 days. But with improvements, by March 2015, the record for a continuous balloon flight was 187 days. Advertisement

Project Loon uses roaming balloons to beam internet coverage and planned to connect Sri Lanka's 21 million people to the web, even those in remote connectivity black spots.

But just a year after testing began in Sri Lanka, regulators have been unable to allocate Google a radio frequency for the airborne venture without breaching international regulations.

'There are lots of places excited to run experiments with us,' Teller said.

'We encourage that, but there are lots of agencies and we need to dot 'I's and cross 't's.'

He added that Loon planned to 'do things by the book' in any country where it is active, using balloons to get internet signals far and wide, while local telecom companies tap into the network from the ground.

The first public launch of Loon took place in New Zealand in 2013, when the project was in an early experimental phase.

Alphabet recently said that it gave up on its internet drone project, called Titan, about a year ago, to focus its resources on Loon where it saw more promise of success.

The economics and technical feasibility of balloons are seen as a more promising way to connect rural and remote parts of the world to the internet, according to X.
Researchers have found that an abnormally warm patch of seawater - nicknamed 'the blob,' resulted in increased levels of ozone in the Western US.

Ozone is an invisible component of smog that is a pollutant formed by a reaction of the suns rays with pollutants from cars, factories and other sources that emit pollutants.

While 'the blob' mainly affected the marine environment, it also had weather impacts on land.

The Differences from average ozone levels in June 2015, when 'the blob' was creating unusual conditions along the West Coast. The star shows the location of Mount Bachelor Observatory.

The study, conducted by the University of Washington Bothell, showed that this warm blob, which occurred off the West Coast in late 2014 and 2015, increased ozone levels above Washington, Oregon, western Utah and northern California.

Dr Dan Jaffe, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington Bothell and lead author of the study, said: 'Washington and Oregon was really the bullseye for the whole thing, because of the location of the winds.

'Salt Lake City and Sacramento were on the edge of this event, but because their ozone is typically higher, those cities felt some of the more acute effects.'

The 'warm blob,' seen in April 2015, squished up against the West Coast. The scale bar is in degrees Celsius (each increment is 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit).

The research, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, found that the effects of 'the blob' - warm temperatures, low cloud cover and calmer air, created the ideal condition for producing ozone.

Ozone levels in June 2015 were between 3 and 13 parts per billion higher than average over the northwestern United States.

Levels of Ozone in Salt Lake City and Sacramento also went above federally allowed limits.

Ozone is a molecule of three linked oxygen atoms that's formed when solar rays react with chemical pollutants from cars, factories and other sources that emit pollutants.

But the molecule is hazardous to human health and federal regulations limit how much should be present.

The team of researchers have been measuring ozone since 2004 from Mount Bachelor in central Oregon, as well as trying to understand the sources of ozone and other pollutants from forest fires, overseas pollution that travels, as well as pollution from the US.

What is SHOULD have looked like: A typical June ozone concentration across the US

The June 2015 measurement of ozone at the summit of Mount Bachelor (red dot) was significantly higher than any of the previous measurements.

In June 2015, the researchers noticed the large increase in ozone, higher than any previous measurements.

'At first we were like 'Whoa, maybe we made a mistake.'

'We looked at our sensors to see if we made an error in the calibration.

To conduct the study, the researchers have been taking measurements of air pollutants from the University of Washington's Mount Bachelor Observatory in central Oregon since 2004. The team had to use lifts (pictured) to carry equipment to the Observatory 9,000 feet high

HOW THEY DID THE STUDY To conduct the study, the researchers have been taking measurements of air pollutants from the University of Washington's Mount Bachelor Observatory in central Oregon since 2004. The team had to use lifts to access the Observatory which is on a 9,000-foot peak. They also had to use electrical power to be able to take measurements year-round. In the observatory, the researchers used vacuum pumps to pull air into a room where instruments in the summit's lift house take measurements. They found that in June 2015, ozone levels at the observatory were 12 parts per billion higher than the average of previous observations for that same time. Advertisement

'But we couldn't find any mistakes,' said Dr Jaffe said.

'Then I looked at other ozone data from around the Pacific Northwest, and everybody was high that year.'

To conduct the study, the researchers made measurements of air pollutants from the University of Washington's Mount Bachelor Observatory in central Oregon - on a 9,000-foot peak.

The team had to use lifts to access the Observatory, and use electrical power to be able to take measurements year-round.

In the observatory, the researchers used vacuum pumps to pull air into a room where instruments in the summit's lift house take measurements.

They found that in June 2015, ozone levels at the observatory were 12 parts per billion higher than the average of previous observations for that same time.

Dr Jaffe also found out that air quality managers in Sacramento and Salt lake City hd recorded averages above the 70 parts per billion limit set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

'This was a very widespread phenomenon going all the way to California,' Dr Jaffe said.

'Managers saw that air quality was violating the air quality standards on many days, and they didn't know why.

A co-author of the study Dr Lei Zhang wearing a harness to access equipment at the Mount Bachelor Observatory in Oregon in September 2015. The Observatory is on a 9,000-foot peak

'Ultimately, it all links back to the blob, which was the most unusual meteorological event we've had in decades.

'Temperatures were high, and it was much less cloudy than normal, both of which trigger ozone production.

'And because of that high-pressure system off the coast, the winds were much lower than normal.

'Winds blow pollution away, but when they don't blow, you get stagnation and the pollution is higher.'

The researchers also found that the scented emissions from trees and plants that contain natural ozone-producing particles also increased.

Dr Jaffe said that the research suggests warmer temperatures will favor ozone production, and so climate change may affect human health.

'Our environmental laws need to be written with an understanding that there's a lot of variability from one year to the next, and with an understanding of the long-term path of where we're heading under climate change,' Dr Jaffe said.

'This work helps us understand the link between climate variability and air quality, and it can give us an idea of what to expect as our planet continues to warm.'
They are the biting, buzzing nightmare of family holidays spent abroad in search of sunnier weather.

But a study has now found the best way to ward off mosquitoes, which could help with packing for that next foreign holiday.

Despite an array of candles, high-pitched alarms and wearable devices warning to keep the insects at bay, scientists have found you cannot do better than a mosquito spray.

Mosquitoes can carry a range of deadly diseases, including the Zika virus and yellow fever

The ingredients which actually work are DEET and PMD, the active ingredient found in oil of lemon eucalyptus.

Candles dont do anything to out off mosquitoes, according to researchers at New Mexico State University (NMSU).

And the sonic devices designed to replicate the sound of a flying dragonfly and scare the mosquitoes away are branded the modern equivalent of snake oil.

Luckily no one had to be bitten to test how well the devices work, with a volunteer standing in front of a cage of mosquitoes.

Each repellent was tested for a 15-minute period, during which time mosquitoes were free to wander from the middle compartment of the cage into either the compartment closer to the human or the one further away.

Stacy Rodriguez, laboratory manager at the Molecular Vector Physiology Laboratory at NMSU, said: These findings are extremely important for consumers because they need to be aware that there are mosquito repellent products available that are ineffective.

While the labels of many products make strong claims, some products simply dont work.

There are thousands of products on offer to people heading abroad on holiday, with a search for mosquito repellent on Amazon last year bringing up more than 13,000 hits.

A search on Amazon for 'mosquito repellent' brings up more than 13,000 hits

The researchers used Ae. Aegypti female mosquitoes, which carry zika virus, yellow fever and dengue fever, and tested five wearable devices, five sprays and a candle to see which worked.

When the test subject stood a metre (3.2 feet) in front of their cage with no protection, an average of 88.8 per cent of the insects moved towards them.

The best spray saw less than a third of the mosquitoes approach, with only 29.6 per cent doing so. The candle, however, brought more insects forward than doing nothing.

A sonic mosquito repeller, attached to the chest of the person standing in front of the cage, saw 91.2 per cent of the mosquitoes approach  a similar rate to no protection.

This confirms the results of a previous study that found mosquitoes are unperturbed by these devices and a second which showed no significant effect on mosquito landings.

The study, published in the Journal of Insect Science, states: We are not aware of any scientific study showing that mosquitoes can be repelled by sound waves and therefore we consider these devices as the modern equivalent of snake oil.

Each product was worn by, used, or applied to the human subject in a wind tunnel before the insects were counted. The wearable devices, such as bracelets, did not perform well, except for one which features a nebuliser to vapourise its repellent chemical, Metofluthrin.

This is thought to be due to low concentrations of the chemicals within them.

This finding confirms the findings of several other studies that found DEET and PMD the most effective and longest lasting mosquito repellents currently available, the researchers wrote.

The study concludes: At a time where vector-borne disease like Zika is a real threat, the most egregious danger to the consumer is the false comfort that some repellents give them protection against Ae. aegypti when they actually offer none.
When scientists want to know how an animal walks or runs - from stumpy Chihuahua Dogs to huge African Elephants - they use a treadmill.

But the smaller an animal is, the trickier this treadmill is to design.

Scientists have pondered how desert ants find their way home for decades, but without knowing how the tiny critters walk they have been left stumped.

Now, researchers have designed a strange spherical treadmill that allows ants to run just as they do in the wild to study the mechanisms of the insects' homing behaviour.

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Scientists have pondered how desert ants find their way home for decades but without knowing how the tiny critters walk they have been left stumped. Now, researchers have designed a strange spherical treadmill to study the mechanisms of their homing behaviour

HOW ANTS GET HOME Cataglyphis desert ants live in salt pans and are ideal models for homing behaviour research. When they set out in search of food in their flat, bare, hostile environment, they are always able to find their way back to their nest. They do this using the shortest route possible via an internal navigation system. Ants get home by counting the number of steps they have taken, and using the sun for orientation. They can even take into account how the sun moves over time via their internal clock. The new study found that ants start off their journey home with a direct approach, but when lost they enter a 'search mode' in which they make looping movements. Advertisement

Unlike the flat treadmills at the gym, the ant treadmills involved tethering the insects with dental floss glued to their back above a lightweight Styrofoam ball, which rolled as the ants walked.

Sensors in the device allowed the researchers to read how the ants moved by recording every step they took.

The treadmill registered minute changes in gait, direction and walking speed to monitor how ants find their way home in unprecedented detail.

Ants measure the distance they have traveled by recording how many steps they have taken.

They use the sun for orientation, and can even take into account how the sun moves over time via their internal clock.

The researchers, from Ulm University in Germany, found that the ants began their treadmill journey with a more direct approach in which they headed straight for the nest.

But once they realised that they were lost, the insects took a different approach, which the researchers describe as a 'search mode'.

In search mode, the ants slow down and move in a looping pattern.

Using the treadmill, the scientists could accurately read this search mode for the first time, and use it to control and adjust a variety of parameters to better understand the related body mechanisms and neural signals.

Spherical treadmills have been used in animal research since the 1960s, but they have never been sensitive enough to measure ants' delicate movements.

Unlike the dull, flat design of treadmills at the gym, the ant treadmills involved tethering the insects with dental floss glued to their back above a lightweight Styrofoam ball, which rolled as the ants walked

The Ulm team's treadmill uses a light, air-suspended Styrofoam ball that the team tracked with optical computer mouse sensors.

'Our new design enables us to study the fast-running and very quickly turning desert ants,' study co-author Dr Matthias Wittlinger, a research fellow with the Institute of Neurobiology at Ulm University in Germany, told Live Science.

The team's treadmill spun responsively as the ants changed direction or stopped to keep them balanced and upright, meaning they could scuttle just as they do in the wild.

The Cataglyphis desert ants used in the study were captured at a feeder around 33 feet (10 metres) from their nest.

Cataglyphis desert ants live in salt pans and are ideal models for homing behaviour research. When they set out in search of food in their flat, bare, hostile environment, they are always able to find their way back to their nest

Cataglyphis desert ants live in salt pans and are ideal models for homing behaviour research.

When they set out in search of food in their flat, bare, hostile environment, they are always able to find their way back to their nest.

They do this using the shortest route possible via an internal navigation system.

Captured ants were placed on the treadmill where they ran towards the nest's presumed location.

The dental floss used to tether the ants meant that they could move more freely than previous studies had allowed - 'Old designs had the animal rigidly fixed,' Dr Wittlinger said.

'They virtually travel for many meters on the treadmill, as if they were running in the open field.'

The results of the study are expected to yield information useful in the development of autonomous robots.
Costly car repairs caused by dangerous potholes could soon become a thing of the past.

Ford has announced that it is working on a virtual pothole map that could be released later this year.

The map would show drivers in real-time where potholes are, how bad they are, and suggest alternative routes.

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The car company Ford are researching a crowd-sourced virtual pothole map that could be released later this year

HOW WILL IT WORK? Engineers are researching the use of sensors, cameras and embedded Wi-fi systems at the Ford Research and Innovation Centre, in Aachen, Germany. They said these technologies could gather detailed information on the potholes and beam it to a virtual cloud  where it can be made available to other drivers  in real time. Advertisement

In the UK, pothole claims average 432 a year per person, while in the US claims are around $377.

And this winter is expected to set record lows, with freezing temperatures, ice and snow likely leading to more cracked and potholed roads.

'A virtual pothole map could highlight a new pothole the minute it appears and almost immediately warn other drivers that there is a hazard ahead,' said Uwe Hoffmann, a research engineer at Advanced Chassis Control Technologies, Ford of Europe.

'Our cars already feature sensors that detect potholes and now we are looking at taking this to the next level.'

Ford cars are equipped with sensors that detect potholes and adjust the suspension to help reduce any potential damage.

Engineers are now researching the use of cameras and embedded Wi-fi systems, at the Ford Research and Innovation Centre, in Aachen, Germany.

They said these technologies could gather detailed information on the potholes and beam it to a virtual cloud  where it can be made available to other drivers  in real time.

In the UK, pothole claims average 432 a year per person, while in the US claims are around $377

Ford already tests new cars on a nightmare 1.2mile road at Lommel Proving Ground, in Belgium, using replicas of some of the world's worst potholes.

This isn't the first time that Ford has used innovative technology in its cars.

In December 2016, the firm announced that it was designing a system to use drones to help guide driverless vehicles, including on off-road adventures.

Scientists from the Ford Research and Innovation Centre will use sensors, cameras and Wi-Fi in-built into their vehicles to gather data on pot holes

A drone launched from an autonomous vehicle would help guide it by mapping the surrounding area beyond what the car's sensors can detect.

Vehicle passengers can control the drone using the car's 'infotainment' or navigation system.

'At some point, people are going to want to take their autonomous vehicle into the woods or off road where the drone could guide them,' said Alan Hall, spokesman for Ford's in house technology department.
We could soon have the first image of a supermassive black hole.

Scientists have built a 'virtual-telescope' which will be observing the black hole, Sagittarius A, between 5-14 April.

Sagittarius A has never been seen directly but scientists know it exists because of the effect it has on nearby stars.

The image will be a key test for Einstein's theory of gravity and could cause us to rewrite our understanding of basic physics.

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An artist's impression of the black hole named Cygnus X-1 which is about 6,070 light years from Earth. The 'Event Horizon Telescope' is a virtual telescope that will take the first ever pictures of a black hole - Sagittarius A

HOW DOES THE TELESCOPE WORK? The telescope relies on a network of widely spaced radio antennas. These are all over the world - in the South Pole, Hawaii, Europe and America. These radios mimics the aperture of a telescope that can produce the resolution needed to capture Sagittarius A. They will kick into action between 5 -14 April. At each of the radio stations there are large hard drives which will store the data. These hard drives will be processed at the MIT Haystack Observatory just outside Boston, Massachusetts. It won't be until the end of the year or perhaps the start of 2018 that the public will be able to see the results Advertisement

Sagittarius A is 26,000 light-years from Earth and is probably around 20 million kilometres across.

Scientists are hoping the Earth-sized 'virtual telescope', which relies on linking lots of radio receivers, will be able to capture its event horizon for the first time.

The event horizon of a black hole is the boundary within which nothing is able to escape its gravitational pull - hence the name of the telescope, the 'Event Horizon Telescope'.

'There's great excitement,' project leader Sheperd Doeleman from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts told the BBC.

'We've been fashioning our virtual telescope for almost two decades now, and in April we're going to make the observations that we think have the first real chance of bringing a black hole's event horizon into focus'.

Their telescope relies on a network of radio antennas all over the world, from the South Pole, to Hawaii, to the Americas and Europe.

This mimics the aperture of of a telescope that can produce the resolution needed to capture Sagittarius A.

According to Einstein's equations, light would be caused by gas and dust accelerating at high speed and being torn apart.

This means the black hole might look like a series of gold rings.

Evidence of a black hole at the centre of our galaxy was first presented by physicist Karl Jansky in 1931, when he discovered radio waves coming from the centre of our galaxy.

The telescope relies on a network of widely spaced radio antennas. These are all over the world - in the South Pole, Hawaii, Europe and America. These radios mimics the aperture of a telescope that can produce the resolution needed to capture Sagittarius A

Pictured are images of Sagittarius Am the centre of our Milky Way, captured by Nasa. Scientists are hoping the Earth-sized 'virtual telescope' which relies on linking lots of radio receivers, will be able to capture its event horizon for the first time

'As I've said before, it's never a good idea to bet against Einstein, but if we did see something that was very different from what we expect we would have to reassess the theory of gravity', said Dr Doeleman.

'I don't expect that is going to happen, but anything could happen and that's the beauty of it.'

However, it won't all happen at once.

At each of the radio stations there are large hard drives which will store the data.

These hard drives will be processed at the MIT Haystack Observatory just outside Boston, Massachusetts.

Algorithms will then make sense of the observations, but this is a long process and it won't be until the end of the year or perhaps the start of 2018 that we will be able to see the results.

Not only would it be a triumph to get a picture of Sagittarius A but if there are flaws in Einstein's theory then this image of a black hole is likely to expose them.
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Elon Musk has been teasing his tunneling project since he first tweeted the idea during a frustrated rant aimed at LA's heavy traffic in December.

The billionaire SpaceX and PayPal founder posted an image on Twitter of what appeared to be a tunnel boring machine earlier this month.

Now, MailOnline exclusively reveals images of Musk's tunnel, which his 'Boring Company' has begun digging just outside his SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California.

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Elon Musk has been teasing his tunneling project since he first tweeted his frustration at LA's heavy traffic in December, and new images reveal that he is sticking to his word as a large trench can be seen dug into a car park near his SpaceX headquarters in California

THE BORING COMPANY Elon Musk may have dreamt up his latest world-changing technology while stuck in heavy traffic. In December he tweeted: 'Traffic is driving me nuts. Am going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging...'. 'It shall be called ''The Boring Company',' he added. Musk even proposed a suggested slogan for the company: 'Boring, it's what we do.' The idea might seem like a joke, but Musk ended his series of tweets with 'I am actually going to do this'. Advertisement

The trench measures 30 feet (9 metres) wide, 50 feet (15 metres) long, and 15 feet (4.5 metres) deep, and was started earlier this month, Wired reported.

The new images reveal excavators, cranes and security personnel surrounding a large hole in the ground.

This hole is likely where the huge Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) - revealed as 'Nannie' by Musk yesterday - was first lowered to begin digging.

A section of tarmac appears have been uprooted, either by Nannie's digging or having been removed before tunneling began.

Excavators pictured at the site help to remove rubble from the back of Nannie as the machine tunnels.

A large pile of rubble can be seen behind the digging site made up of debris dug out of the ground.

The tunnel is legal because it has been dug on private property.

But extending the tunnel further than SpaceX's headquarters would require more discussion, paperwork, and LA City council approval.

'We're just going to figure out what it takes to improve tunneling speed by, I think, somewhere between 500 and 1,000 percent,' he said during a Hyperloop design competition at SpaceX earlier this month.

'We have no idea what we're doing - I want to be clear about that.'

Musk came up with a plan to create a giant tunnel under Los Angeles to ease congestion last year.

'Traffic is driving me nuts. Am going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging...', he tweeted.

The trench has been dug just across the road from SpaceX in Hawthorne, near LA. Musk has previously suggested in tweets that he would like to dig a tunnel from his office at SpaceX to Los Angeles International Airport

This hole appears to be the site where the 'Boring Company' has begun digging, and is likely where the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) - revealed as 'Nannie' by Musk yesterday - was first lowered to begin digging

The trench measures 30 feet (9 metres) wide, 50 feet (15 metres) long, and 15 feet (4.5 metres) deep, Wired reported last month

When Musk first tweeted his plans to bore a tunnel to his SpaceX offices, it was hard to know if he was simply venting his frustrations about being stuck in traffic.

The technology giant proposed a slogan for the company in his string of December tweets: 'Boring, it's what we do.'

But he ended his rant on Twitter with: 'I am actually going to do this'.

Earlier this month he tweeted a picture of a tunneling machine.

He posted the photo with the caption 'Minecraft' - a reference to the popular video game in which players dig large tunnel networks for resources.

Musk has yet to confirm, however, whether the image of the tunnel boring machine he tweeted is his own, or its exact purpose.

And just yesterday, Musk revealed the identity of his boring machine in an interview with Bloomberg.

NANNIE THE BORING MACHINE Nicknamed Nannie, Musk's tunnel boring machine is 26 feet in diameter and about 400 feet long, weighing around 1,200 tons. It was used by Washington's water utility to dig a tunnel to prevent sewage from overflowing into the Anacostia River. The machine is named after Nannie Helen Burroughs, nationally prominent Black educator, Church leader, and suffrage supporter who founded the National Training School for Women and Girls in Washington DC. Nannie, the boring machine Musk is mulling buying: It was used to to dig a tunnel to prevent sewage from overflowing into the Anacostia River, and is now believed to be for sale The 1,248 ton machine created a 23-foot diameter tunnel beginning at RFK Stadium that ends at the Poplar Point Pumping station in Southeast, approximately 100 feet underground. It goes underneath the Anacostia River, CSX railroad tracks, and the Green Line. The entire project - which traverses underground 13 miles from Bloomingdale to DC Water's Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant in Southeast - is designed to supplement the existing sewer system by capturing excess storm water and curb area flooding. After phase one, the Anacostia River Tunnel will serve as a storage tank for water until the storms pass - it can hold more than 38 million gallons of combined sewage, according to DC Water. By the end of phase two, expected to occur in 2022 or 2023, storm water will be piped to Blue Plains for treatment before its release through the Northeast Boundary Tunnel. Advertisement

The trench is reportedly legal because it has been dug on private land - right in the middle of one of SpaceX's car parks

The tunneling site is surrounded by digging machinery and security personnel, though the machine used by the Boring Company cannot be seen in the images

Extending the tunnel further than SpaceX's headquarters, pictured here, would require more discussion, paperwork, and LA City council approval

Nicknamed Nannie, the machine is 26 feet in diameter and about 400 feet long, weighing around 1,200 tons.

It was used by Washington's water utility to dig a tunnel to prevent sewage from overflowing into the Anacostia River.

The machine is named after Nannie Helen Burroughs, nationally prominent Black educator, Church leader, and suffrage supporter who founded the National Training School for Women and Girls in Washington DC.

A large section of tarmac appears have been uprooted, seen here underneath one of the Boring Company's excavators. The tarmac could have been destroyed by the TBM digging underneath it, or could have been removed before tunneling began

Several cranes and excavator around the site help with removing rubble from the back of the boring machine

Made by the German company Herrenknecht, Musk was considering buying it for his problem - although admitted to Bloomberg's reporter in yesterday's interview that 'It may make sense to start with something smaller.'

The entrepreneur has a strong track record of getting ideas off the ground.

Musk has started two transportation related companies - Tesla for electric cars and SpaceX for launching into space.

He has also initiated the development of Hyperloop, a proposed method of travel that would transport people at 745mph (1,200km/h) between distant locations.

A large pile of rubble can be seen behind the digging site pictured here, made up of debris dug out of the ground by Nannie

The new photos have also captured some of Musks's other projects stationed at SpaceX. This image shows Musk's Hyperloop, a proposed method of travel that would transport people at 745mph (1,200km/h) between distant locations in a tunnel underground

This shot shows the inside of the Hyperloop. The interior contains a track system that runs the length of the tube similar to that of a railway

WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR December 17 2016 - Musk tweets his initial idea to start up a tunnel boring company to tackle LA traffic. January 25 2017 - Musk tweets: 'Exciting progress on the tunnel front. Plan to start digging in a month or so.' In response to a follower asking where he plans to dig, Musk tweets: 'Starting across from my desk at SpaceX. Crenshaw and the 105 Freeway, which is 5mins from LAX'. Musk has claimed that he plans to dig from his office at SpaceX through to LAX airport January 30 2017 - Excavators begin digging a test trench at SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, Los Angeles. The trench reportedly measures 30 feet (9 metres) wide, 50 feet (15 metres) long, and 15 feet (4.5 metres) deep. February 4 2017 - Musk tweets a picture of what appears to be a piece of tunnel boring machinery with the caption 'Minecraft'. February 16 2017 - Musk reveals in an interview with Bloomberg that his machine is called 'Nannie' Advertisement

Since his original Twitter rant on LA traffic in December Musk has pledged to eliminate the city's infamous congestion by building a network of tunnels.

'If you think of tunnels going 10, 20, 30 layers deep (or more), it is obvious that going 3D down will encompass the needs of any city's transport of arbitrary size,' he told Wired earlier this month in a Twitter direct message.

'You have tall buildings, they're all 3D, and then everyone wants to go into the building and leave the building at a same time,' he said.

'On a 2D road network, that obviously doesn't work, so you have to go 3D either up or down. And I think probably down.'

But Musk has an uphill battle ahead if he's serious about tunneling under LA.

In December, Elon Musk tweeted 'Traffic is driving me nuts. Am going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging...'

The technology giant even proposed a suggested slogan for the company: 'Boring, it's what we do'

Digging under cities takes a lot of time because the densely packed earth and rock underground is poorly mapped.

'Our recent experience with tunnels in the US is that neighbours worry, you run up against various environmental laws, and you just never know what's underneath the Earth,' Michael Manville, who studies urban planning at the University of California, Los Angeles, told Wired.

Boring technology has become much cheaper in recent years thanks to rapid advances in tunnelling technology.

Herrenknecht AG, one of the world's biggest tunnel-boring machine makers, says it is providing machines for as many as 100 projects annually, up from 20 some 15 years ago.

Musk's company SpaceX is vying to be the first organisation to take humans to the moon using rockets like this one on display at the company's headquarters

SpaceX was founded in 2002 by Musk and plans to streamline technologies for space travel to reduce costs for the colonisation of other planets

Musk tweeted this photo showing the rear of Nannie earlier this month, with the excavating conveyor belt which removes the debris from the site clearly visible in the bottom centre of the image

'We're just going to figure out what it takes to improve tunneling speed by, I think, somewhere between 500 and 1,000 percent,' Elon Musk (pictured) said during a Hyperloop design competition at SpaceX earlier this month

'The ability to deliver a tunnel on time and on budget has changed a lotand really pushed the industry,' says Achim Kuhn, a spokesman for the privately held German company, whose tunnel-boring machines can cost more than 40 million/$50 million each.

Many drilling technologies have been designed with the aim to drill into the moon or Mars to mine them for raw materials.

For example, a company called Zaptec has come up with a new kind of plasma drilling technology that could make drilling on the moon, asteroids or Mars more affordable.
It is a new twist on the old question: 'Which came first, the chicken or the egg?'

Scientists from Edinburgh's Roslin Institute - who brought us Dolly the first cloned sheep - have come up with a new way of producing chickens.

The scientists created a genetically modified chicken which cannot lay eggs of its own, but acts as a 'surrogate mother' for other hens.

Rare breeds of chickens  such as the Scots Dumpy, the Marsh Daisy and the Cream Legbar  could be preserved for posterity, experts said.

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Scientists from Edinburgh's Roslin Institute created a genetically modified chicken which cannot lay eggs of its own, but acts as a 'surrogate mother' for other hens (stock image)

To create the mutant chicken, scientists edited genes to 'knock out' the ability to produce its own eggs.

It is then injected with stem cells from another type of chicken, and this effectively takes over the bird's reproductive system.

The 'infertile' host chicken is then able to produce eggs of the different breed - without introducing any genes of its own into the little chicks.

The technique could be a way of creating chickens from frozen stocks of sperm and stem cells.

HOW WAS IT DONE? To create the mutant chicken, scientists edited genes to 'knock out' the ability to produce its own eggs. It is then injected with stem cells from another type of chicken. This effectively takes over the bird's reproductive system. The 'infertile' host chicken is then able to produce eggs of the different breed. Advertisement

Freezing chicken eggs  with a view to hatching them later  is impossible as the freezing kills the embryonic chick.

The researchers, in their scientific paper published in the journal Development, say 'genetic manipulation of avian species has lagged behind mammals due to the complexity of the avian egg'.

Speaking at the AAAS conference in Boston, lead researcher Dr Mike McGrew, of the University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute, said: 'These chickens are a first step in saving and protecting rare poultry breeds.

'We wanted to prove that we could use gene editing technology to disrupt an important gene for the development the sperm and eggs in chickens. We produced a hen that doesn't have any eggs.'

He added: 'What we wanted to make a sterile chicken for is because we developed the technology to transplant the stem cells that make sperm or eggs between chickens.

The technique could be a way of creating chickens from frozen stocks of sperm and stem cells. Rare breeds of chickens  such as the Scots Dumpy, the Marsh Daisy and the Cream Legbar  could be preserved for posterity, experts said (stock image)

'So, we can use these stem cells from any breed of chicken and transplant them into this sterile female and be able to make eggs from that chicken.'

He said millions of stem cells can be grown from just a small amount of embryonic blood and then kept in the freezer for years  before being transplanted to a host.

The technique could be used in other species such as a duck.

But as yet, the technique could not be used, say, to get a chicken to lay an eagle's egg.

He said: 'This definitely would work between different closely-related species. There are many, many species of duck so you could transplant these between any duck species.

'For chicken we can do this between any breed of chicken or red jungle fowl which is the original founder of all chickens. Between geese this would work between different species of geese.'

He added: 'We are interested in chicken because that is the animal which is the most consumed animal on the planet and we want to protect all the different breeds of chickens that we have.

'There are many rare breeds of chicken and no one has come a way to bring the whole bird back from frozen material.'




Cosmic rays crashing into the Earth's atmosphere create a range of particles, including protons, electrons, X-rays and gamma-rays that can penetrate aircraft

Tiny cosmic particles can have serious impacts on Earth, causing election votes to be miscounted, planes to free-fall and computers to reboot, scientists say.

These cosmic particles can hit electronic devices on Earth, which can cause components to burn out and cause malfunctions.

Cosmic particles come from cosmic rays from outside our solar system. They crash into the Earth's atmosphere creating a range of particles, including protons, electrons, X-rays and gamma-rays that can penetrate aircraft.

These cosmic particles constantly hit Earth, and can cause bits of information in electronics to change.

When a machine malfunctions in this way, it's called a Single Event Upset (SEU).

These changes can be enough to cause a computer to freeze and reboot, affecting the outcome of computerized elections.

They can also cause other problems such as causing planes to suddenly come out of autopilot mode.

Professor Bharat Bhuva, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Vanderbilt University, gave a talk about this problem at the annual meeting for the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston.

During his presentation, he said: 'This is a really big problem, but it is mostly invisible to the public.

'The semiconductor manufacturers are very concerned about this problem because it is getting more serious as the size of the transistors in computer chips shrink and the power and capacity of our digital systems increase.'

'In addition, microelectronic circuits are everywhere and our society is becoming increasingly dependent on them.'

In this time-lapse photo, stars appear to rotate above the Middle Drum facility of the Telescope Array, a $25 million cosmic ray observatory that sprawls across the desert west of Delta, Utah. Physicists from the University of of Utah and the University of Tokyo and elsewhere report the observatory has detected a hot spot in the northern sky emitting a disproportionate number of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays, which are the most energetic particles in the universe

Professor Bhuva said that an SEU is could happen for more than one reason, and it's only possible to say it was caused by a tiny particle if all other possible reasons have been excluded.

But these SEU events can have an impact on safety as well as socio-economic issues such as elections.

For example, in 2003 in the town of Schaerbeek in Belgium, an SEU malfunction gave a candidate in a location election 4,096 additional votes - and the error was only caught because the candidate got more than was possible, so it was investigated.

And in a Qantas flight from Singapore to Perth, an SEU caused the plane to come out of autopilot mode, which resulted in the plane free-falling for 23 seconds and injured approximately one third of the passengers.

The more powerful the computer in question is, the more common the SEU problem is.

The problem is also more common on planes, as when they fly at 35,000 feet, radiation levels are higher.

But trying to prevent this problem is very difficult - as it would require a wall of concrete more than three metres (10 feet) thick to stop the particles.

So Professor Bhuva suggests making a computer processor in triplicate as a safety back up.

This is the same system that NASA uses for their computers in space.

The probability that SEUs will occur in two of the circuits at the same time is vanishingly small,' Professor Bhuva said.

'So if two circuits produce the same result it should be correct,' he said.
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From haunting shipwrecks to playful marine life, the mysterious beauty of the world underwater has been captured in award-winning detail.

The winners of the 2017 Underwater Photographer of the Year awards have been announced, with entrants hailing from 67 countries submitting 4,500 images into the prestigious competition.

A French photographer, Gabriel Barathieu, took home the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 title for 'Dancing Octopus' - a vibrant, close up shot of the creature.

While an enchanting capture of light streaming through the blue Kukulkan Cenote in Mexico won Nick Blake the British Underwater Photographer of Year accolade. He commented: 'My journey from diver to underwater photographer has brought many amazing photographic opportunities and I feel humbled and privileged that this image has achieved such recognition.'

A striking shot of a pod of orcas led to photographer Nicholai Georgiou winning the most promising category.

Other commended shots include a powerful image of silversides at twilight by Tony Myshlyaev and a capture of a gam of whalesharks photographed by Patrick Neumann, who spent 30 years taking 3,000 dives in the hopes of encountering the majestic creature before finally seeing six at once and photographing them.

British Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 Nick Blake captured light streaming through the Kukulkan Cenote in Mexico. Explaining how he achieved the award-winning shot, he said: 'I left my strobes behind for the natural light shot I wanted and positioned myself in the shadows of the cavern. Moving my eye around the viewfinder, I could see that the rock outline of the cavern around me made for a pleasing symmetry and I adjusted my position to balance the frame. The light show flickered on and off as the sun was periodically covered by cloud and as it reappeared, I beckoned to my buddy and dive guide, Andrea Costanza to edge into the illumination of some of the stronger beams, completing the composition'

Highly commended in the Wide Angle category was this snap entitled Frozen Hunting. Judge Alex Mustard said: 'A stunning behavioural image of a humpback in shallow water scattering herring taken in very tough conditions. The photographer did very well in very dark waters to record this breath-taking scene sharply'

Commended in the Portrait category was this snap of a sealion playing with starfish taken in Los Islotes, Panama

Gabriel Barathieu won the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 title for Dancing Octopus, above. The image was taken in the lagoon of Mayotte, in the Indian Ocean, during spring low tides.Judge Alex Mustard commented on the image: 'Both balletic and malevolent, this image shows that the octopus means business as it hunts'

'Green Turtles in the rays' was commended in the portrait category. It was taken during a diving trip to Tenerife

The winner of the British Waters Wide Angle category was this snap taken in the North Sea on the coast of Yell by Melvin Redeker

The wreck of the Louilla on the Gordon Reef, Straits of Tiran, Egypt, was filmed at sunset to win the Wrecks category. The photographer said: 'Beneath her lies a pile of her anchor chains, giving the form of a whale. Wrecks become part of the eco-system in no time'

Commended in the Wide Angle category was a capture of a gam of whalesharks shot by Patrick Neumann (left) who spent 30 years taking 3,000 dives in the hopes of encountering the majestic creatures. This mysterious shot (right) was highly commended in the Wrecks category

An underwater photographer lines up a shot of the conning tower of the wreck of the U-352 off the coast of North Carolina, USA, in this highly commended snap

Highly commended in the Behaviour category, this snap shows a pod of dolphins hunting sardines in South Africa

This photo of a larvae mantis shrimp won the Macro category. Judge Peter Rowlands said: 'This shot works on so many levels; like a sci-fi encounter in outer space, the fortuitous (for once) backscatter creates a perfect starry background which makes the main subject seem huge and menacing. Perfect composition leaves you in no doubt and you can only fear for the little fella on the right'

This six tonne, 18ft whale calf in French Polynesia was 'amazingly playful' explained the photographer who was commended in the Up & Coming category

This stunning image of a humpback whale feeding on krill was taken a few miles offshore from Hout Bay, Cape Town. Photographer Jean Tresfon said: 'Working as part of a film crew, I was privileged to have a chance to photograph this phenomenon. Although the water visibility was really good, inside the krill patch it was much reduced. Without warning the whales appeared just metres away with their pleats distended as they surfaced with huge mouthfuls of krill. Realising that they must be feeding deeper down I descended into the darker water to find the thickest concentration of krill. Suddenly a humpback appeared'

'Silversides at Twilight' was taken on the northern coastline of Koh Tao, Thailand, and was commended in the Wide Angle category

A surreal snap of a freediver was taken in the Philippines and came third in the Up & Coming category (left). A shot of a cave dive was commended in the Wide Angle category (right)

Most Promising British Underwater Photographer 2017 was Nicholai Georgiou, who captured this snap of a pod of orcas while freediving in Tromso, Norway

Taken in Sudan at the Umbria wreck this image was highly commended. The photographer said: 'On my way back from the dive, I noticed this room flooded with light. The rays of light streaming down through portholes were lined up so nicely creating a mysterious look of what this room might have looked like when the Umbria was still intact and plying the seas'

'Clownfish Swirl' was shot in Indonesia and commended in the Macro category
Two hundred couples are being given the chance to stay in a 'pop-up' hotel - which will disappear hours after their visit.

Luxury glamping-style cabins costing 2,000-a-week will pop-up at beauty spots only to move on in the blink of an eye.

The specially-built retreats for two will arrive at three secret locations in Wales for a mini-holiday season - before switching to the next destination.

Two hundred romantic couples are being given a once-in-a lifetime chance to stay in a 'pop-up' hotel - which will disappear hours after their visit. Above is the Cabin in the Woods retreat, which sits on legs high above the ground and features a stove area with a chimney and a box window designed to catch the morning sun. It will use raw materials derived from the Welsh landscape including timber, steel, slate and leather

Luxury glamping-style cabins costing 2,000-a-week will pop-up at beauty spots only to move on in the blink of an eye. The Skyhut (above) allows guests to sleep out under the sky

The specially-built retreats for two will arrive at three secret locations in Wales for a mini-holiday season - before switching to the next destination. Little Dragon (above) is a vertical unit featuring a sleeping area upstairs and panoramic glazing at both levels

Clues to the mystery destinations were revealed by the team behind the project at Epic Retreats and tourist company Best of Wales.

A spokesperson said the cabins will be in Carmarthenshire, West Wales, in June, before moving on to the Llyn Penisula and Snowdonia in North Wales during July and August.

Best of Wales director Llion Pughie said: 'We have carefully selected sites that will show Wales at its best, alongside an itinerary packed to the brim with trips and activities.

The cabins will be in Carmarthenshire, West Wales, in June, before moving on to the Llyn Penisula and Snowdonia in North Wales during July and August. Above is the Slate Cabin

The Slate Cabin lets in lots of natural light and features a pot-bellied stove

This design is inspired by the legend of King Arthur and a cave where he and his knights slept while travelling

Locally sourced sheeps wool insulation will be placed within the panels to provide a high level of thermal insulation. The Arthur Cave cabin features sliding doors for guests to take advantage of the panoramic views

'These cabins are perfect for adventurous couples seeking a once-in-a-lifetime romantic break away - who want to discover the heart of beautiful Wales.

'The trips feature only the finest local produce and unique accommodation inspired myth and legend - guests will be immersed in a truly Welsh experience.'

Eight different cabin structures will form the glamping pop up hotel allowing up to 200 couples to stay in the retreats over 12 weeks.

Guests will be able to stay for three-nights, four-nights or a week.

Black Hat has a king-sized bed on the upper floor and a domed roof ideal for couples who like to stargaze

To access the Miner's Hut above, visitors must crawl through a small tunnel into an angular corridor space

The bolthole designs include Arthur's Cave which was inspired by King Arthur and features sliding doors for guests to take advantage of the panoramic views.

There is also Black Hat which has a king-sized bed on the upper floor and a domed roof ideal for couples who like to stargaze.

The Cabin in the Woods has a stove with a chimney and Dragon's Eye will be covered with stainless steel shingles resembling a dragon's scales.

Prices for the cabins start from 795 for a three night weekend break and 1,995 for a week.
Youd be forgiven for thinking that a visitor guide entitled Welcome to Fear City is a work of fiction, warning visitors about Gotham City or taking to the streets during The Purge.

But this shocking pamphlet depicting a nightmarish New York City was actually distributed by the council of firefighters and law officers at the city's airports in 1975 - during one of the most tumultuous periods in the Big Apples history.

The official advice states: Until things change, stay away from New York City if you possibly can. However, for those prepared to brave the city, nine stark guidelines for survival such as staying off the streets after 6pm and remaining in Manhattan are provided in the pamphlet, which has emerged online recently.

This shocking pamphlet depicting a nightmarish New York city was distributed by the council of firefighters and law officers at the city's airports in 1975. Brandishing a hooded skull, the controversial leaflet was given to visitors in June with reportedly one million documents circulating at the time

Whether the leaflets offered an accurate depiction of a city in crisis, teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, plagued by looting and garbage strikes or if it was merely fuelled by paranoia and filled with exaggeration, remains to be seen

Brandishing a hooded skull, the controversial leaflet was given to visitors in June 1975 with reportedly one million documents circulating at the time.

Whether the leaflets offered an accurate depiction of a city in crisis, teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, plagued by looting and garbage strikes or if it was merely fuelled by paranoia and filled with exaggeration, remains to be seen.

But even at the time, some members of the municipal unions denounced the campaign.

The historic pamphlet warns that in 1975, New York robberies were up 21 per cent, aggravated assault had risen 15 per cent, larceny had leapt by 22 per cent and burglary had soared by 19 per cent.

At the time, some members of the municipal unions denounced the Fear City campaign. But the pamphlet warns that in 1975, New York robberies were up 21 per cent, aggravated assault had risen 15 per cent, larceny had leapt by 22 per cent and burglary had soared by 19 per cent

The nine-point guide for escaping New York unscathed states 'stay off the streets after 6pm' because even in midtown Manhattan muggings and occasional murders are on the increase'.

If tourists do choose to leave their hotel after 6pm, they're advised not to walk anywhere. Also people are warned against using any public transport.

They're also told to 'remain in Manhattan' because 'police and fire protection in other areas of the city is grossly inadequate' with arson allegedly a problem in the Bronx, particularly.

Visitors were told to 'remain in Manhattan' because 'police and fire protection in other areas of the city is grossly inadequate' with arson allegedly a problem in the Bronx, particularly

There are four separate tips to keep visitors vigilant against robbery and muggings, which were reportedly rife.

Visitors were told to 'engrave their property' and to expect shops in midtown to keep their doors locked, only admitting customers after 'careful inspection'.

Holidaymakers were warned to never let their handbag out of their sight and to 'hold it firmly with both hands' or risk 'serious loss'.

For anyone who chose to store items in their car they were warned there was an 'excellent chance that their property would be gone' on their return.

There are four separate tips to keep visitors vigilant against robbery and muggings, which were reportedly rife

Tourists were also told not to leave valuables in their hotel room or even the vault, as hotel robberies were 'virtually uncontrollable' with thieves having 'broken into hotel vaults'.

The last warning was that the fire department was 'severely undermanned' and therefore people had to be aware of the hazards and their escape routes.

Alongside this terrifying advice was a simple 'Good Luck'.
Former My Kitchen Rules winner Steve Flood broke up with girlfriend Caroline Groth in 2015.

And it appears the reality TV ladies' man debuted a potential new flame at Sydney's Zephyr Sky Bar last week.

The 32-year-old happily posed at the function with his arm around stylist and model Jourdan Revelle, who could be his next girlfriend.

Shes a tasty dish! My Kitchen Rules ladies man Steve Flood debuts new girlfriend Jourdan Revelle at Sydney event, as she stuns in a short playsuit

New girl? Former My Kitchen Rules winner Steve Flood appeared in high spirits as he posed at the function with his arm around the Instagram model's slender waist

The aspiring chef appeared in high spirits beside the leggy brunette, who showcased her trim pins in a short play suit and heels.

On social media Jourdan's profile reads: 'Traveler/Stylist/Model. Follow me if you love all things fashion food And wonderful.'

Showing off her flair for fashion, she arrived in a plunging design and matched her polka-dot detailed heels with a tassel zipped clutch.

'Follow me if you love all things fashion food And wonderful': Jourdan describes herself as a traveller, stylist and model on social media

He likes her! The former reality star has also hearted a few of the stylist's recent social media uploads, including a cleavage-baring snap in a leather jacket

She's not shy! Jourdan flaunts her ample assets online, with the stunner uploading videos and pictures modestly covering her exposed breasts in the past

Last year Steve admitted to News Local that he'd been struggling to find love since being crowned champion of the hit cooking series.

'I feel like Ive lost the ability to get a genuine connection with someone... it would be lovely to meet someone special and share all of this with them,' the reality star said.

Perhaps Jourdan is that 'someone special', as the duo gave off a comfortable vibe during the gathering.

Foodie lovers! Steve previously admitted to wanting to find 'someone special' to share all of his passions with

The former reality star has also liked a few of the stylist's recent social media uploads, including a cleavage-baring snap in a leather jacket.

Not shy of flaunting her ample assets, the stunner has also uploaded videos and pictures modestly covered her exposed breasts in the past.

Steve has confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that the pair 'are spending time together.'

'We'll see in time where it goes. She's beautiful and smart, I'd be crazy to not go for a girl like her,' he added.

The foodie said the pair had arrived together at the event to support his friend Grant Collins, who was showcasing cocktails that he'd curated for the venue.

Connected: Jourdan and Steve follow each other on Instagram and Facebook, but are yet to post together

Steve met his last public girlfriend Caroline in March 2015 after meeting at the Men's Health Awards in Sydney.

The pair sparked rumours of a rift when Steve flew back to his native United Kingdom without the yoga enthusiast - who had previously met his family.

Increased public attention after winning the reality show with his business partner Will Stewart was thought to be behind the mid-year break-up.
Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen seem to have put the their 2006 divorce and subsequent drama - including last year's explosive lawsuit - behind them.

The erstwhile couple took their two daughters, 12-year-old Sam and 11-year-old Lola, to a Twenty-One Pilots concert at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Wednesday.

Richards uploaded an Instagram photo on Thursday of herself cuddling up to her used-to-be at the show, the pair of them wearing matching red beanies.

Amicable: Erstwhile spouses Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen took their two daughters, 12-year-old Sam and 11-year-old Lola, to a Twenty-One Pilots concert at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Wednesday, and both posted the same Instagram photo of themselves there

While he kept a smile on his face, she pouted with a wink, writing in her caption: 'Charles I think the kids walked by pretending they don't know us.'

Sheen posted the same photo with a caption in free verse: 'silly hats aside; / our girls, / and their besties, / (the G and the R) / reminded us, / how badly / REAL MUSIC / must befall us, / at once!! x'.

After they'd co-starred in the 2000 film Good Advice and she'd wrangled a guest shot on his show Spin City in 2001, the pair tied the knot in 2002.

The way they were: After they'd co-starred in the 2000 film Good Advice and she'd wrangled a guest shot on his show Spin City in 2001, the pair tied the knot in 2002; they are pictured here in September of 2003

She filed for divorce in 2005, and during their eruptive split, she accused him of - among other charges - making death threats against her, shoving her and endangering their children via his affinity for prostitutes and pornography, per TMZ.

Their divorce was finalized in November 2006 with a court order that, other than during supervised visits, Sheen remain 300 feet from Richards and their daughters, according to Access Hollywood.

Though this was Richards' only marriage, the Two And A Half star had previously been joined in matrimony to Donna Peele, and in 2008 wed Brooke Mueller.

The break: She filed for divorce in 2005, and during their eruptive split, she accused him of - among other charges - making death threats against her, shoving her and endangering their children via his affinity for prostitutes and pornography, per TMZ; they are pictured here at the 62nd Annual Golden Globe Awards in January of 2005

Sheen and Mueller, who've both had widely reported drug problems, produced now seven-year-old twin sons Bob and Max Sheen before their 2011 divorce.

In 2013, it was Richards who leaped into the fray and temporarily cared for the boys after the government seized them from their mother, fearing her drug problem.

Sheen and Richards have been locked in multiple rancorous battles involving their own two daughters, including a lawsuit she filed last year.

Building her family: Richards also has a third daughter called Eloise, who's now five years old and whom her mother adopted in 2011; they are pictured with Sheen that year

Richards claimed that Sheen, in 2013, had told her: 'I am going to sever your head and mail it to your father,' DailyMail.com reported.

To hear the 45-year-old tell it, her HIV-positive ex had also once texted Lola:'Have a merry Xmas with your loser f***s**t mom... your dad is a rock star genius ... your mom is a p*** wart,' when she was only eight years old.

Rumors flew that summer that she'd dropped the suit, and judging by their Instagram pages this week, their relationship's currently in a pacific stage.

Richards also has a third daughter called Eloise, who's now five years old and whom her mother adopted in 2011.
She was introduced to Australia as a hairdresser looking for love on Married At First Sight.

But Cheryl Maitland's party girl past has since been revealed, and on Friday more photos of the 25-year-old partying at Travers Beynon's 'The Candyman' mansion in December 2015 emerged.

The new scantily-clad snaps come after a video of Cheryl snorting white powder off her breast surfaced on Thursday, which she has since said was a joke, as well as pictures of her working as a topless waitress as recently as last September.

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And the bride wore gold! Photos emerge of MAFS' Cheryl Maitland partying at The Candyman's mansion in tiny bikini

The statuesque brunette is pictured wearing an embellished bikini alongside other buxom women at The Candyman's Gold Coast mansion.

Cheryl seems to have been front and centre during much of the action at the party, posing sultrily at the front of a scantily-clad pack.

She is also accompanied by a blonde at her side in an equally revealing outfit.

Enjoying herself: One photo shows Cheryl dancing solo by herself at the mansion, where she can be seen wearing a bridal-style garter on one thigh

One photo shows Cheryl dancing solo by herself at the mansion, wearing a bridal-style garter on one thigh in a prophetic nod to her future on Married At First Side

Another image sees the hairdresser posing alongside Travis, who sits the centre of a bevy of women, with some lying on the floor in dominatrix-style outfits.

Travis, a tobacco company owner, has been labelled Australia's answer to Hugh Hefner thanks to his wild parties and controversial antics which include parading semi-naked women on leashes.

Meeting the main guy: The hairdresser posing alongside Travis who sits the centre of a bevy of women

Sister act: Cheryl was also joined at the party by her blonde haired sister Sarah-Jane Maitland, who is pictured at her side

The party pictures come after the Scottish-born beauty confirmed she once worked as a topless waitress, after photos emerged of her at a work function with her breasts exposed.

The ombre-haired beauty appears to be working at a party taking place in a hotel room, with bottles of hard liquor laid out on the kitchen counter.

Flaunting her ample assets in the photo, the reality TV star's wore just a skimpy pair of lingerie bottoms and matching black garters.

And there is more: MORE topless photos of Married At First Sight's Cheryl Maitland emerge after video of her snorting white powder

Exposed: Cheryl's wild past as a topless waitress has been revealed, with a photo emerging of the busty brunette at work last September

Speaking about her past profession, Cheryl insisted she no longer works in that industry.

'For a brief time I was a topless waitress but that's now well and truly in my past,' she previously told the Herald Sun.

But according to the publication, the image in question was taken just a few months ago, in September.

Scandal: The video, first published by Woman's Day, shows the Gold Coast native taking a $50 note from another woman and rolling it up to snort a line of white powder

Wild night: Meanwhile, video footage has emerged of the brunette snorting a white powder off her breast while at a party

Meanwhile, that's not the only detail of Cheryl's past that may be cause for concern for her TV 'husband' Andrew Jones, who is 13 years her senior.

In a video taken several years ago, Cheryl can be seen snorting a white powder off her own breast during a wild night out.

Verifying her appearance in the clip, the 25-year old told Daily Mail Australia it was just a 'joke' and she regretted appearing in it.
Comedian Joel Creasey has hit back at a troll who attacked him for being gay, by exposing the woman to his thousands of fans on social media.

The 26-year-old took to Instagram on Thursday to share a message he had received from a woman, who called him a 'f**.'

While Joel initially responded to the message himself, it seems he thought that wasn't enough - sharing the conversation with his 60,000 followers.

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Fighting back: Comedian Joel Creasey has hit back at a troll who attacked him for being gay, by exposing the woman to his thousands of fans on social media

The woman is said to have written: 'You used to be cool now you're just a f**. A nobody...'

To which the funnyman responded: 'Sorry you feel that way. Sending you love, light and laughter. Joel xx.'

But while he initially appeared to take the high road, he couldn't resist taking a dig at the woman's appearance.

Troll: The 26-year-old took to Instagram on Thursday to share a message he had received from a woman, who called him a 'f**'

'PS. Your hair extensions look cheap,' he sniped.

His fans wasted no time slamming the troll, after she posted a status to Facebook later that day claiming she 'does not have extensions.'

The incident comes just days after he told a very risque tale on Tuesday night's episode of The Project.

Joel detailed a Thanksgiving orgy he had with a group of Trump supporters after being invited to a party held by men in his building.

Naughty boy: Days earlier Creasey told a very risque tale on The Project, detailing an orgy he had with a group of Trump supporters

Rude invite: The story started with the funnyman being invited to a party held by some men in his building

'I got home, there was an invite in my letterbox, an official invite to the dinner party. It was full of glitter, gay anthrax,' he joked to the panel.

'It was Thanksgiving, I didn't know they were gay up until this point, but I had seen them on Grindr,' he continued the story.

'They are American, it was a Thanksgiving dinner, they started toasting to Trump. I was like 'Oh, my God, I am at Donald Trump celebratory dinner!'

The blonde comic however wasn't dissuaded by his new friend's political beliefs so much as to not be tempted into a tryst.

Oops: 'They are American, it was a Thanksgiving dinner, they started toasting to Trump. I was like 'Oh, my God, I am at Donald Trump celebratory dinner!'

'I still slept with them! I did, because I had a few wines. Then halfway through I felt really bad about it!' he joked.

The 26-year-old however pledged his support for Donald Trump's political rival Hillary Clinton before leaving the adults only party.

'When I was leaving, I just said hashtag I'm still with her. See ya!' he said.

Oh well! 'I still slept with them! I did, because I had a few wines. Then halfway through I felt really bad about it!' he joked

Mates: Meanwhile, Joel is making some famous mates, as the outspoken comedian is close pals with MKR's Ash Pollard

Meanwhile, Joel is making some famous mates, as the outspoken comedian has become close friends with MKR's Ash Pollard.

Both were pictured attending the Cirque Du Soleil premiere of Kooza in Melbourne in January and he has appeared on her Snapchat.

Joel is a former The former I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here contestant, and Ash is currently in the jungle on the reality show.

Role reversal: Joel is a former The former I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here contestant, and his friend Ash Pollard is currently in the jungle on the reality show (pictured)




Actress Trudie Styler has been walking red carpets for decades.

But you would not be able to tell the activist was 63 years old when she made a remarkably youthful appearance on Thursday night.

The age-defying star made a rare public appearance without her devoted husband Sting as she attended the 67th annual Berlinale Film Festival.

Age-defying: The actress and activist, 63, made a rare public appearance without her devoted husband Sting as she attended an honorary screening of The Shining the Berlin Film Festival on Thursday

Trudie wore a simple but elegant long black velvet coat as she joined Total Recall star Marshall Bell at a one-off premiere screening of The Shining.

The iconic Stanley Kubrick film was shown at the cultural event to mark the lifetime achievements of Italian costume designer Milena Canonero, Marshall's wife of 36 years.

Trudie looked happy to be at the event and shared a joke with her actor pal while posing for pictures.

She teamed her simple, elegant and very 'Berlin' outfit with statement silver heeled boots.

The style icon accessorised with a small black clutch with a gold chain and carried trendy glasses in preparation for the scary screening.

With her cut off trousers, high necked jumper and no-fuss hairstyle, Trudie effortlessly blended into the hipster crowd while still managing to look stunning.

Stylish Styler: With her wide legged trousers, high necked jumper and no-fuss hairstyle, Trudie effortlessly blended into the hipster crowd while still managing to look stunning

Chic and poise: The age-defying star looked happy to be at the festival and teamed her simple, elegant and very 'Berlin' outfit with statement silver heeled boots to great effect

Oscar-winning Milena was awarded with the Honorary Golden Bear at the event, attended by more than 300,000 people.

Films the designer has worked on include A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, The Shining, Chariots Of Fire, The Cotton Club, Out Of Africa, Dick Tracy, Marie Antoinette, The Godfather Part III and most recently The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Each of these hit movies are being screened over the course of the festival, an important part of the movie world calendar.

Glasses in hand: The style icon accessorised with a small black clutch with a gold chain and carried trendy glasses in preparation for the scary screening

Trudie is well known to be a huge fan of pilates and to maintain a healthy lifestyle, even when travelling the world with her rock legend husband Sting, 65.

Being part of one of the most stable marriages in music history might also have helped Trudie maintain her incredible aura of wellness.

She has been married to the former Police frontman for more than a quarter of a century.

The pair regularly appear loved-up at events or on holiday together and recently won awards for their Italian wine venture - though Sting confessed he is still more partial to a beer.

The world renowned couple have three children together and also run a successful international charity.

Sting and Trudie launched the Rainforest Fund back in 1989 in a bid to help the indigenous Amazonian people of Brazil.

And today it now operates in 23 countries across three continents including Belize, Costa Rica, Honduras, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Peru.
Pedro Pascal gave Narcos fans a sneak peek of what to expect as the Netflix hit is rolling on its third season.

The 41-year-old actor, speaking with Jimmy Kimmel Wednesday, said that despite the December 2, 1993 death of Pablo Escobar as chronicled in the show's second year, 'People keep doing cocaine,' leading to plenty more content for the hit series.

The Santiago, Chile-born star said of the show's upcoming season: 'We go after the [California] cartel, people know a lot less about the Cali cartel, including myself.

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Coming soon: Pedro Pascal on Wednesday gave Jimmy Kimmel a preview of what Narcos' third season will consist of

Epidemic: Pedro said that in season three, the drug trade rages on in the wake of Pablo Escobar's death

'Im like, "Really! this is amazing!"

Pascal told Kimmel that cartel heads out west eclipsed well-known drug lord Pablo Escobar in their drug empires.

'They took over Miami after Pablo was killed and they already owned New York so theres a lot - theres a lot of cocaine in season three!'

Kimmel asked Pascal - who plays DEA agent Javier Pena on the Netflix series - if natives of Colombia are receptive to the program and it's content, as its shot in the South American nation.

Learning experience: Pedro said that he learned new tidbits about the drug trade amid preparing for the upcoming season

Home cooking: Pascal said that native Colombians who have seen Narcos 'love and respect' the program

Just say no: Boyd Hollbrook (left) and Pascal are currently working on the third season of the Netflix hit

'I think that if they watch it, they're pleasantly surprised because the country is very beautifully represented, because it is a beautiful county.'

He said that on occasion, he's had to sheepishly admit to curious locals what is being filmed.

'They're like, "We're over it!"' the Santiago, Chile-born star said, adding that 'the people that do see it, they love and respect it.'

Pascal can be seen in the action-adventure film The Great Wall, which co-stars Matt Damon and Tian Jing. It opens Friday.

Sure shot: The talented actor has appeared in all 20 episodes of the drug-fueled drama
She's been the face of cosmetics brand Covergirl since 2011.

So it may have been just a tad embarrassing when Sofia Vergara was spotted eyeing up rival L'Oreal's make-up in a CVS pharmacy in West Hollywood earlier this week.

The 44-year-old appeared to be deep in thought as she browsed products in the aisle, paying most attention to mascara and eye shadow.

Checking out the rival: Sofia Vergara, who has been the face of cosmetics brand Covergirl since 2011, was spotted browsing in the L'Oreal section at a CVS in LA on Monday

The Modern Family star, who hails from Colombia, was casually dressed in a long-sleeved, blue and white striped T-shirt with baggy ripped jeans and blue high-heeled platform sandals.

Sofia tucked her long brunette hair behind her ears and left it free to cascade over her shoulders.

Wearing a large pair of shades, the actress went pretty much unnoticed by shoppers in the store as she left carrying a plastic bag stuffed with products.

Her bag's full: The Modern Family star wore a blue and white striped T-shirt with ripped jeans and blue high-heeled platform sandals as she went pretty much unnoticed by shoppers

Ready to go: The 44-year-old was later seen shopping at her hunky 40-year-old husband Joe Manganiello's favorite boutique, John Varvatos, nearby on trendy Melrose Avenue

Sofia was reportedly also seen shopping at her hunky 40-year-old husband Joe Manganiello's favorite boutique, John Varvatos, nearby on trendy Melrose Avenue.

Meanwhile, the Mardi Gras holiday is just around the corner on February 28.

And Sofia is already making sure she is ready for it.

Ready for Mardi Gras: The holiday is just around the corner on February 28 and Sofia is making sure she is ready for it with this traditional King Cake from Haydel's Bakery in New Orleans

On Wednesday, she shared an Instagram snap of a beautiful cake, still in its box, with a plastic baggy full of strings of beads ready for the celebration.

The beauty captioned it: 'Straight from Nola!!?? King Cake!!! Gracias Lea, Brock, and Brian #therehasneverbeingacakethatIdontlike #readyformardigras2017.

The sweet treat, which is unlikely to last long, comes from Haydel's Bakery in New Orleans, Louisiana, according to wbrz.com
He's basking in the glory of his successful NYFW show.

And Kanye West was in a good mood on Thursday as he signed autographs on the way out of his Soho hotel.

The 39-year-old stepped out into the streets of New York looking cozy and casual in black jogging pants and a light blue sweatshirt.

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Kanye West, 39, was in a good mood on Thursday as he signed autographs on the way out of his Soho hotel after his successful Yeezy fashion show

The Yeezy designer paired the tracksuit with crisp, white sneakers and wore a big leather coat with fur lining to keep warm in the cool temperatures.

Kanye was still sporting a blonde do after dying bleaching his hair shortly before showing off his latest fashion line on Wednesday.

The father-of-two received heaps of support from his wife Kim Kardashian, 36, following the show.

The reality star took to Twitter to tell her beloved and their fans what she thought of him and his collection.

Keeping things casual: The 39-year-old stepped out into the streets of New York looking cozy in black jogging pants and a light blue sweatshirt

Kim tweeted: 'So proud of my baby for his amazing show today! It was so good! I'm so SO proud of him!!! #yeezyseason5.

To celebrate the show the couple headed out but they were denied a quiet dinner as fans swarmed the rapper.

Supportive spouse: The father-of-two received heaps of support from his wife Kim Kardashian, 36, following the show

Many asked him to sign a pair of his Yeezy 350 sneakers and one fan even presented some obvious fakes which Kanye immediately noticed and curled his lip up.

The show was attended by multiple celebrities, including Kylie Jenner, boyfriend Tyga, LaLa Anthony and Anna Wintour.

Good company: Kim sat front row, alongside Anna Wintour and Vogue Paris editor-in-chief Carine Roitfeld

This season appeared to have a slightly more intimate feel, as previous seasons have been held outside and in stadium-like venues.

Kanye, who has been criticized for his clothing in the past, did not seem to take the words to heart.

He presented a similar collection of ultra-simple lounge-wear mixed with military-inspired pieces.

Stylish: This season appeared to have a slightly more intimate feel, as previous seasons have been held outside and in stadium-like venues

Homegrown: The new additions also included camo cargo pants, plaid, long fur coats, and sweatshirts with California locations like Calabasas printed across them

The new additions to the line, which is a collaboration with Adidas, also included camo cargo pants, plaid, long fur coats, and sweatshirts with California locations like Calabasas printed across them. Kanye was clearly a fan of doubling up looks this season, pairing camo with more camo and denim with contrasting denim.

There were no slinky Spanx-like bodysuits this time around, but the line did feature red jumpsuits and tracksuits, as well as one sexy black bodysuit.

Despite seemingly going off without a hitch this year, the show was not without its drama.

This season, the mishaps started right from the outset, with Kanye originally scheduling his show for 5 p.m.  the same time always reserved for Georgian Chapman and Keren Craig's line, Marchesa.

Typically, designers are given their show time slots by the CFDA to ensure minimal overlap, but Kanye took matters into his own hands when scheduling his show, leading to a reprimand. He eventually decided to reschedule for the same day at 3 p.m.

'Kanye called me personally to let me know that he had no intention of showing on top of another designer, and was unaware that there was a conflict. He explained that once he realized Marchesa was in the time slot, he immediately looked at alternative options,' CFDA Chief Executive Officer Steven Kolb told WWD.
The intricacies of their rumoured romance have been playing out in recent weeks.

Yet Charlotte Crosby and her alleged beau Stephen Bear appear to be very much off on Thursday when his appearance on romantic show Celebs Go Dating was aired on E4 - leading to her sending a cryptic Tweet about being in pain.

The 26-year-old former Geordie Shore star is said to be hooking up with the CBB winner, 27, whose widely-anticipated appearance on the pre-recorded show was reported to have been cut short amid rumours of their romance.

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Troubled: Charlotte Crosby and her alleged beau Stephen Bear appear to be very much off on Thursday when his appearance on romantic show Celebs Go Dating was aired on E4 - leading to her sending a cryptic Tweet about being in pain

Reports of Charlotte and Bear's relationship reached fever pitch in recent weeks, before they were pictured locking lips last month, shortly before his appearance on Celebs Go Dating - which has been shrouded in controversy.

The show entails a group of love-seeking celebrities hoping to find a partner through a dating agency, helmed by love expert Lady Nadia Essex, before they are filmed wining and dining prospective interests.

Earlier this week, Ferne McCann, who also starred on the show, claimed that Bear was withdrawn from the series after producers discovered his union with Charlotte.

Despite this news, all did not appear well in Camp Crosby on Thursday evening when the show aired, on which Bear was seen jumping ship on a date early due to the fact his dining partner did not look how she did in pictures.

Troubles ahead! The 26-year-old former Geordie Shore star is said to be hooking up with the CBB winner, 27, whose widely-anticipated appearance on the pre-recorded show was reported to have been cut short amid rumours of their romance

Bear was seen on the show, getting up from his date and pretending to go to the toilet, before running around the corner and saying to producers: 'Who'd leave on a date?! I've got to get out of here, I've got to go. I can't do it, I've gotta be honest with ya it's not for me'.

While Twitter was flooded with disgruntled viewers, the move appeared to irk Charlotte as she took to the microblogging site to pen: 'I'm just a sucker for pain, what can I say'.

Having now made his name as a prankster, who takes very little seriously, Bear then responded by penning a sarcastic response saying: 'Cool Story', after which Charlotte replied: 'Hmmmmmmmmmm very interesting'.

Pained: While Twitter was flooded with disgruntled viewers, the move appeared to irk Charlotte as she took to the microblogging site to pen: 'I'm just a sucker for pain, what can I say'

Very interesting: The exchange continued with a typically sarcastic air

Charlotte was not the only one of Bear's love interests who were tuned in, as his bitter ex Jemma Lucy also weighed in on the show.

While she's only ever said bad things about her ex, who she claims cheated, since their split, she threw her support behind his decision to leave the date with the so-called Catfish - a term for a person who pretends to be a superior character online.

She penned: 'Watching @CelebsGoDating to be fair I agree with bear. Being a cat fish is not acceptable I'd walk away too she looks nothing like her pic!...

'If someone's not your type they're not your type! It's like false advertising... I just agree with him. Not going to disagree just cos of history, I'm not 12'.

Not happy: While Twitter was flooded with disgruntled viewers, the move appeared to irk Charlotte as she took to the microblogging site to pen: 'I'm just a sucker for pain, what can I say'

Oh God! Bear could not believe his luck as he appeared on the show

Weighing in: Charlotte was not the only one of Bear's love interests who were tuned in, as his bitter ex Jemma Lucy also weighed in on the show

Shortly before the show aired, Ferne made the big reveal on This Morning that, as rumoured, as he 'no longer needed the dating agents because he was dating Charlotte'.

'They're lucky because they found each other,' Ferne said, seemingly confirming what has thus far been a clandestine relationship between the reality stars.

Not only did his appearance bother Charlotte but fans were quick to respond to his typically outrageous behaviour, as Twitter users penned: 'Am I the only one who finds Stephen Bear completely and utterly repulsive?! #CelebsGoDating... #CelebsGoDating Why is IT given airtime ? Not funny or entertaining...

'I'm sorry like but a don't see how anyone could be attracted to someone so shallow and just awful. Bears awful. #CelebsGoDating... #CelebsGoDating .... you should kick @stephen_bear off the show .. zero respect for anyone @LadyNadiaEssex...

What's up: The star was in hot water with fans as he appeared on the show

Oh dear: Shortly before the show aired, Ferne made the big reveal on This Morning that, as rumoured, as he 'no longer needed the dating agents because he was dating Charlotte Crosby'

'The only bellend bigger than Bear is Trump....what an actual knobhead #luckyescape #CelebsGoDating... OMG cant believe @stephen_bear just did a runner from his date. He could of at least paid for the bread he ordered #CelebsGoDating...

'Someone needs to tell @stephen_bear to treat women like humans instead of the second class sex toys he thinks we are #CelebsGoDating... I would cry if a bloke ran away from a date with me #CelebsGoDating... Catching up on #CelebsGoDating that bear bloke is NOT funny, he's so rude!!!!'

Other viewers were more obliging as they wrote: 'Dunno why everyone is hating on bear.. that's what's he's like we all saw him on #cbb that girl catfish even said she knew #CelebsGoDating... Haha I actually can't help it i just love @stephen_bear he's hilarious ...'
Moonlight (15)

Rating:

Hidden Figures (PG)

Rating:

What an embarrassment it was for the American movie industry, which likes to think of itself as the Mount Olympus of liberalism, when the Oscars So White brouhaha erupted a year ago.

And how inevitable it then was that those voting for this years Academy Awards would ostentatiously recognise black talent. As so often, however, the Oscars voters have, in trying to right a wrong, got it wrong, not right.

The list of Best Picture nominees ludicrously includes Fences, a theatrical melodrama with few cinematic virtues, wildly overpraised because it is about the so-called African-American experience (and is directed by the mighty Denzel Washington).

Alex Hibbert and Mahershala Ali star in Moonlight, which is a 'frustratingly enigmatic' film

Loving, an absorbing true story about an interracial marriage in Fifties Virginia, was overlooked by voters, but is in my view a much better film.

Then there is Moonlight, which is also up for Best Picture and has had rhapsodies from the rooftops, yet is not the most compelling African-American film even of the week. That distinction, and again I realise Im out of step with most critics, goes to another film on the Best Picture shortlist, Hidden Figures.

It remains unlikely that Moonlight, which apart from a couple of insignificant extras has an all-black cast, will pip the (lily-white) La La Land when the most coveted of all the Oscar statuettes is dished out later this month. So maybe there will be further cries of outrage.

Nevertheless, it is a clear second favourite in the betting, and with no fewer than eight nominations, seems certain to loom large in the evenings ritual backslapping.

Yet, while it, too, is a far better movie than Fences, Moonlight is not the work of near genius so many people appear to think.

It certainly contains some wonderful performances  not least by Britains own Naomie Harris, playing a crack addict mother  but it is a frustratingly enigmatic film that never overcomes the obstacle writer-director Barry Jenkins created for himself by making the central character so repressed and uncommunicative.

This is Chiron, played in three stages of his life by three actors. The reason he finds it hard to relate to the world around him, and the people in it, is that hes gay, growing up surrounded by alpha males in Miamis black ghettos.

When we meet Chiron (Alex Hibbert), he is just nine. He doesnt know hes gay and nor do we, but you should use the information as the very opposite of a spoiler, because unless youre aware of his hidden sexuality, he is perplexingly withdrawn.

Why is he such a social misfit? It cant just be because his mother (Harris) is so unutterably hopeless.

Only in the second chapter, with Chiron now a teenager played by Ashton Sanders, do we begin to understand as, very haltingly, he comes to some kind of terms with his sexual identity.

Moonlight certainly contains some wonderful performances  not least by Britains own Naomie Harris, playing a crack addict mother

In a more tolerant world it would be the least of his problems. With his mother increasingly a wreck and only peripherally involved in his upbringing, the proxy parents in his benighted life are the local drug dealer, Juan (Mahershala Ali, who, along with Harris, has an Oscar nomination) and his girlfriend Teresa (Janelle Monae).

The irony of the kindly Juan supplying the very drugs that have ruined his mother does not escape Chiron.

Yet Juan fades from view and by the time Chiron is a man (Trevante Rhodes) in the films final chapter, he is still on his own, still a stranger to intimacy.

Then he seeks out an old schoolfriend, Kevin, the person with whom he had his first homosexual encounter, now working as a chef and a decent, caring man.

You aint changed one damn bit, says Kevin (Andre Holland), which caused some suppressed giggling at the screening I went to, since the adult Chiron, thanks to some questionable casting, is totally unrecognisable from his adolescent self.

But I suppose the question is whether he has changed emotionally. Back in the mean streets of Miami, reunited with one of the few people who has ever understood him and looking, with his pumped-up body and gleaming gold teeth, like he finally belongs, will Chiron still feel like a misfit?

I shouldnt reveal more, except to say that all this yields several touching moments as well as some powerful acting.

But an accomplishment for the ages, as some have claimed? Not from where I was sitting.

Hidden Figures, which coincidentally also features Mahershala Ali and Janelle Monae, is much more straightforward, a crowd-pleaser.

It tells a remarkable true story, that of three brilliant African-American women who worked for Nasa, then based in Virginia, at the height of the space race.

As mathematicians and computer nerds, Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Monae) were vital in helping to send astronaut John Glenn (Glen Powell) into orbit, thereby advancing the technology that just a few years later would put a man on the Moon.

However, in 1961 their collective brainpower counted for very little in a U.S. state riven by racial discrimination. Theodore Melfis film explains, with a defiant lack of subtlety, how the trio had to fight to prove themselves in an overwhelmingly white, male workplace.

Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae in a scene from Hidden Figures

There is a satisfying scene in which their boss Al Harrison (Kevin Costner) finally realising that the reason Johnson keeps going absent is because the nearest colored washroom is in another building, furiously takes a hammer to the segregation sign.

At times, however, the film plays like a checklist of injustices being ticked off one by one. Or in the case of Johnson repeatedly tottering half a mile to the nearest available loo, the same injustice ticked over and over.

Melfi further labours the point by making most of the white men, presumably top scientists themselves, downright obtuse.

Yet somehow it all works, so that when Johnson dazzles the boffins by telling them they need to move from an elliptical orbit to a parabolic orbit, I felt like applauding, despite not understanding a word.

And by the end, when pictures of these actual extraordinary women predictably popped up on screen, with a caption telling us that Johnson is still alive at 98 (and by the look of it, still firing on all cylinders), I know I wasnt alone in wanting to stand up and cheer.
Travesties (Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue)

Rating:

The House Of Bernarda Alba (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester)

Rating:

One of the greatest risks you can run in theatre is being too clever for your own good. Its a risk Tom Stoppard has been taking for most of his professional life  and nowhere was the gamble greater than in his 1974 comedy, Travesties.

The story, about Henry Carr, an amnesiac official at the British consulate in Zurich of 1917 crossing paths with the great Irish novelist James Joyce, the founder of the Dada art movement Tristan Tzara and the Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, is almost unfathomable.

And yet you dont need a degree in English, art or Russian history to get you through this brilliantly frivolous production, which sold out in a flash when it opened at Londons bijou Menier Chocolate Factory last autumn.

TomHollander, as the Bertie Wooster-ish Henry Carr, is hardly ever off stage. A veteran of World War I, he is most concerned by the impact of the trenches on his trousers

You dont even need an acquaintance with Oscar Wildes comedy The Importance Of Being Earnest, of which it is a loving parody, though it would help.

A woman behind me confided to her companion, during the interval, that for the first five minutes she thought Oh, my God! And its not plain sailing after that, either. But you soon realise youve just got to let go.

Thats exactly what the cast, led by Tom Hollander, do in Patrick Marbers dazzling revival. Stoppards play is a two-and-a-half-hour virtuoso turn, and Marbers production, which stands on the virtuoso turns of his actors, does not disappoint.

Hollander, as the Bertie Wooster-ish Carr, is hardly ever off stage. A veteran of World War I, he is most concerned by the impact of the trenches on his trousers. Now, in Zurich, he finds himself at the mercy of his clever, champagne guzzling butler while being importuned by James Joyce to appear in a play. In between, he finds time for some vociferous disputes with the Romanian Tzara about the nature of art. And if that last bit alone sounds too arch, then Freddie Fox damn near steals the show as the radical Dadaist. Orotund and gymnastic all at once, its as though Laurence Olivier is reborn.

Carr, an amnesiac official at the British consulate in Zurich of 1917 crosses paths with the great Irish novelist James Joyce, the founder of the Dada art movement Tristan Tzara and the Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin

You dont need a degree in English, art or Russian history to get you through this brilliantly frivolous production

Peter McDonald is a more purring presence as the Dubliner Joyce, with his never-matching jacket and trousers. He is a hoot, firing off limericks and literally pulls a rabbit out of his hat in another dispute about art.

Marber has him strum a guitar at one point, just as he has Forbes Massons magisterially self-important Lenin play the lute to a Shakespeare sonnet.

There are delicious touches, too, from Clare Foster and Amy Morgan as Cecily and Gwendolen in The Importance Of Being Earnest sub-plot about tea, muffins and missing manuscripts. When it appeared in the Seventies, with Eastern Europe still labouring under totalitarian communism, Travesties was a much more risque work.

It may have lost some of its political edge, but on Tim Hatleys ingenious set (a cross between a library, a courtroom and a drawing room), its flamboyant theatricality is given full throttle. This is tomfoolery with panache.

Kathryn Hunter as Bernarda Alba in the current production at Manchester Royal Exchange

 Manchester Royal Exchange is hosting a fascinating production of Spanish playwright Federico Garcia Lorcas tale of sexual repression The House Of Bernarda Alba.

This production by the pioneering disability theatre company Graeae reinvents the drama as a disturbing parable of cultural isolation.

Kathryn Hunter crackles as the megalomaniac mother who imposes eight years of mourning on her five hormonal daughters following the death of their father.

In Jenny Sealeys austere production, the focus is squarely on the acting, with deaf or disabled performers sharing sign language for each other and surtitles on screens overhead.

While this can be distracting, they add to the sense of being trapped in another dimension.

Jo Cliffords habit of making characters repeat what speech-impaired performers say makes the action seem laborious. But it also gives an elemental tone.

Clearly this is not everyones cup of sangria, but if you can give it the benefit of a doubt, its a strangely unnerving experience.
John Wick: Chapter 2 reunites us with the worlds greatest assassin (Keanu Reeves), who doesnt say much, but once killed three men in a bar . . . with a pencil.

In the original 2014 film, Wick was teased out of retirement and into a bloodbath because someone murdered his dog.

This time, its because someone has stolen his car. Dont even think about stamping on his iPhone.

John Wick: Chapter 2 reunites us with the worlds greatest assassin (Keanu Reeves), who doesnt say much, but once killed three men in a bar . . . with a pencil

Theres a kind of narrative involving an Italian super-criminal who forces Wick to go to Rome to repay a favour, then takes out a $7 million contract on his life, but really Chad Stahelskis film is about the multifarious ways in which one man can kill lots and lots of others.

As before, its touch and go as to whether Wick terminates more people than he has syllables of dialogue.

Not that he gets away unscathed. He is shot, stabbed and hit by a car, each time emerging with a limp marginally more pronounced than before.

With a decent supporting cast (Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, Franco Nero), but an almost total lack of dramatic tension, the film is slickly and often spectacularly choreographed, but adds up to little more than an extremely loud and colourful glorification of violence.
The Great Wall (12A)

Rating:

The notion of building a huge wall to keep out battalions of snarling, scaly monsters sounds like a directive from the Trump Oval Office, but it also provides the backdrop for this ground-breaking U.S.-Chinese co-production: the most expensive film ever made in China and the first English language picture from the celebrated director Zhang Yimou.

With China well on the way to overtaking the U.S. as the worlds biggest cinema-going market, we can expect plenty more movies like this, but lets hope they get better.

Matt Damon stars as William, an 11th-century mercenary soldier from Europe, who has heard exciting things about Chinese gunpowder and wants to take some home.

Matt Damon stars as William, an 11th-century mercenary soldier from Europe, who has heard exciting things about Chinese gunpowder and wants to take some home.

But he is distracted, understandably enough, by tens of thousands of green-blooded, man-eating monsters called the Taotie, who scale the Great Wall every 60 years and storm the capital.

William and his colleague Pero (Pedro Pascal Oberyn Martell in Game Of Thrones) are taken prisoner by the Chinese and imprisoned inside the Great Wall, but when their fighting skills are recognised, they are released to help overcome the ferocious Taotie.

Willem Dafoe also pops up, looking decidedly anxious most of the time, either because hes worried about being eaten alive or because hes read the script, which favours no one but least of all Damon, who must utter lines such as: The moon is strong; when the horses are fresh, we move.

There is also a suggestion that William might fall in love with a sexy Chinese commander (Jing Tian).

I was willing him to invoke the spirit of John Wayne in The Conqueror, possibly the worst movie ever made, and declare that all other women are like the second pressing of the grape.

Alas, he didnt. But there are plenty of compensatory embarrassments to savour, as well as some iffy CGI that makes you wonder where the $135 million budget actually went.
She's the queen of the seductive stare.

And Kim Kardashian, 36, failed to disappoint in a new series of photos she posted to her personal website www.kimkardashianwest.com on Thursday.

The photos, which appear to have been taken during the family's recent trip to Costa Rica, show Kim in high-cut white bikini bottoms that showed off most of her pert booty.

Booty-licious: Kim Kardashian, 36, posted a series of seductive throwback photos to her time in Costa Rica wearing a barely-there thong bikini that showed off her booty

The reality star paired her barely there bottoms with a white see-through t-shirt that became transparent when wet.

The shirt, which read 'Jamaica No problem', was tied tightly around her toned stomach and she had a white bikini top on underneath to ensure she didn't suffer a nip slip.

The reality star's makeup was flawless despite being completely covered in water and her long hair was slicked back and sexy from the waterfall.

In one photo she showed off her ample booty as she crouched down in the water and gazed seductively behind her at the camera.

Seductive: The reality star paired her barely there bottoms with a white see-through t-shirt that became transparent when wet

She also posted a photo before the shoot began while she was still on dry land.

The Keeping Up With The Kardashian's star looks like she is laughing and smiling at someone off camera as she points toward the sky, getting ready for her sultry photo shoot.

The reality star has been busy in New York City this past week supporting husband Kanye West who presented his Yeezy season 5 fashion line at NYFW on Wednesday.

She also posted a photo before the shoot began while she was still on dry land

The mother of two took to Twitter to tell her beloved and their fans what she thought of him and his collection.

Kim tweeted: 'So proud of my baby for his amazing show today! It was so good! I'm so SO proud of him!!! #yeezyseason5.

The show was attended by multiple celebrities, including Kylie Jenner, boyfriend Tyga, LaLa Anthony and Anna Wintour.

Supportive: The mother of two took to Twitter to tell Kanye West and their fans what she thought of him and his collection

This season appeared to have a slightly more intimate feel, as previous seasons have been held outside and in stadium-like venues.

Kanye, who has been criticized for his clothing in the past, did not seem to take the words to heart.

He presented a similar collection of ultra-simple lounge-wear mixed with military-inspired pieces.
It's the long-running soap watched by millions of people worldwide.

And it appears Em Rusciano is also a huge fan of The Bold And The Beautiful, with the radio host becoming hysterical after spotting actress Katherine Kelly Lang in the 2DayFM studios.

'Oh my god, it's Brooke from The Bold And The Beautiful. I'm losing my mind!' the 37-year-old screamed, referring to the actress by her character's name on the show.

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'Oh my god': Em Rusciano was in hysterics after she spotted her favourite actress Katherine Kelly Lang from The Bold And The Beautiful outside her 2DayFM studio

The distraction came while Em was having a discussion on-air with her co-host Harley Breen.

Too excited to continue with the topic at hand after spotting Katherine walking outside, Em asked her producer to invite Katherine into the studio.

'Can she come in here? Can you get Katherine Lang into the studio?' she requested.

'I'm losing my mind!' The 2DayFM radio presenter was unable to contain her excitement

Meeting her idol: The 37-year-old was able to meet the soap star after requesting that her producer invite her into the studio for an impromptu chat

Oops: Meanwhile, it appears Em's producer Sarah was being 'yelled at' outside for distracting the actress from her scheduled appointment

Chatty: Before welcoming Katherine into the studio, Em had become so distracted she stopped the entire show

The outspoken radio presenter was ecstatic to meet her 'idol,' greeting her with a huge hug when she walked in.

She quickly introduced herself and co-host Harley to the American actress and invited her to 'talk into the mic'.

'We were just about to do a phone topic, is it okay to touch your balls in public, and then I saw you walk into the room and I said "Oh my god, it's Brooke from The Bold And The Beautiful!"'

'I have to go': It appears Katherine's team was signalling for her to cut off the chat with Em and her co-host Harley Breen

Meanwhile, it appears that the show's producer Sarah was outside the studio being told to wind up the chat as Katherine was scheduled for an interview elsewhere.

A message superimposed onto the video shared online read: 'Producer Sarah getting yelled at for taking Kelly [Katherine].'

It appears members of Katherine's team was signalling for the actress to leave in the background.

'I have to go! I have to go and talk to Adelaide,' Katherine told the hosts.
Taylor Hill is cementing her status as one of the world's most in-demand models in the industry.

The brunette beauty was pictured out and about in New York during New York Fashion Week on Wednesday.

The pretty 20-year-old showed off her lithe legs in a black mini skirt and patterned opaque tights.

Stunner: Taylor Hill was pictured out and about in New York during New York Fashion Week on Wednesday

She added some sex appeal to her look with some over the knee boots but kept it cool with a black bomber jacket with orange lining.

Her luscious locks were swept into a chic bun on top of her head as she went for natural but flawless make-up.

She wore a natural coloured lippy, mascara as she subtly contoured her face.

Sleek: The pretty 20-year-old showed off her lithe legs in a black mini skirt and patterned opaque tights

Taylor has been the talk of NYFW and just strutted her stuff for three different shows on Tuesday.

The beauty was at the Upper East Side Ralph Lauren flagship store where she walked over two levels of the boutique with thousands of white orchards providing the background.

Rising models Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid were also there to join her on the runway.

Cool chick: She added some sex appeal to her look with some over the knee boots but kept it cool with a black bomber jacket with orange lining

Unlike most shows during fashion week, the looks were from a collection that will be made available to consumers immediately.

Meanwhile Taylor is set to star as the face of David Yurman''s spring 2017 campaign alongside pro Natalia Vodianova.

'It was such an amazing experience working with the David Yurman family and Bruce Weber,' Hill said in a statement.

'I can't wait to see the campaign come out and I'm looking forward to the future with them.'
Mafia Women

Rating:

Death in Paradise

Rating:

Sir Trevor McDonald has friends, know what Im saying? He knows people. People you dont wanna mess with. Bada bing, bada boom. Capeesh?

What began as contacts, made during the research for his investigations into the lives of reformed mobsters, have become trusted connections. The former newsreader, now 77, is writing a new chapter in his career, as a psychoanalyst of organised crime.

Ex-Mafia enforcers and consiglieri, the one-time hitmen and middle managers of New York and Vegas, spoke to him guardedly last year, and Sir Trevor did not betray them. Instead of sensationalising their accounts, as many TV journalists might have done, he let the mobsters tell their own stories.

Sir Trevor never betrays his contacts' confidence, but lets the mobsters tell their own stories

That did not go unnoticed. And now a secret layer of Mafia life, underpinning the lurid scams and killings, is being revealed to him, as the mobs wives and daughters emerge to talk, for Mafia Women (ITV).

The veteran newsman had already met Anthony Russo, a capo or gangland captain in the Colombo crime family in Brooklyn before he cut a deal with the FBI to turn informant and avoid a lifetime in jail.

Now Russo wanted the cameras to see his new girlfriend, Amy, a Florida nurse he met while walking his dog.

Russo trusts Sir Trevor, but in a wiseguy way: he had to be present throughout every conversation and if he didnt like the direction an answer was headed, he cut in. He treated Amy the way a strict father talks to his favourite daughter, encouraging her to tease him just a little and then scolding her.

All the women interviewed in Mafia Women had relationships with their fathers that were complex enough to make Sigmund Freuds head whirl.

Funky gibbons of the night All is forgiven, BBC Store. More than 50 episodes of The Goodies  the cleverest, silliest comedy of the Seventies  are now available to download from the Beeb online. This includes six shows lost for decades . . . as well as that infamous giant kitten. Genius. Advertisement

Maria Scarpa was just two years old when her dad Greg Jnr was jailed. She speaks to him daily by phone in prison and has done since she was a toddler  family video shows her chatting to Poppa on the telephone shortly after he was arrested in the late Eighties.

But it was her aunt Linda who really qualified for a lifetimes free therapy. Her father, Gregory Scarpa Snr, was the Mafias most prolific killer. He said he stopped counting bodies after the first 50, though the FBI puts his tally at 100 or more. Gangland knew him as the Grim Reaper.

When he was dying from Aids (caught from a contaminated blood transfusion, so he said) Greg Snr asked Linda if she wanted him to kill her husband.

He wasnt going to be around for ever, he explained, so if she wanted it doing, shed better speak up. Though she refused the offer, Linda still sees that as a loving gesture.

As she too grew to trust Sir Trevor, she let him view footage of her 16th birthday party, a huge family party featuring a waltz with her father as its centrepiece. She wept as she watched herself nestling in his arms.

Does that look like someone who would want to hurt somebody? she sobbed. No! He was the love of my life.

With great skill, Sir Trevor nursed answers from these wary women. Often he did no more than repeat their evasive phrases, prompting them to elaborate.

It was highly effective, and much less eccentric than the tics revealed by Ardal OHanlon as he took over the detectives role on Death In Paradise (BBC1).

Ardal has a hard act to follow. Kris Marshall, as DI Humphrey Goodman, often played the buffoon, but he had hidden depths. As DI Jack Mooney, Ardal has irritating habits, which isnt the same thing.

Ardal O'Hanlon had a hard act to follow taking over the detective's role on Death in Paradise

When hes puzzling over the suspects faces pinned to the whiteboard, he sings to himself. And when hes baffled, he turns all naive and Irish  there were moments of Father Dougal, his gormless priest from Father Ted, so there were, to be sure.

He wasnt helped by one of the weakest storylines for a while, a cold case murder where the clues were laboured and the killer wore an I Dunnit badge.

But Mooneys tender relationship with his daughter Siobhan (Grace Stone) is promising. Give him time  we might grow to love him.
Australian actress Philippa Coulthard has won a star-making role in a new television version of the E. M. Forster novel Howards End.

The 24-year-old from Brisbane will play Helen, the youngest of the idealistic Schlegel sisters, in the four-part adaption of Forsters 1910 novel.

Hayley Atwell has signed on for the part of Margaret Schlegel, Helens more level-headed older sister.

Australian actress Philippa Coulthard has won a star-making role in a new television version of the E. M. Forster novel Howards End

Its a whopper of a TV drama  not least because the screenplay is by Kenneth Lonergan, who won a Bafta on Sunday for the original script for the film Manchester By The Sea. The movie masterpiece, starring Casey Affleck, is also up for six Oscars, with Lonergan in contention for original screenplay and direction.

Hettie Macdonald will direct Howards End  another indication of its pedigree. I remember seeing her fine film of Jonathan Harveys play Beautiful Thing back in 1996. More recently, she made the TV film White Girl, and episodes of Doctor Who and Fortitude.

Coulthard has appeared in Aussie-made programme Lightning Point and a distant Doctor Who spin-off called K9.

But Howards End is the real deal for her. Helena Bonham Carter played the Helen role in the 1992 picture (opposite Emma Thompson as Margaret, a performance that won the best actress Academy Award). Bonham Carter beautifully captured the spirit of the headstrong young woman who blunders across class lines with little understanding of the damage she is doing. The Schlegel sisters, who are into art and helping those less fortunate than themselves, meet up with the Wilcoxes, headed by industrialist Henry: a man proud of his obtuseness.

Hayley Atwell has signed on for the part of Margaret Schlegel, Helens more level-headed older sister

His saving grace is his delightful but frail wife Ruth (Vanessa Redgrave in the film). Julia Ormond, who was in Mad Men, signed a deal on Wednesday to play Mrs Wilcox. Matthew Macfadyen will play her husband.

Colin Callender, whos producing the mini-series with the BBC and American digital channel Starz, told me Lonergans adaptation will resonate with todays audience.

The world was dealing with change and social mobility. The scripts are fresh, witty and have a great contemporary tone, yet theyre respectful of Forsters novel.

Callender noted that the four-hour TV version would be able to fit in a lot more of the book than the Merchant-Ivory film was able to.

Other casting includes Joseph Quinn in the pivotal part of Leonard Bast; fast-rising Rosalind Eleazar as Jacky, Basts wife who has been shamelessly treated by men in high places. (Eleazar was in NW, the series based on Zadie Smiths novel, and the superb C4 drama National Treasure.)

Alex Lawther, who was in The Imitation Game, plays another Schlegel sibling Tibby; while Tracey Ullman is their Aunt Juley. Filming begins later this month in and around London.

The biggest casting job was finding a fitting house to represent Howards End.

A suitable country property has been found in Surrey  but its exact location is being withheld for now.

I WANT TO DO DUSTY PROUD - FLAWS AND ALL, SAYS KATHERINE Katherine Kingsley will portray the acclaimed singer in a musical called Dusty Katherine Kingsley grew up listening to the music of Dusty Springfield. My mum loved her, so from a very young age I heard Dustys songs, said the actress (pictured). Which is good, since she will portray the acclaimed singer in a musical called Dusty, written by Jonathan Harvey using material he gleaned from interviews with key people in the artists life. Kingsley, who is in the delicious production of She Loves Me, on now at the Menier Chocolate Factory (it runs until March 4), said she found Harveys script really raw and really authentic. Its a play with songs, rather than a jukebox musical, and starts in the Sixties, after Springfield had gone solo. It follows her to America, where she recorded Dusty In Memphis: an album she often derided but which has since been hailed as one of the seminal records of the era. Kingsley stressed that her portrayal will not be an imper-sonation. I hope to capture an essence of who Dusty was, she said. There will be a few iconic Dusty moments. Harveys text and Maria Friedmans direction will show the singers flaws, too. She did go to a dark place, said Kingsley. But its not all doom and gloom  she had some laughs, too. Dusty paved the way for people like Amy Winehouse and Adele. She was legendary. Its a nobrainer for me to do it. The shows song list is still being decided, but its likely to run to around a dozen numbers, including You Dont Have To Say You Love Me and Son Of A Preacher Man. You cant have them all, Kingsley commented, otherwise it will sound like a catalogue show. Friedman and producer Eleanor Lloyd will do a workshop of Dusty in April, and the plan is for the show to open in the West End in 2018. In the mean time, catch Kingsley in the BBC adaptation of Evelyn Waughs Decline And Fall, in which she plays game-huntress Pamela Popham. Advertisement

Watch out for...

Catherine McCormack (pictured) will play Mrs Robinson in a new production of Terry Johnsons adaptation of Charles Webbs novel The Graduate

Catherine McCormack (pictured), who will play Mrs Robinson in a new production of Terry Johnsons adaptation of Charles Webbs novel The Graduate.

(The 1968 film version, directed by Mike Nichols, famously starred Anne Bancroft in the role, alongside Dustin Hoffman.) Lucy Bailey will direct the play, which will run at the West Yorkshire Playhouse from April 28.

Its a black comedy/satire on American values, which is very good timing! said the director. She described Mrs Robinson as a very lonely and quite disturbed person... shes a raging alcoholic and her marriage is unhappy.

Bailey added that she was thrilled that McCormack was doing the role. I was delighted, Bailey told me. We sat down over a pint of Guinness and I thought: Shes my girl! And when she ordered a second pint, I knew that she was right. Jack Monaghan and Emma Curtis have also been cast.

Robert Lindsay (above), who will portray the British cinematographer Jack Cardiff in a new play by Terry Johnson called Prism, which will run at Londons Hampstead Theatre this autumn.

Cardiff was an innovator behind the camera: he made art with light. He won an Oscar for his camerawork on Black Narcissus, and much acclaim for his other pictures that included The Red Shoes, The African Queen and Death On The Nile, to name but three. Executives at Hampstead Theatre declined to discuss the production.

Gary Barlow, director Tim Firth and producers David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers, who are believed to be in discussions with Disney and Decca about collaborating on the cast album for The Girls, which is in previews at the Phoenix Theatre and opens on Tuesday.

I saw the musical, based on the film Calendar Girls, again this week. To my mind, it reflects some of the best aspects of British life.
She's the glamorous mother to adorable son Zion, two.

And proving motherhood hasn't changed her style, Nicole Trunfio took to the streets of Malibu on Tuesday in a chic all-black ensemble.

The 30-year-old model showed off her slender frame and pert derriere during an outing with her husband Gary Clark Jr. and their adorable toddler.

Hot mama! Nicole Trunfio shows off her trim tum and pert derriere in chic all-black ensemble in Malibu on Tuesday

The mother-of-one didn't shy away from showing a glimpse of her flat stomach, while wearing a midriff-baring bell-sleeve blouse.

Wearing a pair of tight black skinny jeans, Nicole's divine posterior fit perfectly in the denim as she ran errands.

The trousers also hugged at the model's sculptured pins as she casually strolled the neighbourhood.

Taut-ily stunning! The mother-of-one didn't shy away from providing a glimpse of her flat stomach, as she embraced a flowy midriff, off-the-shoulder top that lifted up in the breeze

Snug fit! Wearing a pair of tight black skinny jeans, Nicole's divine posterior was enhanced in the denim-clad look as she ran errands

She added designer flair to her ensemble with a pair of Givenchy slides and a luxury studded clutch.

The starlet accessorised with a necklace and a pair of retro, circle-lens sunglasses.

Nicole's ombre-dyed locks were styled in curls for the day, while she appeared to sport a nude lip and a dusting of blush on her cheeks.

Blooming beautiful! The trousers also hugged at the model's sculptured pins as she casually strolled the neighbourhood

Effortlessly chic! She added designer flair to her ensemble with a pair of Givenchy sliders and a luxury studded clutch

Family fun: She was spotted spending the day with musician husband and their adorable son Zion at a park outing for a play date

Happy couple! Nicole and musician Gary tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in Palm Springs, California, in April last year

She was spotted spending the day with musician husband Gary and their adorable son Zion at a park outing for a family play date.

Nicole and Gary tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in Palm Springs, California, in April last year.

On the day, fellow Australian models Gemma Ward and Jessica Gomes served as bridesmaids.

Thighs the limit! The following day Nicole flaunted her trim pins in a thigh-high all-black ensemble for the launch of Rosie HW x PAIGE Collection at Ysabel in West Hollywood

The following day Nicole flaunted her trim pins in a thigh-high all-black ensemble for the launch of Rosie HW x PAIGE Collection at Ysabel in West Hollywood.

She elongated her already statuesque frame by wearing studded black heels.

Adding to her short frock, she draped a shaggy coat over her shoulder and tied a sequined belt around her waist.

She accessorised with large hoop earrings, a silver necklace and a black choker with a diamante cross.

Her hair was done up in a high ponytail, while her makeup featured a light grey eye shadow palette and a pink lip.
The Women's Cancer Research Fund threw their An Unforgettable Evening fete at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Thursday night.

Among the cavalcade of celebrities rolling through the venue, Elizabeth Hurley was a showstopper in a pink dress that hugged her taut frame.

The 51-year-old let her curled hair tumble freely over her shoulders as she offered a knowing smile to the cameras.

Sizzling: The Women's Cancer Research Fund threw their An Unforgettable Evening fete at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Thursday night, and Elizabeth Hurley was a guest

At the top of her dress, an embossed pale pink section featured a bit of sheer fabric that allowed for a peek at the The Royals star's cleavage.

From about the middle of her bust, the dress became dominated by darker pink patterns - floral and baroque - that swirled over the lighter color.

The sleeveless number was hemmed below the knee, but featured a slit up the back, enabling her to show off her chiseled legs.

When you got it: Among the cavalcade of celebrities rolling through the venue, Hurley was a showstopper in a pink dress that hugged her taut frame

The look: The 51-year-old let her curled hair tumble freely over her shoulders as she offered a knowing smile to the cameras

Hinting: At the top of her dress, an embossed pale pink section featured a bit of sheer fabric that allowed for a peek at the The Royals star's cleavage

Speaking out: Elizabeth went up onstage during the event to give a speech

Gleaming gold ankle-strap stilettos completed her outfit, and she accessorized with a pink and orange clutch, as well as glinting drop earrings.

The Women's Cancer Research Fund is a program of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, whose website names Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson honorary chairs.

Hanks and his second wife Wilson, who've been married since 1988, seemed in high spirits at the event, he in a charcoal three-piece suit and silver patterned tie.

Top brass: The Women's Cancer Research Fund is a program of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation , whose website names Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson honorary chairs

Suit and snakeskin: Hanks and his second wife Wilson, who've been married since 1988, seemed in high spirits at the event, he in a charcoal three-piece suit and silver patterned tie

Better together: The couple took the stage together to speak at the event

He put an arm about his wife, who like him is 60 years old, and who'd opted for a full-sleeved snakeskin patterned dress that fell to the knee.

Her own metallic heels shone under the lights, and she held a black clutch against her dress as she grinned for the photographers.

Steven Spielberg and his second wife Kate Capshaw are also honorary chairs of the BCRF, and their daughter Destry sizzled in a black dress.

Scion: Steven Spielberg and his second wife Kate Capshaw are also honorary chairs of the BCRF, and their daughter Destry sizzled in a black dress

The 20-year-old's outfit featured a strapless black bra and a black miniskirt, over which a short-sleeved netted skirt bared cleavage and midriff alike.

Black shoes and a black clutch complemented the entire ensemble as she stood for photos with her right hand settled on her waist.

Victoria Justice flashed quite a lot of leg through the thigh slit of her zaffre dress, which had an oblong gap carved out by the cleavage and a hem near the knee.

Showing what she's got: Victoria Justice flashed quite a lot of leg through the thigh slit of her zaffre dress, which had an oblong gap carved out by the cleavage and a hem near the knee

Garnishing the look: Black ribbons started above the thigh slit but dangled into it, matching her clutch and her ankle-strap high heeled shoes

Black ribbons started above the thigh slit but dangled into it, matching her clutch and her ankle-strap high heeled shoes.

The 23-year-old's black and slightly wavy hair fell over her shoulders and she'd added a splash of glitz by way of her earrings.

Cynthia Bailey's pleated blueish green dress, which fell to the knee, offered up quite a serving of decolletage on the 48-year-old's behalf.

Note the fur: Cynthia Bailey's pleated blueish green dress, which fell to the knee, offered up quite a serving of decolletage on the 48-year-old's behalf

A matching fur stole draped over the crooks of her arms, the Real Housewife Of Atlanta had popped on cream shoes for the bash.

Lisa Kudrow's short-sleeved black gown was ringed with an elaborate crimson pattern about the waistline that reappeared at the hem.

Black tights stretched over her calves, which her outfit half obscured, and she wore black shoes that went stylishly with her own black clutch.

Multicolored: Jessica Hart had wound her blonde hair into a high updo as she posed in a gown with softly undulating purple, black, red orange, yellow, white and green strips

Motif: Lisa Kudrow (left) and Gina Gershon (right) both looked splendid in red and black

Tig Notaro, who shot to fame after her stand-up set about her breast cancer diagnosis went viral, wore a silver patterned blazer.

Her white dress shirt clashed elegantly against the One Mississippi star's black trousers and black dress shoes, which had camel-colored soles.

Gina Gershon's largely black dress featured streaks of intermittent red, including framing the slits that slid part of the way up each calf.

Split: Elizabeth Turner's dress was half pale pink with white bordering at its top half and half black with white bordering at its bottom half

Her floor-length gown also had the red bordering along its turned up collar, and the pop of color encircled the Showgirls star's cuffs as well.

Jessica Hart had wound her blonde hair into a high updo as she posed in a gown with softly undulating purple, black, red orange, yellow, white and green strips.

Its asymmetrical hem stopped above her knee, enabling her to show off her vertiginous legs behind translucent hose that spilled into black stilettos.

Close couple: Wolfgang Puck, who'd worn a black suit and left the top button of his white dress shirt undone beneath his black tie, posed with his latest wife Gelila Assefa

Elizabeth Turner's dress was half pale pink with white bordering at its top half and half black with white bordering at its bottom half.

A sash cinched the dress about her svelte waist, and she'd flung her wavy golden hair entirely over one shoulder as she posed.

Wolfgang Puck, who'd worn a black suit and left the top button of his white dress shirt undone beneath his black tie, posed with his latest wife.

Connected to the cause: Tig Notaro, who shot to fame after her stand-up set about her breast cancer diagnosis went viral, wore a silver patterned blazer

Gelila Assefa had worn a heavily embossed cleavage-baring black top beneath a black blazer thrown casually over her shoulders.

The Addis Ababa native's skirt was covered in fur, though whether it was real or faux was unclear, and she held a checked silver and black handbag.

Isla Fisher showed off some cleavage of her own in a simple sleeveless back cocktail dress, which she wore along with black shoes and a black clutch.

Keeping it simple: Isla Fisher showed off some cleavage of her own in a sleeveless back cocktail dress, which she wore along with black shoes and a black clutch

Great granddaughter of Estee: Danielle Lauder had donned a sleeveless turtlenecked black gown that tumbled to the floor, her hair slicked severely back

Danielle Lauder, great granddaughter of Estee, had donned a sleeveless turtlenecked black gown that tumbled to the floor, her hair slicked severely back.

Both Fisher and Notago spoke onstage during the event, which was presented by Saks Fifth Avenue and where Judy and Leonard Lauder got the Nat King Cole award.

Leonard is the elder son of the late Estee Lauder and Judy - whom he married in 2015 - is his second wife.

Offstage, Jason Derulo posed in the event in a red velour jacket with grey in the lapel, worn over a white dress shirt and a red and grey tie.

Taking the floor: Both Fisher and Notago spoke onstage during the event, which was presented by Saks Fifth Avenue and where Judy and Leonard Lauder got the Nat King Cole award

Black trousers tightened about his legs and matched his black shoes as he posed alongside his backup dancer and rumored girlfriend Ragon Miller.

Miller's dress featured a neckline that fell nearly to her midriff and sheer sections at the sides, as well as having no back and a slit that went up nearly to her waist.

Her curly blonde hair fell past her bust, and silver fringe sprayed from the backs of the ankle-strap stilettos she'd worn that night.

Dapper Dan: Offstage, Jason Derulo posed in the event in a red velour jacket with grey in the lapel, worn over a white dress shirt and a red and grey tie

Are they or aren't they?: Black trousers tightened about his legs and matched his black shoes as he posed alongside his backup dancer and rumored girlfriend Ragon Miller

Entertainment! Jason took the stage to belt out some of his hits as the main performer of the night

Crooner: The R&B star made waves on stage in front of a captivated audience

Comedic relief: Ever the funnyman, Martin Short posed alongside Eugene Levy and Tom Hanks

Celebrity support: Actors Gina Gershon (L) and Tom Arnold attend WCRF's "An Unforgettable Evening" presented by Saks Fifth Avenue
She always dress stylish, no matter the occasion.

And on Thursday, Zoe Saldana did not disappoint while hitting the red carpet for Los Angeles Confidential's Winter Issue celebration bash.

The 38-year-old stunned in a pleated black dress with floral buttons, adding bold red lipstick and strappy heels.

Gorgeous: On Thursday, Zoe Saldana did not disappoint while hitting the red carpet for Los Angeles Confidential's Winter Issue celebration bash

The movie star arrived to the LA event with her husband Marco Perego; the evening bash was sponsored by 3033 Wilshire.

Zoe chose an ankle-length look that cinched at the waist.

The actress' frock had sheer sleeves with flower shaped buttons down the middle.

The starlet paired the lovely frock with strappy black heels and diamond rings.

She painted her pout a crimson hue, opting to keep her makeup to a minimum.

What a supportive beau: Her husband Marco Perego was also on hand at the magazine party

What a beauty: The 38-year-old stunned in a pleated black dress with floral buttons, adding bold red lipstick and strappy heels

Zoe styled her dark brunette locks sleek with a slight curl at the end, choosing a deep part.

The beauty was seen snapping a selfie with a poster of her cover.

The starlet and her Italian artist husband married in June 2013, three months after they started dating.

Good looking: Zoe styled her dark brunette locks sleek with a slight curl at the end, choosing a deep part

Always time for one: The beauty was seen snapping a selfie with a poster of her cover

Zoe gave birth to their twin sons Bowie and Cy Aridio Perego-Saldana on November 27, 2014.

Her movie Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 is set to hit theaters on May 5, 2017.

In the Marvel film, the stunner reprises her role as Gamora.

Happily ever after: The starlet and her Italian artist husband married in June 2013, three months after they started dating
She's known as Queen Margaery Tyrell on the HBO series Game of Thrones.

But Natalie Dormer has now been announced to lead the remake of Australian mystery drama miniseries Picnic At Hanging Rock.

Foxtel revealed on Friday that the English actress, 35, would star as the English headmistress Mrs Hester Appleyar.

Foxtel announces Game of Thrones (Queen Margaery Tyrell) star Natalie Dormer will leads Picnic At Hanging Rock miniseries remake cast on Thursday

Cameras are set to roll in Victoria later this month on the bold event drama, with the full international cast members yet to be announced.

Natalie's appearances on Game Of Thrones came to an end last year when she met a dramatic, fiery death at the hands of her mother-in-law, Cersei Lannister.

With the show behind her, she was able to jump at the opportunity to join the Australian project.

New role: Cameras are set to roll in Victoria later this month on the bold event drama, with Natalie's departure from Game Of Thrones giving her the opportunity to step into the lead role of English headmistress Mrs Hester Appleyar

Australian actresses Orange Is The New Black's Yael Stone and Winners And Losers' Sibylla Budd are just some of her co-stars.

Picnic at Hanging Rock will plunge viewers into the mysterious disappearances of three schoolgirls and one teacher on Valentines Day 1900, taking the audience on a new journey into the revered Australian novel through the six part drama.

FremantleMedia Australia will be producing the title, with the desire to distribute the series to a global audience.

Australian stars: Australian actresses Orange Is The New Black's Yael Stone and Winners And Losers' Sibylla Budd have been announced in a long list of Natalie's co-stars

Foxtel Head of Drama Penny Win said: 'The accomplished cast who have been secured for Picnic at Hanging Rock will give new forms to Joan Lindsays iconic characters.'

'Though the story remains in 1900, Picnic at Hanging Rock will be 21st century storytelling for the premium Foxtel drama audience,' she added.

Foxtel have yet to announce an air-date for the series premiere on their Showcase Channel.
They were in one of the most popular television series of all times.

And Sarah Jessica Parker enjoyed a rare reunion with her Sex And The City co-star Cynthia Nixon on Thursday night, both showing their support for SJP's husband Matthew Broderick.

The Ferris Bueller's Day Off star was debuting his new play Evening at the Talk House, written by Wallace Shawn, in New York.

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Fronting: Sarah Jessica Parker came out in support of her husband Matthew Broderick's new play Evening at the Talk House, held at Green Fig Urban Eatery on Thursday

Sex And The City reunion: Cynthia Nixon was also in attendance at the event, showing her support for her friend and former co-star

Sarah Jessica made sure to show off her impressive cleavage in a low necked floral dress, making sure she was the center of attention in the fashion stakes.

The 51-year-old also posed up with her 54-year-old spouse, who looked proud of his new opening.

The television and film star was recently seen at the Narciso Rodriguez collection during New York Fashion Week.

He's working tonight! The Ferris Bueller's Day Off star was debuting his new play Evening at the Talk House, written by Wallace Shawn

Gorgeous: SJP made sure to show off her impressive cleavage in a low necked floral dress, making sure she was the center of attention in the fashion stakes

The Divorce actress wore a silver sequinned dress that was draped over a sheer long sleeved black top and mesh black tights.

While SJP might be one of Hollywood's top fashoinistas but it looks as though she didn't pass that trait on to her children.

She revealed her seven-year-old twins, Marion Loretta and Tabitha, dont much care about her clothes and accessories.

Going strong: Parker has been married to Broderick for nearly 20 years, having tied the knot in May 1997

Chloe Sevigny arrived makeup free to the play opening in New York

'Theyre into architecture and art and books and walking,' she told The Post.

'Theyre not into princesses and all that. They want to recognize me. Its developmentally right.'

Parker has been married to Broderick for nearly 20 years, having tied the knot in May 1997.

The couple welcomed a son, James, in 2002.

Seven years later they had twin daughters via a surrogate in 2009.
Rachel Lindsay made history when it was announced earlier this week that she would be the first black lead in the 15-year history of The Bachelor show franchise.

The revelation that she'll be the next star of The Bachelorette also served as a spoiler since the 31-year-old Dallas attorney remains on the current season of The Bachelor.

An insider told Us Weekly in an article Thursday that the announcement was made early to improve the batch of men who will compete for Rachel's heart.

Spoiler alert: Rachel Lindsay, shown Monday on Jimmy Kimmel Live, was named as The Bachelorette early to improve the batch of men who will compete for her heart

'They want to be able to cast guys specifically for her. There is almost no time between Bachelor ending and Bachelorette starting filming, so they wanted to have plenty of time to find the perfect guys for the next season,' the source said.

The insider added they knew it would 'get out anyway' that Rachel was going to be the next Bachelorette, 'so producers figured they might as well announce it now and make it official to make sure they get the most and best number of applicants for her season.'

The plan has been working.

'The response has been amazing about Rachel  theres been a huge spike in casting,' the insider said.

Final four: The Dallas attorney, shown in a promo still for The Bachelor, was named as the first black lead in the franchise while still competing on the current season for Nick Viall

'Rachel is open to different types of guys. So itll be a mix of different types and races of guys for her season,' the source added.

The Bachelor with current lead Nick Viall, 36, next week enters its hometown dates section with Rachel among the four finalists.

Producers of the ABC show believe the early reveal also will help raise interest in the upcoming episode.

Red rose: Jimmy Kimmel handed Rachel a red rose when he introduced her Monday as the next Bachelorette on his ABC chat show

'It'll be interesting to see how people react to Rachels hometown date now  the audience will probably be more invested now because this is somebody everyone is going to get to know for 10 weeks. People will be interested to see where she came from,' the source said.

A recent promo for Monday's episode showed Rachel's mother asking Wisconsin native Nick if he has 'ever dated a black girl'.

Rachel was introduced as the first black lead in the Bachelor/Bachelorette franchise Monday during an appearance on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live.

She also promoted her upcoming season Tuesday on Good Morning America with co-anchor Michael Strahan.

Show history: Michael Strahan is shown interviewing Rachel on Tuesday after she was named the first black lead in the 15-year history of the Bachelor franchise

'You're the first African American Bachelorette. How did that make you feel? Is that added pressure, you think?,' Michael asked her.

'I don't feel added pressure,' Rachel stated confidently. 'I'm just trying to find love, and even though I'm an African American woman, it's no different from any other Bachelorette,' Rachel replied.

The Bachelor will air Monday night on ABC with Nick heading into hometown dates with Rachel, 25-year-old Vanessa Gates, 29-year-old Vanessa Grimaldi and 24-year-old Corinne Olympios and her infamous nanny.

Rachel will make her premiere as The Bachelorette on ABC on May 22.
She is renowned for taking her clothes off.

But Joanna Krupa proved once again she looks just as sexy with them on on Thursday night.

The 37-year-old flashed her endless pins in a fabulous little black dress as she headed to dinner at Catch in West Hollywood.

A fine Catch! Joanna Krupa showed off her endless pins in an LBD as she heads for dinner at West Hollywood hotspot

The gorgeous piece teased at that oft-seen naked form with ringlet holes tracing the length, along with larger cut-outs above either hip.

The stunner finished the look with a simple black clutch and matching pumps.

The former Real Housewife is currently in the middle of a lawsuit against a Florida strip club, after she accused it of using her image without permission or payment.

This week The Pink Pony hit back, saying there was no way anyone would believe someone of her caliber would work there.

Wow: The gorgeous piece teased at that oft-seen naked form with ringlet holes tracing the length, along with larger cut-outs above either hip

All black: The stunner finished the look with a simple black clutch and matching pumps

The 37-year-old filed a lawsuit against the Tampa gentlemen's establishment after she discovered her picture was being used to promote 'dance and shower' shows there.

But according to documents obtained by TMZ, the club has hit back with a somewhat flattering argument claiming no reasonable person would expect to find the 'pretty faces' in advertisements actually working the pole.

It denied false advertising, and wants the case thrown out alleging Joanna cannot actually prove she owns the photos they are using.

The former Real Housewife is currently in the middle of a lawsuit against a Florida strip club, after she accused it of using her image without permission or payment

No way: This week The Pink Pony hit back, saying there was no way anyone would believe someone of her caliber would work there

The former real Housewife Of Miami filed the lawsuit back in November.

She demanded they remove her from all their promotional content and pay up for the ads that are already in the public domain.

Joanna, who's married to Miami nightclub owner Romain Zago, reckons the fair market value for her likeness if $100,000, the website stated.

In legal documents, the model asserted she did not agree to represent the strip joint but if she had, she would have charged the appropriate price.

Not staff: The 37-year-old filed a lawsuit against the Tampa gentlemen's establishment after she discovered her picture was being used to promote 'dance and shower' shows there
She looks great in pretty much everything.

And Jessica Alba, 35, proved that again in blue jeans and minimal makeup at Refinery 29's Her Brain Insights Series presentation on Thursday.

The mom-of two attended the event with celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe, 45, who also looked chic in a tweed wool jacket that she wore around her shoulders.

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Naturally beautiful! Jessica Alba, 35, proved that again in blue jeans and minimal makeup at Refinery 29's Her Brain Insights Series presentation on Thursday

Jessica opted for a multicolored patterned top with a combination of stripes and dots that made it visually appealing.

She paired the busy blouse with a pair of boyfriend style light blue jeans and light brown suede heels.

The gorgeous brunette wore her hair straight and sleek around her shoulders and chose to part it casually in the middle.

Her makeup was meant to showcase her natural beauty and the actress chose a very light dusting of eye shadow and matte nude lips, which just accentuated her natural beauty.

She's got it! The gorgeous brunette wore her hair straight and sleek around her shoulders and wore minimal makeup to show off her gorgeous complexion

The entrepreneur posed with her friend and celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe who also stunned on the carpet.

Rachel opted for a dressier look with bell bottom black slacks that she wore over tall heels.

She paired that with a metallic gold blouse with a large bow accent at the collar.

The designer, who is known for her forward fashion sense, paired the outfit with a thick tweed jacket with gold wool accenting.

Refusing to stray from her normal 'do, she wore her light blonde hair straight and sleek and parted down the center.

Gangs all here: Rachel Zoe (L), Jessica Alba, Payal Kadaki, Raissa Gerona and Jen Atkin attend Refinery29's HER BRAIN Insights Series Presentation at The Honest Company Headquarters

Refinery29's Her Brain insight series is a series dedicated to learning about the habits and lives of millennial women and explore how eomen use digital resources to make informed decision throughout their lives.

Jessica, who's Honest Company hosted the event, was recently taking a break from her many business endeavors to enjoy a Mexican getaway with her husband Cash Warren.

Happy home: Jessica and husband Cash Warren have been married since 2008 and have two daughters together

The couple, who were married in 2008, enjoyed their adult time without their children in the little slice of paradise.

The couple have two daughters together, Honor Marie, 8, and Haven Garner, 5.
He shot to fame as Harry Potter's thuggish tormentor in the outrageously popular eight-film franchise.

But Harry Melling looked worlds away from his awkward and chubby Dudley Dursley days as he attended the Lost City of Z UK premiere on Thursday night.

The 27-year-old actor looked unrecognisable as he showed off his admirable five-stone weight loss in a sharp black suit at London's British Museum.

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What a transformation: Harry Melling, 27, looked worlds away from his chubby Dudley Dursley days as he attended the Lost City of Z UK premiere on Thursday nigh

Harry, who has kept a relatively low-profile since the mammoth success of the Potter series, no doubt caught everyone's attention on the red carpet.

The London-born star looked dapper in a salmon pink shirt under a black slimline suit and patent brogues.

Wearing his dark hair in a tousled style, he appeared to be in great spirits as he walked the red carpet at the event.

Last summer Harry surprised fans when he posted a photograph of himself on Twitter looking drastically different after dropping from 16st to 11st 5lb.

Spellbinding performance: He shot to fame as Harry Potter's thuggish tormentor in the outrageously popular eight-film franchise

Looking good: The London-born star looked dapper in a salmon pink shirt under a black slimline suit

Dapper: The actor looked unrecognisable as he showed off his admirable five-stone weight loss in a sharp black suit at London's British Museum

Harry revealed he lost so much weight that he was almost recast for Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part One, but he ended up wearing a fat suit and keeping his job.

Once a hated character on screen, Dudley was spoiled by his parents Petunia and Vernon while his cousin Harry was cast aside.

'I do look a bit different because Dudley was a very piggish character and about 3 years ago I lost quite a considerable amount of weight,' he told The Movie Network.

'It was quite funny because I had a big fat suit on in this film and face prosthetic. It was bizarre, you feel really big and my mobility was affected.

However it is amazing to feel light but within someone that should feel really heavy, so that was a fascinating contrast.'

Who's that? Harry, who has kept a relatively low-profile since the mammoth success of the Potter series, no doubt caught everyone's attention on the red carpet

Candid: Harry revealed he lost so much weight that he was almost recast for Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part One, but he ended up wearing a fat suit and keeping his job

Speaking about his weight loss, he told the Telegraph: 'I was doing a show at the National Youth Theatre, playing an old man. Before that I had played fat clowns and I thought, "If I want to have the career I would like, I am going to have to lose weight."

'I was just starting drama school, and found I was moving around a lot. I also started to eat sensibly. The weight just dropped off. I went from 16st to 11st 5lb.'

In retrospect, he acknowledged that he ate 'ridiculous amounts' when he landed the role of Dudley aged 11 - admitting that Toffee Crisp chocolates were his 'downfall'.

Since leaving behind his Dudley alter-ego, Harry has enjoyed several stints at the prestigious National Theater in London.

He also stepped well away from his comfort zone when he wrote and starred in his own one-man play called 'Peddling,' which he performed off-Broadway in New York before bringing it back to London in 2015.

Good on you: Harry said: 'I was just starting drama school, and found I was moving around a lot. I also started to eat sensibly. The weight just dropped off. I went from 16st to 11st 5lb.'

What a sweetie: In retrospect, he acknowledged that he ate 'ridiculous amounts' when he landed the role of Dudley aged 11 - admitting that Toffee Crisp chocolates were his 'downfall'

When asked about the success of his Harry Potter co-stars (Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson), the actor revealed he wasn't jealous of them - adding that he enjoyed his anonymity.

'I'm very happy they're doing what they're doing but I wouldn't compare myself to them,' he told The Economist.

'I don't feel jealousy or anything like that really, because they're just different situations. I'm not one of "the three," so I'm not going to be in that position, but equally, that allows me to get on the Tube.

The thing with [having played] Dudley is that you get a call every now and again going, "We're looking for a really fat, rattish guy." And then my agent has to go, "Oh no, sorry, he's changed." '

Turning people down: Harry revealed producers called looking for 'a really fat, rattish guy' - and his agent had to tell them he had changed

Onscreen bully: Once a hated character on screen, Dudley was spoiled by his parents Petunia and Vernon while his cousin Harry was cast aside

Not bitter: When asked about the success of his Harry Potter co-stars (Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson), the actor revealed he wasn't jealous of them - adding that he enjoyed his anonymity

He's one of a number of Harry Potter alumni to radically change, most noticeably being Matthew Lewis.

Although he did not have to contend with the whole audience hating him, Matthew's character podgy Hogwarts' schoolboy Neville Longbottom was awkward and overlooked.

To play the part, Lewis wore yellow false teeth, shoes two sizes too big and prosthetics behind his ears to make them stick out.

Throughout JK Rowling's books and film adaptations, Neville was the subject of ridicule by school villain Draco Malfoy and his gang.

Hunky: Actor Matthew Lewis, pictured on Instagram, caused excitement when he transformed from gawky Neville Longbottom into a leading man

Unbelievable: The awkward teenager with floppy hair and crooked teeth has since blossomed thanks to a personal trainer

But that has all changed since he showed off his newly acquired abs and rock-hard physique.

He unveiled his new look in 2011 at the final film premiere, after taking on a personal trainer and straightening his teeth for a Hollywood smile.

As Potter fans know, Neville turns out to be quite the hero in the final part of the story and ends up surrounded by admirers - even catching the attention of Luna Lovegood.

For a sexy shoot in May's issue of Attitude magazine, Matthew was pictured lounging on a bar stool in his smalls and not much else.

Since his transformation Matthew has landed several plum roles, most recently filming with Game Of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke for Me Before You.




Following the news that George Clooney will finally enter the realm of fatherhood at the age of 55, his mother, Nina, has confirmed that he will be dad to a boy and a girl.

In an interview with RadarOnline, the 77-year-old former city councilwoman shared her excitement over the expected June arrival for George and his wife Amal, 39.

'It will be one of each! Yes, a boy and a girl. Thats what Ive been told,' she said from her Kentucky home. 'How marvellous! My husband and I are extremely excited.'

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One of each! George Clooney and his wife Amal are expecting a boy and a girl, his mother Nina, has confirmed

However, while she and her husband, broadcast journalist Nick Clooney, are elated about becoming grandparents again, they've yet to be let in on any clues when it comes to names for the children.

'I havent been told their names,' said Nina. 'That is George and Amals department.'

And when the babies do arrive, they'll have some much older cousins to take care of them, as Nina shared that George's older sister Adelia 'has a 20 year old, and a 25 year old'.

MailOnline has contacted a representative for George Clooney for comment.

Mum's the word: Nina Clooney, pictured with the actor in 2011, added that she doesn't yet know the names of her soon-to-arrive grandchildren

Everlasting love: She has been married t broadcast journalist Nick Clooney for 58 years

According to People, Hollywood actor George is 'excited but nervous' as he gears up to welcome both a bouncing baby boy and girl with his wife.

'He is excited about the kids, but also has the normal amount of nerves that come with being parents,' says the source.

'When George and Amal found out it was twins, they were surprised,' another source said in January, 'but also a little scared because they both had said that one was enough.

'But the news that it was a boy and a girl made them both really happy ... they can't believe in just a few months, they're going to have two babies.'

Anxious: Like any first-time parent, George, 55, is said to be nervous about raising children

The Oscar winner doesn't have much to worry about - his better half has got them covered.

Us Weekly reported that the human rights lawyer has done most of the preparation and already selected a London hospital where she will give birth this summer, with a backup selected in New York City in case they will be travelling.

She has also designated a bedroom in their newly renovated, $12million 17th century manor just outside of London to be a nursery for the twins.

Don't worry about a thing! The Oscar winner doesn't have much to worry about - his better half has got them covered. They are pictured above in January

Another insider prophesied that the human-rights lawyer will make a great mother.

'(Amal) strikes me as someone who'll be a fantastic mother: intelligent, loving, funny, smart, nurturing. She doesn't seem like someone who will let kids get away with being Hollywood children.'

On Thursday, The Talk's Julie Chen confirmed the couple's double joy after confirming the news with the actor.

The couple, who married in 2014, will welcome their two bundles of joy in June.
She recently made a passionate defence for breastfeeding her daughter at the age of nearly three.

And Tamara Ecclestone was putting the drama behind her to spend some quality time with little Sophia, taking her to meet the dolphins at Dolphin Cay in the Bahamas.

The jet-setting Formula One star beamed with delight as she cuddled the toddler during their fun-filled day out.

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Family fun: Tamara Ecclestone took her daughter Sophia, two, to meet the dolphins at Dolphin Cay in the Bahamas

What is this, mummy? Sophia looked at little reticent at first, but soon got into the spirit of things

Tamara, 32, and Sophia were sporting matching cornrow braids for their outing, looking completely in sync with their coordinating Aviator sunglasses.

The pair were clad in wetsuits as they took to the shallow water to meet the dolphins.

Sophia looked at little reticent at first, but soon got into the spirit of things, stroking the aquatic mammal.

Like mother, like daughter: Tamara, 32, and Sophia were sporting matching cornrow braids for their outing, looking completely in sync with their coordinating Aviator sunglasses

Hand-in-hand: Formula One heiress Tamara ensured Sophia was having fun at all times

Dolphin Cay is a sophisticated marine habitats and animal rescue-rehabilitation facility, spanning 14-acres with almost 7 million gallons of seawater.

Tamara and Sophia, joined by husband Jay Rutland, have jetted off to the Bahamas for their yearly pilgrimage.

Their trip comes after the brunette said on Good Morning Britain she would 'never feel uncomfortable' about breastfeeding.

All together now: Tamara and Sophia, joined by husband Jay Rutland, have jetted off to the Bahamas for their yearly pilgrimage

She said: 'I gave it so much thought and thought that it was something so important and I want mums in the future - and my daughter one day - to not have so much negativity or people questioning breastfeeding or making such big deal out of it.

'I really feel that my decision to let her wean herself and breastfeed until she no longer wants it is the right choice for me and for her.

'There are so many children that still have bottles, dummies, comforters and no-one questions that and I wouldnt dream of it.

Proud mother: Tamara couldn't hide her delight at seeing Sophia enjoying herself so much

Marine park: Dolphin Cay is a sophisticated marine habitat and animal rescue-rehabilitation facility, spanning 14-acres with almost 7 million gallons of seawater

'If someone wants to give their baby a bottle at night then thats entirely their decision so I just dont understand, when you are trying to do the best for your baby, why people are just trying to pick holes in it and look for the bad.'

The socialite previously ranted at 'bitter people' who try to 'sexualise breastfeeding' via her Instagram account.

The beauty posted an artistic snap of herself nursing Sophia while criticising those who reacted in a negative way to her parenting choice.

Posing in an elegant shoot for photographer Ivette Ivens, the socialite explained she wanted to speak out on the issue to stem the tide of 'hatred' she was experiencing on social media.

Speaking out: Their trip comes after the brunette said on Good Morning Britain she would 'never feel uncomfortable' about breastfeeding




It was the hit 2015 film that grossed more than $600 million US dollars and scored seven Oscar nominations.

And Matt Damon has now revealed his hit film The Martian was almost made in Australia.

Speaking with Nova's Kent 'Smallzy' Small, the Hollywood star stated, 'My bags were packed, we were looking for properties for rent on Bondi but [it] didnt happen!'

Hollywood heartthrob: Matt Damon revealed to Nova's Smallzy that his blockbuster film The Martian was almost filmed in Australia

The film's director, Ridley Scott had scouted locations Down Under, with the country's arid outback to provide the backdrop for Mars, where part of the science-fiction movie is set.

However, Matt revealed that they did not qualify for a rebate to film in Australia, with the movie instead being filmed in Hungary with external scenes shot in the Jordanian desert.

In his chat with Smallzy, the 46-year-old Golden Globe winner also divulged that he's picking healthier movie snacks as he gets older.

Huge success: The sci-fi film grossed over $600 million US dollars and was nominated for 7 Oscars, with the Jordanian desert providing the backdrop for Mars, after Australia was initially scouted

Whilst popcorn is the star's go-to treat, Matt also stated, 'Im not afraid of the raisinets, a little healthier the older I get.'

The father-of-four claimed he picked the healthy snack during a recent screening of The Lego Batman Movie.

In Australia: Matt poses in front of the famous Sydney Opera House during a 2007 promotional tour

Meanwhile, Matt who is perhaps best known for his role as action hero Jason Bourne, headlines the new blockbuster, The Great Wall.

Set in the 11th Century, the star plays a mercenary who is taken prisoner by Chinese soldiers.

My how you've changed! Matt is pictured climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 2002

The film has already grossed over $200 million in the short time since its release, meaning it's another smash for the star, who is continuing his winning streak of movie choices.

And with his professional life at an all-time high, things also seem to be going well in with his private life, having recently celebrated his eleventh wedding anniversary with wife, Luciana.
They are the newest crop of models who have taken the fashion world by storm.

And Kendall Jenner played up to her fashionista status as she celebrated the end of New York Fashion Week on Wednesday night with rising star Kaia Gerber.

The 21-year-old star looked sensational in a faux-fur coat as she joined Cindy Crawford's lookalike daughter, 15, and son Presley, 17, for dinner at Carbone restaurant in the Big Apple.

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That's a wrap! Kendall Jenner, 21, played up to her fashionista status as she celebrated the end of New York Fashion Week on Wednesday night by heading to Carbone restaurant

Despite attempting to go incognito in a pair of large shades, Kendall captured the attention of many with her eye-catching outerwear.

After walking in numerous catwalk shows during NYFW, she opted for a pair of comfortable joggers and cool trainers.

The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star kept her brunette locks unstyled, while her pal Kaia sported a glamorous blowdry.

The stunning teen star looked incredible as she headed into the venue in a pair of thigh-high boots.

Model squad: Kendall was joined Cindy Crawford's lookalike daughter, 15, and son Presley, 17. The siblings matched in super trendy all-black ensembles

Wrapping up in style: Despite attempting to go incognito in a pair of large shades, Kendall captured the attention of many with her eye-catching faux-fur coat

Her look also consisted of a short dress and chic coat, while her older brother also opted for a super trendy all-black look.

NYFW proved to be a busy one for Kendall as she walked in numerous shows - including Marc Jacobs, Anna Sui and Ralph Lauren.

Meanwhile, despite not walking for Marc Jacobs, Kaia was the star attraction as she rocked up to the event with her equally genetically gifted family.

Kaia donned a sheer mini dress with silver sequin embellishments that featured long sleeves and a mock turtleneck.

The super-skinny teen flaunted her slim legs in the thigh-skimming number that barely covered her derriere and wore her dark blonde hair in voluminous curls.

Strutting: It was a busy week for Kendall who walked for the Marc Jacobs show (L) during NYFW and also took to the catwalk for Ralph Lauren (R)

Hard at work: The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star also looked funky for the Anna Sui show

Rising star: Despite not walking for Marc Jacobs, Kaia was the star attraction as she rocked up to the event in a glittering gold mini-dress

Meanwhile, her eternal mother Cindy, 50, recently revealed fears that she may feel pressure to achieve the same level of success she had at the height of her career.

Speaking to Vogue Australia, the beauty revealed: 'The only concern I have for her, and it isn't an issue, is that in the modelling world I hit the top and if she doesn't it might be a lot of pressure for her,' she said.

Cindy added: 'If you a have successful parent and you go into the same business but you're not successful then what?'

At her career height in the nineties, she appeared on the covers of Vogue, W, Elle, Harper's Bazaar and Cosmopolitan magazines.

She also walked for for designers such as Chanel, Versace, Valentino, Oscar De La Renta, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein.

'The only concern I have': Cindy, 50, revealed she fears Kaia may feel pressure to live up to her success (Family snap L-R Presley Gerber, Kaia Gerber, Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber)




She found love with fellow contestant Megan Marx after appearing on dating reality series The Bachelor Australia.

And Tiffany Scanlon has certainly faced criticism, with many including Keira Maguire, claiming it's simply a publicity stunt.

Now the 30-year-old has penned a heartfelt message for PopSugar Australia, opening up about her first same-sex relationship: 'No one has been more confused than me.'

'No one has been more confused than me': The Bachelor's Tiffany Scanlon, 30, opened up about her relationship with Megan Marx, in a heartfelt essay for PopSugar Australia on Friday

'It certainly did not happen overnight,' Tiffany wrote in reference to the relationship.

'It took a lot of hiding in the shadows trying to figure out what we were.

'Megan had been with other women before but for me it was (and still is) an extremely confusing time made even harder by being in the public spotlight,' she continued.

Candid: 'It took a lot of hiding in the shadows trying to figure out what we were,' the reality star admitted. Pictured with girlfriend Megan Marx, 27

Tiffany's candid comments come shortly after fellow Bachelor contestant Keira Maguire claimed their romance is staged.

Keira, 29, made the accusations in a Instagram Live video, during which she answered a series of questions from viewers.

One person asked: 'So Tiffany and Megan are faking their relationship?'

To which the former reality TV star replied: 'Yes they are faking their relationship' and called it a 'publicity stunt.'

Not holding back! Fellow Bachelor alum Keira Maguire, 29, made the accusation that Tiffany and Megan are faking their relationship, in a recent Instagram Live video, during which she answered a series of questions from viewers

Opinionated: One person asked: 'So Tiffany and Megan are faking their relationship?,' to which the former reality TV star replied: 'Yes they are faking their relationship' and called it a 'publicity stunt'

Following the accusations, Tiffany and Megan hit back at their former friend, warning her 'not to get in touch' with them any time soon.

'I haven't heard from Keira since we were both filming and I probably don't recommend her trying,' Megan said in a recent interview in OK! Magazine.

She added that she has the same advice for Keira that she does for online trolls, and that is: 'If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all.'

Girlfriend Tiffany was slightly more forgiving, but told the publication Keira should, 'refrain from publicly commenting on things you know nothing about'.

Having their say: Following the accusations, Tiffany and Megan hit back at their former friend, warning her 'not to get in touch' with them any time soon

Keira is not the only Bachelor alum who has claimed the pair's romance is not all above board.

Rachael Gouvignon, 31, claimed Tiffany and Megan were both seeing men around the time they went to Bali and fell in love, in a statement to Daily Mail Australia.

'I'm not sure about the girls saying they fell in love after their first visit to Bali (in June) as when I caught up with Tiffany (in October) when we went skydiving she told me about a guy she was seeing,' Rachael said.

'Megan has also spoken to me about a guy she was seeing...maybe their status should be along the lines of an open relationship or bisexual!'

Open relationship? Fellow Bachelor star Rachael Gouvignon, 31, claimed Tiffany and Megan were both seeing men around the time they went to Bali and fell in love, in a statement to Daily Mail Australia
She's a Golden Globe winning Australian actress, beloved for her role in Muriel's Wedding.

So when Rachel Griffiths, 48, revealed to KIIS Network's Dave Hughes and Kate Langbroek why she signed-on to star in controversial director Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge, the hosts were left understandably surprised.

'I hadn't worked for a while,' the star told the hosts, before dishing the details on Mel's work practices.

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Out of work? Rachel Griffiths, 48, revealed in an interview with KIIS Network's Dave Hughes and Kate Langbroek that she chose to work with controversial director Mel Gibson partly because she 'hadn't worked in a while'

The celebrated actresses admission she'd been short of work was ironic given the circumstances of her director.

Kate was quick to point out to the star that Mel hadn't worked for a while either, referencing the alcohol-fueled anti-semetic tirade that saw him effectively blacklisted from Hollywood for a decade.

Laughing off the comparison, Rachel revealed there was more to her decision than wanting to find more acting work.

'I had heard that actors really like working for him,' she said.

Surprise! Kate quickly pointed out that Mel hadn't worked for a while either, referencing the alcohol-fueled anti-semetic tirade that saw him effectively blacklisted from Hollywood for a decade

'A lot of fun': Clarifying her reasoning, the actress said that she had heard a lot of actors really liked working for him, adding: 'I knew he'd be a lot of fun.' Rachel stars in Hacksaw Ridge, the first film Mel has directed in a decade

'I knew he'd be a lot of fun.'

Seemingly not turned off by Mel's checkered past, the personality also stated that his previous experience as an actor made the role appealing.

'Actors kind of talk to actors differently than the way directors talk to actors,' Rachel said.

Previous experience: Seemingly not turned off by his checkered past, the personality also stated that his previous acting experience meant that he spoke to the cast in a different way

Hands off: Describing his directing style, Rachel said 'He doesn't drive by being at the wheel,' appearing to enjoy Mel's erratic approach

Denying Dave's suggesting that the director's charm could have been an influence, the actress admitted it was his erratic process that was another draw card.

'It's not about charming. He doesn't drive by being at the wheel,' she said.

'He's like everywhere, and before you know it, you've all entered the make believe.'

The Oscar nominated Hacksaw Ridge is the first film Mel has directed since being arrested for drink driving in 2006.
She's enjoyed a successful presenting stint on This Morning after winning over the British public when she finished in third place on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! in 2015.

And Ferne McCann looked like the cat who'd got the cream as she prepared to jet off from London's Heathrow Airport to Los Angeles on a work assignment to report for the ITV1 daytime show early on Friday morning.

The former TOWIE star, 26, made sure to look her best as she headed into the terminal with her luggage.

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La La Land, here I come! Ferne McCann was jetting off from London's Heathrow Airport to Los Angeles on a work assignment to report for This Morning early on Friday

The TV personality showcased her sassy style in a white designer T-shirt bearing the Louis Vuitton motif.

Adding a rocker edge to the ensemble, Ferne paired the low-key tee with a pair of skintight cropped leather trousers as she sauntered inside.

To complete the on-trend look, the Celebs Go Dating star draped a chic pastel blue fur scarf over her left shoulder.

Ferne wore her brunette locks loose around her shoulders and opted for heavy make-up to accentuate her striking features.

Jet-set chic: The former TOWIE star, 26, made sure to look her best as she headed into the terminal with her luggage

From Brentwood to Hollywood: The TV personality showcased her sassy style in a white designer T-shirt bearing the Louis Vuitton motif

An excited Ferne took to Instagram before getting on her flight to show off her outfit and reveal that she was heading out to the celebrity capital of the world for This Morning.

She wrote: 'LA LA Land here I come @thismorning I love you! Thankyou for flying me out to LA. I have the best job.'

With the Oscars a mere ten days away, it looks as though the ITV daytime show's celebrity correspondent could be set to interview some of the world's biggest stars on the red carpet.

Hell for leather: Adding a rocker edge to the ensemble, Ferne paired the low-key tee with a pair of skintight cropped leather trousers as she sauntered inside

Social media star: Ferne made sure to giver her 1.5 million followers a good look at her ensemble before she got on the plane

Jet setter: Ferne took to Instagram before take off to reveal that she was travelling to Los Angeles for a work assignment for ITV daytime show This Morning

Earlier this week, the E4 reality beauty was slammed by Celebs Go Dating viewers and labelled a 'gold digger' after she 'forgot her wallet' while on romantic first date with a handsome hunk.

On Wednesday night's show, Ferne told viewers she sometimes forgets her purse while on a date.

She appeared to not even offer to pay following a 175 night out with city banker Ciran Pearce.

Looking fresh-faced: The brunette beauty looked glowing as she arrived at Los Angeles airport on Saturday

Looking chirpy: She seemed to be in relaxed spirits despite the long haul flight

Some viewers weren't too happy about Ferne's behaviour either on Twitter, with one saying: 'Really trying to root for @fernemccann but she's making it so clear it's all about the money #Obvs #CelebsGoDating.'

Another wrote: 'HATE to say it but Ferne McCann is coming across as a bit of a gold digger! You can't only want to date a man as he's rich! #CelebsGoDating.'

Poor Ferne didn't have much luck on her second date either on Thursday night's show, and she was left bemused after her date tried to gift her with a stuffed cuddly toy at the dinner table.
Her sister perhaps the best-known British supermodel of all time.

But it was Kate's younger sibling, Lottie Moss, who stole the show as she attended her first ever Marc Jacobs New York Fashion Week show at Park Avenue Armory on Thursday.

The catwalk queen, 19, ensured all eyes were on her as she commanded attention in a pretty paisley printed minidress with a chic ruffled neck.

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Model behaviour: Lottie Moss stole the show as she attended her first ever Marc Jacobs New York Fashion Week show at Park Avenue Armory on Thursday

A row of pearl buttons added a Victoriana feel to the dress and the hemline was embellished with a strip of fuchsia lace.

The teen model kept the New York chill at bay with a simple black coat and rocked a pair of staggeringly high platform shoes with five thin straps wrapping around her slender ankles.

Lottie recently revealed that she first encountered Marc Jacobs at her famous sister's 2011 wedding to rocker ex-husband Jamie Hince in an interview with W Magazine.

She said: 'I met him briefly at my sisters wedding.

Pretty print-cess: The catwalk queen, 19, ensured all eyes were on her as she commanded attention in a pretty paisley printed minidress with a chic ruffled neck

That's shoe-business! The teen model kept the New York chill at bay with a simple black coat and rocked a pair of staggeringly high platform shoes with five thin straps

'I dont really remember it because it was five years ago, and I was thirteen years old, but I remember being there and my mum going, "Thats Marc Jacobs".

'At the time I didnt really know how big of a deal he was. I was just like, Okay, he makes clothes".'

Marc has been close friends with Kate, 43, for over twenty years and has often referred to the supermodel as his muse.

Lottie was not the only celebrity in attendance at the fashion show with Katy Perry, actress Amanda Peet and Vogue editor Anna Wintour also eager to see the 90s hip hop-inspired collection.

The fashion crowd: Lottie recently revealed that she first encountered Marc Jacobs at her famous sister's 2011 wedding to rocker ex-husband Jamie Hince

Instagram time: Fashionistas were seen checking their phones as they left the hip hop-inspired fashion show, perhaps uploading snaps of the catwalk event

The collection harked back to the 90s and the acclaimed designer sent Kendall Jenner down the runway in burgundy corduroy trousers with a matching jacket and a giant knitted beanie hat.

But not all the models were dressed in as over-the-top looks as Kendall's, with the collection featuring patterned, gold metallic and velvet dresses worn with shearling lined jackets.

Lottie was catapulted into the fashion A-list when her classic good looks were spotted while she was acting as a bridesmaid at Kate's wedding to Jamie Hince.

Is that hat too heavy? Kendall Jenner strutted in a pair of burgundy corduroy flares, platform shoes and a matching shearling-lined jacket. The look was completed by a huge beanie

NY style: The collection also featured velvet dresses and shearling-lined coats

The teenager is now represented by Storm Management, the same agency that launched Kate's superstar career.

Lottie has graced the cover of Vogue and worked with some of the hottest designers in the world, appearing in campaigns for Calvin Klein, Chanel and Bulgari.

But the teen proved even she isn't exempt from a little sibling rivalry when she posted a funny meme on her Instagram page on Thursday.

Posting a snap of Kate, the meme said: ''when u don't have a single decent picture to post on Instagram, so u post a random pic of Kate moss & say "mood" [sic].'

Lottie is enjoying her stint in the Big Apple with her boyfriend, Made In Chelsea star Alex Mytton, 25, who she has been dating since October 2016.

Poking fun at the big sis: The teen proved even she isn't exempt from a little sibling rivalry when she posted a funny meme on her Instagram page on Thursday
Karlie Kloss has stepped out for the first time after apologising for participating in a 'culturally insensitive' Vogue photo shoot.

The supermodel, 24, cut a sombre figure as she emerged in New York City on Thursday after receiving a wave of criticism for appearing in the controversial fashion spread, which showed her in several Geisha-inspired outfits.

The catwalk queen wore a black suede jacket and polo-neck with white quarter-length trousers and leather ankleboots.

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'I am truly sorry': Karlie Kloss has stepped out for the first time after apologising for participating in a 'culturally insensitive' Vogue photo shoot

The trousers featured a lace-up design and Karlie carried a monochrome quilted handbag with a chain detail.

Vogue published the controversial shoot in its March issue - featuring plus-size model Ashley Graham as cover girl - which was meant to celebrate diversity.

Karlie said in a tweet on Wednesday that she was 'truly sorry' for appearing in the spread and admitted she shouldn't have taken part in the shoot.

'These images appropriate a culture that is not my own and I am truly sorry for participating in a shoot that was not culturally sensitive,' she wrote.

Remorseful: The supermodel, 24, cut a sombre figure as she emerged in New York City on Thursday after receiving a wave of criticism for appearing in the controversial fashion spread

'My goal is, and always will be, to empower and inspire women. I will ensure my future shoots and projects reflect that mission.'

Many readers found Karlie's spread offensive. In one of the photos, the lithe model posed next to a sumo wrestler, dressed in a flowy tangerine and black dress.

Several people wondered why the magazine didn't hire a Japanese model to pose as a Geisha instead of Karlie and bashed the spread on social media.

Some accused the magazine of resorting to 'yellowface' by having a white model pose as an Asian woman, instead of booking a model of the intended ethnicity.

'Culturally inappropriate': The model, who poses next to a sumo wrestler in one of the photos (pictured), faced a backlash from fans who expressed their dismay on Twitter

'Were all these Japanese models unavailable?' Some wondered why Vogue didn't hire an Asian model to pose as one of the Japanese hostesses in the spread

'Yellowface is real and racist and karlie kloss just did it in vogue!!!!!' one Twitter user wrote in a furious message.

'This is why Vogue is cancelled. Their idea of "edgy" is hiring white people to imitate other races instead of just hiring diverse models,' someone else said.

'They could have just cast an East Asian model. But no, that would make sense,' another comment read.

Apology: Karlie pledged to do better in the future, writing: 'My goal is, and always will be, to empower and inspire women. I will ensure my future shoots and projects reflect that mission'

Backlash: Some accused the magazine of resorting to 'yellowface' by having a white model pose as an Asian woman, instead of booking a model of the intended ethnicity

Diversity: 'This is why Vogue is cancelled. Their idea of "edgy" is hiring white people to imitate other races instead of just hiring diverse models,' someone else said

Casting mistake: 'They could have just cast an East Asian model. But no, that would make sense,' another comment read

Doing the job: Another Twitter user posted a screen grab of a Google search for 'Japanese models' and asked: 'Were all these actual Japanese models busy or something?'

Irony: Someone else pointed out that it was especially inappropriate to have Karlie pose as a Geisha instead of a Japanese model in an issue that was supposed to be dedicated to diversity

Another Twitter user posted a screen grab of a Google search for 'Japanese models' and asked: 'Were all these actual Japanese models busy or something?'

Karlie appeared in the shoot dressed in several outfits that replicate traditional Geisha attire, with open-toe shoes that call to mind the sandals worn by the Japanese hostesses.

Vogue's March issue previously earned criticism when some said it looked like Ashley Graham had been instructed to pose with her hand over her thigh in a bid to make her appear slimmer.

But the model has since said on Instagram that it was the result of her own decision.
She's one of Australia's hottest modelling exports.

And Ajak Deng lent her star power at author Mirtha Michelle's book launch in New York on Wednesday.

Joined by 'it' girl Bella Hadid, 20, the 27-year-old Sudanese-born beauty perfected the off-duty look in a cropped sweater and skinny jeans.

Star power: Model Ajak Deng, 27, perfected the off-duty look in a cropped sweater and jeans, as she attended Mirtha Michelle's book launch in New York on Wednesday

Ajak cut a casual yet chic figure for Mirtha Michelle's launch of latest literary title, Letters, To Women Like Me.

A cropped white sweater with what appeared to be the word serious emblazoned on the front, showed off the personality's taut torso and belly piercing.

Teamed with a pair of skinny jeans that clung to Ajak's lean legs, the star accessorised further with a delicate necklace and drop earrings.

Model behaviour: Ajak was not the only model to lend their star power. Model Bella Hadid, 20, cut a glamorous figure in a faux-fur ensemble, as she posed for a stunning photo with Ajak

Ajak was not the only model to lend their star power.

'It' model of the moment Bella Hadid cut a glamorous figure in a faux-fur ensemble as she posed for a series of photos.

The younger sister of Gigi styled her signature dark locks sleek and straight, with a middle parting.

Ajak and Bella embraced for a stunning photo, with the trendy New York restaurant in the background.

Picture-perfect: Bella and Ajak posed for another photo with friend Danny Baez

In good company: Ajak couldn't wipe the smile off her face, as she posed with author Mirtha Michelle (second left)

The sighting comes shortly after Ajak shared a friendly hug with modelling industry newcomer Jeremy Meeks, better known as the hot felon.

The pair are believed to have met up at the Philipp Plein show after party, during New York Fashion Week.

Ajak captioned the moment to Instagram on Monday: 'So this happened last night,' which quickly received comments.

Friendly embrace: The sighting comes shortly after Ajak shared a hug with modelling industry newcomer Jeremy Meeks, better known as the hot felon

Ajak was seen arriving at the Philipp Plein runway show, held at the New York Public Library on Monday night.

Stunning in a floor-length racer-style frock with strategic cut-outs, a thigh split showed off her lean legs.

Ajak accessorised with a black leather jacket that featured gold detailing on the sleeves, and a pair of black sky-high boots.

Red carpet regular: Ajak was seen arriving at the Philipp Plein runway show, held at the New York Public Library on Monday night
They're the inseparable siblings, who were brought closer together by the sudden death of their famous father Steve ten years ago.

And on Thursday night, Bindi Irwin was right by her brother Robert's side as he made his late-night TV debut on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

From backstage, Bindi took to Instagram to share a side-by-side photo comparing her brother and late father, who appeared on The Tonight Show several times when it was hosted by Jay Leno.

'You are more and more like Dad every day': An emotional Bindi took to Instagram after her brother's debut on The Tonight Show, sharing a side-by-side snap of her brother and late father who looked remarkably similar

'Tears in my eyes,'Bindi captioned the poignant post that showed the striking resemblance between father and son, who both introduced the hosts to giant snakes.

So proud of @robertirwinphotography,' the 18-year-old continued. 'You are more and more like Dad every day. I'm forever thankful to be your sister.'

Robert was just two years old when his father died after being stung by a stingray in 2006.

A lot of support: Bindi uploaded a second photo that showed Robert flanked by a team of his nearest and dearest who were ready to cheer him on

Bindi also shared a second snap from the green room backstage at Jimmy's show before Robert made his big debut.

The mirror selfie was taken by Bindi and featured Robert flanked by a team of supporters, including mother Terri and Bindi's boyfriend Chandler Powell, as well as two workers from Australia Zoo.

Crikey! Steve was a regular on The Tonight Show, appearing at least four times in the early 2000s when the program was hosted by Jay Leno

Robert's role model: Robert introduced Jay and actor Tobey Macguire to a huge python during a segment on the show in 2000

For his segment on the show, Robert appeared dressed in a khaki uniform, before introducing a terrified Jimmy to a number of animals.

First up, was a baby African Dwarf crocodile named Beetlejuice.

An unconventional guest! Robert Irwin appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Thursday, bringing along a red tail boa constrictor, much to the terror of the host

A tepid touch: Jimmy didn't seem too keen to cosy up with a crocodile by the name of Beetlejuice

'Would you like to give him a pat?' Robert asked a reluctant Jimmy, who only gave the reptile a tepid touch.

Jimmy seemed slightly less panicked by the next animal, a screaming armadillo by the name of Mickey.

Furry friends: Robert brought along a screaming armadillo much to the amusement of the comedian host

Sheer terror! Jimmy has no doubt encountered some difficult guests on his program, but it's unlikely any have caused him as much terror as the giant boa constrictor named Lady

But then came a giant boa constrictor, who Robert revealed went by the name of Lady.

'She's so cute,' assured the young animal enthusiast, to which Jimmy replied, 'No, they trick you with the names and it's like an evil thing.'

When the massive snake was brought out on stage Robert asked the comedian if he would like to have a hold.

'She's trying to kill me!'Two assistants had to rush on stage and untie the large reptile from the star

'No!' Jimmy replied, before the reptile was thrust across his arms anyway.

The giant snake then began to constrict around the comedian's arm as he yelped, 'She's trying to kill me!'

Lady then began to wrap around Robert's waist before two assistants had to come and remove the animal.

Steve's mini-me: Enthusiastic Robert was reminiscent of his late father as he introduced Jimmy to the animals

The funnyman was much more of a fan of the final animal- a sloth named Valentino.

And despite the terror, it appeared Jimmy enjoyed Robert's first visit to the studio.

'I love this, I love you. Thank you for bring all these fun animals and, gosh, what a treat, man!' Jimmy said as he wrapped the segment.
They met on Love Island last summer.

And Olivia Buckland and Alex Bowen looked as loved-up as ever as they attended the A/W 2017 Angus Chiang catwalk show at Freemasons' Hall on Thursday.

The blonde beauty, 23, put on a flirty display in a crop top ensemble as she posed alongside her 24-year-old beau.

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Love Island's sweethearts: Olivia Buckland and Alex Bowen looked as loved-up as ever as they attended the A/W 2017 Angus Chiang catwalk show at Freemasons' Hall on Thursday

Wearing a lace-up bralet with a tie-string maintaining her modesty, she flaunted her washboard abs and a hint of cleavage.

And making the most of her long slender pins, she teamed the top with fitted black jeans and black killer heels.

Shielding herself against the wintry chill, Olivia opted for a white blazer, and added a touch of vamp with a Gothic inspired choker.

Meanwhile Alex looked suave in ripped jeans and a denim jacket as they sat FROW at the show.

Racy! The blonde beauty, 23, put on a flirty display in a crop top ensemble as she posed alongside her 24-year-old beau

Ever the groomed vixen, the blonde starlet opted for lashings of mascara, bold brows and nude lips.

The engaged pair, who met last July on ITV2 series Love Island, appeared following the news that the reality show is returning for summer 2017, with Caroline Flack as host.

Shaking things up on the show, which found huge popularity last year, the new edition will also see the 37-year-old host front a weekly studio show live from the UK - to keep fans up to date with extra clips and exclusives from the villa.

Meanwhile Olivia was left shaken up last week when the cab she was in was involved in a three car pile-up.

Taking to Twitter, she said: 'When you're on your way home from an event in London and end up in a car crash I'm ok thought my baby is coming to get me xx'.

Chic: Wearing a lace-up bralet with a tie-string maintaining her modesty, she flaunted her washboard abs and a hint of cleavage

Leggy: Making the most of her long slender pins, she teamed the top with fitted black jeans and black killer heels

A spokesperson told MailOnline of the incident: 'Olivia was in taxi home to Chelmsford from the event she attended when her taxi was involved in a three car collision. Her taxi was the centre car so was unfortunately hit from both ends.

'She had no severe injuries just a bump to the head at the time and was so shaken by the ordeal she just wanted to get off the roads and get home.'

Her rep added that she is since doing OK, but is understandably 'shaken up' by the incident and suffering from whiplash.

They continued: 'Olivia is doing OK. Shes very shaken up but is being checked over. She's got fairly bad whiplash, so shes just going to rest up as best she can for the weekend.'
As another Valentines Day passes, one can only reflect once more how unlucky in love everyone is in soapland.

Coronation Streets Sinead has dumped Chesney for Dodgy Daniel, while Bethany is set to become embroiled with the even more dodgy Nathan.

In EastEnders, it looks as if its the end of the road for Whitney and Lee (not a moment too soon; hara-kiri could not be more painful than this marriage) and Paddy and Rhonas divorce came through in Emmerdale.

Leanne gives birth in Corrie declaring that the baby is to be named Oliver but Nick is upset that she doesnt want his name on the birth certificate

Will Roberts secret plans to wed Aaron this week turn the tide in that villages history of relationship bloodbaths (Im not holding my breath)?

Love has never been well documented in soap. There is lust, certainly, but a very small percentage of characters ever convey that all-consuming emotional experience of falling in love.

In recent times, Id say that only Corries Mary (as the shows greatest romantic) has managed it; and Roy also conveyed it as a result of his inability to commit to Cathy because of the depth of his love (still) for Hayley.

The song Love Changes Everything is mostly never true in soapland, where it changes very little.

CORONATION STREET: AN UPLIFTING WELCOME TO THE WORLD

Is there or is there not a lift at Victoria Court? When Leanne lets anyone into the apartment, they take an age to get to the door; and when conversations take place outside the apartment, they are always at the foot of the stairwell. And how come weve never seen any other residents? Its all very suspicious.

In the dramatic episode Leanne's waters break while she is stuck in a lift

This week, however, the lift is a much-needed prop when Toyah follows Leanne into it and rails at her about the nasty comment she made about her not being a mum. But suddenly, the lift stops, the alarms not working and theres no phone reception. What are the odds? When Leannes waters break , will she make it out before the baby is born?

Leanne later declares that the baby is to be named Oliver (at least she didnt go for Schindler, makers of lifts worldwide) but Nick is upset that she doesnt want his name on the birth certificate. As celebrations get under way in the Rovers, Steve and Michelle, who have returned from scattering Ruairis ashes, look on with obviously conflicting emotions.

There is an upbeat end to the week when Cathy declares that she finds Brian attractive. She really needs to get out more.

EASTENDERS: THE NOT SO GLEEFUL CLUB

Im not sure this influx of young people is working. Walford is starting to feel like a substandard Glee Club: lots of young people with problems, trying to find themselves (blah, blah) but without the one thing that helped us through Glee  namely, singing. Instead, we have whining and shouting and a cast full of SIMPYs (Staring Into Mobile Phone Youths).

Denise gets involved in an argument with Keegan, accusing him of being disrespectful

When the social worker arrives to discuss the forthcoming adoption, it all proves too much for Denise, especially when Kim starts to pile on the pressure again.

Trying to open up about her feelings, instead Denise gets involved in an argument with Keegan, accusing him of being disrespectful (isnt that a given for pretty much everyone in Walford?). When the situation spirals out of control, Denise must face the consequences of her actions.

The excitement is a tad overwhelming at the moment. Ian has a medical check-up and decides to try to get healthy, and Ben and Jay move into their new home. Its not in a good state, but then neither are they  in any way, shape or form. I think theyll all get along very nicely.

There is a bit of romance in the air when Konrad (he of the Polish plumbing services) asks Shirley out for dinner. Lets hope she manages to keep her own plumbing under wraps for a change, at least until after the entrees.

EMMERDALE: GET ME TO THE CHURCH ON CRIME

Robert decorates the Woolpack for his surprise wedding to Aaron in Emmerdale

Will anything ever put a smile on Aarons face? Its the question we ask, year on year, as his troubles deepen.

While locals decorate the Woolpack for the surprise wedding Robert has arranged, Cain resorts to heavy-handed tactics (no kidding!) to ensure the groom is there on time. Incredibly, Aaron is happy about the surprise, but will his pleasure be short-lived?

Quelle surprise, the police storm the ceremony, but what are they there for? Free vol au vents would be my guess. Its a week that also sees Aaron being sentenced, but will he be receiving it as a married man?
Shes won an Olivier Award, appeared with Dame Judi Dench and Sir Anthony Hopkins and starred in Poldark, but Sally Dexter reckons joining Emmerdale rivals all that  because its made her mother very happy.

Shes an avid Emmerdale fan and has always wanted me to join the cast, laughs Sally, who plays Faith Dingle, the estranged mother of Cain and Chas.

Id be up for an Olivier and shed say, Cant you get a job in Emmerdale? After my first episode she was on the phone straight away, squeaking; shes orbiting cloud nine! This ranks high in my achievements because it means so much to her.

Sally Dexter reckons joining Emmerdale rivals all her previous triumphs because its made her mother very happy

Faith, played by a different actress, was last seen in the show in 2004 when she was thwarted by Cain as she attempted to build bridges with her granddaughter Debbie.

Now shes returned having heard her great-granddaughter Sarah is ill with cancer and is desperate to help, but Cain and Chas are still far from happy.

Faith hasnt been well and has had some tragedies and money troubles that have made her want a base and a family, says Sally.

She feels guilt from walking out on Cain and Chas when they were little and wants to make it up to them. Cain thinks shell hurt anybody she meets, but she wont give up trying to tell him and Chas how much she loves them. Shes misguided but has decency at her core.

GET TO KNOW...SALLY DEXTER Going out or staying in? Staying in with my fella, cooking a nice meal and watching movies. Active or lazy? I enjoy walking and cycling. I also do yoga every day, just to say hello to my toes, really. Books or magazines? I really like reading poetry and my favourite book is an old Anthology Of Modern Verse. I dont think many people would admit to that! Blockbusters or indie movies? My favourite film is Bombon: El Perro, a Spanish movie about a dog, because its beautifully shot. Folk music or rock? I recently found out myself and Jane Cox, who plays Lisa Dingle, both like folk music when I was humming a song by Steeleye Span and she joined in! Wine or water? I like a nice red wine, and champagne. Im also not averse to tequila, but then theres chaos. Advertisement

Sallys played all kinds of characters, but says Faith could be her most enjoyable yet.

As a Dingle, she says it how it is and has lots of catty putdowns. Shell have run-ins with everybody. This role gives me the chance to release my inner Dingle.

Sally won the 1986 most promising newcomer Olivier Award after a run in a Tom Stoppard play and has since had two more nominations; she appeared with Judi Dench and Anthony Hopkins in Antony And Cleopatra in 1987.

She later starred with David Jason in A Touch Of Frost and more recently played Elizabeths mother, Mrs Chynoweth, in Poldark.

How does the latter  a big-budget costume drama  compare with Emmerdale? Poldarks glamour was slightly offset by the extremely cold medieval buildings, admits Sally.

Wed sit in our finery with hot water bottles up our skirts to keep ourselves warm! On Emmerdale, the workload is enormous but the quality of writing is unbelievable. Im impressed by how it all runs. I look at everyone and think, Whoa, they are fantastic! Theyre a crack team; they always know what theyre doing, and the challenge is as big as anywhere Ive worked.

Sally may not sound it, but she is Yorkshire-born and feels shes returning to her roots. And so despite currently living in London with her long-term partner, she says shes considering moving north permanently. Right now Im thinking, Bring it on!
She's not afraid to ask the tough questions on Channel 10's The Project.

But that's because Carrie Bickmore, 36, is comfortable in the knowledge that no matter how hard her day is, she gets to go home to her two kids.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, the blonde beauty spoke admirably about the contestants' efforts to win money for their chosen charity, but revealed she could only go 'a couple nights' away from her children.

Missing the kids: In a recent interview, The Project star Carrie Bickmore revealed she could never compete on I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! Because she would miss her kids too much

Carrie submitted that she'd be happy to join the show if they guaranteed they would kick her out after a week.

'But I am so scared of heights and I hate creepy crawlies so it wouldnt be a very successful venture having me in there,' she added.

'Id like the challenge but I struggle with a couple of nights away from the kids so I dont know how Id go that long.'

In a heart-warming admission, the journalist revealed she only found out that regular The Project panelist Steve Price chose Carrie's own charity after he'd already entered the jungle.

The struggle: Id like the challenge but I struggle with a couple of nights away from the kids so I dont know how Id go that long, she revealed (pictured here with daughter Evie)

'It just really warmed my heart,' she said of the outspoken shock jock's decision to appear on the show for the Beanies 4 Brain Cancer Foundation.

'To get $100,000 in one shot would fund a scientist for a whole year to complete the research they are doing so it would have a significant impact if Steve was to win the foundation that money.'

While the pair's polar opposite political views regularly cause tension on the show, Carrie revealed that there's a different side to her cast mate than the opinionated conservative he portrays on the show.

She believed that during his time on I'm A Celebrity... The 62-year-old has shown Australia that more caring, calm side than what many would have expected.

Heartwarming! In a heart-warming admission, the journalist revealed she only found out that regular The Project panelist Steve Price chose Carrie's own charity after he'd already entered the jungle

The journalist also threw her support behind former Australian Idol Casey Donovan, who is playing for The Starlight foundation.

Carrie gave birth to her first son Oliver in 2007, who she shared with her husband Greg Lange, who tragically died of brain cancer in 2010.

In 2015, she welcomed daughter Evie into the world with current partner Chris Walker.
Joe Giudice may be in prison serving out a three-year sentence from fraud charges.

But his wife Teresa Giudice, 44, is doing an excellent job at making it seem as if life is normal as pie for her four daughters.

On Friday the Real Housewives Of New Jersey star shared a photo to Instagram of her little girl Milania, aged 11, all dressed up in her lavish communion dress. The image was taken by family photographer Linda Marie.

Cute: Teresa Giudice shared a photo to Instagram of her little girl Milania all dressed up in her lavish communion dress. The image was taken by family photographer Linda Marie

Another one: Here the 11-year-old holds onto a pillar as rose pedals lay on the floor

Good mommy: Giudice, 44, is doing an excellent job at making it seem as if life is normal as pie for her four daughters as Joe is in prison. Pictured Wednesday in NYC

She captioned the photo: 'Milanias communion dress from @littlenikkis in Hohokus. Audrianna just designed her own dress for her first holy communion in May.

'She is so excited! Photo by @images_by_linda_marie.'

The child looked ready for her big moment as she posed in the family mansion, which they almost lost in their bankruptcy case, but in the end didn't.

He made some very bad decisions: Joe was sentenced to 41 months, followed by potential deportation to Italy. Pictured 2013

Milania had on a white satin dress that looked like it came from a Disney movie about a princess.

There was tulle on top with rhinestones and pearls

And the top part was satin over more tulle that was decorated nicely. She also wore white gloves, a rhinestone tiara and a veil.

Big family: Teresa also has daughters Gia, Audriana and Gabriella. All have appeared on Real Housewives Of New Jersey

And her hair was nice styled with long curls. Her makeup was subtle but sweet.

Teresa also has daughters Gia, Audriana and Gabriella. All have appeared on Real Housewives Of New Jersey.

In 2014, Teresa and Joe entered a guilty plea to 41 counts of fraud, following a deal struck with federal prosecutors.

The couple was accused of engaging in bank, mail, wire, and bankruptcy fraud, which allegedly saw them net over $5 million over a 10-year period.

Teresa was sentenced to 15 months in a federal prison; she finished her sentence in December 2015. Joe was sentenced to 41 months, followed by potential deportation to Italy.
Patrick Schwarzenegger and Abby Champion really are a match made in heaven.

And on Thursday, the couple was spotted walking around Santa Monica, California with Abby's mom, sister, and brother.

The pair looked as sweet as can be during their stroll around town, as they donned matching white sweatshirts and exchanged loving looks.

Look of love! Abby Champion and Patrick Schwarzengger took a stroll in Santa Monica on Thursday, where they were joined by the model's family

Abby, who turns 20 on February 28, gazed at her significant other affectionately as they walked side-by-side.

Her other half seemed equally enamored, as the 23-year-old actor shot back a loving glace at the blonde beauty as they ambled.

Pink by Victoria's Secret model Abby donned simple duds during the morning walk, sporting grey skinny jeans with a roomy sweatshirt while slinging a black bag over her shoulder.

Sister act! While the darling couple matched their white sweatshirts, Abby's sister went for an all black ensemble

During the walk Patrick kept the sun out of his eyes with a slate colored cap as he chatted with the Alabama born beauty's sister Baskin Champion, who donned head-to-toe black.

The son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver kept things cool in a pair of ripped jeans while rocking a Metallica T-shirt under his hoodie.

Patrick and Abby seem to be head over heels for one another.

The photogenic pair have been dating for close to a year and they're already getting close to each other's families.

In January, Abby joined the Schwarzeneggers for a tropical vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico where she and journalist Maria Shriver were spotted bonding beachside.
She was caught on a secret camera in November, sniffing an inconspicuous white powder off a stranger's coffee table.

And as a result, Olivia Bentley had been reportedly banned from Made In Chelsea by the show's producers for the time being.

But her appearance on set, surrounded by cast members on Friday, suggested the contrary, as the group were spotted on location in London filming for the upcoming season 13.

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Bentley's back: Made In Chelsea's Olivia Bentley shoots scenes for the forthcoming season with Stephanie Pratt in London... despite being 'banned' from the show after drugs scandal

Due to air next month, it was understood that the 22-year-old star - who burst onto the scene last year claiming to be an heiress to the Bentley cars dynasty (which turned out not to be accurate) - would not feature on any immediate new episodes.

Sure to throw a spanner into the works where plot-lines were concerned, it was vaguely confirmed that the reality star would be reprimanded for her drug shame.

A representative for Made In Chelsea has confirmed to MailOnline that Olivia was indeed 'suspended from filming season 12' when the footage was leaked, meaning she would have missed out on certain scenes that were yet to be shot for that season.

Although the rep neither confirmed nor denied her appearance in the latest run of episodes, images from the set seem to suggest she will feature - meaning her blossoming relationship with Fredrik Ferrier is likely to still be documented on the series.

The blonde leading the blonde: Olivia (C) sported a pair of lightly ripped black skinny jeans, black boots and toted a large leather bag as she strolled alongside co-stars Stephanie Pratt (R) and Frankie Gaff (L)

Olivia looked smart casual on set, wearing a colourful orange blouse under a cropped black jacket.

She sported a pair of lightly ripped black skinny jeans, black boots and toted a large leather bag as she strolled alongside co-stars Stephanie Pratt and Frankie Gaff.

Stephanie looked pretty in a flowing black with white polka-dot ensemble as she clutched a coffee cup between takes.

Frankie - who is dating co-star Jamie Laing despite continual relationship speed bumps to get around - looked sporty in work-out gear.

Here come the girls: Also on set were Georgia 'Toff' Toffolo (R) and new cast member Mimi Bouchard (L)

She wore black leggings, white trainers and a white top, glamming it up a bit with a black fur gilet.

Also on set were Georgia 'Toff' Toffolo and new cast member Mimi Bouchard.

Adding to the plethora of blondes on the show, Mimi looked chic in black three-quarter-length trousers, strappy heels and a smart trench coat resting on her shoulders.

Toff showed off her long pins in black over-the-knee boots, a stripy intricately designed skirt and a dark long-sleeved polo-neck.

While Toff kept her make-up clean, Mimi added a striking splash of crimson to her lips.

It was unclear whether Mimi and Toff were appearing in the same scenes as the others.

Olivia had previously escaped to Australia over the festive season, and kept noticeably steely on social media after the drugs footage emerged.

It had been obtained by The Sun newspaper and featured Olivia rolling up a banknote, snorting a line of white powder and once finished, licking her finger, dabbing the remnants of the substance back into her mouth.

A source said: 'They were people she didn't know. I was shocked she'd do drugs in front of them. She'll regret it if she is booted off the show.'
Amy Duggar has said in the past she had a difficult childhood which involved abuse.

And on Friday the reality star revealed who her abuser was: her father.

In a teaser for Friday evenings episode of Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars, the star said, 'He picked me up by my throat, all the way up to the ceiling.'

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Her truth: Amy Duggar has said in the past she had a difficult childhood. And on Friday the reality star revealed that she was abused by her father. They are now on good terms

Tears: In a teaser for Friday evenings episode of Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars, the TV darling is seen crying as she is confronted by a counselor during a role play

Painful: He tells her he controls her and she fights back that he doesn't

Last month Duggar, the niece of 19 And Counting stars Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, confirmed rumors that she was born out of wedlock.

In the teaser the star said, 'My dad was like, 'Did you brush your teeth?" And I was like, "Yeah daddy."

'And he was like, "No you didnt." And he picked me up by my throat, all the way up to the ceiling. He was like, "You will brush your teeth."'

She can't keep it in: Amy tears up and afterwards regrets talking about the abuse

Sad: She said, 'He picked me up by my throat, all the way up to the ceiling,' she confessed

Rough: In the teaser the star said, 'My dad was like, "Did you brush your teeth?" And I was like, "Yeah daddy"

'And I was scared s***less.'

This is the first time Amy has named her abuser.

'Amys coping mechanism is to pretend that everything is always happy in her world,' Dr Venus Nicolino explains in the clip.

'Its how she blocks out the trauma she faced in her childhood.'

Brave: This is the first time Amy has named her abuser. 'Amys coping mechanism is to pretend that everything is always happy in her world,' Dr Venus Nicolino explains in the clip

In the past she has said her abuser was violent.

She saw 'things flown in the air' and she has been called 'every name in the book.'

'My father tried to run me over with a car. It scared me half out of my mind,' she said

'I cant say who it is, but I can say, on the show I did forgive them,' Amy told People.

With her dad when she was a teen: The star has said she still has scars from the past

Her man: Amy married Dillon King in September 2015 near Bentonville, Arkansas. Pictured in January

'It was a very heartfelt moment where I actually forgave that person who hurt me when I was younger.

'So, it was a family member. I love the person very much and were better now. But I did need to heal from that.'

Amy married Dillon King in September 2015 near Bentonville, Arkansas.

The ladies: Jessa Duggar (far left) and some of her other siblings were also abused. They were sexually molested by their brother Josh

Jessa Duggar and some of her other siblings were also abused.

They were sexually molested by their brother Josh.

Last year she said: 'I feel like this should be a discussion people are having, even regularly,' she said.

'I think that it shouldn't be a taboo subject, that we should be bringing awareness to child sexual abuse and talking about this.'
Tori Spelling's fifth baby is due in just three weeks.

And on Friday the 43-year-old Beverly Hills, 90210 vet flaunted her enormous bump in an Instagram portrait.

The wife of reality star and reformed love rat Dean McDermott seemed proud of her look, saying in the caption she was 'preggers chic.'

Here it is: Tori Spelling's fifth baby is due in just three weeks. And on Friday the 43-year-old Beverly Hills, 90210 vet flaunted her enormous bump in an Instagram portrait

Different: Here the TV star opened her legs while sitting on a staircase

The Tori & Dean: Inn Love star did indeed look chic in her outfit.

The blonde bombshell had on a very tight green dress that has a black and white marble pattern.

She pointed out her black strappy heels were by Gucci.

The caln: Tori and Dean, who've been married since 2006, already are proud parents to Liam, 9, Stella, 8, Hattie, 5, and Finn, 4

Large: Tori is nearing her son's March due date, and has been thoroughly enjoying showing off her bump on social media

Tori is nearing her son's March due date, and has been thoroughly enjoying showing off her bump on social media.

Her Super Bowl post comes two weeks after she shared another baby bump shot on Instagram 'six weeks' ahead of her son's expected arrival.

She captioned the 'bump proud' selfie: 'Can't wait to meet you little man... my little Pisces. #6weekstogo #littleman #number5.'

Hands on: The stars are seen here in an intimate portrait at the Hotel Bel-Air for her baby shower last week

Tori and Dean, who've been married since 2006, already are proud parents to Liam, 9, Stella, 8, Hattie, 5, and Finn, 4.

The ever-expanding family also just welcomed a baby pig into the fold.

Tori announced the news via Instagram on Friday: 'We have a new member of the family...Nutmeg! Thanks to @oinkoinkminipigs for making this happen! Get all of the details on ToriSpelling.com.'
First-born Kim Jong-Nam (L) was once thought to be the natural successor to his father, but on Kim Jong-Il's death in 2011 the succession went to Jong-Un (R), who was born to the former leader's third wife

The body of Kim Jong-Nam, the assassinated half-brother of North Korea's leader, will not be released until his family have provided DNA samples, Malaysia said Friday, despite a request from Pyongyang.

Detectives in Kuala Lumpur are trying to get to the bottom of the cloak-and-dagger murder that South Korea says was carried out by poison-wielding female agents working for their secretive northern neighbour.

Forensic specialists on Friday began testing samples from the dead man's body to try to determine the toxin that was apparently sprayed in his face as he readied to board a plane earlier this week.

North Korean diplomats objected to the post-mortem examination, Malaysian officials say, but Kuala Lumpur has stood firm, and said Friday it would not release the body until procedures were complete.

"So far no family member or next of kin has come to identify or claim the body. We need a DNA sample of a family member to match the profile of the dead person," Selangor state police chief Abdul Samah Mat told AFP.

North Korea's house of Kim

"North Korea has submitted a request to claim the body, but before we release the body we have to identify who the body belongs to," he said.

DNA from a child, sibling -- or even half-sibling -- would be enough to provide a "kinship match" and confirm the identity, a Malaysian forensic investigator told AFP.

Police were meanwhile questioning two women -- one travelling on a Vietnamese passport and the other on an Indonesian document -- as well as a Malaysian man.

- Pyongyang silent -

The drama erupted on Monday morning as Jong-Nam, the estranged elder brother of Kim Jong-Un, readied to board a plane to Macau.

Malaysian police say the chubby 45-year-old was jumped by two women who squirted some kind of liquid in his face.

Malaysian police have arrested two women over the assassination of Kim Jong-Nam, the half-brother of North Korea's leader

Jong-Nam told staff he was suffering from a headache and was taken to the airport clinic grimacing in pain, according to Malaysian media citing CCTV footage from the airport.

One of the women walked to a taxi rank immediately after the attack, according to the same footage.

He was rushed to hospital suffering from a seizure but was dead before he arrived.

South Korea has pointed the finger of blame at the North, citing a "standing order" from Jong-Un to kill his sibling and a failed assassination bid in 2012 after he criticised the regime.

A Japanese journalist who knew and wrote a book on Jong-Nam on Friday said he was a courageous man who sought to reform his country.

"Even if it put him in danger, he wanted to tell his opinions to Pyongyang through me or other media," Yoji Gomi said in Tokyo.

Pyongyang has made no comment on the killing, and there has been no mention of it in North Korean media.

AFP correspondents in Pyongyang say celebrations to mark the birthday of Kim Jong-Il, the late father of both men, have gone ahead without reference to the death.

- Woman in 'LOL' top -

Medical staff leave the forensic wing of Kuala Lumpur hospital -- Malaysian government scientists are examining samples from the autopsy of the assassinated Kim Jong-Nam, the half-brother of North Korea's leader

Malaysian police on Wednesday arrested a 28-year-old woman carrying a Vietnamese passport which identified her as Doan Thi Huong.

Local media said she was the woman seen in CCTV images from the airport wearing a white top with the letters "LOL" emblazoned on the front.

Officers later arrested Muhammad Farid Bin Jalaluddin, a 26-year-old Malaysian man. He led them to his girlfriend, a 25-year-old Indonesian national named Siti Aishah.

Aishah's family in Jakarta expressed their shock over her arrest, with her former father-in-law saying there was "no way such a nice person would do that".

"I could not believe it because she was a good person," said Tija Liang Kiong, 56.

Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said Aishah appeared to be the "victim of a scam or a fraud" who thought she was taking part in a reality show involving hidden cameras.

Indonesian embassy officials said they were providing Aishah with legal assistance.

Selangor state police chief Abdul Samah earlier told AFP he was looking for several more suspects, but declined to say how many were being sought.

First-born Jong-Nam was once thought to be the natural successor to his father, but on Kim Jong-Il's death in 2011 the succession went to Jong-Un, who was born to the former leader's third wife.

Reports of purges and executions have emerged from the current regime as Jong-Un tries to strengthen his grip on power in the face of international pressure over nuclear and missile programmes.

The most notable of these was the 2013 execution for treason of the young leader's influential uncle, Jang Song-Thaek.
US President Donald Trump said there is "zero chaos" in his crisis-hit administration, and railed against enemies in the media, politics and the courts

Donald Trump stunned the political world with an impromptu White House news conference at which he vented at his critics and virulently defended the record of his tumultuous first weeks in power.

But Trump also made headlines by promising to press on with an amended version of his embattled immigration decree, while his top diplomat held a cautious first face-to-face with Russia's foreign minister.

Meanwhile, his administration seemed to temper his explosive break with decades of support for the two-state solution in the Mideast.

Here are five takeaways from the day, from Washington, the United Nations and Bonn:

- 'Having a good time' -

Declaring that there is "zero chaos" in his crisis-hit administration, Trump railed against enemies in the media, politics and the courts in a meandering, out of the ordinary White House news conference.

In a remarkable one hour, 16 minute ask-me-anything appearance the 70-year-old president vented frustrations, wondered out loud about a "nuclear holocaust" and insisted he is "not a bad person."

Trump vehemently rejected reports probing his team's connections to Russia as "fake news" as he aired a litany of grievances.

Complaining he had "inherited a mess," Trump insisted his administration "is running like a fine-tuned machine" and accused the "dishonest" media of stirring-up crises that have sent his approval rating plummeting.

In just four weeks, Trump has seen his national security advisor resign, a cabinet nominee withdraw, a centerpiece immigration policy fail in the courts and a tidal wave of damaging leaks.

While variously telling members of the "dishonest" media to "sit down" and be "quiet," Trump sought to pre-empt coverage of his first solo news conference.

"I'm not ranting and raving," he said, "I am having a good time."

- New immigration decree -

With his much-criticized travel ban caught up in court, Trump said he will announce a "new and very comprehensive" executive order on immigration next week in a bid to work around the hurdles blocking the initial decree, challenged as unconstitutional.

The Justice Department announced soon after that it plans to drop an appeal against a court ruling suspending a travel ban targeting nationals from seven mainly Muslim countries as well as all refugees.

The ban's stated goal is to keep out potential terrorists. But the January 27 order was widely criticized as amounting to a ban on travellers from mostly-Muslim nations, and for being rolled out with virtually no warning to the public or preparation of the agencies tasked with enforcing it.

Trump insisted the travel ban's "rollout was perfect" but the order triggered worldwide outrage as well as protests in America as people arriving at US airports from targeted countries were detained and sometimes sent back where they came from.

- Maybe two-states after all -

A day after Trump dropped a diplomatic bombshell by saying the United States would not insist on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the US ambassador to the United Nations appeared to temper his stance.

Nikki Haley rejected suggestions that Washington was abandoning the two-state solution, saying Washington "absolutely" supports the policy but wants fresh ideas on how to move forward.

"Anybody that wants to say the United States does not support the two-state solution, that would be an error," she told reporters at the United Nations.

"We absolutely support a two-state solution, but we are thinking out-of-the-box as well," Haley said following a Security Council meeting on the conflict.

In Washington, meanwhile, Trump's nominee to become US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, said he was skeptical that a two-state solution was feasible but he did not rule it out.

"I have expressed my skepticism about the two-state solution solely on the basis of what I have perceived as unwillingness to renounce terror and accept Israel as a Jewish state," he told a Senate confirmation hearing.

- Tillerson sets Russia course -

Trump's secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, was also in the spotlight as he made his diplomatic debut in Europe, meeting his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in the new administration's first high-level face-to-face with Moscow.

In the closely-watched encounter, Tillerson said his country will work with Russia if doing so benefits Americans, as Moscow pressed the Trump administration to live up to its promises of improving ties.

"The United States will consider working with Russia when we can find areas of practical cooperation that will benefit the American people," Tillerson said.

"Where we do not see eye-to-eye, the United States will stand up for the interests and values of America and her allies."

Taking place on the sidelines of a G20 gathering in the German city of Bonn, the meeting came as Washington reels from the shock resignation of top Trump aide Michael Flynn over his contacts with Moscow, against a backdrop of allegations of Russian meddling in Trump's election last year.

- 'Low-life leakers' -

Once more pressing his attacks on US intelligence agencies, Trump vowed to catch the "low-life leakers" responsible for a drip-drop of reports on his team's contacts with Russia that led to Flynn's ouster this week.

The latest flurry of presidential salvoes came amid reports that Trump plans to name a New York billionaire, Stephen Feinberg, to lead a sweeping review of the US intelligence agencies, raising fears of a bid to curtail their independence.

"The spotlight has finally been put on the low-life leakers! They will be caught!" Trump declared in an early morning tweet Thursday.

"Leaking, and even illegal classified leaking, has been a big problem in Washington for years. Failing @nytimes (and others) must apologize!"

Trump has repeatedly decried Flynn's treatment, despite having fired the retired general on Monday for deceiving Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Russia's ambassador to Washington.

The president's stance on leaks has flipped since last year's campaign when he dismissed as a "joke" charges that Russia was behind damaging leaks of hacked Clinton campaign emails.
Ford without warning last month canceled plans to build a $1.6 billion project in San Luis Potosi, an auto-making area in central Mexico

US car maker Ford is sticking with a plan to open two auto-parts plants in Mexico this year, despite earlier announcing it had scrapped plans for a separate factory there.

Ford without warning last month canceled plans to build a $1.6 billion project in San Luis Potosi, an auto-making area in central Mexico.

Gabriel Lopez, president and CEO of Ford Mexico, said however that this did not affect two other projects it has under way in the country since 2015, which are scheduled to begin production this year.

The plants, in the central state of Guanajuato and the northern city of Chihuahua, will make engines and transmissions.

They will supply Ford factories in the United States, South America, Europe and Asia.

The two facilities will cost about $2.5 billion and employ some 3,800 people, Lopez said on Wednesday.

Ford is one of several US companies under pressure from the country's new President Donald Trump.

He has offered inducements to keep some US manufacturers in the United States, and threatened others with punishing tariffs if they go.

Ford has been operating in Mexico for about 90 years. It currently employs around 9,000 workers in Mexico, according to Lopez.
A Sydney-based Yahoo7 journalist, Krystal Johnson, and the company were hauled before court last year over a report about a Melbourne murder trial that contained prejudicial information not heard by the jury

Australian-US media outlet Yahoo7 was Friday found in contempt and fined over an online story that saw a murder trial aborted, with a judge slamming the website for prioritising profit above oversight.

A Sydney-based Yahoo7 journalist, Krystal Johnson, and the company were hauled before court last year over a report about a Melbourne murder trial that contained prejudicial information not heard by the jury.

The jury was discharged and the trial ended. A second trial was later held with a man found guilty of murdering his girlfriend.

Justice John Dixon of the Supreme Court of Victoria convicted Yahoo7 -- co-owned by US internet giant Yahoo and Australia's Seven West Media -- of contempt of court and fined the news organisation Aus$300,000 (US$230,000).

Dixon told the court he wanted to make it clear to the media "that sub-judice contempt of the type demonstrated in this case is intolerable".

"Commercial pressures and incentives such as meeting deadlines and ensuring immediacy in current affairs reporting, attracting larger audiences to its website and earning profits appear to be relevant to the systemic failure within Yahoo7," Dixon said.

He added that the aborted trial wasted the court's time, was a burden on its resources and upset the victim's family, the accused and the jury.

"In view of the kind of high-volume, time-pressured work Yahoo7 expected of its journalists, Ms Johnson's mistake was readily foreseeable," Dixon noted in further criticism of Yahoo7 in his judgement.

"Time pressures inherent to the media's work must be balanced against the responsibility to ensure that the appropriate checks are in place."

Johnson was given a two-year good behaviour bond, with Dixon adding: "I accept that she has learnt in a harsh and unforgiving way a lesson that she will never forget."

The case has highlighted the pressures editors and journalists face amid plunging profits and increased competition for readers and viewers.
A Pakistani policeman stands guard as Muslims offer Friday prayers on a street in Karachi, on February 17, 2017

Pakistani forces said Friday they had killed more than 100 "terrorists" after 88 people died in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group on a Sufi shrine which stoked fears of a fresh surge in militancy.

The devastating blast came after a series of bloody extremist assaults this week, including a powerful Taliban suicide bomb in the eastern city of Lahore which killed 13 people and wounded dozens.

Prime minister Nawaz Sharif and army chief of staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa Friday visited the town of Sehwan in Sindh province where the latest attack took place.

Sharif vowed to eliminate militants "with the full force of the state".

Map of Pakistan locating the area where a Sufi shrine was hit by a suicide bombing Thursday

Pakistan's military later said operations were in progress across the country. "Over 100 terrorists have been killed since last night", it said, adding others had been detained.

The emergence of Islamic State group (IS) and a Taliban resurgence would be a major blow to Pakistan, and the attacks have dented growing optimism over security after a decade-long war on militancy.

Police Friday cordoned off the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, a 13th century Muslim saint, in Sehwan, some 200 kilometres (124 miles) northeast of financial hub Karachi.

The centuries-old shrine's white floor was smeared with blood, scattered with shoes, shawls, and baby bottles.

At 3.30 am the shrine's caretaker stood among the carnage and defiantly rang its bell, a daily ritual that he vowed to continue, telling AFP he will "not bow down to terrorists".

Devotees gather outside the closed gate of the shrine of 13th century Muslim Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, in the souther Pakistani town of Sehwan, on February 17, 2017, a day after a bomb blew up at the shrine

Health officials said the number of people killed in the shrine blast had jumped to 88, including at least 20 children, making it the deadliest attack in Pakistan since a 2014 assault on a Peshawar school.

Islamabad has denied the presence of IS, despite several high-profile attacks and the group's apparent affiliation with homegrown militants, such as the banned Sunni sectarian organisation Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).

"I think they (IS) are capable of doing this" with help from homegrown groups, security expert Amir Rana said of the shrine bombing, as analyst Imtiaz Gul warned the group would claim more such attacks.

Gul also warned there are "visible signs" that factions of the umbrella Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, or Pakistani Taliban), which is distinct from the Afghan Taliban, are regrouping after a military crackdown.

TTP faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed the Lahore attack on Monday, days after it announced a fresh offensive. Two members of a bomb disposal team in Quetta, capital of southwestern Balochistan province, were killed the same day defusing a device there.

- 'Intense' wave of attacks -

A Pakistani policeman walk past a burnt out vehicle that was torched by mourners during a protest against a bomb attack on a Sufi shrine in the town of Sehwan, on February 17, 2017

On Wednesday four suicide bombers struck in one day in the tribal areas and on a van carrying judges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial capital Peshawar, killing six people in attacks also claimed by the TTP.

An IED attack in Balochistan which killed three soldiers Thursday unnerved Pakistanis further, while gunmen on motorcycles killed four policemen and a civilian in the northwest overnight Friday.

Rana predicted the "intense" wave of TTP attacks would continue, saying security forces had failed to crack the militants' operational infrastructure, especially in cities.

But both the military and the foreign office said the recent attacks had been carried out from sanctuaries in Afghanistan, and that Kabul had been asked to take action. Neither referred specifically to the IS claim.

Pakistani Muslims offer Friday prayers at the shrine of Saint Syed Ali bin Osman Al-Hajvery -- popularly known as Data Ganj Bakhsh -- in Lahore, on February 17, 2017

Pakistan's push against extremism was stepped up after the country's deadliest ever attack, a TTP assault on a school in Peshawar in 2014 which left more than 150 people dead -- mostly children.

Critics have long argued the military and government crackdown does not address the root causes of extremism.

Security officials said at least 18 terrorists had been killed in Sindh province overnight, and 13 more in the country's northwest.

Pakistanis vented their grief and fury at the bombings on social media and with small protests in some cities.

"The government should identify and punish these terrorists," Ghulam Shabbir Bhatti, a resident of Sehwan, said.

"Sunnis, Shias, Hindus, ppl from all faiths visit Sehwan... This is an attack on our identity & culture," wrote Twitter user Zahraa Saifullah.

Sufism, a mystic Islamic order that believes in living saints, worships through music and is viewed as heretical by some hardline groups.

IS has targeted Sufi shrines in Pakistan previously, killing 52 at a shrine in Balochistan last year.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson used a G20 gathering in Bonn, Germany to hold a series of meetings with his global peers

US allies won assurances Friday from new Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that Washington backed a UN-brokered political solution to the Syria conflict, the latest sign the Trump administration will keep to existing policy.

Tillerson used a G20 gathering in Germany to hold a series of meetings with his global peers, reviewing crises from North Korea to Ukraine at a time of great uncertainty over President Donald Trump's "America First" strategy.

On the sidelines of the event, Washington's top diplomat joined a group of countries who support the Syrian opposition for talks on a way to end the nearly six-year war.

"All the participants want a political solution because a military solution alone won't lead to peace in Syria," German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel told reporters in Bonn, adding that "Tillerson became very involved in the debates".

The meeting of the so-called "like-minded" nations -- made up of around a dozen Western and Arab countries as well as Turkey -- was the first since President Donald Trump took office.

Diplomats had said before the talks they were hoping for clarity on whether there had been a change in US policy on Syria, particularly on the future of President Bashar al-Assad.

A new round of United Nations-led talks is set to take place in Geneva on February 23 involving Syrian regime and rebel representatives.

After meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R), US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (L) said the US sought cooperation with Moscow only if it "will benefit the American people"

- 'No parallel negotiations' -

Under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, Washington insisted Assad had to go as part of a political solution to end the fighting.

But Trump has called for closer cooperation with Moscow in the fight against the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria, downplaying what happens to Assad.

With Russia's sway in the conflict growing since it launched a military intervention in support of Assad's regime, it has seized the initiative by hosting separate peace talks in Kazakhstan along with US ally Turkey, brokering a fragile six-week-old truce on the ground.

Gabriel said the "like-minded" countries had agreed to step up pressure on Russia and make clear there could be no alternative to the UN-led Geneva talks.

"There should not be any parallel negotiations," he said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, speaking alongside Gabriel, said a key stumbling block was Russia's insistence to view all opposition groups as "terrorists".

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (R) and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi walk to their seats before a meeting on the sidelines of a gathering of G20 foreign ministers in Bonn, western Germany, on February 17, 2017

A Western diplomatic source said Tillerson had made clear in the meeting "there would be no military cooperation with Russia until they distance themselves from Damascus's stance on the opposition."

- 'New friends' -

The former ExxonMobil boss, who kept a low profile and left Bonn without giving the usual press conference, reassured US partners by sticking close to conventional foreign policy.

In his first one-on-one with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, Tillerson pressed Beijing to "use all available tools" to rein in North Korea after its series of nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

A day earlier, he promised Japan and South Korea that Washington would use the full range of its arsenal, including nuclear weapons, to defend the allies against North Korea.

With the White House embroiled in controversy over its ties to the Kremlin, Tillerson was cautious in his dealings with Moscow, despite Trump's pledges to take a softer line.

Following his first sitdown with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday, Tillerson said the US sought cooperation with Moscow only when doing so "will benefit the American people".

In his closing remarks, Germany's Gabriel welcomed the "active role" Tillerson had taken in the G20 debates.

US Defense Secretary James Mattis speaking at a NATO meeting stuck to convention saying Washington was not ready "right now" for military collaboration with Russia

"I think he is someone we can work well with," he said.

But other diplomats were less convinced, suggesting the Texan had been light on details.

Ayrault said the US position on the Israel-Palestinian conflict came across as "confused" while comments about the Iran nuclear deal raised questions.

"There needs to be more precision on many issues; for the moment, it is all very general," the Frenchman added.

Asked by reporters how his inaugural trip had gone, Tillerson kept it typically brief.

"Met a lot of people, made a lot of new friends," he replied.

Attention now shifts to the more high-profile Munich Security Conference where US Vice-President Mike Pence will make his international debut.
The sweep of the powerful and ultra-rich Wat Dhammakaya temple comes after Thailand's junta chief invoked special powers to put its sprawling compound under military control

Thai cops have uncovered secret tunnels running underneath a space-age temple of the controversial Dhammakaya Buddhist sect, as their manhunt for an elusive elderly monk accused of massive embezzlement entered a second day.

Thousands of officers are involved in the search for the 72-year-old monk Phra Dhammachayo, who is believed to be holed up in the vast Wat Dhammakaya temple grounds on the outskirts of Bangkok.

The former abbot, who founded the breakaway Buddhist order in 1970 and has marshalled its prodigious rise, is accused of money laundering and accepting embezzled funds worth $33 million from the jailed owner of a cooperative bank.

But in an increasingly bizarre cat-and-mouse game, cops were frustrated for a second day running as they were led by orange-robed monks through endless rooms and hallways in the 1,000-acre site.

On Thursday police found a 1.5 kilometre tunnel -- spilt into two routes -- dug under the UFO-like temple that dominates the site, which may have been used by the ex-abbot as a place to hide.

"It only has one entrance but it does not go outside of the temple," Police Colonel Worranan Srilum, deputy spokesman for the DSI -- Thailand's equivalent of the FBI -- told reporters.

They also searched a sick bay used by the former abbot, but instead of finding their quarry, pulled back an orange robe covering several pillows arranged to look like a sleeping person.

"The Dhammakaya temple area is sprawling so it will have to take time to search... we can't find him yet, but our intelligence insists that he is still inside (the) temple," he added.

The sweep of the powerful and ultra-rich Wat Dhammakaya temple comes after Thailand's junta chief invoked special powers to put its sprawling compound under military control.

Temple officials say the ex-abbot is innocent and deny knowledge of his whereabouts.

Thailand's secular authorities are normally reluctant to intervene in the affairs of the clergy in the Buddhist-majority country.

But the Dhammakaya sect has long been in the firing line. Critics accuse the temple of promoting a pay-your-way to nirvana philosophy, burnished with "cultish" mass shows of devotion and a sophisticated PR machine.

The temple is also mired in the kingdom's treacherous politics, with rumoured links to ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and still hated by the Bangkok elite and their military allies.
Murder convictions in Singapore are punishable by death and carried out by hanging

Two Pakistani men face the gallows in Singapore after a court Friday found them guilty of murdering a compatriot over a gambling dispute and dismembering the body.

Street-side tissue sellers Rasheed Muhammad, 45, and Ramzan Rizwan, 28, were convicted of smothering fellow Pakistani Muhammad Noor to death in their lodging house in 2014, before hacking up the body with saws.

The 59-year-old victim's torso and lower limbs were found stuffed in two separate luggage bags in the city-state.

Murder convictions in Singapore are punishable by death and carried out by hanging.

"As the photographs and evidence of the discarded limbs and torso show, both Rasheed and Ramzan acted in concert after the murder as they did before and during it," High Court Judge Choo Han Teck said in his judgement.

Rasheed and Ramzan arrived in Singapore in May 2014, and sold packets of tissue paper for a living.

The dispute started after the pair sought to retrieve Sg$1,100 ($776) Ramzan had lost to the victim in a card game.

After using a shirt to smother the victim, the two men purchased saws to dismember the body.

A bag with the torso was found by an 81-year-old man and Rasheed subsequently led police to a second bag containing the legs, court documents showed.

Defence lawyers for the pair had argued that they did not intend to commit murder, and both blamed each other for the death.

Rasheed, a father of eight, and Ramzan, a father of three, will appeal the conviction, their lawyers told AFP.

Earlier this month, Singapore's highest court upheld the death sentence of a former Singapore policeman for double murder.

Singapore executed four people in 2015, one for murder and three for drug offences, according to prison statistics.

Rights groups have called on Singapore to abolish capital punishment, which was carried over from British colonial rule, but the government argues that it is a deterrent to crime.
The Philippines is one of the world's most dangerous places for environmental campaigners, with more than 100 killed over the past 15 years

A Philippine lawyer who specialised in investigating crimes against the environment has been ambushed and shot dead, police said Friday.

The murder on Wednesday of Mia Manuelita Mascarinas-Green deepened concerns that the Philippines is one of the world's most dangerous places for environmental campaigners, with more than 100 killed over the past 15 years.

Four motorcycle-riding gunmen opened fire after surrounding a van being driven by Mascarinas-Green -- with her children and nanny in the vehicle -- near her home on the central island of Bohol, the authorities said.

Mascarinas-Green was pronounced dead at a hospital but her children were unharmed, regional police spokesman Senior Inspector Reslin Abella told AFP.

"The victim is a known environmental lawyer. Investigators are checking whether the attack had any link to the cases she had handled in relation to environmental issues," Abella told AFP by telephone.

"They now have the identity of at least one of the perpetrators and a hot pursuit operation is ongoing," she said without naming the suspect.

Abella said police were at the moment unaware if Mascarinas-Green had been threatened previously in relation to her work.

Her children are twins, aged two, and a 10-year-old daughter, according to local media reports.

Her death brings to 112 the number of environmental campaigners murdered in the Philippines over the past 15 years, according to Filipino environment monitor Kalikasan.

This includes 12 since President Rodrigo Duterte took office seven months ago, Kalikasan said.

"Most of these cases remain unresolved as the government continues to ignore the threat against environmental defenders," Clemente Bautista, its national coordinator told AFP.

"What this means is that the perpetrators are emboldened to do it again and again because no one ever gets caught."

Greenpeace Southeast Asia executive director Yeb Sano also said the killing highlighted the culture of impunity in the Philippines, where powerful figures abuse a corrupt political and justice system to literally get away with murder.

"Those who cause environmental destruction are resorting to savage measures and deplorable acts to stop communities and people who are standing up to protect our imperilled environment," Sano said.

Environmental monitor Global Witness separately lists 88 killings of environmental activists and workers in the Philippines between 2010 and 2015.

The attacks spiked with 33 dead in 2015, ranking the Philippines as the second most dangerous country in the world for environmental campaigners behind Brazil.
Donald Trump reportedly lambasted Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during a phone call last month

Australia's prime minister, who was at the receiving end of US President Donald Trump's ire during a fiery phone call last month, on Friday offered media advice to the billionaire politician after he attacked the press.

Trump stunned the political world Thursday with an impromptu White House news conference at which he railed against his perceived enemies in the media, calling them "dishonest" and "out of control".

The US leader has repeatedly ignored presidential decorum, including in his relations with loyal allies like Australia, reportedly lambasting Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during a phone call last month and later attacking an agreement with Canberra on refugees as a "dumb deal".

At a press conference in New Zealand, Turnbull, who has repeatedly insisted relations with key ally the United States remain strong, was asked about Trump's views of the media.

"Winston Churchill once said that politicans complaining about the newspapers is like a sailor complaining about the sea," Turnbull told reporters in Queenstown.

"There's not much point. It's the media we live with.

"We have to get our message across and we thank you all in the media for your kind attention," Turnbull added with a smile.

The spat flared over an agreement struck in November to resettle in the United States an unspecified number of the 1,600 people detained by Australia on Pacific islands. Many are Iranians.

In Queenstown, Turnbull met his New Zealand counterpart Bill English and agreed to pursue the Trans-Pacific Partnership, despite Trump's decision to dump the massive trade deal that encompasses a dozen nations.

"In light of the intention of the United States not to ratify the TPP, the two Prime Ministers agreed that Australia and New Zealand would work together to engage with other TPP partners on the way forward, over the coming months," a joint statement said.
Ex-US admiral Robert S. Harward previously commanded a Navy SEALs unit that specialized in operations across the Middle East

Donald Trump's reported pick for national security advisor turned down the job just hours after the president defended the ousted Michael Flynn, saying he "wasn't wrong" for dealing with Russia.

Retired Navy Admiral Robert Harward's rejection of the key post late Thursday leaves Trump without a replacement for Flynn, the first high profile casualty of the US leader's tenure, and it added to a perception of disarray in his administration.

Harward told CNN he bowed out because of family and financial commitments, but several US media outlets reported that he was unhappy because he had no guarantees that the National Security Council -- and not Trump's political advisors -- would be in charge of policy.

Members of the council currently include Steve Bannon, Trump's controversial far-right former campaign manager.

One Harward friend told CNN that he didn't want the job because of chaos at the White House.

Flynn, a close advisor on Trump's 2016 campaign, resigned after it was revealed that he held telephone conversations during the election race with Russia's ambassador in Washington about US sanctions.

Flynn was no stranger to controversy. His past included a paid appearance at a 2015 dinner sitting next to President Vladimir Putin and suggestions that Russia's seizure of Crimea and its support for Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad were acceptable.

Russia was the hot topic of a lengthy and often rambling press conference given by Trump on Thursday.

Michael Flynn resigned as the US national security advisor over a scandal involving his links with the Russian ambassador in Washington

The president insisted neither he nor his campaign team had contacts with Russian officials in the run-up to last year's US election, contradicting an explosive report which he dismissed as "fake news."

Trump instead accused members of US intelligence agencies of breaking the law by leaking information about the calls.

Asked whether he or anyone on his staff had engaged in contacts with Russia prior to the election, Trump proclaimed: "No, nobody that I know of."

"I have nothing to do with Russia," Trump said. "The whole Russia thing is a ruse."

- 'It's all fake news' -

It was a full-throated denunciation of a bombshell New York Times report which said intercepted calls and phone records show Trump aides were in repeated contact with Russian intelligence officials well before the US election.

"It's all fake news," Trump insisted.

He stressed that the Times story centered instead on inappropriate action by US intelligence agencies, and he stepped up earlier attacks vowing to catch "low-life leakers" of potentially classified information that led to Flynn's ouster.

"Those are criminal leaks" by people angry about Democrat Hillary Clinton's loss, Trump told reporters.

US President Donald Trump has defended his political agenda and promised new executive orders regarding trade and immigration

"The people that gave out the information to the press should be ashamed of themselves."

The Washington Post meanwhile reported that Flynn denied to FBI agents that he had discussed US sanctions on Russia with Moscow's ambassador.

If Flynn did discuss the sanctions, as Trump appears to believe, then the retired general could be looking at prison time because lying to the FBI is a felony, though the president defended him.

"What he did wasn't wrong," Trump stressed.

"I didn't direct him" to discuss sanctions, Trump added. "But I would have directed him because that's his job" to talk with foreign contacts.

- 'Collusion?' -

Trump defended his political agenda and promised new executive orders regarding trade and immigration next week.

But most of his remarks centered on Russia connections.

"I would love to be able to get along with Russia," Trump said. "It would be much easier for me to be tough on Russia, but then we're not going to make a deal."

The revelations about the Trump campaign and Russia have alarmed even Republican leaders, wary of the president's overtures toward Moscow.

Trump-Russia connections

"It is a cloud over the White House," said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who has called for in-depth investigations.

Various news reports say Trump plans to name New York billionaire Stephen Feinberg -- who has no national security experience -- to lead a sweeping review of US intelligence agencies.

Amid mounting calls for more sweeping congressional investigations, one Democrat accused Trump's campaign of collusion with Moscow.

"I believe there was collusion," House Democrat Maxine Waters told CNN, stressing that Trump's focus on the leaks was a distraction.

Trump's view on leaks has flipped since the 2016 campaign when he proclaimed "I love WikiLeaks" -- the organization that published hacked Clinton campaign emails.

He also dismissed as a "joke" his suggestion that Russia was behind the damaging leaks.

By January, US intelligence had concluded that those leaks were part of a wider campaign ordered by Putin to try to tilt the election in Trump's favor. Moscow denies any involvement.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has moved gingerly on Russia, sending top officials to Europe to reassure NATO allies while making its opening official contacts with the Russians.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Bonn, and said Washington is prepared to work with Russia "when we can find practical areas of cooperation."

In Brussels, Defense Secretary James Mattis said the Pentagon was not ready "right now" for military cooperation with Moscow "but our political leaders will engage and try to find common ground."

mlm-burs/ch/adm
New York real estate scion Robert Durst denies killing close friend Susan Berman in 2000

New York property tycoon Robert Durst confessed to carrying out the murder of close friend Susan Berman, a witness testified in a Los Angeles court Thursday.

Durst, 73, whose life was the focus of an HBO series that ultimately led to his arrest, stands accused of the December 2000 execution-style killing of longtime friend Berman.

Berman was killed just as she was set to be questioned about the disappearance of Durst's first wife, Kathleen Durst, who vanished in 1982 from the couple's New York cottage.

Nathan Chavin, a long-time friend of both Durst and Berman, testified that he discussed the latter's death at a 2014 dinner with Durst.

Durst invited Chavin to eat because, according to Chavin, he wanted to discuss Berman as well as the fate of his first wife.

Durst said he "had no choice" but to kill Berman, Chavin told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark Windham.

"'I had to. It was her or me. I had no choice,'" Chavin told the judge, quoting Durst.

Chavin testified that Susan Berman had earlier told him that Durst had confessed to murdering Kathleen, who was seeking a divorce.

"This was a best friend who admitted to killing my other best friend," Chavin told the judge, noting that he had asked Durst about Kathleen, but received no response.

Chavin's identity was kept secret up to Thursday out of fear that he would be harmed ahead of his testimony.

Durst, a real estate scion worth an estimated $100 million, has pleaded not guilty to Berman's murder.

- Eccentric tycoon -

Durst was arrested in March 2015 in a New Orleans hotel room hours before the final episode of the six-part HBO documentary "The Jinx: The life and Deaths of Robert Durst."

The series delved into the disappearance of his wife as well as the killing of Berman and the 2001 death of a neighbor in Texas who was found dismembered.

At the time, Durst was living under an assumed name in Texas and pretended to be a mute woman, prosecutors said. He claimed self-defense and was acquitted after a high-profile trial.

In the HBO documentary's explosive finale, Durst is heard muttering to himself, "What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course," apparently unaware that a wireless microphone remained switched on while he used the bathroom.

"You're caught," he said at another point. "What a disaster."

Durst was sentenced to seven years in prison on a weapons charge following his arrest in New Orleans and, as part of a plea deal, was transferred to Los Angeles in November from a prison in Louisiana.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the police to step back from their drug war at the end of January after a seven-month campaign that had left 6,485 people dead

Shadowy assassins are still killing poor Filipinos, despite a police withdrawal from Rodrigo Duterte's deadly drug war, a rights group said Friday, as Manila filed criminal charges against the president's top critic.

Duterte ordered the police to step back at the end of January after a seven-month campaign that had left 6,485 people dead, many in unexplained circumstances.

The latest tally given to AFP on Friday showed an extra 146 people had died since the January 31 stand-down was ordered, which rights groups said showed extrajudicial killings were continuing.

"The targets are still the same, as far as we are concerned: people linked to drugs and who live in poor neighbourhoods," Wilnor Papa, campaign official for the Philippine branch of Amnesty International, told AFP.

Papa said unknown assailants were now killing between nine and 10 people daily. This compared with about 30 people a day being killed by police and unknown assailants when officers were still leading the crackdown.

In one new shooting incident covered by an AFP photographer, police found four men dead inside a shanty in northern Manila before dawn on Thursday, in a scene very similar to those covered at the height of the drug war.

Witnesses said unknown suspects broke into the house and started shooting, while three other men were shot dead in separate incidents elsewhere in the same district that night, local police told AFP.

Philippines drug war

Duterte ordered all police to stop prosecuting his drug war after anti-drug officers kidnapped a South Korean businessman then murdered him inside the national police headquarters as part of an extortion racket, according to an official investigation.

But Duterte promised that the war would continue and more addicts, as well as traffickers, would be killed as he sought to eradicate drugs in society.

- 'Butchery of the regime' -

Although the anti-drugs campaign is popular among voters, campaigners say it has granted a licence to kill to anyone with a grudge and a gun.

But critics are finding it increasingly tough to get a hearing in the Philippines.

On Friday the government filed criminal charges against Senator Leila de Lima, a justice secretary in the previous government and former human rights commissioner who is one of Duterte's most vocal opponents.

The charges allege she ran a drug trafficking ring using criminals in the country's largest prison when she was justice secretary.

De Lima said in a statement that the charges, which could land her a 30-year jail term, were solely aimed at silencing her opposition.

"If the loss of my freedom is the price I have to pay for standing up against the butchery of the Duterte regime, then it is a price I am willing to pay," she said, describing the charges as "false".

De Lima has not yet been arrested.

In an earlier report, Amnesty said the police were guilty of systemic human rights abuses in the drug war, including shooting dead defenceless people, paying assassins to murder addicts and stealing from those they killed.

It also said police were being paid by their superiors to kill.

Duterte has since ordered the much smaller Drug Enforcement Agency to lead the drug crackdown, with the support of the military.

Derrick Carreon, spokesman for the 1,791-member drug agency, told AFP there had been far fewer killings by authorities since it took charge, without giving figures.

"(But) there is no point in comparing these figures because the police is a much larger organisation, capable of conducting more operations," Carreon said, adding the military had mostly acted as observers so far.

The national police force has 160,000 officers.
A Moroccan flag flies behind the border fence between Morocco and Spain's North African territory of Ceuta

Hundreds of migrants stormed the border between Morocco and Spain at Ceuta on Friday, days after Morocco warned the EU of fresh migrant trouble following a row over a trade deal.

The Spanish civil guard -- or paramilitary police -- told AFP that "several hundred" migrants had stormed the border fence into the Spanish North African territory and that some had been injured.

Three officers were hurt while trying to keep the migrants back, a civil guard spoeksman said.

Footage shot by the local Faro de Ceuta television showed dozens of euphoric migrants wandering the streets of the seaside enclave, ecstatic to have finally crossed into a European Union state.

"I love you Mamma, long live Spain," shouted one young African draped in a blue EU flag. "Libertad, libertad" (freedom), shouted another.

- Row over trade deal -

Ceuta and Melilla, also a Spanish territory in North Africa, have the EU's only land borders with Africa, so are entry points for migrants who either climbing the border fence, swim along the coast or hide in vehicles.

Emergency services said on Twitter that 400 people were receiving assistance from the Spanish Red Cross.

The massive entry, one of the biggest since the border barrier was reinforced in 2005, comes amid a dispute between Morocco and the EU over the interpretation of a free trade farm and fishing deal.

In a late 2016 ruling, an EU court said the deal did not apply to the Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony controlled by Rabat where the Polisario Front is fighting for independence.

Migrants flood into Spanish Ceuta

The court said this was because the status of the disputed territory remained unclear according to the international community.

The 28-nation bloc did not recognise it as part of Morocco.

The ruling opened the way for the Polisario Front and its supporters to contest trade in products from the Western Sahara between Morocco and the 28 EU states.

The decision angered Morocco, which in a warning on February 7 suggested it could lead to "a new flow of migration" towards Europe and place the continent "at risk".

The last such massive attempt took place on New Year's Day when more than 1,000 migrants tried to jump a high double fence between Morocco and Ceuta in a violent assault that saw one officer lose an eye.

The enclave has been ringed by a double wire fence that is eight kilometres (five miles) long. The six-metre (20-foot) high fence also has rolls of barbed wire.
Turkish forces have pounded Al-Bab as they seek to push IS jihadists out of their final stronghold in the Syrian province of Aleppo

Nine civilians were killed in overnight Turkish bombardment of a jihadist-held town in northern Syria, a monitor said on Friday, but Ankara said the shelling killed 13 "terrorists".

Three women were among those killed in the artillery fire on Al-Bab, which Turkish-backed Syrian rebels have been fighting to take from the Islamic State group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"In the past 48 hours, Turkish air strikes and shelling have killed 45 civilians, including 18 children and 14 women," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency said the army had hit dozens of IS positions, seven of them from the air.

"In total, 13 IS terrorists were killed," Anadolu reported.

Ankara began military operations in Syria in August last year, targeting Kurdish fighters as well as IS, but says it is doing its utmost to avoid civilian casualties.

Al-Bab is IS's last stronghold in Aleppo province and has come under fierce attack in recent months by Turkish forces and allied Syrian rebels.

They entered the town last the weekend and are now engaged in "clean-up" operations, Turkish Defence Minister Fikri Isik said on Thursday.

The Observatory, however, said Turkish forces had made little progress since entering the town from the west, and rebels said IS was putting up fierce resistance.

Field commander Abu Jaafar said his forces had been able to overrun part of the town early Thursday, but were then ambushed by IS.

At least one jihadist suicide attacker wounded several rebels and seriously damaged their equipment, Abu Jaafar told AFP.

"Daesh seeks to install itself in civilian and public buildings and use civilians as human shields," rebel spokesman Mahmud Hadi said on Friday.

"They use suicide attacks and they move about through basements and tunnels... they infiltrate in between civilians fleeing the military operations to try and penetrate behind the lines of the rebel factions."

Dozens of civilians have been fleeing Al-Bab on a daily basis, according to the Observatory, leaving newly liberated areas as well as escaping territory still under IS control.

From outside the town on Friday, a line of fleeing residents could be seen crossing a field to escape the fighting, as gunshots sounded in the distance.

On a road leading to the rebel-held town of Azaz, several fleeing residents had piled their belongings into carts on the back of motorbikes and were driving away.

One man driving a truck told a rebel at a checkpoint that IS fighters had fired at the fleeing civilians.

In Azaz, local authorities welcomed arrivals, some of whom were continuing on to rebel-held territory further west, in Idlib province.
US President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference on February 16, 2017, at the White House in Washington, DC

After a turbulent four weeks as president of the United States, Donald Trump's frustration finally burst out.

The stately walls of the East Room trembled Thursday as the 45th president unleashed a torrent of words, attacking in turn the media, the judiciary and Democrats he accused of undermining his presidency.

The real estate tycoon mounted a furious defense of his young administration in a rambling, 76-minute news conference in which he was in turns angry, defensive, playful, boastful and introspective.

During the rambling to and fro -- marked by rowdy, virulent exchanges unprecedented in such a setting -- Trump raised the specter of, among other things, a "nuclear holocaust."

More than once he appeared visibly pained at the media portrayal of himself, and his administration as mired in chaos.

More than once, he seemed on the verge of losing control.

Trump insisted his administration was "running like a fine-tuned machine," despite the catalogue of disarray that has defined its early weeks.

By any measure, the political novice's first steps as head of state have been troubled: millions took to the streets in protest the day after his inauguration, his flagship travel ban has been frozen by the courts and his national security advisor was forced to resign.

But Trump pushed back hard -- saying he had inherited a "mess," listing the decrees signed since taking office, claiming no presidency had ever done so much in such a short time, and turning his guns on his old foe, the media.

"The people get it, much of the media doesn't get it. They actually get it, but they don't write it," he said.

The charge was made brutally, angrily at times. The aim was clear: to bypass the press and speak directly to the people who brought him to power.

"I'm making this presentation directly to the American people... because many of our nation's reporters and folks will not tell you the truth, and will not treat the wonderful people of our country with the respect that they deserve," he said.

- 'Sit down!' -

Accusing the media of a "level of dishonesty (that) is out of control," he took up the themes that excited his supporters on the campaign trail, lambasting America's coastal elites as living in a bubble far removed from the lives of ordinary Americans.

"Unfortunately, much of the media in Washington DC, along with New York, Los Angeles in particular, speaks not for the people, but for the special interests and for those profiting off a very, very obviously broken system," he said, forefinger raised aloft.

US President Donald Trump criticized the press during his conference on February 16, 2017, at the White House in Washington, DC.

"I'm just telling you. You know, you're dishonest people," he said later on. "The press -- the public doesn't believe you people anymore."

To one journalist trying to ask a follow-up question he barked "Sit down!." Another was told to be "quiet."

Bombarded with questions about his team's links to Russia and President Vladimir Putin, and possible contacts during the campaign with Russian intelligence agencies, Trump declared: "I have nothing to do with Russia."

"The leaks are absolutely real. The news is fake because so much of the news is fake," he said of the avalanche of revelations painting an increasingly troubling picture of his entourage's connections with the Kremlin.

One reporter asked how, if Trump acknowledged that information was indeed being leaked, the resulting news could be fake?

It was the "tone" of the reporting, Trump replied, denouncing the "hate" he says he faces from the media -- while singling out Fox News, the conservative television network, as an exception.

Several times the leader of the world's most powerful country took liberties with historical fact, at one point claiming to have won the biggest electoral college victory since Ronald Reagan.

When a journalist pointed out that this was inaccurate, he replied, half-stammering, "I don't know, I was given that information."

- 'Not a bad person' -

"I won. I won," he repeated later, as if in rebuke to his critics, launching into a lengthy aside on an old controversy over one of his campaign debates with Hillary Clinton.

"I'm really not a bad person, by the way," he told the gathering, in between barbs aimed at Obama staffers who he appeared to blame for spreading "fake news."

"This isn't Donald Trump that divided a nation," he said. "We lived in a divided nation."

However much he likes to dismiss opinion polls, Trump -- like his predecessors -- keeps a close eye on them. And his numbers are not looking good.

According to a Pew Research Center poll published Thursday, his popularity after a month in office is lower than that enjoyed by any of the last five occupants of the Oval Office -- Republicans and Democrats alike.

Just 39 percent of Americans surveyed approved of his performance as president, with 56 disapproving.

On Saturday Trump will hold a campaign-style rally in Orlando, Florida, where he hopes -- for a few hours at least -- to relive some of the enthusiasm that swept him into the White House.

But there will doubtless be a hint of nostalgia, too, and a sense that while Trump the showman loved the battle for power, he has so far struggled to find his pace, and tone in the exercise of it.
Cows graze on ranch land in the small northeastern agricultural town of Eaton, Colorado, a town with a population of just over 5,000 residents

A 90-minute drive from Denver lies Eaton, one of the safest towns in Colorado and one of the few in the state that overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump.

Here, residents of the rural community surrounded by farmland and cattle ranches see in Trump a candidate that will deliver on his promise to bring jobs back to America and -- as he repeatedly said on the campaign trail -- "drain the swamp" in Washington.

One month into his presidency, many of the town's 5,000 or so residents, 71 percent of whom voted for Trump, still believe in their candidate, though they admit his style may not always be presidential. Trump stunned many people Thursday with a rambling, 76-minute news conference in which he was at turns angry, defensive, playful, boastful and introspective.

Gene Smallwood, 80, of Eaton, Colorado poses for a portrait inside his barber shop on February 10, 2017

"I'm hoping Trump will settle down," said Gene Smallwood, 80, who has owned a barbershop in Eaton since 1968 and admits to being a bit confused about Trump's attack style. "He's going too fast -- slam, bam."

Like residents in other towns across rural white America that propelled the Republican candidate to the presidency, Smallwood is more focused on seeing Trump honor his vow to rip up international trade deals and bring back jobs and is less concerned about his travel ban targeting seven Muslim-majority countries.

"I think he's going to give it back to the people," said Smallwood. "We had too much (manufacturing) run out of our country.

"There's not that much here made in America."

Kevin Ross, 38, who serves as the mayor of Eaton, Colorado, was among the 71% of the registered voters in Eaton who voted for President Donald Trump during the 2016 US presidential election

For the town's mayor, Kevin Ross, who owns an insurance company, Trump is clearly running the country like a business and needs to rethink his in-your-face management style.

"He's moving at break neck speed that DC is not used to," said Ross. "When I make a decision in business, I can do that switch today.

- 'President, not king' -

"Trump has to learn it has to go through the proper channels," he added. "He's not a king, he's a president."

John Rohn, who owns the Heritage Market grocery store in town and whose grandparents came to the US from Russia "the right way," says he doesn't understand all the hoopla over the travel ban, which has been suspended in court.

"Everyone forgets it's a temporary ban, not a permanent ban," said the 65-year-old.

He said he voted for Trump to see change and because "he's not a politician."

A train passes through Eaton, Colorado, a small town that depends heavily on exporting local agricultural goods

"I want to give him six months. Everybody is upset with him now but people need to give his group a chance," said Rohn. "I didn't vote for Obama but I wasn't out on the street picketing" when he won.

At the same time, Rohn acknowledged that the newly minted president could perhaps tone it down a bit and resist the temptation to say whatever pops into his head.

"I wish he'd quit tweeting," he said, referring to Trump's proclivity to turn to Twitter to communicate with the public. "It causes more problems than it does good.

"Everything that comes out of his mouth hits news. He pretty much tells it like it is and there are things I like about that."

Rohn said he also has mixed feelings about Trumps cabinet picks. Still, theyre not politicians, he stressed.

One of the more contentious candidates was Betsy DeVos who barely squeaked through her confirmation vote in the Senate to lead the Department of Education.

DeVos strongly supports charter schools -- which receive government funds but operate independently of the public school system -- and has pushed to give families taxpayer money in the form of vouchers to attend private and religious schools.

"I'm all for charter schools, but when you start saying 'now you can take your money and go where you want to go'," it could become a popular vote more than an education choice," said Laura Ehrlich, 55, who also voted for Trump.

- 'People want results' -

Rather than make an educated choice, parents could be misled into sending their kids to a specific school based on hearsay, Ehrlich, who works as an administrative assistant for the Eaton school district and spoke in a private capacity, explained.

Still, Ehrlich said she remains optimistic that Trump will be able to achieve great things if he surrounds himself with the right people.

Arland Ball, 57, poses on February 10, 2017, outside of Eaton High School where he taught for 27 years

Arland Ball, a 57-year-old retired industrial arts teacher, is convinced Trump will make good on his promises and inspire a new national pride.

"I'm really interested in seeing if he can accomplish all his goals," he said. "Can he really get it done with Congress?"

Ross said he fears legislators will be more worried about votes than tackling problems.

"People are looking for results," he warned. "And Trump better deliver and Congress better deliver, or theyll look for other jobs themselves at re-election."
Since its 2011 revolution, Tunisia has experienced an increase in jihadist attacks that have cost the lives of dozens of members of the security forces and of 59 foreign tourists

Soldiers shot dead two suspected jihadists on Friday in the mountainous Kasserine region of central Tunisia, the defence ministry said.

A military unit "was this afternoon able to kill two terrorists and wound others on Sammama mountain", it said in a statement, without specifying how many were wounded.

The army also detained "a suspected person" and seized three firearms and ammunition during the operation which the ministry said was ongoing "to track down other elements".

Mount Sammama is adjacent to Mount Chaambi, considered to be the main rear base of the jihadists near the border with Algeria.

Since its 2011 revolution, Tunisia has experienced an increase in jihadist attacks that have cost the lives of dozens of members of the security forces and also 59 foreign tourists.

The country has been under a state of emergency since November 2015, when a suicide bombing in Tunis claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group killed 12 presidential guards.

On Thursday, the president's office announced that the state of emergency was being extended for another three months.
US President Donald Trump addresses a crowd during the debut event for the Dreamliner 787-10 at Boeing's South Carolina facilities on February 17, 2017

US President Donald Trump on Friday held a rally at a Boeing factory that just voted against unionizing, marking the unveiling of the company's latest "Dreamliner" aircraft.

Even as the aerospace giant hopes the new president will not follow through on his protectionist rhetoric, Trump doubled-down on his "made in America" manufacturing policy.

At the rally in South Carolina, he also repeated his promise to prevent firms from offshoring jobs and go after countries that are "cheating" in trade relations.

"This is our mantra, buy American and hire American," Trump told the cheering crowd. "We want products made in America, made by American hands."

He said "it has to be much easier to manufacture in our country and much harder to leave. I don't want companies leaving our country."

"We're not letting that happen anymore, folks. Believe me, there will be a very substantial penalty to be paid when they fire their people and move to another country," he said.

He also repeated his pledge to cut corporate taxes and "massively reduce job crushing regulations."

Trump said he will create a level field for American workers in trade relations.

"We are going to enforce, very strongly, enforce our trade rules and stop foreign cheating. Tremendous cheating. Tremendous cheating."

The plant showcased the first of the latest update of the Boeing-787 "Dreamliner" planes to come off the production line. The larger version of the aircraft that has been on the market since 2011, it can carry 330 passengers and fly up to 6,430 nautical miles.

Boeing already has delivered more than 500 Dreamliner planes and received 149 orders for the 787-10.

On Tuesday, an overwhelming 74 percent of 2,828 Boeing South Carolina employees who cast votes rejected the overtures by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers to unionize the plant that produces the 787. Boeing employs 7,500 overall in the southern state.

The US South has historically been hostile to unionization, a factor in the decision by automobile makers from Europe and Japan to build plants in the region.

Boeing's investment in South Carolina was cemented with the $1 billion purchase in 2009 of Vought Aircraft Industries, which had been a supplier to Boeing on the 787 program.

Trump's visit could give Boeing a chance to score points with the new president. Shortly after the election, Trump publicly blasted Boeing over the high costs of the new version of the 747 that serves as the Air Force One presidential plane.

"Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!" Trump said on Twitter on December 6.

Trump stepped back from that criticism after Boeing promised to work to keep costs of the plane under control. However, as the sole major US aerospace manufacturer, it likely has a hold on the contract in any case.
Australian actor Hugh Jackman attends a press conference for the film "Logan" in competition at the 67th Berlinale film festival in Berlin on February 17, 2017

Hugh Jackman's rip-roaring final turn in the "Wolverine" franchise premiered at the Berlin film festival Friday, as he admitted he shed a few tears saying goodbye to the juggernaut role.

"Logan" sees the blade-fingered superhero reunited with his ailing father figure Professor X (British actor Patrick Stewart) and introduced to Laura, his mutant daughter he was unaware had been created in a Mexican laboratory.

Though still small, Laura (newcomer Dafne Keen) inherited her father's steely claws and awesome strength.

She joins him in battle against the agents of an American company that wants her back after engineering her along with a band of superhuman child soldiers.

Jackman, who first appeared in the role of The Wolverine from the Marvel comics X-Men series in 2000, said the family story packed a heavy emotional punch for him and, he hoped, the audience.

"When I saw the movie I was very nervous, knowing what was at stake for me and it exceeded my expectations. I looked at that character -- there were some moments I cried, in weird places like carrying the child (Laura) back up the stairs," he said.

"I can't say I'll miss him because it's difficult to describe, it's not going anywhere for me. It will always live here. The fans will remind me every single day of my life whether we got it right or wrong."

The film's opening chapter takes place along a heavily militarised US border with Mexico, in the near future.

Logan -- or Wolverine -- and Professor X are living in hiding when Lisa surfaces, having escaped her creator-captors with the help of a nurse from the clinic.

The woman pleads with Logan to shepherd Lisa to "Eden", a safe haven in North Dakota, near the Canadian border.

The three generations of the family end up on a fateful odyssey through an America populated by ruthless corporations and the decent citizens who try to stand up to them.

- Political 'echoes' -

Stewart said the resonance of the picture's themes had grown stronger during production.

"We did not set out to make a political movie and yet there are references and echoes in this movie that could not have been anticipated but exist today," he said. "That is serendipity."

Jackman also saw the story as prescient.

"We were talking when we got down to set -- a year before any of those debates happened -- the whole wall and the scenes at the border were in our script and it was kind of amazing," he said.

Writer-director James Mangold said that the ultra-violent movie, rated adults only, was intended to delve into mature topics even though many of its cast are kids.

"We are selling this movie to grown-ups, and that gave us the freedom to make a movie for grown-ups," he said.

"The ideas, the scene length doesn't have to be tailored to the attention span of a nine-year old. We don't need to add sidekicks so we can sell an action figure.

"The themes and ideas of taking care of an ageing parent or the nature of death and life and the meaning of it can be somehow explored with credibility and sophistication."

Ahead of the red-carpet world premiere in the German capital, Stewart said he wanted to "apologise" to Europeans for Britain's vote to leave the EU, a development he said filled him with "embarrassment and shame".

"I want you to be absolutely clear that more than half the nation did not vote for Brexit," said Stewart, who campaigned for the "Remain" side.

"The vote only went the way it did because the nation was lied to and people voted out of the best possible interests but it is and was a calamitous mistake."

"Logan" screened out of competition as the final feature at the 11-day Berlinale, which will award its Golden and Silver Bear prizes at a gala ceremony on Saturday.
Nine-year-old Syrian Abdel Basset Al-Satuf (C) is seen inside an ambulance in the town of Al-Hbeit on February 17, 2017, ahead of being transferred to Turkey for medical treatment after being caught in a barrel bomb attack by regime forces

In the aftermath of a barrel bomb attack in Syria's Idlib, nine-year-old Abdel Basset Al-Satuf tries to sit up, his legs blown off, and screams "Daddy, pick me up!"

Abdel Basset was caught in a barrel bomb attack by regime forces on Thursday in the town of Al-Hbeit, in northwest Idlib province.

The harrowing footage of the young boy screaming for his father as he struggles to sit up, his legs turned to bloody stumps, quickly spread on social media.

The child was taken to a hospital in the provincial capital Idlib city for preliminary treatment, but on Friday he and his father were transferred to Turkey for specialised care.

In an ambulance about to head to the border, Abdel Basset recounted the incident as his father Taan tried to keep his composure.

"We were sitting having lunch when the barrel bombs started to fall on the town and my father told us to get in the house," he told AFP.

"But as we arrived at the door of the house a barrel fell on it and when it exploded fire blasted towards me and amputated my legs," he said.

"My father immediately picked me up and moved me and put me down on the ground (away from the house) and then an ambulance came and they treated me," he added.

Syrian civil defence members and civilians inspect the house of nine-year-old Syrian Abdel Basset Al-Satuf after heavy air strikes the previous day

In the video, Abdel Basset can be seen sitting stunned as desperate voices scream for an ambulance and paramedics.

His father had run back to the house to search for the rest of the family, three of whom were killed in the attack.

In Al-Hbeit, the family's landlord described the incident as "a massacre".

"The family was having lunch and I was walking with his father, and at first we didn't notice anything until the aircraft arrived," he said

"Then a barrel bomb came down and there was a big explosion," Walid Abu Ras said.

- His mother was killed -

Taan ran back towards his house, trying to warn his family to take cover when their home was hit.

"Abdel Basset's legs were blown off and one of his sisters was killed, and another one was wounded. His mother was killed and he doesn't know yet," Abu Ras said.

The attack also killed the husband of one of Abdel Basset's sisters.

The brother (C) of nine-year-old Syrian Abdel Basset Al-Satuf is embraced by a relative after a decision to transfer him to Turkey for specialised care with his father

Abu Ras said the family had arrived in Idlib less than two years ago from Latamneh in neighbouring Hama, displaced by war like more than half of Syria's population.

The video of Abdel Basset is just the latest footage to refocus attention on the plight of Syria's civilians, particularly children.

In August 2016, haunting images of a four-year-old called Omran, shell-shocked and covered in dust after an air strike, reverberated around the world.

Syria's government and rebel forces are technically observing a ceasefire brokered by Turkey and Russia that began on December 30.

But while the truce has brought relative quiet to parts of the country, sporadic violence has continued, with civilians often the victims.

More than 310,000 people have been killed in the conflict that began with anti-government protests in March 2011.

Rights groups have regularly criticised Syria's regime for using barrel bombs, crude munitions notorious for causing indiscriminate casualties, but President Bashar al-Assad denies his forces use the weapon.

On Friday afternoon, Turkey's IHH charity tweeted pictures of Abdel Basset arriving in Turkey and being attended by medics there.

His body extended just half way down the stretcher carrying him to an ambulance, and he was covered in a thick blanket.

Next to him lay a stuffed yellow toy duck nearly the same size as the boy himself.
US President Donald Trump addresses a crowd during the debut event for the Dreamliner 787-10 at Boeing's South Carolina facilities on February 17, 2017

Donald Trump ratcheted up his attacks on the media Friday, describing the press as "the enemy of the American people!" in a tweet.

Shortly after landing at his holiday home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida -- where he is spending a third consecutive weekend -- the president lashed out in 140 characters.

"The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!" Trump wrote.

Trump had tweeted an earlier post which targeted the New York Times, CNN, NBC "and many more" media -- and ended with the exclamation "SICK!"

But he swiftly deleted that missive before reposting the definitive version -- adding two more "enemies" to his blacklist.

Many US presidents have criticized the press, but Trump's language has more closely echoed criticism leveled by authoritarian leaders around the world.

Trump, who regularly accuses the media of overstating his setbacks, also has accused journalists of failing to show sufficient respect for his accomplishments -- including in their coverage of a rambling press conference on Thursday in which he voiced a litany of grievances against their industry.

Many reporters were taken aback by the ranting press conference described by some as bizarre, but Trump echoed the words of praise he got from one rightwing commentator and insisted that Thursday's outing had been a bravura performance.

"'One of the most effective press conferences I've ever seen!' says Rush Limbaugh. Many agree. Yet FAKE MEDIA calls it differently! Dishonest," Trump wrote on Twitter about an hour after the earlier tweet.

The 70-year-old built his campaign on criticizing the press as biased.

On Thursday, he launched a long diatribe at a grievance-filled news conference, in which he blamed the media for his one-month-old administration's problems.

In four tumultuous weeks, Trump has seen his national security advisor ousted, a cabinet nominee withdraw, a centerpiece immigration policy fail in the courts and a tidal wave of damaging leaks.
Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, seen February 5, 2017, was invited to the University of California San Diego

A California university's decision to have the Dalai Lama speak at this year's commencement ceremony has sparked uproar among Chinese students who see the choice as an affront.

The University of California San Diego (UCSD) said it extended the invite to the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader in a bid to promote his message of "global responsibility and service to humanity."

However the San Diego chapter of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association and other groups have objected, denouncing the 81-year-old Nobel laureate as a separatist leader intent on dividing China.

"The Dalai Lama is not simply a religious person, but also a political exile who has long been engaged in splitting the motherland and destroying national unity," the student association said in a statement.

In an op-ed for the school newspaper, The Guardian, Ruixuan Wang said the main reason Chinese students are upset "is that our university shows little consideration about cultural respect, as he is a politically sensitive person in China."

He added that many parents will be flying in from China to attend their children's graduation in June and the Dalai Lama's presence "will ruin our joy."

"What we want to say is that objectively, he will be an excellent speaker for the commencement," Wang wrote.

"Nonetheless, culturally speaking, his selection to be a presenter is inappropriate in such a situation, considering how many Chinese students and their families are going to attend this commencement."

The university said in a statement that it stood by its decision and there was no indication it planned to rescind the invite.

"The University of California San Diego has always served as a forum for discussion and interaction on important public policy issues and respects the rights of individuals to agree or disagree as we consider issues of our complex world," the statement said.

"As a public university dedicated to the civil exchange of views, the university believes commencement is one of many events that provide an appropriate opportunity to present to graduates and their families a message of reflection and compassion," it added.

The Dalai Lama -- who heads the main branch of Tibetan Buddhism -- has been a thorn in the side of Beijing.

The spiritual leader, who has lived in exile in the north Indian town of Dharamsala since a failed 1959 uprising, has for decades called for more Tibetan autonomy rather than independence.

Chinese authorities maintain he is a "separatist" seeking to split Tibet from the rest of the country.
Police abandon posts in Lesotho, fear for lives

MASERU, Lesotho (AP)  Police in Lesotho have been told to abandon their posts and not wear uniforms to avoid being targeted in attacks in the kingdom's continuing power vacuum, an official said Tuesday.

At least one policeman was killed when the military disarmed police stations on Saturday. Radios were also jammed in what the prime minister said was a clear coup attempt in the country of about 2 million people. The military said they merely acted on information that police would be arming demonstrators in a political protest.

Prime Minister Thomas Thabane fled to South Africa, where he has been meeting with regional leaders. It is not yet clear when he will return to Lesotho, but the streets are unprotected by police until a resolution is found.

A Lesotho Defence Force member displays arms and ammunition confiscated from police at army barracks in Maseru, Lesotho, Monday, Sept. 1, 2014. Southern Africa's regional body said Monday it will send an envoy and an observer team to Lesotho to help restore stability and security in the mountainous kingdom where military actions over the weekend caused the prime minister to flee. (AP Photo)

"Police fear for their lives because we have intelligence that there will be an attack while we are in stations on duty," said Assistant Police Commissioner Lehloka Maphatsoe. Police stations will not offer services to the population because of the likelihood of attacks on officers, said Maphatsoe.

"At the moment, really, there's nobody protecting the people," he said. The deputy commissioner apologized to the population saying the police cannot do anything because they "cannot risk the lives of the police officers."

There was an alleged attack by military on a police training camp late Monday, Maphatsoe said, though he was still trying to confirm the details.

Political tensions have been high since June when the prime minister suspended parliament to dodge a vote of no confidence.

The Southern African Development Community, the region's 15-nation organization, said Monday it will send an envoy and an observer team to Lesotho to help restore stability and security in the tiny mountainous country encircled by South Africa.

After the talks Monday, led by South Africa's President Jacob Zuma, Lesotho's leaders agreed to a roadmap with a "clear timeline" on working toward removing the parliamentary suspension. They also agreed to release a joint statement "appealing for calm and exercise restraint with a view to rapidly bring law and order back in the kingdom," according to a statement issued by the regional body.

The 15-member community has intervened before in Lesotho, which has seen a number of military coups since gaining independence from Britain in 1966.

___

Petesch contributed to this report from Johannesburg.

In THIS , Sunday Aug. 31, 2014 photo, an armed soldier stands outside the military headquarters in Maseru, Lesotho. Lesotho's prime minister fled to South Africa in fear for his safety and will now meet with leaders of the region there to seek peace, he said Sunday. Prime Minister Thomas Thabane said there had been an attempt to take over Lesotho, a country of about 2 million people that is surrounded by South Africa. Lesotho's Defense Forces deny any attempt at a coup although they say the military exchanged gunfire and disarmed two police stations in Lesotho's capital, Maseru, on Saturday. (AP Photo)

In this Sunday, Aug. 31, 2014 photo, army personnel man outside the military headquarters in Maseru, Lesotho. Lesotho's prime minister fled to South Africa in fear for his safety and will now meet with leaders of the region there to seek peace, he said Sunday. Prime Minister Thomas Thabane said there had been an attempt to take over Lesotho, a country of about 2 million people that is surrounded by South Africa. Lesotho's Defense Forces deny any attempt at a coup although they say the military exchanged gunfire and disarmed two police stations in Lesotho's capital, Maseru, on Saturday. (AP Photo)

In this Sunday Aug. 31, 2014 photo, a vendor sells newspapers headlined "Lesotho in turmoil coup attempt" in Maseru, Lesotho. Lesotho's prime minister fled to South Africa in fear for his safety and will now meet with leaders of the region there to seek peace, he said Sunday. Prime Minister Thomas Thabane said there had been an attempt to take over Lesotho, a country of about 2 million people that is surrounded by South Africa. Lesotho's Defense Forces deny any attempt at a coup although they say the military exchanged gunfire and disarmed two police stations in Lesotho's capital, Maseru, on Saturday. (AP Photo)

A young man takes his horse to a dam for a drink near Maseru, Lesotho Monday, Sept, 1, 2014. Gunfire hit Maseru, Lesotho's capital, Saturday and radio stations were jammed as the military disarmed police. The prime minister says it was a coup attempt, but Lesotho Defense Forces say they were securing the country after learning that police were going to supply arms to a demonstration. (AP Photo)
Is replacing a severely disfigured person's face with one from a dead donor ready to be called regular care, something insurers should cover? Mayo Clinic has raised that question by doing the first U.S. face transplant that's not part of research.

Faces, hands, wombs and even a penis have been transplanted in recent years. Unlike liver or heart transplants, these novel procedures are not life-saving but life-enhancing.

Who pays for care that can cost $700,000 or more is a growing concern. Ethics and liability issues also may arise when they're done without the oversight of an institutional review board, a hospital panel that ensures research participants' rights are protected.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016 file photo, former Mississippi firefighter Patrick Hardison, 42, center, views a video showing progression of his face transplant, during a press conference marking one year after his surgery, at New York University Langone Medical Center in New York. Hardison was disfigured while trying to save people from a house fire in 2001. Is replacing a severely disfigured person's face with one from a dead donor ready to be called regular care, something insurers should cover? Mayo Clinic has raised that question by doing the first U.S. face transplant that's not part of research. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

The group that runs the nation's organ transplant system, the United Network for Organ Sharing, plans a conference to help guide policy.

"It's time to come together and really ask the question, 'Is this going to become a standard of care?'" said Dr. Scott Levin, a University of Pennsylvania surgeon who heads the UNOS panel on this.

He has done several hand transplants and no longer considers them experimental, though insurers won't pay. Worldwide, about 100 hand, face or other, newer body-part transplants have been done, and "that's not a lot of cases" to judge safety and effectiveness for some types, he said.

Andy Sandness' operation last June was Mayo's first face transplant. Worldwide, roughly two dozen have been done, about half of them in the U.S. Four recipients have died.

At Mayo, "we wanted to do it as a clinical program" and felt there was no research question to be answered because the operation uses standard surgical techniques, said the plastic surgeon who led it, Dr. Samir Mardini. Without a transplant, Sandness would have needed 15 other reconstructive procedures and the cost would be 30 to 40 percent higher, Mardini said.

Hospital management and multiple committees reviewed the case, including an ethics panel, a social worker and transplant psychiatrist, to ensure Sandness knew the risks and was giving informed consent.

"It's critically important that he understand what he would be putting himself through," Mardini said.

Sandness' insurance company would not agree in advance to pay; so, a fund from a donor to start a hand and face transplant center at Mayo paid. Talks on paying for after-care are ongoing.

The long-term medical and psychological effects will be studied as part of formal research, even though the operation itself was not, Mardini said.

"I don't particularly agree with the argument that it's not research," said bioethicist Arthur Caplan, who advised New York University on its first face transplant, in 2015.

There's a higher bar to ensuring informed consent for research versus a new therapy, and "questions about competence, experience and even liability are different" when something is called regular care, Caplan said. "In my view it's still highly experimental."
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) - A federal judge in Massachusetts has dismissed a defamation lawsuit against comedian Bill Cosby, although he still faces criminal charges in Pennsylvania.

Judge Mark Mastroianni ruled Thursday that Katherine McKee didn't adequately show Cosby defamed her when his representatives called a 2014 New York Daily News story on her rape allegations defamatory and demanded a retraction.

The former actress alleged the 79-year-old Cosby raped her in a Detroit hotel in 1974.

FILE- In this Dec. 14, 2016, file photo, Bill Cosby departs after a pretrial hearing in his sexual assault case at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa. A federal judge in Massachusetts on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, dismissed a defamation lawsuit against Cosby, although he still faces criminal charges in Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

McKee was among dozens of women to come forward with allegations recently and among at least eight suing for defamation in Massachusetts, where Cosby owns a home.

Cosby's lawyers called Thursday's decision the "correct outcome." McKee's attorneys didn't immediately comment.

In Pennsylvania, "The Cosby Show" star has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a former employee at Temple University.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Vice Admiral Robert Harward has turned down an offer to be President Donald Trump's new national security adviser, the latest blow to a new administration struggling to find its footing.

Harward told The Associated Press that the Trump administration was "very accommodating to my needs, both professionally and personally."

"It's purely a personal issue," Harward said Thursday evening. "I'm in a unique position finally after being in the military for 40 years to enjoy some personal time."

In this image provided by the U.S. Marine Corps, Vice Adm. Robert S. Harward, commanding officer of Combined Joint Interagency Task Force 435, speaks to an Afghan official during his visit to Zaranj, Afghanistan, Jan 6, 2011. Harward has turned down an offer to be President Donald Trump's new national security adviser, the latest blow to a new administration struggling to find its footing. A senior White House official said Feb. 16, 2017, that Harward had turned the offer down due to financial and family commitments. (Sgt. Shawn Coolman/U.S. Marine Corps via AP)

Asked whether he had requested to bring in his own staff at the National Security Council, Harward said, "I think that's for the president to address."

Following Flynn's ouster, administration officials said his deputy, KT McFarland, was staying on at the NSC. McFarland is a former Fox News analyst.

Harward would have replaced retired Gen. Michael Flynn, who resigned at Trump's request Monday after revelations that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about discussing sanctions with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. during the transition. Trump said in a news conference Thursday that he was disappointed by how Flynn had treated Pence, but did not believe Flynn had done anything wrong by having the conversations.

Harward, a former Navy SEAL, served as deputy commander of U.S. Central Command under Gen. James Mattis, who is now defense secretary. Harward served on the National Security Council under President George W. Bush and commissioned the National Counter Terrorism Center.

Upon retirement in 2013 after a nearly 40-year career in the Navy, Harward became chief executive officer for defense and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin in the United Arab Emirates. Trump has recently been in very public negotiations with Lockheed over the cost of its F-35 fighter jet.

Officials said earlier this week that there were two other contenders in the running for the job: acting national security adviser Keith Kellogg and retired Gen. David Petraeus.

Petraeus, a retired four-star general, resigned as CIA director in 2012 and pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information relating to documents he had provided to his biographer, with whom he was having an affair.

He was also fined $100,000 and remains on probation.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Critics of President Donald Trump saw in his Thursday news conference a combative, thin-skinned chief executive who continues to blame the media for the controversies roiling his administration.

His supporters saw something else: A champion of Middle America who is taking on the establishment and making good on his campaign promises to put the country first.

The Associated Press contacted Trump supporters across the country to see how they viewed a news conference in which the president said his administration was running like "a fine-tuned machine" despite the resignation of his top national security adviser, a court setback on his immigration order, a defeat for his nominee as labor secretary and reports of internal divisions.

President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Here are views of some of those supporters:

___

Richelle Kirk of Logan, West Virginia, watched some of Trump's news conference on Thursday and didn't see any head-scratching comments from the president.

"I back him 100 percent," said the 42-year-old stay-at-home mom. "You either love it or get out, is my opinion."

During Barack Obama's presidency, her husband was laid off from his coal-mining job, a loss they blamed on Obama's environmental policies. She said they lost a home and "everything we owned."

After West Virginia voters resoundingly rejected Obama during his 2012 re-election, "we didn't show our hind ends when Obama was re-elected," Kirk said. So she believes people shouldn't overreact to Trump, either.

She particularly agreed with the president when he took credit for an optimistic business climate and a rising stock market, saying Trump is beginning to fulfill his campaign promise to put people back to work.

Reporters, she said, "need to leave him alone. He's just doing what he said he's going to do."

___

Kevin Felty of Norfolk, Virginia, said it was the "most impressive presidential press conference" of his life.

"Largely because it was so unorthodox," said Felty, 48, who works as a surgical assistant and sells life insurance. "It was hyper adversarial between the president and the press. And yet he was able to control the questioning and the tone and the mood in the room."

Felty said the media needs to move on regarding Russia and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

"There was nothing illegal that General Flynn had done at that time," Felty said. "What he did do is make a mistake in not being accurate with the vice president."

He also said he believes Trump is trustworthy as president.

"He doesn't need the media to chide him to make the right decisions," Felty said. "It's something he's been doing well for decades."

___

Regina Lenoir of Picayune, Mississippi, enjoyed watching Trump's news conference and said the president "looked more relaxed."

Lenoir, 69, said she was most interested in the president's comments about the alleged leaks that led to the resignation of Michael Flynn as national security adviser.

"We don't know the conversation that happened between him and (Vice President Mike) Pence. Only they know. But the news media gets out there (and) says such and such with no corroboration," she said. "I'm sick of them making up stories. You know, we're intelligent people. We can make up our own mind on whether they're telling the truth."

She agreed with Trump's take on how the media has covered his administration and campaign, saying those covering his administration are good reporters but biased.

She said if people gave Trump a chance, "he might just surprise everyone.

"He wasn't my first choice, but he is my president," Lenoir said. "I think he handled the news conference very well."

___

Joseph Gatlin of Virginia Beach, Virginia, said he did not watch the news conference but heard about the question a Jewish reporter asked Trump about a rise in anti-Semitic incidents around the country.

Trump told the reporter to sit down and said it was not a simple or fair question before describing himself as "the least anti-Semitic person you've ever seen in your entire life."

Gatlin, who is Jewish and who was born in Israel, said the media needs to move on from "asking the same question."

"He's not a racist. He doesn't believe in racism," said Gatlin, who owns a flooring company. "He's not anti-Semitic at all."

Gatlin pointed to the number of Jewish people in Trump's inner circle, including his son-in-law and White House adviser, Jared Kushner. He said the media instead should be asking Trump about terrorism and the economy.

"I think that it's become ridiculous," Gatlin said. "He wants the serious questions. He wants people to ask him questions that people care about. You can't mention racism in every speech. They're looking at the wrong things."

___

Scott Hiltgen, a 66-year-old office furniture sales broker from River Falls, Wisconsin, said he was glad to see the president push back against the media. He said reporters have no proof Trump or anyone around him did anything wrong.

"They're trying to make up a story that Trump worked with the Russians to rig the election," he said. "Now they're trying to make a big deal out of (former national security adviser) Mike Flynn. He was doing what he was supposed to do. He was talking to his counterparts. He was talking to the Russians. He got fired because he lied to (Vice President Mike) Pence. There's no story there. The left media is so excited. They think they took this guy down. No, he made a mistake. He just lied."

Hiltgen said he remains squarely behind the billionaire president because he has done what he said he would do on the campaign trail.

"He's accomplished more in, whatever, three weeks, regarding the stuff he talked about," Hiltgen said. "That's what people voted for. I can't believe there's actually a politician doing what he says he would do. That never happens."

___

Associated Press writers Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; Chevel Johnson in New Orleans; and Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.
SEATTLE (AP) - The Latest on a man who was detained by immigration agents despite his participating in a federal program to protect (all times local):

6:30 p.m.

The lead lawyer for a Seattle-area man detained by immigration agents despite his participation in a federal program to protect those brought to the U.S. illegally as children is calling the arrest of Daniel Ramirez Medina a "bogus operation."

This undated photo provided by the law firm Public Counsel shows Daniel Ramirez Medina, 23, who was was brought to the U.S. illegally as a child but was protected from deportation by President Barack Obama's administration. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Medina on Friday, Feb. 10, 2017, at his father's home, even though he has a work permit under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. (Daniel Ramirez Medina/Public Counsel via AP)

Ramirez's attorney Mark Rosenbaum told reporters on a conference call Thursday he believes the government is trying to cover up mistakes made by immigration agents.

Rosenbaum made the comments in response to court documents filed by the U.S. Justice Department Thursday alleging Ramirez is a gang member.

Ramirez's attorneys say the documents fail to show even one piece of evidence that Ramirez is affiliated with any gang.

Attorneys also said the government has provided conflicting statements on when Ramirez allegedly said he was in a gang.

___

10:15 a.m.

The Justice Department says a Seattle area man detained by immigration agents despite his participation in a federal program to protect those brought to the U.S. illegally as children has admitted to having gang ties and to having been arrested previously.

The department in court documents filed Thursday said 23-year-old Daniel Ramirez Medina said "no, not no more" when asked whether he was involved in gangs and that he fled California to escape them.

The documents also say Ramirez "still hangs out" with gang members in Washington state.

Ramirez's attorneys say he has no criminal record and denies any gang membership.

Ramirez is Mexican and arrived in the U.S. at age 7.

His arrest last week thrust him into a national debate over the immigration priorities of President Donald Trump.
MANILA, Philippines (AP) - The Philippine military says two soldiers and two rebels were killed while 15 other troops were wounded in a land mine attack followed by a clash in southern Davao city, President Rodrigo Duterte's hometown.

Maj. Ezra Balagtey, a military spokesman, said Friday that the soldiers were pursuing the rebels from a communist group on Thursday after a harvester had been set on fire on a pineapple plantation when the guerrillas detonated a land mine.

Two soldiers were killed and 15 others were wounded in the blast. Two rebels died in the ensuing firefight.

Earlier this month, both Duterte and the guerrillas called off unilateral cease-fires in the 48-year insurgency, one of Asia's longest-running Marxist rebellions.
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - Several dozen people gathered Friday in Hanoi to commemorate Vietnam's brief but bloody border war with China nearly 40 years ago.

The participants laid flowers and lit incense at the statue of King Ly Thai To, the founder of capital Hanoi, amid a heavy police presence.

The authorities used loudspeakers to urge the crowd to disperse.

There are no official government activities marking the event, but it was extensively covered in the state media this week.

"I was moved because many people came here to lit incense to remember these heroic martyrs who sacrificed themselves defending Vietnamese borders," said Phung The Dung, one of the participants. He added he had mixed feelings because the authorities were also trying to limit the public commemoration.

The government tries to limit any non-official protests.

China sent hundreds of thousands of troops into northern Vietnam 38 years ago, for what it said was to teach Vietnam a lesson for invading the China-backed Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia.

China withdrew its troops one month later with both sides claiming victory, but periodic fighting continued along the border for more than 10 years before the communist neighbors normalized relations in 1991.

The online newspaper Vnexpress reported Friday that for many reasons the border war was rarely mentioned for a long time, and that there were only 11 lines in a high school history textbook about the war.
MUNICH (AP) - Germany's defense minister told the U.S. on Friday that Washington has an interest in both a stable European Union and a united NATO, and cautioned against turning the fight against terrorism into a "front against Islam and Muslims."

Minister Ursula von der Leyen also said that it won't be enough in the future to rely on American military strength and "duck away" when things get tough.

She spoke at the opening of the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of diplomats and defense officials that this year offers an opportunity for many to meet with members of the Trump administration amid concerns over the new president's commitment to NATO and his attitudes toward the EU and Russia.

German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen speaks during the Munich Security Conference in Munich, southern Germany, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. The annual weekend gathering is known for providing an open and informal platform to meet in close quarters. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

She was joined at the opening session by U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who declared that "when it comes to security, no one goes their own way in this world alone."

"Security is always best when provided by a team," he said.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will address the meeting Saturday, and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly also is attending.

President Donald Trump has set off alarm bells in the past by calling NATO "obsolete," though he subsequently told European leaders he agrees on the "fundamental importance" of the military alliance. He has emphasized the need for all members to pay a fair share for defense, an issue that NATO leaders themselves have pushed for years.

Mattis told fellow NATO members on Wednesday that they need to increase their military spending by year's end or risk seeing the U.S. curtail its defense support. He said Friday that "it is a fair demand that all who benefit from the best alliance in the world carry their proportionate share of the necessary costs to defend our freedoms," and added that his message had been "well received" by his counterparts.

Some of Trump's other views - his support for Britain's decision to leave the EU, his perceived closeness to Russia and his inaugural pledge to put "America first" - also have raised concerns.

"From the German point of view, our traditional reflex of relying above all on our American friends' vigor and ducking away when things really get tight ... will no longer be enough," von der Leyen said.

"We must also carry our share of the burden," she added, though she said that isn't purely a question of money.

Von der Leyen stressed the importance of strengthening EU defense capabilities and said now is the right time to take "ambitious steps," something that she said isn't just in Europe's interests.

"Our American friends know well that their tone on Europe and NATO has a direct influence on the cohesion of our continent," she said. "A stable European Union is just as much in the American interest as a united NATO."

Mattis repeated assurances he delivered at NATO over the past two days.

"President Trump came into office and has thrown now his full support to NATO," Mattis said, in a statement that appeared to acknowledge the early criticism the president had for NATO and stress a new change. "Trans-Atlantic unity buttresses European unity ... done correctly, European initiatives and NATO unity are mutually reinforcing."

In fighting the Islamic State group and other extremist organizations, von der Leyen said "we should avoid turning this battle into a front against Islam and Muslims in and of themselves - otherwise we would run the danger of deepening the divisions that violence and terror grow out of."

She also cautioned against going "bilaterally over the heads of partners" in seeking better relations with Russia.

Republican Sen. John McCain, an outspoken critic of a softer stance on Russia, introduced a discussion titled "The future of the West: Downfall or comeback?" - a question he said would have been dismissed in the past as hyperbole.

"I know there is profound concern across Europe and the world that America is laying down the mantle of global of leadership," he said. "I can only speak for myself, but I do not believe that that is the message you will hear from all of the American leaders who cared enough to travel to Munich this weekend."

"I'm a proud, unapologetic believer in the West," he said. "I believe we must always, always stand up for it."

___

Lolita C. Baldor in Munich and David Rising contributed to this report.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, left, talks to Norwegian Defence Minister Ine Marie Eriksen Soreide during a bilateral meeting prior to the Munich Security Conference in Munich, southern Germany, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. The annual weekend gathering is known for providing an open and informal platform for allies - and adversaries -to meet in close quarters. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Wolfgang Ischinger, head of the Munich Security Conference, German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, from left, attend a press conference prior to the Munich Security Conference in Munich, southern Germany, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. (Sven Hoppe/dpa via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Over the strong objections of environmental groups, the Senate confirmed Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday, giving President Donald Trump an eager partner to fulfill his campaign pledge to increase the use of planet-warming fossil fuels.

Pruitt was sworn in later Friday by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

In six years as Oklahoma's attorney general, Pruitt filed 14 lawsuits challenging EPA regulations that included limits on carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. He also sued over the EPA's recent expansion of water bodies regulated under the Clean Water Act, a federal measure opposed by industries that would be forced to clean up polluted wastewater.

Supreme Court associate justice Samuel Alito, right, swears in Scott Pruitt as the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in the White House complex in Washington, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. Holding the bible is Marlyn Pruitt, wife of Scott Pruitt, and their son Cade Pruitt is standing second from right. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Pruitt submitted his resignation as attorney general to Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin on Friday.

Pruitt's supporters cheered his confirmation, hailing the 48-year-old Republican lawyer as the ideal pick to roll back environmental regulations they say are a drag on the nation's economy.

"EPA has made life hard for families all across America," said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. "The agency has issued punishing regulations that caused many hardworking Americans to lose their jobs. Mr. Pruitt will bring much needed change."

The vote was 52-46 as Republican leaders used their party's narrow Senate majority to push Pruitt's confirmation despite calls from top Democrats to delay the vote until requested emails are released next week.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was the lone Republican vote against Pruitt. Two Democrats from states with economies heavily dependent on fossil fuels crossed party lines to support Trump's pick, Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota.

During his Senate confirmation hearing last month, Pruitt said he disagreed with Trump's past statements that global warming is a hoax. However, Pruitt has previously expressed doubt about scientific evidence showing that the planet is heating up and that humans are to blame.

Pruitt's nomination was vigorously opposed by environmental groups and hundreds of current and former EPA employees, who fear he will preside over massive budget and staff cuts.

"The biologists, scientists, lab technicians, engineers and other civil servants who work at the EPA must be able to do their jobs without political interference or fear of retribution," said J. David Cox Sr., president of the American Federation of Government Employees, a labor union representing more than 9,000 EPA employees.

Democrats boycotted a committee vote on Pruitt's nomination last month, citing his refusal to hand over thousands of emails that he exchanged with oil and gas executives. As part of a public records lawsuit, a state judge in Oklahoma on Thursday concluded there was no legal justification for Pruitt's withholding his correspondence for the past two years. She ordered him to release most of the emails by next week.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to delay Pruitt's confirmation vote for 10 days. Schumer, of New York, tried to draw a direct line between Pruitt's withheld emails and last year's demands from Republicans during the presidential campaign.

"Emails! Remember emails?" Schumer asked on the Senate floor. "'We should get them out!' they said about Hillary Clinton. ... If they weren't worried about them, then why rush?"

To dramatize their cause, Democrats kept the Senate in session Thursday night into Friday morning with speeches opposing Pruitt's confirmation. Democrats were still marching to the floor at daybreak.

In the end, McConnell had the votes. So far, the Senate has confirmed 14 out of 22 Trump Cabinet or Cabinet-level picks requiring confirmation.

Another nominee, billionaire businessman Wilbur Ross, cleared a Senate hurdle on Friday and is on track to win approval to serve as commerce secretary. A final vote is slated for Feb. 27.

Trump has tapped some of the wealthiest Americans to serve in his Cabinet, and ethics reviews have slowed the confirmation process. So have Senate Democrats, who have opposed nominees and forced hours of debate.

Pruitt is closely aligned in his home state with oil and gas companies, whose executives have backed his political campaigns. Though Pruitt ran unopposed for a second term in 2014, public campaign finance reports show he raised more than $700,000, much of it from people in the energy and utility industries.

Environmental groups have already begun hiring additional lawyers to stymie as much of Pruitt's agenda as possible in court.

"Scott Pruitt is the worst pick ever confirmed to lead the EPA," said Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "We'll use every tool in the kit to stop him from harming our air and water, endangering our communities and surrendering our kids to climate catastrophe."

___

Tim Talley contributed from Oklahoma City.

___

Follow AP environmental writer Michael Biesecker at Twitter.com/mbieseck

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, followed by Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., walk to the Senate chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017, for the final vote to confirm Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate Democrats, from left, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., participate in a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017, announce their request of the Republican majority to delay the confirmation vote on President Donald Trump's controversial nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, until the nominee turns over the thousands of requested emails from his time as attorney general of Oklahoma. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. rushes down an escalator on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017, after the final vote to confirm Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
ISLAMABAD (AP) - Militant attacks in Pakistan have killed hundreds of people over the past three years, including many women and children. On Friday, security forces carried out sweeping raids, gunning down and arresting dozens, a day after a massive suicide bombing killed 80 worshippers at a Sufi shrine in the country's south.

The attack, claimed by an Islamic State affiliate in Pakistan, raised questions about the ability of the authorities to rein in militant groups despite several recent offensives targeting insurgents.

Here are some of the deadliest attacks in Pakistan in the last three years:

A man reads a newspaper carrying headlines about Thursday's suicide bombing at the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine, in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. Pakistani security forces arrested dozens of suspects in sweeping raids a day after the massive bombing claimed by the Islamic State group killed dozens of worshippers at the famed Sufi shrine in a southern province. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

2017:

__Feb. 16: An Islamic State suicide bomber strikes inside a famed Sufi shrine in southern Sindh province, killing 80 people as worshippers were performing a devotional dance known as "dhamal."

__Feb. 13: A suicide bomber hits in the heart of the Punjab capital of Lahore, killing 13 people, including three senior police officials. A breakaway Taliban faction claims responsibility.

2016:

__Nov. 12: Suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State group kills 50 worshippers at a packed Sufi shrine in southwestern Baluchistan province.

__Oct. 25: Gunmen storm a police academy in the southwestern city of Quetta, killing 61 people, mostly cadets and trainees;

__Sept. 16: Suicide attack kills 36 worshippers in a Sunni mosque in the northwestern tribal region of Mohmand;

__Aug. 08: Suicide bombing kills more than 70 people at a gathering of lawyers on the grounds of a government-run hospital in Quetta;

__March 27: Bombing on Easter Sunday kills 65 people in the eastern city of Lahore, in a park crowded with Christians, including many children;

__March 16: Bomb rips through a bus carrying Pakistani government employees in the volatile northwestern city of Peshawar, killing 15 people;

__March 7: Suicide bomber attacks the entrance in northwestern Pakistan, killing 11 people;

__Jan. 20: Islamic militants storm a school in Charsadda in northwestern Pakistan in an hours-long attack, killing at least 20 people;

2015:

__Sept. 18: Taliban storm a military air base used as a residential area on the outskirts of Peshawar, killing 29 people, including 16 praying inside a mosque;

__Aug. 16: Suicide bombing at the home of Punjab province's home minister, Shuja Khanzada, kills 18 people, including the minister and a senior police officer;

__May 29: Gunmen hijack a bus and kill 22 people near Pishin district in southwestern Baluchistan province;

__May 13: Gunmen storm a bus carrying Shiite Muslims in the southern city of Karachi, killing 45 people;

__April 11: Gunmen in restive southwestern Pakistan kill 20 workers at a dam construction site;

__March 17: Two suicide bombers attack two churches in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore as worshippers pray inside, killing 15 people;

__Feb. 14: Taliban militants storm a Shiite mosque in Peshawar, killing 20 people;

__Jan. 30: Suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in southern city of Shikarpur kills 59 people;

2014:

__Dec.16: Militants attack an army-run school in Peshawar, killing over 150 people, mostly schoolchildren;

__Nov. 2: Taliban suicide bombing kills 60 in an attack on a paramilitary checkpoint close to the Wagah border crossing with India;

__June 9: Ten gunmen disguised as police guards attack a terminal in Karachi, Pakistan's busiest airport, killing 13 people during a five-hour siege.

__June 8: Suicide bombing in the country's southwest kills at least 23 Shiite pilgrims returning from Iran.

Pakistani para-military soldiers stand alert after a deadly suicide attack at the shrine of famous Sufi Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan, Pakistan, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. An Islamic State suicide bomber targeted worshippers at a famous shrine in southern Pakistan on Thursday, killing dozens of worshippers and left hundreds of people wounded, officials said. (AP Photo/Pervez Masih)
MUNICH (AP) - Vice President Mike Pence has arrived in Germany for his first overseas trip as vice president.

Pence's Air Force Two has landed in Munich, where he is set to deliver a speech Saturday at the Munich Security Conference and meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the leaders of several U.S. allies.

Pence is expected to reassure U.S. partners in Europe and the Middle East about U.S. foreign policy under President Donald Trump and the nation's commitment to trans-Atlantic institutions like NATO and the European Union.

FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2017, file photo, Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the Republican congressional retreat in Philadelphia. Pence is making his debut on the world stage with a trip to Germany and Belgium designed to reassure European and Mideast partners about U.S. foreign policy. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

He is meeting Saturday with the leaders of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim. He's also meeting with the heads of Iraq and Afghanistan.
STOCKHOLM (AP) - Swedish prosecutors say eight men have been detained on suspicion of being part of a child porn ring where they reportedly discussed sexual abuse and sadistic murder.

Prosecutor Reena Devgun says "serious violent crimes against children were discussed" over the telephone, but didn't give further details.

Devgun said Friday the men, aged between 50 and 70, were suspected of aggravated child pornography-related offenses including possession and sharing of such material, and one was suspected of child rape.

Swedish media said one of them was sentenced in 2000 to psychiatric care for abducting and sexually abusing a boy in the late 1990s, adding he was released in 2015. One of Sweden's largest dailies, Dagens Nyheter, said they also discussed "ordering" a foreign child who would be kept in a soundproof room.
MADRID (AP) - The Latest on migrants and refugees entering Europe (all times local):

11:40 a.m.

Pope Francis says the phenomenon of migration doesn't pose a danger to Europe's culture but rather a challenge for societies to grow.

Pope Francis meets Nour Essa, part of a group of Syrian refugees arrived in Rome with Pope Francis from the Greek island of Lesbos, at the Roma Tre University in Rome, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Francis made the comments during a visit Friday to the Roma Tre university. There, he was reunited with Nour Essa, one of the Syrian refugees whom Francis brought back with him after visiting Lesbos, Greece, last year. Since then, Essa has won a government scholarship at Roma Tre to finish her biology studies.

Essa asked Francis about fears that Syrians and Iraqi migrants threaten Europe's Christian culture.

Francis responded by noting that his native Argentina is a country of immigrants and that ending wars and poverty would trim migration flows.

He said: "Migration isn't a danger, it's a challenge to grow," and the key is integrating new migrants.

___

8:45 a.m.

The local Red Cross says an emergency team is assisting more than 300 migrants who crossed the fence surrounding Spain's enclave of Ceuta in North Africa early Friday.

Spain's Civil Guard said that a surveillance camera registered how more than 500 people approached the fence with tools and clubs that they used to break one of the gates.

Around 300 of them managed to enter Spanish soil, said a spokesman with the force who asked not to be identified in line with internal protocol. Two agents were injured and are being treated at a local hospital, he said.

Hundreds of sub-Saharan African migrants living illegally in Morocco try to enter Ceuta and Melilla, Spain's other North African enclave, each year in hope of getting to Europe.

Pope Francis speaks at the Roma Tre University during a visit in Rome, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. Pope Francis answered to questions asked by some of the about 40 thousand students attending the Roma Tre University, during his first visit to a state owned university in Rome. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis arrives at the Roma Tre University in Rome, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Migrants pray on a street after storming a fence to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Spain, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. An emergency team in Ceuta is assisting more than 300 migrants who crossed the fence surrounding Spain's enclave in North Africa early Friday, a spokesman for the local Red Cross said. Spain's Civil Guard said that a surveillance camera registered how more than 500 people approached the fence with tools and clubs that they used for breaking one of the gates. (AP Photo/Jesus Moron)

Migrants sit on the ground next to Spanish police officers after storming a fence to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Spain, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. An emergency team in Ceuta is assisting more than 300 migrants who crossed the fence surrounding Spain's enclave in North Africa early Friday, a spokesman for the local Red Cross said. (AP Photo/Jesus Moron)

Migrants sit on the ground after storming a fence to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Spain, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. An emergency team in Ceuta is assisting more than 300 migrants who crossed the fence surrounding Spain's enclave in North Africa early Friday, a spokesman for the local Red Cross said. Spain's Civil Guard said that a surveillance camera registered how more than 500 people approached the fence with tools and clubs that they used for breaking one of the gates. (AP Photo/Jesus Moron)

Migrants sit on the ground after storming a fence to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Spain, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. An emergency team in Ceuta is assisting more than 300 migrants who crossed the fence surrounding Spain's enclave in North Africa early Friday, a spokesman for the local Red Cross said. Spain's Civil Guard said that a surveillance camera registered how more than 500 people approached the fence with tools and clubs that they used for breaking one of the gates. (AP Photo/Jesus Moron)

Migrants react after storming a fence to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Spain, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. An emergency team in Ceuta is assisting more than 300 migrants who crossed the fence surrounding Spain's enclave in North Africa early Friday, a spokesman for the local Red Cross said. Spain's Civil Guard said that a surveillance camera registered how more than 500 people approached the fence with tools and clubs that they used for breaking one of the gates. (AP Photo/Jesus Moron)

A man shows the injures on his hand as he sits on the ground after storming a fence to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Spain, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. An emergency team in Ceuta is assisting more than 300 migrants who crossed the fence surrounding Spain's enclave in North Africa early Friday, a spokesman for the local Red Cross said. Spain's Civil Guard said that a surveillance camera registered how more than 500 people approached the fence with tools and clubs that they used for breaking one of the gates. (AP Photo/Jesus Moron)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - A desolate but lovely volcano on the North Korea-China border could be the key to unraveling the sudden, mysterious death of an exiled scion of North Korean royalty.

South Korea's spy agency believes that Kim Jong Nam was assassinated this week in a Malaysian airport as part of a five-year plot by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to kill a brother he reportedly never met. If this is right, the motive likely has more to do with their shared bloodlines - and that volcano - than any specific transgression.

Here's why:

FILE - This combination of file photos shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, on May 10, 2016, in Pyongyang, North Korea, and Kim Jong Nam, right, exiled half brother of Kim Jong Un, in Narita, Japan, on May 4, 2001. South Korea's spy agency believes that Kim Jong Nam was assassinated this week in a Malaysian airport as part of a five-year plot byKim Jong Un to kill a brother he reportedly never met. If this is right, the motive likely has more to do with their shared bloodlines - and that volcano - than any specific transgression. (AP Photos/Wong Maye-E, Shizuo Kambayashi, File)

The volcano - Mount Paektu, which is topped with a deep crater lake - is at the heart of North Korea's foundation myth, and is used to legitimize the Kim family's three generations of power. Paektu is emblazoned on the country's national emblem and lends its name to everything from rockets to power stations to, occasionally, the country itself.

Crucially, it serves as a sort-of geographic incarnation of the Kim brothers' late grandfather, Kim Il Sung, the most important person in North Korean history. Kim Il Sung saved the Korean Peninsula, according to the official Pyongyang narrative, with daring guerrilla raids against Japanese invaders from his base on the slopes of Paektu.

Because the Kim brothers shared the same exalted and heroic lineage - the "blood of Mount Paektu" - the argument goes, no matter how low profile he was, Kim Jong Nam would always pose a danger. As long as he lived he could share, if indirectly and probably unwillingly, in the avalanche of propaganda associated with the sacred volcano, all of which seeks to prove that the Kims are the only governing possibility in North Korea.

This goes a long way to explaining the disconnect between the coldblooded nature of the alleged assassination and the seeming harmlessness of Kim Jong Nam, an overweight gambler and faded playboy who had laid low in recent years in his Southeast Asian base and who once, according to South Korea's spy agency, wrote his brother a letter begging for his life.

If the South Korean spies are right that Kim Jong Nam was assassinated - something not yet acknowledged by Malaysian authorities, let alone North Korea - the bloodline worry would have been a powerful reason for Pyongyang to strike.

"Kim Jong Un might have thought that he had nearly completed his consolidation of power and that taking out Kim Jong Nam would be a finishing touch to eliminate a potential source of trouble," said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Seoul's Dongguk University.

Korean history is replete with bloody royal power struggles. And when the disgruntled elite tried to overthrow kings, they often used estranged princes or others with royal blood as figureheads to rally support.

Past rulers on the Korean Peninsula also "legitimated themselves and their offspring by virtue of their 'pure bloodline,'" Bruce Cumings, a historian and Korea expert, has written.

The Kims of North Korea have carried on this veneration of royal blood, and extended it to the volcano associated with the country's foundation.

Cumings quotes North Korean propaganda referring to Kim Jong Il, the son of Kim Il Sung and the father of both Kim Jong Un and Kim Jong Nam, as a "treasure baby from Paektu mountain." North Korea claims, probably erroneously, that Kim Jong Il was born on Paektu.

As early as 2009, North Korea called Kim Jong Un the "General of Paektu," Koh, the North Korea expert, wrote in a 2013 essay. Kim Jong Un inherited the "bloodline of Paektu," which is heralded as the country's "existence and the lifeline of generations to come."

Another point to consider is that North Korea's "Kim worship" is, according to Cumings, "Neo-Confucianism in a communist bottle."

Kim Jong Un, the youngest known son of Kim Jong Il, could have feared his brother because under a traditional Confucian value system, Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son, would have been considered the direct heir to the throne.

"Kim Jong Nam was a potential threat," according to analyst Chang Yong Seok at Seoul National University. "Kim Jong Un might have believed that opponents could push to (oust him) and enthrone Kim Jong Nam."

It's anyone's guess what this may mean for the rest of the bloodline.

Kim Jong Un has another older brother, Kim Jong Chol, who's seen as a huge fan of rock guitarist Eric Clapton. The middle of the three known sons, he was once considered by some outsiders as a potential candidate for leader, but a former sushi chef of Kim Jong Il said the late leader derided him as "girlish." South Korean media report he is in Pyongyang but shuns public activities.

Kim Jong Nam reportedly leaves behind two sons and a daughter between two different women living in Beijing and Macau. There are worries in Seoul that one of the sons, Kim Han Sol, could be in danger because his father may have told him secrets about Kim Jong Un's personal life.

Kim Han Sol also once referred to Kim Jong Un as a "dictator" in an interview.

___

Associated Press writers Tim Sullivan in New Delhi, and Kim Tong-hyung and Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul contributed to this report.

FILE - In this June 18, 2014, photo, clouds float over the peak of Mt. Paektu in North Korea's Ryanggang province. The volcano, which is topped with a deep crater lake - is at the heart of North Korea's foundation myth, and is used to legitimize the Kim family's three generations of power. Paektu is emblazoned on the country's national emblem and lends its name to everything from rockets to power stations to, occasionally, the country itself. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File)
ROME (AP) - Pope Francis, who was reunited Friday with one of the Syrian refugees he brought home with him from Lesbos, Greece, said migrants don't pose a danger to Europe's culture but rather a challenge for societies to grow.

Francis made the comments during a visit to the Roma Tre university, one of the main public universities in the Italian capital. There, he met with Nour Essa, who along with her husband and child flew back to Rome with the pope after his April 16, 2016 trip to Lesbos.

Since then, Essa has won a government scholarship to finish her biology studies at Roma Tre and has become something of an activist for refugee rights in her new country.

Pope Francis delivers his speech during his visit at the Roma Tre University in Rome, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. Pope Francis says the phenomenon of migration doesn't pose a danger to Europe's culture but rather a challenge for societies to grow. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

During a question-and-answer session in a courtyard at the university, Essa asked Francis about fears expressed by many Europeans that Syrians and Iraqi migrants threaten Europe's Christian culture.

Francis responded by noting that his native Argentina is a country of immigrants, and that ending wars and poverty would trim migration flows.

"Migration isn't a danger, it's a challenge to grow," he said, adding that European countries must not only welcome migrants but integrate them into society.

"They bring to us a culture, a culture that is rich for us. And also they have to receive our culture and there has to be an exchange of cultures," he said. "Respect. And this removes fear."

Essa and her family fled to Lesbos from Syria and lived in a refugee camp for a month until Francis visited. After meeting with refugees, Francis flew back to Rome with three Syrian families, all of them Muslim, in a tangible sign of solidarity.

"Our lives changed in a day thanks to you," Essa told Francis on Friday.

The Sant'Egidio community, a Catholic charity, took responsibility for settling the dozen refugees, getting the children enrolled in school and finding housing, jobs and language classes for the parents.

Essa recently was on hand at Rome's airport to welcome a group of 41 Syrian refugees brought to Italy by a joint program of Sant'Egidio and a Protestant church that organizes "humanitarian corridors" for migrants to legally migrate to Europe. There, Essa told reporters that refugees aren't terrorists. "We are refugees fleeing from war," she said.

During Friday's event, Essa and Francis chatted warmly with one another. She smiled when Francis recalled that in Lesbos the refugee families - already aboard his plane for the trip to Rome - didn't want to come back down the stairs to the tarmac to bid a formal farewell to Greek authorities who had accompanied Francis to his aircraft.

"They didn't want to get off," Francis said. "They were afraid they'd have to stay."

Nour Essa, one of the Syrian refugees whom Francis brought back with him after visiting Lesbos, Greece, reacts as Pope Francis delivers his speech DURING A VISIT visit at the Roma Tre University, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. Since then, Essa has won a government scholarship at Roma Tre to finish her biology studies. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis delivers his speech during his visit at the Roma Tre University in Rome, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. Pope Francis says the phenomenon of migration doesn't pose a danger to Europe's culture but rather a challenge for societies to grow. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A Kentucky man accused of driving his truck at a police officer, who responded by opening fire, has died more than a week after he was shot when a domestic disturbance escalated into the confrontation, Kentucky State Police said Friday.

Kenneth B. Huntzinger, 51, of Richmond died Thursday evening at University of Kentucky Hospital in Lexington.

Huntzinger, who allegedly was involved in the domestic dispute in Madison County, was shot by state police Sgt. Toby Coyle on Feb. 7.

Coyle, a 16-year state police veteran, has been placed on paid administrative leave, state police said.

The shooting is being investigated by a special state police unit formed recently to handle investigations of officer-involved shootings.

Huntzinger was not armed but was "using his vehicle as the weapon," KSP Trooper Robert Purdy said Friday in a phone interview.

The truck was "reasonably close" to Coyle when he opened fire, Purdy said, but he did not know the exact distance.

"There were a number of things that Sgt. Coyle tried that night to de-escalate the situation and peacefully end it, and unfortunately none of those worked," Purdy said.

Coyle approached Huntzinger, who was in the truck, and instructed him to get out of the vehicle. During the confrontation, Huntzinger rammed another vehicle, trying to push it out of the way in the driveway, Purdy said.

When the officer's attempts to get Huntzinger to stop and get out of the truck failed, "that's when Sgt. Coyle backed up away from the vehicle, it accelerated, turned and headed toward Sgt. Coyle, and that's when the shots were fired," Purdy said.

Coyle was not injured. Both Huntzinger and Coyle are white.

State police this week announced the formation of the six-member unit assigned to automatically investigate any shootings involving state police officers. It also will review other officer-related shootings across Kentucky on a case-by-case basis when requested by affected law enforcement agencies. The unit has investigated five incidents since its formation in January, state police leaders said Wednesday.
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Zimbabwe's 92-year-old President Robert Mugabe should run "as a corpse" in next year's election if he dies before the vote, his wife said Friday.

Grace Mugabe accused some ruling ZANU-PF party officials of plotting to take over from her husband and said that even if he dies, supporters should put his name on the ballot to show their love for him.

"If God decides to take him, then we would rather field him as a corpse," she told thousands of cheering supporters at a rally in Buhera in eastern Zimbabwe. She spoke in the local Shona language.

The president, who will turn 93 on Tuesday, has slowed down on public engagements while his 51-year-old wife has become increasingly visible in politics.

Mugabe has been in power since white minority rule ended in Zimbabwe in 1980 after years of war. A big celebration for him is planned on Feb. 25, a few days after his birthday.

Grace Mugabe warned associates of Mugabe from the era of guerrilla war against white rule that they can't take power because they also are old.

"Anyone who was with Mugabe in 1980 has no right to tell him he is old. If you want Mugabe to go, then you leave together. You also have to leave. Then we take over because we were not there in 1980," she said, pointing to herself.

Grace Mugabe has professed fierce loyalty to her husband, previously saying she would get him a wheelchair if necessary and push it for him so that he can continue to rule.

Mugabe has declared he wants to live until 100 and rule for life, and has complained about ruling party factions that are jostling for influence as a succession battle looms.
CHESAPEAKE CITY, Md. (AP) - A Maryland auction house is selling a telephone owned by Adolf Hitler.

Bill Panagopulos of Alexander Historical Auctions in Chesapeake City says occupying Russian officers gave the phone to Brig. Sir Ralph Rayner during a visit to Hitler's Berlin bunker. Rayner's son is now selling the red phone with a Nazi party symbol and Hitler's name engraved on the back.

The phone is estimated at $200,000 to $300,000 and Panagopulos says bidding will start at $100,000 this weekend.

Adolf Hitler's personal traveling telephone is displayed at Alexander Historical Auctions in Chesapeake City, Md., Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. Auction house president Bill Panagopulos says Russian officers gave the phone to Brig. Sir Ralph Rayner during a visit to Hitler's Berlin bunker in 1945. Rayner's son is now selling it. Panagopulos says bidding will start at $100,000 this weekend. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Panagopulos considers the phone a "weapon of mass destruction," noting that the orders Hitler gave over the phone took many lives.

He says the seller and auction house hope it ends up in a museum, where people who see it "really understand what extreme fascist thinking can bring about."

According to an online catalog, the auction house says the handset of the phone must be rotated almost 60 degrees before it can be lifted out of its cradle.

This feature kept the handset from shaking loose while being transported. The phone was used in vehicles and trains as well as Hitler's field headquarters.

Adolf Hitler's personal traveling telephone is displayed at Alexander Historical Auctions in Chesapeake City, Md., Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. Auction house president Bill Panagopulos says Russian officers gave the phone to Brig. Sir Ralph Rayner during a visit to Hitler's Berlin bunker in 1945. Rayner's son is now selling it. Panagopulos says bidding will start at $100,000 this weekend. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

An engraving of a swastika and Adolf Hitler's name are seen on the back of Hitler's personal traveling telephone at Alexander Historical Auctions in Chesapeake City, Md., Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. Auction house president Bill Panagopulos says Russian officers gave the phone to Brig. Sir Ralph Rayner during a visit to Hitler's Berlin bunker in 1945. Rayner's son is now selling it. Panagopulos says bidding will start at $100,000 this weekend. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

The handset of Adolf Hitler's personal traveling telephone is displayed at Alexander Historical Auctions in Chesapeake City, Md., Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. Auction house president Bill Panagopulos says Russian officers gave the phone to Brig. Sir Ralph Rayner during a visit to Hitler's Berlin bunker in 1945. Rayner's son is now selling it. Panagopulos says bidding will start at $100,000 this weekend. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Adolf Hitler's personal traveling telephone is displayed at Alexander Historical Auctions in Chesapeake City, Md., Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. Auction house president Bill Panagopulos says Russian officers gave the phone to Brig. Sir Ralph Rayner during a visit to Hitler's Berlin bunker in 1945. Rayner's son is now selling it. Panagopulos says bidding will start at $100,000 this weekend. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

An engraving of a swastika and Adolf Hitler's name are seen on the back of Hitler's personal traveling telephone at Alexander Historical Auctions in Chesapeake City, Md., Friday, Feb. 17, 2017. Auction house president Bill Panagopulos says Russian officers gave the phone to Brig. Sir Ralph Rayner during a visit to Hitler's Berlin bunker in 1945. Rayner's son is now selling it. Panagopulos says bidding will start at $100,000 this weekend. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
BEIRUT (AP) - The Syrian government and an opposition monitoring group condemned Friday what they call Turkey's "crimes" against the Syrian people in the northern town of al-Bab that is controlled by the Islamic State group, as a top Turkish military official said most of the town is under control of allied opposition fighters.

Turkish troops and allied opposition fighters have been on the offensive in al-Bab for weeks to recapture it from IS, a battle that has killed hundreds of civilians so far. On Feb. 7, the Turkish offensive on the town intensified in an attempt to capture it from the extremists but the push has been slow because of fierce resistance from IS fighters.

The battle has been difficult for Turkish troops who have lost some 65 soldiers since they entered Syria in August, most of them in al-Bab which has been under attack since mid-November.

Turkish forces have been deployed in Syria since August with the aim of clearing a border patch of IS militants and Syrian Kurdish fighters that Ankara considers related to its own Kurdish insurgency.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Turkish shelling and airstrikes have killed 45 people in al-Bab since Wednesday. It said the dead include 14 women and 18 people under the age of 18.

"The crimes committed against civilians in the city of al-Bab are continuing after the killers of civilians have permitted shedding the blood of Syrians," the Observatory said. It added that since the operation against al-Bab and nearby villages began on Nov. 13 some 430 civilians have been killed in the area.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Friday condemned what it called Turkey's violations of Syria's sovereignty. The condemnation was expressed in two letters addressed to the U.N. Secretary-General and President of the Security Council.

The IS-linked Aamaq news agency released a video said to be taken in al-Bab showing men, boys and infants being treated for severe wounds inside a clinic.

The video showed a child crying on a hospital bed while, his left arm severed from under the shoulder. Another child suffered from a stomach wound that eventually killed him. A third had a portion of his skull blown off, exposing the top of his head.

The video appeared genuine and corresponded to other reporting by The Associated Press.

The violence in al-Bab came as Turkey's military said the Turkish and U.S. chiefs of staff had "confirmed" the need to fight terror groups in Syria and Iraq, including the Islamic State group and Kurdish militants.

A military statement said Gen. Joe Dunford met with his Turkish counterpart, Gen. Hulusi Akar, on Friday at Incirlik air base, which serves as a base for warplanes of the U.S.-led coalition battling the extremist group. Turkey also carries out airstrikes against bases belonging to Kurdish militants in northern Iraq.

The military statement said Akar told Dunford that Turkey and Turkish-backed Syrian fighters had "to a great extent" taken control of the IS-held Syrian town of al Bab.

It made no reference to a possible joint operation to retake the IS stronghold of Raqqa, which Turkey's defense minister said would be discussed.

The Observatory said IS fighters are still in "full control" of al-Bab.

As the fighting in al-Bab area intensified, the Russian military said that its strategic bombers have struck IS positions to the east. The Defense Ministry said in a statement that Tu-95 bombers that flew from their base in Russia launched long-range cruise missiles Friday at IS facilities near the group's main stronghold of Raqqa.

It added that the missiles successfully hit the IS training camps and a control facility of one of the militant units. The ministry said fighter jets from a Russian air base in Syria escorted the bombers.

____

Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - A new supercomputer in Wyoming is carrying on modeling the effects of climate change, but scientists worry President Donald Trump could cut funding for such programs.

The $30 million National Center for Atmospheric Research supercomputer named Cheyenne got to work on several science projects a few weeks ago. They include figuring out how to better predict weather months to years in advance.

Wyoming produces close to 40 percent of the nation's coal, and the state's many climate-change skeptics include Gov. Matt Mead. Still, Mead supports the supercomputer for helping to promote Wyoming's small technology industry.

This Oct. 26, 2016 photo provided by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research shows the new supercomputer named Cheyenne at the National Center for Atmospheric Research at the supercomputing center in Cheyenne, Wyo. Wyoming officials including Gov. Matt Mead say they support the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center even as they describe themselves as climate skeptics. Scientists nationwide are nonetheless concerned that President Donald Trump, who has called climate change a hoax, might not take climate change research seriously. (Carlye Calvin/ University Corporation for Atmospheric Research via AP)

Whether Trump might cut federal funding for such programs remains to be seen. Some 800 U.S. scientists recently signed a letter urging Trump to take climate change seriously.

The White House didn't respond to a request for comment.
DALLAS (AP) - A Dallas teacher who was fired when her past as a pornographic actress was exposed on social media says she was a teenage victim of "sex slavery" and that she wants her teaching job back.

The Dallas Morning News reports that Resa Woodward was dismissed Dec. 13 from her job at Balch Springs Middle School. The dismissal letter cites her work in "adult content media" that's available online.

Woodward appealed to the Texas Education Agency, saying she was in an "abusive relationship" with a man who forced her into pornography, describing herself as "young, stupid and afraid."

The agency is reviewing Woodward's case. An ethics code requires Texas teachers to have good moral character.

Woodward's attorney, Calvin Johnson, told WFAA-TV that she should be commended for bouncing back from adversity.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on President's Donald Trump's Cabinet (all times local):

5:45 p.m.

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has been sworn in to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.

FILE - In this Jan. 18, 2017, file photo,Environmental Protection Agency Administrator nominee, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Senate Republicans are poised to use their majority to confirm Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, despite calls from Democrats for a delay.(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Republicans cheered the 48-year-old lawyer as the ideal pick to roll back environmental regulations they say are a drag on the nation's economy. Democrats and career EPA employees decried him as dangerous for the environment.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said earlier Friday that "the EPA will no longer spend unnecessary taxpayer dollars on an out of control anti-energy agenda."

As Oklahoma's attorney general, Pruitt filed lawsuits challenging EPA regulations such as limits on carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants and expansion of water bodies regulated under the Clean Water Act.

___

1:55 p.m.

Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross has cleared a Senate hurdle on the path to confirmation as commerce secretary.

The vote Friday was 66-31 to move ahead on the nomination. A final vote is expected the week of Feb. 27, after a weeklong congressional recess.

Ross is estimated to be worth nearly $3 billion and has extensive business ties around the globe. Supporters say that makes him ideal to represent American business interests abroad.

The commerce secretary plays several roles in promoting American business interests. The department handles trade issues, working to attract foreign investment to the U.S. The department also oversees agencies that manage fisheries, weather forecasting and the Census Bureau, which will conduct a census in 2020.

Ross has agreed to divest himself from his vast financial empire.

___

1:25 p.m.

The Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.

Scott Pruitt was approved on Friday by a vote of 52-46.

Pruitt served six years as Oklahoma's attorney general and was closely aligned with oil and gas companies in his home state, whose executives backed his political campaigns. He filed 14 lawsuits as attorney general challenging EPA regulations, including President Barack Obama's plan to limit planet-warming carbon emissions.

Pruitt's nomination was strongly opposed by environmental groups that predict he will roll back EPA's enforcement efforts.

___

3:00 a.m.

Senate Republicans are poised to use their majority to confirm President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, despite calls from Democrats to delay until requested emails are released.

A vote on Scott Pruitt's nomination is set for Friday afternoon. As part of a public records lawsuit, a state judge in Oklahoma on Thursday ordered Pruitt to release thousands of emails that he exchanged with oil and gas executives by next week. Pruitt, who is Oklahoma's attorney general, has refused to release the emails for more than two years.

Democrats boycotted a committee vote on Pruitt's nomination last month, citing his refusal to hand over the emails, and on Thursday called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to delay Pruitt's confirmation vote until the nominee turned over the requested emails.
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump and his envoys are sending mixed messages about their support for an independent Palestinian state, confusing a world that has traditionally looked to America for leadership on one of the Mideast's most intractable conflicts.

After Trump broke with decades of precedent by backing away from U.S. insistence on a "two-state solution," his envoy to the United Nations, Ambassador Nikki Haley, said "we absolutely support a two-state solution." As Haley addressed reporters at the U.N., Trump's nominee for ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, was telling the Senate he "would be delighted" with such an agreement, while expressing skepticism that Palestinians were prepared to take the necessary steps to make such a deal possible.

To be sure, it's somewhat a matter of semantics. The White House has argued there's no daylight between what Trump said before his meeting this week with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and what others in his administration have declared.

FILE - In this Feb. 15, 2017 file photo, President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the East Room of the White House in Washington. President Donald Trump and his envoys are sending mixed messages about their support for an independent Palestinian state, confusing a world that has traditionally looked for American leadership on one of the Mideast's most intractable conflicts. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

But this is the Middle East, where seemingly innocuous comments can be explosive and every word uttered by the United States, its leaders and diplomats becomes tortuously parsed by partisans on all sides.

"All these phrases are loaded, and they're going to take on a life of their own," said David Makovsky of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "It was not a good way to begin, because it's going to distract everyone from the job at hand, which is to end the current impasse and engage the parties."

Until these last days, the U.S. position had been rather clear. The last three presidents had advocated the emergence of an independent, sovereign Palestinian country in most of the territory that Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast War. Land swaps agreed to by both sides would allow some Jewish settlements built in east Jerusalem or the West Bank to become part of Israel. The existence of a recognized nation of Palestine would mean the end of Israel's occupation.

"I'm looking at two-state and one-state and I like the one that both parties like," Trump, with Netanyahu at his side, said Wednesday.

There is no consensus about what a one-state solution means. A majority of Israelis and Palestinians oppose a single, "binational" state that would include both populations. Opponents say such an arrangement would eventually force Israel either to lose its Jewish majority or rule over millions of disenfranchised Palestinians lacking full rights, a scenario the Palestinians wouldn't willingly accept.

While Trump kept open the traditional, two-state idea as an option, he is likely to find that the Palestinians' supporters in the region - which include key U.S. allies in the fight against the Islamic State group - won't entertain anything short of Palestinian statehood.

The administration's lack of precision illustrated a broader challenge it is facing as dramatic policy shifts are announced from the Oval Office, sometimes after little coordination with other agencies. That has made it hard for Trump's government to speak with a single voice.

The State Department, which spearheaded Mideast peace efforts for past Republican and Democratic presidents, was caught off-guard when the White House, on the eve of Netanyahu's visit, signaled its shift away from full-throated backing of the two-state solution. Officials then had to pivot after Haley's declaration of support for the previous U.S. position on two states. Still, Haley echoed Trump by saying it was up to Israelis and Palestinians to come up with a workable solution.

The result for the world has been confusion. After meeting in Germany with new U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault lamented that the U.S. position on Mideast peace had become "vague and preoccupying."

Ayrault said he told Tillerson the two-state solution was the only option, and that another, unspecified idea Tillerson had floated "wouldn't be fair nor equitable." That position was echoed from afar by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The Trump administration has been similarly ambiguous about other foreign policy matters, including the Iran nuclear deal. As a candidate, Trump vowed to renegotiate the accord. As president, he has continued deploring it. But EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Trump's team told her the U.S. was committed to implementing the seven-nation deal. France's Ayrault, however, said he got the impression from Tillerson that the U.S. wanted to review it from scratch.

___

Associated Press writers Sylvie Corbett in Paris and Ian Deitch in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

___

Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2017 file photo, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley attends a meeting of the Security Council at U.N. headquarters. President Donald Trump and his envoys are sending mixed messages about their support for an independent Palestinian state, confusing a world that has traditionally looked for American leadership on one of the Mideast's most intractable conflicts. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The Latest on the USDA's decision to remove animal welfare records from its website (all times local):

1:45 p.m.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has reposted some animal welfare records following complaints from animal rights groups and U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer.

The records posted Friday do not include inspection reports on other animal facilities such as horse and dog breeding centers.

The agency's decision earlier this month to remove the online database angered animal welfare groups and Schumer, who on Friday had urged the USDA to reconsider.

The USDA says it removed the information as part of an effort to balance government transparency with personal privacy. It says more reports could be reposted following an ongoing review of what information it puts online.

The Associated Press first reported on the USDA removing the inspection reports earlier this month.

___

8:55 a.m.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer says the federal Department of Agriculture under President Donald Trump has backtracked on animal welfare by deleting an online database of inspection reports on animal facilities such as dog breeding centers.

The New York Democrat says Friday that the database helped expose puppy mills and other inhumane facilities. He has written the USDA urging it to reconsider the decision, which he says puts animals at risk. Schumer says the USDA inspects about 9,000 breeding centers, laboratories and other animal facilities annually.

In a statement on its website, the USDA says an ongoing review of its online information began before Trump took office. It says the changes are intended to balance transparency with personal privacy and that the information can be requested through open records requests.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The mother of a black man shot by Utah police while holding a costume samurai sword has settled a lawsuit over his death, resolving a conflict with her onetime lawyer that reached a federal appeals court.

The final settlement terms are confidential but acceptable to mother Susan Hunt, her lawyer, Clemens Landau, said Thursday. Hunt had been asking an appeals court to overturn a judge's ruling that enforced a $900,000 agreement with the city of Saratoga Springs.

That money was deposited into a court account and will now be split between Hunt and her ex-husband, with about 20 percent going to her former lawyers, according to court documents.

FILE - In this Jan. 23, 2015, file pool photo, Susan Hunt, center, shed tears while surrounded by family during a court appearance in Saratoga Springs, Utah. Hunt, whose son was shot by police while holding a costume samurai sword, has settled a lawsuit over his death, resolving a conflict with her onetime lawyer that reached a federal appeals court. (Spenser Heaps/The Daily Herald via AP, Pool, File)

Hunt said her ex-attorney wrongly authorized the deal with the city of Saratoga Springs on her behalf. Attorney Robert Sykes denied that and produced a recorded phone conversation where she apparently agreed, though with some reluctance.

Hunt told reporters she rejected the money because it would bar her from talking publicly about her son. Darrien Hunt, 22, was killed by police who stopped him as he walked around a busy shopping area with a metal costume samurai sword in 2014 in Saratoga Springs, about 35 miles south of Salt Lake City.

The officers fired their guns because they feared he could hurt people with the sword, which looked authentic, said Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman, who found the shooting legally justified.

But Darrien Hunt's family said he was no danger and was treated differently because he was black. The officers involved are white, and the NAACP called on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate how the city handled the case.

City lawyers have said Susan Hunt misunderstood the terms of the settlement deal, and U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell decided the first settlement was valid. Susan Hunt appealed to the 10th Circuit Court in Denver, where the two sides hashed out the new settlement.
NEW YORK (AP) - Municipalities nationwide including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Skokie, Illinois, are urging a federal judge to continue blocking President Donald Trump's travel ban.

New York City's chief lawyer Zachary Carter filed papers Friday in federal court in Brooklyn on behalf of nearly three dozen cities. Carter and Senior Counsel Susan Greenberg say in the filing that the ban against seven predominantly Muslim countries damages the economies and cultures of the cities. They say it harms efforts to keep cities safe, including against terrorists.

The White House has said the order is necessary to protect against terrorism.

The papers were submitted in advance of a Tuesday hearing.

A federal appeals court in Seattle has upheld a stay of the ban in a case brought by Washington state and Minnesota.
NEW YORK (AP) - A federal civil rights investigation into the police chokehold death of Eric Garner has been moving forward in New York, but its future is uncertain as a U.S. attorney general with a law-and-order bent takes over the Justice Department.

Two people with inside knowledge of the probe say a federal grand jury in Brooklyn met as late as last week to hear testimony about Garner's deadly confrontation with New York Police Department officers on Staten Island in 2014.

Garner's dying words, "I can't breathe," became a slogan for the Black Lives Matter movement.

FILE - In this Dec. 4, 2014, file photo protesters rally in New York's Foley Square against a state grand jury's decision not to indict the police officer involved in the death of Eric Garner. A federal investigation of the police chokehold death of Garner has been moving forward in New York, but its future could be up in the air as a new U.S. attorney general with a law-and-order bent takes over the Justice Department. The federal grand jury met in Brooklyn as late as last week to hear evidence in the deadly confrontation on Staten Island in 2014, which helped fuel a national outcry over killings of unarmed black men by police officers. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, File)

In recent weeks, officers who were present when Officer Daniel Pantaleo wrapped his arm around Garner's neck have testified before the grand jury, according to the people, who were not authorized to discuss the secret proceedings and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Whether such testimony continues may depend on internal Justice Department politics.

The federal inquiry, which began after a state grand jury declined to charge Pantaleo in 2014, already stalled once last year when prosecutors based at the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn expressed doubt that there was enough evidence to make a criminal case against the officer.

Their hesitation resulted in the Justice Department, in the waning months of President Barack Obama's term, dispatching Washington-based prosecutors to New York to forge ahead, according to a third person with knowledge of the case, who also was not authorized to discuss the inquiry and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

It is unclear whether new Attorney General Jeff Sessions will take an interest in the case. Both the Justice Department and the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn declined to discuss it Friday. Pantaleo's attorney, Stuart London, also had no comment.

But Sessions has the power to freeze the investigation and order a review by Civil Rights Division under new leadership for the unit "that reflects his ideology," said former federal prosecutor David Weinstein.

Sessions had been a vocal critic of the Obama administration's aggressive response to allegations of police misconduct, including imposing federal oversight on problem police departments across the country. At a 2015 Senate hearing, he said "there's a perception, not altogether unjustified, that the Civil Rights Division, goes beyond fair and balanced treatment."

Given Sessions' background, "the odds are longer it's going to result in an indictment," said Weinstein.

If Sessions' Justice Department decides not to go forward, the inquiry could end by simply letting the 18-month limit for a special grand jury expire without a vote on an indictment, he said.

Trump last week told a conference of police department officials that their officers "are entitled to an administration that has their back."

But in 2014 on the Fox News program "Fox & Friends," he also singled out Pantaleo for criticism, though he didn't identify him by name.

"That chokehold was terrible," Trump said. "That cop was so aggressive, it was ridiculous. I don't know where he came from, but that was a ridiculous situation to do. I mean if it's anything like we see ... you know what we saw was a terrible situation."

Garner's death was recorded on video. The 43-year-old was stopped by officers for selling loose, untaxed cigarettes. When he refused to be handcuffed, the white officer put Garner, who was black, in an apparent chokehold banned under NYPD policy. As the heavyset Garner was taken to the ground, he repeatedly gasped, "I can't breathe."

The medical examiner ruled Garner's death a homicide caused in part by the chokehold. But police union officials and Pantaleo's lawyer have argued that the officer used a takedown move taught by the police department, not a chokehold, and that Garner's poor health was the main reason he died.

A lawyer for Garner's family, Jonathan Moore, said on Friday that a criminal prosecution is long overdue and called on Sessions "to step up and show that he can be an attorney general for the people."

Said Garner's mother, Gwen Carr: "No matter who is in office I would hope for an unbiased look at my son's case."

___

Associated Press writers Colleen Long in New York and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

FILE - In this July 7, 2015 file photo, Gwen Carr holds a picture of her son, Eric Garner, during a news conference outside New York Gov. Andrew Coumo's New York office. A federal investigation of the police chokehold death of Eric Garner has been moving forward in New York, but its future could be up in the air as a new U.S. attorney general with a law-and-order bent takes over the Justice Department. The federal grand jury met in Brooklyn as late as last week to hear evidence in the deadly confrontation on Staten Island in 2014, which helped fuel a national outcry over killings of unarmed black men by police officers. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
CHICAGO (AP) - The Latest on charges against an Amtrak officer in Chicago for the shooting death of a Minneapolis man (all times local):

3:10 p.m.

A judge has ordered an Amtrak police officer held on $250,000 bail in the shooting death of a Minneapolis man outside Chicago's Union Station.

The Cook County judge made the decision Friday after prosecutors asked that 31-year-old LaRoyce Tankson be held without bond. Tankson faces a first-degree murder count in the Feb. 8 shooting of 25-year-old Chad Robertson.

Tankson's attorney, Will Fahy, said Tankson saw Robertson turn and reach for what Tankson thought was a gun. Fahy says Tankson "reasonably believed he was about to be shot." Fahy said Tankson is a father of three and is married to a firefighter.

The Cook County medical examiner found that Robertson was shot in the back.

An attorney for Robertson's family filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the then-unknown officer and Amtrak seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

___

11:40 a.m.

Prosecutors have charged an Amtrak police officer in the shooting death of a Minneapolis man outside Chicago's Union Station.

The Cook County State's Attorney's office announced Friday that 31-year-old LaRoyce Tankson surrendered to police Thursday. He has been charged with first-degree murder in the Feb. 8 shooting of 25-year-old Chad Robertson, who died Wednesday.

Robertson was taking a bus from Memphis, Tennessee, to Minneapolis and was on a stopover in Chicago when the shooting occurred.

According to his relatives, the transit officer fired at Robertson as he ran during an encounter.

Amtrak and Tankson have not responded to phone messages left Friday seeking comment.

The Robertsons' attorney has said the family is considering a wrongful death lawsuit.

Tankson is scheduled to appear in bond court Friday.
HARDWICK, Vt. (AP) - A small Vermont weekly newspaper whose former owner tried to give away through an essay contest about the importance of local journalism was sold Friday to a Connecticut couple.

Last fall, Ross Connelly abandoned his plan to find a new owner for the Hardwick Gazette through a $175 essay contest because he didn't get enough submissions. But when returned the entry fee, he let it be known that he would still like to sell the paper.

He began negotiations with Ray and Kim Small, of Stamford, Connecticut, who had submitted an essay to take over the paper that covers Hardwick, a town of about 3,000 in northern Vermont.

Connelly, 71, said he was looking for someone who would remain committed to local journalism and had the financial wherewithal to run the paper.

The deal closed Friday afternoon. The sale price was not disclosed

Ray Small, who spent a career in the information technology industry and whose first job after graduate school was writing about the IT industry, said he read about the essay contest last year.

"Two days later, I was in Hardwick," Small said Friday. "The whole concept just spoke to me."
SEATTLE (AP) - A man who fatally shot a student at a Seattle university was sentenced Friday to 112 years in prison.

In November, a jury found Aaron Ybarra guilty of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder and one count of assault for the attack at Seattle Pacific University that killed 19-year-old Paul Lee of Portland, Oregon.

Ybarra had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. "I wish I could take back what I did, but I can't," he said before he was sentenced.

The trial included testimony from Ybarra as well as student and safety monitor Jon Meis, who was hailed as a hero for taking down the gunman during the June 5, 2014, shooting.

Meis testified during the trial that he waited to hear the shooter reload his shotgun, took pepper spray out of his backpack and sprayed the gunman in the face twice.

Defense attorney Ramona Brandes had sought at trial to show that Ybarra suffered from a debilitating mental illness and limited intellectual function and that he believed God was directing him to shoot.

Prosecutors had argued the crime was premeditated and that Ybarra knew what he did was wrong.

Jurors also took a short field trip to the campus hall where the shooting occurred.
Advertisement

In a Mexican cave system so beautiful and hot that it is called both Fairyland and hell, scientists have discovered life trapped in crystals that could be 50,000 years old.

The bizarre and ancient microbes were found dormant in caves in Naica, Mexico, and were able to exist by living on minerals such as iron and manganese.

Penelope Boston, head of NASA's Astrobiology Institute, described it as 'super life,' when she presented the discovery on Friday at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Boston.

In a Mexican cave system so beautiful and hot that it is called both Fairyland and hell, scientists have discovered life trapped in crystals that could be 50,000 years old

The bizarre and ancient microbes were found dormant in caves in Naica, Mexico, and were able to exist by living on minerals such as iron and manganese

If confirmed, the find is yet another example of how microbes can survive in extremely punishing conditions on Earth.

Though it was presented at a science conference and was the result of nine years of work, the findings haven't yet been published in a scientific journal and haven't been peer reviewed. Boston planned more genetic tests for the microbes she revived both in the lab and on site.

The life forms - 40 different strains of microbes and even some viruses - are so unique that their nearest relatives are still 10 per cent different genetically.

That makes their closest relative still pretty far away, about as far away as humans are from mushrooms, Boston said.

Penelope Boston, head of NASA's Astrobiology Institute, described it as 'super life,' when she presented the discovery on Friday at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Boston

New Mexico Tech professor Penny Boston crawls through the Mud Turtle Passage on the way to the Snowy River formation during an expedition in Fort Stanton Cave

If confirmed, the find is yet another example of how microbes can survive in extremely punishing conditions on Earth

The Naica caves - an abandoned lead and zinc mine - are half a mile (800 meters) deep. Before drilling occurred by a mine company, the mines had been completely cut off from the outside world.

Some were as vast as cathedrals, with crystals lining the iron walls. They were also so hot that scientists had to don cheap versions of space suits - to prevent contamination with outside life - and had ice packs all over their bodies.

Boston said the team could only work about 20 minutes at a time before ducking to a 'cool' room that was about 100 degrees (38 Celsius).

NASA wouldn't allow Boston to share her work for outside review before Friday's announcement so scientists couldn't say much. But University of South Florida biologist Norine Noonan, who wasn't part of the study but was on a panel where Boston presented her work, said it made sense.

'Why are we surprised?' Noonan said. 'As a biologist I would say life on Earth is extremely tough and extremely versatile.'

This isn't the oldest extreme life. Several years ago, a different group of scientists published studies about microbes that may be half a million years old and still alive. Those were trapped in ice and salt, which isn't quite the same as rock or crystal, Boston said.

Mario Corsalini stands near to a gypsum rosette crystal, in the caves of which some were as large as cathedrals

Though it was presented at a science conference and was the result of nine years of work, the findings haven't yet been published in a scientific journal and haven't been peer reviewed

The age of the Naica microbes was determined by outside experts who looked at where the microbes were located in the crystals and how fast those crystals grow.

It's not the only weird life Boston is examining. She is also studying microbes commonly found in caves in the United States, Ukraine and elsewhere that eat copper sulfate and seem to be close to indestructible.

'It's simply another illustration of just how completely tough Earth life is,' Boston said.
Robert Harward has turned down an offer to be President Donald Trumps new national security adviser in the latest blow to the administration.

The retired vice admiral told The Associated Press that the Trump administration was very accommodating to my needs, both professionally and personally.

He said: Its purely a personal issue. Im in a unique position finally after being in the military for 40 years to enjoy some personal time.

Vice Admiral Harward statement: pic.twitter.com/Vxfh1Ub4l6  Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 17, 2017

But asked whether he had requested to bring in his own staff at the National Security Council, Mr Harward said: I think thats for the president to address.

He would have replaced Michael Flynn, who resigned at Mr Trumps request on Monday after revelations that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about discussing sanctions with Russias ambassador to the US during the transition.

Mr Trump said in a news conference on Thursday that he was disappointed by how the retired general had treated Mr Pence, but did not believe Mr Flynn had done anything wrong by having the conversations.

Mr Harward, a former Navy SEAL, served as deputy commander of US Central Command under James Mattis, who is now defence secretary.

Mr Harward served on the NSC under President George W Bush and commissioned the National Counter Terrorism Centre.

He retired in 2013 after a nearly 40-year career in the Navy, and became chief executive officer for defence and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin in the United Arab Emirates.

Mr Trump has recently been in very public negotiations with Lockheed over the cost of its F-35 fighter jet.

(Andrew Harnik AP/PA)

Officials said earlier this week there were two other contenders in the running for the job, acting national security adviser Keith Kellogg and David Petraeus.

Mr Petraeus, a retired general, resigned as CIA director in 2012 and pleaded guilty to a charge of mishandling classified information relating to documents he had provided to his biographer, with whom he was having an affair.

He was also fined 100,000 dollars (80,000) and remains on probation.

Mr Trump used his press conference to mount a vigorous defence of his presidency and accused Americas news media of being out of control.

He vowed to bypass the media and take his message straight to the people.

The president said: The press - the public doesnt believe you people any more. Now, maybe I had something to do with that. I dont know. But they dont believe you.

But youve got to be at least a little bit fair, and thats why the public sees it. They see it. They see its not fair. You take a look at some of your shows and you see the bias and the hatred.
Dustin Johnson made a fine start to his bid to end the weekend as world number one by firing a first-round 66 at the Genesis Open.

Johnson reached the clubhouse on five-under par, two shots off the lead, as he chases a victory that could see him leap from third to first in the rankings.

Dustin Johnson's longest drives today ...



350 yards

342 yards

329 yards

329 yards

316 yards

314 yards



He's T2 and 2 back. pic.twitter.com/GCmX5FUv5Y  PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 17, 2017

For that to happen, current number one Jason Day has to finish worse than a three-way tie for third  and the Australian ended day one down in joint 74th, sitting on level par through 16 holes as darkness suspended play early in California.

Dustin Johnson

Japans Hideki Matsuyama is also in with a shout of being world number one on Sunday evening, but needs to win while Day finishes lower than 24th.

And Matsuyama  who was in the same group as Day for the opening round  lies one-under par after 16 holes, six shots adrift of leader Sam Saunders.

Hideki Matsuyama has high standards for himself. #QuickHits pic.twitter.com/HhxOofH0lZ  PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 17, 2017

Johnson, starting on the back nine, birdied the 11th, 14th, 17th and 18th to reach the turn in 32.

He overcame being stung by a bee on the first to gain further shots on the second and third but his only blemish of the day then came on the par-three fourth.

Dustin Johnson was stung by a bee on the first green on Thursday.



He proceeded to shoot a 66.https://t.co/LuB9qfd2Ly pic.twitter.com/DmGT19bxsb  PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 17, 2017

The American told pgatour.com: I missed a pretty easy par putt on the fourth but I played really solid all day long.

It would be great to get (number one) but Im focused on this week. I just want to put myself in a position to have a chance to win on Sunday. Thats the only thing Im really thinking about.

Day struggled at Riviera Country Club, dropping shots at the fourth, eighth, ninth and 12th to cancel out gains on the first, sixth, 11th and 15th.

Round 1 teed off today at the #genesisopen. Fans of all ages came to Riviera to usher in a new era of golf at this historic club pic.twitter.com/7iOD8ZIbBn  The Genesis Invitational (@thegenesisinv) February 17, 2017

Matsuyama birdied the seventh but dropped a shot on the 10th, before ending his day with a gain on the 16th just before play was suspended.

The duo are scheduled to return early on Friday to complete their round after fog caused early delays in Pacific Palisades.

Once the fog lifted, the players enjoyed ideal conditions and Saunders took advantage with a flawless seven-under 64 as he chases a maiden PGA Tour win.

Sam Saunders ties his lowest score in 221 career rounds on the PGA TOUR.



He leads the @genesisopen by two shots. pic.twitter.com/34FvNfFcGw  PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 17, 2017

He enjoys a two-shot lead from Johnson, fellow Americans JT Poston, Daniel Summerhays and Brett Stegmaier, and Australias Cameron Percy.

Irelands Padraig Harrington is a further shot back after ending his opening round with three successive birdies and he is joined on four under by Phil Mickelson.

Englands Luke Donald and world number seven Adam Scott are in a group four shots off the lead.
Teenagers in some parts of the UK are around four times as likely as their peers to apply to go to university, figures show.

Statistics suggest a youngsters chances of applying for a degree course depend heavily on where they live, and in some areas the proportions planning on going into higher education has dropped in the last decade.

A Press Association analysis of Ucas data reveals that on average this year, 55% of 18-year-olds living in the top 10% of parliamentary constituencies in terms of university applications applied for a degree course by the main January 15 deadline.

Just 24% of youngsters living in the bottom 10% of constituencies applied by the same point.

The highest application rate was in the Conservative-held seat of Wimbledon, south-west London, where 70.3% applied.

At the other end of the scale, in Havant, Hampshire, also a Tory seat, the application rate was 17.4%.

Sir Peter Lampl, founder and executive chairman of the Sutton Trust, said: The massive difference in the numbers going on to university between the top and bottom constituencies reflects the fact that the chances of getting to university are very much dependent on where you live and where you go to school.

He added that further work, such as more summer schools and support for clever pupils, is needed, focusing on areas with lower attendance rates.

The statistics also indicate that young people in Tory seats are slightly more likely to apply than those in Labour constituencies.

The average application rate across 328 Tory constituencies was 38%, compared with 34% across 231 Labour seats.

Northern Ireland has the highest application rate this year, at 48%, followed by England, where more than one in three (37%) have applied, and then Wales at 32%.

University graduates

In Scotland, a large proportion of higher education is provided by Scottish colleges, which are not included in the Ucas data.

In England alone, London had the highest application rates at 47%, while the South West had the lowest at 32%.

While the vast majority of constituencies have seen a rise in applications since 2007, 13 are seeing fewer youngsters going to university than they were a decade ago.

Students sitting exams

These are: Cities of London and Westminster (down 4.3 percentage points); Carmarthen East & Dinefwr ( down 3.7); Penrith and The Border (down 2.8); Fermanagh and South Tyrone (down 2.3); Barrow and Furness (down 2.0); New Forest East (down 1.2); Nottingham South (down 1.1); Preseli Pembrokeshire (down 0.6); Bedfordshire North East (down 0.5); Meon Valley (down 0.2); Bristol West (down 0.2); Devon South West ( down 0.1); Brighton Kemptown (down 0.1).

Two  Solihull and Faversham and Kent Mid  are unchanged.

A Department for Education spokesman said application rates for 18-year-olds and poorer youngsters are at record levels.

The reforms we are bringing in through the Higher Education and Research Bill will mean even more people can benefit from a university education, he said.

As well as placing a duty on the Office for Students to ensure institutions do more to attract students from every background, we have also invested 120 million in the National Collaborative Outreach Programme to help young people get the opportunity they deserve to study at university.
The planned rise in business rates will kill off a third of independent retailers, Queen of Shops Mary Portas has warned the Government.

The retail expert, once hired by David Cameron to find a way of saving Britains high streets, branded the looming hike madness and urged Prime Minister Theresa May to scrap the system completely.

She said the controversial revaluation would be the worst blow to shops since the 2008 crash.

Mary Portas

Portas has added her voice to a growing number of business figures speaking out in protest at the plans.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, she said businesses risked being destroyed by increases in their bills of up to 245%.

A closed down shop in Croydon

She said: In 2011 I was commissioned by the government to look at how we could save our high streets.

Six years on and we were really making progress.

So its strange to watch our leaders preparing to impose a new business rates revaluation that will cripple high street shops.

The tax bill, which will hit retailers from April, will be the single biggest blow to independent shops since the financial crisis.

I would estimate that at least a third of them will die off.

(Gareth Fuller/PA)

The Government has said the rates, which are calculated on the rental value of commercial property, will decrease for many businesses due to a fall in property values.

Portas warned that a punitive rise will lead to the return of clone towns in which the only mix will be of charity shops, bookies and Costa.

She said: I am calling on (Communities Secretary) Sajid Javid, (Business Secretary) Greg Clark, and Theresa May to stop this madness before it destroys everything weve been fighting for.

Brigid Simmonds, head of the British Beer & Pub Association, said a proposed cap on business rates for pubs should be lowered.

They are, to use the Prime Ministers words, just about managing, she said in a letter to The Times.

Swift action is needed if they are to thrive as beating hearts of their local communities.

Retailers regularly review leases to determine whether shops stay open. #Businessrates reform essential for growth. https://t.co/P7oErXyfxA pic.twitter.com/tQ6CezZtrZ  The British Retail Consortium (@the_brc) February 15, 2017

Business leaders have written to the Government to urge a rethink on plans to tighten the appeals process, making it more difficult for firms to challenge unfair increases in their business rates.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of British Retail Consortium, which was one of the signatories, said the system is not fit for purpose in the 21st century and warned that businesses in deprived areas would suffer.

#Businessrates should be reduced across board. UK property taxes higher than anywhere in world deterring investment. https://t.co/P7oErXgEG2 pic.twitter.com/AgrYDVAFAO  The British Retail Consortium (@the_brc) February 15, 2017

She told BBC Radio Fours Today programme: It will [do damage to business] because what it will mean is that more of the businesses that go through the appeals process and have a justifiable and fair reason for doing so, wont necessarily be successful.

That means there will be more businesses that end up paying more business rates than they should and thats a problem because they are already, in totality, paying too much.
Nigel Farage has said the political revolution that swept Brexit and Donald Trump to victory will reverberate through Europe, as he warned that concerns over immigration are here to stay.

The former Ukip leader said there has been a fundamental change in public attitudes towards politicians and the media.

And he predicted that the populist wave of discontent in Britain and the US will usher in change across the entire Western world.

Speaking at the partys spring conference in Bolton, he said 2016 is one of those years that children will read about in history books in 100 or 200 years time.

He told the audience: Political revolution in the United Kingdom, huge  a word he (Mr Trump) uses quite a lot  huge political revolution in America, and of course we saw, in December, the Italians getting rid of their prime minister in a referendum.

It was a year of political revolution, and the most remarkable thing about it is it was all started by Ukip.

He dismissed critics who say the discontent is nothing more than a blip and that Britain will wake up and come back from our collective senses across the Western world and return to that comfortable, midway 1990s consensus.

He added: I have to tell you, I am now absolutely certain that the political revolution of 2016 was actually just the beginning of something very much bigger that is going to happen across the entire Western world.

The change in public attitudes towards politics, towards the political class, towards large sections of our establishment liberal media  those changes in attitudes are absolutely fundamental. Far from receding, they are brewing with every month that goes by.

Nigel Farage MEP: "This party succeeded because we were prepared to think the unthinkable and speak the unspeakable" pic.twitter.com/d0XCeBJUXO  UK Independence Party (@UKIP) February 17, 2017

Mr Farage said immigration is a bigger concern for voters today than during the EU referendum campaign.

People arent interested in arguments about the economy, in arguments about growth, in arguments politicians make about jobs, they are not interested. And do you know why? Because they simply dont believe what they are being told.

After all, wasnt our economy going to fall off a cliff if we voted for Brexit?

Nigel Farage

What people care about is national identity, what people care about is their community.

And Ill argue that people in this country and across the West are now beginning to see immigration as a far bigger issue than they even saw it during the referendum campaign last year.

None of this is going away.
Scotlands RBS 6 Nations campaign has suffered a second major blow in three days after Josh Strauss was ruled out of the competition.

The Glasgow number eight suffered a kidney injury against France on Sunday and the Scottish Rugby Union has confirmed he will take no further part in the tournament.

It was announced earlier this week that captain Greig Laidlaws tournament had been ended by an ankle injury.

BREAKING | Strauss ruled out of RBS 6 Nations through injury | https://t.co/aUAkfEmcdh pic.twitter.com/LTMHs29w47  Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) February 17, 2017

An SRU statement revealed 30-year-old Strauss had taken a blow to his flank during Scotlands 22-16 defeat.

It continued: After completing the match, he was scanned in Paris. Both the scan, and the player, were reviewed at Spire Murrayfield Hospital back in Scotland, where the full extent of the injury was confirmed.

Strauss will now return to his club Glasgow Warriors for further care and a review of the injury will be scheduled in approximately six weeks time.

Head coach Vern Cotter refused to use a string of injuries during the Paris loss as an excuse, but the home side came from behind to win as they dominated the final 20 minutes.

Vern Cotter

And the bruising encounter looks set to have a lasting impact on a campaign that started so promisingly with victory over Ireland.

The Scots missed Laidlaws experience, leadership and talent after he went off inside 25 minutes and Strauss was arguably their top performer on the day. The South African-born forward recorded 16 carries and made 47 metres in a determined display.

Another number eight option, Ryan Wilson, missed the trip to Paris after dropping out of the Scotland back row with an elbow infection. Cotter also has Edinburgh loose forward Cornell du Preez in his squad but the South African-born 25-year-old is uncapped.

Flankers John Hardie and John Barclay, centre Alex Dunbar and hooker Fraser Brown also suffered head injuries against France but Cotter will hope the free weekend will allow them to face Wales at BT Murrayfield on February 25.
Thousands of Chileans are planning to attend a protest march in an attempt to get Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez to move clubs.

An event created has been posted on Facebook with the title National protest so that Alexis Sanchez leaves Arsenal  with his future at the Emirates Stadium still up in the air.

The 28-year-old has been stalling on signing a new deal with the Gunners as he seeks not only a pay rise but assurances they can compete for trophies.

Alexis Sanchez

Sanchez has cut an ever-increasingly frustrated figure in recent weeks, culminating in Wednesdays 5-1 Champions League loss to Bayern Munich.

He scored the equaliser for the visitors in that game having seen his initial penalty saved, but was shown crouched on the touchline in a show of despondency as Bayern hammered in their fifth of the night.

Manager Arsene Wenger confirmed on Friday morning that the Chile international, as cherished in his homeland for both his skill and his work ethic as he is by Arsenal fans, had returned to Barcelona for a court case.

But a Facebook event has called on Sanchez to leave for good in the summer, claiming he is being left to plough a lone furrow for Wengers men.

Alexis Sanchez

Over 6,000 users of the social network site had replied that they planned to attend a protest on March 1, with another 7,400 saying they were interested in the event.

We Chileans are tired of seeing one of our stars working by himself to make his team get through, the details of the planned march read.

We dont want him to play in Madrid, nor return to Barcelona, the truth is that we dont give a damn what team he plays for, only that we want to see him fight along with 10 others to achieve results. Not on his own anymore.

Sanchez joined Arsenal from Barcelona in 2014 and has lifted the FA Cup on one occasion since his move to England - during which time he also won back-to-back Copa America titles with Chile.
The Trump administration considered a proposal to mobilise as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorised immigrants, including millions living nowhere near the Mexico border, reports say.

An 11-page memo obtained by the Associated Press apparently calls for the unprecedented militarisation of immigration enforcement as far north as Portland, Oregon, and as far east as New Orleans, Louisiana.

Staff in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reportedly said the proposal had been discussed as recently as Friday 10.

President Donald Trump (Susan Walsh/AP)

Four states that border Mexico were included in the reported proposal - California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The other seven are Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the memo was not a White House document.

He called the AP report 100% not true and said there had been no effort at all to utilise the National Guard to round up unauthorised immigrants.

A DHS official described the document as a very early draft that was not seriously considered and never taken to the secretary for approval.

Governors in the 11 states would have had a choice whether to have their guard troops participate, according to the memo, which reportedly bears the name of homeland security secretary John Kelly, a retired four-star marine general.

While National Guard personnel have been used to assist with immigration-related missions on the US-Mexico border before, they have never been used as broadly or as far north.

The memo was apparently addressed to the acting heads of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and US Customs and Border Protection.

It could have served as guidance to implement the wide-ranging executive order on immigration and border security that Donald Trump signed on January 25.

Also dated January 25, the draft memo reportedly says troops would be authorised to perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension and detention of aliens in the United States, and to conduct searches and identify and arrest any unauthorised immigrants.
North Korea will categorically reject the results of a post-mortem on Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of the countrys ruler, its ambassador in Malaysia said.

He died this week at an airport in Kuala Lumpur and the case is snowballing into a diplomatic crisis.

Police officers patrol outside the forensic department at Kuala Lumpur Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Daniel Chan/AP)

North Korean ambassador Kang Chol told reporters gathered outside the morgue in Kuala Lumpur on Friday night that Malaysia conducted the post-mortem unilaterally and prevented North Korean representatives from attending.

He said North Korea will categorically reject the results and said the move disregarded elementary international laws and consular laws.

The case has unleashed a rash of speculation that Kim Jong Nam was killed on the orders of his half-brother, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Journalists wait in front the forensic department at Kuala Lumpur Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Daniel Chan/AP)

Pyongyangs ambassador said Malaysian officials may be trying to conceal something and colluding with hostile forces.

Kim Jong Nam, who was 45 or 46 and had lived in exile for years, suddenly fell ill at the airport on Monday as he waited for a flight home to Macau.

Dizzy and in pain, he told medical workers at the airport he had been sprayed with a chemical. He died while being taken to hospital.

Mr Kang said the fact that Malaysia has yet to hand over the body strongly suggests that the Malaysian side is trying to conceal something which needs more time and deceive us, and that they are colluding with the hostile forces towards us who are desperate to harm us.

South Korea has accused its enemies in North Korea of dispatching a hit squad to kill Kim Jong Nam at the airport, saying two female assassins poisoned him and then fled in a taxi.

Kim Jong Nam, left, exiled half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (Shizuo Kambayashi, Wong Maye-E/AP)

North Korean diplomats in Malaysia objected to the post-mortem and had requested custody of Kim Jong Nams body, arguing that he had a North Korean passport.

Malaysian authorities went ahead with the procedure anyway, saying they did not receive a formal complaint.

Malaysia said on Friday it wants DNA samples from Kim Jong Nams family as part of the post-mortem procedure and that officials were not yet willing to hand the body over to the North Koreans.

Although Kim Jong Nam is believed to have two sons and a daughter with two women living in Beijing and Macau, police in Malaysia say none have come forward to claim the body or provide DNA samples.

If there is no claim by next-of-kin and upon exhausting all avenues (to obtain DNA), we will finally then hand over the body to the (North Korean) embassy, said Abdul Samah Mat, a senior Malaysian police official. He would not say how long that process might take.

Malaysian police have arrested three people in the investigation but have released few details.
Tottenhams struggling striker Vincent Janssen has been told to prove his worth by manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Janssen has started only one game in three months - against Aston Villa in the FA Cup - and was not even included on the bench for Spurs Europa League defeat to Gent on Thursday.

It was the latest humiliation in a miserable debut season for Janssen, who is yet to score from open play since joining Tottenham for 17.5million from AZ Alkmaar last summer.

Tottenham Hotspur's Vincent Janssen (Richard Sellers/PA)

He has converted four penalties: one in the Premier League, one in the FA Cup and two in the EFL Cup.

Harry Kanes unrivalled status at White Hart Lane meant Janssens opportunities were always going to be limited this season but such is the 22-year-olds lack of form, he is now being overlooked even in the cup competitions.

Kane, who took a knock to his knee against Gent, is likely to be rested against Fulham in the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday but Pochettino was less than emphatic about the idea of Janssen coming in.

Maybe, maybe, Pochettino said. Against Gent he was out of the squad. He needs to show more and well see.

Easy training today, unfortunately no game for me on Sunday! But good luck to the boys. pic.twitter.com/rCdDLblSdk  Vincent Janssen (@vincentjanssen) November 11, 2016

Maybe he will have the opportunity to be on the bench or play [from the start]. We cannot be sure if he will be in the squad, on the bench or start from the beginning.

Performance is always about how the players show their quality, their belief on the training ground.

When you select the starting XI and the bench, I try to be fair. Its normal that maybe he needs to show more.

Pochettino fielded a near full-strength team against Gent, perhaps in the hope of resting players at Craven Cottage, but Tottenham can hardly afford another slip-up.

Team news for Fulham away on Sunday:

 Late decisions to be made on @HKane and @JanVertonghen

 Rose and @ErikLamela remain out. #COYS pic.twitter.com/QJxPEz1DWF  Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 17, 2017

They have won only twice now in six matches, while scoring just once in four, and there is a very real risk of their season unravelling if this dip continues.

Its about trying to give support to help them recover the same spirit and the same feeling that was before Liverpool, Pochettino said.

I am not unhappy, Im not upset. Sometimes things happen, up and down. Now we try to be all together and try to find all together the way to change this run.

 @mousadembele: "It was a tough game for us. Now we need to make it up and win at Wembley. We know we have enough quality." pic.twitter.com/d4fgaxkpVi  Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 16, 2017

If Kane is rested this weekend and Janssen left out again, Heung Son-min may start up front. Kieran Trippier, Harry Winks, Michel Vorm, Joshua Onomah and Cameron Carter-Vickers could all be given a chance to impress.

Tottenham play Gent in the second leg at Wembley on Thursday before hosting Stoke in the Premier League three days later.

You know how tough the competition is in England  the Premier League, the Champions League, the Europa League, Pochettino said.
Feb 16 (Reuters) - A Tennessee man was found guilty on Thursday of plotting in 2015 to round up a militia and burn down a mosque, school and cafeteria in the upstate New York community of Islamberg, which is home to a mostly Muslim population, prosecutors said.

Robert Doggart, 65, was convicted in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga of solicitation to commit arson and violate civil rights, as well as of making a threat in interstate commerce, the Department of Justice said in a written statement.

Attorneys for Doggart did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Doggart was arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents in April 2015 after telling a government informant in wire-tapped phone calls that he planned to recruit a militia and travel to Islamberg, about 145 miles northwest of New York City, prosecutors say.

The group planned to burn down the community's mosque and shoot anyone who tried to stop them, according to the criminal complaint.

"The defendant sought out others to join him in a violent attack on a community of men, women, and children because of their religion," Acting Assistant Attorney General Tom Wheeler said in the statement.

Defense attorneys argued in court that Doggart had exaggerated his intentions to attack Islamberg after being encouraged by the informant and that he never had a solid plan in place, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.

The attorneys also argued that Doggart believed Islamberg residents were training for guerrilla warfare against the West, the newspaper reported.

Islamberg, started by a group of African-American Muslims who moved from U.S. cities in the 1970s, is a gated community with dirt roads and several dozen small homes near the town of Hancock in New York's Catskills Mountains.

The 200 or so members of the community, in which children are home-schooled and residents worship at a mosque built on the 70-acre property, follow a Pakistani Sufi cleric.

Doggart, who had been confined to his home since his apprehension, was taken into custody following Thursday's verdict, WRCB TV news reported. His sentencing is scheduled for May, it reported. (Reporting by Laila Kearney and Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Leslie Adler and James Dalgleish)
By Junko Fujita

TOKYO, Feb 17 (Reuters) - S&P Global Inc said in a report on Friday it could cut its rating of Toshiba Corp credit by several notches should the Japanese firm receive financial support that includes debt restructuring, sending Toshiba stock down 9 percent.

S&P rates Toshiba credit as junk, at CCC+, following downgrades in December and January, after the conglomerate flagged a multi-billion dollar writedown in its nuclear power business. The credit-rating firm expects banks to help Toshiba, including by extending deadlines for loan repayments.

Any further downgrade would prompt banks to charge Toshiba even higher rates for credit, at a time when the conglomerate is dealing with the crippling writedown while still working to recover from a financial scandal in 2015.

"If any financial support includes debt-to-equity swaps or changes in loan conditions, we would consider that as selective default," S&P Global analyst Hiroki Shibata said in a telephone conference later on Friday. "In that event, we might cut its rating by several notches."

Shibata drew comparison with Sharp Corp. In 2015, S&P rated the panel maker's debt 'selective default' after it agreed a 200 billion yen ($1.76 billion) debt-to-equity swap with main lenders Mizuho Bank Ltd and Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd.

The next day, S&P raised the rating to junk, at B-, expecting the bailout to strengthen Sharp's finances. But five months later, S&P cut the rating further into junk, to CCC-, as Sharp's main business failed to improve.

On Thursday, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc's banking unit - one of Toshiba's main lenders - said it would provide the conglomerate with as much support as possible. The other main lender is Mizuho Financial Group Inc.

A day earlier, Toshiba executives asked creditors for an extension of a waiver for a loan covenant violation until the end of next month, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

S&P's Shibata on Friday also said the credit-rating firm was closely watching Toshiba's likely sale of its chip business.

Toshiba initially planned to sell less than 20 percent of its NAND flash memory unit, but is now considering selling most or all the business some time after March 31, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The chip business is cyclical and capital intensive but currently generates stable profit, so its sale could essentially be negative for Toshiba, Shibata said.

A Toshiba spokesman said the firm is not in a position to comment on the assessments of credit-rating firms.

Separately, Toshiba said in a stock exchange filing on Thursday that it would buy 3 percent of U.S. nuclear power subsidiary Westinghouse Electric Co LLC from IHI Corp for $157 million, after the Japanese infrastructure firm exercised an option to sell.

The multi-billion dollar writedown in Toshiba's nuclear business stemmed from a unit owned by Westinghouse.

($1 = 113.4300 yen) (Reporting by Junko Fujita and Tim Kelly; Editing by Clara Ferreira Marques and Christopher Cushing)
By Olzhas Auyezov

ASTANA, Feb 16 (Reuters) - With its show of military force, Russia changed the tide of the Syrian civil war. It is finding the next phase -- brokering an end to the fighting -- a tougher proposition.

A round of Syria peace talks sponsored by Russia ended on Thursday with no joint communique, usually the minimum outcome of any diplomatic negotiation, and saw opposing Syrian groups exchanging angry tirades at each other and the brokers.

With no concrete progress to report, media representatives at the talks venue in ex-Soviet Kazakhstan, were so hungry for a scrap of news that at one point a crowd formed around an Arabic speaker who they thought was a participant in the talks. He turned out to be another journalist.

Western diplomats, who say Russian President Vladimir Putin's campaign of air strikes has worsened the conflict, have, in private, reacted to Russia's tribulations as a peacemaker with variations on the phrase: "We told you so."

Russia proposed a series of negotiations in the Kazakh capital Astana late last year with the expectation that, as the predominant outside power in Syria following its military intervention, it could break a deadlock that had defied the repeated efforts of the big Western powers and U.N. mediators.

Moscow's peace drive started hopefully, with the first Astana meeting in January. The Syrian rebels and government came together for the first time in 9 months, and agreement was reached to consolidate a shaky ceasefire.

But by the second round this week, things had gone downhill. The Syrian rebels debated until the eleventh hour about whether to attend at all, finally sending a smaller delegation which arrived in the Kazakh capital a day late.

Russia's efforts were hampered by the deep enmity between the rival Syrian sides, but also by contradictions among its co-sponsors. One of them, Turkey, is fiercely opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Russia and the third co-sponsor, Iran, are Assad's staunchest allies.

Syrian government negotiator Bashar Jaafari said on Thursday that peace talks in Astana had not produced a communique because of the "irresponsible" late arrival of rebel participants and their Turkish backers which delayed the joint session by a day.

He also criticized the rebels and Turkey for downgrading their delegations from the previous meeting.

"Turkey cannot ignite the fire and at the same time act as a firefighter," he told a briefing after the talks.

The rebels, in turn, accused the Syrian government and Iran of routinely violating the ceasefire and Russia of failing to enforce it.

"We know that the Russians have a problem with those for whom they are guarantors," rebel negotiator Yahya al-Aridi told reporters, referring to Tehran and Assad's forces.

A STEP TOO FAR

According to two sources - a senior French diplomat and an official present for the talks from a country not directly participating - one of the main reasons progress had slowed were Moscow's attempts to expand the talks beyond the ceasefire and discuss political solutions to the Syrian crisis.

Moscow has offered the Syrians a draft of a new constitution, Russian negotiator Alexander Lavrentiev told reporters on Thursday.

He also said the joint Russia-Turkey-Iran ceasefire monitoring task force agreed upon in Astana in January could in the future expand its activities to include a political settlement of the crisis.

But the sources said other parties resisted those efforts, because they were still more focused on the fighting on the ground in Syria.

Iran, according to one of the sources, wants to push on with territorial gains achieved by its allies in Syria, while Turkey is hell-bent on not allowing any Kurds near its border.

The rebels also indicated they wanted the talks to focus on more down-to-earth matters such as air strikes on their territory - which they said Russia has promised to stop - and release of prisoners.

"We did not come here to make incorrect political decisions," said rebel negotiator Mohammad Alloush.

CAGED PARROTS

Even the hosts for the talks, the Kazakh government, downgraded their presence. A deputy foreign minister welcomed the delegates instead of the minister himself, as was the case in January. The rebels sent 9 people, instead of the 15-person delegation that attended the previous round.

Organisers cordoned off most of the lobby of the Rixos Hotel, venue for the meeting, so negotiators could step out and have tea or coffee at tables surrounded by plants and parrots in cages.

Several ambassadors from Middle Eastern countries kept walking in and out of a conference room where the talks were being held behind closed doors, but mostly spent their time in the hotel's Irish pub, though they did not appear to drink any alcohol.

United Nations special envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura attended the first round of talks where he stressed that Syria's political transition must be discussed in Geneva rather than in Astana. He did not attend the second round, travelling to Moscow instead for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Originally, Thursday's talks were billed as a low-key technical meeting. The co-sponsors then upgraded it last Friday, raising expectations that real progress could be achieved.

A successful outcome would have handed a PR coup to Russia right before U.N.-led talks on Syria in Geneva on Feb.23. But instead, Lavrentiev, the Russian negotiator, was left trying to explain why the latest round had ended in acrimony.

"The level of mutual distrust is rather high and there were many mutual accusations, but I think we must keep moving forward every time, step by step," he said. (Additional reporting by Raushan Nurshayeva in ASTANA and John Irish in PARIS; Editing by Christian Lowe and Peter Graff)
Following are news stories, press reports and events to watch that may affect Poland's financial markets on Friday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 1 hour):

DATA

Poland's statistics office to release January retail sales, output and PPI data at 1300 GMT.

REGULATOR KNF

Dismissed deputy head of Polish financial market watchdog KNF Wojciech Kwasniak may become advisor to the central bank governor, Puls Biznesu daily said without quoting a source.

ASSECO POLAND

Asseco Poland group has agreed to buy IT company StoneRiver in the U.S. The transaction is valued at $100 million, according to Rzeczpospolita daily.

SOCIETE GENERALE

France's Societe Generale plans to set up its equities competency centre for CEE region in Warsaw, Parkiet daily said.

L'OREAL

French cosmetic giant L'Oreal plans to invest 250 million zlotys ($61.86 million) within five years in its Polish factory, president of L'Oreal Polska was quoted as saying by Rzeczpospolita daily.

JOB MARKET

More than 800,000 Ukrainians were employed in Poland in 2016, Polish deputy labour minister told Republika broadcaster on Friday.

PKN, LOTOS

Polish energy ministry is not analysing a potential consolidation of Polish refiners, PAP news agency said on Thursday evening quoting the ministry's press office as saying.

A government official said earlier on Thursday that the state should increase its stake in PKN Orlen, which would be possible if the company is merged with its smaller rival Lotos.

CAPITAL PARK

Patron Capital, which holds a 73-percent stake in Polish real estate developer Capital Park, is considering options which could result in changes in the company's shareholder structure, Capital Park said on Thursday evening.

****Reuters has not verified stories reported by Polish media and does not vouch for their accuracy.****

For other related news, double click on: Polish equities E.Europe equities Polish money Polish debt Eastern Europe All emerging markets Hot stocks Stock markets Market debt news Forex news For real-time index quotes, double click on: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX ($1 = 4.0417 zlotys) (Reporting by Warsaw Bureau)
PHNOM PENH, Feb 17 (Reuters) - A prominent critic of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen was detained on Friday to face charges of trying to incite chaos and defamation, a court in Phnom Penh said.

Opponents and critics of the veteran prime minister have come under increasing pressure in the run-up to local elections this year and a general election next year in the Southeast Asian country.

Kim Sok was detained after appearing in court to face a claim for $500,000 in damages filed by Hun Sen after comments he had made pointing a finger at the government over the murder of a commentator and activist last year.

The court said Kim Sok had been charged with incitement to cause chaos in society and public defamation. He did not have a lawyer and he was not able to speak to reporters before being taken to Prey Sar prison.

Hun Sen's lawyer welcomed the decision.

Defamation cases have been used against several opponents of Hun Sen, who has been in power for 30 years but only just managed to win the last general election in 2013.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy, living in exile to escape a series of defamation convictions, resigned from his party last weekend. That followed an announcement from Hun Sen of a planned legal change to dissolve any party whose leader had been convicted of a serious offence. (Reporting by Phnom Penh newsroom; Editing by Robert Birsel)
By Tom Miles

GENEVA, Feb 17 (Reuters) - The United Nations is no longer using the phrase "political transition" to describe the goals of next week's Syria peace talks, in a potentially major concession to negotiators representing President Bashar al-Assad.

"Political transition" is a phrase understood by the opposition to mean a removal of Assad or at least an erosion of his powers. But his government has rejected any suggestion that it could be on the table, and at previous peace talks in Geneva his negotiators consistently tried to steer away from it.

Yara Sharif, spokeswoman for U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura, initially told a regular U.N. briefing in Geneva on Friday that the talks, due to start on Feb. 23, would address the political transition.

"I think, yes, you can use the word 'political transition'. It is going to be a focus I guess as it has been in the past," she said in response to a reporter's question.

But she later sent an email to clarify her comment.

"This morning at the briefing I was asked about the intra-Syrian negotiations and whether the issue of political transition would be discussed," she said.

"For clarification purposes, please note that the negotiations will be entirely guided by (U.N.) Security Council Resolution 2254, which talks specifically about governance, a new constitution and elections in Syria."

The December 2015 resolution was unanimously adopted as the basis for peace talks, which ran fitfully through the first months of 2016 but never resumed after the end of April.

The resolution says the U.N. Secretary-General should convene formal negotiations on "a political transition process on an urgent basis... with a view to a lasting political settlement of the crisis". It also refers to previous international agreements which called for a transition.

But its description of the political process contains no mention of the phrase, setting out the aims as a new constitution, free and fair elections administered under supervision of the United Nations, and transparent and accountable governance.

The last set of U.N.-led Syria talks in Geneva ended in April last year, with de Mistura setting out a summary of what had been agreed so far and what next steps were needed.

"No one is doubting any more that there is an urgent need for a true and credible political transition," the U.N. envoy said at the time. "You remember when the word transition, at least in certain area, was taboo? Not any more." (Reporting by Tom Miles; editing by Dominic Evans)
LISBON/MADRID, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Portugal's largest company EDP Energias de Portugal could sell the gas distribution network of its Spanish subsidiary Naturgas if it can get the right price, and has hired banks to evaluate the asset, sources told Reuters on Friday.

EDP has been working to diminish debt of around 16 billion euros ($17 billion), including via asset sales. Its target is to cut the net debt-to-EBITDA ratio to 3 times by 2020 from just under 4 times last year.

Naturgas is Spain's second-largest gas distributor with 7,715 km (4,800 miles) of networks in northern Spain and some analysts put its value at over 2 billion euros.

One source with the knowledge of the situation said that EDP had mandated one or two investment banks to analyse the value of Naturgas after the sector's business valuations improved.

"EDP wants to be prepared in case a good proposal materialises, but it has not taken any decision to sell," the source said.

An EDP spokesman declined to comment.

Another source said the Portuguese company had already started informal talks with several parties interested in Naturgas, but would not say who the potential buyers might be.

Spanish gas assets have been the focus of investor interest in the past two years.

Goldman Sachs is awaiting binding bids for Redexis, which Spanish media estimate could fetch 2.5 billon euros. And in 2015 a consortium led by Dutch pension fund PGGM bought Madrilena Red de Gas from Morgan Stanley at high multiples of 13 times EBITDA.

One source said EDP was likely to wait for the result of the Redexis sale to take a decision on Naturgas.

Spanish daily El Economista said on Friday that EDP sought 2 billion euros for Naturgas, but the second source told Reuters that would be below fair value.

Analysts at Portugal's Banco BPI said in a research note on Friday they value Naturgas at 2.1 billion euros.

They said a potential sale "makes sense financially due to the all-time high valuations for regulated assets", while Naturgas has a relatively low weight within EDP's operations and offers only limited synergies with its other businesses.

EDP is also trying to sell a small gas distribution company in Portugal, Portgas.

($1 = 0.9383 euros) (Reporting by Sergio Goncalves and Jose Elias Rodriguez; Writing By Andrei Khalip; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
By Syed Raza Hassan

SEHWAN SHARIF, Pakistan, Feb 17 (Reuters) - At first light on Friday, just hours after a suicide bomber hit a packed crowd at a famous Pakistani shrine, a group of devotees descended on the gold-doomed mausoleum and danced in fervent celebration of their Sufi faith.

Thursday night's bombing at the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine, in southern Sindh province, killed 83 people in Pakistan's deadliest attack in two years.

The attack was claimed by Middle East-based Islamic State, which has a small but increasingly prominent presence in Pakistan.

The shrine is one of Pakistan's most revered holy sites and attracts up to a million visitors each year. It is perhaps best known for men and women practicing the ancient form of Sufi dance called the "dhamaal".

Many devotees interviewed by Reuters on Friday made it clear that, no matter their frustration at authorities for failing to protect the shrine, they would keep coming to express their faith.

"This blast cannot dent the resolve of devotees from coming here or for that matter going to any other shrine," said Iqbal Husain, 49, a resident of the dusty town of Sehwan Sharif, on the banks of the river Indus, where the shrine is located.

"Our life and death is with Lal Saain," he added, referring to the 13th century saint in whose memory the bombed shrine was built around 800 years ago.

Behind him, the shattered visage of a part of the shrine was still visible.

A series of attacks over five days have hit all four of Pakistan's provinces and two major cities, killing nearly 100 people and shaking a nascent sense that the worst of the country's militant violence may be in the past.

The entry of the Islamic State into Pakistan's crowded militant scene risks further attacks on Sufis because its ideology particularly includes punishment of minority sects and religions.

"If they think this blast will create fear among the Sufi people, they are badly mistaken," said Nazar Husain Shah, who was visiting the shrine from a neighbouring district. "They have been bombing shrines for long; have people stopped going to shrines?"

Last November, an explosion ripped through another Sufi shrine, the Shah Noorani in southwestern Pakistan, killing at least 52 people. Islamic State also claimed responsibility for that attack.

"READY FOR ANOTHER ONSLAUGHT"

With its ancient hypnotic rituals, Sufism is a mystical form of Islam that has been practised in Pakistan for centuries.

Men and women beating drums, waving their arms and swirling together as they practice the dhamaal are a common Thursday night spectacle at the Lal Qalandar shrine.

But such rituals make Sufis an increasingly obvious target of Sunni militants who consider them heretics.

After Thursday's attack, many devotees said they felt fearful but also vowed to keep up their Sufi practices and hoped for better protection from the authorities.

"We are ready for another onslaught, but that doesn't mean the government should not secure our shrine," said the custodian of the religious site, Mehdi Raza Shah.

He said he had expected the attack and asked local authorities to improve security. He also expressed frustration with the level of preparedness and training of policemen deployed to protect the shrine.

"Security is not up to the mark and if some serious attack occurred these cops who have no anti-terrorism training would have failed, and that is exactly what happened yesterday evening."

As night fell, devotees continued to arrive at the shrine even though police and paramilitary personnel had kept entry into the building blocked throughout the day.

"Dhamaal will take place today, as per routine," the defiant custodian said. (Writing by Mehreen Zahra-Malik; Editing by Alex Richardson)
By Donny Kwok and Katy Wong

HONG KONG, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Former Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang, the highest-ranking ex-official to be charged in the city's history, was convicted on Friday of misconduct in public office.

His conviction adds to a number of scandals ensnaring powerful officials that have marred Hong Kong's reputation as a relatively corruption-free society, while posing a challenge for China's leaders who have strived to maintain stability in Hong Kong since it reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997.

The nine-person jury found Tsang failed to disclose private rental negotiations with property tycoon Bill Wong Cho-bau while his cabinet discussed and approved a digital broadcasting licence for a now defunct radio company, Wave Media, in which Wong was a major shareholder.

Tsang, who had a long and stellar career in diverse senior posts in the Asian financial hub before and after the 1997 handover, was acquitted of a second misconduct charge. The jury also failed to reach a majority decision on a separate bribery charge.

Tsang, 72, had pleaded not guilty to one count of accepting an advantage and two counts of misconduct in public office between 2010 and 2012.

He faces a possible seven-year sentence. Sentencing will take place later but the court announced no date. Tsang was granted bail and was expected to appear at a hearing on Monday.

It was not immediately clear whether Tsang would appeal.

In another high-profile case, Tsang ally and former chief secretary Rafael Hui, and billionaire tycoon, Thomas Kwok, a former co-head of Asia's largest property company, Sun Hung Kai, were found guilty of bribery and jailed in late 2014.

Friday's verdict followed six weeks of testimony from witnesses including Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's former chief secretary who is in the running for the city's leadership election next month.

Tsang, who was dressed in a dark suit and a burgundy bow tie, emerged from the court flanked by his wife and family, looking sombre after the verdict was handed down. He gave no initial comment and was driven away.

HOT WATER IN TWILIGHT OF CAREER

Tsang was accused of accepting refurbishment and decoration work on a three-storey penthouse in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen that he had rented from the Shenzhen East Pacific Group, owned by Wong, but the jury failed to reach a majority decision on this charge after deliberating for nearly two days.

The second misconduct charge was in connection with Tsang's nomination for a government award of an architect who had carried out design work on the Shenzhen penthouse. He was acquitted of that charge.

Tsang, who served in various posts including Hong Kong's financial secretary and later as its second post-1997 chief executive, found himself embroiled in hot water at the twilight of his career.

The graft offences Tsang faced were alleged to have occurred between 2010 and 2012, the year he retired as chief executive.

"Because of my personal mishandling of matters, in shaking public confidence in Hong Kong's (civil service) to be incorrupt and honest in performing one's duties, and in causing disappointment towards civil servants, I once again wholeheartedly apologise to everyone," an emotional Tsang told reporters in 2012.

His comments came after reports surfaced of lavish spending on overseas duty visits, and trips with tycoons by private jet and luxury yacht.

Tsang and his defence had stressed his years of upstanding public service during the trial. They maintained that he had done nothing wrong, and only wanted to create a quiet, retirement residence for himself and his wife in Shenzhen, insisting he had rented it at market rates.

Prosecutor David Perry, however, described Tsang in court as a "greedy" man who had abused his office for personal gain.

Some politicians welcomed the verdict.

"The court sends a very clear message to the public that no one is above the law," said Lam Cheuk Ting, a former ICAC investigator and pro-democracy lawmaker.

A devout Catholic, Tsang was knighted by Queen Elizabeth for his distinguished public service under the British colonial administration before 1997. (Writing by James Pomfret; Editing by Rob Birsel and Mark Heinrich)
JOHANNESBURG, Feb 17 (Reuters) - The former chief executive of South Africa's state power firm Eskom, Brian Molefe, has been nominated to parliament as a member of the ruling ANC after resigning in November over allegations of influence peddling.

Molefe has denied any wrongdoing after being implicated in a report by the anti-graft watchdog.

"Parliament wishes to acknowledge the nomination of Mr Brian Molefe, to fill a vacancy on the North West list of ANC (African National Congress) Members of Parliament," spokesman for parliament Moloto Mothapo said in a statement.

The report by the Public Protector, a constitutionally mandated watchdog, raised questions over coal deals between Eskom and a company controlled by the wealthy Gupta family, who are friends with President Jacob Zuma.

Zuma and the Guptas have also denied any wrongdoing.

The report called for a judicial inquiry into the allegations of corruption. Zuma has applied for a court action to set aside the Public Protector's report, arguing that it does not have the right to compel him to form a judicial inquiry. His application has yet to be heard.

At the time of the report's release, Eskom also said it was considering challenging it in court. (Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by James Macharia and Hugh Lawson)
By Maja Zuvela and Daria Sito-Sucic

SARAJEVO, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Bosnia will appeal a U.N. court ruling that cleared Serbia of blame for genocide, the Muslim Bosniak member of the country's presidency said on Friday, a move likely to widen rifts between the ethnic groups which fought the 1992-95 war.

The 2007 judgment by the International Court of Justice exonerated Serbia of direct responsibility for killings, rapes and "ethnic cleansing" in Bosnia during the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, though it said Serbia had failed to prevent genocide.

And while the ICJ ruling concluded that genocide had occurred at Srebrenica, where about 8,000 Muslims were slaughtered by Bosnian Serb forces, it did not say genocide had happened in other parts of Bosnia.

Bakir Izetbegovic, the Bosniak member of the three-man presidency alongside Serbian and Croatian peers, has engaged a lawyer without his colleagues' consent to prepare the lawsuit ahead of a 10-year deadline on Feb. 26.

"The request for (revision) will be filed next week," Izetbegovic, who heads the largest Bosniak party, SDA, told a news conference after meeting lawyers and war survivors. The goal is to prove that genocide was so widespread that it could not be limited to Srebrenica, he added.

The Bosnian Serb and Croat leaders have opposed his initiative, saying it would violate the constitution and cause a political crisis in the volatile Balkan country.

Serb lawmakers in the national parliament have indicated they may boycott the legislature until the ICJ declares on the request.

Milorad Dodik, the president of Bosnia's autonomous Serb Republic, asked the Serb representatives in state institutions to dispute the appeal before the ICJ and launch criminal proceedings against Izetbegovic.

Izetbegovic said the revision of the judgement carried an "obvious risk" but he could not give up.

"To trade with human suffering and genocide for the sake of political stability would cause a disastrous damage to the dignity of the victims," he said.

"This is bad news," Aleksandar Vucic, the prime minister of Serbia, which provided financial and logistics support for Bosnian Serb troops during the war, was quoted as saying by Tanjug news agency.

Izetbegovic said among the new evidence to be submitted would be material from the trial of Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb general facing charges at the U.N. war crimes tribunal over his role in the Srebrenica massacre.

"All we want is justice and we have the right to it," said Kada Hotic, who lost her son, husband and two brothers in the genocide. (Additional reporting by Gordana Katana in Banja Luka and Ivana Sekularac in Belgrade, writing by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Gareth Jones and Robin Pomeroy)
By Oliver Ellrodt and Michelle Martin

BERLIN, Feb 17 (Reuters) - A film about Brazil's national hero that explores racism and the privileges of a small elite in the 18th century helps explain Brazil's current problems because little has changed since that colonial era, its director said on Friday.

In "Joaquim" - which is competing at the Berlin Film Festival - the eponymous 18th century second lieutenant works at a checkpoint catching gold smugglers.

He falls in love with a black slave and hopes to buy her freedom but struggles to get the promotion he needs to provide the funds, with one of his peers telling him you have to be well-born to rise up.

When Joaquim is sent on a mission to find new sources of gold, he ends up wanting to free Brazil from colonial power Portugal, encouraged by his lover and books a man gives him.

"When you go to a psychoanalyst, if you are having a crisis and you lie down on the couch, the psychoanalyst asks who is your father and who is your mother? How was your life with them? In order to understand the present day crisis," Brazilian Director Marcelo Gomes told Reuters in an interview.

"So I think I did the same thing here - I went back 200 years to the birth of the Brazilian nation to understand the present day crisis. I uncovered the flaws of the past to understand the flaws of today," he added.

Gomes said the "social fractures" of the colonial era were still visible in Brazilian society and modern-day examples of corruption included companies not paying their taxes.

Isabel Zuaa, who plays the black slave Preta, said she faced prejudice on a daily basis in real life and relished the chance to play a woman who stirs up revolutionary feelings in Joaquim.

"What I want to bring to the screen are themes that are very current, things that I face in my everyday life, things that are connected to survival, to resistance and to strategy in order to survive in a world where my body, my colour, is looked down on," she told journalists.

"Joaquim" is, along with 17 other films, competing for the Golden and Silver Bears at the 'Berlinale'. (Writing by Michelle Martin; Editing by Dominic Evans)
SANTIAGO, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Anglo American PLC will temporarily suspend operations at its El Soldado copper mine in Chile after failing to receive regulatory approval for a redesign that would have helped keep output flowing, the company said on Friday.

Chilean mining regulator Sernageomin has rejected the permit request for the redesign, Anglo said, confirming a Reuters story from Thursday.

"The company has as a result decided to immediately and temporarily suspend mine operations, while it analyses in detail the report issued by the institution and decides on the next steps in respect of the future of said operation," Anglo said in a statement.

Options could include appealing or coming up with a new plan, it added.

The mine's output - it produced around 36,000 tonnes of copper in 2015 - is small by the standards of Chile, the world's top copper producer.

But the stoppage could impact the market at a time when the two biggest copper mines, Escondida in Chile and Grasberg in Indonesia, have both declared force majeure after production ground to a halt.

El Soldado is part of the Anglo American Sur complex, in which state-run Codelco and Japan's Mitsui and Mitsubishi also hold stakes.

It has lost money in recent years and has been following an aggressive savings plan against a backdrop of falling copper prices. It said last year that the mine's long-term viability was at risk under current market conditions and laid off 10 percent of the workforce.

Sernageomin did not immediately respond to requests for comment. (Reporting by Luc Cohen and Rosalba O'Brien; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Leslie Adler)
Associated Battery Manufacturers (Ceylon) Limited (ABM), the manufacturers of premier lead-acid automotive batteries in Sri Lanka, recently won the Gold award in the medium scale-manufacturing category at National Quality Awards 2016 presented by the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI).

The event held at Hilton Colombo was graced by President Maithripala Sirisena.

The National Quality Award is presented annually to recognize Sri Lankan organisations that excel in quality management and quality achievement.

ABM is a subsidiary of Exide Industries Limited  India. The company manufactures the widest range of lead acid batteries from 25Ah to 200Ah capacity under the brand names Exide and Lucas.

Commenting on excellent achiement ABM CEO/Director M. Ramachandran said the response to ABM Exide batteries in foreign countries too has been excellent and the company was targeting US $ 1 million revenue in 2016/17 on battery exports to foreign markets.

By 2020, the CEO said they target Rs.5 billion turnover with a 65 percent local market share and that was part of the expansion plan which had asked for more exports and new products added to the companys portfolio. The company has also projected a PBT of Rs.500 million in the same period.

Since its inception in 1960, ABM has been able to stay in the local market as the market leader in spite of the tremendous competition that it faced from imported batteries. This is due to the fact that it produces high-quality tropicalized batteries which suit climatic conditions and rugged roads.

The new office complex building with an investment of Rs.30 million is now commissioned and the two-wheeler battery manufacturing plant with an investment of Rs.50 million is scheduled to commence manufacturing in March 2017, the CEO said.

An aggressive export campaign has been also launched by ABM after setting up its International Marketing Division and a good response has been received from a host of counties, Ramachandran said.

We are trying to be unique and have a technical edge on other batteries. We analyse the batteries available in countries that we export and do the product at par of those batteries or products with better advantage in that market in terms of technology or price. This technical expertise will also be passed onto the local customer, he said.

Ramachandran said they were to enter the Myanmar market and had already started with Singapore and through the company CBSEA enter Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia.

The CEO said officials from the Maldives, Singapore, Myanmar, Dubai and the Seychelles had earlier visited the ABM factory premises in Ratmalana and were very impressed with the product, the changes and the quality systems of the plant. Orders started to flow in subsequent to these visits,he opined.

Furthermore, a Rs.76 million assembly line has been ordered from the UK as a part of expansion drive in addition to the investment in the office complex last year, he said. The marine battery project, which commenced last year, too was gaining momentum with consignments already dispatched to the Maldives and Singapore. The International Marketing Division was formed in April and up to January 2017 had exported batteries to the value of US $ 650,000 and the projected target for 2016/17 is US $ 1 million.

The company has plans to produce electric three-wheeler, solar application and industrial batteries soon, Ramachandran added.
At least 72 people were killed and more than 150 injured in a suicide attack on the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan on Thursday evening.



So far 72 people have been killed and more than 150 have been wounded, Inspector General Police Sindh A.D. Khawaja said.



Many of the wounded are in critical condition and they will be shifted to Karachi as soon as navy helicopters and the C-130 plane reach the nearest airport.



Medical Superintendant Dr Moinuddin Siddiqui of Sehwan Taluka Hospital confirmed that 61 bodies were received by the hospital.



Almost all the bodies were brought here. We have handed over 26 bodies to the heirs of the deceased, while those that remain unidentified are at the hospital, said Siddiqui

Deputy Commissioner Munawar Maheesar confirmed the dead included at least four children and 12 women. The Assistant Superintendent of Police in Sehwan said a suicide bomber entered the shrine through its Golden gate. The attacker blew himself up after throwing a grenade, which failed to explode, he added.



The explosion took place in the area where the dhamaal (a Sufi ritual) was being performed after evening prayers. A large number of devotees, from different faiths and from across the country, frequent the shrine on Thursdays  a day of spiritual significance in Pakistans shrine culture.

Security for shrines was tightened across the province following the attack.

DAWN.COM/ 17.02.2017-
Caterpillar (CAT), the worlds leading manufacturer of construction equipment, recently conferred United Tractor & Equipment (Pvt.) Ltd (UTE), Sri Lankas leader in engineering solutions, Silver status for 3Q16, for its continued exceptional service excellence and impressive performance.

UTE is part of the China-India region for CAT operations and its performance is noteworthy as it was one of only two dealers to receive Silver certification for the quarter among the other nine dealers for the region.

Caterpillar assesses its dealers on an ongoing basis quarterly and annually  recognizing those who deliver benchmark levels of service. The companys service performance is evaluated constantly through 16 key performance indicators (KPIs) categorized into four different areas: customer satisfaction, service effectiveness, service efficiency and profitability.

UTE has been participating in the CAT Service Excellence Awards since 2014 and received Bronze in 2015. In a short span of two years, through ongoing commitment and continuously improved processes, UTE has demonstrated excellent progress to receive the Silver award for its third quarter performance in 2016.

Commenting on this accolade, UTE Chairman Prasan Fernando said, We are extremely pleased to have received a higher level recertification from CAT as it demonstrates our continuous commitment to achieve the best possible results. Together with the entire team, we look towards driving our processes forward, building on the Silver status and aim for the ambitious Gold award in the future.

Also contributing to the award are 45 attributes with special emphasis placed on the companys culture and team behaviour. Through regular feedback and evaluation, CAT conducts assessments and an annual percentage is assigned reflecting the companys scoring for these attributes.

Through CATs assessments, UTE has now achieved Silver status. CAT is a Fortune 100 company and as a developing Asian nation with a small market, we are very proud of this achievement. We have proven that we can maintain international standards and from among 300 dealers worldwide we have been recognised, bringing value for the country, said UTE Product Support Services General Manager Aravinda Jayasekera.

Elaborating on the path towards this achievement, Jayasekera noted that UTEs four-star level workshop, which conducts CATs internationally recognised programmes, state-of the-art training facility, placement of processes and constant monitoring of KPIs with responsibilities given throughout the structure and inculcating a thorough understanding of service excellence in terms of CAT culture, contributed towards the new certification.

We have the best service workshop in the country for our industry. We have around 100 technicians and provide 24-hour service. We have a branch network of about six branches for heavy machinery and our technicians are sent islandwide. We cater to both Sri Lankan clients and those from overseas who seek our expertise. We have demonstrated that our facilities, technicians, workforce and vehicles are the best and now recognised by Caterpillar as Silver-level leadership, said Jayasekera.

Noting the encouragement received from the company Jayasekera added, In UTE, our management, from the CEO to the chairman, supports us. They have provided all the facilities, creating the environment to help us drive our people towards the goals and ensuring added value. That is one of the key success factors in UTE.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH179 to Colombo had been forced to turn back to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) today due to technical issues, New Straits Times said today.

Malaysia Airlines in a statement said the aircraft, which departed at 10.10 pm yesterday, had to turn back when its auxiliary power unit (APU) was unable to start.

The APU which provides backup power is required to be switched on when an aircraft crosses over water. The aircraft had landed at the KLIA at 1.50 am today.

Due to closure of Bandaranaike International Airport for scheduled maintenance at the runway, an immediate retiming was not possible. Hence, passengers were accommodated at nearby hotels. The flight will now operate as MH179D to depart from Kuala Lumpur at 3.30pm and is expected to arrive in Colombo at 4.35pm (local time) today, the statement said.

The return leg MH178D has been retimed to depart Colombo at 5.10pm (local time) on the same day and will arrive at KLIA at 11:20pm, it said.

Malaysia Airlines said safety has always been the main priority. It apologised to the affected passengers for the disruption.
HSBC Colombo Fashion Week introduces its next edition  to be held on 13-18 March, 2018. In its 14th year, Colombo Fashion Week has set itself bigger goals in taking the fashion industry to the next level, while showcasing Colombo as a center for progressive fashion.

Colombo Fashion Week started its journey in the year 2003; with just a handful of designers. It has since been instrumental in launching the careers of over 90% of fashion designers you see today.

Colombo Fashion Week has revived the fashion industry and now enjoys a momentum which has become a platform for the next generation of designers as well as for those who started their journey through it.

Designer development has been the foundation of CFW since its inception, from an industry perspective, as it is instrumental in building the next generation of designers. This I believe, is the key ingredient of a healthy fashion and design industry, said AjaiVir Singh, Founder of Colombo Fashion Week. While planning the year ahead, we carefully look at all aspects of the fashion design industry, to plan intervention for its betterment. This will always be our focus, he added.

The Emerging Designers Show will showcase the designs of a select number of outstanding, aspiring fashion designers chosen by an expert panel of judges. The designers have been mentored by the CFW team to aid them in honing their skills and being guided through the creative process to produce each of their runway-ready collections for CFW Summer 18.

CFW will also be reintroducing Ethical Fashion Day this season, keeping in line with Ajais vision for conscious, sustainable and good fashion.

Highlighting detailed designer development is Project 7 that aims to strengthen the ideation process leading to a strong point-of-view development. It is a specialized programme composed of a series of workshops that takes participants through practical steps that influence creativity and ideation with a refreshing perspective.

Partnering with premier fine dining restaurants in Colombo, CFW brings Fashion + Food, which is essentially a marriage of the fashion world with the culinary world. This encourages participation from a whole spectrum of tastemakers, transcending the runway and thus, resulting in making Summer 18 a celebration of both immaculate style but also immaculate taste.

Another reintroduced sub-brand by Colombo Fashion Week is CFW Frame, which encompasses Fashion + Art. The two segments respectively showcase artists with unique and interesting points of view, merging the world of fashion with that of various art mediums and film.
By Shabiya Ali Ahlam

The much-touted Google Loon project is likely to slip away from Sri Lanka due to legal snags stemming from spectrum allocation, a concerned Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure Minister said.

If we delay anymore, Google project may pull out. We may miss the opportunity and another country could be selected, Minister Harin Fernando told reporters in Colombo yesterday.

The Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) had been asked to release 10 MHz Pair (10 MHz/10MHz) in the 700 band spectrum for a period not exceeding 12 months for the Google Loon trials. Sri Lanka, being a member state of International Telecommunication Union (ITU), TRCSL had clarified the request with the international body. However ITU had said the frequencies couldnt be released.

Sri Lankas Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), who is facilitating the project, has now referred the matter to the countrys Attorney General (AG). The AG is supposed to submit a report in this regard to the cabinet in coming few weeks, Minister Fernando said.

It is out of our hands to some extent. It is also up to Google to negotiate. We both have to fight hard. The Sri Lankan government can certainly push harder at the ITU at the level of a legal standpoint, Fernando added.

Goole Loon project aims to provide high speed Internet at lower costs using high altitude balloon creating an aerial wireless network.
Inter University Students Federation (IUSF) today staged a protest in front of the Fort Railway Station against the controversial private medical faculty at South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) in Malabe. Protesters reached Colombo Fort using multiple routes including the Galle Road, High level Road and the Negombo Road. Pix by Kushan Pathiraja
Kelani Cables PLC that produces the number one secure electrical and communication cable in Sri Lanka was conferred with the National Quality Award for the second time.

Awards ceremony was held at Hilton Colombo with the participation of President Maithripala Sirisena.

Kelani Cables PLC won the National Quality Award for the first time in 2006.

The award was presented to Kelani Cables PLC in 2017 for functioning as a large-scale manufacturing company, sustaining quality standards set by the Sri Lanka Standard Institute for a decade.

Kelani Cables PLC is the only wire manufacturing company in Sri Lanka that has clinched this prestigious award twice.

Speaking of the companys achievement Kelani Cables PLC Director/CEO Mahinda Saranapala said strict quality standards is the backbone of Kelani Cables PLC and the secret behind its success.

Kelani Cables product is endorsed by the customers as the number one secure electrical and communication cable manufactured in the country and that endorsement is an asset to our company. It is sheer proof for the excellent quality of our product. Winning the National Quality Award for the second time endorses the sustainability of standards of Kelani Cables products since 2006, said the CEO.

He added, Thousands of Kelani Cables customers in the island can now be happy for relying on a superior brand name over the years. I would take this opportunity to thank our dedicated workforce that tirelessly works towards maintaining the quality of Kelani Cables products.

Kelani Cables PLC is a 100 percent Sri Lankan company serving the nation for 48 years manufacturing electrical and communication cables. The company achieved the Super Brands status in the electrical and telecommunication sector in 2008 for professional supremacy it demonstrated in the electrical and communication cables sphere.
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj

The ongoing investigation conducted by the Police Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) into the assassination plot targeting Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Jaffna district MP Mathiaparanam Abraham Sumanthiran has unearthed more details about the conspiracy hatched by Tigerish elements in the Global Tamil Diaspora.



Five former members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) now in custody have divulged much information about how three individuals living overseas had conspired, instigated and instructed them on how to execute the assassination plot on Sumanthiran. All communication between the overseas handlers and the five ex-Tigers in Sri Lanka had been through the telephone. Police were authorised by courts to send the telephones used by the five suspects to the Moratuwa University for further decryption and analysis.



According to information provided by security related sources, the would-be assassins had attempted thrice to target the TNA parliamentarian. Their efforts had proved abortive due to circumstances beyond their control. All three attempts were aimed at assassinating Sumanthiran MP by using explosive devices while he was travelling along the B-402 Soranpatru-Thaalayadi road. The TNA parliamentarian was unaware of all three attempts until the arrest of suspects afterwards.



The first planned attempt was to have occurred on December 12, 2016 when Sumanthiran MP was on his way to a cultural festival held in Maruthankerni in the Jaffna peninsula. The plot had failed because the MP had been travelling in the vehicle of TNA Northern Province Councillor Kesavan Sayanthan instead of his own vehicle. This had confused the would be assassins.



The second attempt was to have taken place on Dec 26, 2016. The suspects were aware that the TNA parliamentarian was in Jaffna on Dec 24. They had expected him to attend the Tsunami anniversary event in Maruthankerni-Thaalayadi on Dec 26. Sumanthiran however had returned to Colombo on Dec 25 to be at home with his family for Christmas. Thus he did not go for the Tsunami event as anticipated by the suspects.



The third attempt was to be on Jan 13, 2017 when Sumanthiran MP was expected to participate at a forum on setting up a de-salination plant at Maruthankerni. Initially he was scheduled to travel along with his wife. However, he was forced to cancel his plans to go to Jaffna at the last minute due to unexpected reasons. Therefore the suspects could not go through with their plot as envisaged.



Two payments of Rs. 800,000 and 600,000

Informed security related sources opine that the three persons from overseas who interacted with the five ex-Tigers in Sri Lanka to execute the assassination plot against Sumanthiran belonged to the Diaspora LTTE organization headed by Norway based Perinbanayagam Sivaparan alias Nediyavan. They are Maran from France, Vetri from Australia and Amuthan from Malaysia. Detailed instructions on how to go about the assassination were issued regularly by Vetri from down under. Maran from France was the distributor of cash. Police have so far traced two payments of Rs. 800,000 and Rs. 600,000 being sent by Maran to Lanka.



Amuthan also known as Yarl Amuthan is reportedly the mastermind behind the plot. He had been in overall charge coordinating matters. Amuthan though based in Malaysia had been using a Brazilian SIM card. Initially, the TID suspected that the nom de plume Amuthan was another name for the senior LTTE intelligence operative whose nom de guerre was Chiranjeevi Master and was suspected of being in a South East Asian country. A voice test done on a telephone conversation with Amuthan revealed that Amuthan was not Chiranjeevi. Malaysian officials feel that Amuthan is no longer in Malaysia.



TID officials have also recorded statements from the five ex-Tigers arrested in connection with the assassination attempts. Four of the five were first produced at the Kilinochchi District magistrates court before District Judge. A. A. Anandarajah and were remanded to fiscal custody. They are being held at the Anuradhapura prisons.



The case was next heard on January 30, 2017. The name of one more person was included as a suspect on that day. All five were remanded until February 13, 2017. The case was taken up again before Judge Anandarajah who re-remanded all five suspects until Feb 27. Police informed court that investigations were not over yet and that further information was expected to be uncovered. Though the Terrorism Investigation Dept in Vavuniya is conducting the probe it is reliably learnt that TID Director DIG Nalaka de Silva himself is directing his officials in this case. The TID is very keen on uncovering more details about the overseas LTTE link in this matter. There is also suspicion that some Tamil politicians in Sri Lanka may have had a role in trying to get Sumanthiran killed. It is expected that after the investigation is concluded, an indictment would be filed in the High Court.



Kulendran alias Master the ring leader

Police feel that the first suspect Karalasingham Kulendran alias Master is the ring leader of the ex-Tiger group tasked with the mission of assassinating Sumanthiran. He was a senior member of the LTTE who was involved in training new Tiger recruits when the LTTE was active while the war was on. Since LTTE trainers were addressed as Master by other cadres, Kulendran is still called by some as Master. Several of the ex-Tigers in custody as suspects along with Master were reportedly trained by him.



37-year-old Kulendran Master resides at 43/1, Thiruvaiyaaru in Kilinochchi. He is known to be closely associated with TNA Jaffna District MP Sivagnanam Shritharan whose political base is the Kilinochchi electoral division. Kulendran works as a senior executive at a leading finance company in Kilinochchi which specialises in loans, leasing and hire purchasing. Kulendrans duties enable him to travel around in the North. A powerful claymore mine was recovered from Kulendrans possession in Kilinochchi by the Police. The second suspect in custody is Gnanasekaralingam Rajmathan alias Vasudevan. Rajmathan is from Naduppirappanthidal in Thambalagaamam in Trincomalee district. Though Rajmathan has a wife and children in Trincomalee, he has been staying continually for many months in the north shuttling between Kilinochchi on the northern mainland and Thaalayadi in the Jaffna peninsula. Police recovered a locally manufactured explosive device and detonators from the place Rajmathan was staying in at Kilinochchi.



The third suspect is Murugaiya Thavendran, also from Kilinochchi. Thavendran who lost a hand in an explosion when he was active in the LTTE resides in a house near the 3rd mile post on Wilson street in Thiruvaiyaaru in Kilinochchi. 32-year-old Thavendran known also as Thavam surrendered to the Army at Oamanthai on May 18, 2009. He was detained at the Nelukkulam camp for 10 months and released on March 7, 2010 after undergoing rehabilitation.



Clandestine sea passage to India

The fourth suspect is Velayuthan Vijayakumar also known as Vijayan. Vijayan was arrested on January 19, 2017 but was not produced in courts along with the other arrested persons on Jan 20, 2017. He was produced at the Kilinochchi courts with the others when the case was taken up on Jan 30. Vijayakumar alias Vijayan is a native of Vaettiaiyaanmurippu in Mannar. The powerful claymore mine in Kulendrans possession was reportedly supplied by Vijayan to master. Inquiries have revealed that Vijayan had been earlier involved in arranging clandestine sea passage to India for LTTE suspects wanted for a different offence. Investigators believe that Vijayan would have helped fellow suspects to go to India by boat after the assassination.



The fifth suspect is from Thaalayadi on the eastern littoral of the Jaffna peninsula. He is a rehabilitated former LTTE member now driving a trishaw. The man whose name is Mariyanayagam Lewis Ajanthan is also known by the nom de plume Jana. His nom de guerre while in the LTTE was Kadalavan. Inquiries have revealed that it was Kulendran master who provided finance to Mariyanayagam Ajanthan to buy his three-wheeler via a hire -purchase scheme. Ajanthan drove his vehicle in the areas of Thaalayadi, Maruthankerni, Sembiyanpatru and Maamunai. Since he stays indefinitely at all these places at times, the Police in their B report have mentioned all four areas as Ajanthans addresses. TID also recovered a locally manufactured explosive device and detonators from Ajanthans possession.



An interesting aspect of this case is the fact that no charges have been filed under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Since the Government has decided to repeal and replace the PTA with new counter-terrorism legislation. The concerned TNA parliamentarian Sumanthiran who is also a leading lawyer has also been opposed to the PTA. The MP too has approved the decision to dispense with the PTA in this regard. Thus the suspects are not being detained for indefinite periods under the PTA for interrogation. They have been produced in courts and remanded to fiscal custody. The TID officials have no access to the suspects and if they want to record further statements the Police have to seek the courts permission for it. Moreover, the Police can record statements from suspects only in the presence of prison guards.



Kilinochchi district Judge Anandarajah

When the assassination plot case (B 85/17) was taken up at the Kilinochchi courts before Kilinochchi District Judge A. A. Anandarajah on February 13, the Police filed a further addendum that provided more information about the assassination conspiracy. Police requested the courts permission to take the suspects physically to certain places linked to the investigation and record further statements after ascertaining relevant facts. This was strongly objected to by lawyers representing Kulendran, Thavendran, Vijayakumar and Ajanthan. The lawyer representing Rajmathan after consulting him stated that his client was prepared to cooperate.



Thereafter Judge Anandarajah ordered that the Police could escort Gnanasegaralingam Rajmathan to places and conduct further investigations on February 20, 21 and 22. It is expected that the Police would take Rajmathan to different places in the Mannar, Kilinochchi and Jaffna districts in the North and also to the Trincomalee district in the East. Apparently Police suspect a greater Trinco link in Diaspora Tiger activity aimed at fomenting violence in Sri Lanka.



Besides Rajmathans family is in Thambalagaamam in Trinco. Police also requested courts to grant permission to record further statements from the other four suspects held at the Anuradhapura jail. Judge Anandarajah acceded to the request and ordered that Police could record further statements on Feb 14, 15 and 16 from Kulendran, Thavendran,Vijayakumar and Ajanthan. The case will be next heard on Feb 27 after the statements are duly recorded.



Inquiries and related legal proceedings so far have firmly established that three overseas LTTE operatives believed to be members of the Diaspora Tiger organization headed by Perinbanayagam Sivaparan alias Nediyavan have plotted, financed and instigated five former members of the LTTE in Sri Lanka to engage in the conspiracy and execution of a plot to assassinate TNA Jaffna district MP Sumanthiran. This has put a lot of egg on the faces of those who described the assassination attempt on Sumanthiran as a drama. While the existence of a definite plot and related preparations to implement are conclusively proved what needs to be ascertained is whether the attempted assassination of Sumanthiran is part of a larger conspiracy to revive the LTTE or just an isolated plot targeting him alone.



Against that backdrop, it would be pertinent and important to delve briefly into the recent past. The LTTE was militarily defeated in May 2009. The Tigers ceased to be a viable or active entity in the Island. Over 12,000 former LTTE cadres were released from custody after undergoing a period of rehabilitation. However, the overseas structures of the LTTE remained intact but were seriously undermined by the fall of the LTTE in Sri Lanka. The Diaspora Tigers though active abroad could do very little damage in Sri Lanka as their capacity to engage in large scale violence on Lankan soil had virtually ended.



Perinbanayagam Sivaparan alias Nediyavan

The Diaspora Tigers led by the Norway-based Perinbanayagam Sivaparan alias Nediyavan or tall man has persisted with its efforts to engage in violence in Sri Lanka despite the end of war. The overseas Tigers have been trying to foment violence in Sri Lanka by utilising the ex-Tigers as their agents or instruments on Lankan soil. Mazhai Nindraalum Thooral Nitkavillai is a saying in Tamil which means although the rain has ceased the drizzle has not ended. Likewise the Diaspora Tigers have been repeatedly attempting to revive the LTTE and foment violence in Sri Lanka even though the war is over. The latest Sumanthiran- assassination attempt is not the first instance of overseas Tigers promoting violence in the post-war years. It is not likely to be the last either.



There have been many attempts by the Diaspora Tigers to foment violence in Sri Lanka after the war ended. Some of these happened during the time Mahinda Rajapaksa was president and his sibling Gotabhaya, the all powerful Defence Secretary. The first instance was in the Trincomalee district. On March 17, 2012, the body of a Tamil youth with his throat slit, was discovered at Periyakulam in the Kuchaveli region of Trinco district. The dead person was Velayudhan Ragunathan alias Muthu, a member of the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) led by former Cabinet Minister Douglas Devananda. A handwritten note saying death to traitors and a small LTTE flag with the tiger emblem was placed by the side.



The Sri Lankan State reacted in a state of panic. An intensive search-and-arrest operation was conducted in the Trincomalee district. Over 200 youths of both gender were arrested. Almost all of them were ex-LTTE cadres who had surrendered and been rehabilitated. Some former Tigers who had not been rehabilitated were also discovered and detained during the round up operations. They were sent to the Protective Accommodation and Rehabilitation Centre (PARC) at Welikanda for rehabilitation.



Information gleaned through interrogation of arrested persons sent alarm signals through the defence establishment. Further interrogation and investigation revealed information about an attempt to revive the LTTE in Sri Lanka with backing from tiger and pro-tiger elements from the global Tamil Diaspora.



Kamalanathan Sadheeshkumar alias Kumaran

It was learnt that a Tiger operative from France named Kamalanathan Sadheeshkumar alias Kumaran had arrived in India in November 2011. He had gathered some ex-Tiger cadres living in Tamil Nadu State and organised clandestine meetings aimed at reviving the LTTE. Kumaran had recruited 15 members in Tamil Nadu and divided them into three cells comprising five members each. Members from one such cell were sent to Trincomalee on March 6, 2012.The objective was to carry out executions in the Trincomalee district. The killing of Ragunathan alias Muthu on March 17 was the first in this plan. Sadheeshkumar alias Kumaran is yet living in Paris but is apparently inactive now



The excessively hard crackdown by the Sri Lankan State saw this LTTE revival pilot project going awry. While a few of the cell were arrested the others fled back to India. The widespread round-ups in different parts of Trinco district and resultant mass arrests caused much alarm in the community. The TNA, which then had (and has now) the most number of Sri Lankan Tamil MPs from the Northern and Eastern provinces protested vehemently against the large-scale arrests.



Two Parliamentarians from the TNA met with Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa in this regard. Gotabaya explained what had happened and informed the TNA of the revival attempt. He even offered to play recordings of purported telephone conversations between suspects in Sri Lanka with Diaspora elements. The Defence Secretary assured the TNA that the bulk of those arrested would be released in due course. The TNA went back apparently satisfied. Within a few days most of those arrested - except for a handful - were released.



The second LTTE revival attempt was detected in December 2012. The arrest of an non-rehabilitated ex-LTTE cadre in Colombo during the first week of December 2012 and subsequent interrogation resulted in a disturbing discovery. Details of an organized LTTE network operating in Chennai, Tamil Nadu with funds from Tiger elements in Europe came to light during preliminary inquiries.



Tamil Nadu Tiger network links

Further investigations led to the arrests of six more youths in Jaffna who were suspected of having links to the Tamil Nadu Tiger network. Two of the six were former women Tigers who had been released after undergoing rehabilitation. Subsequently the arrested suspects, except for two were released.



More information was garnered from the suspects in custody. The information revealed was shocking. According to the detained youths a clandestine campaign was underfoot in Tamil Nadu to recruit from among refugees in Tamil Nadu, Sri Lankan Tamil youths sympathetic to the Tamil Eelam cause and indoctrinate them with extreme LTTE ideology. They were to be trained in electronics and explosives. The ultimate objective was to infiltrate the island and conduct explosive attacks against key installations and important individuals in Sri Lanka. The project was being financed by Tiger elements in Europe.



Sri Lankan officials conveyed this information quietly to their counterparts in India. Great care was taken to avoid information leaking to pro-LTTE politicians and officials in Tamil Nadu. A team of Police officers from the Tamil Nadu State Police Special Intelligence Unit known as the Q branch launched a sudden raid after nightfall on December 19, 2012 under the command of a Senior Deputy Superintendent of Police. A house on Nallathamby street in Pammal near the Chennai suburb of Pallaavaram was surrounded and stormed by a Police contingent. Four occupants in the rented residence were arrested. They were S. Suresh Kumar, D. Udaya Doss, T. Maheswaran and K. Krishnamurthy. At the time of their arrest in December 2012, they were aged 34, 39, 33 and 29 respectively.



According to a news report published then in the Times of India an investigating officer said Suresh Kumar lost his legs in an explosion during the Eelam war and now moves around on a wheelchair. Two of the men came to Tamil Nadu as refugees in 2001 and 2003, and the others as the war was in its final stages in 2009, the officer reportedly said.



LTTE electronics expert Suresh Kumar

The news report further said that as an electronics expert, Suresh Kumar headed an LTTE wing that made explosives. He specialised in making electronic circuits, the officer said. We recovered two laptops, incriminating documents, wires, cables and electronic circuit boards and panels from the house. Investigators said Krishnamurthy, who supplied water cans in the locality, befriended the Sri Lankan Tamils and took them to Suresh Kumar. The former LTTE operative trained them to make improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and electronic circuits for a variety of bombs. During questioning, the arrested men said.



The arrested men were produced before a Magistrates Court in Tambaram and were remanded in judicial custody.



With Sri Lankan security sleuths uncovering details of a Tamil Nadu Connection in two different attempts to revive the LTTE in Sri Lanka there was much suspicion about the sinister motives of the Indian External Intelligence Agency the Research and Analysis Wing referred to as RAW. It was felt that RAW may have had a hand in these LTTE revival attempts. Against that backdrop, the threat posed was also over estimated. News reports appeared in Sri Lanka about training camps being conducted for hundreds of tigers in Tamil Nadu with the blessings of the RAW. These were stoutly denied. Continuing interaction between Sri Lankan and Indian officials put to rest the paranoia over RAW in Sri Lanka relating to this issue.



LTTE revival attempt in 2014

Then came the LTTE revival attempt in 2014 spearheaded by a trio comprising Suntharalingam Gajatheeban alias Theiveegan, Navaratnam Navaneethan alias Appan and Ponniah Selvanayagam Kajeepan alias Gobi. This was the most serious well-organized effort to resurrect the LTTE in Sri Lanka after May 2009. This too was thwarted by the concerted efforts of the Police and Armed Forces. A crucial factor in this exercise was the close cooperation of State Intelligence, Military Intelligence and Police TID in combatting a common threat. This and other matters related to attempts by the Diaspora Tigers to foment violence in Sri Lanka would be related in detail in a forthcoming article.



D.B.S.Jeyaraj can be reached at dbsjeyaraj@yahoo.com
AFP - Oil-rich Ecuador is at an economic and political crossroads in corruption-tainted general elections tomorrow.

After a decade of leftist rule, voters must decide whether to follow Argentina, Brazil and Peru in switching to a conservative government.

Leftist economist Rafael Correa, 53, has overseen a rise in the fortunes of the country of 16 million. But he is not up for re-election.

The size of the countrys economy has nearly doubled to US$100 billion since Correa took over in 2007. But it shrank by 1.7 percent last year.

Correa blames a perfect storm of falling oil prices and weakening currencies in neighboring countries that have made Ecuadors exports less competitive.

Correas ally and would-be successor Lenin Moreno, 64, promises more of the same tax-and-spend social policies.

The Ecuadoran people have affection (for us) and are determined to continue with this process, Moreno told AFP on Wednesday at a campaign event.

But in an uncertain contest, Moreno faces a challenge from ex-banker Guillermo Lasso, 61.

Lasso has vowed to cut spending and taxes, lure foreign investment and create a million jobs.

The third-placed candidate is conservative former lawmaker Cynthia Viteri, 51.

She and Lasso have each indicated that if elected they may cease to grant asylum in Ecuadors London embassy to fugitive WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Ecuador exports half a million barrels of oil a day. Correa used the wealth to fund social welfare schemes and public works.

He called it 21st-century socialism. But oil prices have plunged over the past three years.

Correa is accused of failing to save any petrodollars for a rainy day, and of hampering businesses with high taxes and duties.

There has been much progress but unfortunately he has not taken advantage of the bonanza, Alberto Acosta-Burneo, an economist at the Spurrier Group consultancy, told AFP.

When Correa came to power he promised to diversify the production model, but he is leaving behind a country in which it is very difficult to produce things.

Correa blames Lasso in part for a banking crisis that struck the country in 1999.

Lasso has slammed Correas allies over alleged links to corruption. We have to vote for change to fight against corruption, Lasso said at a campaign rally on Wednesday.

Scandals at state oil firm Petroecuador and Brazilian building firm Odebrecht have dragged in officials close to the government.

Correa has accused rivals of political dirty tricks aiming to smear his side. Opinion polls indicate Moreno will likely win Sundays first-round vote.

But if his lead is not big enough, he will face a runoff on April 2 against a conservative rival, most likely Lasso, 61. Polls show a high ratio of undecided voters.

Any party could beat the governing one in the second round, because there is major resistance to and rejection of the government, said Political scientist Paolo Moncagatta of Quitos San Francisco University. But it is a mistake to underestimate the strength of support for Correas side, said Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington. Many Ecuadorans think Correa has done a good job.

Sundays election is a test for the resilience of the Latin American left. A wave of leftist governments swept the continent from 1998.

Correa says a strong leftist movement is needed to resist the new Republican US President Donald Trumps hard line on Latin American migration and trade.

But the so-called pink tide has ebbed since late 2015. Correa hoped the vote could be the breaking point to put an end to this conservative restoration.
A group of Sri Lankans belonging to the Sinhalese and Tamil Diaspora in Australia yesterday staged a protest in Melbourne calling for the revoking of the honorary doctorate conferred on Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe by an Australian university earlier in the week.

Those belonging to the Tamil Diaspora had protested by displaying LTTE flags while the Sinhala Diaspora for their part had carried the country's national flag, according to eye witnesses. The protest was held at the time Mr. Wickremesinghe was visiting Deakin University to deliver a lecture.

Eyewitnesses said the Prime Minister had delivered his lecture in spite of the protest and left.
Sri Lanka must employ international judges and prosecutors to ensure accountability during trials of those responsible for alleged war crimes against mostly Tamils, Human Rights Watch Australia's director Elaine Pearson has told SBS News on Friday.

Ms. Pearson's call, which echoes a recommendation in the 2015 UN Human Rights Council report of the OHCHR investigation of Sri Lanka, comes as Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visited Australia this week.

On Wednesday, he beckoned asylum seekers who fled to Australia to return, assuring they would be "quite safe".

"They can come back to Sri Lanka and we will help them... but remember, they broke the law by attempting to come to Australia," he said.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein said in 2015 "Our investigation has laid bare the horrific level of violations and abuses that occurred in Sri Lanka, including indiscriminate shelling, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, harrowing accounts of torture and sexual violence, recruitment of children and other grave crimes."

Both the Sri Lankan government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were likely to have committed the abuses, the investigation found.

The investigation recommended Sri Lanka bring to trial those responsible for alleged war crimes in a court that was both domestic and international - where the international element would help ensure accountability.

It urged the country to integrate "international judges, prosecutors, lawyers and investigators that will be essential to give confidence to all Sri Lankans in particular the victims, in the independence and impartiality of the process, particularly given the politicisation and highly polarised environment in Sri Lanka."
Sri Lankas largest property focused show Lanka Property Show 2017 was inaugurated today by Minister of Megapolis and Western province Development Patali Champika Ranawaka and Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake at JAIC Hilton. Minister Susil Premajayantha was the guest of honour of the event. The two day exhibition is organized by Lanka Property Web.com. Pix by Nisal Baduge
Sri Lankas largest real estate show Lanka Property Show 2017 was inaugurated yesterday by Megapolis and Western Province Development Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka and Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake at JAIC Hilton. Picture shows Minister Ranawaka in conversation with Minister Susil Premajayantha, who was the Guest of Honour of the event. The two-day exhibition is organized by Lanka Property Web.com.

Pic by Nisal Baduge
NEW DELHI AFP Feb16, 2017- An ally of disgraced Indian politician V.K. Sasikala was on Thursday sworn in as the next leader of Tamil Nadu state, ending a weeks-long tussle over succession marked by bitter infighting.



Palanisamy took the reins of the ruling party after Sasikala was spectacularly hauled off to prison for graft just as she was on the verge of becoming chief minister of the southern state.



The corruption case dates back to the late 1990s, when Jayalalithaa and Sasikala were accused of profiting from the chief ministers office and acquiring wealth beyond their income.



They were jointly accused of illegally amassing bungalows, luxury cars, tea estates and vast quantities of gold worth the equivalent of $10 million.



She had already been nominated for the top job before she was convicted Tuesday of amassing illegal assets worth $10 million, barring her from holding office for a decade.
Two more suspects were arrested Thursday in Malaysia in connection with the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Uns half-brother, bringing the total number of arrests in the case to three, local media reported.



Police detained a 25-year-old woman holding an Indonesian passport with the name Siti Aishah and an unidentified Malaysian man said to be her boyfriend, Channel News Asia reported.



Indonesias Foreign Ministry confirmed that the woman is an Indonesian citizen based on preliminary data available to the Indonesian embassy.



The embassy requested consular access in order to provide the woman with legal assistance, the statement added.



A first suspect was arrested on Wednesday carrying Vietnamese travel documents. She was picked up at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the scene of Mondays killing.



She had been identified in CCTV footage at the airport where Kim died and was alone when she was arrested, a police statement said.



Malaysian state news agency Bernama reported police had been granted a remand order to detain the suspects for seven days pending investigations, .

Police expect to make more arrests in connection with the killing, the news agency said.



Also Thursday, Malaysias Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi told reporters that the North Korean embassy had verified for the first time that Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean leaders half brother, was indeed the person who was killed on Monday.

Kuala Lumpur, (dpa), 14.02.2017 -
Chief Minister of the Northern Province C. V. Wigneswaran had been informed by the United Nations and the European Union that they had pledged their cooperation to promote reconciliation between all communities in Sri Lanka.

Coordinator to the United Nations Una Makoli and Ambassador of the European Union Toolai Margue had indicated this during a meeting with the Chief Minister on their tour of Jaffna on Wednesday (15).

The visiting delegates had a lengthy discussion with the Chief Minister on the present political situation of Sri Lanka and also the affairs of the Northern Provincial Council. Among the matters that had been discussed was the necessity of a power sharing through the new constitution and also the additional powers the Northern Provincial council would be vested with.

The delegates during their visit to Jaffna also outlined the manner in which the UN and the EU would allocate aid and assistance for the development of the North by processing the funds through the Sri Lankan government.

In his reply the Chief Minister stated that much thought should be put into whether the people of the North are aware of the steps taken by the government towards the development of reconciliation, the delay in the setting up the office of Missing Persons and also the lack of progress in the political decisions taken by the government. (Romesh Madushanka)
It is now official: Kashmir is under occupation. For the first time, the Indian Army has acknowledged that the portions of the Valley over which India wields control are occupied territory and the inhabitants there are the subjects of India, not citizens.

The Army Chief, General Bipin Rawat, has made it very clear that, henceforth, the armed forces will be treating everyone in Kashmir with extreme suspicion and the objects of such suspicion should beware of resorting to any action or expression that can be deemed suspicious because then retaliation would be swift and strong against the suspects.

In short, the Army Chief has laid down the line for the Kashmiri subjects to follow.

Just to recap and to quote Gen Rawat: "While our aim has been to conduct people-friendly operations, the manner in which the local population is preventing us from conducting the operations, at times even supporting the terrorists to escape, it is these factors which are leading to higher casualties among the security forces. We would now request the local population...local boys if they want to continue with the acts of terrorism, displaying flags of IS and Pakistan, then we will treat them as anti-national elements and go helter-skelter for them... If they do not relent and create hurdles, then we will take tough action."

When the Chief of Army Staff calls a militant a terrorist, he has acknowledged the outcome of the act of militancy. Photo: The Telegraph

The term "terrorist" has, in normal discourse, replaced "militant" so we cannot fault Gen Rawat of having used the term, but by using it he has given credence to the objectives of those who have picked up the gun to settle differences.

A terrorist is someone who spreads terror in contrast to a militant who resorts to violent means to settle the same difference.

The difference is subtle in its import and will willy-nilly be dismissed by self-styled patriots as mere semantics. But when the Chief of Army Staff calls a militant a terrorist, he has acknowledged the outcome of the act of militancy. He has, inadvertently, agreed that the man with the gun has succeeded in spreading terror. Again, since Gen Rawat is warning the local population of not helping the "terrorists", it is logical that the local population is not terrorised by those the Army Chief calls terrorists.

Taking this logic forward, it would then mean that if the local population is not terrorised, it can only be assumed, based on Gen Rawat's statement, that the security forces are the ones terrorised, because the men with guns are terrorists.

Keeping semantics aside, because it is not just the Chief of Army Staff or the prime minister or the various ministers but even the media that has quietly and spinelessly modified its terminology, it is now generally accepted that anyone who is in armed conflict with the state is a terrorist.

The line between bombers, suicide or remote-controlled, who set off blasts in crowded civilian locations or shooters, who blindly fire into crowds with people who carry guns and engage in war with government forces, who also carry guns, has been smudged.

When a political assassination takes place, the person who pulled the trigger is called an assassin - not a terrorist. Nathuram Godse was an assassin; Satwant Singh and Beant Singh were assassins, not terrorists. But current discourse belies this, these assassins would be called terrorists today.

Coming back to Kashmir, the tone and tenor of General Rawat's comments make it very clear that he, like the rest of the establishment, does not consider the Kashmiri people as one of his own.

Militancy, to use the correct term, is not new to India. It was there when armed defiance against colonial masters was the norm; it has been there in the northeastern states for more than half a century; it is there in vast tracts across what is called the red corridor; it was there in the Naxal movement of Bengal; it was there in Punjab; it was there during the Gorkhaland agitation.

The success stories, in subduing militancy, amongst the examples cited would be Punjab and the original Naxal movement in Bengal. In both these conflicts, no blanket threat was ever issued to the local population by senior officials in uniform. It was not that there was no ground-level sympathy in Punjab for the Khalistani militant.

In Bengal, the cream of a young generation simply ceased to be after relentless police action culled the Naxalite elements, but the local population were not officially threatened by the very state that their children and the children of their friends and families dared challenge. This is not to say that the state, in its heavy handedness, did not inflict pain and suffering on the general population, but it was never prophesised nor treated as the official state policy.

There in lies the difference: in the northeast and, more particularly, in Kashmir, the state is treating its citizens as subjects.

The state, suffering illusions of grandeur, is not ready to show compassion, is not ready to feel the pain of not wanting to be wanted. The state mourns a death with its desire for a hundred other vengeful deaths; the state draws binaries between a craving for freedom, howsoever misbegotten it may or may not be, with the cost of its brutal suppression; the state has given up hope of integrating as it pins its hopes on rigid control to stem disintegration; the state has no desire to fight for the minds and hearts of the disenchanted when it fights the dreams of generations born into conflict.
Former United States ambassador to India John Kenneth Galbraith famously called New York the worlds melting pot. Never before in history, Galbraith declared, had so many people of such varied languages, customs, colours and culinary habits lived so amicably together.

New York is a microcosm of the United States, the worlds melting pot. Every American is essentially an immigrant. The only exceptions are indigenous Indians who have been in North America for several thousand years and now lead deprived lives in reservations across the country.

President Donald Trump himself is of British-German descent. His father Frederick was from a German family in Bavaria, originally called Trumpf, which immigrated to America in 1885. The irony couldnt be richer.

Trumps mother, Mary MacLeod, came from a Scottish island. Mary immigrated to the US in 1930 to find work as a nanny. She met and married co-emigre Frederick Trump six years later.

Being anti-immigrant is never a good political strategy in America. Trump won the presidential election not on an anti-immigration plank but on an anti-refugee plank. His Muslim travel ban, dismissed by an appeals court, was poorly thought out and abysmally executed.

Trump is planning to issue a new executive order for a less over-arching travel ban. The courts will come into play once again, distracting attention from an issue that has been clouded by Trumps recklessness.

That issue of course is terrorism. Terrorists claiming refugee status have poured into Europe, especially Germany which has taken in one million refugees fleeing the brutal sectarian wars in Syria, Iraq and Libya.

Being anti-immigrant is never a good political strategy in America. (Photo: Reuters)

Trump was lifted to victory in the presidential election by a tide of anger among whites (including, contrary to popular fiction, educated whites and white women) against what they saw as reverse racism.

Their jobs were being outsourced, black and Hispanic crime was driving them away from urban centres, school violence had spiked, civic standards were falling and infrastructure was crumbling. Trump, however, made the classical mistake of believing that inflammatory campaign rhetoric can morph into presidential governance.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (to whom Trump is erroneously compared) did not make that mistake. He did not let his election rhetoric seep into governance.

During the 2014 Lok Sabha campaign, Modi threatened to jail the Gandhis and Robert Vadra. As prime minister he has done nothing except repeat the rhetoric during the current Assembly elections (Congress should hold its tongue, I have its entire janam patri). Rhetoric in India remains confined to electioneering.

On Pakistan too, Modi breathed fire and brimstone during the 2014 general election. And yet his first move after winning the election was to invite Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif to his swearing-in ceremony.

In contrast, Trump has behaved like a bull in a China shop, making America a molten pot of seething internal conflicts. The sacking of National Security Adviser (NSA) General Michael Flynn over sensitive pre-inauguration discussions with the Russians exposes cleavages within Trumps cabinet and White House staff over a raft of issues, including immigration, the battle against the Islamic State (ISIS) and relations with Russia.

In an extraordinary and combative press conference at the White House on Thursday, February 16, Trump again accused the US media of being dishonest. He said it had a political agenda: to make it difficult for America to repair its relationship with Russia by publishing leaks from mid-level intelligence officials (holdovers from the Obama administration) on General Flynns contacts with the Russians.

Strength in diversity

Americas greatest strength is its diversity (as is Indias). In an interesting article in Business Standard, Farhad Manjoo embellishes this point well: If you want to understand why tech employees went to the mat against Mr Trumps executive order barring immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries, you need to first understand the crucial role that Americas relatively open immigration policies play in the tech business. And you need to understand why people in tech see something cataclysmic in Trumps executive order, and in the other immigration crackdowns waiting in the wings: the end of Americas standing as a beacon for the worlds best inventors.

Silicon Valley attracts the brightest minds because it welcomes people from all over the world. Religion does not matter. Colour does not matter. Nationality does not matter. Sexual orientation does not matter. Gender does not matter.

Americas diversity was built over centuries by defying discrimination. (Photo: Reuters)

What does matter is grey matter. Merit is the official religion of Silicon Valley. Americas diversity was built over centuries by defying discrimination.

Catholic immigrants suffered great prejudice at the hands of the Protestant majority. The sectarian intra-Christian prejudice was so deeply embedded that America elected its first Catholic president only in 1960: John F Kennedy. Immigrants of Irish descent (like President Kennedy) were discriminated against through the 19th century.

The waves of Italian immigrants (all Catholic) during that period too were subjected to prejudice and name calling. Blacks of course had neither the right to vote nor in the deep south, even liberty.

It took the civil rights movement in the 1960s to give African-Americans the same rights the high-minded American Constitution guaranteed all Americans.

Americas treatment of its original inhabitants (indigenous Indians) and the wars it has waged in Asia, the Middle East and South America deserve a historical volume of its own.

A new book by Joshua Kurlantzick, A Great Place to Have a War: America in Laos and the Birth of a Military CIA, reveals the gory details of how the US has killed millions of civilians around the world.

In a review of the book, The Economist writes: The bombing of Laos in the 1960s and early 1970s always used to be referred to as Americas secret war. This was not just a mistake or even a misunderstanding: it was a terrible misnomer. For the Laotians who cowered in caves to escape what is considered the heaviest bombardment in history, the campaign was certainly not a secret. The American air force unleashed an average of one attack every eight minutes for nearly ten years. By 1970 tens of thousands of American-backed fighters were involved, at an annual cost of $3.1 billion in todays dollars. By the time the campaign ended in 1973, a tenth of Laos population had been killed. Thousands more accidental deaths would follow from unexploded bombs left in the soil.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc visits a production facility of

Vietnam Post and Telecommunication Industry Technology JSC at Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park (Photo: VNA)



The PM and other Government and ministry officials visited the park on February 16th.

Located in Thach That and Quoc Oai districts, Hanoi, on a land area of 1,586 hectares, the Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park is expected to become a science city hosting investors in biotechnology, information  communication, new material technology, and automation.

Modern infrastructure is being built at the park using the State budget and the official development assistance (ODA) supported by the Japanese government.

According to the parks management board, it has so far received 1,530 hectares of land out of the total 1,586 hectares.

The park counts 78 valid investment projects, including nine foreign ones, with a total registered capital of over VND60 trillion (USD2.68 million), in the spheres of high technology, training, trade and services, and social infrastructure.

Thirty-six projects have been put into operation, involved by more than 10,000 people.

The total import-export turnover was estimated at over USD2.4 billion in 2016.

FPT is currently the biggest investor of the park with two projects: FPT Software Village and FPT University.

After touring several infrastructural facilities and investment projects, the PM noted the foremost task is to build a brand for the Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park to draw investors.

He pointed out a raft of shortcomings facing the park, including few hi-tech projects in comparison with that in other industrial parks and snail-speed land clearance.

He asked the Park Management Board and the capital city of Hanoi to complete land clearance this year while entrusting the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance to report him a plan to supplement capital for land clearance and technical infrastructure construction at the park.

The PM tasked the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Management Board to coordinate with Hanoi authorities along with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Government Office, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment to promote investment in the coming time, while ensuring environmental protection and sustainable development.

Apart from infrastructure investment, it is necessary to select and draw knowledge-intensive manufacturing businesses to create high-quality and internationally-recognised products, he advised.

The government leader also suggested persuading domestic scientists to seek technical solutions for pilot production.

Once in six months, the PM or Deputy PM will visit the park to seek to remove difficulties arising during the process of implementing the project, he added.

He expressed his hope that the Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park will become an information technology and biotechnology start-up centre in the country./.
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National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (R)

and Governor Masaaki Osawa (Source: VNA)

She hosted a reception in Hanoi on February 16th for a delegation from the Japanese prefecture of Gunma led by Governor Masaaki Osawa, expressing her delight that most of her guests are members of the prefectures Japan-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Alliance.

Ngan expressed her wish that the two countries friendship parliamentary groups would actively facilitate the exchange of delegations between localities and further enhance ties between Vietnamese and Japanese parliamentarians.

She informed her guests that Vietnam is preparing for the upcoming visit by the Japanese Emperor and Empress which is expected to further intensify ties between the two nations.

As the extensive strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia between Vietnam and Japan is growing, the prefecture businesses and parliamentarians visits to Vietnam to explore opportunities are extremely practical, contributing to fostering ties between the two peoples, she said, adding that she wishes the two countries localities will extend their cooperative ties.

The NA leader asked the Gunma Governor to make it easier for the reception of more Vietnamese technical trainees to the prefecture.

Currently, nearly 3,000 Vietnamese people are living and working in Gunma, including 1,088 trainees.

Osawa, for his part, informed host that Gunma has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs to boost bilateral ties, as well as held a working session with authorities of Ho Chi Minh City to lift ties between their business communities.

In 2016, seven Gunma firms started their operations in Vietnam, raising the total number of Gunma businesses in Vietnam to 27.

He also suggested devising a detailed plan to help more Vietnamese trainees work for Japanese firms in Vietnam after they return home./.
Kim Chol, a citizen of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), was supposed to be assassinated in Malaysia (Photo: VNA)

Foreign Ministrys Deputy Spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Tra made the statement on February 16in reply to reporters queries on Vietnams reaction to the incident of Kim Chol, a citizen of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), who was supposed to be assassinated in Malaysia.

Vietnam is willing to cooperate with other countries in preventing and combating all kinds of crimes, she added.

Vietnams relevant agencies are closely working with Malaysia to clarify information related to the incident, said Tra./.
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
ORANGE  A Greene County man charged with burning down a cousins home while three children were inside was ruled competent Friday to stand trial.

In addition, a June 6-7 trial was set for Gerald A. Baugher, who is facing felony charges of arson of an occupied dwelling and breaking and entering with intent to commit arson in connection with an Aug. 1 blaze that destroyed a house along Celt Road south of Stanardsville.

After reading a mental-health evaluation completed by Charlottesville psychologist Jennifer Rassmussen, 16th Circuit Judge Daniel R. Bouton ruled that Baughers case can proceed in Greene County Circuit Court. Due to a scheduling conflict, Fridays hearing was held in the Orange County Circuit Court.

Baugher originally was charged with five felonies, including three counts of second-degree attempted murder. Three siblings were inside the house when one of them reported smelling smoke. They were able to escape safely, but the house was destroyed.

Baugher was indicted in October on the arson and burglary charges. Greene Commonwealths Attorney Ronald Morris did not take the murder charges to a grand jury.

Baugher is being held without bond at the Central Virginia Regional Jail in Orange. After defense attorney David Randle asked for a bond hearing for Baugher, Bouton on Friday scheduled a hearing for March 14 in Greene County Circuit Court.
The Geriatric Collaborative of Central Virginia will offer an education series for caregivers on each Wednesday in April.

The Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital will host four sessions at the MJH Outpatient Kessler Conference Room from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on April 5, 12, 19 and 26.

The hospital will supply refreshments. Topics will include self-care for the caregiver, how to reach out for help, meaningful activity for loved ones and assistive technology.

Registration for the full series is $25. To register, visit bit.ly/2lbHyoh.
Virginia Department of Transportation officials have convened an advisory panel that will begin meeting in March to develop land-use and transportation improvement plans for the U.S. 29-Hydraulic Road intersection.

The 12-member Hydraulic Area Planning Advisory Panel will include representatives from Charlottesville and Albemarle County government, local businesses and the environmental community, VDOT officials said.

The panel is expected to function much like the Route 29 Solutions Advisory Panel that helped design improvement projects along U.S. 29 between Rio Road and Towncenter Drive, including a grade-separated intersection at Rio Road, widening of U.S. 29 and the extension of Berkmar Drive.

The current panel has provided recommendations and guidance that significantly improved the projects and minimized the inconvenience to those who live and work along Route 29, said state Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne.

This new panel will follow that successful model, and I expect that their efforts will again be valuable as we develop a land-use plan and transportation improvements for this critical intersection and the surrounding geographical area, he said.

The state has approved $10 million for preliminary engineering at Hydraulic Road, as well as $10 million for a small connector road that would extend from Hillsdale Drive to Holiday Drive. That funding originally had not been expected to be available until fiscal year 2018, but the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization requested that some of that funding move ahead sooner. That request has been granted.

The Hydraulic Road study will be conducted in two phases, with the first taking a look at land-use planning to make sure that the highway plans meet the needs of future commercial and residential development in the area, Layne said.

Then the panel will work toward designing an intersection that will improve traffic flow through the intersection. A consultant will be hired to work with VDOT and the MPO on the project.

According to VDOT officials, the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission will be responsible for managing the land-use portion of the study, while VDOT will manage the transportation component.

Three of the intersections corners are within city limits, while the northwest quadrant, which contains the Shops at Stonefield, lies in Albemarle.

The members of the panel are:

 Former VDOT Commissioner Philip Shucet, who will facilitate the conversations;

 Kathy Galvin, Charlottesville city councilor;

 Alex Ikefuna, the citys director of neighborhood development services;

 Diantha McKeel, chairwoman of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors;

 Mark Graham, the countys director of community development;

 Alan Taylor, of Riverbend Development;

 John OConnor, senior vice president of OConnor Capital Partners;

 Del Sanders, general manager of the Charlottesville Holiday Inn;

 Charles Rotgin, of Great Eastern Management Co.;

 Kurt Keesecker of BRW Architects;

 Vito Cetta of Weather Hill Homes; and

 Morgan Butler of the Southern Environmental Law Center.

The advisory panel will develop the land-use and transportation improvement plans at regular meetings over the next 18 months.

The panels first meeting will be at 2 p.m. March 9 at the Virginia Transportation Research Council, 530 Edgemont Road in Charlottesville.

The meetings are open to the public, but no public comments will be taken. The public may submit comments online at Route29Solutions.org.

The meetings will be livestreamed, and podcasts will be posted to the Route 29 Solutions website after the meetings.
Restricting access to only his supporters and local news reporters, whom he lambasted as negligent and biased, a local conservative blogger whom many label a white nationalist held a news conference Thursday to announce hes collected enough petition signatures to have a court decide whether Charlottesville City Councilor Wes Bellamy should be removed from office.

Following the event, Jason Kessler, who last fall dug up dozens of offensive tweets written by Bellamy years ago, prior to his election to the council, marched to the courthouse with about 20 supporters, including Republican gubernatorial candidate Corey Stewart.

Since revealing the tweets and leveling a series of other allegations against Bellamy, Kessler has made it his mission to remove Bellamy, the citys only African-American representative on the council. Kessler has maintained that his campaign is not racially motivated, but many have argued that his apparent admiration of the so-called alt-right movement, a marriage of populism and white nationalism, is evidence of his support for white supremacy.

During the press conference, Stewart, Kessler and two others, including the secretary of Kesslers newly formed conservative nonprofit group, Unity and Security for America, aired their grievances with Bellamy.

Underpinning the argument that Bellamy should be removed for misuse of office, Kessler alleged that Bellamy has violated a number of state and federal statutes by discriminating against white people and promoting a black supremacist agenda.

Last year, Kessler wrote that he decided to look into Bellamys social media history after the first-year councilor called for a boycott against a local restaurant owner and University of Virginia lecturer who criticized the Black Lives Matter movement on social media. Kessler also said hes appalled by Bellamys effort to remove the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Lee Park.

Kessler said Thursday that the statue is of ethnic significance to Southern white people and that the other councilors should be eligible for recall in separate cases because of a recent vote to remove the statue.

In a 3-2 vote earlier this month, the council decided to relocate the statue. Mayor Mike Signer and Councilor Kathy Galvin voted against the measure.

This is not just a local incident  its an epidemic by demagogues of grievance who seek to shutter our history across this state and the nation, Kessler said. They seek to destroy our past so they can reshape our world, not based on the [U.S.] Constitution or western values, but on the cultural Marxist dogmas which enthrall the cult-like inhabitants of liberal academia.

We have to make a stand now for our history and for our future.

* * *

Stewart became aware of the campaign to oust Bellamy during his visit to Charlottesville last Saturday to voice his opposition to the City Councils recent decision to remove the Lee statue.

Only tyrants such as Wes Bellamy attempt to erase, distort or rewrite history. The time has come in this country to stand up against this politically correct madness, Stewart said Thursday. For too long, those of us who are just average citizens and hold conservative views and who are proud of our American heritage and heroes have backed down every time weve been challenged.

That ends  this year in the Commonwealth of Virginia, he said. Were not going to tolerate it.

Alluding to a blog post that Kessler wrote last weekend, sharing about two dozen tweets from 2011 and 2012 that showed Bellamy using a derogatory term for male homosexuals, Isaac Smith, secretary of Unity and Security for America, said it was shameful that local media outlets did not carry stories about the newly exposed Bellamy tweets.

I will tell you my involvement in this organization and ... actions in the campaign against Bellamy are undertaken for very personal reasons, Smith said.

After the news conference, Smith said he identifies as gay, adding that he is a Catholic and not a conventional gay man.

We have an open bigot serving on our City Council, who holds a large portion of the city he claims to lead and represent in complete and utter contempt. And the public was not told. That is shameful, Smith said. I will not be governed by a man who holds me in contempt or looks down on me.

Teresa Kay Lam, of Elkton, also spoke during the press conference, arguing that Bellamy should be removed from office because of offensive tweets, saying they make the community uncomfortable.

Now that hes been called out for his comments, he would like for us all to believe he has changed, Lam said. These comments were not made once or twice. They show a pattern over a period of years.

Bellamy has apologized for the tweets but has not emerged from the controversy unscathed. Within weeks of the scandal breaking, Bellamy stepped down from his position on the state Board of Education and left his teaching job with Albemarle County Public Schools after being placed on paid administrative leave.

Bellamy declined an interview request Thursday, but last weekend, after Kessler published his latest blog post attacking him, the councilor took to Twitter to say the social media platform in recent years has helped shape his political views today.

Real life experience has taught me a lot, but Id be lying if I didnt admit that Twitter and the people on here also taught me a ton, he said. He followed that tweet with another, which said: I learned how to mobilize, about feminism, equal rights to different protected classes, and that Im not in this alone ... mostly on Twitter.

* * *

In a statement to the media, Showing Up for Racial Justice Charlottesville, a local chapter of the national organization, criticized Kessler, saying that his effort to remove Bellamy is designed to fuel the same white supremacist agenda we have seen become a part of our politics nationwide.

The statement, which attorney Pam Starsia helped craft, also questioned the validity of Kesslers legal claim.

The legal standard for misuse of office is quite high and must involve conduct that directly relates to and materially impacts the performance of the officials duties or conduct in office. None of the allegations made by Kessler even remotely approach this standard, and most or all of the allegations appear to date back to before Mr. Bellamy ever took office, the statement said.

The misuse of office claim is legally absurd.

In 2013, an Albemarle County judge ruled she could not remove Christopher J. Dumler, a former member of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors who was convicted of a misdemeanor sexual battery charge. A grassroots effort similar to Kesslers sought Dumlers removal, submitting a petition to have him removed based on Virginia code Section 24.2-233.

The code allows a judge, upon petition, to remove an elected official for any of the following reasons: neglect of duty, incompetence, misuse of office or a conviction of a misdemeanor hate crime or certain misdemeanor drug offenses.

In the sexual battery case, which originally started with a forcible sodomy felony charge, Dumler was given a 30-day jail sentence. He eventually resigned from his position on the county board.

* * *

Although some believe Kesslers allegations that Bellamys tweets construe a civil rights violation are overblown and fail to breach the threshold for misuse of office, Kessler said the councils vote to remove the statue is a violation of state law.

He also alleged that Bellamys role as president of the Young Black Professional Network has led to instances of lobbying and financial disclosure violations.

Calling the network a fraudulent organization for having previously failed to register as a nonprofit with the state or the IRS despite accepting allegedly tax deductible donations, Kessler shared a document that he said shows Bellamy requesting last May that the clerk of council help promote a meeting of the organization.

Since making those claims several months ago, state officials have declined to say whether the organization is being investigated.

After facing questions about the legal merit of his complaint and whether some of his allegations have been thoroughly investigated or resolved, Kessler said he wanted to submit the legal petition while the iron is hot, rather than wait.

When asked who is advising him on these legal matters, he declined to answer.

Im not a legal expert and Im the underdog. I have the entire city, the City Council and the judiciary against us. When we go to rallies, our people are assaulted and the police stand down because they are told by City Council to stand down, he said, adding: Im not a rich person ... I cant afford lawyers to do this stuff.

Alluding to the potential next steps for his legal case, he said a special prosecutor must be appointed to look into the allegations.

The law should not just be for rich people. Just because I cant afford to have a legal team to investigate all of this stuff doesnt mean that Bellamy shouldnt be recalled because he has all the money and institutional power behind him, he said. Its incumbent upon our government now that the signatures have been acquired to hire someone thats going to seriously investigate all of these charges  from the lobbying statute violations to the civil rights violations.

Although Kessler claims he has more than 527 signatures, saying that its enough for a judge to consider the petition, others have contested whether he actually has does.

According to Virginia code Section 24.2-233, the petition must be signed by a number of registered voters who reside within the jurisdiction of the officer equal to 10 percent of the total number of votes cast at the last election for the office that the officer holds.

The dispute is based on whether that applies to Bellamys seat or to the City Council as a whole.

A document provided by the city voter registrar shows that Bellamy, the top vote-getter in the last election, received 4,688 votes. Tallying the total number of votes cast in the 2015 election, where three City Council seats were open, the total number of votes comes to 15,798  thus potentially requiring 1,580 petition signatures.

A hearing for the case has been scheduled for 11 a.m. Feb. 23.
Corporations religious rights and President Donald Trumps executive order on immigration were among the topics of a recent lecture at Congregation Beth Israel in Charlottesville.

About 60 people attended the third and final talk in the Legal Issues and Ethics speaker series Sunday. In this installment, Micah Schwartzman, the Edward F. Howrey Professor of Law at the University of Virginia, spoke on Religious Freedom in the Supreme Court.

Schwartzman attended UVa for his undergraduate studies and for law school. He holds a doctorate in politics from Oxford and clerked for Judge Paul V. Niemeyer of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit.

Schwartzmans lecture contained four sections: corporate religious freedom in relation to providing contraception; religious exceptions to serving LGBTQ customers; Trumps executive orders on immigration and travel for citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries; and the nomination of Neil Gorsuch for the U.S. Supreme Court.

The government shall not substantially burden you unless it has a compelling governmental interest, Schwartzman said of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. The government has to have a really powerful reason and the policy it adopts that burdens your practice has to be what courts call the least restrictive means.

The professor then dove into the Hobby Lobby case, which stems from the contraception mandate of the Affordable Care Act. Overarching questions in the case, he said, include the extent of corporations human-like rights and the ramifications for future cases.

Hobby Lobby, a for-profit craft store chain, argued it should not have to pay for employees contraception because doing so would violate the family-owned companys religious beliefs. Hobby Lobby asserted that because corporations are people under the law, the company has the right of religious freedom.

There has been a big debate in this country about whether corporations are people, Schwartzman said. I have to tell you that this debate was lost a long, long time ago, probably in the late 19th century. Corporations are persons for all kinds of purposes  The question that were really interested in is, can they have these particular rights: rights to freedom of speech, rights to freedom of religion  The Supreme Court said that  not only do they count as persons, they count as the kinds of persons that can exercise religious freedom.

Next, Schwartzman discussed corporate religious freedom in the context of gay marriage. In recent years, some businesses across the country have denied service to gay customers, refused to staff gay weddings and fired transgender employees.

Schwartzman said the issue is a natural extension of the Hobby Lobby decision. Hobby Lobbys progeny were a series of cases involving gay marriage and the rights of gay, lesbian and transgender people, he said.

Attendees at Sundays talk expressed concern over the presidents controversial executive orders. After the orders were signed, Schwartzman spoke to members of a Charlottesville mosque who expressed confusion and concern about whether their dual-citizen members would be able to visit family abroad.

Schwartzman argued that the orders violate the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, among other statutes.

The Establishment Clause, if it means anything, says that the government cant treat some religious groups better than others  its not allowed to play favorites to engage in preferential treatment between people of different faiths , he said. This order discriminates amongst people in religious crowds. That seems to be [quite clearly] a violation of the Establishment Clause.

Finally, Schwartzman discussed Trumps Supreme Court nominee. He spoke about Gorsuchs educational and legal background, which includes an opinion in the Hobby Lobby case.

This is a very conventional, high-prestige nomination, Schwartzman said. Gorsuch is extremely well-educated. In fact, many people thought that he wouldnt be the pick because he is too well educated  Hes a very conservative judge, hes congenial. People who know him like him, including his opponents.

Tom Gutherz, senior rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel, invited Schwartzman to speak.

We, as a congregation, are fortunate to have many distinguished UVa law faculty among our members, including some who can share their expertise with the larger community and help to advance the conversations we are having among ourselves about some of the issues facing us today as a community and as a nation, Gutherz said in an interview before Sundays talk. The question of how the concept of religious freedom is being shaped by recent court decisions is one of these issues, and Micah Schwartzman is an expert in this field.

Gutherz said Congregation Beth Israel was pleased with the lecture series and hopes to continue such events in the future.

Weve got a few more lectures in the works for the coming months, on diverse topics, he said. Well do another round of Legal Issues next year.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman said that negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are in the final stage and preparations for the signing of the updated Memorandum are underway.

"We're actually in the final stage, completing work on the preparations for the signing of the memorandum. Once this work is completed, we will say," the prime minister said during his visit to the exhibition "Agro Animal Show 2017" in Kyiv on Friday.

Groysman said that the memorandum does not envisage raising the retirement age.
PJSC Ukrtransgaz has held a meeting with traders to define initial interest in reserving the capacity of the new Ukraine-Poland gas pipeline interconnector, the press service of the company has said.

According to its data, during the discussion of the need for market research on reserving the capacity of the Ukraine-Poland gas pipeline, representatives of the operator of Ukraine's gas transportation system informed about the project implementation.

The meeting was also attended by the representatives of DTEK Trading, E.KONNEKT, ERU Trading, Promenergo-Resurs, Energy Trade Group, World Petroleum Group, PGNiG and Trailstone.

The press service said to make the final investment decision on the start of funding the project, the Polish side in the face of Gaz-System needs confirmation of the market demand for capacity and the signing of relevant long-term contracts for its use by market participants.

"The work on the issue of conducting the joint Open Season procedure for new capacity of the interconnector on the Polish and Ukrainian sides is continuing, therefore Ukrtransgaz is interested in holding consultations with gas market participants," Ukrtransgaz Vice President Ihor Burak said.
Public joint-stock company Ukrtelecom saw UAH 244 million of net profit in 2016, and this is almost 50% down on 2015, Ukrtelecom Director General Yuriy Kurmaz said at a press conference in Kyiv on Friday.

He said that net revenue of the operator shrank by 2%, to UAH 6.636 billion.

"The company significantly increased depreciation payments due to revaluation of the company's fixed assets, whose value increased by UAH 4.85 billion. If the size of fixed assets would have remained at the level of 2015, we would have observed net profit of about UAH 700 million," he said.

Earnings before taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) over the period fell by 5%, to UAH 1.765 million and EBITDA margin  by 1 percentage point, to 26.6%.

Capital investment more than quadrupled, reaching UAH 954.4 million.

In particular, the company is implementing a large-scale project for the technical modernization of its network in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Zaporizhia, Lviv, and Dnipro.

Kurmaz noted the company plans in 2017 to increase the ratio of capital investment to UAH 3 billion.

Ukrtelecom is the largest fixed communications operator in Ukraine and promotes 3G mobile communications.
On Friday, February 17, the Munich Security Conference begins its work, which will discuss a number of key challenges in the field of security, including the situation in Ukraine.

According to a press release of the 53rd Munich Security Conference (MSC), which will be held under the chairmanship of Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger, more than 500 participants are expected to attend it.

"The conference agenda focuses on the future of transatlantic relations and NATO after the election of Donald Trump, the state of EU cooperation in security and defense matters, the Ukraine crisis and relations with Russia, the war in Syria, and the security situation in the Asia-Pacific, including in the Korean peninsula," a press-release says.

Participants will also discuss terrorism, information warfare, as well as major threats to global health and climate security.

Among this year's confirmed participants are the new UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, EU High Representative Federica Mogherini, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. In addition, the event will be attended by the presidents of Ukraine, Poland and Afghanistan, the prime ministers of Norway, Hungary and Iraq, the foreign ministers of China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Russia, France and the UK.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as the ministers of Economy, Defense and Internal Affairs of Germany will participate in the conference.

The U.S. delegation in Munich will be headed by U.S. Vice President Michael Pence.

According to information posted on the conference website, U.S. delegation will be presented at a fairly serious level. "Several members of the U.S. cabinet, including Vice President Michael Pence and the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security, General James Mattis and General John Kelly, have already confirmed their participation," the conference press-release says.

According to Interfax-Ukraine, the Ukrainian president will speak at the panel discussion titled "The Future of the West: Fall or Return?" on Friday night. In addition, on the conference sidelines on February 18 the Ukrainian president will hold talks with U.S. Vice President Michael Pence, President of Poland Andrzej Duda and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Pence, Merkel, NATO Secretary General, the UN Secretary General and other senior officials will speak on February 18 according to the program of the event.

On the sidelines of the Munich conference the talks of foreign ministers of Normandy format will also be held where the situation in the east of Ukraine will be discussed. According to the agency's information, the four ministerial meeting is scheduled for Saturday, February 18.

In the framework of the conference, on February 18, Pinchuk Foundation will hold its first Ukrainian lunch "Ukraine's Security in a Changing World Order." According to the Foundation, the event will bring together world-known figures, decision makers and leaders in the field of security. The Ukrainian lunch will be attended by U.S. Gen. David Petraeus, former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, President of Poland in 1995-2005 Aleksander Kwasniewski, Chairman of the MSC Wolfgang Ischinger, Ex-President of the European Parliament Pat Cox, former Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt.

The MSC is an annual conference which is held in Munich (Germany) since 1962. It had been called the Conference on Military Affairs until 1993 and was held under the auspices of the Christian Social Union. It is financed by the government of Germany since 1998.
Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine Andriy Reva has discussed with head of the NATO Trust Fund projects Frederic Peugeot a joint work in the field of medical and psychological rehabilitation of the wounded Ukrainian soldiers.

As the press service of the Ministry of Social Policy reported, Reva expressed gratitude for the assistance of NATO Trust Fund, which helps in medical rehabilitation of Ukrainian soldiers.

"I sincerely thank you for the substantial assistance you are providing us today, and I want to say that you are not only partners but also good friends of Ukraine," Reva said.

The sides discussed issues of further cooperation in the framework of the NATO Trust Fund for the rehabilitation and new formats of collaboration in the field of medical and psychological rehabilitation, adaptation of Ukrainian soldiers.
The Donbas territories can only be returned to Ukraine as a result of political and diplomatic settlement, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.

"There is my firm position and there is a position of our team that we should return these territories to Ukraine using exclusively political and diplomatic methods, and the political intriguers who say that this territory should be cut off and de facto given away are absolutely wrong. I emphasize once again what I said before: you did not gather those lands and you are not the ones to cut them off," Poroshenko said at a National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) session in Kyiv on Thursday.

"They [the activists who imposed a railway blockade on Donbas] are blocking not the specific regions of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions but they are blocking Ukraine and our fight for territorial integrity," the president said.

Poroshenko earlier announced that the NSDC would discuss urgent measures to neutralize a threat to the national energy security.
New Delhi: Government today said it is keeping a close watch on some companies trying to create an artificial shortage of life-saving coronary stents and stringent action will be taken against those engaging in unethical practices.

There are reports of shortages of stents in hospitals after the government reduced their prices by up to 85 per cent by capping rates of bare metal stents at Rs 7,260 and drug-eluting ones at Rs 29,600 on February 13.

National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), Drug Controller General India (DCGI) as well as Health Ministry have been asked to ensure compliance of price capping and adequate availability of coronary stents in the market at the earliest.

"We are keeping an eye on all those who are engaging in unethical practices such as creating artificial shortage of stents, not abiding by the fixed ceiling price etc, against whom strict action will be taken," Pharma Secretary Jai Priye Prakash told PTI.

The government would take all steps to ensure that there is adequate supply of coronary stents for cardiac patients in the country, he added. The Department of Pharmaceuticals has written separately to NPPA, DCGI and Healthy Ministry requesting them to take "necessary action" to curb artificial shortage.

"... NPPA on February 13 has fixed the ceiling prices of coronary stents. There are some reports regarding shortage of coronary stents in the markets/hospitals.

"It is, therefore, requested that necessary action may be taken under paragraph 21 of Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 (DPCO, 2013) to ensure adequate availability of coronary stents at the earliest," it said in its letter.

To implement the price cap, some manufacturers, distributors and importers are withdrawing cardiac stents from hospitals in the name of re-labelling, thereby creating an artificial shortage.
New Delhi: HDFC Bank today surpassed RIL to become the country's second most valued firm after its shares jumped 4 per cent as hectic buying by overseas investors pushed their holding in it to the permissible limit soon after the opening of trade.

The company stock witnessed huge buying after the RBI restrictions placed on the purchase of shares of the company were withdrawn yesterday. The stock jumped 3.75 per cent to end at Rs 1,377.15 on BSE. Intra-day, it surged 9.24 per cent to Rs 1,450 -- its 52-week high.

On NSE, it rose by 3.7 per cent to close at Rs 1,377.05. Led by the sharp gain in the stock, HDFC Bank's market valuation surged Rs 13,126.93 crore to Rs 3,52,313.93 crore.

It is about Rs 3,485.33 crore more than RIL's 3,48,828.60 crore mcap. With this the bank became the second most valued Indian company after TCS that commands a market capitalisation of Rs 4,74,508.60 crore. Shares of RIL too went up by 0.98 per cent to Rs 1,075.35 on BSE.

On the volume front, 55.25 lakh shares of the company were traded on BSE and over 10 crore shares changed hands at NSE during the day. "HDFC Bank provided a flip to the index after RBI lifted the ban on FII investment. We continue to have a positive outlook on the bank but this price trend is likely to normalize given RBI re-imposing the ban after FII holding exceeded the threshold limit of 74 per cent on hefty buying today," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd.

The threshold limit for foreign holding had gone below the prescribed percentage yesterday enabling foreign investors to buy the stock. "Today's rally was led by banking stocks, particularly backed by HDFC Bank. HDFC Bank stock rose by over 9 per cent in early trade after RBI removed restrictions imposed on Foreign investors' holdings," said Raghu Kumar, Director, Upstox, a leading online low-cost broking firm HDFC Bank again reached the prescribed foreign investment limit for Indian companies, the Reserve Bank said today, just a day after such inflows had gone below the ceiling.

"The foreign shareholding by ADR/GDR/FIIs/FPIs/FDI/NRIs/ PIOs in HDFC Bank Ltd has crossed the overall limit of 74 per cent of its paid-up capital," RBI said in notification.

Therefore, no further purchases of shares of this company would be allowed through stock exchanges in India on behalf of Foreign institutional Investors (FIIs)/Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs)/ Non-Resident Indians (NRIs)/ Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs), RBI said.

RBI monitors the ceilings on FII/NRI/PIO investments in Indian companies on a daily basis and has fixed the cut-off points two percentage points below the actual ceiling. For the quarter ended December 31, 2016, promoter shareholding in the bank was at 26.09 per cent, as per BSE data.
Since the beginning of the conflict in eastern Ukraine 2,197 Ukrainian soldiers were killed, performing tasks there, Chief of General Staff  Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Viktor Muzhenko has said.

"Combat losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for this period amount to 2,197 people dead and about 8,000 wounded," Muzhenko said during a meeting with foreign military attaches in Kyiv on Friday.
Mumbai: Delay in resumption of imports by Iran is likely to hinder the recovery in Basmati exports from India, a report said. However, this as a temporary delay, considering Iran's insufficient domestic rice production and depleting inventory levels to meet its demand, the rating agency ICRA said in its latest update note on Indian Basmati rice industry.

Price cap of USD 850 per metric tonne (MT) could pose further hurdles for the Basmati rice industry, given that during the current procurement season average Basmati paddy prices have been higher by 20-25 per cent, ICRA said.

Thus an inflow of orders from Iran, even after the import ban is lifted, remains to be seen, it said. "Iran is a major export destination for Indian Basmati rice and decline in demand from Iran has played a role in the declining realisations of exports from India from USD 1298/MT in FY2014 to USD 784/MT in 8M FY2017," ICRA Assistant

Vice President Deepak Jotwani said. Over the years, the Iranian Government has imposed a ban on import of Basmati rice from time to time, as per the movement in inventory held by its rice traders and also to safeguard the interests of local farmers. Iran last imposed a ban on import of Basmati in July 2016.

The Indian government sent a trade delegation to Iran in January 2017 to resolve the issue. While there has been no official notification from Iran, a group of large Basmati rice importers in Iran recently capped the price of Basmati rice imports at USD 850/MT, the report said.

In another adverse development for the industry, the US recently imposed fresh trade sanctions on Iran, which restrains Iran's use of the US dollar for trade. These two developments have created uncertainty around the resumption of Basmati rice exports to Iran, ICRA said.

West Asian countries continue to account for major chunk of imports of Basmati; nearly 75 per cent of Indian Basmati rice exports in FY2016 were to these nations.

Within West Asia, Iran and Saudi Arabia are the two largest buyers, together accounting for 40-50 per cent of total Basmati rice exports from India.
The MoU will help the government access the best of Microsoft's technology and expertise for the improvement of digital services to citizens and drive digital inclusion in the state

Ranchi: Jharkhand government and Microsoft India today inked an MoU to leverage cloud technologies to drive the state's digital ambitions. The MoU will support the state government to explore cloud, machine learning and mobile based solutions to improve citizen services and provide better facilities in the fields of education and agriculture, a Microsoft India release said.

The MoU was signed at the 'Momentum Jharkhand: Global Investors' Summit & Trade Exhibition'. Jharkhand government has been using an advanced IT infrastructure to provide citizen services and driving technology led programmes like Skill India and Digital India.

The MoU will help the government access the best of Microsoft's technology and expertise for the improvement of digital services to citizens and drive digital inclusion in the state, the release said.

It said that Microsoft has been working closely with several state governments in the country to support their digital infrastructure, enhance their citizen services and drive efficiencies in their administrative and governance operations.
Mumbai: Fukrey Returns a sequal to 2013s sleeper hit, Fukrey is easily among the most eagerly awaited sequels of the year.The cast of the film came together for an event of an NGO - Dhai Akshar in Mumbai which works for unprivileged children.

Ali Fazal who happens to be a board member of Dhai Akshar, along with acclaimed director Amol Gupte, came in with his fellow cast members Richa Chadda, Varun Sharma and Manjot Singh, with some fun activities for the children between the ages of 9 and 15. Dhai Akshar as an NGO not only educates the children but also gives them an exposure in extra curricular activities and aims to train them in performing arts.

Richa Chadda expressing her views at the event, said, "These children are far talented than we think and I always wanted to so something for these kids with my Forbes Ali Fazal being a board member of Dhai Akshar. I am happy that I spent time with these kids and gave them a fun interactive acting lesson of sorts. I was surprised how disciplined they are and it was such a pleasant time we had".

Richa Chadda and Ali Fazal held a few acting workshops, danced on a few songs and played games with the kids. Manjot Singh and Varun Sharma happily joined in on the fun activities.

When prodded on his experience, Ali said, "It's always good to have kids around you and you literally forget all your stress around them. They help you unwind yourself and their innocence gives you so much positivity. I am glad that I am able to be a part of Dhai Akshar and help these kids nurture more and explore more not only in the educational knowledge but also through lessons in performing arts".

The film, also starring Pulkit Samrat, is set to release this year.
New Delhi: Genuinely intending to help people lead a healthy life, Yoga junkie Shilpa Shetty Kundra stated that her recent venture 'Theshilpashetty.com' is the only initiative out of which she doesn't intend to make money.

"I don't intend to make any money out of this initiative," said Shilpa on a lighter note.

Taking her fitness goals to the next level, Shilpa launched her own wellness website in the presence of fitness icon Tiger Shroff and her family, mum Sunanda Shetty, husband Raj Kundra, son Viaan Raj Kundra and sister Shamita.

" The 41-year-old actor and mother of a four-year-old aims to push a healthy lifestyle in the form of healthy yet tasty recipes from her kitchen and a selection of customised exercises and routines through her website.

Talking about the 'Baaghi' star, another fitness freak, she said at the event, "I have seen Tiger work out on the beach in front of my house twice a day from a very young age and I felt he is the best example of embracing a disciplined and healthy lifestyle from a young age."

In addition to that, her son Viaan is a huge fan of 'The Flying Jatt' actor and even demonstarted a few poses from the film at the launch event held earlier.

In the coming days, sister Shamity is likely to join forces with Shilpa and chalk out interesting workout routines for siblings.
Mumbai: Kangana Ranaut says she is currently focusing on her films but if and when she gets married she will never hide it from the world. Kangana will be next seen in Vishal Bhardwajs Rangoon alongside Shahid Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan.

I just want to focus on promoting Rangoon right now. There will be a time for this (marriage) and I will not shy away from marriage. I will not hide anything (referring to being in a relationship) as I am not like that, the 29-year-old actress told PTI.

Recently, in an interview, the Tanu Weds Manu actress said that she is in a relationship and wants to get married this year. Coming from a small town of Himachal Pradesh, Kangana has made it big in Bollywood but her personal life has been in limelight thanks to her ugly spat with Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan ended with both the actors slapping legal notices at each other. While Hrithik denies being in a relationship with Kangana, the actress maintains that they were romantically involved.

Meanwhile, Kangana is also going to feature in Koffee With Karan. You (Karan) will play that stereotypical Bollywood biggie who is like you know very snooty and completely intolerant to outsiders and flag bearer of nepotism, the movie mafia, the actor said. During Koffee Shots, Kangana also expressed that she is super jealous of Aamir Khan as his recent film, Dangal, made so much money. However, at this moment, Saif remained unaffected but little did he know that the shots and the questions had just begun.
The film is slated to release on August 11.

Mumbai: Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali recently shot a portion of his upcoming movie with Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma at the renowned RK Studious in Chembur.

The 45-year-old director called the moment a huge occasion in his life and shared a picture of him standing in front of the gate of one of Bollywood's most iconic shooting sets.

"Shooting in Raj Kapoor's studio - a huge occasion in my life!" wrote Ali alongside the photo.

The Tamasha helmer and his team filmed at the studio for almost a week and he was grateful to work in an ambience of cinematic brilliance.

"We shot there for six days and I was constantly surrounded by the shadows of the great cinema that has been made here. Gratitude," added Ali.
Rating:

Cast: Rana Daggubati, Kay Kay Menon, Atul Kulkarni, Om Puri, Satyadev, Taapsee and others

Director: Sankalp Reddy

Ghazi created much interest and buzz when the promos of the film were released as this is the first submarine war film made in India, and that too in Telugu. Sankalp Reddy, a first-time director, has based the film on the 1971 incident when the Pakistan submarine, PNS Ghazi, planned to attack Visakhapatnam, but was destroyed by the Indian warship INS Rajput. The incident was classified and no one knows what actually happened. Its more difficult to convey the events of a battle from inside a submarine and to get all the emotions right, but with a talented cast that includes Rana Daggubati, Kay Kay Menon, Atul Kulkarni, Om Puri and Satyadev, Sankalp has managed to pull it off.

A few films have changed the scenario of Telugu cinema, such as Shankarabharanam, Sagara Sangamam, and Shiva and now Ghazi has joined their ranks. The story is simple enough. The Eastern Naval Command, Visakhaptnam, gets information that Pakistan has deployed a submarine in the Bay of Bengal that is heading for Visakhapantam. INS Rajput, under the command of Captain Ran Vijay Singh (Kay Kay Menon) and Lt Commander Arjun Varma (Rana Daggubati), is sent to intercept it. Both show exemplary courage.

An 18-day battle ensues that ends with the destruction of the enemy ship and Visakhaptnam is saved. Ghazi definitely belongs to director Sankalp Reddy. Not only are the action sequences credible, but we are kept at the edge of our seats as the narrative unfolds. The director maintains the tempo and creates some excitement, even though the outcome is known. The dialogue is heavily peppered with Navy lingo, but its never boring. The screenplay is gripping and the cast brilliant. Kay Kay is superb as Captain Ran Vijay Singh.

Rana Daggubati rises to new heights as an actor in this film, giving the best performance of his career so far. Atul Kulkarni as assistant captain once again shows his class. Om Puri, Nasser and Milind Gunaji are all adequate in their respective roles. Taapsee hasnt much of a role. The music is by K and the background score creates the right atmosphere. The music is the soul of this film. Madhis cinematography is brilliant; Shivarams art work is also notable as he recreates the submarine atmosphere. Though graphics are used, they are not obvious Definitely, Ghazi stands on par with many Hollywood films of wars at sea. A must-watch film.
The findings may not represent reality for all men (Photo: AFP)

Tokyo: After prostate removal for cancer, men sometimes complain to their doctors that their penis shrank, but a new study from Japan suggests they should not lose hope.

Following men for up to two years after surgery, researchers found the patients' penises were shortest a few days after their procedures. Penis lengths generally returned to normal after one year, however.

The study's lead author said the research was started after encountering a few patients complaining of penis shortening after prostate removal, which is known medically as a radical prostatectomy.

Past reports mentioned shortened penises after prostate removal, but the results were a bit different, said Dr. Yoshifumi Kadono, of Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medicine Science. "Therefore, we started our study to obtain our data," he told Reuters Health.

For the new study, the researchers measured the penis lengths of 102 men before having their prostates removed and then at 10 days after surgery and again one, three, six, nine, 12, 18 and 24 months later.

The men's stretched penis lengths were shortest 10 days after surgery, when measurements were an average of about 0.10 centimeters (0.04 inches) shorter than before prostate removal.

By the one-year mark, the men's penises generally returned to original lengths, which averaged about 11.72 centimeters (4.61 inches), according to the results in BJU International.

The researchers wanted to know what caused the shortening and if any particular variable, such as the size of a man's prostate gland, would predict which men would experience this effect.

Based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)of the patients, the researchers noticed some internal changes. Specifically, the portion of the urethra directly below the bladder moves up into the body after surgery, but moves back down after some time.

"However, further research is needed to elucidate long-term changes of (penis length) with respect to the influence of sex hormones or changes in penile blood flow after (radical prostatectomy)," said Kadono.

The new findings may be useful for men who have low-to-moderate self esteem tied to their perceived lost penis length after their surgery, he added. The findings may not represent reality for all men, however.

Most men will have some penis length loss after surgery and sometimes that will be permanent, said Dr. John Mulhall, who is director of the Male Sexual and Reproductive Medicine Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

"If you have documental length loss at six months, then you shouldnt expect that to improve at 12 months," said Mulhall, who wasn't involved in the new study.

He told Reuters Health that loss of penis length can be attributed to two issues. For example, muscle contractions may pull the penis into the body, but that relaxes over time. Men may also experience after surgery the loss of erection tissue.

"Once that muscle degenerates, its gone," he told Reuters Health. Dr. Drogo Montague, who wasn't involved in the new study but often treats urological issues in men after prostate removal, also said some penises may appear shorter after surgery due to scar tissue that builds up when men have sex with partial erections.

The patients included in the new study would generally be considered to be normal weight, noted Montague, who is a professor of surgery at the Center for Genitourinary Reconstruction Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

"So these findings wont necessary be generalizable because of the prevalence of obesity," he told Reuters Health. Mulhall said medications like Viagra and Cialis - known as PDE5 inhibitors -are shown in previous research to guard against lost penile length after prostate removal.

In addition to PDE5 inhibitor, Montague said men can get prostheses and other interventions to strengthen their penises.
With high blood pressure seen as a common factor, in all age groups, in the country, doctors urge for a better realisation among the public that salt reduction is much required in India.

Chennai: With the Indian salt consumption rate having been found to be the highest in the world, and there being no account of the amount of salt that is directly or indirectly consumed here, doctors in Chennai stress on the need for people to limit their salt intake.

The prevalence of raising blood pressure in India is around 26 percent and is considered to be a leading cause of death, stroke, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, and chronic renal impairment. About one in three of all adult Indians have high blood pressure, making it a major public health burden. Five out of the top 10 causes of deaths in India are now due to Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs), said Dr Vivekanand Jha, executive director, George Institute for Global Health, India, which, along with Arogya World, convened a salt summit in the capital city recently.

With high blood pressure seen as a common factor, in all age groups, in the country, doctors urge for a better realisation among the public that salt reduction is much required in India.

Excess salt is one of the main contributing factors in the increased burden of NCDs today. Nutrition labelling has a strong connection with NCDs. No company selling food products specifies how much salt their product contains for the fear of the public becoming aware of the truth, said Amit Kurana, programme manager, Food Safety and Toxins, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

One of the targets in Indias action plan for meeting the NCDs is 30 percent relative reduction in the mean population intake of salt/sodium, which will also directly help in achieving the other target which is 25 percent relative reduction in raised blood pressure.

Only if everyone unites in an effort to cut down on salt consumption, can India achieve its target of bringing down the burden of NCDs. We need action from the Government of India, food manufacturers, the private sector, restaurants, street vendors, cafeteria managers, housewives, civil society and the academic and research community to ensure that the countrys aim to check NCDs is met, said diabetologist in the city Dr V. Gnanaraj.
Hyderabad: Seven protected historical monuments under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in Telangana state and Andhra Pradesh need attention and have been put up for corporate aid for preservation, conservation besides amenities for tourists.

The National Culture Fund (NCL), set up by the Union culture ministry, has listed 100 protected monuments across the country seeking support from corporate and other institutions.

Some projects, through corporate funding, have been completed, others are in progress and many are waiting for funds.

Up to Rs 3 crore is being sought for environmental development, creating tourist facilities and installing floodlights at the Golconda Fort, Hyderabad. Though ASI says its one of the best maintained forts in the world, it requires huge maintenance.

The Warangal Fort and Nava Brahma (nine Shiva temples) group of monuments, Alampur, Jogulamba-Gadwal district belonging to Chalukyas of Badami who ruled between 650 and 750 AD in TS need between Rs 75 lakh and Rs 2.5 crore for conservation of monuments, environmental development, tourist facilities.

In Andhra Pradesh, the NFC has invited funds for Buddhist monuments called Bojjannakonda and Lingalakonda, Sankaram near Anakapalli in Visakhapatnam district (Rs 1 crore to Rs 3 crore).

We have been seeking funds from corporate and others for preservation of ancient monuments. All contributions to NCF are entitled to a tax rebate under Section 80 G of the Income Tax Act. ASI shall duly acknowledge the contributions at the site and also in its publications. Currently, many leading Corporate Homes, Trusts are helping us in conservation and preservation and we are seek help for more such projects, said Mr K.L. Dhingra, chief executive officer, NCF, New Delhi.

The NCF, established in 1996 as a trust, invites institutions and individuals to promote and preserving India's cultural heritage. It is possible for a donor to identify a project and a monument along with any specific aspect of funding and also an agency for the execution of the project.

The other monuments for which funds have been sought are the second century BC and 6th century AD Buddhist site Salihundam in Srikakulam district (Rs 25 lakh to Rs 50 lakh); the Vijayanagara-style Veera Bhadra temple in Anantapur district (Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore); Buddhist monuments at Nagarjunakonda (Rs 25 lakh to Rs 50 lakh).
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry commented on the report of the Special OSCE monitoring mission (SMM) dated February 16 "Hardship for conflict-affected civilians in eastern Ukraine" during May-September, 2016, the Ministry's press-service has said.

The Foreign Ministry noted that the report "has once again confirmed the gross violations of the Minsk agreements and human rights by Russia and illegal armed formations supported by it in the temporarily occupied regions of Donetsk and Luhansk regions."

The report notes that the results of the shelling by the Russian occupation forces and militants damaged and destroyed many private houses and objects of life-critical infrastructure.

"Russian hybrid troops continued placing arms and military equipment in civilian areas, which was accompanied by the seizure of administrative buildings. They used roofs of houses to accommodate their firing positions," a statement on the Foreign Ministry's website says.

In addition, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry noted that the OSCE SMM missed the "critical issues of humanitarian "agenda", in particular, murders, disappearance and illegal detention of local residents in the occupied territories of Donbas, the impunity of the Russian military and the militants, the seizure of property, obstruction to the activities of international humanitarian organizations.

"The presence of significant amount of actually closed areas for the OSCE observers in the occupied part of Donbas, did not allow the SMM to impart the document a truly integrated and comprehensive character," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The ministry in its message rests responsibility for the suffering of the local population in the occupied territories upon the Russian Federation, which is keeping supply weapons to Donbas.

"We call on Russia to proceed to fulfill its obligations under the Minsk agreements without delay, primarily, to stop the attacks, ensure full and unimpeded access to the SMM, including to the section of the Ukrainian-Russian state border temporarily uncontrolled by the government of Ukraine, release all the hostages and illegally detained persons, withdraw its troops, weapons and military equipment from the territory of Ukraine," the Foreign Ministry said.
The class 3 girl was not happy that the following words were written on Daburs Real fruit juice packet: "Something that is good for your child should also make him smile".

A little girl in Guwahati forced popular juice manufacturer Dabur to change its product packaging after she claimed that the caption on the juice carton was discriminatory towards girls.

The class 3 girl was not happy that the following words were written on Daburs Real fruit juice packet: "Something that is good for your child should also make him smile. This made her ask her father, Mriganka K Majumdar, if the fruit juice was only meant for boys. He then wrote a letter to Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi complaining that the package of the beverage did not send a gender-inclusive message.

However, the company denied the allegations of gender discrimination. An official statement issued by Dabur says that they have agreed to change the packaging to avoid "any such misunderstanding in the future", according to media reports.
The 45-year-old puller has been doing it for the last five years even after facing much criticism from her neighbours. (Photo: AFP)

As Bangladesh's only known woman rickshaw wallah, Mosammat Jasmine may be a feminist icon but to the passengers she cycles around the streets of Chittagong, she is known as "Crazy Auntie".

"I do it to make sure my sons don't go hungry and they get a decent education at a good school," says the mother of three as she takes a break at Chittagong bus station. Allah has given me a pair of hands and legs to work with. I don't beg -- instead I earn a living by using his gifts," she adds. Muslim-majority Bangladesh is one of Asia's most conservative societies where the concept of a woman doing such a job had been unheard of before Jasmine hit the road five years ago.

Left to fend for three young children when her husband ran off with another woman, Jasmine initially tried her hand at being a maid and then working in one of Bangladesh's garment factories but found neither job suited her."A maid's job is good if you only have to worry about yourself but not if you've got children. And the factory work is really back-breaking and the pay is really poor," the 45-year-old explains.

Struggling to make ends meet and determined to pay for her children's education, she decided on her radical career change when a neighbour who owned a rickshaw offered to lend it to her for a few days.Working out how to navigate the streets of Bangladesh's second city was the easy part although she did find it painful at times to peddle her brightly-coloured tricycle up some of its hilly neighbourhoods.

But finding willing passengers proved a stiffer challenge."Initially, many simply refused to get on board and some taunted me, saying I was doing a man's job," she recalls."Others told me that Islam does not permit a woman to roam around like this while there were some who refused to pay me the same fare as a male driver," Jasmine says, before adding: "I stuck to my guns as who else pays my bills, who is else is going to cover the cost of educating my sons?"

On average she earns 600 taka ($8) a day for an eight hour shift on the rickshaw, part of which she pays as rent to the rickshaw owner. She works seven days a week.Now a familiar sight on the streets of the bustling port city, she has won the respect of her colleagues. As she parked up by the bus station, she exchanged smiles and greetings with around a dozen male drivers.

'Overwhelming courage'

Since switching last year to a battery-run electric rickshaw, the work has become a little less arduous but she is still an inspiration to many."Jasmine is unique. She is the only female rickshaw-puller among all of Bangladesh's 160-million population. It is overwhelming to see her courage," local rights activist Suzana Salim told AFP.

The traffic police applaud her good road sense and for always wearing a helmet -- unlike her male counterparts.And even some with religious authority have started praising her."She is a good example to society given that many girls who fall on hard times turn to prostitution or drugs," said Nurul Alam Azmiri, the imam at a local mosque. "She has a vision for her kids, which is commendable."

Young people are particularly keen to flag her down, drawn in part by the loud music that blares from the speakers on "Pagli Khala's" (the Crazy Auntie's) vehicle.Despite the growing acceptance, Jasmine -- who is a practising Muslim -- says she still faces taunts by people who question her faith."I don't listen to them," she said. "My sons need their education and so I'll do my best to ensure that for as long as I live."
New Delhi: A 63-year-old retired government servant has been awarded a seven-year jail term by a special court for depositing Rs 13.67 lakh of public money into her daughter's bank account, using her as a ghost employee.

Special CBI Judge Gurdeep Singh, who also imposed a fine of over Rs 15 lakh on CGHS staffer Neelam Sehgal, awarded a five-year-jail term to her 77-year-old husband Jagdish Sehgal, a retired government servant too, for being part of the criminal conspiracy in the offence.

Besides, the court imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on their daughter Ritu Sehgal for misappropriating government funds, noting that she herself withdrew the amount despite knowing that she had herself not deposited it and the money did not belong to her.

"The facts of this case unfold as to how a gainfully employed government servant, whose husband is also a retired government servant getting pension, and daughter is also employed and had sufficient for their needs, but greed had taken over her...," the court said.

It said that despite being in a position of public trust entrusted with the task of preparing salary bills, arrears bill and bills of other allowances, she (Neelam) abused her position and the money, which was otherwise to be used for medical care of the working and retired government servants, was siphoned off in the account of her daughter.

While awarding the jail term to the husband, the court said the charge of conspiracy was duly proved against him. According to the CBI, Neelam was working as an upper division clerk with CGHS from September 2008 till she retired on May 31, 2013.

During this period, she was entrusted with the job of preparing bills of salary, arrears etc. However, she inserted the name of her daughter as a ghost employee and transferred the money in her account through Electronic Clearance Service (ECS), the CBI had claimed.

Public prosecutor K P Singh submitted that Neelam had transferred Rs 13.67 lakh through ECS in her daughter's account and also fraudulently claimed Rs 69,025 for herself in excess of what she was actually entitled for, which comes to Rs 14.36 lakh.

Regarding the husband, the CBI had claimed that he was withdrawing the money from his daughter's account. The accused persons pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.

"The convict in the present case had breached that utmost trust which all government servants have been bestowed upon and thereby needs to be given the punishment which is proportional to the gravity of the offence," the court said.

It further said "it is true that present offence does not fall in the category of conventional heinous offence such as murder or rape, but it is far more serious as it amounts to corruption".

In its order, the court held that "the case reveals the highly inadequate system of auditing which failed to detect that the money was being paid to a non-existing employee from the government exchequer."

"It also unfolds that the pruning of the government department of their staff in essential working areas results in complete lack of supervision which causes huge loss to the government exchequer which they might have saved.

"Therefore, the work audit of the government staff is very imperative so that sufficient manpower are available at the important areas," it said.
Jammu: An Army jawan committed suicide by shooting himself, in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district. The weapon was his service rifle prompting the army to order a Court of Inquiry (CoI).

Havildar Krishen Singh shot himself with his INSAS rifle at army unit in Maheswar area in Samba district on Thursday morning and died, Army officials said.

The police have registered a case and post-mortem has been conducted, they said. Singh was from Rajasthan and had joined army in 1997.
Ahmednagar: Voters at Pangarmal village in Maharashtra boycotted the local body polls to protest against the deaths of seven people who allegedly consumed adulterated liquor at a dinner party of an election candidate.

Zero voting was recorded in the zilla parishad and panchayat samiti elections held on Thursday at Pangarmal village in western Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district.

The villagers did not exercise their right to franchise despite being requested to do so by tehsildar Sudhir Patil, Assistant Election Officer Arun Anandkar said on Friday.

The angry locals demanded immediate compensation for the families of the victims and those hospitalised. Seven persons have so far died after allegedly consuming adulterated liquor on Sunday night at a dinner party thrown by a candidate who contested the local body poll in Pangarmal.

On Monday morning, some of the people complaining about vomiting and stomach upset were rushed to a nearby hospital where three of them died, police said earlier on Friday. Four more deaths followed, totalling to seven deaths.

Eight more persons are still admitted at private hospitals in the city, police said.

"Seven persons have so far died after consuming adulterated liquor at the party and few more are undergoing treatment," Deputy Superintendent of Police Ghanshayam Patil said.

Police had initially ruled out hooch consumption. Meanwhile, three persons were arrested on Thursday in connection with the incident. They were produced in a local court which remanded them in police custody till February 20.
Krishnanagar: A 35-year-old man, on Friday, was sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a class II student in Nadia district in 2016.

Additional District Judge Jimut Bahan Biswas convicted Dinesh Chandra Das on Thursday and pronounced the quantum of punishment today under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The judge slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Das, 80 percent of which will be given to the victim as compensation.

The court also ordered the state government to pay Rs 10 lakh to the girl from its own funds as compensation. The Nadia district magistrate was directed to comply with the order within 30 days.

Das, who lives at Aranghata under Dhantala police station, lured the 9-year-old girl, his neighbour, with toffees, took her to a desolate place and raped her in August in 2016. He was arrested and booked under provisions of the POCSO Act.
Bengaluru: The High Court on Monday again expressed concern with regard to Bellandur Lake. It is polluted. The pollutants have to be removed and the lake should be rejuvenated and maintained. On the last few occasions, we found that the authorities are shirking their respective responsibilities. We are not happy," observed the division bench headed by Chief Justice S.K. Mukherjee. The court appointed the Principal Secretary, Department of Urban Development, and the Principal Secretary, Department of Environment as special officers to look into the status of the lake and take all remedial measures to restore and rejuvenate the lake within four weeks.
Chennai: New Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisamy will visit AIADMK general secretary Sasikala Natarajan, lodged in a Bengaluru jail, on Saturday.

Palanisamy will meet Sasikala in Bengaluru following a floor test in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Saturday, where the CM has to prove his majority in the face of opposition from the O Panneerselvam camp.

There were reports earlier that Palanisamy may be meeting the AIADMK chief today at 10 am, but he denied them.

Sasikala, meanwhile, watched the swearing-in ceremony of Palanisamy from her jail cell, said reports. The AIADMK chief has been denied any special facilities in jail, including non-vegetarian food twice a day, and a doctor on call.

The Tamil Nadu government for its part may appeal in court to allow Sasikala to be shifted to a jail in Tamil Nadu.

Palanisamy, fiercely loyal to the party chief is seen as her proxy and many expect Ms Sasikala to have control of both the party and the government from jail.

Sasikala appointed her nephew Dinakaran as the party's deputy general secretary, before travelling to Bengaluru to surrender.

However, sacked AIADMK Presidium Chairman E Madusudanan on Friday 'expelled' Sasikala, her nephew Dinakaran and Venkatesh from the party.

The Supreme Court earlier this week convicted Sasikala in a Disproportionate Assets (DA) case, and sentenced her to 4 years in jail. This means that the AIADMK chief can no longer harbour aspirations to be the CM for the next 10 years - which constitutes 4 years of imprisonment and 6 years as per the law disqualifying convicts from holding political office.
Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam gestures during a press conference at his Greenways Road residence in Chennai on Thursday. (Photo: PTI)

Chennai: With former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam announcing protests and processions in each constituency opposing Edappadi K Palanisamy's appointment as the new Chief Minister, the AIADMK has called on the former to stop his futile efforts, as the 'truth' has prevailed.

Speaking to ANI in Chennai, AIADMK spokesperson Vaigai Selvan said that supporters of OPS are now fighting against AIADMK and that it must be stopped at all costs.

"OPS is saying that he will meet people across districts now. He can go wherever he wants, but the truth is on our side and I'm sure that truth will win," he said.

Panneerselvam visited Jayalalithaa's memorial on Thursday night and spent some time there with his supporters. He asserted that the people were against the new government. "Until this government is removed, we will not sleep or rest. The people don't want this government," he said.

Edappadi K. Palanisamy on Thursday today took the oath as Tamil Nadu's 29th Chief Minister. A total of 31 other All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) MLAs were also sworn in.

Meanwhile, the AIADMK said that Palanisamy will seek the vote of confidence on February 18. "Vote of Confidence to be taken on 18th. #TNAssembly," the AIADMK tweeted.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao requested the Chief Minister to seek the vote of confidence in the assembly within 15 days.

The decision to this effect was conveyed to Palanisamy during his meeting with the Governor at Raj Bhavan earlier along with party presidium chairman K A Sengottaiyan and senior ministers Dindigul C Sreenivasan and P Thangamani.

The Governor heard competing pitches on Wednesday night from within the ruling party of the state over who should be the chief minister after the conviction of AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala in connection with a 19-year old disproportionate assets case.
Firemen were also left confused on how to put off a fire in the water.' (Photo: DC)

Bengaluru: Thick smoke enveloped Bellandur lake after a fire broke out when garbage strewn around it was set ablaze, a fire department official said on Friday.

The incident triggered panic among motorists on the busy Sarjapur main road.

"Usually, a pile of garbage strewn around the lake is set on fire, but yesterday it caused a scare among residents and motorists as the smoke started billowing and surrounding the lake in the evening," K U Ramesh, Deputy Director at Karnataka Fire Department, said.

The fire was doused in half an hour, he said. The area, for a while, was enveloped by huge clouds of smoke, he said.

Residents hit out at the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials for their "lackadaisical" attitude to stop dumping of garbage.

The scale of Thursdays fire shocked experts and authorities, who were unable to trace the source of the fire for a long time because due to inaccessibility of the spot.

Firemen were also left confused on how to put off a fire in the water.'

According to reports, the fire started after weed and dry grass were burnt in the area without proper supervision. Residents from the neighbourhood alleged that this was a regular affair.

Karnataka State Pollution Control Board Chairman Lakshman said notices have been issued to the BBMP, Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewage Board and other agencies to stop the dumping. He also said the board is in the process of inspecting sewage treatment plants in the area.

The Environment ministry has ordered an enquiry into the incident. "We are enquiring into it. The report will come by evening. We will have to see what were the reasons behind the fire," Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave said.

The lake has been in news for the last one year for spillover of froth and toxic fumes.
Representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Special Monitoring Mission (OSCE SMM) to eastern Ukraine intend to meet with self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) leader Alexander Zakharchenko and self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) leader Igor Plotnitsky to discuss compliance with the Minsk Agreements.

"OSCE SMM welcomes the readiness of Mr. Zakharchenko and Mr. Plotnitskyi [sic] to meet upon a standing invitation by SMM," the OSCE mission said on Twitter on Friday.

"SMM is looking forward to discuss how both of them can improve compliance with the Minsk agreements endorsed by the UNSC," it said.
Srinagar: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday slammed the mainstream opposition parties and the separatists for criticizing the Army Chief, General Bipin Rawat, over his recent statement warning the people of Kashmir that they will be dealt as anti-nationals and face harsh actions unless they desist from creating hurdles during counterinsurgency operations in the restive State.

The party spokesman Khalid Jehangir said here that those who are criticizing the Army Chiefs statement are endorsing militancy and violence. He said in a signed statement, In any anti-insurgency operation there has to be a red-line and civilians cannot interfere in the operations carried out by the security forces. The Army Chief has asked people to stay away from these sites as it can lead to civilian casualties.

He added that wherever a counterinsurgency operation starts, the over ground workers of militants reach the spot and mobilize the people to pelt stones and stage protests near the encounter site so that militants get a chance to escape. He alleged that separatists and Pakistani agents have turned Kashmir into battlefield and use Kashmiri youth as canon-fodder. They have been instigating youth during the past 27-years and have been responsible for ruining Jammu and Kashmir, he said.

The BJP spokesman further said that the Army Chiefs statement is clear that whosoever works against national interest would be punished as it (national interest) is supreme. There is nothing wrong in the Army Chief's statement," he said adding that it was high time to act against those people who have been misleading people in the name of so-called Aazadi.

On the other hand National Conference and Congress need to put their act together rather than acting likes stooges of separatists, he concluded.

Gen. Rawat had on Wednesday while speaking to reporters in New Delhi after he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid last respects to the three of the four soldiers including a major who were killed in separate encounters in Kashmir a day earlier said that security forces were facing higher casualties due to manner in which the local population is preventing them in conducting the operations and "at times even supporting the terrorists to escape". He said that such pastime will not be tolerated any more.

However, his statement has been widely criticised by political parties in Kashmir and beyond. The latest to join the chorus is Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and lawmaker Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami who expressed disappointment over the remarks of the Army Chief and said, At a time when efforts are needed for reaching out to people, such statements are bound to widen the gulf between people of the valley and the rest of the country.

However, BJP which is a partner in the government in Jammu and Kashmir has slammed these parties for criticising Gen. Rawat over his remarks. Minister of State in the (Indian) Prime Ministers Office Jitendra Singh accused the Congress and the National Conference of behaving like separatists and said The same political party, for example like the National Conference, is talking like this which as a part of the UPA was the one which even went to the extent of demanding bombardment of the terror camps in Pakistan. He alleged, When they (the Congress and the National Conference) are in power, they swear by India and Kashmir as an integral part of India. The moment they are shunted out of power, they overnight become wiser and question the role of the Army in Jammu and Kashmir.
DMK working president MK Stalin during an interview with the PTI at his residence in Chennai. (Photo: PTI)

Chennai: DMK working president MK Stalin on Thursday greeted Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy on his taking over the top post.

He also asked him not to "get operated remotely" from Bengaluru, in an apparent reference to AIADMK chief V K Sasikala.

Extending his greetings to Palanisamy, Stalin, also the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, said he "should not seek consultations from Bengaluru prison," and see that the oath of office and secrecy he has taken today, according to the Constitution, is not infringed upon.

Palanisamy must not run the government according to the whims and fancies of "power centres here and at Bengaluru," he said and asked him to work for the people's welfare.

While referring to Bengaluru, he cited Sasikala being lodged in a Bengaluru jail (undergoing jail term following her conviction in the assets case), and by pointing out "here," he made a veiled reference to AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran who is also Sasikala's nephew.

"I urge him to run the government for the welfare and growth of Tamil Nadu people, fully realising the duties and responsibilities of the office of Chief Minister," Stalin said.
The Department of Good Governance of BJP is organising a seminar 'Demography Change of Jammu - A Challenge' on February 18. (Photo: File)

Jammu: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said settling "illegal" Myanmar and Bangladeshi immigrants in Jammu is a "conspiracy" to change the demography of Jammu and Kashmir's winter capital city and is also a "security concern".

"The most burning and disturbing issue concerning Jammu these days is the illegal immigrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh, who have settled in some parts of Jammu, which is a matter of security concern," BJP State General Secretary (Organisation) Ashok Kaul said.

The Department of Good Governance of BJP is organising a seminar "Demography Change of Jammu - A Challenge" on February 18.

"There is a large scale conspiracy to change the demographic of Jammu and the people should not take the issue lightly. The seminar 'Demography of Change in Jammu - A Challenge' is being organised to make the public aware of the risks involved," State Spokesperson & In charge Department of Good Governance Prof Virender Gupta said.

He said "illegal" immigrants may multiply by numbers and establish contacts with criminal and anti-national elements.

"The party wants to make the people of Jammu city aware about the dangerous consequences of the settling of Rohingyas in Rajiv Nagar, Qasim Nagar, Railway Basti, Bathindi, Bage Bahu, Malik Market and who have almost merged in the local population," he said.

Gupta said these "illegal" immigrants are being assisted in getting ration cards and some have even obtained Aadhar cards with the help of the local people.

He said, "The presence of these people in Jammu city and its outskirts is creating worries in public mind, creating alarming security issues and need to be tackled with the united efforts".
Imphal: Amid political mudslinging over Army chief Bipin Rawat's remarks, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday asked the opposition to "keep pace" with democracy and "not politicise" the armed forces.

"Opposition should not politicise everything. They have raised doubts on surgical strike which was never done before in history (of India). Now they are reacting and politicising an issue which they should not be doing. So I request them to keep pace with democracy and not politicise the military," he said.

Jitendra Singh, MoS, PMO also retorted sharply at the Oppositions criticism of Rawat.

Army Chief's remark showed worry and not warning. It was an appeal that you shouldn't come toward line of firing. But Congress is showing it otherwise. The party is falling under its own weight and hence out of frustration, it is indulging in the kind of jargon that is unheard of in history of democracy. Congress which calls itself nationalistic is talking the language of separatist forces for the sake of cheap politics, he said.

The comments came in the backdrop of the Army chief's statement on tough action against stone pelters in Kashmir.

The stern message from Rawat came after three soldiers faced heavy stone-pelting at Parray Mohalla of Bandipore in north Kashmir when they were about to launch an operation against militants holed up there.
New Delhi: There is no woman judge among the five new judges appointed in the Supreme Court who were sworn-in today.

With the new appointments, while the total strength of judges in the apex court goes up to 28 out of a sanctioned 31, there is only one sitting woman judge, Justice R Banumathi.

Sources said women Chief Justices of two High Courts who were in the reckoning could not find favour with the five senior-most judges of the Supreme Court who are part of the Collegium for selection of judges for higher judiciary.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising said it is very difficult to understand why the women Chief Justices of two High Courts were not considered.

"I fail to understand why there is an all-male team. There is no explanation coming from any authority, whether it is the Supreme Court, the Government or the President on why no women judges have been found fit to be a Supreme Court judge," she said.

Some women lawyers also expressed concern over the issue but declined to make any comment on record, saying "this has been happening every time."

The development leaves the apex court with only Justice R Banumathi as the sitting woman judge, who was appointed in August 2014 when another lady judge, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai was present.

Since Independence, only six women judges have made it to the apex court as judges and the first appointment was of Justice M Fathima Beevi in 1989, 39 years after the setting up of the Supreme Court in 1950.

Justice Fathima Beevi was elevated to the apex court after her retirement as judge of the Kerala High Court. After serving the top court till April 29, 1992, she was later appointed as the Governor of Tamil Nadu.

The second woman judge in the Supreme Court was Justice Sujata V Manohar who started her career as a judge from the Bombay High Court and rose to become the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court. She was elevated to the apex court where she remained from November 8, 1994 till August 27, 1999.

Justice Ruma Pal followed Manohar after a gap of almost five months and became the longest serving woman judge from January 28, 2000 to June 2, 2006.

After her retirement, it took four years to appoint the next woman judge. Justice Gyan Sudha Misra was elevated to the Supreme Court from Jharkhand High Court where she was the Chief Justice. Her tenure in the apex court was from April 30, 2010 to April 27, 2014.

During her stint, she was joined by Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, who served the apex court between September 13, 2011 to October 29, 2014. These two judges also created a history by holding the court together as an all-women bench for a day in 2013.

Justice Banumathi, who at present is the only sitting woman judge, had joined on August 13, 2014 and would retire on July 19, 2020.

In the history of 67 years of the Supreme Court, there have been only two occasions when it has had two sitting women judges together, the first being Justices Misra and Desai and later Justices Desai and Banumathi.
Chennai: Members from the O Panneerselvam faction on Friday met Tamil Nadu Speaker P Dhanapal, a day ahead of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy's floor test.

The team of members which included K Pandiarajan, S Semmalai and Shanmuganthan (all MLAs) and senior leader C Ponnaiyan, however, did not reveal to the waiting media details of their meeting.

The meeting assumes significance ahead of tomorrow's floor test. The Panneerselvam camp has 10 MLAs on its side, including the former Chief Minister.

In his first test, Sasikala loyalist Palanisamy will seek the vote of confidence in the state Assembly.

While inviting him to form the government yesterday, Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao had asked Palanisamy to seek the vote of confidence in the next 15 days.

The government had later in the day announced that the vote of confidence would be held at 11 AM tomorrow.
Chennai: Will VK Sasikala after successfully installing her proxy  Edappadi Palaniswamy of the AIADMK as the new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu now get him to relocate her to a prison in Tamil Nadu?

Highly reliable sources said to Deccan Chronicle, It is likely that the newly installed government in Tamil Nadu may request the court to relocate her to a prison in their state.

The 66.65 crore disproportionate assets case against J Jayalalithaa, Sasikala and the others was registered and initially tried in TN. It was shifted out of the state on then DMK general secretary K Anbazhagans petition in 2003 following which Karnataka had replaced TN as the prosecuting state of the case, an officer in the case added.

TN government will also have to write to the Karnataka government for her relocation and the latter has to agree but the request will have to be placed before the court, said the officer on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palanisamy clarified to ANI that he would not be visiting Sasikala in Bengaluru today. Instead, he will meet her after the floor test in the state Assembly on Saturday.
Lucknow: In a huge setback to the Samajwadi party in the midst of Assembly polls, the Supreme Court on Friday ordered registration of FIR against the Transport Minister of Uttar Pradesh Gayatri Prasad Prajapathi in an alleged rape and sexual harassment case by a 35-year-old woman. He is fighting the Assembly polls from Amethi constituency.

Giving this direction a Bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and R.K. Agrawal asked the State to file a status report in eight weeks. The Bench told the UP counsel You should first register FIR. Just because he is an influential person you are not registering FIR. You register FIR, investigate and if there is nothing file a closure report. But you cant say you will not register FIR.

The Bench passed this on a petition from the woman, who alleged that the minister promised her a post in the SP party and raped her when she met him three years ago. She also alleged that the Minister took some obscene photos and threatened that they would be made public and repeatedly raped her. She also alleged that the minister molested her teenaged daughter but Police refused to register FIR.
Sources said that decrease in stamp duty and registration fee are being considered.

Hyderabad: The TS government has lined up a series of fiscal incentives to boost the real estate activity in the state which has been in a slump ever since the demonetisation announcement last November.

While all other sectors have recovered from note ban shock, real estate continues to be in a slump. This has resulted in no major earnings for the stamps and registration department.

Consequently, the government is expected to announce special incentives for the realty sector in the forthcoming Budget. Sources said that decrease in stamp duty and registration fee are being considered.

Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts remain the backbone of the states property market and contribute a major chunk to the governments earnings every month. But this has been on a steep decline since last November.

The real estate sector has seen a boom in the state with the creation of 21 new districts in 2016. While the new districts came into being on October 12, 2016, land prices had skyrocketed in May 2016, about six months earlier, after Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao made an official announcement.

With TRS leaders leaking information on probable district headquarters, land prices in areas surrounding the headquarters increased multi-fold. At some places, the average cost per acre saw a four-fold increase, from around Rs 25 lakh per acre to over Rs 1 crore.

TS Sub-Registrars Association president R. Srinvasa Rao said, There has been a decline in registration of sale deeds of land, flats and independent houses.

Though the situation improved after the Centre allowed registration fee to be paid in old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in November and December, it fell sharply in January.

In GHMC limits, the situation is better in core areas of the city, but business is dull on Hyderabad outskirts. On an average, 40 property documents used to be registered per day in the core areas of the city earlier. It came down to 15 in November, but has now reached the average.

However, on the outskirts, where the average which used to around 50 per day, it crashed to 10 per day in November. Though three months have passed, the recovery has been dismally slow, with the average property registrations crawling to 20 per day. There are a total of 41 sub-registrar offices in GHMC limits covering the citys core areas and outskirts.
New Delhi: Though the new Rs 2000 notes carry the signature of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel, they were printed when his predecessor, Raghuram Rajan, was still in office.

According to a Hindustan Times report, RBI presses that produced Rs 2,000 bills said that they initiated the first stage of printing process on August 22, 2016, nearly two weeks before the end of Rajans term as Governor.

Significantly, this was just a day after Urjit Patel was named as his successor. Patel however, took over from Rajan only on September 4, 2016.

Questions sent by email to the RBI and the Union finance ministry seeking clarification on whether Rajan was a party to the decision to introduce Rs 2,000 notes or why the new bills didnt bear his signature, went unanswered, said HT.

Raghuram Rajan also did not respond to similar queries sent by email.

In December, the RBI told the parliamentary panel on finance that permission to print Rs 2000 notes was received on June 7, 2016, when Rajan was still in office.

Accordingly, the presses were advised in June 2016 to initiate production of new series notes, the bank told the panel in a letter.

This then raises the question as to how Urjit Patels signatures were present on the notes, said the report.

Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran (P) Ltd (BRBNMPL), a wholly owned subsidiary of the central bank, ratified the proposed security features in the new notes before the printing started, as is the practice.

The HT report also stated that BRBNMPL responded to an RTI query that printing of new Rs 500 notes started only on November 23, 15 days after demonetisation. This validates the Oppositions outcry that the government focused exclusively on printing of Rs 2000 notes following demonetisation, thus leading to a shortage of cash and long lines at ATMs and bank counters.
Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) has qualified recent shelling of residential areas in Avdiyivka as a terrorist act. One local resident died on February 16 and two other people received shrapnel wounds.

The Donetsk region's prosecutor's office said Russian hybrid forces shelled residents of Avdiyivka.

"Shrapnel from shell that landed in practically in the center of the city last night struck a man, born in 1973, in the neck. He was hospitalized, but died," a statement by the Donetsk prosecutor's office said.

A man born in 1983 received shrapnel wounds to the leg and a 77-year old man received burn wounds when a shell hit a residential flat.

As a result of shelling several high-rise flats were damaged.

The case has been entered into the single register for pretrial investigations pursuant to Part 3 of Article 258 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (terrorism).

As earlier reported, on Thursday at approximately 18.00 Russian hybrid forces shelled Avdiyivka with heavy weapons.
"It has become routine that at least four persons are being deported from a few countries like New Zealand, Malaysia and the US, an official at the airport said. (Representational image)

Hyderabad: Six youth were deported from Malaysia by immigration officials and sent back to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport on Friday.

An official said that the six youth from Telangana state and Andhra Pradesh had gone to Malaysia on tourist visas.

The immigration officials at Malaysia forcibly deport the youth to India. It has become routine that at least four persons are being deported from a few countries like New Zealand, Malaysia and the US, an official at the airport said.
Chennai: The principal opposition in the state, DMK and its ally IUML on Friday declared that they would oppose the confidence vote sought by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palanisami on the floor of the Assembly on Saturday. However, the stand of Congress could not be confirmed.

State Congress leaders said their MLAs are likely to go with DMK and vote against the government. With all the DMK and IUML coming out with an official announcement, the total number of MLAs opposing the government has gone up to 100. If the Congress too decided to go along with its ally DMK, then the opposition will be just eight short of the magical number of 116.
New Delhi: An eight-year old girl was united with her mother after over six years by the Supreme Court, which said it was not possible for the child to comprehend the comfort of maternal love while staying with the father.

The girl was separated from her mother when she was only 21 months old after her parents separated due to matrimonial discord, with the father getting the infant's custody.

The mother, a school teacher who was allegedly forced to leave her matrimonial home, contested the custody of her child before a family court, which dismissed her plea.

She then challenged the order in the High Court which gave the child's custody to her and the father visitation rights. The father, an army officer, then challenged the high court order in the apex court.

During the proceedings, the girl, how eight years old, told the apex court and the counsellor appointed by it that she wanted to live with her father and did not wish to change her existing environment.

Her father also contended that the girl was comfortable living with him and he has been taking care of her since the mother left.

However, the apex court bench of Justices J Chelameshwar and A K Sikri observed that "a child, who has not seen, experienced or lived in the comfort of the company of the mother is, naturally, not in a position to comprehend that the grass on the other side may turn out to be greener.

"Only when she is exposed to that environment of living with her mother, that she would be in a position to properly evaluate as to whether her welfare lies more in the company of her mother or in the company of her father."

It granted custody of the girl for one year to the mother and asked her to get her admitted in the school in Delhi where she was teaching.

Ruling in favour of the mother, the court said it was her misfortune that despite getting a favourable order from the High Court, she was not able to reap its benefit because of the interim orders passed by apex court staying the verdict.

Regarding the matrimonial dispute, the court said it cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that there have been strong feelings of bitterness, betrayal, anger and distress between the father and mother, where each party felt they were 'right' in many of their views on issues which led to their separation.

"The intensity of negative feeling of the appellant towards the respondent would have obvious effect on the psyche of girl child, who has remained in the company of her father, to the exclusion of her mother.

"The possibility of appellant's (father's) effort to get the child to give up her own positive perceptions of the other parent, i.e. the mother, and change her to agree with the appellant's view point cannot be ruled out, thereby diminishing the affection of child towards her mother," it said.

The apex court, which listed the matter for March 2018, was hearing a petition filed by the father, challenging the High Court order granting the girl's custody to the mother. The couple had married in 2007 and the girl was born the next year.

Soon after the marriage, differences surfaced in their matrimonial life and in 2010, after the events took ugly turn the woman was forced to leave the matrimonial house with father keeping the child.

Dealing with the psychological aspects of the case, the apex court said "empirical studies show that mother infant bonding begins at the child's birth and that infants as young as two months old frequently show signs of distress when the mother is replaced by a substitute caregiver.

"An infant typically responds preferentially to the sound of its mother's voice by four weeks, actively demands her presence and protests her absence by eight months, and within the first year has formed a profound and enduring attachment to her.

"Psychological theory hypothesises that the mother is the centre of an infant's small world, her psychological homebase, and that she must continue to be so for some years to come", the bench said.
The dead body was flown to Hyderabad from California during the wee hours of Friday and brought to Warangal in an ambulance. (Photo: DC)

Warangal: The mortal remains of student Vamshi Reddy Mamidala, who was shot by a drug addict carjacker in California last week, arrived at his native village, Vangapahad, in Hasanparthy mandal of Warangal Urban district on Friday morning.

The dead body was flown to Hyderabad from California during the wee hours of Friday and brought to Warangal in an ambulance.

Villagers in large numbers turned up to have a final look of the village lad who, against all odds, decided to go abroad and pursue his dreams.

His father Sanjeeva Reddy and mother Rama Devi were inconsolable after looking at the lifeless body of their beloved son. Relatives and friends could not control their grief either.

Vamshis father, a farmer, earlier said the family always wanted him to take up a job in India, but he went abroad as most of his friends were there.

The man who shot Vamshi was being chased by the police as he was involved in an accident.

As he made an attempt to escape, he robbed a woman and took her mobile phone and cash. He also took away her car and drove to the apartment complex where Vamshi was staying. However, as Vamshis car was entering the complex, it collided with the addicts stolen car in the garage. Angered, the addict got out of the vehicle, shot Vamshi and fled.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had extended support to the family and initiated efforts to bring the body back to the country. The state government too announced support to the family.

Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya is expected to visit Vangapahad and console the family.

The cremation procession will start in the afternoon.
Kolkata: A 72-year-old depressed woman went to a park near her house on the southern outskirts of the city early on Friday morning and set herself on fire after pouring kerosene over her body.

She was declared brought dead when taken to a hospital, the police said.

Kalpana Bardhan, a resident of Bijoygarh, who had been depressed for sometime after her husband died, went to Netaji Sishu Udyan early in the morning and poured kerosene over her body before lighting a fire, the police said.

In flames all over, the woman shouted desperately for help, but no one ventured near her, the police said adding that someone dialled the police helpline.

It took sometime for the police to arrive on the scene and she was rushed to the M R Bangur Hospital where she was declared brought dead.

The body has been sent for post-mortem, the police said.
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy with Governor CH Vidyasagar Rao and his cabinet colleagues pose for a group photograph after swearing-in ceremony at Raj Bhavan in Chennai. (Photo: PTI)

Chennai: AIADMK MLA representing Mylapore constituency R Nataraj today said he would vote against the Edappadi K Palanisamy government in the motion of confidence that will be taken up tomorrow in the Assembly.

With this development, 11 MLAs, including former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam himself are expected to vote against the motion.

"I am constrained to vote against the motion of confidence to be moved by the Edappadi K Palanisamy government," Nataraj said.

"I have interacted with people in my constituency and their considered and overwhelming opinion is that the government of O Panneerselvam should continue and I have to reflect this opinion of the people in the Assembly," he said.

To a question, Nataraj, who was the former Tamil Nadu Director General of Police, said he does not consider this as a confidence vote, but a "conscience vote".

On his view on recent developments in ruling AIADMK, he said, "This is an unfortunate development. I do not belong to any camp. I have been working for unity in the party."

"In the best interest of the party," Nataraj said he has been working towards ensuring that there was "no division in AIADMK and this is what Amma would have expected us to do."

He said he would continue to strive for bringing unity in the party and added that "still there is scope" for it.

Nataraj had also served as Chairman of the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission.
New Delhi: Congress today hit back at BJP asking whether the morale of jawans was not affected when 188 were killed in terror attacks in last 30 months and when Prime Minister Narendra Modi feasted with Nawaz Sharif.

BJP had earlier accused the opposition party of speaking the language of separatists and of playing politics over Army chief Bipin Rawat's remarks that affected the morale of jawans.

"Please tell if morale wasn't affected as 188 Jawans were martyred in 30 months in terror attacks but Modiji couldn't contain Pakistan," Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said in a series of tweets.

"Please tell if morale of our jawans wasn't affected when Modiji feasted with PM Sharif in Pakistan as jawans sacrificed for India," he tweeted.

He also asked the Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh whether the morale of jawans was not affected when Modi invited "rogue ISI" to investigate the Pathankot terror attack.

"Please tell if morale of Jawans wasn't affected as BJP-PDP government gave compensation to the kin of dreaded terrorists in J&K?

"Please tell if morale of Jawans isn't effected as Madhya Pradesh BJP members are caught teaming with the ISI and running a racket to spy on Army," Surjewala tweeted.

Earlier, in reply to a query on the Army chief's remarks that "stern action" will be taken against those siding with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said restraint should be adopted by security forces while dealing with people in the state.

"The issue of internal security of the country is a serious one and there can be no compromise on it. But as I had said during the last Parliament session, atrocities should not be inflicted on innocents. Action should be taken against those involved in wrong doings but there is need to adopt restraint," Scindia said.

He said children were blinded and atrocities were committed against them during the agitation last year in the state.

"There is need for restraint as no one wants to give shelter to bad people. There should be strict action against wrongs, but that should happen after proper investigation," he said.

Earlier, Jitendra Singh asked political parties not to politicise the Army chief's statements and appealed to them, including Congress, to not indulge in any kind of politicking at the cost of morale of security forces.
Chennai: The principal opposition in the state, DMK and its ally IUML on Friday declared that they would oppose the confidence vote sought by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palanisami on the floor of the Assembly on Saturday. However, the stand of Congress could not be confirmed. State Congress leaders said their MLAs are likely to go with DMK and vote against the government. With all the DMK and IUML coming out with an official announcement, the total number of MLAs opposing the government has gone up to 100.

If the Congress too decided to go along with its ally DMK, then the opposition will be just eight short of the magical number of 116.

Since, DMK president M. Karunanidhi will not be able to attend the House, the strength of the party will be 88, while IUML has a lone member. So, far 11 AIADMK MLAs have openly announced their support to Panneerselvam.

The total strength of the Assembly is 233 now and the exclusion of Speaker P. Dhanapal and Karunanidhi will bring down the tally to 231, reducing the halfway mark to 116. In case of a tie, the Speaker could vote, but such a scenario will be ruled out if the opposition musters 116 members, which will be possible only if Congress decides to oppose the confidence motion.

The DMKs decision was announced by partys working president M.K. Stalin after a meeting of party MLAs at party headquarters Arivalayam. Stalin told reporters that the DMK would vote against Palanisami in the confidence motion since the law and order situation had deteriorated. Stalin also said there are reports that the Congress would oppose the motion.

Reacting to a question on request for secret voting in the Assembly, Stalin said "I will welcome it, if such a situation arises", indicating the DMK's thinking that secret voting could encourage more AIADMK MLAs to vote against the confidence motion without fear of disqualification from the House. Palanisami government will be doomed even if eight more ruling party members decided to oppose the confidence motion. The DMK legislators had been asked to stay in the city and go to the Assembly on time, so that all of them are present for the voting.

The Congress MLAs met under TNCC president S. Thirunavukkarasar, but he did not meet the media. After the circulation of a twitter message stating that Thirunavukkaraar had announced Congress opposition to the motion, the Congress leader denied that he had any twitter account. The Congress leader said his party would take a decision only on the morning of voting, giving an indication that Congress is considering supporting Palanisami too. Former TNCC president E.V.K.S. Elangovan flayed Thirunavukkasar for not announcing a stand and said he would complain about it to the high command.
A friend of mine, once a brilliant organisation theorist, told me three things threaten ethics in India. First, he said, is the word sustainability. He cynically claimed it is the last refuge of scoundrels, as nationalism was once. The word sustainability is seen so superficially, merely as an engineering exercise that the links to waste, consumption, the aspirations of the middle class are things which are wished away as an engineering problem. Technology becomes a substitute for ethics. The second threat, my friend cited, is corporate social responsibility. CSR is read for charity but charity is not social responsibility. The firms act as if they are doing a favour, bestowing gifts on society. The method and the mentality is that of the aid model. Today, one needs an evaluation, a philosophical assessment of CSR, in terms of ecology and ethics not just in terms of money spent. An accounting is not a social audit. My friend added that the third word is even more problematic. He said it operated under the label governance. Governance is a pompous way of referring to administrative or managerial issues. It is a World Bank term that Narendra Modi and N. Chandrababu Naidu exploited to create claim to a different style. The sad thing is that all three words have such power and yet they have been emptied out of their real meaning.

I was thinking of these observations given the recent stories in the press. The recent struggle in the Tatas where the chairman was overthrown had shades of a Byzantine battle. References were always made to Cyrus Mistrys style or to Ratan Tatas addiction to power, yet there were no clear or objective analysts. The media is too reverential to cast any doubts. Yet if one looks at it objectively it is time one reassesses the Tatas reputation from their innovations in social audit, to their style of institution building. Labels like the presence of a sustainability officer are there, but it does not tell us what substantial changes are being made. Tata remains a corporate legend that needs to be demystified. One is not making a request for an RTI but for a greater initiative in social scrutinies of such major firms. The Tata controversy is an absolute failure of storytelling, of a power battle reported as if it is an absurd game of musical chairs. Ethical reporting instead of embalming reputations must keep firms under critical scrutiny. It will help us break stereotypes in what is a changing corporate environment. This problem becomes even more acute when a citizen confronts the recent controversies around Infosys.

Infosys is another legendary firm, yet in ordinary folklore, if both Tatas and Infosys are having what is now being dubbed governance problems, something is wrong in the corporate world. The scandal, if one can call it, that is not of corruption though the severance pay given to ex-CFO Rajiv Bansal seems like a Christmas present, an inducement to good behaviour or even discreet silence. Rs 17 crores as severance pay does smell of tacit extortion. I am sure as the current chairman R. Seshasayee says the decision was a bona fide one. He claimed that firms should not be distracted by what he terms noise but Mr Seshasayee as an information expert should remember that noise is unwelcome music. It is a sound that is destroying or disturbing the Infosys symphony. The problem in both the Tata story and the Infosys case is not the question of controversy. Controversies are bound to happen specially in moments of transition, as legendary founders give way (reluctantly) to the next generation. Both Sikka at Infosys and Mistry at Tatas had to shoulder the burden of the glorious past. The issue is, and it is a problem in governance  how does one frame such problems, what degree of openness and transparency marks them? There is a second set of issues. Firms which talk of corporate social responsibility, which claim the high ground of ethics, have to communicate in a different way to society. These are exemplary, even paradigmatic organisations. They form part of the legacy of modern India, exemplify the possibilities and challenges of institution-building.

Yet the presentation of information in public life is disappointing. One expects more from a N.R. Narayana Murthy, a Mohandas Pai or a R. Seshasayee. They have been critics of politics but as one confronts their own demand for standards, candidness, honesty and integrity, they seem to fall disappointingly short of their own pretensions and claims. There is, however, a broader issue that I want to emphasise. Civil society of late has been quiet about corporate governance. At one level one almost senses that CSR was invented to mute NGO voluntarism. But given this, one must now confront in a new conversation where the three key words one began with  sustainability, CSR and governance  have to be reworked into the warp of the democratic imagination. The two controversies  Tata and Infosys  have to be seen as fables, lessons for the future. Such an approach is important because in debating with the best of corporate governance, one confronts new possibilities and the limits of the idea. On civil societys side one must ask how does one make these new words, these new glossaries of competence and concern work for the democratic imagination in new ways.

The new forms of audit, accountability and responsibility being developed by movements like the MKSS have to be applied to issues of corporate governance. One would suggest that the medium of panchayat hearings  the Jan Sunwai be extended to corporate meetings creating a new form of hybrid accountability to stakeholder and shareholder. The stakeholder in the wider ecological, economic and democratic sense does not figure in the corporate imagination. Secondly, there should be an audit of innovations in an ethical, ecological sense. All these firms talk of innovation. One has to ask what are the shadow effects of innovation, in terms of deskilling, unemployment and obsolescence. Democracy needs both sides of the picture. I admit I am not merely reading the text of the recent Infosys imbroglio. There is context and even a pretext for new social and institutional innovations. The Infosys and Tata controversies or even the now distant debates on biotechnology are consumed passively, even indifferently ignoring the possibilities for creating social innovation. Words like CSR, governance and sustainability have to link to new worlds and help create a more inventive democracy.
The warning by the Army Chief, Gen. Bipin Rawat, on Wednesday to those in Kashmir who obstruct operations against terrorists by the security forces  as happened in southern Kashmir as well as in the northern part of the Valley earlier this week  is apt. The Army Chief has warned such recalcitrant elements that they will be treated as "anti-national" if they did not desist. He has just lost a clutch of soldiers.

An officer of the rank of major was also killed fighting terrorists as the Army's action was obstructed by local residents. Gen. Rawat knows Kashmir well, and over the years he has shown himself to be sympathetic to the people of the Valley. When an almost inside observer like him issues a note of caution, it is expected he would have done his homework and would have a fair idea of who the troublemakers are and how they find financial and propaganda sustenance.

It was a determined minority which kept up a tempo of protest, specially in rural areas, in the wake of the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani last year. This small but organised group hustled the others into falling in line. The situation is unlikely to have deteriorated to this degree if the Centre had shown the slightest inclination to talk to Kashmiris about their grievances. The absence of any hint of dialogue has by now filled all of Kashmir with resentment. The government will strengthen the Army's hands if it can engage ordinary people in a conversation.
The civic group Ukraine Without Separatism has announced a plan to create a single database of politicians who are working in the interests of the aggressor  the Russian Federation.

"We had the idea to first complete the database and then present it, but after we started we realized there was a lot of information about these politicians that has been erased from the Internet. Therefore we decided to present the project and show what the website will look like. A portion of the database has already been completed," coordinator of the AutoMaidan civic group Kateryna Kuvita said during a press conference in Kyiv on Friday.

Kuvita said the database would contain videos, publications, journalist investigations about Russian and Ukrainian politicians, which prove they are working against Ukraine.

"There will be profile pages also about friends of Ukraine, about politicians, including those from Russia and Europe, who support Ukraine," she said.

Kuvita said the project would be supported by the Ukrainian diaspora in Europe. Organizers of the project said the concept is to create a Wikipedia of Treason vis-a-vis Ukraine.

The aim of the endeavor is to prevent Ukraine's enemies from appearing in the political arena as Ukraine's friends or as patriots and people fighting against war in Ukraine.
The Supreme Court has asked search engines run by tech giants like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft to filter out advertisements offering sex determination tests on expecting mothers. Its not an unreasonable demand by the judges to call on the vast technical expertise of such companies to create an ecosystem through which self-regulation is in place. Surely these companies, that offer efficient ways to search the Web, can see reason behind the request. Besides being against the law to sell space for prenatal sex tests as parents may look to abort if its a girl, it has scope to skew the countrys sex ratio further. There is already a major shortage of brides, even in states that have a high education profile.

The court may, however, have strayed into contestable areas as it said freedom of information was not absolute. Its possible to argue no freedom is absolute, but to try curb it consciously is a major issue, while upholding the cardinal principles and true values of democracy. Its fine to say the search engines must do more to block gender test ads in India, where its anyhow illegal, quite another to insist it must somehow censor all knowledge of sex determination tests simply because Indians misuse such knowledge, and aborted eight million foetuses in the decade before 2011. To eliminate such an act of discrimination on the basis of gender must be pursued for Indias betterment. But we shouldnt call for censoring content. What is a sociological goal for the nation is commerce for unethical medical professionals, and thats a pity.
The medium was the message

Now the massage is the

medium

A mystery and a presage

Of hours of hope and tedium

Of ways that needed mending

Of the elusive happy ending.

From Tambu Mey Gabhrahat by Bachchoo

Hamlet said conscience makes cowards of us all. Historians and people who call themselves cultural critics wrestle with their consciences when they weigh up the reputations of the personages who explored the cultures of their imperial subjects. Some will certainly substitute my explored for their exploited. The past few decades have bred a scholarship of anti-imperialism. Edward Said of Lebanon and then Columbia University in the US seemed to have missed the irony of his sitting in the heart of contemporary cultural hegemony (everything good in America/Ok by me in America!) and pronouncing in text after text against the scholars and explorers of native cultures in the imperialist age. He called them orientalists and pronounced that they had, by translating almost lost documents of oriental religions and cultures and making them accessible to the contemporary world, assisted the oppressive, colonial enterprise.

Its a smug theory, born of the American conviction that European colonialism and scholarship in the East was evil  far more evil than the imposition of inane American pop music, lying cowboy myths and what its critics have called Coca-Colonisation on the ex-colonial world. Said and his disciples have been comprehensively challenged, proved to be talking historically-biased nonsense in abstruse prose and jargon which is more difficult to understand than to challenge. Their lexicon earns professorial salaries but takes the study of international culture into very recondite purdah. Ok!  got that festering abuse off my chest because this week I visited in London the Victoria and Albert Museums exhibition of the life and work of John Lockwood Kipling. After an apprenticeship in the Arts and Crafts Movement of the 19th century Kipling moved to imperial India with his wife in 1865. Soon after their son Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay.

Rudyards fame has overshadowed the career and contribution of his father, so the exhibition is a welcome reminder. Lockwood was an inspired visual artist. His skills extended to drawings, paintings, architectural design, sculpture, textiles, object design and finally to the remarkable illustrations of Rudyards books. His first project in India was an attempt at bringing the traditional designs of skilled Indian craftsmen to the manufacture of textiles. His initiation through the Arts and Crafts Movement, whose creative current was opposed to the bland uniformity that industrialisation and mass-production were imposing on the daily environment, impelled him to champion the Indian craftsman. Kipling was appointed principal of the Jamshedji Jeejeebhoy School of Art in Bombay and he proceeded to get his students to design the decorations for the new buildings of the time. His students designed the reliefs and the sculpted heads and the courtyard fountain that adorn the exterior and interior of Crawford, now renamed Mahatma Phule Market.

The V&A exhibitions section on Kiplings period in Bombay has a filmed montage of images, among them the Raj buildings and monuments of that era. Views of Victoria Railway Station, now Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, of Rajabai tower, of the first university buildings, of Churchgate station, of the law courts and even of the Taj Hotel are featured. The exhibition doesnt tell us whether Lockwood Kipling had anything to do with the design and construction of these  which leads me to conclude that apart from stylistic inspiration he had little or nothing to do with them. After his work in Bombay Kipling was appointed the curator of the museum in Lahore and the principal of its Arts College. In the Lahore phase Kiplings tastes and endeavours turn to Mughal arts, crafts, designs and architecture. As curator of the museum and tutor of the college he sets out to preserve and develop in his students the artistic vision of northern India.

His drawings at the time include exquisite portrayals of Muslims at prayer, of a bazaar barber at work and a series of pen, pencil and paper drawings of craftsmen of North India at work. The Lahore section demonstrates Lockwood Kiplings dedication to and humility before the traditions of Indian crafts, from the architecture of Mughal buildings to the minutiae of the design of screens. After Lahore, by the time Lockwood Kipling and his wife Alice McDonald returned to England their son Rudyard was a famous writer and poet. He was widely acclaimed as the principal writer of the Raj, not only the chronicler of the foibles and betrayals of the British in India but a writer who first gave shape in literature to the life of the forbidden cities, the native quarters of Hindu and Muslim communities where only the intrepid British wouldnt fear to tread. Rudyard began to write for journals in India and subsequently on his return to England used his few years of Indian experience, in his teens and early twenties, to write his immortal stories and books.

His father collaborates with Rudyard to illustrate the books. One of these designs for a cover or bookplate of Rudyards Ex Libris combines, in the caparison of an elephant standing in a decorated palatial doorway, the patterns and artistic conceits Lockwood brought with him from India. The figure of Rudyard is seated in the howda on top, reading a book and smoking a hookah, which a servant sitting on the rump of the animal holds. Yes, it does show an Englishman with two native servants, and yes, the design of the whole is a copy of the traditional designs, architecture and natural depictions of the Indian arts and crafts Lockwood encountered and worked with. It is possible that the Orientalist school of condemnation would label Lockwood Kipling and others who championed or steeped themselves in the cultures of the empire as exploitative lackeys of imperialism. For my part I would exchange all their condemnatory jargon for a couple of sketches by John Lockwood Kipling.
The letters' authors cited Trump's threats to stop government scientists from talking to the press or publishing findings without permission. (Photo: AFP)

European science bodies on Thursday criticised Donald Trump's administration for what they said was a "policy reorientation" in favour of views "not based on facts and sound scientific processes and evidence."

A letter signed by 46 scientific organisations urged Europe's politicians to defend the principles and values that have traditionally underpinned scientific progress  including the open exchange of people and ideas.

Principles such as transparency, information-sharing and the physical mobility of scientists were vital to scientific development and the benefits they bring to societies and economies, the letter said.

The authors cited the new US president's attempts to ban travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries and threats to stop government scientists from talking to the press or publishing findings without permission.

They were particularly concerned, the group said, about "the unwarranted credibility to views not based on facts and sound scientific processes and evidence in areas such as climate science or the safety of vaccines."

There was no place in modern science for restrictions on research in "inconvenient areas", the letter said.

"Our colleagues working in the US will suffer, the United States and US citizens will pay a price, as will Europe and Europeans, and countries and people all across the globe."

Now more than ever the world needs solid science and research to address "unprecedented challenges," the letter added.

Signatories included the British Royal Society, the science academies of Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands, the European University Association and EuroScience, an association of researchers.

It was sent to the heads of the European Council and European Commission Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker, EU science commissioner Carlos Moedas, and the premiers and science ministers of all EU member states and of Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Serbia.

The letter was dated to coincide with Thursday's opening the annual general meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston.

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The challenge sought solutions to address how to collect and route human waste away from the body while wearing a spacesuit in microgravity for up to six days.

The top award recipients are as follows:

Thatcher Cardon for the MACES Perineal Access & Toileting System (M-PATS)

Team Space Poop Unification of Doctors (SPUDs) for the Air-powered Spacesuit Waste Disposal System

Hugo Shelley for the SWIMSuit - Zero Gravity Underwear for 6 Day Use

Spacesuits provide a self-contained life support system and are worn for launch and entry activities, as well as spacewalks, to protect the crew from the harsh environment of space and any unforeseen circumstances. As astronauts travel farther into the solar system, explorers may need to remain in their suits for several days on their way back to Earth in the event of an emergency situation.

Currently, astronauts living aboard the International Space Station typically wear a suit for several hours during launch or landing, and the crew can return to Earth in a few hours or less if necessary. For these occasions, astronauts wear a waste collection garment, similar to a diaper, under their spacesuits if they need to relieve themselves. However, the diaper is a temporary solution that does not provide a healthy option to protect astronauts for longer than one day. This challenge sought solutions for fecal, urine, and menstrual management systems for the crews launch and entry suits over up to 144 continuous hours, or six days.

The ability to protect the crew while in a pressurized suit for such an emergency situation is one that has never before been tested in space and is critical for crew health, said Kirstyn Johnson, spacesuit engineer at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston. It was invigorating to see the number of people interested and engaged in the challenge. From here, well be able to use aspects of the winning designs to develop future waste management systems for use in the suit.

The life support systems in spacesuits protect astronauts from many dangers, including a loss of cabin pressure inside the spacecraft, making it a necessary that a waste management solution must function without opening the suit. The system must also be suitable for astronauts of both sexes and hands-free in the conditions of space - where solids, fluids, and gases float around in microgravity and don't necessarily mix or act the way they would on Earth.

The judges selected the winners that are most promising for implementation with technology that engineers could potentially develop in the next three or four years. NASA engineers are in the early stages of suit system design for deep space and will test and develop different options before the agency settles on a final design for the suit systems, including waste management.

This challenge was managed by HeroX through NASAs Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI). CoECI was established with support from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to assist NASA and other federal agencies in using new tools  such as challenges  to solve tough, mission-critical problems. The Center launches challenges under the umbrella of the NASA Tournament Lab and offers a variety of open innovation platforms that engage the crowdsourcing community in challenges to create the most innovative, efficient and optimal solutions for specific, real world challenges.

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A Project Loon balloon for broadcasting WiFi from high altitudes is seen on display at the Airforce Museum in Christchurch, New Zealand. (Photo: AFP)

Google parent Alphabet said Thursday it was closer to deployment of Project Loon's internet balloons to serve remote regions of the world, after achieving a breakthrough in its navigation software.

"Out timelines are starting to move up on how we can do more for the world sooner," said Astro Teller, who heads the team at the Alphabet unit X, in charge of "moonshot" projects of the technology giant.

"We are looking to move quickly, but to move thoughtfully," Teller told a small group of reporters inside a former Silicon Valley shopping center transformed into a "moonshot factory."

The acceleration was credited to software leaps to allow internet-serving balloons to ride high-altitude winds to navigate to the ideal location.

"We've been working to make the balloons smarter; almost like a game of chess with the winds," Teller said.

He expected Loon to be partnering in coming months with telecom companies to provide internet to "real users," in a step up from tests done to see how well the high-floating technology works with networks on the ground.,

Teller declined to specify where Loon might first be integrated into telecommunications networks providing service to customers.

"We are not going to all of a sudden be everywhere," Teller said.

"We intend to be part of an ecosystem -- in any country where we are doing testing we would work with a local telco."

Part of the money-making vision for Loon would be to get revenue from telecom operators for extending their reach.

Teller said Loon is one of the more mature projects at X and that it "would be a natural state to graduate into its own company" but there were not plans at the moment for that to happen.

The peek inside X lab and word of speedy progress came the same day that the venture to beam the internet to remote areas of the world via balloon has hit a legal snag in Sri Lanka that could see the project abandoned on the island.

Project Loon uses roaming balloons to beam internet coverage and planned to connect Sri Lanka's 21 million people to the web, even those in remote connectivity black spots.

But just a year after testing began in Sri Lanka regulators have been unable to allocate Google a radio frequency for the airborne venture without breaching international regulations.

The first public launch of Loon took place in New Zealand in 2013, when the project was in an early experimental phase.

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The workforce shortage facing the cybersecurity industry makes it increasingly difficult to hire and retain employees. These scarce resources make it harder to maintain a coherent security architecture to prevent damage from and minimize the cost of emerging threats while embracing the potential of new open source, digital, cloud and security technologies.

Intel Security outlined a new, unifying approach for the cybersecurity industry that strives to eliminate fragmentation through updated integrated solutions, new cross-industry partnerships and product integrations within the Intel Security Innovation Alliance and Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA).

The workforce shortage facing the cybersecurity industry makes it increasingly difficult to hire and retain employees. These scarce resources make it harder to maintain a coherent security architecture to prevent damage from and minimize the cost of emerging threats while embracing the potential of new open source, digital, cloud and security technologies.

Our research and customer discussions have underscored the need for trusted partners that work cooperatively to reduce the burden of fragmented technologies and help organizations stay focused on securing their business assets and productivity. With this in mind, Intel Security is pleased to announce several new product integrations and updates, new industry partnerships and increased open source and standards-based collaboration that will strengthen the effectiveness of cybersecurity infrastructure across the industrys largest open ecosystem.

Integrated Solutions

At the heart of a unified strategy for cybersecurity is the need for integrated solutions that tie into the enterprises framework to address top-of-mind challenges. Intel Security announces new and updated solutions that do exactly that: McAfeea Enterprise Security Manager (ESM) 10 and McAfee Virtual Network Security Platform (vNSP).

With the high cost of detecting and resolving cyberattacks, the need for SIEM solutions that are intelligent and intuitive has never been greater. The newly released McAfee ESM 10 joins an expanded McAfee Foundstone security operations center (SOC) services portfolio to help security analysts to be far more effective.

New capabilities include:

Intuitive and Collaborative User Interface: A new user interface reflects extensive incident management workflow usability testing, delivering on increased efficiency, faster and more effective threat detection and response, and the ability to manage multiple incidents within the same dashboard.

Contextual Threat Intelligence: Significant advancements have improved ongoing contextual threat intelligence and immediate access to critical threat data to identify, scope and orchestrate responses to emerging attacks.

Trusted Expertise Offerings: Foundstone threat researchers (i.e., Intel Securitys expert security consultants) can now augment staffing as part of a virtual SOC offering, adding expertise, capacity and coverage to supplement existing enterprise capabilities and extending the Foundstone services lifecycle SOC portfolio.

The need for advanced malware protection within the public cloud environment calls for integrated virtual solutions. McAfee vNSP now extends virtual network protection to Amazon Web Services* (AWS) cloud and OpenStack* cloud deployments, with new simplified multi-cloud licensing, easily protecting virtual networks.

New capabilities include:

Virtual Network Protection for Public Clouds: McAfee vNSP is an industry-leading solution that protects AWS workloads from attacks like zero-day, bots, malware and application-level DOS with both detection and protection mode. It integrates seamlessly with AWS Auto Scaling to deliver a fully scalable security solution with a single pane of glass.

Virtual Network Traffic Inspection for Private Clouds: vNSP continues to add support for multi-hypervisor platforms, which now includes VMware ESX, VMware NSX and OpenStack cloud with its best-of-breed next-generation IPS. Security Operations can now manage their public and private cloud security from a single network security management console giving them full visibility.

Cloud-Based Threat Analysis: New integration with McAfee Cloud Threat Detection allows McAfee Network Security Platform (NSP) to easily and efficiently augment existing inspection capabilities with sophisticated cloud-based malware analysis.

Ecosystem Momentum and Cross-Industry Collaboration

Transforming fragmentation requires the industry to work cooperatively to build meaningful integrations. Today, the Intel Security Innovation Alliance, the industrys premier technology partnering program, announces 16 new partnerships, bringing the total number of partners to more than 135 globally. Over the past year, 35 partners have integrated or planned integrations with the McAfee Data Exchange Layer (DXL), the industry-endorsed communication fabric, providing real-time interaction between applications.

Since announcing the OpenDXL initiative  an open industry standard for all developers to increase integration flexibility, simplicity and opportunity  Intel Security has expanded its commitment to open source and community adoption. Today, Intel Security is publishing more open source software on github.com/opendxl to further reduce high-integration complexity and cost, and replacing lengthy manual and repetitive processes for enterprises.

These advancements include:

New Integrations: New open source connectors for McAfeea Threat Intelligence Exchange (TIE) and McAfeea Active Response (MAR) let applications easily use these tools to search endpoints and query and set file reputations, simplifying the process of querying endpoints within the enterprise environment to just 20 lines of code.

Expedited Availability: Responding to customer demand, Intel Security has expedited availability of the OpenDXL Python client, which is now available for organizations to download, develop and deploy with confidence. For demonstrations of technology integrations using OpenDXL, visit the Intel Security booth at #N3801  North Hall of the Moscone Center.

New Capabilities: New OpenDXL connectors for McAfeea ePolicy Orchestrator (McAfee ePO) platform APIs enable easy, fast options to apply policies, tag systems, move groups and trigger actions within the industry-leading security platform. The new capabilities open up the most frequently used capabilities of the McAfee ePO platform web APIs, and permit more applications to leverage centralized and efficient management with a lightweight integration process.

New Partnerships: With the goal to improve cybersecurity efficiencies and maximize protection, 15 new companies have joined the Intel Security Innovation Alliance: Absolute Software*, Bay Dynamics*, Cyphort*, DFLabs*, Digicert*, Dropbox*,Evident.io*, Fireglass*, Kaspersky Labs*, Opswat*, Radware*, SailPoint*, SAS Institute*, SS8 Networks* and ThreatConnect*.

Intel Security also announced that it is now sharing and consuming advanced threat intelligence through the Cyber Threat Alliance Platform (CTAP) and that it has a plan to further integrate CTAP with its products. CTAP is a platform that scores and shares threat intelligence among members of the Cyber Threat Alliance.

Shared CTAP Indicators of Compromise help Intel Security and other CTA members detect and better understand new, emerging attack campaigns. This allows CTA members to more quickly protect their customers systems.

As announced earlier today by the Cyber Threat Alliance, it is now formally incorporated as an independent, 501(c)(6) entity, with a president, board of directors and permanent standing committees. It is generously funded by the founding members  Intel Security, Fortinet*, Palo Alto Networks*, Symantec*, Check Point* and Cisco Systems*. Each founding member has committed $1 million over the next two years to the success of the Cyber Threat Alliance.

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EU-wide rules are needed for the fast-evolving field of robotics, e.g. to enforce ethical standards or establish liability for accidents involving driverless cars, say MEPs in a resolution voted on Thursday.

MEPs ask the EU Commission to propose rules on robotics and artificial intelligence, in order to fully exploit their economic potential and to guarantee a standard level of safety and security. They note that regulatory standards for robots are being planned in several countries, and point out that the EU needs to take the lead on setting these standards, so as not to be forced to follow those set by third countries.

Rapporteur Mady Delvaux (S&D, LU) said Although I am pleased that the plenary adopted my report on robotics, I am also disappointed that the right-wing coalition of ALDE, EPP and ECR refused to take account of possible negative consequences on the job market. They rejected an open-minded and forward-looking debate and thus disregarded the concerns of our citizens.

Liability rules and the impact of robots on the workforce

MEPs stress that draft legislation is urgently needed to clarify liability issues, especially for self-driving cars. They call for a mandatory insurance scheme and a supplementary fund to ensure that victims of accidents involving driverless cars are fully compensated.

MEPs also ask the Commission to consider creating a specific legal status for robots in the long run, in order to establish who is liable if they cause damage.

The rapid development of robots might result in changes in the labour market through the creation, displacement and loss of certain jobs. MEPs urge the Commission to follow these trends closely.

A Code of Ethical Conduct and a new European Agency for robotics

The growing use of robotics also raises ethical issues, for example to do with privacy and safety, stress MEPs. They propose a voluntary ethical code of conduct on robotics for researchers and designers to ensure that they operate in accordance with legal and ethical standards and that robot design and use respect human dignity.

They also ask the Commission to consider creating a European agency for robotics and artificial intelligence, to supply public authorities with technical, ethical and regulatory expertise.

The resolution was passed by 396 votes to 123, with 85 abstentions. The Commission will not be obliged to follow the Parliaments recommendations, but must state its reasons if it refuses.

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Manu Kumar, who first joined the company back in June 2014 will also be the managing director of Xiaomi India.

Hugo Barra made the headlines last month when he announced his decision to leave Xiaomi as the companys Global vice president. The company has now confirmed that its India head Manu Kumar Jain will be leading the company as the new vice president.

In a tweet, Xiaomis official India handle wrote, @manukumarjain, congratulations from the entire Xiaomi family on your promotion to Vice President of Xiaomi!

Manu Kumar, who first joined the company back in June 2014 will also be the managing director of Xiaomi India.

Manu Kumar took to Facebook to thank Xiaomi for this opportunity, Thank You my phenomenal Xiaomi family! I am so glad I got the opportunity to work with the best team on the planet. This is a result of some of the great things our Mi Fans have done for Xiaomi in India.Truly honoured and humbled!

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Both women and men turn out bare-chest for the voodoo ceremony in Glidji Kpodji, 50 kms from Lome. Thousands of followers of voodoo from Togo, Benin, Ghana, Ivory coast and Nigeria take part in the annual event. (Photo: AFP)

Cotonou, Benin: The national voodoo holiday in the West African country of Benin had a distinctively political accent this year as practitioners from Africa and the Americas gathered on Sunday to offer prayers and sacrifices for peace.

Hundreds of followers of the traditional religion gathered in the Atlantic coast town of Ouidah, once an important port in the slave trade, to pray for calm during the tiny country's presidential election scheduled for February.

Benin has no history of significant electoral violence. But David Kofi Aza, a well-known priest, said last month that an oracle named Fa had predicted dozens of deaths in post-electoral violence because the loser would refuse to cede to the winner.

The oracle did not reveal how the crisis would be resolved, Aza said.

At the ceremony in Ouidah, spiritual leader Daagbo Hounan Houna II appealed to the dead to help keep order during the vote. "The elections will pass in a peaceful manner in the name of the bounties of the ancestors," he said.

Further inland in Savalou, the hometown of Prime Minister Lionel Zinsou, priests and dignitaries set a chicken on fire at a ceremony before spreading its blood and palm oil on a fetish made out of cowrie shells and sand.

The election campaign has been overshadowed by a controversy over the ruling party's choice of Zinsou as its candidate, a pick approved by outgoing president Thomas Boni Yayi.

Last Tuesday, politicians from the opposition and dissidents from the ruling party met for discussions on the formation of a coalition to prevent Zinsou's run.

Zinsou is both French and Beninese and spent a large part of his life in France. Critics claim he is an outsider without a true understanding of the realities of life in Benin.

But he does enjoy local support. "Diversity must be a richness and exclusion is a source of war," Gbaguidi Tossoh, the king of Savalou, said at the ceremony there.

Boni Yayi has been president since 2006, when he took over in a peaceful transition of power after 28 years under Marxist coup leader Mathieu Kerekou, who gradually came to embrace multiparty democracy.

Aside from Zinsou, prominent businessman Sebastien Ajavon and Abdoulaye Bio Tchane, a former senior official at the International Monetary Fund and a 2011 presidential candidate, have officially declared their runs for the office.

The celebrations of voodoo, a traditional African spirit religion that spread to the Americas with the slave trade, were declared a national holiday in 1992.

This year they drew practitioners from nearby countries such as Togo, Ghana and Nigeria and locations as far away as Haiti, Brazil and the United States.

"For nearly 15 years, I have not missed this celebration," said a man in his 60s from Brazil who gave his name only as Antonio.
Ottawa: The only person convicted in the 1985 Air India bombings that killed 331 people is now free, Canadas parole board said on Thursday. Inderjit Singh Reyat had been ordered to live at a halfway house following his release from prison one year ago, after serving two decades behind bars.

That condition has now been lifted and Reyat may return to a normal life, including living in a private residence, parole board spokesman Patrick Storey said in an email. The Sikh immigrant from India was convicted of making bombs that were stuffed into luggage and planted on two planes leaving Vancouver, and of lying in court to cover for his co-accused. One bomb tore apart Air India Flight 182 as it neared the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 people aboard, including entire families.

The second exploded at Japans Narita airport, killing two baggage handlers as they transferred cargo to another Air India plane. The blasts followed a crackdown on Sikhs fighting for an independent homeland, and those behind it were allegedly seeking revenge for the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar by Indian troops.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin does not expect a breakthrough from the meeting of foreign ministers in the Normandy format (Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia) which will take place in Munich on February 18.

"I do not expect any breakthrough from tomorrow's meeting. We have a proposal in the area of security, we will consistently put pressure in the humanitarian area, raise the issue of the roadmap," he told reporters upon his arrival in Munich on Friday.

According to him, the Ukrainian side has a clear logic of the sequence of steps and guarantees, which Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov refused to discuss at the previous meeting.

The Ukrainian foreign minister said he will raise two key issues  security and humanitarian ones. In particular, Klimkin said he meant giving the OSCE mission access to the whole territory of Donbas, as well as their access to the border.

"These are the two priorities," he said.
The brief follows court wrangling over President Trump's January 27 executive order to bar people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the US for 90 days. (Photo: Representational Image)

Houston: Texas has become the first US state to support President Donald Trump's travel ban on travellers from seven Muslim-majority nations, defending his controversial executive order as a move to protect America.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an amicus brief with the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday in support of the US Department of Justice.

"The law makes it very clear that the president has discretion to protect the safety of the American people and our nation's institutions with respect to who can come into this country," Paxton said in a statement.

The brief follows court wrangling over President Trump's January 27 executive order to bar people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the US for 90 days. The order banned refugees for 120 days, except those from Syria, who were banned indefinitely.

The courts have put a temporary hold on the President's ban.

The amicus brief argues for broad executive power in the area of immigration. Texas also contends that Trump's order does not target Muslims as is generally suggested.

Trump's executive order targeted specific nationalities, not a religion, and the states could not support their legal challenge with the president's campaign statements, it said.

A total of 18 states and the District of Columbia are opposing the travel ban at the 9th Circuit. A group of 15 states led by New York filed an amicus brief arguing that the

Trump order is unconstitutional.

A three judge bench last week had refused to remove the stay on the executive order by another federal court in Seattle.

A broader set of 9th Circuit judges is now considering whether the stay request should be taken up by an 11-judge appeals court panel.

Texas has also supported some of Trump's other plans to crack down on immigration, including a threat to withhold federal funds from "sanctuary cities."

It led the legal fight against former President Barack Obama's plan to protect up to four million immigrants from deportation, joined by 25 other Republican-led states.
Washington: President Donald Trump insisted on Thursday that neither he nor his campaign team had contacts with Russian officials in the run-up to last year's US election, contradicting an explosive report which he blasted as "fake news."

Trump also defended Michael Flynn, the national security advisor whose resignation he demanded and received this week, saying Flynn "wasn't wrong" for holding pre-inauguration phone calls with the Russian ambassador about US sanctions policy.

Instead, Trump accused members of US intelligence agencies of breaking the law by leaking information about the calls.

The new president, in the midst of a turbulent week of back-and-forth accusations about contacts with Russia and his battle with the intelligence community, addressed the concerns during an extraordinary White House press conference.

Asked whether he or anyone on his staff had engaged in contacts with Russia prior to the election, Trump proclaimed: "No, nobody that I know of."

"I have nothing to do with Russia," Trump said. "The whole Russia thing is a ruse."

It was a full-throated denunciation of a bombshell report by the New York Times which said intercepted calls and phone records show Trump aides were in repeated contact with Russian intelligence officials well before the US elections.

"It's all fake news," Trump said, unleashing verbal assaults on the media.

Trump stressed that the Times story centered instead on inappropriate action by US intelligence agencies, as he stepped up earlier Thursday attacks in which he vowed to catch "low-life leakers" of potentially classified information that led to the ouster of his national security advisor.

Jeopardy

"Those are criminal leaks" by people angry about Democrat Hillary Clinton's loss, he told reporters, as he revealed he has asked the Justice Department to investigate the disclosures.

"The people that gave out the information to the press should be ashamed of themselves."

The Washington Post meanwhile reported that current and former US officials said Flynn denied to FBI agents that he had discussed US sanctions on Russia with Moscow's ambassador.

Should it turn out that he discussed the sanctions, as Trump appears to believe he did, Flynn could be in legal jeopardy because lying to the FBI is a felony.

"What he did wasn't wrong," Trump stressed.

"I didn't direct him" to discuss sanctions with Russia's envoy, Trump added. "But I would have directed him because that's his job" to talk with foreign contacts.

Late Thursday Flynn's replacement was still undetermined after former navy admiral Robert Harward, who Trump had reportedly tapped for the job, declined it, US media said.

In his wide-ranging presser Trump defended his political agenda, and said that next week he will introduce an amended version of the much-criticized travel ban now caught up in court.

He also pledged that new trade deals were coming that would stop countries from "taking advantage of us," and said he would "show great heart" in dealing with undocumented immigrants who arrived as children and are protected from deportation. But the crux of his remarks centered on Russia connections.

"I would love to be able to get along with Russia," he insisted. "It would be much easier for me to be tough on Russia, but then we're not going to make a deal."

The latest salvoes came amid reports that Trump plans to name New York billionaire Stephen Feinberg who has no national security experience to lead a sweeping review of US intelligence agencies, raising fears of a bid to curtail their independence.

Trump had pointed the finger at the National Security Agency, which conducts electronic surveillance, and the FBI, which handles counter-intelligence probes, as possible sources of the leaks.

The drumbeat of revelations has infuriated Democrats and alarmed Republican leaders, wary of Trump's overtures toward Russia.

"It is a cloud over the White House," said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who has called for in-depth investigations.

Collusion

Amid mounting calls for more sweeping congressional investigations, one Democrat openly accused Trump's campaign of improper contacts with Russia.

"I believe there was collusion," House Democrat Maxine Waters told CNN, stressing that Trump's focus on the leaks was a distraction.

Trump's stance on leaks has flipped since last year's campaign when he proclaimed "I love WikiLeaks", the organization that published hacked Clinton campaign emails.

He also dismissed as a "joke" his suggestion that Russia was behind the damaging leaks.

By January, US intelligence had concluded that those leaks were part of a wider campaign ordered by President Vladimir Putin to try to tilt the election in Trump's favor. Moscow denies any involvement.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has moved gingerly on Russia, sending top officials to Europe to reassure NATO allies while making its opening official contacts with the Russians.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Bonn, and said Washington is prepared to work with Russia "when we can find practical areas of cooperation."

In Brussels, Defence Secretary James Mattis said the Pentagon was not ready "right now" for military cooperation with Moscow "but our political leaders will engage and try to find common ground."
Washington: President Donald Trump dismissed a growing controversy about ties between his aides and Russia on Thursday as a "ruse" and "scam" perpetrated by a hostile news media, and denied any of his associates had contacts with Moscow before last year's election.

"The leaks are absolutely real. The news is fake," Trump told a news conference, referring to media reports that his presidential campaign team had contacts with Russian intelligence officials.

Trump, who frequently assailed the news media, also said he had not directed his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, to talk to Russia's ambassador about U.S. sanctions before taking office.

Trump said he had asked the Justice Department to look into the leaks of "classified information that was given illegally" to journalists regarding the relationship between his aides and Russia.

He also said he did not think that Russian President Vladimir Putin was taking actions that would test him early in his term in office.

Trump, who took office on Jan. 20 and has voiced support for improved ties with Russia, added he personally had no business deals in that country.

The New York Times reported on Tuesday that phone call records and intercepted calls showed members of Trump's presidential campaign and other Trump associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the Nov. 8 election in which Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Pressed by reporters about whether he was aware if any member of his presidential campaign team had contacts with Russia before the election, the Republican president said: "Nobody that I know of."

Wary Democratic lawmakers challenged Republicans, who control Congress, on Thursday to conduct a credible investigation into contacts between Trump's associates and Russia. The process could take months and might never be made public.

U.S. intelligence agencies concluded last year that Russia hacked and leaked Democratic emails during the election campaign as part of an effort to tilt the vote in Trump's favour.

Trump has spoken admiringly of Putin, who had a tense relationship with former President Barack Obama over Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, Russian military actions in Syria and other matters. Even fellow Republicans have expressed unease about Trump's comments about Putin.

Defending Flynn

Flynn, a close adviser to Trump during his campaign, was seen by Moscow as a leading advocate of warmer ties with Russia. Trump fired Flynn on Monday after the retired lieutenant general misled Vice President Mike Pence about conversations he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States, before Trump took office, regarding U.S. sanctions on Moscow.

Flynn told FBI agents last month he had not discussed sanctions against Russia with the ambassador before Trump took office, the Washington Post reported on Thursday. Flynn's Jan. 24 interview with the FBI could expose him to charges, since lying to the agency is a felony, but any decision to prosecute would lie with the Justice Department.

U.S. intelligence agencies intercepted Flynn's call with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak after Trump's election, in which the two discussed sanctions, the Post reported previously.

Obama imposed the new sanctions on Russia on Dec. 29 after the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion about Moscow's interference in the election campaign. A U.S. official familiar with the transcripts of the calls with the ambassador said Flynn indicated that if Russia did not retaliate, that could smooth the way toward a broader discussion of improving U.S.-Russian relations once Trump took power.

That was potentially illegal under a law barring unauthorised private citizens from interfering in disputes the United States has with other countries.

Trump forcefully defended Flynn's discussion with the Russian ambassador.

"What he did wasn't wrong," Trump told the news conference.

"Mike was doing his job. He was calling countries and his counterparts. So, it certainly would have been OK with me if he did it. ... I didn't direct him, but I would have directed him because that's his job," Trump said.

"No, I didn't direct him, but I would have directed him if he didn't do it. OK?" said Trump, who added the problem was Flynn's having misled Pence.

A wealthy new York real estate developer with global business interests, Trump also portrayed himself as having no ties to Russia.

"I can tell you, speaking for myself, I own nothing in Russia. I have no loans in Russia. I don't have any deals in Russia," Trump said.

Critics of the president have called on him since the election campaign to release his tax returns, saying that would shed more light on his business dealings. Trump has said he will not do so while his tax affairs are under audit by the Internal Revenue Service.

"I have nothing to do with Russia, haven't made a phone call to Russia in years, don't speak to people from Russia. Not that I wouldn't. I just have nobody to speak to," Trump said.
Washington: US President Donald Trump on Friday asserted that his administration is "running like a fine-tuned machine" and there is "no chaos" inside the White House as being reported by, what he called, the "dishonest" media.

"The media is trying to attack our administration because they know we are following through on pledges that we made, and they're not happy about it for whatever reason," he told reporters at a hurriedly convened White House news conference.

Trump, who has used the medium of Twitter and Facebook to convey his views and react to news stories, said that a lot of people are happy about his administration.

But his political opponents and the media is not that happy, he said at his fourth news conference in a week. The other three were with the visiting world leaders from Japan, Canada and Israel.

"I turn on the TV, open the newspapers, and I see stories of chaos. Chaos!?Yet, it is the exact opposite," Trump asserted during the news conference wherein he continued to bash the media calling them "dishonest and very fake".

"This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine, despite the fact that I can't get my Cabinet approved," Trump asserted as his top aides were sitting in the front row including Vice President Mike Pence, top strategist Steve Bannon and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

"So we have a wonderful group of people that's working very hard, that's being very much misrepresented about, and we cant let that happen," Trump said in an apparent explanation of him holding a news conference that went on for 80 minutes.

In his lengthy opening statement, Trump listed out his achievements on multiple fronts including domestic, foreign, economy and defence.

"We have made incredible progress. I dont think there's ever been a President elected who, in this short period of time, has done what we've done," he said.

"I ran for President to represent the citizens of our country. I am here to change the broken system so it serves their families and their communities well. I am talking, and really talking, on this very entrenched power structure, and what we're doing is we're talking about the power structure, we're talking about its entrenchment," he said.

"As a result, the media is going through what they have to go through to oftentimes distort not all the time and some of the media is fantastic, I have to say; they're honest and fantastic. But much of it is not the distortion," the President said.

At several points, he was challenged by reporters on his allegations that the media is fake.

"I just see many, many untruthful things. I tell you what else I see. I see tone. You know the word 'tone'. The tone is such hatred. I'm really not a bad person, by the way. No, but the tone is such, I do get good ratings, you have to admit that. The tone is such hatred," he told CNN's White House correspondent.
Kim Jong Nam was targeted on Monday in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and later died on the way to the hospital. (Photo: AP)

Kuala Lumpur: The woman with the acronym 'LOL' on her shirt who was arrested this week in connection with the murder of North Korea's Kim Jong Nam stayed in cheap hotels, carried a wad of cash and cut her hair a day before the brazen attack at Kuala Lumpur airport.

According to the receptionist at one of the hotels, a woman who had checked in under the Vietnamese name of Doan Thi Huong on Sunday Feb. 12 left early in the morning on Monday, the day of the assassination, and returned later, showing no signs of stress.

Police believe she was the person who, at around 8:20 a.m. that day, had approached the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un from behind at the Malaysian capital's budget airline terminal and thrust a deadly poisonous substance into his face.

According to Malaysian media reports, Doan told police she had been duped into what she thought was a harmless practical joke. A second woman who has been detained, an Indonesian national, also thought she was involved in a prank, some media reports said.

However, staff at two hotels in a rundown area near the airport gave details of Doan's movements before the killing that appeared both calm and deliberate.

A private investigator told Reuters her behavior bore the hallmarks of an intelligence operative.

This image provided by Star TV of closed circuit television footage shows a woman at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia, who police say was arrested in connection with the death of Kim Jong Nam, the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. (Photo: AP)

A stack of money, hair cut

Doan went first to the two-star Qlassic Hotel, checking in on Saturday, Feb. 11. A staff member who asked not to be named said she stayed in the cheapest room, which had no windows.

"I remember she had wanted to extend her stay here, and was ready to pay with a stack of money in her hand," said another member of the Qlassic's staff, a front-desk employee who only identified herself as Sia.

After one night, Doan checked into the CityView Hotel, arriving with a suitcase, a backpack and a large teddy bear, the receptionist told Reuters, declining to be named. She said Doan spoke understandable English.

She borrowed a pair of scissors from the front desk the evening before the attack, and a member of housekeeping staff found hair on the floor and in the waste basket the next day.

"She found the scissors on the room desk. And there was hair strewn on the floor in the room, (Doan) had thrown some in the bin but there was still a mess," the receptionist said.

She said that the next day Doan had on the shirt she was seen wearing in an airport CCTV grab that has earned her the nickname "LOL Girl" in Malaysian media.

Doan was out for much of the morning and, on her return, she seemed "relaxed" and "didn't look angry or worried".

Doan complained about the Wifi in her room and when she was told it couldn't be fixed until the afternoon, she checked out and left.

She then checked into the SkyStar Hotel, also nearby, and left after one night, an employee said.

It is not known where Doan went next. Police said she was arrested on Wednesday morning, about 48 hours after the murder, in the same terminal where Kim Jong Nam was attacked.

"If you ask me, do her movements indicate that she was an intelligence operative, then I would say yes," said a private investigator in Kuala Lumpur who asked not to be named.

"That is how they operate. Change of appearance, cash transactions, no paper trail and constantly on the move."

Second woman from a Jakarta slum

The Indonesian woman who was arrested on Thursday, Siti Aishah, had lived a quiet life in a slum district of Jakarta before going to find work in Malaysia, residents in the western neighborhood of the Indonesian capital said.

According to Malaysian media reports, she stood in front of Kim to distract him while her accomplice approached from behind.

In Jakarta, Aishah had worked for a time in the tailoring business in the house of her ex-husband's family, sewing clothes by hand, former neighbors in the Tambora district said.

"I can't believe the news. Her background was very simple," said community leader R. Yusri.

The couple moved to Malaysia several years ago but separated in 2012. Aishah's former father-in-law said she had returned to Jakarta on Jan. 28 to visit her seven-year-old son. She had looked thinner than usual and had a cough.

The streets in Tambora district are too narrow for cars to pass through. A tangle of washing lines hangs above small concrete and makeshift homes, many housing small businesses or selling clothes and food.

Ida Anisafitri, a neighbor, said Aishah kept a low profile when she visited there.

"We would see her briefly with the child and then she would go back inside the house," Anisafitri said, as a loudspeaker from a nearby mosque sounded with the call to prayer.
Afghan police aided by other security officials, managed to repel the attackers and drove the insurgents from the area. (Photo: Representational Image)

Kabul: An Afghan provincial official says the Taliban have stormed several Afghan security posts in eastern Kunar province, killing five police officers.

Provincial governor, Waheedullah Kalimzai, says the daring attacks early on Friday morning lasted nearly two hours and were apparently coordinated but the police, aided by other security officials, managed to repel the attackers and drove the insurgents from the area. Kalimzai says another police officer is missing after the attack.

He says the Taliban used heavy machine guns and explosive devises in the assault. Kalimzai also added that the Afghan police killed several Taliban fighters.

Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province borders Pakistan. Insurgency groups are considered to have a strong presence in this area.
Hundreds of police in Thailand are carrying out a raid on the headquarters temple of a controversial Buddhist temple sect to detain its chief, a monk facing criminal charges including accepting $40 million in embezzled money. (Photo: AP)

Pathum Thani: Thai police raided the head temple of a controversial Buddhist sect but failed to find and arrest the abbot, who faces criminal charges over accepting $40 million in embezzled money.

The action on Thursday followed several earlier failed attempts to seize Phra Dhammajayo, 72, head of the Dhammakaya sect. Police were previously thwarted when crowds of monks and followers blocked the way, risking a violent confrontation.

The prime minister of Thailand's military government, Prayuth Chan-ocha, this time invoked an emergency order declaring the area around the temple a temporary "restricted area" to stop people from entering.

Police deployed about 3,000 personnel to surround the temple before dawn, blocking hundreds of monks and followers who sat outside the compound's gates, chanting Buddhist texts in protest.

The temple's senior monks agreed around noon to admit some police. Several hundred officers swept the grounds, honing in on an inner residence compound where intelligence suggested the abbot resided, but he was nowhere to be found.

"We found nothing illegal, we couldn't find him," said Kolvit Bunnag, director of special operations at the Department of Special Investigation, Thailand's FBI. "We expected to find him, but the news spread around. He could (have) run away."

Some devotees believe the raids are politically motivated because the temple and its followers are seen as supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in a 2006 military coup.

The Dhammakaya sect is controversial for fusing Buddhism theology with what critics call a bourgeois, money-friendly ideology. It appeals to Thailand's burgeoning middle class.

Temple spokesmen claim they haven't seen Dhammajayo for months at the temple, which is known for its vast golden dome that appears to hover over the grounds like a gilded UFO.

"(The police) tried to make it as smooth and peaceful as possible," said Phra Pasura Dantamano, a Dhammakaya spokesman. However, he said it was an "excessive use of force for nearly 4,000 police to come and block the road just because someone did not appear for a summons."

Pasura said Dhammajayo was innocent and estimated that 10,000 followers came to support him at the vast compound, which covers an area almost 10 times the size of Vatican City.

One of Dhammajayo's followers, the head of a credit union, was convicted of embezzling money to donate to the temple, and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Dhammajayo was charged with money-laundering and receiving stolen property. The sect says he did not know the money was tainted.

In an evident effort to put pressure on him, three unrelated charges of land encroachment were later filed against him.

The sect was founded in 1970 and ballooned in Thailand's 1980s economic boom. Dhammajayo was forced to temporarily step down as the temple's abbot following embezzlement accusations in 1999 and 2002. He resumed his post in 2006 after clearing his name.

The DSI first summoned Dhammajayo last March in connection with the money-laundering charges. After he repeatedly failed to show up for questioning, saying he was ill, a criminal court issued an arrest warrant last May, prompting police to try to raid the temple several times.

The raids have been complicated by a law which forbids the arrest of a monk in his robes, for fear that would mar the sanctity of the clergy. Buddhism is the national religion and a core pillar of Thai society.

Police said they would be back Friday and Saturday to continue the hunt, after which their search agreement with the monks will expire. The temple's supporters, too, will be back.

"Lots of things happened to the temple, it's not fair," said Tiparaphan Up-prakan, a decades-long Dhammakaya devotee from Bangkok. "I think Dhammakaya will be OK. We will fight for that."
Far-right leader and candidate for next spring presidential elections Marine le Pen from France delivers a speech at a meeting of European Nationalists in Koblenz, Germany. (Photo: AP)

Paris: French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is facing new troubles, with fresh revelations in an investigation into her European Parliament assistants and scathing criticism from the U.N. human rights commissioner.

The Parliament probe is among several legal issues hanging over France's April-May election, which is shaping up as a major test of growing nationalist sentiment across Europe.

Investigative website Mediapart published excerpts from a European Commission fraud office report that said Le Pen admitted to irregularities in paychecks for one assistant targeted in the European Parliament probe.

Le Pen, speaking on France Bleu radio Friday, acknowledged settling an accounting problem with the Parliament, but insisted "there was nothing fictitious, no fake jobs or anything like this."

French authorities are separately investigating the parliamentary assistants. The probes center around suspicions that members of Le Pen's National Front party tricked the European Parliament out of several hundred thousand euros by using legislative aides for the party's political activity while they were on the parliament's payroll.

Le Pen also reiterated accusations that the investigation is biased because it's led by the European Commission, "and you can imagine that I am not well-regarded by the commission." Le Pen has used her membership in the European Parliament as a forum to lobby against European unity and the shared euro currency, and reviving French national sovereignty is central to her presidential platform.

Meanwhile, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, in a blunt speech in Washington, called rising support for Le Pen's nationalist ideas a potential threat to world peace.

Le Pen wrote Zeid an open letter last year in which she criticized international organizations as representing a "global hyperclass ... which scorns peoples, and thus human beings, their diversity and specific riches."

Zeid countered Thursday that Le Pen's anti-immigrant party "manifests evident intolerance of diverse customs, beliefs and modes of thought."

He also expressed concern that nationalist politicians like Le Pen seem "to feed off the threat of terrorism."

"Can we be so reckless, so stupid, as to risk the future of humanity, simply for the sake of ballots?" he asked.
London: Diners at a popular Indian restaurant in Leicester left their meals mid-way after health inspectors discovered a cockroach infestation. Sand's of Glenfield was shut down on the spot earlier in February after being tipped off by a member of the public.

The inspectors had found both dead and alive German cockroaches in the kitchen, including in the food store and in three freezers. Cockroach traps, put down by pest controllers, were also found.

"A resident of the district made us aware that a pest control company had been visiting Sands. We served a hygiene emergency prohibition order on Sand's of Glenfield for a cockroach infestation, on Saturday, February 4," a spokesperson for the local Blaby District Council told 'Leicester Mercury'.

"The business is now formally closed as a food business until our environmental health team are satisfied that the health risk condition no longer exists. We are working closely with representatives of the business and their pest control company to advise them about the steps they need to take in order for this to be achieved," she added.

Magistrates upheld the inspectors' decision to close the restaurant at a hearing on February 8. The restaurant will have to seek the approval of health inspectors to re-open once necessary refurbishment is completed.

A note has been posted on the restaurant door which reads: "We are taking this opportunity to refurbish and update our equipment and taking all the necessary steps to ensure that we provide the best possible environment for our valued guests ".
Sukhraj Singh Atwal, of Derby, was told it would be 20 years until he is eligible to apply for parole after a jury at at the Nottingham Crown Court found him guilty of murdering his step-grandfather Satnam Singh, the father of his mother's ex-husband. (Representational Image)

London: A 29-year-old Sikh man in the UK was on Friday sentenced to life for murdering his step grandfather by assaulting him so brutally that it resulted in 41 fractures to his ribs, a fractured skull and severe brain damage.

Sukhraj Singh Atwal, of Derby, was told it would be 20 years until he is eligible to apply for parole after a jury at at the Nottingham Crown Court found him guilty of murdering his step-grandfather Satnam Singh, the father of his mother's ex-husband.

The motive for the murder was a "long-running and acrimonious" family feud.

Atwal attacked Singh as he walked from his home, in Princes Street, Derby, to open his local Gurdwara, in the same street on July 23, 2015.

The prosecution told the trial that Atwal inflicted a "frenzied, savage and sustained" attack on the grandfather before driving off and leaving him for dead, the Derby Telegraph reported.

His trial, which lasted almost three weeks at Nottingham Crown Court, heard how the 74-year-old was found unconscious yards from his home which is also on Princes Street.

Singh suffered 41 fractures to his chest, lacerations to his heart and "blunt force trauma" to his body.

His injuries were so severe that it was believed that he died as a result of a hit and run.

But a Home Office pathologist later confirmed that Singh had died as a result of an attack.

When Gordon Aspden, prosecuting, opened the case at the start of the trial almost three weeks ago he told the jury, "The medical evidence is consistent with someone who'd had someone stamping and jumping on his face and chest repeatedly."

"Make no mistake, this was a savage, frenzied and sustained assault that was driven home with real venom," Aspden had said.

Singh died at the Royal Derby Hospital on the day of the attack.

Sentencing Atwal, Judge Gregory Dickenson said, "You attacked Satnam Singh as he walked from his home to the local Gurdwara. It was, I am sorry to say, a brutal and merciless assault."

"You left him for dead, like a bag of rubbish on the ground which some passers-by thought him to be. You did nothing to assist, nothing to raise the alarm, not even an anonymous 999 call," the judge was quoted as saying.

"There is nothing to suggest even the slightest degree of provocation on the part of Satnam Singh. You have shown no remorse," he said.

"You did nothing to raise the alarm. The minimum term you must serve before you can be eligible for parole is 20 years," he added.

The family of Singh said they were distraught to lose "such a loved and valued member of the family" but said justice had been done.
Yoo Ah In Bone Tumor Not Cancerous, Actor Slams Rumors That He Wants To Avoid Military Enlistment

Yoo Ah, In finally broke his silence on the recent issue that he is suffering from a bone tumor. Based on the latest statement by his agency, the bone tumor is not cancerous and it has been confirmed to be benign. His label also reassured fans that the condition will not affect the actor's daily life severely although it could affect his military enlistment.

There are assumptions that the actor's current health condition could allow him to be exempted from the mandatory military service. The actor was supposed to leave for his military enlistment back in 2013 but a shoulder postponed his application.

Given the circumstances, a lot of people accused him of using his medical condition although Yoo Ah In also received many apologies when news broke out that had a bone tumor. While the news saddened some of his fans, there were still vicious rumors that he is just after a military exemption.

Advertisement

In response to this controversy, Yoo Ah In made a statement through a letter explaining his side of the story. He also emphasized that he is not using his injury to get out of the mandatory service.

"My injury and the health condition that is currently creating controversies are my misfortune. It is not a tool for me to avoid military enlistment."

Yoo Ah In maintained that he knew that people could misunderstand male celebrities and think that they are only using an injury to get an exemption from military service. Hence, he tried to complete his schedule quietly to avoid such issues.

"It will definitely be possible for me to complete my mandatory service if an abnormal growth of the tumor does not occur."

In closing, Yoo Ah In emphasized his desire to do his duty as a citizen and overcome the public scrutiny.

"I will overcome the pain the controversy has caused and carry out the duty as a citizen. As a person with the power to influence society, I will do my best to complete the duty."

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Civilians gather at the site of a car bomb in a used car dealers parking lot in the southwestern al-Bayaa neighbourhood. (Photo: AP)

Baghdad: A car bomb at a Baghdad auto dealership killed at least 59 people and wounded more than 66 on Thursday, Iraqi officials said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Saad Maan confirmed the toll from the attack, which took place in the mainly Shiite al-Bayaa neighbourhood.

The Islamic State group claimed the bombing in an online statement circulated by its Aamaq news agency. The Sunni extremist group said it was targeting Shiites.

The extremist group has carried out near-daily attacks in Baghdad despite suffering military setbacks elsewhere in the country, including in the northern city of Mosul, where US-backed Iraqi forces have been waging a major operation since October.

The US State Department condemned the attack at the car dealership, saying such attacks show the extremist group's "utter contempt for human life and its efforts to sow discord and division among the Iraqi people."

Another four attacks in and around Baghdad today killed eight people and wounded around 30, police and medical officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.
Residents of four villages that lie just north of the city limits on the east bank of the Tigris have said that armed IS fighters are still in their midst. (Photo: AP)

Mosul: The Iraqi forces that retook east Mosul from jihadists last month have moved on to their next battle, leaving a security vacuum that has residents complaining of a job half-done.

The traffic jams in the streets and the crowds swarming the shops of the eastern neighbourhoods that the Islamic State group controlled only weeks ago are deceptive, residents say.

"Everything looks like it's back to normal but people know that bloodshed could be just around the corner and they live in constant fear," said Omar, from a civil society group that has been trying to breathe life back into Iraq's second city.

"Everybody is talking about the liberation but Daesh (IS) is still here," the 25-year-old said. "Their drones are flying above our heads, target our homes, our hospitals and our mosques."

The Joint Operations Command that has been coordinating Iraq's fightback since IS seized a third of the country in 2014 announced that the east bank of Mosul had been "fully liberated" on January 24.

The Iraqi tricolour has replaced IS's black flag above official buildings but the atmosphere is tense.

"The suicide car bombs are back and that brings back memories of Daesh," said Umm Sameer, a resident of Al-Zuhoor neighbourhood.

On February 9, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a popular restaurant in east Mosul, injuring several people, according to officials.

Contrary to some expectations, roughly three-quarters of the population of east Mosul stayed home and weathered the fighting that engulfed their neighbourhoods when elite forces from the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) punched into the city to take on the jihadists.

Fresh displacement

Yet some of them are leaving now, despite the fact that their areas have been officially liberated.

Nuriya Bashir, in her sixties, left her home with her children and grandchildren this week.

"My daughter's husband was killed when a drone dropped a grenade. Daesh knew where he was that evening. The sleeper cells are everywhere," she said, speaking from the Hasansham displacement camp east of Mosul where she and her family found shelter.

"Just after the announcement that east Mosul was liberated, many displaced people left the camp to return to their homes," said camp manager Rizqar Obeid.

"But over the past few days, we have received around 40 families who couldn't bear the situation in the city any longer," he said.

There are security forces deployed in east Mosul but Umm Sameer accused them of "negligence" in their work.

CTS fighters have now moved out to prepare for an assault on the city's west bank.

"We have handed over this part of the city to the army," Abdulwahab al-Saadi, a top CTS commander, told AFP.

He admitted that insecurity remained in the east and blamed it on the fact that "jihadists on the west side continue to fire mortar rounds."

IS still here

But weaponised drones and mortar fire are not the only security concerns for east Mosul residents.

"The security shortcomings in east Mosul are obvious," said Amer al-Bek, an activist with a local civil society group, criticising "the lack of professionalism of some of the security forces."

Residents of four villages that lie just north of the city limits on the east bank of the Tigris have said that armed IS fighters are still in their midst.

"There are around 100 of them in the area, walking around freely with their weapons and combat gear," said one resident who would not give his name for fear of retribution, adding that the jihadists had recently executed several villagers.

"Why is the army not liberating our villages," another resident asked.

In the city proper, the number of residents who stayed on during the fighting made effective screening almost impossible.

The Institute for the Study of War said last week that the "inability to find a suitable hold force is also creating openings for IS to reinfiltrate, as shown by several attacks in eastern Mosul."

Besides the immediate impact on the lives of civilians, the think tank warned that such "re-infiltrations" could also affect upcoming efforts to retake the west side, "forcing the ISF (Iraqi security forces) to fight on two fronts to recapture the city."
Islamabad: Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani has condemned the horrific attack on a shrine in southern Pakistan that killed 75 people the previous day.

Ghani says his security forces are battling all terrorist groups, including the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the attack at the Sufi shrine in the town of Sehwan in Sindh province.

The shrine honoured the mystic Muslim Sufi holy figure Usman Marwandi, also known as Lal Shahbaz Qalander.

Ghani's statement on Friday says that militant groups always seek to "target civilians in Afghanistan and other parts of the world."

Ghani says that "Sufis always preach peace and brotherhood among people." But, he added, "Terrorists once again proved that they have no respect for Islamic values."

Pakistan blames the attack on militants who found sanctuary in neighbouring Afghanistan and has given Kabul a list of 76 terror suspects it believes are hiding there.

An Afghan police official says Pakistan has launched a blistering artillery assault on eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, where a self-declared affiliate of the Islamic State group is based.

Gul Agha Roohani, provincial police chief of Nangarhar, tells The Associated Press in Kabul that Pakistan fired several artillery rounds early on Friday into the province's Lalpur district, near the Afghan-Pakistan border.

There was no immediate comment from Pakistan, where a suicide bombing on Thursday killed 75 people and wounded scores more at a Sufi shrine in southern Sindh province. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State group.

However, Pakistan says Thursday's attack and other recent bombings have been masterminded by militants who hide across the border and use sanctuaries in Afghanistan.
Sharif chaired a security meeting in Sehwan, where he was given a detailed briefing on the current security situation and relief activities. (Photo: AFP)

Karachi: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday ordered the law enforcement agencies to eliminate terrorists with "full force" as the death toll rose to 88 in an Islamic State suicide bombing at a revered Sufi shrine in the Sindh province.

The bombing at the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sehwan took place yesterday when a large number of worshippers from different parts of the province had gathered there for the ritual of Sufi dance 'Dhamaal.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

"The death toll has risen to 88. The attack also left 343 injured," Director General Health Services Sindh-Hyderabad said.

Prime Minister Sharif and Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa today visited Sehwan.

Sharif chaired a security meeting in Sehwan, where he was given a detailed briefing on the current security situation and relief activities.

"It is time for us to unite and fight against the internal and external terrorists," he said.

During the meeting, Sharif directed the country's armed forces and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to eliminate terrorists across the country with full force, Radio Pakistan said.

According to initial investigations, at least eight kilogrammes of explosives were used to carry out the attack.

Senior Counter-terrorism department (CTD) official Raja Umar Khattab dismissed reports that the suicide bomber was a female.

Earlier, Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) Hyderabad Khadim Hussain Rind that the suicide blast occurred at the main gate of the shrine by the burqa-clad bomber.

Following the attack, Pakistan security forces killed at least 42 militants in a nationwide crackdown.

Pakistan has been hit by a series of terrorist attacks since Afghanistan-based Jamaat-ul-Ahrar announced its 'Operation Ghazi'.

On February 13, a suicide bomber struck a protest outside the gates of Punjab's Provincial Assembly, killing 13 and injuring 85. The attack was also claimed by JuA.

Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of not cooperating with it in its efforts to combat terrorism.

Today, Pakistan Army also handed over a list of 76 "most wanted" terrorists to Afghan embassy officials and demanded "immediate action" against them.

Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz also telephoned Afghan National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar and urged him to take action against militants involved in terrorism inside Pakistan.
General Doulat Waziri, spokesman for the Ministry of Defiance, says 21 IS fighters were killed. (Photo: AP/Representational)

Kabul, Afghanistan: An Afghan official says the Islamic State group launched an attack on Afghan security posts killing 17 soldiers.

Ahmad Ali Hazrat, chief of the provincial council in the province, said Friday the attack the previous night took place in the Dih Bala district in eastern Nangarhar province.

Hazrat says IS attacked army security posts from three directions and after several hours of heavy fighting, 17 army soldiers were dead.

General Doulat Waziri , spokesman for the Ministry of Defiance , says 21 IS fighters were killed.
Beijing: The relatives of Kim Jong-Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un, have been placed under protection in Macau after his murder in Malaysia, according to a media report.

The circumstances surrounding Jong-Nam's death are still being investigated and both his family and local authorities are now grappling with the consequences of the killing, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

The Macau secretary for security Wong Sio Chak said in a statement that he would not reveal any details about the case or the eventual security measures being taken to protect Jong-Nam's relatives, but said that the authorities were paying close attention to the development of the case.

Over the past few days, there have been reports of the US and the South Korean government sources saying they believed North Korean agents murdered Jong-Nam.

Jong-Nam, who moved to Macau, a special administrative region of China, in the early 2000s and was a frequent traveller, had survived an earlier attempt on his life in 2012.

Jong-Nam's second wife Lee Hye-Kyong along with two other relatives has been living in the former Portuguese colony, whereas his first wife and son reside in Beijing.

"She is very simple, always in good spirits and a very open person...but we never talked about North Korea," a source was quoted as saying.

Both Han-sol, who studied in Bosnia and France, and Sol-hui were raised and educated in international schools in Macau.

"The kids had a very normal childhood, they were very active, attended activities...it wasn't like they we hiding or anything," she said.

"Until now, they had always felt safe in Macau," the source said.

In Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, had said China is keeping a close watch on the events unfolding about the murder of Kim Jong-nam.
The attack, claimed by an Islamic State affiliate in Pakistan, raised questions about the ability of the authorities to rein in militant groups. (Photo: AP)

Islamabad: Militant attacks in Pakistan have killed hundreds of people over the past three years, including many women and children. On Friday, security forces carried out sweeping raids, gunning down and arresting dozens, a day after a massive suicide bombing killed 80 worshippers at a Sufi shrine in the country's south.

The attack, claimed by an Islamic State affiliate in Pakistan, raised questions about the ability of the authorities to rein in militant groups despite several recent offensives targeting insurgents.

Here are some of the deadliest attacks in Pakistan in the last three years:

2017:

Feb. 16: An Islamic State suicide bomber strikes inside a famed Sufi shrine in southern Sindh province, killing 80 people as worshippers were performing a devotional dance known as "dhamal."

Feb. 13: A suicide bomber hits in the heart of the Punjab capital of Lahore, killing 13 people, including three senior police officials. A breakaway Taliban faction claims responsibility.

2016:

Nov. 12: Suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State group kills 50 worshippers at a packed Sufi shrine in southwestern Baluchistan province.

Oct. 25: Gunmen storm a police academy in the southwestern city of Quetta, killing 61 people, mostly cadets and trainees.

Sept. 16: Suicide attack kills 36 worshippers in a Sunni mosque in the northwestern tribal region of Mohmand.

Aug. 08: Suicide bombing kills more than 70 people at a gathering of lawyers on the grounds of a government-run hospital in Quetta.

March 27: Bombing on Easter Sunday kills 65 people in the eastern city of Lahore, in a park crowded with Christians, including many children.

March 16: Bomb rips through a bus carrying Pakistani government employees in the volatile northwestern city of Peshawar, killing 15 people.

March 7: Suicide bomber attacks the entrance in northwestern Pakistan, killing 11 people.

Jan. 20: Islamic militants storm a school in Charsadda in northwestern Pakistan in an hours-long attack, killing at least 20 people.

2015:

Sept. 18: Taliban storm a military air base used as a residential area on the outskirts of Peshawar, killing 29 people, including 16 praying inside a mosque.

Aug. 16: Suicide bombing at the home of Punjab province's home minister, Shuja Khanzada, kills 18 people, including the minister and a senior police officer.

May 29: Gunmen hijack a bus and kill 22 people near Pishin district in southwestern Baluchistan province.

May 13: Gunmen storm a bus carrying Shiite Muslims in the southern city of Karachi, killing 45 people.

April 11: Gunmen in restive southwestern Pakistan kill 20 workers at a dam construction site.

March 17: Two suicide bombers attack two churches in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore as worshippers pray inside, killing 15 people.

Feb. 14: Taliban militants storm a Shiite mosque in Peshawar, killing 20 people.

Jan. 30: Suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in southern city of Shikarpur kills 59 people.

2014:

Dec.16: Militants attack an army-run school in Peshawar, killing over 150 people, mostly school children.

Nov. 2: Taliban suicide bombing kills 60 in an attack on a paramilitary checkpoint close to the Wagah border crossing with India.

June 9: Ten gunmen disguised as police guards attack a terminal in Karachi, Pakistan's busiest airport, killing 13 people during a five-hour siege.

June 8: Suicide bombing in the country's southwest kills at least 23 Shiite pilgrims returning from Iran.
According to Rangers, seven terrorists were killed in a shootout after they attacked a convoy of the paramilitary troops on the Super Highway near Kathor, Sindh. (Photo: Representational Image/AP)

Islamabad: Pakistani security forces on Friday killed more than 24 militants in a nationwide crackdown, a day after an ISIS suicide bomber blew himself up in Sufi shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sindh's Sehwan, claiming 76 lives.

Paramilitary Sindh Rangers on Friday said they killed 18 terrorists in overnight operations in the southern province.

According to Rangers, seven terrorists were killed in a shootout after they attacked a convoy of the paramilitary troops on the Super Highway near Kathor, Sindh.

The convoy was returning from Sehwan town after taking part in rescue operations. A soldier was also injured. Another 11 terrorists were killed in a raid carried out in Manghopir area of Karachi, according to Rangers.

Separately, police in northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa said they have killed 11 extremist in the restive province.

According to a security official, police killed three terrorists in Reggi area of Peshawar, while army targeted and killed four militants in Orakzai tribal region.

Another four militants were killed in exchange of fire in in Bannu area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Official said the crackdown would be intensified in the coming days as government had resolved to eliminate militancy.

The crackdown was launched simultaneously by the federal and provincial governments after at least eight terror attacks rocked Pakistan since the weekend, killing dozens.

A high-level meeting this week chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif agreed that militants posing threat to national security should be "liquidated".

Several persons injured in shrine blast are in critical condition and they will be shifted to Karachi, officials said.

The army said that the armed forces had placed all required resources to facilitate the rescue effort. Pakistan Army and Rangers assisted with rescue efforts at the site.

The ISIS had claimed responsibility for the attack on their Aamaq news agency, saying a suicide bomber had targeted a "Shiite gathering" at the shrine in Sindh.

The shrine has been sealed and police have collected initial evidence and secured CCTV footage.

The fresh wave of terror attacks started when a suicide bomber attacked a protest rally outside the Punjab assembly in Lahore on Monday killing 14 people and injuring dozens.

On the same day, a terrorist attack was foiled in Quetta but two officials of the Bomb Disposal Squad were killed diffusing a bomb under a bridge in Quetta. Terrorists also carried out attacks in Mohmand agency and Peshawar followed by shrine blast in Sindh.
The popular shrine's white floor was still smeared with blood, with scattered debris including shoes, shawls, and baby bottles. (Photo: AP)

Sehwan: Pakistani security forces have arrested dozens of suspects in sweeping raids a day after a massive bombing claimed by the Islamic State group killed 75 worshippers at a famed Sufi shrine in a southern province.

The terror attack, the country's deadliest in years stunned the nation and raised questions about the authorities' ability to rein in militant groups despite several military offensives targeting insurgents.

A suicide bomber walked into the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sehwan, in southern Sindh province, and detonated his explosives among a crowd of worshippers on Thursday, killing 75. Scores were also wounded in the explosion.

Security officials said Friday's raids led to the arrest of 47 suspects, including some in Sindh province. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson today faces a grilling by global peers seeking clarity about Washington's position on the Syria conflict ahead of crunch UN peace talks in Geneva. On the sidelines of a G20 gathering in Germany, Tillerson will join a group of countries supporting the Syrian opposition for talks pushing a political solution to the nearly six-year war. It will be the first meeting of the so-called "like-minded" nations -- made up of around a dozen Western and Arab countries as well as Turkey -- since US President Donald Trump took office.



Tillerson, on his first diplomatic trip abroad, will likely face pressure to spell out where Trump stands on the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. "It will be an opportunity to gauge the American position on the political aspect of the Syrian issue," a French diplomatic source told AFP. The meeting comes ahead of a new round of United Nations-led talks in Geneva on February 23 involving Syrian regime and rebel representatives.



Under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, Washington insisted Assad had to go, putting it at odds with Moscow which backs the Syrian leader. Trump has said he is open to closer cooperation with Moscow on Syria, particularly in the fight against the Islamic State jihadist group, leaving the Assad question open. With Russia's sway in the conflict growing, Moscow has seized the initiative by hosting separate peace talks in Kazakhstan with key NATO ally Turkey, brokering a fragile truce in late December between the warring parties in Syria but making little other progress.



"It's essential to know what the US administration has in mind," a European diplomat said ahead of Friday's talks in the Rhine river city of Bonn. "Our goal is to make sure to bring the (peace) process back under the UN control," the source added. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who is hosting the G20 meeting, said he wanted the "like-minded" countries to speak as one.



"What we need is unity so we can achieve the resumption of negotiations in Geneva between the different interest groups and parties to the Syrian conflict." Tillerson, who has kept a low profile so far, yesterday reassured allies with a cautious approach to Russia, signalling that there would be no radical shift despite Trump's pledges to seek a softer line on Moscow. Speaking after his first sitdown with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Tillerson said the US sought cooperation with Moscow only if it "will benefit the American people".




His arrest, the first for a Samsung chief, is likely to send shock waves through the group, which is a major part of the South Korean economy and includes the world's largest smartphone maker, Samsung Electronics. It is already reeling from the debacle over the recall of its flagship Galaxy Note 7 device and reports have suggested it could face sanctions from overseas authorities if Lee is punished. The scandal centres on Choi Soon-Sil, who is accused of using her close ties with Park to force local firms to "donate" nearly USD 70 million to non-profit foundations which Choi allegedly used for personal gain.



Samsung was the single biggest donor to the foundations. It is also accused of separately giving millions of euros to Choi to bankroll her daughter's equestrian training in Germany. The court is also deliberating an arrest warrant for another Samsung executive, who is also the head of Korea Equestrian Federation, over bribery charges. Samsung said in a statement on Wednesday that it had "not paid bribes nor made improper requests to the president seeking favours". Lee has effectively taken the helm of Samsung -- South Korea's biggest business group -- since his father suffered a heart attack in 2014.



Prosecutors are probing whether Samsung had paid Choi to secure state approval for the controversial merger of two Samsung units seen as a key step towards ensuring a smooth power transfer to Lee. The merger in 2015 of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries was opposed by many investors who said it wilfully undervalued the former unit's shares. But the deal went through after Seoul's state pension fund -- a major Samsung shareholder -- approved it. Samsung is South Korea's largest business group and its revenue is equivalent to about a fifth of the country's GDP.

The heir of South Korean giant Samsung was today arrested as part of a probe into corruption and influence-peddling that caused President Park Geun-Hye to be impeached. "It is acknowledged that it is necessary to arrest (Lee Jae-Yong) in light of a newly added criminal charge and new evidence," a court spokesman said in a statement. Lee Jae-Yong, Samsung Electronics vice chairman, is accused of paying nearly USD 40 million in bribes to Park's secret confidante to secure policy favours.He was already being held at a detention centre after appearing in court yesterday as judges deliberated whether to issue an arrest warrant. Lee, the son of the Samsung group boss Lee Kun-Hee, has been quizzed several times over his alleged role in the scandal that has rocked the nation. The 48-year-old, described as a key suspect in the scandal, narrowly avoided being formally arrested last month, after the court ruled there was insufficient evidence. But prosecutors on Tuesday made a second bid for his arrest, saying they had collected more evidence in recent weeks.
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A top American Senator has sought reform in H-1B visas system to bring in highly qualified workers from other countries to fill the huge shortage of IT professionals in the US. "We have a system of H-1B visas to bring in highly qualified workers from other countries to fill these vacancies, but that system is outdated and doesn't respond properly to market demands," Republican Senator Orin Hatch from Utah told a Washington audience.



He said researchers estimate that the US will face a shortage of more than 220,000 workers with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) degrees by 2018. That means lost productivity, lost innovation and a less robust economy, he said. "We need to reform this process to better identify high-skilled individuals who want to come to the United States  and who want to stay here  to contribute to our economy and our way of life," Hutch, Chairman of the Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force, said during an event at the Capitol Hill to roll out his innovation agenda for the 115th Congress.



At the same time, he argued, one needs to ensure that this system is not manipulated to undercut domestic wages or displace American workers. "Unfortunately, a handful of bad actors has created a great deal of unease about H-1B visas by misusing the system to offshore jobs to foreign workers. We've all seen the news reports," he said.



"In addition, some of these companies file for way more H-1B visas than they need, squeezing smaller players out of the picture. We cannot allow this small number of bad actors to wreck the system for the responsible companies who want to help American workers and grow our economy," he said.

Hutch said he introduced the Immigration Innovation Act, or I-Squared, in the last two Congresses to modernise our H-1B system. Now he is working on updating this legislation to address some of the problems he had mentioned and look forward to reintroducing the bill in the near future. "To throw out just a few possible solutions, we could cap the number of H-1B visas any single employer can apply for. We could do multiple waves of lotteries. We could require additional attestations that an employer tried to fill a job with an American worker but was unable to do so," he said.



"We could create a shot clock, so that a visa expires and goes back into the lottery pool if it's not used within a certain period. We could also ease some of the pressure on H-1B visas by streamlining the process for green cards. After all, thats the end goal for many of these workers," he said, adding these are just a few of many possible solutions. Hutch said he is also mindful of the angst many in the tech community feel about the President's draft executive order on foreign worker visas.



"I will work with the President on this and that I will do my part if you will do yours. That includes not provoking the White House unnecessarily," he said. As one of the earliest Senators to endorse Trump, Hutch said he can serve as a bridge between the President and the tech community. "I spent nearly an hour in the Oval Office with him last month. Help me help you work with the President to accomplish our shared goals," he said.



Tech industry leaders applauded Hatchs agenda, which focuses on creating high-paying jobs, growing the economy, invigorating the American workforce, strengthening intellectual property protections, enhancing privacy, and reforming the US immigration system. "We need strong, forward-looking policies that enhance economic growth and create new opportunities for more Americans to participate in that growth. Senator Hatchs agenda provides clear rules-of-the road to govern privacy in the digital age, enhance our workforce, and promote innovation," said Brad Smith, president Microsoft.



Michael Beckermen, president and CEO, of the Internet Association said the Internet industry applauds Hatch and the Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force for their leadership on putting forth a robust agenda. "Hatch has been the most important ally the US technology sector has in Washington. He continues to demonstrate his expertise on the critical issues that promote strong US growth and job creation with his Innovation Agenda.We are fortunate to have his leadership and his friendship," said Safra Catz, CEO Oracle.


Pakistan Army today claimed to have killed more than 100 suspected terrorists in retaliation to a Islamic State suicide bombing at a crowded Sufi shrine in Sindh province that claimed 88 lives.



The media wing of the army, ISPR, said a "sizeable" number of suspects have also been arrested since last night, when a Islamic State bomber blew himself up at the popular shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan in the southern province.



The statement did not specify where the militants were killed or about the arrests and said "details will be shared".



The blast was one of the deadliest in Pakistan in years and a continuation of several terrorist strikes in the country this week, despite the army's offensive against militants.



Pakistan Army has launched combing operations across the country, including Punjab province. "Intelligence agencies are making progress to unearth networks behind recent (terrorist) incidents," military spokesman Major Gen Asif Ghafoor said, without providing details.



Immediately after the blast, Pakistan claimed the bombing was planned in militant sanctuaries across the border in Afghanistan, threatening renewed hostilities between Kabul and Islamabad.



The army claimed it has found linkages to militant support networks operating from Afghanistan and it has closed the border due to security reasons after the bombing last night.



Pakistan Army began an operation in Shalman area near the Pakistan-Afghan border, using heavy artillery fire, reports said. The border with Afghanistan at Torkham has been shut.



"No cross-border or unauthorised entry will be allowed into Pakistan from Afghanistan," it said.



Afghan diplomats were earlier today summoned to General Headquarters in Rawalpindi by the Army, which lodged a protest over the use of Afghan soil by terrorists to carry out attacks in Pakistan.



The Afghan officials were also handed over a list of 76 terrorists hiding across the border and directing or supporting terrorist activities in Pakistan, the statement said. "Afghan government has been asked to target them and hand them over to Pakistan."



Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa assured the people, saying the "hostile" agenda will not be allowed to succeed "whatever it may cost".



"Army is for security of people of Pakistan against all types of threat. Nation to stay steadfast with full confidence in their security forces," he was quoted as saying in the statement.



Officials said the crackdown against militants would be intensified in the coming days.



"After the string of terrorist attacks in the country in the past week, the government and military are on one page and the crackdown was ordered," a top government official said about the operations by security forces across Pakistan.



The crackdown was launched simultaneously by federal and provincial governments after at least eight terror attacks rocked Pakistan in the past week. The attacks began with a suicide bomber targeting a protest rally outside the Punjab assembly in Lahore on Monday, killing 14 people.



The same day a terrorist attack was foiled in Quetta, but two officials of the Bomb Disposal Squad were killed while defusing the bomb. Terrorists also carried out attacks in Mohmand agency and Peshawar followed by shrine blast in Sindh.


Amid political mudslinging over Army chief Bipin Rawat's remarks, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar today asked the opposition to "keep pace" with democracy and "not politicise" the armed forces. "Opposition should not politicise everything. They have raised doubts on surgical strike which was never done before in history (of India). Now they are reacting and politicising an issue which they should not be doing. So I request them to keep pace with democracy and not politicise the military," he told PTI.



The HRD Minister's comments came in the backdrop of the Army chief's statement on tough action against stone pelters in Kashmir.



The stern message from Rawat came after three soldiers faced heavy stone-pelting at Parray Mohalla of Bandipore in north Kashmir when they were about to launch an operation against militants holed up there.
Ahead of its strategic dialogue with India, China today said "solid evidence" was needed for it to back efforts to get JeM chief Masood Azhar banned by the UN.





Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and China's Executive Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui will hold a new round of strategic dialogue in Beijing on February 22, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang told a media briefing here.



The two sides will have an in-depth exchange of views on the international situation and other regional and global issues of mutual interest in the strategic dialogue which is an important communication mechanism between India and China, he said.

Commenting on reports of "friction points" in the bilateral relationship, including the Azhar issue and India's admission into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Geng said "differences are only natural".



"Through all kinds of conversation and exchanges, including (the) upcoming Strategic Dialogue, (the) two sides can step up communication to narrow differences and reach new consensus on achieving cooperation," he said.



On the Azhar issue, over which China has put a technical hold on the recent US move to list the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief as a terrorist in the 1267 committee of the UN Security Council, Geng said China will support the move if there is solid evidence.



"China upholds principles of objectivity, impartiality and professionalism and takes part in relevant discussions. Whether last year's application by India or this year's by (the) relevant country, our position is consistent," Geng said.



"Our criteria is only one, we need solid evidence. If there is solid evidence the application can be approved. If there is no solid evidence there is hardly consensus," he said.



Stating that China has reiterated its stand several times, Geng said, "On (the) 1267 committee, the latest development is relevant countries have made another application with the committee. Relevant members of (the) committee are in consultation and relevant parties have failed to reach consensus so far."
A special court here has allowed the Enforcement Directorate to invoke the India-UK Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) to bring back embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya to the country to face money laundering probe.





The special court, which is entrusted with hearing cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, had last week approved the Enforcement Directorate's request to issue an order against Mallya under the India-UK treaty.



ED officials said the court approved their request on the basis of the agency's investigation and attachment of assets in the criminal case where Mallya and his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) are alleged to have defrauded IDBI Bank to the tune of about Rs 900 crore.



The ED, they said, has now sent the court-issued request to the Union Home Ministry for further execution of the order in cooperation with its counterparts in the United Kingdom.



The order has come as a fresh blow to the beleaguered businessman as India, through the Ministry of External Affairs, has recently handed over to the UK an extradition request against Mallya, based on a CBI case in the same offence.



The CBI too is probing this alleged loan default case under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.



Besides the request under MLAT, the ED has also appended the Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) issued by the special court last year, in the official dossier sent to the Home Ministry.



The 1992 India-UK MLAT has a clause where the treaty can be invoked in a criminal probe seeking the "transfer of persons, including persons in custody, for the purpose of assisting in investigations or giving evidence" and it is understood that the ED considers this step a better legal tool than the regular extradition action to get a person under investigation by Indian probe agencies back to the country.



The ED has been wanting Mallya to join the probe in this case "in person" and had issued multiple summons to him but could not get success as Mallya, who is in the UK, never deposed before it.



The ED has virtually exhausted all legal options to bring him back to India including the issuance of NBW against him based on which it had made the requests for revocation of his passport and subsequent deportation bid, apart from seeking an Interpol warrant against him which has remained unsuccessful till now.



The central probe agency is also working to soon file its first charge sheet in the case even as it has attached assets worth Rs 9,661 crore in this probe case.



The ED had registered a criminal case in this deal last year under the provisions of the PMLA, based on a CBI FIR.


There is no woman judge among the five new judges appointed in the Supreme Court who were sworn -in today.





With the new appointments, while the total strength of judges in the apex court goes up to 28 out of a sanctioned 31, there is only one sitting woman judge, Justice R Banumathi.



Sources said women Chief Justices of two High Courts who were in the reckoning could not find favour with the five senior-most judges of the Supreme Court who are part of the Collegium for selection of judges for higher judiciary.



Senior advocate Indira Jaising said it is very difficult to understand why the women Chief Justices of two High Courts were not considered.



"I fail to understand why there is an all-male team. There is no explanation coming from any authority, whether it is the Supreme Court, the Government or the President on why no women judges have been found fit to be a Supreme Court judge," she said.



Some women lawyers also expressed concern over the issue but declined to make any comment on record, saying "this has been happening every time."



The development leaves the apex court with only Justice R Banumathi as the sitting woman judge, who was appointed in August 2014 when another lady judge, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai was present.



Since Independence, only six women judges have made it to the apex court as judges and the first appointment was of Justice M Fathima Beevi in 1989, 39 years after the setting up of the Supreme Court in 1950.



Justice Fathima Beevi was elevated to the apex court after her retirement as judge of the Kerala High Court. After serving the top court till April 29, 1992, she was later appointed as the Governor of Tamil Nadu.



The second woman judge in the Supreme Court was Justice Sujata V Manohar who started her career as a judge from the Bombay High Court and rose to become the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court. She was elevated to the apex court where she remained from November 8, 1994 till August 27, 1999.



Justice Ruma Pal followed Manohar after a gap of almost five months and became the longest serving woman judge from January 28, 2000 to June 2, 2006.



After her retirement, it took four years to appoint the next woman judge. Justice Gyan Sudha Misra was elevated to the Supreme Court from Jharkhand High Court where she was the Chief Justice. Her tenure in the apex court was from April 30, 2010 to April 27, 2014.



During her stint, she was joined by Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, who served the apex court between September 13, 2011 to October 29, 2014. These two judges also created a history by holding the court together as an all-women bench for a day in 2013.



Justice Banumathi, who at present is the only sitting woman judge, had joined on August 13, 2014 and would retire on July 19, 2020.



In the history of 67 years of the Supreme Court, there have been only two occasions when it has had two sitting women judges together, the first being Justices Misra and Desai and later Justices Desai and Banumathi.


(Xinhua) 08:54, February 17, 2017

China and Britain agreed to safeguard global free trade mechanism and promote free trade as foreign ministers of the two nations met on Thursday.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his British counterpart Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) foreign ministerial meeting held in Germany's western city of Bonn.

Wang said Chinese President Xi Jinpingheld the first meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May last year on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the eastern city of Hangzhou, during which the two leaders reaffirmed the "Golden Era" of bilateral relations between China and Britain.

As 2017 marked the 45th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-British ambassadorial level diplomatic relation, China is willing to work with Britain to review the past experience and map out future plans, Wang said.

Through close high-level exchanges, both nations look to guide the general direction of the "Golden Era" and enrich the content of the "Golden Era", so as to lift the "global comprehensive strategic partnership for the 21st century" between the two countries to a higher level, he said.

Wang said China, together with Britain, will respect each other' s core interests and major concerns, promote flagship cooperation including the nuclear power station projects at Hinkley Point.

The two countries will also join hands in maintaining global free trade and build an open world economy, said Wang.

Johnson said the two countries share many common interests and should maintain the good momentum of bilateral relations and expand British-Sino cooperation in an innovative way.

Britain will strengthen strategic cooperation with China on international affairs, promote bilateral and global free trade, and make the world more stable and prosperous, he said.

Johnson reiterated that Britain will stick to the one-China policy and support the principle of "One country, Two systems" in Hong Kong.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today came out in support of Army Chief Bipin Rawat whose comments that those obstructing anti-terror operations in Jammu and Kashmir will face tough action, triggered a political slugfest.





Parrikar said those creating hurdles for security forces in Jammu and Kashmir are trying to protect the terrorists and that the government has given free hand to army to carry out anti-terror operations.



At the same time, the Defence Minister said government does not consider that "everyone is on the other side" and the officer leading the raids or operations will have to take a call based on the ground situation.



"Those who obstruct the operations are trying to protect the terrorists and his (General Rawat's) comment is based on that. In these matters, the decision to act will be the commanding (officer) or the officer who is on the spot. It cannot be generalised," Parrikar told India Today TV.



He said the government has given total free hand to army to carry out anti-terror operations where local police and CRPF are also involved.



Asked whether he was worried that Rawat's comments may lead to alienation of the people in the Kashmir Valley, Parrikar said he told the Army Chief to bring the youths who are on "wrong track" back to the mainstream.



"We do not consider that everyone is on the other side. But in that particular situation, if there is obstruction, the officer who is heading the raid or operation has to take a call," he said.



Acknowledging that the hostile conduct of locals was causing higher casualties in the Kashmir valley, Rawat on Wednesday had warned those attacking security forces during anti-militancy operations of "tough action".



In a stern warning, Rawat had said people indulging in stone throwing, people indulging in supporting the terrorists and helping them escape will be treated like over ground workers of the terrorists and will be dealt with accordingly.



The Army chief's warning had come after four soldiers, including a Major, were killed in two separate encounters in Kashmir.



In criticism of the Army chief's remarks, Congress said restraint should be adopted by security forces while dealing with people in the state.



The BJP accused the Congress of speaking in the voice of separatists and politicising the Army for "lowly political gains" while defending Rawat's statement on tough action against locals hampering counter-militancy operations in Kashmir.



Rawat had also said people creating hurdles during anti-terror operations and displaying flags of Pakistan and ISIS in Jammu and Kashmir will be dealt as anti-nationals and will face "harsh" actions.



The Army Chief had said security forces in Jammu and Kashmir were facing higher casualties due to the manner in which the local population was preventing them from conducting the operations and "at times even supporting the terrorists to escape".



Asked why infiltrations as well as terror attacks are taking place in Kashmir despite the surgical strike, Parrikar said the LoC was "quite silent" and specific operations are carried out based on intelligence inputs.



Without giving details, he said many operations take place and that one of the operations did not went off as planned, adding terrorists holed up in villages are often neutralised.
Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Chandrasekhar has demanded that the Karnataka Lokayukta investigate the charge that Rs 150 crore was paid as kickback in the controversial steel flyover project.





He met Lokayukta Justice P Vishwanath Shetty here on Friday and filed a memorandum on the explosive allegation. He said a diary detailing illegal transactions had significant evidentiary value in a criminal prosecution because it was seized from Congress MLC K Govindaraju.



This in itself makes it different from other cases. The Lokayukta must take suo motu cognisance of the allegation and seek details from the Income Tax Department that possibly has custody of the diary, he said.



Public disclosure



Chandrasekhar, an Independent MP who supports the BJP, said former chief minister B S Yeddyurappas public disclosure about the contents of the diary, which explained the kickback being paid to the Congress high command, needed proper investigation.



He said the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and other government agencies had consistently depicted hesitance in providing information to the public on the steel flyover project. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Bengaluru Development Minister K J George have conducted themselves in a manner so as to ring-fence the project from public scrutiny, leading to the adaptation of a non-transparent methodology for implementing the project, he said.



Non-transparent way



I was the first to say way back in June 2016  after writing to the CM and the BDA commissioner cautioning them about the non-transparent way they were pushing this project  that this was not a project for Bengaluru but rather a contractor-driven project aimed with the sole purpose of collecting money for upcoming legislative elections. The steel flyover is nothing but a naked, brazen way of exploiting the city by a group of shameless politicians  who tried to con the city and its people into believing that this was in their interest, Rajeev said.


The state government has been sitting on files pertaining to filing of Special Leave Petitions (SLPs) in cases of corruption.



The proposals for filing SLPs in as many as 10 Lokayukta police cases are pending with the state government. Some of these include cases against former minister Katta Subramanya Naidu, Yelahanka MLA S R Vishwanath and Dasarahalli MLA S Muniraju. The list also includes IAS officers and senior KAS officers. According to sources, the Lokayuktas legal cell had cleared the proposal to file SLPs in 57 cases in the last two years. When cases of the Lokayukta police, either at the stage of investigation or trial, are quashed in Karnataka High Court, the legal cell of the Lokayukta takes a decision on appealing before the Supreme Court. Such proposals are forwarded to the state government for its approval. In some disproportionate assets and court referred cases against lower rung officials, recommendations to file SLPs were sent since 2012 and, some were cleared in 2015. There was no communication from the government on the progress in high profile cases, an official said.



Similarly, the case of disproportion assets against Vishwanath and the land grab case against Muniraju are still pending with the state government.



The list of pending proposals to file SLP against senior bureaucrats includes the case against IAS officer Shamla Iqbal and other officials Muniraju, Usha Patwari in the irregularities in Integrated Child Development Scheme.



There was a move to reject the proposal to file SLP in some cases. However, after persistent efforts the state government now seems to have decided to go ahead with the SLP, the official said. Besides the Lokayukta police cases, the proposal to file SLP in illegal de-notification cases against former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa is also pending with the government. The high court had quashed the proceedings against Yeddyurappa for defective sanction order from the then governor.



In this regard, additional advocate general of the state gave a legal opinion in December 2015, recommending for filing a SLP. However, the file is still pending with the government, while the private complainants in the case moved the Supreme Court with an appeal.


A Japanese delegation met Bengaluru Development Minister K J George and senior government officials on Friday and cleared misconceptions about steel flyovers.





The delegation, which consisted of Denichiro Yamada, an expert in highway engineering and expressways, Shu Moriyama, chief advisor to the Japanese government in the highway department, among others, took details of the steel flyover the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) intends to build from Basaveshwara Circle to Hebbal.



They have given us a report on how the project can be implemented and how beneficial it will be. They agreed that the BDAs steel flyover plan is of international standards, P N Nayak, BDA Engineering Member, told DH.



The delegation said a similar steel flyover was being built in Tokyo because it was quick to construct, needs less space and has a long life. The members allayed fears that the steel flyover would create an urban heat island. They said there will be no change in temperature as the structure will be covered with slabs. No such thing has been reported in Japan, another BDA official quoted the delegates as saying.



The delegation had contacted the state government after learning about the steel flyover project.



They are fascinated by Bengaluru and its infrastructure. They took notes and offered to give suggestions on the project, if need be, said an official in the Urban Development Department who was present at the meeting.


Work on rejuvenation of Bellandur lake is likely to start in the next three months. MLA N A Haris, who is a member of the legislature panel on lake encroachment told Deccan Herald, Within three months, work on improving the lake will start. Sewage treatment plants (STPs) will be set up. The boundary is also being fixed. The condition of the lake has not deteriorated suddenly but has happened over a period of four decades. Everybody should come together to save the lake.





Haris is also the chairman of the legislature panel on STPs. KSPCB chairman Lakshman, BDA, BBMP and Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority (KLCDA) officials visited Bellandur lake on Friday to inspect the area that caught fire on Thursday.



BDA engineer member Nayak said they have already called for expression of interest to start work on cleaning the lake, after which desilting will start.



Lakshman said he had directed the BDA to start work in three months and not take eight months, as they have demanded. Aerators will be set up by BDA to start with at the earliest. Also, short-term measures, recommended by the lake committee like clearing encroachments, installing STPs and weeding will start.



KLCDA CEO G Vidyasagar said: I assure the people that the lake will be improved in another six months. We are taking strict note of the condition. We are ready to help officials rejuvenate the lake.



The proposal made by the Indian Army to help the state government in reviving the lake has come up again. While some officials including Haris said that they are not aware of it, some others said it was a good idea as the burden on government will reduce and the lake will also be saved.



Sridhar Pabbisetty, CEO, Namma Bengaluru Foundation said: The Water and Air Act gives enormous power to KSPCB to protect lakes and the environment. They should swing into action and conduct required tests to ascertain the cause and nature of the fire and direct authorities to take corrective action, he said.



They should share these directions and the test results with Bengalureans at the earliest. It is the duty of all of Bengalureans to ensure these authorities comply with KSPCB directions and that KSPCB puts in enough preventive and corrective measures to protect the lake, he said.



He also demanded that the BDA come up with a time-bound, action-plan based on the recommendations of the Bellandur and Varthur lake rejuvenation expert committee report.



Despite repeated attempts to prevent dumping of debris and garbage by citizens, there is rampant abuse of Bellandur lake by contractors. BBMP should ensure erring contractors are blacklisted at the earliest, Pabbisetty said.


Micro and Small Scale Enterprises (MSMEs), which have set up stalls at Aero India 2017 exhibition halls under a government's subsidy scheme are expecting a huge jump in their companies' prospects as scores of visitors expressed interest from across the globe.





The industries mainly supply defence and aerospace components to Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), HAL, IAF among other leading domestic companies. The exposure at the event has brought each of them attention from prospective customers across the globe.



Pushpak, a small industry that supplies various defence and aerospace components to Isro and HAL, shared a 25 sqft stall with six other companies. Its managing director C S Prakash was, however, beaming with confidence as he showed a list of 26 firms expressing interest in his companys products. MSMEs are capable of reaching new heights every day. But, they need to be recognised. Platforms like this will introduce us to global customers, he said.



Under the marketing assistance scheme of the Ministry of MSME, National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) gives subsidies ranging from 60% to 80% to MSMEs and 100% to firms of persons from the Scheduled Castes.



NSIC Zonal General Manager P Ravi Kumar said some of the MSMEs that had taken subsidy during the last air show in 2015 have grown to become big enterprises. "SLN Technologies and Bliss Aerospace availed of subsidy in 2015. Now, they have rented a stall at a cost of Rs 5 lakh, he said.



Anil Kumar C V of Naabhya, another firm that specialises in complex cable assembly for aircrafts and industrial needs, said that for a micro industry the Aero India exhibition is like a marriage bureau. The only difference here is that it is pure business. Though we have worked with DRDO, BEL and other major organisations, the response here is amazing. We got in touch with customers we never imagined, he said.



Prasanth Rajappan, senior production manager of Eldaas that provides project engineering and electronic board designing, said at least six meetings were scheduled with prospective customers on Friday. Swedens Saab expressed is interested in our products.




A techie was found dead at his flat in Bellandur recently.The deceased has been identified as Haza Sarfuddin (34).





He hailed from Chennai and was residing at Elite Apartment on Sarjapur Road. Police suspected that the Sarfuddin might have committed suicide on February 14. But the incident came to light only on Thursday, after neighbours complained of foul smell from the flat and informed us, police said.



We broke open the door and saw the body hanging from the ceiling. He has not left behind any note. The body was handed over to the family after the post-mortem at St Johns Hospital, police added.


Dasanapura APMC president Kadabagere Srinivas, who was shot at by two bike-borne men near Kogilu Cross off Yelahanka on February 3, was on Friday discharged from Columbia Asia Hospital.





He left the hospital in an ambulance to his Basaveshwaranagar residence along with his family. Doctors have advised him two weeks rest.



While leaving the hospital, he said he would make public statements about the incident after about two weeks.



Meanwhile, based on his statement to the media that MLA Vishwanath had orchestrated the attack on him through the associates of Satish alias Don Satish and Babu alias Boon Babu, the police interrogated Babu on Friday and gathered information. Babu was questioned by the police a few days ago for threatening Congress leader Tata Ramesh.

The police said that it is not yet clear who shot at Srinivas.


In the midst of defence contractors and manufacturers, Aero India 2017 also provided an opportunity for educational institutions to reach out to students about their courses in the defence and aerospace sectors.





The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) has a stall at the expo to inform people about their Aerospace MBA (AeMBA) programme that was started in 2015, jointly with Toulouse Business School in France. We came to Aero India because we thought we could reach out to professionals in the aerospace industry who are not aware of the course. Surprisingly, even a lot of companies, Indian and foreign, have approached us because they want to hire talent, said Richa Singhal, marketing consultant for IIMB. Pilots, IT professionals and people in the aerospace industry looking to develop leadership skills have approached the stall in the last four days, Singhal said.



While the AeMBA is only for working professionals with industry experience, freshers with Bachelors degrees have been approaching the stall of Cranfield University in the UK pavilion. Many parents have enquired about aerospace engineering courses for their children. A representative of Cranfield University said that they take Aero India very seriously as it is a platform for networking. The vice chancellor of the university was also here to meet the Defence minister and sign MoUs with several Indian universities. One such MoU was signed with the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bengaluru, to offer specialised courses on defence manufacturing.



Amit Patil was among the interested candidates who wanted to know about PhD opportunities in Cranfield. I did my Masters in design and worked in the aerospace industry for eight years. Now, I want to specialise in a niche area because it will help me move forward in my career, he said.



Fascinated by aircraft doing stunts in the sky, several people have approached the stall of Flying Academy to enquire about their courses. Nikola Zavadilova, a representative of the flight school based in the Czech Republic, said, We were not keen on coming for the Aero Show because we thought it was only about engineering so it wouldnt be relevant to us. But, we have had a large number of students asking about the application process.



Many parents have also enquired to admit their children. Since a large number of students at their Academys centres in the USA are Indians, they want to open an office in New Delhi. We are using this opportunity to meet companies who could partner with us to open the office, Zavadilova said.
The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Chairman and Managing Director T Suvarna Raju, in an unprecedented move, on Friday flew the Hawk-i, an upgrade of the Advanced Jet Trainer, Hawk and followed it up with another flight of the HALs basic trainer, HTT-40.





Later, he told journalists at the Aero India show that the flight was a life-time experience. The HAL had taken up the Hawk upgrade indigenously taking into account Indian Air Forces (IAF) future requirements. The flight, he said, gave him a first-hand feel of the upgraded systems. The Hawk-i was piloted by Wg Cdr Pratyush Awasti.



The upgraded Hawk is equipped with indigenous Mission Computer in dual redundant configuration, Embedded Virtual Training System (EVTS), Softnet Radio and Cockpit Human Machine Interface (HMI).



Raju said the HAL spent about Rs 200 crore to develop the Hawk-i. It would be offered to the IAF soon. Incidentally, BAe Systems has showcased the Advanced Hawk at the airshow. India is currently the largest operator of the Hawks with 123 aircraft.



HTT-40 production



Raju indicated that the limited series production of the HTT-40 basic trainer could begin by the end of next year. The Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) from the IAF will be sought next year. The basic trainer has made many flying displays at the ongoing airshow. It was rolled out from the HAL on January 26, recording its maiden flight on February 1. The IAF currently requires 106 basic trainers. HTT-40 is powered by a 1,100 HP (820 KW) turboprop engine.



In 2015, the Defence Ministry had announced its decision to opt for 68 HTT-40 trainers and 38 Pilatus PC-7 trainers. The HAL finds the project commercially viable.



HAL chair at IISc soon



The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) will soon have a HAL chair in its Aerospace Engineering Department with a corpus fund of Rs 1.5 crore.



The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and the IISC signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard on Friday. The chair will be headed by an IISc faculty member for three years.



With the aim of developing and promoting breakthrough technologies, the chair will focus on as many as 137 areas of research and development (R&D), including rotor dynamics, shock and vibration analysis, heat transfer analysis, nano technology and others.



The MoU also seeks to establish a long term mutually beneficial relationship between the HAL and the IISc for academic and research based institutions.



IISc director Anurag Kumar, registrar V Rajarajan and HAL Rotor Wing Research & Development Centre Executor Director Vijay Kumar were present.






Saturday might just be the last time Bengalureans will get enthralled by the aerial extravaganza of Aero India. The Defence Ministry has reportedly sent clear indications to the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) that the 2019 airshow will have to be shifted to Goa.





HAL insiders told DH on Friday that Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is really keen to take the show to his home state. However, the shift could materialise only if the BJP wins the Goa assembly elections, they said.



If Parrikar takes over as the Goa chief minister, the airshow will be definitely shifted, a senior HAL official said preferring anonymity. Insiders said the matter came up during internal discussions between the minister and the HAL at the Aero India 2017.



Unlike the previous editions of Aero India, no announcement was made on the schedule and venue of the next airshow.



The matter was skipped by Parrikar during his inaugural address at the Yelahanka Air Force station here on February 14.



Three weeks before the airshow, Parrikar had cited Goas successful organisation of the Defence Expo last year to drop hints about the shift. Implying Goans, he had said if the local population wanted it, both the Expo and airshow can be shifted to Goa.



Challenges ahead



However, the change is likely to face resistance from a section within Goa apprehensive about loss of land. During the 9th edition of the Defence Expo, locals had voiced their concerns that a huge tract of land in Quepem, South Goa, could eventually be taken over by the Defence Ministry.



Goas capability to hold an event of Aero Indias size has also been questioned.

A top official who had visited the Defence Expo said several foreign participants had complained about the remote location of the venue and the poor road connectivity.



The venue was a two-hour drive from the state capital Panaji. The approach roads were narrow and congested. Logistically, these could pose huge challenges while transporting materials for a show as big as Aero India, the official pointed out.



Only 549 companies turned up for the Aero India 2017, compared to over 650 in the previous edition. Was the participation deliberately kept low to take the sheen off the airshow in Bengaluru? This question had found resonance at the airshow.



However, HAL officials refuted this, contending that the low turnout was due to the Centres already announced purchase decisions based on government-to-government deals, and the emphasis on Make in India.

Cost-cutting by European aerospace firms was another factor.






The government chief whip in the Legislative Council Ivan D'Souza on Friday approached the Malleswaram police seeking action against BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa and Union Minister Ananth Kumar.





DSouza, a Congress MLC, cited a CD in which Yeddyurappa and Kumar, at a BJP function on February 12, are purportedly discussing payments made to their party leadership in Delhi.



He alleged that the two leaders had planned to destabilise the Congress party which was evident from the conversation in the CD released by the Congress party.



However, the police are yet to register a case based on the complaint as they are seeking a legal opinion. We have received the complaint from Ivan D Souza which has been forwarded to the legal cell for opinion. The police will take action based on the legal opinion, Venkatachalaiah, Malleswaram police inspector, said.




The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Karnataka government to furnish a CID inquiry report into the alleged defrauding of more than Rs 500 crore worth properties of world-renowned Mysuru-based taxidermist Edwin Joubert Van Ingen.





A three-judge bench presided over by Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked advocate Joseph Aristotle, appearing for the state government, to bring the enquiry report on record by April 18.



The court passed its order on a plea by advocate Sanjay M Nuli, representing Tilly Gifford, who identified herself as the niece of Van Ingen. The court also said the status quo, already ordered, on the properties including the world famous landmark 'Bissal Munti House' at Mysuru, and 220 acres of plantation and wildlife trophies of the taxidermist, would remain in operation till the next date of hearing.



The CID inquiry was ordered into the matter, when a plea by Michael Floyd Eshwer, who claimed to be an adopted son and thus the legal heir of the properties, was pending before the Karnataka High Court for quashing an FIR registered against him by Van Ingen with Mysuru's Nazarbad police station on March 2, 2013.



Van Ingen, who died a bachelor at the age of 101 on March 12, 2013, had lodged the FIR against Eshwer alleging cheating, fraud and forgery after he realised that some of his properties were allegedly taken over by Eshwer. Subsequently, the high court had on June 19, 2014 not only quashed the FIR at the preliminary stage of the investigation on the compliant but also directed the state government for restoration of possession of the Bissal Munti House, and 220 acres of plantation and wildlife trophies of the taxidermist with Eshwer.



Gifford challenged the high court order contending that the properties cannot be transferred in the accuseds name without permission from the RBI since Van Ingen was a Briton.
Aimed at ending the dispute over sharing of the Cauvery river water, the Centre on Friday suggested constituting a permanent expert panel to assess the ground situation in river basin area to decide release of water from the upper riparian state to lower riparian states.





Union Water Resources Secretary Amarjit Singh, who chaired the Cauvery Supervisory Committee meeting, suggested forming a panel comprising technical experts including professors from premier institutions such as IITs to study the water situation during distress year and recommend the Government of India on release of quantum of water from the upper riparian state to lower riparian states.



Though only Puducherry agreed for the panel, Karnataka in principle opposed it and sought one month time to revert. Even Tamil Nadu and Kerala also sought time to give their consent as terms of reference of the proposed panel was very lengthy.



Karnataka, while questioning the need for another panel when a supervisory committee headed by Union Water Resources Ministry already exists, is learnt to have said that there is no need for forming another. However, Karnataka officials at the meeting agreed to revert to the supervisory committee after holding detailed consultations.



In the meeting, which lasted over two hours, Karnataka said it has released 2,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu as per the Supreme Court orders. Explaining the distress situation, Karnataka said total availability of water in the Cauvery basin is just 13 tmcft, which is required for drinking purpose till monsoon start. Of the total 6 lakh hectares of crop grown in the Cauvery basin, crops on nearly 2 lakh hectares withered due to shortage of water, Karnataka explained.



Replying to Tamil Nadus opposition to the Mekedatu project, Karnataka said it is purely a drinking water project and the neighbouring state will also benefit from it.



Dismissing Tamil Nadus apprehension over the project, Karnataka said the project is in the initial stage and all the details will be submitted to the Supreme Court. The project will be implemented after taking permission from all authorities including the Centre, Karnataka said.



Karnataka Chief Secretary S C Khuntia, Principal Secretary, (Water Resources) Rakesh Singh, Tamil Nadu Cauvery Technical Cell Chairman Subramanian, PWD Secretary Prabhakaran and officials from Puducherry and Kerala attended the meeting.




Exactly 100 days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi demonetised high-denomination banknotes, the apprehension that the decision will severely impact Karnatakas revenue collections seems to have subsided.





Feedback being obtained by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who also holds the finance portfolio, indicates that except for stamps and registration, the other three revenue-generating departments  commercial taxes, state excise and transport  will meet their budgetary target for 2016-17. In December, the government had anticipated a shortfall of Rs 3,000 crore by the end of the current fiscal year. But that is proving to be unfounded.



On Thursday, Siddaramaiah started holding pre-budget interactive meetings with trade associations, farmers and other stakeholders. Sources in the Finance Department said the Commercial Taxes Department, Karnatakas largest revenue generator, would not only meet its budgetary target of Rs 51,338 crore but also register a 13% growth. Similarly, the Excise Department will meet its target. The sources said demonetisation did not impact these departments as all the remittances were made by traders electronically. The sale of products and liquor did not see much of a decline and does not involve high-value transactions.



The Transport Department did take a hit, but the collections are improving now. As regards property registrations, the decline in revenue had begun by the end of October  much before demonetisation  as the governments drive against encroachments on stormwater drains in Bengaluru hit the sale of apartments in a big way.



Siddaramaiah will present his 12th budget (a record in the state) on March 17 and it is largely expected to be a populist one. This will be the Congress governments last full-fledged budget before the Assembly elections next year. Siddaramaiah is expected to announce some succour to farmers, who are reeling under severe drought, welfare schemes for Ahinda communities (Kannada acronym for OBCs, Dalits and minorities) as in the previous years and hike the quantity of foodgrains under the Anna Bhagya scheme and milk to schoolchildren five days a week.



Wishlist given to CM on Friday



Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry

n Abolition of trade licence should be applicable to all business sectors.

n Allot up to 2 acres of industrial land to micro and small enterprises on lease-cum-sale basis.

n Develop Bengaluru as a mega city.

n Reduce Agriculture Produce Marketing Centre (APMC) cess from 1.5% to 0.5%.

n Promote e-wallets for digital transactions.



Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association (Kassia)

Set up a separate directorate for micro and small enterprises.

Set up more industrial townships.

Provide loans at concessional rates of interest to women enterprises.

Provide houses to industrial workers.



Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce



Cap movie tickets in multiplexes at Rs 150.

Reserve 50% of shows in multiplexes for Kannada films.

Dont impose advertisement tax on banners and posters displayed inside cinema halls.

Develop a layout near Mysuru for people from film fraternity.



Karnataka Pradesh Hotel and Restaurants Association



Reduce VAT on food items served in hotels from

4.5% to 2%.

Set up exhibition centres in Mysuru and Hubballi on the lines of Bangalore International Exhibition Centre.








The Election Commission (EC) on Friday served a notice to imprisoned AIADMK leader V K Sasikala asking her to respond to a petition challenging her appointment as the interim general secretary of the party.



The EC issued the notice acting on two sets of petitions filed by AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP V Maitreyan on Thursday.



The poll panel sent the notice to Parappana Agrahara central jail on the outskirts of Bengaluru.



Sasikala had moved into the jail to serve her four-year prison term on Wednesday, a day after the Supreme Court upheld her conviction in a disproportionate assets case.

The EC asked Sasikala to respond to its notice by February 28.



Maitreyan, who belongs to the rival O Panneerselvam faction of the AIADMK, met Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi at Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi and submitted the petitions.



Maitreyan argued that Sasikala had been appointed the interim general secretary on December 29 by the AIADMK general council, and not by the primary members of the party.



He also argued that the AIADMK general council was entrusted with the responsibility of framing policies and programmes, and was not mandated to appoint someone as general secretary of the party.



The poll panel wrote to Sasikala that if she failed to respond to the petition, it would be presumed that she had nothing to reply and the poll panel would proceed to act without her response.



Rebel AIADMK group expels Sasikala

The fight within the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu intensified further on Friday with the rebel camp led by former chief minister O Panneerselvam `expelling AIADMK general secretary V K Sasikala and her two nephews, including deputy general secretary T T V Dinakaran, from the primary membership of the party for violating party discipline and principles, DHNS reports from Chennai.



The expulsion was announced by E Madhusudhanan, who was earlier removed by the Sasikala faction from the post of presidium chairman and also from the membership of the party for siding with the Panneerselvam camp.
As Chinese investments in Sri Lanka run into domestic resistance, India is set to make fresh offers to support the island nation in various sectors.



Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar will fly to Colombo on Saturday to commence a three-day visit to Sri Lanka.



He will interact with the Sri Lankan leadership for discussions on possibilities of collaboration and cooperation in a number of sectors, including power, highways, airport and hydrocarbon, said Vikas Swarup, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs.



Jaishankar is likely to call on Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena, prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera, apart from meeting senior diplomats and officials.



The foreign secretary is also expected to convey to Colombo New Delhis concerns over implications of Chinas role in managing the Hambantota Port on the security of India.



Jaishankars visit comes at a time when Sri Lanka is witnessing public protests against the island nations move to sell 80% stake in the Hambantota Port to China Merchant Port Holdings Company Limited, a state-owned company of China, for $1.12 billion.



The Sri Lankan government also agreed to lease out the port to the company for 99 years, apart from allowing it to develop an industrial zone covering about 15,000 acres near the port.



The local residents in and around Hambantota Port started the protest as they feared that they would be evicted and their land would be acquired for the proposed

industrial zone.



The protests gained momentum with questions being raised if leasing out the port for so long would undermine Sri Lankas sovereignity.



The Sri Lankan government argued that it had to enter into a deal as construction by another company from China during the erstwhile regime led by Mahinda Rajapaksa had put the country in a heavy debt.



Colombo has assured New Delhi that Beijings role in Hambantota Port was limited to commercial purposes only and would not pose any security threat to India.



The visit will also give the two sides an opportunity to discuss Sri Lankas offer to India to develop and operate the Trincomalee Port in the Northeast of the island nation. Jaishankar will also discuss with senior officials of the Sri Lankan government ways to step up Indian investments in various fields, particularly in petroleum retail, IT, financial services, real estate, telecommunication, hospitality and tourism, banking and food processing (tea and fruit juices), metal industries, tyres, cement, glass manufacturing, and infrastructure development.


The central government rallied behind the army after the Opposition raised a stink over the army chiefs tough action warning against people hampering counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir.





Lending support to army chief Bipin Rawat, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the forces have a free hand to deal with local people supporting militants and hampering counter-insurgency operations.



Parrikar, however, clarified that the army never treats every Kashmiri on the street as a terror sympathiser.



Union Minister Jitendra Singh, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir, attacked Congress leaders for speaking the voice of separatists by condemning General Bipin Rawats warning to stone-pelters, who helped militants escape during counter-insurgency operations.



Singh defended General Rawat saying the army chiefs warning was out of concern for civilian safety.



It is appalling and a matter of concern that the Congress is falling to the temptation of politicising the army chief's statement... This party can go to any extent for political benefits. It is speaking the voice of separatists for political gains, Singh charged.



Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala wondered whether the BJP-PDP government giving compensation to families of terrorists didnt lower the morale of the army.



Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia also attacked the Centre over Rawats warning.

The issue of internal security is serious and there can be no compromise on it.



But as I had said during the last Parliament Session, atrocities should not be inflicted on innocents. Action should be taken against those involved in wrongdoings but there is a need to adopt restraint, Scindia said.



The situation continued to be tense in Srinagar with stone-pelting and Pakistani flags being hoisted near the Jamia Masjid after Friday prayers.
After Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress president Sonia Gandhi is expected to join the campaign trail in her Raebareli Parliamentary constituency on Sunday.





Sonia is likely to address a rally to boost the prospects of the SP-Congress alliance candidates in the region, which goes to polls on February 23.



Sundays rally could be Sonias only campaign outing in the current round of the Assembly elections as Rahul increasingly assumes centre-stage within the party.



Congress sources said the party president has not been in the best of health and is one of the reasons for her limited appearances. Moreover, the Congress is contesting only 105 of the 403 seats as it has entered into an alliance with the SP.


Pakistani people gather at the main gate of a shrine following a suicide blast in Sehwan town, southern Pakistan's Sindh Province, on Feb. 16, 2017. The death toll of a deadly suicide blast at a shrine in Sehwan town of Pakistan's south Sindh Province has risen to 72, local police said. (Xinhua/Stringer)

The death toll of a deadly suicide blast at a shrine in Sehwan town of Pakistan's south Sindh Province has risen to 72, local police said.

Inspector General of Sindh police A.D. Khawaja said that over 200 people were also injured in the explosion.

Faisal Edhi, head of rescue team which shifted the injured to hospitals, said the killed included 43 men, 20 children and nine women.

Rasool Bux, Senior House Officer (SHO) Police, said that the suicide bomber entered the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine from crowded golden gate and blew himself up in a group of people performing Dhamal (Sufi dance) inside a compound in Sehwan, a small town located some 284 km away from the provincial capital of Karachi.

He said there were 500 to 800 people inside the shrine as Thursday evening is considered as the most sacred time to pray in the shrine and a large number of people from across the country were there to pay homage to the late saint and perform Dhamal.

Talking to local media, an injured eyewitness said that he saw the operator of the CCTV room running out of his office and after a few moments the explosion happened. "May be the CCTV operator saw the bomber in the camera and ran away for his life," he added.

Another eyewitness said they were praying inside the shrine when a loud explosion was heard and there were heaps of bodies and injured people everywhere.

The injured people have been shifted to Sehwan hospital from where the critically wounded victims were sent to hospitals in Karachi and neighboring Nawabshah district via army planes and helicopters.

In a tweet, Major General Asif Ghafoor, director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army's media wing, said army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has directed army and paramilitary troops rangers to provide assistance to the blast victims.

He added that night vision helicopters from Pakistan navy and a C-130 plane from Pakistan Air Force have been provided to shift the injured people to hospitals in Karachi.

The navy hospital in Karachi has been put on high alert and the injured will be shifted there via night capable helicopters.

Heavy contingent of police reached at the blast site and cordoned it off for investigations shortly after the blast.

Global terror group Islamic State (IS) claimed the attack. On its Arabic AMAQ website, IS said a suicide bomber "exploded his vest in Shia shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Pakistan's south Sindh province."

This is the second time when IS claimed an attack targeting a shrine in Pakistan over the last three months.

Earlier on Nov. 12 last year, at least 52 people were killed and over 100 others injured when an IS suicide bomber blew himself up in a shrine in the country's southwest Balochistan province.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had condemned the suicide attack and directed departments concerned to provide best possible medical treatment to the injured people.

The country's army chief General Bajwa appealed the nation to stay calm.

"Your security forces shall not allow hostile powers to succeed. Each drop of nation's blood shall be revenged, and revenged immediately. No more restraint for anyone," Bajwa said in a statement.
A day after a fire raged for four hours at Bengalurus largest water body, civic agencies began pointing fingers at one another.





A thick cloud of smoke rose from the 920-acre Bellandur lake as illegally dumped garbage erupted in flames on Thursday.



On Friday, legislators and officials of the Bangalore Development Authority, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike and Karnataka State Pollution Control Board visited the spot.



BDA officials blamed the BBMP for not stopping garbage dumping.



The BDA is the custodian of the lake, but it is the BBMPs job to protect it from garbage dumping, said Veersingh Nayak, BDA executive engineer, east zone.



He said combustible chemicals had mixed with the garbage and sparked the conflagration. This would not have happened had the BBMP taken action against those dumping garbage, he contended.



BBMP officials in turn blamed the BDA. How are we responsible when they are the custodians? If they could build a boundary wall with a mesh, there would be no dumping. They have no funds to take care of any of the citys lakes, a municipal official said.



Civic incompetence



The pollution control authorities are slamming the BDA, BBMP and BWSSB for the pathetic condition of the lake.



Lakshman, KSPCB chairman, said he had issued notices to all three agencies.



We have also told them to implement the expert committee report on the rejuvenation of the Bellandur lake, he said.



Officials of the Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority also visited the lake. G Vidyasagar, its chief executive officer, said his organisation was ready to take care of the lake once its boundaries were fixed. The tahsildar has written 13 letters since 2013 to the BBMP and BDA to mark out the boundaries. But nothing has happened, he said.
After days of dramatic developments in Tamil Nadu, the stage is set for a crucial floor test in the special session of the Assembly on Saturday to decide the fate of Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.





Palaniswami, who was picked by party general secretary V K Sasikala for the chief ministers post after her conviction in a corruption case, claims he has the support of 124 party MLAs in a House with 234 elected members.



His rival O Panneerselvam, who revolted against Sasikala, so far appears to have the support of only about 10 AIADMK members. But he may be counting on surprise developments. The Opposition DMK with 89 MLAs has said it will vote against Palaniswami in the trust vote.



The ruling AIADMK has a strength of 135 MLAs in the House (one seat is vacant following the death of J Jayalalithaa), the DMK 89, its allies Congress 8 and Indian Union Muslim League 1.



The test on the floor of the House will take place at 11 am.



This is the fourth such floor test in Tamil Nadus political history. The last one was held in 1988 when Jayalalithaa led a rebel group after the death of AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran.



To be on the safe side, the Sasikala faction has issued a whip asking all party MLAs to be present in the Assembly on Saturday, when Palaniswami seeks a vote of confidence to prove his majority.



Palaniswami needs the support of 117 MLAs in the House to win the trust vote and continue as chief minister.



AIADMK whip S Rajendran will ask party legislators to vote in support of the government. Therefore, those violating the whip might face action under the anti-defection law.



DMK working president M K Stalin said the decision to vote against Palaniswami was taken at the party MLAs meeting. IUML will also vote against the motion.



Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president Su Thirunavukkarasar has indicated that his party MLAs will attend the session. But the partys strategy will only be announced on Saturday morning after getting clearance from the leadership in Delhi.



Former chief minister Panneerselvam, who occupied the front row in the Assembly for several years, will take the back seat in the House during the voting.



With Jayalalithaas death on December 5 and the DMK president M Karunanidhi not able to come to the House due to his illness, a total of 232 members including the Speaker are expected to attend the session.



On Friday morning, the Panneerselvam camp led by former education minister K Pandiarajan met Speaker P Dhanapal and demanded a secret ballot when the motion of confidence is moved in the House.



Secretariat sources said Pandiarajan also demanded extra security for the group in the House.



Palaniswami, accompanied by senior ministers, visited the resort where party legislators loyal to Sasikala have been staying for more than ten days. An AIADMK source claimed that all the MLAs there were still with Sasikalas CM choice.



They will be travelling by a special bus from the resort to attend the Assembly session," the source said. On the eve of the floor test, former DGP R Nataraj said he would vote against Palaniswami. The Mylapore legislator, who was earlier seen as neutral, is not clear whether he would support Panneerselvam openly.
The Union government has directed pharma companies not to withdraw coronary stents from the market on the pretext of relabelling.



It has rolled out a notification to tackle the sudden scarcity of stents at hospitals, Union Minister for Pharmaceuticals H N Ananth Kumar said on Friday.



On Wednesday, a day after a price cap came into force, hospitals said manufacturers were taking their stents back. Stents are tube-like devices that improve blood flow to the heart.



DH was the first to report the shortage and what Dr Devi Shetty, chairman of Narayana Health, described as commotion at the hospitals.



The Centres notification directs manufacturers to continue making stents in the same volumes as the last three years.



Speaking on the sidelines of an event, Kumar said manufacturers neednt withdraw stents just to relabel them. But they must sell them at the capped prices, he said.



Patient savings



The minister contended price restrictions would not adversely impact the device industry.



The average MRP in the market was Rs 45,000 for bare metal stents and Rs 1.21 lakh for drug-eluting stents. This is now Rs 7,623 and Rs 31,080. Patients will get an average benefit of Rs 80,000 to Rs 90,000 per stent, resulting in a gross relief of Rs 4,450 crore in a year, he said.



According to a health ministry report, more than 3.5 lakh procedures were performed in 2015 using 4.73 lakh stents.



In 2016, the numbers must have touched five lakh, he said. The market for stents made in India is roughly 30%.



Doctors take



Dr C N Manjunath, director of Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, and Dr Devi Shetty have criticised the governments decision to regulate prices.



Warning on price

Hospitals and manufacturers caught flouting the price restriction on coronary stents will attract punishment, Union Minister Ananth Kumar warned.



Violations or deviations will attract criminal charges and cancellation of licences. The excess cost will have to be returned to the buyer with 15% interest, he said.



In a statement, the Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI) said member companies had only recalled their products for relabelling with slashed prices.
The U.S., Japan and South Korea recently called a meeting to discuss how to cooperate in response to the potential threat posed by North Korean ballistic missiles, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported on Feb. 14.

Pyongyang's recent missile launch sparked wide condemnation from the international community. The Financial Times said that after two nuclear and more than 20 ballistic missile tests in 2016, North Korea has vaulted to the top of the leader-board of potential geopolitical flashpoints.

In addition to testing the reaction of U.S. President Donald Trump, the missile launch was also a response to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the U.S., South Korea's Park Geun-hye scandal, the upcoming joint military drill of the U.S. and South Korea and other political issues, Li Qunying, dean of International Politics at the China University of Political Science and Law, told People's Daily.

The situation in South Korea is also complicated, as the U.S. is deploying strategic weapons near the Korean Peninsula, and has moved its nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, strategic bombers and stealth fighters to its military bases in Japan. South Korea was thrown into a panic when then-candidate Trump announced during his campaign the possibility of withdrawing U.S. troops from South Korea and Japan.

Earlier this month, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis reassured the leader of South Korea that the alliance between the two nations remains strong. Both countries also agreed to the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system. During the same visit, Mattis warned Pyongyang that using nuclear weapons will incur "effective and overwhelming" counterattacks.

South Korea is currently a political vacuum, following the impeachment of President Park geun-hye. As the scandal continues to unfold, the country's political situation has become destabilized. Further complicating matters, the upcoming presidential election is dividing South Korean society along political lines, Dong Xiangrong, research fellow at the National Institute of International Strategy, told People's Daily.

There is a real possibility that the U.S. will abandon its "strategic patience" with North Korea now that Donald Trump is in office. As a result of North Korea's missile launch, Japan and South Korea will step up deployment of the THAAD missile defense system and work more closely with the U.S. Moreover, Southeast Asian countries may also take this opportunity to buy weapons. Global peace and safety remains at risk as uncertainties mount, Li said.

Relations between the U.S. and South Korea will play an important role in determining South Korean policies, regardless of who becomes president, Li added.

The U.S. gives low priority to North Korea when it comes to diplomatic issues. Instead of taking substantive measures, the former hopes the situation in North Korea will be changed by outside sanctions, Dong said, adding that South Korea should be aware of the fact that its interests do not line up with those of the U.S. South Korea should directly negotiate with North Korea rather than engaging the U.S.-ROK alliance, according to Dong.

To guarantee the safety and stability of the Korean Peninsula, and to resolve the security concerns of all parties involved, North Korea must make clear its stance on the nuclear issue and move forward with denuclearization, Dong suggested.
Canyon Crest Academys Creative Writing Club recently announced that registration is open for the 6th Annual Canyon Crest Academy Writers Conference, which will be held on Saturday, March 11, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m..

All high school students are invited to this free conference which is the only one of its kind in the country. Because of the generous donations by Gold Sponsors -- IDW Publishing, Hamilton College Consulting and Chipotle Carmel Valley -- and Silver Sponsors --High Bluff Academy and PrintNET  and extensive fundraising by the CCA Creative Writing Club, students will enjoy writing workshops by 22 speakers and receive a program, handouts, paper, pen, and even a free lunch.

This years line-up of speakers is incredible, notes CCA Creative Writing Club president Julia Camilleri. Attendees will be able to hear from New York Times bestselling and award-winning authors, graphic novel authors creating state-of-the-art work, a Hollywood screenwriter, an Emmy Award- winning creative director/producer, an innovative digital producer for companies around the world, an award-winning journalist, poets, and more.

More information about the following speakers can be found at: ccawritersconference2017.weebly.com/

1. The morning keynote address will be by Mary E. Pearson, the New York Times bestselling and award- winning author of young adult novels, novellas, and short stories. Her works include the recently completed trilogy, The Remnant Chronicles, which in a starred review, Publishers Weekly called masterfully crafted. The first book in the trilogy, The Kiss of Deception, was chosen by teens as a 2015 YALSA Top Ten title. Her novel, The Adoration of Jenna Fox , has won numerous awards, is used in classrooms across the country, and has been optioned for film and slated for theaters in 2018. Mary will present Answering the Call: The Fearless Act of Writing  Saving the World One Word, One Voice at a Time.

2. Cecil Castellucci, author of graphic novels, DC comics, and young adult novels, including The Year of the Beasts, Tin Star, Stone in the Sky and Eisner-nominated Odd Duck, as well as co-author of Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure, will present Modern (Super) Heroines.

3. Kendall Sherwood, LA-based playwright and screenwriter of Major Crimes, a spin-off of TNT s hit crime series, The Closer, will present Writing for TV.

4. Harley Jane Kozak, award winning and bestselling author of Dating Dead Men and much more, and actress (Parenthood, Arachnophobia, When Harry Met Sally and more), will discuss Everything Youve Always Wanted to Know About Writing a Novel but Were Afraid to Ask.

5. Jonathan Maberry is a New York Times bestselling novelist, five-time Bram Stoker Award winner, and comic book artist. His books, Extinction Machine and V-Wars, are in development for TV and movies. He will present The Horror! The Horror!

6. Chris Hamilton, CEO of Hamilton College Consulting, will present Six Secrets for Great College Essays.

7. Igor Goldkind, author, lecturer and producer of advanced media technology innovations around the world, will present Speculative Realism.

8. Jim Pascoe is the author of many Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics, 10 novels and the upcoming graphic novel Cotton. Hes also the creative director/producer on Disney/ABC Cable Network Groups interactive TV program JETIX Cards Live, which won an Emmy award. He will present Writing the Graphic Novel.

9. Viet Mai, educator, artist, consultant and award-winning spoken word poet, will be the Inspirational Speaker of the conference. He will present Life is Poetic.

10. Sylvia Mendoza, award-winning journalist and author of The Book of Latina Women: 101 Vidas (Lives) Passion, Strength and Success and more, will discuss Do You Have What It Takes to be a Journalist?

11. Henry Herz, author of childrens science fiction and fantasy novels Little Red Cuttlefish, Capn Rex and His Clever Crew, will present Fractured Fairy Tales.

12. Courtney Kilian, writer, gentle yoga teacher and founder of Om & Ink: Live, Breathe, Write, will present Giving Your Characters Unique Voices.

13. Natalie Lakosil, literary agent at the Bradford Agency, will present Getting Published  Query Letters and Agents.

14. Chris Marie Green, author of over 80 works, including contemporary romance, new adult, and paranormal novels, will present Head Over Heels: Everything You Wanted to Know About Romance Writing.

15. Matt Wolf, bestselling author of the young adult fantasy series The Ronin Saga, will present Grand World Building in Fantasy.

16. Greg Van Eekhout, award-winning author of six published novels, including the Daniel Blackland series and two dozen short stories, will present Friends and Enemies and Everyone in Between.

17. James Matlack Raney, award-winning author of the Jim Morgan series and Lord of the Wolves, will present Fast and Furious: Writing Great Action Scenes.

18. Lisa Kessler, Amazon bestselling and award-winning author of dark paranormal fiction, will present Hone Your Craft with Flash Fiction.

19. Aleta Barthell, award-winning playwright, teaching artist, drama teacher and founder of the youth theater education program Kids Act, will present How Do I Start My Play? A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words.

20. T. Greenwood, award-winning author of 11 novels, including Bodies of Water and The Golden Hour, will present Whose Story is This? Point of View and Narrative Voice.

21. Laura Preble, award-winning author of the Queen Geek Social Club series and Out, will present The Plots the Thing.

22. Esteben Ismael, award-winning poet, editor and writing instructor, whose work has appeared in many literary journals, will present Through the Eyes of a Poet: Powerful Observations, Strong Voices.

Registration is required and students can register at ccawritersconference2017.weebly.com/

The Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore will sell speakers books with a portion of the proceeds going to the conference.

The conference will take place in the Proscenium Theater and Media Center, Canyon Crest Academy, 5951 Village Center Loop Road, San Diego, CA 92130.
Chinas Tsinghua University has been bombarded with criticism after it released a new set of admissions requirements for foreign applicants, which critics have deemed discriminatory against Chinese nationals.

According to the universitys 2017 requirements for international bachelor's degree applicants, foreign applicants must hold a high school diploma and pass the Level 5 HSK Chinese proficiency test with a score of at least 60 out of 100. All other entrance examinations are waived for foreign students.

The requirements have sparked controversy, with many denouncing the preferential policy, arguing that such requirements will dampen Chinese students' enthusiasm and lead to educational injustice.

As one of Chinas most prestigious universities, Tsinghuas admissions requirements for international students are too lenient compared to those for their Chinese counterparts. At most respected universities in the U.K., there are specified enrollment standards for Chinese students requiring high GPAs and strong English skills, an expert from a Beijing-based study abroad agency told Peoples Daily Online.

The expert also believes that Tsinghuas Chinese proficiency requirement is too low compared to requirements for TOEFL or IELTS scores from Chinese applicants abroad, as foreigners can pass the Level 5 HSK exam by knowing only 2,500 Chinese words.

Other critics believe that the new requirements may worsen China's educational injustices. Many Chinese parents already give birth to their children abroad so that their offspring can obtain foreign passports. If those foreign passport-holders then seek to receive an education in China, they have much easier access to prestigious schools and education resources than their Chinese peers.

It makes sense that Tsinghua is seeking to recruit more international students, as a certain proportion of foreign students is a crucial criterion for all internationally-recognized universities. Currently, foreigners only account for 5.8 percent of Tsinghua students, which is lower than the 20 percent figure at universities such as Oxford and Harvard, Xiong Bingqi, vice president of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, told Thepaper.cn.

Though it is necessary to enroll more foreign students, Xiong pointed out that this should be done by improving the quality of education at Chinese universities, rather than by lowering admissions requirements.

Tsinghua University could not be reached for a comment as of press time. In an announcement published on Tsinghuas official website, Liu Zhen, director of Tsinghuas international admissions office, said the new requirements are not intended to lower standards for foreign applicants, but to evaluate applicants in more multi-dimensional way.
(Xinhua) 15:45, February 17, 2017

[File photo]

Chinese siwmming superstar Sun Yang said in a recent interview that he won't give up long-distance events.

Sun was honored at the 2016 Top 10 Athletes of Zhejiang Province Award Ceremony on Feb.15. For his excellent performance at Rio, Sun unanimously won the Best Male Athlete of the Year award.

Sun, who won gold in the 400m and 1,500m freestyle at the 2012 London Olympicsto become his country's first male Olympic swimming champion, has raised eyebrows after the Rio olympics for participating in several variety shows.

But he reassured the public at the ceremony. "I attend these variety shows intermittently, but I am still keep training all the time. I am in a pretty good form now, so please look ahead to my performance in this year," said the 25-year-old.

Sun also denied rumors that he will give up the long-distance events for which he is famous, and instead focus on short-distance events in the future.

"Actually, I'm working on both speed training and aerobics simultaneously now. Maybe in the qualification trials, I will participate in multiple events: 200, 400, 800, 1500 and relays, maybe 6 or 7. And I will try my best to get good results in every single game," he said.
Kobe, a 25-year-old panda named by the former president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Juan Antonio Samaranch, died on Feb. 2, China News reported.

Kobe was born in 1992, the same year the 25th Summer Olympic Games were held in Barcelona. Samaranch proudly named the panda after Cobi, the mascot of that year's Games. Kobe gave birth to nine panda cubs during her life, contributing significantly to the population at the breeding and research base in Chengdu.

Twenty-five "panda years" are roughly equal to 75 years for a human. As Kobe entered old age, her health began to deteriorate. Kobe became sick and lost consciousness on Jan. 31, and finally passed away on Feb. 2 despite unremitting efforts by the base's veterinary staff.
Shanghai has unveiled new measures to reform State-owned enterprises (SOE), including allowing employees of 10 pilot SOEs to hold shares, the 21st Century Business Herald reports.

Shanghai plans to help two or three SOEs to publicly list their entire company or their core business assets this year.

The city would also promote 10 qualified mixed-ownership models with employees given shares.

Two or three scientific research institutes have also been urged to deepen reforms and establish diversified investment and a market-oriented management mechanism.

Deepening SOE reform and developing a mixed-ownership economy is the top priority this year. Other major tasks discussed at the meeting included improving State-owned assets operation platforms and incentive mechanisms.

Shanghai previously proposed that more than 85 percent of State-owned assets focus on strategic emerging industries, advanced manufacturing, modern service, infrastructure and other major sectors related to social well-being, by the end of the 13th five-year plan period.

In 2017, Shanghai will adjust the structure of State-owned assets, increase investment worth of 400 billion yuan ($58.28 billion) to the target sectors, according to the meeting.

China has about 150,000 SOEs which hold more than 100 trillion yuan in assets and employ over 30 million people.

China published complete guidelines on its SOE reforms in September last year, promising to start mixed-ownership pilots, opening up more industries to private capital, and build modern enterprise systems.
These Pictures From Sonam Kapoor's Austrian Holiday Will Take Your Breath Away!
Apple is reportedly planning to assemble 3-4 lakh units of iPhone SE at Wistron's Bengaluru facility. The company is also planning for a large-scale India operation.

Apple is reportedly planning to start India manufacturing with iPhone SE model. The company is looking at assembling handsets possibly in collaboration with Wistron, although Wistron denies the same. As reported by Economic Times, the Cupertino-based iPhone maker is planning to go ahead without waiting for government's view on tax concession.

Apple has been exploring options to start assembling iPhones locally in India for quite sometime. The company officials have met top bureaucrats in the past to discuss its plans and a report says Apple is seeking special tax exemption from the government. "It is Apple's first such venture in India...The demands they have made are for the larger plans of the company to really scale up manufacturing in India," a senior government official told ET under the condition of anonymity.

Apple announced the iPhone SE in March 2016 to appease users sticking to their 4-inch iPhone. The Apple iPhone SE comes with specifications similar to the company's 2015 flagship iPhone 6s, but the design matches that of the iPhone 5S from 2013. The Apple iPhone SE was announced in India for Rs 39,000 and is now retailing for under Rs 30,000. Apple currently enjoys a market share of less than 2 percent in India's growing smartphone space. The biggest limitation for Apple comes in the form of its premium pricing. By assembling iPhone SE in India, Apple will be able to get rid of the 10-12 percent tax levied on importing the device.

"While the immediate advantage would be the tax benefit of 10-12% if it is manufactured (here) compared with imports, it will also give Apple an edge in India, which is the fastest-growing large market, as opposed to slow growth in China," Navkendar Singh, senior research manager - client devices at IDC India told ET.

Apple is reportedly choosing iPhone SE over iPhone 5S, since the former is a more recent device. With iOS 10, Apple stopped the update cycle for iPhone 4S and the company is expected to stop supporting iPhone 5S sooner than later. The move to assemble 3-4 lakh units can be seen as Apple's first attempt at local manufacturing. The company is said to be working with partner Foxconn for a large scale setup in India.
Under this MoU, Microsoft will help support the state government explore cloud, machine learning and mobile based solutions

The Government of Jharkhand has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft. Under this MoU, Microsoft will help support the state government explore cloud, machine learning and mobile based solutions to improve citizen services and provide better facilities in the fields of education and agriculture.

Read the complete press release below

The Government of Jharkhand signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft India at the Momentum Jharkhand: Global Investors Summit & Trade Exhibition today to leverage cloud technologies to drive the states digital ambitions. Under this MoU, Microsoft will support the state government to explore cloud, machine learning and mobile based solutions to improve citizen services and provide better facilities in the fields of education and agriculture.



The Government of Jharkhand has been using an advanced IT infrastructure to provide citizen services and aggressively driving technology led programmes such as Skill India and Digital India. Todays MoU with Microsoft will help the Government access the best of Microsofts technology and expertise for the improvement of digital services to citizens and drive digital inclusion in the state.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri. Umesh Prasad Sah, Director - IT, Department of IT and e-governance, Government of Jharkhand, said, Microsoft will work with the Government of Jharkhand to support the development of cloud and mobile-based solutions and support the use of machine learning and advanced visualization to help solve challenges in the fields of agriculture and education.

Commenting on this association, Sanjeev Gupta, Country General Manager  Public Sector, Microsoft India, said, Over the past year we have experimented with cloud, mobile and machine learning based solutions for better citizen connect as well as to help students and farmers in India. We are happy to bring the power of Microsoft cloud technologies, machine learning and data analytics to the State of Jharkhand. We look forward to supporting the Government of Jharkhand in its effort to enhance citizen services and drive digital inclusion.



Microsoft has been working closely with several state governments in India to support their digital infrastructure, enhance their citizen services and drive efficiencies in their administrative and governance operations.
The United States Steel Corporation has decided to withdraw its complaint levied against several Chinese steel companies for theft of trade secrets, but will continue to litigate claims related to anti-trust and false designation.

According to an announcement on the companys official website on Feb. 15, United States Steel Corp. has decided to withdraw the complaint, as Section 337 was outdated and never contemplated the technological advancements over the past 50 years. The company also called for the U.S. government to provide legal avenues for corporate victims in cyber crimes.

The announcement comes after the steel company filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) to initiate an investigation under Section 337 on April 26, 2016, in which the company alleged three causes of action against Chinese enterprises. These causes of action included conspiracy to illegally fix steel prices, theft of trade secrets and false designation of the origin of steel.

Apart from the withdrawn complaints, two other accusations were already dismissed by USITC in November 2016 and January 2017. The case has drawn attention from both U.S. and Chinese media, as Section 337 of the United States Tariff Act of 1930 has not been used by the steel industry in almost four decades.

The investigation is based on the Tariff Act of 1930, which aims to prevent U.S. companies from intellectual property infringement and other unfair practices in import trade. The investigation has been criticized by some as a way of promoting U.S. protectionism. From 2007 to 2016, the U.S. initiated 392 investigations under section 337, with 169 targeting China, making the latter the most investigated nation for 13 consecutive years.
Lee Jae-yong was arrested on charges of bribery and influence-peddling, causing the impeachment of South Koreas 11th President, Park Geun-hye. He is also accused of bribing state officials to influence an important merger.

Samsung chief and heir, Lee Jae-yong has finally been arrested on charges of bribery, following a corruption probe. Lee has been charged for influence-peddling, the use of position or political influence on someone's behalf in exchange for money or favours, causing the impeachment of the 11th president of South Korea, Park Geun-hye.

The arrest warrant for Lee was decided upon by the Seoul Central District Court on Friday, making him the first leader at Samsung to be arrested on criminal charges. Lee was being held at a detention center on Thursday as the court came to its decision.

Lee is the current Vice Chairman of South Korea-based Samsung Electronics. He is also the son of Samsungs head, Lee Kun-hee, and by that relationship, heir to the Samsung empire. Lee has been accused of bribing $40 million to Parks confidant, for influencing policy changes. The central character in one of South Koreas biggest political scandals ever, Choi Soon-sil, was apparently using her strong ties with Park to extract donations of more than $70 m from local firms. These funds are believed to be used by Choi for her own personal benefit. Samsung was the largest contributor to these foundations and the company is also accused of funding Chois daughters equestrian lessons in Germany. Another Samsung employee, who is also the head of Koreas Equestrian Federation, may soon face arrest in the same case.

Because of his involvement in the conspiracy, Lee has been under investigation by the authorities since a while now. He was also interrogated on several occasions in the past, but was not arrested due to inconclusive evidence presented. While Lee has now been arrested, a Samsung statement said on Wednesday that the company had not paid bribes nor made improper requests to the President seeking favours.

State prosecutors are further investigating Lees role in paying Choi to influence the merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries back in 2015. The said merger was stone walled by many Samsung investors and was consequential in easing Lee into his leading role at Samsung, after his father suffered a heart attack in 2014. The merger later went through because of the approval of Seoul's state pension fund, one the largest shareholders in Samsung.
According to data shared by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Bharti Airtel beat Reliance Jio with fastest 4G data speeds in the month of January.

In its fourth victory since September 2016, incumbent telecom operator, Bharti Airtel trumped new telecom entrant Reliance Jio with the highest 4G data speeds in the month of January. Airtel clocked an average 4G data speed of 11.862 Mbps, while Reliance Jio clocked 4G data speeds of 8.345 Mbps.

Airtel is not the only one that beat Jio to the punch. Idea Cellular came in second with an average 4G data speed of 10.562 Mbps, followed by Vodafone India at 10.301 Mbps. This data was presented by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Reliance Jio, the firebrand telecom entrant, had climbed to the top spot back in December, with a 4G speed of 18.146 Mbps, while Vodafone claimed the second spot at 9.666Mbps. Considering Airtel had slipped to the fourth position back in December 2016, the network seems to have made improvements to reach back on top.

The top four telecom operators are also currently engaged in a corporate battle over Reliance Jios extended new year offer. Reliance Jio chief, Mukesh Ambani, announced just yesterday that the company has hit its target of 100 million users. A recent report by Truecaller also pointed out that Jio has managed to obtain 23% market share as far as user base is concerned, making Jio the second largest mobile network in India.
Crude futures have eased on Friday as traders look to rig-count data out tonight, ahead of the Presidents Day long weekend in the US.

At 15:10 GMT, Nymex-traded West Texas Intermediate crude was down 0.37% to $53.16 a barrel, while Intercontinental Exchange-priced Brent was down 0.5% to $55.37 a barrel.

Oil prices have slipped back ahead of the weekend and tonights latest rig count data, with expectations high of another increase.

"Oil prices have slipped back ahead of the weekend and tonights latest rig count data," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.

Hewson's commentary followed two sets of data this week that separately showed rising US inventories last week.

This was against a backdrop of a global supply glut, and speculation that cartel OPEC would cut output again at its next meeting.

SwissQuote noted that a correction in the near-term towards $49.61 was possible if support at $50.71 was broken.

"We consider that further weakness are very likely," said SwissQuote in a statement.

On Comex, gold was up 0.16% to $1243.6 an ounce, while silver fell 0.19% to $18.04 an ounce and copper shed 0.92% to 269.35 cents a pound.

Hewson said gold prices had continued to remain resilient as investors continued to hedge their bets on the co-called 'Trump Trade', as well as rising political risk in France.

Three-month industrial metals on London Metals Exchange were all lower. Copper and tin fell the most, chased by aluminum and zinc.

Among agriculturals, Chicago Board of Trade corn fell 0.33% to 379.75 cents a bushel, and wheat slipped 0.33% to 459.75 cents a bushel.

ICE-priced coca eased 0.54% to $2031 a MT, and cotton No.2 faded 0.89% to 76.09 cents a pound. Live cattle was up 0.69% to 113.93 cents a pound.
Construction output in the eurozone fell 0.2% on the month in December compared to a 0.4% jump in November, according to figures released by Eurostat on Friday.

Building construction declined 0.5%, while civil engineering rose by 0.8%.

Meanwhile, year-on-year construction output was up 3.2%, with civil engineering rising by 6.5% and building construction by 2.5%.

In the EU-28 group of nations, construction output was up 0.6% on the month and 1.6% on the year.

Average production in the construction for the year 2016, compared with 2015, increased by 1.6% in the euro area and by 1.3% in the EU-28.

Pantheon Macroeconomics said the data was much better than we feared.

The headline was depressed by falling output in France and Germany, but a big month-to-month increase in Spain and rising production in Portugal and the Netherlands offered offsetting support.

Assuming no revisions, construction output rose 0.7% quarter-on-quarter in Q4, slowing from a 1.6% jump in Q3. Construction output 1.7% over 2016 as a whole, and survey data indicate that growth will accelerate in the first half of 2017. We think construction will continue to lift GDP growth in 2017, and we are on alert that this could force us to change our assumption for a modest slowdown in EZ GDP growth.
Embattled US President Donald Trump went on the offensive on Thursday against the media in a boisterous return to his election campaign rhetoric, describing his administration as a "fine-tuned machine".

Trump has faced criticism during his first month in office for a variety of issues, including his cabinet nominees, a botched immigrant travel ban and constant speculation surrounding his team's relationship with Russia.

He dismissed reports that the administration was in the midst of chaos, just days after the resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn, and the withdrawal of Andrew Puzder's nomination as labour secretary.

"I turn on the TV, open the newspapers and I see stories of chaos, chaos," Trump scolded reporters. "Yet it is the exact opposite. This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine, despite the fact that I cant get my cabinet approved."

Trump also categorically denied he or any of his team had any relationship with the Kremlin.

"Nobody that I know of. How many times do I have to answer this question? Russia is a ruse. I have nothing to do with Russia. Haven't made a phone call to Russia in years," Trump said.

"I own nothing in Russia, I have no loans in Russia, I don't have any deals in Russia," Trump said. "Russia is fake news."

In an extraordinary barrage of attacks on the media, Trump slammed the coverage of the first month of his presidency, and repeatedly interrupted and silenced reporters as they attempted to ask questions.

"The press has become so dishonest that if we don't talk about it we are doing a tremendous disservice to the American people...the press honestly is out of control."

MARKET REACTION

US stock markets' run to record highs in the last week was halted on Thursday, albeit with only very moderate losses across the main indices.

"Mr Trump applauded himself in a tweet yesterday by mentioning that the run in the stock market was mainly due to investor confidence which comes on the back of his upcoming tax plan," said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Markets.

"Of course, the question is how long can you chew on this, and if your words are not backed up with action, you run a massive risk of disappointment."
European stocks were in the red on Friday, struggling for direction after US markets came off their highs in the previous session.

The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 0.09% to 369.76, Germanys DAX fell 0.15% to 11,739.24 and Frances CAC 40 was 0.82% weaker to 4,859.04.

Meanwhile, oil prices retreated, with Brent crude last down 0.4% to $55.43 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate 0.58% lower at $53.05.

Following US president Donald Trumps irregular press conference on Thursday, the countrys vice-president is due to attend the Munich Security Conference amid uncertainty about the continents relationship with the Trump administration.

Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said: A rather un-presidential Washington press conference and continued cabinet nomination problems have added to political uncertainty on both sides of the Atlantic.

This, coupled with weakness in the commodity space, is weighing on sentiment, taking the wind out of a Trump trade's sails before a long weekend - ironically after yesterday's little outburst - for president's day.

On the data front, the eurozone current account surplus fell to 31bn in December from a revised 36.4bn a month earlier.

Over 2016 as a whole, the current account surplus rose to an all-time high of 3.4% of GDP, from 3.1% in 2015.

Eurozone construction output slipped 0.2% on the month in December compared to a 0.4% jump in November.

Building construction declined 0.5%, while civil engineering rose by 0.8%.

Meanwhile, year-on-year construction output was up 3.2%, with civil engineering rising by 6.5% and building construction by 2.5%.

In the EU-28 group of nations, construction output was up 0.6% on the month and 1.6% on the year.

In corporate news, AstraZeneca edged 2% higher after the pharmaceuticals giant reported positive results from its Phase III OLYMPIAD trial of its breast cancer treatment Lynparza (olaparib).

Segro gained 3.28% after its full-year earnings per share and net asset value came in ahead of analysts expectations.

Allianz was up 2.81% after the German insurer said on Thursday that it would hike its dividend and launch a 3bn share buyback programme.

Dutch oil and chemical storage firm Royal Vopak fell 7.13% after it said that earnings for 2017 will not exceed the results seen in 2016.
European stocks were in the red on Friday, struggling for direction after US markets came off their highs in the previous session.

At midday, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 0.3% to 369, Germanys DAX fell 0.16% to 11,738.70 and Frances CAC 40 was 0.71% weaker to 4,864.68.

Meanwhile, oil prices retreated, with Brent crude down 0.57% to $55.33 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate 0.37% lower at $53.16.

Following US president Donald Trumps irregular press conference on Thursday, the countrys vice-president is due to attend the Munich Security Conference amid uncertainty about the continents relationship with the Trump administration.

Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said: A rather un-presidential Washington press conference and continued cabinet nomination problems have added to political uncertainty on both sides of the Atlantic. This coupled with weakness in the commodity space is weighing on sentiment, taking the wind out of a Trump trade's sails before a long weekend - ironically after yesterday's little outburst - for president's day.

On the data front, the eurozone current account surplus fell to 31bn in December from a revised 36.4bn a month earlier. Over 2016 as a whole, the current account surplus rose to an all-time high of 3.4% of GDP, from 3.1% in 2015.

Eurozone construction output slipped 0.2% on the month in December compared to a 0.4% jump in November. Building construction declined 0.5%, while civil engineering rose by 0.8%. Meanwhile, year-on-year construction output was up 3.2%, with civil engineering rising by 6.5% and building construction by 2.5%.

In the EU-28 group of nations, construction output was up 0.6% on the month and 1.6% on the year.

In corporate news, AstraZeneca edged 2.12% higher after the pharmaceuticals giant reported positive results from its Phase III OLYMPIAD trial of its breast cancer treatment Lynparza (olaparib).

Segro gained 4.04% after its full-year earnings per share and net asset value came in ahead of analysts expectations.

Allianz was up 1.17% after the German insurer said on Thursday that it would hike its dividend and launch a 3bn share buyback programme.

Dutch oil and chemical storage firm Royal Vopak fell 8.06% after it said that earnings for 2017 will not exceed the results seen in 2016.
European shares were on the backfoot at the start of Friday's, taking a cue from the mixed close to trading on Wall Street overnight amid profit-taking and ahead of US vice-president Mike Pence's visit to Europe.

At 0817 GMT the benchmark Stoxx 600 was edging lower by 0.01% to 370.06 alongside a dip of 0.03% for Germanys Dax and a decline of 0.18% to 4,891.13 for the CAC in France.

Milan's FTSE Mibtel on the other hand was up by 0.08% at 19,106.80.

"Calls for tepid European start to the final session of the week come after a mixed close on Wall street as the Trump trade appeared to lose steam heading into a long weekend following a record run and rather lively presidential press conference. This morphed into a down day for Asia overnight despite the USD finding support to quell yesterdays currency strength hindrance among peers (GBP, EUR, JPY), something that hampered equity sentiment yesterday," Mike van Dulken and Henry Croft at Accendo Markets said.

On traders radar, US vice president Mike Pence was scheduled to travel to Europe on Saturday.

He was expected to reiterate his countrys support for both Europe and NATO.

The economic calendar was light at the end of the week, with the sole economic indicators set for release the latest euro area current account data for the month of December, alongside Eurozone construction output figures for that same month.

The latest monthly UK retail sales numbers, due out at 0930 GMT, on the other hand did hold the potential to influence markets, especially in the forex arena.

German insurer Allianz was in the news after announcing late on Thursday it would hike its dividend following its solid 2016 results and launch a 3bn share buyback programme, albeit to the detriment of possible acquisitions after finding no suitable targets.

Contacts between Sky and Mediaset to purchase the Italian pay-TV unit of the latter were well-advanced, Il Sole 24 Ore reported.

AstraZeneca unveiled positive results from a Phase III clinical trial of its breast cancer treatment Lynparza.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has criticised former Prime Minister Tony Blairs call for people to rise up" against Brexit and suggestions of a second referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union.

Johnson told Sky News: I urge the British people to rise up and turn off the TV next time Blair comes on with his condescending campaign.

Johnson, who was one of the leading figures on the Leave campaign during the referendum campaign, said that Britain has voted firmly in favour of leaving the EU.

He added: Not a thing has changed and I really think it is insulting the intelligence of the electorate to say that they got it wrong.

Blair on Friday also called on people to rise up and challenge Prime Minister Theresa Mays hard Brexit of no longer being a member of the European single market and customs union.

The former Labour premier said that people voted "without knowledge of the true terms of Brexit" and said that there was "a way out from the present rush over the cliff's edge".

Yes, the British people voted to leave Europe, and I agree the will of the people should prevail. I accept right now there is no widespread appetite to rethink, he said. But the people voted without knowledge of the true terms of Brexit. As these terms become clear, it is their right to change their mind. Our mission is to persuade them to do so.

He suggested that there could be a second EU referendum, in last Junes referendum the country voted by 52% to 48% to leave.

If a significant part of that 52% show real change of mind, however you measure it, we should have the opportunity to reconsider the decision, Whether you do it through another referendum, or another method, thats a second order question.

His speech, which was organised by Open Britain, a successor to the Remain campaign said that people who voted to stay in the EU should not retreat, indifference or despair and they should rise up in defence of what we believe.

Our challenge is to expose relentlessly what [Brexit] is, to show how the decision was based on imperfect knowledge which will now become informed knowledge, to calculate in easy-to-understand ways how proceeding will cause real damage to our country; and to build support for finding a way out from the present rush over the cliffs edge.

Blair's speech was welcomed by Tim Farron, the leader of the Liberal Democrats.

Tony Blair is right. The challenge now is to persuade people to change their mind - as the Liberal Democrats are the only party offering them a chance to have their voice heard again.

He added: So if you agree with Tony, join the Liberal Democrats.
The Trump administration is considering a plan to mobilize as many as 100,000 national guard troops to round up unauthorized immigrants, the Associated Press reported citing a draft memo it had obtained.

The 11-page document calls for the unprecedented militarization of immigration enforcement as far north as Portland, Oregon, and as far east as New Orleans, Louisiana.

AP said four states that border on Mexico are included in the proposal  California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas  but it also encompasses seven states contiguous to those four: Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Governors in the 11 states would have a choice whether to have their guard troops participate, according to the memo, written by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general.

While National Guard personnel have been used to assist with immigration-related missions on the U.S.-Mexico border before, they have never been used as broadly or as far north, the AP report stated.

The memo is addressed to the then-acting heads of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It would serve as guidance to implement the wide-ranging executive order on immigration and border security that President Donald Trump signed Jan. 25. Such memos are routinely issued to supplement executive orders.

IMMIGRATION OFFICER

Also dated Jan. 25, the draft memo says participating troops would be authorized "to perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension and detention of aliens in the United States."

It describes how the troops would be activated under a revived state-federal partnership program, and states that personnel would be authorized to conduct searches and identify and arrest any unauthorized immigrants.

Requests to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security for comment and a status report on the proposal were not answered.

Spokespeople for the governors of Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Colorado, Oklahoma, Oregon and New Mexico said they were unaware of the proposal, and either declined to comment or said it was premature to discuss whether they would participate. The other three states did not immediately respond to the AP.
The Intermediate Peoples Court of Bayannur has overturned a ruling previously made regarding the case of Wang Lijun, who was convicted of illegally running his grain procurement business.

From November 2014 to January 2015, Wang, who held a license for neither grain procurement nor the operation of a business, sold corn to a grain depot in Hangjin Rear Banner. He made 6,000 RMB from the transaction. After police began investigating the case, Wang turned himself in and returned the profit.

Prosecutors charged Wang with running an illegal business. On April 15, 2016, the court in Linhe district sentenced Wang to one year in prison with a two-year reprieve. He was also fined 20,000 RMB.

On Dec. 16, 2016, the Supreme Peoples Court ordered a retrial for Wangs case. The Peoples Intermediate Court of Bayannur retried the high-profile case on Feb. 17, holding that although Wangs business violated regulations for grain circulation, it did not harm the market order. Therefore, Wang was found innocent of any crime.
A group of UK small business representative bodies have hit out at planned rises in business rates and changes to the appeals system.

In a letter to the government, the 13 groups, including the Confederation of British Industry and British Retail Consortium, say the wording of one of the proposed changes could stop firms from appealing against rate rises.

Some retailers are facing steep rises in rates from April 1 this year after the first property revaluation since 2010.

Businesses pay rates based on the rental value of the size of their occupied space. Other factors taken into account include types of business. At the last revaluation almost 50% of business appealed against their bills.

The government wants to cut the number of appeals and introduce a margin of error on valuations with a range of reasonable professional judgement. It rejects claims that it is trying to block appeals.

However, some experts argued that the margin could be too wide, forcing business into overpaying.

John Webber, head of ratings at property company Colliers International, told the BBC that valuations were based on opinion, which could cause major problems.

"Every rateable value is an opinion, so there will be a boundary of judgement there. The problem you're going to have is if you have a property with a rateable value of 100,000 and you think it should be 90,000, then that 10% tolerance is arguably still within the bounds of reasonable professional judgement, he said.

"Therefore, the list will not be altered and as the rating list lasts for five years potentially you will be paying, over a five year period, at least 10% more than you should do."

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said all businesses should pay its fair share.

However, the plans for the new appeals process would mean that a business rates valuation determined to be inaccurate by the independent Valuation Tribunal for England, would only be corrected if it is deemed outside the bounds of reasonable professional judgement.

This would be unfair to ratepayers and create additional uncertainty for local government. Instead, a collaborative working relationship between the Valuation Office Agency and ratepayers, where information and evidence can be shared and appeals avoided, should be sought.
Business Secretary Greg Clark is travelling to Paris this evening for urgent talks with Peugeot executives and the French government about the future of thousands of Vauxhall employees in Britain. General Motors - the parent company of the Vauxhall and Opel - is in negotiations about a sale of the marques to PSA Groupe, the French owner of Peugeot. - The Daily Telegraph

The scandal-hit bank that loaned hundreds of millions of dollars to Donald Trump has conducted a close internal examination of the US presidents personal account to gauge whether there are any suspicious connections to Russia, the Guardian has learned. - The Guardian

Spending on alcohol and cigarettes has almost halved in 15 years as Britain becomes a more clean-living nation. The amount spent by families on alcoholic drinks, tobacco and recreational drugs fell to its lowest level since modern records began, costing the typical household 11.40 a week last year compared with nearly 20 in 2001-02, according to the Office for National Statistics. - The Times

Argos is to stump up more than 3m in back pay and fines after an investigation revealed that thousands of workers at the catalogue retailer had been paid less than the minimum wage. One day after Debenhams was named and shamed by the government for underpaying staff, Argos said it had discovered that 37,000 workers had been underpaid over four years. - The Times

Nearly three-quarters of small companies in London say business rates are the most important issue they face, piling further pressure on the government over the controversial tax. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) warned that London was in serious danger of losing its vital support system of micro and small businesses. The average micro business, which employs fewer than 10 people, will have to pay 17,000 to cover business rates from April, it added. - The Guardian

As many as 162,000 people set to retire this year will do so weighed down by debts, worrying new research has found. Of the 650,000 workers who will stop working through 2017, one in four will be forced to use their pensions to pay off loans worth an average of 24,300 and many fear they will never clear what they owe. The numbers fearing a debt-laden retirement is a record high, according to an annual survey of 10,065 workers by pension giant Prudential. - Daily Express
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Macronix International intends to keep its chip ASPs stable by cutting back its output and plans to adjust downward its capex target this year by over 30%, according to the ROM and...
Photo shows Lian and her Canadian parents. (Photo/Modern Express)

Lian, a young Chinese-Canadian woman, went to Baotaqiao police station in Nanjing, Jiangsu province on Feb. 14. It was her first time back in China since she was an infant, and she carried with her an old certificate. After 20 years in Canada, Lian had returned to look for her biological parents, Modern Express reported.

According to the certificate, Lian was abandoned in Daqiao Park in Nanjing on June 3, 1997. A kind-hearted person found her and brought her to Baotaqiao police station. The police then took her to a children's welfare home after searching unsuccessfully for her parents.

Photo shows a certificate of Lian's case written by Baotaqiao police station on June 3, 1997. (Photo/Modern Express)

Thirteen months later, Lian was adopted by a Canadian couple. Since then, the girl has been living with them in New Brunswick, on the eastern coast of Canada. Lian is the couple's only child, and she enjoyed a happy life with them. She is now a freshman majoring in health science at a Canadian university.

Photo shows Lian and her boyfriend. (Photo/Modern Express)

Lian and her boyfriend decided to take a semester off from school for their trip to China. She will return to Canada to continue her studies in September of this year.

When the police asked Lian whether she had anything to say to her biological parents, she offered this note: "Hello, if you do see me, I don't know if you want to see me. But if you do, I'd really like to talk to you about myself. I'd like to say that I have had a good life these past years, and I appreciate everything that has happened to me."

Photo shows Lian and her boyfriend. (Photo/Modern Express)
The government has reached out to drug and hospital regulators as well as pricing officials to ensure availability of coronary stents after the country's drug pricing regulator slashed their prices by up to 85 per cent, reports The Economic Times. There have been reports of an ''artificial'' shortage of stents since National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) capped prices of these life-saving devices this week, the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers said in a letter to the health ministry, drug regulator and National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority on Thursday. Ministry officials told ET that those engaged in such practices will face dire consequences. The ministry's department of pharmaceuticals (DoP) wrote to the health ministry secretary C K Mishra, Drug Controller General of India G N Singh and NPPA chairman Bhupendra Singh to remedy any instances of stent shortages following NPPA's price caps. ''There are some reports regarding shortage of coronary stents in the markets/hospitals,'' the letter said. A coronary stent is a wire mesh tube used to unclog blockages in coronary arteries and prevent heart attacks. NPPA on Tuesday capped the prices of drug-eluting stents and bioresorbable vascular scaffolds at Rs31,080 and bare-metal stents at Rs7,623, including VAT. (See: India slashes stent prices by up to 85%; cap at Rs30,000). The DoP has requested the health ministry to take ''necessary action'' to ensure adequate availability of coronary stents at hospitals. The health ministry has the power to make accountable hospitals and doctors found hoarding stents, a government official told ET. The DoP has further requested DCGI Singh to take measures against any shortages in stents, especially imported ones, using the help of state drug controllers, according to the official. The central drug regulator, in charge of granting import permissions, can maintain the import level of the life saving devices and take action against importers violating price ceilings or adding to artificial shortages, the official said. In case of complaints of shortages by manufacturers, NPPA has been directed to take action using Paragraph 21in the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013, which allows the government to monitor the production and availability of drugs and devices under price control. It can take action in case companies discontinue stents without six months' advance notice and also direct companies to continue to supply for at least a year from when they disclose their intent to discontinue the product. ''We are taking up this issue with health ministry and others. Strict action would be taken against violators,'' said Jai Priye Prakash, department of pharmaceuticals secretary. He said the government would also use various provisions of the Essential Commodities Act to penalise those found illegally and unethically profiteering or hoarding stents. In some cases, violators could also be blacklisted, Prakash said. The NPPA, on its part, said it has written to all the ''chief secretaries'' to ensure compliance to its ceiling prices for stents and uninterrupted availability of these devices and cardiac care services. ''The government has taken all steps to ensure that stent price capping benefits are passed on to the patients and no artificial shortage created,'' it said. (Also see: Price cap: latest stents disappear from hospitals, stockists)








Manufacturers and distributors have withdrawn the latest generation of cardiac stents from most Mumbai hospitals for ''re-labelling'', forcing patients to settle for dated versions. In centres where the stents have not been physically removed, there are verbal orders to not offer the "high-end" varieties to patients, The Times of India reports. This is despite the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority's (NPPA) clear orders that manufacturers, importers and retailers are to implement the price cap without trying to create any artificial shortage. The body had capped prices of bare metal stents at Rs7,260 and that of drug-eluting and bioresorbable stents to Rs29,600 on Monday. The NPPA has now written to all chief secretaries to ensure compliance of price capping and availability. (See: India slashes stent prices by up to 85%; cap at Rs30,000). Cardiologists told TOI on Thursday the bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) - the fourth generation and most recent one that dissolves into the body after healing the diseased artery - is practically unavailable. "The companies have taken it away for pasting the new rates, but our fear is they will not return to hospitals any time soon," a senior cardiologist from Bombay Hospital at Marine Lines told TOI. The latest version of the drug eluting stents (DES) too has been whisked away from most centres. Both these categories of stents used to be sold for more than Rs1.5 lakh before their price was capped at Rs29,600. Cardiac surgeon Dr Pavan Kumar said many centres had to postpone angioplasties on Wednesday because of confusion at the stentmakers' and suppliers' end. An average of over 12,000 angioplasties is carried out in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region every year. On Thursday, heart procedures resumed in most hospitals albeit with the older version of stents that had disappeared from catheterisation labs for a while now. "The technology available to patients now is the first and second generation of DES that arrived more than two years ago. It is not that they are ineffective but the newer generation offered ease in placing them," said interventional cardiologist Dr Dev Pahlanji, who consults at Breach Candy Hospital. Pahlanji explained the first generation DES were polymer-based, which were found to be slightly toxic. The next generation took care of toxicity by replacing polymer with cobalt and chromium as well as altering the type of catheter required to deliver the device in the artery. "But it can be determined only over time whether the treatment outcomes will differ," he said. Cardiologist Dr Anand Rao agreed the newer generations have some technical superiority in terms of deployment, make and compatibility with body tissues. "But there is no solid data to compare the outcomes between the different generations of DES. Every generation has brought with it some refinement," said Rao. The NPPA called it "puzzling" that a total of 52 imported brands of DES are not superior to each other as per global clinical norms, to justify such a wide price variation. It added that the average landed cost of a DES imported by nine firms was Rs16,918. A spokesperson from Medtronic, one the leading stent players, said, "We have not taken any decision on withdrawal of any product. As per the requirement, we have initiated relabeling of all products." (Also see: Authorities crack down on stent 'hoarders' after price caps)








Airtel set to take on merged Idea, Vodafone with new schemes

Bharti Airtel is planning to tap customers of a merged Vodafone and Idea Cellular through a slew of innovative schemes and tariff plans in at least six circles where the merged entity will exceed the 50 per cent subscriber and revenue market limit and will have to cede share to rivals telcos to secure regulatory approval, Mint reported.

The report added that India's leading telecom operator "would also want the proposed merger to be delayed as long as possible so that it gets room to bridge the gap with the combined entity".

An operator can hold a maximum of 50 per cent revenue share, 50 per cent subscriber share and 50 per cent spectrum share in each band (excluding 800 Mhz) in each circle, according to Trai regulations.

Revenue of the Vodafone-Idea combined entity will exceed 50 per cent share in circles such as Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh (West). These six circles together constitute 41 per cent of the combined revenues, the report added.

The UK's Vodafone Group and the Aditya Birla Group entity are in talks to merge Vodafone India and Idea in an all-share transaction, in their bid to forge a stronger front to combat Jio, which is owned by India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani.

The proposed merger will create an entity with combined revenue of Rs78,000 crore.

The merged entity, Credit Suisse said, would command a 26 per cent spectrum market share and relegate Bharti Airtel to second place on this score. At present, Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel leads the industry in terms of spectrum holding with a 21 per cent market share, with Jio at second spot with 17 per cent.

India Ratings on Thursday said that the proposed merger will be positive for the telecom industry by eliminating duplication of spectrum and infrastructure capex. It added that consolidation in the industry will help a quicker return of pricing power.
The Donegal Democrat has been informed of the following deaths:

- Mary Redican, nee Breslin, Ballybrillighan, Frosses

- Kevin Doherty Wilson, Clonmany and Dublin

- Patrick Doherty, Carndonagh

- Nino Mc Guinness, Moville

- Patrick Boyle, Kilcar

- Edward Meehan, Ballyshannon

- Anna Duffy, Letterkenny

-Mary Christina (Mabel) Carty, Dublin and Bundoran

Mary Redican, nee Breslin, Ballybrillighan, Frosses

The death has taken place of Mary Redican, nee Breslin, of Ballybrillighan, Frosses. Remains reposing at her home. Removal on Friday morning at 10.30am to arrive at St. Marys Church, Frosses for 11am. Funeral Mass with interment in the adjoining cemetery. Family flowers only. Donations in lieu to Alzheimers Research c/o any family member or John McGowan Funeral Directors. House private on the morning of the funeral please. There will be park and ride system in place operating at the end of the lane to the wake house each evening from 6pm.

Kevin Doherty Wilson, Clonmany and Dublin

The death has occurred of Kevin Doherty Wilson of Clonmany and Dublin. Reposing at his brother and sister-in-law Barry and Annes house in Annagh, Clonmany. Funeral from there on Friday February 17th at 10.40am, going to St Marys Church, Clonmany for 11am Requiem Mass. Cremation afterwards in Lakelands Crematorium, Cavan at 5pm.

Mary Christina (Mabel) Carty, Dublin and Bundoran

The death has taken place of Mary Christina Carty of Dublin and Bundoran in her 106th year. Remains reposing at Aras Mic Suibhne, Mullinasole, Laghey from Friday at 5.15pm. Removal at 6pm to the Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea, Bundoran for 7pm. Funeral mass on Saturday at 11am with burial in St. Ninnidhs cemetery, Bundoran.

Patrick Doherty, Carndonagh

The death has taken place at Carndonagh Community Hospital of Patrick Doherty, Taylor, late of Hollymount, Carndonagh.

His remains are reposing at the Carndonagh Community Hospital Chapel of Rest.

Removal from there on Friday evening February 17th at 6.30pm going to the Church of the Sacred Heart, Carndonagh for Mass at 7pm. Requiem Mass on Saturday February 18th at 11am, with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery.



Edward Meehan, Ballyshannon

The death has occurred of at the Rock Community Nursing Home of Edward Eddie Meehan, late of Behy, Cashelard, Ballyshannon.

Reposing at the Rock Community Nursing Home on Friday evening from 5.30pm to 6.30pm then travelling to St. Marys Church, Cashelard for 7pm. Funeral Mass on Saturday at 12 noon with burial in the church grounds. Family flowers only please, donations if desired to the Rock Community Nursing Home Patient Comfort Fund c/o Murphys funeral directors, Lahardane, Ballina, Co. Mayo.

Nino Mc Guinness, Moville

The death has taken place of Nino Mc Guinness, St Helens, late of Green Castle Road, Moville.

Funeral on Friday 17th Feb at 10.30am for 11 o'clock mass in St Pius X Church, Moville followed by burial in Ballybrack Cemetery. Family time please from 11pm until 11am.

Family flowers only or if desired donations to the Irish Cancer Society, Night Nurse Services c/o Liam Collins Funeral Director or any family member.



Patrick Boyle, Kilcar

The death has occurred of Patrick Boyle, late of Cullion, Kilcar.

Removal from the eternal light chapel of rest Mountaintop, Letterkenny today, Thursday February 16th, at 3pm to arrive at his residence at 5pm. Removal on Saturday from his residence at 11:30am for funeral mass in St. Carthas Church, Kilcar at 12 noon.

Burial afterwards in Killybegs cemetery. House Private from 11pm to 11am both nights. #

Family flowers only. Donations in lieu to Cliff and Mountain Rescue.



Anna Duffy, Letterkenny

The death has taken place of Anna Duffy, late of 368 Glencar Irish, Letterkenny formerly Brennan Rosemount.

Her remains reposing at her late residence.

Funeral on Sunday 19th Feb going to St Eunans Cathedral for mass at 12 noon, with burial afterwards in the family plot in Conwall Cemetery.

Family flowers only, donations in lieu if desired to the Donegal Hospice, c/o Paschal Blake Funeral Director, Stoney Arch, New Line Road, Letterkenny.

House Strictly Private at the request of the deceased.



* If you wish to have a death notice included, please e-mail: editorial@donegaldemocrat.com and include a contact telephone number for verification.
A Donegal man who sexually exploited a 15-year-old girl he met on a youth mental health website has been jailed for 12 months.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard Donnchadh McGinley, then aged 34, watched the victim's favourite film, Frozen, with her before trying to have sex with her.

McGinley, described by the defence as a vulnerable artist with few social skills, viewed the teenager as his girlfriend, the court heard previously.

McGinley (36) with an address in Iona Road, Letterkenny, Co Donegal, 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.

Sentencing him today, Judge Melanie Greally said the court was dealing with consensual but wholly age-inappropriate sexual activity. She said it did not appear McGinley had set out with predatory intentions.

She took into account several factors including his guilty plea, his good character and testimonials, remorse, personal difficulties and the fact that he was at a particularly low point in his life at the time.

Garda Maria Cox told Eilis Brennan BL, prosecuting, that McGinley was living in Dublin in late 2014 when he got chatting to the teenager on Talklife, a messaging app for young people struggling with mental health issues. The Talklife website describes it as a peer-to-peer support network.

The pair told each other their real ages and continued messaging, before meeting in a park in Kildare. They met a few more times in the park and once in the cinema, occasionally kissing and cuddling, the court heard. McGinley also sent a photograph of his erect penis to the girl.

In January 2015, he invited the girl to come to his friend's apartment in Dublin, as his friend was away. The pair met at 9am on January 3, went to the apartment, drank tea and watched the film, Frozen. It was her favourite film at that stage, Ms Brennan said.

They then went into the bedroom, where McGinley helped the girl get undressed. 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 didn't want to cause her pain, Ms Brennan said. The pair then got up and got dressed. He asked her if she wanted tea, Ms Brennan said.

The pair later fell asleep in the apartment and when the girl woke up the next morning and turned on her phone, she discovered her family and friends were looking for her. Gardai had also been informed.

The girl's parents picked her up at a bus stop close to the apartment and she told them what had happened. All contact between the pair ceased and McGinley was later arrested and charged.

Victim impact statement

In a victim impact statement read out in court by Ms Brennan, the girl, who was in court for the sentence hearing, said she found it hard to cope after the incident.

In some way, I feel I lost part of my childhood, she said. I never had any dealings with the gardai before and I was overwhelmed and anxious...I don't trust people as easily as I used to.

McGinley, who has no previous convictions, told gardai that he had bonded with the girl as they both suffered from depression.

Defence barrister, Tara Burns SC, said McGinley wished to apologise to the victim, whom he viewed as his girlfriend. She submitted that he felt it was a serious relationship.

He saw it as a relationship where each person benefited, where clearly this was not the case. It has had a significant effect on her life and how she sees the world, Ms Burns said

Ms Burns said McGinley, an artist, was a vulnerable person with few social skills, who was isolated at the time of the incident. He suffered from a depressive illness and anxiety.

A psychological report was handed up in court along with a number of testimonials. Several family members were in court to support him.
The Hartford Police Department is reaching out to the community to educate residents on firearm safety.

We have hosted this program for some time, Hartford Police Chief Annie Ward said. However, many residents may still be unaware of this class. This class is very important for individuals who are not familiar with a handgun. There is a difference between owning a handgun and knowing how to properly use a handgun.

According to Ward, the department offers this class to Hartford residents and any organization in the area

We currently have a class scheduled for approximately 20 participants, Ward said. This class is for one of our local churches. Several women in the church stated this program would be very beneficial to them, so we scheduled a class. The whole idea of this class is to educate participants on how to handle a firearm and shoot a firearm. My goal is to make sure everyone who participates in the class walks away knowing how to properly use their gun for protection. I want them to understand how to use it, and feel comfortable when using the handgun. If you plan to use a gun, you must know how to handle the weapon and feel comfortable doing so.

Ward schedules approximately six to eight firearm safety training courses a year. Each class will hold approximately 20 participants.

I encourage any resident who needs this training to plan on participating in one of the classes. All they have to do is call the department and ask to be put on the firearm training list. When enough names are on the list a course will be scheduled.

The firearm safety training course is free of charge for all Hartford residents and organizations in Hartford.

This is just a way we give back to our community, Ward said. We are here to help our residents and I believe this is a great way to help the community.

All participants in the course must carry a current concealed weapon permit.

For more information regarding the firearm safety course, call 588-2222.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

Trend:

Permanent Mission of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the OSCE has raised the issue on Armenias intention to hold an illegal referendum in the occupied Azerbaijani territories during the OSCE Permanent Council meeting, said Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry in a message Feb. 17.

According to the press reports, on Feb. 20, 2017, Armenia plans to conduct so-called referendum on constitutional changes in the puppet illegal regime it has established in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, says the statement of the Azerbaijani permanent mission.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan reiterates that the illegal regime established by Armenia in the temporarily occupied territories of Azerbaijan is ultimately nothing other than the product of aggression and occupation. It is under Armenias direction and control and survives by virtue of its military, political, financial and other support, as was confirmed by the European Court of Human Rights in its judgement of 16 June 2015 on the case of Chiragov and others v. Armenia, says the statement. This provocative step, as well as Armenias attempts to change the name of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, the integral part of Azerbaijan, is yet another clear manifestation that Armenia is not genuinely interested in seeking a political settlement of the armed conflict.

Instead, Armenia pursues the path of escalation, undertakes consistent measures to consolidate the results of its occupation policy and to maintain unacceptable and unsustainable status quo, undermines efforts for the peaceful resolution of the conflict through substantive talks, illegally changes the demographic, cultural and physical character of the occupied territories, engages in economic and other activities, including transfer of Armenian population into these territories with the ultimate goal of imposing a fait accompli situation, according to the statement. By such actions Armenia also undermines and puts under jeopardy the regional and international peace and security. The principled basis for the settlement of the conflict is laid down in the United Nations Security Council resolutions 822(1993), 853(1993), 874(1993) and 884(1993) and the UN General Assembly resolution 62/243 (2008), which condemn the use of force against Azerbaijan and occupation of its territories and reaffirm the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the inviolability of its internationally recognized borders.

In those resolutions, the UN Security Council reaffirmed that the Nagorno-Karabakh 2 region is an inalienable part of Azerbaijan and demanded immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces from all occupied territories of Azerbaijan, according to the statement.

The illegal referendum constitutes a clear violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the norms and principles of international law, and, therefore, has no legal effect whatsoever. This so-called referendum is being conducted in the seized lands under situation created through the use of force and threat of force against the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan by Armenia and accompanied by the notorious practice of ethnic cleansing and other flagrant violations of the norms and principles of international law, says the statement. We call upon the international community to reject this fabricated illegal referendum exercise and to exert political and diplomatic pressure on Armenia with a view to drop its futile attempts to mislead its own people and the wider international community, cease its policy of occupation and annexation, engage constructively in the conflict settlement process and comply with its international obligations.
Many Android users have been victims of the so-called zombie apps or data-stealers apps pretending to as legit and safe apps. To combat this, Google called for a massive purging of mobile applications that could be zombie apps.

In an article published by The Next Web, a series of letter from Google was sent to app developers who lacks privacy policy with their products available at the Play Store. Google also reminded the developers of the importance of transparent privacy policy for its users.

Google expects developers to give a clear private policy that could show them where their data goes, Greenbot has reported. Most of the zombie apps do not only have an unclear and hidden private policy but it also asks for sensitive information like bank details and digital accounts from the users.

Developers who will fail to show their private policy would face sanctions like their apps being removed from the Play Store. This act is based Google Play Store's User Data policy, where developers are expected to follow it from the start.

BGR also reported that some developers may not produce zombie apps but could not give a secured privacy policy to the users since they keep on forgetting to upload it. This could be rooted from the lack of downloaders of their apps.

Some apps could not be zombie apps but Google could think they were since they ask subtle access like smartphone account, contacts access, and even camera and microphone access. These could lead to privacy invasion since there are rare cases that the camera and microphone access could record and upload contents without the users' consent.

Right now, there is no certainty on the number of apps affected by Google's call but various sources said that it could lead up to millions. In order for the developers to keep their apps in the Play Store, they must comply with Google Play Store's policy until March 15 before facing removal.

For the apps that would only have minor violations, Google would not phase them out but would only receive less visibility on its users. It could still be a damage to the developers.

For the users to avoid zombie apps, Google advised them to check developer and review their privacy policy before downloading their app. This could be a large task for Google but it is time for some spring cleaning.
Trump Stumped IT And Pharma

Introduction

Newly elected protectionist US President Donald J Trump has evoked fear across the world on his forthcoming economic policies. Especially, the IT industry is feeling severe tremors on account of financial instability and uncertainty pertaining to the sector. IT companies that are having majority of their exposure in the US will be facing very difficult times ahead if the proposed policy changes go through in the upcoming quarters.

The actions taken by Trump such as banning visas for several countries and introducing H-1B visa reform in the US Congress. The US and China trade war will also lead to major consequences for the emerging economies.

Here is an exclusive report on Trumps impact on the most crucial sectors, IT and pharmaceuticals.

H-1B Visa bill in USA

What is a H-1B visa?

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa given by the United States to employ skilled workers from other countries for various specialised fields of occupation for a certain period of time.

What is the H-1B Visa Programme Bill?

The Bill prohibits companies from hiring H-1B employees if they employ more than 50 people and more than 50 per cent of their employees are H-1B and L-1 visa holders.

The Bill encourages companies to recruit American workers. This provision would crack down on outsourcing companies that import large numbers of H-1B and L-1 workers for short training periods and then send these workers back to their home country to do the work of Americans, according to the Senators who introduced the Bill.

H-1B visa top sponsors

US President Donald Trump is set to sign a new executive order aimed at mending programmes like the H-1B and L1 that will make it tougher for foreign workers to get work visas. Around two-thirds of H-1B visa applicants are Indian nationals, who either work for Indian IT services firms such as TCS, Infosys and Wipro or the local operations of US firms such as Accenture, IBM and Google. In 2016, the US issued 85,000 H-1B visas worldwide, of which 70 per cent went to Indians.

The Bill explicitly prohibits replacement of American workers by H-1B or L-1 visa holders. The Bill seeks to give the Department of Labour enhanced authority to review, investigate and audit employer compliance as well as to penalise fraudulent or abusive conduct. It also seeks to increase the minimum salary of H-1B visa holders by more than double to USD 130,000 per annum.

Currently, firms need not go through extensive paperwork if the potential H-1B employee has an equivalent of a Masters or higher degree and the person is paid at least USD 60,000 on a yearly basis. At the same time, the bill aims to do away with the Masters degree exemption.

The new President of US Donald Trump has not pointed out any countrys name or any particular company regarding H10B visa irregularities. The Presidents intentions give clear indication to the Indian IT companies that the policy of not employing American workers will not be feasible in the US under the Trump administration, which will follow a simple rule  buy American, hire American. Trumps protectionist stance may hurt not only India but also America too.

Indian IT industrys take

The Indian IT industry believes that the so-called H-1B visa reform bill does not address the root cause of the problem of shortage of STEM skills (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) in the US. There is perception that companies pay low salaries to people who are sent to work on these visas. Meanwhile, highly skilled IT workers on temporary visas earn competitive salaries and cost their employers as much or more than their American counterparts.

Apart from the visa curbs, the US had also recently hiked the visa fee for certain categories of the H-1B and L1 visas which has had an impact on Indian companies.

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The IT majors in America such as Apple, Google, Microsoft and IBM will be lobbying with Trump and explaining that more jobs would be generated by the US companies if they outsource to India. The potential visa curbs are coming a time when the traditional IT services sector is under pressure from automation and the shift in spending on newer areas such as digital and cloud.

Minimum wage and discrimination

The introduction of the bill in the US House of Representatives calling for more than doubling the minimum salary of H-1B visa holders to USD 130000 from the current USD 60000 would prove to be untenable for the Indian IT sector. The current H1B minimum wage of USD 60000 was stipulated in 1989 and since then it has remained unchanged.

Indian companies have been employing more US citizens in anticipation of the H-1B visa curbs. But employing more US citizens will automatically increase the cost for Indian outsourcers. As a result, it will impact their margins and overall profit. The Indian IT industry is already struggling in the form of slow growth amid big changes in the technological landscape (like automation and artificial intelligence) and global headwinds like Brexit. On the other hand, with most of the projects now on digital or cloud platforms, the need to send employees on H-1B visas will also go down.

Slump in Overseas Projects

Right now, the IT industry is not experiencing any slack in the outsourcing business. But this is an early stage and we can expect slackening of outsourcing projects in future. The Trump administrations moves to curb temporary visa usage or limit trade could accelerate the use of automation and cloud computing options in lieu of traditional offshore outsourcing.

There are slim chances of Trumps protectionist policies materialising into realty, but if such radial changes are forthcoming, then Indian IT companies should be ready to tackle these kind of changes. Going forward, the full-time employee model will become history.

Increase in Employee expense

After studying factors dogging the IT sector, we can now focus on financial impact of these factors on IT companies. From the above graph, we can see that more than 50 per cent of revenue comes from the US geography. The protectionist mechanism being put in place in the US may hurt the toplines of Indian IT companies going forward.

From operational profitability point of view also, margins may drop in the forthcoming quarters. Expenses on employees are the single largest pie of the total expenditure. From the graph, we can say that more than 55 per cent of the total expenditure goes towards expenses on employees. Indian companies may see their wage costs going up with local hiring. Curbing of issue of visas may lead to increase in employee expenses in the forthcoming financial year.

Shareholders wealth erosion so far and future course of action

Indian IT companies crashed with the doubling of minimum wage for H1B visa. If you take a look at the above graph, it is evident that the Trump impact spooked stock market and diminished shareholders wealth as the topmost IT companies share prices dropped. The shareholders started factoring in the upcoming burden of increased employee expenses, slackening of IT projects from the US, etc. Though there are various factors that are right now are going against the IT sector, the valuations of the IT companies are still pretty attractive. The Trump impact is in a way a short term turbulence for the industry. We, at DSIJ, would advise our reader-investors to take this opportunity to go long on the IT sector. Going forward from a long term perspective, we are looking at quite a stable kind of scenario for the industry.

Trump Impact on Indian Pharmaceuticals

On November 8, as it gradually became clear that Donald Trump was about to defy the odds and become the 45th President of the United States, financial markets all over the globe nosedived and nervous investors started dumping equity markets. But one of the bright spots amidst this chaos was the pharmaceutical stocks which remained resilient and gained in trade.

However, ever since the new Presidents first press conference and the subsequent meeting of top pharma bosses is making pharma executives globally nervous ever since the first press meet where he attacked the big pharma companies left, right and centre and in a way indicated shape of things to come in due course of time for the pharmaceutical industry.

We in this exhaustive report try to decode the impact of Trumps policy which will affect Indias pharmaceutical companies.

Affordable drug pricing

As it was widely expected by most of the pharmaceutical executives that the incoming US President and the Republican Party would be beneficial for the pharma industry because of the partys long-term opposition to drug price control and its support for free markets. Now, in hindsight, the expectation has turned out to be totally misplaced. On the contrary, Trump played to the galleries and made pretty clear that his focus would be to bring much-needed sanctity to the industry by fixing key issues and the most important and populist issue being drug pricing, which impacts common Americans the most.

The US government is focussed on bringing down the cost of medicines in the country by coming down heavily on branded speciality drug makers, which in turn could be blessing in disguise for the Indian pharmaceutical industry as India enjoys a considerable amount of premium when it comes to making quality and affordable medicines globally.

Therefore, Indian pharma is set to gain on account of affordable drug pricing regime under the Trump administration. Indian pharmaceutical sector is likely to gain immensely if the move is actually set into motion, as the new US President aims to reduce drug prices since the countrys generic medicines are already affordable.

All the rhetoric concerning drug prices being astronomically high is related to branded drugs. Low cost of manufacturing of generic drugs provides Indian pharmaceutical companies the much-needed cushion and are likely to be the least affected by the anticipated policy changes in the US. If the new government in the US makes it a priority to control healthcare cost in the country, then the Indian pharma industry is best suited to take advantage of any such changes in the near future.

Lowering Taxes

The US President has asked drug makers to bring back manufacturing to the United States. In order to bring back jobs to the US and subsequently bring down the cost of drug manufacturing, the Trump administration plans to lower the existing tax rates in order to provide incentives to pharma majors to move back their respective units into the country, and at the same time, promote innovation which would help save billions of dollars in import of drugs from around the world, including India.

Getting rid of regulation

In a boost of sorts for the pharma companies globally, and especially the Indian pharmaceutical majors, the new US administration plans to get rid of regulations that are unnecessary and at times troublesome in getting the required approvals for the drugs to be sold in the markets. Trump emphasised deregulation of the strict controls on marketing medicines in the US as promised, cutting down regulations drastically.

The President also criticised the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval process for new drugs saying that he was troubled seeing terminally ill patients waiting to get vital medicines because of the approval delays on the part of drug regulator.

Indian pharmaceuticals have been one of the losers when it comes to pending drug approval on the part of the US FDA. Indian drug manufacturers have suffered by way of revenue losses due to pending approvals from the drug watchdog. If the regulatory aspect is eased by the current dispensation, it will certainly be beneficial for the pharma companies in India as it would help clear the entire backlog of pending applications.

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Change in guard at USFDA

The President also in his recent address said that he plans to announce someone "fantastic" to lead the FDA soon. There are many names doing the rounds currently, with wide expectations that new US President in all likelihood will be going for an unconventional choice for the chief of the US FDA. If speculation is to be believed, the new chief of US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will not be a medical practitioner. The current US FDA commissioner, Robert Califf, is a cardiologist.

There are growing rumours of an Indian American being posted at the helm of affairs of arguably the most powerful drug regulator in the world. An Indian American, Balaji Srinivasan, who is a technology and biotechnology entrepreneur and a critic of the functioning of the FDA, is among those being considered to head the agency. He is an advocate of minimal government interference in the regulatory affairs of the FDA. However, the change of guard at the regulator is likely to be watched by the pharma top bosses globally to take cues on the type of regulatory oversight which will be put in place in days to come.

Significant Exposure to US markets

Lupin

Dr Reddys

Sun Pharma

Aurobindo Pharma

Glenmark Pharma

The above companies have significant exposure to the US markets and will be directly impacted by the policy and regulatory changes taking place with respect to pharmaceutical industry. These companies are facing pricing pressure in their most profitable market over the past quarters. The overhang of regulatory inspection by the US drug regulator has hurt major pharma companies in the past two years as several issues pertaining to the manufacturing process have been questioned which has resulted in delays in new drug approvals. Another worry that Indian drug companies are currently facing is the ongoing investigation by the US Department of Justice into suspected collusion by drug companies to artificially inflate prices of certain drugs.

The US, the worlds largest market for pharmaceutical companies, remains a vital market for all the Indian companies and their revenues and profitability is directly linked to how they perform in the biggest market, which in many cases contribute almost half of the revenues earned.

The US Presidents statements on pharma companies if translated into reality would mean protectionist stance favouring local manufacturers and suppliers over foreign players. This, in turn, would be a bad news for Indian companies at a time when the drug producers are already dealing with pricing pressures in the US generics market due to heightened competition and channel consolidation.

Conclusion

Donald Trump's protectionist stance could have a major impact on Indian exporters such as IT and pharma, trade relations, as well as fund flows coming into India. However, given the competitive advantage the Indian pharmaceuticals industry enjoys along with rapid development of innovative drugs will certainly give Indian companies an edge over other drug makers. We, at DSIJ, firmly believe that the issue pertaining to pharma industry has been blown out of proportion and the announcement made by the newly-elected President will not materially impact drug makers in a big way. On the contrary, it may turn out to be a boon for Indian pharma companies, especially when the focus of the government will be on affordable drug pricing, deregulating the approval procedures and innovating cheaper drugs. Evidently, Trumps focus is mostly on the big pharma companies and their patented products and not on the generic drug offerings by the Indian pharmaceutical companies.

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INTERVIEWS

Suman Reddy, MD Pegasystem (India)

"If the world has to prosper, jobs have to be created across the world"

1. The new Trump administration has created lot of confusion regarding the fate of Indian IT industry. Can you help us understand what is really causing worries to IT companies due to the recent developments in America?

There are couple of things that has attracted our attention towards the new policies. Firstly, the minimum wages that has been increased from USD 60,000 to USD 130,000, which once approved, 20 per cent of those visas will be used by start-up employees. That causes lot of uncertainty, not only among Indian companies but also among some big companies like Apple, Google, Oracle, Cisco, who have been relying on talent coming into the country with H-1B visas for many decades and many of these organisations were able to innovate and create only because these talents were able to migrate from rest of the world. So, by introducing a bill that discourages people to import talent by making them more expensive creates an uncertainty about the future of technology world that operates in America. So, to answer the question, in the short term, if the Indian IT companies have to pay more wages, it would certainly impact the profitability of all the companies who are using H-1B visa to send people onshore for consulting services. This would directly hit their bottomlines. So, there is uncertainty for many global organisations working in that region. The major component is the people who go to the US to study and transition to H-1B visa, or people who move to the country with H-1B visa to work in America. Their billable dollar value at times does not cross USD 130,000, so they are worried of losing their jobs, as the companies may think of giving their jobs to the local US citizens who will be ready to work at lower cost and may not even have better skills than the visa holders.

2. Can you throw some light on the possibility of clearance of H-1B visa bill in the US House of Representatives?

It will be premature for any of us to make a guess as to what would end up happening, as you might have seen in last few weeks that the American president has been introducing bills to assure citizens. Having said that, industries are lobbying, and not just IT industry, but also the American technology industry led by the largest companies of the world, as they also rely on intellectual talent working on H-1B visas. They are worrying because it would create problem in their ability to build great technology in a way.

There are some quarters in the industry who think that the policy would reach somewhere in the middle. The government may come up with a refined policy, leaving some adverse points, like cutting down the minimum wages to a reasonable limit. There are lot such speculations going on, so we will have to wait and see how the final policy comes up. Lot of unprecedented things have happened in the last few weeks.

3. What can Indian and other global companies do in order to mitigate any eventuality arising out of policy changes in the US?

As per some reports of few Indian IT organisations, some of the companies explained that in the last five years they have already removed or rather reduced their reliance on H-1B visas, which means that the financial impact is going to be less than what was originally anticipated. If that is true, I think they will be able to figure out a way over the next couple of years how they would mitigate it further. For a quarter or two, they might be impacted from a volume's perspective, because suddenly you would start paying more money to some of the people. On a longer term perspective, I see some benefits as well if this bill goes through. Their onshore businesses might have margin problems or profitability issues, so by the same token, they might be able to bring in more work to India through outsourcing, because if resources are more expensive onshore, these organisations will be more amenable to sell that work where the calibre is available and that becomes very difficult to curb or restrict.

4. As the new US President emphasises more about creating jobs in the US, how would company like Pega System, which is listed in the US and has its set up in other countries, prepare to deal with this move?

Technology companies' stories are different. We are innovative software company that produces world's best customer relationship management software that gets used by most sophisticated and larger organisations of the world, including the US government, British government, and many other governments in the world. The big part of technology is innovation and production of great softwares, and our entry into India was primarily not to cut costs. We came here in India because India produces top talents of the world. We hire the top talents from the best of the colleges in the country. We not only have development and R&D centres in India, we have in Europe, Australia and many other parts of the world as well, while the headquarter is in the US. Most of the technology companies establish subsidiaries at various locations so that they can attract talents that can do innovation for us. On the economic front, the US government should realise that many of these are large American technology companies, including ours. There are many other organisations that are getting benefited from the global economy. All the money that we make does not come from America alone, many of our revenues come from outside of America. When you can get financial benefit from outside the country, there should not be a problem of creating jobs outside of America as well. All I can say is that we, including other growth companies, are going to continue creating jobs in America but that does not mean that we will stop creating jobs in India. We are looking for talent across the world, if the world has to prosper, jobs have to be created across the world.

5. Do you see incoming business getting impacted going forward for the Indian IT industry?

I personally do not see any impact on the revenue as such. The amount of business or the nature of business should not be impacted. However, in the long run, some of the mix of work will be relooked at. Assuming the bill does pass, we can anticipate that there might be some rebalancing of the work done onshore versus the amount of work done offshore. I think we would come up with more innovative solutions than what we are doing right now. The uncertainty has many directions, and I see more opportunity as opposed to being worried as such.

[PAGE BREAK]

F C Kohli - Former CEO, TCS

"Let our leaders, bureaucrats guide us in uncertain times"



During these days of uncertainty looming large over the IT sector in India, in a lazy winter afternoon, Souvick Bhaduricatches up with F C Kohli, the Former CEO of TCS and 'Father of India's Software Industry.' Excerpts:



"We need direction from our leaders at this juncture," says F C Kohli, the 'Father of Indian Software Industry,' during a faded winter afternoon in south Mumbai addressing a crowd. Referring to the recent political developments in the USA and change of guard, Kohli, the man who had led India's software revolution and been instrumental in inception of TCS way back in 1968, believes India's political figures and bureaucrats must be exposed in industrial happenings to guide the country's industries and also safeguard their interests. How many Members of Parliament have experience in the industry, how many of your bureaucrats, i,e Indian Administrative Services officers have experience in industry.We have very little direction from our leaders, Padma Bhushan Kohli said while attending Paradigm-2017 in Mumbai's St. Xavier's College. While he avoids taking further direct questions on the situation, he admits the time is critical, the developments in the USA are sensitive in nature but India has to further gear up to tackle all the challenges being faced by it at this time.

This somewhat is a logical set up for a potential country like India where the country is filled with resources, who are hardworking, focused and produces results. Be it core problems of the country or plotting a roadmap for the growth of the country, understanding and implementing any solution efficiently would become much robust and easier if the country has people from industries in the Ministries or administrative services, the man who held coveted directorial positions in the boards of Tata Sons Ltd., Tata Honeywell Ltd., Tata Unisys Ltd., says.

Under his management, TCS had grown many folded. He believes that IT is not just about software, it is about hardware too F C Kohli Former CEO, TCS . Kohli has recently said, I was actively involved in the decision to bring IBM to India. A JV for hardware manufacturing and support in India, Tata-IBM, was set up in 1991-92. At present, major part of Indias IT business comes from export, facilitating countries like the USA and different parts of Europe among the other major countries of the world. However, this stream of export was first initiated by Kohli. It was 1974, when TCS got its first project from Burroughs, major computer maker back then based in Detroit US, to make a healthcare software that would be packaged with their computers. They could successfully deliver the work on time. Appreciating the work done by the company, Burroughs gave more work and remained one of the steady client for TCS. Since then we never looked back Kohli said in a statement. What went unnoticed was that the dependency on US kept increasing since then. The damage was already done. We were so happy in exporting rather than learning new languages. he added.

This situation has reached to an extent where, at present Indian IT industry generates as much as USD 160 billion of revenue, out of which USD 110 billion comes from export he stated. Countries like China also has revenue on a similar line, but they are not dependent on export. He believes that India is doing good but India should use the talents it has for further development of the country. He believes that gaining more knowledge is required, but with the existing knowledge pool that the country has, is sufficient to make revolution and help the country progress exponentially. He says, India has no business to be poor.

[PAGE BREAK]



IT companies should take a lesson from Trumps visa policy, invest in future to secure future of stake-holders



His name has been synonymous with Indias information and communications technology sphere. He had been an advisor to the countrys Prime Minister and had also headed National Knowledge Commission. He holds 20 honorary PhDs and close to 100 global patents. Sam Pitroda knows the ICT sector better than most of the czars frequently visible on news television screens. Living in Chicago, Pitroda has been closely observing happenings in the Indian IT and ICT sectors since Donald Trump took over the mantle from his predecessor Barack Obama and the former started coming up with various policies affecting India Inc. almost every morning.

In an exclusive interaction with Joydeep R Ray, he talks about the present and future of Indias IT industry. Excerpts of the long-distance telephonic interview:

Q1. Sam, thank you for taking time to talk to DSIJ. As the USA administration once again clarifies its stand on H-1B visa policy, how do you see Indian IT companies being hit in the near and the long term?

A: At this time, I can sense some immediate slowdown in the Indian IT industry. Trumps America First visa policy will definitely hit the outsourcing phenomenon and I can see it already hitting Indian entities. Now that is what I can see and feel on a near-term basis. IT companies based in India and depending heavily on the vast American markets will not be having much options to avert the threats coming from this new visa policy launched by the new President of the USA.

When you ask me about the long-term effect, let me tell you things may get worse for the IT biggies in India. Loads of work which earlier had been done by Indians, will be transferred to their American counterparts. Companies will not have much choice in it. Work in the fields of artificial intelligence, machine reading, automation will be the worst hit. Over a period of time, you will find lots of such works being automated, thus keeping hardly any scope for the Indian IT companies and their employees in certain specified segments. Those routine jobs like coding, etc. will be eliminated. And that is the future. All these are for sure going to hit the Indian IT/ICT companies badly. Let us now be prepared for the same.

Q2. Were Indian companies ready for this? Did they see it coming?

A: Unfortunately, Indian IT companies never had a long-term view in such cases. They are rich, some of them are even richer than Google, Facebook and all. They have been saving their money, building a huge corpus as they never invest in productstheir only investment is in human resources. They never even invest in future. When you dont invest in future, then such global tensions, changes in policies of client countries hit you badlythat is what has happened in this case. Indian software companies operate in a weird manner in certain cases and conditions. They will go abroad and help sort out issues being faced by Citi Bank but they wont help a local co-operative bank to manage its things properly. They talk global but remain reluctant about global burning issues. Then you cant even criticise them as they are rich. But the way they operate or so far have been operating, it has to change else every global happening will hit them badly.

Q3. Now that things have changed in the USA and so among Indian IT companieswould you suggest them to go aggressive in terms of other geographical locations?

A. Why not? They have already started tapping the markets in Japan and African countriesthey must also tap more Asian countries and aggressively. But all said and done, no other market can be like the USA when it comes to churning profits for Indian IT companies. So that is why I see their spirits and numbers getting dampened in the near-term and the long-term.

But then there are other virgin areas they need to tap. Go young, pick up younger people, buy young companies with fresh, new thoughts. Go on an acquisition spree, go building productschange the way you had so far run your companies.

Q4. When it comes to building global companies, India really could not make much headway even after 70 years since its Independence. Where did we fail, where did our IT companies fail?

A. They never take risks. Do they create a risk fundthe answer is, no. Why did none of Infy, TCS, Wipro, etc. could become a Googletell me? This happens when you are too inclined to strengthen your profit, make huge profits but not look beyond a point. Could not any of Indias IT companies become a Google, if they would have really thought global beyond a pointthey did not. Do we have something like a software fund? Do we take risks, try new things? See, the world is changing very fast. As of now, we are not ready to cope up with such fast changes. While the companies cant look beyond their profit margins, we have other problems in the government. As a country, we are too much bureaucratic, there are red-tapes everywhere. We dont have task-oriented organisations, everything here is process-oriented. Too many forms to fill in, too many unnecessary checks and balances and all these also affect technological advances.

Q5. Where do the Indian IT companies go from here, then?

A: For now, at least for two financial years, I dont see any improvement in numbers, rather things may go otherwise. Considering the USA policies do not change, and I mean visa policies, and tomorrow there may be some more new policies coming from the White House, things do not look very bright.

This learning should now be encashed by our IT companies and they must invest in future. They should recognise the world is changing very fast, they should stop relying on their past models. They must invent new models, new business plans, think new. The old formulas which have built an Infosys or TCS, may not work even in the near future.

[PAGE BREAK]

Dhananjay Sinha, Head Institutional Research, Economist & Strategist, Emkay Global

"If any visa reform happens, it will impact FY19 performance"

What will be the impact of the proposed H-1B visa reforms on the Indian IT companies?

A.

There has been a flurry of visa reform bills that have been introduced in the US Congress in recent weeks. Additionally there is a leaked draft of the Presidents executive order. Note that any major changes will however have to go through a legislative process only. The Presidents executive order can only change the process of administration and the leaked draft also has proposals along those lines. The recommendations from the bills that have been tabled vary, with the High Skills xx Act introduced by Rep Zoe Lofgren appearing the most onerous currently. However, this bill has been introduced by a Democrat senator and hence the odds of going through are less. Additionally, the points to note are that legislative process in the US is a long cumbersome process and it takes months if not weeks for any bill to finally see the light of the day. This essentially means that even if any visa reform process happens, it will mostly have an impact on FY19 performance. Prima facie, it certainly appears that these actions will increase the local cost of delivery for Indian IT companies and hence will be detrimental on margins. The impact on margins will be dependent on several factors, including,

(1) Percentage of revenues from North America (higher the proportion, higher the impact)

(2) Percentage of staff in the US on visa (higher the proportion, higher the impact)(3) Average salary of the staff on work visas (lower the salary compared to the benchmark, higher the impact)

(4) Current margin profile (lower the margins, higher the impact)

Since we do not have all the details on the average onsite compensations for companies, it is difficult to estimate the exact quantum of hit.

Which companies will be impacted the most if the visa reform goes through?

Once again it if difficult to estimate the exact quantum of hit on individual companies due to reasons pointed out above, but Wipro and HCL Tech have a higher share of local staff as compared to other tier-I techs.

What are your expectations of growth prospects for Indian IT companies in 2017? What would you advise retail investors to do with respect to IT stocks at current juncture?

Outside of the risks from an adverse policy change on visas, we believe that CY17 will be a better year in terms of client IT spending. We reviewed our stance in early December 2016 and are of the view that with normalisation in spending, we should see an uplift in operational performance for tier-II techs. Hence, we prefer tier-II techs over tier-1's. While valuations are reasonable even for tier-Is, we do not think there will be any meaningful change to the growth trajectory for the larger companies given scale challenges. However, tier-II techs have seen a dismal financial performance in CY16/FY17 and these companies will benefit from the normalisation in spending. Mindtree and Hexaware are our top picks in the tier-II coverage universe.

Dr Subhash C Mandal, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs-Pharmacy Division, Indian Pharmaceutical Association

"Indian cos need to change focus towards niche products and new drug delivery systems"

1. There has been a suggestion from the new US administration on cutting down drug prices in return for fewer regulations. What are your views on it? Do you think the pricing is astronomical as claimed by the US administration? Do you see reducing prices is feasible option?

Price of medicines are too high in the US and reduction in prices will help the US people. Medicines are expensive not only because of taxes alone, but it is also due to new drug development cost which is very high. American companies would have to find ways and means to contain increased cost of drug development.

2. Do you see Trumps plans to reduce the regulatory power of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would impact pharma companies in general?

Reduction of regulatory power of the US FDA may help the innovator companies to launch a new drug within a short span of time and it will reduce spending on marketing a new drug in the US. But it may not be good for the patients as they may have a chance of lowering screening as they have to go through increasing chance of compromised safety and efficacy of the new drug.

3. Do you see any major impact on Indian pharma companies having major exposure to the US, if the new administration's effort of slashing taxes to promote manufacturing in the US succeeds?

Presently Indian pharma companies are taking advantage of their low production costs to compete with their counterparts resulting in more exports. Tax reduction proposed by the US administration will help companies in the US to produce drugs at lower price which may increase competition for the Indian manufacturers, but tax reduction is a fraction of the cost of drug development.

4. How will restrictions on pharmaceutical imports and manufacturing abroad can impact the Indian pharmaceutical industry?

Yes, it may have negative impact on exports by Indian pharmaceutical industry, but Indian companies have capability to set up industry abroad.

5. Where do you see the sector as a whole heading in the upcoming years, after such radical changes on the global front?

Experts are of the opinion that the US administration is not going for price negotiation as per the recent indication. If so, there may not be much impact on overall performance of the global market.

6. Do you think Indian pharma entities rather than depending too much on the US markets, should also explore European markets further with their emphasis on new drug delivery?

Yes, that may be an option, but the EU market is very small in terms of volume. There is already a move by Indian manufacturers in the direction of foraying into the African and Middle East markets. Indian manufacturers cannot depend upon generics any more for export market, but there is a need to change focus in the area of niche products and new drug delivery systems.

7. Do you think more aggressive routes should be taken by pharma companies in India to woo the domestic markets so that in case of such changes happening across the border, our pharma entities do not get affected?

In spite of tremendous development in drug production in India, a large sector of the population has no access to modern medicines. Innovative strategies need to be developed to cater to this huge market. Moreover, Indian companies should invest in drug development for diseases prevailing in third world countries.

Narayan Shetkar, Director, Singhi Advisors

Good opportunity to buy pharma stocks in next 2-3 months

Will the generic pharma industry get impacted by the recent statements coming from the US administration?

The Trump administrations initiative to bolster the capacities of the US drug industry with an onus on local manufacturing and price reduction has spooked Indian generic drug manufacturers, who foresee their export market being impacted on account of following reasons:

1) India is among the top exporter of generic pharmaceuticals to the US. Indian generic drug companies have grown significantly post-enactment of Obamacare law in 2010, which allowed the use of biosimilars. This doubled Indias pharma exports to the US from USD 31 billion to USD 66 billion. Revoking and replacing Obamacare will impact Indian pharma companies to some extent.

2) Border taxes on imports could lead to higher cost for Indian pharma companies in terms of exports.

3) Change in pricing policy, creating a manufacturing hub in the US will definitely affect Indian pharma players but not on a large scale. Indian generic pharma industry will be moderately impacted due to change in policies in the US.

The new US administration is of the view that drugs should be manufactured in the US. What is your view on it?

Companies moved out of the US in search of cheap labor in China and India. Returning back to the US will increase manufacturing costs due to minimum wage policies and other infrastructure expenses being high. There will be a change in the deal scenario with more outbound investments in assets in the US markets, rather than going for brand purchasing deal. The insistence of the Trump administration on localising drug manufacturing could eliminate the sizeable cost benefits enjoyed by Indian drug exporters all these years.

Will Indian companies be ready to manufacture in the US if tax sops are provided? How will it impact the earnings?

If corporate taxes are significantly lowered, it will incentivise the US-based and Indian companies to set up manufacturing bases in the US. For quick profitability, Indian companies should go for outbound deals or enter into JVs with the US-based manufacturing firms.

What would you advise investors to do with respect to pharma stocks at the current juncture?

Presently, pharma stocks have corrected significantly due to the US FDA inspections and President Trumps speech. The next 2-3 months present a good buying opportunity for investors from a long term perspective.

What are your expectations of growth prospects for Indian pharma companies in 2017?

The political uncertainty created post-US elections, upcoming elections in European nations and Brexit are expected to significantly impact the Indian pharma sector, with companies strongly focused on exports facing a sluggish period. However, companies with a larger focus on the domestic market will continue to register stronger growth owing to good domestic consumption.

Jagat Shah, Vice Chairman, United States' - India Importers' Council

" For them, 'America first,' why it wont be 'India first' for us"



Trumponomics marks paradigm shift in American policies, the hallmark of which is protectionism  be it to protect jobs or USs business interests. Indian companies would do well to respond to the policy shift by exploring new markets, thereby derisking their business from being US-centric, and also developing new technologies and products to grow their business.

The Trump victory, however unlikely it may have seemed, has now created waves of uncertainty around the world  what his victory would entail for the rest of the world is anybodys guess. Adopting a strong protectionist stance, Trump has taken many bold steps in the first few days, one of which is putting a cap on H1B visas. He could do this in two ways: either by raising the auction fees or by raising the minimum wage. He even plans to legislate reduction in issuance of green card visas to half.

Recent developments in the Indian IT sector underscores our proclivity to panic in the short-term and setting on a course-correction later. The 'Protect and Grow American Jobs Act,' was reintroduced in the US Congress recently. It proposes an increase in the minimum annual salary of H-1B visa-holders to $130,000, and the elimination of the Masters Degree exemption, among other things. BSE IT index tumbled down 4 per cent a day after the proposed announcement!

Narayan Murthy, the former CEO of Infosys in an interview with Mint about Trumps supposed executive order for H1B visas, said, I think even if the executive order comes, we should look at it more as an opportunity for Indian companies to become more multi-cultural than we have been, rather than looking at it as a lacuna. This points to the necessity of level-headedness Indian companies across various sectors need to show in the face of rising wave of protectionist backlash worldwide.

However, one cannot blindly ignore the recent developments happening in the US. Till now, Indian tech companies hired 90 per cent of workers in the US on H1B visas. In 2015, out of the 1,72,748 H1B visas, a major chunk of it was acquired by Wipro, TCS and Infosys. Even American companies such as Cognizant had started using the same model by recruiting their Indian staff on H1B visas to drive down their operational cost. A sudden increase by almost 100 per cent in the minimum wage for holding an H1B visa is definitely a big blow to the Indian IT industry.

The model for the Indian IT industries to rev up their revenues was to increase the overall profit margins by hiring cheap indigenous labour, as they cannot transfer the cost burden on to their clients to remain competitive. But with the current model going defunct anytime soon, Indian IT firms are finding alternatives, right from developing new technology resulting in shifting the reliance of outsourced jobs to venturing out to new markets such as China and Japan. Every market has a saturation point in terms of its growth, and while we might not have any means to validate that, recent developments do provide an indication that it is time to venture out into unchartered waters.

The US alone constitutes 62 per cent of Indian IT exports. Besides foreign market, traditional IT firms can even look back home and add shareholder value by innovation. Buzzwords such as Big Data, Cloud Computing, Analytics etc. pose tremendous opportunity to explore in terms of investment. India has never even remotely been a good IT consumer, as it has been a large IT exporter. This might be a good time to strengthen the local IT market, especially with government policies such as Digital India, Smart Cities and Start-up India having been put in place. One can even debate the rise of a fledgling IoT market due to Swacch Bharat and Smart Cities, which shows tremendous business opportunities.

Trump has been a long-standing critic of Obamacare and had vowed to scrap the scheme aimed at providing affordable healthcare to Americans. For Indias pharma sector, this can prove to be a huge red flag, if it is implemented. Pharma sector constitutes the second biggest exports of India to the US. In a way, Indias strength in manufacturing affordable generic drugs complemented the objectives of Obamacare.

According to the US Census Bureau data, when Obamacare was signed into law in 2010, Indias pharma exports to the U.S were $31 billion. Five years of Obamacare more than doubled pharma exports from India to the US to $66 billion. If Trump implements his promise to scrap Obamacare, Indian pharma companies may suffer a hit. However, Indian pharma companies in the last 5 years have invested in American pharma companies, and this can prove to be a very strong push of Indian pharmas influence in American policies. Additionally, the increased USFDA compliance of Indian pharmaceutical companies such as Lupin and Zydus during the onset or in the early period of 2017, has provided a further impetus to the industrys sentiments on exports.

Both these sectors, being major employment sectors in India, if they take a hit because of Trumps executive orders, it can prove a temporary blow to them, causing people to lose jobs. Does the industry have strategies to shield itself from such a paradigm shift in policies is yet to be seen. The impact on countless Indians studying in the US also needs to be taken into account. A team being led by NASSCOM to meet the new administrators in US provides some indication.

All said and done, India and the USA are strategic partners and natural allies, being worlds two largest democracies. Both will recalibrate and adjust their policies and strategies to each other in a way which benefits both economies and people, not just one. That is perhaps what Trump aims to achieve! Jai Ho India-USA friendship!

Trump has been a long-standing critic of Obamacare and had vowed to scrap the scheme aimed at providing affordable healthcare to Americans. For Indias pharma sector, this can prove to be a huge red flag, if it is implemented. Pharma sector constitutes the second biggest exports of India to the US.

Even American companies such as Cognizant had started using the same model by recruiting their Indian staff on H1B visas to drive down their operational cost. A sudden increase by almost 100 per cent in the minimum wage for holding an H1B visa is definitely a big blow to the Indian IT industry.

Every market has a saturation point in terms of its growth, and while we might not have any means to validate that, recent developments do provide an indication that it is time to venture out into unchartered waters.


DUNDALK HAVE ADDED experienced striker Thomas Stewart to their squad ahead of the 2017 campaign.

The Lilywhites, who are aiming to win a fourth consecutive SSE Airtricity League Premier Division title, have announced the signing of the 30-year-old Armagh native.

Stewart played under Stephen Kenny at Derry City before moving to Shamrock Rovers in 2010, where he won the league title in his first season.

He had two spells with the Hoops in between a stint at Scottish side Patrick Thistle, and most recently has spent time in the US and Canada with Scaremento Republic and Ottawa Fury respectively.

Im very excited, Stewart told DundalkFC.com. Obviously, Ive been away for a few years now so its nice to get back. Im very familiar with the manager, some of the players and the league, so I cant wait to get going.

Ive worked well with Stephen before. He has worked with a lot of good players and he has helped a lot of players push on in their careers. He has been very successful.

Likewise, Ive been similar  Ive won quite a few things over the years so Im coming back now and thats my aim, to continue and hopefully gel together again and win something.

Dundalk face Cork City in the Presidents Cup tonight but he wont be available for selection.
Wetlands International announced that International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Environment Ministry (BMUB) has granted financial support to scale up a running pilot which aims to restore the eroded coast in the district of Demak, Central Java, Indonesia.

The German IKI initiative promotes healthy wetlands around the world as part of its ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change portfolio.

This grant supports replication of the Building with Nature concept that is currently used by Wetlands International in the coastal restoration pilot in Demak.

The concept of Building with Nature is based on the wisely use of natural coastal processes (illustration:JAM Visueel Denken).

Building with nature concept

The concept of Building with Nature is an innovative approach to coastal and water management challenges. It makes the services that nature provides an integral part of the design of hydraulic infrastructure.

This type of coastal restoration is an alternative to traditional hard infrastructure concepts which have proven ineffective along unstable muddy coastlines and fail to provide the multiple benefits that nature can provide.

Sediment trapping

The coastal restoration pilot in Demak involves construction of permeable sediment trapping structures to rehabilitate the mangrove belts, and the much-needed transformation of the aquaculture sector towards sustainable shrimp production, to ensure local income and prevent the future renewed loss of mangroves.

Mobilising replication

The IKI initiative supports this Building with Nature concept to scale up in Indonesia by mobilising knowledge institutes to provide trainings on a broad range of measures applicable.

This will also include the setup of a help desk facility that provides on-the-job guidance on all aspects of the project life cycle.

New aspects under the IKI funded programme include integrated water management planning and demonstration activities that offer an alternative to the deep ground water extraction which is currently causing land subsidence.

For example, restoration of rivers enables freshwater use for aquaculture and simultaneously allows distribution of sediment on land to mitigate subsidence.

Aerial view of the sediment traps along the coast of Demak and the mangrove forest that can gradually take over the role of the dams and attenuate the waves and keep the sediment in place.

Partnership and donors

The Demak-project is coordinated by Wetlands International on behalf of the Ecoshape consortium and includes partnership with the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF), Ministry of Public Work and Human Settlement (PU), the Diponegoro University, Dutch research institute Deltares, Wageningen University, water education centre Unesco-IHE, Dutch consultancy firm Witteveen+Bos, German engineering firm Von Lieberman, and local communities.

The project is financial supported by the Dutch Sustainable Water Fund, the German Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUB) as part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI), Waterloo Foundation, Otter Foundation, Topconsortia for Knowledge and innovation, and mangroves for the future.

This news item was originally published on the website of Wetlands International.

Read also on this website

 Wetlands International reports first sediment build-up behind permeable coastal dam on Java, Indonesia, 3 March 2016

 Indonesia and Netherlands launch initiative for coastal safety Java, 3 March 2015

 Country: Indonesia



More information

Wetlands International

Wageningen, the Netherlands

+31 318 660910

www.wetlands.org

Ecoshape, Building with nature

Dordrecht, the Netherlands

+31 78 6111 099

www.ecoshape.nl
Launched in November, last year, Melbourne start-up Vollie is breaking down barriers to tech-savvy millennials engaging in volunteer work. In addition to satisfying the demand for skilled labour from not-for-profits, including charities and social enterprises, co-founder and managing director Matthew Boyd said the online platform is helping professionals progress their careers and companies demonstrate their corporate social responsibility.

Boyd spoke to Dynamic Business about streamlining the volunteering process to make it more accessible and the results the self-funded venture has achieved in its first two and half months.

Dynamic Business: What is Vollies unique selling point?

Boyd: Vollie is introducing volunteers to a skills-based style of volunteering, where work is performed remotely. Projects posted on Vollie are exclusively online, meaning volunteers can donate their skills and experience to NFPs from anywhere in the world, at any time. Were responding to the growing desire for flexible work practices (e.g. remote, short-term and conveniently scheduled work), especially amongst millennials, and demand from NFPs for skilled professionals including copywriters, book keepers, marketers, website builders and social media experts.

Dynamic Business: How does it work for NFPs and volunteers?

NFPs can post projects on Vollie and they have a choice of two subscription packages. They can either go with a self-service package on the platform, or Full-Support Package which includes a pre-onboarding workshop and their own account manager to name just a few added benefits. On the other side of the equation, Vollie is a free and easy-to-use platform for prospective volunteers. Once a user keys in what theyre good at and the cause they care about, Vollie identifies the projects that align with their skills and passions within a matter of seconds. Once the user selects the project that suits them, they can complete it in their own time and around their schedule. Once complete, the volunteer can submit the work for approval by the NFP and then both parties can rate each other out of 5 stars and leave feedback. Further, volunteers can add the experience to their LinkedIn Profile, which can lead to better job opportunities.

Dynamic Business: Does the platform also assist companies?

Boyd: It does. To meet their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), many companies engage employees in volunteering programs. However, reports show that implementing these programs is challenging for companies because employees have limited time to devote to volunteering. Vollie offers businesses a CSR solution that takes it out of the too hard basket. The platform negates barriers to employees volunteering but allowing them to do so in their own time, remotely. In addition, the impact of a companys CSR is tracked by the platform, which provides details reports on individual and collective volunteering efforts within the employers workforce. We want to work with businesses across all CSR requirements as they move to a for-purpose way of operating their organisation. This new approach to corporate volunteering us one that can greatly amplify the causes companies care about the most.

Dynamic Business: What experiences led you to start Vollie?

Boyd: I was raised in Buckinghamshire, England, about an hour west of London. After completing an honours degree in marketing, I travelled for a year and it was during this time that I visited (and fell in love with) Melbourne. When I relocated to Melbourne 2008, I became involved in volunteer work, which I found incredibly fulfilling.

While volunteering has continued to play a positive role in my life, I experienced first-hand just how difficult it can be to make a meaningful contribution to the not-for-profit (NFP) sector. With over 300,000 NFPs operating nationwide, prospective volunteers can become overwhelmed before they even start, and while charities regularly field calls and emails from people who want to get involved, those people often dont know how they can help. Consequently, volunteers can find themselves in work that doesnt utilise their skills, which creates disengagement.

On top of this, people struggle to find the time to support the causes they care about due to a lack of flexibility in the sector. According to State of Volunteering, this is the biggest deterrent to volunteering in Australia, especially for people aged 25 to 35, who lag behind Baby Boomers and Gen X when it comes to getting involved. In response, Volunteering Australia, which has called for the sector to better engage the next generation of volunteers by embracing technology.

I was determined to redesign volunteering in a way that would better engage Australians, especially Gen Y, so I quit my job at the end of 2015 and co-founded Vollie with Tanya Dontas, who is our Head of Operations. Our team also include digital strategist Tom Uhlhorn and superstar talent hunter Alexandra Smith. Yump Digital, who built our fantastic website, and Greenpoint Media, who manage our PR, are honorary members.

Dynamic Business: How are you driving volunteers to the platform?

Boyd: The Vollie customer journey is tailored to meet the needs and wants of Gen Y volunteers. In addition to opening-up conversations with millennials in their favourite online hang-outs, including a number of social media channels, were promoting the platform in publications they read, appearing at events they attend and engaging the businesses they work for.

Our marketing has played a key role in engaging the next generation of volunteer. Vollies team have extensive marketing experience, and in the development stages we spent a great deal of time talking with our audience and understanding what they want from their volunteering opportunities. We listened and incorporated this feedback into the platform. We speak to our audience like they are our mates and want them to feel part of the brand.

Dynamic Business: What success has Vollie enjoyed this early on?

Boyd: Vollie has been embraced by an exciting lineup of NFPs including Make-A-Wish, Greenpeace, Starlight Childrens Foundation, The Butterfly Foundation, Earthwatch, The Jane Goodall Institute, Foodbank and Suicide Prevention Australia. The skills were seeing the most demand for, amongst this cohort, are those in the digital space (e.g. web development, analytics, SEO support) plus business development, legal, graphic design and copywriting.

Of the thousands of volunteers whove signed up to the platform, our analytics reveal that already one in three are repeat users. Further, millennials account for 50% our web traffic, which is great because theyre our target audience, but were also seeing a solid amount of interest from the generations to either side, ie. 35 to 45 year olds and university students.

In the two months since our site went live, over 40 projects have been posted on the platform, totaling almost 800 volunteering hours. Critically, NFPs are, on average, deriving $1,157 in value for every ten hours volunteered by users. This has left us confident that Vollie will enable everyday Australians to generate more value for NFPs than they otherwise would have by making donations or through fundraising.

Some truly exciting projects have been posted on the platform, including a brief for a costume designer to create a pirate/princess outfit for one of Make-A-Wishs superstar kids. We also had an Australian traveller who was in Zimbabwe helping the rhinos while also volunteering online for the Australian Rhino Project back home. Meanwhile, our friends at Foodbank are, with the support of a volunteer lawyer, working on legislative changes to help overcome their biggest barrier to providing enough food for Australians in need: sufficient transport.

Dynamic Business: What does the future hold for Vollie?

Boyd: Were looking to form more partnerships with businesses and charities. Well also explore the option of investors as we look to scale the business. We plan to go global with Vollie and get it to the stage where even the smallest NFP, no matter where they are in the world, can engage skilled professionals from any country.
The Australian export market is buoyant, having grown by 4.2% in 2016, according to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This is an excellent example of the hard work and innovation that is making Australian small businesses a global success.

Yet small businesses still face a number of challenges before they grow successful export operations. Not least, the ability to maintain the appropriate cashflow levels between export orders. One company, who has overcome this common cashflow problem and taken its innovative water solution to the world, is Western Australian firm, Natural Water Solutions (NWS).

A unique solution to water purification

Quenton Leach, Founder and CEO of Natural Water Solutions, says the secret to his companys success is chlorine dioxide. Were a company that specialises in the global supply and ongoing development of new products utilising the unique properties of chlorine dioxide, which purifies water, he says.

The key products developed by NWS are designed to treat water to make it drinkable. Its my belief that Australia, and the rest of the world, will increase its use of environmentally viable healthcare and water treatment products in commercial, industrial and residential applications, Leach says.

In Australia, with the increasing use of water tanks in new residential construction, Leach says there has been an increase in the demand of their water purifying tablets. We had a really tough initial introduction to business. A main part of our success has been due to our ongoing education campaign of making people aware of the environmental benefits and effectiveness of our product, he explains.

As part of our domestic expansion, we went through a stage of product development that moved from a liquid based two-part solution that required professional application, to a simple tablet that provided a whole solution. Theres a huge water tank market in Australia and this solution provided a real entry into this market. Its probably our biggest seller in the residential market.

Crossing the export waters

Global expansion started with an online enquiry through Alibaba, from one of the Philippines largest companies. Interested in the products NWS had on offer, as well as the range of potential applications, NWS developed an ongoing distributor relationship. The relationship is exciting because theyre very proactive in finding new solutions to treat water with. They are currently doing this and treating municipality water with our products, as well as coconut plantations and hospitals, says Leach.

Since that initial export contract, our exports have continued to grow and now total about 50% of the business revenue. The fact that quality is controlled from Australia is a huge positive for us when it comes to selling Australian quality goods overseas, says Leach.

With a distributor network set up in the Philippines, Leach says the plan is to expand further into the Asian market. However, with an increase in orders from their Philippines distributor, and continuing expansion activities, NWS needed a quick cashflow injection to ensure they could fulfil the quarterly distributor requirements without adding pressure to their working capital.

Cashflow injection leads to new opportunities

We recently put on an accountant and he investigated Efics products and set up a meeting. We were having cashflow issues due to having to hold a fair bit of capital in our USD account to pay for product production for our orders.

Efics Small Business Export Loan has enabled us to use the funds in the business as we need it for orders as they come in, says Leach.

The Small Business Export Loan is design specifically for small businesses who need access to finance fast. With funds available in as little as nine business days, small exporters are able to take on new opportunities quickly.

If we hadnt received the funding theres no doubt that we would have had a difficult time balancing our orders and cashflow, as we had new projects coming up.

Taking a nine month repayment term, Leach says the company is now open to take on new export opportunities they would not have thought possible two years ago.

We believe we have an amazing set of products thanks to our great chemist. Weve recently expanded our range to include natural products like toothpaste, mouthwash and hand gels, which all include our innovative chlorine dioxide in it.

Its a really exciting time for us, as were exploring all of these new industries where our products have real applications and can create a real difference, says Leach.

For more information on Efics Small Business Export Loan click here.

About the author

Andrew Watson is Executive Director, Export Finance with Efic, which provides financial solutions to help small and medium-sized Australian businesses grow their exports, offshore investments and onshore export-related business opportunities. Prior to joining Efic, Andrew was Head of Rural & Regional Banking at Bankwest and successfully transformed this business, implementing a new sales framework and improving credit quality. He was also head of Bankwests Property Finance Business where he successfully implemented a new business strategy for the division.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

Trend:

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France and Richard Hoagland of the US) met Feb. 16 with the Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian and the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov, separately and then jointly, said a statement of the OSCE MG co-chairs Feb. 17.

The Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, also participated in the meetings, according to the statement.

The co-chairs discussed with the ministers the current situation along the line of contact and the ArmeniaAzerbaijan border. The co-chairs reiterated that there is no alternative to a peaceful solution to the conflict and that war is not an option, and called upon the sides to exercise restraint on the terrain as well as in their public communications and to prepare their population for peace and not for war. The co-chairs also urged the sides to adhere strictly to the 1994/95 ceasefire agreements that constitute the foundation of the cessation of hostilities, said the statement. The co-chairs recalled the May 2011 joint statements of their presidents in Deauville emphasizing that the use of force would only bring more suffering and devastation and would be condemned by the international community. The co-chairs shared their views with the sides on the steps which should be taken toward implementing decisions from the 2016 Summits in Vienna and St. Petersburg aimed at stabilizing the situation in the conflict zone.

The co-chairs stressed to the ministers the need to demonstrate greater flexibility and to resume comprehensive negotiations on reaching a lasting settlement as soon as possible, according to the statement.

The two ministers reiterated their commitment to strictly observe their international humanitarian obligations including those of the Astrakhan Declaration of October 2010 issued by the presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Russian Federation, said the statement.

The OSCE MG co-chairs underscored again that no countries, including Armenia and Azerbaijan, recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent and sovereign state, according to the statement.

Accordingly, the co-chairs do not accept the results of the referendum on Feb. 20 as affecting the legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh. The co-chairs also stress that the results in no way prejudge the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh or the outcome of the ongoing negotiations to bring a lasting and peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said the statement. The co-chairs plan to travel to the region in March.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

Trend:

Russia does not think peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can depend on holding the planned "constitutional referendum", TASS news agency reported citing a message from the Department of Information and Press of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

We do not recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state, the department said.

We proceed from the fact that its status must be determined through political negotiations as part of the Minsk process. Along with this, we do not believe that peaceful settlement could depend on holding the constitutional referendum.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Anakhanum Hidayatova  Trend:

The US doesnt recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, just like other countries, Robert Cekuta, the US ambassador to Azerbaijan, told reporters in Baku Feb. 17.

The ambassador made the remarks while responding to the question on referendum in the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

As it was noted in the statement of the OSCE Minsk Group, neither the US nor Azerbaijan and Armenia recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, said Cekuta.

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France and Richard Hoagland of the US) have made a statement that no countries, including Armenia and Azerbaijan, recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent and sovereign state.

Earlier, Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry said that the illegal referendum constitutes a clear violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the norms and principles of international law, and, therefore, has no legal effect whatsoever.

The ministry reiterated that the illegal regime established by Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan is ultimately nothing other than the product of aggression and occupation.

This provocative step, as well as Armenias attempts to change the name of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, the integral part of Azerbaijan, is yet another clear manifestation that Armenia is not genuinely interested in seeking a political settlement of the armed conflict, added the ministry.

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 the author on Twitter: @Anahanum
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Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 18

Trend:

Turkey will not recognize a referendum in Karabakh, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Friday.

In a statement, the ministry said that Ankara condemns the referendum, which will constitute a new violation of Azerbaijans sovereignty and territorial integrity.

This referendum and its results, which we consider illegitimate, will not be recognized by Turkey, the statement added.

"Nagorno-Karabakh conflict still remains a major threat to peace and security in the South Caucasus", said in the message.

The illegal referendum constitutes a clear violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the norms and principles of international law, and, therefore, has no legal effect whatsoever. This so-called referendum is being conducted in the seized lands under situation created through the use of force and threat of force against the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan by Armenia and accompanied by the notorious practice of ethnic cleansing and other flagrant violations of the norms and principles of international law, says the statement. We call upon the international community to reject this fabricated illegal referendum exercise and to exert political and diplomatic pressure on Armenia with a view to drop its futile attempts to mislead its own people and the wider international community, cease its policy of occupation and annexation, engage constructively in the conflict settlement process and comply with its international obligations, said Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry in a message Feb. 17.

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.
Chinese farmer Wang Enlin and his neighbors sued Qihua Group, a mineral processing and chemical production company, for polluting their homes and farmland. Wang, who spent 16 years studying law to pursue this goal, and residents of the Yushutun village won an initial judgment against the multi-billion dollar state-run company, the Daily Mail reported.

Wang discusses wastewater pollution. Xie Xinyuan

Wang, who is in his 60s, began to pursue this case after his home and the surrounding farmland were flooded with toxic waste from Qihua in 2001. The 2001 Qiqihar Angang River District Council minutes reveal a mayoral determination that the polluted land could not be used for a long time, the Peoples Daily said.

The Qihua plant created a 71-acre wasteland with calcium carbide residue and a 478-acre pond with its liquid waste, according to the Daily Mail. It released 15,000 to 20,000 tons of annual waste.

I knew I was in the right, but I did not know what law the other party had broken or whether or not there was evidence, Wang said.

Though Wang had only three years of formal education, he began to read law books with the help of a dictionary. He spent 16 years hand-copying notes out of books he could not afford to buy in a bookstore. He traded the store owner corn for allowing him to use the books. As he learned about Chinese land management law and environmental protection law, Wang began to educate his neighbors on their legal rights as well.

In 2007, the Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims of the China University of Political Science and Law came to the aid of Wang and his neighbors. Liu Jinmei and other lawyers from the center agreed to help the villagers file their suit against Qihua and the case finally began to be processed in 2015.

Wang and the other residents of the Yushutun village won an initial judgement against Qihua in the Angangxi District Court of Qiqihar. This court awarded the victims financial compensation amounting to about $119,000 and Qihua is appealing the ruling.

We will certainly win. Even if we lose, we will continue to battle, said Wang, according to the Peoples Daily, which described him as having white hair, mud-covered rubber shoes and a faded old cotton-padded jacket.

Chinas rapid industrialization over several decades has led to widespread land and air pollution issues that the court system has struggled to manage, China Dialogue explained. Very few of the victims the legal aid center helps choose to pursue legal action or persevere for as long as Wang, Liu told the Peoples Daily.
The House of Representatives approved a controversial bill to overturn an Obama-era rule that protects wolves, bears, coyotes and other animals on more than 76 million acres of national wildlife refuges in Alaska. The measure was passed 225-193 on Thursday on a mostly party-line vote.

Animal welfare advocates said that the resolution allows trophy hunters to go to den sites to shoot wolf pups, use painful steel-jawed traps to ensnare animals and even chase down grizzlies with aircraft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2F6BjJCQcs

The Republican-sponsored legislation was introduced by Alaska Rep. Don Young and was

supported by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and a number of hunting groups.

House Joint Resolution 69 (H. J. Res. 69), citing authority under the Congressional Review Act, would rescind U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

rules enacted in August that are meant to maintain a sustainable population of native Alaskan wildlife.

But on the House floor, Young said his measure was about overturning illegal Obama administration rules and ensuring the right of Alaskans and the right of Alaska to manage all fish and game.

He claimed that special interest groups were spreading falsehoods and propaganda.

They talk about killing [wolf] puppies and grizzly bears, Young said. That does not happen nor, in fact, is it legal in the state of Alaska under our management.

Opponents argue that if the measure becomes law, it would allow the use of inhumane hunting tactics such as:

Killing black bear cubs or mother with cubs at den sites

Killing brown bears over bait

Trapping and killing brown and black bears with steel-jaw leghold traps or wire snares

Killing wolves and coyotes during denning season

Killing brown and black bears from aircraft

This bill allows the use of inhumane tactics such as trapping, snaring, and baiting bears, and killing wolves and coyotesand their pups. It even allows shooting bears from helicopters, said Rep. Betty McCollum, a Democrat from Minnesota, who voted No on the resolution. As a strong advocate for our public lands and natural treasures, I will continue to fight extreme proposals like this that erode bedrock conservation laws and expose animals to abuse.

After Thursdays vote, the bill is now up for possible consideration in the Senate.

Environmental and animal rights groups have strongly condemned the bill.

https://twitter.com/NRDCFedGov/status/832285739027148800

Killing hibernating bears, shooting wolf pups in their dens, and chasing down grizzlies by aircraft and then shooting them on the ground is not the stuff of some depraved video game, said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society. It is exactly what Don Young is trying to restore on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska. No decent person should support this appalling, despicable treatment of wildlife.

Rolling back protections for predators defies everything wildlife refuges stand for, said Emily Jeffers, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. Refuges are places where we celebrate biological diversity, not where wolves and bears are inhumanely killed for no good reason. Its an outrage that Congress would revoke rules that stop the senseless slaughter of predators, heedless of the important role these animals play in healthy ecosystems.

Born Free USA said that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services rules were meant to protect Alaskan wildlife from shockingly brutal practices.

Alaska is the only state that currently allows bears to be caught and killed for commercial and recreational purposes using cruel leghold traps and snares, the group said. Both steel-jaw leghold and snare traps are barbaric, cruel, and indiscriminate. When triggered, leghold traps slam shut with bone-crushing force on any victim unfortunate enough to encounter it, including endangered species and pets. Once caught, animals suffer immensely from injury, trauma, and stress, and ultimately die an excruciating death. Many even gnaw off their own limb in a desperate attempt to escape, often dying of a painful infection days later.

Strangulation neck snares have been cited as the cruelest of all trapping devices. The snare is designed to tighten around an animals neck as she or he struggles. Animals trapped in neck snares may suffer for days, and their heads and necks are frequently swollen with thick and bloody lymph fluid, a condition called jellyhead by trappers. Death is often slow and painful, the group said.
By Ken Kimmell

Voting largely along party lines, Congress just confirmed Scott Pruitt as administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)an attorney who has spent his professional career suing the EPA to stop the agency from performing its fundamental mission of ensuring clean air and water for all Americans. This confirmation marks a sharp break with precedent; most EPA administrators from both parties have come to the office with a demonstrated commitment to the EPAs mission.

https://twitter.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/832584686538985472 expand=1]

One might even say that this vote signals the end of an era of bipartisan congressional support for a strong federal role in protecting our environment, as this newly confirmed administrator is likely to dismantle the safeguards that both parties have supported since the 1970s.

What that means for all of us who care about clean air and water and the protection of our environment is this: It is up to us to monitor carefully what happens next and to be prepared to spring into action as needed.

Here are some of the key developments Im watching for:

Will Scott Pruitt Recuse Himself?

As repeatedly noted in his nomination hearing, Pruitt has represented the State of Oklahoma in numerous lawsuits against EPA. Many of these cases are still active today, directed at major EPA regulations, including the Clean Power Plan (which limits carbon emissions from power plants); national air quality standards; mercury emissions from coal plants; methane limits for the oil and natural gas excavation; and a Clean Water Act rule that clarifies federal jurisdiction over bodies of water.

During the nomination hearing, Pruitt did not commit to recusing himself from these cases, but he did say he would rely on advice from the EPA ethics counsel. Common sense tells us that he cannot possibly be impartial on these issues and conflicts of interest abound. For example, the state attorneys general who joined him in the suit against the Clean Power Plan have written a letter to the Trump administration, asking the president to issue an executive order declaring that the rule is unlawful. Responding to this request would, in the normal course of business, require EPA input, since it is an EPA regulation. How can Scott Pruitt possibly participate in any review of that request given that, just a few weeks ago, he himself was one of the attorneys general making this claim?

He must recuse himself, as 30 senators have made clear in a recent letter.

Will Scott Pruitt Cut Federal Law Enforcement?

As a candidate, Trump pledged to dismantle the EPA. He lacks a filibuster-proof majority to change the laws that created the EPA, such as the Clean Air and Clean Water Act. But he could cripple the EPA with budget cuts, which are much harder for a minority to stop.

By wide margins, most Americans favor enforcement of laws that protect our air and water. Cutting EPA enforcement will therefore be unpopularbut Scott Pruitt is likely to argue that we can rely on states to enforce environmental laws, so cutting the EPAs budget wont do any real harm.

This is a dangerous myth.

Having served as a state environmental commissioner, I know from personal experience that state environmental agencies are already strapped. They typically lack the technical experts employed at the EPA and stand in no position to take on additional enforcement responsibilities shed by the EPA.

In Massachusetts where I served, for example, my former agencys staff was cut nearly in half between 2002 and 2012 due to budget cuts, even as the agencys responsibilities grew. That occurred in a state well known for its strong commitment to environmental protection. As a result, my agency was forced to cut back on important and effective programs, such as water sampling to locate sources of bacteria that pollute rivers. If the EPAs budget is cut, it will mean even fewer resources for states, because states now receive a significant share of the EPAs budget to cover enforcement activities.

Second, state environmental agencies sometimes experience political pressure against enforcement that might harm a large employer or impose significant costs on residents. We saw some of this in play in Flint, Michigan, where a state agency did not enforce a law requiring corrosion treatment of pipes to reduce lead contamination; it took an EPA staffer and outside scientists, as well as the residents themselves, to blow the whistle on lax state enforcement.

Third, states are not equipped to deal with the widespread problem of interstate pollution. To cite one of the most egregious examples, the state of Maryland could shut down virtually all in-state sources of air pollution and yet still not be in compliance with health-based air quality standards due to pollution from neighboring upwind states. A strong federal law enforcement presence is needed to address the simple fact that air and water pollutants do not honor state boundary lines.

We and others stand prepared to fight crippling budget cuts at the EPA and explain that the protection of our air and water requires both federal and state environmental law enforcement.

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Scott Pruitt Will Likely Gut the Clean Power Plan; What Will He Replace It With?

During the campaign, President Trump called for abolishing the Clean Power Plan, the EPA regulations that limit carbon emissions from power plants. And as noted, Administrator Pruitt sued to block it. It now seems nearly inevitable that he will move to drastically undermine the plan.

[facebook https://facebook.com/EcoWatch/videos/10158252716670301/

The question is, what will he propose to replace it? The EPA does not have the option of doing nothing. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that the EPA has a duty to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act if it makes a determination that such gases endanger public health and the environment. In 2009, EPA made such a finding (which Pruitt fought, though unsuccessfully).

Thus, EPA remains obligated to regulate carbon dioxide emissions in general and in particular with respect to power plants, which are among the nations largest source of these emissions.

One predictable approach would be a revised regulation that reduces emissions, but by a much smaller percentage. The current litigation over the Clean Power Plan could serve as a roadmap for a diminished rule. The Clean Power Plan relies on three strategies to reduce emissionsimproving efficiency of coal plants, switching from coal to gas and switching to renewables. During the litigation, Scott Pruitt conceded that the EPA had the authority to require improvements to coal plant efficiency, but claimed that the other two strategies, which go beyond the fenceline of an individual source, were unlawful.

Thus, one might expect that a revised rule will mirror what Pruitt called for in court. If so, rather than cutting carbon emissions by approximately 32 percent by 2030, the rule would result in barely noticeable emission reductions.

If this happens, litigation will be necessary. The court that mandated the EPA to address greenhouse gas emissions should not be satisfied with a rule that does little to cut one of the nations largest sources of CO2 emissions.

How About Vehicles?

The second biggest carbon cutting program of the Obama administration is the Union of Concerned Scientists-backed fuel economy standards for cars which, it is estimated, will roughly double fuel economy between 2012 and 2025. Those standards were agreed to by the automakers at the time. They are projected to cut billions of tons of CO2, reduce oil use by billions of barrels and save consumers an average of $8000 over the lifetime of a vehicle.

When the standards were put in place, they included a mid-term review provision in which the EPA would assess whether changes in technology, costs or factors might warrant a change to the standards. The review was to be completed by April 2018, but the Obama administration in its closing days completed the review and determined, based on a thorough review, that there was no reason to change the standards, since automakers are ahead of schedule in meeting these standards and at a lower cost than originally predicted.

Some automakers are calling for this determination to be re-opened, presumably so that the rules can be modified and perhaps weakened. And one can justifiably be anxious that they could offer something that the Trump administration is keen to securea commitment to increased manufacturing in the U.S.in exchange for relaxing these standards.

It would be a disaster for these historic standards to be rolled back and well fight any such rollback along with many allies.

How About Science?

As I wrote recently, Pruitts record shows little evidence of deference to scientists. After all, he sued the EPA for relying upon the worlds most prominent climate scientists, including many employed by the federal government, in finding that greenhouse gases endangered the environment. And he claimed that the question of climate change and the role of human causes of it are still an open question for debate.

As EPA administrator, he will hear from EPA scientists whose expert judgment will not align with his deregulatory agenda in some cases. Will these scientists findings be suppressed or disregarded?

We call on Pruitt to declare that scientific integrity is a core guiding principal for the EPA, that he will abide by the existing EPA scientific integrity policy and even look for ways to improve it, as recommended by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Vigilance Required

Scott Pruitt comes to his new position with the heavy baggage of having devoted a good part of his career to opposing EPA, not to mention the apparent antipathy of his boss towards the agency. The Trump transition team, composed of career ideologues, further fueled anxiety over the EPAs fate, with threats of gag orders on agency scientists, deletion of climate data from the website and draconian budget cuts. This is why we see, for example, hundreds of career civil servants risking their jobs by publicly protesting Pruitts confirmation.

Scott Pruitt has a chance now to push the reset button and position himself as an open-minded and principled conservative, rather than a deregulatory ideologue. Most helpful to him will be to invest significant time in hearing from the agencys talented scientists, engineers, policy analysts and attorneys.

No matter what, we will be watching his actions vigilantly and stand prepared to fight to retain key protections of Americans health and safety at the agency he now oversees.

Ken Kimmell is president of the Union of Concerned Scientists and has more than 30 years of experience in government, environmental policy and advocacy.
As a method of organizing efforts to help students who are struggling academically, response to intervention has seen widespread adoption. But as an improved method of identifying students with learning disabilities, RTI shows far less clear benefits, researchers are finding.

The RTI instructional model is designed to identify students in need of extra assistance and provide them targeted and research-based lessons, or interventions. In the 2004 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Congress said that school districts were permitted to use a students response to such interventions as part of an evaluation process for specific learning disabilities, the largest disability category.

But the federal government declined to tell districts and states exactly how such a process should work, saying that was the role of local educators to determine. And states have also tended to take a hands-off approach at giving directives to individual districts.

The result, according to surveys of district and state special education leaders being highlighted this week: a wide variation across districts on several important issues, such as when parents are notified that their children are receiving intensive services through an RTI model, how long a student must receive interventions before being referred for a comprehensive evaluation, and whether any data are reported to the state so that officials can spot potential areas of concern.

The problem is the variability in trying to get schools and districts, and districts and states, in communication with each other, said Tina M. Hudson, an assistant professor of special education at East Tennessee State University and one of the researchers who conducted the survey of state and district-level special education administrators. We need more of a unified approach to this.

Robert G. McKenzie, a professor of special education at the University of Kentucky, is a co-author on the work. The two are scheduled to present their findings at the Learning Disabilities Association of America convention this week.

Lack of Policies

Fifty-eight percent of special education district leaders reported to Hudson and McKenzie that their school system had a policy or recommended practice on how long students could spend in a RTI model before being referred for a comprehensive evaluation or deemed to need special education. But the policies and practices varied widely. Districts reported that students spent on average 50 school days receiving interventions before the next step in determining their eligibility for special education. One outlier district reported that students could spend 150 school days, or almost an entire school year, receiving interventions before further evaluation. Another district required only 10 school days.

Pitfalls in Use of RTI Framework A survey of state and district special education directors about how they were using response-to-intervention strategies to identify students with learning disabilities found that:  More than 90 percent of states responding do not regulate or recommend the maximum number of days a student may spend in an RTI model before further evaluation for special education.  State respondents said school districts are not required to report to them how long students are spending in an RTI framework before evaluation.  Among districts that reported having their own policies or recommended practices on when special education referrals must be made, 40 percent said such referrals must wait until students have progressed through RTIs most intensive tier. Fifty percent said such referrals could happen at any time.  Districts reported that students could spend a large amount of time in tiered-intervention modelsthe average was around 50 days, with one district reporting 150 school days.  Forty-two percent of district respondents said they had neither a policy nor recommended practice for how long students could remain in an RTI instructional model before a special education referral. Sixty-three percent said they didnt allow schools to develop their own policies or practices, either. Sources: Tina M. Hudson, assistant professor, East Tennessee State University; Robert G. McKenzie, professor, University of Kentucky

Of 31 special education state directors who responded to a survey from the researchers, 29 said that the state had no policy or recommended practice to guide districts on how long students could receive interventions before being referred for a comprehensive evaluation.

The paper focusing on the responses from state special education officials was published the March 2016 issue of Contemporary School Psychology. A second report, which included responses from district-level officials, was published in the December 2016 issue of Learning Disabilities: A Multidisciplinary Journal.

Response-to-intervention models may differ in form among schools, but they contain some common features: universal screening tools that allow teachers to accurately determine which students need extra help; evidence-based interventions; multiple tiers of intervention intensity; and monitoring of progress, so that teachers have data on how well a student is responding to the extra help.

Intentionally missing from that process: a need for an official special education label before receiving services. That was seen as an improvement from other methods of identifying learning disabilities, such as giving students IQ tests to see if their intelligence was significantly different from their scores on achievement tests.

The IQ achievement discrepancy model was criticized by many as requiring students to fail for a long time before getting access to specialized services. One of the most influential criticisms came from the Presidents Commission on Excellence in Special Education, which was convened by President George W. Bush and released its findings in 2002.

Adopting New Procedures

When the IDEA was reauthorized two years later, Congress adopted many of the commissions recommendations, including permitting RTI as an evaluation method.

But observers warned of some potential problems during the public-comment period for regulations to support the new law. Without some sort of guidance from the Education Department, those commenters said, special education identification might take a long time and run afoul of the IDEAs child find requirement that all children with disabilities be identified, located, and evaluated.

There also appears to be little way to judge if including RTI procedures as part of an evaluation process is an improvement from other methods. Twenty-six of 30 special education directors who responded to the question (one director did not answer) said their states had no prescribed system for evaluating the effectiveness of RTI.

"[RTI] is being implemented, but not tracked in terms of the desired benefits it was supposed to achieve, McKenzie said. There is the potential to really delay identification without some degree of governance and oversight, even if its at the local level.

Federal Guidance

In the years since the IDEA was reauthorized, the Education Department has addressed some of the concerns. In guidance released in 2011, the department said that RTI strategies could not be used to delay or deny an initial evaluation for learning disabilities. It followed that up with similar guidance in 2016, singling out preschoolers referred to districts for evaluation.

The Every Student Succeeds Act does not include language about response to intervention specifically, but it does contain a brief mention of multitiered systems of supports, a term that encompasses RTI. The new law says multitiered systems can be used to help students with disabilities and English-language learners access challenging academic standards.

That RTI has led to potential unintended consequences for students with disabilities is not a surprise to attorneys who represent both school districts and parents of children with disabilities.

Allison Hertog, a Florida-based parent attorney and former special education teacher, said from her perspective, RTI is used as a legally persuasive way to avoid child find. Some parents are told, We dont do comprehensive evaluations any more, ' " she said.

Jose Martin, who works in Austin and has represented school districts in special education matters, said hes warned districts about following such strict RTI processes that they might end up losing a legal battle. For example, in one unusual 2011 case that the school system ended up losing, an Ohio district tried to require a student with diabetes to go through RTI before receiving accommodations.

Keeping the process flexible means that districts should work in partnership with parents, Martin said. He said that districts also need to develop a set of general principles for practice.

How much response is necessary to comfortably say a child is not [learning-disabled]? Its completely unclear. I havent seen state policy that defines that in any meaningful way, he said. Its crucial that [districts] adopt a guideline for what response means that is defensible in court.
Vietnam seafood exports in 2016 meet target

Vietnamese seafood exports in 2016 met the target of US$7.05 billion, representing a 7.3% increase over 2015, despite the fisheries sector experiencing difficulties in sourcing raw materials due to drought, salinity and the trade barriers including anti-dumping tariff in the US market, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said.



The exports of main products achieved positive growths, as shrimp exports reached $3.1 billion and pangasius $1.7 billion. Cephalopod exports rose slightly by 2.3% to $439 million.



Except for Canada and Brazil, exports to the top 10 major markets registered positive growths, with Russia having the strongest rate of 122%. Exports to China grew by nearly 40%.



VASEP said that despite the anti-dumping tariff on shrimp and pangasius, exports to the US maintained the growth of 10% in 2016, thanks to increased average import price. Competitive pressure, the anti-dumping tariff and technical barriers would, however, make exports to the US this year difficult to maintain.



Exports to the EU and Japan recovered slightly by 3.7% and 5.9%, respectively, and in 2017 it's expected to continue rising, though at lower levels than 2016.
Details added (first version posted on 12:03)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has met with Chief Executive Officer of MAN SE company Joachim Drees in Munich, Germany.

Joachim Drees hailed Azerbaijans rapid development, and large scale projects implemented in the country. He also praised work done under transport corridor projects, and expressed the companys interest in operating in Azerbaijan.

President Ilham Aliyev said important measures have been taken to ensure modernization in various areas in Azerbaijan in recent years, particularly public transport.

The head of state invited MAN SE representatives to Azerbaijan for exploring cooperation opportunities.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Anakhanum Hidayatova  Trend:

The meeting of Russian Chief of the General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov and US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford in Baku was focused on priority issues between the two sides, the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Robert Cekuta told reporters in Baku Feb. 17.

Russian Chief of the General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov and and US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford held a meeting in Azerbaijans capital on Feb. 16, said a message posted on the Russian Defense Ministrys website.

Gerasimov and Dunford outlined vectors of joint work aimed at easing tensions and preventing military incidents, according to the message.

The sides also exchanged views on the current state of the Russia-US relations, international security situation in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and other key regions of the world, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Anahanum
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

Trend:

Azerbaijans President Ilham Ailyev has offered condolences to Pakistans President Mamnoon Hussain over the terror attacks in the country.

We are deeply saddened by the terror attacks committed in your country in recent days, said President Aliyev in his letter of condolence. We are outraged by those heinous attacks, and consider it essential to conduct a universal, resolute and consistent fight against all forms of terrorism.

We share your grief at these difficult times, he noted.

On behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I extend my deepest condolences to you, families and loved ones of those who were killed and the whole people of Pakistan, and wish those injured the soonest possible recovery, said the president.

May Allah rest the souls of those who were killed in peace! he added.
Chief Minister to be asked about refugee vote



Chief Minister Howard Quayle recently received a petition asking him to reverse the Island's stance on taking in refugees.

Accepting refugees to the Isle of Man will be discussed when Tynwald sits next week.

Speaker of the House of Keys Juan Watterson wants to know whether the decision to welcome refugees would be put to a vote in the Manx parliament.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle recently confirmed he would review the Government's stance on refugees from Syria.

The Council of Ministers chose not to accept refugees from Syria last year, but a petition calling for the decision to be reversed gained over 1,000 signatures.

The Chief Minister will provide the information when Tynwald sits on Tuesday.
Government pledges more money but no homes for Syrian refugees



Chief Minister Howard Quayle says he'll review the Island's stance on refugees again by 2020.

The Isle of Man is increasing its support for Syrian refugees by almost 1m, but they won't be allowed to come to the Island.

The Government revealed that it will allocate 973,000 from the Island's international development budget to the UN's High Commission for Refugees.

The Council of Ministers agreed to increase its support financially, but confirmed refugees won't be allowed to settle on the Island.

The Government recently reviewed its stance after a petition calling for 25 refugees to be housed on the Island gained over 1,000 signatures, but insists the Island doesn't have the support and specialist help needed to house those who have fleed conflict.

However, Chief Minister Howard Quayle says the situation will be reviewed again before 2020.

Since the start of the conflict in Syria, the Isle of Man has now given 1.5m in support for refugees.
Details added (first version posted on 12:04)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has met with Mayor of Kiev, leader of the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (UDAR) Vitali Klitschko in Munich, Germany.

Vitali Klitschko pointed out the ancient history of relations between the two countries. The Mayor of Kiev said Ukraine is home to large Azerbaijani diaspora, adding that regular meetings are held with representatives of the diaspora.

Vitali Klitschko praised relations between the two countries, and emphasized mutual business interest. He also highlighted SOCARs successful activities in Ukraine, and hailed the companys and the Azerbaijani diasporas considerable contribution to the development of Ukraine.

Klitschko said the park named after national leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev has become one of the exemplary places in Kiev.

President Ilham Aliyev described Kiev as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, saying preservation of its historical part and city development requires great attention.

The head of state noted the importance of strengthening ties between mayors offices of Baku and Kiev and organizing reciprocal visits.

President Ilham Aliyev highlighted the Azerbaijani diasporas contribution to Ukraines development, and said the friendly relations between the two countries have strengthened.

The president said Ukraine is a reliable partner for Azerbaijan.
Angelina Jolie is in the middle of another issue amidst her divorce settlement with Brad Pitt and it has something to do with her rumored relationship with Jared Leto. The report claimed that Jolie has a longtime crush on Jared and the reason of her constant fights with Brad when they were still together.

It has been reported that Angelina Jolie is romantically linked to Leto the past days after her divorce from Brad Pitt. Even before they were still married, Jolie has been speculated of having a close relationship with Leto.

As reported by Yahoo, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have been fighting a lot of times before and one of the reasons is Jared. According to the report, Angelina really likes Jared; in fact, she has a crush on him even before. Jolie and Leto have been co-stars in films like "Alexander" and Girl Interrupted".

It has been claimed too that there was an instance when the actress sent him a script behind Brad Pitt's back. If that was the case and was indeed true, the romance might have really been very difficult for Brad to discover. When Angelina Jolie wanted to push Brad's buttons before as per Mirror UK, she would always bring up topics about Jared Leto. She talked about how much she loved dealing and working with his former co-star as well as how talented Jared is.

That's why now people claimed that Brad Pitt won't be surprised anymore if he discovers that his ex-wife and Jared Leto are seeing each other these past days. Since reports are claiming that the two are already seeing each other after Jolie's split from Brad.

There were even reports claiming that Jared phoned Angelina Jolie right after she filed for the divorce last September. Since then, the two have been seeing and meeting each other secretly. They even spoke on phone one time before their meeting in Los Angeles.

If the reports are true that Angelina Jolie is indeed seeing and dating Jared Leto, then Brad Pitt was right in the first place. However, the problem is this remains a speculation as this issue has yet to be confirmed is true.
Hollywood actor and film director, Mel Gibson, is now confirmed to be in talks with Warner Bros to helm the film sequel "Suicide Squad 2." Everything is still in its early phase, however.

The confirmation for the "Suicide Squad 2" director talks happened during Gibson's appearance at the screening of his Oscar-nominated film, "Hacksaw Ridge," batman-news reported. "It's kind of a first date," the actor said when asked if it's coming close to a deal or just a first date.

The news of Gibson's involvement in "Suicide Squad 2" came on Wednesday when The Hollywood Reporter, through its unnamed sources, learned that Warner Bros is currently courting the actor/director to take the helm of the sequel. Gibson is not the only candidate that the company has in mind, though, as "Life" director, Daniel Espinosa, is also being considered.

To some fans, most especially the ones who have been following the actor, this news may come off as a total surprise. Gibson has previously expressed his negative opinion about superhero movies in general, and their outrageously high budget that exceeds $150 million.

Gibson did not hold his words when he heard about the budget of "Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice" during his talk with Deadline last November 2016. Further saying that he is "not interested in the stuff" and continued to compare movie superheroes to real ones, explaining that the latter do not wear spandex.

He did, however, leave a few doors open in case an opportunity comes such as "Suicide Squad 2." The actor admitted that he was baffled when asked about whether big summer movies have to have an incredibly high budget or not. "I think there's a lot of waste, but maybe if I did one of those things with the green screens I'd find out different," Gibson added. "I don't know. Maybe they do cost that much."

No official word yet coming from Warner Bros regarding the company's early talks with Gibson regarding the directorial position for "Suicide Squad 2." More updates with the matter should emerge in the coming weeks.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Anakhanum Hidayatova  Trend:

The US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Robert Cekuta on Feb. 17 visited an IDP family from Khojaly.

The envoy met with head of the family Tofig Jabrayilov and familiarized himself with his living and working conditions.

Jabrayilov told the diplomat about the horrors his family experienced on Feb. 26, 1992. He said his mother and other relatives were killed in the Khojaly tragedy.

In the conversation, Cekuta noted that the US government continues to provide assistance to the Azerbaijanis affected by the events in Khojaly.

On February 25-26, 1992, the Armenian armed forces, together with the 366th infantry regiment of Soviet troops, stationed in Khankendi, committed an act of genocide against the population of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly. As many as 613 people, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 old people were killed as a result of the massacre. Eight families were totally exterminated, 130 children lost one parent and 25 children lost both. A total of 487 civilians became disabled as a result of the onslaught. Some 1,275 innocent residents were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 people still remains unknown.

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.
In The Rays before Satyajit, Chandak Sengoopta tries to situate the ancestors of Satyajit Ray in their historical context. The book, in many senses, tries to search for the historical roots of the maestros modernity. However, it does much more than simply trace the historical and familial origins of Rays genius. In fact, Sengoopta is more interested in narrating the story of Rays predecessors and less in writing a biography of Ray in this book. He picks up the case of the Rays to narrate the bigger story of modernity in India. So far, scholars who have written about the history of the Ray family have either tried to make a connection between the early Rays and Satyajit Ray or have focused on the literary contributions of writers like Upendrakishore Raychaudhuri and Sukumar Ray. But Sengoopta argues that in order to comprehend the negotiations that the early Rays made with colonial modernity, one needs to look at their contribution to other fields such as art, social reform, and last but not the least, nationalism. Sengoopta states succinctly that he has chosen to narrate the history of this particular family because this biography can tell us about the character and ambiguities of colonial modernity (p 9).

Sengoopta begins by tracing the genealogy of the Rays, for which he turns to Mymensingh, their native place. While most of the middle-class men in Mymensingh chose to pursue government jobs, the Rays traversed a different path altogether. They did not just steer clear from administrative jobs (except Pramadaranjan Ray), they also never showed any interest in pursuing careers in law, engineering, or medicine. While Saradaranjan Ray, Upendrakishore Raychaudhuris elder brother, always remained a staunch Hindu, his brothers opted to follow the Brahmo religion. Sengoopta owes much of Upendrakishores interest in conversion to his father-in-law, Dwarakanath Ganguli. In fact, Sengoopta further states that the story of the Ray family is integrally connected to the reformism of Dwarakanath Ganguli. It is a well-known fact that Ganguli was a steadfast advocate of womens education. His passion for designing a proper curriculum for women needs to be situated in the larger context of female education.
Sexual violence has often been used as a tactic of war. It is not just rape out of control, but rape under orders, as means of pursuing military, political or economic ends. The Indian subcontinent witnessed horrors of systematic rape of hundreds of thousands (figures range between 2,00,000 and 4,00,000) Bengali women in the Pakistani armys effort to crush the 1971 Bangladeshi liberation movement. In recent years, the island nation of Sri Lanka is trying to come to terms with the aftermath of 26 long years of brutal violence perpetrated by both the security forces and the secessionist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has alleged commission of egregious crimes between 2002 and 2011. The OHCHR report has emphasised:

(O)ur investigation has laid bare the horrific level of violations and abuses that occurred in Sri Lanka, including indiscriminate shelling, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, harrowing accounts of torture and sexual violence, recruitment of children and other grave crimes.
India is a fast growing economy, but power scarcity and diminishing sources of coal and other domestic gases is taking over the country. The rapidly emerging manufacturing sector and increasing energy demand at the domestic front have turned Indias attention towards sustainable energy forms like never before. The countrys economic growth, its rapid urbanisation, and the gradual increase in its per capita consumption are all expected to sizeably increase Indias overall demand for electricity. Indian government has announced that it will achieve the 100 gigawatts (GW) solar power target by 2022. With 8.1 GW, Indias installed solar capacity has experienced an 80% growth since September 2015 (ETEnergyworld 2016).

Conversion of radiations from the sun into electrical energy mostly using photovoltaic cells results in solar power. Geographically, India is a very fitting choice for solar power generation. It is a tropical country and much of it is conveniently located near the equator. It has ideal conditions for harnessing solar power, receiving as it does almost 300 days of sunshine a year (this approximates to about 5,000 trillion kilowatt of power). Regarded as the alpha of all energy forms, solar energy can be used in two basic waysone being the thermal form for drying, heating, cooking, generating electricity, and the other being the photovoltaic form, whereby solar energy is converted to electricity usable for lighting, pumping, and so on. It is pollution- free, comes with a virtually inexhaustible supply, and has a global spread; all of these make solar a hugely attractive form of energy in these times of global warming (EAI 2013).
The bitter cold in the Kashmir Valley cuts through the bones, but yet it fails to chill the publics spirit. Right through the winter, when hundreds of Indian security forces come to a locality to kill less than a handful of militants taking shelter in a house, the local population come out in support of the militants to prevent the security forces from conducting their operations, at times even managing to help the militants escape. For the security forces, of course, the local population supporting the militants are anti-national and they have no qualms in dealing severely with the civilians.

The fact is that many in the local population readily risk their very lives to save the militants. The killing of every militantand they are all Kashmiris, mostly from East Kashmir, administered by India, with a few from West Kashmir, administered by Pakistanis deeply resented. Each encounter killing of a militant or militants, and especially when civilians are killed, sparks public protests, despite the bitter cold outside. And when such protests gain momentum, the security forces fire into the crowds, triggering a wave of further protests.
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Cyber crime seems to evolve and innovate as much as the tech industry it seeks to exploit. In recent times, ransomware has become an especially potent tool of cyber criminals looking to exploit compan...
With Barbados having opted to bat first, Hope came to the crease in the 10th over with the score on 42 and anchored the side until the 46th over, taking them past 270. Along the way, he shared in half-century stands with Kraigg Brathwaite (77 for the second wicket), Roston Chase (83 for the fourth) and Jason Holder (68 for the sixth). His 125 came off 108 balls and included eight fours and five sixes. Hope's partnership with Holder came off only 32 deliveries, and Carlos Brathwaite utilised that momentum in an 11-ball 27 that lifted the score past 300. Holder contributed an unbeaten 42 off 26 balls with two fours and three sixes, while Kraigg Brathwaite struck 54 off 84 balls.
Australia and their three debutants fought to the finish against the visitors in front of a raucous crowd at the MCG, but a win offered Sri Lanka the chance to wrap up the series at Kardinia Park on Sunday

Sri Lanka 5 for 172 (Gunaratne 52, Munaweera 44) beat Australia 6 for 168 (Finch 43, Malinga 2-29) by five wickets

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Asela Gunaratne continued his good form in international cricket  Getty Images

Australia's "best of the Big Bash League" took Sri Lanka to the final ball. The hosts and their three debutants fought to the finish against the visitors in front of a raucous crowd at the MCG, but a win offered Sri Lanka the chance to wrap up the series at Kardinia Park on Sunday.

The Perth Scorchers' Andrew Tye was left with six runs to defend from the final over, and one from the final ball. Chamara Kapugedara surveyed the ring field then punched the winning boundary through the covers to secure the result. His composure ensured Sri Lanka finished in the ascendant after looking the more likely victors throughout their chase, largely due to a boundary count that outstripped the hosts, 21 to 13.

None of Australia's batsmen were able to go on to substantial scores after Upul Tharanga sent them in to bat, as a spongy pitch and disciplined Sri Lankan bowling denied them the ability to find a domineering rhythm. Sri Lanka's pursuit was then given the desired fast start by Dilshan Munaweera after Tharanga was dismissed in the first over, and Asela Gunaratne's nimble half-century guided the tourists to within sight of victory in front of 42,511 spectators, many of them barracking for Sri Lanka.

Gunaratne also made a brief but notable contribution with the ball, goading the captain Aaron Finch into a skier after he had appeared the man most likely to produce a truly damaging tally for Australia. The dismissal came two balls after Finch had hammered the biggest six of the night, and 10 runs after Michael Klinger's long delayed international debut was ended.

Lasith Malinga, making his own return from a long absence, bowled tidily and scooped a couple of late wickets, while Seekkuge Prasanna gave up a mere 23 runs from four overs that featured 10 dot balls and should have been rewarded with the wicket of Travis Head - dropped badly by Tharanga at point.

Tharanga's night did not improve when he opened the batting, as he received a perfectly pitched ball going across him from Pat Cummins in the first over and offered a thin edge through to Tim Paine behind the stumps. While the Australians celebrated this wicket with some gusto, they were soon haring about the MCG outfield as Munaweera and Niroshan Dickwella went to work.

Their partnership ensured the run rate was not going to be much of an issue, compelling Finch and his bowlers to chase wickets and consequentially offer more scoring opportunities. Adam Zampa delivered his usual handy spell and deserved his two wickets, but oddly Finch did not try his other spin options until introducing Ashton Turner with only a modest equation required.

Dilshan Munaweera's six fours in his quick innings rallied Sri Lanka till the halfway mark  Cricket Australia

Turner's offbreaks were rewarded by a smart Paine stumping to end Gunaratne's innings just when he appeared to be coasting home, before a debatable lbw verdict against Milinda Siriwardana closed the gap between the teams. In the end, Kapugedara was left needing a single from the final delivery, an assignment he made light work of with a steely drive for four.

Klinger, Turner and Billy Stanlake were all named for their first T20 appearances for Australia but there was no room for Ben Dunk and only three specialist batsmen selected - Finch, Head and Klinger. The visitors included the left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan, who was so effective against Australia in the Test series in Sri Lanka last year.

Malinga kicked off the evening with his first ball in a full international since February last year, and also bowled the first ball faced by Klinger in an international match no fewer than 19 years after his state debut. The pitch was a little on the sluggish side, but Klinger and the acting captain Finch made a decent start with a smattering of boundaries and hustling between the wickets.

They had 76 on the board by the time Klinger tried to tug a Sandakan googly to the leg side and was pouched by Malinga via the resultant top edge. Finch had his eye on a big score as leader, but after depositing Gunaratne's first ball well into the Great Southern Stand he tried to repeat the trick two balls later against an offcutter and popped another high catch.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Anakhanum Hidayatova  Trend:

The referendum in Azerbaijans occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region will only complicate the peace talks on settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, Matthew Bryza, former US ambassador to Azerbaijan, told Trend Feb. 17.

He was commenting on the referendum to be held Feb. 20 in Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh region, occupied by Armenia, to amend the illegal regimes constitution.

Bryza, who is also former US deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, said that Armenias intention to hold the referendum contains neither logic nor motivation for an early resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Earlier, Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry said the illegal referendum constitutes a clear violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the norms and principles of international law, and, therefore, has no legal effect whatsoever.

The ministry reiterated that the illegal regime established by Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan is ultimately nothing other than the product of aggression and occupation.

This provocative step, as well as Armenias attempts to change the name of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, the integral part of Azerbaijan, is yet another clear manifestation that Armenia is not genuinely interested in seeking a political settlement of the armed conflict, added the ministry.

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 the author on Twitter: @Anahanum
Written by ACM

*Strasbourg/EU Parliament/Angelo Marcopolo/- Ankara Government's recent provocative Demand for 80 Millions of Turks to get an identical Status to EU Citizens in Cyprus, as a Condition for the ReUnification of the Island, which is an EU Member Country, was clearly Rejected as Unacceptable by Experienced German MEP, Long-Time former President of EU Parliament's Foreign affairs Committee, and currently Rapporteur for EU's Future on the basis of Lisbon Treaty's potential, Elmar Brok, a mainstream Member of the Biggest Group of MEPs : that of ChristianDemocrats/EPP, and of the Governing in Berlin CDU/CSU Chancelor Angie Merkel's Party, in Reply to a relevant Topical Question raised by "Eurofora" Today.



After then Postponement, last Month, of the continuation of a Multilateral Political Conference in Geneva (Switzerland) under UNO auspices for the Solution of Cyprus' issue, where Turkey had participated for the 1st Time, together with Greece and the UK, as well as Cyprus' President Anastassiades and the Leader of the Turkish Cypriot Community Akinci, despite some Progres that the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot representatives had reportedly managed to make beforehand at least in certain notable particular points of Convergence, Ankara apparently insisted to keep for ever a right to Intervene in Cyprus under the disguise of an Unilateral "Guarantee", as well as a significant Military presence inside the island, where Turkish Troops persist to illegaly Occupy its Northern Part since the 1974 Deadly Military Invasion from mainland Anatolia, and even Asked, for the 1st Time, for all of its own, Turkish Citizens to get an Identical Status and Rights as if they were EU Citizens, all over Cyprus.



President Anastassiades has reportedly written, a few Days ago, an Official Letter to his 27 Counterparts among all EU Member Countries' Heads of State/Government, just after the latest EU Summit in Malta, presenting particularly those New Demands made by Turkey, mainly as far as it concerns the 4 Freedoms of EU Citizens inside the European Union Member States, (i.e. of Free Movement of Workers, Establishment, Flow of Capital and Merchandises, etc), for 80 Millions of Turks, which obviously push to Upgrade Ankara's status from a problematic (notoriously Controversial and UnPopular) Candidate into something assimilated to a Full EU Member, and risks to have manifold Repercussions also for All Other EU States, asking to Forge a Collective European Position vis a vis a move which looks as if Turkey searched to Enter inside the EU from a BackDoor...



Elmar Brok's reply to "Eurofora"s Question on this point (comp. supra) was Crystal-Clear :



- As far as it concerns "Freedom of Movement" etc., "it's Not for Turkey !", the experienced, mainstream German MEP strongly stressed from the outset, after Thinking Carefuly on this Topical and "Hot" Issue.



- "This is Only for Cypriots", Brok substantiated, Explaining that he meant for Both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, once an overall Political Agreement for the ReUnification of the Island would have been Reached, sooner or later, thanks to the still on-going Efforts for a Peaceful Solutiion under UNO's auspices.



A Fortiori when a Wide EU Parliament's Majority has, by the way, Rejected recently in Strasbourg (on Summer 2016) Ankara's Claim to get for all its 80 Millions of Turkish Nationals a "Free Visa" status, allowing them to Enter and Stay in Europe for at least 6 Months Each Year, whenever they like, and withOut any prior demand, Neither the slightes legal procedure or check. Later-on, that same year (on Winter 2016), EU Parliament quasi-Unanimously went also as far as to Officialy Ask, for the 1st Time, with another Resolution Voted in Strasbourg, to "Freeze" any EU - Turkey Negotiations on the Controversial and UnPopular Ankara's EU bid, (while an Important Number of various MEPs, mainly from the Right, but also from the Center and even from the Left side of the Political Spectrum, Advanced Further, leaning towards putting a full "Stop" to that problematic process).



By another Coincidence, Elmar Brok (who served also recently as EU Rapporteur on the Implementation of EU's Foreign and Security Policy, at the End of 2016), spoke to "Eurofora", earlier this Afternoon in EU Parliament being exceptionaly Overloaded with Many German Newspapers, while the Press was -and still is- Full of various manifold Articles about the Justice Minister's and other Officials' denonciations of the Fact that even several Turkish Muslim "Imams", as well as Turkish Consuls, etc., were reportedly Spying a lot of People in Germany, of Various Political tendencies, under Instructions comming from Abroad : i.e. from the Government of Ankara.



Both in Germany and other EU Countries it's a Crime to Intrude and Spy on other People's Lives inside Europe, engaging in activities similar to State Intelligence Agents, while being at the Orders of a Foreign Government.



Turkish Imams are the Only to be exclusively Depending from a Foreign, Non-European Government (that of Ankara), which Selects them, Trains them, Pays them, and Sends them abroad in various Other Countries to operate, as if they were its own, Turkish State's Agents, instead of being Independent Religious persons representing just their Local Community residing in Europe, as is, on the Contrary, the case with almost all Other Religious Communities whatever.

Germany is currently Preparing for Crucial National Elections on September 2017, where More Political Parties than in the Past are currently expected to enter or return into the Bundestag, making various Coalitions possible.

(../..)





***





("Draft"News, as already send to "Eurofora" Subscribers/Donors, earlier. A more accurate, full Final Version, might be published asap).

+



(NDLR : Head Photo = Elmar Brok, together with Berndt Posselt, President of "PanEuropa Deutschland", former long-time MEP and Journalist, smile for a photograph by "Eurofora" at EU Parliament in Strasbourg)

***


Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Anakhanum Hidayatova  Trend:

Baku as a venue for a meeting between US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford and Russian Chief of the General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov makes sense, as Azerbaijan is in the nexus of geopolitics among Russia, Iran and Turkey, Theodore Karasik, senior advisor to Gulf State Analytics, told Trend Feb. 17.

Gerasimov and Dunford met in Baku Feb. 16 and outlined vectors of joint work aimed at easing tensions and preventing military incidents.

In addition, Baku has good relations with NATO by participating in Afghan operations but it is also keenly aware of the Kremlin's interests and balances perfectly between the two, for now, opposite poles, the expert said.

The expert added that there are two topics for those important talks in Baku - first, the ability of the US and Russia to coordinate on the Levant to destroy the Islamic State (aka IS, ISIL, ISIS or Daesh) terrorist group and second - NATO-Russia relations.

Azerbaijan's energy plans are a subject that requires NATO-Russia attention in order to reduce misunderstandings in the near term, he said.

But there is a third topic - US relations with Azerbaijan that is crucial, he added. Dunford pushed hard to show US commitment to Azerbaijan across a number of fields from security to energy.
This op-ed was first published on Project Syndicate on February 16 2017.

The chasm between Russia and the West appears to be wider now than at any point since the Cold War. But, despite stark differences, there are areas of existential common interest. As we did during the darkest days of the Cold War, Americans, Europeans, and Russians must work together to avoid catastrophe, including by preventing terrorist attacks and reducing the risks of a military  or even nuclear  conflict in Europe.

Ever since the historic events of 1989-1991 changed Europe forever, each of us has been involved in Euro-Atlantic security, both inside and outside of government. Through it all, efforts to build mutual security in the Euro-Atlantic region have lacked urgency and creativity. As a result, the Euro-Atlantic space has remained vulnerable to political, security, and economic crises.

In the absence of new initiatives by all parties, things are likely to get worse. Terrorist attacks have struck Moscow, Beslan, Ankara, Istanbul, Paris, Nice, Munich, Brussels, London, Boston, New York, Washington, and other cities  and those responsible for carrying them out are determined to strike again. Thousands of people have been killed in Ukraine since 2013, and more are dying in renewed fighting today. Innocent refugees are fleeing the devastating wars in the Middle East and North Africa. And Western-Russian relations are dangerously tense, increasing the risk that an accident, mistake, or miscalculation will precipitate a military escalation  or even a new war.

The first step in acting to advance our common interests is to identify and pursue concrete, practical, near-term initiatives designed to reduce risks, rebuild trust, and improve the Euro-Atlantic security landscape. There are five key areas that such initiatives should cover.

We must reduce the danger of a nuclear weapon being used. Today, the risk of an accidental or mistaken nuclear ballistic-missile launch is unnecessarily high. A starting point for minimizing the threat could be a new declaration by the Russian and US presidents reaffirming that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. This would mirror the joint statement made by former US President Ronald Reagan and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, which was well received in both countries, and marked a new effort to improve relations.

We must reduce the risks associated with keeping nuclear forces on prompt-launch status, whereby they are ready for immediate launch and can hit their targets within minutes. The United States and Russia should commit to begin discussions on removing a significant percentage of strategic nuclear forces from prompt-launch status at a later date. This, together with the declaration proposed above, would set a strategic direction for reducing the nuclear threat.

We must reduce the threat of nuclear and radiological materials falling into the wrong hands. As the Islamic State looks for new ways to export terror to Europe, North America, and beyond, it may try to acquire and detonate a radiological-dispersal device, commonly known as a dirty bomb. It is especially urgent that the US, Russia, and Europe lead a global effort to secure the most vulnerable nuclear and radiological materials around the world. In particular, there is an urgent need to cooperate on securing radiological sources. Many facilities using these materials today are vulnerable, but the estimated date for securing them globally is 2044.

We must reduce the risks of a military confrontation by improving military-to-military communication through a new NATO-Russia Military Crisis Management Group. This initiative should accompany efforts to restart bilateral military-to-military dialogue between the US and Russia. The focus should be on increasing transparency and trust on all sides.

We must reduce the risk of a mid-air incident leading to a political or military conflict. Increased military activity in areas where NATO and Russia both operate now poses an unacceptably high risk to civilian air traffic. Countries that are active in the Baltic Sea region, for starters, should exchange due regard regulations  the national operating procedures that state aircraft must follow when in the proximity of civilians. Technical support for greater air transparency would also significantly reduce the risk of a mid-air collision.

Europe, the US, and Russia are confronting a range of significant issues today. But none should distract attention from the important goal of identifying a new policy framework, based on existential common interests, that can stop the downward spiral in relations and stabilize Euro-Atlantic security. The practical near-term steps that we have identified here are the right place to begin. We need to start now.

The opinions articulated above represent the views of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the position of the European Leadership Network or any of its members. The ELNs aim is to encourage debates that will help develop Europes capacity to address the pressing foreign, defence, and security challenges of our time.




Pure science seeks understanding of the nature of nature and its operations. Applied science takes the insights from pure research and makes it work for human interests. What if you had a single word that incorporates both? Heres a contender for such a word: Biomimetics. The application side is clear, because engineers and inventors try to imitate natures designs. But the pure-research side becomes active in the process, because you have to understand something before you can imitate it. This is a win-win bonanza for 21st-century science, and intelligent design, if not by that name, is at the center of it.

Drug discovery . We see both sides of the coin in a paper in Nature Communications, Biomimetically inspired asymmetric total synthesis of (+)-19-dehydroxyl arisandilactone A. It begins, Complex natural products are a proven and rich source of disease-modulating drugs [applied science] and of efficient tools for the study of chemical biology [pure science] and drug discovery. Nature is way out in front, the next sentence suggests: The architectures of complex natural products are generally considered to represent significant barriers to efficient chemical synthesis. [Emphasis added.] It takes Olympic-level effort to scale these barriers, but by studying how a medicinal plant builds a complex organic compound, Chinese scientists think they are learning how to synthesize other molecules of interest.

Spider-man wannabees . Researchers at the American Institute of Physics sound like kids at a Spiderman movie. They say Wow! at the impressive weight-lifting abilities in the silk of a particular spider. The muscles of human weight-lifters are impressive enough at the molecular level, but Variations of this dynamic geometry appear elsewhere in nature, exhibiting a variety of mechanisms and structures and inspiring development in artificial muscle technology, they say. Spider silk, specifically Ornithoctonus huwena spider silk, now offers the newest such inspiration for a team of Chinese and American scientists. Thinking ahead to artificial muscles, these researchers had to study the spiders silk at the micro-level, learning about the proteins involved and how they become activated by water.

These spider silk fibers, actuated by water droplets, showed impressive behavior in all the ways that matter to muscle performance (or to super heroes that may need them to swing from buildings).

Bat robotics . Advanced robotic bats flight characteristics simulates the real thing, announces a headline from Engineering at Illinois News. Everybody is aware that robotic drones are the hottest thing these days in everything from toys to weapons. The smart guys at University of Illinois, in cooperation with Jet Propulsion Laboratory, have built the latest iteration of their bat-mimicking bat bots.

Bats have long captured the imaginations of scientists and engineers with their unrivaled agility and maneuvering characteristics, achieved by functionally versatile dynamic wing conformations as well as more than forty active and passive joints on the wings. However, their wing flexibility and complex wing kinematics pose significant technological challenges for robot modelling, design, and control. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Caltech have developed a self-contained robotic bat  dubbed Bat Bot (B2)  with soft, articulated wings that can mimic the key flight mechanisms of biological bats.

A video (above) shows off the invention and boasts about its design. But the human engineers running a flight test at the end of the clip look like kids playing with paper airplanes compared to the biological bats whose elegant motions are shown in this Nature Video. Whenever I see bats make sharp turns or perch upside down with elegant wing movements, I get mesmerized, the lead engineer remarks. Clunky as Bat Bot is at this stage, both Live Science and New Scientist believe that exciting applications can come from this advancing technology.

Dragonfly drone . A lab in Massachusetts appears to be besting the Illinois team, by creating an even smaller drone that mimics dragonflies. On closer reading of the Live Science story about the DragonflEye project, though, we learn that the team at Charles Stark Draper Laboratory is actually outfitting live dragonflies with electronic backpacks. This allows them to send commands to the insects flight muscles, turning them into cyborgs that they can control. DragonflEye sees these tiny flight masters as potentially controllable flyers that would be smaller, lighter and stealthier than anything else thats manmade,' the article says, but we dont know if the Illinois team will call it cheating to use live insects.

Bee bots . If honeybee numbers keep dropping, how will our crops get pollinated? Some inventors think that tiny quadcopter drones might be recruited as artificial pollinators in the future. Watch a horse trot into this biomimetics tale:

As bees slip onto the endangered species lists, researchers in Japan are pollinating lilies with insect-sized drones. The undersides of these artificial pollinators are coated with horse hairs and an ionic gel just sticky enough to pick up pollen from one flower and deposit it onto another. The drones designers are hopeful that their invention could someday help carry the burden that modern agricultural demand has put on colonies.

See the horse hairs up close in New Scientists coverage. Now a problem: how to scale this up to tackle crops like almond orchards that can stretch for miles, where each tree can have 50,000 flowers to pollinate. Elizabeth Franklin doesnt think robotic pollinators will ever compete with live honeybees (The Conversation). A U.K. researcher rubs it in (Live Science):

In a blog post, he wrote that there are roughly 3.2 trillion bees on the planet. Even if the robo-bees cost 1 cent per unit and lasted a year, which he said is a highly optimistic estimate, it would cost $32 billion a year to maintain the population and would litter the countryside with tiny robots. Real bees avoid all of these issues; they are self-replicating, self-powering and essentially carbon-neutral, Goulson wrote in the post. We have wonderfully efficient pollinators already. Lets look after them, not plan for their demise.

Plant ceramics . Harvard has a whole institute dedicated to biomimetics: the Wyss Center for Biologically Inspired Design. The wizards there are hot on the trail of leaves of grass, according to news from Wyss, and thats not just poetic license. Impressed by grasss ability to support its own weight, resist strong wind loads, and recover after being compressed, they thought that if they could 3-D print something like that, it would enable a very useful material for many applications. In order to invent ceramic foam usable in a 3-D printer, they had to look at grass carefully. The plants hardiness comes from a combination of its hollow, tubular macrostructure and porous, or cellular, microstructure, they found. These architectural features work together to give grass its robust mechanical properties. So by printing their foam into honeycomb-like shapes, theyre getting close to printing hierarchical microstructures with desirable mechanical, thermal, and transport characteristics: Inspired by natural cellular structures in a common blade of grass.

Speaking of ceramics, another team is trying to imitate the unique structural and functional capabilities of nacre (mother-of-pearl), by Using graphene networks to build bioinspired self-monitoring ceramics (Nature Communications). Pages and pages of graphs, mathematics, and chemistry show its not easy to imitate an oyster.

Peacock dye . The American Chemical Society is involved in the gold rush, too, excited to announce that Peacock colors inspire [a] greener way to dye clothes. The iridescent colors of birds and butterflies come not from pigments, but from geometric structures at the nanoscopic level that intensify certain wavelengths of light. Everyone from fashion designers to parents to the EPA will be happy to learn about better dyes inspired by peacock feathers. Testing showed the method could produce the full spectrum of colors, which remained bright even after washing, an ACS team said. In addition, the team said that the technique did not produce contaminants that could pollute nearby water.

For those not afflicted by arachnophobia, Phys.org tells about another team at the University of Akron working on a similar idea to 3-D print dyes inspired by (ready?) tarantula hairs.

Centipede robots . What kid hasnt been fascinated by the wave-like motion of dozens of feet in caterpillars, centipedes, and millipedes? Some who grew up to become scientists didnt forget that fascination. Japanese scientists publishing in PLOS ONE are among them, describing, Decentralized control scheme for myriapod robot inspired by adaptive and resilient centipede locomotion. Read in this open-access paper about how they tackled one of the major challenges, developing a control scheme that can coordinate their numerous legs in real time. Some of us have enough trouble controlling two legs, let alone dozens. The breakthrough came by drawing inspiration from behavioral experiments on centipede locomotion under unusual conditions, they say.

Theres something satisfying about watching the brightest scientific minds as they try to play catch-up with the genius of centipedes, bats, and peacocks. Biomimetics is not for lazy scientists. Natures designs are too sophisticated for Darwinian storytellers. They stimulate inspiration, perspiration, and admiration, with potential applications to benefit us all  and the key word is design.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met with chairman and CEO of Kaspersky Lab, Eugene Kaspersky, in Munich, Germany Feb. 17.

The sides noted that Kaspersky Lab maintains successful cooperation with Azerbaijan in certain fields.

They said ensuring cyber security is a crucial element of bilateral cooperation amid tumultuous global processes.

Kaspersky stressed the importance of expanding relations with Azerbaijan.

The sides exchanged views over work to ensure the safety of processes in industrial and other spheres.
Mindshare India ranked second in Top 10 Most Awarded Media Agencies 2016 with 123 points; Mediacom India and PHD India ranked seventh and eighth respectively in the same list

The Gunn Report for Media, the global evaluation of media innovation and success, has today released its 2016 Media Report, summarising the overall media performance in the year January to December 2016 based on the results of the most important global, regional and national Media creative award contests spanning 40 markets. India ranked third in the list of Top 20 Most Awarded Countries in Media in the World 2016 with 459 points. In the Top 10 Most Awarded Media Agencies 2016, Mindshare India ranked second with 123 points. Other Indian media agencies to feature in this list are Mediacom India at rank 7 and PHD India at rank 8.



Highlights from the 2016 Gunn Report for Media include:

Most Awarded Media Agencies in the World 2016

1 Starcom USA

2 Mindshare India

3 PHD New Zealand

4 OMD USA

5 OMD UK

To make it into the top 20 of this table, media agencies have won more than 38 points in four or more festivals. Agencies in the full ranking come from a total of 10 different countries.



Most Awarded Media Agency Networks in the World 2016

1 OMD

2 Starcom MediaVest

3 PHD

4 Mindshare

5 Mediacom

OMD is, once again, the winner of the Agency Network ranking for the eleventh consecutive time.

OMDs agencies had very good results all over the world in each festival, local and international on a big number of different campaigns for many different advertisers.

Its star agency is OMD UK, which won three Media Lions at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity (Humans campaign for Channel 4; Hunted campaign for Channel 4; Campaign To Combat Loneliness for John Lewis), and received (with agency adam&eveDDB) the IPA Effectiveness Awards Grand Prix for its work for John Lewis (John Lewis Christmas advertising, 2012  2015)

Another star of the network was OMD USA with a Cannes Bronze Lion for its Intel Winter Games campaign. Among its other winning works: Pepsi+Empire: A Brand Integration Breakthrough and Apple iPhone 6 World Gallery

OMD in China, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Italy, Sweden and UAE also performed well.

Starcom Mediavest is challenging OMD in many countries. Starcom USA was the third Most Effective Agency Network in 2016 in North America according to the North American Effie Effectiveness Index. Its New York and Chicago offices did very well in national and international competitions, with various campaigns: No Borders (Airbnb, Silver Lion), Breakfast Defect From The Routine Republic (Taco Bell), Blind Taste Test (Kraft Macaroni & Cheese ), #OptOutside(REI), Van Gogh BnB (The Art Institute Of Chicago).

Amongst its other stars are Starcom in Italy, Belgium, China, New Zealand, UAE and UK.

PHD jumps back from fourth place last year to third place. The network did specifically well in the Cannes Media Lions, picking up 4 awards, one Gold, one Silver and two Bronze. Three of these wins were claimed by APAC agencies, including a Gold Media Lion won by PHD New Zealand for DB Export Brewtroleum campaign; a Bronze won by PHD Australia for ANZ Banking Groups Smart Girls  Equal Future campaign; and a Bronze won by PHD India for Hindustan Unilevers Lo Kar Lo Bat campaign. The Silver Lion went to PHD UK for its campaign Sharing The Gift Of Reading At Christmas (Sainsburys)

Amongst its other star agencies are: PHD Belgium, PHD Canada, PHD Hong Kong and PHD South Africa.

Most Awarded Advertisers in Media in the World 2016

1 Heineken

2 Coca-Cola

3 McDonalds

4 KFC

5= Microsoft

5= Samsung

Heineken takes the title of the worlds most awarded advertiser beating Coca-Cola for the first time. Its success came from winning at 14 different award shows and festivals with points coming from 12 different countries. Coca-Cola in 2nd place, winning at 25 festivals earned points from 20 countries. McDonalds retains it 3rd place earning points from winning at 25 festivals with successes from 18 countries.

Most Awarded Countries in Media 2016

1 USA

2 United Kingdom

3 India

4 China

5 UAE

Media Campaigns of the Year 2016 (not ranked)

 Always, Girl Emoji, Starcom MediaVest Group (London)

 Ariel, Removing The Stains Of Social Inequality. Share The Load, Mediacom (Mumbai)

 Burger King, McWhopper, Y&R Media New Zealand (Auckland)

 DB Export, Brewtroleum, PHD New Zealand (Auckland)

 Louis XIII Cognac, #NotComingSoon, Fred & Farid (New York)

 Manulife, The Price Of Living 2040, PHD (Hong Kong)

 Microsoft, Tomb Raider Survival Billboard, EMT/Dentsu Aegis (London)

 Sainsburys, Starting The Gift Of Reading At Christmas, PHD (London)

 Swedish Tourist Association, The Swedish Number, Ingo (Stockholm)

 The Art Institute of Chicago, Van Gogh BnB, Starcom Mediavest Group (Chicago)

 Untold Festival/National Institute for Blood, Pay With Blood, UM Romania (Bucharest)

Journalist Isabelle Musnik, editor of The Gunn Report for Media, says, The outcome of The Gunn Report for Media 2016 shows that while technology and data are fundamental to achieving results, insight, strategy and innovative ideas are essential to delivering them as well as bringing positive results which can be measured. Creativity and efficiency are not antithetical.

Musnik added, Good and creative media ideas have diverse sources, have widely different budgets and come from all over the world. 2016 has been the year of data, mobile, apps, programmatic advertising, life video, new formats, social media, virtual reality, artificial intelligence and the emoji, all of which enable consumers to experience brands like never before.

Other highlights from the report:

- A consumers behaviour is no longer logical but based on emotion.

- Consumers do not just buy a product  they buy a story, a vision, a connection.

- ROE (Return on Emotion) is now a key metric.

- Media innovation and creativity are essential to brand success.

- Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, WeChat... are now the key platforms for communication and content distribution, and becoming ever more important.

- Media agencies that lie at the intersection of technology and traditional media have become their clients key strategic partner, ranging from creativity providers, to data providers or performance analysts

- While technology and data are fundamental to achieving results, insight, strategy and innovative ideas are essential to delivering them.

- Good and creative media ideas have diverse sources, have widely different budgets and come from all over the world.

- Advancements in technology have enabled media and advertising agencies to develop campaigns across many innovative new mediums enabling consumers to experience brands like never before.

- 2016 has been the year of data, mobile, apps, programmatic advertising, life video, new formats, social media, virtual reality, artificial intelligence and the emoji.

The Gunn Report for Media 2016, which includes ranking tables and analysis, is now available at www.gunnreport.com

The Gunn Report Book and Showreel of the Year 2016 DVD will be available in mid-March and will include The Gunn Report for Media 2016. Additionally there will be messages to the industry by guest essayists Mike Cooper, CEO of PHD Worldwide who will share his thoughts on how Artificial Intelligence will propel media to the forefront of the process; and Nils Andersson, creative president of TBWA\Asia who will address the art and craft of creative in an era of machines.

Read more news about (marketing news, latest marketing news,internet marketing, marketing India, digital marketing India, media marketing India, advertising news)
EUR to USD Exchange Rate Set to Crash Ten Percent if Le Pen Wins French Election

On Tuesday on Exchange Rates UK we reported JP Morgans view that euro exchange rate valuations could plunge by as much as 10% should Marine Le Pen be victorious in this springs French elections (beginning April-23). And in a grim vision of a Le Pen Presidency, Commerzbank economist Christoph Weil described scenarios in which France would not only leave Schengen, the EU and the currency union, but also the NATO Military Command. Not good for investor nerves!

The antidote to the euro jitters has so far remained a knowledge of the seemingly low probability of a Le Pen win.

From Tuesdays report, we had this to say about the Front National leaders chances:

British bookmakers currently price a Marine Le Pen victory in the French election around the 2/1 mark  a price which suggests only a 33% chance of the Front National leader becoming the next French President. Pollsters also predict a slim chance of a Le Pen victory." "Not to be confused with the first round of voting, in which Le Pen is the clear leader, Februarys opinion polls for the all-that-matters second round of voting put Le Pen some way behind both Emmanuel Macron and Francois Fillon  the two that financial markets see as most likely to fight it out for the comforts of the Elysee Palace." "In the head-to-head second round, polls show Marine Le Pen averaging around 35% of the vote versus 65% for Emmanuel Macron, should those two be the candidates, and around 40% versus 60% against Francois Fillon." "And what about the bankers and foreign exchange analysts? What do they think?" "JP Morgan put the chances of a complete Le Pen victory, with a parliamentary majority, at just 3%." "According to Italian banking group UniCredit: The odds of Ms. Marine Le Pen making it to the Elysee are low.

Hedge Fund Super Computer Predicts an Upset  Euro in Danger

One man who is not discounting Marine Le Pens chances is Arun Kant  chief investment officer at Singapore-based investment firm Leonie Hill Capital.

Kant told CNBC reporters this week that he expects the right-wing populist candidate to prevail  a view formed from his firm's proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) analysis.

The AI machines inputs include social network discussions, polling, economic data and demographics. And following a Le Pen "walk over" in the first round of voting, Kant predicts a second round victory for the Front National leader.

Forecast Voting Outcomes

Kant's AI machine predicts that Le Pen will take 28% of the votes in the first round, in comparison with 16.4% for Francois Fillon and 19-20% for Emmanuel Macron  the latter candidate being the one that Guardian columnist Martin Kettle described last week as the man to "give the EU a chance to save itself."

After cruising through to the head-to-head second round, Kants super computer predicts that Le Pen will be up against Macron, against whom shell fare well, with a current AI forecast of 52.3% for Macron and 47.7% for Le Pen. But, Kant expects the right-wing politician to gain considerable ground after the first round victory, which will push her over the edge versus Macron.

"If she wins the first round, the dynamic will change", Kant said, referring to the similarities between the populist appeal of Marine Le Pen and that of now-President Donald Trump.

With momentum moving in her favour, the next French President is most likely Marine Le Pen, concludes Kant.

Like Commerzbanks Weil, Kant expects a Le Pen victory to mark the end of the European Union, something that "may lead to a financial crisis much sooner than anyone thinks."

EUR-USD and EUR-GBP Data Releases

[Day, Time in GMT, Currency, Data, Forecast]

FRI 09:00 EUR Current Account 28.7bn

FRI 09:30 GBP Retail Sales m/m 1.0%
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

Trend:

Azerbaijani Minister of Internal Affairs Ramil Usubov met with Minister of Justice of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mostafa Pourmohammadi Feb. 17.

Usubov said relations between both countries have historical and deep roots.

He highlighted the socio-political developments after the country gained its state independence, the enormous efforts the national leader of Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev made for construction of legal-democratic state, the socio-economic reforms conducted under his leadership, as well as the reforms in the legal-enforcement bodies to establish stability in the country.

Usubov underlined that after the restoration of Azerbaijan`s independence national leader Heydar Aliyev laid the foundations of fraternal relations between the two countries.

These ties are today being expanded thanks to the heads of state, he said.

Usubov also hailed potential opportunities of joint cooperation, adding bilateral beneficial relations will serve to interests of both countries and nations.

Mostafa Pourmohammadi said he is deeply impressed with the great changes that have taken place in the country ever since.

Pourmohammadi also said stability, prosperity in both countries will positively serve to security in the region.

Ambassador of Iran to the country Javad Jahangirzadeh was also present in the meeting.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Orkhan Quluzade  Trend:

Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan plan to increase the volume of mutual trade up to $20 billion, said Turkeys Deputy Economy Minister Fatih Metin at the 5th Turkey-Azerbaijan-Georgia business forum in Istanbul Feb. 17.

Metin said that a business forum in such a format is important not only for the development of economic cooperation, but also for rapprochement of the three countries in social sphere.

The deputy economy minister noted that Ankara works on elimination of obstacles in the trade among Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

An agreement on free trade between Turkey and Georgia and the discussion of an agreement on preferential trade between Turkey and Azerbaijan open big opportunities for the development of business relations among the three countries, he said.

The structure of economies of Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan is interchangeable: via research and innovative potential of Turkey, natural and geographical opportunities of Georgia and strong energy infrastructure of Azerbaijan it is possible to start several joint initiatives, which will contribute to the development of industrial cluster in all three countries, added the Turkish minister.

During the period of radical transformation of the global economic system, the regional dialogue is extremely important, said Rona Yircali, a member of Turkeys Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK).

We, as three neighboring countries, should work together for the continuation of economic development in our region. Development of economy will bring peace and prosperity to the region, noted Yircali. The effective cooperation among Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia can be an example for other countries.

He added that currently, the trade turnover among Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia totals $4.2 billion.

The Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey business forum, organized with the support of the Azerbaijan Export and Investments Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO), will also be attended by Azerbaijani Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev, Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci and Georgian Economy and Sustainable Development Minister Giorgi Gakharia.

Azerbaijans trade turnover with Turkey amounted to $2.3 billion in 2016, with Georgia  to almost $395 million, according to Azerbaijans State Customs Committee. Turkey became Azerbaijans main trade partner and Georgia ranked the 12th in 2016.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @o_quluzade
The Great Wall can be seen as the climax of what will probably stand as the worst week for movies in all of 2017. We may have to wait until the dregs of August for there to be any competition at all, and even then, this week is going to be hard to beat.

The Great Wall, the weeks big release, is a Chinese monster movie that somehow stars Matt Damon as an English mercenary. His search for gunpowder leads him to imperial China, where he is captured and then converted into a soldier, enlisted to fight enormous iguanalike monsters that are each about the size of a Honda Odyssey. In fact, you know the Great Wall of China? Well, in this movie that was built to keep the monster iguanas out.

Obviously.

I know what youre thinking. Youre thinking that this sounds really bad. In fact, youve probably stopped reading, and so youll never know that, however bad it sounds, The Great Wall is way worse. It should also be noted that, in real life, iguanas eat vegetables and nibble at them gently, while these guys have lots of teeth and are willing to eat people, not out of hunger, but out of what might be called malicious exuberance.

Yimou Zhang directed, and when we first meet Matt Damon, hes in a cave having a conversation with a few other people. But Zhang doesnt set the scene with an establishing shot. Instead, he just gives us a series of tight close-ups, so tight, in fact, that were not even sure how many guys are in the cave (Im still not sure) or which one is Damon. He has a huge red beard and is talking funny, doing a kind of earnest Midwestern accent that is about a millennium ahead of its time.

More Information The Great Wall * Quick take: Nothing great about this See More Collapse

Then a monster jumps out from the shadows, but we dont really see it, because the fight also takes place in a tight close-up. The visual strategy makes no sense, and, with the next scene, Zhang drops it as fast as he adopted it.

Such odd little touches let you know that this is not a film made by or for an American sensibility. Its a weird hybrid, an American genre and an American movie star matched with a Chinese story and Chinese production values, and the marriage isnt a success.

The main story concerns the journey of the mercenary, as he gradually finds his soul and his calling in the monster battles. But theres also the story of an imprisoned Englishman (Willem Dafoe) and his own desire to escape to the West.

The narrative is clumsy, and the monster scenes are ridiculous, but not ridiculous enough to be funny, just ridiculous enough to be boring. And the physical motion of the monsters  the way they whip around  has the whiff of a computer game. Its hard to care, and theres no reason to try.

Yet despite the movies atmosphere of absurdity, Damon more or less survives with his dignity intact. He always does.

No matter what the role and no matter what the movie, Damon always seems like hes just being himself, while everyone around him keeps acting. This makes him an exceptional screen actor, but this time  what with the beard, and the setting, and the weird accent and the monsters  his luck seemed about to run out. But no. Hes fine. Hes not the problem.

Neither is Tian Jing, who as the general Lin Mae has a face that the camera adores. Every close-up is an invitation to forget the rest of the movie and marvel at her pristine features.

But then, each time, the invitation is revoked, and were back in this culture-shock video game, with all those toothy Odyssey-sized iguanas attacking from all sides. They keep attacking until the time finally comes to put the audience out of its misery.

Running time: 104 minutes

MPAA rating: PG-13 (fantasy violence)
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If you thought taco iconography in S.A. was just Henry the Puffy Taco running the bases at a Missions game, you were wrong. Who better to spread the gospel of tacos as art than the Christ child himself, held in the arms of Saint Anthony of Padua, while offering up a platter of divine breakfast tacos?

Its my interpretation or how Im perceiving this whole taco culture, said Michael Breidenbach, who with the nom de paintbrush Moe Profane crafted the irreverent devotional painting that could only be called Taco Jesus.

It just goes to show that tacos are more than just a heaven-sent meal; theyre also a fun feast for the eyes when interpreted by some of San Antonios cleverest artists.

Just look at whats coming up on the local taco art menu:

Breidenbachs Taco Jesus and a couple of his other taco-themed works spice up multiples, a free community exhibit that opens today at Galeria Guadalupe and runs through March 31.

San Antonio T-shirt company BarbacoApparel is taking its wearable love of tacos to outer space with its new taconaut design, an astronaut with a taco reflected in its visor. The taconaut makes a more picturesque follow-up to the brands popular T-shirts with Bean & Cheese and other simple text descriptions of tacos, patterned after Experimental Jetsets often-imitated John & Paul & Ringo & George design.

Theres a taco twofer out of downtowns Alta Vista Skateshop, which plans to roll out a special collaboration skateboard deck with the skateboard company Enjoi, which features Enjois panda mascot rocking a giant sombrero while hugging on a giant taco  the perfect compliment to Alta Vistas Lets Shred T-shirt with, you guessed it, a skateboarding taco.

I think the taco, to be honest with you, is this thing thats crossing from something thats comfort food ... and now is being utilized as this universal platform in art to kind of unite the cultures and take it to that next level, said Luis Munoz, creator of the I love tacos so much graffiti art near The Pearl that went viral in late 2015.

Munozs statement art spoofs the popular I love you so much wall of Jos Coffee in Austin. And its underlying message lives on with a replica now on the John Lennon Wall in Prague to its new San Antonio home at, appropriately enough, Viva Tacoland, where you can buy an I love tacos so much T-shirt that helps benefit area charities.

That message: Across politics, across cultures and across the world, people love tacos, and theyre willing to express that love on walls and on shirts as well as on plates.

Its something that is unifying and is easy, Munoz said of the taco as art subject. Its nonthreatening and its noncontroversial.

Except when it comes to the great Texas Taco War of 2016.

Munozs wall art fed into that famous feud between San Antonio and Austin, as many a flour and corn tortilla-filled soldier fell in defense of its hometowns taquerias and bragging rights. The generals of that salsa-stained battle eventually made peace in March, when the mayors of both cities signed the Interstate 35 Taco Accord.

Breidenbach, who moved to San Antonio in 2010, dug his brushes into that tasty skirmish last year with Taco Jesus and other pieces to make up Taco Wars Correspondence: New Works by Moe Profane, an exhibit that ran in 2016 at San Antonios Bihl Haus Arts contemporary art gallery.

At the time, Breidenbach declared the taco had been recast in a deep-rooted rivalry between San Antonio and Austin as questions arise regarding authenticity, tradition and race, and that it was no longer just a taco, but a metaphor for colonial animosity and ancient grudges.

Now Breidenbach sees the taco as another hip icon of the moment.

The taco has almost replaced bacon as the food meme that everybody loves, everybody is obsessed with, he said.

But the embers of taco pride still burn, and it takes little to light another taco battle fire.

During last years taco war, Dzrt Lizard Designs founder Ivette Snell whipped up a spoof T-shirt of the Come and Take It flag from the Battle of Gonzales during the Texas Revolution, replacing its iconic cannon with a bacon and egg-stuffed taco.

The news video editor for KSAT-TVs Good Morning San Antonio noted her cheeky battle-cry for San Antonio tacos has since become more of an all-inclusive statement shirt. It might as well say make tacos, not war.

Now when people see it, people are just like, Yeah, it makes perfect sense; I love my tacos, Snell said.

And if that aesthetic taste for tacos celebrates its ties to San Antonio as well as south of the border, even better.

Casas Ink owner Aaron Casas, who designed Alta Vista owner Paul Francis ideas for the skateboarding taco T-shirt and taco-hugging panda board, said Mexican-Americans especially get a kick out of such a cultural staple as the taco presented in such clever ways.

And as more local artists fuse the stuff of cultural humor and satire with the stuff of carne guisada and chorizo and egg, dont be surprised if more people come to remember the Alamo City for more than just that famous downtown landmark.

The taco, Casas said, is strong here in San Antonio, man.
An investigator with the Texas attorney generals office arrived at the Bexar County Elections Office on Thursday, requesting records in connection to potential voter fraud, an issue experts have repeatedly found to not be a wide-scale problem despite claims from several politicians, including President Donald Trump.

Attorney General Ken Paxtons office seeks records to evaluate the existence of Election Code offenses committed in connection with the 2016 primary and general elections.

Specifically, the state is looking for copies of notices of determination regarding a noncitizen or deceased voter, of the registration application for each voter that received the notice and of the affected voters voting history.

Theyre going to all of the big cities, and we qualify, said Jacquelyn Callanen, Bexar County elections administrator. Im sure theyre doing their due diligence, and we absolutely do our due diligence. Well get our records and see what we find.

Callanen noted that there have been no major cases of voter fraud in Bexar County.

We had one case a few years ago, Callanen recalled. It was an elderly woman whose sister had been deceased. She had kept the sisters identification and voted in her name. She also voted in her own name. The attorney generals office took care of that.

The request from Paxtons office came less than a week after a Tarrant County woman was sentenced to eight years in prison after being found guilty of voting illegally in 2012 and 2014. Her lawyer said his client didnt do so intentionally.

Robert Stovall, chairman of the Bexar County Republican Party, said he hasnt heard of specific issues in the county this election cycle but that it is a concern of Trumps and that Paxton is taking the lead.

Ive often been suspicious, Stovall said. He said theres no way to verify if someone is a U.S. citizen when they sign up for a voter registration card. Theres always a possibility of some fraud, he said.

He cited reports that say up to 3 million people (or 14 percent of voters) are illegally registered to vote, a claim that has also appeared on the conspiracy website InfoWars. However, the fact-checking website PolitiFact has debunked several claims related to widescale voter fraud. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer recently cited a 2008 Pew Research Center report as evidence that 14 percent of people who voted were noncitizens. However, no such report exists.

There was a 2012 study from Pew that studied outdated voter rolls, not fraudulent votes, PolitiFact found.

A 2014 study said approximately 6.4 percent of noncitizens voted in 2008 and 2.2 percent in 2010, but the study has been widely criticized by election experts for flawed methodology using an unreliable database of Internet respondents, PolitiFact found.

Callanen said the attorney generals office is aware of elections filing deadlines occurring this week, so finding and sending the records may take a little while.

We will get to this as soon as we can, Callanen said.

Paxtons office declined to comment on the ongoing investigation. A spokesperson sent copies of election violation records dating back to 2002, listing referrals, prosecutions and pending charges. Currently, the state accounts for close to 700 allegations, including claims ranging from illegal voting to campaign finance violations; 90 resolved prosecutions; and three pending charges. The charges included the woman sentenced in Tarrant County and one charge from Bexar County from 2011 for two counts of illegal voting and voter impersonation.

Paxton also filed an amicus brief Wednesday in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in support of Trumps travel ban.

frahman@express-news.net

Staff Writer Diana Fuentes contributed to this report.
AUSTIN  A long-awaited proposal to prepare Texas in the event of a constitutional convention passed its first legislative hurdle Thursday when a state Senate committee approved a trio of bills assigning instructions to potential delegates and restricting their powers.

In a party-line vote, with the panels two Democrats opposed, the Senate Committee on State Affairs approved Senate Joint Resolution 2, the official charge to add Texas to a list of states that support a so-called convention of states. The resolution limits proposed constitutional changes to three categories: putting term limits on federal lawmakers, curbing the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and imposing fiscal restraints on Washington.

Article 5 of the U.S. Constitution allows state legislatures to call a convention to propose and debate amendments to the countrys founding document. Two-thirds of state legislatures can trigger the nationwide meeting if they pass identical resolutions stating their desire for such a convention.

The Constitution requires ratification by three-fourths of all state legislatures before any amendment can be added to the Constitution. At present, eight states have standing resolutions calling for a convention, and supporters are working on legislation in 21 others.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott made passage of convention of states legislation an emergency item for the Legislature, meaning lawmakers can consider bills related to the topic on an expedited schedule.

The committee also approved two companion pieces of legislation aimed at clearing the way for the initial bill. Senate Joint Resolution 38, proposed by Sen. Craig Estes of Wichita Falls, would rescind the Legislatures previous calls for a convention of states. Texas legislators have passed 14 resolutions on the subject since 1899.

The legislation is expected to win approval from the Senates conservative GOP majority in the coming weeks. Rep. Rick Miller, a Republican from Sugar Land, has filed an identical resolution in the House, but it has not been referred to a committee.

Senate Bill 21 by Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, would require delegates to be incumbent House or Senate members and bar them from receiving compensation for their service, which includes a lobbying ban on food, travel and lodging. Delegates also must take an oath to abide by state law and to discuss only amendments that are explicitly stated in the resolution or that come up at the convention.

Some GOP senators said they worried that Birdwells bill lacked sufficient protections against delegates abusing their power. However, they voted to send the three bills to the full chamber and promised that a fuller discussion about such issues would come up later.

Most who testified at a hearing Thursday supported Birdwells bill. Opponents of the legislation in its current form said it could result in a runaway convention. Grace Chimene, a member of the League of Women Voters of Texas, said the Legislature should impose stricter limits on the delegates powers.

SJR 2 calls for a limit to the jurisdiction of the federal government and is much too broad, Chimene said. Federal powers that have been used to protect minorities and advance civil rights, labor and environmental regulations will be placed at risk.
A Navy commander from the San Antonio area became the latest to be charged in the service branchs worst corruption scandal in its history, a bribery scheme that started as early as 2006 and continued for years.

Federal agents from California arrested Lt. Cmdr. Mario Herrera, 48, on Thursday at his Helotes home on a charge of conspiracy to commit bribery. He is accused of accepting gifts, travel, sex from prostitutes and expensive meals from a company run by a corrupt contractor that gouged the Navy  and ultimately U.S. taxpayers  for multiple millions of dollars.

He is the 17th person charged in connection with the scheme, the Justice Department said.

Leonard Glenn Francis, a 6-foot-3-inch, 350-pound Malaysian known as Fat Leonard, who ran Glenn Defense Marine Asia in Singapore, pleaded guilty last year to bribing several Navy commanders in exchange for classified information on ship schedules for the 7th Fleet.

According to allegations unsealed Thursday, Herrera provided Francis with some of those schedules and used his position in the Navy to steer ships to visit ports that Francis company dominated.

Once in those ports, GDMA overcharged the Navy millions of dollars for services that included sewage removal, ground transportation, security and communications. Herrera provided Francis with internal, proprietary U.S. Navy information and intervened on GDMAs behalf in contract disputes, the Justice Department said in a statement.

According to a criminal complaint affidavit, Herrera directed ships to take alternative routes that benefited GDMA on two separate occasions, costing the Navy $3.6 million.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Bemporad released Herrera on unsecured bond after a hearing Thursday in federal court in San Antonio. The judge instructed him to show up for another hearing next week in San Diego, California, where the charges originated.

Herrera declined comment when approached by an Express-News reporter and said he did not have a lawyer yet.

Of those who were previously charged, 13 have pleaded guilty, including Adm. Robert Gilbeau, Capt. Michael Brooks, Cmdr. Bobby Pitts, Capt. Daniel Dusek, Cmdr. Michael Misiewicz, Lt. Cmdr. Todd Malaki, Cmdr. Jose Luis Sanchez, former NCIS Special Agent John Beliveau and U.S. Petty Officer First Class Daniel Layug.

A federal affidavit said Herrera was one of a group of Navy officers on Francis payroll who did his bidding and described themselves as the Wolf Pack or Band of Brothers.

Herrera worked with Sanchez, who served from 2007 to 2009 as the fleet operations and schedule officer on the 7th Fleets command ship, the USS Blue Ridge. Sanchez then served as the operations plans and policy director for the commander of Naval Forces Japan until February 2012.

The affidavit said the positions gave Sanchez access to planned port visit schedules and input into the ships destinations. The document said Herrera was part of the conspiracy from 2008 to 2013.

Among the more unusual gifts Herrera received from Francis for his favors were two boxes of steaks, each worth $900, the affidavit alleges. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

Court records show the Navy allowed the scandal to fester for several years, dismissing a flood of evidence about the corruption.

But investigations led to Francis arrest in 2013. Besides those who were charged, the chief of naval intelligence was stripped of his security clearance, two admirals were suspended, and three admirals were censured by then-Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and forced into retirement after it was determined that they improperly accepted gifts from Francis.

The Navy has since canceled all contracts with GDMA. Francis, meanwhile, faces a maximum prison sentence of 25 years and agreed to forfeit $35 million in personal assets as part of his plea deal.

gcontreras@express-news.net

Twitter: @gmaninfedland
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Josue Romero, a 19-year-old from Honduras who had received a work permit under former President Obamas deferred action program for young undocumented immigrants, was released Thursday evening after spending two days in custody.

Romero called his family Wednesday night to tell them hed been arrested, his mother said. Romero was later transferred to the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, online arrest records show.

Romero came to the U.S. when he was 4 years old, said his mother, Norma Velasquez. He received a work permit under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which gives two-year reprieves from deportation to some young undocumented immigrants, and was waiting for a renewal, Velasquez said. Her son wants to be an architect.

The family came to the U.S. to escape violence and lack of economic opportunity in Honduras, she said.

Were afraid that theyre going to deport him because he came here when he was a very young and he doesnt know anything about Honduras, Velasquez said.

Bexar County records show that Romero was arrested late Tuesday for possession of two ounces or less of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor. Deferred action can be revoked for committing a significant misdemeanor, which in the case of drug charges usually involves allegations of trafficking or distribution.

ICE wouldnt say why Romero was released and issued a brief statement Thursday evening.

On Feb. 16, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a detainer with Bexar County Jail on Josue Romero-Velasquez, from Honduras, The agency stated. He was later transferred to ICE custody. Romero-Velasquez was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge Dec. 3, 2004. ICE remains focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that prioritizes threats to national security, public safety and border security.

President Trump last month signed an executive order that greatly expands who ICE can target for deportation, but he has not revoked the deferred action program.

Romero is an alumni of the Say Si program that provides arts training to urban middle and high school students. Jon Hinojosa, Say Sis executive director, said he when he interviewed Romero to join the program nearly eight years ago, he was struck by the middle school students portfolio that included Lego models and detailed sketches of art pieces he wanted to create.

Romero stayed with Say Si through high school and eventually mentored younger students, Hinojosa said.

Hes an amazing sculptor, hes an amazing woodworker, metalsmith, all those things hes passionate about, Hinojosa said.

Click here to read more about Romero

jbuch@express-news.net

Twitter: @jlbuch
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Immigration officials Thursday evening released a young man from Honduras studying art in San Antonio whose detention attorneys had said represented a change in immigration policy under President Donald Trump.

Josue Romero, a 19-year-old who had received a work permit under former President Barack Obamas deferred action program for young undocumented immigrants, was released after spending two days in custody and being told hed be deported.

I cant describe how I feel. I just want to break down and cry, Romero, a student at the Southwest School of Art, said after his release.

I was kind of devastated, he added later. Because Ive never known a life outside of San Antonio.

Romero, who has a two-year work permit that expires next month as part of Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which grants reprieves from deportation to some undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children, was arrested late Tuesday on a marijuana charge, according to Bexar County records. He later was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

The charge for possession of 2 ounces or less of marijuana is a Class B misdemeanor, which carries a potential penalty of 180 days in jail. Romero said he was arrested for being in a city park shortly after it closed and wouldnt comment on the marijuana charge.

Deferred action, known as DACA, can be revoked for committing a significant misdemeanor, which in the case of drug charges usually involves allegations of trafficking or distribution.

Even with a conviction, it would not rise to the level of canceling his DACA, said Jonathan Ryan, the executive director of the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, which is representing Romero.

Romero said agents told him that DACA doesnt matter in my situation, that I was going to be deported.

ICE wouldnt say why Romero was released and issued a brief statement Thursday evening.

On Feb. 16, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a detainer with Bexar County Jail on Josue Romero-Velasquez, from Honduras, the agency stated. He was later transferred to ICE custody. Romero-Velasquez was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge Dec. 3, 2004. ICE remains focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that prioritizes threats to national security, public safety and border security.

Trump last month signed an executive order that greatly expands whom ICE can target for deportation, but he has not revoked the deferred action program.

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, tweeted Thursday afternoon that hed met with ICE officials and came away with the understanding that Only Dreamers with no offenses (including traffic tickets) or perceived gang affiliations seem exempt from deportation. Dreamers refers to those who are enrolled in DACA.

Romero said hes being put on supervision and will be required to check in with ICE officers.

His friends and instructors at the Southwest School of Art and Say Si program, which provides arts training to urban middle and high school students, praised him as a skilled artist who worked as a mentor for younger students.

Romero came to the U.S. when he was 4 and knows little of Honduras, his mother said. His father, Jose Francisco Romero, said he couldnt eat or sleep after learning that his son was in detention.

Im just happy hes back with us, he said Thursday evening.

jbuch@express-news.net

Twitter: @jlbuch

Staff Writer Jacob Beltran contributed to this report.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

Trend:

An Azerbaijani business delegation led by Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev will visit Iran on Feb. 22-24, the Azerbaijan Export and Investments Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) said in a message posted on its website.

A business forum will be held in the Iranian cities of Ardabil and Urmia, according to the message.

Organization of business forum and B2B meetings has been considered in the frame of this visit in order to expand business links with Iranian business people, said the message.

Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Iran amounted to $15.77 million in January 2017, as compared to $9.56 million a year before, according to Azerbaijans State Customs Committee.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 2 1 of 2 Darren Abate, FRE / San Antonio Express-News Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Darren Abate, FRE / San Antonio Express-News Show More Show Less



A judge granted a mistrial Thursday in a 2015 murder case that had been compelling enough for the Bexar County district attorney to prosecute it himself.

The case against Miguel Martinez, a San Antonio man accused of killing Laura Carter, 33, opened Feb. 8. The state had rested after one day of testimony and the defense had not begun to present a case. State District Judge Lori Valenzuela granted two motions for a continuance, pushing it Feb. 21, then ended it Thursday.
The residents and business owners of the Government Hill neighborhood are collateral damage from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington D.C.

Theyve done nothing wrong, but have been forced to endure 14 years of economic and personal hardship, with no relief in sight.

That was the subject of a Wednesday meeting called by the local chapter of the NAACP and the Open Access to New Braunfels Ave. (OANB) committee. It drew County Judge Nelson Wolff, City Councilman (and mayoral candidate) Ron Nirenberg, and a cross-section of business, neighborhood, military and government-agency reps.

Prior to the 9/11 attacks, spanning the decades from World War II to the Persian Gulf War, traffic flowed through the Fort Sam Houston section of New Braunfels Avenue without incident,

After the 9/11 attacks, Fort Sam (now known as Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston) closed its Grayson Street gate and divided New Braunfels Avenue, citing Department of Defense security policies.

The most obvious effect of the move has been the blockage of what used to be one of the few major north-south arteries in this city, one that would otherwise run from Brooks City-Base all the way up to the airport. But the impact goes deeper.

Its evident in the area buildings that the city spent millions of dollars to renovate, but now sit dormant. Its felt by entrepreneurs like Tanks Pizza owner Nick Mason, who talks about the difficulty of handling deliveries without access to a section of New Braunfels Avenue.

It has forced VIA Metropolitan Transit to re-route bus lines and its riders  including many senior citizens  to deal with longer walks to bus stops. It has slowed down firefighters and police officers racing to answer emergency calls.

The Fort Sam closure is a quarter mile of disruption that vexes politicians and frustrates their constituents. But nothing ever gets done about it because the ultimate power rests with the impenetrable military bureaucracy.

Its very frustrating, said County Judge Nelson Wolff, who noted that every time the community starts to make progress with the leadership at Fort Sam, a new base commander comes in and the process has to start from scratch.

We understand security needs. Weve all got those concerns. But there ought to be some way of working out some kind of reasonable compromise.

The stalemate is particularly aggravating for longtime area residents who see the East Side as the section of town that always gets the short straw.

Oliver Hill, president of the NAACP San Antonio, said, Somehow or another the city grows in a horseshoe, and the East Side is always left out. He added, We believe if New Braunfels is opened to all of San Antonio, it will spur growth on the East Side.

Ideally, the military would compromise and allow public access through Grayson Street, at least on a temporary basis, while the base works to beef up its security. If they dont, the alternatives would be expensive and time-consuming.

A feasibility study presented by Bianca Thorpe and Art Reinhardt, with citys Transportation & Capital Improvements Department, determined that it would cost $120 million to build a tunnel to run under Fort Sam Houston and reconnect New Braunfels Avenue. If the tunnels entrance and exit are placed completely outside of the military base, there would be an additional cost of $50 million.

No one  not the city, the state or the Department of Defense  has $170 million of loose cash burning a hole in their pocket, so funding the project would be a big question mark. Reinhardt suggested that the community focus its efforts on the next city bond program, which would be another five years away.

Community activist T.C. Calvert listened to the discussion for half an hour, and then unloaded.

We know whats going on here. Its really institutional racism, he said. The colonels wives are the main ones that came up with this. This is not coming from a Pentagon officer. This is coming from the colonels wives, because they know this is an African American, poor community.

Calvert was the only one to say that in a public forum, but other members of the community have expressed similar thoughts in private. Its a sad state of affairs that relations have deteriorated to this point.

Fort Sam and the residents of the East Side co-existed for decades before a distant tragedy placed a barrier between them. That barrier needs to go.

ggarcia@express-news.net

Twitter: @gilgamesh470
The two duplexes seemed out of place on Mistletoe Avenue, with flat roofs and plain brick exteriors that clashed with the colorful bungalows around them. But neighbors were still shocked when a developer tore them down to make way for condos.

The demolition in October was a wake-up call for residents of Mistletoe, said Anisa Schell, who owns a home there. They dont want any more surprise bulldozing as developers eye their street, which branches off the booming St. Marys bar strip and isnt far from the Pearl  so theyre asking the city to turn it into a historic district.

If someone had put a little love into them, they would be great, Schell said of the duplexes. Now its a big empty lot. Everyones pretty nervous about what they might do.

As development speeds up near downtown, and as the city encourages urban density, more neighborhoods are considering applying for historic status to gain control over their growth. Along with Mistletoe, three other areas are going through the citys process: eight blocks in Southtown, a section of French Place in Tobin Hill, and part of the Jefferson neighborhood on the near Northwest Side. Altogether, the four areas have roughly 230 homes.

On Wednesday, the citys Historic and Design Review Commission approved the new district in Southtown, known as Nathan. All four of the proposed districts need City Council approval. If they get the thumbs up, theyll be San Antonios first new districts since 2010.

A handful of other neighborhoods are exploring becoming historic, including Beacon Hill and Denver Heights, residents say. Government Hill residents are considering whether to expand their district west to Broadway, which would affect development around the Pearl.

In Beacon Hill, residents started thinking about becoming historic after a developer built three-story condos in the middle of a street full of single-family homes, said Cynthia Spielman, president of the neighborhood association. They havent made a decision yet, but theyve met with city officials about the designation.

In the past, neighborhoods have been included only at the very end when theres a zoning change or a development comes in, Spielman said. Were trying to insert ourselves earlier in the process.

Developers who want to demolish or build in a historic district need the approval of the HDRC, giving neighborhoods another chance to fight projects they dont like. Residents who worry that the citys zoning and planning commissions side too often with developers want another outlet to have their concerns heard.

Residents also say the historic districts could serve as protection against SA Tomorrow, a plan the city adopted last year to manage population growth, in part by encouraging greater density around regional centers such as the Pearl area, the Medical Center and University of Texas at San Antonio. Theyre also worried about the impact of city programs that incentivize development in the urban core, even after City Council shrank the size of one of them, the Center City Housing Incentive Policy, last summer after neighborhoods complained.

Historic status is far from being unanimously desired  in fact, few issues have been more contentious for San Antonio neighborhoods than whether to become historic. Mahncke Park ended up not becoming a historic district after residents waged a vicious battle in 2014; even now, many of them have anti-historic designation signs on their lawns, resident Joyce Felter said.

In the 2000s, Tobin Hill residents got in fistfights over the issue. Today, a large part of the neighborhood is designated historic.

After the Mahncke Park battle, the city changed its policy for creating a historic district. Previously, at least 30 percent of neighborhood residents had to sign a petition to start the process of getting historic designation. After the outcry, they changed the threshhold to 51 percent.

Opponents say historic designation would cause their property values to rise and create headaches by requiring them to get the citys approval for minor repairs. Lynn Swanson, who owns a few homes on Mistletoe that she rents out, said it could hurt low-income residents on the street.

She questioned whether the street, which was mostly developed between the 1910s and 1940s, even qualified as historic. According to city law, an area can be designated historic if it serves as a reminder of San Antonios heritage or if it is a good example of an architectural style, among other standards.

This is not King William, this is not La Villita, Swanson said. Historic designation may make it more difficult for the people with the least resources in the neighborhood. It may make it more expensive for them to stay in their homes, which I think is a sad thing.

Twenty-two homeowners on Mistletoe Avenue oppose becoming historic, while 44 are in support, according to the city.

Shanon Shea Miller, director of the citys Office of Historic Preservation, disputed the criticisms made about historic districts. Nearly all applications to do work on homes and businesses can be handled by email or over the counter at city offices, with only major work needing HDRC approval, she said. The OHP denied only 24 of the 2,191 applications it received last year, or about 1 percent.

Miller pointed out that homeowners in historic districts get reductions to their city property taxes and access to local, state and federal tax credits.

Historic designation is a valuable tool for neighbors to have a say in how their neighborhood changes, she said. Its not about freezing a neighborhood in time, but managing change.

The neighborhood association for Alta Vista, a neighborhood about a mile north of downtown, isnt currently talking about getting a historic designation, its President Claudia Guerra said. But they want to strengthen their neighborhood conservation district  a zoning overlay that specifies what types of construction are allowed  after a developer illegally tore down a house to make room for condos, she said.

Residents in Government Hill had a similar experience: They were appalled when an old house was torn down for townhomes, neighborhood association President Rose Hill said. Many of them want to extend their historic district to Broadway, so it would be just across the street from the Pearl, while some are opposed, she said.

We dont like seeing houses knocked down, especially if they have potential, Hill said. The city is looking at a future of high density, but we also have to consider the people living right now.

rwebner@express-news.net

@rwebner
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Azad Hasanli  Trend:

Despite all the efforts of international terrorism, the people and government of Turkey adequately coped with the July 2016 military coup attempt, said Azerbaijani Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev.

He made the remarks during the Turkey-Azerbaijan-Georgia business forum in Istanbul Feb. 17.

All the Azerbaijani people were concerned about the July 15 coup attempt in Turkey, noted Mustafayev.

That was a crime, which could disrupt the stability of not only Turkey, but also the entire region, he added. Thanks to the unity of the Turkish people and government, this crime was prevented in time.

He stressed that Azerbaijan at the highest level unequivocally and strongly condemned the July 15 military coup attempt.

The minister added that Azerbaijan has always been close to the people and government of Turkey.

Mustafayev emphasized that Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia attach great importance to regional stability and security.
Name: Blake Campbell

Hometown: Waterford, Washington County, Ohio

Family farm: Blake Campbell and his older brother, Brady, are fourth generation farmers at Campbell Farms, in Waterford. They farm sheep and hogs with their parents, Joe and Bridget, and their grandfather, Charles.

Blake Campbell found his passion in the heritage breeds when he and his brother wrote essays for an Ohio Berkshire Association contest and won two gilts each. At just 8 years old, he and his brother formed Campbell Brothers II.

Currently Campbell has around 125 purebred sows in the Berkshire, Tamworth, Spotted and Poland China breeds. Campbell, his dad, and grandpa raise their hogs together and can have around 1,000 head on hand. We can provide all stages of the pig, from weaned, to feeder to finished, said Campbell.

Campbell also has around 60 head of purebred Texels and crossbreed sheep. His father raises Lincolns, and his grandfather has around 125 head of his own sheep.

The Texel breed is not a common breed in Ohio, but Campbell hopes to spread awareness of the breed. Texels are a short and stocky meat bread, desired for their muscle development and leanness. This past year, the Campbells won reserve grand champion, all other breeds, meat ewe with their Texel breed at the Ohio State Fair.

Whats new

In early January, the Campbells finished construction on a new nursery for their weaned hogs. It can hold up to 150 piglets and Campbell said they were able to insulate the barn with wool from the familys flock of Lincolns. The nursery gives the Campbells a place to give the piglets a little extra attention before moving them to the group housing unit with the older pigs.

Niche market

The Campbells sell most of their hogs off the farm by word of mouth. Many 4-H youth in West Virginia purchase hogs from the Campbells as fair projects. Campbell said they have found the sheep market to be a bit more challenging.

They have been able to sell a few market and breeding stock by word of mouth, but most of their sales are through the Mount Hope Auction in Mount Hope, Ohio.

FFA experience

Campbell attended Waterford High School where he served as president of the Waterford FFA during his junior and senior years and served as a the District 10 vice president his junior year. Campbell also served as the 2013-2014 Ohio FFA District 10 President. Campbell said the ability to represent his small chapter on the state and national level is an experience he holds most valuable.

National FFA Week is Feb. 18-25, 2017, to see what chapters in your area are doing to celebrate visit Farm and Dairys interactive map.

Campbell has won his share of FFA proficiency awards including the Ohio and national swine divisions, was a national finalist in sheep, won the state accounting proficiency and was the 2016 Ohio candidate for the Star American in Agribusiness.

Campbell has also participated in various career development contests, including parliamentary procedure, public speaking and soil judging and traveled to the Eastern States Exposition where he was named the 2014 Eastern States Exposition Star State Farmer.

The Eastern States Exposition, or Big E, is billed as New Englands Great State Fair and includes six New England states  Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

The next step

Campbell is currently a junior at Ohio State University studying agriscience education. After college, he hopes to return home to be an agriculture education teacher in southeastern Ohio. They need more teachers in southeastern Ohio and they need to come from this area, said Campbell. They need to know the culture.

Campbell said his FFA background, as well as his passion for agriculture, played a role in inspiring him to pursue this career. If it was not for being so involved (in FFA) and being pushed to my fullest ability by my ag teacher (Matt Hartline), I would not be where I am today, he said.

My ag teacher has had a huge impact on my life. I hope that one day I can be there for future students who want to succeed. Campbell hopes to continue farming on the side at his familys farm if he is able to find a teaching job close to home.

Related content:

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FFA week interactive map
U.S. Wheat Associates represents the interests of U.S. wheat farmers in international markets. At a time when new circumstances have generated some uncertainty about trade, we believe it is important to provide perspective on the long-standing, loyal relationship U.S. wheat farmers have with one of those customers: our neighbor to the south, Mexico.



Simply put, Mexico is one of the largest U.S. wheat buyers in the world, importing about 110 million bushels each year, on average, going back many years. Mexicos U.S. wheat imports typically only fall just short of the volume Japan imports. Not this year, however. In the first 7 months of marketing year 2016/17 through February 2, Mexicos flour millers have imported 88 million bushels of U.S. wheat, which is more than any other country. That volume is up 5 percent over last year at the same time.



Breaking down their purchases by class, flour millers in Mexico generate strong demand for U.S. hard red winter (HRW) wheat, the primary class of wheat grown in Kansas. In 2015/16, they were the leading HRW importers and are taking advantage of the favorable prices and high quality of the 2016/17 HRW crop. At a current volume of about 51 million bushels, they have imported 71 percent more HRW this year, and again lead buyers of that class. A rising number of industrial bakeries, along with traditional artisan bakeries, account for about 70 percent of wheat consumption according to CANIMOLT, the association representing Mexican millers. That puts Kansas farmers and other HRW producers in a good position to meet that demand. Being closer to HRW production and having a highly functioning ability to import a large share of HRW directly via rail from the Plains states is an advantage for Mexicos buyers.



In addition, Mexico is home to Bimbo, the worlds largest baked goods company, and an increasing number of cookie and cracker companies. The low protein content, soft endosperm and weaker gluten of U.S. soft red winter wheat (SRW) is well suited to the production of cookies, crackers and pastries, and serves as an excellent blending wheat. Millers supplying this growing market imported an average of 1.2 MMT of SRW between 2011/12 and 2015/16. With imports from the Gulf of more than 730,000 MT of SRW so far in 2016/17, Mexico is the top buyer of SRW again. USW and state wheat commissions from the PNW are also helping demonstrate how millers and bakers can reduce input costs by blending with U.S. soft white (SW).



As it does with all U.S. wheat importing customers, USW focuses on helping Mexicos buyers, millers and food processors solve problems or increase their business opportunities with U.S. wheat classes. This effort, supported by wheat farmers and the partnership with USDAs Foreign Agricultural Service, has fostered a productive relationship that has endured for decades through many challenges. More than 22 years of duty free access to the Mexican market under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) certainly helped build the relationship.



Yet our customers there have many other sources of milling wheat to which they can turn. In response to rising world grain prices in 2008, Mexico lifted a 67 percent import tariff on wheat from outside the United States and Canada. In 2009/10, France made the first non-NAFTA origin wheat sale to Mexico since the trade agreement was implemented in 1995. Russian and Ukrainian wheat has been imported, too. To date, the tariff has not been reapplied and the Mexican import market is currently tariff-free for wheat from all qualified origins. Just this week, the leaders of Brazil and Argentina, both large grain exporting nations, said they would pursue closer ties with Mexico and other Latin American nations.

Click here to see more...
By Catherine Boudreau



Just outside of Rolla, North Dakota, a town of about 1,300 people west of the Red River Valley, his rolling, fertile land might seem a world away from coastal ports, international business deals and the very idea of globalism. But when he sells his barley, its not a local proposition: About two-thirds of his crop is shipped some 2,000 miles to brewers in Mexico. The deal with his Mexican customers  he contracts with them directly, and has it malted in Minnesota along the way  is a chance to make a little more money from a commodity crop. Thats been especially important to his bottom line over the past few years, as world commodity prices have hit seven-year lows.



Heartland American farmers like Lentz are among globalisms prime beneficiaries. Agriculture is North Dakotas top industry, and it gets a significant boost from the $4 billion in farm goods, including wheat, soybeans, barley and sorghum, sent across borders every year. And they often travel much farther than Mexico: More than 90 percent of the states soybeans are exported, mainly to China.



The vast quantity of agricultural products that North Dakota exports is a story shared by farm states across the country. American agriculture sent $129 billion worth of goods abroad in fiscal 2016  more than 20 percent of all the food grown in the United States. That number has more than doubled over the past decade, making agriculture a rare bright spot in the U.S. trade accounts. When President Donald Trump and free-trade critics fret about the United States $500 billion trade deficit, its often lost that American farmers run a large and growing surplus, and have been since the 1960s. Last year the surplus was $16.6 billion. The USDA projects it will rise to $21.5 billion this year.



The Trump administration has come out of the gate seemingly gearing up for a trade war  withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, threatening to pull out of NAFTA and rattling relations with Mexican President Pena Nieto with talk of paying for a wall along the southern border by imposing taxes on imports. The goal is to restore U.S. manufacturing jobs in languishing industries like steel, and help the Rust Belt factory workers who turned out to vote Trump. But farmers and ranchers have a lot to lose, and theyre are starting to worry their entire industry will be collateral damage in Trumps trade experiment. Lentz already lost $200,000 in new malted barley business he was expecting this year after one of his customers in Mexico cancelled plans to expand their brewery due to escalating tension between the countries.



A coalition of more than 130 U.S. agricultural groups has anxiously sent letters to President Trump expressing eagerness to work on modernizing NAFTA, but in a way that protects the United States $38.6 billion in farm exports to Canada and Mexico  its largest trading partners. The coalition also is encouraging the administration to reduce tariffs and trade barriers in the Asia-Pacific region, similar to what the TPP would have accomplished in countries like Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Australia, and Singapore. The letters invoke Trumps promise to rebuild the manufacturing sector, noting that the U.S. food and agricultural industry represents 12 percent of all manufacturing jobs in the country, and would benefit greatly from increased exports to Asia.



The tradeoff between old-line manufacturing and their own livelihoods isnt lost on farmers, especially when developing new trade deals. If NAFTA is renegotiated, we certainly are concerned that agricultural market access will be sacrificed for other manufacturing jobs, Ben Mosely, vice president of government affairs at USA Rice Federation, told farmers and ranchers during the Southwest Ag Issues Summit in Fort Worth, Texas this month.



Politically, the presidents America first stance on trade has the potential to cause a rift between two sets of his most fervent backers in rural America. In trying to protect people relying on manufacturing and service work, Trump could burn bridges with farm voters who rely on the agricultural economyand who overlooked his stance on trade in the hope theyd benefit from less regulation and lower taxes.



I think he is in danger of losing a lot of that support, said Roger Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union. The NFU is critical of free trade agreements and opposed TPP because of lost jobs and low wages in rural communitiesmost U.S. farmers rely on income from other jobsbut worries that an overly aggressive Trump administration will hurt one of the few upsides the agriculture business can count on. Its one thing to renegotiate trade agreements to get better terms, he says, but its a whole other thing to blow up deals and get fewer exports in the process.



U.S. FARMERS AND RANCHERS are among the most productive and efficient in the world, growing more food and raising more animals than Americans can consume, even as their numbers have dropped to less than 2 percent of the population. The industrys success story can be attributed to a multitude of factors: the nations exceptionally fertile farmland; its long tradition of investing in transportation, research and technical advancements; and a farmer-friendly U.S. government that subsidizes producers when prices and revenue fall.



Today, America exports at least 50 percent of its corn, soybeans, rice, wheat and cotton, though the U.S. share of the global grain market has declined as other countries grow more food for exports. High-value agricultural products, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, meat and dairy products are increasingly being sent overseas. More than 70 percent of the almonds, walnuts and other tree nuts grown in the United States are exported, along with about 25 percent of the pork.



A popular statistic says that one farmer can supply food and fiber for nearly 150 people across the globe. In general exports are rising, and NAFTA has been a key part of that growth. Canada and Mexico together account for nearly one-third of all U.S. agricultural exports, and in the 20-plus years since the trade deal was enacted, U.S. food and agriculture exports to both countries more than quadrupled, the result of economic integration and the ability move goods freely between the three countries while avoiding taxes on most goods.



At the same time, manufacturing hasnt fared so well: The U.S. trade deficit in manufactured goods has steadily risen for decades, reaching $86 billion last year. And America has lost more than 56,000 private manufacturing establishments since 2001 as companies move facilities abroad, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Free-trade critics largely blame globalization for the decline as companies seek out lower labor costs, while researchers also point to the automation of factory lines.



The U.S. manufacturing sector does enjoy more political clout, however. More than 12.5 million people work in the industry, compared with 3.2 million farmers. And 23 percent of the rural population lives in counties dependent on manufacturing jobs, while only 6 percent of people in small town USA rely on the agricultural industry. Theres a reason farmers are worried.



THE FARMING EXPORT boom isnt the same thing as a booming economy: Even as U.S. farmers and ranchers send enormous amounts of their goods abroad, they are earning nearly 45 percent less than four years ago. Record levels of production across the globe have hurt commodity prices while the costs for seeds, fertilizer and equipment hold high. At the same time, there is less demand from China as it tries to transition from a manufacturing to a service economy, which has slowed down its growth. U.S. agricultural exports to China, a top three trading partner, have tripled over the last 10 years but plateaued at around $20 billion, according to the USDA.



For farmers, new trade deals are seen as one of the only ways to boost revenue: They promise to knock down tariffs while harmonizing food-safety and animal and plant health regulations that often restrict certain U.S. products from entering foreign countries. The TPP was projected to increase U.S. farm sales by $4.4 billion annually once fully implemented, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. The beef and pork industries would have seen some of the largest growth as they gained more access to lucrative markets in Japan and other Asian Pacific countries that eat parts of the animals Americans wont put on their plates (think brain, ears and hooves).



But now TPP has been declared dead, and President Trump has pledged to handle trade policy by negotiating bilateral deals one at a time  an effort that could take years. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway has been trying to reassure U.S. agricultural producers. In an interview with POLITICO on the sidelines of the Southwest Ag Issues Summit, he said that TPP merely set the floor for what a good free trade deal looks like for U.S. agriculture, so new bilateral deals could potentially be better. Trump has also pledged to strongly enforce trade deals to ensure they are fair to the U.S., something farmers and ranchers liked to hear during the campaign. Its difficult for U.S. producers to compete on a level playing field when China, India and other countries subsidize their agricultural sectors beyond commitments at the World Trade Organization, Conaway said.



Im excited about the better that Mr. Trump said he wants to deliver, Conaway said. I think hell be pretty hard-nosed on enforcement, as well, once he understands who is abiding by their agreements.



But bilateral deals are easier promised than done, and the U.S. agriculture industry could just as well end up getting less market access than it might have in a multilateral agreement like TPP, simply because fewer countries are involved, said Bill Reinsch, a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Institute and an international trade expert at the law firm Kelley Drye.



The first test appears to be Japan, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Washington, D.C. this week to discuss the road forward. The National Cattlemens Beef Association, which often points out that the U.S. industry is losing $400,000 a day to Australia because of lower tariffs on its meat to Japan due to a free trade agreement, urged Trump to use his meeting to discuss eliminating trade barriers similar to those achieved in the TPP. So did the National Pork Producers Council.



Japan, in the TPP, granted the United States some access to five of its sacred agricultural sectors  rice, beef, pork, dairy and wheat as Abe elevated the deal as a key way to grow Japans economy and directly counter Chinas growing influence in the region. But that win for American farming depended on other leverage in the huge deal  leverage the US wouldnt have if it just tried to ink a bilateral trade agreement with Japan.



Further complicating a deal is automobile manufacturing. Trump rebuked Japanese automakers last month for exporting vehicles by the hundreds of thousands while American cars have a very small presence in Japan. In order to protect the U.S. industry, he may offer Tokyo less than what the United States conceded to in TPP. If thats the case, Japan could take its sensitive agricultural market off the table  which would please a politically powerful voting bloc in Japan that was urging Abe not to ratify the Asia-Pacific pact all along.



Its a fatal trap if Trump goes down that road, Reinsch said. Everyone knows you cant pass a trade agreement without U.S. farmers on board. There are a lot of states in the Midwest where agriculture is really important. That means a lot of lawmakers wont vote for a deal if farm groups go in and tell them its a terrible agreement.



Meanwhile, former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, now president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, is telling industry leaders to call their Mexican importers and reassure them their business arrangements will stay in place. He also said he urged Trumps nominee for Agricultures Secretary, Sonny Perdue, to defend agricultural trade within the new administration so it doesnt get left behind in the attempts to boost manufacturers, according to the Hagstrom Report.

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Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Azad Hasanli  Trend:

The governments of Azerbaijan and Denmark signed a convention on avoidance of double taxation and prevention of evasion from payment of income tax.

The document was signed in Baku Feb. 17 by Azerbaijani Minister of Taxes Fazil Mammadov and Danish Minister of Taxes Karsten Lauritzen.

During the ceremony, Mammadov said that the avoidance of double taxation will contribute to the development of trade relations between the two countries.

Lauritzen agreed that the document will provide the two countries entrepreneurs with wide opportunities.

Azerbaijan has signed similar agreements with 52 countries, including 23 with the EU countries. Forty-eight agreements on avoidance of double taxation have come into force.

According to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee, trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Denmark amounted to $22.3 million in 2016. Almost the entire amount accounted for the imports from Denmark.
Maya the Belgian Malinois (center) ran straight home after her owner Kelly Hlavinka (right) was struck by a truck. Her husband, Steve Hlavinka (left), knew something was wrong when he saw Maya alone.
Fayetteville woman says anti-abortion laws hurt her mom, then herself

Judy Pittard said her and her mother's pregnancy complications that required abortions were made worse by the decisions of "old men in big buildings."
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is still considering a loan for co-financing the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project, but the process has not yet been finalized, Ksenia Manyushis, a principal banker at the EBRD, told delegates at the Central and Eastern European Gas Conference in Zagreb, Interfax Global Energy reported.

The first negotiations kicked off five years ago when TAP representatives approached the bank, she said. It only proves both how long such talks can last and how early one must start thinking about financing such an ambitious project.

TAP is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor which is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union.

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 Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italy's south.



TAP shareholders are BP (20 percent), State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (20 percent), Snam (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).



TAP will be 878 kilometers in length (Greece 550 km, Albania 215 km, Adriatic Sea 105 km, and Italy 8 km). Its highest point will be 1,800 meters in Albanias mountains, while its lowest point will be 820 meters beneath the sea.
A serving U.S. Navy Commander became the seventeenth individual charged in the Navys worst corruption scandal in modern times.

Mario Herrera, 48, of Helotes, Texas was charged in a complaint unsealed Thursday.

He allegedly took expensive travel and meals and the services of prostitutes from Leonard Glenn Francis in exchange for classified U.S. Navy information.

Francis  also known as Fat Leonard  is the former CEO of Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA), a defense contractor based in Singapore. 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 company 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.

Herrera was arrested in San Antonio, Texas Thursday morning and charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. Hes expected to appear in federal court in San Diego, where the Fat Leonard cases are being heard.

According to the complaint, Herrera helped steer U.S. Navy contracts to Francis and GDMA. He gave Francis internal, proprietary U.S. Navy information and intervened on GDMAs behalf in contract disputes, the DOJ said.

Herrera directed ships to take alternative routes that benefited GDMA on two separate occasions, costing the U.S. Navy $3.6 million, according to the DOJ.

Of the 17 individuals charged in the case, 13 have pleaded guilty.

Eleven defendants are current or former Navy officers. They include an admiral, two captains, four commanders, two lieutenant commanders, a former NCIS special agent, and a petty officer.

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. Their cases are pending.

Other current or former U.S. Navy officials charged in the case include:

Admiral Robert Gilbeau (pleaded guilty)

Lt. Commander Gentry Debord (sentenced to 30 months in prison)

Commander Bobby Pitts (awaiting trial)

Captain Michael Brooks (pleaded guilty)

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 Navy 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.
Lee Jae-yong, the vice chairman of Samsung Group, was arrested and jailed Friday in Seoul on bribery charges.

The arrest came shortly after a judge in the Seoul Central District Court issued a warrant.

Lee, 48, whose family controls Samsung, is accused of paying $36 million in bribes to President Park Geun-hyes confidante, Choi Soon-sil.

In return, prosecutors allege he received political favors, including support for a merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015. The merger allowed Lee to take de facto control of Samsung.

Lees father, Lee Kun-hee, is incapacitated but remains Samsungs chairman. The company is the biggest chaebol, or family run conglomerate, in South Korea.

Prosecutors also charged Lee  whos also known as Jay Y. Lee  with embezzlement, illegal transfer of property abroad, and committing perjury during a parliamentary hearing.

South Korea President Parks powers were suspended by parliament in December for abuse of office. The Constitutional Court will decide if shell be permanently removed from office or reinstated.

___

Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog.
Few have the privileges I was brought up with: a famous father, a nanny, public school, travel, a childhood spent in different countries. Its certainly true, though, that wealth and position may bring material comfort but not always emotional contentment and fulfilment. We have all heard about how difficult it is to emerge from the shadow of an important and dominant father figure, and they dont come much more important that mine: Lieutenant General Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie, 1st Baron Norrie, GCMG, GCVO, CB, DSO, MC & Bar. Leading a cavalry charge in September 1914, he captured the first German guns of the Great War. As a Corps Commander during the North African Campaign 1941-1942, he found himself pitched against the intrepid German general Erwin Rommel. On retirement from the army, he became Governor of South Australia and later became the eighth Governor-General of New Zealand.

George Norrie

My father was larger than life and loved by many, including myself, but our relationship would seem strange to many today. Public service and boarding school meant prolonged separation of parents from children and the difficulties of sea travel  this was long before routine transcontinental flights- made things worse. It might seem shocking to many, for instance, that when in 1936 my sister died tragically young at school in England, neither my mother nor father were able to travel home from India until many months afterwards. It was a different time, with different conditions and different expectations. As children we were expected to cope with the vagaries life cast up with that famous stiff upper lip, and I had my nanny, a seminal figure, but nonetheless separation and tragedies took a toll that perhaps I was only to recognise much later in life.

As the son of a soldier I was expected to follow in my fathers footsteps into the army, which I did- for a while. My book Portals of Discovery, is derived from a quote by James Joyce: A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery. Never in any sense have I considered myself a genius, but I do believe that by living through your mistakes you may, if youre fortunate, arrive at self-knowledge. I hope I have found my way through that doorway, at least to an extent. One important legacy my father left was his hereditary title, which came with a seat in the House of Lords. I discovered I had a zeal for environmental causes and played, I hope, no small part in legislation designed to establish and protect the National Parks of England and Wales. My leaving of the House when the legislative changes came in 1999 left a hole in my life but led nevertheless to this book, which is a reassessment of my life and relationships. I would recommend it to the reader for two reasons: first I think it is of interest as a historical narrative, giving insights to my and my fathers life and times: secondly I would like to hope it would serve as an inspiration to others who may at one time or another have felt sidelined or subsumed. It is possible, I hope I show, to find your own path, be your own person and finally reach a kind of contentment.

Portals of Discovery is available from The Book Guild
Gary 'Gaz' Beadle wants to star on 'I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'.

Gaz Beadle

The 28-year-old reality TV star has revealed he would be interested in following in the footsteps of Vicky Pattison by appearing on the ITV programme later this year.

He shared: "I'm enjoying 'Geordie Shore'. But if the Jungle came knocking I wouldn't turn them down. If it came up I'd give it a bash.

"It's a show that is full of challenges and I love that about it."

Gaz watched his showbiz pal Adam Thomas on the programme in 2016 and he confessed to feeling anxious about the prospect of doing a Bushtucker Trial.

He told the Daily Star newspaper: "Adam did some tasks that would kill me. I saw him put a spider in his mouth. The stuff he did looked horrible."

Meanwhile, Gaz previously admitted to enduring a terrible time on a previous trip to Australia as he was "banged up in a deportation centre" for having a "battered" passport.

Speaking in 2016, he explained: "I was due to go to New Zealand last Monday, me and Marty McKenna hit the airport, but I was told I couldn't fly because I had no visa. Once the flight had taken off, they found my visa and I was told I could fly the next day.

"After a night in the Crown Melbourne (I was already in Australia), I headed back to the airport. I'd heard Marty and my manager had both been held in customs for three hours, so by no means did I think it'd be a simple walkthrough to Queenstown airport to reach my suite at the Hilton.

"So, I get to NZ, and you guessed it, after seven hours sitting there, I'm told I'm not allowed in."

However, Gaz also confessed he was partially to blame for the drama.

He said: "To be fair, they had previously told me not to come back to New Zealand with my battered passport (which I didn't get changed), so I guess me and the team are to blame there."
She can be seen doing daredevil fighting scenes and breaking bones in films, but actress Taapsee Pannu says in real life, she cant even slap a person. Taapsee showcased her fighting skills in 'Baby' alongside Akshay Kumar. She will next be seen fighting her way in 'The Ghazi Attack' and 'Naam Shabana'.



She said: "Till now, whatever you have seen, like even though I can identify myself as Meenal Arora (character from 'Pink') in a lot of ways... I cannot even slap a person in real life, forget about fighting the way I do in films."



Taapsee, who is currently busy promoting her forthcoming film 'Running Shaadi', says this is the first film where she is totally in her comfort zone.



"This is my domain and have total control over it. I was chosen because I had to just come as myself on screen. It's a blessing for an actor to portray a character that is everything like herself. I didn't have to put in any kind of efforts in terms of accent, body language or style," said Taapsee, whose character exudes a carefree attitude.



"There were a lot of things that I spontaneously added in the film, which were retained in the end. It was the most comfortable character that I could portray on screen," she added.



Directed by Amit Roy, 'Running Shaadi', which also features Amit Sadh, is slated to release on Friday.







56623304




Winter in Fethiye is incredibly beautiful but there are days when it may be a bit too cold to simply wrap up and go for a stroll.

Or it might be that you want to go further afield and explore the surrounding area. There is only one way to do this properly; driving.

You dont have to travel far from Fethiye to enjoy roads that seem to go on forever, very few cars and inspiring views.

There are many places to visit and Fethiye Times will be taking you on a series of drives in the area, starting with a trip to Kalkan.

Kalkan

Kalkan, approximately 85km from Fethiye, is a harbourside town built largely on hills that encircle the old town, a small harbour and provide scenic Mediterranean views.

Leaving Fethiye

Head out of Fethiye on the Antalya road towards the D400 and it wont be long before the hustle and bustle of the town is left behind and you hit the open road!

Panoramic views

The views are immediate and breathtaking

There are many scenic spots for a photo op!

One of the benefits of driving is that you can get off the beaten track and have a look at some of the countryside. There are many places of historical interest along the way.

Pinara

Some 46km from Fethiye is a right turn to the ruins of Pinara, which lie 6km up the mountain. The road winds through fields and across irrigation channels to the village of Minare, then takes a sharp left turn to climb the remaining 2km.

Splendid isolation

The splendour of the isolated setting of Pinara makes it well worth the detour. The sheer column of rock behind the site is honeycombed with rock tombs. There are other tombs within the ruined city itself. Click here to read more about Pinara.

The views back down to the main road are even better.

Time for a break

If you fancy a break, stop at one of the numerous lokanatas dotted along the route and enjoy borek and cay.

Crossing the Xanthos valley

The road to Kalkan takes you across the Xanthos valley filled with polytunnels as far as the eye can see. The main livelihood for the local people along this part of the Mediterranean coast is vegetables (mainly tomatoes) produced in the greenhouses surrounding the town of Knk. Knk is one of the places with the highest concentration of greenhouses anywhere in Turkey.

Climb up and over the mountain from the Xanthos valley for your first sight of Kalkan

Welcome to Kalkan!



Over the mountain and down to Kalkan.

Have a walk around the harbour, browse around the old town or enjoy dinner in one of the many cafes and restaurants before heading back on your return journey to Fethiye.

We were just in time heading back as there was definitely a storm brewing!
Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with two Surat based textile fabric processing units for installing energy efficient equipments. EECL will install the programmable logic controller (PLC) at these two facilities as well at the caustic recovery plant at the nearby Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP).Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) is a company operating under the union power ministry. The South Gujarat Textile Processors Association (SGTPA) will be suggesting the names of the fabric processors taking part in the initial trials.

Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with two Surat based textile fabric processing units for installing energy efficient equipments. EECL will install the programmable logic controller (PLC) at these two facilities as well at the caustic recovery plant at the nearby Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP).#

"EESL will choose two model units for improving energy efficiency in their plants in Surat, a leading daily quoted the chief general manager of EESL, S P Garnaik as saying at a workshop in Surat. The main aim is to expand production and at the same time save energy.Once EESL achieves success with these trails, other fabric processors will be encouraged to join the project.The project will be funded by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) with support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). (AR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
In a bid to form strategic alliance with textile importers in the UAE, Indian companies will exhibit their textiles at an exhibition of incredible Indian textiles that will be held in Dubai on February 19-20. About 19 Indian manufacturing and exporting firms representing categories like yarn, fabrics nd made-ups will participate in the fair.

The exhibition is jointly being organised by the Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC), an Indian body representing manufacturers and exporters of textiles made of man-made fibres (MMF), and the Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi and Consulate General of India in Dubai.

Participating companies are expected to showcase a wide range of products including apparel, shirtings, suitings, materials, furnishings, made-ups, home textiles and more. The exhibition is being organised to promote Indian textiles and encourage importers from UAE to source textiles from India, according to media reports.

In a bid to form strategic alliance with textile importers in the UAE, Indian companies will exhibit their textiles at an exhibition of incredible Indian textiles that will be held in Dubai on February 19-20. About 19 Indian manufacturing and exporting firms representing categories like yarn, fabrics nd made-ups will participate in the fair.#

The exhibition also aims to strengthen trade relations between India and the UAE, especially for man-made textiles.

In 2015-16, India exported synthetic and rayon textiles worth $5,790 million to more than 150 countries. The UAE is a leading market for India's MMF textiles as it imported 12 per cent of the total MMF exports. Middle Eastern countries are a leading destination for India's MMF textiles exports, amounting to 29 per cent of the total share ($1,709.65 million). (KD)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Feb. 17

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has dismissed the Cabinet of Ministers due to formation of a new government, Turkmenistan State News Agency reported Feb. 17.

Inauguration of Turkmenistans president was held in Rukhiyet Palace in Ashgabat Feb. 17. After taking office, the Turkmen president in his speech outlined the main provisions of the countrys domestic and foreign policy for the next seven years.

A presidential election was held on Feb. 12 in Turkmenistan. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who has been the president since 2007, was re-elected for a third term with 97.69 percent of votes.

Nine candidates took part in the presidential election.
Nantong, located in China's Jiangsu province, will vigorously support manufacturing of high-end textiles, including the use of graphene fibre in various textile applications. This will be listed in Nantong municipal government's 13th Five Year Plan as one of the three key pillar industries, the textile city's vice mayor Wang Jianfeng has said.

Nantong, located in China's Jiangsu province, will vigorously support manufacturing of high-end textiles, including the use of graphene fibre in various textile applications. This will be listed in Nantong municipal government's 13th Five Year Plan as one of the three key pillar industries, the textile city's vice mayor Wang Jianfeng has said.#

Earlier this week, a conference on high-end textile and grapheme firbe new materials innovation was held in Nantong. The event focused on the special functions of graphene fibre in different textile applications, and sought breakthrough development in high-end textile industry.

Nantong, located in China's Jiangsu province, will vigorously support manufacturing of high-end textiles, including the use of graphene fibre in various textile applications. This will be listed in Nantong municipal government's 13th Five Year Plan as one of the three key pillar industries, the textile city's vice mayor Wang Jianfeng has said.#

Graphene, one of the most disruptive new materials, is being regarded as the most important new material for research and development this century. Scientists in Europe, the US, Japan, China and many other countries have achieved success in using graphene in developing new energy, electronics, polymer materials and other aspects .

Nantong, located in China's Jiangsu province, will vigorously support manufacturing of high-end textiles, including the use of graphene fibre in various textile applications. This will be listed in Nantong municipal government's 13th Five Year Plan as one of the three key pillar industries, the textile city's vice mayor Wang Jianfeng has said.#

In recent years, there has been a rapid development in the use of graphene in new high-end textile materials. The 13th Five Year Plan of the Chinese chemical fibre industry mentions that "graphene composite fibre industrialisation and its application will promote structural reform in the supply side of China's chemical fibre textile industry to create high-end intelligent textile.

Nantong, located in China's Jiangsu province, will vigorously support manufacturing of high-end textiles, including the use of graphene fibre in various textile applications. This will be listed in Nantong municipal government's 13th Five Year Plan as one of the three key pillar industries, the textile city's vice mayor Wang Jianfeng has said.#

Nantong, located on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, near the river mouth, saw its high-end textiles output value increase by 8 per cent to 244.16 billion yuan in 2016. Profit earned by leading textile enterprises in high-end textiles stood at 18.77 billion yuan, registering a growth of 10.8 per cent.

Nantong, located in China's Jiangsu province, will vigorously support manufacturing of high-end textiles, including the use of graphene fibre in various textile applications. This will be listed in Nantong municipal government's 13th Five Year Plan as one of the three key pillar industries, the textile city's vice mayor Wang Jianfeng has said.#

"The application of graphene in the textile industry is more realistic and good choice," said Duan Xiaoping, chairman of the China Chemical Fiber Industry Association, and vice president of China Textile Industry Association. The development path of the graphene industry is likely to be similar to that of carbon fibre and it is expected to take nearly 10 years from 2010, when Nobel Physics prize was given to professors Andre Geim and Dr. Konstantin Novoselov for their pioneering research on graphene.

Nantong, located in China's Jiangsu province, will vigorously support manufacturing of high-end textiles, including the use of graphene fibre in various textile applications. This will be listed in Nantong municipal government's 13th Five Year Plan as one of the three key pillar industries, the textile city's vice mayor Wang Jianfeng has said.#

Xiaoping urged business representatives at the conference to make sustained investment in the development of graphene industry. He said the role of private enterprises cannot be ignored in the process of product development to comprehensively assess the performance of graphene in the textile industry.

Nantong, located in China's Jiangsu province, will vigorously support manufacturing of high-end textiles, including the use of graphene fibre in various textile applications. This will be listed in Nantong municipal government's 13th Five Year Plan as one of the three key pillar industries, the textile city's vice mayor Wang Jianfeng has said.#

"Graphene is a special new material. It is not a material for innovation and development, but for driving a series of materials to jointly develop," said Li Yichun, secretary general of China Graphene Industry Technology Innovation Strategic Alliance. Although the current enthusiasm is high, companies must do practical things to achieve great development in the graphene industry, Yichun added.

Nantong, located in China's Jiangsu province, will vigorously support manufacturing of high-end textiles, including the use of graphene fibre in various textile applications. This will be listed in Nantong municipal government's 13th Five Year Plan as one of the three key pillar industries, the textile city's vice mayor Wang Jianfeng has said.#

Clothing, home textiles, and industrial textiles are expected to be three major application areas and can open up the market for graphene. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  China
Randy Hultgren, member of US Congress representing Illinois 14district, recently toured the new textile manufacturing operations at Aurora Specialty Textiles Group (ASTG) in Yorkville, Illinois. The visit included a tour of the plant's new 124,000 square foot manufacturing and ultra wide width coating operations led by Dan LaTurno, president of ASTG.

A question and answer session with several members of the plants senior management staff was also conducted during the visit.

"It was a distinct honor to host Congressman Hultgren today and display our world-class textile processing operation," said LaTurno. "We at Aurora strive every day to prove that a successful textile operation can operate in North America. Thanks to Meridians continued support and investment in next generation textile technologies, our mission to double our sales by 2021 is well within reach."

Randy Hultgren, member of US Congress representing Illinois 14th district, recently toured the new textile manufacturing operations at Aurora Specialty Textiles Group (ASTG) in Yorkville, Illinois. The visit included a tour of the plant's new 124,000 square foot manufacturing and ultra wide width coating operations led by Dan LaTurno, president of ASTG.#

ASTG, a global leader in coating, dyeing and finishing of both woven and nonwoven fabrics, manufactures a wide range of printable textiles designed to work optimally with the latest digital print technologies.

Up until about a year ago, the company maintained operations solely in the Aurora plant. But seeing new opportunities emerging and the need to invest in new equipment and technology to support ultra wide-width coating, the company leadership decided to invest in a new plant and equipment. With the move to Yorkville, ASTG also began adding new employees, while training existing employees to operate a new generation of textile equipment.

The new plant features the EHWHA ultra wide-width coating and finishing line, which works easily with a broad range of woven and non-woven materials up to 134-inch wide. The EHWHA enhances Auroras ability to serve both current and new customers.

"Every time I visit one of the many flourishing manufacturers in the 14th District, I am amazed by the innovation that is taking place right here in Illinois. I am proud of Aurora Specialty Textiles Groups rich history of manufacturing and continued job creation and expansion in the Yorkville area. We must continue to support our manufacturers and their ability to expand and hire more workers through smart legislation," said Hultgren. (KD)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Representatives from some of the worst affected communities around the nation will be present at the service.



Click here to view the program for this event.

Monday (20 February) is the first anniversary of Tropical Cyclone Winston, which slammed into Fiji with peak intensity on 20 February, 2016, killing 44 of our loved ones and causing widespread devastation.His Excellency the President, Major General Jioji Konrote (retired) invites all Fijians to a solemn event to remember those who died and give thanks that Winston spared much of the rest of Fiji.The venue is the Albert Park Pavilion, Suva. The service will commence at 11.00am and those attending are asked to be seated by 10.45 am.His Excellency requests employers to enable as many Fijians as possible to attend this important event. But it is not a national holiday and employees are asked to return to their workplaces after the service has ended.An informal reception to honour representatives from the affected areas will be held after the service has concluded.
Shruti Haasan was spotted at the Mumbai airport with her alleged boyfriend Michael Corsale and it is rumoured that the duo have flown out of the country for a romantic gataway holiday. The actress had also posted an image on her social media handle showing off their feet and captioned it as, "Every step counts - together or apart - walk to your own sunshine," and another image sitting inside the flight which said, "Travel time !!!!"



Rumours are doing the rounds that Shruti Haasan is in a relationship with Michael Corsale and the duo met when she was in the UK recording music for the rock band Dinosaur Pile-Up. As per a report from Mumbai Mirror "Shruti and Michael met for the first time in London through a common friend, when she was there to record a track with the British alternative rock band, Dinosaur Pile-Up. They are very happy together."

Bikini Diaries! Riya Sen Holidays In Goa With Her Girlfriends

The source also revealed that Michael Corsale is a trained theatre artist from London, UK and was trained under the prestigious acting institute 'Brian Timoney Actors Studio'. When Shruti Haasan was contacted to confirm is she was indeed dating Michael Corsale, her spokesperson commented,"Shruti has never spoken about her personal life in the past and that's not going to change now."

Priyanka Chopra Talks About 'Showing Off Her Bra'!
Jacqueline Fernandez has posted the cutest childhood picture ever in which she looks as cute as a button with her daddy dearest. She also called her daddy as a King and captioned the throwback image as, "I may find my prince but my dad will always be my king #happyvalentinesday."

Check out the picture below!

I may find my prince but my dad will always be my king  #happyvalentinesday https://t.co/6WSj2sH5g1 pic.twitter.com/1mZVSL5z9r  Jacqueline Fernandez (@Asli_Jacqueline) February 14, 2017

Priyanka Chopra Talks About 'Showing Off Her Bra'!

So sweet, isn't it? Also, on the work front Jacqueline Fernandez is currently shooting for the comedy film Judwaa 2 which also stars Varun Dhawan and Taapsee Pannu. The actress is also filming for the film Reloded, which is a sequel to the 2014 released film Bang Bang which starrer Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif.

Bikini Diaries! Riya Sen Holidays In Goa With Her Girlfriends

Jacky, is also working on an English film titled 'According To Mathew' and the story revolves around the life of Father Mathew Pieris, a church priest who was condemned to death by hanging for multiple murders.

Amy Jackson's Mobile Hacked! Personal Pictures Leaked Online
Shahid Kapoor and Kangana Ranaut's scorching hot chemistry in Rangoon may be the talk of the town but in real life the uneasiness and discomfort between the two co-stars are visibly evident.

ALSO READ: HOT SCOOP: Siddharth Malhotra Approached For Salman Khan's Next Production?



To add more to the tension, Kangana's recent comments on Shahid in an interview, where she took a jibe at her co-star added some fuel to the fire.

Kangana had revealed how sharing a cottage with Shahid was a nightmare because everyday morning he would play blasting music and work out. She also shared her experience of shooting for intimate scenes with Shahid, and described it as a disgusting experience and was quoted saying, "Shahid's moustache was horrible and it would be disgusting. Then he would keep telling me that he has a runny nose which helps it to stick."

Shahid, incidentally, was unaware about these comments by his 'Rangoon' co-star. Recently, during an interview with DNA, when the actor was told about Kangana's statements, he was a little surprised. He said, "What has she said about me?" However, when he was explained, Kapoor reacted while making a face and said, "I have to tell you that Kangana makes up things in her head. She has a vivid imagination. I don't remember telling her all this at all."

Ouch, we wonder how Ms Ranaut would react to this!

Running Shaadi Movie Review: Amit Sadh- Taapsee Pannu's 'Pyaar Ka Test' Evokes A Few Laughs!
In the latest turn of events, eminent Hollywood celebrities like Amy Schumer, Rosie O'Donnell, George Clooney, Miley Cyrus and many others are in call for a massive Hollywood strike "until Trump resigns".

A number of liberal celebrities who describe Hollywood as "the base of the entire modern American culture" are preparing to engage themselves in a "massive, all-round Hollywood strike" in protest of the Presidential reign of Donald Trump.

"It's about time people understood that we're the ones with the power and that the president is there to serve us, not the other way around", a spokesperson said in a statement.

"We're calling for a general strike that would include every single person involved in making motion pictures in Hollywood, starting with the actors and celebrities themselves and encompassing companies in charge of making props, movie memorabilia and even souvenir shops." Said a source.

As per the reports, Michael Shannon, Debra Messing, Ed Asner and Rosie O'Donnell are among others who have also registered their names for this massive Hollywood strike.

"No! In the Name of Humanity, We Refuse to Accept a Fascist America! Donald Trump, the President-elect, is assembling a regime of grave danger," reads a full-page ad in a local US newspaper initiated by the group.
It is a very rare sight when a sequel surpasses its original content in terms of Hollywood movies but the Keanu Reeves starrer, Chad Stahelski directed movie John Wick: Chapter 2 has excelled in many folds than its original release about John Wick, "the man, the myth and the legend".

What keeps you glued to the seat right from the start till the curtain drop, is the narrative of the film and of course Keanu Reeves' acting which is at its peak. The motorcycle chase at the opening page of the movie, sets the tone for the rest.

While the first part of the movie revolved around a bit tragic love story, don't expect the second part to just kick off from there. It is altogether a different setting, a different atmosphere, although his past still continues to haunt him down.

Well, the saying about the man in the first part "The Boogey man, a man of focus, commitment and sheer will power who killed three people with a pencil" has been picturized in the second. Well, not literally though but with the amount of raw action incorporated in the film.

Keanu Reeves as the protagonist John Wick, has been impressive and stylish, who single-handedly fights and finishes off all his foes. But then, if you can buy superhero movies as a series piece of drama, then complain not about anything here.

Overall, the John Wick: Chapter 2 is magnified and action-packed and a true gift for the lover of the action genre.
Srinivasa Kalyana and Panta, which were supposed to release this week, have been postponed. The new release dates have not been confirmed yet.

Srinivasa Kalyana was postponed due to the delay in censoring. Due to the insufficiency of members at the censor board, many films are yet to be censored. The movie will most likely be censored next week.

A Few Facts About Srinivasa Kalyana..

MG Srinivas, who made his directorial debut with Upendra's Topiwala is making his acting debut through this film along with directing the film. He is also involved in the production of the film.

Nikhila Suman and Kavitha Gowda who are popular faces in small screen are playing the female leads in the film. Senior Actor Datthanna and Achyuth Rao have played important roles. Other artists are mostly newcomers selected through auditions.

The film is based on a philosophical thought the lead actor who is in search of salvation. Director Srinivas has explained this complex philosophical ideology in comically way through the life of a young man set in the modern times. Even though teaser and trailer predominantly had double entendre dialogues, it also has a philosophical touch to it.

The film has a few distinctions in its name. This is said to be first Kannada feature film whose Color Grading and Visual Effects were done in Canada. Also film is said to be a '5D film' as film was shot entirely in 5D running on 'Magic Lantern'.

The film will also have Sandalwood's first Stop Motion Video Song along with Animatics. Stop Motion Technology Specialist Praveen Chrispugg based in Chennai has choreographed this song. Other song has implemented Parallax Effect.

The film has been bankrolled by Bharath Jain of Mars Films. MG Srinivas and other technicians have also invested for the film. The film has been made on budget of 50 Lakhs but the output is on par with any normal budget film.

Why Was Panta Postponed?

Kalasamrat S Narayan's next film Panta was scheduled for grand release this Friday. But the makers have decided to postpone the release of the film to March.

As per the sources, producer K Subramanyam inspired from the success of Alladsu song from Chowka, wanted to include one such song in the film. Director S Narayan has agreed to add a song to the final version.

The team will be shooting for the song and few scenes, which will act as a lead to the song over next week. Shoot is expected to be completed within 3 days and post-production work for the song will be completed by end of the month.

Cast And Crew Of Panta

Anup Revanna and Monica have played the lead roles in Panta. Actor Abhijith has been involved in the production of the film and as per the posters, he is the Production Charioteer. Producer K Subramanyam has provided the story for the film.

Anup Revanna's debut film Lakshmana, was not very successful and Anup would be looking forward to make a mark at the box-office with Panta. He has also signed a film with Chandru, who has directed his debut film.
Amit Dolawat, who played the role of Alok on Star Plus' popular show Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, tied the knot on Valentine's Day. The actor got married to Cheshta Sharma. Apparently, the wedding happened in Gurgaon which was attended by family and close friends.

Amit and Cheshta's premarriage rituals - Haldi and Sangeet took place on February 12th and 13th, respectively. Amit has been dating Cheshta, who is an air-hostess, since three years. Check out a few pictures from his wedding...

Amit & Cheshta's Wedding Pic Amit shared his wedding picture and wrote, "14th feb 2017 #married#life#happiness#blessings#prayers#wishes#abeautifulday#abeautifulstart#." Sandip Soparrkar Congratulates The Couple Sandip Soparrkar, who attended Amit-Cheshta's wedding shared a picture a collage and wrote, "And finally one of my most favourite student... who is like family to me.. n who is India's most versatile actor... a fantastic dancer ... a wonderful human being... N most importantly a very well manned and cultured person.." Sandip Writes... "My dearest @amitdolawat.. gets hitched.. Amit and Cheshta u both make a superbly gorgeous couple... Remember.. Marriage is not abt being there for each other... but it is abt being there for one another... it's abt being there conditionally together forever.." Sandip Attends Amit-Cheshta's Marriage He concluded, "God bless u Mr & Mrs Dolawat... with a life filled with loads of love, happiness n togetherness.. tight hugs..." Cheshta Sharing this dreamy picture Cheshta wrote, "Dream#marriage#valentines#14thfeb." We wish the lovely couple, a very happy married life... Cheshta & Amit Cheshta Sharma shared this picture snapped with his fiance and wrote, "Candies#rains#snackstime#happyme." Amit A few weeks ago, Amit had shared a picture snapped with Cheshta and wrote, " #thisgirl#differentcountry#meet#eat#greet# @cheshta.sharma47 ."

About his love, Amit was quoted by a leading daily as saying, "Most of our romance happened mid-air, as I would travel to different cities to meet her." It is said that it took a long time for the couple to win their parents' support.

Amit further said, "I'm a Rajasthani Brahmin and Cheshta is a Punjabi. Our families were against the match because we're from different castes. In fact, I never thought our relationship would culminate into marriage, because I would never have gone against my parents' wishes."

Apparently, it was Cheshta's dream to marry on Valentine's day. In the interview, Amit added that his lady-love wanted 'eight' pheras. He said, "During the eighth phera, I have to lift her and vow that I will take her nakhras all my life like I have in the past."

When Amit was asked about his honeymoon plans, he was quoted by the leading daily as saying, "We plan to go on one every month, beginning with a trip to Thailand."

It has to be recalled that Amit was seen on Diya Aur Baati Hum, in which he played the role of Himanshu Dubey. Currently, he is seen on SAB TV's Icchapyari Naagin, in which he plays the role of a shape shifting spider - Makrant.


Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15

By Khalid Kazimov  Trend:

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is expected to inaugurate a project for construction of a gas pipeline between the two southeastern cities of Iranshahr and Chabahar in coming weeks.

The governor-general of Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Mohammad-Ali Afshani, has said that President Rouhani is expected to visit the province late February, Shana news agency reported.

According to the official, Hassan Rouhani is slated to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the project during the provincial visit.

Irans seventh cross-country pipeline is projected to extend into Pakistan. In order to complete the project, Iran needs to lay less than 200 kilometers of the pipeline.

According to an earlier reached agreement, Pakistan was expected to import 22 million cubic meters of gas per day from Iran starting in 2015 but it has been postponed as Pakistan has failed to build the part of the pipeline that falls in its territory.
HOUSTON, TEXAS -- (Marketwired) -- 02/16/17 -- Further to its news release dated January 30, 2017, Epsilon Energy Ltd. ("Epsilon" or the "Corporation") (TSX: EPS), announces that it has redeemed the remaining approximately $40 million principal amount of its 7.75% convertible unsecured subordinated debentures (the "Debentures") at a redemption price of approximately $1,038 per $1,000 principal amount of Debentures.

As previously disclosed, the holders of approximately $28 million principal amount of Debentures consented to the proposed amendments to the indenture for the Debentures to provide for the early payment of the cash amount payable in respect of the Debentures, including the principal amount together with any accrued and unpaid interest thereon less any tax required by law to be deducted (the "Full Maturity Amount") on February 16, 2017.

About Epsilon Energy Ltd.

Epsilon Energy Ltd. is a North American natural gas development, production and midstream company with a current focus on the Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward looking statements. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", 'may", "will", "project", "should", 'believe", and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumption but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and the forward-looking statements included in this news release should not be unduly relied upon.

Special note for news distribution in the United States

The securities described in the news release have not been registered under the United Stated Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the "1933 Act") or state securities laws. Any holder of these securities, by purchasing such securities, agrees for the benefit of Epsilon that such securities may not be offered, sold, or otherwise transferred only (A) to the Corporation or its affiliates; (B) outside the United States in accordance with applicable state laws and either (1) Rule 144(as) under the 1933 Act or (2) Rule 144 under the 1933 Act, if applicable.

Contacts:

Lane Bond

Chief Financial Officer

281-670-0002

lane.bond@epsilonenergyltd.com




DUBAA, UAE, February 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Arton Capitalis pleased to announce a Global Affiliate Partnership withYPO, the premier leadership organization of chief executives in the world. Today, YPO empowers more than 24,000 members in more than 130 countries, diversified among industries and types of businesses. Altogether, YPO member-run companies employ more than 15 million people and generate USD6 trillion in annual revenues.

YPO members will now have exclusive access to the unique range of Arton Capital's tailored products and services.Arton empowers individuals and families to become global citizens by securing second residency or citizenship around the world. Enabled by a multinational, global team speaking more than 20 languages, Arton offers private, world-class concierge services by Quintessentially and membership to Global Hotel Alliance, the world's largest alliance of independent hotel brands. These are just a few of the highly valued benefits our clients enjoy.

"With members representing more than 130 countries, YPO is truly a global organization, and an alliance with Arton will help support YPO leaders' needs as they explore and expand their businesses around the world," said Scott Mordell, CEO ofYPO.

YPO is a community of peer leaders who are committed to lifelong learning and idea exchange, traits essential to any global citizen. The organization empowers its members around the world to build lasting relationships, develop themselves personally and professionally, and give back to their communities.

"Being a YPO member, I recognize the need for chief executives to think beyond borders and become global citizens, expanding their business ventures and their relationships around the world" said Armand Arton, founder and president of Arton Capital and a member of YPO. "That is why I am truly excited that Arton Capital is partnering with YPO, and I'm looking forward to sharing our knowledge at the upcoming YPO Global Leadership Conference and YPO EDGE in Vancouver later this month.

In recent years the demand for residency and citizenship by investment has seen an unprecedented surge to more than 20,000 investors seeking a second residency or citizenship every year. To address this need, Arton's global operations include 15 offices around the world, including Montreal, Toronto, Istanbul, Cape Town, Dubai, Singapore, and Hong Kong to name a few. Arton's unique touch is highly valued by thousands of high net worth investors every year.

About YPO

The premier leadership organization of chief executives in the world.

Today, YPO empowers more than 24,000 members in more than 130 countries, diversified among industries and types of businesses. Altogether, YPO member-run companies employ more than 15 million people and generate USD6 trillion in annual revenues.

YPO is the global platform for chief executives to engage, learn and grow. YPO members harness the knowledge, influence and trust of the world's most influential and innovative business leaders to inspire business, personal, family and community impact.

Leadership. Learning. Lifelong. For more information, visitYPO.org.

About Arton Capital

Arton Capital is a leading global financial advisory firm specializing in investor programs for residence and citizenship, and helping governments, industry professionals and investors meet their goals quickly, efficiently and more effectively.

As an industry leader, Arton is a founding member of the Global Investor Immigration Council and creator of the Passport Index, the innovative real-time ranking of the world's passports.

Founder of theGlobal Citizen Forumand theGlobal Citizen Foundation, Arton Capital is a member of The Arton Group, which comprises fully licensed international banking, financial advisory and investment consulting companies tailored to the needs of Global Citizens.

Empowering Global Citizenship. For more information, visitartoncapital.com

John Hanafin, CEO, Arton Capital - Empowering Global Citizenship, info@artoncapital.com , T +971-4-456-9220
Janssen-Cilag International NV today announced the publication of data revealing radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS) of 16.5 months (95% CI, 13.5-20.0) and treatment duration of 11.6 months (95% CI, 10.2-12.8) in men treated with ZYTIGA (abiraterone acetate) plus prednisone (AAP), in the real-world, outside the clinical trial setting. The study assessed men being treated for asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), following androgen deprivation therapy (ADT).1 These valuable insights were shown despite the real-world study population including those who had a poor prognosis or were difficult-to-treat patients, usually excluded from clinical trials. These data are part of a comprehensive real-world evidence (RWE) portfolio being presented by Janssen at this year's American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary Cancers Symposium (ASCO GU) in Orlando, Florida.

"Real-world evidence research is key in patient-focused clinical practice, as it helps physicians to better address patient needs. It complements data obtained from clinical trials to provide greater understanding of treatment outcomes, disease management and impact on quality of life in broad patient populations, including those with comorbidities," said Dr Martin Boegemann, Department of Urology, Muenster University Medical Center, Muenster, Germany. "It is helpful to see new data for treatment outcomes in real world patients confirm those seen in a clinical trial setting. These new findings add to the growing bank of real-world evidence available across Europe, which is becoming more and more important in helping us choose the best treatments to transform patient outcomes."

Patients in the pivotal COU-AA-302 trial reached a median duration of treatment of 13.8 months (IQR, 8.3-27.4) and a median rPFS of 16.5 months (95% CI, 13.8-16.8).1,2,3,4 Results were similar across both settings, despite almost 10% of patients in the RWE study having visceral metastases (metastases to internal organs i.e. the liver and/or lungs) and/or an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 2-3 (those unable to carry out work, but still capable or partially capable of self-care).1 These patients were not included in the COU-AA-302 study.4

Further to this, additional findings from The Prostate Cancer Registry, Europe's first and largest prospective RWE study in mCRPC are being presented at ASCO GU.5 The Prostate Cancer Registry was initiated in 2013, as a long-term commitment by Janssen to address optimal treatment of mCRPC in routine practice in the real world. It has enrolled over 3,000 mCRPC patients in 199 centres across 16 European countries.5

Dr Ivo Winiger-Candolfi, Oncology Therapeutic Area Lead, Janssen Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) said: "Real-world evidence is extremely valuable in offering findings that complement clinical trials and provide significant insights into the performance and the use of a drug in real-world medical settings which will ultimately translate into how to best treat patients. This is particularly evident in prostate cancer, as it is the most common cancer in men and has a diverse patient population with varying treatment needs. Janssen is continuing to support real-world evidence research to help transform patient outcomes, with the aim of making cancer a more manageable condition in the future."

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men, with over 400,000 new cases diagnosed in Europe each year.6 Latest prostate cancer figures show that there are currently three million men living with the disease in Europe.7

-ENDS-

NOTES TO EDITORS

About the Boegemann et al. study

The Boegemann et al. study is a retrospective chart review of 224 asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic post-ADT mCRPC patients treated with ZYTIGA (abiraterone acetate) plus prednisone (AAP) from 18 centres across Belgium, Germany and the UK.1

The real-world study included patients with visceral metastases (metastases to internal organs i.e. the liver and/or lungs) (9.8%) and those with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 2-3 (those unable to carry out work, but still capable or partially capable of self-care) (9.4%) (patients usually excluded from the clinical trial setting).1

About The Prostate Cancer Registry

The Prostate Cancer Registry was initiated in 2013 as a long-term commitment by Janssen to address optimal treatment of mCRPC in routine practice. The Registry was designed in consultation with specialists in mCRPC and examines patients being managed in a range of oncology and urology settings, with the aim of reflecting routine clinical practice. 8

Patients are enrolled upon initiating a treatment for mCRPC or a period of surveillance, defined as not currently receiving an active treatment for castration resistance. The Registry is prospectively collecting data on a pan-European scale on patient demography and status, treatment sequencing and effectiveness, ongoing disease management, quality of life, medical resource utilisation and outcomes.8

The first analysis was presented at the 2015 European Cancer Congress (ECC) in Vienna, Austria and further data will be published regularly over the coming years.8

The latest Prostate Cancer Registry animation can be viewed here

About ZYTIGA(abiraterone acetate)

ZYTIGA is the only approved therapy in mCRPC that inhibits production of androgens (which fuel prostate cancer growth) at all three sources that are important in prostate cancer the testes, adrenals and the tumour itself.9,10,11

ZYTIGA has been approved in more than 90 countries and to date, has been prescribed to more than 269,500 men worldwide.12,13

Indication9

In 2011, ZYTIGA in combination with prednisone/prednisolone was approved by the European Commission (EC) for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) in adult men whose disease has progressed on or after a docetaxel-based chemotherapy regimen.

In December 2012, the EC granted an extension of the indication for ZYTIGA permitting its use, in combination with prednisone or prednisolone, for the treatment of mCRPC, in adult men who are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic after failure of androgen deprivation therapy in whom chemotherapy is not yet clinically indicated.9

Further Information9

The most common adverse events seen with abiraterone acetate include urinary tract infection, hypokalaemia, hypertension, peripheral oedema and diarrhoea.

For a full list of side effects and for further information on dosage and administration, contraindications and other precautions when using ZYTIGA, please refer to the summary of product characteristics, which is available at: http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/EPAR_-_Product_Information/human/002321/WC500112858.pdf

About the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies

At the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson Johnson, we are working to create a world without disease. Transforming lives by finding new and better ways to prevent, intercept, treat and cure disease inspires us. We bring together the best minds and pursue the most promising science. We are Janssen. We collaborate with the world for the health of everyone in it. Learn more at www.janssen.com/emea. Follow us on http://www.twitter.com/janssenEMEA for our latest news.

Cilag GmbH International; Janssen Biotech, Inc.; and Janssen-Cilag International NV are part of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson Johnson.

References:

1 Boegemann et al. Real-World Treatment with Abiraterone Acetate in Chemotherapy-Naive Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Patients. Poster presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary Symposium 2017, February 16-18, Orlando, Florida, USA. Poster presentation. ASCO GU abstract #239. Last accessed February 2017.

2 Rathkopf et al. Updated Interim Efficacy Analysis and Long-term Safety of Abiraterone Acetate in Metastatic Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer Patients Without Prior Chemotherapy (COU-AA-302). EUROPEAN UROLOGY 2014; 66: 815-825. Last accessed February 2017.

3 Ryan CJ, Smith MR, de Bono JS, et al. Abiraterone in Metastatic Prostate Cancer without Previous Chemotherapy. N Engl J Med. 2013 Jan; 368(2): 138 48.

4 Ryan C.J et al. Abiraterone acetate plus prednisone versus placebo plus prednisone in chemotherapy-naive men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (COU-AA-302): final overall survival analysis of a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 study. The Lancet Oncology. 2015; 16, 2: p152-160. Available at: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(14)71205-7/abstract. Last accessed February 2017.

5 Chowdhury S et al. The Prostate Cancer Registry: Real-World outcomes in first-line treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Poster presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary Symposium 2017, February 16-18, Orlando, Florida. Poster presentation. ASCO GU abstract #212. Last accessed February 2017.

6 Ferlay J et al. Cancer incidence and mortality patterns in Europe: Estimates for 40 countries in 2012. European Journal of Cancer. 2013; 49: p1374-1403. Last accessed February 2017.

7 European Commission. CORDIS Express: Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. Available at: http://cordis.europa.eu/news/rcn/122705_en.html. Last accessed February 2017.

8 Chowdhury S et al. The Prostate Cancer Registry: First Results from an International, Prospective, Observational Study of Men with Metastatic Castration- Resistant Prostate Cancer (mCRPC). Poster presented at the European Cancer Congress 2015, September 25-29, Vienna, Austria. Poster Presentation. ECC abstract #2548. Available at: https://www.europeancancercongress.org/Scientific-Programme/Abstract-search?abstractid=21001. Last accessed February 2017.

9 ZYTIGA summary of product characteristics (February 2017). Available at: http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/EPAR_-_Product_Information/human/002321/WC500112858.pdf. Last accessed February 2017.

10 Hoy, SM. et al. Abiraterone Acetate: A review of its use in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer drugs. Drugs 2013; 73:2077-2091. Last accessed February 2017.

11 Ritch, CR. Cookson, MS. Advances in the management of castration resistant prostate cancer. BMJ. 2016 Oct 17;355:i4405. Doi: 10.1136/bmj.i4405. Last accessed February 2017

12 Ye,D. A phase 3, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled efficacy and safety study of abiraterone acetate in chemotherapy-naive patients with mCRPC in China, Malaysia, Thailand and Russia. Asian Journal of Urology. 2017.Doi.org/10.1016/j.ajur.2017.01.002. Last accessed February 2017

13 Zytiga asset portal. Available at: https://janssenassetexchange.com/Zytiga/Home.aspx. Last accessed February 2017

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170217005201/en/

Contacts:

Media Enquiries:

Natalie Buhl

+353 85 7446696

or

Investor Relations:

Lesley Fishman

Phone: +1 732-524-3922

or

Joseph J. Wolk

Phone: +1 732-524-1142
BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French shares fell on Friday as banks gave up some of their recent gains on uncertainties over the U.S. fiscal and monetary policies. The benchmark CAC 40 was down 29 points or 0.58 percent at 4,870 in opening deals after losing half a percent the previous day. BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale fell around 2 percent after U.S. bond yields eased overnight in the wake of dovish comments from influential Fed policy maker William Dudley. Airbus Group traded flat after saying it is 'surprised' by the Austrian government's decision to file a criminal complaint over alleged willful deception and fraud linked to the order for Eurofighter jets back in 2003. Essilor International shares rose over 1 percent as the eye-care firm lifted dividend after reporting a rise in fiscal 2016 profit. 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.
PHILADELPHIA, February 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Care Planning, a 2017 KLAS Category Leader Award winner, to be featured with Elsevier's other world-class clinical decision support solutions

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, will showcase its Integrated Clinical Decision Support solutions at booth #2961 at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2017 annual meeting in Orlando, Fla, Feb. 19-23.

A leader in bringing evidence-based content into the care process, Elsevier focuses on encouraging quality, enhancing efficiency and improving outcomes - providing empowering knowledge that enables action at the point of care. Representatives from Elsevier's Clinical Solutions will be available to discuss how active clinical decision support solutions and integrated clinical content and information at the point of care can improve care delivery.

"With the changing healthcare landscape, Elsevier is uniquely positioned to partner with healthcare providers to improve clinical outcomes," said Dr. John Danaher, President, Clinical Solutions at Elsevier. "Our solutions span the entire care continuum, across care settings and consider the patient at the center of care delivery. The recent recognition of Elsevier's Care Planning with the 2017 Best in KLAS award affirms our leadership in innovative, easy-to-use, high-quality evidence-based solutions integrated into healthcare systems and clinical workflows."

"We are proud of our collaborations with our customers to advance the practice of interprofessional care teams and engagement of patients in support of exceptional patient care," Danaher said.

Elsevier will also be highlighting new clinical pathway technology during the HIMSS interoperability showcase. This innovation will be demonstrated via a community care use case scenario.

Elsevier is also celebrating the distinction of HIMSS 2016 Book of the Year Award toHealth Information Exchange: Navigating and Managing a Network of Health Information Systems. Edited by Brian E. Dixon, PhD, FHIMSS, an Associate Professor at the IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health and Research Scientist at the Regenstrief Institute, the book was published in March 2016 by Elsevier's Academic Press.

For more information on Elsevier HIMSS activities, visit Elsevier's Clinical Solutions HIMSS17 website.

---

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading provider of information solutions that enhance the performance of science, health, and technology professionals, empowering them to make better decisions, deliver better care, and sometimes make groundbreaking discoveries that advance the boundaries of knowledge and human progress. Elsevier provides web-based, digital solutions - among them ScienceDirect, Scopus, Research Intelligenceand ClinicalKey - and publishes over 2,500 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and more than 35,000 book titles, including a number of iconic reference works. Elsevier is part of RELX Group, a world-leading provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries.www.elsevier.com

Media contact

Christopher Capot

Director, Corporate Relations, Elsevier

+1-917-704-5174

c.capot@elsevier.com


ORLANDO, FL--(Marketwired - February 17, 2017) - TeraRecon (www.terarecon.com), a leader in advanced visualization and enterprise medical image viewing solutions, releases support for virtualization of their iNtuition' platform. All new customer systems include the Volume Pro (VP) CUDA interface layer as standard, readying the platform for nVidia CUDA GPUs and eliminating the need for previously required proprietary hardware.

Today, TeraRecon is the only enterprise advanced visualization company in the world that leverages the CUDA interface. Its pristine legacy of high performance rendering servers made the use of this new technology a near drop-in."With 4 to 20-times improved performance of its industry leading Volume Pro ASIC-based rendering technology, the company has just begun offering its customers VP CUDA interface as a remarkably affordable way to achieve even higher performance from the same iNtuition solution.

With a technology upgrade program for install base customers, TeraRecon is easing the transition to the virtual computing environment. Existing customers can purchase TeraRecon's VP CUDA interface layer and upgrade their own hardware to bring their entire viewing architecture to a new level of unmatched performance.

TeraRecon customer, Josh Tan, of Wake Forest University's Baptist Medical Center stated, "Our testing has shown a 30% faster load time for images in addition to better bandwidth and memory utilization. We have observed faster rotation, scrolling, and segmenting through 2D and 3D images, as well as faster 3D reconstruction."

VP CUDA also supports expansion as an AI-ready platform by providing a future-thinking architecture for the TeraRecon Within Image Analysis (WIA') Cloud prototype. With the demands of running multiple machine learning application engines simultaneously, WIA Cloud will be fully supported by the processing power of VP CUDA.

Visit TeraRecon at HIMSS17 this week in Orlando, Florida in Booth #1475 to experience their full suite of advanced medical image viewing solutions.

About TeraRecon (www.terarecon.com)

TeraRecon is the largest independent, vendor neutral medical image viewing solution provider with a focus on advanced image processing innovation. TeraRecon iNtuition and iNteract+ solutions advance the accessibility, performance, clinical functionality and medical imaging workflow throughout many areas of the healthcare ecosystem. The company provides world class advanced visualization 3D post-processing tools, as well as a spectrum of enterprise medical image viewing, diagnostic interpretation, image sharing, interoperability and collaboration solutions. TeraRecon is a privately-held company with its world headquarters in Foster City, California with major offices in Acton, MA, Durham, NC, Frankfurt, Germany and Tokyo, Japan.

Press Inquiries:

TeraRecon

US: 1-650-372-1100

info@terarecon.com
LONDON, February 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Recognised for Continued Commitment to Quality and Transparent Measurement Solutions in the Digital Advertising Market

Blasting News, one of the largest global social news publishers, today announced that they have selected comScore validated Campaign Essentials' (vCE) to identify and remove fraudulent traffic in order to give Blasting News clients increased confidence that their ads have the opportunity to make an impact with a real and validated audience.

The invalid traffic plague is a serious issue on the web. According to a 2015 report by the IAB invalid traffic caused advertisers to lose no less than $4.2 billion each year.

Blasting News has integrated since its inception anti-bot technologies across its audience measurement systems, in order to create a safe place for brands and advertisers. However, invalid traffic generators are getting more sophisticated by the day, which is one of the reasons comScore has been selected to track reader flows and filter any invalid traffic activity on the Blasting News website.

In November 2016, comScore was granted accreditation by the Media Rating Council (MRC) for Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT*) detection and filtration of desktop and mobile web traffic. comScore is the first company to offer both content and campaign measurement leveraging MRC-accredited SIVT filtration, providing the market with consistent and filtered metrics for the planning, buying, selling, and evaluation of digital advertising.

"If advertising isn't reaching a real person, that's a real problem. We want to have 100% real human traffic, with no compromise. From now on, comScore will measure all Blasting News traffic and provide actionable data to help us take immediate action. That means that advertisers can be confident that they are only paying for human audiences on their campaigns, thanks to the metrics comScore provides" said Andrea Manfredi, CEO of Blasting News.

Timur Yarnall, SVP Advertising, comScore, added: "Sophisticated IVT (SIVT) detection is extremely important due to how complex and fast-changing fraud techniques have become. comScore is committed to help our clients defend their business against these advanced techniques of malpractice and provide a safe, high quality environment for digital advertising."

To learn more about comScore vCE, please visit http://www.comscore.com/Products/Advertising-Analytics/validated-Campaign-Essentials-2 or contact us.

* The MRC's definition of Sophisticated IVT includes "traffic identified through advanced analytics, multipoint corroboration, human intervention-such as hijacked devices, ad tags, or creative; adware; malware; misappropriated content."

About Blasting News

Blasting News is the largest global social news publisher - set up in mid-2013, it is now the 142nd most visited websites in the world, thanks to 100+ million monthly unique on-site visitors. Blasting News has readers in five continents, offices in London, New York, Sao Paulo, Milan, Rome, and soon Singapore and a brand new US Edition - Blasting News US -recently launched. Blasting News is a new disruptive concept of journalism, being made by the people, for the people. News is produced by delocalized freelance contributors (Blasters), fact-checked and curated by a quality team of senior professionals. Furthermore, news is distributed by Social Blasters, a global team of top digital influencers. All the processes are fuelled by the crowd, without any central newsroom - thanks to an extensive use of technology (the core stages are managed by algorithms, some of which are patent-pending).

About comScore

comScore is a leading cross-platform measurement company that precisely measures audiences, brands and consumer behavior everywhere. comScore completed its merger with Rentrak Corporation in January 2016, to create the new model for a dynamic, cross-platform world. Built on precision and innovation, our unmatched data footprint combines proprietary digital, TV and movie intelligence with vast demographic details to quantify consumers' multiscreen behavior at massive scale. This approach helps media companies monetize their complete audiences and allows marketers to reach these audiences more effectively. With more than 3,200 clients and global footprint in more than 75 countries, comScore is delivering the future of measurement. Shares of comScore stock are currently traded on the OTC Market (OTC:SCOR). For more information on comScore, please visit comscore.com.

To get in touch with Blasting News team, please write to: linda.iulianella@blastingnews.com

Contact: Filippo Giorgio

comScore, Inc.

+44-(0)207-092-3151

worldpress@comscore.com


SANTA CLARA, California, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Crown Bioscience, a wholly owned subsidiary of Crown Bioscience International (TWSE: ticker 6554) and a global drug discovery and development services company providing translational platforms to advance oncology and metabolic disease research, has enhanced its digital engagement strategy with the release of OncoExpress, an innovative oncology data search engine.

CrownBio soft launched the OncoExpress web application in the second half of 2016 and is today able to offer an improved user experience thanks to more powerful search and analysis capabilities that enhance its speed and stability, a newly designed, intuitive interface, as well as enhanced data and graphical display.

Data volume has been expanded, to include integrated genomic, pharmacological, and histopathology data for patient-derived and cell line derived xenografts, in addition to syngeneic, HuGEMM', and MuPrime' immuno-oncology models.

OncoExpress has also become available as a mobile app for both Apple and Android operating systems to enable users to access high level model data from their mobile devices "on-the-go".

"The enhancements to the OncoExpress technology platform demonstrate our commitment to help scientists extract value from our oncology model data," said Laurie Heilmann, SVP of Global Strategy, Business Development and Marketing. She continued, "We will endure in our efforts to build groundbreaking toolsets that help our customers advance their research and will be offering more enhancements to existing platforms throughout 2017."

To drive the digital strategy CrownBio has also hired Gavin Cooper as Executive Director of Marketing. Cooper will lead the corporate marketing group and will be responsible for the ongoing development of the platform. Cooper joins the company with more than 12 years' experience of creating positive brand experiences through digital engagement.

OncoExpress can be accessed from oncoexpress.crownbio.com. The mobile app can be downloaded from Google Play , and the Apple Store.

For more information on CrownBio's commitment to furthering the field of oncology and metabolic disease drug discovery, visit https://www.crownbio.com/

About Crown Bioscience Inc.

Crown Bioscience is a global drug discovery and development solutions company providing translational platforms to advance oncology and metabolic disease research. With an extensive portfolio of relevant models and predictive tools, Crown Bioscience enables clients to deliver superior clinical candidates.

About OncoExpress'

OncoExpress is an intuitive search application enabling access to scientific data held in CrownBio's three proprietary oncology databases, HuBase', MuBase, and XenoBase. The search engine returns model data that includes, tumor growth curves, response to standard of care, biomarker identification, gene expression, and mutation analysis.

Logo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/351602/crown_bio_Logo.jpg
Baku, Azerbaijan Feb. 16

By Dalga Khatinoglu  Trend:

An official with the US Department of State has briefed Trend on the White House policies on Tehran amid hot discussions inside Iran over oil major Totals decision to postpone a significant deal in the Islamic Republic.

It appears that the French giant has suspended a decision on investment in Irans gas sector due to concerns over President Donald Trumps approach towards sanctions on the Middle Eastern country.

The US Department of State official, who asked to remain anonymous, said in an exclusive interview with Trend that Washington continues to implement its commitments concerning the nuclear deal, aka Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), but non-nuclear sanctions on Iran will remain in place.

"The JCPOA is limited to Irans nuclear program, and the United States continues to implement its commitments under the JCPOA. Meanwhile, we have always been clear that we will continue to enforce sanctions that remain in place outside the United States commitments under the JCPOA. The United States retains the authority to respond to Irans support for terrorism, human rights abuses, destabilizing activities in the region, and its ballistic missile program," the Department of State official added.

The CEO of Frances Total Patrick Pouyanne said Feb. 9 that the company plans to make a final investment decision on a $2 billion gas project in Iran by summer, but the decision hinges on the renewal of US sanctions waivers.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has said that the countrys Foreign Ministry will be in charge of diplomatic aspects of talks on Totals plans to enter the Islamic Republics oil market.

According to Zanganeh, the French company was expected to take actions in line with the policies of the EU, not the US.

"We will not preview future interactions. What we can say is that we will work positively with Iran when it abides by international commitments while underscoring our commitment to counter Irans destabilizing activities, including support for terrorist and militant groups," the official further said, responding to a question on the possibility of holding direct talks between high-ranking officials from Iran and the US.
EDMONTON, Alberta, February 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Alberta Investment Management Corporation ("AIMCo") is pleased to announce that it has signed a letter of commitment and a subscription agreement, on behalf of certain of its clients, to enter into a strategic financing relationship with Perpetual Energy Inc., ("Perpetual") (TSE: PMT). The transaction is anticipated to close in early March 2017.

Based upon the terms of the commitment letter and the subscription agreement, the financing relationship provides for a CAD $45 million debt-with-warrants financing, and the agreement by AIMCo to purchase 2,571,500 units of Perpetual ("Units") at a price of CAD $1.75 per Unit for gross proceeds of approximately CAD $4.5 million, with each Unit consisting of one common share of Perpetual and 0.21 of a common share purchase warrant of Perpetual (a "Warrant"). The debt-with-warrants component consists of a second lien senior secured term loan to Perpetual, repayable four years following the date of closing and bearing interest at 8.1% per annum, as well as 120 Warrants for every $1,000 committed under the Second Lien Facility, resulting in the issuance of 5,400,000 additional Warrants.

AIMCo's investment in Perpetual provides its clients an attractive opportunity to gain direct exposure to a Calgary-based Canadian energy company focused on long-term value creation through oil and gas based exploration, development, production and marketing. Perpetual has built a spectrum of resource-style opportunities spanning heavy oil, liquids-rich natural gas and bitumen. These balance a base of legacy shallow gas assets. With a track record of innovation and operational excellence, Perpetual is positioned to grow and prosper throughout the dynamic cycles of the energy business.

"On behalf of our clients, AIMCo is very pleased to have the opportunity to enter into this strategic financing relationship with Perpetual Energy," states Peter Pontikes, Executive Vice-President, Public Equities of AIMCo. "Perpetual has a demonstrated history of resiliency in its ability to manage through the cyclicality of Alberta's energy sector. Led by an accomplished management team, we are confident that our investment provides this innovative company with the flexibility to weather the current market downturn and allow them to position for future growth."

Sue Riddell Rose, President and CEO of Perpetual Energy Inc., commented, "Perpetual is pleased to enter into a long term relationship with a strong and prudent institutional investor that has purposefully chosen to align with our equity shareholders, while providing a comprehensive debt refinancing solution. With ample liquidity now confirmed to successfully execute our 2017 growth-focused capital program and effectively manage our senior notes maturity in March 2018, we look forward to converting the inherent value in our asset base to positive returns for our investors."

About Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo)

AIMCo is one of Canada's largest and most diversified institutional investment managers with more than $90 billion of assets under management. AIMCo was established on January 1, 2008 with a mandate to provide superior long-term investment results for its clients. AIMCo operates at arms-length from the Government of Alberta and invests globally on behalf of 31 pension, endowment and government funds in the Province of Alberta. For more information on AIMCo please visit http://www.aimco.alberta.ca.

About Perpetual Energy Inc. (Perpetual)

Perpetual Energy Inc. is a Canadian energy company with a spectrum of resource-style opportunities spanning liquids-rich natural gas in the Alberta deep basin, shallow gas, heavy oil and bitumen. Perpetual's shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "PMT". Further information with respect to Perpetual can be found at its website at http://www.perpetualenergyinc.com.

Media Contact:

Denes Nemeth,

Corporate Communication,

O: +1-780-392-3857, M: +1-780-932-4013,

E: denes.nemeth@aimco.alberta.ca


COEUR D'ALENE, IDAHO -- (Marketwired) -- 02/17/17 -- Timberline Resources Corporation (OTCQB: TLRS)(TSX VENTURE: TBR) ("Timberline" or the "Company") has received conditional approval from the Toronto Venture Exchange for its private placement and has closed the first tranche of the previously announced non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") by issuing 1,945,000 units ("Units") for a total of US$486,250. A second tranche is expected to close by the end of February.

The Offering, which was initially announced on January 13, 2017, consists of up to 5 million Units at a price of US$0.25 per Unit for a total of US$1,250,000, with an over-allotment option to increase the Offering by up to 20%. Each Unit consists of one share of common stock of the Company and one common share purchase warrant (each a "Warrant") (together the "Securities"), with each Warrant exercisable to acquire an additional share of common stock of the Company at a price of US$0.40 per share until the warrant expiration date of January 31, 2020. The Company may accelerate the warrant expiration date if the price of the Company's common stock closes at or above US$0.90 for twenty consecutive trading days.

The Offering is being completed under Rule 506(c) of Regulation D promulgated by the SEC under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") solely to persons who qualify as accredited investors and in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws. The terms of the Offering also include that the Company will use commercially reasonable efforts to prepare and file a registration statement under the Securities Act for resale of the shares of common stock and the shares of common stock underlying the Warrants to the extent allowed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the Offering for working capital, exploration program expenses, and costs associated with claim maintenance. Certain finder's fees and consulting fees may be payable by Timberline in relation to this transaction to support in marketing this Offering.

The Securities offered in the Offering have not been and may not be registered under the Securities Act or the securities laws of any state of the United States and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent such registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. The Securities may be sold only to "accredited investors" (as defined in Rule 501(a) under Regulation D of the Securities Act), which for natural persons, are investors who meet certain minimum annual income or net worth thresholds. The Securities are being offered in reliance on the exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act provided by Rule 506(c) and the Company is not required to comply with specific disclosure requirements that apply to registration under the Securities Act. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has not passed upon the merits of or given its approval to the Securities, the terms of the Offering, or the accuracy or completeness of any Offering materials.

The Securities are subject to legal restrictions on transfer and resale and investors should not assume they will be able to resell their securities. Securities issued to investors in Canada are subject to a four month hold period in accordance with Canadian securities laws. Investing in the Securities involves risk, and investors should be able to bear the loss of their investment.

About Timberline Resources

Timberline Resources Corporation is focused on advancing district-scale gold exploration and development projects in Nevada, including its Talapoosa project in Lyon County where the Company has completed and disclosed a positive preliminary economic assessment. Timberline also controls the 23 square-mile Eureka project lying on the Battle Mountain-Eureka gold trend. At Eureka, the Company continues to advance its Lookout Mountain and Windfall project areas. Exploration potential occurs within three separate structural-stratigraphic trends defined by distinct geochemical gold anomalies. Timberline also owns the Seven Troughs property in northern Nevada, known to be one of the state's highest grade, former producers.

Timberline is listed on the OTCQB where it trades under the symbol "TLRS" and on the TSX Venture Exchange where it trades under the symbol "TBR".

Forward-looking Statements

Statements contained herein that are not based upon current or historical fact are forward-looking in nature and constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements reflect the Company's expectations about its future operating results, performance and opportunities that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. These statements include but are not limited to statements regarding the total amount to be raised, pricing, anticipated timing for the closing of additional tranches of the financing and other terms of the Company's private placement offering of Common Stock, composition or terms of the Warrant, completion of a second tranche of the Offering, exercise of over-allotment option, acceleration of the warrant expiration date, the use of proceeds, filing or bringing effective a registration statement, payment of finder's fees or consulting fees, advancement of projects, and exploration potential. When used herein, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "upcoming," "plan," "target", "intend" and "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to Timberline Resources Corporation, its subsidiaries, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to the Company and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause the Company's actual results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, risks related to changes in the Company's business resulting in changes in the use of proceeds, and other such factors, including risk factors discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2016. Except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements.

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:

Timberline Resources Corporation

Steven A. Osterberg

President and CEO

208-664-4859

info@timberline-resources.com




CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Scientists say a huge landmass almost entirely submerged in the southwest Pacific qualifies as a continent, and have made a renewed push for it to be recognized as the eighth continent in the world. A 4.9 Mkm2 region of the southwest Pacific Ocean, known as Zealandia, is made up of continental crust. The region has elevated bathymetry relative to surrounding oceanic crust, diverse and silica-rich rocks, and relatively thick and low-velocity crustal structure. Its isolation from Australia and large area support its definition as a continent, researchers said in a paper published in the Geological Society of America's Journal. Zealandia was formerly part of Gondwana. Today it is 94 percent submerged, mainly as a result of widespread Late Cretaceous crustal thinning preceding supercontinent breakup and consequent isostatic balance. The identification of Zealandia as a geological continent, rather than a collection of continental islands, fragments, and slices, more correctly represents the geology of this part of Earth. Zealandia provides a fresh context in which to investigate processes of continental rifting, thinning, and breakup, says New Zealand geologist Nick Mortimer, the main author of the article. 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.
PUNE, India, February 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a new market research report "Biomarkers Market by Product (Consumables, Service), Type (Safety, Efficacy, Validation), Disease Indication (Cancer, Cardiovascular Disorders), Application (Diagnostics Development, Drug Discovery and Development, Disease-Risk) - Global Forecast to 2021" published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is projected to reach USD 53.34 Billion by 2021 from USD 27.95 Billion in 2016, growing at a CAGR of 13.8% during the forecast period (2016-2021).

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )



Browse 117 market data Tables and 37 Figures spread through 157 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Biomarkers Market "

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/biomarkers-advanced-technologies-and-global-market-43.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.

The report provides a detailed overview of the major drivers, restraints, challenges, opportunities, current market trends, and strategies impacting the Biomarkers Market along with the estimates and forecasts of the revenue. Growth in the Biomarkers Market is mainly driven by factors such as increasing diagnostic applications of biomarkers, increasing R&D funding for pharma and biotech companies, increasing number of CROs and low cost of clinical trials in developing countries, the high prevalence of cancer, and new initiatives for biomarker research. On the other hand, high capital investments and low cost-benefit ratio poorly suited regulatory and reimbursement systems, and technical issues related to sample collection and storage are the major factors restraining the growth of this market.

Inquiry Details: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=43

The Biomarkers Market is segmented on the basis of product, type, application, disease indication, and region. On the basis of product, the Biomarkers Market is segmented into consumables, services, and software. The consumables segment is estimated to account for the largest share of the global Biomarkers Market in 2016. The large share of this segment is primarily attributed to the lower price of consumables than that of screening and automation instruments.

On the basis of type, the Biomarkers Market is segmented into safety, efficacy, and validation biomarkers. The efficacy biomarkers segment is further classified into predictive, surrogate, pharmacodynamics, and prognostic biomarkers. In 2016, the safety biomarkers segment is expected to account for the largest share of the Biomarkers Market. However, the efficacy biomarkers segment is estimated to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period.

On the basis of application, the Biomarkers Market is categorized into diagnostics, drug discovery & development, personalized medicine, disease risk assessment, and other applications (DNA fingerprinting, ecotoxicology, and forensics). The diagnostics segment is estimated to account for the largest share of the market in 2016. Factors such as increasing prevalence of cancer, technologically developed biomarker products, individualized treatments for cancer, and the need for early-stage cancer diagnosis are driving the growth of this segment in the Biomarkers Market.

Download PDF Brochure: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=43

On the basis of disease indication, the Biomarkers Market is categorized into cancer, cardiovascular disorders, neurological disorders, immunological disorders, and others (renal disorders, urinal diseases, diabetes, and tuberculosis). The cancer segment is estimated to account for the largest share of the global Biomarkers Market in 2016. The growth of this segment is primarily attributed to the increasing prevalence of cancer.

Key players in the Biomarkers Market include QIAGEN N.V. (Netherlands), PerkinElmer, Inc. (U.S.), Merck Millipore (U.S.), Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (U.S.), and Enzo Biochem, Inc. (U.S.).

Browse Related Reports:

Cancer Diagnostics Market by Technology (ELISA, ELFA, PCR, NGS, Immunohistochemistry, Microarray, Imaging (MRI, CT, PET, Ultrasound, Mammography), Biopsy), Application (Breast Cancer, Lung Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Melanoma) - Forecast to 2020

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/cancer-diagnostics-market-186559121.html

Cancer Biomarkers Market by Tumor (Breast, Lung, and Prostate), Type (Protein & Genetic Biomarkers), Profiling Technology (Proteomics, Genomics, Imaging, and Immunoassay), Application (Diagnostic, Drug Discovery, and Prognostic) & Geography - Global Forecast to 2020

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/oncology-biomarkers-202.html

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MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) - Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with his Russian counterpart, Army Gen. Valery Gerasimov, in Azerbaijan capital Baku Thursday. Dunford and Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces and the first deputy defense minister, discussed the current state of the military relationship between the United States and Russia. This was the first face-to-face meeting between the two men, DoD News reported. The military leaders also exchanged their views on the state of the international security situation in Europe, the Middle East, and other key regions. The U.S. and Russian militaries have undertaken efforts to improve operational safety of military activities in order to decrease the prospects for crisis and avoid the risk of unintended incidents. The leaders further agreed to enhance communications on such stabilizing measures. 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.
BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - Friday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met for the first time with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. The meeting, on the sidelines of a G20 gathering in the German city of Bonn, was the highest level Sino-US meeting since Donald Trump assumed office. Secretary Tillerson and Minister Wang noted the recent call between Trump with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, and discussed efforts to advance bilateral cooperation while addressing differences in a constructive manner. Secretary Tillerson also highlighted the increasing threat posed by North Korea's nuclear and missile programs and urged China to use all available tools to moderate North Korea's destabilizing behavior. The two Foreign Ministers also discussed the need to create a level playing field for trade and investment. 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.
OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 02/17/17 -- Department of Canadian Heritage

The Honourable Melanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage, today announced that the City of Ottawa is receiving $5,250,000 to fund the expansion of the Ottawa Art Gallery and the redevelopment of the Arts Court building. She also announced that the Ottawa Art Gallery is receiving an additional $1,300,000 for specialized equipment to outfit their new space.

This funding will help the City of Ottawa continue to house 26 not-for-profit arts organizations and to display the Ottawa Art Gallery's vast collection for local residents and visitors alike.

This funding has been made possible thanks to the unprecedented investment of nearly $170,000,000 for cultural spaces over two years in the 2016 Budget. These investments will help strengthen the middle class with new jobs, provide opportunities for families to access the arts in their own communities, and create spaces for artists and artisans to perfect their craft and ensure that Canada's unique perspective is shared with the world.

Quotes

"Arts Court is a great example of an institution that allows the arts to grow in our communities by creating a home for local talent. I am proud that our government can help support their great work. Investing in Canada's cultural sector helps create jobs for the middle class and grow our economy."

- The Honourable Melanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage

"I am pleased to see the Government of Canada invest generously in the new Ottawa Art Gallery Expansion and Arts Court Redevelopment project, and in our local arts sector. A vibrant and thriving arts and culture scene stimulates our city's economic growth, and makes Ottawa an attractive destination for tourism, business and talented professionals."

- Jim Watson, Mayor of the City of Ottawa

"Ottawa is replete with amazing national cultural institutions, and it also has a thriving and growing regional arts scene. So it is wonderful to see the Government of Canada recognize this and support the Ottawa Art Gallery Expansion and Arts Court Redevelopment project!"

- Alexandra Badzak, Director and CEO of the Ottawa Art Gallery

Quick Facts

-- Arts Court is located in the historic 1870 Carleton County Courthouse in downtown Ottawa. -- $5.25 million of the announced funding will support the renovation of the existing Arts Court facility and the construction of a new and expanded space for the Ottawa Art Gallery. This project is being managed by the City of Ottawa. -- $1.3 million of the announced funding will go directly to the Ottawa Art Gallery for the purchase and installation of specialized equipment following the construction of their new facility. -- The new Ottawa Art Gallery will expand from its current 10,000 square feet to over 31,000 square feet. It will include several galleries and a new screening room. -- The Government of Canada is providing this support through the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund. -- The Canada Cultural Spaces Fund, launched in 2001, invests in professional not-for-profit arts and heritage organizations for the improvement, renovation and construction of arts and heritage facilities, as well as for the acquisition of specialized equipment and the development of feasibility studies related to cultural infrastructure projects. -- As of March 31, 2016, the Fund has invested approximately $410 million in 1,381 projects in every province and territory. The program receives an average of 137 applications each year. -- As of December 31, 2016, 80 percent of the money allocated in Budget 2016 has been approved for projects. This investment is supporting 157 projects in 96 communities across the country this year.

Associated Links

Canada Cultural Spaces Fund

City of Ottawa

Arts Court

Ottawa Art Gallery

Stay Connected

Follow us on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Flickr.

Contacts:

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




DW Catalyst Fund Limited (the "Company")

(a closed-ended collective investment scheme established as a company with limited liability under the laws of Guernsey with registered number 52520)

Publication of Discount Trigger Meeting Circular



17 February 2017

The Company announced on 9 February 2017 that the Discount Trigger Resolution procedure contained in the Company's Articles of Incorporation had been triggered in respect of the year ended 31 December 2016.

The Company will today post a Circular to Shareholders convening a Discount Trigger Meeting at 10.30 a.m. on 9 March 2017, at which the Discount Trigger Resolution will be proposed.

The Circular also sets out an explanation of the business to be considered at the Discount Trigger Meeting, and the consequences of the Discount Trigger Resolution being approved or rejected by Shareholders.

If the Discount Trigger Resolution, which will be proposed as an ordinary resolution, is rejected, the Directors will take no further action and no Shares will be redeemed. The earliest that another Discount Trigger Resolution may be required to be proposed under the Articles would be in respect of the year ending 31 December 2017, depending on the share price performance of the Shares compared to the Company's NAV.

If the Discount Trigger Resolution is passed, the Company must redeem all Shares which are voted in favour of the Discount Trigger Resolution (the "Redeeming Shares"). Shares which are voted against the Discount Trigger Resolution, or which are not voted, will not be redeemed pursuant to the Discount Trigger Resolution.

All Redeeming Shares will be redeemed by the Company on 1 August 2017.

Redeeming Shareholders will receive the Redeeming Share Redemption Proceeds in four quarterly instalments following each of 1 August and 1 November 2017 and 1 February and 1 May 2018, subject to the retention of a Hold-back Amount in certain circumstances, as more fully described in the Circular.

Expected Timetable

The expected timetable for the Discount Trigger Meeting and, if the Discount Trigger Resolution is approved, the return of proceeds to Redeeming Shareholders, is set out below:

Discount Trigger Meeting

Latest time and date for settlement of Redeeming Shares held in CREST into escrow 10.30 a.m. on 7 March 2017 Latest time and date for receipt of Redemption Forms 10.30 a.m. on 7 March 2017 Latest time and date for receipt of Forms of Proxy for the Discount Trigger Meeting 10.30 a.m. on 7 March 2017 Discount Trigger Meeting 10.30 a.m. on 9 March 2017 Results of Discount Trigger Meeting announced 9 March 2017 Redemption of Redeeming Shares if the Discount Trigger Resolution is approved Redemption Date for Redeeming Shares and calculation date for first instalment of Redeeming Share Redemption Proceeds 1 August 2017 Earliest date for payment of first instalment of Redeeming Share Redemption Proceeds Mid-September 2017 Calculation date for second instalment of Redeeming Share Redemption Proceeds 1 November 2017 Earliest date for payment of second instalment of Redeeming Share Redemption Proceeds Mid-December 2017 Calculation date for third instalment of Redeeming Share Redemption Proceeds 1 February 2018 Earliest date for payment of third instalment of Redeeming Share Redemption Proceeds Mid-March 2018 Calculation date for fourth instalment of Redeeming Share Redemption Proceeds 1 May 2018 Earliest date for payment of fourth instalment of Redeeming Share Redemption Proceeds, adjusted, if necessary, to take into account the Hold-back Amount (if any) Mid-June 2018 Approximate date for payment of relevant portion of the Hold-back Amount (if any) to Redeeming Shareholders After March 2019

Terms used and not defined in this announcement shall have the meanings given to them in the Circular.

A copy of the circular has been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at: www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM and will also be made available on the Company's website www.dwcatalystltd.com.





Enquiries:



Company website: www.dwcatalystltd.com



Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services (Guernsey) Limited

Rebecca Booth

Tel: +44 (0) 1481 745189

RB235@ntrs.com





DW Partners, LP

Laura Rose

Tel: +1 212 751 5872

Laura.Rose@dwpartners.com


DALLAS (dpa-AFX) - AT&T (T) said Friday that it has reached a tentative agreement with the Communications Workers of America or CWA in negotiations covering CWA-represented former DIRECTV field services employees in four states. The agreement covers nearly 280 employees in Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico and Oregon, and will place the employees into an appendix to an existing labor contract. In addition to this agreement, AT&T has reached, and union-represented employees ratified, 17 different labor agreements in 2016 and 2017 collectively covering over 61,000 employees. That includes 10 agreements covering nearly 7,800 former DIRECTV employees. 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.
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward has turned down an offer to serve as President Donald Trump's next National Security Advisor. Trump reportedly offered the position to Harward following Michael Flynn's recent resignation amid a controversy over his communication with Russian officials. In a statement reported by CNN, Harward cited financial and family issues that would be challenging to address in the position. 'Like all service members understand, and live, this job requires 24 hours a day, 7 days a week focus and commitment to do it right,' Harward said. 'I currently could not make that commitment.' 'My thoughts and prayers are with those that carry such heavy burdens and responsibility for taking care of our country's national security concerns,' he added. 'God bless this great country of ours.' However, an individual familiar with Harward's thinking told Politico he turned down the offer because he did not receive sufficient assurances about staffing and autonomy. The 'unwillingness of White House political team to be deferential to the White House national security team' was also cited by the individual. In a post on Twitter on Friday, Trump indicated that the search would continue and suggested acting national security advisor Keith Kellogg is a possible choice. 'General Keith Kellogg, who I have known for a long time, is very much in play for NSA - as are three others,' Trump tweeted. Flynn's resignation has caused headaches for the White House, although Trump has claimed Flynn did nothing wrong and indicated he was only asked to resign for misleading Vice President Mike Pence. 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.
Tehran, Iran, February 17

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

The three sides of Iran, Russia, and Turkey meeting in Kazakhstans Astana to discuss the ongoing situation in Syria, have drafted a document over a joint committee tasked with safeguarding a current ceasefire in the country.

Strengthening the ceasefire, promoting trust-building measures by the conflicting Syrian sides, as well as discussing any issues that would help Syrian-Syrian talks are among the missions of the committee, Irans Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari, who had attended the Astana talks on behalf of Iran, told the IRIB on February 16.

This is the second meeting in Astana over the ongoing Syrian conflict. Last month the city hosted Syrian government and opposition and thethree regional powers as observers, where the sides talked about how to make the current truce hold.

The conflict started in 2011, when opposition in Syria started to become active against the government. The presense of the Islamic State (IS, ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh) terrorist group was making matters worse.

Iran and Russia supported the Syrian government from the start. In mid-2016, they were joined by Turkey, which formerly used to back a Saudi-led campaign against the Syrian government.

Jaberi Ansari said that the first step of the Astana talks have been taken right, expressing hope over the future of the meetings. He added the next Astana meeting over Syria will be held in less than a month.


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg is the leading candidate to be the next National Security Advisor, U.S. President Donald Trump and the White House hinted Friday.



'General Keith Kellogg, who I have known for a long time, is very much in play for NSA - as are three others,' Trump said on Twitter.



Earlier in the day, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus told Fox News that the retired three-star general is 'very much in contention.'



Vice Admiral Robert Harward and former CIA director Gen. David Petraeus were also touted to the key security post, but the former reportedly turned down the position.



Gen. Kellogg has been acting as National Security Advisor after the resignation of Lt. General Michael Flynn Monday amid reports that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about a phone call with the Russian ambassador to U.S. Sergey Kislyak.



The conversations reportedly involved sanctions imposed on Russia by the Obama administration, although Flynn has denied that sanctions were discussed. The controversy over the resignation of the top official in charge of the nation's security is still live on U.S. media and politics.



Taking questions from reporters in a hastily arranged news conference Thursday, Trump claimed that Flynn had done nothing wrong by communicating with Russian officials and suggested he was only asked to resign for misleading the Vice President.



Described by the White House as 'extraordinarily talented,' Kellogg is a decorated Army veteran who served on active duty from 1967 to 2003. He was Chief Operating Officer of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq after the ouster of Saddam Hussein in 2003.



Kellogg has been serving as Chief of Staff of the National Security Council when he was picked by Trump as acting NSA.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 02/17/17 -- On Friday, March 3, 2017, Transcontinental Inc. (TSX: TCL.A)(TSX: TCL.B) will hold its Annual General Meeting of shareholders at 1:30 p.m. at the Saint James's Club, 1145 Union Avenue, in Montreal. For those who are unable to attend in person, the Corporation will webcast the meeting (audio only) and post it on its website at www.tc.tc as of March 6.

In addition, Transcontinental Inc. will release its first quarter 2017 results and host a conference call for the financial community at 11:30 a.m. The conference call will be broadcast live (audio only) on the Investors homepage of the Corporation's Internet site at www.tc.tc, and will be archived for 30 days. The financial results will be made public in a press release that will be issued on the newswire prior to the conference call as well as in the Management's Discussion and Analysis that will be posted on the Corporation's website.

Q1'2017 Results Conference Call Date: Friday, March 3, 2017 Time: 11:30 a.m. Dial-in numbers: 1 647 788-4922 or 1 877 223-4471 Live audio webcast: www.tc.tc/investors Conference Recording Playback Availability dates: March 3 (2:30 p.m.) to March 10 (11:59 p.m.) Access telephone numbers: 1 416 621-4642 or 1 800 585-8367 Access code: 40897818 The following is the conference call calendar for the 2017 fiscal year, for your information: 2017 Calendar 2nd quarter: Thursday, June 8 3rd quarter: Thursday, September 7 4th quarter: Thursday, December 14

Contacts:

Shirley Chenny

Advisor, Investor Relations

514 954-4000

shirley.chenny@tc.tc




BLACKROCK FRONTIERS INVESTMENT TRUST PLC (LEI: 5493003K5E043LHLO706)

All information is at 31 January 2017 and unaudited.

Performance of ordinary share portfolio at month end with net income reinvested.



One

month

% Three months

% One

year

% Three years

% Five

years

% Since

Launch*

% Sterling: Share price 13.0 8.0 50.8 39.8 129.6 75.3 Net asset value 4.7 1.9 38.2 33.9 105.0 69.3 MSCI Frontiers Index (NR) 4.8 4.4 32.5 29.6 71.1 40.5 MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR) 3.6 -2.1 41.4 36.3 26.6 17.7 US Dollars: Share price 15.0 11.2 33.7 7.1 83.3 41.9 Net asset value 6.6 5.0 22.6 2.6 63.6 36.8 MSCI Frontiers Index (NR) 6.7 7.6 17.5 -0.8 36.4 13.4 MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NR) 5.5 0.8 25.4 4.4 0.9 -5.0



Sources: BlackRock and Standard & Poor's Micropal

* 17 December 2010.

At month end

Ordinary Shares US Dollar Net asset value - capital only: 170.74c Net asset value - cum income: 171.56c Sterling: Net asset value - capital only: 135.70p Net asset value - cum income: 136.36p Share price: 143.63p Total assets (including income): 224.1m Premium to cum-income NAV: 5.3% Gearing: Nil Gearing range (as a % of gross assets): 0-20% Net yield*: 3.7% Ordinary shares in issue: 164,333,108 Ongoing charges**: 1.4% Ongoing charges plus taxation and performance fee: 2.4%

*The Company's yield based on dividends announced in the last 12 months as at the date of the release of this announcement is 3.7% and includes the 2016 final dividend of 4.00 cents per share declared on 22 November 2016, payable to shareholders on 17 February 2017 and the 2016 interim dividend of 2.60 cents per share announced on 16 May 2016 and paid to shareholders on 1 July 2016.

**Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses, excluding performance fees and interest costs for the year ended 30 September 2016.

The following relates specifically to the ordinary share portfolio.

Sector Analysis Gross assets(%)* Country Analysis Gross assets(%)* Financials 38.6 Argentina 14.8 Consumer Staples 16.5 Kuwait 11.7 Telecommunication Services 15.7 Romania 11.2 Materials 9.5 Pakistan 10.2 Energy 7.2 Bangladesh 8.7 Utilities 7.1 Vietnam 8.0 Health Care 7.0 Kazakhstan 7.8 Information Technology 5.9 Sri Lanka 6.7 Industrials 3.8 Ukraine 6.6 Real Estate 2.2 Kenya 5.5 Consumer Discretionary 1.5 Morocco 5.1 ----- Nigeria 3.5 Total 115.0 Egypt 3.2 ----- Estonia 2.1 Short positions 0.0 Colombia 2.1 ===== Turkey 1.9 Caribbean 1.8 Slovenia 1.7 Philippines 1.7 Saudi Arabia 0.7 ----- Total 115.0 ----- Short positions 0.0 =====



*reflects gross market exposure from contracts for difference (CFDs).



Market Exposure



29.02

2016 % 31.03

2016

% 30.04

2016

% 31.05

2016

% 30.06

2016

% 31.07

2016

% 31.08

2016

% 30.09

2016

% 31.10

2016

% 30.11

2016

% 31.12

2016

% 31.01

2017

% Long 102.2 108.1 109.2 108.8 110.5 103.4 105.7 104.0 106.4 102.3 108.4 115.0 Short 1.1 1.2 1.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Gross 103.3 109.3 110.5 108.8 110.5 103.4 105.7 104.0 106.4 102.3 108.4 115.0 Net 101.1 106.9 107.9 108.8 110.5 103.4 105.7 104.0 106.4 102.3 108.4 115.0



Ten Largest Equity Investments

Company Country of Risk % of gross assets Mobile Telecommunications Kuwait 5.3 MCB Bank Pakistan 5.1 Pampa Energia Argentina 4.1 Maroc Telecom Morocco 3.6 Banco Macro Argentina 3.6 Square Pharmaceuticals Bangladesh 3.4 Halyk Savings Bank Kazakhstan 3.3 S.N.G.N. Romgaz Romania 3.3 BRD Groupe Societe Generale Romania 3.0 Luxoft Ukraine 3.0

Commenting on the markets, Sam Vecht and Emily Fletcher, representing the Investment Manager noted:

Frontier Markets were off to a great start in January, marking their best start to the year since 2013. The Company's NAV rose by 6.6% over the month, relatively in line with the MSCI Frontier benchmark (on a US Dollar basis with net income reinvested) which rose by 6.7%. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose by 5.5% over the same period.

Performance was relatively spread out across countries, sectors, and names. Argentine utility, Pampa (+33%), was the largest contributor in January amid positive negotiations between President Macri and the oil workers union. These developments will help to increase visibility on project costs, while also raising natural gas prices to boost exploration and production; both seen as key steps in the administration's plan to eliminate subsidies on electricity and gas rates. Pampa also benefited from the announcement of a substantial increase in electricity tariffs as Argentina seeks to continue to normalise pricing and increase investment in this sector. For similar reasons, our decision to not hold vertically integrated energy company, YPF (+31%), detracted most.

Other notable stock movers during the month include Kazakh energy company, Kazmunaygaz which rose 27% off low valuation levels and Egyptian gold miner Centamin which rose 15% after reporting better than expected results. Our underweight to Nigeria continues to benefit the Trust on a relative basis as the central bank's decision not to devalue the Naira any further has resulted in a scarcity of USD available at the official rate, and a major dispersion between the official and black market Naira / US Dollar exchange rates.

Kuwait's performance surprised investors in January as the market gained +14%. The rally seems to have been driven by positive local sentiment around implementation of the long-awaited Kuwait National Development Plan and oil price stability. This has resulted in positive inflows from the market as many frontier funds reduce their historically underweight positions. Our position in Zain, the Kuwait-based mobile operator, contributed positively over the month (+21%), while our overall underweight to the country detracted somewhat on a relative basis. We have increased our overall Kuwaiti exposure, initiating two new positions in January in Burgan Bank and Kipco on the belief that both companies have reached attractive valuation levels. Kenyan holding, Equity bank, was among the largest individual detractors due to uncertainty surrounding the upcoming presidential elections and a market rumour that regulation could be introduced which would cap fees on lending, a further disincentive for banks to grow their loan books. Off-benchmark positions in Egypt also detracted as the stocks traded down on the expectation of near-term, FX-related margin deterioration.

We have increased exposure to a number of holdings during the month, taking the gross long position on the trust to 115% and using the ability that we have to gear the trust to take advantage of attractive valuations within our underlying markets.

Broadly, Frontier Markets continue to exhibit strong GDP growth and low government debt levels, and represent an opportunity to invest in companies with strong cash flow and high dividend yields, on some of the lowest valuations in the world.

17 February 2017

ENDS

Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.co.uk/brfi on the internet, "BLRKINDEX" on Reuters, "BLRK" on Bloomberg or "8800" on Topic 3 (ICV terminal). Neither the contents of the Manager's website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on BlackRock's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.
CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 02/17/17 -- Members of the media are invited to attend a technical briefing to learn about the Alberta Energy Regulator's new approach to reporting on industry performance, which will include pipeline performance results from 2015 and 2016. Representatives from the AER will be available for comment.

Date: Tuesday, February 21, 2017 Time: 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Location: AER Govier Hall 3rd floor, Calgary Head Office 250-5th Street SW Calgary, Alberta

A live webcast will be available for media who are unable to attend. To participate in the webcast, please email media@aer.ca, before 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 21. AER will provide login information for the webcast upon registration.

Contacts:

Monica Hermary

AER Public Affairs

403-297-3367 (work)

587-227-1584 (cell)

Media line: 1-855-474-6356

monica.hermary@aer.ca




Solid cash position of 24.7 million and finalization of CARAT phase 2 clinical study

Regulatory News:

Cerenis Therapeutics (Paris:CEREN) (FR0012616852- CEREN), an international biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of innovative HDL therapies ("good cholesterol") for treating cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, today announces its full-year 2016 financial results, as approved by the Board of Directors on February 17 2017. Audit procedures on statutory and consolidated accounts have been performed by the auditors and certification report is currently being issued.

SELECTED FINANCIAL INFORMATION AT DECEMBER 31 2016 (IFRS Consolidated accounts

in million 2016 2015 Revenue 0 0 R&D expenditure -17.0 -12.6 Administrative, sales and marketing expenses -7.0 -2.9 Operating income -24.0 -15.5 Financial income 1.4 1.3 Financial expense -2.2 -2.4 Net financial items -0.8 -1.2 Net income -24.9 -16.6 Net income per share () -1.39 -1.00 Net cash flows related to operating activities -19.2 -13.7 Net cash flows related to financing activities 1.0 49.0 Cash position variation -18.3 35.1 Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period 24.7 43.0

Cyrille Tupin, Chief Financial Officer of Cerenis, said: "The level of cash consumption, in line with our expectations, is directly linked to the clinical advances of our two main products, CER-001 and CER-209, potential therapeutic breakthroughs for indications which are major global public health issues: cardiovascular diseases and liver steatosis. The solid financial resources currently available to the Company enable us to comfortably consider the clinical developments expected in 2017, relating to the Phase 1 of CER-209 and TANGO, the Phase 3 of CER-001."

In line with expectations, Cerenis did not generate any revenue in 2016, the Company's products being at the Research and Development stage. Cerenis is currently pursuing the development of CER-001, a pre-beta HDL mimetic containing recombinant human apoA-I, after having completed CARAT, a phase 2 study, in post Acute Coronary Syndrome (post-ACS) patients, and through TANGO, a phase 3 study in patients with Familial Primary HypoAlphalipoproteinemia (FPHA: HDL deficiency due to defects of coding genes and including several orphan diseases). The results of the CARAT and TANGO studies are respectively expected in Q1 and Q3 2017. Cerenis Therapeutics is also developing CER-209, a P2Y13 receptor agonist for the treatment of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and Non-Alcoholic Steato-Hepatitis (NASH). The first subject recruitment should occur in Q1 2017.

R&D expenditure increased from 12.6 million in 2015 to 17.0 million in 2016. This increase mainly reflects the pursuit of the CARAT and TANGO clinical trials. The expenses, for a large part, relate to wages induced by R&D, and subcontracting and consultancy fees regarding the studies and patent management. To a lesser extent, the increase of share-based payments, in line with IFRS 2 "Share-based Payment" accounting norm application, is also responsible for the rise of R&D expenditure.

Administrative, sales and marketing expenses, totalled 7.0 million at December 31 2016 compared to 2.9 million in 2015. This increase relates to the increase in share-based payments.

The evolution of the operating loss, from -15.5 million in 2015 to -24.0 million 2016, is relating to the rise of R&D expenditure, as stated above.

After taking into account the financial results of -0.8 million in 2016 versus -1.2 million in 2015, Cerenis' net loss amounted to -24.9 million at December 31 2016 compared to -16.6 million at December 31 2015.

Cash and cash equivalents amount to 24.7 million at December 31 2016, as announced at the occasion of the 2016 revenue publication, compared to 43.0 million at December 31 2015.

2016 KEY EVENTS

Finalization of CARAT phase 2 study

Last patient recruitment occurred in August 2016, and the last patient received the tenth and final dose of CER-201 or placebo in Q4 2016. The results of the CARAT study are expected no later than the end of the first quarter of 2017.

CARAT is a phase 2 study intending to assess the impact of CER-001 on the regression of atherosclerotic plaque in post-ACS patients. The multicenter study included 301 patients across 4 countries: Australia, Hungary, The Netherlands and the United States.

The risk of recurrence of a heart attack for patients who have already experienced an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) event remains very high and represents a significant and unmet medical need. CER-001, by enabling the rapid regression of atherosclerotic plaques, could potentially provide a unique opportunity to reduce the risk of recurrent cardiovascular events during the first few months following an ACS event. CER-001, in addition to conventional treatments, such as long-term LDL-C lowering treatments, could produce further reductions in morbidity and mortality rates and become the new standard of care for treating patients following an ACS.

Development of TANGO phase 3 study

The active enrollment of patients in the TANGO phase 3 study is ongoing, with results that should be available in Q3 2017.

TANGO is a phase 3 study in the orphan disease FHPA, designed to evaluate the effects of a six months chronic treatment with CER-001 in 30 patients with HDL deficiency. The Company has engaged 18 sites worldwide to optimize the availability of patients with FPHA, a rare but clinically important orphan disease.

CER-001's POC and safety and tolerability data presented

The publication of the results of the LOCATION study in the renowned scientific journal of the European Society of Atherosclerosis (EAS) in June 2016, testifies the interest of the scientific community for CER-001 and therefore to the solidity of the POC.

The LOCATION study, whose positive results were announced in July 2015, allowed to assess the selectivity of CER-001, an HDL mimetic made of recombinant human apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) and phospholipids, for carotid plaques in patients with advanced atherosclerotic disease. LOCATION provided the first evidence of CER-001 selective targeting of atherosclerotic plaques in patients, and of the role of plaque permeability in plaque penetration by an HDL mimetic. The study evaluated 8 patients with >50% atherosclerotic stenosis of the carotid artery who received an infusion of CER-001 (3 mg/kg body weight) labeled with Zirconium-89, a tracer suited for PET/CT imaging, to determine the extent to which CER-001 targets and penetrates atherosclerotic plaques and the effect on cholesterol efflux, a marker which is inversely related to the incidence of adverse cardiovascular events.1

Clinical data showing the very satisfying safety and tolerability profile of CER-001 were presented at the 2016 European Society of Cardiology Congress (ESC), held in Rome in August 2016. This data supports the development of CER-001 as both a short (post-ACS population) and a long-term treatment (HDL-deficient patients). This poster which reports the clinical tolerability and safety findings seen with CER-001 across the clinical development program found a similar safety and tolerability profile to placebo.

CER-209's preclinical development completion

In December 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) informed Cerenis Therapeutics that clinical trials with CER-209 may proceed. The Investigational New Drug application (IND) for CER-209 includes plans for a Phase 1 clinical study of its P2Y13 receptor agonist drug candidate (CER-209) in healthy volunteers for the clinical investigation of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and Non-Alcoholic Steato-Hepatitis (NASH). CER-209, a selective novel agonist of the P2Y13 receptor decreased both atherosclerosis and liver steatosis in preclinical models. Cerenis plans to begin subject enrollment in Q1 2017.

CER-009 preclinical results were presented at the Asian Pacific Association symposium (APASL) in February 2016, held in Tokyo. Two posters were presented at this occasion.

Financial agenda:

Revenue for the 1st quarter of 2017

April 20, 2017

About Cerenis Therapeutics: www.cerenis.com

Cerenis Therapeutics is an international biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of innovative HDL therapies for the treatment of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. HDL is the primary mediator of the reverse lipid transport, or RLT, the only natural pathway by which excess cholesterol is removed from arteries and is transported to the liver for elimination from the body.

Cerenis is developing a portfolio of HDL therapies, including HDL mimetics for the rapid regression of atherosclerotic plaque in high-risk patients such as post-ACS patients and patients with genetic HDL deficiency, as well as drugs which increase HDL for patients with a low number of HDL particles to treat atherosclerosis and associated metabolic diseases including Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and Non-Alcoholic Steato-Hepatitis (NASH).

Cerenis is well positioned to become one of the leaders in the HDL therapeutic market, with a broad portfolio of programs in development.

Since its inception in 2005, the Company has been funded by top tier investors: Sofinnova Partners, HealthCap, Alta Partners, EDF Ventures, Daiwa Corporate Investment, TVM Capital, Orbimed, IRDI/IXO Private Equity and Bpifrance (Fund for Strategic Investment) and last March successfully completed an IPO on Euronext raising 53.4m.

About CER-001

CER-001 is an engineered complex of recombinant human apoA-I, the major structural protein of HDL, and phospholipids. It has been designed to mimic the structure and function of natural, nascent HDL, also known as pre-beta HDL. Its mechanism of action is to increase apoA-I and the number of HDL particles transiently, to stimulate the removal of excess cholesterol and other lipids from tissues including the arterial wall and to transport them to the liver for elimination through a process called Reverse Lipid Transport. Previous Phase 2 studies have provided important data demonstrating the efficacy of CER-001 in regressing atherosclerosis in several distinct vascular beds in patients representing the entire spectrum of cholesterol homeostasis. The totality of the data to date indicates that CER-001 performs all of the functions of natural pre-beta HDL particles and has the potential to be the best-in-class HDL mimetic in the market.

About CER-209

CER-209 is the first drug candidate in the category of oral P2Y13 receptor agonists. The P2Y13 receptor is a member of the P2Y receptor family, a well-known receptor family including the P2Y12 receptor that is the target of successful drugs such as the anti-thrombotic agent Clopidogrel (Plavix). CER-209 is a specific agonist of the P2Y13 receptor and does not interact with the P2Y12 receptor. In preclinical studies CER-209 promotes HDL recognition by the liver and increases Reverse Lipid Transport (RLT), thereby impacting atherosclerosis regression. Because of the favorable metabolic effects observed in the liver, CER-209 may also offer a new mechanism for the treatment of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and Non-Alcoholic Steato-Hepatitis (NASH).

1 Rohatgi A, Khera A, Berry JD, Givens EG, Ayers CR, Wedin KE, Neeland IJ, Yuhanna IS, Rader DR, de Lemos JA, Shaul PW. HDL Cholesterol Efflux Capacity and Incident Cardiovascular Events. N Engl J Med. 2014;371(25):141118051511004

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170217005561/en/

Contacts:

Cerenis

Jean-Louis Dasseux

CEO

info@cerenis.com

Tel: +33 (0)5 62 24 09 49

or

LHA

Investor relations (U.S.)

Kim Golodetz

kgolodetz@lhai.com

Tel: +1 212 838 3777

or

NewCap

Investors relations (Europe)

Emmanuel Huynh/Louis-Victor Delouvrier

cerenis@newcap.eu

Tel: +33 (0)1 44 71 98 53

or

RooneyPartners

Media relations (U.S.)

Marion Janic

mjanic@rooneyco.com

Tel: +1 212 223 4017

or

NewCap

Media relations (Europe)

Nicolas Merigeau

cerenis@newcap.eu

Tel: +33 (0)1 44 71 94 98
The global HVAC air ducts marketsize is projected to reach USD 4.61 billion by 2021, growing at a CAGR of more than 5% over the forecast period, according to Technavio's latest report.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170217005223/en/

Technavio has published a new report on the global HVAC air ducts market from 2017-2021. (Photo: Business Wire)

In this report, Technavio covers the market outlook and growth prospects of the global heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) air ducts market for 2017-2021. By material type, the market is divided into sheet metal ducts, flexible non-metallic ducts, and fiberglass ducts segments.

Sheet metal ducts are the most popular material segment, generating almost 60% of the overall HVAC air ducts market. These ducts are usually made of galvanized steel or aluminum, making them extremely flexible. They also provide high leakage standards and lower noise levels, thereby driving their high adoption rates.

Technavio's research study segments the global HVAC air ducts market into the following regions:

APAC

Americas

EMEA

APAC: largest HVAC air ducts market segment

"APAC has a robust real estate sector, which is boosting the sales of HVAC air ducts. There is a rising urban population in developing countries in APAC, driven by rapid urbanization and infrastructure development, which will impact the market," says Anju Ajaykumar, one of the lead analysts at Technavio for engineering tools research.

China leads the regional segment and is likely to retain the lead over the forecast period, due to the establishment of the National Home Appliance Replacement Program. Also, countries such as India, Indonesia, and Japan contribute significantly to the market.

Request a sample report: http://www.technavio.com/request-a-sample?report=56541

Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report including the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more.

Americas: energy-conscious consumers investing in advanced HVAC systems

The residential segment of the HVAC air ducts market is expected to display rapid growth over the forecast period, due to an increase in construction projects from the segment. The US leads the revenue generation for the market in the region, followed by Canada. The energy-conscious consumers are increasingly focusing on advanced HVAC systems to reduce energy consumption. Market research analysts at Technavio forecast the growth of the non-residential market segment to outpace the residential market, with the robust rise in the construction of manufacturing units, offices, amusement, and recreational buildings.

EMEA: GCC countries to create high demand for HVAC air ducts from market segment

Countries such as Germany, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Italy, the UK, and Spain in Western Europe are witnessing a resurgence in construction and manufacturing activities. Eastern European countries will fare marginally better than Western Europe, due to extensive construction projects that are underway to accommodate the rapidly growing population of the region.

"The HVAC air ducts market in the Gulf Cooperation Countries will grow the fastest, driven by the rapid rise in population and construction activities in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. Energy efficiency regulations imposed by various governments in these countries are driving the manufacture of highly energy-efficient HVAC systems, thereby driving market growth," says Anju.

The top vendors in the global HVAC air ducts market highlighted in the report are:

CMS Global

DuctSox

Lindab

Browse Related Reports:

Global Automotive HVAC Market 2016-2020

Global HVAC Air Filter Market 2016-2020

Global Commercial HVAC Market 2016-2020

Become a Technavio Insights member and access all three of these reports for a fraction of their original cost. As a Technavio Insights member, you will have immediate access to new reports as they're published in addition to all 6,000+ existing reports covering segments like constructionunit operations, and test and measurement. This subscription nets you thousands in savings, while staying connected to Technavio's constant transforming research library, helping you make informed business decisions more efficiently.

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies.

Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, resellers, and end-users.

If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170217005223/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 630 333 9501

UK: +44 208 123 1770

www.technavio.com
SALT LAKE CITY, UT--(Marketwired - February 17, 2017) - Mountain America Credit Union's 2017 scholarship program is now underway, with a total of six scholarships being offered to credit union members and their families. The scholarships are awarded based on a student's academic performance, community volunteer service and a written essay about his or her educational and career aspirations.

"We are excited to announce that our 2017 scholarship program is now underway. Mountain America continues to assist those who seek advanced educational opportunities," notes Sharon Cook, senior vice president of Marketing at Mountain America. "The efforts of those who strive diligently to accomplish their goals will surely be rewarded as they go on to achieve successful careers and contribute their skills to building our society."

Mountain America Scholarship

Mountain America awards $2,000 each to three winners of the Mountain America Scholarship, which is available for Mountain American Credit Union members or their families. One scholarship is awarded in each of the following categories: Community Service and Social Service, General and Other Academic Majors, and Business and Communications Majors.

Applications are now available on the Mountain America website, www.macu.com/scholarships. Applications must be completed by the student and mailed to Mountain America postmarked by April 21, 2017.

Mountain America Scholarship winners will be notified and their names announced on the company website by June 9, 2017. Presentation of the scholarship awards will be held in June.

Utah Public Employees' Association Scholarship

Another option is the Utah Public Employees' Association (UPEA) Scholarship, which awards $1,000 each to three winners. This scholarship is available for those who are Mountain America and UPEA members or their dependents who live in Utah.

UPEA Scholarship applications are now available on both the Mountain America website -- www.macu.com/scholarships and on the UPEA website -- www.upea.net. Applications must be completed and submitted to UPEA by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 1, 2017. Scholarships will be awarded on Friday, March 24, 2017, at the UPEA General Council at the Salt Lake City Marriott University Park Hotel.

About Mountain America Credit Union

Mountain America Credit Union has more than $6 billion in assets and serves more than 600,000 members, wherever they are, through online and mobile banking, 86 branches in five states and provides access to more than 50,000 surcharge-free ATMs and 5,000 shared-branching locations nationwide. With credit union roots dating back to the 1930s, Mountain America has become a tradition for many members, offering a variety of financial products and services for consumers and businesses, including savings accounts, auto loans, checking accounts, mortgage loans, business checking, student loans, SBA loans and retirement options. Visit www.macu.com for more information.

Media Contact:

Bryan Packer

801-325-6439

Email contact


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Two airliners scrapped wings at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Nobody was injured in the accident. According to airport officials, a Frontier Airlines plane clipped the wing of an arriving Southwest Airlines plane coming from Oklahoma City at around 8 p.m. On Thursday night. 'Southwest Flight 4182 was taxiing to the gate at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport when another airline's aircraft pushed back from a gate and made contact with our aircraft. There were no Customer or Employee injuries. Our aircraft is currently out of service for repairs and the Customers who are traveling to Denver will be accommodated on another aircraft, arriving approximately 50 minutes late,' Southwest Airlines said in a released statement. Frontier Airlines also released a statement, saying 'Frontier Flight 765, an Airbus A320, scheduled to operate from Phoenix to Denver was cleared to push back from the gate in Phoenix. While the aircraft was being pushed back, an aircraft belonging to another airline made contact with our aircraft. No injuries have been reported. There were 163 passengers on board and a crew of six. Frontier is cooperating with the NTSB and FAA in the investigation and is working with customers to accommodate them on other flights.' Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 02/17/17 -- The Government of Canada is committed to protecting our oceans and marine life for future generations. During his visit to Vancouver this week, the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, announced a suite of initiatives to ensure that our Pacific Coast remains healthy, prosperous and safe for generations to come.

Protecting sensitive marine areas

The Minister announced the establishment of the new Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound Glass Sponge Reefs Marine Protected Area, which will protect large colonies of unique glass sponges estimated to be 9000 years old. The reefs provide refuge, habitat and nursing grounds for many aquatic species such as rockfish, finfish and shellfish. The designation of this Marine Protected Area is a step forward in Canada's plan to protecting 5% of its marine and coastal areas by 2017 and 10% by 2020.

In addition, the Minister signed, along with provinces, territories, Indigenous peoples and stakeholders, the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area (PNCIMA) Plan. This Plan will help protect the health of the North Pacific Coast by setting out a framework to manage the marine activities and resources in that area.

Protecting marine mammals

Under the Oceans Protection Plan, the government is taking action to better understand and address the cumulative effects of shipping on marine mammals.

While speaking to stakeholders at the Vancouver Aquarium, the Minister announced that Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) will work with a coalition of partners to integrate underwater acoustic data to enhance our knowledge on the impacts of noise on marine mammals and make better decisions on how to mitigate these impacts. The Department is currently concluding an agreement with the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority to further support this project through the acquisition of hydrophones and other acoustic monitoring technology and systems.

The Minister also announced that Fisheries and Oceans Canada has launched a science-based review of the effectiveness of current management and recovery actions under way for the southern resident killer whale, the North Atlantic right whale and the St. Lawrence estuary beluga. The science-based review will be completed this summer and will identify key additional measures and priorities for new or enhanced actions.

Monitoring pollution in our oceans

At the Vancouver Aquarium, the Minister also announced over $1 million in support for two new research projects to monitor contaminants and investigate their impacts in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is providing $399,000 to the Vancouver Aquarium to help implement Pollution Tracker, a new science program that will help identify the sources of contaminants in British Columbia and inform policies and management decisions.

The Vancouver Aquarium is receiving a further $215,000 to study, for the first time, microplastics in the Arctic Ocean and their biological effects on marine life. An additional $520,000 in in-kind support, such as vessel use, will be provided to assist in the collection of samples.

Increasing the Coast Guard's capacity

The Minister also highlighted the Government of Canada's commitment to enhancing the prevention and response capacity of the Canadian Coast Guard. New lifeboat stations, modern equipment, and emergency tow packages are among the measures that will be put in place under the Oceans Protection Plan. The Government of Canada will also be establishing a dedicated Primary Environmental Response Team (PERT) near Port Hardy, B.C.

Quotes

"Our Government is acting on its commitment to protect our coasts. While visiting beautiful British Columbia, I met with many partners and stakeholders and saw first-hand the accomplishments we can achieve by working together. With these initiatives, as well as other initiatives under the $1.5 billion Oceans Protection Plan, I know that we will make great strides in safeguarding our coasts for future generations."

The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, P.C., Q.C., M.P., Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard

"Pollution is a major issue for sea life and human health around the world. The Government's announcement addresses the urgent need for data on a wide range of pollutants in coastal British Columbia - including hydrocarbons, flame retardants, and heavy metals - as well the emerging issue of plastics in our oceans. This partnership will help us all understand what needs to be done to protect ocean life and human health for future generations."

Dr. Andrew Day, Executive Director of the Vancouver Aquarium's Coastal Ocean Research Institute

"This acoustic data project will complement and help expand the work already underway as part of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority led ECHO program."

Duncan Wilson, Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility at the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.

Quick Facts

-- The initiatives above support objectives outlined in the $1.5 billion Oceans Protection Plan, which was announced in November 2016. -- The Pollution Tracker project will sample mussels and near-shore sediment along the coast of British Columbia to collect data on a wide range of contaminants such as hydrocarbons, flame retardants, pesticides, pharmaceuticals and microplastics. It is funded under DFO's Partnership Fund. -- The Microplastics project will use sophisticated technology to analyze samples of seawater, ice, and zooplankton, as well as the stomach contents of fish and marine mammals, to better understand the distribution and uptake of microplastics in the Arctic. This project is funded under DFO's National Contaminants Advisory Group.

Related Products

Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area (PNCIMA) Plan officially endorsed by all planning partners

Protecting Jurassic Glass Sponge Reefs: Another step towards Canada's marine conservation target

Enhanced environmental response under the Oceans Protection Plan

Associated Links

Partnership Fund

National Contaminants Advisory Group

Internet: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Follow us on Twitter! www.Twitter.com/DFO_MPO

Follow us on Twitter! www.Twitter.com/DFO_Science

For more information about the Canadian Coast Guard, visit www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca.

Follow us on Twitter! www.Twitter.com/CCG_GCC

Contacts:

Media Relations

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

613-990-7537

Media.xncr@dfo-mpo.gc.ca



Laura Gareau

Press Secretary

Office of the Minister

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

613-992-3474

Laura.Gareau@dfo-mpo.gc.ca




CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 02/17/17 -- Enbridge Inc. (TSX: ENB) (NYSE: ENB) has filed its Annual Information Form, audited Consolidated Financial Statements and related Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2016, with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. Enbridge has also filed its Form 40-F for the year ended December 31, 2016, with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Copies of these documents are available electronically at www.sedar.com (Canadian filings) or www.sec.gov (U.S. filings), or the Company's website at www.enbridge.com/investorfilings. Printed copies of the Consolidated Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis are available on request by calling 1-800-481-2804 or writing the Company's Investor Relations department at:

Enbridge Inc. Investor Relations Suite 200, 425 - 1st Street S.W. Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2P 3L8

Enbridge's Notice of Annual Meeting and Management Information Circular are expected to be mailed to Enbridge common shareholders at the beginning of April. Enbridge's Annual Meeting of Shareholders will be held at 1:30 p.m. (MDT) on Thursday, May 11, 2017, in the Ballroom, Metropolitan Conference Centre, 333 - 4th Avenue S.W., Calgary, Alberta. A live audio webcast of the meeting will be available at www.enbridge.com.

About Enbridge Inc.

Enbridge, a Canadian Company, exists to fuel people's quality of life, and has done so for more than 65 years. A North American leader in delivering energy, Enbridge has been ranked on the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations index for the past eight years. Enbridge operates the world's longest crude oil and liquids transportation system across Canada and the United States and has a significant and growing involvement in natural gas gathering, transmission and midstream business, as well as an increasing involvement in power transmission. Enbridge owns and operates Canada's largest natural gas distribution company, serving residential, commercial and industrial customers in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and New York State. Enbridge has interests in approximately 2,500 MW of net renewable and alternative generating capacity, and continues to expand into wind, solar and geothermal power. Enbridge employs approximately 9,200 people, primarily in Canada and the United States and has been ranked 15 times on the annual Canada's Top 100 Employers list, including the 2017 index. Enbridge's common shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol ENB. For more information, visit www.enbridge.com.

Contacts:

Enbridge Inc.

Media

Suzanne Wilton

(403) 231-7385 or Toll Free: (888) 992-0997

Email: suzanne.wilton@enbridge.com



Enbridge Inc.

Investment Community

Jonathan Gould

(403) 261-3916 or Toll free: (800) 481-2804

Email: investor.relations@enbridge.com




Tehran, Iran, Feb. 17

By Mehdi Sepahvand  Trend:

Iran is sending a delegation to Riyadh to talk their disputes over the Muslim hajj pilgrimage with Saudi officials on February 23.

In a letter to the Saudi minister of hajj, we mentioned our conditions for sending pilgrims, Minister of Culture Reza Salehi Amiri said, Mehr news agency reported February 17.

Iran did not send pilgrims to hajj in 2016 because it said Riyadh had failed to meet its responsibilities after the 2015 incident in Mina, near Mecca, where close to 500 Iranian pilgrims were killed in a stampede.

Our conditions include providing the pilgrims with security, giving them due respect, as well as paying the blood money of those killed in the Mina tragedy, the Iranian minister said.
Blue Bay Travel, a UK-based online travel agent specializing in long-haul holidays to the Caribbean, Mexico and Indian Ocean, secured 6.5m in equity funding.

Mid-market private equity firm LDC made the minority investment. As part of the deal, LDC Investment Director David Andrews joined Blue Bay Travels board alongside independent non-executive Lawrence Dean, and travel industry veteran Andrew Gardner as non-executive Chairman.

Founded in 2003 by Stuart and Angela Wilson, Blue Bay Travel operates under several specialist brands  including Caribbean Warehouse, specializing in destinations such as Mexico, Dominican Republic, Barbados and Saint Lucia  and Tropical Warehouse, focusing on the Indian Ocean and Far East.

The business currently provides holidays to more than 16,500 passengers per year  with a 31% increase in bookings in 2016.

The company intends to use the funds to accelerate growth by investing in its proprietary price comparison technology and online booking platform, expanding its 60 people team of travel experts, adding more homeworkers to the sales team  and launching new, innovative products. This will include new facilities for online-only booking, new collaborations with travel operators for direct sales solutions and a white label website framework called Orcastra, plus expansion to new countries and destinations.

In 2017, Blue Bay Travel will launch Xclusivity, providing luxury breaks to carefully selected long-haul and short-haul destinations.

FinSMEs

17/02/2017
JimDrive, a Stuttgart, Germany-based Europe-wide digital auto service network, received an equity investment of undisclosed amount from Auden AG.

Under the terms of the convertible loan, Auden can convert its position at any time into shares, which based on the portfolio companys current valuation equates to a shareholding of over 10%.

The company will use the funds to continue to expand operations.

JimDrive offers European & roadside assistance with all-round services. In addition to its basic service package for Germany (29.99), supported by a nationwide fleet of more than 1,900 service vehicles, the company also offers a comprehensive Europe-wide package (49.99), including emergency service, towing, vehicle removal and transportation, pick-up service, and substitute rental car.

These and all other benefits also apply to the customers spouse or domestic partner when driving the insured vehicle.

Investors in the company also include Motor Presse Stuttgart, an automotive publishing group owned by the founder of Germanys Check24 portal group and by Germanys ProSiebenSat.1 Media group.

FinSMEs

17/02/2017
Opal, a Portland, Oregon-based collaboration platform for brand marketing teams, raised $15.5m in Series B funding.

The round was led by Accel, with participation from Madrona Venture Group, and existing investors Seven Peaks Ventures, and MMC Ventures. In conjunction with the funding, Arun Mathew, partner at Accel, will join Opals Board of Directors.

The company intends to use the funds to expand its team of software designers and developers, sales humans and customer success professionals. Opal will open an additional office in San Francisco by the end of 2017, and continue to expand its presence in Europe.

Led by CEO and co-founder Steve Giannini, Opal connects people throughout the brand marketing process with a human experience, backed by enterprise technology that integrates into existing marketing tools. Marketing teams work together in Opal to produce stories, campaigns, content and brand communications.

Users include Starbucks, Target, Microsoft, Airbnb, Nestle, HP, Intel, NASA and Nike.

Opal also has offices in New York and London.

FinSMEs

17/02/2017
Three candidates, including a former chief of Mumbai-based drug maker Cipla Ltd, are in the running to head the powerful Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Sources indicate that the selection committee proposed the following names in order of preference: Nigerias Muhammad Ali Pate, Britains Subhanu Saxena and New Zealands Helen Clark. These names were shortlisted by the nominating committee of the funds board on 13 February.

The Global Fund is a partnership founded in 2002 between governments, civil society, the private sector and people affected by the diseases working to accelerate the end of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as epidemics. It raises and invests about $4 billion annually to support programs in countries most hit by these diseases.

The influential fund launched a search in November for a new chief who will take over from Mark Dybul, the current Executive Director (ED), after he finishes his tenure this year.

Saxena had stepped down as the global CEO of Cipla on 31 August last year citing family priorities. Before that, he led the global product strategy and commercialisation functions at Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG. He has also worked with Citigroup, Boston Consulting Group and Pepsi Co.

Cipla is one of the biggest suppliers of generic medicines to the Global Fund. When Antiretroviral (ARV) medications were beyond the price range of most people who needed them, Dr Yusuf Hamied, Ciplas non-executive chairman, pushed down the prices to an affordable and unimaginable $1 a daycurrently, one million people around the world are on Ciplas ARV. Under Saxena, Cipla had also majorly boosted anti-malarial products that were supplied to the Global Fund.

This fact of Cipla being one of the biggest drug supplier of the fund could potentially work against Saxena since Cipla would presumably continue its work with the organisation. However, these arguments of apparent conflict of interest may also hold true for the two other candidates (see below) since the fund gives money both to United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Nigeria.

Pate is a former health minister of Nigeria and a former World Bank official. He is currently the chief executive officer of Big Win Philanthropy, an independent foundation that invests in children and young people in developing countries. He is known for his work on primary health care education in Nigeria, his work on midwives for reducing high maternal and child morbidity and mortality and his work on polio in Nigeria.

Clark who was also in the running last year as one of the candidates for heading the UNa post that went to former Portugese Prime Minister Antonio Guterreswas New Zealands Prime Minister for nine years starting 1999. She has also been the UNDP chief since 2009 and has credited for streamlining and bringing better organisational efficiency to the development agency.

Sources indicated that Pate may be the favourite candidate for global donors.

However, Pate had posted a number of tweets that went against the then US presidential candidate Donald Trump and also after Trump assumed power. One article ran with the headlines, Muslim women ask Trump #Canyouhearusnow? Another retweet said To announce that there must be no criticism of the president ... is morally treasonable to the American public quoting Theodore Roosevelt. Yet another retweet of a Time post said Donald Trump has more in common with Islamic State than America.

The US happens to be one of the largest donors to the Geneva-based organisation. It pledged $1 billion dollar to the fund in 2016 of which it has paid about half a billion dollars.

This is problematic especially at a time when the new American administration is looking askance for ways to make major cuts in its global funding, including to the UN.

Though many public figures, including the UN high commissioner for human right Zeid Raad Al-Hussein, made some strong comments against Trump before he was elected, most of them are not fighting elections at the moment where the US could be influential unlike Pate.

It will be interesting to see, however, how donor preferences pan out in the choice of candidate. Currently, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the biggest donor to the Global Fund who pledged $0.2 billion last year.

Like many other global humanitarian organisations, the Global Fund is also grappling with finances and gets about $5 billion annually which is about half of what it needs.

India pledged about Rs 45,00,000 (Rs 45 lakhs) in contribution to the fund last year while it has disbursed about $1.8 billion and committed about $2 billion till date to India for work on AIDS, malaria, TB and TB/HIV.

The nomination committee for choosing the ED is chaired by Jan Paehler, the vice-chair of the boards Ethics and Governance Committee and also includes Amy Baker, Michele Boccoz, Sarah Boulton, Hristijan Jankuloski, Vinand Nantulya, Filipe da Costa and two independent members, Eric Goosby and Mphu Ramatlapeng.
The whistleblower's letter, which created a major storm at India's second-largest software exporting company Infosys, will be examined by capital market regulator Sebi.

The letter sent shock waves as the whistleblower had blamed the company CEO Vishal Sikka and the board of directors for not adhering to the best corporate governance practices.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India will soon ask for a response from Infosys over the issues regarding the severance package being paid to the former chief financial officer Rajiv Bansal and the acquisition of Israel firm Panaya.

We will examine the response from the company on the letter Sebi has received and see if there is any violation of securities laws, said a senior regulatory official. We are closely monitoring the developments," The Economic Times reported, quoting a senior regulatory official.

For any transactions involving key management personnel, the decision taken needs to be disclosed soon as per Sebi rules, the letter said, the ET report said.

On the severance package issue involving former chief financial officer Rajiv Bansal, both Vishal Sikka and chairman of board R Seshasayee faced criticsm from the company founders, mainly N R Narayana Murthy for not following good corporate governance practices.

Infosys' annual report said that the company has paid Rs 17 crore to CFO Rajiv Bansal post his decision to quit the company in October 2015, but continued to stay in an advisory role to the CEO and board till December. As a result, Infosys said higher non-compete fee formed part of the severance package paid to Bansal.

The founders were also unhappy with the salary hike given to CEO Vishal Sikka for the current year.

However, media reports also indicated that an acquisition made by Infosys two years back could be the bone of contention between the founders and board.

Infosys board had okayed the company's decision to acquire Panaya for $200 million in February 2015, which raised suspicion of the lack of proper due diligence and governance followed before the acquisition was made.

Media reports also stated that the ex-chief financial officer Rajiv Bansal was not in favour of the deal and questioned the acquisition price, before he offered to resign from the post.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Orkhan Quluzade  Trend:

Mesut Ilter was appointed director general of STAR oil refinery, says a message on the companys website.

This post was previously held by Ibrahim Palaz, who was appointed as an advisor to the chairman of the board of directors at SOCAR Turkey Enerji A.S.  subsidiary of Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR.

At present, the share distribution in the STAR project is as follows: 60 percent is owned by Rafineri Holding A.S. (100 percent owned by SOCAR Turkey Enerji A.S.), which had previously acquired all the remaining 18.5 percent share of Turcas Petrol in the project, and 40 percent belongs to SOCAR.
Ironic perhaps, but laughter is a great tool to highlight human misery. For proof of this, as we count down to Oscars 2017, look no further than Roberto Benignis Best Picture-nominated, Best Foreign Language Film-winning La Vita E Bella (Life Is Beautiful) from Oscars 1999, a tragi-comedy about a Jewish Italian man and his little son in a Nazi concentration camp. La Vita E Bella was effective because it fully understood the heartbreak behind its humour and it did not at any point trivialise the pain of its characters. It takes a genius to walk that line.

Not that there is any comparison between the two, but I thought of Life Is Beautiful several times as I watched writer-director Amit Roys Hindi-Punjabi film Running Shaadi, the story of a young man who starts a matrimonial website/facilitating agency for couples whose families are opposed to their relationships. When it is not meandering, Running Shaadi is funny in places. Before we weigh its cinematic merits and demerits though, the film deserves to be lambasted unequivocally for seeming to be blissfully unaware of the catastrophic consequences that often accompany inter-community romances in India.

Roy cannot be accused of trivialising the issue. He simply seems not to understand it. It is hard to say which is more inexcusable.

For a moment though, let us discuss Running Shaadi in a vacuum, completely removed from this particular socio-political context in which it has been made. Amit Sadh plays the films Bharose, a Bihari working in a clothing store in Punjab. The owner of the establishment relies heavily on him for his business and often for his personal affairs too.

The old mans daughter  Nimmi played by Taapsee Pannu  considers Bharose a good friend, though not the lover he clearly wants to be. At some point in the story, Bharose decides to start runningshaadi.com. Religious differences, caste boundaries, class divides  whatever be the objection your parents have to your union, Bharose and his partner Cyberjeet (Arsh Bajwa) will get you married and try, if possible, to even win over Dad, Mum and the extended parivaar.

Like these parents, the filmmaker too is not bereft of prejudice. One of the films jokes is that Cyberjeet considers a thickly bespectacled, ordinary-looking Bengali youth not good enough for his pretty Punjabi girlfriend. She snaps at Cyber for his doubts, telling him that her Shonkhu (Sandip Ghosh) is the most intelligent man she knows. Predictably, the actress cast in this part has a markedly light complexion while Ghosh is dark-skinned. Whaddyaknow! The stereotype of fair-is-beautiful-and-dark-is-ugly meeting the stereotype of the cerebral Bengali and the good-looking Punjabi in a film that is supposedly opposed to bias? Cmon Amit Roy! Seriously?

Once Bharoses business takes off, you guess of course that he too will need its services some day. He does. The rest of the film is devoted to the hero solving his own problem, surmounting far greater hurdles than any of his clients faced.

Sadly for Running Shaadi, it features some commendable components. For one, it unobtrusively turns an important corner for the portrayal of womens reproductive rights in Indian cinema by showing a major character opting for an abortion because she is not ready to have a baby. Yes, that dreaded A-word, a place that last years Sultan feared to tread.

This passing passage early in the film is handled with such subtlety that it raises expectations for what is to come. Also on point is the non-caricaturish portrayal of small-town conservatism (to be contrasted with big cities where more people use a veneer of liberalism to camouflage their narrow-mindedness).

The initial proceedings are sweetly believable. Too soon though, Running Shaadi begins to wander. Monotony sets in as Bharose and Cyberjeet run through dozens of couples with nary a variation in their personal story and nary a detail that might have made these characters worth investing in. Familial opposition is overcome or even quelled with such ease that you wonder if the filmmaker has ever read of murders sanctioned by khap panchayats, the gruesome crimes that have come to be known as honour killings, the love jihad campaign of recent years, and other socially and politically sanctioned brutalities.

Until this point, Running Shaadi presents itself as social satire. Then suddenly, the film snaps its fingers and becomes an action adventure/thriller without easing us into the change of mood  a mood that it fails to sustain anyway. At this point, the story has shifted to Patna in Bihar and even briefly visits Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh. The couple at the centre of the post-interval proceedings do face a murderous family, but a sense of urgency is missing in the narrative. The casual treatment is exacerbated by the fact that the narrative has drifted around too long to get here. By now it is too late for the film.

This is a pity, because the characters big and small in Bihar are far more interesting than the ones in Punjab. The highlight of this portion is Brijendra Kala playing Bharoses uncle, a struggling filmmaker. Kala infuses his Ujjala Mamaji with a warmth and substance that are absent in the rest of the storys primary players. To be fair, he is also written better than the others in the screenplay by Navjot Gulati and Roy himself.

The films cinematography and production design are not distinctive, which is surprising since Roy was a noted cinematographer with Sarkar and Sarkar Raj among other films to his credit before he turned director with this one. A special mention must go though to Manoj Yadav, Shellee, Keegan Pinto, Tanveer Ghazi and Anas Ali Khan for the earthy colloquialisms and attractively informal tone of their engaging lyrics.

Amit Sadh has been excellent in all his films so far, and most of all in Kai Po Che (2013). Taapsee Pannu was utterly brilliant in last years Pink. Both need a better written, better edited, better directed drama to house their talents.

While on the subject of editing The films name was changed late in the day from RunningShaadi.com to Running Shaadi following a legal dispute. I do wish the producers (among them Shoojit Sircar, who produced Pink) had further delayed the release to rework it instead of blurring peoples lips and muting the dotcom repeatedly. Postponement may have been expensive, but the repeated disruptions are even more so. They are irritating.

Plugging that problem would not have saved the film though from its loose writing, unforgivably limited social insights, feeble direction and screenplay. Running Shaadi is a whimper.
Shoojit Sircar has directed his first short film which is a dramatised version of multiple letters received from students addressing the side-effects of parental pressure for studying and performing in exams.

Called #ReleaseThePressure, Sircar has chosen an apt time to release the short as the exam season will start at the end of this month. The short film has an emotional undertone as various school students address their parents by talking to the camera. The writing is hard-hitting, for which the credit goes to both the students and the makers, who have dramatised their letters.

The film addresses the pertinent issue of depression and suicidal tendencies plaguing children at such a tender age, owing to parental pressure. As they point out, the source of the pressure is not the exams as students are confident of clearing them if they study well. The source is the expectation of their parents which places an unnecessary burden of performing relatively well in the exams.

The proverbial Sharma ji ka ladka is always the point of comparison. In their attempt to ensure that their wards study regularly, parents often defeat the purpose by intruding into their wards' space time and again, which takes a toll on their concentration.

Sircar is usually subtle and light in his approach, as testified by his feature films, Vicky Donor and Piku. However, in this short film, he creates an atmosphere that is not quite pleasant and intends it to be that way. Sircar hammers home the point with each and every word and nails an exclamation point with the statistic that covers the screen in the final shot.

In doing so, he brings to life the horrors that perturb children at the time of exams. The film is aptly titled #ReleaseThePressure not because it assumes a preachy tone and instructs parents to relieve their wards of pressure. It is called so because the students manage to release their pressure by confronting their parents, not in a direct irreverent tone, but through the powerful medium of the written word.
The time is 1971. A battle is simmering between Pakistan and India. Theres also a battle between East and West Pakistan. And then theres one more tussle between the commander of submarine S21 Captain Rann Vijay Singh (Kay Kay Menon) and his Navy command appointed officer Arjun (Rana Daggubati) assigned with keeping an eye on the hotheaded captain.

Theres a fourth fight too  the one you have within yourself, between your ethics and logic and your patriotism and instinct. Debutant writer-director Sankalp Reddy takes on all these issues and plays them out mostly underwater represented by a detailed set of the interiors of two submarines. There are a few other shots in the offices of generals on both sides of the border and the rest is special effects. Sadly these artistic and computer generated images of war craft, docks, floating and submerged submarines and torpedo attacks are nothing less than shabby  almost comic book-like.

Rann Vijay Singhs idol is Colonel George Patton, whose biopic released in 1970. In other words Singh is as shrewd as he is unfettered by rules. Balancing the two and maintaining calm on the boat is loyal-to-a-fault second officer Devaraj (Atul Kulkarni).

The setting of the high sea shenanigans is the Bay of Bengal and the S21 is engaged in a delicate underwater battle with Pakistani sub PNS Ghazi, commandeered by a sneering Captain Razzak (Rahul Singh). Since the Pakistanis are the bad guys not only do they look un-groomed and sweaty but they are also shot from a low angle so that their nostrils flare menacingly into the camera. But Singh is given the dialogue of the film. When a broken S21 dodges the torpedoes by fixing its depth a few metres and simply dodges the line of fire by going up and down, a frustrated Razzak exclaims, Is he a commander or a lift man!

At the beginning of the movie you stare at and listen to the narration of an essay packed with disclaimers. You also know that in this film you are going to hear the National Anthem and Saare Jahan Se Acha. But you dont feel that swell of pride and patriotism because barring Kulkarni, the other actors do not represent any firm stand. On the contrary, Kay Kay Menon plays the captain with the consistency of someone with multiple personality disorder. Then theres Tapsee Pannu as a refugee who appears to have one instruction: stand in doorways looking shell-shocked.

The Ghazi Attack is an ambitious film for a first-timer and Reddy does capture the frenzy of an underwater confrontation with some finesse. The strategising and head-to-head between two shrewd seamen at either end of the battle line is handled well as are the dynamics between the officers and crew aboard the ship. Its not quite on target but its a fine effort.
(Note about the star rating: Please read the above rating as 0.5 out of 5 stars. Our software does not permit the graphic representation of less than one star, hence the discrepancy.)

It is called the Cancer Train, christened thus by locals because it transports scores of cancer patients from Bathinda in Punjab to the city of Bikaner, Rajasthan, for treatment. Available media reports suggest that the surge in cancer cases in Bathinda is a result of the uncontrolled use of pesticides by the regions farmers. This weeks Hindi film release Irada points us in another direction: groundwater pollution caused by local industry.

For red-flagging an unnerving issue alone, Irada deserves kudos. Director Aparnaa Singhs film is about an explosion in a plant owned by an influential businessman called Paddy Sharma (Sharad Kelkar) who derives his power from the funds he supplies to the states ruling party. Chief Minister Ramandeep Braitch (Divya Dutta) is in his pocket and agrees to hush up the motive behind the blast, since it might have something to do with the waste disposal methods practised at the factory. She calls in NIA officer Arjun Mishra (Arshad Warsi) to do the job for her. Also in the picture are the writer Parbjeet Walia (Naseeruddin Shah) and journalist Maya Singh (Sagarika Ghatge of Chak De fame) whose activist boyfriend disappears under mysterious circumstances.

The basic theme is laudable no doubt, but Irada fails to expand the premise into a relatable flesh-and-blood story peopled by flesh-and-blood sufferers. If we view it purely for its worth as a documentary, the information it provides is sketchy. As a fiction feature, it has limited value because it deals in broad brush strokes and a macro view of the situation instead of drawing us into a micro view of individuals reeling under this calamity.

There is a woman in a hospital whose child looks on as she tells a cop about a sacrifice her husband made to pay for her treatment. Perhaps we could have been better acquainted with her? Or that mother who describes the trains passengers to a stranger as matter-of-factly as if she were speaking of a regular tourist vehicle?

But no, the writers  Singh herself with Anushka Ranjan  give these characters mere seconds in Irada, dwelling instead on the authorities efforts to cover up their crimes. Fair enough. The story of evil is worth telling too. Sadly, here again the scanty screenplay reduces the persons involved to summaries rather than full-blown people.

Instead of being a human-interest saga, Irada tries to be a thriller. There were possibilities there too. Who engineered the blast? Why? More important, how did the culprit manage to execute the plan? On this front too, the film does not take off because its bare-bones account of the investigation is just so silly.

Mishra, for instance, stares at walls, wrings his hands and snatches deductions out of thin air. Walia recites poetry that is supposedly filled with clues  it is meant to sound clever but is not. Singh has almost nothing to do, thus ensuring that next time too we will be compelled to describe Ghatge as Sagarika Ghatge of Chak De fame. And the big reveal in the end is a damp squib not because it is not a surprise, but because I no longer gave a damn.

Imagine a film boasting of names like Warsi, Shah, Dutta and Rajesh Sharma in its credits, yet not extracting a single memorable moment from them in its 110 minutes. It is not that they are bad here, but that they are ordinary  which is what talented actors often are when confronted with uninspiring writing and lax direction.

It is heartbreaking for any film buff to see Warsi wander passionlessly through this project just seven days after the release of Jolly LLB 2, a brand that owes much of its recall value to his performance as the protagonist in its wonderful precursor, Jolly LLB. Is this marvellous actor doing something wrong or does Bollywood have skewed priorities, that he has been replaced in Part 2 by Akshay Kumar  a superstar no doubt, but not in the same league as an artiste  while Warsi himself is relegated to being the lead in a half-baked, low-profile venture like Irada?

That question is just a small part of the tragedy that is this new film. Punjabs Cancer Train should be the subject of multiple Indian films and media reports. Little purpose is served though if you zero in on a crucial theme but do not breathe life into it. Irada (meaning: intent) is an opportunity lost to draw mass attention to a pressing concern. What a waste!
Karan Johar's autobiography, An Unsuitable Boy was an honest and unapologetic look in the life of one of Bollywood's most famous directors. A lot has been written about his book, with the LGBTQ community applauding and censuring him in equal measure, for addressing the question of his sexuality, and yet not saying the three words: "I am gay".

(Also Read: Karan Johar, not 'an unsuitable boy': Your life story makes you relatable, you are one of us)

Now an opinion piece by the New York Times columnist Aatish Taseer has lauded Johar for being a gay icon and making discussions about homosexuality more mainstream in India. British-born Taseer himself is the author of four books, the most recent being the 2014's The Way Things Were.

In his opinion piece in the NY Times titled 'The Man Who Let India Out of the Closet', he writes, "An ocean of innuendo has always surrounded Mr Johars sexuality. He has done more than anybody to introduce the idea of homosexuality into the Indian home. It would seem no closet door was better primed to spring open than his. And yet when he tries the latch, he finds it sticks."

Taseer also goes on to applaud Johar's resistance to section 377 in his films. The writer recounts a time when he met Johar over lunch and they discussed the casting in his film Kapoor & Sons in which the main protagonist is gay. No major actor was willing to play the role and Johar went to eight or nine stars all of whom said that 'if the character is gay in the end, then no.' Finally he found Fawad Khan, a Pakistani actor, who gave a magnificent performance.

Taseer concludes the piece by saying, "Mr Johar may not have uttered the three magic words, but his life and his work are a portrait in courage. Watching him play the host that night, I couldnt help thinking that, for all his contradictions, he is a man who has done more than anyone to make India safe for love. One wants him not merely to be brave, but happy  and, needless to say, gay."

Karan had written in An Unsuitable Boy:

"Everybody knows what my sexual orientation is. I dont need to scream it out. I can say it in this book  everybody knows where I come from. And if I need to spell it out, I wont only because I live in a country where I could possibly be jailed for saying this. Which is why I will not say the three words that possibly everybody knows about me in any case."
With Red Nose Day (24 March) looming, the mini-Love Actually sequel has been rushed into production, with filming getting underway in London this week. Script editor Emma Freud shared photos of Liam Neeson (Daniel) and Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Sam) back in their roles, and if that Southbank location looks familiar, its because it is where Sam first told his dad about his love for Joanna in the original 2004 film.

Oh hello #rednosedayactually cast member looking slightly older than she did in the original film.... pic.twitter.com/6OY7SHP9dc  emma freud (@emmafreud) February 16, 2017

A host of original cast members have already been confirmed to return: Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon, Keira Knightley, Andrew Lincoln, Colin Firth, Lucia Moniz, Liam Neeson, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Olivia Olson, Bill Nighy, Marcus Brigstocke, and Rowan Atkinson. Emma Thompson is a notable absence on that list, perhaps due to her on-screen husband not being able to feature as he was played by the late Alan Rickman. It is still questionable whether Thompson will return minus Rickman for the film. Here's a sneak-peak into the film:

 Love Actually 2! Emma Freud and Richard Curtis give us a little taste of what's to come in the star-studded sequel for comic relief pic.twitter.com/yr6KYWVt8w  Victoria Derbyshire (@VictoriaLIVE) February 16, 2017

Red Nose Day is a UK-wide fundraising event organised by the charity Comic Relief every two years. The website for Red Nose Day states that, "On Red Nose Day everyone is encouraged to cast inhibitions aside, put on a Red Nose and fundraise  celebrities included!

It culminates in a night of cutting edge comedy and moving documentary films on BBC One. Red Nose Day unites the entire nation in trying to make a difference to the lives of thousands of people across Africa and the UK who are facing terrible injustice or living in desperate poverty."

The project will broadcast as part of NBCs Red Nose Day Special on 25 May 2017.
By Olzhas Auyezov

| ASTANA

ASTANA With its show of military force, Russia changed the tide of the Syrian civil war. It is finding the next phase -- brokering an end to the fighting -- a tougher proposition.A round of Syria peace talks sponsored by Russia ended on Thursday with no joint communique, usually the minimum outcome of any diplomatic negotiation, and saw opposing Syrian groups exchanging angry tirades at each other and the brokers.With no concrete progress to report, media representatives at the talks venue in ex-Soviet Kazakhstan, were so hungry for a scrap of news that at one point a crowd formed around an Arabic speaker who they thought was a participant in the talks. He turned out to be another journalist. Western diplomats, who say Russian President Vladimir Putin's campaign of air strikes has worsened the conflict, have, in private, reacted to Russia's tribulations as a peacemaker with variations on the phrase: "We told you so."Russia proposed a series of negotiations in the Kazakh capital Astana late last year with the expectation that, as the predominant outside power in Syria following its military intervention, it could break a deadlock that had defied the repeated efforts of the big Western powers and U.N. mediators.Moscow's peace drive started hopefully, with the first Astana meeting in January. The Syrian rebels and government came together for the first time in 9 months, and agreement was reached to consolidate a shaky ceasefire.But by the second round this week, things had gone downhill. The Syrian rebels debated until the eleventh hour about whether to attend at all, finally sending a smaller delegation which arrived in the Kazakh capital a day late.Russia's efforts were hampered by the deep enmity between the rival Syrian sides, but also by contradictions among its co-sponsors. One of them, Turkey, is fiercely opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Russia and the third co-sponsor, Iran, are Assad's staunchest allies.Syrian government negotiator Bashar Jaafari said on Thursday that peace talks in Astana had not produced a communique because of the "irresponsible" late arrival of rebel participants and their Turkish backers which delayed the joint session by a day.He also criticized the rebels and Turkey for downgrading their delegations from the previous meeting."Turkey cannot ignite the fire and at the same time act as a firefighter," he told a briefing after the talks.

The rebels, in turn, accused the Syrian government and Iran of routinely violating the ceasefire and Russia of failing to enforce it."We know that the Russians have a problem with those for whom they are guarantors," rebel negotiator Yahya al-Aridi told reporters, referring to Tehran and Assad's forces.A STEP TOO FAR

According to two sources - a senior French diplomat and an official present for the talks from a country not directly participating - one of the main reasons progress had slowed were Moscow's attempts to expand the talks beyond the ceasefire and discuss political solutions to the Syrian crisis.Moscow has offered the Syrians a draft of a new constitution, Russian negotiator Alexander Lavrentiev told reporters on Thursday.

He also said the joint Russia-Turkey-Iran ceasefire monitoring task force agreed upon in Astana in January could in the future expand its activities to include a political settlement of the crisis.But the sources said other parties resisted those efforts, because they were still more focussed on the fighting on the ground in Syria.Iran, according to one of the sources, wants to push on with territorial gains achieved by its allies in Syria, while Turkey is hell-bent on not allowing any Kurds near its border.The rebels also indicated they wanted the talks to focus on more down-to-earth matters such as air strikes on their territory - which they said Russia has promised to stop - and release of prisoners."We did not come here to make incorrect political decisions," said rebel negotiator Mohammad Alloush.

CAGED PARROTS

Even the hosts for the talks, the Kazakh government, downgraded their presence. A deputy foreign minister welcomed the delegates instead of the minister himself, as was the case in January. The rebels sent 9 people, instead of the 15-person delegation that attended the previous round.Organisers cordoned off most of the lobby of the Rixos Hotel, venue for the meeting, so negotiators could step out and have tea or coffee at tables surrounded by plants and parrots in cages.Several ambassadors from Middle Eastern countries kept walking in and out of a conference room where the talks were being held behind closed doors, but mostly spent their time in the hotel's Irish pub, though they did not appear to drink any alcohol.United Nations special envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura attended the first round of talks where he stressed that Syria's political transition must be discussed in Geneva rather than in Astana. He did not attend the second round, travelling to Moscow instead for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.Originally, Thursday's talks were billed as a low-key technical meeting. The co-sponsors then upgraded it last Friday, raising expectations that real progress could be achieved.A successful outcome would have handed a PR coup to Russia right before U.N.-led talks on Syria in Geneva on Feb.23. But instead, Lavrentiev, the Russian negotiator, was left trying to explain why the latest round had ended in acrimony."The level of mutual distrust is rather high and there were many mutual accusations, but I think we must keep moving forward every time, step by step," he said. (Additional reporting by Raushan Nurshayeva in ASTANA and John Irish in PARIS; Editing by Christian Lowe and Peter Graff)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
An unseemly controversy has erupted over a BBC documentary on the Kaziranga National Park in Assam in the last few days, raising the heckles of many people in the government as well as some in the civil society due to its inaccurate projection about the conservation efforts being undertaken at the sanctuary. Made by its South Asia correspondent Justin Rowlatt, the documentary titled Our World: Killing for Conservation was first broadcast on 11 February. And it immediately ran into controversy. Rowlatts written account about the activities at the park in the name of conservation and anti-poaching measures while introducing the documentary has also been found to be disturbingly erroneous by many.

Seething with anger because of the negative publicity accompanying the controversy, the Ministry of Environment, Government of India, has not minced any word in trenchantly criticising the BBC and threatened to blacklist the journalist for showing Indias conservation initiatives in a very poor light. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) lambasted the agency for airing the documentary last Saturday without submitting it to the Ministries of Environment and External Affairs for the mandatory preview necessary to what it calls remove any deviations, so as to achieve a balanced and accurate exposition of the theme.

Quoting some poor people living in the vicinity of the national park, Rowlatt has alleged that a brutal shoot on sight policy is being strictly followed by the armed forest guards as per the instructions of their seniors in order to tackle the menace of poaching. As a result, in some of the recent years, more people had fallen to the bullets of the guards than rhinos being killed by poachers. According to the journalist, in the year 2015, 23 people died as against 17 rhinos. The park is famous for the one-horned rhino which, in many ways, has become a defining trait of Assams identity in the recent times.

But the forest authorities have refused to accept this. They have alleged that BBC is trying to malign the park in collusion with a foreign NGO and some local people opposed to the conservation initiatives.

Pramila Rani Brahma, Assams forest minister, has also threatened to initiate legal action against the BBC after consulting the Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

Meanwhile, Abhijit Asom, the self-styled chairman of the secessionist group ULFA(I) introduced another dimension into the whole issue on 15 February by branding majority of the encroachers as illegal migrants. In this murky game of allegations and counter-allegations flying thick and fast from different sides, the actual truth has proved to be elusive.

There is no denying the fact that there might have been several omissions and commissions on the part of some forest guards while handling suspected poachers. Force used in tackling the challenge might have been more than what was actually required. But these were mostly isolated events. To paint all of them with the same brush and accuse them of unrestrained highhandedness is a gross travesty of truth.

No one should lose sight of the fact that the conservation of wildlife on a geographically unflattering terrain is a monumentally tough job. Inadequacy of trained manpower to effectively tackle the problem of poaching is a perennial challenge staring at the face of the forest authorities. Most of the weapons used by the guards are quite old while poachers carry extremely sophisticated guns and rifles.

During monsoon, floods create great havoc in the sanctuary, stiffening the challenges for the guards. Majority of the guards, despite being lowly paid (by the government) and insufficiently recognised (by the civil society), dont think twice when rising to any occasion which warrants their prompt action in safeguarding the wonderfully diverse flora and fauna of the park. Since their untiring efforts of conservation are somewhat known in society, the reaction coming from the government authorities appears to be deeply disproportionate. There seems to be an increasing tendency to gather some brownie points from common people by several quarters by sharpening the rhetorical flourish against the BBC.

A section of people is also of the opinion that the documentary, despite being exaggerated in tone and tenor, has underlined a hitherto ignored aspect of the conservation initiatives by mainstreaming the suffering of the poor people living in the periphery. Notwithstanding the statement of ULFA(I), no one is going to accept that majority of the encroachers are illegal migrants. There are many indigenous people who have been forced by compelling circumstances to depend on the park at least partially for their survival. Moreover, any illegal activity, whether committed by indigenous people or illegal migrants, should attract equal punitive action as no civilised society can accept or endorse discriminatory treatment to be meted out based on the citizenship status of the guilty.

This incident shows the extent to which ULFA(I) has gone to reclaim some of its lost popular support from the people of Assam by highlighting the highly emotive issue of illegal immigration from Bangladesh. Whether the people are going to accept their views on the face value or not is a debatable issue, but they have succeeded in muddying the waters by taking a stand not strikingly dissimilar from that of the government.

A not-so-subtle attempt by Rowlatt to denigrate the conservation efforts of the forest authorities against several odds at the Kaziranga National Park is too palpable to miss in the documentary and his written account. The power enjoyed by the guards or brutality displayed by them while discharging their duties could have been shown with greater objectivity, sensitivity and maturity. The country needs to raise its voice against this kind of blinkered depiction in unequivocal terms. But the warning of blacklisting the journalist sounds a tad too squeamish.

The authorities should use this occasion to reflect on the entire gamut of issues associated with conserving wildlife surrounded by human habitations. Any conservation initiative must have a human face in order to be truly meaningful for everyone. If this happens, no sensible person would try to denigrate; instead they would be glad depicting the plain fact.

The author, an eminent writer, tweets @mayurbora07.
Fire broke out in the highly polluted waters of Bellandur lake in Bengaluru on Thursday. Even fire department personnel found themselves in a perplexing situation on Thursday evening after seeing dense smoke emerging from the middle of the lake.

According to The Financial Express, the incident reportedly took place at around 5.50 pm on Thursday evening. The nature of the fire was worse this time as the debris on fire rippled into the lake where toxic chemicals are dumped resulting into fumes. Ambulances were called to the spot immediately to provide treatment of someone gets injured during the incident.

Even the fire department found itself in a tricky situation. How can we put out a fire in water? said one fireman, reported The Financial Times.

Waste has been dumped in the lake deliberately. Either someone has set it on fire, or the chemicals inside the lake may have got ignited, The Hindu quoted a fire official as saying.

Residents in the neighbourhood point to the incessant burning of waste. Garbage is routinely burnt in the vicinity despite our protestations and complaints. On Thursday, it went out of control, the report quoted a resident as saying.

Over the years, Bellandur lake has been in the news for froth that spills around it leading to toxic fumes.

ANI on Friday morning reported that the fire was now under control.

A similar incident took place in August 2016 when the toxic effluents in the Bellandur lake led the froth to burst into flames. Back then, the locals blamed the government for failing to check the pollution levels in the lake. They complained that the government has not taken any action despite the lake being a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Some people also said that foul smell from the lake is suffocating.
After making Bihar a dry state in keeping with his 2015 Assembly election promise, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has taken his policy to a whole new level. The minister has made a new rule, according to which, no officials of the state government are allowed to consume liquor outside the state or country. Bihar is the only state to have passed such a rule.

According to Scroll, the states governor declared an amendment to the Bihar Government Servants Conduct Rules 1976 and said the rule was effective immediately. The decision was taken by Nitish during a Cabinet meeting. The government officials have gone a step ahead to sign pledges promising that they would abstain from consuming alcohol anywhere in the world.

The state notification said, Every government servant shall strictly abide by any law relating to intoxicating drinks or drugs, in force in any area in which he may happen to be.

According to The Indian Express, guilty officials will either be dismissed, suspended or face salary cuts. The decision was taken after the chief minister was told at a Jan Samvaad that his officials were still consuming liquor in their private space.

Officials who are on deputation outside the state will also be facing the ban. On 21 January, News18 reported, the state organise an event event that saw a long human chain promoting prohibition across 11,000 km in the state. Nitish had told The Indian Express that the state has shown the way on prohibition and de-addiction.

The state government had earlier said that crime rates in Bihar had gone down by 27% after the ban on the sale of alcohol came into effect on 5 April, 2016. The ban was one of Nitishs key election promises to women voters during the 2015 Assembly election.
Samsung Group chief Jay Y. Lee was arrested on Friday, a South Korean court said, over his alleged role in a corruption scandal that led parliament to impeach President Park Geun-hye, Reuters reported.

The Seoul Central District Court also rejected a request to issue an arrest warrant for Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) President Park Sang-jin, who also heads the Korea Equestrian Federation.

The 48-year-old Lee, Samsung's vice chairman, was taken into custody at the Seoul Detention Center, where he had awaited the court's decision following a day-long closed-door hearing that ended on Thursday evening.

The same court rejected a request from prosecutors last month to arrest Lee. On Tuesday, the special prosecutor's office had again requested a warrant to arrest Lee on bribery and other charges again.

The prosecution said it had secured additional evidence and brought more charges against Lee, the group's third-generation leader, in the latest warrant request. Lee's father, Samsung group patriarch Lee Kun-hee, was incapacitated by a 2014 heart attack.

"We acknowledge the cause and necessity of the arrest," a judge said in his ruling, citing additional allegations and evidence.

A spokeswoman for Samsung - the world's biggest maker of smartphones - did not have immediate comment on the arrest. The group and Lee have denied wrongdoing in the case.

The office has focused its investigations on Samsung's [SAGR.UL] relationship with Park, who was impeached in December and has been stripped of her powers while the Constitutional Court decides whether to uphold her impeachment.

Prosecutors accused Samsung of paying bribes totaling 43 billion won ($37.74 million) to organizations linked to Park's friend, Choi Soon-sil, to secure the government's backing for a merger of two Samsung units.

That funding includes Samsung's sponsorship of the equestrian career of Choi's daughter, who is in detention in Denmark, having been on a South Korean wanted list.
WHY DONT YOU READ THESE?
The controversy over Army Chief General Bipin Rawat's statement points to the institutional weakness of Indian democracy. In any country, the safety and security of its citizens and security forces are considered sacrosanct and are never made the subject of partisan political debates. Only in India do we find parties bickering over a non-negotiable condition while hoping to catch fish in muddied waters.

While to a certain extent such opportunism is understandable from separatist parties in the valley that are on Pakistan's payroll, it boggles the mind that India's grand old party would find itself boxed into such a corner. And yet be it during the JNU controversy, surgical strikes or on the question of interference with counter-insurgency operations, Congress has repeatedly emerged on the wrong side of the ideological debate. The only charitable explanation is that facing an erosion of mass base and national footprint, the party is acting out of political desperation. That would be a sad vindication of its downfall.

This is debate that shouldn't be a debate in the first place. Let's be clear. The army chief did not declare war on innocent Kashmiri citizens. A section of the media has predictably taken such a line by deliberately obfuscating General Rawat's statement. The Chief Of Army Staff (COAS) was actually quite categorical in his statement that stern action will be taken only against those local youths found aiding terrorists and interfering with counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir.

General Rawat, who has led many counter-terrorist operations and has huge experience of dealing with Pakistan's proxy war, was speaking in a specific context. The Indian Army has of late suffered a lot of casualties in terrorist strikes and his comments came at the wreath-laying ceremony on Wednesday where he went to pay tribute to four of his fallen colleagues, including Major Satish Dahiya.

Just the day before, three Indian soldiers had faced heavy stone-pelting at Parray Mohalla of Bandipore in north Kashmir while launching an operation against insurgents. As The Indian Express report points out, the stone-pelters bought terrorists some precious time by distracting the soldiers. As the security forces held their fire to avoid civilian casualties, the terrorists lobbed hand grenades and fired from automatic rifles leaving three jawans dead and some others injured. One terrorist gave forces the slip.

Firstpost had pointed out in its piece on Thursday that this is the latest tactic employed by Pakistan in its asymmetric battle against India. Local youths and flash mobs are mobilised by rabble-rousers who alert terrorists through their local intelligence network when a counter-insurgency operation from the CRPF, BSF or the Army is imminent.

What exactly did the General say?

"We would now request the local population that people who have picked up arms, and they are the local boys, if they want to continue with the acts of terrorism, displaying flags of ISIS and Pakistan, then we will treat them as anti-national elements and go helter-skelter for them. We are giving them an opportunity, should they want to continue to then, we will continue with relentless operations may be with harsher measures."

By which measure or metric does it appear that the COAS is threatening all Kashmiri youths? If anything, he should be complimented for handling a sensitive situation with responsibility and empathy. By issuing a prior warning, Rawat actually tried to prevent misguided local youths from becoming victims of anti-terror operations. To say that the COAS shouldn't have said so is to expect him to suffer in silence as his charges keep on falling to terrorist bullets. Which General will allow that?

By calling the army chief's statement "intemperate", Congress has exposed its game. The party's senior leader P Chidambaram was quoted by DNA as saying: "The army chief's comments are intemperate. It is a political problem which needs a political solution and a political reach out. I am worried and I request the government to halt this approach and adopt a different one. More infiltration and more encounters are taking place in the state and things are getting very bad."

There is no doubt that military action must be complemented with political outreach to stymie Pakistan's designs, a point I made in my column on Thursday. But to call army chief's statement "intemperate" is cynical and wrong. It undermines the army chief's authority and drags him straight into a political slugfest, a situation that is always best avoided.

But there's more.

According to Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, the government is to blame.

"The government is to be blamed for the situation in Kashmir. Even we ran the government, why was it not so bad then? To threaten the Kashmiri youth like this is unjustified. Last year, 1,000 kids were affected by splinters, 1,200 kids lost their eyes, he said. While Azad was saying this, his party colleague Ravinder Sharma struck a different note. The New Indian Express quoted him as saying: "Youth in Kashmir should also understand that security forces are there for safety of common people and they should not try to create hurdles during counter insurgency operations."

This is a party riven with self-doubt and at odds with itself. Caught between trying to derive political benefit out of an issue that concerns the nation's safety and security and trying to maintain its position as a mainstream political force, Congress appears rudderless and clueless. The party's collapse is none of our concern. It becomes worrisome, however, when it tries to frequently drag the army into the political ring.

As for the separatist forces, their protestations are a curious happenstance. Logic demands that they should be happy with the army chief's statement now that they have got a chance to whip up anti-India sentiment. But their protestations and hastily arranged stone-pelting incidents suggest General Rawat might have caught on to their dirty game.
Not unexpectedly, the statement made on Wednesday by Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) General Bipin Rawat, that those who obstruct our operations in Jammu and Kashmir (read stone-pelters) and dont support security forces, shall be treated as over-ground workers of terrorists and that residents who want to continue with terror by displaying flags of Pakistan and Jehadi groups will be treated as anti-nationals and the army will not spare them, has run into major controversy.

The government has been cautious in endorsing General Rawats decision to voice sentiments that strictly speaking, fall into the realm of civilian or political jurisdiction. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, declined to reply to the question whether the comment should have been made or not, pleading he was not there. He, however, stated that army or other security forces were entitled to take decision based on the situation at the local level and that army has a free hand for CICT (counter insurgency and counter terrorism) operations and the final decision rests with the local commander.

The controversy has been accentuated by the fact that the statement has come on the back of General Rawats image of being a no-nonsense soldier, someone who superseded two colleagues because of the perception that in the governments assessment, he was tougher than the others. Yet, there is no denying that this hullabaloo could have been best avoided as the occasion  paying tributes to army personnel martyred in two encounters with militants in Kupwara district of north Kashmir  was solemn and not given to provoking a hostile response both on the ground and in the political arena.

Moreover, because the army chief was joined in paying homage to deceased soldiers  by coincidence as per reports  by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, if any statement that converted the sombre ritual into a matter of public debate was to be made, the right for this vested with the chief executive of the country not the head of the army. Given the sensitivity of the matter and political orientation of the ruling party, there would be obviously no public disapproval of General Rawat going public. But Parrikars tactic to dodge the question makes the governments thinking evident.

The defence minister is right in stating that army and other security forces need to have the liberty to take operational decisions but can local commanders or superiors take a policy view on who constitutes a threat to internal security and which actions can be depicted those that warrant being painted as over-ground workers or terrorists?

The right to portray such action, which fits into the framework of unarmed violent protest, is the political leaderships and not that of the security forces, including the army. The political leadership alone has the competence to judge which statement is appropriate to what occasion. Its authority to pronounce statements that may impact  negatively or otherwise  the ground reality in sensitive terrorist affected regions, cannot be violated any other arm of the state.

Few will raise questions, certainly not this writer, on the armys commitment and sincerity in relentlessly pursuing anti-national forces in consonance with local police and other paramilitary forces, in Jammu and Kashmir for close to three decades.

To the best of their abilities, standard operating procedures have been followed and responses of the army have been an enabler in successive governments securing extensive global support on its position on Kashmir. There have been issues at times on adherence to human rights in conflict situations but divergent views have been mainly on political lines. Yet, no government, especially this government too, has declared that the State believes in only a military solution.

General Rawats statement of intent has predictably stirred a hornets nest. Unfortunately, with winter thawing, when infiltration and terrorism traditionally gain momentum, there was a need for initiating nuanced dialogue and instead, the entire conflict has been once again reduced to binaries.

On the one hand, we are witness to painting the army chiefs assertion as an instance of the Army declaring virtual war against the entire people of Kashmir. Such depiction, in the Valley and outside, is aimed at turning the entire people against the state and turn sympathisers of terrorists. In the final analysis, the fallout of statement may well turn out to be counter-productive.

On the other hand, the generals declaration cannot but be backed by the government and even by those who accept a legitimate, albeit calibrated, the role of security forces, including Army. If General Rawat is either criticised or disapproval of his statement is publicly made, it would lead to a conclusion that India is opting for a soft approach to the conflict. Besides damaging the morale of Army and other security forces, this would also be politically unacceptable to the Modi regime and its backers.

The general may have had a more nuanced view, more in conjunction with Parrikars view that the forces did not view every Kashmiri on the street as a terror sympathiser but this did not get communicated by the professional of inscrutable competence and integrity, purely because talking to the media is a tricky business. Television reporters dislike gray shades to cast every issue in black and white, not only because of choice, but because of limitations of the medium. For them, every utterance must be reduced into a binary.

This is not the last occasion that the Army chief or his colleagues have been button-holed by a battery of camera-wielding journalists. Even if no one in authority hints at indiscretion on his part, it is for the chief to draw his own lessons from this episode. He would be the best to judge if this situation could have been best avoided.
The next time we hear that government forces have cornered militants or a group in a residential area in the Kashmir Valley, should we expect the casualty figure to outnumber all previous ones and set a new record of sorts? Given the state of affairs, ordinary impassioned people, who flock the encounter sites, are unlikely to heed the warning of army chief General Bipin Rawat and the soldiers, emboldened by the statement of the general, are likely to fire more ruthlessly at the unruly mob.

This is a scary situation, one that no armchair analyst in Delhi or Mumbai would be able to analyse, or predict the quantum of damage it could do to the fragile peace in the Valley.

When a gunfight starts these days in the Valley, youngsters living as far as 20 kilometres from the site of the encounter rush to the scene to engage the armed forces in a 'match'. This is done deliberately to deflect the attention of forces and provide enough space for militants to flee from the scene by diverting the energies of the armed forces. In almost every gunfight these days in the Valley, forces are surrounded on multiple sides by angry youths who pelt stones at them, fully aware of the consequences. They do it either when the forces are approaching the site of the encounter, in the middle of the encounter or while leaving it.

It is not that the protesters have not been fired upon before. Search 'Kulgam encounter' on Facebook and a plethora of videos will show you how the stone pelleting mobs were fired at. In any recent encounter, forces had to deal with hostile crowds swelling near the sites under siege, sometimes forcing them to abandon such ops.

What Rawat's statement will do is as follows:

Until now firing was the last resort. Now it is likely to be the first. But will that answer the larger problem at the heart of what attracts people to such danger where they put themselves in the line of fire? Will killing stone pelting youth solve the problem? Or will it further alienate them?

The answer to such questions is not very difficult, because if the the forces start firing at the mobs, there will be a massacre every time a gunfight starts in any part of the Valley, looking at the number of people who participate in these incidents.

There is no doubt that these diversionary tactics by such unruly mobs have diverted the attention of forces and helped the cause of militants. But ask any official in Kashmir and they will tell you that they were not limited to the extent that they were unable to carry out the counterinsurgency operations, although they had to face a bit of difficulty. While one can't deny that the previous three operations  that took a huge toll on the army  have proven fatal for the armed forces in general and in terms of casualties, it is quite possible that this strategy will be revisited.

But one has to understand that these operations are happening just after the Valley began limping back to normal after months of unrest following the killing of Burhan Wani in July.

The network of informers and real-time intelligence providers had almost vanished for the security establishment during the unrest. And as the forces try to regain that lost ground and rebuild new networks of informers, there are likely to be more encounters in coming months and maybe more casualties.

More then 60 youths, who have joined the militancy in the aftermath of the Wani killings, are not Pakistan-trained battle-hardened rebels, unlike their peers from the early 1990s. They have been, during the unrest, trained on the windows of homes of sympathisers and in the nooks and corners of the south. Their chances of getting neutralised at the hands of the armed forces are higher than those of the foreign militants operating in the Valley.

So as snow begins to melt and the ground in Kashmir is prepared for more gunfights and more pitched battles between the forces and protesters, one can only hope that Rawat's statement was more of a symbolic warning than a real threat. If it was the latter, there will be a monthly Gaw Kadel massacre in the Valley.

No one wants that to happen.
Is India missing the woods for the trees? It seems so, considering the time and energy spent by Indian diplomats in trying to get Pakistan-based Masood Azhar, the chief of the anti-India terror group, Jaish-e-Mohammed under UN sanctions committee 1267. It would have made sense if doing so would make a difference on the anti-India activities of the terror group. Sadly designating a group or an individual will not help, considering that the support for the Jaish-e-Mohammed comes from within Pakistan.

Azhar's outfit, the Jaish-e-Mohammed is already in the UN sanctions list. Placing the Jaish under sanctions has made little difference to the group. The UN watchdogs can hardly monitor what is happening in the heart of Pakistan. Indian diplomats know very well that there is little to be gained by bringing Masood Azhar under the sanctions. If, as New Delhi claims, the Pakistan establishment is supporting anti-India outfits and helping these groups to launch attacks such as the one on the frontline airbase in Pathankot last year, what difference will the UN sanctions meet.

It is not as if the terror attack on Pathankot would not have happened if Azhar was designated a terrorist. Even if by some chance Masood Azhar comes under sanctions, will he stop his anti-India activities? One argument is that he will not have access to funds from financial institutions. But if Jaish gets the support of elements within Pakistan's spy agency or the military, he will surely be supplied with all that is necessary for a terror attack. Is it worth fighting for something which is of little relevance on the ground. At best, it will only give the domestic agencies immense satisfaction.

After all, the former NDA government led by Atal Bihar Vajpayee had set Masood Azhar free from an Indian prison along with three others in exchange for the passengers of the Indian Airlines plane hijacked by the Taliban in 1999 from the Kathmandu airport. Azhar went back to Pakistan and founded Jaish-e-Mohammed, which is responsible for a number of deadly terror attacks in India.

This included the Parliament terror attack of 2001  which India believes was a joint Jaish and Lashkar-e-Taiba  last December's strike at an army camp in Nagrota, and the Pathankot strike.

With China repeatedly batting for Pakistan and finding 'technical reasons' to veto the move, Masood Azhar is almost casting a shadow on India-China relations. It is a fact that Azhar is just one more pin prick in India-China ties, much of the problem comes from Beijing's strategic decision taken decades ago to prop up Pakistan against India.

China's decision to block India's entry to the Nuclear Supplier Group, is also a means to open the door wide for Pakistan's entry to the exclusive club. Here too, entry into NSG will just give India the satisfaction of sitting on the high table. President George W Bush, by ensuring that the NSG lifts the tough sanctions against India in September 2008, has already ensured that the pariah tag against India be removed. Since then New Delhi has been able to take part in the nuclear commerce.

Amid this, becoming a member of the NSG would just be an icing on the cake. Entry into the international non proliferation regimes was part of the promise made during the signing of the India-US civil nuclear deal. None of this has happened yet. But it is not as if India is missing out on anything substantial.

These two issues as well as the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which passes through PoK, has cast a deep shadow on India-China ties. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar is travelling to China for strategic talks slated for Wednesday next week. Here once again India's concerns will be raised.

China is also expected to bring up the visit of a group of academics, legislators from Taiwan. China protests over everything and often it is quite meaningless, considering India is committed to the 'one China policy'.

However beyond these irritants, there are many issues where China and India have common interests. India-China trade is flourishing, though the figures are balanced heavily against India. So far despite repeated promises China has done little to allow India's pharmaceutical sector to get access to its markets.

Jaishankar, a former ambassador to China, admitted at a talk he delivered in Mumbai (Gateway of India, Geoeconomic dialogue) that while India's relations with major powers like the US, Russia, Germany, France and UK are all on track, ties with China need more attention.

The foreign secretary said, "With China, the overall broadening of ties, especially in business and people-to-people contacts, has been overshadowed by differences on certain political issues. But it is important for the two countries not to lose sight of the strategic nature of their engagement, or falter in their conviction that their rise can be mutually supportive. Neither of the Asian giants can afford to allow this relationship to falter."

We will continue to invest more energy into this account in 2017. Next week's trip will be an attempt to smooth the strains.
Mohammad Yousf can be seen sitting outside his tin-shed in Bathindi area of Jammu. Like thousands of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, Mohammad has taken a refuge in Jammu city. Despite the campaign that has been started against them by the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party for getting them out of the region, he sounds optimistic of staying back. We have hopes in the UNHCR. They will not let us die. We are staying here to save our lives. he said.

The Panthers Party had recently put up hoardings in Jammu, asking the city residents to 'clean' the city of Bangladeshi Muslims and Rohingyas. Bearing photographs of party chairman Harsh Dev Singh and other political leaders, the hoardings ask Jammuites to unite against these refugees for saving the Dogra culture. Let all Jammuites unite to save history, culture and identity of Dogras, the hoardings read.

They want to clean the city by driving us away but we are working to keep the city clean. Our people work in malls, hospitals etc to clean the toilets, Yousf said.

These Rohingya Muslims have being subjected to the worst kind of violence by the Buddhist majority in Myanmar and driven out of their home state Rakhine. Many lost their lives while fleeing the country. Rohingyas are considered stateless entities, as the Myanmar government has refused to recognise them as one of the ethnic groups of the country. For this reason, they lack any legal protection from the government of Myanmar and are regarded as mere refugees from Bangladesh, and face strong hostility in the country. Many of them want to return to Myanmar, but fear for their lives.

We have fled our home to save ourselves. Our own people were killed. Our girls were raped and killed. We fear going back, Mohammad Rafiq, another refugee told Firstpost.

Rohingyas have found Jammu and Kashmir as a safe haven for their survival. Recently, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti  while replying to a written question of BJP MLA Sat Pal Sharma in the legislative assembly  estimated the number of these refugees to be 5,700, who are living in Jammu and Samba districts. She also said that the refugees, who fled persecution in Myanmar, had come on their own and some Delhi-based NGOs were helping them financially.

Many among these refugees work and live in rented accommodations away from the refugee camps but they fear being ousted from the city. Mohammad Arfat lives in Narwal area of Jammu city with his wife and eight month old daughter. Jammu has become my home after fleeing Myanmar. I have many friends in the city. People here are very nice. Its a political game that we are being targeted, he told Firstpost.

After Panthers Party hoardings came up in the city, the Rohingya refugee issue sparked up many debates and discussions in the political circle. Many also came forward to support the campaign. State president of Shiv Sena Dimpy Kohli and other party leaders made an appeal to the people of Jammu, especially the Hindus, to wake up and unite to save the history, culture and identity of Dogras. National Conference spokesperson Madan Mantoo stated that his party has many a times sought deportation of the illegal settlers as per the Foreigners Act. Who is stopping the BJP-led NDA at the Centre and the PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir in tackling the Rohingyas and Bangladeshis?" he asked.

On 29 January, Harsh Dev and other party members took to the streets of Jammu wearing black banners and raising slogans like 'Bangladeshi and Rohingya Immigrants Quit Jammu'". While talking to reporters, Dev said, These refugees have settled illegally across the Jammu city. Its reported that they have attacked the Buddhists and army in Burma and they have a criminal background. They are settled here in Jammu and have become a security threat. He also said that, The PDP-BJP government is doing nothing about it.

While talking to Firstpost, Mohammad Rafiq, who had gone to Delhi along with several other refugees to seek the UNHCR support by visiting their office, was convinced by their reply. They assured us not to worry as they will talk to the government," he said. Replying to the allegations made against the Rohingya refugees, he said, We are doing our own work. We never engage in any criminal activity. I salute India for accommodating us but if we are ousted from here as well, where will we go? he asked.

Chief Minister Mufti in the legislative assembly had stated that the Rohingya refugees are mostly concentrated in the Jammu and Samba districts and there have been no reported instances of radicalisation in the community. She added, 17 FIRs have been registered against 38 Rohingyas for various offences including those related to illegal border crossing.

Several Jammuites are even unaware of Rohingya Muslims living in any part of the city. If they are able to earn livelihood and live their life normally, we dont have any problem, a shopkeeper from Bathindi area told Firstpost.

The vocal politician, Engineer Rasheed, an independent MLA from Langate constituency in northern Kashmir, while talking to Firstpost, said, They (Panthers Party) are not talking about expelling the West Pakistan refugees out of Jammu. It reveals their double standards. Anybody can take those refugees, but these Rohingyas, they cant go anywhere.

They are being harassed because they are Muslims. Its rubbish to call them criminals. They are real victims, he added.

Whatever the politics of the Rohingya issue, it is evident that the hapless community is looking at another period of uncertainty after fleeing from their homeland.

The author is a freelance journalist based in Srinagar. He focuses on the socio-political issues of the Kashmir Valley.
On a visit to Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh on 17 February, I picked up a copy of the Urdu daily Roznama Rashtriya Sahara. It had an article examining how to establish an Islamic caliphate in modern times, written by Professor Mohsin Usmani Nadvi, the surname denoting that he is a graduate of the Lucknow-based Nadwatul Ulama madrassa. The other news that struck me was the bombing at the shrine of Sufi mystic Lal Shahbaz Qalandar at Sehwan in Pakistan. More than six dozen people were killed and hundreds wounded in the bombing at Sehwan, a town 200 kilometers northeast of Karachi.

Lal Shahbaz Qalandar is a household name in India as well. The worry, given the infrastructure of radical ideas spread by the Urdu media, is that such bombings can happen here too. Stories of radicalisation associated with the Islamic State (IS) have not ceased appearing in Indian media, which is troubling when seen in the context of the dangerous mix of religion and politics advanced by Hindu politicians in the name of secularism. But the question to be asked is this: Does a theological understanding exist among Indian Islamic clerics that bombing of mosques and shrines is justified? I think India is no exception to this theological principle.

In recent years, Taliban militants bombed mosques and dargahs (shrines) in Pakistan. Even in India, radical pro-jihadi groups, like the Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamaath (TNTJ), have organised conferences and exhibitions where Sufi dargahs were dubbed as shirk (idolatry) and therefore liable to be demolished.

Additionally, a university has been established in Bihar's Champaran region in the name of Ibn Taymiyyah (1263-1328), a renowned Islamic jurist who is now known as the grandfather of jihad in modern times. Suicide bombers emerge from the intellectual world created by Islamic scholars like Taymiyyah, groups like TNTJ, and the Muslim newspapers which advocate the establishment of a caliphate.

On 9 February, the Urdu newspaper Roznama Sahafat carried an article titled 'The Practical Implementation of the Islamic Internationale', written by one Javed Abbas Rizvi. The actual Urdu words used for 'Islamic Internationale' are ittehad-e-Islami. I wondered if it could be translated as "Islamic unity", but it doesn't seem feasible. If it were so, then the Urdu words would have been Islami Ittehad, and not ittehad-e-Islami. So, the nearest translation can be 'Islamic Internationale', which should be understood as a global methodology. Inspired by Imam Khomeini, Al-Qaeda's American spokesman Adam Yahiye Gadahn had spoken of the Jihadi Internationale.

Rizvi's article begins by quoting Khomeini, who led the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, which transformed Iran from a liberal state into a burqa-clad theocratic nation almost overnight. Khomeini is quoted in the article as saying, "Do not only parrot (in favour of) the Islamic Internationale, but also prove at the practical level that you are united."

"The Islamic Internationale cannot be kept limited to conferences, seminars, talks and rallies. Rather, its implementation in the daily life of Muslims is essential," it continues.

The need for finding practical solutions for the establishment of an Islamic caliphate is the subject of the Roznama Rashtriya Sahara's article by Professor Mohsin Usmani Nadvi. He quotes a formulation advanced by Pakistani Islamist Dr Muhammad Hamidullah, that in modern times the divisive mindset of Muslim rulers will not permit the establishment of an Islamic caliphate, and therefore a federalist system like that in Switzerland should be set up, in which a representative from each region will be the caliph by rotation.

Nadvi quotes Hamidullah as telling an audience in Pakistan: "At present, Muslims have 40-50 countries. If such a (Switzerland-like) system is established in which the head of every country is a member of the representative council and governs as the ruler of the entire Islamic world by rotation, then a unity can be established this way among the Islamic nations."

"There is a need for a well-woven and well-organised collective established based on the caliphate and emirate (provinces under a caliphate). The system of caliphate should serve as the central position for all the Muslims of the world," Nadvi said.

Nadvi's arguments will be accepted by almost all Islamic clerics, but there will be a difference with regards to how to implement it. Some doctrinal groups like TNTJ advocate a peaceful propagation for now; Nadvi advances arguments at an intellectual level, and the jihadis take this argument further by advocating use of force to achieve the same objective.

The problem is that in this process, bombing of mosques and shrines is justified. Even in India, numerous Islamic clerics and writers, both Shia and Sunni, believe that mosques can be demolished if they do not advance Islamic unity. In Kashmir, it were not the Sunnis, but the Shias who first took up arms against the Indian State at the time of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Roznama Sahafat is a pro-Shia newspaper leaning towards Tehran and Iran's interests in India. Rizvi's article cites a Quranic verse to advance the argument that mosques can be destroyed in order to forge Islamic unity. The Taliban, who are Sunnis, also justified their bombing of mosques, saying that Prophet Muhammad himself demolished a mosque in Medina.

The issue of demolition of mosques was discussed in the Quran. Rizvi cites verse 9:107 in this context: "And (there are) those (hypocrite Muslims) who took for themselves a mosque for causing harm and disbelief and division among the believers and as a station for whoever had warred against Allah and His Messenger before. And they will surely swear, 'We intended only the best.' And Allah testifies that indeed they are liars."

Rizvi's article basically laments that mosques are now divided in the names of sects, and his argument therefore runs that they can be demolished if they come in the path of Muslims' unity.

As a reader in India, you will be justified to think that this article is an exception. However, it is not. The mosque demolished by the Prophet was known as Masjid-e-Zarrar. Another Urdu daily, Roznama Khabrein, carried an article by one Abdul Aziz on 6 February, on the need for "collective leadership" of Muslims. This article is also devoted to the need for Muslim unity, but goes on to cite the case of Masjid-e-Zarrar. The author says those who belong to the millat (the global Islamic nation) and "do not want to build a one-and-a-half brick mosque or Masjid-e-Zarrar" should "forge unity among Muslims".

The unwritten argument here is that those who differ and build their own mosques such as Masjid-e-Zarrar are practically out of Islam. This is a key argument forwarded by the jihadis who bomb mosques and shrines in Pakistan. Such arguments will not startle us if they happen in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, but they are very much being discussed in the mainstream of Indian Muslims  very publicly in the Urdu press.

The author, a former BBC journalist, is a contributing editor at Firstpost and executive director of the Open Source Institute, New Delhi. He tweets @tufailelif
New Delhi: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Friday backed Army Chief Bipin Rawat's comments that those obstructing anti-terror operations in Jammu and Kashmir will face tough actions. As Rawat's comments triggered a political slugfest, Parrikar said those creating hurdles security forces in Jammu and Kashmir are trying to protect the terrorists and that the government has given free hand to army to carry out anti-terror operations.

"Those who obstruct the operations are trying to protect the terrorists and his (General Rawat's) comment is based on that. In these matters, the decision to act will be the commanding (officer) or the officer who is on the spot. It cannot be generalised," Parrikar told India Today TV.

Acknowledging that the hostile conduct of locals was causing higher casualties in the Kashmir valley, Rawat on Wednesday had warned those attacking security forces during anti-militancy operations of "tough action".

He had said people creating hurdles during anti-terror operations and displaying flags of Pakistan and ISIS in Jammu and Kashmir will be dealt as anti-nationals and will face "harsh" actions.

"People who are indulging in stone throwing, people who are indulging in supporting the terrorists and helping them escape will be treated like over ground workers of the terrorists and will be dealt with accordingly," he had said.

He had said security forces in Jammu and Kashmir were facing higher casualties due to the manner in which the local population was preventing them from conducting the operations and "at times even supporting the terrorists to escape". "We would now request the local population that people who have picked up arms, and they are the local boys, if they want to continue with the acts of terrorism, displaying flags of ISIS and Pakistan, then we will treat them as anti-national elements and go helter-skelter for them.

"They may survive today but we will get them tomorrow. Our relentless operations will continue," the Army Chief told reporters here.

General Rawat said those supporting terror activities are being given an opportunity to join the national mainstream but, if they continue with their acts, security forces will come down hard on them.

Replying to a query on the Army chief's remarks, Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said restraint should be adopted by security forces while dealing with people in the state. The BJP accused the Congress of speaking in the voice of separatists and politicising the Army for "lowly political gains" while defending Rawat's statement on tough action against locals hampering counter-militancy operations in Kashmir.
Srinagar: Nearly two months before Kashmir erupted in protests over the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani last year, security forces had killed his deputy Naseer Ahmad Pandit. Pandit was no ordinary militant; he was on the security detail of PDP roads and buildings minister Syed Altaf Bukhari. He fled with two AK-47 rifles from Bukhari's residence before taking up a life of militancy.

It was Pandit's idea to use social networking sites to galavanise support for mlitancy and is believed to have also trained the local recruits in the forest areas.

The Hizbul Mujahideen didn't rely solely on Pandit to train its recruits, but also weaned away the police informers who had "infilitrated" its ranks to extract information about Wani. Both Sartaj Ahmad Shiekh and Pervaiz Ahmad Dar, who were killed along with Wani in an encounter in Kokernag, had infiltrated Hizbul ranks at the behest of the armed forces before they completely switched loyalties and snapped contact with the police, said a senior police official.

About Wani's killing, the police had said that a specific input was received about the presence of militants at Kokernag in Anantnag, following which a cordon was launched with 19 RR and the three militants were killed. Militants are also trying to increasingly cultivate their sources in police and as a number of new recruits are receiving training locally, they rely on former police personnel for weapons training.

Morever, ammunition has been given to militants by some of their sources within the police. "In South Kashmir, militants have managed to get bullets from the police as during the protests it must be difficult to keep a stock of the ammunition that was used during protests," said a former militant, who was recently released from prison, and lives in a South Kashmir area.

The government has admitted that the some of the policemen suddenly disappeared from duty and joined the militant ranks, indicating that there was prior contact between the police personnel and the militants. When Pandit joined the militancy, it was seen as a major security breach. Pandit's father, Ghulam Rasool Pandit, however said that his son was harassed while he served in the police. "My son had raised an alarm and even brought before the notice of senior police officials the involvement of local police personnel in the drugs racket in South Kashmir. But he was ignored and instead harassed, due to which he joined the militancy."

He said that he his son joined militancy after six years of serving in the police.

As per government documents, a number of former police personnel  including special police officers (SPOs)  tasked with the counter-militancy operations, have joined militants. Many of them were subsequently killed in encounters or arrested. Pandit was killed in an encounter last year, nearly a year after a case was registered against him at a police station in Kothibagh after he had fled with weapons. A former police officer was killed along with another associate in the South Kashmir area of Shopian, and his death had also triggered widespread protests.

And these instances aren't only popping up in Kashmir; there are instances of police personnel having joined militant ranks from the Doda area of the Jammu division. Both SPOs, Gul Mohammad Magnoo and Riyaz Ahmad, were killed during an encounter in the Gaddi Bhagwah area in Doda after joining militant ranks, following which cases were registered against them under different sections of the RPC at Doda Police Station.

Deputy Inspector-General (Doda-Kishtwar range) Nisar Ahmad, said that the two of the SPOs had earlier shifted their loyalities to the militants in 2015 as they were facing problem of money. "We had tried to get the SPOs back into the police through their family members, but that didn't work and they were later killed in an encounter with security forces. As far as the Doda-Kishtwar region is concerned, no movement of militants has been spotted for a long time. We had two militants who were active earlier in Kishtawar, but they would have either been killed or may have moved to Pakistan," he said.

In January 2016, the personal security officer (PSO) of the sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) in Bijbehara had also decamped with four AK-47 rifles to join the militancy and in the South Kashmir area on 7 February, 2015, a former SPO Syed Mufeed had fled from district police lines (DPL) Pulwama to join militants and was later killed in an encounter with the security forces. Documents reveal that some of the police officials who joined the militancy were also booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA), which is largely used against stone-pelting youths. Among the other police personnel who have been booked under different sections of the RPC  including that which is invoked for murder, the police has chargesheeted Head Constable Ghulam Mohidin Ganie and Constable Abdul Rashid Shagan, documents reveal.
Mumbai: Aamir Gazdar, a close aide of controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, was on Thursday arrested by ED in connection with its probe in a money laundering case against him and others.

Officials said Gazdar, director in certain firms under the scanner in this case, was arrested late evening by the Enforcement Directorate under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

"Gazdar, a close confidante of Naik, was put under arrest around 7:30 pm on Thursday. He will be produced in a court tomorrow for further custody," an official said.

Gazdar (50), officials said, was called for questioning at the ED's office here and was arrested as he was allegedly "not cooperating" with the investigators.

Officials claimed the agency suspects that Gazdar allegedly handled cash funds and transactions worth Rs 200 crore on behalf of Naik and his NGO Islamic Research Foundation (IRF).

They added Gazdar's firm used to reportedly provide content for IRF's Peace TV, and its operations were handled from the western metropolis Mumbai.

ED, for quite some time now, has been summoning representatives of IRF and those related or associated to Naik in connection with its PMLA case and Gazdar was being questioned in the same context, they said.

The central probe agency had registered a criminal case against Naik and others last December after taking cognisance of an NIA complaint under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

It has also summoned Naik but he is still to depose before the agency as he is reported to be abroad.

ED is looking into the charges of alleged illegal funds laundered by the accused in the case and the subsequent proceeds of crime thus generated.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had earlier registered a case against 51-year-old Naik under anti-terror laws for allegedly promoting enmity between different religious groups.

NIA along with Mumbai police had also 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 a member of an 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.
Former Navy SEAL Vice Admiral Robert Harward has rejected President Trump's offer to replace Michael Flynn as the president's National Security Adviser, Sputnik reported.

Earlier this week, Trump offered the position to Harward, following the resignation of Michael Flynn.

A senior White House official said that Harward turned the offer down due to conflicting financial and family commitments.

"Harward is conflicted between the call of duty and the obvious dysfunctionality," said an anonymous source close to the Vice Admiral, referring to the current working climate of the White House.

Harward is a friend of Secretary of Defense General James Mattis, and served as his deputy while Mattis led the US Central Command. Harward also served on the National Security Council during the administration of President George W. Bush.

The position is currently held by interim adviser Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, a distinguished veteran in his own right. His name has been floated to hold the position permanently.

Another name that came up is General David Petraeus, former commander of ground forces in Iraq under President George W. Bush and CIA director for several years under President Barack Obama. Petraeus resigned in 2012 amid controversy when it was revealed that he had revealed classified information to his biographer who turned out to also be his mistress
Chants of death to the dictator grow louder as Iran protests intensify The protests in Iran that were sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini have now entered the 42nd day. The demonstrations are more powerful than ever and so is the crackdown by Iranian authorities. Thousands of mourners defied heightened security measures as they made their way to Aminis burial site in
The political brouhaha unraveling in Tamil Nadu has finally started to settle down. The state, that was being run either on auto-pilot or by a caretaker chief minister since December last year, has finally got a chief minister who claims to have the support of the majority AIADMK MLAs and is vowing to take governance seriously.

On Thursday, when Governor C Vidyasagar Rao sworn in Edappadi K Palaniswami as the chief minister, most people, including those who were averse to the idea of Sasikala's dominance over the state without ever facing an election, would have heaved a sigh of relief that the political impasse has at least ended. But has it? Here is a look at what lies ahead in the immediate aftermath of the AIADMK political crisis and Thursday's development.

Floor test

Palaniswami, soon after being sworn-in as the state's 29th chief minister, exuded confidence that he will prove his majority in the Assembly and ensure that "the government of Amma (Jayalalithaa) will continue."

"I wish to say that Amma's (Jayalalithaa) government will continue by me proving majority in the Assembly," Palaniswami told reporters in his first media interaction after taking over as chief minister of Tamil Nadu.

The governor had asked the newly sworn-in chief minister to seek the vote of confidence in the Assembly within 15 days but Palaniswami is all set to move a vote of confidence in the Legislative Assembly on Saturday.

Palaniswamy, a Sasikala loyalist has been claiming the support of 124 out of the 135 AIADMK MLAs, all of whom had pledged their allegiance to Chinnamma. However, another curious aspect of the majority game is that all the MLAs and ministers, after attending the swearing-in ceremony have gone back to the beach resort they had been holed up at, all through the political crisis. The MLAs it seems will only resume their daily lives once the last impending roadblock, the floor test, in forming a stable government in the state.

Meanwhile, amid all this, DMK acting president MK Stalin has called an emergency meeting of his MLAs to strategise ahead of Saturday's floor test.

What is Panneerselvam's strategy?

The Greek hero in the whole tragedy has been O Panneerselvam, Jayalalithaa's Man Friday every time the late chief minister found herself in a distress.

Panneerselvam sought to stake claim at the throne of Tamil Nadu as a rewards for the life long loyalty for Amma and for being handpicked by her to take the throne in her absence. However, he failed badly in his attempt, as he simply could not cobble together the right numbers in the Assembly to prove a majority.

Now, friends have turned foes and the OPS camp has visibly lost some steam. Of the handful of his supporters, it is expected that many will jump ship and rejoin the Sasikala camp as they have openly invited everyone except Panneeselvam and Pandiarajan to join hands with them.

"Barring Panneerselvam and school education minister K Pandiarajan, all other MLAs in the rival camp are welcome to join us," handloom and textiles minister OS Manian had earlier told the media.

Meanwhile, the official stand of the OPS camp is that the "fight will continue" till the time Jayalalithaa's regime is restored.

They had last night approached the Election Commission to challenge Sasikala's appointment as the AIADMK general secretary. The poll panel's response to their claims is expected sometime in the next week.

Apart from that, Panneerselvam has said he will tour the state extensively and try to mobilise people's opinion against the Sasikala family that has hijacked the party.

In an apparent reference to his breaking ranks with Sasikala on 7 February, Panneerselvam said, "We started a struggle to see that AIADMK does not become a property of a single family."

He said he also chose to rebel with an aim of ensuring that "Amma's regime does not become a government to guard the interests of a family by diverting from its path of people's welfare".

Stressing that people and party cadres gave huge support to his "struggle," he said people were agitated that a government is being formed only on the basis of "number of legislators forcibly confined (at a resort)".

Follow LIVE updates on AIADMK crisis here

With inputs from PTI
At the end of 12 days of political crisis, we finally have a result in Tamil Nadu. The team from Mannargudi defeated the Rest of Tamil Nadu by 124 MLAs, with fifteen balls (days) to spare, in which to prove its majority on the floor of the House.

It is rare for a politician not to sense which way the wind is blowing. They keep their ear to the ground even when they are ensconced inside a luxury resort, dipping into the swimming pool. But the men and women from the AIADMK, the people of Tamil Nadu elected last May, chose 'Chinnamma' (VK Sasikala) over 'makkal' (people).

Kyunki MLA ko power pasand hai. (Because the MLA likes power.)

Convict number 9234 has won the battle but will she win the war is the question. But Sasikala at this point in time, it would seem, could not care less about public perception. What matters to her is the fact that she has to control the party and the government.

One of Sasikala's last decisions before she drove to Bengaluru was to appoint nephew TTV Dinakaran as the deputy general secretary of the party. It essentially means that in Sasikala's absence, he calls the shots. Her critics see this appointment as a shameless expression of Mannargudi family power and her refusal to keep her word. In March 2012, she was taken back by Jayalalithaa into Veda Nilayam only after she promised her that she will have no truck with her family members, all of them had been expelled from the AIADMK by the late party supremo.

While the jury is out on whether Sasikala, whose own election as the general secretary is under the radar, can anoint a deputy, it is also a reflection of the trust deficit she has vis-a-vis Palaniswami who is a political heavyweight from western Tamil Nadu. She realises she can trust only her own family to keep a check on Palaniswami should he emerge as his own man.

The manner in which she chose Palaniswami and not a more senior Sengottaiyan, also tells its own story. Palaniswami is deemed to be more submissive and has had a better working relationship with Sasikala even when Jayalalithaa was alive.

Though there was speculation that Dinakaran may be inducted into the ministry as deputy chief minister, it did not happen. Perhaps the Sasikala camp wants to get over the challenge of the floor test before making the move. But even without a presence in the government, Dinakaran is by Palaniswami's side just about everywhere. The optics make it obvious that the new chief minister is connected to the Mannargudi WiFi network.

Will the AIADMK survive the next four years and stay in power? It looks extremely difficult because there are too many factors that are not in its control.

One, It has a razor thin majority now. Any conflict and Palaniswami will have to ensure that he keeps the entire flock happy. Apart from cabinet berths, he will have to ensure the MLAs are rewarded with plum posts of chairmen of corporations.

But if an uprising of the kind one saw at the Marina happens, it will expose the faultlines within the ruling party. Because even if half a dozen MLAs rally against the government, it will bring Palaniswami within kissing distance of losing power. Such a government will always be prone to blackmail and threats. The CM will always have to lean on Dinakaran to keep unhappy lawmakers in check.

Two, an antagonistic relationship with the Centre. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has gone on record to say two central ministers were showing an undue interest in Tamil Nadu affairs. It is an open secret that the BJP was not too pleased with the idea of Palaniswami taking over as CM and preferred Panneerselvam. But with the Sasikala camp closing ranks, the outside elements had to eat humble pie. Political revenge would be a matter of time.

Three, Palaniswami is from the powerful Gounder community that traditionally does not see eye to eye with the Thevars, the caste to which Sasikala and Dinakaran belong. The AIADMK despite being led by a Brahmin chief minister in Jayalalithaa was always known as a Thevar-dominated party and how the community MLAs react to the leadership of a Gounder will be its acid test. The future of the AIADMK will to a large extent depend on the equation between Thevar Dinakaran and Gounder Palaniswami.

Four, who holds the remote control? The perception that Palaniswami will make a trip to Bengaluru central prison before taking important decisions will undermine the government. He is seen as Sasikala's proxy with the shadow of Mannargudi over his government looming large.

Five, there is already talk of a youth movement demanding President's rule in Tamil Nadu. Should that happen and Palaniswami is forced to crush it using brute police force, it will further alienate him from the people. The chief minister needs to realise that the anger is not against him, but against Sasikala. The more it seems that Dinakaran is doing backseat driving, the more Palaniswami's mileage will fall.

Not that the AIADMK seems to understand this. Its Rajya Sabha MP Navneethakrishnan says Sasikala as party chief will "advise'' the government. That is perhaps because the interpretation of the result is different in the Sasikala camp.

Team Sasikala believes they are in fact, the real Chennai Super Kings who defeated Delhi Daredevils in the Tamil Nadu political league. How despite alleged attempts by forces outside Tamil Nadu to queer the pitch for Sasikala and company, she survived Panneerselvam's mutiny of 2017.
Much before the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance coined a catchy slogan of UP ke ladke" (boys of UP) to describe Rahul-Akhilesh duo, the Congress had unleashed its own boys from UP to hem in Mulayam Singh Yadav.

And most of these 'boys' owed allegiance to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty  the first family of Congress. Remember most acerbic barbs of leaders like Salman Khurshid who never hesitated to describe Mulayam Singh as nothing but a 'criminal'. There have been instances when Khurshid never minced words to launch most vicious attacks on Mulayam.

Being a lawyer, Khurshid is however endowed with unique gift of gab and can argue from both the sides. In the UPA-2 regime, he toned down his stridency against Mulayam as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh found SPs support which was critical in many of his policy decisions. But there were many others who were not as gifted in changing political positions as Khurshid was.

Now take the case of a lesser mortal who also owed allegiance to the first family and launched an all out war against Mulayam Singh. A rustic lawyer from Raebareli, Sonia Gandhis constitueny, Vishwanath Chaturvedi had lent himself to take on Mulayam Singh in the most vicious manner. Chaturvedi was a grass-root level Congress worker who was egged on by the Congress leadership with the blessing of Sonia Gandhi to initiate cases against the Mulayam Singh Yadav family.

Chaturvedi filed PILs against Mulayam and his family members in the Supreme Court and accused the Yadav clan of holding properties and wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income. The CBI inquiry was initiated and Yadav was prima facie found guilty of indiscretion. Chaturvedis PIL came in the backdrop of the political events of 1999 in which Mulayam Singh declined to lend support to Sonia Gandhi to form the government at the Centre.

In 2004 when the UPA-1 was formed, the Congress leadership fully backed Chaturvedi who was literally externed from his home state Uttar Pradesh as Mulayam Singh was the chief minister. Chaturvedi found shelter in many places in Delhi with the help of Congress leaders to continue his cases. However just when the CPM decided to withdraw support from the UPA-one regime on Indo-US nuclear deal, the SP support became quite critical for the survival of UPA regime. A thaw developed between the Congress and the SP brokered by intermediaries and Chaturvedi was asked to go slow on the cases. As Chaturvedi refused to relent, he was gradually pushed out of the Congress system and is now forced to fight his battle quite lonely.

Chaturvedis case is unique in the history of the Congress-SP relations in Uttar Pradesh. This is a classic case as how the partys top leadership backed an ordinary party worker to take on its adversary and negotiate a deal on the basis of convenience. A careful reading of the PILs by Chaturvedi and conduct of Indias political masters would give a unique insight and perspective of depravity to which politicians use the institutions and individuals to further their ends. Since Vishwanath Chaturvedi is not as gifted as other Congress leaders who attacked Mulayam but later negotiated a deal, he is literally pushed to oblivion. But such sacrifices of minions are essential to build political empires.

In his enthusiasm to coin a political catchphrase "UP ke ladke that could capture peoples imagination, UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav may have forgotten his familys most turbulent times in dealing with the cases related to disproportionate assets. While dealing with these cases, Mulayam acknowledged for the first time about the existence of his second wife Sadhana Gupta and his son Prateek Yadav. In the course of the legal battle, many skeletons came tumbling out of the Yadav clans cupboard. In twilight of his life, this was indeed Mulayams toughest battle to protect his political turf and familys honour. He ensured to keep Akhilesh and other members away from harm with the help of his colleagues and his friends. But it would be naive to believe that Mulayam has forgotten and forgiven his humiliation. Apparently he has not. But unfortunately for Akhilesh, even Vishwanath Chaturvedi is not amenable to bury the hatchet and avenge his own humiliation by the Congress and the SP. Apparently the disproportionate asset (DA) cases against the Yadav clan is a ticking time bomb once planted by the Congress.
Anecdotal is a funny word, at least is has assumed a funny connotation after demonetisation. Cash is not available at many ATMs even in Delhi. People still hop from one bank branch to another, join queues blindly without knowing whether cash is coming out of the machines and return with sour faces, spewing expletives under their breath. Still there are many who would call the stories of inconvenience to people due to demonetisation anecdotal.

Before we go further, heres a personal account. Its 8 pm. At the hotel in the Kanpur Cantonment area one suddenly remembers that one has run out of cash. On long road trips debit cards dont help much  you have to pay in cash for breakfast and lunch at roadside dhabas, get water bottles, buy something to munch to kill time, have a tea and at the toll gates among other things. One rushes out in search of ATMs.

The closest one outside the hotel has no cash. The second one a kilometer away is dry too. Panic sets in when it is the same story ATM after ATM. Panic sets in when one says your card is blocked.

In desperation, one rushes to the nearest liquor shop (because such shops have high volume transactions and it is expected that they would be having swipe machines). The idea was  well, its cheating  to ask the liquor seller to swipe for Rs 4,000, keep his small cut and pay back the rest of the money in cash. He doesnt have a swipe machine.

One was lucky to find an ATM with cash in a remote corner and the block message was not a problem. What if one had failed? Sure, the inconvenience was great. This is the case with a lot others in urban and semi-urban centres across Uttar Pradesh. In Agra, business around tourism has been hit due to low cash availability. And it is not anecdotal.

But speak to people in urban or semi-urban areas, they appear to have taken the post-demonetisation problems in their stride. In Meerut, Muzaffarnagar or Mathura they wont complain of having to wait for long at cash counters in bank or ATMs. The original fight against black money narrative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi still appears to hold strong. The lack of anger is difficult to understand. If it is there it is not visible. Maybe that is the reason non-BJP parties wont harp on it too much at the ground level. The BJP would be wary of going too far with it too. The real impact could be much deeper than it anticipates.

Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh and Mayawati have been harping on the troubles due to demonetisation  how many times have you heard logon ko line main khada kar diya (you have made people stand in line) from them? But they would stop at uttering these at rallies, not beyond. The BJP leaders, including Narendra Modi, would keep emphasising the black money theme in their rallies. The fact is they are actually addressing an audience beyond the state. By default, a victory or loss here would be projected as a referendum on demonetisation though it might not be so. By extension, it would be a referendum on the credibility of Narendra Modi as a decision-maker.

The funny part is both supporters and opponents of demonetisation would like to see it in polarised terms: its either real or anecdotal despite evidence available. It is along the lines the political parties see or would rather like to see it during campaigning. These quotes from Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and BJP president Amit Shah in the last couple of days make it clear.

Heres Rahul Gandhi in an interview to The Hindu: the reality of it (demonetisation) is that you have bludgeoned the economy, you have destroyed livelihoods and you are in some world where you think this is a great economic step that you have takenIts (demonetisation) going to hurt the BJP very badly. Its a devastating step for anybody who is part of the legitimate cash economy

And heres Amit Shah in an interview with The Economic Times: Zaroor hona chahiye (That should certainly be the case). We want opposition to make it (demonetisation) an issue for referendum. We have no objection to it. They should go and ask for votes against demonetisation. To this he added at a rally Raniganj in UP: BJP will be happy to accept the challenge.

The BJP would like to believe that the inconvenience due to demonetisation is more hype than real. The Congress would like to stress the opposite. But why are they reluctant to make it a full-fledged election issue? The answer is both are confused. Both are trapped between the real and the anecdotal.
Lucknow: The high-decibel campaign in 69 Assembly constituencies of Uttar Pradesh going to polls on Sunday came to an end this evening with leaders going the extra mile to woo voters. The 12 districts figuring in the third phase of polling are Farrukhabad, Hardoi, Kannauj, Mainpuri, Etawah, Auraiya, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur, Unnao, Lucknow, Barabanki and Sitapur.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah led the saffron brigade, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati criss-crossed the constituencies where the stakes of their party are high. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was in the vanguard, slamming Modi for his note ban decision and accusing him of betraying people with his 'achchey din' promise.

Modi and Shah on the other hand lashed out at the ruling Samajwadi Party on issues of law and order and corruption in the state. The Prime Minister repeatedly sought to puncture Akhilesh's "kaam bolta hai" slogan by stating it was the SP leader's "karnama" (misdeed) which spoke.

However, ducking all brickbats hurled at him, Akhilesh went ahead tom-tomming his development schemes and welfare measures.

He said after the turnout trend of first two phases, the blood pressure of Opposition has shot up. In a bid to woo minority voters, he also tried to attack Mayawati stating, "She cannot be trusted. She can even join hands with BJP again to form next government." The BSP supremo, however, clarified in her speeches that "she will prefer to sit in the Opposition instead of joining hands with anyone" while urging minority voters to back her party.

Her refrain was deterioration in law and order and plight of women who felt insecure. In the 2012 Assembly polls, SP had won 55 of these 69

seats, while BSP, BJP and Congress secured just 6, 5 and 2 respectively. One seat went to an Independent. Another highlight of electioneering for the third phase was appearance of SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav on the campaign trail.

After skipping constituencies falling in the first two phases, he campaigned for brother Shivpal Singh and daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav, but preferred not to seek votes for others. He is said to be perturbed over SP forming a coalition with Congress. Prominent among those whose prestige will be at stake is Nitin Agarwal, son of SP leader Naresh Agarwal, BSP turncoat Brijesh Pathak from Lucknow (Central) on BJP ticket and Congress turncoat Rita Bahuguna Joshi from Lucknow Cant who is pitted against Aparna.

Shivpal too is a key figure in this round. He is contesting from Jaswant Nagar seat. Congress leader P L Punia's son Tanuj Punia is trying his

luck from Jaidpur seat in Barabanki. Besides, BJP will have the additional challenge to fare well in Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's Lok Sabha seat -- Lucknow.

This phase includes Etawah, the native place of Akhilesh and districts like Mainpuri, where Tej Pratap Yadav is an SP MP. From Kannauj Dimple Yadav, wife of the chief minister is MP. A total of 826 candidates are in fray, whose fate will be decided by 2.41 crore voters, including 1.10 crore women and 1,026 belonging to third gender category.

While the maximum number of 21 candidates are in Etawah, minimum of three candidates are in Haidergarh (Barabanki). Lucknow West and Central have 17 candidates each. There will be 25,603 polling booths in this phase. The next four phases of polling will be held on 23, 27 February and on 4 and 8 March. Counting of votes will take place on 11 March.
'Kaam bolta hai' (work speaks for itself) is the war cry of Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party ahead of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. It's for the voters of India's largest state to decide whether the work done by his government in the last five years is enough to give them another term. But there have been enough cases where the state police have been forced by politicians and bureaucrats to exceed their brief and go beyond legal systems and procedures. While some such cases have got publicity, some others were hushed up, and many perhaps never came into public domain at all.

The case of powerful minority voice and senior minister of the state Azam Khan's buffaloes being stolen and then recovered by the police may have hit headlines, but that's not the only example of police being misused in the state. There was also a top IAS officer from Uttar Pradesh, now retired. He was said to be the blue eyed boy of the chief minister, and held many a plum posting before retiring.

In February last year, he had hosted his son's wedding reception in Lucknow, and several big industrialists had attended the function. Four days later, an expensive necklace which was received as a gift was found missing. The finger of suspicion immediately went towards two domestic help who were in charge of shifting the gifts from the wedding venue to the bureaucrat's house. Within minutes, police swooped down and the servants were whisked away.

Surprisingly, they weren't taken to the Hazrat Ganj police station, under whose jurisdiction the matter came. Instead they were taken to the far flung Bakshi Ka Talab police station, which falls in the rural outskirts of the city. Let alone a first information report (FIR), even a written complaint wasn't given to the cops. But the matter involved the topmost bureaucrat of the state, so the police displayed extra vigilance and the suspects were picked up and subjected to third degree torture.

This interrogation continued for two months, and the duo was even made to go through a lie detector test. But there were no results. In the meantime, the police also suffered a major embarrassment, when one of the suspects tried to kill himself in police custody by drinking poison.

When ultimately the questioning yielded no results, the two suspects were let off, and their service at the bureaucrat's house was also terminated.

Sources say the two were innocent and had no idea about the theft. But the police, forced and pressured by the power corridors to produce a confession, interrogated them over two months, even using brute force and torture techniques without any reason. The sources have added that when no information was forthcoming even after two months, the bureaucrat summoned a top police official and asked to be compensated for Rs 30 lakh, which was the value of the necklace. Failing to do this, the top cop was unceremoniously attached to DGP headquarters, a common punishment posting. The "official" reason given was that he had failed to control crime in the state capital.

A retired bureaucrat, on condition of anonymity, described the last five years under the Samajwadi Party as "jiski laathi uski bhains". He said the law is only for those who have affluence and influence. Anybody who doesn't have these two qualities is always at the receiving end of the law in Uttar Pradesh, he said.

People of the state are unfavourably comparing this government with the previous Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) establishment, which saw improvement in law and order in the state. But the Samajwadi establishment still proudly chants, "Kaam bolta hai," a deliberate attempt designed to not even ensure a discussion on the law and order situation prevailing in the state.
Rae Bareli (UP): Making her maiden speech during the ongoing UP Assembly polls, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "adopted son" remark, asking if the state really needed any leader from outside when it has its own sons. "PM Narendra Modi had earlier too said Varanasi has adopted me and I am like a son for it and will develop it...I felt, does UP need to adopt anyone from outside," she said to a cheering crowd here in the Lok Sabha constituency of her mother and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

"Modiji, does the state need to adopt anyone from outside? Is there no youth here?...You have two such youth in Rahulji and Akhileshji before you who have UP in their hearts and mind," Priyanka told the gathering at the public meeting which was addressed by her following her brother and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

In her brief but impassioned speech, she said, "No outside leader is required. Every single youth of the state can become a leader.... Every single youth here will work for UP and make the state progress by leaps and bounds. This is the wish of Rahulji and Akhileshji." Making an appeal to the voters, she said, "Please ensure the alliance's victory."

Appealing for success of the SP-Congress alliance, Priyanka asked voters to identify those who want to work for them. "Strengthen this alliance so that the state is strengthened and developed," he said. The Congress star campaigner exuded confidence that the alliance will win 300 of the 403 seats in these elections.

Under the alliance, SP has left 105 seats for Congress. "I want to say that a lot of hollow promises have been made...A lot of years have passed...Ask people Varanasi," she said, adding Modi has been the Prime Minister for the past three years but "what has been done?" "Ask people of Amethi as to how Rajiv Gandhi did what he decided when he was the Prime Minister," she said.

Referring to Modi's speeches in which he addresses women in the crowd as 'sisters' and 'mothers', Priyanka said there is no need to connect with them only through a relation. "If he has to say anything, he should look into your eyes," she said.

"If he has to tell anything, he should tell who has committed atrocity in the past six months on our daughters, sisters and women," she said.

Targeting Modi over demonetisation, Priyanka said just by clapping his hands, the savings of the women have been wasted and they were made to stand in queues in front of banks.

Turning to some issues over seat-sharing in the region among the alliance partners, Priyanka said she had a challenge before her as she wanted to field dedicated workers and also made an appeal to the people to vote for Congress candidates here.
Baghdad: A car bomb at a Baghdad auto dealership killed at least 55 people and wounded more than 60 on Thursday, Iraqi officials said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan confirmed the toll from the attack, which took place in the mainly Shiite al-Bayaa neighborhood.

The Islamic State group claimed the bombing in an online statement circulated by its Aamaq news agency. The Sunni extremist group said it was targeting Shiites.

The extremist group has carried out near-daily attacks in Baghdad despite suffering military setbacks elsewhere in the country, including in the northern city of Mosul, where US-backed Iraqi forces have been waging a major operation since October.

The US State Department condemned the attack at the car dealership, saying such attacks show the extremist group's "utter contempt for human life and its efforts to sow discord and division among the Iraqi people."

Another four attacks in and around Baghdad on Thursday killed eight people and wounded around 30, police and medical officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief reporters.
By Michael Georgy

| SULAIYMANIYA, Iraq

SULAIYMANIYA, Iraq Islamic State militant Amar Hussein says he reads the Koran all day in his tiny jail cell to become a better person. He also says he raped more than 200 women from Iraqi minorities, and shows few regrets.Kurdish intelligence authorities gave Reuters rare access to Hussein and another Islamic State militant who were both captured during an assault on the city of Kirkuk in October that killed 99 civilians and members of the security forces. Sixty-three Islamic State militants died.Hussein said his emirs, or local Islamic State commanders, gave him and others a green light to rape as many Yazidi and other women as they wanted.Young men need this, Hussein told Reuters in an interview after a Kurdish counter-terrorism agent removed a black hood from his head. This is normal.Hussein said he moved from house to house in several Iraqi cities raping women from the Yazidi sect and other minorities at a time when Islamic State was grabbing more and more territory from Iraqi security forces.Kurdish security officials say they have evidence of Hussein raping and killing but they don't know what the scale is.Reuters could not independently verify Hussein's account.Witnesses and Iraqi officials say Islamic State fighters raped many Yazidi women after the group rampaged through northern Iraq in 2014. It also abducted many Yazidi women as sex slaves and killed some of their male relatives, they said.Human rights groups have chronicled widespread abuses by Islamic State against the Yazidis.Hussein said he also killed about 500 people since joining Islamic State in 2013.

"We shot whoever we needed to shoot and beheaded whoever we needed to beheaded," said Hussein.He recalled how emirs trained him to kill, which was difficult at first when one person was brought for a practice kill. It became easier day by day."Seven, eight, ten at a time. Thirty or 40 people. We would take them in desert and kill them," said Hussein, an imposing, well-built figure, who was wearing metal handcuffs.Eventually, he became highly efficient, never hesitating to kill."I would sit them down, put a blindfold on them and fire a bullet into their heads," he said. "It was normal."

TROUBLE

Counter-terrorism agents said Hussein was trouble when he first arrived. "He was so strong he snapped the plastic handcuffs off his wrists," said one.Hussein sees himself as a victim of hardship, a product of a broken home and poverty in his hometown of Mosul, where Iraqi forces have launched an offensive against Islamic State to dislodge them from their last stronghold in Iraq."I had no money. No one to say 'This is wrong, this is right.' No jobs. I had friends but no one to give me advice," said Hussein, who has been held in the cell with a barred window since his capture in October.Religious slogans are scratched on its cement walls by previous jihadist prisoners. His only possessions are a thick blanket and a Koran. On the floor is a polystyrene plate with broth and some rice.

Thick, metal handcuffs hang on a nearby wall. Hussein, now 21, began his career as an Islamic militant began when he was just 14, he said. He was drawn to jihad by his local mosque preacher, then he joined al Qaeda and now awaits legal proceedings as a member of Islamic State, the successor of al Qaeda's Iraq branch.Counter-terrorism agents described a second prisoner, Ghaffar Abdel Rahman, as less forthcoming, and said he had revealed little during questioning about his experiences as a checkpoint and logistics man for Islamic State.Abdel Rahman, 31, with long hair and beard and a blank stare, gave little away in a separate interview with Reuters. He admitted to opening fire on security forces in the raid on Kirkuk but says he never killed anyone. He said he and his brother joined Islamic State because otherwise, as state employees, they would have been killed by the group.His Kurdish captors did not comment on his story, but Iraqi authorities are generally sceptical of fighters who say they had no choice.Abdel Rahman's only hint of anger came when he was asked his view of Shi'ite Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and he suggested Iraq would always be plagued by instability because many sects live in the country."He (Abadi) does not provide people with justice," said Abdel Rahman. (Editing by Peter Graff)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Brazilian counterpart Jose Serra discussed on Thursday anticipated high-level political contacts between the two nations, on the margins of the G20 ministerial meeting in Germany, Sputnik reported citing the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The two foreign ministers agreed to cooperate on the international arena, including within the United Nations, G20 and BRICS frameworks, as well as in Russias work with other Latin American nations, according to the statement.

"During their talks, the ministers reaffirmed their strong intent to deepen Russian-Brazilian strategic partnership. The sides discussed the timeline for upcoming political contacts on the top and high levels," a statement by the ministry read.

The G20 foreign ministerial meeting under Germany's chairmanship is held Bonn on Thursday and Friday.

The G20 is an international forum for the world's 20 biggest economies. Its participants include the United States, Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, as well as India and Mexico.
On 28 September, 2014, four days after India successfully placed a spacecraft in orbit around Mars, The New York Times carried a cartoon parodying the country's attempts to enter the space race.

The cartoon showed an "Elite Space Club" outside which stood an Indian man with a cow, knocking at the door, urging to be let in. The publication was accused of racism and bigotry, and was eventually forced to apologise.

About two and a half years later, after Isro launched a world record 104 satellites into space in just 18 minutes, The Times of India hit back at The New York Times. A cartoon titled 'Line of No Control' was published by the newspaper on Thursday, and with two juxtaposed panels shows how things have turned. The top panel of The Times of India's cartoon shows the original New York Times strip, while the bottom panel features the same Indian man and his cow, this time within the "Elite Space Club". Standing outside this time are the two gentlemen, holding up rockets, one with the American flag on it, and the other  strangely enough  carrying a Swiss flag.

With the two panels, the cartoonist Sandeep Adhwaryu has managed to convey the message that far from being waiting to be let into the elite space club, India now is the elite space club, having won accolades for its thrifty space programme that has still managed to create a world record.

Dear @isro, our cartoonist's tribute to you and your stupendous achievements. Keep it up! pic.twitter.com/sHau6XsecR  Times of India (@timesofindia) February 16, 2017

The global media took note of Isro's achievement. While in 2014, the Mangalyaan launch was met with critical coverage by several international media outlets, who chose to highlight the poverty in India, things were a lot more positive this time.

The launch was "another success for the Indian Space Research Organisation, which is rapidly gaining a reputation globally for its effective yet low-cost missions," The Washington Post said, noting that India has already sent up dozens of satellites, including 20 at once last year.

"Forget the US versus Russia. The real space race is taking place in Asia," CNN commented.

The Guardian commented that the record- breaking space launch will help India to cement its place as a serious player in the burgeoning private space market. "India, which became just the sixth nation to launch its own rocket in 1980, has long made space research a priority. The Indian government has increased the budget for its space programme this year and also announced plans to send a mission to Venus," the British paper said.

The BBC, quoting observers, said that Wednesday's space success was a sign that India is emerging as a major player in the multi-billion dollar space market. "The successful launch is yet another feather in the cap of India's ambitious space programme that has earned a reputation of offering a reliable low-cost alternative to existing international players," it said.

However, The New York Times, perhaps finding the old condescension a little too tough to shake off entirely, still retained some of the patronising tone in its coverage. A report titled 'India Launches 104 Satellites From a Single Rocket, Ramping Up a Space Race', said, "India is fascinated with world records, and Wednesdays satellite launch prompted a wave of celebratory crowing, some of it aimed at Asian rivals... The Isro has gained attention in recent years for staging successful missions at very low cost, in part because its scientists are paid less."

With inputs from PTI
The Trump administration is considering a proposal to mobilise as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorized immigrants, including millions living nowhere near the Mexico border, according to a draft memo obtained by The Associated Press.

The 11-page document calls for the unprecedented militarisation of immigration enforcement as far north as Portland, Oregon, and as far east as New Orleans, Louisiana.

Four states that border on Mexico are included in the proposal  California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas  but it also encompasses seven states contiguous to those four  Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the AP report was "100 percent not true" and "irresponsible." ''There is no effort at all to utilize the National Guard to round up unauthorized immigrants," he said.

Governors in the 11 states would have a choice whether to have their guard troops participate, according to the memo, written by US Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general.

While National Guard personnel have been used to assist with immigration-related missions on the US-Mexico border before, they have never been used as broadly or as far north.

The memo is addressed to the then-acting heads of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and US Customs and Border Protection. It would serve as guidance to implement the wide-ranging executive order on immigration and border security that President Donald Trump signed 25 January. Such memos are routinely issued to supplement executive orders.

Also dated 25 January, the draft memo says participating troops would be authorized "to perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension and detention of aliens in the United States." It describes how the troops would be activated under a revived state-federal partnership program, and states that personnel would be authorized to conduct searches and identify and arrest any unauthorized immigrants.

Requests to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security for comment and a status report on the proposal were not answered.

The draft document has circulated among DHS staff over the last two weeks. As recently as Friday, staffers in several different offices reported discussions were underway.

If implemented, the impact could be significant. Nearly one-half of the 11.1 million people residing in the US without authorization live in the 11 states, according to Pew Research Center estimates based on 2014 Census data.

Use of National Guard troops would greatly increase the number of immigrants targeted in one of Trump's executive orders last month, which expanded the definition of who could be considered a criminal and therefore a potential target for deportation. That order also allows immigration agents to prioritize removing anyone who has "committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense."

Under current rules, even if the proposal is implemented, there would not be immediate mass deportations. Those with existing deportation orders could be sent back to their countries of origin without additional court proceedings. But deportation orders generally would be needed for most other unauthorized immigrants.

The troops would not be nationalized, remaining under state control.

Spokespeople for the governors of Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Colorado, Oklahoma, Oregon and New Mexico said they were unaware of the proposal, and either declined to comment or said it was premature to discuss whether they would participate. The other three states did not immediately respond to the AP.

The proposal would extend the federal-local partnership program that President Barack Obama's administration began scaling back in 2012 to address complaints that it promoted racial profiling.

The 287(g) program, which Trump included in his immigration executive order, gives local police, sheriff's deputies and state troopers the authority to assist in the detection of immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally as a regular part of their law enforcement duties on the streets and in jails.

The draft memo also mentions other items included in Trump's executive order, including the hiring of an additional 5,000 border agents, which needs financing from Congress, and his campaign promise to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

The signed order contained no mention of the possible use of state National Guard troops.

According to the draft memo, the militarization effort would be proactive, specifically empowering Guard troops to solely carry out immigration enforcement, not as an add-on the way local law enforcement is used in the program.

Allowing Guard troops to operate inside non-border states also would go far beyond past deployments.

In addition to responding to natural or man-made disasters or for military protection of the population or critical infrastructure, state Guard forces have been used to assist with immigration-related tasks on the US-Mexico border, including the construction of fences.

In the mid-2000s, President George W. Bush twice deployed Guard troops on the border to focus on non-law enforcement duties to help augment the Border Patrol as it bolstered its ranks. And in 2010, then-Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer announced a border security plan that included Guard reconnaissance, aerial patrolling and military exercises.

In July 2014, then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry ordered 1,000 National Guard troops to the border when the surge of migrant children fleeing violence in Central America overwhelmed US officials responsible for their care. The Guard troops' stated role on the border at the time was to provide extra sets of eyes but not make arrests.

Bush initiated the federal 287(g) program  named for a section of a 1996 immigration law  to allow specially trained local law enforcement officials to participate in immigration enforcement on the streets and check whether people held in local jails were in the country illegally. ICE trained and certified roughly 1,600 officers to carry out those checks from 2006 to 2015.

The memo describes the program as a "highly successful force multiplier" that identified more than 402,000 "removable aliens."

But federal watchdogs were critical of how DHS ran the program, saying it was poorly supervised and provided insufficient training to officers, including on civil rights law. Obama phased out all the arrest power agreements in 2013 to instead focus on deporting recent border crossers and immigrants in the country illegally who posed a safety or national security threat.

Trump's immigration strategy emerges as detentions at the nation's southern border are down significantly from levels seen in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Last year, the arrest tally was the fifth-lowest since 1972. Deportations of people living in the US illegally also increased under the Obama administration, though Republicans criticized Obama for setting prosecution guidelines that spared some groups from the threat of deportation, including those brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Last week, ICE officers arrested more than 680 people around the country in what Kelly said were routine, targeted operations; advocates called the actions stepped-up enforcement under Trump.
BRUSSELS The European Union should start paying all its trainees at delegations abroad, the European Ombudsman said on Friday, judging that the current practice of unpaid internships unfairly favoured a privileged few.The ombudsman, which investigates complaints at EU bodies, said the European External Action Service (EEAS) employed some 800 unpaid trainees at its delegations worldwide.The EEAS had a staff of 4,189 at the end of 2015, with 2,261 in its various delegations in 139 countries."The trainees must cover all of their costs including accommodation, travel and health insurance, a system which clearly discriminates against many young people with limited means," the Ombudsman said.Spaniard Pau Petit, 27, worked for the EEAS office in Geneva for half a year without being paid or insured.

"When I did my internship, I lost 7kg (15lb) of weight because Geneva is just such an expensive place," Petit told Reuters."The EEAS also make you sign a contract which says they are not responsible for any problems you may run in to," he added.

Petit will take part in a planned global protest by unpaid interns in cities including Brussels, Geneva, Vienna and New York.While the ombudsman's recommendations are not legally binding, its advice is followed in the majority of cases.

The EEAS said it had taken note of the report and was studying its options. (Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; editing by Philip Blenkinsop and Toby Davis)

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Paris: French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is facing new troubles, with fresh revelations in an investigation into her European Parliament assistants and scathing criticism from the UN human rights commissioner.

The Parliament probe is among several legal issues hanging over France's April-May election, which is shaping up as a major test of growing nationalist sentiment across Europe.

Investigative website Mediapart published excerpts from a European Commission fraud office report that said Le Pen admitted to irregularities in paychecks for one assistant targeted in the European Parliament probe.

Le Pen, speaking on France Bleu radio Friday, acknowledged settling an accounting problem with the Parliament, but insisted "there was nothing fictitious, no fake jobs or anything like this."

French authorities are separately investigating the parliamentary assistants. The probes center around suspicions that members of Le Pen's National Front party tricked the European Parliament out of several hundred thousand euros by using legislative aides for the party's political activity while they were on the parliament's payroll.

Le Pen also reiterated accusations that the investigation is biased because it's led by the European Commission, "and you can imagine that I am not well-regarded by the commission." Le Pen has used her membership in the European Parliament as a forum to lobby against European unity and the shared euro currency, and reviving French national sovereignty is central to her presidential platform.

Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, in a blunt speech in Washington, called rising support for Le Pen's nationalist ideas a potential threat to world peace.

Le Pen wrote Zeid an open letter last year in which she criticized international organizations as representing a "global hyperclass ... which scorns peoples, and thus human beings, their diversity and specific riches."

Zeid countered Thursday that Le Pen's anti-immigrant party "manifests evident intolerance of diverse customs, beliefs and modes of thought."

He also expressed concern that nationalist politicians like Le Pen seem "to feed off the threat of terrorism."

"Can we be so reckless, so stupid, as to risk the future of humanity, simply for the sake of ballots?" he asked.
By Steve Gorman

| LOS ANGELES

LOS ANGELES The California man accused of buying assault rifles used by the married couple who massacred 14 people at a San Bernardino office party in December 2015 pleaded guilty on Thursday of conspiring with one of the killers in previous plots.Enrique Marquez Jr., 25, was convicted on charges he conspired with Syed Rizwan Farook in 2001 and 2012 to provide material support to terrorists for planned attacks on a community college and a freeway that were never carried out.Marquez is slated to return to federal court in Riverside, east of Los Angeles, on Aug. 21 for a sentencing hearing, where he faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.The defendant, a friend and former neighbour of Farook, also pleaded guilty to lying on a federal firearms form when he bought assault rifles for Farook, one each in 2001 and 2012, prosecutors said.

Those guns, which Marquez falsely claimed he purchased for himself, were used by Farook, 28, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 29, when they opened fire at a holiday gathering of Farook's co-workers on Dec. 2, 2015, killing 14 people and wounding 22 others.Farook, a U.S.-born son of Pakistani immigrants, and Malik, a Pakistani native he married in Saudi Arabia in 2014, died in a shootout with police four hours after the massacre.

Authorities have said the couple were inspired by Islamist militants. At the time, the assault ranked as the deadliest attack by Islamist extremists on U.S. soil since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by airline hijackers. In June of last year, an American-born gunman pledging allegiance the leader of Islamic State, shot 49 people to death at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, before he was killed by police. Marquez did not take part in the San Bernardino rampage. But according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he called 911-emergency operators after the massacre to say he wanted to kill himself, admitting he had bought a weapon used by Farook. Marquez then checked himself into a mental health facility.

FBI agents later raided his home and questioned him for several days before he was arrested. He has been custody ever since.Marquez still faces immigration fraud charges stemming from his sham marriage to Russian-born Mariya Chernykh, 26, prosecutors said. She and Farook's brother, Syed Raheel Farook, 31, pleaded guilty in January to immigration fraud. (Reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Andrew Hay)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Laila Bassam and Angus McDowall

| BEIRUT

BEIRUT Speeches by Hezbollah's leader this week were aimed at making clear to the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump that the Lebanese group could strike U.S. interests by hitting Israel, a source familiar with its thinking said on Friday.Trump and administration officials have used strong rhetoric against Hezbollah's political patron Iran and to support its main enemy Israel, including putting Tehran "on notice" over charges it violated a nuclear deal by test-firing a ballistic missile.Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday described Trump as being an "idiot". On Thursday he said that his group, which played a major role in ending Israel's occupation of Lebanon, could strike its nuclear reactor at Dimona.The harsh words for Israel and Trump were aimed at drawing "red lines" for the new U.S. administration, the source familiar with the thinking of the Lebanese Shi'ite group said."Until now, Hezbollah is not worried about the arrival of Trump into the U.S. administration, but rather, it called him an idiot this week and drew red lines in front of any action that threatens Lebanon or Hezbollah's presence in Syria," the source said. Israel and the United States both regard Hezbollah, which dominates Lebanese politics and maintains an armed militia that has had a significant part in fighting for President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, as a terrorist organisation.

The group was founded as a resistance movement against Israel's occupation of the predominantly Shi'ite Muslim south Lebanon which ended in 2000, a role that meant Beirut allowed it to keep its arms after the country's civil war ended in 1990. In 2006 Israel launched another war against Hezbollah in south Lebanon but withdrew without forcing the group, which gives allegiance to the supreme leader of Shi'ite Iran, to abandon its weapons. Lebanon's President Michel Aoun, an ally of Hezbollah, defended the group this week, saying: "As long as the Lebanese army lacks sufficient power to face Israel, we feel the need for (Hezbollah's) arsenal because it complements the army's role".

THREATS

In his speech on Sunday, Nasrallah said: "We are not worried (about Trump), but rather we are very optimistic because when there is an idiot living in the White House, who boasts of his idiocy, it is the beginning of relief for the weak of the world".

On Thursday he urged Israel to dismantle its nuclear reactor at Dimona. Israel is widely believed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal at its Dimona reactor but it refuses to confirm or deny if it is a nuclear power."We can turn the threat (of their nuclear capability) into an opportunity," he said, signalling that Hezbollah could strike the Dimona reactor and other Israeli atomic sites according to the source familiar with Hezbollah thinking. Israeli Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz said in a statement on Thursday: "If Nasrallah dares fire on the Israel's home front or on its national infrastructure, then all of Lebanon will be hit." The source familiar with Hezbollah thinking said that it has been Nasrallah's policy since the 2006 war with Israel to reveal elements of the group's military capabilities as part of a policy of deterrence against attack by the Jewish state. (Reporting By Laila Bassam, writing by Angus McDowall; Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Before we get into dissecting Thursday night's attack on the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar Sufi shrine in Sehwan in Pakistan's Sindh province, that as per recent reports, has killed over 70 and injured around 250 people, it's instructive to first look at two other incidents.

First, on 27 January, the Pakistani province of Punjab's Ministry of Interior issued an order to put Jamaat-ud-Dawah leader Hafiz Saeed under house arrest. That this came in very close temporal proximity to US president Donald Trump's decree that immigrants from seven Islamic-majority countries would be denied US visas was unmissable.

Second, earlier this week, reports emerged out of Pakistan that its army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, had at the tail-end of 2016, pointed to his top officers that the army had no business trying to run the government and that they should take lessons from India's democracy and democratic processes. He seemed to indicate a disapproval with the way the Pakistan Army has been such an integral part of domestic and foreign policy in the past.

We live in a day and age of fake news, hacked social media accounts, frequent 'I was misquoted'-driven efforts to rewrite history and what-not, and so, cynicism appears to be the most appropriate prism through which to try and make sense of developments, global and domestic. And viewed, to an extent, through that prism, the two incidents mentioned above indicate the Pakistan government and army were sending out a message to the US  more crucially, to Trump  that Islamabad and Rawalpindi (home to the Pakistan Army's GHQ) are willing to play ball.

Or to be more specific, are "willing to give the impression of a willingness to play ball". And that's the message they wanted to transmit to Washington.

The Islamic State too appeared to want to send out a message to Trump. It may be recalled that all through his campaign and in the few months since he was elected president, Trump has been relentlessly sending messages to the group, whether via Twitter, on television, at rallies, or from the pulpit of the Oval Office.

"I would knock the hell out of 'em, and I would put boots on the ground in those areas; I would take the oil."

"Were not fighting (IS) strongly enough. We have to end it."

"My administration will aggressively pursue joint and coalition military operations to crush and destroy (IS)."

"I would bomb the sh*t out of 'em."

"We will destroy IS."

You get the idea. In turn, the Islamic State too wanted to send Trump a message.

Only the organisation doesn't hold press conferences or public rallies, and doesn't show up on Fox News to articulate its vision to Sean Hannity. In fact, its own social media handles and websites are regularly pulled off the internet. On Thursday night, it chose to send out its message by targetting the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine and launching its (officially) first attack on Pakistani soil, according to the widely-cited (but almost untraceable online) Amaq News Agency.

Taken at face-value, the attack bore all the hallmarks of a regular Islamic State strike. The victims were innocent civilians and the target was a famous symbol of one of the world's most syncretic forms of Islam  Sufism. This is antithetical to the Islamic State's violent Salafi brand of Islam. However, a closer look indicates more of a statement of intent by the Islamic State, which appears to be announcing its arrival in Pakistan, having made its South Asian debut in Bangladesh (the attack on Dhaka's Holey Artisan Bakery) in July last year. With this "announcement", it seems to be confirming the theory propounded by several experts over the course of the US presidential campaign trail  and again after the immigration ban imposed by the US government  that a Trump presidency would actually embolden and strengthen the multinational terror outfit.

Certainly, the scope for radicalisation was always likely to increase as pronouncements and orders from Washington turned more extreme.

And now, strengthening of the Islamic State seems to have been confirmed. Whether the perpetrators were local recruits, self-radicalised 'lone wolves' or visitors from Iraq or Syria is as-yet-unknown. Equally unknown is whether the IS senses that its domination of Iraq and Syria might be at risk, given Trump's warning to unleash US troops, and so the organisation must seek greener pastures. But there are two clear threats for the region:

The first is the threat of the Islamic State now taking on a more active role in Kashmir. The second is the possibility of more terrorist attacks in Pakistan, ergo greater destabilisation.

And whether or not Trump received the Islamic State's message, neither of these conditions augur well for India, South Asia or indeed the world.
Karachi, Pakistan's largest and wealthiest city, has become a centre of anti-India jihadist groups and criminals who have the backing of the Pakistan Army, claims a report released by International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based NGO.

The report said decades of neglect and mismanagement have turned Karachi into a pressure cooker. Ethno-political and sectarian interests and competition, intensified by internal migration, jihadist influx and unchecked movement of weapons, drugs and black money, have created an explosive mix.

The ICG research paper titled Pakistan: Stoking the Fire in Karachi suggests that, "To address complex conflict drivers, the state must restore the Sindh polices authority and operational autonomy while also holding it accountable. Over the longer term, it must redress political and economic exclusion, including unequal access to justice, jobs and basic goods and services, which criminal and jihadist groups tap for recruits and support. "

The report, addressing the major force driving the conflict, states, "With Sindhis now fewer than 10 percent of Karachis population, less than Mohajirs, Pashtuns and Southern Punjabi Seraiki speakers, the contest between the PPP, Sindhs largest party, and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Karachis largest, is not primarily electoral but over the nature of the citys governance."

With both parties politicising the state institutions they control and providing services on partisan grounds, Karachis citizens lack reliable access to health care, water and affordable transport and accommodation. This politicisation has also aggravated ethno-political conflict.

The NGO also raised concern over the functioning of paramilitary Rangers in Karachi city in its report. It said, "Characterised by heavy-handedness and human rights violations, including extra-judicial killings, torture and enforced disappearances, it instead breeds ethnic tensions and could boost recruitment to criminal, including jihadist networks".

The crisis report also said that anti-India terrorist groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad have links with madrassas. Pakistans most dangerous groups actively contest Karachis turf & resources. Anti-Shia Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and anti-India LeT/JuD and JeM have umbilical links with Karachis large, well-resourced madrasas, the report mentioned.

These outfits support and operate madrassas and charity fronts with no interference from Pakistani law enforcement authorities.

The report said that during a crackdown on jihadists and criminal gangs in the country, the Pakistan Army spared many areas in Karachi and its outskirts of the city, known as the redoubts of good jihadists like LeT-JuD and Jaish-e-Mohammed.

There are pockets all along the Super Highway of good Taliban', ICG also quoted a senior Sindh ruling PPP (Pakistan Peoples Party) member in the report.

The report quoting representatives, senior officials, journalists, civil society activists also said that while many jihadist masterminds had fled Karachi by September 2013, expecting the Pakistan Armys operation in many areas, they might have returned emboldened by lack of action.

On the role of these groups when India-Pakistan tensions are running high, ICG quoted a retired senior provincial official of Pakistan, who said, Any time Pakistan-India or Kashmir tensions flare, these groups mobilise in the heart of the city You cant treat (LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed) as your friends in one part of the country and your enemies elsewhere.

Escalating tensions and failure to defuse the impending ethno-political crisis and rein in criminal and jihadist networks threatens to sink Pakistan's most important economic centre further into conflict.

The PPP and MQM leaderships should recognise that their governance failures have opened opportunities for the militarys counterproductive intervention in Karachis political affairs on the pretext of restoring stability, the report added.

The Brussel-based group has recommended that Karachi's political parties, including the PPP, MQM and Awami National Party should restart a comprehensive dialogue to address Karachi's political and security challenges.

It also recommended ending the Rangers' operation and commit to a law enforcement policy rooted in a reformed criminal justice system, including an operationally autonomous but accountable police force. To the Sindh governments, both at federal and provincial level, it encourage to investigate all allegations of custodial killings, torture, illegal detention and other human rights abuses by any law enforcement/security agency and hold individuals to account.
By Emily Chow and Joseph Sipalan

| KUALA LUMPUR

KUALA LUMPUR North Korea said it would "categorically reject" Malaysia's autopsy report on the death of the man identified by Malaysian authorities as the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.Kim Jong Nam died in Kuala Lumpur this week after being assaulted at Kuala Lumpur International Airport with what was thought to be a fast-acting poison. South Korean and U.S. officials have said he was assassinated by North Korean agents.In its first comments since the man's death, the North Korean envoy, Kang Chol, demanded that his body be released immediately."The Malaysian side forced the post-mortem without our permission and witnessing," Kang told reporters outside the hospital late on Friday. "We will categorically reject the result of the post mortem ... "He also accused Malaysia of "concealing something" and "colluding with outside forces." His statement made no reference to the identity of the man.The Malaysian foreign ministry had no immediate comment on the ambassador's remarks. But the country's top cop said Malaysian rules must be followed."We have rules in Malaysia. Whilst in Malaysia, everyone has to obey and follow our rules and regulations," Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar told Reuters. "That includes North Korea."

The North Korean embassy officially requested on Thursday, that the body of Kim Jong Nam be released. It had earlier tried to persuade Malaysian authorities not to carry out an autopsy. Malaysian police said on Friday it would not release the body until it receives DNA samples from his next-of-kin.Malaysia is one of the few countries that North Korea has diplomatic relations with.

DIPLOMATIC PASSPORT

North Korea rejected Malaysia's request for a post-mortem, because "he is a diplomatic passport holder and our citizen who is under the consular protection of the DPRK," Kang said, adding that Malaysia had initially said the North Korean died from a heart attack. "We will respond strongly to the moves of the hostile forces towards us with their intent to besmirch the image of our republic by politicizing this incident," he said. He suggested North Korea would take legal action, in an international court.In a written statement that was also released to the media, the envoy accused South Korea of trying to distort public opinion.

Two female suspects, one an Indonesian and the other carrying Vietnamese travel documents, have been arrested in connection with the murder. A Malaysian man has also been detained. Four men believed to have been accomplices are still being sought.Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, had spoken out publicly against his family's dynastic control of the isolated, nuclear-armed North Korea.South Korea's intelligence agency told lawmakers in Seoul that Kim had been living with his second wife in the Chinese territory of Macau, under China's protection.He had been at the Kuala Lumpur airport to catch a flight to Macau when he was killed.Cornelia Charito Siricord, director of forensics in the science ministry, told Reuters that an analysis was being carried out on samples taken from the body to help the police establish the cause of death. (Additional reporting by Liz Lee; Writing by Praveen Menon and A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Larry King)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Islamabad: Hit by a wave of terror attacks, which it blames on militants from Afghanistan, the Pakistan army on Friday summoned Afghan embassy officials and handed over a list of 76 terrorists hiding in the neighbouring country.

According to Inter Services Public Relations, the Deputy Head of Mission and other officials of the Afghan embassy were summoned to the Pakistani Army headquarters in Rawalpindi to lodge protest against the use of Afghan soil by terrorists to carry out attacks in Pakistan, Dunya news reported.

The officials were told to take immediate action or hand over the militants to Pakistan, Pakistan media reported.

The development comes after a series of terrorist attacks hit Pakistan within a week, including Thursday's bombing at a crowded Sufi shrine in Sehwan city of Sindh province in which 75 persons died and about 300 were injured.

The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the bombing at the shrine of Lal Shehbaz Qalandar, a revered 13th century Muslim saint.

The security officials believe that militant groups now operate from the Afghanistan border region to launch attacks in Pakistan.

Hours after the Thursday bombing, Pakistan closed the Torkham border with Afghanistan due to security concerns.

On Wednesday, the Foreign Office had taken up evidence against the Jamaatul Ahrar based inside Afghanistan at the diplomatic level. The Ahrar split away from the TTP in 2014 and is believed to have with links with Daesh or the IS.

Pakistan and Afghanistan share a border of about 2,600 km, mostly porous, and the military seeks cooperation of the Afghan government to closely monitor the illegal cross-border movement.
A court in Shanghai jailed a man for eight years on Friday after he set off an explosive device last year at the city's Pudong International Airport, injuring at least three travelers and delaying flights, Reuters reported.

In a brief statement, the court said that Zhou Xingbo set off the device because his "life was not smooth" and so he took extreme measures to "vent his spleen", injuring three people. It did not give details. The government initially said five people were injured, including the person who set off the device.

Zhou Xingbo took a beer bottle containing self-made explosive materials out of his backpack and threw it at ticketing counter. After the bottle exploded, he then took out a knife and slashed his own neck, the government said.

Business hub Shanghai is mainland China's most cosmopolitan city, with a large foreign population, but is generally very safe with major crime unusual.

Explosives are relatively easy to obtain in China though, home to the world's largest mining and fireworks industries.

A man in a wheelchair detonated a home-made explosive at Beijing's international airport in 2013, injuring himself in what was an apparent attempt to draw attention to an earlier grievance.

Individual Chinese unable to win redress in disputes have in the past resorted to extreme measures, including bombings, but such incidents are rare amid the tight security at the country's airports.
By Syed Raza Hassan

| SEHWAN SHARIF, Pakistan

SEHWAN SHARIF, Pakistan Pakistani security forces killed dozens of suspected militants on Friday, a day after Islamic State claimed a suicide bombing that killed more than 80 worshippers at a Sufi shrine, the biggest in a spate of attacks this week across the country.The bombing at the famed Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in southern Sindh province was Pakistan's deadliest attack for two years, killing at least 83 people and highlighting the threat of militant groups such as the Pakistani Taliban and Islamic State.The security response was swift."Over 100 terrorists have been killed since last night and sizeable apprehensions also made," the military said in an operations update on Friday evening."Terrorists will be targeted ruthlessly, indiscriminately, anywhere and everywhere. No let up," an armed forces spokesman added in a tweet.With authorities facing angry criticism for failing to tighten security before the shrine bomber struck, analysts warned that the wave of violence pointed to a major escalation in Islamist militants' attempts to destabilise the region."This is a virtual declaration of war against the state of Pakistan," said Imtiaz Gul, head of the independent Centre for Research and Security Studies in Islamabad.With pressure growing for action, Pakistan demanded that neighbouring Afghanistan hand over 76 "terrorists" it said were sheltering over the border.The bombings over five days have hit all four of Pakistan's provinces and two major cities, shaking a nascent sense that the worst of the country's militant violence may be in the past.A series of military operations against insurgent groups operating in Pakistan had encouraged hopes that their leaders were scattered."But this has led to a degree of complacency within our civil-military leadership that perhaps they have completely destroyed these elements, or broken their back," Gul said.If so, that impression has been shattered in recent days.

BLOOD AND TEARS

At Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, the white marble floor was still stained with blood on Friday, and a pile of shoes and slippers was heaped in the courtyard, many of them belonging to the dead.Outside, protesters shouted slogans at police, who they said had failed to protect the shrine."I wish I could have been here and died in the blast last night," a devastated Ali Hussain told Reuters, sitting on the floor of the shrine.He said that local Sufis had asked for more security after a separate bombing this week killed 13 people in the eastern city of Lahore, but said: "No one bothered to secure this place."

Anwer Ali, 25, rushed to the shrine after he heard the explosion, and described seeing dead bodies and chaos as people fled the scene."There were threats to the shrine. The Taliban had warned that they will attack here, but authorities didn't take it seriously," Ali said.Sindh police chief A.D. Khawaja said on Friday that the death toll had reached 83 people with scores more wounded.The attacks have once again raised questions over the influence of Islamic State in Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation of 190 million people that has tense relations with its neighbours India and Afghanistan.

In the past two years, Islamic State has worked to build its "Khorasan province" encompassing Afghanistan and Pakistan, often helped by local radicals.Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's foreign policy adviser Sartaj Aziz blamed Jamaat-ur-Ahrar (JuA), a Pakistani Taliban faction that has been linked to Islamic State, for the attack.Most of the other recent attacks have been claimed by factions of the Pakistani Taliban, which is waging its own fight against the government but whose ranks have also cooperated with and sometimes defected to Islamic State.That has led some observers to question whether the growing prominence of Islamic State actually represents a new threat - since its fighters were already operating under different names to attack government, army and minority faith targets, among others.However, the increasing number of attacks claimed by Islamic State has raised pressure on authorities to show they are capable of containing the renewed violence.Islamic State also said it was behind another shrine attack, in southwestern Baluchistan province, that killed at least 52 people last November. In October, it said it carried out an assault on a police training college, killing 59. The shrine attack has heightened tensions with Afghanistan, after Pakistani officials said some militant leaders took shelter over the border. The accusation echoes similar criticism from Kabul aimed at Islamabad.In a telephone call with Afghanistan's national security adviser, Aziz expressed concern that JuA was operating from Afghanistan and that Kabul had failed to act against them, according to a statement from his office. On Friday, border crossings were closed and Afghan diplomats were summoned to military headquarters in Islamabad and given a list of 76 "most-wanted terrorists" that Pakistan demanded be captured and handed over, the army said.Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Friday condemned the shrine attack on Twitter, calling Islamic State "a common enemy of Afghanistan & Pakistan". (Additional reporting by Mehreen Zahra-Malik in ISLAMABAD, Haji Mujtaba in MIRAN SHAH, Jibran Ahmad in PESHAWAR, Gul Yusufzai in QUETTA and Saud Mehsud in DERA ISMAIL KHAN; Writing by Kay Johnson; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Louise Ireland)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Karachi: Grieving worshippers on Friday thronged the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar Sufi shrine and performed daily rituals, sending a strong message to the terrorists who killed at least 88 people in a suicide attack there. The famous Sufi shrine at Sehwan in the Sindh province was

closed due to security reasons following the deadly attack by an Islamic State suicide bomber on Wednesday.

The white marble floor at the shrine was still marked by blood and a pile of abandoned shoes and slippers was heaped in the courtyard, many of them belonging to victims. The devotees performed 'Dhamal', a spiritual dance, after the sunset prayer. Security was tightened in an around the shrine after Thursday's attack.

Undeterred by the tragedy, the custodian of the shrine, Syed Mehdi Raza Shah, turned up at the designated place at 3.30am and stood amidst the remains of the carnage to defiantly rang a traditional bell, which is a daily ritual. "We will never bow before the terrorists," he said.

Shah told PTI from Sehwan that the devotees came despite the shrine being sealed off by the security forces for examination and collection of forensic evidence.

"Such cowardly terrorist attacks will never deter thousands of devotees of spiritual Sufi saints all over Pakistan from going to shrines to pray," he said. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa have also visited Sehwan and met the

injured in the hospital.

Lal Shahbaz Qalandar was a Sufi philosopher-poet of present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan. Earlier in the day, angry protesters today took to the streets against the Pakistan government's failure to provide security at the shrine. They damaged vehicles and set a police van on fire and

burnt tyres to block roads.

"There is only one scanner at the shrine for thousands of devotees who come to the shrine and even it was not working properly," a protester, who lost his brother and friends in the blast, told a television channel. Relatives of the injured people complained about improper medical care facilities at the civil hospitals in Sehwan and Nawabshah.

Initial investigations said that there was no proper electricity at the shrine when the attack took place. "Investigations point to the fact that the attacker came dressed in a Burqa and entered the shrine from the golden gate amidst the heavy crowd of devotees," DIG Hyderabad range

Manzoor Rind said.

Hyderabad is the largest city closest to the town of Sehwan where the shrine was attacked. Rind said the CCTV footage at the shrine was being

examined to identify the attack.
Donald Trump addressed the nation through a press conference on 16 February. He started out with a 'humble-brag': "I dont think theres ever been a president elected who in this short period of time has done what weve done... A new Rasmussen poll just came out just a very short while ago, and it has our approval rating at 55 percent and going up. The stock market has hit record numbers, as you know..."

And, this pretty much set the tone for the rest of the press conference. This is not to say that Barack Obama or presidents who came before Trump didn't brag  they did, but in ways that didn't outright scream: 'Hey! Look at me. Look at me. Look at me. I am awesome. You are not. I am the best.'

Props to The Donald though, no other president perhaps took on the press with such viciousness before him on a first solo news conference. AP reported how the president "bullied reporters, dismissed facts and then cracked a few caustic jokes." Trump accussed: "The press  the public doesn't believe you people anymore. Now, maybe I had something to do with that. I don't know. But they don't believe you...But you've got to be at least a little bit fair, and that's why the public sees it. They see it. They see it's not fair. You take a look at some of your shows and you see the bias and the hatred." According to AP, even Richard Nixon demonstrated better restraint during the Watergate Days.

Trump's behaviour has never been presidential, that has been established many-a-time, anybody remember him wanting to grab things by the meow? But ever since he took office, he hasn't restrained himself. Not one bit. Silence is golden, hasn't the president learnt that? And in times when there is enough social media chatter about a variety of things, silence can be especially golden.

The kind of stuff the president tweets about but in fact shouldn't be tweeting about:

Just leaving Florida. Big crowds of enthusiastic supporters lining the road that the FAKE NEWS media refuses to mention. Very dishonest!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 12, 2017

The failing @nytimes was forced to apologize to its subscribers for the poor reporting it did on my election win. Now they are worse!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 7, 2017

And at the solo press conference, an opportunity, Trump should have taken to seem more presidential but did not. Instead, he berated an Orthodox Jewish reporter who asked about an increase in antisemitic incidents that he asked an insulting question. To an African-American reporter who asked about his plan for the inner cities and if Trump had consulted with the Congressional Black Caucus he said: Tell you what, do you want to set up the meeting? Do you want to set up the meeting? Are they friends of yours? With that one comment, Trump highlighted his narrow worldview and reaffirmed that fact that black people are othered. To assume (even if he or Kellyanne Conway correct it later as a joke?) that black people or the black community is monolithic is just plain wrong. And here's another excellent example of Trump's incompetence and oozing 'unpresidentialness' (If Kellyanne can make up words, so can I).

President Donald Trump is corrected by NBC reporter after falsely claiming he had the biggest electoral margin since President Reagan. pic.twitter.com/a7K16mU0Pc  Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) February 16, 2017

He made false claims that he won the biggest electoral college win since Ronald Reagan. He did not, Obama won more than him. To which he responded, "I meant in the Republicans". Well, George HW Bush won more, to which he responded: "I was given bad information." When asked about Russia and Trump administration's relation to Russia, Trump said: "And, you know, you can talk all you want about Russia, which was all as you know, fake news, fabricated deal, to try and make up for the loss of the Democrats and the press plays right into it... Its all fake news. Its all fake news."

Donald Trump's deep mistrust of the press isn't something real, it is a Kim-Jong-Unesque hatred of criticism, even constructive criticism. The emperor isn't wearing any clothes, but he doesn't want the people to acknowledge that.

Anti-media, anti-truth

It is not news anymore that Donald Trump has a hate-hate relationship with the media. He has called journalists dishonest and has admitted to "running a war" with the media. He doesn't share a good rapport with CNN, and publicly dissed Buzzfeed, post the 'Golden-Shower' issue by calling it 'fake news'. And the term 'fake news' has stuck on like burrs. It's Trump's go-to card for calling out any criticism of him or his government.

The problem is that Trump has unfiltered access to write whatever he wants on Twitter holds great appeal for citizenry that appreciates an unplugged sort of president. So as President of the United States, when he takes to social media and brazenly writes 'fake news', 'wrong', or blames 'leaks', he is legitimising blatant lies. His team of experts, Kellyanne Conway and Sean Spicer are ever ready to bail him out of his tweets. And his tweets wouldn't have made sense to even his most faithful supporters, if in reality 'fake news' was a myth, a Santa Claus, but there is an unfortunate reality that fake news does exist.

In fact, it had a 'yuge' role to play in getting Trump elected  Samanth Subramanian's piece for Wired 'The Macedonian Teens Who Mastered Fake News' shines a bright light on the crisis in the news industry. But, for Trump to spin that crisis on its head and shake the foundation of established media houses and practices is dangerous. It puts forth an agenda that nothing can be trusted, only the government. Steve Bannon, chief White House strategist said in a negative way that the media is the Opposition party. Well, that is indeed what the press is supposed to do: be the watchdog, inform, interpret and interest. But the Trump administration is painting the very purpose of existence of the press as wrong/unnecessary.

'Alternative facts' and Kellyanne Conway

Many have taken to the internet to express their frustration with Conway and how she manages to get away without actually answering the questions asked. When she was cornered about Trump's inauguration crowd claims, she smoothly slipped in that the White House gave alternative facts. "You're saying it's a falsehood, and Sean Spicer, our press secretary gave alternative facts," she said. Well, in Randy Rainbow's words (please sing this) "Alternative facts are facts that aren't facts. They are just facts that you made up and called facts. You can't just make up facts, if the facts are not facts. Alternative facts not really facts."

And this is the sort of classic deflection that Trump and his media surrogates use, especially Conway. Vox put out an excellent video trying to isolate why Conway gets away with never answering a question: She uses a single keyword in a question and uses it constantly to talk about something else completely and uses the interviewers' natural disposition to be polite to her advantage.

The fourth estate must adapt and resist in the Trump era. Newsrooms across the US are grappling with the phenomenon that is The Donald and this is the time to actually reverse the claims of 'fake news' by actually targeting, highlighting existing fake news. The relevance of the truth is most important in the what has now come to be known as the post-truth era. There should be a move to discredit Kellyanne Conway, ask for them to be replaced, careful cataloguing of the actions of the government. If filter bubbles are the problem, there is a need to coordinate with social media giants in enabling that news remains neutral, algorithm-free.

Of course, a political/economic utopia is being described here. A percentage of this will do. And if we don't aspire to achieve it, there'll be no way back.
Bonn: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Friday that he used his first meeting with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to urge Beijing to help rein in North Korea after its series of nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

Their talks, the highest level Sino-US encounter since President Donald Trump was elected, had appeared unlikely after he infuriated Beijing by calling into question Washington's long-standing "One China" policy.

Trump however reaffirmed the position in a conciliatory phone call to Chinese President Xi Jinping, mending fences enough for Wang to come to Bonn for a G20 foreign ministers meeting.

"Secretary Tillerson and Minister Wang noted the recent call between leaders and discussed efforts to advance bilateral cooperation while addressing differences in a constructive manner," Mark Toner, acting US State Department spokesman, said.

"Secretary Tillerson also highlighted the increasing threat posed by North Korea's nuclear and missile programs and urged China to use all available tools to moderate North Korea's destabilising behaviour," Toner said.

China is North Korea's last major ally and has shown itself reluctant to put too much pressure on Pyongyang.

In the meantime, reclusive North Korea has made huge strides in both its missile and nuclear weapons programme to the point where it could acquire the capability to hit the US mainland.

Washington has led international efforts to get Pyongyang to reverse course, including imposing sanctions, but all to no avail as its regional allies take fright at North Korea's ambitions.

On Thursday, Tillerson pledged that Washington would use the full range of its arsenal, including nuclear weapons, to defend Japan and South Korea against North Korea, which conducted another ballistic missile test on Sunday.

"The United States remains steadfast in its defence commitments to its allies, the Republic of Korea and Japan, including the commitment to provide extended deterrence, backed by the full range of its nuclear and conventional defence capabilities," Tillerson said in a joint statement with their foreign ministers.

Washington's recent decision to install a sophisticated THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea especially angered China which condemned the move as a potential threat to its own security.

Toner said Tillerson and Yang "also discussed the need to create a level playing field for trade and investment."
By Susan Heavey

| WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump, scrambling to find a new top security aide after firing his first one and being spurned by another candidate, said on Friday he has four people under consideration for the job, including acting national security adviser Keith Kellogg.Trump ousted Michael Flynn on Monday in a controversy over the retired lieutenant general's contacts with Russia, and on Thursday retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward turned down the Republican president's offer to replace Flynn.Trump said in a post on Twitter on Friday he was weighing four potential candidates for national security advisor."General Keith Kellogg, who I have known for a long time, is very much in play for NSA - as are three others," he said without naming the other candidates.Kellogg, a retired lieutenant general who currently is chief of staff of the White House National Security Council, stepped into the national security adviser role on an acting basis after Flynn's firing.Retired General David Petraeus, who held key command posts in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and served as CIA director under former President Barack Obama, also had been mentioned by a White House official as a replacement for Flynn earlier.

Petraeus quit as CIA chief in 2012 and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified materials relating to documents he had given his biographer, with whom he had an affair.NBC News reported two other retired military officers were also under consideration: General James Jones, former supreme allied commander in Europe who served as national security adviser to Obama from 2009 to 2010; and General Keith Alexander, former U.S. National Security Agency chief.Harward, a senior executive at Lockheed Martin and former Navy SEAL, declined Trump's offer in part because he wanted to bring in his own team, according to two sources familiar with Harward's decision.

The White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, told Fox News on Friday that Harward's family "didn't sign off" on him taking the job."That's all it is," Priebus said.Flynn, a close adviser to Trump during his presidential campaign last year, was seen by Moscow as a leading advocate of friendlier ties with Russia.

Trump said on Thursday he fired Flynn because he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about conversations he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States about sanctions imposed by President Barack Obama's administration before Trump took office. Trump has defended Flynn's actual contact with the ambassador, saying what he did "wasn't wrong."The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Flynn told FBI agents last month that he had not discussed sanctions against Russia with the ambassador before Trump took office. Flynn's Jan. 24 interview with the FBI could expose him to charges, since lying to the agency is a felony, but any decision to prosecute would lie with the Justice Department.Obama imposed the sanctions on Russia on Dec. 29 after U.S. intelligence agencies concluded Russia hacked and leaked Democratic emails during the election campaign as part of an effort to tilt the vote in Trump's favor.Trump on Thursday repeated his interest in closer ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin's government, saying "I would love to be able to get along with Russia" but that "it's possible I won't be able to get along with Putin." (Reporting by Susan Heavey; Additional reporting by Mohammad Zargham; Writing by Will Dunham; Editing by Frances Kerry and Bill Trott)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Phil Stewart and Robin Emmott

| MUNICH, Germany

MUNICH, Germany Republican Senator John McCain broke with the reassuring message that U.S. officials visiting Germany have sought to convey on their debut trip to Europe, saying on Friday that the administration of President Donald Trump was in "disarray".McCain, a known Trump critic, told the Munich Security Conference that the resignation of the new president's security adviser Michael Flynn over his contacts with Russia reflected deep problems in Washington."I think that the Flynn issue obviously is something that shows that in many respects this administration is in disarray and they've got a lot of work to do," said McCain. "The president, I think, makes statements (and) on other occasions contradicts himself. So we've learned to watch what the president does as opposed to what he says," he said.European governments have been unsettled by the signals sent by Trump on a range of foreign policy issues ranging from NATO and Russia to Iran, Israel and European integration.The debut trip to Europe of Trump's Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, to a meeting of G20 counterparts in Bonn, went some way to assuaging concerns as they both took a more traditional U.S. position.But Trump is wrestling with a growing controversy at home about potential ties between his aides and Russia, which he dismissed on Thursday as a "ruse" and "scam" perpetrated by a hostile news media.Mattis made clear to allies, both at NATO in Brussels and in Munich, that the United States would not retreat from leadership as the European continent grapples with an assertive Russia, wars in eastern and southern Mediterranean countries, and attacks by Islamist militants.U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will address the Munich conference on Saturday with a similar message of reassurance. Pence will say that Europe is an "indispensable partner" for the United States, a senior White House foreign policy adviser told reporters.

Mattis told a crowd that included heads of state and more than 70 defence ministers that Trump backed NATO."President Trump came into office and has thrown now his full support to NATO. He too espouses NATO's need to adapt to today's strategic situation for it to remain credible, capable, and relevant," Mattis said.Mattis said the United States and its European allies had a shared understanding of the challenges ahead. Trump has alarmed allies by expressing admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mattis, however, has spoken out strongly against Russia while in Europe. After talks with NATO allies in Brussels on Thursday, he said that he did not believe it would be possible to collaborate militarily with Moscow, at least for now.The Europeans may need more persuading that Washington stands with it on a range of security issues.

"There is still a lot of uncertainty," Sebastian Kurz, Austria's foreign minister, told reporters. "The big topic in Munich is looking to the USA to see which developments to expect next.""NO ILLUSIONS"

European intelligence agencies have warned that Russia is also seeking to destabilise governments and influence elections across Europe with cyber attacks, fake news and propaganda and by funding far-right political parties."We should be under no illusions about the step-change in Russian behaviour over the last couple of years, even after Crimea," British Defence Minister Michael Fallon said, referring to Moscow's 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula.

"We have seen a step-change in Russian military aggression, but also in propaganda, in misinformation and a succession of persistent attacks on Western democracies, interference in a whole series of elections including ... the United States."NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Munich, seeing progress on encouraging Moscow to be more open about its military exercises that the alliance says are unpredictable.Russia says it is the Western alliance, not Moscow, that is destabilising Europe by sending troops to its western borders."We have different views," Stoltenberg said of the crisis in Ukraine, where the West accuses the Kremlin of arming separatist rebels in a conflict that has killed 10,000 people since April 2014. Russia says the conflict is a civil war.In the latest incident, Lithuanian prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into a false report of rape by German soldiers stationed there on a NATO mission to deter Russia.Mattis, without explicitly citing the case, rallied to the defence of German forces as he spoke in the German city of Munich. "I have great respect for Germany's leadership in Europe  and for the ethical performance of your troops on the battlefield," he said.U.S. intelligence agencies concluded last year that Russia hacked and leaked Democratic emails during the election campaign as part of an effort to tilt the vote in Trump's favour. (Additional reporting by Noah Barkin and Shadia Nasralla; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By James Oliphant

| WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON In a heated moment during his unconventional and combative news conference on Thursday, President Donald Trumps command of the facts was openly challenged by a reporter who asked, Why should Americans trust you?The issue was the margin of victory in the U.S. Electoral College, which Trump asserted early in the news conference was the biggest since fellow Republican Ronald Reagan, who was elected in 1980 and 1984. Trump defeated Hillary Clinton by a 304-227 tally of state-by-state electors, who represent votes cast in the election. Seven electors voted for someone else.We got 306 because people came out and voted like theyve never seen before so thats the way it goes, the president said. Twitter exploded with fact-checking of Trump's statement.

Although proportionally he had 306 electoral votes on the night of the Nov. 8 election, two of those electors defected when they cast official ballots on Dec. 19. A quick check by a reporter at the news conference showed President Barack Obama, a Democrat, amassed more electoral votes in 2008 (365) and 2012 (332). In 1988, President George H.W. Bush, a Republican, drew 426 electoral votes.

Few observers, however, were expecting a White House reporter to confront Trump about it in real time, while sitting in the East Room. Within minutes the reporter, Peter Alexander of NBC News, stood and corrected Trump, noting Obama's and Bushs tallies and asking whether Americans could trust the president to state the facts. "Why should Americans trust you when you accuse the information they've received of being fake when you're providing information that's not accurate?" the TV correspondent asked.Trump seemed to blame his staff. I was given that information, he replied. Actually, Ive seen that information around. Trump then called on another reporter.

On the 2016 campaign trail and since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump has made criticizing the media a centrepiece of his communications strategy. Trump turned the tables later in the news conference, complaining again about coverage of his young administration."I want to see an honest press," Trump said. "The public doesnt believe you people anymore." (Reporting by James Oliphant; Editing by Howard Goller)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The defense ministers from 27 countries participating in the counter-Daesh campaign agreed to meet once again in the fall of 2017 to discuss the state of the campaign, US Secretary of Defense Spokesperson Cmdr. Sarah Higgins said, Sputnik reported.

Higgins said that the ministers will discuss the fight against extremists in the context of constantly "changing environment."

"Ministers agreed to meet again in the Fall of 2017 to discuss the state of the campaign and consider additional adjustments based on the changing environment and other lessons learned," Higgins said in a Thursday statement.

US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis was among the 27 defense ministers, as well as senior representatives from seven coalition nations whose ministers were unable to attend Thursday's meeting.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the delegates in Brussels to discuss efforts to defeat Daesh in Iraq and Syria and to get an update on the current military plan through 2017.

Daesh that is outlawed in the United States, Russia and numerous other countries has seized large parts of Iraq and Syria.

Following the rise of Daesh in 2014, the US-led coalition of 68 nations was formed to counter the group. The alliance is conducting airstrikes against Daesh in Syria and Iraq. The strikes Iraq are conducted in support of the Iraqi government, but those in Syria are not authorized by the government of President Bashar Assad or the UN Security Council.

Russia launched its military operation in Syria on September 30, 2015, at the request of the Syrian government. While targeting terrorist organizations, Russia also acts as a mediator in the intra-Syrian reconciliation process, and provides Syrian civilians with humanitarian aid.
North Korea said it would "categorically reject" Malaysia's autopsy report on the death of the man identified by Malaysian authorities as the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Reuters reported.

Kim Jong Nam died in Kuala Lumpur this week after being assaulted at Kuala Lumpur International Airport with what was thought to be a fast-acting poison. South Korean and U.S. officials have said he was assassinated by North Korean agents.

In its first comments since the man's death, the North Korean envoy, Kang Chol, demanded that his body be released immediately.

"The Malaysian side forced the post-mortem without our permission and witnessing," Kang told reporters outside the hospital late on Friday. "We will categorically reject the result of the post mortem ... "

He also accused Malaysia of "concealing something" and "colluding with outside forces." His statement made no reference to the identity of the man.

The Malaysian foreign ministry had no immediate comment on the ambassador's remarks. But the country's top cop said Malaysian rules must be followed.

"We have rules in Malaysia. Whilst in Malaysia, everyone has to obey and follow our rules and regulations," Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar told Reuters. "That includes North Korea."

The North Korean embassy officially requested on Thursday, that the body of Kim Jong Nam be released. It had earlier tried to persuade Malaysian authorities not to carry out an autopsy.

Malaysian police said on Friday it would not release the body until it receives DNA samples from his next-of-kin.

Malaysia is one of the few countries that North Korea has diplomatic relations with.
Huawei MediaPad T3 (KOB-L09) got Wi-Fi certification last month, now it has received Chinas TENAA certification as under the Honor brand so it could be released as Honor Pad 3. It packs a 8-inch HD display, is powered by 1.4GHz quad-core processor, which could be Snapdragon 425 and runs on Android 7.0 (Nougat).

According to the images, it seems to have a unibody metal design and also has 4G LTE support via SIM card so it might support voice calling capabilities.

Huawei MediaPad T3 rumored specifications

8-inch (1280  800 pixels) IPS display

1.4GHz Quad-core processor

3GB RAM, 32GB storage, expandable memory up to 128GB

Android 7.0 (Nougat)

5MP rear camera

2MP front-facing camera

Dimensions: 211.1 x 124.7 x 7.95mm; Weight: 250g

4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS

4650mAh battery

The Huawei MediaPad T3 comes in Gold and Grey colors and is expected to be announced at the MWC 2017 in Barcelona later this month.

Source | Via
Apple is said to start assembling iPhone SE in India in coming months, according to a latest report from Reuters. Earlier this month, the government of Karnataka welcomed Apples proposal to begin initial manufacturing operations in Bangalore.

The company has already picked contract manufacturer Wistron as the primary iPhone manufacturer for India. A separate report from the Economic Times says Apple will initially assemble 3 to 4 lakh iPhone SE handsets India at a plant that will be set up by Wistron in Bangalore. At present, the company will only focus on assembling iPhone SE in the country and is not planning to manufacture any other models.

Apple had launched iPhone SE in India in April last year starting at Rs. 39,000 however, it now retails for less than Rs. 30,000. The phone is aimed at customers from emerging markets like India. It sports a 4-inch (1136 x 640 pixels) screen, Touch ID fingerprint sensor, is powered by a Apple A9 processor with M9 motion co-processor, comes with a 12-megapixel iSight camera with support for 4K video recording, 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera with Retina Flash, 4G LTE connectivity and runs on the latest iOS 9.3.

In last May, Apple had announced setting up a design and development accelerator in the city to grow the iOS developer community. Apple shipped record 2.5 million iPhone units in India during 2016.

Source: 1, 2
Check out the new FoneArena Daily video that gives you a quick roundup of todays technology news.

Apple is said to start assembling iPhone SE in India in coming months. The company will initially assemble 3 to 4 lakh iPhone SE handsets India at a plant that will be set up by Wistron in Bangalore.

Renders of the Zuk Edge 2 Special edition have surfaced which hints at curved display, dual camera setup.

Xiaomi has appointed India head Manu Kumar Jain as Vice President of the company.

WhatsApp is testing Snapchat and Instagram Stories like feature that will let you spice up your status update with photos and videos.

Apple has scheduled its 28th annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) for this year happens from June 5th till June 9th.

Todays Deal Offer on soundbars and home theater systems on Flipkart.
One child was killed and 15 other people were injured in a car bomb attack in the southeastern province of Sanliurfa, the governor said Friday, Anadolu reported.

Sanliurfa Governor Gungor Azim Tuna said that a three-year-old boy was killed in the explosion, which hit near the green area of a housing complex for judges and prosecutors in the provinces Viransehir district.

The blast occurred at 8.45 p.m. local time (1745GMT).

Tuna said that during the evening a young person of about 18-20 years old parked the bomb-laden car near the housing complex.

The terrorist attack was carried out by detonating the bomb-laden car via remote control. The housing complex was severely damaged, Tuna added.

The child who died in the blast was the son of a court clerk, he said.

Tuna said that the injured were not in critical condition and were sent to local hospitals.

Tuna also briefed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the attack, and Erdogan expressed condolences for the victims, and especially for the boy who was killed in the attack, as well as a quick recovery for the injured.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag strongly condemned the attack.

This terrorist attack was carried out against not only the judiciary but also our law, our justice, our nation, and our unity. No terrorist organization or terrorist attack will deter Turkeys fight against terror, Bozdag posted on Twitter.

Bozdag said that Turkeys fight against terrorism would continue.

Over the last year Turkey has suffered a number of attacks from terrorist groups such as Daesh and the PKK. Last July the country also underwent a failed coup, blamed on the Fetullah Terrorist Organization, which martyred 248 people and injured more than 2,200.
Tata Motors and Microsoft India has announced a strategic agreement to improve connected car experience for Indian customers. The company will leverage Microsofts connected vehicle technologies that bring together artificial intelligence (AI), advanced machine learning, and the Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities.

The first vehicle showcasing the vision for these enhanced driving experiences will be unveiled at the 87th Geneva International Motor Show on March 7, 2017. The company also said that the user interface application will be unique. It will offer features such as advanced navigation, predictive maintenance, telematics and remote monitoring features. The partnership will offer features like point-of-interests for restaurants, shopping and route assist tips for driver depending on the location and their profile.

The platform will also provide timely alerts about the health of the car to ensure that it is well maintained and does not break down in the middle of a trip. It will even offer firmware over the air (FOTA) and software over the air (SOTA) updates protocols, key vehicle settings can be updated remotely, over the cloud. These will help cloud based diagnostics and the ability to use insights from vehicle data to prevent warranty and recall issues, and offer new services that improve user experience.

Guenter Butschek, CEO & MD, Tata Motors, said,

With the aim to develop innovative and technologically leading products that excite customers, we at Tata Motors, understand the need for a connected ecosystem that can integrate into the digital lives of customers. We are using Microsofts connected vehicle technologies on Azure intelligent cloud to bring the digital lives of our customers into the cars they drive. Making the most of fast-paced innovation cycle that Microsoft has to offer, we will create a fully connected and seamless driving experience for our customers.

Anant Maheshwari, President, Microsoft India said,

We are excited to partner with Tata Motors as they embark on a new journey of innovation with Microsoft Azure cloud. Using IoT, AI and machine learning technologies, we will provide vehicle owners in India and across the world with a safe, productive and fun driving experience.

Source
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - President Donald Trump promised to boost U.S. manufacturing and punish companies for moving jobs overseas during a visit on Friday to a South Carolina Boeing Co plant to celebrate the unveiling of its latest Dreamliner jet.

The Republican president, who previously feuded with the plane maker over projected costs for the next version of Air Force One, gave a ringing endorsement to the company on Friday and used the event to highlight his pitch to boost homegrown job growth.

"I'm going to do everything I can to unleash the power of the American spirit and to put our great people back to work," Trump told a crowd of workers at the plant, with the presidential aircraft and the new Boeing jet behind him.

"This is our mantra: buy American, and hire American."

Trump repeated his campaign threat that any company that lays off American workers to move to another country will face a "substantial penalty" when trying to sell their products in the United States.

Trump's visit to the Boeing plant in North Charleston was a victory for Boeing, which had faced pointed tweets from Trump over the price tag to build a new Air Force One presidential aircraft fleet.

Trump took a tour of the factory along with Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg, and declared that the company had done "an incredible job."

While Trump praised Boeing during his visit, he also signaled he would keep up pressure on defense companies to cut better deals with the U.S. government.

After delivering his remarks, Trump told reporters that the price for the Air Force One fleet is still "too high, but we're negotiating."

He also said that Boeing's competitor, Lockheed Martin, would have to cut the price of its stealthy F-35 jet or his administration would consider replacing some F-35 orders with Boeing's F/A-18 Hornet jets.

"We're going to save billions and billions of dollars," Trump said. "Most important, we are going to have a great product from both Boeing and Lockheed."

On Thursday, Air Force Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan, who runs the F-35 program for the Pentagon, said the cost of the jet could fall 16 percent to around $80 million in future purchases.

Trump and other U.S. officials have criticized the Pentagon's most expensive program for delays and cost overruns, but the price per jet has steadily declined in recent years as production ramps up.

At the South Carolina plant, Boeing is building the 787-10, the largest of three models of its high-tech, carbon-fiber composite Dreamliner. Production of the other 787s is split with Boeing's factory in Washington state.

Boeing rolled the first 787-10 out of the factory on Thursday. It is due to enter flight testing this year and reach customers in 2018.

Boeing has been pressing to get the 330-seat $306 million plane into production because it is expected to be more profitable than the smallest version. But the company has sold only 149 of the jets, a small fraction of the 1,202 Dreamliners that have been ordered.

(Additional reporting by Alwyn Scott in Seattle and Mike Stone and Ayesha Rascoe in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham)
If confirmed, President Donald Trumps new pick for labor secretary Alexander Acosta will be the first Hispanic in Trumps cabinet.

Shortly after the announcement on Thursday, Acostas hometown Miami Herald newspaper praised Trump's choice in an editorial  pointing to his local, hard-working roots.

Heres the big news for us: Having a labor secretary who knows Miami-Dade can only benefit us. There is no two ways about it. The Cabinet member charged with creating and returning jobs to America  the hallmark of Trumps presidency  grew up in Miami, worked in Miami and was a boss in Miami, the papers editorial board wrote.

Trump announced his new pick a day after his first choice, Andrew Puzder, withdrew his name from consideration. Unlike Puzder, U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Tom Donohue says Acosta should have no problems winning confirmation.

I believe this is an easy confirmation. The attorney has been confirmed three times by the Senate of the United States. He has the distinguished career not only in the Labor Department, but in the Justice Department. He now runs a law school. Hes just the right type of choice, Donohue told FOX Business on Friday.

Acosta, a 1994 graduate of Harvard Law School, has a formidable resume. Currently the dean of Florida International University Law School, he has held several positions in the federal government. He served on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from 2002 to 2003. He also served as an assistant U.S. attorney general in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice under President George W. Bush, and he is a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida.

During his tenure, the South Florida office was known for prosecuting major drug trafficking, terrorism and fraud cases, including obtaining a conviction of super-GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff in the notorious Sun Cruz casino case, according to the Miami Herald.

The son of Cuban immigrants, Acosta spoke out on the topic during a C-SPAN panel discussion in 2012.

Today, we have people journeying here on a little wooden [boat] or rafts made of tires tied together, and theyre coming here for the exact same reason, because they are looking for a home that will be free. That is an experience that so many of us who grew up here in Miami have, he said at the time.

He added the cost of illegal immigration is not simply exclusion and we need to figure out what to do with the illegals who are already living in our nation.

We need them here. They provide construction jobs. They provide agricultural jobs. We need to figure out a way to address that. We need to figure out a way to then have the pathway to further future immigration. If we do not take it all at once, were not [going to] solve it, he said.

Former presidential candidate and Cuban-American Sen. Marco Rubio also cheered Trumps new pick, calling Acosta a phenomenal choice, and adding that he is confident he will impress my colleagues and secure the support necessary to be the next secretary of labor, Rubio said in a statement to the Miami-Herald.

In 2011, Acosta testified at a Senate hearing on protecting the civil rights of Muslims, telling committee members that we are a nation [built] on principles of freedom, and high on the list of freedoms is freedom of religious expression. Indeed, as is well known to this Committee, this freedom pre-dates our Constitution.

He also at the time commended President Bush for reaching out to the Muslim American community, in an effort to bring the country together after the 9/11 terrorist attack.

Our nation is strong because we respond to [attacks] with resolve, he said at the time. History has shown the need, however, for leadership that tempers resolve with wisdom. President George W. Bush understood this, when on September 17, 2001, he visited the Islamic Center of Washington D.C. to remind a resolute nation that those who feel like they can intimidate our fellow citizens to take out their angershould be ashamed of that kind of behavior. This was not the message many Americans wanted to hear at that time, but the president chose to lead, rather than to be led.
Trumps rants, his cabinet and Boeing, heres whats On Our Radar today:

Freedom of the Press

President Trump lambasted the media for over 70 minutes yesterday in his first solo press conference as President of the United States. He tore into the press corps, labeling some organizations as fake news and demanding fair treatment. In regards to Russia, journalists struggled for clarity.

Is the media treating Trump fairly? Watch Varney and Co. at 9am ET.

Fly, Fly Away

Headed to South Carolina, President Trump will be a part of Boeings (NYSE:BA) first 787-10 Dreamliner unveiling. Trump has been critical of Boeing in the past, particularly calling out the exorbitant cost of building Air Force One. Boeings South Carolina plant was also in the news this week after workers voted against unionizing.

Tune in to Cavuto Coast to Coast at 12p ET for Trumps arrival at the event.

Trump's Troubles

Trumps cabinet is crumbling. Labor Secretary pick Andy Puzder backed out after controversy swirled around his past businesses and personal dealings. Trying to fill the role that General Flynn left after his resignation over Russia, Trump chose Retired Vice Adm. Bob Harward, but he turned down the position. Can Trump get his cabinet in order?

Watch Lou Dobbs Tonight for smart insight, 7p ET.
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For reasons similar to those that explain why other watch brands are incorporating carbon composites into their movements, Ulysse Nardin has been placing its bets on the benefits of silicon in watchmaking ever since 2001, when it presented the Freak, the first watch fitted with a silicon escapement. Ten years ago, the brands first Innovision watch presented ten new innovations, all but one of which were based on silicon technology and have since been incorporated into the Ulysse Nardin collection. The Innovision 2, unveiled at SIHH 2017, showcases the state of the art in silicon technology and offers a hint of where the industry could be headed over the next decade.

Here are the 10 innovations that could shape the future of mechanical watchmaking:

1. Dual Constant Escapement

The Dual Constant Escapement is an evolution of the design of the Ulysse Nardin Dual Direct escapement. Based around a highly complicated component made out of one piece of silicon, the Dual Constant Escapement ensures constant force of the impulses on the balance wheel because they are independent of the tension of the mainspring. Two flexible blades incorporated into the escapement bridge (see image below) are alternately pre-tensioned with each vibration of the balance wheel. Each blade then releases its energy rapidly on the next vibration (the two vibrations making up one oscillation), governed by one of the two escape wheels.

2. Direct silicon bonding

DRIE (Deep Reactive Ion Etching) or photolithography is the name of the process used to produce the escapement from silicon. Because plasma is used in this process, the resulting silicon has a hydrophobic surface. The advantage of hydrophobic silicon wafers in direct bonding is that at high temperatures (1000 to 2000 degrees Celsius in this case), a genuine direct silicon-silicon bond is formed, meaning that the two components become one, with the bond having the same cohesive strength as bulk silicon. This is the first time direct silicon bonding has been used in watchmaking.

3. Silicon balance wheel with gold mass elements and stabilizing micro paddles

The key to good balance wheel design (and therefore optimum chronometric precision) is to have the lightest possible mass at the central axis of rotation but nevertheless have a high moment of inertia. This is usually achieved by adding weighs around the circumference of the balance wheel to add mass. Ulysse Nardin takes this to the next level with a design that builds the wheel up from silicon wafers to form a component that weighs just seven milligrams. Four mass elements, in the shape of the Ulysse Nardin logo and anchor, are then added at the four cardinal points on the wheel, each with a gold element that can be adjusted to regulate the moment of inertia.

4. Grinder

Inspired by the world of yacht racing, in which Ulysse Nardin is involved as a partner of Artemis Racing, the grinder is an entirely new design for the self-winding mechanism of the Innovision 2. Like the grinders found on racing yachts, it allows rotational energy (provided by muscle power on a yacht and the winding rotor in a mechanical watch) to be used efficiently, by means of a reduction gear, to wind the mainspring barrel. The innovation of the Grinder is a flexible ring that acts as an interface between the oscillating mass and the winding wheel. Each rotation of the oscillating mass causes one or two of the four ratchets on the intermediate ring to turn the winding wheel directly, with a minimum of play.

5. Sapphire-coated silicon bridge

Ulysse Nardin has long been a pioneer in the treatment of silicon components. Having grown polycrystalline diamond on its silicon components in the past, the brand has now developed, in conjunction with Sigatech and the EPFL in Lausanne, a new means of coating silicon components with a one-micron film of sapphire. The advantages are harder surfaces and greater mechanical stability.

6. 24-carat gold wheels

Gear wheels are usually made of brass, but in the Innovision 2 they are made of 24-carat hard gold. This is done using the photolithographic LIGA process, which creates a more stable structure and reduces friction on the steel pinions compared with brass.

7. Glass bridge with integrated shock protection

Unlike any other shock-absorbing system on the market, the mechanism used in the Innovision 2 is made out of a single piece of glass, with an integrated coil spring. The main advantage is reduced friction, since the five separate elements used in conventional shock absorbers like the Incabloc add extra sources of friction; the monobloc construction of the glass bridge removes them.

8. SuperLuminova filled channels in the glass bridge

This is more an innovation in the manufacturing process than a genuine innovation in the product. The manufacturers of the glass bridge were able incorporate tiny channels within the glass, which have been filled with luminescent material.

9. New time display

Its one of those things that appear so obvious, yet nobody had thought of it until now. Although the day is made up of 24 hours, most watch dials are configured to display just twelve. The Innovision 2 dispenses with this minor annoyance by using a disc on to which two separate scales are printed (1-11 and 13-23). At midday and midnight, the ring shifts the display accordingly over a 15-minute period.

10. Three-dimensional glass minute hand

To complement the innovative glass bridge, Ulysse Nardin uses laser-cut glass for the large minute hand that covers the entire gear train of the movement.

As the innovations in the first Innovision, as well as the developments throughout the course of the Freaks history have shown, you can expect to see many of the above innovations find their way into Ulysee Nardins production models over the coming years.
A number of very good investors have started to share their concerns about the interplay between politics and the stock market.

Enter Ray Dalio

One such investor is Ray Dalio, the chairman and CEO of Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund.

Dalio originally thought that the new presidential administration's pro-business tilt would outweigh any downside from its populist policies, such as a border adjustment tax that could weigh on global growth. But now he's not so sure.

"We are now in a period of time when how this balance tilts will be more important to the economy, markets, and our well-beings than normally dominant drivers such as central bank policies," Dalio wrote in a recent note to clients.

Cash may come in handy this year if investors' expectations aren't met by policymakers in Washington, D.C. Image source: Getty Images.

Enter Seth Klarman

Another high-profile investor who has waded into this space is Seth Klarman, the founder and CEO of Baupost Group, a hedge fund with $30 billion in assets under management.

Klarman is the "most successful and influential investor you have probably never heard of,"wrote Andrew Ross Sorkin in a recent piece on the 59-year-old billionaire. Klarman's writings are so coveted on Wall Street, Sorkin goes on to point out, that a used copy of his book from several decades ago starts at nearly $800 on Amazon.

Klarman is also, it's worth pointing out, neither prone to hyperbole nor someone who seeks out the spotlight. This is why his latest letter to the investors in his fund has attracted so much attention.He claims in the letter that stock valuations are "perilously high," thanks to the surge in the market following the presidential election. "Exuberant investors have focused on the potential benefits of stimulative tax cuts, while mostly ignoring the risks from America-first protectionism and the erection of new trade barriers," Klarman notes.

"The big picture for investors is this: Trump is high volatility, and investors generally abhor volatility and shun uncertainty," says Klarman. "Not only is Trump shockingly unpredictable, he's apparently deliberately so; he says it's part of his plan."

Now, let's be clear: Even though Klarman is among the world's greatest investors, he doesn't have a monopoly on predicting the future. He has, after all, lost money in three out of the past 34 years. That's a pretty darn good record, but it isn't perfect.

That being said, as one surveys the current landscape, it's hard to find fault with Klarman's and Dalio's assessments.

When expectations meet reality

What's critical to appreciate right now is that stocks soared in the wake of the presidential election on the expectation that Trump's team would be able to push through corporate tax cuts, deregulate a wide swath of industries, and stimulate the economy with a $1 trillion infrastructure plan.

The problem now, however, is that these expectations are starting to run into reality, which could cause expectations to deflate as rapidly as they've inflated over the past few months.

^SPX data by YCharts.

Let's start with the infrastructure plan. This is exactly what the United States needs right now. It would not only help to modernize bridges, dams, roads, and airports, but it would also spur the economy.But the catch is that investing $1 trillion into infrastructure would only benefit the economy if we borrowed to do so. This is the essence of Keynesianism.

The issue for Trump will be getting Republicans on board with this. Most importantly, he will need to get the House Freedom Caucus and other fiscal conservatives to agree to a plan that would meaningfully ratchet up the federal debt, which seems unlikely.

Just this past week, Republican representatives said that any conversation about infrastructure spending, including on a border wall with Mexico, must be offset by spending cuts elsewhere. Aside from the challenge of finding other places to cut spending, this would neutralize the stimulative effect of deficit financing.

And while Democrats originally appeared willing to support a bipartisan deficit-financed infrastructure plan, the window of opportunity for the parties to agree on anything of this sort appears to be rapidly closing.

On top of this, it doesn't seem unreasonable to suspect that consumer and investor sentiment, which shot up following the election, could falter if the unease and uncertainty filtering out of Washington, D.C., doesn't abate. And the same thing could happen to business investment, a critical component of economic growth.

It's this "exceptional uncertainty" that led Dalio to recommend against making concentrated illiquid bets in favor of owning easy-to-sell assets.

Are Dalio and Klarman onto something?

Just to reiterate, neither Klarman nor Dalio can see the future any better than you or I can. At the same time, their opinions are worth considering -- after all, they are among the most successful stock market operators of the past half century.

It's for these reasons, then, coupled with my own observations and feelings toward the towering heights of the stock market, that have led me to believe that cash will be king in 2017.

There's a limit to how much higher stocks can go, with the market already at a historic high. And if expectations begin to falter, causing stocks to respond in kind, you'll want to have cash on hand to take advantage of any values that might emerge from a correction.

That's my plan.

10 stocks we like better thanWal-MartWhen investing geniuses David and TomGardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter theyhave run for over a decade, the Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

David and Tomjust revealed what they believe are theten best stocksfor investors to buy right now... and Wal-Mart wasn't one of them! That's right -- theythink these 10 stocks are even better buys.

Click hereto learn about these picks!

*StockAdvisor returns as of December 12, 2016The author(s) may have a position in any stocks mentioned.

John Maxfield has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Image source: Getty Images.

Back in the early '80s, U.S. investors loved taking advantage of a loophole in the tax laws related to foreign mutual funds. They could invest in these funds tax-free, and the funds themselves were never taxed by the U.S. because they were foreign entities. But the party ended with the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Today, U.S. taxpayers investing in foreign mutual funds are in for a world of hurt.

If you choose to buy shares in, say, a British mutual fund, you will be placed by default in the "excess distribution regime." Under this regime, investors aren't taxed until the mutual fund makes an excess distribution (for example, when you sell the shares). At that time, you pay tax at your marginal income tax rate (not your capital gains tax rate), allocate your gains and dividends over the entire period during which you held the shares, and then pay interest on those gains. Your tax rate on the investment could be as high as 50% -- or even higher.

The good news is that the excess distribution regime is not the only option for investors in foreign mutual funds. You can elect to use the QEF, or qualified electing fund, tax scheme instead. Under this system, instead of waiting for an excess distribution to pay tax, you'd pay tax on a pro-rata basis. Income you receive from the fund is taxed as ordinary income, while gains are taxed under the capital gains rate. In other words, QEF is very close to the tax outcome you'd have with a domestic mutual fund.

The bad news? You have to make the QEF choice during the first year in which you own shares in the fund. If you miss that window of opportunity, you're stuck with the excess distribution regime. And in order to elect QEF treatment, you must receive a signed annual information statement from the fund each and every year.

If the fund refuses to send you the required statement, there's a plan B you can fall back on: use the mark-to-market (MTM) rules instead. This system isn't as good as the QEF one from the taxpayer's perspective, but it's better than the default regime. Under mark-to-market, you pay taxes on your gains at the end of every year at ordinary income tax rates, whether or not you sell the shares. But guess what? As with QEF, you have to elect mark-to-market treatment during the first year.

If you missed the first-year election window for either option, there is a ray of hope. You can use what's called a purging election to switch over to the QEF or MTM rules as of the current year. You'll still be stuck paying excess distribution taxes on the past years' gains, but at least you'll be in a much better tax situation for the future.

The purging election works like a kind of fake sale. In the eyes of the IRS, you're selling your shares and paying the relevant taxes using the excess distribution rules, then immediately buying the exact same shares and making a QEF or MTM election on the investment. You make a purging election by filling out and turning in Form 8621 to the IRS.

In the above scenario, where you own shares in a foreign mutual fund and are late electing a new tax scheme, you can elect QEF by checking the "Election To Treat the PFIC as a QEF" and the "Deemed Sale Election" checkboxes in Part II of the form. If you're making a mark-to-market election, check the "Election To Mark-to-Market PFIC Stock" box instead of the "Election To Treat the PFIC as a QEF" box. Form 8621 is quite lengthy and complex, so it's best to hire a tax professional to fill it out. After all, you don't want to dig yourself into a whole new tax catastrophe while trying to get out of the last one.

The $15,834 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $15,834 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after.Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies.

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U.S. investors have a new pure-play opportunity in China's restaurant industry.

Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell parent companyYum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) recently divested its Chinese business from the rest of its sprawling global enterprise. The new company, Yum China (NYSE: YUMC), became an independent publicly traded company on Nov. 1, 2016. Here are three points for investors to consider regarding this international business.

Image source: Yum China.

Yum China is huge

A few years ago, Yum Brands' operations in the world's most populous country had grown to represent half of its total revenue. Chinese diners loved the company's KFC and Pizza Hut chains, so much so that they became the largest ones in China's large restaurant industry.

The newly formed Yum China still holds that title, with over 7,500 restaurants in operation. While Yum Brands will continue to control the rest of the world, Yum China owns exclusive rights to KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell in its home country. It has over 5,000 KFC and nearly 2,000 Pizza Hut locations, with the balance made up of other chains like the wholly-owned East Dawning fast-food and Little Sheep Mongolian hot pot brands.

Opportunities in China keep on coming

With 1.4 billion people and the second largest economy behind the U.S., about 60% of the population lives in urban areas, where Yum China has chosen to locate its restaurants. At last report, the company operated in over 1,100 cities across the country.

Image source: Yum China.

Operating in densely populated urban centers has helped Yum broaden its reach, and those markets are getting larger. In the next five years, China's urban population is expected to grow by another 75 million people, bringing more people into contact with its popular brands.

China's middle class is also growing. While cities expand, transportation hubs like airports, train stations, and bus routes are set to double in number, and 1,200 more shopping malls are slated to be opened. All of those developments help increase the number of potential diners at Yum China's restaurants.

Growth is in the air

Yum is celebrating its 30thanniversary in China this year, and the company isn't content with its current footprint in the country. Now that Yum China is free to operate on its own, a big expansion is planned over the next few years.

As the aforementioned transportation hubs and shopping malls get built, the company is planning to put a new restaurant in each one, and the growing cities will also get new stores as needed. This plan is already in motion, as 575 new locations cut ribbons in 2016, an 8% increase in the company's store footprint. Taco Bell is also just getting started, with the first location opening in Shanghai.

The company is also looking to pursue growth in existing stores and through delivery -- 75% of restaurants have been remodeled within the last five years, and Yum China celebrated independence with new digital marketing campaigns featuring Chinese celebrity endorsers and popular cartoon characters like Kung Fu Panda.

Signs of life for Yum China

These encouraging developments come after Yum! Brands had seen growth stall in the region. A food scare several years ago gave the brands a black eye, and same-store sales were in full retreat.

Now separated from its former parent company, Yum China has more flexibility to make fast, strategic decisions tailored to its local market. Revenue grew 5% year-over-year in 2016, and same-store sales increased 3% at KFC and were flat across all chains.

While much work remains to be done, the company is showing early signs of progress. For investors interested in the restaurant industry, this one is worth keeping an eye on.

10 stocks we like better than Yum China Holdings, Inc.When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now...and Yum China Holdings, Inc. wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.

Click here to learn about these picks!

*Stock Advisor returns as of February 6, 2017.

Nicholas Rossolillo has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
There are many different choices out there when it comes to saving for retirement, and it can be tricky to know which avenue to pursue. You might, in fact, be thinking about joining the 33% of Americans who already have an IRA. To see whether an IRA is right for you, ask yourself these three questions.

1. Do I enjoy getting tax breaks?

You don't need to save for the future with a dedicated retirement account, but if you're looking to get a tax break in the process, then it pays to consider an IRA. Traditional IRAs are funded with pre-tax dollars, so there's an immediate tax benefit to contributing. Roth IRAs, on the other hand, are funded with after-tax dollars, but whereas traditional IRA distributions are taxed in retirement, Roth withdrawals are not.

IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.

Both IRA types, however, offer the benefit of tax-deferred growth on your investments, which means that when you make money year after year, you won't have to worry about losing a portion to taxes along the way. If you have a traditional IRA, you'll simply pay taxes on whatever eventual sum you withdraw, and if you have a Roth, you'll never pay taxes on your investment gains.

When you consider the alternative -- saving in a regular brokerage account and paying taxes every year as your investments make money -- an IRA seems like a no-brainer. And while traditional IRAs are more restrictive than standard brokerage accounts (you'll face penalties for withdrawing funds prior to age 59-1/2), those rules might prevent you from prematurely tapping those funds, which is actually a good thing for your retirement.

2. Do I have the option to participate in a 401(k)?

Employer-sponsored 401(k) plans aren't necessarily better than IRAs, but they offer a couple of key benefits. First, the annual contribution limits are significantly higher than those of an IRA. Currently, workers under 50 can put up to $18,000 into a 401(k), while those 50 and older get a $6,000 catch-up that raises this limit to $24,000. The current IRA limits, meanwhile, are $5,500 for workers under 50 and $6,500 for those 50 and older.

Now for workers who don't have much money to save, these limits aren't restrictive at all. But if you're hoping to save more, you may feel constrained with an IRA.

Another advantage of 401(k)s is that many come with employer matching incentives. It's estimated that 92% of companies offering a 401(k) plan also match employee contributions to a certain degree. While not all participants contribute enough to fully capitalize on this perk, if you're a strong saver who's likely to snag a match, then it pays to prioritize your 401(k) over an IRA.

That said, not everyone gets the option to participate in a 401(k). A good 41% of Americans don't have access to employer-sponsored plans. Furthermore, 401(k)s have their drawbacks, like high fees and limited investment choices.

If you have more than $5,500 ($6,500 if you're 50 or older) to save for retirement each year and your company offers a generous match, then it pays to go with a 401(k). But if you're not worried about hitting those contribution limits and aren't being offered a match, then an IRA might be your best bet -- especially if you're eligible for a Roth, which comes with its own unique tax benefits.

Also keep in mind that it's possible to contribute to an IRA in addition to a 401(k). The only catch is that you may be not eligible for the immediate tax savings involved (though you'll still get that tax-deferred growth).

3. Do I want a comfortable retirement?

For most people, the answer to this question is obvious. The way to get there, however, isn't as clear. Many people mistakenly think that if they stick a bit of money in a savings account here and there, it'll somehow magically accumulate over time and grow into a large enough sum to live off. In reality, the only way to grow a relatively small amount of money into a relatively large sum is to invest it wisely and tax-efficiently. And that's where IRAs come in.

IRAs are known to offer a wide range of investment choices, and if you stick to a stock-heavy strategy, you can bring in an average yearly return of 7% or even more. And, because you won't be paying taxes on your gains along the way, you'll get to reinvent them year after year, thus adding to your total.

To get a sense of how an IRA can help you build your nest egg, imagine you're looking to contribute $300 every month over a period of 30 years. If your investments generate an average annual 7% return, you'll have a grand total of $340,000.

Now let's compare that to a regular old savings account paying 1% interest. Heck, let's even be optimistic and say that over the course of 30 years, that account will give you an average annual 2.5% return. At the end of the day, you'd be looking at $158,000 if you were to take taxes out of the equation. But because you'd pay taxes on your interest income along the way, in reality, you'd have much less.

If your goal is to seamlessly accumulate enough wealth to sustain yourself in retirement, then an IRA is a good bet. Whether you're new to the workforce or a seasoned member thereof, it pays to explore your options for opening an IRA as soon as you possibly can. The more time you give your money to grow, the more financial flexibility you'll have down the road.

The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $16,122 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after.Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies.

The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Last year was a truly transformational one for TransCanada (NYSE: TRP). The North American pipeline giant completed a major acquisition and a slew of expansion projects, which fueled double-digit earnings growth, enabling the company to boost its dividend 10.6%. There's plenty more growth in the pipeline, which has TransCanada expecting to continue producing robust dividend growth for the next several years.

Drilling down into the numbers

TransCanada ended 2016 with a bang, delivering a 24% year-over-year increase in fourth-quarter EBITDA, which pushed its full-year earnings up 12% compared to 2015. That's despite weaker earnings from two of the company's core segments. Instead, the company more than made up for that weakness thanks to robust growth elsewhere:

Data source: TransCanada. Chart by author. In millions of Canadian dollars.

As that chart shows, the star of the quarter was the company's U.S. natural gas pipeline segment. Earnings nearly doubled due primarily to the acquisition of Columbia Pipeline Group. In addition to that, the company also benefited from higher rates on its ANR system. Meanwhile, earnings in the Mexico gas pipeline segment more than doubled thanks to contributions from the recently completed Topolobampo and Mazatlan pipelines. Finally, energy earnings edged up thanks to higher realized prices on volumes in its western Canadian power assets and higher earnings from natural gas storage. That said, TransCanada is in the process of selling its U.S. Northeast power assets, which will cause energy profitability to decline in 2017.

The strong results across those three segments helped TransCanada more than offset weakness in its Canadian natural gas pipeline segment, which has been under pressure due to rising output from U.S. shale plays. The company has been trying to entice leading Canadian gas producers Encana (NYSE: ECA) and Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE: CNQ) to sign up for more capacity on its mainline system by offering a significant reduction in tolls. However, neither Encana nor Canadian Natural Resources have been willing to commit to the volumes because the tolls are still not cheap enough to make Canadian gas competitive with U.S. shale plays.

In addition to the struggles within its legacy Canadian gas pipeline business, TransCanada's liquids pipelines were also under pressure last quarter. That's after the company experienced lower volumes on its Marketlink pipeline, which more than offset higher volumes on its Keystone pipeline.

Image source: TransCanada.

What management said

In commenting on the results, CEO Russ Girling said that,

As Girling notes, last year was truly the company's best from an operational and financial standpoint, despite the weakness in its Canadian gas and liquids pipelines segments. Thanks to its strategic initiatives, the company generated double-digit earnings growth and pushed cash flow up to a new record.

However, as good as last year was, the best is still yet to come according to Girling because last year,

The Columbia transaction alone was a game-changer for the company because it added a slew of growth projects to its pipeline. Overall, the company expects to invest $7.1 billion over the next several years to expand that system, with $2.3 billion of those investments entering service this year, which should fuel incremental cash flow. In addition to that, the company has another $2.5 billion of projects in Mexico under construction that should be in service by the end of next year. Once complete, these pipelines will boost its annual EBITDA from that country to $575 million. Finally, the company has several projects under construction in its NGTL gas pipeline system in western Canada, which should reverse that segment's earnings decline. Overall, it plans to invest CA$5.4 billion in the system through 2020, though CA$1.6 billion of those projects should enter service and start generating cash flow this year. That clearly visible near-term growth has Girling confident that the company can deliver close to 10% annual dividend growth through 2020.

Investor takeaway

TransCanada capped a transformational year by delivering excellent fourth-quarter results. The company's growth strategy to focus on the U.S. and Mexico gas markets is really paying off, enabling the company to more than offset weakness in its home country. Further, with a boatload of projects under way, the company has complete confidence that it can continue to deliver robust dividend growth for the foreseeable future.

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Matt DiLallo has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
A food fight might be brewing on Wall Street.

Unilever (NYSE:UN), whose large U.S. brands include Lipton iced tea, Dove soap and Ben & Jerrys ice cream, roundly rejected a proposed $143 billion takeover approach on Friday made by Warren Buffett-backed Kraft Heinz (NYSE:KHC), saying the deal fundamentally undervalues the company.

Unilever rejected the proposal as it sees no merit, either financial or strategic, for Unilevers shareholders. Unilever does not see the basis for any further discussions, the company said in a statement.

Despite the firm stance, it appears Kraft Heinz isnt backing down.

The maker of Velveeta cheese, Heinz ketchup, Kool-Aid, Cool Whip and Oscar Mayer meats, said it look[s] forward to working to reach [an] agreement on the terms of a transaction, though it added theres no certainty another formal proposal will be made. A combination of the two companies would bring together some of the most well-known consumer brands in the world, and would be the second-largest transaction on record, surpassing 2015s mega merger between beer giants SAB Miller and Anheuser Busch (NYSE:BUD), according to data from Dealogic.

The main benefits from such a deal would be major cost reduction as head offices and regional management could be merged. There would also be some purchasing benefits from increased buying power, said John Colley, a Professor of Practice at Warwick Business School.

Still, he said any possible marriage hinges on how much Kraft Heinz is willing to pay, whether benefits of such a transaction will be passed along to shareholders (who will have to approve the deal), and how regulatory bodies would view a combined companys sizable market power.

Whats more, a merger of the two brands could prove to be cumbersome. In that respect, Stifel analyst Christopher Growe called the possible acquisition sloppy.

We dont see the logic or the opportunity around this transaction, at least in relation to a large-scale packaged food company, Growe said in a note. Kraft Heinz prize scale and operating efficiency and given Unilevers varied brands, categories, and assets, this just seems to be a difficult business to integrate and manage, he explained while also noting Unilevers emerging markets business is an attractive hook for Kraft Heinz.

Despite Unilever's rebuff of the initial bid, the company's shares, along with those of Kraft Heinz, jumped to new highs on optimism a deal with ultimately come together. Stock moves were not so positive for other major food-industry companies including Mondelez (NASDAQ:MDLZ), General Mills (NYSE:GIS), Kellogg (NYSE:K) and Campbells Soup Company (NYSE:CPB).

Ticker Security Last Change Change % KHC THE KRAFT HEINZ CO. 38.02 +0.03 +0.08% UN n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. MDLZ MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL INC. 63.22 +1.22 +1.97% GIS GENERAL MILLS INC. 79.06 +0.15 +0.19% K KELLOGG CO. 69.85 +0.32 +0.46% CPB CAMPBELL SOUP CO. 50.83 -0.40 -0.78%

Appetite for Deals

Growe said Oreo-cookie maker Mondelez has been eyed as a possible takeover target for Kraft Heinz, and that was likely a key factor biting the food group overall in early trade.

While this potential transaction does not count out a future acquisition of these businesses, it certainly delays the potential at least a couple years, he said.

While a Mondelez-related buy might be on the back burner for now, the deal-making environment overall is still ripe, EY Capital Advisors LLC Global Consumer Group Head Steve Potter said. For proof, he pointed to a low-rate environment that gives firms easier access to borrowed capital, and mounting pressure on consumer companies that are finding it difficult to grow their top and bottom lines as consumers crave cheaper, easier-to-access products.

Were in an M&A environment thats very attractive and companies will be very aggressive, he said.

Large, public U.S. companies have about $3 trillion of firepower ready to deploy, according to an EY 2017 deals report that forecasts megadeals will not only continue, but become more complex to meet lofty valuations and stiff regulatory requirements. Deal values dropped more than 18% in 2016, but EY sees that trend somewhat reversing this year as sellers understand buyers will need to transact in order to survive the challenging climate.

Intense competition for premium assets has become the normhigher valuations are leaving buyers no room for error, the report said while also noting potential acquirers will leverage big data and analytics tools to better understand their targets and gauge the success of any potential tie up.

Shareholders have been very understanding and supportive of transactions that arent necessarily accretive because theyre willing to balance that potential for future growth, Potter said
After 158 years, the magic at Macys (M) is on short supply.

The storied retailer has seen seven-straight quarters of falling sales at its stores open at least a year, while overall sales growth has declined for the better part of two years.

Earlier this month, Macys was approached by Canadian department-store operator Hudsons Bay  which already owns Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor  about a possible takeover, according to the Wall Street Journal. The paper reported talks between the two companies were preliminary, and could involve other alternatives like an acquisition of Macys valuable real estate, including its 34thStreet flagship in New York City -- which reportedly is worth at least $3 billion.

Macys is already in the process of closing 100 stores and selling the real estate from locations in San Francisco, Portland and Minneapolis. Now may be the best time for the Cincinnati-based retail giant to consider selling off more of its real estate, said Jan Rogers Kniffen, retail-industry veteran and CEO of consulting firm J. Rogers Kniffen Worldwide Enterprises.

Rates are low, real-estate values are really high. Its hard to imagine the real-estate value to Macys is ever going to be higher, he said, explaining that as the broader sales trend moves online a company like Macys doesnt need to operate in large-footprint stores.

In a 2016 presentation, activist investor Starboard Value encouraged Macys to separate its real estate assets, which it estimated would be valued at upwards of $21 billion. For comparison, the companys current market value is $9.86 billion.

Macys needs to close unproductive stores, continue to be aggressive online, and make sure the customer has a full range of services like buy-online-pick-up-in-store, Kniffen said. But what we dont know is if thats enough. Its clear the return on investment on those strategies arent as good as when you were a traditional brick-and-mortar store.

Speculation of a deal with Hudsons Bay has sent Macys shares up nearly 6.5%, and Wall Street is anxiously awaiting any updates alongside the companys fourth-quarter earnings results due out Tuesday before the opening bell. Wall Street is anticipating full-year profits of $3.08 with fourth-quarter earnings of $1.95 a share on sales of $8.63 billion. U.S. markets will be closed Monday in observance of the Presidents' Day holiday.

After same-store sales dropped 2.1% in the all-important November-December holiday period, Macys, in January, warned investors it expects full-year 2016 sales to come in at the low end of its guidance for a 2.5% to 3% decline. The company also expects profits per share in a range of $2.95 to $3.10, below its previous guidance.

CEO Terry Lundgren, who will transition out of his role by the end of March and stay on as executive chairman, said the company had expected a stronger performance over the holiday season, and that the results reflected broader challenges facing much of the retail industry.

Macys needs to close unproductive stores, continue to be aggressive online, and make sure the customer has a full range of services." - Jan Rogers Kniffen

Indeed, Macys has found itself in an increasingly uphill battle as it continues to lose market share to e-commerce giants like Amazon (AMZN) that can be more nimble when responding to quick changes in consumer trends. While the 2016 holiday season was merry for Americas retailers, data from Slice Intelligence showed Amazon dominated as it took nearly 40% of e-commerce sales. Macys, by comparison, held 2.7% of online sales, according to the data.

Though the bulk of Macys business is done within its physical stores, in an effort to appeal to younger shoppers who prefer to shop online, the company has invested in its customer data and analytics team to better target relevant shoppers, while also refocusing its strategy on e-commerce capabilities and better customer experiences like mobile shopping platforms, and the option to buy products online and pick them up in store.

When it comes to appealing to the younger generations who live and shop online, traditional retail just simply needs to adapt, said Kate Newlin, brand strategist at Newlin Consulting. Pointing to the shopping habits of her own teenage daughter, she explained that while the shop online, pick up in store models may sound like a good transition to a younger audience, its not good enough.

If old brands are going to survive in a bricks-and-mortar playing field, in-store retailing needs to be reimagined from the ground up. Newlin described Macys current situation as supervised neglect of a once fabulous brand.

The operating thesis of retail over the last couple of decades is the market migrates to price. If you can get the Ralph Lauren shirt for $9.99, people will get to the storenow I think were moving into the era that the market migrates to convenience, and thats very tough to do with real estate.[brands] need to be tinier and positioned everywhere or offer on-the-go options to really compete, Newlin said.
House Republicans are urgently formulating a plan to overhaul the tax code, a promise President Trump made during his time on the campaign trail.

In an exclusive interview on FOX Business After the Bell, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) discussed the timing behind tax reform.

Tax reform I thinkobviously 2017 is the answer, but most of us are working very hard to make sure this is done this summer, Brady said, adding that a decision hasnt been made on whether it would be retroactive to January 1.

Additionally, Brady said its important to get money into peoples pockets and to American businesses, in an effort to stimulate the U.S. economy.

More on this... Rep. Brady on repealing Obamacare

Our tax code shafts the American worker and its the reason our companies have been leaving our communities, he said.

Brady explained that House Republicans are proposing an equal, low business rate of 20 percent to products consumed in the United States, to match competitors and keep businesses from going overseas.

It is an issue of equal taxation and under our plan, for the first time, there are not tax breaks for foreign products over made-in-America products and were going to lift our taxes off made-in-America products so they can compete around the world on a level playing field. This is how our competitors beat the heck out of our workers and businesses. Were not going to let that continue, he said.
Watches are not rocket science. Or are they? Watches are not rocket...

Perhaps you dont have a PhD. Well, thats a shame, because with some watches, youll need one to understand how to tell the time. Perhaps you dont have a PhD. Well,...
President Trump visited Boeings (NYSE:BA) North Charleston, S.C. campus on Friday for the reveal of its new 787-10 Dreamliner, the largest in the 787 family.

While addressing a group of Boeing workers, the President reiterated his commitment to American workers and to creating more jobs.

I campaigned on the promise to do everything in my power to bring jobs back to America. We want to make it much easier to manufacture in our country, and much harder to leave," he said.

The Presidents visit came two days after workers at the South Carolina plant voted to reject union representation. During the election, Trump handily won the strongly anti-union state, with only 1.6% of Palmetto State workers claiming union membership, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The North Charleston plant, which opened in November 2011, is the final assembly site and delivery facility for the 787 Dreamliner. The campus sprawls 743 acres and employs 7,565 workers. As of January 2017, Boeing employed more than 120,000 Americans across nine states.

Boeing has invested more than $2 billion cumulatively in its South Carolina plant, which is the exclusive building site for the 787-10 aircraft. It also spends $355 million each year and uses hundreds of the states local suppliers and vendors, according to the company.

The new jetliner is 224 feet long and can hold 330 passengers; that is an extra 18 feet in length and 40 more seats more than the 787-9. Its maximum cruising speed is Mach 0.85, consistent with the two previous models. The maximum range of the 787-10 is 6,400 nautical miles. The aerospace defense companys newest jetliner is 15 percent more fuel efficient than its competitors, according to the company.

The South Carolina factory is also the aircraft providers first 100% renewable energy site, with up to 20% of its energy supplied by solar panels, according to Boeings website.

The first delivery of the aircraft is scheduled to take place in 2018 to Singapore Airlines. Currently there are 149 orders for the newest 787 model from customers including British Airways, Air France and United Airlines (NYSE:UAL).

Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2016

Following Fridays big reveal, Boeing says the jetliner will be prepared for flight testing.

Since taking office, Trump has publicly criticized Boeing, calling the company out in December for the high cost of its newest iteration of the Air Force One jet.

Since sending the tweet, the president has met with Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg multiple times to discuss the requirements for Air Force One.
This should be the biggest Ferrari F430 sale of the year. So big in fact that some might say its yuuuuge. Although F430s arent common, even a cursory online search reveals that they are available, if not cheap. But this example, coincidentally being auctioned on April 1, 2017, by Auctions America at their Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) sale, was purchased and titled new in 2007 by our recently inaugurated 45th president, Donald Trump.

The Auctions America low pre-sale estimate is $250,000, which represents a roughly 30 percent premium over an average Ferrari F430. That expected premium is largely due to Trumps celebrity and new political status, and to a lesser degree the cars low mileage.

While the Rosso Corsa (Racing Red) Ferrari was sold to a new owner in 2011, the car will be auctioned along with a copy of its original title including President Trumps Trump Tower, New York address and his distinctive, bold signature. According to Auctions America, President Trump owned the car for a little over four years during which time the car accrued a little over 2,400 miles. It currently shows fewer than 6,000 miles and is equipped with a 4.3-liter V-8 and semi-automatic F1 transmission. Besides its relatively low mileage, we wonder if President Trump's ownership justifies the aforementioned premium.

MORE CLASSIC CAR STORIES FROM HAGERTY

This sale does present both car and presidential history enthusiasts with a unique opportunity to own, enjoy  and hopefully use  a supercar once owned by a president. And it is a unique opportunity as most memorabilia doesnt have a horsepower rating: To see a former or current Presidents personal vehicle offered for sale is extremely rare. Furthermore, as befits Trumps larger-than-life persona, most chiefs of state never owned a car that makes 490 hp.

So were curiously watching and wondering if this Ferrari, with its Chief Executive-provenance, will bring that 30 percent premium. Do you think it will?

TRUMP'S GLORIOUS 1988 CADILLAC LIMOUSINES MAY BE AUCTIONED
This Monday, Feb. 20, is Presidents Day and while many Americans may just be excited for the day off, some restaurants and bars are gearing up to celebrate the holiday with clever drinks and themed foods.

Whether you want to go on a POTUS-themed pubcrawl or want to create a cool cocktail at home, here are a few themed menus and events to help you get into a presidential groove this weekend.

Presidential Cocktails in Boston

Boston's Lions Tail bar has come up with a series of concoctions themed after former U.S. presidents. Available Feb. 20 through the end of the week, these four drinks will put some pep in your step.

WATCH BASKETBALL LEGEND SHAQ DUNK WITHOUT HANDS

The John F. Kennedy mixes Privateer silver rum, luxardo maraschino, fresh lime and grape juice. Theres also a Mint Julep (with Bulleit Bourbon, sugar and mint) for Teddy Roosevelt; a Porter & Rye for founding father George Washington; a Bermuda Rum Swizzle for Franklin Roosevelt (which mixes both light and dark rums) and a clasic Old-Fashioned for Harry Truman.

The latter drink incorporates 100 proof Old Grand-Dad Bonded Bourbon, demerara sugar, orange and angostura bitters.

Presidential Pubcrawl in Peeksill

On Feb. 18, Peeksill, N.Y. is holding a "Drinkin with Lincoln" pub crawl.

According to lohud, events will include a wreath laying ceremony furnished with an honor guard of Civil War-era re-enactors, a re-enactment of Abraham Lincolns speech to the citizens of Peekskill and, of course, the pub crawl itself which features discounted drink and lunch specials.

Live like Lincoln

Foodies can also celebrate Honest Abe without the booze. In Pennsylvania, Mercer Museum guests can enjoy a special tour this weekend and get a taste of Lincolns life.

On President's Day, visitors can join food historian Susan McLellan Plaisted as she gives an overview of the foods eaten by Lincoln, his friends and family. Then, partake in a culinary tour in the museums logs house-- an homage to Lincoln's humble childhood home.

But dont expect any modern American favorites food.

Lincoln reportedly grew up eating items like pigeon, bear and deer.

Plaisted will prepare and discuss some of the ingredients during the special event, which is included with the museum admission cost.

Pizzeria Paradisos Barleywine Festival in the nation's capital

Pizzeria Paradiso is one of Washington's most popular pizzerias.

So, why not celebrate Presidents Day with pizza and beer in the nations capital?

The restaurant will be holding its bi-annual Barleywine Festival starting at 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 20.

With locations in Dupont Circle, Georgetown and Alexandria, the restaurant will serve five separate barleywines tapped at each location.

FOR THE LATEST FOOD FEATURES FOLLOW FOX LIFESTYLE ON FACEBOOK

Or, guests can imbibe a Presidential Flight of all five.

Selections will include Flying Dog, JW Lees, a 2013 Bells Wheat Love and a 2015 Uinta Anniversary Barleywine.

Eat (and drink) like POTUS at home

For the patriot who just wants to stay in this weekend, there are plenty of ways to get into the presidential spirit in your very own kitchen.

According to the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, fans of the first U.S. president can celebrate his birthday by baking a Great Cake-- a dessert popular in Washingtons time.

Can't get enough of that classic cherry flavor? Washington reportedly preferred cherry bounce, a brandy-based drink that can be made at home-- but is more easily found at your local liquor store.
After a recent spate of Girl Scout robberies, one California trooper has a happy ending to her ordeal.

Harshita Phardwaj, a 12-year-old scout from Union, Calif. was selling cookies at a booth outside of a Safeway grocery store when she was robbed at gunpoint on Feb. 8.

After the incident, Phardwaj's chapter was reportedly very shaken.

"They are very emotional," Heather Berlew-Hayden of the Girl Scouts of Northern California told KGO. "Very concerned about the safety of other people doing this."

A NEW TYPE OF GIRL SCOUT COOKIE IS FINALLY HERE

The teenage suspect allegedly approached the young cookier seller and her mother, who was watching her, and asked about buying cookies before leaving. A short time later, he returned, brandishing a handgun and demanded cash from the scout's mother before fleeing the scene, according to Union City Patch.

Phardwaj and her mother went unharmed but the thief made off with all the money the scout had earned that night.

Girl Scout robbed at gunpoint, police say https://t.co/XMPl1WVmZx pic.twitter.com/ExjjZ3qtlr  FOX 32 News (@fox32news) February 11, 2017

While investigating the incident, the Union City police department decided to do more than just seek out the suspect. They decided to cover the lost funds by donating money and buying Phardwaj's remaining cookie supply. In all, the police raised about $1,000 for the local troop.

"At that time, we did what we could to make it, loving and compassionate and healing," said Union City officer Lisa Gratez.

FOR THE LATEST FOOD FEATURES FOLLOW FOX LIFESTYLE ON FACEBOOK

With Girl Scouts out in full force, there was yet another robbery this week.

On Wednesday, three thieves stole $200 worth of Girl Scout cookie sales outside a King Soopers store in Denver, according to ABC 7 Denver.

The store has since announced that they will be reimbursing the local troop for the stolen cookie funds.

Burlew-Hayden is advising scouts across the country to remain vigilant while selling cookies.
Kentucky residents may want to avoid opening their own stock of Pappy Van Winkle bottles because the bar down the road might pay big bucks for it.

On Wednesday, a Kentucky House Committee cleared legislation that would give restaurants and bars the right to purchase unopened, privately-owned bottles of rare liquor.

Its an attractive proposition for restaurateurs and bar owners because under the new law, they would be getting their hands on something current liquor distributors may not be able to provide. It would also allow them to bolster their menus with brand-new cocktails featuring the vintage liquors, a growing trend across the country.

Liquor collectors, too, would be allowed to sell their spirits directly to drinking and eating establishments, rather than resorting to online sales or the black market.

FOR THE LATEST FOOD & DRINK FEATURES, FOLLOW FOX NEWS LIFESTYLE ON FACEBOOK

On Wednesday, Eric Gregory, the president of the Kentucky Distillers Association, said he believes there are more vintage bourbons in Kentuckians liquor cabinets than anyplace else in the world."

"It just stands to reason, because we are the birthplace of bourbon and we have been producing the great majority of the world's bourbon for now over 200 years, adds Gregory.

Proponents also believe tourism would flourish if bars were allowed to buy up all that bourbon and serve it.

However, selling liquor without a license is still illegal in Kentucky, and if the proposed legislature passes, it will only apply to the state.

Even the online sale of liquor between collectors is illegal. Over the past two years, at least two Pennsylvania residents have been busted for trying to sell whiskey on Craigslist. Both Bob Monk and Wade Collingsworth were charged with misdemeanors after making arrangements to sell bottles of Pappy Van Winkle bourbon in separate incidents in Dec. 2015 and Dec. 2016, respectively.

Kentucky's bill, known as House Bill 100, cleared the House Licensing, Occupations and Administrative Regulations Committee unopposed.

Last year, the Kentucky Distillers' Association reported that its member distilleries added over $1 billion to the state's economy.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
High school students in Sacramento, Calif. may have to start bringing brown bag lunches from home again.

With the growing popularity of food delivery apps like GrubHub, Postmates and Uber Eats, many students have been skipping the traditional school cafeteria, and opting to order exactly what they want online.

But that convenience is causing problems.

At least one school in California's capital has now banned all food deliveries.

THE FUTURE OF TAKEOUT? COMPANY USES ROBOTS TO DELIVER FOOD

Granite Bay High School in Placer County placed a permament ban on DoorDash and all other food delivery services because school officials were constantly searching the halls for students whose meals had been brought to the building, reports the Sacramento Bee.

We cant manage it, and we shouldnt manage it, said Principal Jennifer Leighton. Its not our job to find a kid and make sure he knows his lunch is here.

We had to stop what were doing, check them in and find the kid whose food it was, Leighton continued. Were not equipped to deal with that. Its a disruption.

But Granite Bay students, who are not permittted to leave campus during their lunch hour, are less than thrilled with the new rule.

Students are definitely against the ban, senior Connor Hinson told the Sacramento Bee. People are upset.

Other officials affiliated with different area school districts have yet to report widespread problems with delivery apps, but the Sacramento Bee notes that some California districts already have rules in place against food deliveries to school property, either from apps or via local restaurants.

Plus, ordering out can get pricey quickly.

FOR THE LATEST FOOD FEATURES FOLLOW FOX LIFESTYLE ON FACEBOOK

DoorDash can charge up to $6.99 per food delivery but the company promotes its ability to reach customers in unique places, with the option to specify in a note to the driver exactly where the food handoff should take place.

As long as its in our delivery radius and theres an address, the dasher is more than happy to bring your favorite food, a spokesman for the company stated.

But that radius may soon get a little smaller if more schools decide to initiate a full time ban on these popular apps.
Oreo is bringing the hallmark taste of summer to its signature creme cookie with the newly release s'mores flavored Oreo-- appropriately named "S'mOreos." It's the first time Nabisco has used a graham-cracker cookie. It's filled with marshmallow creme and a chocolate creme. So how does it taste? The graham-cracker is very cinnamon-y and somewhat overwhelms the flavor of the two cremes-- but they were still a hit with our tasters. We recommend doing the old-fashioned twist and dunk to really taste the slightly burnt marshmallow flavor. S'mOreos hit store shelves May 22.
Is it a cold, or something else?

Its easy to diagnose yourself with a cold when youre feeling unwell. But a cold isnt always just a cold. Its important to be able to tell the difference between the common cold and something more serious so you can get the medical attention you need.

If you think you have "just a cold" but are concerned it could be something more, its best to err on the safe side and visit your doctor. This is especially true if you have a chronic condition such as asthma, severe allergies, diabetes, kidney disease, HIV, or an autoimmune disease. The same goes for pregnant women and anyone under age six or over 65the common cold affects these groups of people differently and can be more serious than it is for healthy individuals.

We spoke to doctors to find out what symptoms tip them off that its more than a cold. Here, the red flags they look for.

Youve had symptoms for longer than four days

The common cold tends to clear up on its own in three to four days, says Melisa Lai Becker, MD, site chief of emergency medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance. It starts with a scratchy throat, congestion, and runny nose, and then a cough usually develops. While your cough and post-nasal drip may linger, most symptoms should disappear after four days.

"With a cold, you ultimately feel okay after a couple days of rest, hydration, and Kleenex," she says.

If symptoms last for longer, its possible you have something more worrisome, such as the flu or mononucleosis. To be safe, make an appointment with your physician.

Your symptoms seemed to go away and then they came back

If you thought you recovered from your illness but your symptoms reappeared shortly after, it could be a sign of a rebound illness or "superinfection," says Navya Mysore, MD, a primary care physician with One Medical Group. You may have had a cold initially, but once your immune system was compromised, you developed something more seriousthink strep throat, pneumonia, or a sinus infection. Book an appointment with your GP to determine whether or not you need additional treatment, such as antibiotics.

You recently returned from a big trip

Recent international travel is a red flag for doctors because it could mean you have a less-conventional infection they wouldnt have normally considered, explains Stella Safo, MD, an internist at Mount Sinai Hospital who specializes in infectious diseases. Its important to see a doctor if you have any symptoms after returning from a trip abroad.

You have a high fever

It is possible to have a fever along with a cold, but theyre not commonespecially high ones. If you have a fever at or above 101 degrees Fahrenheit, it could be a sign of strep throat, says Dr. Lai Becker. Most patients with strep will develop a high fever in the first few days of illness, so be wary of sudden spikes in your temperature.

"Strep throat is one thing you really want to distinguish from a cold," she says. "Left untreated, it can cause rheumatic fever and lead to serious heart problems."

Youre having stomach issues

Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea dont usually accompany colds, so symptoms like these could signal something more serious, such as the flu. Its important to get medical attention if youre experiencing these symptoms consistently, as they can cause you to become dehydrated, says Dr. Mysore.

You have severe headaches

Doctors take note of severe headachesespecially if theyre accompanied by a fever and neck stiffnessbecause this could be a sign of meningitis, says Dr. Mysore. On the other hand, pressure headaches or headaches that feel worse around your eyes and nose may be a sign of sinus infection, she explains. These types of headaches can worsen when you bend forward, since youre feeling the pressure of your congested sinus passages.

Youre experiencing chest pain or trouble breathing

Even though a cough is a normal symptom of a cold, it shouldnt be so severe that it causes shortness of breath, wheezing, or chest pain, says Dr. Mysore. These symptoms shouldnt be ignored, since breathing trouble could be a sign of bronchitis or pneumonia, while chest pain, tightness, and sudden shortness of breath could signal a pulmonary embolism (a blood clot blockage in the lungs).

Your symptoms are in one location

Another red flag its more than a cold is a localization of symptoms, meaning you feel them in one specific area, explains Dr. Safo. While a cold affects the whole upper respiratory system, other illnesses are characterized by intense symptoms in one place. For example, Dr. Lai Becker points out that strep causes a sore throat so bad its difficult to swallow, but typically wont cause pain throughout the body. Sinus infections can cause headaches and even make your teeth hurt, an ear infection will usually cause pain and congestion in one ear, and mono can cause swollen tonsils.

You have body aches

A regular cold is no walk in the park, but it shouldnt cause all-over body aches and pains. On the other hand, the flu can make your muscles and body feel achy, and can also be accompanied by fatigue and chills.

"With the flu, youll feel like you got hit by a truck," says Dr. Mysore. Just getting out of bed will wear you out, and your muscles will be tender and sore.

Theres a pattern to your symptoms

It can be hard to distinguish allergies from a cold, since they have similar symptoms. But allergies will often follow a pattern, says Dr. Lai Becker. If you notice your symptoms are worse after spending time outside or with a pet, or they tend to come and go with a certain season, you likely have allergies. I had one patient who thought he was sick, but the real story was that he was allergic to a cat, Dr. Lai Becker says.

To pinpoint the exact cause, keep track of your symptom history and see if you notice any trends; it could mean youre allergic to something or have seasonal allergies.

This article originally appeared on Health.com.
With a 1-and-half-year-old son at home and another baby on the way, Amy Ruggiero, 42, recalled the time of her second pregnancy as torture.

I wanted so desperately to have babies and I couldnt have been more miserable to be pregnant and then have a new baby, said Ruggiero, of Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.

Although she had experienced a bout of anxietyincluding constant crying after having her first child in 2001, the pregnancy in 2004 made her symptoms worse.

As her older son slept, she was terrified that something would happen to him if she didnt check his breathing.

His breaths needed to be a certain space apart, and I needed to check them for a certain amount of time. And if I lost track of one, I had to start all over again, she recalled. Sometimes I couldnt leave his room for 45 minutes at a time.

Ruggiero also found herself flipping the light switches on and off, and checking the electrical outlets.

I was afraid the house was going to burst into fire all the time, she said.

Ruggiero was constantly crying and sleeping during the day, which caused her husband to miss work. Other times, she would rely on her parents for help.

Despite feeling she would never get better, she decided to seek help and was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), an anxiety disorder.

Ruggiero started having OCD symptoms during her second pregnancy and as she learned more about the diagnosis through therapy, realized she had OCD her whole life.

Although its not clear whether psychiatric medications are safe during pregnancy, Ruggiero felt she had run out of options and, with her doctor's prescription, took them while she was still pregnant.

It was to the point where it wasnt healthy for me to be carrying a baby the way I was, so something had to be done, she said.

The other postpartum condition

Experts estimate that perinatal anxiety disorders, which include generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder and OCD, are about as common as postpartum depression.

There is some evidence, however, that anxiety disorders may be even more prevalent.

According to a study in the Journal of Affective Disorders, more than 17 percent of moms who had a baby within the last three months were diagnosed with anxiety disorders, while almost 5 percent were diagnosed with depression.

Whats more, according to a study in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine, 11 percent of moms had symptoms of OCD two weeks after giving birth. At six months, nearly 50 percent of those women continued to have symptoms.

Anxiety: Whats normal?

During pregnancy and after having a baby, its normal for moms to experience anxiety, which is in part due to hormonal fluctuations. Feeling anxious is also thought to be a natural response to becoming a mother because it helps women be alert and protect their babies.

In fact, pregnancy changes the size and structure of parts of the brain that are responsible for social processing, and may help moms protect and nurture their babies, according to a study in the journal Nature Neusroscience.

I wouldnt be surprised if women were neurologically more anxious because you have to be adequately more attentive to meet the needs of a newborn, said Dr. Alice Domar, the executive director of the Domar Center for Mind/Body Health in Boston, and author of Finding Calm for the Expectant Mom: Tools for Reducing Stress, Anxiety, and Mood Swings During Your Pregnancy.

Anxiety can also increase as moms realize the enormous responsibility they now have and how their lives have changed. Having a baby can be stressful, even for moms who looked forward to motherhood and for those who struggled with infertility.

All new mothers are anxious, said Karen Kleiman, MSW, LCSW, founder of the Postpartum Stress Center in Rosemont, Pennsylvania. The question really becomes, 'When is it pathological?'

Excessive worry and anxiety become problematic when those feelings interfere with a moms ability to get through the day, impair her ability to function, or cause her to feel extremely overwhelmed. Clinicians use the frequency, duration and intensity of a patients problems to determine the level of distress, said Kleiman, who is Ruggieros therapist.

Moms with anxiety may have scary thoughts, urges or intrusive images about harm coming to their babies, but their distress is a good sign because thats what tells us its anxiety-driven, Kleiman said.

Although there is increased awareness about postpartum depression, many moms who suffer from anxiety do not seek treatment. Whats more, in the United States, theres still shame around mental health conditions and many moms arent always quick to admit that they cant cope.

Cost is another barrier, especially for young families for whom money is tight. Because many of the best providers dont take insurance, many moms simply cant afford to pay the high rates they charge.

Nevertheless, experts say there are steps to take for moms and moms-to-be who struggle with anxiety:

Acknowledge your feelings

Instead of trying to deny how you feel or try to push it aside, which will only make it worse, admit to your feelings and accept that its OK to have anxiety.

Talk to someone

Find a therapist that you trust or ask your OB-GYN or midwife for a referral. Although it might feel that it will never end, postpartum anxiety responds very well to treatment, Kleiman said.

If cost is an issue, search for support groups or find support online at sites like Postpartum Progress or Postpartum Support International.

Do something else

Focusing on your anxiety makes it worse, so when youre experiencing it, have a list of things that will distract you from the ruminations. Take your baby for a walk, brew a cup of tea, or call a friend.

Exercise

Studies suggest that regular exercise can help alleviate symptoms of anxiety. Whether its your favorite class at the gym, a run in your neighborhood, or a yoga class, make time to move.

Seek friends

Spending time with friends or joining a new mothers group, where moms are honest and genuine, can help you realize youre not alone.

Get sleep

When you have a newborn, sleeping sounds like a luxury. But if youre dealing with anxiety, it can make a huge difference in how you feel. Ask your partner or a family member to pitch in, or consider hiring a postpartum doula or a baby nurse so you can get some sleep.

Set limits

If photos of your friends seemingly perfect life on Facebook make you feel worse, select the unfollow option or rein in your social media habit. Also, set limits with people in your life who bring you down, and surround yourself with those who are positive and bring out the best in you.

Be kind to yourself

Instead of running yourself ragged trying to make sure you do everything perfectly, accept what you cant do, find shortcuts, and understand that your best is enough.

Today, Ruggiero is still on medication and attends therapy sessions. She hopes her story inspires other moms dealing with anxiety to seek help.

You need to know as a new mom that this happens to other people and there are safe places for you, she said.
Volunteers at Boston Medical Center are helping babies who were exposed to drugs while in the womb heal faster with the power of human touch. The volunteer cuddlers are part of the hospitals CALM program, which helps newborns who are suffering from neonatal abstinence syndrome, Fox 25 reported.

By snuggling a baby, it can be a difference between a baby getting medication versus not, Dr. Elisha Wachman, head of the hospitals CALM program, told Fox 25.

Babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome may suffer from tremors and difficulty eating or getting comfortable.

We have a cuddler step in and really comfort the infant, to the point where, most of the time, I walk in and the infant is fast asleep on the cuddler, looking very comfortable and not showing any signs of withdrawal at all, Wachman told Fox 25.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

According to Wachman, the program has helped to cut infants hospitalization time in half, while also helping 50 percent of babies heal without medication. The hospital has gotten 100 volunteers enrolled in the program since it started in December, with 150 more on the waiting list, Fox 25 reproted.

Program volunteer Pamela Turocotte said she became involved after watching her own grandchildren overcome neonatal abstinence syndrome.

It fills you with so much purpose, Pamela Turocotte, a volunteer, told Fox 25. Its amazing what one simple thing can do to change the outcome.

Boston Medical Center said there are plans to expand the program in the spring.
A Lotte department store in Beijing. (Photo : Getty Images)

South Korea's Lotte Group shut its online store at Tmall, China's leading electronic marketplace, on Jan. 12 soon after closing three retail stores in China due to poor sales and their country's deteriorating relations with China.



Lotte, which opened its store in Tmall lin 2015, has been in China for more than two decades. It has 115 supermarkets and five shopping malls in China, which accounts for over 60 percent of its overseas investments.



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The company faced stiff competition in its online and brick-and-mortar stores in China.



Many foreign retailers in China like British supermarket chain Tesco and U.S. electronics giant Best Buy have been closing due to the competitive environment. However, closure of online shops of foreign retailers is far less common.



Furthermore, work was stopped on Lotte's multibillion-dollar construction project in Shenyang that included homes, a mall, hotel and theme park. A department store project in Shanghai, jointly set up with Citic Group, will open in March.



The Lotte Group has been dragged into the controversy over China's opposition to Seoul 's U.S.-supplied missile defense system, which it set up as protection against attacks from North Korea. China is concerned that the system could be used for spying.



The Seoul-based group, founded in Tokyo in 1948 by Shin Kyuk Ho, is a household name in South Korea where it operates hotels, amusement parks, department stores, duty-free shops, shopping malls, multiplexes, burger joints and coffee shops.Its combined assets are valued at over $90 billion.



The Lotte Group has been in the limelight since last year due to a feud between the founder's two sons, Shin Dong Bin, the company's chairman, and his older brother Shin Dong Joo. The two battled it our for control of the conglomerate and publicly attacked on each other.


You cant escape it. Whether its a tiny silver pendant or an enormous structure atop a hill (Rio de Janeiro, Montreal), the cross is both eye-catching and powerful.

So powerful, in fact, that a British airline worker was suspended for refusing to remove her cross in case it offended passengers.

TRUMP. OR NEVER TRUMP. WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU CAN'T AGREE WITH THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE

Millions with little connection to organized Christianity instinctively recognise the cross as iconic. The theater producer Peter Sellars, introducing his staged version of Bachs "St Matthew Passion" in 2014, explained that in this story people of all sorts glimpse truth, and often comfort, beyond what is available elsewhere.

Why? Do we need to ask? You dont need to know the science of cookery before enjoying a meal. Nor do you need to know music theory before you can be moved by Bach. But someone has to know how to cook; and the musicians need to know what theyre playing and how to play it. Those who teach in church, and those who commend the faith to outsiders, need to grapple with the meaning of Jesus death. Then the puzzles begin.

Some great mediaeval paintings of the crucifixion see Jesus as a battered, vulnerable man  with God the Father behind him, a stern, forbidding presence.

The message is clear. God is angry with us, but his anger is all poured out on the innocent Jesus. A caricature, of course, or worse.

The famous John 3:16 doesnt say God so hated the world that he killed his son, but God so loved the world that he gave his son. But that easily gets twisted the wrong way round. Perhaps thats because many angry despots, in public or domestic life, have beaten up innocent victims. Sometimes they even claim that they do it out of love. We have learned to shudder at such claims.

But isnt that what the Bible says? He was bruised for our transgressions . . . the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all? Yes, but what matters is getting the story right.

Many Christians, whether Catholic or Protestant, liberal or conservative, have imagined a story like this. (1) We messed up badly; (2) God had to punish us; (3) fortunately, his innocent son got in the way and took the rap. But the Bible tells a bigger, more subtle story.

Pauls summary of the Christian message begins, The Messiah died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures. That doesnt mean in accordance with the story we have in our heads, with a few biblical footnotes. Paul is referring to the entire story of Israels ancient scriptures.

That story is not about sin and what God does with it. Its about creation and covenant.

First, creation: God made a wonderful creation, and put humans into it to sum up the praises of creation and to look after his world. This is what it means to be in Gods image: angled mirrors, reflecting Gods love into the world and reflecting creations worship back to God.

Some texts speak of this human vocation as the royal priesthood. When humans mess it up, it isnt just that they break some arbitrary rule (dont eat that apple!). They are taking their orders from something within creation rather than from the creator himself. That is what the Bible calls idolatry. And it ruins creation as well as humans.

Heres how it works: humans worship something other than the creator God, and so they think and act in less-than-fully-human ways, thereby failing to take forward Gods purposes for the world. That is sin: missing the target of true humanness.

The idols, meanwhile, gain power through our worship of them, and they use that to enslave us and corrupt the world.

Think of the contemporary idols: money, sex or power. We worship these forces, and they tell us what to do. So we shrink as humans; not just because we break various commandments (though we do) but because we miss our true calling, and the world suffers in consequence. And if we try to grab that vocation back again  if we try to run the world our way  our sub-humanness shows up all too clearly. Every tyrant, every anarchist, started off by thinking they knew how the world ought to be.

Thats why, when the New Testament talks of Jesus death and what it accomplished, it doesnt just talk about dealing with sin (though it does that too). It talks about God overthrowing the dark powers that have taken over the world.

Now, said Jesus, the ruler of this world is cast out.

On the cross, wrote Paul, Jesus disarmed the principalities and powers. That is basic. All the early Christian teachers knew this. That was why they lived as a multi-ethnic, classless community. The powers that had kept humans locked up in their sins and their distinct social groupings had been overthrown.

The four Gospels explain the how. Jesus announced that God was becoming king, ruling the world as he always intended. This took Jesus to the cross, with King of the Jews over his head.

Throughout the story, Jesus is opposed by forces of evil, human and non-human. The lies, hatred and evil of all the world rushes together in one place and nails him to the cross.

When he rose again three days later, his followers realised that this could only be because, on the cross, he had exhausted sins power. He had taken on himself the punishment of sin, so that the grip of the powers would be broken. New creation was now launched as a result  with rescued humans at last reflecting Gods purposes into that new world.

What does this mean today? Not just that believers have fellowship with God, now and hereafter, though it does mean that, too.

It means that the door of our prison stands open and we are free to resume our vocation. To be image-bearers. To be the royal priesthood. To worship the living God freely. To be his agents in the world  not by the worlds normal bullying methods, but by following the royal way of Jesus.

Its all there in the Sermon on the Mount: blessed are the peacemakers, the hungry-for-justice people, those who care for the poor, who live without anger or lust: those who make the world a radically better place.

That has been going on for two thousand years, though we often forget it. It stands at the root of our somewhat battered concept of human rights. That wasnt invented by secular modernity. It comes from Jesus  from Jesus as the focal point of the ancient vision of Israel, of covenant renewed and creation restored. From his victory on the cross.

Thats what it means when people place a cross around their neck, or on top of a hill.

It means that the power of love has overcome the love of power. And that it always will.
Donald Trumps presidency is only one month old, but already the buzzards are circling. The president cheered supporters by assailing his critics at yesterdays press conference, but there is little doubt that the Trump White House is struggling to keep its momentum. The drama over Michael Flynns departure and the defeat of Labor nominee Pudzer raise concerns over organization and focus, and feed headlines reporting borderline chaos.

Opponents on the Left are gleefully lining up more demonstrations, creating more obstruction in Congress and ripping the president in the media. Unimaginably, after suffering epic losses, Democrats are beginning to imagine a political comeback. Time for triage.

First, some perspective. At this point in his presidency, Bill Clintons White House was in disarray. His chief of staff, a lifelong friend named Mack McLarty, a person described by his grade school teacher as "Just a real nice boy who grew up into a real nice young man," was way over his head, unable to rein in the bigger-than-life personalities that typically occupy the West Wing. Infighting between the staffs of the president and Hillary was undermining the young administration. Chaos reined.

Bob Woodward chronicled those days in his book "The Agenda, Inside the Clinton White House." In it, he describes a Bill Clinton prone to rages and dithering, and as one reviewer put it: a president elected to reform, but [who] is overwhelmed by an entrenched Congress and the deficit voodoo doll left to him by 14 years of Republicans. He has surrounded himself with the best, the brightest and the most inexperienced

Sound familiar? Woodward also reveals how Clinton staffers leaked damaging information  about each other and the president -- to the press. George Stephanopoulos, one of Clintons closest aides, told a reporter that the president was incapable of making decisions, while others took potshots at Hillarys healthcare initiative, Bills dishonest budget and so on.

Theres a reason D.C. is called a swamp.

Whats different today? Trump faces an extraordinarily hostile media, which Clinton did not. Though some in the press criticized Clintons inexperienced apparatchiks, most supported the presidents agenda. They were not out for blood.

Not only is Trump skewered by the media at every turn, he is also facing opposition from the intelligence community, Democrats, activists supporting environmental and social causes, academia and even a good slug of his own party.

And, from time to time, he throws gasoline on the smoldering rage ignited by the election.

What can Trump do to turn things around?

First, it may be that he should take a page from the Clinton playbook and bring in a time-tested barracuda chief of staff (think Rahm Emmanuel). Christopher Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax Media, says Priebus is over his head; its possible the former RNC Chair is simply too nice a guy to knock heads. It wasnt until hard-knuckle Leon Panetta became Clintons Chief of Staff in July 1994 that the White House got its act together. Given the hostility arrayed against him, Trump cant wait that long. An ideal candidate would look like Newt Gingrich without the ego, or Chris Christie without the ambition.

Second, the president should get out of the Swamp Bubble every few weeks and go talk to the people. He is planning a rally-type event at the Orlando-Melbourne Airport this coming weekend; it a start. Trump is rejuvenated by his supporters. Trump needs to remind people that he loves the United States and he is working day and night to shake up the system. Theyre on his side, but both he and they could use a little love. And yes- stick to the teleprompter.

Third, Mr. Trump needs to erect a speedbump in his Twitter feed. Just one set of eyes, one person who has the authority to say go or no-go on the 3 am tweets. Trump is engaging, still, in too many petty battles, when there are big ones to be fought. However, he should not shut it down; his tweets have increased in popularity since his inauguration, being favorited on average 120,000 times, and retweeted over 40,000 times. Those who are irate over the mainstream medias treatment of their president are delighted he can address them directly, and they can respond.

Fourth, Trump needs to convene an intense weekend working session with Tom Price, head of HHS, and the GOP leadership in Congress. They need to lock the doors until a solid plan for replacing Obamacare emerges. Time to tell people what the bill is, and how it will be enacted over solid resistance from Democrats. Executive actions are great, and denote action, but Obamacare and tax reform require a big legislative push.

Finally, Trump should invite John McCain and Lindsay Graham to lunch, and hear them out. Both are respected GOP senior statesmen and they are aligned against the president. Their resistance will give cover to others, and the president needs a united party. Some of it is policy; some is personal. Trump has a big personality; he must win them over.

Trump needs to get the train back on the tracks. Andy Card, chief of staff for George W. Bush, stresses the importance of these early days: The first one hundred days ends on April 30th. The president will be measured on his campaign promises, his commitment, his direction, his ability to lead on April 30th. Trump has popular backing for most of his agenda; he will lose support if he gets so mired in minor controversies that he fails to achieve his goals. He cannot let that happen; it is too important for the future of the country.
Editor's note: The following article originally appeared in City Journal, a publication of the Manhattan Institute.

Call it the Oval Office virus. After less than a month in office, President Donald J. Trump, who as a candidate embraced WikiLeaks and a torrent of leaks about his rival Hillary Clintons campaign, has become a champion of government secrecy. In a rowdy, 77-minute press conference Thursday, Trump said he had personally instructed the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into the leak of embarrassing information about his conversations with foreign leaders and former National Security Adviser Michael T. Flynns contacts with Russia. While it is unusual for a president to ask for such a criminal investigation, or to discuss it publicly, no law prevents him from doing so. It could be perceived as a political witch hunt, warned Susan Hennessey, a scholar at the Brookings Institution and former intelligence agency lawyer.

Trump launched his war on leaksand leakerstwo Saturdays ago at a charity dinner at Mar-a-Lago, his winter White House in Palm Beach, Florida. When I interviewed him at the Red Cross ball, Trump denounced the leaks of transcripts of his phone conversations with leaders of Australia and Mexico as disgraceful and very dangerous . . . for this country, and blamed the unauthorized release of the information on Obama people. Political holdovers from the previous administration still serving on his White House and National Security Council staff, he said, were being replaced.

When leaks continued this week, Trump and top aides expanded the category of likely culprits to include the intelligence communityspecifically, the NSA and FBI? he tweeted. Just like Russia, he fumed. White House spokesman Sean Spicer then chimed in, adding Justice Department officials to the legion of suspected loose lips.

Trump is hardly the first president to resent leaks. Barack Obama vowed to run the most open and transparent government possible, but wound up overseeing at least nine leak investigations and prosecuting more whistleblowers than all his predecessors combined. David Sanger, my former colleague at the New York Times and a veteran Washington insider, called Obamas White House the most closed, control-freak administration Ive every covered.

To continue reading Judith Miller's column, click here.
Howard Kurtz is the host of FOX News Channel's MediaBuzz (Sundays 11 a.m.-12 p.m. ET). Based in Washington, D.C., he joined the network in July 2013 and regularly appears on Special Report with Bret Baier and other programs.Read More

Prior to joining the network, the veteran journalist and renowned media reporter served as the host of CNN's weekly media criticism program, "Reliable Sources," since 1998. He was also the Washington, D.C. bureau chief for The Daily Beast and Newsweek writing on the intersection of politics and media. Previously, he spent 29 years at The Washington Post in various capacities. He became the media reporter for the paper in 1990 and wrote the weekly Media Notes column, one of the most widely read media columns. He joined The Washington Post in 1981, after being hired by Bob Woodward, and went on to serve as a Justice Department and congressional reporter, New York bureau chief and deputy national editor before covering the media beat as a reporter, columnist and blogger.

Kurtz is the author of five books, including "Media Circus," "Reality Show" and the New York Times bestseller "Spin Cycle." A graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, he also contributed to a number of magazines ranging from Vanity Fair to New York. He has received multiple awards for his work in media, including the National Press Club Award for Media Criticism in 2006. He also holds a B.A. in English and psychology from the University of Buffalo (SUNY).
Officials in several U.S. communities labeled sanctuaries for illegal immigrants say the feds have it wrong, and they fear losing funding under a new directive from President Trump.

Saratoga, N.Y., is on one widely circulated list, and wants off, said Undersheriff Richard Castle. It didn't make much difference until Trump said he would punish cities that limit or virtually prohibit local law enforcement from working proactively with immigration agents.

We have no idea how we got on this list, Castle told Fox News. We notify [immigration officials] all along the way when we arrest someone, and we contact [immigration officials] to verify their status. We are willing to share all our records with immigration [agents], and if we have a suspected violation we will notify them.

The list of sanctuary communities that has gotten the most attention since Trump became president was compiled by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), a Washington, D.C.-based organization that favors strict immigration policies.

Jessica Vaughan, a CIS analyst and its point person on sanctuary communities, put the list together, culling information from Homeland Security, as well as other sources such as media accounts and information gleaned directly from interviews of local government administrators.

Vaughan said she has a thorough method for putting a locality on the list.

I look at whether they have a policy that blocks ICE access to jails, Vaughan said. Do they have a policy that blocks officers from communicating with ICE? I may ask them to give me a statement to corroborate what they assert.

Then she checks the information with ICE, she said.

Vaughan said she decided to take Saratoga County off after she spoke with officials there about their objection to being on the list and looking into their practices.

Some counties end up on the list, apparently, because they require  often because of state rules  that ICE provide an administrative or judicial warrant along with a formal request that an illegal immigrant who has been arrested be held in detention until agents can arrive and begin deportation proceedings.

Both Saratoga and Bradford County, Pa., officials believe that was seen by groups compiling lists as an attempt by their agencies to put up roadblocks to ICE efforts to pick up an immigrant.

Bradford County Commissioner Doug McLinko said the community he represents had to start requiring a court order from ICE to hold a detained immigrant beyond a release date because of concerns over lawsuits.

Im appalled that were tagged as a sanctuary, were completely the opposite of that, McLinko told Fox News. We are a law and order county.

"It makes us very mad that we got grouped with sanctuary counties, just because some organization comes out with a list," he added.

Vaughan added that she does not expect that the Trump administration will go by CISs list and start tearing up [federal funding] checks.

In Ocean County, N.J., officials say they wrongly ended up on some lists of sanctuary communities.

Absolutely, positively not, a county public information officer, Richard Petersen, told Fox News. We are not a sanctuary county. Frankly, we dont know why thats happened.

A Trump executive order on immigration said that his administration would identify places that appear to have sanctuary policies that prohibit enforcing immigration laws and will deny those communities federal funding.

DHS officials say the Trump administration will establish its criteria for what constitutes a sanctuary city, county, or state.

The Department of Homeland Security is working to implement the presidents executive orders, said Gillian Christensen, acting press secretary, in an email to Fox News. When we have more information to share about how sanctuary jurisdictions will be determined, we will.

Regardless of where they stand on immigration enforcement and sanctuary policies, many local, county and state officials say they welcome a clear definition of a sanctuary community. There is no hard and fast definition, and now, more than ever, that can have dire consequences, they say.

Vic DeLuca, the mayor of Maplewood, N.J., which has an ordinance declaring itself a sanctuary city, says the concept of sanctuary communities has been distorted by Trump and others who oppose it.

The president has polluted the term, said DeLuca, who added that about 26 percent of Maplewoods population is foreign-born. Hes used it for his own benefit, to say that if youre a sanctuary city youre shielding criminals, youre harboring fugitives.
President Trump's first choice to succeed the departed Michael Flynn as national security adviser has turned the job down due to family reasons, sources close to the situation told Fox News late Thursday.

One source told Fox that retired Navy Vice Admiral Robert Harward "really wanted" to do the job, but ultimately decided that he could not.

A senior administration official said that Harward's acceptance of the national security adviser post was contingent on the agreement of his family. The official said Harward's wife and other family members wanted him to remain in the private sector.

Harward retired from the Navy in 2013 after a career spanning nearly 40 years. Upon his retirement, he became chief executive officer for defense and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin in the United Arab Emirates.

Harward told The Associated Press that the Trump administration was "very accommodating to my needs, both professionally and personally."

"It's purely a personal issue," Harward said Thursday evening. "I'm in a unique position finally after being the in military for 40 years to enjoy some personal time."

Asked whether he had requested to bring in his own staff at the National Security Council, Harward said, "I think that's for the president to address."



There was no official comment from the White House. Harward had been due to meet with Trump Thursday night.

At a news conference earlier Thursday, the president said he had "somebody that I think will be outstanding for the position" of national security adviser, but did not mention any names.

A former Navy SEAL, Harward served as deputy commander of the United States Central Command under Gen. James Mattis, who is now defense secretary. He quickly emerged as the favorite to replace Flynn after the latter resigned Monday night, ending days of speculation about his fate following reports that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other officials about his discussions with Russia prior to Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration.

After Flynn stepped down, Trump named retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg as the acting national security adviser. Kellogg and former CIA Director David Petraeus were the two other candidates rumored to be under consideration.

Petraeus, a retired four-star general, resigned as CIA director in 2012 and pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information relating to documents he had provided to his biographer, with whom he was having an affair.



He was also fined $100,000 and remains on probation.

Fox News' Serafin Gomez and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
CIA Director Mike Pompeo on Thursday denied allegations that the agency was hiding intelligence from President Trump.

Pompeo called reports that the agency was keeping intelligence from Trump dead wrong. He added that the reports damage the integrity of thousands of professional intelligence officers.

"The CIA does not, has not, and will never hide intelligence from the president, period. We are not aware of any instance when that has occurred," Pompeo said in a statement Thursday in an attempt to dispute reports that the spy community is withholding information from the commander in chief.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that in some cases officials opted not to tell the president how they collected information. The paper, citing both former and current officials, said the decision to hold back information underscored the mistrust between the Executive Branch and spies.

Additionally, a government official told Fox News that Trump has in fact been receiving whats known as the Presidents Daily Brief, noting that it does not routinely include raw data or discussion of sources and methods.

The Journal report points out that, historically, intelligence officials have held back information about how spies gather information, but in those cases, the information was not held back due to concerns over the presidents trustworthiness.

Pompeos statement came on the same day that a senior White House official told the Associated Press the administration had asked billionaire Stephen Feinberg to lead a review of the U.S. intelligence community. Feinberg is the co-founder of Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity firm.

Feinberg has been asked to make recommendations on improvements to efficiency and coordination between the various intelligence agencies, the official said. His position was not to become official until he completed an ethics review, said the official, who wasn't authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

However, Trump later appeared to back off the idea, saying somebody else might not be needed because it could be handled by Pompeo, FBI Director James Comey and Dan Coats, the president's nominee to be director of national intelligence who has not yet been confirmed.

"They're in position so I hope that we'll be able to straighten that out without using anybody else," Trump said at a news conference.

He said Feinberg was a "very talented man, very successful man" who has offered his services to the administration. "You know, it's something we may take advantage of. But I don't think we're (going to) need that at all because of the fact that you know, I think that we are gonna be able to straighten it out very easily on its own.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Sponsors of a House bill passed this week to protect landowners from what they say is a federal land grab expect the Senate to pass the bill and send it to President Trump.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, seeks to prevent the federal government from claiming hundreds of thousands of acres of land -- much of it privately owned -- along the Red River in Texas and Oklahoma. It was crafted in response to complaints from property owners that the government was trying to seize land along a 116-mile stretch of the river.

The Red River has eroded and shifted  up to two miles in some places  over the last 100 years, and dry land where the river once flowed belongs to the government, according to the Bureau of Land Management.

But Thornberry and others disagree, citing a 1923 Supreme Court ruling that sets the Texas-Oklahoma state boundary as following the meandering of the river.

"This bill very simply requires that there be a survery to determine what the federal government owns and what it does not own," Thornberry told Fox News on Friday.

"It does not dispose of any land and it does not change anybody's

rights," Thornberry said.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1923 that the northern half of the river bottom was Oklahoma's and the southern half belonged to the government.



In 2007, officials from the Bureau of Land Management began surveying the river bottom to define Indian lands. Following their interpretation of the gradient boundary survey method, the BLM extended what it believes to be part of the riverbed, setting the boundary line more than a mile onto dry land into Texas.

A group of landowners -- including Ken Aderholt, whose home lies within disputed territory -- filed suit in 2015 against the Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Interior. Aderholt and others say theyve rightfully owned and diligently paid taxes on the land for decades.

"The United States' ownership of property is limited to bottom-half of the sandy riverbed outside of Texas," the lawsuit states. "Nonetheless, BLM asserts that its boundary extends well past the riverbed into Texas and, in some instances, more than a mile outside of its lawful territory. In doing so, BLM has seized private property, infringed upon the sovereignty of the local county governments, and interfered with law enforcements ability to discharge its duties arising under Texas law.

Thornberry said the tug-of-war has land owners in a "panic" because "they dont know when or where the federal government may come in and take the land that theyre entitled to and have paid taxes on, some for generations."

The House bill, which was approved 250-171, would commission a survey of the disputed area under a method backed by the Supreme Court.

Thornberry said he's confident the bill will pass in the Senate, despite opposition from Democrats who say the bill could unfairly impact Native American tribes who have mineral rights in the area.

An official from the Bureau of Land Management could not be reached Friday for comment. BLM officials previously said they have no intent to force current landowners from their properties. Instead, they said says landowners can purchase land belonging to the U.S. if it coincides with their deed.

Robert Henneke, a lawyer with the Texas Public Policy Foundation who represents the landowners, said he believes the bill has the momentum it needs to pass in the Senate.

"Throughout this dispute, the Bureau of Land Management has blatantly disregarded both the Texas landowners' private property rights and the plain meaning of the Supreme Court Opinion that defines the boundary," Henneke told Fox News on Friday.

Thornberry and others lawmakers, he said, "will stop the attempted land grab by giving Texas and Oklahoma responsibility to determine the boundary correctly."

Cristina Corbin is a reporter for FoxNews.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaCorbin.
President Trump has vowed to hunt down whoever is leaking classified information about him and his team, and if he succeeds in unmasking the sources of illegal disclosures, they could face hard time.

Trump himself has been plagued by leaks about his meeting schedule and phone calls to heads of state. But the most damaging leaks to his month-old administration have been those that cost retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn his post as national security adviser. Flynn had to resign after information came out about his December phone call to a Russian ambassador.

Trump pulled the plug on Flynn for misleading Vice President Pence about the substance of the call, but said the discussion itself was not improper. It was the current or former government officials who he suspects turned classified information over to the press that broke the law, the president said.

" ... the leak environment has just kicked into hyper drive.  Thomas Dupree, former deputy assistant attorney general

The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by intelligence like candy, Trump tweeted this week. Very un-American!

In recent years, even leakers who claimed to be whistle blowers and cloaked their motives in patriotism have found the law takes a dim view of their activities. Trump on Thursday said the Justice Department will look into the issue, and it is a good bet that Flynns replacement, who has not yet been named, will also be charged with rooting out loose-lipped bureaucrats.

Leaks are prevalent in Washington, [but] I think what makes this different is the leak environment has just kicked into hyper drive, Thomas Dupree, former deputy assistant attorney general, told Fox News. In the first few weeks of this administration, we have seen a multitude of leaks on a variety of subjects  from national security to immigration, to the conversation that Flynn had with the Russians  its just every direction.

While some may see leaks as part of the Capitol Hill game, and whistleblowers to be admired, whats happening now seems to have moved beyond giving background information to reporters and into the realm of criminality.

Utah Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, and Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., have written to the Department of Justice Inspector General requesting an official probe into how classified information has been handled.

The release of classified information can, by definition, have grave effects on national security, Chaffetz wrote in the letter.

Any leakers who are exposed could face serious time in prison.

They [the penalties] can be pretty serious, said Dupree There are a number of provisions in the federal, criminal statutes  Title 18 and elsewhere  that provide everything from fines, to even jail time, for people who leak classified, highly sensitive, national security information.

Some recent examples:

Chelsea Manning, who was sentenced to in 2013 to 35 years in prison for providing more than 700,000 government files to WikiLeaks. Mannings sentence was later commuted by President Obama.

Jeffrey A. Sterling, who was sentenced to 3 and  years in prison for disclosing national defense information and obstructing justice after disclosing classified information to a New York Times reporter.

Shamai K. Leibowitz, a linguist for the FBI, who was sentenced to 20 months in prison for leaking secret documents to a blogger.

Although suspicion has swirled around a handful of former Obama administration insiders, no one has been identified as a leaker of information damaging to Trump. And none of the leaks themselves have been proven illegal. But Trump, who vowed during his campaign to drain the swamp, is finding the first order of business is plugging leaks.
High-accuracy positioning is an important factor for drone technology. (Photo : Getty Images)

Military experts agree that the fast-rising drone swarming technique is pivotal in creating new combat strategies, according to a report by the Global Times.



Advertisement

On Saturday night, attendees of the Chinese Lantern Festivals Guangzhou air show witnessed a record-breaking performance of 1,000 drones. Citing a report from the State-run Xinhua News Agency, a thousand Ehang GHOSTDRONE 2.0 delivered a spectacular 15-minute lighting show.



Controlled by only one engineer and one computer, the display featured six different formations. The recent show has set a new Guinness World Record for an aerobatic show participated in by the most number of drones.



According to the Global Times, a Chinese drone expert, who requested for his anonymity, said that such drone formation requires advanced visual and communications equipment, besides the application of the swarming technique.



Aerospace Knowledge magazine chief editor Wang Yanan told the publication that employing this new trend of large-scale drone formation for military purposes demand higher standards for drones.



If the technique becomes mature enough, it will change the way wars are fought, Wang said, adding that this technique indeed has great potential in the field of military.



The anonymous source noted that the technique is likely to introduce changes in the structure of drones by installing mission payload modules on multiple mini drones, hence creating a distributed system of drones that is difficult to destroy.



Meanwhile, Wang furthered that if masterfully infused in the military, the drone swarming technique can be tapped in all weapon systems--may it be a satellite, ground equipment and combat aircraft. Experts said that the advantage of using drone swarms relies on the old adage that there is strength in numbers.



Currently, Chinas military drone is considered as one of the largest in the world. In last years Zhuhai airshow, the country boasted its army of surveillance and attack drones, supersonic robot planes, stealthy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and drone swarms.


George Soros' alleged meddling in European politics has caught the attention of Congress.

Concerns about Soros' involvement most recently were raised by the Hungarian prime minister, who last week lashed out at the Soros "empire" and accused it of deploying "tons of money and international heavy artillery."

But days earlier, Republican lawmakers in Washington started asking questions about whether U.S. tax dollars also were being used to fund Soros projects in the small, conservative-led country of Macedonia.

Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., led a group of House lawmakers in writing to Ambassador Jess Baily -- an Obama appointee -- demanding answers. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, also expressed concerns about USAID money going to Soros' Open Society Foundations as part of a broader concern that the U.S. Embassy has been taking sides in party politics.

I have received credible reports that, over the past few years, the US Mission to Macedonia has actively intervened in the party politics of Macedonia, as well as the shaping of its media environment and civil society, often favoring groups of one political persuasion over another, Lee said in his letter.

Together, the concerns reflect growing conservative pushback against Soros' operations in Europe.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban last week ripped the Hungary-born billionaire's "trans-border empire." Orban has been one of the central European voices speaking out against the push by E.U. leaders to absorb Syrian refugees and has been criticized for his hardline stance.

Soros' Open Society Foundations -- one of the billionaire's biggest groups operating across the globe -- fired back, saying Orban was trying to deflect attention from other issues.

The Open Society Foundations for over 30 years have supported civil society groups in Hungary who are addressing profound problems in education, health care, media freedom and corruption," Laura Silber, the organization's chief communications officer, said in a statement to The Associated Press. "Any attacks on this work and those groups are solely an attempt to deflect attention from government inability to address these issues."

The group's stated goal is to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens but critics claim it's a front for Soros hard-left political maneuverings.

Former Macedonian PM Nikola Gruevski says Soros has a "decisive influence" on his countrys politics.

If it were not for George Soros behind it with all the millions he pours into Macedonia, the entire network of NGOs, media, politicians, inside and out ... the economy would be stronger, we would have had more new jobs, he said in a recent interview with Macedonias Republika newspaper.

Macedonia, while small, is a broadly conservative country. It has a flat rate tax of 10 percent, a small-government philosophy and a ruling conservative party (VMRO-DPMNE) that has greeted the election of President Trump warmly and pledged to work with him.

Lees staff recently met with Macedonia lawmakers, who also passed on a white paper from a citizens initiative called Stop Operation Soros which alleges U.S. money has been funding hard-left causes in the country -- including violent riots in the streets, as well as a Macedonian version of Saul Alinskys far-left handbook Rules for Radicals.

In an extensive 40-page dossier, the group alleges USAID money is being used to fund activists and exclusively left-wing media groups as a way to sway the countrys politics.

The Open Society Foundations did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News.

On the Soros connection, Lees letter asked if the Mission has selected the Open Society Foundations as the major implementer of USAID projects in Macedonia and if the group has been perceived to have political bias in Macedonia.

In a reply dated Feb. 9, the State Department told Lee that the Mission in the country has worked to advance U.S. interests in a non-biased, non-partisan, objective and transparent manner. The letter claimed U.S. government assistance has not funded partisan political activities in Macedonia, but noted that from 2002 to the present, USAID had provided three grants to Foundation Open Society  Macedonia (FOSM).

One of these grants is outlined on the USAID website. Between 2012 and 2016, USAID gave almost $5 million in taxpayer cash to FOSM for The Civil Society Project, which aims to empower Macedonian citizens to hold government accountable. USAIDs website links to www.soros.org.mk, and says the project trained hundreds of young Macedonians in youth activism and the use of new media instruments.

The letter from the State Department to Lee said USAID also recently funded a new Civic Engagement Project which partners with four organizations, including FOSM. It was not clear how much this project would cost, but Smith put the figure at $9.5 million.

The money is very significant, in fact there is still money in the pipeline, from 2017 to 2021, 9.5 million, Smith said in a recent radio interview with the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins. Its one thing to do election monitoring, which is a very noble cause to make sure theres free and fair elections, but its quite another thing to be backing parties that Soros and his gang want to see in control of that country.

It isnt the only time Soros has worked with the State Department. Among the emails of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta released by Wikileaks was one from 2011 in which Soros urged Hillary Clinton to take action in Albania over recent demonstrations in the capital of Tirana.

Soros asked Clinton to bring the full weight of the international community to bear on Prime Minister Berisha and opposition leader Edi Rama to forestall further public demonstrations and to tone down public pronouncements and appoint a senior European official as mediator.

Within a few days, an envoy was dutifully dispatched.

Former Macedonian PM Gruevski cited the WikiLeaks emails as proof [Soros] can go visit top leading American officials whenever he wants to, arranges meetings day in day out and has significant influence.

While Soros has often been a bogeyman for the American right, the liberal businessman has kept a steady pressure and funding of left-wing causes within America as well.

This guy is a spider with lots of webs, GOP strategist Brad Blakeman told Fox News' "Strategy Room." He controls numerous third-party groups, where he uses his influence. Weve seen it internally with Black Lives Matter, the demonstrations taken place after the inaugural -- this is what he does.

After violent left-wing activists rioted at Berkeley in protest of a lecture by Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos, The Daily Caller reported that the main group behind the protests -- Refuse Facism -- was backed by The Alliance for Global Justice -- which in turn is backed by The Tides Foundation, a Soros-funded group.

Soros also has donated to Media Matters and has been a major financial contributor to the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank founded by Podesta.
Robert H. Michel, who served his entire 38-year congressional career in the congressional minority and rose to the post of House Republican leader, is dead at 93.

First elected in 1957, Michel gradually worked his way up through the party leadership first as chairman of the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee in 1972, then as minority whip from 1974 to 1980 and finally as minority leader until his retirement after the historic 1994 Republican wave elections.

Although Michel had a voting record similar to the Georgia congressman who would eventually succeed him as Republican leader, Newt Gingrich, he was known for a negotiating style that embraced consensus over confrontation. Michel had strong friendships with then-Speaker Thomas "Tip" O'Neill, D-Mass., and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Rostenkowski, D-Ill.

Raised in Peoria, Ill., Michel initially entered public service during World War II as a combat infantryman in 1943. After he was wounded in battle, he was discharged as a disabled veteran in 1946. He was awarded two Bronze Stars, the Purple Heart and four battle stars.

Former Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., who would later fill Michels vacant congressional seat in 1995, once remarked that Michel refrained from using political rhetoric that evoked images at war because he knew warfare at first hand.

That is the reason he never used the macho phrases like 'warfare' and 'take no prisoners' when discussing politics with his staff. To Bob, the harsh, personal rhetoric of ideological warfare had no place in his office, no place in the House, and no place in American politics, LaHood said at a 2003 Congressional Distinguished Service Award ceremony that honored Michel.

In 1949, after finishing college upon his return from the war, Michel became an aide to Rep. Harold Velde, D-Ill., which served as his introduction to Capitol Hill. After Velde announced that he would not seek reelection in 1956, Michel ran for public office for the first time and won to replace his former boss.

Michel first served on the Committee on Government Operations (now known as the Oversight and Government Reform Committee) from 1957 to 1958. A year later, he changed committees and worked on the Appropriations panel from 1959 to 1980.

The Illinois Republican first entered the leadership hierarchy when he was elected the chairman of the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee in 1972, a position which helped him cement loyalty among his colleagues with his fundraising prowess. Two years later, Michel became the minority whip and by 1980, he had risen to minority leader.

In 1988, Michel came under fire when he reminisced about blackface minstrel shows and said that changing racially offensive words in songs was comparable to the totalitarian Soviet Union government's rewriting of history. He later apologized for his remarks, claiming that they were not in any way intended to be anything more than an honest attempt to understand and come to grips with the fact of American culture.

By the early 1990s, many in Michels caucus complained that he was too conciliatory with Democrats and was pushing the GOP agenda hard enough. Gingrich, then minority whip, was considered a potential threat to Michels position. In 1994, even as his party was poised to regain the House for the first time in four decades, Michel announced that he would not seek reelection. He denied that Gingrichs rise in popularity had motivated his decision to retire, but it was clear that Michel would have received a challenge for the speakership had he stayed in Congress.

In announcing his retirement, Michel complained about the diminished camaraderie on Capitol Hill and colleagues who preferred trashing the institution over effective legislating  a veiled criticism of the combative Gingrich.

Following Michel's announcement not to pursue reelection, President Clinton said in a statement: For over a decade as Republican leader, Bob Michel has exhibited the balance of partisanship and cooperation which makes our system work. He would never give my party quarter in a partisan fight, but Bob Michel would never put his party's interest above the national interest.

Clinton would later go on to award Michel the Presidential Medal of Freedom  the nations highest civilian honor  that same year. Michel had previously received the Presidential Citizens Medal from President Ronald Reagan in 1989.

Only once would Michel have the opportunity to hold the gavel in the House chamber. On the last day of the lame-duck session in 1994 following the midterm elections, then-Speaker Tom Foley, D-Wash., allowed Michel to preside over the House. The move surprised Michel. His colleagues roared and applauded as the Illinois Republican strode to the dais and took clasped the gavel, handed him by his old friend Foley.

Michel then noted never presided over the body during his entire Congressional career. Republicans had never held the majority during Michels tenure on Capitol Hill.

After Michel retired from the House, he joined the Hogan & Hartson political consulting firm as a senior adviser for corporate and governmental affairs.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News' "Hannity" Thursday night that his country and the United States have a "grand mission" to confront the threat of a nuclear Iran.

Netanyahu, who met President Donald Trump at the White House Wednesday, told host Sean Hannity that Tehran's aggressive rhetoric toward Israel is meant to mask their intentions against the U.S.

"They want to have [intercontinental ballistic missiles] that can reach your country. Thats what theyre working on right now. Remember, youre the Great Satan [to them]," Netanyahu said. "They believe that theyre destined to govern the world. Anybody that doesnt agree with them, theyll be able to subjugate or kill, and theyre working on the means to achieve that."

Netanyahu described his meeting with Trump as a "historical moment," as well as "a meeting of the minds and a meeting of the hearts."

"I feel we have now, as the president says, an even stronger alliance," the prime minister said. "A new day, he called it. Maybe a new age."

Netanyahu again criticized the Iran nuclear deal, a key source of his frustration with the Obama administration.

"The deal essentially said this, it said no bomb today, 100 bombs tomorrow, in ten years," he said. "Now the assumption was, people [would say] Well, OK, were kicking the can down the road. But this nuclear can of a single bomb then becomes the capacity to make dozens and dozens of bombs. And Iran doesnt change its attitude."

"Since the signing of the deal," Netanyahu said, "Iran has become more aggressive, more deadly, sponsoring more terrorism  with more money, a lot more money.

"Theyve killed Americans all over the place. Theyve sponsored terrorism against Americans all over the place. Now theyre going to build ICBMs that can reach the United States and have multiple warheads to do that? Thats horrible," he added. "Its dangerous for America, dangerous for Israel, dangerous for the Arabs. Everybody now understands it and theres an American president who understands it and were talking about what to do about this common threat."
The Pentagon hasnt found any documents indicating that Mike Flynn received authorization to accept money from a foreign government before traveling to Moscow in 2015 for a paid Russian state TV event, according to a letter from the acting Secretary of the Army.

The Pentagon finding came after lawmakers raised questions about whether the former White House national security adviser and retired U.S. Army general violated Pentagon rules that require retired officers to report income from foreign states.

Mr. Flynn accepted an invitation to Moscow in late 2015 to give a paid, sit-down interview with Russian state television network RT and to attend the channels 10-year anniversary gala, where he sat beside President Vladimir Putin.

The Department of the Army conducted a thorough records search, and has not found any documents, Acting Secretary of the Army Robert Speer said in a Feb. 14 letter in response to Rep. Elijah Cummings, a ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, who asked the Pentagon whether Mr. Flynn received approval. Several Democratic lawmakers recently asked the Defense Department to investigate whether Mr. Flynn violated the Constitution when he accepted money for attending the Russian networks event.

Mr. Flynn previously said he was paid to attend the December 2015 event, which came at a time of heightened tensions between the White House and the Kremlin. In an interview with the Washington Post in August, Mr. Flynn said he was asked to attend the event by his speaking-engagement agent, Leading Authorities Inc., or LAI.

It was in Russia. It was a paid speaking opportunity, Mr. Flynn said. I get paid so much. The speakers bureau got paid so much, based on our contract.

On Thursday, Mr. Cummings, of Maryland, sent a joint letter with the committee chairman, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R., Utah), asking LAI to provide documents and information on the matter by March 2.

In particular, they asked LAI for all documents and communications relating to Mr. Flynns December 2015 appearance in Moscow and the source of the funding for the trip. They also asked for a list of all of Mr. Flynns speaking engagements and their sources of funding.

We are attempting to determine the amount Lt. Gen. Flynn received for his appearance, the source of the funding, and whether he may have received payments from any other foreign sources for additional engagements, the congressmen wrote in the letter.

As chairman of the committee, Mr. Chaffetz has subpoena power that could compel LAI to hand over the information. LAI didnt respond to requests for comment.

Click for more from The Wall Street Journal.
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt was narrowly confirmed Friday afternoon to lead the federal agency he built a career fighting.

The Senate voted 52-46 to install Pruitt as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, after a heated debate.

While Democrats have blasted the nominee for his push to roll back regulations and his past statements challenging the science behind climate change, his bid more recently was complicated by a dispute over documents.

On the eve of his confirmation, Pruitt was ordered by an Oklahoma judge to hand over thousands of emails between his office and fossil fuel companies like Koch Industries and the National Coal Council to the Center for Media and Democracy, which requested the collection of emails in 2014.

CMD is accusing Pruitt and the Oklahoma attorney generals office of ignoring multiple open records requests.

Oklahoma County District Judge Aletia Haynes Timmons said there was an abject failure to provide prompt and reasonable access to documents requested.

As of Thursday night, the attorney generals office had provided only 411 of the more than 3,000 emails CMD requested. The 411 emails were turned over earlier this week. The open records request was made two years ago.

Pruitts office maintains they have done nothing wrong and that they handle requests on a first-come, first-served system.

Democrats used the developments to push for a delay in Pruitts confirmation vote but were repeatedly denied.

Scott Pruitt and Senate Republicans have made a mockery of the confirmation process, permitting the nominee to escape scrutiny and hide his deep ties to the fossil fuel industry, Sierra Club Legislative Director Melinda Pierce said in a written statement. What is he hiding in all of these emails?

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell slammed efforts to postpone it as another delay tactic by Democrats that was unprecedented, harmful and pointless.

Its one thing to obstruct to get some outcome, really these are a collection of futile gestures, not changing the outcome of these nominations, he said from the Senate floor Friday.

Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., pushed back on the accusations from Republicans that Democrats are purposely trying to stall the vote to get back at Trump.

We have a nominee here who has sued the EPA 18 times! Franken said. We dont think this nominee is qualified. It has nothing to do with us not recognizing the results of the election.

Open records aside, Pruitts nomination has been controversial from the start.

As attorney general of Oklahoma, he sued the very department he was tapped by President Trump to run 14 times, often joining forces with the countrys largest fossil fuel companies against the EPA. Hes also openly questioned the science of climate change and challenged data that says humans contribute to global warming.

Pruitts also argued the EPA should have most of its authority stripped. His open antipathy for the department had many wondering why hed want to lead it.

The New York Times reported that employees of the EPA have been calling their senators to urge them to vote against Pruitt. The display of defiance foreshadows turmoil between those employed by the agency and a man who has built a career on fighting it.

It seems like Trump and Pruitt want a complete reversal of what EPA has done, Nicole Cantello, an EPA lawyer who heads the Chicago branch of the union representing EPAs 15,000 employees nationwide. I dont know if theres any other agency thats been so reviled. So its in our interest to do this.

Republican lawmakers supporting Pruitt say hes the right man to modernize the agency and will work to make sure the EPA doesnt overstep its authority.

He has consistently fought against federal intrusion, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said. The EPA must accept the limits of federal power.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, also supported Pruitts nomination. He argues Pruitt will clean up the EPA which he says has abused its power over the past eight years.

Weve had an agency that doesnt list mistakes, ignores rule of law and believes it has the power to regulate every nook and cranny of American life. Sullivan said in a floor speech. Its been an enormous power grab. They regulate puddles.

Despite the pushback, Pruitts confirmation seemed to be a done deal. Two Democratic senators, North Dakotas Heidi Heitkamp and West Virginias Joe Manchin, announced earlier they would vote in favor of his confirmation.

On the Republican side, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine opposed it. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., skipped the vote to attend a conference in Germany.
President Trump tweeted early Friday that the repeal and replacement of former-President Obamas health law is moving fast, after news reports indicated that Republicans are divided on how much of the law to repeal.

The Trump administration took steps Wednesday intended to calm jittery insurance companies and make tax compliance with former President Barack Obama's health law less burdensome for some people.

OBAMACARE IN 'DEATH SPIRAL,' AETNA CEO SAYS

But the changes could lead to policies with higher annual deductibles, according to the administration's own proposal. That seems to undercut President Donald Trump's assurance in a recent Washington Post interview that his plan would mean "lower numbers, much lower deductibles."

The moves announced separately by the Health and Human Services Department and the IRS don't amount to sweeping changes to the Affordable Care Act. That would fall to Congress, where Republicans are struggling to reach consensus over how to deliver on their promise to repeal and replace the health law. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is expected to present elements of a plan to GOP lawmakers Thursday morning.

But the administration actions do signal a change in direction. Recently confirmed HHS Secretary Tom Price called them "initial steps in advance of a broader effort to reverse the harmful effects of Obamacare." Premiums are up sharply this year, while many communities were left with just one insurer.

For consumers, the proposed HHS rules mean tighter scrutiny of anyone trying to sign up for coverage outside of open enrollment by claiming a "special enrollment period" due to a change in life circumstances such as the birth of a child, marriage, or the loss of job-based insurance. Also, sign-up season will be 45 days, shortened from three months currently.

For insurers, the curbs on special enrollments are a big item. The industry claimed that some consumers were gaming the system by signing up when they needed expensive treatments, only to drop out later.

Insurers would also gain more flexibility to design low-premium plans tailored to younger people. But that flexibility could lead to higher deductibles, according to HHS.

"The proposed change ... could reduce the value of coverage for consumers," the administration proposal said. "However, in the longer run, providing (insurers) with additional flexibility could help stabilize premiums."

Larry Levitt of the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation said "this would allow insurers to offer plans with higher deductibles, which seems counter to President's Trump promise to lower deductibles." A deductible is the annual amount consumers pay for medical care before their insurance kicks in.

Democrats said the HHS changes would undermine consumer protections and make more people uninsured. Some called the move "sabotage."

The Associated Press contributed to this report
SpaceX is gearing up to launch its 10th commercial cargo mission on Saturday morning (Feb. 18), ferrying supplies and an assortment of science investigations to the International Space Station  including a deadly superbug, an advanced lightning sensor, a tool for new autonomous rendezvous capabilities and more.

Perched atop an upgraded Falcon 9 booster, the Dragon spacecraft will lift off from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A  marking the first time a vehicle has launched from the historic pad since the final, 2011 shuttle mission.

Once in orbit, the Dragon will spend two days chasing down the International Space Station. The six crewmembers on board have been preparing for the Dragon's arrival, which is slated for Monday, Feb. 20. At approximately 11:30 a.m. EST, European astronaut Thomas Pesquet will use the space station's 57.7-foot robotic arm to grapple the craft, assisted by NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough. [These SpaceX Rocket Landing Photos Are Simply Jaw-Dropping]

The vehicle will remain berthed at the space station for about a month. During that time the crew will unload its provisions, including close to 5,500 lbs. of research supplies and science experiments. When Dragon's mission is over, it will carry an estimated 5,000 lbs. of cargo back to Earth.

At a news briefing on Wednesday, Feb. 8, several researchers detailed their experiments, which are currently tucked inside the Dragon.

This mission includes a plethora of student-designed investigations, including one led by a pair of 17-year-old students from Craft Academy at Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky. The students, Danielle Gibson and Will Castro, kicked off the briefing by outlining an experiment that will evaluate smooth muscle cells from rats (a type of cell commonly found in arteries and veins) to test theories about how muscles contract in the microgravity environment. Gibson and Castro explained that "significant physiological differences" have been observed when muscles contract in space versus on the ground. The goal of their research is to explore those differences in more detail, which could lead to better treatments for health conditions such as high blood pressure.

Paul Reichert of Merck Research Laboratories, whose investigation is also heading to the station, said that it focuses on the crystallization growth of human monoclonal antibodies  a type of protein that researchers suspect may play a role in combating myriad diseases , including cancer. Crystallizing proteins lets scientists better understand how they function, allowing for the creation of more effective treatments.

"This research will improve the way we produce products here on Earth," Reichert said during the briefing.

Michael Freilich, director of NASA's Earth Science Division, was on hand to discuss two of the agency's Earth science payloads that will be carried in the Dragon's trunk: the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III (SAGE III) instrument and the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS).

Both payloads will be externally mounted on the station, with SAGE III set to measure the Earth's natural sunscreen  ozone  along with other gases and aerosols, or tiny particles in the atmosphere. To make its measurements, SAGE III will lock its view onto the sun or moon and scan the thin sliver of Earth's atmosphere visible as it passes by.

The new LIS will help scientists better understand lightning , which strikes 45 times per second around the world, by taking measurements 24 hours a day.

The sensor will record several measurements including the number of strikes, and the frequency and energy output of each strike. A similar instrument is installed on the GOES-16 satellite, which launched in November 2016 and is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). [Earth from Space: The Amazing Photos by the GOES-16 Satellite]

Both sensors will work in tandem, allowing scientists to study data from multiple latitudes across the globe. Ben Reed, deputy division director of the Satellite Servicing Projects Division at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, discussed Raven , a technology demonstration that's designed to test autonomous rendezvous capability on the International Space Station.

Current spacecraft operate in low-Earth orbit, which means they can be controlled from the ground. In the future, robotic spacecraft might be operating thousands of miles from Earth, beyond the reach of the space station or ground control. Advanced autopilot systems are needed to help such spacecraft safely navigate and rendezvous with other objects.

The goal of the Raven investigation is to study the feasibility of a real-time spacecraft navigation system that would provide the eyes and intelligence a spacecraft needs to see a target and steer toward it safely. The researchers hope that the investigation will help to enable future exploration missions near Earth and beyond, including satellite servicing and repair.

Developed by the Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office (SSCO), Raven is equipped with visible light, LIDAR and infrared sensors to scan vehicles visiting the space station over a two-year period.

The next research investigation that was presented may sound like something out of a science-fiction horror story, but the researchers explained there's no danger to the crew. As part of a NASA-funded study, led by Dr. Anita Goel, Nanobiosym is partnering with CASIS  the company tasked with managing the space station's national laboratory  to send a batch of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (aka MRSA) into space, sealed in three levels of containment.

MRSA is common in hospitals, and in the United States alone, MRSA is notorious for killing more Americans in a single year than the combined total of deaths from emphysema, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson's disease and homicide.

So why would NASA want to send such a deadly strain of bacteria into space? Dr. Goel explained that by exposing the bacteria to a microgravity environment, researchers may be able to better understand how MRSA mutates.

MRSA is renowned for its resistance to antibodies. "Microgravity may accelerate the rate of bacterial mutations," Dr. Goel told Space.com. "If we can predict future mutations before they happen, we can build better drugs."

You can watch SpaceX's launch webcast live here Saturday, courtesy of NASA and SpaceX. On Friday, NASA will webcast a series of press conferences on the mission, its cargo and the history of Launch Pad 39A.

Editor's Note: This story was updated to correct the date of SpaceX's Dragon arrival at the International Space Station. It is Monday, Feb. 20, not July 20.

Follow us @Spacedotcom , Facebook and Google+ . Original article on Space.com .
The unlimited data plan wars are heating up. Days after Verizon's surprise announcement that it was bringing back unlimited data options and T-Mobile's decision to boost its own plans, AT&T has launched a newyou guessed it!unlimited data plan.

AT&T announced Thursday that it would expand access to unlimited data plans to all postpaid wireless customers.

The new AT&T Unlimited plan will start at $100 a month for one line, with each additional line adding $40/month. Plans with four lines get the fourth line at no additional charge ($180/month), though that rate is only available after you've paid $220 for two months. Then you'll get a bill credit.

Additionally, the company states that it "may slow speeds during periods of network congestion" after 22 GB of data is used per phone line.

Related Stories From Consumer Reports

Verizon has set it's throttling bar to the same level, noting in the announcement of its new plan that "to ensure a quality experience for all customers after 22 GB of data usage on a line during any billing cycle we may prioritize [your] usage behind other customers."

Conversely, T-Mobile says it will no longer charge its T-Mobile ONE unlimited data subscribers for watching full HD non-throttled video.

However, T-Mobile is also increasing its cap for free data tethering to 10 GB of data per month, for consumers who want to use their phones as mobile hotspots to connect their other devices to the internet. (After exceeding 10 GB of data, subscribers are throttled to a 3G connection for the rest of the month, rather than charged for overages.)

Under AT&T's new plan, customers can make unlimited calls from the U.S. to Canada and Mexico, and send unlimited texts to over 120 countries. Those who add the Roam North America feature can also talk, text, and use data in Canada and Mexico with no roaming charges, the company says.

Copyright  2005-2017 Consumers Union of U.S., Inc. No reproduction, in whole or in part, without written permission. Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this site.
Two high-profile museums are weighing in on the debate surrounding President Trumps temporary travel ban, barring immigrants from seven Muslim-majority nations.

In reaction to the executive order, Davis Museum at Wellesley College in Boston announced Wednesday they would be removing paintings and shroud objects in black fabric that were either created by immigrant artists or donated to the museum by immigrants to highlight foreign-made contributions.

The Davis Museum describes the de-installation as Art-Less" -- a protest that began on Feb. 16 and will end on Tuesday, Feb. 21.

DISNEY RAISES TICKET PRICES AGAIN

In all, the museum says it will remove 120 works of art, including paintings, bronze and wood sculptures, ceremonial masks from Europe, the Americas, and Africa, plus contemporary and modern pieces- about 20 percent of the art on display in the museums permanent galleries.

Were hoping to articulate the contributions of immigrants here at Davis in response to the anxiety this executive order has raised and continues to raise, Davis Museum director Lisa Fischman told the Boston Globe. We thought a lot about works that we have, and how they came to be here.

The impact of Art-Less on the African galleries will be the most noticeable as nearly 80 percent of the galleries objects were donated by the Klejman family, who immigrated to the U.S. from Poland after World War II.

Claire Whitner, the museums assistant director of curatorial affairs who is overseeing the project, told the Globe the initiative will affect every permanent collections gallery.

The impacted works will be identified with labels stating either that the work was made by an immigrant or given by an immigrant. The museum is inviting other institutions to join the project, offering labels for public download on its website.

One painting scheduled to be removed over Presidents' Day weekend is a portrait of George Washington, painted by Swedish-born artist Adolf Ulrik Wertmuller. The painting was donated to the museum by the Munn family, also immigrants from Sweden.

In New York City, however, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is using a different tactic to highlight immigrants' artistic contributions.

MoMA has redesigned its fifth-floor permanent-collection galleries to feature contemporary art from Iran, Iraq, and Sudan, three of the seven countries whose citizens have been subject to the ban.

FOR THE LATEST TRAVEL FEATURES FOLLOW FOX LIFESTYLE ON FACEBOOK

According to Architectural Digest, works by Iraqi-born Zaha Hadid and Iranian artist Charles Hossein Zenderoudi have replaced pieces from renknowned artists like Picasso and Matisse. The works will be on display at the Manhattan museum for several months.

Accompanying the newly installed pieces is a statement from the museum that reads:

This work is by an artist from a nation whose citizens are being denied entry into the United States, according to a presidential executive order issued on January 27, 2017. This is one of several such artworks from the Museums collection installed throughout the fifth-floor galleries to affirm the ideals of welcome and freedom as vital to this Museum, as they are to the United States."
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Critics of President Donald Trump saw in his Thursday news conference a combative, thin-skinned chief executive who continues to blame the media for the controversies roiling his administration.

His supporters saw something else: A champion of Middle America who is taking on the establishment and making good on his campaign promises to put the country first.

The Associated Press contacted Trump supporters across the country to see how they viewed a news conference in which the president said his administration was running like "a fine-tuned machine" despite the resignation of his top national security adviser, a court setback on his immigration order, a defeat for his nominee as labor secretary and reports of internal divisions.

Here are views of some of those supporters:

___

Richelle Kirk of Logan, West Virginia, watched some of Trump's news conference on Thursday and didn't see any head-scratching comments from the president.

"I back him 100 percent," said the 42-year-old stay-at-home mom. "You either love it or get out, is my opinion."

During Barack Obama's presidency, her husband was laid off from his coal-mining job, a loss they blamed on Obama's environmental policies. She said they lost a home and "everything we owned."

After West Virginia voters resoundingly rejected Obama during his 2012 re-election, "we didn't show our hind ends when Obama was re-elected," Kirk said. So she believes people shouldn't overreact to Trump, either.

She particularly agreed with the president when he took credit for an optimistic business climate and a rising stock market, saying Trump is beginning to fulfill his campaign promise to put people back to work.

Reporters, she said, "need to leave him alone. He's just doing what he said he's going to do."

___

Regina Lenoir of Picayune, Mississippi, enjoyed watching Trump's news conference and said the president "looked more relaxed."

Lenoir, 69, said she was most interested in the president's comments about the alleged leaks that led to the resignation of Michael Flynn as national security adviser.

"We don't know the conversation that happened between him and (Vice President Mike) Pence. Only they know. But the news media gets out there (and) says such and such with no corroboration," she said. "I'm sick of them making up stories. You know, we're intelligent people. We can make up our own mind on whether they're telling the truth."

She agreed with Trump's take on how the media has covered his administration and campaign, saying those covering his administration are good reporters but biased.

She said if people gave Trump a chance, "he might just surprise everyone.

"He wasn't my first choice, but he is my president," Lenoir said. "I think he handled the news conference very well."

___

Kevin Felty of Norfolk, Virginia, said it was the "most impressive presidential press conference" of his life.

"Largely because it was so unorthodox," said Felty, 48, who works as a surgical assistant and sells life insurance. "It was hyper adversarial between the president and the press. And yet he was able to control the questioning and the tone and the mood in the room."

Felty said the media needs to move on regarding Russia and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

"There was nothing illegal that General Flynn had done at that time," Felty said. "What he did do is make a mistake in not being accurate with the vice president."

He also said he believes Trump is trustworthy as president.

"He doesn't need the media to chide him to make the right decisions," Felty said. "It's something he's been doing well for decades."

___

Scott Hiltgen, a 66-year-old office furniture sales broker from River Falls, Wisconsin, said he was glad to see the president push back against the media. He said reporters have no proof Trump or anyone around him did anything wrong.

"They're trying to make up a story that Trump worked with the Russians to rig the election," he said. "Now they're trying to make a big deal out of (former national security adviser) Mike Flynn. He was doing what he was supposed to do. He was talking to his counterparts. He was talking to the Russians. He got fired because he lied to (Vice President Mike) Pence. There's no story there. The left media is so excited. They think they took this guy down. No. He made a mistake. He just lied."

Hiltgen said he remains squarely behind the billionaire president because he has done what he said he would do on the campaign trail.

"He's accomplished more in, whatever, three weeks, regarding the stuff he talked about," Hiltgen said. "That's what people voted for. I can't believe there's actually a politician doing what he says he would do. That never happens."

___

Associated Press writers Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; Chevel Johnson in New Orleans; and Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.
Bottles of baijiu are displayed at a store in Beijing. (Photo : Getty Images)

According to a report by People's Daily, the People's Liberation Army Air Force has punished more than 100 of its members for either violating the alcohol ban or failing to prevent subordinates from drinking.



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The report indicated that 15 Air Force members who drank at their workplaces and 87 members that failed to make sure their subordinates followed the ban have been punished.



The punishments include administrative warnings, demotion from ranks and disqualification from promotion.



According to the newspaper, the 39th Group Army counter-chemical regiment and other military units installed alcohol detectors at every entrance to its office compound.



The Central Military Commission has issued an alcohol ban in Dec. 2012, a month after Xi Jinping became president. Since then, alcoholic beverages have gradually retreated from dinners that are attended by military members.



Several PLA officers stated that they have welcomed the ban, as it "saves" them from drinking a strong Chinese liquor baijiu. Baijiu is popular within the Chinese military for a long time in order to maintain or improve personal relations.



An anonymous Navy officer said: "We had to drink a lot in the past when there were visitors or guests. My superior officers and I didn't want to drink too much, and I believe our guests didn't want to drink too much either, but drinking baijiu was a kind of ritual at banquets to show our hospitality."



He added: "Now we are free of liquor. My wife and my daughter are the biggest supporters of the no-alcohol policy."



"At first, I didn't take it very seriously, but I gradually came to realize that this time we would really say goodbye to alcohol after some officers at my unit were punished for breaking the rules," said a PLA Ground Force technician who wished to be identified as Luo.



Luo said that his regiment spent a lot of money on baijiu before the ban was introduced.


An Amtrak police officer has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a Minneapolis man outside Chicago's Union Station, prosecutors said Friday.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

LaRoyce Tankson is charged in the Feb. 8 shooting of 25-year-old Chad Robertson, who died Wednesday, the Cook County State's Attorney's office said. Tankson, 31, surrendered to police Thursday.

Robertson was taking a bus from Memphis, Tennessee, to Minneapolis and was on a stopover in Chicago when the shooting occurred. Robertson and two friends went to Union Station to stay warm while they waited for their onward bus, but two officers aggressively confronted them so the three friends got up to leave, Robertson's sister, Nina Robertson, has said.

CHICAGO GANG MEMBERS SAY MORE POLICE WON'T STOP THE MURDERS

The officers then confronted them again outside the station and accused one of them of smoking marijuana. An officer searched the men and when he put his hands in Robertson's pockets, he ran, the sister said. That's when one of the officers opened fire.

Chicago police say they found cash and narcotics on Robertson, but no weapon.

"I'm very pleased that he's been charged with first-degree murder," Robertson's aunt, Theresa Love Williams, said Friday. "Now that he's been charged, we need to get a conviction. So we still have a fight ahead of us."

The Associated Press left messages seeking comment Friday from attorney Dennis Hopson, who is representing Robertson's family. He previously said the family is considering a wrongful death lawsuit.

Amtrak officials said Friday that they are cooperating with Chicago police and prosecutors but that they can't comment further. Amtrak has put the officers involved on administrative assignment.

Civil rights activist Mel Reeves said the charges filed against the officer indicate "something went wrong severely that night. That clearly (the officer) had no reason to shoot Chad Robertson."

Tankson did not immediately respond to phone messages left Friday seeking comment.
Rashad Britt grew up in the Henry Horner projects on Chicagos West Side, known for gangs and violence. He started hanging out with the members of the Vice Lords gang for safety. Just for protectionmy friends-we gotta get to school. So, we got each others back on the way to school, he says. And sometimes, that meant carrying a gun and [being] willing to use it.

His first gun was a gift, given to him as a pre-teen. I looked at it like that was love. I looked at it like this person loved me, for the simple fact that they wanted to see me protected. They gave me something that was going to protect my life, he says.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

Last Monday, I met with a group of street guys on the West Side. They say the gangs provided structure that their parents did not. Half of these guys dont got no mom, either they was crack heads, dope fiends, boosters or something, says a man who would only identify himself as a member of the Black Disciples. They moms or fathers was lost to the same gang that we getting ourselves into now.

We more like a family than a gang brothers, says Kevin Gentry  associated with the Vice Lords. In the gang, someone was kind to them. Their role models sold drugs, had money, clothes cars and girlfriends. The gangs have become family for a lot of young men here in Chicago and across the United States. They gravitate toward the guys with charisma. They gravitate toward the guys that might protect them. But they really are not protected out there. Too many people are being killed, its a false sense of security, says Tio Hardiman from Violence Interrupters, a group that attempts to predict and prevent gangland shootings.

As of the 15th of February, Chicago racked up 326 shootings and 72 murders. That puts the city on the same pace as 2016, which saw the highest murder rate in decades.

VIDEO SHOWS CHICAGO GIRL'S ACCUSED KILLER BEATEN IN COURTHOUSE LOCKUP

On Saturday, 12-year-old Kanari Gentry-Bowers was on a playground in the violent West Englewood neighborhood when she was struck by a stray bullet. About 4 miles away, 11-year-old Takiya Holmes was hit by a stray bullet while seated in the back of a car. Both of their young lives ended.

On Valentines Day, a pregnant woman  who is unidentified  began streaming video with her phone on Facebook Live. Her boyfriend, Lazarek Collins, was in the passenger seat and his 2-year-old nephew Lavontay White was in the back.

Collins was a documented gang member. It is believed the bullets were meant for him. However, when Collins was killed, so was little Lavontay. The pregnant woman was shot in the stomach, but survived. Even for Chicago, a city partially numb to the violence, the senseless slaying of a 2-year-old caught on video was horrific.

Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson again called for tougher gun laws. Enough is enough, he said.

Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner proposed sending state troopers to Chicago. Without being specific, President Donald Trump suggested sending in the feds.

Tracy Cannon  once associated with the Vice Lords  says it wont matter. I dont care how many police they bring in. Its not going to stop, man.

Guys on the street say law enforcement made a bad situation worse. They locked up these gang chiefs and everything went haywire, says Charles Winters. Large organizations like the Gangster Disciples and Vice Lords subdivided over unresolved disputes. Absent leadership, cliques within the same gang will often do battle. Aint like it used to be, says Cannon. Back then we had structure. Older guys would make us go to school. Even though we was gang banging, we would still go to school.

Now, its a bullet-ridden free for all, with gangsters trying to gain respect by proving themselves to be ruthless. Kids only care about nice clothes, fast money and how many kills they can get, says Britt. When they get a certain amount of kills or when they hurt a certain amount of people, they feared. They got the fear factor going on. The kids nowadays in Chicago, thats what they want.

The guy from the Black Disciples says the gang is all hes even been able to rely on and hell never leave gangster life. If I live by this gun and I live by these drugs, this product that Im selling, and Im pushing in this neighborhood. Its putting food on my table and food in my kids mouths and a roof over they heads, then Im not going to put it down, he says.

Others say the violent gang life is for kids. If they live into their 20s and stay out of prison some walk away and get jobs. You just get played out man, says Cannon. If you aint rich by now, you aint gonna get rich selling drugs.
A Washington state florist who refused to provide services for a same-sex wedding in 2013 broke the states antidiscrimination law, the states Supreme Court ruled.

Barronelle Stutzman, a florist in the town of Richland, said she was exercising her First Amendment rights. Her lawyers promised that they would ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the decision.

Stutzman had previously sold the couple flowers and knew they were gay. However, Stutzman told them that she couldn't provide flowers for their wedding because same-sex marriage was incompatible with her Christian beliefs.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson and the couple sued her, saying she broke state anti-discrimination and consumer protection laws, and the lower court agreed. The state's nine high court justices upheld that verdict.

Michael Scott, a Seattle attorney who worked with the American Civil Liberties Union to represent Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed  the couple denied the flowers  had previously told justices he didn't believe Stutzman's floral creations constituted speech. By providing flowers for a same-sex marriage, he argued, "she's not endorsing same-sex marriage. She's selling what she sells."

Ferguson had said the state's argument rested on longstanding principle, and uprooting it would weaken antidiscrimination law.

After the arguments in the Supreme Court case last November, at a packed theater at Bellevue College, a large crowd of Stutzman's supporters greeted her outside, chanting her name and waving signs with pictures of roses that said "Justice For Barronelle."

In a February ruling, Benton County Superior Court Judge Alexander Ekstrom found that Stutzman's refusal to provide flowers because of sexual orientation violated Washington's anti-discrimination and consumer protection laws. She has been fined $1,000, plus $1 in court costs and fees.

Stutzman entered the florist business 30 years ago, when her mother bought a flower shop and she started as a delivery person.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
A Florida man is accused of planning to bomb Target stores along the East Coast in an attempt to buy cheap stock in the company, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

Mark Charles Barnett, 48, of Ocala, was charged with possession or possession of a destructive device affecting commerce by a previously convicted felon, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Barnett is a registered sex offender in Florida.

The Justice Department filed a complaint alleging Barnett built at least 10 explosive devices and paid another man $10,000 to place the bombs on store shelves. The man also received a mask, a license-plate cover and a bag of gloves. Officials said the other man went to authorities.

Officials said bomb-making materials were found in Barnetts home as well.

According to the complaint, Barnett thought the explosions would cause Target stock prices to drop, allowing him to buy cheap shares in the company before it rebounded.

Barnett faces up to 10 years in federal prison. Hes being held in the Marion County Jail for nine parole violations, the Sentinel reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A former U.S. Marine was arrested in Los Angeles Thursday after authorities discovered a number of pipe bombs in a Denver hotel room he inhabited.

Adam Hayat was due to appear in court Friday after his arrest at a Holiday Inn hotel near Los Angeles International Airport.

KDVR reported that Hayat flew to Los Angeles from Denver on Wednesday. That night, police responded to a report of a suspicious object at the downtown Sheraton hotel. When they arrived, officers found the unexploded pipe bombs inside a safe in one of the rooms.

They also discovered a note written on the mirror in lipstick that made refences to post-traumatic stress disorder.

Hayat's father, Sultan, told Denver7 his son was homeless and had been estranged from his family for years. Hayat added that his son had joined the Marines after high school and served in South Korea, Japan and Iraq.

Sultan Hayat also said that his son had suffered from PTSD, bipolar disorder and attention deficit disorder.

"Police said he had bought some firearms, and they were concerned that he may hurt himself or someone else, said Sultan Hayat. "I was very surprised."

Hayat said authorities told him that his son had stayed at the Denver Sheraton since Dec. 26 and had run up an unpaid bill of $10,000. When hotel staff went to his room to check on him, they found note on the mirror and called police.

Click for more from KDVR.com.
A Seattle area man detained by immigration agents despite his participation in a federal program to protect those brought to the U.S. illegally as children admitted to having gang ties, the U.S. Justice Department said in court documents filed Thursday.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

However, Daniel Ramirez Medina's lawyer Mark Rosenbaum said in a conference call late Thursday that the documents fail to provide even one piece of evidence that Ramirez is affiliated with any gang.

"It is a blatant falsehood that defames this young man, I suppose, to justify what was a mistake at the beginning," Rosenbaum said of the 23-year-old's arrest and detention by immigration agents Friday.

TROOPERS FIND 4-TIMES DEPORTED MAN AMONG VICTIMS OF CAR CRASH

The government said in documents filed in U.S. District Court that Ramirez "stated 'no, not no more,' when asked if he is or has been involved with any gang activity."

The court documents also said Ramirez, who is Mexican and arrived in the U.S. at age 7, was asked by authorities who arrested him about a tattoo described in the documents as a "gang tattoo."

Ramirez responded that he hung around members of the Surenos gang in California, fled the state to escape gangs and also hung out with gang members in Washington state, the documents said.

Ramirez's arrest last week thrust him into a national debate over the immigration priorities of President Donald Trump. Some saw the detention as the opening salvo in an attack on former President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, while federal authorities suggested it was simply a routine exercise of their authority.

Rosenbaum said the federal allegations were false and that authorities misidentified the one tattoo on Ramirez's body.

"Mr. Ramirez did not say these things because they are not true," Rosenbaum said. "And while utterly implausible and wholly fabricated, these claims still would not be sufficient evidence that Mr. Ramirez is a threat to the public safety or national security."

The court documents blacked out a picture of the tattoo, but lawyers for Ramirez said it reads "La Paz BCS." La Paz means "Peace" in Spanish and is also the capital of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur, where Ramirez was born.

Rosenbaum also accused Imigration and Customs Enforcement officials of doctoring a form filled out by Ramirez asking to be transferred out of the gang unit at the detention center. Ramirez wrote on the paper that he is not a member of a gang and that's he's never been involved in gang activity, Rosenbaum said. But when Ramirez was denied the move and got a copy of the paper back, Rosenbaum said, some of the words had been erased, making the statement appear as though Ramirez had written that he was in a gang.

"You can see that there are words that have been erased. That is serious and criminal conduct," Rosenbaum said.

The government has also given varying accounts of where and when Ramirez allegedly talked to agents about gang involvement, Rosenbaum said.

An ICE spokeswoman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ramirez is the father of a 3-year-old son who is a U.S. citizen, his lawyers have said. He worked as a field hand picking fruit in California before moving to Washington, and he twice passed background checks to participate in the DACA program  most recently last spring, they said. An attorney for Ramirez also said Thursday that Ramirez has been emotionally distraught.

The government's filing confirmed that Ramirez has no criminal record, but said he told authorities he was recently arrested for speeding.

Immigration agents found him last Friday when they went to an apartment complex in the Seattle suburb of Des Moines to arrest his father, identified as Antonio Ramirez-Polendo. Ramirez-Polendo was deported eight times between 2000 and 2006, ICE said Thursday, and served a year in prison in Washington state for felony drug trafficking.

The DACA program  referred to as "Dreamers" by supporters and derided as "illegal amnesty" by critics  has protected about 750,000 immigrants since its inception in 2012. It allows young people who were brought into the country illegally as children to stay and obtain work permits.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Ramirez was being held at a detention center in Tacoma pending deportation proceedings. The statement said participants can have their status revoked if they're found to pose a threat to national security or public safety.

About 1,500 immigrants granted DACA status since 2012 have had it revoked because of criminal convictions or gang affiliations.

Trump told a news conference Thursday that he intended to "deal with DACA with heart."

"The DACA situation is a very, very, it's a very difficult thing for me because, you know, I love these kids," Trump said. "I love kids. I have kids and grandkids."
An elite Upper East Side private schools annual ice-skating party at Trump Wollman Rink in Central Park had to be canceled after parents refused to send their kids in protest of the president, sources said.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

The Parents Association at The Dalton School sent a letter Thursday announcing the Dalton on Ice event was scrapped, saying it would not be financially prudent because of significantly lower attendance.

Daltons PA president, LaMae DeJongh, declined to comment  but sources said the low attendance was due to rampant anti-Trump sentiment at the elite prep school, which boasts alumni such as CNNs Anderson Cooper.

I think it is completely insane, said one Dalton parent who disagrees with the protest. Like him or not, it feels like a strange place for New Yorkers to protest. And sad that kids now have no skating party.

Trump renovated the rink in 1986 after the city fumbled the job for six years.

Click for more from the New York Post.
A Pennsylvania public library is waiving the 2-cents-a-day fine on a childrens book that was checked out more than 75 years ago and returned this week.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

Author and illustrator Sanford Touseys Val Rides the Oregon Trail was returned to the Osterhout Free Library in Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday, more than a bit past its Dec. 2, 1941, due date. That was five days before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

That may explain why 9-year-old Robert Lockman never returned it, his son tells WNEP-TV.

TRUSTY PET SQUIRREL FOILS BURGLARY

Some things become more important, you know, Robert Lockman Jr. told the station.

Robert Lockman Sr. died in 2013. The younger Lockman found the book with the due date slip in the basement of his Shavertown home recently, the Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice reports.

Lockman say returning the book was the right thing to do.

My dad was an honest guy, Lockman said. Thats what he would have done.

The fine on the book, at 2 cents a day for 75 years, two months and 13 days, totaled up to $554, but Lockman didnt have to pay anything.

We just laughed about it, circulation clerk Jeannette Karaska told the paper.
A teenager has pleaded guilty to fatally shooting two young women and wounding five other people during a Halloween party in upstate New York last year.

The Times Herald-Record of Middletown reports (http://bit.ly/2m2JKOm ) 17-year-old Nija Johnson pleaded guilty Thursday in Orange County Court to two counts of second-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder.

He admitted to opening fire during a party being held Oct. 30 in Newburgh, 55 miles north of New York City. Eighteen-year-old Omani Free and 20-year-old Tabitha Cruz were killed.

Johnson was taken into custody in Richmond, Virginia, a week after the shooting. He faces 40 years to life in prison.

Prosecutors say security video at the party venue showed Johnson opened fire with a .40-caliber pistol with an extended 20-round magazine. Authorities say none of the victims were his intended target.

___

Information from: The Times Herald-Record, http://www.th-record.com
Vice President Mike Pence has arrived in Germany for his first overseas trip as vice president.

Pence's Air Force Two has landed in Munich, where he is set to deliver a speech Saturday at the Munich Security Conference and meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the leaders of several U.S. allies.

Pence is expected to reassure U.S. partners in Europe and the Middle East about U.S. foreign policy under President Donald Trump and the nation's commitment to trans-Atlantic institutions like NATO and the European Union.

He is meeting Saturday with the leaders of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim. He's also meeting with the heads of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Cars ride in smog as Spring Festival ends on Feb. 4, 2017 in Beijing, China. (Photo : Getty Images)

China's Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) has proposed measures to intensify the country's war on smog, which is seen as some of the most drastic measures undertaken by the country to address air quality in heavily polluted cities.



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According to the draft policy document seen by Reuters, the government is considering steps to compel steel and aluminum factories to further reduce their output, ban coal in a major port, and close down fertilizer and drug plants.



The draft outlined plans to reduce steel and fertilizer capacity by at least 50 percent and aluminum capacity by 30 percent in 28 cities across five regions, from late November to end of February.



Coal shipments to Tianjin, one of the country's busiest ports, will also be stopped by July, and will be diverted to Tangshan, where coal will be shifted from trucks to rail, according to the document.



Tianjin is the second largest port, in terms of cargo volume, and about 100 million tons of seaborne and domestic coals are traded in the port every year.



By September, trucks in the ports in Hebei Province will not be allowed to carry coal from railway to ships.



With the three-month cuts, it is estimated that China will be able to reduce its total annual steel output by 8 percent annually and aluminum output by 17 percent.



A source said that the draft of the proposed measure has been distributed by the ministry to local governments and companies for their reactions.



The ministry, however, did not say when the plan will be implemented but once introduced, it would likely support the increase in the prices of coal, steel, and aluminum.



Prolonging the efforts to reduce capacity may also increase demand for raw materials such as iron ore and coking coal, the report said.



The measures are also expected to sow confusion among traders and miners who may look for alternative routes and coal storage.



"I think these proposals are too radical. (The government) hasn't thoroughly considered the likely consequences and solutions to make it happen," said a coal trader based in China.



The five regions that will be affected most are Beijing, the port city of Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, as well as Shandong, Shanxi and Henan.



According to the report, the region accounts for about one-third of crude steel output while Hebei, Henan and Shandong are the top three aluminium-producing regions, with around 70 percent of total output.



Pesticide and pharmaceutical factories as well as fertilizer plants will also be closed, unless the chemicals and drugs they use are needed for the population, the document said.


The Russian spy ship Viktor Leonov is currently loitering off the coast of Norfolk, Va., home to the largest naval base in the world, two U.S. officials tell Fox News.

KREMLIN REPORTEDLY ORDERED STATE MEDIA TO TONE DOWN TRUMP COVERAGE

As of Friday morning, the Russian spy ship is slowly patrolling only 17 nautical miles -- roughly 19 miles -- from land, according to officials. United States territorial waters extend 12 nautical miles from shore.

Fox News was first to report the sighting of the Russian spy ship off the coast of Delaware on Tuesday.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

The Victor Leonov, armed with an array of intelligence gathering equipment used to intercept communications and analyze U.S. Navy sonar capability, later traveled within 30 miles off the Connecticut coast near a submarine base earlier this week.

Its lawful [and] similar to operations we do around the world, Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters Friday.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, speaking in Germany on Friday, alluded to Russia without saying the name. "We can no longer deny reality. As guardians for our nations and as sentinels for new threats, we all see our community of nations under threat on multiple fronts, as the arc of instability builds on NATO's periphery and beyond."

The Russian spy ship left her homeport in the Barents Sea near Norway, part of Russias northern fleet, around New Years Day, according to American defense officials. Following a port call in Jamaica, the Russian ship then began its voyage north along the east coast of the United States.

The deployment of the Russian intelligence-gathering ship was likely planned for months before it set sail in early January, according to U.S. defense officials. They said it apparently was not tied to the Obama administrations Dec. 29 order that Moscow shut down two of its vacation properties, which the U.S. government said were used to intercept American communications. One was on New York's Long Island and the other was at Marylands Eastern Shore.

Its the first time the Viktor Leonov has appeared off the east coast of the United States since April 2015. The ship was spotted in Havana Harbor in January 2015 as the Obama administration eased relations with Cuba. U.S. officials have said they believe the Russian spy ship will eventually make its way back to the Caribbean.

At a White House Press conference Thursday, President Donald Trump was asked about the Russian spy ship.

The greatest thing I could do is shoot that ship thats 30 miles offshore right out of the water. Everyone is going to say thats so great. Thats not great. I would love to get along with Russia, Trump said.

When the president was later asked about other recent Russian provocations including the buzzing of a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Black Sea roughly 180 miles southwest of Russian held Crimea, Trump responded, "Not good."

The four Russian jets came within 200 yards of the USS Porter and had their identifying transponders turned off according to a spokesman for the U.S. militarys European Command.

Around 500 U.S. Army soldiers and tanks have poured into Romania from the Black Sea this week. In Brussels Thursday, Mattis was asked by Fox News' Jennifer Griffin if he trusted the Russians enough to potentially work with them in the future.

Russia is going to have to prove itself first, Mattis answered, adding it was premature to talk about cooperating militarily with Moscow.

Yet roughly 2,600 miles away from Brussels, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford, was meeting his Russian military counterpart, Valeriy Gerasimov, in Azerbaijan pledging to "enhance communications" between respective militaries, according to a Pentagon statement following their meeting.

The Pentagon cut off military-to-military talks with Moscow after Russias annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Elsewhere in Europe Thursday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Tillerson was on his first overseas trip as Secretary of State to attend the G-20 ministerial meeting in Bonn, Germany.

The United States will consider working with Russia when we can find areas of practical cooperation that will benefit the American people. Where we do not see eye to eye the United States will stand up for the interests and values of America and her allies, Tillerson said after his meeting with Lavrov.

The Russian foreign minister said U.S. sanctions against Russia were not discussed in his meeting with Tillerson.

Fox News' Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.
Students from at least three Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools have staged walkouts, and administrators say they will be subject to disciplinary action.

Local media outlets report the school system email warnings to parents of students from South Mecklenburg High, Olympic High and Martin Luther King Jr Middle School. The warnings advised parents that students who organized the walkouts and left campus would be disciplined.

The Charlotte Observer reported (http://bit.ly/2lrJRFV) students at South Mecklenburg High were dismissed from class early Friday after the protest there became unruly. System officials said students were sent home early "as a precautionary measure."

Reports indicate walkouts were held in at least two other schools on Friday.

The walkouts followed Thursday's "Day Without An Immigrant" protest held across the state and nation.
A victim of a minor car crash in Washington State ended up in the deportation lane after a routine check of his driver's license revealed he was a convicted felon who had been deported four times.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

Armando Chavez Corona, a Mexican citizen, was first convicted and deported in 1996 for possession of a controlled substance and three other times for illegal re-entry.

US born Grace Chavez faces losing husband Armando to deportation to Mexico after a car crashed into him. #komonews pic.twitter.com/RbcnIuz3E1  Keith Eldridge (@KeithKOMO4) February 13, 2017

The case is being investigated by federal authorities because the Washington State Patrol does not have a policy of detaining or questioning people based on their immigration status.

According to State Patrol spokesman Kyle Moore, while internal policies prevent troopers from holding somebody solely for the purpose of "ascertaining immigration status, they do have the ability to contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to inquire about a case.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TAKES REFUGE IN DENVER CHURCH TO AVOID DEPORTATION

Were not federal agents, and thats not our role. Our role is to keep our roadways safe, Moore said, as reported by the Tacoma News Tribune.

Chavez is married to a U.S. citizen, but does not have a green card.

"I don't know if I'll ever see him again," Elizabeth Chavez, one of the mans three children, told komonews.com in Seattle.

"It's unfair because my dad was a hard worker and made sure we had everything we needed to live," she said.

'DREAMER' ARRESTED IN SEATTLE IMMIGRATION SWEEP, LAWYERS SAY

The multivehicle accident happened on Interstate 5 on Feb. 9.

The Tacoma family told the News Tribune they expect Chavez to be deported next week.
A ninth-grade Utah girl who won a court ruling allowing her to wrestle against boys won her first match this week -- by forfeit.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

Kathleen Janis, 14, was declared victorious by forfeit Tuesday when the other team didn't have an opponent in her 175-pound weight class, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

"To get here, it's been tough," Kathleen said. "But we're good."

The girl's mother sued the Davis County School District for gender discrimination, arguing that the district permits female wrestlers at the high school level, but not in middle schools over concerns about "inappropriate or sexual touching."

LIBERAL MOMS REPORTEDLY FORCE SCHOOL TO CANCEL SKATING PARTY AT TRUMP RINK

A judge earlier this month ordered the district to allow middle school girls to wrestle while the case is pending, Fox 13 reported.

Kathleen got interested in the sport by watching her brother at his wrestling practices. She had been training and competing in clubs for four years, but was told she couldn't try out for the Central Davis Junior High School wrestling team.

Her classmate Gabbi Serrao said she'd long been interested in wrestling and joined the team after she heard about Kathleens court victory.

She helped get girls to be able to wrestle," Gabbi said after pinning her opponent in the 104-pound weight class at Tuesdays competition.

Davis County School District spokesman Chris Williams said Tuesday that the district is following the judge's order. He also acknowledged it was exciting to see Gabbi best her opponent on the mat.

Kathleens mother thought so too.

"To see these girls here, to be part of the school, it is definitely worth the fight," Kelly Janis said, "and I'd do it all over again."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click for more from Fox 13.
Former Argentine army chief Cesar Milani has been arrested for his alleged role in the kidnapping and torture of two men and a woman during the country's military dictatorship.

A court office confirms that Milan was transferred to a jail after testifying Friday before a judge about the case of Pedro Olivera, his son Ramon and Veronica Matta in the late 1970s.

Milani was a lower-ranking officer during the 1976-1983 dictatorship and later rose to head the armed forces during the 2007-2015 term of former President Cristina Fernandez.

The 62-year-old lieutenant general also is under investigation in at least one other human rights case. He also faces charges of illegal enrichment.
One of the women busted on charges of helping murder North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un's half-brother claimed she was duped into thinking she was part of a comedy show prank, Indonesias police chief said Friday.

Siti Aisyah, 25, of Indonesia, was paid to spray unsuspecting men with water, according to the police chief, Tito Karnavian. He said that as part of the ruse, she and another woman convinced men to close their eyes before dousing them in the face.

"Such an action was done three or four times and they were given a few dollars for it, and with the last target, Kim Jong Nam, allegedly there were dangerous materials in the sprayer," Karnavian said.

The police compared the pranks to a popular hidden-camera show, Just For Laughs. A second woman arrested was spotted on security footage wearing a shirt that read LOL on the front.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

Karnavian added that Aisyah was not aware that it was an assassination attempt by alleged foreign agents.

The police chiefs comments come after a relative of Aisyah said in an Indonesian television interview that the suspect had been hired to perform in a comedy movie that had her traveling to China.

Indonesian immigration officials have said Aisyah traveled to Malaysia and other countries, but they did not get into specifics.

Kim Jong Nam, elder half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, died Monday after falling ill at the airport in Kuala Lumpur.

South Korea has accused its enemies in North Korea of dispatching a hit squad to kill Kim Jong Nam, saying two female assassins poisoned him before escaping in a taxi.

The second woman who was arrested carried a Vietnamese passport, according to police, who also arrested Aisyahs boyfriend.

Authorities are waiting for autopsy results that could shed light on why Kim Jong Nam suddenly fell ill while waiting for a flight home to Macau.

AS INVESTIGATION SWIRLS, BODY OF KIM JONG UN'S HALF-BROTHER IS UNCLAIMED

Dizzy and in pain, he told medical workers at the airport he had been sprayed with a chemical. Within two hours, Malaysian officials said, he was dead.

Kim Jong Nam, who was 45 or 46, had lived in exile for years and was estranged from his younger half-brother. He reportedly fell out of favor with the North Korean regime in 2001, when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

Although Kim Jong Nam was believed to have two sons and a daughter with two women living in Beijing and Macau, police in Malaysia say nobody has come forward to claim the body or provide DNA samples in the aftermath of what appeared to be an assassination.

North Korean diplomats in Malaysia have requested custody of Kim Jong Nam's body, arguing that he had a North Korean passport. The officials objected to an autopsy, but Malaysian authorities went ahead with the procedure anyway because they did not receive a formal complaint.

DID A SOUTH KOREAN NEWS REPORT DOOM KIM JONG UN'S BROTHER?

Investigators were still trying to piece together details of the case, and South Korea has not said how it concluded that North Korea was behind the killing.

In Indonesia, Aisyah's family and former neighbors said they were stunned by her arrest, describing her as a polite and quiet young mother.

From 2008 to 2011 she and her then-husband lived in a home with flaking red paint in a narrow alley of Tambora, a densely populated neighborhood in western Jakarta.

Her former father-in-law, Tjia Liang Kiong, who lives in a nearby middle-class neighborhood and last saw Aisyah on Jan. 28, described her as respectful.

"I was shocked to hear that she was arrested for murdering someone," he said. "I don't believe that she would commit such a crime or what the media says  that she is an intelligence agent."

Aisyah's mother, Benah, said by telephone that the family comes from a humble village background and has no ability to help her.

"Since we heard that from the television, I could not sleep and eat. Same as her father, he just prays and reads the holy Quran. He even does not want to speak," said Benah. "As villagers, we could only pray."

According to Kiong, Aisyah only completed junior high school and moved to Malaysia with her husband in 2011 to seek a better life after the garment-making shop they ran from their home went out of business. The couple left their nearly 2-year-old son in Jakarta under the care of Kiong and his wife.

She and her husband divorced in 2012.

Malaysia, which is approaching developed-nation income levels, is a magnet for millions of Indonesians, who typically find work there as bar hostesses, maids and construction and plantation workers.

Malaysia said Friday it wants DNA samples from Kim Jong Nam's family as part of the post-mortem procedure and that officials were not yet willing to hand the body over to the North Koreans.

"If there is no claim by next-of-kin and upon exhausting all avenues (to obtain DNA), we will finally then hand over the body to the (North Korean) embassy," said Abdul Samah Mat, a senior Malaysian police official.

He would not speculate on how long that process might take.

The three suspects were arrested separately on Wednesday and Thursday.

The women were identified using surveillance videos from the airport, police said. Early Friday, police took the pair back to the crime scene at the budget terminal "for further investigations," Abdul Samah said. Local media reported that police wanted to recreate the crime scene to establish new leads.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
It has been almost three years since Russia annexed the Ukrainian-governed Crimea, to the outrage of many leaders across the world. But for many who remain in the Black Sea peninsula, the thought of being returned to the Ukraine is both unthinkable and frightening.

"We are neither Russian nor Ukrainian. We are Crimean. America, the EU, everyone needs to leave Crimea alone!" Olga Borodina, 32, owner of a PR analytics firm, told Fox News from the Crimean capital of Simferopol this week. "Maybe the best scenario is to revisit this referendum in 20 years without all the emotion. Changing back now is impossible. It would be madness."

The issue remains one of the hottest points of contention amid softening relations between the United States and Russia. President Donald Trump has stated that he expects Russia to return the "taken" land, while Moscow has defiantly vowed that it is not even an option for discussion.

The snow-dusted Simferopol is a city with an old Soviet-style charm, winding streets, antiquated infrastructure and soldiers sauntering through the streets alongside business people, college students and gypsies. Russian flags flutter from atop buildings and the streets are peppered with graffiti-scrawled murals that say "Russia is our beloved country."

Indeed, Moscow has repeatedly insisted that the vast majority of Crimeans voted to join Russia in a 2014 referendum shortly after the troop takeover, which is described by locals as "unknown little green men" trickling in to occupy the area. However, Kiev has stood firm that the referendum was a sham conducted under coercion.

The annexation prompted then-U.S. President Barack Obama and the European Union to impose more economic sanctions on Russia. Since Trump's election, the Kremlin has sought to have these sanctions lifted  and it was that very topic of private discussion that led to the firing this week of National Security Agency director Gen. Michael Flynn. Many locals say they are the ones bearing the burden of the sanctions, which they claim are hurting them economically.

Borodina, however, is one of many within a growing Crimean movement who declare themselves "pro-sanctions."

"It is good for jobs and good for the people. It makes us do things locally as we can't import, there is a willingness to help each other," she said.

Denis Matrosov, 33, an IT professional and president of Crimea's IT Cluster Association, said the group was formed after the Russian takeover as a positive way for locals to work together and help businesses thrive.

"The sanctions help us to think differently. In the long-term, it is great. Only in the short-term it is chaos but we are past that now," Matrosov explained. "Before 2014, we relied on outsourcing IT contracts and now we have to be more creative. We would like to think we will not go back to before. It is not an option for us."

And that means a complete freeze out from their former, or disputed, government. Following the Crimea accession, Kiev retailed against Russia by largely isolating the peninsula. Those with a registered Crimean address  irrespective of whether they have left the region or not  are deemed non-residents by Kiev, thus cannot open bank accounts, obtain identification or conduct business.

But for many locals, this hostility has only drummed up stronger support for President Vladimir Putin and Moscow leadership, giving them little choice but to settle into the Russian way of life.

After the annexation, Simferopol-born and raised painter Svetlana Gavrikenko, now 26, was one of the most vocal pro-Ukrainian activists, deeply upset over watching what happened to her beloved city. In the weeks leading up to the occupation, there was a calculated and misleading Russia-led media campaign suggesting that "buses of Ukrainians" were coming to kill everyone who remained. People were actually relieved to see Russian-backed troops enter, much to her horror.

But almost three years on, Gavrikenko has changed her thinking.

"I was determined for two years I did not want a Russian passport, I did not want to be Russian. But when I went to Kiev to renew my documents I was treated so badly, I was humiliated and felt uncomfortable in my own country," she said. "Meanwhile, Russia  a country I had never even visited before  was doing everything to make us comfortable. A better medical system, the ability to do things online and not wait in lines."

Gavrikenko acknowledged that while it is a "bad sign" anytime a country seizes land, going back now "feels awful."

"Can you imagine how we will be treated by Kiev? Like traitors, but worse," she said.

While the land grab continues to dominate media and policy-driven headlines, overall, Crimeans themselves appear to have come to accept their situation.

"It is just not possible to go back anymore, it is like divorcing your wife," said Anton, 30, a CG engineer in the once closed USSR Crimean city of Sevastopol, home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet and a quaint assortment of burgeoning seaside resorts. "America shouldn't interfere in this drunk bar fight. Things will work out by themselves."

Pro-Putin paintings are placed across the famous city, where only a few vestiges of the past  like the old "Ukraine Hotel"  have yet to be renamed.

RUSSIA ACCUSES UKRAINE OF ARRESTING 2 SERVICEMEN FROM CRIMEA

But many Crimeans say that those who are pro-Ukrainian have been forced out or silenced by the new Russian rule. Pro-Kiev supporters who spoke to Fox News did so under the request that they remain anonymous because they feared retaliation.

"It is getting worse here, there are no prospects. Russia promised us lots of improvements in infrastructure but it hasn't happened," Simone, 30, a former lawyer who moved into the marketing industry after 2014 said in hushed tones from a Simferopol basement cafe. "About 30 percent of Crimeans really want to go back, the rest have just become conformists. They don't want to go through the hard process of changing again."

Simone stressed that Kiev had every right to shun Crimeans and, despite the complacent local attitude, he said it is vital for world leaders like Trump to stay firm.

"We don't want to be forgotten here," Simone added. "If the world can help the Ukraine to develop itself, people here will see that there is a good place to go back to and it will make sense. A place with free speech, a place that beats corruption. People just need to know that it is real."
Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka says his leftist Social Democrats are ready to form a coalition government with the hardline Communist Party after this year's parliamentary elections.

It would be the first time the Communists would get a chance to share power since the 1989 Velvet Revolution toppled 40 years of their often-bloody rule.

Unlike many other communist parties that have joined the left-wing mainstream, the Czech party has maintained its hardline stance. It is vehemently opposed to NATO and maintains friendly ties with the ruling communists in Cuba, China and North Korea.

In Friday's interview with the business daily Hospodarske Noviny, Sobotka said a coalition with the Communists "is not a problem" anymore.

The centrist ANO movement led by Finance Minister Andrej Babis is a favorite to win October's ballot.
Finnish lawmakers have rejected a petition from more than 100,000 people demanding to repeal a law allowing same-sex marriage.

The move is considered a last-minute attempt to revoke the law that made Finland the last Nordic country to allow homosexuals to wed.

In Friday's 120-48 vote with two abstentions and 29 absentees, Finland's Parliament rejected a public petition demanding that marriage remain "a genuinely egalitarian union between man and woman" and calling for "repealing the gender-neutral marriage law."

In Finland, any petition with at least 50,000 signatures is automatically considered by Parliament.

Although same-sex couples have been able to live in officially registered partnerships in Finland since 2002, it wasn't until 2014 that Finland decided to approve same-sex marriage, giving couples right to share a surname and to adopt children.
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French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is facing new troubles, with an investigation into her European Parliament assistants and scathing new criticism from the U.N. human rights commissioner.

Investigative website Mediapart published excerpts from a European Commission fraud office report that said Le Pen admitted to irregularities in paychecks for one assistant targeted in the European Parliament probe. It's among several legal issues hanging over France's April-May election.

Le Pen, speaking on France Bleu radio Friday, acknowledged settling an accounting problem with the Parliament, but insisted "there was nothing fictitious, no fake jobs or anything like this."

Meanwhile, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, in a blunt speech in Washington, called rising support for Le Pen's nationalist ideas a potential threat to world peace.
The "Riverdale" cast is one of the best arguments that may lead to the return of teen programming to network television. (Photo : Getty Images/Frederick M. Brown)

The "Riverdale" cast is riding high after the success of its first few episodes. Starring K.J. Apa as the titular character, it has become the first big success for the CW in a television season where "Frequency" and "No Tomorrow" failed to catch on. The show, which is an adaptation of the popular "Archie" comics described as a cross between "Twin Peaks" and "Pretty Little Liars," is taking advantage of the impending end of the last teenage-focused dramas of the late '00s, "The Vampire Diaries" and "Pretty Little Liars." But does this mean that the network will be returning to more teen-oriented programming?



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While it does not look that way for now, a lot of viewers do remember that there was a time when The CW was known mainly for its teen dramas. This was partly due to the success of "7th Heaven," "90210," "Gilmore Girls," "Gossip Girl," "One Tree Hill" and "Veronica Mars." For now, however, there is a reluctance among the "Riverdale" cast members to label it as such. In an interview with Collider, Cole Sprouse, who plays Jughead, says it is "inappropriate" to call it that way as there are a lot of adult narratives present in the story.



In the meantime, The CW will be getting at least one more TV series based in the "Archie" universe. This was after one of the network's mother companies, Warner Bros. TV, bought the exclusive development rights for all the properties in the stable of Archie Comics.This deal goes beyond the stories that are concerned with Archie, Vronica, Betty, Jughead and Kevin as it includes Katy Keene (known as "America's Queen of Pin-ups and Fashions" and Sabrina the Teenage Witch (which fuels rumors of a reboot).



According to the Hollywood Reporter, the agreement between Archie Comics and Warner Brothers Televisions is just like the studio's deal with DC Comics, which has now resulted in four hit shows for The CW in the form of "The Flash," "Arrow," "Supergirl" and "Legends of Tomorrow."



"Riverdale" airs every Thursday, 9 pm on the CW. Watch the teaser to "Riverdale" season 1 episode 4 in the video below.



Will "Riverdale" lead to an increase in teen-focused programming in the CW and other networks? Will the success of the show make K.J. Apa, Cole Sprouse, Camila Mendes and Lili Reinhart household names like previous teen stars? Yibada will be posting more about it in the next few weeks.






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The Latest on the aftermath of the massive attack by the Islamic State group at a Sufi shrine in southern Pakistan that killed 75 worshippers (all times local):

12:10 p.m.

Pakistani officials say security forces have killed at least 39 suspected militants in countrywide operations following a suicide attack at a famed Sufi shrine in the country's south.

The attack was claimed by the Islamic State group which said it targeted a Shiite gathering.

Three security officials say the overnight raids also led to the arrest of 47 suspects, including some in Sindh province where the attack on the shrine happened the previous day.

They say the raids targeted militant hideouts and led to shootouts with insurgents. Across Pakistan, at least 39 suspected militants were killed.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity on Friday because they were not authorized to talk to reporters about the security operations.

___

11 a.m.

Pakistani security forces have arrested dozens of suspects in sweeping raids a day after a massive bombing claimed by the Islamic State group killed 75 worshippers at a famed Sufi shrine in a southern province.

The terror attack  the country's deadliest in years  stunned the nation and raised questions about the authorities' ability to rein in militant groups despite several military offensives targeting insurgents.

A suicide bomber walked into the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sehwan, in southern Sindh province, and detonated his explosives among a crowd of worshippers on Thursday, killing 75. Scores were also wounded in the explosion.

Security officials said Friday's raids led to the arrest of 47 suspects, including some in Sindh province. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Two prominent opposition leaders in Montenegro say they will be questioned next week over their involvement in an alleged pro-Russian coup plot to overthrow the pro-NATO government.

Andrija Mandic and Milan Knezevic said Friday they have received a summons to appear before the special prosecutor on Monday, and will answer it.

Montenegrin lawmakers earlier this week lifted the parliamentary immunity for the two so they can be investigated in the foiled coup plans. The politicians are suspected of criminal conspiracy and inciting "acts against constitutional order and security of Montenegro."

Some 20 people, including two Russian citizens, have been accused in the election day plot in October said to be orchestrated by Russian and Serbian nationalists to stop Montenegro's planned accession to NATO.

Mandic and Knezevic have denied the accusations.
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U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has met with his Chinese counterpart for the first time since becoming America's top diplomat and urged China to do more to rein in North Korea's provocative actions.

Tillerson spoke with Foreign Minister Wang Yi Friday in the German city of Bonn. The State Department said they agreed to address differences constructively and that Tillerson highlighted the need for China "to use all available tools to moderate North Korea's destabilizing behavior."

Such requests of the Chinese from U.S. officials have become commonplace in recent years and have been met with limited success. China is North Korea's only ally and main trading partner and as such is seen as having influence over Pyongyang, which has embarked on a series of nuclear and missile tests,
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The United Arab Emirates says an Emirati soldier has been killed while taking part in the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

The state-run WAM news agency reported the soldier's death on Friday. It identified the slain soldier as Sgt. Nader Mubarak Issa Suleiman.

The UAE is one of the main allies Saudi Arabia has in its war in Yemen against Shiite rebels known as Houthis and their allies.

The war in Yemen has killed more than 10,000 civilians and displaced over 3 million people. It began when Houthis seized Yemen's capital, Sanaa, in September 2014.

The Saudi-led coalition began its campaign in March 2015 in support of Yemen's internationally recognized government.

The war has ground into a stalemated conflict in recent months. Peace efforts by the United Nations also have faltered.
Cookie Cutters Haircuts for Kids to Open First Salon in Georgia

Childrens haircut franchise breaks into the greater Atlanta area with first location in Tucker.

February 17, 2017 // Franchising.com // SALT LAKE CITY - Childrens haircuts can be shear torture for both parents and kids, but the new Cookie Cutters Haircuts for Kids located at 4316 Lawrenceville Hwy opening this week hopes to alleviate some of that stress. This location marks the first of multiple salons coming to the sold-out greater Atlanta market.

I am thrilled to join the Cookie Cutters Haircuts for Kids team and embark on this entrepreneurial journey, said co-owner Bo Crawford. Owning my own business has always been a dream of mine. And with my background in retail coupled with the lessons of parenthood, I believe a child-focused salon is the perfect fit.

After serving four years in the Army National Guard, Bo held an extensive 20-year career in the retail industry. He served in leadership positions at companies, such as Target, Gamestop and Teavana. The salon is co-owned by Bos wife, Sara Crawford, who is a statistician and mother of two boys.

With the aim of offering all children a comfortable haircut experience, Cookie Cutters of Tucker is partnering with autism advocacy organization Autism Speaks. The organization will help teach Cookie Cutter stylists how to interact with children that have sensory issues and how they can provide a stress-free experience.

As one of the first children-only hair salons in the United States, Cookie Cutters offers an interactive haircut experience that both children and parents wont soon forget. The salons are outfitted with an in-store playground, televisions and gaming systems, and a variety of automotive, aerospace and other themed chairs. And with a balloon, sucker and a smile at the end of each haircut, the Cookie Cutters experience provides kids with a fun-filled haircut experience.

Cookie Cutters of Tucker is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. For more information or to book an appointment, please call (678) 395-7428.

Including a franchise fee of $35,000, the total investment to open a single unit Cookie Cutters salon is $90,500 to $261,000. Franchisees can add a second location for an additional $20,000, three or more locations for an additional $10,000 each.

About Cookie Cutters Haircuts for Kids

Founded in 1994 and franchising since 1995, Cookie Cutters Haircuts for Kids is one of the first and most unique childrens haircutting franchises in the country. Our unique store design includes an in-store playground and video games, making a Cookie Cutters haircut a truly interactive experience. With our fantasy chairs that are only available to Cookie Cutters franchisees, our system is designed to keep children coming back to your salon again and again.

Currently, there are over 30 salons open and operating in 13 states. For more information, visit www.haircutsarefun.com.

Media Contact:

Nneka Williamson

Franchise Elevator PR

(O) 847.239.8171

(M) 312.520.5052

SOURCE Cookie Cutters Haircuts for Kids

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Rhoda Olsen Receives IFAs Bonny LeVine Award

Great Clips CEO is recognized for her professional accomplishments and efforts in mentoring.

February 17, 2017 // Franchising.com // Minneapolis, Minn. - Great Clips CEO Rhoda Olsen accepted the Bonny LeVine award on Jan. 31, 2017, at the International Franchise Association's 57th Annual Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Bonny LeVine award is given to a female franchisor or franchisee who is a role model and mentor for women through her business and professional accomplishments.

We are pleased to honor Rhoda Olsen with this highly-esteemed award, said IFA Chairman Aziz Hashim, founder and managing partner at NRD Capital. Olsen is a passionate industry executive, known for her strategic thinking and commitment to positively affecting the lives of those around her.

Before the award was presented, the IFA shared a brief video of Rhoda expressing how she felt when she got the call. She shared what has motivated her throughout her career and her extreme gratitude for the broader Great Clips community who made this honor possible.

A seasoned business leader, Olsen began consulting with Great Clips, Inc. in 1984. She joined the corporate team as an executive and owner in 1987. Olsen was named president in 1998 and transitioned to CEO in 2011. As president and CEO, Olsen has grown Great Clips from 1,000 salons in 1998 to more than 4,000 salons across the United States and Canada in 2016.

"Rhoda has been an incredible leader of Great Clips for 30 years, collaborating with franchisees, driving growth, and helping advance the careers of women at all levels. She lives the Great Clips values, elevating her role in leading a top franchise system empowering everyone involved to achieve great success," said current Great Clips President Steve Hockett.

Olsen initiated a Womens Executive Leadership Forum for the female executives of Great Clips, Inc., which led to additional leadership development programs within the company to increase the reach of women mentoring women. Olsen is also committed to the development of the female franchisees. She participates in and supports the womens franchise group Women in a Nurturing Environment (WINE) and has personally mentored dozens of women who started out in the company as stylists on their path to becoming franchisees.

Olsens combination of business savvy and kindness makes her an exceptionally strong mentor.

"I've learned so much from Rhoda during my time at Great Clips," said Michelle Sack, Great Clips current vice president of Franchise Services and Human Resources. Michelle, who began her career as a Great Clips stylist, said, "She taught me that nothing happens without trust, courageous leadership means your decisions will not always be popular, and you will make mistakes." Olsen stresses the importance of saying Im sorry, said Michelle, "Being able to listen and learn from mistakes is powerful." And last but not least, Michelle notes, "Rhoda is a great role model when it comes to healthy choices. She's helped many people recognize the value of eating right and getting exercise."

Congratulations to Rhoda Olsen, recipient of IFA's revered Bonny LeVine award.

About Great Clips, Inc.

Great Clips, Inc. was established in 1982 in Minneapolis. Today, Great Clips has 4,000 salons throughout the United States and Canada, making it the worlds largest salon brand. Great Clips is 100 percent franchised, and salons are owned locally by more than 1,200 franchisees across North America. Great Clips franchisees employ nearly 40,000 stylists who receive ongoing training to learn the Great Clips customer care system and advanced technical skills. As a walk-in salon, Great Clips provides value-priced, high-quality haircare for men, women and children. No appointments are needed, and salons are open nights and weekends. Getting a great haircut is more convenient than ever with Great Clips Online Check-In and Clip Notes. To check-in online, visit GreatClips.com or download the app for Android and iPhone. For more information about Great Clips, Inc. or to find a location near you, visit GreatClips.com.

SOURCE Great Clips, Inc.

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Over $100 million of fake goods were seized by Chinese authorities. (Photo : Twitter)

Shanghai police reported that they raided a warehouse located in Taizhou and seized cosmetics labeled as Chanel, Christian Dior, L'Oreal SA's Lancome and Estee Lauder. The value of the fake items totaled to 827 million yuan.



State media reported on the incident and wrote, "Investigation into the online store shone a light on a chain that manufactures and distribute counterfeit top brand cosmetics in Henan, Heilongjiang, Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces."



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The police were able to track the group from another arrest last year where another warehouse contained fake Amway products.



Chinese authorities have been cracking down on fake items that have been penetrating the Chinese market. There have been 170,000 counterfeit product cases and 20,000 arrests since last year.



The police also reported that counterfeit cosmetics are done through purchasing of chemicals online. Packaging and QR codes are bought from a seller in Guangdong.



The fake items only cost 10 yuan to make.



Last month, around 50 factories were raided. These factories were producing counterfeit seasoning labeled as Nestle and Knorr.



A statement from the Nestle China office said that they will investigate the matter and "product experts will be helping law enforcement representatives in identifying suspicious products."



Chinese food brands Totole and Donggu said that they will have an independent investigation and will continue its anti-counterfeit measures as what they have done since 2007.



The Chinese Food and Drug Administration was slammed on Sino Weibo.



One user posted, "Shouldn't the CFDA be the one that is punished? A whole village has been faking products for so many years. Can we still trust this department?"



"How many people have been poisoned by these fake products? Seasoning impacts so many lives, this is no game!" said another user.



The Food and Drug Administration released a statement, saying that the agency will "thoroughly rectify the problem of fake food seasoning production, and present the results of our investigation to the public in a timely fashion."


On Jan. 28, Michelle Thomas and her 7-year-old son were picking up trash along their street in rural Mecklenburg County for a Cub Scout project.

Suddenly, two dogs that live in the neighborhood ran across the road and began attacking them.

According to a friend, Lisa Kurzawa, who set up a GoFundMe campaign for the family, Thomas yelled for her son to run away. But Thomas, a Fredericksburg area native, was unable to flee, being legally blind and unsteady on her feet due to a hip replacement.

Thomas told Kurzawa that she tried to play dead and the dogs eased off her for a time, but then returned.

She sustained broken bones and severe lacerations to her faceincluding her one good eyeas well as bites to her arms and legs.

Thomas remains in VCU Medical Center in Richmond, where she was transported by helicopter following the attack. In a telephone interview Thursday, her husband, Robert Thomas, said she had just undergone her eighth or ninth surgery.

Doctors are still unable to tell him when hell be able to take his wife home, he said.

We allme, Michelle, both of my sonswell never be right, Robert Thomas said. Well never be the same.

The first surgery was to re-attach Michelle Thomas cheek, an operation that required 200 stitches, he said.

Then they basically had to rebuild her left arm, he said.

Subsequent surgeries have been skin grafts to close wounds on her hands and fingers.

Robert Thomas, a truck driver, spends Friday and Saturday nights at the hospital with his wife. On Sundays, he drives a hundred miles home to the community of Skipwith in Mecklenburg to be ready for work Monday morning.

During the week, Michelle Thomas mother and sisters, who live in Caroline and Spotsylvania counties, stay with her at the hospital.

At the Thomas home on Trottinridge Road, their 17-year-old son, who graduated from high school in December, stays with their younger son, who is attending school during the week.

Robert Thomas said hes been happy with the care his wife, who is on Medicaid, has received at the hospital.

You know what? Shes alive, he said. Shes got both arms, both hands and all 10 fingers. Ive been happy with the work theyve done.

Its been stressful and I probably ask too many questions, he said. One of the biggest questions they cant answer is  when can I take her home? Right now its up in the air. They tell me theyre doing everything they can to get her home, but their main concern is that she wont have any complications when she gets home.

He said doctors told him that Michelle Thomas will need excruciating physical therapy for a year-and-a-half, two years to regain the use of her arm.

The Thomas family has two dogs at home, an Alaskan Malamute mix and a chiweenie.

Thomas said that since the attack, his younger son is afraid of dogs other than his own.

He went to his grandmothers house and he was skittish around her dogs for the first time, Robert Thomas said.

The two dogs involved in the attack, which the GoFundMe site identified as pit bulls, are being held at the Mecklenburg County animal shelter, county Animal Warden Doug Blanton said.

We are waiting for Mrs. Thomas to get out of the hospital because wed like to have her there when we take the case to court, Blanton said.

He said the animals owners, who are believed to live in the neighborhood, will be charged with having vicious dogs.

There are two classifications, and theyll be charged as vicious because the extent of the attack was so severe, Blanton said.

The Code of Virginia defines a dangerous dog as a canine that has bitten, attacked, or inflicted injury on a person or companion animal. A vicious dog is one who has killed a person or inflicted serious injury on a person.

Robert Thomas said he isnt angry with the owners of the dogs.

They claim it wasnt their dogs that [did] it. That kind of upsets me, he said. Five people have identified them, including one of their own family members. Take responsibility for what your dogs did. But I cant say that Im mad at them.

The GoFundMe campaign Kurzawa organized has raised $5,185more than its goal of $5,000for Michelles medical bills. The campaign can be found at gofundme.com/woman-attacked-by-2-pitbulls.
Lisa Bolling, a resident of Loisanns Hope House, wiped the sticky remnants of a chocolate-covered strawberry from the fingers of her daughter, Chloe, as the 2-year-old reached for a glittery, red paper heart.

Oops, no, thats not food, Bolling said as Chloe tried to pop the heart in her mouth.

Bolling, 19, and her daughter were enjoying a multicourse Valentines Day dinner organized and served to the residents of Loisanns Hope House by volunteersand sistersErynn Menefee and Christin Calaman.

Hope House helps homeless children and families in the Fredericksburg area, and Menefee and Calaman have hosted this dinner for six years.

They came to us with the idea, said Tara Best, Hope Houses chief operations officer. They wanted to do something for our clients.

At first, the sisters coordinated the event under the umbrella of a friends nonprofit organization, but they now do it on their own, with the help of family members, friends and coworkers.

They knew about Loisanns Hope House because their father installed the lighting in a portion of the house many years ago through a church-sponsored volunteer project.

My sister wanted to do a Christmas event for them, Menefee said. They told her, You know, everybody thinks about us at Christmastime, but no one thinks about our families on Valentines Day. 

The mothers who live at Hope House have taken a step to end the cycle of homelessness for their children. The organization provides shelter, case management, daycare, job search assistance and transportation with the goal of moving families into stable, long-term housing.

Menefee and Calaman knew that many of the women at Hope House left abusive relationships, and thought about how those women might not have a loved one to share Valentines Day with.

[Christin] called me up crying and this has been it for us since then, Menefee said. These women deserve to be encouraged for what theyre doing with their lives. They need to know theyre not forgotten.

It takes about four months to organize the dinners, Menefee said. The sisters contact restaurants, grocery stores and retailers to solicit donations for the event.

It wouldnt be possible without our donors, Menefee said.

This year, the 12 families at Hope House dined on steak, chicken and macaroni-and-cheese from Outback Steakhouse, Bang Bang shrimp from Bonefish Grill, salads from Noodles & Company, mashed potatoes from Chilis, chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-A, steamed broccoli from Wegmans, and assorted desserts from Firebirds.

The sisters mother, a florist, contributed flower arrangements and another friend, Kathleen Moses, provided the plates, glasses, table decorations and silverware.

Everything is always so beautifully organized and set-up for our residents, Best said.

Each family also gets a gift bag, which the sisters fill with household supplies. This year, families received a three-piece suitcase set filled with blankets, socks, gloves and a soap set.

We want to give them something tangible they can use, to give them a hand up, Menefee said.

At the dinner Wednesday night, KamalaRose Allah, 7, was working on a big bowl of steamed broccoli.

She loves veggies, her mother, Crystal McCurdy, said.

This is so nice, McCurdy said of the event. I love it. I love the ladies working here. We need more stuff like this. The kids enjoy being in a home environment, not in a bad place.

Shirley Ellis was there with her daughter Kaniya, 9.

For me, Valentines Day is not a good time, Ellis said. I lost my loved one.

But Im glad to be here with her, she said, smiling at her daughter, who had a mouthful of chicken nuggets.

Erica Mestey agreed that the Valentines Day emphasis on romantic love is difficult for her.

Its hard for me in my situation, she said. But were good, were getting through it. And Im looking forward to this food.

Best said love comes in many forms, and Valentines Day can be a day of charity.
Students and alumni at the University of Mary Washington are reacting to a flier posted on campus that depicts Nazi symbols and targeted the schools LGBT community.

A student reported the incident earlier this month to the school but the larger campus community found out about the incident just yesterday after a story about it was featured on the front page of campus newspaper, the Blue & Gray Press, titled UMW student finds aggressive Nazi message on bulletin board on Campus Walk.

UMW president Troy Paino released a video statement Thursday evening condemning the flier and ensuring the community that the school is doing everything in its power to investigate.

He said the note is contrary to everything UMW stands for and that the school respects everyone regardless of difference.

Paino also championed his staff, saying, Everyone who works here works tirelessly to create a supportive and safe environment.

On Feb. 4, students Ahad Shahid and Chad Mundie found a note posted outside Lee Hall with a handwritten swastika and a note: Attention Faggots!! We could live next door.

The bulletin board also faces UMWs Madison Hall, its gender neutral dorm.

Shahid posted a picture of the note on Twitter the next day, tagging the universitys Twitter handle to inform them.

Ive never before seen neo-Nazi propaganda on campus but Ive seen responses like this from the university before where they failed, he said. It happened when students were getting threatened over Yik Yak and with the rugby team scandal a few years ago. Something happens and we dont hear from the school.

Found by a friend on the board outside of Lee

Will we stay silent UMW? Or should we continue being proud of exposed differences?@UMaryWash pic.twitter.com/0d3qssLK5a  Ahad Shahid (@shahid_ahad) February 5, 2017

Juliette Landphair, vice president for student affairs, said the school responded quickly and was not called for comment for the student newspaper story.

@goldhoopsno1fan @shahid_ahad Thank you for bringing this to our attention. UMW is committed to an inclusive community.  U of Mary Washington (@UMaryWash) February 6, 2017

@goldhoopsno1fan @shahid_ahad UMW does not condone hate speech or crimes. The UMW threat assessment team is investigating the matter.  U of Mary Washington (@UMaryWash) February 6, 2017

She released a statement Thursday, which said upon learning about the note, the UMW police launched an investigation, which involved the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The UMW Police also informed and consulted with the Fredericksburg Police Department, which has been investigating similar incidents of hate crimes in the local community.

In addition, on Feb. 6, Dean of Student Life Cedric Rucker and UMW Police First Sergeant Brad Sullivan met with the student who discovered the note.

But Shahid said he felt like not much came out of that meeting.

I believe the statement that came out was just a reaction to everyone finding out, he said. When we did meet, I specifically requested that the school promote togetherness on campus, but that didnt happen. There was no condemnation of the flier... The school should be telling students of color, who are queer, that this is going on and put safety measures into place.

He said he has heard from friends that they are scared and anxious since finding out about the flier. And he feels like there needs to be a program that allows students to discuss the hostile climate.

The UMW threat assessment team also met to discuss the posting, as well as other challenges to the universitys values of civility and inclusion.

Working collaboratively to educate the university community on behavioral expectations, and holding those accountable who violate them, university officials will continue to strongly advance steps to stem the tide of such offensive acts, Landphair said in the statement.

At the schools Board of Visitors meeting Thursday, Landphair and Paino addressed the situation.

I am very troubled by it, said Paino, who also said he is receiving calls from concerned students and alumni.

Landphair said the school, like the surrounding area, has seen challenges with hate speech in the wake of the presidential election.

Just last week, Spotsylvania residents encountered white supremacist fliers.

Those fliers, which touted a neo-Nazi group called New Order and depicted an image of a swastika, said: Make America WHITE againand greatness will follow.

Landphair said the school will update its plan to curb hate speech in the coming weeks.

Nico Madden, class of 2013, called the presidents office after reading the story in the Blue & Gray Press Thursday morning.

Madden said when he called to talk about the issue, he was met with surprise and confusion and it seemed the office was not aware of the vandalism.

Evidently, it takes 11 days and a phone call from an alum for the office of the president to learn what happens concerning the campus and student body, he said.

He said he was disgusted by the note, particularly as someone with a family member who was in the Holocaust.

For the life of me, I cannot think of anything more repugnant and upsetting than seeing Nazi vandalism pop up around the campusand even worsethat nobody has done anything about it yet, he said. Passivity engenders the coalescence of hatred, and the administration is proving to be extremely passive.

Landphair said any person who has information about the note, or about any other hate crimes or speech, should call the UMW Police at 540/654-1025. Bias incidents may be reported at diversity.umw.edu/bias/reporting-an-incident.
Chinese health officials warn the public to stay away from contact with poultry. (Photo : Getty Images)

The Health and Family Planning Commission announced another series of deaths caused by the H7N9 virus.



The local government of Yunnan reported that a 23-year-old patient died days after the demise of her 3-year-old daughter from the deadly virus.



The family when to Jiangxi Province for holiday during the Spring Festival. The mother and daughter had contact with birds in the area.



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The mother was hospitalized four days later and had contact with her daughter. The toddler died on Feb. 7. Others who had contact with the mother and child were tested and were virus-free.



Compared to last year, the deaths and cases of patients with the avian flu have increased, according to the health commission. The death toll is now at 79.



In January, there were only five deaths.



The rapid spread of the virus has affected Beijing, Sichuan, Hunan and Zhejiang. Many poultry farms have already culled about 180,000 birds as infection spread.



The commission also issued a public warning and said that people should stay away from contact with birds to avoid contamination.



An official of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Ni Daxin said that the preference for freshly slaughtered chicken is contributing to the spread of the virus.



"If the public buys only frozen poultry, control of the epidemic will be much easier," Ni said.



Contact with diseased poultry and bird waste is also a major cause of contamination in rural areas. Sanitization of poultry farms is strongly urged.



The virus hits a peak of contamination around spring and winter. The global epidemic has affected many countries in Europe, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea.



The first case of bird flu was reported in China in 2013. The damage then caused damages in the agricultural sector reaching $6 billion.



In December, the Ministry of Agriculture stopped the trade of poultry from certain areas. They stated that they have handled the situation in an effective manner to stop the spread of the disease.


Another Remake of Classic Chinese Drama Legend of the Condor Heroes to Air in 2017

The Legend of the Condor Heroes (Photo : Nuttaput 92/YouTube)

One of the most loved dramas on Chinese TV would get an nth remake in 2017. Based on the martial arts novel of Jin Yong, The Legend of Condor Heroes was first made in a 59-episode series in 1983.



Aired over TVB Jade in Hong Kong, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" starred Barbara Yung as Huang Rong who was in a relationship with Guo Jing. Huang Rong, the lead female character, is a beautiful and smart Kung Fu master who helps Guo Jing overcome many hurdles in life.



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Key Characters



Guo Jings physical features are striking since his large eyes are paired with thick eyebrows, he has a complexion described as between fair and dark, but he is strong and sturdy. However, the lead male character is not articulate and a slow learner, but because of Guo Jings moral rectitude, he eventually becomes a top Kung Fu master, China Daily reported.



Other key characters in the drama include Mei Chaofeng, who trains hard in martial arts to avenge the death of her husband. However, she masters a kind of martial arts that could kill people in a cruel manner. The antagonist in the drama is Yang Kang who foils Guo Jing. Yang Kangs love interest in Mu Nianci, known for her weather-beaten appearance, but firm as a piece of jade, and beautiful with right eyes and teeth that sparkle white.



Nth Remake



Since then until 2017, there had been more than 10 remakes of the drama. In the latest version, filmed in Lanzhou and Hengdian, Singapore actor Tay Ping Hui was cast as Temujin, or the historical figure from Mongolia, Genghis Khan. Tay was cast as the man who united Mongolia because of his intense look, The Straits Times reports



It was the second time that Tay Ping Hui starred in a Chinese drama. The first was The Legend and The Hero, which starred Fan Bingbing and Steve Ma which was aired in 2007.


Spending a night in a treehouse is a childhood fantasy that could come true for Lynchburg couples and visitors starting a month from now. Animal Planets Treehouse Masters is bringing a new honeymoon treehouse to the grounds of the Bella Rose Plantation on Graves Mill Road just in time for the wedding season.

Treehouse Masters specializes in constructing full-size treehouses for adults who want a Swiss Family Robinson-style getaway but with all of the comforts of a modern home.

Even though Bella Rose only just began holding weddings in May of last year, the dream for a treehouse on the property began three years ago for Vickie Runk when she and her husband, Brian, purchased the Bella Rose property with plans of establishingthe wedding venue.

I told [Treehouse Masters] our story, that we had this great tract of land that was historic in nature and we were only a few miles from Thomas Jeffersons historic summer home Poplar Forest, she said. My idea was that we would do a Jeffersonian-style treehouse and put in lots of the components that Jefferson used back in the day because that was the time this property was fully intact.

Scheduled to be completed after just four weeks of construction, the two-story treehouse will overlook the wedding site at the back of the Bella Rose property. The structure will be assembled in prefabricated sections and be fully anchored to the ground and the tree to prevent shifting. Upon completion, it is estimated to weigh 75,000 pounds.

Runk has been working with a designer based in New York to come up with the concept for the interior, which will be modeled in a Jeffersonian style. The structure will be an octagon shape, modeled after Poplar Forest.

This is just an unbelievable experience that I will never forget, she said. This is the first treehouse [the show has done] that will have actual drywall in it to resemble the plaster Thomas Jefferson used, and it will have windows top to bottom.

Long after Runk thought they had been overlooked for a spot on the show, a call came in from Treehouse Masters in March 2016 about the possibility of an episode. For the shows star and lead treehouse designer Pete Nelson, the combination of never having built a treehouse in Virginia and the proximity of the historic vacation home of Thomas Jefferson drew him to the project.

Im a big history buff, especially American history, so the ability to come and see Poplar Forest and build something modeled after it on this historic property was great, said Nelson, the owner of Nelson Treehouse and Supply based out of Fall City in Washington state. I saw the Runks as having a high level of excitement and always saying whats next and what can we do now.

In addition to the treehouse, the Runks also have two other major construction projects in the works for the property. In the next two months, construction will begin on a large greenhouse cathedral to host weddings inside during bad weather. Additionally, plans are in the works for a large event center capable of hosting 350 to 400 guests for larger weddings.

Bella Rose Plantation haspartnered with the planned mixed-use Rosedale development located on the tract of land next to the wedding venue. In a contentious November Lynchburg City Council meeting, the councilvoted to allow up to $5.9 million in property taxes raised from both the Bella Rose Plantation and Rosedale properties to be reimbursed to the developers to fund the main road leading from Graves Mill Road onto the Rosedale tract over 15 years.

The Lynchburg Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the proposed event center Feb. 22 at 4 p.m. in the second floor conference room of City Hall. City Council tentatively is scheduled to hear the petition at 7:30 p.m. April 11.

I think that Lynchburg is in for some really great news about Rosedale, and we couldnt be more thrilled to be the start of that development, Runk said. It will bring a lot of great things to the city and give the community more options.

In the meantime, Runk looks forward to the treehouse coming together.

We couldnt be more thrilled to take this journey, she said. The wedding season is just kicking off for us, which means so many brides will be able to use the treehouse exactly as I had imagined it.
Tom Perriello, candidate for the Democratic nomination for Virginia governor, touted the value of community colleges as a path to the middle class during a stop in Roanoke Friday on a tour of Southwest Virginia.

One of the best pathways at this point into the middle class is through nursing and some of the other programs that are so well done here, Perriello said after being shown around the Fralin Center for Science and Health Professions at Virginia Western Community College.

As governor, Perriello said he would push to make two years of community college or career and technical training free for Virginians. He thinks the idea could draw bipartisan support because the community college system is popular across party lines and getting people into the workforce and paying taxes has appeal for conservatives.

Perriello, a one-term former congressman in the 5th District, entered the race in early January to challenge Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, who seemed to have the inside track on the Democratic nomination.

In multiple recent polls, hes already neck and neck with Northam, albeit with most voters still undecided.

Its really early for polls but its always better to be doing better in the polls, Perriello said Friday.
Whats most unique about the study underway, said Jerome, is that other nanocarriers will deliver an antiproliferative agent called MMF. The project will test a hypothesis by Fred Hutchs Dr. Joshua Schiffer, a mathematical modeler in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, and Dr. Florian Hladik, an HIV expert also in VIDD, that slowing the replication rate of latently infected CD4 T cells will decrease the reservoir more rapidly than latency reversal alone.



[Schiffers] mathematical models suggest that if one can slow down the rate of proliferation, one might dramatically speed the decay of the HIV reservoir, Jerome said. We have this particle that can get the antiproliferates to the right place and we can test this hypothesis to see if we get a measurable acceleration in decay of the reservoir.

Schiffer is a co-investigator of the study, as is Hladik of Fred Hutch and UW. Another co-investigator, the UWs Dr. Kim Woodrow, is a bioengineer who developed the nanoparticles and was critical to designing the proposal. Also on the project are UW microbiologists Drs. Shiu-Lok Hu and Robert Coombs, Fred Hutch statistician Dr. Amalia Magaret and Pharmacokinetics Lab Director Dr. Jeannine McCune, and University of Louisiana-Lafayette pathologist Dr. Francois Villinger.

Jerome is head of UW Virology, director of its Molecular Virology Laboratory and co-director, with Dr. Hans-Peter Kiem, of the Fred Hutch-based defeatHIV research group, which is studying cell and gene therapy and immunotherapy approaches to curing HIV.
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A concept design for the Nokia 3310 phone is on display showcasing the potential look of the upcoming throwback. (Photo : YouTube/ malappuramvedio)

Nokia phones are back in the market with their latest Android smartphones and retro phone offerings. Nokia Edge, Nokia 8, and even the classic Nokia 3310 have been highly anticipated by consumers in the upcoming Mobile World Congress 2017.



The Indian market has been eagerly waiting for the release of the rumored Nokia Edge. Based on a separate report, the high-end version of the said smartphone will be supported by an undisclosed octa-core processor. To go along with it is a 3GB of RAM while running Android Nougat mobile OS.



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As for its display, the Nokia Edge will have a 5.5-inch of screensize. Other mobile features will also include a fingerprint scanner, proximity, accelerometer, compass, and gyro-sensors.



On the other hand, another high-end flagship is expected in the upcoming MWC 2017. The hype and demand for Nokia 8 have increased in the past weeks thanks to a video detailing the potential look of the devices. The 5.7 inches smartphone will be equipped with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, according to GSM Arena.



Along with the powerful mobile processor would be a generous 6GB of RAM and Andreno 540 GPU. The said mobile device has become interesting because of its great front camera boasting of 24 megapixels with Carl Zeiss Sensor. As for its storage, an optional 64GB and 128GB is to be offered to consumers.



Meanwhile, as most consumers are busying themselves checking on the latest Nokia phones that run on Android, an alternative retro offering has been reported for a major comeback. The Finnish company is to include Nokia 3310 in the upcoming MWC event, according to PC Advisor.



The retro mobile device will be back in the market as a backup phone for consumers. Details of any potential upgrades or tweaks to the old-school device remain elusive up to now. However, the throwback is expected to be retailed within a $50 to $60 price point.



Watch here below the potential look of Nokia 8:






U.S. Army M1A2SEPV2 Abrams main battle tanks arrive in Poland to deter Russia. (Photo : US Army)

NATO says there is no sound military reason to match Russia's build-up of men and weapons along the latter's western border with Europe since NATO's only has to deter Russia from contemplating an invasion of Europe to restore the communist empire.



NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO'S military aim is to prevent a war, not to provoke it. This means there is no need and NATO has no plans to respond to Russia's military build-up with an equal number of soldiers and tanks.



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Russia will have to mass overwhelming force for an invasion to succeed and this force it does not have.



"We will not match Russia soldier for soldier, tank for tank, or plane for plane. Our aim is to prevent conflict, not to provoke it," said Stoltenberg to NATO Defense Ministers.



"Our deployments (referring to the four multinational battle groups in Eastern Europe) are defensive and measured," he pointed out.



NATO is currently deploying four multinational battle groups in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland which are the countries Russia will first invade. NATO expects these battle groups be fully operational by June.



Germany has deployed soldiers of its "Bundesheer" (the German Federal Army) to Lithuania as part of NATO's push to better defend the three Baltic States, which Russia will attack first should a new European War erupt.



The German infantry, which arrived Feb. 7, will form part of a 1,200-strong NATO multinational battle group that will also include French, Dutch and Belgian troops. NATO plans to deploy four of these multinational enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) battle groups throughout the Baltic States.



The United States in January began deploying the first contingent of a U.S. Army brigade combat team to Poland. This entire unit will number over 3,500 well-trained troops of the U.S. Army 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, U.S. 4th Infantry Division (3-4 ABCT).



3-4 ABCT is one of the best trained frontline units in the U.S. Army. Over the next few months, 3,500 men of 3-4 ABCT; 87 M1A2SEPv2 Abrams main battle tanks (the latest version); 144 M2A3 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs), 18 M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzers and 2,500 other vehicles will be deployed to Poland.



NATO will also increase its naval presence in Black Sea to enhance training and situational awareness, said Stoltenberg.


The upcoming smart devices, Galaxy S7 and S7 edge is powered by Android Nougat (Photo : XEETECHCARE/Youtube)

Samsung has started the rollout of Android 7.0 Nougat update for Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge smartphones. The update will be soon coming to other smartphones such as Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 Edge+, Galaxy A series and Galaxy J series.



According to a tweet from Tansu Yegen, vice-president of the Turkish wing of Samsung, the Android 7.0 Nougat update would be soon available for 2017 and 2016 Samsung smartphones. The tweet dated Feb. 8 states the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge would be getting the software update by the second week of February, Phone Arena reported.



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Mr. Yegen's tweet has revealed that the Galaxy S6 would be getting the software upgrade by the end of the third week. The Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Galaxy Note 5 are also going to receive the update by the third week. The Galaxy S6 Edge would be getting the Android 7.0 Nougat by the last week of this month.



The Galaxy A series is poised to get the firmware upgrade in May. The 2017 edition of Galaxy A3, Galaxy A5 and Galaxy S7 were launched preinstalled with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow update. At the end of December 2016, the Galaxy A3, Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7 were spotted being testing with Android 7.0 Nougat.



Hence, there is no confirmation on whether the 2016 or 2017 edition would be getting the update in May. However, the company may prioritize in releasing the Android 7.0 Nougat to the newer 2017 edition version of Galaxy A series smartphones. The Galaxy J7 series are slated to get the Nougat update by July, Neowin reported.



The forthcoming devices from Samsung are expected to come preinstalled with Android 7.0 Nougat update. The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus flagships will arrive preinstalled with it. The Galaxy Tab S3 that will be unveiled at MWC 2017 would also be coming with Nougat OS. The Galaxy J7 (2017) edition is also slated to arrive with Android N OS. The software update would also include the latest version of the TouchWiz UI.



Here is what Android 7.0 Nougat update would bring for Galaxy S7:






The NFU is seeking clarification from the BBC over impartiality after Chris Packham posted strong views calling for a ban on glyphosate.

The Springwatch host took to Twitter to urge his followers to sign a petition to ban the weedkiller.

Mr Packham also tweeted a link to a report by the Ethical Consumer website and magazine, which is highly critical of the NFU.

The NFU said the report was riddled with inaccuracies and out of date information.

See also: BBCs Chris Packham sparks glyphosate safety row

The report, written by a group which has spoken out against the badger cull and urged shoppers to boycott dairy products, also brands the NFU as an anti-environmental lobby group.

This is a graphic about Glyphosate put out by @NFUtweets and here is what you should know about them . https://t.co/kak9tfzlz4 pic.twitter.com/6kuCOzrVAJ  Chris Packham (@ChrisGPackham) February 12, 2017

An NFU spokesman said: We have written to the BBC to express our concerns about Chris Packhams comments to get a clear understanding of its position in employing someone who clearly has very strong views on issues, but is consistently portrayed as an impartial expert.

Commenting on Mr Packhams glyphosate tweet, the NFU said regulatory bodies around the world had concluded it poses little or no risk to people in their everyday lives when used correctly.

The NFU spokesman added: Debates about the future of products like glyphosate need to be based on science and evidence, not on the opinions of people who dismiss information that doesnt support their position as industry propaganda.

Twitter backlash

Farmers also hit out on Twitter to criticise Mr Packham over his stance on glyphosate.

Yorkshire farmer and Club Hectare co-founder Jono Dixon (@sunkfarmer) tweeted: The birth control pill is more dangerous than #glyphosate as is toothpaste. Packham you buffoon do ya homework.

Leicestershire grower Keith Challen (@keithchallen) said: Chris Packham your irresponsible statement will lead to harming the very things you wish to protect! #factsnotfiction

Frustrated former NFU president Peter Kendall (@pkendallfarm) wrote: And hes still being employed by the BBC.

BBC  personal views

It is not the first time that Mr Packham has used his public profile to make statements in support of causes he feels strongly about.

Last year, he was investigated and cleared by the BBC Trust following a complaint by the Countryside Alliance that he had breached corporation guidelines on bias after he described people involved in hunting as the nasty brigade.

Mr Packham has previously branded those carrying out the badger cull as brutalist, thugs, liars and frauds.

Last month, he was forced to post a clarification on his Twitter account apologised after posting an inaccurate tweet that farmers were shooting lapwings.

A BBC spokesman said: Chris Packham is a scientist and naturalist in his own right and is not solely employed by the BBC.

Chriss personal social media accounts are not connected to his work as a BBC presenter and we are confident that our audience recognise that these are his personally held views as a naturalist expressed on his own Twitter account.
Actors Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder attend the 'The Vampire Diaries' panel during Comic-Con International 2016 at San Diego Convention Center on July 23, 2016 in San Diego, California. (Photo : Getty Images/ Matt Winkelmeyer)

"The Vampire Diaries" (TVD) Season 8 episode 14 will see Damon and Stefan up against Cade. With four more episodes to the series finale, things continue to get intense. The upcoming segment is titled "It's Been a Hell of a Ride" and the Salvatore brothers will battle it out to save Elena from the big bad. Here are a few spoilers for the next chapter of the series. Read on to find out what happens next.



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[Spoiler alert! This article contains spoilers for "The Vampire Diaries" (TVD) Season 8 episode 14 "It's Been a Hell of a Ride." Do not read further if you don't wish to know more about it.]



"The Vampire Diaries" (TVD) Season 8 episode 14 will see Elena's life in danger. The Spoiler Guide's description for "It's Been a Hell of a Ride" suggest that Cade is coming after Elena. Fans can expect a battle between the two brothers and Cade. They come together to protect Elena's casket and preventing her from becoming Cade's next victim.



Elsewhere, Alaric and Caroline are baffled by their daughters' newly developed skills. In "The Vampire Diaries" (TVD) Season 8, they try to cope with their magical powers.



A promo video for "The Vampire Diaries" (TVD) Season 8 episode 14 is highly anticipated. It is expected to be released after the television broadcast of episode 13 airing on Feb. 17. Stay tuned, it will be updated soon.



However, TV Fanatic has released still from the upcoming segment teasing a fight between Damon and his human brother Stefan. Meanwhile, Stefan will reportedly continue to battle his demons as he struggles to put the past behind. In another shot, Damon is seen lying unconscious in Stefan's arms. Will Salvatore brothers be able to bring Cade down?



"The Vampire Diaries" (TVD) Season 8 episode 14 airs Feb. 24 on The CW. More spoilers and updates are expected soon.



[Update]



A promo video for "The Vampire Diaries" (TVD) Season 8 episode 14 is out. Scroll down to watch it.






The EU referendum and low commodity prices played key roles in a stagnating farmland market in Wales last year.

Several agents in England and Scotland have reported the referendum had little effect on the market in 2016, although recent research has suggested a large number of farms marketed last year were left on the market in December.

But a different picture has been painted by Welsh firms, where supply has been tight and farmers have sold off small blocks of land to cope with low farmgate prices.

However, despite 2016s difficulties, buyers seem keen to move on and the first six weeks of the new year have been positive, according to agents.

David Powell, managing director, Powells, Monmouth

The market was difficult throughout 2016 with the EU referendum result certainly playing a role in creating uncertainty.

More applicant enquiries have been received in the first month of 2017 than June to September 2016 combined.

Residential land packages have fared better than purely agricultural packages, with steady transactions taking place.

Any good-sized blocks of reasonable-quality bare agricultural land have been in demand as investors look for a diversity of asset classes to invest in.

Purely agricultural blocks under 100 acres have been slow to sell, especially if they have no established diversified income streams.

See also: Land prices will be static for three years, agent forecasts

Some exit strategies are being progressed in terms of selling off some land which may be naturally lotted away from the principal farm.

But there have been no wholesale instructions to sell up completely as a result of low

But there have been no wholesale instructions to sell up completely as a result of low farmgate sales.

Tenancy opportunities have been very limited, but we did successfully let Great Campston Farm in Abergavenny during 2016.

The 207-acre grassland holding had good interest and demand.

Hugh ODonnell, rural associate, Carter Jonas, Bangor

Brexit undoubtedly resulted in a period of uncertainty, but demand for well-equipped farms and good-quality land across North Wales has remained robust.

Sales continue to be underpinned by a lack of supply, and while poor commodity prices over the past year have impacted profit and cashflow, we expect this strong appetite from buyers to continue.

Equipped units in excess of 250 acres are guaranteed to generate interest, particularly if there are diversification opportunities.

In areas such as Anglesey, buyers with significant rollover funds are always on the lookout for new opportunities.

Demand for smaller holdings of 50 to 100 acres which appeal to lifestyle buyers is also present, but the residential proposition is very important.

An attractive farmhouse, convenient location, and the potential for diversification will all boost the appeal of these smaller holdings.

Smaller, less productive pasture units have struggled. In these cases, there may still be some interest from neighbouring farmers, but whether the land sells depends on how well the vendors expectations have been managed.

Unrealistic prices lead to long periods of time on the market.

Tudor Watkins, partner, Roger Parry & Partners, Welshpool

In the past 12 months, prices have remained stagnant and supply has been higher than demand.

This was driven by uncertainty both before and after the referendum.

The most popular land has been bare blocks next to towns and villages which are fetching 15,000 to 20,000/acre from non-agricultural buyers.

These are for amenity or equestrian usage, but some local farms have fetched really good prices. As usual, anything of any quality has sold.

Blocks of 30 to 100 acres of pasture that are prone to flooding have struggled, even with lower asking prices because of supply  buyers have more choice.

See also: Unpredictable south-west land market could perk up this year

Lifestyle buyers and investors are the most active while stock farmers have not really been in the market because the returns have not been there to repay the investment.

Property developers are very interested  more so in 2016 than in the past five years.

We have seen an increase in sales being launched as a result of poor farmgate prices.

Not whole farms, but generally between five and 20 acres to make up losses.

Arable values may have dropped a little, by about 30/acre in 2016 compared with 2015, but pasture and maize land have been largely unaffected.

If sterling remains weak in 2017 then arable and livestock farmers could be a bit more competitive in 2017.
Farming is a stressful, 24/7 occupation and increasingly farmers face emotional and financial strain because of bad weather, market price volatility and late payments.

Spiralling debt, relationship breakdowns, a lack of succession planning and mental health issues can also pile on the pressure for farming families.

Generally, the image of farmers as proud and tough means they often dont seek support when they are struggling.

See also: Farmers look to charity help as incomes fall

The good news is that farmers can reach out to farming and rural charities who are there to help. If you are struggling, you should not suffer in silence.

Farmers Weekly has profiled the major farming charities and the vital work they do to support the agricultural sector.

Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (Rabi)

How are you funded?

Rabis main source of funding is voluntary income, including donations from individuals, businesses and charitable trusts.

Contact Confidential freephone helpline 0808 281 9490

0808 281 9490 Email grants@rabi.org.uk

grants@rabi.org.uk Website rabi.org.uk

What are you there for?

We support farming people of all ages on low incomes who find themselves in financial difficulty.

While Rabi does not help with payment of business bills, it can offer grants for domestic expenses to people of limited means who are in financial trouble because of exceptional events, such as accident, illness, family breakdown, bereavement or animal disease.

Who can approach you?

Anyone. However, many beneficiaries are elderly or disabled people who receive regular grants or one-off payments for help with fuel costs, mobility equipment and essential household items.

How much money did you pay out in 2015 and 2016?

In 2016, the charity provided grants of 2,035,702 to 1,357 farming families. In 2015, Rabi gave out grants totalling 1,875,000 to 1,340 farming families.

Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RSABI)

How are you funded?

RSABI relies on historical invested funds and donations from trusts, individuals and dedicated fundraising.

Contact Confidential helpline 0300 111 4166

0300 111 4166 Email rsabi@rsabi.org.uk

rsabi@rsabi.org.uk Website rsabi.org.uk

What are you there for?

RSABI provides regular financial support to hundreds of low-income households throughout Scotland.

It awards one-off grants to people to pay for household expenses in times of crisis.

Grants go towards the cost of essential items that people are unable to afford themselves.

The charity has a skilled and dedicated team who are ready to help, in strictest confidence, anyone who comes to us who is within our scope and in need of support.

Who can approach you?

RSABI provides financial and practical support and friendship to individuals and their families across a range of occupations with the common theme of working on the land in Scotland.

How much money did you pay out in 2015 and 2016?

In the 2014-15 financial year, RSABI paid out 480,000 to 688 people. In the 2015-16 financial year, it helped more than 900 people at a cost of about 600,000.

The Addington Fund

Who are you?

The Addington Fund is a farming charity, based in Warwickshire and is part of Farming Help, a group of farming charities who work together with the aim of providing help to farmers experiencing hardship due to emergency situations.

Contact Telephone 01926 620 135

01926 620 135 Email enquiries@addingtonfund.org.uk

enquiries@addingtonfund.org.uk Website addingtonfund.org.uk

What are you there for?

Addingtons main focus is housing for farming families (mainly tenant farmers) who have had to leave the industry through no fault of their own. For the tenant farmer, when the time comes to retire or relinquish their tenancy, one of the barriers from preventing them from doing so is appropriate housing.

Who can approach you?

Through its Strategic Rural Housing Scheme (SRHS) Addington purchases a property for successful applicants, which is then rented to them. The SRHS is unique, confidential and flexible.

Applicants have an input on where they would like to live, and shared equity options are available with no minimum or maximum amount.

More than 60% of Addingtons SRHS tenants have shared ownership of their property, on which they do not pay rent.

This share can be increased at any time throughout the tenancy.

You Are Not Alone  The Yana Project

How are you funded?

Backed initially by a Norfolk Charity, The Clan Trust, the Yana Project received 60,000 from the fundraising Wheatsheaf Ball in 2009. Running costs per annum are approximately 9,000, however, much of this is recouped by donations.

How much money have you got?

About 65,000.

What are you there for?

We provide confidential support and mental health awareness to the farming and rural communities of Norfolk and Suffolk.

We offer a confidential telephone helpline and callers can also speak to a doctor or counsellor within 48 hours.

Contact Helpline 0300 323 0400

0300 323 0400 Email johoey@yanahelp.org

johoey@yanahelp.org Website yanahelp.org

Yana can fund up to six sessions with a qualified counsellor, either one connected to the project or their own doctor.

Who can approach you?

We support anyone from farming and rural life who is involved with agricultural trades in Norfolk and Suffolk.

We welcome contact from other relevant charities.

We are happy to give talks on the work of the project to interested parties.

How much money did you pay out in 2016 and in 2015?

We paid out 9,461 in 2015 and 8,336 in 2016  which included funding for 83 hours of counselling.

Lincolnshire Rural Support Network

How are you funded?

A mixture of grants, donations, fundraising and an NHS contract for our health screening service, which may or may not be reviewed from April 2017.

Contact Helpline 0800 138 1710

0800 138 1710 Email alison.twiddy@lrsn.co.uk

alison.twiddy@lrsn.co.uk Website lrsn.co.uk

How much money have you got?

About 80,000 and 98,000 in unrestricted and restricted funds, respectively.

We have very little annuity funding, our reserves policy must be prudent if we are to be able to sustain our charity and its services year on year.

What are you there for?

We provide help and support to Lincolnshire farmers, farming families and rural communities in times of crisis, stress and change.

We offer practical and emotional support and advice. We offer weekly health screening clinics at Louth, Newark and Spalding livestock marts and deliver mental health workshops.

Who can approach you?

Anyone connected with or working in the agricultural and rural community in Lincolnshire.

How much money did you pay out in 2016 and in 2015?

Our service does not include any benevolent provision, although we do signpost those in need to other farming help charities where appropriate.

Nottinghamshire Rural Support (NRS)

How are you funded?

Nottinghamshire Rural Support (NRS) is entirely funded by donations and fundraising events. It is staffed completely by volunteers.

Contact Telephone 0800 138 1710

0800 138 1710 Website nottsruralsupport.org.uk

How much money have you got?

At the end of January we had a bank balance of 14,000.

What are you there for?

Our principal service is to offer counselling and support for farmers and others in the rural communities of Nottinghamshire who face stress, isolation and anxiety.

Who can approach you?

Anyone, either on their own behalf or by referring a friend, relative or neighbour who they are concerned about.

Our brief is for residents in the rural areas of the county, though some overlap is inevitable.

How much money did you pay out in 2016 and in 2015?

NRS does not give direct financial aid  we see our work as being complementary to that of Rabi, The Addington Fund and others.

Upper Teesdale Agricultural Support Services

How are you funded?

Our core running costs are about 200,000 annually.

We have 40 different funders, the biggest being the Big Lottery Fund. We also generate about 35,000 in earned income.

Contact Telephone 01833 641 010

01833 641 010 Out of hours/emergency 01833 640 320

01833 640 320 Website utass.org

How much money have you got?

At the end of 2016, we had 138,862, but the majority is restricted funding from grants paid in advance for work in 2017.

Our only other significant tangible assets are two minibuses, which are for community/not-for-profit use.

What are you there for?

Our main aim is to prevent problems from getting to the desperate stage.

Our services are predominantly for farmers and their families, but in recent years we have established services for the wider communities throughout the Durham Dales.

Our approach ranges from help with farm paperwork to drop-in advice and telephone support.

Who can approach you?

Anyone  we turn no one away.

How much money did you pay out in 2016 and in 2015?

Our expenditure was 318,294 in 2016, and 269,768 in 2015.

FCN

Contact Helpline 03000 111 999

03000 111 999 Email chris@fcn.org.uk

chris@fcn.org.uk Website fcn.org.uk

How are you funded?

We rely heavily on donations from a variety of sources to continue our vital support to the farming community.

It costs approximately 1,500/day to run FCN.

What are you there for?

First and foremost, we listen.

We provide a sympathetic ear to those who seek our help and all cases are treated non-judgmentally and with complete confidentiality.

We have more than 400 volunteers across England and Wales on hand to provide emotional and practical support.

At the height of the 2015 BPS payment delays, FCN was taking about 300 calls a month  five times more than usual.

We also work in partnership with stakeholders critical to the successful outcome of cases.

These include government bodies, agricultural organisations and healthcare services.

Who can approach you?

Anyone who seeks our help. We dont turn anyone away, regardless of their background, occupation or beliefs.

How much money did you pay out in 2015 and 2016?

We help with emotional welfare rather than financial welfare. Our volunteers deal with approximately 2,500 cases a year, helping roughly 6,000 people benefit from FCN support.

Forage Aid

How are you funded?

We are funded entirely from donations.

How much money have you got?

50,000.

Contact Telephone 07967 219 991

07967 219 991 Email info@forageaid.org.uk

info@forageaid.org.uk Website forageaid.org.uk

What are you there for?

Forage Aid is the charity that supports farmers whose livestock has been affected by an extreme weather event by providing forage and/or bedding to those in need.

Who can approach you?

Any farmer with a holding number whose livestock has been affected by adverse weather in an area where at least two holdings are in crisis due to the weather event.

How much money did you pay out in 2016 and in 2015?

Nearly 8,000. Ours is not a charity that relies on cash so much. Our whole ethos is farmers helping farmers via physical donations of feed and bedding.

Ancillary businesses help, too, by way of donating tractors, trailers and handlers for us to use in times of crisis, as well as local markets to help store the goods until it can be distributed.

Sometimes donations are necessary to help with haulage costs.
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Story Highlights Trump job approval rating at 40%

Average approval in mid- to late February of first year in office is 61%

Trump approval among his party's supporters similar to that of prior presidents

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Donald Trump's 40% job approval rating about one month into his presidency is 21 percentage points below the historical average rating for elected presidents in mid-February (61%). It is also 11 points below the lowest mid-February reading for any other president.

Mid-February Job Approval Ratings During Elected Presidents' First Year in Office, Eisenhower Through Trump Date Job approval % Trump 2017 Feb 13-15 40 Obama 2009 Feb 12-15 64 G.W. Bush 2001 Feb 19-21 62 Clinton 1993 Feb 12-14 51 G.H.W. Bush 1989 Feb 28-Mar 2 63 Reagan 1981 Feb 13-16 55 Carter 1977 Feb 18-21 71 Nixon 1969 Feb 20-25 60 Kennedy 1961 Feb 10-15 72 Eisenhower 1953 Feb 22-27 67 Average 61 Gallup

Bill Clinton held the previous low for a president near the end of his first month in office, at 51%. Ronald Reagan was the only other president with ratings at this point in his tenure below 60%. John F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter enjoyed approval ratings above 70% at similar points in their presidencies.

Trump's initial job approval rating was 45%, making him the first president to begin his term with less-than-majority approval. Since then, his approval has fallen by five percentage points.

Clinton and Barack Obama are the only other presidents whose approval ratings declined significantly during their first month in office. Clinton's seven-point decrease represents the biggest first-month drop in Gallup's records.

On the other hand, four presidents enjoyed a significant increase in approval during their first month, with George H.W. Bush's 12-point increase being the biggest.

The average first-month change in approval from Dwight Eisenhower through Trump has been a one-point gain.

Change in Presidential Mid-February Job Approval Ratings From Initial Job Approval Ratings, Eisenhower Through Trump Sorted by change in approval rating Initial approval Mid-February approval Change % % pct. pts. G.H.W. Bush 51 63 +12 G.W. Bush 57 62 +5 Carter 66 71 +5 Reagan 51 55 +4 Nixon 59 60 +1 Eisenhower 68 67 -1 Obama 68 64 -4 Trump 45 40 -5 Clinton 58 51 -7 Average 60 61 +1 Gallup did not measure Kennedy's job approval prior to mid-February 1961. Gallup

Trump's first-month job approval decline may be partly due to negative reactions to his controversial executive orders on immigration. More recently, his administration has been dogged by concerns about former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's pre-inauguration communications with Russian officials and his accounts of those talks. Flynn resigned from his position on Monday after admitting he misled administration officials about what he discussed in those calls.

Presidents Rarely Have Approval Below 50% in First Year

Trump is already one of only four elected presidents to receive a job approval score below 50% during his first year in office. Reagan, Clinton and Obama are the others, with Clinton falling below the majority level in his fourth month in office (May 1993) and Reagan and Obama doing so in their 10th months (November 1981 and November 2009, respectively).

Currently, Clinton is the only first-year elected president to have a sub-40% approval rating during his first year in office. His approval ratings dropped to 37% in a Gallup poll conducted June 5-6, 1993, during his fifth month in office. That poll was taken immediately after Clinton withdrew his nomination of Lani Guinier to a key Justice Department position over concerns about her views on race. His administration was also embroiled in controversies over firing the White House travel office staff and an expensive haircut he received aboard Air Force One that snarled air traffic at Los Angeles International Airport.

Clinton's approval remained below 40% in a poll conducted June 18-21, 1993, before rebounding in late June after the U.S. launched missile attacks on Iraq to retaliate for the plotted assassination of former President George H.W. Bush.

Fewer Than One in 10 Democrats Approve of Trump

Trump's job approval ratings are low largely because few Democrats -- currently 8% -- evaluate the job he is doing positively. His current level of support from Democrats is much lower than what presidents typically get from the opposition party during the "honeymoon phase" of their presidency. The prior low was 24% approval of Clinton among Republicans. However, the average has been 43% job approval from the opposition party in mid-February after taking office.

Trump's 35% job approval among independents is also much lower than the 58% presidents have averaged among independents at this point in their presidencies.

Mid-February Presidential Job Approval Ratings by Political Party Overall Democrats Independents Republicans % % % % Trump 40 8 35 87 Obama 64 89 61 32 G.W. Bush 62 31 59 91 Clinton 51 74 49 24 G.H.W. Bush 63 46 58 82 Reagan 55 39 57 78 Carter 71 79 69 58 Nixon 60 52 56 76 Kennedy 72 87 67 52 Eisenhower 67 57 68 85 Gallup

Trump's 87% approval rating among Republicans is slightly higher than the 83% historical average approval presidents have received from supporters of their party at this point in their administrations. Four prior presidents -- Richard Nixon, Carter, Reagan and Clinton -- had less than 80% approval from supporters of their party.

Since Trump's inauguration, his job approval rating has fallen six points among Democrats, five points among independents and three points among Republicans.

Implications

It is clear that Trump has not enjoyed the same honeymoon phase his predecessors had -- and to the extent he has had one, it has only been among his fellow Republicans. Trump's approval ratings are substantially lower than any prior president's at this point in their administration. Democrats' job approval ratings are approaching the lowest scores Republicans ever gave Obama (6%), the president who had the lowest average job approval ratings from the opposition party by a substantial margin.

The immediate prospects for improvement in Trump's support do not appear good, as the Flynn incident has only raised suspicions about the Trump campaign's and administration's involvement with Russia. Trump's labor secretary nominee, Andrew Puzder, withdrew his nomination after his confirmation appeared increasingly unlikely. And the administration is still deciding how to advance its immigration agenda after federal judges rejected his ban on travel from seven predominantly Muslim nations.

If Trump's job approval ratings drop one additional point, he will join Clinton as the second president to fall below 40% approval during his first year in office. While Clinton's approval ratings did improve fairly quickly, he also saw his party suffer historic losses in the 1994 midterm elections, giving Republicans control of Congress. Unless Trump's approval ratings improve significantly over the next year and a half, Republicans may endure a similar outcome in the 2018 midterms.

These data are available in Gallup Analytics.

Explore President Trump's approval ratings in depth and compare them with those of past presidents in the Gallup Presidential Job Approval Center.
Story Highlights 80% of Americans support NATO alliance, up from 64% in 1995

97% of Democrats, 69% of Republicans think NATO should be maintained

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- While President Donald Trump has previously questioned the relevance of NATO, 80% of Americans say the alliance should be maintained. This is up from 64% when Gallup last asked Americans about their views on NATO in 1995, and the highest reading since Gallup first asked the question in 1989.

High U.S. support for NATO in Gallup's annual World Affairs poll, conducted Feb. 1-5, comes after Trump questioned the country's commitment to the alliance in mid-January, referring to it as "obsolete." Trump, however, reaffirmed U.S. commitment to NATO when he recently agreed to attend its summit in May. Defense Secretary James Mattis reiterated the country's commitment to NATO this week but said the U.S. could "moderate its commitment" to the alliance if other countries do not increase their defense spending.

When Gallup first asked Americans about their views on NATO in July 1989, 75% thought the alliance should be maintained. The percentage of Americans supporting the alliance dropped to 62% in May and June 1991, months before the Soviet Union's formal collapse. Three years later, support for the alliance increased to 70%, but it dipped back down to 64% in 1995 during's NATO intervention in the Bosnian War.

Fewer Americans have "no opinion" about NATO now than they did in previous times Gallup has asked this question, perhaps boosting this year's percentage of those supporting the alliance.

Democrats More Likely Than Republicans to Support NATO

President Trump questioning NATO's relevance may have affected partisan views of the alliance. Ninety-seven percent of Democrats now support the alliance, 31 percentage points higher than in 1995. Republican support increased by five points to 69%, now making Republicans much less likely than Democrats to want NATO maintained. Nearly three-quarters of independents (74%) support NATO.

The first time Gallup measured Americans' views on NATO, 80% of Republicans thought it should be maintained, compared with 69% of Democrats. The gap between the two parties shrank in each of the next three measures, and dwindled down to two points in 1995.

The 27% of Republicans this year who don't think NATO is necessary is up from 24% in 1995. One percent of Democrats now say NATO is not necessary anymore, down from 19% in 1995.

Bottom Line

The United States' commitment to NATO is at a critical point, as most member nations in Eastern Europe view it as a form of protection after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. While the Trump administration has voiced its concerns about the alliance -- specifically regarding member nations' defense spending -- it's clear that Americans want NATO to be maintained.

Historical data are available in Gallup Analytics.
The Vampire Diaries (TVD) Season 8 finale spoilers, first look at Nina Dobrevs return, promo: When will the final episode air? What happens in episode 16? [VIDEO]

(L-R) Actress Nina Dobrev, actor Paul Wesley, actor Ian Somerhalder, actress Kat Graham and actor Matthew Davis attend 'The Vampire Diaries' Press Line during Comic-Con International 2014 at Hilton Bayfront on July 26, 2014 in San Diego, California. (Photo : Getty Images/ Mark Davis)

"The Vampire Diaries" (TVD) Season 8 finale is four episodes away and it will see the return of Nina Dobrev's Elena Gilbert. The network recently released the first look at episode 16 titled "I Was Feeling Epic" giving a glimpse of Elena, who has been sleeping in a casket since Season 6. Here are a few spoilers for the final episode of The CW series. Read on to find out what to expect from the series finale.



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[Spoiler alert! This article contains spoilers for "The Vampire Diaries" (TVD) Season 8 episode 16 (finale). Do not read further if you don't wish to know more about it.]



After months of speculations, a recently released 10-second clip confirmed Nina Dobrev will reprise her role as Elena in "The Vampire Diaries" Season 8 episode 16 (finale). After two seasons and almost three years, Elena will wake up.



The promo video shows Elena looking at a trophy case in what appears to be Mystic Falls High School. Also, it gives a glimpse of old pictures from her cheerleading days and more.



"What happened? Why am I here right now?" Elena is heard saying in the promo video.



Scroll down to watch the trailer of "The Vampire Diaries" (TVD) Season 8 episode 16 (finale) online.



The news about Elena's return was confirmed by Dobrev herself through an Instagram post where she announced her return to the sets of "The Vampire Diaries" (TVD). Scroll down to view the post.



In the meantime, the network has already released a synopsis for the highly anticipated for the series finale. According to the description for "The Vampire Diaries" (TVD) Season 8 episode 16 as published on Spoilers Guide, the fate of Mystic Falls is uncertain. Stefan and Damon Salvatore join hands for one last battle with their greatest enemy ever.



"The Vampire Diaries" (TVD) Season 8 episode 16 (finale) airs March 10 at 9:00 pm on The CW. Stay tuned for more spoilers and updates.







I know it's Thursday, but this is not a TBT. #BackOnSet #TVDForever

A post shared by Nina Dobrev (@nina) on Jan 26, 2017 at 9:19am PST






Nintendo NES Classic Shortage May Be Intentional, Critics Say

The Nintendo NES Classic has created a buzz long before it began selling in online retail stores and on shelves. However, it should be noted that numerous disgruntled customers are still unappeased because of the consistent lack of supply for the Nintendo NES Classic anywhere. However, Nintendo reassured consumers that the Nintendo NES Classic they ordered will be delivered to them.

Nintendo Fails To Deliver Enough, Twice In a Row

It should be noted that about a decade ago, Nintendo also had problems supplying the Wii console to consumers at launch. It was not until two years later that the Wii, still having a great demand, was properly supplied to consumers. Apparently, Nintendo did it again with the Nintendo NES Classic Edition that still has not met the demands of gamers even months after the release.

Hence, critics have begun to accuse Nintendo of mismanagement, Screen Critics reported. In addition, miscommunication still persists and rumor has it that the lack of supply for the Nintendo NES Classic was really intentional. It should be noted that the supply for Hatchimals toys was also intentionally constrained during the holiday season. Note that to this day, Nintendo still exists as a toy company.

Nintendo Representative Assures NES Mini Production Continues

Meanwhile, Nintendo is slated to release another new console soon which is expected to be a hybrid of a handheld and home console, the Nintendo Switch. Rumors have been circulating that Nintendo already ceased production of the Nintendo NES Mini production to focus on the new console. It is expected that Nintendo will be able to meet the demand of the forthcoming console.

The Nintendo NES Classic discontinuation reports started from a NeoGaf post that cited a Nordic distributor Bergsala noting that Nintendo will already send out the final shipments of the Nintendo NES Classic in the spring. Hence, several outstanding orders may be unfulfilled. However a Nintendo UK representative confirmed that production for the console persists and shipping units will continue on a regular basis, Tech Radar reported.

Check out the contents of a Nintendo NES Classic package here:
Readers, we need your help to prove a merry Christmas for victims of domestic violence.
Local health care reform advocates will present two free screenings of Now Is the Time: Healthcare for Everybody next week in Corvallis.

From the producers of The Healthcare Movie, the 71-minute documentary examines the shortcomings of the Affordable Care Act and documents ongoing efforts to bring single-payer health care to the United States.

The film will show at 6 and 8:30 p.m. on Monday at the Darkside Cinema, 215 S.W. Fourth St. There is no charge to attend, but donations will be accepted for Mid-Valley Health Care Advocates and Health Care for All-Oregon.
A steady stream of cars pulled up in front of the Baja Fresh Mexican Grill on Northwest Ninth Street in Corvallis during the noon hour on Thursday, but would-be customers were brought up short by a locked door  and a sign explaining that the restaurant was closed to show support for immigrants rights.

Our government is waging a war on people who work hard, pay taxes, and contribute to what makes this country great, the sign read in part. Please join us in telling our elected officials to stop trying to implement a ban on immigrants, and to award a path to citizenship for those who work hard, pay their taxes, and seek nothing more than their chance to achieve the American Dream.

The Baja Fresh shutdown was one of several local observances of A Day Without Immigrants, a loosely organized protest against the Trump administrations restrictive immigration policies that called on foreign-born people across the country to stay home from work, not go to school and refrain from shopping to demonstrate their importance to the U.S. economy.

Many of the people who stopped by Baja Fresh for lunch on Thursday were surprised the restaurant was closed for the day but seemed to sympathize with the reason for the shutdown.

Corvallis residents Eric White and Cari Brooks said they supported the protest.

We rely heavily on immigrants, more than people think, said White. Theyre not bad people, theyre just trying to make a living.

Added Brooks: Theyre just as American as anyone else.

Angie Nelson of Albany liked the point the protest was making.

As a white person of privilege, it is helping me feel in a way whats happening rather than just seeing it on the news, she said.

And Rebekah Degner, a grad student in public policy at Oregon State University, credited Baja Fresh with making a strong statement on the issue.

I think thats awesome, that corporate businesses are taking a stand rather than just using immigrant workers as money machines.

The vast majority of businesses along Ninth Street, the citys busiest commercial strip, were open as usual on Thursday, but there were a handful of exceptions, including La Rockita Mexican restaurant, La Fuente Mexican grocery and Pilos Mexican bakery.

Bernardo Magana said he wanted to close his restaurant, El Sol de Mexico, but felt he needed to honor a previous commitment to hold a fundraiser for Linus Pauling Middle School.

I feel good and bad, Magana said. I feel good because we help the school, because they need the money. (But) I feel bad because I dont support our people.

OSU officials said they had no reports of campus walkouts on Thursday, but the picture was a bit different at local public schools.

Corvallis School District officials said attendance appeared to be lower than usual, although they declined to release precise numbers, and some schools acknowledged the national protest in various ways.

At Corvallis High School, for instance, the morning announcements noted that some students were taking part in A Day Without Immigrants and called on the rest of the school to please take a moment to reflect on why they are participating in this protest and think about what you can do to make CHS and Corvallis a more inclusive community for all.

Linus Pauling Middle School held two events in connection with the protest, a school-wide moment of silence following morning announcements and a lunchtime question-and-answer session attended by about 60 students.

We want to make sure that our students and families feel supported so they know they are part of a community that cares about them, Principal Alicia Ward-Satey said in a statement released by the district. Students from immigrant and refugee families are valued and are an important part of our school community.

Some Linus Pauling students decided to make their own statement, walking out of class at about 9:45 a.m. and marching through the hallways in support of the protest for about 45 minutes.

District officials estimated the number of participants at 75, although some students who took part said the number could have been as high as 300.

Henry Merfeld-Felling, a sixth-grader at Linus Pauling, said he and several of his friends joined the march when it passed by their classroom.

I thought it was a good cause, he said. This country needs more diversity.

His mother, Heather Merfeld, said she was incredibly proud of her sons actions.

Its one thing to tell your kids what you think and whats right and whats wrong, she said, choking up as she spoke. But its another when they make that right decision on their own.
Tourists will not be allowed to climb Mount Sinai and Jebel Abbash Basha in South Sinai due to below freezing temperatures on the mountains, a local official announced on Friday.

In statements to state-owned news agency MENA, the head of the local municipality unit in the town of St. Catherine, Sayed Abdel-Sadek, said climibing the moutains in temperatures that range between minus five degrees Celsius and five degrees above zero, could endanger lives.

One thousand and forty-two tourists visited the towns of St. Catherine and Dahab, approximately 80 km northeast of Sharm El-Sheikh, in the last 24 hours, despite the weather conditions, MENA reported.

St. Catherine lies at the foot of Mount Sinai, known locally as Jabal Musa and believed to be the site where Moses, Musa in Arabic, received the Ten Commandments.

Both destinations are popular with tourists to the area.

Much of Egypt was hit with cold and rainy weather this week, expected to continue through Friday.

The Red and Mediterranean seas are expected to see moderate to stormy weather, with waves ranging from two to 2.5 metres in height, with unstable conditions for maritime navigation on the Red Sea, according to the Egyptian Meteorological Authority forecast on Thursday.

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Time for a survey

To the Editor: Its time for a St. Paul survey One of the mistakes of the past with respect to deciding on the future of St. Pauls is that previous...

Election for St. Pauls

To the Editor: Perhaps someday there will be an election where some folks decide about St.Pauls. If the election is conducted in the most popular way, the outcome might not...

Proposal on the ballot

To the Editor: On the bottom of your ballot you will be asked to vote yes or no on creating a state bond which will amount to $4.2 billion. Subject coverage should be...

Botched RFP process

To the Editor: During the last several weeks, village officials sent out RFPs (requests for proposals) seeking candidate firms to provide them with comparative analysis and cost estimates -- ...
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.
The Russian government has approved an aviation safety protocol with Egypt to monitor the achievement of airport safety measures, as part of a series of measures to pave the way for the restoration of flights between the two countries after over a years suspension, Russian news agency TASS reported on Friday.

"The date of the resumption of flights depends on the accomplishment of aviation safety requirements by the Egyptian side," a cabinet decree signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was reported as saying by the state news agency.

Russia has carried out a series of inspections of Egyptian airports since the suspension in October 2015, when a Russian passenger plane crashed in Sinai after taking off from Sharm El-Sheikh, killing all 224 on board.

Egypt's civil aviation minister, Sherif Fathy, is slated to sign the bilateral agreement during a visit to Moscow, the final date of which has not yet been announced.

Speaking in December 2016, Russias Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said flights would most likely resume in January 2017.

In January, TASS quoted an unnamed source as saying that inspection equipment that Moscow has insisted be deployed in Egypts airports was not yet fully functional.

"The biometric equipment they bought for scanning fingerprints and retinas is not functioning yet. The equipment is still being installed. In Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh the equipment is running, but only in the test mode. After all the systems are launched another delegation of experts from Russia is set to arrive for a final check of the second terminal at the capital's airport," the source was quoted as saying.

Also in January, Sokolov said that Egypts civil aviation minister would sign the bilateral airport security agreement during a visit to Moscow in February, and that a delegation of Russian experts was set to inspect Cairo airport in the same month.



The team completed their visit in the first week of February. It could be the last such inspection before a partial resumption of flights.

Last week, Egypt's state news agency MENA reported Russian newspaper Izvestia as saying that a Russian parliamentary delegation would visit Egypt in March, primarily to discuss the resumption of flights.

On Thursday, the speaker of Russias upper house of parliament said Cairo has improved most security issues to allow for safe Egypt-Russia flights, but Moscow believes that a few details remain problematic.

A number of European countries that also suspended flights to Sharm El-Sheikh following the 2015 crash have recently reinstated direct flights to the South Sinai tourist hotspot, although the UK, a major source of tourists, has not yet lifted its suspension.

The Russian Federal Security Service classified the air disaster, the deadliest in Russian and Soviet history, as a terrorist attack. It was claimed by local IS militant affiliates.

Egyptian investigations have not yet determined the cause of the crash.

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Threat to lace sweets with poison : Attempted extortion against Haribo and Kaufland

Bonn A 74-year-old man from Dortmund allegedly threatened to poison sweets with cyanide. The Bonn public prosecutors office would not give any details but confirmed that an investigation was taking place.

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The Bonn public prosecutors office, in close cooperation with Bonn police headquarters, is investigating a case of extortion targeted at Haribo and Kaufland. Spokesman for the prosecution office, Sebastian Bu confirmed the information to the General Anzeiger.

For tactical reasons, the spokesman was not able to provide any details of the allegations. The public prosecutors office believes, however, that there was never a danger to customers of the company or the public.

German regional broadcaster WDR first reported the case. According to their research, a 74-year-old man from Dortmund threatened Haribo that he would poison their candy with cyanide if the company did not pay him one million euros. He is also accused of making extortion threats against German market chain Kaufland, demanding one million euros from them as well.

According to GA information, the man had sent off two letters with his demands. As WDR reported, the pensioner is alleged to have purchased items from both Haribo and Kaufland, and labeled them with Caution poison. Police had already been on his trail at that time and he was arrested on Christmas Eve.
G20 in Bonn : German foreign minister calls for international cooperation

BONN On the opening day of the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Bonn, U.S. Secretary of State Tillerson made his first appearance on the world stage. German Foreign Minister Gabriel appealed for international cooperation.

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U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillersons first appearance on the world stage stood out in the first day of the G20 Summit in Bonn. In a series of bilateral meetings behind closed doors, the other participants seemed to be looking for clarification as to what the new foreign policy of the U.S. would look like - where would there be continuity and what changes could be expected.

Tillerson first met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lawrow and told journalists after the meeting that he had addressed the conflict in the Ukraine, asking that Russia respect the Minsk Protocol and help restore calm to the region . European representatives reacted positively to Tillersons acknowledgement of the Minsk Protocol. Tillerson said that the U.S. government would work with Russia where it can find practical areas of cooperation that will benefit the American people.

Lawrow was more restrained in his response on Russian television, saying its clear that we cannot resolve all problems. But both countries would look for areas where they had common interests.

The two-day informal conference of the G20 ministers began on Thursday afternoon. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said he wanted to send a signal in a time where there is much movement towards going it alone - without naming the U.S. UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres also appealed for multilateralism.

On the afternoon schedule was the UN sustainability agenda. Gabriel said this was important because world security is not possible when justice and a better life are not attainable for everyone.
COLOGNE/BONN For passengers who want to fly somewhere warm, a Portuguese airlines will be adding daily flights from Cologne/Bonn to Lisbon.

Beginning in mid-July, TAP Airlines of Portugal will add flights from Cologne to Lisbon. The flights will be twice a day, mornings and late afternoons.

An Embraer 190 aircraft with 106 seats will fly along the Atlantic coast. From Lisbon back to Cologne, the flights will be offered midday and evenings. The airlines is half owned by the state and is a member of Star Alliance. TAP flies to nearly 85 destinations from Lisbon.
American-German concert at La Redoute : Scarsdale High School Orchestra gives joint performance with local school

BONN The visiting Scarsdale High School Orchestra from New York will join the Bonn-Tannenbusch Gymnasium Orchestra to give a performance at the Redoute on Monday evening. Everyone is welcome to attend the musical evening.

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"An American in Bonn" is part of the tour of the Scarsdale High School Orchestra of New York. They will perform at the Redoute on Monday, February 20 at 7 pm. Under the direction of Amedee Williams, the youth orchestra will hold a joint performance with the Tannenbusch Gymnasium Orchestra of Bonn.

The concert is part of the Scarsdale High School Orchestras German tour. Visiting the birthplace of Beethoven, they joined up with the local Tannenbusch secondary school. American director Amedee Williams had contacted the Bonn school last May and set the date for this joint concert. She organized details over the internet with her German colleagues on this end, Susanne Pridik and Martina Theobald.

Works from JS. Bach, A. Vivaldi, J. Sibelius and other composers will be included in the performance. Entrance is free of charge. Everyone is most welcome to attend this international musical experience. They are hoping for good attendance. It will take place in the Festsaal of the Redoute, Kurfurstenalle 1, Bad Godesberg.
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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.
Egypts foreign ministry has denied reports of a proposal to establish a Palestinian state in Sinai, saying the idea has never been a point of discussion between any Egyptian and foreign officials.

In a statement to the privately-owned TV channel DMC late on Thursday, ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said that the Sinai Peninsula is Egyptian sovereign territory.

The spokesman added that Egypts stance on the two-state solution is "clear and known to all parties", stressing that Cairo believes the two-state solution is the basis of the current international consensus whether among the UNs Security Council or the Quartet (the EU, the UN, Russia, and the US).

It satisfies the aspirations of the Palestinian people of establishing an independent state on their own land with East Jerusalem as its capital, Abu Zeid said highlighting that the negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis is what will determine the agreement.

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed claims by one of his ministers that the PM planned to discuss an Egyptian proposal to establish a Palestinian state in Sinai during a meeting with US President Donald Trump Wednesday.

On his Twitter account the day before the meeting, an Israeli minister without portfolio in the prime minister's office, Ayoub Kara, said that Netanyahu and Trump would discuss a plan to establish a Palestinian state in Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula, excluding the West Bank -- reviving an idea long rejected by the international community.

"This idea was not even a point of discussion during the meeting; everything mentioned in this matter are false claims," Netanyahu said, speaking to reporters in Washington on Thursday.

The Israeli prime minister said his country considers Egypt a key player in the maintenance of security and stability in the region.

Earlier this week, several international news reports said the staff of Israel's embassy in Cairo had been ordered by Tel Aviv security services to stay at home due to security concerns.

Abu Zeid said on Thursday night that the Egyptian foreign ministry had not received notification of any issue, adding that protocol entails the ambassador to inform them if they leave, even for a leisure trip.

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Xiaomi's Manu Kumar Jain becomes global Vice President News oi -Abhinaya Prabhu Manu Kumar Jain becomes Xiaomi VP.

Xiaomi India's operation head, Manu Kumar Jain has been promoted to be the company's Vice President. The company has officially confirmed this news. This development has come after Xiaomi's Global VP, Hugo Barra, announced in January that he will be leaving the company.

The company has taken to the official Twitter account of Xiaomi India. On the Mi India Twitter page, it was announced, "@manukumarjain, congratulations from the entire Xiaomi family on your promotion to Vice President of Xiaomi!"

Besides being the Vice President, Jain will also play the role of Managing Director at Xiaomi India. Manu Kumar Jain was roped in by Xiaomi in June 2014 and he was with Jabong earlier.

What exactly is Night Mode and does it help smartphone users

Notably, Hugo Barra, the former Global Vice President of Xiaomi left the Chinese manufacturer in January in order to return to Silicon Valley. He served a solid three and a half years at Xiaomi. HE has been roped in by Facebook to head the Oculus VR team. Prior to Xiaomi, Barra was with Google as the Vice President for Product Development for Android.

Though it was Manu Kumar Jain who led Xiaomi India, it was Barra to lead all the events. His exit from he company is definitely a blow as Xiaomi considers India as its biggest market outside China.

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Google inks a deal with Telenor to bring RCS messaging services to Europe and Asia News oi -Prajith Messaging on your Android is soon going to get iMessage-ish.

Google signed a deal with Telenor yesterday to bring Rick Communications Services (RCS for brevity) messaging to Europe and Asia. RCS messaging service is Googles bet to enhance the existing SMS services by making it feature rich. As a result, the current SMS messaging services will get features like group chat, high-res photo sharing, read receipts, and more, as highlighted in Googles blog post.

In a nutshell, SMS services on your Android smartphone are going to transition from plain text to fancy features what we usually see on Apples iMessage.

20 Funny Things to Ask Google Allo's Assistant to Kill Your Time

Currently, Telenor is the third carrier Google has partnered with to bring the RCS to regular users. Earlier, it inked a deal with Sprint for the US market and Rogers for the Canadian market.

Googles partnership with Telenor allows it to bring the RCS messaging services to 214 million subscribers of Telenor across Europe and Asia including countries like Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Hungary, Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria, Pakistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, and India.

Also Read: Telenor hints at India exit, runs up huge operating loss

In the above markets where RCS is already launched, users will get the access to RCS services through an update. Speaking of which, Google is integrating the RCS services with the native SMS services on its Messenger app for Android. So, users will have to download the Messenger app (if it isnt downloaded yet) to make use of the RCS services. Also, according to Googles blog post, the Messenger app will come pre-installed on many phones that will be launched in the near future.

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Moto Celebrates 3 years in India; Rolls out attractive discounts and exchange offers on Flipkart News oi -GizBot Bureau Moto believes in providing its customers with global quality products at exceptional price points.

The Lenovo owned company Moto is celebrating 3 year anniversary of its presence in India. And as it celebrates its anniversary, Moto in association with Flipkart is rolling out a bundle of offers for consumers and Moto fans.

So on 20th and 21st Feb, when Moto Days celebrations begin, consumers can choose from the entire range of Moto Smartphones including Moto Z, Moto Z Play, Moto M, Moto G Turbo Edition, Moto E Power, Moto E and Moto G (2nd Generation) and enjoy lucrative discounts and special exchange offers. Along with offers, Moto is also offering 10 percent instant discount to IndusInd Bank credit card users.

Moreover, during the two day celebration offer, consumer can also avail special exchange offers on recently launched Moto Z, Moto Z Play and Moto M and save upto INR 20,000 on exchange of their old smartphone.

SEE ALSO: Impatient Motorola fans can buy these smartphones instead of waiting for Moto G5 Plus

Sudhin Mathur, Executive Director, Lenovo Mobile Business Group India expressed his views "We are very delighted to celebrate our three years of successful presence in India and association with Flipkart. In these years, Flipkart and Moto's relationship has grown several folds."

He further said, "With the Moto Days, we want to celebrate this successful association and provide our consumers attractive discounts and cashback on select Moto devices. Our commitment is to make the most differentiated smartphone technology accessible to our customers and that has helped us emerge as the no. 2 brand both by volume and value in CY 2016 as per IDC report."

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Nubia confirms its presence at the MWC 2017; media invites are already out News oi -Chakri Kudikala Nothing is known to be launched by Nubia, for now.

Chinese smartphone vendor and ZTE sub-brand Nubia has sent out media invites for the MWC 2017 event yet to commence from February 26 in Barcelona, Spain. However, there are no details on what smartphone will Nubia launch at the event.

To recall, Nubia, last year at the MWC 2016 unveiled their Nubia Prague S, and we are hoping the company might launch the successor, Prague S2. But, no details surfaced for now.

Noticeably, the company has roped in Cristiano Ronaldo as their brand ambassador. The company recently unveiled the Nubia Z11, which is their flagship phone in India that goes directly against the OnePlus 3T with its specifications and pricing as well.

Apart from the Nubia Z11, the company also launched Nubia N1 with a massive 5000mAh battery, and that is priced under Rs. 15,000 to take on the mighty Xiaomi Redmi Note 4.

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Airtel completes acquisition of Augere wireless News oi -Priyanka The deal size is estimated to be around Rs. 150 crore

India's largest telecom service provider Airtel has recently completed the acquisition of Augere Wireless.

"The merger of Augere Wireless Broadband India Private Limited (Augere), a wholly-owned subsidiary into Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel) has been completed," Bharti Airtel said in a BSE filing.

According to sources, the deal size is estimated to be around Rs. 150 crore.

BSNL partners with tourism ministry to offer free SIM cards to international tourists

Last year in August, the company had signed an agreement to acquire 100 percent equity stake in Augere and now the telco has 20 Mhz in 2300 Mhz band across 17 service areas.

Augere Wireless holds 20 MHz of spectrum in 2300 MHz band used for 4G services in the telecom circle of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh (MPCG).

As per the Augere website, established in September 2007 and launched its broadband services under the Qubee brand in Pakistan in July 2007. This was closely followed by the Bangladesh network in October 2009. Today, Augere operates wireless networks comprising more than 800 radio base stations and serves about 125,000 broadband customers.

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BSNL partners with tourism ministry to offer free SIM cards to international tourists News oi -Priyanka Rs. 50 will be available on the BSNL SIM card which will also have 50 MB data.

In a bid to increase foreign tourism in India, the ministry of tourism along with the state-owned telco BSNL has launched a new initiative in which the tourists will get a free pre-loaded SIM card on arrival.

While launching the new scheme, tourism minister Mahesh Sharma said a talk time of Rs. 50 will be available on the BSNL SIM card which will also have 50 MB data.

Initially, the service will be provided at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi but will be later extended to 15 other airports in the country where the e-visa facility is available, he added.

"The initiative will help the tourists to immediately communicate with their relatives at home, hotels, tour operators and so on. I got this idea when I had got a similar card when I had visited Sri Lanka," Sharma said.

Airtel launches 4G services in Goa, Maharashtra

The minister also said that the facility will provide ease to the tourists who have to spend about two hours to get their SIM cards activated after they land in India.

The SIM cards will also provide a multilingual toll-free helpline for 247 and it is currently available in 12 languages ie include Japanese, Russian and German.

On reasons why the facility is available only to e-visa tourists, Sharma said the complete information about the travelers on such visa is readily "available in advance" which could be immediately synced with the data of concerned authorities for providing the SIM cards.

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A tripartite meeting between Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria to discuss resolving the Libyan crisis will be held on Sunday instead of 1 March, the Tunisian foreign ministry announced on Friday.

In an official statement, the Tunisian ministry said that upon consultation with the Egyptian and Algerian foreign ministers, it was decided that the meeting, hosted by Tunisia, be brought forward.

On Thursday, Foreign Minister Khamis Alaghinawa announced Tunisia is set to host on 1 March a much-anticipated tripartite summit on the Libyan crisis.

The meeting will tackle the results of the consultations the three countries conducted with the Libyan factions to reach a convergence of views between them, according to the ministers statement.



It will also lay the foundations of a consensual political solution to the crisis and create the conditions for the gathering of the Libyan parties to the dialogue table.

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi will meet with the ministers afterwards on Monday, and the three ministers will present the outcome of their meeting to him.

A source at the Tunisian foreign ministry told Ahram that the trilateral consultation meeting was brought forward due to the need to meet at the soonest and swiftly launch an initiative to resolve the issues in Libya.

Tunisia and Algeria will join Egypt in mediating between the Libyan sides to find a solution to the crisis.

The Egyptian armys chief of staff, Mahmoud Hegazi, who is mediating talks between the Libyan factions on behalf of Cairo, received a delegation on Thursday from Libya's High Council of State.

This was the latest visit by officials from Libya to discuss a way forward with Egyptian officials.

Earlier this week, talks were held between the chairman of the Libyan Presidential Council, Fayaz Al-Sarraj, who is based in the capital Tripoli in the west of the country and is recognised by the UN as the country's president, and Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar and Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh, who both represent the House of Representatives in eastern Libya's Tobruk.

Over the past months, Cairo has held meetings with different Libyan political factions, where Egypt has stressed the need for a political consensus to end the crisis in the country.

In December, Egyptian officials and representatives from multiple Libyan factions issued a declaration of principles and five proposed amendments to the Skhirat agreement during a meeting in Cairo.

The December conference concluded by underscoring four main principles to be respected in Libya's transition: the preservation of a united Libyan territory, support for national institutions, non-interference by foreign bodies, and the maintaining of a civil state.

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Council gives green light for University campus masterplan

The University has welcomed the decision by Glasgow City Council to give the green light to its campus masterplan to develop the former Western Infirmary site. Council decision welcomed

The vote to approve planning permission in principle will lead to the creation of world-class teaching, learning and research facilities for students and staff.

It will also transform the West End of the city, bringing significant community, economic, environmental and cultural benefits as well as the creation of 2,000 to 3,000 new jobs.

Principal and Vice-Chancellor Professor Anton Muscatelli, said: We are delighted that Glasgow City Council has endorsed our ambitious plan which we believe will be a major economic driver for the city and for Scotland as well as underpin this universitys world-leading position.

The decision to approve the masterplan is pivotal to allowing us to start this development. An initial financial envelope of around 430m will be spent over the next five years on the first phase of the project. It is part of a wider 1bn investment which includes significant spend on refurbishing and improving the existing estate. This will be one of the biggest educational infrastructure projects in Scotlands history and is certainly the biggest development undertaken by this University since it moved to Gilmorehill 150 years ago.

We are very aware that whilst we undertake this scale of construction that we must minimise disruption to both the University community and the West End and the University will work closely with community groups to ensure we respect those living and working in the area.

This first phase of the development will see the construction of the following new buildings, together with clearance of the Western Infirmary Site and the new landscaping of the public realm:

A Learning and Teaching Hub

A Research Hub to facilitate new multidisciplinary cutting edge research

An Institute of Health and Wellbeing tackling the public health problems of Glasgow and beyond

The Adam Smith Business School including space to grow our postgraduate students population

A base for our College of Arts including new performance spaces

Significant upgrade of our chemistry building (the Joseph Black Building)

The second phase, expected to start in 2023, will deliver:

New teaching and research space for engineering

An Innovation Quarter on Church Street to improve engagement with local industry and promote creation of new companies

A building for research into chronic diseases

The creation of a Social Justice Hub to lead research in the elimination of global inequalities

A number of conditions are attached to the planning application which the University has recognised and to which the University is already working towards compliance. These conditions cover the replacement of trees, landscaping and the retail mix on the site.

The first building will be a new Learning and Teaching Hub which will link into the Boyd Orr building on University Avenue. Planning permission for the L&T Hub was granted in December. It will deliver a 500-seater raked lecture theatre, four flat-floored lecture theatres and 1,000-plus spaces for learning.

In the longer term it should also provide much-needed conference space and facilities for outreach and widening participation work with schools. Its construction will necessitate the demolition of the Mathematics and Statistics building whose occupants will move into a temporary home on the former Western Infirmary site in April.

Media enquiries: liz.buie@glasgow.ac.uk / 0141 330 2702
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.
The soldiers were killed in an explosion during a raid in the El-Halal mountain area in central Sinai

Three army soldiers were killed and four others injured in an explosion in the El-Halal mountain area in central Sinai, the Egyptian army said on Friday.

The explosion occurred during a raid on "terrorist hideouts" by the third field army and police forces in the area. The raid also resulted in the death of three militants and the arrest of three others, an army spokesman said on his official Facebook page.

Egypts army and police forces have been waging a war over the past three years against an Islamist militant insurgency in North Sinai. Hundreds have been killed in the violence.

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi issued a decree establishing an emergency state in parts of North Sinai in October 2014, and it has been renewed since then.



Under the state of emergency, Egypt's army and police have the authority to "take any action necessary to confront terrorism and protect public and private property in the areas under the emergency state". The curfew lasts from 5pm to 7am.

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US agencies withhold sensitive intelligence from Trump: Report

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 16, 2017 2:21PM

A report has revealed that US intelligence agencies have withheld sensitive intelligence from President Donald Trump, fearing it could be leaked or compromised.

The Wall Street Journal, citing both former and current officials, reported on Wednesday that the decision not to share information discloses the deep mistrust between the Trump administration and the intelligence community.

According to the report, some information presented to the commander-in-chief of the US military omitted sources and methods intelligence agencies use to collect information.

The officials said those sources and methods could include, for instance, the means that agencies use to spy on a foreign government. It is not clear how frequently officials have withheld details from Trump.

A White House official however told the Journal that "there is nothing that leads us to believe that this is an accurate account of what is actually happening."

Trump on Wednesday reignited his fight with the intelligence agencies after he accused them of leaking "criminal" information to undermine him.

"From intelligence, papers are being leaked, things are being leaked; it's criminal action. It's a criminal act, and it's been going on for a long time before me, but now it's really going on," Trump said during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by 'intelligence' like candy. Very un-American!" the president also tweeted the same day.

Last week, Trump accused US spy agencies of using Nazi tactics over leaking "fake news" and "phony stuff" about him to the media. His remarks were made after a news website, BuzzFeed, published a 35-page document containing unverified information -- from an alleged former British spy  that claimed that Trump was caught in a compromising position in Russia.

The BuzzFeed document has also claimed that the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin is in possession of "compromising" personal and financial information about Trump which it might use to blackmail the US president-elect.

In response, then CIA Director John Brennan said Trump had crossed a line by drawing a parallel between the US intelligence community and Nazi Germany.

Brennan told the Journal that "it's the right and indeed the responsibility of the president of the United States to challenge the conclusions of the intelligence community."

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US Intelligence Withholding Sensitive Information From Trump for Fears of Leaks

Sputnik News

08:58 16.02.2017(updated 09:09 16.02.2017)

US intelligence officers are holding back sensitive information from US President Donald Trump because they are concerned the information may be leaked or compromised, the Wall Street Journal reported citing current and former officials familiar with the situation.

PORTLAND (Sputnik)  According to the WSJ, the officials' decision to keep information from Trump shows the broad mistrust between the intelligence committee and the president over the Trump Administration's alleged ties to the Russian government.

"I've talked with people in the intelligence community that do have concerns about the White House, about the president, and I think those concerns take a number of forms," ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff was quoted by the news outlet as saying on Wednesday.

Earlier on Wednesday, Trump accused intelligence agencies of leaking information to undermine him.

On Monday, Trump requested his national security adviser, Mike Flynn, to resign after Flynn had misinformed his notion of conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States before Trump had assumed his office.

Trump on Wednesday attacked the intelligence agencies and the news media blaming them for Flynn's situation.

"The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by 'intelligence' like candy. Very un-American!" Trump said in a tweet.

On Wednesday, US lawmakers have called for the release of transcripts of Flynn's conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and to find out if Trump was aware of or had any hand in Flynn's conversations with the Russian diplomat.

 Sputnik

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Military Strikes Continue Against ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Feb. 16, 2017  U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

U.S. Central Command continues to work with partner nations to conduct targeted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as part of the comprehensive strategy to degrade and defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Attack and fighter aircraft conducted 15 strikes consisting of 19 engagements in Syria:

-- Near Abu Kamal, two strikes destroyed four oil pumpjacks.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, four strikes destroyed four oil refinement stills, two oil tanker trucks, an oil wellhead and an ISIS headquarters.

-- Near Shadaddi, four strikes engaged an ISIS staging area, destroyed an ISIS headquarters and a weapons facility; and damaged four supply routes.

-- Near Raqqa, five strikes destroyed three tunnels, an oil pumpjack and an oil wellhead.

Strikes in Iraq

Artillery as well as attack, bomber, fighter aircraft conducted nine strikes consisting of 16 engagements in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government:

-- Near Mosul, eight strikes destroyed four weapons caches, two vehicle-bomb facilities and an improvised bomb facility; and damaged three supply routes.

-- Near Rawah, a strike destroyed 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 ISIS 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 ISIS 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 ISIS 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 ISIS' ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United the Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

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Navy Command Prepares for Pacific Partnership Mission

By Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Joshua Fulton, USS Coronado

Singapore, Feb. 16, 2017  Staff from Navy Supply Systems Command, Fleet Logistics Center Site Singapore, are providing logistical support for the joint high speed vessel USNS Fall River here today, initiating the final preparation phase for the 12th annual Pacific Partnership mission that will run from March through June.

The Fall River is the mission platform for Pacific Partnership 17, a multilateral mission that helps regional nations to improve their disaster response preparedness and capacities while enhancing partnerships throughout the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

Supporting Pacific Partnership Mission

"We are handling all of the critical logistical support for Pacific Partnership, including husbanding services associated with the departure of Fall River from Singapore and the various port visits for each of the missions, lodging for the participating personnel, transportation, phones for communication purposes, engineering and medical supplies," said Carolyn McCloskey, FLC Site Singapore supervisory contracting officer for the husbanding branch.

FLC Site Singapore manages the Navy's supply system throughout South and Southeast Asia, providing logistical support to surface ships, submarines, aircraft, and expeditionary forces operating in the region. The Singapore team will manage all contracting actions associated with Pacific Partnership.

The logistical support provided by FLC Site Singapore throughout Pacific Partnership will enable the mission staff and team from Coastal Riverine Group ONE, Task Force 73 and Military Sealift Command Far East to focus on completing the day-to-day operations, enhancing the overall effectiveness of the mission.

"Historically, logistical support determines the success of any mission," said Navy Lt. Broward Maryan, deployed contracting officer for Pacific Partnership missions. "By providing complete and thorough logistical support throughout the mission, we enable our partners from CTF 73 and MSCFE to put all their energy into ensuring Pacific Partnership 17 is successfully carried out."

NAVSUP FLC Yokosuka, one of eight fleet logistics centers under NAVSUP Global Logistics Support, is the Western Pacific region's largest U.S. Navy logistics command. The enterprise networks more than 20 sites and fuel terminals from Misawa, Japan, to Sydney, Australia; Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to Guam, with a mission to serve the Asia-Pacific region's forward deployed maritime forces with 24/7 operational logistics support integrating an extensive service provider network to deliver fuel, material, mail and supply chain services across the U.S. Navy's largest geographical area of operations.

NAVSUP GLS provides global logistics for a global Navy. The organization is made up of approximately 6,300 military and civilian logistics professionals operating from 105 locations worldwide providing an extensive array of integrated global logistics and contracting services to Navy, Marine Corps, joint operational units, and allied forces across all warfare enterprises.

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F-35 Program Makes Significant, Solid Progress, Official Says

By Terri Moon Cronk DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Feb. 16, 2017  Production of the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter is on a good trajectory and is a necessary aircraft in the military's arsenal to battle high-end threats, service leaders told a House Armed Service Committee panel today.

Providing an update on the the F-35 program to the subcommittee on tactical air and land forces were Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher C. Bogdan, program executive officer, F-35 joint program office; Navy Rear Adm. DeWolfe "Chip" Miller III, director of air warfare; Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Jon M. Davis, deputy commandant of Marine Corps aviation; and Air Force Maj. Gen. Jerry D. Harris Jr., deputy chief of staff, strategic plans, programs and requirements.

The program's development, production and sustainment have made significant and solid progress, Bogdan said.

"The fleet is rapidly expanding and we're flying F-35s in the United States, Italy, Japan and Israel as we speak," he said. "The development program is nearing completion within the cost and schedule boundaries put in place in the 2011 rebase line. And the program is also continuing to successfully ramp up production and accelerating a standup of our global enterprise." The general said today's F-35 program is much different than it was five years ago when he became the program executive officer. It now has a fleet of more than 210 airplanes that have surpassed 73,000 flight hours.

Operational, Combat Ready

The weapons system is considered operational and combat ready by the Air Force and Marine Corps, Bogdan said, adding, "It is also forward-deployed today in Iwakuni, Japan, for the U.S. Marine Corps and operated in Israel and Italy by those F-35 customers."

The price tag for an F-35A model costs is about $94.5 million today, marking a first in costing less than $100 million, he said.

"We believe we are on track to continue reducing the price of the F-35 such that in [fiscal year 2019], with an engine including all fees, the F-35A model will cost between $80 million and $85 million," Bogdan said. "As part of this reduction, we have initiated a block buy strategy for our foreign partners and an economic order quantity contracting strategy for the U.S. services."

Driving Down F-35 Costs

The overarching priority is continuing to drive costs down in the F-35 program while delivering full capability to the warfighter, he said.

"We will continue to execute this program with integrity, discipline and transparency and I hold myself and my team accountable for the outcomes on this program," Bogdan told the panel. "Our team recognizes the great responsibility we've been given to provide the foundation of future U.S. and allied fighter capability for decades to come."

"The F-35B and the F-35C remain a top acquisition priority for the Marine Corps," Davis said.

He said he is becoming increasingly convinced the F-35 is a game changer and a war winner, and added the Corps "can't get those airplanes in the fleet fast enough to replace our F-18s and our Harriers," which on average are 22 years old.

With the fifth-generation F-35, "We're achieving astounding results in the highest threat scenarios and that across the range of military operations fight, with the F-35. It is changing things in a very decisive way," Davis said.

An Acquisition Priority

Along with the Marine Corps and Air Force, the F-35C is a Navy aviation acquisition priority, Miller said.

"The F-35C will form the backbone of Navy air combat superiority for decades to come," he said, adding its unique capabilities can't be matched by modernizing the F-35 fourth-generation aircraft.

With the F-35, the carrier strike group of the future will be more lethal, survivable and able to accomplish the entire spectrum of mission sets to include immediate response to high-end threats, the admiral said.

The nation needs the capabilities of the F-35C on its carrier flight decks, Miller said. "The aircraft's stealth characteristics, long-range combat identification and ability to penetrate threat envelopes while fusing multiple information sources into a coherent picture will transform the joint coalition view of the battlefield."

Harris said the airplane is doing exactly what the military needs it to do.

"The final F-35A fleet is growing and will become a dominant force in our fifth-generation arsenal, deterring potential adversaries and assuring both our allies and our partners at the same time," the general said.

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U.S. Soldiers, Armored Vehicles Arrive in Romania

By Army 1st Lt. Samuel Jolley, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division

MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU, Romania, Feb. 16, 2017  Soldiers, tanks and M88 recovery vehicles from the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment's "Fighting Eagles" recently arrived at the airbase here in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve.

So far, more than 350 U.S. soldiers have arrived this month with another 150 set to arrive before the end of February.

The soldiers unloaded M1A2 Abrams tanks from the first train that arrived Feb. 14 to this eastern Romanian airbase located about 12 miles away from the Black Sea.

Traveled From Poland

Over the course of a few days, soldiers and equipment traveled about 1,120 miles across four countries from western Poland, where the battalion and the rest of the 3,500 soldiers of 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, who have deployed to Europe, initially assembled.

"We traveled through Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary and Romania, testing the battalion's ability to assemble quickly and move across Europe via rail and roads," said Army Maj. Scott Stephens, the 8th Infantry Regiment's executive officer.

"The cooperation and trust of allied nations to freely maneuver U.S. military equipment and personnel across Europe is essential to the success of Operation Atlantic Resolve and the security of allied European countries," Stephens said.

Speaking to Romanian media as his soldiers helped off-load tanks from rail cars, Stephens added: "This is very challenging logistically to pull this off, to move this equipment across the sea [from the unit's home station, Fort Carson, Colorado,] onto trains and across Europe. We've learned a lot, but this is a part of the reason why we are here. It is vital we learn these experiences, to be able to quickly deploy in the case of future operations."

Bilateral, Multinational Training

Participating in Atlantic Resolve means the 3rd ABCT will conduct bilateral and multinational training with allies in eight different countries, the major said. The emphasis will be increasing interoperability with Romanian and Bulgarian land forces over the next six months.

"We are so excited to begin integrating with the Romanian army and begin training with our allied partners" said Army Maj. Michael Harrison, 8th Infantry Regiment's operations officer. "Living and working alongside our allies daily will build confidence in our ability to operate as one team if we're ever called to respond immediately to any crisis."

Training opportunities will include taking part in the multinational Saber Guardian 17 exercise in July, as well as the opportunity to work with a new multinational brigade first proposed at the NATO Warsaw summit in July 2016 and based in Romania.

"We stand side by side, shoulder to shoulder with our NATO partners and our allies," Stephens said. "It's not just through words; it's through actions, it's through presence. We are here, we have incredible fighting capabilities with us, and we are here to stand with our allies to reassure them that NATO is a viable source."

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Mattis: NATO is Evolving in Response to New Strategic Reality

By Cheryl Pellerin DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Feb. 16, 2017  NATO arose out of strategic necessity and the alliance must evolve in response to the new strategic reality, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said today during a press conference after the Defense Ministerial meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Mattis is traveling in Europe this week on his second international trip as secretary. After leaving Brussels, Mattis will travel to the Munich Security Conference in Germany where he will hold a series of meetings with key international counterparts.

During the press conference the secretary said he and the ministers had considered in detail the strategic situation facing the alliance.

"We thoroughly discussed the increased threats facing our alliance and, unified by the threats to our democracies, I found strong alliance resolve to address these growing threats," Mattis said, adding that his message to fellow ministers was simple: "Our community of nations is under threat on multiple fronts as the arc of insecurity builds on NATO's periphery and beyond."

The secretary said the burden-sharing message he delivered -- that more NATO members must contribute 2 percent of their gross domestic product to the alliance -- was expected and well received.

Security Challenges

Among NATO's security challenges, Mattis said, are new threats such as those in the cyber domain, and Russia's aggressive actions, which are destabilizing and have violated international law.

Russia must "live by international law just like we expect all mature nations on this planet to do," he said.

The United States and Russia "are not in a position right now to collaborate on a military level," Mattis added, "but our political leaders will engage and try to find common ground or a way forward where Russia, living up to its commitments, will return to a partnership of sorts here with NATO."

Russia will have to prove itself first, he said, and live up to commitments made in the Russia-NATO agreement.

According to NATO, the relationship between Russia and the alliance is governed by the Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security, agreed by to NATO allies and Russia in 1997 and reaffirmed at NATO-Russia summits in Rome in 2002 and in Lisbon in 2010.

The act says that NATO will carry out its collective defense and other missions and may reinforce infrastructure against a threat of aggression and for exercises. Russia, the agreement says, will exercise similar restraint in its conventional force deployments in Europe.

Mattis said other challenges include terrorism emanating from the Middle East and North Africa and that he called "a direct and immediate threat to Europe and to us all."

Reinforcing Deterrence

In response to such threats, the secretary said, NATO is reinforcing deterrence and defense and adapting to more directly address terrorist threats along its southern flank from the Mediterranean to Turkey.

"The alliance faces not only these strategic realities but also political realities," Mattis said.

"I depart here confident that we have an appreciation of the burden sharing that we must all sustain for deterrence, peace and prosperity. I am optimistic the alliance will adopt a plan this year, including milestone dates, to make steady progress toward meeting defense commitments in light of the increased threats that we all agree that we face," he added.

Nations that already have met the two percent defense spending commitment are Estonia, Greece, Poland and the United Kingdom.

"These countries are leading by example, making real sacrifices," Mattis said. "All allies recognize that they are benefiting from the best defense in the world so I'm optimistic that all nations are on a steady path to reach the level of commitments made at the Wales and Warsaw summits."

The transatlantic bond built on common values remains very strong, the secretary added.

"I see here in Brussels a quickened purpose in this alliance and a profound determination to stand together and honor our commitments to each other, Mattis said. "I have confidence that we will sustain the legacy we've inherited and do what is necessary to defend our freedom."

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Dunford Meets Russian Counterpart to Strengthen Mil-to-Mil Contacts

By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 16, 2017  Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with his Russian counterpart, Army Gen. Valery Gerasimov, here today.

Dunford and Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces and the first deputy defense minister, discussed the current state of the military relationship between the United States and Russia.

This was the first face-to-face meeting between the two men. The two have previously spoken via telephone. "There's a certain advantage to seeing someone face-to-face," said Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Frank McKenzie, the Joint Staff's director of strategic plans and policy. "While we've never had trouble getting him on the phone if we needed to talk,  there's a certain advantage to sitting down and looking at someone across the table."

This is the first meeting at this level since January 2014, when Gerasimov met with then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey in Brussels.

Since that meeting, Russia illegally annexed Crimea, intervened in eastern Ukraine, and sent troops, planes and ships to Syria propping up the regime of Bashir Assad. Russian ships and aircraft have acted in a provocative and dangerous manner in the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea. Russia's actions have drawn worldwide condemnation.

Keeping Lines of Communication Open

The meeting between the two military leaders is not the beginning of an effort to return the relationship to the pre-Crimea status, McKenzie said. Rather, the meeting is a chance to ensure the lines of communication between the two militaries remain open.

The two chiefs of defense did not discuss policy or political issues, the general said. The Dunford-Gerasimov meeting was held to establish the link between the men "so they see each other and have an opportunity to size each other up. It's very hard to do that over a telephone," McKenzie said.

The chairman conveyed that the United States values the military-to-military link -- professionals talking to professionals -- regardless of the ups and downs of the U.S.-Russia relationship.

"Even at the height of the Cold War, we had a capability to talk to the Russians," McKenzie said. "It doesn't reflect we agree with everything or even anything that they are doing; that's not the purpose of this discussion. The purpose is to establish and reinforce procedures for us to talk in case we have an incident where we need to exchange information rapidly."

The meeting has been in the works for months, officials said. "The importance of this is the military-to-military communications channel between the [chiefs of defense] is a useful thing to have," McKenzie said. "We see that as useful, regardless of the state of our relationship with Russia. It is always useful to talk mil-to-mil. It avoids miscalculation; it promotes transparency when we have forces operating in close proximity to each other, as we do in Syria."

The meeting does not portend increased cooperation between the United States and Russia in Syria or anywhere else, the general said.

Gerasimov has held his position since November 2012. Some credit the general as being the father of Russia's hybrid war doctrine. The doctrine looks for combinations of military, diplomatic, cyber, economic, information and cultural powers to wage "political warfare" to gain strategic goals. The strategy lives in the grey area between peace and war, stopping short of actual conflict.

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Turkey's military said on Friday it was close to taking the northern Syrian city of al-Bab from Islamic State group, a victory that would deepen Turkish influence in an area where it has created a de facto buffer zone.

Al-Bab, an Islamic State stronghold 30 km (20 miles) from the border, has been a key target in an offensive launched by Turkey last August to push the jihadists away from its frontier and prevent gains by a Kurdish militia also fighting them.

Turkey believes a string of Islamic State gun and bomb attacks, including a mass shooting at an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Eve, were planned from al-Bab and Raqqa, another jihadist stronghold in northern Syria.

"The operation to gain complete control of the al-Bab region has neared its end and the resistance of the Daesh terror group has largely been broken," the Turkish military statement said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

The announcement came as U.S. Marine Corps General and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Joseph Dunford was due on Friday to visit the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, used by the U.S.-led coalition in the fight against Islamic State.

Turkey is part of that coalition but relations with NATO ally Washington have been strained by U.S. support for the Kurdish YPG militia in the fight against Islamic State.

Turkey views the YPG as a hostile force and an extension of the PKK, a Kurdish militant group that has waged an armed insurgency against the Turkish state for over three decades.

President Tayyip Erdogan has said the next target for the Turkish offensive should be Raqqa, the de facto capital of Islamic State which has been partly dislodged from its Iraqi stronghold of Mosul.

The Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance dominated by the YPG, is in the middle of a multi-phased operation to encircle Raqqa, backed by air strikes and special ground forces from the U.S.-led coalition.

Turkey wants the operation to continue with Arab forces from the local region in Syria and not the YPG.

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'Fighting Eagles' troops, tanks arrive in Romania

By 1st Lt. Samuel Jolley (3ABCT, 4ID) February 16, 2017

MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU, Romania -- Soldiers, tanks and M88 recovery vehicles from 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment ("Fighting Eagles") have arrived at Mihail Kogalniceanu Airbase, Romania, in support of Atlantic Resolve.

So far more than 350 soldiers have arrived in February with another 150 set to show up before the end of the month. On Tuesday, Fighting Eagles soldiers downloaded M1A2 Abrams tanks from the first train that arrived at this eastern Romanian air base located about 20 kilometers away from the Black Sea.

Over the course of a few days, Soldiers and equipment had traveled about 1,800 kilometers across four countries from western Poland, where the battalion and the rest of the 3,500 Soldiers of 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division who have deployed to Europe initially assembled.

"We traveled through Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary and Romania, testing the battalion's ability to assemble quickly and move across Europe via rail and roads," said Maj. Scott Stephens, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment executive officer. "The cooperation and trust of allied nations to freely maneuver U.S. military equipment and personnel across Europe is essential to the success of Operation Atlantic Resolve and the security of allied European countries."

Speaking to Romanian media as his Soldiers helped off-load tanks from rail cars, Stephens added: "This is very challenging logistically to pull this off, to move this equipment across the sea [from home station Fort Carson, Colorado], onto trains and across Europe. We've learned a lot, but this is part of the reason why we are here. It is vital we learn [from] these experiences to be able to quickly deploy in the case of future operations."

Participating in Atlantic Resolve means the 3rd ABCT will conduct bilateral and multinational training with allies in eight different countries. For 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, the emphasis will be on increasing interoperability with Romanian and Bulgarian land forces over the next six months.

"We are so excited to begin integrating with the Romanian army and begin training with our Allied partners," said Maj. Michael Harrison, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment operations officer. "Living and working alongside our allies daily will build confidence in our ability to operate as one team if we're ever called to respond immediately to any crisis."

Training opportunities will include taking part in the multinational Saber Guardian 17 exercise in July as well as the opportunity to work with a new multinational brigade first proposed at the NATO Warsaw summit in July 2016 and based in Romania.

"We stand side by side, shoulder to shoulder with our NATO partners and our allies," Stephens said. "It's not just through words, it's through actions, it's through presence. We are here; we have incredible fighting capabilities with us; and we are here to stand with our Allies to reassure them that NATO is a viable source."

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U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Transcript

Presenter: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis February 26, 2017

Press Conference by Secretary Mattis at NATO Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium

MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, Secretary Mattis will make a statement and then take two questions.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE JIM MATTIS: Yes, ma'am.

Well, good afternoon, ladies and gentleman.

I just completed the defense ministerial, where I had the opportunity to engage in a bilateral discussion as well with a number of our fellow ministers, in there. We all took part in a dinner last night, reaffirming our strong transatlantic bond, and it's as strong as I have ever seen it. I have some experience here at NATO, and I was impressed by how strong the bond is.

My intent was to affirm the full U.S. commitment to NATO and to gain an updated appreciation of the situation facing our alliance. The burden sharing message I delivered was expected, and it was very well received. And I depart confident that the alliance will be unified in meeting today's security challenges. I especially appreciate the leadership of Secretary General Stoltenberg and the clear alignment of our messages, as well as the messages delivered by so many of the unified alliance member nations and their ministers of defense.

As I noted yesterday, NATO is the fundamental bedrock for keeping the peace and defending the freedoms we enjoy today. To quote Minister Le Drian of France, "NATO is a peerless alliance. It is a manifestation of our principles and shared values, and the U.S. commitment to Article 5 and our mutual defense is rock solid."

In our meetings we discussed in detail the strategic situation facing the alliance. Many allies, including Minister von der Leyen of Germany, recognized 2014 as a watershed year that awakened allies to a new reality.

My message to my fellow ministers was simple: NATO arose out of strategic necessity, and NATO must evolve in response to the new strategic reality. Our community of nations is under threat on multiple fronts, as the arc of insecurity builds on NATO's periphery and beyond.

We thoroughly discussed the increased threats facing our alliance. And unified by the threats to our democracies, I found strong alliance resolve to address these growing threats. Russia's aggressive actions have violated international law and are destabilizing.

Terrorism emanating from the Middle East and North Africa is a direct and immediate threat to Europe and to us all. I'm mindful of the tragic attacks on our European allies and what they have suffered in Paris, Nice, Berlin, Istanbul, and right here in Brussels. And the list, as you know, goes on.

We recognize as well that the imposition of stability has taken on new forms that we must now address, for example, in this cyber domain. In response to these threats, NATO is reinforcing deterrence and defense, and adapting to more directly address terrorist threats along our southern flank from the Mediterranean to Turkey, and in the words of the Turkish MOD, a seamless defense from the Kola Peninsula all the way down to the Mideast and across the Mediterranean.

We also met with one of NATO's closest partners, Georgia. And I expressed appreciation and respect for Georgia's contributions and sacrifices on NATO's battlefields in Afghanistan.

The alliance faces not only these strategic realities, but also political realities. I depart here confident that we have an appreciation of the burden sharing that we must all sustain for deterrence, peace and prosperity. I am optimistic the alliance will adopt a plan this year, including milestone dates to make steady progress toward meeting defense commitments in light of the increased threats that we all agree that we face.

It is imperative that we do so to confront the threats as outlined by the ministers of defense of the last two days. Those means -- those nations already committing two percent of GDP for defense and the commitments other allies have made to commit the two percent give me the confidence that nothing can shake our unity and our commitment to defend our way of life.

We specifically appreciate Estonia, Greece, Poland and the United Kingdom, who have already met the two percent defense spending commitment. These countries are leading by example, making real sacrifices. All allies recognize that they are benefiting from the best defense in the world.

So, I'm optimistic that all nations are on a steady path to reach the level of commitments made at the Wales and Warsaw summits. Ladies and gentlemen, the Trans-Atlantic bond built on common values remains very, very strong. I see here in Brussels a quickened purpose in this alliance and a profound determination to stand together and honor our commitments to each other.

I have confidence that we will sustain the legacy that we have inherited and do what is necessary to defend our freedoms. So, thank you very much. I'm happy to take your questions.

MODERATOR: Jennifer Griffin, Fox News.

Q: Thank you, sir.

What does Russia need to stop doing in order for the U.S. to work with it? The chairman of the Joint Chiefs is meeting with his Russian counterpart for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine. Can you trust the Russians?

SEC. MATTIS: Jennifer, I think the -- the point about Russia is they have to live by international law just like we expect all mature nations on this planet to do. And what we will do is we will engage politically.

We do not -- or, are not in a position right now to collaborate on a military level, but our political leaders will engage and try to find common ground or a way forward where Russia, living up to its commitments, will return to a partnership of sorts here with NATO. But Russia is going to have to prove itself first and live up the commitments they have made in the Russia-NATO agreement.

Q: And just to clarify, do you believe that the Russians interfered in the U.S. elections?

SEC. MATTIS: Right now I would just say there's very little doubt that they have either interfered or they have attempted to interfere in a number of elections in the democracies.

MODERATOR: OK. Heidi Jensen from Jyllands-Posten.

Q: Heidi Jensen, Jyllands-Posten, Denmark.

You said yesterday that the U.S. would think about moderating its commitment to NATO if the European members of the alliance didn't increase its defense budgets. What -- what does that mean, exactly? Does that mean that the rock solid support for the Article 5 doesn't necessarily stand? Or that you will withdraw troops from Europe or -- could you elaborate on that? Thank you.

SEC. MATTIS: The commitment to Article 5 remains rock solid. The message that I brought here about everyone carrying their fair share of the burden, the sacrifice to maintain the best defense in the world, was very well received.

It was not contentious. There was no argument; there was simple discussion about how best and how fast can each nation with its own particular circumstance reach it. I leave here very optimistic.

We'll take one more question, just to show that I'm boss.

(Laughter.)

MODERATOR: OK.

SEC. MATTIS: Go ahead.

MODERATOR: Helene from New York Times.

Q: Can we have a question here?

MODERATOR: Sorry.

Q: Thank you, sir.

Russian Defense Minister Shoygu took issue with your remarks yesterday and said that if the -- NATO wants to deal with Russia from a position of strength then you -- they -- there's nothing to talk about. Could you respond to that?

And, separately, have you requested help from allies for the counter-ISIL fight? And do you think that you need to send additional American troops to Syria?

SEC. MATTIS: I have no need to respond to the Russian statement at all. NATO has always stood for military strength in protection of the democracies and the freedoms we intend to pass on to our children. But you asked two questions, you know. You just can't -- you just can't keep you journalists down, can we?

(Laughter.)

I don't know. I -- I -- I think -- I think you'd have to ask that question to some others in order to get a full answer. It's just not one that I'd be comfortable answering on my own at this point.

Q: Meaning that you're considering it...

MODERATOR: OK...

Q: ... but you haven't decided?

SEC. MATTIS: Right now, I first want to talk to the other allies and we'll decide where we're going. I'm going to fly from here into the Middle East, and I'm not comfortable answering it yet. Once we know what we have for a mutual appreciate of the situation, then we'll go forward. But I'm not comfortable answering it yet.

Again, I -- I consider myself a couple weeks into office. First I need to get current, Helene. And once I get current; and once I get allies' assumptions, appreciations for the situation, we'll carve out where we want to go. And at that point I can give you a much more studied answer.

Right now I'd -- I'd be concerned with giving you a kind of a half-baked one. We -- we got to take at least one more non-American now, because we've got two -- we need to have -- yes, ma'am.

MODERATOR: The woman in the fourth row, please.

Q: Yes, this is from Danish Television. Sir, could you please elaborate a little more about the word, moderate?

SEC. MATTIS: No, I'd -- I'd prefer not to, ma'am, because basically that is the headline I do not anticipate ever seeing. By putting it out there, by being very honest among friends, we say this is a burden that we all have to carry equally and by being persuasive there you write -- we will write our own headlines as a unified alliance that will stand up for each other.

And I'm very confident that we will not have to have that. Sometimes you say the things you don't want to have happen so that you head them off, but thank you.

Q: And...

SEC. MATTIS: Thank you, ladies and gentleman. I don't think I'm going to get ahead of these ladies here, so I'm going to give up while I'm only somewhat behind. But thank you very much.

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1085679/

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War machine drops more than just lead

US Marine Corps News

By Courtesy Story | February 16, 2017

Marines with 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, conducted on and offloading drills with four Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 462 CH-53E Super Stallions at Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center, Bridgeport, California, Feb. 1.

These HMH-462 heavy-lift helicopters are a vital asset when it comes to inserting Marines in terrain such as what MCMWTC offers, explained Lt. Col. Ian Stevens, HMH-462 commanding officer. A Super Stallion can transport up to 55 troops or 30,000 pounds of cargo.

"We will be inserting and extracting Marines into different landing zones, but in this mountainous terrain it can be very difficult," said Staff Sgt. Jahbari Codes, HMH-462 operations chief. "The drills are important because it gives us and the ground Marines the training we need to accomplish the mission."

In addition to long range insertion missions, the CH-53E has the ability to fly large resupply missions. These diverse capabilities make the Super Stallion one of the most used aircraft in Marine aviation.

"These drills are [essential] so when it comes time to do them in a combat situation, we can quickly on load and offload into the area of operation that we need to be at," said Lance Cpl. Chris Bodkins, 2/2 assault section leader. "The training with the CH-53Es provides us with the know-how as a quick reaction force (QRF) so we know what we are doing and not fumbling around with the basics when it comes time to actually be inserted on our objective."

On and offload drills also help the air crew and pilots refine their tactics, techniques and procedures during real-time training, which allows them to be better prepared for any situation, including combat.

"As Marines, we are expeditionary by naturethat means we fight in every climate and place," said Codes. "It is important for us to get the training we need, as well as helping the Marines on the ground side to get the training they need to accomplish the mission in terrain such as MCMWTC."

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Allies join multinational fleet of tanker-transport aircraft

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

16 Feb. 2017

NATO has taken another important step forward to improve its ability to refuel aircraft in mid-air, with three Allies looking to join a European programme to acquire new refuelling aircraft. Today (16 February 2017), Defence Ministers from Belgium, Germany, and Norway signed a Declaration of Intent to join a European multinational fleet of Airbus tankers, created by the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The two countries launched this initiative in July 2016 and a first order was made for two Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport aircraft, which are due to be delivered in 2020. The new agreement allows other Allies to join the programme with the provision to enlarge the fleet to up to eight aircraft.

At today's signing ceremony, NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller stressed that "this multinational cooperation through NATO is a clear way for countries to significantly improve their armed forces while ensuring the greatest value for money for their taxpayers." She added that the new initiatives reduces Europe's reliance on the United States for air-to-air refuelling capabilities.

Air-to-air tankers are vital in supporting NATO operations when other aircraft are on long-range missions. NATO's air campaigns in Kosovo and Libya highlighted the need to increase European capabilities for inflight refuelling. The procurement programme is another example of the close cooperation between NATO and the European Union.

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Allies take steps to create multinational Special Forces command

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

16 Feb. 2017

Three NATO Allies are strengthening their defence cooperation, with a new agreement to explore the creation of a multinational command for Special Operations Forces, intended to begin its work in 2019. The Defence Ministers of Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands signed the agreement on Thursday (16 February 2017) in the margins of the meetings of NATO Defence Ministers in Brussels. This multinational command will be able to lead and coordinate Special Operations Forces task groups within a small joint operation scenario.

During a signing ceremony, NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller welcomed the initiative as timely and valuable. "This tri-national effort reflects the reality that Special Operations Forces today operate increasingly in a multinational context," she said. "The ability to command our Special Forces effectively is as important as the forces themselves, and NATO has made it a priority", Ms. Gottemoeller added.

The new command will be developed in line with NATO standards, leveraging the expertise of NATO's Special Operations Headquarters in Mons, Belgium. While primarily intended for NATO operations, the command could support United Nations and other multinational operations.

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Fleet Logistics Center Singapore Helps Prepare Pacific Partnership 17 for Success

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS170216-05

Release Date: 2/16/2017 10:14:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joshua Fulton, Commander, Task Force 73 Public Affairs

SINGAPORE (NNS) -- Staff from Navy Supply Systems Command, Fleet Logistics Center (NAVSUP FLC) Site Singapore are conducting load-out and logistical support for Military Sealift Command expeditionary fast transport USNS Fall River (T-EPF 4) in Singapore Feb. 16.

The load-out and support are initiating the final preparation phase for the 12th annual Pacific Partnership mission which will run March-June.

Fall River is the mission platform for Pacific Partnership 17, a multilateral mission which helps nations improve disaster response preparedness and capacity while enhancing partnerships throughout the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

"We are handling all of the critical logistical support for Pacific Partnership, including husbanding services associated with the departure of Fall River from Singapore and the various port visits for each of the missions, lodging for the participating personnel, transportation, phones for communication purposes, engineering and medical supplies," said Carolyn McCloskey, FLC Site Singapore supervisory contracting officer, Husbanding Branch.

FLC Site Singapore manages the Navy's supply system throughout south and southeast Asia, providing logistical support to surface ships, submarines, aircraft, and expeditionary forces operating in the region. The Singapore team will manage all contracting actions associated with Pacific Partnership.

The logistical support provided by FLC Site Singapore throughout Pacific Partnership will enable the mission staff and team from Coastal Riverine Group 1, Task Force 73, and Military Sealift Command Far East to focus on completing the day-to-day operations, enhancing the overall effectiveness of the mission.

"Historically, logistical support determines the success of any mission," said Lt. Broward Maryan, deployed contracting officer for Pacific Partnership missions. "By providing complete and thorough logistical support throughout the mission, we enable our partners from CTF 73 and MSCFE to put all their energy into ensuring Pacific Partnership 17 is successfully carried out."

NAVSUP FLC Yokosuka, one of eight fleet logistics centers under NAVSUP Global Logistics Support (GLS), is the western Pacific region's largest U.S. Navy logistics command. The enterprise networks more than 20 sites and fuel terminals from Misawa, Japan, to Sydney, Australia; Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to Guam, with a mission to serve the Indo-Asia-Pacific region's forward-deployed maritime forces with 24/7 operational logistics support integrating an extensive service provider network to deliver fuel, material, mail and supply chain services across the U.S. Navy's largest geographical AOR.

NAVSUP GLS provides global logistics for a global Navy. The organization is made up of approximately 6,300 military and civilian logistics professionals operating from 105 locations worldwide, providing an extensive array of integrated global logistics and contracting services to Navy, Marine Corps, joint operational units, and allied forces across all warfare enterprises.

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Draft maritime law revisions say China may bar foreign ships from passing through its waters

People's Daily Online

(Global Times) 13:15, February 16, 2017

China is to revise its 1984 Maritime Traffic Safety Law, which would allow the relevant authorities to bar some foreign ships from passing through Chinese territorial waters.

The Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council announced Tuesday it is soliciting public opinions on the revisions.

The draft would empower maritime authorities to prevent foreign ships from entering Chinese waters if it is decided that the ships may harm traffic safety and order.

The draft revisions stipulate that authorities will be able to designate specific areas and temporarily bar foreign ships from passing through those areas according to their own assessment of maritime traffic safety.

The revisions are based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and Chinese laws on the sea, adjacent areas and exclusive economic zones, the office said.

Wang Xiaopeng, a maritime border expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the revisions will provide legal support for China to safeguard its maritime rights.

"As a sovereign State and the biggest coastal State in, for example, the South China Sea, China is entitled to adjust its maritime laws as needed, which will also promote peace and stable development in the waters," Wang said.

Yang Cuibai, a professor with the School of Law at Sichuan University, agreed, saying that "the revisions will strengthen China's management over territorial waters in a new era when the country's communication and trade with foreign countries in the waters have sharply increased."

Yang added that China should take the lead to establish the legal order in the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the South China Sea.

Foreign submersibles should travel on the surface, display national flags and report to Chinese maritime management administrations when they pass China's water areas, the draft says. They should also get approval from the relevant administrations to enter China's internal waters and ports.

Foreign military ships that are approved to enter China's waters should apply for pilotage. Foreign ships that enter Chinese waters without approval will be fined 300,000-500,000 yuan ($43,706-72,844) and those violating Chinese laws would be expelled, it said.

"China's waters are open to foreign ships as long as they do not damage the waters' safety, order, or China's sovereignty," Yang said.

The draft also states that people in distress at sea have the right to be rescued without charge, adding that human lives should come before the environment and assets.

The State Council and local governments should set up maritime search and rescue centers, if needed, to organize, coordinate and command rescue operations, the draft says. Civilian groups are also encouraged by the revised regulations to set up rescue teams and participate in such operations.

The revisions will take effect in 2020.

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Tunisia extends state of emergency citing 'terror threats'

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 16, 2017 5:53PM

Tunisia has renewed for three more months the state of emergency which has been in place across the North African state since a deadly Daesh terror attack in 2015.

President Beji Caid Essebsi decided "to extend the state of emergency for three months from 16 February," the presidential office announced on Thursday.

The extension came despite government assurances of improved security in the country.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Youssef Chahed said to a local radio station that the state of emergency will be "definitively lifted in three months."

The state of emergency gives special powers to the police and in theory grants authorities the right to prohibit strikes and meetings likely to provoke "disorder." It also permits authorities "to ensure control of the press."

Also commenting on the state of emergency, Defense Minister Farhat Horchani said there had been a "major improvement" in the country's security situation compared to the past.

"But as long as our situation is linked to Libya and as long as Libya does not have a government that is in control of the situation... the threat exists," he warned.

Tunisia shares a 500 kilometer border with Libya, a country plagued by chaos since the NATO-backed ouster of its former dictator, Moammar Gaddafi, in 2011. Taking advantage of the chaotic situation, the Daesh terror group has managed to gain a foothold in Libya.

The state of emergency has been in place in Tunisia since November 2015 when a deadly bombing attack left 12 presidential guards dead in the capital Tunis.

Daesh Takfiri terrorist organization, which is mainly active in Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the attack in 2015.

The terror outfit was also behind attacks the same year at the Bardo National Museum and at a beach resort, which left 59 foreign tourists and a Tunisian officer dead.

A large number of Tunisian nationals have also joined the ranks of Daesh over the past years.

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Beijing warns Washington against naval patrols in South China Sea

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 16, 2017 9:56AM

China has once again warned the United States against any military activities in the South China Sea, as reports have emerged that Washington is planning to conduct fresh naval patrols in the disputed area.

In a news briefing on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said tensions in the South China Sea had stabilized due to the hard work between China and the Southeast Asia countries that also lay claims to territory in the sea.

He called on foreign countries, including the US, to show respect for such regional, de-escalatory measures.

Geng also said, "We urge the US not to take any actions that challenge China's sovereignty and security."

The warning comes after US Navy officials announced three days earlier that they were considering increasing potentially provocative operations near the artificial islands in the South China Sea that Beijing claims as its sovereign territory.

Last October, Washington carried out a "freedom of navigation operation" in the area, sailing the guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur near the Paracel Islands.

The South China Sea is the subject of a territorial dispute between China and several regional countries. Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei all have overlapping claims with China over disputed territories in the South China Sea. But those countries seem to have been managing their disputes with China smoothly.

The US, on the other hand, has time and again risked heightening tensions with China through military presence in the South China Sea, questioning Beijing's claims of sovereignty over the disputed waters, which are located far from US territory.

China says Washington is meddling in the regional issues and is deliberately escalating the situation in the waters.

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Yemeni forces fire ballistic missile at Saudi Arabia's Abha airport

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 16, 2017 6:35AM

Yemeni army forces and allied fighters have fired a ballistic missile at an airport inside Saudi Arabia in retaliation for the kingdom's bombing of a funeral which killed at least nine civilians on Wednesday.

A Yemeni military source told Arabic-language al-Masirah television network that the medium-range projectile was fired at the Abha airport in the kingdom's southwestern region of Asir on Wednesday evening.

The source said the missile struck its designated target precisely but there were no immediate reports on the extent of damage or possible casualties.

The attack came only hours after Saudi warplanes attacked a funeral in the Arhab district of the western province of Sana'a, leaving at least eight women and a child dead. Ten other women were critically wounded.

A medic said the death toll was likely to increase as some of the injured victims were in a critical condition.

The house where the funeral was being held was completely destroyed and scores of homes nearby were damaged.

Earlier this month, Yemeni soldiers and Popular Committees fighters hit a military base in western Riyadh with a missile for the first time but the kingdom chose to keep silent about the attack.

According to the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, the Saudi military campaign has claimed the lives of 10,000 Yemenis and left 40,000 others wounded.

McGoldrick told reporters in Sana'a last month that the figure was based on casualty counts given by health facilities and that the actual number might be higher.

Local sources say the Saudi war, which was launched in March 2015 in an attempt to bring back the country's former government to power, has so far claimed the lives of at least 11,400 Yemenis.

The Saudi military aggression has also taken a heavy toll on Yemen's facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories.

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The assassinated half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un was a courageous man who sought to reform his country, a Japanese journalist who wrote a book about him said Friday.

Kim Jong-Nam, who was killed Monday at Kuala Lumpur's international airport, had regularly corresponded with Tokyo Shimbun senior writer Yoji Gomi.

"Even if it put him in danger, he wanted to tell his opinions to Pyongyang through me or other media," Gomi told reporters.

Gomi also said that Kim told him he had never met his younger half-brother who succeeded their father Kim Jong-Il and allegedly ordered his assassination, sending female agents to poison him, according to South Korea.

Gomi's relationship with Kim began when he spotted him at Beijing's international airport in 2004.

They began to regularly exchange emails in 2010. Gomi also interviewed Kim in Macau and Beijing in 2011 for a total of seven hours.

The last contact was via an email received in January 2012, just weeks after the death of Kim's father.

Gomi said that Kim wanted North Korea to carry out economic reforms similar to those pursued by China from the late 1970's.

"He said that the only way that North Korea could survive would be to go through the series of reforms and liberalisation that China had carried out," Gomi said.

"He was critical of the system that was in place in North Korea," Gomi added.

"He said that power should not depend on hereditary succession. That was not appropriate for a socialist society. The leader should be selected through a democratic process."

He did say, however that at their first meeting, in Macau in January 2011, Kim was visibly nervous, sweating and fidgeting.

Gomi also said he found Kim to be a polite "intellectual" with a sense of humour, unlike his reputation as a playboy gambler, though he acknowledged he enjoyed drinking, especially in Tokyo's fancy restaurants.

"He said that there he was able to enjoy singing and drinking alcohol with South Koreans, North Koreans and regular Japanese people, and he said he hoped that someday walls throughout the world would disappear like that."

Kim is often remembered for a failed attempt in 2001 to enter Japan on a forged passport to visit Disneyland.

He was expelled in an incident that was widely seen as an embarrassment for his father and may have scotched his hopes of succeeding him as the first-born son.

But Kim told Gomi he did not believe that was the reason behind his father's decision.

In his book, Gomi quoted Kim as saying that his father grew angry and distant after he advocated reform.

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U.S. Defense Secretary Says Russia Must 'Prove Itself' Before NATO Ties Fully Restored

RFE/RL February 16, 2017

BRUSSELS -- U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says Russia must "prove itself" before Moscow can return to "a partnership of sorts with NATO."

Mattis's remarks on February 16 at the end of a two-day NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels are seen as easing fears in some European capitals that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration might relax U.S. pressure on Russia over its aggressive actions as part of an effort to build a closer relationship with Moscow.

Mattis said Russia "has to live by international law just like we expect all mature nations on this planet to do."

He noted that NATO political leaders will try to find common ground with Moscow but said "we are not in a position right now to collaborate on a military level."

NATO cut some military ties with Russia, but did not cut political ties with Moscow after Russia invaded and illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

The alliance has held five NATO-Russia Councils, but little progress has been made in improving relations.

Mattis also spoke on February 16 about allegations that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and was now trying to interfere in the 2017 French presidential and German parliamentary elections -- saying "right now I would just say there is very little doubt that they have either interfered or they have attempted to interfere in a number of elections in democracies."

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on February 16 that Russia is prepared to improve ties with the Pentagon, but said attempts by Washington to seek cooperation from a "position of strength would be futile."

With reporting by RFE/RL's Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels, Interfax, and TASS

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/mattis-u-s-defense- russia-shoigu-nato/28313906.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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News Analysis: Munich Security Conference -- What's In It For Moscow, Washington, and Europe?

Steve Gutterman February 16, 2017

When leading officials meet in the heart of Europe for a prominent annual piece of geopolitical theater, two key players will be offstage: Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

The U.S. and Russian presidents are staying away from the Munich Security Conference on February 17-19, sending subordinates to a gathering that will be watched for clues to how Russia-U.S. ties will unfold -- and what it will mean for the rest of the world.

The conference is taking place at a time when, according to its chairman, the global security environment may be "more volatile than at any point since World War II."

RFE/RL takes a looks at what Russia, the United States, and Europe may hope to get out of the event.

Ten Years After

Putin has been in power as president or prime minister since 1999, but has attended the Munich Security Conference only once. In 2007, he used the meeting as a platform for a now-famous denunciation of the United States as a dangerous hegemon that was ignoring state borders, violating international law, and "plunging the world into an abyss of permanent conflicts." It was high time, Putin said, to "seriously think about the architecture of global security."

A decade later, the Kremlin's repeated calls for a restructuring of world security have not produced the result Putin seemed to have in mind: a new system with Russia in a leading role on equal footing with Washington.

Instead, Putin has muscled Russia into a more powerful position by breaking the same rules he accused the United States of breaking -- first by sending troops into Georgia to fight a five-day war in 2008, then by seizing Crimea in 2014 and supporting separatists in a conflict that has killed more than 9,750 people in eastern Ukraine and persists two years after a cease-fire and peace deal was signed in Minsk.

Now, Putin may be looking to the advent of the Trump administration as a chance to cement what gains he has made, to roll back Western opposition to Moscow's actions in Ukraine, Syria, and further afield, and to make an assertive Russia the new normal.

In the decade since Putin's Munich address, "the main achievement is considered [by the Kremlin] to be that Russia has destroyed the U.S. monopoly on the use of force outside its traditional region and 'won the right to violate international law' -- like the United States," Moscow-based foreign affairs analyst Vladimir Frolov wrote in an article published by the Russian news site Republic.ru on February 14.

Before Trump took office, the prospect of his victory seemed to hold almost boundless promise for Putin -- so much promise that, according to U.S. intelligence agencies, Russia conducted a campaign of hacking and propaganda aimed at undermining Trump's opponent and U.S. democracy in general while helping the Republican candidate.

During the campaign, Trump praised Putin several times, suggested he would consider lifting sanctions imposed by the Obama administration over Moscow's interference in Ukraine, and made clear he hoped to improve ties with Russia -- while giving no indication that he would press the Kremlin on human rights issues. Most important, perhaps, he declared after the election that the United States "will stop racing to topple foreign regimes" and focus on fighting terrorism -- almost exactly the approach Putin has long and bitterly claimed the United States has avoided taking.

Mixed Messages

Since Trump's inauguration on January 20, the messages on Russia have been much more mixed. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said on February 3 that the United States "continues to condemn and call for an immediate end to the Russian occupation of Crimea," and that sanctions related to the seizure of the peninsula "will remain in place" until Russia returns it to Ukraine. On February 14, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump has "made it very clear" he expects Russia to "return Crimea" and reduce violence in eastern Ukraine. Trump himself, meanwhile, has repeatedly said that he hopes to get along with Putin but suggested that if he does not, he can live with that, too.

At the same time, the White House described a January 28 telephone call between Trump and Putin as "a significant start to improving the relationship between the United States and Russia that is in need of repair." But no date has been set for a face-to-face meeting, and the signals from the White House may leave Putin to wonder which direction the relationship will take.

In Munich, where Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will represent Russia and Vice President Mike Pence will be the top U.S. official, the Kremlin will be looking for clearer signals from the United States.

In a possible sign of impatience, Putin reiterated his calls for counterterrorism cooperation with the United States at a February 16 meeting with the Federal Security Service (FSB), saying in televised comments that "dialogue [with] the intelligence agencies of the United States and other members of NATO" is in the common interest. "It's absolutely clear that in the area of counterterrorism, all relevant governments and international groups should work together."

But Frolov suggested that Russia will have to struggle to come up with something to offer to make the close counterterrorism cooperation that both sides have talked up a reality.

"Moscow's real capabilities on the antiterror front may not live up to the excessive expectations of Trump and his advisers," he wrote.

European Tour

The conference caps a week of European debuts for Trump's team, following Defense Secretary Jim Mattis's first meeting with NATO counterparts in Brussels on February 15-16 and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's attendance at a Group of 20 foreign ministers meeting in Bonn on February 16.

In Munich, U.S. officials will have to juggle the attention of the European Union, Russia, and Ukraine, among others.

Trump has triggered concern in Europe with his enthusiasm for Britain's departure from the EU, his depiction of NATO during the campaign as "obsolete," and some of his remarks about Russia.

Scrutiny of Trump's foreign policy intentions could be all the more intense following the forced resignation on February 13 of his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, amid controversy over conversations the ousted official held with Russia's ambassador to the United States in December.

U.S. officials may see the Munich meeting as a chance to focus on diplomacy and leave the controversy -- which has grown larger in the wake of a New York Times report stating that associates of Trump had contacts with Russian intelligence officials in the months ahead of the election -- behind in Washington.

But they are also likely to face pressure from Russia, which is eager to add some substance to the bilateral talk of better relations.

So far, European leaders seem more likely than the Kremlin to be reassured by the remarks from the U.S. side this week.

In Brussels on February 15, Mattis warned NATO that Washington might "moderate" its support if European allies do not increase their financial contributions to common defense. But talk of obsolescence was replaced by a reference to NATO as a "fundamental bedrock for the United States and for all the transatlantic community."

On February 16, Mattis said that the United States is "not in a position right now to collaborate on a military level" with Russia, which he said must "live by international law just like we expect all mature nations on this planet to do."

And Tillerson, after his meeting with Lavrov the same day, said: "As we search for new common ground, we expect Russia to honor its commitment to the Minsk agreements and work to de-escalate violence in Ukraine."

Tillerson is skipping the conference. But with Pence expected to meet Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Munich, the United States will also be dealing with Kyiv's desire for support as it struggles with the loss of control over Crimea and the continuing conflict with Russia-backed separatists who hold chunks of two eastern provinces.

Both Sides Now

At past editions of the Munich conference -- such as in 2007 and last year, when Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev spoke of a new Cold War -- there has often been a sense of a divide: Russia on one side and the transatlantic community on the other.

This time, the vibe may be different: European governments are wondering about the intentions of both Putin and Trump.

In a letter to EU leaders ahead of a summit on February 3, European Council President Donald Tusk said the challenges facing the bloc were "more dangerous than ever before" and that statements from Trump's team constituted part of an external threat.

"Russia's aggressive policy towards Ukraine and its neighbors, wars, terror and anarchy in the Middle East and in Africa, with radical Islam playing a major role, as well as worrying declarations by the new American administration all make our future highly unpredictable," Tusk wrote.

"Particularly the change in Washington puts the European Union in a difficult situation; with the new administration seeming to put into question the last 70 years of American foreign policy," he added.

Tusk, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are among the leaders due to attend the conference.

European jitters about the future are reflected in the title of the annual Munich Security Report published before this year's conference: Post-Truth, Post-West, Post-Order?

"The past twelve months have been a resounding rejection of the status quo," the report says, citing elections and referendums in which "political outsiders succeeded, while the establishment was dealt major blows."

Western societies are troubled from within by "the emergence of populist movements that oppose critical elements of the liberal-democratic status quo," it says. "From outside, Western societies are challenged by illiberal regimes trying to cast doubt on liberal democracy and weaken the international order. And Western states themselves seem both unwilling and unable to effectively tackle the biggest security crises -- with Syria as the prime example."

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/munich-security-conference- analysis-putin-trump-russia-u-s-eu/28314169.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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More Top U.S. Lawmakers Question Russian Ties With Trump Aides

RFE/RL February 16, 2017

Top U.S. lawmakers have continued to question the relationship between Russia and President Donald Trump's aides, with a growing number of Republicans joining calls for inquiries into the matter.

The Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee asked U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey on February 15 to send the committee documents and provide a briefing on the ouster of Michael Flynn, the White House national security adviser who left after revelations that he discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with the Russian ambassador before taking office.

Citing reports that both the FBI and Justice Department were involved in events leading to Flynn's departure, Senators Chuck Grassley and Dianne Feinstein said those reports raised "substantial questions" about Flynn's discussions with Russian officials.

Adding to the pressure on the White House were comments by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, who has been a Trump supporter.

Corker said the Russia issue was threatening Trump's agenda on foreign affairs and domestic matters like health care and tax policy. He questioned whether the White House was able to stabilize itself and said Flynn should testify before Congress.

"Let's get everything out as quickly as possible on this Russia issue," Corker told MSNBC's Morning Joe program. "Maybe there's a problem that obviously goes much deeper than what we now suspect."

Senator Lindsey Graham, who vied with Trump for the Republican presidential nomination last year, called for a broader bipartisan congressional investigation to be conducted by a newly formed special committee rather than existing committees of Congress, if it turns out Trump's presidential campaign communicated with the Russians.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain didn't rule out an independent investigation, but said he and other lawmakers "need to find out a lot of basic information" first about Flynn's communications and the alleged contacts between Russian officials and Trump's campaign.

"Something like this always sucks the oxygen out of the room," McCain said. "The president's national security adviser did not tell the vice president of the United States the truth and had to be fired. It brings up a lot of questions and those questions need to be answered. Right now, without a national security adviser and everything else that's going on in the White House, it is dysfunctional on national security."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he expects the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is already investigating allegations of Russian meddling in the presidential election, to expand its investigation and interview Flynn.

Senator Roy Blunt, a Republican on the Intelligence Committee, agreed that the committee should expand and expedite its ongoing investigation to address the Flynn ouster.

"I think sooner is better than later," Blunt told reporters. "And I think we can be a long way down the road in 90 days."

Democrats said they doubt the Republican-led Congress or Trump's Justice Department will pursue the matter vigorously enough, and they are demanding an independent investigation into possibly illegal communications between Flynn and the Russian government and any efforts by Flynn or other White House officials to conceal wrongdoing.

The most powerful Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, said Attorney General Sessions, a close ally of Trump, must recuse himself from any investigation.

"Prosecutors should not be reporting to the first senator who endorsed Donald Trump's campaign," he said.

But the top Republicans in the Senate and House of Representatives have rejected establishing an independent investigative panel like the Watergate prosecutor, saying existing Republican-led committees in Congress can do the job.

Meanwhile, investigations continue within the executive branch after U.S. intelligence agencies concluded last year that Russia hacked and leaked Democratic Party e-mails during the presidential campaign in an effort to tilt the election toward Trump.

The FBI and several U.S. intelligence agencies are now investigating Russian espionage operations in the United States, Reuters reported. They are also looking at contacts between Russian officials and people connected to Trump or his campaign.

The FBI recently questioned Flynn about his telephone contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak in December while the Obama administration was preparing new sanctions against Russia related to its alleged hacking of the election.

Investigators have found no evidence so far of collusion between Russians and Trump's campaign before the election, however, or any evidence of criminal activity by Flynn or anyone else connected to Trump, Reuters reported.

Trump on February 15 railed against "illegal" leaks of classified information about the investigations to the news media and said Flynn had received "unfair treatment" from the media.

Grassley, the Senate judiciary chairman, agreed. He said that while Flynn should be held responsible for any wrongdoing, so should anyone in the government who leaked classified information.

"I think that we need to start considering that it's not only dangerous and scary that some foreign power attempts to influence our elections, but it may be even scarier that intelligence officials in our own government may be trying to undermine our government," he said on a conference call with reporters in Washington.

With reporting by AP and Reuters

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/more-top-us- lawmakers-question-russian-ties-trump- white-house-aides-flynn/28312628.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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Tillerson Tells Lavrov U.S. Expects Russia To Meet Ukraine Commitments

RFE/RL February 16, 2017

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has told his Russian counterpart that the Kremlin must adhere to its commitments on Ukraine if there is to be cooperation between Moscow and President Donald Trump's administration.

Speaking on February 16 after talks in Bonn with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Tillerson said the United States was ready to work with Russia "when we can find areas of practical cooperation that will benefit the American people."

But the U.S. secretary of state said "where we do not see eye-to-eye, the United States will stand up for the interests and values of America and her allies."

Tillerson also said that amid the "search for new common ground" by the Kremlin and Washington, Trump's administration expects Russia "to honor its commitment to the Minsk agreements" on eastern Ukraine and "work to de-escalate violence in Ukraine."

Britain's Foreign Office said in a statement after the Tillerson-Lavrov meeting that there was "absolutely no doubt" the United States remains committed to working closely with its allies to tackle tough global problems.

Moving Ahead 'Where Interests Coincide'

Tillerson and Lavrov's talks were on the sidelines of a Group of 20 (G20) meeting of foreign ministers in Bonn, Germany.

Lavrov said after the meeting that the two spoke about issues related to Syria, Ukraine, and Afghanistan -- and that they agreed they "must move ahead" where interests coincide.

But he said that "all disagreements cannot be settled at once."

Lavrov also said he and Tillerson did not discuss the issue of sanctions imposed against Russia by the United States over the Kremlin's intervention in eastern Ukraine and its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.

The Russian foreign minister said he assumes there will be a meeting soon between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But Interfax quoted an aide to Putin as saying that there was "no agreement or clear understanding" about a Putin-Trump meeting.

While the top diplomats from Moscow and Washington were meeting in Bonn, the top two military officers from the United States and Russia got together for face-to-face talks in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The meeting between General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his counterpart, Russian General Valery Gerasimov, focused on what Dunford's office described as "the current state of U.S.-Russian military relations and the importance of consistent and clear military-to-military communication to prevent miscalculation and potential crises."

'Restoring Dialogue'

Russia's Defense Ministry said after the Baku talks that the two generals had agreed on a course aimed at easing tensions between their countries.

It also said Gerasimov and Dunford had agreed to continue contacts.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier on February 16 that Russia and the United States would benefit from restoring communications between their intelligence agencies to bolster the fight against terrorism.

"It's in everyone's interest to restore dialogue between the intelligence agencies of the United States and other members of NATO," Putin told Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), in televised remarks at a meeting of the service in Moscow.

"It's absolutely clear that in the area of counterterrorism all relevant governments and international groups should work together," Putin said.

Relations between the United States and Russia sunk to post-Cold War lows and many ties were broken after Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and as a result of Moscow's ongoing support of separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on February 16 after a Brussels meeting of NATO defense ministers that the United States is not "in a position right now to collaborate on a military level" with Russia.

Mattis said "political leaders will engage and try to find common ground or a way forward where Russia is living up to its commitments, will return to a partnership of sorts here with NATO. But Russia is going to have to prove itself first and live up to the commitments they have made in the Russia-NATO agreement."

With reporting by RFE/RL correspondents Mike Eckel in Washington and Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels, Reuters, AP, AFP, Interfax, and TASS

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/tillerson-lavrov -bonn-russia-u-s-/28313628.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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Hezbollah Threatens to Hit Israel's Nuclear Facility If Confrontations Escalate

Sputnik News

23:32 16.02.2017

Lebanese Hezbollah movement has vowed to turn Israeli nuclear facility Dimona into a threat to very existence of the Jewish state, in case Isarelis don't give up attempts to confront with Lebanon.

BEIRUT (Sputnik)  Lebanese Hezbollah movement threatened Thursday to strike the Dimona nuclear facility located in the south of Israel in case of further confrontations with the country.

"We can make the Dimona facility, already threatening the region, a threat to Israel's existence," Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of Hezbollah, said as quoted by Al-Manar TV channel.

He also urged Israel to empty the ammonia tank in Haifa, which has been at the center of the recent bilateral confrontations, and to shut down the nuclear reactor in Dimona. Nasrallah characterized unloading of the ammonia reservoir as "a sign that the enemy [Israel] is aware of Lebanon's possibilities for resistance".

The leader of the Lebanese Shiites noted that Hezbollah fighters are combat-ready to disrupt Israel's attack against Lebanon.

The secretary general of Hezbollah also pointed out that Israel has been constructing defensive barriers around its settlements since 1948, when it started building a concrete wall on the Lebanese border.

On Sunday the Haifa Court for Local Affairs ruled that an ammonia tank menacing the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the area must be emptied within 10 days. The ruling came after Hezbollah issued a statement threatening to strike Haifa.

The Dimona nuclear plant in the Negev desert has been seen as threatening the lives of people in Israel and neighboring Jordan since 2008.

Israel was in a month-long war with the Lebanese Shia Islamist militant group Hezbollah in 2006, and there has been no major direct confrontation between the parties since.

 Sputnik

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China May Bar Foreign Ships From Passing Through Its Territorial Waters

Sputnik News

22:01 16.02.2017(updated 00:00 17.02.2017)

Officials in Beijing have announced plans to revise a 34-year-old maritime safety law that would permit relevant authorities to "bar some foreign ships from passing through Chinese territorial waters," according to Chinese state media outlets.

China and the US have maintained a consistent tension over US ships transiting the South China Sea under the banner of "freedom of navigation" patrols, and the revised law could provide China with the legal firepower to restrict access to waters it claims as its own. It is not clear what means China would use to enforce a revised version of the 1984 Maritime Traffic Safety Law.

"The draft would empower maritime authorities to prevent foreign ships from entering Chinese waters if it is decided that the ships may harm traffic safety and order," a recent article in the Global Times stated. On Tuesday, the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council revealed that it would accept public commentary before final revisions are made.

The changes will accord with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, in addition to Chinese laws on the seas, adjacent areas, and exclusive economic zones, the office said.

Yang Cuibai, a Chinese legal scholar, told the Global Times that, "The revisions will strengthen China's management over territorial waters in a new era when the country's communication and trade with foreign countries in the waters have sharply increased." Yang also suggested that China should take the lead on establishing legal order in the Yellow Sea, East China Sea and South China Sea.

Submarines operated by non-Chinese nations would be required to transit the maritime area on the surface of the water, as well as display national flags, and report movements within Beijing-claimed territory to the country's maritime management administration, the draft states.

"Should China implement a mandatory check of each and every naval vessel, it may have a chilling effect on global seaborne trade," financial news outlet ZeroHedge notes.

Non-Chinese military ships would be required to apply for a pilot's license, according to the draft. Ships that traverse China's waters without Chinese consent would be fined 300,000-500,000 yuan ($43,706-72,844).

The draft adds that people at sea encountering difficulty "have the right to be rescued without charge."

If and when the draft becomes a law in 2020, China's assertion of sovereignty over territorial waters could be met with resistance by America. US policy since 1983 states that, "The United States will not, however, acquiesce in unilateral acts of other states designed to restrict the rights and freedoms of the international community and overflight and other related high seas uses," the US State Department notes. "The [Freedom of Navigation] program operates on a triple track, involving not only diplomatic representations and operational assertions by US military units, but also bilateral and multilateral consultations with other governments" in order to "promote maritime stability."

 Sputnik

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Moscow Vows to Take Measures in Response to NATO Buildup in Black Sea

Sputnik News

21:46 16.02.2017(updated 21:51 16.02.2017)

Russia will study NATO's latest decisions on military buildup in the Black Sea region, which lead to the escalation of tensions, and will take appropriate steps to strengthen its national security, Russian envoy to NATO Alexander grushko said Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  NATO defense ministers decided earlier on Thursday to increase the Alliance's presence in the Black Sea region. According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the alliance's naval groups will increase the number of military exercises and will boost intelligence gathering in the region among other tasks.

"All these decisions will be subject of thorough analysis And, undoubtedly, we will take all necessary measures to properly safeguard Russia's national interests in this region," Grushko told Russian reporters commenting on the results of the NATO's summit in Brussels.

Moscow cannot view NATO as a potential partner while the Alliance sticks to its Warsaw summit decision not to cooperate with Russia, he said.

"While NATO maintains its stance not to cooperate with Russia, adopted at the summit in Warsaw, we cannot view the Alliance as a potential partner," Grushko told Russian reporters commenting on the results of the NATO's summit in Brussels.

Grushko added that Moscow may eventually lose interest in a dialogue with NATO "if it does not promote the restoration of bilateral cooperation."

Recently, the Sea Shield 2017 maritime drills with the participation of seven NATO member states and Ukraine were held in the Black Sea. The drills took place on the territory of 80,000 square kilometers (49,700 square miles). Approximately 2,800 personnel from Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, the United States, Canada, Spain and Ukraine, 16 warships and 10 warplanes will participate in the 10-day exercises.

NATO has been increasing its military presence in Eastern Europe and the Black Sea since the outbreak of the conflict in southeastern Ukraine in April 2014, in response to what it considers to be Russia's aggressive foreign policy. Moscow has repeatedly dismissed the Ukraine-related accusations leveled at it, warning that increased NATO activities near the country's borders could undermine regional and global stability.

 Sputnik

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Israeli Defense Chief Promises Investment if Hamas Stops Cross-Border Shelling

Sputnik News

21:33 16.02.2017

Israel will be the first to invest in infrastructure in the Gaza Strip when the local Palestinian authority, Hamas, stops firing rockets across the border, the Israeli defense minister promised Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  In the article on the website of the Ministry's Coordinator of the Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which is in charge of facilitating the Israeli army's dialogue with Palestinians, the minister invited the Hamas to "talk," saying Israel could create 40,000 jobs for Gaza residents if it willing to co-exist peacefully.

"Once Hamas gives up the terror tunnels and the rockets, we will be the first to invest and build them a naval port, an airport and an industrial area," Avigdor Lieberman said in an interview published by the Israeli Defense Ministry.

In return, Lieberman asked the Hamas to give up its goal of destroying the state of Israel and hand over bodies of fallen Israeli soldiers and citizens who are "held captive" in Gaza. He denied that Israeli settlements in Palestinian lands had ever got in the way of a peace treaty between Israel and Palestine.

Earlier in the day, the Central Committee of Fatah, the largest group in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), warned Israel that its recent decision to legalize some 4,000 Israeli homes on privately-owned Palestinian land threatened to derail political process in the region.

 Sputnik

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Indian Army to Treat Kashmiri Stone Throwers as Anti-Nationals

Sputnik News

16:42 16.02.2017

India has toughened its stand on Kashmiri stone pelters as Army Chief warned that they will be treated like jihadis.

New Delhi (Sputnik)  Indian Army Chief Bipin Rawat has issued a stern warning to stone-pelters in view of the increasing incidents of terrorists being provided cover by stone-pelters in Jammu and Kashmir causing higher casualties for the security men in the Kashmir valley.

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said that peoples engaged in stone-pelting would be treated as terrorists and would be punished like Jihadis.

The strong message from General Rawat came in the wake of the death of three soldiers and one senior official in anti-terror operations in Bandipura and Handwara in Jammu and Kashmir in which stone-pelters provided cover to the terrorists.

"Those who obstruct our operations during encounters and are not supportive will be treated as over-ground workers of terrorist. The soldiers would not hesitate to fire on stone-pelters if anti-terror operations were obstructed in any way," Army Chief General Bipin Rawat told media.

Army Chief further added that, "The manner, in which the local population is preventing us from conducting the operations, at times even supporting the terrorists to escape. It is these factors which are leading to higher casualties among the security forces."

Army Chief also requested the parents of Kashmiri youth to guide their children.

"I would once again request the parents of these young boys who somehow, because of propaganda in social media, taken the path of violence, to return to the fold. We are giving them an opportunity, but should they want to continue, then we will continue with relentless operations, may be with harsher measures," Genera Rawat said.

Earlier, Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and briefed him about the situation in Kashmir valley. Army Chief had reportedly told Modi that stern action against the stone-pelters is necessary due to their covert support to the terrorists.

Stone-pelting is being used by the Kashmiri youths against the operations of Indian Army in the Kashmir valley. Kashmiri youths throw stones at the armed forces and their convoys as a mark of protest and revenge, but now it is being alleged that stone-pelters are working in connivance with the terrorists and and provide cover against army operations.

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US Commitment to NATO Article 5 Rock Solid - Defense Secretary

Sputnik News

15:55 16.02.2017(updated 16:55 16.02.2017)

The US commitment to the Article 5 of NATO charter on collective defense is "rock solid," US Defense Secretary James Mattis said Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The Article 5 of NATO charte stipulates the rules of collective defence, what means that an attack against one Ally is considered as an attack against all Allies.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also confirmed all NATO defense ministers' commitment to collective defense.

"Our collective defense commitment, our Article 5 [of NATO's founding treaty] is unconditional. And that was expressed clear and loudly from all the participants in the meeting yesterday and today This is absolute security guarantees, we support each other," Stoltenberg said at a press conference.

The Article 5 was invoked for the first time after 9/11 terrorist attacks. Some collective measures have also been taken in response to the situation in Syria and in the wake of the Ukrainian crisis.

The NATO head added that Washington, despite repeated statements of President Donald Trump about plans to change the country's stance toward alliance, confirmed its commitment to the organization and its basic principles.

"[US Defense] Secretary Mattis confirmed the strong commitment of the United States to European security and to NATO alliance, and to collective defense," Stoltenberg said.

During his presidential campaign, Trump said NATO had become obsolete and threatened to decrease US support to European NATO members who failed to fulfill their financial obligations, particularly related to defense spending.

On Monday, Trump said the United States supported NATO, noting though that member states should make their proper financial contributions to the alliance.

The NATO Defense Ministers meeting is held on February 15-16 in Brussels.

 Sputnik

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Turkey on Friday began building a mosque on the iconic Taksim Square in Istanbul which the local authorities hope will create a major new Islamic landmark in the heart of the country's largest city.

Taksim Square is the bustling commercial heart of the city and has also been the focal point for decades of protests, including the 2013 demonstrations against the rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, then premier.

But it has long lacked a major place for Muslim worship, located in an area which in Ottoman times was the preserve of Europeans and home to several churches.

"It is pleasing that no one will have now to pray in the streets," Istanbul mayor Kadir Topbas said at the ceremony laying the foundation stone of the mosque, according to the Anadolu agency.

He noted that the two-minaret mosque would be adjacent to a historic Greek Orthodox church.

"Tourists who see the minarets of the mosque and the church will see how well we live together in this city."

The new mosque is expected to be finished in two years.

Turkey under Erdogan has in the last years gone on a spree of building mosques but the authorities say this is needed to satisfy the needs of its worshippers in the overwhelmingly Muslim country.

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Full-Fledged Kosovo Army Now Just a Step Away

Sputnik News

15:05 16.02.2017

The parliament of the self-proclaimed Kosovo Republic has overwhelmingly adopted a draft resolution to transform the so-called Kosovo Security Forces into Kosovo Armed Forces. Serbian MPs boycotted the proceedings to prevent the draft's passage.

The draft resolution was initiated by Daut Haradinaj, the brother of ex-Premier Ramus Haradinaj, a former leader of the terrorist Kosovo Liberation Army.

He said that if the constitution cannot be changed, other ways to form the army have to be found to transform the KSF into a full-fledged army.

Kosovo's current constitution does not foresee the creation of an army and NATO peacekeepers currently serve in that role.

Earlier, sources in Kosovo said that Pristina was looking for ways to buy additional firearms, tanks, artillery, mortars and even used warplanes and drones from the United States.

In an interview with Sputnik Serbia, Pristina-based political analyst Beljulj Becaj said that the Kosovo authorities' desire to buy additional arms was prompted by Belgrade's current effort to boost its military and security forces.

He warned against attempts to seek a military solution to the problem though.

"The processes now going in Kosovo and Serbia are the direct opposite to what our politicians say. We are repeating our old mistakes and, instead of opening libraries and concert halls, we think how to get more and more arms," Beljulj Becaj complained.

He added that the proposed creation of a Kosovo Armed Forces does not violate provisions of UN Resolution 1244 and the Kumanovo military technical agreement, which stipulates that NATO (KFOR) peacekeepers are the only military force allowed in the province.

"These agreements now remain on paper only," he said.

Milovan Drecun, the head of the Serbian parliament's committee on Kosovo, argued that UN Resolution 1244 was still in effect.

"KFOR is the only armed force allowed in Kosovo, and anyone who honors this resolution must prevent the creation of the Kosovo Armed Forces. Unfortunately, it is being violated by the very Western countries which are supposed to enforce it," he noted.

"First, they allowed the creation of the Kosovo Security Force, and now they want to transform it into a Kosovo Army. The Kumanovo agreement provided for disarming the Kosovo Liberation Army, but now they want it to stay on, though in a different form."

Milovan Drecun said that the KSF is fairly well-armed as it is, having helicopters and armored fighting vehicles.

"The NATO instructors have been training the KSF for many years now preparing the groundwork of a future army, and they are now waiting for an official go-ahead from parliament. The Serbs are against this," Milovan Drecun emphasized.

The KSF's approved budget for 2017 is  35.5 million ($37.5 million). It has 4,000 uniformed active members, plus 2,500 reservists.

 Sputnik

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Stoltenberg Says NATO's Increased Black Sea Presence Not 'Provoking Conflict'

Sputnik News

14:49 16.02.2017(updated 16:22 16.02.2017)

NATO's increased presence in the Black Sea will be in line with the alliance's international obligations and is not aimed at provoking any conflict, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  On Thursday, NATO defense ministers decided to increase its presence in the Black Sea region. According to Stoltenberg, the alliance's naval groups will increase military exercises and will gather information in the region among other tasks.

"Everything we do will be in line with international commitments and obligations including also in accordance with the Montreux convention [Regarding the Regime of the Straits]  We will have increased presence in the Black Sea but it will be measured, it will be defensive and it will in no way aim at provoking any conflict or escalating tensions," Stoltenberg told at a press conference.

Recently, the Sea Shield 2017 maritime drills with the participation of seven NATO member states and Ukraine were held in the Black Sea. The drills took place on the territory of 80,000 square kilometers (49,700 square miles). Approximately 2,800 personnel from Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, the United States, Canada, Spain and Ukraine, 16 warships and 10 warplanes will participate in the 10-day exercises.

NATO has been increasing its military presence in Eastern Europe and the Black Sea since the outbreak of the conflict in southeastern Ukraine in April 2014, in response to what it considers to be Russia's aggressive foreign policy. Moscow has repeatedly dismissed the Ukraine-related accusations leveled at it, warning that increased NATO activities near the country's borders could undermine regional and global stability.

 Sputnik

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Bid to Probe Trump Team's Ties to Russia 'Internal US Affair' - Kremlin

Sputnik News

13:03 16.02.2017(updated 13:05 16.02.2017)

US lawmakers' initiative to investigate connections between President Donald Trump's team and Russia is the United States' internal affair, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  US House of Representatives Democratic Party members, including House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, said Wednesday the alleged communication between then-presidential candidate Trump's campaign aides and Russian officials should be investigated. Hoyer called for a "very serious" House and Senate committee and oversight hearings to "get to the bottom" of the allegations.

"All this is an absolutely internal affair [of the US]. There is no need for us [Russia] to evaluate this," Peskov told reporters.

US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes later rejected these calls as political gamesmanship.

The news comes after former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn stepped down on Monday amid reports about leaked information that he misled Trump administration officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, about engaging in conversation with the Russian ambassador to the United States in December.

The reports claimed Flynn talked to Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak about anti-Russia sanctions prior to Trump being inaugurated on January 20.

 Sputnik

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Update: air strikes against Daesh

16 February 2017

The RAF are continuing to take the fight to Daesh in Iraq and Syria.

Summary

- Saturday 11 February  Typhoons attacked a tunnel and bunker south-west of Mosul.

- Sunday 12 February  Tornados destroyed two terrorist supply trucks north-west of Mosul.

- Tuesday 14 February  Typhoons bombed a Daesh headquarters in north-western Mosul.

Detail

As the Iraqi forces prepare for the offensive to liberate the western half of Mosul, Royal Air Force aircraft have patrolled the approaches to that part of the city, gathering intelligence and striking Daesh targets as they are identified. On Saturday 11 February, two Typhoon FGR4s from RAF Akrotiri, supported by a Voyager tanker and armed with Paveway IV guided bombs, conducted a successful attack on a terrorist tunnel and bunker dug into a hillside some seven miles to the south-west of the city. The following day, a pair of Tornado GR4s were directed towards two Daesh cargo trucks which had been spotted five miles north-west of Mosul. The Tornados each fired a Brimstone missile, resulting in direct hits on both vehicles.

Careful surveillance operations allowed a building on the north-western outskirts of Mosul to be identified as a Daesh headquarters. With Iraqi forces keeping close watch from across the Tigris, a flight of Typhoons were able to conduct a highly accurate attack late at night on Tuesday 14 February; two Paveway IVs demolished the target.

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

Wednesday 1 February: While other RAF aircraft conducted reconnaissance patrols to assess Daesh activity in Syria and Iraq, Typhoons were tasked with the destruction of a building some twenty miles west of Mosul which intelligence had identified was being used by Daesh as a staging post for the movement of extremists and equipment. A single Paveway IV sufficed to demolish the building once a very careful check had been made by the aircrew for any civilians who might be in the vicinity of the target.

Thursday 2 February: Royal Air Force Tornados, supported as ever by a Voyager air refuelling tanker, patrolled over northern Iraq. Daesh were occupying a building some 20 miles west of Kirkuk, when Tornados, after conducting a careful check against any civilians being close to the target, struck the building with a Paveway IV guided bomb.

Friday 3 February: Typhoons operated over western Mosul as Iraqi forces continued their preparations to liberate that part of the city from the terrorists. Daesh had concealed an artillery piece in an open-sided building on the southern outskirts of west Mosul, covering the approaches to the city. Again, a single Paveway IV from the Typhoons destroyed the target. Meanwhile, a pair of Tornados conducted armed reconnaissance to the north-west of Mosul, where a barge and a smaller boat had been spotted being used by the terrorists on the Tigris. Two Brimstone missiles were fired, sinking both vessels.

Sunday 5 February: Typhoons headed to a remote location some forty miles north-east of Tikrit, where a Daesh headquarters had been identified. The building and a vehicle shed were both destroyed by direct hits from Paveway IVs.

Tuesday 7 February: A group of Daesh fighters, armed with a heavy machine-gun, attempted to cross the Tigris in a boat, close to where the Tornados had sunk the river craft two days earlier. The terrorists were unaware that they were being closely tracked by coalition surveillance aircraft, and a Hellfire missile from an RAF Reaper sank the boat in mid-channel.

Wednesday 8 February: A Tornado flight used two Paveway IVs to destroy a pair of Daesh-held buildings some 20 miles south of Kirkuk. To the north-west of Mosul, a Typhoon mission supported Kurdish forces, and used a Paveway IV to strike a tunnel in which a group of extremists had taken shelter.

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UK urges Coalition to maintain momentum against Daesh

16 February 2017

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has urged Coalition partners to maintain the momentum that is defeating Daesh in Iraq and Syria, at today's meeting of Defence Ministers.

With Daesh losing in both Iraq and Syria, Ministers considered the Coalition campaign plan for 2017. This included plans for the operation to liberate Western Mosul, which the Defence Secretary reviewed with the Iraqi Prime Minister and Defence Minister during his visit to Iraq last weekend. With eastern Mosul recently liberated by Iraqi forces, operations to free the west of the city from Daesh's tyranny will start shortly.

The RAF has been in action, striking Daesh around the approaches to the city in recent weeks ahead of the launch of the operation, including sinking a Daesh heavy machine gun team last week on a boat on the River Tigris. On Tuesday careful surveillance operations allowed a building on the north-western outskirts of Mosul to be identified as a Daesh headquarters. With Iraqi forces keeping close watch from across the Tigris, a flight of Typhoons were able to conduct a highly accurate attack late at night - two Paveway IVs demolished the target.

RAF fast jets and remotely piloted aircraft have now carried out over 1,200 airstrikes against Daesh, second only to the United States in numbers of Coalition strikes.

In Syria, where the picture is more complicated, the Defence Secretary confirmed that by spring the operation to isolate Raqqa, the last major city Daesh holds in Syria, would be complete. It is expected that thereafter the liberation of the city itself will begin.

As the fight against Daesh enters a new phase, Ministers reviewed Coalition requests to make the training effort more flexible. The Defence Secretary last month authorised UK personnel to deliver training at secured and protected locations in Iraq, in addition to the training sites at Taji, Al Asad, Besmayah and Irbil, where personnel are already deployed. By training forward Britain will now deliver the infantry skills, counter-IED, combat first aid and bridge-building training where Iraqi forces need it. British forces previously mentored Iraqi forces carrying out bridge building ahead of the liberation of eastern Mosul.

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said:

"Daesh is losing ground, fighters, and funding. Now we need to keep up the pressure on Mosul and Raqqa to deal Daesh a decisive blow. Britain will continue playing its leading role providing vital intelligence, precision airstrikes, and training Iraqi forces where they need it."

The meeting of Coalition Defence Ministers took place following discussions the day before on what more NATO would do to protect its southern borders. Sir Michael confirmed that Britain will send a UK military officer to help lead NATO's newly established training and capacity building mission in Iraq. This effort will help Iraqis defeat Daesh with training including in countering explosive devices. This commitment builds on the work that Britain is already doing in the country, where, we are helping to train Iraqi forces at an unprecedented level, with over 3,000 being trained a month.

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South Sudan: UN deplores lack of information on 20,000 people displaced in Upper Nile

16 February 2017  The top United Nations peacekeeping official in South Sudan has described the lack of information about the situation of some 20,000 internally displaced people on the west bank of the Nile in the country's north, as a "real problem."

"We want to find out what has happened to those people, and provide them with assistance if they need it," said David Shearer, the Secretary-General's Special Representative and head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), who was making his first field trip to the town of Malakal after taking up his position as Mission chief four weeks ago.

According to a press statement issued today by the office of the Mission's spokesperson, UNMISS believes that the 20,000 people have fled towards Kodok from Wau Shilluk, a town eight miles north of the UN base in Malakal on the west bank of the River Nile.

Fighting between the Government Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) forces and opposition forces has expanded geographically across the west bank over the past week, and shows no signs of abating, forcing more people to flee their homes.

On Thursday, UN peacekeepers attempted to carry out a foot patrol to Wau Shilluk, but were prevented from doing so by SPLA soldiers located at Wau Shilluk, a situation Mr. Shearer described as "very frustrating."

Meanwhile, the statement noted that UNMISS has described government relocations by air of internally displaced people through Juba into Malakal as unsustainable if they are not also supported with humanitarian assistance on arrival.

The Shilluk population of Malakal has abandoned the town and 33,000 people are currently taking refuge in the camp administered by UNMISS.

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UN and regional partners urge DR Congo parties to resume political talks

16 February 2017  Increasingly concerned about the political impasse in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations and regional partner organizations today urged political actors to work out how to implement the 31 December political agreement on a timeframe for elections.

The UN, the African Union (AU), the European Union (EU) and the International Organization of La Francophonie (IOF) today released a joint statement warning that the situation "has the potential to undermine the political goodwill" that led to the signing of the agreement in December.

"The four partner organizations note that six weeks after agreeing on the modalities of a transition period leading to the holding of peaceful and credible elections by December 2017, the parties are yet to conclude discussions on the effective implementation of the agreement," according to the statement.

The agreement  facilitated by Conference Episcopale Nationale du Congo (CENCO) mediators, and reached in DRC's capital, Kinshasa, on 31 December 2016  would result in new elections being held in the country before the end of the year and for President Joseph Kabila to step down.

In today's statement, the four partner organizations reaffirm the need for all parties to rally behind the mediation efforts by CENCO, and urge all stakeholders "to redouble, in good faith" their efforts to conclude the ongoing talks.

A lack of implementation plans threaten to shake the "legitimacy of the transitional institutions until elections," the partners said.

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Yemen: Senior UN aid official 'appalled' by airstrikes that kill women and children

16 February 2017  The top United Nations humanitarian official in Yemen today said he was extremely saddened and appalled by the airstrikes that killed six women and a girl gathering for a funeral in a private residence in the Arhab District of Sana'a Governorate yesterday.

"The manner in which the parties to the conflict are waging this war is taking an unacceptable toll on the civilian population in Yemen and as illustrated by this most recent tragedy, women and children are paying with their lives," said UN Humanitarian Coordinator Jamie McGoldrick in a statement.

The statement, issued by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that health authorities confirm six women and a girl killed, as well as at least 15 other women injured, some gravely. Unfortunately, the number of dead could rise as the critically injured struggle to survive.

"I am alarmed to see this tragic loss of life further escalate the fighting, with reports of a retaliatory ballistic missile strike into Saudi Arabia's Asir region," he said.

This incident comes at a time of severe hardship and suffering in Yemen where imposed import restrictions are causing food scarcity and price hikes resulting in worsening food insecurity and malnutrition across the country.

The economic decline caused by the conflict is leading to the collapse of basic service provision. Sana'a airport remains closed to commercial flights, limiting options for those who need this service to access life-saving medical care and restricting movements in and out of the country.

"The people of Yemen have suffered long enough. Peace is the only solution to help end the suffering in Yemen," he said, calling on all the parties to return to the negotiation table.

In a separate statement on the incident, UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, stressed that every day, across Yemen, civilians are killed by indiscriminate attacks by all parties to the conflict on residential areas in complete disregard of the rules of international humanitarian law.

"Attacks on civilians are unjustifiable, regardless of the circumstances. Women and children in particular have been subjected to unspeakable suffering in this brutal conflict. This should stop immediately," he said, calling an all parties to adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law and respect the sanctity of civilian life.

Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed went on to note that the ongoing military clashes on the Red Sea coast are aggravating an already catastrophic humanitarian situation, with tens of thousands of civilians caught in the war zone without access to humanitarian assistance and unable to flee to safety.

"The military activities in the region threaten to disrupt the import of commercial and humanitarian supplies which could have a terrible impact on the food security for large parts of the population," he said, urging all parties to ensure the unhindered movement of commercial and humanitarian supplies, without which millions of Yemenis are at risk of death and famine.

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Pentagon Chief Rules Out US-Russia Military Collaboration

By VOA News February 16, 2017

At a meeting of NATO members in Brussels on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis ruled out any military collaboration between the United States and Russia, saying current conditions were not ideal.

"We are not in a position right now to collaborate on a military level," Mattis said at a news conference at NATO headquarters. "But our political leaders will engage and try to find common ground."

Relations between the two countries have reached their lowest point since the Cold War because of Moscow's alleged meddling in last year's U.S. elections and its continued aggressive actions in Ukraine.

Mattis said that before any military cooperation could take place with Russia, it would have to "prove itself" able to comply with international law.

Mattis made his comments after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow was "ready to restore cooperation with the Pentagon."

U.S. President Donald Trump praised Russian leader Vladimir Putin during the U.S. presidential campaign and has done so since taking office.

And although the U.S. ceased cooperating with Russia in 2014 after it annexed Crimea from Ukraine, Trump has expressed interest in working with Russia again on issues of common interest, such as the fight against Islamic State.

Mattis said Thursday that he did not think the fight against IS would end quickly, but he added the U.S. would like to speed up the multinational campaign against the militant group.

When asked about possibly sending U.S. ground troops into Syria, Mattis said he had not had enough time in office to form a plan and wanted to confer with allies before moving forward.

Top officials meet

Meanwhile, U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman General Joseph Dunford met with his Russian counterpart, General Valeriy Gerasimov, in Azerbaijan on Thursday to discuss the status of U.S.-Russia military relations.

The Pentagon issued a statement after the meeting, saying the two countries agreed to "enhance communications" and "improve operational safety of military activities" to prevent crises and "avoid the risk of unintended incidents."

On the diplomatic front, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met in Germany with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for the first time and said afterward that Washington could collaborate with Moscow under certain circumstances.

"As we search for new common ground, we expect Russia to honor its commitment to the Minsk agreements and work to de-escalate violence in the Ukraine," Tillerson said in Bonn, where foreign ministers of the G-20 nations are meeting.

Under the 2015 Minsk agreement, Ukraine, Russia and Russia-backed separatists agreed to end the crisis in Ukraine, beginning with the withdrawal of heavy weapons.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin told VOA that he expected the White House and European allies to continue pressuring Russia on its commitments.

"I absolutely expect that the U.S. will play a more proactive role, along with our European partners, in pressuring Russia to fulfill their obligation according to the Minsk agreement," Klimkin said, adding that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was scheduled to meet with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday.

"We've had a lot of communication, cooperation and coordination [with the White House], and we are very happy about it. We had a strong message from United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley," he added, referring to Haley's recent condemnation of Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine. "Now we're hearing it from the new administration. It's all part of our efforts to build practical and logical cooperation with the U.S."

Earlier this week, Trump accepted the resignation of newly appointed national security adviser Michael Flynn following reports that Flynn had misled the administration about conversations he had with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak.

Several U.S. investigations are underway into alleged interference by Russian intelligence services in favor of Trump during last year's U.S. presidential election.

Putin reaches out

Putin, meanwhile, called for a restoration of ties Thursday between U.S. and Russian intelligence agencies to work on common problems.

"Restoring dialogue with the special services of the United States and other NATO members is in our mutual interest," Putin said in a televised speech before Russia's Federal Security Service.

Tillerson is attending his first G-20 meeting, hosted by German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who has been a vocal critic of some of Trump's policies.

The G-20 countries account for about 85 percent of the world economy and two-thirds of the global population.

The Bonn meeting is a precursor to a G-20 summit scheduled for July in Hamburg in what may be the first time Trump meets Putin in person.

Myroslava Gongadze of VOA's Ukrainian service contributed to this report.

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US Supports Two-state Solution for Israel and Palestinians

By Margaret Besheer February 16, 2017

The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations says the Trump administration "absolutely" supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"The two-state solution is what we support," Nikki Haley told reporters after attending her first Security Council meeting on the long-running conflict. "Anybody that wants to say the United States does not support a two-state solution, that would be an error."

The council's regular monthly meeting on the situation happened to come a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Donald Trump in Washington.

During a joint news conference Wednesday, President Trump appeared to make a major departure from nearly two decades of U.S. policy, declaring that he "could live with" either a one or two-state solution to the conflict.

The international community has for years firmly supported two contiguous states  Israel and Palestine  living side-by-side and achieved through direct negotiations as the only viable solution to the 70-year old conflict.

"We absolutely support a two-state solution," Haley said repeatedly. "But we are thinking out of the box as well, which is what does it take to bring these two sides to the table? What we do we need to have them agree on?"

She said that ultimately any solution is going to come from the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority and that "the United States is just there to support the process."

Firm international support for two states

"The two-state solution remains the only way to achieve the legitimate national aspirations of both peoples," said Nickolay Mladenov, the U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.

Speaking via a video link from Jerusalem, Mladenov told council members that each side could demonstrate goodwill  the Israelis by stopping settlement expansion and construction, and the Palestinians by tackling violence and incitement. He said such moves would create an environment conducive to bilateral final status negotiations.

On Wednesday, U.N. chief Antonio Guterres told reporters during a visit to Cairo that the two-state solution is the only option, adding, "there is no Plan B."

In January, France hosted a conference to reaffirm international support for two-states and establish a package of incentives to encourage the parties to move toward this solution.

"We consider that the two-state solution has never been so threatened and yet so necessary," France's U.N. Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters. "Threatened by settlements and violence; necessary because it is our view the only political option that answers both the Palestinian need for justice and the Israeli need for security."

Britain's ambassador, Matthew Rycroft, welcomed the Trump administration's interest in striking a peace deal "that meets the requirements of both parties as a positive step", and reiterated his country's support for a two-state solution.

"President [Mahmoud] Abbas stated yesterday clearly, that we are committed to the end of the occupation, to the two-state solution and to the implementation of Security Council resolutions, including 2334," Palestinian U.N. envoy Riyad Mansour told reporters.

Resolution 2334 was adopted at the end of 2016 and declared settlements an obstacle to peace and called on Israel to halt construction. "We are committed to this process, and we believe that this is the shortest distance to putting an end to this conflict," Mansour added.

On Wednesday, President Trump called on Prime Minister Netanyahu to "hold back a bit" on settlement building. Israel has surged ahead approving thousands of new units in recent weeks, despite the adoption of U.N. resolution 2334.

Trump has also nominated as his ambassador to Israel New York lawyer David Friedman, who is a well-known supporter of settlements and opposes a two-state solution. Thursday, Friedman faced senators and protesters who disrupted his hearing on Capitol Hill, where he was grilled on some of his past comments.

"Ironclad support" for Israel

Ambassador Haley also vigorously reaffirmed U.S. support for Israel, accusing the United Nations of an anti-Israel bias that Washington "will not turn a blind eye to" anymore.

"I'm here to underscore the ironclad support of the United States for Israel," Haley told reporters. "We will never repeat the terrible mistake of resolution 2334," she said of the settlements resolution.

She said "outrageously biased" resolutions from the Security Council and General Assembly have made peace harder to reach, "by discouraging one of the parties from going to the negotiating table." Haley said Washington would not hesitate to speak out against these biases.

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Thousands of Iraqis, mostly supporters of cleric Moqtada Sadr, held a silent protest in central Baghdad on Friday, a week after a rally demanding electoral reform turned violent.

They gathered on Tahrir Square where on February 11 the security forces used rubber-coated bullets and tear gas to repulse protesters trying to march on the fortified Green Zone that houses the country's key institutions.

There was no violence on Friday and organisers asked the protesters to refrain from chanting slogans.

The demonstrators, waving Iraqi flags, remained completely silent for more than a hour, and many of them had taped their mouths.

The security forces were on high alert following last week's violence and a day after more than 50 people were killed in the deadliest car bomb explosion to hit the capital in months.

With provincial polls set for September, the protesters want an overhaul of the electoral law and the electoral commission to be replaced, on the grounds that both currently favour dominant parties they accuse of corruption and nepotism.

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DRC Budget Minister Casts Doubt on 2017 Elections

By William Clowes February 16, 2017

The budget minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo has cast doubt on whether the country will be able to finance elections this year. His statement has sparked concern as delaying the polls last year led to violent unrest.

DRC Budget Minister Pierre Kangudia gave reporters the news Wednesday. He said it will not be possible to disburse $1.8 billion from this year's budget to organize elections in 2017.

That hardly comes as a surprise. Total government spending for 2017 is expected to be around $5.2 billion, according to the most recent budget submitted to the National Assembly, which has yet to approve a public spending plan for this year.

The budget minister's words have angered the opposition. A deal signed on News Years' Eve with the ruling alliance stipulates some of the nationwide polls postponed from last year should take place in late 2017, including the presidential election.

VOA spoke to Delly Sessanga, a signatory of the agreement from the opposition.

He said the minister's declaration demonstrates the government is going down a path completely different to that of organizing elections. He said the government must leave to be replaced by a responsible one capable of taking the country to elections.

The president of the electoral commission, known as CENI, cited the $1.8 billion figure in early December when he presented the budget to cover the electoral process. That includes compiling a completely new voter list, an initiative launched last August, as well as holding presidential, parliamentary and local polls in this vast and poorly connected country.

Delaying last year's elections has allowed President Joseph Kabila to stay in office beyond his constitutional two-term limit.

The opposition says that was and remains Kabila's intention.

But the DRC budget minister said while the government is unable to deliver $1.8 billion to the CENI, that does not mean there will not be elections this year. The New Year's Eve agreement urges the government to mobilize resources both internally and from the international community.

But there is another hurdle. The deal also calls for the installation of a new national unity government led by a prime minister from the opposition. Six weeks later, that has not happened. The details still have not been sorted out.

On Thursday, the African Union, European Union, United Nations and International Organization of the Francophonie released a joint statement expressing concern about the delay and calling on the signatories to redouble their efforts for DRC elections.

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Somali Presidential Palace Attacked as New Leader Moves In

By Abdulaziz Osman February 16, 2017

At least two people were killed Thursday in a barrage of mortar rounds fired toward Somalia's presidential palace as the country's new leader moved in.

Abdifitah Halane, a spokesman for the Benadir regional administration, told VOA's Somali service that two children were killed when one of the mortars hit their home in Warta Nabadda district near the palace.

Halane blamed al-Shabab militants for the attack.

New President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo was not hurt, and there were no other reported casualties.

The mortar rounds were aimed at a ceremony where the former president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud officially handed over the palace to Farmajo, who defeated Mohamud in an election by parliament two weeks ago.

Addressing the crowd of officials and journalists, Farmajo said, "It's a historic day in Somalia. People in Somalia and around the world can see how smoothly we are transferring the power."

"This government is for the people and by the people; we are bringing it back to you because you own it," he said.

He appealed fellow Somalis across the world to cooperated with his government's bid to restore peace and order to Somalia.

"In terms of security and tax collection, we need you to protect this government and we pray that Allah may save us from the conflict and the drought we are struggling with," he said.

President Farmajo also vowed that Somalia will one day rebuild its national army and say farewell to the African Union mission, AMISOM, which protects the government from al-Shabab.

Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulle in Mogadishu contributed to this story.

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Trump Defends Accomplishments, Attacks Media at Press Conference

By William Gallo February 16, 2017

Donald Trump used his first solo press conference as president Thursday to deliver a broad defense of his turbulent first month in office, denying reports of chaos within the White House and insisting his administration is running "like a fine-tuned machine."

The press conference, which lasted over 75 minutes, was at turns combative and comical, with Trump alternately joking with and then lecturing the media gathered in the White House East Room.

Trump touted a long list of what he said were accomplishments, including withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, implementing a federal government hiring freeze and eliminating government regulations.

"We have made incredible progress," Trump said. "I don't think there's ever been a president elected who in this short period of time has done what we've done."

But Trump insisted he could have accomplished more were it not for what he termed the "mess" left by his predecessor, former President Barack Obama. "I inherited a mess. It's a mess. At home and abroad, a mess," he said.

'Fake news'

In what has become a standard part of the president's public appearances, Trump also took aim at the news media, which he accused of downplaying his accomplishments and making up "fake news" in order to damage his administration.

"The press honestly is out of control. The level of dishonesty is out of control," he said.

At one point, Trump played media critic  praising Fox & Friends as the "most honest morning show." He also downgraded CNN from "fake news"  his usual label for the news channel  to "very fake news."

Not all of Trump's statements during the press conference were factual. At one point, Trump incorrectly claimed his November election victory was the "biggest Electoral College win since [former President] Ronald Reagan," a claim he has made repeatedly in recent days.

When a reporter pointed out that the assertion was inaccurate, Trump replied: "Well, I don't know. I was given that information. I've seen that information around. But it was a very substantial victory, do you agree with that?"

Early setbacks

Trump's first month as president has been rocky and unpredictable. On a near-daily basis, reports emerge of sharp internal divisions within the White House, with senior officials leaking information to the media, apparently to gain an advantage.

This week, national security adviser Michael Flynn was ousted after it was revealed that he had misled White House officials about the nature of his conversations with Russian officials during the presidential transition period.

Trump has also suffered a steady stream of legal setbacks related to his executive order temporarily banning immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries and shutting down the refugee program.

But on Thursday, Trump downplayed those setbacks.

"I turn on the TV, open the newspapers and I see stories of chaos," Trump said. "Yet it is the exact opposite. This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine."

Trump also vowed to investigate the "criminal leaks" that led to the ouster of Flynn, even while acknowledging that it was he who requested that Flynn resign.

"Mike Flynn is a fine person, and I asked for his resignation," Trump said. "He respectfully gave it."

Flynn's conversations with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. may have violated a federal statute that prohibits private citizens from conducting foreign policy without the permission of the U.S. government.

But Trump said that he didn't see anything wrong with Flynn's communications.

"What was wrong was the way that other people, including yourselves in this room, were given that information, because that was classified information. That's the real problem," he said.

Role of Russia

Trump also dismissed news reports suggesting members of his campaign were in touch with Russian officials during the presidential election.

"Nobody I know of" was in contact with the Russian government, Trump said. "I have nothing to do with Russia. To the best of my knowledge, no person that I deal with does."

Some U.S. intelligence officials have concluded Russia intervened in the 2016 presidential election, possibly with the intention of helping Trump win. Trump has rejected those claims, instead attacking the credibility of U.S. intelligence services and slamming the media for focusing on the issue.

"I just want to tell you, the false reporting by the media, by you people, the false, horrible, fake reporting makes it much harder to make a deal with Russia," he said.

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Calls Grow Louder for Probes of Trump-Russia Ties

By Michael Bowman February 16, 2017

The U.S. Senate's top Democrat said Thursday that Congress and the Justice Department must conduct meticulous, thorough investigations of any links between Russia and President Donald Trump's inner circle stretching from last year's campaign to the present.

"This is not a drill," said Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. "All of us can agree that what is required are the facts. We have to evaluate the scope of Russia's interference in our election and assess if agents of their government have penetrated to the highest levels of our government."

Republicans concurred on the goal, if not the specifics, of Schumer's call for action, which came days after the resignation of the president's national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who reportedly discussed U.S. sanctions with Russia's ambassador to the United States in the waning days of the Obama administration.

'Persistent' concern

"Russia is an ongoing, persistent counterintelligence issue for the United States," said Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. "I don't view this as a partisan issue. We're going to do our job."

Schumer endorsed an ongoing probe by the Senate Intelligence Committee on Russian espionage and meddling in American domestic affairs, but added that other panels, like the Judiciary Committee, have a role to play as well.

He also demanded measures to protect the Department of Justice from any obstruction by the White House, saying that Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a close ally and confidant of the president, must recuse himself from the department's probes.

"[Federal] prosecutors should not be reporting to the first senator who endorsed Donald Trump's campaign, who served on the same campaign committee as General Flynn, and who nominated Donald Trump at the Republican [National] Convention," Schumer said.

In addition, the minority leader said, steps must be taken to preserve emails, data and records pertaining to the investigations, and that White House officials as well as former Trump campaign staffers "must be made available to testify in public, under oath."

First things first

Republicans did not rule out Schumer's demands, but suggested some were premature.

"All of this has to be cleared up," said Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, adding that the Senate Intelligence Committee should be allowed to do its work before further steps are taken.

"Ask fundamental questions [in committee], have the White House give the answers and then decide where to go from there," he said.

Republican Ron Johnson concurred.

"The best place to hold that [investigation] is in the Intelligence Committee," the Wisconsin senator said. "I know, on a bipartisan basis, they are taking this charge up. They are going to do it very seriously. They are going to do it very comprehensively."

Johnson echoed Republicans in the House of Representatives who insist that any probe delve into intelligence and Justice Department leaks to the news media about information uncovered so far.

"I'm concerned about the intelligence leaks," he said. "Some of this is classified material that we shouldn't be talking about in the public domain."

Ready to act

Schumer said he believed that Republican-led congressional committees would set party interests aside in probing the Trump White House, but that Democrats were prepared to take steps if Republicans did not.

"We will be watching very carefully," Schumer said. "If the Intelligence Committee investigation is not proceeding to unearth the entire truth, we will seek alternative tools and structures to get to the truth, because get to the truth we must."

Another Democrat, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, said he had "a minimum amount of confidence" that Republican lawmakers were up to the task.

"I think we need an independent commission, just as we did with Watergate," Leahy said, referring to the high-profile probe of a cover-up of illegal activities that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974.

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Vishnya Meridian Project 864 class

The Viktor Leonov returned to international waters off the east coast of the United States after a short stop in Cuba to refuel and resupply. The 15 March 2017 report explained the ship was spotted 23 miles southeast of a US Navy submarine base in Kings Bay in the US state of Georgia. The base is home to US Navys Atlantic fleet of ballistic missile submarines, according to the report.

As first reported by Fox News, the Russian ship SSV-175 Viktor Leonov was spotted 15 February 2017 in international waters 30 miles south of Groton, Connecticut  home to a US naval submarine base. According to the TV channel, the ship was found 70 miles off the coast of Delaware in international waters. "This is the first patrol since Donald Trump entered the office" - said the TV channel. Lt. Col. Valerie Henderson, a Defense Department spokeswoman, stated It has not entered U.S. territorial waters. We respect freedom of navigation exercised by all nations beyond the territorial sea of a coastal State consistent with international law.

US Senator Richard Blumenthal, D. Conn., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told the Albany TImes Union the presence of this spy ship has to be regarded very seriously because Russia is an increasingly aggressive adversary. It reflects a clear need to harden our defenses against electronic surveillance and cyber espionage.

The return of a Russian vessel is particularly concerning in the context of escalating Russian aggression - within days of the Russians buzzing a U.S. Navy ship in the Black Sea, as well as deploying a cruise missile in violation of our arms control treaty - which only underscores the need for an independent investigation into possible collusion between the Trump administration and Russian agents."

Vishnya class SSV [Sudno Svyazyy = Communications Vessel] electronic surveillance ships are Project 864 Meridian reconnaissance ship, with a displacement of 3,470 tonnes and 94.4 meters long. Its cruising endurance is 7,000 nautical miles. Its crew consists of 146-220 people. The first two vessels belong to the Northern Fleet, the third - to the Black Sea, the fourth and fifth - to the Pacific, sixth and seventh - to the Baltic. The Russian Navy operates seven Meridian-class vessels to be replaced by the Project 18280 intelligence ship by 2020.

The Vishnya class are a group of intelligence collection ships built for the Soviet Navy in the 1980s. The ships continue in service with the Russian Navy. These ships are large, purpose built ships designed for SIGINT and COMINT electronic intelligence via an extensive array of sensors. The data could be transmitted to shore via satellite link antennaes. The Project 864 are equipped with two satellite communications antennae inside radomes. The ships are armed with two AK-630 close-in weapon systems and SA-N-8 SAM launchers. The propulsion system consists of two diesel engines developing 4,400-bhp and a top speed of 16 knots.

In the early 80s there were technologies that enable using special sonar to detect submarines at ultra-large distances. This led to the creation of new exploration ships, which were the name of the ship underwater situation (GRO). "Vasily Tatishchev" - one of them. Total armed Navy of the Russian Federation is the seven ships of the project 864 - "Tavria", "Victor Leonov," "Sea of Azov", "Kuril Islands", "Karelia", "Vasily Tatishchev," "Admiral Fyodor Golovin." All of them were built in Polish shipyards in Gdansk in the period from 1985 to 1990. During operation some ships of this class have visited on several fleets of the Russian Federation to undergo repairs and upgrades.

The main highlight of the ships of the "Meridian" is a decoding apparatus that can intercept and listen to military communications between ships and aircraft. In addition, the board SRZK "Vasily Tatishchev" set of radio stations and radio intelligence, sonar systems, and apparatus for removing the telemetry data and trajectory of the observations.

The Ministry of Defence at the end of 2014 came to revive from the reserve the medium intelligence ship "Karelia". Project documentation on modernization work was to be prepared by the summer of 2015. Currently, CER-535 "Karelia" was at the "Dalzavod" yard. According to the protocol, "51 TSKTIS" after the installation of new equipment, such as radar equipment, it will be calculated the ship's stability. Medium reconnaissance ship of the 2nd rank "Karelia" was built in Gdansk (Poland) under the project 864 "Meridian". Launched in 1987, it went into operation in 1988, and had served in the Pacific Fleet.

A Russian intelligence-gathering ship accompanied by a tugboat roamed the waters off the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico in April 2014. The Russian vessels Viktor Leonov and Nikolay Chiker have been operating beyond American territorial seas near the coast of Cuba. We respect the freedom of all nations, as reflected in international law, to operate military vessels beyond the territorial seas of other nations, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Tom Crosson stated. The Viktor Leonov CCB-175 was first sighted in Cuba back in February 2014, when it docked in Havana. At the time, neither Cuba nor Russia acknowledged or explained the presence of the spy ship in Havana. Pentagon officials believed the ships were part of an operation since March collecting against the US nuclear missile submarine base at Kings Bay, GA and other US military facilities.

The Baltic fleet's reconnaissance ship Vasily Tatishchev left Baltiysk for the eastern part of the Mediterranean, a military source told Interfax-AVN on 05 October 2015. "The Vasily Tatishchev has left for the coast of Syria, where it will join and reinforce the Russian naval group in the eastern part of the Mediterranean. The ship will be fulfilling its mission. Its crew will monitor the situation on the airwaves both in Syria and all neighboring countries, and also over their territorial waters," the source said. The source said this approach is considered routine for Baltic fleet reconnaissance ships. "They once successfully monitored the war in Yugoslavia," the source said. The Baltic fleet press service declined to comment on the issue.

In February 2016 the Ministry of Defence announced that the Russian military strengthened all kinds of intelligence in the Middle East to better defeat the terrorists. One of the elements of national technical intelligence of the Armed Forces are special reconnaissance ships of the Russian Navy. One such ship STS-201 "Sea of Azov" started getting ready for combat duty in the Mediterranean Sea. At the end of January 2016 made a reconnaissance control access to the sea.

The Medium Intelligence Ship "Sea of Azov" was built in Poland, Gdansk at CVD im.Bohaterev Vesterplyati" (factory #864 / 4). The ship was laid down 08.04.1986 city, launched on 30.09.1986, entered into operation 12.06.1987 was entered into the Black Sea Fleet. Board number - "STS-201". In 2001, the ship was named the best Russian Navy ships in the class. In 2005 the ship was "excellent" fulfill the task of three long voyage to the Mediterranean Sea, as well as was again declared the best vehicle in its class in the Navy, with the award of the prize rolling Navy. In 2006-2007. the ship's radio equipment was modernized. It is part of the 519th separate division of scout ships of the Black Sea Fleet, based at South Bay (Sevastopol).

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Louisiana Guard Assists Police in $2 Million Drug Bust

By Army Sgt. Noshoba Davis Louisiana National Guard

PINEVILLE, La., Feb. 16, 2017  The Louisiana National Guard's Counterdrug Task Force providing an aviation asset in assisting several law enforcement agencies in removing nearly $2 million worth of drugs from the streets of Alexandria, Louisiana, last month.

After a month-long investigation into alleged illegal drug activity, Derrick Felton, 37, of Alexandria, was arrested for possession of nearly 70 pounds of illegal narcotics and a large amount of cash.

The street value of the drugs seized Jan. 27 was around $1.7 million, to include: approximately $1.5 million worth of crystal methamphetamine, nearly $120,000 worth of heroin, more than $100,000 worth of cocaine and nearly $3,000 worth of promethazine syrup. Investigators also seized over $67,000 in cash.

Command, Control Resources

Aviation operations with the LANG's CDTF supported the mission with one UH-72 Lakota helicopter. The enhanced communications and specialized technology onboard the Lakota provided additional support to the Louisiana State Police with its increased command and control resources. This helped law enforcement safely conduct the counterdrug operation that lead to the seizure and arrest of Felton.

The mission of the LANG CDTF is to provide highly skilled soldiers and airmen, specialized equipment and facilities as requested by law enforcement agencies and community based organizations in response to a changing drug threat.

"Working counterdrug is no easy task but can come with gratifying moments by affecting organizations who historically use illegal narcotics trafficking to fund their terrorist networks and insurgent operations," said Army Capt. Marshall Snowden, counterdrug coordinator for the Louisiana National Guard.

The LANG CDTF provides assistance to support local, state and federal law enforcement agencies throughout Louisiana by helping to reduce the demand for drugs through education programs, working with community action groups and serving as role models for at-risk youths.

"Narcotics are not discriminatory and can have an effect on anyone; families, friends or acquaintances. Any time we can disrupt and curtail illicit drugs and keep them off the streets and out of our kids' hands, we are winning," said Snowden, a counterdrug aviation operations pilot.

The LANG's Counterdrug aviation operation flew 375 hours and completed 118 missions in support of civilian law enforcement's efforts to combat illicit narcotic operations throughout 2016.

Agencies involved in and responsible for the investigation include the Louisiana State Police, Alexandria Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI Central Louisiana Safe Streets Task Force), Louisiana Probation and Parole, United States Postal Inspector's Office, Pineville Police Department, Louisiana Army National Guard Counterdrug Task Force, Rapides Parish District Attorney's Office and the Grant Parish Sheriff's Office.

According to the Louisiana State Police, the investigation remains ongoing and more arrests are likely.

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NATO and Finland step up cyber defence cooperation

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

16 Feb. 2017

In the face of a rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape, strong partnerships play a key role in effectively addressing cyber challenges. Today (16 February 2017), NATO and Finland stepped up their engagement with the signing of a Political Framework Arrangement on cyber defence cooperation. The arrangement will allow NATO and Finland to better protect and improve the resilience of their networks.

"We look forward to enhancing our situational awareness and exchanging best practices with Finland, including through dedicated points of contact for rapid information exchange on early warning information and lessons learned," said Ambassador Sorin Ducaru, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges.

"This arrangement is a good example of the cooperation between NATO and Finland  it is practical, substantial and at the same time mutually beneficial. Finland sees many opportunities of enhanced cooperation for example in conducting training and exercises in the cyber domain," said Mr. Jukka Juusti, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence of Finland.

The signing of this arrangement is the latest example of long-standing cooperation on cyber defence between NATO and Finland. Finland is actively engaged with NATO on a number of cyber defence activities, including participation in NATO's annual flagship cyber defence exercise  Cyber Coalition, as well as NATO's Crisis Management Exercise.

NATO tailors its engagement with partner countries on a case-by-case basis, considering shared values, mutual interest and common approaches to cyber defence.

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Indonesian police to verify citizen's involvement in Kim killing

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 17:06, February 16, 2017

Indonesian police will probe implication of its citizen in the killing of the half-brother of top leader of the Democratic People of Republic's Korea (DPRK), a police spokesman said on Thursday.

Siti Aishah, from Serang town of Indonesia's Banten province, was reportedly arrested by Malaysian authority along with another woman for alleged involvement in the assassination of Kim Jong Nam.

"I will check the information," said Inspector General Boy Rafly Amar, spokesman of the national police.

Malaysian police said earlier that the 46-year-old Kim was found dead on Monday at the Kuala Lumpur airport. His body was taken to a hospital Wednesday for postmortem to ascertain the cause of his death.

Two female suspects who were captured by the surveillance footage at the airport had been detained. They hold Vietnamese and Indonesian passport respectively.

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Second suspect in DPRK man's death bears Indonesian passport

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 13:20, February 16, 2017

Malaysian police said on Thursday a second female suspect, who bears an Indonesian passport, has been arrested early in the morning in connection with the death of a man from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

It is not sure yet whether the suspect is related to the female suspect, who was arrested on Wednesday at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport's second terminal, where the deceased DPRK man once looked for help for feeling unwell on Monday and died enroute to the hospital.

Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said in a statement Thursday that the second suspect was also identified from a surveillance camera footage at the airport and was alone at the time of the arrest.

Based on the passport, the suspect is called "Siti Aishah" and was born on Feb. 11, 1992 in Serang of Indonesia.

Malaysian police said earlier that the 46-year-old deceased was holding a DPRK passport under the name Kim Chol. His body was taken to a hospital in Kuala Lumpur Wednesday for post mortem to ascertain the cause of his death.

The results of the post mortem are yet to be released.

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Malaysia nabs second woman in North Korean's killing

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 16, 2017 6:29AM

Malaysian police have arrested a second woman in connection with the recent killing of North Korea's exiled half-brother in Malaysia.

The inspector-general of Malaysian police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, announced the detention of the second woman to Malaysia's Bernama news agency on Thursday. He said an official statement would be issued later on the day.

The first woman, a 29-year-old carrying a Vietnamese passport, had been arrested on Wednesday in connection with the killing of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The 46-year-old Jong-nam was attacked by two female assailants as he was walking through the departure hall at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Monday, South Korea's intelligence chief Lee Byung-ho said.

Both women were reportedly identified using CCTV footage at the airport.

Jong-nam had been spending many years in exile in Macau, a Chinese city. He was readying to board a plane to Macau when he was attacked.

An anonymous Malaysian police source told media, "One of the girls was told to hold a handkerchief on the face of the victim after he'd been sprayed by the other girl."

The police source said that there were also four male suspects.

The first female suspect is due to appear in a Kuala Lumpur court on Thursday.

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An Islamist militant group has executed 41 fighters from Al-Qaeda's former Syria affiliate and allied factions in infighting between the extremists in Syria's Idlib province, a monitor said Friday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Jund al-Aqsa group had executed the 41 fighters in the town of Khan Sheikhun on Monday but the deaths were only confirmed on Friday amid fierce fighting between the Islamist militant factions.

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Malaysian Police Detain 3rd Suspect in Murder Case of N.Korean Leader's Brother

Sputnik News

17:03 16.02.2017

Malaysian authorities have detained the third suspect in the assassination of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half-brother Kim Jong-nam, Selangor police chief Datuk Abdul Samah Mat said Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The man's detention follows the arrest of a woman holding a Vietnamese passport and the other woman with Indonesian travel documents earlier this week. The women were identified due to the CCTV footage from Kuala Lumpur Airport, Malaysia, where the assassination had taken place.

"He is not the main suspect. We detained him because we needed more information about the second suspect. He is her boyfriend. When we got him, (and) through him, we managed to detain the second suspect," Abdul Samah told the Malay Mail Online news site.

Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of Kim Jong-il, the leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011, and the half-brother of the acting leader Kim Jong-un, was killed as he was preparing to board a flight to Macau.

According to the South Korean media reports, Kim Jong-nam was attacked with poisoned needles by two North Korean female agents.

 Sputnik

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U.S.-ROK-Japan Foreign Ministerial Joint Statement on the Situation in North Korea

Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

February 16, 2017



Today the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, Yun Byung-se, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, Fumio Kishida, met in Bonn. The Ministers condemned in the strongest terms North Korea's February 12, 2017 ballistic missile test, noting North Korea's flagrant disregard for multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions that expressly prohibit its ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

Secretary Tillerson reiterated that the United States remains steadfast in its defense commitments to its allies, the Republic of Korea and Japan, including the commitment to provide extended deterrence, backed by the full range of its nuclear and conventional defense capabilities.

The Ministers affirmed they will collaborate to ensure that all countries fully and effectively implement all their obligations and commitments under the relevant UN Security Council resolutions including Resolution 2270 and 2321, and that violations of UN Security Council resolutions by North Korea will be met with an even stronger international response. The Ministers noted that nations that border North Korea or are affected by the regime's destabilizing behavior all urge North Korea to refrain from provocative actions. The Ministers emphasized that North Korea must abandon its proscribed nuclear and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner, and comply with all provisions of the relevant UNSC resolutions as a critical step in preserving regional stability. Only in this way can North Korea be accepted as a responsible member of the international community. The ministers also agreed to continue to draw international attention to the systemic, widespread, and gross violations of human rights in North Korea, and affirmed the importance of an early resolution of the abductions issue.

The Ministers directed their representatives on North Korea policy to hold consultations in the coming days regarding ballistic missile and nuclear challenges posed by North Korea. The Ministers agreed to continue their government efforts to enhance trilateral security cooperation in responding to North Korea's nuclear and missile threat, fully implement UN Security Council resolutions, uphold the global nonproliferation regime, and lead a firm international response to any further violations by North Korea.



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North Korean Alleged Assassination Resembles a Mafia Hit

By Brian Padden February 16, 2017

"I don't feel I have to wipe everybody out, Tom. Just my enemies." - Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part II.

The apparent assassination this week of Kim Jong Nam, the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, bolsters the argument that North Korea is a mafia state that operates outside the law, ruthlessly eliminates its enemies and is dependent upon criminal enterprises for survival.

Investigation update

On Thursday, Malaysian police arrested a second woman carrying an Indonesian passport suspected of involvement in Kim Jong Nam's murder this week at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Another women carrying Vietnamese travel papers was arrested Wednesday in connection with the case. Police also detained a man who provided information that led to the arrest of one of the women.

South Korean officials have said two North Korean female agents poisoned Kim Jong Nam at the airport by reportedly spraying him in the face with an unidentified liquid and holding a cloth over his face. The suspected assailants' images were captured by airport close circuit television (CCTV) cameras.

A Malaysian government source confirmed to Reuters the suspect detained with a Vietnamese passport was the same woman whose image was captured by CCTV footage showing her wearing a white shirt with the letters "LOL" on the front.

Malaysian authorities reportedly also rebuffed efforts by North Korean officials to stop an autopsy from being carried out on the body of Kim Jong Nam.

Crime family

North Korean analysts have categorized the Kim regime as a highly corrupt, family-led criminal enterprise that disregards international laws and is involved in smuggling, arms dealing, including the proliferation of nuclear materials and missile parts, drug trafficking, counterfeiting money, all to generate revenue for the wealthy ruling elite.

In 2012 U.N. diplomats flagged North Korean-made graphite cylinders capable of being used to produce ballistic missiles, from a Chinese freighter ship on its way to Syria. In 2005 an official from Ireland was arrested for distributing high-quality counterfeit $100 bills produced by North Korea known as "super-notes." And in 2016 A British citizen was sentenced to 15 years in prison for conspiring to import 100 kilograms of North Korean methamphetamine into the United States.

North Korea's illicit activities help them evade international economic sanctions imposed for its continued efforts to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missile capabilities that have been banned by the United Nations.

So ordering the murder of a critic and perceived rival like Kim Jong Nam, even if he is a blood relative, would not be unexpected for a North Korean leadership that operates with an underworld mentality, said Robert Kelly with Pusan National University.

"They just don't follow the rules internally and externally. They treat their own people terribly and overseas they basically have engaged in this massive illicit economy and it's not surprising that that would also include illicit political behaviors like assassinations," he said.

Stranger than fiction

"Fredo, you're my older brother, and I love you. But don't ever take sides with anyone against the Family again. Ever." - Michael Corleone in the Godfather Part II.

If proven, the ordered killing of Kim Jong Nam by the North Korean leader goes beyond stereotypical mafia behavior to actually emulate the classic Godfather movies of the 1970s, that chronicled the rise of a fictional Italian-American family crime syndicate.

In the movie Godfather Part II, Fredo Corleone is passed over by his father to become the head of the family crime business in favor of his younger brother Michael. Fredo goes on to betray his brother and (spoiler alert) Michael eventually orders him put to death.

Kim Jong Un's older half brother was also once in line to become head of state, but fell out of favor with their father, Kim Jong Il, after he tried to enter Japan on a forged passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland in 2001. He was basically exiled to Macau where he later openly criticized his brother's rule.

In 2012 he wrote a note to Japanese journalist Yoji Gomi saying, "The Kim Jong-un regime will not last long. Without reforms."

There was also speculation that Chinese President Xi Jinping would have preferred to see him replace his younger brother as the leader of North Korea.

Kim Jong Un issued a "standing order" for his half-brother's assassination after he took power, and there was a failed attempt in 2012, according to a briefing given to lawmakers by the South Korean National Intelligence Service this week.

Criminal minds

Analysts who view North Korea as a mafia state argue that understanding the criminal mentality of the Kim family government can inform the international community to develop effective strategies to halt Pyongyang's threatening nuclear program and end the widespread repressive human rights violations in the country.

Engaging with a criminal state that has repeatedly lied and violated past agreements, Kelly argues, will likely again end in failure.

"I have no particular ideological animus against speaking to North Korea. The problem is that they just don't seem to follow through, and we catch them cheating all the time," said Kelly.

Cutting off the illicit income of the elites and attempting to prosecute leaders involved in criminal activities, he said, could put real pressure on the regime to change. But that would require more cooperation from China, North Korea's top trading partner and supporter. Beijing has been reluctant to support harsh measures that would threaten the Kim family's hold on power and create regional instability.

There was still no mention of Kim Jong Nam's death in North Korean state media as of Thursday morning. At midnight, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun to mark the birthday of his father, the late leader Kim Jong Il, who died in 2011.

Youmi Kim contributed to this report.

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Indian Navy Learning to Combat Chinese Submarines in Major Drill

Sputnik News

17:45 16.02.2017

Dozens of warships, submarines and combat aircraft are taking part in the Indian Navy's Annual Theater Readiness Operational Exercise (TROPEX) 2017, under way off the country's western seaboard since January 24. The drill is aimed at testing the Navy's combat readiness amid the growing activity of Chinese nuclear submarines in the Indian Ocean.

"China has been building up its naval might since the early 2000s with its nuclear powered submarines conducting regular patrols of 100 days and more as part of Beijing's strategy of maintaining constant submarine presence in the Indian Ocean," military expert Vasily Kashin told Sputnik China.

The Indian Ocean is becoming increasingly important to China's economic and security interests as a strategic waterway which helps keep the country's economy going.

Therefore, China's military presence there will keep growing. However, the struggle for the strategic maritime routes is only one of the reasons for the fast-increasing naval competition between China and India.

"Both countries are actively building up the naval components of their strategic nuclear forces. Nuclear missile submarines, their bases and patrol areas need maximum protection and China will be making every effort to keep a watchful eye on any foreign fleets venturing into this area," Kashin continued.

China's growing submarine presence in the Indian Ocean is a source of serious concern in Delhi which is now modernizing its anti-submarine forces with the help of Russian-made Il-18 anti-submarine planes and US-supplied P-8 Poseidon patrol planes.

The TROPEX 2017 exercise involves practicing various anti-submarine warfare scenarios with Indian diesel-electric attack submarines standing in for Chinese and Pakistani submarines.

"During the current drill the Indian Navy is practicing the search for and tracking of enemy submarines apparently using for this purpose the INS Chakra, an Akula-class nuclear-powered attack submarine now on lease from Russia, and which is way more advanced than anything the Chinese now have. If the Indian Navy learns to deal with a dangerous adversary like this one, its chances of being able to spot Chinese subs will notably increase," Vasily Kashin noted.

He added that India and China were now building up military capability only nuclear superpowers once used to boast. Both want to eventually have full-blown nuclear triads of their own, missile defense and mighty nuclear submarine fleets.

"That's why it is so important for China and India to maintain close military contacts, unaffected by political fluctuations. The countries should be able to keep each other informed about their military activity in order to resolve emerging crises and prevent local incidents from degenerating into major catastrophes," Vasily Kashin said in conclusion.

 Sputnik

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Indian Manufacturers Join Race to Cooperate With Foreign Defense Companies

Sputnik News

17:22 16.02.2017

The Indian government's inviting proposals for single-engine fighter jets with a focus on pushing defense manufacturing in the country opens a potential business opportunity for local firms to partner with foreign defense manufacturers.

New Delhi (Sputnik)  Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' push is beginning to yield results with many Indian conglomerates exploring the possibilities of joint venture with major defense manufacturers from abroad. The latest Indian firm to join the race is industrialist Gautam Adani-led Adani Group, which reportedly is in talks with Sweden's Saab AB for a partnership.

The Swedish firm makes Gripen fighter jets, which reportedly is in the race for India's next multi-billion fighter jet order. The other is Lockheed Martin Corp. of the US, which makes the F-16 jets. Saab has promised to build the fighter jets locally if it wins the order. The Swedish firm participated at the Aero India 2017 air show in Bengaluru.

The Indian government has sought proposals for single-engine fighter jets. The plan is to buy 200 of these to help the Indian Air Force beef up its ageing Soviet MiG-21 fighter fleet. The deal is expected to be worth about $10 billion. In addition, the Indian Navy is also eyeing fighter jets for its aircraft carriers, which could be worth another $15 billion.

The deal comes after Indian scrapped a multi-billion dollar deal to buy 126-fighter jets after settling for just 36 Dassault's Rafale fighter jets last year.

What's significant, the government now wants to procure these planes (single-engine fighter) under a new method in which a government panel will prescribe a model to select an Indian partner. The Indian company will exclusively manufacture military equipment for a specified period. The foreign partner will be chosen on the basis of transfer of technology and the financial pitch.

"Saab is offering an industrial facility that will be the center-of-gravity for the Made-in-India Gripen. It is an unrivalled offer that will set new standards in aeronautical engineering excellence for decades to come, should India procure Gripen," said Saab India chairman Jan Widerstrom in a statement on February 10.

Sensing a major business opportunity, many Indian conglomerates with interests in the defense sector are now eyeing manufacturing partnerships. Industrialist Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group has already formed a joint venture firm with Dassault Aviation SA of France for the manufacture of 36 Rafale aircraft, which India ordered for $8 billion.

Another multi-sector, Larsen & Toubro and France's MBDA have entered to develop and supply missiles and missiles systems to meet the growing indigenization and demands of the Indian armed forces.

Saab's aeronautics head Ulf Nilsson confirmed the talks with Adani Group to a leading business daily. "We are in discussions, but I won't want to comment at this stage on specifics. We will come back to that (later)," Nilsson told Mint.

The Adani Group showcased its Israeli Hermes 900 multi-role unmanned aerial system under the joint venture called Adani-Elbit Advanced Systems India Ltd at the Aero Show.

 Sputnik

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Iran's Rohani Seeks To Mend Frayed Ties With Gulf Arab Neighbors

RFE/RL February 16, 2017

Iranian President Hassan Rohani has sought to mend ties with his Gulf Arab neighbors on a one-day trip to Oman and Kuwait, his first since taking power in 2013.

Relations between predominantly Shi'ite Iran and the mainly Sunni Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, particularly Saudi Arabia, remain strained over their support for opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

Rohani said on February 15 that Iran will always seek "good neighborly relations," and he called for greater unity between Shi'a and Sunnis, saying they had "coexisted side by side peacefully for hundreds of years."

Oman's ruler, Sultan Qaboos, held discussions with Rohani about bilateral cooperation in the capital, Muscat.

"Tehran has always been in favor of resolving problems and disputes through dialogue," Rohani said afterward, according to Iranian media. "Iran's military power is only defensive."

He appealed for a cease-fire, increased humanitarian aid. and political dialogue to resolve the conflict in Yemen.

"Today, the Yemenis are in a particularly disastrous situation and we all have to act as Muslim countries to help this people," he said.

Years of war have left Yemen in a state of near famine, according to United Nations officials. Iran has been backing Huthi rebels fighting Yemen's government, which is backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition that has waged a war of devastating air strikes against the rebels.

Iran traditionally maintains good relations with Oman, with which it shares control of the strategically important Strait of Hormuz.

Qaboos was the first Arab head of state to visit Iran after Rohani took office and Oman helped to mediate secret U.S.-Iran talks in 2013 that led to the historic nuclear deal last year.

In 2013, the two countries signed a $60 billion deal to supply Iranian gas to Oman through a pipeline under the gulf.

Later on February 15, Rohani held talks on cooperation with Kuwait's emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah.

Kuwait, where 30 percent of citizens are Shi'a, has maintained normal relations with Tehran despite taking part in the Saudi-led military campaign against Yemen's Shi'ite Huthi rebels.

The Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes only Arab states, in December asked Kuwait to initiate contacts with Tehran to start a dialogue to improve ties.

That led to Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled al-Sabah visiting Tehran last month and calling for for a "normalization of ties and opening dialogue."

His deputy, Khaled al-Jarallah, said in remarks published on February 15 in Kuwait's Al-Qabas newspaper that he hoped Rohani's visit will lead to a dialogue between the Gulf Arab states and Iran.

Jarallah said the elements of dialogue would include Iran refraining from interference in the internal affairs of other gulf states, respecting their sovereignty, and establishing good neighborly relations.

While seeking to repair ties with its closest neighbors, Iran has had no diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, its archrival,since January 2016, when Iranian demonstrators stormed the kingdom's missions in Tehran and Mashhad to protest the execution of a Saudi Shi'ite Muslim cleric.

With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/iran-rohani- seeks-mend-frayed-ties-gulf-arab-neighbors -oman-kuwait/28312502.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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Iraq calls on Turkey to withdraw forces as precondition for normal ties

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Baghdad, Feb 16, IRNA -- Iraq says withdrawal of the Turkish forces from the country's northern territories is the key to resumption of ties between Ankara and Baghdad.

First Deputy Speaker of Iraqi Parliament Homam Baqer al-Hamoudi, in a meeting with Fatih Yildiz, Turkish Ambassador to Iraq, has called on Turkey to respect the Iraqi sovereignty and never interfere in the Iraqi internal affairs, read a statement released by al-Hamoudi's office on Thursday.

The second in command of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, according to the statement, has conditioned the normalization of ties between Baghdad and Ankara on the latter's withdrawal of its military forces from Iraqi northern territories.

Turkey is an important and powerful country and its cooperation with Iraq as well as other regional nations is going to help guarantee stability in the region, said al-Hamoudi according to the statement.

He has also urged Turkey to take a daring decision and withdraw its forces from Iraq following the recent visit to Iraq by Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim whose travel to Baghdad was seen by many as Turkey's efforts to mend relations with its neighbor.

Turkish deployment of its military forces in northern Iraq, has remained to be a source of chilly ties between the two countries.

2044**

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Several people killed, scores wounded in Baghdad car bomb

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 16, 2017 1:44PM

A car bomb has exploded in a southern neighborhood of Iraqi capital, Baghdad, killing several people and injuring scores of others, security sources say.

The incident took place on Thursday when the explosive-laden vehicle blew up in a Baghdad street full of garages commuted by car dealers in Hayy al-Shurta district.

According to reports, the blast has so far killed 51 people, leaving at least 55 others wounded.

A few hours after the incident, the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, which has been wreaking havoc in Iraq and neighboring Syria over past years, claimed responsibility for Thursday bomb attack.

The attack came only a day after a similar car bomb hit the Sadr City suburb of the Iraqi capital on Wednesday, killing at least 15 and wounding 50.

No group or individual has so far claimed responsibility for the Sadr City attack, but its has the hallmark of Daesh terrorists that have been leading a campaign of death and destruction in Iraq over the past years.

Daesh has recently increased its terrorist activities across Iraq in revenge for the blows it has been suffering at the hands of Iraqi forces, particularly in the northern city of Mosul.

Iraqi army soldiers and allied fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces launched the Mosul liberation operation on October 17, 2016, making major gains against Takfiri elements.

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Daesh governor of Mosul, other leaders killed

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 16, 2017 10:39AM

More than a dozen members of the Daesh terrorist group have been killed in a string of operations carried out by the Iraqi air force in the country's northern province of Nineveh.

According to an Iraqi Defense Ministry statement, 15 Daesh terrorists were killed after Iraqi aircraft struck militant outposts near Mosul on Wednesday, the al-Sumaria satellite television network reported.

The attacks destroyed a Daesh command center as well as several tunnels, on which the terrorist group has relied for years to mount surprise attacks.

The Iraqi Joint Operations Command also said a number of militant commanders were killed when a vehicle in which they were traveling was hit in an airstrike on the eastern outskirts of Mosul.

Among those killed was the self-proclaimed Daesh governor of Mosul, identified as Haqqi Esmaeil Owaid also known as Abu Ahmed. Another man identified as Abu Maha, in charge of Daesh intelligence affairs, was also killed in the airstrike.

Additionally, three civilians lost their lives and four others were injured on Wednesday evening when a Daesh drone fired a rocket at the Nabi Younis market east of Mosul.

Iraqi army forces, backed by pro-government Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters and Kurdish forces, launched a joint operation last October to regain control of Mosul from Daesh terrorists.

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NATO Received Libya's Request for Help in Establishing Defense Institutions

Sputnik News

14:23 16.02.2017(updated 14:52 16.02.2017)

NATO has received a formal request from Libya for expertise and advice in establishment of defense and security institutions and will consider it, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  After in 2011 Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was toppled and killed the country has been plunged in a deep crisis. The country is currently ruled by two governments, by a nation-wide elected parliament in Tobruk, in eastern Libya, and by the General National Congress in Tripoli. At the same time, some parts of the country are not controlled by the government as they are seized by armed groups, including Daesh.

"Last night I received a formal request from Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj requesting NATO's advice and expertise in the field of defenseand security institution-building  this request has now been received in the North Atlantic Council we'll discuss how to take it forward as soon as possible."

Backed by the UN, a government of national accord led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj was established. However, it was not supported by the parliament in Tobruk.

The Libyan National Army is not under command of the UN-backed government in Tripoli. Gen. Haftar is supported by the Tobruk-based government.

 Sputnik

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US allies won assurances Friday from new Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that Washington backed a UN-brokered political solution to the Syria conflict, the latest sign the Trump administration will keep to existing policy.

Tillerson used a G20 gathering in Germany to hold a series of meetings with his global peers, reviewing crises from North Korea to Ukraine at a time of great uncertainty over President Donald Trump's "America First" strategy.

On the sidelines of the event, Washington's top diplomat joined a group of countries who support the Syrian opposition for talks on a way to end the nearly six-year war.

"All the participants want a political solution because a military solution alone won't lead to peace in Syria," German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel told reporters in Bonn, adding that "Tillerson became very involved in the debates".

The meeting of the so-called "like-minded" nations -- made up of around a dozen Western and Arab countries as well as Turkey -- was the first since President Donald Trump took office.

Diplomats had said before the talks they were hoping for clarity on whether there had been a change in US policy on Syria, particularly on the future of President Bashar al-Assad.

A new round of United Nations-led talks is set to take place in Geneva on February 23 involving Syrian regime and rebel representatives.

Under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, Washington insisted Assad had to go as part of a political solution to end the fighting.

But Trump has called for closer cooperation with Moscow in the fight against the Islamic State (IS( militant group in Syria, downplaying what happens to Assad.

With Russia's sway in the conflict growing since it launched a military intervention in support of Assad's regime, it has seized the initiative by hosting separate peace talks in Kazakhstan along with US ally Turkey, brokering a fragile six-week-old truce on the ground.

Gabriel said the "like-minded" countries had agreed to step up pressure on Russia and make clear there could be no alternative to the UN-led Geneva talks.

"There should not be any parallel negotiations," he said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, speaking alongside Gabriel, said a key stumbling block was Russia's insistence to view all opposition groups as "terrorists".

A Western diplomatic source said Tillerson had made clear in the meeting "there would be no military cooperation with Russia until they distance themselves from Damascus's stance on the opposition."

The former ExxonMobil boss, who kept a low profile and left Bonn without giving the usual press conference, reassured US partners by sticking close to conventional foreign policy.

In his first one-on-one with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, Tillerson pressed Beijing to "use all available tools" to rein in North Korea after its series of nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

A day earlier, he promised Japan and South Korea that Washington would use the full range of its arsenal, including nuclear weapons, to defend the allies against North Korea.

With the White House embroiled in controversy over its ties to the Kremlin, Tillerson was cautious in his dealings with Moscow, despite Trump's pledges to take a softer line.

Following his first sitdown with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday, Tillerson said the US sought cooperation with Moscow only when doing so "will benefit the American people".

In his closing remarks, Germany's Gabriel welcomed the "active role" Tillerson had taken in the G20 debates.

"I think he is someone we can work well with," he said.

But other diplomats were less convinced, suggesting the Texan had been light on details.

Ayrault said the US position on the Israel-Palestinian conflict came across as "confused" while comments about the Iran nuclear deal raised questions.

"There needs to be more precision on many issues; for the moment, it is all very general," the Frenchman added.

Asked by reporters how his inaugural trip had gone, Tillerson kept it typically brief.

"Met a lot of people, made a lot of new friends," he replied.

Attention now shifts to the more high-profile Munich Security Conference where US Vice-President Mike Pence will make his international debut.

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Myanmar 'ends military ops in troubled Muslim-majority state'

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 16, 2017 7:28AM

Government officials in Myanmar say the army has ended the "clearance operations" in the country's troubled Rakhine State, where a four-month, all-out military crackdown targeted ethnic Rohingya Muslims.

"The situation in northern Rakhine has now stabilized. The clearance operations undertaken by the military have ceased, the curfew has been eased and there remains only a police presence to maintain the peace," Myanmar's newly-appointed national security adviser Thaung Tun said in a statement on Wednesday.

He did not explain, however, whether the military had also lifted the siege that had been laid on the state in October last year. Two officials with Myanmar's presidential office also said military forces had remained in the region to maintain "peace and security."

It was also not clear why the government had decided to end the military operations. While there had for some time been massive international outcry over the abuses that went on against the Muslims in Rakhine, officials had displayed little regard, carrying on with the crackdown.

Hundreds of people from the ethnic Rohingya minority are thought to have lost their lives and almost 70,000 to have fled to neighboring Bangladesh since the military crackdown began late last year, when an attack on the country's border guards was blamed on the Rohingya.

Thaung, the national security adviser, further said, "There can be no excuse for excessive force, for abuses of fundamental human rights and basic criminality. We have shown that we are ready to act where there is clear evidence of abuses."

But his claim that the government would act to counter abuse contradicted its record. The numerous reports of abuse against the Rohingya by the military forces have in the past months either gone uninvestigated or been completely rejected at the end of government probes.

This is while there have been countless eyewitness accounts of summary executions, rapes, and arson attacks against the Rohingya by security forces.

At least 30,000 Rohingya have been internally displaced in Rakhine, while thousands of others have tried to reach Bangladesh over the last months to seek refuge among the Rohingya refugee population that already lives there.

Bangladesh has also started to crack down on the incoming refugees by either preventing them at border transit points or confining them to refugee camps.

Rakhine, home to around 1.1 million members of the minority Rohingya Muslim community, has been the scene of violence against the ethnic Muslims since 2012. Before the military assaults, extremist Buddhists would routinely attack the minority Muslims.

Myanmar's de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been hailed by some as a "democracy icon" and has been awarded the Nobel peace prize, has remained largely silent on the plight of the refugees. She has also overseen investigations into claims of abuse that have concluded by denying violations all together.

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Powerful explosion at Pakistani shrine kills at least 72, injures over 150

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 16, 2017 3:54PM

More than 70 people have been killed and over 150 others injured in a huge bomb explosion at a shrine in Pakistan's southern province of Sindh.

Pakistani local media reported that the blast ripped through the shrine in the town of Sehwan in Sindh Province on Thursday.

"At least 72 are dead and over 150 have been injured," Senior police officer Shabbir Sethar told Reuters by telephone.

The death toll is expected to rise as many of the injured are in critical condition.

The Daesh Takfiri group claimed responsibility for the attack, reported Amaq news agency, which is affiliated to the terrorist outfit.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif immediately condemned the attack.

"The past few days have been hard, and my heart is with the victims," Sharif said. "But we can't let these events divide us, or scare us. We must stand united in this struggle for the Pakistani identity, and universal humanity."

Multiple bombings have rocked Pakistan over the past few days.

On Wednesday, an assailant riding a motorbike attacked a van transporting a judge in the city of Peshawar. The driver of the van was killed and five people, including the judge, were injured.

The Peshawar attack came hours after two bombers hit a government compound in the tribal area of Mohmand near the Afghan border. At least three policemen and two passers-by died in the attack.

On Monday, a deadly bombing rocked Lahore, the capital of Punjab Province, killing over a dozen people.

The Pakistani Taliban faction Jumaat-ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility for the attacks in Lahore and Mohmand.

Three soldiers killed in mineral-rich Balochistan

In a separate attack in the restive province of Balochistan, three Pakistani soldiers were killed and two others wounded when an improvised explosive device hit an army convoy, the military said in a statement.

A captain was among the three killed in the Thursday attack in Awaran district, according to the statement.

Balochistan has been plagued by separatist, extremist and sectarian violence, witnessing several bombings and shooting attacks over the past years.

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IS Claims Deadly Suicide Shrine Bombing in Pakistan

By Ayaz Gul February 16, 2017

An Islamic State suicide bomber killed more than 70 people and wounded about 200 others Thursday inside a crowded Shi'ite shrine in southern Pakistan. Reuters reports that 30 of those killed were children.

Through its media wing, IS claimed responsibility for the attack in which women and children were among the victims in Sehwan, a remote town in Sindh province.

A military spokesman, Major-General Asif Ghafoor, said troops, helicopters and a C-130 aircraft were dispatched to assist in rescue efforts.

District administration officials say a woman carried out the attack and her head has been retrieved from the scene.Separately the army said a roadside bomb struck a military convoy in southwestern Baluchistan province, killing three soldiers.

A wave of suicide bombings and other militant attacks have killed and wounded dozens of people this week across Pakistan.

The deadliest attack occurred Monday, killing at least 14 people and wounding more than 100 others in the eastern city of Lahore.

The anti-state Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the violence.

General Ghafoor said recent terrorist attacks in Pakistan "are being executed on directions from hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan."

He did not elaborate, but Islamabad often alleges Indian intelligence agencies, together with Afghan counterparts, are helping and funding fugitive members of the Pakistani Taliban to plot violence against Pakistan. Kabul denies the charges and India has not commented.

As a result of the shrine attack, Pakistan sealed its border with Afghanistan "with immediate effect until further orders due to security reasons," said a late night military statement.

IS's local franchise in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), has lately stepped up its extremist activities in both countries.

The terrorist group took credit for a Monday bomb blast in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan. That attack left three security personnel dead and wounded eight others.

The loyalists of the Middle East-based terrorist group bombed a Sufi shrine in Baluchistan last November that killed over 60 people and wounded scores of others.

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Russia: Pentagon Should Not Seek Dialogue From 'Position Of Strength'

February 16, 2017

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has said Russia is prepared to improve ties with the Pentagon, but warned against Washington seeking cooperation from a "position of strength."

"We are ready to resume cooperation with the Pentagon, but attempts to build a dialogue with Russia from a position of strength would be futile," Russian news agencies quoted Shoigu as saying on February 16.

"We expect clarification on the position of the Pentagon," he said.

Shoigu's statement came in reaction to comments by U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis who on February 15 spoke of the need to show toughness in dealing with Russia.

"We remain open to opportunities to restore a cooperative relationship with Moscow, while being realistic in our expectations and ensuring our diplomats negotiate from a position of strength," Mattis said during a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.

Shoigu's statement came just hours before General Joe Dunford and General Valery Gerasimov, the U.S. and Russian military chiefs of staff, were to hold talks in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, in the first meeting between the two countries' senior military members since Donald Trump was elected president last year.

Shoigu said Moscow would seek Dunford's explanation at the Baku meeting.

Based on reporting by Reuters, Interfax, TASS, and CNN

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/russia-us-defense-shoigu- dialogue-position-of-strength/28313135.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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Trump: Reports of New Russian Missile Won't Harm US Ability to Work With Moscow

Sputnik News

23:07 16.02.2017

A Russian spy ship allegedly detected off the US eastern coast, a newly deployed Russian cruise missile and Russian military airplanes flying near a US destroyer in the Black Sea will not damage Washington's efforts to build relations with Moscow, US President Donald Trump said in a press conference on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  When asked whether the recent developments will damage bilateral relations and undermine the US ability to work with Russia, Trump said, "No."

On Tuesday, US media reported citing officials that US authorities detected a Russian ship in the international waters off the east coast of the United States.

US media also reported Tuesday that Russia deployed ground-based nuclear cruise missiles in purported violation of the Russia-US agreement that prohibits the development, testing or fielding of ground-based cruise missiles with a range of 300 to 3,400 miles.

Earlier on Tuesday, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Mikhail Ulyanov told Sputnik that the US media reports on alleged Russia's violation of the INF could not be taken seriously, since the accusations were baseless and no evidence or facts had been provided with.

US Defense Department spokesperson Michelle Baldanza said on Tuesday that Pentagon was concerned about several incidents by multiple Russian aircraft in the Black Sea near the destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) on Friday.

Spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said on Tuesday that there were no incidents involving Russian military planes flying near a US destroyer in the Black Sea on February 10

 Sputnik

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Russia Not Interfering in Internal Affairs of Other Countries - Lavrov

Sputnik News

16:30 16.02.2017(updated 17:14 16.02.2017)

Russia is not interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, particularly the United States, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday at a meeting with new US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

BONN (Sputnik)  US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are holding an official bilateral meeting in Bonn, Germany on Thursday, during which they will discuss possible areas for collaboration.

"You have to understand that we do not interfere in the internal affairs of other states," Lavrov said in response to a reporter's question.

Since 2014, relations between Russia and the European Union and the United States, deteriorated amid the crisis in Ukraine. Brussels, Washington and their allies introduced several rounds of sanctions against Russia on the pretext of its alleged involvement in the Ukrainian conflict, which Moscow has repeatedly denied. In response to the restrictive measures, Russia has imposed a food embargo on some products originating in countries that have targeted it with sanctions.

Since then, NATO has been building up its military presence in Europe, particularly in eastern European countries bordering Russia, using Moscow's alleged interference in Ukraine as a pretext.

 Sputnik

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Much Ado About Nothing: Why Russian Ship Off US Coast is No Cause for Concern

Sputnik News

11:42 16.02.2017(updated 12:07 16.02.2017)

Earlier this week, media reported that a Russian military ship was spotted in international waters off the east coast of the United States. According to unnamed US military officials, the ship, the SSV-175 Viktor Leonov, was detected 130 km from the coast of Delaware.

"It's not a huge concern, but we are keeping our eyes on it," an official told Fox News.

At the same time, a separate official noted that the Russian ship is capable of intercepting communications and signals and can also measure "US Navy sonar capabilities." The source said that the ship is also armed with surface-to-air missiles.

This was not the first time the SSV-175 Viktor Leonov has been spotted in the Atlantic and near the US. A year ago, the ship was involved in a joint exercise with the Venezuelan navy. It was also seen in Havana in January 2015.

Routine Activity

According to the Russian maritime doctrine, updated with regard to the American and Chinese strategies, the navy is the backbone of Russia's maritime activities and those activities are among the top national priorities.

Russia places special emphasis on two directions, the Atlantic and the Arctic region. The Atlantic was highlighted in the document due to NATO's increased military activities and the alliance's expansion towards Russia's border.

"Russian naval intelligence ships are constantly present in many remote areas of the World Ocean. They do not carry offensive weapons and pose no threat to any country. They can explore migration of biological resources and the occurrence of mineral resources. At the same time, they can create 'acoustic images' of warships and submarines of the potential enemy," Russian journalist and commentator Alexander Khrolenko wrote in a piece for Sputnik.

Hydrology is another important exploration field. Naval spy ships are involved in updating a hydrologic map of the World Ocean in order to improve the distance and accuracy when detecting enemy ships.

It is believe that spy ships are capable of laying an optimal course for a submarine to avoid detection by NATO electromagnetic networks as well as designating secure patrol areas. However, the actual tasks and capabilities of intelligence ships are classified.

According to information from open sources, the SSV-175 Viktor Leonov is a medium intelligence ship, the seventh of project 864 (NATO reporting name Vishnya Class).

It was commissioned in 1988 with the Russian Northern Fleet. The ship has a displacement of 3,800 tons, a length of 91.5 meters, a beam of 14.5 meters and a draft of 5.6 meters. It can reach speeds of 16 knots and has an operation range of 7,000 miles. The ship has complements of 220 crew members.

The Pentagon is concerned that the Russian navy has been spying on the Kings Bay submarine base in Georgia, the Dover Navy base in Delaware as well as other strategic facilities on the eastern coast of the US.

According to Khrolenko, it is incorrect to assume that Moscow's maritime activities in the region are hostile towards the US since neutral waters of the Atlantic are open to all types of ships, including military.

The Russian ship did not violate any international navigation laws and was moving at a low speed and located a considerable distance from the US coast, according to Igor Nikolaichuk, a senior security analyst at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies.

"This is a routine intelligence activity and no one is hiding this. The ship was not disguised as a civil vessel. This is routine collection of intelligence data. Almost all countries do this. The Russian ship violated no laws. Why did Fox News turn it into almost a sensation? The Russian topic is very popular in the US now and such news generates good ratings," Nikolaichuk told Radio Sputnik.

'Atmosphere of Suspicion'

The US and NATO also have a fleet of spy ships and some of which have repeatedly been spotted near Russia. For example, the USS Mount Whitney of the US Six Fleet was engaged in exploring the waters of the Black Sea.

The Pentagon is also ramping up aerial intelligence activities near Russia's border. On February 13, a RC-135W spy plane and a P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft were on intelligence missions near Kaliningrad region and Crimea.

The RC-135W took off from the Mildenhall airbase in Britain and flew 55 km from Russia's land border and nearly 80 km from the main base of the Baltic Fleet. Meanwhile, the second aircraft took off from the Sigonella naval air station in Sicily and flew over the Black Sea, southwest of Sevastopol.

"Apparently, in order to dismantle the atmosphere of suspicion and boost security, the West first of all needs to give up its anti-Russian posture and stop the NATO eastward expansion," Khrolenko wrote.

According to an analysis by The National Interest military publication, Washington highly overestimates Moscow as the US' top security threat.

"The public and the government agencies that investigate national security threats [] have a heightened focus on Russia that is not entirely the result of sober analysis. [] While Russia poses a serious espionage threat to the United States, it is just one of many national security concerns. Putting too much effort into watching for a Russian hack might prevent government agencies from detecting other threats," the article read.

According to The National Interest, escalation with Russia "hamstrings the United States on a variety of fronts."

"Russia has a unique opportunity to prevent the United States from taking action in many parts of the world, and it persistently challenges American initiatives to force its way to the negotiating table," the article read.

 Sputnik

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Syrian Armed Opposition Agrees With Creation of Syria Ceasefire Monitoring Group

Sputnik News

20:28 16.02.2017(updated 20:40 16.02.2017)

The Syrian opposition delegation has agreed with the creation of a group on ceasefire in the country with participation of Russia, Turkey and an "Arab group," but is against participation of Iran, the head of delegation to Astana talks, Mohammed Alloush, said Thursday.

ASTANA (Sputnik)  Despite the objections of the Syrian military opposition concerning Iran's role, which were mentioned by Alloush, the decision on the establishment of the joint Russia-Turkey-Iran group on ceasefire monitoring was taken and confirmed by the corresponding document.

"We have confirmed the creation of a commission which would bring together the Turkish side and Russia, the Arab group will play a big role in this commission. This Arab group will comprise Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. We do not accept Iran's role. There was no agreement reached on this," Alloush told a press conference.

The Syrian armed opposition discussed with Russia mechanisms to control ceasefire during Astana talks, the head of Syrian opposition delegation to the talks, he said.

"We also discussed mechanisms to establish control over the ceasefire regime. Russia mentioned a brief document in response to the document that we presented," Alloush said at a press conference.

Russia has confirmed the intention to send the Syrian armed opposition via Turkey a schedule of lifting the siege of Syria's town of East Ghouta, he said.

"The Russian side has confirmed the intention to send us a schedule of lifting the siege of Ghouta and to establish mechanisms on implementing this task, and that this document will be submitted to us via Turkey as a guarantor."

Syria's armed opposition will consider the Russian offer to release 100 prisoners held by the Syrian government under the Astana ceasefire monitoring mechanism, Alloush said.

"Regarding the prisons, they [Russia] offered to use the mechanism to release prisoners Russia has offered to give us the names of 100 prisoners that will be released. We talked about 10,000, while this is just 100. This measure appears illogical but we will look into this, we will reply officially and we will support everyone's release," Alloush said.

The second round of Astana talks was held in Kazakhstan's capital on February 15-16. On Wednesday, Russian, Iranian, Jordanian and Syrian delegations held a number of technical meetings.

The first round of Astana talks on Syrian crisis settlement brought together the representatives of the Syrian government and the armed opposition groups for the first time in the six years of the Syrian war. As a result of the talks, Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed to establish a trilateral mechanism to monitor the ceasefire that came into effect on December 30, 2016.

 Sputnik

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'Waste of Time': Syrian Opposition Doubts 3rd Round of Astana Talks to Be Held

Sputnik News

20:24 16.02.2017(updated 20:25 16.02.2017)

Osama Abu Zeid, a representative of the Syrian armed opposition delegation, said Thursday he assessed the results of the Astana talks pessimistically and did not expect that a third round would take place in this format.

ASTANA (Sputnik)  The second round of Astana talks is held in Kazakhstan's capital on February 15-16. On Wednesday, Russian, Iranian, Jordanian and Syrian delegations held a number of technical meetings.

"The perception that Astana gave absolutely nothing to the Syrian people is being reinforced. This is a waste of Syrians' time  so I am saying I am very pessimistic and do not expect there to be another round of talks in Astana," he said.

The first round of Astana talks on Syrian crisis settlement brought together the representatives of the Syrian government and the armed opposition groups for the first time in the six years of the Syrian war. As a result of the talks, Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed to establish a trilateral mechanism to monitor the ceasefire that came into effect on December 30, 2016.

 Sputnik

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Two dozen Syrian civilians, including children, killed in Turkish bombardment of al-Bab: Group

Iran Press TV

Thu Feb 16, 2017 3:30PM

At least two dozen civilians, including children, have been killed in airstrikes and shelling by the Turkish military in Syria's northern border city of al-Bab over the past 24 hours, a monitoring group says.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Thursday that 11 children had been among those killed in the latest Turkish bombardment of the city, which lies 40 kilometers northeast of Aleppo.

Turkey's army, however, claimed that it had only killed 15 "terrorists" in the operation, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Over the weekend, Ankara-backed militants entered the center of al-Bab.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday that the flashpoint Syrian city of al-Bab, once the stronghold of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, is now mostly controlled by Ankara-backed militants.

According to the observatory, Daesh terrorists are still in control of major areas in al-Bab, even though Turkish forces and their allies have captured a string of areas in the western flank of the town. The UK-based group also says Turkish forces have made little progress since entering the city from the west.

The advance on al-Bab risks putting Turkish troops in direct conflict with Syrian government forces, which are closing in on the city from the south.

On August 24, 2016, the Turkish Air Force and special ground forces kicked off Operation Euphrates Shield inside Syria in a declared bid to rid the border area of Daesh terrorists and forces of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and Democratic Union Party (PYD).

The operation was not coordinated with the Syrian government, which has described it as a violation of the Arab country's sovereignty.

The government in Ankara claims that recent terrorist attacks in Turkey, including a New Year's Day shooting in an Istanbul nightclub that killed 39 people, had been masterminded in the Daesh-held cities of al-Bab and Raqqah.

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A UN investigative panel is pressing the Syrian government to hand over the names of commanders, military units and other entities suspected of carrying out chemical attacks, according to a report released Friday.

The joint panel of the United Nations and Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has concluded that Syrian forces were responsible for three chlorine bombings of villages in 2014 and 2015.

In its latest report to the Security Council, the panel said it had formally asked Syria to provide details of air operations, specifically at two air bases from which helicopters carrying the chlorine bombs lifted off.

Investigators are seeking the "names of specific Syrian Arab Armed Forces units and any entity outside the Armed Forces" listed on flight plans, said the report by the UN-OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM).

"Such information is of great importance, given that commanders are responsible for any assets under their control," said the report. The Syrian government has ignored the request, it added.

Syria has denied using chemical weapons in the nearly six-year war while its ally Russia, a permanent Security Council member, has dismissed the panel's findings as "inconclusive".

France and Britain are pushing the Security Council to impose sanctions on those responsible for chemical attacks and to ban sales of helicopters to Syria.

The panel said it was awaiting further determinations from the OPCW, which carries out fact-finding missions to establish whether chemical attacks took place, but does not attribute blame.

In a report in December, the OPCW said it had investigated allegations of a chemical attack in Aleppo on August 2 last year, but was unable to "confidently determine" whether a chemical was used as a weapon.

UN member-states have come forward with nine allegations of chemical weapons use or possession, including one alleging a chlorine attack carried out by an armed opposition group in Aleppo in December, the report said.

Three of those allegations involve the Islamic State (IS) militant group. The information has been sent to the OPCW, which may decide to investigate further.

In a previous report, the panel concluded that IS had used mustard gas in an attack in 2015.

Human Rights Watch this week said it had collected witness accounts, photographs and video of at least eight chemical attacks carried out by Syrian forces in the final weeks of the battle for Aleppo late last year.

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Turkish Forces 'Could Stay' in Syria's al-Bab After Its Liberation

Sputnik News

21:38 16.02.2017(updated 21:40 16.02.2017)

On Thursday morning, Turkish media released reports about the full liberation of the Syrian city of al-Bab from Daesh, citing the head of the Turkish General Staff Hulusi Akar. Capturing the city is of strategic importance to Turkey in order to prevent the Syrian Kurds taking it and unifying their own territories.

Meanwhile, the Turkish General Staff has not confirmed this information, while the country's Defense Minister Fikri Isik said that al-Bab is surrounded and that the military operation is underway.

In an interview with Sputnik Turkey, retired Lieutenant-General of the Turkish Air Force, Erdogan Karakush commented on the situation in the city and the statements of Turkish officials.

According to him, the liberation of the city doesn't mean that the Turkish troops would leave the area right away.

"The US supports the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which controls the territory to the east of the Euphrates. PYD forces seek to capture Raqqa, and if this happens, Syria will be divided. Therefore, Turkey has, in addition, to take action to prevent Syria's division and to work hard on weakening the positions of the PYD and the PKK," Karakush told Sputnik.

The Democratic Union Party (PYD) and Kurdistan's Workers Party (PKK) are left-wing Kurdish political parties, which Turkish authorities view as the main threat to their country's unity. The PYD was established in 2003 by Kurdish activists in northern Syria, while the PKK is currently active in Turkey and Iraq.

"Turkish troops should encircle Kurdish forces and prevent them from moving toward Raqqa. I believe that it would be the right strategy. In addition, it could contribute to the withdrawal of PYD troops from Manbij. It will also correspond to Russia's and Syria's interests. Why? Because such a strategy, which will prevent the Kurdish forces from extending their influence to the territory to the west of the Euphrates and creating a large Middle Eastern corridor, will help maintain the integrity of the Syrian state," Karakush concluded.

Al-Bab, Syria is one of Daesh's last remaining strongholds near the Turkish border. The military operation there is being conducted in coordination with Russia to prevent clashes with Syrian government forces.

 Sputnik

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Over 20 Civilians Dead in Turkish Strikes on Syria's Al-Bab - Kurdish Politician

Sputnik News

21:30 16.02.2017(updated 21:41 16.02.2017)

At least 24 civilians have died as a result of the Turkish offensive on northern Syria's Al Bab, Rezan Hedo, a member of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Council, told Sputnik on Thursday.

BEIRUT (Sputnik)  Earlier on the day, the Turkish defense minister said that the Syrian city of al-Bab has been surrounded by Turkish-led forces.

"Over the past 24 hours, Turkish airstrikes and artillery killed 24 civilians, including 11 children, in Al Bab," Hedo said.

The casualty count is likely to rise, he added, noting that all those killed had already been identified.

The Turkish military operation in Syria's al-Bab has entered the final stage.

The operation has been widely criticized both by the Syrian Kurds and Damascus, who have accused Ankara of violating Syria's territorial integrity.

Al-Bab is one of Daesh's last remaining strongholds near the Turkish border. Capturing the city is of strategic importance to Turkey in order to prevent the Syrian Kurds taking it and unifying their own territories.

On Tuesday, the Turkish Prime Minister said that most of al-Bab is under contol.

 Sputnik

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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.
Pakistani officials say security forces have killed at least 39 suspected militants in countrywide operations following a suicide attack at a famed Sufi shrine in the country's south.

The attack was claimed by the Islamic State group which said it targeted a Shiite gathering.

Three security officials say the overnight raids also led to the arrest of 47 suspects, including some in Sindh province where the attack on the shrine happened the previous day.

They say the raids targeted militant hideouts and led to shootouts with insurgents. Across Pakistan, at least 39 suspected militants were killed.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity on Friday because they were not authorized to talk to reporters about the security operations.

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They marched. They were arrested. They were sprayed with water hoses and brutalized by police officers and deputized citizens.

They saw Martin Luther King Jr. speak.

About a half-dozen African-American residents told their stories from the civil rights movement in Danville in the early 1960s during an event at the Danvillian Gallery on Thursday evening.

The Bloody Monday aftermath discussion was presented by the Danville/Pittsylvania County chapter of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society.

The movements participants recalled their struggle with humor and descriptions of life under racial oppression and conditions they faced in jail after being arrested during protests. For those former foot soldiers, the civil rights era was not a classroom lesson, it was their life.

I didnt study the civil rights movement, Archie Glass told about 40 attendees at the event. I was in it.

In the early 1960s, legal segregation of the races  through separate but unequal facilities for blacks  ruled in Danville and throughout the rest of the South. Restaurants, hotels, hospitals, schools, libraries, courtrooms, parks, buses, theaters, cemeteries and restrooms all fell under the cruel system of segregation.

What began as a day of protests 50 years ago in Danville ended in violence, becoming known as Bloody Monday.

On the night of June 10, 1963, about 50 civil rights marchers had gathered outside Danvilles jail to hold a prayer vigil for those who had been arrested during protests earlier in the day.

Deputized city workers, police officers and state troopers carrying high-pressure fire hoses and nightsticks injured about 47 black demonstrators, turning the event into a pivotal moment for Danvilles civil rights movement.

The incident was a culmination of frustration and protests resulting from institutional discrimination against blacks in Danville and across the South.

Lucius Whipple, 77, told the Danville Register & Bee during an interview before the discussion that he was sprayed with water hoses and had dogs sicced on him alongside Bishop Lawrence Campbell and his wife, Gloria, during the June 10, 1963, march.

We dispersed, Whipple recalled. The dogs were ferocious.

Whipple was part of the NAACP and was taught by his pastor to do whats right, he said. He saw King speak at High Street Baptist Church when the civil rights leader visited Danville.

I met Martin Luther King Jr., Whipple said. He was just a dynamic speaker.

Race relations in Danville have improved since then, but there is still animosity between blacks and whites, he said.

Weve made a lot of progress, but we still got a long way to go, Whipple said.

Karice Luck, president of the local Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society chapter and national membership coordinator, said stories like the ones shared Thursday evening need to be told.

We have such a rich history here, Luck said.

The Bloody Monday discussion is a nice complement to the civil rights exhibit on display at the Danvillian Gallery, Luck said.

Alabama and Mississippi are always mentioned during civil rights discussions, but Danville is not talked about as much, she said.

The mission of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Inc. is to preserve African-ancestored family history, genealogy and cultural diversity by teaching research techniques and disseminating information throughout the community, according to the groups Facebook page.

During his recollection, Glass told attendees school teachers at Langston School  where he was a student at the time  encouraged students to demonstrate, while others were scared. But we went, Glass said.

He was first arrested for trespassing at the Charcoal House on Riverside Drive and spent the night in jail. He was arrested a second time and ended up jailed for 30 days, serving time at the city jail, city farm and in Halifax, Glass said.

He and his friends were not guilty of anything, he said.

We just wanted to be free, Glass said, adding that blacks were getting taxed without representation.

Glass also recalled getting sprayed with water hoses on the courthouse steps and beaten with nightsticks by deputized citizens.

Everybody who wanted to be deputized whipped you, Glass said.

Carolyn Wilson recalled participating in nightly mass meetings that included speakers, singing and motivational messages to go back into the trenches.

We were foot soldiers, Wilson said.

She added that she and her fellow protesters didnt have jobs, so they had nothing to lose. But their parents worked and had everything to lose, so they stayed home and worried about their children in jail, Wilson said.

Those in the movement didnt realize the enormity of their actions at the time, she added.

You dont know that youre in a revolution, Wilson said. Youre just doing what you know is right.

Being arrested and taken to jail was fun, with demonstrators sitting in cells and playing cards, she added.

However, the authorities thought they were having too much fun, so they took away their mattresses, she recalled. Wilson and her fellow protesters decided to fast.

We were so hungry by the time we got out of jail, she said.

But she remembered also feeling fear mingled with resolve.

We were scared, she said. It was like there was something driving you to do this.

They got into buses at 5 a.m. and traveled to Washington to see King deliver his famous I Have a Dream speech in August 1963, she said.

Freedom Fighters came to Danville and some of the locals joined King for marches in other places and went to jail, Wilson said. She recalled the fear she experienced when she encountered the Ku Klux Klan in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

That was the end of my jail-going career, Wilson said. Its never going to be the end of my civil rights career.

Glass wife, Laverne Glass, recalled spending 16 straight days in jail in 1963 and once going to the library on Main Street, only to see the police shut it down to everyone.

In jail, there was one commode for 32 people in a cell made for 16 inmates, she said.

Like Whipple, Laverne Glass added that Danville has come a long way, but there is still progress to be made. However, if you put God first, nothing is impossible, she said.
New U.K. Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt has reversed most of an economic package announced by the government just weeks ago, including a planned cut in income taxes. Hunt said Monday he was scrapping almost all the tax cuts announced last month by the Conservative government of Prime Minister Liz Truss, and also signaled that public spending cuts are on the way. It was a bid to soothe turbulent financial markets spooked by fears of excessive government borrowing. The move raises questions about how long the beleaguered prime minister can stay in office, though Truss insisted she has no plans to quit. She vowed to lead the Conservatives into the next general election, but many in the party want her gone.
(AIM Ticker: LND.L)

LONDON, Feb. 17, 2017 /CNW/ - Landore Resources Ltd. (AIM:LND) ("Landore Resources" or "the Company") is pleased to present the Maiden Mineral Resource estimate and report for the BAM East Gold Deposit on its Junior Lake Property, Ontario, Canada ("BAM East Gold Deposit").

Highlights:

301,000 ounces gold Maiden Resource Estimate for the BAM East Gold Deposit.





One year from discovery to Maiden Resource Estimate. Discovery drill-hole 0415-517 drilled in December 2015. Resource cut-off 3 rd January 2017.





January 2017. US$5 per ounce of gold discovery cost with the drill success rate at 36 ounces of gold per metre drilled (8,436 metres total).





98 percent combined gold recovery by gravity concentration followed by cyanidation leach extraction of the gravity tail.





Review by RPA has been successful in outlining the favourable BAM Sequence along a strike length of approximately five kilometres.

Commenting on this report, Chief Executive Officer of Landore Resources, Bill Humphries, said:

"I am delighted to announce Landore's Maiden resource of 301,000 ounces of gold for our exciting BAM East Gold Deposit, which has been rapidly taken from discovery to resource in just one year.

Our remarkably low discovery cost further underlines the significant growth potential of the BAM East Gold Deposit. In addition, exploration drilling has succeeded in establishing the potential for the highly prospective Junior Lake Shear, which traverses Landore's Junior Lake Property from east to west, to host other gold occurrences.

Our work programme this year is aimed at further growth of the existing resource, discovery of further gold deposits along the Junior Lake Shear and progressing the BAM East Gold Deposit towards development by initiating a Pre-Feasibility study by year end.

This Gold discovery and its advancement is a remarkable achievement by Landore's Exploration team and is a testament to their dedication and perseverance in the exploration of the Junior Lake Property."

Extracts from NI 43-101 Technical Report on the BAM East Gold Deposit

"EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, BAM EAST GOLD DEPOSIT

Roscoe Postle Associates Inc. (RPA) was retained by Landore Resources Canada Inc. (Landore) to complete an initial Mineral Resource estimate for the BAM East Gold Deposit and to prepare a supporting Technical Report. This Technical Report is compliant with the requirements of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101).

Landore is a fully-owned subsidiary of Landore Resources Ltd., which is based in Guernsey and listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. Landore has recently discovered the BAM East Gold Deposit within its Junior Lake Project, located approximately 235 km north-northeast of Thunder Bay, Ontario, and approximately 75 km east-northeast of the village of Armstrong Ontario, Canada.

The Junior Lake Project consists of the newly discovered BAM East Gold Deposit along with two nickel-copper-platinum group element (Ni-Cu-PGE) deposits known as the B4-7/Alpha Zone Deposit and the VW Deposit.

Landore completed a drilling campaign in the fall of 2015, consisting of eight diamond drill holes for a total of 2,223 m. Two of the eight drill holes were drilled to test a geophysical target located two kilometres to the east of the B4-7 Deposit. The geophysical target drilling intersected a wide zone of gold mineralization close to surface that is now known as the BAM East Gold Deposit. Landore has since carried out follow-up drilling programs in February 2016, in August 2016, and in October 2016. These drilling programs have been successful in expanding the limits of the gold mineralization along the down-plunge direction. In addition, the drilling programs have confirmed the presence of the mineralized controlling structure (the Junior Lake Shear Zone) along a total strike length of approximately 2,000 m by widely spaced drill holes.

The BAM East Gold Deposit is located in the south central area of the Junior Lake property and is interpreted as an Archean-aged mesothermal gold deposit. The deposit consists of gold mineralization that is hosted by sheared and altered rocks of the Grassy Pond Sill and the BAM Sequence. The deposit has been traced by detailed drilling at approximately 50 m centres and wider spaced drill holes at approximately 100 m centres along a strike length of approximately 600 m. Reconnaissance-scale step-out drilling has also intersected gold mineralization in the same host rocks along a strike length of approximately 1,900 m. Based upon the information collected from the detailed scale diamond drill holes, the host rock units strike in an east-southeast direction (average of azimuth 105) and dip steeply to moderately to the south at 70 to 75. The gold mineralization is interpreted to reside within a series of tabular shaped zones that are oriented in a roughly en-echelon configuration and are generally parallel to the overall strike of the host rock units. Six mineralized zones are currently recognized, and their estimated true widths of the mineralized zones range from 3.7 m to 9.4 m. They have been traced by drilling from surface to a vertical depth of approximately 350 m. The strike and depth limits of the mineralization remain undefined by the current drilling pattern.

The Mineral Resources for the BAM East Gold Deposit were estimated by RPA based on drill hole and assay data available up to January 3, 2017 and are summarized in Table 1-1.

TABLE 1-1 MINERAL RESOURCES AS AT JANUARY 27, 2017, BAM EAST

GOLD DEPOSIT Landore Resources Canada Inc.  Junior Lake Project







Category Tonnes

(000 t) Grade

(g/t Au) Contained Au

(000 oz) Indicated 4,455 1.35 193 Inferred 2,730 1.23 108

Notes:

1. CIM definitions were followed for Mineral Resources. 2. Mineral Resources are estimated at a block cut-off grade of 0.3 g/t Au. 3. Mineral Resources are estimated using a long-term gold price of US$1,400 per ounce, and a US$/C$ exchange rate of 0.75. 4. A minimum mining width of 3 m was used. 5. Bulk densities for the main host rocks are 2.82 t/m3, 2.84 t/m3, and 2.92 t/m3. 6. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. 7. Numbers may not add due to rounding.

Conclusions

BAM EAST GOLD DEPOSIT

The BAM East Gold Deposit is a newly discovered gold deposit that has been partially defined by diamond drill holes. A total of 43 drill holes that aggregate 8,436 m in length have been completed at this deposit to date. The cut-off date for the drill hole database is January 3, 2017, which represents the date that the final assay results were received for drill hole 0416-560. A small number of Screen Metallic assay results were received from the laboratory after the cut-off date. These results were not received in time to be incorporated into the Mineral Resource, consequently the Fire Assay results for these samples were used to estimate the block grades. The Screen Metallic assay results will be incorporated in future updates of the Mineral Resource estimate for the BAM East Gold Deposit.

The main stratigraphic sequence that is observed to host the large majority of the newly discovered gold mineralization at the BAM East Gold Deposit is referred to as the BAM Sequence. The character of this package of rocks has been determined mostly from observations in drill core and in limited exposures in trenches and outcrops in the area. In the immediate deposit area, the BAM Sequence is comprised largely of very fine grained to aphanitic material which has been recorded as clastic sedimentary unit in the drill logs. It is typically a medium to dark green-grey to black colour, contains a weakly to strongly developed foliation, and is characterized by a soapy feel to the touch locally. Characteristic sedimentary textures are generally not well developed in the immediate deposit area. Preliminary geochemical characterization studies suggest that the sediments have been derived from precursor rocks of ultramafic composition.

The BAM East Gold Deposit is interpreted as an Archean-aged mesothermal gold deposit. The deposit consists of gold mineralization that is hosted by sheared and altered rocks of the Grassy Pond Sill and the BAM Sequence. The gold mineralization is commonly observed in drill core to exist as visible gold that is hosted by very thin, foliation-parallel quartz-rich veinlets, hosted by highly fissile ultramafic sediments of the BAM Sequence, or by foliated rocks of the Grassy Pond Sill. A preliminary petrographic study carried out on a number of samples has identified the presence of coarse native gold that is present in association with an unidentified silvery mineral that occur within calcite replacement patches and veinlets.

Apart from the fissile nature observed in the ultramafic sediments, little traditional megascopic alteration (sericite-ankerite), hydrothermal sulphide deposition (pyrite-pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite-arsenopyrite) or large-scale quartz veining is observed associated with the mineralized rock units of the BAM Sequence. Within the host rocks of the Grassy Pond sill, the alteration is characterized by both a partial or complete destruction and replacement of both the primary plagioclase phenocrysts and the interstitial material. Megascopic observations suggest that the main alteration signature is represented by a light grey-green to black colour that is believed to represent the formation of either Mg-rich chlorite or Fe-rich chlorite, respectively. Narrow zones of intensely developed foliation are present on occasion. All primary rock textures are completely destroyed within these zones and are replaced with an alteration assemblage of chlorite-silica-carbonate(?). The specific nature of the carbonate alteration (calcite/dolomite/ankerite) has not been determined.

ALS Metallurgy Americas was engaged by Landore in December 2016 to carry out a preliminary assessment of the metallurgical response of two composite samples from the BAM East Gold Deposit. The focus of the test program included an assessment for gold recovery through combined gravity concentration and cyanidation bottle roll leaching of the gravity tails at a single primary grind of 75 m K 80 . Between 98% and 99% of the feed gold was recovered through combined gravity concentration and cyanidation leaching of gravity tails for the two composites tested. Gold leach kinetics was fast, with most of the gold extraction taking place within the first six hours. Sodium cyanide and lime consumption averaged approximately 0.1 kg/t and 0.3 kg/t, respectively. Gold head grades were calculated at 2.0 g/t for both composites based on combined gravity and cyanidation leach test results.

RPA constructed a grade-block model by applying a capping value of 15 g/t Au to all samples contained within the mineralized wireframe domains, and by compositing the capped samples to an equal length of one metre. The average bulk densities of the three host lithologies were estimated using the information collected by Landore. The average bulk density for the BAM Sequence and the Grassy Pond Sill is 2.82 t/m3 and 2.84 t/m3, respectively. The average bulk density of the Marshall Lake group is 2.92 t/m3.

The distribution of the gold grades, grade times thickness (GT) product, and estimated true width were examined for each of the mineralized domains by preparing contoured longitudinal projections using the contouring function available in the Surpac software package. The results suggest that the gold grades in Zone 402 are preferentially oriented as shoots that plunge steeply to the east. The gold grade distributions for the remainder of the zones are not as well defined, and appear to occur as smaller-scale pockets of elevated grades. Additional drill hole information will be required to fully outline the distribution with accuracy.

An upright, rotated, sub-blocked model with the long axis of the blocks oriented along an azimuth of 105 (i.e., along the strike of the stratigraphy and the mineralization) was constructed using the Surpac v.6.7.3 software package. The selected block sizes were 3.0 m by 5.0 m by 5.0 m (width, length, height). One level of sub-blocking was applied to a minimum size of 1.5 m x 2.5 m x 2.5 m. Gold grades were interpolated into the individual blocks for the mineralized domains using two interpolation methods: inverse distance cubed (ID3) and nearest neighbour (NN). The gold grades estimated using the ID3 algorithm are used to report the Mineral Resources.

GOLD EXPLORATION POTENTIAL

Compilation activities by RPA have been successful in outlining the favourable BAM Sequence along a strike length of approximately five kilometres. The strike limits of the unit have not been defined. Additional work is clearly warranted. This work would include continued compilation of all available information, detailed geological mapping and geochemical sampling, stripping and trenching activities in areas of shallow overburden, and diamond drilling in areas of deeper overburden cover.

NI-CU-PGE EXPLORATION POTENTIAL

RPA is of the opinion that there is good exploration potential to discover more Ni-Cu-PGE mineralization on the property. RPA concurs, however, with Landore's current focus on gold.

RECOMMENDATIONS

RPA has the following recommendations for a work program and budget to advance the Project to the next decision stage. Overall, RPA is of the opinion that there is excellent exploration potential remaining to expand the limits of the BAM East Deposit and to discover zones of additional gold mineralization along the Junior Lake Shear Zone. RPA's recommendations for the BAM East Deposit include:

Carry out exploration activities to search for the eastern extension of the BAM Sequence beyond approximately Section 36+00 E. These activities would involve detailed re-mapping of the outcrops located along the projected eastern strike extension of the unit, stripping and trenching over areas of shallow overburden in this area, and completion of additional geophysical surveys (magnetometer and HEM surveys) to the east of Line 40+00E. Expansion of the geophysical survey coverage to the west of the limits of the current coverage is also warranted.



Continue compilation activities in the current area of coverage and expand the area of coverage, especially along the western projection of the current known limits of the BAM Sequence. These compilation activities are important tools to help understand the various geological settings and the relationships with the mineralization found on the property. These compilations are also important tools for generating exploration targets.



Carry out a deportment study to examine the particle size distribution of the native gold particles. This information will be useful in establishing accurate sample preparation and analyses protocols and will also be useful when establishing a metallurgical testing program.



Carry out assay-by-size studies to examine the relationship between the particle size and the grade of a given sample. Assay-to-extinction studies will also be useful in understanding the impact of the aliquot size on the variability of the assay result for a given sample.



Adopt the use of potassium ferricyanide stain on a regular basis to test for the presence of micro-scale ankerite alteration.



Carry out a program of preliminary metallurgical testwork to evaluate the merits of possible flow sheets for processing of the BAM East Deposit.



Determine the bulk density of the overburden materials for use in future block models and for mine planning purposes.



Complete in-fill drilling to clearly define the location and extent of the gold mineralization. This drilling information will permit a more accurate estimate of the grade distribution at the local scale, improve the confidence of the estimate, and improve the confidence of any production schedules and cash flow models that are based on the Mineral Resource estimate.



Carry out additional drilling to define the strike and down-dip limits of the mineralized zones.



Investigate the utility of using a dynamic search ellipse strategy to improve the accuracy of the local estimate as additional detailed drill hole information becomes available.

PROPOSED WORK PROGRAM

RPA concurs with Landore's proposed two phase work program on the BAM East Gold Deposit. The Phase 2 work is contingent on the Phase 1 results (Table 1-2)."

"TECHNICAL SUMMARY

PROPERTY LOCATION AND LAND TENURE

The Junior Lake Project is located approximately 235 km north-northeast of Thunder Bay, Ontario, and approximately 75 km east-northeast of the village of Armstrong. The centre of the Project is located at 8759'4"W longitude and 5023'9"N latitude; the NAD83 UTM coordinates (Zone 16) are 430,000E and 5,580,000N. The BAM East Gold Deposit is located at approximately UTM coordinate 434,910E and 5,581,555N, the B4-7 Deposit is located at approximately UTM coordinates 432,660E and 5,581,310N, and the VW Deposit is located at approximately UTM coordinates 435,700E and 5,580,800N. Landore's mineral holdings in the Armstrong area consist of 90 staked mineral claims (1,173 units totaling 18,768 ha), two patented claims and three mining leases, all together totaling 22,497 ha.

The mining leases include mining and surface rights over the area encompassing the BAM East, B4-7 and VW Deposits. The leases cover 23 mineral claims and two patents for a total area of 3,729 ha and have been granted for 21 years renewable for further terms of 21 years.

Within the mining leases, Landore has the right, subject to provisions of certain Acts and reservations, to:

Sink shafts, excavations etc., for mining purposes

Construct dams, reservoirs, railways etc., as needed, and

Erect buildings, machinery, furnaces, etc. as required and to treat ores

ACCESSIBILITY, CLIMATE, LOCAL RESOURCES, INFRASTRUCTURE AND PHYSIOGRAPHY

Road access to the Junior Lake property from Thunder Bay is via paved provincial highways No. 17 (15 km) and No. 527 to Armstrong, with an overall distance of 255 km. From Armstrong, the Buchanan Forest Products Inc. gravel haulage road (BHR) is taken east to kilometre 105, where a skidder haulage road leads approximately two kilometres to the Landore Camp. In all, the combined distance from Thunder Bay to the property is approximately 360 km.

Thunder Bay is the major centre for northwestern Ontario and provides most of the services required by exploration and mining operations. The Thunder Bay commercial airport has daily scheduled service to major Canadian cities, and the city offers rail facilities and a port on Lake Superior that provides Atlantic Ocean access via the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway. Mining and skilled labour are available in Thunder Bay and elsewhere in Ontario and Quebec. The nearest operating mine is the Lac Des Iles Mine (LDIM) owned by Lac Des Iles Mines Ltd., a subsidiary of North American Palladium Ltd. (NAP). LDIM is located 100 km north of Thunder Bay, approximately 15 km west of Highway 527, and is approximately 259 km by road from the Junior Lake property.

Other than a cabin camp, there is no infrastructure on the property. With the bankruptcy of Buchanan Forest Products Inc. in May 2009, maintenance of the pulp haulage road to the Junior Lake property has been assumed by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to within 30 km of the camp site, with the balance of the distance maintained by private interests. The Canadian National Railway (CNR) main single line is 13 km south of the property, passing between Junior Lake and the north shore of Lake Nipigon. The property is of sufficient size to support any potential mining scenarios.

HISTORY

Geological mapping and exploration in the vicinity of the Junior Lake property is recorded as early as 1917. In 1968, Canadian Dyno Mines Limited staked 333 claims in 15 groups to cover conductors detected by an airborne electromagnetic (EM) and magnetic (MAG) survey. Eight diamond drill holes totaling 674.8 m were drilled to test conductors in January 1969, resulting in the discovery of the B4-7 sulphide zone. The B4-7 Deposit was delineated by an additional 30 holes (6,850 m, or 22,479 ft) in 1969.

Landore optioned part of the property from North Coldstream Mines Limited in 1998 and additional claims from Brancote Canada in 2000. In 2005, the VW Ni-Cu-Co-PGE deposit was found by Landore as a result of drill-testing a promising geophysical target. The BAM East Deposit was discovered in the fall of 2015 as a result of drilling a geophysical target located two kilometres to the east of the B4-7 Deposit.

GEOLOGY AND MINERALIZATION

The property is within the roughly east-west trending Caribou (Lake)-O'Sullivan greenstone belt. This greenstone belt ranges from 3.5 km to 15 km wide and extends roughly east-west for 80 km to 100 km. The supracrustal rocks, and associated mafic to ultramafic intrusions, of the Caribou (Lake)-O'Sullivan greenstone belt are subdivided by Berger (1992) into the Archean-aged Toronto Lake Group (TLG) and Marshall Lake Group (MLG). The two groups are separated by a series of discrete zones of intense shearing that form a corridor of up to 800 m wide. This zone is referred to on the property as the Junior Lake Shear Zone, which may be part of a regional-scale structure. The TLG underlies the southern third of the Junior Lake property and consists of a bimodal assemblage of tholeiitic mafic flows and calc-alkaline rhyolitic to dacitic tuff, tuff breccias, and subordinate flows. In the northern portions of the Junior Lake property, the MLG includes tholeiitic, amphibolitized mafic flows and calc-alkalic dacitic tuff, minor tuff breccias, and intercalated greywacke, chert, and sulphide iron formation. Relative ages based on superposition and pillow tops indicate that the two sequences young to the north.

The main stratigraphic sequence that is observed to host the large majority of the newly discovered gold mineralization at the BAM East Gold Deposit is referred to as the BAM Sequence. The BAM Sequence is located in contact with the MLG to the north and the Grassy Pond Sill (a member of the TLG) to the south. The character of this package of rocks has been determined mostly from observations in drill core and in limited exposures in trenches and outcrops in the area. In the immediate deposit area, the BAM Sequence is comprised largely of very fine grained to aphanitic material which has been recorded as clastic sedimentary unit in the drill logs. It is typically a medium to dark green-grey to black colour, contains a weakly to strongly developed foliation, and is characterized by a soapy feel to the touch locally. Characteristic sedimentary textures are generally not well developed in the immediate deposit area. Preliminary geochemical characterization studies suggest that the sediments have been derived from precursor rocks of ultramafic composition. Numerous small-scale dikes of mafic, intermediate, and felsic composition are present in the deposit area.

DRILLING

The drilling programs carried out in 2015 and 2016 were conducted by Chibougamau Diamond Drilling, of Chibougamau, Quebec. In 2015, 16 drill holes were completed for a total length of 4,813 m. In 2016, a total of 42 drill holes were completed for a total length of 8,319 m. To date, a total of 791 drill holes totaling 169,786 m in length have been completed on the Junior Lake property. These drill holes comprise delineation and in-fill drill holes on the BAM East, B4-7, and VW Deposits, delineation drill holes on the Lamaune area, exploration drill holes, and a small number of drill holes completed to generate material for metallurgical testing.

MINERAL RESOURCES

RPA's Mineral Resource estimate for the BAM East Deposit is based on data available up to January 3, 2017.

Given the shallow nature of the mineralization and the initial metallurgical test results, RPA agreed with Landore's opinion that the material would be extracted by means of open pit mining methods and processed using conventional milling techniques. The Mineral Resource estimate for the BAM East Deposit is based on the information from 43 drill holes that totalled 8,436 m in length. These drill holes include the two discovery holes completed in 2015 (0415-417 and 0415-518) along with the channel sample results from Trench 0416-01T. The Mineral Resources for the BAM East Deposit are reported using a block cut-off grade of 0.3 g/t Au for those blocks that lie above a resource pit shell, which was developed using the Whittle software package. The Mineral Resources within the base case open pit shell are estimated at 4.45 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.35 g/t Au containing 193,000 ounces of gold in the Indicated Mineral Resource category and 2.73 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.23 g/t Au containing 108,000 ounces of gold in the Inferred Mineral Resource category.

RPA is not aware of any environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-economic, marketing, political, or other issues that could materially affect the Mineral Resource estimates.

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Landore has conducted various environmental baseline studies on the Junior lake property since 2007. Surface water sampling of various lakes and streams has been conducted since 2007. Bathymetry and fish habitat studies of Ketchikan Lake were conducted in 2007. In 2008, a bedrock surface investigation of the northern portion of Ketchikan Lake was completed together with terrestrial and aquatic studies. The environmental and baseline studies are all pre-requisites for permitting requirements for the development of the BAM East Gold Deposit.

FIRST NATIONS RELATIONS

Landore maintains a sound working relationship with First Nations on whose traditional lands the Junior Lake property is situated. In 2007, Landore signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Whitesand and AZA First Nations. This agreement formalizes the desire and commitment to develop a positive, mutually beneficial relationship amongst all parties and establishes the process by which this is to be accomplished while Landore is conducting exploration and advanced exploration activities in the area.

The MOU was later revised to reflect significant changes in Landore's claim holdings in the Junior Lake area. Whitesand signed the revised MOU on April 30, 2012. AZA signed the revised MOU on December 6, 2013."

End of Extracts

The full Technical Report with results and a new corporate presentation are available on Landore Resources' web site www.landore.com

PLANNED WORK AND BUDGET 2017:

The 2017 work programme will focus on the BAM East Gold Deposit with a total of 16,000 metres of drilling in two phases:

Phase 1

5,000m of HQ diamond core to upgrade the Inferred Mineral Resource to the Indicated category and to expand the existing resource to the east and west and down dip.

7,500m of NQ diamond core to advance the zones already identified along the 1,900 metres of the Junior Lake shear and to explore possible extensions of the shear zone along strike to the east and west.

Exploration including mapping, trenching and geophysics to cover possible extensions of the Junior Lake shear

Studies including Metallurgical, Geotechnical for pit design and continuation of base line studies.

Upgrade of Resource.

Phase 2

3,500 metres of HQ diamond core to upgrade the east section Mineral Resource estimate of the Central Zone from Indicated to Measured category for a potential starter pit operation.

Commence Pre-Feasibility studies with the appointment of Project Management and engineering staff for mine design, plant design, opex/capex estimates etc.

Proposed Operations budget, Landore Canada, for the above program is:

Phase 1 (Q2/3) C$  (1.65Ex)

 Personnel and Logistics 913,000



 12,500 metres drilling, assays, access 2,542,000



 Studies and Consultants 460,000



 Management/Administration 533,000



 Total 4,448,000 2,700,000







 Phase 2 (Q3/Q4)





 Personnel and Logistics 272,000



 3,500 metres drilling, assays, access 776,000



 Commence Pre-Feasibility studies 440,000



 Management/Administration 159,000



 Total 1,647,000 1,000,000





PLC Corporate Overheads for 2017

480,000

The Board intends that funding for the proposed work programme will be raised via an equity subscription by existing and new investors at or around market price, seeking to raise between 3 to 4.5 million and to be completed within the next month.

Reno Pressacco, (P.Geo.), Principal Geologist of RPA Inc. Toronto, Canada, a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101, and responsible for the preparation of the BAM East Gold Deposit Resource Estimate, has reviewed and verified all scientific or technical disclosure relating to the Mineral Resource estimate and exploration potential.

Michele Tuomi, (P.Geo., BSc. Geology), Director/VP Exploration of Landore Resources Canada Inc. and a Qualified Person as defined in the Canadian National Instrument 43-101 and the AIM Rules for Companies, has reviewed and verified all scientific or technical mining disclosure contained in this announcement.

About Landore Resources

Landore Resources is an exploration company that seeks to grow shareholder value through the acquisition, exploration and development of precious and base metal projects in eastern Canada. The Company is primarily focused on the development of the Junior Lake Project. Landore Resources has mineral rights to 5 properties in eastern Canada. The Company is headquartered in Guernsey, with an exploration office located in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.

This announcement contains inside information as defined in Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation No 596/2014.

SOURCE Landore Resources Ltd.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Feb. 17, 2017) -

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

Advantage Lithium Corp. (the "Company" or "Advantage Lithium") (TSX VENTURE:AAL) is pleased to announce the closing of its previously announced private placement financing of 26,667,000 subscription receipts of the Company ("Subscription Receipts") for aggregate proceeds of approximately $20 million (the "Offering"). The funds will primarily be used to develop the advanced Cauchari asset, including its large defined exploration target, and five other wholly owned (100%) Argentine assets comprising ~85,543 hectares. The Cauchari project lies close to Orocobre's lithium production facility and has the potential for fast-tracked, low cost production.

News Highlights

$20 Million financing complete.

Drilling expected to start at Cauchari as early as March, 2017, focusing and expanding both laterally and at depth on area of the inferred resource estimate as well as drill testing the large exploration target defined with a range of 0.25 to 5.6 mt of lithium carbonate and 0.9 mt to 19 mt of potash (KCl). 1

Cauchari hosts an inferred resource containing an estimated 230 million cubic metres of brine at ~380 mg/l Li and 3,700 mg/l K. This is equivalent to 470,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate (~88,000 tonnes lithium metal) and 1.62 million tonnes of potash (KCl - equivalent to ~840,000 tonnes of potassium).

The project is adjacent to Lithium America's Cauchari project. Lithium Americas recently proposed a combined equity and debt financing of USD $286M investment by Bangchak Petroleum Public Company Ltd. and GFL International Ltd. to put its project into production.

David Sidoo, CEO and President, of Advantage Lithium, commented, "With this $20M financing complete, we intend to move forward rapidly with Orocobre to close the Acquisition, and begin drilling at Cauchari, by the end of March, focusing on the large exploration targets. As the recent $286M investment in LAC's adjacent Cauchari project has shown, this is one of Argentina's premier lithium districts. The Cauchari project that Advantage Lithium and Orocobre will jointly own, is in close proximity to Orocobre's lithium production facility, which is on track to produce 15,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate this year. With a 27,771 hectare land package and initial, near-surface resource already in place, we're looking forward to the upcoming work programs to advance and develop Cauchari."

The Offering was led by Eight Capital (formerly, Dundee Capital Partners) and Canaccord Genuity Corp. (the "Agents"). The Agents were paid a cash commission equal to 6% (2.5% cash fee on the President's List) of the gross proceeds of the Offering, 50% of which was paid on closing of the Offering and the other 50% of which will be payable upon satisfaction of the escrow release conditions applicable to the subscription receipts (the "Escrow Release Conditions"), which require among other things, the completion of the Acquisition with Orocobre by March 31, 2017. The Agents were also issued 1,131,896 compensation warrants (the "Agent's Compensation Warrants"), 50% of which will be cancelled if the Escrow Release Conditions are not met. The Agent's Compensation Warrants will otherwise have the same terms described in the Company's January 24, 2017 news release. Other finders (the "Finders") were paid finder's fees totaling $154,184.59, 50% of which was paid on closing of the Offering and the other 50% of which will be paid upon satisfaction of the Escrow Release Conditions. The Finders were also issued 352,422 finder's warrants, 50% of which will be cancelled if the Escrow Release Conditions are not met. The finder's warrants have the same terms as the Agent's Compensation Warrants. The Offering is subject to the final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Further details regarding the Offering are contained in the Company's news release of January 24, 2017.

Further to the Company's news release of January 24, 2017, the Company is actively working with Orocobre to complete all tasks and finalize the definitive agreements under which the Company will acquire up to 75% of Orocobre's Cauchari project and a 100% interest in five other lithium brine projects, comprising a total of 85,543 ha, located in the northern provinces of Jujuy, Salta and Catamarca in Argentina's lithium triangle (the "Acquisition"). Completion of the Acquisition is expected to occur before March 31, 2017.

About Advantage Lithium Corp.

Advantage Lithium Corp. is a resource company specializing in the strategic acquisition, exploration and development of lithium properties and is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. The common shares of the company are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "AAL". The company has signed an LOI, subject to definitive agreement, with lithium producer, Orocobre, to acquire 100% interest in five projects in Argentina and a 75% interest in a sixth, called Cauchari. Cauchari is host to a near-surface resource of 470,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) and 1.62 million tonnes of potash (KCL), and a large exploration target of 5.6mt to 0.25mt of LCE and 19mt to 0.9 of KCL. Cauchari is located just 20 km south Orocobre's flagship Olaroz Lithium Facility. The Company is also earning an interest from Nevada Sunrise Gold Corp., in a portfolio of five lithium brine projects in the Clayton and Lida Valley regions of Nevada, USA, including 70% in Clayton NE. In addition, the Company has acquired 100% of the Stella Marys lithium brine project, immediately adjacent to Orocobre's Salinas Grandes project that hosts an inferred, near-surface resource, in Argentina's Lithium Triangle.

Further information about the Company can be found at www.advantagelithium.com.

ADVANTAGE LITHIUM CORP.

David Sidoo, President

Cautionary Statement:

Certain information contained in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information", within the meaning of Canadian legislation. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "is expected","intends", or "has the potential to". Forward looking statements contained in this press release may include statements regarding the future operating or financial performance of Advantage that involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may not prove to be accurate. Actual results and outcomes may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in these forward-looking statements. Such statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
India Slips To 143 In Economic Freedom Index Business oi-Nithya Nair

India ranked a dismal 143 in an annual index of economic freedom by a top American thinktank, behind its several South Asian neighbours including Pakistan, as progress on market-oriented reforms has been "uneven".

The Heritage Foundation in its Index of Economic Freedom report said despite India sustaining an average annual growth of about 7 per cent over the past five years, growth is not deeply rooted in policies that preserve economic freedom. Putting India in the category of "mostly unfree" economies, the conservative political thinktank said progress on market-oriented reforms has been "uneven". It said the state "maintains an extensive presence" in many areas through public-sector enterprises.

"A restrictive and burdensome regulatory environment discourages the entrepreneurship that could provide broader private-sector growth." Also, India's overall score of 52.6 points is 3.6 points less than that of last year, when India ranked 123rd. Hong Kong, Singapore, and New Zealand topped the index.

Among South Asian countries, only Afghanistan (163) and Maldives (157) were ranked below India. Nepal (125), Sri Lanka (112), Pakistan (141), Bhutan (107), and Bangladesh (128) surpassed India in economic freedom. The thinktank, however, credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi with "reinvigorating" India's foreign policy. It said Modi, who in June 2016 made his fourth visit to the US in two years, has bolstered bilateral ties, particularly in defence cooperation. "India has technology and manufacturing sectors as advanced as any in the world as well as traditional sectors characteristic of a lesser developed economy. Extreme wealth and poverty coexist as the nation both modernizes rapidly and struggles to find paths to inclusive development for its large and diverse population," it said, reports PTI.

India is a significant force in world trade, the report noted, but corruption, underdeveloped infrastructure, and poor management of public finance undermine overall development. China with a score of 57.4 points - an increase of 5.4 points compared to previous year - was placed at 111 positions.

The United States was ranked 17 with 75.1 points. The world average score of 60.9 is the highest recorded in the 23-year history of the index. Forty-nine countries - the majority of which are developing countries, but also including countries such as Norway and Sweden - achieved their highest-ever index scores.

Goodreturns.in

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Story first published: Friday, February 17, 2017, 10:51 [IST]
Germany's Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen on Friday warned Washington against hurting European cohesion, saying a strong EU is also in the interest of the US.

"Our American friends know well that your tone on Europe and NATO has a direct impact on the cohesion of our continent," the minister told the Munich Security Conference.

"A stable European Union is also in America's interest, as is a strong unified determined NATO," the minister said, in what appeared to be a rebuke of US President Donald Trump's praise for Britain's decision to quit the EU as well as his criticism of NATO.

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Seven soldiers died in Kazakhstan after being hit by an avalanche during a military exercise, emergency services in the Central Asian country said Friday.

"Sixteen soldiers were rescued. Unfortunately seven soldiers were found dead," Ruslan Imankulov, spokesman for Kazakhstan's emergency situations committee, told AFP by telephone.

"We hope the number of casualties will not rise."

The soldiers were participating in a military exercise in the southern Jambyl region when the avalanche struck, the defence ministry said in a statement.

The defence ministry did not say how many soldiers were involved in the exercise.

Avalanches are common in mountainous parts of Central Asia.

To the south of Kazakhstan are Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, which are both over 90 percent mountainous.

Tajikistan last week appealed for foreign assistance as the death toll from avalanches across the country reached 13.

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German filmmakers Atef Ben Bouzid and Sebastian Leitner spoke to Ahram Online about their music documentary, which follows the organiser of the Cairo Jazz Festival in the run-up to the event

The documentary Cairo Jazzman, which follows jazz artist Amro Salah as he attempts to stage a music festival in the city, premiered at the 46th Rotterdam International Film Festival (IFFR) last month.

German director Atef Ben Bouzid, who dedicated the film to the Egyptian civil society, told Ahram Online that he wanted to show the spirit of creating an event with no support and with almost no financial assistance, as well as to show a completely different image of Egypt.

The film follows the veteran jazz musician in the weeks leading up to the Cairo Jazz Festival, which he is in charge of organising.

I wanted to show that there is civil society existing. It is not that huge, but there are people who are trying to build and create a civil society for democracy, human rights, culture and music to show different perceptions, as because you know the Western perspective is dominated by bad news, violence, misery, Islamophobia, he said.

Crazy, charming city

Bouzid is a German journalist with roots in Tunisia, a country famous for its musical heritage and strong underground scene. He first visited Cairo in 2002, where he met Salah and learned about his musical passion.

It popped into my head: why not start a documentary about him to show his effort, in this crazy but charming and lovely city? the director says.

The 80-minute film is not, however, from a cliched Western perspective. The filmmakers wanted to push their political objective by focusing on one aspect: underground music.

When asked whether the film is political or not, co-producer and editor Sebastian Leitner replied enthusiastically: No, and that is the beauty of it. I came in later [after the footage was shot]. Atef told me the story of the film. His vision was not about making it a direct political movie.

Bouzid interrupts to add: I still insist that it is not political at the first glance, but maybe on the second or the third. I wanted...to show that there has been a change of thinking and mentality especially in the young generation--that they are becoming eager and motivated to release projects on their own. I tackled music to reflect on the political aspects in the country. You cannot do a film about Egypt and ignore the setting.

Hence, the documentary is not straightforward with direct messages, but by shedding light on the story of Salah and his road trip to hold the festival, it highlights different problems in contemporary Egyptian society.

However, this was done without removing agency from the films subjects--Egyptians and underground musicians. Despite bureaucracy, corruption, restriction, and a lack of resources, the subjects are still able to achieve their goals, and voice their concerns.

Telling stories with music

My protagonist is a member of the middle class, the same as his parents. The idea there was to show a middle class that was eager for education and wants to progress with culture. This is a side which is not known in the Western world, Bouzid argues.

This was further translated into the artistic direction of the film, which stayed away from the orthodox documentary structure of interviews, archival footage, and conclusions.

The camera in the film follows Salah as he treks between venues, studios, phone calls, and government buildings. The musicians lighthearted character and his interactions with others are highlighted, not for the sake of documenting but for promoting the human experience of his quest. Here Salah is not only a calm and a charming musician, but also a caring teacher, a demanding boss, a team player, a friend, or just a Cairene stuck in traffic; but above all, he is a top-class jazzman.

In terms of editing and visuals, Cairo Jazzman attracts the eye with its rich footage of the city. These scenes are seen every day by a citizen, but the cinematography by Francesca Araiza Andrade and Michael Brain created a rather appealing landscape that mixes the craziness of Cairo and a sophisticated music genre.

My first feature film was also a documentary about a music festival and for me it became a speciality to tell stories with music and portray places and people, Leitner, who edited the film, said.

We both had the same imagery in mind and the same feeling, and atmosphere. [Bouzid and I] wanted to start a journey, while having also a tour guide of music in the city, to let you peek into those little back alleys of Cairo and meet people at the same time.

With a strong script from Bouzid, the editing was approached differently depending on the nature of the interview or the person speaking.

The film includes a diverse soundtrack that varied based on the emotional rollercoaster not just of the main protagonist. It is actually about the rollercoaster that every Egyptian has to go through, said Bouzid.

Challenges in common

The relationship between the filmmakers and the topic of the film complement each other in an interesting way, for example both relying on self-funding.

Salah told Ahram Online before the 2015 Cairo Jazz Festival that the festival does not receive much support from the state, nor from corporations, describing it as a shaky situation every year.

For the filmmakers the struggle was similar. As a purely independent film that was shot in five weeks, it is impossible as a freelancer to get shooting permission, said Bouzid.

However, due to having connections and friends in Cairo, he was able to get permission, but for a single day, and for filming indoors only.

Cairo Jazzman premiered at the Rotterdam International Film Festival earlier this month, showing at the Schouwburg Kleine Zaal which is similar to a concert hall, and was followed by a performance by Tunisian artist Nabil Khemir.

The film was to be screened in Scopitone, a selection of documentaries that explores different genres of music through attempts to investigate the impact of musicians and performers.

The music is the universal bond between human beings, regardless where they are from or what language they speak, Bouzid adds, while expressing his eagerness to send his film and his jazzman to other festivals and destinations.

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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A Richland, Wash., florist who refused to provide flowers to a gay couple for their wedding violated anti-discrimination law, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.The court ruled unanimously that Barronelle Stutzman discriminated against longtime customers Rob Ingersoll and Curt Freed when she refused to do the flowers for their 2013 wedding because of her religious opposition to same-sex marriage. Instead, Stutzman suggested several other florists in the area who would help them."We're thrilled that the Washington Supreme Court has ruled in our favor. The court affirmed that we are on the right side of the law and the right side of history,"Ingersoll and Freed said in a statement.Stutzman and her attorneys said they would appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. They also held out hope that President Donald Trump would issue an executive order protecting religious freedom, which was a campaign pledge.Stutzman called the ruling "terrifying when you think the government is coming in and telling you what to think and what to do."In its decision, the state's highest court rejected Stutzman's claims that since other florists in the area were willing to provide flowers, no harm resulted from her refusal.Writing for the court majority, Justice Sheryl Gordon McCloud said, "We emphatically reject this argument. We agree with Ingersoll and Freed that 'this case is no more about access to flowers than civil rights cases were about access to sandwiches.' ... As every other court to address the question has concluded, public accommodations laws do not simply guarantee access to goods or services. Instead, they serve a broader societal purpose: eradicating barriers to the equal treatment of all citizens in the commercial marketplace."The court also rejected Stutzman's claims that her floral arrangements were a form of artistic expression and so protected by the First Amendment. Citing the case of a New Mexico photographer who similarly refused to take pictures at a gay marriage, the court said, "while photography may be expressive, the operation of a photography business is not."In December 2012, soon after the state legalized gay marriage, Ingersoll and Freed began planning a large wedding. Stutzman, who had provided flowers to the couple numerous times over the years, refused, citing her religious belief that marriage is a sacred covenant between a man and a woman.The couple went ahead with their wedding, but they had it at home with 11 guests and flowers from another florist, instead of the larger event they had envisioned.The couple, state Attorney General Bob Ferguson and the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington sued Stutzman under the state's anti-discrimination and consumer-protection laws in what became a high-profile case that highlighted the clash between the right to be treated equally under the law and the free exercise of religion and speech.A Benton County Superior Court judge last February ruled that Stutzman's religious beliefs did not allow her to discriminate against the couple and that she must provide flowers for same-sex weddings, or stop doing weddings at all. Thursday's state Supreme Court ruling upheld the lower court.Ferguson on Thursday hailed the decision, saying, "It is a complete, unequivocal victory for equality in the state of Washington and sends a clear message around the country as well."Speaking with Ferguson at a news conference in Seattle, Michael Scott, the ACLU attorney for the same-sex couple, said the decision recognizes "human beings and their lives" while upholding the "core value of American law" regarding human dignity.The Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents Stutzman, said that she will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review Thursday's ruling.Stutzman acted consistently with her faith, an Alliance news release said, but state justices "concluded that the government can force her _ and, by extension, other Washingtonians _ to create artistic expression and participate in events with which they disagree."In November, the state Supreme Court heard arguments in the case, Ingersoll v. Arlene's Flowers, during a special session at Bellevue College.Attorneys for Stutzman argued that a floral arrangement is a form of speech deserving of protection and that government cannot compel Stutzman to create an arrangement for a gay couple against her religious beliefs.Ferguson urged the court to uphold state anti-discrimination laws and not to create an exception for religious beliefs. He noted that many people once held strong religious beliefs against interracial marriage, but the courts struck down those laws as discriminatory.Stutzman and her attorneys argued that the Benton County Superior Court's ruling was unlawful government coercion and that the creative expression of floral arrangement deserves the same protection as free speech.During the November hearing, several justices expressed skepticism for that argument, asking why it wouldn't also extend to bartenders, stationery providers or landscape artists who also bring creativity to their work."So anyone worried about their expression may deny services to a customer?" asked Justice Steven Gonzales.The case attracted more than a dozen friend-of-court briefs on behalf of the gay couple, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and a group of Washington businesses that include Amazon, Microsoft and the Metropolitan Seattle Chamber of Commerce.Amicus briefs were filed on behalf of Stutzman and Arlene's Flowers, including one from African-American and Hispanic churches and their pastors who argued that the government should not penalize people for the belief that marriage is a union between a husband and wife.
A movement grounded in public health

The backlash against bikes

Safety first

The story of how the traffic safety program known as Vision Zero jumped from Sweden, where it originated, to the United States, starts with beer.The main tenet of Vision Zero is that all traffic deaths are preventable, and none are acceptable. That appealed to Steve Hindy, a founder of Brooklyn Brewery, who often traveled to Sweden and Denmark (which also adopted the strategy) on business. Hindy and his wife, Ellen Foote, a public school principal, started pushing for better traffic safety measures in New York City after their son, Sam, died in a bicycle crash on the Manhattan Bridge in 2007.On his trips, Hindy noticed how streets in Stockholm and Copenhagen were engineered to give cyclists and pedestrians as much a priority on the streets as cars. That seemed to foster respect among drivers for the other roadway users, too.You dont have to be a transportation enthusiast to see youre in a different place with different priorities than most cities in America, says Hindy.On one 2009 trip to Sweden, Hindy and Foote met with Matts-Ake Belin, one of the top administrators of Swedens Vision Zero program. Hindy was so impressed with the idea that he wrote an article about it for the newsletter for Transportation Alternatives, an advocacy group in New York. The organization then released a report in 2011 about the idea -- which then led to advocacy, polling, lobbying and eventually adoption by New York City.Since then, traffic deaths in the city have declined for three straight years, and now nearly two dozen other U.S. cities have formally adopted the approach as well.But Paul Steely White, the executive director of Transportation Alternatives, worries that the core tenets of Vision Zero will be watered down as the approach becomes more popular. Many of the key elements of shaping Vision Zero were already in place well before New York actually launched the program. Its worth considering how the U.S. version of Vision Zero came into being, says White, to understand what distinguishes Vision Zero from run-of-the-mill safety efforts.One of the mantras in the Vision Zero movement is that there are no traffic "accidents," only "crashes." That comes straight from public health literature, says Charles DiMaggio, an epidemiologist who studies the safety of child pedestrians and the director of injury research at the New York University School of Medicine.Its the idea that theres nothing inevitable or accidental about these kinds of events," he says.Traffic safety and public health are a natural fit for each other, says DiMaggio, but that doesnt mean transportation engineers and public health experts have always communicated well.I recall some of my early meetings in the 1990s where I would sit in the room with transportation engineers. They would say, An epidemiologist? Theres nothing wrong with our skin, he says. No one was quite sure what an epidemiologist was.In New York City, that changed when Mayor Michael Bloomberg came into office in 2002. He often used public health approaches to shape policy, such as his efforts to ban smoking, reduce gun violence and tax sugary drinks.Lorna Thorpe, who led the epidemiology division of the city Department of Public Health for five years during Bloombergs tenure, says the disciplines focus on data helped resolve many contentious issues. For example, advocates like Transportation Alternatives had long pushed for more bike lanes and other cyclist-friendly infrastructure in the city, but the conversations were antagonistic. Then, at the advocates request, the public health department conducted a review of every cyclist death in the city over the previous decade. The effort involved representatives from the public health, transportation, parks, police and fire departments.The key was that we had the decisionmakers at the table, and they were analyzing the data with us," says Thorpe. "That changes things. If the health department had issued this report without parks, police and transportation with us, it wouldnt have had an impact.Because the review was a joint effort, the city was able to move forward on a plan for 250 miles of bike lanes.That was a watershed moment," she says.At first, Bloomberg's building boom of bike lanes didnt sit well with many New Yorkers. Local tabloids called it a War on Cars. Janette Sadik-Khan, the citys transportation commissioner at the time, would later write , The bike backlash of early 2011 were the toughest months Ive ever endured professionally.Congressman Anthony Weiner, who was preparing to run to replace Bloomberg, vowed to get rid of the new lanes.When I become mayor, you know what Im going to spend my first year doing? he said at a party, according to . Im going to have a bunch of ribbon-cuttings tearing out your [expletive] bike lanes.It was amid all that criticism that Transportation Alternatives published a report in June 2011 that brought the term Vision Zero into U.S. public policy debates.It noted that more New Yorkers were killed by traffic than by guns, and that traffic crashes were the most common form of injury-related deaths for children under 14. The report explained how the changes in street design that New York had been rolling out  like bike lanes, pedestrian islands and curb extensions -- improved safety for all road users.Noah Budnick, the policy director for Transportation Alternatives at the time, says he worried at first about establishing the goal of taking traffic deaths down to zero. Would the group be taken seriously? But given all the other changes to New York City streets, the time seemed ripe to change how people think about public space and roads.Again, relying on lessons from public health helped make the case. Budnick saw the situation with traffic deaths was similar to earlier efforts by cities to eliminate cholera and yellow fever outbreaks.Then they built sewers, and people stopped dying, says Budnick. If you build infrastructure like protected bike lanes, then people stop dying.People care about safety. Polling conducted by Transportation Alternatives in the runup to the 2013 mayoral election found that safety was the top reason why voters would support changes to their roadways. So advocates organized their efforts around safety.That's what turned it into a movement," says White. "It was not just about bike lanes or public pedestrian space. It was a life-or-death issue."Other arguments about bike lanes -- that they reduced pollution, improved health or gave New York an amenity found in other world-class cities -- didn't seem to matter as much to voters.Shortly before Mayor de Blasio took office in 2014, a string of pedestrian deaths brought the issue even more to the forefront. Citing an epidemic of traffic crashes, the new mayor announced his Vision Zero plan standing in the Queens schoolyard near where an 8-year-old boy had recently been hit by a truck and killed.A few months later, Families for Safe Streets, a group of people who had lost relatives in traffic crashes, formed. The organization continues to push politicians to focus on traffic safety. It was instrumental, for example, in convincing state lawmakers in Albany to allow New York City to lower its citywide speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph.Steve Hindy of Brooklyn Brewery was part of those efforts.He remembers a crucial moment when members of the group met with Sheldon Silver, who was then the long-serving speaker of the state Assembly. Hindy didnt expect to get far. He knew Silver, and he knew that Silver could be incredibly uncommunicative.Going into the meeting, I was thinking, oh my God, these people are going to be so disappointed, says Hindy.But things changed after several mothers told stories of losing their children. Silver got up and walked around to the front of his desk, where he told the group how his own mother was killed by a car when she was 81 years old crossing a street in Miami.Then he told us he was going to get behind the bill. It never would have gone anywhere without his support, says Hindy. The bill was signed into law in 2014. Its the most telling testament of what the power of these stories is.
Description

GIS - 17 February, 2017: The Board of Investment (BOI) chaired a high-level meeting with a delegation from the China Africa Development Fund (CADF), led by the Chairman, Mr. Chi Jianxin, on 14 February 2017 at the headquarters of the BOI in Port Louis. The Board of Investment (BOI) chaired a high-level meeting with a delegation from the China Africa Development Fund (CADF), led by the Chairman, Mr. Chi Jianxin, on 14 February 2017 at the headquarters of the BOI in Port Louis.

Representatives from the private sector were also convened to the meeting which served as platform to discuss with the CADF on their investment projects and to seek avenues of collaboration on specific areas. The private sector operators were given the opportunity to discuss their projects with CADF.

The CADF delegation comprised of Mr Yu Qing, Head of Mining Investment Department; Mr. Hou Linfeng, Head of Marketing & Consulting Department; Ms. Zhang Jin, Head of Southern Africa Investment Department; Mr. Yang Zhong, Deputy Head of Manufacturing Investment Department; Mr. Wang Zaijing, Board Chairman of Tianli Spinning (Mauritius) Co Ltd.

On the occasion, the Chairman of the CADF explained the role of the fund, established since June 2007 to encourage and support Chinese companies to invest in Africa. He recalled that the CADF has set up offices in 5 African regions, namely Johannesburg, Zambia, Kenya, Ghana and Ethiopia. Currently, the CADF has invested in 88 projects across 36 countries in various fields, namely infrastructure, airline, utilities (power generation), manufacturing, construction, agriculture, and mining, amongst others.

The CADF also provides Chinese companies with the platform to invest in Africa. Given that Chinese companies are not familiar with Africas investment environment, CADF advises and guides companies which have expressed interest to invest in Africa. CADF advises them on their business model, funding options and potential areas of investment in Africa.

As for the Mauritian side, the representatives of the following institutions were present: Jinfei Economic Trade and Cooperation Zone Co Ltd; LHF Marine Development Ltd; Airports of Mauritius Ltd; Sotravic Ltee/Urban Cooling Ltd; Mauritius Africa Fund; as well as those from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.

The Chairman of JinFei Economic Trade and Cooperation Zone Co. Ltd, Mr. Xing Lianjun, apprised all members that CADF is the biggest investor of the JinFei project in Mauritius. He explained that the JinFei project is divided into 2 parts, namely the JinFei Smart City and Riche Terre Smart City. Mr. Xing Lianjun also sought the advice of the Chairman of the CADF for setting up a financial centre within JinFei.

The Executive Chairman of Sotravic Ltee Mr. Pierre Ah Sue, explained that a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), Urban Cooling Ltd (UCL), has been set up to implement a Deep Ocean Water Applications (DOWA) project in the region of Bain des Dames in Mauritius. The DOWA project consists of using the cooling properties of the deep sea water to develop Sea Water Air Conditioning (SWAC), an innovative green cooling technology to service the buildings, of both the public and private sectors, in Port Louis. UCL has a concession deed with the Government of Mauritius. Mr. Ah Sue explained that the business plan is ready and that shareholding will be open to investors shortly and that the company would like to welcome investors from China as equity partners and they will launch requests for proposals for contractors from China. He further stated that upon the successful implementation of the project in Mauritius, it will be replicated in Africa.

The Director of LHF Marine Development Ltd, Mr. Kentish Jooseery, explained that their project has 2 main aspects, firstly the construction of a fishing port and secondly, they are in the process of bringing fishing vessels from China to Mauritius for fishing and they are currently applying for the EIA licence  the documents will be submitted to the Environment Ministry and BOI shortly.

Mr. Patrice Francois, Senior Manager Planning & Development, at the Airports of Mauritius Ltd, apprised CADF that they are developing a new cargo & freeport zone at the airport. Private road infrastructure and all utilities are in place and AML is ready to rent out space to developers who wish to export their goods and services. He explained that there are various advantages in setting up a factory in the freeport zone including tax and duty exemptions, market access to SADC and COMESA regions without any duties, preferential handling charges amongst others. Hence, this will provide Chinese companies with the opportunity to set up factories in the freeport zone of Mauritius and export to Africa.

Mr. Yash Mannick, CEO of the Mauritius Africa Fund (MAF), highlighted the role of MAF which is to promote business from Mauritius to Africa. He also gave an overview of the development of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in Africa to the CADF whereby he added that agreements have been signed with 4 African countries, namely Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Madagascar. He further underlined that lease agreements regarding the SEZ in Senegal are being finalised to invite operators to come and invest in the zones. The business model of the SEZ in Senegal will be replicated in Madagascar, Cote DIvoire and Ghana.

The CEO of the MAF made a presentation of the Senegal SEZ and apprised the CADF that the Mauritius Africa Fund is planning a business delegation to Senegal in March 2017 and expressed interest to invite Chinese operators to form part of the delegation.
Description

GIS - 17 February, 2017: The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr S. Lutchmeenaraidoo, handed over yesterday in Port-Louis the Exequatur certificates to four Honorary Consuls who represent foreign countries in Mauritius. The four Honorary Consuls are: Mr. Arnaud Lagesse, CEO of the IBL Group, who represents the Netherlands, Mrs Lynda Kok Shun, entrepreneur represents Namibia, Mr. Gilbert Liu Man Hin, CEO of the Edendale Group is the Honorary Consul New Zealand and Mr. Krish Bissoonauthsing, International consultant, represents Estonia.

The Foreign Minister appealed to the new Honorary Consuls and the Consular Corps as a whole to support the ministry's efforts in the new economic diplomacy. He announced that new measures will be put in place to help Honorary Consuls exercise more effectively.

More frequent interactions are planned in order to facilitate their tasks and also to engage them more actively in growth-oriented diplomatic initiatives: prospecting potential investors, developing markets and setting up business networks, he underlined.

Minister Lutchmeenaraidoo added that the new diplomacy is at the service of the new architecture of the economy, which is based on three main pillars: the blue economy, the maritime hub and the opening to Africa.
White House Removes Open Data Info

The sudden removal of #opendata from the @WhiteHouse website & silence about new disclosures leaves a vacuum for fears to fill. #opengov https://t.co/W9l5jgqtUG  Alex Howard (@digiphile) February 16, 2017

Internet Archive Offers to Host PACER Data

Kansas City, Mo., Shares Smart City Data

Fargo, N.D., Picked for What Works Cities Initiative

The White House has removed all of the information that was previously available through its open data portal, posting a message that encourages visitors to check back soon for new data.The old data, however, is still available through President Obamas archive page, albeit in a format where some of the links are not functioning properly. On Thursday, Feb. 16, Alex Howard, deputy director of the Sunlight Foundation, took to Twitter to address the matter.The move has left questions over the Trump administrations commitment to open data, as well as the future of digital government at the federal level. Trump has not yet appointed a federal chief information officer or chief technology officer. He has, however, appointed a chief digital officer, tapping Gerrit Lansing, who previously served in the same capacity with the Republican National Committee.For his part, Lansing has previously soothed concern over the Trump administrations commitment to digital government, tweeting his support for both the United States Digital Service and 18F , a pair of government tech initiatives that, like the open data portal, were launched under Obama.The Internet Archive has offered to host all of the data from the governments Public Access to Court Electronic Records system, doing so in a statement submitted for the record on Tuesday, Feb. 14 to the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet of the Judiciary Committee in the House of Representatives.Presently, the PACER system provides access to U.S. appellate, district and bankruptcy court documents for $.10 per page. In a release announcing the offer, the Internet Archive said its hosting of the data would make the works of our federal courts more readily available to inform the citizenry and to further the effective and fair administration of justice. Our courts must function in the light of day, and in this day and age that means on the Internet. The Internet Archive is happy to try to help.PACER started in 1988, accessible then only by terminals in libraries and some office buildings. In 2001, it was made available over the Internet. Thomas Bruce, a professor with the Legal Information Institute and Cornell Law School, about the need to both make PACERs data available online for free and to modernize the system.Pacer became outmoded two years after it was built, and in some ways has never caught up, Bruce said.The offer was extended by Brewster Kahle, digital librarian and founder of the Internet Archive, who said his group has the technology to make this happen with little effort; it simply needs governmental cooperation.Kansas City has shared its Smart City data with 18 other cities, two countries and five federal agencies, hoping to spread lessons it has learned about using data to improve local government performance.These lessons have been learned over the past nine months, the time in which Kansas Citys Smart City initiative has been active. As part of this, the city has implemented many actions, the most tangible of which is free public Wi-Fi across 50 blocks in its downtown and 125 interactive kiosks. This initiative, which is the result of a public-private partnership valued at $15 million, also brought Kansas City smart sensors that collect data with the potential to help the city better function. That data can be viewed by the public via a map that shows available parking, traffic flow, pedestrian hot spots and locations of KC Streetcars."The Smart City sensors and digital tools are cool, but understanding how to use these tools  and the data that they generate  bridges the gap between cool and smart," said Kansas City Mayor Sly James in a statement Kansas Citys publishing of this data came as the city hosted a national workshop with Think Big Partners and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce.Fargo, N.D.'s use of data is getting a big boost from Bloomberg Philanthropies, which has selected the city to be part of its What Works Cities initiative.Fargo officials say they hope this will allow the city to improve open data practices, making information about local government more accessible to the community. They also hope to better engage residents about government priorities and services.In Fargo, we nip issues in the bud before they become bigger problems, said Mayor Tim Mahoney in a statement . There is an expectation that the services we deliver will continuously be revised and improved over time. This is actually a hallmark of what makes Fargo an excellent community. It means we focus on process  including recognition of processes that no longer work and data that is problematic  rather than short-term results. WWC will help us in that effort.The What Works Cities initiative was started in 2015, and now works with 63 mid-sized cities to help accomplish the same goals Fargo is aiming to tackle. The participating cities are spread throughout 35 states, with more than 20 million residents and combined annual budgets that exceed $67 billion. The initiative hopes to partner with as many as 100 cities on a rolling basis through 2018.
Go Code's History

Variations on a Theme

Not for Everyone

As it enters its fourth year, Go Code Colorado , the statewide business app competition run by officials in the Secretary of States office, has produced several notable online tools.Among them are Beagle Score , a website that rates state business locations; Hively , which lets companies compare job seekers skills and personalities early in the interview process; and Regulation Explorer , which helps the oil and gas industry resolve regulatory issues early in project development.The challenge statement for this years event is a stripped-down call to action that widens the playing field for developers while recalling the events original vision: Build an app that uses public data to solve a problem for a business decision-maker.Go Code Colorado began in 2014 with the goal of getting people to use and prove the value of data that state agencies were making public.It was a chicken and egg problem in that not a lot of agencies took the time to make their data accessible, said event Program Manager Andrew Cole. Not a lot of people knew public data was an asset they could use to create innovative solutions.But much has changed in the years since, as agencies around the nation have become increasingly transparent, publicized their data and invited others to fashion something useful from it. Having marked its kick-off weekend Feb. 1 with an appearance by Secretary of State Wayne Williams to a standing-room-only crowd, Go Code Colorado now inhabits a changed world that it helped shape.Initially piloted through the state budget, Go Code Colorado is now set in place by legislation. State agencies in Colorado increasingly acknowledge datas burgeoning power. And from temperature trackers to opioid epidemic resources to pothole reporters, they and their peers around the nation are seeding the creation of a plethora of useful tools for residents.So far as Cole and Colorado officials know, theirs is still the only state to host a true statewide app challenge, though other states and municipalities have sponsored and been involved in similar events.Creator and engineer Wojciech Magda, who has been on three winning Go Code Colorado teams, said he agrees with that characterization and called it very, very ambitious.I know of citywide competitions but not anything statewide, said Magda, a founder of both Beagle Score and Regulation Explorer.Colorado Chief Data Officer Jon Gottsegen said showing what can be done with open data streams definitely has strengthened our open data initiative.One of the selling points that we say about opening up data is people start to use it in ways you never expected. That brings additional value to the data and to the state, Gottsegen said.But as its challenge date of April 27 nears, Go Code Colorado could be at something of a crossroads.Were actually at a little bit of an inflection point. Whether we always have to run it in the form it lives right now, I dont know, Cole said. Its just something that, we dont want to just keep doing the same thing for the sake of doing the same thing.In four years, the challenge has produced roughly five winning apps and tools that are still up and running, and around five that Cole said dont appear to be actively being pursued.Officials are pleased with the events results, having not based their success on the commercial viability of any tools created at the event. But they acknowledge it may also be time to reassess.The original goal, well, the kind of parallel goals when we set it up were to help expose, and in practice that means publishing, public data. And then the parallel goal was engaging people in using it. The challenge has been the primary way we have gone about the second part of that goal, but arguably the parallel goals together form a virtuous cycle, Cole said, meaning that the two goals work together symbiotically.Sean Wittmeyer, co-founder of Beagle Score with Magda, said hes proud to have created one of just a few successful, winning tools at the event, which he said feels Colorado.In New York, its so fast-paced its go, go, go, We need to build that. The West Coast, its, something hot is always around the corner. Colorado, we dont have that fervor, we dont have that intensity," Wittmeyer said. "We have people who make things, they make good things, and they keep making them better.Wittmeyer praised Go Code Colorado but also critiqued it  emphasizing he was not criticizing  as stuck between being a hackathon and a technology incubator. The event has attracted the right sponsors, he said, but its schedule isnt fully conducive to maturing concepts and it doesnt provide winners sufficient funds to establish a start-up.I think its a good program but how can we make it better? The way theyre connected to the community as a whole, I think thats great. Its just, how do they get people to participate at the level they want, Wittmeyer added.And that, Cole said in a follow-up interview with, is good feedback.We were kind of intentionally living between the two because we didnt feel like we needed to stand up the resources of a full-on incubator or accelerator, but we did feel like we needed more resources than a weekend project, he said. "Thats just part of the constant goal of evaluating ourselves and just deciding whether we need to do something different."Not surprisingly, considering the varying stages of open data that exist at state and local agencies nationwide, other cities and states sponsor or are involved in similar but not identical events.Like Go Code Colorado, New York Citys BigApps competition began when open datas value had fewer advocates and proof points than it does now. But the city has continually pushed to make public data available to drive the event.In 2009, its inaugural year, BigApps competitors worked on 170 open data sets from 30 city agencies. Today, after two mayors and chief technology officers have made open data a priority, New York City offers more than 1,300 open data streams.BigApps focuses on creating solutions that are anchored in the needs of real New Yorkers, according to an official at the citys Economic Development Corp who is familiar with the event. It is also increasingly focused on ensuring its winners accomplish more than just taking home a prize.In 2016, BigApps partnered with the new nonprofit Civic Hall Labs , the research and development arm of Civic Hall , a collaborative work and event space and community of people interested in using technology for the public good. Civic Hall Labs mentored and advised winners and offered workshops to help refine their projects.This year, Civic Hall Labs has an expanded role, actually managing BigApps and ensuring the events solutions are truly focused on New Yorkers.In 2015, BigApps challenges centered around affordable housing, zero waste, connected cities and civic engagement.For its 2017 edition, BigApps will focus on three populations  seniors, youth and immigrants  and then overlay challenge areas of improving knowledge, transportation and community resiliency.Our main theory is you should design with the people you are trying to serve, not just for them, said Civic Hall Labs Co-Founder and Board Chairman Andrew Rasiej.Theres lots of these things bubbling up. Youve probably heard about Code For America, Rasiej said, referring to similar events. But what were trying to help advance is that theres more likelihood of success when you follow a design process around making sure the right people and the right technologies are around the table to achieve a particular result.The nonprofit Heat Seek , a 2014 BigApps winner, is a quintessential example of that, Rasiej said. Its team created a sensor and online database to log hourly temperature readings in frigid New York City apartments whose landlords may be breaking the law by failing to provide heat.The results have been successfully used in court to get settlements for tenants and compel landlords to pledge in stipulations that they agree to provide heat in the future.But Heat Seek is still in beta mode, reaching out on a limited basis to tenants with known bad actors for landlords, and working with tenant lawyers and community organizers to think through scenarios where its data can make the biggest difference. Executive Director Noelle Francois described development as a longer and windier road than originally envisioned.So theres a lot more support post-BigApps now versus when we competed, which I think is awesome, said Francois, who has since been brought in by Civic Hall Labs to be a BigApps mentor. But I think the great thing about BigApps is  it drives the competition to build better technology to make New York City a better place for everyone.And that, Rasiej said, sort of brings us to the bigger point. "One of the reasons BigApps is so important is it doesnt just deliver a project or solution that should exist," he said. "Its an opportunity to reinvent civic engagement for the 21st century.Sam Frons, a founder of the foundation behind the app Addicaid , a 2015 BigApps winner, said the competitions sections might be too specific and prevent companies from joining.But she also praised the event for helping the app transition from its initial vision as a meeting finder to a dynamic combination of therapeutic approaches to recovery that is infused with artificial intelligence and personalized to the individual.They brought us to the next level. By giving us the support to really think about Addicaid as a business. We have a plan to get revenue over the next months so we can be a sustainable business, said Frons, noting that the foundation, now supported by around $70,000 in grant and prize money, has plans to open a seed round.Some agencies elsewhere, however, have been cooler toward actively sponsoring coding sessions, hackathons and incubations.In Connecticut, Chief Data Officer Tyler Kleykamp said his state hasnt sponsored any such events because size matters, and Connecticut has just five cities with more than 100,000 residents.We dont have a really big city to draw on apart from Stamford, Kleykamp said. One of the things Ive tried to do is, rather than hold our own civic-focused hackathon, is to jump on board with some of the other hackathons that might be occurring in Connecticut.The state is no stranger to tech-facing events and solutions. In July, Connecticut began making available online a real-time list of people held on bond in state correctional facilities, their charges and how long theyve been held. State facilities are the states main incarceration point.The Connecticut Data Collaborative , a public-private partnership, develops products and uses visualizations to breathe life into state data streams.And in September, Kleykamp said Connecticut stood up a civic technology track at the third annual Stamford Hackathon , adding a small prize to get some people thinking about civic tech.We had done sort of these very civic-focused hackathons and it was sort of hard to draw people, but we found this was a pretty good approach for us, Kleykamp said.He said the states involvement yielded an unusual creation, one whose development has been encouraged: an app that combined transit schedules with IBM Bluemix and Watson Natural Language mix to help limited-English speakers navigate public transportation.I thought that was a really innovative thing. Its one of those things that doesnt necessarily cross your mind, Kleykamp said.Unlike Colorado, Connecticut has focused on making better use of the data it collects to streamline state business processes, including the licensing process through its Secretary of States office.Most businesses need some type of state license, Kleykamp said. I dont know how many businesses would want to register with the Secretary of State using an iPhone versus sitting down in front of a computer to do that," he added. "But thats certainly something wed want to learn about.New Jersey is another state that sees a different role in tech than directly sponsoring hackathons, or incubator or accelerator events. Chief Technology Officer Dave Weinstein said officials think they can be more valuable working on the data side.Obviously, hackathons are extremely valuable venues for young developers to get together and compare notes and build new tools for our citizens and we certainly sponsor  or I should say, we certainly advocate  those types of events. But most of those events based on my observation form fairly organically across the state, Weinstein said. Theres not a lot of need for government to intervene."Instead he pointed to the states Open Data Initiative (ODI), signed into law by Gov. Chris Christie on Monday, Feb. 6, as not only requiring data transparency from state agencies but potentially providing a road map forward.Behind the scenes, officials have been fairly active, Weinstein said, pointing out theres an Open Data Center in his office and a website providing transparency on issues ranging from geospatial to financial.But the Open Data Initiative really gives us an opportunity to further operationalize that center and certainly establish a lasting legacy in the Open Data space, Weinstein said. Its also a great vehicle for marketing the Open Data Center to the developer community and others who didnt even know we existed in this space.The ODI went further, however, codifying into law the states Chief Data Officer position, giving CDO Liz Rowe authority to set procedures, standards and practices pertaining to open data and data sets by agency; and to develop a format standard across all agencies.That last piece is rather significant. New Jersey began an effort in 2015 to collect disparate pieces of online information from its state network, Weinstein said, but state data continues to exist in various formats, limiting its ability to be shared in an automated fashion.Codifying the CDOs role is also a key takeoff point from which to educate key stakeholders on data, he said, and bring them into the fold.In New Jersey, were happy to say that we can compel. We like to assert our authority when we have it, Weinstein said.Advocating  though not actually sponsoring  hackathon and coding events still generates value for the state, he said, by acquainting officials with local talent they may wish to recruit and hire.And regardless of any of these events structures or ultimate design, Weinstein and other officials who spoke withaffirmed that hackathons, incubators and accelerators all have great purpose in the tech world.I think that because of the growth in programs like BigApps and Go Code Colorado and Code for America and even the White Houses 18F program  were experiencing the beginning of a renaissance in the way government views the opportunity to partner with the public on creating solutions to long-standing problems, Rasiej said.In Magdas case, attending Go Code Colorado introduced him to technologists from around the state, and got him seen by his current employer, Airstream Health, which aims to build a good healthplan thats cheaper for employers.Even though its hard to put a dollar amount on how successful it is," Magda said, "I think theres a considerable benefit on my side being able to go to work for a startup."
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In our lifetime?

Vulnerabilities

A grim picture

(TNS) - When a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Baguio on July 16, 1990, 5-year-old Klaridelle Reyes was sleeping on a couch. She woke up to a cacophony of voices and loud footsteps. She could hear people shouting, running to safety.Kyle Yan, a 16-year-old student at Saint Louis University, was also napping on that cold afternoon when the quake struck. He awoke in the commotion and then waded through piles of books and personal belongings that had fallen to the floor during the first few seconds of the quake.Outside, buildings were starting to crumble, landslides blocked roads and mines collapsed on hapless workers.By the time the two of them reached the streets, they were homeless.Strike-slip or horizontal movements of the Philippine Fault Zone and the splay Digdig Fault, which occurred at 4:26 p.m. on that day, created a 125-kilometer ground rupture from Aurora to Nueva Vizcaya. The earthquakes epicenter was located near the town of Rizal in Nueva Ecija, but it was in the tourist destination of Baguio City where many died.Grade 4 student Drew Calachan was waiting for a jeepney in Cubao when it hit. The road started to ripple. He was confused as he watched the ground move in waves, the Isetan Tower swaying from left to right as though it was going to break.The ride suddenly felt strange, like the bus couldnt keep a straight line," Louis Alferez recalled of that afternoon he rode a bus on his way home from the University of the Philippines.At the Duty Free mall near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Jose Del Mundo and his colleagues held onto bottles of expensive liquor as the ground shook. He thought of running to the tarmac but the glass windows of the mall had started to rattle, producing a deafening sound that spooked them and left them rooted to the spot.Back in Baguio, Klaridelle, who cried the whole afternoon as the aftershocks continued, slept in the nearby park with her family. Village officials erected tents and her family stayed in one for five days until it was deemed safe to sleep indoors.Kyles village was not as fortunate; many families slept on the pavement, with only blankets and raincoats protecting them from the rain. Their house, which was made of wood and concrete, was destroyed.Around 1,600 people were said to have been killed in what is considered the second deadliest earthquake in the world that year (the deadliest struck Iran). Thousands were trapped under rubble and the city was isolated for two days.The main earthquake lasted for 45 seconds but the damage it wrought on 15 provinces took at least a year to recover from.It might be impossible to predict when the next earthquake may occur but scientists can pin down what is called a recurrence interval or the average time span between earthquake occurrences.For the West Valley Fault, four major earthquakes have been determined to have taken place in the last 1,400 years. It has a recurrence interval of 400 to 500 years. The last major earthquake originating from the fault was recorded in 1658 or 357 years ago.This means that it may be time soon  perhaps in our lifetime, or that of our children  for another major movement in the fault.The Philippine archipelago is sandwiched in between two opposite subduction zones  that of the Eurasian Plate (South China Plate) which subducts (is forced under) Luzon along the Manila Trench and that of the Philippine Sea Plate that subducts toward the west along the East Luzon Trench. These zones explain high seismic activity in Luzon.In a joint study with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Phivolcs looked at 18 earthquake scenarios. The three organizations selected three scenarios for detailed damage analysis: a 7.2-magnitude earthquake from the West Valley Fault, an offshore 7.9-magnitude earthquake from the Manila Trench and a 6.5-magnitude earthquake hitting Manila Bay.That of the West Valley Fault, a 100-kilometer fault that runs through six cities in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, is considered the worst-case scenario. This is The Big One."While the strongest earthquake recorded in the country was an offshore magnitude 8.3 earthquake in Mindanao in the 1920s, and certain seismological models predict the possibility of another offshore 8.5-magnitude earthquake, a major West Valley Fault movement could result in a disaster of never-before-seen proportions.The longer the fault runs, Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum Jr. said, the higher the magnitude. And a higher magnitude also means a longer duration.The larger the earthquake, the longer the shaking," he said, adding that a major quake will probably last at least 30 seconds based on a duration magnitude formula.A magnitude 7.2 earthquake that lasts for at least 30 seconds? If that happens in the West Valley Fault, about 34,000 people may die. That staggering estimate does not take into account the toll from other disasters that may follow, like fires.According to the Metropolitan Manila Earthquake Impact Reduction Study (MMEIRS), a 7.2-magnitude earthquake from the West Valley Fault will result in the collapse of 170,000 residential houses and the death of 34,000 people. Another 114,000 individuals will be injured while 340,000 houses will be partly damaged.At least seven bridges will fall off while 10 percent of public buildings will be heavily damaged.The 4,615 kilometers of water distribution pipes will suffer 4,000 points of breakage. Thirty kilometers' worth of electric cables will be cut and 95 kilometers of communication cables will be disconnected. Cellular phone service will be congested and out of use.Of the structures that will be damaged, those of informal settlers will have a higher damage ratio.People living in buildings may be trapped inside elevators as electricity fails.Of the 34,000 people projected to die within an hour of the earthquake, 90 percent will be killed from the pressure of collapsed structures. Some of them will initially survive but will die if they are not immediately rescued.About 20,000 people will be trapped in damaged buildings and burnt to death. While many of those in informal communities will survive the main quake, a number will die from the fires, which will be triggered by short circuits and leakage from gas tanks.Several fires will originate from factories, hospitals and kitchens. The scenario, which is assumed to occur at nighttime, predicts the fires will burn 1,710 hectares of land, claiming 18,000 lives.Ambulances will be unable to get through the streets and bodies will be lined along the road. The scenario is reminiscent of the horrors of Supertyphoon Yolanda  although the study was released back in 2004.The destruction, together with the losses that the economy will suffer, will constitute a national crisis, the study said.When the Big One strikes, it will be felt this way.Movement will start along the fault, several kilometres below the ground. It will move horizontally and will cause vibration or shaking, Solidum said.At Intensity 8, which will be felt in Metro Manila and possibly Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna and Cavite, people will find it difficult to remain standing. Buildings and houses will suffer heavy damage, especially those not constructed to withstand earthquakes.There will be many aftershocks and this will last for a week or so. The aftershocks may number hundreds or thousands but only structures already weakened by the main earthquake will be further damaged.There will be landslides and, especially near the fault, there will be permanent changes in the landscape as the quake ruptures the ground.The study paints a grim picture, of people feeling a sudden jolt and then the shaking of the ground.You fall to the ground, unable to keep standing. You hear a booming sound. You hear screams from people inside their homes. You hear breaking glasses. Telephone and power poles sway violently. Then the power goes off. In front of you, the village road is heaving, as if you are riding waves. The strong ground shaking goes on for 50 seconds. It is the longest 50 seconds of your life," the text says.It tells of the panic and confusion that will follow, of being cut off from the rest of the country and living in open spaces.But it also serves as a great reminder of the need to be prepared and for authorities to improve risk reduction and management systems. Today, Thursday, the MMDA and thousands of participating groups will hold the largest earthquake drill to be held in Metropolitan Manila.We are counting on your participation," the Metro Manila Shake Drill website says.Below that announcement, a timer counts down the days and hours before the earthquake drill.But there will be no timer for the Big One.2015 the Asia News Network (Hamburg, Germany)Visit the Asia News Network (Hamburg, Germany) at www.asianewsnet.net/home/Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
(TNS) -- Columbus police are working with other area authorities to review GPS monitoring data to see whether the man accused of killing an Ohio State student is responsible for a series of attacks and robberies in the German Village area.GPS data from an ankle bracelet that Brian Golsby was required to wear when he was released from prison in November show he was at the Scioto Grove Metro Park in Grove City where OSU student Reagan Tokes' body was found Feb. 9.Now, Columbus police officials, Grove City police and the Franklin County prosecutor's office are investigating whether the data from the monitor will show his whereabouts in relation to a string of other recent crimes, Columbus police spokesman Sgt. Rich Weiner said Thursday.Golsby is charged in the rape and killing of Tokes less than three months after he was released from prison, where he served a six-year sentence for attempted rape and robbery. Authorities say Golsby abducted Tokes in the Short North, forced her to withdraw money from an ATM on South High Street and took her in her car to Grove City, where he raped and shot her.Authorities found her car Feb. 10 on Oakwood Avenue, near where Golsby lived. The next day, police arrested Golsby at his South Side home based on DNA found on a cigarette left in Tokes' car, according to court records.Weiner could not say how many other crimes Golsby is being investigated for in Columbus, though they include robbery-assault incidents in German Village and near Nationwide Children's Hospital. The department has had victims of the other incidents come in and say they think Golsby is the man who assaulted or robbed them, Weiner said.Golsby, 29, was monitored from Nov. 22 until Feb. 11, and he admitted that he abducted Tokes, according to a criminal complaint. He has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder, rape, aggravated robbery, kidnapping and receiving stolen property -- charges that could result in Golsby facing the death penalty if convicted.Weiner said he isn't sure how data from the ankle bracelet are collected. It also is unclear what the conditions of Golsby's controlled release -- or any limitations on Golsby's movement -- might have been. The state has yet to say what the conditions of his parole were."Hopefully, it will show the exact location, hopefully it will show movement," Weiner said of the data. "Some show the location every 15 minutes, some every hour, some every eight hours."He said each attack in the German Village area and at Children's Hospital was different. In one, the attacker punched a woman. In others, a knife or gun was shown. They were "a little" spread out geographically, Weiner said."You can't rule anything out," he said. "From day one, the investigators started looking into it, not knowing what the result would be."Weiner said there is no timeline for the investigation.U.S. officials have offered their assistance in the Golsby criminal case, including whether it could or should be prosecuted in federal court."Whichever venue is best," Assistant U.S. Attorney David DeVillers said on Thursday.
Seeking to develop an SMR system suited for such distributed applications, a team from Georgia Tech in 2014 proposed the sorption-enhanced CO 2 /H2 Active Membrane Piston reactor (CHAMP-SORB)a variable-volume batch reactor for the production of hydrogen from catalytic steam reforming of methane that operates in a cycle similar to that of an internal combustion engine. Now, in a paper published in the ACS journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research , the team has developed a comprehensive analysis of the system, focused on understanding the heat/mass transfer and reaction/separation interactions to develop guidelines for scale-up.

Steam methane reforming is currently the primary pathway for hydrogen production worldwide. However, due to its high operating temperature and use of sequential units for the reaction stages, industrial SMR does not scale down well for distributed, point-of-use applications such as fuel cell vehicle refueling stations.

Prior work has established the thermodynamic viability of the CHAMP-SORB concept to achieve 90% fuel conversion at 400 C and 2:1 steam to carbon ratio, as well as demonstrated the performance enhancements enabled by incorporation of CO 2 and H 2 removal in the absence of transport-limitations using the bench-scale reactor prototype. However, as the reactor is scaled up to a realistic production size, consideration of heat and mass transfer effects become necessary to develop the strategy for a practical design of the CHAMP-SORB reactor.

In this paper we present a comprehensive transport-reaction model, which carefully considers all relevant heat and mass transfer processes and their interplay with reactions and separation in application to the CHAMP-SORB for low-temperature steam reforming of methane. The model, which includes thermal effects of reaction and sorption and incorporates the Maxwell-Stefan description of diffusion for multispecies mass transfer, is applied to the most important, H 2 producing, compression step of the CHAMP-SORB cycle. Anderson et al. (2017)

The CHAMP-SORB device operates at temperatures much lower than conventional steam reforming processes, consumes substantially less water and could also operate on other fuels such as methanol or bio-derived feedstock. It also captures and concentrates carbon dioxide emissions, a by-product that now lacks a secondary usealthough that could change in the future.

The reactor operates at only a few cycles per minuteor more slowlydepending on the reactor scale and required rate of hydrogen production.

Key to the reaction process is the variable volume provided by the piston rising and falling in a cylinder. As with a conventional engine, a valve controls the flow of gases into and out of the reactor as the piston moves up and down. The four-stroke system works like this:

Natural gas (methane) and steam are drawn into the reaction cylinder through a valve as the piston inside is lowered. The valve closes once the piston reaches the bottom of the cylinder.

The piston rises into the cylinder, compressing the steam and methane as the reactor is heated. Once it reaches approximately 400 C, catalytic reactions take place inside the reactor, forming hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The hydrogen exits through a selective membrane, and the pressurized carbon dioxide is adsorbed by the sorbent material, which is mixed with the catalyst.

Once the hydrogen has exited the reactor and carbon dioxide is tied up in the sorbent, the piston is lowered, reducing the volume (and pressure) in the cylinder. The carbon dioxide is released from the sorbent into the cylinder.

The piston is again moved up into the chamber and the valve opens, expelling the concentrated carbon dioxide and clearing the reactor for the start of a new cycle.



Schematic of CHAMP-SORB reactor cycle. The reactor utilizes four strokes per cycle: (a) retracting piston to fill the reactor, (b) extending piston to produce H 2 via SMR at constant pressure and then opening valve to exhaust products, (c) retracting piston to desorb CO 2 , and (d) extending piston to desorb and produce a purified CO 2 as the final product. Credit: ACS, Anderson et al. (2017). Click to enlarge.

All of the pieces of the puzzle have come together. The challenges ahead are primarily economic in nature. Our next step would be to build a pilot-scale CHAMP reactor. Andrei G. Fedorov, a professor in Georgia Techs George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering

Fedorovs lab first carried out thermodynamic calculations suggesting that the four-stroke process could be modified to produce hydrogen in relatively small amounts where it would be used. The goals of the research were to create a modular reforming process that could operate at between 400 and 500 degrees Celsius, use just two molecules of water for every molecule of methane to produce four hydrogen molecules, be able to scale down to meet the specific needs, and capture the resulting carbon dioxide for potential utilization or sequestration.

We wanted to completely rethink how we designed reactor systems. To gain the kind of efficiency we needed, we realized wed need to dynamically change the volume of the reactor vessel. We looked at existing mechanical systems that could do this, and realized that this capability could be found in a system that has had more than a century of improvements: the internal combustion engine. Andrei G. Fedorov

The CHAMP system could be scaled up or down to produce the hundreds of kilograms of hydrogen per day required for a typical automotive refueling station, or a few kilograms for an individual vehicle or residential fuel cell, Fedorov said. The volume and piston speed in the CHAMP reactor can be adjusted to meet hydrogen demands while matching the requirements for the carbon dioxide sorbent regeneration and separation efficiency of the hydrogen membrane. In practical use, multiple reactors would likely be operated together to produce a continuous stream of hydrogen at a desired production level.

We took the conventional chemical processing plant and created an analog using the magnificent machinery of the internal combustion engine. The reactor is scalable and modular, so you could have one module or a hundred of modules depending on how much hydrogen you needed. The processes for reforming fuel, purifying hydrogen and capturing carbon dioxide emission are all combined into one compact system. Andrei G. Fedorov

This publication is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) CBET award 0928716, which was funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5), and by award 61220 of the U.S. Civilian Research & Development Foundation (CRDF Global) and by the National Science Foundation under Cooperative Agreement OISE- 9531011. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF or CRDF Global. Graduate work of David M. Anderson, the first author on the paper, was conducted with government support under an award by the DoD, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship, 32 CFR 168a.

Resources
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.
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.
GREENSBORO  Stride Rite, a children's shoe store in the Friendly Center, will close next month.

A saleswoman who answered the phone at the store on Friday afternoon said the store will close March 26. All merchandise is discounted at 50 percent, she said.

Stride Rite's parent company, Michigan-based Wolverine Worldwide, has been closing stores over the last couple of years, particularly those dedicated to selling its Stride Rite brand. Most of the Wolverine Worldwide stores that closed in 2014 and 2015 were Stride Rite stores, according to this article in a Michigan newspaper. The company planned to close 100 stores last year, according to the article, which attributed the closures to a "difficult global retail and consumer environment."

Stride Rite follows a long list of retailers that are closing up their brick-and-mortar shops. The Limited, which also had a store in the Friendly Center, closed all its stores last month.

And here's an article I wrote recently about why more stores are closing up shop.
GREENSBORO  News and notes from Fridays Board of Trustees meeting at N.C. A&T:

 Trustees approved a plan to tear down the old Hayes-Taylor YMCA building on the edge of campus. A&T bought the building in 2011 and plans to build its new Engineering Research and Innovation Center on the old YMCA site. Demolition isnt scheduled to happen until 2018. The new $90 million engineering building, paid for by the Connect NC bond approved by voters last March, is slated to open in mid-2020.

 A&T officials said a new student union remains on schedule to open in May 2018. The university is building the $90 million student-financed facility atop the site of the old Memorial Student Union.

 Trustees got good news about its nursing program: The passing rate for first-time takers of the state licensing exam was 92 percent in 2016  well above the 85 percent standard set by the UNC Board of Governors. The UNC system suspended new enrollments to A&Ts traditional nursing program in 2015 because of low test scores. After A&T revamped its traditional nursing program, the UNC system lifted the suspension in late 2015. Last week, the N.C. Board of Nursing removed A&T from its warning list. Another positive development: Nursing enrollment stands at 102 students, and A&T predicts the program will grow again next year.

 Trustees approved the creation of the Advanced Computation Resource Center. The center will work with A&T professors and students who need heavy-duty computing resources for research and other academic tasks. A&T leaders said the center will assist faculty with current research and position A&T to attract funding for future projects. Marwan Bikdash, chairman of the computational science and engineering department, will serve as the centers first interim director.
With the strange relationship between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin continuing beyond the election, its high time we finally saw Mr. Trumps tax returns. Evidence of Putins influence on this election has been presented at length by the intelligence community. Now, there is rumor that this administration will loosen the U.S.s long-held sanctions presently imposed on Putin and Russia.

Our nation, for more than 40 years, has held the belief that Russia is an enemy. Its time for the Republicans in the House and Senate, who for years have railed against the Obama administration for its lack of backbone in standing up to this dictator, to stand up to the bully in the White House. Americans need to know where any conflicts of interest may arise. The only way to instill any level of trust in this administration would be to establish and maintain a truly independent, bipartisan committee to investigate, in depth, these allegations.
I was struck by the headline on the front page of Sundays newspaper, below the fold (Trumps policies worry immigrants and aid agencies). If immigrants are not in the Untied States illegally, they have no reason to be worried. However, if they are here illegally, they are federal felons and should be deporting themselves instead of worrying.

If aid agencies are helping legal immigrants, they have nothing to worry about either. If they are aiding and abetting illegal entrants, federal felons, then they need to clean up their act. Aiding a federal felon to evade the law is a felonious act in itself.

The headline needs to be altered to tell the truth (what a concept). It should read, Enforcing of laws enacted by the representatives of the people of the United States worries those who are illegally in the United States. And a subheadline, Groups and individuals breaking federal law are subject to the enforcement of the same.

President Trump is asking law-enforcement agencies to apply the law fairly and equally to all. U.S. citizens and those visiting here having entered according to the laws of the country have nothing to worry about.

Mac McAtee

Oak Ridge
Regarding Tony Moschettis letter on Feb. 4: The reason President Bush did not comment about the new president was because he knew Obama was not a want-to-be dictator like our new president. Also, his chief adviser was not a white supremacist like Steve Bannon. Mr. Moschetti also said the former president left this country in a mess. I guess Mr. Moschetti forgot that this country was on the brink of a depression. I guess he just has a short memory. Enough said.
HARTFORD  The states top transportation official on Wednesday defended plans to study taxing miles driven on Connecticut roads  after a barrage of complaints from lawmakers about the controversial levy.

James Redeker, commissioner of the state Department of Transportation, said a mileage tax pilot program with 15 other Northeastern states is designed only to learn more about the option, not implement the tax.

Its our job to inform the legislature about options and alternatives, and the barriers and opportunities, Redeker said during a question and answer session before the General Assemblys transportation committee.

Im committed to making sure we have sufficient capacities to keep the system safe and the best it can be, Redeker said. The funds are insufficient on state and federal side over time.

State Rep. Gail Lavielle, R-Wilton, said she remains perplexed about the states interest in a mileage tax, and pointed out Connecticut is putting far more money into the study than other states.

There were 16 states and Washington, D.C., but only five actually made a financial commitment, and Connecticut would pay more in cash than any other state, said Lavielle, who opposes the study and a mileage tax.

Connecticut last year agreed to participate in a multistate pilot program to study taxing miles driven as a way to replace the state gasoline tax. The study would help determine if that system would bring in more revenue to reduce congestion, fix bridges and upgrade rail systems.

State Sen. Len Suzio, R-Meriden, who has introduced a bill to block the state from spending $300,000 to participate in the pilot program, said he believes the study is a path to a mileage tax.

The overall vision is to lay the groundwork for a mileage based tax, Suzio said. Its not a study about whether its a good idea or bad idea. Why are we participating in a study thats about how to convince the public to buy into it?

State Rep. Fred Wilms, R-Norwalk, asked Redeker where the mileage study money would come from, reminding the commissioner he previously said the money was not included in the departments budget.

Redeker said the money would come from department reserves. We did not identify available funds but I hope we can participate, he said.
Michael Cummo / Hearst Connecticut Media

STAMFORD  A 15-year-old Bridgeport girl has been accused of stealing a pizza delivery drivers car and leading police on a chase before crashing in Darien Wednesday night.

More News Car chase shuts down Metro North in Darien

The victim told police his 1999 Honda Civic was taken while he was making a delivery on Henry Street in Stamford about 6:50 p.m., according to the report. Police said the man left the keys inside the car.
Globalization and free trade are being scrutinized on both sides of the Atlantic, with many citizens feeling that international trade deals only benefit the upper class and big corporations. Trudeau focused on the many similarities and shared values between the two economies throughout his speech.

"By building bridges rather than walls, we can face the challenges that confront our societies together. In these uncertain times, with rising protectionism around the world, CETA underlines our strong commitment to sustainable trade."

Trudeau highlighted the importance of the EU-Canada trade deal. "We know that in these times we must choose to lead the international economy, not simply be subject to its whims... If we are successful, CETA will become the blueprint for all ambitious, future trade deals. If we are not, this could well be one of the last."

The European Parliament voted in favor of CETA, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, between the European Union and Canada a day earlier.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau advocated for free trade and a united Europe in a speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France on Thursday.

The European Parliament approved the agreement with 408 in favor, 254 against and 33 abstentions. While the vote was taking place, hundreds of protesters demonstrated in front of the parliament building.

The trade deal will slash more than 90 percent of tariffs between the EU and Canada when it takes effect later this year.

Trudeau visited Washington earlier this week and met with U.S. President Donald Trump. The U.S. leader has aired his reservations about global trade deals and wants to renegotiate NAFTA, a free trade agreement comprising the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Trump had also voiced his support for Britain to leave the EU while Trudeau told the European Parliament that "an effective European voice on the global stage is not preferable, but essential."

The ratification of the CETA deal has been anything but smooth, with mass protests held around the continent in 2016. Demonstrators fear standards for consumer products will be reduced, are worried about the impact on the environment, and oppose the impact of secretive courts for disputes among investors and countries.

Proponents say the fears are unsustained and that the trade agreement will create more jobs and increase economic growth.

The CETA deal was set to be finalized last October after seven years of negotiations; but, Wallonia, a Belgian regional parliament, blocked the vote from moving forward. After several promises were made, Wallonia agreed but the battle for CETA is not over.

Wallonia's prime minister, Paul Magnette, tweeted the following statement after the Wednesday vote:

"A reminder: Wallonia will not ratify #CETA until all the conditions we have met have been fulfilled."

While most of the CETA deal can now be implemented, some controversial parts  such as the investor state dispute settlement courts and environmental consequences among others  are still to be decided because more than a dozen EU member states still need to have their national parliament ratify the deal.

Professor of European Affairs Hendrik Vos of Ghent University says there is only a small chance the CETA deal will fail. "The ratification process can take months, sometimes even years.

But that should not be a hindrance for the main parts of the deal to come into force when it comes to the trade aspect."

Wallonia's leaders have said the region will only ratify the deal once the European Court of Justice has ruled on the legality of the investor state dispute settlement courts.
It is important that you spend as much time as possible with this little guy when hes young! Photo: DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images

While many Republican lawmakers cant even get behind paid maternity leave, a Scottish brewery will start offering exactly that for employees who are new puppy parents. BrewDog, which will soon open a taproom in Ohio, announced that it will give a week of paid leave to employees who bring home a new puppy or rescue dog. (The company also says that it has expanded paternity and maternity pay, in the event an employee has an actual human child.)



James Watt, who co-founded the brewery with Martin Dickie and their dog, tells USA Today that the decision was made to take the stress out of settling a new dog. Presumably, employees also have access to lots of discounted beers, so they can get a buzz on the cheap while playing their first game of fetch with Steven the golden retriever.
McYes! Photo: Karsyn Helton/Facebook

Illinois resident Kristian Helton gave his girlfriend Karsyn Long the Valentines Day present of her dreams this week  a ten-piece Chicken McNuggets from McDonalds  with a diamond engagement ring inside. Helton tells NBC affiliate WAND that, at this point, hes made peace with Longs first love (Her love for chicken nuggets is, Im sure, more than she loves me). Across the top flap inside, he scrawled, Will You McMarry Me?



I didnt hesitate to say yes, Long admits.

She was pretty excited, Helton adds, before noting he didnt mean about them spending the rest of their lives together. I think more about the chicken nuggets.


Xiaomi Global has assigned Manu Kumar Jain to the position of Global Vice President. Jain has served as the head of India operations since the day the Chinese brand opened shop in India in 2014. Apart from serving as the Global VP, he will continue to oversee the India operations as Managing Director.

Jain's promotion follows the exit of Hugo Barra from the company last month, who previously held the position of Global VP. Barra has since then announced plans of heading Oculus at Facebook back at Silicon Valley.

Under the leadership of Jain, Xiaomi India flourished tremendously since its launch, with the company currently at the number one position for online smartphone sales in the country and carving a sizable slice of the pie even offline. The company recently announced that it sold over 3 million units of its Redmi 3S smartphone in India in under six months, pushing Xiaomi to the number 2 position for smartphone sales in CY Q4, 2016 in India.

Xiaomi has updated Manu Jain's position on its company website, although it's yet to follow it up with an official announcement.

Source
Reports later in 2013 that the NSA listened in on German government phones, including Merkel's, prompted a diplomatic spat between Berlin and Washington that for a time soured otherwise good relations with the Obama administration.

The parliamentary panel is investigating alleged eavesdropping in Germany by the U.S. National Security Agency and its relationship with German counterparts. The inquiry was launched a year after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed details of secret U.S. eavesdropping programs in 2013.

Chancellor Angela Merkel testified Thursday to a parliamentary committee examining alleged U.S. surveillance in Germany and the activities of German intelligence, defending her insistence that "spying among friends" is unacceptable.

Merkel declared at the time that "spying among friends'' was unacceptable. But subsequent reports indicated that Germany's own BND intelligence agency may have helped the U.S. spy on European companies and officials.

Merkel testified that she first heard about the BND's alleged activities in March 2015, sticking to a line set out by other officials. And she said that her comments about spying among friends remained valid.

"My standard was that spying among friends is not acceptable, and if it happens we have to intervene," she told lawmakers.

Asked how she felt when she first heard of Snowden's revelations, Merkel said: "I have enough experience that it was clear this was a significant matter."

She also defended Germany's failure to achieve a mutual "no-spy" agreement with the U.S., something that her government held out the prospect of in summer 2013, shortly before a national election. On the German side, "I am convinced that there was very intensive work on it," but those efforts eventually came to nothing, she said.

Merkel stressed the importance and difficulty of "finding the right balance between freedom and security."




Haiti - Politics : An Alternative Development Project for Haiti





The new government has big choices to make: Resources are limited, as they are in every country. So how does Haiti choose between one set of priorities and another? With many areas of need, which investments should come ahead of others? Should we focus on building infrastructure and agricultural productivity? Or is improving education access and rights for women a higher concern?



There can be as many different answers as there are Haitians, both in the nation and in the Diaspora. But a major new research and advocacy project aims to bring new knowledge and data to this important discussion.



Haiti Priorise https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/haiti_top_ideas_one_fr.pdf has so far involved dozens of top economists from this nation and abroad, as well as more than one hundred sector experts, and stakeholders from the private and public sectors https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/fr_graphic_one_page_copenhagen_consensus_for_haiti_version_4.pdf



The project aims to bring to Haiti something that most countries in the world lack: clear data on the benefits and costs of the most talked-about interventions.



The project uses local and international knowledge from top researchers on the costs and benefits of different proposals. All of the possible priorities are made comparable using an internationally recognized process of cost-benefit analysis, championed by the Copenhagen Consensus Center.



Over the next twelve weeks, research papers will be released on the Copenhagen Consensus website Center www.copenhagenconsensus.com/



Haiti Priorise aims to crunch the numbers for both the talked-about and the less popular ideas. We present these research findings without any agenda other than to boost the policy debate in Haiti and among Haitians abroad.



In April, we will take this further, by convening an Eminent Panel www.copenhagenconsensus.com/haiti-priorise/advisory-council of world-class economists in Port-au-Prince, and asking them to review all of the research.



But such important topics are too vital to be left to any one group, so we are also asking young people, think tanks, development organizations, policy makers, the diaspora, and civil society to carry out similar prioritizations explainded Bjorn Lomborg, director of the Copenhagen Consensus Center, adding "It is our hope that, empowered with more data on the solutions that work and with an increased understanding of where a gourde goes furthest, the public, youth, thought leaders and decision makers will be enabled to focus more on some of the most effective solutions for Haiti."



Download (in french) :

https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/haiti_top_ideas_one_fr.pdf

https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/fr_graphic_one_page_copenhagen_consensus_for_haiti_version_4.pdf



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping politics...





PM: only one meeting with Parliament !

Cholzer Chancy, President of the Chamber of Deputies, confirmed that until now there has been only one official meeting between President Jovenel Moise, the President of the Senate and him on the choice of the Prime Minister.



Transfer of Commissioners to the PNH

As part of normal rotation within the police the General Directorate of the National Police of Haiti (PNH) made transfers :



Commissioner Frantz St-Armand is now posted to the Delmas police station, replacing Commissioner Jean Brice Myrthil;

Commissioner Myrthil is transferred to the General Information Branch;

Commissioner Paul Menard leaves the command of CIMO to replace Frantz St-Armand in Carrefour.



Appeal to the BCEN

On Thursday, the National Electoral Litigation Office (BCEN) heard the 5 cases of challenges concerning the latest legislative, they are the cases opposing Fritz Carlos Lebon to Francois Sildor for the South, Abel Descolines to Rony Celestin for the Centre, Saintilus Theodore to Jean-Marie Ralph Fethiere for the North, David Nicolas Clerie to Ronald Toussaint for the constituency of Roseaux and Alcide Odne to Renaud Jean-Baptiste for the constituency of Plaisance



Towards a register of Haitians cared in DR

Mirna Font-Frias, the Directors of the Dominican Regional Metropolitan Health Service (SRSM) met Ainoa Alexandra Comoglio, the Legal Counselor of the Embassy of Haiti in the Dominican Republic. During the meeting it was discussed the urgency of having a register of Haitians seeking health services in Dominican hospitals. This meeting was also attended by managers of zones, coordinators, assistants and other operational staff of the SRSM.



Special Government Council at the PM Residence

On Thursday, the Prime Minister, Enex Jean-Charles, presided at his official residence, a special Council of Government. On the agenda: the state of Public Finance and the General Situation of Ministries.



The Presidential Couple back from Georgetown

On Thursday, the President of the Republic Jovenel Moise participated in the Opening Ceremony of the 28th intersessional meeting of the CARICOM Conference of Heads of State and Government, held in Georgetown, Guyana. At the same time, First Lady Martine Moise participated in the ECWECC forum, a new structure for the wives of the Heads of State of CARICOM, to help women and children in the Caribbean region.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Published on 2017/02/16 | Source

Can actor Yoo Ah-in ever go to the army? He's gotten 2 years of National Service on hold. Not only does he have a ruptured shoulder, he has bone tumor. He's waiting for his fourth trial.

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It turns out Yoo Ah-in's National Service has been put on hold because of bone tumor. Yoo Ah-in's management claims this is true and he is waiting for his next trial.

Yoo Ah-in is 32 years old and he got a Level 7 in all the tests he's been through in December of 2015, May and December of 2016. His next test is in March.

The reason his National Service has been put on hold is because of his shoulder. He hurt his shoulder while filming the movie "Tough as Iron". This is why he was diagnosed with bone tumor. He's been getting treatment ever since.

Bone tumor is when there is tumor in the bone and the joints. Yoo Ah-in is in the early stages of it. There is hope for treatment and he will serve his duties to the country with public service.

Yoo Ah-in was being criticized for postponing his National Service. Yoo Ah-in's management claimed, "He wants to go but he can't". He was suspected of being sly but after word got out of his bone tumor, the public now understands.
Police in Malaysia arrested another woman on Thursday on suspicion of killing Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The woman, traveling on an Indonesian passport in the name of Siti Aisyah, was identified from CCTV footage at Kuala Lumpur International Airport shortly after Monday's assassination.

The passport gives her year of birth as 1992. Police were acting on a tipoff from her Malaysian boyfriend. Her arrest follows the capture on Wednesday of a Vietnamese woman also identified from CCTV footage.


The doors to the morgue at the Kuala Lumpur hospital holding Kim Jong-nam's body were sealed tightly on Thursday. Reporters camped out in front of the doors, but not many people entered and left.

"After all the police and medical procedures are completed, we may release the body to the next of kin through the embassy," Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told reporters. He added that Kuala Lumpur's relations with Pyongyang will not be affected by the incident.

The Malaysian government said Thursday it will accept a request from North Korea to hand over the body of Kim Jong-nam, the murdered half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

North Korean Embassy officials in Malaysia went to the hospital the day before to witness the autopsy after Kim was apparently assassinated on the shopping concourse of Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Monday.

The New Straits Times said they initially tried to prevent the post-mortem.

The Malaysian government earlier said Kim's body would not be released until the investigation is concluded, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said.

Hamidi also said Kim, who was traveling on a passport in the name of Kim Chol, had another passport with his real name. "It looks like he wanted to travel incognito," he said.

There were also reports that Kim Jong-nam's own family wanted his body to be handed over. Malaysian news portal FMT quoted a government official there as saying Kim's second wife Ri Hye-kyong through the Chinese embassy asked for the body to be handed over to her.

Ri lives in Macau with Kim's two grown children, Han-sol and Sol-hui, under the protection of Chinese authorities.


The insurance market Lloyds of London has banned the consumption of alcohol during working hours.



Staff could be sacked for gross misconduct if they break the rule, which applies to its 800 employees  not the underwriters and brokers who do business there  between the hours of 9am-5pm.



The ban was reportedly brought in after roughly half of grievance and disciplinary cases within Lloyds in the past two years were found to be related to alcohol misuse.



But many staff at Lloyds reacted angrily to the ban, posting comments on an internal intranet, according to the report.



Will we be asked to go to bed earlier soon? and Did I just wake up from my drunken drug induced slumber to find we are now living in Orwells 1984? were among the comments said to have been posted by workers online.



Lloyds used to be a fun place to work. Now it is the PC capital of the world where you cant even go out for a lunchtime pint anymore? another added.



But while some reacted with outrage, others seemed to regard the rule as a statement of the obvious.



Was there really a need for this? The vast majority of my colleagues know how to drink responsibly during work hours, and would never let their lunch hour socialising affect their work or decision making, one commenter said.



Another echoed that sentiment, adding: This is too heavy handed...I think most people are sensible and only have a drink occasionally when celebrating success or a birthday etc.



But the move may just be further evidence of a culture shift within the city, according to some commentators.



City workers are acting far more responsibly compared to in the past, due to the dog-eat-dog nature of the market now, said David Buik, a market commentator at Panmure Gordon investment bank.



Life is so professionally competitive now that few people working in banks or in brokers want to drink during the week. Of course, it is more than made up for at night when the wine, spirits and beer flow like Victoria Falls, he said.



The Lloyds internal memo acknowledged that the London Market has historically had a reputation for daytime drinking but said that it has been changing, adding that Lloyds has a duty to be a responsible employer.


Law enforcement officials in Macau were quoted as saying, "We are closely monitoring how the events are progressing. We will do everything we can to ensure the safety and rights of Macau residents and visitors."

His widow Ri Hye-kyong (42), who is also goes by Jang Kil-son, and two children Han-sol (23) and Sol-hui (18) all hold Macau citizenship.

Authorities in Macau said they will protect the family of Kim Jong-nam, the murdered half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, according to local media on Thursday.

One South Korean friend of Kim Jong-nam's in Macau said, "Kim Jong-nam was a fan of the Korean pop culture and told me several times that he would like to visit Seoul some day. I told him to make the visit and he would tell me, 'How could that be possible?'"

The source said he did not recall Kim making any attempt to defect to South Korea. "He was reported to have used the name Kim Chol on his passport and that's also the name he used on his credit cards."

Hong Kong's South China Morning Post quoted another friend of Kim's as saying that he knew he was targeted and that his half-brother was after him.

The Macau Daily quoted a friend identified by his surname Chen as saying, "Kim Jong-nam was accompanied by bodyguards during his early years there, but he moved around by himself in recent years."
(HedgeCo.Net) The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that a purported real estate investment manager has agreed to pay more than a half-million dollars to settle charges that he pocketed investor money in an investment scheme.

The SEC alleges that James P. Toner Jr. of Scottsdale, Ariz., siphoned $51,000 from investors who were falsely told that he would personally manage some of the real estate projects in which they were purchasing interests. The stated purpose of each investor offering was to purchase a residential property in the Phoenix area, renovate that property, and then sell it for a profit.

According to the SECs complaint, Toner took $31,000 in undisclosed management fees even though he did not manage any of the offerings, and stole $20,000 directly from an investor. Without conducting any due diligence, Toner allegedly entrusted the management of the investments to a real estate broker who subsequently squandered investor funds. According to the SECs complaint, the real estate broker was later imprisoned for other crimes.

In addition to falsely stating that he planned to personally manage some of the properties, Toner allegedly told investors he would make personal investments in the projects when in fact he never did. In order to skirt the registration requirements for the offerings, Toner allegedly instructed some investors to falsely state that they were accredited investors.

As alleged in our complaint, Toner defrauded investors with false promises that he would manage their investments and personally invest along with them. Instead he siphoned off some investor money as management fees and handed over the rest to a third party without any due diligence, said Andrew M. Calamari, Director of the SECs New York Regional Office.

Without admitting or denying the allegations, Toner consented to the entry of a court order requiring him to pay disgorgement of $51,358 plus interest of $4,893.98 and a penalty of $450,000. The settlement is subject to court approval.
Just after midnight on Nov. 10, 2016, I received a phone call from Otodo Gbame, a fishing village on the edge of the Lagos Lagoon, located in one of the wealthiest areas of the largest city in sub-Saharan Africa. In panic-stricken tones, a resident and community paralegal named Paul told me that an excavator had just begun demolishing structures on the far side of the community and was rapidly closing in on his home. At least four police vehicles were working alongside the demolition team; I told him I would start making phone calls.

For more than a quarter century, people of Lagos have been forcibly evicted from their homes  a perverse urban renewal that has seen upward of 400,000 residents displaced to make way for luxury developments. But the tide could be turning, after a judge ruled that these forced evictions are cruel and inhuman  and violate the right to dignity.

By the time I finished making calls to police at various levels  all to no avail  others were calling me to report that police were setting their homes on fire. When day broke, residents who had fled with their families to boats in the Lagoon were able to take pictures of the excavator and their community in flames. By early afternoon, an estimated 2,400 structures were razed and more than 30,000 people were homeless.

In Lagos, Nigeria such forced evictions are not new: As early as 1990, an estimated 300,000 people were forcibly removed from a vast area of Lagos called Maroko. Since then, scores of demolitions have displaced entire communities. Since 2013, I have personally witnessed nearly 100,000 people lose their homes, and lifetimes investments, with no more than a few hours notice and with nowhere to go.

Colleagues who work with the urban poor elsewhere in the world often say that Nigeria is decades behind in reckoning with the reality that forced evictions are counterproductive, further entrench urban poverty, and do not actually create cities without slums or informal settlements.

There are reasons the country lags behind in protecting against forced evictions.

First, the value of land in Lagos  a city with the fourth densest population in the world  creates strong incentives to grab land. After the urban poor are forcibly evicted, land is most often converted into luxury developments sold at great profit to the urban elite; for example, the vast land where Maroko once sat is now home to exclusive housing estates, luxury hotels, and malls. Second, the legacy of more than 30 years of military rule left most non-wealthy Nigerians with a firm belief that you cannot fight the government. Finally, the courts  often referred to, with a sigh, as the last hope for the common man  have steadfastly refused to protect the poor from evictions or hold land grabbers accountable.

But on Jan. 26 2017, a Lagos judge boldly aligned himself with the jurisprudence of human rights courts around the world when he pronounced that the forced eviction of Otodo Gbame  and the threat of demolition facing 40 other Lagos waterfronts  amounts to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and violates the human right to dignity.

Just four years earlier, another Lagos judge hearing a case challenging the 1990 demolition in Maroko that had been pending in court for more than 22 years, specifically rejected the same notion. He ultimately decided, outrageously, that there was no violation of human rights in the forced eviction of 300,000 people. Such has been the norm in cases trying to defend the rights of the urban poor over the decades.

A persons dignity is a foundation of human rights law from which all other rights emanate. Yet, certain rights  those categorized as economic, social, and cultural rights, including the right to adequate shelter  have been harder to enforce because they are often left out of the bill of rights in many countries constitutions. The prohibition on forced evictions is a component of the right to adequate shelter.

In countries such as post-apartheid South Africa, a new wave of third generation constitutional drafting has embraced socio-economic rights as enforceable and essential to the realization of human dignity. As former Justice Arthur Chaskalson of the South African Constitutional Court wrote: There is no dignity in being compelled to live in conditions of abject poverty without access to [the] basic necessities of life such as food, water, health services and housing.

So what is starting to bring such vital change to Lagos?

First, following in the footsteps of slum-dweller federations in 33 other countries, a growing grassroots movement with membership from more than 80 informal settlements is empowering the urban poor to claim their dignity.

Since October 2016 when the Governor of Lagos announced the states intention to demolish all waterfront shanties within seven days, the Nigerian Slum/Informal Settlement Federation has organized massive peaceful protests and engaged legislators, the media, a number of foreign diplomats, and the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Adequate Housing.

Thousands of people, like Paul from Otodo Gbame  evictees and other slum dwellers  have overcome their fear of confronting those in power and are standing together to claim their dignity, calling for an end to forced evictions in Lagos. They are learning that claiming ones dignity is the first step to having their rightful dignity recognized and reaffirmed.

Megan S. Chapman is a human rights lawyer and the co-founder / co-director of Justice & Empowerment Initiatives  Nigeria (JEI), which supports and works hand-in-hand with the urban poor organized under the Nigerian Slum / Informal Settlement Federation.
The Government points out in its defence policy report that the early-warning period for military conflicts has become shorter and the threshold for resorting to military force lower. The Baltic Sea Region, it adds, has witnessed an increase in both military activity and tensions, thus affecting the military operating environment of Finland.

The Government is prepared to allocate an additional 55 million euros a year to improving the capabilities of the Finnish Defence Forces as of the beginning of 2018.

Finland must prepare for the use of military force, or threat thereof, against it, the defence policy report reads. The means to do so will include raising the wartime strength by 50,000 to 280,000 troops.

Finland strengthens its national defence and intensifies international defence co-operation. Land, maritime and air defence, as well as joint capabilities, will be developed in line with the requirements of the operating environment. New capabilities will be created for the cyber domain.

The development will take place in a way that creates no practical impediments to possible membership in a military alliance, according to the defence policy report.

Petteri Orpo (NCP), the Minister of Finance, estimated in a press conference on Thursday that global developments have also compelled Finland to take action to guarantee its security in the long term.

The world is unfortunately in a situation that forces us to improve our security. Finland's security situation has taken a turn for the worse, he summarised.

The Government has identified Sweden and the United States as the most important defence co-operation partners for Finland. Finland, it says, will also take determined steps to promote the development of defence co-operation and joint defence policy-making within the European Union.

Jussi Niinisto (PS), the Minister of Defence, underscored in the press conference that the report will impose no practical restrictions on developing defence co-operation with Sweden.

We won't be dependent on assistance from Sweden, but we're developing our preparedness to receive assistance from Sweden, he clarified.

The Government approved its first-ever defence policy report, which establishes the framework for maintaining, developing and utilising the defence capabilities of Finland, in a plenary session on Thursday. The 19-page report is scheduled for presentation to the Parliament on 8 March, 2017.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Jussi Nukari  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
A report by intelligence agency Supo warned of the risk of a foreign state taking advantage of a crisis situation. It goes on to state that real estate constructions could be used to close transport routes and accommodate troops unchecked, for example.

The Finnish government plans to prevent international buyers from purchasing real estate near military sites. This comes in response to a report published last year that revealed concerns in Helsinki about the acquisition of houses near strategic locations.

In response to this, MP Suna Kymalaisen confirmed that sales of land close to the border between Finland and Russia, as well as summer cottages near airports, would be probed by the Ministry of Defence.

Original article was published by The Independent on 13/02/2017 and can be found here.

Finnish centenary prompts unusual sales pitches

How do you like the sound of giving a sales pitch in a freezing-cold ice hole? Well that is exactly what entrepreneurs did during this months Polar Bear Pitching competition.

The centenary year has encouraged startups to get creative and celebrate Finnish culture by taking their sales pitches to unexpected locations. Another such idea is the Tahko Ski Lift Pitch, in which two entrepreneurs will compete for the attention of a single investor on a ski lift.

Original article was published by Suomi Finland 100 on 16/02/2017 and can be found here.

A big year for property investment

Following last years record-breaking year of real estate transactions, the Finnish market is set to remain very busy in 2017. This is according to a new Market Indicator published by property investment specialists Catella.

The all-time high transaction volume of EUR 7.1 billion was set in 2016, which was achieved during a period of relatively slow economic growth. Managing Director of Catella, Antti Louko, said there is currently no reason to doubt that the record pace in the investment market will continue in 2017.

Original article was published by PR Newswire on 16/02/2017 and can be found here.

New oath for teachers introduced by union

16,000 teachers have pledged that education belongs to all children, students and adults, as part of a new oath introduced by teachers union Opetusalan Ammattijarjesto. The oath stresses that there is no place for a commercial mind set in education, according to union President Olli Luukkainen, as well as underlining the status of teachers and the value of their work.

Original article was published by Education International on 15/02/2017 and can be found here.

Lawnmower race on frozen Finnish lake

Racers from across Europe took to their lawnmowers and battled it out on the frozen surface of Lake Karhijarvi during a 12-hour test of endurance. Held approximately 250 kilometers northwest of Helsinki, the race demands riders to navigate a course of 850 meters. According to organizer Kari Nikrus, the key to a successful race is the ability to understand how snow works.

Original article was published by Reuters on 13/02/2017 and can be found here.

Dan Anderson

Helsinki Times

Photo Lehtikuva
Kim Jong-nam wrote a letter to his half-brother in April 2012 pleading for his life, a source here has confirmed.

A former senior South Korean government official on Thursday told the Chosun Ilbo, "I read the letter, which was provided by intelligence officials. It's tremendously respectful, like a servant speaking to his master, and he mentions the fact that the two had never met."

The former official said the letter made reference to a first attempt on Kim Jong-nam's life in Macau. "For Kim Jong-un, who had never met Kim Jong-nam, having him eliminated was probably nothing special and felt like getting rid of a criminal who insulted the supreme leader," he added.

Earlier, the National Intelligence Agency said Kim Jong-nam asked his half-brother to "call off" the hit. "We have nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. We are well aware that the only way to escape is suicide," it quoted him as saying.


Acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi said, "We cannot carry on with the trial for years. Already the leadership vacuum and social confusion has been continuing for more than two months after the authority of the president was suspended."

The Constitutional Court said Thursday it plans to wrap up the impeachment trial of President Park Geun-hye on Feb. 24.

Park's lawyers, who have mostly staked their fortunes on dragging out proceedings, protested and demanded more time, but Lee only said she would "discuss it."

Pundits do not expect the court to extend the envisioned deadline since it seems to hope that it can reach a verdict before Lee retires on March 13. In previous cases, the court has tended to take around two weeks after the end of proceedings to reach a ruling.

The court has held 14 sessions since Dec. 9, 2016 when the National Assembly voted to impeach Park. Two more are scheduled this month. The court has already told the prosecution and defense to submit their final arguments by Feb. 23.

In other signs of impatience with the stalling of Park's camp, the court has recently simply canceled the selection of witnesses named by the defense if they failed to show up. On Tuesday, three out of four witnesses selected by the defense at the 11th hour failed to turn up, and the same thing happened on Thursday.

Park's lawyers asked for another chance to summon the no-shows, but the court declined. Lee said they were "minor" witnesses and it is unnecessary to call more.

Park's lawyers also tried to swamp the court with some 2,300 audio recordings of phone calls made by Koh Young-tae, a former gigolo and drinking buddy of Park's crony Choi Soon-sil.

But Judge Kang Il-won, who chairs the trial, rejected the proposal saying the tapes are "not directly related to the reasons for impeachment." Apparently they relate mostly to squabbling among Choi and her cronies after the offenses with which Park is charged.

Park's lawyers were furious. Lee Dong-heup, a former Constitutional Court judge who recently joined her defense, said, "Even ordinary trials are not held in this manner. We need to be given at least five to seven days to prepare our final argument."

Lee Joong-hwan, another defense lawyer, said, "It is extremely dangerous to reach a decision in a hurry since there are 13 grounds for impeachment being cited and 50,000 pages of records related to the investigation by prosecutors."

Kang offered to discuss the complaints of the defense, but Lee told them to submit their final arguments by the deadline. "There is nothing particularly new that could emerge," she added.

The National Assembly panel acting as the prosecution was elated. Panel member Kwon Sung-dong told reporters, "We hope that the leadership vacuum which has continued for more than two months will end quickly."

Park's lawyers told reporters that they will discuss with the president whether she will attend the final hearing. A court official said if she decides to attend, the court "will decide whether to give her a chance to testify."


A father-of-five was living rough when he was arrested for trying to sleep on a bench in a garda station.

Roman Bobowicz (37) refused to move on when he was confronted by officers. He was also caught with a knife that he said was for his "own protection" in another incident.

Judge David McHugh gave him a six-month suspended sentence at Blanchardstown District Court.

Bobowicz, with an address at Verdemont Apartments, Blanchardstown, pleaded guilty to offences including failing to obey garda directions and possession of a weapon.

The court heard the garda station incident happened on April 7, 2015.

Bobowicz was living rough at the time and tried to sleep on a bench in the station. He disobeyed instructions to leave.

On March 27 that year, he had been caught in possession of a knife at Blanchardstown Road North.

Bobowicz had 12 previous convictions.

Apologised

The accused was from Poland and had worked in London and Ireland, his solicitor Matthew De Courcy said.

He had a chronic heroin addiction at one point but went cold turkey and had "beaten his demons." He was now drug-free and had apologised for the offences.

His children were aged between 11 and 17.

Asked about the accused's psychiatric status, Mr De Courcy said he was not specifically diagnosed.

He asked the judge to be as lenient as he could in the circumstances.

A number of other charges were before the court and Judge McHugh said they were serious.

He said he considered all mitigation that had been put before him to be "spent".

"He is getting a break today," Judge McHugh added.

He suspended the sentence for two years.
Some of the cannabis plants found in the house in Co Carlow

A pensioner was being questioned after he was arrested in connection with the seizure of cannabis worth 200,000.

The man, who is aged in his 70s, was arrested at the scene of a cannabis growhouse in Co Carlow.

A second man, who escaped from a rear window of the house, is being sought by gardai.

The growhouse was discovered after a fire broke out at the property yesterday morning.

Emergency services rushed to the scene in Rathvilly at around 9.30am.

After the blaze was put out, officers entered the house and found 250 cannabis plants.

Photo issued by gardai show a number of plants in the living area of the house, with heat lamps placed above them.

More plants were found in another room.

Gardai are appealing for people with any information to contact Carlow Garda Station.

The seizure is the second in the Carlow area in recent days. A combined value of 560,000 worth of cannabis has been seized by gardai.

Locals expressed their shock at the discovery.

"This is the first I've heard of it, but I was aware of the fire brigade and heard the sirens passing through the village," said Rev John McEvoy of St Patrick's Church.

"It's not the first time something like has happened in a relatively quiet area in Ireland."

The seizure comes two weeks after more than 3m worth of drugs were discovered following searches of several vehicles and a business premises in Ashbourne, Co Meath.

Four men were arrested in the operation, which was part of an investigation targeting organised crime.

Herb

Officers from the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB) and Revenue Commissioners Customs Service officials were involved in the operation on January 31.

Gardai seized 160kg of cannabis herb, which has an estimated street value of 3.2m.

Four men, who are Irish nationals and aged between 25 and 61, were arrested for drug trafficking offences and were questioned at Finglas and Kells Garda Stations.

"As part of ongoing joint investigations targeting organised crime groups, a joint intelligence-led operation was conducted by the Revenue Commissioners Customs Service, the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and the Special Crime Task Force supported by officers from the Eastern Region," a garda spokesperson said.
Desperate house hunters who queued for up to two days for the chance to buy a home in a new north Dublin estate have snapped up all but two of the available properties.

People had queued since Tuesday at the Silverbanks development in Baldoyle.

A spokesperson for estate agent Savills told the Herald that only two of the 34 houses were now unsold.

"We have only two four-bed properties left," he said.

"Obviously we don't want to see people queuing for this length of time and we advised them not to do so, but unfortunately this was the case.

"We have more people coming to look at these properties all the time, but even though we had to turn a lot of people down, we'll keep in touch with them and recommend an alternative property for them down the line.

"It's a first-come-first-served basis. There's no perfect way of going about this I suppose, but this is the fairest way."

Freezing

The Silverbanks, in The Coast development, includes one- to three-bed apartments, a three-bed duplex and two-bed and four-bed houses. Prices range from 155,000 to 380,000.

The queue started forming in the early hours of Tuesday and had significantly died down by yesterday afternoon.

Eileen Murry, a resident in The Coast for the past 10 years, told the Herald that her "heart goes out" to the people lining up to view the developments.

"I felt very sorry for them - they had to spend hours and hours queuing up in the freezing cold," she said.

"When I bought my semi-detached house here 10 years ago it was a very different situation. All the homes up for sale were bought beforehand - without even show-houses to view.

"When the recession hit, we were very badly affected. The price of our home went down very substantially - we were forced to live in what was said to be a ghost estate."

Most of those viewing the homes did not want to be identified, but one young couple from Brazil said they are considering leaving Ireland if their property search does not bear fruit soon.

"We had no luck here today and were told that there were no properties suited for us left," the man said. "We've been looking to buy a home for the past year and have been renting for the past eight months. In other countries there are much more incentives for first-time buyers.

"I would definitely consider leaving Ireland if the property market does not pick up for people like us."
Taoiseach Enda Kenny visited the crime-hit north-east inner city in Dublin last night to confirm a doubling of funds to 10m to begin regenerating the area.

He confirmed the Government was backing the recommendations in a report compiled by Kieran Mulvey to boost the area economically and socially and strengthen the garda fight against drug lords and gang violence.

The old Rutland Street School building will be renovated and developed as a community hub, despite a huge increase in the estimated cost of refurbishing it, he said. The premises in the future will show that this Government "listened to the community", he added.

Fitzgibbon Street Garda Station will be reopened and 30 extra guards will take up duty in the area by the end of this year, the Taoiseach said.

Murders

Mr Mulvey was asked by Mr Kenny to compile a report and recommend measures to regenerate the area last June after a series of gangland murders.

Mr Mulvey accompanied the Taoiseach and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe to the Sheriff Youth Club to outline the Mulvey recommendations that are backed by the Government.

Some 5m in new funds will be ring-fenced for regeneration in addition to almost 5m originally pledged to the project.

The four priorities for action are:

l Tackling crime and drugs.

l Maximising educational/training opportunities and creating local employment opportunities.

l Creating an integrated system of social services.

l Improving the appearance of the streets with new trees, greenery and landscaping and tackling derelict site eyesores.

Mr Mulvey acknowledged the importance of community engagement in delivering on the actions set out in the report.

"This is about how all of the passion, know-how and energy of the community and all existing providers can be best harnessed to deliver services that work," he said.

Courage

"And if they don't work, having the confidence and courage to respond flexibly to try new ways to meet the community needs. Everyone needs to change if this is to work.

The Taoiseach said: "Until the people of this community feel safe and confident walking their own streets; feel able to let their children play outside, we will not have achieved what we need to for this community."
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un paid his respects to the pickled corpse of his father in Pyongyang on Thursday, days after apparently having his brother assassinated in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Kim junior showed up at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun to mark what would have been former leader Kim Jong-il's 75th birthday.

There has been no mention of his brother Kim Jong-nam's death in the North Korean state media, perhaps because the regime's propaganda apparatus has not yet decided how to spin it. But North Korean Embassy officials have demanded that Malaysia hand over Jong-nam's body.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency published a photo of Kim Jong-un in a black Mao suit visiting the palace, and the Rodong Sinmun daily had only one close-up of Kim laying a wreath.
Jeju's Teddy Bear Museum is one of the 10 most popular museums worldwide among Chinese tourists, according to a survey by the China National Tourism Administration. It polled 2.5 million people who traveled with Ctrip, one of China's biggest travel agencies.

The museum's collection of about 3,000 teddy bears includes a Louis Vuitton-themed one priced at W240 million and a gem-encrusted bear weighing 125 carats. Some of the bears are dressed as famous figures and displayed in historical scenes, or featured in recreations of famous paintings and other art works (US$1=W1,141).

The museum was ranked eighth overall.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York topped the list, followed by the Louvre Museum in Paris, the Vatican Museums, the British Museum in London, the Bargello National Museum in Florence, the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium in Taiwan and Dubai Museum.


Undated photo of Anderson's great-grandfather, Solomon Anderson, marching in a parade in full regalia. Sol's 1930 obituary in the NY Times noted he was a "captain in the Old Guard in the city of New York." A newly found cousin also possessed the same picture.

"My Jewish Roots" Workshops, sponsored by the Jewish Genealogical Society of Orlando (JGSGO) continue in March with the workshop: Using Ancestry.com for Jewish Research.

What's in a name? Apparently, quite a lot when the derivation of your surname is a mystery. As a child, I had always wondered why my surname, Anderson, was so non-Jewish. Growing up, I knew the names of all my grandparents: My mother's parents were Emanuel Dannenberg and Alma Wolf; my father's parents, however, were Ruth Fischer and Jerome Anderson. Three out of four were solidly Jewish surnames. Whence the Anderson? That was always the question.

Before my mother passed away in 1991, she had been contacted by a distant cousin of hers, Jim Dannenberg. He had done a lot of research in Germany with the help of a genealogist and developed a huge database of people on that side of the family. It piqued my interest, and I began to dig into other sides of the family. I was especially keen on discovering the Anderson side, and I started by trying to figure out to whom I could turn for information. My father had died in 1984, and his younger brother had predeceased him in 1977, so there were no more close Andersons to whom I could turn. My younger siblings knew nothing; nor did my three first cousins. It was up to me.

As I started developing my family tree, I downloaded the free trial of Brother's Keeper Windows genealogy software (www.bkwin.net)-which I later bought, and continue to use to this day. It allowed me to maintain my records visually and gave me a starting point for my research. Using the computer in those early years was not easy as we relied on dial-up connections. So, I turned also to the public library where I could log on to various sites that housed censuses.

My early tree allowed me to visualize my grandfather Jerome Anderson's family. His father and mother's names I already knew to be Sol Anderson and Lillian Kline. I also knew he had three siblings, Harry, Milton and Virginia. That was it. As I began to research each member of Jerome's family, I learned quite a lot about the Andersons. The oldest, Milton (1886-1930), never married and died young from tuberculosis. Harry was the next oldest, and it took me years to fully research him. I ultimately learned his specifics. His full name was Harold Henry Anderson (1888-1958), and he married three times. His first wife, Madge Loew, married Harry in 1911 under the name Minnie Lebowitz. Together, they had two children, Edmund and Marjorie. It was Edmund with whom I connected in the early 1990s. It turned out we both had the same questions and we both possessed a copy of the same photograph of our great-grandfather, Sol Anderson, showing him in a parade by the "Old Guard" marching on lower Broadway in full regalia with beaver hat and sword. According to Sol's 1930 obituary in the NY Times, he was a "captain in the Old Guard in the city of New York."

Edmund also knew nothing specific regarding the Anderson name. However, we both had heard the same apocryphal story, which had haunted me for so many years. The story went that there were two brothers who had argued with each other. One changed his name to Anderson while the other took the name Ansorge.

But how to track this down? Ansorge, thank heavens, is a much rarer name than Anderson. In the late 1980s, I began to look for Ansorges in the online phone directories. I wrote a generic letter and mailed off dozens of copies across the country. A number of responses soon led me to believe there were two "branches" of Ansorge: one gentile, the other Jewish.

By the mid1990s, I had also dug more deeply into online websites, looking up obituaries of people named Ansorge. While my tree was developing nicely with well into the thousands of names, I was not yet connecting Anderson with the Ansorge line; instead, I had two separate trees.

Around 1995, I learned from an obituary that a Pearl Rudman Ansorge who had died in 1979 had a son, Robert Ansorge, who was alive and living near me. I found his address and wrote, hoping to receive an answer. This led to a visit to his home where we talked about the Anderson-Ansorge story. Unfortunately, he had never heard the story. On the other hand, he was able to talk about his Ansorge ancestors, and they were Jewish.

As the years went on, I continued to search back the earliest Ansorges I could find. Robert's father was Milton H. Ansorge; Milton's brother was Percy Irving Ansorge. Their father was Henry Perry Ansorge. The track now led back to the "old country!"

Robert's grandfather, Henry Perry Ansorge, and his two brothers were born in Ostrowo, Germany: Henry in1851, Mark Perry in 1844, and younger brother Morris around 1853. The next big break came when I found Mark's passport application from 1907, which I obtained from Ancestry.com (see exhibit).

From this I discovered he came from Ostrowo, Prussia. More accurately, as JewishGen points out, Ostrowo was in the province of Posen, which belonged to Germany from the mid-1840s until World War I. Prior to the 1840s and since World War I it has belonged to Poland.

So, now the research went into overdrive. I was able to determine from the passport and Passenger Manifest of Henry Perry Ansorge the date he immigrated: 10 May 1865 (arriving in New York on 17 Jul 1865). The Passenger Manifest gives the name Heimann Ansorge travelling with his brother Marcus (Mark) and their mother Hannchen (Hannah). With that information, I found the marriage return record of Mark Perry Ansorge with Jennie Bach, which I obtained from the Health Department of the City of New York. Therein the parents of Mark (aka Max, Marx, Marcus) Ansorge are shown as Hannah Silverman and Perez Ansorge.

The next step was to locate the names of Perez Ansorge's siblings. I sent away for the microfilm, Jews of Ostrowo, 1836-1838, from the LDS, and viewed it in a local Family History Center. I learned that Perez had four brothers, Aron, Heimann, Meyer and Solomon. Was this the breakthrough connection I was seeking? After all, my great-grandfather was also named Solomon.

Searching everything I could on Solomon Ansorge, I learned he had emigrated to England prior to coming to the U.S. in 1857. He and wife, Sophia Dunkar, had five children in England: Jeannette, Bernard, Goodman, Joseph, Gabriel; and one, Julia, in the United States.

Aron never came to the U.S., so that was a dead end.

Next, I looked at Ansorge brother Heimann. He had seven children with his second wife, Flora Levy: Philip, Morris, Joseph, Henry, Thomas, Abraham and Bertha. Some names were beginning to look familiar.

Finally, I turned to the fifth Ansorge brother, Meyer, and found that he and wife Ernestine Goldschmidt had five children: Joseph, Gabriel, Solomon, Pauline and Morris. Could this Solomon be my great-grandfather? Yes! The one and the same! I confirmed this through several records: first, the death certificate of Sol which I obtained from New York City's Municipal Death Records listed Solomon's parents, Meyer Anderson and Ernestine Goldschmidt. It was further confirmed in FamilySearch.org's New York Marriage Record of Solomon Anderson and Lillian Kline: clearly listed were Sol's parents, Meyer Anderson and Ernestine Goldsmith.

But now I had to determine if there was any switching of surnames. I turned to the family of Solomon and Sophia Ansorge, my grandfather's uncle and his wife who came to New York from England in 1857. From various censuses I learned that their sons, Goodman, Joseph and Gabriel took the surname Anderson! As further proof, looking at Heimann Ansorge's son, Morris, I found that he had used Anderson and Ansorge interchangeably in the records:

1907 Passport Application of Ancestor Mark Assange, confirming the family's origin in Ostrowo Prussia.

I also learned that my great-grandfather's father, Meyer Ansorge, himself took the surname Anderson. All his records have him listed as Anderson save the census of 1860 which listed him as Anzirk. I was now vindicated! The mystery was solved. As to the reason for the switching of surnames, who knows? What was important was my connecting with the Ansorgefamily at long last...and knowing there is a Jewish branch of the Anderson family!

You can learn how to access many important resources at the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando's (JGSGO) "My Jewish Roots" workshops. The next one is "Finding Your Jewish Roots on Ancestry.com" with Ancestry.com expert Crista Cowan. It will be held on Thursday, March 2 at 7 p.m. at the Central Florida Hillel, UCF, at 3925 Lockwood Blvd., Oviedo. The workshop isfree and open to the public. Bring your own laptop to participate in the lab portion. It is also possible to attend via the Internet. Pre-registration is required. Pre-register for either in-person or online participation at www.jgsgo.org/MyJewishRoots.
It's about time...

The Great Synagogue of Pilsen is returned to the Jews of the Czech Republic. With all the anti-Semitism that seems to be re-appearing in the world (including the United States) it is good to pass some positive news along sometimes. I read this in the World Jewish Congress (WJC) digest:

"As reported in the Jewish Press, after 20 years as a Czech concert hall and art museum and more than a decade of intense lobbying, the Czech Republic's Pilsen municipality has made a decision to return the majestic Great Synagogue of Pilsen to its rightful owners, the Jewish community.

Seized by the Communists in 1973, the synagogue had been shut down and ultimately fell into disrepair. The city fathers reclaimed it in 1995 and full restoration was completed in 1998. But instead of returning the synagogue to Pilsen's Jewish community, authorities reopened the building as an art museum and concert hall.

The Great Synagogue of Pilsen was in continuous use from the time it was built in 1893 until its seizure by the Communists, except for the years of the Holocaust. It is the second largest Jewish house of worship in Europe and is the third largest synagogue in the world.

Although there were some 2,000 Jews living in the community when the synagogue was built, today just a few dozen Jews remain."

(No surprise to me, after the Holocaust.)

Remembering Jewish history...

On Jan. 31, 1949, The Jewish state was granted de facto recognition (expression of international legitimacy "concerning fact.") by then President Harry Truman eleven minutes after Israel's initial proclamation of Independence on May 14, 1948, making the U.S. the first country in the world to recognize Israel. Less than seven months later, President Truman extended America's de jure recognition (expression of international legitimacy "concerning law") to Israel.

Dine around town...

The Roth Family JCC's 39ers will gather on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 1 p.m. for lunch at the Red Lobster Restaurant, 340 West SR 436, Altamonte Springs.

They promise good food and good company.

To make a reservation, phone MARVIN KLEIN at 407-671-6963.

(Hope to see you there!)

I'm amazed and befuddled...

My middle son also says I'm mental. (He's a psychologist who keeps threatening to have me Baker-Acted.)

On Feb. 5, Congregation Ohev Shalom Seniors had a wonderful show, Bits and Pieces Productions presentation of "Professor Mental." (Gee, maybe we're related!)

Our own SONJA UNGER was one of his audience helpers. She was great as usual!

(And I had my white chocolate Macadamia cookies thanks to two very kind people who I shall not name so they won't get into any trouble!)

A super talent...

"The Altamonte Chapel's Sunday 'Jazz Jams' runs from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Requested Donation $10.

On Feb. 26, SYL LaFATA will be spreading the sounds of Benny Goodman around. (Syl even looks like Benny!) If you like tapping your feet you can't miss this one and bring friends. Joining Syl will be MICHAEL KRAMER, piano; BEN KRAMER, bass; and GREG PARNELL, drums. Of course, our own wonderful ALAN ROCK is emcee.

(I find these to be the very, very, very best musicians in this town. Don't miss the performance!)

The Altamonte Chapel is located at 825 East SR436, Altamonte Springs. The phone number is 407-339-5208.

Shout outs...

I want to thank CHRISTIAN JOHNSON at Walgreen's pharmacy, Aloma Avenue and Palmetto, a handsome guy who was gentle and fast when he gave me a flu shot. I felt nothing except that he was soooo handsome. (Oops, I said that already!)

And at that very same Walgreens drugstore, KEITH, at the front checkout counter is the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful guy I've ever known. (And cute too!)

Syl LaFata

One for the road...

Monty meets up with his friend Cyril in the mall. "Nu Cyril, why the glum face?" asks Monty. "It's not like you to look so sad."

"Oy Vay iz meer, do I have a problem," replies Cyril. "The Credit Crunch is killing me-I just have to raise $200,000 in the next fortnight or else my 20-year-old business is doomed."

"Don't worry, my friend," says Monty, "You can easily overcome your problem."

"How can I do that?" asks Cyril.

"Here's what you do," replies Monty. "Go out into the streets and sell 200,000 shoe-laces for $1 each."

"But I don't have any shoe-laces," says Cyril.

"Oy, then you have a problem," says Monty.
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The Israel-based beverage carbonation company SodaStream has decided to feature an Israeli flag on all its products, which are sold in 45 countries.

"The company management wants to send a message of national pride, particularly in days when many of us hide our Israeli identity from the world," the company, which manufactures sparkling water makers for home use, said in a statement.

The Israeli flag is accompanied by the English message reading, "This product is made by Arabs and Jews working side by side in peace and harmony." SodaStream has been a target of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement over its former headquarters in the West Bank industrial park of Mishor Adumim. That facility's closure had forced SodaStream to lay off most of its 500 Palestinian employees. SodaStream relocated to the Negev desert region.

SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum said that "as a proud Israeli company, we have always taken care to keep our Israeli profile high, even if that means fighting for our place in the face of the European Union and economic terrorism from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement... In recent years, we Israelis have found ourselves under attack, apologizing and boycotted all over the world. We may not be perfect, but we have a lot to be proud of, and we decided to show that to ourselves and to the world."
(JTA)-Filmmaker Kahane Cooperman hasn't written an Oscars acceptance speech yet, but she likely will before the Academy Awards ceremony on Feb. 28.

Not to jinx things or appear overconfident, Cooperman told JTA in a telephone interview, but "on the chance it happens, for fear of leaving someone out."

Her film, "Joe's Violin," is up for an award for short documentary-a category typically ignored by viewers more interested in what Emma Stone is wearing. It's a 24-minute, five-handkerchief weeper; a joyous paean to the human spirit and a testimony of how simple acts of kindness can have important and far-reaching implications.

The (appropriately) short version of the film's story: The eponymous Joe is Joe Feingold, a 93-year-old Holocaust survivor from Poland. About three years ago, the lifelong violinist realized he no longer had the dexterity to play up to his standards.

"I had some good ideas of how a violin should be played," he said in a separate telephone interview from his home in New York. "And I couldn't [do it anymore]. The violin was here, in its case in my apartment, and I thought I should make some use out of it."

He considered selling the instrument, but then heard an announcement on WQXR, the New York classical music station. Working in conjunction with the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation-an outgrowth of the film that won Richard Dreyfus an Oscar-the station was looking for used instruments to be donated to needy New York City schoolchildren.

So Joe hopped on a bus and went to the collection point at Lincoln Center, where he left his treasured violin. Matters may have stood there were it not for the fact that Feingold and his instrument had a fascinating past and the recipient, Brianna Perez, 12 at the time, had this potentially amazing future: Two strangers connected by a fiddle.

Feingold was born in Warsaw in 1923. After the Nazis invaded in 1939, word reached the family that his father was about to be arrested. So Feingold and his dad fled to eastern Poland, then under Russian rule. But the Hitler-Stalin pact changed everything. Father and son were sent to separate Siberian labor camps and, while they both survived, Feingold's mother and one of his two brothers who stayed behind did not.

After the war, Feingold made his way to a displaced persons camp in Germany. One day he was at a flea market and saw a violin-like Proust's madeleine, it brought back memories of happier times. Lacking money, he bartered a carton of cigarettes for the instrument.

Why a violin?

"Because I had a violin since childhood," he said. "I loved the violin. I studied it. I played it. I wasn't a great violinist, but the music I made, it meant something to me. I missed it."

Music was central to his prewar life, Feingold said. His mother sang-especially the songs of Edvard Grieg-and the family performed weekly for guests.

In the film, Feingold downplays the significance of his donation.

"I thought it was just a violin," he said. "It was a simple thing. I don't use it. Let someone else have it."

But during our conversation-perhaps because he's had time to reflect, or perhaps because he wants to promote the documentary-he offers a different perspective.

"I always thought it should mean something to the person who gets it, just as it did for me," he said. "It played such a great role in my life. When I found out that the violin was given to a girl in the South Bronx, that's exactly what I dreamed would happen."

That girl, Brianna, is an old-or, at least, middle-aged - soul in a youthful body. She was a student at the Bronx Global Learning Institute for Girls, a K through 8 school where every pupil is taught violin from day one.

Relatively quickly, she grasped the significance of the gift.

"That violin has so many secrets that nobody knows," Brianna says in the film.

Cooperman calls Brianna "the most amazing 12-year-old."

"She had an innate respect and profound understanding of why this violin was meaningful beyond just a musical instrument," added the filmmaker, a first-generation American whose father left Germany in 1934.

Cooperman heard about Feingold's donation during a promotional segment on WQXR in 2013, which sparked the idea for the documentary.

As such, the earlier parts of the violin's odyssey are told in a voice-over at the beginning of the film. But the viewers see everything else: We are at the assembly where a teacher chokes up as she tells students about the violin, its donor and announces Brianna will receive it. We are there when Feingold reads the letter Brianna wrote inviting him to the school. We watch him at a different assembly addressing the students and, later, as he listens to Brianna play the special Grieg number she painstakingly practiced.

Did any of the events take place because there was a camera there to film it?

Cooperman says no, this violin and its tale would have been treated specially even if she wasn't on hand.

"I think everyone knew that while all the 3,000 instruments donated in this drive had a story, there was something compelling about this one," she said. "It stood out from the pack."

Cooperman launched the film while still working as a co-executive producer on "The Daily Show," a gig she got 18 years earlier because of her background as a documentarian. She quit the job, she said, to return to her roots.

"Making money was never part of this for me," Cooperman said. "It was a labor of love."

In fact, Cooperman and her producer, Raphaela Neihausen, needed Kickstarter to crowdsource the funding-it's unlikely that all 277 backers of the film will be in the planned Oscar speech.

"I do not see 'Joe's Violin' specifically as a Holocaust film-for me it's more about human connection and hope," Cooperman said. "But I am very proud that through Joe, we hear a first-person account [of what happened], especially when there are fewer and fewer voices left."

Typical of short doc nominees, the film is available online at http://www.JoesViolin.com.
The interface of the Steinsaltz Talmud on Sefaria includes line-by-line translation, along with links to commentaries and references to a range of Jewish sources, which appear in a separate vertical.

NEW YORK (JTA)-For centuries, studying a page of the Talmud has come with a bevy of barriers to entry.

Written mostly in Aramaic, the Talmud in its most commonly printed form also lacks punctuation or vowels, let alone translation. Its premier explanatory commentary, composed by the medieval sage Rashi, is usually printed in an obscure Hebrew typeface read almost exclusively by religious, learned Jews. Even then, scholars can still spend hours figuring out what the text means.

And that's not to mention the Talmud's size and cost: 37 full volumes, called tractates, that can take up an entire shelf of a library.

Helping students and readers crack these barriers and access what amounts to a library of Jewish law, ritual, folklore and moral guidance has been an ongoing endeavor. Milestones include the first (unfinished) attempt at an English translation by American publisher Michael Levi Rodkinson at the turn of the 20th century, an abridged version by Rabbi Chaim Tchernowitz in the 1920s, and "The Soncino Talmud on CD-ROM" from 1995.

Now, a website hopes to build on these earlier breakthroughs and break all the barriers at once.

Sefaria, a website founded in 2013 that aims to put the seemingly infinite Jewish canon online for free, has published an acclaimed translation of the Talmud in English. The translation, which includes explanatory notes in relatively plain language, was started by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz in 1965 and is considered by many to be the best in its class.

The Steinsaltz edition of the Talmud has been in print for decades, in both modern Hebrew and English translation, and parts of it already exist on the internet. But this is the first time it's being put online in its entirety for free. The online edition also opens up the copyright license, meaning that anyone is allowed to repurpose it for teaching, literature or anything else.

"Ninety percent of the world's Jews speak Hebrew and English," said Daniel Septimus, Sefaria's executive director. "The Talmud is in Aramaic. It will now be online in Hebrew and English. From an accessibility point of view, it's a game changer."

(Septimus was formerly the CEO of MyJewishLearning, one of JTA's partner sites, and sits on the board of 70 Faces Media, JTA's parent company.)

Sefaria rolled out 22 tractates of the Steinsaltz English edition on Tuesday, and will be publishing the entire Hebrew translation over the course of 2017. The rest of the English edition, which is as yet unfinished, will be published online as it is completed. The translation's publication was made possible by a multimillion-dollar deal with the Steinsaltz edition's publishers, Milta and Koren Publishers Jerusalem, and financed by the William Davidson Foundation, a family charity. The edition will be known as The William Davidson Talmud.

Translations and explanations of the Talmud already exist online. A range of apps promises free translations that can be unreliable. ArtScroll, the Orthodox Jewish publishing giant, offers a digital version of its own complete English Talmud translation for $600. A comprehensive digital Jewish library published for decades by Israel's Bar-Ilan University is also available for purchase, but not with English translation.

Besides its edition being free, Sefaria's founders say its version of the Steinsaltz Talmud is better than competitors because it is untethered to the Talmud's classic printed form. Since the mid-15th century, the Talmud has been published with unpunctuated text in a column in the middle of the page, its commentaries wrapping around it.

Like all of Sefaria's texts, which range from the Bible to Hasidic texts and works of Jewish law, the Steinsaltz translation is published sentence by sentence in a mobile-friendly format, with the translation appearing below the original. The format also allows Sefaria to link between the Talmud's text and the myriad Jewish sources it references, from the Bible to rabbinic literature.

Click on a line of Aramaic, and a string of commentaries, verses or parallel rabbinic sources will pop up. An algorithm Sefaria uses, which just added 50,000 such links to the Talmud, is also reverse engineered: Click on a verse in the Bible and you will see where it's quoted in the Talmud or other books.

"This entire web of connections opens up to you just by clicking and touching," said Sefaria's co-founder and CTO, Brett Lockspeiser. "It's so clear that the structure of Jewish learning had this network-type experience. This sense of interconnectedness was already there and just needed to be brought out." The other co-founder is the author Joshua Foer.

The project is the biggest step forward in Sefaria's larger goal of democratizing Jewish religious scholarship by making it digitized, free and intelligible to everyone. The site also has a tool for Jewish educators to create source sheets, or short study aids with quotations from a range of Jewish books. Users have already created 50,000 such sheets.

"We have no idea what kind of devices people are going to be learning Torah on in 10 years, but we know those devices will be chomping on digital data," Septimus said. "So having a database of these texts that's open, flexible, free for use and reuse is a good thing."

Another site which shares that goal, the Open Siddur Project, provides Jewish prayer text for free so people can put together their own prayer books. Its founder, Aharon Varady, said the modern-day emphasis on intellectual property clashes with the Jewish tradition of sharing knowledge openly and freely.

Shown here (l-r): Sefaria Executive Director Daniel Septimus with co-founders Brett Lockspeiser and Joshua Foer.

"It's the idea that Torah should be transferred without limitations," Varady said. "Copyright is an innovation with fairly different interests than that of a living culture that is growing by educators sharing material, by teachers making source sheets with others."

The site already offers thousands of books in open-source code, so anyone can use them, and hopes to add thousands more-the entirety of Judaic literature. Lockspeiser, a former Google software engineer, said that compared to indexing billions of web pages, the Jewish canon is no tall order.

"People can't get into the Talmud because they don't know it's there," Lockspeiser said. "If it's not in English and you type in English words in the [online search] query, it's not going to come up. We're opening this up just in the sense that people will find it that didn't even know they were looking for it."
The sixth in the series of 10 monthly JGSGO (Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando) Workshops held at the Roth JCC on Feb. 7, was enjoyed by 35 in attendance both in person and online.

The guest speaker was Hal Bookbinder, a former president of the IAJGS and internationally known genealogy expert, spoke on Changing Borders of Eastern Europe. He brought some understanding of the changing maps over 1000 years of history in that region. In conclusion, he provided some very helpful tips on understanding Eastern European border changes-resources that are free and accessible to all: 1) Search youtube.com for both "Europe's Changing Borders" and "Poland's Changing Borders" for excellent map resources.

2) Google Historic Maps: David Rumsey and Perry Castanda are excellent sites

3) Check out JewishEncyclopedia.com-published in 1906, it has excellent information up to that time in history; finally, JewishGen.org provides free resources including Communities Database, Yizkor Book Project, JewishGen Kehila Links, etc.

The next in the series of Workshops will be "Finding Your Jewish Roots on Ancestry.com" with expert Crista Cowan It will be held on Thursday, March 2 at 7 p.m. at the Central Florida Hillel, UCF, at 3925 Lockwood Blvd., Oviedo. The workshop is free and open to the public. Bring your own laptop to participate in the lab portion. It is also possible to attend via the Internet. Pre-registration is required. Pre-register for either in-person or online participation at www.jgsgo.org/MyJewishRoots.
(JTA)-Betsy DeVos was confirmed as secretary of education, with Vice President Mike Pence casting the tie-breaker in a historic 51-50 vote.

DeVos, a Michigan billionaire whose advocacy for school choice has led to sweeping changes in the educational landscape in her home state, provoked divergent opinions in the Jewish community.

Both the haredi Orthodox Agudath Israel of America and the Orthodox Union issued congratulations within minutes of the vote. It marked the first time a vice president broke a tie for a Cabinet confirmation.

In a letter to the Senate Education Committee last month, Agudath Israel of America expressed its support for DeVos, saying it had worked closely with her for years to change state laws that would make it easier to use vouchers for private schools, including religious schools.

"Mrs. DeVos will be an education secretary who is focused on the needs of each individual student and not on where he or she attends school," the letter said.

In a separate letter to the committee, the Orthodox Union said DeVos "has a long history of advocating for and supporting" reforms favored by the group, though it stopped short of issuing an outright endorsement.

The Reform movement's rabbinical arm, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, was opposed to the nomination, as were the National Council of Jewish Women and Jewish Women International.

DeVos' support for school choice raised concerns among advocates of church-state separation, who oppose the diversion of public funds to religious institutions.

In a statement outlining questions it had for various nominees, the Reform movement asked the senators to ask DeVos about "the use of taxpayer dollars for sectarian education."

"A central principle of the First Amendment's Establishment Clause is that members of particular faiths, and not the government, should fund religious institutions," the statement said. "When vouchers are used towards expenses related to religious school education, they become an indirect government funding of sectarian institutions."
(JTA)-With old favorites knocked out of France's presidential race and the far-right National Front party making worrisome gains, many Jews are joining fellow voters in supporting Emmanuel Macron, the 39-year-old independent politician and surprising front-runner.

A banker who is 18 years younger than the average age of past presidents in France, Macron was widely regarded as doomed only two weeks ago, as no president from outside one of the country's main parties has ever been elected.

But fears over growing radicalization in society and recent upsets within the political establishment have made Macron the best bet among centrists, including many Jews.

"Macron is becoming a very strong candidate with the potential of occupying a very large electorate, and his popularity is considerable among French Jews," said Richard Prasquier, chairman of the France branch of the Keren Hayesod Zionist group and a former leader of the CRIF umbrella of French Jewish communities. "It's astounding."

From fourth and fifth place in the polls, Macron has swept past former Prime Minister Francois Fillon of the center-right Republicans party, as well as Benoit Hamon of the ruling Socialists. Macron has never held elected office, but served as a Cabinet minister under Francois Hollande, a Socialist. He also served as a senior finance official under Nicolas Sarkozy of the Republicans.

Macron's good looks, profound understanding of the economy, social media skills and unassuming style have not hurt his campaign. He has won over many voters with concerns over radical Islam by vowing to act tough whenever it conflicts with French laws-but has courted liberals by promising not to harass Muslims who abide by those laws.

But his bipartisan agenda against polarization has really struck a chord.

"Left wing, right wing-it no longer means anything," Macron declared in a campaign speech on Saturday in Lyon

"Do you need to be left wing to be moved by Francois Mitterrand's great speeches on Europe? Do you need to be right wing to feel pride at Jacques Chirac's speech at Vel D'Hiv?"-a reference to a famous 1995 address in which the then-president accepted the French state's responsibility for the fate of thousands of Jews during World War II.

Pundits attribute his meteoric rise in no small part to his rivals' problems, including the radical policies of Hamon and the alleged corruption of Fillon.

On the left, the Socialists chose Hamon, who objects to suggestions that radical Islam poses a problem in France. He has also promised to pay each citizen a basic salary of $800 without explaining how to pay for it and not increase the country's approximately $2 trillion debt.

A former mayor of the predominantly Muslim Paris suburb of Trappes, Hamon handily defeated Prime Minister Manuel Valls in the primaries that ended last month.

Valls, a hard-liner whose passionate defense of Jews and French secular values endeared him to some voters, was detested by many others for supporting a ban on the full-body burkini bathing suit favored by devout Muslim women and his association with Hollande's deeply unpopular presidency.

"Valls appealed to the Jewish electorate in a way no other candidate did," Gilbert Werndorfer, a French-Jewish writer and editor from Paris, told JTA.

Valls is married to a Jewish woman and is the only French prime minister known to have publicly called anti-Zionism a form of Jew-hatred.

"I would've voted Valls, but I will most certainly not vote for the Socialists now because I cannot vote for Hamon," Werndorfer said.

In addition to the concerns of many centrists over Hamon's economic policies and his "ambiguity on jihad," as Valls termed it, Jewish voters specifically were shocked when Hamon said the Socialist Party should criticize Israel and make pro-Palestinian gestures to appeal to Muslim votes.

Supporting a unilateral declaration of statehood by the Palestinians was the Socialist Party's "best way to recoup our electorate in the suburbs and the neighborhoods"-code for Muslim voters-"who did not support the pro-Israeli position taken by President Francois Hollande," Hamon told Le Parisien in 2014.

No candidate is expected to obtain a majority in the first round of balloting. In the Feb. 4 compilation of major polls by BFM TV, Hamon was seen as winning 16.5 percent of the vote and is not expected to make the second and final round on May 8.

"Much like the leader of Labour in Britain, Hamon is practically unelectable," Prasquier said.

Hamon's rival on the right, Fillon of The Republicans, is doing only slightly better with 19.5 percent, trailing Macron by 3 points.

But Fillon's candidacy is in jeopardy amid reports regarding his wife's drawing of a salary as his parliamentary aide. The claims have prompted a criminal investigation to determine whether she was paid without actually working.

While his vows to act tough on radical Islam have earned Fillon a certain following, he antagonized Muslims and Jews when he said in November that Muslims must be forced to integrate the same way that Jews were, suggesting they were disloyal to the state after gaining their emancipation in the 18th century.

His words, which Fillon has not retracted, deeply offended members of the deeply patriotic Jewish community of France, where in synagogues a daily prayer is recited for the well-being of the republic.

Even before Fillon's controversial remark on Jews and Muslims, he was unpopular among many French liberal Jews.

Whereas Sarkozy appealed to many French Jews with a pro-Israel agenda, most still feel at home left of The Republicans, Werndorfer said.

"I don't think anyone from my family votes for the right," he added.

But a growing number of French citizens, including Jews, are nonetheless voting right wing-including for Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Front party founded by her father, the Holocaust denier and anti-Semite Jean-Marie Le Pen. National Front is ahead in most polls with more than 25 percent, and for the first time under Marine Le Pen may make it to the second round.

Still, Marine Le Pen's presidential prospects appear slim, as left- and right-wing voters will likely put aside their differences and vote en masse for whomever is running against her in a pattern known in France as a "Republican front."

Part of National Front's success can be attributed to Le Pen's efforts to soften her party's image by expelling anti-Semites-including her father last year-and refocusing its opposition messaging on the effects of immigration, especially from Muslim countries.

She has repeatedly called for banning both Muslim garb and the Jewish kippah from certain public spaces, explaining that while only Muslim garb represents a threat to France's values, Jews must be ready to "make a sacrifice" in the interest of equality. She has called for Jews to vote for her, promising to be their "shield" against radical Islam.

Many Jews find her ideas outrageous, but a growing number are willing to go along. A 2015 survey showed that since she took over the National Front in 2011, support for the party among Jewish voters went from being negligible to reaching 13.5 percent. Some believe it has since risen even further.

To Michael Amsellem, a 35-year-old French Jewish entrepreneur who will vote for Macron, both Le Pen's popularity and Hamon's primaries victory "are signs of despair," he said.

"This is why Macron gives me and so many others what we most need now: hope," he added.
(JNS.org) A senior Iranian official warned Saturday that if the U.S. launches an attack on Iran, his country could hit the Israeli metropolis of Tel Aviv in a matter of minutes.

If the enemy chooses to shoot a missile in Irans direction, Tel Aviv will go up in flames from an Iranian missile before the [enemys] missile hits its target. This is not just a slogan, as only seven minutes are needed for an Iranian missile to hit Tel Aviv, boasted Mojtaba Zonour, a member of Irans National Security and Foreign Policy Commission.

Zonour was also quoted by Irans semi-official Fars News Agency as saying that Americas 36 bases in the Middle East were all in range of Iranian missiles.

These points are all within the range of Irans missile systems and they will be razed to the ground if the enemy makes a mistake, he said. Zonours statements came following fresh U.S. sanctions against Iran in response to the recent Iranian ballistic missile test that purportedly violated a United Nations resolution.
WASHINGTON (JTA)-House Speaker Paul Ryan said it makes more sense to rigorously enforce the Iran nuclear deal than to dismantle it, signaling diminishing support for pulling the United States out of the deal.

Ryan, R-Wis., speaking on "Meet the Press" in an interview to be broadcast in full on Sunday, said the removal of sanctions under the nuclear rollback for sanctions relief deal reached in 2015 between Iran and six major world powers meant it would be too hard to reconstitute the sanctions.

"A lot of that toothpaste is already out of the tube," he said in a segment of the interview NBC posted last Friday on its website. "I never supported the deal in the first place, I thought it was a huge mistake, but the multilateral sanctions are done. I don't think you're going to go back and reconstitute the multilateral sanctions that were in place."

President Donald Trump said while campaigning that the deal was a bad one and at times suggested that he would pull out of it. Other Republicans throughout the campaign pledged to kill the deal. However, since Trump's inauguration last month, his defense secretary, James Mattis, has said pulling out of the deal would be unwise.

"I think we would expend our effort where it can pay off the most and that's why I think what they're doing now does make a lot of sense," Ryan said. "I think the key is to rigorously enforce this deal."

Republicans in Congress have introduced bills in recent weeks that would penalize Iran for non-nuclear activities, including ballistic missile testing. Trump this week imposed new sanctions on Iranian individuals and entities in the wake of Iran testing missiles, which his predecessor, Barack Obama, did a year ago.

Ryan said he would back new non-nuclear sanctions.

"Remember, they're testing ballistic missiles, they're still the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world, human rights abuses galore," he said. "Those are where I think we also need to ratchet up sanctions."

Ryan said the Obama administration was derelict in holding Iran to account. He also said Iran's continued belligerency toward Israel, among other factors, was a clear signal that the regime was not changing for the better.

"Look at what they're trying to do to destabilize the region with all their proxies," he said. "Look at what they're doing to finance terrorism, the human rights abuses, testing ballistic missiles. You see they write on the side of their missiles, in Hebrew, Farsi, and English, 'Death to Israel and death to America'-this is not a peaceful nation."
On Thursday, Feb. 23, Temple Israel Sisterhood will be hosting an artist workshop led by Renee Schwadron Lewis. The entire community is cordially invited to attend, participate and meet Lewis. Who was "born" with a talent for combining texture and color.

An experienced artist, Lewis's works have been exhibited in many venues and reflect her inspiration, aesthetic value and sophistication of the Post Impressionists. She has a B.F.A. degree in fabric design from The School of Art at Syracuse University and has studied art history in the Netherlands.

Through her focus on fabric design, Lewis has developed an eye and proficiency with repetitive patterns, which continues to be a theme in her current work. At the workshop she will explore the delightful results of repetitive design and each participant will create a work of art. Also of interest, Lewis has created a refreshing look at the art of color pencil. She says, "Art can be created in solitude but it must be seen and hopefully appreciated for the creative process to come full circle."

The workshop will be from 7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. in Temple Israel's Roth Social Hall, and no drawing skills are required.

Please RSVP to the Temple Israel office (407-647-3055, office@tiflorida.org). The cost is $10/person. Refreshments will be served. Temple Israel is located at 50 S. Moss Road in Winter Springs.
WASHINGTON (JTA)Settlement expansion may not be helpful in achieving peace, the Trump administration said in its first pronouncement on an issue that has confounded U.S.-Israel relations for decades.

The White House announcement Thursday evening comes a week after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced major settlement building initiatives in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem.

While we dont believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace, the construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal, the statement said.

Most of the building authorized by the Netanyahu government is in existing settlements, but there are patches that would expand settlements, and Cabinet ministers to Netanyahus right want to seize on the new friendliness of the Trump administration to expand settlements further and annex territory.

The Trump White House statement avoids some of the thickets of disagreement that frustrated relations between Netanyahu and President Barack Obama, Trumps predecessor.

It neither calls for a stop on building in existing settlements, an activity that troubled Obama, nor terms settlements an impediment to peace. That suggests a return to the approach of President George W. Bush, who for a period said he could tolerate natural growth within existing settlement boundaries.

However, the statement does suggest that a president who has turned over tables in so many other spheres that once bound Democrats and Republicansfriendly outreach to a Russian government both parties have reviled in recent years is probably the best known exampleis nonetheless seeking consistency on the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

On Friday, Israels deputy foreign minister, Tzipi Hotovely, highlighted the White Houses stated stance that expansion in these communities was not an obstacle to peace and added it was not the problem in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The White House itself holds that the settlements are not an obstacle to peace and they never have been, Hotovely said in a statement. It must be concluded therefore that expansion of construction is not the problem.

In the past 25 years all paths towards any kind of solution have been blocked by the Palestinians. The core questions as to the sources of the conflict should therefore be reexamined and new solutions proposed.

Hotovely said the government of Israel is committed to building in all parts of our land and we must respect the will of the people who elected us for this purpose.

President Donald Trump, who prides himself as a deal-maker, said throughout his campaign that he wants to bring about a breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian peace, and that hope is pronounced in the statement.

The American desire for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians has remained unchanged for 50 years, the statement said. As the President has expressed many times, he hopes to achieve peace throughout the Middle East region.

The Trump administration has not taken an official position on settlement activity and looks forward to continuing discussions, including with Prime Minister Netanyahu when he visits with President Trump later this month, it said.
A year and a half after it was signed, the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers has held up, but the agreements future is now in doubt.

Before being elected last November, President Donald Trump described the agreement with Iran as the worst deal ever negotiated and said he would act to dismantle it. This position echoes the frequent comments on the deal by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Following Trumps election, Netanyahu expressed hope that he could work with Trump to undo the arrangement.

Yet it remains far from clear whether the defense establishments of Israel and the U.S. would like to see the nuclear deal canceled, despite the deep misgivings and concerns they both hold about the accord.

Prof. Eytan Gilboa, an expert on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and the founding director of the School of Communication at Israels Bar-Ilan University, told JNS.org that that there is wide agreement across the Trump administration that the nuclear deal is insufficient, yet it also remains unclear how Trump and the Pentagon wish to fix its shortcomings.

In Israel too, there is an agreement that the deal is not good, but there are disagreements over how bad it is, and what can be done to address its faults, Gilboa said.

Why Israel believes the deal is flawed

The Israeli defense establishment does not have much faith that the deal will prevent a nuclear Iran in the long-term, though it does assess that the pact will temporarily delay Tehrans progress. Sections of the American defense establishment have pointed out that the deal has done nothing to stop Irans destabilizing behavior across the Middle East, undercutting former President Barack Obamas hope that the agreement would empower Iranian moderates.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the nuclear deal is formally known, was signed in July 2015 between the P5+1 countries and Iran. The deal froze Irans uranium enrichment activities, limiting the Islamic Republic to possessing 300 kilograms (661 pounds) of low-enriched uranium for 15 years and striving to extend Irans nuclear breakout time from a few months to one year.

But the deal merely places a freezerather than destroyingIrans uranium enrichment capabilities at the nuclear sites located in Natanz and Fordow, and it allows the Iranians to continue to improve and develop uranium enrichment techniques.

When the deals sunset clauses kick in, Tehran can once again go back to enriching uranium at industrial levels, this time with enhanced technology. Should it choose to violate the agreement before the onset of the sunset clause, a year is not much time to stop it, critics of the deal fear, due to the unclear procedures on how to respond if Iran is caught cheating.

Lose-lose situation

All that being said, nixing the nuclear deal entirely at this point is lose-lose, said Dr. Emily Landau, head of the Arms Control and Regional Security Program at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv, and one of the nuclear deals sharpest critics.

Iran already pocketed millions of dollars, so there is no leverage on it to get a better deal, Landau told JNS.org, referring to the sanctions relief Iran obtained in the agreement. As bad as the deal is, what is gained by giving up the new concessions Iran made?

While the aftermath of the nuclear deal continues to play out, Iran can keep building its missile programthe delivery mechanism for nuclear weaponsand expand its influence the region. Iran is arming and funding its many radical agents, which include Hezbollah and thousands of Shia militia members deployed across the Middle East. Additionally, Iran controls operations on the ground in Syria and Iraq, overseeing massacres of Sunnis, and increasingly dominates President Bashar al-Assads Syrian regime and the Shia government of Iraq.

With the lifting of international economic sanctions, the Islamic Republic is amassing treasure that can be expected to go toward enhancing Irans regional ambitions and buildup of force. Iran also continues to openly call for the destruction of Israel.

Current assessments in the U.S. and Israel

At first, Iran dismissed Trumps threat to cancel the deal, calling it empty talk. Since then, the Trump administration has put Iran on notice in response to a recent ballistic missile test that American and Israeli officials said defied a United Nations resolution. Given Trumps sharp break from Obamas support for the nuclear deal, the Iranianswho denied that their missile test violated the U.N. measuremight now be taking the possibility of an end to the agreement much more seriously.

The Israeli defense establishment has, until now, viewed the deal as a fait accompli. As such, its assessment was that the agreement would hold in the short- to medium-term future, since Iran has a clear economic interest in keeping to it. Iran does not want to return to a reality of crippling sanctions.

In the longer-term future, the Israeli defense establishment believes that chances of a direct clash with Iran will grow, and a decade from now, Israels strategic environment will be considerably more dangerous. A large chunk of that danger will come from a wealthier, more militarily powerful Iran equipped with international legitimacy to enrich uranium, which will return the Islamic Republic to being a nuclear threshold state. In line with such assessments, the defense establishment in Israel concluded that the risk of an imminent clash with Iran, or an immediate need to strike its nuclear program, could be removed from the table.

There is no big difference between positions on the deal held by Netanyahu and the Israeli defense establishment, Landau said, arguing that both took a very dim view of it. Statements by past and present by [Israeli] officials were taken out of context and inserted into the U.S. debate by President Obama, on purpose, to drive a wedge between Netanyahu and the defense establishment, she said.

Israels enemies that are closer to home, particularly the Iranian-backed Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, are deterred for the time being, and Hezbollah is busy with backing the Assad regime in the Syrian civil war. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has identified a window of opportunity to use the current period of calm to prepare itself for the bigger challenges that might be on the horizon.

Although the Israeli defense establishment has not said so publicly, it may not be inclined to the idea of scrapping the deal altogether, as that would create an immediate need for war readiness. That, in turn, would cut into the IDFs plans to focus time and resources toward preparing itself for the years ahead.

The road ahead

Moving forward, Landau said that it is better to strictly enforce and strengthen the deal than to dismantle it. This approach, she said, should be accompanied by a return of American deterrence against Iran, and an end to the Obama administrations policy of ignoring and playing down all Iranian provocations. That, in itself, will begin turning things around.

There is a need for the P5+1 countries to clarify how Iran is allowed to interpret the deal, when it comes to inspections at suspicious military facilities, to prevent the Iranians from playing for time, Landau argued. Preparing fixed responses for potential Iranian violations would strengthen the deal, she said.

This cannot be left unattended to last minute. There wont be enough to take effective action, said Landau.

The outcome of the Feb. 15 meeting between Trump and Netanyahu at the White House could also be critical for charting the course ahead. Bar-Ilans Gilboa said that Trump expects Netanyahu to bring practical suggestions on how to deal with this issue. Only after the meeting will it be possible to know where things are headed.
Large swastika painted on car in Florida Jewish neighborhood

(JTA)A large swastika was spray-painted on the side of a car in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in Boca Raton, Florida.

The incident occurred early Sunday morning, according to local report. The white swastika took up the entire drivers-side door of the black Ford Mustang.

The owner of the car is a teenager who is visiting Israel, the Miami Herald reported. It is not know if the teens visit to Israel made him the intended target.

This is a direct hate message, Yona Lunger, an activist in South Floridas Jewish community, told the Miami Herald. We are shocked, devastated.

Many Holocaust survivors live in the neighborhood, residents told local media.

The Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office has launched an investigation into the incident. Residents have asked the local police for increased patrols and some plan to install surveillance cameras, according to reports.

The swastika comes on the heels of several bomb threats on Jewish community centers in South Florida, part of a wave of bomb threats on JCCs across the country.

Poll: Americans nearly split over support for Palestinian state

(JTA)Americans are nearly evenly divided over support for a Palestinian state, according to the latest Gallup poll.

Some 45 percent of Americans back the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza Strip and 42 percent oppose it, according to the poll taken during the first week of February. Some 13 percent said they have no opinion.

One year ago, support for a Palestinian state was at nearly the same level, 44 percent, but a lower percentage, 37 percent, opposed it. At that time, 19 percent said they had no opinion.

Broken down by political party affiliation, 61 percent of Democrats, 50 percent of Republicans and 25 percent of Independents are in favor of a Palestinian state.

The results are from Gallups annual World Affairs poll conducted Feb. 1-5. A random sample of 1,035 Americans over 18 was polled. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.

The poll also asked respondents if their sympathies lie more with the Israelis or the Palestinians.

Some 62 percent of Americans said they sympathized more with the Israelis and 19 percent with the Palestinians in numbers that are similar to the past several years. Another 19 percent responded with no preference, broken down into 5 percent who say they sympathize with both equally, 6 percent who sympathize with neither, and 8 percent who responded that they have no opinion.

In the splits by political party, 82 percent of Republicans, 47 percent of Democrats and 57 percent of Independents said they sympathized with Israel.

Asked about their opinions of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, some 49 percent of respondents said they viewed him favorably and 30 percent unfavorablyboth figures the highest recorded in the pollwith 13 percent saying they never heard of him and 8 percent saying they have no opinion.

Broken down by party, 32 percent of Democrats viewed Netanyahu favorably and 41 percent unfavorably, and 73 percent of Republicans viewed Netanyahu favorably and 11 percent unfavorably. In 2015, before Netanyahu spoke against the Iran nuclear deal in Congress, a speech that was boycotted by several Democratic members of Congress, 31 percent of Democrats viewed him favorably and 31 percent unfavorably, and 60 percent of Republicans favorably and 18 percent unfavorably.

McGill student leader doubles down on punch a Zionist today message

MONTREAL (JTA)A McGill University student leader who advised on Twitter to punch a Zionist today is refusing to resign or retract the comment amid rising Jewish anger on campus against him.

Council member Igor Sadikov did not relent at what was described as a tense meeting of the student union legislative council on Thursday.

According to witnesses who attended, Sadikov appeared to double down on his stance, arguing that Jews were not a a legitimate ethnic group, according to Bnai Brith Canada.

I have never felt so targeted, disgusted or disappointed in my life, Jewish McGill student Molly Harris later wrote in a post on Facebook.

Sadikov, who also is active in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, has denied he is anti-Semitic, noting that his father is Jewish and his mother is half-Jewish. He said his original tweet, which he later deleted, was meant to criticize a political philosophy, not Jews.

McGill has condemned Sadikov, joining the Jewish groups Bnai Brith, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

The universitys undergraduate arts society formally called on Sadikov to resign and Bnai Brith asked police to investigate whether Sadikov had incited hatred with his tweet.

But the mass condemnation seemed to do little to appease pro-Israel students at McGill, who say they feel increasingly isolated and vulnerable on campus.

At the Thursday meeting, according to reports, council members voted by a wide margin against censuring Sadikov, while a leader of McGills BDS group asked why an individual pro-Zionist member of the council was not being impeached.

Critics at the meeting charged that council members stayed silent as Sadikov took his stand and also in reaction to the pro-BDS speaker.

McGills student union also has the power to impeach Sadikov, but has not moved to do so.

The campus newspaper, The McGill Daily, which Sadikov once served as editor, recently enacted a policy to ban pro-Zionist opinion from its pages.

British government proposes guideline to prevent municipal boycotts against Israel

(JTA)The British government has unveiled a proposed guideline that is meant to counteract and prevent the passing of resolutions in favor of boycotting Israel by local municipalities.

The Department for Communities and Local Government published its plan for ending such initiatives on Monday in a leaflet containing proposed additions and revisions to a document titled the Revised Best Value Statutory Guidance, which offers guidelines on various issues pertaining to local government, including procurement policies.

Authorities should not implement or pursue boycotts other than where formal legal sanctions, embargoes and restrictions have been put in place by the Government, the proposal reads.

The British government has a longstanding policy of value for money in public procurement, the document further reads. Procurement legislation in the United Kingdom and the European Union requires public authorities to treat suppliers fairly and equally and this guidance has been updated to reflect that and make it clear that boycotts in public procurement are inappropriate outside where formal legal sanctions have been put in place.

Individuals who want to offer their feedback to the government, including arguments in favor and against the revision, must do so before March 28, the document states.

A spokesman for the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the national umbrella of the Jewish community of the United Kingdom, said his group warmly welcomes the Governments measures since these boycotts are divisive and undermine good community relations. The new steps will ensure that all suppliers of goods and services receive equal treatment and do not need to fear prejudice.

Resolutions favoring boycotts of Israel were passed recently in several municipalities in Britain, including the Leicester City Council in 2014. Similar measures were discussed but not taken in Nottingham.

The Conservative-led British government has threatened to fine municipalities that vote on boycotting Israel and has announced plans for laws making such initiatives illegal.

Amazon selling books in US, UK online stores that deny the Holocaust

(JTA)Amazon has removed books that deny the Holocaust from online stores in countries where Holocaust denial is illegal, but they remain available in the United States and the United Kingdom.

The British newspaper The Independent reported that the books were removed in some countries, including Italy, France and Germany, after Amazon was contacted about the sale of such books by The Sunday Times of London.

Among the books still available on Amazons U.S. and U.K. online stores are Did Six Million Really Die? by Richard Harwood; The Six Million: Fact or Fiction?, and The Myth of the Extermination of the Jews.

Gideon Falter, chairman of the British charity Campaign Against Antisemitism, told The Independent: Every day, Amazon promotes a selection of literature advocating Holocaust denial and Jew hatred. Anybody searching Amazon for books about the Holocaust, including children working on school projects, will inevitably be shown Amazons squalid cesspool of neo-Nazi titles.

One Amazon customer who complained to the company told The Sunday Times he received a message from Amazon saying, If you feel this book constitutes hate speech and malicious lies, then please check out the other hundred thousand books we carry to find something you like. I hope this helps!

Steven Goldstein, executive director of the U.S.-based Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, called for a boycott of Amazon until it stops selling the books everywhere.

When Amazon sells Holocaust denial books and even offers readers an opportunity to borrow Holocaust denial books on Amazon Kindle, Amazon is a repugnant accomplice to Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism of historic proportions, Goldstein wrote in a statement. This makes Amazon a worldwide embarrassment to human decency. We call on everyone to stop shopping at Amazon until all divisions of Amazon in every part of the world stop selling Holocaust denial books and other works immediately.

Russian lawmaker: Ancestors of Jewish politicians boiled us in cauldrons

(JTA)A Russian lawmaker in President Vladimir Putins party said the ancestors of two Jewish opposition politicians had killed Christians.

Christians survived despite the fact that the ancestors of Boris Vishnevsky and Maksim Reznik boiled us in cauldrons and fed us to animals, Vitaly Milonov said Sunday, according to Agence France-Presse.

Jewish groups and leaders condemned Milonovs statement.

For a State Duma deputy, it is unacceptable to make such irresponsible statements, said Rabbi Boruch Gorin, the spokesman for the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, AFP reported.

The president of the Russian Jewish Congress told AFP that it was clear to any normal person that these lawmakers are of Jewish descent and that he means Jews.

The National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry, an American nonprofit advocating for Jews in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, urged the Russian government to condemn the remarks.

Milonovs rhetoric invokes dangerous anti-Semitic hatred that has historically been used to justify widespread violence against Jews in Russia, the group said Monday in a statement. NCSEJ urges Russias local and national government to repudiate Milonovs remarks and make clear that he does not speak for the government of Russia or the Russian people.

In 2014, Milonov made statements suggesting that Jews killed Jesus.

They vilify any saint, it is in their tradition of 2,000 years, beginning with the appeals to crucify the Savior, ending with accusations of anti-Semitism against St. John of Kronstadt, Milonov said during a speech before the citys legislative council.

Milonov was advocating a bill to declare June 14 a municipal holiday in honor of John of Kronstadt, a 19th-century leader of the Orthodox Russian Church. His legacy remains controversial because of his membership in the Black Hundred, an ultranationalist and declaredly anti-Semitic movement that supported pogroms against Jews.

But Milonov said such criticism was based on complete lies, a modern neo-liberal fable with a sulfuric, deep history of Satanism.

Populist party in Germany set to oust member for denigrating Berlin Holocaust memorial

BERLIN (JTA)Germanys rising right-wing populist party voted to begin proceedings to oust a prominent member for calling Berlins Holocaust memorial a monument of shame.

Bjoern Hoecke, leader of the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, in the former East German state of Thuringia aroused ire nationwide with remarks in January denigrating the memorial and suggesting that more attention be paid to German victims of World War II.

Frauke Petry, who heads the 3-year-old AfD, said Monday that the expulsion procedure could take quite a while, but that she was convinced most party members would support the move.

Critics within the AfD said Hoeckes remarks threatened to destabilize the party, which hopes to become the third largest in the Bundestag in national elections in September.

The partys decision followed a legal and political evaluation of Hoeckes remarks.

He had told young supporters in Dresden on Jan. 17 that We Germansthat is, our peopleare the only people worldwide that has planted a memorial to shame in the heart of our capital.

Ten days later, the Buchenwald Concentration Camp Memorial barred Hoecke from entering for a memorial ceremony marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Hoecke has enjoyed some support from party leaders in his own state, as well as those in the former East German state of Brandenburg. Alexander Gauland, chair of the Brandenburg faction, told German radio rbb that no one should be thrown out after making one mistake. He also said he feared people would leave the party in protest.

In Thuringen, party leaders suggested the decision was politically motivated to force certain people and opinions out of the party

Petrys co-chair, Jorg Meuthen, reportedly also opposed her on the matter, saying he did not believe the expulsion procedure was likely to succeed, even though his speech was really very bad.

AfD President Georg Pazderski told the daily newspaper Tagesspiegel in Berlin that he thought Hoeckes speech had the potential to frighten off voters. Pazderski said Hoecke had endangered the partys goal of representing mainstream conservative Germans.

Following Mondays vote, Hoecke told reporters he was worried for the unity of the party. But he expressed confidence that the arbitration panel would not find him guilty of transgressing the partys legal statutes or principles. If he is found guilty, he can appeal.

The anti-immigrant party has been struggling with its extreme right-wing flank. Last July, it began proceedings to expel politician Wolfgang Gedeon over anti-Semitic writings. He remains a member of the Baden-Wurttemberg state parliament, though was forced to step down from the AfDs bloc.

One year ago, a court in Brandenburg rejected accusations that AfD party member Jan-Ulrich Weiss had published an anti-Semitic caricature.

Elena Roonan AfD candidate for the Bundestag from Nurembergrecently shared a photograph of Adolf Hitler online with the caption, Missing since 1945: Adolf, please call home! Germany needs you! The German nation!

The German media reported that Roon also shared an image of Hitler tearing his hair out in frustration, with the caption Islamists... I forgot about them!

The party chair in Bavaria has launched an investigation.
I will admit that this sounds perverse, but Irans recent ballistic missile test was welcome in one important sense. Let me explain.

Just more than a fortnight into President Donald Trumps administration, America and the world have been bombarded with all sorts of crises, to the extent that it feels as if two years of history has been packed into two weeks. Relations with Mexico are at their lowest ebb in more than a century. The administration continues to exasperate, most likely intentionally, European heads of state with its on again, off again comments about the long-term health of the European Union and NATO. Trump even boasted of yelling at Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, leader of the stalwart U.S. ally Australia, over a previous agreement reached with the Obama administration concerning the fate of a handful of refugees.

And then along came Iran with its firing of a ballistic missile Jan. 29, in open defiance of the nuclear deal its signed with the Obama administration and other Western governments, which urges Iran not to develop ballistic missiles until the eighth year of the deal kicks in. That was quickly followed by reports that Iran had test-fired a cruise missile, the Sumar, which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and has a potential range of 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles), meaning that it is well within reach of Israel and the European continent.

If we needed a salutary reminder that some threats should be ranked above others, then the Islamist regime in Tehran provided one. Dismissing American concerns with a cheap swipe at Trumps Muslim travel ban, Iran deployed Defense Minister Hossein Deghan, who also holds the rank of brigadier-general in the terrorist Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), to present the missile activities as a routine defensive measure.

We have no other aim but to defend our interests and in this path we will neither seek permission nor allow anyone to interfere, Deghan declared. Given that this is the very same Deghan who revealed, following a March 2015 test of the very same Sumar cruise missile, that the regimes goal is to boost the precision and destructive power of these weapons, it is reasonable to conclude that defense of Irans interests means having the ability to annihilate Irans neighbors.

By any standard, Irans regime stands out as a clear and present threat to the Western world. And even as we agonize over what is to become of that world, we need to recognize that the primary goal is to save it. Israel and the conservative Sunni-Arab states may be first in Irans firing line, but only a fool would conclude that they are last as well.

In that sense, the Trump administrations response to the missile test was heartening in one very simple sense: it noticed.

Whereas Obama would have done his utmost to play down its significance, Trumps advisers accurately portrayed the test as a statement of Irans true intentions. If there really is an influential moderate wing of the regime, as Obama and his administrations Secretary of State John Kerry always insisted was the case, then it now faces a different kind of test, political and not military in nature: Will it, or can it, restrain future missile firings? Does it grasp that the Trump administrations lack of detail over the method of its coming response (all we know is that Tehran is on notice) actually makes its country less secure, since in theory all options are on the table at a time when escalation could turn out to be very rapid? If there is a moderate leader in Iran who can turn the tide, then hetrust me on this, its invariably a heshould act quickly, or else confirm what weve known all along. Namely, that the IRGC, whose main purpose is to export the Islamic Revolution, is the real power broker behind Irans leaders.

Indeed, if I were that moderate Iranian leader, I would find very little comfort in what is being said in Washington these days. The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), said this week that global banks should be prevented from conducting U.S. dollar transactions with their Iranian counterparts. The ranking Democrat on that committee, New Yorks U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel, asserted that in our dealings with the Iranians, we should never, never trust them, adding that designations against human rights abusers and sanctions targeting the IRGC should be stepped up. Trump himself also indicated that he understands the nature of Irans grand strategy, remarking on Twitter that Tehran wields increasing control over neighboring Iraq. All of this supports the conclusion that the rose-tinted spectacles have been removed and that the gloves are off.

The Iranians can glean further clues to the changing atmosphere in Washington in the current discussion of the equally pressing security threat posed by North Korea. Speaking to a Senate committee hearing on North Korea last week, two leading experts, Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute and Scott Snyder of the Council on Foreign Relations, gave a sobering account of what happens when a rogue regime successfully acquires nuclear weapons.

Eberstadt explained that Americans now have to recognize two highly unpleasant truths about North Korea. First, that it will never voluntarily give up its nuclear option. Second, that engagement can never produce a denuclearization of the real existing North Korea. Added Snyder, Kim Jong Un has decided, based on lessons from Iraq, Iran and Libya, that North Korea must be too nuclear to fail.

Irans leaders want to be able to make the same determination. After four years of denial of this reality, the American public is again in a position to understand its potency. That is the best place to start.

Ben Cohen, senior editor of TheTower.org & The Tower Magazine, writes a weekly column for JNS.org on Jewish affairs and Middle Eastern politics. His writings have been published in Commentary, the New York Post, Haaretz, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. He is the author of Some of My Best Friends: A Journey Through Twenty-First Century Antisemitism(Edition Critic, 2014).
There are all kinds of sayings reminding us that if we fail to learn from the tragedies of the past, we are doomed to relive them in the future. We appear to have failed to heed that warning.

On May 31, 1939, the German ship St. Louis left Hamburg for Cuba with more than 900 Jewish refugees fleeing for their lives from Nazi Germany. They were offered respite in Cuba temporarily until their visa applications would be approved to enter the U.S. But anti-Semitic rallies of thousands of people were instigated throughout Cuba, demanding that these Jewish refugees be kept out. These money-hungry immigrants, exhorted the protesters, were not be let in to take away their jobs. The Jewish refugees were turned away.

The St. Louis then attempted to dock in Miami. The country that welcomes the homeless and the huddled masses yearning to breathe free also denied entry to the Jewish refugees seeking asylum, although the president and the State Department knew that they would be sending them back on a perilous and hopeless journey by refusing to let them land. With nowhere to go, the St. Louis was compelled to return to Europe. The Jewish refugees were disbursed to fend for themselves, with 254 of them served up to be killed in the Holocaust. Thousands of other Jewish refugees were to be martyred having been denied entry into the U.S. by immigration laws deliberately kept strict to keep them out.

The reason given for refusing to rescue Jewish refugees from Hitler was to protect the country. The expressed fear was that the Germans could turn Jewish refugees into spies, by holding their families hostage back in Germany. Yet not one case of such espionage was ever documented to give credence to that fear.

The noted Holocaust historian Prof. Deborah Lipstadt concluded that the Jews were denied entry due to the State Departments wartime paranoia and outright bigotry. Sound familiar? The State Department stated that the Jewish immigrants presented a national security risk. Sound familiar?

These are the exact reasons why the U.S. has now decided to refuse entry of any of the 1 million Syrian refugees who have fled their country seeking safety from the devastating ravages of a civil war, and in effect, like the Jews, are now told to seek asylum elsewhere.

As a result of the largest humanitarian crisis and displacement of human beings since World War II, 12 million Syrians have fled their homes. More than 6 million of them remain trapped and displaced within Syria. Five million of them have been taken in by caring neighboring countries. The U.S. had made a very limited commitment, but at least a commitment, to allow 100,000 of the remaining one million Syrian refugeesmostly single mothers and childrento immigrate to America, on top of the 16,000 who were already admitted.

However, a presidential executive order has just been issued barring all Syrian refugees from entering the U.S. indefinitely, and severely restricting immigration and travel from six other Muslim-majority countries. National security once again was being used as a rationale for barring entry to certain types of refugeesthis time to deal with the threat of terrorism. This is the fear, or more appropriately stated the scare for demanding an extreme scrutiny of Muslims trying to seek asylum in our country, though there is already a successful vetting program in place. The vetting process is already extreme in nature, with biometric and database screening, security screening and multiple interviews of prospective immigrants by the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department and the National Counterterrorism Center. This vetting process takes up to two years to complete before allowing an entry. Importantly, with this scrupulous vetting system, not one American has been killed in a terrorist attack committed by a refugee from Syria or from any of the other six Muslim-majority countries targeted by the current travel ban.

Prof. Lipstadts historical finding of the past is just as instructive today, and bears remembering by every Jewish-American citizen. Jews were denied entry solely due to wartime paranoia and outright bigotry.

Any American Jew who is unwilling to stand up and oppose this similar wartime paranoia and bigotry denying innocent Syrian-Muslim refugees asylum from the ravages of their war-torn country, and oppose the executive orders religious discrimination, must be concerned about forfeiting his or her right to criticize the U.S. for its past failure to give asylum to innocent Jewish refugees who faced the unspeakable Holocaust.

Honorable Albert L. Kramer has served as the Presiding Justice of the Quincy District Court in Massachusetts, a Chief Policy Adviser to the Governor of Massachusetts and a Massachusetts state legislator. The Quincy District Court is distinguished for receiving many national awards for Judge Kramers innovative programstwo of which were featured segments on the CBS program 60 Minutes.
Dear Editor:

The spate of recent bomb threats at our Maitland Jewish Community Campus should not lead to making American Jewish life similar to Paris or other cities in Europe. Walking or driving through more security fences and being searched by security guards and monitored by more cameras will push only the strongly committed amongst us away from all our institutions. Better to use this crisis as an opportunity to make a broad outreach to the greater Orlando community. Holocaust Remembrance Day could have been such a date to hold a solidarity event in Maitland or at Lake Eola. We should be holding solidarity events and interfaith conferences now to stand up against hatred and bigotry. We should be demonstrating the richness and beauty of our Jewish Heritage to our wonderful community. Imagine Tu BShevat as a day to celebrate the environment for all of Orlando to engage with us? How about a Jewish Federation sponsored Freedom Passover Seder with major local dignitaries? It would be a great mistake not to seize on this tragedy as an opportunity for outreach and mutual understanding. Jewish security is best built by building bridges not by building walls.

Bruce Hoffen

Lake Mary
To say the implementation of President Donald Trumps travel ban was clumsy would be an understatement. To say, however, that the principles involved were totally without constitutional justification would be unwarranted.

Since Trumps inauguration, nothing has dominated the political conversation as much as hatred punctuated by hysteria. The aspiration toward civility that once served as a norm for political discourse in this country has been consumed in conflagration, riots, mass demonstrations and physical attacks.

In no other policy area, perhaps, has emotion dominated the intellect as much as it has in relation to the travel ban.

This temporary ban is directed at the same countries that the Obama administration named when it prohibited them from having access to the Visa Waiver Program. In addition, President Barack Obama issued 19 executive orders banning travel and a six-month order banning travel from Iraq. There was pushback on the Iraqi ban, so it was never enforced.

To be sure, removing a privilege, as in access to a visa waiver, and prohibiting entry are different things. Still, the security concerns were similar. And Iraqis would have been banned if Obama enforced his own executive order.

With the stroke of a pen, Obama changed the wet feet/dry feet rule affecting Cuban immigration. We will no longer allow the entry of Cubans who take to the sea to flee tyranny.

There were no mass demonstrations on the Cubans behalf, and the mainstream media showed no inclination to cover this story in any depth.

We are bombarded incessantly on the news about how Trumps executive order constitutes religious and nationality discrimination, and is unconstitutional. There is, however, abundant legal precedent for both religious and nationality discrimination, because immigration is about absorbing people from other nations about whom we make judgments.

During the Iran hostage crisis, President Jimmy Carter not only refused entry to Iranianshe deported students who were already here. He did not just implement his policy toward Iranians, but eventually toward all Shia Muslims.

The Iranians challenged Carter in court. In Narenji v. Civiletti, the Iranian plaintiffs argued that an immigration policy singling out non-immigrant students by their nationality violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.

The Appellate Court did not see it that way. The court strongly rejected the plaintiffs petition and concluded that the U.S. attorney general holds wide latitude to draw distinctions on the basis of nationality in matters of immigration.

Decades later, the 9/11 Commission echoed those sentiments, noting that terrorists visas were part of their arsenal and that we had been derelict in having an immigration policy that was oblivious to the relationship between nationality, religion and terrorism.

As a consequence, the government implemented the National Security Entrance-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), which applied only to 25 Muslim-majority countries and North Korea.

The NSEERS program was challenged on the basis of discrimination against Muslims. The appellate courts uniformly upheld the constitutional validity of NSEERS. In Rajah v. Mukasey, the court explicitly noted how what seems to have escaped many in their reporting on the current imbroglio is that classifications on the basis of nationality are frequently unavoidable in immigration matters... such classifications is (sic) commonplace and almost inevitable. Obama ended the program in 2011.

In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, Attorney General John Ashcroft launched a program to detain and investigate immigrants from Muslim-majority countries who had arrived in the U.S. during the previous two years. Among those swept up in this program was Javaid Iqbal, a Pakistani national who had long overstayed his visa and was illegally working as a cable television installer in Brooklyn. Iqbal sued the government for wrongful imprisonment because of the attorney generals use of nationality and religion as criteria for his arrest.

Iqbals case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which denied him a hearing. In very strong language, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote, The September 11 attacks were perpetrated by 19 Arab Muslim hijackers who counted themselves members in good standing of al-Qaeda, an Islamic fundamentalist group. Al-Qaeda was headed by another Arab MuslimOsama bin Ladenand composed in large part of his Arab Muslim disciples. It should come as no surprise that a legitimate policy directing law enforcement to arrest and detain individuals because of their suspected link to the attacks would produce a disparate, incidental impact on Arab Muslims.

The verdict clearly sanctioned a disparate impact on Arab Muslims specifically and Muslims generally, as Iqbal was a Pakistani.

Although the rounding up of Muslims for being Muslim drew outrage in the Islamic community and a few newspaper editorials blasting the program, it generated nothing remotely like the mass demonstrations and media attacks against Trumps immigration ban.

The constitutional issues raised by the Trump administrations ban are complex, and the conflicting rulings by a federal judge in Seattle and one in Boston show there are no simple answers regarding the bans constitutionality. At the time of this writing, the Department of Justice is appealing the Seattle ruling to the Ninth Circuit.

Clearly, the Trump administration could have circumvented the current crisis by taking a more cautious approach to the issue. It chose not to do that, and not to rewrite the ban once constitutional issues were raised. There is also the issue of whether a travel ban and an immigration ban fall under the same legal precedents. The argument, however, that the administration is in clear violation of the Constitution seems to be overly confident in view of previous court decisions.

Ultimately, it will take the Supreme Court to resolve this issue. For no matter what the Ninth Circuit decides, the verdict will be appealed.

Abraham H. Miller is an emeritus professor of political science, University of Cincinnati, and a distinguished fellow with the Haym Salomon Center. Follow him on Twitter @salomoncenter.
CONOVER  Even second-graders grimace when they realize they are consuming between 9 to 10 teaspoons (31-38 grams) of sugar every time they drink a soda.

Its a regular lesson this year for students in Lisa Brittains class at Lyle Creek Elementary.

They participate in Steps to Health, a nutrition education program offered through N.C. Cooperative Extension  an outreach program at North Carolina State University, based in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The focus is teaching students about long-term health and preventing childhood obesity.

Second-grader Keilee Cox, in Brittains class, likes the food tasting component and was a fan of the blackberries they recently tasted.

You always need to eat healthy stuff like apples, oranges, grapes and vegetables, she said.

While she admits she likes sodas, Keilee plans on cutting back on the amount she drinks after learning about the ingredients and the amount of sugar in them.

Steps to Health is offered in elementary schools with 50 percent or more students on free and reduced lunch. The program is for second and third grades and is in four schools in the Catawba County School system. It is funded by a grant, so there is no cost for the schools.

According to a 2016 Centers for Disease Control profile on the state of nutrition, physical activity and obesity in North Carolina, 42.7 percent of adolescents reported consuming fruit less than one time daily. Overweight individuals equated to 15.2 percent, and 14 percent of children ages 2 to 4 in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program were overweight.

This is my fourth year offering the program, and it is just getting started at Lyle Creek and Oxford, N.C. Cooperative Extension 4-H/Youth agent Donna Mull said. There are taste tests each week and an educational lesson to encourage the children to eat healthy and try new healthy foods.

The class also keeps students in both grades sharpening their academic skills through a workbook they use to record what theyre doing and what they learn from each session. Mull uses pre- and post-tests and parent feedback forms to get data about the programs effectiveness.

The last time we looked at fruit, and they had to tell the color and a word that described it, Mull said. In the third grade they do a lot of math. They do a lot of graphing and we read labels, and they compare the sugar and the fat and they graph it.

The lessons are sticking.

Mull has heard the students talk about eating more fruits and vegetables and drinking less sodas.

We talk about them being more active too, that they shouldnt just sit around and watch TV, she said.

The program also fits into the healthy living curriculum taught by teachers.

One thing we notice is a lot of students dont know the difference between a fruit and a vegetable, Brittain said, admitting it surprised her.

Last week we tried raisins and a lot of them havent had raisins before. We had them try red and green grapes as well and most of them had never had the red grapes, Brittain said. They leave the program with a willingness to try new things, like green peppers.

Shes happy the students are learning about living healthier but knows its only part of what they need.

They retain the information but I dont know if the choices carry over at home so much because they dont buy the groceries, Brittain said. It definitely gives them more knowledge so when they can make more choices for themselves they know whats healthy.

Second-grader Lana Dellinger looks forward to every opportunity to taste new foods each week.

Last time we tried some cucumbers and the time before that we tried blackberries, she said. Id had cucumbers before but blackberries I hadnt and they were really good.

Shes been shocked by some of the facts shes learned like the amount of sugar in sodas and some fruit drinks. She also didnt realize how healthy fish was because of the amount of protein in it.

For more information about N.C. Extension programs in Catawba County, visit catawba.ces.ncsu.edu or call 828-465-8240.
SAN FRANCISCO  President Donald Trump's administration said in court documents on Thursday it does not want a larger appellate panel to review a ruling keeping its travel ban on hold and will instead replace the ban.

"In so doing, the president will clear the way for immediately protecting the country rather than pursuing further, potentially time-consuming litigation," the administration said in the filing.

A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit last week refused to block a lower-court decision that suspended the ban. The judges rejected the Trump administration's claim of presidential authority and questioned its motives.

The administration attacked the decision in Thursday's court filing, saying the three-judge panel misunderstood the scope of the order.

The decision came in a lawsuit brought by the states of Washington and Minnesota, which said the ban unconstitutionally blocked entry on the basis of religion and harmed their residents, universities and sales tax revenue. Eighteen other states, including California and New York, supported the challenge.

The appeals court had asked the Trump administration and Washington and Minnesota to file arguments by Thursday on whether more judges should hear the case.

The three-judge panel said the states had raised "serious" allegations that the ban targets Muslims, and the courts could consider statements Trump has made about shutting down Muslim immigration.

The judges also rejected the federal government's argument that courts do not have the authority to review the president's immigration and national security decisions.

They said the Trump administration presented no evidence that any foreigner from the seven countries  Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen  was responsible for a terrorist attack in the U.S.
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Delhi has a rich art culture, yet, despite being the centre of art activities and being home to many renowned artists and galleries, somehow it lacks a fraternity that appreciates and promotes underground talent. The group, Delhi Art Slam is a community for art, artists, and art enthusiasts, which aims to bring about the change by providing a platform to such untapped talent in the city.

Our idea is to localise art galleries and museums by organising art slam events across the citys ordinary public spaces and cafes. Its open for all, says Isha Yadav, founder and curator, Delhi Art Slam.

Whether you dabble with painting, sketching, sculpting, photography or you are into illustrations, wall art, diary art, knitting, quilling or any other visual medium, there is space for all art forms in this collective. Most the works sent by the artists are put up for sale by the organisation at their discretion.

The Delhi Art Slam team which is a mix of youngsters from different professional backgrounds.

The collective curates museums, galleries, contemporary exhibitions at local public spaces  making art accessible to all. We planned a lovely evening for the art community, in our modelled art gallery, which included workshops and live-art sessions. Delhi Art Slam is also looking forward to put more art forms into public spaces, for the community. We are an elaborative and democratic group and everyone is welcome to be a part of this effort, she adds.

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Think of Indian women writers and names such as Mahasweta Devi and Ismat Chughtai immediately come to mind. Powerful as they were, theirs are among the few glittering names of women in the galaxy of Indian authors. The vast majority of women writers in India dont get the recognition that they often deserve. One of the primary reasons is the absence of a platform.

It is to fill this vacuum that for the first time, a Women Writers Festival is being organised in the city.

There are a lot of women who are working on womens issues, but there is no platform where they can come together to discuss [their work] and very little resource that they can access. Many women writers just remain unsung heroes, says Anuradha Das Mathur, founder of the festival.

At the two-day literature festival, there will be panel discussions and talks by speakers such as Monika Halan, Bahar Dutt, Aparna Jain, Veenu Venugopal, Mala Bhargava, Yashodhara Lal, Urvashi Butalia, Nishita Jha, Bee Rowlatt, Amrita Tripathi, Shaili Chopra, Sonia Golani, Shreyasi Singh and others.

There are a lot of fiction writers who will also be speaking at the festival, because their books are also based on stories of working women. Plus, there are many women who write on business and other non-fiction subjects, yet go unnoticed. This festival is for all of them, adds Mathur.

The questions and themes that this festival will try to explore include women writing on business issues; fewer bestselling women authors in the country; and how women have managed to navigate professional spaces alongside motherhood.

Author Yashodhara Lal, who has created several women characters and their stories inspired by her observations and experiences from life in the corporate setting, says, I think its really important for festivals like this to come up for multiple reasons. Women writers really need to be celebrated and heard more as a community. Also, the topic here is about issues that shape development of women at the workplace  many corporate firms are showing commitment to the idea of building diversity in the workplace, particularly through female participation at all levels in the workforce. Action begins with talking about the issues and developing clarity about what works and what doesnt.

This issue of women and workplaces has attracted author Aparna Jain, too. There are literature festivals around the world, where usually theres one token panel comprising women speakers, talking about womens issues. But there is need for an entire festival for women, such as this one, where we are going to debunk the myths and stereotypical meaning of feminism, says Jain.

CATCH IT LIVE What: Women Writers Festival 2017 Where: Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts and Communication, Adhchini When: February 24 and 25 Timings: 10am to 7.30pm Nearest Metro Station: Hauz Khas on Yellow Line

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He emerged on top after months of an ugly, bitter family feud but mother of all battles awaits chief minister Akhilesh Yadav  the Uttar Pradesh assembly state election.

Win or lose, buck will stop with Akhilesh, who ousted father Mulayam Singh to snatch control of the ruling Samajwadi Party three days before elections were called.

But, the 43-year-old is showing no signs of nerves and is battle-ready, drawing strength from wife Dimple, a member of Parliament from Kannauj.

In a Facebook live session with senior resident editor Sunita Aron on Thursday, the UPs first couple talk about the family feud, politics and of course, the ongoing state election, showing a deep understanding of each other.

Edited excerpts:

Q: The family feud - how difficult was it for you?

Dimple: Initially it was very difficult rather extremely difficult but as time passed, things started to settle down. Now the work has begun and elections are on. We are expecting positive results.

Q: Was she a pillar of support for you?

Akhilesh: Who else can you trust or believe in such difficult times? Only your wife can stand by you in such a crisis. Such phases come in everyones life when some hard decisions have to be taken. Things come to a halt. I am very sure public and party workers will stand by us in the election. We have achieved so much. We have given inclusive and balanced growth and we will step it up after coming to power.

Q: How did you protect your children  the family feud was talked about everywhere?

Dimple: Due to technology it was difficult to keep them away from media reports. But todays children understand situations. They love their grandfather as well as their father. I dont think they were adversely impacted -- they dont watch news. They watch the channels they like.

Q: For the first time you are extensively campaigning in the state. Was it because you thought Akhilesh was lonely?

Dimple: No, there is support from all sides. But, UP is a huge state and there is very little time left. As directed by the party, I am campaigning for woman candidates and I am overwhelmed by the response, especially of the youth and women. I feel welcomed and loved.

Q: Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently said you have allied with a party that tried to kill your father in 1984.

Akhilesh: I dont know why PM spoke about 1984. If he wanted to provoke me into snapping alliance with the Congress then he should have spoken about the Ferozabad election in which the Congress defeated Dimple. This is politics and the Congress was an opposition party.

Q: Is the BJP trying to fan differences within the family or needle your father who was not in favour of an alliance with the Congress?

Akhilesh: It appears the success of the Congress-SP alliance has rattled the BJP leadership. As a strategy, they want to create differences between the partners. Dr Ram Manohar Lohia and many other senior leaders had said when the Congress would be at its weakest, it would be closest to the Samajwadis. The Congress is weak and we have joined hands to defeat communal forces. We are good friends, we both have compromised during seat-sharing. This happens in election and politics.

Q: So, you think the alliance was the right step?

Akhilesh: I think alliance is good for the state and the country. Decisions are driven by circumstances. The time demanded it and I am confident results are going to be positive.

Q: Both you and Rahul seem to click well. How has it been to share dais with him?

Akhilesh: I have met Rahul several times; we were together in the Lok Sabha. He wants to do a lot for the country. Now that we have an alliance, we can share ideas, implement some of those in UP. Two young leaders, with contemporary vision, want to deliver in politics and with the blessings of the elders, results will be positive.

Q: Recently Prime Minister Modi described himself as the adopted son of UP to blunt the UP ke ladke campaign of the alliance.

Akhilesh: The Prime Minister says he was called by Ganga maiya and he is UPs adopted son. We will ask the people when will they adopt us or accept us as their sons and give us an opportunity to serve the state. In a democracy, people give power to you and they punish those who hurt them.

Q: You think demonetisation is a major poll issue?

Akhilesh: People have suffered greatly because of demonetisation and now the government has moved away from the core principles of the note ban as it is unable to answer how much black money has it recovered.

I have always said money is never black or white but transactions are. Instead of demonetisation, the Centre should have educated the people about such transactions.

Q: People were expecting joint rallies by Dimple and Priyanka, and by all of you?

Dimple: No such plan. It is for the two parties to decide.

Akhilesh: We didnt even discuss rallies by the four of us  its all media created. It is parties decision to take. But such a major election will not be fought again -- people will have to wait a long time. In politics I dont think one should wait and miss opportunities.

Q: Young have the energy and enthusiasm but some BJP leaders say they lack experience.

Akhilesh: Senior BJP leaders may be trying to cover up their failures. Practice makes a man perfect. We learnt to drive cycle, we fell down several times but now we are cruising ahead. Now is the time for them to display their experience .Tell me about a state which developed an access-controlled expressway in just 22 months, distributed 18 lakh laptops without a single complaint in procurement or distribution, did direct transfer of Samajwadi pension to 55 lakh people. The river front development will be at par with what you see in US and Dubai. I want to know which chief minister has done the amount (of work) we have done in every sector?

Q: You think the youth will support the young leadership cutting across caste and religious lines?

Dimple: That results will tell. Youngsters are intelligent and they have seen his work. They also know he will stay in Lucknow and work for the state. They also realise the progress UP made in the last five years. I will appeal to the youth to press the cycle button.

Q: You both campaigned for sister-in-law Aparna Yadav but avoided rallies in Jaswantnagar from where your uncle Shivpal Singh is a candidate.

Akhilesh: His symbol is also cycle and I campaigned in a nearby constituency. He will win.

Q: But, you said in Mainpuri that first some people wanted to snatch your cycle and now they want to defeat it. Who were you talking about?

Akhilesh: Some people are trying to sabotage this election, defeat our candidates. The message was for my party workers.

Q: Main challenges?

Akhilesh: We will form the government. I appeal to people to give us a majority if they want the CM to function and deliver. UP is a big state and its development will take time. We have big plans. PM says UP is down and down while we have development to show.

Q: Whats your plan B if you dont get a majority?

Akhilesh: There is never a plan B in politics. I trust public and they have faith in us. After second phase of the polls, we are far ahead of our opponents. The BSP is trying to convince it will not build more statues, the PM is raising thana-level issues while we have implemented the best possible system to improve law and order -- Dial 100.

Q: What after elections?

Dimple: Perhaps a holiday.

Q: You come from an apolitical family? Does politics excite you?

Dimple: No, it is not exciting at all. I am here to support my husband.

Q: Any book or music you read/heard lately?

Akhilesh: No, I did not get time to read a book. But I am listening to Heathens (Twenty One Pilots), which my children greatly enjoy.

Q: Anything on US President Donald Trump?

Akhilesh: I am quite away from the US politics.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not paying heed to the Muslim communitys unemployment issues. Since they have no other work to do, Muslims have so many children, Uttar Pradeshs urban development and parliamentary affairs minister Mohd Azam Khan said on Friday -- courting yet another controversy.

Known for his controversial statements and caustic remarks against opponents, Khan at an election rally in Allahabad said a large number of Muslims were unemployed and it was for this reason that they gave birth to more children.

Had badshah (emperor) Modi paid more heed to giving Muslims employment, the Muslims would have not produced so much, the Samajwadi Party leader said.

Sitting idle, Muslims have no work but to give birth to more children he added.

Reacting sharply to the statement, Bharatiya Janata Party state general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak said Azam Khan should know that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been at the helm for a little over two years.

Azam Khan should ask this question to the Congress, whom they have supported in the past and have formed an alliance with on why Muslims are still unemployed, he said.
Congress president Sonia Gandhis daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will hit the poll trail in Uttar Pradesh for the first time on Friday.

Priyanka, who was instrumental in the party joining hands with the ruling Samajwadi Party, will accompany brother and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to Rae Bareli where he is expected to address two rallies.

Priyanka will be present on the dais as Rahul addresses two public rallies in favour of Congress candidates, a senior Congress leader said over the phone.

The first public meeting is to be held at Government Inter College Ground at Rae Bareli and the second at Baburiya Ground in Maharajganj.

Rae Bareli is the Lok Sabha constituency of Sonia Gandhi and accounts for five assembly seats. It votes on February 23, the fourth of the seven-phases of polling in the state.

Sonia, who has stayed away from campaigning so far, is expected to address a public meeting in Rae Bareli on February 20.

The Gandhi siblings had in the previous elections, too, campaigned jointly in the family pocket borough of Rae Bareli and Amethi.

The last they campaigned together was during the 2014 Lok Sabha election in Amethi, a seat Rahul went on to win. Amethi votes in the fifth phase on February 27 and, like Rae Bareli, has five assembly seats.

Although she (Priyanka) is likely to leave after Fridays campaign with her brother, we will request Priyanka to give more time to the two Lok Sabha constituencies in coming days, a party leader said in Lucknow.

Priyanka, the leader said, could join Rahul again when he visits Amethi next week.

The 45-year-old prefers to remain in the background and whenever she has stepped out, Priyanka has largely confined herself to Amethi and Rae Bareli.

The alliance with the SP after days of hard bargaining was perhaps the first time Priyanka had played a role in negotiating a tie-up.

For SP, it is the first time that it has joined hands with a national party.

The SP is contesting 298 of the 403 seats while the Congress, relegated to the margins of the state politics, will fight from the remaining 105 constituencies.

There is a growing clamour within the Congress for a bigger organisational role for her but Priyanka has not shown any interest in joining active politics.

Despite the alliance, the Congress and SP have both fielded candidates in Rae Barelis Unchahar and Sareni seats and Amethi and Gauriganj segments in what they say is a friendly contest.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, with him accusing the BJP leader of making empty promises and her dubbing him an outsider to Uttar Pradesh.

At an election rally in the party stronghold of Rae Bareli, Rahul invoked two Bollywood movies  The 1995 romantic hit Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (DDLJ) and the 1975 blockbuster Sholay -- to highlight how Modis tenure had devastated the poor, especially through the governments junking of high-value banknotes last November.

Modi promised everything  a clean India, happy women and farmers prosperity. His achhe din promise was like DDLJ. But after 2.5 years, it has become Sholays Gabbar, Rahul said, apparently likening the iconic movie characters looting spree to the governments note recall move.

This was the first time the Gandhis have campaigned for the Congress in this election season and launched the partys fight for assembly segments in their mother Sonia Gandhis Lok Sabha constituency of Rae Bareli.

The Congress is fighting the UP polls in alliance with the ruling Samajwadi Party, and is up against the Bahujan Samaj Party and the BJP, whose campaign has been led by Modi.

The duo targeted the PM  who called himself UPs adopted son on Thursday  with Priyanka saying the state didnt need an outsider.

Both Rahul and Akhilesh are the sons of this soil. Ask the people of Varanasi if Modi had done anything for them she told a large crowd at another rally at Baburiha village of Bachhrawan assembly.

She also hit out at Modi over the hardships faced by women during the so-called demonetisation exercise over the past three months.

Whenever he (Modi) comes, he refers to relationships. I want to say this on behalf of crores of women: There is no need to establish any relations. You are a woman. I am also a woman. You were made to stand in queues. Are these not atrocities on women? Priyanka said.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra greets her supporters at a rally in Rae Bareli on Friday, February 17, 2017. (HT Photo)

Modi should learn from former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. As PM you can do a lot for development. She clapped her hands once to emphasise how the PM ordered the withdrawal of banknotes.

The 45-year-old had refrained from speaking at the first meeting at Rae Bareli  where the party candidate is the daughter of a former Congress member expelled for criminal charges -- but relented on popular demand during the second rally.

Rahuls Bollywood-laced remarks came a day after the PM criticised the SP-Congress alliance.

At an election rally, the PM said the Congress earlier slogan was 27 saal UP behaal that criticised the SPs tenure. But what happened, aa gale lag ja (you embraced) said the PM.

At Rae Bareli, Rahul blamed the PM for widespread hardships of the poor and not keeping his promises but steered clear of mentioning the four seats in his Lok Sabha constituency of Amethi, where the SP is facing the Congress.

The Congress V-P said Modi forged relationships wherever he went but didnt understand that relationships werent about words.

When he reached Varanasi, the PM made a lot many promises: I am a son of Varanasi. Ganga is my mother. A son promised to clean the Ganga, to provide drinking water to every house, ring road and a Bhojpuri film city. But a relationship is not made by words, one has to live a relationship, said Rahul.

Rahul said the media was afraid of Modi and did not highlight his failures. Take a camera to Varanasi and find about the promises the PM made in Varanasi. How many of these promises have been fulfilled? Rahul asked.

Did the Ganga get clean, did he make the ring road or the Bhojpuri film city?

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The Bilhaur constituency on the outskirts of Kanpur is reserved  but for whom was the question Mayawati helicoptered down to answer last week.

Thousands of blue-hatted supporters of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) sat in orderly rows, and blue and white flags fluttered in the breeze, as Mayawati stood on a podium and urged voters to support Kamlesh Diwakar, the BSPs candidate for Bilhaur  one of 85 seats earmarked for candidates from the historically oppressed Scheduled Caste, or Dalit, community in Uttar Pradesh.

Yet much of Mayawatis speech was directed at UPs Muslim minority, whose fear of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government inspired by Hindutva, she hoped, would push them to vote BSP.

Infighting in the Samajwadi Party had divided their core Yadav vote, said Mayawati. So the minority community must give their one-sided vote only to the Bahujan Samaj Party, which has a united Dalit base vote and is best placed to defeat the BJP. She added, Votes for the Samajwadi Party will not only be completely useless but will end up favouring the BJP.

Dalits comprise the BSPs most ardent supporters, suggesting the party should do well in reserved seats such as Bilhaur, but BSP supporters say that such seats are often the hardest to win.

BSP chief Mayawati arrives for a campaign rally in Bilhaur (Aman Sethi/HT photo)

UPs reserved seats show no decisive swing in favour of the BSP, as per Election Commission data from 1996 to 2012. On the contrary, in 2012, the BSP had a higher win rate in the general constituencies. It won 20%, or 65 of 318, of the general seats, but 17%, 15 of 85, of the reserved seats.

The irony is that in reserved seats, the Dalit vote is divided between candidates, so general castes become the king-makers, said Desh Raj Katihar, a BSP supporter from Bilhaur. No one can win UP with the support of just one community.

BSP founder Kanshi Ram perceived a flaw in this system intended to increase Dalit political representation, contrasting it with the provisions under the Communal Award of 1932 which granted separate electorates for all sections of society  including Dalits.

In his book The Age of the Chamchas: An Era of Stooges, Kanshi Ram wrote, When the real leadership of the depressed classes become powerful The High Caste Hindus felt the necessity of setting chamchas against the real leaders of the depressed classes.

In 2007, Mayawati fought off her supposed chamcha opposition by stitching together an unlikely coalition of Dalits and Brahmins to outfox the SPs OBC vote base. But in 2012, a 3% swing in the vote share brought the SP back to power. Now the BJP has sought to make inroads into sections of the Dalit base, which pushed her to speak of the atrocities committed on Dalits by the BJPs upper caste base.

The BJP is oppressing people in the name of love jihad, cow-protection and nationalism, she said. When I saw the Una flogging, I felt as if the blows were falling on my back.

At her rally, Mayawati spoke with the steady assurance of a school mistress, often repeating the same sentence several times to ensure her message got through.

Kali Devi, a young woman pressed up against the barricades erected in front of the stage, said, The BJP broke our backs, the SPs criminals harassed our women. Behenji (Mayawati) will bring order; she will save us from these goons.

In the crowd, far from the stage, Ram Chandra Bharati contemplated his personal political journey from a mosque-demolishing kar sevak to a local BSP organiser. The Babri Masjid fell before my eyes. Now, I believe that the Muslims who stayed back in India deserve our love.

Also present was Bal Krishna Yadav, a farmer who joined the BSP in 2010. Didnt he support the SPs Akhilesh Yadav? I felt we should be represented in all political forces, he said somewhat mysteriously. The BSP doesnt have enough Yadavs, so I thought I should join.

As the rally drew to a close, Mayawati turned her attention to her core Dalit base. She reiterated her commitment to Dr BR Ambedkars mission, spoke of the schemes she would restart once she regained power, and then she looked up from her script and said, Dont be misled. The crowd responded with a roar. They knew what she meant. Bilhaur goes to polls on February 19 in the third phase of the seven-phased UP elections.
Will the Uttar Pradesh poll battle spell the end for the old socialists?

Stalwarts of the 1980s socialist movement such as Rashtriya Janata Dals (RJD) Lalu Prasad and Janata Dal (United) president Nitish Kumar have been rendered irrelevant in the ongoing campaign for the state assemblys 403 seats.

At a recent Samajwadi Party (SP) rally in Muslim-dominated Saharanpur  as also at several other gatherings across the state  party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadavs name was not even uttered once from the podium.

Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, the face of the emerging brand of neo socialism, spurned offers for a pre-poll tie-up with Kumars JD(U) and Ajit Singhs Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). Nor has he invited leaders of regional parties such as HD Deve Gowda of Janata Dal (Secular) or former JD(U) president Sharad Yadav.

Worldwide trends indicate a rise of the right-wing communalists. The decline of the socialist alternative model has been rapid. If at all a neo-socialism brand has to emerge and survive, the ideology will have to stand on the legs of performance and governance issues, political scientist C P Bhambri said.

Caste and identity politics in the Hindi heartland state has remained in a state of churn. Lalu Prasad, a prominent leader of the Yadava community in neighbouring Bihar, has not been considered hot property by the SPs election managers.

Lalu, together with son Tejaswi, have been keen to campaign for the SP-Congress alliance in eastern UP, but an invitation has not yet been sent, sources said.

Kumar, who had worked hard last year to rustle up vote banks of the Kurmis and Koeris, abruptly decided to withdraw from the UP poll battle, abandoning plans to establish national footprints for the JD(U), which now neither supports nor opposes any political formation in the state

Regardless of what the election outcome is, the UP poll battle will spell the political death of the old socialists, observed a veteran UP watcher.
Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that Prime Minister Narendra Modi faced disappointed voters in Uttar Pradesh, Indias biggest state by population, as it headed to polls.

The story was based on travels to western UP and quotes from several Muslims, some Jats and a few others to depict the growing disillusionment with Modi.

During election season, all of us can only pick up fragments of the mood of the electorate. This is particularly true for a large and complex state as UP - with over 200 million people and with staggering regional and social variations. And that is why the voices NYT picked up have their own value.

It is true that in pockets of west UP - particularly the Jat belt - there was palpable anger against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in this election. In fact, Hindustan Times - way back in February 2016 - was among the first to spot this trend and report that Jats may return to Ajit Singhs Rashtriya Lok Dal. It is also true that Muslims remain alienated from the BJP, for a range of reasons. Decisions like demonetisation have also caused hostility in some sections.

Persistent popularity

Yet, in travels across UP over the last six months, what is clear is that irrespective of what people think of the BJP, and irrespective of the final outcome, Modi remains extraordinarily popular across all social groups except Muslims.

Sometimes, the reasons for popularity are obvious and sometimes, they are not.

Assembly elections 2017: Click here for full coverage

Some like him for his oratory, others like him for his decisiveness; some like him for notebandi and taking on the rich, others like him for his perceived integrity; some offer no real explanation but count him as their favourite leader. What seems to be a common pattern is trust - Modi still enjoys faith of a substantial segment of the electorate.

And that is why we are witnessing a curious paradox. If the BJP wins, it will definitely have to do with Modis appeal. But if it loses, it will not necessarily be a reflection of the growing disappointment with Modi or his diminished popularity.

In victory, a Modi hawa

How is that possible? It is easier to understand why a victory needs a Modi element.

The BJPs entire campaign rests on only two elements - Modi and a caste coalition of upper castes, and non-Yadav OBCs. Given the absence of a local face, Modis importance has grown even more sharply. His rallies are proof this is not just another election for him. He is telling UPs voters - trust me, you need to give me Lucknow for me to work for you more effectively, the state government has impeded work.

Those who are voting for the BJP in this election are motivated by different factors. Some may like the local candidate; some may want the exclusion of Muslims from the power structure; some may genuinely be exasperated with law and order under Samajwadi Party; some may want to see people from their own castes and communities represented in government.

But one other major factor would be Modi. When we ask BJP voters how they are willing to trust the party even though they dont know who will be the chief minister, pat comes the reply - Modiji will decide.

In defeat, trust but check

Any election loss can be attributed to a range of factors - and if the BJP loses, all of that will come up. From the absence of local leaders to flawed ticket distribution, from party president Amit Shahs operating style to the absence of an agenda that resonated, the post mortem will cull it out.

But if a win is due to Modi, shouldnt a defeat be squarely placed on his doors too?

And this is where it gets interesting. We have heard many voters tell us they voted for Modi in 2014, and they will vote for Modi in 2019. But this election is different.

That was a bada election; this is a chhota election. Modiji should rule Delhi, and Akhilesh bhaiya should be in Lucknow. He has worked well, a Brahmin waiter in Varanasi said.

Outside a Bareilly dhaba, near the railway station, a Jain college teacher listens into our conversation about elections. And he says, on his own, Modiji is our leader - we voted for him and will vote for him again. But he is also human, we should not create a situation where he becomes a tanashah, a dictator. So this time, we will vote SP.

This is eerily similar to Bihar in both 2014 and 2015. Many during the Lok Sabha elections said they were happy with Nitish Kumars work as CM, but wanted to see Modi as the PM. The BJP swept. This constituency then, during the state assembly elections, returned to the grand alliance led by Kumar.

What is striking is that three years into his term, despite a drastically risky policy move like demonetisation which hit people where it hurts most, Modi continues to enjoy such high levels of trust. Some voters are willing to give him more space, others want to ensure some checks.

We will know who prevails on March 11, but either way, Modi will remain standing tall.

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Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Friday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying people of Uttar Pradesh have made up their mind to send back the outsider and adopted son from Gujarat, and reinstall the UP ki beti as chief minister.

Addressing a public meeting at Mewa Lal Ayodhya Prasad Gupta Memorial College ground at Soraon in Allahabad, Mayawati urged people not to be misled by the BJP and Modis tall promises.

A total of 19 assembly constituencies in Allahabad and Pratapgarh will go to the polls on February 23, in the fourth of the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh assembly election.

Modi is saying that when the BJP comes to power, it will waive loans of farmers in 14 days. I want to ask the PM, why loans havent been waived in BJP-ruled states, particularly in Maharashtra, where farmer suicides are the highest? she asked.

Women supporters of the BSP attend Mayawatis rally in Soraon near Allahabad on Friday. (HT Photo)

Hitting out at the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party government, she said jungle raj has prevailed during the SP rule in the state.

Whatever development works have been carried out were actually initiated by the BSP. The SP just changed the names of BSP schemes. Take the example of the Samajwadi Pension Yojna which was (earlier) Mahamaya Pension Yojna, she claimed.

Mayawati promised cakes, milk and fruits in primary schools instead of poor quality pre-cooked food as part of the mid-day meal scheme. She also promised strict quality control.

Announcing a plan to set up a commission for redressing grievances of traders if voted to power, Mayawati also promised an inquiry in all government recruitments during SP rule.

She also promised land pattas (lease) for the poor and said land grabbers will be sent to jail.

She claimed that the SP governments performance was contrary to the ruling partys slogan of Kaam bolta hai (work speaks). Its actually kaam kam apradh bolta hain (work speaks less, crimes reveal more), she said.

Mayawati said innocent people, who were jailed over issues related to caste and religion, will be released and farmers will get their pending payments.

She said that under her government, youths will be given financial assistance and jobs instead of laptops and smartphones. She also promised to waive farmer loans of up to Rs 1 lakh when in power.

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If theres a national issue at stake in the Uttar Pradesh assembly election, its demonetisation, or notebandi in local parlance. The sentiment of class revenge it aroused at the outset has apparently ebbed, not dissipated. Thats where lies the grey space, the territory unknown to stakeholders across parties.

In that limited sense, it isnt a subject thatll decide the election. It may give the potential winner, or numero uno, the headstart needed in a triangular contest.

Thats why the SP-Congress and the BSP deride notebandi as pain without gain. They say it hit the poor, not the rich.

The BJP, for its part, downplays the downside. When confronted, its leaders present demonetisation as Narendra Modis resolve to fight graft; to afford the poor their share in the countrys wealth. Their defence smacks of diffidence, speak as they do with half-conviction.

But public memory can be short. Even selective. The sense one gets from the ground is that identity gives way to angst where individual suffering is deep, such as loss of jobs, dips in incomes, closure of businesses.

Otherwise, caste allegiances, local alignments and historical biases make for the bigger picture. Those driven by such concerns want punished the tormentors in their vicinity. Not the big players.

A cabbie who drove me around in Lucknow and to Barabanki and Faizabad voted for Modi in the 2014 Tsunami despite his Yadav identity. Hes now for a renewed term for Akhilesh Yadav. Reason: Notebandi, the CMs youthful appeal and the spring cleaning he has done to build an SP minus its unedifying past.

At Ramsnehi Ghat thats the border between Barabanki and Faizabad districts, a scheduled caste boy, Bajram Gautam, sat with a clutch of Yadav youth, venting ire against demonetisation that left a plywood factory without business and him without a job. He and Anup Kaushal, a baniya who unloaded trucks at the factory, found the SP a better option than the BSP or BJP.

On the caste calculus, they shouldve been with the BSP and the BJP. But theirs is a class alliance that perhaps turns on its head the poor versus the rich theme propagated by the saffron party to justify demonetisation.

At Dariyabad, which is part of the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat in Barabanki district, local jeweller Diwakar Baba also moved around campaigning on class basis. He said his clansmen wanted the SPs cycle to race ahead in UP. But will it? Instead of saying it would, he said it should --if Mulayam Singh ceased to play the stranger in Akhileshs new-look party.

That explained Modis charge of Akhilesh having wronged his father.

In fact, narratives changed as one moved from one spot to another. At Safdarganj Chowk thats a few minutes ride from where Modi addressed a big public meeting in Barabanki, Paras Chaudhary, a teacher travelling from his native Basti in east UP agreed that demonetisation did him no good. He wasnt paid salary as the private school he worked with had problems collecting fees from students.

But being a Kurmi, he was undecided. Why? The BSP and BJP have fielded candidates from his caste and the SP has a Yadav in the fray. Hows it that a young educated person couldnt make up his mind? I teach maths so am given to serious calculation. I want to be sure that Im on the winning side.

As we sat chatting at a snack bar, its owner, a baniya, kept his counsel. But when probed, he burst out saying notebandi didnt just impact his roadside enterprise. The village from where he came had young men returning in droves on losing jobs in other states. Hamara gaon bhara pada hai berozgar bachchon sei.

The Pasis among the scheduled castes and the Kurmis I met had shared similar stories. Yet the blow hasnt turned them openly retributive towards the BJP. They seemed to be weighing options. The Kurmis assembled at Modis rally pointed to Beni Prasad Varmas alienation within the SP; the Pasis to their greater fear of the Yadavs.

These personality and caste-oriented fault lines are spread across constituencies, making psephology difficult. Like a Yadav boy who insisted his entire village would vote against the sitting SP MLA in Dariyabad to end the tyranny of his hangers-on. An elderly man from the same caste said he was at the PMs rally as a Hindu.

But the reality is Akhilesh, like Bihars Nitish Kumar in the 2015 polls, doesnt evoke belligerent opposition among competing castes and sceptics. His daunting challenge, together with that of Rahul Gandhi, is to transform incipient fondness to cogent love.

In the absence of a discernible wave, its difficult to say whether thered be clear cut electoral endorsement --beyond the Yadavs and Muslims -- of their slogan of  UP ko ye saath pasand hai.
Pakistani actor Saba Qamar, who will make her Bollywood debut with Irrfan Khan in Hindi Medium, took a dig at Indian cine stars like Salman Khan and Hrithik Roshan on a talk show. Defending it, she says it was all in good fun.

When IANS contacted Saba, she said over phone: It was a fun show... There was nothing in it... Koffee With Karan mein kya kuchh nahi hota (What all does not happen on Koffee With Karan)... I love everyone, and hes (Salman) a big superstar and so humble. Why would I say anything bad about him?

An excerpt from the Pakistani talk show titled Good Morning Zindagi, where Saba was the guest and was seen talking about Bollywood stars, is doing the rounds on social media platforms.

In the two minute-plus long video, the host asks Saba to say no to hypothetical situations involving Hrithik, Emraan Hashmi, Ranbir Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh and Salman -- and state the reason behind it.

When the host asks Saba if Hrithik asked her to marry him, how would she say no, Saba said: Dont want a father of two... He is not my cup of tea.

Next was Bollywoods serial kisser Emraan, whom she rejected because she didnt want mouth cancer.

She rejected Riteish because since she is an A-grade actress in Pakistan, she would want to work only with other A-grade actors, even in India.

The host then showed a photograph of Ranbir, whom she could not reject.

Of course darling, I am ready for you, Saba said looking at the actors photograph. But on insistence by the host, she finally turned him down because he had a chakkar (affair) with Deepika Padukone.

Finally, the photograph of Salman was shown, and Saba turned him down for being chhichhora (indecent), and for not knowing how to dance.

Sabas video has appeared during ongoing tension between India and Pakistan after the Uri army camp attack in September last year.

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If you happen to take a look at Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoors Instagram, you will certainly have some great travel goals to achieve. The 31-year-old actress and her sister Rhea have been holidaying in Austria for a few days now and their instagram posts have been making us go gaga.

Just like one of those Yash Chopra films, the siblings have been shopping up a storm as well as taking in the beautiful sights and scenery including snow covered mountains.

"Contrary to what the cynics say, distance is not for the fearful; it's for the bold. It's for those who are willing to spend a lot of time alone in exchange for a little time with the one they love." Meghan Daum #everydayphenomenal #alwayseveryday A post shared by sonamkapoor (@sonamkapoor) on Feb 16, 2017 at 9:08am PST

If you love life, then life will love you back! #everydayphenomenal #rainbowsandbutterflies A post shared by sonamkapoor (@sonamkapoor) on Feb 16, 2017 at 8:49am PST

After mesmerizing everyone with her performance as Neerja Bhanot in Neerja, Sonam will next be seen in Veere di Wedding, alongside new-mommy Kareena Kapoor Khan and Swara Bhaskar.

Produced by Rhea, the film is directed by Khoobsurat director Shashanka Ghosh and is said to be an Indian adaptation of the Hollywood drama, The sisterhood of the Travelling Pants.

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Director Ali Abbas Zafar chose not to divulge much information about his supposed third collaboration with superstar Salman Khan, which is apparently the remake of South Korean drama film Ode to My Father.

Salman and Ali worked in last years blockbuster Sultan and have teamed up again for the sequel of Ek Tha Tiger, titled Tiger Zinda Hai.

Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif will be seen together in Tiger Zinda Hai.

There were reports that the duo will also work on the Indian adaptation of Ode To My Father. When asked about the same Ali told reporters, Its too early to speak about it. First, I am going to start Tiger Zinda Hai, next month. Thats my next film. I am excited about teaming up with Salman again. It is always great to work with him.

He was speaking at the special screening of Shoojit Sircars upcoming production, Running Shaadi, last night.

Starring Taapsee Pannu and Amit Sadh in lead roles, the film is scheduled for release this Friday.

Ode to My Father, the 2014 drama, was directed by Yoon Je-kyoon and represented Korean history. It is a story about a young boys promise made during the chaos of the Korean War to take care of his family, which ends up spanning 60 years of turbulent modern history.

The films remake rights have been bought by Salmans brother-in-law Atul Agnihotri. The Hindi film will reportedly be set during India-Pakistan partition.

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A special court in Mumbai has allowed the Enforcement Directorate to invoke the India-UK Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) to bring back liquor baron Vijay Mallya to the country to face money laundering probe.

The special court, which is entrusted with hearing cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, had last week approved the Enforcement Directorates request to issue an order against Mallya under the India-UK treaty.

ED officials said the court approved their request on the basis of the agencys investigation and attachment of assets in the criminal case where Mallya and his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) are alleged to have defrauded IDBI Bank to the tune of about Rs 900 crore.

The ED, they said, has now sent the court-issued request to the Union home ministry for further execution of the order in cooperation with its counterparts in the United Kingdom.

The order has come as a fresh blow to the beleaguered businessman as India, through the ministry of external affairs, has recently handed over to the UK an extradition request against Mallya, based on a CBI case in the same offence.

The CBI too is probing this alleged loan default case under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Besides the request under MLAT, the ED has also appended the non-bailable warrant (NBW) issued by the special court last year, in the official dossier sent to the home ministry.

The 1992 India-UK MLAT has a clause where the treaty can be invoked in a criminal probe seeking the transfer of persons, including persons in custody, for the purpose of assisting in investigations or giving evidence and it is understood that the ED considers this step a better legal tool than the regular extradition action to get a person under investigation by Indian probe agencies back to the country.

The ED has been wanting Mallya to join the probe in this case in person and had issued multiple summons to him but could not get success as Mallya, who is in the UK, never deposed before it.

The ED has virtually exhausted all legal options to bring him back to India including the issuance of NBW against him based on which it had made the requests for revocation of his passport and subsequent deportation bid, apart from seeking an Interpol warrant against him which has remained unsuccessful till now.

The central probe agency is also working to soon file its first charge sheet in the case even as it has attached assets worth Rs 9,661 crore in this probe case.

The ED had registered a criminal case in this deal last year under the provisions of the PMLA, based on a CBI FIR.
A starting salary of Rs 1.25 crore per annum to a Delhi student matches the average pay package of American software engineers but is still 40-50% more that what Indian techies working in the US earn.

US-based cab-hailing company Uber Technologies has offered the sum to Sidharth, a computer science student of Delhi Technological University (DTU) and will work as a software engineer in San Francisco.

When converted to dollars, the DTU students annual package comes to $1,52,974.

An average American software-engineer in the US, gets anything between $1,40,000 to $1,70,000 depending on which school has the graduate passed out from, said Sanchit Vir Gogia, CEO and chief analyst of Greyhound Research.

However, Sidharths salary is still 40% more than the average salary of a techie working in the US on an H1B visa, under which companies hire low-cost software engineers and transfer them to the US for their operations. On an average, an Indian techie earns $ 1,00,000 per annum in the US.

The offshore business model has now come under a cloud after US President Donald Trumps vow to give jobs back to US citizens. A new US bill is also likely very soon.

Experts also said Indian software engineers in the past have matched and at times surpassed Sidharths salary.

In 2015-16, two students from IIT Kharagpur were hired by software giant Google for annual packages of Rs two crore each. The two, Araknath Pathak and Abhishek Pant, had topped the computer science and engineering department.

In 2015 too, Google had hired a student from DTU for an annual salary of Rs 1.27 crore.

In 2014, a student from IIT-BHU was picked up by Google for an annual salary of Rs 2.03 crore.

The same year, 20-year-old Jaipur girl, Astha Agarwal of IIT Bombay, bagged an offer of Rs 2 crore from Facebook.

The year 2014 was, in fact, remarkable for international recruitments with Facebook, Oracle and Google making at least 40 offers with packages exceeding Rs 1 crore to Indian students.

The demand for Indian engineers was such that tech behemoths went to smaller campuses of tier 1 engineering institutes.

Google picked up Krunal Kishorbhai Patel from BITS Pilanis Goa campus for Rs 1.4 crore.
The GST Council, which is meeting tomorrow, is likely to finalise the draft model GST law including final drafting of the anti-profiteering clause to ensure benefit of lower taxes gets shared with consumers.

The Council, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising representatives of all states, is also likely to finalise the definition of agriculture and agriculturist as well as constitution of a National Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal to adjudicate disputes.

The Law Ministry has sent the approved language and draft of the model GST Law, which outlines how the new national sales tax will be levied on goods and services.

The law ministry-approved draft and the language have been discussed today by the Councils sub-committee comprising central and state officials. The vetted draft will then be put up before the Council at its 10th meeting scheduled to be held in Udaipur tomorrow.

The government intends to introduce the model GST law in Parliament in the second half of the current Budget Session beginning next month, officials said.

The government is keen to roll out the new regime from July 1 but for that, it will have to get two laws - the Central GST (CGST) Act and Integrated GST (IGST) Act -- approved by Parliament and each of the state legislatives have to pass the State GST (SGST) Act.

The model GST law provides a common draft of CGST Act, SGST Act. Besides, there is an IGST law and Compensation law.

Officials said that the government is keen to pass benefit of lower taxes to consumers and so an anti-profiteering measure has been incorporated in the draft law.

It provides for constituting an authority to examine whether input tax credits availed by any registered taxable person, or the reduction in the price on account of any reduction in the tax rate, have actually resulted in a commensurate reduction in the price of the said goods and/or services supplied by him.

For example, a good or service is to be levied with a GST of 5%. But in course of supply, a 20% tax is paid, whose input credit is taken. So, the final consumer will be levied only 5% tax and not 25%, as the input credit of 20% is already taken, an official explained.

This has to be declared at the time of filing returns by the taxpayer, the official said.

The taxable event under GST is supply of goods and services. The place of supply of goods is the place where the goods are delivered, except in few cases.
Unfazed by criticism of the way demonetisation was handled, RBI governor Urjit Patel has said the central bank has grown a thick skin fast and stressed that the economy will make a sharp V recovery after a short drop.

Patel, who took over the reins of the RBI just two months before the note ban, said remonetisation has been done at a very quick pace and the central bank has managed to bring the situation to normal.

I think that it is important that one grows a thick skin fast in this business and I think we have done that. We have gone about our work, we had undertaken major challenges during these past few months and valid criticism is something that we are open to and we take it in the spirit in which it is given and try to improve ourselves, he told CNBC-TV18 in an interview.

He said everyone agrees that not just the RBI, but the wider banking system has done a Herculean job over the last few months when there were many challenges.

On the impact of demonetisation on the economy, Patel said: Almost everyone agrees that the impact is going to be a sharp V, that we would have a downgrade of growth for a short period of time.

He added: However, the remonetisation has happened at a fast pace and that was part of the plan that subsequent to the withdrawal of the specified bank notes our production plans and supply processes would ensure the remonetisation happened as quickly as possible, which given our capacity in terms of printing currency notes is at a high level.

RBI last week lowered its economic growth forecast for the current fiscal to 6.9 per cent from the previously projected 7.1%, but saw it bouncing back in a big way to 7.4% in 2017-18.

Patel said the benefits of junking 86% of currency in circulation, effected on November 9 last year, will take time to fully play out and needs more work to ensure they are lasting.
Terming Jharkhand as a land of immense potential, Chief Minister Raghubar Das today said the state is rich in natural resources like coal and minerals and striving to become a developed state in the country.

Jharkhand as a young state of India is striving to become one of the developed and prosperous states of India. It is a land of immense potential, Das said while addressing the inaugural session of the first Jharkhand Global Investors Summit at the Khelgaon here.

He said that Jharkhand was one of the richest mineralised regions in the world possessing 40% of mineral resources of the country.

Though we are known for our rich mineral deposits and steel and automobile Industry, I feel our biggest assets are our people. Nearly 60 per cent of our population is between 15 and 59 years of age, he said.

The gross state domestic product growth rate (at a constant price) is 12.1 per cent and the growth rate of per capita income is 11.10 per cent. This demonstrates that Jharkhand is the fast emerging economy in the country, he said.

Stating that Jharkhand ranks number one in terms of coal reserves and number two in iron ore reserves of the country, the chief minister said the state contributed 25 per cent of the overall steel production in the country and in Tasar silk alone the contribution was 62 per cent of the overall production of the country.

We are also leading producer of farming products like tomato and peas. We are the fifth largest recipient of FDI among all other states and we are among the leading states in the ease of doing business in India, he said.
Samsung Group chief Jay Y Lee was arrested early on Friday over his alleged role in a corruption scandal rocking the highest levels of power in South Korea, dealing a fresh blow to the worlds biggest maker of smartphones and memory chips.

The 48-year-old Lee, scion of the countrys richest family, was taken into custody at the Seoul Detention Centre after waiting there overnight for the decision. He was being held in a single cell with a TV and desk, a jail official said.

Lee is a suspect in the influence-peddling scandal that led parliament to impeach President Park Geun-hye in December, a decision that if upheld by the Constitutional Court would make her the countrys first democratically elected leader forced from office.

Shares in flagship Samsung Electronics Co Ltd opened down 1.2 percent, while shares in Samsung C&T Corp, the de facto holding company of Samsung Group, opened down 3.2 percent compared with the wider markets drop of 0.45 percent.

Prosecutors have up to 10 days to indict Lee, Samsungs third-generation leader, although they can seek an extension. After indictment, a court would be required to make a ruling within three months.

No decision had been made on whether Lees arrest would be contested or whether bail would be sought, a spokeswoman for Samsung Group said.

Samsung and Lee have denied wrongdoing in the case.

We will do our best to ensure that the truth is revealed in future court proceedings, the Samsung Group said in a brief statement after Lees arrest.

The same court had rejected a request last month to arrest Lee, but prosecutors on Tuesday brought additional accusations against Lee, seeking his arrest on bribery and other charges.

We acknowledge the cause and necessity of the arrest, a judge said in his ruling, citing the extra charges and evidence.

The judge rejected the prosecutions request to arrest Samsung Electronics president Park Sang-jin. The rulings were announced at about 5:30 a.m. (2030 GMT), more than 10 hours after Lee had left the court.

Sensitive time

While Lees detention is not expected to hamper day-to-day operation of Samsung firms, which are run by professional managers, experts said it could hinder strategic decision-making by South Koreas biggest conglomerate.

Samsung has been in the midst of an ongoing restructuring to clear a succession path for Lee to assume control after his father was incapacitated by a heart attack in 2014.

Decisions that could be complicated by Lees arrest include deliberations over whether to reorganize the group under a holding company structure, as well as its plan to abandon its future strategy office, or control tower, a central decision-making body that came in for criticism during the scandal.

Staff moves have also been in limbo. Samsung, which employs more than 250,000 people, has yet to announce annual personnel promotions and changes, which it typically does in December.

Until a ruling is given, its going to be difficult to decide these important matters, said Park Ju-gun, head of research firm CEO Score.

Lees incarceration comes as Samsung Electronics tries to get past the disastrous roll out last year of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, which were prone to fires. It is under pressure for the upcoming launch of its next flagship phone, the Galaxy S8, to be a success.

This is a painful event for Vice Chairman Lee, said Kim Sang-jo, a shareholder activist and economics professor at Hansung University who was questioned by the special prosecutor as a witness in the probe.

But this will be an important opportunity for Samsung Group to sever ties with the past, he said, referring to links between the government and the countrys conglomerates, also known as chaebol.

Zeroing-in

Lees arrest gives a boost to prosecutors who have zeroed-in on Samsung Group to build their case against President Park and her close friend Choi Soon-sil, who is in detention and faces charges of abuse of power and attempted fraud.

Both Park and Choi have denied wrongdoing.

Prosecutors have focused on Samsungs relationship with Park, 65, accusing the group of paying bribes totaling 43 billion won ($37.74 million) to organizations linked to Choi to secure government backing for the 2015 merger of two Samsung units.

If parliaments impeachment is upheld by the Constitutional Court, an election would be held in two months. In the meantime, Park remains in office but stripped of her powers.

Her would-be successors praised the decision to arrest Lee.

We hope it marks a beginning to end our societys evil practice of cozy ties between government and corporations and move towards a fair country, said Kim Kyoung-soo, a spokesman for Moon Jae-in, a member of the liberal opposition Democratic Party who is leading opinion polls in the presidential race.
Earlier this week, just after United States President Donald Trumps top adviser on national security resigned in controversy, a European intelligence official asked a reporter the question on everyones mind: I was hoping you could tell me whats going on over there [in the US].

The simple answer to that question is that no one knows. Less than a month after the TV personality took over as president, Trump has turned the worlds most powerful office into a freak show. Hardly anyone can make sense of it, yet no one can afford to ignore it. No one knows where the Trump Train will end up, but its direction is already causing panic across European capital cities.

Numerous commentators think the anti-immigration and anti-globalisation wave that elected Trump and drove the UK out of the European Union (EU) will also cause havoc elsewhere. In Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Hungary, etc, there are Trump clones trying to ride the same wave. They hope he will drive Europe further towards their kind of politics.

Read | The Trump White House is becoming a global headache

I strongly suspect the opposite will happen. Trump already faces a lot of opposition, but no one is likely to frustrate him on the world stage as powerfully as the EU. This may sound like an odd claim, especially since the US and Europe have been close allies for over a century, but these are extraordinary times. Sometimes even the oldest of relationships can break down.

The first reason for this split is domestic politics. Germany, France and the Netherlands all have elections this year and in each case, surprisingly, Left-liberal parties are gaining momentum ahead of Right-wing ones. Why? Because Trump and Brexit have energised the Left and given them the perfect enemy.

Europeans have been watching the upheaval that Brexit has already unleashed and dont want the same fate. The Trump clones who want their country to leave the EU are left defending an increasingly unpopular stance.

Read | Donald Trumps outburst at Turnbull set to change calculations in Australia, Asia

Plus, their dislike of Trump is turning them off his policies. A survey in January found a large majority of Europeans think Trump will make the world a more dangerous place (Handelsblatt/YouGov). And he is dragging the Trump clones down with him.

Second, and more important, Trump and European leaders strongly differ on many of the biggest issues they face. Trump thinks global warming is a conspiracy while Europe wants stronger action to stop it; he thinks the Iran nuclear deal was a disaster even though European leaders painstakingly worked on it; he wants to slash regulation for banks while Europe wants to avoid a re-run of the 2008 crash; he thinks global trade hurts American jobs while the EU takes the opposite position.

On the issue of defence too there is growing tension. Trump wants a closer relationship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin while most European leaders do not trust him as much as Trump.

Read | What will US President Donald Trumps Asia policy look like

And then there was the biggest snub of them all: Trump supported Brexit and surrounds himself by people who hate the EU. European leaders, naturally, are alarmed that their supposed ally wants to destroy all they have built over the decades. A senior EU leader recently described Trump as the third threat to the EU, after the ISIS and Putin. A survey in February found only 22% of Germans believe the US is a trustworthy ally  down from 59% when Obama was president.

Indians watching this drama from afar may feel like it has little to do with them, but they would be mistaken. If Trumps politics wins across Europe then it would severely impact global trade and immigration: Two areas where India has reaped huge benefits in recent decades. Already Trumps team is looking to drastically cut the number of immigrant visas (H-1B) granted each year. That would disproportionately hurt Indian graduates. A wider split between Europe and America would also force India to tread more carefully on issues from foreign policy to tackling terrorism.

But this is more than just about visas and trade. India, with its aspirations to be one of the worlds great powers, cannot afford to merely watch from the sidelines. A surge in Trumps kind of politics across the West wouldnt just affect Indians living there, it would destabilise the entire world.

Read | Stunning moments, memorable one-liners: Trump rips media in first solo presser

European leaders rightly fear that Trump could unleash the kind of white-nationalism that plunged them into war in the 1930s. Resisting him, therefore, will become essential for the survival of Europe. Hence, an alliance that has lasted for decades and defined the modern world is disintegrating at lightning speed. There will be a lot of us wondering whats going on in the coming years.

Sunny Hundal is a writer and lecturer on digital journalism based in London

The views expressed are personal

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DEHRADUN:The election campaign in Uttarakhand was focused on two personalities  Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Harish Rawat. But after polls, the buzz is about BJP chief Amit Shah and Congress election strategist Prashant Kishor.

Shah was the main strategist of the saffron partys poll campaign in the hill state while Kishor was the man behind the Congress game plan.

The polling turnout has confused leaders of both the parties. The erratic voting percentage varying between 48% and 81% in different pockets doesnt give a clear idea for drawing a conclusion. Has the voting turnout upset the calculation of top poll strategists?

Kishors team claims that the Congress can win anything between 30 and 34 seats. Their assessment is that the Congress can win six seats in Haridwar and four in US Nagar district. CM Rawat is contesting from a seat each in the two districts that together has a bunch of 20 seats.

BJP president Amit Shah (HT Photo)

They also believe the party will gain in the Kumaon hills and will be able to retain some seats in the Garhwal region. Few in the Congress, however, are not fully convinced.

The ruling party for the first time witnessed a comparatively low profile campaign in the state that was revolved around one man Rawat. The party organisation not involved in the campaign planning. The Congress has used Kishors team in three states  Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand.

The decision to involve Kishor in the campaign was the central leaderships idea, CM Rawat said a day after the polling.

Besides Rawat it is Kishor, who will emerge as giant killer if the Congress retains power in Uttarakhand. The party losing Uttarakhand could result in setback for the poll strategist who apparently sees bigger role for himself in Indian politics  particularly in Northern India.

Prashant Kishor (HT Photo)

Nonetheless, the saffron party sees better chances of coming to power in Uttarakhand than in Uttar Pradesh and Punjabwhere it ruled for 15 years with the Akali Dal. The party also apparently intends to settle scores with the Congress after the latter won the floor test in May last year following two months political drama.

The BJPs campaign was high pitched with the PM to union leaders and stars addressing rallies at different places. Shah, who was keeping a close tab on campaigning, also addressed back to back rallies.

Our campaign was far ahead than others. No other poll strategist can be anywhere near to Amitji, says Ajay Bhatt, state BJP president.

Kishor was the brain behind Narendra Modis poll campaign in the run-up to general elections in 2014. But once the BJP was voted to power, Shah emerged all-powerful, paving way for Kishors exit from team Modi.

After parting ways with the BJP, Kishor managed the campaign for Nitish Kumar in Bihar in 2015 and for the second time after Delhi, Bihar proved blooper for Shah, who had handled the poll campaign in the Hindi heartland.

But this time, BJP leadership is sure of forming a government even if they fall short of the required numbers.

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Dehradun: Two tigers died in Uttarakhands Corbett landscape on different dates this year after a fight between them, forest officials said on Friday.

A 8-year-old tiger was found dead on January 19 in Ramnagar forest division, which is adjoining Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR), after a fight with a 9-year-old big cat.

To track the other tiger, the forest department has installed camera traps.

This tiger was photographed in Terai West Division early this month, but was found dead on February 15. The carcass was recovered a week after its death. According to the post-mortem report, the tiger died of septicemia (blood stream infection).

Both tigers died due to infighting. The first died in January and second one was found on February 15. The distance between locations of the recovery two carcasses was nearly 20 km, Parag Madhukar Dhakate, conservator western circle told Hindustan Times on Friday.

The hill state lost six tigers in 2016. (With input from Abhinav Madhwal)

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They were called terrorists and thrown in prison, where they stayed for 12 long years.

A city court on Thursday finally acquitted Mohammed Rafiq Shah and Mohammed Hussain Fazili of all charges, clearing their way to freedom.

A third accused, Tariq Ahmad Dar, was convicted and handed a 10-year jail term.

The special cell of Delhi Police has a very poor conviction rate  less than 30%  and has often been accused of shoddy investigation in terror cases.

While family members of the two freed men demanded accountability for the 12 lost years, an HT team found that almost no one from the core team that handled the 2005 case was with the special cell anymore.

Deputy commissioner of police, Sanjeev Yadav, who was then an ACP and was later appointed as the investigating officer, was the only officer posted with the anti- terror unit of Delhi Police as of Thursday.

Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who led the investigation, was killed in 2008 during the Batla House encounter. Sharmas colleague, inspector Badrish Dutt, a member of the team that arrested Mohammed Rafiq Shah from Jammu and Kashmir was shot dead by his girlfriend in 2013. The then DCP Ajay Kumar retired last year.

Kumars boss, Karnal Singh, the then joint commissioner who supervised the case, left Delhi police around 6 years ago and has not returned since. Singh was recently appointed as the director of the enforcement directorate. The then police commissioner KK Paul, who retired in 2007, is currently the governor of Uttarakhand.

DCP Sanjeev Yadav brushed aside reports of having framed the men.

Two men, Farooq Ahmed Batloo and Ghulam Ahmed Khan, were arrested for their role in funding the blasts. The men plead guilty and were convicted. Tariq was also been convicted. The main conspirator Abu Ozefa was killed in Srinagar by a joint team of Delhi police, J&K police and the Army. We will read the judgment after the two men who were acquitted and might approach the a higher court, Yadav said.

Manisha Sethi, Jamia Milia Islamias associate professor and member of Jamia Teachers Solidarity Association that published two books about alleged frame-up of youths by the special cell in the case said, Until there is prosecution of policemen and agencies who frame innocents and till courts take a pro-active role in providing compensation, we cant see acquittals after periods of incarceration as justice

The second book of Jamia Teachers Solidarity Associations (JTSA) documents eight special cell cases, in which 16 men were arrested on terror charges, only to be acquitted later.

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One of the Delhi governments ambitious elevated corridors, the construction of which was to begin soon, has been red-flagged by the railway.

The AAP government had, during its celebration of two years in power, announced that work on the two elevated corridors will begin soon.

The same was announced by deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in his 2016-17 budget speech.

Of the two proposed elevated corridors, one was 29 kilometres along Anand Vihar terminal to Peeragarhi (east-west corridor); another one was to run 24 kilometres from Wazirabad to airport (north-south corridor).

However, the Anand Vihar corridor is now caught in a bureaucratic hurdle. Since, a major part of it has to run parallel to the railway line between Anand Vihar and New Delhi railway station, the railway officials have conveyed their reservations in giving land to the government.

The design has been submitted to the Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning and Engineering) Centre (UTTIPEC), but they cannot sanction it till we get railways approval. The railways objection is that if government builds an elevated corridor, they wont be able to construct another railway track in future. We have written to the Railway Board chairperson to resolve the issue, said a PWD official.

Meanwhile, sources said that Railway Board had earlier given an in principle approval for the project, which is aimed to decongest the city. However, the officer who gave the nod got transferred, and the new officer has now raised the objections.

The bureaucratic tangle will claim time, and tender for the project cannot be floated before the end of this year, he said, adding that it means commuters cannot take the elevated corridor before 2020.

The east-west corridor will further run parallel to Rohtak road till Tikri border and a design has been submitted to UTTIPEC. Another elevated road between Signature Bridge and airport is in the pipeline. These corridors will help in decongesting Delhi, PWD minister Satyendar Jain had said on Tuesday.

According to PWD officials, there is a need to create additional infrastructure in order to accommodate increasing number of vehicles. A few elevated roads were inaugurated in two years, but these projects were initiated during the previous government.

Delhi is one of the few big cities in India that does not have a bypass. Construction of the peripheral highways has been ongoing for years and will take at least three more years to complete. The government needs to push the elevated corridor, as this 1,400-sq km city requires an intercity bypass to avoid congestion, said a PWD official.

Union Ministry of Urban Development has also proposed the construction of five critical roads to decongest Delhi and improve connectivity within the city. One of the five roads proposed is the extension of Barapullah phase-III. It will run from East Delhi to airport, connecting the Dwarka Expressway.

Another important project proposed is Urban Extension Roads, which will connect North Delhi with the airport and Gurgaon. Once this road is built, commuters will be able to avoid congested areas of central and south Delhi such as Connaught Place and Rao Tula Ram Marg.

This road will also decongest the ring road, especially the Rao Tula Ram Marg stretch. Someone coming from outer Delhi, who wants to go to Gurgaon or south Delhi, can take this route instead of going through the city. We need to create such elevated corridors in order to avoid congestion, the official added.

What has affected Delhis roads is slow construction of the eastern and western peripheral expressways. They had been aimed at decongestion of city roads and reduction of pollution, as truck wouldnt need to enter Delhi if the projects are completed. The two expressways  each about 135 km long  were planned in 2006 following a Supreme Court order to form a ring road around Delhi for channeling non-Delhi bound traffic to skip the capital.

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The Delhi Engineers Association has come to the defence of the four suspended NDMC engineers and alleged that the buildings in Connaught Place were too old to guarantee structural safety.

Earlier on Monday, the council suspended the four engineers for dereliction of duty resulting in the two roof collapse incidents on February 2 and 11. According to senior officials, they were responsible for monitoring the Connaught Place area.

The association submitted a memorandum to the NDMC chairperson on Friday, asking for a committee to survey the buildings in the area and identify unsafe structures. They have also demanded stay of the suspension orders of the four engineers, who are also member of the association.

Even with latest technology of reinforced concrete (RCC) we cannot guarantee that a structure would stand for longer than 60-70 years. The buildings in Connaught Place are almost 83 years old, and were built using reinforced brick work. Their lifespan is only 40-50 years. So it cannot be the engineers fault if these buildings collapse, said Param Yadav, the general secretary of the association.

He also alleged that the restaurant owner in L Block had continued some unauthorised construction work in the building, despite warnings and notices from the engineers and helped destabilise the structure.

On 27th January, the engineers had issued a notice to the owners, when they saw that a partition wall was demolished and a metal girder was put in its place. With such old buildings, if you take a wall out, it could bring the building down. On February 4, access to the rooftop was sealed, said Yadav.

He also said that the engineers had given another instruction to discontinue any work on February 9, before the rooftop collapsed on 11th.

The NDMC has a provision under which they can declare a building unsafe and can order its reinforcement or demolition... The entire CP is unsafe, as the buildings are very old. Officials need to do something to ensure that this does not happen again, he said.

Earlier, on Tuesday, the NDMC asked all shop owners in Connaught Place to get safety certificates from structural engineers. This will include self declaration by the owners and attestation by the structural engineer that the particular shop space doesnt deviate from the sanctioned building plan and items on rooftop are there with necessary permission.

A senior NDMC official said for the survey of the individual structures or shop spaces, access will be granted to the structural engineers and architects. This will be for limited use and for the purpose of survey. However, no other activity will be permitted, he said.

The NDMC had banned dining on the terrace in Connaught Place due to safety concerns after, on February 2, a part of the roof in C block near the popular Jain Book Depot collapsed.

Rooftop sections of My Bar Headquarters, Warehouse Cafe in D-block, The Vault Cafe in F-block, Kinbuck-2 and Kitchen Bar in C-block, Lord of the Drinks, Open House Cafe, Unplugged Courtyard, Jungle Jamboree, Boombox Cafe, Farzi Cafe, House of Commons, Hotel Palace Heights, Office Canteen Bar, Luggage Room, Cafe OMG, Barbeque Nation, TC Bar & Restaurant, Teddy Boy Restaurant and The Niche Restaurant and Cafe Public Connection were sealed on February 3. Incidentally, the roof of one of these sealed establishments, Unplugged Courtyard, a restaurant in L-Block, caved in on February 11.

The restaurant owners on Wednesday also demanded opening the terraces after structural safety certificate is granted.

We have proposed that once we get a safety certificate and our structures are approved, our rooftops should be desealed. We also asked the council for permission to conduct necessary repairs if any building is found to have any discrepancy, Priyank Sukhija of the Connaught Place Restaurants Association said.

The NDMC has also formed 15 teams to take stock of condition of the buildings in Connaught Place. These teams, consisting of technical officers of different departments, will work under the overall supervision of chief engineers, chief architect, director and medical officer of health. The teams will submit their report within two days.
An International-level discus thrower, who had bagged two medals for the country, was among three persons arrested from New Delhi railway station with more than 25 kilos of Mephedrone drug (popularly known as meow-meow in party circles), police said on Friday.

The estimated worth of the drugs seized from the accused is around Rs 50 crore.

The discus thrower, identified as Harpreet Singh, won a silver medal at the 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games in Australia and a bronze at the 2006 South Asian Games, before a foot injury cut his career short. Harpreets career was marred with doping charges that had once also fetched him a six-month long ban, Sanjeev Yadav, DCP (special cell) said.

The other two arrested men were identified as athlete Amandeep Singh, who was pursuing a diploma in hospitality and tourism in London, and Hanish Sarpal who had enrolled in a management course at a university in London, but later dropped out.

Harpreet and Amandeep were nabbed by a special cell team from New Delhi station on Wednesday evening, after the police were informed that the duo would be smuggling meow-meow drugs from Mumbai to the capital.

Police said 25 kilos of Mephedrone was seized from the possession of the accused. Mephedrone is popular in parties and is used as a substitute for cocaine. Wednesdays recovery was possibly the biggest seizure of the drugs from the national capital, police said.

An officer said the interrogation of the duo led the police to Hanish, who was nabbed from west Delhis Janakpuri with another 650 grams of the same drug.

Police claimed that their probe has revealed the drugs as smuggled from the African subcontinent to Mumbai and from there pushed into various Indian cities and even exported to other countries. The arrested trio was allegedly working as the Delhi-based agents of an international drug syndicate.

Police said the men had been lured into joining the racket with promises of large sums of money after their careers failed.

Harpreet had allegedly entered the drug trade after trying his hand in the real estate business which crashed because of a slump in the market.

Harpreet was the All India Inter University Champion for three years from 2006 to 2008, but failed to make it to the Indian squad for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. A foot injury that he picked up before the Commonwealth squad selection ensured that he didnt make the cut, said the officer.

The other two suspects had allegedly met in the United Kingdom while studying. The duo tried to find work there, but had failed and returned to India and got sucked in the drug trade.
Rebel Aam Aadmi Party legislators Devinder Shehrawat and Pankaj Puskhar could be headed for trouble for addressing political rallies against their party.

Senior AAP leaders said they have received complaints against the two MLAs from people in their respective constituencies. Sources said they are also likely to register a complaint with the Delhi Assembly Speaker, seeking their disqualification on grounds of having voluntarily given up their membership.

While the Bijwasan legislator Shehrawat has been speaking against the party for quite some time and has levelled several allegations against partys national convener Arvind Kejriwal, the two-time legislator reportedly also campaigned against AAP in Punjab and Goa elections, party leaders said.

Read: Report Card: Two years of AAP Government in Delhi

Similarly, Pankaj Pushkar recently addressed the rally of Swaraj India  the party founded by ousted AAP leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan  at Ramlila Maidan where the party announced to contest the upcoming municipal elections.

While Shehrawat was suspended from the party last year after he opened a front against the top leadership, Pushkar continues to be in the party. The party has, however, till now stopped short of expelling the rebel legislators, which also includes former minister Asim Ahmed Khan, from expelling them as that would retain their membership in the House.

Several people from Bijwasan met senior leaders demanding action against the legislator. They argued that they had voted for Shehrawat because he was an AAP candidate, but he has been openly working against the party. The same complaint has also been received against Pushkar, a source said, adding that the delegation could approach the Delhi assembly Speaker, seeking their disqualification.

Read: Two years of AAP govt: Survey shows Delhis Kejriwal govt curbed corruption

Of all the grounds mentioned in the anti-defection law, voluntarily giving up membership of the parent party also invites disqualification as member of the House. Other grounds include violation of the whip, besides joining other party after his election.

Sources said there has been precedent in the past when an elected representative was disqualified even for having perceived to have voluntarily left their party.

Three BSP MPs were disqualified in 2008 by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on similar grounds of addressing rallies in favour of Samajwadi Party. And the evidence which were produced were media reports, a senior official said.

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An 18-year-old teenager, who tried to avert a snatching bid, was allegedly stabbed by a group of 20 youths outside Kashmiri Gate Metro station in north Delhi.

Vishal Yadav, who sustained two stab wounds  one on his stomach and the other on his arm  is critical.

Speaking to HT, Vishals father, Rajesh Kumar said, He was standing at the Metro station to board a train to Daryaganj to go to school when about 20 youths who were passing by came and tried to snatch his phone. He said that they were in school uniform. When they tried to snatch his phone, he pushed them and saved his phone. They got angry and one of them took out a knife and stabbed him.

He fought bravely and held the knife to defend himself. But they stabbed him in the stomach and fled. Vishals friends, who reached the spot, tried to catch the culprits, but the attackers managed to escape, he said.

Vishals friends then made a PCR call and also informed Kumar. The police reached the spot and rushed Vishal to the hospital where he was admitted. He fell unconscious as he lost a lot of blood. Vishals friends told me that the youths who stabbed him were from a school in Nizaumuddin, Kumar said.

The police have registered a case in the matter and have begun the investigation. We have registered a case of attempt to murder in the matter and have begun the investigation. We are recording the statements of Vishals friends who witnessed the incident. We are also scanning the CCTV footage from the area and are trying to identify the culprits, a senior police officer said.
While driving a DTC bus on the outer Mudrika route, Kuldeep Singh was alerted about a man leaving behind a bag that possibly contained a bomb near his drivers seat. Almost instantly, he asked all the passengers - about 70-80 of them - to get out of the vehicle. He drove the bus to a less crowded corner of Govindpuri, jumped out holding the bag with a live bomb and threw it next to a tree. As he turned to run, the bomb went up. When he regained consciousness at the hospital, he had lost sight.

He has no regrets about what he did 12 years ago. I am glad I could save so many lives even if it left me blind, he said. But on Thursday, he could only express his frustration over the verdict pronounced in 2005 serial blasts case.

Two men have been declared innocent after spending 11 years in jail. Either the police picked the wrong men and missed out on the actual culprits, or they failed to gather the necessary evidence, Singh told HT.

He also feels Tariq Ahmad Dar, the alleged mastermind, deserved a death sentence, irrespective of the role he had in the blasts. He (Dar) will walk out of jail now as he has already served the 10 years imprisonment he has been awarded. But the punishment he gave me for no fault of mine will continue forever, he said.

Singhs extraordinary presence of mind and bravery on that fateful day had turned him into an overnight hero. His love for action films never taught him how to dismantle explosives, but it had trained him enough to save lives if he spotted a bomb.

So, when Singh was alerted about a bomb being kept by a passenger under one of the seats of the bus, he knew exactly what to do. I immediately stopped the bus and evacuated all the 70-80 passengers and drove the bus to a relatively isolated spot ahead of Kalkaji depot in Govindpuri, he recounts.

He then checked under the bus seat to find a small side sling bag. He opened it to find an alarm clock inside. It had no dial for seconds, but it was making the ticking sound. I could see three wires of red, green and yellow colour, he says.

I had watched enough films to immediately understand that it was an actual bomb. I immediately closed the bag and ran with it to discard it under a tree located some distance away, Singh says. He had barely turned around to run away when the bomb went off, knocking him unconscious. The next thing Singh remembers is waking up at AIIMS later that night.

His right part of the body was badly damaged and he had lost three fingers of his right hand. He lost sight permanently and cannot hear from his right ear anymore.

When doctors asked him for his address, he provided his neighbours landline phone number. My wife was eight-months pregnant at that time. I requested the doctors to tell my wife that I only had minor injuries to my hand. My wife wouldnt have been able to take stress, he remembers.

Turned into an overnight hero by the media, Singh had a stream of visitors ranging from top politicians and celebrities soon after the blasts. He did not have to pay for his treatment and was given Rs 2 lakh as compensation. The DTC gave him a permanent job and the Delhi government also allegedly promised him a house.

But I was a hero only for a year. After that I have been turned into a zero, rues Singh. The promised house never came. Instead, he was handed over a two-room set in the DTC Colony in Shadipur. For that, there is a monthly rental that is deducted from his salary.

Read: 2005 Delhi serial blasts: What happened that day

Left blinded just days before his sons birth, Singh was never able to see his son, Deepak. His wife, Nigam, now accompanies her husband to work and son to school and then bring them back.

The family had received a second jolt around five years ago when Deepak was diagnosed with Hepatitis B. The expenses incurred on the treatment on the father-son duo left the family in financial ruins.

After deductions, I receive a monthly salary of Rs 20,000 in hand. But there is nothing I can save for my familys future. The only thing I ask from the government is a house for the victims of terror attacks, he says.
Tariq Ahmed Dar was sentenced to ten years imprisonment by a Delhi court on Thursday, which he has already served having been in prison as his trial dragged on for 12 years. Dar, however, was unlikely to be released from prison as a case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was pending against him.

Dars counsel Satish Tamta expressed confidence that Dar would not have to stay in Tihar prison for long as the maximum punishment under the PMLA act is of seven years. Dar has already served more than 11 years behind bars after his arrest in the case.

Tamta will file a bail application for Dars release on Friday. The PMLA case too is related to the 2005 serial bomb blast, in which a complaint was filed in 2008 alleging that Dar received foreign funding for carrying out terrorist activities, Tamta said.

Sources said there was another case under the Arms Act registered against Dar in Jammu and Kashmir. If convicted, Dar will face a maximum of two years of imprisonment in the case.

In the 2005 serial blasts, which claimed 67 lives, police said Tariq Ahmed Dar was a part of conspiracy leading directly to the blasts that took place on October 29, 2005. Police had told the court that Dar had received around Rs 14 lakh as hawala money for carrying out the blasts.

The court convicted Tariq Ahmed Dar for offences punishable under Section 38 (being the member of a terror organisation) and Section 39 (giving support to such outfit) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), but did not find any evidence regarding his role in the blasts.

The serial blasts at three places - Sarojini Nagar, Paharganj and Kalkaji  on October 29, 2005 left 67 dead and injured over 225 persons.

Observing that no conclusive evidence was found against Dar about his alleged role in the blasts, the court acquitted him of the charges of conspiracy to wage a war against the country by carrying out the blasts.

Dar was working as a sales representative of a multinational firm when he was arrested by Delhi Polices special cell from Srinagar on November 10, 2005. A father of two girls, Dar was returning from work when four men in civilian clothes stopped him and whisked him away before formally arresting him.

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A street dog was beaten to death with a stick, allegedly by a security guard at the Delhi Technological University (DTU) in Rohini on Thursday, prompting a protest by animal lovers.

The university officials claimed that the dog had bitten over a dozen people and many others had a narrow escape after they scurried for cover.

The dogs killing was captured on camera by an unidentified person. The video was shared on social media, drawing the attention of the animal lovers in the city.

One such person, who came across the video was Ankita Mehra Mahajan, an entrepreneur and an animal lover who joined the protest against the killing and bring the crime to polices attention.

The university is trying to protect the guard, who killed the dog as well as hide the animals carcass. Even if the dog bit some people, there were different ways to deal with the issue, alleged Mahajan.

The video shows a security guard repeatedly hitting the injured dog. The security guards face could not be captured.

Anoop Lathar, DTUs PRO, said the university has started an inquiry to identify the security guard, but claimed that the dog could already have been lynched by angry people on the campus before the guard stepped in.

The dog was probably infected by rabies and had bitten 12-15 people. The victims include our male and female students, our staffers and their children. Many others narrowly escaped as they climbed roofs of vehicles or jumped into buildings through windows. Women escaped by throwing their purses at the chasing dog, he claimed.

Meanwhile, a case in this connection has been registered at Shahbad Dairy police station. We have registered a case of mischief by killing or maiming cattle and under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. We still need to identify the guard involved in the alleged crime, said a senior police officer.
The restaurants in Delhis Connaught Place, especially those with terrace seating, have always enjoyed a full house on Valentines Day, thanks to their perfect setting for that cosy lunch in the winter sun or a romantic dinner amid twinkling stars. This year, however, restaurateurs have a sad story to share. Business is low ever since the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) shut down rooftop sections of 21 open-air restaurants, after concerns were raised about the safety of buildings. Last week, the roof above the iconic Jain Bookstore in Connaught Place collapsed, leading to the shutdown.

While restaurant owners were already losing out on customers whod otherwise visit for a warm lunch or snacks in the winter sun, they say its a big blow around Valentines Day. This is the best time when customers would like to sit outside and celebrate Valentines Day in the pleasant weather. But because of the ban by NDMC, we cant open our terrace doors. This has lead to the loss of 30-35% in the business this year, says Surjit Singh, owner of a restaurant in CP. Banning rooftops is not a solution. We are a very positive sector and the government should support us. We also pay taxes and contribute to employment, adds Singh.

Restaurateur Akshay Anand agrees. CP is known for its rooftop views and the ban has affected almost all restaurants in the area. V-Day week is the time when we get the maximum crowd but due to the ban, there is an estimate loss of about more than 35%.

As a result, some have come up with special offers and attractions to woo customers, but say all efforts are getting wasted. Priyank Sukhija, owner of several restaurants in CP, says, Nothing is working out well this year, even after special offers, we have failed to pursue customers. NDMC has played spoilsport this V-Day. He adds, CP used to be the nightlife Capital because of its central location and amazing ambience. And, like others, I have also faced a loss of 30%.

CP regulars are now exploring other options in the city. Anubhuti Sharma, a resident of Patel Nagar, says, We have been visiting CP for the last seven years, and on every Valentines Day, as the rooftop views there are amazing. Now, one might as well go to Hauz Khas Village or someplace else for a nice romantic meal outdoors.

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While Valentines Day was all about romance, fun and having a good time for couples, it wasnt as pleasant for the stags, as single men or groups of men are known in the party circles. The males of the species, unless theyre accompanied by at least one woman, arent looked upon favourably by nightclub managers in Delhi  several establishments in other cities also follow this policy.

This Valentines Day in Delhi, singles and small bands of boys had a tough time finding any club that would let them in. Trying to work around this rejection at a popular nightspot in central Delhis Connaught Place, two single men claimed that they were a gay couple. This claim was dismissed as a ruse and the two were asked to leave. And so began a social media battle, triggering a debate on the bigger picture: why do clubs in India bar stag entry?

An angry Facebook post by Apratim De, one of the two men involved in the V-Day incident, read: I told them that my friend and I were a couple (which we are not) and asked why, at all, wouldnt they let us in. I specified that I was gay and so was my friend. De wrote a blog as well, positioning the whole episode as homophobia, a claim that was immediately refuted by the concerned establishments owner, Priyank Sukhija. The latter shot back on social media: I have many gay friends and support the LGBT community The author of this blog has mentioned it in his article that they are not [a gay couple] and they did it for the convenience to enter. Its shameful and disgusting. And now they have the audacity to write that we are homophobes... One should just respect the entry policies of the day and find another place that allows you. Why cant life be so simple and non-complicated?

Speaking to HT City, Sukhija says that the guards refused entry to the stags only because there was a thematic event going on. Our theme was Valentines [Day], we had couple songs playing, and I strictly told my staff that no stags were to be let in, he clarifies. When these guys told the guards that they were gay, the guards thought they were making an excuse just to gain entry and hence they stopped them. Why did it have to become an ego issue and be blown out of proportion? They werent the only stags we stopped from entering and it wasnt personal.

Ten stags will make two girls uncomfortable, whereas two single girls wont make ten guys uncomfortable. Thats how things work here. - Akshay Anand

Restaurateurs say that they have become more cautious after past cases of misbehaviour by single men or groups of men on their properties. It does happen often that a bunch of stags misbehave with single girls, says hospitality industry member Akshay Anand, adding, Even if they dont [do anything], girls get uncomfortable if there are too many stags in the club. Ten stags will make two girls uncomfortable, whereas two single girls wont make ten guys uncomfortable. Thats how things work here.

In the end, it is the managements right to reserve admission. - Akshay Anand

Anand further explains that on special occasions, most restaurants have special offers, due to which they have to keep their entry exclusive. On Valentines Day, people have packages for couples. So we give strict instructions to the staff to only allow couples  whats wrong with that? In the end, it is the managements right to reserve admission.

What is the logic behind not allowing stags inside? How can you guarantee that a committed man wont make single girls uncomfortable? - Viren Aggarwal

Male club-goers, however, do not share this view. Viren Aggarwal, an entrepreneur, laments that he is never allowed inside a club if his girlfriend is not with him. What is the logic behind not allowing stags inside? How can you guarantee that a committed man wont make single girls uncomfortable? he asks.

Amit Yadav, a corporate employee, questions, Why should we have to suffer just because some guys misbehave? What about those of us who belong to decent families and know how to respect girls? Should we not get to party?

The women would still prefer it if stags were kept out. Mahima Sharma (name changed) says, A sudden plan with my friends landed us in trouble a few days ago. At a club in CP, a group of boys started passing comments on our dresses. We got into an argument with them, but they just laughed shamelessly. If clubs didnt allow stags, this probably wouldnt have happened to us.

We were once stopped outside a club in Connaught Place for being stags. When we told them we were gay couples, they let us in without any issues. - Anshul Sharma

The LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) community tells us that theyve had mixed experiences in the matter of gaining entry to clubs and lounges. We were once stopped outside a club in Connaught Place for being stags. When we told them we were gay couples, they let us in without any issues, says Anshul Sharma, a member of the community. Viraj Shokeen, another LGBTQ community member, says that he steers clear of parties that dont let in stags. If stag entry is not allowed, we try to avoid the party and arrange special parties for ourselves, so that we dont have to face humiliation in public, he explains.
A fisherman from a Mumbai slum posed as a model on Facebook to lure a 17-year-old girl. A 49-year-old trader from Defence Colony masqueraded as a wealthy businessman in his mid 20s to bait a teenage girl.

These are just a few complaints that the Delhi Police received from the police forces of the northeastern states over the last few months alleging that minor girls mostly in their teens fled their homes to meet their Facebook friends in Delhi.

Over the last three months, police have rescued 11 girls, all of them aged below 18. The girls were lured by traffickers on Facebook.

These traffickers, mostly middle-aged men, posed as models and befriended teenage girls on Facebook. They chatted with these girls for months to win their confidence and later switched to WhatsApp. Police also found that the traffickers sponsored the girls flight or train tickets so that coming to Delhi or cities via Delhi wasnt a problem.

Two weeks ago, a 17-year-old girl from Nagaland was rescued from the Dimapur airport in Nagaland while boarding a flight to New Delhi. A man, whom police have identified and believe to be a kingpin in a human trafficking chain, had funded her ticket. He had befriended the teenager on Facebook and started a long distance relationship with her. He had told the teenager that a job was awaiting her in Delhi and that he would marry her. The Nagaland police discovered that the man was in touch with at least seven girls from Nagaland.

Last month, a 16-year-old girl from Jorhat in Assam was rescued while on her way to Chandigarh from Delhi. The teenager, a Class 8 student, was conned by a 45-year-old Chandigarh-based shopkeeper on Facebook and made to believe that she was chatting with a 25-year-old BPO executive.

Rishikant, who runs NGO Shakti Vahini and has rescued hundreds of minor girls over the last few years, said, Use social media by traffickers is a dangerous trend. In the last two weeks, we have come across so many cases from Jharkhand and West Bengal. The recent rescue of the girl at Dimapur airport is an eye-opener. The trafficker had also sponsored the ticket. These traffickers dont even have to leave their homes. They are trafficking girls by simply using their computer.

In December, the Delhi Police and Arunachal Pradesh police in a joint operation arrested a fisherman, who worked at a cold storage firm and stayed in Mumbais Dharavi slum, for abducting a teenager from Arunachal Pradesh using Facebook. The man had used the photograph of a model from south Korea to befriend a 17-year-old from Arunachal Pradesh. The teenager was lured to Mumbai and confined to his house for 11 days.

Nodal officer for the northeastern residents in Delhi and joint commissioner of police Robin Hibu said, There has been a rise in cases of minor girls being lured on Facebook. We have rescued 11 girls with the help of police from other states. It is just the tip of the iceberg. I advise everyone to be careful on social media and be friends with only people that they know.

Police sources said that in most cases, minor girls who end up with traffickers are forced into prostitution. A woman, who worked as an escort and whose headless body was found in a sewer in south Delhis Munirka last year, was also tricked on Facebook and brought to Delhi. Investigation revealed that she had become Facebook friends with one of the men who ran the escort agency and was lured to Delhi on pretext of a job offer.

Recently, the Delhi Police started a campaign to educate schoolchildren especially girls about the perils of befriending strangers on social media. The police teams visited over 700 schools advising teenagers not to befriend any unknown persons on Facebook.

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In the end, it would appear that justice has not be done to any of the people involved in the 11-year-long saga following the Delhi bomb blasts that killed 67 people. Two of the accused have been freed after spending more than a decade in jail. On the face of things, it beggars belief that the police investigative team could have got it so wrong and that too in such a high-profile case.

But a closer look at many such incidents, a similar one in Hyderabad for instance, shows that the errors in evidence gathering begin right from the start. The crime scene is almost always compromised due to the police being late to arrive or their inability to cordon it off even when they do. This is the first lapse. Very often we see that all sorts of hasty conclusions are reached and these are publicised with no thought to how this could affect a sensitive case.

Read | 2005 Delhi blasts: Questions raised at special cell after acquittals

The next is in actually zeroing in on the suspects. The easy route is taken and people are picked up on flimsy grounds. The police are yet to adopt sophisticated techniques of extracting information and often resort to using unacceptable methods  with which they are able to get confessions, but these do not stand up to judicial scrutiny.

There can be no excuse that the police are not backed by strong enough laws, which is why they fail in successfully building up a watertight case. In a bid to solve cases early and thereby earn plaudits, there have been instances in which corners are cut. Though not in this category, the sensational Aarushi murder case is one that comes to mind.

Read | Delhi serial blasts: End of 12 agonising years of wait, says family of acquitted

To return to this case, there was, according to lawyers, evidence of wilful negligence or incompetence in arresting people with little proof. This has led not only to an erosion of faith in the criminal justice system, but also has traumatised Muslims who are most often picked up for terror crimes. In effect, these lapses lead to persons, who may well be innocent, losing several years of their lives and the victims of the outrage are left in pain and grief.

Those wrongly accused can, of course, sue the State but the stigma rarely goes away. It affects their chances of education, employment, overseas travel and also reintegrating into society. It also leaves deep psychological scars from which many never recover.

There are established protocols for investigation that must be followed, but these can only be implemented if there are serious police reforms and no political interference. Now we will see a repeat of the usual blame game. But that is an insult to those who lost their lives that fateful day and those against whom the charges could not hold.
At least 360 students were caught cheating across the state on Thursday during the intermediate examination conducted by Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB), which has been under the scanner over several scams in the past few years.

The intermediate or state Class 12 board exam drew nationwide condemnation last year after the toppers scam following interviews of students, who allegedly aced the tests, by television news channels.

The Class 12 arts topper described her subject as prodigal science and thought it was about cooking. Her classmate, a science topper, couldnt explain the connection between H2O and water.

In 2015, parents and relatives of students in Hajipur district were photographed climbing school walls to pass on answers. The embarrassed state government had announced tough measures like fines and jail terms, intended to curb cheating.

The board said in a statement that 59 candidates were barred from the rest of the exam in Nawada district, followed by 35 in Gaya and 19 in Patna on the third day of the exam.

In Nawada district, around 32 girls were caught cheating in centre number 2311 at Seth Sagar Mal Aggarwal Women college in the first sitting of physics exam, the BSEB statement said. It cancelled the test at the centre.

Superintendent and assistant superintendent of the centre have been suspended and removed from exam duty. Along with them 17 invigilators of the Nawada centre have also been suspended and barred from duty.

The board also said that 5 people were arrested for allegedly impersonating as candidates in Jehanabad, Nalanda, Gaya and Darbhanga districts.

The BSEB, which has adopted zero tolerance policy against the use of unfair means in exams, expelled 204 students on Wednesday. On the first day, 267 students were expelled.

BSEB chairperson Anand Kishore has tried to ensure cheating-free exam this year by making surprise visits to several centres and frisking students himself.

The exams are being held at 1,274 centres across Bihar and would end on February 25.


With the exam season here, the students in Gurgaon and across the country are busy preparing for their boards. Across schools, teachers are rushing through the lessons as the students internalise as much as they can before the big day arrives.

While long study hours and focused preparation are key to cracking the board exams, of no lesser importance is the need to stay stress-free and not push oneself too hard during this time. Keen to balance both ends, teachers across Gurgaon schools are focussing on a two-pronged approach  intensive and individualised preparation for the exams and boosting the morale of students by providing counselling, handy tips in time management and test-taking strategies.

Sudha Goyal, director, Scottish High International School, said, We have started an optional test series for the students whereby any of them could come to school, write a test on any subject he wants and have his paper marked by the concerned teacher as well. He can also ask for guidance or help. We have also arranged for regular guidance on stress/exam management wherein the students are told to be optimistic before appearing for exams, believe in themselves, not panic, take adequate rest, have nutritious food and draw up a timetable and follow it religiously.

Sunita Nagpal, principal, DPS Sushant Lok-1, said some of the sessions being arranged by the schools are designed primarily to help the students deal with stress and expectations in the run-up to exams. The activities include wrap-up sessions with subject experts, sharing of model test papers, special classes and individual conferences.

The teachers share model answer scripts on different subjects in order to give the students a sense of what their exam papers should look like and how the questions ought to be attempted. Special classes by teachers  both one-on-one and in small groups  are being held for both weak students and the brighter ones in a bid to lift their performance, Nagpal said.

The wrap-up sessions with subject experts (both in-house as well as from other schools) are aimed at putting the students in tune with the high-stress board exams and giving them tips on how to master the subjects and approach the papers. Information on the marking pattern is also shared during such sessions, she said.

The schools have also stressed on the need for individual conferences with the weak students and their parents in a bid to motivate them for the exam. They reckon such sessions will help reduce stress at home and encourage the students to take the exam without the fear of failure.

The Suncity World School will organise a session where the parents will be invited along with their wards. The children will seek their parents blessings at the session and well also hold a Karmic healing session for the students to help them beat stress and focus on their studies, Rupa Chakravarty, principal, Suncity World School, said, adding that counselling on handling stress and stage fright is being done at different levels.

Besides pre-boards, short tests are being arranged for students to help them prepare for the exam proper. These are tests are preceded by intensive revision sessions to enable gradient learning and preparation, Chakravarty said.

Dr. Anshu Arora, principal of Amity International, Sector 43, said, Students writing board exams need tactful handling because a lot of pressure is brought to bear on them at this time. We held counselling sessions where we invited subject experts and also dwelt at length on the styles and methods of learning. Apart from that, we have been stressing on one-to-one teaching and have even formed WhatsApp groups to make ourselves available round the clock.

Meanwhile, Fortis Healthcare hospital on Friday launched a helpline number  +918376804102  to deal with stress-related queries. Parents or their wards can call in between 9 am and 5 pm for advice and even consult mental health experts and behavioral psychologists.

Also, with a view to providing emotional support during exams, hospital has made its counsellor available for the parents and students.

The counselor will be available seven days a week for guiding students and their parents, Dr. Samir Parikh, director, department of mental health and behavioural sciences, Fortis Healthcare, said.

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Dev Patel, who is nominated in the best supporting actor category for Lion at the 89th Academy Awards, says he gets nervous when he thinks about the big night.

Lion is based on the true story of a five-year-old Indian boy, Saroo Brierley, who gets lost on the streets of Calcutta, thousands of kilometres from home.

He survives many challenges before being adopted by a couple in Australia; 25 years later, he sets out to find his lost family.

Patel, 26, said he is extremely happy with the kind of love his movie has received and that the Garth Davis-directed film is changing the lives of so many people in a positive way, reported People magazine.

Theres not much more preparation to do at this point. Now, its up to the film gods and we are just really enjoying this time. But whenever I think its just a week away, my heart rate rises a little bit, Patel said.

Director Garth Davis (L) and actor Dev Patel pose during press day for the film Lion in Los Angeles, California. (REUTERS)

A woman came up to me after a screening and said she had been on the fence about wanting to adopt, but after watching the film she said it gave her the courage to do so and she now felt it was her calling. The film is changing lives, he added.

The actor will attend the February 26th ceremony along with his mother, Anita Patel.

British actor Dev Patel poses with the award for a Supporting Actor for his work on the film Lion at the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London. (AFP)

As a child you may say to your parents, One day I am going to take you to the Oscars. But for that to actually materialize into a truth is quite amazing, he said.

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Abdul Basit, the Pakistani envoy to India, is expected to be replaced soon as part of a wide-ranging reshuffle to be carried out by the countrys new foreign secretary Tehmina Janjua, sources in Islamabad said on Friday.

Basit was one of four contenders for the top post in the Foreign Office but he was apparently not chosen by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif because his hawkish views did not align with those of the government, the sources said.

Janjuas expertise is largely in multilateral diplomacy  she has had several stints at the UN in Geneva and New York  and her appointment came as a surprise to some in the Foreign Office.

The new foreign secretary is expected to carry out a reshuffle to put in place a team of her choice and choosing a new envoy to India will be part of that process, a source told Hindustan Times.

Janjua also has the backing of Sharif, and some are looking at the replacement of Basit as an indication that the government wants to reset India-Pakistan ties. Under his watch, the ties first ran into rough weather in August 2014, when India called off a meeting of the foreign secretaries after he met separatist Hurriyat leaders just ahead of the talks.

While no formal decision has been made on Basits replacement, Pakistans envoy to Turkey, Sohail Mahmood, has emerged as a frontrunner. The 53-year-old Mahmood, who joined the foreign service in 1985, has not previously served in India.

Mahmood has served in Washington and New York and was the envoy to Thailand shortly before he was posted to Ankara in early 2015.

Among other senior diplomats being tipped for the position in New Delhi are former Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam, Syed Abrar Hussain, currently the envoy to Kabul and Afrasiab Mehdi Hashmi, currently the envoy to New Zealand who earlier served as the deputy high commissioner to India during 2006-09.

Basit was among a handful of diplomats who were superseded by Janjua and the sources quoted his friends in Islamabad as saying that he had initially considered resigning on being passed over. However, the sources said he had had a change of heart and was now thinking of staying on in the foreign service.

The sources added that Basit, who was posted to India in March 2014, could be posted as the new high commissioner to the UK.
The O Panneerselvam camp, in a retaliatory move on Friday, removed AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala and her two relatives from the party for going against its principles and ideals.

In a statement, E Madusudanan, who was earlier removed as Presidium Chairman by Sasikala, said she had violated her promise to the late Jayalalithaa that she will not enter politics and that she had no inclination to be a part of the party or government.

He asked cadres not to have any association with Sasikala. The development came a day after Sasikala loyalist Edappadi K Palaniswami was sworn in as chief minister of Tamil Nadu. Palaniswami will seek a trust vote in the state Assembly on Saturday.

VK Sasikala is being removed from the partys primary membership for going against the party principles and ideals, and having violated her promise to Amma (Jayalalithaa), besides facing criminal cases. She has brought disrepute to the party, he said in a statement.

Madusudanan, who had joined the Pannneerselvam camp last week, had been replaced with KA Sengottaiyan as the Presidium Chairman by Sasikala, a move rejected by the Panneerselvam camp.

He was also removed from the partys primary membership but insisted Sasikala had no authority to do so.

Sasikala, serving a jail term in connection with the Rs 66 crore disproportionate assets case in Bengaluru, had also removed former CM Panneerselvam from the partys primary membership in the wake of his revolt against her.

Madusudanan also announced the expulsion of AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran and S Venkatesh, both relatives of Sasikala, from the party.

He said Jayalalithaa had earlier (in 2011) expelled them from the party for betraying her.

Their re-induction, done without any authority, is being cancelled, he said.

The two were allowed to join AIADMK on Wednesday by Sasikala, after six years of expulsion by her predecessor Jayalalithaa.

Sasikala had announced that they were being allowed to join after they expressed regret for their acts in person and through letter and requested that they be allowed to join the AIADMK again.

In an intra-party power struggle, Panneerselvam had revolted against Sasikala on February 7, alleging he was forced to step down to make way for her elevation as Chief Minister.

She had been elected the AIADMK Legislature Party leader on February 5 to enable her become chief minister. But the governor, Vidyasagar Rao, had apparently chosen to await the outcome of the Supreme Court verdict in the disproportionate assets case.
Voter number 141 of Lucknow Central constituency is likely to again give polling a miss.

The voter is none other than 92-year-old former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who represented Lucknow in the Lok Sabha five times in a row and gradually became synonymous with the City of Nawabs.

The last time Atal Bihari Vajpayee voted was in 2004 Lok Sabha elections, which was also the last election he contested. Thereafter, he could not vote in assembly elections of 2007, 2012 and Lok Sabha elections of 2009 and 2014, his close aide Shiv Kumar told PTI.

Vajpayee has been indisposed for some years now after suffering age-related problems and has not been seen in public.

This time also he would not be able to cast his vote in the ongoing assembly polls, Kumar said.

Polling in Lucknow is scheduled to be held on Sunday.

The polling centre, where the name of the former Prime Minister is enrolled as a bonafide voter, is located in the the office of the Lucknow Municipal Corporation. His voter identity card number is XGF0929877.

Vajpayee was elected to Lok Sabha from Lucknow in 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004.

In the following Lok Sabha elections in 2009 and 2014, the BJP maintained its dominance on the seat as Lalji Tandon and Rajnath Singh were elected MPs respectively.

Lamenting that Vajpayee would not be able to cast his vote in this election, BJP state spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said, Though Atalji would not be able to cast his vote for the party candidate, yet his blessings are always with us. And with this, we would surge ahead in the electoral battlefield, and conquer Uttar Pradesh.

Vajpayee is the first and the only non-Congress leader who completed his full term as Prime Minister.

Born in 1924, he had his baptism in politics during the Quit India movement in 1942. He was also the first External Affairs Minister to deliver a speech in the UN Assembly in Hindi.
Hundreds of tribals staged a protest in front of a police station in Chhattisgarhs Dantewada district on Thursday protesting the death of two tribals, including a woman, who were killed in an alleged fake encounter after being branded as Maoists.

The tribals are protesting for the last 19 days with the bodies of the two villages in Gampur under Kirandul police station in the Bastar region of the state.

On January 28, police allegedly shot Bhima Kudati and Sukmati Hemla in the jungles of Hairauli Paurangal. Police said both were Maoists and that a rifle along with other weapons was recovered from the encounter site.

Villagers have accused the police of sexually assaulting Hemla before killing her and sought an independent inquiry as well as a second autopsy on her body. They also claimed that eyes of the two had been gouged out.

More than 700 tribals of the village protested in front of the police station. The tribals are demanding that the post-mortem is done again because the eyes of the woman are missing. They are also demanding that a case is registered against the guilty personnel, Soni Sori, tribal activist and Aam Aadmi Party leader who led the protest, said.

She said the family members of the dead tribals alleged that the police abducted them on January 27 when they were returning from the weekly Kirandul market and killed them saying they were Maoists.

Sori and five others activists who visited the village, about 30 km from Kirandul market in Dantewada, on February 12, also demanded an independent inquiry into the matter.

It was a fake encounter and a high-level inquiry should be conducted. The villagers are protesting with the bodies but no one (from the government or administration) has visited the village. The bodies are still lying in the village and have not been buried, said Sori.

Dantewada DIG P Sunderraj, however, rubbished the claims of sexual assault and torture.

The allegations are completely baseless as security forces never do such things. I have got the information about the protest and we will inquire into the matter, Sunderraj said.

the special director general of police (anti-Maoist operations), DM Awasthi, told Hindustan Times he has sought a detailed report of the case.

No criminal activity of security forces will be tolerated in Bastar. I have asked DIG, Dantewada, to conduct an inquiry and submit a report immediately, Awasthi said.

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The Environment ministry has ordered an enquiry into the incident of fire that had broken out in the garbage strewn around Bellandur lake in Bengaluru.

We are enquiring into it. The report will come by evening. We will have to see what were the reasons behind the fire, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave said.

Thick smoke had enveloped Bellandur lake after the fire, which also triggered panic among motorists on the busy Sarjapur main road.

Residents hit out at the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials for their lackadaisical attitude in stopping garbage dumping.

Karnataka State Pollution Control Board Chairman Lakshman said notices have been issued to BBMP, Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewage Board and other agencies to stop the dumping.

He also said the board is in the process of inspecting sewage treatment plants in the area.

The lake has been in news for the last one year for spillover of froth and toxic fumes.
The charred body of a 32-year-old woman tele-caller was found near Hi-tec city flyover in Hyderabad, police said on Thursday.

The body was found on Wednesday, police said, adding the victim was later identified as Sunita, a resident of Bansilalpet in Secunderabad.

According to the investigators, her identity could be established owing to a bag recovered from the spot.

An investigation officer attached to Madhapur Police station said that preliminary investigations have revealed that the woman was strangulated to death and then her body was set on fire.

A case of murder was booked, the police officer said, adding that the accused are yet to be identified.

Further investigation into the case is on.
China should put more pressure on India to promote free trade as calls to boycott Chinese goods have hurt the interests of many Chinese firms, official media in China said on Friday.

China may need to adjust its speed and rhythm to avoid overheating its outbound investment to India, state-run Global Times said.

The opinion piece in the daily came as Chinas direct investment to India in 2016 reached $1.06 billion - six times the volume the year before - and India intensified efforts to make the country an attractive investment destination by easing rules and reforming its tax structures.

India is ramping up efforts to boost domestic industries and cut reliance on imports under the Make in India initiative.

The article warned the Chinese government about boycott calls in India for China-made products. There were calls on social media to boycott Chinese products following Beijings opposition to a proposal at the United Nations by India to ban JeM chief Masood Azhar. The calls were triggered after Beijing obstructed Indias membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

Calls for boycotting of Chinese goods in India have hurt the interests of many Chinese companies in the country and such risks deserve serious attention. Additionally, Chinese firms have to contend with the risk that no bilateral investment treaty has been signed between the two countries - an agreement that would protect the interest of Chinese businesses, the piece said.

The article asked the Chinese government to watch out its efforts to boost foreign investment amid concerns that new forms of protectionism are taking root across the world.

Relevant countermeasures should be in place if India adopts forced localisation measures as a means to attract foreign investment, because boosting exports is as important as encouraging outbound investment for China. Beijing should put more pressure on New Delhi to promote free trade while continuing to adopt an open attitude toward overseas investment, it said.

It claimed that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) found Indias solar Domestic Content Requirement policy was inconsistent with its treaty obligations under the global trading regime.

The piece asked Chinese investors to be more patient in acquainting themselves with the local market and regulations on foreign investment.

At the least, more time is needed for some companies to adapt to the local business culture to better handle labour rights issues which are one of the most intractable challenges they face, it said.
AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami was sworn in as the chief minister on Thursday, ending a long suspense in the wake of a bitter power struggle in Tamil Nadus ruling party. AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala, 61, watched on television the oath-taking ceremony of her proxy from the Central on Bengalurus southern outskirts where she has been lodged after her conviction in a disproportionate assets case. But peace might still be distant dream for the AIADMK. Palaniswami has to prove his governments majority in a floor test in a fortnight while his predecessor O Panneerselvam has vowed to continue with his fight.

Sasikala  a long-time confidante of former AIADMK supremo and chief minister J Jayalalithaa  had been anointed as the late leaders successor by the ruling party and was due to be sworn in last week. But she was pulled into a bruising power struggle by Panneerselvam, who alleged he was forced to resign. Since then, he has been backed by several MPs and MLAs who have switched sides but a majority of the party lawmakers is said to be behind Sasikala, who was sent behind the bars by the Supreme Court in the 21-year-old DA case.

Read | Here is how Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami will impact BJP, Delhi

Follow live updates here:

9:15pm: A day before E Palaniswami has to prove majority in a floor test in Tamil Nadu assembly, Panneerselvam says in an appeal: Please vote against the trust vote and safeguard the interests of Amma (Jayalalithaa).: ANI

8.00pm: Conveyed our stand to leadership and were waiting for their direction. But all our 8 MLAs will attend trust vote, says S Thirunavukkarasar, the Tamil Nadu Congress chief.

7.40pm: The election commission issues a notice to Sasikala to explain her appointment as party general secretary. The Commission was acting on a petition filed by Rajya Sabha MP Dr M Maitreyan and 11 other MPs who asserted that Sasikalas appointment as interim general secretary was illegal as there is no such provision in the party constitution.

Election Commission of India issues notice to #Sasikala after MPs supporting OPS submitted petition challenging her GS status @htTweets pic.twitter.com/Q0xYVg03IS  Aditya Iyer (@Theadityaiyer) February 17, 2017

7.00pm: Opposition DMKs working president MK Stalin said his party legislators would vote against the Palaniswami government. The DMK has 89 MLAs.

3.30pm: Minister KA Sengottayan appointed floor leader of Tamil Nadu Assembly, says AIADMK

2.40pm: Team Panneerselvam meet Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal, urge him to have secret ballot for confidence vote.

Read | Panneerselvam camp dismisses general secy Sasikala, Tamil Nadu CM Palaniswami from AIADMK

12.29pm: Panneerselvam loyalist E Madhusudanan, who was AIADMKs presidium chairman before being removed by Sasikala, also removes her relatives TTV Dinakaran and S Venkatesh from their party posts

12.28pm: Panneerselavm camp removes VK Sasikala as party general secretary

10:30am: Tamil Nadu CM Palaniswami tells ANI that he had no plans to visit Bengaluru, contradicting earlier reports. Instead, he will go to the Kuvathur resort where AIADMK MLAs have been camping.

10:15am:

DMK legislative party meet convened for evening to discuss strategy on floor test.  K V Lakshmana (@kvlakshman) February 17, 2017

10:10am: Panneerselvam to bank on perceived anger against the new CM. OPS, believed to a popular CM during his tenure, will go on a state-wide tour soon.

10am: Tamil Nadu chief minister Palaniswami is likely to visit Bengaluru and call on Sasikala in prison.

And heres what happened on Thursday:

* Palaniswami retained almost all the ministers in the Panneerselvam government, barring the ousted chief minister as well as education minister MF Pandiarajan who have rebelled against Sasikala.

* Governor C Vidyasagar Rao administered the oath of office to the chief minister and his 30-member council at a function in which Sasikalas family members took the front row, leaving no room for guesswork as to where the party leaders draw their strength from.

* The governor invited Palaniswami to form the government after he presented a list of 124 AIADMK lawmakers supporting him. The new chief minister will have to take a floor test in the assembly in a fortnight to prove that he enjoys support of the majority of legislators. The AIADMK posted on its Twitter handle that the trust vote will be held on Saturday.

* Until then the MLAs would remain at Golden Bay resort at Kuvathur, 80km from Chennai, where they have been staying since Sasikala corralled them there last Wednesday night to stop them from switching loyalties.

Read | Heres how 10 pro-Panneerselvam MPs may still retain their Parliament seats

(With agency inputs)
The Congress on Friday demanded a Supreme Court-monitored CBI probe into the alleged ISI-BJP links in Madhya Pradesh, claiming that three out of the 11 people arrested in connection with the spying racket are associated with the ruling party.

Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia also called the BJP a party certified by Pakistans spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

The links of these anti-national elements have been found with the BJP. It is the first political party in the world to become an ISI-certified party. This is the true face and character of the BJP, he said.

The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) busted an espionage ring in Bhopal and arrested 11 people allegedly working for the ISI and passing sensitive information of strategic importance across the border.

The ATS also unearthed several clandestine telephone exchanges, thousands of SIM cards and a large number of mobile phones used for establishing contact with ISI officials.

The spy network has passed sensitive and strategic information to the ISI and other agencies in Pakistan. When they were caught, it was revealed that the network has spread nationwide. Telephone exchanges have been established in four big cities, Scindia said.

The inquiry and investigation into the matter should be handed over to the CBI and the Supreme Court should monitor the probe. The BJP has compromised with the national security. There cant be any kind of compromise on the internal security of the country, he said.

Congress activists burning an effigy during a protest in Bhopal against alleged involvement of BJP leaders in espionage. (PTI)

The Congress leader claimed that Dhruv Saxena, who was caught from Bhopal, was a member of BJPs IT cell and also of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha.

He also had strong links with many BJP leaders. There are pictures of him with Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and BJPs national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, he said.

Scindia alleged that Jitendra Singh, who was arrested from Gwalior, also has close links with many BJP leaders.

Balram Singh, who is associated with the Bajrang Dal, is the mastermind of the spy network. The fund flow to the spies was executed through him. He was also involved in transferring foreign currencies to the spies from the ISI accounts, he said.

The Congress leader said the fourth person was Ashish Singh Rathore, who is a member of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), which recently expelled him.

Hitting out at the BJP, Scindia said the ruling party which talks about nationalism, was providing shelter to anti-national elements. A member of the Bajrang Dal, which talks about patriotism, has been found to be the mastermind of the spy network, he said.
For a 21-year-old man, the lure of lucre was so intense that he kidnapped his cousin, a minor, for a ransom of 1 crore in Bihars Gopalganj district, 198km west of Patna, on Wednesday.

Fortunately for the 10-year-old daughter of a prominent Gopalganj businessman, CCTV cameras installed recently at the town police station and the roundabout near it helped the police to recover her. The cops also arrested seven persons , including the main accused within six hours of the incident.

During interrogation, Divyank, the main accused, told the police that his desire to make a fast buck and do something big in life drove him to commit the crime.

Divyank wanted to lead a luxurious life and construct a big shopping mall. He found kidnapping to be the easiest way to realise his dreams, Gopalganj superintendent of police (SP) Raviranjan Kumar said.

The CCTV footage shows a black SUV, which did not have a registration number, moving suspiciously in the area from where the girl had gone missing. It showed the schoolbus dropping Shambhavi Goyal alias Gungun near the Town police station roundabout at around 2.32 pm. A minute later an SUV passed from there and Gungun was found missing in the video clip, the SP said.

When Gungun did not return home in the evening, her father Pradip Goyal called up the school authorities, who told him that the schoolbus had dropped her at the designated bus stop. He informed the police about the kidnapping after receiving a ransom call demanding 1 crore for the safe release of his daughter. Interestingly, Divyank was among the family members who accompanied Goyal to the Town police station, the SP said.

The police immediately swung into action and located the suspect vehicle at 7.56pm in Mangaraha riverine area under Manjha police station area, bordering East and West Champaran districts, the SP said, adding that even a slight delay would have helped the kidnappers flee to Nepal.

The search for the suspect SUV led to the recovery of Gungun, who was lying unconscious in the vehicle. Divyanks girlfriend Divya Kumari and another person, Brajesh Kumar Yadav, travelling in it , were arrested, the SP said.

Spilling the beans, Kumari told the police that her boyfriend had used her to lure the minor, the SP said, adding that Divyank was later arrested on the basis of her statement.

The SP said so far seven persons, including the SUV owner, Tariq Hussain, had been arrested.Two other accused were still at large, he added

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Defence minister Manohar Parrikar said on Friday that military commanders had full freedom to decide on how to conduct their operations against insurgents and terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.

Parrikars remarks come in the backdrop of a debate over army chief Bipin Rawats comments that those who hinder counter-insurgency operations or display flags of Pakistan and the Islamic State in Kashmir will be considered as anti-national, and soldiers will not hesitate to use their weapons.

The comments have evoked sharp reactions from opposition politicians and Kashmiri separatists alike, most of who said such an attitude will only further alienate the military among Kashmiris and help fuel insurgency.

But Parrikar defended his army chief.

Read: General Rawat, hold your fire. All Kashmiri youth are not aides of jihadis

Our aim is to neutralise as many Pakistani terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir (as possible) and demoralise the militant ranks before the snow starts melting in the high mountain passes next month, Parrikar told Hindustan Times.

The defence minister also referred to a shootout between militants and the army in which a major was among four soldiers killed in Handwara on Tuesday. He said an investigation was on to see if any operational intelligence was leaked to the militants.

The February 14 counter-terrorist operation was based on specific source intelligence inputs, he said.

Our suspicion is that this intelligence got leaked to militants in advance. We are checking the facts. In these circumstances, I have given strict instructions of allowing full operational freedom to the commander on the spot. It is his final call.

Kashmir remained on the boil for months after government forces killed militant commander Burhan Wani last July. More than 100 people were killed, most of them in police firing, during months-long street protests against Wanis killing.

Although those protests have tapered, this winter has been one of the most violent in Kashmir with at least two major attacks on army barracks in Uri and Nagrota as well as several fatal shootouts between militants and soldiers. There has also been a spike in militants trying to cross over into India from Pakistan.

Government figures indicate that there are at least 300 foreign terrorists in the Valley, with Lashkar-e-Taiba accounting for over 90% of them.

Cross-border infiltration bids also stood at about 100 last year, official figures show, but top security officials said the number could be three times higher going by a rise in the number of unknown militants killed this year.

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An excavation machine is furiously dredging sand from a stretch of the Ken river bed flowing through Kartal village in Banda, Uttar Pradesh. A short distance away , rows of trucks are lined up to ferry away the sand to towns and cities of the state for use in construction.

This is a routine sight on the stretch of Ken, flowing through Banda district bordering Madhya Pradesh. Despite the National Green Tribunal (NGT) banning unauthorised sand mining in the Bundelkhand region way back in 2013, sand stealing has continued unabated.

We have informed the district administration several times that illegal mining has not stopped. It is damaging the river and putting the region at grave environment at risk. But our plea has fallen on deaf ears, said Brijmohan Yadav, a local who filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the case before NGT in 2013.

Yadav said that the district magistrates of Banda (UP) and Chhattarpur (Madhya Pradesh) have failed to comply with NGTs order despite giving an undertaking that sand mining will not be allowed in the area. Taking note of Yadavs plea, a bench headed by NGT chairperson justice Swatanter Kumar had in January issued notices to the Union environment ministry and the UP government seeking reply in two weeks. The case is coming up before NGT on March 7.

Excavations along the Ken river are a routine sight. (Arun Sharma/HT PHOTO)

It is not that the Banda district administration is oblivious to the large scale sand stealing going on. The then Banda superintendent of police, RP Pandey, had last October written to the district magistrate that heavy excavation equipments are being used to dredge sand, which is changing the natural course of the river. Pandey had further said that the heavy trucks plying in the area has damaged the districts roads and are also evading paying state tax.

Saroj Kumar, Banda district magistrate told HT, The stretch of Ken that passes through Banda is 50 to 60 kilometre long. We are aware that sand stealing is going on but because of resource crunch it is not possible for us to maintain round-the-clock vigil. Our mining department is short staffed. Because of elections the security staff also has their hands fulldespite this as and when we receive complaints action is taken.

The villagers, however, allege that the district administration is fully in the know but has deliberately turned a blind eye. We grow crop near the river, which has been destroyed so many times by trucks ferrying sand from the river. We have complained so many times but no action has been taken. The authorities are hand in glove with the miners, said Vijay Lal, a resident of Kartal.

The illegal mining has also resulted in the river changing its course, causing floods in neighbouring villages (Arun Sharma/HT )

Last September, several villages, which hardly receive any rain, were badly affected by floods. The mining will not only affect the river hydrology but disturb the aquatic life also, said Rahul Choudhary, environmental lawyer who is representing Yadav in NGT.

According to Choudhary, such kind of large-scale illegal mining cant go on without the support from administration. There is lot of political pressure that prevents the district authorities from taking strong action, he added.

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The Jammu and Kashmir government has reiterated its advice to local youth against running towards the site of gun-battle and issued prohibitory restrictions of up to three kilometers around an encounter site in the three districts of Srinagar, Budgam and Shopian.

The advisory came amidst a political war of words on the army chiefs recent statement that such people will be dealt with harshly.

District administrations of Srinagar, Budgam and Shopian advised people not to move towards or assemble near the places where encounters take place between security forces and militants to avoid loss and injuries to precious human lives, the advisory, released on Thursday evening, said.

It added, However the restrictions shall not apply to the movement of ambulances, medical, paramedical staff and Government employees.

The government advisory comes after a year since it first issued such a notice in Pulwama district, following the increasing cases of locals rushing towards the site of a gun-battle to allegedly distract security forces and help the militants in escaping.

Speaking to HT, J&K director general of police, SP Vaid said, We can advise and if someone still wants to jump into the fire, then what can we do?

HT had reported exactly a year ago about this trend and experts had observed in the story that common people openly putting their lives at stake to save militants was an emerging reality in Kashmir.

Read: In Kashmir, army caught between enemy bullets and friendly brickbats

Army chief Bipin Rawat has recently commented that those who hinder counter-insurgency operations or display flags of Pakistan and the Islamic State in Kashmir will be considered as anti-national and would face action.

Asked about why people are continuing with this trend despite knowing the dangers, Vaid said: Vinasha kale viparith buddhi (When ones doom approaches, then ones mind, ones intelligence works perversely), he said.

Reacting to Rawats statement, senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said, The issue of internal security of the country is a serious one and there can be no compromise on it. But as I had said during the last Parliament session, atrocities should not be inflicted on innocents. Action should be taken against those involved in wrong doings but there is need to adopt restraint.

Congress is falling to this temptation of politicising the army chiefs statement... This party can go to any extent for political benefits. It is speaking the voice of separatists for lowly political gains, Union minister Jitendra Singh retorted.
The Supreme Court ordered Uttar Pradesh Police on Friday to register a criminal case against state minister and Samajwadi Party leader Gayatri Prajapati for allegedly gang-raping a woman and also attempting to rape her daughter.

A bench headed by Justice AK Sikri directed police to conduct an inquiry and submit an action taken report to the court in a sealed cover within eight weeks.

The court order came on a petition filed by a woman from Chitrakooot who accused Prajapati of repeatedly raping her.

Prajapati was sacked by chief minister Akhilesh Yadav from his cabinet in 2016 during the family feud with his father Mulayam Singh Yadav and uncle Shivpal Yadav. He was later reinstated.

The petitioners lawyer, Mehmood Pracha, submitted that police did not take any action on the complaint that was sent to the director general of Uttar Pradesh Police.

The UP government lawyer, however, justified the delay on the ground that elections were currently underway, and the alleged incident cannot be ascertained since there was delay in filing the complaint.

Pracha rebutted the arguments, saying that the complaint was filed on November 25 last year, much before elections were announced.

According to him, fundamental and civil rights of an individual cannot get suspended when elections are announced and the reason police gave was not appropriate.

He narrated the incident and said that the crime took place between October 2014 and July 2016. He said the woman lodged a complaint only when the minister tried to molest her minor daughter.

Her complaint to the DGP was sent in October 2016 but no FIR was lodged. She subsequently moved the apex court seeking justice, he said. On the first date of hearing, the top court had asked Delhi Police to provide security to the petitioner.
Textile magnate Sohail Hingora, whose abduction on October 29, 2013 had triggered uproar in Bihar, and his Surat-based industrialist father deposed before a Chapra court on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

During his deposition in the court of additional district judge-1 Ashok Kumar Gupta, Sohail identified six accused, including Chulbul Pandey, Deepak, Ranjit, John and Chauhattar, in whose captivity he had spent several days.

Sohail and his father Hanif Hingora left for Gujarat, their home state, on Friday after a three-day stay at Chapra in Bihars Saran district, to complete legal formalities related to the abduction case.

Sohail was abducted from Dharampur village in Daman and brought to Bihar by road, a distance of over 2000 km, crossing hundreds of police barriers on way. The incident then highlighted the politician-criminal nexus in Bihar.

READ: Nitish orders probe after Rs. 25 crore ransom claim

After Sohails release, Hanif Hingora, who has business interests in Delhi, Gujarat, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, claimed that he paid Rs 25 crore to a Bihar politician at a place 22 km away from the Mahatma Gandhi Setu across Ganga for his sons release. The police, too, admitted to ransom payment, but disputed the amount, saying only Rs 9 crore was paid to secure Sohails release.

I am thankful to the Bihar government and the Saran police administration for making all arrangements for our stay and safety at Chapra for three days. My son deposed before the court on February 15 and I deposed on February 16, Hanif said.

Hanif Hingora (File photo)

After Sohails release, Hanif had written two letters to chief minister Nitish Kumar, seeking his intervention. I hope and believe that you will personally look into the matter. I urge you to issue appropriate directives to investigating authorities to conduct full and effective investigation in a result-oriented manner to ensure that the culprits are arrested at the earliest, he wrote.

Recalling the incident, Hanif told HT that unknown criminals had kidnapped his son, then 20, from Daman on October 29, 2013 and brought him to Nayagaon village in Saran on October 31. He said the kidnappers called him up on November 22 and demanded a huge ransom for the release of his son.

Having no option and having waited for almost a month, I finally paid the ransom money. My son was released near a petrol pump on Chapra-Patna main road on November 28, he added.

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The whos who of the global aerospace industry congregated in Bengaluru on February 14-18 to take part in Asias largest airshow Aero India-2017.

A breathtaking display of thrilling manoeuvres by military aircraft and aerobatic teams left the audience spell-bound at the opening of the 11th edition of Aero India air show.

The Bengaluru skies over the Yelahanka airbase were dazzled with somersaults and stunts by metal birds with the daredevilry of world famous aerobatics teams in full flow.

Billed as Asias premier air show, the biennial edition of International Aerospace and Defence Exhibition - Aero India 2017 was inaugurated by defence minister Manohar Parrikar.

Betting high on the defence market in India, global aerospace giants are hard selling their wares with potential deals worth billions of Dollars on offer.

A total of 549 companies are taking part in the event, of which 270 are Indian and 279 foreign. Mi-17 helicopters, indigenously built HAL products comprising Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) flanked by Cheetal helicopter, Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) and the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), formation comprising Dornier Do 228, Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, HTT-40 (Basic Trainer Aircraft) and Hawk and others have been showcased at the event by India.

United Kingdom's aerobatic team Yakovlves performs during the 2nd day of the 11th biennial edition of Aero India 2017 at Yelahanka Air base in Bengaluru on Wednesday. The five-day event will see firms from Russia, Europe, Israel and the United States  among others  hardselling their latest armament technologies to India in the hope of partnering with indigenous companies for setting up manufacturing bases that would cater to the militarys future requirements. (SHAILENDRA BHOJAK / PTI)

Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy on board a Rafake fighter during the second day of Aero India 2017 show at Yelahanka Air base in Bengaluru on Wednesday. The skill development minister, who holds a commercial pilot licence, flew for around 35 minutes, and said he reached 8G. India and France signed an inter-government agreement for purchase of 36 Rafale fighters off-shelf on September 23 this year. (PTI)

Skycat Wingwalkers from the Scandinavian Airshow aerobatic team on the third day of the 11th biennial edition of Aero India 2017 at Yelahanka Air base in Bengaluru on Thursday. During flight two Skycats posed on the wings of the aircraft in different formations while the pilot made aerobatic manoeuvres such as loops and barrel rolls. (SHAILENDRA BHOJAK / PTI)

The Yakovlevs, a UK-based aerobatic team flying Russian designed Yakovlev aircrafts, fly over an Indian Air Force helicopter on the third day of Aero India 2017 at Yelahanka air base in Bangalore, India, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. India and Russia are nearing a joint venture to make light helicopters in India, reviving a plan announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2015. (AIJAZ RAHI / AP)

Visitors walk around scaled down models of aircraft at the Dassault on the third day of Aero India 2017. The five-day event has from Russia, Europe, Israel and the United States hardselling their latest armament technologies to India. (MANJUNATH KIRAN / AFP)

Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots sit in a flight simulator at an aviation stall in the exhibition area during the Aero India show 2017, a biennial international aerospace and defence exhibition held at Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bangalore on February 16, 2017. (MANJUNATH KIRAN / AFP)

Indian Air Force's (IAF) aerobatic team Sarang performs at the 11th biennial edition of Aero India 2017 at Yelahanka Air base in Bengaluru on Thursday. The air show will bear witness to the Defence Research and Development Organisation delivering the countrys first indigenous airborne early warning and control system (AEW&C) to the IAF in initial operational clearance configuration, bringing it a step closer to induction. (SHAILENDRA BHOJAK / PTI)

Indigenously manufactured Dhruv helicopter performs on the second day of Aero India 2017 at Yelahanka air base in Bangalore, February 15, 2017.The air show comes a fortnight after India allocated Rs 2.74 lakh crore for defence spending through 2017-18, a marginal increase over last years budget of Rs 2.58 lakh crore. The spending includes Rs 86,488 crore for the militarys modernisation. (AIJAZ RAHI / AP)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who calls himself the pradhan sewak (a servant of the people) of the country, knows how to strike a chord.

Pitted against UP ke ladke (the lads of UP), Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi, Modi has claimed himself to be UPs adopted son.

A collection of several identities of the Prime Minister, who is a skilled communicator, during the ongoing elections and those in the past:

UP ka god liya beta

During an election rally in Hardoi on February 16, Modi said he was UPs adopted child. The BJP is worried about the UP ke ladke versus outsider narrative that Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi are building. While Lord Krishna was born in UP and made Gujarat his home, he was born in Gujarat and was adopted by UP, the Prime Minister said.

Garib maa ka beta

At the same rally, Modi again talked about his humble beginnings. The son of a poor mother rose to be the prime minister because of the blessings of Uttar Pradesh, he said, seeking support for the BJP, which has been relegated to the margins of the state politics by regional players.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar during the 350th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Gobind Singh at Gandhi Maidan in Patna . (PTI file photo)

Pichde ka beta

Bihar has a sizable population of other backward classes. Ahead of the 2015 assembly election, the BJP was trying to expand its presence among such groups, often referred to as pichde, or the ones got left behind in Indias growth story.

At a poll rally in Bihar Sharif, Modi called himself son of a backward. People, he said, were worried how a person from an extremely backward social group became the prime minister. Despite his numerous rallies, the BJP was wiped out in Bihar.

The chaiwala

Speaking at an election meeting in Tinsukia district of the tea state of Assam, Modi talked about his childhood when he used to sell tea at his fathers stall in Gujarat.

When I was a tea seller, I used to serve Assam tea to refresh people, he said at a rally in March. Next month, the BJP came to power in the Northeastern state for the first time.

In Uttarakhand, which voted for a new assembly on February 15, Modi promised voters that the tea-seller would continue to fight against the mighty people who looted their money for 70 years. The hill state has more than 620,000 families living below the poverty line.

The chaiwala was a Congress barb at Modi who turned it to his advantage in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Would-have-been sainik

He too wanted to serve the country and be a soldier, Modi said in Haryanas Rewari in September 2013. He was addressing his first meeting after being named the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. His audience were ex-servicemen. He wanted to serve the country by joining the army and even tried for an admission in Jamnagar-based Sainik School when he was in Class 4, Modi said.

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The ban on high-value banknotes was a panic decision by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that also showed that the government was ready to bulldoze its policies through even at the cost of undermining institutions such as the central bank, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has said.

Gandhi also said the demonetisation decision will cost the BJP dearly in the five-state assembly elections.

Its a devastating step for anybody who is part of the legitimate cash economy, Gandhi told The Hindu.

The Congress has been very critical of the BJP-led governments move to pull to Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes and says that it has heaped misery on the people, especially in the rural areas.

Gandhi alleged that the government just decides things and asks the RBI to sign off.

If you dont want to sign off on these decisions, leave, we will put someone else in your place who wont have that problem, the Congress leader said amid growing allegations that former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan was opposed to the demonetisation exercise.

Read | Rs 2,000 notes printed when Rajan was RBI governor but bear Patels signature

The right-thinking people in the RBI said that. I believe the last governor refused to go ahead with it. There is no space in the Modi government for the ones who disagree, Gandhi added.

On the Congress pre-poll alliance with the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, Gandhi said it was aimed at creating a younger alternative for UP and provide a vision to the state.

The way we have designed it, they (the SP) are suggesting a few things, we are suggesting a few things and we have a broad framework within which we are going to operate. On the personal side, its great, there is no problem at all. There is a lot of common ground. Akhilesh (Yadav) has good intentions and he has an open mind, Gandhi said.

Assembly polls in the state are being held in seven phases and voting will end on March 8.

Read | UP elections: Why a hung assembly cant be ruled out in this battleground state

On a question on the importance of assembly polls for national politics, Gandhi said they will provide the peoples answer to the way the country is being run by the BJP-led government.

I think the BJP is trying to impose a particular ideology on the country. They are trying to do it by capturing national institutions and filling these with people who believe in their ideology. Their policies are resulting in quite a lot of discontent. That is what is building the opposition to the BJP. Generally, poorer people, those belonging to weaker sections, are feeling the pain and they are building up the resistance to the BJP, he added.

He also denied suggestions that the Opposition has failed to counter the Modi government.

There is no failure on the part of the Opposition. We are going to win the next election. What I am pointing to is Modis inability to carry anybody with him. To his way of decision-making, his unilateral way of operating, not even taking senior members of his Cabinet along  they dont feel part of a team. One man cant run this country.
With most of his partys legislators wanting him out, it is just a matter of time before Nagaland chief minister T R Zeliang bows down to the demands of tribal bodies and step down from his post.

The 64-year-old rushed to New Delhi on Thursday in a last minute attempt to save his chair. He has also requested Nagaland Tribes Action Committee (NTAC) for 2-3 more days for a smooth transition of office.

Zeliang is expected to return to Nagaland on Friday and submit his resignation to Governor PB Acharya, who is also in New Delhi to discuss the political developments in the state.

Read: Nagaland womens quota row fallout: MLAs want chief minister Zeliang out

In view of the present situation, we had a meeting of Nagaland Peoples Front (NPF) legislators at Kohima on Thursday. A final decision would be taken after the CMs return from Delhi, parliamentary affairs minister K Peseyie said.

Forty two of the 48 NPF MLAs had decided on Thursday evening to support party president Shurozelie Liezietsu as the next chief minister. But the 81-year-old is yet to give his assent.

The decision by NPF MLAs was an attempt to diffuse the present crisis in the state as a result of demand by tribal organisations for Zeliangs ouster and the refusal by the latter to step down.

NPF heads the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland government in the state of which BJP with 4 legislators is also a part. Eight Independent MLAs in the 60-member assembly also support the present coalition.

In view of Thursdays development, NTAC, which had enforced a total shutdown across the state since Monday, has decided to postpone its protest rally in Kohima on Friday.

Read: Tribal bodies force total shutdown

We are waiting for Zeliang to come back from Delhi and see what he does. In the meantime, the protest rally has been postponed. The general strike would continue, NTAC convenor KT Vilie said.

On Thursday, Zeliang had requested NTAC, the organisation spearheading the demand for his resignation, to give him 2-3 more days to ensure smooth transition and in the larger interest of the state.

Tribal organisations, opposed to 33% reservation for women in municipal bodies, had given an ultimatum to Zeliang to step down by Friday.

They blame him for trying to hold municipal polls with womens reservation and for the subsequent violence that erupted in Dimapur and Kohima due to opposition by tribal organisations.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modis pet NITI Aayog was caught on the wrong foot when a parliamentary panel refused to review its budget for 2017-18.

The standing committee on finance pointed out that NITI Aayog, headed by Amitabh Kant, has not submitted its detailed demand for grants and annual report to Parliament. It also underlined that the ministry of planning didnt submit their detailed demand for grants.

The National Institutional for Transforming India (Niti) Aayog replaced the Jawaharlal Nehru-era Planning Commission in 2015.

When we have no idea on how the NITI Aayog and ministry of planning spent their money last year, how can we discuss their next years budget? an Opposition leader said.

Sources said BJP parliament Nishikant Dubey also raised objections even as Kant said that these documents can be submitted later.

The panel wants to see how much the Niti Aayog has spent on remuneration of its staff, on organising and attending seminars and most importantly, paying different think tanks, the sources said.

The Opposition raised the queries after allegations that the body has fallen back on pro-BJP and pro-RSS think tanks for feedbacks.

In the meeting, Kant even proposed that he can send the documents to the panel for review. But BJDs Bhartruhari Mahtab and panel chairman, Congress MP Veerappa Moilly, rejected the proposal and maintained that the ministrys balance sheet should be placed before the House.

The documents which come to the panel are sent by the Lok Sabha Speaker. Any deviation may demean the Parliamentary norms and process, Mahtab told Kant.

Kant was asked by members to submit these documents to Parliament during the second half of the budget session.

Government sources said the detailed demand for grants is a document that is presented by respective ministries on the expenditure made by them.

A demand for grants and a document on outcome budget was presented along with the Union budget earlier this month, said an official in the finance ministry who did not wish to be named.

He added that it is the duty of the ministry of planning to present the detailed demand for grants and the annual report. Keeping parliamentary etiquette in mind, these documents should be presented at the earliest after the Union budget is presented.
There is no concept of a national song, the Supreme Court said on Friday, declining to entertain a plea to direct the Centre to frame a national policy to promote Vande Mataram.

A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said Article 51A (fundamental duties) of the Constitution requires to promote and propogate the National Anthem and the National Flag.

The Article does not refer to National Song. It only refers to National Flag and National Anthem. Therefore, we do not intend to enter into any debate as far as the National Song is concerned, said the bench, rejecting the prayer of petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay, a BJP spokesperson.

Upadhyay had said India is a Union of States and not an association or confederation of states.

His plea to make reciting the National Anthem compulsory in offices, courts and legislative houses and Parliament was also declined.

But the bench agreed to hear the petitioners prayer to make it mandatory for schools to play or sing the National Anthem on working days.

The Narendra Modi government has already asked the SC to revisit its 1986 judgement which ruled that singing of the National Anthem was not mandatory.

It had exempted three children, who belonged to the Jehovahs Witness sect, from singing the anthem at their school. Forcing the children to sing the anthem violated their fundamental right to religion, the court had said.

Patriotism must be inculcated in kids. It cannot be done in adults. So, singing the National Anthem in schools as a part of the curriculum, must be made compulsory, the governments top law officer, attorney general Mukul Rohatgi, told the court, which fixed April 18 to hear his argument at length.

The court was hearing a petition filed by a film society, which challenged its November 30 order asking all cinemas to play Jana Gana Mana and the audience to stand up to show respect to the 52-second anthem.

Nationalism had to be instilled and it should start from childhood, Rohatgi said, opposing the recall plea.

Compulsion to stand and sing (the National Anthem) as a part of the school curriculum is required to be debated, he said.
Two warring camps in Tamil Nadus ruling AIADMK party are braced for a trust vote in the state assembly on Saturday, as experts indicated chief minister E Palaniswamis wafer-thin majority could upset calculations and give another twist to the ongoing political drama in the state.

The day began with a jolt for Palaniswami  a loyalist of AIADMK chief VK Sasikala who took oath as chief minister only a day ago  with former state police chief and MLA R Nataraj switching sides to former chief minister O Panneerselvams camp.

I took this decision listening to the views of my voters, said the Mylapore legislator, who was not among the 120-odd MLAs lodged in the high-security luxury resort outside Chennai.

The revolt appeared to upset Palaniswamis calculations as he cancelled a visit to Sasikala  serving a four-year-jail term in Bengalurus Parappana Agrahara prison  and rushed to the resort to pacify MLAs. Several legislators are restive after not making it to the 30-member council of ministers, sources said.

A senior member of Sasikalas camp said there would be no more defections but Panneerselvam  who has 11 lawmakers on his side  appeared confident.

More MLAs will switch sides and you will see the government falling, said Panneerselvam loyalist and former state education minister M Foi Pandiarajan. His camp was boosted by an internal report that some MLAs are ready to cross over.

Late in the evening, Panneerselvam made a last-ditch attempt to woo AIADMK lawmakers. Please vote against the trust vote and uphold Ammas interests, he told reporters.

Panneerselvam has been buoyed by the opposition DMK grouping  DMK, Congress and Indian Union Muslim League  deciding to vote against the government. The Opposition has 98 MLAs.

Supporters of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (AIADMK) party celebrate in front of the residence of O Panneerselvam in Tamil Nadu in Chennai on February 14, 2017. (AFP Photo)

On Saturday, the assemblys effective strength will come down from 234 to 231 -- The late chief minister J Jayalalithaas seat is vacant, ailing DMK chief M Karunanidhi wont be present and speaker P Dhanapal cannot vote unless a tie occurs. So, the new majority mark is 116.

Palaniswami had submitted a list of 124 MLAs to the governor on Thursday but now has 123 lawmakers  just seven more than majority. Panneerselvam, therefore, needs just eight legislators to switch sides.

Sasikala a long-time confidante of Jayalalithaa  was anointed as the late CMs successor by the states ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in December and was due to be sworn in last week.

But she was pulled into a bitter struggle last week by Panneerselvam, who alleged he was forced to resign. Since then, he has been backed by several party MPs and MLAs but a majority of the party is said to be behind Sasikala and Palaniswami.

On Friday, DMK working president MK Stalin and former Congress state chief EVKS Elangovan both confirmed that they would vote against the government.

Governor C Vidyasagar Rao had given Palaniswami 15 days to prove his majority but the CM chose to take the floor test immediately  apparently over concerns that the lawmakers confined in the resort for nine days were getting anxious.

But now, analysts warn there is a real possibility of Palaniswami losing the vote and going down in history as the CM with the shortest tenure in the state  just three days.

Handlooms minister O Manian, however, displayed no nerves when he told television reporters that Of course we will win. Where is the question of otherwise?

The bitterness between the camps was apparent in a string of tit-for-tat sackings throughout the day. Panneerselvam loyalist E Madhusudanan expelled Sasikala, her nephews TTV Dinakaran and S Venktatesh and all the ministers of the new government, claiming that their camp was the real AIADMK.

Late in the evening, the election commission sent a notice to Sasikala on a petition by Panneerselvams camp challenging her elevation as interim party chief last month. Panneerselvam also met the assembly speaker P Dhanpal and urged him to conduct a secret ballot that will enable MLAs to vote according to their conscience but was turned down.

The Sasikala faction also appointed senior minister KA Sengottiyan as the floor leader for the party.

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A Pakistani Sufi clerics plea to extend his and his wifes visa was on Friday declined by the Supreme Court, which told him that it was not for courts to grant or reject visas.

A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra refused to get drawn into Syed Waseem Ur Rehmans submission that Sufism faced serious threats from Islamist terrorists in Pakistan where around 100 people died in a suicide bomb blast on Thursday.

Rehman and his wife Sayeda Saima Waseem Ur Rehman had moved the SC against the governments decision to let him stay in India. The couple has been living in Mumbai since 2010 and working as sajjadanashin (caretaker) of a Sufi shrine in Mumbai.

Their counsel, senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, said there were no adverse reports against her clients during their seven-year stay in India.

She urged the court to show a humane approach towards the couple, an argument the court was not inclined to accept. The bench said it was for the government to take such decisions.

Aroras request to direct the authorities to consider the petitioners visa applications compassionately and extend their visas for 10 days was also declined.

The couple approached the top court after the Bombay High Court gave no relief.

Solicitor general Ranjit Kumar opposed their petition on behalf of the Centre before the SC. He said the petitioners had given an undertaking before the Bombay high court to leave the country, but instead they moved the top court.

The HC on February 3 had dismissed their plea against the November 11, 2016 order of the foreigner regional registration officer in Mumbai that refused to extend their visas without assigning any reasons.

The couple was living in India since October 18, 2010 on a valid X-type visa that was extended by the authorities from time to time. This category of visa is prescribed for persons of Indian origin and subject to conditions that he/she should not engage in any business or employment nor his/her name should figure in any ration card or electoral roll, the petitioners told the SC.

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The police on Friday claimed to have busted an alleged sex racket in Jaipur with the arrest of a Gujarat-based doctor and four girls suspected to be involved in it.

The police on Thursday night raided an apartment in Vaishali Nagar to bust the alleged racket and arrested the accused. All the accused have been booked under sections of Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA).

The doctor is a resident of Amreli district in Gujarat and had come to attend a medical conference in Jaipur.

Following a tip-off, the police sent a dummy candidate and arrested the doctor -- found in a compromising situation with the girls -- and the call girls from the apartment, the police said.

The four girls are from Jammu and Kashmir, Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh and Jaipur.
BHAGALPUR Armed criminals on Friday looted Rs 39 lakh from a branch of the State Bank of India (SBI) in Banka district, about 260 km south-east of Patna.

Banka superintendent of police (SP) Rajeev Ranjan said six criminals reached the Chaandan branch of the SBI, 40 km from the district headquarters Bhagalpur, and looted the cash kept in the currency chest after holding employees and customers hostage at gunpoint.

The criminals escaped on their motorcycle when people, who had assembled outside the branch, began raising alarm, Ranjan said.

The incident took place soon after the branch opened in the morning, he said.

Chandaan is close to Deoghar town of Jharkhand and the modus operandi of the criminals was similar to those who had robbed banks at Giridih and Hazaribag in the neighbouring state, he added.

He said the branch had received remittance of Rs 40 lakh on Thursday and the money was brought to Chaandan from Banka in a private vehicle. The role of armed guard deputed at the branch was also under scanner as he did not act against the bank robbers, he added.

The district is infested by Maoists. The SP, however, neither confirmed nor denied the role of Left wing extremists in the incident.

Confirming the loot of Rs 39 lakh from the branch, Bhagalpur zone inspector general of police Sushil M Khopde said a special investigating team had been constituted to nab the criminals involved in the incident.

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An AIADMK MLA from Chennai on Friday said he will vote against the Edappadi K Palaniswami government in the motion of confidence that will be taken up in the assembly on Saturday. DMK working president MK Stalin also announced that party MLAs would vote against the Palaniswami government, while the Tamil Nadu Congress said they would take a decision based on the advice of the high command.

AIADMK MLA representing Mylapore constituency R Nataraj on Friday said he will vote against the Palaniswami government in the motion of confidence.

With this development, 11 MLAs, including former chief minister O Panneerselvam himself, are expected to vote against the motion.

I am constrained to vote against the motion of confidence to be moved by the Edappadi K Palaniswami government, Nataraj said.

I have interacted with people in my constituency and their considered and overwhelming opinion is that the government of O Panneerselvam should continue and I have to reflect this opinion of the people in the assembly, he said.

Nataraj, who was the former Tamil Nadu director general of police, said he does not consider this as a confidence vote, but a conscience vote. Nataraj had also served as chairman of the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission.

On his view on recent developments in ruling AIADMK, he said, This is an unfortunate development. I do not belong to any camp. I have been working for unity in the party.

In the best interest of the party, Nataraj said he has been working towards ensuring that there was no division in AIADMK and this is what Amma would have expected us to do.

He said he would continue to strive for bringing unity in the party and added that still there is scope for it.

Chief minister 'Edappadi' K Palaniswami with governor CH Vidyasagar Rao and his cabinet colleagues pose for a group photograph after the swearing-in ceremony. (HT Photo)

Meanwhile, DMK working president MK Stalin said, To express our opposition to the AIADMK government, we will vote against the Palaniswami government in the motion of confidence that will be taken up tomorrow (Saturday).

He blamed the ruling AIADMK for its failure on several fronts, including the deteriorating law and order situation.

TN Congress Committee president Su Thirunavukkarasar, however, said the party would decide its stand on voting based on the advice of the Congress high command.

He said he expected feedback from the top leadership soon, before legislators assemble at the party state headquarters Satyamurthi Bhavan on Saturday morning.

He denied reports in a section of the media that eight Congress MLAs would vote against the government.

He said party chief Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi would be apprised of the views of the state leadership.

In a related incident in Madurai, more than 100 supporters of O Panneerselvam were arrested on Friday for trying to take out rallies to urge AIADMK MLAs to take a fair decision during the confidence vote.

Police said that as part of precautionary measures, rallies have been banned.

The supporters of Panneerselvam claimed that police were acting in an undemocratic manner.

We are only undertaking a democratic rally. Police have no right to prevent or instigate any person against such rallies, they said while shouting slogans against police.

While the DMK has a strength of 89, the Congress has eight, IUML one, and one seat is vacant. The House has a strength of 234 members, including the speaker.

AIADMK has 134 legislators, including the O Panneerselvam camp followers.
Youths waving Pakistani flags on Friday clashed with security forces and pelted stones after Friday prayers at several places in old Srinagar city.

Young boys with their faces covered were carrying green and white Pakistani flags as several dozen youths raised slogans after Friday prayers ended at Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta area of the city, a police official said.

He said the youths also hurled stones at security personnel who used tear smoke shells and batons to chase away the miscreants.

The clashes were going on till last reports came in but there were no reports of any casualties so far, the official said.

Stone-pelting incidents were also reported from several other places in north Kashmir and south Kashmir, he added.
Inmates at Poojappura Central Prison, one of the oldest prisons in Kerala, will soon don the garb of beauticians.

The venture is part of the state prison departments various rehabilitation programmes for prisoners.

The prison known for a number of unique and successful initiatives ranging from food business to garment making, will soon open a beauty saloon, where people can avail quality beauty services at lower rate, jail superintendent S Santhosh said.

An unused old quarters building, located near the jail, would be given a facelift and turned into an air-conditioned and well-furnished parlour, exclusively for men, he said.

It would be the second such beauty parlour manned by prison inmates in the state, after the Phoenix Freedom Xpressions, the saloon opened at the Cenral Prison in northern district Kannur recently, he said.

Read| In Kerala, you can get your hair cut at a prison salon

We are planning to open the saloon by April-May. Training for inmates in this regard will begin soon. The instructors from two polytechnics in the city will impart training in the beautification course, Santhosh told PTI.

In the initial phase, at least 20-25 inmates will be given training and employed at the saloon on shifts. We have given priority to those who have some knowledge in basic beautification skills like hair cutting, shaving, beard grooming and so on, he said.

Public can avail all cosmetics-related services offered in ordinary parlours, ranging from hair cut, hair wash, hair dyeing, shaving and spa to facial, pedicure and manicure at the jail saloon, he said.

We are also planning to open a separate wing for senior citizens at the parlour.Old persons, who are suffering from diseases like alzheimers and diabetes, will get special care and services like pedicure, manicure and foot massage by our trained inmates, he said.

Santhosh also said the saloon initiative is part of a number of rehabilitation programmes and correctional measures taken up by the Prison Department. Beauticians have huge demand outside.It is one of the highly paid jobs now. Due to shortage of skilled beauticians, migrant labourers from other states are now employed in many of our parlours.So, our trained inmates will surely get job when they go out of prison, after completing their tenure, the official said.

The making and sale of chappati-chicken curry combo, cafeteria, organic vegetable farming, manufacturing of shirts are among some of the successful rehabilitation initiatives by the Kerala Prison Department..
As many as 46% of urban voters and 26% of rural voters polled before elections began in Uttar Pradesh (UP), said that the air they breathe is polluted, according to survey conducted by FourthLion Technologies, a data analytics and public opinion polling firm, for IndiaSpend. But air pollution isnt an issue that political parties in UP addressor want to.

UPs air is fouled by thousands of brick kilns, sugar factories and coal-fired power plants that violate new emission standards and are among the countrys dirtiest; a seventh of Indias most polluted zones and half the countrys cities with the worst air quality are situated in the state.

The pollution-control regime is not capable of enforcing clear-air and clean-water laws, and attempts to do so have led to widespread protests.

The pollution-control regime is not capable of enforcing clear-air and clean-water laws, and attempts to do so have led to widespread protests.

About 138 million people will vote in the UP legislative assembly elections, which started on February 11, and polling will unfold in seven phases until March 8, 2017.

People want clean air, but chafe at enforcement

When asked to choose between the three issues of reliable power, clean water and clean air, as important voting issues, 40% of the voters polled said reliable electricity was most important, 28% cited clean water and 16% said air quality.

FourthLion conducted 2,513 telephone interviews in Hindi of registered voters in UP, and said their sample is representative of UPs urban and rural voters as well as socioeconomic, age, gender and caste make-up. The survey was conducted between January 24 and January 31, 2017.

Power cuts was the leading issue for voters, followed by jobs, clean water and air quality, IndiaSpend reported on February 6, 2017.

While 40% of the voters polled said reliable electricity was most important, 28% cited clean water and 16% said air quality.

But attempts at cleaning up even brick kilns have met with protests.

UP has six of Indias 43 polluted zones, five of 10 with worst air quality

Between 2009 and 2013, only Agra and Varanasi of six UP industrial zones have managed to improve their score on a national pollution index, while Singrauli has worsened.

For seven years now, Indias Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has ranked industrial zones using a Comprehensive Environment Pollution Index (CEPI), which assigns values between zero and 100, a rising score indicating worsening pollution and health hazards.

Zones with a score over 70 are considered critically polluted.

In terms of air quality, half of Indias most polluted cities were in UP  Allahabad, Varanasi, Lucknow, Ghaziabad and Agra occupied spots in the top 10  as the Hindustan Times reported on February 8, 2017. Air quality was measured in 46 cities with a population of more than a million.

Coal-fired power plants major pollutants, new standards not implemented

UPs power plants are amongst Indias most polluting and have some of the lowest environmental ranking, according to a two-year study conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), an environmental think tank based in New Delhi. Four of the 47 plants selected for study (accounting for 11% the capacity of the total sample) were in Uttar Pradesh.

Of these, the state-owned Obra and Anpara-A & B located in the critically polluted district of Sonbhadra performed poorly and ranked very close to the bottom of the pile: At 40th position (12% score) and 46th position (8% score), respectively. NTPC-Singrauli was found to be grossly polluting as well, the CSE report said.

UP produces close to 10% of Indias coal-fired electricity, with 11 power plants located in just eastern UP, in the Purvanchal region. Emissions from coal-fired power plants can travel hundreds of kilometres, depending on wind speed, driving up pollution levels, especially during winter.

Coal generates almost 75% of Indias electricity, as IndiaSpend reported in May 2015. To provide electricity to all, coal-fired capacity in India is projected to double between 2012 and 2022.

Adverse health effects include premature death and increased health costs, as IndiaSpend reported in May 2015.

The atmospheric inversion over the Indo-Gangetic plain exacerbate the pollution in the air because particles dont disperse, said Aishwarya Madineni, an independent air-quality researcher.

In December 2015, the ministry of environment, forest and climate change revised air-quality standards for coal-fired thermal power plants. The new standards aim at reducing emissions of particulate matter (or particulates) called PM 10 to 0.98 kg/MWh (a measure of permissible particulate weight for energy excavated from power plants, which is measured in kilogram/megawatt hour); sulphur dioxide to 7.3 kg/MWh and oxides of nitrogen  their presence in the air modifies other pollutants  to 4.8 kg/MWh, to improve ambient air quality. Before 2015, India had no such standards in place.

About 40 times as fine as human hair, PM 10 particles are carcinogenic and can cause serious health problems; sulphur dioxide can cause respiratory problems and oxides of nitrogen modify other pollutants, such as particulates and ozone, to become toxic acid rain.

The new standards are supposed to be implemented by the end of 2017, said Madineni. However no penalties have been mentioned in the compliance report if the standards are not adhered to.

Brick kilns and other seasonal pollutants adding fuel  and smoke  to fire

Brick kilns are the third-largest consumers of coal in India. UP has over 18,000 operational brick kilns, which operate seasonally between December and June every year.

The state produces close to 50 billion bricks a year, and employs nearly 3 million people, said Sameer Maithel, a director at Greentech Knowledge Solutions, a research and advisory firm.

In May 2016, the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) directed all brick kilns to upgrade technology to reduce emissions, but the move met with protests.

This industry is an important source of employment, and it requires good policy interventions and sensitivity by the government to upgrade these kilns and reduce pollution caused by them, said Maithel.

Jaggery production units and sugar mills, both seasonal industries, also add to local pollution.

Lack of monitoring and reliable data worsen the problem

The UPPCB does not provide live monitoring of air quality, and its website, when we checked, was last updated in December 2016.

The CPCB has online monitoring stations in four UP cities: Agra, Lucknow, Kanpur and Varanasi.

Neither the sole monitoring stations in Agra and Kanpur, nor the three in Lucknow show PM 10 levels. Only one of three CPCB monitors in Varanasi can measure PM 2.5  fine particles that can penetrate the lungs, levels of which are the leading marker of air quality  and none provide an air-quality index (AQI), a composite marker of various pollutants, as IndiaSpend reported on December 12, 2016.

In comparison, Delhi has 13 CPCB monitoring stations, which provide daily, live readings of PM 2.5, PM 10 and AQI.

While Kanpur was monitored for two years, Ghaziabad was monitored for 127 days. It is possible that a number of good and bad days were missed in several of these cities.

Year-round monitoring is ideal so that seasonal variations can be seen in the data, Madineni said. In the case of UP, the spread of the monitors also needs to be across the state so that we can observe air quality in rural areas as well as industrial belts.
Politics of old holds no charm for new-age female voters. Their mandate is that old horse should cool their heels so young blood may get into more leadership role.

The girls of Lucknows 130-years-old Isabella Thoburn College  the first Christian institution for women in Asiahave made up their mind as to whom they are going to vote for in assembly elections. The candidate of their choice has to be the one with whom they can identify and share their aspirations.

They candidly expressed their views at an interactive session when Hindustan Times organised Campus Adda in their college portals recently. HT Campus Adda was an opportunity for the girls to unwind themselves and share their opinion on a wide range of issues.

IT College has produced renowned authors such as late Ismat Chugtai and late Qurtul-ain-Haider. The list of old students include names such as Vijayaraje Scindia of royal family, Padmashri Dr Mohini Giri, first chairperson of National Commission for Women in India, Mumtaz Jahan Haider, founder principal of Womens College in Aligarh and many more.

A student expressing her views during HT Campus Adda at Isabella Thoburn College. (HT Photo)

The new-age voters are fed up with old-style politics centred on narrow considerations of caste and community. They rooted for the young and pro-development leadership, instead of old politicians.

The students said they found it easier to relate to young leaders and felt the latter (young leaders) should get more tickets. Old leaders should take a backseat and let the youngsters come forward. The seniors may mentor young politicians and help them make the right decisions, said Shraddha, an undergraduate student of the college.

It is time for veterans to step aside and make way for smart, new generation of leaders on the block, she said.

Times have changed. So has technology. Experience should not be the only criteria to decide as to who is fit to run the government. Politics is no rocket science. We are sure that given a chance the generation next leaders can do a better job than most of our experienced politicians, Shradhha remarked.

Safety of girls

Harassment of girls continues in the society despite schemes like Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao. The candidate who can guarantee the safety of women and respect women must be elected, Shagufta Qadri, a B Com student, said.

Youths manifesto End reservation. Give jobs to deserving people irrespective of their financial status or age. Better opportunities and colleges for higher education are needed in the state. There must be a public poll for all major decisions taken in the state assembly. Ensure equitable distribution of resources to all, irrespective of their caste and background. Division of UP must not be promoted. Regionalism should not be practised. Womens issues must be dealt with adequate care and attention.

The state must ensure self-defence training to girls and the subject should be included in the curriculum, she suggested.

Sushmita Pandey, a graduation student, said politicians should be trained as to what they should say about girls. They must be taught to respect women. The politicians must be sensitive while speaking on womens issues in public. The negative attitude of some leaders encourages rapists and criminals, she remarked.

Phalguni and Soumya talked about women empowerment and the need to increase their political representation. Politicians like Mayawati, Smriti Irani, late J Jayalalithaa and Mamata Banerjee had proven this, they said.

Akhilesh is hot favourite

Despite the family feud, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav remained a hot favourite with girls but they were also happy with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and gave a big thumbs up to demonetisation.

We admire PM Modi and his pro-poor policies. He took some bold decisions to strengthen the countrys economy. The steps included note ban, limiting withdrawal of money and many others. But Modi will not contest the poll in UP. In fact, the BJP has not declared its chief ministerial candidate yet. In this scenario, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is an obvious choice for many of us, said Niharika Rai, another undergraduate student.

The young voters are against reservation. Though the government may provide numerous facilities to the poor, only deserving candidates should get jobs, they said.

It hurts when an undeserving candidate gets a job. There should be no compromise on merit or else development will take a backseat, a student said.

Give jobs to the deserving ones. Why do we need to reserve seats for the weaker sections? The government should try providing the best facilities to them so that they can compete well, suggested another undergraduate student. The girls demanded a state quota like the one in Maharashtra.

The girls said the youth felt cut off from the whole electoral process as political parties or their candidates hardly involved them in any poll-related activities.

Why is politics a different world to the youth? Why are they not interested in becoming a part of it? It is because the youth are not involved, said Sadaf Ayub, an undergraduate student.

Ayub hit out at the political parties for not holding any interactive session with the youth.

It is perhaps the sole reason why youths are less interested in joining politics. I have not seen any interactive session with youths, which can motivate them to join politics, she added.

A few other students said it was time for the parties and their candidates to shed the age-old caste and religion politics.

They should focus more on youth politics for smarter nation-building, they said.
Beautification of Old City, the pet project of chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, has left a mark on the minds of the residents of Lucknow North assembly constituency.

Many people say the Old City witnessed development only under the Samajwadi Party regime while others feel that the area has seen only cosmetic changes.

Participating in an informal chat organised by HT at Gulab Park to assess the issues concerning the residents of the area, Kasim Mirza said: Never before I have seen such development as we have witnessed under the SP regime.

I have grown here seeing these monuments of the era of Nawabs lying in neglect. It is only under the SP regime that work began to restore the lost sheen of these monuments, he said.

Prior to SP government, the entire focus was on trans-Gomti areas. But under the SP regime, old and new areas of the city witnessed uniform development, said Izzat Hussain, another morning-walker.

Lucknow North constituency Male voters: 29,8152 Female voters: 27,3346 Literacy: 79.33%

Other than beautification of Old City and nearby areas, construction of the new Hardinge Bridge or Pucca Pul was also hailed by morning-walkers.

It smoothened traffic movement and improved connectivity to areas like Triveni Nagar, Khadra, Faizullaganj, Hussainabad and Chowk, said Hussain.

He said the bridge was exactly a replica of the 200-year-old Hardinge Bridge that was said to be the first-ever bridge on river Gomti.

Some of the morning-walkers, however, slammed the SP and called its development work as cosmetic. Its only on the surface, lanes and bylanes are still stinky, said Sudhir Shukla, a resident of Old City.

Read more| Lucknow Central constituency: Eating out hub has its plate full with problems

Beautification of monuments and main roads will hardly make any difference, unless the entire area is cleaned up. If you want to see the truth, see beyond the tall Nawabi structures, Shukla added.

Winning the seat will be a tough task for SP candidate Abhishek Mishra, he said.

According to political analysts, the contest this time will be between SP candidate Abhishek Mishra and BJPs Neeraj Bora. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has fielded Ajay Kumar Srivastava.

In the 2012 assembly elections, Abhishek Mishra had won the seat by securing 47,580 votes. Neeraj Bora, who was fielded by the Congress last time, stood runner up by securing 45,361 votes. BJPs Ashutosh Tandon and BSPs Arun Dwivedi got 45,245 and 22, 902 votes respectively.

Here, candidates dont visit voters

Faizullahganj residents lament the unhygienic conditions in their area. (Deepak Gupta/HT Photo)

Poll campaign is on in full swing in the city but the residents of Faizullaganj, an underdeveloped locality in Lucknow North constituency, are still waiting for the visit of candidates.

According to residents, the candidates are not willing to visit Faizullaganj as they fear they may fall ill as unhygienic condition prevails in the area.

Yahan ayenge to wo bimaar pad jayenge, aap aaye hain to aap bhi bimaar ho jayenge. Aap chale jayen to behtar hoga hume aadat hai aise rehne ki (Politicians will fall ill if they visit the locality. You also go or you may also take ill. We are used to living in such conditions), said Akhtari Fatima, sitting on a small charpoy outside a single-room house.

The charpoy is placed near an open manhole where two of her kids are having their meal. I havent seen any politician here. There has been no development in our area. It has been almost 15 years since I shifted here with my husband, said Akhtari, highlighting the problems of Faizullaganj which has a population of around 1.25 lakh.

Another resident, Hamid Ali Siddiqui, said it was strange that the entire Old City had been beautified under the SP government but no efforts were made to ensure development in the locality.

We do not have water pipe lines, streetlights and roads. Why should we vote? No candidate has visited us so far, said Siddiqui.

Read more: Development off track, promises remain unfulfilled in mango belt

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In a video that surfaced last year, a woman from Karachi, Pakistan was seen ranting against the government. In her angst, she spewed a list of expletives and claimed that the gormint has been sold (Yeh bik gayi hai gormint). Now, this video has caught the fancy of social media, and it has taken no time for memes to do the rounds on various social media platforms. T-shirts with the hashtag, #YehBikGayiHaiGormint, have become popular all over. Not only have we desis come up with ingenious jokes, this format has also reached the US. Remember protestors at a rally opposing Donald Trump governments ban on muslim immigrants? The gormint talk reached there too. From absurd to downright hilarious  here are some popular ones.

A video grab of the interview where the woman has ranted about the government.

A new brand of chewing gums and mouth fresheners?

Pun-tastic tur of events.

The meme-makers have not even spared popular television shows. (Instagram/tanmaybhat)

Rehashing old memes in new avatars.

Pakistani writer and journalists take on pop icons in India.

What every girl wants to hear.

Making it rhyme was never more easy.

The Karachi woman is now the face of a new revolution. (Twitter/All India Bakchod)

Well, as far as advices go, this one is on point.

The slogan has also made its way to protests against the Trump government.

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JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2

Direction: Chad Stahelski

Actors: Keanu Reeves, Riccardo Scamarcio

Rating: 4 / 5

In a week of heavyweight releases like Moonlight and Silence, the stylised, slapstick violence of John Wick: Chapter 2 comes as a pleasant surprise.

This sequel to the smash hit from 2014 is a fasten-your-seatbelts kind of entertainer. The opening crash-bang-burn chase sequence packs more of a punch than all the Fast and Furious flicks put together, and the climactic showdown set in an art gallerys hall of mirrors is truly mind-blowing.

The premise, as is to be expected, is of little consequence. The super-cool titular assassin (Keanu Reeves, laconic as ever) is pulled out of retirement and travels to Rome to face off against a horde of hired killers.

John Wick is a sequel to a 2014 action hit of the same name.

Read: Utterly spiritless: Rings review by Rashid Irani

This time around, the hitman has a new dog, dresses in bespoke suits with tactical linings, and is equipped with seemingly unlimited ammo.

Bullets fly like popcorn amidst spectacular displays of gun-fu and hand-to-hand combat.

Laurence Fishburne, Reevess co-star from the Matrix trilogy fetches up in the role of breakaway mobster with a ragtag army of his own.

A pulp fiction flick of almost operatic grandeur, Chapter 2 yields one helluva good time at the matinee. Have a blast.

Watch the trailer for John Wick: Chapter 2 here

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Irada

Cast: Arshad Warsi, Naseeruddin Shah, Divya Dutta, Sharad Kelkar, Sagarika Ghatge

Director: Aparnaa Singh

Rating: 3/5

There are some inconvenient truths that we avoid looking when development is involved. And then comes a film which grabs us by the neck and forces us to take notice of a world different from ours. Director Aparnaa Singhs Irada brings us face to face with harsh realities in Punjab.

Hundreds of new cases of cancer are being reported every year in the state that is known as the rice bowl of India and most of them belong to a particular geographical area. Irada suggests the reason behind it could be reverse-boring, a technical term for dumping chemical residuals into the earth.

Irada doesnt intend to be a documentary and thus it narrates the story via Parabjeet Walia (Naseeruddin Shah), a master planner whose daughter is in cancers death grip. The political hierarchy, spearheaded by razor-tongued chief minister Ramandeep Braitch (Divya Dutta), behaves like the proverbial ostrich in the sand and is only concerned about the donations it gets from the pharmaceutical mafia.

This nexus becomes all the more evident when National Investigation Agency (NIA) officer Arjun Mishra (Arshad Warsi) comes to Punjab to investigate a murder case thats getting complicated every minute.

Disguised as a Good Samaritans fight for justice, Irada talks about systematic corruption or rather the lack of willpower to curb it. Divya Duttas terrifyingly authoritative CM is more than just grey. She hurls abuses and symbolises political parasites, who want to retain power by hook or crook.

Divya Dutta has given a fine performance in Irada.

She is aptly supported by Sharad Kelkars ironically named character Paddy Sharma, a privileged pharmaceutical executive. Its people like Paddy Sharma who are contaminating the local water. He dares the CM to take action against him and shows how democratically elected leaders are captive to donors with deep pockets.

Constructed on the lines of A Wednesday, Irada tries to look like a thriller but fails to sustain the initial momentum as many sub-stories cross paths. The film struggles to give every story a fair chance to unfold but loses the grip on the central theme in the process.

It comes down to the actors to stop it from crumbling. Here, Singh enjoys assistance from stellar performers like Shah, Warsi, Kelkar and Dutta.

Warsi reminds us of his 2005 Sehar. He doesnt go overboard and underplays a sharp cop, a rarity in Hindi films. Shah displays a wide range which he has perfected over the years, and Dutta looks ruthless and ambitious as the corrupt CM. In between, Kelkar also throws in some punches.

But this is not what Irada will be known for. Its head-on take on the overuse of natural resources should be considered an alarm bell. The epidemic can spread to other places even before we realise and if it is in our hands to restrict the menace, we should better act.

Also, its the age of theme-driven films and Irada has a strong one.

Interact with Rohit Vats at Twitter/@nawabjha

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John Wick: Chapter 2

Director - Chad Stahelski

Cast - Keanu Reeves, Common, Laurence Fishburne, Riccardo Scamarcio, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, Ruby Rose

Rating - 4/5

The last time we saw John Wick, the Baba Yaga, the man who it is said once killed three men in a bar with a pencil (a pencil!), he had just wasted eighty to a hundred fools in a beautiful, bloodbath of vengeance. And, like any self-respecting action hero, he was walking off into the sunset, a new doggy companion by his side. All was well.

John Wick: Chapter 2 is here to put a bullet into that theory.

It picks up mere minutes after the first one ended, which, like its assassin hero, came out of nowhere. It was, at least to my mind, one of the best original action movies of the last decade. And the cult of fans that gathered to witness its symphonic mayhem has only grown in the two years since its release. You can begin chanting a silent prayer of thanks now, because John Wick: Chapter 2 (by the way, what a great title. The only thing that can improve it is the word reloaded somewhere. Anywhere) is pure joy.

As great as the first one was  no action film has come close other than perhaps Mad Max: Fury Road since  it did have a villain who was pushing 50 and had a pot belly and all. In this one, instead of an elderly gentleman whose main plan of attack was to invariably make some phonecalls, the villain is much better suited to John Wicks unique skills. He coerces Wick to travel to Rome, where he is expected to take out his sister, whose position of power on a council of high importance he (the villain) wishes to usurp.

John Wick, the samurai that he is, accepts the mission  because what is he, if not a man bound by honour. But the spiffily-dressed (actually, everyone in the movie is rather spiffily dressed, except perhaps Laurence Fishburne) villain stabs him in the back, and puts out a hit worth $7 million on Wicks head.

But he forgot. This is John Wick were talking about. It is said that he once killed three men in a bar with a pencil. Whoever they send after him, whatever they send after him, he will kill them all.

Its one thing to focus on style over substance, but John Wick: Chapter 2 takes it to a whole new level. Every line of dialogue  and God knows Wick is a man of few words  is spoken with such intensity that it seems as if language itself is going to be outlawed. The action, however, is why we turn up. And the movie knows it. It makes you wait, for almost an hour, toying with your expectations, expanding the already fabulously detailed world, as what can only be described as dubstep opera plays in the background and Keanu Reeves glowers, Clint Eastwood-style.

Action sequels are tricky. Theyre difficult to get right. What do you do? Do you go the route of, say, a Die Hard 2 and make everything bigger and add more explosions, or do you go for a Fast Five and completely reinvent the wheel? John Wick 2 hits the sweet spot. It ramps up everything that made the first one such an instant classic without ever being obnoxious about it. Its bigger, yes, better, yes, but never extravagant.

For a film whose sole purpose, it seems, is to get John Wick a gun, it is impressively cinema literate. But so was the first one, wasnt it? Everything from stylish 60s spaghetti westerns to the 70s neo-noir of Melville to glorious 90s Hong Kong gun-fu is paid homage to. Were it not for the clunky dialogue (which is mostly in either Russian or Italian and floats on the screen, all colourful), it could easily inspire the sort of video essays and thinkpieces that Tarantinos movies do. Heck, it should anyway.

But its biggest achievement, bigger than destroying and redefining an entire genre, is that it has given the great Keanu Reeves a character that is as memorable as Ted (from Bill & Teds Excellent Adventure) and Neo (from you guessed it). And there will be more. There has to be more.

No story has just two chapters.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

The author tweets @RohanNaahar

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Silence

Director - Martin Scorsese

Cast - Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Liam Neeson, Tadanobu Asano

Rating - 5/5



Two things will happen as you watch Silence.

First, you will be overwhelmed  as would most people  by the sheer immensity of the story that you have just witnessed. It runs dangerously close to three hours after all. Second, you will be left with a profound sense of inadequacy  towards yourself, the education that has been wasted on you, and the years of being alive on this strange and wonderful planet that have in no way prepared you for the staggering achievement that is Martin Scorseses new picture.

Thousands of films down, as someone who still isnt used to watching formidably long films  it wasnt always like this, but times have changed, and with them, the ability to remain attentive  I have come to realise that there are only a handful of directors who can command my attention for periods exceeding two hours. There is perhaps Quentin Tarantino (but even he has his weaknesses)... Maybe Nuri Bilge Ceylan... But the only filmmaker who has remained as gripping as he was even decades ago, is Martin Scorsese.

For as long as he has been making movies  and it has been quite the journey, almost as epic as the one portrayed in this movie  he has been asking the same questions.

Faith. Why must we have it? Must we have it at all? And do we  can we  comprehend it?

There are no simple answers to this, and perhaps that is why Scorsese is still making movies. Were he to find his answer, he would have nothing to say, no questions to ask, no dreams to chase. It is his White Whale, or, more appropriately, his Holy Grail.

Sometimes he will ask it sneakily, almost like a knife in the back, like when Harvey Keitel is torn between the Catholicism he was born into and the allure of the Mafia in Mean Streets, or the faith in the law that Billy Costigan clinches to in The Departed, even as all the signs suggest he should wise up. On other occasions  like Kundun, or The Last Temptation of Christ  the questions are not asked from the confines of a confessional, but are bellowed from atop a mountain.

And that is how it is in Silence, which is ironically the loudest Scorsese has ever been.

For 28 years, Scorsese has wanted to tell the story of Fathers Rodrigues and Garupe, played by a visibly broken Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver, and their quest to locate their mentor Father Ferreira (a skeletal Liam Neeson), which takes them to the unfriendly shores of 17th Century Japan.

For 28 years, Scorsese had been denied; his faith, perpetually balanced on the edge, questioned.

The journey that both Rodrigues and Garupe take in the film could be seen as a parallel to the one Scorsese had undertaken to get it made. It is God who has compelled them to travel to Japan, aboard rickety boats, braving terrible weather, to the same unwelcoming land where their mentor had once arrived to spread their religion.

Ferreiras final letter brought bad news. Catholics across Japan were being persecuted and murdered in the most horrible ways, to purge the land of what was thought to be an interference, a desecration of ancient ways. To survive, the last remaining believers were made to publically renounce their God  which, according to Father Ferreiras letter, is what he has done. To prove to their superiors, and mostly to themselves, that Ferreiras faith was above question, they journey to Japan.

Like most movies, Silence, too, has its faults. But to list them would be disrespectful of a film that, in my opinion, could not have been made by another human being. It is Scorsese at his most passionate. This is a towering work, challenging, complex, and gruelling. But it positively dares you to look away  even when the static, unusual, almost Ozu-like frames of DP Rodrigo Prieto burst into sudden violence and the deceptive tranquil Japanese seas slowly drown the crucified Catholics under its tide.

Despite the sweeping scope, what would otherwise be small observations - like the Japanese not being able to confess their sins for years because there was no priest to listen to them, surviving, consumed by an overwhelming guilt  is where the films heart lies.

Perhaps this film is too kind towards the Jesuit priests and their Mission. Perhaps it is too quick to ignore the other side of the story in its haste to sympathise with its tortured heroes. Perhaps what it needs is a touch of Clint Eastwood, a Battle of Iwo Jima-style retelling from the Buddhist perspective.

Undoubtedly, the most intriguing character in the film is a drunk named Kichijiro, who has renounced his faith so many times that even the villainous Shogunate, and the over-the-top old samurai who heads it, has lost its patience, and respect. It begs the question: If faith, an almost unfathomable spiritual notion, can be renounced with the simple, coarse act of stepping on an image of Christ, then is it even strong enough to preserve?

Is it foolish to expect answers, even from a film as great as this?

Follow @htshowbiz for more

The author tweets @RohanNaahar

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RUNNING SHAADI

Direction: Amit Roy

Actors: Amit Sadh, Taapsee Pannu, Brijendra Kala

Rating: 2 / 5

Running Shaadi is an odd film. For starters, each time characters say the films original name  Running Shaadi.com  its bleeped out.

A popular matrimonial website initiated legal action against the title and, a week before release, the courts ruled that the makers had to remove all references to Shaadi.com. So the films title was abruptly cleaved.

Actually both versions of the title are misleading. Because the film begins with the ingenious idea of a website for lovers who want to elope, but this is soon abandoned. The action moves from Amritsar to Dalhousie to Patna and the narrative becomes increasingly convoluted  until we reach a scene in which three characters disguised in burkhas are spying on two other characters disguised in burkhas.

The hero is set to marry a woman who loves someone else. He also loves someone else but he has introduced his girlfriend to his family as his friend. There is general chaos, too many marriages and no signs of the website that triggered this entire harebrained plot.

Which is such a shame because the premise, constructed by director Amit Roy and writer Navjot Gulati, had potential.

Ram Bharose, a Bihari migrant in Amritsar, is besotted with his bosss daughter. When he loses his job, he and his friend, Cyberjeet, decide to create a website that will help hapless lovers elope. The film has too few laughs and not enough meat.

Running Shaadi starts out well. We meet Ram Bharose, a Bihari migrant in Amritsar who is besotted with his bosss daughter, the feisty Nimmi. Nimmi isnt afraid to follow her desires, even when they lead to the abortion clinic. Bharose, as his name suggests, is her silent lover and eternal support. When Bharose loses his job, he and his friend, Cyberjeet, decide to create a website that will help hapless lovers elope. Everything goes swimmingly, until Nimmi decides to use their services.

Amit gets the small-town milieu right. He also mines the inherent humour of small town India negotiating the new digital landscape  Bharoses uncle in Bihar, the always reliable Brijendra Kala, advises him to start exchanging sweet Facebook messages with his would-be bride. But the fun soon leaks out and, in the second half, Running Shaadi derails.

The leads  Amit Sadh and Taapsee Pannu  try to rescue the flailing script, but there are too many holes to plug. The two share an easy camaraderie, and with a better narrative, they might have created a sparkling romance.

Sadly, this one has too few laughs and not enough meat.

Watch the trailer for Running Shaadi here

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The Bombay high court on Friday reserved its order on the plea filed by lieutenant colonel Shrikant Purohit, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts, challenging a lower court order that denied him bail.

A bench of Justices Ranjit More and Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi had been hearing Purohits plea on almost a daily basis for about a month.

On Friday, the National Investigating Agency (NIA) concluded its arguments, telling the court that there existed adequate prima facie evidence in the form of audio and video recordings, call detail records, and witness statements, to suggest that Purohit played a major role in conspiring and executing the blasts.

NIAs counsel advocate Sandesh Patil argued that both NIAs own charge sheet and the one filed by the Maharashtra ATS established that Purohit had participated in conspiracy meetings, given provocative speeches, agreed to get explosives for the act etc.

Patil argued that though the two charge sheets contained contradictory findings when it comes to some other accused, the NIA did not want the ATS charge sheet to be completely obliterated, and that the court must consider both charge sheets.

The NIA also argued that after taking over the investigation from ATS, it had conducted the probe into the case with all fairness and that it was wrong to doubt its findings.

The fact that we have sought that the prosecution against six other accused in the case, including Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, must be dropped points out that our probe was fair and not conducted in a premeditated manner.

Purohit, on the other hand, has argued through the previous hearings that NIA was selective in exonerating some accused persons and that the agency had made him a scapegoat in the case.

He has sought bail on the ground that the evidence against him was manufactured by the ATS, and that he has spent eight years in custody as an undertrial.

Purohits counsel Shrikant Shivde had argued in the previous hearing that keeping him under prolonged detention without bail, or a trial, was a crime.

He also argued that Purohit was a military intelligence officer for the Indian Army and he participated in the conspiracy meetings, or stayed in touch with his co-accused only to gather intelligence for the Army.

Also read: Malegaon 2008 blast accused granted permission to contest UP polls

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A report released by two non-government organisations, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the Maharashtra Election Watch (MEW), on Thursday found that 216 candidates contesting the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections have criminal cases registered against them.

The two groups analysed 1,641 of the 2,275 candidates affidavits obtained from the state election commission (SEC). Of the 216, 154 candidates have serious criminal charges  assault, murder, kidnap, rape among others  against them. Of the 173 candidates analysed from the Shiv Sena , 28 of them have serious criminal charges against them. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has 22 such candidates from its 154 who were analysed. The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have fielded 16 such candidates and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) too have fielded 14 such candidates.

The report also stated that some candidates have multiple cases against them. For instance, Shiv Sena candidate Rajendra Suryawanshi, contesting from ward no. 184, has 12 criminal cases against him. These cases include extortion, cheating, rioting and others. Similarly, Ghanshyam Parab, an MNS candidates from ward no. 51 has six cases against him.

BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said the party is happy as among the major parties, the BJP has fielded the least number of candidates with serious criminal charges. I will like to clarify that the law will take its own course and they will have to face punishment if found guilty, Bhandari told HT.

Shiv Sena spokesperson Harshal Pradhan said that most of the criminal charges against some of their candidates were from the 1992-93 riots, while some of them were falsely implicated by the erstwhile ruling Congress-NCP to weaken the Shiv Sena. Shiv Sainiks had taken to arms to save their people, for which we are proud, Pradhan said.

MNS spokesperson Nitin Sardesai said the cases filed against their candidates were during agitations or morchas.

It is owing to these charges that people think we are criminals, which is not the case, Sardesai clarified.

The report further says ten candidates have declared zero assets in the affidavits. Of them, two are from the MNS, one from the Samajwadi party (SP) and the rest are independent candidates.

There are 102 candidates who have shown their assets to be below than Rs1 lakh, according to the report.

Read

Shiv Sena taunts BJP: Inducting criminals worse than stashing black money

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I am not asking you to join politics. Dedicate 15 minutes of your day for the countrys betterment. Lets start from Ghatkopar. Thats BJP candidate Parag Shahs advice to any youngster he meets while campaigning in his Ghatkopar ward 132 (Garodia Nagar-Rajawadi).

Responsibility Che. Pravin Chheda,  goes the catchy slogan of Shahs biggest competition in the Gujarati-dominated ward.

The fight between Shah and Congress Chheda  leader of opposition in BMC and sitting corporator from Ghatkopar  in the Gujarati heartland is one of the most anticipated battles this poll season, as both heavyweights, from the same community, vie for the same voter base.

As poll day nears, the battle is heating up. With 16,000 Gujarati voters in the ward, both Shah and Chheda are leaving no stone unturned. The pamphlets, greetings, promises, CDs, meetings are all in Gujarati. On Wednesday, Shah was canvassing door-to-door in the old residential buildings of Sai Baba lane in Ghatkopar (East). He has already visited 80% of the ward, a BJP functionary said. The richest candidate in Mumbai, with assets worth Rs690 crore, Shah is contesting for the first time. He is well-known, a construction magnet and President of the Mumbai Jain Mahasangh. His strategy: touch the feet of elders, shake hands with men his age and ask youngsters to join a BJP cell and work for development. I do not talk about my opponents. I only ask for blessings so I can do good work, the 47-year-old said.

Barely 3km away, Chheda was distributing CDs and pamphlets in Neelkanth Vihar, a high-rise. Another rich candidate, Chheda has declared assets worth Rs140 crore. He has canvassed in more than 400 buildings, a Congress worker said. I know the Gujarati vote will be split between us (Shah and Chheda). It is the South Indian and Marathi vote, about 20,000 , which will be decisive and I am confident of winning them, said Chheda, who alleged that being a big developer and businessman, Shah is not approachable. You have to meet 50 people before you meet him, is what I have heard. The middle-class cannot relate to this. The Shiv Sena and MNS have fielded local partymen, both first-timers. Two independents and a BSP candidate are also contesting . The Gujarati belt has voted for BJP for 30 years. Chheda was a BJP leader before he shifted to Congress during the 2012 polls, following differences with BJP MLA Prakash Mehta.

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Congress MP Scindia campaigns in Mumbai, blames Sena-BJPs rule for infra mess

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The Bombay high court on Friday directed YouTube and Google to remove videos of a civil hearing that was portrayed as a sting operation on their online platforms. According to the petitioners, in the video, scandalous comments were also made on the judge hearing the case.

The division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Anjua Prabhudessai also restrained the companies from making any such offending material available through their platforms. It directed the central government to ensure the order is complied with.

The court was hearing a contempt petition filed by Bombay Bar Association and the Advocates Association of Western India. The bar associations had filed a petition seeking action for criminal contempt against 14 people, some of whom purportedly recorded the proceedings of a civil matter before a single judge bench of the high court and uploaded it on online content sharing sites, by portraying it as a sting operation.

According to the bar associations, the 38-minute video also made scandalous and contemptuous comments about the high court judge. Senior advocate Rafiq Dada, who represented the Bombay Bar Association, stated that the advocate, Nilesh Ojha, who had appeared for one of the parties in the video had also given an interview on camera which  along with the anchor Rishi Pandits remarks  was also grossly contemptuous.

Dada claimed that a Gopal Shete had recorded the court proceedings on camera and uploaded it on YouTube. He informed the bench that though the petitioner associations had sought to prosecute 14 persons and entities for criminal contempt of court, the advocate general has granted consent to file petition against 10 of them, including advocate Ojha, Shete, Pandit and seven others.

After hearing the senior advocate and examining contents of the contempt petition, the bench issued contempt notices to Shete, Pandit and two others. It also issued notices to YouTube, Google Inc., Google India and Alphabet Inc. calling upon them to show why proceedings for criminal contempt of court should not be initiated against them.

The directive came after advocate Dada urged the court to initiate suo-motu contempt proceedings against the companies, as the advocate general has not granted permission to file complaints for criminal contempt against them.

The court has now posted the case for further hearing on Wednesday.

Also read: Bombay HCs controversial bail order in murder case under SC scanner
In Mumbai: Former Black Cat commando in BMC poll fray from Malad

Mukesh Singh served in the army for 12-and-a-half years and then as an NSG commando for another three years, during which he participated in numerous operations in Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, etc. Read

SEC to Saamana: Explain code of conduct violation complaint by BJP in 3 days

BJP claimed that Sena is likely to misuse its mouthpiece to woo electorate by publishing [political] advertisements in the last leg of the civic polls, so its publication should be banned on February 16, 20 and 21. Read

Saudi Arabian airline staffer caught smuggling 2-kg gold at Mumbai airport

The gold bars were confiscated under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962, while the statement of the accused was recorded under Section 108 of the Customs Act. Read

Money laundering case: Zakir Naiks aide to be produced in special court

Enforcement Directorate sources said that 55-year-old Aamir Gazdar allegedly managed the transaction of illegal cash for televangelist Zakir Naik. Read

HC partly relaxes dry day rule imposed by Maha govt for civic body polls

A bench of Justice VM Kanade and Justice PR Bora ruled that there was no need to impose the ban on sale of liquor from two days before the polls [Feb 19] and also for the entire day on the day of counting [Feb 23]. Read
The Bombay high court on Friday partly relaxed the four-day ban imposed by the state on the sale of liquor in Mumbai, Thane, and other areas in the wake of the civic polls.

A bench of Justice VM Kanade and Justice PR Bora ruled that there was no need to impose the ban on sale of liquor from two days before the polls [February 19] and also for the entire day on the day of counting [February 23] considering that the votes are counted electronically and results are announced rather early.

The ban thus, will now be effective on February 20 and 21 for the entire day and on February 23 only till the declaration of results. The bench, however, directed the state to ensure that sale of liquor continues to be banned on the election days.

The state excise department had earlier issued a notice declaring two days prior to the polling date  from the evening of February 19 till 5pm on February 21 dry days. Mumbaiites will vote for the BMC polls on February 21. Sale of liquor had also been prohibited for the entire day on February 23.

The state had justified the ban claiming that it had powers to do so under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. During the hearing, the bench however, realised that the above Act provided for such ban only during Assembly and Lok Sabha polls.

The state excise departments notice was challenged by the Hotel Owners Associations from Mumbai, Thane, Alibaug, and Nashik. The plea said according to the excise departments list of dry days, February 21 was already declared a dry day for Swami Dayanand Saraswati Jayanti, and February 24, for Mahashivratri.

The petitioners had said effectively, the prohibition on sale of liquor will be in force for five days and cause them a loss in revenue and that the order, infringes upon their fundamental right to earn a livelihood.

Also read: Maharashtra government declares holiday on February 21

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Numbers are crucial for us to implement our vision for Mumbai, BJP MP and national president of the partys youth wing, Poonam Mahajan, said on Thursday, during an informal chat in the HT newsroom. The leader spoke of how the BJP wants to make a fresh start with these polls to implement CM Devendra Fadnavis vision. Whatever we have done at the state level  a war room on infrastructure or transparency, we want to replicate in BMC... Mahajan also said BJP was keen on a 24x7 Mumbai. As a Mumbaikar, its my dream. Some excerpts:

BJP has been a part of the ruling alliance in BMC all this while. Now, you criticise its work. How will you convince voters things will change in your regime?

Its about showing people how we implement work, how accountable we have been so far and what we can offer. Everyone has seen the work done by PM Narendra Modi at the national leveland at the state level, we have CM Devendra Fadnavis. No other CM has looked at the Mumbai Metropolitan Region so holistically  considering transport, infrastructure, employment. I know this because I am a part of his team. And, theres a reason we are looking at MMR, 25 % of the countrys GDP and 80 % of Maharashtras GDP comes from this region. Of this, Mumbai is a big part. We have a vision for its development. When you are a junior partner, you have a limited space to work in policy implementation. This is a new start for us. We want to replicate what we are doing at the state level here in the civic body. The way we have a war room on infrastructure, we want everything to be made public and transparent. If tomorrow, BJP leads in polls and our mayor sits in BMC, we can take this vision forward.

BJP seems to have taken the local elections, primarily concerned with gutter-water-metre, on a larger scale. The CM is the partys face, but do you have good enough candidates to implement your vision?

Candidates are important in every constituency, whether it is the local or national election. You need a face from down to up, you need someone who handles booth too. One person cannot do everything. Despite that, you still need one face, someone who is smart and has a vision. The CM represents this strong, decisive leadership for us. After all, Mumbai is a global city, we cant limit ourselves to gutter-water-metre. Basic amenities are important for the city, but not just gali ka gutter, instead we need to put in place an overall sanitation policy, water supply, sewerage systems. We have selected candidates after studying them, they have worked in their wards. We have a collective responsibility.

Didnt BJP have a tough time finding candidates for all wards ? You didnt have a presence across the city...

We didnt have a tough time finding candidates. We were ready with candidates much before anyone else. In fact, there was a lot of excitement among BJP workers as they were working in these wards but didnt have a chance to contest. We had over 1,000 candidates applying for 227 seats.

Over 20 of your candidates were pulled out from other parties...

This happens in every constituency, where we may not have a presence. Even if a party has a presence in a constituency, winnability becomes an important factor. If the gap is 10-20 % between winnability and our candidate, we have to get someone else. Right now, numbers are important for our vision.

Do you expect the support of all sections in Mumbai, because BJP has been primarily seen as a party of Gujaratis or traders?

I will answer by giving the example of results in Orissas gram panchayat and zilla parishads, which are BJD strongholds. The way they voted in our favour shows a change in mindset. We are not known as a party of the poor or having a grassroots connect here. Similarly, in Mumbai, we have realised dividing Mumbaiites into languages and caste and creed is not going to work. Whether it is traders, Marathi-speaking or Hindi-speaking, all Mumbaikars will support BJP.

We talk of a global city and having a vision. How is it that a city that wants to have the best public WiFi continues to have bad roads?

I agree with you. But, to the credit of our state government, we managed to put CCTV cameras and public WiFi in one year. Let me say here the entire road contracts scam started in some sense from me, after I sent a letter to the civic commissioner. I had said there were many roads in my constituency that were substandard. This led to the entire drama and a probe. As a BJP MP, I feel strongly about this and CM is also clear that this will not do. Getting good roads is a priority.

When BJP says there should be more transparency in BMC, what do you mean, because in the past year, a lot of information from work orders to corporators fund spending is online.

Its the CM who pushed for this initiative and insisted that we put basic information, processes online. When we say transparency as an agenda, this is exactly what we are looking at.. it is our vision that tomorrow in Mumbai as a Bollywood city, permission for shooting should come from a single window, instead of running around for 20 permissions. In BMC, even birth and death certificates were not available online.

Why is it the BJP shrugging off all responsibility over scams and shifting responsibility to the Sena?

We are not shrugging off any responsibility of any scam. I was the first person who wrote the letter to the civic commissioner about the road scam. There is nothing to hide from the BJPs side. I am not blaming anyone. I have questioned the way it was happening. If something in the scams is being linked a committee led by BJP, we are ready to face the consequences something has come out which is not linked to our decisions. It is being probed now. Those who are responsible will face the law.

In the current scenario, it seems no party will get single-handed majority. Will you tie up with the party you described as khau Sena (Shiv Sena) or Naturally Corrupt Party (NCP)?

We are starting with 32 corporators and going beyond 100 is going to be tough. But, I believe in political arithmetic and going by that, we will be the single largest party. Whether we can cross the magic figure, we will know on February 23, lets wait. As far as naming these parties, I dont believe in that. I call them Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress.

Two people were seen as the architects of the saffron alliance, Bal Thackeray and your father, Pramod Mahajan. What were your thoughts when the alliance broke first in 2014 and then now?

That time was completely different. They were both smaller parties, one was a national party that wanted to expand, the other a regional party in Mumbai. Both parties got strength by coming together. We still respect that. But, both parties have expanded. BJP is now the largest party in the country, with its government in 10 states. There will be increased expectations from both sides. I do feel sad as a Mahajan about the split. But I am BJPs strong karyakarta and for me, right now I have to get maximum seats from my constituency, thats my duty.

I think from both sides, the equation there was when Bal Thackeray and Pramod Mahajan were alive does not exist. And, you cant blame anyone. It just happens and you move on. The Thackerays will take their party forward. I am a true blue Mahajan and Ill take mine forward. There is no bad blood. Its politics.

How long do you think the saffron alliance will last in the state, given the bitterness ?

I feel the BJP-led state government will survive till 2019. I am very sure about it, even if you look at numbers or the way government is taking things forward. I dont see any stressful moments later in February. I dont think the Sena will pull out.

Did you decide much in advance to take on the Sena in Mumbai when you started planning for the elections, or did you think there would be an alliance and you can strategically increase seats?

We started planning for the BMC elections a year ago because we wanted our performance to improve, have more corporators. We just wanted to prepare more, which the BJP always does. How to reach to the booth level, how we make our booth level karyakartas believe they are the ones who can get people to vote. Thats the only strategy we worked on.

Would you say the seat-sharing talks were more of a facade?

No, not at all. I can openly say both sides tried well. But at times, the meetings didnt go well and fell to a derogatory level. Thats why it was difficult to find a mid-way from the BJPs side. We didnt say we are not open to negotiations. It just went to a level where we couldnt get a breakthrough.

Do you see a role for yourself in mediating a truce between the Sena and BJP, considering you have good personal relations with the Thackeray family?

I hold a position in the BJP. I am an MP of the BJP. I am a youth wing president. For me, it is my responsibility to work on whatever my party thinks. Lets not connect the relations of Thackerays and Mahajans with the Sena and BJP right now. If my party wants me to contest and get maximum seats, I will perform for my party and the Sena will do the same for itself. So, we should separate personal relations from the relations between two parties. Right now, my party has not told me anything, it has just told me to get maximum seats.

As a youth wing leader who has grown up in Mumbai, what is your take on Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackerays statements about opening up Mumbais nightlife?

We have already started working on it. Its better to do something than just talk about it. Yes, it is my dream. It is everyones dream. We live in a 24x7 world. The Shops and Establishments Act has said people can keep shops open. We have to work on zones. In my area, BKC works as it is office area... May be in a few months, you will see 24x7 zones. As a Mumbaikar, I need this.

Wont security be an issue?

I dont think so. You remember how we did the Global Citizens event? We studied security, had 1,50,000 people attending. Mumbai is the safest city in India , but precautions will be taken.

Somehow, there is an impression the BJP in BMC and even the CM has not been in favour of opening up nightlife.

I dont know where the CM has indicated this, because we have had discussions about it. Also, it is not a proposal only related to BMC. It is a proposal that is first concerned with the police. Its already been spoken about and discussed. I am saying this as a responsible MP, which means there is some thinking happening from the governments side.

What is the status of getting an International Financial Services Centre in Mumbai? Is the project affected as the Centre wants to give priority to the Gujarat International Finance Tec-city?

We want the Ministry of Trade and Commerce to designate this as a financial Special Economic Zone (SEZ). The first proposal was sent back as we need a particular amount of area to qualify for an SEZ. We tried to think out of the box by asking the government to consider built-up area, but it didnt work out. We still have an area that we can show as an absolute for the financial SEZ. That proposal is being put up. The ground-breaking will happen very soon, at the end of the year. We are looking forward to the IFSC coming up. We will have a bullet train going below it, connecting it. We are looking at Mumbais IFSC and GIFT complementing each other. GIFT has one amazing benefit that we dont and that is space... All your front offices can be in Mumbai, but those looking for a larger space can go to GIFT.

There was a fair amount of debate over the proposed mid-sea Shivaji memorial. There were petitions opposing it, questions raised about what it will do to the ecology, debate on whether it was a symbol for Mumbai and if the statue should come up at all.

I dont want to give any logic about Shivaji Maharaj to anyone. I think we should be proud of him, his way of governance. We dont know our culture. We dont know what Shivaji Maharaj has done. Sab ka saath, sab ka vikaas should actually be learnt from him. My father used to tell me if you forget your martyrs, you forget your heroes, you will always be vulnerable to invasion. So, when it is our culture we should not be questioning it. We are lucky this country is a complete democracy. There is nothing wrong in questioning something.

How is it working with BJP chief Amit Shah?

It is wonderful. I see in him and in our PM a devotion and dedication to work. There is always a time limit. As the youth wing president, I have a deadline to build my team. I have to make my calendar for the year. If there is a kind of responsibility and someone is looking at your capability and taking it forward, it is professionally wonderful. We youngsters need that.

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11 lakh Mumbaiites pledge to cast their votes

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The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) has ordered the Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation to pay Rs22.52 lakh as compensation to the relatives of a fisherwoman who died after falling off a VVMC bus. The tribunal also made the private bus operator, Bhagirathi Transport, Bhiwandi and the insurance company as party to the compensation.

The tribunal was hearing a petition filed by Valentine Philip Sajan (55) whose mother Philomena Sajan (54), a fisherwoman by profession, had fallen off a VVMC bus while travelling from Pachubunder port to Papdi village 18 December 2013. According to the petitioner, the bus was crowded but Philomena had somehow managed to board the bus. The driver of the bus, however, was driving rashly and did not heed the commuters requests to slow down. At a turn near the Vasai ST Depot, the driver suddenly applied the brake and Philomena lost her balance and fell off the bus. She sustained serious injuries on her head and other parts, claimed Sanjay Koli, a former corporator who supported the Sajan family in fighting the case.

He added that locals had rushed Philomena to Cardinal Gracias Hospital in Vasai where she succumbed to her injuries after 49 days. Speaking on behalf of the family, Koli said, We had approached the VVMC to give us monetary compensation as Philomena was the sole bread winner of her family and they had paid lakhs for her treatment. But the corporation refused to pay up and so we had to file a petition before the MACT.

He also said that after the verdict, the VVMC gave the Sajan family a cheque of Rs11 lakh which would be put in a fixed deposit and its interest would be paid to the family as well.

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After many pharmaceutical companies have withdrawn stents from hospitals to relabel them with revised tags following the cap on prices, the government on Thursday said that relabelling was not required.

On Thursday, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), which on Monday put a cap on stent prices, categorically stated that stent manufacturers may email the revised prices to retailers and dealers. Once this was done, relabelling the stents was not mandatory.

On Monday, NPPA put a cap on the prices of bare metal stents - the basic category - at Rs 7,260 and that of more advanced drug-eluting and bioresorbable stents at Rs 29,600. The authority made the move as patients often ended up paying 700% more than the manufacturing cost.

Doctors had said that the withdrawal of stents by the manufacturers had forced them to reschedule angioplasties. Relatively cheaper first and second generation stents were available at hospitals, but were not used in all cases. Doctors said that the latest drug eluting stents - which releases measured medication into the artery - may not be better than the older versions in terms of outcome and also, doctors find them easier to use.

Doctors are also worried that manufacturers may completely withdraw the latest stents from the Indian market as a reaction to the price capping. Dr Hashmukh Ravat, cardiologist at Fortis Hospital, Mulund, said that all the latest drug eluting stents are not available. Companies have taken the stents back to relabel them. I am not sure if we will get them back. he said. He added that it is mainly the international brands that have taken the stents back for relabelling.

However, a senior doctor from Bombay Hospital, Marine lines, who acknowledged that the price capping was a good move, said that the shortage of stents will not last for long. Most of these manufacturing companies have their offices in Mumbai. They will relabel the prices and return the stents in a couple of days, he said.

While price capping is expected to bring down the cost of angioplasty with hospitals issuing revised angioplasty packages, some doctors fear patients may end up paying more on the final hospital bill.

The hospitals are out to make profits. If they dont make profits on stent prices, they will increase the cost of consultation and hospitalisation, said a doctor from a hospital in Andheri.

Dr Arun Gadre of Jan Swasthya Abhyan, supported the capping of prices. Why are only doctors from private hospitals crying about re capping of prices? Bioabsorbable stents, which have been taken by the companies, are not superior in any way. So how can doctors say that patients are missing out on quality, he said.

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Govt caps coronary stent price at Rs 30,000 in relief for lakhs of patients
Former deputy chief minister and NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal has opposed the plea filed by two former employees of Mumbai Education Trust (MET), booked along with him in money laundering case, asking to turn approvers. Bhujbal has called it a deal they have struck with the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The two former employees of MET  Sudhir Salaskar and Amit Balraj  who are now listed as accused in the case, had on February 8, approached Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court expressing their desire to become prosecution witnesses. The special PMLA judge PR Bhavake had asked the prosecution and other accused to file their opinion of the plea.

On Friday, Bhujbals lawyer Shalabh Saxena filed a reply to the plea saying that the two were absconding and did not even appear before the court for 10 months after which the court had issued non-bailable warrants against them. He is also alleged that the application was moved in connivance with the ED.

The accused have constantly avoided the court and provided no explanation for such conduct. It is further submitted that after unexplained delay, the accused appeared before the court under some arrangement with Enforcement Directorate, which was further substantiated by instant no objection by the counsel appearing for ED to the applications of the accused, read an excerpt of the three-page reply filed by Saxena.

Salaskar was employed with MET from 1999 as an electrician and later left in 2012 and Balraj, a software engineer joined, worked with the company from July 2003 to 2015. Both Salaskar and Balraj were allegedly made directors in various companies by Bhujbals. ED who investigated the case had claimed that the Bhubals had incorporated these companies for money laundering.

Salaskar and Balraj are listed in the complaint filed by ED as accused in the case of money laundering by Bhujbals. The agency had in June 2015 filed a complaint before the PMLA court against 53 accused. The ED has in its complaint running into more than 11,000 pages alleged that from 2006, the Bhujbals and their associates laundered money to the tune of Rs 4,264.25 crore. The complaint further alleged that the former deputy CM laundered money to the tune of Rs 291.71 crore, while Sameer and Pankaj had laundered Rs 359.30 crore each.

READ MORE

Chhagan Bhujbal money laundering case : Former MET employees want to turn approvers

Money laundering case: court grants Pankaj Bhujbal relief from arrest

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Zakir Naiks confidant Aamir Gazdar, who was arrested on Thursday, will be produced in the special PMLA court on Friday afternoon. Enforcement Directorate (ED) is likely to seek his custody for investigating the money trail.

Sources revealed that Gazdars financial details, along with investments, are under scrutiny. This is the first arrest in the case. Though the central agency has summoned Zakir Naik, the televangelist has failed to appear before it. Gazdar has been alleged of staying in touch with Naik even after he fled the country. ED sources said that Gazdar, 55, managed the transaction of illegal cash for Naik.

The central agency has filed an enforcement case information report (ECIR) against Naik. The agency is probing whether his funds came from those who were inspired by his speeches or not. Gazdar also holds 10% shares in Longlast construction, the firm that was used to purchase several properties in the country. About 90% of its shares are owned by Naiks sister Nailah Noorani, said an ED official.

After a ban on the foundation, the NIA registered a case against Naik and Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) on charges of inciting Muslim youth to indulge in violence and promoting enmity on the basis of religion and race. The first information report (FIR) has accused him of delivering speeches that spread communal harmony. The agency also charged Naik with indulging in activities prejudicial to national integration.

Naik has not been in the country ever since reports emerged that his sermons influenced a few of the Bangladeshi attackers, who targeted an eatery in Dhaka on July 1, 2016. Bangladesh has banned Naiks Peace TV stating that it incited the attack in which 22 people were gunned down.

Also read: Zakir Naiks aide arrested for managing transaction of illegal cash

Mumbai enforcement directorate summons televangelist Zakir Naik

Zakir Naik: From a suave doctor to a polarising preacher on security radar

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University of Mumbais plans to make the examination process glitch-free seems to be progressing at a poor pace.

The plans, which included limited access to question papers that are sent electronically before the exams, were aimed to avoid paper leaks or distribution of wrong papers during exams. While three mock drills have been conducted across MU-affiliated colleges to test the safety measures, most have still not got the system right and are worried because examinations are set to begin in March.

Our college participated in two mock drills and it was unsuccessful both times. While its a good attempt by the university, it needs to be checked thoroughly before being implemented, said the principal of a suburban college, adding that the biggest problem with mock drills was the lack of prior notification. According to the new process, question papers can be downloaded by insetting a One Time Password (OTP) that is sent to the college principal. We suddenly receive the password and then end up running to the IT lab> BY then, the OTP expires, the principal said.

Until now, MU depended on the Electronic Paper Delivery System (EPDS) where the password for question papers was sent via SMS to the college principal and technical coordinator, an hour before the paper was to be held. Colleges were then supposed to download question papers, print and distribute copies. The new process will allow colleges to nominate four people from their examination or IT department, whose photo ids will be shared with MUs examination committee. A question paper can only be downloaded once the webcam scan approves the identity of the person, an OTP is submitted and the entire process will be recorded via CCTV cameras in the exam space in every college.

Many have also questioned the feasibility of this new method in all colleges, especially the ones beyond city limits. Many colleges struggle with basic computer and internet facilities, so the process will be a challenge for them. MU should also try and help such colleges to set up basic facilities that will help them download question papers according to the new process, said another principal.

Deepak Wasave, in-charge controller of examination for MU, told HT that the new process will make the entire process of downloading question papers more accountable. Itll seem hard right now but we are conducting as many mock drills as possible to ensure that colleges catch up with the process soon. We will also help colleges, if required, to upgrade their technology to be able to conduct the process smoothly, said Wasave.

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At Mumbai University, science and Vedas connect minds

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The National Green Tribunal (NGT) stayed till March 15 all construction activities of the SEEPZ-Colaba Metro-3 line at Aarey Milk Colony.

The order by the western bench of the NGT on Friday may further derail Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limiteds (MMRCL) project.

The forest department is expected to produce documents to show whether the area was a forest in the past.

On December 19, the Pune bench of NGT passed an interim order implementing a stay on all construction activities, including the car-shed on the 30-hectare plot, at Aarey. The tribunal was hearing a petition filed in 2015 by environment groups Vanashakti and Aarey Conservation Group (ACG), seeking protection for Aarey as no-development zone. On January 5, the NGT allowed MMRCL to construct a casting yard on a 3-hectare state land for the Metro-3 project, subject to mandatory clearances.

Vanashakti submitted an affidavit at the tribunal on Friday identifying 2,000 hectares of area under forests in the suburbs, including Aarey. We have produced the documents to show forest areas in Mumbai. However, the forest department claims that these areas are mangroves, but could not show documents to corroborate, said Stalin Dayanand, director, Vanashakti.

Since the forest department failed to produce the documents the tribunal had asked for, the stay was extended. A tribunal bench of Justice Jawad Rahim and Dr Ajay Deshpande directed the forest department to provide a detailed map of Aarey Colony, Goregaon, and whether some of its green cover had been identified as forests under detailed maps from 1997.

Officials from the forest department said they were unaware of the affidavit until the tribunal asked them to procure the documents. In 1997, the Supreme Court directed all state governments to prepare maps to identify forest cover in cities. While district collectors and revenue officials were in-charge of this, the maps were given to the forest department, said a senior official from the forest department. We are procuring the maps and will present the same to the tribunal by the next hearing.

Meanwhile, MMRCL officials said the petitioners were stalling the proceedings by submitting new affidavits during every hearing. The petitioners did not send the affidavit to respondents such as MMRCL, Union environment ministry and forest department before submitting it to the tribunal. In such a situation, the respondents cannot come up with a reply immediately and the tribunal will be forced to extend the date for hearing, said R Ramana, executive director (planning), MMRCL. Vanashakti is basically trying to drag the case by introducing new dimensions at every hearing.

Why you should care

On December 5, the Union Environment Ministry passed the final notification on the buffer zone  an area meant to protect the environment  around the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) up to 4km from its boundary and proposed the development and construction work at Aarey, which falls under the permitted eco-sensitive zone.

The notification identified the exclusion of 165 hectares from Aarey aimed at allowing construction activities at the green lung, including that for the Metro III project. However, the notification was published with a rider that it can only cleared subject to Supreme Court, High Court and NGT orders.

Promise to save Aarey or we wont vote for you

Three days ahead of the election, activists for the Save Aarey campaign have asked political parties to come clear on their stand to save the citys last remaining green lung. The activists have said they will refuse to vote for the party that does not commit to their cause and will also run a campaign on social media to dissuade citizens from voting for the party. The activists have begun a Vote to Save Mumbai and Vote to Save Aarey campaign on social media .

Raghu Ram, an actor who has supported the campaign, said, We are fighting for the future. If the authorities axe more than 2,000 trees in Aarey, it is not going to come back. We want parties to make their stand clear and we are telling them if you do not support Save Aarey then we will campaign against you. It is not a threat, but a request. Any construction activity on Aarey Colony in Goregaon has been opposed by residents and activists. The 3,160-acre area acts as a buffer for SGNP .

The state government has already proposed to construct a car depot for Metro-3 corridor , a labour camp for construction workers and a centralised operation control centre for all metro corridors at Aarey Colony. Preeti Menon, an Aam Aadmi Party leader said, Though CM Devendra Fadnavis had given his word that there will be no construction in Aarey, he took a U-turn. We will meet party leaders, ask what their stand is and put up their answers on social media .

Mumbai metro projects may be delayed by a year
The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of the Mumbai Customs intercepted a Saudi Arabian national and confiscated gold bars from his possession on Thursday night.

In his statement, Goya Ahmad Siraj A confessed that of the gold bars weighing 2.1 kg, 100 grams belonged to his cousin Fahild Ali, a Saudi Arabian national, while the rest was his. He also told us that he is employed by Saudi Arabian airline as ground service staff, said an AIU official.

Goya had flown in from Jeddah. The officials seized the gold bars worth Rs63.71 lakh from black pouches he had hidden in the pockets of the jeans he was wearing. The gold bars were confiscated under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962, while Goyas statement was recorded under Section 108 of the Customs Act.

He admitted to having knowledge, possession, carriage, concealment and recovery of the said gold bars which were being smuggled into India without payment of proper Customs duty and in contravention of provisions of the Customs Act.

Also read: 2 fliers caught smuggling Rs63 lakh gold in vest, socks at Mumbai airport

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In a letter despatched on Thursday evening, the State Election Commission (SEC) has asked the management of Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana to clear its stand in the next three days on the complaint it received from Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP has sought a ban on publication of the newspaper for three days during the elections alleging that the Sena could misuse it for campaigning, which the party claimed would further violate the election code of conduct.

BJP spokesperson Shweta Shalini had recently lodged a complaint with the SEC claiming violation of the code of conduct by the newspaper for publishing advertisements [political in nature] in its Ahmednagar edition despite code of conduct being imposed in the wake of the first phase of the civic polls held on Thursday. The SEC clarified that there was no scope or provision in the law for banning any newspaper for such reasons.

The newspaper has been asked to clarify its stand on the complaint regarding the violation of the SEC guidelines on publishing [political] advertisements. We have not said anything about the demand seeking ban on the newspaper, as there is no such provision. The newspaper has to submit its say in the next three days, said an SEC official.

The BJP claimed that Shiv Sena is likely to misuse its mouthpiece to woo electorate by publishing [political] advertisements in the last leg of the civic polls, so its publication should be banned on February 16, 20 and 21.

State Election commissioner JS Saharia told HT, We have sought Saamanas explanation on the points raised by the BJP. The further course of action will be decided once they clear their stand.

Also read: Stop peeping, focus on governance: Sena attacks PM Modi in its editorial Saamana
Paving the way for the trial in the Sheena Bora murder case to begin on February 23, the prosecution on Friday gave the names of three witnesses they are likely to produce in court, to the lawyers of the three accused.

The prosecution gave the list to the lawyers of former media tycoons Indrani and Peter Mukerjea and her first husband Sanjeev Khanna.

The court, on the demand of the prosecution, has asked the lawyers to keep the names of these witnesses secret until they appear before court to testify, to avoid any complications in the case. The prosecution said it will bring the first witness before court on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the special CBI judge HS Mahajan on Friday passed an order directing all the accused to first approach the jail authorities in case of any documentation work and communication to be made with any authorities, for example, a bank.

The move came after Peter alleged that Indrani had forged his signatures on a letter to the bank. Meanwhile, Indrani had taken permission of the court to sign some of the documents.

The lawyer of Khanna  Shreyansh Mithare  said that after the order, the accused will now have to first approach the jailer for permission to sign any documents, cheque or letter to be sent to any authorities. The court has said that only in a case where the jailer feels, he can refer the issue to the court, Mithare said.

Peter had alleged that Indrani forged his sign on two letters sent to two banks  Syndicate Bank, Worli and ANZ Bank, New Zealand. The couple holds joint bank accounts and around 49 NRE fixed deposit accounts with these banks. In these alleged letters, Peters lawyer Mihir Gheewala said Peter had written to the banks that he would like to relinquish his rights.

The special CBI judge HS Mahajan had also directed the banks to not accept any such request without any personal confirmation.

READ

Sheena Bora murder: Peter Mukerjea accuses Indrani of trying to gain control of their bank accounts

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The Mumbai crime branch has released photographs of two suspects, who bought suitcase three hours before the murder of a 12-year-old, from a shop in Malad on January 8. Both the suspects entered the shop around 4pm and were captured in the CCTV camera installed inside the shop, which is barely a few metres away from the Malad railway station.

During investigation, the crime branch contacted the company which manufactured the bag and took the details of all shopkeepers and wholesalers in the city that sold its products. The crime branch officers inquired with several shopkeepers and checked footage recorded by CCTV cameras installed in their shops to zero in on the Malad shop.

Both the suspects visited the shop around 4pm and asked for big trolley bag. My younger brother and one of the salesmen attended them. After finalising the bag, they gave a Rs2,000 note. The cost of the bag was around Rs1,400, the shopkeeper said, adding, Both were communicating in Hindi with the salesman. But conversed in their mother tongue with each other. Going by their dialect, they could either be from Jharkhand or areas bordering Jharkhand-Odisha.

Earlier, the Tilak Nagar police registered a murder case against unknown person after the body of the 12-year-old boy was found inside an abandoned suitcase near Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) in Kurla. After scrutinising CCTV camera footage, the LTT police arrested a porter, Ramesh Sankat from Madhya Pradesh on February 1, on the basis of suspicion. The porter was seen dragging the suitcase in which body was found from the parcel platform. However, after interrogation police found that the porter was not directly involved in the crime.

During interrogation, Sankat had told the police that he had found the suitcase near the terminus and dragged it near the platform assuming it might have contained some valuables. But when he opened it and saw a body of boy inside, he got so scared that he fled the city that the police would come looking for him.

The Mumbai crime branch and the Tilak Nagar police then continued their investigations to arrest the killer as well as to search boys parents to identify the body. The photographs have been circulated all the police station and also to informants to get leads about the suspects, said crime branch officer.

However, 90 days later, the boys identity remains a mystery despite police scanning every missing person complaints filed in the city and neighbouring districts, said a senior officer.

Also read: Mumbai police struggle to find leads in trolley-bag murder case
The first Union budget merged with the railway budget gave Maharashtra new rail projects worth Rs38,492 crore. This included three big-ticket suburban railway projects worth Rs28,546 crore. Also, around Rs4,995 crore was allocated for ongoing projects in the state.

The budget was announced on January 31 but these details were released by the zonal railways on Thursday, just five days before municipal corporation and district council elections in the state.

It stated that of the Rs4,995 crore allocated for ongoing projects Rs1,266 crore is for works under the Mumbai Urban Transport projects (MUTP).

The railways highlighted that Rs630 crore has been allocated for MUTP-II and other projects, while Rs636 crore is for that for MUTP-III.

These figures, however, differ from the details in the railways Work, Machinery and Rolling Stock Programme for 2017-18  popularly known as the pink book  which states that Rs137 crore and Rs411.49 crore have been allocated for MUTP-II and MUTP-III, respectively.

Apart from this, Rs1,182 crore has been allocated to Vidarbha, Rs780 crore to Marathwada and Rs810 crore to Konkan, while Western Maharashtra has been given Rs500 crore and North Maharashtra Rs 457 crore to fund its ongoing railway projects.

Officials from the Western Railway (WR) said that a provision of Rs2,341 crore has been made in the budget for new projects on its line.

According to Central Railway, three projects worth 28,546 crore have been sectioned for Mumbai.

It includes Rs12,131 crore for CST-Panvel elevated corridor, Rs8,787 crore for quadrupling the Vasai-Diva-Panvel line and Rs7, 628 crores Bandra-Virar elevated project.

Also read: Budget 2017: The numbers are deceiving, they hide more than they reveal

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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday told the court that televangelist Zakir Naik established dummy companies in the country as well as abroad to divert funds.

The central agency produced Aamir Gazdar, a close confidante of Naik, in front of a special Prevention of Money Laundering Court (PMLA) on Friday. He has been sent to ED custody for five days after prosecution said that Gazdar played a pivotal role in acquiring and disposing of the cash. Dummy companies were used to camouflage the diversion of funds received by Naik though his illegal activities of provocative speeches, read the remand report.

The agency also revealed that videos of provocative speeches were produced and sent to Dubai for telecasting. Huge amount of cash transactions without levying any trail of its origin or utilisation thereof, were conducted by Naik through Gazdar. The cash amounts were collected and provided to the employees/officials of the IRF trust, read the report.

It further read, The obvious attempt of Gazdar appears to be aimed at not only protecting himself, but also providing cover for Naik from lawful actions,

ED revealed that Gazdar is a director in at least six companies established by Naik. Two companies are in the England- Universal broadcasting corporation Ltd and Lords production Inc Ltd, England and four others based in Mumbai  Harmony Media Pvt Ltd, Long-lost constructions Pvt Ltd, Majestic Perfumes Pvt Ltd and Alpha Lubricants Pvt Ltd.

ED counsel Hiten Venegaonkar sought six days of custody. He cited a government notification declaring Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) to be an unlawful association. IRF has been receiving several crores of rupees. Neither the generation of the cash or the utilisation could be probed as Naik is absconding, he said while demanding custody of Gazdar as he was hiding more than he was revealing.

During the first statement, Gazdar denied any links with the companies, but he was shown the proofs and then the second statement was recorded, argued Venegaonkar. The defence argued that Gazdar has appeared before the agencies every time he has been summoned.

ED has been demanding details of the account. However, the papers are already in possession of the National Investigating Agency (NIA), argued advocate Taraq Sayyed ,who appeared with advocate Mahesh Mule.

Whats the case?

Aamir Gazdar was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate under Section 19 of the PMLA on Thursday at 7.30 pm. The ED alleged that he is aware of the activities of Dr Zakir Naik and has been constantly in touch with him.

After a ban on the IRF, the NIA registered a case against Naik and the IRF on charges of inciting Muslim youth to indulge in violence and promoting enmity between groups on the basis of religion and race The FIR has accused him of giving speeches that disturb communal harmony. The agency also charged Naik with indulging in activities that harm national integration. Naik has been out of the country after reports emerged that his sermons influenced a few of the Bangladeshi attackers, who targeted an eatery in Dhaka on July 1. Bangladesh has banned Naiks Peace TV, saying it incited the attack on a Dhaka cafe in which 22 people were gunned down.

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The Ghaziabad police team that reached Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh on Friday morning to find a missing 12-year-old girl from the city found that she had run away from home as she could not complete her school science assignment, police said. The girl, Archie Yadav, was caught in a CCTV camera running outside her house on the afternoon of February 13.

Ghaziabad police on Friday said Yadav had fled her house at Indirapuram because she was unable to complete her assignments at school. The girl, a student of class 6 at a private school in Vaishali, was spotted by the Kangra police at a bus stand in the district on February 14.

When asked, she said her name was Tina Devi and she had run away from an orphanage in Haridwar where she was harassed by two staff members Suman and Suresh. When the police tried to verify this, the information was found to be incorrect. She also said she was studying in Father Agnel School, Haridwar, but this also could not be verified. Then she told them about her Ghaziabad school and gave them her familys mobile number. She said she was abducted from her house by two courier boys, said Salmantaj Patil, officiating senior superintendent of police (SSP), Ghaziabad.

He added that her various statements were recorded in the police general diary at Kangra.

However, the police then told her that she was seen running from her house in CCTV footage. She then said she had been worried about her science assignment at school. She said she had completed her physics assignment, but could not complete the one for chemistry. We verified and corroborated this with her school teacher who said that Archie was told to complete the pending chemistry assignment within time, Patil added.

During initial investigation among her neighbours, a senior citizen couple had told police that Archie was sitting with them after returning from her school on February 13 and had looked upset.

Police said they also checked her familys mobile phone and landline call details but did not find any suspicious calls. They were checking whether any person had called her and asked her to come out of the house.

Her mother had left her inside the house after locking the main door from outside. She made a call at 2.51pm and spoke to the girl who was at home at the time. Later, the girl was seen running away in a CCTV camera outside the house. How she reached Kangra is yet to be known. Once she returns with the police team and her parents, we will provide her counselling and get her statements recorded before a magistrate. Her medical examination will also be conducted, the SSP added. Officials said they have not concluded investigation in the case.

Archies parents, who are with her in Kangra now, did not take any calls. On Thursday, her father Subhash Yadav had claimed that his daughter was hypnotised by an unknown woman and abducted. However, police said there is no evidence of her going away with any woman and a neighbour also saw her alone on the afternoon of February 13.

After her disappearance, locals had staged a protest and burnt several shanties in Indirapuram. Police have lodged an FIR against unidentified persons and are on the lookout for miscreants in the case.

Archie had left the house after opening the main door with a set of keys kept inside the house. Her mother had gone to pick up her other daughter and had locked the main door from outside. On leaving the house, Archie again locked the main door and kept the keys on the stairs.

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The special investigating team (SIT) constituted to probe Ablaze Info Solutions Private Limited, an alleged Ponzi firm run by Anubhav Mittal, is also investigating the dealings of more than a dozen companies/firms engaged in a cashback business. According to SIT officials, such firms were paid for providing services that never existed.

Officials added that the connection of such firms, based in Delhi-NCR, is being probed as part of the investigation related to Ablaze. They suspect Ablaze paid a huge amount to such firms through banking channels.

We found in our investigation that payments were made by Ablaze on account of availing services from such firms, but no services were found to be provided in return. The amount was later returned in cash. It is suspected that such firms kept their cuts and paid back in cash. We are probing such firms and the amount circulated in such a manner, said Rajiv Narayan Mishra, additional superintendent of police, Uttar Pradesh special task force (UP-STF).

Another part of the investigation aims to find out the activities of 15 members of the core group who were behind Ablazes business. A wider search is also underway for suspicious diamond distributors. Officials related to the investigation had said a core group of around 200 persons, including gold and diamond distributors, who could be behind the suspicious transactions allegedly carried out by Ablaze officials.

They added that the information provided by Ablaze managing director Mittal during his police remand is being probed. According to the SIT, the clinching evidence in the alleged Ponzi scheme is that Ablaze has no source of revenue other than money collected from subscribers.

This company has no other source of revenue other than subscription by members. Their membership fee was circulated for paying commission and meeting establishment expenses. Money was circulated while new people were added with the promise of double or triple returns to investors. All this was done without any other revenue source. This proves a fraudulent objective, Mishra added.

According to the investigating officials, the wrong objective receipts dealt with by Mittal and his company amounted to nearly Rs 3,726 crore and nearly 6.5 lakh customers were duped.

On February 2, the UP-STF had arrested Mittal, along with companys CEO Shreedhar Prasad and technical head Mahesh Kumar. Later, they also arrested Atul Mishra, a relationship manager with Yes Bank, for allegedly entering into a criminal conspiracy with Mittal and providing him prior information about the banks suspicious transaction reports, raids and investigations.

Apart from the SIT, which is being helped by UP-STF, the enforcement directorate has also registered a case of money laundering on the basis of the FIR registered by the UP-STF in connection with the alleged multilevel marketing Ponzi scheme in Noida.

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Getting his pictures clicked and waving his tail excitedly, three-month-old Casper, a Labrador pup, is easily the star at the Noida Expo Centre. However, Casper has a story of abuse and acceptance to share.

A month ago, Casper was rescued from his alleged abusive owners by a Delhi based pet adoption coordinator, Ria, who claims that he has become a part of her family since then.

Ria, an Indraprastha University student, claims that since the day she rescued and adopted the pup, he has become the focal point of her life.

A Maltese puppy enjoys a grooming session at the the 9th India International Pet Trade Fair in Noida on Friday. (Virendra Singh Gosain/HT PHOTO)

He used to be chained all day long and his owners did not treat him well. When we rescued him, he was extremely malnourished. But a month-long care and grooming has changed his life and mine as well. My life revolves around Casper and vice versa, Ria said.

Noida: Pet care industry has everything to gain from India, say experts

Ria escorted Casper to Noida Expo Centre to attend the inauguration of a three-day long 9th India International Pet Trade Fair (IIPT). The fair has been organised by LB Associates and Creature Companion magazine, in an effort to bring pet lovers across Delhi-NCR together and to boost the pet trade industry.

Toy poodles at the first-ever pet trade fair underway in Noida. (Virendra Singh Gosain/HT PHOTO)

The first day of the fair saw hundreds of pet lovers and potential adopters buying pet products and accessories from more than 70 stalls put up at the expo centre.

Many pet owners claimed that since the day they adopted a pet, their lives have changed as the animal has brought positive vibes to their lives.

Aakansha Sharma, a 26 year-old-fashion merchandiser from Chandar Nagar, Ghaziabad, explains how her one-year-old pug Scotch has brought her family together.

Aakansha Sharma, a 26 year-old-fashion merchandiser, with one-year-old Scotch. (Virendra Singh Gosain/HT PHOTO)

Earlier, all four of us were busy in our individual lives, but Scotch has brought us back together. Like a television, he has become the centre of attraction in our family. It is true that pets bring positive vibes, remove stress and make the world a better place, Sharma said.

Similarly, 22-year-old Sudhir, a BTech student of Ambedkar Institute of Technology, is delighted to get a pet in his family after a span of 12 years.

Weve had three pets and when all of them died, our family was overcome with grief. It is after 12 years that I have got three more pets into my family and now all are elated, Sudhir said.

However, pet lovers believe that mere compassion for animals is not the only requisite for a person to adopt an animal.

It is important that the owner is ready before adopting a pet. You cannot leave them unattended, chained for hours. They need love and care and owners have to treat them like their own child, Sharma said.

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Barely 60km from the national capital, a 25-year-old man from a village in Bhojpur, Ghaziabad, was allegedly beaten up and forced to drink urine as punishment during a panchayat on February 14. His crime  he allegedly peeped into houses in a drunken state on February 10.

Shamed and humiliated publicly, the man tried to commit suicide and then left his house with family. According to villagers, the man is an alcoholic and he peeped into rooms of houses of influential men.

It is alleged that women were inside the house and objected to his move. The men lodged a police complaint at Bhojpur police station and later decided to teach him a lesson. They called him to a panchayat on the afternoon of February 14.

There were around 100-200 people in the panchayat. The man was beaten up and forced to drink urine. Thoroughly humiliated, he tried to commit suicide but was saved by the locals. Since then, he and his wife have fled the village, said Shahid Chaudhary, gram pradhan.

The man went to his house and poured kerosene on himself and tried to set himself afire. But locals barged in and saved him. He is a habitual alcoholic and had peeped into houses before as well. Then too he was beaten up. His family has fled and we dont know where they are, said Kamlesh Devi, another resident.

Villagers said that during the panchayat, the man was also beaten with slippers by women.

After the incident, the wife of the victim gave a written complaint at Bhojpur police station but the officers failed to act. On Friday, when senior officers in Ghaziabad city came to know of the incident, they ordered an FIR against the accused.

We have lodged an FIR. The accused persons have alleged that the man peeped into houses. The panchayat was held to solve the issue and the victim was ready to accept that he was at fault. We will also provide him protection if he comes forward. We have told the Bhojpur officials to take up the investigation at the earliest, said Salmantaj Patil, officiating senior superintendent of police, Ghaziabad.

Officials said an FIR was lodged at Bhojpur police station against the accused persons under section 352 (assault), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 500 (defamation) of the IPC.

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Over 25 artists participated in a poster-making competition on the second of the three-day Amity Youth Festival organised by Amity School of Foreign Languages.

Artists from Bharti College, Delhi University and Amity University participated enthusiastically to display their creativity and to spread the message of one world.

The participants were judged on the basis of their creativity and how they used their imagination to bring out the theme.

As part of the festival, an air show, organised by Amity Institute of Space Science and Technology and Amity Institute of Aerospace Engineering, had aeronautical and engineering students showcasing their innovation and creativity by designing drones and flyers.

The show saw the participation of more than 50 students who displayed models, including a heavy transport aircraft, triplane, H-shaped tail design planes, trainer and nitro-planes, among others.

Nrityash  a classical dance competition  had 18 teams from across Delhi- NCR participating. Students showcased their talent in several classical dance forms such as Thumri, Bharatanatyam, Odissi, Manipuri and Kathak.

The competition was judged by Saswati Sen, renowned exponent of Kathak. She said all dance performances were a visual feast and reflected the dedication of dancers towards maintaining the sacredness of a tradition, but in a creative manner.

She said the Indian classical dance reflects the glorious past and greatness of the nation and still holds pride of place in the field of dance.

The festival began on Thursday with thousands of students from colleges and institutions across Delhi-NCR taking part in it. The first day of the festival saw over 60 inter-institutional events, competitions and workshops.

On Thursday, a mock parliament was organised by Amity Law School, Centre-II. Justice Iqbal Ahmed Ansari, former chief Justice, Patna High Court, and Tarun Vijay, BJP leader and former Member Parliament, addressed the law students.

Students were divided into four groups  the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha, a stakeholders meet and a futuristic war cabinet  and were told to discuss various agendas such as demonetisation, foreign policy, personal law and Indo-Pak War.

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A speeding car allegedly mowed down a two-and-a-half-year old boy at B block in Lajpat Nagar, Sahibabad, on Thursday night.

According to family members of the victim, Adhyan, he was on his way to his house from his fathers car workshop next door, around 9pm on Thursday night when the car, allegedly driven by one Umang Goel, hit him.

The car was speeding and hit the boy. He came under the tyres and his head was crushed. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where the doctors declared him dead. The car driver was trying to flee, but was stopped by locals. Police were informed and the driver handed over, said Soni Kumar, an employee at the workshop of boys father, Sachin Arora.

After the police arrived, they picked up the driver, seized the car, and towed it to Sahibabad police station where a police complaint was lodged by the victims family.

We have arrested the driver and also seized the car involved in the accident. An FIR has also been lodged in the incident, said Anup Singh, circle officer (Sahibabad).

The police have lodged the FIR under sections for rash driving and causing death by negligence.

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Submission of PAN cards has ceased to be mandatory for co-borrowers in loans taken out under the student credit card scheme, under which students are entitled to get loans up to a sum of Rs 4 lakh for higher studies.It would henceforth be optional.

This was decided on Friday at a state level bankers committee ((SLBC) meeting, chaired by state finance minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui. Chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, cooperative minister Alok Mehta and top officials of prominent commercial and private banks were present.

Giving PAN number by co-borrowers under the student credit card scheme would henceforth be optional, said the chief secretary.

The new provision is aimed to ease the process of securing the loans and give relief to parents not having PAN cards but want to become co-borrowers in loans disbursed to their wards.

The other key decisions taken at the review meeting of banking operations was to stress on seeding Aadhaar card with all bank accounts of beneficiaries of social welfare schemes and to increase the disbursement of loans in various key sectors, including the agriculture sector.

At the meeting, Siddiqui sternly told bankers to shore up their performance in opening new branches and disbursing loans in agriculture and allied sectors, micro services, small enterprises. He was upset to find only 114 branches were opened in 2016-17 against the target of 1640 branches.

 A large number of banks have not opened a single branch. This is not acceptable. Loan disbursements in key sectors is also not satisfactory, he said, cautioning representatives of laggard banks not to attend the next SLBC meeting if they failed to gear up their act.

But we are grateful to bankers for the services provided to people of the state despite odds after demonetisation, he said.

RBI regional director N P Toppno also urged bankers to increase disbursements and not hide behind the alibi of demonetisation for low rate of credit disbursal. He said incidents on bank loot demoralised bankers. But in Bihar the law and order situation is far better now even though some incidents have happened, he said.

Toppno also pulled up bankers over reports that some banks were not accepting Rs 10 coins. He urged the finance minister to look into ways to mitigate the problem of non-performing assets (bad loans).

CJM, NABARD Ravi Avtaar Mishra and CJM, State Bank of India Ajit Sood.were among those who attended the meeting.

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The Punjab and Haryana high court on Friday imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on the petitioner for failing to submit a list of witnesses in a petition challenging Navjot Singh Sidhus 2009 Lok Sabha election from the Amritsar parliamentary segment.

During the resumed hearing on Friday, the high court bench of justice Surya Kant asked the petitioners lawyer, Sunny Saggar, to deposit Rs 25,000 by March 24, and allowed him to supply list of witnesses. The order to supply the list was passed in March 2016, but the petitioners lawyer had been seeking time on various grounds.

Om Prakash Soni, who had contested against Sidhu had challenged the election in 2009. Soni had alleged that Sidhu had got 11 officials of his choice, including deputy commissioner-cum-returning officer, transferred or posted in Amritsar.

Advocate Dheeraj Jain, who appeared for Sidhu, said that earlier Soni had agreed in the Supreme Court to withdraw the petition after Sidhu had moved the apex court against a high court order in 2011. Hence, the petition filed there was withdrawn. But later, he retracted in the high court and said he wanted to pursue the case. The petitioners side failed to supply the list on Friday following which HC imposed a fine on him, Jain added.
A month-long suspense over election results can be killing. But Punjabs netas seem to know how to unwind. While some have taken to foreign shores and detox treatments, at least one is using the break to eat home-grown strawberries and write a book.

Voting to elect a new government in the state was held on February 4 and results will be declared only on March 11.

Stand-up comedian Bhagwant Mann, who addressed nearly 1,000 rallies as a star campaigner for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the run-up to the polls, is detoxifying in Bengaluru with party chief Arvind Kejriwal.

Kejriwal had tweeted missives to the Election Commission about lapses in guarding of EVMs in Punjab before heading for a strict detoxification regime at a naturopathy centre in Bengaluru.

Kejriwal and Durgesh Pathak went to the centre last week. Mann joined them after three days, an AAP source said.

Stand-up comedian Bhagwant Mann (in yellow turban) is detoxifying in Bengaluru with AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal. (PTI)

Courting both the AAP and the Congress in Punjab is not a joke. But actor Kapil Sharma is doing so and how.

After high-octane campaigning in his seat Batala, Punjab AAP convener Gurpreet Singh Waraich aka Ghuggi is busy shooting for a Punjabi movie in Mohali, being produced by Kapil Sharma.

I am trying to complete pending projects. Currently, I am shooting for a Punjabi remake of a Marathi movie with Kapil Sharma, Ghuggi told HT.

Back in Mumbai, Kapil has been humouring Navjot Singh Sidhu, Congress new poster-boy, who has returned to his comedy show after the whirlwind campaigning in Punjab, saying he would soon be sitting on a bigger seat (read government post).

The father-son Badal duo are using the break for attending to health and family.

Chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, who was admitted to the PGI, Chandigarh, twice in the last one year, is expected to return from the US on February 17 after a thorough medical examination.

His son and deputy CM, Sukhbir Badal, and daughter-in-law, Union minister Harsimrat Badal, are also in the US with family and will return on February 20, a week before the Delhi Gurdwara Management Committee (DGMC) elections on February 26.

Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal is in the US for medical treatment. (PTI )

One of the Badal ministers, Janmeja Singh Sekhon, has publicly announced that they need rest after running the government for two terms.

Sarkar vich bohut mehnat kiti ae. Thakke thukke hoye aa. Relax hon layi family te team nu Bangkok, Hong Kong te Dubai de tour te le chale aa (We have been in the government and are tired. I am taking family and team to Bangkok, Hong Kong and Dubai for a vacation), Sekhon is heard saying in a YouTube clip posted by a Punjabi news channel.

Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh is busy relishing home-grown strawberries in his Sector 10 residence in Chandigarh while preparing for two book releases. (PTI)

As for the Congress CM face, Captain Amarinder Singh, it is time to nurse a bruised ankle.

Advised rest, the state party chief is spending time relishing home-grown strawberries in his Sector 10 residence in Chandigarh while preparing for two book releases. The first, an authorised biography on him  The Peoples Maharaja  is slated for February 21 release. Then comes wedding of his grandson, Nirvan, in the first week of March.

Also set for release before the election verdict is Amarinders account of the Battle of Saragarhi, on how 36 Sikh Regiment fought Afridi tribals in Pakistans North West Frontier Province in 1897.

Wiser from the 2012 polls, when the former Patiala royal and his team had appointed loyalists as cabinet ministers and blue-eyed officers on plum posts before the results, the Captain is not jumping the gun this time.

It is safer to stick to history.

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Scissors from Israel for safe plucking, and wax from Spain for better shelf life, were key steps that Punjab Agro Industries Corporation (PAIC) took over a month ago to compete as a global exporter of the citrus fruit kinnow to as far as Russia and the UK, competing with neighbouring Pakistan.

This week, Punjabs containers of kinnow touched the shores of Russia at St Petersburg, while the states first ever consignment of the fruit for the UK would be flagged off from the PAICs grading and waxing centre at Badal village near here by the coming Sunday, February 19.

The PAIC, a state undertaking, has set a target of exporting nearly 25,000 metric tonnes of the fruit by the next season, beginning December 2017. The target would be accomplished through either direct exports or by facilitating the states private exporters, PAIC general manager (exports) Ranbir Singh said.

The 25,000 MT target still is way short of Pakistans 3 lakh MTs already being exported to the West.

We (in Indian Punjab) simply never explored the potential, said Ranbir Singh.

Eight containers , 192 MTs in all, would be heading for the UK over the next 2 weeks, while the consignment already shipped to Russia was of 144 MTs in six containers.

EXPERTISE FROM SPAIN

Food processing expert Miguel Gregori from Spain was at the PAICs plant in Badal village on Thursday, sharing tips with the officials. Migueal, who works for a Spanish firm, also held a workshop of the kinnow growers at Abohar in Fazilka district that covers 60% of the states area under kinnow.

A distance of not more than 6 inches should be kept between the fruit and the wax-spraying nozzle, he stressed at another plant of a private kinnow grower and exporter near Abohar.

Migueal was scheduled to also visit Hoshiarpur district that holds 11% share in the states kinnow production.

The waxing was actually a challenge for us, looking at the standards of the global food-export market, Ranbir told HT, reasoning why the import of wax from Spain. The new edible wax contains a fungicide that increases the shelf life of the fruit, he added.

THE HICCUPS

Abohars Surinder Kumar, an exporter who farms 2,000 acres on lease, said the lack of refrigerated trucks led to 50% of the kinnow sold at throwaway prices in local market in Punjab only this season.

We are dependent on the truckers of Delhi for the cold chain supply, and the onset of summers will escalate our problem. Thousands of tonnes of consignments are yet to be lifted to meet the demand in the southern states, he said.

PAIC managing director KS Pannu acknowledged the lack of a cold chain. He, however, stated that the corporation has already developed an outsourcing mechanism for marketing the produce in southern states such as Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala.

He said permission has been granted from the central excise department for stuffing of kinnow in containers at the pack houses directly, so that the produce does not have to be unloaded at ports for clearance.

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Chandigarh police has intensified the security outside all the schools, including the private ones, following the case of women kidnappers on the prowl.The sketches of the suspected women were released by the police.

Police sources said that random checking is being carried out after the two alleged abduction bids on two girl students studying in government primary schools emerged last week.

Eish Singhal, SSP, Chandigarh, said, We have intensified patrolling near schools. Random checking is also taking place near all the schools.

Vivek High School, Sector 38, has already put up sketches of the alleged women kidnappers on the notice boards, with a warning, Beware of these women.

HS Mamik, chairman of the school, said, Some students father was in police department, who must be vigilant about the caseand that is how we received a communication from the police to keep a tight look out and also to put up the sketches on the notice board of the women kidnappers. The case is not to be taken lightly.

We have three security officials at the gate now, including a woman, to keep a tab on the entry and exit of students, parents and visitors, he added.

ABS Sidhu, director principal at Saupins School, Sector 32, said, We have three security officials at the school gate apart from other security measures. There are adequate arrangements in and around the premises to care of children.

Vikrant Suri, principal of Tender Heart School, Sector 33, also said that the school has been following all norms, from adequate security guards at the entrance to installing the CCTV cameras at the required areas.

Kavita Das, principal of St Johns School, Sector 26, said, Although we have received no instructions as such from the police, we already have adequate security arrangements on the school. We make sure that our children when they are on the campus are not exposed to strangers.

We have special school stickers and the vehicles bearing those stickers only can enter the premises, she said.
The Ghazi Attack, starring Rana Daggubati, Kay Kay Menon, Atul Kulkarni and the late Om Puri, which releases on February 17, is a film you must watch. Rarely does one come across a war film in India that looks convincing, that is mounted well and, above all, steers clear of any kind of sentimentality and jingoism. On all these scores, The Ghazi Attack scores high. And heres how.

Taut thriller

One of the biggest flaws in our filmmaking is the tendency to dilute the focus of a story. How often has it happened that you were watching a movie and went Noooooo, when the hero and heroine burst into a song-and-dance routine? Often, right. That is because we often look for shortcuts to make our films commercially viable.

It is not to say that a song-and-dance sequence doesnt have its worth. Every work of art is set in a certain cultural context and a song can be a strong narrative technique if used properly (recall the soul-stirring Kar Chale Hum Fida from Haqeeqat (1964), written by the legendary Kaifi Azmi). Its just that, in our films, we mess it up. It is also safe to say that in a gritty, edge-of-the-seat thrillers, one can do without them.

Thankfully, The Ghazi Attack, steers clear of any of this. At just under two hours, the film stays focused on the storythe destruction of PNS Ghazi, the Pakistani submarine by Indian submarine S21 ahead of 1971 India-Pak (Bangladesh Liberation) war. The film tells the story of a group of naval officers, onboard S21, who spent 18 days under water, off the coast of Vishakhapatnam (the headquarters of Eastern Naval Command) and fight a pitched battle with the Pak submarine on a mine-laying mission in the Bay of Bengal.

War film: Be authentic, not a caricature

Authenticity is an absolute must in any war film. In an interview with The Quint, writer-director Sankalp Reddy revealed how he spent nearly a year in a submarine while researching for his film (which is also based on his earlier book  Blue Fish: The War Beneath, based on the same incident).

The research work itself took him eight months, helping him create the submarine sets and understand how the navy functions.

When one does a reality-based drama, getting the look and feel, the language, the work ethics, etc. correct is critical and that is where we falter so badly. From the stripes, lapels, turbans, caps, arm and chest badges, medals, name tally, boots and gaiters, shoulder straps to gilt buttons, a good filmmaker will be careful about all these details. Sankalp seems to have taken care of such details.

Given that The Ghazi Attack was filmed almost entirely inside a set, recreating the inside of a submarine, right to its minutest details deserves applause. (If you have ever been inside one, like this writer has been in Vishakhapatnam, you would know that these men work in a very constricted space full of machinery). The corresponding computer graphics of the war sequences too have to be chalked out with tremendous care.

HTs reviewer Gautaman Bhaskaran says, Shot splendidly inside what looks like a real submarine, Ghazi has been mounted with a fair degree of authenticity and scripted quite impressively. Admittedly, the film may not be comparable to some of Hollywoods unforgettable war classics, like Von Ryans Express and Battle of the Bulge. But given the kind of handicaps Indian cinema faces in terms of budget and special effects, Ghazi is remarkable in the way it presents some of the most tense moments when the Indian submarine hits a landmine planted by the Pakistani vessel.

Emotions and intelligence, not sentimentality and hyperbole

In times of shrill nationalism, it is rewarding to see a film that channels emotions and intelligence in equal measure and stays away from sentimentality and hyperbole. One is reminded of the 1997 film, Border, starring a bevy of Bollywood stars such as Sunny Deol, Sunil Shetty and Jackie Shroff. It was reportedly based on a Battle of Longewala, one of the most-talked about battles on the Western front during the India-Pakistan 1971 war.

It is tiring watching a work like Border, given the amount of loud dialogues and theatrics one sees, the jarring background score, clearly meant to titillate and the unprofessional acting. A war needs strategy, superior fire power and technology and collective bravery of its soldiers to be won. Can you imagine a soldier shout the way Sunny Deol does in the film? Yes, all military units have their war cries (Jai Ma Kali, Ayo Gorkhali of the Gorkha Rifles, for instance) but the manner in which they show in our films is, at best, hilarious.

Thankfully, The Ghazi Attack, does none of that. In fact, the film shows how Rana Daggubatis character Lieutenant-Commander Arjun Varma is sent to keep the haughty but highly intelligent Captain Ranvijay Singh (played by Kay Kay Menon) in check as the ship sails on a secret mission just before the 1971 war breaks out. Besides him, Atul Kulkarnis character is presented as a picture of restraint, who, as the executive officer Devraj, on board the submarine, has to keep the peace between a brash and ready-to-torpedo-the-Pakistani-submarine Singh and Varma.

Changing the face of Indian armed forces in films

We certainly seem to have come a long way from films such as LOC Kargil (2003). Movies like Paan Singh Tomar (2010), Bhag Milkha Bhag (2013) and Lakshya (2014) have been, at least, attempting to show war and army life in all its authenticity. We still have a long way to go and some of the reason might just be constraints of budget, expertise with special effects and commercial interests.

One is reminded of films like Saving Private Ryan (1998; based on Invasion of Normandy and its 27-minute long opening sequence which includes a depiction of the Omaha Beach assault during the Normandy landings) that had an almost documentary-like feel to it and David Leans The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) for its gritty and realistic depiction of WWII.



Follow @htshowbiz for more

The author tweets @mniveditatweets

ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop
A doctor in northern Spain says a 64-year-old woman has given birth to healthy twins following her second successful pregnancy at an advanced age.

Recoletas Hospital medical director Enrique Martin said Thursday that the babies delivered by cesarean section on Tuesday are perfectly healthy.

The twins are a boy who weighed 2.4 kilograms and a girl who weighed 2.2 kilograms Diario de Burgos newspaper reports their mother had her first child at age 58, but her daughter has been in the custody of local authorities since 2014 because she didnt attend school and was not properly cared for.

The Spanish woman became pregnant a second time after seeking in-vitro fertilization in the United States. She is being identified only by her initials, MIA.

Martin confirmed that the hospital was discussing with the regional governments social services the womans ability and resources to take care of the newborns. But the doctor said that he was proud of his teams achievement in providing an adequate medical response to a difficult situation.

She showed up four months pregnant at the gates of our hospital and all we could do was face the situation and react, the doctor said.

Laws in Spain dont establish legal limits on the maximum age for assisted reproduction but the Spanish Fertility Society discourages treatments for women over 50.

Last year, a 62-year-old doctor who specializes in IVF treatments in the northwestern city of Lugo appeared before cameras last year holding her third baby in her arms.

Lina Alvarez became a symbol for many women as she encouraged them to follow her lead, but she was also the target of criticism as many considered a woman her age incapable of taking care of children in a proper manner.

Critics have referred to the case of Carmen Bousada, a 67-year-old woman from Cadiz who paid a US fertility clinic to help her become pregnant and died of cancer in 2006, three years after giving birth to twins. According to local media reports, the children are now under the care of Bousadas nephew.
More than 100 militants were killed in a sweeping crackdown launched by Pakistani security forces a day after a suicide attack claimed by the Islamic State left 81 dead at a crowded Sufi shrine.

Thursdays attack at the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sindh province was preceded by suicide attacks in Lahore and the northwest. The surge of violence that has claimed more than 100 lives in a week has shaken the confidence of Pakistanis after a recent improvement in the security situation.

The attacks also came at a time when Pakistans civil and military leadership had been congratulating itself for defeating terrorism across the country. Army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa pledged to avenge the deaths and said there would be no more restraint for anyone.

Crackdown targets militant groups across the country

The army and paramilitary forces launched operations in Karachi and other parts of Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces and the tribal areas. Over 100 terrorists have been killed since last night and sizeable apprehensions also made, said a statement from the militarys media arm.

Eighteen militants were killed in different parts of Karachi alone since Thursday night and scores were arrested in different cities.

Afghan embassy officials were called to the army headquarters in Rawalpindi and asked to hand over 76 terrorists hiding in Afghanistan, military spokesman Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor tweeted. The border with Afghanistan was also closed for security reasons, he added.

Pakistani volunteers stand beside the bodies of suspected militants killed in an overnight raid on their hideouts by security forces as they lie in a mortuary in Karachi on February 17, 2017. (AFP)

The death toll in the suicide bombing at the Sufi shrine at Sehwan in Sindh province rose to 81 on Friday and more than 250 people were admitted to different hospitals, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

Amaq news agency, which is affiliated to the IS, claimed the attack. The shrine attracts large crowds on Thursdays and the suicide bomber struck when thousands had gathered for dhamaal, a Sufi ritual of singing and dancing.

Questions raised on militarys claims about wiping out militant groups

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said he would do everything in his power to protect the country but people questioned how terrorism had raised its head again after claims that the military operation in the tribal areas had wiped out most militant groups.

Read | Pakistan launches security crackdown as nation mourns Sufi shrine blast victims

The military began its operations in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and in Karachi in 2014 and 2016 respectively. Former army chief, Gen Raheel Sharif, had declared two years of success and said Pakistan was safer as a result of the campaign. Violence-related fatalities dropped from 7,611 in 2014 to 4,653 in 2015 to about 2,560 in 2016, and observers agreed the overall security situation had improved significantly.

But this week, all claims of success were turned on their head. Though the Pakistan Army has asked Afghanistan to hand over terrorists hiding in its territory, analysts believe this isnt the solution.

We cannot keep on insisting the problem is elsewhere. It is here. It is in our midst, said security analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi. Others such as analyst Ayesha Siddiqa pointed to the proliferation of militant groups in southern Punjab and upper Sindh. Hundreds of madrassas have been established by militant groups, which use them to recruit and train young men and collect funds.

No operations in Sindh or Punjab

Despite repeated promises, the federal government has not allowed any operation in upper Sindh or southern Punjab because many of the militant groups are patronised by elements in the ruling PML-N party.

A number of sectarian and extremist organisations are political allies of the PML-N, Rizvi said.

The military is ready to start a sweep and even announced its intention to do so after the suicide attack in the heart of Lahore on Monday. But the military also patronises other militant groups which are used to launch attacks into India and to aid in security operations in Balochistan.

A view of the deserted tomb of Sufi saint Syed Usman Marwandi, also known as Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, after it was closed to the public following Thursday's suicide attack in Sehwan in Pakistan's southern Sindh province. (Reuters)

Because there is a difference of opinion on whom to arrest and who to let go, the operation against militants remains a non-starter, said Rizvi.

Thursdays suicide bombing was also the biggest attack claimed by the IS. Most of the other attacks this week were claimed by the Taliban. The government has denied the IS has a presence in Pakistan and its links with other groups such as the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which mainly targets Shias.

Main opposition Pakistan Peoples Party leader Qamar Zaman Kaira said the government had miserably failed to eradicate terrorism. Its very easy to criticise the government of the PPP but the present government has protected terrorists, he said.

Siraj-ul-Haq of the right wing Jamaat-e-Islami party said the government appeared helpless. He said the terrorists had shown they can attack anywhere and at any time.

Pakistanis fear violence could spiral out of control

Ordinary Pakistanis were fearful that the situation was again spiralling out of control just when things seemed to getting better. The terrorism could also have an impact on the economy, which had shown some signs of recovery.

Angry relatives of those who were killed in Thursdays attack surrounded the chief ministers motorcade in Sehwan and accused the provincial government of corruption and incompetence. The father of a girl killed in the attack told chief minister Murad Ali Shah that no help was available for several hours and his daughter died as she did not get medical attention.

A policeman walks past a pile of shoes left by devotees after Thursday's suicide blast at the tomb of Sufi saint Syed Usman Marwandi, also known as Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, in Sehwan town in Pakistan's southern Sindh province. (Reuters)

A number of people turned to social media to express their anger with the poor security arrangements at most public places. In a tweet, Dr Waqar Abidi said: Nawaz Sharif himself is a security risk.

There is also growing anger at the governments inability to implement the National Action Plan devised in 2014 to combat terrorism after a deadly attack on an army-run school in Peshawar killed more than 130 children. Analyst Sajjad Haider said the delay in fully implementing a plan agreed on by all stakeholders was unforgivable,

It shows that the priorities of the Nawaz Sharif government do not include fighting terrorism, he said.
Cyclone Dineo killed seven people and affected 130,000 across southern Mozambique, according to a toll published late on Thursday by the countrys natural disasters agency.

More than 20,000 homes were destroyed by winds and very strong rain and the search for survivors is ongoing, the National Institute of Disaster Management said in a statement.

Dineos impact was greatest in Inhambane, an area popular with tourists on Mozambiques south east coast. It was struck by winds of more than 100kmh, torrential rain and rough seas.

Mozambique, one of the worlds poorest countries, is often battered by deadly flooding and storms.

In 2000, floods claimed at least 800 lives, and more than 100 were killed in 2015.

Scores have already died in the current rainy season, which began in October.

Dineo was downgraded to a tropical depression on Thursday and renamed ex-Dineo. However, the South Africa Weather Service warned that it still posed the threat of heavy rainfall and flooding as it headed inland toward South Africa.

Kruger National Park, the countrys premier safari destination, closed all its gravel roads and several camps on Thursday afternoon because of the storm. No major damage was reported.
In the aftermath of a barrel bomb attack in Syrias Idlib, nine-year-old Abdel Basset Al-Satuf tries to sit up, his legs blown off, and screams Daddy, pick me up!

Abdel Basset was caught in a barrel bomb attack by regime forces on Thursday in the town of Al-Hbeit, in northwest Idlib province.

The harrowing footage of the young boy screaming for his father as he struggles to sit up, his legs turned to bloody stumps, quickly spread on social media.

The child was taken to a hospital in the provincial capital Idlib city for preliminary treatment, but on Friday he and his father were transferred to Turkey for specialised care.

In an ambulance about to head to the border, Abdel Basset recounted the incident as his father Taan tried to keep his composure.

We were sitting having lunch when the barrel bombs started to fall on the town and my father told us to get in the house, he said. But as we arrived at the door of the house a barrel fell on it and when it exploded fire blasted towards me and amputated my legs.

My father immediately picked me up and moved me and put me down on the ground (away from the house) and then an ambulance came and they treated me, he added.

In the video, Abdel Basset can be seen sitting stunned as desperate voices scream for an ambulance and paramedics.

His father had run back to the house to search for the rest of the family, three of whom were killed in the attack.

In Al-Hbeit, the familys landlord described the incident as a massacre.

The family was having lunch and I was walking with his father, and at first we didnt notice anything until the aircraft arrived, he said. Then a barrel bomb came down and there was a big explosion, Walid Abu Ras said.

Taan ran back towards his house, trying to warn his family to take cover when their home was hit.

Abdel Bassets legs were blown off and one of his sisters was killed, and another one was wounded. His mother was killed and he doesnt know yet, Abu Ras added.

The attack also killed the husband of one of Abdel Bassets sisters.

Abu Ras said the family had arrived in Idlib less than two years ago from Latamneh in neighbouring Hama, displaced by war like more than half of Syrias population.

The video of Abdel Basset is just the latest footage to refocus attention on the plight of Syrias civilians, particularly children.

In August 2016, haunting images of a four-year-old called Omran, shell-shocked and covered in dust after an air strike, reverberated around the world.

Syrias government and rebel forces are technically observing a ceasefire brokered by Turkey and Russia that began on December 30.
The heart of Philadelphias Italian Market was uncommonly quiet. Fine restaurants in New York, San Francisco and the nations capital closed for the day. Grocery stores, food trucks, coffee shops, diners and taco joints in places like Chicago, Los Angeles and Boston shut down.

Immigrants around the US stayed home from work and school on Thursday to demonstrate how important they are to Americas economy, and many businesses closed in solidarity, in a nationwide protest called A Day Without Immigrants.

The boycott was aimed squarely at President Donald Trumps efforts to step up deportations, build a wall at the Mexican border and close the nations doors to many travelers. Organisers said they expected thousands to participate or otherwise show support.

It was unclear how many people participated, but in many cities, the actions were disruptive, if not halting. More actions are being planned for May 1  known as May Day, the internationally recognised holiday honouring workers.

I fear every day whether I am going to make it back home. I dont know if my mom will make it home, said Hessel Duarte, a 17-year-old native of Honduras who lives in Austin, Texas, with his family and skipped class at his high school to take part in one of several rallies held around the country. Duarte said he arrived in the US at age 5 to escape gang violence.

The Busboys and Poets restaurant remained closed on February 16, 2017, as Latino immigrant workers across Washington stay home as part of a Day Without Immigrants nationwide protest . (AFP)

The protest even reached into the US Capitol, where a Senate coffee shop was among the eateries that were closed as employees did not show up at work.

Organisers appealed to immigrants from all walks of life to take part, but the effects were felt most strongly in the restaurant industry, which has long been a first step up the economic ladder for newcomers to America with its many jobs for cooks, dishwashers and servers. Restaurant owners with immigrant roots of their own were among those acting in solidarity with workers.

Expensive restaurants and fast-food joints alike closed, some perhaps because they had no choice, others because of what they said was sympathy for their immigrant employees. Sushi bars, Brazilian steakhouses, Mexican eateries and Thai and Italian restaurants all turned away lunchtime customers.

The really important dynamic to note is this is not antagonistic, employee-against-employer, said Janet Murguia, president of the Hispanic rights group National Council of La Raza. This is employers and workers standing together, not in conflict.

She added: Businesses cannot function without immigrant workers today.

At a White House news conference held as the lunch-hour protests unfolded, Trump boasted of his border security measures and immigration arrests of hundreds of people in the past week, saying, We are saving lives every single day.

Since the end of 2007, the number of foreign-born workers employed in the US has climbed by nearly 3.1 million to 25.9 million; they account for 56% of the increase in US employment over that period, according to the Labour Department.

Roughly 12 million people are employed in the restaurant industry, and immigrants make up the majority  up to 70% in places like New York and Chicago, according to the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, which works to improve working conditions. An estimated 1.3 million in the industry are immigrants in the US illegally, the group said.

Davis Museum at Wellesley College Assistant Preparator Craig Uram, top, Curatorial Assistant Alicia LaTores, right, and Associate Director Tsugumi Joiner, below, cover the painting Friends in a Storm Approaching, 1875-1876, by Scottish-born artist James McDougal Hart, with a black shroud at the museum, in Wellesley, Mass., Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017 to protest President Donald Trump's recent travel ban. (AP)

Construction industry, schools also affected

The construction industry, which likewise employs large numbers of immigrants, also felt the effects of Thursdays protest.

Shea Frederick, who owns a small construction company in Baltimore, showed up at 7 am at a home he is renovating and found that he was all alone, with a load of drywall ready for install. He soon understood why: His crew, five immigrants, called to say they werent coming to work. They were joining the protests.

I had an entire day of full work, he said. I have inspectors lined up to inspect the place, and now theyre thrown off, and you do it the day before the weekend and it pushes things off even more. It sucks, but its understandable.

Frederick said that while he fundamentally agrees with the action, and appreciates why his crew felt the need to participate, he feels his business is being made to suffer as a result of the presidents policies.

Its hurting the wrong people, he said. A gigantic part of this state didnt vote this person in, and were paying for his terrible decisions.

There were no immediate estimates of how many students stayed home in many cities. Many student absences may not be excused, and some people who skipped work will lose a days pay or perhaps even their jobs. But organisers and participants argued the cause was worth it.

A school board official said that more than 1,100 students went on strike at Dallas Independent School District schools.

Marcela Ardaya-Vargas, who is from Bolivia and now lives in Falls Church, Virginia, pulled her son out of school to take him to a march in Washington.

When he asked why he wasnt going to school, I told him because today he was going to learn about immigration, she said, adding: Our job as citizens is to unite with our brothers and sisters.

Carmen Solis, a Mexico-born US citizen, took the day off from work as a project manager and brought her two children to a rally in Chicago.

I feel like our community is going to be racially profiled and harassed, she said of Trumps immigration policies. Its very upsetting. People like to take out their anger on the immigrants, but employers are making profits off of them. 

On Ninth Street in South Philadelphias Italian Market, it was so quiet in the morning that Rani Vasudeva thought it might be Monday, when many of the businesses on the normally bustling stretch are closed.

Produce stands and other stalls along Calle Nueve  as 9th Street is more commonly known for its abundance of Mexican-owned businesses  stood empty, leaving customers to look elsewhere for fresh meat, bread, fruits and vegetables.

Yaretzi Perez, 4, holds a sign as she joins her family and others during a march and rally during an immigration protest, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, in Austin, Texas. (AP)

In New Orleans Mid-City neighbourhood, whose Latino population swelled after the damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 created lots of jobs for construction workers, the Ideal Market was closed. The place is usually busy at midday with people lining up at the steam tables for hot lunches or picking from an array of fresh Central American vegetables and fruits.

In Chicago, Petes Fresh Market closed five of its 12 grocery stores and assured employees they would not be penalized for skipping the day, according to owner Vanessa Dremonas, whose Greek-immigrant father started the company.

Its in his DNA to help immigrants, she said. Weve supported immigrants from the beginning.

Among the well-known establishments that closed in solidarity were three of acclaimed chef Silvana Salcido Esparzas restaurants in Phoenix; Michelin star RASA in San Francisco; and Washingtons Oyamel and Jaleo, run by chef Jose Andres.

Tony and Marie Caschera, both 66, who were visiting Washington from Halfmoon, New York, thought a tapas restaurant looked interesting for lunch, but then realized the lights were off and the place was closed.

Tony Caschera, a registered Republican whose family emigrated from Italy before World War II, said he supports legal immigration, but added: I dont like illegal aliens here.
Days after his apparent assassination, Kim Jong Nams body remained under guard in a Malaysian morgue Friday, with no one in his immediate family stepping forward on behalf of a man who lived in fear of his half brother, the powerful and mercurial ruler of North Korea.

South Korea was quick to accuse its enemies in North Korea of dispatching a hit squad to kill Kim Jong Nam at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, saying two female assassins poisoned him and then fled in a taxi.

Although Kim Jong Nam is believed to have two sons and a daughter with two women living in Beijing and Macau, police in Malaysia say none has come forward to claim the body or provide DNA samples in the aftermath of what appeared to be a well-executed hit.

North Korean diplomats in Malaysia have requested custody of Kim Jong Nams body, arguing that he had a North Korean passport. The officials objected to the autopsy, but Malaysian authorities went ahead with the procedure anyway because they did not receive a formal complaint.

Read: Assassinated N Korean lived a quiet life, liked Kim Jong Um, Putin on FB

Investigators were still trying to piece together details of the case, and South Korea has not said how it concluded that North Korea was behind the killing.

Malaysian police were questioning three suspects  two women and a man  and waiting for autopsy results that could shed light on why Kim Jong Nam suddenly fell ill at the airport as he waited for a flight home to Macau.

Dizzy and in pain, he told medical workers at the airport he had been sprayed with a chemical. Within two hours, Malaysian officials said, he was dead.

Kim Jong Nam, who was 45 or 46, had lived in exile for years and was estranged from his younger half brother, the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He reportedly fell out of favor in 2001, when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

Yoji Gomi, a Japanese journalist who wrote a book about Kim Jong Nam, said he criticized the family regime and believed a leader should be chosen through a democratic process.

Gomi said he met Kim Jong Nam by chance at Beijings international airport in 2004, leading to exchanges of 150 emails and two interviews in 2011  one in Beijing and another in Macau  totaling seven hours.

Kim Jong Nam appeared nervous during the interview in Macau, Gomi said.

He must have been aware of the danger, but I believe he still wanted to convey his views to Pyongyang via the media, Gomi said. He was sweating all over his body, and seemed very uncomfortable when he responded to my questions. He was probably worried about the impact of his comments and expressions. The thought now gives me a pain in my heart.

Malaysia said Friday it wants DNA samples from Kim Jong Nams family as part of the post-mortem procedure and that officials were not yet willing to hand the body over to the North Koreans.

If there is no claim by next-of-kin and upon exhausting all avenues (to obtain DNA), we will finally then hand over the body to the (North Korean) embassy, said Abdul Samah Mat, a senior Malaysian police official.

He would not speculate on how long that process might take.

Meanwhile, investigators were focused on getting details from three suspects in their custody: 25-year-old Indonesian woman Siti Aisyah; a Malaysian man believed to be her boyfriend; and a young woman who was picked up carrying Vietnamese travel documents.

The three were arrested separately on Wednesday and Thursday.

The women were identified using surveillance videos from the airport, police said. Early Friday, police took the pair back to the crime scene at the budget terminal of the airport for further investigations, Abdul Samah said. Local media reported that police wanted to recreate the crime scene to establish new leads.

Read: Female agents, hidden motive: The who and why of Kim Jong-Nams assassination

In Indonesia, Aisyahs family and former neighbors said they were stunned by her arrest, describing her as a polite and quiet young mother.

Between 2008 and 2011 she and her then-husband lived in a home with flaking red paint in a narrow alley of Tambora, a densely populated neighborhood in western Jakarta.

Her former father-in-law, Tjia Liang Kiong, who lives in a nearby middle-class neighborhood and last saw Aisyah on Jan. 28, described her as respectful.

I was shocked to hear that she was arrested for murdering someone, he said. I dont believe that she would commit such a crime or what the media says  that she is an intelligence agent.

Aisyahs mother, Benah, said by telephone that the family comes from a humble village background and has no ability to help her.

Since we heard that from the television, I could not sleep and eat. Same as her father, he just prays and reads the holy Quran. He even does not want to speak, said Benah. As villagers, we could only pray.

According to Kiong, Aisyah only completed junior high school and moved to Malaysia with her husband in 2011 to seek a better life after the garment-making shop they ran from their home went out of business. The couple left their nearly 2-year-old son in Jakarta under the care of Kiong and his wife.

She and her husband divorced in 2012.

Malaysia, which is approaching developed-nation income levels, is a magnet for millions of Indonesians, who typically find work there as bar hostesses, maids and construction and plantation workers.

Indonesian vice-President Jusuf Kalla said Aisyah probably had been manipulated.

From the information we have received and also what was circulating in the media, what has happened in Kuala Lumpur is Kim Jong Nam and Aisyah were victims, Kalla said. Aisyah was a victim of some sort of manipulation or fraud.
As Bangladeshs only known woman rickshaw wallah, Mosammat Jasmine may be a feminist icon but to the passengers she cycles around the streets of Chittagong, she is known as Crazy Auntie.

I do it to make sure my sons dont go hungry and they get a decent education at a good school, says the mother of three as she takes a break at Chittagong bus station.

Allah has given me a pair of hands and legs to work with. I dont beg -- instead I earn a living by using his gifts, she adds.

Muslim-majority Bangladesh is one of Asias most conservative societies where the concept of a woman doing such a job had been unheard of before Jasmine hit the road five years ago.

Left to fend for three young children when her husband ran off with another woman, Jasmine initially tried her hand at being a maid and then working in one of Bangladeshs garment factories but found neither job suited her.

A maids job is good if you only have to worry about yourself but not if youve got children. And the factory work is really back-breaking and the pay is really poor, the 45-year-old explains.

Struggling to make ends meet and determined to pay for her childrens education, she decided on her radical career change when a neighbour who owned a rickshaw offered to lend it to her for a few days.

Working out how to navigate the streets of Bangladeshs second city was the easy part although she did find it painful at times to peddle her brightly-coloured tricycle up some of its hilly neighbourhoods.

Bangladesh's lone female rickshawpuller Mosammat Jasmine cleans her rickshaw in Chittagong city on January 15, 2017. (AFP Photo)

But finding willing passengers proved a stiffer challenge.

Initially, many simply refused to get on board and some taunted me, saying I was doing a mans job, she recalls.

Others told me that Islam does not permit a woman to roam around like this while there were some who refused to pay me the same fare as a male driver, Jasmine says, before adding: I stuck to my guns as who else pays my bills, who is else is going to cover the cost of educating my sons?

On average she earns 600 taka ($8) a day for an eight hour shift on the rickshaw, part of which she pays as rent to the rickshaw owner. She works seven days a week.

Now a familiar sight on the streets of the bustling port city, she has won the respect of her colleagues. As she parked up by the bus station, she exchanged smiles and greetings with around a dozen male drivers.

Bangladesh's lone female rickshawpuller Mosammat Jasmine poses on her battery-run rickshaw in Chittagong city on January 15. (AFP Photo)

Overwhelming courage

Since switching last year to a battery-run electric rickshaw, the work has become a little less arduous but she is still an inspiration to many.

Jasmine is unique. She is the only female rickshaw-puller among all of Bangladeshs 160-million population. It is overwhelming to see her courage, local rights activist Suzana Salim told AFP.

The traffic police applaud her good road sense and for always wearing a helmet -- unlike her male counterparts.

And even some with religious authority have started praising her.

She is a good example to society given that many girls who fall on hard times turn to prostitution or drugs, said Nurul Alam Azmiri, the imam at a local mosque. She has a vision for her kids, which is commendable.

Young people are particularly keen to flag her down, drawn in part by the loud music that blares from the speakers on Pagli Khalas (the Crazy Aunties) vehicle.

Despite the growing acceptance, Jasmine -- who is a practising Muslim -- says she still faces taunts by people who question her faith.

I dont listen to them, she said. My sons need their education and so Ill do my best to ensure that for as long as I live.
Vice Admiral Robert Harward has turned down an offer to be US President Donald Trumps new national security adviser (NSA), the latest blow to a new administration struggling to find its footing.

Harward told The Associated Press that the Trump administration was very accommodating to my needs, both professionally and personally.

Its purely a personal issue, Harward said Thursday evening. Im in a unique position finally after being in the military for 40 years to enjoy some personal time.

Asked whether he had requested to bring in his own staff at the National Security Council (NSC), Harward said, I think thats for the president to address.

Following Michael Flynns ouster over his Russian links, administration officials said his deputy, KT McFarland, was staying on at the NSC. McFarland is a former Fox News analyst.

Harward would have replaced retired Gen. Michael Flynn, who resigned at Trumps request on Monday after revelations that he misled vice-president Mike Pence about discussing sanctions with Russias ambassador to the US during the transition. Trump said in a news conference on Thursday that he was disappointed by how Flynn had treated Pence, but did not believe Flynn had done anything wrong by having the conversations.

Harward, a former Navy SEAL, served as deputy commander of US Central Command under Gen. James Mattis, who is now defense secretary. Harward served on the NSC under President George W Bush and commissioned the National Counter Terrorism Center.

Upon retirement in 2013 after a nearly 40-year career in the Navy, Harward became chief executive officer for defense and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin in the United Arab Emirates. Trump has recently been in very public negotiations with Lockheed over the cost of its F-35 fighter jet.

Officials said earlier this week that there were two other contenders in the running for the job: acting national security adviser Keith Kellogg and retired Gen. David Petraeus.

Petraeus, a retired four-star general, resigned as CIA director in 2012 and pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information relating to documents he had provided to his biographer, with whom he was having an affair.

He was also fined $100,000 and remains on probation.
Umm Mohammed decided to flee western Mosul after her husband told her the alternative was that they starve. Their family -- six boys and a girl -- had been eating little for the last three months as money ran out and supplies became harder to get a hold of in the half of the northern Iraqi city that is still under the rule of the Islamic State group.

Iraqi forces, after capturing the east in January, have been gearing up for a final assault on the west that officials say could come at any time. In past weeks, people have been slipping out of the western sector, saying a mix of poverty and low food stocks meant that getting food had become a serious problem.

People were eating whatever they had, water with bread, or water with tomato paste, said Umm Mohammed. Her kids sometimes went to bed without even that. She and her family made it to eastern Mosul, then to a camp for displaced people outside the city.

She spoke on condition she be identified by her traditional honorific because she feared for the safety of relatives still in western Mosul.

The United Nations estimates that up to 750,000 civilians may be left in the western half of the city. Aid agencies have no access and all the commercial arteries have been blocked. Since the beginning of the year, around 140 families -- some 600 people -- have made it out of the west to the camps of displaced, according to the UN.

The militants have been trying to prevent residents from leaving.

Iraqis from Mosul queue for permission to pass through a checkpoint in Bartella. Hundreds of people arrive at the checkpoint every day either fleeing the violence in their home city or to visit their relatives elsewhere in Iraq. (AP)

Dafr Mohammed, a 24-year-old farmer from Baddoush, a town on the northern outskirts of the city, said he arranged a boat to cross the Tigris river to the eastern side but was caught by the militants. He was only able to get out because he convinced them his wife was sick and needed a doctor -- and because he left other relatives back in the west, which they took as a guarantee.

Most nights we went to bed hungry, including the two kids, said Mohammed.

He said the problem wasnt so much the lack of food but that people had no more money to pay for it. Daesh took all the wheat and barley we harvested this year without payment so we didnt have any money, he said, using the Arabic acronym for IS.

He survived by doing odd jobs and sometimes getting some money from an uncle who was still receiving his pension. By January, they run out of heating fuel and wood, and started burning their clothes to keep the children warm, he said.

Prices in western Mosul have skyrocketed, especially after the road to Syria was blocked late last year, because no more food was coming in, those who escaped said. A 50 kg sack of rice rose to 120,000 dinars ($95), from 19,000 ($15). A sack of flour, once 1,000 dinars ($.80), is now 7,000 ($6).

The UNs humanitarian arm said earlier this month that powdered milk for babies had become almost completely unavailable and that a lack of drinking water was also a problem.

Abdul-Rahman Aouf Aziz, a 24-year-old who fled in January, said he had got out because he couldnt handle it anymore and was prepared to risk his life in the escape.

There was no life left there. It had become very hard, he said.
Family and former neighbours of the Indonesian woman suspected of involvement in the audacious killing of the North Korean leaders half brother in Malaysia are stunned by the arrest of the young mother who they say was a polite and quiet nice girl.

Siti Aisyah, 25, is one of three people arrested so far by Malaysian police for possible involvement in the apparent assassination of Kim Jong Nam.

Between 2008 and 2011, she and her then-husband lived in a modest dwelling with flaking red paint in a narrow alley of the densely populated Tambora neighborhood in western Jakarta.

Her former father-in-law Tjia Liang Kiong, who lives in a nearby middle-class neighbourhood and last saw Aisyah on Jan. 28, described her as a very kind, polite and respectful person.

I was shocked to hear that she was arrested for murdering someone, he said. I dont believe that she would commit such a crime or what the media says  that she is an intelligence agent.

The three suspects  Aisyah, a woman carrying a Vietnamese passport and a man said to be Aisyahs Malaysian boyfriend  were arrested separately Wednesday and Thursday.

The women were identified using surveillance videos from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, where Kim Jong Nam suddenly fell ill Monday morning. Malaysian officials said he died on the way to a hospital after telling medical workers at the airport that he had been sprayed with a chemical.

Multiple South Korean media reports, citing unidentified sources, said two women believed to be North Korean agents killed him with some kind of poison before fleeing in a taxi.

News of Aisyahs arrest has captivated Indonesias scandal-and-mystery loving media, with some outlets characterising her as a spy.

Oh my God, how can I believe it, said Aminah, a housewife who is one of Aisyahs former Tambora neighbours.

Shes very nice with all the people here, shes so naive. How she can kill a great man? No way, its impossible, said Aminah, who uses one name.

Aisyahs mother, Benah, said by telephone that the family comes from a humble village background and has no ability to help her.

Since we heard that from the television, I could not sleep and eat. Same as her father, he just prays and reads the holy Quran. He even does not want to speak, said Benah. As villagers, we could only pray.

Indonesias vice-president Jusuf Kalla said Aisyah probably had been manipulated. He told reporters he believed she was not aware that she was participating in a murder.

From the information we have received and also what was circulating in the media, what has happened in Kuala Lumpur is Kim Jong Nam and Aisyah were victims. Aisyah was a victim of some sort of manipulation or fraud, Kalla said.

Indonesian immigration spokesperson Agung Sampurno said Aisyah had travelled to countries besides Malaysia since 2014 but he did not elaborate.

Aisyah, according to Kiong, had only completed junior high school and moved to Malaysia with her husband in 2011 to seek a better life after the garment-making shop they ran from their home went out of business. The couple left their nearly 2-year-old son in Jakarta, who has been raised by Kiong and his wife since then.

Malaysia, which is approaching developed-nation income levels, is a magnet for millions of Indonesians, who typically find work there as bar hostesses, maids and construction and plantation workers.

A year after leaving Indonesia, Aisyah returned to Jakarta and told Kiong she wanted a divorce from his son because hed changed and the marriage had become unhappy. Kiong said his son gave a different account: Aisyah was having an affair with a Malaysian man.

The divorce was finalised in 2012 and Aisyah told Kiong she was living with her parents in Serang in Banten province that neighbors Jakarta and working in a shoe store. A few months later she was on the move again, telling Kiong she was working in a clothing shop on Batam, an Indonesian island near Singapore and Malaysia.

At their last meeting in late January when Aisyah visited her son, Kiong thought she looked very slim and when his wife asked if she was sick, Aisyah said shed had a respiratory illness.

Indonesian immigration said on Thursday that Aisyah entered Malaysia on February 2 by ferry from Batam.

Rahmat Yusri, head of the neighbourhood where Aisyah lived, did not believe she could commit murder.

I was so surprised when I heard that because I knew her well, Yusri said. I did not believe it because she is an innocent, a quiet woman who came from a village.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Thursday pledged that Washington would use the full range of its arsenal, including nuclear weapons, to defend allies Japan and South Korea against North Korea if needed.

The United States remains steadfast in its defence commitments to its allies, the Republic of Korea and Japan, including the commitment to provide extended deterrence, backed by the full range of its nuclear and conventional defence capabilities, Tillerson said in a joint statement after meeting the foreign ministers in Bonn.

North Korea has carried out repeated missile launches despite UN sanctions and last year conducted two nuclear tests in a bid to develop a weapons system capable of hitting the US mainland.

Pyongyang said the latest missile tested on Sunday could carry a nuclear warhead.

Seoul said the rocket travelled some 500 kilometres (300 miles) before it came down in the Sea of Japan (East Sea).

The joint statement said Tillerson, South Koreas Yun Byung-Se and Japans Fumio Kishida condemned in the strongest terms the test which was carried out in flagrant disregard for multiple UN Security Council resolutions.

The three countries would work together to ensure that further violations would be met with an even stronger international response, it said, demanding that Pyongyang abandon its nuclear and missile programmes.

Shortly after the missile test, President Donald Trump said North Korea was a a big, big problem... and we will deal with that very strongly.

Earlier this month on a trip to Seoul and Tokyo, US defence secretary James Mattis warned that any use of nuclear weapons would be met with a response that would be effective and overwhelming.

The United States has had a major military presence in both Japan and South Korea for decades but its defence commitment also complicates relations with China, North Koreas main ally.

Washingtons recent decision to install a sophisticated THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea especially angered China which sees it as a potential threat to its own security.
Pakistan launched a nationwide security crackdown on Friday, officials said, after a bomb ripped through a crowded Sufi shrine killing at least 70 people including 20 children and wounding hundreds.

Police had cordoned off the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, a 13th century Muslim saint, early Friday as forensic investigators reached the town of Sehwan in Sindh province, some 200 kilometres (124 miles) northeast of financial hub Karachi.

The centuries-old shrines white floor was still smeared with blood, with scattered debris including shoes, shawls, and baby bottles. At least 20 children are believed to be among the dead, the head of Sehwans medical facility Moeen Uddin Siddiqui said.

At 3.30 am the shrines caretaker stood among the carnage and defiantly rang its bell, a daily ritual that he vowed to continue, telling AFP he will not bow down to terrorists.

The Islamic State group (IS) has claimed the attack, which came after a series of bloody extremist assaults this week, including a powerful Taliban suicide bomb in the eastern city of Lahore which killed 13 people and wounded dozens.

The attacks have dented growing optimism in security after Pakistans decade-long war on militancy.

Military spokesperson Asif Ghafoor said the attacks had been carried out from sanctuaries in Afghanistan and that Kabul had been asked to take action.

He also said the military had closed the porous border between the two countries, where Kabul and Islamabad have long accused each other of harbouring extremists.

Scores of suspects have been arrested from different cities in a pre-dawn crackdown, a government official speaking anonymously told AFP.

Security officials said at least 18 terrorists had been killed in Sindh province overnight, and 13 more in the countrys northwest.

The Sindh provincial government announced three days of mourning as Pakistanis vented their grief and fury on social media.

Sunnis, Shias, Hindus, ppl from all faiths visit Sehwan often to pay homage to the great saint. This is an attack on our identity & culture, said Twitter user Zahraa Saifullah.

Sufism, a mystic Islamic order that believes in living saints, worships through music and is viewed as heretical by some hardline groups.

The Sunni jihadist IS group has targeted Sufi shrines in Pakistan previously, killing more than 50 at a shrine in Balochistan province last year.

Extremists regrouping?

Pakistan has seen a dramatic improvement in security recently, but the apparently coordinated series of attacks this week -- most claimed by the umbrella Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Pakistani Taliban -- has shaken the increasing confidence.

The push against extremism was stepped up after the countrys deadliest ever attack, a TTP assault on a school in Peshawar in 2014 which left more than 150 people dead -- mostly children.

But critics have long argued the military and government crackdown does not address the root causes of extremism, and groups such as the TTP and increasingly Islamic State can still carry out spectacular attacks.

There are visible signs the TTP, which is distinct from the Afghan Taliban, is regrouping, warned analyst Imtiaz Gul, with factions scattered by the military operation coming together again.

Analyst Amir Rana predicted the intense wave of TTP attacks would continue, saying security forces had failed to crack their operational infrastructure, especially in cities.

Islamabad has denied IS is in Pakistan despite several high-profile attacks and the groups apparent affiliation with homegrown militants, such as the banned Sunni sectarian organisation Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).

I think they (IS) are capable of doing this, Rana said, referring to the shrine bombing, as Gul warned the group would claim more such attacks.

The emergence of IS in Pakistan would be a major blow, and comes as key rival Al Qaeda has lost strength in what was once its home ground.
New Delhi hasnt provided solid evidence against Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar for Beijing to support the move to sanction him at the UN, China said on Friday ahead of a strategic dialogue between the two countries.

The issue of China repeatedly blocking Indias move to ban Azhar under the UN Security Councils 1267 committee is expected to feature in the talks to be held in Beijing on February 22. Chinas executive vice-foreign minister Zhang Yesui and Indian foreign secretary S Jaishankar will hold the strategic dialogue.

Besides Azhar, the issue of Indias entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) will also come up at the dialogue.

Referring to the issue of Azhar, foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said on Friday that Chinas position had been consistent. Chinas stance, he said, is based on impartiality and the merits of the case.

China upholds principles of objectivity, impartiality and professionalism and takes part in relevant discussions. Whether last years application by India (against Azhar) or this years by relevant country, our position is consistent, Geng said.

Our criteria is only one - we need solid evidence. If there is solid evidence the application can be moved. If there is no solid evidence, there is hardly consensus, he added.

On 1267, the latest development is relevant countries have made another application with the committee. Relevant members of the committee are in consultation and relevant parties have failed to reach consensus so far, Geng reiterated.

Chinas position on the issue of listing Azhar is not proceeding from China-India relations but from the merit of matter, he said.

Earlier this month, China blocked a US-sponsored move for the listing Azhar after blocking Indias application three times last year. At the time, China said there was no consensus among members of the 1267 committee and conditions had not been met to include Pakistan-based Azhar in the list of UN-designated terrorists.

Chinas stand on Indias bid to join the NSG isnt changing either, Geng said.

We have said many times this is a multilateral issue. We stick to two-step approach namely - NSG members need to arrive at a set of principles for the entry of NSG by non-NPT state parties, and then move forward discussions of specific cases, he said.

Our position is consistent. Apart from India, other non-NPT state parties are also making applications. Our position on those applications is consistent, he said.

Whether 1267 or the NSG issue, they are in essence multilateral issues not bilateral issues.

Geng said China hopes that India can understand its attitude and position on the two matters. China and India are the two largest developing counties. We have wide converging interests, he said.

China-India cooperation energises the region and the developing world, and can contribute to our solidarity, he added.

Geng said the strategic dialogue will be a platform to manage differences.

Differences are only natural. Through all kinds of conversation and exchanges, including the strategic dialogue, two sides can step up communication to narrow differences and reach new consensus on achieving cooperation, he said.
Pope Francis told youngsters Friday to get off their phones during family meals, warning that the death of face-to-face conversations can have dire consequences for society, even resulting in wars.

When were at the table, when we are speaking to others on our telephones, its the start of war because there is no dialogue, the pope said during an improvised speech at the Roma Tre public university.

The 80-year old also chastised todays juniors for their manners, accusing them of swapping a cheery good morning for an anonymous ciao ciao and saying it appeared standard in todays society for people to insult strangers.

We need to lower the tone a bit, speak less and listen more, he said, adding that dialogue which brings hearts closer together is a medicine against violence.
The Indonesian woman arrested for suspected involvement in the killing of the North Korean leaders half brother in Malaysia was duped into thinking she was part of a comedy show prank, Indonesias national police chief said Friday, citing information received from Malaysian authorities.

Tito Karnavian told reporters in Indonesias Aceh province that Siti Aisyah, 25, was paid to be involved in Just For Laughs style pranks, a reference to a popular hidden camera show.

He said she and another woman performed stunts which involved convincing men to close their eyes and then spraying them with water.

Such an action was done three or four times and they were given a few dollars for it, and with the last target, Kim Jong Nam, allegedly there were dangerous materials in the sprayer, Karnavian said.

She was not aware that it was an assassination attempt by alleged foreign agents, he said.

Karnavians comments come after a male relative of Aisyah said in an Indonesian television interview that she had been hired to perform in a short comedy movie and traveled to China as part of this work. Indonesian Immigration has said Aisyah traveled to Malaysia and other countries, which it did not specify.

South Korea has been quick to accuse its enemies in North Korea of dispatching a hit squad to kill Kim Jong Nam at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, saying two female assassins poisoned him and then fled in a taxi.

Although Kim Jong Nam is believed to have two sons and a daughter with two women living in Beijing and Macau, police in Malaysia say none has come forward to claim the body or provide DNA samples in the aftermath of what appeared to be an assassination.

North Korean diplomats in Malaysia have requested custody of Kim Jong Nams body, arguing that he had a North Korean passport. The officials objected to an autopsy, but Malaysian authorities went ahead with the procedure anyway because they did not receive a formal complaint.

Investigators were still trying to piece together details of the case, and South Korea has not said how it concluded that North Korea was behind the killing.

Malaysian police were questioning three suspects  Aisyah, another women who carried a Vietnamese passport, and a man they said is Aisyahs boyfriend  and waiting for autopsy results that could shed light on why Kim Jong Nam suddenly fell ill at the airport on Monday as he waited for a flight home to Macau.

Dizzy and in pain, he told medical workers at the airport he had been sprayed with a chemical. Within two hours, Malaysian officials said, he was dead.

Kim Jong Nam, who was 45 or 46, had lived in exile for years and was estranged from his younger half brother, the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He reportedly fell out of favor in 2001, when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

Yoji Gomi, a Japanese journalist who wrote a book about Kim Jong Nam, said he criticized the family regime and believed a leader should be chosen through a democratic process.

Gomi said he met Kim Jong Nam by chance at Beijings international airport in 2004, leading to exchanges of 150 emails and two interviews in 2011  one in Beijing and another in Macau  totaling seven hours.

Kim Jong Nam appeared nervous during the interview in Macau, Gomi said.

This image provided by Star TV on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017, of closed circuit television footage from Monday, Feb 13, 2017, shows a woman, left, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia, who police say was arrested Wednesday in connection with the death of Kim Jong Nam, the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. (AP Photo)

He must have been aware of the danger, but I believe he still wanted to convey his views to Pyongyang via the media, Gomi said. He was sweating all over his body, and seemed very uncomfortable when he responded to my questions. He was probably worried about the impact of his comments and expressions. The thought now gives me a pain in my heart.

In Indonesia, Aisyahs family and former neighbors said they were stunned by her arrest, describing her as a polite and quiet young mother.

Between 2008 and 2011 she and her then-husband lived in a home with flaking red paint in a narrow alley of Tambora, a densely populated neighborhood in western Jakarta.

Her former father-in-law, Tjia Liang Kiong, who lives in a nearby middle-class neighborhood and last saw Aisyah on Jan. 28, described her as respectful.

I was shocked to hear that she was arrested for murdering someone, he said. I dont believe that she would commit such a crime or what the media says  that she is an intelligence agent.

Aisyahs mother, Benah, said by telephone that the family comes from a humble village background and has no ability to help her.

Since we heard that from the television, I could not sleep and eat. Same as her father, he just prays and reads the holy Quran. He even does not want to speak, said Benah. As villagers, we could only pray.

According to Kiong, Aisyah only completed junior high school and moved to Malaysia with her husband in 2011 to seek a better life after the garment-making shop they ran from their home went out of business. The couple left their nearly 2-year-old son in Jakarta under the care of Kiong and his wife.

She and her husband divorced in 2012.

Malaysia, which is approaching developed-nation income levels, is a magnet for millions of Indonesians, who typically find work there as bar hostesses, maids and construction and plantation workers.

Malaysia said Friday it wants DNA samples from Kim Jong Nams family as part of the post-mortem procedure and that officials were not yet willing to hand the body over to the North Koreans.

If there is no claim by next-of-kin and upon exhausting all avenues (to obtain DNA), we will finally then hand over the body to the (North Korean) embassy, said Abdul Samah Mat, a senior Malaysian police official.

He would not speculate on how long that process might take.

The three suspects were arrested separately on Wednesday and Thursday.

The women were identified using surveillance videos from the airport, police said. Early Friday, police took the pair back to the crime scene at the budget terminal of the airport for further investigations, Abdul Samah said. Local media reported that police wanted to recreate the crime scene to establish new leads.
US President Donald Trumps first news conference has been described by the media as an amazing moment in history and proof that he will never be presidential.

Over 77 minutes, Trump mounted a defence of his chaotic administration that has been hit by repeated leaks of internal tensions and repeatedly attacked the press for being dishonest.

But within hours, one of the most widely shared moments from the event was the footage of NBC reporter Peter Alexander fact-checking Trump on his incorrect claim of having the largest electoral college margins in recent US elections.

Watch | NBC reporter Peter Alexander confront President Donald Trump over his credibility

Alexander confronted the president over his credibility. You said today that you had the biggest electoral margin since Ronald Reagan, Alexander said, reeling off names of presidents such as Obama who had won by larger margins.

Why should Americans trust you? Alexander asked. Trump replied he had been given the information about his electoral victory.

But Alexander insisted: Why should Americans trust you when you accuse the information they receive as being fake when youre providing information thats fake?

I dont know, was the response from a clearly flummoxed Trump. I was given that information.

CNN referred to the news conference as an amazing moment in history. It said: Trump held court during a news conference that lasted an hour and fifteen minutes, carving out a stunning moment in modern American political history. He displayed a sense of anger and grievance rarely vented by a President in public  let alone one who has been in office for just four weeks.

The Guardian reported that the news conference was proof that Trump would never be presidential. It said: It was an exhausting 77-minute extravaganza, and any five-minute segment would have been enough to make front-page headlines around the world.

In a piece titled Donald Trumps alternative-reality press conference, The New Yorker referred to the presidents defence of his administration and said: What Trump has actually done, of course, is demonstrate his manifest unsuitability for the job he now holds.

It added, For more than hour on Thursday, he stood at a White House lectern, the yellowness of his hair accentuated by the gold drapes hanging behind him, and demonstrated, again, that he long ago escaped the bounds of reality that restrict most mortals.

Comics who host popular late night shows, the Chicago Tribune said, had all agreed that Trumps first solo news conference was a spectacle worthy of much comment.

Historically bizarre, said James Corden, the Britain-born host of The Late Late Show said. I mean, it was bizarre even by Trump standards.

Hurricane Trump happened. Again, said Trevor Noah, the South African comedian who hosts The Daily Show.

This was just him by himself, said Stephen Colbert, host of The Late Show. Evidently he didnt even bring his meds with him.

Even anchor Shep Smith of Fox News, a channel that has been praised by Trump, ripped into the president while defending a CNN reporter who was derided by Trump. Its crazy what were watching every day. Its absolutely crazy. He keeps repeating ridiculous, throwaway lines that are not true at all, Smith said.

Watch | Fox News anchor Shep Smith rips into President Donald Trump after his press conference
The US state of Texas has become the first to support Donald Trumps travel ban on travellers from seven Muslim-majority nations, defending the Presidents controversial executive order as a move to protect America.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an amicus brief with the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday in support of the US Department of Justice.

The law makes it very clear that the president has discretion to protect the safety of the American people and our nations institutions with respect to who can come into this country, Paxton said in a statement.

The brief follows court wrangling over President Trumps January 27 executive order to bar people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the US for 90 days. The order banned refugees for 120 days, except those from Syria, who were banned indefinitely.

The courts have put a temporary hold on the Presidents ban.

The amicus brief argues for broad executive power in the area of immigration. Texas also contends that Trumps order does not target Muslims as is generally suggested.

Trumps executive order targeted specific nationalities, not a religion, and the states could not support their legal challenge with the presidents campaign statements, it said.

A total of 18 states and the District of Columbia are opposing the travel ban at the 9th Circuit. A group of 15 states led by New York filed an amicus brief arguing that the Trump order is unconstitutional.

A three judge bench last week had refused to remove the stay on the executive order by another federal court in Seattle.

A broader set of 9th Circuit judges is now considering whether the stay request should be taken up by an 11-judge appeals court panel.

Texas has also supported some of Trumps other plans to crack down on immigration, including a threat to withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities.

It led the legal fight against former President Barack Obamas plan to protect up to four million immigrants from deportation, joined by 25 other Republican-led states.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will issue a new executive order to replace his controversial directive suspending travel to the United States by citizens of seven mostly Muslim countries.

At a White House news conference on Thursday, Trump said the new order would seek to address concerns raised by federal appeals court judges, who temporarily blocked his original travel ban.

The new order is going to be very much tailored to what I consider to be a very bad decision, Trump said, adding: We had a bad court.

Trump gave no details about the replacement order. Legal experts said a new directive would have a better chance of withstanding courtroom scrutiny if it covered some non-Muslim countries and exempted non-citizen immigrants living in the US legally.

The original order, issued on January 27, triggered chaos at some US and overseas airports, led to international protests, complaints from US businesses and drew more than a dozen legal challenges.

In a court filing on Thursday, the Justice Department asked for a pause in proceedings before the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which sided with a federal court in Washington state to suspend the travel ban, while litigation over its legality according to the US Constitution played out.

The Justice Department asked the court to vacate that ruling once the administration has rescinded its original order and issued a new one. In an order later on Thursday, the 9th Circuit put proceedings over the ban on hold but did not say whether it would eventually withdraw its previous ruling.

The ban has been deeply divisive in the United States, with a Reuters/Ipsos poll indicating about half of Americans supported it shortly after the order took effect.

Legal uncertainty

Trumps decision to issue a new directive plunges court proceedings over his earlier order into uncertainty. Litigants around the country said they will carefully examine any new policy to see if it raises similar constitutional issues and will continue to pursue legal action if necessary.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who filed the case that produced the 9th Circuit ruling, claimed victory on Thursday.

Todays court filing by the federal government recognizes the obvious - the presidents current executive order violates the Constitution, Ferguson said, in a statement. President Trump could have sought review of this flawed order in the Supreme Court but declined to face yet another defeat.

Trump has said travel limitations are necessary to protect the United States from attacks by Islamist militants. His original order barred people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the country for 90 days.

Refugees were banned for 120 days, except those from Syria, who were banned indefinitely.

Trump said on Thursday that the widely criticized roll out had been very smooth and once again blamed the court for a bad decision. The Justice Department court filing on Thursday said Trumps order would be substantially revised but provided no more details than the president did at his press conference. Last week an congressional aide who asked not to be identified told Reuters that Trump might rewrite the original order to explicitly exclude green card holders, who have legal permission to live and work in the United States.

Stephen Griffin, a professor of constitutional law at Tulane University, said adding non-Muslim countries could also help a new order withstand accusations that it discriminates based on religion. Given that the administration already identified the seven Muslim-majority countries as a threat, he said, it would be unlikely to remove any of those.

Id speculate they would add to the list, as opposed to walk it back, he said.
US ambassador Nikki Haley said Thursday the United States absolutely supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and anyone who thinks it doesnt is in error.

But the Trump administrations new UN envoy told reporters: We are thinking out of the box as well, which is: What does it take to bring these two sides to the table? What do we need to have them agree on?

Haleys comments were far more forceful in support of a two-state solution than President Donald Trumps on Wednesday. He said: Im looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like. I can live with either one.

Haley said the solution to the conflict has to come from the Israelis and Palestinians, but she said several times and stressed: We absolutely support a two-state solution.

Earlier Thursday, the United Nations and the Arab League issued a joint statement in support of the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, saying the two-state solution is the only way to achieve comprehensive and just settlement to the Palestinian cause.

That appeared to put UN secretary general Antonio Guterres and Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, who met in Cairo, at odds with Trump.

But Haley, when asked whether the United States would carry out its obligations under a UN Security Council resolution that called for the establishment of two states, said: Understand that the United States supports the two-state resolution. Thats never been wavered.

What were saying is, OK, lets not just talk about the old way of doing things. She said. Come to the table with all the fresh atmosphere and perspectives that we now have, and think, OK, what can we do knowing all of the factors, knowing where we sit present day, and how can we move forward.

Guterres had stressed Wednesday that there is no Plan B to a two-state solution. Haley was asked if the United States had a Plan B.

I think first of all a two-state solution is what we support, she said. Anybody who wants to say the United States doesnt support a two-state solution  that would be an error.

Trump also urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their joint news conference at the White House on Wednesday to hold off on Jewish settlement construction in territory claimed by the Palestinians for their future state, to try to facilitate talks.

What the president has said and we agree on is that expanding settlements at this point is not helpful, Haley said. Thats basically what were saying to both sides. Lets take a pause.

She said what Trump and the new administration are going to try to do is facilitate some constructive action.

Were just unbiased, Haley said. Bring them to the table and say, OK, were going to do this.

The US ambassador spoke to reporters after attending the Security Councils monthly meeting on the Middle East  her first.

Haley was highly critical of what she called the anti-Israel bias in the UNs most powerful body and the one-sided resolution that members adopted in December condemning Israeli settlements as a flagrant violation of international law.

Im here to emphasize the United States is determined to stand up to the UNs anti-Israel bias, she said.

Haley said the US will push for action on the real threats we face in the Middle East. She cited Hezbollahs illegal build-up of rockets in Lebanon as well as the money and weapons Iran provides to terrorists, and pointed to the need to defeat the Islamic State extremist group and to hold Syrian President Basha Assad accountable for the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of civilians.

The UNs Mideast envoy Nickolay Mladenov stressed at the council meeting that the two-state solution remains the only way to achieve the legitimate aspirations of both peoples.

He also warned that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must never be allowed to drift into the abyss of the extremism and radicalism sweeping the region.
The Trump administration is considering a proposal to mobilize as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorized immigrants, including millions living nowhere near the Mexico border, according to a draft memo obtained by The Associated Press.

The 11-page document calls for the unprecedented militarization of immigration enforcement as far north as Portland, Oregon, and as far east as New Orleans, Louisiana.

Four states that border on Mexico are included in the proposal  California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas  but it also encompasses seven states contiguous to those four  Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Read: Immigrants to H-1B visas: Can Trumps America be great again without them?

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the AP report was 100 percent not true and irresponsible. There is no effort at all to utilize the National Guard to round up unauthorized immigrants, he said.

Governors in the 11 states would have a choice whether to have their guard troops participate, according to the memo, written by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general.

While National Guard personnel have been used to assist with immigration-related missions on the U.S.-Mexico border before, they have never been used as broadly or as far north.

The memo is addressed to the then-acting heads of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It would serve as guidance to implement the wide-ranging executive order on immigration and border security that President Donald Trump signed Jan. 25. Such memos are routinely issued to supplement executive orders.

Read: If you think Trump is good for India you are in for a shock

Also dated Jan. 25, the draft memo says participating troops would be authorized to perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension and detention of aliens in the United States. It describes how the troops would be activated under a revived state-federal partnership program, and states that personnel would be authorized to conduct searches and identify and arrest any unauthorized immigrants.

Requests to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security for comment and a status report on the proposal were not answered.

The draft document has circulated among DHS staff over the last two weeks. As recently as Friday, staffers in several different offices reported discussions were underway.

If implemented, the impact could be significant. Nearly one-half of the 11.1 million people residing in the U.S. without authorization live in the 11 states, according to Pew Research Center estimates based on 2014 Census data.

Use of National Guard troops would greatly increase the number of immigrants targeted in one of Trumps executive orders last month, which expanded the definition of who could be considered a criminal and therefore a potential target for deportation. That order also allows immigration agents to prioritize removing anyone who has committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense.

Read: I wasnt kidding... Wall on US-Mexico border being designed right now: Trump

Under current rules, even if the proposal is implemented, there would not be immediate mass deportations. Those with existing deportation orders could be sent back to their countries of origin without additional court proceedings. But deportation orders generally would be needed for most other unauthorized immigrants.

The troops would not be nationalized, remaining under state control.

Spokespeople for the governors of Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Colorado, Oklahoma, Oregon and New Mexico said they were unaware of the proposal, and either declined to comment or said it was premature to discuss whether they would participate. The other three states did not immediately respond to the AP.

The proposal would extend the federal-local partnership program that President Barack Obamas administration began scaling back in 2012 to address complaints that it promoted racial profiling.

The 287(g) program, which Trump included in his immigration executive order, gives local police, sheriffs deputies and state troopers the authority to assist in the detection of immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally as a regular part of their law enforcement duties on the streets and in jails.

The draft memo also mentions other items included in Trumps executive order, including the hiring of an additional 5,000 border agents, which needs financing from Congress, and his campaign promise to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

Read: Viva Mexico!: Trump wall awakens Mexican patriotism

The signed order contained no mention of the possible use of state National Guard troops.

According to the draft memo, the militarization effort would be proactive, specifically empowering Guard troops to solely carry out immigration enforcement, not as an add-on the way local law enforcement is used in the program.

Allowing Guard troops to operate inside non-border states also would go far beyond past deployments.

In addition to responding to natural or man-made disasters or for military protection of the population or critical infrastructure, state Guard forces have been used to assist with immigration-related tasks on the U.S.-Mexico border, including the construction of fences.

In the mid-2000s, President George W. Bush twice deployed Guard troops on the border to focus on non-law enforcement duties to help augment the Border Patrol as it bolstered its ranks. And in 2010, then-Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer announced a border security plan that included Guard reconnaissance, aerial patrolling and military exercises.

In July 2014, then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry ordered 1,000 National Guard troops to the border when the surge of migrant children fleeing violence in Central America overwhelmed U.S. officials responsible for their care. The Guard troops stated role on the border at the time was to provide extra sets of eyes but not make arrests.

Bush initiated the federal 287(g) program  named for a section of a 1996 immigration law  to allow specially trained local law enforcement officials to participate in immigration enforcement on the streets and check whether people held in local jails were in the country illegally. ICE trained and certified roughly 1,600 officers to carry out those checks from 2006 to 2015.

The memo describes the program as a highly successful force multiplier that identified more than 402,000 removable aliens.

But federal watchdogs were critical of how DHS ran the program, saying it was poorly supervised and provided insufficient training to officers, including on civil rights law. Obama phased out all the arrest power agreements in 2013 to instead focus on deporting recent border crossers and immigrants in the country illegally who posed a safety or national security threat.

Trumps immigration strategy emerges as detentions at the nations southern border are down significantly from levels seen in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Last year, the arrest tally was the fifth-lowest since 1972. Deportations of people living in the U.S. illegally also increased under the Obama administration, though Republicans criticized Obama for setting prosecution guidelines that spared some groups from the threat of deportation, including those brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Last week, ICE officers arrested more than 680 people around the country in what Kelly said were routine, targeted operations; advocates called the actions stepped-up enforcement under Trump.
A US university headed by an Indian-origin academician has rejected call by Chinese overseas students to withdraw invitation to exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama but assured them that his speech would have nothing to with politics.

Chancellor Pradeep K Khosla of the University of California San Diego (UCSD) met with three groups of Chinese overseas students, namely the Chinese Union, Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) and the Chinese Business Society, state-run Global Times reported on Friday.

The university in a meeting with Chinese overseas students refused to withdraw the invitation to the Tibetan spiritual leader for a graduation speech in June but assured them that his speech would have nothing to do with politics the report said.

The university said that they would not disinvite the Dalai Lama but will stop using words like freedom fighter and spiritual head and leader of the Tibetan people to describe him, Fan Da member of the Chinese Union told the daily.

The chancellor promised that the Dalai Lama would not include any political content in his speech and the university would soon publish a notice about the issue.

When we asked the chancellor if he knew that the universitys invitation to the Dalai Lama hurt Chinese peoples feelings, the chancellor said he only knew that the Dalai Lama is a religious activist but had no idea about what he did, Fan said, adding that it was not clear what actions the students would take to continue their protests.

The protests by Chinese students came after write ups in the state-run Chinese media warning overseas Indians.

Read| US univ invites Dalai Lama: Chinese media warns overseas Indians of consequences

By calling the Dalai Lama the exiled spiritual head and leader of the Tibetan people and a man of peace, the UCSD has shown admiration for the Buddhist monk, an article in the paper had said.

What is laughable is that the person behind the infamous invitation was campus Chancellor Pradeep Khosla, an Indian- American. The campus website posted a photo of Khosla who met the Dalai Lama in Dharmsala, India, last October.

This shows how some Indian-Americans agitate China-India and China-US relations, it said.

The UCSD announced on February 2 that it has invited the 14th Dalai Lama to give a keynote speech at the All Campus Commencement on June 17, as well as a speech on June 16 at a public event.

The university described the Dalai Lama, as the exiled spiritual head and leader of the Tibetan people in the announcement.
North Korea on Friday said it will reject the results of an autopsy on its leaders estranged half brother, the victim of an apparent assassination this week at an airport in Malaysia.

Pyongyangs ambassador said Malaysian officials might be trying to conceal something and colluding with hostile forces.

Speaking to reporters gathered outside the morgue in Kuala Lumpur, North Korean ambassador Kang Chol said Malaysia conducted the autopsy on Kim Jong Nam unilaterally and excluding our attendance.

Kim Jong Nam, who was 45 or 46 and had lived in exile for years, suddenly fell ill at the Kuala Lumpur airport on Monday as he waited for a flight home to Macau. Dizzy and in pain, he told medical workers at the airport he had been sprayed with a chemical. He died while being taken to a hospital.

We will categorically reject the result of the postmortem, Kang said, adding that the move disregarded elementary international laws and consular laws.

Kang said the fact that Malaysia had yet to hand over the body strongly suggests that the Malaysian side is trying to conceal something which needs more time and deceive us, and that they are colluding with the hostile forces towards us who are desperate to harm us.

South Korea has accused its enemies in North Korea of dispatching a hit squad to kill Kim Jong Nam at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, saying two female assassins poisoned him and then fled in a taxi.

North Korean diplomats in Malaysia objected to an autopsy and had requested custody of Kim Jong Nams body, arguing that he had a North Korean passport. Malaysian authorities went ahead with the procedure anyway, saying they did not receive a formal complaint.

The autopsy could provide some clarity in a case marked by speculation, tales of intrigue and explosive, unconfirmed reports from dueling nations. Authorities were still awaiting the autopsy results.

Malaysia said on Friday it wanted DNA samples from Kim Jong Nams family as part of the post-mortem procedure and that officials were not yet willing to hand the body over to the North Koreans. Although Kim Jong Nam is believed to have two sons and a daughter with two women living in Beijing and Macau, the police in Malaysia say none have come forward to claim the body or provide DNA samples.

If there is no claim by next-of-kin and upon exhausting all avenues (to obtain DNA), we will finally then hand over the body to the (North Korean) embassy, said Abdul Samah Mat, a senior Malaysian police official. He did not say how long that process might take.

Malaysian police have arrested three people in the investigation but have released few details.

On Friday, Indonesias national police chief said the Indonesian woman arrested for suspected involvement in the death was duped into thinking she was part of a comedy show prank. The police chief, Tito Karnavian, said he was citing information received from Malaysian authorities.

Karnavian told reporters in Indonesias Aceh province that Siti Aisyah, 25, was paid to be involved in Just For Laughs style pranks, a reference to a popular hidden camera show.

He said she and another woman performed stunts which involved convincing men to close their eyes and then spraying them with water.

People watch a news report on the assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the older half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. (Reuters Photo)

Such an action was done three or four times and they were given a few dollars for it, and with the last target, Kim Jong Nam, allegedly there were dangerous materials in the sprayer, Karnavian said. She was not aware that it was an assassination attempt by alleged foreign agents.

Karnavians comments come after a male relative of Aisyah said in an Indonesian television interview that she had been hired to perform in a short comedy movie and traveled to China as part of this work. Indonesian Immigration has said Aisyah traveled to Malaysia and other countries it did not specify.

Investigators were still trying to piece together details of the case, and South Korea has not said how it concluded that North Korea was behind the killing.

Malaysian police were questioning three suspects  Aisyah, another woman who carried a Vietnamese passport, and a man they said was Aisyahs boyfriend.

The estranged half-brother

Kim Jong Nam was estranged from his younger half brother, the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He reportedly fell out of favor with their father, the late Kim Jong Il, in 2001, when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

Yoji Gomi, a Japanese journalist who wrote a book about Kim Jong Nam, said he criticised the family regime and believed a leader should be chosen through a democratic process.

Gomi said he met Kim Jong Nam by chance at Beijings international airport in 2004, leading to exchanges of 150 emails and two interviews in 2011  one in Beijing and another in Macau  totaling seven hours.

Kim Jong Nam appeared nervous during the interview in Macau, Gomi said.

He must have been aware of the danger, but I believe he still wanted to convey his views to Pyongyang via the media, Gomi said. He was sweating all over his body, and seemed very uncomfortable when he responded to my questions. He was probably worried about the impact of his comments and expressions. The thought now gives me a pain in my heart.

In Indonesia, Aisyahs family and former neighbours said they were stunned by her arrest, describing her as a polite and quiet young mother.

Between 2008 and 2011 she and her then-husband lived in a home with flaking red paint in a narrow alley of Tambora, a densely populated neighborhood in western Jakarta.

A hospital van leaves the morgue at Kuala Lumpur General Hospital where Kim Jong Nam's body is held for autopsy in Malaysia. (Reuters Photo)

Her former father-in-law, Tjia Liang Kiong, who lives in a nearby middle-class neighbourhood and last saw Aisyah on January 28, described her as respectful.

I was shocked to hear that she was arrested for murdering someone, he said. I dont believe that she would commit such a crime or what the media says  that she is an intelligence agent.

Aisyahs mother, Benah, said by telephone that the family comes from a humble village background and has no ability to help her.

Since we heard that from the television, I could not sleep and eat. Same as her father, he just prays and reads the holy Quran. He even does not want to speak, said Benah. As villagers, we could only pray.

According to Kiong, Aisyah only completed junior high school and moved to Malaysia with her husband in 2011 to seek a better life after the garment-making shop they ran from their home went out of business. The couple left their nearly 2-year-old son in Jakarta under the care of Kiong and his wife.

She and her husband divorced in 2012.

Malaysia, which is approaching developed-nation income levels, is a magnet for millions of Indonesians, who typically find work there as bar hostesses, maids and construction and plantation workers.

The three suspects were arrested separately on Wednesday and Thursday.

The women were identified using surveillance videos from the airport, police said. Early Friday, police took the pair back to the crime scene at the budget terminal of the airport for further investigations, Abdul Samah said. Local media reported that the police wanted to re-create the crime scene to establish new leads.
In the Pacific, Americans warriors learned how to let slip the dogs of war.

THE SEAS OFF BOUGAINVILLE were rough on the morning of November 1, 1943, and the beaches were cluttered with swamped landing craft. The first and second waves of the 2nd Raider Regiment threaded among the hulks, reached the shore of the largest of the Solomon Islands, and, against heavy Japanese resistance, began to push slowly inland.

As the third wave of Raiders climbed into Higgins boats, they had unusual company. Crewmen using cargo booms on the attack transport USS George Clymer were lowering 24 dogsDevil Dogs, the Marines called them, in an apt repurposing of their own nicknameone at a time into landing craft bobbing alongside. The canines, some swaddled in fatigue jackets jury-rigged as harnesses, took it all in stride, as they were trained to do. Marines equipped with carbines, extra canteens, leashes, grooming brushes, and cans of dog food clambered over the Clymers side to join their animals, and at 7:30 the boats began the 5,000-yard run to the beach.

The four-legged Marines and their 55 handlers constituted the 1st Marine War Dog Platoon, led by Lieutenant Clyde A. Henderson. Most of the men had never seen combat, and their leader, a science teacher and amateur dog trainer, was so green that all aspects of military life bewildered him. I hardly knew how to wear a uniform, the Ohioan recalled. Much was riding on this experimental outfits performance. It was the first time an American armed service was deploying a large unit of dog teams in an organized tactical role. The Devil Dogs were treading on new ground.

The platoon was the result of a November 26, 1942, directive by the Marine Corps commandant, Lieutenant General Thomas Holcomb, to establish a training program for military dogs at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The U.S. Army was already training and using dogs, mainly as sentries, and in the course of the war would induct more than 10,000, sending 1,900 overseas. After the army successfully used dogs elsewhere in the Solomons to locate Japanese snipers, the Marines decided to create their own dog program. Instead of serving as guards, Marine dogs would work on the battlefield, side by side with combat troops. The Corps Planning and Policies Division explained the reasoning: Dogs are weapons, a division statement read. They give our men added power of observation through their acute sense of smell and hearing.

Aside from unit mascots, the Marine Corps had no real experience with dogs. To learn handling techniques a Marine team led by Captain Jackson Boyd, a well-known dog trainer and master of foxhounds, visited the army K-9 school at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, in late 1942. The group returned with 40 dogs, augmented with 20 animals recruited through the Doberman Pinscher Club of America.

At Lejeune instruction started with three objectives: to teach handlers how to train and work with dogs, to teach the dogs basic obedience, and to match each animal to the job it was best suited for. We had no manual, war dog handler Robert Forsyth said. Training was by the seat of our pants. And so all handsand all pawslearned both sides of the commands heel, sit, cover, stay, come, crawl, jump, and drop.

Training then became specialized, with 14-week sessions on scouting or messengering. Animals chosen as scouts had to be smart, aggressive, and energetic. The syllabus described the scouting role: The dog is trained to detect and give silent warning of the presence of any foreign individual or group. He will prove especially useful in warning of ambushes or attempts at infiltration. Among the early recruits was Andy, more formally known as Andreas von Wiedehurst, a 66-pound black-and-tan Doberman from Norristown, Pennsylvania. Two-year-old Andy loved a good scrap and had the mangled ears to prove it. His handlers were Privates First Class Robert E. Lansley, a former Marine drill instructor, and John B. Jack Mahoney, a teenager whose family raised Irish setters.

Scout training began with teaching dogs to work silently; in combat a bark could be fatal to man and beast. Exercises gradually conditioned the animals to respond to the command watch by trying to detect hidden enemies. With repetition the dogs came to understand that they were to pinpoint trouble, then back off and let their accompanying Raiders go to work.

Messenger dogs would stand in for Marine runners, substituting a speedy, low-profile, single-minded courier for a slower and more easily targeted human. Messengers served two masters, learning to avoid trouble and unerringly carry messages between one man and another in any weather and over any terrain. Messenger animals were prized for the affection and blind loyalty they displayed toward their handlers.

Caesar von Steuben, an 81-pound German shepherd, had started out in the army. He was now three years old. In Caesars puppy days, the Glaser brothersMilton, Irving, and Jerome of the Bronx, New York, had taught him to carry packages from the corner store to their familys fourth-floor walkup. By the end of 1942 the boys had all enlisted, so they signed up Caesar, too. After obedience and messenger training at Fort Robinson, he was transferred to the Marines in early March 1943. The muscular shepherd was teamed with Privates First Class John J. Kleeman, an 18-year-old Philadelphian, and Rufus G. Mayo, a young Alabamian who before the war had trained hunting dogs.

Messenger training first desensitized the dogs to the chaos of battle. As War Dogs, Technical Manual No. 10-396 noted, the regimen exposed canine trainees to every known distraction, such as bomb detonations, shell and gunfire, troop and motor traffic. Handlers acclimated animals to wearing message pouches on their collars. Then, starting about a dozen yards apart, handling teams worked on report, the gentle command that would send a dog on its way. Repeated practice at increasing distances and over ever-rougher ground continued until a dog could easily make the transit from one master to the other over a mile of obstacles and hazards.

In late April 1943 the Marines ordered Clyde Hendersons war dog training company relocated to Camp Pendleton, California. There, men and dogs spent six weeks drilling and learning attack techniques under Carl Spitz, a Hollywood trainer who had been prepping hounds for movie roles since the days of silent film. (He owned Terry, the female Cairn terrier that played Toto in The Wizard of Oz.) He was a pretty tough guy, handler Jack Mahoney recalled. Another Marine handler, Kenneth Shepperd, recalled that the domineering Spitz carried a swagger stick. He hit us if we didnt do something right, Shepperd said.

Now the platoons fate was up to Marine headquarters, which, even thenin June 1943wasnt certain what to do with the unorthodox outfit. Everyone looked on us as a curiosity and wondered what we were supposed to do, Henderson said. We werent too sure ourselves. The Marines shipped dogs and handlers to New Caledoniasouth of Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands in the Coral Sea, where forces were gathering for an assault in the Western Solomonshoping some unit would adopt them. As the 1st War Dog Platoon was departing, the 2nd and the 3rd began training at Lejeune.

The three-week voyage was anything but routine. The animals lived on deck in crates shaded by a canvas awning, doing their business in a sandbox latrine dominated by a hydrant-like post. Three or four times a day they ran the deck, watched by sailors so incessantly curious about their four-legged passengers that the Marines placed the kennel under 24-hour guard to assure that the dogs got enough rest.

Location is everything, even in war. Arriving in New Caledonias capital, Noumea, late one July night, the dog platoon awoke to find that it had been randomly billeted on the doorstep of the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion, veterans of the Makin Raid and the Long March on Guadalcanal.

At first the Raiders scorned the green Marines and their furry friends. They cracked jokes, howled and barked, and griped that the Corps was going to the dogs. Forsyth thought the tough veterans were a little bit afraid of the animals. So did Shepperd, who remembers that when off their leads the dogs would chase Raiders who had taunted them. But as the Raiders watched the dog teams drill, they came to realize that in jungle combat the critters might be a lifesaving asset.

The Raider most attentive to that prospect was Lieutenant Colonel Alan Shapley, a no-nonsense Marine who had just replaced the legendary founder of the Raiders, Colonel Evans Carlson, as commanding officer. One day Shapley asked Henderson for a demonstration. Especially impressed by the messenger dogs, Shapley requested that the platoon be attached to his newly formed 2nd Raider Regiment (Provisional), which combined the 2nd and 3rd Raider Battalions. That put Henderson and his men on cloud nine. We thought we were pretty hot stuff, Forsyth said. We were the elite of the elite.

Shapley had only a few weeks to integrate dog teams into his regiment, impart Raider culture to them, and teach his Raiders how to work effectively with dogs. To these ends, he sent dog-led patrols to be ambushed and carry messages, and put dog teams through amphibious landing exercises. This sold the Raiders. A messenger dog could run as fast as 25 miles an hour, a scout dog could sense a hidden human at a quarter of a mile, and neither was an easy target for enemy gunners.

On October 30, 1943, the 2nd Raider Regiment left for Bougainville. Shapley, by now an ardent convert, told his officers, I want you to remember that the dogs are the least expendable of all!

Two days lateron November 1the Marines stormed the islands western shore. It was rough going for the dog platoon; a Japanese mortar round nearly capsized Hendersons Higgins boat. We hit the beach and dived for cover, he said. All of us, dogs included. When they reached the regimental command post, they asked for orders. They didnt have long to wait. To slow an expected Japanese counterattack, M Company, 3rd Raiders, was to advance 1,500 yards east along Mission Trail to establish a strategic roadblock at the junction with Piva Trail. These two narrow, muddy tracks provided the only overland access to the islands interior. Company commander Lieutenant Francis O. Cunningham chose two dog teams: Andys and Caesars. Late that morning Cunninghams 250 Marines stepped off into the dark forest. Caesar brought up the rear, ready to rush back a message; Andy was on point, leading the column.

Walking the point is a lonely, dangerous business, especially on a rough path winding through dense jungle lousy with enemy snipers and pillboxes. Andy worked off the leash, ranging 20 to 30 yards ahead to sniff and listen, hopping from one side of the trail to the other. When he detected something, he would alertfreeze, ears erect, facing the sound or scent. During the march up Mission Trail, Andy alerted the Raiders to the enemy three timesincluding to a machine gunner about to fire, giving the Raiders time to take cover. As the Marines continued, their confidence grew in Andys ability to prevent deadly surprises.

When M Company reached the Piva crossroads early that afternoon, the men began to entrench. Raiders eagerly volunteered to dig shelters for the handlers and their dogs, to keep them nearby. Much of the credit for the feeling of security we enjoyed that first night goes to the dogs, one Marine said.

Cunningham carried a walkie-talkie, but its signal was too weak to penetrate the thick rain forest. Thats why hed brought Caesar, and late on the first day he sent the first Marine message ever to travel by canine courier in combat. With a quiet report, Rufus Mayo sped Caesar toward his other master, John Kleeman, at the command post. Caesar traversed the trail in minutes, far faster than a two-legged Marine could have. Kleeman grabbed the message from the pouch attached to the dogs collar and sent the shepherd back to Mayo.

Early the next morning a field telephone line was run to the Piva roadblock, and Caesar switched to sentry duty at the perimeteruntil the enemy cut the wire. Again the messenger dog became Cunninghams link to Shapley. Caesar made eight circuits that day, with Japanese snipers trying to pick off his dashing black-and-gray form.

Late that night, after Mayo and Caesar had settled into their foxhole, the dog awakened his masterjust before an enemy infiltrator hurled a grenade their way. Mayo grabbed the grenade and threw it back, killing several Japanese.

Near dawn enemy forces tried again to penetrate. Caesar immediately leaped to the attack. Mayo called him back, but as the dog obeyed, enemy rounds caught him in the left shoulder and hip. Mayo moved him out of the line of fire, sprinkled sulfa powder in the wounds, and told Cunningham that Caesar had to be evacuated. The officer sympathized, but said that he first needed Caesar to summon reinforcements. The dog went limping on his way and delivered the message calling for help, but by the time Caesar reached the command post, his condition had deteriorated. Raiders quickly stretchered the big shepherd to the field hospital. A surgeon found a bullet lodged near the dogs heart. Too risky to remove, he said, dressing Caesars wounds. It had been a close call, but within three weeks the Raiders favorite four-footed Marine had returned to active duty. While Caesar was convalescing, Andy continued to patrol. On the morning of November 14 he was leading a column that included four light tanks up Piva Trail.

Suddenly Andy stopped short, and looked to the right and left, the way he always alerted, handler Bob Lansley said. I crept up along a little trail behind him and saw two machine gun nests. To goad their foes, Lansley let off a quick burst with his Thompson submachine gun. The enemy shot back from both sides. During the fierce firefight that ensued, Mahoney provided cover while his partner darted from tree to tree, firing at the Japanese positions. When Lansley drew close enough, he chucked a pair of grenades at the dugouts, eliminating resistance. It was the most heroic thing Ive ever seen, Mahoney said. Andys warning had helped save Marine lives.

Combat correspondents got wind of Caesar and Andy, and soon they were making headlines at home. Caesar Is Helping Take Bougainville, reported the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Four-Legged Devil Dogs Win Marine Corps Praise, said the Canton, Ohio, Repository. The Omaha World Herald went over the top in a story about Caesar: Veni  Vidi  Vici. He came, he saw and he is helping to conquer. Commandant Holcomb wrote letters of commendation to six war dogs former owners. His communique to the Glasers read, Caesar made nine official runs between the company and the command post, and on at least two of those runs he was under fire. Andy, too, was commended, for having led the advance on the initial day, and warning of scattered Japanese sniper opposition on many occasions. To honor their outstanding performance, Holcomb promoted all six dogs to the rank of corporal.

After 73 days of combat, the Marines and canines of the 1st War Dog Platoon pulled out of Bougainville for Guadalacanal. Nearly all the animals had suffered, physically and mentally. Even the redoubtable Andy had vanished for several hours one day into Bougainvilles dense bush, presumably to escape the noise and confusion of combat. Afterward, in the war dogs record book, Mahoney observed that Andy would not be good for further combat due to shell fire.

In his after-action report Shapley lauded his dogs performance. The War Dog Platoon had proven itself to be an unqualified success, he wrote. They were constantly employed during the operation, and proved themselves as messengers, scouts, and agents of night security. Henderson, who returned to Lejeune to pass along lessons learned, told a reporter that the program will be expanded and will go ahead under full steam. The 1st War Dog Platoon had earned itself a place as an integral element of the Marine Corps.

As the war shifted into its final phase, more dog platoons there were now seven spread among the six Marine divisions served in the battles for Guam, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, and were among the first American units to occupy Japan.

After Japans surrender, surviving dogs returned to Camp Lejeune. Nearly half of 1,074 enlisted Marine Corps dogs saw action. Of those, 58 died, 29 in combat25 on Guam alone. The greater toll was on the dogs health. Infections, parasites, malnutrition, and dehydration struck hundreds of dogs. Shellshock and gun-shyness rendered many unreliable. The Corps kept damaged dogs from combat, and euthanized 128.

No longer of military value, the rest were in line to get the needle, too. As 3rd War Dog Platoon commander Captain William W. Putney recalled, headquarters believed there was no time for any other solution. Putney protested. Time, now that the war was over, we had plenty of, he wrote. There simply was no good reason that most of our dogs could not be rehabilitated. The dogs deserved the chance to respond to a program of detraining aimed at preparing them for a return to civilian life. The Corps approved, and Putney oversaw a mustering-out program, leading to 540 of 559 Devil Dogs being sent home. Handlers, who had forged a battle-tested bond with these animals, were allowed to adopt them.

By any standard the Marines wartime experience with dogs was a success, saving untold numbers of lives. As Marine combat correspondent Captain Cyril J. OBrien noted, the lines were never surprised, and there was never an ambush of Marines where dogs were on watch.

However, Andy and Caesar, those first two Devil Dog heroes, did not come home.

Two months after leaving Bougainville, Andy died on Guadalcanal. Nearly deaf, he failed to hear a speeding truck. A heartbroken Bob Lansley wrote in Andys service book that an outstanding point and patrol dog had died in the line of duty. Caesar saw combat at Guam and then in northern Okinawa, where on April 17, 1945, the big shepherdthat slug from Bougainville still close to his heartwas killed in action.

Handler Bob Forsyth summed up the loss: They were good Marines. 

Originally published in the April 2014 issue of World War II. To subscribe, click here.
The Wind Rises

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki. 2 hours, 6 minutes. Animation. Opens February 21.

An airplane is a dream, says dashing Giovanni Caproni to bespectacled Jiro Horikoshi, setting out this remarkable animated features central theme. The Japanese boy, who has been studying the famed Italian airplane designers writings in English with a dictionarys help, is on a roof with his sister, staring at the stars; he hopes this will strengthen his nearsighted eyes so he can become a pilot. The muted night sky, streaked with shooting stars his sister can see but he cant, magically becomes brilliantly glowing day when Caproni appears. As he speaks, looming six-engine planes with primitive bomb racks morph into fantastic passenger airliners. Planes are not about war, or making money, he declares. I am an aeronautical engineer! I dont even know how to fly! Young Jiros myopic eyes shine with aspiration.

Jiro, of course, designed the A6M Zero, one of the wars deadliest weapons. And Caproni spent most of his career designing bombers; his forays into passenger planes were disastrous. This final adult film from Hayao Miyazaki, 73-year-old master of contemporary animation whose acclaimed childrens movies include Princess Mononoke, is a parable that subtly probes the ironies between dreams and reality. Dreamers, after all, can create nightmares. Scientists and engineers formulate technologies that can be used for good or ill, whatever their intentions. Creativitys consuming drive can subordinate everything, including morality and consequences, to its goals: Doctor Frankenstein, meet Werner von Braun. But even though dreams can carry horrific price tags, what would we be without them?

The Wind Rises naturally showcases Miyazakis technical invention, dazzling palette, and shifting perspectives. His depiction of the 1923 Tokyo earthquake, which Jiro experiences as a student, is a typical tour de force: the ground buckles and heaves and cracks; fires light the sky, afar at first, then ever nearer; buildings sway and totter and fracture; people trudging on traditional wooden sandals through daily rounds panic; bits of flaming debris drift down like hypnotic infernal snow. Against the unpredictable landscape, the engaging fictionalized characters reflect how human aspirations, contradictions, and foibles also constantly flex and collide. For Miyazaki, the dream of flight, a recurrent motif in his movies, is the perfect metaphor: imagination battles human natures dark sides, which act like gravitys pull.

Jiros dreams, portrayed as meetings with the mustachioed Caproni and interludes with his tuberculosis-doomed sweetheart, power the movies dominant lyricism. His eccentric deductions from a mackerel bone about better wing design, and his careful innovations about engineering details like struts demonstrate how open-minded creativity and rigorous work combine to perfect his planeshis overriding focus in life. But larger realities intrude regularly, if elliptically. Teams of oxen pull Japanese wood-and-canvas prototypes to grassy fields for flight trials. When Jiro goes to Nazi Germany on a technology-transfer mission, he sees four-engine metal planes in huge hangars abutting concrete runways and wonders why a poor country like Japan tries to keep up. His friend replies that the military wants to fight the Russians, British, Chinese, and Americans. Jiro blinks: Then Japan will blow up. Eventually it does, symbolically: destroyed Zeros stretch to the horizon while a dejected Jiro tells Caproni, Not one came back.

Miyazaki is no stranger to controversy. He has been vilified for criticizing Japans re-militarization, and didnt come to the United States to accept an Oscar (for his 2003 movie Spirited Away) because he opposed the bombing of Iraq. Talk about ironies: in Japan, The Wind Rises was ferociously attacked for antithetical reasons by the political left and right, but became a box-office smash. See why for yourselfand even better, bring a kid.

Originally published in the April 2014 issue of World War II. To subscribe, click here.
Happy to See Hap

YOUR SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER feature regarding General Hap Arnold and our countrys stubborn reluctance to recognize the power of aircraft in wartime certainly rang a bell with me.

My brother Norton, an enlisted man in the U.S. Air Force, worked on assembling the top-secret Norden bombsight at Denver. I was a navigator in the air force stationed in China when the dropping of the atom bombs on Japan ended that war.

Prior to that, however, as the country prepared for war, my brother and I were working summer jobs at the New York Shipbuilding Yard near Camden, New Jersey, when a plane flew overhead at an incredible speed and with a loud whine unlike the throbbing of a propeller. It was the first of the jet-driven aircraft and must have been the XP-59, which debuted in September 1942 but was kept secret until January 1944. The jets changed aerial warfare and commercial flying ever thereafterall thanks to the brilliant Hap Arnold. He deserved your editorial spotlight.

My brother and I not only survived the war, but are happy and healthy at ages 91 and 92.

John H. Worthington

Foxboro, Mass.

Red Flag

I WISH TO COMMENT ON the Italian flag used occasionally in the magazine.

I have noticed in your past issues, including your recent September/October Weapons Manual, that the flag displayed is not the wartime national flag of Italy, which featured the royal coat of arms. The flag displayed is the Fascist flag of the Italian Social Republic that was formed by Mussolini after the Allied invasion in 1943.

Donald V. Castronova

Jarrettsville, Md.

Keen observation. The tricolor banner with eagle and fasceswood rods bound around the handle of an axe, a symbol of authority dating to Roman days was never Italys national flag during the war. However, the fasces-flaunting National Fascist Party flag did fly side by side with the national flag during official ceremonies. Although the eagle and-fasces tricolor never quite achieved the pervasiveness of Germanys swastika banner, we think Benito Mussolinis flag well suited to represent Fascist Italy for the purposes of our Weapons Manual.

Discomfort Today

I READ THE NEWS ARTICLE by Paul Wiseman regarding the Japanese comfort women in the September/October issue with great interest.

I served as a military policeman in the air corps in World War II for three and a half years, and in 194546 I was stationed on Guam and Saipan, where I was assigned to guard Japanese prisoners of war.

In late 1945, when the war was winding down, a group of Japanese soldiers came out of the jungle area, accompanied by two of their comfort slavesone of whom was pregnantand surrendered to us.

If the Japanese who have denied the existence of comfort women accompanying their soldiers during World War II wish to have verification, let them speak to me! I am a living witness to their activities!

The Japanese try to hide these facts, but even as a 91-year-old World War II veteran, my memories of my service are clearand the public should know the truth! We should make sure the whole world knows the truth.

Sam Nusinov

Boca Raton, Fla.

IN MR. WISEMANS REPORT, he said, Hashimotos inflammatory declaration followed Prime Minister Shinzo Abes trip to Yasukuni Shrine. He is incorrect. As Prime Minister, Abe has not to this day visited Yasukuni Shrine since his appointment last March.

I generally disagree with Wiseman. It must be remembered that until 1958, prostitution was legal in Japanas it still is in Nevada. Women primarily went into prostitution of their own free will. And they were very richly paid. And, as far as I know, women of Korean descent comprised only about 20 percent of all military prostitutes.

Yoya Kawamura

Tokyo, Japan

Originally published in the February 2014 issue of World War II. To subscribe, click here.
Nazi Hunters

Time: 60 minutes each. 8 episodes. National Geographic Channel.

This interesting, well-wrought new series doesnt limit its notion of Nazi hunters to postwar pursuers of fugitives. Of course, it includes episodes on infamous escaped Nazis. Among them: Adolf Eichmann, the nuts-and-bolts organizer of the Holocaust who ignored Heinrich Himmlers orders and continued slaughtering tens of thousands of Jews until the Reichs last weeks, then vanished from the postwar wreckage without a trace for years; Josef Mengele, the infamous human experimenter who evaded the Israeli Mossad team that seized Eichmann in Argentina by moving to Nazi-friendly Paraguay, then Brazil, where he died unmolested; and John Ivan the Terrible Demjanjuk, one of hundreds of Ukrainian concentration camp guards who, after distinguishing himself from his brutal peers by his grotesque levels of inhumanity, managed to live undetected in America for decades.

Other episodes, however, tackle more offbeat topics. One showcases the postwar Jewish Avengers, a band of Holocaust survivors who scoured the world searching for unpunished Nazis. In 1946 the group attempted to poison 3,000 Nazi prisoners by lacing their bread with arsenic, only to have their victims saved by swift U.S. Army ambulances and stomach pumps. Another recreates how the British SOE and Czech resistance plotted to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich, the SS golden boy who spearheaded the Holocaust and ruthlessly oppressed Czechoslovakia. Exemplifying the series attention to detail, we see Heydrichs car coming around the fateful bend at Pragues suburban edge, then watch him order his driver to stop so he can return fire after one assassin shoots at his car and misses; that characteristic bravado lets the second assassin toss a grenade into the vehicle, mortally wounding the Nazi icon with pieces of shrapnel and bits of auto metal and upholstery; septicemia would kill him eight days later. Stellar footage, good commentary, solid recreated scenes.

Originally published in the April 2014 issue of World War II. To subscribe, click here.
President Donald Trump during a news conference made a statement saying that, probably Vladimir Putin assumes that he is not going to be able to make a deal with him. Trump further stated that he is politically not popular to make a deal.

During the conference he also blamed "fake news" and "leaked" information of media reports about the issue between his campaign and Russian officials. According to the Washington Post, Russian military provocations might be motivated by Putin's belief that Trump has been politically weakened with all the controversies surrounding him.

Trump made it clear that it is the false, horrible and fake reporting that is making it hard to make a deal with Russia. He further said that Putin was probably behind his desk saying, it seems to be impossible for Trump to get along with Russia due to all the pressure he has with this fake story.

Russian war planes have been flying over a U.S. naval vessel in the Black Sea, there have also been other issues like the Russian spy ship appearing 30 miles off the Connecticut coast. Trump also stated that those actions were "not good" and hopefully he will not have to do anything.

According to Tillerson, a former Chief Executive for Exxon sated that America will only consider working with Russia when they can find areas of political cooperation. He also said they will work together if that will benefit the American people. Though Tillerson voiced out his duty he has no previous experience in public office but he has attended several meetings with his diplomatic counterparts.

Trump also stated that he could have shot the so called Russian spy ship 30 miles offshore right out of the water. But that will not be great and it's something he does not want, instead he would love to be able to get along with Russia.

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
News, events, history, and other mid-week tidbits.

Tuesday, October 25, 4:30  7 p.m.

Orr Area EMS Open House

Brats and burgers will be served. Event includes a new ambulance tour and blood pressure screenings. For more info: 218-780-3798.

Orr Fire Hall

4540 Lake St., Orr

Tuesday, October 25, 12  6 p.m.

Essentia Health Job Fair

Talent recruiters and department managers will be on-site at Essentia Health-Virginia. Candidates from all backgrounds are encouraged to attendnurses, nursing and clinical assistants, surgery technicians, radiology technicians, respiratory therapists, human resource professionals, and those interested in environmental services or nutrition services. Essentia staff will greet candidates, conduct an initial screening and filter them to appropriate hiring managers for interviews. Select candidates will be verbally offered a position before leaving. Candidates are asked to bring a resume, but its not required. Attire is business casual. For more info: www.essentiacareers.org.

901 9th St. N., Virginia
A changing world means changing travel patterns, and the hospitality industry has to adapt  or face the risk of not connecting with the travellers of tomorrow. For the past 20 to 30 years, a growing middle class and improved airlift has resulted in a host of new outbound travel markets: including young people from countries that previously restricted their citizens from travel who now have the freedom of movement their parents could only dream of. In many cases today, they are taking full advantage of it. China is a prime example of this.

New outbound travel markets are opening up and this is changing the face of travel throughout the world. The traditional dominance of travellers from the United Kingdom, North America and Western Europe is now being challenged by significant increases in the number of international travellers from countries such as China, India and the Middle East.

The achievement of the travel industry in successfully catering to these new travellers hinges on a number of factors, of which cultural sensitivity is one key consideration. The corporate hospitality industry developed out of the United States and countries in Western Europe, and so the way we dealt with guests in the past was based on those countries' cultures and behaviours. But our approach has to be adapted to take into consideration the many new travellers we are now hosting from varied cultures around the world. Our need for an evolving approach is not just because of our desire to deliver relevant hospitality it is necessary for the future success of our business.

In fact, the President and CEO of Marriott International, Arne Sorenson, has said, "Our ability to attract the most diverse customers and reflect local cultures in our hotels will propel our future success and global growth." With a presence in 120 countries across the world, Marriott is clearly impacted by the diverse countries and cultures where it does business.

In line with this, the company established an Executive Global Diversity and Inclusion Council, chaired by our President and Chief Operating Officer. Staff training includes a learning curriculum focused on cultural awareness and competence. The company offers learning tools for language skills and cultural awareness. Staff can access information for well over 100 countries, with information covering the political, economic and historical background of a country along with societal and cultural norms and practices.

Where the Chinese market is concerned, for instance, there are very clear cultural practices that hotels have learned to understand and respect. The symbolism associated with particular numbers and colours is particularly important, and so a Marriott hotel employee will learn why it is important to allocate a Chinese guest a room on the 8th floor rather than on the 4th floor. The staff learns if the hotel places flowers in a guest's room, there should be some buds on the bunch of flowers, since this is symbolic in the Chinese culture of the ongoing journey of life.

The Chinese travel market is certainly going to be significant to the future of our South African travel and tourism sector. Visitor numbers for the country are increasing rapidly among many markets but the Chinese one shows the most dramatic growth. As such, we are encouraged by this initiative which should make our African brand, Protea Hotels by Marriott, particularly attractive to travellers from this country.

Fast and efficient service is important to the Chinese traveller, and it is with this in mind that some staff in South Africa have embarked on training to offer particular levels of service for Chinese guests such as learning the basics of spoken Mandarin, so that they can prepare correspondence in the guest's language and answer a guest's queries. They are also being immersed in Chinese cultural practices and the training includes role-plays geared to assist staff in the appropriate way of interacting with these travellers.

Being culturally aware makes all the difference to the experience of our guests, and it is especially important when they consider whether to make a return trip to our country in the future. By investing in our staff and their understanding of cultural awareness, we are in fact investing in the long-term growth of our industry.
It's a first! The Rezidor Hotel Group, known for its innovation in the hospitality industry and its iconic Radisson Blu brand, introduces its first residence property in Dhahran, bringing Saudi Arabia to a new standard of excellence. With 92 stylish and sophisticated apartments, a restaurant and a gym, guests will find everything they need to feel at home at the Radisson Blu Residence, Dhahran.

"We are delighted to open our first residences in Dhahran as we see the perfect opportunity to cater to the increasing demand from corporate and leisure guests looking for spacious and stylish serviced apartments on a short-, medium- or long-term basis. We are confident that the combination of high quality, serviced apartments and the globally recognized Radisson Blu brand will prove to be a compelling proposition and will be in popular demand," says Mark Willis, Area Vice President, Middle East & Turkey, The Rezidor Hotel Group.

Located in the Aramco business district, Radisson Blu Residence, Dhahran is situated just a credit card's throw from the famous Mall of Dhahran, the area's major retail and shopping complex, and only a kilometer away from the city center. The Residence is also close to the Aramco headquarters and the corporate offices of many international companies. The Radisson Blu Residence is just 55km from King Fahd International Airport Dammam, providing the perfect hub for many of the city's corporate travelers.

Radisson Blu Residence, Dhahran provides comfortable and stylish accommodation, with a range of guest rooms and two- and three-bedroom apartments, ideal for guests to create a home-like atmosphere within the convenience and comfort of a hotel environment. All rooms are equipped with free, high-speed WiFi; flat screen TVs; and a range of complimentary amenities. Each apartment includes a kitchenette and is decorated with a warm and light color palette to create a soothing space to relax.

For the discerning palate, the Residence's restaurant offers a wide selection of international cuisine. Fitness aficionados will be delighted with the well-equipped gym facilities that help them maintain their fitness regimen, including treadmills and weight machines.

"We are very excited to open Radisson Blu Residence, Dhahran. Our team is all set to deliver the brand's Yes I Can! service philosophy. We believe that this, combined with the quality of accommodation, will deliver a great experience for our guests. Demand in the city of Dhahran is largely driven by corporate travelers within the oil industry, however, many leisure guests from Riyadh and neighboring cities in the Eastern Province also enjoy visiting the city. As such, we believe that Radisson Blu Residence, Dhahran will perfectly complement the needs of both segments," says Fadi Mheisen, General Manager, Radisson Blu Residence, Dhahran.

The three cities of Dhahran, Dammam and Al Khobar compose Greater Damman, the largest metropolitan area in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. Dhahran's oil reserves have made it integral to the Saudi oil industry, and Saudi Aramco has its headquarters within the city. The Aramco residential camp houses much of the city's sizable international population, which helps give Dhahran a cosmopolitan atmosphere that both business and leisure travelers appreciate.

The Rezidor Hotel Group's next property in Dhahran will be Radisson Blu Hotel, Dhahran Square. The hotel will be located across the road from the Radisson Blu Residence, Dhahran and will open in Q1 2019 featuring 216 rooms, a business class lounge, two gyms, a swimming pool and meeting facilities.

About Radisson Hotel Group

Radisson Hotel Group is one of the world's largest hotel groups with nine distinctive hotel brands, and more than 1,600 hotels in operation and under development in 120 countries. The Group's overarching brand promise is Every Moment Matters with a signature Yes I Can! service ethos.

The Radisson Hotel Group portfolio includes Radisson Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson RED, Radisson Individuals, Park Plaza, Park Inn by Radisson, Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, and prizeotel brought together under one commercial umbrella brand Radisson Hotels.

Radisson Rewards is our international rewards program that delivers unique and personalized ways to create memorable moments that matter to our guests. Radisson Rewards offers an exceptional experience for our guests, meeting planners, and travel agents at over 550 hotels in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.

Radisson Meetings provides tailored solutions for any event or meeting, including hybrid solutions placing guests and their needs at the heart of its offer. Radisson Meetings is built around three strong service commitments: Personal, Professional and Memorable, while delivering on the brilliant basics and being uniquely 100% Carbon Neutral.

The health and safety of guests and team members remain a top priority for Radisson Hotel Group. All properties across the Group's portfolio are subject to stringent health and safety requirements, as outlined in the Radisson Hotels Safety Protocol.

More than 100,000 team members work at Radisson Hotel Group and at the hotels licensed to operate in its systems. For more information, visit our corporate website. Or connect with Radisson Hotels on:

LinkedIn | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

Lucie Cardona

Corporate Communications & PR Leader

Radisson Hotel Group
MERRILLVILLE, Ind. -- White Lodging Services announced today that it has completed a corporate rebranding that reflects its evolution as a trendsetter and innovator in the hospitality management space  and a people-centric company driven by passion, excellence and engagement among its 12,000 associates. The new branding, punctuated by the tagline "Success Knows No Boundaries", includes a new company logo, website, multimedia content and overall messaging, all of which aim to tell the story of White Lodging's industry-leading results for owners, best of brand service to guests, and engagement of employees who are top 10% performers in their respective disciplines. The company is positioning to share its story as it enters into the fastest growth period in its history with 17 hotels opening in the next 18 months.

"White Lodging is 165 hotels strong and our value comes from our people. Every goal we have at White Lodging is achieved through the passion, commitment, and talent of our 12,000 associates," said Ken Barrett, President and CEO, Hospitality Division. "We are building a company with unprecedented growth allowing us to provide incredible opportunities for our associates while delivering on our promises to create value for our owners."

While the White Lodging brand has evolved since its founding in 1985, the company's founding vision has not wavered. Its commitment to that vision  to provide incredible value and genuine care for associates, guests and owners  has led to the organization becoming one of America's largest hospitality development groups, growing at a rate that exceeds other management companies and sets it on pace with the largest hotel brands.

White Lodging is a leader in convention hotels, managing the No. 1 hotel in Marriott's Convention and Resort Network with the JW Marriott Indianapolis. It also is the industry leader in dual-branded and triple-branded properties, developing and managing the first ever dual-branded property with the Courtyard Residence Inn Austin Downtown in 2006, and the first ever triple-branded property with the Hyatt Place Chicago/River North, Fairfield Inn and Suites Chicago River North and the Aloft Chicago City Center in 2013. This summer, White Lodging will open the first dual-branded property that is a physical representation of the Marriott and Starwood merger with the AC and Le Meridien in downtown Denver. The company also has in development a 600-room Marriott in downtown Austin and a dual-branded AC/Autograph Collection property in development adjacent to the University of Texas at Austin.

White Lodging's new tagline "Success Knows No Boundaries" is inspired by a company-wide devotion to excellence achieved through passion and dedication to its core values and singular vision. With this vision in mind, White Lodging's executive and marketing teams began a year-long research and development effort to create a brand that is inclusive and inspirational to its diverse workforce, its partners and its businesses. "We are reintroducing the White Lodging brand to our associates, guests, and property owners in a way that highlights our strengths and shows a side of White Lodging that some people may not have been aware of. We are known as exceptional, highly profitable operators. We certainly are that; but we are also one of the most innovative, trendsetting, fastest growing hotel management companies in America. Our new branding tells this story with larger than life views of our properties and inspiring highlights of our associates who are truly the best of the best," said Chris Anderson, Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer, White Lodging.

The company is introducing their new branding publicly with a fast-paced brand anthem video that showcases its portfolio and its people. For more information regarding White Lodging's new branding initiative, or any of its properties, please visit www.whitelodging.com.

White Lodging Services Corporation was established in 1985 and is today one of America's largest and fastest growing hotel ownership, development, and management companies. An innovative trendsetter with high-performing convention and lifestyle hotels in its portfolio, White Lodging boasts more than 165-premium hotels, 30 restaurants and 30 brands  including Marriott International, Inc., Hilton Worldwide, Hyatt Global, and InterContinental Hotel Group  in 19 states across the U.S.

Success Knows No Boundaries at White Lodging, which has consistently earned superior guest satisfaction scores, higher market share and greater profit margins while recruiting the best, brightest, and most passionate professionals in every discipline for three decades.

For more information about White Lodging, please visit www.whitelodging.com, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

About White Lodging

White Lodging, established in 1985, is one of the leading ownership, development, and management companies in America. An innovative trendsetter, the organization's portfolio includes convention, urban lifestyle, and suburban select hotels with more than $1 billion in managed revenue. White Lodging operates approximately 90 premium hotels, 40 restaurants and 30 brands. Success knows no boundaries at White Lodging, where associates and leadership have consistently earned superior guest satisfaction scores, top market share and industry-leading profit margins while recruiting the best, brightest, and most passionate professionals in every discipline. White Lodging is a proud winner of the Gallup Great Workplace Award. For more information about White Lodging, visit www.whitelodging.com , or connect on Facebook , Twitter , LinkedIn and Instagram .

Kathleen Quilligan Sebastian

White Lodging

219-472-2861

White Lodging
Annapolis, Md. -- Spire Hospitality, one of the nation's leading and most respected hotel management companies, proudly announces two DoubleTree by Hilton Annapolis leadership employees as award recipients in the Maryland Hotel & Lodging Association (MHLA) annual 'Stars of the Industry' program. Area General Manager Dhaval Brahmbhatt and Banquet Houseman Francisco "Chico" Ramirez were recognized with top honors in the local industry awards program, as the General Manager of the Year and Outstanding Food & Beverage Employee of the Year, respectively.

"Both Dhaval and Chico are brand champions and epitomize the core values of Spire Hospitality," said Bill DeForrest, president & ceo, Spire Hospitality. "Each of our nominees bring irreplaceable assets to our company and the property, and we are proud to see two of them recognized by this prestigious awards program."

Brahmbhatt began his career in hospitality at the ripe age of 16 as a busser and worked his way through the ranks of the industry. "Dhaval has been with Spire since our transformation from Lane Hospitality in 1990," said DeForrest. "His years of dedicated service have led him into the role of Spire Area General Manager, and this is not the first time he has been recognized as a strong leader and influencer." Spire Hospitality recognized Brahmbhatt as "General Manager of the Year" back in 2004 and again in 2011, and he has also earned acclaim winning the brand's "Torchbearer Award," "Meeting Service Excellence Award" and "Brand Citizen of the Year" award for outstanding service in hotels he has managed across the country.

When reviewing potential candidates for nomination, the property leadership team unanimously selected Ramirez in large part due to his constant team player approach, regardless if a particular task falls within his area of responsibility. "If you ask Chico to do something for you, he will nearly cut you off to enthusiastically say yes," said Cesar Giraldo, chief engineer. "He never asks questions, just does what is necessary to make guests happy and ensure departments are taken care of."

The MHLA's Stars of the Industry awards program was created more than 25 years ago to recognize outstanding accomplishments in the lodging industry, honoring lodging employees and properties that best symbolize the quality of the industry. The Awards Program is held annually at the beginning of the year, and both hotel line workers and members of management attend to see all nominees recognized and award recipients presented. In addition to the winning nominees, the property also submitted worthy associates Cisano "Cesar" Giraldo as Manager of the Year nominee and Maria "Mirela" Argueta as Roomkeeper of the Year Award.

The DoubleTree by Hilton Annapolis is poised just three miles from the United States Naval Academy and is just a short walk from the Annapolis Towne Centre. Guests visiting on leisure or extending business stays visit the historic Maryland State House, the oldest state capital in continuous legislative use in the United States and take tours of the U.S. Naval Academy and the 18th-century Georgian mansion built by William Paca, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Historic Dock Street, also known as Ego Alley, invites guests to stroll and gaze at the yachts, sailboats and other watercraft while shopping and dining and sightseeing cruises beckon along Chesapeake Bay.

Owned by AWH Partners, LLC, a privately held real estate investment, development and management firm, Spire Hospitality is a leading provider of management services for hotel owners and investors.

For more information on the DoubleTree by Hilton Annapolis, visit DoubleTree by Hilton Annapolis or call (410) 224-3150 and for Spire Hospitality, visit www.SpireHotels.com or call (847) 498-6650.

About Spire Hospitality

Spire Hospitality is a nationally recognized third-party hotel management company specializing in creating value for our hotel investors while delivering exceptional guest experiences and providing an outstanding place to work. The Irving, TX-based company's diverse portfolio of properties includes unique independent hotels and highly respected brands, including Marriott, Hilton and IHG. Spire is part of the AWH Partners family, which also includes AWH Development, a full-service real estate development company headquartered in New York. With more than 35 years of hotel operating experience, Spire is committed to preserving, protecting and enhancing hotel real estate value.

For more information, visit www.spirehotels.com.

Nancy Click

The Mayfield Group

850.421.9007

Spire
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The 2015 collaboration between fashion design duo Public School and Jordan Brand produced one of the more coveted Air Jordan 12s in recent memory. Now the two are coming back together for what is sure to be another very limited and highly sought pair of Air Jordan 12s. This time, theyre applying a Wheat look to the silhouette.

Since both designers who make up PSNY are native New Yorkers, the inspirations for this one should be obvious: Timberland boots. The new 12s were on display at the PSNY pop up shop in New York City this week, and Nice Kicks grabbed some up-close photos of the new collaboration. The monochromatic look is definitely Public Schools style. Although Timbs are the inspiration, this is still a premium collaboration  they didnt use actual Timberland materials. Instead the shoes use a buttery-soft suede everywhere except the midsole and outsole.

Well have more details about the release as the come, but for now appreciate the craftsmanship.

PSNY12s
Brian Wilson will perform live this summer in Dublin.

Brian Wilson could be called one of the most influential producers in popular music and the main creative force behind some of the most acclaimed recordings in the history of rock music.

This year he will bring his famous show Brian Wilson presents Pet Sounds to Dublins Bord Gais Energy Theatre in July, as 2017 is marking the 50th anniversary of the record. On the 25th July 2017 he will not only perform his highly cherished album Pet Sounds in its exact running order, but also the best of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. This spectacular show will be featured by Blondie Chaplin and Al Jardine.

Wilson, one of popular musics most admired figures, already showed unusual musical abilities in his early childhood in California. And they developed when he grew older: In his teen years, in the 1950s, he spent a lot of time on his piano, obsessed with playing and recreating songs of groups like The Four Freshmen. Then, in the early 1960s, when he started combining multi-part vocal harmonies with the rock rhythms of Chuck Berry, Brian found his place in the musical sun.

Many of Wilsons most cherished records were created when he was barely out of his teens. Surfer Girl, In My Room, Help Me Rhonda and California Girls are just a selection of the hit songs Brian produced with his family band, the Beach Boys.

In 1966, after four years of producing, commercial success and creative growth, Wilson was not satisfied anymore and expanded his artistic horizon. He formed a temporary song writing partnership with lyricist Tony Asher and produced the iconic landmark in rock history, Pet Sounds, which featured a dozen originals.

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The Pet Sounds outtake went on to be the Beach Boys first million-selling single and hit #1 worldwide, often being cited among the all time greatest albums.

The song Good Vibrations, which Wilson had worked on during the Pet Sounds sessions, showed the music world once more what could be achieved in a recording studio and gave the Beach Boys their third number-one US hit following Get Around and Help Me Rhonda.
(Bloomberg) -- White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied a report by the Associated Press that President Donald Trump was considering using the National Guard to round up undocumented immigrants.

"That is 100 percent not true. It is false," Spicer told reporters aboard Air Force One, calling the APs report that Trump may call up as many as 100,000 troops "irresponsible."

Spicer said he had no information about the origin of the report. The Associated Press cited an 11-page draft memo it said was written by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, and said that the White House and Kellys agency did not respond to requests for comment.

"The Department is not considering mobilizing the National Guard," Gillian Christensen, Department of Homeland Security acting press secretary, said in an e-mail.

The National Guard says it hasnt seen any proposal or where it came from.

"The National Guard Bureau is aware of the reports in the media regarding a proposal to activate 100,000 troops to support immigration missions, Defense Department spokesman Major Jamie Davis said in an e-mail. However, we have received no official notification to execute any activations at this time."

The AP said the memo was dated Jan. 25, addressed to the heads of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and was intended to supplement an executive order on immigration and border security that Trump issued the same day.

The memo envisions mobilizing Guard troops in the four states on the Mexican border and the seven states contiguous to them, as far north as Oregon and east to Arkansas, the AP said. Governors would be able to opt out of the mobilization, the AP said, citing the memo.

A Homeland Security Department official who insisted on anonymity to describe internal deliberations said the memo was an early idea that was never seriously considered.

(Updates with Homeland Security Department comment in fourth paragraph.)

--With assistance from Nafeesa Syeed

To contact the reporter on this story: Margaret Talev in Washington at mtalev@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Craig Gordon at cgordon39@bloomberg.net, Stacie Sherman, Mike Dorning

2017 Bloomberg L.P.
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Twenty years ago a mentor of mine in Kenya described how he mistakenly opened a closet door in the presidential palace and found dozens of miscellaneous briefcases stacked to the ceiling.

Back then business people needed something to carry the gold bouillon and U.S. hundred dollar bills they used to win government contracts, and President Daniel arap Moi's staff didn't know what to do with them once the loot was removed.

When President Donald Trump signed a Republican-backed bill that rolled back disclosure requirements for energy and mining companies operating in poor countries, I could only think about the Mercedes Benz sedans that rush through African capitals.

Government corruption eats away at a country's social fabric and hobbles a nation's economy. A sure sign of a corrupt country is when a government job is most people's highest aspiration.

Poor countries are particularly vulnerable to corruption. When the primary source of revenue for a government is a natural resource extracted by a foreign company, corruption often leads to civil war, a phenomenon known as the resource curse.

RELATED: Venezuela's troubles lap at Houston's shores

Take one look at the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Southern Sudan or even Nigeria, and you can see how weak justice systems, corrupt officials and amoral corporations can condemn hundreds of millions of people to poverty. Money that should go toward education and health care ends up enriching kleptocrats.

That's why anti-corruption activists lobbied so hard to force U.S. energy and mining companies to disclose to the Securities Exchange Commission how much they pay foreign governments for the right to operate. Knowing how much money was going to the government would allow citizens to make sure that cash ended up in the treasury where it belongs, not the president's offshore bank account.

Trump and the Republican majority in Congress, though, decided that requiring such disclosures are hurting the competitiveness of U.S. companies, even though European companies must also make such disclosures.

"It's a big deal," Trump said. "The energy jobs are coming back. Lots of people going back to work now."

Outright bribery will remain illegal under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, but how much a company must pay in fees or licenses to a government official will now remain secret. And what the official does with that money after they receive it will remain his or her secret.

RELATED: When does a favor become corruption?

"These deals deprive some of the world's poorest people of oil wealth that is rightfully theirs," said Corinna Gilfillan, head of the U.S. branch of Global Witness, an anti-corruption group. "Given the president's massive conflicts of interest and his administration's broad attacks on regulation, it appears our institutions are increasingly being abused to further the business interests of a powerful few. This is how corrupt dictatorships start."

I understand the desire to lessen regulations on U.S. business. I support efforts to put Americans back to work. But if the only way we can do that is to allow our corporations to operate secretly, I'm not sure that's a bargain worth making.
There's a lot riding on the Texas high-speed rail project.

Before the 240-mile train connecting Houston to Dallas becomes a reality, the folks proposing it must convince an unknown number of property owners to sell them their land.

That company behind the project, Texas Central, says it has agreements to buy a portion of what it needs, but it's facing opposition from some landowners in rural parts of the state who believe the train will ruin the character of their area.

RELATED: Rail company buys land options for high-speed line

Texas Central says it has the power of eminent domain to acquire land as a railroad, but lawmakers have filed legislation that could restrict its eminent domain authority.

The Chronicle's transportation reporter Dug Begley joins Nancy and Erin to explain this controversial project that connects business, politics and culture.

UPDATE: In the days after the podcast was recorded, Texas Central made two announcements not reflected in the podcast. Bullet train backers responded to a report by the libertarian Reason Foundation, calling their analysis of the project that predicted failure "flawed" and based on a statewide ridership analysis that specifically says it should not be applied to a specific corridor.

Texas Central also announced it had received a default summary judgement in a Harris County land case. The judgement, which affirmed the company is a railroad company and granted it the right to access the property and conduct surveys, was the first time a court granted the company's request. The landowner never responded to Texas Central's petition and never put forth an argument, leading to the default judgement.

Company officials also disputed that its financing plans are firm enough to say the Japan Bank of International Cooperation would lend Texas Central the majority of the funding needed. In 2014, company officials had said the bank would be the "primary investor." Recently, the company said the bank remains a possible partner, but did not specify the level of support.
Hopdoddy Burger Bar has set the opening of its second Houston restaurant for March 6.

That's when Rice Village will get its own outpost of burgers, hand-cut fries, milkshakes, and local craft beer  a menu that made the Austin brand a hit and caused a sensation when it opened its first Houston store at River Oaks District last year.

The opening of the Rice Village store, at 5510 Morningside Dr., also marks the introduction of a new menu item, Hoss' Hot Chicken, made with a fried Nashville hot chicken breast and baby kale slaw. It will take its place on the menu along with other favorites such as the Primetime Burger (beef patty topped with brie, arugula, caramelized onions and truffle aioli), and the Ahi tuna Burger (sushi-grade tuna patty with sprouts, teriyaki, honey wasabi, nori chips and pickled ginger mayo).

CAJUN FLAVOR: New taste of New Orleans coming to Houston

Hopdoddy store openings are also a time to give back to the community. The Periwinkle Foundation, dedicated to developing programs that positively change the lives of those challenged by cancer and other life-threatening illnesses and cared for at the Texas Children's Hospital, will benefit from the Rice Village opening: Hopdoddy will donate $1 from the sale of each Goodnight Burger to the organization.

The Rice Village Hopdoddy will open at 11 a.m. on March 6.

Hopdoddy still has another Houston opening on its calendar. Another store, 142 Vintage Park, is scheduled for a spring 2017 opening.

>>>Scroll through the above gallery to see more offerins from Hopdoddy
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It's inevitable that the living room in a 9,500-square-foot home is going to be big, but Imad Abdullah had another reason for his massive space: It had to hold his oversize circular sofa.

Abdullah, an architect, and his wife, Dr. Nour Sneige, a pathologist at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, built their Tanglewood home because they wanted shorter drives to work, but also because they wanted a clean slate for their classic midcentury-modern furniture and their growing art collection.

Plus, there was the Rossi Di Albizzate Italian leather sofa, bought from a Houston friend who closed his furniture store during the recession of the 1980s.

"We had to build around this couch," Abdullah said with a burst of laughter. "It's an 18-foot diameter, plus the stuff behind it."

For 24 years, the couple lived in Bunker Hill, remodeling that home - built in 1970 - in pieces and adding a second floor. When they'd gotten to the limit of what they could do there, it seemed time for a fresh start.

Then there's the issue of their housing and lifestyle needs, as retirement looms.

"It's hard to design for yourself at this stage of life. You ask, What is lasting design? What is real architecture? How do you handle space? And  how much space do you need?" he said.

"I came to this conclusion: When people get to the latter stage of life, rather than downsize, go for the biggest house you can. You build a lot of equity for your kids, plus it becomes an enjoyment when you have the space."

Collected modernism

Everywhere you turn in this modern home, you'll find classic midcentury furniture by Abdullah's favorite architects and designers. Sneige, too, is a fan of modern design, and they've collected pieces throughout their marriage.

Abdullah's style was influenced by the Bauhaus movement, which has captivated many students and architects over the years.

"Nour and I went to Barcelona and visited the former German Pavilion of the International Exhibition of 1929 and where the Barcelona chair served as a centerpiece. There are a lot of great designs by my fellow architects," he said. "They were great then and are still great today."

In his reading room are two black leather Barcelona chairs by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. His dining room has an "Andre" table whose base was designed by Tobia Scarpa in the 1930s and a '70s-era Milo Boughman buffet.

The breakfast area has a Marco Zanuso "Marcuso" table with E.T. chairs. And the nearby TV area has a Nicoletti leather sectional with two swivel chairs and Eileen Gray side tables.

Upstairs in casual seating areas are two of Marcel Breuer's Wassily chairs and a pair of his Cesca chairs.

"Even the Cesca chair has a lot of imitations, but when you see the real ones  these are masterpieces," he said. "There are a lot of renditions that cheapen the chairs, but the original is modern design. I am a freak for modern furniture."

His master bedroom has more current pieces from Cantoni, along with two Roche Bobois longue chaises that are 35 years old but look like they've barely been used.

Even their home office has a slice of modernism with Steelcase 454 swivel chairs and a round Herman Miller table.

Journey to America

Abdullah and Sneige are Americans now, but their journey here ran through the Middle East.

Abdullah was born in Haifa, in what is now Israel, and his family moved to Damascus, Syria, and later to Doha, Qatar. He attended architecture school in Beirut but knew after a year that his options there were too expensive.

In the mid-'60s he set out for America and spent a year in Glendale, Calif., before settling in Houston to study architecture at the University of Houston.

"I wasn't a hippie, but in the summer of 1967, we went to San Francisco. We wanted to see Haight-Ashbury, and it was quite interesting," he said of the trip with friends. "It was a wonderful time to see the scene. All of the nightclubs and the new bands and Sunset Strip and Hollywood. The whole world was changing and  it's nice to have had a taste of it."

In Houston, Abdullah made close friends at school, in the international community and through professional associations. To this day, he considers them family.

A friend asked for his help finding an apartment for a physician who would be moving to the city for a fellowship at M.D. Anderson.

It was Nour Sneige, and she and Abdullah hit it off immediately. They married a few months later; they recently celebrated their 36th anniversary.

She, too, is from the Middle East. She grew up in Syria and earned her undergraduate and medical degrees from Damascus University.

They have one son, Sammy Abdullah, who lives in Dallas, where he started a private equity firm.

His 'aha' moment

Abdullah has wanted to be an architect since seventh grade, when a class in space geometry brought his studies to life.

"My brain is wired that way. I was probably 11 or 12 at the time, and I knew I wanted to design buildings," he said.

For several years, he worked for local architecture firms, including having a hand in the design of the former Summit, where the Houston Rockets once played and where Lakewood Church now operates.

When a friend asked him to design a 48-unit townhouse project, Abdullah was inspired to go out on his own. He created Landmark Architects, which he's operated since 1976.

In addition to being a registered architect and interior designer, he's also a licensed real estate broker.

Among his projects are office buildings, townhouse and condo projects and retail centers. Recently he's worked on the interior of warehouses used by Farouk Shami, who owns the Chi hair products company based in Houston.

In their own home, though, Abdullah and Sneige wanted a place to relax and entertain. The wide open spaces on the first floor carry visitors uninterrupted throughout the home.

They've had 80 or more people in their home with room to spare as guests linger in the large living room or more intimate TV room. There's a bar near the kitchen, filled with gorgeous Elmwood cabinets and topped with slabs of Crema Bordeaux granite.

Marble or ceramic tile floors are topped with glorious Persian rugs, many of which Abdullah and Sneige have given each other as gifts.

The bathroom makes good use of stone, too. Abdullah said they used six or seven slabs in the kitchen and four or five more in the master bathroom, all iin addition to the marble flooring.

He's happy with the home he designed, as well as the life he and his wife have made here together.

"It's one of the fortunes of life that you get to come here and study and stay," he said.
This week Texas universities expressed worries about potential state budget cuts, which in some cases university leaders said would force layoffs. We also reflected on the first six months under the state's campus carry law.

The state legislature is considering two higher education budget proposals  and the Senate version is significantly less friendly than the House plan. University leaders will head back to Austin next week to advocate for their interests before the Houses budget committee. If the Senate proposal is passed as written, universities would have to lay off faculty and cancel hundreds of classes.

There have been three gun discharges on Texas public campuses in the first semester under the campus carry law  and the heated conversation around the controversial measure has quieted. One of the last signs of protest? University of Texas at Austin graduate students are hosting office hours in local bars  where carrying a gun would be a felony.

The University of Houston will halt classes at its northwest campus in August as the university expands its presence in Sugar Land and Katy. Professors and lecturers teach courses in communications, engineering, mechanics, psychology and logistics at the northwest campus, located at Lone Star College's University Park at Highway 249 and Louetta Road.

A new coalition of top universities lauded UTs use of data as an effective way to better recruit and retain low-income students.

Racist posters recently were posted at UT  the most recent incident from a white supremacist group called American Vanguard.

Rice University is working to archive Houstons hip-hop history. Late last month, rapper Pimp Cs papers were introduced into the librarys archives.

Two former Texas Southern University employees are accused of stealing more than $525,000 from the Houston college. They allegedly submitted fake invoices through a shell company.

Baylor Universitys alumni association held a town hall meeting on Wednesday and listened to concerns from the activist group Bears for Leadership Reform and alumni attendees. Five regents attended and listened, though the board as a whole declined an invitation to the event. Baylors board meets on Friday to discuss structural changes in the wake of the school's sexual assault scandal.

The University of Texas at San Antonios president was put on leave pending a review of conduct allegations.

Send tips and story ideas to me at Lindsay.Ellis@chron.com, or on Twitter, @LindsayAEllis. And, to kick off your weekend, I loved this story of a misplaced Aggie ring lost in Steamboat Springs, Colo., reunited with its owner  courtesy of a Katy couple.
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Birds abound from the town of Port Aransas at the north end of Mustang Island southward along the barrier island and across to Padre Island National Seashore.

Birding adventures begin as you pull out from the Port Aransas ferry landing and head to the adjacent Roberts Point Park on the edge of the water.

The Port Aransas Whooping Crane Festival next weekend offers a chance for close-up views of the mighty cranes; it's also some of the best birding on the Texas Coast.

Ducks such as redheads, red-breasted mergansers, buffleheads and lesser and greater scaup swim in the bay waters, and common loons scoot across the water like sleek kayaks but submerge, quick as a wink, to catch fish, only to resurface yards away.

A handsome long-tailed duck occasionally shows up in the bay waters.

Not far away on Ross Avenue is the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center, consisting of a brackish marsh hosting long-legged wading birds like herons, egrets, roseate spoonbills and multiple kinds of dabbling ducks, such as gadwalls, American wigeons and green-winged teal.

An ADA accessible boardwalk extends over the marsh with a two-story observation tower at the center to provide a panoramic view of marsh birds. Black-bellied whistling ducks, white ibises, little blue herons and neotropical cormorants are fairly common and easy to see.

More Information Port Aransas Whooping Crane Festival When: Thursday-Feb. 26 Activities: Guided boat trips to see whooping cranes, guided field trips for birding and bird photography and Wetlands Education Center tour. Workshops: Bird identification, bird photography and optics presentation. Speakers: Dr. George Archibald, co-founder of International Crane Foundation, plus presentations about birds and nature photography. Trade show: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday-Feb. 26 Admission: $20 registration, plus various fees for field trips and workshops. Open to all ages. Information: whoopingcranefestival.org See More Collapse

Watch for the ever-present pied-billed grebes with cotton-white rumps, two-toned stout bills and dark eyes. You will have to look carefully to spot a least grebe with a thinner beak and bright-orange eyes. Also, keep an eye out for swamp sparrows, marsh wrens and clapper rails sneaking around the marsh vegetation.

Head next to Mustang Island State Park, situated about 13 miles south on Texas 361. The 3,954-acre park stretches from the bay to the gulf side of the island with the park headquarters on the gulf side.

The gulf shoreline holds several species of gulls such as year-round laughing gulls and wintertime ringed-billed and herring gulls assembled along the beach as though at their own birding festival. Mixed in are wintering shorebirds like Western and least sandpipers.

Padre Island National Seashore is about 13 miles south of the park on Park Road 22. The park's 70-miles of coastal habitat protects the longest stretch of undeveloped barrier island in the world. Its natural beauty is astounding as well as its abundant bird life.

Look for sandhill cranes and savannah sparrows in the grasslands, white-tailed hawks and ospreys sailing overhead, and reddish egrets dancing in the water and fanning their wings to spook up fish in the near shore shallows.
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Thousands of casual pot smokers will keep clean records and Harris County will save more than $25 million a year under the district attorney's new "pre-charge diversion" program for those caught with small amounts of marijuana.

The program announced Thursday by District Attorney Kim Ogg allows most offenders with less than 4 ounces of marijuana to avoid a criminal charge by taking a drug education class. It brought sharp criticism from some state leaders but strong support from top law enforcement officers in Houston.

Ogg said the county's resources would be better spent arresting serious criminals such as burglars, robbers and rapists.

"We have spent in excess of $250 million, over a quarter-billion dollars, (over 10 years) prosecuting a crime that has produced no tangible evidence of improved public safety," she said. "We have disqualified, unnecessarily, thousands of people from greater job, housing and educational opportunities by giving them a criminal record for what is, in effect, a minor law violation."

Ogg formally unveiled the program Thursday flanked by Mayor Sylvester Turner, Police Chief Art Acevedo, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis and other local officials whose Democratic ranks were bolstered in the November election. The program is set to start March 1.

Turner, who has long championed criminal justice reform, called the program an "innovative and smart approach" to criminal justice.

"We must always be smart and safe with our law enforcement decisions," he said. "We don't want to make things worse, but business as usual is not a solution. We can be tough on crime  but at the same time we can be smart and cost-efficient."

The policy - one of a growing number in cities across the country to reduce penalties for low-level marijuana possession - means good news for nonviolent offenders who don't have other charges pending against them.

"They just want to keep productive citizens in a position where their life isn't crippled by a thing like this," said one woman who was arrested in Harris County for a small amount of marijuana last year. "It's going to free up time and resources to focus on violent crime."

The Baytown woman, 26, who asked not to be identified for fear of repercussions, was an administrator for a construction company when she was arrested last year. She spent three months on probation but still has to deal with an arrest on her record.

Under the new diversion program, she would not have been arrested and would have no criminal record.

'Sky will not fall'

Reaction was strong Thursday from both sides of the issue.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick quickly blasted Ogg's program as akin to Houston becoming a sanctuary city for low-level drug crimes.

"The lieutenant governor has said repeatedly regarding sanctuary cities that he does not believe that law enforcement has the discretion to choose what laws to enforce and what laws to ignore," said Patrick press secretary Alejandro Garcia. "That is his position regarding DA Ogg's proposal."

Gov. Greg Abbott, who in the past has not publicly favored lessening penalties for drug crimes, had no immediate comment Thursday. Aides said they were reviewing the policy.

In June 2015, Abbott signed into law the Texas Compassionate Use Act, allowing the prescription of low-THC cannabis to patients who have been diagnosed with intractable epilepsy.

Law enforcement officials standing with Ogg asked that critics hold their fire until the plan can be implemented.

"The sky will not fall," said Acevedo, who was police chief in Austin before accepting the Houston job last year. "There are already critics out there. We've been down this path before with my old department. Rather than see an uptick in crime, in the city of Austin we reduced violent crime between 2007 and 2014 by 40 percent."

Gonzalez praised the initiative because it will mean 800 to 1,000 people a month will not have to be processed into and out of the county's jail. Each offender would normally take eight to 12 hours to be booked into the jail.

"This program means that certain drug offenders will never set foot inside our doors," he said, "alleviating a great deal of administrative duties."

Ellis, a former state senator, likewise praised the move.

"For too long, Harris County jails have been filled with people arrested for minor offenses like misdemeanor marijuana possession, leading to dangerous overcrowding and costly prosecutions that do nothing to improve overall public safety," he said. "This new diversion program has the potential to intervene in this vicious cycle by offering people the opportunity to avoid jail and the stigma of a drug conviction with regard to marijuana possession."

In Montgomery County, however, District Attorney Brett Ligon accused Ogg of making Harris County a "sanctuary for dope smokers."

Saving officers' time

Under the program, police officers would identify suspects with less than 4 ounces of marijuana and no other legal issues or warrants, then offer them the option of taking the drug education class. If the suspect takes the class, the drugs are destroyed and the agreement is filed away.

If the offender does not take the class, an arrest warrant will be issued and the criminal charges will be filed, officials said.

The $150 class will be managed by the county's probation department, which puts on other classes, Ogg said.

"It's paid for by the offender, and if the offender is too poor to pay, we will issue a waiver," Ogg said.

A suspect would be able to take the class over and over again regardless of past criminal history, officials said.

But Ogg said her office would be monitoring the program to make sure it works, and if it doesn't, it would be changed. That includes people who abuse the program by becoming serial offenders, she said.

Ogg said the program is not "decriminalization" of marijuana - a term that is considered a middle step between strict enforcement and legalization. Ogg said criminal penalties, including up to a year in jail, are still an option if offenders do not follow the requirements.

Supporters acknowledge, however, that it is a lessening of criminal penalties and allows many offenders to avoid criminal prosecution at all.

Under the diversion program, officers would be able to seize the marijuana and drop it off at a police station at the end of their shift, along with a record of the encounter in case the suspect does not take the class.

Activists pleased

Some community activists praised the initiative.

"It's a sign of intelligence," said Dean Becker, a contributing drug policy expert at Rice University's Baker Institute who produces radio programs advocating an end to the drug war for Pacifica Radio.

"It's showing we're not going to beat ourselves up for another five or 10 decades of believing we can rid the world of this 'Devil's Weed,'" he said.

Becker said Thursday he was celebrating the announcement by smoking marijuana.

"I'm a good citizen. I've proven it. I've succeeded rather well and I smoke pot every day of my life," the 68-year-old said. "I've been doing it 52 years."

The Texas Organizing Project, which organizes minority efforts in Harris County and other counties, said the move could particularly help people of color.

"Jailing people for possessing small amounts of marijuana never made sense," according to an statement from Mary Moreno, TOP communications director. "But it did invite racial profiling by making it easier to jail black men and people of color."

Officials with the Houston National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws likewise praised the initiative.

"We've been fighting for this for a while, so this is elating," said Sam Oser, communications director for the pro-marijuana group, which campaigned for Ogg last year.

Mike Ward and Keri Blakinger contributed to this report.
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The call for immigrants and their supporters to stay home from work or school, close their businesses and abstain from shopping was broadcast across social media, shuttering restaurants from Houston to Washington, D.C., Thursday as hundreds of protesters marched across the country.

Billed as a "day without immigrants," the protests spread in true grass-roots fashion without any formal organizers.

More than 100 restaurants across the nation, including the popular Torchy's Tacos and Tacos A Go-Go in Texas closed in support, and many employees stayed home from work. Students skipped school, in one case leaving a KIPP charter elementary school in Austin practically empty. Hundreds of people marched to the state Capitol in Austin.

The rallies come a week after highly-publicized immigration raids across the country, including in Austin and San Antonio, that led to the arrest of nearly 700 people, the largest such sweep in about two years. It escalated tension among immigrants already rattled after a series of executive actions that have fueled fear in their communities.

A young immigrant with temporary protection from deportation was detained in Seattle. A victim of domestic violence was arrested when she went to an El Paso court house seeking a protective order against her alleged abuser.

"There is most definitely anxiety," said Cesar Espinosa, executive director of the advocacy group FIEL Houston. "We have been inundated with calls."

The national day of protest, intended to show what the nation could face without its immigrant workers, came as some House Democrats met with the acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director about the impact of the executive actions.

In a statement after the meeting, U.S. Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard of California said every person here illegally is now at risk of deportation, a shift from the government's previous strategy to focus mainly on immigrants who have committed serious crimes.

Chief responds

The alarm has been palpable with rumors about immigration agents conducting raids spreading furiously across social media. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo even took to Twitter to denounce the idea that federal agents are at Fiesta Mart grocery stores. And FIEL Houston announced that it would create a network of volunteers to investigate tips that immigration authorities are operating in certain areas.

"We are trying to figure out how we can work through all of these situations instead of just reacting and freaking out," said Areli Tamayo, president of the Youth Empowerment Alliance for students here illegally at the University of Houston.

In a sense, Thursday's effort provided such a boost to battered psyches. Though Tamayo couldn't skip school because she had two exams, and her parents, a house cleaner and laborer, still went to work, she said they are participating in other ways.

"What we're doing is not purchasing anything. We're trying to stay out of everything besides school and work," she said. "Everyone is trying to do something to contribute."

'Respect to my workers'

In Houston, Torchy's Tacos and Tacos A Go-Go posted on social media that they closed to allow their staff to participate in the strike.

"This is pretty awesome," said Jennifer Sarkisian, who found Torchy's on Shepherd Drive closed at lunch. "Immigrants come to our country to play an important role and we take the work they do for granted."

Enrique Bravo, owner of the Pollo Bravo restaurant chain, said he permitted employees to skip work. His restaurant on Richmond Avenue closed for the day, though four others remained open with fewer staff. Bravo, an immigrant from Mexico who has lived here for two decades, said his decision was based on "respect to my workers."

In Austin, the KIPP charter school network posted a photo on Twitter of a nearly empty elementary school, calling it a "powerful statement."

"We've seen heavy absences from our students, across the board," said Hector Leiva Jr., a spokesman for the schools. "We knew that lots of parents and families were interested in supporting this. We support them."

He said KIPP schools are more than 90 percent Hispanic.

Protesters march

Throughout the morning, protesters marched from Austin City Hall toward the state Capitol, rallying against increased immigration enforcement. Police officers shut down half of Congress Avenue while participants waved signs reading "Immigrants Make America Great" and "Stop the deportations. Stop the separations."

An evening protest was planned in Houston at Guadalupe Plaza in the East End.

Marching with his wife, Francisco Montejano said it was personal. He came here from Mexico when he was 12 and later became a citizen.

His father was already here, having arrived in the 1940s through the Bracero Program allowing Mexican men to work on short agricultural contracts.

"The commonality of all of our stories is we came here in search of a better life," Montejano said.

About 13 percent of the U.S. population, more than 40 million people, are foreign born, according to census data.

In Houston, about one out of every four residents was born abroad.

Immigrants - about half of whom are here illegally - make up about one-fifth of Texas' workforce, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Though it's difficult to know exactly how much they contribute to the economy, a 2006 analysis by the Texas comptroller's office estimated that immigrants here illegally contributed $17.7 billion to the state's economic output.

Nationally, an analysis in November by the National Bureau of Economic Research found immigrants here illegally contribute 3 percent to America's GDP.

Tamayo, of the University of Houston, said she gives hundreds of dollars to her parents every month thanks to her tutoring job. But she would lose that if President Donald Trump takes away her temporary work permit for young immigrants, something he has said he may do.

"There's a lot of things crashing down at the same time," she said.

Olivia P. Tallet and Lydia DePillis contributed to this report.
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GALVESTON - An idea for quickly rebuilding housing after disasters like Hurricane Ike was born in Texas, but it could be used for the first time in neighboring Louisiana, still reeling from catastrophic flooding last year.

Louisiana officials briefed at a recent meeting are enthusiastic about the housing concept, the subject of a 2014 pilot project in the Brownsville area dubbed RAPIDO, Spanish for quick. The concept was recently embraced by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"We have the buy-in of everybody that was at the meeting," said Nicole Sweazy, executive director of the Louisiana Housing Authority. The meeting included officials from the state as well as from parishes that suffered damage during floods in March and August last year.

The idea, which could be used to rebuild some of the 10,000 houses destroyed in Louisiana floods, was conceived in response to the slow pace of rebuilding low- and medium-income housing in Texas after hurricanes Ike and Dolly in 2008.

The concept won the MacArthur Genius Award in 2014 for its originator, John Henneberger, the co-director of the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service. It is currently the subject of a special exhibit at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City through this month.

Despite the recognition, the plan has been slow to gain traction in the state where it originated, although state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, plans to introduce a bill that would pave the way for the innovative housing concept.

Under the RAPIDO plan, a small core unit with a kitchen, bathroom, and living and sleeping areas is assembled from fabricated panels within six days. The core unit allows families to return to their community quickly and provide the labor needed for recovery.

The core costs about $15,000 to build in the Rio Grande Valley, far less than the $60,000 to $70,000 cost of the trailers that FEMA typically provides as temporary shelter after a disaster.

Quick, permanent idea

Within a year of Hurricane Ike, FEMA began evicting some tenants of trailer camps it had formed for disaster victims. In contrast, rooms could be added on to the RAPIDO core units as money becomes available. Owners can choose different styles and colors to avoid a cookie-cutter look and allow the housing to blend with the architectural style of the community.

A core unit can evolve into a full-fledged house in six weeks, which Henneberger calls a "temporary-to-permanent solution."

Congress granted Texas $1.7 billion to rebuild low- and moderate-income housing after Hurricane Ike, but the Texas Sunset Commission reported that it took about 18 months to begin construction on a house under the best conditions. In many cases it took six to seven years.

The swift construction under the RAPIDO plan only solves part of the problem, however. Satisfying federal, state and local regulations before construction can begin is the biggest hurdle. Lucio's bill aims to allow communities to have all state and local permits authorized under a disaster-housing plan before disaster strikes.

At the federal level, Henneberger, with assistance from U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, has tried to persuade FEMA and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to pre-approve construction of RAPIDO-style housing instead of waiting for Congress to approve disaster relief funds in response to a major storm.

Both HUD and FEMA were non-committal after speaking with Henneberger in 2015.

"Then, out of the blue, we received a phone call from a team of senior FEMA staff and academic advisors," Henneberger said. FEMA asked Henneberger to travel in January to Baton Rouge, La., to speak with officials from the Louisiana governor's office, parish officials, mayors and other agencies involved in disaster recovery.

The RAPIDO concept was bolstered by a nine-page paper from the U.S. Economic Development Administration extolling its advantages to Louisiana officials.

"This is especially significant because, for the first time, it's clear that within FEMA there is now an understanding and enthusiasm for a temporary-to-permanent solution for post-disaster housing reconstruction," Henneberger said.

A FEMA spokesman would not go beyond a prepared statement, saying the agency's engagement with Henneberger was for "lessons learned and technical assistance." The statement said, "The discussions are not to supplant any federal direct housing options," including rental units, hotels and motels, and FEMA trailers.

A thank-you letter and email to Henneberger from FEMA officials was more positive. "We will be continuing to look for opportunities to advance the RAPIDO model discussion here and to push for needed policy changes which you so eloquently highlighted," the email said.

Cooperation needed

Sweazy, the Louisiana housing official, said state officials want to use the RAPIDO model as a way to rebuild after future disasters, but it's uncertain how many houses would be replaced in the current disaster recovery. RAPIDO was designed for rapid use after a disaster, but Louisiana is already six months into recovery from the last disaster, when record flooding in August left 13 people dead and some 55,000 homes and 6,000 homes damaged.

There are also so many levels of government involved that, despite the enthusiasm of some, it will take time to get all parties to agree on a plan, Sweazy said.

Nevertheless, efforts are underway to begin a pilot project to show off the RAPIDO concept. Sweazy believes the time is ripe for federal agencies to cooperate and make pre-approval of disaster housing possible. "If there was a time to make it work," she said, "the time would be now because every one is together."
AUSTIN - A long-awaited proposal to prepare Texas in the event of a constitutional convention passed its first legislative hurdle Thursday when a state Senate committee approved a trio of bills assigning instructions to potential delegates and restricting their powers.

In a party-line vote, with the panel's two Democrats opposed, the Senate Committee on State Affairs approved Senate Joint Resolution 2, the official charge to add Texas to the list of states that support a so-called convention of states. The resolution limits proposed constitutional changes to three categories: putting term limits on federal lawmakers, curbing the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and imposing fiscal restraints on Washington.

Article 5 of the U.S. Constitution allows state legislatures to call a convention to propose and debate amendments to the country's founding document. Two-thirds of state legislatures can trigger the nationwide meeting if they pass identical resolutions stating their desire for such a convention.

The Constitution requires ratification by three-fourths of all state legislatures before any amendment can be added. Eight states have standing resolutions calling for a convention, and supporters are working on legislation in 21 others.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott made passage of convention of states legislation an emergency item for the Legislature, meaning lawmakers can consider bills related to the topic on an expedited schedule.

The committee also approved two companion pieces of legislation aimed at clearing the way for the initial measure.

Senate Joint Resolution 38, proposed by Sen. Craig Estes of Wichita Falls, would rescind the Texas Legislature's previous calls for a convention of states. Texas lawmakers have passed 14 resolutions on the subject since 1899.

The legislation is expected to win approval from the Senate's conservative GOP majority in the coming weeks. Rep. Rick Miller, a Republican from Sugar Land, has filed an identical resolution in the House, but it has not been referred to a committee.

Senate Bill 21 by Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, would require delegates to be incumbent House or Senate members and bars them from receiving compensation for their service, which includes a lobbying ban on food, travel, and lodging. Delegates also must take an oath to abide by state law and to discuss only amendments that are explicitly stated in the resolution or come up at the convention.

Some GOP senators said they worried Birdwell's bill lacked sufficient protections against delegates abusing their power. However, they voted to send the three bills to the full chamber and promised a fuller discussion about such issues would come up later.

While most who testified at the hearing supported Birdwell's bill, opponents of the legislation in its current form said it could result in a runaway convention.

Grace Chimene, a member of the League of Women Voters of Texas, said the legislature should impose stricter limits on the delegates' powers.

"SJR 2 calls for a limit to the jurisdiction of the federal government and is much too broad," Chimene said. "Federal powers that have been used to protect minorities and advance civil rights, labor and environmental regulations will be placed at risk."
Voter fraud is something like the chupacabra of Texas politics. A whole lot of otherwise rational people believe it's running wild in our state, but actual sightings are so rare people who've studied it roll their eyes and say it's a myth.

Voter fraud does exist, but investigation after investigation has concluded it is extremely rare. Still, like folks who think they've seen a chupacabra, when some people see it they get a little hysterical.

That's what happened last week in Tarrant County, and it has led to a grave injustice.

Rosa Maria Ortega, a 37-year-old mother of four children, is a Mexican citizen who has lived in the United States since she was a baby. She became a legal, permanent resident with a green card when she was eight years old. Her lawyer says she grew up with learning disabilities and dropped out of school after the sixth grade.

She stumbled into legal trouble with what her attorney characterizes as an honest mistake. Ortega thought she had the right - and indeed, the duty - to vote. The registration form she filled out in Dallas County didn't give her the option of declaring herself a permanent resident, and she reportedly checked a box saying she was a citizen.

"All my life, I was taught I was a U.S. citizen," she testified, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Ortega cast ballots five times between 2005 and 2014. She considers herself a Republican, so she voted for Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election.

After she moved to neighboring Tarrant County, she tried to register in her new community. When election officials told her she couldn't vote because she checked a box saying she was not a citizen, she filled out another application falsely declaring her citizenship.

So yes, this woman with a sixth-grade education broke the law. She was charged with a crime, but she was not part of some grand conspiracy to steal elections. Out of what was apparently a sense of civic obligation, she wanted to exercise what she thought was her right to vote.

We don't often agree with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, but in this case his office reportedly tried to do the right thing. In plea bargain negotiations, Ortega's lawyer says, the state was willing to offer her leniency if she would testify to Texas lawmakers about voter fraud.

Instead, Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson reportedly quashed those negotiations. And at a time when the newly elected president and his surrogates were promoting wild and baseless claims that millions of people voted illegally in last November's elections, a jury convicted Ortega and sentenced her to eight years in prison.

That's right. Eight years.

That draconian sentence is just the beginning of this woman's unduly harsh punishment. After her family has been ripped apart and her children have grown into adulthood without their mother, Ortega will probably face deportation to Mexico, a country where she hasn't lived since she was an infant.

Our state's governor issued a deeply disappointing statement celebrating the fact that this uneducated woman's life has been ruined, tweeting that "in Texas you will pay a price for voter fraud." But even some conservative commentators who share Abbott's end of the political spectrum were appalled by this act of cruelty. Bill Kristol, a columnist who supports voter ID laws, declared the prison sentence "nuts" and tweeted that "it's unseemly for the TX governor to be chest-beating about it."

Ortega's lawyer is appealing her sentence, but there's a right thing to do here. It's abundantly clear this woman thought she had the right to vote. Her only crime was caring enough about her adopted country to vote in its elections. We call upon Gov. Greg Abbott to undo this tragic injustice by pardoning Rosa Ortega, whose life and family should not be shattered because of her misguided sense of civic duty.
With an unwavering stand against requiring schools to teach sex education, the Texas Legislature continues to ignore basic human nature. Among U.S. high school students surveyed in 2015, 41 percent reported they had had sexual intercourse, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In Texas, that number represents tens of thousands of sexually active teens.

Under state law, school districts are not required to teach health or sex education but if they do, they must emphasize abstinence. As a result, more than four-fifths of Texas school districts offer no sex education at all or teach only abstinence, according to a new study by Texas Freedom Network, a watchdog education nonprofit.

No question that abstinence is the surest way to avoid unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. But not all students are going to follow that advice. Sex education classes have been shown to help delay the initiation of sexual activities, reduce the number of partners and increase the use of contraception, all of which aid in preventing teen pregnancy, according to the centers.

This session, State Rep. Mary Gonzalez, D-Clint, has filed a bill to require medically accurate, age-appropriate sex education classes in Texas schools. The bill would allow students to be excused from the course with the written request of a parent or guardian ("Legislation aims to improve sex education" Page A1, Feb. 15). "If you're truly for limiting abortions, then here's one way to do it," Gonzalez told the Associated Press.

But the many school districts in this state that teach abstinence-only or nothing at all shouldn't wait for the passage of legislation. These districts should follow the lead of Houston Independent School District.

As the Texas Freedom Network study points out, HISD emphasizes abstinence but also provides solid information about the realities of life. It requires a health class for graduation, even though the state stopped requiring the class in 2009. In addition, along with programs and textbooks, the district brings in presenters from organizations based in Houston to help educate their students.

Statistics confirm that ignorance has not led to bliss in Texas. The state's teen birth rate is one of the highest in the nation. Nearly 600 girls under the age of 15, and 14,057 teens between the ages of 15 and 17, gave birth in 2011, according to the Office of Adolescent Health, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Teen pregnancy has profound implications for both partners, their families and communities. By age 22, only around 50 percent of teen mothers have received a high school diploma and only 30 percent have earned a GED, whereas 90 percent of women who did not give birth during adolescence receive a high school diploma, according to the U.S. government website, youth.gov. In addition, teen fathers have a 25 to 30 percent lower probability of graduating from high school than teenage boys who are not fathers.

The ramifications of teen pregnancies continue onto the next generation. Children who are born to teen mothers also experience a wide range of problems. They are more likely to have a higher risk for low birth weight and infant mortality; have lower school achievement and drop out of high school; give birth as a teen; and be unemployed or underemployed as a young adult, according to youth.gov.

Some people oppose sex education, arguing that it encourages teens to have sex. But, think about it. Today's teens have access to sexual imagery. Many are able to view pornography on smartphones or on televisions. Yet, the information that young people glean through friends, movies and online is often inaccurate.

Trusted professionals should be enlisted to provide good information to students. Studies have shown that STD prevention programs do not hasten initiation of sexual intercourse among adolescents, even when the curricula encouraged sexually active young people to use condoms, according to the CDC. It's the 21st century. Lawmakers let young people down when they shroud contraception in a conspiracy of silence.
WASHINGTON - It's a Watergate-era cliche that the cover-up is always worse than the crime. In the Mike Flynn affair, we have the first recorded instance of a cover-up in the absence of a crime. Being covered up were the Dec. 29 phone calls between Flynn and the Russian ambassador to Washington. The presumed violation was Flynn negotiating with a foreign adversary while the Obama administration was still in office and, even worse, discussing with Sergey Kislyak the sanctions then being imposed upon Russia (for meddling in the 2016 elections).

What's wrong with that? It is risible to invoke the Logan Act, passed during the John Adams administration, under which not a single American has been prosecuted in the intervening 218 years. It prohibits private citizens from negotiating with foreign powers. Flynn was hardly a private citizen. As Donald Trump's publicly designated incoming national security adviser, it was perfectly reasonable for him to be talking to foreign actors in preparation for assuming office within the month.

Worst case: He was telling Kislyak that the Trump administration might lift sanctions and therefore, comrade, no need for a spiral of retaliations. How different is this from Barack Obama telling Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, on an inadvertently open mic, during his 2012 re-election campaign, "This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility."

Flynn would have been giving the Russians useful information that might well have contributed to Russia's decision not to retaliate. I'm no Russophile. But again: What's wrong with that? Turns out, the Trump administration has not lifted those sanctions. It's all a tempest in an empty teapot.

The accusations of misbehavior by Flynn carry a subliminal echo of a long-standing charge against Richard Nixon that he interfered in the Paris peace talks in October 1968 to prevent his Democratic opponent from claiming a major foreign policy success on the eve of the presidential election.

But that kind of alleged diplomatic freelancing would have prolonged a war in which Americans were dying daily. The Flynn conversation was nothing remotely of the sort. Where's the harm?

The harm was not the calls but Flynn's lying about them. And most especially lying to the vice president who then went out and told the world Flynn had never discussed sanctions. You can't leave your vice president undercut and exposed. Flynn had to go.

Up to this point, the story makes sense. Except for one thing: Why the cover-up if there is no crime? Why lie about talking about sanctions? It's inexplicable. Did Flynn want to head off lines of inquiry about other contacts with Russians that might not have been so innocent? Massive new leaks suggest numerous contacts during the campaign between Trump associates and Russian officials, some of whom were intelligence agents. Up till now, however, reports The New York Times, there is "no evidence" of any Trump campaign collusion or cooperation with Russian hacking and other interference in the U.S. election.

Thus far. Which is why there will be investigations. Speculation ranges from the wildly malevolent to the rather loopily innocent.

At one end of the spectrum is the scenario wherein these campaign officials - including perhaps Flynn, perhaps even Trump - are compromised because of tainted business or political activities known to the Russians, to whom they are now captive.

A fevered conspiracy in my view, but there are non-certifiable people who consider it possible.

At the benign end of the spectrum is that the easily flattered Trump imagines himself the great dealmaker who overnight becomes a great statesman by charming Vladimir Putin into a Nixon-to-China grand bargain - we jointly call off the new Cold War, join forces to destroy the Islamic State and reach a new accommodation for Europe that relieves us of some of the burden of parasitic allies.

To me, the idea is nuts, a narcissistic fantasy grounded in neither strategy nor history. But that doesn't mean Trump might not imagine it - after all, he maintains that if we had only stayed in Iraq to steal its oil, we wouldn't have the Islamic State. And if this has indeed been his thinking about Russia, it would make sense to surround himself with advisers who had extensive dealings there.

I believe neither of these scenarios but I'm hard put to come up with alternatives. The puzzle remains. Why did Flynn lie? Until we answer that, the case of the cover-up in search of a crime remains unsolved.

Krauthammer's email address is letters@charleskrauthammer.com.
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The crew has three Keralites, including V Vijith, the brother of Vismaya who died by suicide owing to dowry harassment in Kollam.
A Liberal MP stood in the House of Commons Thursday and read a list of racial slurs and threats shes received over her motion calling on Parliament to condemn Islamophobia and all forms of racism.

Motion 103 was tabled by Iqra Khalid in December. It builds on one proposed by NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair in October, which passed with unanimous consent.

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Khalid began her remarks by reading a transcript of a video posted by a YouTube user, threatening to record her  a little girl  while others shot her.

Im going to be there to film you on the ground crying. Yeah, Ill be there writing my story with a big fat smile on my face. Ha ha ha ha. The member got shot by a Canadian patriot.

She chastised Conservatives for countering the motion with their own, wielding the argument that using the word Islamophobia would deter free speech. Those concerns have been amplified by some right-wing bloggers.

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The Tory motion is worded to condemn all forms of systemic racism, religious intolerance, and discrimination of Muslims, Jews, Christians, Sikhs, Hindus, and other religious communities.

Khalid said she agreed with 98 percent of the opposition motion  because she wrote it.

I am appalled by the cynical, divisive tactics on the Conservative side to try to start a fake frenzy around the word Islamophobia instead of tackling the issue at hand, she said.

Why don't you get out of my country?

Replacing expletives with the word blank, Khalid read out more examples of hateful comments and threats shes received, including:

Real Canadians will rise up and get rid of the nasty blank Muzzie stench in Ottawa. They should all go the blank back to your blank hole where you belong. We will burn down your mosques draper head Muslim

Why did Canadians let her in? Ship her back

Why don't you get out of my country? You're a disgusting piece of trash and you are definitely not wanted here by the majority of actual Canadians

You're a cultural Marxist. Inclusivity blank trying to ruin Canada. Blank you gently with a chainsaw, you camel-humping terrorist incubator blank

Shoot this blank

Watch her full remarks in the video above.

Conservative opposition, Chong support

Khalid's non-binding motion was debated in the House on Wednesday.

Conservative leadership candidate Michael Chong issued a press release earlier in the week, announcing his support of M-103, stating he intended to vote in its favour.

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In light of the mass shooting at the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre in Quebec City last month, where six Muslims were killed and 19 injured while they prayed in their mosque, it is appropriate and important that Canadian Parliamentarians study the issue of anti- Muslim and anti-Islamic prejudice and discrimination, the release read.

Chongs stance differs from the one held by Interim Conservative Leader Rona Ambrose.

While she said she condemns all acts committed against religious communities, Ambrose explained in a Facebook post on Wednesday that her vote is no on Khalids motion as it is currently worded.

Former Liberal justice minister Irwin Cotler called Islamophobia a word that is misunderstood, susceptible to knee-jerk reactions. He said one way to ensure the motion's passage is to replace the term with anti-Muslim bigotry.

Ambrose debunked the concerns circulating among somecxonservative bloggers that M-103 would introduce Sharia law and ban freedom of speech.

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To be clear, this is not a bill nor a law, wrote the interim Tory leader, repeating comments made by Khalid earlier on Wednesday.

At a press conference with Heritage Minister Melanie Joly, Khalid reiterated: This is a motion. This is not legislation and I would be the first person to oppose anything that infringes on our Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

If passed, M-103 would open a heritage committee study to address ways to tackle issues of systemic racism and religious discrimination.

Joly supported her colleagues remarks, adding Islamophobia, racism, and discrimination are issues we need to deal with in Canada.

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With a file from The Canadian Press

Also on HuffPost
Political battle lines have been drawn over the specific definition of Islamophobia, even though the House of Commons unanimously agreed last October to condemn it in "all forms."

In question period Thursday, Heritage Minister Melanie Joly delivered a message to Conservatives who have said they will not support Motion 103, tabled by Grit backbencher Iqra Khalid in December.

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Lets talk about Islamophobia and the troubling rise in hate crimes against the Muslim community across the country, Joly said. It is real. It can be defined and it has no place in Canada.

M-103, debated this week, asks the government to condemn Islamophobia and all other kinds of systemic racism and religious discrimination. If it passes, the Commons heritage committee will be asked to study the issue and develop strategies to tackle the scourge.

Prominent Tories  including most leadership candidates  have raised concerns the non-binding motion could be the first step in suppressing fair debate about aspects of Islam, including the niqab, because it does not define Islamophobia.

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On Thursday, Tories tabled a new motion scrubbing any reference to the term. It urges the House to condemn all forms of systemic racism, religious intolerance, and discrimination of Muslims, Jews, Christians, Sikhs, Hindus, and other religious communities.''

Liberals have made clear they will not accept that change, saying it is akin to watering down the very purpose of M-103. Interim Tory Leader Rona Ambrose has accused Liberals of playing partisan politics.

Liberal MP Bob Bratina noted in question period Thursday that police-reported hate crimes against Muslims doubled between 2012 and 2015, reaffirming the need for this House to take a stand against Islamophobia. He also referenced an arson attack on a mosque in his city of Hamilton last September.

While some members of this House would like to believe that by not naming it the problem the ceases to exist, we know that is not true, Bratina said.

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He asked Joly why it is important to call Islamophobia by its name. She responded that "words matter."

The first step to countering the hate and fear directed toward Muslims is to recognize them in the first place, Joly said. Her remarks yielded a standing ovation from Liberals as those on the Tory bench looked on.

"Lets talk about Islamophobia and the troubling rise in hate crimes against the Muslim community across the country."

Though Conservative leadership hopeful Michael Chong has said he will vote for M-103, he appears offside with numerous members of caucus.

In debate, Tory MPs have said that the Liberal motion could spark confusion. David Anderson, his partys critic for religious freedom, said Wednesday that while some use the term to describe serious acts of hostility, others apply it for every critique and every act against Islam.

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"I know every member in this Parliament has heard from their constituents who are asking such questions as: 'Is the term meant to inform us or intimidate us? Does it encourage free speech or is it shutting it down?' We cannot answer those questions because we do not know what is meant in the motion," Anderson said.

But in October, a motion brought forward by NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair covering similar ground was granted unanimous consent even though it also lacked a clear definition of Islamophobia.

A shot at unanimous consent weeks earlier did fail, however, after some Tory MPs voiced objections.

Joly told reporters this week that Islamophobia can be defined as the discrimination of Muslim people and people who are of Muslim faith.

During debate in the House Thursday, Khalid called out Tories directly.

I am appalled by the cynical, divisive tactics on the Conservative side to try to start a fake frenzy on the word ''Islamophobia,' instead of tackling the issue at hand, she said.

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Khalid, who was born in Pakistan and immigrated to Canada from England, also shared in graphic detail the profanity and abuse she has received online since introducing this motion.

She said the remarks only strengthen her resolve and exemplify why the motion should pass.

The full text of Khalids motion is below:

Systemic racism and religious discrimination That, in the opinion of the House, the government should: (a) recognize the need to quell the increasing public climate of hate and fear; (b) condemn Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination and take note of House of Commons petition e-411 and the issues raised by it; and (c) request that the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage undertake a study on how the government could (i) develop a whole-of-government approach to reducing or eliminating systemic racism and religious discrimination including Islamophobia, in Canada, while ensuring a community-centered focus with a holistic response through evidence-based policy-making, (ii) collect data to contextualize hate crime reports and to conduct needs assessments for impacted communities, and that the Committee should present its findings and recommendations to the House no later than 240 calendar days from the adoption of this motion, provided that in its report, the Committee should make recommendations that the government may use to better reflect the enshrined rights and freedoms in the Constitution Acts, including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

With files from The Canadian Press

Also on HuffPost
Fed up with high house prices in Toronto or Vancouver? Thinking of packing up and moving elsewhere? We hear ya. With the average price of a single-family home in both these cities well above $1 million, plenty of people in Canada's priciest cities are looking for alternatives.

Under the federal government's new mortgage rules, the average-earning household in Canada  with a total income of $80,000  can get a mortgage of around $380,000 today (assuming a 25-year mortgage at three per cent). That, plus the down payment, is what an average household in Canada can afford.

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So we combined the Bank of Montreal's labour market report card with data on house prices from the Canadian Real Estate Association to come up with a ranking of the best cities to set up shop, where an average home costs less than $400,000. Here's what we found.

5. Halifax

BMO labour market ranking: 12

Average household income: $84,560

Average mortgage payment: $1,038

People outside the Maritimes rarely consider moving there, but Halifaxs 5.9-per-cent unemployment rate, and its addition of 1.2 per cent new jobs over the past year, make it a decent candidate.

And with the average house price at $274,142 in December, it's one of the most affordable major markets in Canada.

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4. Montreal

BMO labour market ranking: 8

Average household income: $75,010

Average mortgage payment: $1,330

Quebecs largest city has been a job-creating powerhouse lately, accounting for all the net growth in full-time jobs in Canada in 2016. There are four per cent more jobs in Montreal today than there were a year ago and the jobless rate is a rock-bottom 4 per cent. The average house price was a comfortable $351,255 in January.

3. Ottawa

BMO labour market ranking: 5

Average household income: $102,020

Average mortgage payment: $1,492

Ottawa has benefited from looser spending under the Liberal government, and the number of jobs in the city rose by 3.5 per cent over the past year. The jobless rate stands at a very respectable 5.7 per cent.

With an average house price of $394,001, the city just barely fits our criteria. But prices have been growing slowly in recent years (theyre up 1.9 per cent over the past 12 months) so theres no need to panic-buy in this market.

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2. Windsor, Ont.

BMO labour market ranking: 4

Average household income: $76,260

Average mortgage payment: $825

The city across the river from Detroit struggled through some hard times in the wake of the Great Recession, but that seems to be behind it now. Employment in the city jumped by 3.8 per cent over the past year, and its jobless rate dropped to 5.4 per cent, down from 8.9 per cent just a year earlier.

Whats more, it has some of the lowest home prices of any mid-sized city in Canada. Even with prices up 9.2 per cent in a year, homes in Windsor-Essex County averaged $217,926 in December  practically free, by Toronto and Vancouver standards.

1. Brantford, Ont.

BMO labour market ranking: 1

Average household income: $73,082 (2010)

Average mortgage payment: $1,464

Brantford is another city that struggled in the wake of the Great Recession, and is now recovering impressively. The southern Ontario city, on the distant fringes of the Greater Toronto region, grew its number of jobs by a stunning 10.3 per cent in the past year, pushing the jobless rate down to 4.7 per cent  the sort of jobless rates Alberta used to enjoy before the oil crash.

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The average price of a home in the city was $386,716 in January, but if you want in, you may need to hurry. The average house price jumped by 20.9 per cent over the past year, as Greater Toronto residents move ever farther out in search of affordable housing. So houses under $400,000 may not last long there if trends keep up.

On the other hand, if the Bank of Montreal is right in its diagnosis of a housing bubble in the area, there may yet be affordable homes in the region in the years to come.

Mortgage payment estimates are based on a five-year, fixed-rate mortgage at three per cent interest, with an amortization of 25 years, calculated on the city's average house price.

Also on HuffPost
In an unusual twist, New Democrats were able to ask and answer their own query in question period Friday while calling out Liberals for gutting a bill that seeks to outlaw genetic discrimination.

Veteran NDP MP David Christopherson rose to address the fate of Bill S-201, championed by former senator James Cowan. The bill would prohibit employers and insurance companies from forcing an individual to undergo genetic testing or disclose their results.

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Maximum penalties for those who break the law would be a fine of $1 million or imprisonment for up to five years.

The bill, staunchly opposed by the insurance industry, passed unanimously in the Senate. However, Liberals brought forward amendments this week would defang the bill and merely include genetic discrimination in the Canadian Human Rights Act, The Hill Times reports.

The government is reportedly concerned the bill could be unconstitutional because regulating the insurance industry is a matter of provincial jurisdiction.

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Christopherson said S-201 is about protecting Canadians who are at risk of being denied insurance coverage if they dont disclose private genetic information.

He asked the chair or vice-chair of the Commons justice committee to tell the House how many expert witnesses testified on S-201 and how many meetings were devoted to studying the bill before it came to the Commons. Liberal MP Anthony Housefather is the chair of the justice committee.

NDP MP answers, then asks

After about 30 seconds of confusion, committee vice-chair  NDP MP Alistair MacGregor  provided the response.

MacGregor said the committee heard from 28 witnesses over five different meetings who provided overwhelming testimony in support of S-201.

The committee itself reported the bill back without amendments, MacGregor said, sparking applause.

Then MacGregor rose to ask a question of the Liberal government, which he accused of behaving in an astonishing fashion by deleting a majority of the bills clauses.

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"At the 11th hour, the Liberals caved to pressure from the insurance industry."

At the 11th hour, the Liberals caved to pressure from the insurance industry, MacGregor charged.

Why is this government more interested in protecting the profits of insurance companies than protecting Canadians?

Marco Mendicino, parliamentary secretary to the justice minister, said Liberals see the bill as a step forward in preventing genetic discrimination and protecting the privacy rights of Canadians.

Mendicino said the government was striking the right balance between the roles that should be played by the federal government and the provincial governments.

The parliamentary secretary said he looked forward to more debate in the House "so we can achieve the goals of that bill."

Also on HuffPost

How Much Are Federal Politicians Making? (2016) See Gallery
OTTAWA  The mother of a young military recruit who killed himself last month at the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., says her son asked for help but didn't receive the attention he needed.

I want to protect his memory and I want [the public] to know what really happened because... someone failed. Im doing it for him, Fiona Barker told The Huffington Post Quebec Thursday.

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Twenty-three-year-old Dylan James Barclay was sent to a local suicide prevention centre, near the military base, on Friday, Jan. 27, his mother said. He stayed overnight but returned to the militarys basic training centre the next day. He was found dead at the school less than 24 hours later on Saturday, Jan. 28, at 5:37 p.m. after he threw himself from an eighth-storey window of the building where the recruits are housed.

Barclay was only at the Saint-Jean Garrison for five days, according to Christine Hurov, a spokesperson with the Canadian Armed Forces.

Barker said the Forces have been providing her with some support since her son died and shes been told an inquiry will be performed to understand the circumstances surrounding his death. But she said she is frustrated that she hasnt been given more details for now.

"All I know is my child cried for help and no one helped him, so the public needs to know this."

He asked for help, they took him [to the suicide prevention centre] Friday night and he was supposed to be assessed in the morning and brought back but theyre not telling me anything. They dont know if he was assessed, they dont know when he was brought back. Well, they do, but theyre not telling me, she said.

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All I know is my child cried for help and no one helped him, so the public needs to know this. Someone failed. Big time.

Once the inquiry is underway, Hurov said, the family will be kept informed of the latest developments.

Hurov would not say if or why Barclay was sent to the Suicide Prevention Center of Haut-Richelieu. The school and the centre have an agreement to help recruits in need.

Second death in 5 months

The centres executive director, Danielle Chretien, also declined to say why Barclay was released after spending one night in their care.

I cannot comment on this, Chretien told HuffPost.

Hurov said there are many pathways to help a recruit in need. Aside from the suicide prevention centre, a recruit could have been redirected to the chain of command, the chaplain, the nearest hospital or even the police, she said.

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This is the second time in five months that a young recruit has committed suicide during the "indoctrination period" at the Canadian Forces school. During these first five weeks, recruits are not allowed to leave the military base.

Last September, Michael Pinel-Duquette, 19, was found dead in his room during his second week of training.

Also on HuffPost:
Conservative leadership candidate Kevin O'Leary says criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump and his policies is fair game  just not in his first 100 days.

Appearing in a CNBC segment on Friday, O'Leary locked horns with fellow "Shark Tank" star Mark Cuban over comments he made about Trump on Twitter.

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In a series of tweets, the Dallas Mavericks owner said Trump had no leadership skills or self-awareness and did not have the capacity to admit his mistakes.

4) Trumps biggest issues are: No self awareness, no situational awareness, can't admit mistakes, no leadership skills, can't stay focused  Mark Cuban (@mcuban) February 17, 2017

"Don't shoot the messenger," O'Leary began.

"There's many people who feel you are disrespecting the office of the president of the United States. I'm just telling you what they're telling me. In the elevator, at the airport, they're using me as a messenger."

Cuban fired back saying he's disrespecting the president himself, and not his office.

Watch the segment below:

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"Let's just be real, everything I've said is absolutely true. He's oblivious, he won't accept mistakes, he's shown no leadership qualities whatsoever," Cuban said.

Later in the segment, O'Leary says though he disagrees with some of Trump's policies, notably his executive orders on immigration, he finds it "very unfair" to criticize any president in their first 100 days.

"Ho ho ho! Welcome to the United States of America, buddy!" Cuban said, adding that citizens have the right to stand up for what they believe in.

Carte blanche?

The battle between the two Sharks then took a more Canadian turn. Cuban implored O'Leary to tell viewers what he loved most about Canada's parliamentary system.

The Tory leadership candidate said the Canadian and American systems are similar, and both have their checks and balances. O'Leary added the parliamentary model provides more power to the prime minister only until his or her caucus disagrees.

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That wasn't the answer Cuban was looking for.

"What you liked about it is that you get carte blanche," he fired back.

O'Leary disagreed, calling Cuban's statement an unfair criticism of Canada's parliamentary system.

Though O'Leary has been compared to Trump several times before and after his entry into the Conservative leadership race, he's insisted the only similarities between the two lies in their reality TV backgrounds.

If anything, O'Leary has said his position makes him more prepared to deal with the president than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

"I've spent my whole life as an investor; I know what Trump does, he knows what I do," O'Leary told The Canadian Press in January.

"I think we'll be very good together getting deals done because that's what matters."

O'Leary joined a crowded field of 13 other candidates vying to replace the party's interim leader, Rona Ambrose. So far, he's only participated in one official debate with his fellow contenders.

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The candidates meet again on Feb. 28 in Edmonton. The party chooses its next leader in May.

Also on HuffPost
Seen on Twitter this week: "It's less of a 'news cycle' these days and more of that BSG episode where the Cylons attack every 33 minutes. Were less than two months into 2017 and the pace of terrible breaking news updates has become unrelenting.

For many, sites like Facebook have morphed from being a place you go to look at photos of babies and dogs to one where you get into arguments with otherwise-beloved family and friends. It's exhausting.

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And for some people, it's frustrating. Seeing updates on Twitter about the recent shooting in a Quebec City mosque takes on a much different tone when you're wearing a hijab, for example. Many people feel bogged down not just by the weight of the news about other peoples lives but about the weight of news about their own.

While its important to be informed and educated about whats happening in the world, its also important to give yourself a breather so you dont become overwhelmed to the point of inaction and despair. Here are seven tips for dealing with frightening news on social media, from absorbing it as necessary to looking away when you need to.

Plan Ahead

There are times when you know the news is going to be upsetting  for example, when you are opening up the paper the morning after a violent incident. "Sometimes we intentionally seek out information and know that we might find disturbing images and read upsetting news, says Dessa Bergen-Cico of Syracuse University in New York. "In such cases you can prepare yourself for what you may find and plan how you intend to respond. Think about how the news might affect you before you read it, and steel yourself for the response as necessary.

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Avoid As Necessary

Do you have a relative who is constantly posting inaccurate articles or prejudiced memes on Facebook? If pointing them towards reliable sources or countering the discriminatory language their sharing isnt getting through, feel free to disengage. Facebooks hide function exists for a very good reason, and protecting your sanity is one of them. Its important to speak up when you see discrimination happening  but if history tells you that this particular person isnt listening then you can save your energy for someone who might.

Get Your News In Print

Checking the news online or on television is convenient, but it also means you cant control the speed at which you receive the information. It also means you have a lot less control over what you are seeing when. Subscribe to a local or national newspaper or news magazine, Bergen-Cico suggests, and spend some time with that each day. Youll absorb the information better than if you were just scanning online, and youll be supporting the institutions that help ensure quality news coverage.

Choose Reliable Sources

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The real news is upsetting enough  you dont need to add potentially exaggerated or straight-up fake news to the mix. Learn how to evaluate news sources and rely on those that have a solid record of accuracy and strong reporting. "Stick to mainstream reputable news sources because they generally have policies and practices that will warn people prior to exposing them to disturbing content or they will avoid posting such content altogether, Bergen-Cico says.

Let Yourself Reset

If the news has been particularly hard, its OK to take a break. Make an evening news-free, or even a weekend if you can do that in your line of work. "If something is important enough you will learn about it, says Bergen-Cico. Meanwhile, by staying away from it you can give yourself a chance to reset yourself emotionally."

Diversify

Political news may be dominating right now but those stories arent the only ones worth reading. Look for well-written stories about non-political topics at sites like BuzzFeed Reader, Longreads, Racked, Hazlitt, and The Root.

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Work On Disengaging

"If you have recurrent intrusive thoughts and imagery from what you have seen, try to engage in mindful strategies to interrupt the thoughts so that you do not ruminate on them, says Bergen-Cico. Listen to a meditation app on your phone, play with your pet, watch ASMR videos or Bob Ross on Netflix  things that help you relax and clear your head.

Also on HuffPost
The Great Wall was accused of whitewashing last year after it was revealed that noted white actor Matt Damon was its star. In the film, the 46-year-old actor plays William, a European mercenary who makes it his duty to save China from giant creatures.

In response to the films release today, the Internet has made a point of recognizing all the contributions Damon has made to Asian cultures using the hashtag #ThankYouMattDamon.

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Not only are Twitter users sarcastically recognizing him for saving China

#thankyoumattdamon for finding the asian within yourself to save china, and represent our marginalized community :)   grace  (@gracejuice) February 17, 2017

But also for his lesser known Asian teachings and accomplishments.

Matt Damon immigrated to a country where he didn't know anyone or speak the language so I could have a better life #thankyoumattdamon  Teresa Wang (@tewang32) February 16, 2017

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#thankyoumattdamon for teaching me how to cook rice.  Cipher714 (@Cipher562) February 17, 2017

#thankyoumattdamon for giving us authentic Chinese food that is Panda Express.  Benji. (@benvficial) February 17, 2017

#ThankYouMattDamon for teaching Confucius everything he knew about philosophy  daniel york (@danielfyork) February 17, 2017

Because after all, where would Asians be without him?

In response to the whitewashing controversy, Damon defended the movie saying his role was never intended for an Asian actor.

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The whole idea of whitewashing, I take that very seriously, he told the Associated Press in December. Its a monster movie and its a historical fantasy and I didnt take a role away from a Chinese actor. It wasnt altered because of me in any way.

On Thursday, Damon appeared on ABC News to address the controversy again, explaining that it was a misunderstanding due to the poster.

Those allegations were kind of centred on the poster. And it said, The Great Wall, and then it was my name and my face and people were like, What the...? he explained. So there was this kind of outcry, like, I think people maybe thought it was something about building the Great Wall, or something having to do with actual Chinese history.

It's this crazy monster movie, he continued. You know, so it's 1100 A.D., but there are monsters. I guess kind of like Game of Thrones.

Despite this, fans have always been adamant that the real problem with the film is the fact that Damon, a white actor, was chosen to save China.

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...why would white men need to be in a movie about the Great Wall, even if it's a monster movie?  Nicole Chung (@nicole_soojung) July 28, 2016

Also on HuffPost
Canada's smallest town keeps getting smaller.

The population of Tilt Cove, N.L. was considered sparse a few years ago, when there were just seven residents calling the town home.

But since 2015, the population has almost been cut in half, and now just four people live there year-round.

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In its heyday, from the late 1800s to mid-1900s, Tilt Cove, located on the Baie Verte Peninsula, was a booming mining town.

But long gone are the grocery store, movie theatre, bowling alley and pubs that residents once enjoyed. When the town's mine closed, it didn't take long for businesses to follow and for most of the town's estimated 1,500 residents to move away.

By 1956, there were only 57 residents left.

Now, members of just one family are the last hangers-on. Margaret Collins serves as the town's clerk, and her husband, Don, is mayor. Collins' brother lives next door, and is married to her husband's sister  both are town councillors.

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"We all love living in Tilt Cove," Collins told The Huffington Post Canada.

"There's a peacefulness and quietness here. As you get older you want that more."

Listen to Collins share some of the history of Tilt Cove with Yahoo! News in 2013. Story continues below:

Collins' mother and mother-in-law, both proud Tilt Cove residents, enjoyed that peace and quiet up until the end. One passed away in 2015 and the other in 2016.

Last year, another elderly resident decided to move to the next town over, La Scie, which is 12 kilometres up the road and has a population of almost 900.

Situated on a pond surrounded by hills and the remnants of several old buildings, Tilt Cove is about as quiet as they come.

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Collins makes sure the town's bills get paid so the water keeps running and the two streetlights stay on.

The plow comes by after a big snowfall, but sometimes it takes a while  Tilt Cove has no children, so it's not exactly top priority on the province's plowing list.

Winters "can get a little lonely," said Collins, but she and her husband will sometimes travel to La Scie for groceries and errands, or make the trip to Corner Brook to visit one of their two daughters.

The summer, however, is a different story. Several people have cottages in Tilt Cove, bumping the population up to 10 or 11.

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Tourists, curious to see Canada's smallest town, also come to visit  and Collins is happy to tour them through her "The Way We Were" museum, which holds every scrap of history, memorabilia and photograph of the town she's managed to dig up over the years.

No one, however, is more charmed by the tiny town than her grandson, who visits frequently in the summer, said Collins.

"My God, he loves the freedom here. There's so much for a kid to do, like to go out on the boat, on the quad, or explore in the woods."

Collins, who, like the other residents of Tilt Cove, is in her 50s, says she would like to call the village home for the rest of her life.

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But she realizes that with aging comes certain challenges, and she might see a day when all the residents have to leave for more populated, convenient areas of Newfoundland.

"But I don't really like to think about that," she said softly, adding she's not sure what will happen to the town if all the residents are gone one day.

"I don't know. I just really don't know."

Also on HuffPost:
Splat. It would seem British Columbia's 41st general election is well underway.

News that someone may have hacked the B.C. Liberal party's website caused quite the uproar.

Charges, counter-charges, flurries of tweets, threats of lawsuits, privacy investigations, possible police investigations, it had it all.

The Liberal party even doubled down on their charge by claiming that one of the computers that tried to hack its website is located somewhere in the legislature.

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Premier Christy Clark went all in by accusing the B.C. NDP of the nefarious deed.

Was NDP leader John Horgan really moonlighting?

Nope, it was B.C.'s very own Miss Marple: Delta South Independent MLA Vicki Huntington.

Talk about a splat backfiring. Clark apologized to the NDP for her groundless accusation.

How did Huntington and her staff successfully hack the Liberal party's website?

In an ingenious move, they typed a URL into the browser and hit click.

Turns out the site was never hacked, and if the Liberals hadn't been so intent on trying to score political points, they might have heard countless computer geeks trying to tell them that.

Also lost in the hullabaloo was a characteristic most hackers have in common: they don't want "the hackee" to know they've been hacked.

It's a risk-losing-your-hacking-license kind of offence.

When individuals tied to the Russian government allegedly hacked their way into the computers of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, they didn't do a celebratory high-five and walk away, they stuck around.

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One perpetrator has copied more than 70,000 pages of the Liberal party's website, though.

The San Francisco-based Wayback Machine -- a digital Internet archive -- routinely takes snapshots of websites, including the Liberal party's, and has done so 11 times since December 1.

As they say, the Internet never forgets.

If the mudslinging has commenced, what else can we look forward to in the coming weeks? Newspeak, spinning and severe fact-rationing.

It can seem like a cross between living in a parallel universe and the film Groundhog Day.

The 2017 Port Moody-Coquitlam provincial election blog has been tracking the government's growing list of "number one" priorities.

4/4 Class comp. is priority #1 -- more educators helping more students. BCTF or CUPE, it doesn't matter because students' needs come first.  Christy Clark (@christyclarkbc) August 31, 2014

In 2014, Premier Christy Clark tweeted that class composition in the province's schools was the number one priority because "students' needs come first."

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A year later "the top priority was and remains the development of LNG in B.C.," according to a Clark quote in a B.C. Chamber of Commerce Public Affairs Update.

Last March after a clean energy conference, Clark said that "securing federal cash to upgrade the hydro grid between B.C. and Alberta was the number one priority of her government."

A month later at the Council of Forest Industries' Convention "achieving a softwood lumber agreement was the number one priority."

It would seem number one priorities shift based on the audience.

White lies are being trotted out.

Using the hashtag #bcfirst, the government also likes to boast about being number one, but never about B.C. being first in Canada for part-time jobs, first for highest housing costs or MSP premiums.

Then there will be the "defending the indefensible" spin or the "it's OK for our party, but not yours."

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Case in point, this quote: "He was pretty young then. He's probably matured over the last four years. He's apologized unreservedly."

Damage control over a back-dated memo or racists tweets?

It would be the words of Housing Minister Rich Coleman, co-chair of the B.C. Liberal election campaign, last year defending then-candidate Randy Rinaldo over a series of tweets in 2012 and 2013.

An apology was good enough for Coleman. Should all politicians be so forgiving.

White lies are being trotted out. The other day, Coleman erroneously claimed on CKNW that B.C. has the third lowest hydro rates in North America.

Not true, according to Coleman's own source material.

Out of 11 Canadian cites, Vancouver has the fith lowest rates in one model and seventh lowest in two others. In 2007, Vancouver was second lowest in all three.

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As former New York senator, the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, once said: "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not their own facts."

So sit back and get ready for some good old-fashioned mudslinging not seen in these parts for some time, a strong dose of double standards in the political spin department and a few guffaws over fact-checking.

Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be quite the ride.

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Also on HuffPost:
You know where I stand on this, unpopular as my opinion may be.

I've written many times about the numerous angry and frustrated status updates, tweets and comments I see, coming from Canadians, on social media -- and, for that matter, on some of my blog posts. I hear it on the subway and in the supermarket and when I'm waiting in line for a coffee. The voices are getting louder and the messages are becoming nastier.

Sometimes I get the feeling that people wish I would just shut up about it. I can feel them turning away from me. Like those who refused to believe Brexit would ever happen, like those who said Donald Trump was a joke and wouldn't survive more than a few months as a candidate, let alone win the election, there are plenty of Canadians who are doing the same:

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Ignoring the signs that are there, in plain sight. Hiding behind the Canadian flag and everything it's always stood for, assuming -- hoping -- praying that it will always be thus.

Well, it turns out that Edelman, a leading global communications company, conducted a survey in 28 countries between Oct. 13 and Nov. 16, 2016. The alarming and disheartening results, which have just recently been released, back up what I've been seeing, hearing, saying and feeling.

There's just no denying it anymore.

The long and short of it is, "Canadians are feeling the 'Trump effect' -- trust has fallen to its lowest level in 17 years of the Trust Barometer." To quote Lisa Kimmel, Edelman Canada's CEO, "Canada is not immune from the impact of the global trust crisis. In fact we're seeing similar trend lines as our neighbours in the United States. Canadians are telling us they are worried about their futures and don't trust our institutions to fix their concerns."

There's just no denying it anymore.

Still not convinced? The survey also "found that Canadians hold many attitudes that commonly underpin populist outcomes:"

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48 per cent said they are "concerned" the influx of people from other countries is damaging the economy and the country's culture

80 per cent said the elites are out of touch with regular people

61 per cent lack faith the country's leadership can solve Canada's problems

48 per cent said globalization "is taking us in the wrong direction"

I rest my case.

Time for all of us, including our politicians, especially our politicians, to get our collective heads out of the sand and face facts. Face reality. Because let's face it, despite the fact that Justin Trudeau has delivered on some of his campaign promises, our economy hasn't improved significantly. Unemployment in January is down one point, from 6.9 to 6.8 -- an improvement to be sure, but it's not vastly different from what it was the whole of last year. And there's a lot more making Canadians unhappy.

Don't be complacent. We've seen this happen before.

And I don't know about you, but I have no desire to wake up one morning and find that Kevin O'Leary, Canada's version of Donald Trump, is our new prime minister. If you're not taking him seriously, you should be.

Don't be complacent. We've seen this happen before. Twice. Brexit. And Trump. I repeat, we've seen it happen before.

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Please, I beg of you, don't put me in a position where I have to say "I told you so."

If you enjoyed this story click on "become a fan" at the top of the article right next to my name. You'll be notified every time I post.

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Also on HuffPost:
In the dog days of summer, while the rest of the world was fixated on the excruciating minutiae of Trump vs. Clinton, Bill Bennett and Adrian Dix had their own war of words.

This tit for tat erupted over BC Hydro's excessive use of deferral accounts -- a way to use debt to kick down the road the costs and contracts the crown corporation is responsible for.

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Dix, the energy critic for the opposition NDP, penned an op-ed criticizing BC Hydro for using those deferral accounts like a credit card: "Deferral accounts represent 132 per cent of equity at BC Hydro, compared to 11 per cent at Manitoba Hydro and seven per cent at Hydro-Quebec," he wrote, also noting that BC Hydro had to borrow just to make a $259 million dividend payment to government.

Bennett, the B.C. Liberal energy minister, fired back, highlighting billions in BC Hydro infrastructure investment and noting that the corporation had a 10-year plan to pay down deferral accounts while trying to minimize rate hikes. He also noted that the government is winding down Hydro's responsibility to pay dividends to the B.C. government.

Naturally, a taxpayer watchdog like the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) was intrigued. How had cabinet come to such a decision on dividends and how would BC Hydro pay down these deferral accounts? Was it even possible without massive rate hikes? Who was on the right track, Dix or Bennett?

We got our response. And it was pitiful.

That same week, the CTF filed a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to get copies of the documentation prepared for Bennett on dividends and deferral accounts around the end of the 2015-16 fiscal year.

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Six full months after we filed the request, we got our response. And it was pitiful.

The government sent along 724 censored pages. It appears eight different cabinet advice documents were censored.

There was not one single word about the annual dividend BC Hydro has to pay to government, or how Bennett and cabinet came to the decision that it should be wound down, and what Hydro should do with that money. But we did get a portion of the completely irrelevant "Health, Safety and Reclamation Code for Mines in B.C."

The FOI had one measly PowerPoint with a mention of deferral accounts that was about as deep as a contestant on The Bachelor. The chart shows that the accounts are already higher than originally projected and yet would somehow be lower than the forecast by 2024.

They also stuck in BC Hydro's annual report, which is already available.

We got half a page showing a BlackBerry message of questions asked by the legislative press gallery. From when? It doesn't say. Whose notes? It doesn't say. It lists Vaughn (Palmer of the Sun, we presume) as asking about deferral repayments and notes that some projects would be rescheduled to get that debt down.

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The government FOI did include two news releases and three press clippings from 2000 and 2001, recounting how the NDP government froze hydro rates and then issued British Columbians $200 rebate cheques. Irrelevant to today's issues -- although I'm sure the NDP doesn't mind the public being reminded of those days.

What are the parties' plans to get BC Hydro out of debt?

We're now three months from the provincial election. The government doesn't seem to want to talk in-depth about BC Hydro, so it will be up to the voters to press it as an issue.

What are the parties' plans to get BC Hydro out of debt? How much will they increase our rates? How will they bring costs under control? What will they do about the Hydro dividend? How will Trudeau's carbon tax hikes affect energy costs?

Energy poverty is a realthreat -- ask the people struggling to get by in Ontario. British Columbians don't want to get into a position of picking between heating or eating. But if we don't push our potential premiers for details, we'll only have ourselves to blame.

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Police, firefighters, paramedics and other provincial doctor associations all use binding interest arbitration to ensure that if there is ever an issue during negotiations, there is a built-in mechanism to keep the process fair -- for both sides. The one essential service missing from this list are Ontario's doctors.

So when Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Health Minister Eric Hoskins released a joint statement promising to look at binding arbitration to the Ontario Medical Association (OMA), physicians across Ontario were shocked -- and more than a little wary.

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Here's why:

Negotiations between the OMA and the Liberal government fell apart in 2015. Usually when negotiations hit an impasse, it means lockout or walkout. Neither is a possibility for physicians, because when government and physicians fight, patients get caught in the crossfire. So binding arbitration exists to keep things peaceful and fair.

Instead, the government resorted to cuts and bizarre regulations. Funding cuts of seven to 30 per cent meant individual clinics had to cut services including in-office labs, flu shot clinics, staff and equipment upgrades to stay afloat. In some cases, clinics closed. Nonsense regulations made it impossible to start new family medicine practices. Nonsense laws like Bill 41 played an expensive game of musical chairs with bureaucracy.

Throw in the usual political shenanigans, bad-mouthing doctors in the media, fake contracts and failed negotiations arising from back-room dealings -- you have a recipe for distrust, acrimony and frustration. So it's been a while since doctors and government have had a normal relationship.

Canada scores last when it comes to waitlists, and it's only getting worse.

The Liberals want to talk. But is it genuine?

This will be the fourth go-around between doctors and government. With elections around the corner and bottom-of-the-barrel approval ratings, it's no surprise that the Liberal government is on a peace-keeping mission. Sooner or later, though, we all go to the doctor or the hospital; at that moment we become patients and not voters. At that moment we view health-care spending in a whole new light.

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Like any sane person, I want a fair contract. But beyond that, I see a health-care system failing the very people who depend on it and the people who work in it. Call me crazy, but the doctor-government relationship must change. Government has to come to terms with the concept that looking after health-care workers means looking after patients when it comes to policy. We need a government playing ball instead of posturing on the sidelines.

The Liberals ignored patient, caregiver, physician and front-line worker input when drafting Bill 41, the Patients First Act. Three months in and LHINs are hiring new vice-presidents, funding bureaucracy instead of patient services. We as a population need to look into the not-so-distant future when we will need the health-care system that we are creating today.

The Commonwealth report released yesterday showed the reality patients and doctors live on the front-lines: waitlists are spiraling out of control. Canada scores last when it comes to waitlists, and it's only getting worse. With 40 per cent of the Canadian population and one-third of all practicing physicians, Ontario is driving these statistics.

Talking to my colleagues, I see the people behind the statistics. Even in Toronto -- resource-rich Toronto -- doctors talk of seeing patients diagnosed with brain cancer waiting nine weeks for surgery or patients diagnosed with kidney cancer waiting two months for surgery. More and more, patients start a waitlist with a treatable medical condition only to reach the front of the line and discover that it's too late.

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We need a grown-up conversation and genuine change.

Here's an example given by a student-doctor: a 40-year-old mom diagnosed with gallstones was slated for surgery. The first time her surgery was cancelled, it was because it was bumped by a cancer case. So she went back in line and waited. The second time her surgery was cancelled, it was because the operating room ran over-time. So she went back in line.

The third time her surgery was cancelled, it was because the hospital ran short of funding and had to postpone all non-life threatening cases to the following year. The next time the student-doctor saw this woman was in the ICU where she had been hospitalized with gallstone pancreatitis. She died a week later.

The health-care system is in crisis. The usual political stunts and theatre are getting old. We need a grown-up conversation and genuine change. I don't know which attitude the Liberal government will bring to the table. But I'm watching. We all are.

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Vincent Li received an absolute discharge last week, after eight years in a mental hospital. To recap, Li was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder for beheading a man on a greyhound bus in Manitoba. The action was attributed to paranoid delusions stemming from undiagnosed schizophrenia. During his treatment, Li also legally changed his name to Will Baker.

This discharge has led to a perfect media storm. Numerous commentators have decried this decision, calling for tougher regulations to control people with mental illness in general.

This is worrying, given that mental health advocates have criticized the media for routinely perpetuating inaccurate stereotypes of people with mental illness.

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Stigmatizing Portrayals

These criticisms were based on a series of international studies conducted in the early 2000s. These studies indicated that media portrayals of people with mental illness tended to revolve around negative factors such as danger, violence and criminality. They frequently contained stigmatizing language, while positive stories of recovery were rare.

Related research showed that these negative media portrayals perpetuated fear, stigma and social distance in the general public.

Such media portrayals are concerning, given that research shows that people with mental illness are much more likely to be a victim of crime than a perpetrator. Also their risk of violence is no higher than that of the general population, when controlling for factors such as substance abuse.

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As such, mental health advocates took the view that changing the media could in turn change society.

Working with the Media

This led to concerted action to improve Canadian media reporting of mental illness in recent years, steered by the 'Opening Minds' initiative of the Mental Health Commission of Canada.

Firstly, activists and educators visited major journalism schools across Canada, holding devoted seminars aiming to better inform journalism students and faculty about mental illness. Secondly, an on-line education course was established for actual and aspiring Canadian journalists. Thirdly, a set of best practice guidelines were produced to help journalists better report mental illness (known as 'Mindset'), with over 4 000 distributed across Canada.

What was the Net Effect of these Activities?

This question can be partially answered through a series of research studies I have been leading. One of these involves systematically tracking and assessing Canadian media portrayals of mental illness over the last 10 years.

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Another study examined how well the 'Mindset' best practice guidelines were followed in newspaper articles reporting the suicide of Robin Williams.

A final study examined the content of mental health articles that are frequently shared by readers across digital platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

Results: Overwhelmingly Positive

Newspaper articles with a positive tone had almost doubled from 2005 to 2015, while those with stigmatizing language had reduced significantly. Likewise television stories with a positive tone quadrupled from 2013 to 2015, while those linking mental illness to violence had considerably diminished over the same time period.

With regards to Robin Williams suicide, we found that Canadian journalists overwhelmingly wrote about this in a sensitive and appropriate manner, following the best practice guidelines set out in 'Mindset'.

Similarly, we found that articles about mental health recovery and treatment were much more commonly shared by readers than articles linking mental illness to crime or violence. This shows that there is a public appetite for positive recovery-oriented stories, indicating that the 'if it bleeds it leads' media maxim is not consistent with reader preferences.

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The amassed results of these various studies are cause for celebration. They suggest that the Canadian media is reporting mental illness in a much more sensitive, accurate and hopeful fashion. This improvement will likely influence the general public, making them better informed and more empathic to people with mental illness.

The recent discharge of Will Baker shows that there are journalists who will use mental illness to scaremonger and titillate. However taken in the round, the Canadian media have changed their mental health reporting for the better, and for this they should be praised.

Well-done.
GeorgiaCourt via Getty Images A sad school girl leans against the wall of a school courtyard. Other children play in the background.

A few weeks ago, I heard about an incident in Netherlands of a young Tamil boy who took his life due to bullying at school, and it hit home.

I grew up in a refugee camp to begin with, and since my parents didn't speak German, I was not able to pick up the language very quickly, so I went to kindergarten and was picked on for not knowing German. Not just by fellow kids, but also the teachers, who isolated me and never included me in anything.

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When I started primary school, I was picked on immediately. We didn't have school Uniforms in Germany, and my parents couldn't afford to dress me in nice things, so I was picked on for my dress code, not speaking German, and for being coloured. Germany in the 90's was extremely racist. I was called names just because of my skin tone.

When I started high school, things got better, only to then be told that we are moving to England. I hated the high school system here. Yes we had Uniforms, and the teachers had a lot more control over students, but that never stopped the bullies. I had to sit at the front of every class due to my language barrier, and the so called 'cool' kids sitting at the back used to chuck paper at me when the teacher wasn't looking.

On one occasion I had chewing gum chucked at me, which got caught in my hair, and I waited to use the bathroom, to cry in the cubicle because I couldn't get it out of my hair. I was teased for the way I looked, for the way I dressed, for the way I spoke, for not being academically smart.

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I genuinely believed that Uni will change everything, but it didn't. I moved out, and initially made friends with the people I lived with, but very soon they made their own friends from their courses and I was left on my own again. I tried really hard to make friends in my course, but I really struggled. I hated having group work or a lab partner, as I was always the last person to be selected. No one wanted to work with me.

I didn't tell anyone about it, and I didn't talk to a therapist either. In fact none of my family members knew about it, and the teachers/lecturers weren't aware either.

I learned to not care anymore. I realised that a few years down the line none of these people were going to matter. I took a vow that I will make something out of my life, and that I will be happy, content, successful, and achieve my goals. I used to want those things, just so I can have people begging to be my friend.

Well today that doesn't influence my decisions of course. Today I have learned to do things on my own, to be independent, and to run my own business. I achieved all the things I set out to achieve, and whoever stuck by me through this painful and long journey, are the ones I really regard as friends and who really matter to me.

I have considered taking my life numerous times during those awful years. I used to think no one would even notice if I was gone, and that I would probably enrich their lives by killing myself. I can safely say I have never crossed paths with any of these bullies since leaving school.

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Bullies make you believe that something is wrong with you, when in reality something is wrong with them. They are the miserable and unhappy ones, and they get their notion of happiness by making others suffer. It is their way of coping, their way of surviving. It is not your fault. In fact be the better person and feel sorry for them, if you are not able to do so, then just ignore them.

Stooping to their level is never wise. We don't know what they are going through nor why they are so bitter and unhappy. They must be fighting their own battles at home. But that is not your problem. You are loved, you have a beautiful family, and you have a roof over your head and cooked food on the table, stay strong and put up with it until you can make active choices.

Yes you could change schools, or jobs, or stop being friends with the person that constantly picks on you. But does that solve the problem? It deals with the symptoms not the source. How we react to these situations is dealing with the source of the problem. Just ignore them, and don't change. Be the same kind person you want to be.

You would think bullying only happens in schools, but no it happens at work, it happens in relationships, it even happens amongst family members. We can never get away from a bully. They are everywhere, and around us. But we have the power to do something about it. To make choices that allow us to stay away from such people. Or remove ourselves from these situations. The first step is to talk to a loved one, confide in them, and let them help you. If you don't, then there are professionals you can talk to at school or even at work to make them aware of this.

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Why should you suffer for someone else? Why does the other person matter more than you? Why is it ok to feel sad, irrelevant, and lonely?

No one has that right or that kind of power over you. So don't let them!

Just use me as an example. I was bullied most of my life, and today I regard myself as a successful and independent woman. I got those bullies to thank! I became tough and strong because of them.

So get up, dust off, and LIVE!!! Life gets better. I promise!!!

This blog post was also published on TamilCulture.com by Vithya -- Read here.
Each year, Family Day is an opportunity to reflect on how fortunate I am for the blessing of my family and their unconditional love and support. This was never more apparent than when I was treated for cancer.

My diagnosis of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) required treatment away from my hometown of Calgary. Typically, in Canada, treatment for my disease is in Ontario, but the year I required treatment, that facility was closed. I would receive my treatment at Yale University in New Haven Connecticut over a 10-week period.

The burden of this was tremendous. My sons were only five and nine the spring I needed to leave. I was a single parent raising them alone. Who would live with them while I was gone? Who would take them to school and their activities? Who would make sure they felt safe and loved while I was away? And who would take care of me? Cancer is scary. I knew that beyond needing physical help as treatment progressed, I would need emotional support as well.

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I am fortunate to be blessed beyond measure with an amazing family. My family would not be considered traditional in its structure by most people. I was adopted at birth and raised by two very loving and supportive parents with adopted siblings. Their marriage ended after many years, and they both went on to wed new partners and have second long marriages giving me new step-parents and step-siblings. As an adult, I connected with my birth parents and birth half-siblings. Throw in the families of my boys, and that is a huge family tree.

Relationships that involve adopted and birth families, along with ex-partners, can be difficult to navigate at the best of times. I was asking my birth families, adopted families and step-families to come together for me to provide care and support where it was needed. I was asking them to put aside their own fears and discomfort to help my boys and me. I was asking them to travel out-of-province and out-of-country to do this for me. I was asking them to put their own busy lives on hold. I asked so much of all of them, and they responded with more love and grace than I ever could have imagined.

"Every day, 43 Albertans hear the words 'you have cancer.'"

Together we created schedules. Schedules for the children's care, for my care and for travel visits. My family carried the load of me being a mom when I was not able to, and for a mom, that is simply everything.

The notion that cancer touches everyone is true. The burden on the family is as great as the burden on the individual. But, the notion that out of hardship comes unexpected blessings is also true. Any cancer patient I have ever talked to expresses, in one way or another, the gifts that come from the diagnosis. It changes both the person and the family.

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For my family, I believe one of the gifts was realizing that there is room for everyone and that love is limitless. New relationships were forged. My adopted mom and birth mom consider each other friends. My birth half-sister feels comfortable stopping in to visit with my adopted dad and his wife. My parents always ask about the others and always send well wishes to one another. This is grace in action.

My legacy is to pass this on to my children -- to model the example that my parents have all set. I choose to treat my ex-partners and their family members with respect and kindness. They are loved by me and always will be for they are the families of my sons, and that alone makes them deserving.

Every day, 43 Albertans hear the words "you have cancer." After all I've experienced, I am compelled to give back to help other families, no matter their make up, that have had to face this awful disease. In 2016, I signed up for OneWalk to Conquer Cancer benefiting the Alberta Cancer Foundation, an event that brings together communities of participants, survivors and their supporters for one common goal: to conquer cancer. OneWalk is a one-day, 25-kilometre journey through the streets and communities of Calgary and an inspiring festival experience.

Funds raised through OneWalk support breakthrough cancer research, clinical trials, enhanced care and the discovery of new cancer therapies at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre, Cross Cancer Institute and 15 other centres across Alberta.

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The 2017 OneWalk is on June 24 and I hope you'll be there with me. I am walking for a future where cancer is not a death sentence. I am walking for my family and for my kids. I am walking because I can't walk away.

This Family Day, and for every one in the future, I will always count my blessings. With a family as big and as wonderful as mine, that just might take me all day!

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New survey results indicate that on the question of Israel-Palestine politics, the Trudeau government is grossly out of step with the Canadian electorate. The survey findings indicate that while Canadians were far more likely to have a negative opinion of Israeli government, most Canadians believe their government is biased in favour of Israel.

In a survey co-sponsored by my organization and conducted by EKOS, 46 per cent of Canadians who expressed an opinion had a negative or somewhat negative view of the government of Israel. Only 28 per cent had a positive or mostly positive view of Israel. On the other hand, 61 per cent believed that their government held a pro-Israel Middle East policy, while only 16 percent thought Canada was pro-Palestinian.

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My organization co-sponsored this survey because we had serious concerns that both the Harper and Trudeau governments had taken positions in the Middle East that did not reflect the views of most Canadians. Conventional wisdom suggests that Canadians are a fair-minded people: historically, for example, we've been forced to balance concerns between French and English, between Europe and North America. Lester B. Pearson won a Nobel peace prize for his role in mediating the Suez Crisis in 1956, and for many decades afterwards, many perceived Canada as an "honest broker" in the Middle East, trusted by both Israel and the Palestinians.

With the Harper government, however, all pretense of balance was thrown out the window. Examples of Harper's extreme pro-Israel stance abound. In UN votes around Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights, Harper's Canada began voting with a small minority of countries that unquestioningly supported Israel.

In 2011, the Harper government ceased contributions to UNESCO when it accepted Palestine as a full member. In 2012, Harper was a lone voice opposing Obama's G8 peace deal based on 1967 borders between Israel and Palestine. In 2013, the Harper government joined a small minority of countries opposing an upgrade in the status of Palestine at the UN.

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With Trudeau, it has been little different. The Trudeau government not only maintained Harper's voting patterns at the UN, but also adopted much of the same language as the Harper government. For example, in its very first statement on Israel-Palestine politics, the Trudeau government expressed its opposition to the Palestinians using UN institutions to advance their cause, effectively reassuring Israel it had veto power over all things Palestinian.

Most recently, while its allies issued prompt condemnations of illegal settlement expansion announcements by Israel, the Trudeau government waited weeks before publishing a gentle admonishment last Thursday evening.

A representative democracy is based on the principle that elected officials will advance the positions of their electors. When it comes to Israel and the Middle East, both Harper and Trudeau seem to have grievously violated this principle.

Clearly there is something going on which has nothing to do with "representation" and nothing to do with "democracy."

Especially for Trudeau, when you break down the numbers in the survey, there is absolutely no "democratic" justification for his government's positions. Fifty-five per cent of Liberal voters hold a negative opinion of the government of Israel, versus 22 per cent who have a positive opinion. Quebec voters are highly sought by both Liberals and Conservatives, yet 57 per cent of them have a negative opinion of the government of Israel, versus only 16 per cent who have a positive opinion.

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Most voters who have a negative opinion of the government of Israel may not be expecting the government of Canada to chastise Israel. But it's also reasonable to believe that such voters wouldn't expect their government to protect and favour Israel. But that's exactly what Harper and Trudeau have been doing for years.

Clearly there is something going on which has nothing to do with "representation" and nothing to do with "democracy." It's also probably fair to say that the actions of the Harper and Trudeau government's have nothing to do with Canada's interests. Following Harper's visit to Israel in 2014, columnist Murray Dobbin summed it up by writing, "Harper [seemed] intent on setting back the peace process, insulting the entire Arab world, making Canada persona non grata throughout the Middle East, and angering the United States government..."

As with all things political, there may be other motives. Many pondered Harper's reasons for being so pro-Israel. Some wondered if Harper were acting under the influence of Christian evangelical ideology which favours Israel. Columnist Mark Kennedy concluded that Harper was attracted to the "simplicity of right and wrong, of good and evil."

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Some argue that Harper sought to steal the Jewish Canadian vote from the Liberals through his extreme pro-Israel positions. As a vocal, politically active community, the Jewish Canadian vote carries a weight beyond its actual numbers. It may be that Trudeau seeks to win the vote back with his own pro-Israel style.

With the new survey results, it is no longer possible for our political leaders to say that they don't know how Canadians truly feel on these issues. But while many voters may believe that Canada's government is too pro-Israel, they don't necessarily want Canada to be pro-Palestinian. In fact, most probably want our government to be foremost pro-Canadian. And for most of us, being pro-Canadian means finding solutions and promoting positions that are good for everyone, even -- and especially -- when you're talking about Israel and the Palestinians.

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Tetra Images via Getty Images USA, New York, New York City, Traders at trading desk

A number of years ago, the advertising world borrowed the term "trading" from the financial industry and never gave it back. Let's look at the similarities: both media trades and stock market trades are propelled by technologically driven data. Both appear insufferably complex to the untrained eye. Both evoke similar images of buyers surrounded by multiple screens doing their very best to make optimal decisions in real time. Ironically, the rise of programmatic, or automated, media buying has only increased the complexity of a media buyer's daily job. With half a decade of experience under our belts it's safe to say that the approach of media trading has imploded on itself.

Historically, technology vendors executed digital media buying on a fully managed basis. Later, when agencies and brands demanded control and transparency, these same vendors slapped a facelift on their internal software and dubbed it a "self-serve platform". Unfortunately, these media buying platforms give a false sense of control. Nearly one in ten digital marketers work with more than 30 different programmatic advertising tools on a regular basis, and these tools require users to manually choose their target audience, the price of this audience, and which levers to pull in order to "optimize delivery". On top of all this, there's the constant challenge of actually attributing these decisions to increased sales. Ask any media buyer and you will hear universal dissatisfaction with the state of the advertising technology industry. (Just listen to Machine Zone's CEO.)

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So, what should future media buying platforms look like?

In the future platforms will have a different approach to user experience

Everyday citizens use advanced technology hundreds of times a day. We are highly attuned to user experience gaps in social media or banking apps, yet we readily accept deficiencies in B2B software that supposedly helps us do our jobs. In an homage to the early 2000s, complexity is even lauded as "state-of-art".

We've come to expect clunky, rocket-science-like UI. As a result, there are frictions at every step of the user experience and it's the general consensus that these platforms are lagging behind B2C technologies, as if consumer products are easier to develop. For example, why are there no mobile-friendly media trading platforms? Salesforce and Hubspot pulled it off and it's hard to believe that they did it only because of deeper pockets than most advertising or media technology companies. The real reason there are so few customer-centric B2B platforms is that there is a general apathy towards B2B design.

The future of media platforms lays in engineering the user experience to meet customer needs first. It's only a matter of time until someone bursts onto the market whose vision centers around ease of use rather than elaborate features. And that platform will be unstoppable.

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The DIY approach in media platforms will disappear

Current advertising and media trading platforms are designed to allow buyers ultimate flexibility. While this sounds like an effective strategy, users run into issues when these platforms inevitably fail to understand the brand's business model and therefore fail to provide true value. In the attempts to accommodate everyone, they accommodate no one, and audience discovery methods remain primitive at best.

Here's how audiences are currently targeted within media platforms: a user navigates an a la carte list of predetermined audiences that he/she thinks would fit the brand they are promoting. This brute targeting approach creates a lot of false positive information about top line performance metrics and breeds inefficiencies.

Future platforms will take the guesswork out of audience targeting and bid pricing by being substantially more intelligent in the way they learn about a brand's audiences. One-size-fits-all algorithms will make way for custom models that are built by machines able to take into account the unique characteristics of any given brand. Technology will remove the heavy lifting of execution so buyers can focus on big picture strategy. Software with the intelligence to truly understands a brand's customer base through historical data removes the need for today's "flexible" approach.

Intelligence will also move beyond customer acquisition into integral features such as fraud protection and brand safety. At the moment, fraud prevention on most platforms is activated on-demand. As a result, software that can be used by any party in the value chain can be misused in ways that contributed to $7B in ad fraud in 2016. Future software will have things like fraud prevention and brand safety baked into the platform.

In today's adtech industry, complexity creates smoke-and-mirrors and flexibility breeds fraud. For these reasons, it is imperative that programmatic platforms become intelligent machine entities that self-teach the individual audience characteristics of each brand, provide remarkable user experience, and are rigid enough to prevent abuse from bad actors.

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A member of the Iraqi Security forces walks towards the ruins of a church in Hay el Nour in eastern Mosul. UNHCR/B.Ahmed

The first thing you notice when you drive into eastern Mosul is the destruction.

Over the past two months, an effort to retake this part of Iraq from extremist groups has uprooted thousands of families. Aerial bombardments, mortars and small arms fire have become a daily reality and large areas of the city lie in ruins.

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Although markets are open and most public health centres have remained largely undamaged, medication is in short supply.

Whatever managed to survive is riddled with bullet holes. Rusty skeletons of burnt-out cars dot newly accessible roads, sometimes even atop buildings.

But what strikes me the most, as our car enters the city, is how normal life is already. There's a lot of traffic. People are going about their business, surrounded by rubble.

Children cycle, weaving their way through piles of debris. Women shop in a market where fruit and vegetable stalls lie alongside bullet-ridden buildings. Some business owners inspect the remnants of their properties and sweep away broken glass.

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Literally everyone you speak to seems to have a heartbreaking story to tell -- stories of loved ones lost, missing, tortured. One woman tells me her 20-something-year-old son was blinded in an explosion.

Another woman cries as she rolls up her young daughter's trousers to show me her burned skin. She had been sitting near a heater one evening when an explosion shook their house and caused the heater to fall.

But there is hope amidst the horror.

UNHCR and its partner Muslim Aid have distributed thousands of blankets and quilts to nearly 9,000 families in newly accessible areas of eastern Mosul. As winter sweeps across the city, heaters, water and kerosene jerry cans are helping families to stay warm.

In one neighbourhood, I find Muslim Aid distributing much-needed relief items to 115 families. The distribution takes place to a soundtrack of bullets and loud thuds from air strikes. Kids carry on as though nothing was going on. No-one flinches -- except us.

I ask one man whether these sounds scare them and if they feel safe.

"We don't hear them anymore," he replies. "When it is all you have heard for over two years, it is all you know and you don't even notice it."

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Yes, people I meet are very upset about the destruction and often have agonizing tales of loss. But what most of them are concerned about is the future and the lasting effect this brutal episode may have on their lives going forward. Children have been out of school for over two years. Many people have been out of work and without any income for the same. Hospitals have been looted and destroyed, and kids and elderly people have been unable to get essential medication.

Mustapha, who was in his final year of college when armed groups took control, had been looking forward to starting university. He says rebels imposed restrictions on growing beards and not using phones. But the hardest thing, Mustapha tells me, was not being able to go to school.

"It felt like life was on pause," he says, sadly. "The futures we had imagined were suddenly taken away from us."

In some areas, I find that many people chose not to flee, in order to protect their properties. Others did not want to live in camps. Only a few people -- those with the means to leave -- had been able to make it to safer areas nearby and stay with relatives.

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Many of these areas had a significant Christian population before armed groups took over. One of the residents of Hay el Sucar tells me that 30% of his neighbourhood had been Christian before rebels arrived.

"Our Christian brothers and sisters were so scared for their lives, they fled in 2014 and have not returned," he says. "Their homes are still empty. We heard that some might return but we haven't seen any of them yet."

People are trying hard to rebuild their lives. Schools are now open for registration and local primary health care centers are slowly opening up again. Some professionals who fled, such as teachers, doctors and nurses, have started to return. Although the local hospital in Hay el Sucar was largely destroyed, residents are adamant that it will re-open and a group of young locals are volunteering to clean it up, to get it running again.

But it will take time and they can't do it on their own. Support from the government and the international community is desperately needed to help people get back on their feet. In the meantime, people like Mustapha can only dream of life as it was before.
Fear is a more powerful force than I once realised.

I was prompted yesterday to come outside the realms of my usual blog to inspect a theme which drives the creation of nuclear weapons.

I was deeply moved by stories of Yazidi women, children being held up for five hours at airports and people who have already suffered terribly, being held in detention centres like criminals. Many of them running from desperate situations to lands that they were told promised hope, liberty and equality. Not if you are a refugee in this era I guess.

Great Britain and the USA have a long history of welcoming the afflicted. After the end of the 2nd World War for example, many Jews and other persecuted minorities were eventually allowed refuge in these lands. The acknowledgment of the wrongs committed against them, and faith, fuelled politicians to compassion and allowed persecuted peoples entry into countries.

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On a work trip to Berlin a year ago, I went on a bus tour of the city with a guide who painted a historic picture of how the city developed for us tourists to understand the foundations on which the country was built. She said; 'After the persecution of the Protestants in France, Germany benefitted a lot from French immigrants moving to Berlin, they learnt from French culture, culinary differences, and skills. This brought in a new level of innovation to Germany and allowed the country to grow stronger and more diverse in its workforce.'

Germany has the strongest economy in Europe, and it attributes this, in part, to a history of welcoming new immigrants. Their skills and experiences have enhanced German society, and economy, for the better.

I have a German friend whose parents are originally from a part of the former Soviet Union, they arrived in Germany with very little but have become incredibly successful in their trade. I myself am from a migrant family, where my father had reached the pinnacle of his career in our country of origin, Burkina Faso, and was invited for an interview here in the UK for a job that he very much excelled at and spent the majority of his career in.

History has shown time and again that in the long term, immigrants are a net benefit to society. So what is stopping countries from welcoming them now you may ask?

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One word. F-E-A-R.

Fear is the main thing that has made towns, states or regions vote against welcoming people into their countries, perhaps because they look, act and think differently to them. The surprising thing is that many of these people have had little interaction with immigrants in their lifetime.

Fear is what kept apartheid going for so long. Fear of the unknown and how integration may change society and culture. Fear is what led us, in the UK, to vote 'leave' in the EU referendum and ultimately fear is what is increasing waiting times for refugees locked in detention centres (some are children!) after already overcoming an ordeal in their own countries.

Fear is not a gift we have been given and we do not have to accept fear as the status quo. Let's look deep into history, learn from it and see the true legacy that free movement of peoples' brings us. Let us not allow ourselves to be dominated by fear. Let's look past our own biases and divisions, to the truth that unity has brought the strongest countries in the world success and victory time and again. The U.S., U.K, and Germany are the strongest cases for immigration strengthening a society.
In Ireland, a country grown on the grounds of Catholicism, it should come as no surprise that abortion is heavily restricted. With the Eighth Amendment, a law stating that a pregnant woman cannot have an abortion unless it is to save her life or she has medical complications, many women flock to Britain each day (an average of twelve) to have these abortions or access abortion pills.

Abortion is indeed a sensitive topic from Trump supporting the pro-life movement to devout Catholics in the Philippines not even uttering the word due to its connotation of shame and embarrassment. However, in Ireland, the demand for broadening access to abortions is on the rise. Although women previously had the ability to get on a flight and carry out the abortion in a British clinic, this complicated and expensive process is about to become one step more difficult with Britain's largest abortion provider turning away Irish women from the clinics.

Marie Stopes International, an international non-governmental organisation providing safe abortion services in 37 countries, stated that it would prioritise patients referred by the British NHS and that "Irish women may have to go to slightly different locations to access the services." However, according to The Times, the organisation emphasised that Irish women who had already booked appointments would still be treated.

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However, there is a beacon of light amidst this chaos with Marie Stopes stating that these restrictions would not be permanent since "January and February are always the busiest times of the year" and to cope with the "high demand", they are "referring some women to other providers to ensure they can be seen as soon as possible."

A spokeswoman for Marie Stopes said the organisation would refer some of its Irish clients to another abortion provider, British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), which is also able to offer terminations. Although, as it turns out, this is still a challenge as the provider is also under strain due to overwhelming demand.

A spokeswoman, Linda Kavanagh, for the Abortion Rights Campaign (ARC) in Ireland highlighted that the inability of the British system to support the 12 women who travel from Ireland to Britain each day "serve(d) as a reminder that the Irish government has abdicated its responsibility to women and pregnant people in Ireland."

Undoubtedly, there is a fundamental flaw in the fact that access to abortion is blocked in Ireland unless there are specific situations in which the woman's life is at risk. There was significant controversy over the death of Savita Halappanavar in 2013 after doctors refused to terminate her miscarrying pregnancy to save her life due to the fear of criminal penalties that could be imposed. These situations have resulted in many women travelling to Britain for abortions. Whilst this is complicated and expensive, those who are unable to pay for the abortion have limited choices in what can they do and, consequently, have to buy pills which induce a miscarriage instead. Thus, the danger that women can potentially be in as a result of their pregnancies or the inability to have an abortion must be highlighted.

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BPAS, the UK's leading abortion care service, launched a campaign in Northern Ireland to provide women the help they need including discussions about using illegal abortion pills since their fear of getting caught results in the inability to receive the appropriate aftercare. A free helpline has been established for women who have questions on abortion and pregnancy.
Image Credit: Camfed

February 20th, World Day of Social Justice, is a key calendar date for those who are passionate about tackling poverty and inequality across the globe. Never has it been more important to listen to and empower those most marginalised - the majority of whom are women and girls. Crucial to this empowerment is girls' education - a human right, a matter of justice, and the best investment we can make for the economic development and stability of nations.

Those who have read my blogs will know that I believe that achieving true social justice means action today - not just words. This action is most powerful when we unlock the rich potential in poor communities to deliver life-changing (perhaps even history-making) change. This does not come overnight - but when you put structures in place that catalyse the multiplier effect of girls' education, it is possible to achieve sustainability and scale while focusing on the specific needs of every individual girl. Sound far-fetched? Let me explain.

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Education transformed my life. In a context of rural poverty, that education was only made possible through the support of my family, my community and Camfed (the Campaign for Female Education). Without holistic support, I wouldn't have been able to achieve, go on to university and become a lawyer.

I wouldn't have been able to lead the development of a network of more than 80,000 educated young women, once marginalised, to change the futures of hundreds of thousands of children in Africa - children who are in greatest danger of being excluded, just because of the circumstances they were born into. I am so proud of my sisters in the Camfed alumnae network, CAMA. Together, to date, we have supported more than 270,000 children to go to school with our own resources. And we are developing programmes to drive up education quality.

One example of this is the Camfed Learner Guide Programme. 4,332 CAMA members have already been trained in Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Ghana to return to their local schools to deliver vital life skills lessons to marginalised children, support their studies, and connect impoverished families with vital services. Learner Guides are paying forward the benefits of their education, while gaining valuable skills for future employment. Through the programme, Camfed has seen an unprecedented uplift in learning outcomes among the most marginalised girls. Learner Guides are so effective because they come from the communities in which they work. They understand first hand that it's easy to fall behind in your studies when you are too shy to speak up in class; when you have to work before and after school to put a meal on the table; when you are worrying about sick relatives, or pressure from a boy or man.

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Now we are extremely excited about the future prospects of Learner Guides: learning company Pearson, which supported the development of the life skills curriculum, has partnered with Camfed to develop a bespoke BTEC for Learner Guides!

Today, my good friend Sinikiwe Makove from Camfed Zimbabwe will join Camfed CEO Lucy Lake at a special event hosted by Pearson, as the first 567 Learner Guides receive their BTEC. Pearson will certify 5,000 Learner Guides by 2019, helping to fast-track them into teacher training colleges and other life-changing professions. We are also celebrating the launch of a Pearson-matched staff fundraising campaign to help send more girls to secondary school.

This auspicious day brings together many individuals and organisations, including the Queen's Trust and Linklaters, that have supported the programme's extension across Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Ghana. Together we have created a vehicle for real change, at scale, as evidenced by the programme's recent roll-out to Tanzanian schools in non-partner districts. Camfed is now extending the Learner Guide concept to provide support to young women in their communities after school.

One of our great success stories is Learner Guide Lindiwe Mehlo. Lindiwe, the first CAMA member in rural Zimbabwe to register her business with the government, sells her very own juice brand in supermarkets far and wide! She is one of the first BTEC recipients, and is saving her money to apply for teacher training college.

"Helping girls to stay in school, helping them to achieve what they want in life, that is my favourite part," Lindiwe says.

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Her story -- and thousands more -- showcase what can be achieved when we come together behind communities as partners for social justice - and that it all starts with girls' education.

BTEC recipients writing to me are saying, "I have gained the respect I never expected at this age. I feel so powerful and able."
Slavery.

Perhaps one of the worst phenomenon's occurring on this earth at this time.

No freedom to make choices in your life. No ability to protect yourself from violence. No means to stop yourself from being raped.

No rights to have rights.

This is the reality for all the men, women and children who are still being held as slaves in Mauritania today.

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Mauritania is ethnically divided between the white Moors and various black African groups. Traditionally, the Harratin's have been the main ethnic group who have been enslaved by the white Moors in Mauritania.

One of the unique aspects of slavery in Mauritania is that it is decent based. If your mother was a slave, then you will be a slave too.

In 2007, slavery was officially criminalised however the practice is still widely believed to be continuing.

Slavery affects both men and women, however according to the human rights advocates and the many ex slaves who I met while in Mauritania, it is women who suffer the most under Mauritania's slavery system.

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There are a number of reasons for women's increased suffering. One of them being that women are usually subjected to sexual abuse by their master or their master's son. One ex female slave said she was raped by her master, her master's son and the friends of her master. Anyone who wanted to have sex with her could.

For slaves who have been born into slavery and have never been educated it's difficult for them to find other ways of living. This is particularly so for women who face discrimination because they are women.

Emmanuelle from Anti Slavery International explained, 'often they go back to their masters. This is all that they have known. Even if you know slavery has been criminalized and you can leave, if you've been raped many times and humiliated then what can you do. We're trying to provide more socio economic opportunities to slaves so that they don't have to think about going back.'

Female slaves they face even further discrimination through Mauritania's Sharia Law system which prohibits sex outside of marriage. If you are an unmarried woman and you have a child, you can face charges. Even if you have been raped.

Dah Boushrab an activist with IRA an anti slavery organization operating in Mauritania that is primarily comprised of ex slaves, confirms that conditions for women in Mauritania are harsh.

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'For women in Mauritania, it is like jail,' he says. 'I am living here and I can tell you that. The traditions and customs put women in jail.'

He explains how there is much violence against women in Mauritania, including sexual violence with the poor being the most vulnerable. 'Men might offer a small girl who is hungry some food and then they do whatever. To rape a slave is nothing, it's the same for the poor.'

Sarah Mathewson from Slavery International explains how gender roles that are forced on women are around subservience and submission and roles for men are around authority. Because of the stereotypes women are pushed into a more subservient role.

'Women have the same legal status as children,' explains Matthewson. 'Women have very few rights under Mauritanian law. Domestic violence is legitimate. Women are living under the domination of men in Mauritania,' Matthewson explains.

Women and girls are at a massive disadvantage as second class citizens, even within the activist struggle. Aside from women led organizations, women are often relegated to secondary roles within the anti slavery struggle.

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I met with two women from the Pulaar ethnic group just on the outskirts of Nouakchott. After being greeted by the two women wrapped in long white robes, Maimouna Alfa Sy and Aissata Mamadou Anne sat down to explain the situation for women and girls in Mauritania.

'There is inequality here,' explains Maimouna. 'I am never allowed to make a decision. There are no women in high levels. In Mauritania there are no rights for women at all.'

She continues to explain how there is violence from husbands, rape and violence from police. There is forced marriage and child marriage. Girls can be forced to get married at just 12 or 13 years old. There are parents who think that a girl doesn't have to go to school, she just needs to stay home to do the cleaning and to get married when they are young.

'We are fighting for justice but they are not listening. It's very difficult to have rights.'

As we sit on the floor of her dimly lit home I ask why there is so much violence against women in Mauritania. She shrugs her shoulders and says, 'women are like furniture here. She is the slave of her husband. It is very, very bad.'

'I want women to be free. That they have the same rights as men,' she says.

As the battle against slavery continues in Mauritania, women and girls face a double battle. Fighting against the bounds of slavery and that of patriarchy. As in much of the world, cultures and traditions restrict the freedoms of women and girls.

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So, what does this mean for other divorced and divorcing couples?

For people contemplating divorce the most important thing is to take legal advice from an experienced divorce lawyer early to ensure that your interests are protected. The issues faced in both of these cases could have been avoided with a clean break financial settlement.

Even if it seems possible to reach an informal agreement between you, as the Briers case shows, if that decision is not created in a legally binding way, then further financial claims can be made - and there is no time limit on this.

If you are already divorced and are worried that you may be liable for future financial claims, you should take legal advice to establish if a clean break settlement was reached. If it wasn't there may be a possibility to secure one. Alternatively, if you feel like you may be in a position where you think you are entitled to increase your divorce settlement, an experienced lawyer will be able to outline your options.
This Friday (17 February) marks the release of the Oscar nominated 20th Century Fox film Hidden Figures, which resurrects the true story of three truly inspirational women who worked for NASA in the 1960s - and helped blaze a trail for mathematicians and engineers of all races and genders to follow.

Largely unheard of and unrecognised for their huge contribution to America's space programme during the 1960s, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Winston Jackson and Katherine Johnson, were three NASA engineers and mathematicians whose ground-breaking work was behind the US's first space missions - so it's fantastic that their stories are now going to be told.

And stories like these - that highlight amazing women in engineering - are so important. We need to celebrate female role models and showcase the brilliant world-changing work that they do.

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However, not every hidden figure has had their story told. Women have been contributing to the advancement of science, engineering, technology and mathematics for hundreds of years. For example, the Bullet-proof material Kevlar, the first dishwasher, windscreen wipers, and the child-safe plug were all invented by women.

And yet how many people know this?

Another example of forgotten female engineers is the Waterloo Bridge. As one of London's most important bridges, this was built by women during the Second World War. However, this had been written out of the history books and it wasn't until 2015 that the women's contribution to building the bridge was officially acknowledged.

The difficulty in attracting women into engineering is down to a combination of things, including the image of engineers within the UK, careers advice girls are given in schools and the way that companies with engineering roles portray their brand and advertise their opportunities.

But I'd say the lack of female role models is a major problem for today's future engineers - currently only 9% of engineers in the UK are women.

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I can personally say that engineering really is an enjoyable, stimulating and fulfilling career - it's diverse and exciting with the opportunity to do something life- or world-changing. But the lack of women in the sector is a huge problem.

As the first female president of the IET in its 145-year history, I spent my presidential year championing the urgent need to attract more girls and women into engineering. And the IET continues to stress the importance of attracting more girls and women to the engineering profession.

For example, next month the IET will launch its search for this year's Young Woman Engineer of the Year. The Awards, which have now been running for 40 years, are all about finding role models to get girls - and young people in general - excited and inspired about a career in engineering.
In a year dominated by the UK's vote to leave the European Union and the election of Donald Trump, there were mixed fortunes for Britain's far right. For them it was a year of further marginalisation, convictions and bans punctuated only by extreme acts of violence - such as the horrific murder of Jo Cox.

2016 was also a year where a new far-right threat became more evident, one that was at the heart of the 'fake news' phenomenon played out largely on social media and to an international audience.

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That's according to our new 76-page report, State of Hate 2017, the most comprehensive look at far-right extremism in the UK and across Europe.

Violence in 2017

The year started with a violent confrontation in Dover, where fascists and anti-fascists clashed at a National Front march, which led to the jailing of over 50 far-right activists. It ended with the leader of the anti-Muslim outfit, Britain First, being sent to prison and the nazi grouplet National Action (NA) banned as a terrorist organisation by the British government.

While some dismissed the banning of NA as a PR stunt - the first time a far-right movement had been proscribed since World War Two - the truth is that the authorities felt compelled to act as a result of NA's increasingly violent rhetoric and emerging evidence that some activists were trying to encourage younger recruits to carry out acts of terrorism.

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However, while the ban has effectively shut down the organisation, the people within it and the networks in which they operate continue.

Far-right and radical-right parties

UKIP continued to marginalise traditional far-right parties, with groups like the British National Party (BNP) struggling to maintain any significant presence.

While some within far-right circles hoped that the EU Referendum result would lead to the collapse of UKIP and open a space for a racial nationalist party, this has failed to materialise.

However, all is not well for UKIP either. Former leader Nigel Farage and millionaire backer Arron Banks are increasingly operating parallel to the party. Meanwhile, the Brexit vote result has seen a drop in UKIP's electoral support as some of its voters obviously feel "the job is done", while others believe that Theresa May's government has assumed much of UKIP's agenda.

More significantly, UKIP is in a financial mess, struggling to raise funds and facing EU demands to pay back misused funds.

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With UKIP likely to struggle to defend the 121 wards - achieved during the party's first electoral breakthrough in 2013 - in the 2017 county council elections, success in the forthcoming Stoke-on-Trent Central by-election has become vital for both new leader Paul Nuttall and his party.

It is abundantly clear that there will be compromises over Brexit and this, coupled with rising economic anxiety and probable inability of the government to reduce immigration substantially, could lead to mounting disenchantment and anger. With the Labour Party currently in turmoil, it will be a UKIP-type party that benefits.

Whether that party is actually UKIP remains to be seen.

The "Alt-Right"

2016 saw the emergence and increasing impact of British alt-right and far right bloggers and vloggers.

Among these is Milo Yiannopoulos, who is heavily involved in the far-right-friendly Breitbart News network, and Battersea-based vlogger Paul Watson, who is enmeshed in the conspiracy website InfoWars. Watson, with 451,000 Twitter followers and 717,722 subscribers on YouTube, was one of the main figures behind fake news/conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton having debilitating health issues in the run up to the US election, including the disgusting "Is Hillary Dying?" hoax. His videos were viewed millions of times and were even taken up by Fox News.

While the Alt-Right is generally a US phenomenon, a similar trend has been growing in the UK under the name New Right. One of its expressions, The London Forum, is now regularly attended by over 100 people and new groups have formed in the South West, Yorkshire and Scotland. Last year, saw expansion of the Forum network into America.

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Also intervening in the US elections was former Britain First leader Jim Dowson. From his new Hungarian office, in the centre of Budapest, Dowson set up a series of US-focused websites with the sole intent of denigrating Hillary Clinton and promoting Donald Trump. He also developed ties with Russians who had connections to people in the Kremlin.

Dowson, with former BNP leader Nick Griffin, spent much of 2016 building an international network of far-right parties, militia groups and religious extremists. Most worrying have been his growing links with people and organisations with links to the Russian state.

Similarly, the presence of Polish far-right groups - such as National Rebirth of Poland and Polish C18 and pro-Ukrainian paramilitaries in the UK such as the leaders of the Misanthropic Division - brings a new level of extremism and experience to British far-right activists.

Assault on liberal democracy

The Trump administration's mainstreaming of anti-muslim hatred, the increased political impetus of far-right parties in parts of western Europe, the activities of alt-right activists spreading prejudice and fake news online and authoritarian regimes becoming more confident in central and Eastern Europe, all show we are living in very dangerous and uncertain times.

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These right-wing forces, coupled with Russia's continued attempts at interference in world politics, are challenging the foundations of the liberal democracy that was largely created as a result of the horrors of WWII.

Human rights, equality legislation and the collective will to intervene to stop genocides and human suffering around the globe are all now being challenged.

The British far right is still a bit part player in this wider picture but, in its many guises, it is still dangerous. The threats lie in increased far-right violence and terrorism, to the vloggers and social media networkers of the Alt-Right who will have an increasingly influential role on the shape of events.
The events of the last few weeks and months have put a spring in the step of those who want a hard Brexit that would wrench Britain out of many areas of European co-operation that have benefited our country. From the defeat of every single amendment to the Article 50 legislation - even widely supported clauses protecting the rights of EU citizens in our country - to Theresa May's threat to take Britain out of Europe without any deal whatsoever, ideological Brexiteers and their cheerleaders in much of the press are feeling triumphalist.

It is time for pro-Europeans to unite, make the positive case for a Britain that engages with Europe to enhance our prosperity and security, and to warn about the danger of the Government's trajectory, while respecting the result of the referendum on June 23rd. That is the argument Tony Blair will make in today's keynote speech for Open Britain this morning.

Tony Blair will say "the people voted without knowledge of the true terms of Brexit. As these terms become clear, it is their right to change their mind." This is common sense logic. An extreme, destructive Brexit was not on the ballot paper, and the voters should have the right to judge the final deal if that is what is on offer.

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The Government have said they will deliver the "exact same benefits" outside the single market as we have within it. We all want them to be successful. However, if they do not deliver and negotiate a trade deal that would cause economic pain, people should be able to judge if that is in their personal interest and the national interest. Open Britain believes all options to be on the table because accepting the referendum result, as we do, is not the same thing as accepting the outcome of every political choice subsequently made.

As Tony Blair will argue, the Government have moved beyond hard Brexit to Brexit At Any Cost. We must expose the actual cost of this approach, which in turn will show that the campaign to Leave, and the decision to Leave, was largely based on imperfect information.

The Government's choice to abandon our membership of the Customs Union and the Single Market - our biggest single customer which buys 45% of our exports and supports as many as three million jobs - forces them to voluntarily pursue a trading arrangement that will almost certainly erect greater barriers to trade than we enjoy today.

Their other decision has been to raise the spectre of the harshest Brexit of all, where the UK crashes out of the EU without any deal at all - and without either Parliament or the people having been consulted. This would be unacceptable. We would have no preferential agreement on trade with our largest trading partner, leading to eye-watering tariffs on goods and our being completely outside of the EU's regulatory framework, which would be devastating for the service sectors that make up 80% of our economy. The consequences would, as the Chancellor himself has said, be "catastrophic." This is not inevitable. If it happens, it will be the result of the Government choosing a path they know will inflict economic pain.

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Should this happen, Parliament must force the Prime Minister back to the negotiating table to achieve a better deal for Britain; and if she cannot, it is more important than ever that the public be consulted before the Government takes our economy off a cliff-edge.

Open Britain has led the argument against a hard, destructive Brexit. The Government has chosen a path that risks not only our economy but the integrity of the United Kingdom. We don't know if we can succeed in persuading people of the folly of this until it is too late, but, as Tony Blair will say, we will suffer a damning judgement from future generations if we do not try.

We agree with Tony Blair's call to action, which says that pro-Europeans have no option but to come together and make our argument passionately and vociferously. On the economy, we must keep fighting for the best possible deal, which, at the very least, should ensure the Government delivers on their promise of getting "exact same benefits" as our current arrangements.

It is vital that existing, superior trading arrangements are not immediately jettisoned forever if the final deal falls far short. The way to secure that is to ensure that democratic consent is given to whatever the future UK-EU relationship is. The Government cannot have a blank cheque for a hard Brexit. If the deal is not good enough, Parliament should be able to send the Government back to the negotiating table. We cannot be offered an ultimatum at the end of the Article 50 process between a bad deal and no deal. The country should be entitled, in some form, to make a real judgement about the deal on offer.

As a former Prime Minister who served for three terms and gave our country a leadership role in Europe, Tony Blair's views surely have a right to be heard.

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Image: Author's own'

Thousands of women joined World Hijab Day on 1st of Feb, a day that aims to raise awareness about wearing the Hijab and celebrates women's right to choose what they wish to wear. Indeed, such awareness is much needed in many democratic societies, where there is a significant rise of Islamophobia.

Muslim women, who choose to wear the face-veil (Niqab), out of conviction of faith, also joined World Hijab Day, as they too wish to assert their desire to wear it for similar reasons and purposes as the Hijab. Although there are no statistics on the number of Muslim women who choose to wear the Niqab, they are certainly a minority within a minority. Nevertheless, some politicians disproportionately focus on the Niqab as a polarising tool, using it to instill fear and divide communities, often prior to elections or to distract the public from more pertinent issues such as health care, unemployment or affordable housing. Angela Merkel, who is considered to be a left leaning liberal politician, did just this when she called for banning the face-veil ahead of elections, citing incompatibility with German culture. It's thought she made these statements to gain political capital within her party and to restrain the anti-immigration sentiments surrounding the admission of 800,000 asylum seekers into Germany last year. In contrast, it was uplifting to hear the British prime minster Theresa May acknowledge World Hijab Day in Westminster, saying, "what a woman wears is a woman's choice."

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I can only hope that her support includes me.

I grew up wearing the face-veil as an act of worship. I live in a liberal, secular society that is politically charged and highly divided. For me, the face-veil has multiple meanings and dimensions; it is not reduced to "a piece of cloth," nor is it exclusively a religious symbol. It is a symbol of my right of self-determination, resistance, and identity in the pluralist society to which I belong. However I must emphasise that by no means am I undermining women who wear only the Hijab, nor those who do not wear it at all. I believe in a woman's right to define herself however she desires.

This stereotyping and prejudice has resulted in a rise of Islamophobic crimes, which I personally have experienced. They are the outcomes of the binary social construction of the good and virtuous "us" versus the corrupt and evil "them" or "other". In this case, this "other" is "Muslim," and is presumed to be bad, uncivilised and oppressive to women. This binary is not new, perpetuated since the colonial era. In Winston Churchill's pompous writings, he asserted that "Mohammedanism (sic) is a militant and proselytising faith that asserts every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property and we must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men" (Winston S. Churchill, The River War).

On the subject of a woman's veil, Frantz Fanon, a post-colonial social theorist, wrote of the frustration that the French colonisers in Algeria had towards veiled Muslim women. "This woman, who sees without being seen, frustrates the coloniser as she opposes the colonisers' standards of liberation, she asserts an identity, and even power, of her own, thus refusing to acknowledge the validity of, and inherent power in, her coloniser's unveiling, subjugation and rape of her own culture" (Frantz Fanon, A Dying Colonialism).

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Susan Buck-Morss, an intellectual historian also wrote on Muslim woman's face-veil: "when educated women defy norms by choosing to wear the burqa, they are refusing visual identification with the Westernising elite, whom they are expected to join. Far from slipping back to the archaic past, these women may be seen as expressing democratic solidarity with the non-elite Muslim men and women whom the material benefits of modernity western-style have never reached, at the same time performing their own feminist critique of the culture industry's reification of women's bodies" (Susan Buck-Morss, Thinking Past Terror).

Fanon was referring to the superimposition of the coloniser's standards of liberation on Muslim women, which is illiberal in my view. However, this paradigm is what inspires modern muscular liberalism today, of which David Cameron was a vocal advocate, in the name of "integration".

Undoubtedly, social integration is fundamental to achieve and maintain a peaceful civic society, but what muscular liberalism is pushing is enforced assimilation, whereby minorities dilute their values, identity, culture and heritage into the dominant component of the society, to the extent they become unidentifiable.

On the other hand, Buck-Morss sees the face-veil as not only an expression of faith but expression of solidarity in a democratic society, and I could not agree more. Unlike, muscular liberalism, multicultural pluralism advocates that no societal segment is superior over another, and in a pluralistic and diverse society, all individuals are equal regardless of their faith, colour, background or sexual orientation.
Leon Neal via Getty Images

Imagine your twenty-something-year old son, daughter, brother or sister is found dead miles away from home. Then imagine that the man who found the body and reported it to the police changed his story about the circumstances, first reporting they didn't know your relative, then changing their story to say they did.

You would expect that the police would be alarmed by the death of a young man and the change in story of the only apparent witness. You'd also be right to expect that the police would investigate thoroughly all the circumstances.

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But what would you do if they refused to investigate, taking the only witnesses' word as the truth?

This isn't something out of a film.

This happened to me.

My darling youngest son, Anthony Walgate, was found dead outside a London block of flats on 19 June 2014. He was 23 and the first known murder-victim of serial killer Stephen Port, who last year was jailed for life for killing Anthony and three other young men.

A week after Anthony's death, new evidence was given to the police that Port had lied to them and did know Anthony. He was arrested and admitted he knew Anthony but claimed that my son had taken a self-inflicted drugs overdose; he also tried to explain away his reasons for moving his body from his flat to his doorstep. The police took Port's DNA but he was released on bail and later discounted him as having any involvement in Anthony's death.

I asked the police whether they had checked Anthony's phone, Port's phone or his computer. I was told it was too expensive. They took the murderers' story over the facts. I've always felt that if Anthony had been a young, heterosexual female the police response would have been very different. Anthony was gay.

One of the most troubling things for me is that two weeks before Anthony died Port was stopped by police at a local railway station with another young man, who was clearly heavily-drugged. Port admitted to the police they had taken illegal drugs but he wasn't arrested.

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The rest, as they say, is history and all I am left with are memories of my Anthony, who was in the second year of a fashion and design degree at Middlesex University. He always told me he would be famous. Now he is, for all the wrong reasons.

Port went onto kill three other young men using the drug GHB: 22-year-old Gabriel Kovari, 21-year-old Daniel Whitworth and 25-year-old Jack Taylor. Three men that would probably still be alive today had the police listened to me.

There is an ongoing Independent Police Complaints Commission investigation into the police's response to the murders of Anthony, Gabriel, Daniel and Jack. It won't bring them back but at the very least I hope those officers who treated me and the families of the other boys as nuisances are held to account for their failure to do their jobs.

The police are now investigating a further 58 unexplained deaths involving GHB and young men. I think there is a real possibility that Port killed more people and I would urge anyone who thinks they may have some relevant information, no matter how small, to come forward. I can understand how some potential witnesses will not want to speak to the police but our solicitors can be contacted directly and in complete confidence at: portenquiry@hudgellsolicitors.co.uk.
Today marks the beginning of London Fashion Week, where top designers and fashion houses will showcase their new collections, informing trends for next season. Designers have previously shown pieces from a range of sub-labels, but today they are more likely to exhibit a single, unified collection. Why are a growing number of luxury apparel companies consolidating their collections, and what does this mean for investors?

In an increasingly frenetic world, maintaining purity of brand has become fundamental to retaining market share. Today more than ever, consumers are bombarded with information and companies need to be focused and sharp, positioning their brands carefully and offering a clear message in place of a broad one.

As a result, we are seeing companies in the luxury apparel space reversing changes implemented in the past to make their brands more accessible. Hugo Boss was one of a number of clothing brands to go on a rapid expansion drive after 2008, segmenting the brand into different categories at different price points. The result: confused customers and a distorted brand identity. The company has since announced plans to simplify its brand structure and refocus on just two brands, Boss and Hugo.

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A single vision

Calvin Klein last year announced plans to unify all of its brands under a single vision and Burberry phased out three of its labels, Prorsum, Brit and London, to make it easier for customers to understand its product offering. In March 2015, Marc Jacobs opted to blend his cheaper line, Marc, into his higher end line, Marc Jacobs, to create one collection with a range of price points. We expect more companies to follow suit to strengthen and create excitement around their brands, particularly as the online channel grows in importance and accounts for a greater proportion of companies' sales.

The internet has created an omnichannel, granting consumers easy access to product lines. Consumers who buy luxury products care first and foremost about the design, quality, and personal service and less about the sub-brand on the label. Some of the most exclusive and sought after brands, like Hermes and Chanel, have demonstrated how companies can successfully sell a wide range of price points with different product categories under one name. A unified label allows consumers to buy into a single idea and also gives them confidence that they are buying the right product.

As well as consolidating their product lines, luxury companies are aligning their pricing structure across geographies, closing pricing gaps which meant that the same product could be significantly cheaper in one country than in another. Luxury goods consumers' appetite for travel and the ease with which they can compare prices has accelerated this trend.

Changing modes of shopping

The growth of the online channel also means that customers are now paying fewer visits to fashion stores to buy their luxury goods. This is particularly true of millennials, who have increasing significance as consumers, especially as baby boomers become more cautious with their spending as they move towards retirement.

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In our view, the fast and costly expansion of brand stores is over. Luxury companies are placing greater emphasis on improving retail productivity and concentrating their capex on e-commerce and social media marketing. Millennials buy more on endorsement from their peers and are less influenced by traditional advertising. Companies like LVMH (owner of the Louis Vuitton brand) have appointed chief digital officers at the top management level to reflect this.

What does this mean for investors?
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I was at a trendy bar recently. I'm pretty reclusive these days and very much the healthier, older, side of my partying years. I'm no longer used to nightclubs and I'd forgotten something important: dancing is great fun! I spent a couple of hours boogying alone in the corner of a room, and two separate hipsters approached and asked to buy drugs from me. "I don't have drugs," I informed them to astonishment. I'd had a coupla beers and a shot of tequila. Shoreditch, for some of us, that's enough to have a good time!

But it wasn't the presumption of drug use that made me feel an irrecoverable distance from the party scene: it was the toilets. This trendy East London bar, full of wild people having a wild time, had a problem with the john. Searching for somewhere to pee, I found one walled cubicle containing one normal toilet, but attached to the cubicle door was a sign reading "Women" and next to this, hand written on a piece of paper, an order for "no men to use women's toilet". OK, I thought, I must've missed the men's. And then I noticed, a few steps away, a pair of swing doors (like in a Western), decorated with a male silhouette. I pushed through and discovered two urinals, barely 30cm apart. Woah, woah, woah, I thought. I'm too old for this.

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Urinals. How are urinals still a thing?

I'm going to address anyone here who isn't a urinal-using man: imagine trying to relax enough to urinate with a strange man stood, his willy out, a few centimetres away. Imagine feeling the misty sprayback of a stranger's urine float over your hands. Imagine his shoulder rolling into you as he bounces about. Imagine him farting. Imagine him shaking and pulling (I do mean pulling) on his johnson in what would ordinarily be your personal space. Imagine this man putting his damp penis back in his pants and imagine how many drips must soak through his underwear. Imagine the world telling you this is how you're expected to behave.

Why does society presume that women require the privacy and toilet paper of cubicles, but that men are fine without it? Why do trendy nightclubs presume men won't poo, especially when trendy nightclubs are filled with people on the kind of drugs that are regularly cut with laxatives?

Real men don't poo, real men don't wee in private (or sitting down) and real men don't dab the urine off their penises with toilet paper. That is the undeniable opinion of trendy nightclubs all over East London.

A toilet cubicle, even a dirty, smelly, one, offers a moment to unwind, relax, and feel alone, whether in the middle of a work day or a casual evening out.

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As an anxious man, it's rare for me to leave the house other than for work. (Anyone want to give me a six figure sum to base a movie on my blog? No? You sure?) When I'm with other people, I need regular solitude to hold back the panic attacks. Smokers get the excuse of their addictions to achieve peace, but my only excuse is the bladder. The cubicle gives four walls, an optional seat, temporary nudity (always calming), and the chance to relax literally every part of my body. In a cubicle, I can forget the stress of the exterior world. And once I've urinated - sitting or standing, it's my choice in a cubicle - I can ensure my willy is drip-free using toilet roll. (NB: every single man I've directly asked if they do this has told me they do, though to be fair I've only asked two men and one of them was Austrian.)

Public urinals are another of those butch, macho, cultural ideas that shouldn't exist in 2017, especially in liberal Hackney. I understand urinals are cheaper to install than cubicle-ed toilets, but doing so is an aggressive act, stating that those who identify as men must feel comfortable with public urination.
The country of Bhutan is a hard place to visit -- and not just because the land-locked nation is high in the Himalayas, hidden between India and China, east of Nepal.

In 2010, fewer than 29,000 tourists made it into the country. A government-mandated "tariff," or amount visitors are required to spend daily, discourages independent tourism. Currently visitors must spend $250 a day for the high-season months of March, April and May; almost all visitors book a package tour that complies with the rules.

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So it's rare to get a look at the country off the beaten path, though a few foreign news sources have published stories about the country recently, including a look at Bhutan's festivals, its luxury hotels and its incredible (and under-appreciated) hikes.

Mumbai-based photojournalist Adeel Halim spent more than two weeks in Bhutan this February, photographing the people of the country and offering some perspective on a place that few travelers -- even the most intrepid -- will ever get to see.

Bhutan Explored See Gallery
Death can be a scary thing to talk about, but finding the actual door to the underworld might be an even scarier feat! Just to make sure you never have to worry about stumbling into unexpected satanic passages on vacation, we've located some of the ways to get to the afterlife so that you can either take a peek, or stay as far away as you want.

1. Sacred swimming holes are also a portal for ghosts



Not only did the Mayans (predict the apocalypse, but they were also able to locate an entrance to the underworld in sacred cenotes in Yucatan, Mexico. Based on etchings of Cum Hau, the Mayan god of death, Mayans once believed the cenotes were "portals for ghosts of the dead to pass into the afterlife."

2. Scientists accidentally opened the Door to Hell



While the Mayans found their afterlife underwater, the Door to Hell is supposedly located in Turkmenistan, in the village of Derweze. Endless flames and mud? Sounds like hell to us. Unfortunately it's man-made due to an accident made by a few Soviet scientists on the hunt for oil. When their drilling rig collapsed and poisonous gases started seeping out, scientists lit it on fire to burn off the gases. Forty years later, it still hasn't stopped burning. Job well done, folks!

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3. This shadowy street has a haunted past



Sure the Dark Hedges is one of the most photographed places in Northern Ireland, but it's also one of the spookiest! Bearing a uncanny resemblance to something out of Sleepy Hallow (the road was actually featured in Game of Thrones), the area is also haunted by someone/something known as the Grey Lady. It's not necessarily a gateway to hell, but it sure could pass for one.

4. Of course a place with mummies leads us to another world!



In a location full of ancient mummies and tombs, it just makes sense that archeologists would dig up another door for the afterlife in Luxor, Egypt. Rumored to be around 3,500 years old, the pink granite door found in the tomb of User supposedly guided ancient spirits "to and from the afterworld."

5. Pluto's Gate is a portal to Hell



Pluto's Gate, a mythical portal to hell, was recently uncovered in Pamukkale, Turkey (once the ancient city of Hierapolis). Today, as a World Heritage Site, the Gate is still as deadly as ever even though its entrance is covered up. But a blocked doorway still can't stop the lethal vapors that seep out of the ruins.

6. But apparently Hell has frozen over...



Iceland, which was made from volcanoes and still has roughly 30 to 40 actives ones, is also a spewing pit of hell. Well, kind of... While Iceland contributes roughly 1/3 of the world's lava, one of its most active volcanoes -- Hekla -- also doubled as a "Gateway to Hell" during the Middle Ages. That's hella scary to us, and hekla reason to avoid falling into a crater (as if you really needed a few more reasons).

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7. And purgatory is in Lough Derg, Ireland?



If you ever end up in the location pictured above in Ireland you should be just a little bit alarmed. Even though it's really pretty, it could also mean that you're in purgatory -- St. Patrick's Purgatory to be exact. This particular purgatory, found on Station Island in Donegal, is part of a pilgrimage tradition that started in the 445 AD. People still make the trek to Purgatory come pilgrimage season, but we'd prefer to avoid any decision making moments about death while we're on vacation.

8. But Hell might be right where you least expect it -- Michigan.
PRAGUE -- When, in 2003, some 78 percent of Czechs voted in in favor of joining the European Union, the mood in the country was optimistic. The country's economy had shown impressive growth rates; foreign investment had been booming. Joining the EU on May 1, 2004, was seen as a symbolic step underlining successful reforms that had been adopted during the process of accession.

On the 10th anniversary of accession, the mood is far less optimistic. The Czech economy has not fully recovered from the economic crisis in 2008. The country suffers from rampant corruption, weak and inefficient state bureaucracy and political instability. According to the latest surveys, about two-thirds of Czechs do not trust the EU, citing too much bureaucracy and overregulation as the main problems of the EU.

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Us vs. Them

However, the majority of the issues that have tarnished the image of the EU among ordinary Czechs have domestic origins. One can start with the rather provincial outlook that many Czechs inherited from the past, when the country had been ruled from Vienna, Berlin and Moscow for several centuries. The deep-seated mistrust that most Czechs have toward the world outside the country's borders has been easily exploited by political demagogues and populists.

The Czech political right, dominated at the time of EU accession by eurosceptical president Vaclav Klaus, effectively used Czech fears of outsiders' political meddling to portray the EU as "they" who wanted to dictate to "us" once again. Klaus went so far as to compared the EU with the oppressive Communist-bloc organizations that Czechs had been forced to join under Soviet rule. He was staunchly opposed not only to the failed project of the European Constitution, but also, later, to the Lisbon Treaty.

Both pro-EU and anti-EU sentiments in the country have been rather shallow, as a majority of people know little not only about "Brussels" in general but also about more specific issues such as the functioning of the eurozone. It is, therefore, not surprising that almost a decade of intense anti-EU, anti-euro rhetoric coming from top politicians has swayed public opinion against the EU. But there are other reasons for this shift as well.

At the time of Czech admission to the EU, most Czechs associated membership in the EU with political stability, economic growth, and institutional transparency. When the economic crisis of 2008 hit, the country's economy experienced a decline even larger than was the case in some major EU countries. The Czech governments acknowledged that some 80 percent of the country's exports go to EU countries, but -- driven by ideological euroscepticism -- they were looking for ways to disentangle the country from the rest of the EU rather than for common solutions with the rest of the EU.

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Most problems have nothing to do with too much EU

This unproductive attitude was symbolically underlined by the unsuccessful Czech presidency of the EU, during which the government of Mirek Topolanek was toppled. Topolanek's successor, Petr Necas, then refused to support several major initiatives that the EU came up with in response to the fiscal crisis, such as the fiscal pact.

However, while Czech politicians did not hesitate to portray the EU, and especially the eurozone, as potentially unstable -- some of them suggesting the Czechs could perhaps do things better on their own -- Czech domestic politics was a highly unstable business. The Czech Republic has had eight different governments since its admission to the EU, most of them unable to serve their full terms.

This unstable political environment has contributed to the fact the Czech Republic is the only EU member which still does not have a civil service law that would depoliticize the state bureaucracy. That, in turn, has led to very poor performance by the country, as well as corruption, in processing European funds.

Most Czechs think that systemic corruption is directly supported by political parties. The absence of a civil service law that would protect civil servants from political pressure contributes to this. As a result, the last parliamentary elections significantly strengthened a wave of "anti-politics," represented by populist movements. The ANO party of billionaire Andrej Babis is now a member of the coalition government.

This political malaise is, of course, associated in the minds of many people with the EU, as it coincides with the period of the first 10 years of Czech membership. In fact, most of the problems have nothing to do with having "too much EU."

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A democracy without Democrats

They have more to do with the fact that the modest level of institutional modernization, achieved with the help of the EU, has not been matched by growing "the culture of democracy." With a bit of exaggeration, we can say that -- just like some other post-communist EU members -- the Czech Republic is still a "democracy without democrats."
Last January, after Katrina Pierson, Donald Trump's spokeswoman at the time, Tweeted a blatantly racist message about President Obama and Mitt Romney, J.K. Rowling Tweeted back, "Death Eaters walk among us."

What a difference a year makes. Death Eaters not only walk among us--now they occupy the White House.

In the Rowling's Harry Potter books, a Death Eater is someone who hates democracy, equality, and human rights. Death Eaters advocate racial purity, seeing other peoples and races as ugly, inferior, and dangerous. Death Eaters have no respect for the truth, and consequently don't understand the value of a free press--which they despise.

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Being sociopaths, Death Eaters are free of the normal constraints of empathy and conscience, and so give free reign to their aggressive instincts towards others. Death Eaters are aroused by and drawn to the vulnerability of others, the way sharks are aroused by the smell of blood. Death Eaters like to bully and intimidate people, particularly those they perceive as weaker than themselves. Violence, war, and even torture are attractive to Death Eaters.

If you had any doubt that Donald Trump is a Death Eater, consider all that the Groper in Chief and his circle of Dementors have done in the space of just three short weeks:

*Banned over 200 million people, from seven Muslim countries, from entering the US.

*Banned all refugees from settling in the US.

*Revoked the visas of 60-100,000 people, stranding thousands across the globe and filling millions of immigrants and alien residents with fear and anxiety.

*Insulted, threatened, or bullied the nations of Iran, Mexico, Germany, and Australia.

*Floated the idea of removing federal protections for gay and transgender people, in the name of "religious freedom" (before backing down).

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*Appointed the CIA officer and war criminal who once oversaw torture at a "black site" in Thailand, as the new Deputy Director of the CIA.

*Kicked the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Director of National Intelligence off the National Security Council, replacing them with Trump's chief advisor, Stephen Bannon--an ultra-rightist with no political experience.

*Authorized a botched Special Forces raid on an alleged Al-Qaida camp in Yemen, killing dozens of people, including perhaps ten children. An 8-year-old girl named Nawar al-Awlaki, an American citizen, was shot in the back of the neck. She bled to death over the course of two hours.

But these are only the highlights. Each day has brought some new attack on our democratic institutions, some new shameless tissue of lies issued by the Trumpists, some new attempt to circumvent the nation's principles and laws. Because that's what Death Eaters do.

Sigmund Freud speculated that living organisms have a "death drive" in addition to a life-drive--a primordial instinct for self-destruction and self-extinction. Death Eaters have the death drive in spades. The Nazis (upon whom Rowling based the Death Eaters in Harry Potter) are the paradigmatic case. Hitler not only murdered European Jewry and unleashed a terrible war that claimed tens of millions of lives, he also led his own nation into an abyss of mass destruction and moral shame. Then he too self-destructed. Alone in his bunker with his "alternative facts"--and bitterly blaming the German people for having let him down--Hitler shot himself.

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Like earlier forms of fascism, Trumpism too seems governed by an unerring instinct for national self-combustion. There is something fantastically self-destructive and delusional about the Trump-Bannon-Pence troika as they sow fear and hatred across the world, a kind of slouching towards Gotterdammerung.

Veteran political elites are aghast at the international wreckage already piling up at Trump's feet, warning of the incalculable damage that Trump is doing to the American "brand." Indeed, the more aggressively Trump acts to promote his America First ideology--gutting the State Department diplomatic corps, pulling in the welcome mat for immigrants, alienating traditional allies, reneging on international human rights treaties, etc.--the more he undermines American hegemony and sets the stage for the collapse of the US Imperium.

Behind this paradox lies the irrationality of the world capitalist system, which is rapidly destroying the conditions of all planetary life. Trumpism is merely capitalism in its purest, most virulent form, signifying the collapse of all distinctions between life and death, between persons and things. The millionaires and billionaires serving in Trump's Cabinet share his vision of the total dominion of capital over workers, animals, and the natural world. That is why they want to obliterate the EPA and to deregulate Wall Street. Like capitalism itself, which has no allegiances or values of its own, they are fundamentally nihilists.

The greatest of these nihilists is Stephen Bannon, who has explicitly blamed the breakdown of society and the growth of radical Islamism on the "crisis of capitalism." But Bannon--a former Goldman Sachs executive--wants to egg the crisis on, not resolve it. Like earlier fascists, he would leverage global instabilities into an extreme nationalism, chiefly by demonizing ethnic, racial, and religious minorities.

Disturbingly, millions of Americans are coming along for the ride. Last week, after the President's unconstitutional Executive Order targeting Muslims, refugees, and immigrants, a poll found that a plurality of Americans (49%) approved of his actions. This suggests that whatever else Trump is, he is not merely an ugly anomaly or rogue element in our political system, but an excresence of the social body itself. The success of Trumpism suggests that the death drive has begun to predominate over society at large, turning the citizenry's healthy life instincts and passions into tools of repression and destruction.



We should be beyond scared. Unlike the Death Eaters in Rowling's fiction, the ones ensconced at the White House are real, and they now control the most powerful military and surveillance machine in the history of the world--including 7,000 nuclear weapons. That means that Trump, if he so chose, could unilaterally order the destruction of the whole living world in the space of 60 minutes--and there would be nothing any of us could do about it.

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As gay Americans make headlines fighting for their marital rights, in Mozambique, and many other countries in Africa, the battle looks different and is much quieter.

"The LGBT community is afraid," said Danilo Da Silva, Executive Director of Lambda. "They're afraid of losing the people they love, of being rejected, of being outcast. They're afraid because there is no precedent."

Da Silva's Lambda (The Mozambican Association for the Defense of Sexual Minorities) is the sole LGBT Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Mozambique, a country twice the size of California, with a population of over 25 million.

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Despite the scale of its work, Lambda remains unrecognized by the Mozambican government.

Over fish and chips in a busy cafe off Avenida Vladimir Lenine in Maputo, Mozambique's capital, Da Silva and I sat for lunch.

"The legal framework in Mozambique is fuzzy," Da Silva explained, "and because laws are vague, they don't offer protection. For example, there are no laws here protecting an LGBT person from being evicted, even attacked for their sexual identity."



Dealing with this ambiguous legal framework has become quite routine at Lambda's headquarters, an unassuming, art-deco-esque, three-story that appears more befitting of Havana than sub-Saharan Africa.



"People come to Lambda with stories of violence and abuse," said Da Silva. In addition to counseling these individuals, Lambda encourages victims of violence to pursue legal action.

"Most people are too afraid to take their cases to the courts," Da Silva explained. "We encourage these individuals to do so because documenting cases of LGBT violence is essential in pressuring the government to create legislation to stop it from occurring."

For Lambda, however, issues of legality span beyond cases of individual violence. Da Silva and his team at Lambda have been fighting tirelessly for legal recognition in a battle that's lasted since 2008.



The recognition they seek would mean not only access to funding, tax exemption status, and workspace for Lambda, but legitimacy and leadership within Mozambique. As homosexual males represent a most at risk population for the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Lambda seeks to meet the unique needs of the LGBT community.



After years of awaiting response, early this year Lambda submitted their case to the United Nations Human Rights Council citing violations of the right of association, amongst others.



Finally, in October, during the Universal Periodic Review of Mozambique, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights questioned the government about their failure to recognize and register Lambda as a legal NGO. In their response, a delegate confirmed:

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The Government of Mozambique did not recognize Lambda, which was the only gay rights non-governmental organization, but said there was no violence against the homosexual population in the country.

"It's pure nonsense," said Da Silva, setting down his glass of cola. "Simply because there are no recorded incidents of violence doesn't mean it isn't happening."

However, things may be looking up for Da Silva's Lambda.

In early December, the INS, the research division of the Mozambican Ministry of Health released their Biological and Behavioral Survey Among Men Who Have Sex with Men.

The study cited that 2.6 percent of MSM in Maputo have suffered physical abuse in the past year due to their sexual orientation, directly contradicting the Mozambican government's statements to the UN Human Rights Council only two months previously.

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The government's negligence in recognizing Lambda has prompted officials from both the Mozambican and international communities to stand behind Da Silva and his team.

During Human Rights Week in December, U.S. Ambassador to Mozambique, Douglass Griffiths, addressed an LGBT audience, declaring, "It is important that the government respond to any civil society organization that requests official recognition. I very much hope that Lambda will receive the recognition it so richly deserves."

In early January, Former President of Mozambique, Joaquim Chissano, also urged African leaders to evolve their stance on LGBT equality. In an open letter published in early January, Chissano outlined the importance of sexual rights as basic human rights:

We can no longer afford to discriminate against people on the basis of age, sex, ethnicity, migrant status, sexual orientation and gender identity, or any other basis - we need to unleash the full potential of everyone.

With the growing support of the African and international communities, Da Silva remains positive.

"Change always finds resistance. Acknowledging there are different people who love differently, have different needs, and need to be addressed differently is always a challenge for governments," Da Silva said. "But we're here, and we're not going anywhere. Recognition is just one step forward of many."

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Virginia Postrel's recent piece in the New York Post attempts to argue that the true-life story of three black women who worked for NASA in 1960's - as depicted in the film Hidden Figures - is a rousing testament to our country's values. She couldn't have been further from the truth.

Hidden Figures is an important film that shows the immense contribution of four engineers to the space race. It also shows the racism and discrimination that these engineers experienced because they were black women. The conditions of their employment were welcoming and they were treated equal - except when it came time to eat lunch or drink from a water fountain. The attempt to reframe the ugliness of segregation as a mere blooper rather than the sin it is... is as foolish as the idea that Nazis weren't that bad to Jewish people and we should all just move on. This is fundamentally false and merits an apology by the writer.

As scholar George Lipsitz teaches, whitewashing the past gives people the permission to ignore the responsibility of reconciliation. The pattern of rejection, refusal, and reneging on the idea that black women were mistreated is woefully misguided and simply wrong. These black, female engineers were never mentioned nor referenced in the annals of NASA's history until black filmmakers decided to tell their story. They were hidden figures in every meaning of the word.

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The story of Hidden Figures is a story of legend. It's a story of the bravery and courage of four black women that stood up to white men and white women, at a time when riding the bus was virtually illegal, sharing a water fountain was offensive, and lynchings of black people was still probable. History is the story of what actually happened. It is not a "tale", as Postrel writes. In many respects people of color still feel that inequality occurs today although it may take different forms.

From economic inequalities to character assassinations, we are still struggling to make progress. The New York Times reported that 1.5 million black men are missing in America. They are incarcerated - hidden figures to the millions of women and children who are without a positive black male role model in their life. For them, a normal family structure is not attainable. The impact of this on the black family is psychologically huge and will reverberate for generations. The fact is, Willy Lynch was right, the tactics of dividing and destroying black people worked for over 400 years. In this context, the lack of policies to stem the flow of the school to prison pipeline is a clear indication that black lives don't matter to those in power and they'd prefer to hide us all.

Some of you reading this are probably saying, "Get over it." Or, "Nah... this is not true and I just lost respect for this guy." But perhaps it is the privileged people that are not over it? President Donald Trump's dogmatism and dog whistles are bringing back the limits of racism to a level where the racists are comfortable. We are witnessing warped, discriminatory federal policy views become new standards by which we all must live. We are witnessing the voice of Coretta Scott King silenced in Congress so as not to offend Mr. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions by bringing up his past racist acts. The intellectually lazy article by Postrel is in lockstep with the extreme right policies and behaviors that Lipsitz warns about - rejection, refusal, reneging on concepts that threaten to compete with the greatness of whiteness.

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We cannot move forward as a country unless we fully appreciate and confront the past sins of this nation. The first step is to acknowledge it is real. The second is to be willing to go beyond one's comfort zone and confront the truth, racism and biases are taught, especially to our children. In recognizing the pattern, we must consciously work to create more fair, more just, more equal policies that will give rise to more opportunities for all people. If we follow the example of sports, where teams play on a level playing field, we can inch toward progress. The decision we must make is to not give up, not live in the past but not run from it either, but focus on making a much brighter, equal, and colorful future. Unless they are willing to do that, Postrel and her ilk would be better off in another movie. I'd suggest"La La Land".

# # #
More and more people, it seems, are retiring overseas than ever before, and they're doing that for many different reasons.

But all of them, no matter why they're moving abroad, have one thing in common--they're all moving away from a place and culture they're familiar with to relocate to one that's new to them.

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Cascais, Portugal (Photo: InternationalLiving.com)

Even if they've vacationed in the community they plan to relocate to and feel familiar with it, there is a huge difference between spending a few days, weeks, or months in a foreign culture and actually becoming a part of it.

And every U.S. and Canadian citizen (or anyone, for that matter) who pulls up stakes and moves to another country and culture will bump up against expectations and assumptions they never knew they had. Our cultural assumptions are formed from the time we're born, and most of them are unconscious. After living in a certain place for a certain amount of time, we simply get used to the way things work. We don't even think about it anymore.

Moving abroad is a great way to find out what those unconscious assumptions are and how different they can be in other countries and cultures.

So what do you need to make a successful transition? After 15 years of living abroad, we have some pointers...

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There are a few fundamental things that lead to success:

1)Money... at least some. Everyplace costs something to live, even if it's a fraction of what you might be spending now, and there are always start-up costs--visa and legal fees, rental deposits, furnishing costs, etc. And even if a country has a great public health system, you may not be able to join it until you get your residence visas. And you may need emergency care sooner than you anticipate, so emergency medical funds are crucial. It's true that you really can cut your monthly budget in half or more when you retire overseas. But it doesn't happen the minute you walk off the plane. Plan ahead, and have a reserve.

2)Patience. Let us repeat that. Patience. The first thing that happens when you leave home...the place you're used to...and move to a new culture, is that things don't go as you expect. How could they? Your expectations are based on where you used to live...and you don't live there anymore. Using the telephone will be different. Going to public offices will be different. Standing in line at the grocery store will be different. Driving will be different. Passing other people walking on the street will be different. Everything will be different to some degree. If you can't be patient until you figure things out and start doing things like a local, you're going to make yourself unhappy, and you're going to make the people you have to deal with every day in your adopted country unhappy. Have patience and you'll soon adapt.

3)A sense of humor. This can be a tough one, because some people simply don't have one, but if you do, you'll find that it comes in mighty handy, especially if you can apply it to yourself. This is related to #2 above...a sense of humor makes being patient until you figure things out a lot easier. And if you can chuckle at yourself instead of blowing up at a store clerk or plumber or government official because they aren't doing things "the way we do them back home," you'll be...well, you'll be chuckling instead of blowing up. That's important.



Chiang Mai, Thailand (Photo: InternationalLiving.com)

4)A sense of perspective. This is an especially difficult one for a lot of us from the U.S. We've been told all our lives--and all of us believe on some level--that the U.S. is the greatest country on earth, and that the rest of the world wants to be just like us. It can be a shock to discover that people in other countries honestly believe that their country is the greatest on earth. And it can be an even greater shock to learn that they don't particularly aspire to be just like us. In fact, we've seen U.S. expats feel insulted when told by locals that being American isn't their life's dream. It's a big world out here, and seeing it from outside the U.S. is an eye-opener. If you don't want your eyes opened, don't move abroad.

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5)Love of challenge. When you move away from your comfort zone and start living in a foreign country, every day brings a challenge of some kind. Finding the right words for "3/4 inch Philips-head wood screw" in Spanish or Portuguese or Thai can be challenging enough... Finding a store that carries them can be even more challenging. Establishing relationships with locals who can make these day-to-day challenges easier can be a challenge. Anything can be a challenge if it's something you're not familiar with and it's done in a different language. Over the years, we've learned to enjoy the challenges. Solving problems and finding solutions on a daily basis keeps you sharp, involved, engaged, and aware. Combined with patience and a sense of humor, these are the things that keep you young. If problem solving and meeting challenges doesn't interest you, moving out of your comfort zone will not be a pleasant experience for you.

6)A sense of adventure. This is probably one of the most important keys to success when you're moving overseas. We know people who have moved solely out of economic necessity--they could not afford to continue living back home, so they moved someplace more affordable. But if they could have afforded to live back home, they never would have left in the first place. These people have no particular love for, interest in, or curiosity about the culture they've moved to...they are economic refugees, plain and simple. And they are the unhappiest expats we know. They moved abroad looking for exactly what they had back home at half the cost, and they are invariably disappointed, because the rest of the world isn't just like the U.S. at half the price. The rest of the world is a collection of remarkably varied, colorful, confusing, and amazing places...if you have a sense of adventure. If you don't, it's a pain in the butt.

With these adaptive items and skills in your expat tool kit, you'll maximize your chances for a move abroad that will enhance, not just your bottom line, but every other aspect of your life as well.

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Go forth and live!



This article comes to us courtesy of InternationalLiving.com, the world's leading authority on how to live, work, invest, travel, and retire better overseas.
Its Time For Congress To Get Serious About Artists Performance Rights  #IRespectMusic

While the National Association of Broadcasters once again works to pass the Local Radio Freedom Act, something which would be harmful to recording artists everywhere, it becomes increasingly important for Congress to take real action regarding artist' performance rights.

_______________________

Guest post by Chris Castle of Music Tech Solutions

Friends dont let friends get LRFAd.

Once again weve started a new session of Congress with really old newshe National Association of Broadcasters is yet again circulating the reactionary Local Radio Freedom Act (or the grammatically challenged LRFA) thats been warmed over and served up again from the last Congress.

LRFAs purpose is twofold. Get unsuspecting Members to support a policy to deny recording artists their fair share for the performance of their recordings on terrestrial radio by aligning America with the practices of Iran and North Korea but is out of step with the business of every other major world economy. And because America denies the worlds recording artists the same treatment that American artists would enjoy overseas, Americas trading partners justifiably refuse Americans reciprocal treatment in foreign countries. Which is more embarrassing?

Its not that American artists dont earn the foreign performance royaltiesits that the royalties earned overseas by hardworking Americans are denied to them because Congress is misled by the NAB into thinking that fair compensation is somehow bad policy and the US denies equal treatment to foreign artists. Why should those countrieswho actually care about their creative classgrant reciprocal treatment to Americans?

It goes like this: When you hear Aretha Franklin sing R-E-S-P-E-C-T written by Otis Redding on the radio in your car, that economic transaction results in Otis Redding (the songwriter) getting paid as a songwriter under the governments 75 year consent decrees (another sad story). Aretha Franklin, however, gets ZERO.

When that same recording is played in the UK, Otis Redding still gets paid as the songwriter, but the artist does, too. Except that because Aretha is an American, her money is never paid to her.

This obvious inequity is what motivated over 14,000 musicians and music fans to sign the I Respect Music petition in the last Congress and created the largest grass roots movement in the history of the music business with a positive message. Because friends dont let friends get LRFAd.

Its one of the few issues left that is truly bipartisan.

When Blake Morgan and the IRM team took the 14,000 signatures on the IRM petition to Congress, they had to carry two huge books of signatures. And yet, we once again are presented with getting LRFAd.

LRFA is the Alinsky-style straw mandemonize your opponent as something you want people to believe your opponent to be (a tax for example), then perpetuate that mischaracterization no matter what. (In the current parlance, something pretty close to gaslighting fake news.)

This LRFA legacy nonbinding resolution has become an evergreen in the arsenal of the NABs gaslighting efforts to perpetuate exploitation of recording artists for one reason and one reason onlybecause they can. The NAB gets a bunch of Members to sign up, dont tell them the truth about what they signed, and hope that nobody tells them otherwise until its too late. But when Blake teaches the I Respect Music story on college campuses across America, it requires little explanation.

What the NABs vast army of lobbyists will do with the LRFA after they largely dupe Members into signing on to it (and dupe Members staffs into allowing their bosses to sign on without doing the real staff work to know how they are being duped) is to perpetuate the greatest inequity in the Copyright Act by convincing members that any performance right legislation is doomed to fail so why support it?

How do we know this? Because the NAB did the same thing in the last session. When artists met with Members in their offices to discuss what happened, it turned out that many Members had no idea what the real story was behind LRFA.

Its important that your Member of Congress understand what the NAB is up to with this gaslighting campaign. The truth behind this great inequity needs to be told along with the hard economic factsbecause of faux legislation like LRFA, America is leaving hundreds of millions in real revenue from foreign countries that could easily be repatriated by American artists.

Not to mention supporting future American artists.

We cannot let another session of Congress pass by without fixing this great inequity. Dont let your Member of Congress be fooled againbecause friends dont let friends get LRFAd.

Call your representatives and sign the I Respect Music petition by clicking here.

And vote.

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Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito celebrates the awarding of grants from the state's small bridge program, with officials from the town of Blandford, above, and the town of Washington, right, in Lenox on Thursday with District 1 Highway Director Francisca Heming, far right. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito with Mayor Linda Tyer. Polito tours North Street with city officials and business leaders. PreviousNext

Polito Announces South County Bridge Funding, Tours Pittsfield

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito toured the downtown Thursday afternoon before announcing grant funding for two southwestern Massachusetts bridges.

Polito had spent the morning signing a Community Compact agreement with Lanesborough and Windsor. She later joined Mayor Linda Tyer for a brief private meeting at City Hall. She left the offices and proceeded to the Onota Building with the mayor, City Council President Peter Marchetti 1Berkshire CEO Jonathan Butler, Downtown Pittsfield Inc. President Jesse Cook-Dubin, and Alfred "A.J" Enchill Jr. from state Sen. Adam Hinds' office.

At the Onota building, she met with Louis Allegrone, of Allegrone Construction, who recently renovated the entire building. Allegrone explained the federal and state support that helped create the market-rate housing units in the historic building.

Polito then went to the Beacon Cinema, yet another historic building that has benefited from state assistance in redevelopment. Polito met with staff there to hear about the theater, which had been a key aspect of the North Street redevelopment plans.

Tyer then led Polito to Hotel on North, showing off yet another historic building that has been completely renovated and fitting with the overall vision of redevelopment of North Street. The tour showed of the multi-year efforts to revitalize North Street and the city is now looking toward Tyler Street to do a similar project there. The concept is to focus on the redevelopment of anchor sites along the road as triggers for redevelopment.

Polito then moved her way south to Lenox. There she met with municipal leaders from Blandford and Washington, and the state Department of Transportation to announce the first two awards through the small bridge program.

The newly developed small bridge program, funded with $50 million, is eyed to help towns fix up bridges that are less than 20 feet long. Those small bridges are too short to receive federal assistance for repairs.

A total of $750,000 was awarded to the two towns Thursday. Washington received $250,000 for a bridge on Middlefield Road and Blandford received $500,000 for bridges on Blandford Road and Gore Road.

"We are committed to working closely with cities and towns throughout the commonwealth to achieve our shared transportation goals," Polito said. "This financial support will allow these two municipalities to proceed with construction of infrastructure which is a necessary part of the fabric of people's everyday lives, taking community members to homes, jobs, retail areas, schools and other destinations."
Southwestern Vermont Medical Center Welcomes New PA

BENNINGTON, Vt.  Southwestern Vermont Medical Center's Northshire Campus is pleased to welcome M. Martha Cornwell-Khan, physician assistant, to the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Putnam Physicians.



Cornwell-Khan is certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants.



Cornwell-Khan received her master's degree from the University of New England in Portland, Maine, in 2016. She holds a bachelor's degree in African Development Studies from Wheaton College in Norton, Mass.



Cornwell-Khan's previous medical experience includes working as a certified nursing assistant at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Cambridge, Mass., and as a licensed nursing assistant in the Emergency Department at SVMC. Before that she worked with dementia patients at the Vermont Veterans Home.



SVMC's Northshire Campus offers comprehensive medical care for the whole family. Its services include pediatrics, obstetrics, health promotion and wellness programs, and on-site laboratory and x-ray services. The office is located at 5957 Main Street in Manchester Center. Call 802-362-4440 for an appointment.
Berkshire Bank Names President of First Choice Loan Services

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Berkshire Bank has announced the appointment of Allan Costello as president of its wholly-owned subsidiary First Choice Loan Services, a best-in-class mortgage banking business originating loans across a national platform.



As president, Costello will work with the current leadership team of First Choice Loan Services including Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Norman T. Koenigsberg and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Ralph Picarillo in developing strategic initiatives.



With this new position, Costello will be instrumental in setting corporate policies and procedures for this subsidiary consistent with the strong compliance culture at Berkshire Bank. In addition, he will continue to serve as executive vice president for the bank's Home Lending Division leading its sales and operations functions including loan origination, underwriting, compliance, processing and servicing.


Jacob's Pillow Dance Announces New Board of Trustees Members

BECKET, Mass.  Jacob's Pillow Dance has appointed four new members to its Board of Trustees: MacArthur Genius Fellow and Jacob's Pillow Dance Award recipient Kyle Abraham; former New York City Ballet principal dancer Wendy Whelan; lawyer, teacher and active member of the Massachusetts community Diane Patrick; and Berkshires-based gallerist Sienna Patti.



Jacobs Pillow, located in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, is a National Historic Landmark, National Medal of Arts recipient, and home to America's longest running dance festival.



"Bringing these esteemed individuals onto the Pillow's board shows the intent of our future as an organization," said Jacob's Pillow Director Pamela Tatge. "These new trustees hold rich Pillow histories in their own right, and reflect our commitment to superb artistry, integrity and community."



"We are all thrilled to welcome such an accomplished and engaged new class of trustees in advance of our 85th anniversary," Jacobs Pillow Board Chair Mark Leavitt said.



As members of the Jacobs Pillow Dance Board of Trustees, Abraham, Patrick, Patti and Whelan will utilize their unique abilities, interests, and experiences to guide, sustain, and promote the Pillow. The board is responsible for successfully defining and carrying out the organizations mission in coordination with Director Pamela Tatge, Managing Director Andrea Sholler, and the executive team.



Trustees serve a term of three years; the four new members began their service in December 2016 and will complete their term in December 2019.



Abraham is a 2012 Jacobs Pillow Dance Award recipient, a 2016 Doris Duke Artist Award Recipient, 2015 City Center Choreographer in Residence, and a 2013 MacArthur Fellow. Abraham holds a BFA from SUNY Purchase, an MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and an honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from Washington Jefferson College.



Abraham made his Jacobs Pillow debut with Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance in 2008, and his choreographic debut with his company Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion in 2009 on the Inside/Out stage. His company went onto perform in the Doris Duke Theatre in 2011. He is a former faculty member of the Contemporary Program at The School at Jacobs Pillow, and 2012 Jacobs Pillow Dance Award recipient. His newest work Dearest Home will be presented during Festival 2017.
Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

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With Red Nose Day (24 March) looming, the mini-Love Actually sequel has been rushed into production, with filming getting underway in London this week.

Script editor Emma Freud shared photos of Liam Neeson (Daniel) and Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Sam) back in their roles (and turtlenecks), and if that Southbank location looks familiar, its because it is where Sam first told his dad about his love for Joanna in the original.

Speaking of which, Joanna actress Olivia Olson was also on set, posing for a photo with writer-director Richard Curtis.

A host of original cast members have already been confirmed to return: Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon, Keira Knightley, Andrew Lincoln, Colin Firth, Lucia Moniz, Liam Neeson, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Olivia Olson, Bill Nighy, Marcus Brigstocke, and Rowan Atkinson.

Emma Thompson is a notable absence on that list, perhaps due to her on-screen husband not being able to feature as he was played by the late Alan Rickman, but Curtis is still considering bringing her back.

"Oddly, we're not quite sure [if she'll be in it]," Comic-Relief co-founder Richard told the BBC when asked about her. "It's all been done in a great rush and I think not but I'm now thinking again."

He previously explained: "Amazingly, nobody said no. Liam [Neeson] flew over yesterday from America and is going back to America tomorrow. There is a lot of affection for the film."

The 10-minute sequel will air during Red Nose Day 2017 on BBC One on 24 March.
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Oscar-nominated drama Moonlight is the coming-of-age drama that's been stunning critics ever since it bowed during last year's festival season. It' sure to do the same for audiences now it's been released in cinemas. Surprisingly, it most probably wouldn't have received such attention had it not been for Hollywood star Brad Pitt.

Director Barry Jenkins - who impressed critics with his 2008 black-and-white debut Medicine for Melancholy - met Pitt after moderating a Q&A with director Steve McQueen following a Telluride Film Festival screening of his film 12 Years a Slave which Pitt's production company Plan B oversaw.

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

So impressed was Pitt with Jenkins that he agreed to back his planned adaptation of In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue, the unproduced Tarell Alvin McCraney play that serves as the inspiration behind Jenkins' acclaimed drama. Combined with the additional backing of producer Adele Romanski, Moonlight was able to not only be made but be distributed successfully.

 Oscars 2017: Our film team discuss who will win and who should

Front and centre of Moonlight is Chiron, a black man who is gay - whichever way you look at it a main character rarely glimpsed in mainstream cinema.

It's refreshing to know that producers like Pitt can spot both the stories that need to be told and the skilled filmmakers who should tell them. Moonlight may have been released but it's doubtful it would be earning half as much of the love as this affecting masterpiece deserves.

The film also stars Oscar-nominated actor Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris. Read our interview with Alex Hibbert, the 12-year-old who portrays Chiron at the earliest stage of his life, here.

Moonlight is released in cinemas today. This year's Oscars ceremony takes place on 26 February.
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The Independent caught up with Jokull Juliusson of Icelandic band Kaleo on the night of their sold-out gig at the O2 Forum in Camden, London.

On going from one of the smaller venues in London to one of the biggest (Dingwalls to the Forum)

Its great, theyve all been in Camden, doing Dingwalls then Koko then the Forum. For me its this enjoyable diversity of music venues. People are passionate about music in Camden, it seems. I liked both those in different ways  at Dingwalls the crowd was right in there, in your face, and that was really cool.

On writing new and recording new music

Between touring I try to go home to Iceland to write  I try to do some writing on tour as well though. It seems that when you get out of your routine it pushes you to be creative. Were based out in Nashville now and thats a great place to record.

But who knows? I wouldnt be surprised if we ended up recording in different places. We recorded with Jacquire King for this latest one, hes very focused on getting things done, just like myself.

It was a great collaboration in that way  he can push you to your limits which is good, because you dont always want to feel safe. I dont have enough good things to say about him.

On deciding to have A/B sides on the album

It was a concept to try and show the diversity of the band I wrote these songs that were very different to one another and I dont see a reason to limit myself to genres.

I dont think music has boundaries... it would be unfair and untrue to hold back on these other parts of my music just to fit into a box.

Did the fact that UK and US audiences would see your English-language album as a debut take the pressure off a bit?

Yeah, we realised that since the first album we did back in Iceland was only released there, we were just excited to get it out there, I think.

It is challenging recording and releasing a full album while you're touring 300 days a year, so were thrilled with the reaction from everywhere.

What are your plans for the rest of the year?

Were going to finish this Europe tour, have a few days off in Iceland maybe, then were going out with the Lumineers in the US and Canada. Weve got quite a few festivals being lined up, thats very exciting, some headline shows in America. Probably a fall tour, and then hopefully some time in the studio.

Kaleo's latest album A/B is out now
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A couple in the US has been charged with voyeurism by electronic equipment, after being caught using a drone to spy on neighbours.

39-year-old Aaron Foote, who has a history of voyeurism, and his 34-year-old girlfriend Terisha Lee Norviel allegedly used an unmanned aerial vehicle to film people in their bedrooms and bathrooms in Orem, Utah.

One victim claims to have chased the drone in his truck after spotting it outside his window, seizing it when it landed in a car park and handing it over to police in December.

Drone Photography Contest winners Show all 9 1 /9 Drone Photography Contest winners Drone Photography Contest winners 1st Prize Winner  Category Travel Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, Umbria, Italy by fcattuto Drone Photography Contest winners 2nd Prize Winner  Category Travel Cable Beach by Todd Kennedy Drone Photography Contest winners 3rd Prize Winner  Category Travel Summer camp of Gran Canaria by Karolis Janulis Drone Photography Contest winners 1st Prize Winner  Category Sports Adventure Moab Rock Climbing by Maxseigal Drone Photography Contest winners 2nd Prize Winner  Category Sports Adventure Complejo Acuatico Norte de Santander by losmanesdeldrone Drone Photography Contest winners 3rd Prize Winner  Category Sports Adventure Chugach Mountain Range, Alaska by High Angle Shot Drone Photography Contest winners 1st Prize Winner  Category Nature Wildlife Kalbyris forest Denmark by Mbernholdt Drone Photography Contest winners 2nd Prize Winner  Category Nature Wildlife Swarm of sheep by Szabolcs Ignacz Drone Photography Contest winners 3rd Prize Winner  Category Nature Wildlife Piton de la fournaise, Volcano by Jonathan Payet

The citizen who located the drone was familiar with drones and had a similar one himself, reads a search warrant unsealed this week in court, according to Deseret News.

There [were] multiple videos recording individuals inside their residences through windows. Some of the recordings were multiple storeys high in apartment complexes.

Among the footage was a shot of Mr Foote controlling the drone, as well as one of his truck and its registration plate.

Ahead of Mr Footes arrest, the Orem Police Department posted a photo of the drone and a screenshot of Mr Foote, with his face concealed, to its Facebook page, alongside a message reading: Are you missing a quadcopter? Did you lose it this morning, in Orem? Are you looking over your shoulder to see if the police are following you? Have you been convicted of Voyeurism in the past?

Does the SD card in your quadcopter camera have videos of people in their private bedrooms and/or bathrooms? On the same SD card is there a picture of you flying your quadcopter? Would you like to turn yourself in before we have to come knocking at your door, maybe on Christmas morning, with a warrant?

We know who you are but lets make this easier on everyone!

Mr Foote, who pleaded guilty to a charge of voyeurism at a local tanning salon back in 2008, is due in court next week, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

Ms Norviels hearing, meanwhile, is scheduled for March, and both are also being investigated for potentially breaching FAA regulations.
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There is a major revolt against the imminent hike in business rates by the Government, with ministers being lobbied by retailers, MPs and newspapers to water down or scrap the increase.

Warnings have been issued about the damaging impact it will have on many firms.

The retail TV celebrity Mary Portas has predicted that a third of independent shops could be killed off by the move.

But what are business rates? How does the system work? And are the complaints justified?

What are business rates?

They are a tax charge on business properties, such as shops, offices, pubs, warehouses and factories; a kind of council tax for firms.

The size of the tax varies with the rateable value of the property. Essentially, the higher the rent the higher the annual business rate charge.

Business pay roughly half of the value of their annual rent in rates.

In 2016-17 business rates are estimated to raise 29bn in total  which is around 4.5 per cent of the entire UK tax take.

Some 1.8 million UK businesses are liable.

From April, those with a rateable value of less than 12,000 will be entirely exempt from the tax.

Who is complaining?

A host of business lobby groups  the CBI, the British Chambers of Commerce and the Institute of Directors among them  are up in arms over the new rates that will be imposed in April.

They claim hundreds of thousands of retailers, from shops, to cafes, to hotels, are going to face massive and unfair tax increases.

This cause has been amplified by the Daily Mail, the Evening Standard and The Daily Telegraph.

Do they have a decent case?

They certainly have a point about the handling of the increase.

This is the first revaluation of business rates by the Government in seven years. They are supposed to be done every five years.

Ministers put off the 2015 revaluation to avoid a political headache. But because of that delay the disruption will be greater.

Business rents have changed significantly in some areas in the past seven years, especially for retail space in London, meaning that many businesses in the capital do now face a significantly higher charge.

The Government points out that it has established a transitional relief scheme, to smooth out the biggest bill changes over five years.

But this is plainly inferior to much more regular revaluations.

They should really be done every year. This would give businesses much more certainty over their bills.

But isnt this a massive stealth tax hike on businesses?

No. Overall the fiscal impact of the revaluation will be neutral.

The Treasury's Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that business rates will raise 1.5 per cent of GDP in 2016-17 and precisely the same proportion of national income in 2017-18.

The impact is largely a distributional one. Places where business rents have fallen will benefit, while places where rents have soared will lose out.

For instance, firms with offices in the East Midlands will pay more, but those with offices in the North West will pay less.

However, it is true that the UKs business taxes are high compared to other countries.

Among OECD countries the average share of GDP raised by taxes on non-domestic property is around 0.5 per cent of GDP, just a third of the UKs share.

Dont business rates unfairly advantage internet retailers?

This complaint doesnt really stack up.

Given business rates are a tax on business property its obviously the case that firms that have less business property  like some internet retailers  will pay less.

And remember that large internet retailers such as Amazon do have property  think of those giant fulfillment centre sheds from where its orders are dispatched.

The difference is that the likes of Amazon dont have business properties on high streets, where business rates tends to be higher because rents there are higher.

Online retailers do often gain an unfair tax advantage over bricks-and-mortar businesses by registering their headquarters in tax havens and shifting their profits out of the UK.

But this is an issue over the design and collection of corporation tax rather than business rates.

How should businesses ideally be taxed?

The current system of business rates is riddled with economically inefficient loopholes.

There are reliefs for charities and small rural shops. Agriculture is entirely exempt.

Most damagingly of all, unused or underdeveloped land attracts a reduced or zero rate.

This provides a clear and perverse incentive to use land inefficiently, argues the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

The solution is to place a tax on the value of the land occupied by a firm, rather than the rateable value of the property.
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McDonalds outlets across the United States, along with hundreds of other restaurants and businesses, closed their doors on Thursday as protests against President Donald Trumps immigration policies swept the country.

The Day Without Immigrants protest, for which support was largely drummed online, urged foreign-born workers to refuse to participate in the US economy for a day.

Schools, restaurants and grocery stores shut across the country, in a direct response to Mr Trumps promise to seal the southern US-Mexico border and his suspended ban on citizens from seven majority-Muslim countries.

It remains unclear whether the fast food giant voluntarily closed its outlets or if it was unable to operate as a result of workers not showing up to work however many burger fans shared updates via Twitter and Facebook on locations that were closed or operating on a limited service.

FoxNashville reported on Twitter: McDonalds in Green Hills only taking orders in drive-thru due to shortage of workers who are participating in #DayWithoutImmigrants."

Tony Hernandez said: Kudos to each & every @McDonalds that closed today in supports of #ADayWithoutImmigrants I will treat my staff to lunch at McD tomorrow.

"I was going to stop at McDonald's for breakfast, but it's closed," a Facebook user from New Jersey wrote.

"I hear it's closed because this is the day immigrants are taking off as protest to Trump's immigration law. I was annoyed at first until I realized why it was closed. Now I'm in full support of anything that goes against Trump and his ilk," he added.

"The purpose of the protest is to show just how disruptive immigration changes by the government could impact consumers' everyday life," Darren Tristano, president of research and consulting firm Technomic, told CNBC.

"For McDonald's franchisees and company stores, it is likely best to close the restaurant versus trying to manage the restaurant with an inadequate service staff. Although many customers will see this is an inconvenience, many will understand."

People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Show all 16 1 /16 People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Chicago, Illinois, February 16, 2017. Theopolis Waters/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Washington, DC, U.S., February 16, 2017. Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. The crowd, which grew to well over a thousand participants, marched from the Austin City Hall to the Texas State Capital. Across the country hundreds of restaurants and eateries are closing for the day to protest President Trump's immigration policies and to highlight the contributions of immigrants to U.S. business and life. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants AUSTIN, TX - FEBRUARY 16: Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Chicago, Illinois, February 16, 2017. Theopolis Waters/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Chicago, Illinois, February 16, 2017. Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. The crowd, which grew to well over a thousand participants, marched from the Austin City Hall to the Texas State Capital. Across the country hundreds of restaurants and eateries are closing for the day to protest President Trump's immigration policies and to highlight the contributions of immigrants to U.S. business and life. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. The crowd, which grew to well over a thousand participants marched from the Austin City Hall to the Texas State Capital. Across the country hundreds of restaurants and eateries are closing for the day to protest President Trump's immigration policies and to highlight the contributions of immigrants to U.S. business and life. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants High school student Kathia Suarez holds up a sign as she protests with others outside the Grayson County courthouse in downtown Sherman, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. LM Otero/AP People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants High school senior Vicky Sosa holds a sign outside the Grayson County courthouse in downtown Sherman, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. In an action called "A Day Without Immigrants," immigrants across the country are expected to stay home from school, work and close businesses to show how critical they are to the U.S. economy and way of life. LM Otero/AP

Celebrity chef Rock Bayless closed four of his restaurants in Chicago out of respect to his staff.

In Charlotte, North Carolina, more than 250 businesses closed their doors. More than 100 businesses, restaurants, and shops shut in Michigan.
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Britons are being urged to spend or bank their old 1 coins before they become worthless later this year.

The new-look 12-sided 1 will come into circulation across the UK on Tuesday and shops have been told to stop accepting the traditional round coins on 15 October.

Ministers are reminding the public of the importance of all old coins being returned before the date when they lose their legal tender status.

Our message is clear: if you have a round one pound coin sitting at home or in your wallet, you need to spend it or return it to your bank before 15 October, Baroness Neville-Rolfe, commercial secretary to the Treasury, said.

Experts issued similar warnings last month.

Hannah Maundrell, editor in chief at Money.co.uk, told The Independent: Its craziness that 1 coins as we know them will soon become worthless. The chaos its going to cause for businesses is just part of the problem; it sends a bad message about saving to the many children that will be left disappointed when they find the 1 coins theyve squirrelled away in their piggy bank are worthless. With more of us using cards and contactless payments to pay, the worth of going to all of this effort to replace what soon could be a redundant medium is questionable.

You can get your bank to trade 1 coins for notes as long as theyre in bags of 20. If you dont have this much sitting around you can just pay them into your bank or savings account and draw them back out in note form. Dont use coin machines to swap them as theyre likely to charge.

Martin Lewis from the MoneySavingExpert website, wrote: There may be a few months left to sort it out, but its worth doing now as its all too easy to squirrel money away in piggypanks and forget about it.

 New 1 coin: Five interesting facts

Carting a bag of coins to the bank is a real faff  particularly if there isnt a branch near you. So its much better to spend them now.

The Government estimates around a third of the 1.3 billion worth of coins stored in piggy banks or savings jars around the UK are denominated in the current 1 coins.

Some of those returned by the public will be melted down and used to make the 12-sided version.

The new coin was announced in the 2014 budget and has been described by the Royal Mint as the most secure coin in the world.

It features the national flora of the UKs four countries emerging from a coronet.

The 2016 banknote beauty pageant Show all 6 1 /6 The 2016 banknote beauty pageant The 2016 banknote beauty pageant currency of Scotland The 2016 banknote beauty pageant currency of Australia The 2016 banknote beauty pageant currency of New Zealand The 2016 banknote beauty pageant currency of Georgia The 2016 banknote beauty pageant currency of Belarus The 2016 banknote beauty pageant currency of Maldives

New 2 and 50p coins are also expected to be released later this year, featuring designs that pay tribute to Jane Austen and Sir Isaac Newton.
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More overseas visitors came to the UK last year than ever before.

According to official figures out Friday, 37.3 million inbound visits to the UK were recorded in 2016, up 3 per cent on 2015, with visitors spending a total of 22.2bn, in line with what they spent in 2015.

Visit Britain, the body funded by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport which produced the data, said that North America, Canada and the US particularly drove figures.

The US, it said, is Britains most valuable tourism source market, with 4.3 million visits recorded in 2016, up 7 per cent on the previous year.

A total of 25.3 million visits were recorded from the EU in 2016, up 4 per cent on 2015. Last years overall figure marks a punchy 25 per cent increase on the level of inbound tourism recorded in 2010.

The industry makes a significant contribution to our economy, and we will continue to support tourism to grow the sector further and promote the UK across the world, sports and tourism minister Tracey Crouch said in a statement.

The figures mirror earlier data showing that the slump in the pound since Britains vote to the leave the European Union has enhanced the countrys appeal as a shopping destination.

Payment provider Worldpay in January said that spending by Chinese visitors had increased by 24 per cent year-on-year over the Christmas period, at least partially as a result of the fall in the pound.

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 strong growth in inbound visits demonstrates British tourisms continued ability to compete for international visitors and deliver economic growth across our nations and regions, VisitBritain chief executive Sally Balcombe said in a statement.

We must seize the opportunity to build on this, boosting visitor spending by driving home the message of welcome and value particularly in our high spending markets such as China and the US and the valuable European market.

Tourism is worth 127 billion annually to the UK economy, according to official figures.
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Actress Lindsay Lohan has bucked the Hollywood trend by calling on Americans to support Donald Trump.

Lohan said the nation should now get behind the President, despite his sexist comments about her in 2004 when she was a teenager.

Look, I think always in the public eye youre going to be scrutinised, and he is the President, so you have to  you have to join him. If you cant beat him, join him," she said during a Facebook live interview with The Daily Mail.

Recommended Turkish Islamists are obsessed with Lindsay Lohan

The actress, who rose to fame in films such as The Parent Trap and Mean Girls before her well-publicised problems with substance abuse, spoke of her growing interest in Islam.

She called the religion beautiful, and did not rule out converting to Islam, saying: Anythings possible.

She said she had been studying the Koran and that she was worried about returning to the US because of the current political climate and the executive order Mr Trump signed prohibiting citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering.

 Donald Trump says he is 'least racist person', tells Jewish reporter to sit down and be quiet

I was scared to come here with everything going on because of my personal beliefs, she said.

Ms Lohan has recently spent time visiting Syrian refugee camps in Turkey, and urged Mr Trump to offer support to displaced people, in spite of his apparent determination to re-enforce his temporarily stayed travel ban.

The activist, who recently met with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, said: Turkey really is doing a lot, and that's why I want to try and get the word out to Donald Trump to bring him over there, and have him see all the positive things that they're doing and how America can help as well.

And I think it would be a positive thing for America to show their care and support, and for him to experience what its like for these people and experience how giving Turkey has been to the refugees.

Recommended Lindsay Lohan apologises to the people of Kettering

When asked who she would like to bring together to discuss the refugee crisis, she suggested some unlikely bedfellows, including her Mean Girls co-star Rachel McAdams.

Angelina Jolie  Donald TrumpPutin  the more strong figures we have (the better)," she said.

Brad Pitt maybe someone like Rachel McAdams  the more the merrier in that situation.

In January, following Mr Trumps inauguration, Lohan took the high road when she had Mr Trumps 2004 comments played back to her.

I wish him all the best," she said.

"We live in a world of societies that consistently find fault in people. I think its a really scary factor. Taking someone else down is never the answer, and I think we all know that.

Mr Trump said of the then-18-year-old Lohan in the 2004 radio interview with shock jock Howard Stern: Shes probably deeply troubled and therefore great in bed.

How come the deeply troubled women, you know, deeply, deeply troubled, they're always the best: in bed?
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Travelling at the speed of light, vast hordes of invisible alien particles from outer space are changing the result of elections, sending planes plummeting from the sky and causing smartphones to freeze, scientists have warned.

Originating in cosmic rays from outside our solar system, the tiny particles constantly bombard the Earth, with millions hitting each human on the planet every second  without anyone noticing.

However, they are capable of interfering with computers in a potentially devastating way.

For they can, on rare occasions, cause a single bit of information to flip. This can be enough to force a computer to reboot, knock a passenger jet out of its autopilot mode and even change the result of a computerised election count by thousands of votes.

And Professor Bharat Bhuva, who has been investigating the problems caused by particles such as neutrons, muons and pions, warned the situation was growing and serious.

As he gave a presentation at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston, the Vanderbilt University academic said: This is a really big problem, but it is mostly invisible to the public.

The semiconductor manufacturers are very concerned about this problem because it is getting more serious as the size of the transistors in computer chips shrink and the power and capacity of our digital systems increase.

In addition, microelectronic circuits are everywhere and our society is becoming increasingly dependent on them.

Science news in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Science news in pictures Science news in pictures Pluto has 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen Pluto has a 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen that is doing strange things to its surface, Nasa has found. The mysterious core seems to be the cause of features on its surface that have fascinated scientists since they were spotted by Nasa's New Horizons mission. "Before New Horizons, everyone thought Pluto was going to be a netball - completely flat, almost no diversity," said Tanguy Bertrand, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center and the lead author on the new study. "But it's completely different. It has a lot of different landscapes and we are trying to understand what's going on there." Getty Science news in pictures Over 400 species discovered this year by Natural History Museum The ancient invertabrate worm-like species rhenopyrgus viviani (pictured) is one of over 400 species previously unknown to science that were discovered by experts at the Natural History Museum this year PA Science news in pictures Jackdaws can identify 'dangerous' humans Jackdaws can identify dangerous humans from listening to each others warning calls, scientists say. The highly social birds will also remember that person if they come near their nests again, according to researchers from the University of Exeter. In the study, a person unknown to the wild jackdaws approached their nest. At the same time scientists played a recording of a warning call (threatening) or contact calls (non-threatening). The next time jackdaws saw this same person, the birds that had previously heard the warning call were defensive and returned to their nests more than twice as quickly on average. Getty Science news in pictures Turtle embryos influence sex by shaking The sex of the turtle is determined by the temperatures at which they are incubated. Warm temperatures favour females. But by wiggling around the egg, embryos can find the Goldilocks Zone which means they are able to shield themselves against extreme thermal conditions and produce a balanced sex ratio, according to the new study published in Current Biology journal Ye et al/Current Biology Science news in pictures Elephant poaching rates drop in Africa African elephant poaching rates have dropped by 60 per cent in six years, an international study has found. It is thought the decline could be associated with the ivory trade ban introduced in China in 2017. Reuters Science news in pictures Ancient four-legged whale discovered in Peru Scientists have identified a four-legged creature with webbed feet to be an ancestor of the whale. Fossils unearthed in Peru have led scientists to conclude that the enormous creatures that traverse the planets oceans today are descended from small hoofed ancestors that lived in south Asia 50 million years ago A. Gennari Science news in pictures Animal with transient anus discovered A scientist has stumbled upon a creature with a transient anus that appears only when it is needed, before vanishing completely. Dr Sidney Tamm of the Marine Biological Laboratory could not initially find any trace of an anus on the species. However, as the animal gets full, a pore opens up to dispose of waste Steven G Johnson Science news in pictures Giant bee spotted Feared extinct, the Wallace's Giant bee has been spotted for the first time in nearly 40 years. 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The bones belonged to two large rodent species and a small shrew-like animal New Mexico Museum of Natural History Science news in pictures Fabric that changes according to temperature created Scientists at the University of Maryland have created a fabric that adapts to heat, expanding to allow more heat to escape the body when warm and compacting to retain more heat when cold Faye Levine, University of Maryland Science news in pictures Baby mice tears could be used in pest control A study from the University of Tokyo has found that the tears of baby mice cause female mice to be less interested in the sexual advances of males Getty Science news in pictures Final warning to limit "climate catastrophe" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase Getty Science news in pictures Nobel prize for evolution chemists The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. Frances Smith is being awarded the prize for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes, while Gregory Winter and George Smith take the prize for their work on phage display of peptides and antibodies Getty/AFP Science news in pictures Nobel prize for laser physicists The nobel prize for physics has been awarded to three physicists working with lasers. Arthur Ashkin (L) was awarded for his "optical tweezers" which use lasers to grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells. Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou were jointly awarded the prize for developing chirped-pulse amplification of lasers Reuters/AP Science news in pictures Discovery of a new species of dinosaur The Ledumahadi Mafube roamed around 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa. Recently discovered by a team of international scientists, it was the largest land animal of its time, weighing 12 tons and standing at 13 feet. 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The potential dangers were revealed after Mr Bhuva and his team looked into the effects of radiation on electronic circuits for the military and the space programme.

When a bit flips  which is known as a single-event upset or SEU  it can be for a number of reasons and it is only possible to say it was caused by a subatomic particle if all the other possible explanations have been ruled out.

In 2003 in Schaerbeek, Belgium, an SEU was responsible for giving a candidate in an election an extra 4,096 votes.

This was only spotted because it meant the politician concerned had more votes than it was possible to get and an investigation ensued.

And a Qantus passenger jet flying from Singapore to Perth, Australia, plunged through the sky for a terrifying 23 seconds  injuring about a third of the passengers on board  after an SEU caused the plane to drop suddenly out of autopilot.

Perhaps a more typical problem potentially caused by an SEU is a computer or smartphone freezing, forcing it to be rebooted.

The more powerful the computer, the more common the problem.

A mobile phone with 500 kilobytes of memory might only have one error every 28 years, but a router farm, such as those used by Internet providers, with 25 gigabytes of memory could have one every 17 hours.

Flying at 35,000 feet, where radiation levels are much higher than at sea level, also increases the error rate dramatically.

Preventing the particles from hitting electronic devices is practically impossible, as it would require a shield of concrete more than three metres (10ft) thick.

So, instead, one solution is to design processors in triplicate and get them to vote on any decision  the strategy adopted by Nasa to protect computers in space.

The probability that SEUs will occur in two of the circuits at the same time is vanishingly small, Mr Bhuva said.

So if two circuits produce the same result it should be correct.
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Social workers wrongly took a newborn baby into care when the father was overheard discussing the benefits of bottle feeding, a judge has ruled.

The parents, who both have mild learning disabilities, were awarded damages after Mr Justice Cobb found there was no justification for Kirklees Council in South Yorkshire to remove the one-week-old baby boy from their care.

He said there was no doubt in my mind that social workers had violated the couples human rights after they persuaded another judge to take the baby into emergency care in November 2015.

Staff at the special care unit where the infant spent the days following his traumatic delivery expressed no concerns about the parents fitness to care for their child, he said.

But he said that maternity ward doctors told the council they had concerns about the couples long-term ability to care for the baby.

His judgement, handed down after a private hearing at the family court in Sheffield, said the baby was taken into care after social workers said the mother had no family support and the father was expressing unorthodox views about the need for sterilisation of bottles, and the benefits of formula milk.

The father struggles to manage his frustrations at times, and has displayed controlling and aggressive behaviour to others," Judge Cobb said. The mother suffers with minor mental health difficulties, in addition to a mild learning disability.

The parents, both in their mid 20s, have received support from adult social care over the last decade, and health services were involved in planning for the baby's arrival, he said.

He found that the council rushed to court to obtain an emergency care order just before the baby was due to be discharged from hospital.

At that hearing, the judge was incorrectly told the parents were aware of the hearing and had agreed to their child being placed in care, he said.

The council claimed they forgot to notify Cafcass, the authority which represents children in family courts, about the case, so there was no lawyer to argue on behalf of the childs interests.

The judge said the couple were understandably very upset when told about the hearing.

The baby was placed in the care of his paternal grandmother for three months until he was eventually reunited with his parents following a series of further hearings.

Mr Cobb said the baby had continued to thrive since being returned to his parents.

He said: There is no doubt in my mind, indeed it is admitted, that Kirklees Council breached the human rights of a baby boy and his parents.

I am satisfied that the breaches were serious", he said, adding that "the separation of a baby from his parents represents a very serious interference with family life.

The judge awarded the mother, the father and the little boy 3,759 each in damages, which he said was just and fair satisfaction for the disruption caused to family life and the trauma of separation - although the money will be eaten up in court costs.

He said failure to notify the parents of the care hearing was particularly egregious and had involved misleading the judge no fewer than three times.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA

The judge said both parents had responded positively to advice from professionals and consistently displayed warm and affectionate interaction with (the baby) during a difficult time when on the special baby care unit.

The judge found that although the mother signed a section 20 order, handing over care of her baby, there was an issue over her capacity to give consent, and that social workers had failed to involve the father in this accommodation order.

Kirklees Council was ordered to pay a total of 120,000 in costs, with the judge criticising unwarranted expenditure of the law firms involved after hearing the family had received leag aid to the tune of 80,000.

A statement from the council, said: Mistakes were made which resulted in the court awarding the family compensation. The local authority has been ordered to pay a contribution of the publicly funded costs of the claimants, which cover specific periods of the case.

This is due to the way the claimants litigation was conducted.

Claire Lucas of the mental health charity, Mencap, said an estimated seven per cent of the 1.4 million people with a learning disability in the UK are parents, but only half actually live with or care for their children.

"Local accessible family and parenting services arent always available to adults with a learning disability, and its this lack of understanding and support that can play a key part in decisions about removing a child from a family.

"Parents with a learning disability can be good parents with the right support. If the right support is in place from family members and local authorities, we can ensure that families are able to stay together and flourish, rather than being torn apart.
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Brexit is the most "dangerous thing for Northern Ireland since partition", the leader of the Irish nationalist SDLP has warned.

Colum Eastwood told a UTV debate that any attempts to introduce a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic would be "economically and politically damaging".

He said: "We have a lot of work to do to defend Northern Ireland, to defend our citizens against the ravages of what is vast becoming a hard Tory Brexit."

Sinn Fein leader Michelle O'Neill also described Brexit as being "absolutely catastrophic for the island of Ireland".

She said: "It is going to undermine the Good Friday Agreement. It is going to be the major conversation over the next number of years.

"The British government are not going to dictate their negotiations on what happens post-Brexit. The Irish government needs to step up to the plate."

Recommended Irish government prepares possible checkpoint locations after Brexit

Concern over the impact of Brexit in Northern Ireland has intensified after Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan admitted that customs officials in the Republic are looking at "contingencies".

He said the Government does not envisage having customs posts on the border, and neither does London - but warned that it depends on the Brexit negotiations.

Mr Noonan said: "Even though it is the intent of the two jurisdictions involved we still have to get it across the line in Europe and that might be five or six years down the line ... Customs are looking at contingency in the event of where the negotiations may land."

He admitted the contingency plans amid reports that Government officials were scoping out locations for the return of full "red and green channel" customs checkpoints.

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

They included crossings in Louth, Monaghan, Cavan, Leitrim, and Donegal, with particular focus on the M1.

The Taoiseach's position is that there will be no hard border.

Enda Kenny said recently: "I am confident that the European Union will not bring us back to a border of division."

PA
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Tony Blair faced a backlash from some of his own supporters after his call for millions of worried Britons to rise up to halt Brexit.

Blairite Labour MPs joined the Conservatives and Ukip in criticising the former Prime Minister for refusing to accept the result of the referendum.

One shadow minister, Jenny Chapman, warned the controversial intervention was a mistake that could create even more damaging divisions in the country than leaving the EU.

And Caroline Flint, a former minister, said Mr Blair was premature to warn of the economic damage from Theresa Mays Brexit at any cost  because the future terms of the trade were still up for grabs.

One unnamed Labour source went further, telling the Press Association: No wonder we are still trying to recover from Tony Blair's legacy when he has such contempt for democracy.

What he doesnt seem to realise is people voted Leave precisely because they felt let down by 13 years of the Davos leftism he is still trying to flog.

The backlash came after Mr Blair staged a major speech in London to argue Brexit is not inevitable, urging pro-Europe Britons to rise up in defence of what we believe.

Criticising the debilitation of the Labour Party  which left no effective opposition  he insisted: The one incontrovertible characteristic of politics today is its propensity for revolt.

The Brexiteers were the beneficiaries of this wave, but now they want to freeze it to a date in June 2016.

They will say the will of the people cant alter. It can. They will say that leaving is inevitable. It isnt.

They will say they dont represent the will of the people. We do, many millions of them and  with determination  many millions more.

But Ms Chapman  who described herself as often the only Blairite in the room  said: He doesnt seem to have accepted the result of the referendum, whereas the Labour Party has said very clearly that it does.

There would be an audience for Mr Blairs defiance, but she added: I think that will be a minority occupation. Especially outside London, I dont think that will cut much ice.

The principal reason many communities voted to leave wasn't immigration  it was a sense of being ignored, she told BBC Radio 4's The World at One.

The wrong way to respond to that is just to ignore them a little bit more. I think that would be catastrophic for our country and far, far worse than anything Brexit would deliver upon us.

Ms Flint tweeted: Too early for Blair's claim of #Brexit at any cost because terms of trade may not be settled for five years plus after we leave.

Tony Blair's plan for two year campaign to overturn the #Euref is no way forward. Respect the result  fight for best deal.

More predictably, Boris Johnson, a prominent Leave campaigner, turned his scorn on the former Labour Prime Minister for insulting the intelligence of the electorate by arguing they had voted the wrong way.

This is the guy who would have taken our country into the euro with what would have been catastrophic consequences, the Foreign Secretary told Sky News.

This is the guy who dragooned the United Kingdom into the Iraq War on a completely false prospectus with consequences, which foreign ministers here are still trying to deal with.

I urge the British people to rise up and turn off the TV next time Blair comes on with his condescending campaign.
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Tony Blair has insisted Brexit is not inevitable, as he urged millions of Britons worried about leaving to fight to stop it.

In a controversial intervention in the Brexit debate, the former Prime Minister called for a revolt to halt withdrawal, similar to the populist wave that won the referendum.

The one incontrovertible characteristic of politics today is its propensity for revolt, Mr Blair told a London audience.

The Brexiteers were the beneficiaries of this wave, but now they want to freeze it to a date in June 2016.

They will say the will of the people cant alter. It can. They will say that leaving is inevitable. It isnt.

They will say they dont represent the will of the people. We do, many millions of them and  with determination  many millions more.

Mr Blair added: This is not the time for retreat, indifference, or despair, but the time to rise up in defence of what we believe  calmly, patiently, winning the argument by the force of argument, but without fear and with the conviction we act in the true interests of Britain.

The former Labour leader also sought to point out the huge costs to the country of a Government focused  inevitably  on the enormous challenge of negotiating a successful withdrawal.

He said: This is a Government for Brexit, of Brexit and dominated by Brexit. It is a mono-purpose political entity.

Nothing else truly matters: not the NHS, now in its most severe crisis since its creation; not the real challenge of the modern economy, the new technological revolutions of AI and Big Data; not the upgrade of our education system to prepare people for this new world; not investment in communities left behind by globalisation; not the rising burden of serious crime; or bulging prison populations; or social care; not even, irony of ironies, a genuine policy to control immigration.

Mr Blair poured scorn the claims that EU membership  and, in particular, rulings by the European Court of Justice (ECJ)  prevent Britain being a truly independent country.

On the ECJ, I would defy anyone to be able to recall any decisions which they might have heard of, as opposed to the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, a non-EU body, he said.

I can honestly say that during all my time as PM there was no major domestic law that I wanted to pass which Europe told me I couldn't.

Before the speech, Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative Cabinet minister and a prominent Leave campaigner, condemned the speech as arrogant and utterly undemocratic.

But Mr Blair said: The people voted without knowledge of the true terms of Brexit.

As these terms become clear, it is their right to change their mind. Our mission is to persuade them to do so.

What was unfortunately only dim in our sight before the referendum is now in plain sight. The road we're going down is not simply Hard Brexit. It is Brexit At Any Cost.

Our challenge is to expose relentlessly what this cost is, to show how the decision was based on imperfect knowledge which will now become informed knowledge, to calculate in easy to understand ways how proceeding will cause real damage to our country; and to build support for finding a way out from the present rush over the cliffs edge.

I don't know if we can succeed. But I do know we will suffer a rancorous verdict from future generations if we do not try.
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Tony Blair will today make a major speech accusing Theresa Mays Government of hurtling towards Brexit at any cost regardless of the damage it could do to British people.

The former Labour Prime Minister will set his sights on what he calls Ms Mays rush over the cliffs edge, as she and cabinet Eurosceptics attempt to force Brexits launch through Parliament at breakneck speed.

Demanding the British people have a right to change their mind, Mr Blair will call on the 48 per cent who opposed leaving to take a stand, telling them directly: This is not the time for retreat, indifference or despair, but the time to rise up in defence of what we believe.

As he speaks, Ms May will be preparing for tough talks with French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, whose countrys senate has published a report concluding Britain must not be better off outside the EU after Brexit.

Mr Blairs address in London, organised by the Open Britain campaign group, comes just days before the House of Lords starts debating legislation which, if approved, gives Ms May the right to officially begin the two-year countdown to Brexit.

Despite heralding in one of the biggest constitutional changes in British history, ministers want the bill passed unamended in a fraction of the time it normally takes to legislate.

Mr Blair will say: This is a Government for Brexit, of Brexit and dominated by Brexit. It is a mono-purpose political entity.

Those driving this always wanted a hard Brexit. Indeed, even the term hard Brexit requires amendment. The policy is now Brexit at any cost.

Mr Blair, who led Labour to three general election victories, will argue that in the 23 June referendum the British people voted without knowledge of the true terms of Brexit and that as these become clear, it is their right to change their mind.

How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Show all 8 1 /8 How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Weetabix Chief executive of Weetabix Giles Turrell has warned that the price of one of the nations favourite breakfast are likely to go up this year by low-single digits in percentage terms. Reuters How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Nescafe The cost of a 100g jar of Nescafe Original at Sainsburys has gone up 40p from 2.75 to 3.15  a 14 per cent risesince the Brexit vote. PA How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Freddo When contacted by The Independent this month, a Mondelez spokesperson declined to discuss specific brands but confirmed that there would be "selective" price increases across its range despite the American multi-national confectionery giant reporting profits of $548m (450m) in its last three-month financial period. Mondelez, which bought Cadbury in 2010, said rising commodity costs combined with the slump in the value of the pound had made its products more expensive to make. Cadbury How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Mr Kipling cakes Premier Foods, the maker of Mr Kipling and Bisto gravy, said that it was considering price rises on a case-by-case basis Reuters How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Walkers Crisps Walkers, owned by US giant PepsiCo, said "the weakened value of the pound" is affecting the import cost of some of its materials. A Walkers spokesman told the Press Association that a 32g standard bag was set to increase from 50p to 55p, and the larger grab bag from 75p to 80p. Getty How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Marmite Tesco removed Marmite and other Unilever household brand from its website last October, after the manufacturer tried to raise its prices by about 10 per cent owing to sterlings slump. Tesco and Unilever resolved their argument, but the price of Marmite has increased in UK supermarkets with the grocer reporting a 250g jar of Marmite will now cost Morrisons customers 2.64 - an increase of 12.5 per cent. Rex How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Toblerone Toblerone came under fire in November after it increased the space between the distinctive triangles of its bars. Mondelez International, the company which makes the product, said the change was made due to price rises in recent months. Pixabay How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Maltesers Maltesers, billed as the lighter way to enjoy chocolate, have also shrunk in size. Mars, which owns the brand, has reduced its pouch weight by 15 per cent. Mars said rising costs mean it had to make the unenviable decision between increasing its prices or reducing the weight of its Malteser packs. iStockphoto

Having previously argued that a second referendum or election may be needed to determine the countrys future, he will say: Our challenge is to expose relentlessly the actual cost, to show how [the referendum] decision was based on imperfect knowledge which will now become informed knowledge, to calculate in easy-to-understand ways how proceeding will cause real damage to the country and its citizens and to build support for finding a way out from the present rush over the cliffs edge.

I dont know if we can succeed. But I do know we will suffer a rancorous verdict from future generations if we do not try.

The ex-politician has gifted more than 9m to his new policy unit for centre-ground politics, the Tony Blair Institute, with the fight against Brexit likely to form a key part of its work.

In his speech he was due to set out how the issue of immigration has been twisted by Eurosceptics to win support for the rush to the exit door.

He will say: For many people, the core of the immigration question  and one which I fully accept is a substantial issue  is immigration from non-European countries especially when from different cultures in which assimilation and potential security threats can be an issue.

 Legislation to allow PM to start formal Brexit talks clears first Commons hurdle

Nonetheless, we have moved in a few months from a debate about what sort of Brexit, involving a balanced consideration of all the different possibilities, to the primacy of one consideration  namely, controlling immigration from the EU  without any real discussion as to why Brexit doesn't affect the immigration people most care about.

Yet were told we have to stop debating it and just do it.

Mr Blair will also warn that Ms Mays drive for Brexit will strain the debate over Scottish independence and put peace in Northern Ireland at risk.

He will say: In addition to all this, the possibility of the break-up of the UK  narrowly avoided by the result of the Scottish referendum  is now back on the table, but this time with a context much more credible for the independence case.

 Theresa May calls Brexit a 'great moment of national change'

We are already seeing the destabilising impact of worry over border arrangements on the Northern Ireland peace process.

None of this ignores the challenges the country faces in common with many other countries; those left behind by globalisation; the aftermath of the financial crisis; stagnant incomes amongst a section of the public; and for sure the pressures posed by big increases in migration, which make perfectly reasonable people anxious and feeling unheard in their anxiety.

In an article for French newspaper Le Figaro today, Ms May will say Britain is not seeking to cherry-pick which parts of EU membership it wants to keep after Brexit, stating that her aim is to leave the single market, and strike a free trade deal including the greatest possible access to the trade bloc.

She will host talks with Mr Cazeneuve at Downing Street, in a bid to underline how it is in Frances interests to strike a quick and mutually beneficial deal with Britain.

But the recent report from the French Prime Ministers compatriots in the his countrys senate suggests the divorce terms of Brexit must be completed before negotiations on Britains future trading relations, adding that the UKs final agreement must not place it in a better position outside the EU.
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Britain will not try to cherry pick which parts of the European Union it maintains access to after Brexit, Theresa May has said.

The Prime Minister defended her decision to withdraw the UK from the single market and try to negotiate a trade deal with the EU, saying this did not amount to trying to unfairly keep hold of the best aspects of membership.

Her comments came as she prepares to host Bernard Cazeneuve, the French Prime Minister, for talks at Downing Street on Friday.

Ms May has previously said she wants the UK to maintain the greatest possible access to the EU trading bloc  triggering warnings from other European leaders that she would not be able to cherry pick during Brexit negotiations.

The Prime Minster has denied this is her aim. Writing in French newspaper Le Figaro, she said: "As we leave the EU, we will seek the greatest possible access to the European single market through a new, comprehensive, bold, ambitious free trade agreement.

"This cannot, however, mean retaining membership of the single market.

"We do not, to borrow the phrase, seek to cherry-pick which bits of membership we desire."

In the article, Ms May also argued it was in Frances interest to help Britain secure a trade deal with the EU, because French companies benefit from 50 billion of annual trade between the two countries.

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

"UK companies are responsible for an estimated 230,000 jobs in France, and French companies for about 370,000 jobs in the UK," she wrote.

The Prime Minister also stressed the UK will remain an "open and tolerant" country and that French people will "always be welcome in Britain".

She reiterated her aim of guaranteeing the rights of EU nationals already in the UK, including more than 300,000 French people, and said she hopes France will do the same for Britons living there.

"I will make securing this reciprocal agreement a priority as soon as the negotiations begin, because this is in everyone's interests," she said.

 Brexit Bill backed: Theresa May allowed to start EU exit negotiations

Ms Mays discussions with Mr Cazeneuve are likely to focus on Brexit and Russia. The Prime Minister warned of Moscows aggressive and destabilising actions in Ukraine, which she said have resulted in a drastic deterioration in the country.

The fight against terrorism is also likely be on the agenda after two years in which France has suffered several deadly attacks.

Ms May said the UK would continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with France and added: "In this period of change for my nation, Britain may be leaving the European Union as an organisation, but we will be stronger than ever as a dependable partner for our friends in France and across Europe, working to enhance the security and prosperity of all our citizens.

"As I said in my first speech as Prime Minister in the British Parliament, we share a firm belief in the values of liberte, egalite and fraternite. And together with France, a global Britain will always defend them."
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Tony Blair has blamed Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party for "facilitating" Brexit.

The former Labour Prime Minister told a press conference in London that one of the key challenges in stopping Brexit Is the absence of an opposition which looks capable on the polls of beating the Government."

"The debilitation of the Labour Party," he added, "Is the facilitator of Brexit. I hate to say that, but it is true."

Mr Blair added that in the absence of an effective opposition, pro-Europeans needed to build a cross-party "movement ".

His comments come four days after one poll showed that for the first time in its history, Labour has dropped to become only the third most popular party among working class voters.

Research undertaken by YouGov found blue collar voters were now more likely to vote for the Conservatives or Ukip than for Labour.

Mr Corbyns leadership also faces a stern test next week when voters go to the polls in the Copeland and Stoke-on-Trent by-elections, amid fears that Labour will be ousted in both constituencies.

Calling for people of all parties to oppose Brexit, given the current weakness of the Labour Party, Mr Blair said: "What this means is that we have to build a movement which stretches across party lines; and devise new ways of communication.

"These groups must find ways of concerting strategy and tactics effectively. We should begin to create informal links immediately and then build them into a movement with weight and reach.

"We need to strengthen the hand of the MPs who are with us and let those against know they have serious opposition to Brexit at any cost."

He said that the institute which he was launching would play its part in developing the arguments to rethink the country's position - a task that would involve changing people's attitudes towards the kind of globalisation that many now blame for low wages and job insecurity.

Brexit Concerns Show all 26 1 /26 Brexit Concerns Brexit Concerns Brexit will put British patients at 'back of the queue' for new drugs Brexit will put British patients at the back of the queue for vital new drugs, the Government has been warned  forcing them to wait up to two years longer A medicines regulator has raised the alarm over a likely decision to pull out of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as well as the EU itself. ealth Secretary Jeremy Hunt dropped the bombshell , when he said he expected the UK would quit the EMA  because it is subject to rulings by the European Court of Justice. Getty Images Brexit Concerns London to lose status as 'gateway to Europe' for banks One of Germanys top banking regulators has warned that London could lose its status as gateway to Europe for the banking sector after Britain quits the European trading bloc. Andreas Dombret, who is an executive board member for the BundesbankGermanys central banktold a private meeting of German businesses and banks earlier this week in Frankfurt that even if banking rules were equivalent between the UK and the rest of the EU, that was still miles away from [Britain having] access to the single market, the BBC reports. Jason Hawkes Brexit Concerns Exodus The number of financial sector professionals in Britain and continental Europe looking for jobs in Ireland rocketed in the months after the UK voted to leave the European Union Shutterstock Brexit Concerns Brexit is making FTSE 100 executives richer Pay packages of many FTSE 100 chief executive officers are partly tied to how well share prices are doing rather than the CEOs performance -- and some stocks are soaring. ritish equities got a boost since the June vote because the likes of Rio Tinto, Smiths Group and WPP generate most sales abroad and earn a fortune when they convert these revenues back into the weakened pound. Sterlings fall also made UK stocks more affordable for overseas investors. Rex Brexit Concerns Theresa May: UK to leave single market Theresa May has said the UK "cannot possibly" remain within the European single market, as staying in it would mean "not leaving the EU at all". Getty Brexit Concerns Lead campaigner Gina Miller and her team outside the High Court Getty Brexit Concerns Raymond McCord holds up his newly issued Irish passport alongside his British passport outside the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns SDLP leader Colum Eastwood leaving the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns Migrants with luggage walk past a graffiti on a wall as they leave the 'Jungle' migrant camp, as part of a major three-day operation planned to clear the camp in Calais Getty Brexit Concerns Migrants leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp Getty Brexit Concerns The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Adra) which distributes approximately 700 meals daily in the northern Paris camp states that it is noticing a spike in new migrant arrivals this week, potentially linked the the Calais 'jungle' camp closure - with around 1000 meals distributed today EPA Brexit Concerns Migrant workers pick apples at Stocks Farm in Suckley, Britain Reuters Brexit Concerns Many farmers across the country are voicing concerns that Brexit could be a dangerous step into the unknown for the farming industry Getty Brexit Concerns Bank of England governor Mark Carney who said the long-term outlook for the UK economy is positive, but growth was slowing in the wake of the Brexit vote PA Brexit Concerns The Dow Jones industrial average closed down over 600 points on the news with markets around the globe pluninging Getty Brexit Concerns Immigration officers deal with each member of the public seeking entry into the United Kingdom but on average, 10 a day are refused entry at this London airport and between 2008 and 2009, 33,100 people were detained at the airport for mainly passport irregularities Getty Brexit Concerns A number of global investment giants have threatened to move their European operations out of London if Brexit proves to have a negative impact on their businesses Getty Brexit Concerns Following the possibility of a Brexit the UK would be released from its renewable energy targets under the EU Renewable Energy Directive and from EU state aid restrictions, potentially giving the government more freedom both in the design and phasing out of renewable energy support regimes Getty Brexit Concerns A woman looking at a chart showing the drop in the pound (Sterling) against the US Dollar in London after Britain voted to leave the EU Getty Brexit Concerns Young protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, to protest against the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU following the referendum Getty Brexit Concerns Applications from Northern Ireland citizens for Irish Passports has soared to a record high after the UK Voted in favour of Leaving the EU Getty Brexit Concerns NFU Vice President Minette Batters with Secretary of State, Andrea Leadsome at the National Farmers Union (NFU) took machinery, produce, farmers and staff to Westminster to encourage Members of Parliament to back British farming, post Brexit Getty Brexit Concerns The latest reports released by the UK Cabinet Office warn that expats would lose a range of specific rights to live, to work and to access pensions, healthcare and public services. The same reports added that UK citizens abroad would not be able to assume that these rights will be guaranteed in the future Getty Brexit Concerns A British resident living in Spain asks questions during an informative Brexit talk by the "Brexpats in Spain" group, about Spanish legal issues to become Spanish citizens, at the town hall in Benalmadena, Spain Reuters Brexit Concerns The collapse of Great Britain appears to have been greatly exaggerated given the late summer crowds visiting city museums, hotels, and other important tourist attractions Getty Brexit Concerns The U.K. should maintain European Union regulations covering everything from working hours to chemicals until after the government sets out its plans for Brexit, said British manufacturers anxious to avoid a policy vacuum and safeguard access to their biggest export market Getty

Speaking at the headquarters of the Bloomberg financial news agency in London where David Cameron first set out his plan for an EU referendum, Mr Blair said: The Institute which I am setting up will play our part. We are creating a policy platform wider than the Europe question.

There is an urgent need to reposition the whole debate around globalisation and how we make it work for people. In this sense, the Brexit debate is part of something much bigger.

But developing the arguments around Brexit will be an important element of the Institutes work.

The ex-PMs speech, organised by the Open Britain campaign group, came after he announced the creation in December of the Tony Blair Institute. Mr Blairs office said the new policy unit would be dedicated to developing a new policy agenda for the centre ground  With the focus of trying to make globalisation work for all and addressing the political earthquakes of the Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump.

At the time of the creation of his institute, Mr Blair also stressed: This is not about my returning to the front line of politics. I have made it abundantly clear that this is not possible.

This, however, is not the first time that Mr Blair, who led Labour to three general election victories, has criticised Mr Corbyn.

In July 2015, as Mr Corbyn headed to victory in the Labour leadership election, Mr Blair intervened to offer the advice: When people say, my heart says I should be with that politics well, get a transplant

In December 2015, in an article entitled In Defence of Blairism, for the right-wing Spectator magazine, Mr Blair wrote: All wings of the Labour Party which support the notion of the Labour Party as a Party aspiring to govern, rather than as a fringe protest movement agree on the tragedy of the Labour Partys current position.

Initial reactions to Mr Blair's latest criticism of Mr Corbyn and Brexit appeared mixed.
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Nigel Farage has defended his good friend Arron Bankss right to free speech after his incendiary comments claiming he was sick to death of hearing about Hillsborough stadium disaster in which 96 people were killed in 1989.

Appearing at the Ukip conference in Bolton, the former party leader said Mr Banks, who earlier this week said his critics were milking the tragedy in Liverpool, was entitled to his own views.

Asked if Mr Banks' comments were representative of Ukip's mission he said: He's a good friend of mine and he says all sorts of things on Twitter.

He added: I'm not his spokesman... I've got lots of friends out thereI'm not defending Arron... I'm not his spokesman. Get his spokesman Arron Banks is a private citizen entitled to his own views.

Mr Farage also heaped pressure on Paul Nuttall, the current leader, saying that the Stoke-on-Trent Central by-election next Thursday is fundamental for the future of the party.

Dismissing suggestions the party should be less radical and head for the centre, he added: We must not change our policy. We must be seen to those that fight against political correctness. We must be seen as the party that is moving on the national debate the whole time.

I guess all of that comes to a head next Thursday in Stoke, he added. I dont think anyone can underplay just how important, just how fundamental that by-election is for the futures of both the Labour party and indeed Ukip too. It matters and it matters hugely

In reference to Mr Nuttalls torrid week  after it emerged claims on his website that he lost close personal friends at the 1989 Hillsborough disaster were fictitious  Mr Farage added: I know that Paul has had a very, very difficult week fighting by-elections is not much fun. Its a rough old game.

But from what I can see on the ground, he added. I do believe we can win this by-election. I do believe were going to win this by-election. But we wont win it by sitting at home and waiting for the results to come through at 2 or 3 oclock in the morning.

The former party leader, who hailed Brexit as Britains independence day on the morning of June 24 last year, also claimed children would read about the political revolutions of 2016 for one or two hundred years time.

He added: I have to tell you, I am now absolutely certain that the political revolution of 2016 was actually just the beginning of something very much bigger that is going to happen across the entire Western world.

The change in public attitudes towards politics, towards the political class, towards large sections of our establishment liberal media - those changes in attitudes are absolutely fundamental. Far from receding, they are brewing with every month that goes by.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in 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23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 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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. 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Met with a rapturous applause from an audience of devoted party members Mr Farage also criticised a speech by Tony Blair, the former Labour Prime Minister, who had appeared in central Morning at an Open Britain event earlier on Friday.

In a speech Mr Blair insisted that Brexit is not inevitable and urged millions of Britains worried about leaving the EU to fight to stop it. But Mr Farage responded: Tony Blair is standing up today saying the British need to rethink Brexit. He seems to think were going to change our minds.

He clearly hasnt grasped that if that referendum was held tomorrow the margin would be at least three times bigger than it was in the June of last year. Blair is yesterdays man. Hes like the heavyweight world champion who has been retired for a few years but needs to make some money and he comes back and gets knocked out in the first round. By the end of today, Blair will be on the canvas.
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Two days ago four men came, grabbed me and started raping me. Most women and girls in the camp have been assaulted or raped by gangs, begins Hodan Ahmedan, 23, sitting in her makeshift shelter where she has lived since she arrived from drought-ridden eastern Somaliland to a camp for internally displaced in Maxamed Mooge, Hargeisa.

Cases of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) are rife here. A lack of police presence, inadequate lighting, an absence of sanitary facilities and an increase in the number of female-only households has rendered this camp an ideal ground for SGBV. The ground is really hard here so we cant dig to make lavatories.

This means we have to go outside and because there is no privacy in the open, we only go once it gets dark, explains Hodan and by the time it is dark enough for us to go, it also becomes very dangerous as many gangs operate here. These are the circumstances in which I was raped.

It happens to all of us, all the time, concludes Sahra Hussein, one of the oldest residents in the camp.

Somaliland, an arid and internationally unrecognised state in the Horn of Africa, is suffering from one of the worst droughts in years, aggravated by one of the strongest El Nino events on record, which has led to the displacement of tens of thousands of Somali rural pastoralists communities.

Triggered by weak winds and warm water in the Pacific Ocean, the El Nino climate cycle, is according to a new study published by the American Meteorological Society, being worsened by climate change.

The study claims that anthropogenic warming contributed substantially to the very warm 2015/2016 El Nino and as a consequence is intensifying the cyclical droughts in Somaliland to unprecedented levels.

Hargeisa, the capital, has been the main the destination for most climate-forced refugees and according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is now home to 85,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs). But life here is a far cry from the relief most had hoped for, the situation proving even worse for women refugees.

When women arrive in the capital they find themselves cast to the margins, in hostile environments with few employment opportunities. While men have found it possible to find jobs in the city, the multitude of dangers the drought has exposed women to  from sexual assaults, to illegal land grabbing, to lack of sanitary facilities  clearly demonstrates that it is the women who are bearing the brunt of the drought and its consequences.

Amina Abdul Hussein sits with her three-year-old daughter Sabrin inside their makeshift tent (Alice Rowsome)

I arrived here two months ago. The drought killed my animals. But the lack of water has affected us in many other ways. Just before coming here, I went into labour but I had no water and so I lost my baby. I became very weak and could not stop bleeding, explains Amina Abdul Hussein, mother of three, inside her makeshift shelter away from the suns glare, in a camp for internally displaced in Maxameda.

Many women in the camp report they have suffered from miscarriages because of the drought and a recent study in Global Environmental Change found that reduced rainfall and high heat has resulted in low birth rates, stemming from the increased likelihood of miscarriages.

In the very early stages of intra-uterine development, climate change has the potential to significantly impact birth outcomes, said Kathryn Grace, professor of geography at the University of Utah and lead author of the study.

As soon as my husband saw me in this state [having miscarried a child], he left. I came to Hargeisa and ended up here, continues Amina. In order to survive, she, like the other women in the camp, picks up stones and sell them at market. They claim to make about 60,000 SOS (approximately 5.60) per ton but as Amina emphasises, it is difficult work. I suffered many complications following my miscarriage and carrying heavy loads puts me in a lot of pain.

The money is used to pay rent and buy food. The women explain that the land they stay on is privately owned and recount frequent visits by violent landlords. If we dont pay, they set our shelters on fire, explains Amina, so many have here have been burnt. This camp, like most of the country, receives no humanitarian support from the international community or the government. Nima Berashe, 45, explains that although various agencies have come to ask questions and assess the situation, they have never come back.

Dacar stands among the remains of his livestock (Alice Rowsome)

But women are not the only ones bearing the brunt of the drought. The elderly and their grandchildren, too weak to flee, have also been left to die in the rural areas of Somaliland.

The last remaining donkey lies, close to starvation underneath a tree (Alice Rowsome)

He is the last of our animals, sighs Dacar Yusuf Galaydh, 75, as he stands over his donkey, which is lying close to starvation head sunk to the ground.

When one of his animals passes away, Dacar carries their limp bodies from his home out to a field. The harshest drought to have the racked the Horn of Africa in two decades has killed off all of his cattle, sheep and goats. Even our donkeys have died, this is the last one, he claims.

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. 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Weve had droughts here in the past but I dont remember one as bad as this one. And look at my age! says Dacar as he marches towards the dry community well. We have no water left. Until recently we were still able to walk for a couple hours with our donkeys to fetch water but now there is no water anywhere and we dont even have donkeys to carry the water back, says Dacar, we are facing an emergency.

As aid from the government and humanitarian agencies fails to arrive, those left in the village, he explains, are now relying on water extracted from the roots of old cacti.

Hatto Hussains livelihood has all but disappeared because of the drought (Alice Rowsome)

Hatto Hussain, 65, says she used to own 200 goats and cows and would live off the income generated by the sale of milk and meat. I have one cow left, the rest have died. We have nothing.

Livestock production is the backbone of Somalilands economy with around 60 per cent of the population practicing some form of pastoralism. With no income, the communitys food supplies have dwindled to alarming levels.

We have calculated that we have enough food for the next five days and thats only with one meal a day, Hatto says. Many of her grandchildren, she explains, are suffering from stomach cramps. They are lucky, she claims, none have suffered complications yet, but Dacar adds that with no water or food he expects a crisis in the coming days. We urgently need water and food, or we will die.

As most Somalilanders have had their very way of life ripped away from them by the drought  and the lack of national and international support  it is the women and most vulnerable who are bearing the brunt.
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A top executive at the company building the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline is comparing pipeline opponents to terrorists.

Joey Mahmoud, executive vice president of Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners, says protesters have assaulted numerous pipeline personnel, destroyed millions of dollars worth of construction equipment and even fired a pistol at law enforcement during months of demonstrations against the 1,200-mile pipeline, which will carry North Dakota oil to an Illinois terminal.

Mahmoud tells Congress that the protest movement induced individuals to break into and shut down pump stations on four operational pipelines. Had these actions been undertaken by foreign nationals, they could only be described as acts of terrorism.

The chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux, one of two tribes suing to stop the project, called Mahmouds comments unfair to project opponents.

Recommended US veterans return to Standing Rock to form human shield

The majority of them are there in prayer, Chairman Harold Frazier told reporters Wednesday. From what Ive seen (law enforcement officers) are the terrorists.

Law enforcement has used tactics such as rubber bullets, tear gas and water sprays against protesters during clashes in southern North Dakota near the pipeline route, Frazier said, adding that he personally has been hit by rubber bullets and tear gas.

In testimony Wednesday for a hearing before a House energy subcommittee, Mahmoud also blasted the Obama administration, which twice delayed the project last year.

Mahmoud called the delays politically motivated actions that were accompanied by a host of half-truths and misrepresentations in both social and mainstream media.

Mahmoud also targeted the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, whose reservation lies near the pipelines route and who say the pipeline threatens their water supply and tribal artefacts.

The pipeline developer reached out to the tribe more than two years ago but has been continually rebuffed, Mahmoud said.

It was clear from their response they had no interest in discussing the project with us, he said.

Mahmoud challenged the tribes objections and said the pipeline poses little threat to drinking water. The Dakota pipeline will be at least the 15th pipeline to cross the Missouri River, will employ state-of-the-art technology and will be buried more than 90 feet below the lowest part of the river, Mahmoud said.

To cast this as a dispute about protection of water resources is, quite simply, at variance with the facts, and it ignores universally accepted scientific and engineering practices, he said.

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

Chad Harrison, a councilman at-large for the Standing Rock Sioux, said the federal government and the pipeline company ignored the concerns of the tribe for almost three years before the Obama administration paused the project last September. On December 4, then-assistant Army secretary for civil works, Jo-Ellen Darcy, declined to issue an easement, saying a broader environmental study was warranted.

To be clear, the tribe does not oppose economic development, energy independence or protecting our national security, Harrison said. What we oppose is development that is undertaken without our consent and in such a way that it is our community, our people, our cultural sites and our natural resources that are put at the most risk, and when we are the ones who will pay the cost when something goes wrong.

A federal judge on Monday refused to stop construction on the last stretch of the pipeline, which is progressing much faster than expected and could be operational as soon as next month.

US District Judge James Boasberg ruled that as long as oil isnt flowing through the pipeline, there is no imminent harm to the Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River tribes, which are suing to stop the project. Another hearing is scheduled on February 27.

AP
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"That is one beautiful airplane," said Donald Trump.

The wall of the hangar had been rolled back, with his Boeing Air Force One plane serving as the impressive backdrop for the Presidents stage before a crowd in North Charleston.

"As your President Im going to everything I can to unleash the power of the American spirit and put our great people back to work," he said. "This is our mantra. Buy American and hire American."

Recommended Anger over Trump administration plan for troops to round up immigrants

"We want products made in America, made by American hands," he added, vowing to tackle "foreign cheating" and that he wanted to see "four magic words - Made in the USA" on every product.

The speech, which included a promise to build up our military, has a somewhat darker edge as it comes hours after the Associated Press revealed a draft 11-page memo which mandated 100,000 National Guard troops to round up undocumented immigrants.

"We are going to build up a military might so great that no one will dare to challenge it. None," he said.

He was in the hangar to celebrate the roll-out of the new new Boeing 787-10 aircraft, made in North Charleston, South Carolina.

 Boeing shares slide after Donald Trump says costs are 'ridiculous'

He spoke of the new Dreamliner plane, how it was made of carbon fibre, 18 feet longer and seated more passengers than previous planes.

As a real estate developer, the President seemed to enjoy speaking about what was likely familiar territory.

The President's visit to Boeing, said White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, was "months in the making".

It follows controversy with the company, however.

 Watch Boeing Dreamliner's near-verticle take off

In December, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg expressed concerns about the Presidents foreign trade plans in an article posted by the Chicago Tribune, Mr Trump sent out a tweet criticising the companys "out of control" government contract costs. He cited $4 billion worth of costs, but the company later disputed this number.

The President called Mr Muilenburg a "tough negotiator" at the roll-out event this week.

"We are currently under contract for $170 million to help determine the capabilities of these complex military aircraft that serve the unique requirements of the President of the United States," Boeing spokesman Todd Blecher said in a statement at the time.

"We look forward to working with the US Air Force on subsequent phases of the program allowing us to deliver the best planes for the President at the best value for the American taxpayer."

Investors had a knee-jerk reaction and Boeing plummeted around $1 billion in value within minutes of Mr Trump's tweet.

Boeing won a government contract initially worth $26 million in January 2016.
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President Donald Trump has put the brakes on a regulation blocking coal mining debris from being dumped into nearby streams.

Trump called the stream protection regulation a job-killing rule before he signed a measure to overturn it.

Lawmakers from coal-mining states stood close by, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Republican-Kentucky), Senator Rand Paul (Republican-Kentucky), Senator Joe Manchin (Democrat-West Virginia) and Senator Shelley Moore Capito (Republican West Virginia).

Several coal miners and energy company executives also attended the White House signing ceremony.

Republicans and some Democrats argued that the rule could eliminate thousands of coal-related jobs. They said the rule also ignored dozens of existing federal, state and local regulations.

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 Interior Department said in December when it announced the rule that 6,000 miles of streams and 52,000 acres of forests would be protected.

AP
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Donald Trumps supporters have launched a scathing attack on a Fox News anchor who criticised the US Presidents treatment of reporters and his refusal to answer questions at his first solo press conference.

Shepard Smith accused Mr Trump of "repeating ridiculous, throwaway lines that are not true at all."

He said: "It's crazy what we're watching every day. It's absolutely crazy."

His comments came after the US President launched a sustained attack on the media during a fiery and, at times chaotic, news conference.

The former real-estate mogul accused the press of deliberately misleading the public over his administration's ties to Russia, after intelligence leaks suggested his campaign aides had been in close contact with the country.

Mr Trump's national security adviser Michael Flynn was also forced to resign when it was revealed he attempted to cover up conversations he had with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, about the issue of sanctions, before taking up the post.

It is illegal for a private citizen to conduct diplomacy on behalf of the US.

Mr Smith, who joined the Fox News Channel at its inception in 1996, insisted the American people deserved to know the truth about any improper communications with Russian officials.

He also defended CNN journalist Jim Acosta as an accomplished reporter" after Mr Trump said said he was upgrading the broadcaster from fake news to very fake news.

But supporters of the Republican leader took to Twitter to vent their fury at Mr Smiths comments, accusing him of breaking with the channel's editorial line.

Many threatened to boycott Fox News, historically one of few mainstream media sources to have backed Mr Trump during his election campaign.

Mr Smith had urged Mr Trump to tell the truth over allegations his campaign aides had close contact with Russia during the presidential race.

"He keeps repeating ridiculous throwaway lines that are not true at all and sort of avoiding this issue of Russia as if we're some kind of fools for asking the question," he said.

"Your opposition was hacked and the Russians were responsible for it and your people were on the phone with Russia on the same day it was happening and we're fools for asking the questions?"

Mr Trump was repeatedly questioned by reporters over the allegations at the press conference but he maintained his position that the news is fake.

The leaks are absolutely real. The news is fake because so much of the news is fake, he said. "Russia is fake news. Russia  this is fake news put out by the media.

However Mr Smith hit back at the former real-estate moguls denial saying we have a right to know.

You owe this to the American people. Your supporters will support you either way. If your people were on the phone, what were they saying? he said.

We have a right to know, we absolutely do and that you call us fake news and put us down like children for asking these questions on behalf of the American people is inconsequential. The people deserve an answer to this question at very least."
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Donald Trump has accused a Jewish reporter of lying and ordered him to sit down after being asked a question about rising anti-Semitism in the US.

The row was triggered by the President asking for a question from a friendly reporter during his White House news conference on Thursday.

Jake Turx, a reporter from Ami Magazine, a small weekly New York-based magazine which caters for the international Orthodox Jewish community, volunteered himself, saying he had been good to the Republican for the entirety of his campaign.

Turx began his question by saying the community did not think the President or his staff were anti-Semitic. He even warmly drew attention to the fact Mr Trumps grandchildren were Jewish.

However, what we are concerned about and what we haven't being heard addressed is an uptick in anti-Semitism and how the government is planning to take care of it, he added.

There are reports that 48 bomb threats have been made against Jewish centres across the country in the last couple of weeks. There are people who are committing anti-Semitic acts or threatening to.

It was at this point that the billionaire property developer interrupted to accuse the reporter of lying and insist he was the least anti-Semitic individual.

See, he said he was going to ask a very simple, easy question, and it's not, Mr Trump interjected.

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 reporter replied: It's an important one.

Not a simple question. Not a fair question. OK, sit down. I understand the rest of your question, Mr Trump snapped back. So here's the story folks. Number one, I am the least anti-Semitic person that you've ever seen in your entire life. Number two racism. The least racist person. In fact, we did very well relative to other people running as a Republican."

The reporter raised his hand again and spoke up but Mr Trump shut him down again, saying: Quiet, quiet, quiet. See he lied about - he was going to get up and ask a very straight, simple question. So, you know, welcome to the world of the media.

The President wholly ignored Turxs prefix and acted as if he himself had been accused of anti-Semitism rather than simply being asked what the Trump administration would do to tackle the rise of anti-Semitism.

But let me just tell you something: I hate the charge. I find it repulsive. I hate even the question because people that know me - and you heard the Prime Minister, you heard Benjamin Netanyahu, did you hear him, Bibi? He said, 'I've known Donald Trump for a long time,' and then he said, 'Forget it.' So you should take that instead of having to get up and ask a very insulting question like that.

Bibi means son of the right hand; son of the south; son of my old age in Hebrew and is a nickname widely given to Mr Netanyahu.

Later in the news conference, a reporter from Sirius XM, Jared Rizzi, elaborated on Turxs question, suggesting that Mr Trump had misconstrued the question.

I'll follow up on my colleague's question about anti-Semitism. It's not about your personality or your beliefs, he said. We're talking about a rise in anti-Semitism around the country. Some of it by supporters in your name. What can you do to deter that?

President Trump responded by suggesting that anti-Semitism came from his political opponents in order to incite anger.

Some of the signs you'll see are not put up by the people that love or live Donald Trump. They're put up by the other side, and you think it's like playing it straight? No. But you have some of those signs, and some of that anger is caused by the other side. They'll do signs and they'll do drawings that are inappropriate. It won't be my people. It will be the people on the other side to anger people like you.

A recent study by CNN found 48 Jewish centres in 27 US states and one Canadian province received nearly 60 bomb threats during January.

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and director of the Anti-Defamation League, criticised Mr Trumps inability to explain what he is going to do about anti-Semitism or to explicitly condemn it.

It is honestly mind-boggling why President Trump prefers to shout down a reporter or brush this off as a political distraction. This is not a partisan issue. Its a potentially lethal problem. And its growing, he said in a statement.

In light of the bomb scares, online harassment, physical vandalism, death threats, and other hate crimes, there is a simple question at hand that Americans of all faiths deserve an answer to  what is the Trump Administration going to do about the recent surge of anti-Semitism?

The Jewish community has voiced their concerns about the Trump presidency on a number of occasions. Just 24 per cent of Jews voted for Mr Trump and many Jewish organisations have expressed their worries about Mr Trumps policies and the issue of anti-Semitism among some of his supporters.

Mr Trump sparked outrage among the community for his International Holocaust Day statement which failed to explicitly mention Nazi Germanys mass murder of six million Jews. Critics argued the omission served to generalise the genocide.
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Democrats, civil rights groups and activists have reacted with outrage and confusion to the news that new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary John Kelly wrote a draft memo to propose using 100,000 National Guard troops to round up undocumented immigrants.

The report was quickly disputed by White House press secretary Sean Spicer who said it was 100 per cent false.

The acting press secretary for the DHS, Gillian Christensen, also told The Independent: The Department is not considering mobilising the National Guard.

It was not disputed, however, that the memo had been drafted by Mr Kelly and was possibly discussed in the White House as part of President Donald Trumps anti-immigrant agenda.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said the report, of which eight governors were unaware, was despicable and unAmerican.

The reports surfaced one day after immigrants hosted a national strike to protest at the Presidents agenda, demonstrating how immigration contributed to society and the economy.

Thanu Yakupitiyage, senior communications manager of the New York Immigration Coalition, said the proposals were a complete outrage.

It would just be one of many assaults on immigrant communities, she said. But if they did push that forward it would be [a show of] unprecedented militarisation.

Democratic congresswoman Yvette Clark said: "I am deeply troubled by recent reports of a draft memo within Donald Trumps administration proposing the mobilisation of the National Guard for mass deportation of immigrants. Americans depend on the National Guard to keep us safe in times of crisis, not to threaten immigrant families with forced separation."

Former Secretary of Labour Tom Perez said in a statement that the report was inhumane and against American values.

Instead of deploying 100,000 troops on American soil to pick up children outside of schools, round up abuelita [grandma] and abuelito [grandpa], and tear apart innocent families, Donald Trump should look within his own White House for the actual threats to our nation, he said.

Eric Garland, a business and government analyst, also wrote on Twitter: This is where history looks at every single Republican that lets this travesty continue on any longer and squints menacingly.

The disputed reports of the 11-page memo come just one week after Mr Kelly was forced to testify before a hearing on border security, admitting Mr Trumps Muslim ban executive order that was shut down by a federal court should have been delayed just a bit.

He took blame for the ban which was rolled out before he had even had final sign-off, saying: The desire was to get it out, the thinking was to get it out quick, so that potentially people that be coming here to harm us would not take advantage of a period of time to jump on a plane and get here.

Mr Trumps national security adviser Michael Flynn was also forced to resign this week after it was revealed he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about his calls to the Russian ambassador, and the Presidents choice replacement, Robert Harward, turned down the job.

Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban Show all 20 1 /20 Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-1 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-2 Protestors rally during a protest against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump singed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-3 Protestors rally during a protest against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump singed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-4 SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JANUARY 28: Demonstrators hold signs during a rally against a ban on Muslim immigration at San Francisco International Airport on January 28, 2017 in San Francisco, California. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday that suspends entry of all refugees for 120 days, indefinitely suspends the entries of all Syrian refugees, as well as barring entries from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering for 90 days. Stephen Lam/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-5 A crowd of protesters gathers outside of the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse as a judge hears a challenge against President Donald Trump's executive ban on immigration from several Muslim countries, on January 28, 2017 in Brooklyn. The judge issued an emergency stay on part of Trump's executive order, ruling that sending refugees stopped at U.S. airports back to their countries would be harmful. Yana Paskova/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-6 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the new immigration ban issued by President Donald Trump at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-7 NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 28: Protestors rally during a demonstration against the new immigration ban issued by President Donald Trump at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-8 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the new immigration ban issued by President Donald Trump at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-9 Getty Images Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-10 Getty Images Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-11 NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 28: Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-12 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-13 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-14 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-15 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-16 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-17 NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 28: Protestors rally during a protest against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump singed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-18 Protestors rally during a protest against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump singed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-19 Protestors rally during a protest against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump singed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty Protestors rally at JFK Airport against Muslim immigration ban jfk-protest-muslim-ban-20 Passengers wait in line to check in at the American Airlines terminal at JFK International Airport August 10, 2006 in the Queens borough of New York City. British authorities arrested 21 people and halted a anallegedly terrorist plot to use liquid explosives concealed in carry-on luggage to blow up airliners traveling between Britain and the U.S. Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff said that the plot appeared to be directed at U.S. carriers flying out of Heathrow. such as United Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines. Stephen Chernin/Getty

Although Mr Kellys latest memo may have been dismissed by the White House as soon as it was reported, it speaks volumes about the current line of anti-immigrant thinking in the nations highest office.

Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro said the move was equivalent to mass deportation and did not agree that the White House had dismissed the memo following Mr Spicers denial.

On a conference call with reporters, he added: Its very disturbing. Im hoping that its not true, but you get five different answers on controversial issues depending on who you ask. So its hard to know when Sean Spicers denial is actual policy. The President needs to address this. The President needs to be clear about his intentions, whether he intends to use the National Guard as immigration agents.

Former President Barack Obama was nicknamed deporter in chief within some circles as he deported as many as 400,000 people per year early on in his government.

He reduced the scope for deportations to people who had been criminally convicted, but Mr Trump wants to broaden the scope again.

It is still not clear, for example, if a crime could be simply having crossed the border in the first place.

 Donald Trump says he is 'least racist person', tells Jewish reporter to sit down and be quiet

Asked at his first solo press conference in office this week what he would do about children immigrants covered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme, he did not offer any concrete answers.

Its a difficult subject for me, he said. I love kids.

He also announced that he would file another version of his Muslim ban, which barred people coming to the US from seven Muslim-majority countries for at least 90 days.

He offered no details except that it would be tailored to the decision of the Washington federal judge James Robart who struck the original ban down eight days after it was signed.

Amnesty International responded that a re-writing of the Muslim Ban order doesnt address the human rights issues it raises. Congress must nullify it once and for all.
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Donald Trump's administration is considering mobilising as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up undocumented immigrants, it has been reported.

The Associated Press obtained a draft memo that calls for the unprecedented militarisation of the US immigration enforcement. But if implemented, governors in 11 states included in the draft memo would have final say on whether troops are actually deployed.

The draft memo, written by Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, includes four states that border Mexico  Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California  but extends to seven contiguous states  Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and Oregon.

States like California would be unlikely to comply with the Trump administration should it actually call for the deployment of National Guard troops for immigration enforcement.

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

Last month, the President signed two executive orders pertaining to the southern border with Mexico. The first directed the construction of a wall in the region, despite the existence of some 700 miles of barrier already in place. The second boosted the number of Border Patrol agents and immigration enforcement officers who carry out raids and deportations.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied the report as "100 per cent false" on Twitter, but could not say that the subject was never a topic of discussion within the administration.

"I don't know what could potentially be out there, but I know that there is no effort to do what is potentially suggested," he said. "It is not a White House document."

The acting press secretary for the DHS also denied the report, saying: "The Department is not considering mobilising the National Guard."

Recommended Immigrants are going on strike to teach Donald Trump a lesson

But it remains unclear whether the White House will carry out this order as reported, as the administration has become notorious for attempting to discredit news stories that cast a unfavourable light on the President, writing them off as "fake".

Mr Trump launched his campaign with particular focus on immigrants from Mexico, criminalising them with broad brushstrokes. In his now infamous June 2015 campaign announcement, he referred to Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug traffickers, solidified with his vow to build a wall along the already-militarised southern border.

In the first month of Mr Trump's administration, immigration enforcement officers carried out the first large-scale enforcement of Mr Trump's executive order to take action against undocumented people in the US.

Raids took place last week in and around New York, Los Angeles, North Carolina, South Carolina, Atlanta and Chicago, immigration officials confirmed  with more than a third of those detained in the Los Angeles area being deported to Mexico.

Democratic Texas Rep Joaquin Castro condemned the draft and called it "disturbing".

Implementing the President's Border Security and Immigration Enforcement [draft memo] by Indy USA on Scribd

"I'm hoping that it's not true, but you get five different answers on controversial issues depending on who you ask [in the Trump administration]," he said during a conference call with reporters. "So it's hard to know when Sean Spicer's denial is actual policy.

"The President needs to address this; the President needs to be clear about his intentions and whether he intends to use the National Guard as immigration agents."

Mr Castro explained that, following a meeting with ICE, it was hard to "not conclude that Donald Trump has started his mass deportation plan". In the meeting ICE officials referred to the President's executive order to crack down on undocumented immigrants and acknowledged that it was a much broader mandate than President Barack Obama's.

 Donald Trump wants import tax to pay for Mexico wall

"They seemed determined to go after as many people as possible because of the language of the executive order," he said. "And the ICE director was very clear that they were going to follow that message."

Immigrants who face the threat of removal have the right to due process. A mass deportation operation would likely still require full removal proceedings, leading to mass incarceration and increase the likelihood of erroneous detentions. Mr Trump's actions could lead to an increase in immigration detention populations from about 45,000 daily to three million.

Christian Ramirez, the director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition and human rights director for Alliance San Diego, expressed concern about the panic that will stem from this report, as well as the fear that Mr Trump has already generated in immigrant communities along the US-Mexico border.

"Any talk about deploying military personnel to our communities is not only of great concern to border residents who have been living under the boot of border militarisation for generations, but it should be of great concern to our democracy," he told The Independent.

"Having military personnel enforce civilian laws runs counter to basic principles of democratic societies and we should be concerned with the notion of this being contemplated by this administration."

Still, Mr Ramirez explained immigrant communities along the border were already heavily policed by the Border Patrol, the largest law enforcement agency in the country.

Mr Trump's enforcement efforts are made possible by infrastructure that has already been fortified by previous administrations. The Obama administration was fiercely criticised by immigrant rights groups for its part in ramping up immigration enforcement in the US.

Under Obama, ICE carried out some 2.5 million deportations between 2009 and 2015.

"When it comes to the actual enforcement, we had gross cases of human rights violations along the southern border under Obama," Mr Ramirez said.

"I think what is clear is that President Trump inherited a massive deportation machine and has control of the largest law enforcement agency in the country, which Congress granted these absolute powers to look the other way when it comes to protecting our Constitutional rights.

"What is clearly different is that, unlike the previous administration, the Trump administration has been using a whole lot of hate speech and hyperbolic rhetoric when referring to the border region, immigrants, and refugees  and language has a real impact on communities."
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Donald Trumps choice for national security adviser has rejected the post days after Michael Flynn was forced to resign.

Vice-Admiral Robert Harward said the decision was purely a personal issue but his refusal was another blow for the White House after a series of policy U-turns and calls for investigations into alleged Russian links.

Harward is conflicted between the call of duty and the obvious dysfunctionality, a person with first-hand knowledge of the discussions between the President and his candidate told the Financial Times.

 Donald Trump is questioned over whether he ordered General Flynn to discuss sanctions with Russia

A friend of Vice-Admiral Harward's told CNN he described the President's offer as a s*** sandwich.

A reported stumbling block in negotiations was Vice-Admiral Harwards concern whether he would be allowed to bring his own staff to the National Security Council, following suggestions that Mr Flynns deputy KT McFarland, a former Fox News pundit, was asked to remain.

The President denied chaos had beset his administration on Thursday, telling reporters it was running like a fine-tuned machine.

But critics have seized on Vice-Admiral Harwards refusal to replace Mr Flynn as a vote of no confidence in Mr Trump amid uncertainty about his positions on key issues including the Syrian war, Ukrainian conflict and Russia.

The President personally asked the retired navy special forces officer to succeed Mr Flynn, telling a press conference ousting his former ally had been made easier by the fact he had an outstanding candidate to serve as a replacement.

But he publicly declined the offer hours later, telling the Associated Press it was purely a personal issue.

Vice-Admiral Harward said Trump administration was very accommodating to my needs, both professionally and personally, adding: I'm in a unique position finally after being in the military for 40 years to enjoy some personal time.

Asked whether he had requested to bring in his own staff at the National Security Council (NSC), he said: I think that's for the President to address.

The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Show all 9 1 /9 The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the media White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Union leaders applaud US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC. Mr Trump issued a presidential memorandum in January announcing that the US would withdraw from the trade deal Getty The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Mexico wall A US Border Patrol vehicle sits waiting for illegal immigrants at a fence opening near the US-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. The number of incoming immigrants has surged ahead of the upcoming Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. A signature campaign promise, Mr Trump outlined his intention to build a border wall on the US-Mexico border days after taking office Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and abortion US President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House. Mr Trump reinstated a ban on American financial aide being granted to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling, provide abortion referrals, or advocate for abortion access outside of the United States Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Dakota Access pipeline Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York. US President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and 'Obamacare' Nancy Pelosi who is the minority leader of the House of Representatives speaks beside House Democrats at an event to protect the Affordable Care Act in Los Angeles, California. US President Donald Trump's effort to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace the healthcare law failed when Republicans failed to get enough votes. Mr Trump has promised to revisit the matter Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Donald Trump and 'sanctuary cities' US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to pull funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" if they do not comply with federal immigration law AP The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the travel ban US President Donald Trump has attempted twice to restrict travel into the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries. The first attempt, in February, was met with swift opposition from protesters who flocked to airports around the country. That travel ban was later blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The second ban was blocked by a federal judge a day before it was scheduled to be implemented in mid-March SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and climate change US President Donald Trump sought to dismantle several of his predecessor's actions on climate change in March. His order instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan, which would cap power plant emissions Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

He served as deputy commander of US Central Command under General James Mattis, who is now the US defence secretary, and served on the NSC under President George W Bush and commissioned the National Counter Terrorism Center.

After retiring from the military in 2013 after a career stretching almost 40 years, Vice-Admiral Harward became CEO for arms firm Lockheed Martin, which is locked in negotiations with the Trump administration over the cost of its F-35 fighter jet.

Two other contenders have been tipped as possibilities to take the role - acting national security adviser Keith Kellogg and retired General David Petraeus.

He resigned as CIA director in 2012 and pleaded guilty to one misdemeanour charge of mishandling classified information relating to documents he had provided to his biographer, with whom he was having an affair. He was fined $100,000 (80,000) and remains on probation.

Mr Flynn was forced to resign following revelations he gave incomplete information to the Vice President over his discussions with the Russian ambassador during the transition period.

The thing is, he didn't tell our Vice President properly, and then he said he didn't remember, Mr Trump told reporters. So either way, it wasn't very satisfactory to me".

Additional reporting by agencies
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Every single piece of art that was created or donated by immigrants has been removed by a US art museum to highlight their contribution to the country's cultural life.

The Davis Museum at Wellesley College, Massachusetts has taken down around 20 per cent of its entire collection or covered it with a black shroud.

It said the "Art-Less" project was conceived as protest against President Trumps controversial executive order banning US entry to travellers from seven majority Muslim countries.

 Donald Trump says 'the leaks are real, the news is fake' in response to Michael Flynn resignation

Paintings, bronze and wood sculptures, ceremonial masks and works from a number of different collections are all missing from their usual places.

The absence of a portrait of George Washington is especially notable as the project is taking place over the Presidents Day weekend.

(Adolph Ulrich Wertmuller/Metropolitan Museum of Art ) (Adolph Ulrich Wertmuller/Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Although it now honours every US leader, President's Day is celebrated on Mr Washington's birthday.

The portrait was painted by Swedish-born artist, Adolf Ulrik Wertmuller in 1794-96 and later donated to the museum by a Swedish immigrant family.

Eighty per cent of the museum's African collection will also be obscured from view, as much of it was donated by a Polish immigrant family.

In the place of the hidden art is a label marked made by an immigrant or given by an immigrant.

Every permanent collections gallery will be affected by the subtraction of works created by or given to the Museum by an immigrant to the United States, said Claire Whitner, the Senior Curator of Collections, and overseer of the project.

Art-Less demonstrates in stark and indisputable terms the impact of immigration on our collections, added Lisa Fischman, one of the museum's directors. We proudly take the opportunity to signal that impact, to honour the gifts of creativity and generosity that make the Davis Museum and the Wellesley community great.

The move comes after widespread condemnation of Mr Trumps travel ban by the museum community.

New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban Show all 27 1 /27 New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban Ethnic Yemenis and supporters protest against President Donald Trump's executive order temporarily banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen on February 2, 2017 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. At least 1,000 Yemeni-owned bodegas and grocery-stores across the city shut down from noon to 8 p.m. today to protest the order. Spencer Platt/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban People rally at Brooklyn Borough Hall as Yemeni bodega and grocery-stores shut down to protest US President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen, on February 2, 2017 in New York. Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban Men pray during a protest by ethnic Yemenis and supporters over President Donald Trump's executive order temporarily banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen on February 2, 2017 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. At least 1,000 Yemeni-owned bodegas and grocery-stores across the city shut down from noon to 8 p.m. today to protest the order. Spencer Platt/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban Ethnic Yemenis and supporters protest against President Donald Trump's executive order temporarily banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen on February 2, 2017 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. At least 1,000 Yemeni-owned bodegas and grocery-stores across the city shut down from noon to 8 p.m. today to protest the order. Spencer Platt/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban Men pray during a protest by ethnic Yemenis and supporters over President Donald Trump's executive order temporarily banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen on February 2, 2017 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. At least 1,000 Yemeni-owned bodegas and grocery-stores across the city shut down from noon to 8 p.m. today to protest the order. Spencer Platt/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban People rally at Brooklyn Borough Hall as Yemeni bodega and grocery-stores shut down to protest US President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen, on February 2, 2017 in New York. Spencer Platt/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban People rally at Brooklyn Borough Hall as Yemeni bodega and grocery-stores shut down to protest US President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen, on February 2, 2017 in New York. Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban People rally at Brooklyn Borough Hall as Yemeni bodega and grocery-stores shut down to protest US President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen, on February 2, 2017 in New York. Spencer Platt/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban People rally at Brooklyn Borough Hall as Yemeni bodega and grocery-stores shut down to protest US President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen, on February 2, 2017 in New York. Spencer Platt/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban People gather for evening prayer at a rally at Brooklyn Borough Hall as Yemeni bodega and grocery-stores shut down to protest US President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen, on February 2, 2017 in New York. Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban People rally at Brooklyn Borough Hall as Yemeni bodega and grocery-stores shut down to protest US President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen, on February 2, 2017 in New York. Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban People rally with flags at Brooklyn Borough Hall as Yemeni bodega and grocery-stores shut down to protest US President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen, on February 2, 2017 in New York. Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban People rally at Brooklyn Borough Hall as Yemeni bodega and grocery-stores shut down to protest US President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen, on February 2, 2017 in New York. Spencer Platt/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban People rally at Brooklyn Borough Hall as Yemeni bodega and grocery-stores shut down to protest US President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen, on February 2, 2017 in New York. Spencer Platt/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban People rally at Brooklyn Borough Hall as Yemeni bodega and grocery-stores shut down to protest US President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen, on February 2, 2017 in New York. Spencer Platt/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban People rally at Brooklyn Borough Hall as Yemeni bodega and grocery-stores shut down to protest US President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen, on February 2, 2017 in New York. Spencer Platt/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban People rally at Brooklyn Borough Hall as Yemeni bodega and grocery-stores shut down to protest US President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen, on February 2, 2017 in New York. Spencer Platt/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban People rally with flags at Brooklyn Borough Hall as Yemeni bodega and grocery-stores shut down to protest US President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen, on February 2, 2017 in New York. Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban People rally with flags at Brooklyn Borough Hall as Yemeni bodega and grocery-stores shut down to protest US President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen, on February 2, 2017 in New York. Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban People rally with flags at Brooklyn Borough Hall as Yemeni bodega and grocery-stores shut down to protest US President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen, on February 2, 2017 in New York. Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban People rally at Brooklyn Borough Hall as Yemeni bodega and grocery-stores shut down to protest US President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen, on February 2, 2017 in New York. Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban People rally with flags at Brooklyn Borough Hall as Yemeni bodega and grocery-stores shut down to protest US President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen, on February 2, 2017 in New York. Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban People rally at Brooklyn Borough Hall as Yemeni bodega and grocery-stores shut down to protest President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen, on February 2, 2017 in New York. Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban A Yemeni business owner places a sign on the gate of his store February 2, 2017 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Across the city, Yemeni owned bodega and grocery-stores will shut down from noon to 8 p.m. to protest President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen. It is expected that over 1000 stores will be closed in protest with workers and owners participating in an afternoon rally in Brooklyn. Spencer Platt/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban A Yemeni business owner places a sign on the gate of his store February 2, 2017 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Across the city, Yemeni owned bodega and grocery-stores will shut down from noon to 8 p.m. to protest President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen. It is expected that over 1000 stores will be closed in protest with workers and owners participating in an afternoon rally in Brooklyn. Spencer Platt/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 02: Yemeni business owner Musa closes the gate to his store February 2, 2017 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Across the city, Yemeni owned bodega and grocery-stores will shut down from noon to 8 p.m. to protest President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen. It is expected that over 1000 stores will be closed in protest with workers and owners participating in an afternoon rally in Brooklyn. Spencer Platt/Getty New York City bodegas strike to protest Trump's travel ban A Yemeni business owner closes the gate to his store February 2, 2017 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Across the city, Yemeni owned bodega and grocery-stores will shut down from noon to 8 p.m. to protest President Donald Trump's Executive Order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Yemen. It is expected that over 1000 stores will be closed in protest with workers and owners participating in an afternoon rally in Brooklyn. Spencer Platt/Getty

A statement released by the Association of Art Museum Directors in response to the ban said it was deeply concerned with the order and said it put art and academia in jeopardy.

Mr Trumps executive order, barring travel for citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries, was eventually blocked by the courts.

But the President has announced he will sign a new, similar order to replace it.
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A senior Republican adviser said there is something deeply wrong about President Donald Trump after watching his first solo press conference in office.

"Something is deeply wrong with our president and the country is in danger," wrote Gabriel Schoenfeld, former adviser to Mitt Romney during the 2012 presidential campaign, in an op-ed for New York Daily News.

"The danger will only be averted when the Republican leadership in Congress publicly acknowledges what they and the rest of the entire world already know: America's president is not wearing any clothes."

Mr Schoenfeld listed the controversies that Mr Trump has sparked or dealt with during four weeks in the White House. This included his immigration executive order being blocked by a federal court, his open feud with intelligence agencies and his national security adviser Michael Flynn resigning over his calls to the Russian ambassador.

The Republican adviser concluded that the President was "delusional" if he really believed his statements that his government was a "fine-tuned machine", or that his Muslim ban had enjoyed a "perfect roll-out".

Mr Schoenfeld's remarks follow a press conference on Thursday in the White House - described by the adviser as "an avalanche of boulders" - where the President fielded questions for over an hour, declaring leaks from intelligence to the media were "real" but that media headlines about Russia were "fake".

 Seth Meyers tackles Donald Trump's 'bats**t crazy' press conference

The President he had "inherited a mess at home and abroad" but that no government had done so much in such little time and incorrectly stated that he had won the biggest electoral college landslide since Ronald Reagan.

"Yet even if he is not suffering from outright delusions, and is simply attempting to cover his obvious failures with glorious adjectives, his mind, as it was put on display today, clearly has wires crossed," insisted the adviser.

Mr Trump had dinner with Mr Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, shortly after he won the election, prompting speculation that Mr Romney might be nominated as secretary of state.

A photograph of their candlelit dinner, with Mr Trump grinning and Mr Romney smiling sheepishly, went viral. Mr Romney had loudly condemned Mr Trump as a "conman" on the campaign trail.

Mr Trump was 'toying' with Mr Romney

Despite many comments that the President may be mentally unwell after displaying erratic behaviour, psychiatrist Professor Allen Frances said that label was an "insult" to people who have genuine mental health problems.

Mr Frances, the man who wrote the defining clinical characteristics for narcissistic personality disorder, said the President may be a "world-class narcissist" but he does not display signs of having the disorder.
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Fine restaurants in New York, San Francisco and the nation's capital closed for the daygrocery stores, food trucks, coffee shops, and diners in places like Chicago, Los Angeles and Boston also closed shop. Cities across the country got a taste of how the United States would look like on "A Day Without Immigrants," a strike highlighting the contributions immigrants bring to the states.

The movement spread mostly online without the help of national organising groups and is a direct response to President Trumps promise to seal the southern US-Mexico border and his suspended ban on citizens from seven majority-Muslim countries. The strike on Thursday called on legal and undocumented immigrants to skip work, school, dining out and refrain from shopping.

Its like the Arab Spring, Manuel Castro, executive director of the New Immigrant Community Empowerment, told The New York Times. Our members were coming to us, asking what the plan was. Frankly, it kind of came out of nowhere.



In Chicago, celebrity chef Rick Bayless closed four of his restaurants out of respect to his staff. In Charlotte, North Carolina, more than 250 businesses closed their doors. More than 100 businesses, restaurants, and groceries closed shop in Michigan.

And in Washington DC, Andy Shallal, who immigrated from Iraq, closed his Busboys and Poets restaurants to express solidarity to fellow immigrants. As an immigrant myself, I could not stand on the sidelines and watch the rest of my staff not be here, he told NBC Washington. I wanted to make sure we are in solidarity with them.

Jose Andres, a Spanish-born celebrity chef and vocal opponent of the Presidents immigration policies, announced that he close five of his restaurants in support of the movement.

People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Show all 16 1 /16 People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Chicago, Illinois, February 16, 2017. Theopolis Waters/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Washington, DC, U.S., February 16, 2017. Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. The crowd, which grew to well over a thousand participants, marched from the Austin City Hall to the Texas State Capital. Across the country hundreds of restaurants and eateries are closing for the day to protest President Trump's immigration policies and to highlight the contributions of immigrants to U.S. business and life. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants AUSTIN, TX - FEBRUARY 16: Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Chicago, Illinois, February 16, 2017. Theopolis Waters/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Chicago, Illinois, February 16, 2017. Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. The crowd, which grew to well over a thousand participants, marched from the Austin City Hall to the Texas State Capital. Across the country hundreds of restaurants and eateries are closing for the day to protest President Trump's immigration policies and to highlight the contributions of immigrants to U.S. business and life. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. The crowd, which grew to well over a thousand participants marched from the Austin City Hall to the Texas State Capital. Across the country hundreds of restaurants and eateries are closing for the day to protest President Trump's immigration policies and to highlight the contributions of immigrants to U.S. business and life. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants High school student Kathia Suarez holds up a sign as she protests with others outside the Grayson County courthouse in downtown Sherman, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. LM Otero/AP People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants High school senior Vicky Sosa holds a sign outside the Grayson County courthouse in downtown Sherman, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. In an action called "A Day Without Immigrants," immigrants across the country are expected to stay home from school, work and close businesses to show how critical they are to the U.S. economy and way of life. LM Otero/AP

Other businesses who stayed open on Thursday offered messages of support to those feeling threatened under the new administration.

Today, many of our DMV-area team members are participating in a Day Without Immigrants, the Maryland-based Cava restaurant said in a statement. We support them and have worked with them to schedule any time off to exercise that right. Your meal might take a little longer today  we appreciate your patience!

Celebrity Chef Mario Batali also expressed support of the movement but announced that his restaurants would remain open. We have a cultural mix in each resto, he wrote on Twitter. We are open but will not be fully staffed. We will honor all reservations but are in solidarity.

"We apologize for any delay tomorrow," the Italian marketplace Eataly wrote in a statement. "We are an immigrant company & support any employees participating in the strike."

Leandra Gonzalez, a teacher at the Paul Public Charter School in DC, admitted that her students are worried about their lives under the Trump administration. A number of area charter schools and day-care centres were also closed on Thursday.

I made sure the students understood that its not about skipping school and having the day off, she told The Washington Post. Its about having the school understand what it would be like if they werent there because they bring so much culture and interesting stories.
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San Francisco officials have voted to ban the sale of non-rescue dogs and cats at pet shops as part of a concerted effort to eradicate inhumane puppy breeding operations in the city.

The amendment will not affect licenced breeders however it will aim to tackle the prevalence of large-scale puppy mills, while helping to facilitate the adoption of thousands of animals already occupying the city's shelters.

San Francisco will not be the first US city to implement such a measure, which will also ban the sale of animals under eight weeks old. Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston and Austin all enforce similar legislation.

Most animal lovers are horrified at the thought of keeping their beloved family pet in a dirty wire cage for a second  let alone a week, month or even years. Yet, that is the fate of many animals at large-scale commercial breeding operations across the nation, including the mothers of many puppies and kittens sold in pet shops, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors wrote in an op-ed piece.

In response, more than 200 cities and counties across the nation have banned the sale of dogs and cats in pet stores.

Mimi Bekhechi, animal cruelty charity PETAs director of international programmes, praised the decision as progressive and example-setting.

Recommended The dark world of puppy smuggling

With this vote, San Francisco has proved itself to be the city of love for millions of dogs and cats in desperate need of homes.

"Pet shops' greed fuels the cruel commercial breeding industry that keeps female dogs and cats prisoner inside filthy wire cages  whose only purpose is to churn out litters of inbred puppies and kittens who are then taken away from them, transported hundreds of miles, and sold, she told The Independent.

The city has recognised that animals are not commodities and that there's a direct link between the industry and the millions of dogs and cats in shelters around the world who are euthanised each year because there aren't enough good homes for them all.

District 4 Supervisor Katy Tang, who sponsored the legislation, also called on the US Agriculture Department to reinstate information on its website documenting animal cruelty cases, which was removed earlier in the month.

San Francisco currently has no known pet shops selling dogs and cats, however Ms Tang said the measure would allow the citys Animal Care and Control Department to prevent future shops opening.

This ordinance will serve as a deterrent, preventing a business from moving into San Francisco and selling animals from irresponsible mass-producing breeders that churn out puppies and kittens as if they were on an assembly line, she wrote.

Beyond protecting consumers and cutting off the supply chain, this ordinance also acknowledges San Francisco businesses for their humane business practices.

San Franciscos animal department, along with the citys branch of the SPCA charity, re-home more than 6,000 animals each year.
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The Senate has confirmed Scott Pruitt to run the Environmental Protection Agency despite criticisms from Democrats and environmental groups.

The former Oklahoma attorney general spent years suing the agency which he will now lead over its efforts to regulate pollution.

Democrats and environmental groups fear for the future of the agency with Mr Pruitt at the helm, as he is well positioned to materialise President Donald Trump's campaign promises to "get rid" of the EPA "in almost every form".

Mr Pruitt  described by Bernie Sanders as the worst of the worst of Mr Trumps cabinet picks  has sued the EPA on 13 occasions. He has also accused the agency of having an activist agenda and his opponents fear he will seek to dismantle the body.

Nonetheless, the Senate approved him by a vote of 52-46, a narrow victory.

The climate change denier won over the votes of two Democrats  West Virginia Sen Joe Manchin and Sen Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. One Republican, Sen Susan Collins of Maine, broke with her party and voted against the nominee. She said his views were "fundamentally different" from hers about how the EPA was meant to function.

Environmental activists were quick to condemn the confirmation of Mr Pruitt.

"Scott Pruitt is the worst pick ever confirmed to lead the EPA. Hes being sent there to hobble the agency we depend on to protect our health and environment. All the worse, Senate Republicans forced the confirmation vote before the public can know the truth about Pruitts ties to industrial polluters," said National Resources Defence Council president Rhea Suh.

"Well use every tool in the kit to stop him from harming our air and water, endangering our communities and surrendering our kids to climate catastrophe."

The New York Times revealed in 2014 that energy lobbyists drafted letters sent by Mr Pruitt to the EPA in behalf of the state of Oklahoma, airing his grievances about the hardships environmental regulations had on the coal, oil, and gas companies.

According to Democrats, a trove of emails are set to be released as early as Tuesday that could further elaborate on the new EPA director's relationship with those companies. Opposing Senators attempted to delay the confirmation vote so that all information could be reviewed.

"I reminded my colleagues that the release of these documents could be imminent and that we would be wise to wait to vote on Mr Pruitt's nomination until we had the opportunity to review them  and shame on us if we didn't," Delaware senator, and ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Tom Carper said.

"Mr Pruitt has been nominated by a man who, as a nominee, as a president-elect, and now as president, has made clear his goals to degrade the EPA.

"Like many things President Trump says, we ask ourselves, 'Did he mean it?' With the nomination of Mr Pruitt, it's clear he did."
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A health campaigner held her broken heart in her hands after doctors removed it during a life saving transplant.

I was struck by the density and the weight to it, said Lisa Salberg after holding the organ. It was really, really heavy.

The 48-year-old was forced to go under the knife as she was suffering with a dangerous form of heart disease.

Ms Salberg has campaigned for heart disease research and started the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association after her sister died from the condition.

At least five other family members have been diagnosed with the disease, in which the heart muscle cells enlarge and cause the ventricles to thicken, making it more difficult for the heart to pump blood.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, between 600,000 and 1.5 million people suffer with the disorder in the US. In the UK, heart disease is estimated to be responsible for more than 73,000 deaths each year.

Ms Salberg, who was diagnosed at 12 and had a stroke at 21, told ABC News: I have an entire life ahead of me to find ways to improve peoples health, and I'm doubling down. You ain't seen nothing yet.

Newark Beth Israel Medical Center transplant surgeon Dr Margarita Camacho said it was wonderful her patient had asked for her heart.
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Donald Trump followed up his attack on the media at news conference with an email to supporters which continued the assault.

Released via the Republican Party website, the "Mainstream Media Accountability Survey" asked a series of questions focusing on the alleged shortcomings of the press, naming some media outlets.

The 25 questions also tried to garner support for President Trumps communications methods.

Mr Trump wrote that the American people were the last line of defence against the medias hit jobs.

 Donald Trump is fact-checked over claim he won the biggest electoral college victory since Reagan

He said he would be subject to some of the nastiest attacks you can imagine and asked people to fill in the survey, which can be viewed in full here.

The first questions asked if respondents believed if the media had reported unfairly on our movement.

The survey then listed a series of broadcasters  MSNBC, CNN and Fox News  and asked if they trusted them to report fairly on the Trump presidency.

Later, the questions expanded to cover specific points of contention between Mr Trump and the press.

Question 10 asked if respondents believed the mainstream media does not do their due diligence fact-checking before publishing stories on the Trump administration?

Respondents were then asked whether the media unfairly reported on President Trumps executive order temporarily restricting people entering our country from nations compromised by radical Islamic terrorism?

Another asked if the media has been too eager to jump to conclusions about rumoured stories?

 Donald Trump says he is 'least racist person', tells Jewish reporter to sit down and be quiet

It did not specify what these rumoured stories were, but Mr Trump has most recently attacked coverage of the resignation of his former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

The retired general was forced to quit the post after it emerged that he had spoken to Sergey Kislyak, Moscows ambassador to the US, about the issue of sanctions before taking office.

It is illegal for a private citizen to conduct diplomacy on behalf of the US.

The poll concluded by asking if the Republican Party should spend more time and resources holding the mainstream media accountable?

Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Show all 22 1 /22 Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Kanye West and President-elect Donald Trump speak with the press after their meetings at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Kanye West and President-elect Donald Trump speak with the press after their meetings at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Kanye West and President-elect Donald Trump speak with the press after their meetings at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Kanye West and President-elect Donald Trump speak with the press after their meetings at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Kanye West and President-elect Donald Trump speak with the press after their meetings at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Kanye West and President-elect Donald Trump speak with the press after their meetings at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Kanye West and President-elect Donald Trump speak with the press after their meetings at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Kanye West and President-elect Donald Trump speak with the press after their meetings at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Kanye West and President-elect Donald Trump speak with the press after their meetings at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Kanye West and President-elect Donald Trump speak with the press after their meetings at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Singer Kanye West arrives at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 as US President-elect Donald Trump continues to hold meetings in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Singer Kanye West arrives at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 as US President-elect Donald Trump continues to hold meetings in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Singer Kanye West arrives at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 as US President-elect Donald Trump continues to hold meetings in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Singer Kanye West arrives at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 as US President-elect Donald Trump continues to hold meetings in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Singer Kanye West arrives at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 as US President-elect Donald Trump continues to hold meetings in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Singer Kanye West arrives at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 as US President-elect Donald Trump continues to hold meetings in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Singer Kanye West arrives at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 as US President-elect Donald Trump continues to hold meetings in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Singer Kanye West arrives at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 as US President-elect Donald Trump continues to hold meetings in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Singer Kanye West arrives at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 as US President-elect Donald Trump continues to hold meetings in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Singer Kanye West arrives at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 as US President-elect Donald Trump continues to hold meetings in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images Kanye West meets Donald Trump in Manhattan Singer Kanye West arrives at Trump Tower December 13, 2016 as US President-elect Donald Trump continues to hold meetings in New York. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images

The survey was released shortly after Mr Trump attacked the media at a news conference.

Talking of the recent leaks which led to the resignation of Mr Flynn, the President insisted the information coming from inside his administration was "real", but the news written about them was "fake".

He said: "Well the leaks are real. Youre the one that wrote about them and reported them, I mean the leaks are real. You know what they said, you saw it and the leaks are absolutely real. The news is fake because so much of the news is fake."

He also denied any wrongdoing with Russia and falsely claimed he had the most Electoral College votes since Ronald Reagan.
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Donald Trump said he did not instruct General Mike Flynn, his former national security adviser, to talk to Russia about the possibility of easing US sanctions on Moscow  but he would have done so if he had not thought it was already being done.

General Flynn resigned earlier this week after it emerged that, before taking his post, he had spoken to Sergey Kislyak, Moscows ambassador to the US, about the issue of sanctions.

It is illegal for a private citizen to conduct diplomacy on behalf of the US.

The retired general had previously denied sanctions were discussed during the conversation - a claim he repeated during private talks with Vice President Mike Pence.

Mr Pence then relayed that information to members of the media.

Asked about the issue during a White House press conference, Mr Trump defended General Flynn and said his only mistake had been lying to Mr Pence about the nature of the conversations.

Responding to a question on whether he would have sacked him if the details of his conversation with the Russian ambassador had not leaked, Mr Trump said: No, I fired him because of what he said to Mike Pence. Very simple.

The Republican was also asked whether he had instructed Mr Flynn to raise the issue of sanctions with Russia.

The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Show all 9 1 /9 The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the media White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Union leaders applaud US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC. Mr Trump issued a presidential memorandum in January announcing that the US would withdraw from the trade deal Getty The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Mexico wall A US Border Patrol vehicle sits waiting for illegal immigrants at a fence opening near the US-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. The number of incoming immigrants has surged ahead of the upcoming Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. A signature campaign promise, Mr Trump outlined his intention to build a border wall on the US-Mexico border days after taking office Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and abortion US President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House. Mr Trump reinstated a ban on American financial aide being granted to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling, provide abortion referrals, or advocate for abortion access outside of the United States Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Dakota Access pipeline Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York. US President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and 'Obamacare' Nancy Pelosi who is the minority leader of the House of Representatives speaks beside House Democrats at an event to protect the Affordable Care Act in Los Angeles, California. US President Donald Trump's effort to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace the healthcare law failed when Republicans failed to get enough votes. Mr Trump has promised to revisit the matter Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Donald Trump and 'sanctuary cities' US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to pull funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" if they do not comply with federal immigration law AP The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the travel ban US President Donald Trump has attempted twice to restrict travel into the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries. The first attempt, in February, was met with swift opposition from protesters who flocked to airports around the country. That travel ban was later blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The second ban was blocked by a federal judge a day before it was scheduled to be implemented in mid-March SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and climate change US President Donald Trump sought to dismantle several of his predecessor's actions on climate change in March. His order instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan, which would cap power plant emissions Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

He replied: No I didntMike was doing his job. He was calling countries and his counterparts.

So it certainly would have been OK with me if he did it. I would have directed him to do it if I thought he wasnt doing it.

I didnt direct him but I would have directed him because thats his job.
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Donald Trump has been briefed that a nuclear war would be a "bad thing", which he said would be like no other.

The US President said he wanted to do the right thing for the world by building a relationship with Russia in an attempt to avoid a nuclear holocaust.

Asked during a press conference about his stance on Russia, Mr Trump said: I want to do the right thing for the American people and to be honest, secondarily, I want to do the right thing for the world.

If Russia and the United States actually got together and got alongand dont forget were a very powerful nuclear country and so are theytheres no upsidewere a very powerful nuclear country and so are they."

He added: Ive been briefedand I can tell you one thing about a briefing that were allowed to say because anybody who ever read the most basic book can say itnuclear holocaust would be like no other.

The Republican denied Vladimir Putin was testing him  despite Russia's recent deployment a new cruise missile and a spy vessel being sent to lurk off the US coast. Two Russian fighter jets were also reported to have flown dangerously close to a US Navy ship in the Black Sea.

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 said: If you were Putin right now, youd say We are back to the old games with the US. Theres no way that Trump can do a deal with us.

He added: Putin probably assumes that he cant make a deal with me anymore because politically it would be unpopular for a politician to make a deal  I cant believe Im saying Im a politician but I guess thats what I am now.

I dont know if were going to make a deal. We might, we might not.
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Donald Trump was reportedly fully aware that his former national security adviser had spoken with a Russian envoy after the conversation took place.

Retired General Michael Flynn was forced to resign from the role after it emerged that, before taking his post, he had spoken to Sergey Kislyak, Moscows ambassador to the US, about the issue of sanctions before taking office.

It is illegal for a private citizen to conduct diplomacy on behalf of the US.

The retired general had previously denied sanctions were discussed during the conversation - a claim he repeated during private talks with Vice President Mike Pence.

Mr Pence then relayed that information to members of the media.

Mr Trump defended General Flynn, during a fiery and wide-ranging news conference, saying he "did nothing wrong", before blasting the media for their reporting on the scandal.

The President said that he "was doing his job. He was calling countries".

He added: "I didn't direct him, but I would have directed him if he didn't do it."

However, Fox News Chief White House Correspondent John Roberts has now claimed that Mr Trump was fully briefed on the content of the discussion between General Flynn and Mr Kislyak.

Under repeated questioning during an investigation conducted by the White House Counsels office, General Flynn  Im told  had a full recollection of what he talked about with the Russian ambassador, Mr Roberts said.

Mr Roberts added that General Flynn he was 100 per cent sure of the content of the conversations and recalled the details to the White House Counsels office, which then told Mr Trump.

The President was in fact fully briefed," he said, adding, "by people who would know what the content of those phone conversations was".

 Donald Trump says 'the leaks are real, the news is fake' in response to Michael Flynn resignation

Intelligence organisations have also come under increased pressure to reveal more about the Trump team's contact with Russia from Democrats in Congress.

House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, is among a group pushing for a comprehensive briefing on the exchanges.

They are seeking transcripts of the intercepted phone calls between General Flynn and the Russian envoy.

Democrats are also demanding that Mr Trumps choice of Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, stand down from a reported internal inquiry into contact between the US President's campaign and Russia.
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Donald Trump mounted a sustained attack on the media during a fiery and at times chaotic news conference on Thursday afternoon, aggressively defending the actions of his administration and branding the gathered media "dishonest" purveyors of "very fake news".

The US President, reeling from a week of unflattering coverage of a tumultuous Oval Office, accused the press of deliberately misleading the public about his administration's ties to Russia.

In a speech reminiscent of his election campaign rhetoric, the firebrand Republican insisted the leaks coming from his administration were "real", but the news written about them is "fake".

"Well the leaks are real. Youre the one that wrote about them and reported them, I mean the leaks are real," he said. "You know what they said, you saw it and the leaks are absolutely real. The news is fake because so much of the news is fake."

The Trump administration is still recovering from the forced resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn after it was revealed he attempted to cover up conversations he had with the Russian ambassador. But responding to questions about his ties to the Kremlin, Mr Trump insisted that he has no ties to the country.

"Russia is a ruse. I have nothing to do with Russia. Havent made a phone call to Russia in years. Dont speak to people from Russia. Not that I wouldnt. I just have nobody to speak to," Mr Trump said.

"I spoke to Putin twice. He called me on the election. I told you this. And he called me on the inauguration, a few days ago," he added, referring to the 28 January phone call.

"We had a very good talk, especially the second one, lasted for a pretty long period of time. Im sure you probably get it because it was classified. So Im sure everybody in this room perhaps has it. But we had a very, very good talk."

He explained that, when informed about Mr Flynn's contact with the Russian envoy, he was "doing his job". However, he said he asked Mr Flynn to resign because he "didn't tell our Vice President properly" and lied about remembering the content of the call.

 Donald Trump is fact-checked over claim he won the biggest electoral college victory since Reagan

"So, either way, it wasn't very satisfactory to me," he said, later adding: "I didn't direct him [to call the diplomat], but I would have directed him because that was his job."

The President also responded to subsequent reports from the New York Times and CNN indicating that Trump campaign staff had constant contact with Russian intelligence officials.

He acknowledged that former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort had ties to former Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovich, who was notably pro-Russian.

"Now, Manafort has totally denied it. He denied it. Now people knew that he was a consultant over in that part of the world for a while, but not for Russia. I think he represented Ukraine or people having to do with Ukraine, or people that  whoever. But people knew that. Everybody knew that," Mr Trump said.

 Donald Trump says 'the leaks are real, the news is fake' in response to Michael Flynn resignation

The President denied any wrongdoing regarding Russia and said that the press was trying to distract from classified information that was given illegally to reporters.

Mr Trump spoke for more than an hour, airing his grievances about the media, in a press conference originally intended to formally announce his new Labour Secretary nominee, Alexander Acosta. Instead, it descended into a disjointed tirade against big name broadcasters from CNN to the BBC, as well as his former rival, Hillary Clinton.

But the President, who has become infamous for his thin-skinned, knee-jerk reactions to negative press coverage, insisted that he could handle a bad story "better than anybody".

"I know when I should get good [coverage] and get bad, and sometimes Ill say, 'Wow, thats going to be a great story', and I get killed.

"I know what is good and bad, Id be a pretty good reporter.

He added: "There is nobody I have more respect for, well maybe a little bit, than reporters, good reporters. Its very important to me, especially in this position, its very important.

"I dont mind bad stories, I can handle a bad story better than anybody, as long as its true."

The attack on the press channelled Mr Trump's campaign persona, which he has maintained since taking office. He also touted his electoral college victory  incorrectly saying that it was the largest victory since Ronald Reagan's 489 votes in 1980. When called on the lie, Mr Trump simply said he was reciting information he was given.

Indeed, Mr Trump won the election with 306 electoral votes, to Hillary Clinton's 232, but it was by no means an historic victory, numerically speaking. Even George HW Bush won with 426 electoral votes in 1988.
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The US Government is in unbelievable turmoil less than a month into Donald Trumps term in office, a senior American army general has warned.

General Tony Thomas, the head of the US militarys Special Operations Command, said the chaos engulfing Mr Trumps fledgling administration was causing problems for the countrys armed forces.

Speaking at a military conference, he was quoted by the New York Times as saying: Our government continues to be in unbelievable turmoil. I hope they sort it out soon because were a nation at war.

Despite the problems, Special Operations forces are staying focused, Mr Thomas said.

As a commander, Im concerned our government be as stable as possible, he added.

It comes as Mr Trump and his top team continue to be plagued by allegations about their links to Russian security services.

General Mike Flynn, the Presidents national security adviser, was forced to resign on Monday after it was revealed he had discussed the issue of sanctions on Russia with Moscows ambassador to the US before taking up his post  something he had denied to Vice President Mike Pence.

Hours after Mr Flynns resignation, US media reports emerged claiming other high-level advisers to Mr Trump had been in close contact with Russian spies during the presidential campaign. The Republican and his staff have consistently denied having communications with the Russian state.

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

In recent weeks the Trump Administration has been plagued by a string of damaging leaks, leading the President to angrily accuse the countrys own security services of seeking to undermine him.

He wrote on Twitter: Information is being illegally given to the failing New York Times] and [Washington Post] by the intelligence community (NSA and FBI?). Just like Russia.

The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by intelligence like candy. Very un-American!

 Michael McFaul says Trump is emulating Putin's actions in 2000s

It comes as a former US ambassador to Russia accused Mr Trump of acting like Vladimir Putin.

Michael McFault, who served as Barack Obamas envoy to Moscow between 2012 and 2014, suggested the Republican was replicating the Russian presidents autocratic style of leadership.

He told BBC Radio 4s 'Today' programme: When [Mr Trump] calls the press the enemy, for instance, that reminds me of Vladimir Putin in 2000 when he declared that the press was the enemy and went after them, he said.

When President Trump questions our rule of law, our judges, that reminds me of an earlier period of Russian history in the early Putin years when over time the judiciary became more subservient to the presidency.
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Ten members of Donald Trumps Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) have resigned in protest against the US Presidents policies.

In a letter, they raised concerns about the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, and Mr Trump's executive order banning travellers from seven predominantly Muslim countries, which was later overturned in court.

Proposals to cut federal resources to sanctuary cities - municipalities that have adopted a policy of protecting unauthorised immigrants by not prosecuting them for violating federal immigration laws - were also cited as a reason for their resignation.

Those who have resigned said they cannot serve Mr Trump as his policies go against the principle of the commission.

The letter, published by NBC News, said the "portrayal of immigrants, refugees, people of colour and people of various faiths as untrustworthy, threatening, and a drain on our nation."

It also criticised Mr Trump's plans to build a wall on the border with Mexico.

Plans to reform the Affordable Care Act would "harm" 20 million Americans, including two million Asian Americans, the letter added.

Among those to resign were the chair and vice-chair of the commission, Tung Thanh Nguyen, professor of medicine at the University of California, and Mary Okada, president and CEO of Guam Community College.

In January the commissioners requested a meeting with the President to discuss the goals of the commission and detail issues affecting their communities - this received no response.

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

This is the second wave of resignations from the 20-member commission, after six people left their positions in January.

Only four members now remain but Mr Trumps administration said resignations of this nature were normal after a change in government.

In a statement the White House said it is committed to working on behalf of all Americans, including the nations Asian American and Pacific Islander community.
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A man who allegedly plotted to carry out an attack in the style of Dylann Roof has been arrested - but not charged under any terrorism laws.

Benjamin Thomas Samuel McDowell, 29, was detained by the FBI in South Carolina on Wednesday for illegally buying a gun with the intention of carrying out a mass shooting against non-whites. He was charged with possession of a fire arm.

According to an affidavit from the FBI that was filed in federal court, Mr McDowell had told an undercover FBI agent he was interested in doing something on a f***ing big scale and writing in the spirit of Dylann Roof on the wall of the building where he would commit the killings. Roof was sentenced to death in January for killing nine black churchgoers in Charleston.

The document, which is in the public domain, states that Mr McDowell had established White Supremacy Extremist connections while serving prison sentences in South Carolina for various criminal offenses, adding that his tattoos on his extremities indicated his affiliation with the WSE (white supremacist extremists).

In the months leading up to his arrest, Mr McDowell had reportedly posted a number of anti-Semitic messages on Facebook, including on the page of Temple Emanu-El Conservative Synagogue in Myrtle Beach, accusing Jews of plotting to wipe out the white race.

According to the FBI affidavit, on 5 January Mr McDowell wrote on Facebook: All they wanna do is stay loaded on drugs the Jews put here to destroy white man and they fest on the drugs, and went on to chastise other white supremacists for not having the heart to fight for Yahweh like Dylann Roof. A day later he reportedly posted that he was looking to buy a gun.

The FBI had been monitoring Mr McDowells activity, and he was subsequently intercepted by an undercover agent posing as someone who handled problems for the Aryan Nations under the pretence that he was selling him a firearm. Mr McDowell then expressed his desire to carry out the mass shooting.

Appearing before a federal magistrate court on Thursday, Mr McDowell was charged for a violation of possessing of a firearm and ammunition by a prohibited person.

A statement from the District of South Carolina attorneys office read: McDowell was arrested for a violation of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a prohibited person, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g)(1).

Mr McDowell remains in custody, with a detention hearing scheduled for 21 February.

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

It comes shortly after Mr Trump said in a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanhayu that he would stand with Israel in the struggle against terrorism, saying the US had a long history of cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

During his inauguration speech in January, Mr Trump focused attention on taking a hard-line stance against radical Islamic terrorism, saying the US would unite the civilised world against radical Islamic terrorism which we will eradicate completely from the face of the earth.

The President has recently caused anger after failing to make a public statement following the shooting of six Muslims by a white supremacist at a mosque in Quebec.
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Malaysia has said it will only release the body of the North Korean leaders half-brother Kim Jong-nam on the condition that his family provides a DNA sample.

Police warned that without DNA from a next of kin, they would refuse to hand over the body or release the autopsy report which could reveal the cause of death. Mr Kim died after he was attacked at Kuala Lumpur airport on Monday while waiting to board a flight to Macau.

South Korean authorities believe suspects sprayed or splashed a poisonous liquid into his face, causing him to collapse and die shortly afterwards on the way to hospital.

Three people have been arrested in connection with the death: an Indonesian woman, a woman with Vietnamese identification and a Malaysian man, thought to be the boyfriend of one of the female suspects. Selangor police chief Abdul Samah Mat told AFP: So far no family member or next of kin has come to identify or claim the body. We need a DNA sample of a family member to match the profile of the dead person.

North Korea has submitted a request to claim the body but before we release the body we have to identify who the body belongs to.

Kim Jong-nam is suspected to be the victim of an assassination (Getty) (Getty Images)

A post-mortem examination was carried out at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday despite objections from diplomats at the North Korean embassy.

It is not clear when its results will be made public.

Inside the daily life in North Korea Show all 19 1 /19 Inside the daily life in North Korea Inside the daily life in North Korea People reading a newspaper at the metro station Inside the daily life in North Korea Thoughts of the leaders on the tram. They have about a dozen of these on every tram, all with different thoughts Inside the daily life in North Korea Young people training for a big upcoming festival Inside the daily life in North Korea People at the Pyongyang's annual marathon Inside the daily life in North Korea Many stars on one of the trolleys in Pyongyang Inside the daily life in North Korea An intimidating poster in a primary school in North Korea. Inside the daily life in North Korea Solar panels installed on a street lamp. Inside the daily life in North Korea A poster on the window next to one of the venues we visited in Pyongyang Inside the daily life in North Korea Kids playing football next to the Arch of Triumph. After a while tourists were allowed to join, so some of us did Inside the daily life in North Korea Class in an educational center in Pyongyang (where people over 17 years old can attend any classes they choose after school, for free) Inside the daily life in North Korea People waving at me during the Pyongyang marathon Inside the daily life in North Korea People having a great time dancing at a public park Inside the daily life in North Korea A metro driver in a metro station in Pyongyang Inside the daily life in North Korea Fireworks to mark the birthday of the Eternal President Kim Il Sung on our last night in Pyongyang Inside the daily life in North Korea My wonderful tour guide at a public park Inside the daily life in North Korea One of the parks in Pyongyang Inside the daily life in North Korea A person rowing some boats for the day at a river in Pyongyang Inside the daily life in North Korea The National War Museum Inside the daily life in North Korea Public park in Pyongyang

Mr Kim was estranged from his younger brother and lived with his wife and two children in Macau on the south coast of China. He had previously spoken out against his familys dynastic control of North Korea.

A number of South Korean media reports said two female suspects were believed to be North Korean agents working on behalf of Kim Jong-un, although this could not be confirmed.

It emerged on Thursday that prior to his death, Mr Kim had reportedly written a letter to his half-brother pleading with him to withdraw a standing order for his assassination, following an alleged attempt to kill him in 2012.
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Pakistans army says it has killed more than 100 terrorists in 24 hours of mass security operations following an Isis suicide bombing that killed more than 80 people.

Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said raids were still underway across the country, including in the province of Punjab where several militants have died in gun battles in recent days.

A spokesperson for Pakistans Chief of Army Staff said the military would act for security against all types of threat.

Nation to stay steadfast with full confidence in their security forces, he added. We shall not let the hostile agenda succeed whatever it may cost.

Authorities said a large number of arrests were also made as intelligence agencies work to uncover terror networks liked to Isis, the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Amnesty International cautioned that while effectively responding to the grave attack on Pakistans cultural heritage, authorities must adhere to international law and afford terror suspects fair treatment under the judicial process.

Nadia Rahman, the Pakistan campaigner at Amnesty International, told The Independent: The authorities have a responsibility to protect peoples lives but must do so while adhering to international law.

An injured man is treated at a local hospital after an explosion at Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan on 16 February (AFP/Getty) (AFP/Getty Images)

The Pakistani armed forces said the countrys border with Afghanistan had been closed since Thursday night and all unauthorised entry would be stopped.

It has accused its neighbouring country of sheltering terrorists, sending a list of 76 people suspected of planning or supporting attacks in Pakistan, while Afghanistan has made the same allegation.

Afghan diplomats were summoned to the militarys general headquarters in Rawalpindi over the allegations, with Pakistan demanding their counterparts either took immediate action against named suspects or hand them over.

Government officials said the crackdown would continue nationwide over the coming days, following a week of bloody terror attacks claimed by both Isis and a faction of the Taliban.

Isis claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at the famed Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sehwan, where Sufi Muslims had gathered to perform the dhamaal ritual.

At least 83 people were killed and hundreds injured in the blast, which was the deadliest attack in Pakistan for two years.

Isis claimed responsibility for the massacre via its Amaq news agency, saying a martyr of the Islamic State detonated his vest at what the group described as a Shia gathering.

Sufis, who can be both Sunni and Shia, practice a form of Islamic mysticism that is held to be heretical by salafi jihadist groups like the Taliban, Isis and al-Qaeda.

Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan Show all 11 1 /11 Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan Pakistani Army Major General Sher Afgun speaks to journalists as Balochistan's provincial interior minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti looks on after an attack by suspected militants at a police training centre in Quetta, Pakistan EPA Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan Pakistani troops deploy outside the Police Training Centre after an attack on the center in Quetta, Pakistan Reuters Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan An ambulance carries injured officers to a hospital outside a police training school attacked by militants in Quetta, Pakistan AP Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan Medical workers treat an injured policeman at hospital after militants attacked the Balochistan Police College in Quetta Getty Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan A police cadet from the Police Training Centre lies in the hospital after being injured after an attack on the center in Quetta, Pakistan Reuters Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan Relatives of police cadets wait for word outside the Police Training Center after an attack on the center in Quetta, Pakistan Reuters Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan Pakistani men take care of injured relatives at a hospital in Quetta Getty Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan The death toll from an overnight attack on a police academy in southwest Pakistan has risen to 58 people with dozens more wounded Getty Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan Pakistani soldiers pass through the entrance to The Police Training College in Quetta Getty Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan Pakistani rescue workers transport an attack victim in Quetta Getty Police Academy attack in Quetta, Pakistan Pakistani security personnel stand guard as an ambulance carrying the coffins of attack victims drives past in Quetta Getty

Thursdays attack came after four days of continuous atrocities claimed by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a faction of the Pakistani Taliban that has also been linked to Isis, and the group was blamed for the shrine massacre by some politicians.

The Taliban faction, which expressed support for Isis before re-joining its parent group in 2015, claimed responsibility for a bombing that killed 13 people in Lahore on Monday and the assassination of security forces and judges in the following days.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar said they were launching of a new campaign of violence against the government, police, military, the judiciary and secular political parties.

An army offensive launched in 2014 aimed to push militants out of their strongholds near the Afghan border but terrorist groups are now competing with each other after Isis launched the Khorasan Province in Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2015.

The wave of violence has raised tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, with Islamabad summoning an Afghan diplomat to voice concern about militant sanctuaries over the border.

Pakistani authorities claim jihadis launch attacks from Afghanistan, where the government and international troops are fighting to oust al-Qaeda and the Taliban in the continuing war.

 At least 22 killed and dozens injured after bombing at Pakistan market

Afghanistan and the United States have in turn accused Pakistan of harbouring Afghan Taliban leaders fighting to topple the Western-backed government in Kabul, which it denies.

Defections and suspected cooperation between factions of the Taliban and Isis led some observers to question whether the bloodshed points to a new threat or to longstanding militant groups operating under a different name.

Recent high-profile attacks have put pressure on the government to tighten security at potential targets, which have included shrines, Easter celebrations and a training college.

As the blood still lay on marble floors at Lal Shahbaz Qalandar on Friday, protesters gathered outside to demonstrate against police.

Ali Hussain told Reuters that local Sufis had asked for better protection but no one bothered to secure this place.

Anwer Ali, 25, rushed to the shrine after he heard the explosion and described seeing dead bodies and chaos as people fled the scene.

There were threats to the shrine, he added. The Taliban had warned that they will attack here, but authorities didnt take it seriously.
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Parisian police have allegedly started ordering volunteers to stop giving out food and drink to refugees in certain parts of the French capital and handing out on the spot fines to organisations with no forewarning of the so-called "ban".

Laurence Ariste, a teacher and volunteer with Solidarite Migrants Wilson, told The Independent officers had told them to move on from a registration centre in the central area of Porte de La Chapelle.

They had been distributing food and drink to homeless refugees, she said.

There were two police officers, and I greeted one of them, because we usually signal to police to see where we can set up, she added. The first one said of course we could, but the other one said wait and took out a document. He wouldn't show it to us but he read it to me and it said that it was forbidden to distribute food and drink in the prescribed areas, which are basically all of the areas we can set up.

They then gave us two fines of 135 each, because we had two cars. They said you cant distribute here and they gave us the two fines. Were a small organisation. We dont have much money. If they give us these fines every time we cant continue like this."

A police spokesman later told The Independent he believed the document was not an official ban.

The incident comes following furore after the Paris Mayor's office ordered for large boulders to be placed under a bridge where refugees had been sleeping, preventing them from pitching tents or setting up camp in the area.

Ms Ariste said: "Its the first time weve had such a ban. Police have started preventing distributions in the past two weeks, but not with a document."

Prior to the order the volunteers had been regularly distributing food and drink to refugees queuing outside the Porte de La Chappelle reception centre.

Those entering the centre on a "one-day" basis are reportedly not offered food once they are inside, so Ms Ariste said it was therefore important that they were able to provide food and drink while they queued.

I asked the police where we could move to, and they said we could move past the bridge, which is very far from the centre," she said.

"There are two parts of the centre. Those who are there on the long term stay  which is full to capacity  are looked after with beds and food and showers, while the 'one-day' welcome must leave at night, and are not offered food or the chance to shower.

"This is why we try to offer them food and drink before they go into the centre. But now we no longer have access to this area."

A spokesman for the Prefecture of Paris said there was no official ban on food distribution ot refugees, and that the volunteers were ordered to move because of "logistical problems" with the movement of people in the area.

Officers asked the volunteers to move about 10 or 20 metres away, because the area they were distributing food was causing logistical problems," they said. "It was causing jams and overcrowding for everyone. It was very complicated to manage so we asked them to move.

Volunteers distribute food to refugees on the streets of Paris because they say there is a lack of food provision by the authorities, including in the Porte de La Chapelle reception centre (Solidarite migrants Wilson)

I dont believe this document was official. It was simply an internal note. Its not as though we were asking them to move two or three kilometres, just to facilitate access to the centre.

Asked about the fine, the spokesman said he wasnt aware of it, but he added: If we ask people to do something for the benefit of everyone, and they refuse, by principle we will not advance. It wasn't a ban of distributing food, but a request for them to move."

Ms Ariste suggested this left the volunteers in limbo.

They say there is no official ban, but what must we do tomorrow if it happens again," she said. It is unclear what was in that document. What is certain is that our distribution has been banned and we have no assurance that we wont face the same situation tomorrow.

The situation for migrants have been unacceptable for a long time. Paris doesnt welcome them with dignity, but this action against organisations and collectives who are trying to help and offer food to hungry people. For us this is very new."

Earlier this week, the Paris city council sparked outrage following a decision to place large rocks under a bridge near the centre where refugees were sleeping, preventing them from pitching tents there during the night to queue again in the morning.

A spokesperson for the Mayor's Office insisted that it was done because the bridge was soon going to be taken down and authorities needed to make way for the construction of a tramway in the area. The authorities have been accused of being inconsistent in their response however, with other news outlets being told it was due to "security issues".

Research exclusively published by The Independent last week showed that refugees in Paris were having their blankets and sleeping bags stolen by French police while being violently forced to move on. The report gave accounts of refugees being beaten and tear gassed by officers in the French capital, despite government pledges to shelter vulnerable people.
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A number of British tourists are in hospital after being thrown into the icy seas off Norway when their speedboat hit a water fountain near the town of Harstad.

Two boats carrying 24 people between them were returning from a sightseeing trip when one hit the fountain in the harbour, around 875 miles north of the capital Oslo.

Witnesses said the boats were travelling at high speeds and those aboard the one involved in the accident were thrown into the water like dolls.

They were left in waters just above freezing for around 15 minutes before being rescued.

A spokesman for the holiday company Inghams said: Our local team in Harstad, Northern Norway has advised they are assisting 10 guests who took a boat excursion as part of their 'Arctic Fjord' short break today.

Following an incident this afternoon as they came into harbour at the end of the sea safari (the cause of which remains unconfirmed at this time), the passengers, the boat pilot and our tour leader were all taken to hospital in Harstad for check-ups.

Sadly it appears that the boat pilot has more serious injuries, and has been transferred to Tromso hospital.

Six guests and our tour leader are reported to have minor injuries. Of these six, four guests and our tour leader are staying overnight in Harstad hospital on a precautionary basis.

The incident is thought to have happened at around 3pm local time (2pm GMT) and involved a rigid-inflatable boat (Rib).

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. 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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 British group were on a tour with a local travel agent, a company co-owned by a member of the local police in Harstad and a former employee of the force, police said.

Neither was aboard the boat that hit the fountain but both witnessed the accident.

The Foreign Office said: We are in contact with the Norwegian authorities following an incident in Harstad. We are ready to support British people affected.

PA
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A right-wing political party in Denmark is calling for refugees and immigrants to celebrate Christmas and other Christian festivals in order to be considered Danish, sparking outrage from opponents.

Martin Henriksen, the Danish Peoples Party (DPP) immigration spokesperson, said going to church would put new arrivals on the right track.

We believe that those who come to this country should make as much effort as possible to become Danes, and to do that you need to understand Christianity and its importance to Danish people, he told the Jyllands Posten newspaper.

 Danish wing of German anti-Islamist movement holds rally

You have to participate in that part of our culture to experience the things that bring together the majority of our population through common rituals and traditions.

Mr Henriksen suggested immigrants should visit churches during the main Christian festivals of Christmas and Easter  just to see whats happening.

Left-wing politicians described the sentiments as un-Danish, arguing that it was dangerous to equate integration and nationality with religion.

The comments came amid a heated national debate on Danishness, which reached the countrys parliament last week after the DPP introduced a statement expressing concern over the number of people with an immigrant background living in a suburb of Copenhagen.

The statement, approved by 55 votes to 54, generated controversy by classifying immigrants and their descendants as non-Danes, whether or not they were born in Denmark or had gained citizenship.

Refugee crisis - in pictures Show all 27 1 /27 Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugee crisis - in pictures A child looks through the fence at the Moria detention camp for migrants and refugees at the island of Lesbos on May 24, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Ahmad Zarour, 32, from Syria, reacts after his rescue by MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) while attempting to reach the Greek island of Agathonisi, Dodecanese, southeastern Agean Sea Refugee crisis - in pictures Syrian migrants holding life vests gather onto a pebble beach in the Yesil liman district of Canakkale, northwestern Turkey, after being stopped by Turkish police in their attempt to reach the Greek island of Lesbos on 29 January 2016. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees flash the 'V for victory' sign during a demonstration as they block the Greek-Macedonian border Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants have been braving sub zero temperatures as they cross the border from Macedonia into Serbia. Refugee crisis - in pictures A sinking boat is seen behind a Turkish gendarme off the coast of Canakkale's Bademli district on January 30, 2016. At least 33 migrants drowned on January 30 when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A general view of a shelter for migrants inside a hangar of the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin, Germany Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees protest behind a fence against restrictions limiting passage at the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Since last week, Macedonia has restricted passage to northern Europe to only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who are considered war refugees. All other nationalities are deemed economic migrants and told to turn back. Macedonia has finished building a fence on its frontier with Greece becoming the latest country in Europe to build a border barrier aimed at checking the flow of refugees Refugee crisis - in pictures A father and his child wait after being caught by Turkish gendarme on 27 January 2016 at Canakkale's Kucukkuyu district Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants make hand signals as they arrive into the southern Spanish port of Malaga on 27 January, 2016 after an inflatable boat carrying 55 Africans, seven of them women and six chidren, was rescued by the Spanish coast guard off the Spanish coast. Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee holds two children as dozens arrive on an overcrowded boat on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures A child, covered by emergency blankets, reacts as she arrives, with other refugees and migrants, on the Greek island of Lesbos, At least five migrants including three children, died after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece, as rescue workers searched the sea for dozens more, the Greek coastguard said Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants wait under outside the Moria registration camp on the Lesbos. Over 400,000 people have landed on Greek islands from neighbouring Turkey since the beginning of the year Refugee crisis - in pictures The bodies of Christian refugees are buried separately from Muslim refugees at the Agios Panteleimonas cemetery in Mytilene, Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures Macedonian police officers control a crowd of refugees as they prepare to enter a camp after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee tries to force the entry to a camp as Macedonian police officers control a crowd after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees are seen aboard a Turkish fishing boat as they arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast to Lesbos Reuters Refugee crisis - in pictures An elderly woman sings a lullaby to baby on a beach after arriving with other refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A man collapses as refugees make land from an overloaded rubber dinghy after crossing the Aegean see from Turkey, at the island of Lesbos EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures A girl reacts as refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees make a show of hands as they queue after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures People help a wheelchair user board a train with others, heading towards Serbia, at the transit camp for refugees near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija AP Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees board a train, after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Macedonia is a key transit country in the Balkans migration route into the EU, with thousands of asylum seekers - many of them from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia - entering the country every day Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures An aerial picture shows the "New Jungle" refugee camp where some 3,500 people live while they attempt to enter Britain, near the port of Calais, northern France Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A Syrian girl reacts as she helped by a volunteer upon her arrival from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, after having crossed the Aegean Sea EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Beds ready for use for migrants and refugees are prepared at a processing center on January 27, 2016 in Passau, Germany. The flow of migrants arriving in Passau has dropped to between 500 and 1,000 per day, down significantly from last November, when in the same region up to 6,000 migrants were arriving daily.

Parliament notes with concern that today there are areas of Denmark where the proportion of immigrants from non-Western countries and their descendants is over 50 per cent, the DPPs declaration read.

The Danish parliament believes that Danes should not be a minority in areas of Denmark.

The anti-immigration DPP won the European Parliament election in Denmark 2014 and received 21 per cent of the vote in the 2015 general election, making it the countrys second-largest party.

It has supported a series of divisive policies implemented in Denmark since the start of the refugee crisis, including the jewellery law seeing valuables seized from asylum seekers to pay for their stay, and prosecutions for giving migrants lifts.

Denmark clamped down on immigration after receiving more than 20,000 asylum applications in 2015  one of the highest rates per capita in the EU  mostly from predominantly Muslim countries including Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The moves have drawn condemnation from international bodies including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the EU Human Rights Commissioner, but the DPPs popularity has continued to rise.

Its youth wing was forced to apologise last year for a song endorsing Donald Trumps presidential campaign, which described Barack Obama as a negro without talent.

A statement claimed the song had been misunderstood, describing it as a fun party tune.
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Germany's foreign minister has called for European countries to spend more money on defence budgets, after meeting with the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Donald Trump has repeatedly called for Nato members in Europe to increase defence budgets, and his defence secretary James Mattis issued an ultimatum to the alliance during talks in Brussels this week.

Sigmar Gabriel, the German foreign minister, agreed Europe must spend more, and described talks with his French and US counterparts on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Bonn on Friday as productive.

"There is no question that Europe will have to take more responsibility for that (military spending), but we cannot reduce security and peace policies to just the extent of military spending. That will not allow us to fight climate change, drought or poverty," he said.

Recommended UK faces embarrassment over Nato defence spending ahead of summit

Mr Gabriel also said Mr Tillerson had assured him the US recognises it will require international efforts to solve global crises.

Speaking shortly afterwards at the annual Munich Security Conference, General Mattis warned of an "arc of instability" on Europe's periphery and called on Nato allies to contribute their fair share.

"We all see our community of nations under threat on multiple fronts as the arc of instability builds on Nato's periphery and beyond," he said.

He also suggested the US would be ready to moderate its commitment to Nato if member states did not put more money into defence.

However European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called on Europe to resist US pressure to increase European defence spending.

It has been the American message for many, many years, he said. I am very much against letting ourselves be pushed into this.

Mr Juncker argued the EUs development and humanitarian aid spending made up for any shortfalls in military financing, and echoed Mr Gabriels sentiment that defence spending alone would not help tackle many of the worlds problems.

If you look at what Europe is doing in defence, plus development aid, plus humanitarian aid, the comparison with the United States looks rather different. Modern politics cannot just be about raising defence spending, he said.

"Europeans must bundle their defence spending better and spend the money more efficiently.
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The unconventional administration of President Trump may be causing consternation among American liberals. But here in Germany, the anchor of the European Union, Trumps rise is helping fuel an unexpected surge of the left.

What is happening in Germany is the kind of Trump bump perhaps never foreseen by his supporters - a boost not for the German nationalists viewed as Trumps natural allies but for his fiercest critics in the centre left. The Social Democrats (SPD) have bounced back under the charismatic Martin Schulz, the former head of the European Parliament who took over as party chairman last month and is now staging a surprisingly strong bid to unseat Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In a country that stands as a painful example of the disastrous effects of radical nationalism, Schulz is building a campaign in part around bold attacks on Trump. He has stopped well short of direct comparisons to Adolf Hitler, but Schulz recently mentioned Trump in the same speech in which he heralded his partys resistance to the Nazis in the lead-up to World War II.

We will never give up our values, our freedom and democracy, no matter what challenges we are facing, Schulz said in a recent speech. He added, That a US president wants to put up walls, is thinking aloud about torture and attacks women, religious communities, minorities, people with handicaps, artists and intellectuals with brazen and dangerous comments is a breach of taboo thats unbearable.

Recommended Former EU Parliament president Martin Schulz emerges as Merkel rival

His anti-Trump platform comes as Germans are questioning American power more than at any point since the end of the Cold War, illustrating an erosion of allied faith in the new era of America first. A recent poll found that only 22 percent of Germans see the United States led by Trump as a reliable partner - putting it only one percentage point above Russia.

The traditional left remains in disarray in France and Britain. But buoyed by Schulzs approach, his party last week pulled ahead of Merkels centre-right Christian Democrats in opinion polls for the first time in six years. Elections are not until September, but analysts are giving the SPD, under Schulz, its best chances to regain power since Gerhard Schroder lost to Merkel in 2005.

There are different factors that are coming together for the SPD, said Ralf Stegner, the partys deputy chairman. Schulz has provided a new impulse for people who were waiting to come back... but also, the new American president, because Trumps presidency has politicised the German public, making them more active and aware.

Without naming names, Merkel, who was perhaps closer to President Barack Obama than any world leader, has taken aim at Trump - criticising, for instance, his refugee ban. But Schulz has also accused Merkel of being too diplomatic.

Germany, which shoulders the history of Nazi tyranny, is an outlier in containing the current spread of me-first nationalism. Even as far-right parties and isolationist politics gain ground elsewhere in Europe, the largest right-wing populist party here - the Alternative for Germany - has fallen slightly in the polls since Trumps election.

At the same time, left-wing parties in Germany have seen a jump in dues-paying members. There are also signs that Trumps election is making left-leaning voters in Germany more politically active.

Take, for instance, Kristina Seidler, a 28-year-old mother and Dusseldorf resident who works as a substantiality adviser for a textile company. She has voted for the SPD before. But the day after Trumps victory, she signed up as a dues-paying member and party volunteer.

Horrified by Trumps win, she said she sees the traditional left as the only answer and is preparing to put up posters and help with campaigning as the German election season rolls into high gear.

What kind of sign is it for the world when a man who is a racist, who treats women so badly, can become the president of the United States? Seidler said. I thought, Its time for me to do something.

Perhaps the biggest single driver of the SPDs new popularity, however, is Schulz.

The SPD is already part of Merkels governing grand coalition, with the partys senior operatives filling top cabinet posts. Yet its popularity with its left-leaning base has been hampered by that power-sharing deal. Under its former chairman, Sigmar Gabriel - Merkels foreign minister - the SPD was struggling to distance itself from the current government.

Enter Schulz, who last month took over as the partys chairman and candidate, positioning himself as an outsider who could mix things up in Berlin. A 61-year-old who never finished high school, Schulz has embraced his imperfections, openly speaking about his battle with alcoholism. He started in local politics, becoming the mayor of the western German town of Wurselen before being elected to the European Parliament in 1994.

He rose through the ranks as a champion of European unity, civil rights and social justice, becoming the parliaments president in 2012. He has at times been chided for his tell-it-like-it-is approach, drawing the wrath of the Hungarian and Polish governments after decrying democratic lapses in those countries.

Critics call Schulz similar to Trump in at least one regard: He is a straight talker who argues against elites and favours the common man. He is also blunt - a trait that contrasts with Merkel, a leader famous for her meandering, parsed answers.

The way in which he conjures up the alleged division of society in a populist manner is along the lines of the post-factual methods of the US election campaign, Merkels finance minister, Wolfgang Schauble, charged in Der Spiegel last week

In the deal-making game that is coalition governments, Schulz may have several paths to the chancellery if his party can maintain its momentum. It will be difficult, analysts say, but Schulzs rising popularity means it is no longer unthinkable that Merkel loses.

The iron Frau: Angela Merkel Show all 11 1 /11 The iron Frau: Angela Merkel The iron Frau: Angela Merkel 351161.bin EPA / WOLFGANG KUMM The iron Frau: Angela Merkel 351162.bin GETTY IMAGES / REUTERS The iron Frau: Angela Merkel 351163.bin AFP The iron Frau: Angela Merkel 351164.bin The iron Frau: Angela Merkel 351165.bin REUTERS The iron Frau: Angela Merkel 351166.bin AFP The iron Frau: Angela Merkel 351167.bin AFP / GETTY IMAGES The iron Frau: Angela Merkel 351168.bin The iron Frau: Angela Merkel 351169.bin AP The iron Frau: Angela Merkel 351170.bin EPA The iron Frau: Angela Merkel 351171.bin REUTERS

Merkels open-door policy for refugees brought a barrage of criticism from the conservative wing of her party. And despite Merkels hesitance, Horst Seehofer, head of her sister party, the Christian Social Union, appears to be extending his hand to Trump, praising the new presidents consistency and speed in implementing his campaign promises.

A Merkel loss could mean a greater frost in German-US relations, harking back to the days of Schroders cool relationship with President George W. Bush. Merkel, while hardly cosying up to Trump, has nevertheless avoided outright conflict. Analysts call that further evidence of her pragmatism and firm belief that Germany needs the United States, diplomatically and for collective defence.

Going after Trump might be a smart strategy for winning elections but not for running a government, said Jurgen Falter, a political scientist at Mainz University.

The Washington Post
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Almost 500 migrants and refugees have broken through a 20ft fence surrounding a Spanish enclave on the North African coast in desperate attempts to reach Europe.

Many needed medical treatment after scaling the barbed wire fence separating Ceuta from Morocco, with several bleeding from their hands and legs while others were injured falling to the ground.

Those who landed unscathed were triumphant, running through the streets draped in Spanish and EU flags shouting freedom before being rounded up by riot police to be taken to detention centres.

A migrant with wounded hands lies on the ground after climbing a barbed wire fence into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on 17 February (EPA)

It came as a record number of refugees attempt to cross the Mediterranean between Morocco and Spain, with more drowning than ever before following efforts to close the crossing from Turkey to Greece.

Ceutas regional government said the incident was the biggest mass border crossing in recent years, with around 700 migrants joining attempts early on Friday morning to scale or break through metal barriers with tools and clubs.

At least 498 people succeeded, with two taken to hospital and 11 Spanish police and 10 members of Moroccos armed forces injured in clashes near Tarajal.

More than 30 migrants were treated for bone fractures and other injuries, the Red Cross said, while local television footage showed people with blood on their faces and hands, or lying in the road.

The mostly sub-Saharan African migrants are among hundreds stranded in Morocco in attempts to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, or enter Spain via Ceutra and its eastern enclave of Melilla by jumping fences or swimming along the coast.

Many will be returned to their home countries or let go, while others will apply for asylum in Spain and be transferred to the mainland.

Migrants rest after storming a fence to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Spain, on 17 February (AP)

At least 55 of Fridays arrivals were rejected immediately, according to the Civil Guard, because those who are intercepted on the spot can be returned to Morocco in push back operations condemned by the United Nations as a violation of international law.

Humanitarian agencies have raised concerns about conditions at the already overcrowded reception centre in Ceuta, where authorities have put military tents in car parks in efforts to house hundreds of asylum seekers.

Maria Vega, from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said Spanish authorities must properly assess asylum claims before returning people to Morocco and transfer refugees to the mainland as soon as possible.

These transit centres are above their capacity and they are not an appropriate place for housing refugees, families and victims of trafficking, she told The Independent.

Women and children are sleeping in one side, with their husbands and male relatives forced into another place.

Miss Vega said the poorest and most desperate migrants resort to climbing the fences, while others pay smugglers to board rickety and overcrowded boats from Morocco to Spain across the Strait of Gibraltar.

Refugee crisis - in pictures Show all 27 1 /27 Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugee crisis - in pictures A child looks through the fence at the Moria detention camp for migrants and refugees at the island of Lesbos on May 24, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Ahmad Zarour, 32, from Syria, reacts after his rescue by MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) while attempting to reach the Greek island of Agathonisi, Dodecanese, southeastern Agean Sea Refugee crisis - in pictures Syrian migrants holding life vests gather onto a pebble beach in the Yesil liman district of Canakkale, northwestern Turkey, after being stopped by Turkish police in their attempt to reach the Greek island of Lesbos on 29 January 2016. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees flash the 'V for victory' sign during a demonstration as they block the Greek-Macedonian border Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants have been braving sub zero temperatures as they cross the border from Macedonia into Serbia. Refugee crisis - in pictures A sinking boat is seen behind a Turkish gendarme off the coast of Canakkale's Bademli district on January 30, 2016. At least 33 migrants drowned on January 30 when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A general view of a shelter for migrants inside a hangar of the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin, Germany Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees protest behind a fence against restrictions limiting passage at the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Since last week, Macedonia has restricted passage to northern Europe to only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who are considered war refugees. All other nationalities are deemed economic migrants and told to turn back. Macedonia has finished building a fence on its frontier with Greece becoming the latest country in Europe to build a border barrier aimed at checking the flow of refugees Refugee crisis - in pictures A father and his child wait after being caught by Turkish gendarme on 27 January 2016 at Canakkale's Kucukkuyu district Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants make hand signals as they arrive into the southern Spanish port of Malaga on 27 January, 2016 after an inflatable boat carrying 55 Africans, seven of them women and six chidren, was rescued by the Spanish coast guard off the Spanish coast. Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee holds two children as dozens arrive on an overcrowded boat on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures A child, covered by emergency blankets, reacts as she arrives, with other refugees and migrants, on the Greek island of Lesbos, At least five migrants including three children, died after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece, as rescue workers searched the sea for dozens more, the Greek coastguard said Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants wait under outside the Moria registration camp on the Lesbos. Over 400,000 people have landed on Greek islands from neighbouring Turkey since the beginning of the year Refugee crisis - in pictures The bodies of Christian refugees are buried separately from Muslim refugees at the Agios Panteleimonas cemetery in Mytilene, Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures Macedonian police officers control a crowd of refugees as they prepare to enter a camp after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee tries to force the entry to a camp as Macedonian police officers control a crowd after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees are seen aboard a Turkish fishing boat as they arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast to Lesbos Reuters Refugee crisis - in pictures An elderly woman sings a lullaby to baby on a beach after arriving with other refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A man collapses as refugees make land from an overloaded rubber dinghy after crossing the Aegean see from Turkey, at the island of Lesbos EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures A girl reacts as refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees make a show of hands as they queue after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures People help a wheelchair user board a train with others, heading towards Serbia, at the transit camp for refugees near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija AP Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees board a train, after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Macedonia is a key transit country in the Balkans migration route into the EU, with thousands of asylum seekers - many of them from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia - entering the country every day Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures An aerial picture shows the "New Jungle" refugee camp where some 3,500 people live while they attempt to enter Britain, near the port of Calais, northern France Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A Syrian girl reacts as she helped by a volunteer upon her arrival from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, after having crossed the Aegean Sea EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Beds ready for use for migrants and refugees are prepared at a processing center on January 27, 2016 in Passau, Germany. The flow of migrants arriving in Passau has dropped to between 500 and 1,000 per day, down significantly from last November, when in the same region up to 6,000 migrants were arriving daily.

In 2016 there were around 1,000 people entering through the fences in the entire year, she added.

These numbers are not normal and any people are waiting on the other side of the fence trying to reach Europe.

Security forces frequently prevent anyone of sub-Saharan African appearance approaching Spanish border posts where they can apply for asylum, leading them to cross illegally, Miss Vega said.

Meanwhile, a record 1,200 refugees have reached the Andalusian coast by sea so far this year  a 200 per cent increase on the same period in 2016.

At least 30 people have drowned or gone missing in the past six weeks, including a six-year-old boy found washed up dead on a Spanish beach, almost half of the death toll for the entire last year.

Miss Vega said the UN was concerned about the rocketing death rate, coming after a record year that saw more than 5,000 refugees drown, suffocate or die of hypothermia attempting to reach Europe by sea.

We appreciate that there are search and rescue actions being taken to save lives by governments and NGOs but what we really need is legal avenues, she added.

 May accused of 'shabby cop out' over decision to end lone child refugee scheme

People should be coming to countries with papers and a visa and not risking their lives, because they have already suffered.

Theyre escaping political, ethnic, religious and gender persecution, bombing and poverty, then they have to suffer another hell trying to reach safety.

Traffickers and smugglers  those are the ones that are getting money out of this situation.

Many migrants documented by the UNHCR reaching Spains North African enclaves are from sub-Saharan African nations including Nigeria, Guinea and Senegal, although a high number of asylum seekers reaching Melilla are Syrian.

Miss Vega said some families said they journeyed from Libya due to the lawless countrys ongoing civil war and the threat of kidnap and extortion, while news of boats launched from the country sinking may also be driving the trend.

The treacherous crossing between Libya and Italy has become the main refugee route to Europe since the controversial EU-Turkey deal aimed to close the comparatively shorter and safer journey over the Aegean Sea to Greece.

An estimated 100,000 foreign migrants and 250,000 internally displaced people remain in Libya, where a fragile government is failing to stop a bloody competition of control between countless warring militant groups including Isis.

More than 12,300 asylum seekers have reached Europe by sea so far this year, mostly from Syria, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Iraq and Eritrea.
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The UK is to step up its presence in countries which border Russia, as part of a new plan to be a "dynamic, agile, cutting-edge global power".

Boris Johnson and Sir Michael Fallon announced the project as they launched the joint international defence engagement strategy ahead of the annual Munich Security Conference.

It includes a "stepping up" of global commitments and leadership in organisations such as Nato and the United Nations and a shift towards a defence policy which is more "international by design".

 Poland's leaders hold ceremony to welcome US troops as part of Nato build-up

Among other measures, the strategy includes more Nato military exercises with allies such as Ukraine, Poland and Estonia, which are faced with increasing Russian aggression.

It comes after the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review made defence engagement a core task for the first time.

Defence Secretary Sir Michael said: "Our increased ambition for defence engagement abroad demonstrates the UK's global role.

"Whether it's by increasing our military expertise in the Middle East, training Nigerian forces in maritime security, or RAF Typhoons exercising over South Korea, Britain is committed to working internationally to protect our people and interests."

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

Foreign Secretary Mr Johnson said: "The International Defence Engagement Strategy ensures we get the best value from our brilliant and brave Armed Forces and world-class Diplomatic Service, enabling them to deliver security and prosperity for the British people.

"This is about sending a clear signal of the UK's intent as a dynamic, agile, cutting-edge global power."

Press Association
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The Kremlin ordered state media to cut back on their fawning coverage of President Donald Trump, reflecting a growing concern among senior Russian officials that the new US administration will be less friendly than first thought, three people familiar with the matter said.

The order comes amid a growing chorus of anti-Russian sentiment in Washington, where US spy and law-enforcement agencies are conducting multiple investigations to determine the full extent of contacts Trumps advisers had with Russia during and after the 2016 election campaign.

Vladimir Putins administration justified the decision to curb coverage of Trump by saying that Russian viewers no longer find details of his transition to power interesting, according to one of the people. In reality, some of the most popular TV segments on Trump touched on ideas the Kremlin would rather not promote, such as his pledge to drain the swamp, the person said.

They wont pour buckets of criticism on Trump, they just wont talk about him much, Konstantin von Eggert, a political commentator for TV Rain, Russias only independent channel, said by phone. The fate of Russia-American relations is much less predictable than it was just a few weeks ago.

The order marks a stark turnaround from just a few weeks ago. Trumps unexpected triumph over Hillary Clinton in November has been widely hailed in Russia as the beginning of a new era of cooperation between the former Cold War foes. Trumps campaign was watched with rapture as news anchors gushed over the novelty of hearing an American presidential candidate praise Putin.

But the wall-to-wall coverage went too far for the Kremlins liking. In January, Trump received more mentions in the media than Putin, relegating the Russian leader to the No. 2 spot for the first time since he returned to the Kremlin in 2012 after four years as premier, according to Interfax data.

Russian media determine their editorial policies absolutely independently and its complete nonsense that they were ordered to reduce coverage of Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call Friday.

The decision to temper the publics expectations for better relations follows the resignation of Trumps national security adviser, retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, who sat with Putin at a media event in Moscow in 2015 and is widely reported in Russia to be a sympathetic voice in Washington.

Other Trump associates whose activities the FBI and other agencies are examining include former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who worked for a Putin ally in Ukraine for years, and energy consultant Carter Page, who used to live in Moscow and gave a speech here last summer. Manafort said in a statement he never had any connection to Putin or the Russian government.

Trump on Wednesday accused Putin of seizing Crimea from Ukraine in a series of Twitter posts that were delivered amid a flurry of allegations that his team has ties to Russia.

World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Show all 29 1 /29 World reaction to President Trump: In pictures World reaction to President Trump: In pictures London, England AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures London, England Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Manila, Philippines Getty Images World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Manila, Philippines Getty World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Mosul , Iraq Getty World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Manila, Philippines AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures New Delhi, India Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Karachi, Pakistan EPA World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jakarta, Indonesia Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Lagos, Nigeria AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Kabul, Afghanistan AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jerusalem. Israel Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Moscow, Russia Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Seoul, South Korea AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Lagos, Nigeria AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Peshawar, Pakistan EPA World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jakarta, Indonesia Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Hyderabad, India AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Kolkata, India AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Sydney, Australia Getty World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Sydney, Australia AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Aleppo, Syria Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Mexico City, Mexico AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jerusalem, Israel EPA World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Baghdad, Iraq Rex World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories Rex World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Tokyo, Japan Rex World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Mexico City, Mexico Getty

Crimea was TAKEN by Russia during the Obama Administration. Was Obama too soft on Russia? the US president tweeted.

Russian officials, who had readily commented to local media on earlier news from Washington, suddenly became less talkative after the Crimea comment.

Bloomberg
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US President Donald Trumps controversial pick for ambassador to Israel has told the panel at his Senate confirmation hearing that he would be delighted with the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

While Palestinian sovereignty is in theory a good idea, David Friedman said he remained sceptical solely on the basis of what I've perceived as an unwillingness on the part of the Palestinians to renounce terror and accept Israel as a Jewish state.

The new ambassador made the remarks in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday, as the world continues to react to the possibility that Mr Trump could be ending decades of support for a two-state solution to the intractable conflict.

 Palestine's chief negotiator warns Trump against one-state solution

When asked by reporters whether the US will continue its policy of support for the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel in a media conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netahyahu on Wednesday, Mr Trump was equivocal in his answer.

Im looking at two-state and at one-state, and I like the one that both parties like... I can live with either one, he said, in what would be a momentous break from what has been a cornerstone of US policy in the Middle East since Bill Clintons administration.

The suggestion was condemned by Palestinian leaders, as well as the UN and Arab League.

Israel: From independence to intifada Show all 7 1 /7 Israel: From independence to intifada Israel: From independence to intifada 26973.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26974.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26975.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26976.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26977.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26985.bin Robert Capa/Magnum Israel: From independence to intifada 26986.bin Robert Capa/Magnum

Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator and Secretary-General of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), warned that Mr Trumps vision was akin to apartheid.

Calling for concrete measures in order to save the two-state solution, he said the only alternative would be one single secular and democratic state with equal rights for everyone, Christians, Muslims and Jews, in all of historic Palestine.

Speaking at the UN on Thursday, US Envoy Nikki Haley also distanced US policy from the president s comments, saying the US absolutely supports a two-state solution and anyone who believed the country was moving away from the stance was in error.

 Trump: Im looking at two-state and at one-state, and I like the one that both parties like

Right-wing Mr Friedmans nomination for the position of US Ambassador to Israel has also been met with outcry for - among other things - his pro-settlements stance. Increasing Israeli expansion in the West Bank over the 1967 Green Line endangers a two-state solution, international observers say.

The former bankruptcy lawyers hearing was also notable for heckling from those present in the room. As Mr Friedman began his opening remarks, a youn bman who identified himself as Palestinian stood up and shouted, Mr Friedman said that Palestinian refugees dont have a claim to the land My grandfather was exiled, was kicked out, by state officials. And Im right here, holding up the Palestinian flag!

Other Palestinian and Jewish demonstrators went on to interrupt the hearing by singing songs and waving flags.
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More than 100,000 Palestinians have written letters to US President Donald Trump urging him not to end the USs support for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The mass letter writing campaign, organised by the independent Youth Centre for Development and Innovation in Nablus, ran for 11 days in the run up to January 20  Mr Trumps inauguration day.

It collected notes for the President from young Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, and displaced throughout the Middle East, to draw Mr Trumps attention to their desire to cooperate with the US in the peace process.

 Palestine's chief negotiator warns Trump against one-state solution

Centre director Mohammed Abu Ras told Al-Monitor: All of the letters focused on the Palestinians right to freedom and self-determination, putting an end to the occupation as well as implementing the international law resolutions and international conventions and treaties related to the Palestinian cause.

The letters call on Trump to stand by the principles of democracy and human rights, all the while committing to and defending international legitimacy by finding a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian cause.

The letters have been summarised and are now ready be delivered to Mr Trump via official channels, Al-Monitor reported on Thursday.

Israel: From independence to intifada Show all 7 1 /7 Israel: From independence to intifada Israel: From independence to intifada 26973.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26974.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26975.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26976.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26977.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26985.bin Robert Capa/Magnum Israel: From independence to intifada 26986.bin Robert Capa/Magnum

The timing is apt. While Mr Trump signalled before he took office that he was much more sympathetic to Israeli interests than his predecessor Barack Obama, this week after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the President said he is open to other solutions that bring peace that do not necessarily involve Palestinian sovereignty.

Im looking at two-state and at one-state, and I like the one that both parties like... I can live with either one, he said, in what would be a momentous break from what has been a cornerstone of US policy in the Middle East peace process since Bill Clintons administration.

The letters from Palestinian civilians join an official 9 January missive to the President from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. In the letter of congratulations, Mr Abbas expressed his willingness to work with the US for peace.

He also warned that the proposed move of the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem  a city contested by both parties  could spark violence, endanger the peace process, and open the gates of hell.
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In a remarkable case which has seen an international law violation prosecuted in a court in a non-actor state, Sweden has sentenced a Syrian rebel to life in prison over his role in the executions of regime soldiers in 2012.

Haisam Omar Sakhanh, who fled to Sweden and successfully claimed asylum in 2013, was arrested last year over his role in the brutal executions of seven government soldiers who were prisoners of war in Idlib province.

In video footage of the incident which emerged in 2013 and was used by the prosecution as evidence, Sakhanh is seen joking around with others whilst holding an assault rifle which he then uses to shoot a man lying at his feet.

 Donald Trump open to working with Moscow to fight Isis in Syria

He pleaded not guilty to executing the seven men, although admitted he had been involved in the apparent war crime by following orders from his superiors. The soldiers were sentenced to death by a legal rebel court, the 46-year-old has maintained.

The former rebel was reportedly part of a little-known group called the Suleiman Company, or Firqat Suleiman el-Muqatila, which has since been disbanded in Syrias complex civil war.

After determining that the context of the conflict meant the deaths constituted war crimes rather than seven murders, the Stockholm court found him guilty of serious violations of the regulations of international humanitarian law.

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

A big question in the judicial process has been whether a non-governmental actor can establish their own courts to maintain law and order within the framework of a non-international armed conflict, presiding judge Tomas Zander said in a statement.

The soldiers were executed less than two days after they were captured, Judge Zander said. For that reason, the court ruled it was not possible that the executions were preceded by a fair trial in which a legitimate court sentenced the soldiers to death.

Sakhanhs defence lawyer said in a statement that he plans to appeal the sentence.

The verdict was hailed as an important signal by Per Ahsltrom, the head of Swedens war crimes investigation unit.

The judges have given an important signal that Sweden is not a safe haven for war criminals, he said.
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Nine women and one child have died after a Saudi-led coalition war plane struck a funeral gathering in Yemen, officials have said.

A strike which hit a house in which mourners were gathered north of the capital on Wednesday also injured dozens more civilians, witnesses said.

The home of a local tribal leader in Ashira, a village north of Sanaa, was destroyed in the strike, a resident told Reuters. Locals had gathered there to offer condolences after a woman in the family died.

 2.1 million children are facing famine in Yemen

People heard the sound of planes and started running from the house but then the bombs hit the house directly. The roof collapsed. Blood was everywhere, a second resident, who gave his name as Hamid Ali, said.

Yemeni media published pictures of people searching through the rubble of Mohammed al-Nakayas house. Mr Nakyaya is allied to Yemen's Houthi movement, the Shia insurgents currently in control of most of the country.

One picture widely shared online showed a middle-aged man kneeling on the ground, cradling the body of an elderly woman.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition announced Thursday that it will investigate the attack on the funeral and whether civilians were deliberately targeted.

The situation in Yemen Show all 14 1 /14 The situation in Yemen The situation in Yemen Houthi supporters trample on a US flag during a gathering mobilizing more fighters into several Yemeni battlefronts, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen People carry the coffins of men, who were killed in the recent Saudi-led airstrikes during their funeral, in the Old City of Sanaa, Yemen AP The situation in Yemen Pro-government fighters give food to Yemeni children on the road leading to the southwestern port city of Mokha. Yemeni rebels are putting up fierce resistance in a key Red Sea port city where they are encircled by pro-government force Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni stands in front of a graffiti protesting US military operations in war-affected Yemen, in Sana'a, Yemen. According to reports, US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen A Yemeni female fighter supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, takes part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen Yemeni female fighters supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, take part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A boy shouts slogans next to pro-Houthi fighters, who have been injured during recent fighting, during a rally held to honour those injured or maimed while fighting in Houthi ranks in Sanaa, Yemen Reuters The situation in Yemen Balls of fire and smoke rise from a Houthi-held military camp following alleged Saudi-led airstrikes, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy looks on as Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy sits amidst the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa AFP/Getty The situation in Yemen Marine One with US President Donald Trump flies with a decoy and support helicopters to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, for the dignified transfer of Navy Seal Chief Petty Officer William 'Ryan' Owens who was killed in Yemen Getty Images The situation in Yemen US President Donald Trump aboard the Marine One to greet the remains of a US military commando killed during a raid on the al Qaeda militant group in southern Yemen on Sunday, at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, US Reuters

We are aware of media reports that Houthi rebels are claiming that Yemeni civilians were killed in an air raid overnight near Sanaa, the coalition said in statement.

There has been fighting between Yemeni armed forces and rebels in this area in recent days. We are investigating the reports.

Yemen is currently in the grips of an almost two-year long civil war which has pitted Houthi rebels against the internationally recognised exiled government. More than 10,000 people have died in the conflict, which has also exacerbated disease and hunger.

Extremist groups such as al-Qaeda have also taken advantage of Yemens chaos, establishing several strongholds in the country.

Since March 2015 a Saudi-Arabia led coalition of mainly Gulf Arab states has bombed Houthi and al-Qaeda positions at the request of the ousted President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadis government.

The campaign has drawn international criticism for allegedly targeting civilian infrastructure, causing unnecessary lose of human life that the UN says could amount to war crimes.

In the single worst incident in October 2016, the bombing of a funeral gathering in Sanaa killed around 140 people.

The Gulf alliance maintains that it does not target civilians. An investigation into Wednesdays funeral bombing is underway, officials said.
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As another cabin-crew strike begins, British Airways has cancelled 10 flights today to and from Heathrow, including a round-trip to Doha.

Some departures have been covered by chartering in planes and crews from other airlines, such as Thomas Cook, which is operating some flights from Heathrow to Manchester and back.

Members of the Unite union working for BAs Mixed Fleet operation have taken 11 days of industrial action so far this year in a dispute over what they term poverty pay.

Recommended Inside a rally for striking BA cabin crew

The Independent understands that British Airways director of customer experience, Troy Warfield, has warned the strikers that they will lose two years of travel perks as well as bonuses for 2016 and 2017.

A BA spokesperson declined to comment on the detail of the sanctions but said: We want to encourage our colleagues to come to work and therefore have repeatedly explained the consequences of taking strike action to them.

Mixed Fleet flights to and from Hamburg and Dusseldorf have been cancelled, as well as two round-trips to Aberdeen. The airline says passengers will be accommodated on other services.

BAs Mixed Fleet operation serves around 50 domestic, European and long-haul routes from Heathrow. All the staff have been recruited since the last cabin-crew dispute ended in 2010. They are employed on inferior terms to longer-serving staff.

Flights to Doha are operated by BAs Worldwide cabin crew; they are not involved in the dispute, but are being deployed elsewhere to cover for Mixed Fleet operations.

Passengers on the cancelled Doha flights are being switched to Qatar Airways services. Qatar Airways owns one-fifth of IAG, BAs holding company.

The current four-day stoppage ends on Tuesday, and another four-day strike begins on Thursday 22 February. Services from Gatwick, London City and Stansted are unaffected.

Unite says cabin crew earn an average of 16,000, including allowances, a year. BA does not recognise this figure, saying that the lowest-paid full-time member of Mixed Fleet earned more than 21,000 last year.

Recommended No one can agree what the latest British Airways strike is about

The union estimates the airline has spend 1m on wet leasing planes from other carriers to cover for BA aircraft grounded by strikes.

Unites regional officer, Matt Smith, said: We would urge British Airways to reconsider its costly intransigence and enter talks at Acas and reach an agreement.

Before Christmas it appeared a deal had been reached after intense negotiations between BA and Unites general secretary, Len McCluskey.

A strike planned for 25 and 26 December was called off, and the offer was put to members. But between Christmas and New Year, the deal was rejected in a poll.
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At Gatwick we pride ourselves on using your feedback to improve your airport experience.

The polite request asking for comments went on to say how I might win an iPad in return for my time, and that your privacy will be respected and your responses will remain anonymous.

Well, I can save time and trouble for the researchers canvassing views of the Sussex airport. Because someone with more than six million Twitter followers posed a salient question  and many people responded.

As Im bored, is there anyone who prefers Gatwick to Heathrow? tweeted @JeremyClarkson last Saturday.

The responses to the Grand Tour presenter arrived faster than inbound planes at Britains two busiest airports.

Opposing the motion, Piers Baron tweeted: If I owned a house airside at Gatwick I would still prefer every other airport on earth.

Paul Headey claimed: Its chav central to hen parties and stag dos.

Speed Monkey asserted: You have to drive round the M25 to get to Gatwick from the civilised world, which means youll miss your flight.

And Jeremy ODonoghue concluded: The only thing worse than flying from Gatwick is putting your hand in a V8 powered blender.

But plenty of other people aimed their virtual vitriol at Heathrow  which, says Joe Paso, was not designed. It merely fell from the sky and the Brits decided theyd just muddle through. @biffabeau said: Unless you live in west London, Heathrow is a congested hell hole to get to, while Marcus J Swift added: Heathrow is just too big. You could do with a car to get to your plane.

@SKSurpal was more nuanced, and pointed out that not all terminals are alike: Gatwick vs Heathrow depends on if you are flying BA or not. T5 great, others crap.

The As bad as each other option was covered by John MSV: No preference as long as theyre in the rear view mirror.

Asking for responses on Twitter is not the most systematic of surveys, but there seems an abundance of loathing for both Heathrow and Gatwick.

Given the strength of feeling, then, how did they become respectively the busiest two-runway and single-runway airports in the world? Because whatever passengers might say, we desire what these airports offer. And we are prepared to put up with queues and crowds to get to the destinations they serve with such frequency.

By a mile the best airport I have used all year  probably all century  is Campbeltown in south-west Scotland, but that is because it is the polar opposite of the two main London airports. For the only flight of the morning, I was one of just 15 passengers. Thats the same number who pass through Heathrow in six seconds or Gatwick in 10 seconds.

Recommended Britain introduces flights without security checks

Walking from kerbside to airside takes less than a minute. The security queue? There wasn't one, because of the brave decision to abandon standard security checks at the airport.

But to ask Why cant all airports be like Campbeltown? is fatuous. If they were, our marvellous freedom to fly would have vanished. From CAL, as the airport is coded, you can fly to exactly one destination: GLA. And while the views over the Kintyre Peninsula, the isle of Arran and the Firth of Clyde were magnificent, the fare I paid for the 63-mile hop was 54. At that rate, flying from London to Sydney and back would cost over 18,000, rather than the sub-600 return deals that are around for the next few months.

A successful airport is all about scale: the more passengers they attract, the more aircraft are deployed and the more routes are developed. Considering their size and constraints, Heathrow and Gatwick are excellent airports. But Vicky Gregorys comment That feels like asking if I prefer to marry @piersmorgan or live with @realDonaldTrump is more fun.

Passengers dont get the airports they deserve  they get the airports they demand.
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The site, cycladesrentals.com, was the latest attempt at defrauding travellers using images taken from genuine websites. It claimed to have been in the field of luxury tourist services for decades, but was in fact set up last month.

The fraudsters had even set up a pay-per-click arrangement with Google for key words such as Santorini villas. When The Independent pointed out the attempted fraud to Google, the link ended.

The cyber-criminals boasted: To build our collection, we searched for, visited, stayed at and evaluated dozens of properties, hand-picking stunning waterfront villas, focusing on luxury, privacy, quality and exclusivity.

In fact, they had stolen that claim from a genuine Greek holiday company, Blue Villas, as well as images from a range of legitimate villa firms  including Villa Plus, based in St Albans.

Nick Cooper, founder and co-owner of Villa Plus, said: First it makes you sick to think that these crooks are using our pictures of our villas to rip people off, with many people turning up overseas to find they have no accommodation, and secondly you feel violated seeing your villas on fake websites, it is truly a horrible feeling.

Mr Cooper also questioned how a visibly fraudulent website could remain untouched for several weeks: You feel so frustrated that you have found a fake website and it is so hard to get it taken down quickly.

The homepage of the fake Cyclades Rentals website

It is so frustrating to know that someone will lose money tomorrow, about something we all know about today.

The website was hosted by the US organisation, GoDaddy, which initially told Mr Cooper: "We have reviewed your complaint but at this time we are unable to take action without a court order."

After an approach from The Independent, the site was taken down.

The same gang is thought to be behind two previous scam sites, Canarian Luxury Villas and Verbier Chalet Rentals. All three sites shared the same marketing copy, which was stolen from the London-based Healthy Holiday Company. They failed to amend the copy, leaving in a baffling reference to exceptional 'on the ground' healthy experts.

Pictures of staff at Cyclades Rentals had been lifted from genuine businesses. The supposed concierge had an identical photograph to a Manhattan real-estate dealer.

The fraudsters wrote their own fake reviews, though lacked attention to detail. A picture of Paloma, the property manager, clearly shows a female. But an apparent "customer" named as Andreas Webber From Koln writes: I have certainly put Paloma through his paces asking for many quotes and questions and he has delivered every time.

Cyclades Rentals claimed to be a member of the "Greek Tourism Organization" and gave an address in Athens. The Independent alerted the Greek National Tourism Organisation to the claim. Officials from the Greek Ministry of Tourism visited the location and reported that no company office is housed in the building, which is actually an uninhabited four-storey block of flats.

The business model used by the perpetrators is to demand payment by bank transfer, a transaction that cannot be reversed. The site offered a laughable Payment Protection Guarantee, which was said to apply only for a Wire Bank transfer directly to the owner bank account.

When The Independent asked Google about the pay-per-click arrangement, a spokesperson said: "We have a set of policies which govern what ads we do and do not allow on Google. These policies make it clear that we do not allow fraudulent or misrepresentative sites.

"If we discover sites that are breaking this policy we quickly take appropriate action."

Mr Cooper of Villa Plus said: It has never been more important for the buyer to be aware when renting a villa and to take extra precautions and be super-vigilant.

Prospective holidaymakers are especially vulnerable to scams because of the convention of paying in advance. Many travel industry figures are alarmed at the apparent lack of appetite on the part of the authorities to pursue the perpetrators, allowing them to resurface repeatedly.
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Self-absorbed and irrational Donald Trump may well be, but on Thursday he held what was probably the most interesting and entertaining White House press conference ever. These are usually grimly ritualistic events in which select members of the media establishment, who have often come to see themselves as part of the permanent government of the US, ask predictable questions and get equally predictable replies.

The conventions of democracy are preserved but nobody is much the wiser, and the general tone is one of fawning credulity towards whatever line the administration is adopting. That this has long been the case was shown in the fascinating book about the press coverage of the 1972 presidential campaign, The Boys on the Bus by Timothy Crouse, which notes that negative popular perceptions of the media truckling to power is largely true of the White House correspondents, though not of other reporters.

For now, Trump reminds one more of a theatrical populist like Silvio Berlusconi than anything resembling a proto-fascist or authoritarian demagogue like Benito Mussolini. This perception may change as he secures his grip on the levers of power as he promises to do, blaming leaks from the US intelligence services on holdovers from the Obama administration.

But the lesson to be drawn from the history of all populist authoritarian regimes is that there is always a wide gap between what they promise and what they accomplish. As this gap becomes wider, the regime responds by concealing or lying about it through control or closure of the media. This was the trajectory in Turkey, where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is holding a referendum in April which will establish an all-powerful presidency. In the run-up to the vote the Turkish media simply reports military failures in Syria as brilliant successes and even mildly critical tweets can lead to the tweeter being sacked or imprisoned. Press freedoms may never be extinguished to the same degree in the US, but then many Turkish journalists did not foresee what was going to happen to them.

 Donald Trump denies 'ranting and raving', attacking media, Clinton, Democrats

At present, this is a golden era in American journalism, because established media outlets such as CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post find themselves under unprecedented and open attacks from the powers that be. Richard Nixon may have felt persecuted by press and television, but he never counter-attacked with the same vigour and venom as Trump. Discussions on CNN, which used to be notoriously soporific, have suddenly become lively and intelligent, and the same is true of the rest of the mainline media.

This radicalisation of the establishment media may not last and is accompanied by a significant rearrangement of history. Lying by the Trump administration is presented as wholly unprecedented, but what has really changed is the position of the media itself, forgetful of its past complicity in claiming that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction or that war in Libya would bring peace and democracy to that country.

Fake news and false facts are the battle cries in this ferocious struggle for power in Washington in which each side takes a high moral tone, while trying to land any low blow they think they can get away with. Trump, accused of everything aside from grave-robbing, is said to have been aided by the dark hand of Vladimir Putin in winning the election, in a manner that is far beyond Russian capabilities. The Kremlin is credited with demonic foresight whereby it sponsored Trump as a candidate in the presidential election long before any American politician or commentator thought he had a chance.

 Donald Trump says a Russia-US conflict would be a nuclear holocaust 'like no other'

A bizarre feature of the present confrontation is that the Democrats and liberals have relaunched McCarthyism, something they would have decried as a toxic episode in American political history until a few months ago. Just as Senator Joe McCarthy claimed in 1950 to have a list of communist infiltrators in the State Department, so any contact between a Trump supporter or official and a Russian is now being reported as suspicious and potentially treacherous. It is difficult to see where Trump is wrong when he tweeted that the Democrats had to come up with a story as to why they lost the election, and so badly, so they made up a story  RUSSIA. Fake news!

Trump has a point, but he is also entirely hypocritical because he himself probably won the election because of the spurious significance given to Hillary Clintons private emails and her supposed responsibility for the killing of the US ambassador in Benghazi by jihadis. Paradoxically, she was blamed for one of the few bad things that happened in Libya that was not her fault. In recent decades it has been the Republicans who have made a speciality in promoting trivial offences or no offence at all into major issues in order to discredit political opponents. In the 1990s they succeeded in smearing the Clintons by elevating a minor unsuccessful real estate deal into the Whitewater scandal. Probably the biggest Democratic Party false fact success came in the Presidential election in 1960 when Kennedy claimed that the Republicans had allowed a missile gap to develop between the US and the Soviet Union, though he knew this was untrue since he had been officially briefed that the US had far more missiles than the Russians.

The phrases fake news and false facts give a misleading impression of what really happens in the course of political combat now or in the past. A direct disprovable lie, like Kennedy on the missile gap, is unusual. More frequent is systematic exaggeration of the gravity of real events such as Clintons emails or Trumps Russian connections.

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

Sound advice on this was given 300 years ago in Dr John Arbuthnots wonderful treatise on the Art of Political Lying, published in 1712, which warns that once a false fact or lie is lodged in the public mind, it may be impossible to persuade people that it is untrue except by another lie. He says, as an example, that if there is a rumour that the pretender to the British throne in exile in France has come to London, do not contradict it by saying he was never in England. Rather you must prove by eyewitnesses that he came no farther than Greenwich, but then went back again. He warns against spreading lies about a political leader which are directly contrary to their known character and previous behaviour. Better to give credibility to a lie by keeping within realms of credibility, by blackening the name of a prince known to be merciful that he has pardoned a criminal who did not deserve it.

Arbuthnot assumes that political parties lie as a matter of course, and that the only way for the public to limit the power of governments is to lie as much as they do. He says that, just as ministers use political lying to support their power, it is but reasonable that the people should employ the same weapon to defend themselves, and pull them down.

Could this be the fate of Trump? He became president because false facts fatally damaged Hillary Clinton  and now the same thing is happening to him.
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In the 16th century, women who were suspected of being witches were tied up and thrown into the water. If they drowned, they were acknowledged to be mere mortals. If they floated, they were burned at the stake.

Damned if you do and damned if you dont. I cant help but think of this when I read about US networks rushing to announce that they wont book interviews with Kellyanne Conway due to her lack of credibility.

As CNN and Morning Joe made their disgust about the Counsellor to the President clear, most of the worlds networks were simultaneously tuning in to President Donald Trumps first solo press conference.

This differentiation perhaps highlights one of the greatest hypocrisies of the medias relationship with the Trump administration so far. Why has Conway become the fall guy?

Yes, of course, Conway should be called out for wrongdoing. She invented the Bowling Green massacre apparently to try and justify Trumps controversial travel ban, she inappropriately advised Fox News viewers to go buy Ivanka Trumps brand after Nordstrom dropped it, and she covered up Sean Spicers lies by claiming he provided alternative facts.

 Kellyanne Conway tried to explain Flynn's resignation was told on national TV she 'made no sense'

Yet everyone from CNN to the BBC was present at the White House for the Presidents first solo press conference this week. They packed out the room and shouted to get his attention. After one hour and 15 minutes, he had spewed more alternative facts than a shopping channel at 2am.

Among them, he claimed he had won the largest Electoral College landslide since Ronald Reagan. In truth, he had the lowest Electoral College victory since Ronald Reagan. He said he had done well with black voters, and asked a black reporter whether she would set up a meeting with him and the Congressional Black Caucus because they might be her friends. He said stock markets were up and unemployment was down, and that that was due to four weeks of him being in office. He also said reports about Michael Flynn acting inappropriately by calling Russia was fake news.

We were hanging on every word. And its not just him.

The New York Times was keen to interview conspiracy theorist machine Steve Bannon, a man who has taken credit for building what has become a mainstream news outlet for white supremacy.

All the talk shows were delighted last weekend to get their hands on adviser Stephen Miller, who was described by a Harvard law professor as a robotic fascist and who insisted New Hampshire had bussed in hordes of illegal immigrants to vote for Hillary Clinton.

Sean Spicer trots out to the podium almost every day of the week, reading his statements in such a monotone that Im amazed the journalists packing out the room dont fall asleep on their pens. In fact, they are all itching to ask him to repeat his lies about Russia, and about the inauguration crowd size and about rising crime.

Everyone wants outrage. And its entertaining. Its the only reason CNN and the other networks stay tuned in to a Donald Trump press conference for the whole show. Its like watching bad television, like a supermodel falling over on the catwalk, like a bunch of obese celebrities at boot camp.

 Donald Trump asks black reporter if the Congressional Black Caucus are 'friends of yours'

But we need someone to blame, otherwise the media would not be seen to be doing its job by holding the powerful to account. Equally, the government needs someone to blame for their mistakes, otherwise they will be drowned in controversy and their approval ratings will drop to the floor.

Both the media and the government have chosen to blame Conway.

Sean Spicer was asked about Conways remarks about Nordstrom and Ivanka Trump.

Shes been counselled, he said.

But who is counselling Sean Spicer?

Even Jason Chaffetz, the Republican chairman of the committee of oversight and government reform, has vowed to investigate Conway  just as he maintains he is still pursuing his investigation of Hillary Clinton. There are no similar concerns with the Presidents conflicts of interest, his family sitting in on classified meetings or his ties to Russia.

Who is investigating Jason Chaffetz?

SNL makes frequent jokes about Conways hair and make-up, characterising the woman as a witch who is sexually obsessed with CNN host Jake Tapper  admittedly, Kate McKinnon got her voice just right  but overall it felt more sexist than clever.

Blaming Conway merely serves as a convenient distraction for the bigger picture. When headlines were blowing up about Conway and Nordstrom, Michael Flynn was getting fired for lying to Vice President Mike Pence about his calls to Russia. Trump knew for weeks.

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

Who is investigating Trump? If Conways exile was really about lack of credibility, the media wouldnt have given such a large platform to Trump on the very first day he announced his candidacy in June 2015 when he called Mexicans drug dealers and rapists, and provided the platform every day since then.

When Trump was tweeting about Pence getting booed at Hamilton the musical, the President-elect was settling a multi-million dollar fraud lawsuit  and escaped mass media scrutiny. When Melania Trump plagiarised Michelle Obama during her RNC speech, silent staffer Meredith McIver was quickly blamed.

Maybe SNL got it right by comparing Conway to a witch: after all, her public shaming is nothing more than a witch hunt.

And while Kellyanne Conway burns on the stake, the media is the uncomfortable executioner, and the establishment gets off scot-free.
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Last night, a suicide attack on a shrine in Pakistan killed at least 88 people and injured a further 250 at last count. This comes just two days after a suicide bomber attacked a rally in Lahore, the cultural heart of Pakistan, and killed over a dozen people. Isis has claimed responsibility for the deaths, causing terror and distress across the country.

While the Western press have published the odd article about the attacks, the coverage goes no further: no big front-page reporting, special emergency episodes of political podcasts, trending hashtags or Snapchat filters.

The Western media is so obsessed with what Donald Trump does and doesnt say about potential security threats that theyre ignoring the actual terror attacks going on.

Nationality, religion and race are clearly deciding factors in the medias reporting of lives lost  this isnt new. But to so blatantly ignore these tragic attacks sheds new light on the levels of hypocrisy and discrimination.

Western media and governments seem to have adopted a standard policy that terrorism isnt worth mentioning unless it affects their own people and countries.

Heavens would have fallen, and rightly so, if there were the same number of terrorism victims in a similar attack in any Western country. Media and politicians would surely have responded quickly and loudly.

The message is clear: Western lives matter but brown, black and non-Christian lives arent worthy of a story. The fact that these publications are simultaneously denouncing Trump for his racist policies, or waxing lyrical about the value of the Black Lives Matter movement, just adds to the irony of the situation.

Pakistans terrorism problem cant be ignored  it must be shared by all those countries which used Pakistan for their regional and political games. More than 80,000 Pakistanis have lost their lives since the 9/11 terror attacks and a total of four million Muslims have been killed in the war against terror.

Yet Pakistan is routinely criticised for not doing enough and admonitions are issued from the cosy decision-making rooms of Washington and London.

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 West has to shoulder some responsibility for the wave of terror attacks flooding Pakistan, which have only increased since the US, UK and their allies entered into Afghanistan to liberate it, leaving its neighbouring region more vulnerable than ever.

Western media and governments want the whole world to consider the Western terrorism problem as their own, demanding solidarity and action, yet they wont extend the same courtesy when the victims of Isis are in a majority-Muslim country. Until we realise that all lives deserve the same respect, regardless of race, wealth or creed, well never be able to eradicate the threat of extremism which hangs over us all.

Murtaza Ali Shah is a London-based reporter for Pakistans GEO TV Network and Jang Group of Newspapers
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Whatever the merits of Tony Blair's argument, does he really expect Remainers to unite around the most damaged politician for a generation?

His friends and enemies have all counselled him to stay clear of this, and some believe that his pro-Europe pronouncements during the referendum actually won it for the Leavers. We have enough narcissism from the fine-tuned machine across the pond to be wary of it surfacing here from ex-leaders who don't know their sell-by date.

Stefan Wickam

Surrey

The futility of the Brexit vote and the desperation of Eurosceptics becomes more apparent by the day. Yet, as is the case in these situations, the brink has to be reached before those who will not see have no other option but to open their eyes.

We are bombarded daily by bad news and gloomy prospects, and now the shamed Tony Blair is back in the frame. Worryingly, I find myself for the very first time agreeing with him, at least on this issue. I was no great fan of the EU  like so much of human endeavour, it is flawed. But I can see clearly the advantages of its existence, and the sheer folly of leaving its influence and possibly causing its downfall.

I am not a Remoaner, I am a realist. I genuinely fear for the future of humanity.

Steve Edmondson

Cambridge

Actually Tony Blair, I did rise up for what I believe in, along with millions of others. You disregarded us and turned Iraq into an abattoir.

The world has heard more than enough from Blair. The next time he speaks should be from the dock in The Hague answering war crime charges.

Sasha Simic

London N16

I cannot for the life of me understand why politicians and other discussion groups in the UK continue to undermine the position of Prime Minister May's forthcoming discussions with the EU whilst she tries to get a favourable result for the UK.

A lot of the talk by these irresponsible people is about the future of EU nationals working in the UK. The Prime Minister is, quite sensibly, first and foremost trying to get a guarantee on the future of the two million or so Brits living and working in the EU. It would be irresponsible of the Prime Minister to do otherwise.

In view of the fact that the NHS would find it very difficult to function without the work of EU nationals, I cannot imagine that Britain would ask them to leave. A disunited UK is what the hawks in the EU, so please stop making it easy for them.

John Fair

County Mayo, Ireland

The humanitarian side to security issues

Bono is right to emphasise the inextricable link between security and sustainable development at the upcoming G20 summit and Security Conference.

The sheer magnitude of the humanitarian crisis of unresolved wars, conflicts, refuge and abandonment has opened up a realm of social solidarity. Refugees are fleeing political fragility, social unrest, cultural and religious persecution, broken health systems, grinding poverty and febrile violence. They are crossing international boundaries in the search for safety.

Women and children constitute over half of refugees, and are at higher risk of sexual and gender based violence, labour exploitation, honour killings, forced marriages, malnutrition, socioeconomic vulnerabilities and multiple risk behaviours for communicable and non-communicable diseases throughout their arduous journeys towards human security.

Health is a human right. It is intertwined with social justice, sustainable development, economic prosperity, social integration and gender egalitarianism. We cannot advance until we give women their righteous status in society and bestow upon them equal status in respect of religious and ethical rights.

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob

London NW2

Using art to rehabilitate prisoners

While I fully support the Justice Secretary Liz Trusss call to reduce prison populations by reforming offenders, there are still too many nonviolent offenders, particularly women, in prison who could be rehabilitated more effectively through community sentences.

The severity of the current situation in prisons warrants immediate and significant action to reduce prison numbers. However, a focus on prisoners needs and appropriate rehabilitation is of course very welcome, particularly at a time when prison suicide rates and mental health issues are at a record high.

I urge the Secretary of State for Justice, when considering interventions, to tackle these needs, to be alert to the impact of the arts in engaging prisoners in purposeful and rehabilitative activity. In recent years, I have seen significant funding cuts to the availability of the arts in the criminal justice system, despite witnessing firsthand the results that can be achieved through arts-based programmes.

Arts initiatives help individuals to learn to foster their emotions in a safe way and provide an outlet for any negative feelings. This positive regulation of emotions has been linked to increased well-being and decreases in anger and aggression, and when you consider the impact that the mental health and well-being of prisoners has on their risk of offending and re-offending, its crucial we tackle this head on. In engaging prisoners in arts activities, I have seen time-after-time how this can help prisoners move towards a crime free future.

We must ensure prisoners have access to the support and help required to facilitate rehabilitation, and the arts is a powerful tool to help us achieve this.

Dr Laura Caulfield

Bath

Trump's advisers are distancing themselves from the President

As the Donald Trump flying circus continues, I hear that Robert Harward has declined the position of national security adviser, following the rapid demise of Michael Flynn. Then I go on to read that the US envoy to the UN, Nikki Haley, flatly contradicts the President on Americas approach to the Israel-Palestine situation; and the Defence Secretary, James Mattis, treads a very different line to his boss on Russia.

I think what we are seeing here are members of the Trump team starting to look at their own legacy. How will history judge the 45th President of the United States? And, more importantly, how will history judge those around him?

As the reality of what the US has voted for starts to sink in, I expect more and more of the GOP to distance themselves from their elected President. Unfortunately, to many in the wider electorate in America it will seem that Mr. Trump was correct in his campaigning stance, and that his rages against the Washington clique and the swamp were spot on. Expect more polarisation in the US, and then I know not what. Truly, we live in interesting times.

David Hill

Essex
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A word-cloud from a background briefing to journalists by White House officials on the eve of Mike Pences trip to this weekends Munich Security Conference, his first foray abroad as Vice President, would have REASSURE in bold at its heart. COMMITMENT also popped up a lot.

The first theme is reassurance, the briefer, an unnamed foreign policy adviser, offered. Were there to reassure Europes role both as our indispensable partner and the commitment to our allies. He wants to reassure folks ... were going to be with them as well, so reassurance in that sense, if they need to hear it.

Recommended Donald Trump and the US media are in a fight to the finish

Damage control better describes what everyone bar President Donald Trump has been engaging in in recent days. Jim Mattis was at it at Nato in Brussels this week. Nikki Haley, the new US envoy at the United Nations, has been doing her bit. The same task fell to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who spent part of the week at the G20 foreign ministers huddle in Bonn.

That the world, and the allies in particular, are in need of soothing hardly needs saying. They look at America and see a superpower flailing. A superpower being steered by successive 140-character outbursts by a President drawn more to Twitter than diplomacy.

The evidence is everywhere. Some is trivial like the failure of anyone to think of booking Mr Tillerson a room in Bonn. While his counterparts found convenient digs in the city, he was forced to commute 40 minutes from a faded country hotel attached to a hot springs favoured by wheelchair-bound octogenarians seeking a cure.

But the State Department falling down on navigating Expedia is the very least of it. Ultimately it is the US president, guided by his national security adviser, who holds the tiller on American foreign policy. Pence must persuade the roughly 80 foreign and defence ministers who are also headed to Munich  as well as the leaders of Nato, the UN and the EU  that his boss has his hands on it and has some clue of the course he is taking and not just swishing it around in the surf fecklessly to see where the ride takes him  and us.

Nowhere does the notion of this White House being a fine-tuned machine, as Mr Trump put it on Thursday, look more daft than in foreign policy. When Michael Flynn was fired as national security adviser this week, we learned the Mr Trump had found out about his December phone calls to the Russian ambassador just a few days after his swearing in in January. That was when he presumably lost trust in Flynn. So he hasnt really had a national security adviser at all yet.

What does it say, meanwhile, that the man he then expected to take the job, retired Navy Vice Admiral Robert Harward, currently the top executive at Lockheed Martin, the giant defence contractor, opted instead to turn it down? How rude. But an anonymous friend said it was because he was afraid he was being handed a shit sandwich. Harward might quite reasonably have looked at the Good Ship Trump and concluded it was already beyond saving. Why row out there, if, before long, he and everyone else in the NSC might soon be swimming for shore?

Vice Admiral Robert S Harward visits Zaranj, Afghanistan in 2011 (Shawn Coolman/US Marines via Reuters)

In a subsequent Twitter message, Mr Trump declared that he still had a deep bench of options. General Keith Kellogg, who I have known for a long time, is very much in play for NSA  as are three others, he touted on Friday morning. Even he knows that reassurance is now required.

But Pence is on a mission impossible, not least because of doubts as to his own standing in the White House. I dont think any of our allies will question for a second as to whether the vice president is speaking on behalf of the administration and in conjunction with the president on any matter, another top administration official advised in the briefing to journalists.

Oh, but they will question it. The reason Trump gave for booting Flynn was that he had lied to the Vice President about his speaking about US sanctions on Russia in those chats with its ambassador. But it was two weeks after the Justice Department first informed the Oval Office of the problem before anyone thought to fill in the Vice President. So is Pence part of Trumps inner circle or isnt he? Does he know any better than anyone else what the President is thinking?

And if he doesnt, what about everyone else? Over and over, the other foreign policy appointees have articulated positions that directly contradict their president. One day after Trump said at a press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu that he was not wedded to a two-state solution with the Palestinians, Ms Haley in New York said the opposite. The two-state solution is what we support. Anybody that wants to say the United States does not support the two-state solution  that would be an error, she told reporters at the United Nations. Confusing.

Trump last month again beat up on the Nato alliance as obsolete. Yet Mattis declared in Brussels that Trump has strong support for Nato and assured Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that the alliance remains a fundamental bedrock for the United States. Confusing also. Tillerson meanwhile said in Bonn that Trump was committed to UN efforts to end the war in Syria. In other words: ignore all his talk of taking an approach more aligned with Russia, which has been focused foremost on defeating the enemies of Assad.

Russia and Trump is, of course, the scariest issue of all. No one knows what is going on there. We may yet see the job of investigating the exact relationship between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin handed to an independent commission or special prosecutor in Washington. Who knows what it might find? Could it conceivably be that Trump himself actively encouraged Russia to hack into Democratic Party servers? That would take us into impeachment territory.

Trumps credibility deficit matters. His press conference included statements that were demonstrably untrue. If he lies, or self-deludes himself, about the margin of his November victory, how is the world to take him seriously on any subject? It is not reassuring that Trump is not alone in offering truths more slippery than wet soap. Standing beside Tillerson in Bonn, his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, bluntly averred: You should know we do not interfere in the domestic matters of other countries.

In Munich they will want to know what Trump means to do about Russia now. The New York Times reveals that Moscow has deployed a cruise missile violating the 1987 INF treaty that bans land-based American and Russian intermediate-range missiles. What will be the US response? And more broadly, and urgently: how certain now is the US security guarantee that its allies, in Europe and also in Asia, have relied upon for the past 70 years?

If we hope to save the INF treaty or, at a minimum, defend ourselves and our allies from Russian nuclear coercion, then the United States and its allies must respond to Russias latest and most blatant transgression, warns Matthew Kroenig, a senior fellow at the Brent Scowcroft Centre on International Security at the Atlantic Council.

I inherited a mess, Trump declared on Thursday. What terrifies most of those headed to Munich is that the new American President is instead creating one. Messrs Pence, Tillerson and Mattis will strive to dispel that unfortunate impression. But they will do so in the full knowledge that their efforts could all be undone with a single visit by the president to his Twitter account.
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The focus of Natos conference in Brussels, the first since Donald Trump got to the White House, was on the message he sent to an organisation of Western allies he had called obsolete while speaking of his admiration for Vladimir Putin.

The message, a veiled threat, conveyed by US defence secretary James Mattis, was that the continuing failure of the alliance to pay its share on security would lead to the US reevaluating its commitment to the defence of Europe. That and the continuing fallout over Trump national security adviser Michael Flynns departure after clandestine contacts with the Russians, were the sources of fascination and foreboding here.

Almost unnoticed a development took place at the end of the summit, on Libya, which is likely to have great resonance in relations between Nato, the US and Russia, Trump and Putin. Natos secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, announced that the alliance is likely to provide security support to the Libyan government of Fayez al-Sarraj.

 One month of Donald Trump as President of the United States

We have said for some time that we are ready to help Libya but that any assistance has to be based on a request from the Libyan government, said Stoltenberg. This is the request we received yesterday  training local forces is one of the best weapons in the fight against terrorism and building stability.

Libya has, of course, become a source of huge trouble for Europe since David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy instigated Natos military intervention and the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi six years ago. It is the main conduit for hundreds of thousands of refugees crossing the Mediterranean and also the lawless place where Isis has established its main base for carrying out attacks in the Maghreb.

Special forces of Western countries are already in action in Libya  the US has carried out airstrikes on Isis and other Islamist terrorists. But any formal deployment of forces by Nato faces problems. There is the danger of mission creep: being sucked into a violent and semi-anarchic quagmire, as well as the fact that the Government of National Accord, headed by Fayez al-Sarraj, which Nato is supposed to prop up, has very little territory and very little power.

The man who claims to wield real power  an aspiring new Gaddafi according to his enemies  is former general Khalifa Haftar with his force the Libyan National Army (LNA). He has the backing of Egypt and the UAE whose warplanes have carried out airstrikes in his support. Now, crucially, he has the support of a Russia expanding its influence across the Middle-East and North Africa.

General Haftar went to Moscow twice last year to seek help and then turned up on board the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov as it was returning from waters off the coast of Syria where it had been part of the blitzkrieg enabling Bashar al-Assad to recapture Aleppo. He met the Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu, on board, to discuss, according to the Kremlin, fighting international terrorist groups in the Middle East.

The US under Barack Obama had refused to deal with General Haftar but the Libyan commander and his backers, the parliament in Benghazi, one of the countrys three governments, say they are also now optimistic that they will get the support of the Trump administration.

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

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was the first foreign leader to congratulate Trump after his victory and the Egyptian president has been pressing Washington to switch its support to General Haftar. And, according to reports, members of the Trump team have started discussing the Haftar option. An American official in Brussels commented: The Trump people may well think Libya would be a less sensitive theatre to cooperate with the Russians on counter-terrorism than Syria: the common conception is that Libya is a mess  we have Daesh [Isis] running around there and if this guy Haftar is being effective, then maybe he is the man.

Even before the coming of Trump there has been a feeling among some American officials that the problems being faced by Europe from Libya were, to an extent, self-induced. Paris and London were very much the cheerleaders in getting rid of Colonel Gaddafi, with Washington somewhat dubious about the outcome. The military mission was initially French and British led, but the Americans had to step in as shortfalls in equipment and bombs and missiles became apparent. In his speech to Nato at the end of the conflict, US defence secretary Leon Panetta warned that legitimate questions about whether, if present trends continue, Nato will again be able to sustain the kind of operations we have seen in Libya without the US taking on even more of the burden.

The trends that Panetta was talking about was most of Nato not paying their way for the defence of the alliance. American officials pointed out that Mattis was having to make the same point again, much more forcefully, this week, six years later.

The issue of money is not something bothering General Haftar at the moment. Russia has printed 4bn Libyan Dinars (around $2.8bn) on contract to the Libyan Central Bank which it has transferred it to his backers in Benghazi. Haftar now claims that Moscow will enable him to spend the money legitimately by helping to lift the UN arms embargo in place since 2011. This allows only the UN-backed GNC administration in Tripoli to bring in weapons with the approval of the UN Security Council Committee.

General Haftar does not lack weapons: a steady, illicit flow comes from the Arab states backing him and his LNA is undoubtedly the most effective non-Islamist force in the country at present. Nato and the EU had been trying to get the general to come to an agreement with al-Sarrajs General National Council, namely that he retains military command while accepting the civilian administration. Boris Johnson wished earlier this month that Gen Haftar can be persuaded that he can be a big part of the future of Libya but without necessarily having to be a new jefe.

But efforts to this end have been fruitless with General Haftar increasingly empowered by the backing of his international friends. Italian foreign minister Angeleno Afano was due to ask for help on the issue from Sergey Lavrov at a meeting of foreign ministers in Bonn yesterday. But news from there was dominated by the first meeting between Russias foreign minister and Rex Tillerson, Trumps new secretary of state.

It looks increasingly likely that what happens in Libya, as in so much else in the tide of current geopolitics, is likely to be decided by how relations evolve between Trump and Putin; the forming of the new order, with other international players increasingly on the sideline.
17/02/2017 Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams TD during an All-Island Civic Dialogue on Brexit at Dublin Castle, Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins

17/02/2017 Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD during an All-Island Civic Dialogue on Brexit at Dublin Castle, Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins

17/02/2017 Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams TD & North party leader Michelle O'Neill during an All-Island Civic Dialogue on Brexit at Dublin Castle, Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins

A hard border dividing Ireland is inevitable unless a special EU status is secured for Northern Ireland, Gerry Adams has said.

At a major Brexit summit, the Sinn Fein leader said the Irish Government's refusal to back widespread calls to negotiate a special status is a "grave mistake".

"Without such a designation a hard border is inevitable," he told the all-island civic dialogue forum in Dublin Castle.

The summit is the second all-island gathering hosted by Taoiseach Enda Kenny to help form Ireland's response to Britain's decision to pull out of the EU.

Mr Kenny said when Theresa May triggers Article 50 to begin the process, Ireland faces the "most important negotiations in our history as an independent state".

"The Irish Government will oppose a hard border, argue for free movement on this island, seek EU funding for cross-border projects and protect the rights of EU citizens, whether from North or South," he insisted.

Expand Expand Previous Next Close 17/02/2017 (L to R) Minister for Finance Michael Noonan TD & Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charlie Flanagan TD during an All-Island Civic Dialogue on Brexit at Dublin Castle, Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins 17/02/2017 Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD during an All-Island Civic Dialogue on Brexit at Dublin Castle, Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins / Facebook

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Whatsapp 17/02/2017 (L to R) Minister for Finance Michael Noonan TD & Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charlie Flanagan TD during an All-Island Civic Dialogue on Brexit at Dublin Castle, Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins

"We must not return to a hard border or create a new border of the future."

Mr Kenny's minority Fine Gael-led government is opposed to a special EU status for Northern Ireland, warning it could set a precedent that would worry other European countries.

But Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main opposition party which props up the government as part of a three-year deal, said Northern Ireland is a special case.

"For a range of reasons which we have outlined in detail we believe that Northern Ireland is a unique case and it should have a special status," he told the gathering.

"If the UK Government will not propose this, then it is our job to propose ways forward.

"Given just the fact that Northern Ireland will contain the largest concentration of EU citizens outside of the EU, it is different."

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Mr Martin warned Brexit is the greatest threat to Ireland since the State was founded.

Under the Good Friday Agreement peace deal, people in Northern Ireland have a right to either or both British and Irish citizenship, and therefore EU citizenship.

A majority of Northern Ireland voters backed remaining within the EU in last year's in/out referendum.

But the Democratic Unionists, the region's largest political party which is snubbing the all-island forum, campaigned for a Leave vote.

Stephen Farry, deputy leader of Northern Ireland's cross-community Alliance Party, warned the imminent hard Brexit threatens the security of the region as well as plunging it into an economic and social backwater.

"We do believe we should be considering a special status for Northern Ireland," he said.

"The choice really isn't between a one size fits all Brexit for the UK as a whole and special status for Northern Ireland.

"The reality is Northern Ireland is already a special case.

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"The choice is having that properly managed and negotiated or having an unholy mess with Northern Ireland becoming a major anomaly."

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charlie Flanagan, who co-hosted the event, said that the fact twice the number of delegates attended the second plenary session "indicates both a willingness across civil society to work with the Irish government to meet the challenges of Brexit and an acknowledgment of the value of this dialogue process".

Minister Flanagan said the Irish government was resolute in seeking for our unique circumstances to be both respected and protected.

"Brexit is not a single challenge that is occurring in a vacuum. My message therefore is that in handling the present great global challenges facing us, we must as ever learn from the past, adhere to our principles and think of the future - a future with Ireland at the heart of Europe," he added.

Alan Farrell, Fine Gael TD for Dublin Fingal and Co-Chair of the Fine Gael Working Group on Brexit has said that the meeting "demonstrates the Governments commitment to facing the challenges of Brexit head on".

We must now make sure that we are fully prepared, taking the views of all our citizens into account," he said.
Tony Blair has urged pro-Europeans to "rise up" and persuade the British people they were wrong about Brexit.

In a keynote speech, the former prime minister said voters had backed leaving the EU without knowing the true cost and should have the opportunity to change their minds.

Speaking at the headquarters of the Bloomberg financial news agency in London where David Cameron first set out his plan for an in/out vote on Britain's EU membership, he questioned whether the referendum had given a mandate for "Brexit at any cost".

He warned that the path the Government was now pursuing meant the break-up of the UK was "back on the table", giving the SNP a much more credible case for Scottish independence.

"I accept right now there is no widespread appetite to re-think. But the people voted without knowledge of the true terms of Brexit.

"As these terms become clear, it is their right to change their mind. Our mission is to persuade them to do so," he said.

"What was unfortunately only dim in our sight before the referendum is now in plain sight. The road we're going down is not simply hard Brexit. It is Brexit at any cost.

"Our challenge is to expose relentlessly what this cost is, to show how the decision was based on imperfect knowledge which will now become informed knowledge, to calculate in 'easy to understand' ways how proceeding will cause real damage to our country; and to build support for finding a way out from the present rush over the cliff's edge.

"I don't know if we can succeed. But I do know we will suffer a rancorous verdict from future generations if we do not try."

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Mr Blair said that in the absence of an effective opposition, pro-Europeans needed to build a "movement " that reached across party lines.

He said that the institute which he was launching would play its part in developing the arguments to rethink the country's position.

"The debilitation of the Labour Party is the facilitator of Brexit. I hate to say that, but it is true.

"What this means is that we have to build a movement which stretches across party lines; and devise new ways of communication," he said.

"These groups must find ways of concerting strategy and tactics effectively. We should begin to create informal links immediately and then build them into a movement with weight and reach.

"We need to strengthen the hand of the MPs who are with us and let those against know they have serious opposition to Brexit at any cost."

Mr Blair said Brexiteers had been the beneficiaries of a "propensity for revolt" which characterised the current state of politics, but that did not mean voters' views on leaving the EU were set in stone.

"They will say the will of the people can't alter. It can. They will say leaving is inevitable. It isn't. They will say we don't represent the people. We do, many millions of them and with determination many millions more," he said.

"This is not the time for retreat, indifference or despair; but the time to rise up in defence of what we believe - calmly, patiently, winning the argument by the force of argument; but without fear and with the conviction we act in the true interests of Britain."
Aloft hotels are known for their iconic designs

The first high-tech Aloft hotel to be opened in Dublin, and backed by billionaire media tycoon Denis O'Brien, will help tackle a hotel bedroom deficiency in the city, the Circuit Licensing Court has been told.

Barrister Kerry-Jane Morgan said that Blackpitts Hospitality Limited, which trades as Aloft Dublin City, planned to open the new 202-bedroom hotel in the Blackpitts area of Dublin's Liberties, near St Patrick's Cathedral.

Ms Morgan said the Aloft brand was very well-established in the US.

She said the eight-storey, high-tech hotel would be ready to open in July 2018.

Counsel told Judge Karen Fergus that Blackpitts Hospitality Limited was applying for a declaratory order, ensuring the hotel would obtain a full licence if planning permission terms, as lodged with the court, are adhered to.

Mark Lynch, a director of the company, said Aloft was recognised internationally as "a fun and vibrant brand with hotels that have attractive and colourful spaces".

Mr Lynch yesterday told Judge Fergus that the "loft-like" rooms would feature a system which would enable guests to use their mobiles to access them.

Ms Morgan said the hotel, located at Mill Street, Blackpitts, would employ 50 people when it opened.

Judge Fergus said she was satisfied to grant Blackpitts Hospitality Limited the declaratory order.

Hotel giant Marriott International announced last month that it was behind the new hotel, which will be opened through a franchise agreement with Blackpitts Hospitality Limited.

It will be operated by Pembroke Hospitality, a hotel management company which was co-founded by former chief executive of Jurys Doyle, Niall Geoghegan.

It was reported two years ago that Mr O'Brien had committed "several million" to the 40m planned enterprise.
The killer hound that had been on the rampage in the south-east was killed today by a local farmer.

The dog had managed to evade capture despite a crew of 11 guns from the local gun club, Shelbourne Game Protection, combing the area, along with a lone shooter staking out the sheep killer on consecutive nights over the course of the last week, the dog has continued to evade capture.
Traffic in Dublin airport surging at one of the fastest rates in Europe

Dublin Airport was the fastest growing major airports in Europe last year, according to new figures from ACI Europe.

The number of passengers passing through Dublin rose by 11.5pc over the course of 2016, making the airport the leading performer among the top tier of European airports, ahead of Barcelonas El Prat and Amsterdams Schiphol.

Dublin Airport grew faster last year than all other European airports that have more than 25 million passengers per annum.

Almost 28 million passengers passed through Dublin last year with traffic boosted by the launch of 19 new routes. Additional capacity was also added on 31 existing services.

Irelands positioning as a hub for long-haul flights to North America was factor in the sharp rise in traffic.

Dublin Airports passenger performance in 2016 was also assisted by its growth as a gateway between Europe and North America. Transatlantic traffic increased by 16pc to a record 2.9 million passengers last year, while transfer passenger numbers were up 23pc to a record 1.2 million, said Dublin Airport Managing Director Vincent Harrison.

The figures correlate with those reported by the Irish tourism industry, which saw a record-breaking year of growth in 2016.

Passenger traffic across the European airport network rose steadily in 2016, posting an average growth of 5.1pc.

Europes airports collectively processed more than 2 billion passengers last year, which was a new all-time record, according to ACI Europe Director General Olivier Jankovec.

While geopolitics and terrorism in particular played an increasing role in shaping the fortunes and misfortunes of many airports, the underlying story is one of continued growth and expansion  with passenger volumes growing in excess of 5% for the third consecutive year, Mr Jankovec said.

Europes largest airports in 2016 were as follows, according to ACI:

1) London Heathrow  75.7 million passengers (+1%)

2) Paris Charles de Gaulle  65.9 million passengers (+0.3%)

3) Amsterdam Schiphol  63.6 million passengers (+9.2%)

4) Frankfurt  60.7 million passengers (-0.4%)

5) Istanbul Ataturk  60 million passengers (-2.1%)
Some of the Unilever products Photo: PA

Unilever has rejected an initial $143bn merger offer from Kraft Heinz, which says it will continue working towards an agreement.

Here are some key facts on the potential tie-up:

* At $143bn, the deal represented an 18% premium on Unilever's closing share price on February 16, at 50 US dollars per share (40.26).

*The deal would have been the biggest acquisition of a British company on record, based on offer value.

*On a global basis, it would have been the second-biggest deal behind Vodafone Airtouch's takeover of Germany's Mannesmann AG for 172 billion US dollars in 1999 (138 billion).

*Unilever's leading brands include Marmite, PG Tips, Pot Noodle, St Ives, Vaseline, Lipton, Knorr, Ben & Jerry's, Brut, Magnum and Persil.

*Kraft Heinz brands include Philadelphia, Kool-Aid, Jell-O, Weight Watchers, Oscar Mayer, Velveeta, Planters and Maxwell House.

*Kraft Heinz has until March 17 to announce a firm intention to make an offer for Unilever, or confirm it will not make a formal bid.

*Kraft Heinz was born after Kraft Foods became the subject of 45 billion US dollar (36.2 billion) takeover by HJ Heinz Co, owned by US business magnate Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital, in 2015
The National Asset Management Agency (Nama) has written off 956m in debt owed by 505 debtors who have exited it.

That is according to Minister for Finance Michael Noonan, who said that the 956m written off represents less than 4pc of the original par debt of 27.24bn acquired by Nama relating to the 505 debtors.

"Debt is written off only in cases where all of a debtor's underlying assets have been realised and there is no further recourse available to Nama to recover borrowings from the debtor - that is, when all avenues to recover borrowings have been exhausted," he said.

"It is important to note that not all debt includes personal guarantees or has personal recourse and that recourse can be limited to the value of the assets which in many cases is lower than the outstanding amount borrowed."

The 505 debtors originally owed 27.3bn to various banks and 377 debtors have paid off less than 50pc of their original bank debt.

Commenting on the write-down of debt by Nama, Sinn Fein TD Pearse Doherty said: "These figures again throw into question the Nama strategy of selling off early when managing the loans for the Irish people over a longer period may have been more profitable. The politically driven rush to sell has served the vultures well but not the Irish people."

Ninety-two debtors, who repaid between 10pc of 5pc of their par debt of 3bn had 22m of debt written off by Nama.

Thirty-one debtors who repaid between 50pc and 40pc of their 2.6bn debt had 210m in debts written off.
Finance Minister Michael Noonan has dismissed plans by Europe to force big companies to publicly disclose information about their profits and taxes paid.

Effectively snubbing the proposals by the European Commission, the minister warned against any moves that would undermine the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) attempts to clamp down on global tax avoidance, known as the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (Beps) process.

Last April, the Commission unveiled a proposal introducing public reporting requirements for the largest companies operating in the EU.

But at corporate tax event in Dublin Castle yesterday, Mr Noonan, pictured, criticised the move. "The Commission's proposal for public country-by-country reporting goes against the Beps consensus that the value of these reports is in enabling tax authorities to see what is really happening and carry out more informed audits and assessments," Mr Noonan said.

"Other non-EU countries have suggested that any public reporting requirement could result in them no longer sharing the country-by-country reports filed with their tax authorities. Ultimately, it is important that a consistent global approach is taken on this issue as with other issues."

The Commission wants to see multinationals operating in the EU with global revenues exceeding 750m a year to publish key information on where they make their profits and where they pay their tax in the EU on a country-by-country basis.

Mr Noonan also argued there couldn't be two international solutions to the one problem. "Where EU action moves away from the Beps consensus, caution is needed. No man can serve two masters, and no country can implement two competing philosophies on how companies should be taxed," he said.

The minister was speaking at a Government-supported corporate tax event in Dublin Castle entitled 'Fairness, Responsibility and Leadership', focusing on tax and developing countries.

The event was attended by representatives of international bodies, including the United Nation, as well as NGOs such as Christian Aid Ireland.

Mr Noonan said there had been some "inaccurate criticism" of Ireland's engagement with developing countries on tax in recent times.

"I strongly disagree with reports which paint a misleading and inaccurate picture of the small number of tax treaties which Ireland has with developing countries," he said.

"None of those treaties were entered into without the agreement of the counterparty country. Ireland's treaties with developing countries take elements from both the OECD and the UN model treaties."

Sorley McCaughey of Christian Aid Ireland said tax avoidance is an issue for developing countries, which lose between $200bn and $300bn each year and he said public perception of Ireland internationally is unfavourable when it comes to corporate tax issues.

"I go all over Europe and different parts of the world, and without fail, in every forum I speak at, people on the panel refer to Ireland as a tax haven," he said.

"Be that as it may, and it may or may not be correct, depending on your point of view, the reputational damage is done. It's perception. At the heart of this conference today is Ireland's reputation internationally."

Children's Minister Katherine Zappone, who was involved in the conference's establishment, said inadequate taxation results in inadequate resources to fund basic public services. "Tracking down tax avoidance and increasing our tax transparency will not hurt Ireland's economy," she said.
the NTMA has cancelled 500m of bonds linked to the liquidation of the former Anglo Irish Bank after buying them from the Central Bank.

The bonds were issued in 2013 as part of the liquidation of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC).

That complex deal saw the Central Bank acquire 25.03bn of eight long-dated so-called Floating Rate Notes (FRNs), and 3.461bn of the Irish Government 2025 Fixed Rate Bond, which was due to mature in March 2025.

The NTMA has been buying the FRNs in batches of 500m from the Central Bank in order to tear them up.

If the bonds went to another owner the interest would have to be paid, in the case of the latest bond purchased, until 2043.

Controversially, the Central Bank destroys the money it receives from the State when the purchases happen as part of its management of the amount of money in circulation. In 2016, the NTMA bought back 3bn of the bonds. At the same time it borrowed 8.25bn on the markets.

The Central Bank originally received the bonds as part of the liquidation of the IBRC in February 2013 - the so-called 'Prom Night'.

The Central Bank's stock of the notorious promissory notes used to bail out the scandal-hit bank were cancelled and exchanged for standard government bonds issued through the NTMA.

But the Central Bank had to agree a disposal schedule because it is not allowed to lend to the State.

The total stock of the bonds held by the Central Bank is now just over 19.3bn. That is in addition to 19.1bn of Irish sovereign bonds bought by the ECB under its so-called quantitative easing (QE) programme.
Fingal County Council has asked for additional information about the project. Photo: PA

Plans for what would be Ireland's biggest solar energy farm appear to be on track, despite Fingal County Council expressing some concerns about the huge project.

Dublin-based firm JBM Solar Developments is hoping to build a massive 25-megawatt farm - costing in the region of more than 35m - at a 42-hectare (105-acre) site just a few kilometres from Dublin Airport. It would involve the placement of tens of thousands of photovoltaic (PV) modules.

It's five times bigger than the typical 5MW solar farm site and would be big enough to provide power for 5,500 homes.

Fingal County Council has asked for additional information about the project, but its concerns centre on issues such as surface water runoff and ensuring that a complete archaeological survey is undertaken before any permission is granted.

The council also wants JBM Solar to submit a revised glint-and-glare study to take into account the new runway and control tower being built at Dublin Airport, which is just a few kilometres away.

The site at Kilsallaghan is known locally as 'The Fruit Farm'. It also adjoins the 150-acre site of the proposed Thornton Hall Prison Campus.

That was acquired by the State in 2005 for 30m, with plans approved by then Justice Minister Michael McDowell to build a 1,400-cell prison to replace Mountjoy Prison in Dublin city centre.

The plan was shelved in 2011 and the site has since been used by the Prison Service for growing vegetables.

The PV panels that will be used on the solar farm will have a total surface area of 155,192 sq m (1.67m sq ft).

The developers reckon the solar farm will result in 10,600 tonnes of carbon emissions being eliminated every year, and 318,000 tonnes over its 30-year lifespan.

"The site has been chosen due to its southern aspect, natural contours and the particular screening benefits available at this site, which minimise potential for impacts on the surrounding environment," according to consultants for JBM Solar Developments.

JBM Solar is an independent solar energy developer. It has established large-scale solar farm projects in England and Wales.

"JBM Solar and its funding partners have combined experience of developing in excess of 300MW of solar projects across Europe and North America," its consultants added.

JBM Solar has also applied for planning permission to build solar farms at locations including Co Laois and Co Wicklow.

The firm is owned by UK-based company PP Solar Projects. Its directors are Mark Jones and Philip Pels. Mr Pels is the chief executive of PP Asset Management, which was founded to manage a family property portfolio.

The planned solar farm in north Dublin would be one of the largest ever developed by the firm. Only a 46MW farm in Oxfordshire is larger.

There's just one operational solar farm on the island of Ireland. The 5MW farm in Co Antrim became operational last summer.

But there's been a huge number of planning applications for solar farms around the country. Firms such as Amarenco, the energy company founded by former Bord Gais boss John Mullins, is among those hoping to build solar farms here. It recently signed a joint-venture agreement with Infracapital, the investment arm of Prudential-owned M&G Investments, to roll out as much as 1bn worth of wind and solar projects over the next five years.

The ESB is also preparing to get involved in the sector.
Microsoft has announced the creation of 600 jobs this morning at its European headquarters in Dublin.

The jobs are the latest boost to the economy following the announcement this week that US recruitment services firm Indeed is adding 500 jobs at its European base in Dublin.

Microsoft's announcement today will also be welcomed after last week's devastating blow to staff at HP Inc's Leixlip plant in Co Kildare, where 500 jobs are to go.

Of the new jobs being created at Microsoft's operations here, 500 will be at its EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) sales centre.

The Inside Sales Centre in Dublin will serve customers across EMEA in over 30 different languages.

It has another 100 roles open in areas such as finance, operations, engineering and sales.

These new recruits will join the 1,200 people already working with Microsoft in the Dublin based EMEA Operations Centre, the European Development Centre, the Irish Sales and Marketing Subsidiary and at the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) Data Centre.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said he was "delighted" that the relationship between Microsoft and Ireland has grown stronger.

Expand Close Jobs and Enterprise Minister Mary Mitchell OConnor. Photo: Tom Burke / Facebook

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Whatsapp Jobs and Enterprise Minister Mary Mitchell OConnor. Photo: Tom Burke

"Today's announcement underlines the strong commitment of Microsoft to its Irish operation and the strength of leadership of its Irish management team," he said at the site on Friday morning.

Jobs and Enterprise Minister Mary Mitchell O'Connor also spoke at the announcement at the Microsoft offices in Dublin.

"This latest investment, which brings an exciting new multi-skilled business activity to the company's Dublin base, further enhances the company's presence in Ireland and is vindication of the competitive advantage Ireland can offer," she said.

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Microsoft Ireland's operations are headed by Cathriona Hallahan.

Our CEO, Satya Nadella, is creating a culture of innovation and is bringing amazing technology to people with products like HoloLens and Surface Studio, with lots more to come," she said.

"The team in Ireland has a long track record of helping the company to deliver against its vision and strategy and now there are opportunities for 600 more individuals to play their part in making the vision a reality."

Microsoft has invested billions of euro in Ireland since it first set up operations here in 1985. The company, co-founded by Bill Gates, is building a new 134m campus in Dublin for 1,200 staff.

It has also spent more than 800m on its existing data centre operations at Grange Castle in the capital. That's one of the biggest facilities of its type in Europe.

Last year, Microsoft got planning permission to build four huge data centres in Dublin that would likely represent an investment of as much as 900m, and involve 1,800 construction workers.

The company's data centres here are used to support Microsoft's cloud computing services. The 600 jobs being created by the company will also allay at least some concerns that US multinationals will delay overseas investments because of uncertainty regarding President Trump's own plans and his calls for foreign-based jobs to be brought back to America.

US tech firms have "hit the pause button" on plans to hire staff here, according to a leading recruitment expert this week.

Tracy Keevans, of recruitment firm Morgan McKinley, said that since Donald Trump's inauguration as US president, her company had identified a reticence among US technology companies to invest in Ireland.

"A lot of the US tech companies that were thinking about expanding into Ireland have hit the pause button on their plans as a direct result of uncertainty related to President Trump," she said.

Phama giant Eli Lilly has confirmed that it has postponed a planned 200m investment at its facility in Kinsale, Co Cork.

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The recruitment process for the newly created Inside Sales roles in Ireland has already started, but truly gets underway today

While many roles require previous sales or technical experience, the company is also seeking to recruit graduates with a few years experience who have the necessary passion and aptitude.
A list of unauthorised firms published to date is available Photo credit: Julien Behal/PA Wire

Consumers have been warned about an unauthorised investment firm.

The Central Bank said Kawano and Association (Japan) was not authorised by it to operate as an investment firm, investment business firm or to provide investment advice.

A statement from the Central Bank said it is a criminal offence for an unauthorised firm/person to provide financial services in Ireland that would require an authorisation under the relevant legislation which the Central Bank is the responsible body for enforcing.

Consumers should be aware that, if they deal with a firm/person who is not authorised, they are not eligible for compensation from the Investor Compensation Scheme, the Bank said.

Anyone who wants to contact the Central Bank with information regarding such firms or persons may telephone (01) 224 4000, the regulator said.

Since obtaining the necessary legal powers in August 1998, the names of 289 unauthorised firms have been published by the Central Bank.

A list of unauthorised firms published to date is available on the Central Bank www.centralbank.ie.
AUSTRIAN lawyer Max Schrems believes the Irish Data Protection Commissioner is required under EU law to suspend transfers of the personal data of EU citizens to the US - with no need to first go to the European courts, the High Court has heard.

That obligation arises without a need for the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) to first decide on the validity of European Commission decisions approving the use of data transfer channels known as standard contractual clauses (SCCs), Eoin McCullough SC, for Mr Schrems, argued.

Paul Gallagher SC, for Facebook, said what Mr Schrems was seeking was "extraordinary" with enormous implications for Facebook and other large entities but for many small firms engaged in transatlantic trade.

Ms Justice Caroline Costello heard a brief outline of arguments on behalf of Mr Schrems and Facebook yesterday in the continuing action by Commissioner Helen Dixon to have the Irish court ask the CJEU to determine the validity or otherwise of the SCC decisions.

The action arises from a complaint by Mr Schrems that his EU data privacy rights were breached by transfer of his personal data by Facebook Ireland - Facebook's European headquarters - to its parent in the US, Facebook Inc.

The case is against Mr Schrems and Facebook but no orders are sought against them and the Commissioner's objective is to secure a CJEU determination before she finalises her decision on Mr Schrems's complaint.

Expand Close Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon. Photo: Frank McGrath / Facebook

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Whatsapp Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon. Photo: Frank McGrath

The proceedings for a referral were taken after the Commissioner made a draft finding in May 2016 that Mr Schrems had "well-founded" objections over the data transfers. This was based on her draft view US law does not provide an effective remedy, within Article 47 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Freedoms, for breach of data privacy rights of EU citizens.

Yesterday, Mr McCullough said Mr Schrems agreed with the Commissioner on the absence of an effective judicial remedy under US law and that such remedies as are available do not meet EU law requirements due to a range of exemptions, wide immunities and barriers

Where Mr Schrems differed from the Commissioner is that he considers it is neither necessary nor appropriate, or it is at least premature, to make a reference to the CJEU, counsel said.

Mr Schrems's complaint over transfer of his personal data is not limited to the SCCs but extends to other data transfer channels, counsel said. The complaint can be decided by the Commissioner on the material already available, including the CJEU decision striking down the Safe Harbour arrangement for data transfers, counsel argued.

Mr Schrems considered the material relied on by the Commissioner in seeking this reference should automatically lead to the Commissioner suspending data transfers, he said.

Mr Gallagher said what Mr Schrems wanted was "extraordinary" but his side's focus was on Facebook's opposition, for different reasons to Mr Schrems, to a reference to the CJEU.

The Commissioner's draft decision that Mr Schrems has "well-founded" objections to data transfers was "deeply flawed", based on a "wrong" assessment and had been overtaken by events, including the 2016 EU-US Privacy Shield framework agreement for data transfer, counsel said.

A reference to the CJEU would have "enormous consequences", casting doubt on the Privacy Shield framework which was not part of this application, he added. The case continues.
Yahoo is warning customers that hackers may have been able to break into their accounts without even stealing their passwords.

The attack, which has been attributed to the same state-sponsored hackers that were blamed for breaking into over a billion Yahoo accounts last year  the biggest hack in history  was effective between 2015 and 2016.

It was first disclosed by the company last year, but users have been receiving notifications about it this week.

Our outside forensic experts have been investigating the creation of forged cookies that could allow an intruder to access users' accounts without a password, reads the companys message.

Based on the ongoing investigation, we believe a forged cookie may have been used in 2015 or 2016 to access your account.

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Forged cookies can allow a hacker into an account without having to re-enter a password.

Yahoo says it invalidated the cookies when it discovered the hack, but hasnt yet revealed how many users were affected by it.

The investigation has identified user accounts for which we believe forged cookies were taken or used, said a Yahoo spokesperson.  Yahoo is in the process of notifying all potentially affected account holders.

Its the latest serious blow to the companys reputation.

In 2016, it announced that cybercriminals breached over 500 million accounts in 2014, only to follow that up with news of the billion-account hack, which took place in 2013.

The company is in the process of being sold to Verizon, which reportedly wants to reduce the agreed $4.8 billion fee by around $250 million.
The structure of any deal has yet to be decided and it is unclear whether GM might have a stake in the combined business. Photo: AP

General Motors has played down the possibility of large-scale factory closures in Germany and Britain following any deal to sell its European brands to Peugeot maker PSA Group, according to officials in both countries.

However, two sources close to PSA said that job and plant cuts were part of the French carmaker's discussions over a potential deal to buy GM's Opel and Vauxhall brands, with UK sites in the front line.

News of the talks between the two automakers earlier this week sparked particular concern in Germany and Britain, where Opel and Vauxhall employ thousands of workers.

The structure of any deal has yet to be decided and it is unclear whether GM might have a stake in the combined business.

Following a meeting with GM president Dan Ammann on Thursday, British business minister Greg Clark said he had been reassured GM did not intend to "rationalise" its Vauxhall operations in Britain.

"There is some way to go in discussions between GM and PSA but I was reassured by GM's intention, communicated to me, to build on the success of these operations rather than rationalise them," Clark said in a statement. "We will continue to be in close contact with GM and PSA in the days and weeks ahead."

However, Britain's Unite trade union, which met with Ammann and Clark, said it had not received the guarantees it wanted.

"There's no assurances at the moment, this is a story that's unfolding and we'll wait to see what the next instalment is," Unite leader Len McCluskey told Sky News. (Reuters)
Heinz undated handout photo of a Tomato Ketchup bottle, as consumer goods giant Unilever has rebuffed a proposed mega-merger with global food firm Kraft Heinz Credit: Heinz/PA Wire

Consumer goods giant Unilever has rebuffed a proposed mega-merger with global food firm Kraft Heinz.

The company behind Heinz Tomato Ketchup and Philadelphia cheese said it had made a "comprehensive proposal" about combining the two companies, but Unilever turned the offer down.

In an announcement, Kraft Heinz said: "While Unilever has declined the proposal, we look forward to working to reach agreement on the terms of a transaction.

"There can be no certainty that any further formal proposal will be made to the board of Unilever or that an offer will be made at all or as to the terms of any transaction."

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Unilever, which owns Dove, Ben & Jerry's ice cream and Domestos, saw its share price rocket 12pc in London on news of the approach.

The Anglo-Dutch firm said the offer represented a premium of 18pc of its closing share price on February 16, valuing the company at $143bn.

Steve Clayton, fund manager at Hargreaves Lansdown, said such a move would create enormous cost savings.

"Putting portfolios of brands together can create huge synergies across marketing, manufacturing and distribution, even before you think about cutting the combined HQ back to size.

"Kraft Heinz are attempting a massive push on the fast forward button, for to acquire the sheer scale of brands that Unilever represents through one-off acquisitions could take decades. With debt cheap and abundant right now, Kraft have spotted their opportunity."
Whether you are staying in or going out, we pick the events not to miss this week.

Going out

The arena show

Drake

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Hip hop's mopiest mega-star slouches into Dublin for a brace of sell-out dates. In addition to his skills as a rhymer, the 30-year-old Toronto native brings a searing anti-charisma. On his last performance in Ireland, he performed atop a giant spinning gantry while managing to look thoroughly glum - a feat worth the price of entry all on its own.

Sunday and Monday, 3Arena, Dublin

The indie gig

Tegan and Sara

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Clearly this is the week for inscrutable Canadian mavericks. Vancouver twins Tegan and Sara Quin built their reputation with miserablist indie dirges - then ripped up the formula and started again with two fantastic pop records, 2013's Heartthrob and last year's Love You To Death. Sunday, Vicar Street, Dublin

The whodunnit

Murder at Shandy Hall

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Patrick Bergin stars as a Sherlock Holmes-esque sleuth dispatched to solve a murder mystery at a Victorian pile in rural Cork. Written and directed by Michael Sheridan, Shandy Hall is essentially John B Keane crossed with the best game of Cluedo ever.

Tuesday, Cork Opera House

Video of the Day

Staying in?

The podcast

Death, Sex and Money

The big subjects are tackled in this interview series in which celebrities and high achievers are asked to delve into their private lives. In recent episodes Moonlight star Mahershala Ali discusses being Muslim in Trump's America and Jeff Daniels discusses his struggle to stay sober.

The TV show

SS:GB

Following Amazon's adaptation of the Philip K Dick novel The Man in the High Castle, the BBC brings another 'what if' caper in which the Nazis have won the war. This time, it's the British under the bootheel, with Winston Churchill off to the gallows and King George in the Tower of London. Sam Riley plays a detective called to investigate a suspicious death, and Kate Bosworth co-stars as an American reporter. Sunday, 9pm, BBC One

The box set

Van Helsing

A sort of Walking Dead with fangs, this series doubles as a surprisingly serious meditation on what happens when society falls apart. It is the brainchild of Neil LaBute, the misanthropic 90s filmmaker. Kelly Overton plays the heroine, who wakes up in hospital to discover vampires have conquered the world while humanity barely hangs on. Available now on Netflix.
A miniature version of Andy Warhol's iconic silkscreen of screen legend Marilyn Monroe can be yours next month - if you have more than 15,000 to spare.

The 7in by 14in invitation that was signed by the artist ahead of his 1963-1981 retrospective at New York's Castelli Gallery in November 1981 is among a collection of rare works of art by renowned international artists such as Warhol and Banksy that is coming to Gormley's Fine Art in Dublin next month.

The piece is one of around 300 that were sent out at the time and is now at a guide price of 15,500.

But it pales in comparison to the 54,000 asking price for another of Warhol's iconic images from his Factory studio heyday in the early 1960s when his 'Liz 7' lithograph of Liz Taylor was first created. It too will feature in the exhibition alongside works by British street artist Banksy, Damien Hirst and Brooklyn street artist Jean-Michel Basquiat at the exhibition which opens for three weeks on March 2.

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Along with being a rare chance to view some of the world's most recognised contemporary artists in Dublin, instead of London or New York, the collection will also appeal to those seeking to invest in "blue chip investment art" said gallery co-owner Gerard Gormley.

In these times of political and economic uncertainty, art was seen as a good investment, he said.
This week's Ray D'Arcy Show promises a mixed bag of comedy and politics.

Two of Ireland's best-loved comedians Deirdre O'Kane and PJ Gallagher will join Ray D'Arcy this week to talk about the St Patrick's Day comedy fundraiser for Comic Relief.

One year on from the general election, and following a tumultuous week in Irish politics, Ray will be joined by former TD's Aine Collins, John Lyons and former Senator Averil Power to talk about life inside and outside the corridors of Dail Eireann.

Former Xpose presenter Aisling O'Loughlin will also be in the studio to talk about life after TV3 and her plans for the future.

Some of Ireland's brightest social entrepreneurs will be on the show to discuss the secrets to their success and there's a special surprise in store for Irish Game of Thrones superfans.

Music comes from Dublin four-piece Gypsies on the Autobahn.
SIPTU members suspended their scheduled strike action at the Kerry Group plants in Charleville, Co. Cork, following an agreement by management to attend a Labour Court hearing concerning the dispute at the company.

A 24-hour work stoppage was planned for today, but SIPTU called it off on Wednesday evening after Kerry Group confirmed that it would attend a Labour Court hearing in respect of the current dispute at its plants in Charleville.

SIPTU Organiser, Terry Bryan said the company has further agreed to lift the notice of lay-off and protective notice that was issued to employees last week.

"SIPTU representatives have also confirmed they will attend the Labour Court hearing and have agreed to suspend a planned 24-hour work stoppage at the plants on Friday.

The dispute at the plants in Charleville, County Cork, has already resulted in a series of 24-hour work stoppages in recent weeks.
A union leader has said he suspects Bus Eireann is trying to "align itself" with low-wage private companies so it can engage in "cut throat" competition for future contracts.

The General Secretary of the National Bus and Rail Union, Dermot O'Leary, was commenting as he arrived for talks at the Workplace Relations Commission in a bid to resolve a row over pay cuts.

Siptu Transport Sector Organiser Willie Noone said he believes the company wants to impose cuts to generate funds for a voluntary redundancy scheme that would allow the company to exit Expressway.

The commission invited unions and the company to talks earlier this week as an indefinite all-out strike loomed on Monday if the company imposed 12m cuts to earnings.

Unions claim the cuts would reduce workers' wages by up to 30pc, or over 7,000 from the pay of a bus driver on 42,000 a year, but the company claims the average cut would be 10pc.

Bus Eireann agreed to defer the plan to roll out the cuts to attend talks today, and Monday and Tuesday.

Acting Chief Executive Ray Hernan outlined the cuts, which include the axing of shift payments and an 10pc reduction in allowances, after revealing losses of 9m last year.

He has warned that the company could be insolvent within 11 months.

The Irish Independent revealed that a report by consultants Grant Thornton advised Bus Eireann that it may have no other option than to exit its loss-making Expressway operation.

"We have suspicions that the real agenda here is not confined to Expressway," said Mr O'Leary.

"We suspect that the company is trying to position itself for future tendering processes and attempting to align themselves with low wage operators in order to position themselves to get involved in cut throat competition for further Public Service Obligation contracts in the near future."
BUSINESSMAN Denis O'Brien is entitled to certain additional details about a claim by a company suing over the awarding of the country's second mobile phone licence, the High Court ruled.

Mr O'Brien had claimed he needed greater particulars about losses which a consortium says it incurred as a result of what it claims was the allegedly corrupt process in awarding that licence.

US-registered Comcast International Holdings, businessman Declan Ganley, Ganley International and GCI Ltd are suing the State, the Minister for Public Enterprise, former Communications Minister Michael Lowry who awarded the licence and Mr O'Brien and his company which won the licence, Esat Telecommunications.

Comcast/Ganley were 70 per cent shareholders in a consortium called Cellstar which came sixth out of the six bidders for the licence.

The proceedings were initiated 16 years ago, five years after the award of the licence.

Jim O'Callaghan SC, for Mr O'Brien, asked Mr Justice Richard Humphreys to order Comcast/Ganley to furnish better details of its claim in order that the case could proceed as quickly as possible. Without it, he said, it could make the case "go on for another 16 years".

His side was seeking that Comcast/Ganley particularise the losses it said it made including details of some US$2million it says it spent on the tender process and management time involved in that.

Also sought were better details of the loss of profits and opportunity Comcast/Ganley is claiming.

Mr O'Brien was just one of the shareholders in the winning licence bidders,, counsel said. He was the majority shareholder of the Esat Telecom Holdings Lt ((ETHL) holding a 37.5 interest in the winning bidder. The other interests were held by Telenor (37.5 per cent) and IIU (25 per cent).

Esat was sold to British Telecom (BT) in 2000, counsel said.

In those circumstances, his client needed better replies to requests for details of the claim and its extent.

In its absence, it will lead to further litigation seeking discovery of the these matters which could mean having to seek documentation from parties like BT and going back to operations in 1995/96. Discovery will be much more lengthy and expensive, Mr O'Calalghan said.

His side was "left in this vacuum" where it cannot ascertain the amount of the claim or even caculate it based on the "broad replies" it had received so far.

There was no reason why Comcast/Ganley could not employ a financial expert to do this, he said.

Paul Sreenan SC, for Comcast/Ganley said Mr O'Brien was the only one of the defendants who had taken issue with the replies for particulars of the claim which had been provided by his side.

The reason was that Mr O'Brien could then say if better replies were not provided an application would be made to strike out the case which would lead to further appeals and delays.

His side had given details as best they can.

It was well known on the O'Brien side that a figure in the region of 1 billion in losses was the value of the case but it was not necessary for him to know the precise basis on which it was claimed as it would be a matter for the trial.

Mr O'Brien's side was in breach of superior court rules which require that a defence had to be first put in and the defendant had not put in an amended defence as was required to an already amended statement of claim, Mr Sreenan said. The defendant could put in such an amended defence by simply denying any loss and damage.

Mr O'Callaghan said his application should not be dismissed on the basis of as technical breach of the rules.

Mr Justice Humphreys ruled Comcast/Ganley should provide a broad outline of the basis on which it claims loss of profit and opportunity and how it was calculated.

The information already provided in relation to the costs of tendering for the licence were sufficient to meet the case, he said.

However it would shorten matters later on if Comcast/Ganley would provide some further details as to how the tender was put together, he said.

He urged all parties to "move matters on" given the 16-year vintage of the case and so that it could go ahead sooner rather than later.
A lorry driver has been awarded 225,000 by a High Court jury which found his reputation had been damaged by a 'Sunday World' article concerning a fatal road collision.

The jury found Stephen Kelly (36), of The Rower, Co Kilkenny, was defamed by the article published in July 2009.

It carried comments by Liam Norris, the father of Graham Norris (26), who died on October 12, 2005, when his car crashed into an articulated lorry being driven by Mr Kelly at Ashtown Cross, Co Waterford.

The lorry was making a difficult turn, during darkness, into a narrow road leading to a wood where Mr Kelly was picking up timber. Mr Kelly had claimed his lights were working when he got into his vehicle that day and that while side reflective markings were dirty, they were visible.

Sunday Newspapers, publisher of the 'Sunday World', denied defamation and said the words in the article were true. The paper disputed his claims and gardai gave evidence certain lights were not working and the reflective markings were filthy dirty.

Mr Kelly had been acquitted in 2007 in Waterford Circuit Court of dangerous driving causing death, but convicted of failing to have a road worthiness certificate for his vehicle and of not having a proper under running bar on the truck to prevent cars going underneath it.

Mr Kelly claimed the newspaper article, which included comments from Liam Norris about him (Kelly) having shown no sympathy over Graham's death, meant he had misled the jury in the criminal trial and meant he was a callous person.

The jury decided the article meant Mr Kelly was a callous person, indifferent to the loss of the Norris family. It also decided the article meant Mr Kelly deliberately misled the Circuit Court jury in Waterford.

It found the paper had not proved he was a callous person and indifferent and had not proved he misled the Waterford jury.

It found his reputation had been damaged and also said the words in it were not fair comment on a matter of public interest. It assessed damages at 225,000.

Eoin McCullough SC, for Sunday Newspapers, asked for a stay on the award and on costs while his side considered an appeal. Declan Doyle SC, for Mr Kelly, said such a stay should be on condition of a payout of part of the award having regard to the findings of fact by the jury on complex issues.
Tributes have flooded in for University College Cork (UCC) student Grainne O'Donnell (21) who died from suspected meningitis.

Ms O'Donnell, from Cahir, Co Tipperary, was a third year Early Childhood Studies student at the Cork university.

College sources described her as a bright, intelligent and popular young woman who adored her course, her classmates and student life in Cork.

UCC Students Union issued a tribute simply saying that Ms O'Donnell had "passed away due to a brief illness."

The young Tipperary student died on Thursday morning.

"May we express our sympathy and condolences to Grainne's family and her fellow students and friends. May she rest in peace," UCC Students Union President Eolann Sheehan said.

UCC Students Union and the UCC Caplaincy service will now be providing transport for students who wish to attend Ms O'Donnell's funeral arrangements.

Counselling will also be provided for any of her friends or classmates that require it.

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Ms O'Donnell will repose in her family home until Sunday morning.

She will then be removed to St Mary's Church in Cahir for 11.30am Requiem Mass.

Cahir GAA club also paid tribute to Grainne and called off their matches as a mark of respect.

"We are deeply shocked and saddened by the sudden death of Grainne O'Donnell. Cahir GAA Club would like to express our condolences to the family and extended family and our thoughts are with them at this very sad time."

A spokeswoman for the Meningitis Research Foundation said today it was saddened to hear of the death.

We would like to offer our sincere condolences to her family and friends; our thoughts are with them at this extremely difficult time.

It is unclear what strain of meningitis was involved.

Meningitis is the inflammation of the lining around the brain and spinal cord.

It shares many of the symptoms of other, more common, everyday illnesses such as the flu or even a hangover.

As a result it is vital that people are able to recognise the signs and symptoms of the disease, particularly the symptoms that are more unique to meningitis, said a spokeswoman.

Because Meningitis develops so quickly it can be a particularly devastating disease for those affected. It can also have a resounding effect on the surrounding community.

Meningitis Research Foundation supports people affected by this disease through in-depth information and support.

We want to make the public aware of the symptoms of meningitis so if anyone would like any further information or feels that they could benefit from talking to someone please call our Dublin office on: 01 819 6931, our Freefone Helpline on: 1800 41 33 44 or visit our web site www.meningitis.org.
A Fine Gael backbencher has broken ranks to demand Taoiseach Enda Kenny stands down.

Alan Farrell is the first of the party's TDs to launch a direct attack on the leadership and described Mr Kenny's position as untenable.

"Unfortunately, I no longer have confidence in the ability of Enda Kenny TD to lead Fine Gael," he said.

Mr Farrell, TD for Dublin Fingal, spoke out amid deepening pressure from within the party's own ranks for the Taoiseach to name the date when he will step down as head of government.

"I wish to acknowledge Enda Kenny's unwavering commitment to public service and to working in the best interests of our society and the Irish public," Mr Farrell said.

"While I sincerely thank An Taoiseach for the work he has done in rebuilding our party since becoming leader in 2002 and even more so for his incredible stewardship of the country since 2011, I believe it is now time for him to step aside and allow a new leader, with a fresh approach, to lead us into the future."

Mr Farrell further added that he believes the Government came close to an election three times this week and urged his party to be ready for an election "at any time."

"We must be prepared to tackle the challenges which arise in our society. In doing so we require a leader who can lead with confidence, and highlight how the values and principles of Fine Gael can best benefit our society and every community across our country.

"Over the last number of days, we as a party have stumbled from one crisis to another, highlighting how fragile our arrangement as a minority Government is.

"Not only were we close to an election once, I firmly believe we came close three times. If anything should be learned from the events of the last few days it is that we must be ready for an election at any time," he added.

Meanwhile Charlie Flanagan has leapt to the defence of Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

"I have confidence in the leadership of Enda Kenny. He's doing a very good job," the foreign affairs minister told Independent.ie.

Asked for his view on Mr Farrell's statement Mr Flanagan replied:

"Obviously we'll be having a parliamentary party meeting next week where I would assume this issue would be discussed.

"As far as I'm concerned I have confidence in Enda Kenny's leadership.

"Only this week the Dail voted confidence in the government that he's leading," he said outside the government's All-Island Civic Dialogue on Brexit.

"We're here on a very important issue which is the withdrawal of our nearest neighbour the UK from the European Union.

"That process and our priorities are hampered because the assembly and the executive in Northern Ireland has been collapsed.

"The last thing we want is a dissolution of the Dail here and an election.

"So it's important that everybody prioritises major issues for Ireland,the most important of which is Brexit. Which is what we're discussing today."

He reiterated:"I have confidence in the leadership of Enda Kenny. He's doing a very good job. He left here this morning having set the scene for our important engagement to a job announcement.

"There is no issue of greater importance to the Irish people and the country than the withdrawal of our neighbours from the European Union, something that was not of our making but something that has the potential to adversely affect and disrupt our economy and our society."

Who are the contenders to be our next Taoiseach

Leo Varadkar (38)

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Career: Transport & Tourism Minister 2011-2014; Health Minister 2014-2016; Social Protection Minister 2016 to present.

First elected to Dublin West in 2007, re-elected 2011 and 2016.

Began on South Dublin CountyCouncil in 2004.

A medical doctor, Leo Varadkar is bright, and a good reader of the public mood. Engaged in Fine Gael politics since college days and combined activism with medical studies.

Over a decade at Leinster House, he has toned down right wing stances and attack-dog antics,to become more measured and astute. Is quick to grasp the details of a brief and has avoided big errors in three different ministries. But he disappointed as Health Minister given his youth and background in the business. He managed through while cooling public expectations on big promised reforms.

The son of an Indian-born doctor and an Irish nurse, he announced in January 2015 that he was gay, and helped deliver the successful same-sex marriage referendum four months later.

Bookie odds: 1-4money-on favourite.

Seen as most likely to win swift contest. Less clear-cut if election is dragged out. Has been garnering support for a long time both within parliamentary party and among members and councillors.

Known supporters include many Dublin TDs and senators, including Eoghan Murphy and NoelRock. Others include John Paul Phelan Brendan Griffin, Jim Daly and Pat Deering.

Simon Harris (30)

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Career: Health Minister 2016-present; Junior Finance Minister 2014-2016. First elected for Wicklow in 2011 and re-elected in 2016. Member of Wicklow County Council and Greystones Town Council 2009-2011. Adviser to Frances Fitzgerald during her term as senator 2007-2011.

Fine Gaels boywonder has impressed many with courtesy and ability since he announced himself by proposing Enda Kenny for Taoiseach on his first day at Leinster House in March 2011.

Aged just 24, he began as the Dails youngest TD and his progress since has been remarkable. He has been appointed to the most senior of the junior ministries, in charge of the Office of Public Works in July 2014.

When the minority coalition took office in May 2016 he was given the huge challenge of Health Minister. He has struggled since then but has impressed with his sincerity.

Bookie odds: 25/1

At Leinster House he is perceived as leadership material  but not just yet. Unclear as yet who may support him beyond former mentor Frances Fitzgerald should she decide not to field.

Paschal Donohoe (43)

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Career: Public Expenditure Minister 2016-present; Transport & Tourism Minister 2014-2016; Juniro EU Affairs Minister 2013-2014. First elected for Dublin Central in 2011 and again in 2016, after unsuccessfully contesting 2007 General Election and 2009 by-election. Senator 2007-2011. Member of Dublin City Counciul from 2004 to 2007.

Paschal Donohoe is a political battler who has coped with reverses and risen steadily through the ranks. Elected to Dublin Central on his third attempt, he also did a Houdini act to hold on last time, after a very disadvantageous constituency redraw.

He abandoned a promising business career in Britain to return to Ireland in 2003 and commit to politics. Served a political apprenticeship in local council and Seanad before getting promotion after the forced resignation of Lucinda Creighton in summer 2013.

He has spent recent weeks emphasising publicly and privately that he will not contest the leadership on this occasion. Some people think he may still be prevailed upon by former Kenny loyalists to upset an expected straight fight between Varadkar and Coveney.

Bookie Odds: 25/1

At Leinster House he is seen as a dark horse who might stand. Could be formidable contender if persuaded to change his mind. Former Kenny loyalists, especially those fearful one of the others would discard them from the ministerial team, would like to see him stand.

Frances Fitzgerald (66)

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Career: Childrens Minister 2011-2014; Justice Minister 2014-present. First elected for Dublin South East in 1992, but defeated in 2002; Senator 2007-2011; elected for Dublin Mid-West in 2011 and again in 2016. Member of Dublin City Council 1999-2004.

The States first ever full cabinet member responsible for childrens affairs took two decades of hard battling to establish herself firmly in Irish politics. For a decade she represented Dublin South East  once the bailiwick of Fine Gael Taoisigh John A Costello and Garret FitzGerald  but completely lost her political footing here after 2002.

Rebuilt a base in Dublin Mid-West and has been very loyal to Enda Kenny as leader. Her work as Childrens Minister was well received and she was appointed as Justice Minister after the controversial resignation of Alan Shatter in May 2014.

Always cited as an outsider, her candidature has been impaired by the recent weeks controversial events. A popular politician, she is approachable and a good manager of people.

Bookie Odds: 25/1

At Leinster House she is seen at very best as a potential compromise or caretaker if others prove unduly divisive. Could expect former protege Simon Harris to be supportive, if his unlikely candidature peters out. Unclear as yet who else would support.

Simon Coveney (44)

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Career: Agriculture and Marine Minister 2011-2014; added Defence to those responsibilities 2014-2016; Housing Minister 2016-present. First elected to Cork South Central in a 1998 by-election and re-elected in four subsequent elections. Was an MEP from 2004 to 2007 and a member of Cork County Council (1999-2003).

Came to politics at age 26 by winning the by-election that followed the untimely death of his father Hugh Coveney. Took years to establish a reputation in his own right and was often perceived as earnest and hardworking rather than especially gifted. Proved his political nous as campaign director in several referendums, notably the 2015 same-sex marriage vote. Also helped negotiate the current coalition with Independents and the support deal with Fianna Fail.

A farm manager by training, he impressed as Agriculture Minister, helped by the contrast between a buoyant farm sector and general economic woes. Acquitted himself in EU farm and fishery negotiations. As Defence Minister he backed the Irish Navys Mediterranean migrant rescue missions. Since the current government took office in May 2016, he has the tough task of tackling the housing crisis. Even militant critics acknowledge his commitment.

Bookie odds: 3/1

Seen as the real threat to Leo Varadkars success. Supporters are Damian English, Pat Breen, Joe Carey, and many in Munster and south Leinster area, though there are local rivalries, especially in Cork.
The frontrunner to be the next Taoiseach remained cagey today Photo: Tom Burke

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has refused to say when he will step down as leader of Fine Gael.

Making his first public statements since the prospect of heave was raised, Mr Kenny said he was focused on his job.

Politics is a vocation. It draws you into stormy waters as well as calm, he said.

His refusal to even acknowledge that ministers are moving against him will cause alarm within the party who want a peaceful transition to a new leader.

Today for me was a very ordinary working day, Mr Kenny said before giving reporters a long list of engagements he attended today.

He said tomorrow would be equally busy and he is planning two Brexit related trips to Brussels in the coming weeks.

Im focusing entirely on a really busy and challenging time ahead, he said.

His party colleagues have said he deserves 'space' and will know when it is time to bow out.

Backbencher Pat Deering, speaking on RTE'S Six One News, said he expected the Taoiseach to bring a timeline to the party's next parliamentary party meeting next week.

Mr Deering said it was clear the party was not ready for an election.

Despite his public interventions today, when he said that he would table a no confidence motion if Mr Kenny did not name his departure date Mr Deering has now said the Taoiseach "deserves time and space".

A timeline of up to 12 weeks has been mooted by party sources and today Mr Kenny's expected successor said the party leader will know when he needs to step down.

Largely considered the frontrunner to be the next Taoiseach the Social Protection Minister said Mr Kenny has been a fabulous leader of Fine Gael.

Fresh from a "calm parliamentary" meeting last night where Mr Varadkar and his colleague Simon Coveney both warned TDs to be ready for a snap election Mr Varadkar refused to answer whether they coordinated their statements.

Their statements were widely interrupted as a way of urging Mr Kenny to step aside.

Arriving at an event in Dublin today, Mr Varadkar said: I think Enda Kenny has been a fabulous leader of Fine Gael for the last 15 years.

The events of this week show that the timeline for a general election is now shorter than we might have thought.

The Taoiseach has said that he wont lead us into the next general election but Ive absolutely every confidence that that hell know when the right time is for himself, the party and the country to step aside.

He then walked away from reporters, refusing to answer any further questions.

How will Fine Gael pick Kenny's successor?

Fine Gael has recently overhauled its leadership selection process. This is what potential candidates are now facing:

They must secure the backing of at least seven TDs, senators or MEPs.

The 73 members of the parliamentary party will be key to victory as they make up 65pc of the vote.

Councillors account for 10pc of the weighted vote, while ordinary members are 25pc of the Electoral College.

Fine Gaels Executive Council will be responsible for picking a polling date, not later than 20 days after a vacancy in the position of leader arises.

A candidate must be nominated in writing by members representing at least 10pc of the Parliamentary Party, not more than seven days after the vacancy arises.

Hustings will be organised between day 10 and day 18.

The regional meetings will provide an opportunity for the Party membership including the local Public Representatives to meet the candidates, the Fine Gael constitution states.

The voting be by secret ballot with public representatives voting on the same day and at the same venues as the party membership.

Parliamentary Party members shall cast their vote at a special meeting convened by party chairman.
Human rights and LGBT issues were top of the agenda during an historical four-hour meeting between President Michael D Higgins and Cuban leader, Raul Castro.

It was the first time an Irish president had visited Cuba, and also the first visit of an EU head of state since the EU-Cuba Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA) was signed in December.

The meeting, which was described as "warm, long and comprehensive", lasted close to four hours at the Plaza de la Revolucion in Havana.

Mr Higgins is on a 12-day tour of Latin America - having already visited Peru and Colombia - and arrived in Cuba on Wednesday afternoon. The discussions took place through an initial bilateral meeting which carried on through dinner.

The presidents discussed opportunities to expand trade and economic relations - with Ireland looking to Latin America in the wake of Brexit.

Meanwhile, it is understood the uncertainty surrounding the Donald Trump regime in the US has led to Mr Castro seeking to build stronger trade relations with EU countries.

The human rights, LGBT and civil society issues were raised in relation to the PDCA - a deal which was made possible after the EU repealed a 1996 policy that had prevented normal ties until human rights issues were resolved in the country.

The new agreement is supportive of social and economic modernisation in Cuba. The meeting followed a wreath-laying ceremony opposite the Plaza de la Revolucion at the monument to Jose Marti - a key leader in the Cuban war of independence from Spain - and was set against a backdrop of the Che Guevara mural, which was originally designed by Irish artist, Jim Fitzpatrick.

Also in attendance were Minister of State David Stanton, Irish Ambassador to Mexico Sonja Hyland, Secretary General to the President Art O'Leary and Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Niall Burgess.

Mr Higgins had been under pressure to relay concerns on human rights issues, following a statement in the aftermath of the death of Cuban communist leader, Fidel Castro - brother of Raul.

The president was criticised for a statement which some politicians believe neglected human rights concerns of the Castro regime, though Mr Higgins rejected this criticism.
Simon Coveney is banking on the support of senior figures in Fine Gael in a bid to catch Leo Varadkar in the leadership race.

Mr Varadkar is regarded as the overwhelming favourite to replace Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

His lead derives from substantial support on the Fine Gael backbenches. However, the lack of ministers backing his campaign is leaving a gap to be closed.

Mr Coveney is targeting senior Fine Gael ministers as a means to show he has heavyweight support.

Mr Varadkar and Mr Coveney are the main contenders. But Richard Bruton, Simon Harris and Frances Fitzgerald all told supporters last night that they are actively considering an entrance into the race.

Paschal Donohoe, who would be backed by Mr Kenny and Michael Noonan, says he won't contest.

The leadership race is likely to take place over the next month. Although he will be a lame-duck Taoiseach, Mr Kenny will still visit the White House to meet US President Donald Trump.

The tribunal of inquiry into the smear campaign against Garda whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe can be extended to examine the complaints of other garda whistleblowers.

The terms of reference for the tribunal was passed by the Dail yesterday.
IRA abuse victim Paudie McGahon has spoken of his family's distress following the contributions by senior Sinn Fein politicians during this week's debate on the whistleblower controversy.

Mr McGahon, who was raped by a suspected IRA figure before being subjected to a kangaroo-court style interrogation, said he and his wife Renata were left deeply upset after watching the Dail debate on Wednesday night.

At one point during the debate, Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams said the event surrounding Maurice McCabe and Tusla would not be tolerated in "any other modern state".

His deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald said the Government has been "rendered definitely finished" as a result of the controversy.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Mr McGahon said Sinn Fein had no interest in trying to assist him and his family.

He emphasised that he had huge regard for Mr McCabe and "cannot imagine" what the garda whistleblower was going through.

But Mr McGahon, who lives in Co Louth, accused Sinn Fein of hypocrisy.

"It's so difficult to sit back and watch the Sinn Fein party speak about victims when it does nothing for people like me and has time after time compounded our pain," he said.

"Sinn Fein has no credibility to go into the Dail and talk about helping victims. It's sickening to be honest."

Mr McGahon and another man were subjected to an alleged rape in his own bedroom in Louth in 1992.

Ten years later and in the same location, they were subjected to a kangaroo-court style interrogation.

One senior alleged IRA figure who conducted the probe is alleged to have told Mr McGahon, a father of three, not to go to gardai.

Mr McGahon has said his life is "up and down" since he took the decision to go public. He says he continues to suffer vile abuse at the hands of Sinn Fein figures in his home town of Ardee. But he says he will continue to fight for justice.
The tribunal established to investigate the alleged smear campaign against Sergeant Maurice McCabe can be extended to examine the complaints of other garda whistleblowers.

The terms of reference of the Tribunal of Inquiry, to be chaired by Supreme Court judge Peter Charleton, was passed through both Houses of the Oireachtas last night. Mr Justice Charleton will report on an interim basis to Tanaiste and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald within three months.

Speaking in the Dail, Ms Fitzgerald vowed the tribunal "will ensure justice for Sergeant McCabe, his family and all parties involved".

The investigation will initially focus on allegations of an orchestrated campaign by senior gardai to smear Sgt McCabe. The claim was made in a protected disclosure by Superintendent David Taylor, a former Garda press officer, last year. The tribunal will also investigate Tusla, the child and family agency, over its file containing false sex abuse allegations against Sgt McCabe.

Allegations of contacts between gardai and: the media; government members; Tusla; the HSE; and any other State agencies will be probed.

The tribunal will also look into alleged contacts between gardai and Tusla in relation to another Garda whistleblower, Keith Harrison.

Mr Harrison, who is on extended sick leave from the force, claims to be the victim of a five-year intimidation campaign after arresting a fellow officer for drink driving in 2009. He claims he and his girlfriend have been the subject of Garda surveillance and referral to Tusla over false allegations of "emotional abuse".

"Any pattern of the creation, distribution and use by Tusla of files containing allegations of criminal misconduct" against Garda members making claims of wrongdoing within the force will be investigated.

Mr Justice Charleton's probe will also consider if such files were knowingly used by senior Garda members to "discredit" whistleblowers. The cases of Sgt McCabe and Garda Harrison will form the initial work of the tribunal.

In a statement released by his solicitors, Garda Harrison said: "After a long and difficult battle to have all my complaints investigated I would like to acknowledge the publication today of the expanded terms of reference of the Tribunal of Inquiry that finally includes an investigation of the ill treatment of my family and I.

"I trust the inquiry will establish the truth and bring about a change within senior management of An Garda Siochana.

"It remains my wish to return to active duty serving my community as a member of An Garda Siochana."

Truth

Any other complaints made by whistleblowers claiming to have been targeted with the knowledge or acquiescence of senior officers will be examined in a second module by another judge, if Mr Justice Charleton requests it.

Ms Fitzgerald told the Dail: "I look forward to the recommendations Mr Justice Charleton will make. I look forward to the truth."

Fianna Fail's Jim O'Callaghan said he believed the terms of reference of the tribunal were "very appropriate" but warned there was a need to ensure costs did not run "inordinately high".

He said Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan did not need to step aside from her job during the tribunal, adding she had denied any wrongdoing.

Mr O'Callaghan said he believed Mr Justice Charleton's report would ultimately be of benefit to Irish society.
Ministers Simon Coveney and Leo Varadkar could both face opposition if they decide to contest the FG leadership. Photo: Frank McGrath

Two of the Cabinet's most experienced ministers are preparing to challenge frontrunners Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney for the leadership of Fine Gael.

Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald and Education Minister Richard Bruton told supporters they are actively considering entering the contest to succeed Enda Kenny as Taoiseach.

Health Minister Simon Harris is also considering a tilt, although he is unlikely to enter the race if Ms Fitzgerald does.

Following 48 hours of high drama, Mr Kenny caused further alarm within the party last night when he refused to even acknowledge that ministers are moving against him.

Asked if he had chosen a resignation date, the Taoiseach proceeded to give a long list of engagements he has planned for the coming weeks.

"I'm focusing entirely on a really busy and challenging time ahead," he said. "Politics is a vocation. It draws you into stormy waters as well as calm."

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Sources close to both Mr Varadkar and Mr Coveney said the Taoiseach should be given "six to eight weeks" to step aside - paving the way for an internal contest.

However, a growing number of Fine Gael backbenchers want Mr Kenny to step aside much sooner, and are preparing to table a motion of no confidence in him at next week's parliamentary party meeting.

There are fears that if an exit date isn't set before Mr Kenny travels to Washington for St Patrick's Day, he could try to cling on until the summer recess.

The frontrunners are refusing to go directly to the Taoiseach, hoping that pressure from backbenchers and "self-reflection" will convince him to step down without a heave.

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However, Mr Varadkar, who is currently the favourite, spoke about the Taoiseach in the past tense yesterday, saying he "has been a fabulous leader of Fine Gael".

Mr Varadkar refused to answer whether he and Mr Coveney co-ordinated their statements to a meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party on Wednesday night.

Both ministers spoke about the need to be "election-ready", widely interpreted as a way of urging Mr Kenny to step aside.

Asked what he meant by this yesterday, Mr Varadkar said: "The events of this week show that the timeline for a general election is now shorter than we might have thought.

"The Taoiseach has said that he won't lead us into the next general election but I've absolutely every confidence that he'll know when the right time is for himself, the party and the country, to step aside."

He then walked away from reporters, refusing to answer any further questions.

In a surprise twist last night, well-placed sources confirmed that both Ms Fitzgerald and Mr Bruton have begun gauging their level of support within the parliamentary party for a challenge.

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Support

In a clear sign of things to come, sources close to Mr Coveney last night claimed he had far more support among Fine Gael TDs and senators than believed. For example, Mr Coveney believes he has the support of the vast majority of the party's 19 senators, a group his backers say Mr Varadkar has neglected.

Ms Fitzgerald, meanwhile, told supporters that she was keen to ensure the upcoming leadership contest was not a foregone conclusion.

It is a view echoed by other members of Cabinet, one of whom told the Irish Independent: "This cannot be a coronation for Leo."

Mr Bruton is also refusing to rule himself out - having previously led a heave against Mr Kenny in 2010.

A source close to the Dublin Bay North TD, however, said Mr Kenny should be given the ample time and space to step aside without any pressure.

During conversations with TDs yesterday, Mr Kenny said he was "calm" and "fine" about the events that had unfolded this week.

But he also said he had been under a lot of stress given the workload and level of travel he had faced in recent weeks. The Taoiseach is still planning to make two Brexit-related trips to Brussels in the next fortnight.

Despite his refusal to engage on the topic last night, Mr Kenny is likely to address the Fine Gael parliamentary party on Wednesday and give some indication of his future plans.

Several deputies who spoke to the Irish Independent became emotional over the events surrounding the leadership.

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The contenders

LEO VARADKAR (38)

Career: Transport & Tourism Minister 2011-2014; Health Minister 2014-2016; Social Protection Minister 2016 to present. First elected to Dublin West in 2007, re-elected 2011 and 2016. Began on South Dublin County Council in 2004.

A medical doctor, Leo Varadkar is bright, and a good reader of the public mood. Engaged in Fine Gael politics since college days and combined activism with medical studies.

Over a decade at Leinster House, he has toned down rightwing stances and attack-dog antics, to become more measured and astute. Is quick to grasp the details of a brief and has avoided big errors in three different ministries.

But he disappointed as Health Minister given his youth and background in the business. He managed through while cooling public expectations on big promised reforms.

The son of an Indian-born doctor and an Irish nurse, he announced in January 2015 that he was gay, and helped deliver the successful same-sex marriage referendum four months later.

Bookie odds: 1-4 money-on favourite.

Seen as most likely to win swift contest. Less clear-cut if election is dragged out. Has been garnering support for a long time both within parliamentary party and among members and councillors.

Known supporters include many Dublin TDs and senators, including Eoghan Murphy and Noel Rock. Others include John Paul Phelan, Brendan Griffin, Jim Daly and Pat Deering.

SIMON HARRIS (30)

Career: Health Minister 2016-present; Junior Finance Minister 2014-2016. First elected for Wicklow in 2011 and re-elected in 2016. Member of Wicklow County Council and Greystones Town Council 2009-2011. Adviser to Frances Fitzgerald during her term as senator 2007-2011. Fine Gaels boy wonder has impressed many with courtesy and ability since he announced himself by proposing Enda Kenny for Taoiseach on his first day at Leinster House in March 2011.

Aged just 24, he began as the Dails youngest TD and his progress since has been remarkable. He was appointed to the most senior of the junior ministries, in charge of the Office of Public Works, in July 2014.

When the minority coalition took office in May 2016 he was given the huge challenge of Health Minister. He has struggled since then but has impressed with his sincerity.

Bookie odds: 25/1

At Leinster House he is perceived as leadership material  but not just yet. Unclear as yet who may support him beyond former mentor Frances Fitzgerald should she decide not to field.

PASCHAL DONOHOE (43)

Career: Public Expenditure Minister 2016-present; Transport & Tourism Minister 2014-2016; Junior EU Affairs Minister 2013-2014. First elected for Dublin Central in 2011 and again in 2016, after unsuccessfully contesting 2007 General Election and 2009 by-election. Senator 2007-2011. Member of Dublin of Dublin City Council from 2004 to 2007.

Paschal Donohoe is a political battler who has coped with reverses and risen steadily through the ranks. Elected to Dublin Central on his third attempt, he also did a Houdini act to hold on last time, after a very disadvantageous constituency redraw.

He abandoned a promising business career in Britain to return to Ireland in 2003 and commit to politics. Served a political apprenticeship in local council and Seanad before getting promotion after the forced resignation of Lucinda Creighton in summer 2013.

He has spent recent weeks emphasising publicly and privately that he will not contest the leadership on this occasion. Some people think he may still be prevailed upon by former Kenny loyalists to upset an expected straight fight between Varadkar and Coveney.

Bookie Odds: 25/1

At Leinster House he is seen as a dark horse who might stand. Could be formidable contender if persuaded to change his mind. Former Kenny loyalists, especially those fearful one of the others would discard them from the ministerial team, would like to see him stand.

FRANCES FITZGERALD (66)

Career: Childrens Minister 2011-2014; Justice Minister 2014-present. First elected for Dublin South East in 1992, but defeated in 2002; Senator 2007-2011; elected for Dublin Mid-West in 2011 and again in 2016. Member of Dublin City Council 1999-2004.

The States first ever full cabinet member responsible for childrens affairs took two decades of hard battling to establish herself firmly in Irish politics. For a decade she represented Dublin South East  once the bailiwick of Fine Gael Taoisigh John A Costello and Garret FitzGerald  but completely lost her political footing here after 2002.

Rebuilt a base in Dublin Mid-West and has been very loyal to Enda Kenny as leader. Her work as Childrens Minister was well received and she was appointed as Justice Minister after the controversial resignation of Alan Shatter in May 2014.

Always cited as an outsider, her candidature has been impaired by the recent weeks controversial events. A popular politician, she is approachable and a good manager of people.

Bookie Odds: 25/1

At Leinster House she is seen at very best as a potential compromise or caretaker if others prove unduly divisive. Could expect former protege Simon Harris to be supportive, if his unlikely candidature peters out. Unclear as yet who else would support.

SIMON COVENEY (44)

Career: Agriculture and Marine Minister 2011-2014; added Defence to those responsibilities 2014-2016; Housing Minister 2016-present. First elected to Cork South Central in a 1998 by-election and re-elected in four subsequent elections. Was an MEP from 2004 to 2007 and a member of Cork County Council (1999-2003).

Came to politics at age 26 by winning the by-election that followed the untimely death of his father Hugh Coveney. Took years to establish a reputation in his own right and was often perceived as earnest and hardworking rather than especially gifted. Proved his political nous as campaign director in several referendums, notably the 2015 same-sex marriage vote. Also helped negotiate the current coalition with Independents and the support deal with Fianna Fail.

A farm manager by training, he impressed as Agriculture Minister, helped by the contrast between a buoyant farm sector and general economic woes. Acquitted himself in EU farm and fishery negotiations. As Defence Minister he backed the Irish Navys Mediterranean migrant rescue missions. Since the current government took office in May 2016, he has the tough task of tackling the housing crisis. Even militant critics acknowledge his commitment.

Bookie odds: 3/1

Seen as the real threat to Leo Varadkars success. Supporters are Damian English, Pat Breen, Joe Carey, and many in Munster and south Leinster area, though there are local rivalries, especially in Cork.
Residents in a south Dublin neighbourhood will take lead a march tonight in the wake of a string of sexual assaults in the area.

Organiser Emily Lyons (23) told Independent.ie she was moved to set up the march in the Killiney and Shankill area after hearing stories of women in her area being too afraid to walk late at night due to sexual attacks on women in the area.

Gardai have been notified of the event while is set to kick off at 7.30pm at the Shankill Dart Station. The march will proceed to Killiney Dart Station.

Ms Lyons said local women have now been forced to change their daily routines out of the fear of being attacked.

Between December 2015 and and now at least four assaults on women were reported to gardai, while two suspicious approaches were also reported.

In recent weeks a woman in her 40s was also assaulted at the front of the Bayview housing estate.

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"It is unacceptable that people have been attacked and that, as a further result of these attacks, people are altering their daily routines," Emily told the Bray People.

She said the attacks were having a knock-on effect in her community.

Speaking to Independent.ie recently, Ms Lyons said people "should be able to go for a run" in their own community without being afraid.

"I keep repeatedly hearing about people who won't walk home from the Dart station on their own and or won't go out exercising in the evening because they're scared," the Shankill resident said.

"I think you should be allowed to go for a walk anywhere in your community whether it's pitch dark [or not]. You should be able to go for a run."

"Overgrown bushes and poorly-lit areas did not cause the assaults, perpetrators did," she said, saying she was frustrated at measures being taken in the area which she felt shifted attention away from those responsible for the crimes.

"It just frustrated me to hear that these were like the solutions because it just diverts the blame.

"The march is in response to the fear that people feel and also to support the victims."
Gardai have issued a warning to the public about a "highly plausible conman" who is calling to elderly people living on their own and pretending to be a plainclothes detective.

The man is then stealing sums of cash now estimated to amount to several thousand euro and is understood to be operating in the north county Cork towns of Newmarket and Mitchelstown.

Gardai have begun investigations after two elderly people had money stolen in similar circumstances by a man posing as a garda detective checking on their personal security and any cash they may have with them.

According to garda sources, the man, described as being in his late 30s/early 40s and being between 5'9'' and 5'11'' and of stocky build, usually introduces himself to the pensioner as a detective and presents a fake business card with a garda logo.

The conman then says he wants to check on their personal security and then inquires about whether they have personal panic buttons and burglar alarms.

He then asks if they keep any money in the house or on their person, said a garda source.

The conman then asks to see the money, either saying that he wants to check that it isn't counterfeit or that he wants to mark it in case it is stolen. He says that he has a machine in his car to do so, whereupon he takes the money from the pensioner, goes to his car and drives off with the cash.

Gardai believe the conman was also behind a theft in Newmarket on January 19 when a man presented himself as a garda to a pensioner in a supermarket car park and asked to see if he had any cash.

In this case, also, the man said he wanted to mark it with a machine he had in his car in case it was stolen.

The conman drove off with several hundred euros in cash on that occasion.

Gardai have now appealed to the public for their assistance in tracing the conman, who was driving what is believed to be a black Volvo S40.

Gardai believe the same man struck on February 3 in Mitchelstown, calling to the home of an elderly man outside the town and again presenting his fake garda business card and making off with several hundreds of euros in cash on the pretence of taking it to his car to mark it in the event of theft.

Gardai also believe the same man was behind a similar type scam in Rushbrooke in Cobh on January 24 when a man presented a fake Garda ID, claimed to be a detective from Cork city and stole several hundred euro from a pensioner.

They also believe the same man was behind another theft in a rural area near Youghal on February 7, where he presented as an Eir employee and said he had found two 10 notes outside and asked a pensioner to check his wallet, and he again made off with several hundreds of euros in cash.

A man also posing as an Eir employee stole cash from an elderly man in Ballylickey near Bantry on February 8 and from another elderly man in Skibbereen on February 9.

Gardai are trying to establish if it might be the same culprit as his modus operandi is very similar.

"This man is highly plausible - he dresses well and is very calm and patient with his victims," said a garda spokesman.

"It's obviously hugely distressing for them but the one thing we can say is that he is never violent and never uses the threat of violence.

"Obviously we would urge people living on their own to be very vigilant and we would ask their neighbours to be vigilant, and not to admit anyone to their house until they are satisfied that they are who they say they are, and to report any suspicious activity to their local garda station."
The total has hit more than 700,000 euro and will allow the family to cover at least a year's potentially life-saving care

Ireland's newest millionaire is celebrating picking up a 1m EuroMillions prize this weekend.

The lucky punter purchased a ticket in Co Leitrim and won the Ireland only raffle.

It comes as another lucky couple are celebrating that Friday feeling after picking up a cool 250,000 Lotto win.

A married couple from Dublin picked up their cheque today, kicking off their weekend in style.

The pair purchased a Quick Pick in Tesco in Shankill and the woman who won explained that she checked a number of old tickets at once.

"I am usually very bad at checking my tickets and I would only every check them if I had heard of a big win in the area. By chance, I was in the local shop and I realised that I had a handbag full of lottery tickets which hadnt been checked," the woman said.

"When the shopkeeper scanned all of the tickets, she handed me a small slip of paper and told me to ring the National Lottery about one of them, she said.

"I assumed that the ticket was worth a few bob but I was completely dumbfounded when I was told that I had won a quarter of a million euro, she added.
A 90-year-old Dublin man is celebrating today - after meeting his two half-sisters for the first time.

John Clarke, who was born in 1926, was placed in St Kevin's orphanage and hospital when he was a child.

He discovered he had six half-brothers and half-sisters only after a genealogist helped trace them following a two-year search.

John's mother, Mary Clarke, gave birth to her eldest son outside of marriage, something that was deemed socially unacceptable at the time.

Mary cared for her son in St Kevin's for the first 14 months of his life before moving to the UK when she was discharged.

Mary went on to marry Englishman Arthur Lockley and the couple had six children - Joyce, Arthur, Brian, Judith, Bonita (Bonnie) and Valerie.

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John was placed in a foster home in Clondalkin in 1932 - he never left the area and still lives in the same house.

He married his late wife Betty in 1958 and the couple went on to have nine children.

John spent time in the army and worked at the Clondalkin Paper Mills until his retirement.

He is passionate about GAA and played for Round Tower GAA club and acted as a GAA referee for 20 years.

He also has a keen interest in politics and was a member of the local Fianna Fail Cumann.

In his seventies, John began thinking about his birth mother and realised he would like to trace his family history. However, details on his birth certificate were fairly scant.

Sadly, John's wife Betty died in 2006 but his brother-in-law Tom was determined to help him find out about his past.

According to Tom, they spent months tracing various leads - some of which led them "on a wild goose chase".

"One time we thought we had found a family but we had got it wrong and we were distraught," Tom said.

Eventually, the family decided to enlist genealogist Hilda McCauley who runs Palmerstown Records. She started working on the case in June 2015 and began the arduous process of sifting through old records.

In June 2016, the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place and she discovered John's mother Mary had another family - the Lockleys - who lived in Birmingham.

In August 2016, the two families connected. The Lockleys had no idea their mother had a son from a previous relationship - but were delighted that John had reached out to them.

John began emailing his family to find out more about his mother. Going through pictures, he realised he shared physical similarities with his half-brother Brian.

Over Christmas John suffered a stroke and in the New Year two of his half-sisters, Bonnie Stanford and Valerie Hipkiss, decided to fly over to Ireland this week to meet him.

"It was very emotional," Tom said. "They brought photos of their mother Mary and exchanged stories and got to catch up. It was unbelievable and meant a lot to John."

With the help of his half-brothers, John has now traced even more family - cousins who are living in Dublin.

"It has been a very long but incredible journey," Tom added.

"It is fantastic that John has been able to reconnect with his sisters and find out so much about his family."
The family room has a wood-burning stove and links to the kitchen

Grenaa is a tourist town on the Jutland coast in Denmark, and as the Scandinavians were pioneers in passive house standards, it's a fitting name for this energy-efficient detached property outside Brannockstown in Co Kildare.

'Grenaa' has a B3 energy rating thanks to an elaborate ventilation and heat recovery system, triple-glazed windows with a heat-reflective coating, masses of wall and loft insulation, and computer-controlled underfloor heating.

According to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, the estimated annual fuel cost for a 2,150 sq ft B3-rated house will be 1,900 a year. That's for heating it to "a comfortable level" without skimping. You might do it for a little less by telling the kids to put a jumper on, or to warm themselves up by tidying their bedrooms for once.

As well as the central heating, 'Grenaa' has wood-burning stoves in two of the reception rooms, so if anyone's complaining of being chilly they can go and sit in one of those.

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The first is a family room with an exposed brick wall and a pine ceiling, and there are double doors there leading to a triple-aspect sunroom with French doors to a deck. The other is a first-floor lounge with a vaulted, skylit ceiling, and this room gives onto a balcony.

Back on the ground floor you'll also find a study, with another brick wall and pine ceiling, and the kitchen, along with separate laundry room and utility rooms.

The overall floor area is 2,368 sq ft and that includes four bedrooms, with the master en-suite.

'Grenaa' is on half an acre with a gravelled forecourt and decking. There's also a garage with a car port, fuel store and loft, which could be converted to another use.

It's for sale for 550,000 with Smyth in Naas (045) 895 440.
Today, Taoiseach Enda Kenny and I are hosting the second plenary session of the All Island Civic Dialogue at Dublin Castle. As was the case for the first one in November, the Irish Government has invited delegates from the North and Republic, from the worlds of politics, business, the community and voluntary sectors, and other leaders from across society.

What we will learn from these delegates will help to ensure a comprehensive and effective national response to Brexit. It will feed into the vast work programme being undertaken right across Government. Since well before the referendum took place, the Government has taken a three-pronged approach to Brexit - analysis, consultation and engagement.

Today's All Island Civic Dialogue could not be more timely, or more pertinent. As the Taoiseach said on Wednesday, we stand at a crossroads - British Prime Minister Theresa May will trigger Article 50 of the EU treaties next month. This will begin the process that leads to the UK's departure from the European Union. A challenging negotiation process lies ahead. The objective must be an agreement which creates, on a fair and balanced basis, the closest possible EU-UK relationship, and which also recognises Ireland's unique circumstances. This creates an onus on everyone, and especially the British government, to adopt a constructive and realistic approach.

Only last month, Mrs May set out the UK's headline priorities for the negotiations. She definitively stated that the UK will leave the single market but made explicit her commitment to maintaining the common travel area with Ireland and the UK's commitment to the Good Friday Agreement and ensuring no hard border on this island.

Two days ago, in a major keynote speech, the Taoiseach set out further details of Ireland's plan. He set out our core principles and our firm resolve to uphold them.

Ireland will remain an active and constructive member state, at the heart of the EU. In the negotiations ahead, we will ensure recognition of the unique circumstances on the island of Ireland. Our priorities include recognition of the special arrangements between Britain and Ireland, in particular the common travel area. As co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, we will defend its spirit and its letter. The Irish Government will firmly oppose a hard border, argue for free movement on this island, seek EU funding for cross-border projects and protect the rights of EU citizens, whether from the North or Republic.

We know our priorities. In fact, Ireland's priorities are clearly known in Brussels and in governments throughout the EU.

For eight months now, the Taoiseach and I have led an extensive diplomatic work programme emphasising Ireland's approach to the negotiations ahead and our key priorities. There have been discussions with the governments of every EU member state and with senior officials - I have had over 150 bilateral meetings advocating Ireland's priorities. Just last week, I had bilateral discussions with the Italian and Finnish foreign ministers. I was in Brussels twice, where I again met the European Commission's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, as well as the EU Parliament's representative, Guy Verhofstadt, along with a number of senior MEPs. While I was in Brussels, the Taoiseach was in Warsaw engaged in talks with the Polish prime minister. This week in Dublin I had yet another regular meeting with the UK Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, James Brokenshire.

That intensive diplomatic engagement had led to the identification of Northern Ireland as one of four immediate priorities for the European Commission's chief negotiator, Mr Barnier. Mr Verhofstadt has publicly acknowledged the need to protect the progress made in the peace process and the need to ensure no hard border on the island of Ireland. The UK government's White Paper includes specific chapters and sections on Ireland.

The Government is acutely conscious of the challenges Brexit presents to our domestic economy.

In his keynote address this week, the Taoiseach has set out new economic measures to protect and continue to grow Ireland's economy against the background of Brexit. Twenty specific points were outlined - including the most ambitious trade and investment strategy ever from 2017, and a 10-year capital expenditure programme, building new houses, roads across the island, schools and other infrastructure. We will seek EU support for some of these major projects.

While government departments have been engaged in intensive analysis, All Island Civic Dialogue events are extremely valuable in deepening our understanding of perspectives from a wide variety of sectors right across the island of Ireland.

Since the first All Island Civic Dialogue, we have had 14 minister-led sectoral Civic Dialogue events around Ireland. On Monday, at Maynooth University, I convened a sectoral dialogue on human rights under the Good Friday Agreement and I found the contributions made on the day immensely valuable, and I know my colleagues at Cabinet share that view following their own events. Indeed, whether it be the concerns of hauliers, the agri-food sector, the tourism industry, exporters, human rights advocates or educators, my Government colleagues and I are grateful to all those who participated in these constructive discussions.

Many of the outcomes from those sectoral dialogues will be examined today in the second Plenary Civic Dialogue in Dublin Castle and they are a vital part of that three-pronged approach of consultation, analysis and engagement.

As the Taoiseach said on Wednesday, we have a clear plan, but we keep listening, and as the negotiations commence, we'll keep making our priorities clear. We are anxious to share information and I'd invite those interested to sign up for free updates via merrionstreet.ie.

Brexit is undoubtedly a monumental challenge for Ireland but we have faced daunting challenges before and together we have overcome them more successfully than many imagined possible. We will meet the challenge of Brexit and that is a task that involves us all. I am confident that Ireland will not be found wanting on this occasion, either.

Charlie Flanagan is Foreign Affairs Minister
Jen and Ben have been married for nine years

Actors Ben Affleck (L) and Jennifer Garner attend the 2014 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter on March 2, 2014 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Colin Farrell, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck pose for photos at the LA premiere of "Daredevil" in 2003.

Jennifer Garner is finally drawing a line in the sand with her marriage to Ben Affleck.

The Dallas Buyer's Club star (44) split with her husband of 10 years in 2015 amid claims of infidelity and were reportedly trying to work on their marriage over the last two years.

The couple wed in 2005 and have three children together - Violet (11), Seraphina (eight) and Samuel (four).

"No matter what happens, Ben and Jen are committed to raising their family as one unit and will continue to do so as it has worked for them. They are both committed to their family," a source told Us Weekly.

Expand Close Actors Ben Affleck (L) and Jennifer Garner attend the 2014 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter on March 2, 2014 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Actors Ben Affleck (L) and Jennifer Garner attend the 2014 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter on March 2, 2014 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

The pair were having problems in their marriage for years before deciding to break up, according to sources.

"Ben truly wanted his idea of family life and the idea of family he had growing up in Boston, so he stayed in it longer than he wanted to because of the kids and the idea of family. But he couldn't save it," an insider added.

In 2016, Garner said she had no regrets about marrying Affleck (44), whom she began dating in 2003 after shooting Daredevil together.

"I didnt marry the big fat movie star; I married him. And I would go back and remake that decision. I ran down the beach to him, and I would again. You cant have these three babies and so much of what we had. Hes the love of my life," she said.

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"What am I going to do about that? Hes the most brilliant person in any room, the most charismatic, the most generous. Hes just a complicated guy. I always say, 'When his sun shines on you, you feel it.' But when the sun is shining elsewhere, its cold. He can cast quite a shadow."
Robert De Niro was on a panel of speakers urging the media to scrutinise use of thimerosal in children's vaccines

Actor Robert De Niro has lent his support to a 100,000 US dollar (80,250) offer to journalists who publicise criticism of vaccination in the US.

He sat on a panel of speakers led by Bobby Kennedy Jr, who urged the media to scrutinise the use of thimerosal, which contains mercury, in children's vaccines.

The Dirty Grandpa star said few words at the event, but backed Mr Kennedy Jr's proposal to "offer 100,000 dollars to start talking about this issue honestly".

De Niro, 73, said: "I thought what Bobby said was great.

"It was eloquent. I couldn't have said it better myself. I agree with him 100%."

During the conference, Mr Kennedy Jr linked thimerosal to the development of autism in children.

But according to the Minnesota Department of Health, studies show "no association" between the two.

De Niro, whose son has autism, said that it would be a positive step if Donald Trump were to support Mr Kennedy Jr's team.

While he has publicly criticised the US president, he said: "Trump I don't care about, if he does the right thing he does the right thing, I don't have to be connected to him".

But listeners have attacked the actor on Twitter for getting involved in the campaign, with many labelling it as "nonsense".

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@FilipDrozd said: "Shame on you Robert De Niro. How ignorant!"

Others have ridiculed the cash offer, suggesting that Mr Kennedy Jr and his team hold the responsibility to prove that vaccinations are harmful.

@ProudBoysCanada posted: "Are Robert De Niro and RFKjr serious about this #vaccine thing? Cuz...I already have proof they work, and I could really use 100k right now."

Mr Kennedy Jr hit back at reports accusing him of being "anti-vaccine", insisting that he just wants a "safe vaccine".

"That word 'anti-vax' is a dirty word used to shut down debate," he said.

"Journalists need to stop doing that and they need people to stop talking about it."
A man help his injured wife after the bombing in Sehwan, some 200 kilometres northeast of the provincial capital Karachi. Photo: AFP

An Isil suicide bomber struck inside a famed shrine in southern Pakistan yesterday, killing at least 75 people in the deadliest attack in the country in more than two years.

The bomber entered the main hall of the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan and detonated his payload amid dozens of worshippers, according to three security officials, who said at least 20 women and nine children were among the dead.

Fazal Palejo, a senior health official in Sindh province, confirmed the toll.

Isil claimed the attack in a statement circulated by its Aamaq news agency, saying it had targeted a "Shiite gathering." The Sunni extremist group views Shiites as apostates and has targeted Pakistan's Shiite minority in the past. It views Sufi shrines like the one targeted yesterday as a form of idolatry.

Raja Somro, who witnessed the attack, told a local TV network that hundreds of people were performing a spiritual dance known as the Dhamal when the bomber struck.

"I saw bodies everywhere. I saw bodies of women and children," he said.

Also yesterday, a car packed with explosives blew up in Iraqi capital Baghdad, killing at least 48 and wounding 55 in the deadliest such attack in Iraq this year, security and medical sources said.

Isil, which is on the defensive after losing control of eastern Mosul to a US-backed Iraqi military offensive, claimed responsibility for the bombing in an online statement.

Security sources said that the vehicle that blew up yesterday was parked in a crowded street full of garages and used car dealers, in the Shia area of Bayaa in the south of the city. The death toll could climb further as many of the wounded were in critical condition.
A dark-haired woman wearing a yellow top, suspected of involvement in the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, is escorted by officials to a vehicle in Kuala Lumpur

Police officers stand near the entrance of the forensic department at the hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photo: AP

THE two female and four male suspects in the killing of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of the North Korean leader, did not know each other before they were hired for the murder plot, a Malaysian security source has said.

The six, most of whom are thought to be sleeper agents, were all living in Kuala Lumpur and were recruited and briefed by a secret agent point man or woman, the source, who did not want to be named, said.

Siti Aishah and the other female suspect, a Vietnamese, claimed to police they were persuaded to attack Mr Kim as part of a "prank".

Aishah, from Indonesia, who was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday, had been living in the Malaysian capital for several months and working as a nightclub hostess.

She says she had been approached by a man while at work and offered $100 (93) to help with the stunt, reported the Indonesian news site Kumpuran.

The report, which could not be independently verified, suggested that Aishah went ahead with the deal because she needed the money, but had no idea who Kim Jong-nam was.

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It claimed she also did not know the other suspects and thought they were a film crew in a comedy reality television show.

According to Kumpuran, Aishah is an uneducated divorced mother of one son, who does not live with her. She had worked as a domestic helper in Jakarta before moving to Malaysia in 2013 with her now former husband.

The Malaysian security source said police also detained a 25-year-old Malaysian man on Wednesday evening.

He is believed to be Aishah's boyfriend and is not thought to be involved in the case, but merely helping police with inquiries that led to her arrest.

The Vietnamese suspect, Doan Thi Huong, also told police she had been tricked into wiping poison on Kim believing it was a harmless prank.

Reports suggest the two women did not leave Kuala Lumpur airport, the scene of the attack, with any sense of urgency, and lined up for a cab at the exit, where they were arrested.

An autopsy report has been delayed and Mr Kim's body will remain under police protection.

A post-mortem examination has also reportedly identified the poison used in the attack, although the results have yet to be announced.

Speculation continues to mount that Kim Jong-nam was killed on the orders of Kim Jong-un, who feared that he could become the rallying point for a coup against his regime.

South Korea's Yonhap News reported that North Korean diplomats had met Kim Jong-nam in January and asked him to voluntarily go to Pyongyang.

It added that he had asked for time to consider the request.

The report claimed that Kim Jong-un was concerned that his half-brother was considering "defecting".

Meanwhile, it was reported yesterday that Kim Jong-nam may have made it easier for agents acting for North Korea to track him down by posting images of his playboy lifestyle in Macau, Shanghai and Singapore on Facebook.

The NK News website reported yesterday that Mr Kim used the social media site extensively, using the alias Kim Chol - which was also the name printed on his travel document when he collapsed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Monday. The page contains numerous photos of Mr Kim in cities in the region, as well as outside casinos and famous hotels.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Kim Jong Nam died after being attacked at the airport in Kuala Lumpur (AP)

North Korea will "categorically reject" the results of a post-mortem on Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of the country's ruler, its ambassador in Malaysia said.

He died this week at an airport in Kuala Lumpur and the case is snowballing into a diplomatic crisis.

North Korean ambassador Kang Chol told reporters gathered outside the morgue in Kuala Lumpur on Friday night that Malaysia conducted the post-mortem "unilaterally" and prevented North Korean representatives from attending.

He said North Korea "will categorically reject" the results and said the move disregarded "elementary international laws and consular laws".

The case has unleashed a rash of speculation that Kim Jong Nam was killed on the orders of his half-brother, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Pyongyang's ambassador said Malaysian officials may be "trying to conceal something" and "colluding with hostile forces".

Kim Jong Nam, who was 45 or 46 and had lived in exile for years, suddenly fell ill at the airport on Monday as he waited for a flight home to Macau.

Dizzy and in pain, he told medical workers at the airport he had been sprayed with a chemical. He died while being taken to hospital.

Mr Kang said the fact that Malaysia has yet to hand over the body "strongly suggests that the Malaysian side is trying to conceal something which needs more time and deceive us, and that they are colluding with the hostile forces towards us who are desperate to harm us".

South Korea has accused its enemies in North Korea of dispatching a hit squad to kill Kim Jong Nam at the airport, saying two female assassins poisoned him and then fled in a taxi.

North Korean diplomats in Malaysia objected to the post-mortem and had requested custody of Kim Jong Nam's body, arguing that he had a North Korean passport.

Malaysian authorities went ahead with the procedure anyway, saying they did not receive a formal complaint.

Malaysia said on Friday it wants DNA samples from Kim Jong Nam's family as part of the post-mortem procedure and that officials were not yet willing to hand the body over to the North Koreans.

Although Kim Jong Nam is believed to have two sons and a daughter with two women living in Beijing and Macau, police in Malaysia say none have come forward to claim the body or provide DNA samples.

"If there is no claim by next-of-kin and upon exhausting all avenues (to obtain DNA), we will finally then hand over the body to the (North Korean) embassy," said Abdul Samah Mat, a senior Malaysian police official. He would not say how long that process might take.

Malaysian police have arrested three people in the investigation but have released few details.

On Friday, Indonesia's national police chief said the Indonesian woman arrested for suspected involvement in the death was duped into thinking she was part of a comedy show prank.

The police chief, Tito Karnavian, said he was citing information received from Malaysian authorities.

Mr Karnavian told reporters in Indonesia's Aceh province that Siti Aisyah, 25, was paid to be involved in Just For Laughs-style pranks, a reference to a popular hidden camera show.

He said she and another woman performed stunts which involved convincing men to close their eyes and then spraying them with water.

"Such an action was done three or four times and they were given a few dollars for it, and with the last target, Kim Jong Nam, allegedly there were dangerous materials in the sprayer," Mr Karnavian said. "She was not aware that it was an assassination attempt by alleged foreign agents."

Mr Karnavian's comments come after a male relative of Aisyah said in an Indonesian television interview that she had been hired to perform in a short comedy movie and travelled to China as part of this work. Indonesian immigration has said Aisyah travelled to Malaysia and other countries it did not specify.

Investigators were still trying to piece together details of the case, and South Korea has not said how it concluded that North Korea was behind the killing.

Malaysian police were questioning three suspects - Aisyah, another woman who carried a Vietnamese passport, and a man they said is Aisyah's boyfriend.

Kim Jong Nam was estranged from his younger half brother Kim Jong Un. He reportedly fell out of favour with their father, the late Kim Jong Il, in 2001, when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

Yoji Gomi, a Japanese journalist who wrote a book about Kim Jong Nam, said he criticised the family regime and believed a leader should be chosen "through a democratic process".
Donald Trump's immigration strategy is emerging as detentions at the southern border are down significantly from levels seen in the late 1990s and early 2000s (AP)

The Trump administration considered a proposal to mobilise as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorised immigrants, including millions living nowhere near the Mexico border, reports say.

An 11-page memo obtained by the Associated Press apparently calls for the unprecedented militarisation of immigration enforcement as far north as Portland, Oregon, and as far east as New Orleans, Louisiana.

Staff in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reportedly said the proposal had been discussed as recently as Friday 10.

Four states that border Mexico were included in the reported proposal - California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The other seven are Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the memo was "not a White House document".

He called the AP report "100% not true" and said there had been "no effort at all to utilise the National Guard to round up unauthorised immigrants".

A DHS official described the document as a very early draft that was not seriously considered and never taken to the secretary for approval.

Governors in the 11 states would have had a choice whether to have their guard troops participate, according to the memo, which reportedly bears the name of homeland security secretary John Kelly, a retired four-star marine general.

While National Guard personnel have been used to assist with immigration-related missions on the US-Mexico border before, they have never been used as broadly or as far north.

The memo was apparently addressed to the acting heads of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and US Customs and Border Protection.

It could have served as guidance to implement the wide-ranging executive order on immigration and border security that Donald Trump signed on January 25.

Also dated January 25, the draft memo reportedly says troops would be authorised "to perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension and detention of aliens in the United States", and to conduct searches and identify and arrest any unauthorised immigrants.

Nearly half of the 11.1 million people residing in the US without authorisation live in the 11 states, according to Pew Research Centre estimates based on 2014 census data.

Use of National Guard troops would greatly increase the number of immigrants targeted in one of Mr Trump's executive orders last month, which expanded the definition of who could be considered a criminal and therefore a potential target for deportation.

That order also allows immigration agents to prioritise removing anyone who has "committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offence".

Under current rules, even if the proposal had been implemented, there would not have been immediate mass deportations.

Those with existing deportation orders could be sent back to their countries of origin without additional court proceedings, but deportation orders generally would be needed for most other unauthorised immigrants.

Spokesmen for the governors of nine of the states either declined to comment or said it was premature to discuss whether they would participate.

The draft memo also apparently mentions other items in Mr Trump's executive order, including the hiring of an additional 5,000 border agents, which would need financing from Congress, and his campaign promise to build a wall between the US and Mexico.

Allowing Guard troops to operate inside non-border states also would go far beyond past deployments.

In addition to responding to natural or man-made disasters or for military protection of the population or critical infrastructure, state Guard forces have been used to assist with immigration-related tasks on the US-Mexico border, including the construction of fences.

Mr Trump's immigration strategy is emerging as detentions at the nation's southern border are down significantly from levels seen in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Last year, the arrest tally was the fifth-lowest since 1972.

Deportations of people living in the US illegally also increased under the Obama administration, although Republicans criticised Mr Obama for setting prosecution guidelines that spared some groups from the threat of deportation, including those brought to the US illegally as children.

Last week, ICE officers arrested more than 680 people around the country in what Mr Kelly said were routine, targeted operations. Advocates called the actions stepped-up enforcement under Mr Trump.

AP
Conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon's woes piled up yesterday when France's financial prosecutor chose to pursue a probe into the fake-work scandal that has dogged him, and as far-right rival Marine Le Pen gained in the polls.

Two polls showed Mr Fillon, once the front-runner, being knocked out in the first round of the two-part vote.

Prosecutor Eliane Houlette said after receiving a police report that she was keeping open an investigation into the Fillon jobs scandal.

Mr Fillon's status as favourite to win the presidency in May has evaporated in the past three weeks over whether or not his wife did real work for hundreds of thousands of euros of taxpayers' money when she was paid as his assistant.

The issue has also sown concern among investors that the anti-Europe, anti-euro Ms Le Pen, of the Front National, could win the presidency. She has moved up in the polls but remains well behind.

"It is my duty to affirm that the numerous elements collected (by investigators) do not, at this stage, permit the case to be dropped," Ms Houlette said after receiving an initial report on whether public funds were misused.

Ms Houlette did not announce further steps in a case becoming known as 'Penelopegate' after Mr Fillon's British wife.

Among Ms Houlette's choices are dropping the case, taking it further by appointing an investigating magistrate, or sending it straight to trial.

A source close to the case said it now looked unlikely that the financial prosecution service, set up under President Francois Hollande in 2013, would drop the case.

Mr Fillon's camp has challenged the legitimacy of the probe. The candidate reiterated his criticism of the prosecutor's conduct in comments to the conservative newspaper 'Le Figaro' yesterday, saying she had added to the "media circus" surrounding the affair.

He also told 'Le Figaro' that he remained as determined as ever to continue the election campaign he began in November after winning a primary contest.

Mr Fillon (62) has said he would step down as The Republicans' candidate if he were put under formal investigation - a step that would be the decision of an investigating magistrate, but which could take months or years.

He has so far faced down a rebellion among conservative lawmakers who want to appoint a new candidate, but there are still rumblings about his unsuitability.

Bruno Le Maire, Mr Fillon's adviser on international affairs, told Reuters that Mr Fillon was the mainstream right's only chance.
French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is facing more troubles, with fresh revelations in an investigation into her European Parliament assistants and criticism from the UN human rights commissioner.

The parliament probe is one of several legal issues hanging over France's spring election, which is shaping up as a major test of growing nationalist sentiment across Europe.

Investigative website Mediapart published excerpts from a European Commission fraud office report that said Ms Le Pen admitted to irregularities in pay cheques for one assistant targeted in the European Parliament probe.

Ms Le Pen acknowledged she settled an accounting problem with the parliament, but insisted: "There was nothing fictitious, no fake jobs or anything like this."

French authorities are separately investigating the parliamentary assistants. The probes centre around suspicions that members of Ms Le Pen's National Front party tricked the European Parliament out of several hundred thousand euros by using legislative aides for the party's political activity while they were on the parliament's payroll.

She reiterated accusations that the investigation is biased because it is led by the European Commission, "and you can imagine that I am not well-regarded by the commission".

Ms Le Pen has used her membership in the European Parliament as a forum to lobby against European unity and the shared euro currency, and reviving French national sovereignty is central to her presidential platform.

Meanwhile, UN high commissioner for human rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, in a blunt speech in Washington, called rising support for Ms Le Pen's nationalist ideas a potential threat to world peace.

Ms Le Pen wrote Zeid an open letter last year in which she criticized international organizations as representing a "global hyperclass ... which scorns peoples, and thus human beings, their diversity and specific riches."

Mr Zeid countered that Ms Le Pen's anti-immigrant party "manifests evident intolerance of diverse customs, beliefs and modes of thought".

He expressed concern that nationalist politicians like Ms Le Pen seem "to feed off the threat of terrorism".

"Can we be so reckless, so stupid, as to risk the future of humanity, simply for the sake of ballots?" he asked.

Elsewhere, protesters angry at perceived corruption greeted conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon by banging on pots on a campaign stop in northern France.

The incident in the town of Tourcoing is the latest hiccup for Mr Fillon's once-dominant campaign.

He is under investigation over allegations that his family members had high-paying but fake parliamentary jobs. Mr Fillon denies wrongdoing.

As he arrived for a security meeting, about left-wing activists shouted "Fillon in prison!" and chanted "We want fake jobs too!", while a small group of Fillon supporters nearby shouted "Fillon, president!"

Riot police stood by but no violence was reported.

Mr Fillon responded: "When you prevent people from campaigning, we're not really in a democracy any more."

AP
President Donald Trump calls on members of the press during a news conference at the White House (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Robert Harward has turned down an offer to be President Donald Trump's new national security adviser in the latest blow to the administration.

The retired vice admiral told The Associated Press that the Trump administration was "very accommodating to my needs, both professionally and personally".

He said: "It's purely a personal issue. I'm in a unique position finally after being in the military for 40 years to enjoy some personal time."

But asked whether he had requested to bring in his own staff at the National Security Council, Mr Harward said: "I think that's for the president to address."

He would have replaced Michael Flynn, who resigned at Mr Trump's request on Monday after revelations that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about discussing sanctions with Russia's ambassador to the US during the transition.

Mr Trump said in a news conference on Thursday that he was disappointed by how the retired general had treated Mr Pence, but did not believe Mr Flynn had done anything wrong by having the conversations.

Mr Harward, a former Navy SEAL, served as deputy commander of US Central Command under James Mattis, who is now defence secretary.

Mr Harward served on the NSC under President George W Bush and commissioned the National Counter Terrorism Centre.

He retired in 2013 after a nearly 40-year career in the Navy, and became chief executive officer for defence and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin in the United Arab Emirates.

Mr Trump has recently been in very public negotiations with Lockheed over the cost of its F-35 fighter jet.

Officials said earlier this week there were two other contenders in the running for the job, acting national security adviser Keith Kellogg and David Petraeus.

Mr Petraeus, a retired general, resigned as CIA director in 2012 and pleaded guilty to a charge of mishandling classified information relating to documents he had provided to his biographer, with whom he was having an affair.

He was also fined 100,000 dollars (80,000) and remains on probation.

Mr Trump used his press conference to mount a vigorous defence of his presidency and accused America's news media of being "out of control".

He vowed to bypass the media and take his message "straight to the people".

The president said: "The press - the public doesn't believe you people any more. Now, maybe I had something to do with that. I don't know. But they don't believe you.

"But you've got to be at least a little bit fair, and that's why the public sees it. They see it. They see it's not fair. You take a look at some of your shows and you see the bias and the hatred."

Nearly a month into his presidency, Mr Trump said his new administration had made "significant progress" and took credit for an optimistic business climate and a rising stock market.

He pushed back against widespread reports of a chaotic start to his administration marked by a contentious executive order - now tied up in a legal fight - to place a ban on travellers from seven predominantly Muslim nations.

"This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine," Mr Trump declared.

The president said that he would announce a "new and very comprehensive order to protect our people".

AP
It was almost as funny to listen to the "experts" on US channels trying to summarise Donald Trump's ravings on the Middle East as it was to listen to his original gobbledegook at his press conference with Bibi Netanyahu.

Unable to understand what the president's inanities actually meant, the lads and lasses of the satellite channels were telling us that he was not as committed as his predecessor to the "two-state" solution but might favour a "one-state" solution - yet wasn't ruling out a "two-state" solution. Oh yes, and he'd like Bibi to "hold back" on settlements.

Most of the "experts" chose to leave out the pathetic Trump addendum - "for a little bit" - because they had no more idea than Mr Trump what this actually meant. The most lamentable quotation looks even worse on paper than it did when first uttered opposite a clearly nonplussed Israeli prime minister: "So I'm looking at two states and one state. And I like the one that both parties like. I'm very happy with the one both parties like. I can live with either one. I thought for a while that two states looked like it may be the easier of the two. To be honest, if Bibi and the Palestinians, if Israel and the Palestinians are happy - I'm happy with the one they like the best."

After the second sentence, most transcripts - and you could hear it clearly at the Washington press conference - inserted the word "LAUGHTER". Indeed there was laughter. Not because this was an intended joke by Trump, but because his words were so flippant, so careless, so ignorant, so utterly deplorable, that laughter was the only psychological human release available to sane men and women after such tragic frivolity.

An entire Arab people, a future Palestine - I notice the word itself was actually avoided - lies under the longest military occupation in modern history and the best the president of the United States could do was say that, heck, he'd go along with one state or two states - or maybe three, for all we knew.

The idea that one state might either be a secular Israel/West Bank state for Jews and Arabs with an Arab majority - goodbye Israel - or one state for Jews only but including a non-voting Arab majority - apartheid Israel - was simply neither here nor there.

No wonder Bibi - how charming the old reprobate seems beside Mr Trump, almost "moderate" you might say - kept his mouth shut longer than usual in the press conference. Mr Trump has some nasty anti-Semites among his supporters, and Mr Netanyahu preferred to keep his throwaway hygienic gloves on during this performance.

But it was instructive to recall beyond all this nonsense just how the very foundations of any modern discussion of an Israeli-Palestinian "solution" have for decades been built on a pile of journalistic and political semantic trash - which has now become so normal a part of the Palestine story that we have come to accept it as genuine. We all invented "alternative facts" in the Middle East when Mr Trump was still at school. Let's start with settlements, the one word which both the sane Bibi Netanyahu and the insane Donald Trump felt happy to use. There's a problem here. Because there are no such objects as "settlements" on the Arab-Palestinian West Bank. They are colonies for Jews and Jews only on Arab land, stolen - immorally, as well as illegally under international law - from their rightful owners. The Jews who live on them are colonialists. This word is forbidden by all parties for obvious reasons.

Which is why Bibi, more anxious about the encroachments of the anti-Israel boycott campaign than he cares to admit, was waffling on about how "Jews are called Jews because they come from Judea" (the Israeli name for the occupied West Bank) and thus "Jews are not foreign colonialists in Judea". Alas, Palestinians are called Palestinians because they come from Palestine - and that part of Palestine which the Israelis call Judea is not within the border of the territory of the internationally recognised Israeli state (of which Bibi is prime minister). But this is far, far too much to grasp for Mr Trump. Better keep to those friendly "settlements" and the hate-filled Palestinian communities who - in some reports - "surround" the settlements.

We've long ago settled on a vocabulary of lies to support these alternative facts. Media reports often speak not of settlements, but of "Jewish neighbourhoods" - as if these examples of land theft are modern versions of Milton Keynes, harmless little state-sponsored suburbs whose Jewish people just want to live in peace with their "neighbours" (the hate-filled Palestinians) whose territory they have stolen.

Pack them all into one state, Israel and the West Bank and you've got an Arab state. The Peacock, Gaddafi of Libya, almost as cracked as Mr Trump, once proposed to call this "Israel-tine". I'm not sure what it would be called if all its people had equal human rights. But it wouldn't be Israel.

Then there's the Jewish state called - I suppose - Israel, with no rights for the Arab majority and therefore an apartheid state, though one not much different from other Middle East nations in which minorities rule over majorities.

"So I'm looking at two states and one state," Mr Trump told the world. "And I like the one that both parties like ... I can live with either one."

The trouble is that the Israelis and the Palestinians cannot live with either one. But "I'm happy with the one they like the best," quoth Mr Trump. Cue: LAUGHTER! ( London Independent)
President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the signing of H.J. Resolution 38, nullfies the stream protection rule, at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 16, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

U.S. President Donald Trump signs H.J. Resolution 38, which nullfies the "stream protection rule", at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 16, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) during the signing of H.J. Resolution 38, nullfies the stream protection rule, at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 16, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

U.S. President Donald Trump shows H.J. Resolution 38 after signing at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 16, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Michael Nelson, a coal miner worker shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump as he prepares to sign Resolution 38, which nullfies the "stream protection rule", at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 16, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

U.S. President Donald Trump shows Resolution 38, which nullfies the "stream protection rule", after signing at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 16, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Vice President Mike Pence (L-R), Senior Advisor Jared Kushner, Chief of Staff Reince Preibus and Special Assistant Boris Epshteyn (R) all laugh at a response from U.S. President Donald Trump during a news conference at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 16, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Donald Trump walks away from his podium at the conclusion of a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Donald Trump pauses while speaking during a news conference, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Reporters raise their hands for questions as President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

President Donald Trump points to a member of the media as he takes questions during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

DONALD TRUMP insisted that he had "inherited a mess" as he launched the most vigorous defence of his presidency to date during a wide-ranging 75-minute impromptu press conference yesterday.

Mr Trump claimed his administration was operating like a "fine-tuned machine" and railed against claims to the contrary during a session initially intended as an introduction of his new cabinet nominee.

He insisted that his team was running "like a fine-tuned machine" and lampooned the mainstream media that he said was peddling "fake news".

I open the paper and I see stories of chaos, chaos, he said. Its the exact opposite. This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine, despite not being able to get my cabinet approved.

Pres. Trump: "This country was seriously divided before I got here... This isn't Donald Trump that divided a nation" https://t.co/fS7RKtur56  CNN (@CNN) February 16, 2017

The president briefly noted that Alexander Acosta would be the next secretary of labour before launching into an impassioned defence of himself and his policies.

"I inherited a mess, at home and abroad, a mess," he said. "No matter where you look, a disaster... we'll take care of it. I just wanted to let you know I inherited a mess."

Read More

Mr Trump said his rivals and the media continued to claim his administration was in "chaos", but the reality was "the exact opposite", and that no previous president had accomplished so much and so quickly.

He jolted from anger, to humour to defiance, claiming that while he knew the headlines would say he had "ranted and raved", he was enjoying himself.

Read More

The press conference marked a return to Mr Trump's improvisational style during the campaign following weeks in which his public statements had come largely on Twitter or in exchanges with friendly media outlets.

A White House official told CNN the president had simply strolled into the Oval Office and said: "Let's do a press conference today."

Leaking, and even illegal classified leaking, has been a big problem in Washington for years. Failing @nytimes (and others) must apologize!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 16, 2017

And here are the six things you need to know about it:

1: Russia

Mr Trump claimed reports that his senior campaign aides had been in contact with Russian intelligence officials were a ruse designed to undermine his presidency.

He twice declined to say whether the reports were accurate, though, until finally clarifying that nobody that I know of had held conversations with Russian agents.

"The good thing is it's starting to turn. People are starting to focus on the illegal giving out classified information, he said.

President Donald Trump: "I'm really not a bad person, by the way. I do get good ratings" https://t.co/6R0oltnk93  CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 16, 2017

He also declined to criticise Vladimir Putin for stepping up his aggression toward the US, saying he believed negative media coverage had convinced Mr Putin that a potential deal was off.

2: Michael Flynn

Mr Trump said he was not concerned that Michael Flynn, until recently his national security adviser, had discussed sanctions to be handed down by Barack Obama with the Russian ambassador last year despite a law against negotiating with foreign powers.

Mike was doing his job, Mr Trump said, adding that he would have directed him to do it if I thought he wasnt doing it.

Mr Trump said the reason he demanded Mr Flynns resignation was that the retired general had not recounted the conversations accurately to Mike Pence, the vice-president.

3: Electoral College

Mr Trump repeated a false claim that his had been the biggest electoral college win since Ronald Reagan.

In fact, Mr Obamas wins in 2008 and 2012 had both been by significantly larger margins than Mr Trumps.

Indeed, Bill Clintons margins of victory in 1992 and 1996 were both far larger, and in 1988 George HW Bush won a whopping 426 electoral college votes, compared to 304 for Mr Trump.

When confronted with those facts Mr Trump gave a stuttering reply, saying he had been given that information and suggesting that he could not be held responsible for any inaccuracies.

Well, I don't know, I was given that information. I was given, I actually I've seen that information around. But it was a very substantial victory, do you agree with that? he asked.

4: Travel ban

Mr Trump said the introduction of his controversial immigration and refugee ban had been very smooth, and that a bad court had made the wrong ruling in blocking it.

He said he would issue a new executive order next week to protect the American people to lessen the effects of that bad decision.

5: The media

Mr Trump returned to his favourite territory of attacking the media, describing the BBC once again, with deep sarcasm, as another beauty and berating the astonished journalists, only to tell them: Id be a good reporter.

I don't mind bad stories. I can handle a bad story better than anybody as long as it's true, he said.

But I'm not OK when it is fake. I mean, I watch CNN, it's so much anger and hatred and just the hatred.

He continued: I see tone. You know the word tone. The tone is such hatred. I'm really not a bad person, by the way. No, but the tone is such - I do get good ratings, you have to admit that - the tone is such hatred.

6. 'Are they friends of yours?'

During the press conference, Mr Trump asked a black reporter whether the Congressional Black Caucus was friends of yours after she questioned him on whether the parliamentary group would be involved in inner-city policy decisions.

April Ryan, White House correspondent and Washington bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks, asked Mr Trump whether the CBC would be asked to help work on urban renewal.

Mr Trump initially appeared to be unaware of who the group was.

Are you going to include the CBC, Mr President, in your conversations with your urban agenda, your inner city agenda? he was asked.

Am I going to include who? he replied.

When Ryan explained she was referring to the 45-member congressional association, he asked if the reporter could set up a meeting.

I tell you what, do you want to set up the meeting? he asked. Do you want to set up the meeting? Are they friends of yours?

Ryan, taken aback, replied: I'm just a reporter.

Up until an hour ago, the scariest thing I'd ever watched was Psycho. #TrumpPresser  J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 16, 2017

Mr Trump continued: Well, then set up the meeting.

Let's go set up a meeting. I would love to meet with the Black Caucus.

I think it's great, the Congressional Black Caucus. I think it's great.

In response the CBC immediately tweeted that they had written a five-page letter to Mr Trump on January 19, on the eve of his inauguration, suggesting ways to improve the urban environment  but had never heard back.

7: Melania

Mr Trump launched a strident defence of his wife, insisting that Melania Trump was a fantastic person who would embrace the role of first lady.

Ive known her a long time, he said, speaking of his wife of 11 years.

April Ryan asks Trump if he's gonna meet w/ Congressional Black Caucus



Trump: Do you wanna set up the meeting? Are they friends of yours? pic.twitter.com/hvRk3npqtJ  Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 16, 2017

The 46-year-old, whose absence in the first three weeks of her husbands presidency has raised eyebrows, would soon begin to work on womens issues, he said.

A funny thing happens, said Mr Trump. She gets so unfairly maligned. The things they say.

She would go home at night and wouldnt even want to go out with people. She was a very private person. She was always the highest quality that you will ever find.

The things they say are so unfair, he said.

Hi, @realDonaldTrump. Were the CBC. We sent you a letter on January 19, but you never wrote us back. Sad! Letter: https://t.co/58KiuHmITF  The CBC (@OfficialCBC) February 16, 2017

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
US Vice President Mike Pence (C) laughs along with Senior Advisor Jared Kushner (L) during a news conference by President Donald Trump at the White House. Photo: Reuters

President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference yesterday in the East Room of the White House. Photo: Reuters

DONALD TRUMP insisted that he had "inherited a mess" as he launched the most vigorous defence of his presidency to date during a wide-ranging 75-minute impromptu press conference yesterday.

Mr Trump claimed his administration was operating like a "fine-tuned machine" and railed against claims to the contrary during a session initially intended as an introduction of his new cabinet nominee.

He insisted that his team was running "like a fine-tuned machine" and lampooned the mainstream media that he said was peddling "fake news".

I open the paper and I see stories of chaos, chaos, he said. Its the exact opposite. This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine, despite not being able to get my cabinet approved.

The president briefly noted that Alexander Acosta would be the next secretary of labour before launching into an impassioned defence of himself and his policies.

"I inherited a mess, at home and abroad, a mess," he said. "No matter where you look, a disaster... we'll take care of it. I just wanted to let you know I inherited a mess."

Expand Close US Vice President Mike Pence (C) laughs along with Senior Advisor Jared Kushner (L) during a news conference by President Donald Trump at the White House. Photo: Reuters / Facebook

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Whatsapp US Vice President Mike Pence (C) laughs along with Senior Advisor Jared Kushner (L) during a news conference by President Donald Trump at the White House. Photo: Reuters

Mr Trump said his rivals and the media continued to claim his administration was in "chaos", but the reality was "the exact opposite", and that no previous president had accomplished so much and so quickly.

He jolted from anger, to humour to defiance, claiming that while he knew the headlines would say he had "ranted and raved", he was enjoying himself.

The press conference marked a return to Mr Trump's improvisational style during the campaign following weeks in which his public statements had come largely on Twitter or in exchanges with friendly media outlets.

A White House official told CNN the president had simply strolled into the Oval Office and said: "Let's do a press conference today."

Read more:

Mr Trump claimed reports that his senior campaign aides had been in contact with Russian intelligence officials were a "ruse" designed to undermine his presidency. But he twice declined to say whether they were accurate, until finally clarifying that "nobody that I know of" had held conversations with Russian agents.

He insisted that he personally had "nothing to do" with Russia, and that the leaks from US intelligence sources that led to the reports were the real scandal.

"The good thing is it's starting to turn. People are starting to focus on the illegal giving out of classified information," he said.

Deal

He also appeared to forgive Vladimir Putin for stepping up his aggression toward the US, saying he believed negative media coverage had convinced Mr Putin that a potential "deal" was off.

Mr Trump said he would ultimately be more "tough" on Russia than Hillary Clinton was as secretary of state.

"We had Hillary Clinton give Russia 20pc of the uranium in our country. You know what uranium is, right? This thing called nuclear weapons, like lots of things are done with uranium, including some bad things," he said.

Mr Trump said he was not concerned that Michael Flynn, until recently his national security adviser, had discussed sanctions to be handed down by Barack Obama with the Russian ambassador last year despite a law against negotiating with foreign powers.

"Mike was doing his job," Mr Trump said, adding that he "would have directed him to do it if I thought he wasn't doing it".

The president said the reason he demanded Mr Flynn's resignation was that the retired general had not recounted the conversations accurately to Mike Pence, the vice-president.

He described Mr Flynn as a "fine person", and said the "real problem" was that details of his conversations with Russia had made it into media reports.

Asked about reports that Stephen Feinberg, the billionaire investor, would be conducting a review of US intelligence amid the high-profile leaks, Mr Trump said he hoped that would not be necessary.

Mr Trump repeated his claim that his had been "the biggest electoral college win since Ronald Reagan".

In fact, Mr Obama's wins in 2008 and 2012 had both been by significantly larger margins than Mr Trump's. Bill Clinton's margins of victory in 1992 and 1996 were far larger, too, and in 1988 George HW Bush won 426 electoral college votes, compared with 306 for Mr Trump.

When confronted with those facts Mr Trump simply said he had been "given that information" and suggested that he could not be held responsible for inaccuracies. "I was given that information. I've seen that information around. But it was a very substantial victory, do you agree with that?"

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
White House advisors (L-R) Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner listen during a news conference by U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 16, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

U.S. President Donald Trump faces a news conference at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 16, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Donald Trump, in an extraordinary press conference, has launched a stinging attack on the media, his predecessors and confirmed a replacement for his Muslim travel ban next week.

Mr Trump insisted that his team was running "like a fine-tuned machine" and lampooned the mainstream media that he said was peddling "fake news".

I open the paper and I see stories of chaos, chaos, he said. Its the exact opposite. This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine, despite not being able to get my cabinet approved.

He also defended the roll-out of his travel ban and said that he would be issuing a new order next week.

He called the roll-out "very smooth" and "perfect" but says it ran into "a bad court".

He said he would be issuing an order next week aimed at keeping the American people safe, as his temporary ban on travel from seven Muslim-majority countries remains kept on hold by a federal court.

"We will be issuing a new and very comprehensive order to protect our people," Trump said.

He clarified that it will be tailored to recent court rulings.

Pres. Trump: "This country was seriously divided before I got here... This isn't Donald Trump that divided a nation" https://t.co/fS7RKtur56  CNN (@CNN) February 16, 2017

Separately the US Justice Department has said in Trump intends in the near future to rescind travel ban and replace it was a new "substantially revised" order, according to a court filing.

The Justice Department said that given the upcoming replacement, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should not reconsider an earlier ruling that suspended Trump's January 27 order.

"In so doing, the President will clear the way for immediately protecting the country rather than pursuing further, potentially time-consuming litigation," the Justice Department said in its filing.

Read More

Meanwhile, Mr Trump also used the wide-ranging press conference to attack his predecessors in the White House.

Expand Close U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions during a news conference at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 16, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque / Facebook

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Whatsapp U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions during a news conference at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 16, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

The former reality star insisted that he had inherited a "seriously divided" country. He said that "this isn't Donald Trump that divided a nation":

During the conference he said:

I don't think there's ever been a president elected who in this short period of time has done what we've done," he says, in between swipes at the news media for not reporting on him fairly.

Reading from prepared remarks he says the press represents special interests and not the people, and has become "so dishonest".

"The level of dishonesty is out of control," he says, adding that he needs to find out what's going on and will not "let it happen" because he'll take his message "straight to the people".

He went on to say:

I inherited a mess. At home and abroad. A mess.... no matter where you look, a disaster... we'll take care of it. I just wanted to let you know- a mess.

President Donald Trump: "I'm really not a bad person, by the way. I do get good ratings" https://t.co/6R0oltnk93  CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 16, 2017

And we havent even started the big work that starts early next week. He added, Were just getting started.

During the press conference he also declared that leaks from his adminstration were real but stories about them were fake:

"The leaks are absolutely real, the news is fake because so much of the news is fake," he said.

His criticism of the media, during the 77 minute session, also extended to the future coverage of the ongoing conference.

"Tomorrow, they will say: 'Donald Trump rants and raves at the press,'" Trump said. "I'm not ranting and raving. I'm just telling you. You know, you're dishonest people. But I'm not ranting and raving. I love this. I'm having a good time doing it."

Trump also addressed concerns about his Russian links.

He said said reports in the media about his administration's relationship with Russia may make it difficult for him to strike a deal with Vladimir Putin to ease tensions between Washington and Moscow.

"Putin probably assumes that he can't make a deal with me any more because politically it would be unpopular for a politician to make a deal," he said.

Mr Trump argued that "nobody that I know of" on his campaign staff contacted Russian officials. He repeatedly denied having links with Russia, a claim he deemed "fake news".

Takeaway moments from an extraordinary press conference:

1. 'Are they friends of yours?'

An awkward moment as Mr Trump is asked whether he will meet with the Congressional Black Caucus to discuss urban issues.

He joked that the reporter, who is black, should set up the meeting and said, "are they friends of yours?"

2. 'I'm having a great time up here'

Tomorrow they will say, 'Donald Trump rants and raves at press conference', I'm not ranting and raving. I'm actually having a good time.

Mr Trump is also clarifying why he always refers to negative coverage of him as "fake news". Apparently, it's all about tone.

"I know what's good, I know what's bad. When they make something that should be good negative" that's when i have a problem.

3. 'The leaks are real but the news is fake'

Mr Trump was asked whether the news reports he is criticising are "fake news" or based on leaked secrets. It would appear that they could not be both. The president disagrees.

The leaks are real but the news is fake

4. On false claims on margin of victory: 'I was given that information'

After an extended diatribe about "fake news" coming from prominent news outlets, Mr Trump was confronted with the fact that he has repeatedly claimed to have won the presidency by the largest margin since Ronald Reagan, despite the fact that that is nowhere near true.

"I was given that information," he said. "I don't know, I was given that information. I've seen that information around. It was a big margin."

5. Trump: Russia links are fake news

Donald Trump has denied that his senior aides were in "constant contact" with Russia during the campaign.

"The good thing is it's starting to turn. People are starting to focus on the illegal giving out classified information."

He says the reports surrounding links between his allies and Russia are "fake news" and that leakers should be ashamed of themselves.

Additional reporting by agencies

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
A short clip of President Donald Trump trying to explain what uranium has gone viral.

"We had Hillary Clinton give Russia 20 percent of the uranium in our country," he told the present media.

"You know what uranium is, right? This thing called nuclear weapons like lots of things are done with uranium including some bad things.

"Hillary Clinton gave them 20 percent of our uranium. Hillary Clinton did a reset, remember? With the stupid plastic button that made us all look like a bunch of jerks."

Trump: You know what uranium is, right? It's this thing called nuclear weapons.

Chemist: Uranium is chemical element #92.

Trump: Fake news.  Donald J Orwell (@DonaldJOrwell) February 17, 2017

The short 10 second clip has been viewed more than 2.25 million times on Twitter alone, where it was originally uploaded by Rachel Rieder.
President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

The White House has denied a report it is considering mobilising as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorised immigrants, including millions living nowhere near the Mexico border.

An 11-page draft memo, obtained by the Associated Press, calls for the unprecedented militarisation of immigration enforcement as far north as Portland, Oregon, and as far east as New Orleans, Louisiana.

Sean Spicer, Mr Trump's spokesman, said the suggestion was "100pc false".

The proposal includes 11 states. Four of those border Mexico. They are California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

The other seven states are further north. They are Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Governors in all 11 states would have a choice whether to have their guard troops participate, the memo said.

Thank you for all of the nice statements on the Press Conference yesterday. Rush Limbaugh said one of greatest ever. Fake media not happy!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2017

The memo was written by Mr Trump's US Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general.

Speaking on board Marine One Mr Spicer denied suggestions the National Guard was being mobilised.

He said: "That is 100pc not true. It is false. It is irresponsible to be saying this.

"There is no effort at all to round up, to utilise the National Guard to round up illegal immigrants."

It came as the Kremlin has responded to Mr Trump's wild 75-minute press conference on Thursday by ordering state-owned television to stop broadcasting coverage of the US president.

It was the latest signal that Russia is losing confidence that friendly relations could be established with the US under Mr Trump.

Expand Close President Donald Trump points to a member of the media as he takes questions during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) / Facebook

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Whatsapp President Donald Trump points to a member of the media as he takes questions during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

It emerged that Mr Trump's choice for national security adviser, Retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward, had turned him down.

CNN reported that he had told a friend the job would be a "s*** sandwich".

Mr Harward issued a statement saying he had turned it down for family reasons.

Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin's spokesman, said: "We never wore rose-tinted glasses, never had any illusions."

In a wild press conference on Thursday Mr Trump accused the media of undermining his attempts to establish friendly relations with Mr Putin.

Mr Trump has declared the extraordinary press conference, which lasted for more than an hour, one of the "greatest ever".

"Fake media not happy!" he tweeted in the early hours of Friday morning.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Spain's Princess Cristina has been found not guilty of being an accessory to fraud, but her husband was convicted and sentenced to more than six years in prison.

In a wide-ranging tax fraud case that captivated Spain, a panel of judges ruled that Cristina, the 51-year-old sister of King Felipe VI, will be required to pay nearly 265,000 euros (227,000) in fines because the court considers that she indirectly benefited from the fraud.

Her husband, Inaki Urdangarin, was found guilty of evading taxes, fraud and other charges. He was sentenced to six years and three months in prison and a fine of 512,000 euros (438,000).

Urdangarin, a 49-year-old former handball Olympic medallist, can appeal to the Supreme Court, but the public prosecutor announced that it would request a hearing to decide whether he needs to await developments in jail. He is still free so far.

The trial centred on accusations that Urdangarin used his former title, the Duke of Palma, to embezzle about 6 million euros (5 million) in public funds for the non-profit Noos Institute.

The provincial court in Palma de Mallorca, in the Balearic Islands, found six other people guilty, including Urdangarin's business partner and a former regional president of the Balearic Islands. Ten people including Cristina were acquitted.

In a country mired with corruption scandals in politics and business, Spaniards paid close attention to the "Noos case" since the first signs of Urdangarin's involvement emerged six years ago.

As the scandal unfolded, former King Juan Carlos's decision to abdicate the throne in 2014 was seen as an effort to allow his son Felipe to restore the monarchy's credibility.

When Cristina was indicted, King Felipe cancelled her titles of Duchess of Palma, granted by their father in 1997 on the occasion of her wedding. She and Urdangarin are no longer invited to any official events by the Royal House.

A spokesman for the Royal House told Spanish media that Felipe and Queen Letizia respected the court's independence.

Inigo Mendez de Vigo, the minister who speaks for prime minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative government, said the ruling "shows that nobody is above the law and that the rule of law works".

The Noos Institute organised conferences and sports-related events. Among the companies used by the institute to hide funds was Aizoon, a real estate consulting company jointly owned by Cristina and Urdangarin that paid for family holidays and wine bills, according to court documents.

Urdangarin ran Noos Institute with a partner, Diego Torres, who was sentenced to eight and a half years. Torres's wife was acquitted.

A lawyer with Cristina's defence team, Miquel Roca, said the princess was "satisfied for the acknowledgement of her innocence" but she was still convinced her husband was not guilty.

"If we believed in the judicial system when the princess was made to sit in the dock, I think citizens can trust in it when she's absolved," he said.

AP
Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been approved by the US Senate.

The vote was 52-46 as Republican leaders used their party's narrow Senate majority to push Scott Pruitt's confirmation despite calls from Democrats to delay the vote until requested emails are released next week.

As part of a public records lawsuit, a state judge in Oklahoma on Thursday ordered Mr Pruitt to release thousands of emails that he exchanged with oil and gas executives by Tuesday.

Mr Pruitt has refused to release the emails for more than two years.

Democrats boycotted a committee vote on his nomination last month, citing his refusal to hand over the emails, and on Friday called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to delay the confirmation vote until the nominee turns over the thousands of requested emails from his time as Oklahoma attorney general.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York tried to draw a direct line between Mr Pruitt's withheld emails and last year's demands from President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans during the presidential campaign.

"Emails! Remember emails?" Schumer asked on the Senate floor. "'We should get them out!' they said about Hillary Clinton. If they weren't worried about them, then why rush?"

To dramatise their cause, Senate Democrats kept the Senate in session through the night with a series of speeches opposing his confirmation. Democrats were still marching to the floor at dawn.

As attorney general, Mr Pruitt filed 14 lawsuits challenging EPA regulations.

He joined a multi-state lawsuit opposing the Obama administration's plan to limit carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Mr Pruitt also sued over the EPA's recent expansion of water bodies regulated under the Clean Water Act. It has been opposed by industries that would be forced to clean up polluted wastewater.

Mr Trump has tapped some of the wealthiest Americans to serve in his Cabinet, and ethics reviews have slowed the confirmation process. So have Senate Democrats, who have mostly opposed all the nominees and forced hours of debate.

So far, the Senate has confirmed 14 out of 22 Trump Cabinet or Cabinet-level picks requiring confirmation.

Mr Pruitt's nomination was strongly opposed by environmental groups and hundreds of former EPA employees, who predict he will roll back the agency's environmental enforcement efforts.

During his Senate confirmation hearing last month, Mr Pruitt said he disagreed with Mr Trump's past statements that global warming is a hoax.

However, Mr Pruitt has previously cast doubt on the extensive body of scientific evidence showing that the planet is warming and manmade carbon emissions are to blame.

The 48-year-old Republican is closely aligned in his home state with oil and gas companies, whose executives have backed his political campaigns.

AP
SALISBURY- Salisbury Police are investigating a reported armed robbery and burglary at Catawba College.

The incident happened in the Stanback Hall dorm, according to the report. A 19-year-old student made a report at about 2:54 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 14 that someone entered her room and stole various items, including laptops.

Another incident followed on Wednesday, Feb. 15 when a 19-year-old male student reported that he and his roommate were robbed at gunpoint, also in Stanback. Credit cards and electronics were stolen from those students.

A Catawba College official said that two suspects entered the dorm through a door that was not secured correctly and one of them did have a gun.

No further information has been released.
CONCORD Kaitlin Anne Rhodes, born Oct. 10, 1991, a graduate of Concord High School Class of 2009, Concord, died tragically Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017. Kaitlin attended both East Carolina University and UNC Asheville. At the time of her death she was employed at Biltmore Estate in Asheville. Kaitlin loved music, attending many music festivals and also was an avid reader who preferred authors who challenged her mind. She loved her time in Asheville, embracing that community and her love of the mountains. During her life she touched many people and shared freely with her family and friends seeming always to have a smile on her face. Kaitlin is survived by her mother, Karen Melnik Rhodes; father, Eric E. Rhodes; sister, Erin Rhodes Crites; niece, Luna Crites, all of Concord; her grandparents, Robert and Norma Melnik, of Barberton, Ohio; and aunts, uncles and cousins. There are no formal services planned and the family asks donations be considered for suicide prevention and LGBT support groups such as the "It Gets Better Project". Her beautiful soul will be missed by all.
JMC Projects India secures new orders of Rs2,277 crore; Stock gains 2.6% JMC Projects (India) Limited (JMC), a leading Civil Engineering and EPC Company has secured new orders of Rs2,277 crores. The details are as follows: Water Projects in India of... November 04, 2022 | 04-11-2022 2:08 pm

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JMC Projects India allots NCDs for Rs100 crore; Stock rallies over 3.5% The Management Committee of the Board of Directors of JMC Projects (India) Limited at its meeting held on November 04, 2022 has allotted 1000 Repo Rate, Unsecured, Rated, Listed, Rede... November 04, 2022 | 04-11-2022 12:34 pm

Nykaa receives shareholders' approval for bonus issue and ESOP; Stock down 1% The Board of the lifestyle retailer FSN E-Commerce Ventures Limited (Nykaa), on October 3, 2022, approved Bonus Issue of Equity Shares in the proportion of 5 (Five) fully paid-up Equity Sh... November 04, 2022 | 04-11-2022 12:03 pm
Last week the social media/justice warriors (SMJWs) went after me like a starving sub-Saharan African at a United Nations food drop.

They were mad because I, very sarcastically, gave melanin challenged individuals (white folks) my permission to use the n-word whenever they felt like it. My argument was pretty simple, if a Deputy Mayor of the City of Indianapolis can use racially offensive language to describe Black people and there are no consequences, then there was no reason why they should not be able to spout off whenever they want to and live happily ever after.

Now just to get everyone caught up, Deputy Mayor of Neighborhoods David Hampton took issue, and thats putting it mildly, with some African-Americans who met Donald Trump, you knowthe President of the United States. Hampton, responding to a post on social media, called it a coon connection meeting. He also referred to the situation as coonery and foolery.

A firestorm ensued and Hampton issued the standard sorry for the poor word choice apology.

And when approached about this by my colleagues at RTV 6, Mayor Joe Hogsett said he was profoundly disappointed in Hamptons choice of words and he could be interpreted by many as speaking on behalf of the administration which the Mayor said he wanted to make clear that was not the case.

Hampton is still working for the city. In fact he appeared with the Mayor and IMPD soon after the aforementioned firestorm at an event for Black History Month  touting efforts that improved race relations here in Indianapolis. While I had to laugh at the entire irony of that situation, there is actually a bigger issue here.

If I may paraphrase a line from A Time to Kill, now imagine he was white. I say this because if Hampton had a little less melanin in his skin, he would be out on the street right now. And that would have only been after Black Democrats had stormed city hall with torches and pitchforks. However, instead of public condemnation from the Black political class in this town there was nothing but silence. In fact, the loudest protest came from City-County Council Republican Leader Mike McQuillen, a white guy from Lawrence.

When I brought this subject up on my various media platforms, I was accused of being an Uncle Tom. That statement is half right because I am an uncle. The SMJWs threatened to get me fired from jobs (thus increasing the Black unemployment rate in this town) and one even went so far as to hint at physical violence against me. I politely reminded him my wife was a sharpshooter in the military and if he was going to try something he might not want to do it when Dr. Phil was on because she doesnt like to be interrupted.

What the SMJWs dont seem to understand, and the list gets longer every day, is that a logical conclusion from all this is that it is now okay for city officials to use racially charged language and there are no real consequences. Which by the way, if I was a city employee who had racist feelings, Id come to work and start getting George Wallace 1968 on people and as soon as I was called into HR for discipline Id point to what happened to Hampton and them hand them my lawyers phone number.

I was always taught that that if African-Americans didnt like white people using racial slurs against us, we might want to be somewhat consistent and not do the same to each other. Silly me, what was I thinking? Thats right, I was thinking.

By the way, Marion County Sheriff John Layton also met with the President; I wonder what racial slurs will be thrown at him?

Ive always said that in the struggle for racial equality, who needs white people to hold us back when we seem to be doing a more than adequate job of being our own worst enemies.

Let the hate e-mail commence.
Vishal Bhardwaj and Shahid Kapoor hold the success rate of 100%! All their films as an actor-director duo have been highly appreciated by critics and their fans. Two of Shahid's path breaking movies, Kaminey and Haider, were with Vishal Bhardwaj and this clearly speaks volumes about their creative partnership.

This time too, Sasha has collaborated with Vishal Bhardwaj for the third time in Rangoon. Speaking with a leading daily, Shahid revealed how they have developed a dynamic relationship over the years.

YouTube Screengrab

Shahid spoke about how he has a lot of respect for the director and feels he will never be able to say no to Vishal. He was quoted saying,

"Vishal sir always bounces off ideas to me and then we discuss. He narrates the script, dialogues, and talks about music. So it's like a process of sharing and it's like 'what do you think?' We have a candid relationship."

He added,

YouTube Screengrab

"It will really take a lot for me to not do a film with him. I would be surprised if he comes to me with something and I would say no to him for a film. I doubt that will happen."

Shahid further divulged that Vishal Bhardwaj had mentioned about Rangoon while they were working on Haider, the director's last movie in his Shakespearean trilogy.

Twitter

"When we were doing 'Haider', he had told me about this film. He wanted me to do it and I was happy that he considered me again. Because a filmmaker of his calibre can get bored of an actor as he has the best (actors) at his disposal. So when he comes back to me I feel very happy and privileged."

Rangoon is slated to release on 24th February, 2017.
Breaking the stereotypes, India's self-made women often remind us that any stream of study is not dependent on the gender. In this article, we celebrate the accomplishments of women in Science.

ISRO's achievement of launching 104 satellites in one go has given us a glimpse of the Rocket Women of India.

Soon after setting the world record, these women came in the limelight and the stupendous amount of work done by them finally bagged applauses. While you may already know some of them from the famous Mars Orbiter Mission or Mangalyaan project, let's get to know all of them at once.

(Also read: 5 Things About ISROs World Record Launch That Will Make You A Proud Indian)

1. Minal Sampath

aniruddhafriend

For two years, Minal Sampath, a systems engineer working on India's mission to Mars, worked flat out in a windowless room, often for 18 hours a day, to be ready for the country's most ambitious space project to date.

"We had a great team and there [was] an understanding between us that we [had] to get the work done to meet the deadline," she says.

Before the propulsion of Indias Mangalyan in space, Mrs Sampath and all the researchers with her had abstained from taking any leaves, that too for over two years.

(Also read: After Launching 104 Satellites In A Day, ISRO Now Set For South Asian Satellite Launch By March End)

2. Anuradha TK

researchgate

When she first saw Neil Armstrong walking the moon, she was fascinated and intrigued and this is when she decided to become a space scientist. This journey of hers is a testament that we should never let our inner child die and pursue our dreams, no matter what.

Now, as the senior-most women officer at ISRO, Anuradha has become an inspiration for all the women working there, and others who want to become a part of it.

3. Ritu Karidhal

idiva

Mother of two, Ritu has never let her personal life take over her love for science and space missions. As a kid, she spent hours every day on the terrace, sometimes studying her books, sometimes studying the stars.

"I have always had a fascination for mysteries of outer space, and knew that's what I wanted to get into," she said.

Later, she became the Deputy Operations Director of the Mars Orbiter Mission.

(Also read: Here Are The Men Who Made ISROs World Record 104 Satellite Launch Possible)

4. Moumita Dutta

vogue

One fine day, when Moumita was reading about Indias first lunar probe, Chandrayaan 1, in the Anandabazar Patrika in her hometown of Kolkata, she thought How lucky those people are to have the opportunity to be part of this!

Fast forward to 2015, and Dutta became one of the top ISRO scientists, part of a team that worked on Indias acclaimed Mars Orbiter Mission. Today, she is heading a team to make indigenous progress in optical sciences as a part of Make in India initiative.

5. Nandini Harinath

rocket-women

As a Deputy Director, Nandini feels proud to see the Mars Orbiter Mission on the new 2000 rupee notes. ISRO was her first job and she has stuck around for almost 20 years.

As a kid, when she drew inspiration from the revered Star Trek series, little did she know that she'd bag so much attention in this space.

If youre doing mission operations you dont need to watch a science-fiction movie, we see the excitement in our day-to-day lives.  Nandini Harinath, Project Manager Mission Design, Deputy Operations Director, Mars Orbiter Mission, ISRO

(Also read: After ISRO's Record Breaking Launch, Twitter Trolls New York Times For Two-Year-Old Cartoon Mocking Mangalyaan Mission)

6. Kriti Faujdar

Nandita Jayaraj/TLoS

Kriti Faujdar finds ISRO a supportive place to work at for a woman  yet cant help but notice that there are not many of them. She is part of a team that monitors the satellites and the several other missions continuously.

7. N Valarmathi

indiandefensenews

As the project director of RISAT-1 - India's first indigenously-developed Radar Imaging Satellite Valarmathi is the first person to receive Abdul Kalam Award, instituted by Government of Tamil Nadu in honour of the former president Abdul Kalam in 2015.

She joined ISRO back in 1984 and has been involved in many missions including Insat 2A, IRS IC, IRS ID, TES. She is the second woman scientist of Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) to head a prestigious project after T K Anuradha, project director of the GSAT-12 mission in 2011.

8. Tessy Thomas

bharatkinaribharatkishan

Born in 1963, an engineer and the Project Director for Agni-IV missile in Defence Research and Development Organisation, Tessy is is the first woman engineer to head a missile project in India. She is known as the 'Missile Woman' of India.

She works for the DRDO and not ISRO.

Most women at ISRO have been maintaning a friendly distance from lime-light. But it's about time that we get to know them and their achivements.
The last bullet fired from this pistol had killed British officer John Saunders on December 17, 1928. Almost 90 years later, and half a century of being forgotten in a storeroom, Bhagat Singh's pistol has been found.

TOI

The .32 mm Colt automatic was on public display -for the first time ever -at BSF's Reoti firing range here on Tuesday. It was on this day, in 1931, that the final mercy petition filed by then Congress president Madan Mohan Malviya was rejected by Viceroy Lord Irwin.

Most people didn't know on Tuesday that the historic gun was on display. Their eyes grew big and jaws dropped when they saw the legend on the glass case that holds the pistol.

leftword.com

"We were surprised when we removed the black paint on the pistol and matched the serial number (168896) with our records last year. It was Bhagat Singh's pistol," custodian of the CSWT museum, assistant commandant Vijendra Singh, said.
Decrying the rising threat of terrorism and ethnic separatism, thousands of armed officers marched through the region's southern city of Hotan in China.

Indian Express

The large-scale parade in Hotan, a hotspot of ethnic tension in Xinjiang's southern Muslim Uighur heartland, involved thousands of armed police and paramilitary officers and was designed to "show strength and intimidate", according to a front-page report in the official Xinjiang Daily on Friday.

"Continued vigilance and high-pressure deterrence against terrorists have forced them to end of the road, like a cornered beast driven to desperate action," Xinjiang deputy party secretary Zhu Hailun said.

STV

Hundreds have been killed in Xinjiang in the past two years, most in violence between the Muslim Uighur people, who call the region home, and the ethnic majority Han Chinese.

After a period of relative calm, there has been an uptick in violence in recent weeks, particularly in the region's south. On Tuesday, three knife-wielding attackers killed five people and injured another five in Pishan County, in Hotan prefecture.

In December, five people were killed when attackers drove a vehicle into a government building and police shot dead what authorities described as three terror suspects last month.

livemint.com

The government has blamed much of the unrest on separatist Islamist militants, although rights groups and exiles say anger at tightening Chinese controls on the religion and culture of Muslim Uighurs is more to blame.

Earlier this month, the government said seven people, including six senior public security officials from Hotan and nearby Karakax county, were being investigated on suspicion of graft. All were Uighurs, judging by their names.

Chinese authorities have also increasingly imposed travel restrictions on Uighurs, and late last year began ordering Xinjiang residents in Xinjiang to turn in their passports to police.
The Centre requested the Supreme Court on Thursday to widen the scope of scrutiny of the constitutional validity of triple talaq, as a mode of divorce among Muslims to include examining the legality of the practice of polygamy. A bench of Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justices N V Ramana and D Y Chandrachud was sorting out the finer points and procedure for commencing the final hearing on triple talaq from May 11, when advocate Madhavi Divan handed over four questions framed by the Centre for the court's consideration.

AP

Also Read: In A Fit Of Anger, Man 'Talaqs' Wife On Roadside, She Fights Back In Police Station

The CJI and the other judges read it and said, "The Centre has raised very valid and important constitutional questions. We will deal with them." Divan said these questions were settled by attorney general Mukul Rohatgi. The CJI said, "This is a great opportunity to decide this issue (validity of triple talaq). It is such an important issue that we cannot keep on deferring it. If we do not avail of this opportunity to finish deciding this issue now, it can never be decided.

"An important aspect of the issues projected is whether triple talaq is a fundamental trait of religion? We will decide this first. If the answer to the question is affirmative, then the entire issue will have to be examined from a very different constitutional perspective."

However, the SC had clarified on Tuesday that it would not touch upon the issue relating to uniform civil code while examining the legality of triple talaq. The questions framed by the Centre are:

Also Read: Allahabad HC Rules Triple Talaq Unconstitutional, Says It Violates Rights Of Muslim Women

Reuters

1. Whether triple talaq and polygamy are protected under the fundamental right to religion guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution?

2. Whether the right to religion is subject to important fundamental rights like right to equality (Article 14) and right to life (Article 21)?

3. Whether personal law can be termed as a law under Article 13 of the Constitution?

4. Whether triple talaq and polygamy are compatible with India 's obligations under international treaties and covenants to which it is a signatory?

AFP/Representational Image

Also Read: Law Minister Says India Now Set To Ban Triple Talaq, Calls It A 'Social Evil'

For the first time, the SC has laid down ground rules for the parties to argue. One important innovation is to curb the practice of handing over copies of judgments the parties are relying on to substantiate their arguments. The CJI said all parties must inform the Centre's counsel of the judgments they would cite and that the Centre would prepare a master compilation for ready reference of all parties during arguments, which would commence on May 11.

The court said the spread of arguments by counsel for all parties should not exceed nine days. It could be stretched at best by two more days as the bench could sit even on Saturday and Sunday to complete the arguments.
The Pakistan port city of Karachi is a hub of anti-India jihadist groups and criminals who often enjoy the support of the Pakistani army, says a report released by the Brussels-based think tank, International Crisis Group.

The report says terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, its parent organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Maulana Masood Azhar led Jaish-e-Mohammad and anti-Shia group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi have "umbilical links with Karachi's large, well-resourced madrassas". Read more

1. We May Already Be Using Fake Rs 2,000 Printed In Pakistan, Because They Look So Real

A number of fake currency seizure by the BSF from the Indo-Bangladesh border, the Indo-Nepal border and the Indo-Pak border has raised alarm among the security agencies.

Since January this year, there have been three instances in which West Bengal police or the Border Security Force (BSF) have seized fake Rs 2,000 notes, allegedly smuggled into the State across the Indo-Bangladesh border. Read more

2. No, Delhi MLAs Wont Get 400% Pay Hike, As Govt Rejects Kejriwal's Proposal

The Centre has sent back the Kejriwal government's bill seeking to give Delhi MLAs a 400% salary hike, asking the state government to resubmit the "legislative proposal" in the correct format.

The bill was sent back via the Delhi Lieutenant Governor and is currently with the law department of the Delhi government. Read more

3. Bengaluru's Bellandur Lake Catches Fire Once Again! The Third Such Incident In Recent Times

According to reports, the flames were triggered by methane gas formation there as a result of illegal industrial waste dumping. A large amount of weed growing in the lake is also said to have aggravated the fire.

The fire was burning for at least three hours before it was doused. It also filled the air with thick white toxic fumes. Read more

4. UP Man Who Is 'Officially Dead', Contesting Election To Prove That He Is Alive

Santosh Murat Singh, resident of Chitauni village in Varanasi has no political ambitions whatsoever. But he is still contesting the upcoming elections from Shivpur assembly seat to prove a point - he is still alive!

He says that his cousins 'killed' him using forged documents by to grab land in his village. He is also fighting a legal battle to prove he is "officially alive" and get his name back on his 12.5 acres of ancestral land, which he lost to his cousins. Read more

5. Supreme Court Asks Internet Search Engines To Remove Ads Of Sex Determination Tests

The Supreme Court pulled up internet giants  Google, Yahoo and Microsoft  on Thursday for allowing content on pre-natal sex determination in violation of Indian laws and directed them to put in place in-house mechanism to monitor and ensure that such material is not available to the people who use these search engines.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and R Banumathi asked the companies to take appropriate steps to withdraw advertisements and information which violated the Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act. Read more
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation on November 8, 2016, one of the aims of it was said to be a fight against the fake currency.

The government said most of the counterfeit note were in the form of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 and the move to legitimise them would end the menace as the security features of the new notes were 'impossible to replicate'.

BCCL/ Representative Image

In the following days a number of cabinet ministers including Home Minister Rajnath Singh, his deputy Kiren Rijiju, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had gone on record to say that since demonetisation, the fake currency printing units in Karachi, Pakistan have to shut down.

But it was just a matter of time before some kind of fake currencies starts popping up. Initially, it started as colour photocopies amid the confusion surrounding the new notes which were still rare.

BCCL

Later, many cheap imitations of the new notes were seized from various parts of the country.

But a number of fake currency seizure by the BSF from the Indo-Bangladesh border, the Indo-Nepal border and the Indo-Pak border has raised alarm among the security agencies.

Since January this year, there have been three instances in which West Bengal police or the Border Security Force (BSF) have seized fake Rs 2,000 notes, allegedly smuggled into the State across the Indo-Bangladesh border.

BCCL

In the latest instance on Wednesday, the BSF and National Investigation Agency (NIA) intercepted a consignment of counterfeit notes worth Rs 2 lakh. The notes are said to be of high quality, with at least eight of the 17 security features compromised.

This is because the notes counterfeit currency notes which were recently seized were as good as it can get.

The NIA had on Tuesday arrested a man identified as Umar Faruq, a native of Malda in West Bengal with fake notes which were said to be identical to the real ones.

With the number of interceptions on the rise BSF officials feel that Pakistan's counterfeit press are already back in action.

"We suspect Pakistan's covert agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is pumping fake notes through its terror and smuggling syndicates based in Bangladesh."

BSF has now decided to step up vigil around the borders. A BSF delegation will also visit Dhaka, as Bangladesh is known to be one of the most important transit points for fake notes printed in Pakistan.
ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C37 today injected India's weather observation Cartosat-2 Series satellite and 103 nano satellites, including 96 from the US, into orbit after a textbook lift-off from Sriharikota space centre.

The launch was "another success for the Indian Space Research Organisation, which is rapidly gaining a reputation globally for its effective yet low-cost missions," The Washington Post said, noting that India has already sent up dozens of satellites, including 20 at once last year.

The New York Times said that by sending a flock of 104 satellites into space within minutes, nearly tripling the previous record for single-day satellite launches and establishing India as a "key player" in a growing commercial market for space-based surveillance and communication.

"The launch was high-risk because of the satellites, released in rapid-fire fashion every few seconds from a single rocket as it travelled at 17,000 miles an hour, could collide with one another in space if ejected into the wrong path," the paper noted.

"Forget the US versus Russia. The real space race is taking place in Asia," CNN commented.

The BBC, quoting observers, said the space success was a "sign that India is emerging as a major player in the multi-billion dollar space market."

"The successful launch is yet another feather in the cap of India's ambitious space programme that has earned a reputation of offering a reliable low-cost alternative to existing international players," it said.

Chinese state broadcaster CGTN was also all praise for ISRO

Russia, whom the India overtook in the record-breaking launch lauded the feat and noted that "India is looking to compete with other major players in securing its own share of the rapidly-expanding telecom market. It is also known for having a particularly low-cost space program, which sets records regularly."
Media present ushered out as top U.S. diplomat began talking

Why did you shush them out? Lavrov asks as reporters were removed

February 15, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - " Bloomberg " - All eyes were on U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillersons meeting with his Russian counterpart at a gathering of foreign diplomats in Bonn, and as first encounters go, it was awkward.

Protocol dictates the two would shake hands, exchange platitudes in front of the clicking cameras, and perhaps take an impromptu question before retiring for a private chat. Russias Sergei Lavrov began: Mr. Secretary of State, I thank you for this opportunity to have the first contact after you have assumed the office and I would like to congratulate you once again for that.

Lavrov also took a question about the turmoil back in Washington over the resignation of President Donald Trumps national security adviser, Michael Flynn. You should know we do not interfere in the domestic matters of other countries, he said.

Thats when things veered off script. As Tillerson began to speak, journalists got a swift signal to exit the room. The episode irked Lavrov, who openly wondered why U.S. aides pushed out Russian and American reporters without allowing them to listen to the rest of the opening remarks.

Why did you shush them out? Lavrov said.

Not For Profit - For Global Justice Get Our Free Daily Newsletter

Adjusting

The awkward moment reflected how Tillerson is still adjusting to the highly public life of Americas top diplomat after years answering only to his shareholders as chief executive of Exxon Mobil Corp.

After the meeting concluded, Tillerson appeared before the media to read out a statement, the first time he has done so since speaking before State Department employees on Feb. 2.

Foreign Minister Lavrov and I had a productive meeting, Tillerson said. We discussed a range of issues of mutual concern.

He pledged to keep working with Russia in areas where the two sides can find common ground but will stand up for the values of the U.S. and its allies. He called on Russia to honor its commitments under the Minsk agreement to end the fighting in Ukraines Donbass region. Lavrov, speaking separately, said that the issue of sanctions on Russia was not discussed.
Israels Vision for the Future is Terrifying

By Ramzy Baroud

February 16, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Empirical historical evidence combined with little common-sense are enough to tell us the type of future options that Israel has in store for the Palestinian people: perpetual apartheid or ethnic cleansing, or a mix of both.

The passing of the Regularisation Bill on 6 February is all we need to imagine the Israeli-envisaged future. The new law allows the Israeli government to retroactively recognise Jewish outposts built without official permission on privately-owned Palestinian land.

All settlements  officially recognised settlements and unauthorised outposts  are illegal under international law. The verdict has been passed numerous times by the United Nations and, more recently, pronounced with unmistakable clarity in UN Security Council Resolution 2334.

Israels response was the announcement of the construction of over 6,000 new housing units to be built throughout the Occupied Palestinian territories, the construction of a brand new settlement (the first in 20 years), and the new law that paves the way for the annexation of large swathes of the occupied West Bank.

Undoubtedly, the law is the last nail in the coffin of the two-state solution, but that is not important. It never mattered to Israel, anyway. The talk of a solution was mere smoke and mirrors as far as Israel was concerned. All the peace talks and the entirety of peace process, even when it was in its zenith, rarely slowed down the Israeli bulldozers, the construction of more Jewish homes or ended the unceasing ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.

Writing in Newsweek , Diana Buttu described how the process of building settlements is always accompanied by the demolition of Palestinian homes. 140 Palestinian structures were demolished since the beginning of 2017, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Territories.

Since Donald Trump was sworn in as president of America, Israel has felt liberated from its obligation to doublespeak. For decades, Israeli officials spoke passionately about peace, and did everything in their power to hinder its attainment. Now, they simply do not care. Period.

They have perfected their balancing act simply because they had to, because Washington expected it, demanded it. But Trump had given them a blank cheque: do as you please; settlements are not obstacles to peace; Israel has been treated very, very unfairly and I will correct that historical injustice, and so on.

Almost immediately after Trump was inaugurated as president on 20 January, all masks came off.

On 25 January, the real Benjamin Netanyahu resurfaced, dropping his act altogether, and declaring in enviable brazenness: We are building, and we will continue to build illegal settlements.

What more is there to talk about with Israel at this point? Nothing. The only solution that mattered to Israel is Israels own solution, always driven by blind American support, European uselessness and always imposed on the Palestinians and other Arab countries, by force if needed.

The guardians of the grand charade of the two-state solution, who shrewdly crafted the peace process and danced to every Israeli tune are now bewildered. They have been outed by Israels dreadful plans that shot their solution right between the eyes, leaving Palestinians to choose between subjugation, humiliation or imprisonment.

Jonathan Cook is right . The new law is the first step towards the annexing of the West Bank or, at least, most of it. Once small outposts are legalised, they would need to be fortified, (naturally) expanded and protected. The military occupation, in effect for 50 years, will no longer be temporary and reversible. Civil law will continue to apply to Jews in Occupied Palestinian Territories and military laws on occupied Palestinians.

It is the very definition of Apartheid, in case you are still wondering.

To meet the security needs of the settlers, more Jewish-only bypass roads will be constructed, more walls erected, more gates to keep Palestinians away from their land, schools and livelihood will be put up, more checkpoints, more suffering, more pain, more anger and more violence.

That is Israels vision. Even Trump is growing frustrated by Israels shamelessness and audacity. He called on Israel in an interview with Israel Hayom newspaper to be reasonable with respect to peace.

There is so much land left. And every time you take land for settlements, there is less land left, Trump said. He is backtracking on promises he made with regard to moving the US embassy and the unchecked expansion of the settlements and more, as he is realising that Netanyahu and his US supporters have led him to a cliff and are now asking him to jump.

Not For Profit - For Global Justice Get Our Free Daily Newsletter

But it matters little, anyway. Whether Trump holds on to his extremely pro-Israel position or reverts to a wishy-washy stance similar to that of his predecessor, Barack Obama, reality is unlikely to change  for only Israel is ultimately allowed to influence outcomes.

Israeli lawmakers approval of the bill is, indeed, an end of an era. We have reached the point where we can openly declare that the so-called peace process was an illusion from the start, for Israel had no intentions of ever conceding the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem to the Palestinians.

The Palestinian leadership is hardly blameless in all of this.

The greatest mistake that the Palestinian leadership committed (aside from its disgraceful disunity) was entrusting the US, Israels main enabler, with managing a peace process that has allowed Israel time and resources to finish its colonial projects, while devastating Palestinian rights and political aspirations.

Returning to the same old channels, using the same language, seeking salvation at the altar of the same old two-state solution will achieve nothing but waste further time and energy.

But Israels humiliating options to the Palestinians can also be read in a different way. Indeed, it is Israels obstinacy that is now leaving Palestinians (and Israelis) with one option, and only one option: equal citizenship in one single state or a horrific apartheid and more ethnic cleansing.

In the words of former President Jimmy Carter : Israel will never find peace until it permit(s) the Palestinians to exercise their basic human and political rights.

That Israeli permission is yet to arrive, leaving the international community with the moral responsibility to exact it.
Loving America and Resisting Trump





The New Patriotism



By Frida Berrigan

February 16, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - " Tom Dispatch " - So reality has inexorably, inescapably penetrated my life. It didnt take long. Yes, Donald Trump is actually the president of the United States. In that guise, in just his first weeks in office, hes already declared war on language, on loving, on people who are different from him -- on the kind of world, in short, that I want to live in. Hes promised to erect high walls, keep some people in and others out and lock up those he despises, while threatening to torture and abuse with impunity.

Still, a small personal miracle emerges from this nightmare. It turns out that, despite growing up an anarchist protest kid who automatically read Howard Zinns A Peoples History of the United States alongside the official textbooks, I love this country more each day. So I find myself eternally upset about our new political reality-show, about a man so thin-skinned he lashes out at everything and so insulated in his own alt-reality that no response to him seems to matter.

Above all, I am so mad. Yeah, Im mad at all those people who voted for Trump and even madder at the ones who didnt vote at all. Im mad at everyone who thinks the sum total of their contribution to the political well-being of this country is voting every two or four years. Im mad at our corporate-political system and how easily distracted people are. Im steaming mad, but mostly at myself.

Yep, Im mad at myself and at the Obamas. They made empire look so good! Their grace and intelligence, their obvious love for one another and the way they telegraphed a certain approachability and reasonableness. So attractive! They were fun -- or at least they looked like that on social media. Michelle in the karaoke car with Missy Elliot singing Beyonce and talking about global girls' education! Barack and a tiny Superman at a White House Halloween party. Michelle, unapologetically fierce after Trumps demeaning Access Hollywood comments came to light. I loved those Obamas, despite my politics and my analysis. I was supposed to resist all his efforts at world domination through drones and sweeping trade deals and instead I fell a little bit in love, even as I marched and fasted and tried to resist.

Falling in Love With My Country

Now, we have a new president. And my love is gone, along with my admiration, my pride, and my secret wish to attend a state dinner and chat with the Obamas over local wine and grass-fed beef sliders.

Whats not gone, though, whats strangely stronger than ever, is my love for this country.

I didnt love the United States under Jimmy Carter or Ronald Reagan or Bush the First. I was a kid and they were names on protest banners and headlines in the news. My parents were the Catholic peace activists Liz McAlister and Phil Berrigan, and I grew up in an anarchist collective of Christian resisters. My parents and their friends went to jail repeatedly and resolutely. We demonstrated, rallied, and railed at every institution of power in Washington. Those presidents made the adults around me angry and agitated, so they scared me.

I didnt love the United States under Bill Clinton either -- I was young and in college and opposed to everything -- nor under George W. Bush. I was young and in New York City and still opposed to almost everything.

I started calling myself a New Yorker three years after moving there when, on a sunny Tuesday morning, airplanes became weapons, tall towers fell, and 3,000 people died. I emerged from my routine subway ride at 14th Street, unaware and unscathed, to stand still with the rest of the city and watch the sky turn black. I spent the rest of that day in Manhattan with friends trying to reach my parents and following the news, as we all tried (and failed) to come to grips with the new reality. Once the bridges reopened, we walked home to Brooklyn that evening, terrified and shell-shocked.

9/11 provided the rationale for sweeping changes in Washington. War by fiat, paid for in emergency supplementals that circumvented Congressional processes; a new Department of Homeland Security (where did that word homeland even come from?); a proliferation of increasingly muscular intelligence agencies; and a new brand of legal scholarship that justified both torture and indefinite detention, while tucking secret black sites away in foreign countries. All this as the United States went to war against terrorism -- against, that is, an idea, a fringe sentiment that, no matter how heavily weaponized, had been marginalized until the United States put it on the map by declaring war on it.

The U.S. then invaded and occupied big time, including a country that had nothing to do with the terrorists who had attacked us, and weve been at war ever since at a heavy cost -- now inching toward $5 trillion. Conservative estimates of how many people have been killed in the many war zones of what used to be called the Global War on Terror is 1.3 to 2 million. The number of U.S. military personnel who have lost their lives is easier to put a number to: more than 7,000, but that doesnt count private contractors (aka mercenaries), or those (far more difficult to quantify) who later committed suicide. Now, President Trump has begun adding to this bloody death toll, having ordered his first (disastrous) strike, a Special Operations raid on Yemen, which killed as many as 30 civilians, including children, and resulted in the death of an American Navy SEAL as well.

September 11th was a long time ago. But I finally fell in love with my country in the days following that awful attack. I saw for the first time a certain strain of patriotism that swept me away, a strain that says we are stronger together than alone, stronger than any blow that strikes us, stronger in our differences, stronger in our unities. Im talking about the kind of patriotism that said: dont you dare tell us to go to Disney World, Mr. President! (That was, of course, after George W. Bush had assured us that, while he made war, our response as citizens to 9/11 should be to get down to Disney World in Florida. Take your families and enjoy life, the way we want it to be enjoyed.)

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Instead of heeding that lame advice, some of us went out and began to try to solve problems and build community. I had read about it in books -- the labor movement of the 1920s and 1930s and the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s -- but I hadnt seen it myself, hadnt been a part of it before, and I fell in love.

Of course, the drumbeat for war started instantly in Washington and was echoed throughout the nation, but many of us -- the intended victims of that attack -- said our grief is not a cry for war. We circled around the victims families; we reminded America that it wasnt only lawyers and hedge-fund managers who died that day, but cooks and couriers and homeless people and undocumented immigrants, too.

We pulled people from the rubble. We made the pile a place of sacred memory long before a huge monument and gift shop were erected there. We honored the first responders who died, we stood up for Muslims and Arabs and all those whom ignorance scapegoated. We marched against war in Afghanistan and then in far vaster numbers against war in Iraq. We called for an international police response to those acts of terrorism -- that weapon of the weak, not the powerful -- instead of the unilateral, militarized approach adopted by the Bush administration. We celebrated, and saw as a strength, New Yorks incredible diversity. We made art and music and poetry. We prayed in all languages to all the names of God.

The Donald, a One-Man 9/11

I guess Ive been thinking about September 2001 again because, only weeks into his presidency, Donald Trump already seems like a one-man 9/11. Hes ridden roughshod over business as usual without even a geopolitical crisis or calamity as an excuse -- and thats not so surprising since Trump himself is that calamity.

With a razor-thin mandate, considerable bluster, and a voracious appetite for alt-facts (lies), hes not so much tipping over the apple cart as declaring war on apples, carts, and anything else beginning with the letter A or C.

It seems almost that random and chaotic. In these weeks, hes shown a particular appetite for upending convention, saying screw you to just about everyone and everything, while scrapping the rules of decorum and diplomacy. With a sweep of his pen and a toss of his hair, he takes away visas, nullifies months of work by advocates for refugees, and sends U.S. Special Forces off to kill and be killed. With a few twitches of his thumbs he baits Mexico, disses China, and throws shade at federal judges. With a few ill-chosen words about Black History month (comments that would have been better written by my 10 year old), he resurrects Frederick Douglass, disparages inner cities, and slams the dishonest media again (and again and again). His almost-month as president can be described as busy and brash, but it barely hides the banality of greed.

Flying Our Flag

Sure, Donald Trumps a new breed, but perhaps in the end our resistance will make him the aberration he should be, rather than the new normal. So many of his acts are aimed at demeaning, degrading, demonizing, and denigrating, but hes already failing -- by driving so many of us to a new radical patriotism. Im not the only one falling in love with this country again and this love looks like resistance -- a resistance that, from the first moments of the Trump era, has seemed to be almost everywhere you looked.

Even at his inauguration, a group of young people stood on chairs wearing matching sweatshirts spelling out R-E-S-I-S-T in big letters. They had positioned themselves in the inner ring of the Capitol and were loud and visible as Chief Justice John Roberts swore the new president into office. The environmental group Greenpeace greeted Trumps White House with a daring banner drop from a crane across the street -- a huge, bright banner also emblazoned with RESIST. Pink woolen pussy hats were popularized by the Womens March, a global event and possibly the largest demonstration in American history, one that rekindled our hope and strengthened our resolve on inauguration weekend. Now, those hats help us recognize and salute one another.

Were working hard. Were tying up the phone lines all over Capitol Hill, turning town halls into rowdy rallies for health care and human rights, shelling out money to support Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, the immigration lawyers fighting for people barred from the U.S. and the closest Black Lives Matter chapter. Were getting organized, getting trained, getting prepared, and getting connected. And were doing it all with a sense of humor: the Bowling Green Massacre Victims Fund? Priceless!

We are, in short, resisting in old ways and new.

Given my background, its no surprise that Im not a flag waver. While growing up, I learned a lot more about what was wrong with my country than about what was right with it. But Im seeing so much thats right about it in this new Trump era of engagement or, if you prefer, call it radical patriotism. Im mad... Im scared... Im hopeful... Im still in love -- more so than ever -- with this country Trump is trying to hijack.

I dont live in a big city any more. Im not a scrappy kid in my early thirties either. Im a mother of three kids and a homeowner. Ive sunk my roots in a small, struggling, stalwart community along Connecticuts eastern shoreline and Im planning to live here for the rest of my life.

New London is a community of 27,000 or so, poor and diverse. Its almost a majority-minority community, in fact. Were home to three refugee families settled from Syria and Sudan. We have a good school system, getting better all the time. Every Wednesday, the chefs at the middle school up the street from my house cook a meal, open the cafeteria, and invite the whole community to eat dinner for five dollars per person. I went with my girls a couple of weeks ago for Cajun shrimp stew and white rice. The room was full and the mood was high. Young professionals and hipsters with kids ate alongside folks who had just stood in line for an hour and a half for a free box of food from the United Way across the street and gotten a free meal coupon as well for their troubles.

New Londons mayor held a press conference soon after in the lobby of City Hall where the heads of all the city departments asserted their support for immigrants and refugees in our community. The last city council meeting was standing room only as people pushed an ordinance to keep fracking waste out of our area.

The weekend after the inauguration, my husband and I raised a flagpole on the second story porch of our house and hung a rainbow peace flag from it. I look up at it every morning waving in the breeze and Im glad I live here, in this country, in this moment of radical upsurge and a new spirit of patriotism.

Im talking to my neighbors. Im going to city council meetings. Im writing letters to the editor of our local paper. Im taking my Sudanese neighbors grocery shopping and to the post office. Im loaded for bear (nonviolently, of course) if anyone tries to mess with them.

My kids are the anti-Trumps. We went to the womens march in Hartford, Mommy, two-year-old Madeline shouts every time she hears the word woman. She knows enough to be proud of that. Look, Mommy! They have a flag like ours! says four-year-old Seamus with delight whenever he sees another rainbow, even if its just a sticker. Hes learning to recognize our tribe of patriots.

Were engaged, were awake, were in love, and no one is taking our country from us.

Frida Berrigan, a TomDispatch regular, writes the Little Insurrections blog for WagingNonviolence.org, is the author of It Runs In The Family: On Being Raised By Radicals and Growing Into Rebellious Motherhood, and lives in New London, Connecticut.

Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on Facebook. Check out the newest Dispatch Book, John Feffer's dystopian novel Splinterlands, as well as Nick Turses Next Time Theyll Come to Count the Dead, and Tom Engelhardt's latest book, Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single-Superpower World .
The Trump Presidency: RIP

By Paul Craig Roberts

February 16, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Has Donald Trump overestimated his presidential power? The answer is yes.

Is Steve Bannon, Trumps main advisor, politically inexperienced? The answer is yes.

We can conclude from the answers to these two questions that Trump is in over his head and will pay a big price.

How large will the price be?

The New York Times reports that US intelligence agenciessought to learn whether the Trump campaign was colluding with the Russians on the hacking or other efforts to influence the election.

Former National Security Agency (NSA) spy John Schindler tweeted on Twitter that a senior intelligence community colleague sent him an email stating that the deep state had declared nuclear war on Trump and that He will die in jail.

It is possible that this will be the case.

At the end of World War II, the military/security complex decided that the flow of profits and power from war and threats of war were too great to be relinquished to an era of peace. This complex manipulated a weak and inexperienced President Truman into a gratuitous Cold War with the Soviet Union. The lie was created, and accepted by the gullible American people, that International Communism intended world conquest. This lie was transparant, because Stalin had purged and murdered Leon Trotsky and all communists who believed in world revolution. Socialism in one country, declared Stalin.

Academic experts, knowing where their bread was buttered, went along with and contributed to the deceit. By 1961 the overarching power of the military/security complex was apparent to President Eisenhower, a five star general in charge of the US invasion of German occupied Western Europe during the Second World War. The private power that the military/security complex (Eisenhower called it the military-industrial complex) exercised disturbed Ike so much that in his last address to the American people he said we must guard against its subversion of democracy:

Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence  economic, political, even spiritual  is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

Eisenhowers warning was to the point. However, it relied on an alert and knowledgeable citizenry, which the US does not have. The American population is largely insoucient, and is heading, across the ideological spectrum from left to right, to self-destruction.

The print and TV media, which serve as propagandists for the ruling military/security complex and Wall Street elites, make certain that Americans have nothing but bogus orchestrated information. Every household and person who turns on TV or reads a newspaper is programed to live in a false orchestrated reality that serves the tiny few who comprise the ruling Establishment.

Trump challenged this Establishment without realizing that it is more powerful than a mere President of the United States.

This is what has happened: During Obamas second term, Russia and its president were demonized by the military/security complex and the neoconservatives using the presstitute media. The demonization has facilitated the ability of the controlled presstitute media, such as the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, and the rest, to associate contact with Russia and articles questioning the orchestrated tensions between the US and Russia with suspicious activity, possibly even treason. Trump and his advisors were too inexperienced to realize that the consequence of Flynns dismissal was to validate this orchestrated association of the Trump presidency with Russian intelligence.

Now we have the media whores and the political whores asking the question used to blacken President Nixon and to force his resignation: What did the President know and when did he know it? Did Trump know that Gen. Flynn spoke to the Russian ambassador weeks before Trump said he did? Did Flynn do the unspeakablespeak to a Russianbecause Trump told him to do so?

The purveyors of fake newsthe New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, and the rest of the despicable liars are using irresponsible innuendo to entangle President Trump in a web of treason. Here is the New York Times headline: Trump Campaign Aides Had Repeated Contacts With Russian Intelligence. What we are witnessing is a campaign by the deep state using their media whores to set up Trump for impeachment.

Those at work overturning the 2016 presidential election are so confident of their success that they publicly declare their preference for coup over democracy. The zionist neoconservative warmonger Bill Kristol has expressed his preference for a deep state coup over democratically elected President Trump.

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The liberal/progressive/left has aligned with the One Percent against the racist, misogynist, homophobic working classthe Trump deplorableswho elected Trump. Even the uninformed muscian, Moby, felt compelled to post ignorant nonsense on Facebook:

1-the russian dossier on trump is real. 100% real. hes being blackmailed by the russian government, not just for being peed on by russian hookers, but for much more nefarious things.

2-the trump administration is in collusion with the russian government , and has been since day one.

Now that Trump has been tainted with associations with Russian intelligence, the idiot Republicans, according to Bloomberg, have joined calls by Democrats for a deeper look at contacts between President Donald Trumps team and Russian intelligence agents Wednesday [Feb. 15], indicating a growing sense of political peril within the party as new reports surfaced of extensive contacts between the two.

Of course, there is no evidence of such contacts, but facts are not part of the campaign to depose Trump.

Trumps sacking of Flynn is being used as vindication by his opponents of their false charges that the President of the United States is compromised by Russian intelligence. Realizing the mistake, the White House has tried to counter its blunder by saying that Flynn was dismissed because Trump lost confidence in him, not because he did anything illegal or had connections to Russian intelligence. But none of Trumps opponents are listening. And the CIA keeps feeding fake news to the presstitutes.

From the very beginning I warned that Trump lacked the experience and the knowledge to pick a government that would stand by him and serve his agenda. Trump has now fired the one person on whom he could have counted. The most obvious conclusion is that Trump is dead meat.

The effort of the American people to bring government back under their control via Trump has been defeated by the deep state.

Chris Hedges argument that revolution is the only way that Americans can reclaim their country continues to gain credibility.

The words that doomed Trump when he declared war before he had his army assembled:

There is nothing the political establishment will not do, and no lie they will not tell, to hold on to their prestige and power at your expense. The Washington establishment, and the financial and media corporations that fund it, exists for only one reason: to protect and enrich itself. This is a crossroads in the history of our civilization that will determine whether or not We The People reclaim control over our government. The political establishment that is trying everything to stop us, is the same group responsible for our disastrous trade deals, massive illegal immigration, and economic and foreign policies that have bled this country dry.

The political establishment has brought about the destruction of our factories and our jobs, as they flee to Mexico, China and other countries throughout the world. Its a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth, and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entities.
Governor of Jakarta: Get Re-elected or Die!

By Andre Vltchek

February 16, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - " NEO " - They call him Ahok, and according to many, he is the best thing that ever happened to Jakarta  this enormous, polluted and until recently unloved capital city of Indonesia.

Very loosely translated, Ahok is an abbreviation of the Chinese words (yes, he is ethnic Chinese). The meaning is: never stop learning (ban-hok), a piece of advice given to him by his greatest role model  his father.

And learning he is! Instead of just doing what his predecessors have been doing for decades  aimlessly travelling to Western Europe, the United States and Japan, Ahok goes where he can actually really discover things that are implementable in his city, one so full of grave problems  China and Latin America.

Before him, almost everyone gave up on Jakarta. The citys reputation was terrible, and the verdict and diagnoses of many became short and dark: Beyond salvation, beyond repair!

Jakarta has been suffering all imaginable ills: from endemic corruption, toxic bureaucracy and inefficiency, to the epic traffic jams, pollution, deadly annual floods (due to its terrible drainage system), lack of modern garbage collection and garbage processing, appalling filth (rivers and canals clogged with trash, waste covering sides of the roads), notorious lack of green spaces and parks, and the almost total lack of cultural institutions. Public transportation could be described at best as a joke.

The most talented brains were leaving. Expats found it impossible to convince their families to follow them to the Big Smoke (one of the citys nicknames), and most of them decided to settle in Singapore or Kuala Lumpur, commuting to Jakarta on a weekly basis.

Capitalist and pro-Western to the core, Jakarta has been offering some of the most cynical images of social inequality on Earth: posh 5-star hotels and shopping malls, and deadly slums in their vicinity. Poor people simply ceased to exist; their plight didnt matter.

Then came Ahok!

*

In just over two years, Jakarta has changed. Its infrastructure has been getting better: there are new green areas and parks, and new public transportation projects. Canals and rivers are being cleaned and the drainage is improving (as a result, during the rainy seasons, the floods are not reaching their previous devastating levels).

But above all, there is now hope. It lifts and it transforms the entire city and its surrounding areas. Expectations of the people are suddenly high.

Mr. Khairul Mahadi, a retired civil servant, is content:

In my opinion, there is great progress achieved under Ahoks leadership, especially when it comes to the public services. There are also some significant changes in work ethics of the local government. Their services are faster, and the culture of bribes is almost gone.

Mr. Anton Hinawan, an architect, agrees:

The most important thing about his leadership is that the local governments budget is not used for bribes and corruption. Funds are now used for development, and it is visible. Im very optimistic, and I support his leadership. If elections are fair, he should have no problems of winning.

Elections are right around the corner, scheduled for February 15, 2017. Ahok is supported by over 40%, which is nearly double the backing enjoyed by the next most popular candidate.

But Ahok is stepping on too many feet, and his anti-corruption drive is not necessarily popular with the elites of the country. Even less so are his attempts to relocate and house the poor, and to provide them with adequate medical care.

His enemies are ingenious and venomous.

Now he is on the election trail, but he is also facing a trial for defaming Islam, a twisted case brought against him by his political opponents and based on a gross manipulation of the language.

To make things worse, some Indonesians loathe him for being ethnically Chinese, in a country that is known for its racial intolerance, for the genocides in East Timor and Papua, and countless anti-Chinese pogroms.

Still, most of Jakarta residents are pragmatic. The Governors performance seems to be much more important to them than his race or religion.

*

Ms. Mustika Purwanegara, a professor at the prestigious Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) is all praises for Ahok:

I admire what he has been doing for Jakarta. He is a great leader, and he works for the people, unlike what we have here in West Java. Other cities in Indonesia should be following his example.

But is he doing too much, in such a short time? Can he really survive in a country that is constantly dragged down by inertia and by the corruption rooted in Suhartos era?

Mr. Rachmad Mekaniawan, the CEO of a construction management company, Ciria Jasa:

Ahok is insane! But Jakarta needs truly a crazy person as a leader. Who else would dare to start tackling, for instance, seemingly unsolvable problems of capitals traffic congestion by beginning to build various modern modes of public transportation?

Mr. Mekaniawan is an Ahok fan, but even he is uncertain about whether the governor can get re-elected, with all those powerful political and economic forces trying to derail his campaign.

Several years ago, in a backroom of a restaurant, a prominent Indonesian businessman told me, that no comprehensive public transportation network would ever be allowed to grow in Jakarta, because the foreign car and scooter makers had already totally corrupted the city government. An effective mass transit scheme would significantly reduce their profits.

Still, Ahok dares. Now there are ten-carriage secondhand Tokyo subway trains running on rapidly improving commuter rail tracks, two elevated LRT lines are being constructed, the airport rail link is about to open by the end of 2017, and 11 previously notorious bus-ways are receiving new and modern vehicles.

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Suddenly there is hope, but there is also fear.

Late in the evening, I visited his Rumah Lembang in Central Jakarta, a support center for the Ahoks campaign. There I informally spoke to his two volunteer aides, one Muslim, one Christian.

The atmosphere was tense. It was clear that what is taking place in Jakarta is having an enormous impact on the entire Indonesia. People all over this vast archipelago are watching, and beginning to demand the same changes that are taking place in the capital.

Do you expect the elections to be manipulated? I asked.

Yes We see that there is definitely such a possibility, Im told by Mr. Rekky Silalahi. He continues:

Those who are determined to vote for Ahok are already facing some serious problems: like getting their election cards issued

What if the elections are rigged? Would there be an explosion? I wanted to know.

There would be a big one, I was told. If hed lose fairly, than its ok. If rigged, there would be huge trouble.

Southeast Asia is boiling, awakening: Thailand before the coup, Philippines under the present administration, and now Jakarta, the enormous and scarred capital city of perhaps the most complex nation in the region.

Here, changes have come with the new and enlightened leaders. Some of them have managed to plant fragile seeds of hope, something that had not been done for decades, under the Western-sponsored dictatorships and pseudo-democracies. After that, the expectations of people grow very quickly. And with the expectations comes a strong determination to fight for, to defend even those small gains that have already been made.
Home Sign up for our FREE Daily Email Newsletter You Are Not In Control By Dmitry Orlov February 16, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - " Dmitry Orlov " - My recent book tour was very valuable, among other things, in gauging audience response to the various topics related to the technosphere and its control over us. Specifically, what seems to be generally missing is an understanding that the technosphere doesnt just control technology; it controls our minds as well. The technosphere doesnt just prevent us from choosing technologies that we think may be appropriate and rejecting the ones that arent. It controls our tastes, making us prefer things that it prefers for its own reasons. It also controls our values, aligning them with its own. And it controls our bodies, causing us to treat ourselves as if we were mechanisms rather than symbiotic communities of living cells (human and otherwise).



None of this invalidates the approach I proposed for shrinking the technosphere which is based on a harm/benefit analysis and allows us to ratchet down our technology choices by always picking technologies with the least harm and the greatest benefit. But this approach only works if the analysis is informed by our own tastes, not the tastes imposed on us by the technosphere, by our values, not the technospheres values, and by our rejection of a mechanistic conception of our selves. These choices are implicit in the 32 criteria used in harm/benefit analysis, favoring local over global, group interests over individual interests, artisanal over industrial and so on. But I think it would be helpful to make these choices explicit, by working through an example of each of the three types of control listed above. This week I'll tackle the first of these.



A good example of how the technosphere controls our tastes is the personal automobile. Many people regard it as a symbol of freedom and see their car as an extension of their personalities. The freedom to be car-free is not generally regarded as important, while the freedoms bestowed by car ownership are rather questionable. It is the freedom to make car payments, pay for repairs, insurance, parking, towing and gasoline. It is the freedom to pay tolls, traffic tickets, title fees and excise taxes. It is the freedom to spend countless hours stuck in traffic jams and to suffer injuries in car accidents. It is the freedom to bring up neurologically damaged children by subjecting them to unsafe carbon monoxide levels (you are encouraged to have a CO detector in your house, but not in your carbecause it would be going off all the time). It is the freedom to suffer indignities when pulled over by police, especially if youve been drinking. In terms of a harm/benefit analysis, private car ownership makes no sense at all.



It is often argued that a car is a necessity, although the facts tell a different story. Worldwide, there are 1.2 billion vehicles on the road. The population of the planet is over 7 billion. Therefore, there are at least 5.8 billion people alive in the world who dont own a car. How can something be considered a necessity if 82% of us dont seem to need it? In fact, owning a car becomes necessary only in a certain specific set of circumstances. Here are some of the key ingredients: a landscape that is impassable except by motor vehicle, single-use zoning that segregates land by residential, commercial, agricultural and industrial uses, a lifestyle that requires a daily commute, and a deficit of public transportation. In turn, widespread private car ownership is what enables these key ingredients: without it, situations in which private car ownership becomes a necessity simply would not arise.



Now, moving people about the landscape is not a productive activity: it is a waste of time and energy. If you can live, send your children to school, shop and work all without leaving the confines of a small neighborhood, you are bound to be more efficient than someone who has to drive between these four locations on a daily basis. But the technosphere is rational to a fault and is all about achieving efficiencies. And so, an obvious question to ask is, What is it about the car-dependent living arrangement, and the landscape it enables, that the technosphere finds to be efficient? The surprising answer is that the technosphere strives to optimize the burning of gasoline; everything else is just a byproduct of this optimization.



It turns out that the fact that so many people are forced to own a car has nothing to do with transportation and everything to do with petroleum chemistry. About half of what can be usefully extracted from a barrel of crude oil is in the form of gasoline. It is possible to boost the fraction of other, more useful products, such as kerosene, diesel fuel, jet fuel and heating oil, but not by much and at a cost of reduced net energy. But gasoline is not very useful at all. It is volatile (quite a lot of it evaporates, especially in the summer); it is chemically unstable and doesnt keep for long; it is toxic and carcinogenic. It has a rather low flash point, limiting the compression ratio that can be achieved by gasoline-fueled engines, making them thermodynamically less efficient. It is useless for large engines, and is basically a small-engine fuel. Gasoline-powered engines dont last very long because gasoline-air mixture is detonated (using an electric spark) rather than burned, and the shock waves from the detonations cause components to wear out quickly. They have few industrial uses; all of the serious transportation infrastructure, including locomotives, ships, jet aircraft, tractor-trailers, construction equipment and electrical generators run on petroleum distillates such as kerosene, jet fuel, diesel oil and bunker fuel.



If it werent for widespread private car ownership, gasoline would have to be flared off at refineries, at a loss. In turn, the cost of petroleum distillateswhich are all of the industrial fuelswould double, and this would curtail the technospheres global expansion by making long-distance freight much more expensive. The technospheres goal, then, is to make us pay for the gasoline by forcing us to drive. To this end, the landscape is structured in a way that makes driving necessary. The fact that to get from a Motel 8 on one side of the road to the McDonalds on the other requires you to drive two miles, navigate a cloverleaf, and drive two miles back is not a bug; it's a feature. When James Kunstler calls suburban sprawl the greatest misallocation of resources in human history he is only partly right. It is also the greatest optimization in exploiting every part of the crude oil barrel in the history of the technosphere.



The proliferation of small gasoline-burning engines in the form of cars enables another optimization, forcing us to pay for another generally useless fraction of the crude oil barrel: road tar. Lots of cars require lots of paved roadways and parking lots. Thus, the technosphere wins twice, first by making us pay for the privilege of disposing of what is essentially toxic waste at our own risk and expense, then by making us pay for spreading another form of toxic waste all over the ground. Suburban sprawl is not a failure of urban planning; it is a success story in enslaving humans and making them toil on behalf of the technosphere while causing great damage to themselves and to the environment. Needless to say, you have absolutely no control over any of this. You. Are. Not. In. Control. You can vote, you can protest, you can lobby, donate to environmentalist groups, attend conferences on urban planning and you would just be wasting your time, because you can't change petroleum chemistry.



That the need to make people buy gasoline trumps all other considerations becomes obvious if we observe how the technosphere reacts whenever gasoline demand falters. When rampant wealth inequality started making owning a car unaffordable for more and more people, the solution was to introduce larger cars for those who could still afford one: minivans for the mommies, pickup trucks for the daddies, and for everyone the now common SUV. And now that gasoline demand is dropping again because of falling labor participation rate and an increase in the number of people who telecommute, the solution will no doubt be driverless cars which will cruise around aimlessly burning gasoline. Mommies may think that a minivan will keep their kiddies safer than a compact would (not true unless they have 8-9 kids). Daddies may think that the pickup truck is a sign of manliness (true if you are some sort of gofer/roustabout; pickup trucks are driven by picker-uppers, a subspecies of gofer/roustabout). But all they are doing is obeying The Third Law of the Technosphere, if you will: For every improvement in the efficiency of gasoline-fired engines, there must be an equal and opposite improvement in inefficiency.



So, perhaps you should just relax and go with the flow. After all, being a slave in the service of the technosphere is not immediately life-threatening unless you crash into a tree or get run over by a drunk. But there is another problem: this arrangement isnt going to last. The net energy that can be extracted out of a barrel of oil is quickly shrinking. In less then a decade the energy surplus required to maintain a car-centric lifestyle will no longer exist. If private car ownership and daily driving are required of you in order to survive, then you wont survive. There goes at least 18% of the worlds population, which will find itself stranded in the middle of an impassable landscape. Oops!



Given that you are not in control, and given that the car-centric lifestyle is an evolutionary dead end for your subspecies, what can you do? The answer is obvious: you can plan your escape, then join the other 82% of the worlds population, which is able to live car-free. Some of them even manage to live entirely outside of the reach of the technosphere. Let their example be your inspiration. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load. What's your response? - Scroll down to add / read comments Please read our Comment Policy before posting - It is unacceptable to slander, smear or engage in personal attacks on authors of articles posted on ICH. Those engaging in that behavior will be banned from the comment section.
Police in South Australia are seeking the publics help identifying a clumsy arsonist caught on camera setting his own foot on fire.

South Coast Police shared CCTV footage that shows two people behind a group of shops on Old South Road in Old Reynella about 3:20 a.m. Monday.

One of the men pours an accelerant alongside the building and ignites it, causing an explosion that temporarily blinded the security camera.

The camera comes back into focus as the suspect is seen running away with one of his own feet on fire.

Firefighters were summoned by nearby residents, who poured water on the flames until the department arrived to extinguish the blaze.

Damage to the stores was minimal, police said.
The Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Friday declared former Borno State Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff as the authentic National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

A three-man panel of the appellate court delivered the verdict on the leadership tussle rocking the party.

Sheriff and former Governor of Kaduna State, Ahmed Makarfi, are both laying claim to the party chairmanship position.

Makarfi was appointed the chairman of the PDP National Caretaker Committee at last years botched national convention of the party held in Port Harcourt.

Meanwhile, the counsel to Sheriffs faction of the PDP, Prince Ajibola Oloyede, has described the appellate court verdict as all round victory for justice and truth.

One can only hope that the PDP will take this as a clean slate to rebuild a party that can stand the test of time, he said.
Justice Baraka Wali of Katsina State High Court, on Friday struck out a suit filed by the Trustees of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) and Stefanos Foundation against the conversion of a girl, Habiba Ishaku, to Islam.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the girl had eloped, converted to Islam and married Jamilu Lawal in Wawarkaza village of Kankara Local Government Area, Katsina State.

Her father, Ishaku Tanko, Stefanos Foundation and the Church, went to the court seeking to annul the decision, saying the girl is a minor.

Respondents in the case were the Katsina State Government, Katsina Emirate Council and the girls husband, Jamilu Lawal.

NAN also reports that the girl had, however, written a letter to the court to disassociate herself from the suit purportedly instituted on her behalf.

She denied being a minor and put her age at 18 as at the time she embraced Islam and got married.

During the Friday proceedings, Justice Wali, struck out the case while ruling on a notification letter of discontinuation of the suit sent to the court by the plaintiffs counsel, Bawa Yakubu.

She said that the letter indicated an amicable settlement of the matter between all the parties involved following the intervention of Gov. Aminu Masari.

An applicant has right to file a case or withdraw it, she said, and ordered the applicants to pay N10,000 cost to Jamilu Lawal, for withdrawing the suit.

The judge, however, turned down the prayer of counsel to Habibas husband, Bako Nasir, which asked the court to issue a proactive order that would prevent police from arresting and intimidating his client in connection with the case.

Source: NAN
Nigerias First Daughter, Zahra Buhari Indimi, has gone on social media to celebrate her mother who has added a year to her age.

Mrs Aisha Buhari, the Wife of Nigerias president, Muhammadu Buhari is celebrating her birthday today.

The woman was born on February 17th, 1971 and is now 46 years old.

Her daughter, Zahra Buhari Indimi, took to her Instagram page to wish her mum a happy Birthday.

She wrote Happy birthday to Nigerias First Lady @aishambuhari but most importantly happy birthday to you mummy, temple of greatness, reservoir of inspiration and a light to everyone that comes next to you.. so kindhearted, wise and special in every way.. May Allah increase you in every way my darling Mother

Lots of love xxxxx

Source: Tori
A 27-year-old university student, Muhammad Garzali, has been killed by unidentified assailants at Kafinhausa town of Kafinhausa Local Government Area of Jigawa.

Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Mr Abdu Jinjiri, an ASP, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that Garzali was murdered alongside a 60-year-old watchman, Ali Dan-Katsina, at a motor park in the area.

Jinjiri said that the former was a student at the Sule lamido University, Kafinhausa, while the latter served as a night watchman at the park.

He said that preliminary investigation showed that the deceased were throttled to death by the assailants.

He added that their corpses were recovered at the park by the people who went there for their routine businesses in the early morning hours of Thursday.

No one can give account on what happened.The attackers killed the victims and carted away a car at the park, the PPRO said, adding that investigation into the case was in progress.

He called on the people to be vigilant and report suspicious persons to the police, to enable them to protect lives and property.

Source: Naijaloaded
Hundreds of women on Thursday trooped to the Kano State Government House to protest against incessant cases of abduction of children in the state.

The protesters mainly married women, grown up girls and some boys marched to the state house chanting: we are tired of kidnapping, leave our children alone, among others.

They were seen carrying placards with inscriptions such as we are tired of stealing our children. government should do something about it, and we want serious action from government.

The protesters were mainly from Hotoro, Kawo, Kawon Mallam and Kawon Maigari in Nasarawa Local Government Area of the state.

Halima Abubakar and Aisha Abubakar who led the protest appealed to authorities concerned to take urgent steps.

Abubakar said as mothers and sisters, we feel disturbed about the situation and hope government will do something urgently about it.

We are calling on Kano State Government and security agents to do something about situation.

The protesters however, were held back at the gate by security officials who told them Governor Abdullahi Ganduje was not around.

But, the protesters later submitted a letter at the gate of the Government House for onward delivery to the governor.
Four persons died while 14 others were severely burnt in multiple kerosene explosions in the last 15 weeks in Akwa Ibom state, Dr Aniekeme Uwa, chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) said.

Uwah made this known on Friday in Uyo when he was speaking at stakeholders sensitisation meeting on kerosene fire incidents organised by the office of the Senior Special Assistant on Petroleum Matters.

The NMA boss said that within 15 weeks from Sept. 22, 2016 to Jan. 7 this year, 18 kerosene explosions occurred in the state.

He said that statistics available at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH) revealed that all the four dead persons were females and five of the injured were males.

Uwah said that kerosene explosions often occurred through adulteration of the genuine products and wrongful use of the product in stoves and lanterns.

He said that the explosions usually led to loss of skin, which according to him, is our major protector against infection.

Skin burn leads to loss of water and causes dehydration and lung infection resulting from inhalation of fume. Let stop this avoidable death, Uwah advised.

He commended Gov. Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom for the support given to the victims of kerosene explosion in the state through purchase of drugs and other consumables.

The Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Petroleum Matters, Obong Essien Esema, said that the meeting was targeted at surface tank dealers and pedlars of kerosene.

Esema told the stakeholders that part of the measures of preventing kerosene explosion caused by adulteration was to get all surface tank dealers and peddlers registered by his office.

He advised the surface tank dealers and peddlers to get affiliated to well known filling stations for the supply of the product.

Henceforth, no more hawking of kerosene, only filling stations and surface tank dealers will sell kerosene in the state.

No surface tank dealer or peddler should buy kerosene from unknown source. If you dont buy from them, they will have no market, Esema said.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has revealed how a suspect, Adeolu Adeyanju, is still defrauding unsuspecting individuals despite being put behind bars.

According to a statement issued and signed by the commissions spokesman, Wilson Uwajeren, the suspect impersonated the Director, Petroleum Products and Marketing Company (PPMC) by cloning his phone number and using same to instruct unsuspecting businessmen to make payment for trucks of petroleum products to Detwinx Global Services Limited.

After payment had been made, the suspect would transfer about 80 percent of the money to a certain bureau de change operator, and kept the rest in his bank account.

Uwajeren, who said that the EFCC was intensifying investigations into the shady activities of the serial fraudster, disclosed that Adeyanjus fraudulent activities from the prison yard came to fore after a complaint by one of his victims.

He said: His (Adeyanjus) fraudulent activities out of the prison yard, came to the fore after a complainant, a friend to a Director at the Petroleum Products and Marketing Company, PPMC, petitioned the EFCC that Adeyanju conned him into paying him N9 million.

His modus operandi was to clone the telephone number of the director, using same to instruct the petitioner to make a payment for 50 trucks of petroleum products to Detwinx Global Services Limited, which he did.

But on the receipt of the money, Adeyanju found a way to get N7.4 million transferred to a bureau de change operator, who converted same to its dollar equivalent, while keeping N1.5 million in his personal account.

The suspect is said to have several aliases with which he uses to defraud people, and at the moment also has cases pending before the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, the Department of State Services, DSS, and the Nigeria Police. He would be arraigned as soon as investigations are concluded.

Source: Naijaloaded
Nigerian newspaper headlines February 17, 2017.

Punch

The Federal Governments $1bn 15-year government bonds started trading on the London Stock Exchange on Thursday.

Guardian

The Borno Police Command said on Friday that a suspected suicide bomber detonated his explosive in the midst of 13 trucks along Maiduguri/ Mafa road leading to mass destruction.

Vanguard

Dozens of boko haram members including innocent civilians were feared dead in a crossfire that ensued between military troops and terrorists, most of whom were suicide bombers who attempted to infiltrate Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.

The Nation

At least two persons died and several others were injured when a luxurious bus plunged into the Majidun River, Ikorodu on Friday morning.

The Sun

The Presidency has revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari will not be received by any special reception when he arrives from London after his medical vacation.

Thisday

The Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Chief Eze Duruiheoma (SAN), has disclosed that religion and ethnicity will be included in the 2018 national census.

Leadership

The managing director of Biodiesel Nigeria Limited, Engr. Hussaini Solomon, has said his company has concluded arrangement to establish a mini-biodiesel refinery in Lokoja, Kogi state worth N5.2 billion.

Premium Times

Some opposition lawmakers on Thursday questioned the non-inclusion of one of them in the National Assembly delegation that recently visited President Muhammadu Buhari.
A young lady has shocked many people with her unbelievably cruel action after recording her own friend being r*ped and showcasing it.

Marina Lonina, a young woman gave people the shock of their lives after she live-streamed a video of a man raping her 17-year-old friend.

Lonina has been jailed for the act.

According to Metro UK, the nineteen-year-old girl was sentenced to nine months in prison, despite facing a 40-year sentence on charges of rape, kidnap and sexual battery.

Lonina pleaded guilty to one count of obstructing justice in a plea deal with prosecutors.

Authorities said she used Periscope to live-stream the teenagers gruesome assault last February.

The crime was reported after friends of the victim saw the broadcast on the video-streaming app and reported it to the police.

In court, the victim, who is now 18, read out an impact statement saying she suffers regular panic attacks since the rape.

She added that at the time, she believed Lonina was her friend, but I was too gullible to see how manipulative she truly is.

Defense attorney Sam Shamansky tells The Columbus Dispatch that Lonina admitted to failing to report the rape or turn over the video evidence afterward.

The rapist, Raymond Gates, 29, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nine years in prison.

The victim claims that Lonina set up the rape, but Shamansky calls that allegation unmitigated nonsense, adding: Streaming it live was wrong on every level, and she knows that.

This was an appropriate resolution to a difficult case.

For legal reasons, the victim cannot be named.
The first meeting of the National Economic Council, NEC, in 2017, which held yesterday at the presidential villa, Abuja, ended on a cheerful note.

Presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, NEC is composed by all the 36 State Governors, the FCT Minister and the Central Bank Governor.

Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, attended the meeting for the last time as his tenure expires in one week.

At the meeting, members commended Mimikos contributions to the Council and commended him for facilitating a smooth transition in Ondo State.

In his response, the out-going Governor praised President Muhammadu Buhari for his leadership of the nation.

He hailed the Vice President as chairman of the Council for his productive leadership and personal compliment and the Council members for an enjoyable relationship and quality of debate.

The high point of the meeting was when Mimiko and the Ondo State Governor-elect, Rotimi Akeredolu, who was in attendance, in observer status hugged each other to the delight of the Council.

This attracted a huge round of applause from Osinbajo, Governors and others in the room.

Source: Dailypost
Police authorities in Akwa Ibom State says they are now on the trail of the kidnappers that abducted a Roman Catholic priest in the state.

The Catholic priest, Rev Father Felix Akpan, was abducted by hoodlums on his way back from work.

According to reports, Father Akpan is in-charge of St. Michael De Archangel Parish at Ikot Etim in Ukanafun local government area and also teaches at Top Faith International School, Mkpatak in Essien Udim LGA

A local resident, who witnessed the incident, said the priest was kidnapped by the gunmen when he was returning from a secondary school where he teaches.

He said the criminals blocked him with their car while on his way back from the school at Mkpatak, Essien Udim Local Government Area of the state and forced him out of his SUV at gunpoint.

A fellow priest discloses that the kidnappers are yet to establish contact with the church on ransom

Source: Leadership
The Association of Waste Managers of Nigeria, (AWAM), have protested to the Lagos State House of Assembly, over the new environmental bill before the Assembly, saying that if their suggestions were not incorporated into the bill, it will jeopardize their business.

With different inscriptions such as Dont kill our business, Protect SME, the leader of the protesters, Mr Olalekan Owojori said that the new investments which the state government needed are in the area of dumpsites and landfills and not collection and transportation.

According to him, Lagos is dirty now because the dump sites and landfills are not enough while the ones available are in a terrible state.

He claimed that the state government was owing PSP Operators over N1b apart from the 60 percent they were entitled to from what was charged. He also noted that operating under such unfriendly atmosphere was killing motivation and business

Owojori disclosed that they returned to the Assembly less than a week after they protested against the passage of the Environmental bill, because they were both nervous and suspicious that the bill would be passed yesterday without recourse to their submissions.

He wondered why the Assembly was moving at a very fast pace in the passage of the bill, noting that under three days the bill passed through first and second reading and a public hearing was held afterwards.

Owojori explained that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode met them once and it was not to hear their own side of the issue but to inform them of his new plans. He said rather then listen to them, the Governor asked them to talk to the Commissioner for Environment.

Source: Vanguard
A young man who has been forging documents and duping innocent people of their hard earned money has landed in serious trouble with the EFCC.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Thursday, February 16, 2017, arraigned one Adetoro Fisayo Femi (a.k.a Bawa Mohammed Sanni) before Justice F. A. Odubanjo of the Federal High Court of Ondo State sitting in Akure, on a 6-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence, conspiracy, forgery, altering of forged documents, retaining the proceed of crime and money laundering.

Adetoro however, pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against him.

In view of his plea, prosecution counsel, Oluwatoyin Owodunni prayed the court for a trial date and for the remand of the defendant in prison custody. However, counsel to the defendant, A.O. Oyibanji informed the court of a pending application for bail served on the prosecution today.

Justice Odubanjo adjourned the case till February 22, 2017 for hearing of bail application and April 12, 2017 for trial while the defendant is to be remanded in prison custody pending the determination of the application for bail.

One of the charge reads: That you, Adetoro Fisayo Femi (a.k.a Bawa Mohammed Sanni) and Olawale Ayeni (at large) on or about the 29th day of July, 2016 at Akure within the Akure Judicial Division of this honourable court did transfer and remove from your Wema Bank account to the bank account of one Ibironke Adebayo the sum of Four Hundred and Sixty Nine Thousand Four Hundred Naira (N469, 400) only, which money is part of he sum of Nine Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (950,000) only you obtained from Straight Hold Global Services Limited and with the aim of concealing and retaining the proceeds of crime and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 17(1) (a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibuited) Act No 11, of 2011 (as Amended by the Money Laundering (Prohibion) Act, 2012) and punishable under section 17(1)(b) of the same Act.

Adetoros journey to the dock followed a petition to the EFCC alleging that the defendant and his accomplice, Olawale who is now at large, used the internet for fraudulent activities with which they fleeced unsuspecting victims of their money. Adetoro and his accomplice conspired and forged fake drivers license titled Nigeria National Drivers License NO.RBS691520AB in the name of Bawa Mohammed Sanni but bearing Adetoros passport photograph purporting it to have been issued by the Federal Road Safety Commission.

The defendant thereafter altered the said forged document to one Ayodele Mary, a staff of one of the new generation banks (name withheld) with the intent that it may be acted upon as genuine in facilitating his operations and maintaining an account with the said bank.

He further laundered N496,400.00 using one Ibironke Adebayo account and subsequently purchased a second hand engine for Amanda Jeep with the help of Olawale.
The Secretary, Local Government/Local Government Education Authority Pensioners in Kwara State, Mr. Saidu Oladimeji, on Thursday, said members of the association have embarked on a fast over unpaid N50bn pension arrears.

He also said no fewer than 1,126 of their members had died since 2014.

He stated that 1,006 members died between 2014 and August 2016 while 120 died between August 2016 and February 2017.

Oladimeji spoke during a media briefing by the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Kwara State chapter in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

The Chairman, Experienced LG Pensioners, Kwara State, Alhaji Sulu Umar, said the members died not because of old age, natural causes or carelessness but as a result of the hardship they encountered because of their owed pension arrears.

He stated that many of the dead could not pay their medical bills or cater for their daily needs, adding that many of them did not have people capable of sustaining them.

He accused the state government of being responsible for their ordeals.

But the Senior Special Assistant to the Kwara State Governor on Media and Communication, Dr. Muyideen Akorede, said the governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, was concerned with the plight of the pensioners.

He sympathised with the bereaved, saying the death of the pensioners was sad.

He, however, said the state government should not be held responsible for the death of the pensioners.

Akorede said, It is unfortunate that the retired pensioners have passed away. On behalf of His Excellency, I commiserate with those affected by these unfortunate deaths. But once again, the non-payment of their gratuities and pension is due to the inability of the LG councils in the state to pay them.

The pensioners are also aware of this problem. It is unfortunate that people have died, and that this problem has happened; the state government had come to the assistance of the LGs to augment their salaries to meet up and pay their workers and pensioners.

The state government is not responsible for the payment of gratuities and pensions to the LG pensioners. The pensioners are aware of this. They sit in the monthly Joint Accounts and Allocation Committee meeting where monies are appropriated and released.

While the state government empathises with those pensioners that have passed away, the state government does not accept responsibility for it because it is not responsible for the payment of gratuities and pensions to the LG pensioners and workers.

Source: Naijaloaded
Fulani herdsmen have offered to assist the federal government in the protection of its oil facilities in the Niger Delta region which has come under heavy attacks by militants in recent times.

The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, MACBAN, North West zone has offered to assist the Federal Government in the protection of refineries and pipelines, DailyPost reports.

The zonal youth leader of MACBAN, Comrade Yusuf Usman gave the call when he led members of the group to pay management of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company, KRPC, a courtesy visit.

MACBAN explained that it decided to offer assistance in the protection of pipelines because vandalised oil installations in time past had led to the death of some of its cattle.

Usman disclosed that Fulani herdsmen were peaceful people who have lived peacefully with their neighbours.

According to Usman, A couple of years ago, some of our cattle drank poisonous water, contaminated by pollution due to emission from vandalized or burst pipelines containing petroleum products and we are living witnesses to the negative consequences of sabotaging or vandalizing KRPC facilities.

The Fulani herdsmen in this part of the country have all these years been one of the neighbours of the KRPC. Our neighbourliness has been very cordial, mutual and peaceful..
If you thought the backlash on immigration was powerful, wait until you see the reaction to H-1B reform.

The H-1B visa was originally designed to give companiesespecially tech companiesa way to hire highly skilled foreign workers. Each year, 65,000 H-1Bs are issued, and U.S. companies strongly favor raising that cap. According to a Harris Poll, 75 percent of employers surveyed late last year said increasing the cap for H-1Bs is very or extremely important for the United States. Fifty-five percent of those companies said they plan to hire foreign workers in 2017.

The continued ability of employers to acquire and develop global talent is vital and plays a crucial role in helping our country remain competitive in todays economy, said Dick Burke, president and CEO of immigration law firm Envoy.

Some argue the H-1B cap needs to be raised because there is a shortage of American workers qualified to fill STEM jobs. GoDaddy CEO Blake Irving this month issued a strongly worded warning against clamping down on H-1B genius visas when there is so much technical illiteracy in the U.S. In his blog, Irving quotes theoretical physicist Michio Kaku, who said, If you remove the H-1B visa, you collapse the [U.S.] economy. There are no Americans to take these jobs. These visas arent taking away jobs, they are creating industries.

The myth of a STEM crisis

However, there is strong pushback against this notion of a shortage. The Bureau for Labor Statistics says the United States graduates well over 100,000 STEM students annually. And wages for U.S. workers in computer and math fields have largely stagnated since 2000, as STEM workers struggle to find employment and many companies, including IBM and Symantec, lay off thousands of STEM workers.

If there was really a STEM labor market crisis, youd be seeing very different behaviors from companies, says Ronil Hira, an associate professor of public policy at Howard University who has testified before Congress on this issue. You wouldnt see companies cutting their retirement contributions, or hiring new workers and giving them worse benefits packages. Instead, you would see signing bonuses, youd see wage increases. You would see these companies really training their incumbent workers. None of those things are observable, Hira says. In fact, theyre operating in the opposite way.

American workers first

President Trump recently waded into the melee. While details remain sketchy, a leaked draft executive order vows to overhaul the program. The proposal reads in part:

Our countrys immigration policies should be designed and implemented to serve, first and foremost, the U.S. national interest. Visa programs for foreign workers  should be administered in a manner that protects the civil rights of American workers and current lawful residents, and that prioritizes the protection of American workersour forgotten working peopleand the jobs they hold.

Many will applaud that goal. Critics of H-1B visas, like the IEEE, argue the program has evolved into a pipeline for a few big companies to hire cheap labor. Tech giants like Amazon, Apple, Google, Intel, and Microsoft are among the top 20 H-1B employers, but Indian outsourcing firms Tata, Infosys, Wipro, and Cognizant receive the vast majority of H-1B visas issued. The U.S. Customs and Immigration Service says Indian nationals accounted for 70.9 percent of all H1-B visa beneficiaries in 2015.

Hira points out that the median wage for H-1B workers at outsourcing firms was less than $70,000, while Apple, Google, and Microsoft paid their H-1B employees more than $100,000. That suggests those companies are genuinely going after highly skilled employees, while outsourcers are recruiting less expensive talent, he said.

However, while Indian companies take the brunt of the blame for bringing in foreign tech workers, the majority of all Fortune 500 companies use these outsourcing firms on work projects and are direct beneficiaries of the H-1B visa system, points out Forbes. Companies like Disney, FedEx, and Southern California Edison contract with these outsourcers, and all too often, their American workers end up training H-1B visa-holding replacements who work for below-market wages.

One InfoWorld reader, who wished to remain anonymous to protect his job, referred to the H-1B carnage among American IT workers in the Midwest. Everyone thinks I am crazy for staying in technology, he wrote. Tons of American IT worker parents, displaced by cheaper foreign visa workers, advise their kids to avoid programming and technology as a career. They are happy to see the changes from the new POTUS.

A call to action

Congress has circled around the issue of H-1B visas for years, but last month a number of bills were introduced that seek to address its various problems. The IEEE supports four concrete strategies to improve the program:

1. Raise wages. U.S. companies hire H-1B workers for a simple reason: Theyre cheaper than American workers. Hira says raising the H-1B wage floor is the reform most needed to fight wage depression and keep the job market competitive. A bill introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) requires H-1B visa holders to be paid at least $100,000.

2. Abolish the lottery. Under the current lottery system, employers like Tata, Wipro, Infosys, and Cognizant apply for thousands of visas, knowing a large portion will be approved. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) has introduced a bill that seeks to award visas based on highest offered salary. But Hira warns that a wage-based system needs to take job categories and locations into account, otherwise it would skew toward high-cost areas like Silicon Valley and New York, and toward high-wage occupations at the expense of others.

A bill introduced by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)which Hira calls the best reform bill in Congress right nownot only redefines H-1B wages, it prioritizes foreign students who have earned an advanced degree in the United States and have preferred skills.

3. Stop replacing U.S. workers. The Grassley bill requires employers who seek H-1Bs to make a good faith effort to recruit American workerswhich companies are not currently required to do. The effectiveness of this reform will depend on how the rules are enforced. Employers seeking green cards must currently meet this requirement, which sometimes prompts sponsoring employers to post fake job ads with very specific requirements that all but assure that the foreign worker is the person who is ultimately hired, says Computerworlds Patrick Thibodeau.

Issas bill makes it more complicated to hire H-1B workers, but critics have called the bill worthless; to really make an impact, the bill should make it illegal for companies to replace American workers with H-1Bs, Hira says.

4. Make immigration easier. This could prove a harder change to implement, given current anti-immigrant sentiments. But Lofgrens bill, as well as one introduced by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), seeks to ease the long backlog of green card applicants who are in the United States on an H-1B. While facing the often lengthy waits for permanent residency, these visa holders cannot switch jobs. People on these visas cannot create companies and create more jobs, says Vivek Wadhwa, distinguished fellow and professor at Carnegie Mellon University Engineering at Silicon Valley. One approach could be to fast-track green cards for those creating jobs.

In a far-reaching policy letter dated Nov. 14, 2016, a lobbying group with Twitter, Netflix, Facebook, and Google as members, urged President-elect Donald Trump to increase the number of H-1Bs and expand and improve the STEM green card system. As Thibodeau says, The tech firms may well support some [of the proposed] changes that favor them, and ... throw the Indian IT firms under the bus on this issue.

Update: Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), considered the Senates leading proponent for increasing the H-1B visa cap, is updating his 2015 I-Squared billlegislation that was so awful, said the IEEE, that it would help destroy the U.S. tech workforce.
Evansville, Indiana  Henager Family Museum, Inc d/b/a National Veterans Memorial of Buckskin, Indiana filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of Indiana alleging trademark infringement.

Plaintiff operates a military memorial in Indiana under the trademark NATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,420,974. That trademark was filed in connection with promoting public awareness of the need for reconciliation and recognition by all veterans and was issued on April 29, 2008 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

In this Indiana litigation, Henager states that Columbus Downtown Development Corp. (CDDC) of Columbus, Ohio is currently developing a museum, scheduled to open in 2018, to be operated under the name NATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL & MUSEUM. Henager states that CDDCs use of this name in a state adjoining Indiana, and in conjunction with the offering of the same type of services, is likely to cause confusion or deceive consumers. It also contends that CDDCs use of the purportedly similar name has resulted in CDDC being unjustly enriched at Henagers expense.

The lawsuit, brought by an Indiana trademark attorney, lists claims of trademark infringement, unfair competition and false designation of origin brought under federal law. Plaintiff also states that Defendants conduct violates the law of the State of Indiana but lists no separate counts under Indiana law.

Plaintiff is seeking damages, including treble damages, as well as injunctive relief, costs and attorneys fees.

The case was assigned to District Judge Richard L. Young and Magistrate Judge Matthew P. Brookman in the Southern District and assigned Case 3:17-cv-00028-RLY-MPB.

Complaint
U.S. ECONOMY IS IN TROUBLE Alpine Trading - Sat Nov 5, 4:35PM CDT Never Mind the nonsense, here is the RISK-OFF trade of the YEAR!

Power blackouts hit Ukraine amid heavy Russian shelling AP - Sat Nov 5, 3:57PM CDT Ukraines state electricity operator has announced regular scheduled blackouts in Kyiv and seven other regions of the country in the aftermath of Russias devastating strikes on energy infrastructure... $SPX : 3,770.55 (+1.36%) $DOWI : 32,403.22 (+1.26%) $IUXX : 10,857.03 (+1.56%)

November Rain Sidwell Strategies - Sat Nov 5, 2:31PM CDT US elections Tuesday; USDA reports Wednesday

Climate activists block private jets at Amsterdam airport AP - Sat Nov 5, 7:48AM CDT Hundreds of climate protesters have blocked private jets from leaving Amsterdams Schiphol Airport in a demonstration on the eve of the COP27 United Nations climate meeting in Egypt $SPX : 3,770.55 (+1.36%) $DOWI : 32,403.22 (+1.26%) $IUXX : 10,857.03 (+1.56%)
Update 4/19/17  A Cook County judge denied the injunction motion from Northwest Side Unite to stop the zoning change to the self-storage development site on Northwest Highway. Though the April 13 judgment improves the status of the LSC Development project, the groups lawsuit seeking to halt construction entirely is scheduled to be heard in Cook County Circuit Court on May 16, according to the source.

In denying the injunctive relief, the judge said the community group had presented no facts indicating that an emergency exists or irreparable harm will result if an injunction is not issued by the court at this time, the source reported.

4/10/17  A lawsuit challenging the citys settlement agreement with LSC Development could further jeopardize the developer moving forward with its self-storage project on Northwest Highway. The lawsuit was filed on April 6 in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of several homeowners, a business and Northwest Side Unite, a community organization that opposes the project. It seeks to invalidate the earlier settlement agreement and asks for an injunction to prevent the city from taking further action on rezoning the site, according to the source.

A hearing on the plaintiffs request to stop the zoning-approval process is scheduled for April 13, though its unclear if the lawsuit will cause further delay on the zoning vote. The city council zoning committee is scheduled to meet on April 12, but a hearing on the proposal hasnt been posted to the agenda, the source reported.

The lawsuit claims the settlement agreement was an attempt by the city to skirt the normal zoning-approval process by requiring support from Arena and Scudiero before the community was properly notified of the project. They basically bargained away the neighborhoods rights, Peter Stasiewicz, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, told the source.

Arena held a community meeting to discuss the project two weeks after he signed the settlement in January and didnt mention the agreement at the Feb. 9 meeting, the source reported.

Northwest Side Unite has collected more than 4,500 signatures opposing the joint project, and at least 80 percent of homeowners within 250 feet of the building site have reportedly signed affidavits opposing the plan. Many residents oppose the scale of the apartment building and self-storage facility.

Based on the settlement agreement, LSC Development could be owed compensation if the rezoning doesnt go through. It would have up to a year to reinstate its original lawsuit, which claimed the company was in jeopardy of defaulting on a $6.4 million loan for the project due to downsizing its original plan and subsequent delays, according to the source. The company spent about $3.5 million acquiring the property and on the interior demolition work to the existing building.

3/28/17  The LSC Development self-storage project hit another snag on Monday when the zoning committee failed to vote at the end of a seven-hour meeting in which dozens of residents voiced opposition to the plan. Though the meeting was supposed to focus on the self-storage portion of the overall project, several residents raised concerns about the apartment complex that will eventually be built at the site.

After several hours of discussion, alderman Edward Burke asked for a roll call to see if there were enough committee members still present for a valid vote. When the number was short, the meeting was adjourned, according to the source.

Arena indicated he was caught off guard by Burkes roll-call request and vowed to bring the project back in front of the committee next month. Arena also said Burke had expressed concern earlier on Monday that there was a procedural problem with the lawsuit settlement that requires Arena to support the construction plan. "This is a minor delay," he told the source. "We have a good project. We're going to make sure we've dotted all the Is and crossed all the Ts."

During the meeting, dozens of residents said the project would be a blight to Jefferson Parks small-town feel, the source reported. Though the public was specifically asked to refrain from discussing the proposed apartment complex, many brought it up when addressing the committee. Since the residential plan was first announced, residents have voiced concerns that the inclusion of low-rent tenants could increase crime in the neighborhood.

Full Circle Communities has proposed the mixed-income complex.

3/22/17  The Chicago Plan Commission unanimously approved the rezoning of a 1.54-acre parcel on Northwest Highway to allow LSC Development to move forward with its multi-story self-storage facility. Under the lawsuit settlement, Arena and zoning administrator Patricia Scudiero agreed to support the zoning change to enable the storage project and eventually a residential development, according to the source. Construction on the storage facility is expected to begin this spring.

The plan for the site remains controversial, with about 100 people registering to speak against the project during the March 16 meeting. A petition with 3,000 signatures in opposition was also presented to the commission. About 25 people registered to speak in favor of the plan, including representatives from the Jefferson Park Neighborhood Association and several community groups, the source reported.

Some residents said a 70-foot-tall self-storage structure wouldnt fit in with the surrounding community, while others claimed there are too many storage facilities operating in the area. Some also believe changing the zoning to a dense community-shopping district sets a bad precedent for future development, according to the source.

Arena told the commission the project was in line with recently rewritten city code to encourage development near transit centers. The property is near the Jefferson Park Transit Center, which will receive a $25 million renovation in the next five years, the source reported.

The residential component to the overall plan wasnt included in the commission vote. The development ordinance will be worded to prohibit any construction on the south end of the property and will have to be amended to allow the housing project, city officials said during the meeting. Such an amendment will require another round of public hearings.

2/16/17  LSC Development LLC appears poised to move forward with building a self-storage facility in Chicago after settling a lawsuit it filed against the city. The suit was filed after the city cancelled LSCs construction permit just one day after issue. LSC intends to build a five-story facility at 5150 N. Northwest Highway, where a seven-story mixed-use development is also planned, according to the source.

LSC filed suit against the city last April after buildings commissioner Judy Frydland voided its construction permit at the urging of alderman John Arena. Though LSC obtained the permit in accordance with the propertys M1-1 zoning, Arena later had it changed to B1-1, which doesnt allow self-storage, the source reported.

Under the developers original plans, the self-storage facility would have been converted from a former Archdiocese of Chicago food-processing plant and taken up the entire building site. Arena reportedly wanted to halt the project because it didnt include any residential component, according to the source.

Though details of the agreement havent been released, LSC is now expected to build the storage facility on the northern half of the parcel and later sell the southern half to a residential developer, the source reported. Last month, LSC filed a zoning application to allow for self-storage and an unspecified residential development. The new plan calls for a 100-unit apartment complex. The old food-processing plant will be demolished.

The new mixed-use plan for the site is expected to generate much higher tax revenue for the city, according to Arena. The agreement will increase the property-tax revenue for the space from a projected $135,000 a year from adapted reuse [of the existing building] to an estimated half a million annually from the combined storage, retail and residential. More than half will go to our schools, he told the source. We are pleased with this outcome, which is a much better deal for the taxpayers and local residents than what was initially proposed.

In its lawsuit, LSC indicated it was blindsided by the zoning change and alleged it was never notified by the city before officials filed the rezoning ordinance. LSC challenged the voiding of its construction permit and sought damages.

Cook County, Ill., Circuit Court Judge Sophia Hall dismissed the lawsuit earlier this month after the city and developer settled out of court. LSC will have up to one year to reinstate the case if theres a violation to the agreement, the source reported.

Based in Barrington, Ill., LSC specializes in industrial parks, office complexes and self-storage facilities. It also owns and leases nearly 700,000 square feet of industrial and office space in Aurora, Barrington, Chicago, Elgin, Harwood Heights and Libertyville, Ill., according to the company website.
Commercial real estate firm Wentworth Storage Co. LLC (WSC) has purchased land in Phoenix for $770,000 on which it plans to build a self-storage facility. The 1.6-acre property is near the northwest corner of 19th and W. Glendale Avenues. Construction on the 100,000-square-foot, climate-controlled facility will begin this year, with an expected completion in early 2018 , . The project will be built under Glendale Avenue Self Storage LLC, according to the source.

The site, purchased from NRDP AZ III LLC, is one mile from Interstate 17 and across the street from an existing WSC-owned property, the source reported. Company officials indicated there will be a synergy between the two sites. This property offered us an opportunity to acquire a great infill site, said Dave King, WSCs vice president of self-storage.

WSC is seeking additional acquisition and development opportunities, according to the source. The company closed on more than $160 million in self-storage projects in the last year. Its already evaluating or under contract on another 1 million square feet of self-storage nationwide.

Based in Phoenix, WSC was founded more than 40 years ago. The company has been involved in more than 7 million square feet of development and acquisition transactions, and has a current portfolio of 1.3 million net rentable square feet.
Andrew Hall, an oracle of oil prices, is known to fellow traders as, simply, God. But even the Almighty is having problems with Instagrams decency rules.

Halls trading isnt getting him into trouble. Its his art. Hall, made famous by his $100 million payday in 2008 as head of Citis Phibro, now runs his own hedge fund, Astenbeck Capital Management. If his social media presence is any indication, being freed from bailed-out bank life has allowed Hall to explore a passion for art. His world-class-and-growing collection resides partly at a farm in Vermont, in a castle in Germany, and on loan in various museums  as well as captured on Halls vibrant Instagram feed.

@Andyhall16s sensibilities run to the provocative or profane, depending on your level of acceptance. Example: A January 2 post featured images of first ladies Martha Washington, Jackie Kennedy, and Michelle Obama, and thenFirst Ladyelect Melania Trump. Only the first three wore clothes. That Mrs. Trumps bare image remains available to his nearly 2,500 followers is likely due to her hand covering her private parts, and her pixelated nipples.

Such discretion was new for Hall. Throughout the summer and fall, pieces of art populated the feed that would test most mothers. Tony Matellis Sleepwalker  depicting a topless female somnambulist  made an appearance on August 25. On October 21, Robert Overbys UT Daylillies featured the bare rear end of a young woman. Following the election, he produced a flurry of Nazi-referencing images. Among them was Jorg Immendorffs Folgen, portraying an ornate, burning swastika, with the comment, Joerg told me just before he passed away that the smoldering embers of societys fascistic tendencies were waiting to be fanned by the next fanatic. A few days later a 1949 untitled work by Francis Picabia appeared. I think we loaned this little drawing to the show that is opening at MOMA, Hall commented. It depicted oral sex.

On December 8, Hall finally ran afoul of Instagrams sensibilities, if not a strict interpretation of its rules. According to the companys community guidelines, there are times when people might want to share nude images, but we dont allow nudity on Instagram. This includes photos, videos, and some digitally-created content that show sexual intercourse, genitals, and close-ups of fully-nude buttocks. Yet, confusingly, the guidelines also state that nudity in photos of paintings and sculptures is OK.

Either way, on the 8th of December, Hall posted a painting by contemporary artist John Currin, whose work often sells for north of $1 million. If the piece was true to form, it traffick[ed] in lowdown humor, heartless kitsch, and ironic smut, as the New York Times thenart critic Michael Kimmelman wrote in 2003. Not that Halls followers had much of a chance to critique: Company censors swooped down and removed the photograph of a painting of, very likely, ironic smut.

Hall was furious. So IG couldnt handle John Currin, he wrote in a comment. Whoever feels compelled to report my posts please stop following and go live your miserable life without inflicting your pathetic moralistic values on me.

Like the gutsiest of traders, Hall doubled down. The following day he all but challenged Instagram to do the same thing. Posting the explicit LOrigine du monde by Gustave Courbet, he added a comment: OK, lets see how long this lasts [sic]. It passed the month mark in early January.

The fight with Instagram censors has perhaps pleasantly diverted Hall from a legal one that made page one of the New York Times in October. According to court documents, Hall accused a mother and son of selling him $675,000 of forged art. The duo disappeared, however, leaving Hall and the 24 dubious pieces.

Yet no art feud would shake up Andrew Hall, oil god. In August, with crude selling around $40 per barrel, Hall declared in a client letter that prices were poised for a violent reversal, Bloomberg reported.

@Andyhall16 once again proved his impeccable eye. By the years end oil was up more than 30 percent.
Willis Towers Watson has announced that they have signed a definitive agreement to acquire Russell Investments actuarial practice.The stand-alone actuarial business will see 22 staff and over 50 clients, spanning the corporate, Government, master trust and industry fund sectors, transfer to the global brokerage.With a history stretching back over 30 years, the actuarial acquisition will strengthen the retirement team of the company, Andrew Boal , regional head of Australasia for Willis towers Watson said.The combination of our teams will strengthen our value proposition for all our clients, by providing a wider and deeper range of expertise and service that covers both traditional and new retirement and analytic solutions, Boal said.Brad Jeffrey, head of Willis Towers Watsons retirement business in Australasia, said that the business is confident that the acquisition will be seamless as the two teams integrate over the coming months.The actuarial firm provides services to large and complex clients both in Australia and New Zealand and Pete Gunning, CEO for Russel Investments business in the Asia Pacific region, said that the deal will allow the actuarial business to continue its growth.The agreement also ensures this specialist practice will continue to grow under its new ownership and associates in the practice will continue to be provided with strong career opportunities, Gunning said.Terms of the transaction were not disclosed and the acquisition is expected to close in March 2017.
The life insurance payout as motive for murder is sadly a storyline thats all too familiar, in real life and not just in Hollywood.And the case of American man Jeff Lytle who wanted his wife out of the picture to secure a $1.5 million insurance windfall was no different in that respect.However, even an amateur can tell you that a key part of any successful murder plot is attention to detail - so accidentally sending a text asking for help in killing your wife and four-year-old daughter to your ex-boss instead of the hitman you hired would be a sure fire way to make those plans go awry.According to prosecutors, Lytle, 42, had intended to text a man named Shayne who hed hired to kill his wife Rhoda Mee Funtanilla Lytle and the four-year-old daughter they had together.Instead, the text message about the sinister plan was sent to his ex-boss, who brought the message to the police in Monroe, Washington, who arrested Lytle last week.The text allegedly said: Hey Shayne hows it going. You remember you said that you would help me kill my wife. Im going to take you up on that offer, thereported KIRO 7 as saying.Lytle then allegedly promised to split the money 50/50 with Shayne and told the man the time his wife usually returned from home from her job at Wal-Mart, the documents suggested.He allegedly planned for their deaths to be staged as an accident, or a robbery gone wrong.When interviewed by police, Lytle initially said that his four-year-old daughter might have sent the messages.But then he claimed he was only sending them to vent, and did not intend to actually go through with the murderous plot.Lytle has since been booked into Snohomish County jail and is being held under investigation for two counts of criminal solicitation of first-degree murder, thereported.
An agricultural leader has called on one state government to support multi-peril crop insurance (MPCI) policies to help the sector develop.With the Western Australia state election less than a month away, WAFarmers president Tony York has called on the Government to support MPCI to help farmers have confidence in their businesses.For policies to become cheaper, the market needs to be stimulated so the underwriters can spread the risk across a larger number of policies, York said.By fostering the uptake of the policies across the agricultural region, it reduces the reliance on concessional loans and leaves public funds available for better use, creating another revenue stream for the state by having it collect duties from a larger number of MPCI policies once the three-year concession period has concluded.York called for rebates for a three-year period and more long-term support from the State government to help develop the insurance market.Currently, there are only a handful of active MPCI policies in Western Australia, which York noted net the Government a limited amount of tax.With further Government support, he believes farmers would be able to steel themselves against risk, which has a knock on effect for entire communities throughout the state.Grain exports from the state generate more than $4 billion a year for the economy and York believes that with agricultural businesses remaining vulnerable, it is time for the Government to boost the take-up of MPCI.
It's critical to help clients make the most of the plans they have
Pennsylvanias State Workers Insurance Fund (SWIF) is asking state legislature to give it more teeth in dealing with insurers who do not fulfil their obligations with the agency.SWIF was designed to allow small businesses to provide their employees with workers insurance, which state law requires.Under the current system, insurers are charged based on their payroll estimates, which can be underestimated so employers can get lower premiums. Interim director Andy Thomas said it is easy for companies owing SWIF back debt to simply walk away from the obligation.They have the ability to apply for a new federal employee insurance number, they maybe change the name of the company, they apply to SWIF for another premiumwe are then required to write them another policy, he said in a News Works report.Thomas did not provide specific recommendations as to how the agency can deal with rogue employers, but he said SWIF needs more teeth in requiring insurers to address the debt they have with the state.
XS Brokers Insurance Agency Inc., a Northeast wholesale and managing general agent (MGA) brokerage headquartered in Quincy, Mass., has announced the opening of a new office in Worcester, Mass.

The firm now has four East Coast offices, including locations in Quincy, Mass.; West Hartford, Conn.; and Philadelphia, Penn. This is XS Brokers second office expansion in the past six months.

The new Worcester location will allow XS Brokers to meet the increasing demand for its services to its clients in central New England. Managed by Assistant Vice President Sean Power, the new office will provide space to accommodate the growth of employees and business in this territory.

There is a tremendous amount of growth opportunity in this region, said CEO Adam Devine in a company press release. We look forward to servicing our existing retail agency clients, as well as new ones in this region. We have already made a few key hires for this office and look to attract further professional talent to our organization.

Going forward, it is the companys plan to hire up to 10 employees at this newest office location.

Source: XS Brokers Insurance Agency Inc.

Topics Agencies Massachusetts
Zurich Insurance has created a new structure for its Commercial Insurance business in Asia Pacific (APAC), following the combination of its Global Corporate and Commercial units into a single division.

This simplified structure provides a single point of entry for commercial customers as they look to Zurich for an increasingly diverse range of products, said the company in a statement.

The new Commercial Insurance business in APAC is headed by Chris Waterman, who joined Zurich as chief underwriting officer, Commercial, for the region in 2016. Waterman reports to Jack Howell, chief executive officer of Zurich in APAC, and Jim Shea, chief executive officer of Zurichs Commercial Insurance business globally.

The shift towards an increased product and underwriting focus sees the creation of three defined leaders for Casualty, Specialty and Property lines in the region, who each will be responsible for driving results in partnership with the country heads of Commercial:

Penny Seach joined Zurich on Feb. 6 as head of Casualty, APAC, from AIG where she was most recently the regional head of Casualty and Crisis Management.

Alex Morgan, currently chief underwriting officer, Commercial, Japan, will take on the role of head of Specialty, APAC, effective April 3 and relocate to Singapore.

Chris Waterman also takes on the role of head of Property, APAC.

Each of these new positions will be supported by a deputy. Geoff Gillmore will continue to support Property as deputy head; Echo Chen will continue to support Casualty as deputy head but will relocate to Singapore; and Tim Warren, currently head of Credit and Political Risk, APAC, is appointed deputy head of Specialty.

In Singapore, Reg Peacock, currently head of Commercial, Japan, will be appointed as CEO of Zurichs business in Singapore, subject to regulatory approval. Peacock will continue to lead Commercial, Japan until his appointment as Singapore CEO receives regulatory approval. When this approval is granted, Kazuhisa Otani, currently vice president, Distribution, for Commercial, Japan, will assume leadership of the Commercial, Japan team, subject to the necessary approvals.

This simpler structure provides our customers with a streamlined, tailored offering and brings the clarity of focus needed to target Zurichs global resources at the most important opportunities in Asia Pacific, commented Howell.

We are changing our go-to-market approach so we can provide customers and brokers with one single channel to access the tailored insurance and protection solutions they are looking for, said Waterman. With this new structure, we are also empowering each country with the authority and agility they need to make even faster decisions in response to their customer conversations.

Source: Zurich Insurance

Topics Commercial Lines Business Insurance
Insurance broker Lockton has named Amanda Ruback to the newly created position of senior vice president and major client strategist in the firms Chicago operation. In her new role, Ruback assists in strategy development and solutions for the needs and challenges of Fortune 1000 clients.

Prior to becoming a major account strategist, Ruback served as an account executive where she was the main point of contact for food and beverage manufacturers and distributors, retail and real estate portfolios, universities and colleges, and global manufacturers.

Prior to joining Lockton, Ruback worked with PepsiCo Inc., as part of the companys risk management team. She assisted in overseeing a $7.8 billion acquisition and drove captive insurance strategy for the company. Her experience as a corporate risk manager, a broker and advisor affords her the ability to understand clients internal priorities, constituencies and pressures.

Ruback holds the ARM, AU and AIS insurance designations.

Source: Lockton
USI Insurance Services (USI) has added Tammi Barker, Bridget Day and Dave Petno in the USI Independence, Ohio, office.

Barker, who joins the firm as account manager, has more than 17 years of insurance experience, including 11 years focused on employee benefits. Prior to USI, Barker was with Accelerated Benefits.

Day, who also joins as account executive, has 11 years of employee benefits experience, which includes four years with Cleveland-based insurance brokerage firm, Britton Gallagher, and seven years in human resources with the cities of Dublin and Solon, Ohio.

Petno, a consultant, holds a masters degree in health administration from The Ohio State University and was an employee benefits consultant for Accelerated Benefits for over 15 years. Previously, he held executive positions with Health Raise Alliance and Vantage Health.

USI is headquartered in Valhalla, New York.

Source: USI

Topics Ohio
The Main Street America Group, a super-regional property/casualty insurance company, has announced the appointment of Anne Bastian to national account executive, a newly established role within the companys field operations division.

In this capacity, Bastian, who has served as a Main Street America field marketing representative since 2008, will be the primary marketing contact for the carriers largest multi-region accounts and also spearhead national account business development and agent sales incentive programs.

Bastian is based at the companys corporate headquarters in Jacksonville, Fla., and reports to Jeff Kusch, Main Street Americas executive vice president, insurance operations.

Anne has played a key role in the sustained success of our Northeast Region during her tenure serving our Downstate New York independent agent-customers and we are very pleased to have her join our home office team, Kusch said. In her new role, Anne will be responsible for driving profitable growth with her customers and ensure these independent agencies meet their Main Street America production plans.

Bastian has nearly 25 years of property/casualty industry experience. Prior to joining Main Street America in 2006 as a senior commercial lines underwriter, she was a licensed independent insurance agent in Wappingers Falls, N.Y.

Bastian earned her bachelors degree in business administration from the College of the Saint Rose, Albany, N.Y, and holds a property/casualty license, as well as a life and health insurance license, in New York State.

The Main Street America Group is a mutual insurance holding company which writes business through its nine property/casualty insurance carriers: NGM Insurance Company, Old Dominion Insurance Company, Austin Mutual Insurance Company, Grain Dealers Mutual Insurance Company, Main Street America Assurance Company, Great Lakes Casualty Insurance Company, MSA Insurance Company, Main Street America Protection Insurance Company and Spring Valley Mutual Insurance Company.

Based in Jacksonville, Fla., Main Street America offers a range of commercial and personal insurance, as well as fidelity and surety bond products, to individuals, families and businesses throughout the United States.

Topics Carriers Florida Property Casualty Casualty
A southern West Virginia town has joined other communities in seeking to recoup the costs of dealing with opioid abuse.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the McDowell County town of Welch filed a lawsuit Monday against several out-of-state drug distributors.

The lawsuit claims the companies delivered huge amounts of prescription pain pills that created a public nuisance in the town of 2,200. Welch is the county seat of McDowell County, which has the highest drug overdose death rate in the nation.

The McDowell County Commission sued drug distributors in December. Similar lawsuits have been filed by the cities of Huntington and Kermit.

An investigation by the Charleston Gazette-Mail found drug wholesalers shipped 780 million hydrocodone and oxycodone pills to West Virginia in six years.

Welch alleges that the drug wholesalers didnt do enough to stop prescription painkillers from getting into the wrong hands.

The (companies) received compensation in the form of millions of dollars per year for shipping volumes of drugs well beyond what a reasonable company would expect, Welchs lawyers wrote.

Welch has had to pay for more emergency services and drug treatment programs in addition to dealing with an increase in litter, crime, housing code violations and clogged water and sewer lines, according to the lawsuit.

The newspaper reports that drug companies have denied wrongdoing, saying the drugs were shipped to licensed pharmacies, which were filling prescriptions from doctors.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Virginia Drugs
Supervisors have ordered inspections of all Los Angeles County dams in the wake of flooding concerns at Northern Californias Oroville Dam.

The Los Angeles Times wrote that supervisors unanimously approved the order Tuesday.

The Department of Public Works has 30 days to report on the condition of dams, spillways and debris basins.

It also must create a priority list of flood-control projects needing completion.

LA County operates 14 dams and reservoirs, most of them in the San Gabriel, San Fernando and Antelope valleys.

Many were built in the 1920s and 1930s.

Related:

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Louisiana
Dicembre nero per le vendite al dettaglio. Lo rivela l'Istat, secondo cui a dicembre 2017 le vendite al dettaglio hanno registrato una diminuzione, rispetto al mese precedente, dello 0,3% sia in valore sia in volume. In particolare, rivela lo studio, sono diminuite sia le vendite di beni alimentari sia quelle di beni non alimentari (rispettivamente dello 0,2% e dello 0,3%, in valore e in volume).

Andamento trimestrale alterno

Considerando l'andamento trimestrale, nel periodo ottobre-dicembre l'indice complessivo registra, rispetto al trimestre precedente, una variazione positiva dello 0,1% in valore e una flessione dello 0,2% in volume. Nello stesso periodo, per le vendite di beni alimentari si rileva un incremento dello 0,2% in valore e una diminuzione dello 0,5% in volume; sostanzialmente stabile l'andamento dei beni non alimentari (-0,1% in valore, invariato il volume).

Meno del 2016

Rispetto a dicembre 2016, prosegue Istat, le vendite al dettaglio registrano una flessione dello 0,1% in valore e dello 0,9% in volume. Nello stesso periodo quelle di prodotti alimentari aumentano dell'1,2% in valore e diminuiscono dello 0,4% in volume, mentre le vendite di prodotti non alimentari registrano una diminuzione per entrambi gli aggregati (rispettivamente -0,7% e -1,1%).

Crescita modesta

Il 2017 si chiude quindi con una crescita delle vendite modesta (+0,2%), sintesi di un aumento dell'1,4% per la grande distribuzione (all'interno della quale emerge la crescita del 3,2% dei discount di alimentari) e una diminuzione dello 0,8% delle vendite delle imprese operanti su piccole superfici.

Esport in crescita

Buone notizie sul fronte esportazioni. In un quadro di forte espansione del commercio mondiale, prosegue l'Istat, continua l'andamento positivo delle esportazioni Italiane in tutti i settori eccetto quello manifatturiero, che ha registrato invece qualche segnale di rallentamento. In presenza di un aumento del potere di acquisto delle famiglie, e aumentata la propensione al risparmio. L'inflazione si conferma moderata e in ripiegamento.
Un ottobre da sogno per Antonio Conte: lex ct della Nazionale italiana, attualmente alla guida del Chelsea, nelle ultime quattro gare di Premier League ha collezionato solo successi, conditi da 11 reti segnate e addirittura nessuna incassata. Numeri da record che non sono certo passati inosservati alla Federazione inglese, la quale ha conferito al tecnico leccese lambito premio di Manager del mese.

Unavventura oltremanica iniziata in sordina, quella di Conte, pur a fronte di tre vittorie nelle prime tre gare di campionato. A far vacillare, anche se solo per un momento, le certezze del patron del club londinese, Roman Abramovich, i risultati conseguiti tra la 4a e la 6a giornata, coincisi con un pareggio sul campo dello Swansea City e, soprattutto, con le due pesanti sconfitte subite dal Liverpool, sul terreno casalingo di Stamford Bridge, e dallArsenal. In particolare, la debacle interna coi Reds, aveva irritato non poco il numero uno russo, poiche occorsa proprio nel giorno della sua 250esima partita da presidente della societa.

Come detto, solo un momento. Dopo lincontro dellEmirates, il tecnico salentino cambia modulo, adottando un piu equilibrato 3-4-3 e inserendo elementi di corsa come lo spagnolo Pedro. Una svolta totale perche, di li in poi, il Chelsea inanellera solo e soltanto vittorie: 2 gol allHull City e al Southampton in trasferta, 3 ai campioni dInghilterra del Leicester e 4 allo United in casa, con un meraviglioso numero zero nella casella delle reti subite. Un fantastico poker, ottenuto tra l1 e il 29 ottobre. Un cambio di marcia sbalorditivo, confermato dal 5 a 0 rifilato ai toffees dellEverton nel primo match di novembre, e una scalata che, man mano, ha portato i blues al secondo posto in classifica, a soli 2 punti dal Liverpool capolista.

E allora, non poteva mancare il riconoscimento di migliore allenatore del mese, ottenuto surclassando tecnici del calibro di Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool), Arsene Wenger (Arsenal) e Mark Hughes (Southampton). Tanta, ovviamente, la soddisfazione: E un grande onore e voglio condividerlo con i giocatori e con la societa  ha dichiarato Conte sul sito ufficiale della Premier League -. E la prima volta che lavoro in un altro Paese, con una cultura diversa, e portare la propria filosofia non e facile, ma ora sono contento di questa scelta.

A completare la festa, la premiazione del fantasista belga, Eden Hazard, come miglior giocatore di ottobre. Due risultati importanti per il club, ottimo incentivo per la rincorsa al trono dei campioni, occupato dal Leicester di Ranieri. Il prossimo appuntamento per l11 di Conte sara al Riverside Stadium, tana del Middlesborough neopromosso. Il tempo di festeggiare e gia finito.
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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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Breaking AI Stock News: GBT's (OTCPK: GTCH) AI Driven Financial Technology Patent Application Received a Notice of Publication

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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Health and Wellness Stock News - Endexx (OTCBB: EDXC) Secures $3.8M Order for Non-Nicotine Vape Product HYLA from Italy

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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Kara Alloway is one of the six ladies from the 6ix, who is ready to bring all the glamour and drama to the upcoming debut series of. Alloway reveals what fans can expect from her on the Slice reality series and dishes on the upcoming drama.The way I look at it, 50 per cent of the viewers are gonna love me, 50 per cent of the viewers are gonna hate me, she tellsA self-proclaimed devout fashionista, Alloway is a born-again Christian who knows her values will sometimes place her at odds with the other liberal-thinking housewives. But that doesnt mean shes perfect.I dont pretend Im a perfect person, she explains. I mess up. I mess up on this show.Mother to three boys, Alloway spends her days organizing charity fundraisers and serving as a marketing director for her husbands company. By night, shes attending those same charity fundraisers, rubbing well-dressed shoulders with the elite of Torontos social scene. While she might be busy mingling with the whos who of Toronto, Alloway admits shes not into gossip.I always say, gossip is for people that have nothing going on in their lives, she says. If you saw my life  three boys, a husband, working, doing lots of charity work and what not  I dont have time to gossip.While she shuns gossip, shes not above asking for advice from another famous housewife: hotel heiress Kathy Hilton.Kathy really was my mentor through a lot of this, and, you know, shes had a lot of exposure to publicity and whatnot. Good publicity and bad publicity, she tells. She said to me, Remember, Kara, this is what you have to have in the back of your mind: Im nice, but dont mess with me.'What are your thoughts on Kara? Sound off in the comment section below!Season 1 premieres in Canada on Tuesday, March 7 at at 10:00pm ET on Slice!Photo Credit: Slice
Police in the North believe violent dissident republicans are responsible for two shootings within the space of 24 hours in Belfast.

A 16-year-old boy is the latest victim of a paramilitary-style attack after he was shot in the leg in the Falls Road area, west of the city, on Thursday night.

Just 24 hours earlier, another young man was shot in the same vicinity. Both are in a stable condition in hospital.

PSNI Chief Superintendent Chris Noble said it was too early to say if the shootings were linked.

However, he revealed that an active line of inquiry "is around the involvement of violent dissident republicans".

Mr Noble said Thursday night's shooting was "child abuse".

PSNI officers have voiced concern over a recent spate of paramilitary-style shootings, particularly in West Belfast.

Last year the number of paramilitary-style shootings in the west of the city doubled compared to the previous year.

Mr Noble insisted that the PSNI is the only police service in West Belfast.

"There is never any justification for this violent, abusive behaviour," said Mr Noble.

He added: "There is only one police service in West Belfast and that is the PSNI. Policing only works when delivered with the community and policing in West Belfast has seen real progress over the last five years in relation to domestic burglary and vehicle crime in particular.

"Unlike others who in recent weeks have resorted to child abuse, maiming people and acting as self-appointed judges, juries and executioners, we work in partnership with the community to resolve issues of concern."

Mr Noble said police will work to bring those responsible to justice, but added that they need information from the public to help bring a prosecution.

"The dogs in the street may well know who is responsible but what I need as the local police commander is for people to come forward and give me any information, however apparently irrelevant, that our specialist detectives can use to secure a conviction.

"Information is key in these crimes where victims are often traumatised and people emerge from and run back into the shadows."

The Chief Superintendent added: "Policing has a clear strategy for keeping people safe in West Belfast and fundamentally it is about working with communities to solve challenges and being responsive and accountable to them.

"A strategy of maiming and abusing local young people and intimidating communities by violent, criminal, unelected and unaccountable individuals is not a strategy.

"This is now 2017 and yet we still have criminal elements within our community who have no moral compass whatsoever and are prepared to revert to child abuse and shooting people to further their cause. These criminals and facilitators of drug dealers need to get off the backs of the community and let us get on with making things better for everyone."
Newly-filed accounts for Herbel Restaurants (Ireland) show exceptional costs drove the 44.7m pre-tax loss in 2015. The exceptional costs relate to the writedown in value of the firms property portfolio, from nearly 95m to 47.45m.

The latest accounts cover the eight months to the end of November 2015. In that time, Herbel (Ireland) recorded revenues of 9.6m. This compared to sales of 18.33m for the preceding 12-month period.
The company, which filed for an IPO earlier this month, was widely expected to be valued at between $20bn and $25bn (18.75bn 23.5bn) but fell short by targeting a valuation between $19.5bn and $22.3bn ahead of its marketing road show, due to start on Monday in London.

Investors have been poring over the filing for Snaps upcoming IPO to assess whether the still- unprofitable company will be the next Facebook, which has figured out how to make money from its social media platform, or if it will be more like Twitter, which is struggling to achieve the same goal.
Dahesh Patel, aged 56, of Dillons Court, Dillons Cross, Cork, appeared before Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday for the second day of his trial where he pleaded not guilty to the alleged sexual exploitation of a minor on June 21, 2015.

Asked about visiting the toilet on the day, he said he probably bought drink in the shopping centre that day. He said he had a drink problem and had a naggin of vodka that day. He said, I cannot remember it. I would say I was there.
Kyle McLoughlin from Boyle, Co Roscommon, was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2011, a year into a management consulting job with Accenture after completing business and corporate finance degrees at NUI Galway and University College Cork.

After a year of treatment and recovery, then aged just 23, he got the opportunity to develop the subteacher.ie project. In partnership with the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD), his software development company Posude set about establishing the database to connect second-level schools and teachers who are available for substitute work.

More than half the countrys 730 second-level schools are now registered, with 1,000 teachers regularly updating their availability.

Posude branched out when it became apparent that difficulties finding available and suitable personnel for short-term roles was not limited to schools. Its Pharmacist Link platform has been developed with the Irish Pharmacy Union to help find locums, and other applications are being aimed at improving document delivery and business intelligence for the small and medium enterprise market.

The success of Posude has earned Kyle McLoughlin a selection as finalist in the Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE) competition.

While Im a cancer survivor, this doesnt define me. I want to show there is life after cancer and hope my story gives inspiration and belief to someone who is starting their journey with the disease, said Kyle, now 28.

He is one of 24 finalists from 18 counties chosen for the national final at Googles European headquarters in Dublin on March 5. All aged between 18 and 35, they will be competing for shares of a prize fund of 100,000 in three main categories.

A mix of established companies and newer business ideas, their initiatives cover a range of activities that include a blood test to help vets instantly detect infections in animals, an app addressing mobility issues for people with Parkinsons disease, and cloud software to allow big organisations track their carbon footprint.

They have emerged from more than 1,800 entrants to come through county and regional finals run by the 31 local enterprise offices. Nearly one-in-10 of those who did not make the final have already received investments of 3,000 to 15,000 each, part of the 2m IBYE investment fund.
Senior Fine Gael ministers including Frances Fitzgerald, Michael Noonan, Charlie Flanagan, and Richard Bruton face the axe from Cabinet once Enda Kenny steps down, Simon Coveney has told his supporters.

It is understood that Mr Coveney  who is seen to be neck and neck with Leo Varadakar to take over as leader once Mr Kenny resigns  believes a radical generational change is needed within the party to set them up on a steady footing for a general election.

But when pressed on his departure date, Mr Kenny last night remained defiant and said his main priority is Brexit negotiations. He indicated he does not intend on stepping down soon by detailing a number of international trips he will be taking as Taoiseach in the coming weeks.

However, privately Mr Kenny has admitted to senior colleagues that he is disappointed in himself and acknowledges he will not be able to stay on for as long as he intended.

The jockeying for support had already began around Leinster House yesterday, with lists being drawn up putting Mr Coveney and Mr Varadkar on between 25 and 30 votes each out of a total of 71 parliamentary ballots.

Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald is expected to remain in the leadership race, despite a dismal week during which she came under fire for her handling of the McCabe scandal. It is likely that Mr Bruton, who previously staged a failed heave against Mr Kenny, will also throw his name into the hat. While party insiders have not ruled out Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe who is viewed as a measured and steady hand.

As the two main contenders quietly begin seeking support from TDs and senators, the terms of reference for the tribunal into smears against Sgt Maurice McCabe and other garda whistleblowers passed through both Houses of the Oireachtas yesterday.

While all members of Fine Gael believe Mr Kenny must make clear his plan to step down, there is divergence amongst members as to how quickly this should happen.

It is understood that Mr Coveney and many of his supporters would like to give the leader space between this weeks crisis and his departure; others, mainly in Mr Varadkars camp want Mr Kenny gone almost immediately.

Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney

Mr Kenny acknowledged to senior Fine Gael members that it had been a bad week for both him personally and for his party after he was forced to admit a mea cupla for detailing a conversation with Katherine Zappone which never took place.

Mr Kenny has long maintained that he would remain in place until 2018, but would not lead his party into the next general election, but he has confided in colleagues that this cannot now happen.

Publicly, however, Mr Kenny refused to show signs of weakness. I am focusing entirely on a really busy and challenging time ahead and we have got lots of work for all of our party to engage themselves in, ministerial portfolios and programmes for Government to implement, thats what we will be about, he told reporters at an event in Dublin last night.

Despite a call from backbencher Pat Deering to make his intentions known on when he will stand down, or possibly face a vote of no confidence at the parliamentary party meeting next week, Mr Kenny maintained that it had been an ordinary working day.

Politics is a vocation, it draws you into stormy waters as well as calm.

Today for me was a very ordinary working day, we had a cabinet meeting at 7.30am where we approved and signed off on the terms of reference for the public inquiry into the allegations of a sustained smear campaign against Sergeant Maurice McCabe. Tomorrow is another ordinary working day, Mr Kenny said.
James Hogan Snr, aged 51, pleaded guilty to engaging in violent disorder on August 14, 2015, at Dromore Drive, Mallow, Co Cork. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of threatening to cause property damage and a charge of damaging a Saab car. Paddy Horgan, aged 23, pleaded guilty to engaging in violent disorder, possession of a pick axe handle to intimidate another person, a similar charge in relation to a knife and charges of damaging two cars and the window of a house. Jimmy Hogan, aged 25, admitted having a shovel and a pick axe handle and engaging in the violent disorder, and Chloe Hogan, aged 18, all of Bolster Terrace, Mallow, admitted violent disorder and damaging three cars and having a pick axe handle to intimidate others.

Judge Dave Riordan adjourned sentencing until the May sessions of Cork Circuit Criminal Court.
On Wednesday night, Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar, speaking during the motion of confidence, said the questions should be answered before the newly established tribunal of inquiry commences its work.

Speaking yesterday in the Dail during the debate on the tribunal, Mrs Fitzgerald said she has raised the matter with the attorney general and will seek the answers from the Garda commissioners office.

The McCabes are seeking answers as to whether the requested meeting or phone conversation with Supt Noel Cunningham (who investigated the original 2006 false claim against Sgt McCabe) as sought by the HSE in August 2013 did take place.

They have also asked: Who was/were the gardai who made/received phone calls to/from the HSE counsellor concerning the false rape offence allegation? Who interviewed the alleged victim in respect of that allegation in May 2014 as claimed by her solicitor? And was any of the foregoing garda activity reported or recorded within An Garda Siochana ?

Was any of the foregoing garda activity notified formally or informally to senior gardai at commissioner level, and if not why not?

Was any decision made not to inform Sgt McCabe of the making of the 2013 allegation, and if so why and by whom?

In her speech yesterday, Ms Fitzgerald said she is very keen to facilitate them as much as possible.

I want to refer to the six questions contained in the McCabes statement relating to An Garda Siochana which they understandably want answers to now, she said.

But I do not want to pretend to the House that this matter is completely straightforward in circumstances where a tribunal is being established.

Having consulted with the attorney general, the secretary general of my department has written to the Garda commissioner in accordance with section 40 of the Garda Siochana Act, requesting the information sought in the six questions.

I expect that it will be necessary to consult further with the attorney general once the commissioner has replied.

To conclude I want to say that our actions here today will ensure any wrongdoing within An Garda Siochana will be addressed fully and fairly.

She said she has been careful and scrupulous to deal with all the cases that have come to her attention.

I have always made the case  publicly and privately  that whistleblowers should be protected and supported, she told the Dail.

Mr Varadkar said the McCabes had asked six simple questions.

These should be answered, in full, before any tribunal is up and running, he said. Nobody should attempt to use the shield of legal advice, process or pending inquiries to avoid answering these questions.

I believe the Government owes a full and unequivocal apology to Sgt McCabe for the appalling treatment he endured at the hands of gardai, state agencies and government departments. We need to restore trust in these key institutions. We start by showing that we are willing to be contrite.

Six questions family want answered

1) Did the requested meeting or phone conversation with Supt Noel Cunningham (who had investigated the false claim against Maurice McCabe in 2006) as sought by the HSE in August 2013 take place?

2) Who was/were the gardai who made/ received phonecalls to/from the HSE counsellor about the false rape offence allegation?

3) Who interviewed the alleged victim in respect of that allegation in May 2014 as claimed by her solicitor?

4) Was any of the foregoing garda activity reported or recorded within the force?

5) Was any of the foregoing garda activity notified formally or informally to senior gardai at commissioner level. If not, why not?

6) Was any decision made not to inform Sgt McCabe of the making of the 2013 allegation. If so, why and by whom?
Ciara Sheehans mother, Susan OMahony, has spoken out publicly about the torrent of abuse her daughter has suffered after Gavin Sheehan was sentenced to 11 years in jail for the shooting. I just want a bit of peace and quiet. I want to take my daughter away from here where she recover, so we can recover, so she can do normal things, Ms OMahony told Neil Prendeville on RedFM.

We keep ourselves to ourselves. We want to start fresh  surely we deserve a bit of peace and quiet.

Ciara was in her boyfriends house in Hollywood Estate on the northside of Cork City on May 14 last when a shot was fired through the front window. Ciara was hit in the neck and was lucky to survive.

Gavin Sheehan, aged 30, of 7 Laurel Ridge, Shanakiel, Cork, denied the charges against him related to possessing and firing the gun and most significantly, seriously injuring the young woman. But he was found guilty of possessing a Smith and Wesson 60.96 semi-automatic firearm, discharging it, and causing serious harm to Ciara , and the related charge of having ammunition.

Judge Sean O Donnabhain sentenced him at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday to 14 years in jail, with three years suspended.

Ciara has since been targeted with vicious online threats and abuse. Ms OMahony said it has had a devastating effect on Ciara and her family, and that the threats have been reported to gardai.

We are a bag of nerves. Its been awful, she said.

We thought everything would stop after the sentencing, that we would have closure and be able to move on with our lives, and allow Ciara recover. Then we had all these threats made. We are very upset, very stressed, very anxious. Its non-stop.

Ciara has done nothing wrong, shes an innocent victim in all of this. I nearly lost my daughter. The bullet missed an artery by the width of a piece of paper.

In her victim impact statement, Ciara said she still suffers anxiety and panic attacks.

Her mother said: I dont see my daughter anymore, I see a different girl. Her work has been affected, she is not the same bubbly young girl she was. She is sad all the time, and cant be happy for anything. They wont leave her alone, she cant move on, she cant get better, its really upsetting.

She said her family has lived in the area for the last 20 years but they dont feel comfortable there anymore.

I built my home around me. Ciara grew up here, went to school here, all her friends are here. But everything has completely changed. Our whole lives have been ruined. We just want to live a normal life.

A spokesperson for City Halls housing department said: Transfer requests are subject to a range of compulsory conditions that must be met. The council is more than willing to assist in any way possible.
Councillors unanimously backed a motion to seek the courts views after calls to set up a detention centre in Co Cork were rejected by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.

The motion was tabled by former social worker Cllr Noel Collins, who has repeatedly criticised overcrowding at the only detention centre in the country.

The department said at present there were no plans to develop a detention centre in any other part of the country.

Cllr Collins said councillors should reject the answer.

He said he had visited the Oberstown detention centre in Lusk, Co Dublin last Christmas and was appalled by what he saw.

He said there was serious overcrowding and frequent attacks on hard-pressed staff and as a result of what he saw he had already spoken to officials in the European Court of Human Rights.

In a letter to the council, the department said that it provides (financial) support to families of young offenders who have to travel by bus or train to visit the facility.

Cllr Collins said it was very unfair to drag families on long journeys from Cork and Kerry to Oberstown.

He said a facility should be built in Cork, which would save families a lot of time travelling to and from Dublin and the money saved by the State in providing travelling expenses could be used to build the centre.

Commenting on the departments refusal to build centres outside of Dublin, he said: This doesnt paint a bright future for young people in Ireland.

Cllr MaryLinehan Foley also said it was very unfair on families who had to travel such long distances.

Cllr Joe Harris said that there was formerly such a facility on Spike Island, in Cork harbour which worked well as a youth detention centre.

It used to hold courses to train young offenders to enable them reintegrate with society, Cllr Harris said.

Its a disgrace and its inhuman (having no facility outside of Oberstown) and travelling is putting savage pressure on families, he added.

Cllr Derry Cantry pointed out that the former Cork prison at Rathmore Road, which was closed around a year ago, would be an ideal location for a child detention centre.

Cllr Collins said he was grateful for the support he had received from council colleagues who agreed that they would make formal communication with the European Court of Human Rights on the issue.

The department said it also supports families visiting the Oberstown centre by collecting them and dropping them back to the bus or train station while on visits.

It said visiting hours had become more flexible, with weekend visits being allowed on a discretionary basis and also pointed out that a more lenient approach was taken to the duration of the visits being applied.

The department said exceptional needs payments, under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, are made to visiting relatives when they dont have the money to pay for bus or rail travel themselves.
The Dails Public Accounts Committee discussed the issue last night as Taoiseach Enda Kenny was separately unable to explain why a promised 10m in funds for a commission of inquiry into the scandal is not in his departments revised budget.

In recent days, leaked copies of the PACs draft report into the Project Eagle controversy revealed a series of damning findings against Mr Noonan, the Department of Finance and Nama.

Specifically, the report into the 1.6 billion sale of Namas Northern Ireland property portfolio to US firm Cerberus has concluded, among other matters, that:

It was not appropriate for Finance Minister Michael Noonan, Department of Finance officials, and Nama to meet with senior Cerberus representatives in the days before the sale, as it gave the perception Cerberus was benefiting from special treatment.

The Project Eagle deal was marked by poor record keeping, deficiencies in relation to the management of conflicts of interest, a flawed sales process and an inability by Nama to demonstrate value for money.

The C&AGs initial finding that the deal cost the taxpayer up to 220m during the economic crisis was evidence-based, balanced and reasonable.

Despite opposition claims, the Troika pressurised Government and as a result Nama to sell the Northern Ireland property portfolio quickly due to Irelands national debt, this was general.

In a letter to the PAC late on Wednesday night, Mr Noonan expressed his great concern at the draft findings against him, insisting they should be removed.

He said he refutes absolutely the validity of any such purported conclusions, sought a right of reply and strongly requests his criticism is taken on board.

Fianna Fail TD Marc Mac Sharry wrote directly to committee colleagues to say it is troubling Mr Noonan would seek to influence or muzzle the PAC.

Mr Noonan earlier this month provoked committee anger by saying an inquiry may not be needed.

A Department of Finance official later denied he was rowing back on the inquiry, and simply meant a decision must wait until the PAC report is published.

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Enda Kenny was yesterday unable to explain why a promised ring-fenced 10m in funds for a commission of inquiry into the scandal is not in his Departments revised budget.

Asked at the finance committee about why the money isnt there in a section on the cost of commission of inquiries by Sinn Fein finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty, Mr Kenny said he could not immediately explain the situation.
Last night, Kitty OConnor, Alpha One Foundation CEO, said patients would be completely devastated and fearful for the future of their health. Of the 21 patients, 11 are on the drug for a decade and Ms OConnor said its unknown what the health effects will be.

Respreeza, available to 21 patients who took part in a clinical trial between 2006 and 2014, is for the treatment of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency or Alpha-1. That is a protein whose main function is to protect the lungs from infection. Respreeza, manufactured by CSL Behring, replaces the protein that is lacking and slows the progression of emphysema and reduce patients number of chest infections and hospital admissions.
They have discovered how certain cancers hijack the immune system for their benefit, tricking it into helping rather than harming them.

The team from the Smurfit Institute of Genetics at TCD, led by professor of medical genetics, Seamus Martin, identified a molecule that sends a wound-healing message from tumours.

If we can disrupt this messaging system, we may be able to fight certain cancers, said Prof Martin.

The wound-healing aspect of the immune response stimulates the growth of new cells within damaged tissue and brings extra nutrients and oxygen into the injured tissue. However, cancers frequently exploit the wound-healing side of the immune system for their own ends. They can masquerade as damaged tissue to receive help from the immune system.

Scientists found that a molecule called TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand, that normally delivers a signal for cells to die can become rewired in certain tumours to send an inflammatory wound-healing signal.

Understanding how cancers turn on the wound-healing response has been mysterious, so we are very excited to find that certain cancers exploit TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand. This suggests ways in which we can turn off this reaction in cancers that use TNF- related apoptosis-inducing ligand to hoodwink the immune system into helping rather than harming them, said Prof Martin.

He said about 90% of solid cancers are fooling the immune cells into doing its best to help the tumour.

A lot of people dont realise cancer is very treatable because of breakthroughs like this enable new ways of attacking tumours. What we have discovered is another approach that can be used in the cancer treatment armoury.

The research, supported by Science Foundation Ireland and Worldwide Cancer Research, is published in the peer-reviewed international journal Molecular Cell.
Friday, February 17th, 2017 (2:26 pm) - Score 1,833

Around 900 businesses in Colchester (Essex, England) are slowly starting to gain access to a new ultrafast (1Gbps+) broadband network, which follows a Dark Fibre roll-out deal that was signed in September 2016 between Colchester Borough Council and an independent network operator.

The new Colchester Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFBB) network, which has initially gone live at the towns new creative businesses centre, forms part of the local authoritys wider inward investment campaign (Colchester: Ultra Ready for Business). However it will eventually cover most town centre businesses and appears to harness a recent upgrade to the councils existing infrastructure (e.g. the CCTV system).

Otherwise very little is actually known about the network and its product offerings, except that the contract to operate, commercialise and market the new newly installed Dark Fibre platform in Colchester Town Centre was won by County Broadband in September 2016, following a competitive tender process.

Not that youd know the service existed after visiting the ISPs website, which only seems to mention their fixed wireless broadband products for digitally disadvantaged / rural areas (we might have just overlooked it somehow). On top of that their Twitter feed has been silent since September last year and the Facebook link doesnt seem to exist. Good start.

Paul Smith, Leader of the Council, said: Colchester is just one of a handful of cities and towns to be investing in Gigabit connectivity in the UK. The pure fibre network brings forward affordable connectivity and enormous opportunities for both the towns existing businesses to improve and expand, but also for new business investing in the borough. It opens up new markets and is also a further driver for the already flourishing creative and digital sector in Colchester. We have aspirations to roll out UFBB to the Northern Gateway and University of Essex and be at the forefront of 5G connectivity. There are ambitious plans in place and we will continue to work hard to build on Colchesters growing reputation as a hotbed for innovation and creativity in business.

Colchester Town Centre now aims to be one of the best connected places in the country and they have an aspiration to extend UFBB further in 2017. Apparently the first phase of this new network will pass around 850 businesses, with key focal points existing at the new Creative Business Centre (37, Queen Street), the High Street, North Hill and Middleborough business clusters.

Business that connect to the network, assuming they can find any useful details about how to do that, should in theory be able to access symmetrical speeds of up to 1Gbps (Gigabit per second). The description is a little vague, although we understand that the network will also be Open Access for other ISPs to use and sell services over.

The network will also aim to reach other key regeneration and economic growth zones during 2017, particularly the key Northern Gateway development zone adjacent to the A12. Funding for the new network has come from the S106 and Local Growth Fund money, channelled through the South-East LEP.
According to the results of a recent survey on cloud adoption, 28 percent of IT professionals are somewhat or very concerned that cloud infrastructure adoption may put their current job at risk. And the hard reality is, they have very reason to be concerned.

Thats the assessment of Dave Link, founder and CEO of ScienceLogic, a hybrid IT monitoring software provider in Reston, Va. Link explained the hard reality this way:

What I hear from CIOs and technologists around the world is that perhaps the survey results arent even as indicative of just how big and dramatic the growth of cloud really is. When you understand whats happening, this is a runaway train. And they can be private clouds as well as public clouds, or a combination of them both, what we call hybrid cloud. And because of that, if youre not improving your skills, I think you put yourself at risk. Theres just a lot of change thats going on right now, and that really requires us to rethink our foundational knowledge base and continue to have that quest of curiosity and learning to improve, and leapfrog what we knew before. This trend is growing exponentially, vs. gradually, right now.

I mentioned to Link that I had recently spoken with the chief architect of Datalink, which did a survey that found that 40 percent of the respondents had pulled at least one workload back from the public cloud, because it ended up there without an architecture or a strategy, and that created problems. I asked him if that statistic is consistent with what ScienceLogic is finding, and Link indicated that indeed, not every application is suitable for the cloud:

I think a lot of people did get caught flat-footed. In the race to the cloud, they moved a lot of applications, some of which were proactively managed, many of which were not. And when they got the bills, the bills were bigger than they thought they were going to have, and that really gave people pause. It really depends on the application profile: Is it tailor-made for certain price points that are incredibly attractive in the cloud, but not attractive if you just stick it out there and run it 247 as you did in your private data center?

I noted that President Trump has said the United States will impose a very major border tax on companies that outsource jobs overseas. It occurs to me that in a sense, a lot of companies are outsourcing jobs to the cloud, so I asked Link how likely he thinks it might be that adoption of cloud infrastructure will accelerate even faster as companies take that route instead of outsourcing jobs overseas? He said it was a very timely question:

But I think thats whats been happening for the last five years. So when you look at how much agility and resource allocation that you need to put against the traditional way IT has worked in the past, most companies have wanted to get to a much higher level of automation. And in getting to a much higher level of automation, rather than building the load balancer, and the database, and the webserver farm, and the different caching services, and all the services that cloud providers make available, now you dont have to buy all these technologies and figure out how they all plug together, and then deliver them as an integrated service. The cloud really made that much more convenient, and thus reduced, to some degree, the amount of resources that you needed to quickly spin-up that kind of complex architecture. That is a huge cost savings  one of the benefits of using those services is you just dont need as many people. Theres a much higher level of automation  I think over the next 10 years, theyll figure out how to optimize whats been virtualized. One of the opportunities cloud gives us is to finally get cost out of operations and IT. But I do believe you have to be very thoughtful, and somewhat pragmatic, as to which applications are a really good profile fit for moving to the cloud. And what you have to do to manage those applications, or refactor them so that you leverage the benefits of the cloud service providers.

I wrapped up the conversation by asking Link if he found any survey results to be particularly surprising or unexpected. His response:

Only 28 percent had a process to control public cloud sprawl. One CIO said the hardest thing that he fights with is, once a system gets spun up, whether its in the cloud or in your private system, actually turning it off has become a really significant point of contention and chaos within the organization. Because in some cases, you dont know what you might impact by turning something down, even if it has a low usage level. Its very hard to turn systems off once they get turned on, unless theyre designed and built that way. I think thats an area where theres still a lot of work to do in enterprise IT  a great opportunity for cost optimization is going to be figuring out what you can turn off thats already been turned on. The survey essentially just told us what we know: People are not very good at that, which is why their costs are potentially higher than they had hoped.

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.
The Asus ZenFone 3 Zoom was announced last month and now it is ready to be sold worldwide. This smartphone is yet another model from the ZenFone series which has become one of the most popular Android option for midrange lovers. Asus has been keen in creating smartphones that are not only priced well but also equipped with competitive specs.

Asus ZenFone 3 Zoom Specs

Being a camera-centric smartphone, the ZenFone 3 Zoom has a dual 12 MP rear camera, Dual Pixel autofocus, 4K video capture and 2.3x optical zoom. It also packs a serious amount of power with its 5000 mAh battery. On top of that, the ZenFone 3 Zoom is also equipped with sufficient memory comprised of 4 GB RAM and up to 128 GB worth of native storage. A microSD slot is also present for storage expansion.

Other specs details of the ZenFone 3 Zoom include a 5.5 inch 1080p display, fingerprint scanner, and a 13 MP front camera. Nevertheless, for a competitively-priced smartphone, the ZenFone 3 Zoom has to have some minor issues such as its last-season operating system and its non-flagship level processor. Take note that the Asus ZenFone 3 Zoom will run Android Marshmallow from the box, but there's nothing to worry though as it is Nougat-eligible so an update will also arrive in the coming months. Moreover, this Asus phone is powered by a Snapdragon 625 processor which is a sufficient chip for an Android phone, just not as powerful as what you can find on flagship Samsung phones.

Asus ZenFone 3 Zoom Availability And Price

As per Phone Arena, the ZenFone 3 Zoom is already available in Taiwan for around $489 for the unlocked version. The US on the other hand will be getting it within this quarter for a tempting price of $399. So far the ZenFone 3 Zoom is one of the best Android phones on the market, especially when talking about cameras. Dual-cam systems are typically a feature that's only found in expensive phones. For a $399 Android, the ZenFone 3 Zoom is practically a steal deal.
NASA's space probe, Voyager 2, has recorded a bizarre message, reportedly from an alien contact, while it was around 12 billion kilometers from Earth. The space probe sent the message to control center and baffled scientists because they could not understand the language. NASA reportedly investigated the possibility that someone had hacked the space probe from Earth, but the anomaly was never confirmed.

Voyager 2 left Earth in 1977 to conduct a space probing mission. It is the only NASA spacecraft to have passed the regions of Uranus and Neptune, it also have visited Jupiter and Saturn. Thirty-three years after its send off and probing into space, Voyager 2 started sending strange data to mission control on Earth. The language was reportedly unknown, and has never been decoded until this present day.

At a distance of about 15 billion kms from Earth, the probe suddenly started sending data in a language which they could never understand," Physics Astronomy and NASA expert, Kevin Baines, says. Since the news of an alleged alien contact started to surface, conspiracy theorists have feasted on information given by the NASA scientist. Interview of Kevin Baines regarding the alien message have since made rounds in the internet, sparking online debates, the Express reports.

According to Baines, something or someone had been able to change the communications system of the space probe Voyager 2. He further elaborated that a subsequent analysis of the recorded message found that a component in a binary code system was changed from 0 to 1. He adds that the Voyager team's assessment reported having found no defect of the communications system, sparking more questions as to how the binary code was altered, the Daily Star reports.

German academic Hartwig Hausdorf believes the communications system of the Voyager was taken over by extraterrestrial life. He says in a German newspaper that it seems as if someone has reprogrammed or hijacked the probe, but that we will never really know the truth. NASA revealed the information about the alien in 2010, and since then, conspiracy theorists have accused the space agency of cover up.
IBM unveiled in a series of announcements some news about several IBM Watson IoT plans for the near future. Among the news included the announcement of a new $200 million global headquarters in Munich, Germany for its Watson Internet of Things business.

New IBM Watson IoT Headquarters

SD Times reports that IBM Watson IoT division now has over 6,000 clients and partners around the world. The new IBM Watson IoT global headquarters in Munich, Germany, will attract more partners to co-innovate technologies that will transform our daily lives as well as whole industries. IBM will work at the new headquarters with companies such as BNP Paribas, Avnet, Tech Mahindra and Capgemini on areas such as Watson IoT-based banking solutions, a new joint IoT lab, connected homes and vehicles and digital transformation.

New IBM Watson IoT Partnerships

According to IoT Evolution, IBM has announced a partnership with VISA with the aim to embed Visa token technology in the Watson IoT platform. The technology will transform connected devices in points of sale. IBM is the first company to partner with Visa in order to monetize IoT.

According to Jim McCarthy, EVP, Visa innovation and strategic partnerships, the Internet of Things is driving a more connected world. The new technology is moving data and the point of sale to wherever the consumer wants it to be. IoT is changing the way we live, shop and pay. With IBM's leadership in IoT and security and the power of Watson's cognitive technologies, the high-tech giant is the ideal partner to help Visa deliver secure payments on the scale of the IoT to "virtually anywhere," McCarthy added.

Harriet Green, GM, IBM Watson IoT, said that the Internet of Things is literally changing the world around us. Behind this transformation are technologies like IBM's Watson IoT platform and companies like Visa. The center of successful business consists collaborative workforces, but it might be challenging to bring disparate teams together and making them productive.

IBM Watson IoT has linked up with Bosch in order to address challenges in updating connected devices. The Watson IoT Platform can be used with Bosch IoT Suite services. This way, manufacturers will be able to update IoT devices at scale more efficiently and securely.

IBM has also teamed up with Arrow Power Entrepreneurial Innovation and IoT Growth, as well as Indiegogo. The partnership will pair the Watson IoT platform and cloud services with fundraising from Indiegogo and services from Arrow Electronics. This collaboration will help companies in the IoT startup economy to find strategic funding.

The French National Railway will tap IBM Watson's cloud platform in the connected transportation world, in order to improve safety and efficiency for its 13.5 million daily passengers. The entire rail network of the French national rail line will now be able to connect and gather real-time insights from train transmissions. By linking them to train stations and tracks, the company will be able to manage equipment and improve the security, quality and availability of its trains.

Ricoh and IBM Watson IoT are working to make corporate meetings more efficient. New Watson-powered and cognitive-enabled interactive whiteboards use intelligence and voice technologies in order to actively support people in meetings. The whiteboards are able of taking notes and actions, responding to commands and even translating into other languages.

IBM's The Weather Company subsidiary has created its own ecosystem based on an IoT-powered mobile weather alerting platform. The initiative is aimed at providing easier notification of potential severe weather events and disasters, in order to help underserved populations in emerging markets. The IoT-powered mobile weather alerting platform works even in areas with disrupted cellular networks or limited Internet connection, through peer-to-peer technology and mesh network alerts.

Internet Of Things Expansion Across Various Industries

Tech experts highlight an emerging trend of Internet of Things expansion across various industries. Companies are starting to invest more resources and more time to it, as the Internet of Things starts to gain interest from consumers. This trend shows that we have reached a tipping point with IoT innovation.

IBM Watson IoT division and its partners are building a new global IoT innovation ecosystem. This will enable cognitive and IoT technologies to transform many industries and even our way of living. The new partnerships formed by IBM aim to expand its IoT push.
Aside from the Samsung Galaxy S8, the South Korean giant is hotly tipped to launch another Galaxy S smartphone. This handset is set be called as the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus. The Galaxy S8 Plus is lining up alongside the smaller Galaxy S8 device. Both upcoming smartphones are to boast Samsung's sultry curved displays, enhanced cameras, powerful hood and could potentially drop the physical home button which is located in front of the handset.

Samsung Galaxy S8 And S8 Plus Launch Date

As reported by TechRadar, the Samsung Galaxy S8 launch date has been previously rumored as March 2 but nothing is confirmed just yet. Koh Dong-jin, Samsungs president of electronics' mobile communications business department, told the Korean press that he will reveal the launch date of the Samsung Galaxy S8 during the 2017 Mobile World Congress, at least at the end of February. Along with this schedule, all the rumored specs, as well as schedule regarding the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus, could also be cleared.

Samsung will have a press conference scheduled for February 26, Sunday. Although many people are expecting the event to be focused on Samsung's tablet products rather than smartphones, rumors now suggest that the firm will show a teaser trailer for the Galaxy S8 at the end, too. There is also a big possibility that Samsung will announce the detailed difference between the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus and the Apple iPhone 7 Plus. The company seems to feel very confident with its next-generation handsets and is probably planning to almost double its first shipments of the smartphones compared to last year's Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge release.

Samsung's Overheating And Battery Issue

According to Trusted Reviews, Google Android N, the software expected to feature on the Samsung Galaxy S8, offers an improvement on the smartphone's battery life. This year, the schedule will be a bit different but all are expecting that Samsung has finally and properly addressed the overheating and battery issue. Hopefully, the Quality Assurance tests, protocols, as well as safety measures of the next flagship smartphones will not have any overheating and battery problems.
Security experts have revealed that more than 100 soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have been the target of a cyberespionage group. The Israeli soldiers had their Android phones infected with surveillance malware.

Israeli Soldiers Were Targeted By Cyberespionage Group

According to Computerworld, more than 100 members of the Israeli military fell victim to a cyberespionage attack. Information from their mobile devices was stolen by using malicious Android applications. The majority of soldiers victim of the cyberespionage campaign were stationed around the Gaza strip.

According to researchers from antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab, the attack started in July 2016. The same source claimed that the cyberespionage campaign continues to date. The IDF Information Security Department has also cooperated in the investigation with the digital security researchers from the private company.

How Does It Work?

The Israeli soldiers have been tricked by hackers via social networks such as Facebook. The hackers posed as attractive women from various countries such as Switzerland, Germany and Canada. The victims were tricked to install an Android malware application that scanned their mobile phone and downloaded another malware app pretending to be an update for an already installed application.

According to Softpedia News, the app needs to be installed manually, once the APK file was downloaded from the malicious address. The app then demands various permissions, including permission to access the network state and to access the Internet, to write to external storage, as well as to delete and install packages. The dropper relies on the configuration server, depending on each device, in order to discover which payload is best to download.

A list of installed apps on the infected mobile device is also sent out by the dropper. Some variants will pretend to be chat apps, another variant will pretend to be a YouTube layer, depending on what's already installed on the device. This behavior is something that tech experts have already noticed before with other types of malware.

For instance, the Kaspersky researchers have detected a malware named "WhatsApp_Update." This malicious app allows hackers to execute scheduled or on-demand commands once installed on the phone. These commands can be used to access the contacts list, read text messages, eavesdrop at specific times of the day, take pictures and screenshots and record video and audio.

According to the Kaspersky researchers, this is likely only the "opening shot" of the operation. The cyberespionage campaign is probably a targeted attack against the Israel Defense Forces with the aim to gather data on which tactics and equipment the IDF is using, how ground forces are spread and other real-time intelligence gathering.

This cyberattack makes a clear example of how Android malware can be used to spy on enemy soldiers in warfare operations. It is also reported that a similar attack, also using Android malicious apps, has recently infected the mobile phones of Ukrainian artillery personnel taking part in the ongoing conflict that is affecting the Donbass region. The Ukrainian malware has been created by the Russian APT28 cyberespionage group and it was delivered as a trojanized version of a custom application.
Can you dish out $200,000 or lesser for a one-way ticket to work and live in a boisterous city built on Mars? Well if you can, you can hope to realize your dreams of living and working in space in the next 100 years, or maybe 10 years if Elon Musk of SpaceX succeeds first. This idea is coming on the current plans of the government of the United Arab Emirates to build a city on Mars within the next 100 years.

Mars 2117 Project and the UAE's ambitious space program

Mars 2117 Project is a new space construction project which the UAE is planning by building a city with an average population of 600,000 on Mars, and about the size of Chicago too. This revelation was made by the vice president of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, during the World Government Summit held on Tuesday in Dubai, the Christian Science Monitor reports. It is actually an ambitious project to contemplate, but the government of the UAE has been known to execute the most ambitious construction projects in the world.

The UAE government is not deluded into thinking that building a city the size of Chicago with 600,000 people on Mars is a joke, they are pretty serious about the project and already making plans to launch their space programs in 2020. The government is already setting up a scientific team to spearhead the project in terms of developing space shuttle programs as well as visualize living conditions in space. The government also hopes to begin space programs studies at national universities within the country.

Living and working in space is UAE's gift to coming generations

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum later tweeted on Tuesday that: "Mars 2117 is a seed we are sowing today to reap the fruits of new generations led by a passion for science and advancing human knowledge," the Washington Post writes. However, that is not the end of the post, the sheikh further tweeted that: "The project, to be named Mars 2117, integrates a vision to create a mini-city and community on Mars involving international cooperation." This is now something everyone is waiting to see happen.

And while SpaceX's Elon Musk has set his vision on deploying successful spacecrafts and hoping for a life on Mars within the next 10 years, he hasn't been much forthcoming on how people will breathe, live, work and stay healthy when they arrive to Mars. However, this is something the UAE is set to take in their stride as they continue with their ambitious life in space program. Sheikh Al Maktoum noted that there are no limits to human ambitions and scientific breakthroughs in this century are proofs of this fact.
The 2017 Samsung Galaxy J5 has received Wi-Fi certification ahead of its official announcement. The smartphone runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow and carries the model number SM-J530FM. Last year, Samsung announced the Galaxy J7 in April and Galaxy J5 in June, and the 2017 rumored version should arrive in a similar timeframe.

The New Samsung Galaxy J5 Receives Wi-Fi Certification

The 2017 Samsung Galaxy J5 is obviously the successor of the 2016 Samsung Galaxy J5. The updated version of Galaxy J5 is carrying the code number SM-J530FM/DS and has been given the green signal by the Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA). However, the WFA listing revealed no details regarding the impending specs and features of the new smartphone, as reported by TechTimes.

The only released information that can be accumulated from the certification is that the Samsung Galaxy J5 will come pre-loaded with Google's Android 6.0 Marshmallow, not Android 7.0 Nougat. The older version, which was released last year, came with a 5.2-inch super AMOLED display screen and users would be hoping that the successor follows the series. The previous model also houses a massive 3,100mAh battery, a quad-core processor and a 2 GB of RAM. Meanwhile, the 2017 Samsung Galaxy J7 can be expected to progress on the RAM capacity as well as the processor.

Samsung To Hold A Joint Event At MWC 2017

As reported by BGR, Samsung is to hold a joint event on February 28, Tuesday, at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017. On the upcoming event, the South Korean firm is expected to take wraps off handsets across price categories. Alongside the Samsung Galaxy J5, the company is also rumored to unveil the Galaxy J7 as well as Galaxy J3. Many are excited for the announcement, since the 2017 Galaxy J7 has been detailed in past leaks, suggesting a slight design change compared to its predecessor.
When MacBook Pro introduced the Touch Bar technology, Microsoft promised its fans that an Office update will roll out to support the new Mac feature. Considering that there are Mac owners who are also relying on Microsoft Office, the Surface maker has to make sure that all of its Office users have the best experience no matter what system they are using. With that said, Microsoft worked their way to provide Touch Bar support for MacBook Pro-installed Office.

Microsoft Office In MacBook Pro

The Office update for the MacBook Pro is now live for everyone. Office Insiders saw the update nine days ago and it confirmed the addition of Touch Bar support. According to the Office's blog post, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint all have new updates available right now. As per Neowin's report, Outlook update will be coming later.

Update For MacBook Pro Microsoft Office Word

As per the Office blog, MacBook Pro users can now enjoy the Word Focus Mode on Microsoft Word. This feature would hide all on-screen ribbons and commands so users can focus on nothing but their work. The Touch Bar becomes a pretty convenient feature while in this mode as it allows users to easily tap on it to change styles, insert hyperlinks and do other similar actions.

Update For MacBook Pro Microsoft Office PowerPoint

For the MacBook Pro PowerPoint, Touch Bar functions were also updated to make things easier for the users. There is the Reorder Objects button that helps people easily find objects and move them to a different place. You can also just slide your finger across the said function bar to rotate an object to the right angle. It was also said that controls can be easily accessed in the Touch Bar when your presentation is ready in Slideshow View. Slide thumbnails and timer will be visible to help you with your presentation.

Update For MacBook Pro Microsoft Office Excel

In Microsoft Excel, you can pull up your most recently used functions in your MacBook Pro by typing the equal sign into a cell. You can also easily access borders, cell colors and charts on the Touch Bar for a more organized work session. Overall, the new Microsoft Office update made options more accessible within the tap of the fingertips.
Yahoo is once again on a hot seat as the company reportedly contacts its users to warn them that their accounts may have been hacked. This isn't the first time that Yahoo has faced a hacking issue. In September, the company revealed that it had undergone a data breach two years prior and it affected about 500 million accounts. In October, Yahoo also admitted that another incident affected about a billion user accounts.

In the latest Yahoo security embarrassment, as what Neowin described it, forged cookies may have been the ones to blame for the compromised accounts. Yahoo sent an email to some of its users saying that their outside forensic experts are investigating the "creation of forged cookies" that could enable intruders to access accounts even without having a password. As per the ongoing investigation, Yahoo believes that hackers may have used a forged cookie in 2015 or 2016 to get into users' accounts.

The company confirmed to ZDNet that the reported email is legit and they further explained that hackers stole the source code that is used in generating cookies. Yahoo said that they have invalidated the cookies as soon as the latest attacks have been discovered. As per a company spokesperson, the investigation has led them to identify the user accounts that they believe are victims of forged cookies and Yahoo is currently in the process of notifying these users.

This new cyber-attack controversy adds up to Yahoo's negative image. It was just recently when Yahoo once again made headlines as Verizon, who was said to be buying the company, lowered its offer by $250 million. All the hackings that Yahoo has faced in the past have clearly affected its market value to its potential buyers. Additionally, the company continues to face questions from lawmakers who have recently criticized them for being unable to answer basic questions about the infamous cyber-attacks.
Today, Visa and IBM Watson revealed a partnership to use the Watson IoT platform to expand digital payments to connected cars, wearables, and other devices. It was held at the Genius of Things Summit in Munich, Germany as part of the grand opening of a $200 million IBM Watson global Internet of Things headquarters. Payments will depend on the Visa Token Service, a digital identifier for payment processing that first launched in 2014. Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Android Pay were version one of these tokens. The IBM Watson IoT platform will help Visa scale to the 20 billion wearable and connected devices expected by 2020, said Brett Greenstein, vice president for IBM Watson IoT.

Turning Everything Into A Payment System

IBM said that consumers' devices, cars, or even running shoes, could be turned into a POS payment system. In one scenario, a driver will be alerted when the car's warranty or certification is near its expiration or if specific car parts need some replacements. The driver might then click a button to order parts, or schedule a service appointment. As for running shoes, IBM noted that a customer with a wireless running chip could be able to receive a signal when it's time to replace the footwear. The digital alert will give the customer with suggestions of other shoes, at the best price, from a selected retailer.

Keeping It Secure

IDC senior vice president Vernon Turner called the collaboration as a step in the right direction for everyone to be able to monetize IoT while looking forward to better secure transactions. To protect security on IoT devices, Visa changes the account information found on a plastic credit card with a unique digital identifier that doesn't disclose those account details. "This isn't us waving a flag saying, 'hey look at this technology.' If we get this right, we're going to make consumers lives easier, solve merchant pain points and I think these will move very quickly as a result," said Visa's McCarthy.
Publicly traded companies are required by law to disclose only their global headcount, and that's all the information many of them provide. That keeps certain information a secret. These companies may be shrinking their U.S. headcount as they grow their overseas workforces. Six U.S. senators want to change that.

These senators -- all Democrats -- are co-sponsoring legislation, introduced Thursday, that would require publicly traded companies to disclose their numbers of employees by location, by state, and by country.

"It's hard to hold companies accountable for gaming the system and shipping jobs overseas when it's not even known where their employees are located," said Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), in a statement. One of the key reasons this bill, called the Outsourcing Accountability Act, was introduced is because it is difficult to find information about the number of jobs that are moved offshore.

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Peters introduced similar legislation in the U.S. House before he was elected to the Senate in 2013. The other bill sponsors are Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

No more than 18 percent to 25 percent of publicly traded companies disclose their U.S. hiring, said Scott Liao, an associate professor of accounting at the University of Toronto, who wrote a paper in 2012 with Anne Beatty, a professor of accounting and management information systems at Ohio State University, that looked at corporate headcount disclosures.

The researchers found that companies that break out their U.S. headcount usually hire more U.S. workers. Companies that don't disclose their headcount may be moving jobs overseas or shrinking their U.S. workforces, and are worried about a public and employee backlash if that information is made public, Liao said, in an interview.

The nondisclosing companies "are hiding that information because they don't want the public, or the employees, to know their geographic deployment," he said.

If the law were changed to require geographic disclosures of employees headcounts, "it's possible" that more companies would hire domestically, Liao said, but he couldn't be certain of it.

Many U.S. tech companies don't report U.S. headcounts, but those that do may fit the model described by Beatty and Liao in their research paper.

Microsoft, for instance, discloses its U.S. headcount in its annual reports and increased its domestic workforce last year. In 2015, the company reported 118,000 full-time employees globally, 60,000 of them employed in the U.S., and 58,000 internationally. In 2016, Microsoft's overall workforce declined to 114,000, but its U.S. workforce increased to 63,000, and its international workforce declined to 51,000.

But another company, IBM, stopped providing its U.S. headcount in 2010. It's U.S. workforce had been declining as its overseas workforce increased. It now only provides a global headcount in its annual reports.
The U.S. Senate's leading proponent for increasing the H-1B visa cap is Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). His previous legislative efforts have infuriated critics of the visa program. Hatch's 2015 visa cap-increasing bill, I-Squared, was so awful, said the IEEE-USA, that it would "help destroy" the U.S. tech workforce.

Hatch is updating his I-Squared bill with reforms he hopes buy leeway with his critics. That doesn't seem likely.

Hatch heads the Republicans' High-Tech Task Force, which on Thursday released its "Innovation Agenda." In presenting it, Hatch remained adamant that the U.S. suffers from a shortage of STEM workers and needs high-skilled foreign workers. But he says some employers abuse the H-1B visa.

"We need to ensure that this system is not manipulated to undercut domestic wages or displace American workers," said Hatch, in a statement. "Unfortunately, a handful of bad actors has created a great deal of unease about H-1B visas by misusing the system to offshore jobs to foreign workers. We've all seen the news reports."

Hatch may be referring to stories such as the displacement of workers at Disney, Southern California Edison, New York Life, Cengage Learning, SunTrust Banks, Hertz, MassMutual, Health Care Service Corporation, Emblem Health, the University of California at San Francisco, and other organizations.

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The IEEE-USA, an association of about 200,000 engineering, computing and technology professionals, said it applauds Hatch's "recognition that the H-1B program is dominated by outsourcers," said Russell Harrison, the association's director of governmental affairs. But he called on Hatch to take action now by urging President Donald Trump to change the visa lottery.

The U.S. will hold its annual H-1B visa lottery on April 1. The IEEE-USA is urging Trump to change how the lottery works.

The H-1B rules recognize, broadly, two types of companies. There are H-1B dependent firms, with 15% or more visa workers, and non-dependent firms, with less than that percentage. H-1B dependent firms are mostly IT offshore outsourcing firms.

The IEEE-USA wants the lottery to give priority to non-dependent firms in the H-1B distribution, and move the dependent firms to the back of the line.

"That will go a long way to solving two of the problems Hatch identifies -- it will free up 50,000 H-1B visas for the employers the senator likes, and it will cripple H-1B outsourcers whose business model is to take jobs from Americans," said Harrison.

But the time for taking action is short, said Harrison. The Trump administration can change the lottery through an interim regulation, but it has to make the change by the end of February to give the rule the 30 days it needs before it can take effect by April 1.

The H-1B visa cap is set at 85,000, with 20,000 set aside for advanced degree graduates of U.S. schools. Firms that offshore work based in the U.S., and in India, have gotten as many as half of the 65,000 H-1B visas set aside under the so-called base cap.

Among Hatch's proposals are capping the number of visas any single employer can apply for, and requiring employers to attest that they first tried to hire an American worker. He also proposed something called a "shot clock" rule that will revoke a visa if it isn't used within a certain period of time.

Hatch also called for easing the pressure on the H-1B visas "by streamlining the process for green cards."

The last time that Hatch introduced the I-Squared bill, in 2015, it called for increasing the H-1B cap from 65,000 to 115,000. It allowed the cap to rise as high as 195,000, depending on demand. The Hatch bill also "uncapped" the U.S. advanced degree exemption.

Hatch's office issued a press release late Thursday with supporting statements from Oracle, Microsoft, the Consumer Technology Association, and other industry groups.

But others had different views about Hatch's latest effort.

"I can't think of any time that Senator Hatch has proposed or pushed for measures that would protect or improve the wages and working conditions of American or migrant workers," said Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research at the Economic Policy Institute. "In fact, he's constantly pushed for the opposite -- by proposing a vast expansion of the flawed H-1B program and opposing commonsense reforms like those proposed in legislation from Senators Durbin and Grassley."

Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) are Hatch's chief rivals on this issue.

Grassley and Durbin worked to get H-1B reforms in the 2013 comprehensive immigration bill. They wanted, in particular, a requirement that employers make a "good faith" effort to hire a U.S. worker before bringing on an H-1B worker. But Hatch successfully fought that effort. Costa also said that Hatch "wrongly scapegoats 'a handful of bad actors,' that have abused the H-1B program -- suggesting that the documented cases of replacing U.S. workers with lower-paid H-1B workers is the only problem with the program," he said.

The visa program allows "all companies that hire H-1B workers to not just replace U.S. workers, but also to avoid hiring U.S. workers in the first place, and allows companies to pay the H-1B workers they hire much less than they deserve according to U.S. wage standards," said Costa.

Hatch's argument that the U.S. faces a shortage of STEM workers is in dispute. In 2015, Hal Salzman, a professor of planning and public policy at Rutgers University, told the Senate Immigration Subcommittee that "the U.S. supply of top-performing graduates is large and far exceeds the hiring needs of the STEM industries, with only half of new STEM graduates finding jobs in a STEM occupation."

In response to Hatch's latest effort, Salzman said some of the proposals Hatch is suggesting could provide meaningful reform for the visa program. But he said rather than "try to tinker with a fundamentally flawed bill" -- the I-Squared bill -- he said that Hatch should work with previous bills, those authored by former Sen. Jeff Sessions, who is now the U.S. Attorney General, and the Grassley and Durbin effort, which he said are bills "that actually provide real reform."
When your computer crashes or phone freezes, don't be so quick to blame the manufacturer. Cosmic rays may be your real foe, or rather the electrically charged particles they generate.

While harmless to living organisms, a small number of these particles have enough energy to interfere with the operation of the microelectronic circuitry in our personal devices. It's called a single-event upset or SEU.

During an SEU, particles alter an individual bit of data stored in a chip's memory. Consequences can be as trivial as altering a single pixel in a photograph or as serious as bringing down a passenger jet.

An SEU was also blamed for an electronic voting error in Schaerbeekm, Belgium, back in 2003. A bit flip in the electronic voting machine added 4,096 extra votes to one candidate. The issue was only noticed because the machine gave the candidate more votes than were possible.

"This is a really big problem, but it is mostly invisible to the public," said Bharat Bhuva. Bhuva is a member of Vanderbilt University's Radiation Effects Research Group, which was established in 1987 to study the effects of radiation on electronic systems. The group initially focused on military and space applications, but since 2001, has expanded to studying radiation's effect on consumer electronics.

Bhuva, a professor of electrical engineering at Vanderbilt, gave a presentation on SEUs Friday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston.

Despite some serious examples, SEUs are still fairly rare events. But as the number of transistors being used in new electronic systems increases, so does the probability of an SEU failure on the device level.

Semiconductor manufactures seem to have caught on to the trend and are working to diminish the interference of cosmic rays. For instance, back in 2008, Fujitsu engineers climbed a Hawaiian volcano to better understand how comic rays cause computer errors.

One way to decrease the probability of SEUs is to design the processors in pairs of threes and have them vote. It's an approach that NASA is already using its spacecraft computer systems.
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Waughtown Street in southeastern Winston-Salem, home to a large immigrant population with cultural ties to Latin America, usually bustles at midday.

Cafeteria-style tables at La Perlita, a Mexican restaurant, teem with workers on their lunch hour trying to fill their bellies. Carniceria El Rey sells cuts of meat. Down the road, cars pack the parking lot of Southeast Plaza, where shoppers buy groceries at Gamma Foods.

Not Thursday.

This was a Day Without Immigrants, a national event that started primarily through social media. Immigrants and their non-immigrant supporters, many of them Hispanic, some of them unauthorized to be in the United States, staged a boycott of sorts.

From larger cities such as Charlotte to smaller cities such as Winston-Salem, they did not work, shop, open businesses, attend class or send their children to school.

The idea was to demonstrate that immigrants  including unauthorized immigrants as well as their U.S. citizen relatives  make up an important part of the country, according to Peter Siavelis, a professor in Wake Forest Universitys politics and international-affairs department.

Theres no distinction anymore among immigrants, whether authorized or authorized, visa holders or green-card holders, Siavelis said. And they were not making demands, just saying that they work hard and are not second-class citizens, even those who are U.S. citizens, he said.

The demonstration was in part motivated by President Donald Trumps executive order targeting unauthorized immigrants in the United States.

Mark Atkinson, an immigration lawyer in Winston-Salem, describes it as the kitchen sink order because it directs U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to treat most of the estimated 11 million unauthorized immigrants as a high priority for deportation  even those who have not been charged with a crime.

By comparison, in the later years of President Barack Obama administration, those with serious criminal records were classified as a high priority.

As part of his reasoning, Obama cited the use of prosecutorial discretion because the immigration courts in the United States can handle only so many cases. As things stand, there is a backlog of about 533,000 cases, according to Syracuse Universitys Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC, which researches data related to immigration cases in the United States.

Last week, ICE detained 190 people in the Carolinas and Georgia  84 of them in North Carolina.

If you have your hand on the pulse of immigrants, its the fear that Trump has put in immigrants  Latinos  even legal immigrants, Siavelis said.

School absences

For Valeria Cobos, Its about showing people that were here.

Cobos was brought to the United States without authorization when she was less than 2 years old by her parents from Mexico and has lived in Winston-Salem since 2001.

Now 25, she is a legal permanent resident, a green-card holder with an 8-year-old son in elementary school. On Thursday, she did not show up for her customer-service job at a local credit union. She did not attend class at Salem College, and she kept her son out of school.

Rather, Cobos went to Charlotte with her son to participate in a large demonstration there connected with Day Without Immigrants. There were white people, black people, middle-aged and young, she said: That was my biggest joy, to see this coming together. Were your neighbors.

Her son was not the only one who stayed out of school.

Nearly 10,000 students were absent from Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools  more than twice as many students as were absent the day before. Brent Campbell, a spokesman for the school system, said absences did spike Thursday  to nearly one-fifth of the systems student population  but school officials couldnt cite a specific reason for the absences.

We cant attribute that to any one thing, as we dont ask why students are absent, Campbell said.

Shelia Burnette, the principal at Konnoak Elementary School, knew exactly why more than one-third of her students were absent Thursday.

We expected it, Burnette said. We have a large population of students who are new to our country or have family members who are new.

About half of Konnoaks students are Hispanic.

Burnette said the school operated as usual, even with 236 students absent. The absences will be treated normally, she said.

We know parents had to make a difficult decision, to have their child at school or not, she said. We know they have the right to do that and support that right.

Many other schools in the school system, primarily those with a large number of Hispanic students, saw similar spikes in absences.

At Hall-Woodward and Forest Park elementary schools, more than half of each schools students were absent Thursday. Hispanic students make up more than two-thirds of each schools student body.

Other schools were largely unaffected by the Day Without Immigrants. Schools where Hispanic students make up less than 15 percent of the population saw little to no change in their absent rate Thursday.

People just

like you and me

Some businesses that rely heavily on Hispanic workers were open, including Mi Pueblo off Lewisville-Clemmons Road in Clemmons and Pancho Villas on South Stratford Road. Some closed early, such as Midtown Cafe and Desserty, also on South Stratford. Restaurants in other areas of Winston-Salem were also closed, including the Guadalajara restaurant on Peters Creek Parkway and Compare Foods on Silas Creek Parkway.

Raquel Severino drove up to Compare for groceries to find out it was closed.

These are people just like you and me. They pay rent. They feed their families. They work hard, said Severino, 35, of Dominican descent.

Like Severino, Rosa Bibiano also found out that Compare was closed when she drove up.

Its a good thing, what theyre doing, Bibiano, 38, said in Spanish. Hispanics are doing this to give people a sense that they are important for this country.

In the Waughtown area, streets that usually buzz with activity at noon were empty, which took Nathan Hampton by surprise as he had driven to a convenience store to pay his power bill.

Every race has bad people and good people, said Hampton, who is black. The bad people  they should be deported. The good people  something should be worked out so they can stay.
Fans of the namaste bow or tree pose will soon have a new studio to practice their regular stretching and breathing techniques, as Essential Yoga recently held its soft opening at 140 West Richardson Street (upstairs from Katie Mae's) in Summerville's historic downtown area. Read moreEssential Yoga debuts in Summerville
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Maan News Agency |  

BETHLEHEM (Maan)  Following a controversial meeting held Wednesday between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli and Palestinian leaders reacted with praise and condemnation in response to a clear shift in US policy away from backing the two-state solution.

Trump responded to a question on Wednesday regarding his administrations position on the two-state solution during a press conference preceding the meeting, a day after a US official said that the country was not necessarily committed to the policy as the sole way out of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Im looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like, Trump said, eliciting laughter from Netanyahu. I can live with either one.

While members of the international community have rested the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the discontinuation of illegal Israeli settlements and the establishment of a two-state solution, a growing number of Palestinian activists have criticized the two-state solution as unsustainable and unlikely to bring durable peace given the existing political context, proposing instead a binational state with equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians.

Israeli reactions

Right-wing Israeli politicians were quick to applaud the meeting between Trump and Netanyahu, with Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoting far-right Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett as saying that the Palestinian flag has been taken off the flagpole and was replaced with the Israeli flag. The Palestinians already have two states  Gaza and Jordan. There is no need for a third.

He also wrote on social media: A new era. New ideas. No need for third Palestinian state beyond Jordan and Gaza. Big day for Israelis and reasonable Arabs.

Bennett had previously expressed his support for Trump, saying in November following the US presidential elections that a Trump presidency would mark the end of a push for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

Trumps victory is an opportunity for Israel to immediately retract the notion of a Palestinian state in the center of the country (Israel), which would hurt our security and just cause, Bennett said at the time. This is the position of the President-elect, as written in his platform, and it should be our policy, plain and simple. The era of a Palestinian state is over.

Meanwhile, Israels Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan from the Likud Party was quoted by Haaretz as saying that Trumps stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict proves we are in a new era. The positions the president took indicate an understanding that the two-state solution is not the only solution for achieving peace and that the time has come to reverse the equation and exert pressure on the Palestinian side.

Right-wing ministers across the board indicated their view that Israel was entering a new era not restricted by the two-state solution or longstanding peace standards established by the international community.

Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev, also from the Likud party, reportedly said that the era of the freeze has ended. Its the end of the [construction] freeze in Judea and Samaria, an Israeli term for the West Bank, adding that a new diplomatic era began in Washington today.

Other right-wing ministers expressed their relief that the Israeli government no longer had to maintain an image of supporting the two-state solution which international peace efforts have focused on for decades as a route out of the Israeli-Palestinian impasse.

Finally the end has come for a mistaken and dangerous idea: setting up a Palestinian terror state in the heart of the Land of Israel, Israeli Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis was quoted by Haaretz as saying.

Meanwhile, Knesset member Shelly Yacimovic from the Zionist Union, considered to be more left-wing in the Israeli political landscape, reportedly stated that Trumps remarks on Wednesday evening did not differ in any major way from previous US administrations, pointing out that Trump had expressed his disapproval of Israeli settlement expansions and articulated his support for finding a solution that benefits both parties.

Palestinian and international reactions

Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour released a statement following the press conference saying that peace would not be achieved without determining the basis of the peace process, and highlighted the fact that the majority of the international community continued to support a two-state solution despite Trump and Netanyahus comments.

Meanwhile, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qasim called on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to abandon negotiations with Israel and the belief that the US is capable of acting as a mediator to the peace process, adding that Trump had made it clear that the current and previous US administrations were biased in favor of Israel.

The US has never been serious about giving the Palestinian people their rights, he said in the statement, adding that the US has only provided a cover for Israel to continue its aggression against the Palestinian people and confiscation of our lands.

He also said that the US administration backing down from its already weak position on the two-state solution indicated an escalation of US bias in favor of the Israeli occupation.

Fatah official Rafaat Elayyan also released a statement condemning the meeting, saying that Netanyahu and Trump had publicly killed the dream of establishing a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. He also stated that Trump had disregarded international law and all previous agreements between the Palestinians and Israelis to achieve peace in the region.

We are facing today an occupation that refuses to establish an independent state and aims to annex the West Bank and Jerusalem to Israel by expanding settlements supported by the US administration, Elayyan said. He went on to urge the Palestinian leadership to adopt a new strategy based on unification that can end national conflict within Palestine.

If the Trump-Netanyahu meeting is not enough to unify our national front, then we will never be able to confront this challenge, Elayyan added.

Elayyan also said that Palestinians were waiting for the Arab Summit to be held in Amman next month where Muslim and Arab states should take a stand to support Palestinian people and their rights before its too late.

Elayyan added that Trump had given a green light for the Israeli government to continue settlement activity and aggression against the Palestinian people, and underscored that the US would be responsible for any explosive situation in the region.

The Palestinian people will continue our fight towards freedom and democracy, he said.

Meanwhile, Media Commissioner of the Fatah movement Nasser al-Qudwa said that rejecting the two-state solution is rejecting the peace process, and underscored that any substitute would be a bloody and painful confrontation.

He also said that the move away from the two-state solution would not make the Palestinian state disappear or weaken the Palestinian idea for an independent state, and that a one-state solution where all citizens would be equal is pure nonsense and impossible.

Al-Qudwa added that the Palestinian leadership and Fatah had a clear position stressing the importance of Palestinian national existence and the establishment of a Palestinian state, noting that Palestinian rights were non-negotiable.

The left-wing Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said in a statement that the Trump-Netanyahu meeting marked a clear turning point to terminate Palestinian goals, adding that the policy shift represented a violation of international law.

The PFLP highlighted five steps it believed must be conducted to confront the recent US-Israeli policy shift: declare a unified Palestinian stance rejecting US-Israeli policies; withdraw Palestinian recognition of Israel; hold an urgent meeting between all national and Islamic forces to prepare a new national strategy to address oncoming challenges and protect national rights; end the Palestinian national conflict immediately and continue efforts to hold a Palestinian national council session; and cease the PAs creation of illusions on the international stage and pull out of the Oslo Accords.

Meanwhile, High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said on Wednesday that the EU would always support the two-state solution, adding that there is no doubt that our embassy [Italian] will stay in Tel Aviv and we are still convinced that the solution is coexistence between two states Israel and Palestine.

On Wednesday, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Secretary-General Saeb Erekat said that the two-state solution was already a hard-reached compromise as a basis for peaceful conflict resolution, and that the proposed Israeli alternative to such a solution would equal to apartheid.

(The two-state solution) represents a painful and historic Palestinian compromise of recognizing Israel over 78 percent of historic Palestine, he said. Today, almost six million Palestinians live under Israeli control in all of historic Palestine, while almost six million Palestinians live in exile.

Contrary to Netanyahus plan of one state and two systems, apartheid, the only alternative to two sovereign and democratic states on the 1967 border is one single secular and democratic state with equal rights for everyone, Christians, Muslims, and Jews, on all of historic Palestine, Erekat stated.

Via Maan News Agency

-

Related video added by Juan Cole:

Al Jazeera: Trump drops US commitment to Israel-Palestine two-state solution
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By Frida Berrigan | ( Tomdispatch.com ) |  

So reality has inexorably, inescapably penetrated my life. It didnt take long. Yes, Donald Trump is actually the president of the United States. In that guise, in just his first weeks in office, hes already declared war on language, on loving, on people who are different from him  on the kind of world, in short, that I want to live in. Hes promised to erect high walls, keep some people in and others out and lock up those he despises, while threatening to torture and abuse with impunity.

Still, a small personal miracle emerges from this nightmare. It turns out that, despite growing up an anarchist protest kid who automatically read Howard Zinns A Peoples History of the United States alongside the official textbooks, I love this country more each day. So I find myself eternally upset about our new political reality-show, about a man so thin-skinned he lashes out at everything and so insulated in his own alt-reality that no response to him seems to matter.

Above all, I am so mad. Yeah, Im mad at all those people who voted for Trump and even madder at the ones who didnt vote at all. Im mad at everyone who thinks the sum total of their contribution to the political well-being of this country is voting every two or four years. Im mad at our corporate-political system and how easily distracted people are. Im steaming mad, but mostly at myself.

Yep, Im mad at myself and at the Obamas. They made empire look so good! Their grace and intelligence, their obvious love for one another and the way they telegraphed a certain approachability and reasonableness. So attractive! They were fun  or at least they looked like that on social media. Michelle in the karaoke car with Missy Elliot singing Beyonce and talking about global girls education! Barack and a tiny Superman at a White House Halloween party. Michelle, unapologetically fierce after Trumps demeaning Access Hollywood comments came to light. I loved those Obamas, despite my politics and my analysis. I was supposed to resist all his efforts at world domination through drones and sweeping trade deals and instead I fell a little bit in love, even as I marched and fasted and tried to resist.

Falling in Love With My Country

Now, we have a new president. And my love is gone, along with my admiration, my pride, and my secret wish to attend a state dinner and chat with the Obamas over local wine and grass-fed beef sliders.

Whats not gone, though, whats strangely stronger than ever, is my love for this country.

I didnt love the United States under Jimmy Carter or Ronald Reagan or Bush the First. I was a kid and they were names on protest banners and headlines in the news. My parents were the Catholic peace activists Liz McAlister and Phil Berrigan, and I grew up in an anarchist collective of Christian resisters. My parents and their friends went to jail repeatedly and resolutely. We demonstrated, rallied, and railed at every institution of power in Washington. Those presidents made the adults around me angry and agitated, so they scared me.

I didnt love the United States under Bill Clinton either  I was young and in college and opposed to everything  nor under George W. Bush. I was young and in New York City and still opposed to almost everything.

I started calling myself a New Yorker three years after moving there when, on a sunny Tuesday morning, airplanes became weapons, tall towers fell, and 3,000 people died. I emerged from my routine subway ride at 14th Street, unaware and unscathed, to stand still with the rest of the city and watch the sky turn black. I spent the rest of that day in Manhattan with friends trying to reach my parents and following the news, as we all tried (and failed) to come to grips with the new reality. Once the bridges reopened, we walked home to Brooklyn that evening, terrified and shell-shocked.

9/11 provided the rationale for sweeping changes in Washington. War by fiat, paid for in emergency supplementals that circumvented Congressional processes; a new Department of Homeland Security (where did that word homeland even come from?); a proliferation of increasingly muscular intelligence agencies; and a new brand of legal scholarship that justified both torture and indefinite detention, while tucking secret black sites away in foreign countries. All this as the United States went to war against terrorism  against, that is, an idea, a fringe sentiment that, no matter how heavily weaponized, had been marginalized until the United States put it on the map by declaring war on it.

The U.S. then invaded and occupied big time, including a country that had nothing to do with the terrorists who had attacked us, and weve been at war ever since at a heavy cost  now inching toward $5 trillion. Conservative estimates of how many people have been killed in the many war zones of what used to be called the Global War on Terror is 1.3 to 2 million. The number of U.S. military personnel who have lost their lives is easier to put a number to: more than 7,000, but that doesnt count private contractors (aka mercenaries), or those (far more difficult to quantify) who later committed suicide. Now, President Trump has begun adding to this bloody death toll, having ordered his first (disastrous) strike, a Special Operations raid on Yemen, which killed as many as 30 civilians, including children, and resulted in the death of an American Navy SEAL as well.

September 11th was a long time ago. But I finally fell in love with my country in the days following that awful attack. I saw for the first time a certain strain of patriotism that swept me away, a strain that says we are stronger together than alone, stronger than any blow that strikes us, stronger in our differences, stronger in our unities. Im talking about the kind of patriotism that said: dont you dare tell us to go to Disney World, Mr. President! (That was, of course, after George W. Bush had assured us that, while he made war, our response as citizens to 9/11 should be to get down to Disney World in Florida. Take your families and enjoy life, the way we want it to be enjoyed.)

Instead of heeding that lame advice, some of us went out and began to try to solve problems and build community. I had read about it in books  the labor movement of the 1920s and 1930s and the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s  but I hadnt seen it myself, hadnt been a part of it before, and I fell in love.

Of course, the drumbeat for war started instantly in Washington and was echoed throughout the nation, but many of us  the intended victims of that attack  said our grief is not a cry for war. We circled around the victims families; we reminded America that it wasnt only lawyers and hedge-fund managers who died that day, but cooks and couriers and homeless people and undocumented immigrants, too.

We pulled people from the rubble. We made the pile a place of sacred memory long before a huge monument and gift shop were erected there. We honored the first responders who died, we stood up for Muslims and Arabs and all those whom ignorance scapegoated. We marched against war in Afghanistan and then in far vaster numbers against war in Iraq. We called for an international police response to those acts of terrorism  that weapon of the weak, not the powerful  instead of the unilateral, militarized approach adopted by the Bush administration. We celebrated, and saw as a strength, New Yorks incredible diversity. We made art and music and poetry. We prayed in all languages to all the names of God.

The Donald, a One-Man 9/11

I guess Ive been thinking about September 2001 again because, only weeks into his presidency, Donald Trump already seems like a one-man 9/11. Hes ridden roughshod over business as usual without even a geopolitical crisis or calamity as an excuse  and thats not so surprising since Trump himself is that calamity.

With a razor-thin mandate, considerable bluster, and a voracious appetite for alt-facts (lies), hes not so much tipping over the apple cart as declaring war on apples, carts, and anything else beginning with the letter A or C.

It seems almost that random and chaotic. In these weeks, hes shown a particular appetite for upending convention, saying screw you to just about everyone and everything, while scrapping the rules of decorum and diplomacy. With a sweep of his pen and a toss of his hair, he takes away visas, nullifies months of work by advocates for refugees, and sends U.S. Special Forces off to kill and be killed. With a few twitches of his thumbs he baits Mexico, disses China, and throws shade at federal judges. With a few ill-chosen words about Black History month (comments that would have been better written by my 10 year old), he resurrects Frederick Douglass, disparages inner cities, and slams the dishonest media again (and again and again). His almost-month as president can be described as busy and brash, but it barely hides the banality of greed.

Flying Our Flag

Sure, Donald Trumps a new breed, but perhaps in the end our resistance will make him the aberration he should be, rather than the new normal. So many of his acts are aimed at demeaning, degrading, demonizing, and denigrating, but hes already failing  by driving so many of us to a new radical patriotism. Im not the only one falling in love with this country again and this love looks like resistance  a resistance that, from the first moments of the Trump era, has seemed to be almost everywhere you looked.

Even at his inauguration, a group of young people stood on chairs wearing matching sweatshirts spelling out R-E-S-I-S-T in big letters. They had positioned themselves in the inner ring of the Capitol and were loud and visible as Chief Justice John Roberts swore the new president into office. The environmental group Greenpeace greeted Trumps White House with a daring banner drop from a crane across the street  a huge, bright banner also emblazoned with RESIST. Pink woolen pussy hats were popularized by the Womens March, a global event and possibly the largest demonstration in American history, one that rekindled our hope and strengthened our resolve on inauguration weekend. Now, those hats help us recognize and salute one another.

Were working hard. Were tying up the phone lines all over Capitol Hill, turning town halls into rowdy rallies for health care and human rights, shelling out money to support Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, the immigration lawyers fighting for people barred from the U.S. and the closest Black Lives Matter chapter. Were getting organized, getting trained, getting prepared, and getting connected. And were doing it all with a sense of humor: the Bowling Green Massacre Victims Fund? Priceless!

We are, in short, resisting in old ways and new.

Given my background, its no surprise that Im not a flag waver. While growing up, I learned a lot more about what was wrong with my country than about what was right with it. But Im seeing so much thats right about it in this new Trump era of engagement or, if you prefer, call it radical patriotism. Im mad Im scared Im hopeful Im still in love  more so than ever  with this country Trump is trying to hijack.

I dont live in a big city any more. Im not a scrappy kid in my early thirties either. Im a mother of three kids and a homeowner. Ive sunk my roots in a small, struggling, stalwart community along Connecticuts eastern shoreline and Im planning to live here for the rest of my life.

New London is a community of 27,000 or so, poor and diverse. Its almost a majority-minority community, in fact. Were home to three refugee families settled from Syria and Sudan. We have a good school system, getting better all the time. Every Wednesday, the chefs at the middle school up the street from my house cook a meal, open the cafeteria, and invite the whole community to eat dinner for five dollars per person. I went with my girls a couple of weeks ago for Cajun shrimp stew and white rice. The room was full and the mood was high. Young professionals and hipsters with kids ate alongside folks who had just stood in line for an hour and a half for a free box of food from the United Way across the street and gotten a free meal coupon as well for their troubles.

New Londons mayor held a press conference soon after in the lobby of City Hall where the heads of all the city departments asserted their support for immigrants and refugees in our community. The last city council meeting was standing room only as people pushed an ordinance to keep fracking waste out of our area.

The weekend after the inauguration, my husband and I raised a flagpole on the second story porch of our house and hung a rainbow peace flag from it. I look up at it every morning waving in the breeze and Im glad I live here, in this country, in this moment of radical upsurge and a new spirit of patriotism.

Im talking to my neighbors. Im going to city council meetings. Im writing letters to the editor of our local paper. Im taking my Sudanese neighbors grocery shopping and to the post office. Im loaded for bear (nonviolently, of course) if anyone tries to mess with them.

My kids are the anti-Trumps. We went to the womens march in Hartford, Mommy, two-year-old Madeline shouts every time she hears the word woman. She knows enough to be proud of that. Look, Mommy! They have a flag like ours! says four-year-old Seamus with delight whenever he sees another rainbow, even if its just a sticker. Hes learning to recognize our tribe of patriots.

Were engaged, were awake, were in love, and no one is taking our country from us.

Frida Berrigan, a TomDispatch regular, writes the Little Insurrections blog for WagingNonviolence.org, is the author of It Runs In The Family: On Being Raised By Radicals and Growing Into Rebellious Motherhood, and lives in New London, Connecticut.

Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on Facebook. Check out the newest Dispatch Book, John Feffers dystopian novel Splinterlands, as well as Nick Turses Next Time Theyll Come to Count the Dead, and Tom Engelhardts latest book, Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single-Superpower World.

Copyright 2017 Frida Berrigan

Via Tomdispatch.com
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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |  

So Trump did rant and rave at the press on Thursday. But not at all the press. He has never attacked Breitbart, the vehicle for white supremacist falsehoods piloted by his Rasputin, Neofascist Steve Bannon (White House chief of strategy and National Security Council eminence grise).

And that is the real significance of his accusation that the major corporate media outlets are fake news. What he means by that is their refusal to adopt a white supremacist editorial line.

He doesnt actually mind fake news, or he would fire Bannon and dissociate himself from Breitbart, which is mostly filled with far-right racist falsehoods. There was, for instance, the fake news about the alleged Muslim immigrant mass rapes in Cologne a little over a year ago. Breitbart beat the drums for it, but the the story was not true. Or then there was the phony story about Muslims burning a church in Germany, also played up by Breitbart and also not true. Trump is deeply influenced by Bannons insane conspiracy theories; if you want to know why he keeps saying false and/or unbalanced things, consider that he gets his news from alt-Neonazi toilet paper like Breitbart.

He is attacking mainstream media for not following the Breitbart lead, and for disrupting the narrative that he and Bannon are trying to spread, of persecuted white people suffering at the hands of invading Mexicans, Chinese and Arabs.

He minds the mainstream media giving over their airwaves to critics of his Muslim ban (not everyone has; Rupert Murdochs Faux News has been a cheerleader for it and even MSNBCs Chris Matthews has insisted that Judge James Robart and the panel at the 9th Circuit were out of line in challenging it).

He minds the mainstream media reporting on the spike in threats to synagogues since he was inaugurated, and on his White House refusal to mention Jews in his Holocaust message (other people suffered). That is why he was so rude to Jake Turx of Ami magazine. Bannon and Trump think the liberal Jewish elite are behind Fed monetary policy and pro-immigration policy (i.e. the Jews are to blame for the Muslims).

He minds negative coverage of his policies toward Mexico, including his smearing of Mexican-Americans as rapists and drug dealers and threat to send down US security forces to take care of their bad hombres. He has no Latino cabinet members. He clearly does not like Latinos or think they belong in the US (even though old Castilian Californio families have been here since 1769, rather before the petty grifter Frederick Trumpf began his seedy activities in 1885 in Queens).

What Trump is trying to do by vilifying the corporate media is to bring them to heel and to put pressure on them to bring more Breitbart and Stormfront commentators on air to spew Trumpist talking points.

Ironically, Jared Kushner is also playing a role in trying to bring e.g. CNN to heel. Hell be sorry.

This is not cute, folks, and for all the giggles it produces on the late night opening monologues, it is extremely sinister.

When someone like Trump moves the signposts on allowable public discourse, things can get ugly fast. You start having panels on cable news at 2 pm debating about whether African-Americans have only themselves to blame because of their laziness and violence. (You can tell this is propaganda because self-contradictory; lazy people wouldnt have the vim for violence). You start having anchors who think that Islam is an intrinsically violent or anti-democratic religion (this has already happened on HBO via phony liberal and stealth supremacist Bill Maher). You start having commentators opining on the dangers of undocumented immigrants voting in New Hampshire.

Trump hopes to keep the pressure on, by portraying independent news and commentary as inherently false and unfair, and to use his shock troops to intimidate the media into taking his line, which is to say, the Neofascist line.

Trump went on to boast about his New Improved Mussolini foreign policy:

I have directed our defense community headed by our great general, now Secretary [James] Mattis. Hes over there now working very hard to submit a plan for the defeat of ISIS, a group that celebrates the murder and torture of innocent people in large sections of the world. It used to be a small group, now its in large sections of the world.Theyve spread like cancer. ISIS has spread like cancer  another mess I inherited.

ISIL does not actually murder people in large sections of the world. Obama rolled it back into being a relatively small terrorist group. All it has left in Iraq is part of the city of Mosul; it has half of dusty, remote Raqqa province in Syria. It has been kicked out of Sirte in Libya, in part by Obamas AFricom strategy. While small terrorist cells can hit anywhere at any time, portraying ISIL as actively committing massive violence in large sections of the world is just vast exaggeration and fear-mongering.

Then he said:

And we have imposed new sanctions on the nation of Iran, who has totally taken advantage of our previous administration, and theyre the worlds top sponsor of terrorism, and were not going to stop until that problem is properly solved. And its not properly solved now, its one of the worst agreements Ive ever seen drawn by anybody.

In fact, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis has made it clear that he is not tearing up the Iran nuclear agreement, so Trump may as well stop complaining about that deal. Trump doesnt seem to realize that his own policy is to support Russia in Syria, and Russia is allied with Iran in Syria. Moreover, ISIL was only rolled up in Iraq with Iranian help.

Iran is not the worlds primary backer of terrorism, despite what Washington pols keep saying. They considered Hizbullahs struggle to liberate illegally occupied south Lebanon from Israeli occupation to be terrorism, and minded that Iran backed Hizbullah. A country like the US, which waged a war of aggression on Iraq, set in train the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, bombed urban residential districts, made four million Iraqis homeless, and left behind a country of orphans and widows, really doesnt have room to criticize Iran, which has not launched a war of aggression on a neighbor in modern history.

Then Trump boasted about plans to vastly expand the Pentagon budget. The US has less than 10,000 troops in Afghanistan and half that in Iraq. Aside from those two situations, America is not at war. Yet is has a military budget that roughly 40 percent of world military spending! The US is 5 percent of the world population. With the exception of some police actions we arent at war. We dont need all that military spending.

Actually, if Trump worked to make Central America more prosperous, that would be a much better use of several hundred billion dollars going to the Pentagon. And that step, not building a wall, is what would reduce immigration to the US across its southern border (though note that already, more Mexicans leave annually than come in, because of the good Mexican economy).

None of this is funny. Bad.

Juan Cole



Related video:

Press, fake news, leaks and Russia: Highlights from Trump presser  BBC Newsnight
JURIST Guest Columnist Jessica Evans of Human Rights Watch, discusses ongoing litigation regarding the World Banks International Finance Corporations immunity to civil suit 

A few days ago, I had the rare opportunity to watch an arm of the World Bank answer in court for the harm one of its projects allegedly caused.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector lending arm of the World Bank, responded to allegations that a power plant it financed harmed fisher folk in Gujarat, India. Such cases are exceptional because the World Bank Group typically claims immunity as an international organization, which US courts have largely accepted.

While private banks manage to lend internationally without immunity, the IFCwhich lends money to companies with the aim of achieving the World Bank Groups twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperitycontends that it needs immunity from the poor in order to do business.

There is little recourse for communities harmed by World Bank-financed projects. The communities can appeal to the institutions apparent good will, hope that the media will shame the institution into doing the right thing or complain to the institutions internal, independent accountability mechanisms. The IFCs accountability mechanism, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman, investigates alleged violations of IFC policy. But it is the IFC that determines how to address the investigators findings and often it chooses not to.

In India, fishing communities and farmers unsuccessfully tried this approach. Even after the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman found that the IFC had breached its policies, the IFC didnt fix the problems. So, in April 2015, these communities sued the IFC in the US District Court in Washington. They alleged that the pollution from the IFC-funded Tata Mundra coal-fired power plant in the state of Gujarat was a threat to their health and had destroyed their livelihoods and property. The District Court dismissed the case, finding that the IFC had not waived its immunity.

The communities lawyers, EarthRights International, are asking the US Court of Appeals to overturn the District Courts decision and rule that the IFCs immunity is not absolute. They have asked the court to find a narrow gap in the IFCs immunity for cases in which the IFCs accountability body determined that the IFC caused harm to communities by not complying with its own rules, and in which the IFC failed to address these findings. The case, Budha Ismail Jam v. International Finance Corporation, was heard before a three judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The IFC argued that losing absolute immunity would open the floodgates for a host of other lawsuits against them. One judge seemed incredulous, asking counsel to clarify that this was in fact the IFCs argument. Is it so commonplace for the IFC to defy its own rules that a deluge of cases would follow? The IFCs lawyer also said that the IFC would be less willing to make loans if a court could hold the IFC to account when it disregards its own policies.

Meanwhile, the IFC still wont address the problems with Tata Mundra. The day after the hearing, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman published its most recent monitoring report, highlighting that the IFC still has not fixed the problems it identified more than three years ago. The IFC is sending a clear message that left to its own devices, it wont comply with its policies or address the problems it creates. It refuses to fix its mistakes while communities continue to suffer. If the IFC is confident that it is not responsible for the harm the community claimed, it should waive immunity and argue the case on its merits.

This lawsuit could have been avoided if the IFCs board of executive directors required IFC management to fully address the Compliance Advisor Ombudsmans findings and work with their clients to remedy all harm that communities suffer. The board is composed of IFCs shareholder governments. One judge highlighted the awkward position that the board is putting the court in by failing to do its job.

Tata Mundra is one of several cases in which the IFC has avoided accountability. In November 2016, the ombudsman found that the IFC failed to identify and address basic risks like grossly inadequate living conditions for workers and child labor when it invested in an Indian tea project. The IFC has acknowledged some of the findings, while contesting and failing to address others.

The IFCs immunity puts communities harmed by its investments at the IFCs whim. It allows the IFC to violate its own rules with impunity. Holding the IFC to account is long overdue. No institution should have immunity when it causes, contributes to or exacerbates human rights abuses.

Jessica Evans, a human rights lawyer, is a senior advocate and researcher at Human Rights Watch, focusing on international financial institutions.

Suggested citation: Jessica Evans, The World Banks View Through the Looking Glass, JURIST  Professional Commentary, http://jurist.org/hotline/2017/02/Jessica-Evans-world-bank.php

This article was prepared for publication by Kelly Cullen, a JURIST Assistant Editor. Please direct any questions or comments to him at commentary@jurist.org
[JURIST] A Michigan countys practice of offering Christian-only prayers at public board meetings is unconstitutional [opinion, PDF], the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit [official website] ruled Wednesday. Peter Bormuth filed suit after attending the countys Board of Commissioners meeting. The appeals court ruled that the lower court was wrong in rejecting Bormuths argument that the practice of the commissioners offering the prayer coerced residents to support and practice in the exercise of religion. In analyzing the actions of the board through the Establishment Clause [JURIST backgrounder] of the First Amendment [text], the court stated that this act by the board is considered government speech and that it is unconstitutional as it puts Christianity above other religions:

Accordingly, we hold that the Board of Commissioners use of prayer to begin its monthly meetings violates the First Amendments Establishment Clause. The prayer practice is well outside the tradition of historically tolerated prayer, and it coerces Jackson County residents to support and participate in the exercise of religion.

The appeals court reversed the summary judgment and remanded to the lower court for further proceedings.

The US Supreme Court [official website] ruled [JURIST report] in 2014 Town of Greece v. Galloway [SCOTUSblog backgrounder] that the practice of opening town meetings with a prayer does not violate the Establishment Clause. The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit had ruled [JURIST report] in 2012 that the New York towns practice amounted to an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion. In an opinion by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the court reversed that ruling, finding a permissible ceremonial purpose. In contrast, the Supreme Court of Canada [official website] ruled [judgment, PDF] in 2015 that elected officials do not have the right [JURIST report] to open municipal council meetings with a prayer.
A judge for the US District Court for the District of South Carolina [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Wednesday that the state must place the names of both same-sex parents on their childrens birth certificates. Judge Mary Geiger Lewis determined that the states act preventing the placement of both parents names went against the Supreme Court [official website] decision in Obergefell v. Hodges [JURIST report]. The case centered around [Washington Blade report] a lesbian couple, Casy and Jacqueline Carson, who had twins. South Carolina placed Jacquelines name on the birth certifications as the birth mother but refused to include Casys name. Lewis granted summary judgment in favor of the couple, finding that the states actions violated their Fourteenth Amendment rights as well as their fundamental right to marriage and other protected liberties.

The rights of same-sex couples remains an ongoing issue after the Supreme Courts Obergefell decision. In December the Arkansas Supreme Court upheld a law [JURIST report] that places only the biological parents on the birth certificate, finding that equal protection was not violated by acknowledging basic biological truths. In August New Yorks top court expanded the definition of parent to better accommodate same-sex couples. In May the Alabama Supreme Court vacated [JURIST report] its prior ruling refusing to recognize same-sex adoption from other states. In April a judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi struck down [JURIST report] Mississippis ban on adoption by same-sex partners.
The Parliament of Finland [official website] voted 120-48 [text] on Friday to confirm a law allowing same-sex marriage [text, PDF, in Finnish]. The law faced opposition from the Genuine Marriage Initiative [advocacy website, in Finnish], a conservative group that sought to keep the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman in Finland, the last Nordic country to adopt a same-sex marriage law. Genuine Marriage brought a petition [text, PDF] with more than 106,000 signatures in an attempt to block the law, arguing that a child was entitled to a mother and father. The law, which will allow same-sex spouses to adopt their partners surnames and share healthcare benefits, is scheduled to go into effect March 1. The bill was first proposed to Parliament in 2014 through a petition, after two previous attempts to introduce legislation failed.

Rights for LGBT individuals continue to change. Earlier this month the UK announced [press release] that thousands of gay and bisexual men who were convicted of sexual offenses received a posthumous pardon as their actions are no longer deemed illegal under British law. In January the Texas Supreme Court reversed its previous 8-1 decision [JURIST report], choosing to review a lower court ruling in which that court held cities are required to offer the same benefits to same-sex spouses of employees as to opposite-sex spouses. A UN human rights expert provided a report [JURIST report] to an international conference in Thailand in November regarding discrimination of the lesbian, gay bisexual, transgender and intersex community. Also in November the Ontario legislature passed the All Families are Equal Act [text], recognizing same-sex couples as parents when they utilize assisted reproduction.
The Netherlands has proposed new legislation that will empower its government to block or undo mergers [Dutch News report] in the telecommunications sector. According to a statement [text, in Dutch] from the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs [official website, in Dutch], the industries covered in this bill include what have been termed as telephony and the Internet, internet hubs, data centers and hosting and certification services, as they all constitute important segments for the continuity, reliability and safety of services and infrastructure. As to the rationale behind this proposed bill, the Minister of Economic Affairs Henk Kamp [official website, in Dutch] stated:

Netherlands benefits from the fact that we have an open economy in which the market is doing its job. So we take more business abroad than the other way about. Our country, however, has not benefited from takeovers by foreign companies that are linked to criminal activities, which are classified as financially vulnerable or have a non-transparent ownership structure. Given the national interests at stake, we lay a legal basis for the telecommunications sector in order to prevent such takeovers.

The statement also pointed to the fact that EU law permits member countries to intervene in takeovers for reasons of overriding public interest, such as when national security, public law and order, or security and protection of vitally important industrial sectors in the country are at stake. The draft legislation has now been released for comment by affected stakeholders. Kamp hopes to take the bill to the Council of State in the second quarter of 2017, after which he will take it to the House of Representatives [official websites, in Dutch].

There has been commentary and speculation that this bill has been influenced by the upcoming national elections [Reuters report] next month where the ruling conservative VVD [official website; in Dutch] party is facing a strong challenge from the far-right nationalist Party, Party for Freedom [official website, in Dutch]. Several ethical concerns have emerged with respect to both the parties. Mark Rutte [official website] issued a letter [text, in Dutch] to the public today on the Liberal Party website, saying the Netherlands is quite a cool country, but those who chose to act anti-social should act normal or leave. This language is of concern for some who feel that Ruttes political views are normally to the left of the opposing Party for Freedom [official website], whose leader Geert Wilders [official website] was found guilty of hate speech [JURIST report] in a Netherlands court last month. The trial started [JURIST report] in October without the presence of Wilders himself. The Netherlands prosecutor started an investigation [JURIST report] into the allegations in 2014 after receiving more than 6,400 complaints about the remarks made by Wilders.
An Oklahoma County District Judge on Thursday ordered Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt [official website], the recently confirmed head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [official website], to release thousands of e-mails between his office [text order]* and fossil fuel companies by the close of business on February 21. The order by Judge Aletia Haynes Timmons is the latest development in a lawsuit filed against Pruitt by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy websites] that claims [official complaint] Pruitt violated the Oklahoma Open Records Act [Act text], which requires prompt and reasonable access to the requested public records, by failing to provide public access to official e-mails and other documents for more than two years. The plaintiffs have asked for an emergency injection to prevent Pruitt from destroying any documents relevant to the pending open records requests.

There has been controversy and confirmation delay surrounding the nomination of Pruitt as EPA head. The CMD has submitted seven different requests [JURIST report] for public documents with the Attorney Generals office since January 2015. They claim that the two years that CMD has waited for the requested documents is not prompt or reasonable. CMD is also requesting reasonable attorneys fees. The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing on the nomination of Pruitt for the head of the EPA on January 18. The confirmation vote was rescheduled on February 1st to February 17 due to the threat of boycott by Senate Democrats. Democrats have criticized the Pruitts nomination due to numerous lawsuits that he has filed against the EPA. Pruitt has defended the lawsuits stating that he had taken the legal action on behalf of an industry that is critical to his states economic vitality, not on the part of energy companies or their shareholders.

* The judges order for production of records pertains to five Open Records Act requests made between November 2015 and August 2016. However, the order erroneously says April 2016 through August 2016.
[JURIST] The Supreme Court of the Philippines [official website] on Thursday denied an attempt from the countrys vice president to halt a protest against her election. Social activist Leni Robredo [official Twitter] was elected vice president in May over the son of the late former dictator Ferdinand Marcos [JURIST news archive], who is commonly known as Bongbong Marcos. Marcos organized the protest and claims that he was the rightful winner of the vice presidential election. The court, sitting as the Presidential Election Tribunal, issued the resolution [Twitter image] on January 24, but was just released yesterday.

The effects of Marcos regime have been felt throughout the Philippines [BBC Backgrounder] for years. His burial in the celebrated Heroes Cemetery has been contested for months, even though President Rodrigo Duterte approved the controversial burial, recognizing Marcos as a commendable leader entitled to honor. In November the Supreme Court justices honored [JURIST report] Dutertes approval by a vote of 9-5 with one abstention, acknowledging that the controversial figure was nevertheless a former legislator, defense secretary and soldier deserving of merit. In August human rights victims had filed a petition with the Supreme Court to halt the burial of Marcos [JURIST report]. Petitioners pointed to a 1993 agreement stating that Marcos would be buried in his hometown in northern Ilocos Norte province.
The Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) [advocacy website] released its annual report [text, PDF] on Thursday, highlighting intensified crackdowns on human rights defenders in China. According to the CHRD report, human rights activities are being criminalized as political threats to national security.' [press release] The report further highlights a number of practices used by the government, such as enforced disappearances [UN backgrounder], arbitrary detention, and acts of torture against human rights defenders, pointing particularly to those secretly detained in the July 2015 crackdown on lawyers, known as the 709 Crackdown. CHRD also stated: Not only have authorities denied detainees access to counsel, they have increasingly pressured detainees to dismiss their own lawyers or those hired by their families, and use government appointed lawyers instead. Fifteen such cases were reported, and the police denied access to the detainees families or lawyers of choice to verify such dismissals were made voluntarily. For lawyers who get detained by the government, it has reportedly often led to torture and abuse at the hands of the police, as in the case of Li Chunfu [ChinaChange report]. CHRD also claims the government has cracked down on the development of civil society groups by passing the Law on the Management of Overseas NGO Activities in Mainland China [text] which imposes strict control over the funding, staffing, and other activities of NGOs.

China has faced continued international criticism for its treatment of human rights defenders, ranging from filing of arbitrary criminal charges, suspension or dismissal of law licenses, and disappearances. In December the UN called on China to investigate the disappearance of human rights lawyer [JURIST report] Jiang Tianyong, after he had been missing for two months. The same month China suspended the law license [JURIST report] of prominent human rights lawyer Li Jinxing, over his apparent allegedly unacceptable behavior in court while defending a client. In September China handed down a 12 year sentence [JURIST report] to prominent human rights lawyer Xia Lin. In July China announced plans to prosecute [JURIST report] prominent human rights lawyer Zhou Shifeng on charges of subverting state power, furthering its recent crackdown on political dissidents. In April a civil rights lawyer was arrested and released [JURIST report] for posting an image online mocking Xi Jinping in relation to the Panama Papers release
A Swedish court of appeals on Wednesday upheld the life sentence [judgment, PDF, in Swedish; press release, in Swedish] of a man convicted of genocide during the 1994 Rwanda genocide [BBC profile]. The Svea Court of Appeal [official website] in Stockholm found that Claver Berinkindi was guilty of murder, attempted murder and the kidnapping of thousands of people. The court also found that Berinkindi should pay damages to the victims of his crimes. Berikindi was charged in Sweden [country profile] in September 2015 and sentenced last May [NYT report]. Berinkindi sought political asylum in Sweden in 2002 and became a citizen 10 years later. He initially was to be prosecuted in Rwanda, but could not be extradited [AP report] due to his Swedish citizenship. Under Swedish law, courts have standing to over Swedish citizens for crimes committed abroad.

Claver Berinkindi was found guilty [JURIST report] of genocide and gross crime under international law consisting of murder, kidnapping and attempted murder. Berinkindi was charged in Sweden [Reuters report] after a Rwandan Gacaca community court convicted him of genocide-related crimes in absentia. He was found to have participated in five different massacres by both rallying people to participate in the various killing and killing countless people himself. The court awarded 15 people damages who had witness the loss of a relative at the hands of Berinkindi ranging from USD $3,900 to $13,000.
[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein [official profile] urged a greater commitment to human rights Wednesday while announcing a $253 million funding appeal [press release]. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website] launched its largest appeal to date [text, PDF], with Zeid urging member countries and private donors to help bolster the Offices ability to work and stand up for human rights for all people, everywhere. The funding would help the OHCHR provide in-country assistance, support to UN independent human rights experts and the UN Human Rights Council, and establish trust funds to tackle issues such as torture, modern slavery indigenous peoples rights. The stated of the appeal:

My Office is dramatically and chronically underfunded. We need to broaden our financial support base to include more Member States, and encourage participation from a much broader range of private donors. With your support, we can help to prevent human rights crises from escalating. We can advocate a broad, open democratic space and impartial rule of law institutions in every country.

The OHCHR also hopes that this appeal will help advance the UNs 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development [official website].

The OHCHR has raised several concerns in just the last week. On Thursday the OHCHR reported that victims of sexual violence in Ukraine [JURIST report] are not being provided with adequate access to justice or services in the country. On Monday the OHCHR expressed concern [JURIST report] over reports that at least 101 people have been killed by Congolese soldiers in conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The same day Myanmar officials stated that they will investigate whether police have committed crimes against Rohingya Muslims after the OHCHR released a report [JURIST reports] two weeks ago stating that Myanmar security forces treatment of the Rohingya Muslims likely constitutes crimes against humanity. The report [text, PDF] contains interviews with Rohingya refugees, which reveal that security forces murdered children, pushed people into burning buildings and raped women, among other crimes.
The three-member UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan called Friday for the establishment of an independent system [press release] to investigate violations in South Sudan. The establishment of the system would help with the integration of the hybrid court, according to UN Commission, which was mandated by the Peace Agreement of 2015 [text, PDF]. According to chairperson of the Commission Yasmin Sooka, the independent system should be set up immediately to collect evidence for violations before it is lost. In December the Commission stated that sexual violence had reached epic proportions, requiring urgent attention. The Commission is presenting its report on the human rights situation in South Sudan, along with its recommendation, to the Human Rights Council [background] in Geneva in March.

South Sudan has spent much of its brief history as a nation in civil war. In January the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) [official website] reported [JURIST report] that a violent period in July 2016 left hundreds of civilians dead. In December the UN Security Council failed [JURIST report] to pass an arms embargo against South Sudan. Two weeks earlier a UN spokesperson warned [JURIST report] that South Sudan teeters on the brink of disaster. The UN also said [JURIST report] in December that ethnic cleansing was occurring in South Sudan. In September the UN announced, and South Sudan accepted, an increase in UN peacekeeping forces in the nation from 14,000 to 18,000 in an attempt to stop civilian killings, sexual assaults, and destruction of both public and private property [JURIST reports]. South Sudan was officially recognized [JURIST report] as an independent nation in July 2011. Conflicts over natural resources, ethnic tensions, and political power have plagued the nation since its inception.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday welcomed The Gambias decision to remain in the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website]. According to a statement [text] Guterres issued through a spokesperson, he welcomes that The Gambia will remain a State Party to the International Criminal Courts founding instrument. The statement went on [UN News Centre report] to note that The Gambia played a major role in the establishment of the Rome Statute [statute, PDF]setting out the courts jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimesand was one of its first signatories, and that over the past decades the globe has made significant strides to international justice with the ICC at its heart.

Under former president Yahya Jammeh, The Gambia was the third country that had announced plans to leave the ICC or had actually done so within the last several years [JURIST report]. However, earlier this month current President Adama Barrow confirmed [JURIST report] through a top EU official that The Gambia will remain in the ICC. In October South Africa and Burundi [JURIST reports] similarly announced their withdrawal from the ICC. The South African government originally expressed [Reuters report] such intentions in 2015 when the nation refused to act on the ICCs arrest warrant for visiting Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. The nations Justice Minister stated that the countrys ICC membership conflicts with South Africas Diplomatic Immunities and Privileges Act (DIPA) [text, PDF]. Vice President Gaston Sindimwo of Burundi previously announced the countrys decision to withdraw from the ICC amid criticism the court only prosecutes African nationals.
More than 117,000 visit mourning altars set up across Seoul for Itaewon victims More than 117,000 people paid their respects at mourning altars set up across Seoul for the victims of the Halloween crowd crush that killed at least 156 people in the city's night...

1 rail worker killed, another injured while working One railway worker was killed and another injured after being struck by a cargo train in Uiwang, just southwest of Seoul, officials said Sunday. The accident occurred at 8:20 p....
With economic stagnation, refugees flocking on the borders, terrorist attacks in major cities and deepening inequalities, people in the EU are increasingly falling prey to populists of the right and the left. Can something still be done to save the European project?

From euphoria to despair

In Paris, 1951, some European countries began an unthinkable adventure: the unification of Europe. 56 years on, in Lisbon (2007) an integrated Union was almost a reality. In the meantime, a single market with free movement of goods, capital, services and people had been developed, a single currency implemented and a governance structure for the European Union had been put in place. Overall, steps in the same direction: a united Europe.

In 2011, however, a major reversal occurred. A pronounced economic and financial crisis took the Union by storm. Youth unemployment reached 23.7% on average in 2013, with Greece and Spain reporting 58.3% and 55.5%, going hand in hand with an incipient negative economic growth of -0.4% and -0.1% in the EU.

But more problems were to come. In 2011, almost 400.00 immigrants came to Europe, and in 2015, according to official numbers from the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) applicants for international protection amounted to 1 392 155, meaning 2676 asylum seekers per million of EU inhabitants.

On top of this, in 2015 and 2016, the heart of Europe was severely attacked by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and hundreds of people were killed or injured in terrorist attacks in Paris, Brussels, Nice and Berlin.

In the meantime, political groups at the extremes of the left/right divide have gradually been increasing their support, menacing the mainstream of the European party system. So, it seems, the European project is in utter disarray and in agony. But is it falling apart?

A frightened continent

Fear itself can be dangerous. Accompanied by horror and panic, it can induce changes in behaviour and prompt people to react to events irrationally. And there are many sources of fear in Europe. The flood of immigrants and the terrorist attacks are two of them, but unemployment is another one. As a consequence, the psychological landscape of Europe has been transformed and traditional cultural behaviours have been distorted.

In fact, the immigrants influx in Europe has revealed a number of serious political fault lines. Initially welcomed by many, refugees were eventually considered an anathema by many governments, which claimed that they could not deal with them logistically, that the newcomers were a threat to national identities or a risk to national security. Measures to prevent immigration (link 1, link 2) went from border controls and the closing of borders to fence building, suspension of ferry links and rail travel, spot checks on cars and even state of emergency declarations with soldiers deployment.

As time went by, fear that terrorism would increase in Europe became also part of the refugee rejection arguments. Cases of radicalised asylum seekers, links to terrorism, fraud cases, muggings and violence have been reported. Worst of all, asylum seekers have been the perpetrators of some of the terrorist attacks in Europe.

Those terror incidents were really appalling. In 2016, in 11 extremist occurrences (6 in Germany, 4 in France, 1 in Belgium), 138 people were killed and 548 injured. But what raised more speculation was the fact that the most serious attacks were carried out by Islamists living in Europe, often European citizens themselves.

These problems have had political and social consequences. They deepened an already severe crisis of confidence in the EU and encouraged the emergence of new parties, political and social movements or an unexpected increase in support for others. Indeed, parties at the extremes of the left/right divide have been increasing in popularity, manipulating slogans of fear and hope in programmes that put forward different visions for Europe. Many have been successful, increasing their electoral performance and raising concerns that the traditional European party architecture might change, altering the entire EU political design. But are there serious reasons for alarm?

From the great recession to the far right

Crises always stimulate political change. In times of crisis, governments are reshaped, political movements emerge, and contesting rallying cries take over the political arena. In the European great recession of 2011, it could not be otherwise. So, new political and social movements have been emerging, claiming new approaches to politics, trying to refocus hope and social enthusiasm. The far right has been gaining momentum. The extreme left as well, but not as prominently.

If we look at the 2016 general elections that took place in the EU, we can see a little bit of that. In 2016, there were 9 national and regional elections: Ireland, Slovakia, Scotland, Wales, Spain, the Basque region, Galicia region, Croatia and Romania. Parties in power were all re-elected, but with a decreased number of seats in most cases. Only one won with a full majority  the Basque Nationalist Party in Spain.

Spains right-wing Popular Party lost 49 seats, and with them the majority in Parliament. Fine Gael (centre-right) in Ireland lost 26 seats, Direction Social Democracy (centre-left), in Slovakia, lost 34 seats, the Scottish National Party (centre-left) lost 6, and the Labour Party (centre-left) in Wales, one. In Croatia- the Croatian Democratic Union- (centre- right) won 2 seats. In Romania, the Social Democrat Party (centre-left) increased its parliamentary representation by 4 seats. The Basque Nationalist Party also increased by one seat, but Podemos (extreme-left) won 11 seats for the first time. The same in Galicia where En Marea  a coalition of extreme left parties  came second, winning 5 more seats that in the previous election.

Overall, in 2016, elections results show that parties in power lost 131 seats, that some parties came in for the first time and that these were mostly from the far-right.

Re-election Comments Ireland (26 February 2016) Fine Gael- Conservative- Right Re-elected. No majority. Losing 26 seats. In coalition with Independents. With the support of Fianna Fail (liberal, conservative political party) which lost seats. Labour decreased. Sinn Fein (left) increased seats. Slovakia (5 March 2016) Direction-Social-Democracy (SMER-SD) (Social Democrat) Re-elected. Losing majority. Losing 34 seats. In coalition with the far-right nationalist Kotleba- Peoples Party Our Slovakia in Parliament for the first time and Most- Hid- a centre right party/liberal conservatism Scotland (5 May 2016) Scottish National Party (SNP)  Social Democrat party) Re-elected. No majority. Losing 6 seats. The conservatives increased power significantly. Labour decreased it. Wales (5 May 2016) Labour Party (Social Democrat Party) Re-elected. No majority. Losing 1 seat. Coalition with the Liberal Democrats. The Conservatives and the Liberals lost power. UKIP  extreme right  won seats (7) for the first time Spain (26 June 2016) Partido Popular (PP) -Conservative, right Re-elected. Losing majority. Losing 64 seats (2015), regaining 14 in 2016 (elections took place in 2015 and 2016). The extreme left- Podemos- increased power significantly. Croatia (11 September 2016) Croation Democratic Union (HDZ)- Conservative, right Re-elected. No majority. Increasing 2 seats. Coalition with MOST- conservative, liberal- and the representative for national minorities. Basque Regional Elections- Spain (25 September 2016) EAJ/PNV  Basque Nationalist Party Re-elected with one more seat. No majority. Podemos, in Parliament for the first time- won 11 seats. All the others lost seats. Galicia Regional election 2016 Peoples Party of Galicia- PPdeG Re-elected with the same number of votes. Majority. En Marea, the coalition of the extreme left (Podemos and 6 other parties) was second with 5 more seats. All the others (PSOE, Galician Nationalist Bloc and Ciudadanos) lost seats. Romania 11 December 2016 Social Democrat Political Party (PSD) Centre-left Re-elected. No majority. Increasing 4 seats. In coalition with ALDE- Centre right- supported by the right-wing parties- UDRM, PNL, USR, PMP. In Parliament for the first time USR (Union for the Salvation of Romania)- a catch all-syncretic party; the ALDE- Liberal centre-right and the PMP- Peoples Movement Party- centre-right

2016 National and Regional Elections in the EU (source: http://www.parties-and-elections.eu/)

According to the above table, there are two countries or regions registering the emergence of parties of the far-right in their National assemblies or parliaments for the first time in 2016: Kotleba (Peoples Party Our Slovakia), whose chairman is considered a neo-nazi, positioned against the euro, and against NATO; and, in Wales, UKIP (United Kingdom Independence Party), a great supporter of the Leave campaign in the Brexit referendum of 2016. In Romania, a catch-all party also emerged for the first time, getting the third place.

Should one be frightened by this trend? What is the general configuration of the far-right parties in the EU at the moment?

Four parties on the far-right have indeed been gaining momentum in the EU: the FN (National Front) in France, the AfD (Alternative fur Deutschland) in Germany, the PVV (the Freedom Party) in the Netherlands, and the FPO (the Freedom Party of Austria). There are others with less formal power, at least for the moment, like the Lega Nord in Italy, Vlaams Belang in Belgium, the KNP (Congress of the New Right) in Poland, the UKIP in the UK, and the Golden Dawn in Greece.

Elections are due to take place in some key European countries soon. In 2007, France, the Netherlands and Germany, and in 2008, Austria and Italy. They will be decisive for the future of the EU, as most of these nations are among the founding fathers of the European project.

The FPO, in Austria, seems to be the far-right party securing the best results with 40 seats in the National Council, and almost victorious in the 2016 Presidential elections, scoring 46.2% against the Green Party contender, who eventually won with only 53.8%. At the moment, opinion polls suggest that the party might win the 2018 elections with 34%.

The PVV, in the Netherlands, holds 12 seats in the House of Representatives and it is supposed to increase its power, and even win, in the upcoming general elections. The party is leading the polls with 19.3% and 22% of the vote  equivalent to 29 to 33 seats in parliament (link 1, link 2, link 3).

The AfD, in Germany, is also an interesting case study. If in 2013 it was unable to elect representatives for the Bundestag, in 2016, in 5 state elections it managed to elect members in all of them, coming second in Saxony-Anhalt and electing 25 deputies in Berlin where they had never contested before (link). For the 2017 Bundestag elections it is now expected to get between 11% and 13% in support.

The National Front, in France, has also been performing better as time goes by. If in 2012 it only got 2 seats in the National Assembly, in 2014 it won 24 seats for the European Parliament. But the French Presidential elections will soon be held (23 April 2017) and opinion polls suggest that Marine Le Pen, the FN leader, will make it to the second round.

Most of these parties have the same agenda. They want to leave the euro or the EU after a referendum, and they are against immigration. All of them call for more sovereignty to be returned to the national level from Brussels.

The collapse of the Union?

At the moment, the EU does not show the absolutely necessary capacity to reinvent itself for the future. It does not have relevant projects that galvanize ideas, nor major answers to reassure people. Or it has, but they are shy, insufficient, opaque and unconvincing. The economy is stagnant, with forecasts for an annual EU growth rate of only 1.7% for the next years; unemployment is a certainty; the refugee crisis has not been resolved; terrorist attacks are still a threat; and the number of people at risk of poverty have been increasing, reaching 17.3% of the population in 2016. Prospects are thus that the crisis might eventually get worse.

The EU has not been doing enough. Decisions are taken in the grey towers of Brussels, with short briefings to the media, hardly reaching the common citizen. Bad or good, people do not know what Brussels decisions are about, tending to blame the institutions and their bureaucracy for all the wrong-doings and the malaise affecting their national states. And we see no real will and synergies to change the situation. The EU leaders are not giving answers. There is no vision, no credible proposals, no assurances.

As a consequence, people get easily manipulated by the groups at the extremes of the left/right party divide. The far right is steadily rising. From Slovakia to Austria, from the Netherlands to Germany and France (not to mention others), we can see that it is performing better with every election. They might even win elections soon. The far left the same, in the Southern countries.

The citizens loyalty is fading away. Out of despair, citizens are reclaiming power, demanding new channels of participation at national, regional and pan-European level, but often with a negative, isolationist agenda, dictated by fear.

Cold winds are blowing from West and East. From the West, the new US President questions the traditional European status quo, from the East, the borders with Russia are seeing a significant arms built-up. Within the EU, Brexit has been menacing the political structure of the Union and domino effects might be expected. The continent of liberty, solidarity and the prevalence of human rights the Europeans have taken for granted for decades is slowly fading away. And nobody is doing enough to defend and restore it.

The EU might not be falling apart right now, but it is struggling with very defiant and powerful forces, against which it is not well equipped. It might not be the end of the EU project just yet, but certainly it is not safe, not secure, not for sure.
KEARNEY  From online poker and slot machines to daily fantasy sports, the Internet has made gambling accessible to anyone interested in logging on.

That easy access has changed the face of gambling, according to Deb Hammond, a provider with the state of Nebraska Gamblers Assistance Program. Hammond will be conducting a public forum in Kearney Saturday afternoon at First Baptist Church to raise awareness and spark a discussion about problem gambling.

What were seeing now is a different generation of gambling. Millenials are who are having problems. Theyre gambling on the phone  not casinos. Its a population that isnt going to a casino in another state anymore. They can gamble at anything they want on the Internet, Hammond said.

Gamblings shift from table games to tablets has made it harder to recognize the traditional problem signs, Hammond said. Thats why its important to open up a dialogue in forums where experts, community members  and, of course, gamblers  can collaborate.

The goal of Saturdays forum is to talk about how we can talk about this together, said Hammond. How can we open up a dialogue between political leaders, community leaders, problem gamblers and the gaming community? Its not the gaming communitys fault anyone loses control, but we should talk about how they can help.

The forum also will address how the Gamblers Assistance Program can help those who may be in over their heads. The program uses a portion of the proceeds from the Nebraska State Lottery to certify and train gambling counselors and pay for problem gambling counseling, making it easier for people with financial barriers to receive treatment.

Problem gambling is not isolated to just the gambler, Hammond said. Family members, employer and friends of problem gamblers can all be affected, and all are eligible for counseling services with the help of the program.

GAP is available, and its free to anyone whos affected by a problem gambler, Hammond said.

People need to figure out how to gamble responsibly, Hammond said. Were never going to get rid of gambling, and I dont think we should. Gambling isnt wrong or a moral issue, but it can get out of control, and we need to be sure to talk about that, and offer help when its needed.

There are three Gamblers Assistance Program providers directly serving the Kearney area as well as several in McCook, North Platte, Scottsbluff and Norfolk. All have certified gambling counselors.

The providers with the program are allowed to treat at no charge to the client whatsoever, according to Hammond. There are no limits to the amount of counseling sessions people can receive through the Gamblers Assistance Program, she said.

State Sen. John Lowe of Kearney is expected to attend, Hammond said.
KEARNEY  Buffalo County Community Partners had its second Suicide Prevention Coalition meeting.

About 60 community members attended. The purpose of the meeting was to connect residents to resources to prevent suicide, learn together the importance of postvention and prevention strategies, and determine next steps.

Along with promoting messages of hope and healing, attendees determined they would like to take these next steps together:

- Reduce the stigma of suicide and mental illness;

- Provide an open dialogue through a community forum for community members to learn more about mental health and suicide.

- Learn more about resources available in our area for suicide prevention and postvention.

The group determined the No. 1 activity every community member could do is to begin talking about mental health and suicide to break down the stigma.

BCCP Suicide Prevention Coalition organized the meeting to connect stakeholders to resources.

Messages of hope and healing surrounded every person in attendance. Our team prepared for several scenarios in this meeting. We wanted every person who attended to be able to connect with one resource that could help them or a loved one heal and provide hope, Tana Miller, behavioral health coordinator for BCCP, said.

Additional meetings and special community events are planned with the help of the parents, churches, schools, law enforcement, providers, prevention specialists and others who attended the meeting.
GRAND ISLAND  As part of a national Day Without Immigrants event, about 180 people conducted a peace march Thursday morning in Grand Island.

The group members chanted as they walked and carried two large banners, which said Peace in Spanish and English.

Erika Ventura said most of the walkers were legal immigrants. The participants want other Hispanic people, who may not be in the U.S. legally, to know they have their support, Ventura said. Those people must follow the law to become legal, she said.

Ventura and another woman, Maria Nieto, said even legal immigrants live in fear.

Nieto has two children, ages 16 and 14, who were born in the U.S. The family wants to stay here, she said.

Venturas three children, who are ages 12, 9 and 5, worry every day that their mother might not come home, she said. They worry she could be apprehended in a traffic stop or a raid, she said.

Participants said they just want to live in peace.

We just want to be treated the same  nobody better than anybody else, Ramiro Gomez said. We come here to work.

In working, they are supporting their families, he said

Just because some people do bad, you cant label us all, said Maria Tinajero, adding, No one should be scared to speak up.

We all came to work. All our families are here for a reason, and were not criminals, Jennifer Matzar said. Her final message was, God is love.

We are here to work, not to kill, said Emilio Fred, echoing a phrase that the walkers chanted.

Another phrase the group chanted was, We can do it.

Walkers carried signs that said, Immigrants Make America Great, No More Families Torn Apart and Fight Ignorance, Not Immigrants.

Other signs said, Immigrants Rights Are Civil Rights, America Made by Immigrants and Why Are We Called the United States if We Are Not United? The words Stop Hate were included on some of the signs.

About 165 people were on foot. The rest rode in vehicles. A truck led the march, and nine vehicles followed behind. The event was noisy but peaceful.

Walkers said participants came to the U.S. from Mexico, Honduras, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua.
I used to host a radio show with Steve Bannon. Yes, that Steve Bannon. It was a Catholic radio show, and we talked about life and faith and how you integrate the two. It aired weekly over the course of a number of months in 2012, and I do remember we had one political show around Election Day, in which we talked with Steves friend Pat Caddell (formerly of the Jimmy Carter White House) about Catholics and the political culture of both parties.

Surreal would seem the appropriate word as Ive watched an array of successive news stories and commentaries about Bannon, who has become the Darth Vader figure of the Donald Trump administration. As one young editor in the National Review office observed to me, it seems as if Bannon couldnt do anything at this point that wouldnt be viewed as sinister.

The most pernicious development in this narrative is an idea recently presented in The New York Times that hes coordinating with conservatives in the Vatican to thwart Pope Francis.

I think to take an honest look at both the American political scene and the Catholic Church is to see decades of disarray. Scandal. Confusion. Something less than courage and clarity. The good works, solid faith and stories of self-sacrificial love tend to get overshadowed by all of this.

When everything seems broken to a whole lot of people, anything but the status quo seems a very attractive alternative. And so Donald Trump was elected. Before that, a pope resigned and something new  a South American with radical ideas about love and duty to God  came on the scene. Pope Francis repeatedly talks about mercy and forgiveness, and I hope his message is resonating with people who wouldnt otherwise give organized religion a second glance.

When I sat down in studio with Bannon, we would talk about some of the methods of living the Catholic faith in the world as it is today. My memory of the time is that it was book-heavy  we interviewed many authors and discussed heady ideas.

I consciously wanted to help convey that the church is made up of every baptized member and were called to show our faithfulness in the world, not just by going to mass on Sundays. As many have noted, Bannon is concerned about a radical secularism that has become a rival religion, and small practical things play no small role in providing an alternative to it.

Before doing the show, Bannon and I had met a few times over the course of a decade, including around a documentary he did about Sarah Palin. Like Bannon has now, Palin had become a caricature in the news. He saw a human being and tried to show a more than one-dimensional look at her and the politics she stood for. He was also ridiculously loyal to me when I wanted to name our show Silent Radio, a hat-tip to a Pope Benedict XVI message about the need for silent contemplation and listening in the noise of the world.

Life, the dynamics of American politics and whatever the Trump administration is up to are more complicated than my memory of pleasant radio-studio hours, I certainly know. But there may also be imperfect people trying to make things work. And we should disagree with them and protest when appropriate, but also consider saying a prayer for the common good and the human beings at the center of news stories and in the halls of power.

Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review Online.
A sign at Don Paco Panaderia in East Harlem says the business is closed today in support of a "day without immigrants" in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York, on Thursday Feb. 16, 2017. The shop was participating in the boycott called A Day Without Immigrants, aimed squarely at President Donald Trump's efforts to crack down on immigration. (AP Photo/Claudia Torrens)
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We do many things in medicine to patients that are either not helpful or have the potential to harm. If you take the long view of medical history, this should not be surprising. After all less than a century ago, physicians were still giving toxic mercury compounds to people in the form of calomel. And a century before that, physicians were bleeding people because they thought that was a good thing to do for serious illness. The dawn of scientific medicine in the late 19th century began the process of putting medicine on a scientific basis, that is, of demanding proof that a particular therapy works  and why. But we still have many, many things we do in medicine that have never been studied rigorously and are done more because of tradition than anything else. I have been encouraged over the past decade or so to see more and more of the accepted practices, therapies that have never been shown to be helpful, are being questioned. Treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is a good example of this. We now follow fairly specific guidelines regarding what to do, guidelines which are based on actual evidence rather than tradition. Traditions die hard, though, and I still see some of my colleagues clinging to the older approach that has been shown not to help. We need to keep the stuff that works and discard that which doesnt.

An interesting recent article asked the fundamental question of how many children receive one of our regrettably common treatments that not only dont help but might cause harm. The authors focused on 20 of these, such as cough and cold remedies, and analyzed how many children in a database of over 4 million children received one or more dubious therapies during the preceding year. The results showed such unhelpful or even dangerous therapies are still extremely common. Around 10% of all children received such therapies, costing 27 million dollars, a third of which was paid out of pocket by the childrens families.

So what are these therapies? I noted the over-the-counter cough and cold remedies above, which have been shown at best not to help and at worst to cause dangerous side effects. Other examples include testing for strep throat in children less than three years of age, blood tests for vitamin D deficiency in normal children, sinus X-rays in children with an uncomplicated sinus infection and head CT scans (or other neuroimaging) in a child with simple headaches. You can read the whole list in the reference cited above.

The consensus estimate is that around a third of all medical therapies done in America are at best unhelpful and at worst potentially harmful. We in pediatrics need to do our part to address this problem. A major issue is that our culture is conditioned to regard doing something as better than not doing something. We are primed to think the physician who listens to the parents (or the patient), ponders what to do, and then recommends doing nothing is somehow a poor physician because they havent done anything. We dont value the explanation, the thinking or the diagnosis, as an important contribution to a childs health. The irony here is that physicians are highly compensated for doing things and much less for offering advice. So there is a strong compulsion to do something. Also, listening to a parent and pondering takes more time than just prescribing a test or a therapy and physicians are rewarded for throughput, seeing one patient after another quickly. The market incentives are perversely stacked against practicing good medicine. I wish I could say that will change, but I dont see any hopeful signs that it will.

Christopher Johnson is a pediatric intensive care physician and author of Keeping Your Kids Out of the Emergency Room: A Guide to Childhood Injuries and Illnesses, Your Critically Ill Child: Life and Death Choices Parents Must Face, How to Talk to Your Childs Doctor: A Handbook for Parents, and How Your Child Heals: An Inside Look At Common Childhood Ailments. He blogs at his self-titled site, Christopher Johnson, MD.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
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Health care costs are out-of-control, and many patients can no longer afford medical treatment. The system is broken, but no real fixes are visible on the horizon. Sure, politicians debate the road health care should take and act like they are very concerned about the health of Americans. Truthfully, however, they are driven by political agendas corporate influence. Little discussion is given to what it would take to fix the system. Rather, fingers at pointed and legislation touted as failures.

America leads the world in medical innovation and technology. Scientists in our country make the worlds medical discoveries. It is an atrocity that many Americans are being priced out of the system. The fact that the U.S. is the only country on the globe that allows its citizens to go bankrupt because of medical expenses is an outrage. And it is the middle class that is being squeezed the hardest.

When I discussed this in the past, I was criticized for not recognizing the fact that someone has to pay for it. Yes, this is true, and the fact that it is unaffordable doesnt mean it should be free. It is not an either-or situation. What we need to do is make health care affordable for everyone. Now many will say that single payer government-run systems are the solution. Do we really want the government in charge if the entire system when we see how the ACA (Affordable Care Act) failed?

What needs to be done to fix the broken system?

Medication costs are spiraling up so that any are now just as much available as distant galaxies. The pharmaceutical companies will claim that most of the high costs go into research and development but this is simply not true: they spend more on marketing. We all watched how the executives of pharmaceutical companies tried to jack up prices, such as the EpiPen, for their own profits with little regard for patient safety. We need drug pricing transparency. Bringing these costs as well as executive salaries brought to the light of day will rein in costs as we saw what happened when public outcry called out unfair pricing schemes.

Commercial insurance companies have a free reign with no oversight. Tests and medications are being denied based on company guidelines with just the aim of controlling costs. Doctors who see the patients no longer can decide the best medical treatment for their patients. Patients can no longer ask for the care that they need. We are all held hostage by these third parties. Some will say that the cost to cover lives is expensive. But, surely when the CEOs are making tens of millions of dollars annually by denying services, something is wrong. We need to call these executives on the carpet. Unnecessary testing should be avoided, but we are now in a system where needed care is inaccessible. Insurance companies need to be liable for these decisions that they make. And they need to bring their financials to the light of day as well. It would be interesting to know how much is spend on employees and red tape in denying needed medical services.

Patients should not be excluded from the system because of pre-existing conditions. No matter how vocal I have been against the ACA, this is one condition that should be kept. Excluding people with medical diseases from having health care insurance is just cruel.

Another term in the ACA that needs to be kept is that college students can remain under their parents plans until the age of 26. Education is what keeps the U.S. at the top of science and technology.

People should not be unfairly taxed if they cannot afford insurance premiums. Didnt we learn from the Revolutionary War and the Boston Tea Party?

More physicians should be encouraged to go into the fields of primary care. Patients who cannot find a primary care doctor often end up in the ER, which drives up costs. We are facing a very significant shortage if we do not find more doctors in this field.

Patients should be allowed to chose their own doctor. No more arbitrary tiers based on whatever criteria. Patients will have better outcomes when they have a doctor they can trust.

Kill the prior authorization. These days, most tests need the dreaded PA as well as many medications. My staff spends so much time on this task when they could be doing something that more directly impacts good clinical outcomes, such as calling patients to come in for their flu shots. If the costs of PAs were to be calculated, I am sure it would be a big money drain as well as a time waste.

Reform malpractice. Real cases of harm should be compensated but much money is wasted on ones that have no basis by someone waiting to hit the lottery. Attorneys who try these cases should pay the costs if they lose. Most malpractice cases are decided in favor of the physician, yet the lawyer still makes much money when they lose.

The politicians will always be there with their political agendas and lack of real world knowledge. Legislation will be proposed to fit their fancy of the day, or to fulfill their lackey role. We, the American people, deserve better than unaffordable, sub-par health care. The politicians are not incentivized to fix it for the sake of patients. We need to make our voices clear and let them know we have better ideas. Real world knowledge reaps real world consequences. Are you ready to speak out?

Linda Girgis is a family physician who blogs at Dr. Linda.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
The former Webb County Court at Law Judge Jesus "Chuy" Garza pleads "not guilty" in a court hearing.

This information comes from Garza's attorney.

Last January, Garza was indicted by a grand jury. The indictment says Garza intentionally solicited a $3,000 loan from Mathis for Christopher Casarez.

There is no word yet on when the next hearing will take place.
Fancy chewing on a grasshopper pie? Would you tuck into a meal worm pasta?

A new food perspective and online resource that encouraging you to learn about and explore insects as a new and exciting food source is part of a hugely exciting and jaw dropping exhibition at the National Craft Gallery opposite Kilkenny Castle in the Castle Courtyard.

The Global Irish Design Challenge exhibition launched on Friday features over 50 Irish design projects, each piece created with the potential to revolutionise the way we live.

One stands out, entomo. The stand highlights its online resource which provides you with information about entomophagy, tasty tips for cooking with insects, events and insights from around the world with tyhe intention of creating a novel lifestyle that is sustainable and nutritious.

Connect with entomo

Entomophagy is the term used to describe eating insects. Eating bugs is not a modern phenomenon, entomophagy has been part of many world cultures for thousands of years and today in Thailand, South America, and China, bugs are considered a great delicacy.

However in Ireland there is a real problem getting people to connect with what many feel is the future of food globally.

Why entomo?

entomo attempts to stimulate and promote change in sustainability: entomo wants to tackle some of the 'wicked problems' that western urban-centric societies face every day such as global warming and depleting land resources used for agricultural farming.

Through entomo, we have found a way to marry our deep love for all things tasty and nutritious with society's need for an alternative food source to feed future generations.

entomo is an ongoing design research and development project and they are really looking for feedback and they have a huge online presence so go and google them and observe their fascinating website for yourself.

Livestock

Currently, livestock occupy 70 percent of all farmland across the world.

In contrast to this, mealworms only require 10 percent of the land used for the production of beef, 30 percent of the land used to produce pork, 40 percent of the land needed for chickens yet they can provide us with similar amounts of protein.
A Kilkenny woman has just been named Graduate of the Year by the CEIA  Corks Technology Network  in recognition of her graduating with the highest marks from University College Corks School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering in 2016.

Laura Fennelly will be officially presented with the annual award at the 32nd annual general meeting held in the Maryborough Hotel, Cork. The CEIA was founded in 1984 and represents high tech companies in the Cork region providing a platform for member companies within IT, electronic and engineering sectors.

I am delighted to present Laura with this award on behalf of the CEIA," said Chairman of the CEIA and Vice President of Operations & Plant Manager at Sanmina, Sean Moran.

"Every year the CEIA acknowledges the hard work and dedication of students in UCCs School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering  Laura graduated from university with 1st class Honours and now her name will be added to a long list of exceptional students who have all gone on to achieve incredible things in the STEM sector.

Speakers at the AGM will include Vice President of Intels Technology & Manufacturing Group and General Manager of Intel Ireland, Eamonn Sinnott  who leads one of the largest and most technologically advanced manufacturing facilities in Ireland. Attendees will also hear from Frank Holt who is responsible for bringing recruitment specialist, Specialisterne to Ireland.

The CEIA not only provides on-going learning and transfer of knowledge for ICT professionals and engineers but also for students with an interest in working in ICT, Science and Engineering through their education and schools programme. STEM Programmes run by the CEIA, with support from Science Foundation Ireland and its industry members include the SySTEM App development programme, the transition year work experience programme, HighTechElec, free maths tutorials for Leaving Cert Higher Level and the CEIA-ESERO Ireland CanSat Competition.
At the foot of the Zugspitze, IMK-IFU studies interactions of climate, vegetation, soils, and water availability.(Photo: Markus Breig, KIT)

Changes of living conditions of vegetation and society in times of global climate change are among the central topics studied by the Atmospheric Environmental Research Division of the Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-IFU) of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Now, KITs Campus Alpine has joined the Ba-varian Climate Alliance. The Bavarian Minister of the Environment, Ulrike Scharf, and the President of KIT, Professor Holger Hanselka, signed the corresponding agreement today.

[...]

More about the KIT Climate and Environment Center: http://www.klima-umwelt.kit.edu/english.

Being The Research University in the Helmholtz Association, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 9,800 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,300 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.
In 1929, Ford sold 1,507,132 cars. Chevrolet sold 1,328,605. Then came the stock market crash. Sales dropped dramatically each year until 1932, when sales bottomed at 210,824 for Ford and 313,404 for Chevrolet.

But, during that time, a small new market came on stream for the two foremost budget brandsthe rich.

Although literally millions of people were hit very hard by the crash, those who had invested wisely retained their wealth. Those who steered clear of the stock market bubble and/or invested in assets that would survive the crash, such as precious metals, were able to continue to live well.

However, they did find that when they drove down the street in their luxury cars, they stood out and became the objects of anger and scorn.

This is an important trait in human nature to recognizethat those who have been reckless with their money and have ended up losing it tend to hate those who were not reckless and have retained their wealth. Perhaps, observing someone who behaved responsibly is a regular reminder that they behaved stupidly.

Whatever the psychology involved, in 1930, those who had fared well soon learned that it was unwise to be conspicuous in their continued wealth. At that point, an interesting but little-remembered development occurred. Such people put their mink coats in the closet, put their jewellery in a safe place and, most importantly, found barns in the countryside into which they could park their Duesenbergs, Cords, and Auburns.

Its likely that they intended to retrieve the luxury cars once the economy recovered. However, a collectivist government under President Franklin Roosevelt protracted the depression by implementing extensive legislation and policies to help the common man. Unfortunately, those actions crippled the business community, turning what might have been a normal two-year depression into one that lasted sixteen years.

During that time, those who had mothballed their luxury cars bought inexpensive cars such as Fords and Chevrolets in order to be less conspicuous. Along the way, chauffeurs became a thing of the past. They were more affordable than ever, but far too conspicuous to even consider employing.

In the end, most of the Deusies remained in the barns until after the war, when the prosperity of the 1950s made them once again popularthis time as collector cars. Today, a restored Duesenberg can be sold at auction for as much as $10 million, but there was a 25-year drought during which no one would be seen driving them. They became a dead loss for their original owners.

But what were discussing here is a mere symptom of those times. Of what value is that to us today? Well, many readers of this publication will be aware that the world is once again facing a financial crisisone that will far exceed the Great Depression in its magnitude. It will be more devastating and will last longer than the previous debacle, and it will once again be unwise to be seen driving a Deusie.

And so, we prepare ourselves by moving a significant amount of our holdings into precious metals. If weve been paying attention, weve figured out that the banks are likely to confiscate our deposits and empty our safe deposit boxes. We will have stored the bulk in a storage facility that is not a financial institution, plus we will now have some sort of safe at home where we keep an emergency supplyperhaps of silver roundsthat we may use after a crash. Weve reasoned correctly that, if and when the currency collapses, well still be able to buy groceries and fuel for the car each week by handing over a silver Ajax or two.

So, weve prepared ourselves... Well, not quite. Trouble is, well be observed making our purchases. If the crisis period were to last a few weeks, wed have no problem. However, after only a few months of a period in which people have little or no real currency (as is always the case after a currency collapse), our neighbours will take note that the one guy in the community who is regularly seen walking to his car with bags of groceries, or parked in the otherwise empty filling station having his tank topped up, is us. Even if were driving a Toyota instead of a Mercedes, eyebrows will be raised, and, after the word gets out that weve somehow survived intact, resentment will build against us.

It will be at that time that well wish wed gotten rid of all our luxury associated assets, then gotten the proceeds out of the countryaway from those who will resent our ownership of some form of currency. We may have stored wealth, but it will become a liability rather than a safety net. We may get on just fine with our neighbours right now, but when their families are eating dog food for dinner due to their greatly diminished buying power, well most assuredly be hated by them.

At this point, its likely to become clear that being the last guy with currency in a neighbourhood that has lost its currency is not an enviable position to be in.

If we then try to make a run for it, well find that the rules of the world that existed just a short while ago have been rewritten. First, well find that currency controls are now in place and our home country, having crashed, disallows the flight of wealth from its shores. We can only remove our wealth by becoming criminals.

In addition, well find that, although the numbers leaving our home country were small prior to the crisis, those numbers have now swelled dramatically and target countries, where the economies are faring better, are closing their doors to economic refugees.

At this point, well become pariahs in our home community and be trapped there. We may own precious metals, but itll be risky to use them to survive. Well be aware that we cant keep a lid on the fact that we own precious metals. At best, we might be waylaid when leaving the supermarket with our bags of food. At worst, our house will be ransacked, either by angry neighbours or by a government SWAT team, when they find that weve violated the Emergency Currency Act. (No, it doesnt exist yet, but it most likely will.)

Its a basic socio-economic principle that, during hard times, those who have not been responsible will come after those who have. Therefore, its not enough to merely retain wealth; its also essential to have both that wealth and ourselves in a jurisdiction that has been minimally impacted by the crisis.

We are now entering the latter stages of the Great Unraveling and are about to see the first of the major economic dominoes topple. At that point, conditions will get ugly. When that point arrives, it will be essential to have already expatriated the great majority of our wealth (no matter how small or large it may be) to a safer jurisdictionone where we might openly pay for groceries with an Ajax or twoand to have made arrangements for a residence there, to which we can travel on short notice.

Of this we can be certain: When the major dominoes begin to fall, there will be little or no warning, and there will not be sufficient time to begin formulating an exit strategy.

In actual fact, if the reader is the possessor of the equivalent of a Duesenberg, now would be the time to sell it off quickly and lease a temporary car. It would also be the time to take all equity out of the house and other assets and get the proceeds expatriated. Retain nothing that you cant walk away from quickly. Begin now to prepare for the next phase of your life and be ready to move.

If, by some magic, all of the present indicators of a coming crisis reverse themselves and your home country becomes both solvent and prosperous once again, you will have done nothing but create a position of freedom for yourselfone out of which you could reverse. However, if a crisis is as inevitable as all the indicators suggest, survival will depend upon the preparation that you create now.

Jeff Thomas

International Man and Strategic Wealth Preservation

jeff.thomas1066@gmail.com
Several of the worlds largest gold and base metal deposits were found in Eastern Canadas Abitibi Greenstone Belt (AGB). The AGB is an established gold mining district, which extends from Wawa, Ontario, to Val DOr (Valley of Gold) in Quebec. This highly prolific mining territory boasts over 100 mines and production of 170 million ounces of gold since 1901. Mining in the region experienced resurgence between 2000-2010 when Osisko and Detour Gold invested heavily in two areas, Malarctic and Detour Lake.

This district has multiple benefits for miners that explore in the AGB besides the recent high-grade discoveries that have been made by a plethora of mining companies. For over 25 years, the government of Quebec has provided a low corporate tax rate along with subsidies and grants to miners exploring the district. To say this is a mining friendly district is an understatement. The government of Quebec routinely mails out checks to exploration companies thereby subsidizing miner drill programs. Furthermore, very good infrastructure is in place allowing exploration companies easy access to skilled labor, drilling companies, and assay labs, thus cutting down the costs of drilling their properties.

On August 25th of last year, Osisko Mining Corp. (OSK.TO) made a major discovery on the AGB at their flagship Windfall property. This significant discovery lies in the Urban Township of Quebec between Val-d'Or and Chibougamau. The area is known for its gold and copper production and excellent infrastructure for exploration and mining. Gold was initially discovered in the Urban-Windfall District in 1937 along the south shore of Lac Rouleau.

During the following September, Osisko Mining began a series of large capital raises as management turned its focus to this very promising deposit. I was in attendance on September 15th, during the companys presentation at the Precious Metals Summit in Beaver Creek, Colorado, when they unveiled their plan to concentrate specifically on this new discovery at Windfall. Management informed the audience they believed there could possibly be a 5 million oz. gold deposit at Windfall and they were going to focus on this deposit with a major drill campaign.

Then, in late December, the company announced a 250,000 meter drill program at Windfall as they continued to hit high grade intercepts on the property. On February 6th, the company announced a C$30M bought deal equity raise, which was immediately bumped up to C$52M. This was the companys fifth financing since the aforementioned August discovery of last year. They also increased the drill program to 400,000 meters. This series of events led to a sudden explosion in interest in the Urban-Windfall District.

On the very same day of February 6th, two micro-cap exploration companies, which are on trend of the Osisko Windfall deposit, announced financings. BonTerra Resources (BTR.V) announced a C$6M bought deal, which was increased not once, but twice! The next day the company announced a larger deal at C$9M, which was upped yet again to C$12.9M a few days later. Osisko Mining has taken 10% of this finance and billionaire mine financier Eric Sprott has participated for an undisclosed amount as well. BonTerra owns two high-grade gold deposits in the area and both contain 43-101 calculations. The companys Gladiator Project lies just south of Osiskos Windfall deposit and the proceeds from the financing will fully fund an aggressive drilling campaign.

The other micro-cap exploration company at Urban-Windfall to announce a finance on February 6th was Secova Metals (SEK.V), which is run by the very same team responsible for making the original discovery at the now Osisko Windfall deposit. Eagle Hill Exploration Corp., under the guise of the now Sekova CEO Bradley Kitchen, was the company which discovered Windfall at the peak of the last gold bull-run in November 2011. Eagle Hill was eventually combined with three other exploration companies at the tail end of the vicious four year miner bear in June of 2015. This new company, Oban Mining, which one year later was changed to Osisko Mining, now owns the Windfall deposit. Secova now controls two projects in the same area as Windfall. The recently acquired 4,354-hectare Eagle River gold deposit is on trend and just south of Osiskos Windfall project which management is intimately familiar with. The company is planning its initial exploration program based on historic drilling information from the site which was also recently acquired along with the claims.

Not to be left behind, there is a third micro-cap player in this saga which also happens to own a large land package adjacent to the Windfall property. Beaufield Ventures (BFD.V) announced a C$4M bought deal finance on February 8th, which was upped to C$6M the very next day. On the same day of the announced bought deal, Beaufield issued a press release stating they will increase the ongoing drill program at Urban. The companys ET target is surrounded on three sides by Osisko Mining's Windfall property and is located less than 2 kilometers from the Windfall gold deposit. A magnetic geophysical anomaly that appears identical to the magnetic anomaly at Windfall-Caribou will be drilled with at least two starter holes to assess potential. The property will remain the principal focus of the corporations exploration activities for 2017.

Over the past week, nearly C$75M has been raised to explore the Urban-Windfall District by four exploration companies. This is a significant amount of capitol to be invested in such a concentrated area. I strongly believe that if Osisko does indeed prove up 5 million high grade ounces of gold at Windfall, the whole district has a very good chance of eventually being acquired by a major global miner.

Full Disclosure: I personally own shares in all of the companies mentioned and recently participated in the Secova Private Placement. Please do your own due diligence before purchasing shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article.

By David Erfle Contributor to Kitco News

newsfeedback@kitco.com

Follow @KitcoNewsNOW

David Erfle is a 52 year old self-taught mining sector investor. He stumbled upon the mining sector in 2003 as he was looking to invest into a growing sector of the market. After researching the gains made from the 2001 bottom in the tiny gold and silver sector he became fascinated with this niche market. So much so that in 2005 he decided to sell his home and invest the entire proceeds from the sale into junior mining companies. When his account had tripled by September, 2007, he decided to quit his job as the Telecommunications Equipment Buyer at UCLA and make investing in this sector his full time job. He personally survived two bear markets, witnessed incredible sector changes and had to alter his investment philosophy numerous times in order to adapt to changing market conditions."
Exactly four weeks ago, to the day, Donald Trump took the oath of office and was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. HIs election victory will go down in the history books as one of the most unlikely outcomes of any presidential election.

To say that the last four weeks have been interesting, would be an understatement. To say that the last four weeks contained uncertainty, would be an understatement. To say that the United States has become a more polarized nation, would be an understatement.

To say that the financial community (investors and traders) have given him thumbs up, as US equities continue an unprecedented and massive rally, culminating with all major indices moving to new all-time record highs this week, yes, would be an understatement.

Can You Loan Me A Pen?

In classic Trump style our new president, has hit the ground running, signing over 25 executive orders and memorandum in his first 30 days. In fact, according to the Associated Press, president Trump is literally waiting for more pens to sign his executive orders. It didnt take long for president Donald Trump to start running out of the custom-made cross pens he uses to sign executive orders Expecting a shipment of 350 of the gold-plated pens by today, this new administration is probably the first administration to face this dilemma.

Can someone tell the president he won the election?

One interesting facet of this new administration is the fact that President Trump still seems like he is on the campaign trail. This week for example, president Trump held a news conference in which he continued to bash Hillary Clinton, regaling why he is making better decisions than Clinton. Another primary theme of his, media bashing, continue to be a topic of choice. This news conference was followed today by a speech he made at the Boeing Airplane factory which sounded much more like a campaign speech in which he rallies his troops, while simultaneously and continuously patting himself the back. He will conclude this week by holding a rally (a rally, really?) In Florida.

There is no doubt, President Trump in his first week in office has greatly magnified and enhanced both the positive and negative aspects of his leadership style and negotiation strategies. The uncertainty factor continues to accelerate, US equities continue to climb, United States citizens continue to be more polarized, and this all within Donald Trumps first month in office as president.

Love him or hate him, this president moves the needle at the speed of a whirling dervish.

For those who would like a deeper analysis, I invite you to watch the Weekend Review our video newsletter. This video will be available for viewing by 7 oclock EST today. Simply use the link at the bottom of this report to view this week report, or to sign up for a free trial.

Wishing you as always, good trading,

Gary Wagner

Thegoldforecast.com
Feb 17 (Reuters) - Low iron ore and copper prices weighed on Australian basic materials shares on Friday, taking the ASX 200 index 0.23 percent or 13.11 points lower to 5,800 at 0113 GMT. The index rose 0.1 percent on Thursday.

"Materials and energy have been outperforming for a while, so today's performance is a correction in what's been a strong period for the mining sector", said Damien Hennessy, co-founder of Heuristic Investment Systems.

Chinese iron ore futures slid more than 2 percent on Thursday.

"There's a lot of uncertainty around where the price of iron ore should be, it was being picked up by a rise in demand and supply disruptions and restrictions particularly out of China".

Global miner BHP Billiton shed 1.7 percent, as management and worker positions in a strike at its Escondida copper mine in Chile, the world's largest mine, remain distant. Rio Tinto dropped 1.9 percent.

Healthcare stocks were the second biggest losers on the index, with Ansell and CSL dropping as much as 2.7 percent and 2.3 percent respectively.

Energy stocks mirrored their Wall Street peers, with the benchmark energy index dropping 0.9 percent, on track for its fourth losing session.

Electricity generator Origin Energy dropped to its lowest in more than a month, shedding about 3 percent.

Virgin Australia also fell about 1.3 percent after posting a 48-percent fall in its first-half underlying pre-tax earnings. The ASX financial index rose to its highest in more than a month before paring most of the gains, as a strong advance by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group was offset by health insurer Medibank which lost as much as 5.7 percent during the day.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group clocked its biggest percentage gain in more than two months after its first quarter cash profit rose 31 percent. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.1 percent or 7.78 points to 7092.2.

Manufacturing activity dipped in January from the previous month, a survey showed on Friday. Healthcare, telecom and utilities were the worst performers on the index.

Retirement village operator Ryman Healthcare shed as much as 1.2 percent.

Electricity provider Meridian Energy lost as much as 1.1 percent, dropping to its lowest in a month and potentially facing a fifth losing session.

For more individual stocks activity click on (Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Hanna Paul; Editing by Eric Meijer)
MEDIA-China invests $52 bln in pension funds into financial markets



-- Source link: -- China has started investing an initial 360 billion yuan ($52.44 billion) in pension insurance funds from seven provinces and cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, in financial markets, widening a scope until then restricted to lower-yielding bank deposits and treasuries, the state-owned Securities Daily reported on Friday, citing the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. -- Note: Reuters has not verified this story and does not vouch for its accuracy ($1 = 6.8654 Chinese yuan)



Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.

kitco news
Singapore Jan exports rise 8.6 pct from year ago, exports to China surge



SINGAPORE, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Singapore's exports rose 8.6 percent in January from a year ago, buoyed by a sharp rise in shipments to China as well as Taiwan and South Korea, official data showed on Friday. On a month-on-month, seasonally adjusted basis, non-oil domestic exports (NODX) in January rose 5.0 percent, the trade agency International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore), said in a statement. The median forecast in a Reuters survey was for a 7.0 percent year-on-year rise in January, and for a 0.7 percent contraction month-on-month. (Reporting by Masayuki Kitano; Editing by Sam Holmes)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.

kitco news
HANOI, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Here's a snapshot of Vietnamese dong exchange rates in the official and unofficial markets, indicative SJC gold prices in Hanoi and interbank offered rates at 0410 GMT.

Feb 17 Feb 16 USD/VND mid-point 22,229 22,234 USD/VND interbank 22,765/22,775 22,770/22,790 USD/VND unofficial 22,790/22,820 22,800/22,820 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 36.72/37.04 36.75/37.07

Interbank offered rates Overnight 4.2-5.1 4.0-4.9

1 week 4.5-5.1 4.1-4.8

1 month 4.6-5.0 4.5-4.9

3 months 4.6-5.0 4.6-5.0

NOTES: As of Jan. 4, 2016, the State Bank of Vietnam has begun setting the mid-point rate on daily basis, allowing dollar/dong transactions to move in a band of +/- 3 percent around the mid point. The dong's exchange rate against other currencies is not restricted by a band. Interbank offered rates are the latest indicative bid/ask prices, quoted from market sources.

One tael is equivalent to 37.5 grams or 1.21 troy ounces. SJC gold prices are quoted by state-owned Saigon Jewelry Co.

For more interbank rate fixings released at 0400 GMT, click on .

For Vietnam market overview click on: Vietnam's bonds market auctions: Bonds auction results: (Compiled by Hanoi Newsroom; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
(Recasts throughout; Adds analyst quote, details on mutual funds and ETFs, table, byline)

By Trevor Hunnicutt

NEW YORK, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Investors boosted their bets on U.S.-based equity funds in the latest week and helped extend market gains since the presidential election, Lipper data showed on Thursday.

Stock funds based in the United States attracted nearly $11.5 billion during the week ended Feb. 15, including $8.9 billion into funds invested domestically, the data showed.

That marks a sharp shift from the week before, when investors pulled $98 million from domestic stock funds, and a weakening interest in U.S. stocks since Donald Trump's November election as president sparked a "Trump trade" rally late last year. "Trump's anti-trade rhetoric with China and Japan have lessened over the last week," said Tom Roseen, head of research services for Thomson Reuters Lipper. "People are kind of going, 'Hey, maybe he's not going to be as radical'."

Trump, who last month accused China and Japan of manipulating their currencies to give their exports an unfair advantage, made no public criticism of Japan's monetary policies during or after an apparently friendly summit this past weekend with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The rosy sentiment in funds comes as MSCI's All-Country World index , a gauge of major world equity markets, hit a record on Thursday. By contrast, fund investors ignored strong equity markets last year, pulling $71.5 billion from U.S.-based stock funds as that ACWI index returned 7.7 percent, according to the Investment Company Institute, a trade group.

In another throwback to popular post-election trades, financial sector funds attracted $1.9 billion in the latest week, their largest inflows since November. Banks are expected to profit if Trump and his Republican party, which controls both houses of the U.S. Congress, deliver on promises to trim corporate taxes and banking regulations.

In a continuation of trends developing in the past few weeks, international stocks continued to attract cash, gathering $2.5 billion for the second week in a row.

Investors added $1.5 billion to emerging-market stock funds, their seventh straight week of inflows and the largest since last August.

Taxable bond funds attracted $4.9 billion, their seventh straight week of attracting cash, the data showed.

"We're seeing a two-trick pony, with equity markets rising, and taxable bond funds taking in money as well," said Roseen. "It was a pretty good week; the inflows show it."

U.S.-based corporate investment-grade bond funds attracted $3.1 billion over the weekly period, the group's ninth straight week of inflows, while high-yield junk bond funds posted their third straight week of inflows.

The following is a broad breakdown of the flows for the week, including mutual funds and exchange-traded funds: Sector Flow Chg % Assets Assets Count

($blns) ($blns) All Equity Funds 11.460 0.21 5,662.892 11,750 Domestic Equities 8.913 0.23 4,059.187 8,384 Non-Domestic Equities 2.547 0.16 1,603.705 3,366 All Taxable Bond Funds 4.912 0.21 2,343.693 5,909 All Money Market Funds -2.592 -0.11 2,346.233 1,037 All Municipal Bond Funds 0.480 0.13 366.501 1,400 (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Jennifer Ablan and Cynthia Osterman)
* Warsaw stocks off 18-month high on profit taking

* Bank stocks lead retreat, Polish refiners rise further

* Zloty also retreats though good output figure expected

* Czech central banker sees moderate price growth

By Sandor Peto and Bartosz Chmielewski

BUDAPEST/WARSAW, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Polish stocks retreated on Friday, while other Central European markets trod water, as investors took profits after a rally in equity markets across the region and world.

Warsaw's bluechip stock index had fallen 0.6 percent by 1021 GMT, driven mainly by bank stocks including PKO BP , which had fuelled the rally of the past few weeks.

The index hit an 18-month high in the previous session when other indices in the region were already retreating from their highest levels since 2015, or from a record high in the case of Budapest .

Thursday's Polish rally was mainly driven by PKN Orlen and Lotos , after Treasury Minister Henryk Kowalczyk floated the idea of merging the two partly state-owned refiners. Late on Thursday, Polish news agency PAP quoted an energy ministry statement as saying it was not analysing the potential consolidation of refiners.

Lotos shares still rose another 1.9 percent on Friday, while PKN gained 1 percent.

Vestor DM analyst Beata Szparaga said a merger could still be an option for the government even if the energy ministry was not working on a plan.

"It seems that the market already tries to capitalize from potential synergies between Lotos and PKN Orlen," she added.

Poland's zloty also retreated, reversing an early rise, while other regional currencies were mixed and rangebound.

The zloty eased 0.3 percent to 4.328 against the euro even though analysts expect Poland to report at 1300 GMT a jump in annual industrial output growth to 7.8 percent. A series of better than expected economic data has helped to buoy Polish stocks and the currency in recent weeks, pushing the zloty past 4.3 several times, but it has not been able to stay beyond that psychological line.

"We would now expect to see a rebound towards 4.35-4.40 in the near-term," Raiffeisen analyst Wolfgang Ernst said in a note.

"Nevertheless, it has to be stated that supportive economic data should prevent a more significant depreciation in the zloty for the time being," he added.

The Czech crown stuck to 27.02 against the euro, just off the central bank's cap on its value at 27.

Its implied rate in forwards deals was also steady.

Czech central bank governor Jiri Rusnok said late on Thursday that moderate price growth in the Czech economy was likely to continue and a suitable time would come for the central bank to exit safely from its weak crown policy. CEE SNAPS AT 1121

MARKETS HOT CET

CURRENCIES

Lates Previ Daily Chang

t ous e

bid close chang in

e 2017 Czech crown 27.02 27.02 +0.0 -0.05

00 45 2% % Hungary 307.9 307.6 -0.08 0.30% forint 000 500 % Polish 4.328 4.315 -0.30 1.75% zloty 0 1 % Romanian 4.519 4.522 +0.0 0.35% leu 0 5 8% Croatian 7.447 7.442 -0.07 1.44% kuna 5 5 % Serbian 123.8 123.9 +0.0 -0.42 dinar 700 000 2% % Note: daily calculate previ close 1800 change d from ous at CET

STOCK

S

Lates Previ Daily Chang

t ous e

close chang in

e 2017 Prague 969.8 971.0 -0.13 +5.2

2 8 % 3% Budapest 33709 33745 -0.10 +5.3

.96 .02 % 3% Warsaw 2201. 2215. -0.62 +13.

58 36 % 02% Bucharest 7708. 7711. -0.05 +8.7

13 84 % 9% Ljubljana 763.5 762.8 +0.0 +6.4

4 9 9% 0% Zagreb 2177. 2180. -0.16 +9.1

14 57 % 4% Belgrade <.BELEX15 711.7 708.8 +0.4 -0.79

> 2 2 1% % Sofia 596.9 594.1 +0.4 +1.8

6 8 7% 0%

BONDS

Yield Yield Sprea Daily

d

(bid) chang vs chang

e Bund e in Czech sprea Republic d 2-year <CZ2YT=RR -0.40 -0.00 +040 +2bp

> 1 9 bps s 5-year <CZ5YT=RR 0.241 -0.01 +070 +3bp

> 4 bps s 10-year <CZ10YT=R 0.666 -0.03 +036 +1bp

R> 4 bps s Poland 2-year <PL2YT=RR 2.23 0.008 +303 +4bp

> bps s 5-year <PL5YT=RR 3.163 0.002 +362 +4bp

> bps s 10-year <PL10YT=R 3.826 -0.01 +352 +4bp

R> 3 bps s

FORWARD RATE AGREEMENT

3x6 6x9 9x12 3M

inter

bank Czech Rep < 0.27 0.29 0.34 0

PRIBOR=> Hungary < 0.38 0.52 0.65 0.24

BUBOR=> Poland < 1.77 1.82 1.897 1.73

WIBOR=> 5 Note: FRA are for quotes ask

prices ************************************************** ************ (Reporting by Sandor Peto; Editing by Mark Potter)
By Rory Carroll

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 17 (Reuters) - The state of Delaware will sell $225 million of general obligation bonds on Feb. 23, the largest offer in a trading week shortened by the Presidents Day holiday on Monday.

Issuers are expected to sell just $3.8 billion of bonds and notes in the U.S. municipal market next week, according to Thomson Reuters estimates.

The subdued level of supply is in line with the low-volume trend that began at the outset of the month, according to Alan Schankel, managing director and municipal strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott.

"February is on track to be among the lightest volume months," he said in a note on Friday. "Our estimate for a sub-$20 billion total places this month as the slowest February since 2014."

Total issuance for January was $33.6 billion, 37.6 percent higher than the same month last year by par amount, with increases in both refundings and new money, according to Thomson Reuters data. Other notable offers next week include $177 million of transit system sales surtax revenue refunding bonds from Miami-Dade County and $129 million of limited tax general obligation bonds for the Port of Seattle.

Anticipation of tax reform measures, which are expected to come from congressional Republicans in the coming weeks, has fueled speculation in the market about whether the proposals will seek to do away with the tax-exempt status of muni bonds.

"While a reduction in the tax rates threatens to reduce the value of the municipal tax-exemption, its elimination remains highly unlikely, in our view," Peter Hayes, head of the municipal bond group at BlackRock, said in a monthly research note on Friday.

Public power utilities, which rely on the muni market to finance projects and which have warned lawmakers against eliminating the tax exemption on muni bonds, are not overly concerned about a major overhaul either.

"We've not found anyone rushing to market," John Godfrey, senior government relations director with the American Public Power Association, said on Friday.

"There is some sense that the markets are already pricing tax reform risk into rates," he said.

(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by James Dalgleish)
HELSINKI, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Finnish pension fund Ilmarinen has increased its investments in U.S. equities while cutting back on European stocks due to weak growth prospects in the region, its chief executive Timo Ritakallio said on Friday.

Ilmarinen, Finland's second-biggest pension fund after Varma, oversees about 37 billion euros ($39 billion) in investments and its moves are closely followed by the region's financial market players.

The fund said its portfolio made a total investment return of 4.8 percent last year, as it shifted its focus in equities towards the United States.

The share of European stocks in its equity portfolio fell from 46 percent to around 35 percent, while the share of U.S. stocks increased from 16 percent to around 20 percent.

Ritakallio told Reuters he still saw the U.S. market as a lucrative investment despite uncertainty over President Donald Trump's economic policy and commitment to free trade.

"We see growth accelerating in all our central markets, except Europe, in 2017," he said by phone.

"Trump's actions have so far been slightly positive for the stock market ... Also, in the short term, there are companies that can benefit from protectionism and trade barriers, including Finnish companies."

Ilmarinen plans to keep the share of stocks at around 40 percent of its portfolio, but will reduce the share of fixed-income instruments and increase real assets this year, Ritakallio said.

He added that he believed volatility would continue.

"We have three major upcoming elections in Europe, President Trump's actions are closely monitored and the Brexit talks will start," he said.

($1 = 0.9392 euros)

(Reporting by Tuomas Forsell; Editing by Jussi Rosendahl and Mark Potter)
Ghana 91-day bill yield rises to 15.9621 pct

ACCRA, Feb 17 (Reuters) - The Bank of Ghana said the yield on its 91-day bills being sold in a regular weekly auction on Friday rose to 15.9621 percent from 15.6877 percent at the last sale on Feb. 10. The bank said it had accepted 437.16 million cedis ($96.5 million) worth of bids out of 437.66 million cedis tendered for the paper, which will be issued on Feb. 20. For full details, click here: ($1 = 4.5275 Ghanaian cedis)

(Writing by Kwasi Kpodo; Editing by David Holmes) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. kitco news
* Euro zone primary surplus/deficits - By Jeremy Gaunt

LONDON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - There is a two-speed euro zone when it comes to budget discipline according to Thomson Reuters data - with Greece being forced into maintaining a large primary surplus at one end and France being pretty much left to its own devices at the other.

As the following graph shows - - Greece's primary surplus - the budget leftover before debt obligations - is set to run at 2.2 percent of GDP this year and 3.7 percent next year.

France, however, is expected to post a 1.1 percent primary deficit this year and a bigger one of 1.3 percent in 2018. It is one of only five countries - along with Latvia, Estonia, Spain and Finland - due to run such a deficit in the next two years.

There is a big difference, of course. Greece is on its third international bailout and has agreed to go for a primary surplus next year and beyond of 3.5 percent in order to secure funds.

France has no such difficulties.

Greece also has a massive debt to GDP ratio, which is what got it into trouble in the first place.

But Greek debt is set to creep down, albeit slowly. The European Commission predicts it will be 170.6 percent of GDP in 2018 versus 179.7 percent in 2016.

France, however, has a rising debt to GDP ratio, and not a particularly small one. The Commission figures show it at 97.0 percent in 2018 versus 96.4 percent in 2016.

Two speeds - and two directions.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Euro zone primary surplus/deficits ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Graphic by Vincent Flasseur; Editing by Toby Chopra)
MILAN, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Struggling Italian clothing company Stefanel said on Friday it was in talks with private equity funds Oxy Capital and Attestor Capital over a deal that would hand them majority ownership of the group.

In a statement, the company said that its creditor banks had raised no objections so far to a possible deal, although an agreement had not been finalised yet. The banks would also become shareholders in the company through a debt-to-equity swap, it said.

The fashion group accumulated over 170 million euros 181 million) in losses over the last decade while attempting to reach out to mid-range clients while surviving competition from high-street brands like H&M and ITX.MC.

Stefanel said the accord would only go through if the Italian market watchdog would lift Oxy Capital and Attestor Capital from having to launch a full takeover bid on the Treviso-based company. ($1 = 0.9397 euros)

(Reporting by Giulia Segreti, editing by Silvia Aloisi)
NAIROBI, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Kenya's market regulator has allowed the listing of the country's first-ever Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), which will track the price of gold, the regulator said on Friday.

The Nairobi Securities Exchange has been investing in new infrastructure to include trading of new products like ETFs, to diversify from equities and bonds, its chief executive Geoffrey Odundo, told Reuters last November. The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) said in a statement the ETF will be issued by NewGold Issuer (RF) Ltd, which is incorporated in South Africa.

The NewGold ETF will was first listed on the Johannesburg bourse in 2004 but it has since had secondary listings in other African exchanges, the CMA said.

(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by David Holmes)
Mauritius 91-day T-bills yield up 2.16 pct



PORT LOUIS, Feb 17 (Reuters) - The weighted average yield on Mauritius' 91-day Treasury bill rose to 2.16 percent at an auction on Friday from 1.82 percent at the last sale, the central bank said. The Bank of Mauritius sold all the 2 billion rupees ($56.50 million) worth of the debt it had offered. Complete auction results were as follows: MATURITY 91-DAY 182-DAY 364-DAY WEIGHTED AVERAGE PRICE THIS AUCTION 99.464 98.861 97.653 LAST AUCTION 99.548 98.925 97.872 WEIGHTED AVERAGE YIELD (PCT) THIS AUCTION 2.16 2.31 2.41 LAST AUCTION 1.82 2.18 2.18 BIDS ACCEPTED (MLN RUPEES)761.2 651.4 587.4 ($1 = 35.4000 Mauritius rupees)

(Reporting by Jean Paul Arouff; editing by Clement Uwiringiyimana)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.

kitco news
BONN, Germany, Feb 17 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday urged China to do all it could to moderate North Korea's destabilising behaviour after Sunday's ballistic missile test by Pyongyang, Tillerson's spokesman Mark Toner said.

Tillerson made the comments during his first meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of a G20 foreign ministers meeting in Bonn, Germany.

"Secretary Tillerson also highlighted the increasing threat posed by North Korea's nuclear and missile programs and urged China to use all available tools to moderate North Korea's destabilising behaviour," Toner said in a statement.

The two also discussed the need to create a level playing field for trade and investment, he said.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by John Irish)
LONDON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Initial demand for Angola's April-loading cargoes was strong, with buying interest emerging yet again across Asia. Nigeria's April export plans continued to emerge, though trading was muted.

ANGOLA

* Angolan state oil company Sonangol was still sorting term-buyer allocations for its April export plan.

* Traders said demand remained high for Angola's exports, with term buyers clamouring for cargoes.

* Sonangol was offering the April 23-24 Dalia at a 20 cent discount to dated Brent, and the April 15-16 Saturno at a 50 cent discount.

* Traders said maintenance had just concluded on the Plutonio field and works were likely coming on Pazflor, given the low exports planned in April.

* Total April exports were set at 1.69 million bpd, the highest since November last year. * ENI was offering a March and two April-loading cargoes of Olombendo crude from the East Pole field.

NIGERIA

* Export plans surfaced for Qua Iboe, with a small decrease from March, Bonny Light with a small increase, and a string of other programmes totalling 44 cargoes with 1.38 million bpd. * There were no exports of Antan due to field maintenance, traders said.

* Export plans were still pending for Akpo condensate, Amenam, Ebok, Okono, Yoho and Oyo.

* Nigeria's state oil firm NNPC had raised its March official selling prices for Bonny Light and Qua Iboe crude oil to 31 cents and 36 cents above dated Brent, respectively. It lowered the OSPs for grades including Agbami, Escravos and Erha. TENDERS

* Grades had not yet surfaced for the two VLCCs that traders Total and Vitol won as part of a tender to supply India's IOC. It was seeking oil for loading from April 20-30.

* A tender from India's MRPL for 1 million barrels of April-loading crude was expected to close next week.

* Thailand's PTT was tendering to buy sweet crude for arrival between March 20 to April 10.

RELATED NEWS

* Saudi Arabia is considering two options for the shape of Saudi Aramco when it sells shares in the national oil giant next year: a global industrial conglomerate, and a specialised international oil company, industry and banking sources said. * SK Energy bought Russian Urals crude for the first time in 10 years, a spokeswoman for the parent company of South Korea's top refiner said on Friday. * U.S. shale producers are facing their first production cost increase in five years in 2017 as industry activity picks up and energy service providers hike fees to take a bigger share of the profits generated by higher oil prices. (Reporting by Libby George; Editing by David Holmes)
The Herald reports:

The Government is refusing to introduce driving tests for foreign motorists because it is afraid of losing the almighty tourist dollar, a victim of a car crash said today. Newshub journalist Karen Rutherford said ministers needed to stop pussy-footing around and require long-stay tourists to prove their driving ability before getting behind the wheel. Rutherford was among a group of people who presented a 8600-signature petition to New Zealand First leader Winston Peters outside Parliament today calling for tourists staying longer than three months to sit a full license driving test, or at least an online test.

If the only test was reducing the number of accidents we would have a speed limit of 30 km/hr on open roads. All road safety issues are about benefits and costs.

Foreign drivers who stay over a year do have to get a NZ Drivers Licence. One year is also the time frame in which you are seen as a long-stay not short-stay person.

Is the number of accidents caused by foreign drivers increasing? No. It has been fairly constant at around 6% of all accidents for the last decade. And in that time tourism numbers have increased 30%.

So would requiring tourists who are here more than three months make much of an impact. The data suggests next to nothing.

In 2016 there were 1,817,136 tourists here and only 40,336 stayed for more than three months. Thats 2.2%.

So this measure would impact just 2.2% of tourists in NZ. If tourists cause 6% of all accidents then you might expect a 0.13% reduction in the road toll  and that is only if you make the generous assumption that having them sit a NZ licence test will mean they are guaranteed to have no accidents.

So the proposal, while well intentioned, will achieve basically nothing.

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Poster for MBC's period drama "Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People" / Courtesy of MBC



By Park Jin-hai

In the real word, the nation is grappling with the fallout of the Choi Soon-sil scandal. But Choi and her cronies are infuriating the public by dodging questions by parroting the same phrase  they don't remember.

Viewers yearning for justice can find peace in the drama world, as broadcasters have released shows telling the story of ordinary people fighting against social injustice and abuse of power.

MBC's period drama "Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People," the SBS thriller "Defendant" and the KBS office comedy "Good Manager," echoing the shared feeling of the public of today, enjoy rave support from viewers.

MBC's "Rebel," starring Kim Sang-joong and Yoon Kyun-sang, tells the story of Hong Gil-dong, a popular Korean literature figure based on a real life Joseon-era person.

In the first episodes of the 30-part period drama, revolving around the miserable life of Amogae, Hong's father and a greedy nobleman's slave, played by Kim, has garnered over 10 percent viewership.

Amogae worked his fingers to the bone for his master but the only return he had for his life-time of service was his wife's death at the hands of his master, who wanted to take away the wealth Amogae secretly accrued to buy his family's freedom.

Amogae takes revenge by killing his master and starts a new life dreaming of an ideal world where there is no discrimination based on who they are by birth. His son Gil-dong, with inhuman strength, becomes Joseon's first revolutionary and political dissident, winning the hearts of public.

Showing a stark comparison between him and the King Yeonsan, a tyrant who in grief of his poisoned mother carried out massive purges and didn't care about the people's livelihood, the drama asks what is real power and who should hold it.

"The fact that we called in a historic figure and re-interpreted his life in this time means that the public could find a close link between then and now. People seeing power, which comes from people, not being used for people, and instead falling to private hands to fatten their pockets, light their candles in Gwanghwamun and the lights became a torch," said culture critic Jung Duk-hyun. "As the candlelight asks the question of who should own the power, Rebel asks who is the real rebel."





A scene from SBS thriller "Defendant" /Courtesy of SBS



In the legal thriller "Defendant," Park Jung-woo, a prosecutor at Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, played by Ji Sung, wakes up one day and finds himself a convict on death row for killing his wife and daughter. Suffering from temporary amnesia, Park struggles to recover his memory and clear his name. The 16-part series has topped the Monday-Tuesday drama list, posting a 22.2 percent nationwide viewership.

A workplace comedy "Good Manager," starring Namkoong Min as accountant Kim Sung-ryong, reflects on the life of an ordinary office worker. Companies embezzle and when the crimes surface, office workers, instead of high-ranking officials who are really responsible for the crime, are made scapegoats and forced to leave their workplaces.

The drama takes the form of a black comedy that delivers social messages telling the story of small embezzlement and big embezzlement cases, and petty thieves and big thieves. The show's producer, Cho Young-gwang, said he wanted to say that hope is always within the minds of people in dark and frustrating times. Viewers have given positive responses to the Wednesday-Thursday series, pushing its viewership to nearly 20 percent.

Kim Kyo-suk, a culture critic, said, "broadcasters have released many timely dramas that are relevant to modern-day Korean society."

Jung agrees. "All of us are living life as another rebel, a defendant or a manager," he said.

Like Amogae in Rebel, fathers of this country today, who have worked hard for their families, feel deprived from those who have power. Like Park in Defendant, who suffers from the pain and guilt that he has been involved in the death of his family, people who have seen innocent children sinking into the deep sea (as in the Sewol ferry disaster) feel the same. "The situations have never been what those characters wanted. The wrong era forced them to stand in the middle of their tumultuous lives and those dramas show how they fight against the abuse of power and the wrongs of society. Without those stories, how can we endure the frustrating times of today?"
By Park Jae-hyuk

The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) held a board meeting at its headquarters, Friday, in the absence of major members including Hyundai Motor Group, which is considering leaving the scandal-ridden lobby group.

The 55-year-old chaebol lobby reportedly failed to discuss the selection of a new leader and reform plans during the 30-minute meeting. It could talk only about this year's budget and the results of businesses last year.

The closed meeting, which had been predicted to be canceled as being short of a quorum, went ahead with about 50 members, most of them deputies of CEOs.

The board of directors consists of CEOs, but Hanjin Group CEO Seo Yong-won was the only one to attend.

GS Group Chairman Huh Chang-soo, who is also the incumbent FKI Chairman, was one of two chairmen at the meeting, along with Daelim Industrial Honorary Chairman Lee Joon-yong.

The FKI has yet to find a candidate for the new chairman, with Huh's term due to end at the end of this month.

Last December, Huh vowed not to extend his term, as well as apologizing for the lobby group being involved in an unprecedented corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her friend Choi Soon-sil.

According to the FKI, the new chief should be selected at the annual meeting, which is supposed to be held on Feb. 24.

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo has been mentioned as candidate because he is the oldest, but this appears unlikely with the carmaker's possible exit and the chairman's busy schedule.

Some observers therefore expect Daelim Industrial Honorary Chairman Lee Joon-yong, the second-eldest, to be the next FKI chief.

The nation's largest conglomerates  Samsung, LG and SK groups  recently decided to leave the lobby group, which is on the verge of collapse.
By Nam Hyun-woo



Stocks of Samsung affiliates dropped Friday, after Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, was arrested on charges of bribery.



The Seoul Central District Court issued a warrant for Lee over claims that Samsung paid bribes in return for political support on a merger between the electronics giant's construction arm, Samsung C&T, and an affiliate firm, Cheil Industries in 2015.



The arrest came as a shock on 15 affiliates listed on the main KOSPI market and one on the secondary KOSDAQ. The 15 firms' total market cap accounts for 29 percent of the entire KOSPI market.



Samsung Electronics ended at 1,893,000 won, down 0.42 percent from a day earlier. It made a weak start with the opening of Friday's session, once dropping to 1,864,000 won, but slowly rebounded in the afternoon.













Samsung C&T shed 1.98 percent to close at 124,000 won, and Samsung SDS also ended at 128,000 won, down 0.78 percent from a session earlier. Samsung Life Insurance and Samsung Card each declined 1.4 percent and 1.67 percent from a day earlier.



With the major caps' plunge, KOSPI ended at 2,080.58, down 1.26 points or 0.06 percent from the session earlier.



Meanwhile, Hotel Shilla and preferred shares of the hotel were rising. The hotel's stocks had risen last month when Vice Chairman Lee managed to avoid being arrested.



Observers explained that the shares shot up amid expectations that Lee's sister, Boo-jin, who is president of Hotel Shilla, will take a bigger role in leading Samsung amid the leadership vacuum. Samsung refuted this as "groundless," adding that "Lee's arrest does not bring a fundamental change in Samsung's leadership."



Analysts also said that Lee's arrest will not bring a fundamental change in Samsung stocks' recent upward movements.



"Samsung Electronics has been showing sound outcomes recently and its fundamentals are solid," said Hana Financial Investment analyst Kim Yong-goo. "A CEO arrest will not harm the company's stock price significantly."



He cited previous cases in which arrests of heads at other conglomerates did not shake stock prices. Rather, he noted that investors should pay more attention on the mid- to long-term issues pending on Samsung, such as Samsung Electronics' transformation into a holding firm, because they could be affected by the CEO's absence.
In this file photo from last September, North Koreans wait for a boat that travels along the Yalu River  also known as Amnokgang River in South Korea  between the North Korean city of Sinuiju and Dandong in China. / Yonhap



By Ko Dong-hwan





Kim Jong-nam arrives at Beijing's international airport in February 2011. / AFP-Yonhap

North Koreans do not seem aware of the death of their leader Kim Jong-un's half-brother, with the totalitarian state tightening control over access to outside information.

But sooner or later people will find out about the assassination of Kim Jong-nam at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, because more and more people are learning other ways to get outside information, according to sources in Seoul.

The eldest son of late former leader Kim Jong-il was attacked by two women using a poisonous spray on Monday.

It has not been confirmed whether North Korea was behind the assassination.












A local newspaper in Malaysia carrying the photos of two female suspects of the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the older half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, on the front page, is seen at the main gate of the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Friday. North Korean diplomats have not replied to questions from journalists gathered there since the murder was first reported Tuesday. / Yonhap



By Kim Hyo-jin



It still remains unclear who was behind the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the older half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, despite rampant speculation that the young leader might have ordered the murder.



The mystery deepened after it was revealed that two female suspects detained in Malaysia were not North Koreans, according to their travel documents.



Siti Aisyah, an Indonesian, 25, who was caught Thursday, insisted she did not know Kim Jong-nam. She claimed she attacked him because she thought it was a prank, the Telegraph reported, quoting Indonesian news-site Kumpuran.



Someone approached her at a nightclub where she worked as a hostess, offering $100 to help with the stunt, she claimed.



Doan Thi Huong, a Vietnamese citizen, 29, gave a similar explanation. She claimed that four men whom she met at Kuala Lumpur International Airport suggested a prank on passengers and that she did not know Kim was the target.



Malaysian police believe the two women and four male suspects on the run could be hired killers, according to the local Dongfang Ribao daily.













The investigation into the four male suspects should provide clues about whether North Korea was behind the assassination, observers say.



Speculation is growing that one male suspect is a North Korean agent, affiliated with the Reconnaissance General Bureau, North Korea's spy agency.



Malaysian Federal Police Special Branch director Datuk Seri Mohamad Fuzi Harun fed such speculation in an interview with the New Straits Times.



"We have reason to believe that this might be the work of foreign agents. There are definitely other individuals involved, apart from the two assailants," he said.



It remains to be seen how Malaysian authorities will proceed. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi reportedly said it was mere speculation that North Korea was behind the killing. He said the assassination would not affect ties between the countries.



Some observers question whether Malaysian authorities will do their utmost to solve the murder, because of Malaysia's diplomatic relations with North Korea. Malaysia has taken a neutral diplomatic line between the two Koreas, and is viewed as having close ties to the isolated country with mutually allowed no-visa entry.



Malaysian authorities conducted an autopsy on Kim, Thursday, and his body is being held at Kuala Lumpur Hospital. The autopsy results have not been released.



Kim, the estranged half-brother of the North Korean leader, died after being sprayed with what is believed to be a toxic liquid by the two women at the airport Monday.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, right, shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, center, and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida before a meeting at the World Conference Center in Bonn, Germany, Thursday, on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers gathering. The three agreed to enhance their cooperation in dealing with North Korea that continues provocations including its Feb. 12 ballistic missile launch. / AFP-Yonhap



By Jun Ji-hye

The top diplomats from South Korea, the United States and Japan condemned North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch in the "strongest terms," Thursday, warning that Pyongyang will face strong action from the international community unless it gives up its nuclear ambitions.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida urged the repressive state to abandon its proscribed nuclear and ballistic missile programs in a "complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner" and comply with all United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions, according to their joint statement.

The three reached the agreement during a meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 foreign ministers gathering in Bonn, Germany. It was the first such meeting since U.S. President Donald Trump was inaugurated.

The principle of CVID  complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of the North Korean nuclear capability  was the policy of the George Bush administration during the early years of the six-party talks that began in 2003 with the aim of denuclearizing Pyongyang. At the time, the North protested against the principle, claiming that it was humiliating and that such terms were given only to a defeated country.

The joint statement said, "The ministers condemned in the strongest terms North Korea's Feb. 12, 2017 ballistic missile test, noting North Korea's flagrant disregard for multiple UNSC resolutions that expressly prohibit its ballistic missile and nuclear programs

"Secretary Tillerson reiterated that the United States remains steadfast in its defense commitments to its allies, the Republic of Korea and Japan, including the commitment to provide extended deterrence, backed by the full range of its nuclear and conventional defense capabilities."

During the latest provocation, the isolated state fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile propelled by a solid-fuel engine using a caterpillar-tracked, self-propelled missile launching vehicle.

Tension has been further raised following the sudden death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's older half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, Monday, in an apparent assassination that the young leader is suspected of ordering.

Seoul, Washington and Tokyo pledged to collaborate to ensure that all countries fully carry out UNSC sanctions on Pyongyang, saying that violations of the resolutions would be met with an "even stronger international response," according to the statement.

Yun told reporters that the trilateral meeting was meaningful in that the Trump administration's detailed message regarding the North was delivered. He added that various talks between high-level officials of the three countries would continue.

Ahead of the trilateral meeting, he held 25-minute one-on-one talks with Tillerson, during which they agreed to put together a joint strategy to deal with the North based on an understanding that it has reached the final stages for nuclear armament, Seoul officials said.

The two assessed that the North's latest missile test was worrisome in that it diversified the means of delivering nuclear weapons.
Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., is seen in his car at the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul, Thurdsay, after attending a hearing on the legitimacy of his arrest sought for the second time by special prosecutors for alleged bribery related to the merger of two of Samsung's affiliates involving impeached President Park Geun-hye. The court approved the arrest warrant early in the morning the following day. / Yonhap



By Kim Bo-eun

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong was put behind bars Friday after a Seoul court issued an arrest warrant for him on bribery charges in the influence-peddling scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her close friend Choi Soon-sil.

Lee is the first leader in Samsung's 79-year history to be jailed on criminal charges. The independent counsel team investigating the scandal can detain Lee for up to 20 days before formally indicting him.

Judge Han Jung-seok of the Seoul Central District Court issued the warrant at 5:37 a.m., saying there were "sufficient grounds" for his arrest.

"Considering newly raised allegations and additional evidence, the need for confinement is recognized," Han said.

Lee avoided arrest last month when the court dismissed the counsel team's first request, citing a lack of evidence.

The claims against Lee revolve around a controversial merger between the electronics giant's construction arm, Samsung C&T, and another affiliate, Cheil Industries, in 2015. The merger was seen as critical for Lee to consolidate his leadership of the nation's biggest business empire.

The special prosecution team claims Samsung paid bribes totaling 43 billion won ($37.8 million) through two foundations set up by Choi in return for political support for the deal. Samsung has denied that it offered bribes or sought any favors from the President.

Following Lee's arrest, the counsel team said it would summon him to the team's office today for questioning.

"We will summon Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Saturday. We will make sure that we establish grounds to indict him," team spokesman Lee Kyu-chul said at a press briefing.

Lee's arrest is expected to give a fresh impetus for the team's push to question the President in person.
Samsung Electronics' office in Seocho-gu, Seoul / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul



By Ko Dong-hwan

Samsung Electronics' skyscraper office in Seocho-gu, Seoul was like a "house of mourners" on Friday morning after the Seoul Central District Court announced his arrest.







The grief settled in heavily after Lee became the first leader in Samsung's 79-year history to be detained on criminal charges.







The arrest is viewed a victory for the special prosecutors team led by Park Young-soo.












By Lee Kyung-min





Min Young-jin

An appellate court upheld a lower court ruling that acquitted former CEO of a local tobacco manufacturer of bribery, Friday. It cited a lack of credibility of testimony from those who incriminated him.

The Seoul High Court found former KT&G CEO Min Young-jin not guilty of bribery, saying testimony of his former subordinates and subcontractors were inconsistent.

"Taking into account the testimony from all figures involved, his crime was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt," the court said.

Min, who headed the firm between 2010 and July 2015, was indicted in January last year for allegedly receiving a total of 179 million won ($156,000) worth of cash and valuables from his subcontractors, a company subordinate and a foreign buyer, between 2009 and 2012 in return for numerous business and personal favors. The valuables included five Rolex watches and one Swiss luxury-brand watch which cost 45 million won.

He was suspected of receiving 40 million won in cash from his subordinate who asked for a favor in October 2009.

He also allegedly received 30 million won from a subcontractor in February in 2010, soon after he became the CEO.

Min was acquitted of offering some 600 million won worth of bribes to a government official in return for helping him buy public land in Cheongju, North Chungchoeng Province. The court said he had no reason to purchase the public land with such desperation that he had to offer bribes to a city official.

Earlier, following the lower court's acquittal, he was released from custody. He had been indicted with physical detention.
Lee Jung-mi, acting president of the Constitutional Court, enters the court building in central Seoul, Friday. The court is expected to make a decision on the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye in early March. / Yonhap



By Kim Rahn

The odds of an early presidential election are growing after the Constitutional Court decided to hold a final hearing on President Park Geun-hye's impeachment, Feb. 24, and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong was arrested on bribery charges.

The court's decision to close its hearings next Friday means that it could decide on the impeachment in early March.

On top of the court decision, the arrest of the Samsung heir for bribery in the corruption scandal involving Park and her friend Choi Soon-sil has raised the possibility of the President's ouster as a bribe recipient.

The court usually makes a ruling one to two weeks after a final hearing _ it took two weeks in the impeachment case for former President Roh Moo-hyun in 2004.

While it usually announces rulings Thursday, the court can select other days of the week for special cases. In Roh's case, it picked Friday.

So, the final hearing Feb. 24 is likely to lead to a ruling anywhere between March 3 and 10.

If the court upholds the impeachment, the election must take place within 60 days from the day the decision is handed down according to the Constitution and the Election Law. The election date should be announced 50 days in advance at the latest. Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn is in charge of setting the date.

There is no rule about what day of the week the election should be held, but most are usually held on a Wednesday. This could mean April 26 or May 3; but as May 3 is a holiday for Buddha's Birthday, it may also be possible to hold the election May 2, a Tuesday.

Ahead of the last hearing, both the President's lawyers and the National Assembly prosecutorial panel are likely to have a fierce legal battle in the court next week as they deliver their final arguments.

Neither side has failed to seize the upper hand yet, with three hearings left _ Feb. 20, 22 and 24.

Park's side is contemplating whether it will be advantageous or disadvantageous for her to attend the final hearing. The President is not obliged to attend any of the impeachment hearings.

She did not attend the first hearing, despite the court's request, and has not come to any since to avoid being questioned by the Assembly panel publicly. But her lawyers later said they would decide about her attendance of the final hearing when the date was set.

In the final hearing, Park may be able to defend herself without being grilled by the panel, because each side will be presenting wrap-up arguments without any questioning.


By Kim Ji-soo

Hur Sang-kook, 38, made the move several years ago that others are now contemplating. Hur now lives with his Japanese wife Keiko Chiyonobu and three children in Pungwha-ri, near Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, running cafe and guesthouse Antwerp. The entire family relocated from the city in 2015; Hur first came down to build the house in 2013. While Tongyeong is a popular tourist site now, Pungwha-ri remains the small fishing village it was with some 20 households. Hur moved to provide a better environment for his children in terms of education and life experiences.

"Everything is monosyllabic in Korea. I wanted my children to have one place other than Seoul, where more than 50 percent of the Korean population lives, to call home, and where they can encounter the sea, the fields, the nature," he said.

Originally from Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, he had considered returning to his hometown, only to find it partly urbanized and no longer identifiable as the rustic community that he knew.

Hur had all the right credentials to succeed with urban family life. He graduated from Seoul National University and worked at a conglomerate, which was at times painful for him.

"It was work, the same grinding work. Practically all people do in the city was to work," he said. The only "fruit" was that he got to meet his wife. His reverse migration story even made him a star of a television morning documentary in 2015. Almost two years later, Hur is digesting his new reality.

When returning to rural life, people should be prepared to have less income. "But everything is so much cheaper," he said.

What is difficult for him is the broad gap between how the locals view him and how his parent's generation regards his move.





Hur Sang-kook, 38, owner of a cafe and a guesthouse in Pungwha-ri, South Gyeongsang Province, poses with his wife, Keiko Chiyonobu and their three children. / Courtesy of Hur Sang-kook



"There are undeniable inconveniences, like not having that neighborhood dentist," he said. Also, as a city migrant, he has to learn to find his place in the community, where conflicts may arise over the smallest daily things.

Speaking honestly, he said he saw many people in their late 50s actively seeking for a place to spend their later years with relatively more abundant funds having the possibility to drive up property prices. Hur also advised people looking to relocate to a more rustic place to be really specific and honest about what they hope to get with the relocation.

Kim Young-gwon, 56, also moved out of Seoul six years ago. A native of Seoul, Kim spent 22 years as a journalist in Seoul before relocating to Hwacheon, Gangwon Province, at the age of 50. Kim is very satisfied with his "second-stage" life.

"I had a lot of skepticism about urban life, the social system of our times ... whether it was making me happy and healthy," Kim said. Kim also heads the one-man Small Economy Research Lab and regularly writes about living in Hwacheon in Gangwon Province on 1.2 million won a month. The fact that he is single, his younger sister who also lives with him is single, and that he was willing to sell his urban dwelling were some vital elements that prompted him to make the move.

"Now, I am confident that this life of earning less, spending less, wasting less is sustainable," Kim said in a telephone interview. By that Kim means to say that he was able to shed off the need to continue working and the anxiety about not having work, and learn to live with what he has. He finances the 1.2 million monthly from two small officetels he bought and now rents after selling his apartment. These days, he does "what I want to do such as read or take walks, and the things that must be done," he said.

"In the future, I may even opt to experiment with a more simplified lifestyle," Kim said. For those looking to exit out of cities, he advised "if you shed the urban mindset, then your return-to-village' will succeed, but if you continue to hold on to the same lifestyle of earning more, spending more, wasting more, you're most likely to fail," Kim said.

Local governments in Korea are actively courting would-be new migrants. As a result, some 329, 368 households or more than 480,000 Koreans have returned to rural or provincial communities in 2015, and the figure is expected to rise. There is a general center, which falls under the central government, that advises and supports people looking into and making the reverse-migration.

In that vein, the reverse migration away from cities may well be a rising and dominant trend. Many are considering such a move as a 55-year-old executive at a media outlet in Seoul. Surnamed Cho, he said he is considering with "interest" of returning to the village. A native of Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, he trekked to Seoul for education and a job but now he is looking at various options including a more rustic life if not necessarily farming.

Hur in Pungwha-ri said, "it would be ideal if the local governments and the would-bere-settlers could work together for synergy and contribution to the village as well."
By Jason Lim





A few months ago, I wrote about two widespread cognitive biases about North Korea that tend to mislead us when making policy decisions about North Korea.

One, that North Korea is a one-party, socialist dictatorship like the former Soviet Union or today's China, with internal decision-making dynamics similar to what we see in those systems. Wrong. North Korea is still essentially a monarchy with hereditary kings who rule in conjunction with a tight-knit group of elites mostly interrelated by blood and whose original elite stature was given through their forefathers' participation in the original struggle that liberated the new country.

Two, that North Korea wants to be a "normal" country as we define a normal country: a member of an international community of nations with open borders and lively interchanges. This, too, is wrong. The last thing that North Korea would want to do is to welcome global forces that would change its current political and socioeconomic status quo, which the ruling elites have carefully and meticulously built up over the past few decades as a means to keep themselves at the apex.

The two biases are actually symptoms of a single underlying diagnosis. North Korea is a country permanently and intentionally living in the past. It's not only backward, but also backward looking.

In that context, the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the older half-brother of Kim Jong-eun, is a very ordinary by-product of a typical hereditary succession that Koreans have witnessed hundreds of times throughout its history. Although these two Kims are called brothers, they've only been rivals for the throne ever since they became conscious of each other's existence.

The elevation of the third son by Kim Jong-il as the successor went against the traditional protocol of anointing the eldest son as the crown-prince. The throne was Kim Jong-nam's to lose, which he seemed to have done. Nevertheless, Jong-nam's presence meant that he could always form the nucleus of a potential opposition movement within or outside the country, especially if a powerful foreign benefactor such as China chooses to actively support his candidacy. Further, the fact that Kim Jong-un is a product of the second wife also lends more legitimacy to Kim Jong-nam when royal succession protocols are strictly interpreted, making him a constant threat to Kim Jong-un, the current king.

And king he certainly is. More importantly, the person of Kim Jong-un probably places himself in a historical royal context. In other words, he models his decisions and behavior based on lessons that he has learned from well-known historical narratives and figures in Korea's past. But who? Knowing that would be interesting because we would be able to model his potential next steps based on what type of a historical figure he sees himself being.

A natural candidate, of course, is the greatest king in Korea's history: Sejong. The historical parallels are there. Kim Jong-un is the third king of a new dynasty, like Sejong was the third "real" king (there was a puppet second king that had no bearing) of the nascent Joseon Dynasty. Both Sejong and Kim Jong-un's grandfather founded the country after a bloody upheaval _ both were celebrated as military heroes. Both Sejong and Kim Jong-un's father were the real builders of the political and military infrastructure that undergirds their respective kingdoms. Both Sejong and Kim Jong-un were chosen above their two older brothers to succeed their fathers as the king. Both Sejong and Kim Jong-un's father personally oversaw the succession process while alive, grooming their sons into the position.

Granted, these are accidental and superficial similarities. However, human beings always seek meaning in our lives and want to maximize the significance of our own place on earth. Kim Jong-un would naturally choose someone who represents the most grandiose version of who he would want to be. And this someone would necessarily be from Korea's past.

This might not mean anything. Conversely, it could mean everything. If Kim sees himself fulfilling some destiny as the next King Sejong of the modern era, then it would give us insight into the type of leverage that would be most effective in any eventual negotiations with the North Korean leadership. What would give Kim Jong-un the biggest meaning and most reinforcement to his adopted identity as the next great Korean king? After all, in a monarchy, it's always what's most important to the king that's the key to unlocking the gates of the kingdom.

This recognition is significant because it implies that North Korean leadership's reference point for its decisions would probably be based on historical precedents, rather than strategic thinking about the future.





Jason Lim is a Washington, D.C.-based expert on innovation, leadership and organizational culture. He has been writing for The Korea Times since 2006. Reach him at jasonlim@msn.com, facebook.com/jasonlimkoreatimes or @jasonlim2012.




By Donald Kirk



Kim Jong-nam showed the warm and human face of North Korea's dynastic family. You had to like the guy, judging from sightings in the gambling enclave of Macau, across the Pearl River estuary from Hong Kong off China's southeastern coast. One time he was spotted in a Macao bus. Another time he was seen at a doorway with a funny little smile on his face.



Then, for a while, he dropped out of the news. Speculation was he'd been told to keep his mouth shut and stay out of sight after making disparaging comments about his younger half-brother, "Respected Leader" Kim Jong-un. He had had the nerve to say he doubted if the kid would last long in power.



You can't imagine any offense much worse than suggesting the man on the throne might be deposed. Perhaps it was a case of sour grapes. Kim Jong-nam, at 45 a dozen years older than Kim Jong-un, had been cast aside as a potential heir by their father, Kim Jong-il, after trying 16 years ago to enter Japan on a fake Dominican passport. Apparently, the "Dear Leader" didn't care for the excuse that his oldest son, born of an actress who died in Moscow, had yearned to visit Disneyland Tokyo with his kid.



From then on, Jong-un, not Jong-nam, was destined as Kim Jong-il's successor, and he's been ruling with an iron fist since taking over after his father's death more than five years ago.



Not content with knocking off his uncle-in-law, Jang Song-thaek, married to his father's younger sister, Kim Jong-un methodically ordered the executions of all those connected with Jang plus many of their family members. That word comes from an authoritative source, Kang Chol-hwan, who recounts his own tale of imprisonment and escape from North Korea in his classic, "The Aquariums of Pyongyang."



Perhaps Kim Jong-nam was lucky to have lived as long as he did. He survived an assassination attempt seven years ago  a staged car "accident" similar to any number in which North Korean have been killed in "accidents" after falling out of favor.



Now it seems Kim Jong-nam has met his fate  the victim of chemicals smeared on his face, presumably at the behest of North Korean agents, by at least one woman identified as Vietnamese at Kuala Lumpur International Airport outside the Malaysian capital. Seems the chubby fellow, cut off from funding by his half-brother, had been moving now and again around the region, partly for fun, partly to evade agents who were out to get him.



The demise of Kim Jong-nam is another of many innumerable tragedies that have befallen those on the wrong side of power in Pyongyang. What could be sadder than that of the hundreds of thousands consigned over the decades to the country's vast prison camps?



And what about the hundreds of South Koreans who've been captured or kidnapped or otherwise fallen into the clutches of the regime? Considering the ferocity of Kim Jong-un's rule, we may be pretty sure he's not going to show the quality of mercy by freeing any of these poor souls, mostly fishermen whose boats had strayed into North Korean waters.



One who seems destined never to get out is Hwang Won, a TV producer who was on a Korean Air plane hijacked over South Korea in December 1969 and forced to land near the North Korean east coast port of Wonsan. His son, Hwang In-cheol, who was two at the time, has no idea why his father was among 11, including the pilot and co-pilot, whom North Korea refused to send home after freeing 39 passengers on Valentine's Day, February 14, 1970.



At the gates of the unification ministry in central Seoul on the latest Valentine's Day anniversary, Hwang read an impassioned statement protesting the reluctance of Korean officials to press for his father's release. They politely sympathize, then tell him there's nothing they can do and advise him to cool it.



You wonder what's in it for North Korean rulers to display such cruelty. Was it totally coincidental that Kim Jong-un ordered the firing of an advanced model of a mid-range missile the day of his brother's murder?



Kidnapping South Koreans to the North and killing foes of the regime  such individual tragedies show the harsh insecurity of a regime that survives on chest-beating rhetoric while squandering resources on nukes and missiles.



Donald Kirk, www.donaldkirk.com, has been covering war and peace in Asia for decades. He's at kirkdon4343@gmail.com
By John J. Metzler



UNITED NATIONSAfghanistan's seemingly endless conflict continues as civilian causalities in the protracted war are nearly double what they were a decade ago. According to a UN report there were 11,418 conflict related causalities documented, which includes 3,500 killed. Over 900 children died and another 2,600 were injured in the same period in 2016.



The figures, recorded by UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), are the highest since the UN began systematically documenting civilian casualty figures in 2009.



"The killing and maiming of thousands of Afghan civilians is deeply harrowing and largely preventable," said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan. "All parties to the conflict must take immediate concrete measures to protect the ordinary Afghan men, women and children whose lives are being shattered."



According to the survey, "Anti-Government forces, mainly the Taliban, were responsible for almost two thirds of the casualties while pro-Government forces were responsible for almost one quarter."



Significantly, besides the long term threat from Taliban fundamentalist militants, the UN survey relates disturbing new evidence including the"increase in attacks perpetrated by Daesh/ISKP (Islamic State Khorasan Province), particularly targeting Shia Muslims." The UN Mission documented 899 civilian casualties (209 deaths and 690 injured), a ten-fold increase from last year. The report states, "The majority of the casualties caused by Daesh/ISKP occurred in three large-scale attacks on the Shia Muslim community."



In other words Afghanistan is facing both a traditional insurgency as well as a sectarian conflict between Muslim religious groups.



The UN's Yamamoto added, "Yet another record year of civilian suffering in Afghanistan Unless all parties to the conflict make serious efforts to review and address the consequences of their operations, the levels of civilian casualties, displacement and other types of human suffering are likely to remain at appallingly high levels."



NATO's Resolute Support Mission continues in the war ravished country, with the multinational force levels near 13,000. The United States is the largest troop contributor with 8,400, followed by Italy with 1,000, Germany 980 and the United Kingdom 450 among others. The Resolute Support Mission is primarily focused on training Afghan forces and providing the overall insurance policy of Western boots on the ground. During last year, Afghan military losses spiked too as the military has at long last assumed a larger share of the on the ground fighting.



This war-weary land of 33 million is hardly stabilized despite the best efforts of the U.S. and NATO forces. A weak central government in Kabul combined with an entrenched Islamic Taliban insurgency has sadly guaranteed years of future crisis. The Kabul government controls only about two-thirds of the mountainous country. Combine this with a brisk narcotics trade, entrenched corruption, a militant gaggle of warlords, and Afghanistan appears an impossible maze to solve politically.



Neighboring Pakistan remains part of the problem. Long a supporter of certain Taliban factions, offering them sanctuary and support, the supreme irony remains the deadly political blowback that the very same Taliban has sowed terror and destabilization in parts of Pakistan itself.



Just last week the UN removed a notorious Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, once known as the Butcher of Kabul, from its ISIL/Al-Qaida sanctions blacklist. The controversial move reflected conclusions that the Hez- a- Islami leader would cooperate with President Ashraf Ghani's central government.



According to Zahid Hussain writing in the Pakistani Dawn newspaper, "A shrewd political operator" Hekmatyar shall strive to reestablish old alliances with other warlords from both the anti-Soviet insurgency and the subsequent civil war. He adds,"Everything is possible in the shifting sands of Afghan politics."



Russia too, who learned a bloody lesson in their Afghan misadventure a generation ago, now has opened discreet political contacts with the insurgents. Why? To offset the growing threat from Islamic State whose terrorist web is perilously entrenched in parts of the country. India is concerned over the growth of IS in Afghanistan and the knock on effect this poses to Pakistan.



A recent bombing outside the Supreme Count in Kabul killing 20 civilians and the murder of 6 Red Cross workers have been traced to Islamic State terrorists, not the Taliban. IS stokes sectarian violence between Shiite and Sunni Muslims inside the country.



Barack Obama's maladroit and misguided Afghan policies offer the new U.S. administration a stalemate in which to operate. The Trump team must prepare for a sudden surge in fighting while at the same time not investing significantly more American blood and treasure in Afghanistan's complex geopolitical game.





John J. Metzler is a United Nations correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He is the author of "Divided Dynamism: The Diplomacy of Separated Nations: Germany, Korea, China." Contact jjmcolumn@earthlink.net.




Leader's arrest calls for inevitable remedial steps



Lee Jae-yong, the de facto leader of Samsung Group, was arrested Friday on charges of bribing President Park Geun-hye and her friend Choi Soon-sil. Lee's arrest came three weeks after the first such attempt by the special prosecution team was foiled. Lee is the first Samsung leader to have landed behind bars.



The real target of the special probe is President Park and Lee's arrest is seen as a major boost in the effort to prove Park's guilt, certainly making more compelling a guilty ruling in her impeachment by the Constitutional Court.



However, when the heft Samsung has for the national economy and globally is considered, what becomes of Samsung as a result of Lee's arrest can't be put on the backburner.



First, how will the arrest impact corporate governance headed by Lee and his family? It is not likely that his management control of the group will be immediately challenged. With the inter-subsidiary merger of Cheil and Samsung C&T, Lee has had the group under lock and key.



An attempt to dislodge him from the top position, perhaps by key stakeholders, is plausible but equally unlikely, considering Samsung Electronics, the flagship of the group, is the golden goose that generates billions of dollars in quarterly profits. Only fools would want to stress it, not to mention kill it.



U.S. hedge fund Elliott tried to lead a minority rebellion against the Cheil-C&T merger, in which Lee is suspected of having enlisted Park's help in gaining a nod from the large stakeholder, the National Pension Service, and nearly succeeded. Noteworthy is the fact that Lee is in jail not for conviction but as the court recognized there were reasonable grounds that the charges are true.



One possible scenario is that some shareholders could gather forces to raise an issue over Lee's qualifications as leader and put pressure on Samsung to increase dividends or demand a governance overhaul to ease the centralization of power. A real test for Lee is how to prove he is up to the job and rally his business empire around him.



On a larger scale, Lee's arrest recaptures the power-chaebol collusion, the ailment that has sickened Korea Inc. for decades. The collusion dates back to the era of "development dictatorship" led by the army general-turned-president, Park Chung-hee, the father of the incumbent, who diverted scarce national resources to a few private companies that have grown to be chaebol like Samsung, Hyundai and LG.



It looks as farcical as it is sad for Samsung, the world's leading smartphone maker, to claim that it buckled under government pressure and "donated" the money so it was not a bribe. If their pleas were true, it means that chaebol have been stuck in the same mentality as they were 30 or 40 years ago when they were small. However bitter the remedial pills may be, Samsung's case shows it can't be delayed any longer to force chaebol to operate more transparently and responsibly. Even if it costs a lot, it is the price that should be paid to unfetter the chaebol and help them grow bigger and stronger. In that, everybody _ not just the chaebol, the government and, most importantly, the people _ has a stake.




After the murder of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, Pyongyang has made itself conspicuous by its silence.



The young dictator appeared in public Thursday, three days after Kim Jong-nam was killed, to mark the birthday of his late father, Kim Jong-il, in a ceremony held in Pyongyang, together with a large entourage of top military brass and civilian subordinates.



There are many theories about how Kim Jong-nam was killed in a cold-war spy novel style assassination, but there is near consensus that the North and its paranoid leader were behind the killing at Kuala Lumpur airport.



True, few would expect the North to speak up on its suspected involvement, but it remains mute over the risk that others would see it as a sign of admitting guilt. Pyongyang has only itself to blame because of its record of acts of terrorism. The cases include the Oct. 9, 1983 planting of bombs in Yangon, Myanmar, that killed 17 members of President Chun Doo-hwan's delegation. The North claimed it was a conspiracy by the South and would not admit responsibility, but three North Korean agents were caught, with the last one dying in prison in 2008.



Also etched in our memory is the Nov. 29, 1987, explosion of a Korean Air flight that killed all 115 on board. Kim Hyun-hee, one of two North Korean agents, was caught and now lives in South Korea.



The assassination of the late North Korean leader's eldest son may be seen as the case of a North Korean killing another, but it is nevertheless a full-fledged terrorist act.



First, it occurred in a Malaysian airport, meaning that other people could have been in danger. Second, if the case is not clearly resolved and the responsible party brought to justice, it could encourage the North to carry out more outrageous acts with graver consequences.



So it is the responsibility of Malaysia, where the crime happened, to get to the bottom of the case, and it is the international community's duty to hold the North accountable accordingly.




President Park Geun-hye / Korea Times file



$317 mil. suit against President



By Oh Young-jin





With presidents and prime ministers emerging to be a risk factor around the world, can we just wait for history to pass its judgment on them, while watching them wreak havoc?

Or do we institutionalize a system that punishes bad-apple leaders through, say, a class action for punitive damages against them? (Both are not fully available in Korea).

That way, the leaders would behave while in office and have careful second thoughts before bidding for the highest office in the country.

Let's take the example of President Park Geun-hye. How much has she cost the nation because of her alleged incompetence and corruption that put her in the middle of an impeachment case now being deliberated by the Constitutional Court?

The gamut of the presidential office is all-encompassing so let's just focus on the candlelit protests alone for starters.

For the convenience of calculation, I would use as a basis the end-of-last-year aggregate tally of 10 million people who participated in the candlelit protests that started with demands for Park's resignation and impeachment, and then moved to pressure the court for a prompt ruling for it. The rallies are still under way.

Now, we assume that each of the 10 million people used one candle and one paper cup. Although their prices would get significantly lower if purchased in large quantities, I use their selling prices at a nearby convenience store  2,200 won for a box of two candles and 2,000 won for 10 paper cups. The sums are 11 billion won for candles and 2 billion won for the cups, totaling 13 billion won or $11.4 million.

Say they used subway on their round trips to Gwanghawmun, the site of their Saturday night rallies, so the basic fare for an adult, set at 1,250 won, is used. The result is the sum of 2,500 won being multiplied by 10 million, which comes to 25 billion won or $22 million.

They were from all walks of life so their income level would be different. But I would use the minimum hourly wage of 6,470 won and each for an average five hours in the protest to calculate their unfulfilled economic opportunities and the total is 323.5 billion won or $284 million.

Put together the prices of candles, cups, transportation costs and the unfulfilled wages, the total is 361.5 billion won or $317 million.

Would anybody, Park included, dare to go astray in office or bid for the job at the risk of getting his or her posterity indebted forever?

We need to remind ourselves of what other costs are not counted in. They include traffic congestion costs  buses, taxies, private vehicles and so on forced to make detours or left parked at home; more importantly, costs for government being run in emergency mode with President Park out of action after the impeachment bill was passed by the National Assembly.

The even bigger cost is the mental anguish the whole nation is being dragged into  stress for knowing Park was being controlled by her friend, Choi Soon-sil; and for not being able to trust anybody after knowing that Choi, often with Park's help, used her influence in her daughter's high school and college admissions. Besides, Samsung and other members of Korea Inc. see their operations affected, reputations tarnished and business opportunities compromised as the Park-Choi duo extorted them and received what couldn't be seen as anything other than bribes. The tab for those  lost opportunities at a national level  could reach many times the sum only involving the candlelit protests.





Protesters among candlelit demonstration at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul demand President Park's resignation. / Korea Times file



Now, here is the tricky part.

I sought a pro bono legal consultation from a renowned jurist who didn't want to reveal his name.

My first question was whether it was possible to seek damages against Park.

He was pessimistic, saying that it has never been done before  not in Korea or the rest of the world.

Brazilians didn't seek damages from Dilma Rousseff, the president who was impeached for taking bribes and cooking state account books. True, Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, the corrupt presidents, were ordered to cough up the money they had extorted from chaebol but it was not a damages suit. Besides, they have defied the orders, claiming the money were "governing funds," not bribes or protection money.

"Impeachment is the severest form of punishment," the jurist said.

My counterargument is that since the ongoing Constitutional Court's trial is comparable to a criminal trial, a civil suit should be warranted also. If she is found to be guilty, the people should be able to seek damages.

"Not so," he said, citing the constitutional logic that doesn't see the president as the target of civil suit for what he or she does in office. George W. Bush took the world to the clash of civilizations and brought his country to the brink of economic collapse but nobody sued him. For Trump, his executive order for an entry ban on Muslims has been rejected by the courts but nobody has taken him to court seeking damages.

The jurist sympathized with me, when I said that ordinary people are forever cursed to put up with incompetent, corrupt leaders and pay for their messes as well.

"It is like old times when kings tried to hang on to power, irrespective of whatever great suffering the people had to bear," he observed. "We are reliving it."

But I pressed on. My rationale was: We need to set a precedent for leaders to pay for their wrongdoing once and for all, even if it takes a constitutional revision.

The jurist caved in, saying tentatively, "We could seek damages for mental anguish."

When I was about to say, "Eureka," he talked about little chance of winning on that account.

I said to myself: "We are stuck."

Oh Young-jin is The Korea Times' chief editorial writer. Contact foolsdie5@ktimes.com and foolsdie@gmail.com.
By Kang Seung-woo

Samsung Group is expected to face a leadership vacuum after its de facto chief Lee Jae-yong was arrested Friday on bribery charges related to President Park Geun-hye and her confidant Choi Soon-sil.

After his father, Chairman Lee Kun-hee, was hospitalized due to a heart attack in May 2014, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee has headed the nation's top conglomerate by any measure.

"Samsung is feared to face an unprecedented leadership problem," said a professor at a Seoul-based university, who asked not to be named.

"Without its captain, do you think such a big vessel like Samsung would sail in the right direction? It is also bad news for the whole economy as Samsung is such a big business group."

Chung Chang-won, a senior analyst at Nomura Holdings, concurred.












Samsung Electronics employees enter the company's office in Seocho, southern Seoul, Friday, after Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong was arrested earlier in the day. / Korea Times photo by Shin Hyun-chul



By Kim Yoo-chul, Yoon Sung-won



Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong's arrest is casting a dark shadow over the long-term perspective of the national economy, according to industry experts, Friday.



Lee's arrest has come as another blow to the management of Korea's top conglomerate with his father, Chairman Lee Kun-hee, still in his sickbed. Experts expected that Samsung will not face serious immediate losses after Lee's arrest.



"As a large conglomerate, Samsung is run under a systemized structure. This means there will no heavy impact in the short-term," Professor Yoon Chang-hyun of the business administration department of University of Seoul said Friday.



Patrick Moorhead, president at Moor Insights and Strategy based in Texas, concurred.



"I don't see any short-term impact. Certainly, there's nothing positive about the news. Lee Jae-yong is not the global face of the brand," Moorhead said. "Lee isn't really involved in the day-to-day activities and Samsung followed a stovepipe organizational structure where each unit is a business itself. Lee isn't a part of operations."



Yoon said the more pressing concern is that the arrest may consequently undermine the nation's competitiveness in a longer-term perspective.



"Chiefs like Lee are needed to make big decisions such as employment and investment," he said. "Competitiveness depends heavily on timing and Samsung's competitiveness will be damaged if such decisions are delayed or canceled. And, in turn, the national competitiveness will also be undermined."



Major organizations of the business circle here said in one voice that Lee's arrest and the following management vacuum will inflict a negative impact on the general economy of Korea.



"The business community cannot repress shock and concern," the Korea Employers' Federation (KEF) said in a statement. "Samsung Electronics is one of the most representative enterprises which holds the domestic manufacturing industry's 11.7 percent in sales and 30 percent in operating profit. Samsung's management vacuum will elevate uncertainty and damage its international credibility. This will lay a heavy burden on the domestic economy."













The KEF also said, "Chairman Lee Kun-hee has not recovered his health for three years. Adding to this, the vice chairman's arrest will put heavy damage not only on Samsung's business plans but also to its 250,000 employees, partner firms and their families. We hope multiple suspicions and misunderstandings related to Samsung will be quickly resolved through the upcoming judicial proceedings."



Korea International Trade Association (KITA) also expressed regret over Lee's arrest.



"It concerns us whether the negative impact on Korea's economy and its international credibility have been thoroughly reflected in approving the arrest of the top executive of the nation's largest global company," the KITA said in a statement. "We expect a advance to a more deliberate decision if there ever will be a similar case that targets a businessman."



Multiple indices show that Samsung is the largest and the most influential business in the country.



As of 2015, Samsung Group's affiliates posted a total of 272 trillion won in annual sales. The 2016 sales have been estimated to reach 300 trillion won, according to the industry. This is equivalent to 80 percent of the 387 trillion won government budget in 2016 and 20 percent of Korea's 1,627 trillion won gross domestic product in 2014. The conglomerate takes about 20 percent of Korea's total exports and is shouldering some 8 percent of the government's annual tax revenue.



The group affiliates also have the largest number of employees with over 250,000, as a Korean company. Including employees of Samsung's partner companies, related agencies and their families, more than 5 million people are estimated to be directly and indirectly influenced by the country's biggest conglomerate.



Meanwhile, the vice chairman's arrest is drawing yet another concern that Samsung may face the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the United States.



The FCPA was introduced by the U.S. government in 1977 to punish U.S. enterprises for bribing an overseas government official or committing accounting fraud. This act only influences enterprises that are listed on a U.S. stock market or their subsidiaries. Though Samsung Electronics is not listed on the U.S. stock market, the possibility still remains as the FCPA was revised to have a wider range of applications in 2008.



If a company falls into the FCPA's restriction target, it not only has to pay a penalty but will also not be able to conduct business with the U.S. federal government.



Korea Economic Research Institute President Kwon Tae-shin, who used to work at the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2006, said Samsung can be ruled out of making bids to international organization bodies.



"The OECD at that time had banned deals with corrupt businesses and the international standards on corporate corruption have continued to be tightened," Kwon said.
By Kim Yoo-chul



Credit rating agencies said that the arrest of Samsung Group's de facto leader Lee Jae-yong would not affect the credit ratings of the conglomerate's major affiliates including Samsung Electronics.



Fitch Ratings Director Shelley Jang said that the imprisonment of Samsung Vice Chairman Lee has no immediate impact on the credit rating of Samsung electronics although this could negatively impact investors' sentiment in the short term.



"Samsung Electronics is operating under professional management teams of business segments, so the absence of the owner will not have an impact on Samsung's day-to-day operations," Jang said. "There was also no impact on the operations of other chaebols when their heads were arrested previously. As Samsung's credit profile is based on its fundamentals and strength of its businesses, negative sentiment on Samsung could be offset by the company's solid performance."



Nevertheless, Jang noted that its long-term strategic investment decisions like major M&A or overseas expansion plans could be delayed.













"We think this event will prompt Samsung to accelerate its efforts to improve management transparency and corporate governance. We expect the company to reshuffle its corporate structure," Jang said.



Stephan Han, lead analyst at Standard and Poor's in Hong Kong, concurred.



"General thoughts are that it's still premature to assess any impact given that this is not the final court ruling. Samsung Electronics' day-to-day operation is not necessarily undermined significantly by this issue," Han said.
T.O.P. and Kim Junsu both arrived at the Nonssan Army Training Center last Feb. 9. This was in the province of Chungcheong.

But even though the two wanted to proceed with a private enlisting process, still, diehard fans from nowhere suddenly arrived at the location and swarmed the two stars, just to have a glimpse of them. There were more than 200 fans that went to the enlistment military camp, bringing with them banners and signs that rea, "Stay Well", "We will wait for you, Jun Su."

Unfortunately, the two Kpop sensations didn't greet their fans back to retain the seriousness and professionalism of their enlistment. But then again, these two lads know how to please their fans. Just as soon as they had the time, they went on to their own Instagram accounts and wrote a farewell message for all of their fans to see.

T.O.P. went to Instagram to say that he just wanted to leave quietly. He also went on to say sorry to his fans for not greeting them back. The Instagram post is now deleted. According to Yibada, T.O.P., together with Junsu, would just spend four weeks of basic military training in the camp.

After the basic training is done, T.O.P. will continue with his military service as one of the band agent specialists in the Seoul Metropolitan Police Department. Meanwhile, Kim Junsu will be a police officer at the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency.

According to The Star, T.O.P. is the first BIG BANG member to enlist in the military. G-Dragon will enlist in the military this year, together with Taeyang. They will then be followed by Daesun in 2018, while Seungri will be up for military enlistment on 2019.

It is worth noting that before T.O.P. left for the military enlistment, G-Dragon, visited him up in the hair salon. The two Kpop sensations will surely be missed.
Two brothers from southwest Missouri received federal prison sentences for a burglary and theft of guns from a firearm dealer's store in northwest Arkansas.

Jeremy Rusher, 39, of Seligman, and Cory Rusher, 29, of Jane, each pleaded guilty last fall for aiding and abetting the theft of firearms from a federal firearms licensee.

A judge sentenced Jeremy Rusher to120 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay a $2,650 fine. The judge sentenced Cory Rusher to 78 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay a $2,650 fine. The defendants were ordered to pay $1,250 restitution jointly and severally.

According to an affidavit used as the basis of the charges, on July 11, 2016, officers with the Pea Ridge Police Department responded to a reported burglary of a business that is a registered Federal Firearms Licensee. The manager of the business was able to provide surveillance video of the break-in to officers, who were able to get a clear description of Cory Rusher taking five firearms from the business.

The surveillance video from earlier in the day showed Cory Rusher, Jeremy Rusher and a woman walking around and looking in the store for an extended period of time. They pawned an item while in the store, and Cory was seen wearing the same shirt he was wearing during the burglary.

On July 13, investigators located Jeremy Rusher inside a trailer. They saw two firearms in the trailer that were stolen in the burglary.

Jeremy Rusher admitted he knew about the stolen guns. Multiple witnesses, including Cory Rusher, confirmed his assistance during the burglary.

Officers also arrested Cory Rusher at a different location. He also admitted to being involved in the burglary and assisted officers in locating the remainder of the stolen guns.

A federal grand jury indicted Jeremy and Cory Rusher last August and they each pleaded guilty in October.

This case was prosecuted as a part of the Department of Justices Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative, which is aimed at reducing gun and gang violence, and deterring illegal possession of firearms. Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies work together.
Winds that drove a civil servant off course also blew him and his story into history

It took Choe Bu, a Korean living in the late 15th century, 135 days to make the trek from a tiny town on China's eastern coast to Beijing, capital of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and then back to his motherland.

The journey awed Choe's contemporaries, including the Korean king, who was so impressed that he decreed that a memoir of the feat immediately be committed to writing. The 50,000 words, written in Chinese and titled Journey Across the Sea, have in turn immortalized Choe's remarkable experience for his generation and those that followed.

Most recently the memoir has spawned an exhibition, underwritten by the Zhejiang Provincial Museum and the Jeju National Museum. The hundreds of exhibits, from both China and the Republic of Korea, seek to illustrate, in glittering jewelry, fragile fabric and ancient scrolls, the highly descriptive lines that Choe penned more than 500 years ago.

Its goals are more ambitious still: to fill the gap in the imagination of modern viewers. With antiques pulled from various levels of museums across Zhejiang province, the exhibition amounts to a comprehensive review of life in that part of China - known as Jiangnan, or "area south of the Yangtze River" - during the 15th century.

Today, a viewer can sample the best of Chinese culture from the 15th century without having to first spend 13 days on choppy seas.

"That was how Choe got to China - by boat," says Ni Yi, curator of the exhibition, his book in her hand. Ni spent five months retracing Choe's journey.

"In 1487, Choe, a government official, was posted to Jeju, an island separated from the Korean mainland by the Jeju Strait and from China by the Yellow Sea," Ni says. "Shortly after his appointment, news arrived that his father had died back home. So in early 1488 he boarded a ship that was to take him to Naju, his hometown on the Korean mainland. With him were another 42 people."

But instead of taking Choe home, the ship was caught in strong winds and began heading toward China. Thirteen days after leaving Jeju, the ship was washed ashore at what today is Sanmen on Zhejiang's coast.

"From the outset the journey was an adventure," Ni says.

Locals found and fed Choe, but he soon realized he had another fight on his hands after battling the forces of nature: He now had to prove to his rescuers his true identity.

"In the Ming era, villages in coastal Zhejiang were frequently harassed and pillaged by Wako, or Japanese pirates," Ni says. "Fearing that Choe and his company might be pirates in disguise, the villagers, kind and generous as they were, sent the group off on an overnight journey to the nearest checkpoint - under escort, of course."

For the next month Choe found himself under serious investigation twice more, in Shaoxing, and then in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang.

However, judging by his account, the suspicion that surrounded Choe en route to Hangzhou failed to dispel his good spirits or prevent him from soaking up all the sights and sounds of Jiangnan, the most prosperous and cultured part of China.

(In his memoir, Choe did not complain of his treatment, only lamenting about the fear and anxiety the Japanese pirates had instilled in the hearts of the locals.)

Between June and November last year, Ni traveled to many of those places, trying to match the world she saw with Choe's descriptions. Her journey is encapsulated in a 15-minute mini-documentary on view in the exhibition.

"While in Yaozhu, one of Choe's stops, I instantly recognized the pillar-like mountain mentioned in his book. And the water at Daxiba - even after so many years, I could still envision the torrents that the locals tried so hard to tame by building weirs. Moments like these were miraculous, instantly sucking you into a time tunnel. But of course, most places have changed beyond recognition."

In his book, Choe marveled at the abundance and majesty of the natural beauty he came across, from architecture to art. A meticulous chronicler, he appeared alert to any information that might be of the slightest interest to his king, for example, city layout, the construction of dams, waterways and houses.

He was also keen to record more mundane detail - for example, giving a head-to-toe description of the various dress styles of the time.

However, it was the cultural life the locals enjoyed that captivated the man who prided himself on being a member of the literati in his native country.

"People here make studying their job," he wrote admiringly.

The exhibition itself offers bountiful evidence of the cultural kinship between China and Korea in the 15th and 16th centuries, Ni says.

"Confucianism provided the guiding principles of morality for Korean society at the time. The educated, including the king and his court, all wrote in Chinese."

In fact, during Choe's entire stay, the most-often asked question from his Chinese hosts was: "Can you write a poem?" Of course, he did not disappoint them.

Fortunately for Choe and those who were with him, the identity issue was finally solved after they arrived in Hangzhou, a city richly endowed with natural beauty and steeped in China's literary tradition.

From Hangzhou, Choe boarded a ship and for the next 44 days traveled the entire length of the man-made canal connecting Hangzhou with Beijing. The 1,797-kilometer Hangzhou-Capital Grand Canal is today the world's longest of its kind from ancient times. It was built mainly in the late 6th and early 7th centuries, 900 years before Choe's visit.

Arriving in Beijing by the end of March 1488, Choe was granted an audience with Emperor Yingzong. He stayed in the capital for 25 days before heading home overland. On June 4 of the lunar calendar in 1488 Choe and his entourage crossed the Yalu River, which separates the Korean mainland from northeast China. Finally, after 135 days and nights, Choe found himself standing on the doorstep of his homeland.

However, he was not about to forget his time in China; nor indeed would his king allow that to happen. So even before Choe began attending to his father's long-delayed funeral, the Korean ruler, Yi Hyeol, made sure that Choe wrote down everything he had seen, heard and experienced.

"Throughout the Ming Dynasty and the following Qing Dynasty, Korea was in very close contact with China, sending envoys to the Chinese court several times a year," Ni says. "Between them, these missions to China yielded nearly 650 different accounts. However, rather than diminishing the historic value of Choe's writings, all the others only helped to increase the prestige of his version.

"That's because the Ming Dynasty moved its capital from Nanjing to Beijing in the early 15th century, during the reign of Emperor Chengzu. Since then, all royal envoys from Korea (the Ming rulers largely banned commercial exchanges between China and the outside world) went directly overland from Seoul to Beijing, through northeastern China. Earlier they had taken the sea route to Nanjing, which is part of Jiangnan."

So by the time Choe landed in Zhejiang, it had been about 70 years since the last Korean envoy visited. In the meantime the most fertile land of China - culturally and agriculturally - had become a mystery to many Koreans, who still revered the literary and philosophical traditions of their neighbor.

That explains the eagerness of the Korean king to be the details of Choe's travels.

"Before Choe, there had been Korean fishermen who had similar experiences, but they were largely illiterate, so no record was left," Ni says.

On view at the exhibition is the oldest copy of Choe's memoir in existence today, printed sometime between 1500 and 1540 using movable copper type.

Not far away is a Japanese Edo-period (1603-1868) translation of Choe's book, published in 1769 in four volumes. Interest in China was growing in Japan and Choe's book had certainly done its part to fuel it.

Choe died in 1504, aged 51, executed on the order of Yeonsangun, a tyrannical and somewhat tragic king who was avenging the death of his own birth mother that had occurred two decades earlier.

Yeonsangun was deposed two years later by his half-brother, and the new king posthumously rehabilitated Choe, who was given a proper burial in his hometown.

"Throughout my research, I could feel the pride Choe was able to arouse in his compatriots, who know about his story, even today," Ni says. "Believe it or not, university professors, students and amateur historians come to China from South Korea to trace his footsteps."

zhaoxu@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 02/17/2017 page1)
Domestic models are competing effectively on both precision and price

In 2015, surgeon Tian Wei came across one of the most challenging orthopedic surgeries in his 30-year career. A 43-year-old patient had complained of progressive numbness in the limbs on his right side for 14 months, caused by a deformity in his upper cervical vertebrae.

The patient was in dire need of surgery to implant a screw to help support his neck bone, but the operation was risky. Any minor mistake could lead to paralysis or a life-threatening hemorrhage. Many hospitals were unwilling to treat him.

But Tian, who also is president of Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, decided to do the surgery-with a little help from another "surgeon".

A doctor uses Phecda, a surgical robot developed by Tinavi in an orthopedic surgery procedure at Beijing Jishuitan Hospital in 2016.

The operation was completed in an hour with help from Phecda, a surgical robot with a 3-D high-definition visual system that can "see" the internal orthopedic structure and a "hand" that can guide medical tools to the proper location within 0.8 millimeters.

Developed by Beijing Tinavi Medical Technology Cowith the help of Jishuitan Hospital, Phecda is part of the broad effort by Chinese companies to compete with foreign rivals just as the country's use of medical robots is set to take off, thanks in part to the country's aging population.

Medical robots are highlighted in the country's Made in China 2025 strategy, which was designed to promote high-end manufacturing.

"That was the world's first robot-assisted surgery on upper cervical vertebrae," Tian says, describing the 2015 clinical trial. "Phecda is more precise than foreign products and its cost is lower."

Phecda, which is the third-generation surgery robot developed by Tinavi, is ready to be commercialized this year after obtaining approval from the China Food and Drug Administration in July.

Chinese medical robot-makers like Tinavi are working hard to outshine foreign companies in both price and quality as they benefit from ample demand, strong policy support and manufacturing prowess, company executives and experts say.

By 2050, more than 400 million Chinese people will be over 60 years old, accounting for more than 30 percent of the population, up from about 11 percent now, official data show.

"The growing number of senior citizens will offer a sizable quantity of clinical cases, and enterprises can leverage a huge database to accelerate research and development," says Zhang Songgen, chairman of Tinavi.

In April, China unveiled its plan to sell domestic service robots worth more than 30 billion yuan ($4.4 billion; 4.1 billion euros; 3.5 billion) by 2020. Medical robots are an important part of the ambitious goal. In 2016, China's medical robotics market was valued at 791 million yuan, up 34.4 percent from 2015, according to a report by the Beijing-based research company GCiS.

"From surgery, rehabilitation, drug delivery and home care, robots are set to transform China's healthcare industry," GCiS predicts.

With Tinavi, whose robots have completed around 2,000 surgeries since 2010, there are many new players. One of them is Chongqing Jinshan Science and Technology. The company started as a maker of capsule endoscopes, or pill-sized cameras that record images of the digestive tract. Its products, approved by US medical authorities in 2008, are available in more than 60 countries.

Jinshan has become a partner with the well-regarded Harbin Institute of Technology in producing the country's first minimally invasive surgical robot for thoracic and celiac diseases. It is scheduled to go into clinical testing soon.

"China's medical robot sector is still in its infancy. But homegrown enterprises and universities are more united than ever in the R&D of core technologies. They are narrowing the gap with foreign leaders such as US company Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci surgery robot," says Guo Xuan, deputy director of Beijing-based Yizhuang Smart Robotics Industry Research Institute. Strong policy support has helped, Guo says.

Public hospitals are also encouraged to play an active part. China's PLA Navy General Hospital has developed the neurosurgical robot, Remebot, through a partnership with Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

"It is very important to win support from hospitals because they are the buyers of most medical robots and know exactly what is needed," says Luo Jun, CEO of the International Robotics and Intelligent Equipment Industry Alliance.

masi@chinadaily.com.cn

( China Daily European Weekly 02/17/2017 page14)
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China has become the second-largest source of tourists, behind neighboring Vietnam

Cambodia, a small country with a long history and world-famous cultural relics, has become more appealing to Chinese travelers.

China has become the second-largest source of tourists to the Southeast Asian country, following Vietnam, accounting for 16.7 percent of the total foreigners visiting the country, according to the China National Tourism Administration.

For first-timers, the ruins of the Angkor temples are a must-see - and sometimes the sole reason for visiting the country. Siem Reap, the gateway to Angkor in northern Cambodia, often serves as the first stage of the journey.

With its world-famous cultural relics, Cambodia draws a lot of Chinese traveling in Southeast Asia. Photos by Jiang Dong / For China Daily Chinese travelers accounted for 16.7 percent of the total foreigners visiting Cambodia during the first 10 months of 2016.

The temples, which were built between the 9th and 14th centuries and revealed to the West by the French, are visually, architecturally and artistically breathtaking.

Because the Angkor ruins, hidden and spread through forests and farmland, taking up an area too large to be covered in a short time, planning a visit to the temples always involves making choices, especially if the trip is short.

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat, which was built in the early 12th century as a state temple dedicated to Vishnu - a member of the Hindu trinity and the preserver of the universe - is among the most popular destinations.

The complex, among the world's largest religious monuments, occupies a rectangular area of 1.5 kilometers by 1.3 kilometers. The central massif of the grandiose structures of brick and stone is a miniature of the Hindu universe, with a giant three-tiered pyramid crowned by five lotus-like towers rising 65 meters from ground level.

Angkor Wat faces west, and like other Khmer architecture, has elegant bas-reliefs on the walls, both inside and outside.

There are nearly 2,000 distinctively rendered carvings of apsaras, female divinities in Hindu mythology, and some of the carvings feature the finest and best-preserved examples of such art in the Angkor period.

It is a wonderful experience to see the carvings while listening to a tour guide explain the bas-reliefs, which often depict legends and characters from Hindu mythology.

Bayon Temple

Another must-see is Bayon temple at Angkor Thom, built during the late 12th and early 13th centuries.

Contrasting with the grand sprawl of Angkor Wat, the Bayon temple is compact. Iconic giant smiling stone faces carved onto the towers of the temple are distinct from other temples in the country and are awe-inspiring.

There were once about 200 smiling stone faces carved into about 50 towers, but now there are only 37 towers remaining and, unfortunately, some of the smiling faces have faded.

The bas-reliefs of Bayon are also distinct, depicting scenes of daily life and religious mythology in Angkorian Cambodia.

Visitors are advised to enter the complex through the east gate, and tour in a clockwise direction so the carvings present themselves in order of the storylines, with vivid scenes and details.

Banteay Srei, or the "Citadel of the Women", is a small square temple, but is also a must-visit, thanks to its high-quality carvings on pinkish sandstone. The carvings, covering almost every available inch of the sandstone, are beautiful and intricate.

City pulse

Apart from temples, Siem Reap has much to offer.

For a start, there's a diverse environment rich in wildlife, and in the downtown, despite the absence of skyscrapers, bustling markets and street food vendors show the energy of the country.

The local circus troupe Phare - a Cambodian circus - is also worth seeing.

Performers use theater, music, dance and modern circus arts to tell Cambodian stories. Their shows are inspired by real-life experiences and deal with themes such as war, discrimination, relationships, poverty and the supernatural.

Proceeds from the circus are used to educate the children of poor families in the performing arts and other crafts at Phare Ponleu Selpak, an NGO-run school in Battambang. Many of the graduates from the school work for the circus.

The country's capital city, Phnom Penh, has hidden treasures such as the old town area with Chinese shop houses, French colonial buildings and the so-called new Khmer architecture of the late 1950s and 1960s.

The central market, known as Psah Thmey, is a large structure in the shape of a dome with four branches. It was one of the largest markets in Asia when it opened in 1937.

liuzhihua@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 02/17/2017 page21)
Few people would assert that politics is calmer than yoga but this is how Merlene Emerson describes her campaigning for the Lib Dems, Britain's centrist party.

Merlene Emerson. [China Daily]

"I stopped teaching yoga because I couldn't dedicate the time to it but I see politics like karma yoga, which is the yoga of action," she says.

Ms Emerson was a banking lawyer with a big commercial law firm until she became involved in charitable and political work, for which she was awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth last year.

She co-founded the Chinese Liberal Democrats in 2006 to ensure a greater political representation of British Chinese and to encourage their involvement in politics. She is also one of the founding trustees of the Chinese Welfare Trust, which helps elderly Chinese living in London with housing needs.

Her political outspokenness comes after the self-described dutiful daughter studied law because "Chinese parents expect us to enter one of the professions. My sister is a doctor so I chose law," she says.

Both her parents have roots in the Fujian province of China with their families eventually ending up in Singapore, where she was born. Her maiden name is Toh in the Hokkien dialect, or Du in Mandarin, and she may have an ancestral link to Du Fu, the eighth century poet. "I like to think we are descendants but we probably aren't!"

She recalls the strength of her Chinese upbringing and she loved the Chinese New Year celebrations.

"Chinese culture is very strong overseas and maybe we hold on to it even more outside China. Parts of it get diluted with every generation but it's still very important."

She moved to Britain when she was 18 to study at King's College, London and then took a Masters of Law at Cambridge University.

"I was a child of the British Empire so it wasn't too much of a shock moving here," she says. She had also trained as a ballet dancer and she took up contemporary and jazz dance while in the UK.

Between 1992 and 1999, she, her husband, who is a management consultant, and their two sons moved back to Singapore where she was a partner in a medium-sized law firm. They returned to the UK when her eldest son was on track to attend St Paul's School, one of the top, fee-paying schools in the country.

"I then had something of a mid-life crisis," says Ms Emerson, who is now 56.

"When I worked in the City, I used to feel so proud when I worked all night but I knew I didn't want to go back to that."

She trained as a commercial mediator as well as volunteering and specializing in working for several housing associations that serve among others Vietnamese refugees from the 1980s.

She joined the Lib Dems because she felt no affinity with either the Conservatives, which tends more towards free-market liberalism, or the Labour Party, which has roots in traditional working class politics.

"Politics can be very tribal and I didn't share the values or manifestos of the other parties," she says. "The Lib Dems are more in the middle, very moderate and more Chinesein that they are not extreme."

She has stood for election to the London Assembly and as a Parliamentary candidate and she has her "eye on the prize" for the 2020 London elections.

"London is larger constituency because you get to serve very diverse communities," she says. "But 2020 is a long way away so every day I just carry on with what I do."

She is very proud of her work with the Chinese Liberal Democrats. "We look to inform the party of the needs and aspirations of British Chinese as well as translate the aims of the Libs Dems for the British Chinese," she says.

"We also work on improving China-UK relations, to improve understanding, and to facilitate growth and investment."

She tries to visit Singapore at least once a year and has been on several official delegations to China. "I like to see myself as a critical friend of China but every country has to find its own solutions," she says.
PRESS RELEASE

Six-Nation Consultations in Moscow on Afghanistan Call for Intra-Afghan Reconciliation

Feb. 16, 2017 (EIRNS)Following yesterday's six-nation talks of Russia, Afghanistan, India, China, Iran and Pakistan, aiming to resolve internal conflict within Afghanistan, a Russian Foreign Ministry press release said:

"The participants agreed to increase efforts to promote intra-Afghan reconciliation, while preserving the leading role of Kabul and compliance with previously agreed principles of integration of the armed opposition into a peaceful life."

The Russian host and participant in the dialogue was Russian President Vladimir Putins special envoy to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov. In an interview with the state-run news agency TASS, Kabulov said "the Afghan government seeks to resume talks," The Wire reported.

The Russian Foreign Ministrys release said that the six nations want to bring the Central Asian countries into the next stage of the negotiations.

Ashraf Haidari, director-general policy and strategy at the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in his opening remarks,

"said the government of Afghanistan firmly believed in peace and had made every effort to reach reconciliation with the armed groups that demonstrated genuine willingness to renounce violence, cut ties with terrorist networks, and opt for peace through a results-driven dialogue,"

Afghan news daily, Pajhwok News reported today.

He also praised India, China, Russia, Turkey, and all the Central Asian states for their continued support for joint peace efforts. He referred as well to Afghanistans constructive dialogue with Iran on common national security issues, The Wire reported today.

The tense relations that prevail between Afghanistan and Pakistan were evident during the talks. On the day of the talks, The Wire news item noted, the Afghan deputy chief of mission was summoned by the Pakistan foreign office to lodge a protest over terrorist attacks on Pakistani soil by the terrorist outfit Jumaat-ul-Ahrar from its sanctuaries inside Afghanistan.
PRESS RELEASE

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov Meets with U.S. Secretary of State Tillerson In Bonn

Feb. 16 (EIRNS)U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met today in Bonn, Germany on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting, for the first time since Tillerson took office. Before their meeting Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov was asked by media if Russia is concerned about alleged turmoil in the Trump administration, to which he curtly answered: "You should know we do not interfere in the domestic matters of other countries."

In his opening remarks, Lavrov said he and Tillerson had "plenty of issues to discuss" and that they would "discuss and establish the parameters of our future work." After the meeting, which was held behind closed doors, Tillerson made a very short statement to the press and did not take any questions. The short statement has been subject to much spin in the media. Here is the full statement:

"Foreign Minister Lavrov and I have had a very productive meeting. We discussed a range of issues of mutual concern. As I made clear in my Senate confirmation hearing, the United States will consider working with Russia where we can find areas of practical cooperation that will benefit the American people. Where we do not see eye to eye, the United States will stand up for the interests and values of America and her allies. "As we search for new common ground, we expect Russia to honor its commitments to the Minsk agreements and work to de-escalate the violence in the Ukraine. Thank you very much."

Lavrov also gave a press conference, making a somewhat longer statement and fielding questions.

"We have discussed the situation in bilateral relations, which were seriously undermined by the Obama administration," Lavrov said, as reported by TASS. "Secretary Tillerson has confirmed readiness to overcome this period, as expressed by President Trump during the phone talks with President Putin,"

he said, and confirmed that

"Well proceed from the fact that the meeting of President Putin and President Trump will take place when the presidents deem it possible."

The foreign minister continued, "We have agreed that well continue contacts and well have a whole number of possibilities in the next few months." Lavrov confirmed the U.S. wants to join conflict resolution, including the Ukraine crisis.

"As soon as the State Department and other departments form a team to tackle these issues, we will be ready to establish relevant contacts,"

Lavrov said.

"We have common understanding that in those areas where our interests coincide, and there are a lot of them, we must go forward and demonstrate the United States and Russias ability to play the role they are assigned on the global arena,"

Lavrov stressed.

Lavrov also said Tillerson is ready to support the intra-Syrian process in Astana. "Tillerson expressed readiness to support this process," he said.

"We reiterated that we have common, coinciding interestsfirst of all, in what concerns resolute struggle against terrorism, in this context and in the context of political settlements, and in what concerns cooperation on the Syrian crisis, and on other countries of the region where terrorism has taken root,"

he said.

When asked if sanctions were discussed, Lavrov replied,
PRESS RELEASE

American Recovery Memorial Introduced in Rhode Island Senate

Feb. 16, 2017 (EIRNS)Five state senators from Rhode Island yesterday introduced S0263, calling for Congress to adopt "an American Economic Recovery" program, starting with the reinstatement of the 1933 Glass-Steagall banking separation law. This makes the ninth state this year to introduce a memorial calling for reinstating Glass-Steagall alone, or for implementing a four-point recovery program which leads with Glass-Steagall, and is followed by the establishment of a National Bank, the launching of a massive infrastructure program, and the recommitment to a space/fusion power science driver program.
PRESS RELEASE

Trump Promises Nigeria Help in Fighting Boko Haram

Feb. 16, 2017 (EIRNS)In a clear shift from the Obama Administration, President Trump called up President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria on Feb. 14 and promised help in the fight against Boko Haram, the most dangerous terror organization globally.

In the White House readout, it is reported that Trump spoke with Buhari

"to discuss the strong cooperation between the United States and Nigeria, including on shared security, economic, and governance priorities. President Trump underscored the importance the United States places on its relationship with Nigeria, and he expressed interest in working with President Buhari to expand the strong partnership. The leaders agreed to continue close coordination and cooperation in the fight against terrorism in Nigeria and worldwide. President Trump expressed support for the sale of aircraft from the United States to support Nigerias fight against Boko Haram. President Trump thanked President Buhari for the leadership he has exercised in the region and emphasized the importance of a strong, secure, and prosperous Nigeria that continues to lead in the region and in international forums."

In 2015, Obama had denied Nigeria the arms that it needed to fight Boko Haram, saying the U.S. laws do not allow sales of arms to countries with such human rights records. President Buhari subsequently claimed that Obamas decision helped Boko Haram to gain further strength.

Following his discussion with President Trump, the Nigerian Presidency issued a similar statement to the White House readout, and adding that Trump "commended Mr. Buhari for the efforts he made in rescuing 24 of the Chibok girls" and that "Mr. Trump also invited the Nigerian President to Washington at a mutually convenient date."
PRESS RELEASE

U.S., Russian Defense Chiefs Meet In Baku

Feb. 16, 2017 (EIRNS)The U.S. and Russian military chiefs met today for the first time since January of 2014, in Baku, Azerbaijan. For U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford, it was his first face-to-face meeting with his Russian counterpart, Chief of the General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov, since Dunford has been in officethough the two men have spoken a number of times by phone. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Frank McKenzie, the Joint Staffs director of strategic plans and policy, said that todays meeting was not part of an effort to return U.S.-Russian military relations to the "pre-Crimea" status. Rather, McKenzie told DoD News, the meeting is a chance to ensure the lines of communication between the two militaries remain open. McKenzie reported that the two generals did not discuss policy or political issues. The meeting, which Dunford had been seeking for months, was held to establish the link between the men "so they see each other and have an opportunity to size each other up. Its very hard to do that over a telephone," McKenzie said.

"The importance of this is the military-to-military communications channel between the [chiefs of staff] is a useful thing to have," McKenzie said.

"We see that as useful, regardless of the state of our relationship with Russia. It is always useful to talk mil-to-mil. It avoids miscalculation; it promotes transparency when we have forces operating in close proximity to each other, as we do in Syria."

The Russian Defense Ministry said, in a statement, that Gerasimov and Dunford

"exchanged their views on the condition of the Russia-America relationship, assessments of situations in the field of international security in Europe, Middle East, North Africa and other key regions of the world."

Furthermore,

"The parties defined directions of joint work aimed to raise the safety level of military activities, and decrease tensions and risks of incidents."

Earlier in the day Dunford was received by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and then held a separate meeting with the Azerbaijani Defence Minister, Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov, and the Chief of the Azerbaijani General Staff, Colonel-General Najmeddin Sadikov.
A model presents a creation at the Teatum Jones catwalk show during London Fashion Week in London, Britain February 17, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

LONDON  Models and fashion editors descended on Britain's capital from snowy New York for the start of London Fashion Week on Friday, a whirlwind of catwalk shows that include Burberry, Versus, Roksanda and dozens of other designers.



The fashion showcase kicked off Friday in a new location on the Strand in central London.



For a change, politics took center stage as the event opened. "Brexit"  Britain's exit from the European Union  and political uncertainties in the US and Europe dominated opening remarks by the organizers, who urged the fashion industry to make a clear statement of unity and inclusiveness regardless of differences.



Like other business sectors, Britain's fashion industry is concerned about how Brexit will impact trade.



"I'd like to take this opportunity ... to remind the government that retaining our competitive position isn't straightforward and we hope that you'll listen and understand our concerns and our needs when we talk to you about visas, talent, tariffs, and IP (intellectual property)," said Caroline Rush, chief executive of the British Fashion Council.



As always, the shows will include a mix of established designers and newcomers. There is also a broad array of international talent on display at presentations at Somerset House, which includes designers from India, Guatemala, Slovakia and other parts of the world.



There will be 51 catwalk shows and 31 presentations vying for the attention of an audience of buyers, bloggers, celebrities and fashion fans.



The designers showing their creations will include Anya Hindmarch, Mulberry, Christopher Kane, Erdem, Gareth Pugh, and Julien Macdonald.
The back wall at the Blue Bottle Coffee in downtown Los Angeles is lined from top to bottom with books.

The airy coffee destination fills the corner of the historic Bradbury Building in downtown Los Angeles. Behind plate-glass windows, patrons can be seen drifting to the counter for personalized service at the newest Los Angeles outpost of the Oakland-based chain. Some settle down at shared tables; others sit on high stools. A few are drawn to the tall, book-filled wall.

If you can reach it, you can have it, says Rose Bridges, the companys local spokesperson.

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This literary wall is Blue Bottles first library  a partnership with the nearby Library Foundation of Los Angeles, whose used books line the majority of the cafes reachable shelves. Titles range from The Hunger Games to Hamlet and are free for reading in-store or available for purchase at $7 each, with proceeds benefiting the foundation.

Though visitors to Blue Bottle are more likely to seek out Shakeratos (a shaken espresso and cream drink, also $7) than Shakespeare, the store sold about 40 books in its first month after opening Dec. 31.

 In cafes and bars, skate shops and co-working spaces, books are popping up everywhere in Los Angeles  and as more than just decor.

In cafes and bars, skate shops and co-working spaces, books are popping up everywhere in Los Angeles  and as more than just decor.

Instead of going to a coffee shop and reading, I could just come here, says Kat Bronstroup, a film production manager, admiring a copy of the literary vampire thriller The Passage by Justin Cronin at Catcher in the Rye, a bar in Toluca Lake.

When Eric Hodgkins opened Catcher in 2014, he bought a couple hundred used books to complement his literary-themed craft cocktails (the bars namesake is made with rye whiskey, his favorite spirit; other drinks include the Big Bukowski and Tequila Mockingbird). Stacked in a back corner next to a couch, the colorful texts give the space a Friends meets How I Met Your Mother vibe.

Unexpectedly, the books have become a bigger animal than just the alcohol itself, says Hodgkins. The shelves have drawn visitors from other areas to the neighborhood joint; Harry Potter nights, a semi-regular occurrence, are always well-attended. A frequent customer once donated a hardcover copy of the bars namesake, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, which Hodgkins keeps behind the counter so people wont take it. The bar is considering implementing a more formal check out and cataloging system, given the books popularity and propensity to disappear.

The Wellesbourne in West L.A., a bar fashioned to look like a 19th century English country house, has seldom had issues with book theft. This is fortunate, because some of the books on its shelves are first edition classics.

Immediately visible after walking in are two dark wood bookcases situated opposite each other, filled with vintage hardcover books (the oldest is dated 1875, according to owner Sophie Huterstein). Next to the books is a set of wooden pew booths. Couples flock to these during the early evening hours; manager May Lee has seen many chuckling over a copy of The New Book of Etiquette  from 1936.

Our Economic Organization, published in 1921, caught my eye. The introductory textbook was surprisingly readable under the bars dim lighting after switching on the booths library lamp. The 500-page tome was readable in other ways, too. An American perspective on political theory as well as economics, its final chapter contains the line, In our country, power to make changes rests, at the last, with its citizens.

Books are not the main attraction at the Quiet Life in Highland Park, the flagship store for Andy Muellers skate-inspired clothing brand, which boasts Justin Bieber, Spike Jonze and local amateur skateboarder Chris Chann as its customers. But a small display of around 30 volumes sits on a thin shelf in the corner.

This book nook currently features seven titles from Hat & Beard Press, an L.A.-based publisher, including Slash: A Punk Magazine from Los Angeles, 1977-80.

In addition to carrying books, the Quiet Life also hosts after-hours book release parties. It has been a fruitful partnership, according to J.C. Gabel, Hat & Beards co-founder and an old friend of Muellers. Weve sold more books there than [at] most of the local bookshops, Gabel explains.

Zines are part of the scene at Babylon, a skate space in Hollywood (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Babylon is another fixture of the local skate scene. An unassuming white house on Highland Avenue, the space is a storefront for skater apparel and gear with a backyard bowl.

Inside, a small bookshelf shares the side wall with three skateboards carrying the Babylon logo. Flipping through dozens of zines and picture books, I came across Legal Issues by Adam Rossiter, 17 printed pages of the legal troubles of various pop culture icons, sourced from Wikipedia.

The ever-changing selection of zines comes from a mix of authors: by artists like Rossiter, a friend of Babylon co-founders Garrett Stevenson and Lee Spielman (from the punk band Trash Talk); from the bands fans from around the world; and some are even by the kids who hang out in the back of the shop, who sometimes make their own zines when theyre not skating the bowl.

Its one of the sickest things in the store, said Shawn Weaver, 22, a frequent visitor.

Jenn Witte and Dawn Finley founded the mobile Feminist Library on Wheels (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

The Feminist Library on Wheels (FLOW) is the brainchild of bicyclists, not skaters, but the desire to create a community is a shared goal. Dawn Finley and Jenn Witte started FLOW as a mobile library in 2014, distributing an eclectic assortment of feminist books, including Maxine Hong Kingstons The Woman Warrior and Carrie Fishers The Best Awful. They can be seen riding around town with their specially outfitted, three-wheel bookcycle.

In mid-2015, FLOW moved into the Womens Center for Creative Work, a feminist co-working and art space in Frogtown. The center, a fiscal sponsor of the library, provides a room to house the thousands of donated books that form the librarys growing collection.

FLOWs modest beginnings will sound familiar to readers who have paid attention to the more unlikely bookstore origin stories in Southern Californias recent history.

In the 1990s, Rueben Martinez started selling books by Latino authors in his barbershop and went on to be awarded a MacArthur Genius Fellowship for his efforts. Martinezs store became one of the nations largest Latino-themed bookshops (the collection is now at Chapman University).

Rueben Martinez, in his bookstore in 2004, started out selling books in Santa Ana his barbershop. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

In East L.A. in 2010, Adam Bernales and Denice Diaz set up Seite Books in Diazs mothers shop, books initially on a single shelf among dresses and makeup. They took over more space (and have expanded into a traditional bookstore) stocking their shelves with literature, poetry, art books and politics. The offerings are partly driven by their customers  customers who hadnt had any local bookstore at all.

Seite Books in East L.A. shares space with a shop selling dresses and makeup. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

For Elise ZeBrack and her son David, selling books goes hand-in-hand with washing cars. At the Sepulveda West Car Wash on Sawtelle Boulevard, which ZeBrack and her late husband opened in 1991, customers can browse a sophisticated selection of books and greeting cards in the adjoining shop while they wait for their cars to be cleaned. The books are displayed on a wide wall and span art, cooking, self-help, decorating and childrens literature.

I spent the afternoon inside the boutique, enjoying free coffee and Wi-Fi as cars went through the automated wash to my left and a hundred or so books sat on shelves to my right (I left with a picture book of the works of artist Yves Klein). It felt a bit surreal, but at the same time uniquely L.A.

Everybody says its real California, Elise ZeBrack said in a 1999 television interview.

Almost two decades later, book lovers in L.A. are still sourcing their reading lists from the least expected places.

Christine Zhang is a OpenNews Fellow on the Times Data Desk.

@christinezhang
President Trump keeps calling CNN fake news, but his administrations positive effect on the cable news networks business is real.

CNN President Jeff Zucker said Thursday that the recent ratings lift fueled by viewer fascination with the early days of the Trump presidency is putting the Turner Broadcasting unit on track for another record year of profitability.

There is a tremendous amount of interest, Zucker said during a press lunch held Thursday.

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Zucker said CNN has set new highs in profit in the last three years, and 2017 will be no different. The network budgeted for a 25% decline in ratings for 2017 because 2016 was boosted by the unpredictable and often bizarre presidential election campaign. But the ratings and demand for ad time on the channel have remained strong in the early part of 2017. Zucker said CNNs profit will be up again, hitting $1.1 billion.

In the first seven weeks of 2017, CNNs ratings are up 36% over the same period last year and 51% in the 25- to 54-year-old age group that advertisers seek most when they buy news programming. CNNs competitors Fox News and MSNBC have seen similar increases. The ratings boon has to do with the flurry of activity coming out of the Oval Office.

2016 was the biggest year in the history of cable news and 2017 will perhaps be even bigger, Zucker said. Three years ago people were suggesting that cable news was on its last legs and writing the obituaries for cable news. Now there is nothing more relevant in the landscape than these cable news networks. They are live, relevant and in the center of whats going on. They are as important and as strong as anything in television.

Zucker said the Trump administrations so-called ban on having its officials appear on CNN programs has not hurt ratings at all. President Trumps frequent criticisms of the network whenever he is unhappy with coverage has not discouraged the troops either.

Our folks are just doing their jobs, Zucker said. They are not being intimidated. I would say morale is incredibly high because they are incredibly proud of the job that CNN is doing in leading the way in many of these stories.

A recent research study conducted by CNN found that Trumps barbs aimed at the network have not damaged consumer perception of the brand, Zucker said.

The media executive was criticized during the early months of the Republican primary campaign for giving Trump too much of a platform on CNN. Zucker later acknowledged that the network spent too much time on some of Trumps campaign speeches and rallies.

But since Trump was elected, CNN has been among the most aggressive journalistic outlets in reporting on a U.S. intelligence dossier that held unverified compromising information gathered for the Russian government about the new president. Trump has been on the warpath against CNN ever since.

As Zucker headed out of the restaurant in Time Warner Center where the press lunch was held, the CNN feed of Trumps news conference was on a big screen behind the bar. Trump was berating the media and CNN correspondent Jim Acosta. Its likely that this conflict is far from over.

stephen.battaglio@latimes.com

Twitter: @SteveBattaglio

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In a rare mea culpa from a major Hollywood studio, 20th Century Fox is apologizing for an unconventional online ad campaign that it recently launched for A Cure for Wellness, a psychological horror movie from New Regency that opened Friday.

The digital campaign included several fake news sites designed to stoke public interest in the movie and perhaps some online outrage as well. The pages were designed to resemble local news sites, with names like the Sacramento Dispatch, Salt Lake City Guardian and NY Morning Post.

They featured fictitious headlines on topics including President Trump and abortion alongside headlines that reference the movie (Screenings for Upcoming Psychological Thriller Result in Panic Attacks).

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On Thursday, a Fox spokesman issued a statement in which the studio apologized for the misleading campaign.

In raising awareness for our films, we do our best to push the boundaries of traditional marketing in order to creatively express our message to consumers. In this case, we got it wrong. The digital campaign was inappropriate on every level, especially given the trust we work to build every day with our consumers, the statement said.

We have reviewed our internal approval process and made appropriate changes to ensure that every part of a campaign is elevated to and vetted by management in order to avoid this type of mistake in the future. We sincerely apologize.

A Cure for Wellness is a brooding horror story about a young business executive (Dane DeHaan) who finds himself in dark psychological territory while visiting a European spa. The two-and-a-half-hour movie has received largely negative reviews and is expected to gross $6 million to $8 million domestically on its first weekend.

Fake news has generated enormous controversy during the recent presidential campaign and in the months after Trumps victory. The presidents opponents have accused fake news sites of spreading false information and swaying the election.

But the president and his supporters have turned the phrase against their foes, using it to describe CNN and other outlets like Buzzfeed that they claim have published or promoted misinformation.

Fox could face legal exposure from public figures whose likenesses appear on the fictitious sites, said Rick Kurnit, an attorney at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein and Selz who specializes in advertising. Among the faces to appear on the fake sites are Trump and pop star Lady Gaga.

It is clearly a violation of the right of publicity, under which individuals can control the commercial use of their identities, Kurnit said. He said Trump and Lady Gaga could have legal cause because they arent related to the movie and the context in which they are depicted is false.

Even the president could bring a right of publicity claim, he said.

In a call with investors this month, News Corp. Chief Executive Robert Thomson spoke about the issue, saying digital distributors have long been a platform for the fake, the faux and the fallacious [and] have eroded the integrity of content by undermining its provenance.

20th Century Fox is no longer part of News Corp. since the media giant was split in 2013. But News Corp. and the studios parent company, 21st Century Fox, have common ownership in the Murdoch family.

david.ng@latimes.com

@DavidNgLAT

UPDATES:

2:05 p.m. Feb. 17: This article was updated with comments from attorney Rick Kurnit. It was originally published at 6:55 p.m. Feb. 16.
Whether Rupert Murdochs 21st Century Fox lands in hot water with federal prosecutors over payments made to resolve sexual harassment claims at Fox News could boil down to a few key issues:

Were Murdoch and other high-level corporate officers aware of the payments, and did they conspire to shield the alleged misconduct within Fox News from investors? How many and how large were the payments made by former Fox News Chairman and Chief Executive Roger Ailes?

A former prosecutor and a corporate governance expert said Thursday that companies have a legal obligation to disclose matters that would be material to investors.

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Corporations have the discretion to disclose more than what may actually be required to report, said Jacob S. Frenkel, an Washington attorney and former federal prosecutor. If Mr. Ailes was at risk of being terminated as part of this, then there potentially would be something for consideration for disclosure.

Federal prosecutors in New York began reviewing Foxs handling of the matter after the sexual harassment scandal exploded last summer when former anchor Gretchen Carlson sued Ailes, claiming she lost her job because she refused to sleep with the powerful Fox News chairman.

Ailes previously had allegedly used corporate money to make one or more secret payments to resolve claims brought by other women who worked for him. Fox on Wednesday acknowledged that it has been in communication with the U.S. attorneys office for months and that it was cooperating with authorities.

Fox disclosed in regulatory filings last fall that it had spent about $35 million to settle claims  including the $20-million settlement paid to Carlson  and potential litigations surrounding Ailes.

But prosecutors are examining whether Fox properly disclosed previous payments. They are particularly interested in a $3.15-million payment that was made in 2011 to Laurie Luhn, a former Washington-based Fox News employee who lined up guests for Fox News programs, according to two people familiar with the investigation but were not authorized to discuss it.

Companies are not obligated to report every settlement to investors.

It is a pretty high bar, said Charles Elson, who is director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. It depends on whether the event was considered material  whether a reasonable investor would consider the information important in deciding whether to invest in a company.

The amount of money might not have risen to the level that would require a public disclosure, Elson said. A handful of multimillion-dollar settlements would not make a dent in the finances of Fox, which generates nearly $30 billion a year in revenue. It might be pretty small potatoes, he said.

Still, Frenkel said the size of the payments would not be the only factor. A series of payments, for example, could reveal broader management problems that would interest investors.

Also unclear is whether Ailes made the payments without the knowledge of his bosses.

Its pretty clear that those above [Alies] should have been made aware of this matter, Elson said. It might not be a question of breaking a law but following internal corporate protocols and practicing good corporate governance.

A Fox spokesperson declined to discuss the settlements.

Ailes was ousted in July as sexual harassment allegations began piling up.

News of the federal investigation surfaced during a court hearing in New York on Wednesday when Judd Burstein, the attorney for another Fox News personality, Andrea Tantaros, said that another one of his clients had been subpoenaed to discuss the matter. Burstein did not reveal which client was asked to appear before a federal grand jury. He did not respond to requests for comment.

Tantaros, who until last April had been a co-host on a Fox News daytime show, has sued Fox, claiming she was removed from her on-air role in retaliation for making a sexual harassment complaint against Ailes. Ailes has denied wrongdoing and his attorney did not respond for comment.

Times staff writer Stephen Battaglio contributed to this report.

meg.james@latimes.com

@MegJamesLAT
Nurses at the Los Angeles Medical Center are set to get a pay raise, overtime protections and more professional support under the terms of a tentative collective bargaining agreement struck Thursday.

In reaching the agreement, the California Nurses Assn., the union representing 1,200 registered nurses employed at the hospital, and Kaiser Permanente, which owns the Hollywood facility, ended 17 months of contract negotiations that included two short-term strikes.

The nurses felt relieved that all of the issues and concerns that they have raised across the table have now gotten to fruition, said the unions co-president and bargaining team chair, Zenei Cortez.

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A spokeswoman for Kaiser Permanente confirmed in an email that the healthcare provider reached a deal and said it would wait until the agreement was approved before releasing further details.

The nurses union had argued that the hospital was understaffed, forcing nurses to float to other departments where they were not as experienced and negatively affecting patient care. The union had also called for a new wage and benefits package; a union representative previously told The Times that nurses received their last pay increase in 2011.

The proposed agreement includes an across-the-board pay raise of 34% over the next four years, Cortez said. It also prevents mandatory overtime and protects nurses current healthcare and pension benefits. Wages vary with experience and seniority, but the average annual wage for a registered nurse in California in 2015 was $101,260, according to data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The agreement limits the use of floating nurses and includes provisions to hire additional staff nurses locally. It also establishes a professional practice committee  an elected group of nurses who will discuss concerns about patient care and safety with hospital management.

This is the Kaiser nurses first collective bargaining agreement with the California Nurses Assn., after joining the union in 2015. The unions bargaining team voted unanimously to approve the agreement, and staff nurses at the Los Angeles Medical Center are set to vote on the package Tuesday and Wednesday.

If ratified, the agreement marks another victory in California for organized labor, which has seen gains in the state despite a decades-long decline in membership nationally. The California Nurses Assn. successfully fought to make California the first state in the country to require a minimum patient-to-nurse ratio, with the law taking effect in 2004. It has seen its membership grow by 400% over the last 15 years, according to its website.

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1:40 p.m.: This article was updated with a response from Kaiser Permanente.

This article was originally published at 11:30 a.m.
The founders of Snap Inc. want to take the company public. But that doesnt mean they want to run a public company.

Public companies, after all, have to deal with shareholders who dont like the way the company is being run. They have to ask shareholders whether they are paying executives too much. They have to seriously consider takeover offers. They have to, in other words, cede at least some control and influence to investors.

Unless they dont.

When the company behind messaging app Snapchat holds its much-anticipated initial public stock offering in the coming weeks, it will offer new shareholders exclusively nonvoting shares, something no company has tried before in a public debut.

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The novel move has an array of implications for the Venice company and would-be investors, affecting the types of documents Snap will have to file with regulators and limiting input from shareholders. But most importantly, it will ensure founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy can retain power in perpetuity.

Its all about control, said Kai Liekefett, a partner at law firm Vinson & Elkins who works with companies under pressure from investors. Theres no other reason. Theres no tax reason, no business reason.

So tight will be the pairs grip on the company that they will be able to maintain control even if they no longer work for Snap, and even if they own a tiny percentage of the companys total shares. Theyll also be able to decide who can acquire shares that have even token voting power.

Following the IPO, Murphy and Spiegel will each own about 18% of Snap shares, yet each will control 44% of the companys votes. And they could ultimately own much smaller stakes  perhaps less than 3% apiece  while still holding the vast majority of voting power.

Even in the tech realm, where company founders have grown accustomed to outsized control, Snap is an outlier, giving its founders the kind of permanent influence that in other cases has been granted only to more proven leaders.

You can create an impregnable fortress by doing an IPO where the controlling stockholders keep absolute or near-absolute voting control, which is what this kind of share arrangement is, said Stuart Shapiro, a New York attorney who specializes in corporate mergers and acquisitions. Its a magic bullet.

A Snap spokeswoman declined to comment, noting that the firm is in a quiet period ahead of the IPO. In the companys public filings, it says it wants to keep Spiegel and Murphy in control so that they can innovate, take risks and prioritize long-term goals rather than short-term results.

Thats essentially the same reasoning offered by other tech companies that, over the last decade and a half, have gone public with corporate structures that give founders more control than other shareholders.

Indeed, while the terms of Snaps IPO are groundbreaking, theyre also predictable  a logical if brazen evolution in a years-long trend. When Google went public in 2004, the shares it offered to new investors came with a single vote while the shares held by the companys founders, executives and early investors were worth 10 votes apiece.

Workday, Groupon, LinkedIn and Facebook all went public with two classes of stock, allowing founders and early investors to keep voting control.

The difference between those offerings and Snaps, then, is one of degree. Instead of giving ordinary shareholders single-vote shares while keeping 10-vote shares for themselves, as other companies did, Snap plans to give new shareholders no votes at all.

Google and Facebook later issued nonvoting stock with the aim of cementing their founders control, a controversial step probably made easier by those companies perennial success. Snap is doing the same, but without the track record.

Some investors probably will have no problem with this arrangement and will be eager to buy shares of a hot company thats going public amid an otherwise slow IPO market. Others may refrain from investing at all, believing that ownership should come with the right to help decide how a company is run.

The California Public Employees Retirement System, the nations largest public pension fund, recommends companies give equal voting rights to all shareholders. So does the Investor Stewardship Group, a new coalition that includes investment giants Vanguard, BlackRock and the California State Teachers Retirement System, another huge pension fund.

Aeisha Mastagni, a CalSTRS investment officer, said structures that give founders extra power are especially concerning when, as with Snap, those powers could continue for decades. Spiegel, 26, and Murphy, 28, dont lose their voting control unless they sell the vast majority of their holdings or die.

Trying to protect the founders vision is one thing, Mastagni said. But if theyre no longer even working for the firm, its just them wanting to entrench themselves and maintain control in perpetuity. Its very alarming.

Theres another consequence of nonvoting shares: They remove some of the ways investors try to keep companies honest.

Voting shareholders can withhold votes for board candidates or vote against company proposals, a way of publicly protesting a firms actions or governance.

Even a little vote allows them to send the board a message, said Sean Quinn, head of U.S. research for Institutional Shareholder Services, which advises institutional investors. Its at least an opportunity to appeal to the companys social conscience or shame the company insiders, for all the good that will do. It puts the company in the position of having to defend its decisions.

Voting shareholders can also submit proposals that are included on a companys annual ballot. Last year, for instance, Boston firm Northstar Asset Management asked its fellow Facebook shareholders to vote for a change that would give all shareholders equal rights and dilute Zuckerbergs influence.

Julie Goodridge, Northstars chief executive, knew the proposal would not win a majority  Zuckerberg, after all, represents a majority by himself. But her aim wasnt to win; it was to make a point and to publicly voice displeasure with the companys structure. With Snap, she wouldnt be able to do even that much.

Because Snap plans to issue only nonvoting shares in its IPO, investors wont be able to submit those types of shareholder proposals, according to the companys filings.

Its disgusting to me, Goodridge said of the Snaps structure. Its a way of saying, We dont care what anybody else thinks.

Theres also a worry among investors that Snaps concentrated voting power could prevent the company from accepting a lucrative buyout offer.

Imagine Snaps public offering values the company at $25 billion. Now imagine Google immediately offers to buy Snap for $50 billion. Investors might salivate at doubling their money overnight, but the companys board  members of which will be chosen and elected by Spiegel and Murphy  could reject the offer. Even if the board considered such a deal, Spiegel and Murphy could vote it down.

As the company notes in its filings, Spiegel and Murphy are entitled to vote their shares  in their own interests, which may not always be in the interests of our stockholders generally.

To read the article in Spanish, click here

james.koren@latimes.com

Follow me: @jrkoren
The latest poster child for cruel and inhuman drug pricing is Kaleo Pharma, maker of an emergency injector for a med called naloxone, which is used as an antidote to save the lives of people who overdose on painkillers.

As Americas opioid crisis reaches epidemic levels, Kaleo has jacked up the list price for its Evzio auto-injector by 600%, soaring from $690 several years ago to $4,500, according to lawmakers.

Nearly three dozen senators wrote to Kaleos chief executive, Spencer Williamson, last week to say they were deeply concerned about the price hike and to note that it threatens to price out families and communities that depend on naloxone to save lives.

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But thats not what caught my attention.

Rather, I was struck by the companys answers to me about lawmakers concerns.

In response to emailed questions, Williamson said that although the list price for Evzio is more than $4,000, thats not a true net price to anyone  due to numerous discounts and rebates that are negotiated in the supply chain that make up our healthcare system.

In other words, even though the price tag for his companys easy-to-use, lifesaving device is ridiculous and indefensible, theres no need to worry because backroom deals by assorted players in the healthcare food chain make that price tag meaningless.

And that, in a nutshell, illustrates the lunacy of the U.S. healthcare system.

Our system of healthcare financing is the most cynical such system in the world, said Uwe Reinhardt, a healthcare economist at Princeton University. It starts with the opaque hospital bill and ends with the opaque system of product pricing and the disgrace of surprise medical bills. Americans can rightly be ashamed of these arrangements.

Theres a good reason why U.S. drug prices are so much higher than what people pay in other countries. Most other developed nations place limits on how much drug companies can charge to prevent them from taking advantage of the sick. A fair profit is fine. Price gouging is not.

In this country, drugmakers charge whatever they can get away with, which perhaps would be tolerable if we had an efficient, transparent marketplace in which patients benefit from robust competition and an ability to shop around for the best price. But we dont.

Often, we have a single provider of a drug or medical technology that, thanks to its monopoly power, is in a position to profit handsomely from peoples misfortune. Their message to this captive market is based on an ugly economic principle: Pay up or suffer.

Or in some cases, pay up or die.

In his statement to me, Williamson said most people wont pay anywhere close to $4,000 for Evzio. Even with a high-deductible insurance plan, he said, a patient wont pay more than $360 and might end up paying nothing thanks to the companys enhanced patient access program.

But that isnt price transparency. Thats a magicians trick known as misdirection. Williamson is saying, Dont look at the crazy list price in this hand, look instead at the sweet discounts in this hand.

The upshot is that his companys prices remain indecipherable.

Its awfully hard to see much value in this opaque approach to real drug pricing, said Nicholson Price, an assistant law professor at the University of Michigan who focuses on healthcare and regulation. Especially if we want to have patients be more cost-conscious to keep costs down, opaque pricing does us no favors.

What it does do, he added, is create lots of opportunities for gaming and middlemen.

Kaleos gamesmanship isnt new. As my colleague Melody Peterson noted in a story about naloxone pricing last year: Not long ago, a dose of the decades-old generic drug cost little more than a dollar. Now the lowest available price is nearly 20 times that.

The reason Williamson can so confidently declare that the list price for Evzio isnt worth fretting about is because he knows its completely arbitrary. Drug companies and hospitals routinely open their negotiations with insurers with a made-up price and then settle for a much lower amount, which is what the patient ultimately sees.

Unfortunately, that system, such as it is, no longer works. An increasing number of Americans face the full cost of healthcare as a result of high-deductible insurance plans.

Kaleo might pat itself on the back for its patient subsidies and protections, but the reality is that somebody has to pay the companys bills, either the patient or the insurer. Sky-high list prices for insurers raise premiums for everyone.

Whats to be done? At the moment, the only effective tool is public shaming. Case in point: Mylan, which introduced a cheaper (but still overpriced) version of its EpiPen after facing public scorn over a 500% price increase for its epinephrine injector.

Otherwise, we can follow the example of our economic peers and impose price caps for prescription drugs (itll never happen) or pass legislation that introduces some sunlight to negotiations between pharmaceutical companies and insurers (ditto).

My sense is that the only politically feasible solution is to empower Medicare to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies  right now thats forbidden by law; thanks, Republicans  and for details of that process to be available to anyone who wants to see them, as is the case for most public spending.

The drug industry wouldnt like that, of course. It prefers operating in the shadows and keeping consumers in the dark.

Matt Schmitt, an assistant professor of strategy at UCLAs Anderson School of Management, said its easy for Kaleos Williamson to shrug off a 600% markup as a fantasy number. But the true price increase, while perhaps not 600%, may still be very substantial, Schmitt said.

Thats what Kaleo and all other drug companies want to keep hidden  the deals cut behind closed doors. And theyll do this by getting people to focus on the magic wand in their hand, rather than the cards up their sleeve.

This week, Kaleo reintroduced Auvi-Q, a competitor to the EpiPen. Auvi-Q had been recalled from the market in 2015 after reports of device malfunctions.

Kaleos list price for the injector is $4,500. Before the recall, it sold for $500.

But dont worry, the company says. That list price is meaningless.

David Lazarus column runs Tuesdays and Fridays. He also can be seen daily on KTLA-TV Channel 5 and followed on Twitter @Davidlaz. Send your tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com.

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In Los Angeles, celebrity- and tycoon-packed areas include Beverly Hills, Hollywood Hills and Malibus Broad Beach. But across the country, its Washington, D.C.s Kalorama neighborhood that boasts both star and political power.

Over the past year, new residents such as the Obamas, Jeff Bezos and Ivanka Trump have drawn the nations eye to the enclave. Now it appears at least one party is looking to cash in while interest is high.

An unused plot of land owned by the French government has come on the market in the neighborhood for $5.6 million.

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The property sits next door to the French ambassadors estate and consists of three parcels totaling more than half an acre. Both the ambassadors residence, designed by Parisian architect Viscount Jules Henri de Sibour and built in 1911, and the land have been owned by France since 1936.

The sale is intended to free up resources for future investments, Emmanuel Lachaussee, a representative of the French embassy, said in a statement.

Its also a rare opportunity for development in one of the prominent neighborhoods in the Washington metropolitan area, according to Coldwell Banker agent Alex Vendetti, who shares the listing with Compass Morrell-Roth team.

This is the first time in four decades that Im aware of when residentially zoned, raw land has been available for purchase in Kalorama and is being offered on the open market, Vendetti said in a statement. This property allows a buyer the opportunity to build their own image in a prominent neighborhood that has had its fair share of notable residents including past presidents, celebrities and royal dignitaries.

Those notable residents include Trump, the daughter of the president, and her husband, Jared Kushner, who recently moved into a home in the neighborhood. The six-bedroom house sold in December for $5.5 million  although its not yet known whether the couple bought it or will rent it from the buyer, says the Washingtonian.

Nearby is the stately mansion that Barack and Michelle Obama reportedly leased last year. Owned by Joe Lockhart, former press secretary to President Clinton, the home has nine bedrooms and 8.5 bathrooms in roughly 8,200 square feet of living space.

Also in the neighborhood is Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Bezos latest purchase: a 10-bedroom mansion he acquired in October for $23 million in cash, reports the Washington Post.

neal.leitereg@latimes.com

Twitter: @NJLeitereg

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As Katy Franco waited for her morning coffee, passersby pulled out their phones and snapped photos and video of her barista.

A man in his 20s did a double take, recorded the scene on his iPhone and posted it to Instagram. Another woman drifted toward the barista and asked no one in particular: Whats going on here?

Francos barista was a robot. Its part of an automated coffee shop called Cafe X  the latest example of the San Franciscos dual infatuations: artisanal coffee and automated technology.

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Its incredibly convenient, said Franco, who has used Cafe X twice since it opened Jan. 30. And the coffee is really good too.

Moments earlier, Franco had ordered her coffee using the Cafe X mobile app. Now a white robotic arm, the same kind used in car manufacturing facilities, was moving around a paper cup, pushing on syrup levers and brewing her a hot cup of coffee.

I prefer this because you dont have to wait, said Franco, whose coffee was made in less than a minute. It even accepts PayPal.

Comments like Francos ring as validation to Henry Hus ears. Hu, a 23-year-old college dropout who founded Cafe X, envisioned his coffee kiosk as the answer to long waits at coffee shops: a well-made cup of coffee delivered quickly, efficiently and at a relatively low cost. A flat white at Cafe X is $2.95, compared with $3.75 at Starbucks  no tip required.

On the speed front, Cafe X can make a hot espresso beverage in less than a minute and is able to pump out 120 coffee drinks in an hour. A Cafe X kiosk can occupy as little as 50 square feet, although its footprint in San Franciscos Metreon shopping mall is a little over 100 square feet and was most recently home to another automated tenant: a Bank of America ATM.

Encased in plexiglass, the kiosk contains two coffee machines equipped to brew Americanos, espressos, cappuccinos, lattes and flat whites. Customers can order their drink from the Cafe X mobile app or at one of two iPads mounted outside the kiosk. The entire transaction is cashless, and customers even get a notification on their phone when their coffee is ready.

Its similar to calling an Uber. Its for people who want a grab and go coffee, who want consistency.  Henry Hu, Cafe X founder

Its similar to calling an Uber, said Hu, who sees his kiosk as filling a void. Its for people who want a grab and go coffee, who want consistency.

Tech investors have started dipping their toes in the food industry, backing the meal replacement start-up Soylent, the fake meat firm Impossible Foods and specialty coffee roaster Blue Bottle, among others. Cafe X is raising cash from those who seek a confluence of the familiar (technology) and the new (food).

In addition to securing a $100,000 Thiel Fellowship last year (a grant awarded by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiels foundation to college dropouts who want to form their own companies), Hu has raised $5 million in venture capital to expand Cafe X to more locations. His 12-person start-up built the first Cafe X kiosk in Hong Kong last year. The second kiosk  and the first in the United States  sits across from an AMC ticket counter inside the Metreon.

People, millennials in particular, dont want to wait in line, said Ben Ling, an investor from Khosla Ventures, whose firm has also invested in the automated San Francisco quinoa restaurant Eatsa. Cafe X really solves that problem of the ordering efficiency. From a user perspective, its vastly superior.

Automation helps keep costs low for business owners, which in turn makes products and services more affordable for consumers, Ling said. Thats why automation  particularly in the food service and hospitality industries  seems inevitable.

Self-driving cars are already being tested on U.S. roads. Manufacturing facilities and warehouses have already automated entire professions. And while a multipurpose robot that can do everything that a waiter or chef can do is still a ways off, artificial intelligence and industrial robotics have advanced to the level where they can begin chipping away at the more menial parts of a food service job.

Anything that has highly repetitive tasks that dont require judgment is suitable to be automated, Ling said.

With job loss a top issue in todays political environment, a coffee shop that does away with baristas or a lunch spot that does away with wait staff could be a reason for outrage. But Eatsa has so far been a hit with office workers in San Franciscos Financial District. And in its first two weeks of operation, Cafe X has drawn fast-moving lines and curious crowds who snap photos and videos of the kiosk.

In Cafe Xs defense, it isnt fully automated. Although it doesnt require a barista, it does need a technician to clean and restock coffee machines, one product specialist to remain on site to answer questions during operating hours, and software and hardware engineers to maintain the app and build out the kiosk. And since the entire operation relies on an Internet connection, if the Internet is down, so is the kiosk.

A much-hyped, fully automated burger joint by start-up Momentum Machines is expected to launch in San Francisco, but its founders declined to be interviewed for this story. No launch date has been announced.

Automation clearly hasnt yet upended the food service industry, at least not when compared with the manufacturing sector, where the making of electrical and transportation equipment, machinery, and computers and appliances will account for around 75% of robotics installations over the next decade, according to research from the Boston Consulting Group.

This is just the leading edge, said Martin Ford, author of Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future. The really significant thing will be when the big chains  the McDonalds, the Burger Kings, the Starbucks  begin to adopt these technologies. Eventually it is going to create a big problem for us.

As of May 2015, the largest overall occupations in the United States, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, were retail salespersons (4.6 million), cashiers (3.5 million), and food preparation and service workers (3.2 million).

Technologists agree that its not a matter of if automation will eliminate these jobs but when. And while an argument can be made that there will always be room for services with a human touch, moves that cut costs have historically trumped those that protect jobs.

The federal government, loud in its proclamation of creating jobs, has been quiet on policies regulating and addressing the fallout from automation. And it seems consumers, for now, would rather not think about it.

I can understand the fear of automation taking our jobs, said Franco, clutching her robot-made coffee. But I also work in the innovation space.

She gestured toward her workplace, the Target Open House showroom about 100 feet from the Cafe X kiosk. The showroom was recently remodeled to better showcase the array of smart-home gadgets for sale. Inside, human employees sell Internet-enabled devices that promise to make peoples lives more efficient, connected and automated.

tracey.lien@latimes.com

Twitter: @traceylien

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John Adams turned 70 on Wednesday. His publisher, Boosey & Hawkes, indicated there were no performances of his work that evening. Perhaps the world wanted to give him a break among the more than 500 performances he is getting this season.

European capitals such as Berlin and London are offering tributes. Americas orchestras are, from coast to coast, Adams-centric, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony leading the cheering section for an essential West Coast composer.

Thursday night at the Valley Performing Arts Center in Northridge, however, a smaller and far feistier orchestra, wild Up, paid the birthday boy electrifying and uniquely L.A. notice. Although Adams left his native New England for the Bay Area nearly half a century ago, he has not been able to escape the lure of L.A., nor we of him.

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His partner in operatic crime, Peter Sellars, lives here. Adams, who serves as creative consultant for the L.A. Phil, has written major pieces for Esa-Pekka Salonen and Gustavo Dudamel. Grant Gershon, music director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, is another close Adams colleague. So is L.A. pianist Gloria Cheng.

Indeed, you need not look very far for a shared sensibility among L.A. born and raised conductors, with Michael Tilson Thomas, David Robertson and Leonard Slatkin among the composers most devoted and persuasive champions. Add to that list the next generation with Christopher Rountree.

The 33-year-old founder and music director of wild Up describes himself in his program bio as being at the intersection of classical music, new music, performance art and pop. Thursday, he told the VPAC audience that it all started with hearing a piece by Adams on the radio when he was 14. Having no idea what kind of music it was or that anything like Adams music existed, he was moved to follow its lead.

That led to a program Thursday titled Adams/Punk Rock/Player Piano, meant to show some of the unlikely underlying sources of Adams work. But the real value of the program was its startling illumination of not just what Adams wrote but he has wrought.

The performers were on the VPAC stage, and so was the audience, looking out at the darkened, empty hall. Our perspective was the musicians perspective. We all heard the balances a little differently depending upon whom we sat nearest to, just like performers do. Immersive art is all the rage, and here for good reason. Rountree happens to be a very wound-up conductor, and the intensity of the musicians proved incredibly visceral, making everything that was played feel fresh and immediate.

One of the aspects of Adams style that doesnt get enough recognition, Rountree told the audience (wild Up provides neither printed program nor notes), is the composers use of space, the way the music implies a depth of field. For wild Up pianist Richard Valitutto, it was Adams interest in rags and machines (of the musical sort). That early perspective was used to introduce Adams two piano Hallelujah Junction, originally written for Cheng and Gershon and played here by Cheng and Valitutto.

But first Ives The Unanswered Question was offered by strings on stage, with solo oboe on one side of the balcony seats and a wind quartet on the other. When an unanswered cellphone buzzed, vibrating the stage floor, it felt, in this mysterious open acoustic space where anything could happen, like Ives on the line.

Valitutto played a William Bolcom ghost rag with charming ease. In the last movement of George Antheils mechanistic First Violin Sonata, the pianist and violinist Andrew Tholl gave the impression of a violin trapped in the gears of a haunted, manic player piano.

Hallelujah Junction, premiered at the Getty Center in 1998, took a while to catch on, but now piano duos play it regularly, and Adams has said he considers it his best piece. (Its not, but that doesnt lessen its value.) The composer even titled his memoir Hallelujah Junction.

But there is nothing like hearing Cheng and Valitutto perform close up and with passionate attention to detail. In the normal concert hall setting, a listener can be transfixed by the ear-ringing resonances of two pianos playing ferocious repeated rhythmic figures in and out of phase. Nearer the strings you get inside the inner workings of piano along with the resonance. For a bit of history, Cheng and Gershon will reunite for a performance on March 4 at UCLA as part of an Adams day on campus.

After intermission Rountree turned to an Adams chestnut, Shaker Loops, the 1978 work in which the composer found his voice, in its original version for seven strings. But this was an original performance in another sense of the word.

Each player brought something revelatory to the familiar work. A violin could sound more like a flute than ever; a bass fiddle, like a bass drum. When orchestrated for strings, Shaker Loops came to be seen as the piece that put a friendly face on Minimalism. In fact, Rountree, who conducted a technically sensational wild Up as though it were a punk rock band, put transgressive makeup all over these looping phrases.

Two exuberant orchestrations of actual Deerhoof and Dog Faced Hermans punk rock songs that ended the evening seemed almost, but not quite, tame in comparison. These wild Up post-Adams party favorites never fail to leave an audience wanting more. After Shaker Loops they failed like never before.

mark.swed@latimes.com
The art world jet set descended on Mexico City last week for the Zona Maco art fair and a battery of gallery openings. The most buzzed about? Mexican artist Gabriel Orozcos installation at the tony Kurimanzutto gallery, where he installed a fully functioning Oxxo convenience store inside the gallerys walls  complete with cigarettes, coffee and Malibu rum.

Titled Oroxxo, the piece, by the famed Mexican conceptualist who once put an empty shoe box on display at the Venice Biennale, is intended to play with the nature of markets.

I tried to use my Oroxxo dollars to buy ice cream at a regular Oxxo store. It was roundly rejected, reflecting the limits of art world currency in the mainstream. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

Upon entering the gallery, visitors are given an Oroxxo dollar: A fake bill that is a collage of U.S. and Mexican money and bears a geometric pattern devised by Orozco. These can then be exchanged for goods inside the shop, including soda, juice and cookies.

A can of Tecate bears an Orozco tag in the refrigerator. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

What the Oroxxo dollar wont buy you is one of the roughly 300 objects inside the shop that the artist has altered with circular stickers, in ways that echo the geometric patterns of his abstract paintings. (Think crop circles in blue, red and gold.) These objects, which include cookies, beer and feminine napkins, will be sold as Orozcos art and prices for them will fluctuate depending on supply and demand over the course of the show, which runs through March 16.

Even the feminine products bore the imprint of the artist. Certainly the sort of artwork that could come in very handy in the event of an emergency. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

A tray of the artists huevos (eggs) inside Oroxxo. Naturally, the conservation questions around this work are many. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

Its a way of collapsing in the same physical space two different systems  the art market, which is about exclusivity and high prices, and the market for everyday consumer goods with their mass availability and low prices, Orozco told the New York Times. Im interested in the turbulence that creates.

What sort of market turbulence this low-brow marketplace inside a high-brow marketplace will cause remains to be seen. What it has generated is the sight of designer-clad socialites photographing the neon-lit aisles of an Oxxo shop while lining up to buy corn chips and white bread sandwiches.

A customer buys some coffee and a sandwich at Oroxxo with her Orozco dollars at the opening of the show. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

For the canine: Orozco-ized pet food. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

It has also spurred at least one theft.

An anonymous artist, in an essay for Vice Mexico, claims to have stolen one of Orozcos altered objects  a bag of Whiskas cat food  and fed it to his or her cat.

Do not be confused, wrote the artist in Spanish, under the nickname Peligro (Danger). Oroxxo isnt a criticism of capitalism, it is an act of capitalism.

A magazine about the late singer Juan Gabriel features interventions by Gabriel Orozco. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

A journalistic colleague used his Oroxxo dollar on a bag of Pinguinos (chocolate cupcakes), which he shared with me. It paired well with all the air-kissing and white wine. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

This isnt a theft or an act of vandalism, it is a protest, a performance, wrote Peligro of the action. It is an act of redemption for all those who feel cheated by art without content, for those who think that the readymade was a novelty 100 years ago.

I didnt buy anything at Oroxxo with my Oroxxo dollar. (The booze was off limits.) But I did hold on to it, and one afternoon, at a non-art Oxxo in the Mexico City neighborhood of Coyoacan, I asked the cashier if hed accept my Oroxxo dollar for an ice cream bar.

We only accept pesos, the cashier told me.

Art world currency, it turns out, is of very limited value.

+++

Gabriel Orozco: Oroxxo

Where: Kurimanzutto, Gobernador Rafael Rebollar 94, San Miguel Chapultepec, Mexico City

When: Through March 16

Info: kurimanzutto.com

Sign up for our weekly Essential Arts & Culture newsletter 

carolina.miranda@latimes.com

@cmonstah
Could you use a little overarching joy in your life? Well, thats just what the producers of this years Oscars are hoping to bring into your living room next Sunday night.

Welcome to the Gold Standard, the newsletter from the Los Angeles Times that helps guide you through the ins and outs of the awards season leading up to the Oscars.

Im Glenn Whipp, The Times awards columnist and your newsletter host.

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THIS YEARS OSCARS HOPE TO BE EARNEST, FUNNY AND JOYFUL

Veteran movie producers Jennifer Todd and Michael De Luca have the no-win task of turning the Oscars into a satisfying three-(plus) hours of television. (Theyre hoping to keep the shows running time on the shorter side, threatening to play winners off the stage if they exceed their allotted 45 seconds of thank-yous. And the clock starts from the very second they leave their seats, so the sound editing winners sitting in the back row better wear their running shoes.)

Jen coined this phrase: If were not going to be earnest, weve got to be funny, De Luca said, defining what he hopes to be the shows tone. And if were not going to be funny, weve got to be earnest.

So  funny  earnest  and overarching joy. Thats all a tall order. Todd and De Luca explain how theyre going to try to accomplish that in an Envelope interview that you can read here. Ill be talking to this years Oscar host, Jimmy Kimmel, later on today. You can read that story in The Times in the next few days and Ill link to it in next weeks newsletter.

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, Oscar nominees for La La Land. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

RYAN GOSLING AND EMMA STONE: THAT RAPPORT IS REAL

Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling first worked together auditioning for the 2011 romantic-comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love. Asked to improvise a scene, Gosling remembers, We just couldnt shut up. It was just lots to talk about and very easy.

That instant rapport was evident in Crazy, Stupid, Love, Gangster Squad and, of course, La La Land, the irresistible musical that netted a record-tying 14 Oscar nominations, including nods for both its leads.

And it translates off-screen as well. On a recent La La Land-perfect day, sitting on the balcony of a Beverly Hills hotel that owns, per Gosling, a strong palm tree game, the two actors, fueled by multiple vitamin drink mixes, banter effortlessly about the merits of mayonnaise, public access television and, of course, Los Angeles itself.

If, as the movie jokingly posits, L.A. is a place that worships everything and values nothing (a line Gosling cribbed from his lady, partner Eva Mendes), both Gosling and Stone seem to be in on the joke and appreciative of those fleeting moments when the city does seem to be lightly dusted with magic.

You can read my conversation with them here. It may  or may not, depending on your fondness for mayonnaise-based foods  make you hungry for a helping of potato salad after reading it.

Mahershala Ali holds the two trophies he won at this years SAG Awards. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

WILL THE OSCARS BE A REPEAT OF THE SAG AWARDS?

The Screen Actors Guild Awards has become such a strong indicator of the Oscars that it has created its own cottage industry of reasoning that publicists use to explain why their clients, the ones who lost at the SAGs, could still prevail with the film academy.

The most common explanation offered: With its 121,546 eligible members, SAG-AFTRA isnt as exclusive (translation: knowledgeable or informed) as the 6,687-deep pool of Oscar voters. The SAGs are bestowed by (cough) meteorologists and DJs, hardly, the thinking goes, the kinds of discerning types able to gauge and appreciate nuanced acting.

But sometimes the weather man knows which way the wind blows. And Im guessing this is going to be one of those years when the SAG Awards and the Oscars match up exactly. Find out why by reading my analysis here.

FEEDBACK?

Id love to hear from you. Email me at glenn.whipp@latimes.com.

Cant get enough about awards season? Follow me on Twitter: @glennwhipp

glenn.whipp@latimes.com

Twitter: @glennwhipp
In the most politically-tinged awards season in memory, many winners and performers have used their platforms to speak out about social and political issues  diversity, the travel ban, insulting perceptions of women and a sense were living on a harsher, less-tolerant planet. There have been calls for action, for change, there has been fundraising and high-profile benefits.

All of which is quite familiar to British screenwriter-director Richard Curtis, who has been doing many of the same things for more than 30 years, albeit largely under the radar.

Thats certainly why the cofounder of the international charity Comic Relief and its annual public event and telethon Red Nose Day is receiving the Valentine Davies Award for humanitarian efforts and service at the Writers Guild of America Wests annual awards on Sunday.

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But it may also be why Love Actually is suddenly all over the place.

Curtis, who is currently adapting the live-action version of Disneys The Little Mermaid, is best known for rom-com hits that include Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill. His third feature, the star-studded ensemble Love Actually, was dismissed by many as too saccharine (before it became, to everyones surprise, an increasing vital part of the American Christmas canon).

Yet its Love Actually that has been used to evoke the spirit of current events. The films opening scene, of real people from all over the world greeting loved ones at Heathrow Airport (with a voiceover that references 9/11), was often cited in days following the repeal of the President Trumps travel ban. A few weeks before, Saturday Night Live spoofed another scene as part of the shows wildly successful political coverage. Just as Andrew Lincoln wordlessly professed his love for Keira Knightley using a set of large cue cards, so did Kate McKinnons Hilary Clinton silently plead with a random voter.

Its odd when you shot something one night, 14 years ago, to find it still being referred to, Curtis says of the bit. Particularly when I stole the idea from Bob Dylan in the first place! (Dylan used cue cards in the 1965 video for his song Subterranean Homesick Blues.) But Ive enjoyed the parodies. I might do something myself about that scene very soon.

Curtis wont offer more details, but hes certainly referring to the next semipolitical resurrection of Love, Actually. On this years Red Nose Day (March 24), the BBC will broadcast a short (probably about 10 minutes) reunion of Love Actually actors  including Lincoln and Knightley, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth and Bill Nighy  updating their characters.

Politics, then, like love, can come in many and often surprising forms. Writing, or as Curtis refers to it, the fun and games, is only half of his professional life.

Along with the Im just a girl standing in front of a boy speech from Notting Hill, Curtis has also given the world the 31-year old Comic Relief and its slightly younger annual Red Nose Day event and telethon. More than 30 million people (half of Britains population) tuned into its 1988 debut, during which the band of comedians and performers cajoled viewers to give more than $18 million to projects and causes in the developing world.

Since then, Red Nose Day has raised more than $1.21 billion, and its American equivalent, about $57 million. Its all been rather satisfying already, Curtis says in characteristic understatement. And of course in the U.S., RND is still building.

His interest in combating global inequality began when he was student. I used to sit around at university with lots of people complaining about poverty and the government  while they bought themselves five rounds of beer. And Id think: Take the cash, give it to somebody whose life you want to change, get out of the pub and do some political work. So I became interested in trying to make a difference to peoples lives in a way that I could. Thats what happened with RND.

I do what I do because Bob Geldof did the Live Aid concerts, he adds. If he had not done that, I would not be doing what Im doing.

In a conference room at Comic Relief, overlooking the River Thames and Big Ben, Curtis discussed the the two facets of his career and the few times they came together. In his TV films The Girl in the Cafe and Mary and Martha, which were both financed by the BBC and HBO, he used personal stories to address global issues. The Girl in the Cafe (the film of which he is most proud) was set at the 2005 G8 conference in Iceland and hinges on the subject of global poverty; Mary and Martha follows two mothers who lose sons to malaria in Africa and visit the continent together to help combat the disease.

They helped, Curtis says. I think 3 [million] or 4 million watched both those films on the BBC  and they were sold to other countries. You have to believe its a good thing that 4 million or 10 million people watched them.

Curtis is a naturally optimistic man, even when politicians in many countries seem indifferent to areas of the world with the most severe problems, even now when both Britain and the United States appear to be entering a more isolationist period.

I remain really optimistic about peoples compassion and empathy, he says. This last week weve sold more Red Noses than ever before. I look around and see a huge number of people still working and fighting for other peoples right to a good, safe life.

calendar@latimes.com
Looking down from two miles above the surface of the Earth, its impossible not to be impressed by the sheer grandeur and splendor and power of the natural world, says David Attenborough at the beginning of Planet Earth II, the sequel to his landmark 2006 Planet Earth. That globally popular series  the BBC estimates its viewership at half a billion  helped the world feel good about the money it had spent upgrading to high-definition television sets.

Its also impossible not to be impressed that Attenborough, now 90, is speaking these words from a hot-air balloon high above snow-covered peaks. (It is the last we will see of him, however; he becomes a disembodied narrator thereafter.)

Today, much has changed, he says. Now the world can feel good about upgrading to ultra-high-def 4K. The new, seven-part series, which begins Saturday on BBC America, takes advantage of a decades advances in camera technology and nature photography to bring you closer to animals than ever before, and reveal new wildlife dramas for the very first time.

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As in the Disney nature documentaries of old, footage coalesces around narratives one suspects may have been constructed partly in post-production. (That is not to say the science is wrong.) When we cross a river with a swimming pygmy sloth, seen from multiple angles, we might reasonably wonder whether that was a single sloth making a single trip (a sloth booty call). Music cues emphasize the drama or comedy of situations to which those terms dont properly apply.

Here is how one avian love story is framed. The scene: sub-Antarctic Zavodovski Island. Attenborough: Heres a male albatross waiting for his mate. (They spend six months apart each year, and get back together to breed, as in a Neil Simon play.) But this year shes late. Nope, thats not her. The clock is ticking. There are 3 million birds on the island, but only one matters to him. Could this be her? At last. At first, hes a little coy. But not for long. The text is cute, but the birds are lovely. And stories are nice.

Wonders abound. There are Harriss hawks hunting in packs. Seagoing iguanas. Cliff-walking Nubian ibex. Beetles that gather water from desert fog. Luminous mushrooms, gliding lizards. The Wilsons bird-of-paradise, clearing leaves so it wont distract from his own colors. Dolphins in the middle of a jungle. Otters as big as a man. Australias great bower bird decorating, and redecorating, his nest with shiny human bric-a-brac  Its not easy finding sex in the city, says Attenborough.

The series is divided environmentally into Islands, Mountains, Jungles, Deserts, Grasslands and Cities, with an extra making-of episode to answer (some of) your questions about how these images were captured. (The BBC Natural History Unit, which also filmed Attenboroughs Life series and Spy in the Wild, lately airing here as part of the PBS series Nature, is without peer.) Certain motifs repeat: finding a mate, teaching the young, finding food, not becoming food. On that last point, as is usual with films like these, there are scenes one might want to watch with eyes half-closed -- although the most frequent outcome of the more nerve-racking passages is a narrow escape, with the predator left to try another day.

There are passing references to climate change and the effect that humans (the worlds top predator) have had on the face of the Earth and the survival of everything not human. (In the last 6,000 years the surface of our planet has undergone a sudden change is a nicely turned phrase.)

Animals must cope with the changes or disappear, says Attenborough, and in the Cities episode he shows us leopards in the streets of Mumbai, peregrine falcons soaring among the man-made towers and valleys of New York, spotted hyenas making their well-remembered way to friendly butchers in Ethiopia. And there is the closing, feel-good suggestion, based on the model of Singapore, which is integrating animal-friendly flora into its systems and structures, that wilderness might somehow be brought into the cityscape.

The warnings seem almost an afterthought. And because absolutely everything here is beautiful to behold and the wild lands pictured seem so vast and untrammeled, the overall impression Planet Earth II leaves is that things might be more or less fine. This is not where you will learn how many species have disappeared in the last 100 years or how many are expected to go in the next 50. But it will be nice to have these gorgeous pictures when they do. Or maybe it wont.

Planet Earth II

Where: AMC, BBC America and Sundance

When: 9 p.m. Saturday

Rating: TV-PG-V (may be unsuitable for young children with an advisory for violence)

robert.lloyd@latimes.com

Follow Robert Lloyd on Twitter @LATimesTVLloyd

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In fashion-savvy circles, the multifaceted Japanese lifestyle brand Beams has a following verging on fanatical. Its an arbiter of a certain brand of cool that is somehow establishment yet simultaneously underground.

Started as a small shop in 1976 in Tokyos Harajuku neighborhood  originally made to look like a UCLA dorm room  Beams specialized in the idea of West Coast style.

I was born in 1951 when Japan was still recovering from the war and grew up dreaming of the America that I saw on TV and U.S. Army bases, says Yo Shitara, president of Beams Co. Ltd.

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In the four decades since its founding, Beams has blossomed into a global empire, including multiple locations, various in-house lines and worldwide recognition as a trailblazer.

This month Beams released the book Beams: Beyond Tokyo (Rizzoli: 256 pp., $55), a picture-filled tome that will satisfy obsessives but also cement the brands place as a trailblazer. As menswear fanatics fawn over the never-ending pileup of collaborations (recent examples include Adidas Originals by Alexander Wang and Supreme X Louis Vuitton), the book reminds readers that Beams led the way.

In our early days, we used to ask brands and manufacturers to slightly adjust certain details to better fit our customers in Tokyo, Shitara says. Decades later, people started to call this a collaboration. Our best collaborations are the result of a simple formula that adds some good ideas to a basic product.

In between visually driven pages highlighting partnerships with everyone from Converse and Birkenstocks to Disney and 7-Eleven, there are Q&As with high-profile fans including director Sofia Coppola and cult designers Chitose Abe of Sacai and Nigo to help give context to Beams enduring brand of cool. This month is the end of a year-long celebration around Beams 40th anniversary, and the book is a way to mark the occasion.

We were searching for ways to look back on the work we have done with great partners around the world, says Shitara. Something that would again guide us into the future.

image@latimes.com

@latimesimage

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USC names retired aerospace executive Wanda Austin as acting president, announces Nikias departure By Harriet Ryan USC appointed a retired aerospace executive as interim president and laid out a detailed plan for selecting a permanent leader Tuesday, ending speculation about whether outgoing President C.L. Max Nikias might remain in the post. Nikias, embattled over his administrations handling of a campus gynecologist accused of sexually abusing patients, relinquished his duties after a meeting of USCs board. The trustees tapped one of their own, Wanda Austin, an alumna and former president of the Aerospace Corp., to temporarily run the university. The trustees also approved the formation of a search committee and the hiring of firm Isaacson, Miller to coordinate the selection of a successor. A second search company, Heidrick & Struggles, will also advise trustees. Read More Facebook

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Ex-student sues elite Brentwood School after teacher is charged with sexually abusing him By Richard Winton A former student sued the elite Brentwood School on Monday in the wake of a female teacher being charged with repeatedly having sex with the minor, alleging that other faculty members encouraged the unlawful behavior and failed to report it to authorities. The lawsuit accuses the private school, whose students include the children of many of Hollywoods elite and L.A.s powerful, of acting negligently and allowing Aimee Palmitessa to abuse and batter the teenager sexually. The suit alleges that the student was abused in summer 2017 after one of the schools counselors offered words of encouragement to the then-17-year-old, identified in the suit as only John Doe, to engage in an illegal relationship with the teacher. Read More Facebook

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Civil jury vindicates fired Montebello school executives in whistleblower case By Howard Blume The Montebello school district is in dire straits  at risk of insolvency and under apparent criminal investigation. An outside audit in July found some teachers earning more than $200,000 a year, as well as improper raises, excess paid vacation time and inappropriate overtime, sick leave and car allowances. Fixing the district and pinpointing blame could take time. Read More Facebook

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L.A. schools fall short on safety measures, new report warns By Howard Blume After the mass shooting at Floridas Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February, Los Angeles school officials reassured parents that much had been done to keep local schools safe. California had tougher gun laws, after all, and the school district paid close attention to students mental health. But a new report issued Monday by a panel convened to take a close look offers some cause for concern, flagging inconsistent campus safety measures, thinly spread mental health staff and inadequate coordination between the school district and other public agencies. With the stakes this high, we must strive to do better, said L.A. City Atty. Mike Feuer, who assembled the panel. Read More Facebook

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L.A. school district says more are graduating, but rate may not show it By Howard Blume The L.A. Unified School District has hopes of continuing its winning streak this year with another record graduation rate, but the official numbers may not show it. A senior district administrator warned the board Tuesday that graduation rates were likely to decline 2% to 3% across the state, even though L.A. Unified is likely doing better than ever in producing graduates, he said. The issue is that the state will now count high school students who transfer to adult school as dropouts, said Oscar Lafarga, who heads the districts office of data and accountability. Previously, schools treated these students as though they had simply enrolled in another high school, he said. Read More Facebook

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Betsy DeVos to California: Not so fast on that federal education plan By Joy Resmovits In April, Californias top education officials breathed a sigh of relief. After months of debate and back-and-forth with Betsy DeVos staff, they had finalized a plan to satisfy a major education law that aims to make sure all students get a decent education. The state focused on aligning its plan to fulfill the requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act with Californias Local Control Funding Formula, which gives extra money to districts to help students who come from low-income families, are in the foster system or are English learners. But this week, DeVos team said not so fast. Jason Botel, the U.S. Department of Educations principal deputy assistant secretary, sent California education officials a letter asking for more information in such areas as measuring student progress, graduation rates and English learners. In an unsigned statement, the California Department of Education declared itself surprised and disappointed because officials thought  after a meeting with federal officials in Washington  that they were on the right track to get approval. Now the Every Student Succeeds Act plan will be up for discussion once again at the July meeting of the State Board of Education. The U.S. Department of Education has already approved most state plans. Every Student Succeeds is the Obama administrations 2015 replacement for the No Child Left Behind Act. Facebook

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L.A. school board sets a new goal: prepare every grad to be eligible to apply for Cal State or UC By Sonali Kohli Last month, Los Angeles school board president proposed a spate of highly ambitious mandates aimed at ensuring that every district graduate be eligible to apply to one of the states public four-year universities by 2023. By the time the L.A. Unified school board unanimously approved the resolution Tuesday, the original language had been watered down. The goal is no longer that in five years 100% of students meet the long list of benchmarks, which include not just college eligibility for graduates but first-grade reading proficiency and English fluency by sixth grade for all students who enter the district in kindergarten or first grade speaking another language. The original college-readiness goal, for example, called for 100% of all high school students to be eligible to apply to one of the states four-year universities. Now the goal seems to offer more wiggle room: Prepare all high school graduates to be eligible to apply to a California four-year university. Read More Facebook

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We have been hurt. More women say they were mistreated by USC gynecologist By Richard Winton USC student Anika Narayanan says she vividly recalls her first appointment with Dr. George Tyndall at the campus health center, alleging that he made several explicit comments during an examination she felt was inappropriate and invasive. When she came back for a second visit in 2016 after a nonconsensual sexual encounter, he allegedly chastised her, she said in a civil lawsuit and at a press conference Tuesday. He asked me if I had forgotten to use a condom again,  said Narayanan, 21. At one point, she said, Tyndall asked if I did a lot of doggy style,  she said. Read More Facebook

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L.A. Unified gives inspector general brief contract extension By Howard Blume The Los Angeles school board on Tuesday extended the contract of Ken Bramlett, its inspector general, by three months, though his job is far from secure and questions remain about the future direction of his watchdog office. Board members also unanimously promoted Vivian Ekchian, who had been the runner-up for the superintendents job, to deputy superintendent  the districts No. 2 position. Both moves had elements of peacemaking between different factions on the board. Read More Facebook

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USCs handling of complaints about campus gynecologist is being investigated by federal government By Harriet Ryan The U.S. Department of Education announced Monday that it has launched an investigation into how the University of Southern California handled misconduct complaints against a campus gynecologist, the latest fallout in a scandal that has prompted the resignation of USCs president, two law enforcement investigations and dozens of lawsuits. In revealing the inquiry by the departments Office of Civil Rights, officials rebuked USC for what they alleged was improper withholding of information about Dr. George Tyndall during a previous federal investigation. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who has been criticized for taking a less vigorous approach to examining sexual misconduct than predecessors, called for a systemic examination of USC and urged administrators to fully cooperate. Read More Facebook

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Judge to sentence woman and her boyfriend for the murder of an 8-year-old that led to L.A. child welfare reforms By Marisa Gerber A woman and her boyfriend are expected to be sentenced Thursday for the torture and murder of an 8-year-old boy whose killing in 2013 provoked public outrage, prompted sweeping reform of Los Angeles Countys child welfare system, and led to unprecedented criminal charges against social workers who handled the childs case. Pearl Sinthia Fernandez, 34, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole for her role in the death of her son, Gabriel. A jury decided last year that her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, 37, should be executed. When paramedics arrived at the boys Palmdale home in May 2013, Gabriel had slipped out of consciousness. He had a fractured skull, broken ribs, burned skin, missing teeth and BB pellets embedded in his groin. A paramedic would later testify that every inch of the boys small body had been abused. Read More Facebook

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L.A. Unifieds spending out of step with similar school systems, task force says By Howard Blume The Los Angeles school district is out of step with similar school systems, spending more on teachers pay and health benefits and less on activities that could enhance student learning, according to a new report by an outside task force. The L.A. Unified School District Advisory Task Force did not make specific recommendations, but instead posed a series of questions it said the district needs to answer to make sure its funding is aimed at providing a full opportunity for all students to succeed. What were trying to say is: Lets put the data on the table. Lets look at the truth. Lets be transparent and here are the numbers, said task force member Renata Simril. This is not to say that  we should cut teachers salaries. Read More Facebook

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Top USC medical school official feared dean was doing drugs and alerted administration, he testifies By Paul Pringle A former vice dean of USCs Keck School of Medicine testified Tuesday that he feared the schools then-dean, Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito, could be doing drugs and expressed concerns about his general well-being to the universitys No. 2 administrator before Puliafito abruptly left his job in 2016. Dr. Henri Fords testimony at a hearing of the state Medical Board marks the first suggestion that any USC administrator had suspicions about Puliafitos possible drug use before he stepped down. A Times investigation in 2017 found Puliafito led a secret second life of using illegal drugs with a circle of young criminals and addicts. Puliafito testified about his behavior at the hearing Tuesday, saying he took drugs with one young woman on a weekly basis. Ford said that he decided to alert USC Provost Michael Quick after receiving reports in early 2016 that Puliafito was partying in hotels with people of questionable reputation, and that he came to worry about his mental stability. Read More Facebook

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Why L.A. Unified may face financial crisis even with a giant surplus this year By Jessica Calefati With more than half a billion dollars socked away for next school year, the Los Angeles Unified School District hardly seems just two years from financial ruin. Its a scenario that is especially tough to swallow if youre a low-wage worker seeking a raise or a teacher who wants smaller classes. But budget documents show that todays $548-million surplus cannot be sustained  and that even basic services face steep, seemingly unavoidable cuts because of massive problems barreling the districts way. Theres a disconnect between the rosy short-term picture and what we know is coming, said board member Kelly Gonez. Read More Facebook

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We have failed: Top USC officials try to reassure students amid gynecologist scandal By Joy Resmovits Top administrators at USC are reaching out to students in the wake of misconduct allegations against the universitys longtime gynecologist, acknowledging failings and vowing reforms as they try to address growing outrage over the revelations. Several USC deans have sent out messages trying to reassure students and faculty that the university is committed to changing. We have failed, wrote Jack H. Knott, dean of USCs Sol Price School of Public Policy, in a May 24 letter. What happened is antithetical to everything we know is right. Read More Facebook

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Rick Caruso is named chair of USCs trustees, vows swift investigation of gynecologist scandal By Thomas Curwen The University of Southern Californias board of trustees has elected mall magnate Rick Caruso to be the new chair of the board, giving fresh leadership as the university navigates a widening scandal involving a longtime campus gynecologist. The move marks the latest effort by USC to address the case, which has sparked a criminal investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department and dozens of civil lawsuits. More than 400 people have contacted a hotline that the university established for patients to make reports about their experience with Dr. George Tyndall. In his first act as chairman, Caruso announced that the white-shoe L.A. law firm OMelveny & Myers would conduct a thorough and independent investigation into the gynecologists conduct and reporting failures at the clinic. He set an ambitious timeline for the review, pledging it would conclude before students return for the fall semester. Read More Facebook

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UC Berkeley students persistence helps win more liberal rules for in-state tuition By Teresa Watanabe Ifechukwu Okeke thought shed be a shoo-in for in-state tuition when she was admitted to UC Berkeley for fall 2016. She had moved to the United States from Nigeria in 2012 to go to Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga. By the time she got her acceptance to transfer to UC to study molecular and cell biology, she had lived in California four years. She had a California drivers license, bank account and rental records as proof. UC Berkeley, however, ruled she was a nonresident  which meant she would have to pay nearly $27,000 more. Read More Facebook

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State medical board calls former County-USC doctor a sexual predator, suspends his license By Matt Hamilton A UCLA cardiologist has been temporarily stripped of his medical license after state regulators described him as a sexual predator who assaulted three female colleagues when he was working and training at L.A. County-USC Medical Center. Read More Facebook

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Global California 2030 aims to get more students learning more languages By Joy Resmovits Tom Torlakson (Andrew Seng / Associated Press) Outgoing state Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson on Wednesday announced a new statewide effort to encourage students to learn more languages. Called Global California 2030, its goal is to help more students become fluent in multiple tongues. Torlakson said that by 2030, he wants half of the states 6.2 million K-12 students to participate in classes or programs that lead to proficiency in two or more languages. By 2040, he wants three out of four students to be proficient enough to earn the State Seal of Biliteracy. Torlakson announced the initiative at Cahuenga Elementary School, which offers a dual-language immersion program in English and Korean. Californias public school students speak more than 60 languages at home, and 40% come to school with knowledge of a language other than English. Torlakson called his plan a call to action that invites parents, legislators, educators and community members to pool resources to expand language offerings in schools and get more bilingual teachers trained. He said the state already is working with Mexico and Spain to expand a teacher-exchange program. Fluency, the plan argues, can help students succeed economically  and language acquisition can help their overall critical thinking. The initiative builds on Proposition 58, a ballot initiative passed in 2016 that undid an earlier requirement that English learners be taught in English-immersion classes unless their parents signed waivers. Torlakson recently visited Mexico and met with that countrys education secretary. They later signed a pact to increase collaboration, particularly in language education. This [Global California 2030] is great follow-through on Toms part and very important, Patricia Gandara, a UCLA education professor who hosted the Mexico meeting, said in an email. It hands over a plan to move forward in an area in which California has a unique advantage, but must seize the opportunity. Facebook

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Jury convicts man of murder in 2015 slaying of UCLA student found inside her burning apartment By Marisa Gerber A jury on Tuesday convicted a man in the 2015 slaying of a UCLA student found dead inside her burning apartment  a gruesome stabbing case that led to a fierce rebuke of the police response amid concerns that the killing could have been prevented. The panel deliberated for about six hours before finding Alberto Medina, 24, guilty of murder, arson, burglary and animal cruelty. On Sept. 21, 2015, firefighters found the charred body of Andrea DelVesco inside her apartment after responding to the complex a block from campus. The 21-year-old student  an Austin, Texas, native known to her sorority sisters as a fearless giver who befriended others with ease  was stabbed at least 19 times, authorities said. Read More Facebook

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LAPD begins sweeping criminal probe of former USC gynecologist while urging patients to come forward By Adam Elmahrek The Los Angeles Police Department said Tuesday it is investigating 52 complaints of misconduct filed by former patients of USCs longtime campus gynecologist as detectives launch a sweeping criminal probe into the scandal that has rocked the university. LAPD detectives also made an appeal for other patients who feel mistreated to come forward, noting that thousands of students were examined by Dr. George Tyndall during his nearly 30-year career at USC. More than 410 people have contacted a university hotline about the physician since The Times revealed the allegations this month. Tyndalls behavior and practices appear to go beyond the norms of the medical profession and gynecological examinations, said Asst. Chief Beatrice Girmala. We sincerely realize that victims may have difficulty recounting such details to investigators. We are empathetic and ready to listen. Read More Facebook

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At L.A.'s only school for the deaf, parents want leaders who speak the same language By Anna M. Phillips Ever since her son was 6 months old, Juliet Hidalgo has been bringing him to the Marlton School, a low-slung building in Baldwin Hills that for generations has been a second home for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in Los Angeles. Marlton staff taught Hidalgos brother and sister, both of whom are deaf. The school was where her deaf son learned to make the signs for milk and food. Hidalgo had planned to enroll her daughter, taking advantage of a popular program that allows hearing children to learn American Sign Language alongside their deaf siblings. But after more than a decade of involvement, she and other family members are considering withdrawing their children. They are not alone. Read More Facebook

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Fueled by unlimited donations, independent groups play their biggest role yet in a California primary for governor By Ryan Menezes An unprecedented amount of money from wealthy donors, unions and corporations is flowing into the California governors race, giving independent groups  unrestricted by contribution limits  a greater say in picking the states chief executive than ever before. The groups have already spent more than $26 million through Thursday, the most ever spent by noncandidate committees in a gubernatorial primary, according to a Times analysis of campaign finance reports. California elections have always been expensive, and the future is even more expensive, said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College and a former state Republican leader. The stakes are very real. Read More Facebook

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2 hurt in Indiana middle school shooting; suspect in custody, authorities say By Associated Press Authorities say two victims in a shooting at a suburban Indianapolis school are being taken to a hospital and the lone suspect is in custody. Bryant Orem, a spokesman for the Hamilton County Sheriffs Office, said in a news release that the victims in Friday mornings attack at Noblesville West Middle School are being taken to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis and their families have been notified. He says no other information is available about the victims. Orem said the suspect is believed to have acted alone and was taken into custody. No additional information about the suspect was made public. Read More Facebook

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For new L.A. schools chief Austin Beutner, some key unions are giving no honeymoon period By Howard Blume In the less than two weeks since Austin Beutner took charge of Los Angeles schools, unions representing teachers and administrators have staged a job action and a protest. Theyve made it clear that they will not give the new superintendent the traditional honeymoon period, and they are bashing him for his wealth and lack of experience running either a school or a school district. Beutner is a billionaire investment banker with zero qualifications, local teachers union President Alex Caputo-Pearl told members in a phone alert urging them to participate in a Thursday afternoon rally in Grand Park. The board is saying that billionaires who made their money blowing institutions up and making money off it know best  not the education professionals who have dedicated our careers to working with students. Read More Facebook

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Pressure grows on Board of Trustees amid USC gynecologist scandal By Paul Pringle USCs large and powerful Board of Trustees is coming under growing pressure to provide a stronger hand as the university faces a crisis over misconduct allegations against the campus longtime gynecologist that has prompted calls for President C.L. Max Nikias to step down. Allegations that Dr. George Tyndall mistreated students during his nearly 30 years at USC have roiled the campus, with about 300 people coming forward to make reports to the university and the Los Angeles Police Department launching a criminal investigation. USC is already beginning to face what is expected to be costly litigation by women who say they were victimized by the physician. So far, the trustees to whom Nikias reports have expressed sympathy for the women who have come forward and launched an independent investigation while also publicly backing the president. Read More Facebook

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UC regents approve leaner budget for Janet Napolitano By Teresa Watanabe University of California regents on Thursday unanimously approved a leaner, more transparent budget for President Janet Napolitano, moving to address political criticism over the systems central office operations. The $876.4-million budget for 2018-19 reflects spending cuts of 2%, including reductions in staffing, travel and such systemwide programs as public service law fellowships, carbon neutrality and food security. Napolitano shifted $30 million to campuses for housing needs and $10 million to UC Riverside to support its five-year-old medical school. She also permanently redirected $8.5 million annually to help enroll more California students, as required by the state. Read More Facebook

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USCs Academic Senate calls on university president to resign after a series of scandals By Matt Hamilton The body that represents USCs faculty called on President C.L. Max Nikias to resign Wednesday in the wake of relevations that the universitys longtime gynecologist faced years of accusations of misconduct by students and colleagues at the campus health clinic. The Academic Senate took the vote late Wednesday afternoon after a fiery town hall meeting attended by more than 100 faculty members, many of whom voiced outrage over Nikias and the Board of Trustees leadership. The vote came a day after the trustees executive committee stood firmly behind Nikias, saying it has full confidence in his leadership, ethics and values. At the town hall meeting, Senate President Paul Rosenbloom said he did not think Nikias or Provost Michael Quick committed wrongdoing but that the university president deserved criticism for a lack of transparency. Read More Facebook

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Californias public universities on the way to getting a big longed-for boost in funding By Teresa Watanabe The University of California and California State University systems are poised to get major funding boosts that will help them enroll thousands of additional state students and eliminate the need for tuition increases in the coming school year. A key Assembly budget panel on Wednesday approved $117.5 million in new funds for the UC. A Senate panel approved a similar sum last week. The same committees recently approved even more funding for the Cal State system. Read More Facebook

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UC regents to scrutinize Janet Napolitanos office budget in a step toward stronger oversight By Teresa Watanabe University of California regents this week plan to scrutinize the budget of President Janet Napolitano, whose office came under political fire last year for questionable spending and murky accounting. Regents will vote on the proposed $876.4-million budget for 2018-19 during their two-day meeting, which starts Wednesday, at UC San Francisco. They also will discuss state funding, financial aid, online education and transfer student policies. Board Chairman George Kieffer said regents are stepping up to exert stronger oversight of the presidents office after a blistering state audit last year found financial problems including an unreported $175 million budget reserve. Read More Facebook

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State legislative panels approve major funding boost for Cal State By Teresa Watanabe After months of intensive lobbying, Cal State University has convinced two key legislative panels to approve funding to enroll nearly 11,000 more students, hire more faculty and expand housing aid to those without shelter this fall. An Assembly budget panel on Tuesday approved $215.7 million more for Cal State, adding to Gov. Jerry Browns proposed $92.1 million general fund increase. A Senate budget panel approved a similar increase last week. The extra funding  which went beyond Cal States own request to the Legislature of $171 million  is still subject to final budget negotiations with Brown. But the actions by the Senate and Assembly panels amount to a demand from Democrats that the governor hike higher education spending. Cal State University is the workhorse undergraduate university serving hundreds of thousands of Californians, said Assemblyman Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento), who heads the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance. We need more graduates for the California workforce and higher education is the ticket to the middle class. Cal State Chancellor Timothy P. White hailed the actions, but said it was too soon to celebrate. The CSU has a singular focus on helping students earn high-quality degrees sooner, and the entire university community has rallied to reinforce that message to our states lawmakers, he said in a statement. The actions taken thus far by the Assembly and Senate are promising and show that our message is being received, but there is still work to be done. Funding for the University of California was not taken up Tuesday as originally scheduled. McCarty would not comment on sticking points but said he was confident that a resolution would be reached this week. Were looking to provide resources above whats in the governors budget, but negotiations are ongoing, he said in an interview. State per-student funding is not what it once was, leaving both Cal State and the UC in a tough financial squeeze. Both systems raised tuition last year after a six-year freeze on higher costs. For this year, Cal State had asked for funding to enroll an additional 3,621 students, but both the Senate and Assembly panels approved three times that amount. Cal State, the largest public university system in the nation, turned away 32,000 eligible students last year because its campuses werent able to accommodate them. The panels asked that at least $50 million of the extra funding be used to hire more tenure-track faculty to help boost graduation rates. The Assembly panel also approved one-time funding of $5 million to ease hunger on campuses and $14 million for rapid rehousing pilot projects at three campuses, offering needy students rental support and short-term case management. Other items approved include $5 million to support the CSU Long Beach Shark Labs research on sharks and beach safety and $2 million for equal employment opportunity practices. This post has been updated to include comments from Assemblyman Kevin McCarty and Cal State Chancellor Timothy P. White. Facebook

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Faculty members call for USC president to step down: He has lost the moral authority to lead By Matt Hamilton Two hundred USC professors on Tuesday demanded the resignation of university President C. L. Max Nikias, saying he had lost the moral authority to lead in the wake of revelations that a campus gynecologist was kept on staff for decades despite repeated complaints of misconduct. Read More Facebook

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Gun battle, negotiations lasted 15 minutes before Texas school shooter was apprehended, sheriff says By Molly Hennessy-Fiske Minutes after a school shooter opened fire in an art class last week, killing 10 people and wounding 13, including a local police officer, fellow officers returned fire in a protracted gun battle before isolating the suspect, the local sheriff said Monday. Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset praised first responders as well as Santa Fe Police Officer John Barnes, who was working as a resource officer at the school the day of the shooting. Their actions, he said, prevented the attack from spreading to other classrooms and potentially claiming additional victims. As officials continue to probe last Fridays shooting at Santa Fe High School, students are worried about returning to the scene of the attack when classes resume next week. Read More Facebook

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6 women sue USC, alleging they were victimized by campus gynecologist By Richard Winton Six women filed civil lawsuits Monday alleging that a longtime gynecologist at the University of Southern California sexually victimized them under the pretext of medical care and that USC failed to address complaints from clinic staff about the doctors behavior. One woman alleged Dr. George Tyndall forced his entire ungloved hand into her vagina during an appointment in 2003 while making vulgar remarks about her genitalia, according to one of the lawsuits. Another woman alleged that Tyndall groped her breasts in a 2008 visit and that later he falsely told her she likely had AIDS. A third woman accused the doctor of grazing his ungloved fingers over her nude body and leering at her during a purported skin exam, the lawsuit states. The wave of litigation comes as USC continues to grapple with the scandal, which legal experts said could prove costly to the university as scores of former patients come forward about their experiences with the gynecologist. Read More Facebook

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Fatalities reported in Texas high school shooting; suspect arrested, officials say By Associated Press Houston-area media citing unnamed law enforcement officials are reporting that there are fatalities following a shooting at a local high school Friday morning. Television station KHOU and the Houston Chronicle are citing unnamed federal, county and police officials following the shooting at Santa Fe High School, which went on lockdown around 8 a.m. The Associated Press has not been able to confirm the reports. The school district has confirmed an unspecified number of injuries but said it wouldnt immediately release further details. Assistant Principal Cris Richardson said a suspect has been arrested and secured. Read More Facebook

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This student followed the new L.A. schools chief on his first-day tour Melissa Barales-Lopez, a senior at Garfield High School followed Supt. Austin Beutner on his first day on the job, as he toured a variety of programs around the Los Angeles Unified School District. Heres what she took from the experience. LAUSD students and staff alike are looking for a personal champion, someone who will address and improve the difficulties afflicting their education.  What LAUSD students need is someone whos willing to listen and learn, someone who can understand the current issues affecting their schools and act to efficiently amend them, someone who can unlock the full potential of LAUSD students and enable them to reach their goals. During the entirety of his first day, superintendent Austin Beutner did indeed demonstrate a willingness to learn. Posing questions to teachers and students, Beutner engaged with the student communities he encountered to gain a better comprehension of the minutiae and nuances that distinguish each school inside an overwhelmingly large district. From inquiries about Grand View Boulevard Elementary Schools dual language program to questions regarding the services of LAUSDs after-school program, Beyond the Bell, Beutner revealed he has a lot to learn about the system. But, Beutner also showcased a willingness to tackle challenges head-on on his first day. Read More Facebook

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USC let a gynecologist continue treating students despite years of misconduct allegations By Matt Hamilton For nearly 30 years, the University of Southern Californias student health clinic had one full-time gynecologist: Dr. George Tyndall. Tall and garrulous with distinctive jet black hair, he treated tens of thousands of female students, many of them teenagers seeing a gynecologist for the first time. Few who lay down on Tyndalls exam table at the Engemann Student Health Center knew that he had been accused repeatedly of misconduct toward young patients. The complaints began in the 1990s, when co-workers alleged he was improperly photographing students genitals. In the years that followed, patients and nursing staff accused him again and again of creepy behavior, including touching women inappropriately during pelvic exams and making sexually suggestive remarks about their bodies. Read More Facebook

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Cal State trustees to discuss Browns latest budget proposal, which they say still falls $171 million short By Joy Resmovits Just how much money does California State University need to serve its students? In recent years, this question has been front and center for the nations largest public university system. Cal States leaders say that to keep their campuses quality from slipping, they need much more money than the state is giving them. This year, theyre also at odds with Gov. Jerry Brown on the question of whether any extra money should come in one-time bursts or be ongoing. Read More Facebook

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On his first day as L.A. schools chief, Beutner plans a day of visits across the district By Howard Blume L.A. Unifieds new superintendent, Austin Beutner, will kick off his first day of work on Tuesday with a choreographed tour of the nations second-largest school district, from the San Fernando Valley to Carson. His day is scheduled to begin at 5:15 a.m. at a school bus depot and end more than 12 hours later at a parent meeting at Garfield High School. Along the way, Beutner is expected to be joined by school district administrators, L.A. Unified board members and the vice president of the union that represents school bus drivers. Though he will be covering a lot of ground, Beutners tour has him skipping Tuesdays school board meeting, when board members are expected to discuss labor negotiations in closed session. Read More Facebook

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Cal State trustees to discuss Browns latest budget proposal, which they say still falls $171 million short By Joy Resmovits Just how much money does California State University need to serve its students? In recent years, this question has been front and center for the nations largest public university system. Cal States leaders say that to keep their campuses quality from slipping, they need much more money than the state is giving them. This year, theyre also at odds with Gov. Jerry Brown on the question of whether any extra money should come in one-time bursts or be ongoing. Read More Facebook

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Why a handful of rich charter school supporters are spending millions to elect Antonio Villaraigosa as governor By Ryan Menezes California voters have seen a barrage of sunny television ads in recent weeks touting former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosas record on finances, crime and education, aired by Families & Teachers for Antonio Villaraigosa for Governor 2018. But the group is, in fact, largely funded by a handful of wealthy charter-school supporters. Together they have spent more than $13 million in less than a month to boost Villaraigosas chances in the June 5 primary  at a time when his fundraising and poll numbers are lagging. Reed Hastings, the founder of Netflix, jump-started the group with a $7-million check, by far the largest donation to support any candidate in the election. Their efforts are part of a broader proxy war among Democrats between teachers unions  longtime stalwarts of the party  and those who argue that the groups have failed low-income and minority schoolchildren. Read More Facebook

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Talking schools with L.A. Unifieds new superintendent By Anna M. Phillips Austin Beutner, who officially starts Tuesday as the new superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, is taking on a famously difficult job at a particularly difficult time. The school board is divided and did not back him unanimously. The nations second-largest school district has deep-seated problems, including declining enrollment, lagging academic achievement and rising pension and healthcare costs that eat away at its budget. The 58-year-old former investment banker and former L.A. Times publisher has years of experience in the financial world but none as an educator. Earlier this week, he sat down with the Times education team to discuss the challenges facing the district, which has about 60,000 employees and 500,000 students in traditional public schools. He did not talk about his plans  saying repeatedly, stay tuned  but he spoke in broad terms about his mindset in approaching the tough decisions ahead. Read More Facebook

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Suspect detained, authorities search campus after reports of armed man at Palmdale high school By James Queally One person has been detained after a report of an armed man at a Palmdale high school sparked a massive law enforcement response Friday morning. The suspect was spotted at 7:05 a.m. on the campus of Highland High School in Palmdale, according to Sheriffs Department spokeswoman Nicole Nishida. The person was detained in a nearby parking lot, according to Nishida, who did not know whether that person was an adult or juvenile. Deputies at the scene are clearing the school methodically, and students will be transported home via school buses once the campus is deemed safe, Nishida said. Read More Facebook

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The education of Bertha Perez: How a UC Merced custodians disenchantment led to a political awakening By Robin Abcarian Its the third day of a three-day strike, and UC Merced custodian Bertha Perez is taking a break from a picket line at the universitys unremarkable entrance, an intersection with stop lights. Photos from other UC campuses this week have shown big crowds of striking service workers  members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees  marching and chanting pro-labor slogans as they try to force the University of California back to the negotiating table. But here, at UC Merced, whose handful of big buildings rise from a flat expanse of farmland, the picket line is tiny, maybe two dozen workers and a few students. Its not a big-city-style show of force. Then again, a union sympathizer is banging relentlessly on a snare drum, so its noisier than youd expect. Read More Facebook

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Ref Rodriguez resigns from teacher credentialing commission By Howard Blume Ref Rodriguez appears during a court appearance. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times) Los Angeles school board member Ref Rodriguez has resigned from the states Commission on Teacher Credentialing, which oversees the integrity and quality of Californias teachers. Rodriguez faces felony and misdemeanor charges for political money laundering. Separately, his former employer, a charter school organization, has accused him of improperly authorizing checks to a nonprofit under his control. Rodriguez has denied wrongdoing. Rodriguezs resignation from the state body was effective May 4, days after he cast a crucial vote as part of a narrow majority that voted to authorize contract negotiations with Austin Beutner to become superintendent of the L.A. Unified School District. Beutners first official day on the job is Tuesday. Rodriguez remains in his $125,000-a-year position on the Los Angeles Board of Education. The mission of the state body is to ensure integrity, relevance, and high quality in the preparation, certification, and discipline of Californias teachers. Critics had questioned Rodriguezs continued service on the commission, given that teachers can be suspended from work if they face criminal charges. They also can lose their jobs for lapses in personal behavior, such as excessive drinking, with the potential to affect their performance. Police in Pasadena arrested Rodriguez on a Friday afternoon in March for public drunkenness. He was not charged in the incident and has apologized. The state commission reviews teacher discipline cases and can take action to remove a teachers credential to work in a California classroom. The commission has 15 members. Rodriguezs departure was disclosed in a one-sentence announcement on the agencys website. Facebook

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School board members request for restraining order against blogger is rejected By Priscella Vega An Orange County Superior Court judge on Wednesday denied a school board members petition for a permanent restraining order against a Huntington Beach blogger. Attorney Jeffrey W. Shields filed the petition on behalf of Ocean View School District trustee Gina Clayton-Tarvin, 46, who alleged in court documents that Charles Keeler Johnson, 56, has threatened her on social media and at school board meetings, causing her to fear for my own safety and for that of my immediate family members. Johnson, who goes by Chuck and publishes HBSledgehammer.com, said the trustee tried to stifle his freedom of speech. He also contended that Clayton-Tarvin took his blog posts and Facebook comments too seriously and out of context, saying anyone who is afraid of metaphors has serious issues. Read More Facebook

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Deal with workers averts one-day strike that could have shut down L.A. schools By Howard Blume Los Angeles school district and union officials announced a contract agreement Tuesday night that averted a one-day strike planned for next week. The pact, which runs through June 2020, removes one labor problem from the desk of incoming Supt. Austin Beutner  whose first day on the job would have coincided with the strike. Plenty of other challenges remain. Read More Facebook

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UC labor strike expands with show of support from more unions By Teresa Watanabe Fong Chuu is a registered nurse who has assisted with countless liver transplants, kidney surgeries and gastric bypasses during 34 years at UCLA. Working with her are scrub technicians who sterilize equipment, hand medical instruments to the surgeon and dress patient wounds. They are a team, Chuu says, which is why she walked off her job Tuesday in support of those technicians and other members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299. The 25,000 member AFSCME local, the University of Californias largest employee union, launched a three-day strike Monday. Read More Facebook

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We are humans too: Voices of UCLAs striking custodians, hospital aides and imaging technicians By Joy Resmovits Demonstrators parade in front of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) This week, thousands of UC employees are staging a three-day strike for better pay and working conditions. On Monday, more than 20,000 custodians, cooks, lab technicians, nurse aides and other members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299 walked off their jobs. By Tuesday, two more unions joined in sympathy strikes. The union and UC reached a bargaining impasse last year. The university has said it wont meet the workers demands. The strikers said they wanted better pay, more equity in the allocation of work, stable healthcare premiums and an end to the universitys use of contract workers. These are their stories. Read More Facebook

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Massive UC workers strike disrupts dining, classes and medical services By Joy Resmovits A massive labor strike across the University of California on Monday forced medical centers to reschedule more than 12,000 surgeries, cancer treatments and appointments, and campuses to cancel some classes and limit dining services. More than 20,000 members of UCs largest employee union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, walked off their jobs on the first day of a three-day strike. They include custodians, gardeners, cooks, truck drivers, lab technicians and nurse aides. Two altercations involving protesters and people driving near the rallies were reported at UCLA and UC Santa Cruz. At UCLA, police took a man into custody Monday after he drove his vehicle into a crowd, hitting three staff members. They were treated for minor injuries at the scene and released, said Lt. Kevin Kilgore of the UCLA Police Department. Read More Facebook

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Sen. Kamala Harris to skip UC Berkeley commencement in support of striking workers By Teresa Watanabe California Sen. Kamala Harris has canceled plans to deliver UC Berkeleys commencement address this weekend in support of UC workers who are on strike over wages and health benefits. Due to the ongoing labor dispute, Sen. Harris regretfully cannot attend and speak at this years commencement ceremony at UC Berkeley, said a statement from Harris office issued Monday. She wishes the graduates and their families a joyous commencement weekend and success for the future. They are bright young leaders and our country is counting on them. UCs largest employee union, the 25,000-member American Federation of County, State and Municipal Employees Local 3299, launched a three-day strike Monday and had earlier called for a speakers boycott. The union and university reached a bargaining impasse last year and subsequent mediation efforts have failed to produce an agreement. The union is asking for a multiyear contract with a 6% annual pay increase while the university is offering 3% annual increases over four years. UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ will deliver the keynote address instead, the university announced. About 5,800 students are expected to participate in the ceremony Saturday. Facebook

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School mural depicting Trumps bloody, severed head sparks controversy By Gary Warth A Chula Vista school mural that depicts the bloody, severed head of President Trump on a spear sparked a controversy that prompted officials to cover it and issue a response distancing themselves from the work. The statement also said the artist will alter the painting. We understand that there was a mural painted at the event this past weekend that does not align with our schools philosophy of non-violence, read the statement from MAAC Community Charter School director Tommy Ramirez. We have been in communication with the artist  who has agreed to modify the artwork  to better align with the schools philosophy. Read More Facebook

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New blackface incident at Cal Poly prompts calls for state investigation By Kim Christensen Cal Poly San Luis Obispo officials have asked the state attorney generals office to investigate after a new photo of a white student in blackface surfaced on a fraternity groups private Snapchat. I am outraged, Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong said in a video address Friday to the campus. These vile and absolutely unacceptable acts cannot continue. We must not allow these acts to define us as an institution. Armstrong said the latest photo was intended to imitate an incident last month in which a white member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity was photographed at a party wearing blackface. Read More Facebook

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More than 50,000 UC workers set to strike this week but campuses will remain open By Teresa Watanabe More than 50,000 workers across the University of California are set to strike this week, causing potential disruptions to surgery schedules, food preparation and campus maintenance. The systems 10 campuses and five medical centers are to remain open, with classes scheduled as planned. UCs largest employee union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, plans to begin a three-day strike Monday involving 25,000 workers, including custodians, gardeners, cooks, truck drivers, lab technicians and nurse aides. Read More Facebook

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New L.A. schools chief Beutner pledges to listen, learn and take action By Howard Blume New Los Angeles schools Supt. Austin Beutner proved Wednesday that hes a quick learner even without an education background. Like countless public officials before him, he appeared at an important event  his first speech and news conference  with a photogenic background of students. His message  that he would put those students first  seemed heartfelt if hardly original. Nor was it a huge surprise that he pledged to push cooperatively but unflinchingly to improve the districts academic performance and stabilize its finances. As an introduction, Beutner, a former investment banker who made a fortune on Wall Street, offered little flash, but that was partly the point. Read More Facebook

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In a school lockdown, one student takes stock of the stressful scene At the beginning of lunch one day late last month, Duarte High School, Northview Middle School, and California School of the Arts-San Gabriel Valley were advised by the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department to go into lockdown mode due to police activity in the immediate area. Phalaen Chang, a junior at the California School of the Arts, wrote a series of notes on her iPhone while she sat in a room with her classmates. By the time the lockdown ended an hour later, she wrote, she knew which of her friends would hold open the door for others, be the ones calming others down, be the ones barricading the doors. She knew that all of them have the potential to be such strong people. Read More Facebook

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Tale as old as time: L.A. Unified superintendent pick follows a historical pattern of outside-the-box choices By Joy Resmovits L.A. Unified has long gone back and forth between picking insiders and outsiders to run the nations second largest school district. The choice of Austin Beutner, announced Tuesday, places the district squarely back in the outsider camp  months after a consummate insider, Supt. Michelle King, announced that she had cancer and would not return to the job. Check out this timeline of former L.A. superintendents to see how the school board members have changed their minds, sometimes favoring leaders who come from the world of education and sometimes executives from elsewhere, recruited to shock the system into change. At one point, the district hired someone from the military  retired Navy Vice Adm. David L. Brewer III, who served as superintendent from 2006-2008. In hiring Brewer, board members had opted for a non-educator  largely because they sought a fresh thinker, unwedded to the bureaucracy, unafraid to make bold, even unorthodox moves, reads a 2008 Times story. Facebook

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Austin Beutner named superintendent of Los Angeles schools By Howard Blume Austin Beutner, a philanthropist and former investment banker, on Tuesday was named superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nations second-largest school system. His selection was the biggest move yet by a Los Angeles school board majority elected with major support from charter school advocates. The decision came after lengthy public testimony, most of it in support of the other remaining finalist, interim Supt. Vivian Ekchian, who is well known within the school system. Beutner, 58, has no background leading a school or school district. Less than 2 years ago, a school board with a very different balance of power named Michelle King, a former teacher who rose through the district throughout her career, to L.A. Unifieds top job. Read More Facebook

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Hearing delay gives both sides more time in Ref Rodriguezs potential trial By Howard Blume Ref Rodriguez and his attorneys will have more time to prepare their defense against charges of political money laundering, a judge ruled Monday. The preliminary hearing in the case had been scheduled to begin May 9, but that date will now be pushed back to July 23 per the ruling from L.A. Superior Court Judge Deborah S. Brazil. Rodriguez, 46, faces three felony charges of conspiracy, perjury and procuring and offering a false or forged instrument, as well as 25 misdemeanor counts related to the alleged campaign money laundering. Read More Facebook

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L.A. school board poised to name Beutner as superintendent By Howard Blume The Los Angeles Board of Education is poised to select philanthropist and former investment banker Austin Beutner to be the next superintendent of the nations second-largest school system. Barring a last-minute development, the only mystery is whether Beutner emerges with four or five votes from the boards seven members. Terms of his contract already have been under discussion, according to sources close to the process who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak. The selection of Beutner, 58, who has no experience managing a school or a school district, would be a signal that the board majority that took control nearly a year ago wants to rely on business management skills instead of insider educational expertise. Read More Facebook

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Teacher walkouts in Arizona and Colorado continue national debate on money for schools By Michael Livingston Following the lead of teachers who walked off the job in other states in recent weeks, thousands of teachers and their supporters took to the streets in Arizona and Colorado for the second day in a row to demand better pay and more funding for education. Read More Facebook

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Three decades before the #MeToo movement, UC San Diego led the way against sexual assault By Teresa Watanabe When Nancy Wahlig first started her fight against sexual assault, one company was marketing a capsule for women to stash in their bras and then smash to release a vile odor. Because of the very nature of society, the only person who can prevent rape is the woman herself, read a 1981 advertisement for the Repulse rape deterrent. Ideas about how to prevent sexual violence have come a long way since then, and Wahlig has helped lead that evolution on college campuses. In 1988, she started UC San Diegos Sexual Assault Resource Center (SARC), the first stand-alone program at the University of California. Today, she remains the systems most senior specialist. Read More Facebook

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Andres Alonso withdraws from consideration for L.A. schools job By Howard Blume Andres Alonso, believed to be one of three remaining finalists to lead the Los Angeles school system, has withdrawn from consideration. The remaining known candidates in the confidential search are former investment banker Austin Beutner and interim Supt. Vivian Ekchian. Alonso, 60, announced his decision on Twitter on Thursday night, saying he had notified the L.A. Unified School District on Monday. The exit of Alonso, the former Baltimore schools chief, seems to solidify the front-runner status of Beutner, who also was a former L.A. Times publisher and a Los Angeles deputy mayor. He held each of those positions for about a year. Read More Facebook

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Heres why the apparent increase in autism spectrum disorders may be good for U.S. children By Karen Kaplan The prevalence of autism spectrum disorder among American children continues to rise, new government data suggest. And that may be a good thing. Among 11 sites across the U.S. where records of 8-year-olds are scrutinized in detail, 1 in 59 kids was deemed to have ASD in 2014. Thats up from 1 in 68 in 2012. Normally, health officials would prefer to see less of a disease, not more of it. But in this case, the higher number is probably a sign that more children of color who are on the autism spectrum are being recognized as such and getting services to help them, according to a report published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Read More Facebook

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UC shelves tuition increase for now, in hopes of getting more state funding By Teresa Watanabe University of California regents will not vote on a tuition increase next month, shelving the plan for now in hopes that state lawmakers will come through with more funding. Raising tuition is always a last resort and one we take very seriously, UC President Janet Napolitano said Thursday in a statement. We will continue to advocate with our students who are doing a tremendous job of educating legislators about the necessity of adequately funding the university to ensure UC remains a world-class institution and engine of economic growth for our state. Last week, Cal State Chancellor Timothy P. White said the 23-campus system no longer would consider a plan to raise tuition for the 2018-19 academic year. But unlike Cal State, UC officials have not taken a tuition increase off the table entirely. Read More Facebook

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A chemical spill, unchecked eyewash stations, poor training: Audit details Cal States lax lab safety By Joy Resmovits In May 2016, two bottles tumbled off a poorly supported shelf and broke, leading to a chemical spill in a Sacramento State University lab. The liquid got onto one students legs and soaked anothers feet. Five employees cleaned up the mess, even though no one knew for sure what it was and whether it was dangerous. They called fellow employee Kim Harrington, their union representative, to let her know what happened. Read More Facebook

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After blackface incident, minority students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo say they dont feel welcome By Hailey Branson-Potts Aaliyah Ramos was walking through the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campus last year when a prospective student approached her. Ramos was the only black person, the young woman said, that she and her mother had seen that day. They asked about the quality of education and the diversity of the student body. Ramos, a mechanical engineering student, didnt want to sugarcoat the truth: Cal Poly long has been predominantly white. But she told the young woman  who also was black  that she didnt want to discourage her from applying, because that wouldnt help with diversity at a school where only 0.7% of students are African American  the lowest percentage of any university in the California State system. Read More Facebook

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El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills wins the 2018 U.S. Academic Decathlon By Carlos Lozano El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills has won the 2018 U.S. Academic Decathlon, officials said. The winner was announced early Saturday at a ceremony in Frisco, Texas. More than 600 students from the U.S., Canada, China and the United Kingdom gathered there over the last three days to compete in the 37th annual U.S. Academic Decathlon. Congratulations to El Camino Real Charter High School for another impressive victory, said Vivian Ekchian, interim superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Your academic stamina and competitive spirit to win is remarkable. The entire L.A. Unified family is so proud of you. Read More Facebook

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Anticipation mounts as L.A. school board meets over superintendent selection By Howard Blume The Los Angeles Board of Education is reconvening in closed session Friday at noon as anticipation mounts about the choice of the next leader of the nations second-largest school system. The presumed front-runner is former investment banker and philanthropist Austin Beutner, but interim Supt. Vivian Ekchian and former Baltimore Supt. Andres Alonso also are in the running. Most district insiders appear to be rooting for Ekchian, who has spent her entire career in education within the school system. After her 10 years as a teacher, her roles have included head of human resources, chief labor negotiator and regional administrator for campuses in the west San Fernando Valley. Shes managed the district since September, when then-Supt. Michelle King went on medical leave and chose Ekchian to fill in for her. King, who is battling cancer, never returned and announced her retirement in January. Numerous influential civic leaders have urged  and pressured  the board to select Beutner. Also lending their weight have been advocates for charter schools, which are independently operated, growing in number and competing for students with district-operated campuses. Four of the seven board members  enough to control the outcome  were elected with major financial support from charter supporters. Beutner has two ongoing connections with the L.A. Unified School District. The first is his leadership of an outside task force that is making recommendations on how to improve the school system. The second is his charity, Vision to Learn, which supplies glasses to low-income students. The charity and the school system are in a dispute at the moment over who is responsible for delays in providing services to students as part of a $6 million contract, half of which is paid for by L.A. Unified. Unlike Ekchian and Buetner, Alonso, who currently teaches at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has no deep-seated local constituency, but the prospect of his selection has generated some excitement. While in Baltimore, Alonso was recognized for pushing for progress at low-performing schools, and for being willing to take strong action. While in Baltimore, he also weathered a test-score cheating scandal and occasionally rocky relations with the teachers union. But by the time he resigned, after six years, he and union leaders seemed to be working together without rancor. Leaders of some community groups have split from the pro-Beutner camp. They worry that Beutners approach to confronting the districts financial problems could shut out their voices or involve severe economic cutbacks that would undermine programs that are helping students. Some prefer Ekchian; some Alonso. Theyve been reluctant to speak out publicly because theyll have to work with whoever is selected, but they have tried to get the ear of board members. On Friday morning, one leader of a community group decided to come out in favor of Alonso. L.A. Unified has the opportunity to bring in an instructional leader of color with a history of success, said Alberto Retana, president and chief executive of Community Coalition, which works on behalf of low-income students and families in South Los Angeles. If we have a shot at that, we should go for it  because its in the best interests of our kids and of our community. Retana said his statement was not meant to criticize Beutner or Ekchian but to alert board members that there also is community support for Alonso. Facebook

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Cal State leader shelves proposed tuition hike: Its the right thing to do, but its not without risk By Joy Resmovits Cal State, the nations largest public university system, will no longer consider a plan to raise tuition for the 2018-19 academic year, Chancellor Timothy P. White announced Friday. The decision is a bet that Sacramento will come through in the end. If Cal State loses that bet, it could mean cuts to campus programs. White said in an interview that Californias economy is strong enough that families should not be shouldering the burden of higher college costs. Read More Facebook

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L.A. students to participate in national walkout activities on Friday By Joy Resmovits Students are taking to the streets again Friday to protest gun violence on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine school shooting. Starting at 10 a.m., students at many schools will spend 13 seconds honoring the 13 people  12 students and one teacher  killed on that day in Littleton, Colo. After that, theyll participate in a host of different activities. Within L.A. Unified, one school is having an open-mic event for students to talk about school violence, and lawmakers are visiting campuses to hear students thoughts. According to a central hub for organizing the protests  written by the students of Ridgefield High School in Connecticut  the walkouts are intended to drive the political change necessary to curb school violence. The day is also a time for students to interact on an elevated platform they have never had before, the site states. It is a day of discourse and thoughtful sharing. Bringing together communities and students to get a national discussion rolling. Organizers have suggested using the event to convey the importance of curbing gun violence to legislators. They are encouraging students to push legislation that would ban assault weapons and tighten up rules around who can buy guns and how. Over 2,500 schools nationwide are expected to participate. In L.A., some students  at campuses including Eagle Rock High School, the Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts and Bravo Medical Magnet  plan to walk out. Students from various schools expect to join area marches, including those in Santa Monica and Huntington Park. Other schools are hosting career days and voter registration drives. At 1 p.m., students plan to start a rally in front of L.A. Unified headquarters. For the record: An earlier version of this article stated that 12 teachers and one student were killed in the Columbine shooting. The opposite is true: twelve students and one teacher died. Facebook

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Stabbing of popular student devastates South El Monte High School; teen friend suspected in slaying By Sonali Kohli When administrators at South El Monte High School called Jeremy Sanchezs parents to say he never showed up for class Wednesday, his father began to worry. It was unusual for the 17-year-old junior to miss school, so his father filed a missing persons report and assembled two of Jeremys close friends to look for the popular student-athlete. Their search took them to a scenic stretch of the San Gabriel River Trail, where one of the friends  a 16-year-old boy  made a tragic discovery. Among the bushes in the riverbed near Thienes Avenue and Parkway Drive was Jeremys body, punctured with stab wounds, according to Lt. John Corina of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. Read More Facebook

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Racist fliers spark outrage at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo By Alene Tchekmedyian Soon after Neal MacDougall arrived on the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campus Tuesday, the professor noticed university police standing outside a restroom near his office. A racial slur against African Americans had been scrawled in red marker on a stall wall. Later, he discovered a series of racist fliers pinned up next to his door. Someone had also slashed posters hed hung outside his office supporting students in the country illegally. The discovery was the latest controversy on the prestigious campus  which the president said is less than 55% white  that MacDougall said demonstrates a culture of racism at the university. Last week, photographs emerged of white fraternity members, including one in blackface, flashing gang signs. Read More Facebook

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The superintendent waiting game, paying for L.A.'s College Promise, Princetons slave history: Whats new in education By Joy Resmovits Acting LAUSD superintendent Vivian Ekchian is a finalist for the permanent job. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) In and around Los Angeles: The L.A. Unified school board spent 10 hours interviewing and discussing candidates for superintendent. When they adjourned after 10 p.m., they said they would reconvene on Friday. Who is paying for Mayor Eric Garcettis much-touted College Promise, a program that promises two years of community college for LAUSD grads? In California: The Legislature is considering a proposal that would boost K-12 education funding for black students. When the cost of living is taken into account, California has the highest rate of child poverty. Nationwide: The families of two children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School are suing Alex Jones and Infowars for saying the school massacre never occurred. Princeton will name two spaces  an arch and a garden  after slaves who lived or worked on the campus. Facebook

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L.A. school board meets privately with finalists and debates choice for school district leader By Howard Blume The Los Angeles Board of Education adjourned late Tuesday after spending more than 10 hours interviewing candidates and trying to reach a decision on who would be the next leader of the nations second-largest school system. When the meeting finally recessed at 10:11 p.m., a spokesman announced only that the school board would reconvene Friday at noon. Going into the days meetings, there were apparently four finalists, according to sources who could not be named because they were unauthorized to speak. Read More Facebook

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Two Sandy Hook families sue Alex Jones and Infowars for saying the school massacre never happened By David Altimari Families of two children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School have filed lawsuits in Texas against controversial radio host Alex Jones for continually claiming the massacre never happened. Neil Heslin, the father of Jesse Lewis, and Leonard Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa, whose son Noah Pozner died in the massacre, filed separate lawsuits late Monday in Travis County, Texas. The lawsuits allege that Jones defamed the parents by constantly calling them crisis actors and insisting the shooting was a false flag operation; they also claim Jones accusations have led to death threats against the Sandy Hook families by Jones followers. Read More Facebook

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Beutner emerges as a top pick for L.A. schools superintendent amid last-minute jockeying By Howard Blume Austin Beutner has emerged as a leading contender to run the Los Angeles school district, with backers saying he is smart enough and tough enough to confront its financial and academic struggles. Though he does not have a background in education, the former investment banker has in the last year examined some of the districts intractable problems, serving as co-chair of an outside task force with the support of then-Supt. Michelle King. Sources inside and outside the school district said Beutner appears to have more support on the seven-member board than other finalists, and his name could come up for a vote as early as Tuesday. Read More Facebook

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Challenge at Chicago school construction site: Watch for 38,000 unmarked graves By Nereida Moreno A 15-year effort to build a school in Chicagos Dunning neighborhood is underway with an unusual complication: Construction workers are taking careful steps to avoid disturbing human remains that may lie beneath the soil. The $70-million school is to be built on the grounds of a former Cook County Poor House, where an estimated 38,000 people were buried in unmarked graves. Among the dead are residents who were too poor to afford funeral costs, unclaimed bodies and patients from the countys insane asylum. There can be and there have been bodies found all over the place, said Barry Fleig, a genealogist and cemetery researcher who began investigating the site in 1989. Its a spooky, scary place. Read More Facebook

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Oklahoma teacher walkout winds down despite lawmakers failure to meet demands By Washington Post Oklahomas largest teachers union has announced an end to a walkout that has drawn thousands of educators out of classrooms and to the state Capitol demanding greater investment in the states schools, which have endured the nations steepest funding cuts. The announcement Thursday from the Oklahoma Education Assn. does not necessarily end the protests at the Capitol, as teachers not affiliated with the union vowed to stay longer. Instead of a walkout, the union and school districts across the state have said they plan to send delegations of teachers to Oklahoma City to keep the pressure on lawmakers. Teachers and their supporters have also promised to push education issues to the forefront of November elections, when the state chooses a new governor. As school districts begin to reopen, the protests may lose steam. The Legislature is not in session Friday, and observers are waiting to see what happens Monday, when lawmakers return. Read More Facebook

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Most Californians are worried about school shooting threats and oppose arming teachers, survey finds By Joy Resmovits Hamilton High School student Aiyana Dabriel holds a sign during a March 14 walkout in support of the Parkland shooting victims. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Most Californians are worried that a school shooting like the one that occurred in Parkland, Fla., in February could shed blood closer to home, a new survey found. Some 73% percent of adults and 82% of public school parents said they were very concerned or somewhat concerned about school shootings. The Public Policy Institute of California surveyed 1,704 adults in the state by phone just after the March for Our Lives protest against gun violence. Latino and black respondents were significantly more likely to be concerned about school violence than white or Asian respondents, the institute found. Two-thirds of adults and public school parents said they opposed letting more educators carry weapons in school. The response differed across party lines, with 86% of Democrats and 69% of independents voicing their opposition, while 60% percent of Republicans said they would support a measure to arm educators. The poll, which had a margin of error of 3.2% in either direction, also asked Californians about school funding, educational issues in the governors race and the impact of immigration enforcement on students. You can find the full results here. Facebook

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Californias largest virtual charter school network agrees to contract with its teachers By Anna M. Phillips Nearly four years after teachers at Californias largest online charter school voted to unionize, they have reached a deal to increase pay and create job protections, according to a spokesman for the California Teachers Assn. The contract, which is still tentative and subject to ratification, is a victory for the teachers union. Although charter schools are publicly funded, most are privately managed and their employees arent protected by labor contracts. Under the terms of the contract  the result of years of negotiation and legal wrangling  approximately 500 teachers working for California Virtual Academies will no longer be at-will employees who can be dismissed for almost any reason. Their average salary will rise to just over $45,000, according to union estimates, a figure that remains far below the norm for traditional public school teachers. Still, it is an improvement over the previous average of $38,000. The accord also places a limit on the number of students each teacher is responsible for monitoring in online homeroom classes. Were very satisfied with the gains we made, said teacher Brianna Carroll, president of California Virtual Educators United. I think were going to see some extraordinary changes in our schools. According to Carroll, teachers at California Virtual Academies  better known as CAVA  had grown frustrated with the organizations foot-dragging and were making preparations to go on strike when CAVAs leadership agreed to the deal. CAVA and K12, the Virginia-based for-profit company linked to its schools, did not immediately respond to an email Tuesday asking for comment. The network currently operates nine virtual charter schools across California. In 2016, the charter network agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle claims of false advertising, misleading parents and inadequate instruction. The state attorney generals office had also accused K12 of controlling the charters for its own financial benefit. Neither CAVA nor K12 admitted to wrongdoing in the settlement. A year later, the state imposed a $2-million fine on CAVA after an audit found that it had misspent public funds. The network disputed the findings. Facebook

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School board approves a new formula for funding high-need schools By Sonali Kohli L.A. schools will soon get more money if they are located in neighborhoods with such problems as high levels of gun violence and asthma. The Los Angeles Unified school board voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt a new formula to determine how to dole out some funding to schools, based not only on the characteristics of the student populations but on the traumas that affect the communities around campuses. The new formula will be applied to $25 million in funding next fiscal year and about $263 million annually in future years  a small part of the districts $7.5 billion annual budget. Read More Facebook

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Protesters demand Ref Rodriguez resignation outside school board meeting By Sonali Kohli Students, parents, teachers and UTLA marching outside the board meeting chanting "Ref resign" pic.twitter.com/W0LRWZSIXY  Sonali Kohli  (@Sonali_Kohli) April 10, 2018 A few dozen parents, students and teachers marched outside the Los Angeles Unified School Board meeting Tuesday, some calling for board member Ref Rodriguez to resign the week after news broke that he was taken into custody on suspicion of being drunk in public at a Pasadena bar and restaurant. Rodriguez was not cited or charged in that incident, but was held for more than five and a half hours before being released. The school board member faces felony and misdemeanor charges for political money laundering. He is accused of getting more than two dozen people people to donate to his campaign for his school board seat with the understanding that he would reimburse them. He stepped down from his post as school board president after he was charged last fall, but he did not give up his seat on the board. He has pleaded not guilty to three felony counts of conspiracy, perjury, and procuring and offering a false or forged instrument, as well as 25 misdemeanor counts related to the alleged campaign money laundering. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May. He cant give his full focus to our students, said Rebecca LaFond, a Highland Park parent whose three children marched with her as she chanted, Ref resign. One daughter marched in front of her, using a drum stick to hit the bottom of a gallon-size empty water jug. Our kids deserve someone who has the utmost ethical standards representing them, LaFond said. The protests continued into the board meeting, where some addressed Rodriguez directly, calling on him to step down during public comment portions of the meeting. Rodriguez, through his chief of staff, declined to comment. Some parents outside the board meeting did not know about the charges against Rodriguez but came out to protest the possibility of sharing their school campuses with charter schools. Protesters also oppose colocation  not all of the parents are here to ask Ref Rodriguez to step down pic.twitter.com/1Co8zQ9zSi  Sonali Kohli  (@Sonali_Kohli) April 10, 2018 Cynthia Martinez said her son, who goes to Christopher Dena Elementary School in Boyle Heights, has been bullied in the past by students from a charter school sharing the campus. She said she didnt know who Rodriguez was. Some parents and teachers are worried about losing computer labs, robotics rooms and fitness centers if they are required to share their campus with charter schools, said Ilse Escobar, a parent community organizer for United Teachers Los Angeles. The issues of Rodriguez and colocation are related, Escobar said. Rodriguez is part of a majority on the school board elected with financial backing from charter school supporters, and many parents, she said, feel that the school board is compromised if he is a part of it. Staff reporter Howard Blume contributed to this post. Facebook

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Delaine Eastin tries to gain momentum in the California governors race, one voter at a time By Seema Mehta Delaine Eastin was a sophomore in high school when a drama teacher urged her to try out for a part in The Man Who Came to Dinner. She hesitated until he told her: This is a metaphor for your whole life. If you never try out, you will never get the part. Eastin auditioned and won the role. Decades later, the advice sticks with the former state schools chief, this time in her unlikely run for governor. Despite calls for more women in leadership roles in state politics following sexual misconduct allegations in Sacramento, Eastin has been largely overlooked in the race, lagging far behind her Democratic rivals in fundraising and the polls. Read More Facebook

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Arizona high court rejects in-state tuition for DACA recipients By Associated Press Young immigrants granted deferred deportation status under a program started by President Obama are not eligible for lower in-state college tuition, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Monday. The unanimous ruling will affect at least 2,000 students attending the states largest community college district and hundreds more at other colleges and the states three public universities. The Maricopa County Community Colleges District and state universities said they would begin raising tuition immediately for the coming school year. Read More Facebook

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New York high school students injured when bus strikes overpass By Associated Press A charter bus carrying teenagers returning from a spring break trip Sunday night struck a bridge overpass on Long Island, seriously injuring six passengers and mangling the entire length of the top of the bus. The crash happened shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday on the Southern State Parkway in Lakeview, according to New York State Police. One of the six injured passengers had very serious injuries, said State Police Maj. David Candelaria. Thirty-seven other passengers suffered minor injuries. Read More Facebook

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Some good news for California in national student test scores By Joy Resmovits Every two years, the nations fourth- and eighth-graders are tested in math and reading  and newly released results from last years tests give California at least a little reason to be pleased. The 2017 results  out Monday night  were mostly flat nationwide compared with 2015, though the average score in eighth-grade reading went up. But while that improvement largely came from the increased scores of the highest-performing students, California eighth-graders showed some reading progress from the lowest levels to the highest. Read More Facebook

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Under state control, Inglewood school districts financial picture worsened By Anna M. Phillips When Eugenio Villa agreed to return to the Inglewood schools for a second tour last summer, he knew the district remained one of Californias most troubled. Inglewood Unified had been nearly insolvent when it was taken over by the state Department of Education in 2012. Six years later, its enrollment was still declining. Its school buildings were tired  some edging into decrepitude. Its test scores and graduation rates were still below the state average. And the public was out of patience. Still, Villa, who had signed back on as the districts chief business official, was shocked at what he found when he arrived in June 2017. Two years earlier, he had left the school system on what he thought was firm ground. Read More Facebook

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Charter school group drops two lawsuits against L.A. Unified By Howard Blume A charter schools advocacy group last week announced that it would end two long-running lawsuits in which it was seeking more classroom space and construction money from the Los Angeles school district. The decision, the California Charter Schools Assn. said, reflects better relations between charter schools and the L.A. Unified School District. But the move also suggests that the litigation, which already contributed to significant gains for area charters, was unlikely to produce much more. It takes time, money and effort to litigate, said Ricardo Soto, general counsel for the charter group. Maybe its better to see if we can find the time and opportunity for collaboration. Read More Facebook

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L.A. school board member Ref Rodriguez is arrested on suspicion of public intoxication By Richard Winton Los Angeles school board member Ref Rodriguez was arrested recently on suspicion of being drunk in public at a Pasadena restaurant, the latest trouble for an elected official who faces political money-laundering charges. Pasadena police took Rodriguez into custody on March 16, according to city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian. Officers arrested Rodriguez at about 4:30 p.m. at the Yard House restaurant and bar at the Paseo Mall and held him in jail for more than five-and-a-half hours. Rodriguez was ultimately released without being cited or charged, Derderian told The Times. Other details about the arrest were not available, she said. Read More Facebook

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Kentucky teachers rally at Capitol over state budget By Associated Press Thousands of Kentucky teachers filled the streets near the state Capitol in Frankfort on a cold, overcast Monday to rally for education funding. Teachers and other school employees gathered outside the Kentucky Education Assn. a couple of blocks from the Capitol chanting, Stop the war on public education and holding or posting signs that say, Weve Had Enough. Were madder than hornets, and the hornets are swarming today, said Claudette Green, a retired teacher and principal. Read More Facebook

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With big storm coming, heres how to stay safe

With the big storm coming, here are some basic storm tips from the Los Angeles Fire Department:

Ensure that your drains, gutters and downspouts are clean and functioning properly. This is especially important for flat-roofed buildings.

Keep stormwater troughs, pipes and culverts on your property free of debris.

Move valuable or easily damaged items away from low-lying areas prone to flooding.

Secure trash containers, household waste, chemical spills and outdoor storage before they are swept away, spread contamination or block storm drains.

Closely examine windows, skylights and doors that may benefit from caulking or weatherstripping.

Inspect your attic for leaks of sunlight, or signs of previous water damage that may indicate where pre-storm repairs are needed.

Establish household supplies (bucket, mop, towel and tarpaulin) to minimize damage from a sudden leak or stormwater seepage.

Prepare your household to remain safe (battery powered lamps, no candles) and functional (fully charged cellphone, manual garage door operation) in the event of a storm-related power outage.

Review how to safely turn off your homes electric, water and natural gas service in the event of severe storm damage.

Put the Flood Safety and other free mobile apps from the American Red Cross on your smartphone.

Discuss your family emergency plan, including what every member of the family will do in the event of a flood or mudslide.

Prepare an emergency supply kit that includes food, water, medications, flashlight, battery-powered radio, rain gear and first aid supplies.

Gather and safely store important documents to take with you in case of evacuation.

Confirm out-of-state family contacts so that friends and relatives can determine your location and status.

Consider the safety of those with disabilities or access and functional needs.

Plan for the needs of pets at home and if you are evacuated.

Identify multiple safe routes from your home or workplace to high ground and practice your evacuation plan.

Have sturdy, sensible shoes with nonskid soles for use in a rainstorm. Pack an umbrella, small flashlight and rain coat.

Check your cars wipers, lights, tire inflation and tread wear to assure safe operation, and keep your vehicle fueled in case power is cut off to local fueling stations.

Be prepared to monitor local news for official warnings, evacuation orders and the status of streets, highways and transit systems.

Be aware of local driving laws, and how to operate your vehicle safely or use public transit in conditions altered by weather.

Lower the level of your swimming pool to prevent overflow and flooding.

Determine if your home is located in a flood hazard or landslide prone area.

Landscape slopes with plants that are fire retardant, water wise, suitable for erosion control and allow for smart water retention or reuse. Consider the temporary use of plastic sheeting on slopes prone to erosion.

Large trees that could threaten your home should be examined by a certified arborist. Confirm that any hillside on your property has been evaluated by a licensed soil engineer.

If necessary, consult an engineer or licensed contractor to design or build permanent water and debris control systems for your property.

Contact your insurance agent to assure that your flood and storm coverage is adequate and in effect. Confirm the 24-hour contact, policy and claim filing numbers for your insurer(s). Place that information in your mobile phone and keep a printed copy in the glove box of your car.

Keep sandbags, plywood, plastic sheeting, lumber, hand tools and other materials handy for addressing additional stormwater issues.


Feb. 17, 2017, 3:04 p.m. During Oroville evacuations, authorities say these people tried to exploit the emergency Although Butte County sheriffs officials say there were no reports of looting during recent evacuations below Ororville Dam, there were a handful of burglaries and robberies that targeted fleeing residents, officials said. The incidents began Sunday night, hours after authorities ordered more than 100,000 people to flee to high ground, according to the Butte County Sheriffs Office. About 6:30 p.m., deputies said, Cody Bowles, 27, and Lucia Ripley, 31, carjacked the vehicle of an Oroville resident who was packing it to flee. The resident left the car running and was moving in and out of the house with items when the couple jumped into the vehicle, officials say. When the resident confronted the pair, they ran him over, seriously injuring him, officials say. Authorities are looking for the pair. About half an hour later, authorities said, Teran Washington 25, and a 16-year-old boy used a shotgun to blast through the front door of a local market and tried to ransack the business before they were confronted by neighbors. Though the two got away, deputies later searched their home and say they found the shotgun and arrested Washington and his young accomplice. The next morning, Michael Matlock, 31, was seen riding an ATV in Gridley and towing a gun safe, authorities say. Tailed by state Department of Water Resources employees who became suspicious, Matlock ran away when his vehicle got stuck on railroad tracks, investigators said. The ATV, the trailer and the gun safe had all been stolen, officials said. Matlock was identified as the ATV driver and arrested on suspicion of burglary, vehicle theft and looting during an emergency, officials said.



Feb. 17, 2017, 1:51 p.m. 150,000 cubic yards of debris stand in the way of Oroville Dams hydroelectric plant restart Helicopters ferry sand and rocks from a staging area to the Oroville Dams emergency spillway repair project. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Officials at Lake Oroville reduced the rate of water release once again Friday as workers continued make repairs to a damaged spillway and clear debris from a hydroelectric plant. State Department of Water Resources engineers will decrease the flow of water in the Oroville Dams main spillway from 80,000 cubic feet per second to 60,000 by Saturday morning, giving crews space to dredge debris from a pool at the bottom of the spillway, said DWR acting director Bill Croyle. Engineers had been pumping water out of the lake at 100,000 cfs for several days to make room for incoming storm runoff and to keep the lake from overflowing like it did over the weekend. That overflow badly eroded an emergency spillway and sent debris flowing into a pool at the bottom, forcing the closure of an underground hydroelectric plant. This reduction in flow will allow us to work on the debris pile in the spillway, Croyle told reporters at a news conference. He estimated that 150,000 cubic yards of sediment and debris were in the pool. The other focus by workers at the dam is the eroded emergency spillway, Croyle said. Rain began falling again in the area on Thursday and its not expected to stop until the middle of next week at the earliest. The heaviest showers are expected Monday and could drop up to 10 inches of rain onto the mountains and foothills that drain into the reservoir, the National Weather Service said. The storms arent likely to produce enough runoff to exceed the lakes capacity, Croyle said. Hundreds of thousands of tons of rocks and concrete slurry have been dropped into four fissures that threatened a retaining wall of the emergency spillway on Sunday. They were 50%, 75%, 90% and 100% full, respectively, Croyle said. Rain falling onto the slurry and a small stream that had formed on the hillside Friday did not worry DWR engineers, he said.



Feb. 16, 2017, 8:51 a.m. OROVILLE

New worry for Oroville Dam: a storm next week that could dump a lot of rain Its raining in the Oroville Dam area, though officials have said they are confident their efforts will prevent any problem. But now another storm is set to hit Monday. Heres a look at whats to come: ca_state2 95e1612 0.01 0.1 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 1.25 1.5 1.75 2 2.5 3 4 5 7 Legend Source:NOAA Projected at 2 a.m. Thursday 0.1 1 2 3 4 5 7+ @latimesgraphics Projected peak 11.3 inches Lake Oroville Sacramento 5-day forecast Cumulative inches of precipitation



Feb. 17, 2017, 7:19 a.m. Reporting from Sacramento

The crisis at the Oroville Dam could become a catalyst for change Reconstruction continued Wednesday in a race to shore up the emergency spillway, left, at the Oroville Dam. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Jeffrey Mount, a leading expert on California water policy, remembers the last time a crisis at the Oroville Dam seemed likely to prompt reform. It was 1997 and the lake risked overflowing, while levees further downstream failed and several people died. If this doesnt galvanize action, I dont know what will, Mount said he thought at the time. But spring came, the waters receded and no changes came to pass. Now another threat looms in Oroville, where deteriorating spillways forced widespread evacuations, and more heavy rain is around the corner. State officials have remained focused on quick fixes at the dam needed to prevent catastrophic flooding, but some already are thinking about how the crisis could spur long-term shifts in policy. Its a conversation thats gaining momentum in think tanks and government offices from Sacramento to Washington, and it touches on climate change, infrastructure spending and statewide water policy. Wade Crowfoot, a former advisor to Gov. Jerry Brown who now leads the Water Foundation, a nonprofit research organization in Sacramento, compared the situation to the states years-long drought. This is a wake-up call, he said. The drought reminded us we need to use water more wisely. Oroville reminds us that we need to upgrade our infrastructure and our management to move water more wisely. Read more

Feb. 16, 2017, 6:14 p.m. Flood warning for Oroville Dam lifted The National Weather Service has canceled the flash-flood warning issued Sunday, when officials worried the emergency spillway at Lake Oroville might collapse.



Feb. 16, 2017, 1:35 p.m. As storm moves in, engineers reduce outflow from Lake Oroville to clean up debris Spillway repairs continue at Oroville Dam on Wednesday. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Confident that a series of incoming storms wont overwhelm the Oroville reservoir a second time, state officials said Thursday that they would slow drainage of the lake so they can do work on an adjacent power plant. The reservoir exceeded its capacity over the weekend, which sent water overflowing into an unlined, emergency spillway. That overflow sent soil, rock and forest debris into the Feather River below. With the reservoirs water level down more than 30 feet since Sunday and getting lower, state Department of Water Resources acting director Bill Croyle said at a news conference Thursday that engineers will slow the flow down the Oroville Dams damaged main spillway from 100,000 cubic feet of water per second to 80,000 cfs over a period of several hours. The reduction will allow crews to move into the concrete channel to clear out trees, branches and other debris that has clogged the spillway and forced the downstream hydroelectric plant to go offline, Croyle said. There was no estimate on when the power plant would be back up and running, but it will probably not be before Monday, Croyle said. Meanwhile, the Herculean effort to reinforce the emergency spillway before more rain arrived used a caravan of helicopters and trucks to fill three deep fissures in the dirt hillside with rocks and cement. As of Thursday, repairs on one erosion site was completed, the second was 25% filled and the third was 69% filled, Croyle said. As long as the lake doesnt reach capacity the emergency spillway wont be used, Croyle said. The incoming storm system is weaker than the one that overwhelmed the lake last week after the dams main spillway eroded to the point of fracture, Croyle said. More than 100,000 residents south of the dam remain under an evacuation advisory and should be prepared to flee to higher ground should the dam overflow and the spillways collapse, authorities said.



Feb. 16, 2017, 11:14 a.m. Storm headed to Oroville Dam area could bring 10 inches of rain, revised forecast warns Friends Johnny Eroh, from left, Cody Balmer, Kristien Bravo and Jerel Bruhn hang out by the swollen Feather River in Oroville. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Spillway repairs at the troubled Oroville Dam will get their first major test this weekend after meteorologists revised their forecast and are now predicting a much wetter and warmer storm outlook for the region. Light to moderate rain began falling across Northern California early Thursday and will probably continue for several days, according to the National Weather Service. However, the situation will change substantially Sunday, when a larger storm arrives at Oroville and the Feather River basin. It looks like its going to be a pretty good rainmaker, said NWS meteorologist Mike Smith. Youre looking at 10 inches from Sunday night to Monday night. Read more



Feb. 16, 2017, 10:40 a.m. Oroville Dam flooding risks keep schools closed McKenna Harvey, 9, left, Kylie Atteberry, 11, and Brooklyn Atteberry, 7, hold signs thanking workers for the repair efforts at the Oroville Dam. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Time) Several schools remain closed in communities affected by the Oroville Dam emergency. All school districts except for Chico and Paradise in Butte County will be closed through Friday. Wheatland High School, Yuba College and the Marysville Joint and Wheatland Elementary school districts in Yuba County also will be closed. We believe this gives our families and staff sufficient time to make longer-term plans, said Supt. Craig M. Guensler of the Wheatland Elementary School District. Most school districts in Butte County will resume classes Tuesday. Monday is a holiday. Guensler said the district could reassess school closures next week. The safety of our staff and students is our largest priority, and we will continue to make sure we keep our schools safe, he said.



Feb. 16, 2017, 6:17 a.m. Oroville reservoir level continues to drop amid new rain storms In the hours since a series of storms in Northern California began dropping rain on the damaged Oroville reservoir, data shows that state water officials continue to drain the lake faster than the storms are filling it. Less than a tenth of an inch of rain has fallen in Oroville since the first of the storms arrived early Thursday, the National Weather Service reported. The area and surrounding foothills are expected to receive several inches of rain through the weekend. But that shouldnt be enough to fill Lake Oroville back up to capacity, when the lake reaches 900 feet, the Department of Water Resources said. The lake is draining water at 100,000 cubic feet per second, enough to drop the lake a foot every three hours. Meanwhile, runoff from the current and previous storms is sending water into the lake at only a fraction of that pace. The lake has dropped more than 30 feet since it overflowed during the weekend and damaged an emergency spillway that had never been used. If it drops another 30 feet by Sunday, officials hope, the reservoir should have enough space to catch water from rain and melting snow without overflowing the rest of the year.

Feb. 15, 2017, 8:31 p.m. OROVILLE

No looting but some burglaries during Oroville evacuation, sheriff says Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea repeated his insistence Wednesday that there had been no looting while Oroville was under mandatory evacuation orders, but he conceded that the town had seen burglaries. Certainly weve had burglaries, he said, adding that there are burglaries every day. Honea drew a firm distinction between the two forms of theft. Looting, he said, is a massive and organized stealing of everything within a structure, and is very rare. Honea urged residents returning to the area to be prepared to leave again if necessary. This is an ongoing situation. He said the state has agreed to post National Guard units in the region, part of what he called staging of resources should another emergency arise.

Feb. 15, 2017, 3:49 p.m. Community puts on Valentines Day wedding for couple evacuated in Oroville emergency

Leotta Litke and Henry Rueda had planned a romantic Valentines Day wedding at their community church in Olivehurst. But on Sunday, the couple was forced to evacuate their home after a hole developed in an emergency spillway at the Oroville Dam. The couple went to an evacuation center at the Placer County fairgrounds in Roseville and had been staying there through Tuesday. It appeared their dream of a Valentines Day wedding was crushed. That was until shelter workers found out about their wedding plans and decided to help them get hitched. So Placer County workers spread the word on Facebook, asking for help: We have one last, very special donation request for our Oroville emergency evacuees, workers wrote. This young couple, Leotta and Henry, planned to be getting married today at their home church in Olivehurst. Instead, theyll be honoring us today at our evacuation shelter. To help Leotta and Henry. To make this day as special as it should be, we need a wedding dress and suit ASAP! Message us if you can help, and please join us in wishing them congratulations! Soon after the call went out, donations from residents and area businesses began pouring into the fairground, according to workers. By the end of the day, the bride was given a beautiful white gown and the groom a black tux and a large tree was converted into a wedding altar. Surrounded by a large group of evacuees who remained at the shelter for the night, Litke walked down the grassy aisle to an acoustic version of the Elvis Presley hit Cant Help Falling In Love. The couple had been together 10-years before deciding to tie the knot, they said. I want to thank everybody, Litke told CBS Sacramento. I am happy to be Mrs. Rueda. To cap off the night, a limo and hotel room were also donated, KTXL-TV reported. Its hard to imagine a better way to celebrate Valentines Day than the surprise wedding we were honored to witness tonight at the Placer County shelter for Oroville spillway emergency evacuees, county workers wrote on Facebook.



Feb. 15, 2017, 1:33 p.m. reporting from OROVILLE, Calif.

Officials confident Oroville Dam will withstand new rainstorm: Its holding up really well Reconstruction continues in a race to shore up the emergency spillway, left, at Oroville Dam on Wednesday. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Even as rain began to fall in Northern California on Wednesday, state officials said the storms forecast over the next few days will not be enough to test the integrity of the Oroville Dam or its two damaged spillways. Bill Croyle, acting director of the state Department of Water Resources, called the storms fairly small and said the public wont see a blip in the reservoir levels, now dropping about eight inches an hour. Croyle said it was not the weather he was concerned about so much as the damage done to the dams already compromised main spillway during days of sustained heavy releases of water. Its holding up really well, Croyle said, but continued mass water releases could be causing hidden damage to the rocky subsurface adjacent to the concrete chute. A swarm of trucks and helicopters dumped 1,200 tons of material per hour onto the eroded hillside that formed the dams emergency spillway. One quarry worked around the clock to mine boulders as heavy as 6 tons. An army of workers mixed concrete slurry to help seal the rocks in place. At the main spillway, a different and riskier operation was underway: Despite a large hole in the concrete chute, officials have been sending a massive amount of the swollen reservoirs water down the spillway to the Feather River in a desperate attempt to reduce the lakes level. The objective is to lower the level enough so that the lake can accept runoff from the upcoming storms without reaching capacity. If the reservoir filled up again, water would overflow into the emergency spillway, which on Sunday appeared to be nearing collapse, forcing the evacuation of more than 100,000 people downstream. Croyle said there were plans to begin to taper off the water discharges at the end of the week. Data from the Department of Water Resources shows Shasta Dam discharges began to be sharply increased on Feb. 10 and have increased substantially every day since that. Federal emergency officials and the Trump administration approved Gov. Jerry Browns requests for presidential disaster declarations for the Oroville Dam and for the 34 counties struck in January by major winter storms that caused mudslides and power outages. I want to thank FEMA for moving quickly to approve our requests, Brown said in a statement from his office. At a news briefing Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said President Trump has been keeping a close eye on the situation at Oroville. The situation is a textbook example of why we need to pursue a major infrastructure package in Congress, Spicer said. Dams, bridges, roads and all ports around the country have fallen into disrepair.



Feb. 15, 2017, 12:54 p.m. Rio Linda

Sikhs opened their temple doors to Oroville Dam evacuees  and strangers came pouring in Evacuees and Sikhs chat at Shri Guru Ravidass temple in Rio Linda, Calif., north of Sacramento. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Each morning before the break of dawn, Nirmal Singh makes his way to a small stage at the Shri Guru Ravidass Temple, adorned with roses and silk. There, the priest sits and reads prayers from a centuries-old Indian text to open the day. Its usually a quiet affair, with words spoken in Punjabi to an empty hall the size of a large backyard  a solemn start at the small Sikh temple that sees few people outside of weekend services. But this week, Singh had company. Bodies shuffled under blankets in front of him. On Tuesday a Mexican couple and their kids woke up to his right, revealing the head scarves they wore in respect of Sikh traditions. In a nearby room, an African American man was also was getting up to the sounds of prayer. As tens of thousands fled low-lying regions on the Feather River this week amid warnings of flooding from the rapidly filling Lake Oroville, Sikh temples across in the Sacramento area opened their doors to evacuees. Read more

Feb. 15, 2017, 2:05 p.m. As new storms approach Lake Oroville, authorities warn residents to remain vigilant Although officials say the risk of flooding below Oroville Dam has dropped substantially since the weekend, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea warned area residents Wednesday that they remained in an emergency situation. During an afternoon news conference, Honea urged residents to maintain vigilance as dam operators continued to drain Lake Oroville before a string of storms began soaking the region again Wednesday evening. They need to pay attention, Honea said of residents. Its important for people to be prepared. This is an opportunity for them to get things together, so that if the risk level increases and there is a need for us to issue an evacuation order, theyll have the things they need and theyll be able to do that quickly and efficiently. The sheriff also asked residents to start making travel plans should they need to evacuate. On Sunday, when erosion of the lakes emergency spillway triggered a sudden evacuation order, area roads quickly suffered gridlock. That was an incredibly chaotic situation, and I was aware of it, Honea said. Sundays emergency order was lifted Tuesday afternoon, allowing more than 100,000 residents and business owners to return to their communities. Honea said that during the evacuation order, Oroville had seen some thefts, but he insisted there was no widespread looting of properties. Certainly weve had burglaries, he said. Looting, the large-scale and organized theft of property from a structure, is very rare, the sheriff said. Honea also said that the state has agreed to post National Guard units in the region, part of what he called staging of resources should another emergency arise.

Feb. 15, 2017, 11:54 a.m. Graphic: Lake Oroville water levels dropped dramatically

After exceeding capacity this week, Lake Oroville has seen water levels drop significantly in the last three days. The charge above shows the story, as officials bumped massive amounts of water through the damaged main spillway.

Feb. 15, 2017, 11:48 a.m. L.A. County dams to be inspected in wake of Oroville crisis

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has ordered inspections of all county dams, spillways and other flood control infrastructure. The move was sparked by the emergency at Lake Oroville in Northern California over the last week, when failures of two spillways used to lower the lakes water level prompted mandatory evacuations. Supervisor Kathryn Barger called for the inspections on Tuesday, and her motion was unanimously approved by the board. The supervisors have asked the countys Department of Public Works to provide a report on the condition of the dams within 30 days and to develop a list of priority flood-control infrastructure projects that need to be completed. The Oroville situation reminds us of the need to proactively evaluate our countys risk with regard to dams and other facilities which may be prone to failure from storms, earthquakes or other foreseeable events, Barger said in a statement. Read more

Feb. 15, 2017, 11:01 a.m. Rep. Doug LaMalfa says Oroville Dam looks stable for now Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) said Wednesday that officials will investigate what went wrong at the Oroville Dam once the emergency situation is over. In a Facebook post, LaMalfa wrote that Oroville Dam looks stable for now. LaMalfa said officials are focused on providing support to residents who were evacuated Sunday night. Residents were allowed to return home Tuesday afternoon after officials said the risk of flooding had diminished. Speaking on the House floor Tuesday, LaMalfa said the soil in front of the emergency spillway must be stabilized with rock and concrete. It looks good, he said. I think things are stable for now. We also need prayer for no more rain for a while. After meeting privately with emergency officials on Tuesday, state Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber) said he was told the repairs were temporary. This cannot be a case of put rocks in the spillway and it is taken care of, he said.

Feb. 15, 2017, 10:20 a.m. Kangaroos, zebra and deer, oh my! Woman sheltered wild animals during evacuation

Before evacuees returned home Tuesday afternoon, a woman cared for kangaroos, zebras and other animals left behind by residents. California Highway Patrol officers were checking on abandoned properties in the affected areas on Tuesday morning, when they came across the exotic animals at Tamara Archer Houstons family farm in Sutter County, said Officer Chad Hertzell, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol in North Sacramento. It was like Wow, a zebra,  he said. Archer Houston and her family had been collecting animals left during the rush to evacuate, according to the CHP. We had fun, she said in a video on Facebook. It was good. Among the rescued animals were two kangaroos named Kenzie and Dottie, Archer Houston said in the video, filmed by CHP officers. Kenzie actually sleeps inside with her owner every night in her bed in her diaper, so this has to be a whole new deal for her, she said. The sight was a rare treat for officers. We are thankful for the random acts of kindness we find out in the community, the CHP wrote on Facebook. Everyone seems to be coming together to take care of each other. This is what makes California so special. More than 100,000 people were ordered to evacuate from communities downstream of Lake Oroville on Sunday night after the emergency spillway at the dam developed a hole, prompting fears it could collapse. Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea lifted the mandatory evacuation order Tuesday and changed it to a warning. Although residents and business owners were allowed to return to their communities, he urged them to be prepared to evacuate again at a moments notice should new problems arise.



Feb. 15, 2017, 9:59 a.m. Oroville

Dam operators now hope to lower Lake Oroville by 60 feet in preparation for rain and snowmelt Even after Lake Orovilles water level is reduced by a targeted 50 feet, water managers intend to further drain the reservoir so that it can absorb major rain storms and spring snowmelt, according to state planning documents. The most recent 10-day forecast calls for water levels to be dropped 60 feet below the lakes maximum of 901 feet, which would give it the ability to hold nearly 1 million acre-feet of water before overtopping a damaged emergency spillway that is still undergoing temporary repairs. A joint plan created by the Department of Water Resources, Cal Fire and the Butte County Sheriffs Office calls for the reduction of water releases down the reservoirs main spillway later in the week. Water has been coursing down the damaged spillway at a rate of 100,000 cubic feet per second but will taper off to a third of that by late Friday, according to the plan. A new series of storms forecast to arrive late Wednesday is expected to last through the weekend. Likewise, a cooling trend will drop more snowfall in the Sierra. Officials hope to reduce the lake level to below 840 feet by next Wednesday. That level falls below what engineering documents show is normally required for flood control in wet weather. The biggest surge in water reaching the lake from the Feather Basin is forecast to arrive Tuesday, according to the planning documents. With the mandatory evacuation order for the Feather River lifted, life in Oroville is returning to normal. As a result, the Gold Country Casino and Hotel  which has served as housing for emergency work crews  is now asking contract workers to leave by Friday so the hotel can honor prior reservations. The workers can return Monday. The state also is operating a less luxurious emergency base camp nearby with meals provided by inmates on state firefighting crews.
Richard Riordan grumbled to two other former Los Angeles mayors on Thursday about the traffic clogging his Brentwood neighborhood. How long does it take to get to downtown L.A. to go to the theater at night? he asked.

If you take the subway, it will take about 25 minutes, Antonio Villaraigosa joked, recalling his thwarted ambition to build a subway to the sea.

James K. Hahn, who moved to Santa Monica after leaving office, recommended the Expo Line: Thats the way to go, Dick. Dont take your car.

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The three former L.A. mayors gathered on a UCLA stage Thursday night to share thoughts on running the city. Together, their terms spanned two decades marked by the Northridge earthquake, the San Fernando Valleys threatened secession from L.A., and an economic crash that left city leaders struggling to stave off bankruptcy.

Their rivalries have subsided, allowing for a candid conversation as part of UCLAs Why History Matters presentations. Some of it was personal. Riordan, 86, revealed his plans to remarry this weekend. His fiancee is Elizabeth Gregory, the director of admissions at Harvard-Westlake School in Studio City.

But the ex-mayors focused mostly on the city. Villaraigosa, 64, called for a huge expansion of the mayors power. The city and county governments should be consolidated under the mayor, along with the public school system, he argued.

You need a strong key executive, Villaraigosa, now a candidate for governor, told the audience of a few hundred.

Hahn rejected the idea of expanding the mayors power, saying the city works pretty well. I dont think you need to have a czar, he said.

Riordan applauded Villaraigosas failed attempt to put the L.A. Unified School District under the mayors control, but Hahn suggested it was a bad idea. At some point, you load too much on one person, he said.

At a time when President Trump is threatening to deny federal money to cities like L.A. that limit cooperation on immigration enforcement, Hahn and Villaraigosa, both Democrats, said the city needs to make sure that crime victims and witnesses can talk to police without fear of deportation.

But Riordan, a Republican, said the policy, which dates to 1979, has never worked because major criminals who were in the U.S. illegally were sometimes released from jail rather than deported.

Riordan bemoaned rising pension costs for retired city workers. Its dramatically gone up since Jim and I were mayor, he said in a dig at Villaraigosa.

Villaraigosa, who approved big raises for the citys unionized workforce just before the Great Recession hit, took credit for layoffs, furloughs and pension cutbacks as the city later struggled to remain solvent.

As long as the teachers union hates him, Ill support him for governor, Riordan quipped, a nod to Villaraigosas friction with one of the states most powerful unions.

As for the longtime pattern of L.A. mayors  including Riordan  losing campaigns for governor, Hahn suggested the hostility of Northern Californians remained a problem.

I lived for a year up in San Francisco, and they really dont like us up there, he said to a burst of laughter. And I didnt quite understand it, because I said, We dont really even think about you guys. 

Turning to the citys ever-worsening traffic, Riordan said the construction of high-end housing in congested parts of town was drawing too many people into neighborhoods where its already tough to move at rush hour.

Villaraigosa, who led the campaign for a ballot measure thats expanding the regions bus and rail system, said concentration of new housing around transit stations was crucial.

It wasnt just about moving people; it was about re-imagining this town, he said.

Hahn, 66, recalled the words of his father on a Red Car ride in the early 1960s, on the last day it ran between downtown L.A. and Long Beach.

We have a perfectly good urban railroad here in Los Angeles, but were throwing it away, Kenneth Hahn, then a county supervisor, told Jim and his sister Janice. But mark my words, one day well have to build it back.

michael.finnegan@latimes.com

@finneganLAT

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A 92-year-old veteran has been charged in the shotgun killing of his wife on Valentines Day, according to police and the Los Angeles County district attorneys office.

Carven Nathaniel Kendrick was charged Thursday with one count of voluntary manslaughter in the death of 73-year-old Jenelle Gamble-Kendrick in the 1700 block of West 60th Street in the Harvard Park neighborhood, according to prosecutors and police.

About 7 p.m., Kendrick and his wife of about 16 years got into an argument about a phone call, said Los Angeles Police Det. Nathan Kouri, who is supervising the investigation.

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The fight escalated, and the woman began hitting her husband with her cane, Kouri said. Kendrick became frustrated, went into the bedroom to retrieve his shotgun, then shot his wife in the living room area, a few feet away from a bouquet of red roses, Kouri said.

Kendrick then walked over to a relatives home and told the relative that he had just shot his wife. He stayed at the scene until police arrived, Kouri said.

Kendrick faces a possible sentence of 21 years in prison if he is convicted, according to prosecutors.

Times staff writer Matt Hamilton contributed to this report.

nicole.santacruz@latimes.com

For more crime news, follow @nicolesantacruz on Twitter.
Julia Guy worried that remaining a teacher might be difficult once she started a family, and staying fit already posed a challenge  so she eagerly filled out a survey seeking suggestions on how to keep teachers in the profession.

Her employer, Bright Star Schools, reviewed the results, crafted a proposal, and on Friday won a $250,000 grant to improve teacher retention, which is a major problem in education and can be especially challenging for charter schools.

With the funding, teachers at seven Bright Star schools will get additional family leave as well as fitness activities at school, better snacks in the teachers lounge and advice from a nutritionist.

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In all, six grants, totaling nearly $900,000, were handed out by locally based Great Public Schools Now, which is best known for its controversial genesis in a confidential plan for a massive expansion of local charter schools.

The organization hasnt abandoned charter growth but says its current goal is to replicate successful schools of any kind.

Holding on to talented teachers is part of the puzzle, said Myrna Castrejon, the groups executive director.

We know that teachers are the most important factor within a school, and that keeping great ones in the classroom can have an immediate and profound effect on students, Castrejon said.

Charter schools are publicly funded but free from some rules that govern traditional campuses.

Recent, comprehensive data are hard to come by, but an early study of Los Angeles area charters, published in 2011, found that they were having to replace on average 50% of their instructors every year.

To qualify for a grant from Great Public Schools Now, a charter operator had to meet certain academic performance parameters. It also had to have lost no more than 30% of its faculty since the last school year. Thats still well above the state average of 10.6%.

Like some traditional schools, certain charters have characteristics associated with higher turnover, such as their location in low-income communities and hiring of younger, newer teachers, said Leib Sutcher, research associate at the Palo Alto-based Learning Policy Institute. And now theres the added problem of a statewide teacher shortage.

Overall, 87% of L.A. Unified teachers returned to the same school as last year, and 94% continued working for L.A. Unified, even though turnover has been a problem at some campuses.

Local teachers union President Alex Caputo-Pearl said teachers in traditional schools, who are represented by unions, have an edge: better job security and frequently superior working conditions.

This is partly due to collective-bargaining agreements, but also state laws that guarantee such benefits as paid sick days, extended medical leave, and maternity leave, which charters are not required to provide, said Caputo-Pearl, head of United Teachers Los Angeles. Most importantly, our members have due-process rights  one of the key factors in teacher retention.

Besides Bright Star, other grant recipients include: Environmental Charter Schools ($200,000), PUC Charter Schools ($105,000) and Aspire Public Schools ($153,000).

Teach Plus, a foundation-funded nonprofit associated with some school-reform efforts, pledged to provide a variety of supports for teachers in the local area and got $90,000.

Bright Stars revamped, family-friendly portfolio will include time off for teachers to go on field trips with their own children, a $2,500 stipend for day care and lactation pods on every campus. Bright Star already offered extended parental leave  four weeks paid at 55% and up to eight additional weeks without pay. The grant now will cover those costs.

Its time to stop perpetuating the myth of the teacher martyr and start creating working conditions that allow instructors to make teaching a lifelong career, said Melissa Kaplan, Bright Stars chief academic officer.

In all, the successful applicants identified about 150 teachers as irreplaceable to their organizations.

One winner came from within the L.A. Unified School District: the Business Entrepreneurial Technology Magnet at Nightingale Middle School in Cypress Park. Its application had a twist: The magnet coordinator and two teachers who submitted the application identified themselves as irreplaceable. Its a description their principal, Rafael Gaeta, wholeheartedly endorses.

The team has worked extended days and weekends to bring a high school curriculum for developing formal business plans down to the middle school level. Their students have done well in competition against high-schoolers.

Their $65,000 grant will help pay for these teachers to step outside their own classrooms part of the time to support such efforts and to help other teachers and schools set up similar programs.

We believe that these programs have found creative and common-sense ways to help teachers do what they do best: inspire students to reach their full potential, Castrejon said of the grant winners.

howard.blume@latimes.com

@howardblume

Editors Note: The Times receives funding for its Education Matters digital initiative from one or more of the groups alluded to in this article. The California Community Foundation and United Way of Greater Los Angeles administer grants from the Baxter Family Foundation, the Broad Foundation, the California Endowment and the Wasserman Foundation to support this effort. Under terms of the grants, The Times retains complete control over editorial content.

UPDATES:

4:35 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from the teachers union and an educational researcher.

This article was originally published at 4 a.m.
Fifteen years after a man kidnapped a 14-year-old boy at gunpoint, blindfolded him and then sexually assaulted him, Los Angeles police arrested a suspect this week after a DNA match cracked the cold case open.

Mirek Paul Voyt, a 54-year-old former grocery store manager, was arrested at his Hollywood home Tuesday and charged in connection with the Northridge assault, LAPD Capt. Billy Hayes said at a news conference Thursday.

The break in the case came last year, Hayes said, when Voyt was convicted of stealing money from the grocery store chain where he worked. Because Voyt was convicted of a felony, his DNA was collected and entered into a statewide database, where it matched DNA evidence from the 2001 assault, Hayes said.

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Investigators re-interviewed the victim, ran their case past prosecutors and obtained a warrant for Voyts arrest, Hayes said.

Unfortunately, this has taken 15 years to solve, but at the time of the original assault there wasnt much more to go on, Hayes said. We since, in the course of our investigation, have been able to tie him conclusively to this assault.

Voyt pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of kidnapping to commit rape and forcible oral copulation, the district attorneys office said. A judge set his bail at more than $1 million.

The attack occurred the morning of June 22, 2001, when two teenagers were walking near Vanalden Avenue and Chase Street, on their way to school. A man  blonde, in his late 30s, about 5 feet 10  confronted the boys with a gun, Hayes said. One of the boys was able to run away, Hayes said. The man took the other.

The man then took the boy to a nearby location  investigators now believe it was Voyts home  and sexually assaulted him, Hayes said.

After the boy was released, the LAPDs Robbery-Homicide Division  an elite unit that typically handles complex or high-profile cases  began investigating the attack. DNA was collected and entered into the statewide system at the time, Hayes said, but didnt match anything already in the database.

Now, Hayes said, investigators are worried that Voyt might have attacked others during the 15-year gap between the assault and his arrest. Though Hayes said investigators had not tied Voyt to any specific cases, the captain urged anyone who might have information to contact police.

Hayes said Voyt moved throughout the L.A. area over the last 15 years, ultimately landing in Hollywood. He worked at a large grocery chain, though Hayes declined to say which one. Investigators are also interviewing people who know Voyt, Hayes said.

When you look at a predator of this nature and the violence that occurred in 2001, although hes remained off the radar in terms of other criminal acts, one would find it hard to believe that this was his only time, Hayes said.

kate.mather@latimes.com

@katemather

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Investor pleads guilty to withholding email during grand jury probe of Port of L.A. police chief
Eleven years ago, Los Angeles officials invited residents of San Pedro to help rewrite their neighborhoods community plan, which spells out where new housing and other amenities would be allowed.

Dozens took part in the effort. Yet the document is only now heading to the City Council for a vote  a situation one longtime resident called depressing.

Its obvious that the city either cant, or wont, make the commitment to doing these plans, said Doug Epperhart, who sits on the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council.

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L.A.s collection of community plans, and the citys longstanding failure to update them, have emerged as a major issue in the March 7 election campaign. The plans are considered central to the work of real estate development, spelling out what can be built on each street. Yet they have languished for years, as the city coped first with a recession and then a legal defeat.

Measure S, which would impose new restrictions on development, recommends that those plans be updated every five years. L.A.s elected officials, many of them opponents of Measure S, rushed last week to have those documents rewritten every six years, at a cost of $10 million annually.

There will always be growth. We have to figure out where were putting that growth.  Councilman Jose Huizar

For all the talk at City Hall of reshaping land use to make Los Angeles more dense and less car-dependent, many of the neighborhood plans have not been rewritten to reflect that vision. Twenty-nine of the citys 35 community plans have not been updated since 2001  leaving many of them out of date in a rapidly changing city.

For example, downtowns Arts District has evolved from an expanse of warehouses and cold storage facilities into a lively neighborhood, with high-end housing and restaurants. Yet much of it is still zoned for manufacturing.

In the San Fernando Valley, the Metro Orange Line, an 18-mile dedicated bus route, has been open for more than a decade. Yet city officials just started working on documents to focus development around key stations.

Housing advocates have long complained that the plans dont reflect changing real estate conditions, transportation patterns and community needs. Because those documents have fallen behind, city lawmakers have found themselves rewriting the rules on a project-by-project basis.

Those approvals frequently result in buildings that are larger than the originally planning rules allowed. And they have sparked an outcry, with neighborhood activists complaining that zoning rules are too often rewritten.

That discontent is being tapped by proponents of Measure S, sponsored by the Hollywood-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

Measure S would ban for two years the citys practice of changing key planning rules for individual real estate projects, such as approving buildings taller than existing law allows. The moratorium could be lifted early if city leaders show they have updated each of those plans. Foes of Measure S say that sets up an impossible goal, since each plan typically takes a minimum of three years to complete.

The councils latest strategy would ensure that all are updated by 2024.

Community plans are one of the main tools Los Angeles uses to prepare for future population growth, anticipating where additional homes and job centers can be built. Yet most of those plans were adopted years before the regions rail network expanded into Pasadena, Santa Monica and East Los Angeles.

City leaders say the plans should already have been updated to ensure that higher-density housing and other amenities can be built near transit stops.

There will always be growth, Councilman Jose Huizar said. We have to figure out where were putting that growth  and in what parts of the city. But if we dont have the basic elements in our community plans, we really dont know where were headed.

If each plan was up to date  and written to reflect the regions urgent need for housing  developers would not make as many requests for deviations from city planning rules, said Mark Vallianatos, a founder of the advocacy group Abundant Housing L.A.

Those developers would also feel less of a need to hire consultants, provide campaign donations and contribute to the projects and organizations favored by city politicians, said Vallianatos, who opposes Measure S.

If you had fewer exemptions, you wouldnt need to be buddies with the council person, he said. You get the land, you follow the rules. Its a simpler planning process.

Backers of Measure S say elected officials grant those rule changes because they need campaign donations from those same developers. Voters should not be fooled into thinking that L.A. leaders will follow through on their promise to do more planning, said Jill Stewart, a spokeswoman for the Yes on S campaign.

They dont want to plan, she said. They are not going to get huge contributions for following a plan. They get huge contributions from deviating from plans.

L.A.s last serious effort to update its community plans was launched a decade ago, at the tail end of a major real estate boom. That initiative, which called for revisions to approximately a third of the citys plans, quickly stalled amid the 2008 global economic downturn.

Facing a $484-million budget shortfall, city leaders cut staffing in the Department of City Planning and elsewhere, halting or slowing work on nonessential initiatives.

Given the choice of laying off cops or slowing down the community plans, that wasnt a difficult decision, said Mayor Eric Garcetti. But it had a real effect, and a real impact.

As the city emerged from the recession, officials made the greatest progress on a single community plan  one covering Hollywood. That area was experiencing a burst of development activity, due in part to the opening of the Metro Red Line subway. Yet its plan had not been updated since 1988.

Developers were regularly asking for, and receiving, zone changes, height district changes and other deviations from city rules now targeted by Measure S.

The council voted in 2012 to approve a new Hollywood plan, one that allowed larger residential buildings along major transit routes. Neighborhood groups quickly sued, citing concerns over traffic and infrastructure.

A judge struck down the plan the following year, forcing the council to go back to the rules from 1988. Developers continued seeking the zoning changes and height increases that had infuriated local activists, many of whom later backed Measure S.

The ruling also slowed down the effort to update other community plans. Planners worked to determine whether those other documents were also legally vulnerable, a process that lasted about a year.

We had to make sure we were not repeating any of what happened in the Hollywood case, said principal city planner Craig Weber, who is heading up the latest effort to update the community plans.

Weber said the city is getting back on track, with several new plans in the pipeline. But the effort is time-consuming, he said.

City staffers must head out to neighborhoods to gather input. They examine requests for historic preservation zones and other development restrictions. And they must prepare a legally defensible environmental impact report for each plan, Weber said.

Over the last two years, the council has updated plans in Sylmar, West Adams and Granada Hills. Yet even with those updated rules, confrontations between developers and neighborhoods persist.

In 2015, the council approved the Granada Hills plan after dozens of community meetings. During those deliberations, residents succeeded in having key locations downzoned, slashing the number of homes that could be built on certain properties.

Once the plan went into effect, real estate company Harridge Development Group filed an application to build 440 apartments at a site on San Fernando Mission Boulevard. The request complied with local and state planning rules.

Under the old Granada Hills plan, the site would have allowed up to 864 new homes. The new 2015 plan cut that number to 432. Harridge requested eight extra apartments  its right under state law  in exchange for providing some affordable housing.

Residents reacted with fury, saying the project would turn the area into a ghetto. Dozens showed up at a hearing on the project last week, saying new apartments would bring increased burglaries, traffic congestion and drug trafficking.

Kyndra Casper, an attorney for Harridge, said her client simply followed the rules. The community got what they asked for, she said. And now that a project is being proposed under that plan, they dont like it.

In the wake of the outcry, Harridge agreed to scale back its project to 330 homes, making all of them condominiums. But some residents say it is still too big  and are unswayed by arguments that the developer complied with the propertys new zoning.

We dont want to be mini-Manhattan, said Granada Hills resident Julie Trent.

Councilman Mitchell Englander, who represents the area, said the experience shows that a brand new set of community plans will go only so far in satisfying neighborhoods.

Theres a lot of conversation out there saying that  if the community plans were simply updated, we would fix everything, he said. I cant tell you how false that is.

david.zahniser@latimes.com

Twitter: @DavidZahniser

ALSO

92-year-old man charged in Valentines Day killing of wife

Will the crisis at Oroville Dam become a catalyst for change?

15 years after a boy was kidnapped and sexually assaulted in Northridge, DNA leads LAPD to the suspect
A Santa Monica attorney pleaded guilty Thursday to disobeying a federal grand jury subpoena during the public-corruption investigation of the Port of Los Angeles former police chief.

Gerard N. Casale Jr. admitted that he failed to turn over an email in response to the subpoena seeking information about his business dealings with the former port police chief, Ronald Boyd, according to court papers filed in the Central District of California.

Boyd was the target of a federal corruption investigation that was looking for financial ties between him and a software company that won a contract at the port. Casale was the chief executive of that company, Ironroad USA.

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The probe led to an indictment that accused Boyd of helping Ironroad tailor its responses to the ports contract proposals. Boyd was also accused of defrauding the city by failing to inform port officials that his firm, BDB Digital Communications, had a revenue-sharing agreement with Casales company.

Boyd pleaded guilty in 2016 to lying to federal investigators and concealing $1.1 million in income connected to his private security company. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped corruption charges alleging he defrauded the city by hiding his ties to Ironroad USA. Boyd was sentenced to two years in federal prison.

During the grand jury investigation, Casale failed to turn over an email from April 2012 in which he discussed an issue he resolved between Boyd and his business partners, according to court papers.

The email was relevant to a material issue in the investigation, namely Boyds financial interest in BDB and [Casales] familiarity with that financial interest, according to the plea agreement signed by Casale.

In his plea agreement, Casale also admitted that he was not truthful when he initially denied knowledge of Boyds ties to BDB Digital Communications. Two months later, he retracted that statement in an interview with FBI agents.

Casales defense attorney did not respond to an after-hours request for comment.

Casale, who was most recently connected to a venture capital firm that invested in tech start-ups, is scheduled to be sentenced July 10 before U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner.

Casale formally pleaded guilty to a contempt charge. Penalties are not specified in federal sentencing guidelines, but Casales plea agreement calls for the judge to abide by the penalty range for an obstruction-of-justice charge, which can result in up to 10 years in federal prison.

An LAX police officer was also charged with filing a false tax return in connection with Boyds private security company.

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Twitter: @MattHjourno

ALSO

92-year-old man charged in Valentines Day killing of wife

Will the crisis at Oroville Dam become a catalyst for change?

15 years after a boy was kidnapped and sexually assaulted in Northridge, DNA leads LAPD to the suspect
A day after a longtime friend of Robert Durst testified that the multimillionaire confessed to a years-old Los Angeles murder, Dursts legal team played a recording that could haunt one of the prosecutions key witnesses if the case goes to trial.

On the call, prosecutors confronted Nick Chavin about conflicting accounts he had given about whether Durst had confessed.

Im a liar, Im a professional liar  I work in advertising, Chavin, 72, said in the 2015 interview.

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Chavin told the court this week that Durst admitted a few years ago in New York City to the 2000 killing of his longtime confidant, Susan Berman. Chavin also claimed Durst told Berman he had killed his first wife, Kathleen, who vanished in New York in 1982.

Dursts lead attorney, Dick DeGuerin, seized on a number of recorded phone calls between Chavin and Los Angeles prosecutors in court Friday, dismissing Chavins testimony as a story. DeGuerin pointed to instances where Chavin told prosecutors that Durst had not confessed. The attorney even hinted that by testifying against the real estate heir, Chavin might be trying to curry favor with Dursts brother, Douglas, as the two siblings openly despise one another.

Chavin appeared irked by DeGuerins suggestions, insisting that he hid the truth during earlier interviews with prosecutors, in part, because of his long friendship with Durst.

Everything Im saying is based on my wanting to cover up the truth at that time. I didnt want to admit it, Chavin said when pressed about the calls.

Durst, 73, is charged with murder in the execution-style slaying of Berman, who was shot in the back of the head inside her Benedict Canyon home in December 2000. Prosecutors allege that Durst targeted Berman because he was afraid she would talk to investigators about what had happened to his missing wife.

Berman, a Las Vegas-born writer whose father was a mob boss, had acted as an informal spokeswoman for Durst, fielding media inquiries that followed Kathleens disappearance.

Even though a trial in Dursts case likely wouldnt take place until 2018 at the earliest, Chavin was questioned in court this week because of fears raised by the prosecution that he might die or be killed before the case reaches a jury.

The 72-year-old advertising executive was hustled into the Los Angeles Airport Courthouse on Wednesday as a secret witness, whose identity was withheld from the defense for several weeks and from the public until the moment he took the stand. As he arrived in the courtroom, Chavin was flanked by LAPD officers, who have kept an eye on him from the courtrooms jury box.

Durst has stared ahead, expressionless, during much of the testimony, only occasionally whispering to his attorneys.

A preliminary hearing for Durst is scheduled for October, and both sides will return to court in April to litigate several issues and question four more witnesses. The identity of one of those witnesses is also being withheld.

Chavin, who said Durst was one of his best friends, told the court on Thursday that Durst asked him to meet for dinner in 2014 to discuss Berman and Kathleen Durst. The topic didnt come up, however, until the two men exited the restaurant, he testified.

You wanted to talk about Susan? Chavin recalled asking Durst as the men left. The question, he said, prompted a chilling reply.

I had to. It was her or me, Durst said, according to Chavins testimony. I had no choice.

But DeGuerin  who successfully defended Durst in a 2003 murder trial in Texas and has repeatedly said Durst had nothing to do with Bermans killing  pointed to another recorded 2015 interview with prosecutors in which Chavin said the confession didnt happen.

We were out on the sidewalk saying goodbye, Chavin said in the interview. I reminded him that he wanted to talk to me about it ... and he said, Next time. 

DeGuerin harped on the differing accounts given by Chavin, who initially insisted he hadnt lied to prosecutors but was simply dodging their questions because he wasnt under oath at the time.

During the afternoon session, however, Chavin said he had initially lied to prosecutors when he denied that Durst had confessed to him.

I was lying, he said. I was covering up. I just didnt want to tell the truth.

Dursts attorneys then played a recording from one of the 2015 interviews in which Chavin  responding to prosecutors questions about why his wife had told them that Durst had confessed to Chavin  said he had lied to his wife. In that recording, Chavin described himself as a professional liar, referring to his work in advertising. The remark drew a smile from one of Dursts attorneys as the recording was played in court.

On the call, Chavin later told prosecutors he was being facetious.

DeGuerin also grilled Chavin over comments he made during interviews with prosecutors in which he appeared to suggest that testifying against Durst would help his business relationship with the defendants brother, Douglas. The two siblings are estranged and openly hostile to each other. Douglas now controls the Durst Organization, a premier Manhattan real-estate group that Chavin has done work for.

Im in the middle of a really big pitch, for one of the big  biggest jobs in the city for Douglas Durst, he told prosecutors during the interview. Douglas is, you know, scared to death of Bob and certainly wants to see Bob put away. It could only help me.

DeGuerin asked Chavin if he had meant that saying something incriminating about Robert Durst would be beneficial to his business interests. Chavin denied that interpretation but didnt offer an alternative one.

In another call with prosecutors, Chavin said of Robert Durst, My business depends upon goodwill with his brother, who hates him. I want to do everything in my power to  have Douglas Durst feel the best about me.

Deputy Dist. Atty. John Lewin followed up during the phone interview, asking, If that were true, then, you would have  then, you would have been telling us, from day one, Oh yeah, Bob confessed to me,  because according to your theory, that would put you in good graces with Doug Durst.

It sure would, Chavin responded. But, it would make me a liar.

marisa.gerber@latimes.com

james.queally@latimes.com

Follow us on Twitter: @marisagerber and @JamesQueallyLAT

ALSO

Robert Durst confessed to killing Susan Berman, secret witness says in court

What Robert Durst said he meant when he told lawyers: I kill a lot

HBOs The Jinx played key role in urgent timing of Robert Dursts arrest, prosecutors say

UPDATES:

7:50 p.m.: This story was updated with additional details from the court hearing.

3:40 p.m.: This story was updated with additional details from the court hearing.

This story was originally published at 3:00 p.m.
An Ocala man made at least 10 explosive devices in hopes of blowing up Targets along the East Coast in an elaborate and deadly scheme to buy cheap stocks of the company, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Mark Charles Barnett, 48, was charged with possession of a destructive device affecting commerce by a previously convicted felon.

He faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison.

Barnett concocted a plan to place explosives disguised as food items in Target stores along the East Coast from Florida to New York, thinking the plot would cause stock prices for the retail-store giant to plummet and he could buy cheap shares of the company before they rebounded, a federal complaint alleges.

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He paid a man $10,000 to place the bombs on shelves, the complaint said.

On Feb. 9, Barnett gave the man at least 10 explosives, a bag of gloves, a mask and a license-plate cover, which would be used to cover up the mans identity, prosecutors said.

But before the plan moved forward, the man went to the authorities and gave them the bombs and explained Barnetts plan, federal agents said.

The bombs could have caused property damage, and serious injury or death to those nearby, prosecutors said. Agents also found bomb-making materials in Barnetts home, records show.

Barnett is being held in the Marion County Jail in connection with nine parole violations.

The cooperation between the local, state and federal law enforcement agencies involved in this case was instrumental to quickly identifying this individual and resolving any potential threat to the public, said Charles Spencer, special agent in charge of the FBI Jacksonville Division.

Hayes writes for the Orlando Sentinel.

MORE NATIONAL NEWS

Trump promised a coal renaissance  but keeping open this Arizona plant will test his resolve

Washington high court rules against florist who declined to provide flowers for same-sex wedding

Day Without Immigrants protest closes restaurants across the U.S.
The heart of Philadelphias Italian Market was uncommonly quiet. Fine restaurants in New York, San Francisco and the nations capital closed for the day. Grocery stores, food trucks, coffee shops, diners and taco joints in places like Chicago, Los Angeles and Boston shut down.

Immigrants around the U.S. stayed home from work and school Thursday to demonstrate how important they are to Americas economy, and many businesses closed in solidarity, in a nationwide protest called a Day Without Immigrants.

The boycott was aimed squarely at President Trumps efforts to step up deportations, build a wall at the Mexican border and close the nations doors to many travelers. Organizers said they expected thousands to participate or otherwise show support.

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I fear every day whether I am going to make it back home. I dont know if my mom will make it home, said Hessel Duarte, a 17-year-old native of Honduras who lives in Austin, Texas, with his family and skipped class at his high school to take part in one of several rallies held around the country. Duarte said he arrived in the U.S. at age 5 to escape gang violence.

The protest even reached into the U.S. Capitol, where a Senate coffee shop was among the eateries that were closed as employees did not show up for work.

Organizers appealed to immigrants from all walks of life to take part, but the effects were felt most strongly in the restaurant industry, which has long been a first step up the economic ladder for newcomers to America with its many jobs for cooks, dishwashers and servers. Restaurant owners with immigrant roots of their own were among those acting in solidarity with workers.

Expensive restaurants and fast-food joints alike closed, some perhaps because they had no choice, others because of what they said was sympathy for their immigrant employees. Sushi bars, Brazilian steakhouses, Mexican eateries and Thai and Italian restaurants all turned away lunchtime customers.

The really important dynamic to note is this is not antagonistic, employee-against-employer, said Janet Murguia, president of the Hispanic rights group National Council of La Raza. This is employers and workers standing together, not in conflict.

She added: Businesses cannot function without immigrant workers today.

At a White House news conference held as the lunch-hour protests unfolded, Trump boasted of his border security measures and immigration arrests of hundreds of people in the last week, saying, We are saving lives every single day.

Since the end of 2007, the number of foreign-born workers employed in the U.S. has climbed by nearly 3.1 million to 25.9 million; they account for 56% of the increase in U.S. employment over that period, according to the Labor Department.

About 12 million people are employed in the restaurant industry, and immigrants make up the majority  up to 70% in places like New York and Chicago, according to the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, which works to improve working conditions. An estimated 1.3 million in the industry are immigrants in the U.S. illegally, the group said.

The construction industry, which likewise employs large numbers of immigrants, also felt the effects of Thursdays protest.

Shea Frederick, who owns a small construction company in Baltimore, showed up at 7 a.m. at a home he is renovating and found that he was all alone, with a load of drywall ready for installation. He soon understood why: His crew, five immigrants, called to say they werent coming to work. They were joining the protests.

I had an entire day of full work, he said. I have inspectors lined up to inspect the place, and now theyre thrown off, and you do it the day before the weekend and it pushes things off even more. It sucks, but its understandable.

There were no immediate estimates of how many students stayed home in various cities. Many student absences may not be excused, and some people who skipped work will lose a days pay or perhaps even their jobs. But organizers and participants argued the cause was worth it.

Marcela Ardaya-Vargas, who is from Bolivia and now lives in Falls Church, Va., pulled her son out of school to take him to a march in Washington.

When he asked why he wasnt going to school, I told him because today he was going to learn about immigration, she said, adding: Our job as citizens is to unite with our brothers and sisters.

Carmen Solis, a Mexico-born U.S. citizen, took the day off from work as a project manager and brought her two children to a rally in Chicago.

I feel like our community is going to be racially profiled and harassed, she said of Trumps immigration policies. Its very upsetting. People like to take out their anger on the immigrants, but employers are making profits off of them. 
Good morning. Its Friday, Feb. 17, and heres whats happening across California:

TOP STORIES

Break out your canoe

Southwest California is expected to get drenched Friday with the strongest storm it has seen in several years. The afternoon commute is going to be a mess, said Kathy Hoxsie, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. Los Angeles Times

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A cause for the crisis?

At Oroville Dam, officials say the threat has lessened and there are new clues about what caused the catastrophic failure of the structures huge concrete spillway. Rainwater erosion alongside the spillway appears to have contributed to the collapse, a report reviewed by The Times showed. Los Angeles Times

Change we can believe in?

The crisis at the Oroville Dam drew national attention and outrage. Now advocates hope that this will lead to concrete change on infrastructure, climate change and water policies. Los Angeles Times

A fight for her kids

Monique Baker fought for nearly a year to regain custody of her children after the Department of Child and Family Services took them away. Her story is told here in harrowing detail. Los Angeles Times

Plus: An outsized proportion of L.A. Countys black children end up in foster care, but experts dont agree on the reason why. Los Angeles Times

L.A. STORIES

A Day Without Immigrants: In Los Angeles, participation in the organized protest was lukewarm compared with other cities across the United States. Many organizations had said they didnt know about the protests, and many immigrants said they couldnt afford to miss a day of work. Los Angeles Times

But some did participate: Some of the people taking part in the protest explain why they closed their restaurants on Thursday. LA Weekly

Good riddance, Blue Line: With Valentines Day behind us, L.A. Times researcher Scott Wilson offers up some reasons why hes breaking up with the Metro Blue Line. Ive come to count on you. But lately, well, youve changed. Almost every day now you make me and my fellow riders wait, Wilson writes. Los Angeles Times

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Garcetti wants a blowout: Theres little doubt that Mayor Eric Garcetti will win reelection next month, but reelection by a huge margin over his 10 obscure rivals would strengthen Garcettis standing to run next year for governor or U.S. Senate. So running up the score is a real priority. Los Angeles Times

A day of regret: A San Leandro store owner was so ashamed that he voted for President Trump, he closed the five Oakland markets he runs in solidarity with the Day Without Immigrants protest. San Francisco Chronicle

To Trump or not to Trump? Some state politicians are growing sick of talking about whats happening 2,374 miles away in Washington, while others just love all this Donald Trump talk. Sacramento Bee

CRIME AND COURTS

Stunning Durst testimony: During testimony Thursday in Robert Dursts murder trial, a key witness told jurors that, before she was killed, writer Susan Berman told him that Robert Durst confessed to killing his wife Kathleen Durst. Los Angeles Times

Big corruption charges revealed: Two of Palm Springs major developers and the citys former mayor have been charged with public corruption along with a slew of other felonies for a bribery scheme that netted the then-mayor $375,000, the Riverside district attorney said. Los Angeles Times

The charges explained: The newspaper that first broke these corruption allegations against ex-mayor Steve Pougnet and his associates explains what crimes allegedly were committed. The Desert Sun

Gangs in the Valley under the microscope: Community leaders in the West Valley are happy that the LAPD is studying gang activity in the area after homicides jumped by 14% last year. Los Angeles Daily News

DROUGHT AND CLIMATE

Bees in demand: Climate change and the proliferation of certain pesticides are cited as two possible reasons for why the bee population has been decimated in recent years. This has led to the demand for one California farmers bees to skyrocket as agriculture producers look for little workers to pollinate their crops. New York Times

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Its closing time: This is big for those who enjoy late nights out on the town. New legislation introduced in the state Senate would, if passed, allow bars to stay open to 4 a.m. Currently bars must close up shop by 2 a.m. Los Angeles Times

A tasty treat: The Museum of Ice Cream will be moving west from New York and opening up in Los Angeles very soon. Conde Nast Traveler

Glam guide to L.A.: Check out this guide map to Eve Babitzs glam L.A. of the 1960s and 70s, drawn from her books. Curbed LA

Route 66 spruce-up: Two pieces of legislation in Congress would provide a steady stream of funding to help preserve, rehabilitate and promote the famed Route 66, which goes from Chicago to Los Angeles. Press Enterprise

Watch: Heres a great 360-degree video of the bees on a Kern County farm that help pollinate almond groves. New York Times

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

San Diego and Los Angeles area: lots of rain Friday and Saturday. Sacramento and San Francisco area: rain Friday, partly cloudy Saturday. More weather is here.

AND FINALLY

Todays California memory comes from Sharon Wells:

Shortly after I moved to L.A. in the 90s, my boyfriend and I got Rollerblades and went blading on the beach path. As the daughter of a Navy pilot, I spent my early years in different parts of California but had never done anything like that before. We headed north from Venice toward the Santa Monica Pier. As I became more confident in this new sport (swaddled in knee and wrist pads!), I looked to my left and saw the taupe sand with ribbons of white foam from the waves playing on the blue, blue ocean, felt the warmth of the sun shining boldly in an open sky, inhaled the briny air and was overcome with pure joy and gratitude. To this day when Im on the beach path on a bike or blades, that memory as a young woman, along with the realization that I still get to be there, continues to fill me with joy and gratitude.

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad. Also follow them on Twitter @boreskes and @shelbygrad.
The history of seemingly every square foot of habitable land on Earth is littered with stories of death, destruction, brutality and injustice. Almost every place where people live today had former occupants who were more than likely forced to leave under unhappy circumstances. In California, we perversely memorialize the land losers by naming new developments after the things that were obliterated to make room for them  orange groves, Spanish ranchos, Indian hills.

So its no surprise that there was a dark side to the construction of Parker Center, the shuttered Los Angeles police headquarters whose date with the wrecking ball may soon be set by the City Council.

Back in the 1950s when it was built, this blue box  designed by noted L.A. architect Welton Becket in the then-fashionable international style  was the physical manifestation of the new and enlightened policing philosophy of the day: a professional centralized police force armed with state-of-the-art crime-fighting resources. Since then, the citys sunny view of the police force and the building that housed it for so many years has been tempered by Parker Centers mixed history of celebrity, scandal and urban strife.

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The citys Japanese American residents, however, saw the new police building differently then. Many still do. To them, it represents yet another slight to their community. The block on which Parker Center now sits was once a vital part of Little Tokyo. The city seized the land through eminent domain in the late 1940s, at a time when Japanese Americans were still recovering from the forced internment during World War II that cost them their homes and businesses. Several Little Tokyo businesses were displaced to make way for the centers construction. To make matters worse, the finished building solidified the figurative wall between the halls of power and Little Tokyo. Parker Center faced City Hall to the west and gave its rear to the diminished community.

Demolishing the building is hardly the only way to provide a better gateway to Little Tokyo and reduce the sense of physical isolation.

Resentment still lingers among the children and grandchildren of that generation who remain strongly engaged in the cultural heart of the citys Japanese American community. Exacerbating the historic pain, the city-owned portion of this stretch of what was once North San Pedro Street (now named for a prominent Japanese American, the late Judge John Aiso) remains a barrier and a blight. On one side with Parker Center are an odd concrete mini park and a razor-wire-topped wall surrounding the back of the Metropolitan Detention Center. On the other is an eyesore of a city parking structure that locals call, not affectionately, the Tinkertoy.

Now that theres a push to save Parker Center by preservationists (the citys Cultural Heritage Commission unanimously sought to designate it a City Historic-Cultural Monument), Little Tokyo is pushing back. But its not 70-year-old resentment that has Little Tokyo business groups and community activists calling for Parker Centers demolition  or not only that. They are afraid that, once again, Little Tokyo will get stiffed by City Hall when it comes to developing a key connection to their community and civic center.

In their view, preserving Parker Center means preserving  and worse, implicitly celebrating  the old physical barrier between Little Tokyo and the halls of power. Thats because undertaking a costly preservation effort would make it difficult to fill that spot with a new city office complex that would be open and welcoming to Little Tokyo, plus have a lot of underground parking.

The City Council appears to agree with the Little Tokyo position. On Tuesday, it voted 10-0 to deny the proposed historic-cultural status for Parker Center. This doesnt automatically summon the bulldozers, but it does indicate the councils disinterest in preserving the center. And it hints strongly that the council will support a proposed redevelopment plan for that block that includes tearing down Parker Center.

The Japanese American communitys worry about getting the short end of the stick from City Hall is understandable  just ask the supporters of Measure S, an initiative that would rein in the councils power to bend land-use rules. And so is Little Tokyos longstanding grievance against Parker Center. Yet demolishing the building is hardly the only way to provide a better gateway to Little Tokyo and reduce the sense of physical isolation. Its unfortunate that city officials cant seem to envision a middle ground that saves this important piece of L.A.s history without snubbing Little Tokyo again.

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The 7th Council District in the Northeast San Fernando Valley is in desperate need of committed, inclusive and ambitious representation. This region, which includes the communities of Sylmar, Mission Hills, Pacoima, Lakeview Terrace, Sunland, Tujunga and Shadow Hills, has some of the citys most intractable challenges and some of the greatest opportunities for improvement  if only the district could get a council member to stick around.

The district has been represented by a caretaker councilman for months because the last one it elected, Felipe Fuentes, bailed on his constituents three years into his term to become a lobbyist in Sacramento. It was no big loss, many residents say; Fuentes had just been going through the motions on the job for a while. But the problem didnt start with Fuentes; the area had inconsistent leadership for years due to redistricting and elected officials leaving for greener political pastures.

The result, residents say, is that their communities have fallen behind other areas of the city in terms of redevelopment and economic investment. They too often lack basic infrastructure, such as sidewalks, shade trees and street lights. And while their district is rich in community activism, they need a partner in City Hall working on their behalf.

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There are many good candidates in the race, but Monica Ratliff stands out as someone who can be a problem solver and a fighter for her constituents in City Hall.

With 20 names on the districts ballot, its unlikely that a single candidate will capture 50% of the vote, so there will probably be a runoff.

Ratliff began her career as a lawyer at Neighborhood Legal Services in Pacoima, where she saw the connection between poverty and the lack of a quality education. She became a teacher, working at an inner-city school. After 12 years of teaching, she felt the district was lying to teachers and ran successfully for the Board of Education in 2013, serving as a voice for transparency and accountability. Her diligent research and questioning exposed flaws in the districts ill-fated plan to buy iPads for every student. Shes not a go-along kind of politician, and that independence is needed in City Hall. But shes also demonstrated a willingness to listen, learn and then lead, which is important for communities that have lost trust in their elected officials.

There are several other strong contenders as well, and any of them would probably do a better job than the previous councilman. Nicole Chase thoroughly understands the issues and needs of CD7 after years of working in both government and nonprofits. Karo Torossian, who is the planning deputy for Councilman Paul Krekorian, is an expert in land-use issues and has a track record of working with the community to make development projects more responsive to local needs. Venessa Martinez, a lawyer with the California Department of Justice, is an impressive newcomer to local politics.

Monica Rodriguez has a long and diverse resume, most recently working on the citys Board of Public Works. Shes known for being a persistent, single-minded advocate to get things done.Theres a backlash in the community against Rodriguez because she has the support of Mayor Eric Garcetti and Northeast Valley political leaders. But shes got an independent streak and has bucked the political establishment before, running unsuccessfully against her former boss, Councilman Richard Alarcon, in 2007. (The Times endorsed her then.)

With 20 names on the districts ballot, its unlikely that a single candidate will capture 50% of the vote, so there will probably be a runoff after the March primary. That would give voters a welcome opportunity to push the candidates for more specifics on a few key issues.

One of the biggest challenges facing the district is the high speed rail route between Palmdale and Union Station in downtown L.A. The proposed alignments cut through CD7, and residents are justifiably worried that the routes will devastate their communities. All of the candidates are opposed to the current alignments, but they need to go beyond opposition and explain how theyll protect residents interests, what alternatives theyll put forward and how theyll work with other elected officials to make the project better.

The candidates also need to be clear about how theyll address the need to build housing for homeless residents and deal with large encampments in the Big Tujunga Wash and the Hansen Dam Recreational Area, which are sensitive environmental habitats. And the candidates should offer more detailed plans for how they would attract economic investment and jobs to the district.

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The National Endowment of the Arts is under attack  again. The foes are the same tired cast of characters who have assaulted the agency for the last 30 years. Their arguments are the same threadbare notions that have been repeatedly rejected. They are mounting a partisan battle that will do the nation no good. But for the sake of the arts, it needs to be fought again and won.

Since it was authorized in 1965, the NEA has been a small federal agency with a large capacity for making arts available across the United States. In the 1980s Culture Wars, the agency faced controversies about blasphemous and obscene art, most notably a Robert Mapplethorpe photography exhibition. Congress also criticized that its funding went mostly to a few cities. Surviving heated public debates, the agency responded by broadening its program and its reach. In the current century, the NEA has enjoyed wide popularity, consistently good press and bipartisan support in Washington.

The latest attack comes from two groups, the Heritage Foundation and the Republican Study Committee in the House of Representatives. They jointly recommend that President Trump eliminate the NEA and its companion agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities, in the new White House budget. The Trump administration has not yet made a decision, and the president has made no public statement on the issue. In the meantime the arts world is in state of anxiety.

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No American president  Republican or Democrat  has ever tried to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts. ... Even Ronald Reagan was a supporter.

Both the Heritage Foundation and the Republican Study Committee have long been obsessed with ending federal support for the arts. During my six years as the chairman of the NEA under President George W. Bush, these groups launched one unsuccessful volley after another. Their stated rationale was that the federal government had no business funding the arts. Beneath that small-government ideal, however, was another openly acknowledged motive not related to the public good but to political advantage. By eliminating the NEA, they could deliver a symbolic victory against leftist urban constituencies.

There is an obvious element of class warfare in these attacks  the endowments critics often say its grants are a way for the rich to use public money to subsidize their own elite cultural institutions. This assertion misrepresents how and where the NEA does its work.

The NEAs 2017 budget is $149.8 million. In a nation of 319 million people that amount doesnt allow the agency to subsidize much of anything. But the endowment has found ways to make the money work with outsized effectiveness and efficiency. It makes thousands of small grants to nonprofit organizations  on average 2,100 a year. Each grant requires the recipient to raise matching local funds  often at a ratio of two or three local dollars for each federal one. So the NEA mostly serves as a catalyst for local groups to raise private and state money to serve their own communities.

On its modest budget, NEA funding now reaches every state, every congressional district, and even most counties  rural and urban  in the United States. Grants fund programs in schools, libraries and military bases. Nearly half the grants go directly to state and regional arts organizations to expand grass-roots efforts. NEA grants never pay overhead or annual expenses. They only fund specific programs of artistic and educational excellence that reach the public.

The NEA Shakespeare program, for example, has helped bring professional stage productions to 3,900 towns, mostly small and midsize communities  from Douglas, Alaska, to Santa Cruz, to Pawtucket, R.I. It has provided millions of high school students with a chance to experience live theater, most of them for the first time  allowing them to see the plays they are studying in class. This program has also provided meaningful work for thousands of actors and crew. The NEA funding pays only a small part of the total program cost. The rest is raised by local citizens eager to have Shakespeare in their schools.

Operation Homecoming allows troops returning from combat to write about their wartime experiences. This program also reaches the wounded in military hospitals. NEAs Jazz Masters tour grants have brought musicians to local festivals and classrooms; from 2008 to 2014, 51 artists played at 327 venues. Meanwhile every year a quarter of a million teenagers participate in Poetry Out Loud, a national high school recitation contest. Do any of these programs sound elitist?

No American president  Republican or Democrat  has ever tried to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts. Despite urban legends to the contrary, even Ronald Reagan was a supporter. Although Reagans first budget director, David Stockman, recommended zeroing out the agency, the president, himself an artist, rejected the proposal. By the end of Reagans tenure, the NEA budget stood at a historic high.

The arts in America wouldnt be destroyed if the NEA ceased to exist. But music, dance, theater, literature and visual arts would become less widely available, especially in schools, rural areas and poorer communities. Access to culture should not be a function of family income. That is why citizens should remind their representatives in Washington that the NEA needs to be protected. Believe it or not, most members of Congress will be pleased to get these letters.

Public support for the arts and arts education is neither a partisan nor a divisive issue. Most Americans want to see the arts in their communities and their schools. Most members of Congress agree. So do most governors and state legislatures. A 2016 public opinion poll conducted by the advocacy group Americans for the Arts found that 55% were in favor of doubling the NEAs budget (from 46 cents per person then to $1 per person). In a divided country, the arts represent a rare consensus. Lets not lose it.

Dana Gioia, professor of poetry and public culture at USC, was unanimously confirmed twice by the Senate to lead the NEA from 2003 through 2009.

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To the editor: Ace Smith and others who would push the Democratic Party to the left because we didnt have a message in 2016 will just pave the way for a different sort of defeat in the future. (Democrats find their voice in the protests against President Trump, Feb. 6)

Hillary Clintons margin in the popular vote exceeded that of four candidates elected president in the last 60 years. Thats not a failed message. We should not confuse problems of electoral tactics with those of ideology. We should not alter the message if there were problems with the messenger.

From the French Revolution to the flower power upheaval of the 1960s, pendulum swings to the left have led to the ascendancy of the reactionary right. Democrats dont need to change their message to fight Trump.

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To paraphrase Barry Goldwater, ideological extremism in opposition to Trump will prove a vice, not a virtue.

Daniel J. Stone, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Many people counsel Democrats to exercise caution in opposing President Trump. But democracy does not survive favoritism, unfair voting rights or undue influences.

People are disturbed about more than the Trump presidency, although the Trump presidency is very troubling by itself. The citizens who contribute most to the well-being of our nation do not decide the countrys course; people realize that and are fighting back. If we dont, we will have more of what happened in the George W. Bush presidency.

In America, individual rights, safety and economic stability were threatened during the Bush years, and the measures taken to prevent that from happening again are now being reversed. The status quo is not healthy for our country, and we desperately need change.

Maybe money can buy elections, but it cant buy fairness or wisdom.

Barbara Snider, Huntington Beach

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To the editor: Thanks to George Miller and John Lawrence for their inspiring piece. It prompted me to pull out a blank stamped postcard and write a thank-you note to the local office staff member for Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) who met with me Monday to discuss my concerns with repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. (How to make your voice heard in Washington, Opinion, Feb. 15)

I called Issas office in Washington to ask when the next in-person town hall meeting will be held in District 49. Im hoping to hear back soon.

And finally, I am writing to The Times to spell out loud and clear that we as U.S. citizens must continue to speak up for democracy.

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Susan Kogan, Oceanside

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To the editor: I am one of hundreds of San Diego residents trying to get Issa to hold an in-person town hall meeting. We recently took out a full-page ad to get Issas attention, to no avail.

Unfortunately, like many other California representatives, he has said he is not holding meetings during next weeks congressional break. His phone-in town halls appear to be little more than staged PR events.

I cant help but note the hypocrisy of his complete avoidance of the public, as he only recently promised to listen to the citizens more. We have questions and concerns about the unwilling congressman who can travel to his district for a news conference at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, but who cannot be bothered to meet with his voters.

Maryam Baqi, San Diego

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To the editor: Republican members of Congress have blocked the access of constituents who have questions about their actions and those of the president.

Local voters have been attempting to meet with their representatives to request town halls during their February break. These voters have been met with locked doors and police presence. As a result the voters have been leaving notes at the office door.

The Republican representatives are now attempting to call these voters radicals, paid protesters and thugs. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) has blamed the constituents who went to his office Tuesday for injuring a staff member. In reality, the staff member opened the door onto a young child who was putting a card under the door. The child was hit in the head, and those near the door attempted to push it back to protect the child.

There is a concerted attempt by local Republican representatives to defame voters. In reality, they are unwilling to meet or have a town hall.

Rita Edwards, Laguna Woods

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To the editor: I am struck by President Trumps ongoing refusal to address issues; instead, he bemoans how unfair things are. (Trump is showing a reluctance to take responsibility for White House chaos, Feb. 15)

Regarding accusations that his previous national security advisor Michael Flynn improperly or illegally interacted with Russian diplomats, Trump petulantly complains that Flynn was treated very, very unfairly by the media  the fake media.

Clearly this is the pot calling the kettle black. Trumps history of refusing to pay contractors for work done, cheating students in his scam university, stiffing charities out of promised money, bullying and demeaning anyone who dares criticize him, discriminating against minorities  these are the epitome of unfair treatment. Clearly, it takes one to know one.

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Sharie Lieberg, Oxnard

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To the editor: Trump deplores the leaks on Russia and Flynn, but only a few months ago he declared, I love Wiki-Leaks. Is it just a matter of sauces for geese and ganders, of gored oxen?

Legal or not, leaks deserve protection under many circumstances. Whistle-blower protection has generally been beneficial to society. Reporters are allowed to protect their sources. Remember the Pentagon Papers?

Still, many believe that WikiLeaks cost Hillary Clinton the election, so they condemn leaks. There is no universal solution. The more secrecy, the more likely someone offended by it will leak the secret.

We must learn to live with leaks; it is likely they will be with us forever, so learn to think before you email.

Rick Dunn, San Diego

..

To the editor: It is time for Trump to be held accountable for his misdeeds. His constant vitriolic comments, whether delivered via Twitter or in person, seriously undermine his credibility.

As the weeks go by in this new administration, it becomes increasingly evident that this emperor has no clothes. As this story evolves, it will not be surprising to see Trump at the core of the scandal.

The Trump campaigns Russia connection should surprise no one. His refusal to release his federal tax returns only serves to undermine his credibility.

We can only hope that one of the fake media outlets that Trump so despises will be able to leak those records. That would really give Trump something to tweet about.

Gary Tereshkow, Palm Springs

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
Donald Trump pledged in his campaign that, upon taking office, he would unleash U.S. immigration agents to chase down the bad hombres among the millions of undocumented immigrants in the country. Well, they have been unleashed, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers are sweeping up mothers and young people with no major crimes or terrorist activities on their records.

Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, a mother of two American-born children who had been in the United States herself since she was 14, was sent back to Mexico last week. She hadnt robbed a bank or sold drugs or blown up any buildings. In fact, for the last eight years she had been checking in regularly with immigration officials. Nevertheless, she was taken away from her husband and children and her Phoenix home and deported.

Garcia de Rayos is no hardened criminal; she just had the bad luck of living in a country with a heart that has hardened.

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Jeanette Vizguerra is not a nasty crook either. She is just another Mexican mother who has been checking in faithfully with immigration authorities. Vizguerra and her husband have been living in the U.S. since 1997. Of their four children, three are American citizens. Their eldest daughter is part of the Deferred Action for Child Arrivals (DACA) program, a group of young undocumented immigrants often called Dreamers who have lived most of their lives in the United States.

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)

Vizguerra got word that, like Garcia de Rayos, she was about to be deported. Forced to leave her family, she has taken sanctuary at Denvers First Unitarian Church.

A couple of days ago in a suburb of Seattle, 23-year-old Daniel Ramirez Medina was taken into custody by ICE, even though he is covered by DACA. Immigration agents allege that Ramirez confessed to being a gang member. His friends insist that the confession was coerced. Reportedly, Ramirez has no criminal record of any kind.

Rep. Linda Sanchez, a Los Angeles County Democrat, said in an interview with Free Speech Radio News that it is obvious ICE is not going after just bad guys. Instead of focusing on the removal of hardcore criminals, a quarter of the people detained in the ICE raids are innocent people, including the arrest of a Dreamer in Seattle, Sanchez said. Weve heard that some parents arent sending their kids to school because theyre afraid to. People are not answering the door, theyre not leaving their homes to go to work, because of the fear that these raids have incited.

Among the items Trump addressed in his free-wheeling news conference on Thursday was DACA. He talked about the incredible kids who have been protected as Dreamers, but said DACA is a very, very difficult subject for me.

The difficulty he faces is that, on one side, he has Latino Republicans  many of them evangelical Christians  who have pleaded with him to give the Dreamers a path to legal status. On the other side he has immigration hardliners  including two of his closest advisors, Stephen Bannon and Stephen Miller  who want mass deportations with no mercy for young people who have never really known another country as home.

The Los Angeles Times has reported that an executive order that would end DACA has been drawn up by Trumps staff, but, because of Trumps ambivalence, senior Trump aides are now looking at two indirect ways to kill the program, either by encouraging states to bring court challenges or by getting Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, a longtime foe of any immigration compromise, to make a determination that DACA is not legal.

The ICE dragnet that is catching many people who are not bad hombres and the reports of draconian schemes being hatched in the White House have sent a shiver of fear through many homes. At a gathering at the Times building Thursday night, a group of student journalists and artists from Los Angeles-area high schools shared those worries, as well as their hopes, in stories and poems. One Latino boy summed up his feelings this way:

We are humans with the same unalienable rights, no matter where we come from. Whether or not we have documentation, it is the inside that counts; the values that we share and the ideals we believe in. And thats what makes us American. Thats what makes us human.

Those are words worth pondering seriously before our government starts driving away many thousands of fine people who, far from being criminals, exemplify the American dream.

David.Horsey@latimes.com

Follow me at @davidhorsey on Twitter

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Donald Trumps wounds are all self-inflicted

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Former President George W. Bush says his recent remarks have been misconstrued as criticism of Trump

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Former President George W. Bush on Wednesday pushed back at the notion that his recent remarks about the media were criticisms of President Trump.

Im asked the question, Do I believe in free press? and the answer is absolutely, I believe in free press  because the press holds people to account, he said. Power is very addictive and its corrosive if it becomes central to your life and therefore there needs to be an independent group of people who hold you to account. And so I answered that question and of course the headlines were, Bush criticizes Trump. And so therefore I needed to say, There should be a free and independent press, but it ought to be accurate.

Bush made the remarks at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley during an hourlong question-and-answer session promoting Portraits of Courage, his new book that features his paintings of veterans. While doing media interviews about the book in recent days, he has raised eyebrows by making comments about the media, immigrants and allegations of Russian interference in the November presidential election that were widely viewed as criticisms of the new president.

He said that he decided once he left the office not to second-guess his successor, former President Obama, and that the same holds true for Trump. Doing so would undermine the office, Bush said, adding that he wants all of his successors to succeed because it is good for the nation.

I dont want to make the presidents job worse, no matter what political party it is. Its a hard job, Bush said. Sometimes my remarks can be construed as criticism. Theyre certainly not meant to be, and after I finish this book tour you probably wont hear from me for a while.

But he was willing to offer advice to those who follow him.

Know what you dont know and find people who do know what you dont know and listen to them, he said. My advice is that the job is different once you get in. It looks one way and then you get in the Oval Office and it looks different. Trust me.

Bush also made an implicit criticism of Obamas foreign policy when asked whether the world is more dangerous than it was four years ago.

This may be taken as criticism of one of my successors and I dont really mean it to be. There is a lesson however when the United States decides not to take the lead and withdraw, he said. Vacuums can be created when U.S. presence recedes and that vacuum is generally filed with people who dont share the ideology, the same sense of human rights and human dignity and freedom that we do.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Aside from a handful of serious moments, Bush was jovial and self-effacing as he described how he became an oil painter after leaving the White House. Seeking ways to fill his time, he said he read an essay by Winston Churchill about painting.

I basically said, What the hell, this guy can paint, I can paint, Bush said.

He hired an instructor and started painting a cube and a watermelon before moving on to portraits. Former First Lady Laura Bush was not pleased with his depiction of her, so when he painted his mother, former First Lady Barbara Bush, he decided to depict her from behind.

Barbara Bush and former President George H.W. Bush are doing well despite their recent hospitalizations, the younger Bush said.

Theyre both great given their limitations. Dad cant walk, hes confined to a wheelchair and yet his spirit is joyful, Bush said.  Moms doing fine. Shes shrinking, and as she does, her voice gets louder. But shes a, shes a piece of work is what she is.

Bush has been reclusive since leaving office, but said he wrote the book and is publicizing it to raise money for veterans and to draw attention to the invisible wounds many of them suffer.

I think when you read [their stories] youll be moved by stories of courage, injury, recovery willingness to help others, he said.  Ive got a platform  its not as big as it once was  and I intend to use it to help our veterans for the rest of my life, and this is one way to do so.
The relationship between President Trump and GOP leaders in Congress started as a marriage of convenience, thrown together by necessity and sustained on the promise of pushing a Republican agenda into law.

Until recently, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tolerated Trumps turbulent debut because they agreed with the direction the White House was heading  or were confident they could nudge it in the desired one.

Many Republicans backed the travel ban, despite the rocky rollout. They support upending Obama-era regulations and raved about Trumps Supreme Court nominee.

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Heres why the 2018 Senate election will be crucial for President Trump and his Democratic foes 

For most of us, there has been such a yearning ... to get something done, even if they dont agree with the tactic, they applaud the result, said Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

But the newfound partnership is showing signs of serious strain. Growing discomfort about the Trump teams ties to Russia, daily dramas at the White House and the increasing unrest at town hall meetings with constituents back home have prompted second thoughts about the alliance.

As the first 100 days tick away, and rank-and-file Republicans head home for a weeklong recess, there is a growing worry that Congress will face a drip-drip-drip of new revelations about the Trump White House that will overshadow the rest of the Republican agenda, such as repealing Obamacare, enacting tax reform and cutting government spending.

Thats what the fear is, said one Republican senator, granted anonymity to frankly discuss the outlook. Its not a good situation. You cant let this go and not look at it.

Its growing pains, said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)

In the first significant rebuke of the White House, Republican senators this week tanked Trumps pick for Labor secretary, fast-food executive Andy Puzder, rather than put their votes on the line for someone who hired an immigrant housekeeper who was in the country illegally and had been accused decades ago of spousal abuse.

The Senate revolt came as Trumps firing of national security advisor Michael Flynn exposed lawmakers to a web of unanswered questions about Russian influence on the administration.

For a while, Republican leaders tried to swat back media inquiries about Trumps latest unconventional moves or statements by refusing to engage in what they dismissed as mere distractions from the work of governing.

They often acted as self-appointed Trump translators, explaining the substance of the presidents policies in language more befitting of Washington norms than the presidents often-jarring presentations.

The travel ban, for example, has become for Republicans a travel pause.

Look, the president has a responsibility to the security of this country, Ryan said after a weekend of airport chaos over the order that temporarily blocked arrivals from seven mostly Muslim nations and refugees worldwide. Now, I think its regrettable that there was some confusion on the rollout of this. We are going to make sure that we get this program up and running with the kind of vetting standards that we all want to see.

But hardly a day goes by that Ryan or McConnell arent asked to defend Trumps latest provocations on Twitter or the next executive order rumored to be coming from the White House.

Republican leadership is gambling that their best bet is to look past Trumps Andrew Jackson-like coarseness and unconventional style in hopes of accomplishing their broader goals.

Im not a great fan of daily tweets, McConnell told reporters Friday. What I am a fan of is what hes been actually doing. When McConnell considers what could have been with a President Mitt Romney or Marco Rubio or Jeb Bush, he said, I cant see much difference between what President Trump is doing and what they would have done.

One Republican former leadership aide said theres not a single Republican anywhere whos not stunned by some of Trumps comments. But they focus instead on the Republican priorities they see taking shape, he said.

In the end, were still talking about tax reform, Supreme Court, all the stuff is getting done, the aide said. Most of the stuff is sort of within the lines of what Republicans want anyway. People by and large think progress has been made.

Trump has already started signing into law bills sent by Congress rolling back Obamas regulatory clampdown on coal pollution and overseas corporate bribes. More are on the way to his desk.

Republicans have put their trust in Vice President Mike Pence, the Cabinet secretaries and a legislative team culled from the halls of Congress  even though it is unclear how much sway those voices ultimately have with the occupant of the Oval Office.

And areas of significant disagreement with Trump lay ahead, such as his $1-trillion infrastructure plan, having Congress pony up funds for the border wall with Mexico, and a massive military buildup.

But the Russian questions are threatening to overshadow Republican goals. Emboldened Democrats are calling for independent inquiries into alleged contacts between Trumps campaign team and Russian intelligence officials, and demanding the release of a transcript of a wiretapped conversation between Flynn and a Russian diplomat.

The Republican leadership has tried to contain the congressional investigations to the House and Senate intelligence committees, where hearings are often conducted in secret because of the classified nature.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) suggested that former Obama administration officials were behind intelligence leaks about Flynn and others. I have never seen such a concerted effort to try and make an administration fail so early on, said Johnson, the chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Trump is also pushing back hard, saying that Russia is a ruse.

The issue threatens to not only distract Republicans but divide them over how aggressively to investigate the president.

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Many are mindful of poll numbers that show Trump popular among Republicans and his core supporters, even as most Americans, 56%, according to Pew, disapprove of his performance.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz blamed Washington for hyping chatter about the latest oh-my-goodness-clutch-my-pearls tweet from the president. In the rest of the country, people are excited.

But a growing number of top Republicans, including Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, are calling for a deeper and more transparent dive into Russias role in the November election. That could take weeks, or more likely months.

What the hell went on? Thats whats on my mind, McCain said. We know they tried to affect the outcome of the election.... Now weve got all these other issues.

lisa.mascaro@latimes.com

Twitter: @LisaMascaro

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In the partisan battle zone that is Washington, there is one conquest that could turn the fight decisively in Republicans favor: winning 60 seats in the U.S. Senate.

With control of the House, a filibuster-proof Senate majority could empower President Trump and his congressional allies to push through legislation and approve high-level appointees, such as Supreme Court nominees, with Democrats in the minority powerless to stop them.

That is why the 2018 midterm election is shaping up as crucial for Trump and congressional Republicans, as well as Democrats fighting to protect President Obamas legacy and hold the line on further GOP advances.

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After Democrats netted two seats in the Senate last year, Republicans hold a 52-48 majority, meaning the GOP would need a gain of eight seats to reach a filibuster-proof margin.

(That assumes party lawmakers stick together and vote as a bloc, which is never a certainty, as demonstrated by the withdrawal Wednesday of Trumps nominee to head the Labor Department, Andrew Puzder, in the face of Republican opposition.)

So what are the odds?

After bruising confirmation battle, EPA nominee Scott Pruitt expected to clear Senate vote 

If the 2016 election proved anything, it is the foolhardiness of making political predictions, especially this far out. That said, Republicans start in a strong position  though an eight-seat gain still seems like a considerable reach.

The Democrats regaining control of the Senate, which they lost in 2014, is almost impossible to fathom.

When is the midterm election?

Nov. 6, 2018.

How many Senate seats will be contested?

Thirty-four, or just more than a third of the Senate.

Why are Republicans strongly positioned starting out?

Because Democrats will have to defend 25 seats to just nine for the GOP.

Gee willikers! Why are those numbers so lopsided?

Senate terms last six years; the seats that are coming up in 2018 are ones that were last on the ballot in 2012, when Obama was seeking reelection and Democrats, riding his coattails, gained two seats. That simply means more Democratic-held seats will be contested in 2018.

The reverse took place in 2016. After making significant gains in the tea party election of 2010, Republicans had to defend 24 Senate seats compared to Democrats 10.

Any other reason Republicans are strongly positioned heading into 2018?

Indeed. Ten of the 25 seats that Democrats are defending are in states that Trump carried  in some instances by huge margins. He won West Virginia, where Joe Manchin is seeking reelection, by 42 percentage points, and North Dakota, where Heidi Heitkamp is seeking a second term, by 36 percentage points. He also carried Montana, Indiana and Missouri  where Democratic incumbents are facing reelection  by double-digits.

What do historical trends suggest?

Many of those didnt hold up so well in 2016, when Trump pulled off one of the biggest political upsets of modern times. So it may be best not to go there.

Ah, cmon!

OK, fine. Historically, the party holding the White House loses congressional seats in the first set of midterm elections after a president takes office. That offers Democrats hope. But the pattern is repeated more often in House races than Senate elections.

According to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, the party in power lost House seats in nine of the last 10 elections held at the midpoint of a presidents first term, but gave up Senate seats in only six of those 10 elections. (In a rarity, the GOP actually gained House and Senate seats in 2002, even as Republican George W. Bush sat in the White House, owing to a surge of support following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.)

Would an eight-seat pickup be a lot? A little?

Gaining eight seats would be on the upper end of achievement, based on election results going back the last 60 years. Republicans picked up nine Senate seats in 2014, but that was in Obamas second midterm election, a time of particular political weakness. It would be pretty remarkable for the GOP to post that sort of gain with a member of their own party sitting in the White House.

Why is that?

Because supporters of the out party, that is the one not in control of the White House, tend to be more motivated to turn out than supporters of the in party. Part of that may be because, by nature, people are more likely to act  in this case vote  out of anger or dissatisfaction than contentment.

Typically in non-presidential elections, there is a significant falloff in turnout among voters who lean Democratic, in particular minorities and young people. That was certainly the case when Obama was in office.

Right you are. So whats the question?

Arent many of those same groups now highly animated and involved in protests directed at Trump?

Very much so. The big question is whether theyll still be be animated enough to vote in large numbers in November 2018. If so, that would make the Republican reach for 60 seats even tougher.

Say, didnt President Obama once have a 60-seat Democratic majority? Why wasnt he able to get more done?

Democrats did hit the magic 60-seat mark early in Obamas first term. (Or, to be precise, Democrats held 58 seats and were joined by two independents who voted with the party.) But a delay in seating Minnesotas Al Franken  due to an election recount  the absence of an ailing Robert Byrd of West Virginia and the death of Massachusetts Edward M. Kennedy meant Democrats enjoyed that 60-seat high mark for only a relatively brief time.

They lost their filibuster-proof majority in February 2010 upon the swearing-in of Republican Scott Brown, who won a special election to finish Kennedys term.

What are the prospects of Democrats winning back control of the Senate?

That would require a net gain of three seats, which seems very, very, very unlikely given the high number they must defend and Republicans comparatively small exposure. But the election of Trump proved that just because something is unlikely  even very, very, very unlikely  does not mean it cant or wont happen.

mark.barabak@latimes.com

Twitter: @markzbarabak

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On Navajo Nation territory near Page, Ariz., news this week about plans to shutter a hulking coal plant that has been the workhorse of the struggling local economy for decades came like a punch to the gut.

Now tribes and plant workers are demanding relief from the person who vowed to end these kinds of devastating announcements  Donald Trump.



For the record: An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to Chuck DeVore as a former state senator.

The plight of this community in northern Arizona will put Trumps vision for a coal industry resurgence to its first major test, and lay bare the extent to which the new administration will go to preserve coal country jobs.

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The impending closure also highlights the limitations of Trumps blueprint for saving coal, as none of the easy solutions, such as cutting environmental regulations, will be enough to rescue the iconic Navajo Generating Station, which is failing due to free-market competition from cheaper natural gas.

It is the largest  and most environmentally disruptive  coal plant in the West. If the switch is turned off as planned in 2019, the Navajo Nation would lose more than a third of its yearly revenue. The sovereign Hopi tribe located on land inside the Navajo borders is threatened with even greater financial peril: It gets 80% of its money from royalties related to the coal operation. Hundreds of prized mining and plant jobs would evaporate in a community where decent employment is scarce.

The sting would ripple out to Page, Flagstaff and even Phoenix, where the coal plants supply chain and the power it generates have been a bedrock for the arid Southwests growth since the Nixon administration, powering the delivery of trillions of gallons of water to cities and farms. The plants interconnectedness to the Western power grid is moving some conservatives to argue the threatened closure gives the administration an opening to target some of the green-power mandates reviled by conservatives in nearby California, which affect the market for the entire region.

This closure wasnt supposed to happen. Even the coal-wary Obama White House had signed off on a plan to enable the plant to keep running until 2044. Now the only thing local leaders have to hang onto are the coal-related campaign promises of Trump, who just this week invited television cameras and some hard-hat-wearing miners into the Oval Office to tout all he is doing for the industry.

This administration said that it will be 100% behind the coal industry, said Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye. This is the first opportunity to live up to that statement President Trump made to the American public.

But like so many other troubled coal plants, the Navajo Generating Station presents a conundrum for the new administration. Trumps plans to come to the rescue of the coal industry have done nothing to pause the Arizona operations march to mothballs by the utilities that own it. The environmental rules that Trump denounces as the culprit for the rapid decline of coal are not the problem in Arizona  even at this plant that releases more greenhouse gases than almost any other in the country. The problem is old-fashioned competition.

The bottom line is there is not much Trump can do here, said Kevin Book, an analyst at ClearView Energy Partners. There is no obvious lever for him to pull. The Arizona and Nevada utilities that own the plant say they have done the math every which way and reach the same conclusion each time: Replacing the coal energy with mostly natural gas would lower their costs by millions of dollars each year. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power had also been a part owner of the plant, but sold its stake last year in connection with city and state efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The utility owners do not take this decision lightly, said a statement from Mike Hummel at the Salt River Project, operator of the plant, which since the 1970s has powered the delivery of 1.5 million acre-feet of water from the Colorado River essential to sustaining a large swath of Arizona. He nodded to the coal plants historic role in the growth of the Southwest, but said his utility and the others cant afford to keep it going in this era of cheap and plentiful natural gas.

It all puts the Trump administration in an uncomfortable place. The political fallout from the closure of the plant would be magnified by the fact that the federal government is among its owners. The Bureau of Reclamation was a driving force behind pushing for the construction of the plant in the 1960s, when it was essential to the architecture of Arizonas massive water project. The bureau still owns its 24% share of the Navajo Generating Station.

To keep it running into the future, the Trump administration would need to do something radical. Scrapping environmental rules alone wont cut it. Tribal leaders suggest a de facto bailout in the form of subsidies and tax exemptions  or even the Bureau of Reclamation taking full control of the plant and having the government run the whole operation. They are the kind of solutions that make conservatives bristle, even those crusading for the coal industry.

The bureau is committing only to a meeting in Washington next month, where the plant owners, the tribes and federal officials can mull options. We need to see what the economics of this situation are and find a pathway forward that works, said Dan DuBray, a spokesman for the bureau. Everything potentially would be on the table.

Few in the energy industry are betting on the plant staying open. It wasnt long ago that coal power accounted for more than half the nations electricity. Now it is a third. The decline is no longer driven by strict environmental rules but a market in which natural gas is often cheaper, and many utilities are swapping their coal power for renewables to meet state mandates requiring solar and wind be in their mix.

Even those big players in coal who celebrated the Oval Office event Thursday, where Trump infuriated environmentalists by eliminating clean water protections the coal industry warned threatened thousands of mining jobs, are skeptical of how much Trump can do to save plants like the one in Arizona.

We built an infrastructure to serve a much bigger market share than we have now, said Luke Popovich, spokesman for the National Mining Assn. It means the less efficient capacity is going to be downsized.

As is often the case with such electricity struggles in the West, some allies of traditional energy sources lay blame on California. They point to state law that restricts importing coal energy and suggest it has skewed the entire market of the West, which is intertwined with the state through the regions massive power grid. California ends up mandating energy policy for about 85 million people in 14 states and three countries, said former California Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, now a vice president at the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation.

He envisions the Trump administration trying to save the Navajo Generating Station by challenging the California mandates in federal court as an affront to interstate commerce, and in regulatory proceedings as a burden on the interstate power grid. But other energy analysts dont see that happening. It would be too heavy a policy lift, too disruptive to a broader electricity industry that has already adapted to meet Californias rules, and too likely to get slapped down by the courts, they say.

Back in Arizona, Navajo leaders are desperate. They talk about the plants fate not as a matter of market forces and the evolution of energy sources, but as a betrayal by the utilities that are walking away after making a windfall off tribal coal and tribal labor for decades. They warn that if Trump, after all his promises to bring back coal, does not fix this, he will have betrayed them, too.

evan.halper@latimes.com

Follow me: @evanhalper

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President Trumps nominee to run the Environmental Protection Agency, a climate change skeptic who has for years been an ardent critic of the department he will now lead, got final Senate approval Friday after a prolonged assault from environmentalists.

The nomination of former Oklahoma Atty. Gen. Scott Pruitt for the post has been one of the most bitterly fought since Trump took office last month, pitting a crusader for fossil fuel interests who has sued the agency 14 times against an environmental movement that is scrambling to preserve what it can of President Obamas actions to curb climate change and protect natural resources.

Trump promised a coal renaissance  but keeping open this Arizona plant will test his resolve 

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Democrats held the Senate floor overnight into Friday urging colleagues to join them in opposing Pruitt  or at least to support their efforts to delay the vote. Their pleas came as a judge in Oklahoma issued an order for Pruitt to turn over thousands of email exchanges with oil and gas companies he has long kept secret. Those documents are to be made public starting Tuesday.

But Republican leaders, emboldened by the expressed support for Pruitt by two politically vulnerable Senate Democrats from coal country, would not delay the vote. Pruitt was confirmed by a vote of 52 to 46.

The effort has been to delay nominations they have made controversial as long as possible in order to play to their left-wing base, which will not accept the results of the election, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Republicans were eager to confirm Pruitt swiftly after the collapse of Trumps nominee to run the Labor Department, Andrew Puzder, and the political fallout lawmakers endured from the rocky confirmation proceedings of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. The DeVos fight had caused the Capitol switchboard to light up with an overwhelming number of angry phone calls from constituents demanding their representatives vote against her.

GOP lawmakers rose to Pruitts defense, saying in speech after speech that the Environmental Protection Agency was out of control under Obama, trampling the rights of states to pursue their own environmental policies. They pointed to the Supreme Court decision that suspended the sweeping effort to combat climate change, called the Clean Power Plan, as evidence of the agencys overreach. They called the agencys administrative effort to vastly expand its authority to issue clean-water violations a brazen power grab.

Weve had an agency in the EPA that doesnt listen to states, even though its required to by federal law; that ignores the rule of law as evidenced by numerous federal court decisions rebuking it; and that believes it has the power to regulate every nook and cranny of American life, said Sen. Daniel Sullivan (R-Alaska). Millions of Americans, including some of my constituents in Alaska, have come to fear their own federal government.... [Pruitt] is exactly the right person with the right qualifications and the right emphasis to fix this problem.

Democrats had spent the night detailing all the ways Pruitt had worked to undermine mainstream climate science and crusade on behalf of the oil and gas industry. They paraded into the Senate chambers with charts and other presentations that detailed the effects of climate change. In the early-morning hours, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) even performed a science experiment on the floor to highlight the impact of ocean acidification. Late Friday morning, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer declared that Pruitt personified the worst Cabinet, I think, in the history of America. Certainly in my lifetime.

But Democrats were ultimately undermined by their own ranks in their fight to stop Pruitt from taking over the agency. Sens. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, both up for reelection in 2018, voted for Pruitt, reflecting the political pressures facing Democrats in coal country states that supported Trump.

Pruitt will play a crucial role in Trumps plan to end the war on coal and complete construction of the massive oil pipelines that stalled under the Obama administration amid environmental concerns. His confirmation comes as the Trump administration grapples with this weeks announcement that the largest coal plant in the West will soon shut down.

On the Republican side, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, a moderate, voted against Pruitt, citing concerns about the fights he has led to block environmental rules she supports.

Pruitt will be inheriting an agency of 15,000 employees, many of whom will probably be openly hostile to his agenda. More than 770 former EPA employees signed a letter imploring lawmakers to reject his nomination, and many current employees joined the ranks of activists demonstrating against him at rallies and deluging congressional offices with phone calls.

He distinguished himself in Oklahoma by battling many of the signature environmental protections implemented by Obama, arguing they were a federal intrusion on the states. He does not accept the mainstream scientific consensus on climate change, and has been described by the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club and the Environmental Working Group as the worst nominee selected to run the EPA in history.

For us to  approve this nominee, who is hostile, who has sued the agency, who has never done a thing in his life to protect the environment, is just outrageous, said Sen. Angus King (I-Maine). Its a dereliction of our responsibility, and we are going to look back on this moment and say, What were we thinking?

Schumer vowed that the confirmation was only the beginning of the fight with Pruitt, and states are already girding to take him on. California lawmakers are particularly alarmed by Pruitts refusal to commit to renewing a waiver the state has been granted for decades, allowing it to impose vehicle emissions standards tougher than the federal governments. That waiver has evolved into a linchpin of the states pioneering effort to fight climate change. A dozen other states have embraced Californias tougher emissions rules, which now apply to about 40% of the new vehicles sold in the U.S.

California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris said on the Senate floor that Pruitts hedging on the waiver was unacceptable.

It is a blatant double standard for someone who claims to be committed to breaking down regulations at the federal level and giving power back to the states, she said.

evan.halper@latimes.com

Twitter: @evanhalper

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The Trump administration considered a proposal to mobilize as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorized immigrants, including millions living nowhere near the Mexico border, according to a draft memo obtained by the Associated Press.

Staffers in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said they had been told by colleagues in two DHS departments that the proposal was still being considered as recently as Feb. 10. A DHS official described the document as a very early draft that was not seriously considered and never brought to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly for approval.

The 11-page document calls for the unprecedented militarization of immigration enforcement as far north as Portland, Ore., and as far east as New Orleans, La.

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Almost immediately after the Associated Press published its report, the White House issued a denial. That is 100% not true. It is false, Press Secretary Sean Spicer told the media pool aboard Air Force One before President Trump headed to South Carolina to tour a Boeing plant later Friday.

There is no effort at all to round up, to utilize the National Guard to round up illegal immigrants, Spicer said. He said he couldnt deny altogether that the subject had never been discussed in the administration, The White House has noted before that many proposals have been drafted on a range of issues, but not all are under serious consideration.

Four states that border Mexico are included in the proposal  California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas  but it also encompasses seven states contiguous to those four  Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Governors of the 11 states would decide whether to have their guard troops participate, according to the memo, written by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general.

While National Guard personnel have been used to assist with immigration-related missions on the U.S.-Mexico border before, they have never been used as broadly or as far north.

The memo is addressed to the then-acting heads of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It would serve as guidance to implement the wide-ranging executive order on immigration and border security that President Trump signed Jan. 25. Such memos are routinely issued to supplement executive orders.

Also dated Jan. 25, the draft memo says participating troops would be authorized to perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension and detention of aliens in the United States. It describes how the troops would be activated under a revived state-federal partnership program, and states that personnel would be authorized to conduct searches and identify and arrest any immigrants who crossed the border illegally.

A request to the Department of Homeland Security for comment and a status report on the proposal was not answered.

The draft document has circulated among DHS staff over the last two weeks. As recently as Friday, staffers in several different offices reported discussions were underway.

If implemented, the impact of the program could be significant. Nearly one-half of the estimated 11.1 million people residing in the U.S. without permission live in the 11 states, according to Pew Research Center estimates based on 2014 Census data.

Use of National Guard troops would greatly increase the number of immigrants targeted in one of Trumps executive orders last month, which expanded the definition of who could be considered a criminal and therefore a potential target for deportation. That order also allows immigration agents to prioritize removing anyone who has committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense.

Under current rules, even if the proposal is implemented, there would not be immediate mass deportations. Those with existing deportation orders could be sent back to their countries of origin without additional court proceedings. But deportation orders generally would be needed for most other immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

The troops would not be nationalized, remaining under state control.

Representatives for the governors of Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Colorado, Oklahoma, Oregon and New Mexico said they were unaware of the proposal, and either declined to comment or said it was premature to discuss whether they would participate. The other three states did not immediately respond to the AP.

The proposal would extend the federal-local partnership program that the Obama administration began scaling back in 2012 to address complaints that it promoted racial profiling.

The 287(g) program, which Trump included in his immigration executive order, gives local police, sheriffs deputies and state troopers the authority to assist in the detection of immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally as a regular part of their law enforcement duties on the streets and in jails.

The draft memo also mentions other items included in Trumps executive order, including the hiring of an additional 5,000 border agents, which needs financing from Congress, and his campaign promise to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

The signed order contained no mention of the possible use of state National Guard troops.

According to the draft memo, the militarization effort would be proactive, specifically empowering Guard troops to solely carry out immigration enforcement, not as an add-on to the way local law enforcement is used in the program.

Allowing Guard troops to operate inside non-border states also would go far beyond past deployments.

In addition to responding to natural or man-made disasters or for military protection of the population or critical infrastructure, state Guard forces have been used to assist with immigration-related tasks on the U.S.-Mexico border, including the construction of fences.

In the mid-2000s, President George W. Bush twice deployed Guard troops on the border to focus on non-law enforcement duties to help augment the Border Patrol as it bolstered its ranks. And in 2010, then-Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer announced a border security plan that included Guard reconnaissance, aerial patrolling and military exercises.

In July 2014, then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry ordered 1,000 National Guard troops to the border when the surge of migrant children fleeing violence in Central America overwhelmed U.S. officials responsible for their care. The Guard troops stated role on the border at the time was to provide surveillance but not make arrests.

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This article was originally published at 7:30 a.m.
President Trump tried to shrug off one of the rockiest presidential starts in recent history by returning Thursday to comfortable terrain: an unwieldy news conference in which he was at turns combative, aggrieved, funny and nostalgic for the spontaneous give-and-take that characterized his campaign.

I turn on the TV, open the newspapers, and I see stories of chaos, chaos, yet it is the exact opposite, Trump said from the White House East Room. This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine.

Trump countered that all of his early setbacks were the fault of others, the product of fake news reporting or both.

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I inherited a mess, he said. Its a mess at home and abroad.

For well over an hour, he deflected and hedged about whether his campaign staff was in contact with Russian government officials before his election, saying in lawyerly fashion that nobody I know of had and that he personally had no business involvements with the country.

Trump defended his ousted national security advisor, Michael Flynn, saying Flynn acted appropriately in discussing sanctions with Russia during the transition but was asked to resign because he misled Vice President Mike Pence about those contacts. And Trump continued to complain about a federal appeals courts decision to block his temporary ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries, while promising to issue a new order next week that he said would withstand judicial scrutiny.

White House aides said Trump had been frustrated that his message was not getting through to the public in the initial phase of his presidency and was determined to grab hold of the narrative. So the media-conscious president bypassed the many people who have been speaking on his behalf and held the news conference, which was announced less than two hours beforehand. It was his first solo news conference since becoming president, though he had held several shorter forums with visiting heads of state.

And unlike those sessions, in which he almost exclusively took questions from news outlets his administration considers friendly, this time he mixed things up directly with several of the mainstream media outlets he loves to denounce  and to diligently follow.

Trump has not fully adjusted from his freewheeling campaign, where he had an unquestioned enemy in Hillary Clinton, no federal bureaucracy to combat and the freedom to avoid tricky domestic and foreign problems. His White House staff remains thin, decentralized and plagued by leaks and infighting. His legislative agenda has confused many would-be allies in Congress. And the early forced resignation of Flynn has prompted bipartisan calls for investigations about his presidential campaigns ties to Russia.

I fired him because of what he said to Mike Pence  very simple, Trump said.

It certainly would have been OK with me if Flynn discussed sanctions with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak when President Obama was still in office, Trump said.

I didnt direct him, but I would have directed him because thats his job, he said.

Flynns discussion of sanctions while another administration was still setting U.S. policy was seen by many people outside Trumps circle as inappropriate, and possibly illegal.

Trump repeatedly denounced the leakers in the government who have fueled the stories about Flynn, Russia and his sometimes quarrelsome calls with foreign allies. But he maintained that the stories themselves were fake news.

It was a difficult balance  The leaks are absolutely real. The news is fake, he said at one point  and Trump acknowledged his problem with the media was often more in the delivery than the facts, though he did dispute several aspects of a New York Times report about his campaigns contacts with Russia.

The tone is such hatred, he said. Im really not a bad person, by the way. No, but the tone is such  I do get good ratings, you have to admit that  the tone is such hatred.

Trump seemed to be grasping for a new start during the news conference. He talked frequently about Clinton, insisting she would have dealt more poorly with Russia and bringing up old claims that she had cheated in one of the debates with her primary opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders, by getting a question ahead of time. He boasted falsely about the size of his electoral victory, then told a reporter who carefully corrected him that he got the number from someone else.

He spoke enthusiastically about the crowds at his campaign rallies, publicly relishing the one he has scheduled for Saturday in Florida. The rally in Melbourne is being put on by his 2020 campaign, what is perhaps the earliest reelection event in presidential history.

I heard  just heard that the crowds are massive that want to be there, he said.

Trump also pointed out the many executive orders he signed that addressed campaign promises. Some of them, on topics such as easing Obamacare and building a wall on the border with Mexico, carry more symbolism than impact on the law. But others, including shifts in immigration enforcement policy, made swift changes to how federal agencies operate.

But Trump went further, insisting that even the immigration ban had gone off without a hitch before the courts blocked it  The rollout was perfect, he said  despite confusion at airports and initial uncertainty that led to the lengthy detentions of many people, forced some with valid visas to be sent home and in all led to some 60,000 visas being invalidated.

Though Trump appeared angry and aggrieved as he began by listing a long roster of achievements, he seemed to grow happier as he bantered with reporters about their ratings and whether they were asking tough questions.

I won with news conferences and probably speeches, Trump said. I certainly didnt win by people listening to you people. Thats for sure. But Im having a good time.

Tomorrow, they will say, Donald Trump rants and raves at the press, he continued. Im not ranting and raving. Im just telling you. You know, youre dishonest people.

There were also awkward moments, such as when he responded to an African American reporters question about the Congressional Black Caucus by asking whether she could arrange the meeting.

Trumps attacks on the media and repeated mentions of his defeated Democratic opponent  he mentioned Hillary 12 times  may not change the minds of people who dislike him, but could help rally his supporters. Thats important in a country where an overwhelming percentage of voters already hold distinct opinions about him, negative or positive.

Three-quarters of Americans either strongly approve or strongly disapprove of Trump -- a much higher level of strong feelings than for any previous president at this stage, the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found in a survey released Thursday.

Overall, the survey, which was conducted last Tuesday through Sunday, found that 56% of Americans disapproved of Trumps performance in office and 39% approved. Thats similar to several other recent polls, although it differs from the poll by Rasmussen, a Republican favorite, which Trump cited at Thursdays news conference. That survey found 55% of Americans approving of Trumps performance in office.

Trump seems to be betting that a return to campaign mode will reboot his fortunes, at least among those core supporters.

His unorthodox campaign style, and particularly his off-the-cuff, stream-of-consciousness rallies and news conferences, confounded fellow Republicans and later Democrats. As he was closing in on clinching his partys nomination last spring, he addressed criticism that his style was not presidential  insisting he could be when he chose to be.

I will be so presidential, you will be so bored, he said in an interview after he won the New York primary.

But in his nearly four weeks in office, Trump has seemed  even more than many of his predecessors  uncomfortable with the quick shift from politics to policy, the weight of the obligations he inherited and the incessant challenge of his political opponents.

He has escaped from Washington each weekend to return to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., and the life he gave up for government service.

While some Republicans watch Trumps unfolding tenure with increasing trepidation, some of his earliest backers in Congress told him Thursday that their constituents like what they see from the administration. In our district, his approval rating is through the roof, Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), leader of what he called the Trump caucus in the House, later told reporters. His supporters know that hes delivering.

Trump, ever concerned with his reviews, offered his own assessment about 90 minutes after the days main public event.

We had an exciting news conference before, he said while signing a resolution overturning an Obama-era regulation on the coal industry. Some people loved it. I think nobody hated it. But I think it was very productive.

noah.bierman@latimes.com

Twitter: @noahbierman

michael.memoli@latimes.com

Twitter: @mikememoli

david.lauter@latimes.com

Twitter: @davidlauter

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Heres how Trumps gift for coining catchphrases could backfire
On his 28th day in office, President Trump held his first solo news conference. It lasted about 90 minutes and left viewers with a number of moments that were, well, out of the norm for presidential briefings. But, of course, those norms were set before Trump was elected president. The appearance proved a return to his free-wheeling style on the campaign trail.

Here are some of the moments that stand out when it comes to topic or delivery:

I guess it was the biggest electoral college win since Ronald Reagan.

Trump won the election. He is, after all, president. Still, months after the results were final, he still routinely brings up and misstates the size of his win in the electoral college. In this exchange, a reporter points out that former President Obama won more electoral votes than Trump (Obama had 332 in 2012; Trump had 302). Oh, and George H.W. Bush had 426 electoral votes when he beat Michael Dukakis in 1988.

The reporter asks why the American public should trust Trump when he provides inaccurate information.

His answer: I dont know. I was given that information. I was given  I actually, Ive seen that information around. But it was a very substantial victory, do you agree with that?

Russia is fake news.

Trump called the news media, in general, fake about 20 times during the course of his 90-minute presser. He also dodged the question about whether his campaign staff had connections to Russia, referring to the story as a fabrication.

Later, he said that he hadnt made a phone call to Russia in years, adding, I just have nobody to speak to. Moments after that, he said Russian President Vladmir Putin had called him after he won the election and again after he was inaugurated.

Read the transcript: Everything President Trump had to say 

Nobody mentions that Hillary received the questions to the debates.

Another hot topic for Trump was Hillary Clinton . Her name came up about a dozen times. This particular remark traces back to leaked emails that purportedly showed Donna Brazile sharing information with the Clinton campaign prior to a debate held during the Democratic primary.

Its common for a president to refer to the actions of the previous president and administration. Its unusual for a new president to spend as much time, or more, talking about his former rival for the office.

Tomorrow, they will say, Donald Trump rants and raves at the press. Im not ranting and raving. Im just telling you.

Trump knows how to make headlines.

Nuclear holocaust would be like no other.

When asked whether Putin was testing Trump, he said he did not believe so. He added that both the U.S. and Russia were powerful nuclear countries, which led him to this soundbite.

Ive known her for a long time. She was a very successful person; she was a very successful model. She did really well.

Trump liked the question that led to this aside. He was asked about his wife, Melania , reopening the White House Visitors Office, which had been closed for longer than usual. Melania Trump is still living in Trump Tower in New York, where their young son, Barron, is enrolled in school. He went on to complain she was being treated so unfairly before talking about her modeling career.

Do you want to set up the meeting? Are they friends of yours?

Trump posed this question to April Ryan, an African American journalist with American Urban Radio Networks. She had asked the president if he would include the CBC, a reference to the Congressional Black Caucus, in his efforts to improve conditions in what Trump had referred to as the inner cities.

Trump responded: Am I going to include who?

When Ryan elaborated, asking specifically about the Congressional Black Caucus and the Hispanic Caucus, Trump asked her if she was friends with them and could set up the meeting.

His request came shortly after he told those gathered: I am the least anti-Semitic person that you've ever seen in your entire life. Number two, racism, the least racist person.

colleen.shalby@latimes.com

Twitter: @cshalby

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Eight years ago today, President Obama signed the economic stimulus bill into law, marking a major legislative triumph for his new administration.

Sixteen years ago at this point, President George W. Bush had submitted his tax cut plan to Congress and was negotiating what would become the No Child Left Behind law.

President Trump has had his main initiative  a temporary travel ban on visits from seven mostly Muslim countries  blocked by federal courts, has been forced to fire his national security advisor and had to withdraw his nominee for secretary of Labor, who faced rejection by senators of his own party. Legislative proposals are nowhere in sight.

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Good afternoon, Im David Lauter, Washington bureau chief. Welcome to the Friday edition of our Essential Politics newsletter, in which we look at the events of the week in Washington and elsewhere in national politics and highlight some particularly insightful stories.

WHAT DID THE PRESIDENT KNOW?

Trump has had a pretty terrible week. His White House is far from the fine-tuned machine the president boasted of at his news conference yesterday.

But neither is the 45th president on the verge of collapse. Democrats who dont think he can survive should remember that most of them didnt think he would win the election, either. And people who have visions of Watergate-style hearings dancing in their heads might want to think about the origins of a key moment in that scandal: Sen. Howard Bakers often-quoted line was originally intended as a defense of Richard Nixon.

Nixons opponents had lots of evidence of wrongdoing by people working for his reelection, Baker noted, but that wasnt what mattered. The key question, he said, was, What did the president know, and when did he know it?

In the end, of course, to Bakers dismay, the evidence showed that Nixon knew a lot about Watergate from a very early point. When that evidence became public, he had to resign.

But were very far from that in the gathering controversy about alleged contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the election.

Lots of evidence shows that the Russians interfered in the election. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded they did so, at least in part, to help Trump. The FBI is looking at contacts between some people close to Trump and some Russian officials. But no one has proven that anyone in Trumps orbit colluded in the Russian effort, let alone that Trump knew about such a plan.

At Thursdays news conference, the president repeatedly evaded that key question, settling eventually  after being asked five times  on a lawyerly statement that nobody I know of had contacts with Russian officials during the campaign.

The firing of national security advisor Michael Flynn, who misled Vice President Mike Pence and other top administration officials about his conversations with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the U.S., revived attention to the issue and deepened already existing questions, about the Trump-Russia relationship, as David Cloud wrote. (Heres a timeline of the Flynn controversy.)

But, just like Trumps presidency, the Russia saga is at a very early stage.

EROSION OF TRUST  AND OF CLOUT

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Flynn was fired because of an erosion of trust. But what may worry the White House more right now is an erosion on Capitol Hill.

The clearest signal came from the withdrawal of Andrew Puzders nomination to be Labor secretary.

The problems Puzder faced were serious: his hiring of an immigrant in the U.S. illegally as a housekeeper, decades-old allegations of having hit his wife and restiveness on the right about his previous support for immigration reform, among others.

But politically, his troubles were not necessarily more fatal than those that faced Betsy DeVos, who squeaked by into the job of Education secretary last week, or Rep. Tom Price, who won a party-line vote to become Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Republicans held firm for the others, but they broke ranks on Puzder, with at least a dozen GOP senators expressing misgivings. The change had less to do with the nominee than with the president: Puzders fate gauges Trumps loss of sway on Capitol Hill. That, in turn, is tied to his declining support among swing voters.

Trumps job approval rating is at historic lows for a new president, with Americans deeply split on how they view him and deeply dug in on the subject. His core supporters love him, Democrats loathe him, and the small, but crucial, group of voters in between appears to have grown more skeptical.

Congressional Republicans increasingly worry about where the new administration is headed, as Lisa Mascaro wrote. Some are starting to distance themselves from Trump, not wanting to be too close in case his troubles worsen.

Thats why Republicans on the House and Senate Intelligence Committees are slowly starting to back away from their previous reluctance to conduct a full-scale investigation of what Russia was up to and whether Trump aides were involved.

In the meantime, Republicans have been racing to help favored industries, moving to undo Obama-era regulations on pollution from mines, background checks for gun purchases by people with mental disabilities and requirements that U.S. companies disclose payments to officials overseas.

Bigger GOP priorities, including repeal of Obamacare and an overhaul of corporate taxes, appear stalled.

As Noam Levey wrote, the administration took some steps this week to stabilize the Obamacare marketplaces, in the process making them less friendly to consumers. That hasnt been enough to keep all insurers on board, however  at least one major company has already announced its pulling out.

All that comes as the latest numbers point to considerable success for Obamas healthcare law: Fewer Americans are going uninsured than at any point in history.

DYSFUNCTION DOESNT EQUAL DISASTER

Even with all its problems, the administration is still getting the basics in place. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin won confirmation this week. So did Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney. And Environmental Protection Agency nominee Scott Pruitt is also expected to prevail, likely this afternoon.

Longer term, the question will be what course corrections Trump is willing to make. As Noah Bierman and Brian Bennett reported, even before the Flynn firing, Trump was hearing calls to change his approach and reshape a White House that leading Republicans call dysfunctional.

One problem for the White House, as Mike Memoli identified: Trump resists taking responsibility for his administrations problems.

By Thursday, the situation was bad enough that Trump decided to take matters into his own hands and return to the free-swinging style of his campaign in a full-dress news conference.

Unlike the carefully controlled, short availabilities he held in the last few weeks, in which he took questions almost entirely from outlets the administration considers friendly, this time Trump mixed things up. The result was sometimes raucous, always interesting. Heres a transcript.

As Cathy Decker wrote, Trump used the news conference as a way to break out of the White House bubble and communicate directly with supporters. Hes scheduled to do more of that Saturday at a rally (paid for by his campaign committee) in Melbourne, Fla.

DEPORTATIONS WITHOUT TRUMPS FINGERPRINTS

Trump offered up some news at the news conference, mostly on immigration.

He revealed that his administration will release a new executive order on travel next week. Its expected to be considerably more narrow than the current travel ban, tailored, as Trump put it, to the court decisions he dislikes. In a court filing, administration officials said the original executive order, which was placed on hold by a federal court, would be repealed when the new one is issued.

Trump also talked about his dilemma on what to do about so-called Dreamers  people who came to the U.S. illegally as children. In his campaign, he pledged to repeal the Obama administration program, known as DACA, which shields them from deportation. So far, Trump has not acted on the issue.

DACA is a very, very difficult subject for me, he said, expressing sympathy for the Dreamers.

But, as Brian Bennett reported in an exclusive story, Trumps aides have found ways he could eliminate DACAs protections without his fingerprints being on the action.

Already, raids are spreading fear in many immigrant communities. Federal officials insist they have not broadened the scope of immigration enforcement, but the anxiety serves its own purpose for immigration hard-liners, making the U.S. seem like a less desirable destination for others who might be contemplating illegal entry.

Not everyone opposes a crackdown, of course. For many Trump supporters, its a key issue.

And the private-prison industry stands to gain a lot, Jennie Jarvie reported. In some poor U.S. counties, thats seen as a boon for jobs.

CLARIFYING A NEW FOREIGN POLICY  OR NOT

The shape and tone of the Trump administrations foreign policy continues to be hotly fought over, both within the administration and in Congress.

As Bill Hennigan and Tracy Wilkinson wrote, even as Trump talked about his desire to work out a deal with Russia, Defense Secretary James Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, all made public statements appearing cold to the idea.

The administration also sent mixed signals on the Middle East. After a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump sidestepped the longstanding U.S. policy of supporting a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians. He would support one state or two, whichever the parties preferred, he said.

The next day, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said in New York, we absolutely support a two-state solution.

Thats never wavered, Haley added.

TWO OTHER STORIES OF NOTE

On Sunday, a top aide to Trump, Stephen Miller, tried to revive the presidents false accusation of widespread illegal voting, insisting in a television interview that Massachusetts residents had been bused into New Hampshire to vote illegally there. Senior New Hampshire Republicans called his charge false and shameful.

Lots of powerful companies dont want Trump to pull the U.S. out of the Paris agreement on combatting global warming, Evan Halper reported.

ALL THE PRESIDENTS TWEETS

Twitter has long been Trumps favored means of pushing his message. Were compiling all of Trumps tweets. Its a great resource. Take a look.

And heres a compilation of major events in Week 4 of the Trump presidency.

LOGISTICS

That wraps up this week. My colleague Sarah Wire will be back Monday with the weekday edition of Essential Politics. Until then, keep track of all the developments in national politics and the Trump administration with our Essential Washington blog, at our Politics page and on Twitter @latimespolitics.

Send your comments, suggestions and news tips to politics@latimes.com.

If you like this newsletter, tell your friends to sign up.

David.lauter@latimes.com

@davidlauter
As the healthcare vote looms, Trump sees opposition from conservatives, both on Capitol Hill and in the media By Kurtis Lee Its a really important vote in President Trumps fledgling first term. Will House Republicans pass a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act  a promise from Trump on the campaign trail  or reject it? (House Speaker Paul D. Ryan rushed to the White House on Friday morning for a last-minute meeting with Trump as both attempted to corral enough votes.) Trump spent much of the week trying to win support from members of the Freedom Caucus, among the most conservative lawmakers, some of whom are holdouts because they believe the bill does not go far enough. After seven horrible years of ObamaCare (skyrocketing premiums & deductibles, bad healthcare), this is finally your chance for a great plan! Trump tweeted Friday. But even some in conservative media arent all that thrilled about the bill. Here are some of Fridays headlines: Polls: Ryancare even more unpopular than Obamacare and Hillarycare (Breitbart) So, its been clear in recent weeks that the right-wing website Breitbart does not like the new healthcare proposal. The news site has dubbed the current bill Obamacare-lite or Ryancare  an homage of sorts to Ryan, who helped craft the legislation  and argued it does not go far enough in its overhaul. Most conservatives want to repeal the Affordable Care Act, nicknamed Obamacare, they just differ on what the replacement should look like. For example, some on the far right want to see so-called essential health benefits, such as maternity and newborn care, stripped from the bill.) This piece highlights several of the dismal polls the legislation has received. Among them: A recent Fox News survey that showed 54% oppose the bill, compared with 34% who support it. The article also references an analysis of polling and data by FiveThirtyEight.com, which shows the GOP legislation is more unpopular than Obamacare and President Bill Clintons healthcare reform bill were when they were first introduced. A modest immigration proposal (Weekly Standard) Trumps recent immigration orders have left many immigrants on edge. Through social media and pop-up legal clinics, immigrant rights groups have doled out around-the-clock assistance, as families fear being separated. In this piece, Irwin Stelzer notes that at some point, our border will be secure, resistance to deporting felons will collapse, and we will have accepted the fact that Dreamers will be allowed to stay in this country, probably on a path to citizenship. He lays out his views of immigration reform, citing, among other things, setting an annual immigration limit and adopting a system that has the effect of enriching our citizens by filling that annual quota with immigrants who are likely to increase the well-being of the existing citizenry. Jeff Sessions is Rip Van Winkle on drug policy (American Conservative) Its clear from polls that most Republicans oppose marijuana legalization, while Democrats support it. However, libertarian-leaning Republicans often tend to support legalization. This piece highlights Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions recent comments in opposition to states legalizing pot. The attorney general regurgitates simplistic cliches right out of the 1970s and 1980s about marijuana use. I dont think America is going to be a better place when people of all ages, and particularly young people, are smoking pot, Sessions told reporters on February 26, the author, Ted Galen Carpenter, writes. He adds, Such comments confirm that critics may be right when they label him a drug war dinosaur. He seems either oblivious or scornful about the trend in public opinion regarding marijuana. Facebook

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FCC Chairman Pai wants to halt Internet privacy rules before they begin taking effect this week By Jim Puzzanghera (Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images) The nations new top telecommunications regulator wants to halt tough Internet privacy rules before they begin taking effect this week, arguing they would unfairly impose tougher requirements on broadband providers than on websites and social networks. Privacy advocates and a key Senate Democrat vowed Monday to fight the move as well as a separate effort in Congress to overturn the regulations, which were approved in October on a party-line vote by the Federal Communications Commission when it was controlled by Democrats under President Obama. Following President Trumps inauguration, control of the commission passed to Republicans and Ajit Pai took over as chairman. All actors in the online space should be subject to the same rules, and the federal government shouldnt favor one set of companies over another, a spokesman for Pai said Friday. Read More Facebook

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Trump says Hollywoods obsession with him led to best picture Oscar gaffe By Michael A. Memoli (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) President Trump is often loath to accept responsibility when things go wrong, but in the case of Sundays Oscars broadcast, he made an exception. As he explained it Monday, it was Hollywoods obsession with attacking him that contributed to the botched best picture announcement, calling the embarrassing episode sad, of course. Accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has apologized for the mix-up that led Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway to announce La La Land as the winner of the top Academy Award prize, instead of Moonlight. But in Trumps eyes, the blame falls more broadly on an entertainment industry so preoccupied with politics that they didnt get the act together, he told Breitbart News. It took away from the glamour of the Oscars, Trump told a reporter from the website, which was once led by his chief White House strategist, Stephen K. Bannon. It didnt feel like a very glamorous evening. Ive been to the Oscars. There was something very special missing, and then to end that way was sad, he added. The ceremony did contain a number of slights at Trump during its telecast, some more subtle than others. Host Jimmy Kimmel openly at one point begged the president to weigh in by tweeting at him. Trump spent part of Sunday night hosting a black-tie dinner at the White House honoring the nations governors, who were visiting Washington for their annual winter meeting. But it appears from excerpts of the Breitbart interview that he may have spent at least part of the evening watching. Facebook

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Justice Department shifts course in closely watched Texas voter ID case By Del Quentin Wilber The Trump administration has scaled back its assault on a strict Texas voter identification law that federal courts have ruled discriminated against minorities, portending a shift in how the Justice Department plans to pursue allegations of voter suppression. The government revealed its decision in court papers filed in federal court Monday, dealing a blow to civil rights advocates who have relied on federal support to help them knock down the controversial Texas statute. Its a very concerning signal to American voters about the Department of Justices commitment to enforcing the Voting Rights Act, said Danielle Lang, deputy director of the voting rights unit of the Campaign Legal Center, which is suing Texas in the case. The administrations partial retreat in the dispute highlights how Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, a conservative Republican who has championed voter identification measures, is expected to handle such cases. The Obama administration had joined civil rights groups in aggressively challenging the Texas law and other such measures around the country. At issue in the case was how the Justice Department would proceed in a federal lawsuit that alleged the Texas legislature discriminated against minority voters when it enacted the strict voter identification law in 2011. Known as SB 14, the measure requires voters to present a specific form of government-issued photo identification - such as a drivers license, military ID card, U.S. passport or citizenship certificate - to be permitted to cast a ballot. The Obama administration and civil rights groups argued the state pushed the law, in part, to suppress the power of the states minority voters, who frequently dont drive or have a passport. State officials and lawmakers countered that the law was aimed at preventing voter fraud, though there is scant evidence that the problem exists. The law was challenged in court by civil rights groups and the Justice Department under provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which was intended to help overcome legal barriers erected at the local and state level to keep African-Americans from the polls. Last July, a federal appeals court ruled that the Texas law had a discriminatory impact on minority voters. It told U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos to craft a temporary remedy in time for the November elections. Ramos subsequently ordered Texas to permit voters to present other forms of documentation to verify their identities. The judges order is expected to remain in force until she imposes a permanent remedy or Texas addresses the judges concerns. According to the court papers filed Monday, the Justice Department will continue to work with civil rights groups to address those issues but will seek to withdraw from another important aspect of the suit. In the same decision that found the Texas law had a discriminatory impact, the appeals court reversed Ramos finding that Texas legislators had intended to harm minority voters. It ordered Ramos to reconsider the evidence of that finding. If the judge determines discriminatory intent in crafting the voter ID requirements, she could throw out the entire law. Civil rights groups will continue to press that claim. In its court filing, the Justice Department asked Ramos to permit it to withdraw its claim that Texas acted with intent, arguing that it is best to give the Texas legislature time to address the matter. With the loss of their key ally in court, civil rights groups will argue on their own in an effort to prove that Texas acted with a discriminatory purpose in passing the law. A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday. Voting advocates complained that the Trump administration was backing away from a key safeguard of voting rights. The Justice Department decision defies rationality and stands diametrically opposed to positions they have taken at every stage of this litigation, Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said in a statement. This reversal of position was taken despite years of work and effort that the government has invested in fighting the Texas Voter ID law, one of the most discriminatory voting restriction of its kind. Facebook

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House Intelligence Chair Devin Nunes warns against witch hunt over Trump-Russia ties By Sarah D. Wire House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) talks to reporters about his committees Russia investigation. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes said on Monday he has seen no evidence from the intelligence community that there was contact between Russia and the Trump campaign. I want to be very careful, we cant just go on a witch hunt against Americans because they appear in a news story, said Nunes (R-Tulare). We still dont have any evidence of them talking to Russia. He said the committee has been briefed on the highlights of what the intelligence community has found, but is still collecting evidence. The committees ranking Democrat, Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), quickly responded, saying the committees investigation is in its infancy and its too soon to reach conclusions about the evidence. We havent obtained any of the evidence yet, so its premature for us to be saying weve reached any conclusion about the issue of collusion, Schiff said. The most that weve had are private conversations, the chair and I with intelligence officials. Thats not a substitute for an investigation. The House and Senate Select Intelligence Committees are conducting separate investigations into Russias reported attempts to influence voters in 2016 in an effort to curtail Hillary Clintons chances and boost Donald Trumps. A leaked U.S. intelligence report on the attempts did not look at whether the effort succeeded. The House committee has expanded a previous ongoing investigation of Russia cyberhacking to include a look at efforts to interfere in the 2016 election, Nunes told reporters Monday. Though it is still in its early stages  the leaders of the committee are still discussing the investigations scope  Nunes said he expects the findings to be made public. Schiff and Nunes spoke separately to reporters Monday. Schiff said the two agreed privately that they would jointly address reporters about the investigation going forward. Nunes, who served as a member of Trumps transition team, said he continues to be concerned about leaks of classified and sensitive information from the White House and intelligence communities. The leaks  one of which resulted in a report about the FBI investigating Trump campaign officials  will be part of the committees investigation. A government cant function with massive leaks at the highest level, Nunes said. Facebook

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Appeals court denies Justice Department request to put appeal of travel ban on hold By Jaweed Kaleem (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the

Justice Departments request to pause proceedings in an appeal of President Trumps travel ban. The court in a filing Monday said its schedule for the governments appeal of a lower courts halt on the travel ban will proceed, with the first brief due to the appeals court on March 10. In early February, the Justice Department appealed a Seattle-based federal district judges order blocking enforcement of Trumps executive action. which established a series of immigration and refugee restrictions aimed at preventing potential terrorists from entering the country. Last week, government lawyers asked the appeals court to stop proceedings in the case because the president planned to issue a new executive order and rescind the original one. A three-judge panel of the court previously denied a request from the government to reverse a nationwide stay on the travel ban. The same panel on Monday ruled that the appeal will proceed. Trump has said he will sign a new executive order tailored to deal with court decisions that have largely gone against him. On Monday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said he expected the order to be issued mid-week. Spicer has said Trump wants to fight for the current order while also issuing a new one, but the Justice Department has said in multiple court filings that the the current order will be undone after a new one is issued. The states of Washington and Minnesota, which brought the case in Seattle now under review, have pushed for courts to move forward on a review of the constitutional issues. Facebook

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No random ICE stops on streets of America, Homeland Security chief tells governor By Lisa Mascaro Gov holds closing media briefing on Capitol Hill to wrap up @NatlGovsAssoc Winter Meeting. pic.twitter.com/3mZMBA4S0o  Ralph Northam (@GovernorVA) February 27, 2017 President Trump received some unsolicited advice at dinner with the nations governors when Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe told him he needs to do a better job explaining his policies regarding deportations. McAuliffe, a Democrat and chairman of the National Governors Assn., told the president that there has been a chilling effect going on as businesses stay away from his state and as immigrants fear being rounded up. If theyre not going to be deported, we need to hear that from the president, McAuliffe said, recounting his conversation from the governors Sunday night dinner with Trump. What I told the president is these actions are hurting us. McAuliffe, a longtime ally of Hillary Clinton, said Trump agreed in large part. McAuliffe also met privately with Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly, and said the secretary assured him during an hourlong talk that Trumps enforcement actions were only targeting criminals -- despite widespread reports of otherwise law-abiding immigrants being detained for being in the U.S. illegally. He assured me there will be no random ICE stops on the streets of the United States of America, McAuliffe said, referring to the raids being conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. If thats the case, McAuliffe said, Trumps policy does not sound much different than the operations under former President Obama, whose administration deported more immigrants than its predecessors. Obama, however, explicitly put a priority on deportations of criminals, a distinction the Trump administration has done away with as part of the presidents executive action. My advice to him was he needs to let the American public know what theyre doing, McAuliffe said. Facebook

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Trump: I havent called Russia in 10 years By Brian Bennett President Trump rejected calls for an independent investigation of his ties to Russia, telling a group of business leaders Monday that he hasnt called Russia in a decade. At the start of a White House meeting with healthcare executives, a reporter asked Trump whether a special prosecutor should be assigned to investigate allegations of Russian meddling during the election. In response, Trump mouthed the word no to the executives. As reporters were led out of the room, Trump said: I havent called Russia in 10 years. Democratic lawmakers have ramped up their calls for additional investigations into allegations that Trump allies had been in contact with Russian officials during the election and inappropriately discussed U.S. sanctions against the Moscow regime during the transition. White House officials have denied reports that Trump associates were frequently in touch with senior Russian intelligence officials during the election. U.S. intelligence agencies concluded last year that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had authorized an operation to damage Hillary Clintons campaign and tilt the 2016 election in Trumps favor. Facebook

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Trump: Nobody knew that healthcare could be so complicated By Michael A. Memoli View Twitter post President Trump promised the nations governors Monday that his yet-to-be-revealed replacement plan for the Affordable Care Act would give states greater flexibility and thanked some Republicans in the room who advised him on healthcare. Its an unbelievably complex subject, he said. Nobody knew that healthcare could be so complicated. The remark likely surprised state leaders; spending on Medicaid alone was the second-biggest driver of increased state general fund spending, according to the 2016 Fiscal Survey of States conducted by the National Assn. of State Budget Officers. And it was just eight years ago that Washington dove head-first into a raging debate over healthcare reform under President Obama, which simmered long after his signature health law was enacted. But the finer points of healthcare policy are likely new to Trump, who is immersed in discussions with Republican leaders and his senior staff on that and other subjects ahead of his high-profile address Tuesday to a joint session of Congress. Trump offered no hint as to the details. Republicans have vowed to repeal and replace Obamacare, but their effort has stalled as they debate how to do so and await word from the White House on what Trump wants to do. The president seemed keenly aware of the political ramifications of whatever steps he takes. As soon as we touch it, if we do the most minute thing, just a tiny little change, whats going to happen? Theyre going to say its the Republicans problem, Trump said after telling the governors the easiest thing for him to do would be nothing, and, in his view, watch Obamacare collapse. But we have to do whats right because Obamacare is a failed disaster. Facebook

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Trump wants to add $54 billion to defense budget while slashing domestic spending and foreign aid By Brian Bennett President Trump is proposing a massive increase in defense spending of $54 billion while cutting domestic spending and foreign aid by the same amount, the White House said Monday. Trumps spending blueprint previewed a major address that he will give Tuesday night to a joint session of Congress, laying out his vision for what he called a public safety and national security budget with a nearly 10% increase in defense spending. We never win a war. We never win. And we dont fight to win. We dont fight to win, Trump said Monday in remarks to the nations governors. So we either got to win or dont fight it at all. Trump noted that the U.S. has spent nearly $6 trillion on fighting wars since the Sept. 11 attacks but said that cutting military spending was not the answer. Instead, the increase he is proposing would be offset by cuts to unspecified domestic programs and to foreign aid, which would in turn be made up for in part by demanding that other countries pay more for security alliances that have historically been underwritten by the U.S. This budget expects the rest of the world to step up in some of the programs that this country has been so generous in funding in the past, an official from the Office of Management and Budget said, demanding anonymity to discuss the presidents spending plans. Foreign aid makes up about 1% of the budget. This budget speaks for itself, the official said. I dont think this budget has anything to do other than putting Americans first. Trumps call for deep cuts to spending at home is likely to set up major battles on Capitol Hill, where Democrats and even House Republicans will likely be reluctant to pass a spending bill that includes such major reductions in programs for their constituents. Facebook

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Trump says businesses cant borrow because of Dodd-Frank. The numbers tell another story By Jim Puzzanghera President Trump was preparing the first step in a key campaign promise  dismantling the 2010 DoddFrank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act  when he repeated a frequent criticism of the law. We expect to be cutting a lot out of Dodd-Frank because, frankly, I have so many people, friends of mine that had nice businesses, they cant borrow money, Trump told leading corporate chief executives, including Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Larry Fink of money management giant BlackRock Inc., meeting at the White House earlier this month They just cant get any money because the banks just wont let them borrow it because of the rules and regulations in Dodd-Frank, Trump said. Shortly afterward, he ordered a wholesale review of the landmark act, which was passed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. But a main reason for dismantling Dodd-Frank often cited by Trump and critics of the law  that its slew of tougher financial regulations have significantly restricted bank lending  isnt borne out by the data. Read More Facebook

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Another Trump nominee withdraws nomination to top national security post due to business interests By W.J. Hennigan Philip M. Bilden, President Trumps pick for Navy secretary, withdrew from consideration late Sunday, becoming the second White House nominee to bail on a top Pentagon position due to problems untangling his financial investments. After an extensive review process, I have determined that I will not be able to satisfy the Office of Government Ethics requirements without undue disruption and materially adverse divestment of my familys private financial interests, Bilden said in a statement. He did not detail the issues but he said he fully supported the presidents agenda  to modernize and rebuild our Navy and Marine Corps. Bildens withdrawal comes after billionaire investor Vincent Viola dropped out from becoming Army secretary after he decided his extensive financial holdings would hamper his ability to win Senate confirmation. The White House shot down reports that surfaced two weeks ago that Bilden was considering stepping down. Just spoke with him and he is 100% commited [sic] to being the next SECNAV pending Senate confirm, White House spokesman Sean Spicer tweeted on Feb. 18. Bilden, a venture capitalist and Army veteran, was a surprise selection from Trump but had the backing of Defense Secretary James N. Mattis. This was a personal decision driven by privacy concerns and significant challenges he faced in separating himself from his business interests, Mattis said in a statement. While I am disappointed, I understand and his respect his decision, and know that he will continue to support our nation in other ways. Bilden served ten years in the U.S. Army Reserve as a military intelligence officer from 1986 to 1996. He then co-founded private equity firm HarbourVest Partners LLC and spent 25 years there, mainly in the companys Hong Kong headquarters. He also serves on the board of directors of the United States Naval Academy Foundation and the board of trustees of the Naval War College Foundation. Mattis said he intends on recommending a replacement nominee to Trump in the coming days. The withdrawal marks another setback for Trumps national security team, which has struggled to find its footing since the fledgling administration began. Earlier this month, National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was forced to resign after it became public that he held secret talks with a Russian ambassador and then misled Vice President Mike Pence about it. Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster took the job last week after Trumps first choice to replace Flynn, retired Navy Vice Adm. Robert Harward, passed on the opportunity. Facebook

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New DNC chairman Tom Perez ridicules Trump tweet over rigged vote By Laura King Former Labor Secretary Tom Perez was chosen to lead the Democratic Party over a congressman backed by the progressive wing. (Branden Camp / Associated Press) President Trump claimed Sunday that the race for Democratic National Committee chairman had been rigged -- drawing a quick riposte from Tom Perez, who narrowly won the partys leadership race. Trump insinuated that Perezs DNC victory on the second ballot at a party conference in Atlanta on Saturday was because Hillary Clinton had backed Perez, a former Labor secretary in the Obama administration who was seen as representing the partys establishment forces. Clinton did not make a formal endorsement, but Perezs rival, Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, was backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and the partys more liberal wing. Bernies guy, like Bernie himself, never had a chance, Trump tweeted early Sunday morning. Clinton demanded Perez! Perez, appearing on CNNs State of the Union on Sunday, told host Jake Tapper that he and Ellison got a good kick out of that, adding: Donald Trump, up in the morning tweeting about us. Sanders, appearing on the same show, said Trump doesnt have a point about the DNC vote. Moments after Perez beat Ellison by 35 votes out of 435 cast, he named Ellison as the deputy chairman of the party, leading to widespread applause. Perez is the first Latino to lead the Democratic Party, and he faces the challenge of trying to rebuild a party that suffered devastating losses in the 2016 election. Republicans now control not only the White House and Congress, but 33 governorships and dozens of state legislatures. In his CNN interview, Perez sarcastically suggested that Trump should address questions about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign rather than concerning himself with the DNC leadership battle. Frankly, what we need to be looking at is whether this election was rigged by Donald Trump and his buddy Vladimir Putin, he said. Facebook

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White House again bats away call for special prosecutor on Russia By Laura King A White House spokeswoman said Sunday that it was too soon to say whether a special prosecutor should look into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign, while President Trump again inveighed against coverage of Russia-related queries as FAKE NEWS. Calls have grown louder from Democrats in Congress for U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from the issue because of his role as a prominent Trump supporter during the campaign, and to appoint an independent special prosecutor to carry out a Russia probe. A few Republicans have joined in that chorus  some reluctantly. Rep. Darrell Issa of Vista, appearing on HBOs Real Time with Bill Maher, voiced support Friday for naming of a special prosecutor to probe the Russian connection, though he also said congressional intelligence committees should continue their work. He also said he considered Sessions a friend, but pointed to his role as a political appointee who had worked on the Trump campaign. Issa, who narrowly won reelection, was a vociferous critic of the Obama administration during his former tenure as head of the House Oversight Committee. In that post, he spearheaded an array of investigations on topics from Benghazi to bank bailouts. Some Republicans pushed back against the notion of Sessions needing to recuse himself. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said on NBCs Meet the Press that he had seen no credible information about contacts between the Trump campaign and Russians  and no allegations that rose to the level of criminal activity. If we get down that road, thats a decision that Attorney General Sessions can make at the time, said Cotton, who is a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russian intelligence agencies hacked Democratic Party computers and used other tactics last year to interfere with the election. The FBI is separately investigating whether anyone on Trumps campaign had improper contacts with Russian authorities during the campaign. On Sunday, White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said congressional investigations on Russia and the campaign should be allowed to go forward before a special prosecutor appointment was considered. I dont think were there yet, Sanders said on ABCs This Week. Lets work through this process. Echoing the previously stated White House stance, Sanders said the Trump campaign had not colluded in any Russian meddling. We had no involvement in this, she said. The president is known to keep a close eye on surrogates performances on the talk shows, and Sanders repeated a prime administration talking point: that questions about possible Trump campaign contacts with Russia amounted to Democratic excuses for losing the election. If Democrats want to continue to relive their loss every single day, by doing an investigation or review after review, thats fine by us, she said. We know why we won this race. Its because we had the better candidate with the better message. Trump himself underscored that notion with an afternoon tweet denouncing media coverage of the ongoing Russia investigations as FAKE NEWS put out by the Dems, and played up by the media, in order to mask the big election defeat and the illegal leaks! Facebook

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Whose news is fake? Heres the latest in Trumps war with the press By Kurtis Lee Every president since 1981 has attended the annual White House Correspondents Assn. dinner. That year, President Reagan missed out. The reason? He needed to recover after a would-be assassin fired a bullet into his chest a few weeks earlier. On Saturday, President Trump announced he will not be attending the annual dinner in April, long considered the premier social event of the Washington press corps and typically an evening of good-natured bantering between presidents and the Fourth Estate. Trumps announcement added to the ratcheting tensions between his administration and the media. Almost daily, in speeches or on Twitter, he calls particular news outlets fake, disgusting or dishonest  and news organizations have responded by digging in, standing united and devoting more resources to covering a president who has branded the press the enemy. Read More Facebook

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Crucial group of Americans like Trumps stands, not him, poll finds By David Lauter Trump still gets dismal ratings on temperament but is above water on economy, decision-making, promises of change. pic.twitter.com/Md0H096n9m  Carrie Dann (@CarrieNBCNews) February 26, 2017 With the public deeply split in its views of President Trump, one potentially key group stands out -- those who dislike the man, but approve of the direction in which hes moving. Thats a central finding of a new nationwide survey by NBC News and the Wall St. Journal. The new poll confirms what other major surveys have shown: Trump starts his administration with less support than any president in the seven decades of presidential polling. Asked if they approve or disapprove of the job Trump is doing, 44% approve, 48% disapprove. No previous president has begun his tenure with a net negative job approval. Trump has held onto the support of his ardent backers. At the other end of the spectrum, he gets almost no approval from Democrats. In the middle, the poll found, are many Americans -- just over a third of those polled -- who either voted for Trump with reservations, voted for a third party candidate or did not vote at all in 2016. Just over half of that group gives Trump positive marks, the poll found. Their support is enough, currently, to keep Trumps standing from collapsing, and holding them is likely key to his future. Just under one third of Americans say they like Trump and approve of his policies, the poll found. Another one in six approve of most of his policies even though they dislike him. Well over half, 59%, said they did not like him personally. On a separate question, only 43% of those surveyed have a positive view of Trump -- up from the low points of the campaign, but still far below the standing of most new presidents. By contrast, 86% agreed with one of the central lines of Trumps inaugural speech, that government insiders had reaped the rewards of government, while the people have borne the cost. On other issues, the public is more closely divided. The public splits evenly, for example, on Trumps proposed temporary ban on travel from seven mostly Muslim countries. Just over half of those surveyed, 52%, said that the problems Trump has encountered in his first month were unique to this administration and suggest real problems; 43% said they were growing pains similar to those other administrations have had. And by 51%-41%, the public thinks the press has been too hard on the new administration. The NBC/WSJ poll, run by a bipartisan team of two polling firms, was taken by phone, using cell phones and landlines, Feb. 18-22 among 1,000 American adults. It has a margin of error for the full sample of 3.1 percentage points in either direction. Facebook

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Trump appears to think Perez at head of Democratic National Committee is good news for Republicans By Evan Halper Congratulations to Thomas Perez, who has just been named Chairman of the DNC. I could not be happier for him, or for the Republican Party!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2017 The Democratic Party put its faith in its old guard Saturday to guide it out of the political wilderness, choosing as its new leader an Obama-era Cabinet secretary over the charismatic congressman backed by the progressive wing of the party. Tom Perez, a former secretary of Labor with strong ties to unions, persuaded the spirited assembly of party delegates in Atlanta that he can best help harness a grass-roots outpouring of anti-Trump protest and anger into a Democratic resurgence at the ballot box. Read More Facebook

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Trump to Washington reporters: Not going to your dinner By Kurtis Lee I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2017 The annual White House Correspondents Assn. dinner will be missing a key guest this year: President Trump. On Saturday, Trump tweeted he will not attend the April 29 dinner, considered the premier social event of the Washington press corps -- and typically an evening of good-natured bantering between presidents and reporters with a mix of celebrities watching. His announcement comes amid growing tensions between his administration and the media. Trump has decried stories he doesnt like as fake news, and described unnamed news groups as an enemy of the people. A day earlier, the White House barred reporters from several major news organizations, including the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, CNN and Politico, from attending an off-camera press briefing. In a sign of the growing rift, several media organizations that traditionally sponsor lavish parties around the black-tie dinner had announced they would not do so this year. At the annual dinner, the president usually delivers self-deprecating jokes and often is roasted by a high-profile comedian. The president also greets students who win journalism scholarships and awards, a major part of the evening. Trump has been a frequent guest of media organizations at the dinner in the past, but he always sat at a table in the crowded ballroom, not up at the front dias. President Obama singled Trump out during the dinner several years ago, mocking Trump for raising doubts about whether Obama was born in the United States. This year, as we do every year, we will celebrate the First Amendment and the role an independent press plays in a healthy republic, the White House Correspondents Assn. said in a statement earlier this month about the upcoming dinner. Facebook

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Former Labor Secretary Tom Perez named Democratic Party leader By Evan Halper Newly elected Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez (Branden Camp/Associated Press) The Democratic Party put its faith in its old guard Saturday to guide it out of the political wilderness, choosing as its new leader an Obama-era Cabinet secretary over the charismatic congressman backed by the progressive wing of the party. Tom Perez, a former secretary of Labor with strong ties to labor unions, persuaded the spirited assembly of party delegates in Atlanta that he can best help harness a grass-roots outpouring of anti-Trump protest and anger into a Democratic resurgence at the ballot box. We are suffering from a crisis of confidence, a crisis of relevance, Perez told delegates before they chose him in a down-to-the-wire contest with Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, whom the Bernie Sanders wing of the party had rallied round. We need a chair who can not only take the fight to Donald Trump.  We also need a chair who can lead a turnaround and change the culture of the Democratic Party, Perez said. The ascendance of an establishment liberal is certain to renew tension between veteran party stalwarts and the unruly progressive movement aligned with Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, both of whom backed Ellison. Some Ellison supporters erupted in protest as the final vote was announced. Perez quickly sought to unite the party by naming Ellison his deputy chair, a move unanimously approved by the 435 assembled delegates, who had supported Perez 235-200. Read More Facebook

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Trump chastises media for not reporting minor dip in national debt By Del Quentin Wilber President Trump took to Twitter on Saturday morning to blast the news media for not highlighting a minor dip in the national debt. The media has not reported that the National Debt in my first month went down by $12 billion vs a $200 billion increase in Obama first mo., he tweeted at 8:19 a.m. The media has not reported that the National Debt in my first month went down by $12 billion vs a $200 billion increase in Obama first mo.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2017 Trumps tweet came shortly after Herman Cain, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, made a similar comment on Fox News. While the numbers are accurate, Trumps tweet suggests he deserves credit for something that is largely beyond his control, especially since he hasnt yet given Congress any proposals to change tax laws or the financial industry. Considering that Trump hasnt enacted any fiscal legislation, its a bit of a stretch for him to take credit for any changes in debt levels, Dan Mitchell, a libertarian economist at the Cato Institute, told the fact-checking website Politifact. President Obamas first month in office in 2009 was largely taken up with spending bills aimed at easing the massive recession that he had inherited. Trump inherited an economy with low inflation, low unemployment and a booming stock market. The national debt, which stands at just under $20 trillion, is expected to rise by more than $500 billion in the fiscal year ending in September. Facebook

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Mexico rejects U.S. plan to deport Central Americans to Mexico By Patrick J. McDonnell Mexico has informed the Trump administration that it cannot accept non-Mexican nationals whom U.S. authorities arrest along the border and seek to remove from U.S. territory, the nations internal security chief said Friday. Earlier this week, the Trump administration rolled out a broad immigration crackdown that included a proposal to send non-Mexican detainees apprehended along the U.S.-Mexico border back to Mexico while their immigration cases were pending in the United States. The vast majority of non-Mexican nationals detained along the U.S.-Mexico border are Central Americans. They often travel overland through Mexico to reach the United States. In a fact sheet released Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security said that releasing detained, third-country nationals to the foreign contiguous territory from which they arrived would save on detention and adjudication resources. The idea would be to keep them out pending their hearings on deportation, the fact sheet said. However, Mexican authorities have reacted coolly from the outset to the notion. Now, they appear to have formally nixed the idea. On Friday, Mexicos interior secretary, Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, told a radio interviewer than Mexican authorities had informed a pair of visiting U.S. Cabinet officers  Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly  that Mexico could not oblige the U.S. request. We told them that our legal framework doesnt allow this, Osorio Chong told Radio Formula, referring to the visit this week of the two Trump Cabinet officials.  We told them it is impossible. There is no way, legally, nor is there capacity. In recent years, non-Mexicans, mostly Central Americans, have become a larger proportion of illegal immigrants apprehended along the Southwest border as the relative number of Mexican nationals has declined. In fiscal year 2016, according to U.S. Border Patrol statistics, agents recorded apprehensions of almost 191,000 undocumented Mexican citizens along the Southwest frontier. In the same fiscal year, the Border Patrol said it registered 218,000 detentions of non-Mexican nationals, most of them Central Americans. Cecilia Sanchez of The Times Mexico City bureau contributed to this report. An earlier version of this blog post misspelled Miguel Angel Osorio Chongs name as Osorio Chung. Facebook

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Trump blasts FBI over Russia leaks after a brief Twitter hiatus By Kurtis Lee (Alex Wong / Getty Images ) After several days of relative silence on Twitter, President Trumps feed came alive Friday with a direct attack on the FBI. Yes, hes done this before. But recent news reports that suggest his administration pressed the FBI to quell claims that members of his campaign had contact with Russians throughout the 2016 election appear to have inspired a response. The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security leakers that have permeated our government for a long time, he tweeted. And conservative news was all over it. Here are some of todays headlines: Trump blasts FBI leakers (Fox News) Trump has assailed everyone from Democrats to intelligence officials for the leaks  which he often refers to as fake news  about his ties to Russia. Reports from several news outlets this week, citing anonymous sources, claim Trumps chief of staff, Reince Priebus, asked FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe to publicly dispute media reports that Trumps campaign advisors frequently were in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election. While some reports made it appear Priebus had contacted McCabe, this piece disputes that. Fox News has learned that McCabe indeed had initiated the conversation, asking to speak with Priebus for a few minutes at the end of an intelligence meeting last week, their article reports. Ed Schultz at CPAC: Trump promised Americas heartland a deal (Daily Caller) He was once among the top liberal voices in the country. Now, Ed Schultz, the former MSNBC anchor, is speaking glowingly about President Trump. Between covering high-profile speeches at the Conservative Political Action Conference from Trump and his aides, the Daily Caller popped into a panel at which Schultz provided commentary. Shultz, who now works with the Russian government-funded RT television network, blasted the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, asserting that Trumps claim that it would cost U.S. jobs was a game changer in the 2016 election. Trump went into Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin and he took down the progressive firewall, because he talked to the American people about a deal, Schultz said. It was a Wall Street deal, it was not a Main Street deal, he said, referring to the TPP. Trump is about blowing up Washington as it exists (Rush Limbaugh) Remember when Trump talked about draining the swamp? Since he entered the White House, some conservatives have wondered if Trump means business. Many members of his cabinet  including Priebus and Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions  are the ultimate Washington insiders. Still, Rush Limbaugh, one of the firebrand conservatives out there, is certain the president will blow up traditional Washington. Whats Trumps No. 1 obstacle? I have concluded that the media is the No. 1 obstacle because of the success they have, he said on his radio show this week. The people in Washington, media is every bit as big a part of the establishment as anybody else is. He added: The media is creating this narrative, if you will, and this picture  this series of pictures, this overall image  that Trump is stalled, that everybodys opposing him, that his agenda is backlogged. Facebook

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After Trump calls media an enemy of the people, White House bars many news outlets from briefing By Noah Bierman Fridays White House press briefing, normally an on-camera affair open to all reporters with press credentials, was turned into an exclusive event for certain outlets hand-picked by the administration. The action came after President Trump on Friday described the media and what he terms fake news as the enemy of the people."On the list were Trump-friendly outlets such as Breitbart News, the Washington Times and OANN, a conservative television network that employs former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski as a commentator. Off the list were some of Trumps favorite targets, including the New York Times and CNN. The Los Angeles Times was also excluded. The off-camera briefing with Sean Spicer, the press secretary, was not solely for conservative outlets. Several mainstream reporters were also allowed in, including the three major broadcast networks and wire services, such as Bloomberg News. Also allowed in were pool representatives who transmit news events to a far larger group of reporters. The Associated Press and Time magazine were also invited but declined to participate in solidarity with other news organizations that were denied entry. The White House Correspondents Assn. protested, as did editors at several of the organizations that were excluded. In a statement, Times editor Davan Maharaj said that it was unfortunate that the Los Angeles Times has been excluded from a White House press briefing today. The public has a right to know, and that means being informed by a variety of news sources, not just those filtered by the White House press office in hopes of getting friendly coverage, Maharaj said. Regardless of access, The Times will continue to report on the Trump administration without fear or favor, he added. 12:30 p.m.: This post was updated with a statement from Times editor Davan Maharaj. Facebook

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Its a Russian flag! Trickster strikes CPAC before Trumps speech By Matt Pearce Crowd at CPAC waving these little pro-Trump flags that look exactly like the Russian flag. Staffers quickly come around to confiscate them. pic.twitter.com/YhPpkwFCNc  Peter Hamby (@PeterHamby) February 24, 2017 As the crowd waited to hear President Trump speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference, little red-white-and-blue flags appeared without warning, handed down the aisles by a man with a green bag, according to a witness. The flags said Trump. They also happened to be the flag of the Russian Federation. He was dressed like any one of us, said Tyler Dever, 20, a student at the University of South Florida in Tampa, who was wearing a suit. He passed them to me and was like, Pass them down, pass them down.  Dever, caught up in the moment, passed them down, before someone sitting next to him said, Oh, its a Russian flag! CPAC staff quickly recollected the flags. If it was just a red-white-and-blue flag, I would have picked it out, Dever said. He said it was his first time attending an event like CPAC and was surprised to see a provocateur in the audience, especially beyond the cordon set up by the Secret Service. Someone tried to victimize me, Dever said. You have Secret Service out here, and Id expect it to be fully screened. ... Thank God someone noticed. Facebook

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Trump still loves the USC/L.A. Times poll: What it got right and what it got wrong By David Lauter Throughout the fall campaign, then-candidate Donald Trump and his allies loved the USC/L.A. Times Daybreak poll -- the only major survey that consistently showed him winning. A couple polls got it right. I must say Los Angeles Times did a great job, shocking because, you know, they did a great job, Trump declared in his speech this morning at CPAC, the annual gathering of conservative activists. But did the poll get it right? In the simplest terms, no, and after considerble analysis, we know why. Read More Facebook

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A celebration, and wake, for a campaign legend and a Republican Party that is no more By Mark Z. Barabak (Steve Lopez/Los Angeles Times) It was a cool and rainy day when elders of the Republican tribe recently gathered to honor one of their own. The honoree, Stuart K. Spencer, was unmistakable in his white duck pants and a lime-green sport coat so bright it almost hurt to see. A reformed chain-smoker, he snapped merrily away on a wad of chewing gum. The event marked Spencers 90th birthday, but the mood beneath the surface conviviality was unsettled and gray, like the clouds fringing the mountains outside. If the occasion was intended as a personal celebration, it also had the feel of a wake for a time in politics long passed. Along with former Vice President Dick Cheney and former California Gov. Pete Wilson, veterans of the Reagan years turned out in force. It was Spencer, more than anyone, who took a political long shot and washed-up B-movie actor and helped transform him into the Reagan of legend. Read More Facebook

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CPACs reaction to President Trumps speech: Two thumbs up By Matt Pearce Supporters cheer President Trump as he speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., on Friday. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) President Trump loves CPAC, and CPAC loves Trump. As hundreds of Conservative Political Action Conference attendees spilled out into the hallways Friday after Trumps speech to the group, they had glowing reviews of the man who has been tormenting Democrats and the media and transforming the Republican Party. It was fantastic, unbelievable, absolute truth, said Shia L. Lome, 84, a retired Air Force colonel from Deerfield Beach, Fla., appraising Trumps remarks. If he carries through [his promises], this will be the greatest country ever. Lome added that there is no question about it, Trump is his own type of Republican. Whether its conservative or whatever you want to call it, Lome said he is happy as long as [Trump] causes the Democrats heartaches. Kayne Robinson, 73, a former chairman of the Iowa Republican Party, said Trump was simply taking the party in the direction that people want it to go. I think the party is every bit as united behind him as it was behind either of the Bushes, Robinson said. Trump led a revolution in the party, very much like Reagan. ... I think Trump is doing just fine. Frank March, a 50-year-old Army retiree from Fairfax County, Va., emerged from the ballroom at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center wearing a red Make America Great Again cap, which carried Trumps jagged signature on the bill. Marchs daughter had gotten the hat signed when she previously met Trump, and he proudly showed off photos of that event. I recognize the signature! a woman exclaimed as she saw the hat. March praised Trumps follow-through and his commitment to workers as incredible. Hes bringing in new people to the party, March said. The hope is, by his follow-through, doing what he said he was going to do, then the non-Republicans who voted for Trump will stick. Helping workers will be one of the ways Trump can make that happen, he said. In politics, youre supposed to help people, March said. Workers are the people. Theyre people who earn money to take care of their families. Republicans should support those people because theyre the ones who make America run. Facebook

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Donald Trump shows up at conservatives most prominent gathering and defines a new GOP By Noah Bierman  President Trump shows up at conservatives most prominent gathering and defines a new GOP. President Trump made one of his strongest pitches Friday to unite the Republican Party and the conservative movement behind a nationalist, anti-globalist ideology that until recently would have been unthinkable for many Republicans. There is no such thing as a global anthem, a global currency or a global flag, Trump said to great applause from thousands of conservatives. Im not representing the globe. Im representing your country. He echoed ideas he has espoused in the past -- denouncing trade deals as the antithesis of economic freedom, warning that the great cities of Europe have been ruined by mass immigration, denouncing intervention in the Middle East by both parties. But while many of the words were familiar, the venue and the passion made Fridays speech remarkable. The comments came at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, just outside of Washington, D.C., the most prominent gathering of right-leaning groups and activists in the country. Such a speech would have been shocking from a conservative, much less the president, at almost any other time in the conferences history. Trump has been popular at CPAC in the past. He credits a speech there with launching his political career. But he snubbed last years event amid a heated primary in which many conservatives rejected his tone and the direction he was trying to move the GOP. I would have come last year, but I was worried that I would be at that time too controversial, Trump said in his speech, which lasted nearly an hour. Trump, the first president since Ronald Reagan to address the group during his first year in office, made clear that he is moving those once controversial ideas to the movements center. In addition to his usual critiques of the media and frequent references to his electoral success, Trump spoke directly of his ambition for reshaping the Republican Party to attract blue-collar voters, the forgotten men and women who helped propel his electoral victory. Im here today to tell you what this movement means for the future of the Republican Party and for the future of America, Trump said. The core conviction of our movement is that we are a nation that [must] put and will put its own citizens first. Later, he added that the GOP will be from now on also the party of the American worker. While Trump tried to unite conservatives, the speech made little effort to bridge the countrys larger political divide. For example, Trump dismissed people who have shown up at town halls around the country to protest reversal of Obamacare. Theyre not you, he said. Theyre the side that lost. Facebook

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Justice Department rescinds order phasing out use of private prisons By Del Quentin Wilber Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions has jettisoned an Obama administration order to phase out the use of private prisons to hold federal inmates. The new order reverses one issued by former Deputy Atty. Gen. Sally Yates in August that sought to eliminate the departments use of private for-profit prisons, which hold just over 10% of the current prison population. The Obama administration order changed long-standing policy and practice, and impaired the bureaus ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system, Sessions wrote Thursday to announce the reversal. Civil rights and prisoner rights groups decried the Sessions decision, saying private prisons are not as cost-effective or as safe as government-run facilities, citing numerous abuses in the past. The Bureau of Prisons houses about 21,000 of its 190,000 inmates in a dozen private prisons, including one near Bakersfield. Atty. Gen. Sessions has shown that he is not taking the mass incarceration crisis seriously, said Wade Henderson, who heads the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Continuing to rely on private prisons for federal inmates is neither humane nor budget conscious, Henderson added. We need a justice system that can work better for all people. Yates order did not affect facilities used to detain people in the country illegally. The use of private prisons is expected to surge under President Trumps promised crackdown on illegal immigration. Trump has signed an executive order calling for expansion of immigrant detention facilities and authorized the use of private contractors to construct, operate, or control facilities. Stocks in private prison companies have jumped on Wall Street since Trump won the presidential election, and they continued their rise on news of Sessions order. Facebook

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CPAC and conservative media prepare for Trump By Kurtis Lee The future path of the Republican Party is being debated in the halls of the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland this week. Will it be the party of Donald Trump, an outsider of the GOP establishment, or House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, the definition of establishment? Or, perhaps, of Richard Spencer, a white nationalist leader of the so-called alt-right movement? (Spencer was kicked out of CPAC on Thursday.) Trump is set to address the conference on Friday, and the conservative media are ready for the much-anticipated address. Tomorrow it will be TPAC when hes here, Kellyanne Conway, a senior advisor to Trump told reporters Thursday. Here are some of todays headlines: Go Big, Go Bold: Walker, at CPAC, pushes GOP to carry out agenda as party controls Congress, White House (Fox News) Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, once a Trump foe, is urging conservatives to use the November election as a mandate. Do what you said you were going to do, Walker said to attendees. In the Fox News piece, which leads its website, it notes that leaders at the conference are hoping to use it to strategize about what they can accomplish and to better articulate their values at a time when the very definition of conservatism has seemed to waver. Sweden Democrats: Trump was right (Fox News) Remember last weekend when everyone  including many Swedish politicians  were really confused about Trumps comments at a recent rally? You look at whats happening last night in Sweden, Trump, at a rally in Florida on Saturday, said about the Scandinavian country that has accepted large numbers of refugees. Sweden. They took in large numbers. Theyre having problems like they never thought possible. Actually, not much happened in Sweden on Friday night. Trump said later that he had been referring to a broadcast on Fox News on that night. Still, recent riots in the country were covered extensively by conservative media. This post notes a recent op-ed penned by Jimmie Akesson and Mattias Karlsson, both leaders of the Sweden Democrats, in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday supporting Trumps characterization of a Muslim immigrant-led crime crisis in Sweden. In it they write, Trump did not exaggerate Swedens current problems.  If anything, he understated them. Trump Is Letting DREAMers Stay, And Rush Is Fine With That (Daily Caller) Hes an immigration hard liner, and, apparently, hes OK with Trump allowing DREAMERs to remain in the country. This piece highlights comments by Rush Limbaugh this week. A lot of people think that Trumps caving because if you allow the DREAMers to stay, were talking 750,000 DREAMers, kids, who each have two parents who could come in. Look, this is a-no-win, Limbaugh said this week. Nobodys gonna win anything by deporting a bunch of kids that we let in. Facebook

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Trump advisor Steve Bannon rails at corporatist, globalist media By Noah Bierman Steve Bannon to the #CPAC crowd: "If you think they're going to give you your country back without a fight, you're sadly mistaken" pic.twitter.com/ryw7iO0Snr  POLITICO (@politico) February 23, 2017 The two men with the most heavily dissected relationship in President Trumps White House held a rare public appearance together Thursday and agreed on one common enemy: the media. Reince Priebus, the chief of staff who is often described as embattled, said he has grown conditioned to the media counting Trump out: during the presidential campaign, the transition and the first month of the presidency. The biggest misconception is everything that youre reading, Priebus said. Steve Bannon, Trumps chief strategist, framed his complaint as an ideological war. He consistently called the media the opposition party throughout a 20-minute joint interview on stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference just outside of Washington. Its not only not going to get better, it gets worse every day, Bannon said. Theyre corporatist, globalist media that are adamantly opposed to an economic nationalist agenda like Donald Trump has. If you think theyre going to give you your country back without a fight, he added. You are sadly mistaken. Bannon, former executive chairman of the far-right Breitbart News, seldom speaks in public. His nationalist rendering of Republican ideology is often seen in contrast to Priebus, the former chairman of the GOP, who is viewed as the more mainstream conservative advocate within the White House. The two men said the tension between them portrayed in the media is inaccurate. But as they praised each other, the men made clear that Bannon sees his role as dominant in shaping Trumps policy. Bannon praised Priebus for doggedly keeping the trains running -- one of the toughest jobs Ive ever seen in my life. Bannon talked about being in the first inning of shaping a new political order and beginning the deconstruction of the administrative state. Priebus used more prosaic language and spoke of Bannon as the one who pushes Trump to maintain his bold vision. He is very dogged in making sure that every day the promises that President Trump made are the promises were working on, Priebus said of Bannon. Facebook

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In Mexico, Homeland Security chief says there will be no mass deportations of people in U.S. illegally By Patrick J. McDonnell Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly, left, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Mexico City on Thursday. (Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP/Getty Images) Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly, on a visit to Mexico, said Thursday that there will be no mass deportations of people living in the U.S. illegally. Kelly also said U.S. military forces would not be used in deportation efforts and that any deportation cases would go through the U.S. legal system. No. Repeat, no use of military force in immigration operations, Kelly said at a news conference at the Foreign Relations Ministry in Mexico City. None. Well approach this operation systematically, in an organized way, in a results-oriented way, in an operation and and in a human dignity way. Kelly and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are in Mexico City to discuss a wide variety of issues, including immigration and security, with Mexican government officials. Kellys remarks came the same day President Trump called recent raids in the U.S. an unprecedented enforcement effort. You see whats happening at the border. All of a sudden for the first time, were getting gang members out, he said. Were getting really bad dudes out of this country, and at a rate that nobodys ever seen before. Read More Facebook

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Mexico bracing for long battle with Trump administration, foreign minister tells lawmakers By Patrick J. McDonnell Mexico Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray (Brian Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) Mexico is preparing for a long battle with the administration of President Trump, its foreign minister reportedly told lawmakers in private comments, adding that the country was prepared to retaliate with new tariffs if necessary. We are here preparing for a battle that is going to be long, Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray told federal deputies Wednesday, according to the newspaper La Jornada, which said it had obtained a copy of the comments. This is not going to be resolved in three days. In the reported remarks, Videgaray said Mexico was prepared to retaliate with new tariffs on U.S.-made goods should the Trump administration follow up on its threats to slap an export tax of 20% or more of goods imported from Mexico to the United States. There was no official response from the Mexican Foreign Ministry on Videgarays reported remarks. Videgaray was among the Mexican officials, including President Enrique Pena Nieto, who met this week with a pair of visiting White House Cabinet members, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly. The private remarks were apparently made on Wednesday, when the two Trump envoys were scheduled to arrive in Mexico City. Read More Facebook

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Homeland Security tried to downplay immigration raids as routine. Now Trump says theyre unprecedented By Michael A. Memoli (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) After nationwide immigration raids this month in which more than 680 people were arrested, the Department of Homeland Security issued a nothing-to-see-here statement downplaying the sweeps as strictly ordinary. ICE conducts these kind of targeted enforcement operations regularly and has for many years, the agency said last week, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But President Trump had a different take Thursday, labeling the raids an unprecedented enforcement effort. You see whats happening at the border. All of a sudden for the first time, were getting gang members out, he said before a roundtable on manufacturing. Were getting really bad dudes out of this country, and at a rate that nobodys ever seen before. Under President Obama, deportations peaked at 400,000 people in 2012, touching off widespread criticism from immigration advocates, which prompted Homeland Security to scale back deportations. Last year, deportations fell to 240,000 as the Obama administration focused on targets similar to what Trump described in the raids conducted under his authority: criminals, repeat immigration violators and recent arrivals. Trump also called the sweeps this month a military operation, even though no military resources were involved and the White House has pushed back aggressively on reports that the administration was considering seeking National Guard forces to assist in deportations. Homeland Security said the raids were conducted by ICE agents, U.S. marshals and state and local law enforcement agencies. What has been allowed to come into our country, when you see gang violence that youve read about like never before, and all of the things  much of that is people that are here illegally, Trump said. Theyre rough and theyre tough, but theyre not tough like our people. So were getting them out. Of the 680 arrests last week, 161 occurred in Los Angeles and surrounding counties. Three-quarters of those detained in the Los Angeles-area sweeps were from Mexico. Trump noted that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly traveled to Mexico this week on a tough trip. We have to be treated fairly by Mexico, Trump said. Facebook

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White nationalist leader Richard Spencer booted from Conservative Political Action Conference By Matt Pearce Reporters surround white supremacist Richard Spencer during the first day of the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 23, 2017. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) One of Americas most prominent white nationalists, Richard Spencer, was kicked out of the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday after conference organizers gave him credentials to attend and then wavered on whether to let him stay. Spencer, who coined the term alternative right to describe his far-right views on separating the races, came to CPAC to attend a speech that was critical of the alt-right. CPAC organizer Matt Schlapp took pains to distance CPAC from the fringe Spencer represents. The alt-right does not have a legitimate voice in the conservative movement, said Schlapp, adding that nobody from that movement is speaking at CPAC. Read More Just talked to CPAC organizer Matt Schlapp. Said he didn't endorse Richard Spencer's ideas but won't kick him out of the conference.  Matt Pearce  (@mattdpearce) February 23, 2017 Basically their line on this is, if they actually agreed with his ideas, they'd put him on stage, but they don't, and it's a free country.  Matt Pearce  (@mattdpearce) February 23, 2017 Change of plans. Richard Spencer just got kicked out of CPAC.  Matt Pearce  (@mattdpearce) February 23, 2017 Facebook

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Obamacare 101: Are health insurance marketplaces in a death spiral? By Noam N. Levey (Don Ryan / Associated Press) Its been a rocky few months for the health insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act. Even if youre not one of the roughly 11 million Americans who rely on these online markets to get your health insurance, youve probably seen the headlines about rising premiums and insurance companies pulling out of the system. Last week, national insurance giant Humana announced it would stop selling plans on the marketplace. Aetnas chief executive claimed the marketplaces are in a death spiral. Republicans say the marketplaces are Exhibit A that Obamacare is collapsing. So whats the real story? Are these things really kaput or can they be fixed? Heres a rundown of where things stand. Read More Facebook

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Trump administration wants tax reform done by August, Mnuchin says By Jim Puzzanghera The Trump administration wants to overhaul the tax code by August, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday, laying out an aggressive timetable in his first significant public comments since taking office last week. Our economic agenda, the No. 1 issue is growth, and the first most important thing that will impact growth is a tax plan, Mnuchin said in an interview with CNBC. So we are committed to pass tax reform, he said. We want to get this done by the August recess. Read More Facebook

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Loud and angry, protesters turn congressional town halls into must-see political TV By Mark Z. Barabak (Bill Pugliano / Getty Images) They came by the hundreds, in big cities and rural hamlets, to heckle, plead, badger and, in some instances, to protest the protests themselves. Congress is in recess this week, and a citizenry suddenly spurred to action used the opportunity to let their returning lawmakers know just how they feel about the tempestuous last month in Washington. Winners make policy and losers go home, a taunting Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate leader, told an invitation-only gathering in his home state of Kentucky, as about 1,000 protesters gathered outside. Not exactly. The town hall meeting, a throwback to a time of more intimate connection, has become a political organizing tool in the social media age  a piece of performance theater and a worldwide stage. Obamacare, immigration, environmental regulation, Social Security, Russian meddling in the 2016 election and Trump, Trump, Trump  all poured forth this week in the form of questions, loudly and heatedly. Read More Facebook

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Trump administration rescinds guidelines on protections for transgender students By Michael A. Memoli The Trump administration rescinded an Obama-era directive Wednesday aimed at protecting transgender students rights, questioning its legal grounding. Under the guidelines, schools had been required to treat transgender students according to their stated gender identity, and either allow access to restrooms and locker rooms for the gender they identify with or provide private facilities if requested. The Obama administration had said that students gender identities were protected under Title IX requirements, which prohibit federally funded schools from discriminating on the basis of sex. But officials in the Education and Justice departments said that their predecessors failed to make their case, citing significant litigation spurred by the policy. Read More Facebook

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Americans in Mexico protest Trumps inflammatory rhetoric during Tillerson visit By Kate Linthicum A group of Americans living in Mexico is planning a protest Thursday to send a message to visiting U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Their gripe? President Trumps inflammatory rhetoric. Thats according to a draft of a letter that several groups organizing the protest hope to deliver to Tillerson, who is in town along with Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly for talks with top Mexican officials. The letter, which will be cosigned by the Mexican chapter of Democrats Abroad, as well as other groups, complains about Trumps hostile attitude toward Mexico, which it says is engendering nationalistic sentiments in Mexico. Among Trumps hostile acts, the letter says, is Trumps vow to build a border wall and force Mexico to pay for it. The idea of building a wall ... frames Mexico and Mexicans as foreign invaders, the letter says. It also criticizes Trump for pledging to renegotiate NAFTA, saying, The U.S. and Mexico are deeply connected economies and it is in the interest of the United States to strengthen the regional production network to boost manufacturing employment in the U.S. and ensure the long-run competitiveness of manufacturing in the region. There are more than a million U.S. citizens living in Mexico, and many have been vocal since Trumps election. Last month, thousands turned out for a womens march outside the American Embassy that saw crowds chanting anti-Trump slogans. Facebook

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Mexico will never accept unilateral American immigration rules, foreign secretary says By Patrick McDonnell Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray said defending the rights of Mexican immigrants is the first point in the agenda for talks with U.S. officials. (Christian Palma / Associated Press) Mexico will reject any unilateral effort from the United States to impose immigration or other policies on the Mexican government, the countrys foreign secretary said Wednesday. I want to make clear, in the most emphatic way, that the government of Mexico and the Mexican people do not have to accept measures that, in a unilateral way, one government wants to impose on another, Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray said in public comments. That we are not going to accept. He spoke a day after the Trump administration unveiled tough new measures to enforce immigration laws and deport people who are in the country illegally  proposals that were widely portrayed in the Mexican media as a prelude to massive deportations. On Wednesday, two top Trump administration cabinet members  Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly  were arriving in Mexico for talks with that nations officials, including Videgaray. Immigration, trade and law enforcement issues were expected to be discussed at a tense moment in U.S.-Mexican relations. In his reported comments, the Mexican secretary did not single out any specific U.S. proposal as objectionable. Mexican officials have acknowledged there is little they can do to counter U.S. immigration policies. Among other things, the Trump administration has proposed sending non-Mexican citizens detained along the U.S.-Mexico border back to Mexico. Mexican officials would presumably have to sign off on such a plan. Mexico already detains and deports thousands of Central Americans annually who cross Mexican territory with the hope of entering the United States illegally via the U.S.-Mexico border. U.S. authorities have worked with their Mexican counterparts to halt the Central American influx. The Mexican foreign secretary made it clear that immigration would be at the top of the list of items to be discussed during meetings with the U.S. Cabinet secretaries. Defending the rights of Mexican immigrants is the first point in the agenda, said Videgaray. He also said Mexico could take the issue of the rights of Mexican immigrants to the United Nations and other international agencies. Facebook

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Both in power and in turmoil, conservatives head to Conservative Political Action Conference to see whats next By Matt Pearce Josh Platillero (Matt Pearce / Los Angeles Times) The eyes of men in crisp blazers darted toward passing faces and identification badges, looking for a familiar face, a famous name. As Fox News host Sean Hannity prepared to broadcast a live show from a ballroom, a brief chant burst out from the audience: U-S-A! U-S-A! Its that time of year again: Hundreds of Republicans began arriving Wednesday at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Md., just south of Washington, for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. CPAC, as its best known, is a place for conservative political figures and activists to gather, schmooze, hammer out new ideas and audition for starring roles in the Republican Party. And this year, CPAC attendees have a lot to talk about. Their party is in control of Congress, the White House and dozens of state governments across America, and yet not at all at peace with itself. President Trump is expected to address the conference later in the week after winning on a platform of populist nationalism that some conservatives have accused of not being conservative at all. Breitbart News, the brash rising star of right-wing media, is one of the conferences top promoters, but one of its staffers, Milo Yiannopoulos, lost his speaking slot at CPAC and resigned from the news organization after video circulated showing him appearing to promote pedophilia. Some conservatives had backed Yiannopoulos and cried censorship when the provocateur offended liberals at college speaking events, but now they had become offended themselves. Still, as CPAC began on Wednesday, the mood was upbeat. This was a victorious movement, after all. Many new guests were greeted by the sight of Josh Platillero, 23, wearing a cartoonishly large stovepipe hat and a suit the colors of the American flag. I love networking, said Platillero, who recently lived in Knoxville, Tenn., before moving to the D.C. area to work with a conservative nonprofit, the Leadership Institute. Its his second year attending CPAC, and he was excited about the lineup of speakers, which include some of the White House staff. I think our new president is not perfect, but I think hes doing good things, he said. Ariel Kohane, 45, who came from the Upper West Side in Manhattan, stood in the lobby holding signs that read, Jews for Trump, in both English and Hebrew. I love the fact that I can get together with many of my fellow conservative friends and colleagues and we can all be very proud of ourselves with all our accomplishments and the fact that we get to strategize and plan ways to further expand conservatism across America and across the whole world, Kohane said. Facebook

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Pence condemns Jewish center bomb threats and visits desecrated cemetery in Missouri By Jaweed Kaleem (Michael Conroy / Associated Press) Visiting Fenton, Mo., on Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence condemned a string of bomb threats against Jewish community centers around the nation and the desecration of a St. Louis-area Jewish cemetery over the weekend. Speaking just yesterday, President Trump called this a horrible and painful act. And so it was. That along with other recent threats to the Jewish community centers around the country, said Pence, who was visiting the headquarters of the Fabick Cat machinery company. He declared it all a sad reminder of the work that still must be done to root out hate and prejudice and evil. We condemn this vile act of vandalism and those who perpetuate it in the strongest possible terms. The vice president said it was inspiring how the people of Missouri have rallied around the Jewish community with compassion and support. Among those showing solidarity with the Jewish community is a group of Muslims who launched an online fundraising campaign to help repair the cemetery. Donors had pledged more than $90,000 by Wednesday afternoon. Pence later visited the Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in University City, Mo., where nearly 200 tombstones had been toppled over the weekend. Facebook

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Trumps move on transgender bathroom access sparks interest By Kurtis Lee (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) For President Trump, commenting on social issues  such as same-sex marriage and abortion  has never seemed much of a priority. Indeed, throughout the campaign, Trump hardly discussed the topics. When asked about transgender bathroom access at a town hall in April 2016, Trump said people should be able to use whichever bathroom they choose. He then moved on from the question, offering little else. Now it appears his administration is set to wade into the controversy. Its a topic the conservative media loves to explore. Here are some of todays headlines: Return to normalcy: Trump readies reversal of transgender bathroom lunacy in public schools (Daily Caller) What will the Trump administration do about transgender bathroom access? The Caller highlights White House Press Secretary Sean Spicers pronouncement on the issue: This is a states rights issue and not one for the federal government, Spicer told reporters. The lunacy referred to is the federal guidance President Obama issued prior to leaving office directing schools that receive federal funding to allow transgender students to use restrooms and other facilities that match their gender identities. Several states filed suit to overturn the directive, and a federal judge issued a temporary injunction barring its enforcement, which remains in place. Several states, following the lead of North Carolina, are seeking to implement legislation that bans transgender people from using the bathrooms of the gender with which they identify. 66 percent of Trump voters change the channel when awards shows get too political (Daily Caller) When Meryl Streep criticized President Trump last month in her Golden Globes speech, he replied quickly. Meryl Streep, one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood, doesnt know me but attacked last night at the Golden Globes, Trump tweeted. Well, Trump can probably expect more barbs as actors (in overwhelmingly liberal Hollywood) take the stage at the Oscars on Sunday. Lots of Trump voters can be expected to change the channel, according to this piece, which highlights a new poll on the subject. The Hollywood Reporter says that 66% of Trump voters said they have stopped watching an awards show because a celebrity started talking about politics while accepting an award. By contrast, only 19% of Hillary Clintons supporters have done so. Trump talks tolerance, decries anti-Semitism, but media remain skeptical (Fox News) Well, Trump finally did say something to condemn the anti-Semitic vandalism and threats that have taken place since his presidential victory. Anti-Semitism is horrible, Trump said in an interview with MSNBC on Tuesday. In the Fox News piece, Howard Kurtz argues the media should give the president more credit for speaking out. I always think its unfair to blame a political leader for violence or vandalism carried out by people who support him, he writes. I felt the same way about critics who blamed Barack Obama for urban riots or shootings of police officers. Facebook

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Among Republicans, Trump is more popular than congressional leaders By David Lauter Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) walk together. (Matt Rourke / Associated Press) Amid strain between the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress, the White House holds the high ground, a new survey indicates. Among Republicans, President Trump has greater popularity than the partys congressional leaders. Asked specifically who they would trust if the two sides disagreed, most Republicans chose Trump over their partys leadership. The findings, from a new survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center underscore Trumps continued sway with the Republican congressional majority. Although the president has historically low job approval ratings among the public at large, he remains highly popular among Republican partisans and in Republican districts. As for Democrats, theyre strongly in an oppositional mood. Asked if they were more worried that Democrats in Congress would go too far in opposing Trump or not go far enough, more than 70% of Democrats said they feared their party would not go far enough. Only 20% said they worried the party would go too far. Republicans in Congress have eyed Trump warily on several fronts. His positions on trade and entitlement reform break with years of the partys positions. His reluctance to criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin has generated tension. And the administrations lack of clarity on healthcare and tax policy have Republican leaders guessing which way to turn on major issues. But Republican partisans have fewer reservations than their elected representatives. Eighty-six percent to 13%, those who identify as Republicans or as independents who lean Republican have a favorable view of Trump, the Pew survey found. By comparison, 57% have a favorable view of Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, with 22% unfavorable and 21% having no opinion. House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin is slightly better known, with 65% of Republicans holding a favorable view, 23% an unfavorable view and 13% having no opinion. Asked who they would trust if the two sides disagreed, 52% of Republicans said they would side with Trump and 34% with the Republicans in Congress. Republicans younger than 40 were the only major exception; 52% to 36%, they said they would side with Congress. At the same time, Republican partisans now have a warmer opinion of their party leadership than they had during most of President Obamas tenure. Republicans' approval of their congressional leaders has more than doubled since 2015 https://t.co/KSo1hRMhJj pic.twitter.com/WHTHxCNEFq  Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) February 22, 2017 During the Obama years, GOP partisans tended to be frustrated that their side could not reverse the presidents initiatives, even with a majority in the House, starting in 2010, and then in the Senate for Obamas last two years. Their view of the GOP leadership has rebounded strongly since the election. Democrats view of their congressional leadership has been more stable. And both sides widely dislike the other partys leaders. Facebook

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Supreme Court rejects use of racial stereotypes in death penalty cases By David Savage The Supreme Court rejected the use of racial stereotypes in death penalty cases Wednesday, reopening the case of a black man in Texas who was sentenced to die after his jury was told African Americans are more likely than whites to commit crimes. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said this testimony had no place in a sentencing hearing and appealed to the racial stereotype that black men are prone to violence. Our laws punish people for what they do, not for who they are, the chief justice said in the courtroom. The 6-2 decision faults Texas authorities for refusing to give a new sentencing hearing to Duane Buck, a Houston man who was convicted of shooting and killing his ex-girlfriend and seriously injuring her new boyfriend in 1995. Buck was found guilty of murder, but when his jury was debating his fate, his court-appointed defense attorney put on the witness stand an expert who cited statistics showing blacks are more likely to commit future crimes than whites. After hearing this testimony, the jury decided to sentence Buck to death. Years later, Texas state attorneys set aside the death sentences for six other black defendants whose juries heard similar testimony, but they refused to reopen Bucks case. In Buck vs. Davis, the high court said that was a mistake. The jury was deciding the question of life or death, and this is no place for the introduction of a particularly noxious strain of racial prejudice, Roberts said. The court sent the case back to judges in Texas to reconsider the death sentence. Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, along with Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. Thomas said Buck was properly sentenced to die for a brutal murder, and he insisted the court should not have heard the case for procedural reasons. Having settled on a desired outcome, the court bulldozes procedural obstacles and misapplies settled law to justify it, he wrote. Facebook

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At Rep. Tony Cardenas town hall, Democrats worry about what Donald Trump may do By Kurtis Lee (Kurtis Lee/Los Angeles Times ) They arrived with soggy jackets, hats and umbrellas. The topic was supposed to be the Affordable Care Act. But many who attended Democratic Rep. Tony Cardenas town hall meeting Tuesday night in a crammed auditorium at the Cesar E. Chavez Learning Academies came with a question: What can we -- as Democrats -- do to help you? Show up and vote, said Cardenas, who represents a slice of the staunchly liberal San Fernando Valley. (Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump in this district by nearly 60-percentage points in the fall election.) Sign people up, get people involved, he said. At times the meeting had the feel of a therapy session for Democrats, wondering aloud how to function under a Trump administration. Where is the anger among Democrats? asked one man. I want to see more anger. Cardenas, standing at a lectern on an elevated stage, offered a stern look and nodded in agreement as rain could be heard splattering on the roof above. The complaints included Republicans efforts to repeal Obamacare and Trumps new immigration mandates. Trust me, Im pissed. Im upset, Cardenas said. But we have to act constructively. We have to be responsible. Last month, Trump signed executive orders directing the Department of Homeland Security to prioritize the removal of people in the U.S. illegally who have criminal convictions. In addition to speeding up the deportation of convicts, Trumps orders also call for quick removal of people in the country illegally who are charged with crimes and waiting for adjudication. And in recent days, a handful of people who have received protection under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) have been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents nationwide. Cardenas said that for him, the issue is personal. His parents were immigrants from Mexico, who lived in the San Fernando Valley for decades, raising 11 children, he said. Today his district is nearly 70% Latino. Im going to fight for you, he said. Im going to fight for the people who are my immigrant father. When a young man, a DACA recipient, asked him, via Twitter, if hell be safe in the weeks ahead, Cardenas seemed at a loss. I pray that [Trump] doesnt go after you, he said. Facebook

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Killing with kindness, GOPs McClintock faces down hostile questioners as town hall goes into overti
Because he lived just a few blocks away from the former Fresh & Easy store on the corner of Verdugo Avenue and Reese Place, Burbank resident Bob Factor used to frequent the grocery retailer before its demise in 2015.

More than a year later, Factor found himself in that same store, this time branded as Grocery Outlet, an Emeryville-based company that opened its 19th store in Southern California on Thursday.

I kept waiting for something to open here and now we got a discount place, Factor said as he pushed around a cart filled with fresh produce and bread. I go to Trader Joes and Smart & Final, but this place is a block away from me, so its very convenient. Plus, the prices look like theyre going to be good.

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Dozens of residents flocked on opening day to the new supermarket, which boasts items discounted from 40% to 70%, said Todd Pruitt, owner of the Burbank Grocery Outlet store.

I have fruit shakes everyday, and the bananas are cheaper here than most places, Factor said.

Pruitt, who has been in the grocery industry for more than 35 years, said that Grocery Outlet is able to sell the items at such a discount because it mainly purchases its products, which are typically excess inventory for suppliers, at a discount. The savings are then passed on to shoppers.

The company started in 1946, so weve built relationships over the years with major suppliers that come to us because maybe they have items that theyre overstocked on, he said. In turn, we can help them move that product. They trust us as a partner to put their products in a clean, wholesome environment.

Burbank resident Jessica Ferstand said she liked how clean and well organized the new store is and said it reminded her of Smart & Final.

Ferstand said she mostly shops at Ralphs, purely out of convenience. However, she said she had been waiting for a Grocery Outlet to open in Burbank after first learning about it about a month ago.

I think their prices are pretty good, she said. Theres some stuff that isnt worth it, but you just have to be [conscientious] and be a smart shopper.

--

Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpio
Halo-halo is the colorful dessert of indecisive stoner dreams, filled with a hodgepodge of sweets so silly sounding to Westerners that its taken decades to find a following in the U.S.

In the Philippines  where its all but the national dessert, perfect for cooling off during the countrys long, sweltering summers  no one bats an eye at a glass sundae cup loaded above the rim with strata of up to 20 ingredients, no less than half of which are beans, fruits and vegetables drenched in caramelized sugar.

Essentially a serving of shaved ice plopped atop whatever other Filipino sweetness is lying around (think: jackfruit, fermented coconut water, seaweed jelly and evaporated milk; a dollop of flan and a scoop of ice cream made from ube, the purple yam, rest atop), halo-halo is a study in textures, flavors, colors and temperatures.

The desserts name, which translates to mix-mix, could easily be a metaphor for the entire countrys cultural output. Its also an apt name for chef Ross Pangilinans months-old, chef-driven restaurant, another exciting entry currently cementing downtown Santa Ana, the post-post-modern culinary hub of Orange County.

At Mix Mix Kitchen Bar, which occupies the old Little Sparrow space on 3rd Street and Main, Pangilinan presents his own take on its unapologetically messy namesake dessert. In doing so, he reinforces the global mezcla that permeates his entire approach to cooking and demonstrates the glory possible when East meets West goes beyond stale fusion.

Drawing as much from his own Pinoy heritage as it does from his time spent at Michelin-star restaurants in California and France (most recently he spent seven years serving South Coasters at Leatherbys Cafe Rouge), Pangilinans halo-halo gets reenvisioned as a tropical verrine  a European-inspired structured stack of coconut flan, nubs of lychee jelly, preserved kumquats and passion fruit sorbet. A crunch of macadamia nuts ties the dish together.

This kind of international reframing  from France to the Philippines to California and back again, picking up sweet, savory and tangy along the way  happens in every bite at Mix Mix, where studies in textures, flavors, colors and temperatures go beyond desserts.

For starters, there are nibbles as light as a roasted cauliflower stir fry and as rich as crispy pork trotter, all of which are $2 off during happy hour. Tossed with slivers of citrus and cashews, the cauliflower could almost be a SoCal take on Cantonese cashew chicken if not for the swipe of Korean gochujang sauce on the other side of the plate. The sauce allows you to douse the concoction with heat.

The trotter dish is a take on the Filipino delicacy crispy pata, pigs feet prepared with a puffed rind protecting a moist, fatty meat inside. Instead of the usual soy-vinegar dip to go with it, though, a brick of Pangilinans crispy pata sits atop a hazelnut romesco sauce, with the gangly arms of an expertly charred Spanish-style octopus beckoning you to dig in.

Mix Mixs larger dishes veer from distinctly Asian flavors to displays of Pangilinans skill in cooking a traditional hangar steak and his affinity for making fresh pasta. For the latter, which rotates frequently, he recently created a giant, CD-sized raviolo drowned in browned butter and salty guanciale that oozes like a good soup dumpling, with egg yolk and herb ricotta. Another pasta dish, a fettuccine lamb bolognese, could have been plucked from an Old World Italian sit-down if not for the foamy Parmesan air (made from the cheeses rind with the kitchens futuristic aerator) bubbling atop.

The only explicitly Filipino dish in the whole restaurant is the so-called Filipino ceviche, which differs from Latin American versions of the raw fish dish by using vinegar, not citrus, to cook the yellowfin flesh. Thai chilis and a coconut lime froth could also pin the dish to the cuisine of any number of Polynesian islands.

Everything is available a la carte for casual nights or, if you crave a more concentrated exploration of the chefs powerful statements, as a prix fixe three- or four-course menu, which if you choose wisely can save you a good amount of money. Better yet, grab a crew and make reservations in advance for the extra special $65 Oui Chef menu, an omakase-style dinner held at the counter, which looks directly into the open kitchen. Here, Pangilinan himself will deliver and explain each dish.

If you opt for the Oui Chef experience and seem surprised by the mash-up of of intense flavors presented on artfully plated dishes or act confused by the occasional use of pork rinds to add a meaty crunch to an otherwise Euro-centric statement, Pangilinan will likely remind you that even though he is Filipino, Mix Mix is not a modern Filipino restaurant (go to Irenia for that straight-forward goodness).

Mix Mix is, however, the home of unexpected expressions from a Filipino chef in his creative prime. Free from the shackles of corporate cooking, Pangilinan is halo-halo-ing the heck out of the world. All you have to do is eat it.

Mix Mix Kitchen Bar is at 300 N. Main St. in Santa Ana. For information, call (714) 836-5158.

--

SARAH BENNETT is a freelance journalist covering food, drink, music, culture and more. She is the former food editor at L.A. Weekly and a founding editor of Beer Paper L.A. Follow her on Twitter @thesarahbennett.
Students from three Irvine high schools hope to exercise some major brain power in an upcoming scholastic competition that will determine which regional team advances to the National Science Bowl.

The regional competition, which takes place Jan. 30 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, is one of 68 tournaments nationwide that lead up to the finals sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The winning team from each of the 68 regions will earn a spot to compete in the nationals, April 28 to May 2 in Washington, D.C.

Irvine, Northwood and Woodbridge High Schools plan to go up against 28 other teams from Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and Santa Barbara counties.

They were selected on a first-come, first-serve basis, according to Energy Department spokesman Ethan Alpern.

Each participating school will send four students and, if they choose, an alternate.

These are highly ambitious kids who study and dive into really complex material in science, said Bryan Pacheco, a biology teacher and team instructor at Woodbridge High School. Its pretty fierce.

Competitors will battle their brains out in question-and-answer sessions, one team against another. Moderators will read science- and math-related questions aloud, and competitors will press their teams buzzer to chime in with their answers.

The high school contenders will continue to face off in the fast-paced Q&As until one team is left standing.

At Woodbridge, Pacheco has his students sharpen their skills with simulated practice sessions.

Its mainly meant to have them work on their confidence with the buzzer, Pacheco said. Some might be too slow, and others can even be too aggressive. Thats important to know because if you click in too early and say the wrong answer, youll lose points.

Pacheco has around 15 students at Woodbridge who study as a team for regionals, and the group selects which members they will send to the competition.

Students at Northwood High School meet in science instructor Victoria Rossettis classroom during lunch once a week to go over practice questions.

Their team has been reviewing biology, chemistry, astronomy, forensics and other subjects.

You can tell by the rigor of the questions at the competition that these students need to study well above whats in the classroom, Rossetti said. They stay home during weekends to study and meet at lunch during school to practice. They work very hard.

The winning team at the regional competition will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to nationals.

Since the first Science Bowl in 1991, over 250,000 students have participated.
The Laguna Beach Planning Commission on Wednesday gave the owners of a burgeoning beer business an enthusiastic thumbs-up to their request to open a microbrewery and 80-seat restaurant in Laguna Canyon.

On a 4-0 vote, commissioners approved conditional use and coastal development permits for Laguna Beach Beer Co. to set up the business at 859 Laguna Canyon Road, a space that once housed Serras Bar & Grill but has been vacant for the past 10 years.

Mike Lombardo and Brent Reynard, who grew up in Laguna and currently reside in the city, established Laguna Beach Beer Co. in 2014 and for a time contracted with other Southern California facilities for their beer production.

They recently moved into their own production facility and tasting room in Rancho Santa Margarita, where they will continue manufacturing a group of core beers to sell wholesale.

The Laguna Canyon location, next to the [seven-degrees] events venue, will focus on specialty beers and also offer flatbread pizzas and other food, Reynard said.

Lombardo and Reynard wanted to open a microbrewery and restaurant in Laguna from the companys inception, Reynard told the Daily Pilot earlier this week.

The Laguna Beach location is going to be our face of the company, Reynard told commissioners.

Commissioners said the brewery would add to a revitalization of the area, which includes the Ivory Restaurant & Lounge.

Im excited about it; it will be a great anchor for the cluster of businesses and art galleries near the Sawdust Art Festival, Commissioner Susan Whitin said. Its now starting to feel like a place and not a center.

I cant believe its sat vacant for 10 years, Commissioner Ken Sadler said about the particular address. Its going to help. This center has somewhat struggled with continuity.

Canyon resident Lorene Auger said the idea of a microbrewery moving in does not bother her, but she is concerned about people drinking too much and milling about outside.

There is a wall in front that can be easily removed to increase sidewalk usage so we dont have people going into the street, Auger said, referring to the frontage road off the canyon road.

I definitely appreciate the safety concerns, but we are going to focus on specialty high-end beer, Reynard said as Lombardo pulled out tulip and taster glasses from a bag to show commissioners what they plan to use.

Were going to monitor our pours and patrons, because the last thing we want is for somebody to get hurt, said Reynard, suggesting that the microbrewery, with its tasting room, will be more a place for beer connoisseurs than hard drinkers.

Tulip glasses resemble the shape of the flower and accentuate the aroma of the beer, Reynard said Thursday. Taster glasses are for sampling; Reynard said pours will average 4 ounces.

Of the restaurants 80 seats, 29 will be spread among two outdoor patios.

The longtime friends started brewing beer as a hobby after Lombardo received a beer kit from his sister, the Coastline Pilot reported in 2014. For a time, fermentation buckets filled Reynards living room as the two experimented with recipes.

Reynard said they are working on obtaining an applicable license from the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and hope to open June 1.

bryce.alderton@latimes.com

Twitter: @AldertonBryce
Fifth-grade students at Laguna Beachs El Morro Elementary School reenacted Revolutionary War battle scenes and portrayed famous people from that era Thursday as part of an activity called Walk Through the American Revolution.

California Weekly Explorer, a Tustin-based company that specializes in interactive history programs for elementary students throughout the state, organized Thursdays event. El Morro students have participated in the event in previous years.

This really helps the kids connect with the people and events that led to the birth of our nation, teacher Melissa Martinez wrote in an email.

Top of the World Elementary School students will participate in the program Friday.

bryce.alderton@latimes.com

Twitter: @AldertonBryce
A 29-year-old woman previously accused of kidnapping and torturing a woman who authorities say worked for her and two men as a prostitute in Costa Mesa pleaded guilty Wednesday to human trafficking and assault charges, according to court records.

Orange County prosecutors in 2014 charged Cierra Rose Thompson of Oregon with two felony counts of kidnapping, one felony count each of torture, human trafficking, mayhem, aggravated assault, pimping and pandering, with a possible sentencing enhancement for inflicting great bodily injury.

On Wednesday, prosecutors dismissed all counts except human trafficking and assault with a deadly weapon as part of a plea deal, according to Orange County Superior Court records.

Thompson is expected to be sentenced May 26. It was unclear what sentence she might face.

According to prosecutors, Thompson, along with Renice Stevenson Flores-Davis, 28, and Oscar Gonzalez-Salinas, 35, both of Costa Mesa, abused a woman who authorities allege was working for the trio as a prostitute.

Flores-Davis is charged with 10 felonies, including human trafficking, torture, kidnapping and pimping. If convicted, he could land in state prison for 56 years to life, according to the Orange County district attorneys office.

Gonzalez-Salinas is accused of eight felonies, also including human trafficking, torture, kidnapping and pimping. He could face 39 years to life in prison if convicted.

Both men have pleaded not guilty to all charges. They are expected to appear in court March 24 for a preliminary hearing, according to court records.

Authorities allege that in May 2014, Flores-Davis met a then-26-year-old woman in Costa Mesa during a drug deal and persuaded her to work for him as a prostitute.

On July 22, 2014, the district attorneys office contends, Flores-Davis got angry with the woman and burned her with a heated glass pipe used to smoke methamphetamine, used zipties to bind her to a chair, duct-taped her mouth and blindfolded her.

Later that evening, authorities allege, Flores-Davis and Thompson, his girlfriend at the time, taped the womans mouth again and used zipties to tie her to the bathroom sink where she slept.

Flores-Davis and Gonzalez-Salinas are accused of beating the woman five days later and placing a hot electric iron on her back, tying her to a chair and pouring water in her mouth and nose. Thompson was accused of aiding and abetting them, prosecutors said.

The woman was able to send a Facebook message asking for help, police said. The recipient called the Costa Mesa Police Department and directed officers to the Days Inn on Newport Boulevard.

Flores-Davis and Thompson were arrested, and the woman was taken to Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach to be treated for bruises and burns. Gonzalez-Salinas was arrested in a motel nearby.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
Ive kept a close eye on the drama in Newport Beach regarding the controversial Museum House project.

On Feb. 3, I wrote about how last July Museum House developer Bill Witte, chairman and chief executive of Related California, spoke at a real estate conference where he shared some sound advice with his peers about how to maneuver projects that communities opposed.

I questioned how Witte could hand out such reasonable advice yet wind up in the middle of one of the ugliest battles over a development project in Newport history. I wanted to ask Witte about this and more at that time, but he was traveling.

This week I heard from David A. Herbst, managing partner of Vectis Strategies, a public relations firm representing Related.

Herbst claimed I advocate against development and that my column was predicated around the assertion that Bill Witte did not follow his own advice of engaging in community discussions when bringing Museum House through the entitlement process.

Herbst also said I was factually incorrect, and that Witte and his team held more than 100 meetings with various community groups, local leaders and stakeholders, receiving feedback before and during the entitlement process.

First, let me say, in my 10 years as an opinion columnist, many development projects have moved forward in Costa Mesa and Newport that have never made it into my columns. Thats because there wasnt anything objectionable or terribly controversial about them.

And, quite frankly, Museum House wouldnt have made my columns either, if not for Line in the Sands referendum campaign to put the project before voters, the ugly campaign trying to stop the initiative, the Irvine Co.'s objection and lawsuit (later dropped) and other controversies.

The stage was set for high drama, and thats exactly what played out. And thats what I wrote about.

Ive never voiced an opinion about the project itself, only on the controversy that transpired.

And Im not alone in the feeling that very public, and often ugly, debate over the project mattered here.

My husband, Stan, initially a Museum House supporter, changed his mind about the project after being confronted and told not to sign a petition to put the project on the ballot by two young, aggressive men in front of the Westcliff Plaza CVS on Irvine Avenue. This happened after he stopped at a Line in the Sand petition table to chat with the ladies there.

Former Newport Councilman Keith Curry, who originally voted for the project and then later signed the referendum petition, tells me he never thought this was a bad project, but they handled their politics all wrong with the community, the worst Ive ever seen.

Based on his years as a councilman, Curry says he sees development as a delicate dance with the community and feels its the responsibility of the developer to manage that.

It was managed very poorly, he said.

Also, the Feb 3. column never stated Related didnt meet with the community, as the letter to me implied. (Related most certainly did meet with the community). However, the fact remains that this whole project got totally out of hand.

Herbst said that Witte even met privately with SPONs leadership numerous times. This included meetings with Jean Watt, Susan Skinner, Nancy Skinner and Tim Stoaks. Unfortunately, SPON was unwilling to offer any ideas except blanket opposition to Museum House.

Stoaks is a spokesman for Line in the Sand and  full disclosure  is also my neighbor and friend. He confirmed Witte did meet with his group. Line in the Sand has objected to the height of the project and argued that it didnt follow the voter-approved general plan.

It was obvious to us that they wanted to build their project, as is, and were not open to compromise, Stoaks said.

Looking back at the events that bring us to today, it seems obvious Related California and Line in the Sand were never going to see eye to eye here.

I believe there were judgment calls made as strategies were being developed on both sides of this battle, that I imagine, in hindsight, some would come to regret.

BARBARA VENEZIA lives in Newport Beach. She can be reached at bvontv1@gmail.com.
Organizers working to open a charter school in Glendale announced they are not giving up even as the possibility to open the schools doors this fall has become very unlikely, according to the schools newsletter that was sent to subscribers on Tuesday.

The development team for the International Studies Language Academy, or ILSA, has not yet found a facility in Glendale to house the school, which would offer dual-language immersion courses in German, Spanish, Italian and French.

During the past few months, the schools negotiations with one local facility fell through, according to the newsletter.

Join the conversation on Facebook >>

In 2015 and 2016, the Glendale Unified School Board and the Los Angeles County Board of Education denied a petition to operate the charter school in Glendale Unifieds boundaries.

The State Board of Education subsequently granted approval of the petition on appeal, but it came with the requirement that the academy operate within the Jewel City.

We are mandated to find a location within the boundaries of Glendale Unified School District, which has proven to be a daunting task with the limited inventory of potential sites and restrictive zoning requirements in the city, the newsletter states.

A recent request by ISLA to use Glendale Unifieds facilities under Prop. 39 was denied by the school board last month, with school officials describing the charter schools application as faulty.

While these factors make the possibility of opening this fall very unlikely, our commitment hasnt wavered, according to the newsletter.

ISLAs organizers are now considering submitting a petition to the Los Angeles Unified School District to operate within that districts borders.

This is promising for many reasons, one of which would be the relative ease in finding a site. We would still seek to locate in the same general geographic area, but Los Angeles has greater inventory, and zoning ordinances which are friendlier for schools, the newsletter states.

Members of the team, which calls itself the ISLA Development Team, also ask their newsletter subscribers for support, should they draft a new petition to locate their school in Los Angeles Unified.

Of course, this option would mean undergoing the petitioning process with LAUSD, but we believe this would be worth pursuing, and hope that we can count on your continued support with this new petition, according to the newsletter.

Guendalina Ajello Mahler, a member of the charter schools board, declined to provide any further comment or confirmation of when the organizers might petition Los Angeles Unified.

To read the article in Spanish, click here

--

Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com

Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
A Los Angeles man involved with a lottery scam that targeted elderly victims, including a Glendale woman, pleaded guilty to wire and mail fraud charges in federal court on Monday.

Carl Bullock, 65, of Los Angeles, admitted to his participation in a scam that informed victims by phone and mail that they had won lottery prizes. In some instances, a fake Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes letter was used.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the people who were targeted were told they had to pay a fee or tax in order to collect their prize.

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Bullocks involvement came to light in 2014 after the Glendale Police Department was informed by a local bank employee that an 83-year-old woman had made several large withdrawals from her bank account.

Tahnee Lightfoot, a spokeswoman for the Glendale Police Department, said at the time that the woman first received a call in March 2014 from a man calling himself Christopher Jones who told her that she had won $7 million in a lottery. However, in order to receive the winnings, the woman would have to send $6,000 to Jones.

Detectives then discovered the woman was scammed out of $52,000 over the course of several weeks. Jones convinced the woman to buy prepaid money cards, and Bullock even came to her home on several occasions to collect cash, according to police.

Bullock was subsequently arrested at his home in April 2014 and was eventually turned over to federal authorities.

The Department of Justice said in 2016 that at least 25 people were reportedly scammed out of nearly $200,000 by Bullock and others involved in the scam. Bullock personally received at least $45,000 that he then distributed to his accomplices  most of whom live in Jamaica.

Bullock is scheduled to be sentenced on April 17. The two charges each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

--

Andy Nguyen, andy.nguyen@latimes.com

Twitter: @Andy_Truc
I understand the temptation to add one more thing to statewide public school curriculum. I have my own list of subjects Id like to see all students learn, from choral music in the primary grades to academically integrated work experience in high school.

After all, public schools present the best opportunity to expand understanding and affect behaviors for generations of Californians.

So it comes as no surprise that some legislators are proposing curriculum adjustments to address the countrys fake news problem. Nor was it unexpected that at least one school board candidate is promoting financial literacy instruction, much as I did in a column last month. (Education challenges are nothing new, Jan. 21-22.)

But adding a course, even adding new material to an existing course, presents challenges for schools and students alike.

Many students will tell you, There just isnt time in the day. Especially among students aiming at a four-year university, the A to G requirements  the core academic and elective classes needed for college admission  rule their lives.

Since most courses take a year to complete and take up one-sixth of a students normal six-period day, adding a class is no small thing.

For schools and teachers, new courses present other challenges. Curriculum must be written and approved. Since high school teachers need subject-matter credentials to be considered highly qualified, they may need additional coursework to teach a new course.

Even new material within a subject area requires teacher training and dedicated staff-development time, always of some concern to teachers unions.

In advanced placement classes that can provide students with college credits, the pace of instruction and scope of the year-end test leave teachers with little or no time for additional topics.

Even in elementary classrooms, where teachers have received arts instruction as part of their credential, arts often take a back seat to the core curriculum areas in which they feel more comfortable  and which are tested. But arts are usually best taught by teaching artists anyway.

A classroom visitor will often impress students in ways a classroom teacher wont, however well-versed the instructor. Ive heard teachers bemoan how their students respond to their advice in the same unimpressed way they respond to their parents. But bring in a professional saying the same thing, and the students listen.

Our district has engaged professional artists more than once in my experience, using a train-the-trainer model for elementary arts instruction. In those cases, visiting artists led students in multiweek programs in music, dance or drama as teachers observed. The classroom teachers were then expected to incorporate the lessons into their own instruction in the ensuing years.

I think most of the teachers whose classes participated in the programs would agree that the follow-up teaching didnt quite happen  and for understandable reasons. A classroom teacher whos not a dancer will not model dance moves as effectively as a dancer could.

We cant and shouldnt expect classroom instructors to teach their students everything we want our children to learn. So how can we ensure our students receive the important information they need without overburdening them, their teachers or the system?

I say we envision a school system with schedules designed so classroom teachers regularly welcome consulting experts to augment instruction. Teachers could focus on the fundamentals of their curriculum  which industry representatives remind us remain extremely important  and their critically important role in building relationships with students. The visiting partners would add their artistic expertise or real-world stories of the skills they use on the job.

In the primary grades, for example, all students might get 10 weeks of classroom choral music and movement, taught by musicians.

Upper-grade elementary students could study drama to build teamwork and oral-presentation skills.

Middle schools might create career-exploration classes, with regular participation by visiting engineers, graphic artists, scientists and entrepreneurs of all kinds. Classroom teachers could incorporate the real-world examples into their math, science and art instruction.

Consulting experts could address noncurricular areas, too, including physical and emotional health. I attended a training on emotional intelligence offered last week by Glendale Community College. The focus was on recognizing and dealing with the emotional responses of others in the workplace.

Wouldnt it be great if we could take this information to kids in the schools? a mental health counselor asked me. Shed love to figure out a way to help students learn early how to navigate the sea of human emotions.

In the new economy, where so much employment is project-based and so many people work at two or more jobs, is it unreasonable to imagine a school where teachers collaborate regularly with outside experts who are between jobs? Everyone would benefit.

So, though I understand the challenges that come with teaching one more thing, I cant help looking for ways to do it... and to fund it.

--

JOYLENE WAGNER is a past member of the Glendale Unified School Board and an advocate for many things. Email her at jkate4400@aol.com.
I am opposed to allowing multiple dwellings in R1 zones.

I urge the City Council to institute the most restrictive limits possible and support staffs recommendations.

Before the city considers spending a single tax dollar to appeal the water case, I suggest they instead fight Sacramento on this theft of local land use control.

In April the voters will be watching.

Brian Ellis

Glendale

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No need for Grayson fixes?

Re: Glendale Water & Power looks to upgrade Grayson Power Plant, Feb. 8. What perfect timing on staff writer Jeff Landas piece about plans to upgrade the Grayson Power Plant!

Just the day before, The Los Angeles Times covered a groundbreaking proposal by Republican luminaries for a national carbon tax. The carbon tax idea has been raised before by both Democrats and Republicans, but with Republican climate denial, it never seemed to have much hope. This weeks Republican announcement really changes things.

In that light, I started wondering how this would shift the economics on Grayson. If natural gas is now going to be taxed at $40/ton of CO2 (as the proposal calls for), maybe GWP should be looking harder for new sources of solar and wind power than rebuilding an old energy facility. Just a thought.

Daniel Brotman

Adjunct Professor of Economics

Glendale College

..

Let school districts decide

The Feb. 15 edition of the Glendale News-Press reported on a proposal by state Sen. Anthony Portantino to require schools to begin classes after 8:30 in the morning. While the proposal is based upon some research citing the benefits of a later start for some teenagers, the proposal ignores the rights of local school districts and the parents.

The proposal uses legislative power over the existing power of local districts and, indeed the power provided to the state Department of Education, to establish school hours. The governance of local schools is something that should remain at the local level without the interference of state government mandates.

One could argue that state mandates have not improved the educational standards and may have reduced the quality of education. I would suggest we not fix something just to say we fixed it. Let local districts decide their own hours based upon the local needs of the districts and the needs of the parents. The Legislature might better serve us by repairing our infrastructure like roads, dams and levees.

Bob Taylor

La Crescenta
Last Saturday afternoon I was settling in to binge-watch the last season of Downton Abbey. If I got started at 4 p.m., I figured, Id finish by 2 a.m. Sunday.

It was a typical Saturday afternoon. Kaitzer was multitasking. She was grading papers, cooking, doing laundry and cleaning closets. Since both kids are off to college, were empty nesters, which gives her more time to accomplish those formidable tasks.

Kaitzer sashayed by me, carrying about 20 pounds of laundry. Oh! Kaitzer asked me not to mention her name in this write, so Ill refer to her as Beatrice.

Joe, Beatrice said, as she barely peeked over the pile of laundry. Dont forget we have the Juniors fundraiser tonight at the country club.

The Juniors, I remarked. You mean like Danny and the Juniors (At the Hop)? I can be funnier than the sight of someone trying to put socks on a rooster. Not appreciating my humor, Beatrice glared at me with a deadpan stare. In 1965, I was Class Wit at Mount Saint Michael, and yet I get no respect.

I couldnt feign a stomachache, so I quickly responded, I have nothing to wear.

In a calm voice, Beatrice replied, Just be ready by 6.

I flew down to T.J. Maxx and grabbed a black shirt off the rack. Having a distinct eye for color coordination, Id wear a black shirt with blue jeans. Black and blue. Perfect!

At the club, Beatrice was chatting up friends while I attempted to check in at the table in the foyer. A lady wearing a mask with feathers asked for my name. I was hesitant. I thought shed run me through a database and find that I had delinquent library fines from the 1950s. Beatrice stepped up and saved me; everybody knew her.

I have to admit that the room was beautifully adorned. There was a distinctly festive atmosphere. Nevertheless, I began to shake, since it was the same room where I suffered through two years of cotillion with our offspring.

The La Canada Junior Womens Club is rich in the tradition of service. The women live each day trying to accomplish something meaningful rather than merely exist. This is not mere rhetoric or self-reporting platitudes. The altruism of the members is deeply embedded in service to the community and making a difference. Their uniqueness lies in the diversity of services as their philanthropy represents the passions and will of its members. The theme of the evening was Mardi Gras and they raised funds for Five Acres and the Ronald McDonald House of Pasadena.

I sat at the table with the brass. President Brenda Gant, event co-chair, Rayni Peavy, Analily Park, Jane Owen and Beatrice. These women are steeped in altruism and give credence to Alexis de Tocquevilles thought, Our greatness as a people is an aspect of our collective character manifesting itself through good works. All the ladies who gathered that evening, the likes of Tanya Pereira and Kelly Chamberlain, were a manifestation of that collective character.

I was worried that Beatrice spent too much time at the silent auction. Id never get that new truck. I was so sad (ha!) when she was outbid and lost the Cowgirl Princess gift basket.

It was a fun evening. Great food, games, music and the camaraderie of like-spirited people. For the cost of two drink tickets, I bought the neatest ring that flashes multicolored lights.

The deejay played Solamente, a spirited Spanish salsa. Beatrice dragged me onto the dance floor where Tamar Tujian and Alex Defaria were boogieing on down. But Im now dancing with Alex, and Kaitzer with Tamar. Alex threw me around like a rag doll. I did not do badly for a guy with a new hip.

It was a great night and once again Kaitzer, I mean Beatrice, was right. Lifes a dance, and you learn as you go.

--

JOE PUGLIA is a practicing counselor, a retired professor of education and a former officer in the Marines. Reach him at doctorjoe@ymail.com. Visit his website at doctorjoe.us.
The accusation that a baton-wielding police officer in France raped a 22-year-old man during a violent arrest matched what some residents call a familiar narrative: a young man suffers serious injuries at the hands of authorities.

In Theo Luhakas case, the injuries he incurred in the Paris suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois this month resulted in a two-week hospital stay. Luhaka blames police; the police say he hit first and any injuries were accidental.

The accusations against police also led to riots, demonstrations, looting and car-torchings in Paris, several suburbs and other cities. At least 250 people have been arrested.

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Many residents and analysts say the violence stems not just from police behavior but from French officials doing a poor job of dealing with poverty, discrimination and unemployment in some of the banlieues, or suburbs, especially those north of Paris.

Outgoing French President Francois Hollande called for calm when he visited Aulnay-sous-Bois on Tuesday.

There can be no living together if there is no respect, he said.

There can be no living together if there is no respect.  Francois Hollande, outgoing French president

Though official statistics are unavailable on the number of people killed or injured by law enforcement officers in France, Amnesty International has long warned of what it called a pattern of de facto impunity among members of the police and gendarmerie.

The Christian Action for the Abolition of Torture, a nongovernment organization, reported last year that law enforcement officers used force in 89 cases between 2005 and 2015, resulting in 26 deaths, 29 life-changing injuries and 26 serious wounds.

Another case that generated nationwide demonstrations occurred in July in the town of Beaumont-sur-Oise. Adama Traore reportedly ran when he and his brother were stopped by police. He was carrying no identification, an offense in France. Hours later, Traore was dead in police custody.

Traores relatives were told by police that he had been drinking and smoking cannabis and a first autopsy suggested he had a serious infection of organs and a possible heart disorder. A second autopsy demanded by his parents revealed Traore died of asphyxiation.

In some areas, many young people complain they suffer the daily harassment of police identity check operations; police say they are doing their job, dealing with drug dealers and delinquents.

There is some concern about extremists recruiting local residents. Several of those who carried out the Charlie Hebdo massacre in January 2015 and the wave of bombings and shootings in Paris in November 2015 had lived in the Paris suburbs.

Many analysts say that for more than 30 years successive French governments have failed to address the poverty and rampant unemployment that have left locals with a sense of alienation, exclusion and discrimination.

Police investigators told reporters that closed-circuit footage of Luhakas arrest showed him struggling and lashing out at four police officers. It is not clear at what point he may have been raped by an officer using a telescopic truncheon, but police say if it happened at all it was accidental.

The public prosecutor has placed three police officers under investigation for deliberate violence; the other officer is under investigation for rape.

Luhakas case has raised concerns that conditions are ripe for a repeat of the explosion of violence that started in Aulnay-sous-Bois and spread across the country in 2005 after police chased youths who hid in an electricity substation, where two were electrocuted.

Sebastian Roche, director of research at the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) and a specialist in the police and the banlieue, told Le Figaro the current outbursts have parallels with the 2005 situation.

The essential line is the same: the supposed malicious intention of the police. The possible elements to spark things off are the same: its the same climate, the same basic context, the same areas, with the same populations and, above all, the same antagonism towards the police.

Political analyst Thomas Guenole said the Interior Ministry should ban random identification checks by police.

Guenole told Liberation newspaper that a January report by the Defender of Rights, an authority charged with overseeing the protection of rights and freedoms, showed that 80% of non-white men had been stopped and asked for their identification in recent years compared with 16% of the rest of the population.

Contrary to an argument often invoked, this does not make it easier to fight crime, since there is no link between being a criminal and having your papers in order  this de facto police racism generates an immense and permanent tension between police and suburban youths who do not have the right skin color, he said.

Instead of falling into the collective myth of the monstrous suburban youth who by his very nature is violent and dangerous, our society should face head on the deep problem raised by the repetition of this cycle (of violence): namely that there is something rotten in the relationship between the police and the youth of the suburbs. This calls for structural and urgent reforms, Guenole said.

Willsher is a special correspondent.

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Indonesian woman tricked into attack that killed North Korean leaders half brother, police chief says
The Indonesian woman arrested on suspicion of involvement in the killing of the North Korean leaders half brother in Malaysia was duped into thinking she was part of a comedy show prank, Indonesias national police chief said Friday, citing information received from Malaysian authorities.

Tito Karnavian told reporters in Indonesias Aceh province that Siti Aisyah, 25, was paid to be involved in Just For Laughs"-style pranks, a reference to a popular hidden-camera show.

He said she and another woman performed stunts that involved persuading men to close their eyes and then spraying them with water.

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Such an action was done three or four times and they were given a few dollars for it, and with the last target, Kim Jong Nam, allegedly there were dangerous materials in the sprayer, Karnavian said.

She was not aware that it was an assassination attempt by alleged foreign agents, he said.

Karnavians comments come after a male relative of Aisyah said in an Indonesian television interview that she had been hired to perform in a short comedy movie and traveled to China as part of this work. Indonesian Immigration has said Aisyah traveled to Malaysia and other countries, which it did not specify.

South Korea has been quick to accuse its enemies in North Korea of dispatching a hit squad to kill Kim Jong Nam at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, saying two female assassins poisoned him and then fled in a taxi.

Although Kim Jong Nam is believed to have two sons and a daughter with two women living in Beijing and Macau, police in Malaysia say none has come forward to claim the body or provide DNA samples in the aftermath of what appeared to be an assassination.

North Korean diplomats in Malaysia have requested custody of Kim Jong Nams body, arguing that he had a North Korean passport. The officials objected to an autopsy, but Malaysian authorities went ahead with the procedure anyway because they did not receive a formal complaint.

Investigators were still trying to piece together details of the case, and South Korea has not said how it concluded that North Korea was behind the killing.

Malaysian police were questioning three suspects  Aisyah, another women who carried a Vietnamese passport, and a man they said is Aisyahs boyfriend  and waiting for autopsy results that could shed light on why Kim Jong Nam suddenly fell ill at the airport on Monday as he waited for a flight home to Macau.

Dizzy and in pain, he told medical workers at the airport he had been sprayed with a chemical. Within two hours, Malaysian officials said, he was dead.

Kim Jong Nam, who was 45 or 46, had lived in exile for years and was estranged from his younger half brother, the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He reportedly fell out of favor in 2001, when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

Yoji Gomi, a Japanese journalist who wrote a book about Kim Jong Nam, said he criticized the family regime and believed a leader should be chosen through a democratic process.

Gomi said he met Kim Jong Nam by chance at Beijings international airport in 2004, leading to exchanges of 150 emails and two interviews in 2011  one in Beijing and another in Macau  totaling seven hours.

Kim Jong Nam appeared nervous during the interview in Macau, Gomi said.

He must have been aware of the danger, but I believe he still wanted to convey his views to Pyongyang via the media, Gomi said. He was sweating all over his body, and seemed very uncomfortable when he responded to my questions. He was probably worried about the impact of his comments and expressions. The thought now gives me a pain in my heart.

In Indonesia, Aisyahs family and former neighbors said they were stunned by her arrest, describing her as a polite and quiet young mother.

Between 2008 and 2011 she and her then-husband lived in a home with flaking red paint in a narrow alley of Tambora, a densely populated neighborhood in western Jakarta.

Her former father-in-law, Tjia Liang Kiong, who lives in a nearby middle-class neighborhood and last saw Aisyah on Jan. 28, described her as respectful.

I was shocked to hear that she was arrested for murdering someone, he said. I dont believe that she would commit such a crime or what the media says  that she is an intelligence agent.

Aisyahs mother, Benah, said by telephone that the family comes from a humble village background and has no ability to help her.

Since we heard that from the television, I could not sleep and eat. Same as her father, he just prays and reads the holy Koran. He even does not want to speak, said Benah. As villagers, we could only pray.

According to Kiong, Aisyah completed junior high school and moved to Malaysia with her husband in 2011 to seek a better life after the garment-making shop they ran from their home went out of business. The couple left their nearly 2-year-old son in Jakarta under the care of Kiong and his wife.

She and her husband divorced in 2012.

Malaysia, which is approaching developed-nation income levels, is a magnet for millions of Indonesians, who typically find work there as bar hostesses, maids and construction and plantation workers.

Malaysia said Friday it wants DNA samples from Kim Jong Nams family as part of the post-mortem procedure and that officials were not yet willing to hand the body over to the North Koreans.

If there is no claim by next-of-kin and upon exhausting all avenues [to obtain DNA], we will finally then hand over the body to the [North Korean] embassy, said Abdul Samah Mat, a senior Malaysian police official.

He would not speculate on how long that process might take.

The three suspects were arrested separately on Wednesday and Thursday.

The women were identified using surveillance videos from the airport, police said. Early Friday, police took the pair back to the crime scene at the budget terminal of the airport for further investigations, Abdul Samah said. Local media reported that police wanted to re-create the crime scene to establish new leads.

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Pakistan launches military crackdown as death toll in shrine bombing rises to 88
The Pakistani army on Friday arrested or killed dozens of suspected militants and launched artillery rounds at targets in neighboring Afghanistan a day after a suicide bombing at a Sufi shrine killed at least 88 people.

Residents in Pakistans Khyber tribal district said security forces fired barrages into Afghanistans Nangarhar province, where militants loyal to Islamic State have often found sanctuary.

An Islamic State affiliate claimed responsibility for the bombing Thursday at a shrine to Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, a 13th century Sufi preacher, in southern Pakistans Sindh province. Health Ministry officials raised the death toll to 88 people, with approximately 350 wounded, dozens critically.

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Security officials said they had killed 44 suspected militants in security operations across the country. Eighteen were killed in the southern port city of Karachi, which lies 100 miles from the shrine.

Pakistani officials have played down the claim by Islamic State loyalists, saying only that the attack came from militants based in Afghanistan. Pakistan closed its border with Afghanistan late Thursday, causing long lines of loaded vehicles at two key highway crossings.

Afghan diplomats were summoned to army headquarters in the city of Rawalpindi and given a list of 76 militants hiding in Afghanistan that Pakistan wanted arrested and handed over, officials said.

Afghan officials criticized the Pakistani response. Local officials in Nangharhar province said some 200 rocket shells struck in the border district of Lalpoor, wounding two children and forcing more than 100 families to flee their homes.

Its an undeclared war, said Ahmad Ali, head of the elected provincial council. People wont remain quiet and will respond if Pakistan continues.

Each country has long accused the other of giving shelter to militants that roam across their rugged, porous border.

Shah Husain Mortazawi, deputy spokesman for the Afghan government, said Afghanistan was committed to fighting cross-border terrorism and called on Pakistan to do the same.

Afghanistan is deeply concerned about the shelling by Pakistan in the border areas and urges it to stop immediately, Mortazawi said.

The golden-domed shrine remained closed Friday as mourners filled the narrow streets of the town of Sehwan Sharif for funeral processions. Some bereaved family members and other residents chanted slogans against the government for failing to protect the shrine, with one group setting fire to a car before police dispersed the crowd with tear gas, Pakistani news agencies reported.

Islamic State loyalists who claim to be part of the South Asia branch of the militant organization have taken shelter in Nangarhar and elsewhere in eastern Afghanistan. U.S. and Afghan forces have been battling to oust the Sunni Muslim militants for more than a year, including with increased U.S. airstrikes.

Islamic States Amaq news agency said the bombing targeted a Shiite gathering, although Muslims of all faiths attended the shrine. The Sufi tradition, which emphasizes a personal connection to Islam, has millions of followers across the Muslim world but often has been targeted by Sunni fundamentalist groups.

After a period of relative calm, Thursdays bombing was the third major attack in Pakistan in less than a week, coming after separate suicide bombings in the eastern city of Lahore and the northern city of Peshawar killed a total of 19 people.

Special correspondent Ali reported from Peshawar, and staff writer Bengali from Mumbai, India. Special correspondent Sultan Faizy contributed to this story from Kabul, Afghanistan.

shashank.bengali@latimes.com

Follow @SBengali on Twitter for more news from South Asia

UPDATES:

8:05 a.m.: This article was updated with reaction from Afghanistan.

This article was originally published at 6:10 a.m.
Insisting he would love to get along with Russia, President Trump strongly defended his attempts to seek warmer ties with Moscow on Thursday even as three top advisors raised major caution flags about cooperating with President Vladimir Putins autocratic government and military.

Questions about his administrations controversial outreach to Russia dominated a sometimes-raucous White House press conference, and Trump denied that he had any investments, debts or even contacts there, saying at one point, Ive done nothing for Russia.

I have nothing to do with Russia, he said. I have no deals there. I have no anything.

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But he was less definitive when repeatedly pressed to say whether members of his campaign team or other associates had been in contact with Russian intelligence officials during last years presidential race, an issue now under FBI investigation.

Nobody that I know of, the president said. He called questions about the issue a ruse and fake news.

After mixed signals from the White House, Trump confirmed that he had asked National Security Advisor Michael Flynn to resign this week after it became clear the retired Army general had lied about his phone calls to Russias ambassador.

He didnt tell the vice president of the United States the facts. And then he didnt remember. And that just wasnt acceptable to me, he said.

He also blamed what he called fake news for perhaps ruining chances to improve relations by reducing his negotiating room. I think Putin probably assumes he cant make a deal with me anymore, he said.

Trumps comments are unlikely to dispel the storm of criticism on Capitol Hill and bipartisan calls for congressional investigations into whether Trump knew about Flynns calls, or if anyone else was improperly communicating with Russian authorities.

Several top advisors offered less enthusiastic praise for Russia in a flurry of high-level diplomatic and military meetings overseas that showcased the conflicting messages emerging from the new administration.

Speaking to reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Secretary of Defense James Mattis appeared to push back against Trumps calls to join forces with Moscow in the war against Islamic State, saying Russia needs to prove itself first before the Pentagon would collaborate with Russian forces.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson separately held his first meeting with Russias foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, at a G-20 forum in Bonn. Tillerson said he urged Moscow to withdraw its troops from Ukraine, noting that the two countries dont always see eye to eye.

Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sat down with his Russian counterpart in Baku, Azerbaijan, the first such meeting since Russia seized Crimea and began backing an armed insurgency against the U.S.-backed government in Ukraine in 2014.

Concerns about Trumps strategy on Russia, especially since the FBI and CIA concluded that Russian intelligence services interfered in the U.S. presidential campaign in an effort to help Trump win, have overshadowed much of the administration agenda.

Trump has fed those concerns because he has consistently praised Putin, and has continued to challenge or disregard U.S. intelligence and military assessments on the Kremlins role in the U.S. election, Syria, Ukraine and elsewhere.

Last week, Trump cast doubt on whether Moscow is backing armed separatists in eastern Ukraine who have escalated their attacks in recent weeks. He thus appeared to side with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long denied involvement in the conflict.

Although most U.S. officials do not doubt Russia has provided arms and fighters to the insurgents, Trump said he was not concerned by the renewed fighting, adding, we dont really know exactly what that is.

Dunfords discussion with Gen. Valeriy Gerasimov, Russias top officer, was thus notable. Pentagon leaders have not met with their Russian counterparts since the Obama administration imposed sanctions on Russia in 2014.

Since then, Russia sent its military to help Syrian President Bashar Assads forces regain the upper hand in the countrys bitter civil war. But U.S. officials say Russian backed-forces repeatedly attacked schools, hospitals and other civilian sites, and have not targeted Islamic State positions.

Dunford, who rose through the ranks during the Cold War, is known to have deep-seated concerns about broad U.S. collaboration with Russias military.

But the Pentagon is also worried about the increasingly crowded skies in northwest Syria, where U.S. and Russian aircraft have had several close calls on their bombing runs.

He and Gerasimov discussed improving military-to-military communications to avoid an air accident, according to a statement by Dunfords office. Whether they will signal the start of a thaw with Russia, or simply tweak the tightly constrained communications, remains to be seen.

In recent weeks the U.S. military has alerted Russian commanders to U.S. airstrikes on the besieged town of Al Bab to avoid hitting Russian ground forces working with Syrian troops.

But communication is limited to an insecure phone line and a commercial Google email account, U.S. officials said, between a Russian-speaking U.S. Air Force colonel in Qatar and a Russian officer.

The Pentagon is considering elevating the dialogue to formalized conversations at the three-star general officer level.

Putin, in a televised address Thursday to the Federal Security Service intelligence agency, said it was mutually beneficial to restore communications between the two nations.

Its in everyones interest to resume dialogue between the intelligence agencies of the United States and other members of NATO, Putin said. Its absolutely clear that in the area of counter-terrorism all relevant governments and international groups should work together.

Speaking in Brussels, Mattis said that wasnt possible given Russias military incursion in Ukraine and its humanitarian violations in Syria.

They have to live by international law just like we expect all mature nations to do, Mattis said. We will engage politically. Were not in a position to engage on a military level.

For now, the military is wary of Russias increasingly aggressive actions, including an incident last week when a Russian warplane buzzed a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Black Sea and the sighting of a Russian spy ship about 30 miles off Virginia.

U.S. officials also say Russia violated a 1987 treaty by deploying an intermediate-range missile, which was considered highly destabilizing during the Cold War because of its ability to strike with no early warning. The Russians deny the allegation.

For his part, Tillerson described his meeting with the Russian foreign minister as productive.

The United States will consider working with Russia when we can find areas of practical cooperation that will benefit the American people, he said. Where we do not see eye to eye, the United States will stand up for the interests and values of America and her allies.

In contrast to Tillerson, Lavrov took a question from a reporter, who asked if he was concerned about turmoil in Washington, which stems in part from CIA and FBI warnings that Russian intelligence services sought to help swing the election to Trump.

You should know we do not interfere in the domestic matters of other countries, Lavrov said, with no visible hint of irony.

william.hennigan@latimes.com

Twitter: @wjhenn

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Chris Wade reached into the darkness to silence his blaring alarm clock. It was 4:30 on a frigid winter morning in Warren, Ohio, and outside a fresh layer of snow blanketed the yard.

Thank God, Wade thought to himself. He would be able to get out his plow and make some quick cash.

Money never used to be a problem for Wade, 47, who owned a house with a pool back when he worked at Delphi Automotive, a parts manufacturer that for years was one of the biggest employers in this wooded stretch of northeastern Ohio. But 10 years after taking a buyout as part of Delphis ongoing shift of production out of the United States and into Mexico and China, the house and the pool were gone.

Berta Alicia Lopez, 54, is the new face of Delphi. On a recent chilly morning, she woke before sunrise on the outskirts of Juarez, Mexico, and caught an unheated bus that dropped her an hour away at the Delphi plant.

Lopez earns $1 an hour assembling cables and electronics that will eventually be installed into vehicles  the same work that Wade once did for $30 an hour. A farmers daughter who grew up in an impoverished stretch of rural Mexico, Lopez is proud to own a used Toyota sedan and a concrete block house.

She frequently thanks God for the work, even if it is in a town troubled by drug violence, even if she doesnt see many possibilities for earning more or advancing.

The two workers live 1,800 miles and a border apart and have never met. But their stories embody the massive economic shift that has accompanied the rise of free trade.

In the United States, that shift has contributed to the loss of jobs that once helped workers buy homes, pay for health insurance and send children to college. In Mexico, it brought jobs  though they didnt create the kind of broad, middle-class prosperity they once had in America.

President Trump has pledged to bring factory work back. But it may be too late to turn back the clock on the powerful forces shaping the lives of Wade and Lopez and two cities, one American and one Mexican, that remain inextricably linked by the geography of global economics.

An empty Delphi plant known as Plant 8 in Warren, Ohio. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times) Top: An empty Delphi Automotive plant known as Plant 8 in Warren, Ohio. Bottom left: After a day of work plowing snow, Chris Wade talks on the phone about the rest of the week's work. Wade worked at Delphi Automotive Systems for 13 and a half years. Bottom right: A binder full of Wade's business papers and receipts. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

To hear Trump tell it, free trade deals and globalization have produced clear winners and clear losers.

Delphi had been reducing its U.S. workforce for years before it moved most of its operations overseas in 2006.

Every time I see a Delphi and I see companies leaving, that wall gets a little bit higher, and keeps going up, Trump promised at a campaign rally in Ohio a few days before the election. We are going to fight Delphi and other companies and say, Don't leave us, because there are going to be consequences.

He has pledged to tax imports from Mexico and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, which eliminated most tariffs on the continent and, in Trumps view, enriched Mexico at the expense of middle America.

But the real legacy of NAFTA, which took effect in 1994, is more complicated.

Nobody disputes that the loss of manufacturing has left a bruising mark in parts of the U.S., especially in places like the Rust Belt, where lower paying service industry jobs are increasingly replacing middle class factory positions. But many economists say changes in technology, along with competition with China, are more to blame than NAFTA.

The period of steepest decline in manufacturing jobs, which fell from 17 million to 11 million between 2000 and 2010, is substantially attributable to the free import of goods manufactured more cheaply in China and increasing reliance on machines to do the jobs humans once did, according to Gordon Hanson, an economist and trade expert at UC San Diego.

South of the border, free trade has indeed helped modernize Mexico by creating millions of jobs since the passage of NAFTA, boosting investment flow and helping to diversify the countrys manufacturing sector. Mexican workers now help build everything from Whirlpool washing machines to Bombardier jets.

But wages have remained low, so that Mexico remains attractive to manufacturers who might otherwise be tempted to locate in China or elsewhere in Asia. Since NAFTA went into effect, there has been no change in the number of Mexicans living below the poverty line  more than half.

Now, as Trump pushes companies to cancel plans for new factories in Mexico and vows to renegotiate trade deals, it appears more dramatic change is on the horizon.

His administration has proposed a 20% tax on imports from Mexico and other countries with which the U.S. has a trade deficit. Economists say the plan poses a serious threat to Mexico, which sends roughly 80% of its exports to the U.S., and whose peso has plummeted amid fears of what the Trump administration may do.

Its a new era, Mexicos president, Enrique Pena Nieto, said in a recent speech, warning that if trade deals are opened up, everything  including Mexicos cooperation with the U.S. on matters of immigration and security  will be up for negotiation.

Lopez is only vaguely aware of Trump  shes too busy for politics.

Wade said he just wants things to go back to the way they were.

But even he sometimes wonders: Is it too late?

After shoveling a clients driveway, Chris Wade shovels the walkway. Wade worked at Delphi Automotive Systems for 13 1/2 years before taking a buyout in 2006 as part of the companys ongoing shift of production out of the U.S. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

The snow kept falling, so Wade called up some buddies he works with and fired up his plow.

He sipped coffee from a thermos as he wove along a country lane through a landscape that looked like a Thomas Kinkade painting, with cornfields and churches and quaint clapboard houses all cloaked in white.

His first job was to clear the driveway of an industrial park that once belonged to Delphi.

Thats when times was good, Wade said in his raspy drawl. Thats when I liked this place.

Delphi began as Packard Electric, which started out in Warren in 1890 making light bulbs, but later branched out to auto parts. It became a division of General Motors in 1932, eventually expanding to include factories across the U.S.

The companys factories in Warren paid middle class wages and helped build a prosperous city, with bustling streets lined with handsome brick buildings.

Both of Wades parents worked for Packard, earning enough to take the family on summer vacations and build a swimming pool in the backyard. Growing up, Wade heard stories at the dinner table each night about what had happened that day on the factory floor.

By then, Packard had started reducing its U.S. workforce by moving some of its operations to Mexico to take advantage of lower labor costs in cities such as Juarez, which was inviting foreign companies to build factories there while paying minimal taxes. The threat that more jobs could be shifted overseas forced union representatives in Ohio to make concessions in salaries and benefits.

Still, Wades brother and sister-in-law went to work at the Warren factory after high school and Wade figured hed land there too.

By the time he did  in 1993, after a stint in the Navy that ended with a knee injury  the union workforce in Warren had dropped to less than 9,000, compared with 13,000 a decade earlier.

Still, Wade was happy with his life. He worked nights on the assembly line and cashed his paychecks every Thursday at the bar across the street. On days off, he went duck shooting with his chocolate Labrador, Hunter.

By the early 2000s, after Packard had been renamed Delphi Automotive Systems and spun off as a company independent of GM, Wade had the house and pool. His wife drove a brand new Trailblazer, and he drove a new Chevrolet pickup.

He had no idea what was coming.

Top left: Berta Lopez, left, talks with a fellow worker on the bus that takes them to and from their jobs at a Delphi factory. Top right: Workers leave the Delphi factory after a shift is over in Juarez, Mexico. Bottom left: A poor neighborhood in Juarez where many factory workers live. Bottom right: Lopez at home. She earns $1 per hour working at the Delphi factory in the city, and says she frequently thanks God for the work, even if it is in a dangerous city. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

Lopez grew up in Bermejillo, a dusty town in the state of Durango, where her stepfather spent his days in the sun, irrigating cotton and melon fields. Her mom had pulled her out of school when she was in fifth grade.

Why study if youre just going to work and have babies? her mother told her.

Sure enough, by the time she was 17 she had a son, the first of her five children.

For centuries, people in Bermejillo made their living in the fields, and Lopez had little reason to think she would be any different.

But NAFTA made things hard on small Mexican farmers, who found themselves competing with imports from giant U.S. agribusinesses, many of which received healthy subsidies from the U.S. government. In places like Bermejillo, a generation of young people were suddenly out of work, and many headed north to the U.S.

Others went to frontier towns such as Juarez.

As NAFTA took effect, Juarez was transformed overnight from a desert oasis best known for its nightclubs and casinos into a sprawling grid of concrete industrial buildings intersected by dirt roads. The population grew faster than officials could build highways, schools and other infrastructure.

Migration to cities like Juarez also marked a cultural shift. Parents worked all day, and without extended family to look after them, children often found themselves alone. Drug cartels, whose power was growing, found easy recruits. As the city erupted into gang warfare, murders spiked, along with suicides and violence against women.

Lopez had been working in a cafe for $5 a week when a truck driver passing through town told her about new factory jobs up north. She arrived in Juarez in 1996 with her husband and five children. Her eldest son, then 16, who had not been able to find work in Durango, immediately found a job at a maquiladora, as they call the U.S. factories that had begun to proliferate along the Mexican side of the border.

So did Lopez, at Delphi, where on her first day she was so nervous she offered to clean the bathrooms instead of working on the floor.

God helped me, she recalled. However good or bad, at least we had work.

She took to factory life  gossiping with the other workers on breaks, earning the equivalent of a GED in classes offered after her shifts, making peace with living in a big city far from home. Then in 2001, her second eldest son committed suicide.

She was so despondent after his death that for the first time she stayed home from work. One of her managers at Delphi traveled to her neighborhood and gently persuaded her to return to the factory floor.

Lopez thought about returning to Durango, but she knew there would be no good jobs there. She resigned herself to the fact that the Delphi factory was probably the best place shed ever work, and that Juarez was now her home.

If I didn't have the job, I wouldn't eat, she said.

The sun sets over Juarez, Mexico, where many maquiladoras are located. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

Delphi had its own listing on the New York Stock Exchange, but its fortunes still rode on General Motors, its biggest customer. When the car company slumped in 2004, the transnational auto parts maker went into a tailspin.

The next year  amid an accounting fraud scandal in which the SEC fined several top executives  Delphi filed for bankruptcy.

Its board hired a new chief executive, Robert Miller, who complained that the companys U.S. workers were overpaid, with labor costs triple that of other unionized auto suppliers.

In March 2006, Delphi announced it was closing or selling 21 of its 29 American plants, a move that eliminated more than 20,000 jobs, or about two-thirds of its total workforce. Operations were shipped to factories in China or Mexico, where Delphi now has about 70,000 employees working at factories in 20 cities.

Most of the plants in Warren remained open, but with a much smaller workforce. While Miller got a sendoff package that by one account was worth $35 million, workers were urged to take a buyout and warned that if they stayed, their wages would drop from an average of $29 an hour to $16.50.

On the day he walked away from Delphi with a buyout package worth $140,000, Wade was, as he put it, fired up. The CEOs and the guys at the top make millions while everybody else can barely survive, he said. Its not right.

In Trumbull County, the former manufacturing and steel stronghold where Warren is located, the Delphi cuts felt like kicking a guy who was already down.

Wades post-Delphi years were not easy. Shortly after leaving the factory, he went through a divorce and narrowly avoided prison after being pulled over while drunk and with unlicensed guns in his car.

He had received his truck driver's license, but the DUI eliminated that career plan. He earned a certification to sell insurance, but that didnt pan out either.

He works in roofing now during the summer and plows snow in the winter. After a decade, hes making about what he was when he worked at Delphi. But he doesnt have the security of a pension, paid vacation or health insurance. If he had kept his job at Delphi, he would be just seven years from retirement.

Wade doesnt want to hear about the Mexican workers who replaced him. He boils when he hears what low wages they get paid, and is equally angry about immigrants who work illegally in the U.S.

He liked that Trump called out Mexico on the issue. It was the kind of talk that helped persuade Wade, a lifelong Democrat and union member, to give Trump his vote. He was joined by many others in Trumbull County, which voted Republican for president for the first time since 1972.

Brian Lutz, shop steward with the union that once represented Wade, said he understands the anti-establishment anger.

I hear all the time people who say why would I continue to vote for a Democrat when all the people I worked with are gone and the Democrats havent done what we sent them to do? he said.

His union recently negotiated a contract that starts workers at $13 an hour. Thats about 10 times as much as Lopez takes home from the Delphi plant in Juarez today, two decades into her career there.

Left: Lopez's home sits in a neighborhood on the outskirts of Juarez. Right: Lopez cleans her home on her day off. For the last couple of years, every spare peso has gone to pay the college tuition for her youngest son. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

At the end of the shift in Juarez one recent afternoon, hundreds of workers streamed out of the Delphi factory toward the long line of white buses that take them home. Lopez climbed onto No. 6621, which headed east along the U.S. border, past dozens of other factories and a slew of big box stores.

It dropped Lopez in New Lands, a grid-like housing development that rises from the sand on the outskirts of the city. Overweight and suffering from diabetes, she shuffled past the Toyota in her driveway.

Trumps warnings to companies to keep their business in America are already having an effect on the Mexican economy. Last month, after being criticized by Trump on Twitter, Ford announced it is canceling plans to build a new $1.6-billion factory in Mexico, opting instead to hire workers in Michigan.

Trump claimed credit, though the company said market demand was a bigger factor. The Mexico factory was designed to build small cars, but as gas prices have fallen, demand has shifted toward bigger models made in Michigan.

But some companies that produce goods in Mexico say theres no going back to the U.S. That includes Delphi.

The company just announced a plan for more layoffs in Warren, where only 1,500 employees remain.

Speaking at Barclay's Global Automotive Conference in New York in December, Delphis chief financial officer Joe Massaro explained what he thought would happen to Delphi under several Trump trade scenarios.

If Trump were to close the border with Mexico outright, in less than a week, all the people who voted for him in Michigan and Ohio would be out of work, Massaro argued, underscoring the fact that many factories in the U.S., including car makers in Detroit, depend on parts made in Mexico.

If the United States were to withdraw from NAFTA and start taxing imports from Mexico again, Delphi would continue doing business in Mexico, he said. The company would pass on the extra cost to its suppliers or to consumers, or would find a way to reduce its production costs  which could mean layoffs or salary cuts in Mexico.

What it all means for Lopez and her family, she is not sure.

Of her four children, three work in factories.

For the last couple of years, every spare peso has gone to pay the college tuition for her youngest son, Sergio, who is studying computer engineering. He dreams of starting a software company that can compete with U.S. firms.

He has watched his moms life, and wants to earn more than factory wages.

It's a lot of work for little money, he said.

Lead art: After shoveling his client's driveway, Chris Wade shovels their walkway. Wade worked at Delphi Automotive Systems for 13.5 years before taking a buyout in 2006 as part of the company's ongoing shift of production out of the U.S. He works in roofing now during the summer and plows snow in the winter. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

This story was reported in part with a grant from the International Womens Media Foundation.

kate.linthicum@latimes.com

Twitter: @katelinthicum
All material is subject to strictly enforced copyright terms & conditions and cannot be repurposed or reproduced.  19882022 Latin American Financial Publications Inc.
Logans Hugh Jackman Skin Cancer Returns for Sixth time; The Wolverines Basal Cell Carcinoma Details Here

Hugh Jackman had recently posted on Instagram about his basal cell carcinoma, skin cancer being treated for the sixth time. The Logan actor opened up about his skin cancer since 2013 his wife, Deborra-Lee Furness said that he should check his abnormal mole as reports had stated that it turned to be skin cancer.

According to Web MD, the actors Instagram image post with his nose covered in dressing had a caption, Another basal cell carcinoma. Thanks to frequent body checks and amazing doctors, all is well. The 48-year-old actor then advises followers to wear sunscreen. Yet, this isnt the first time that Hugh is subjected to such treatment for his basal cell carcinoma. The Sydney-born actors fifth BCC treatment was done last February 2016.

Hence, the publications chief medical editor, Michael Smith, MD advised people that amid the fact that BCC doesnt spread to other parts of the body, a person mustnt ignore it due to the fact that it would only hasten the treatment process. In which, BCC would continue to grow if left untreated.

Smith then advised people to stay out of the sun especially during hours between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. He also advised that people should wear clothes that cover their skin as much as possible. Similar to Hughs advice, he also stated that people should wear sunscreen.

Hence, it was reported by Daily Mail that Hughs Instagram post about his skin cancer sparked the awareness of people for the skin cancer, basal cell carcinoma through searching it according to Google. BCC was also described another most commonly treated cancer alongside melanoma.

Redheads, younger patients, patients with lesions on their nose, ear, or eyelid were described to be people who would be more prone to BCC skin cancer. The early symptoms of Hughs BCC were mentioned to be skin areas that appear to be a flat red spot that feels rusty and scaly. A firm red lump that heals but never completely heal and further develops crust or scabs were also described to be its symptoms.

Methods for treatment were described to be factors on its healing were considered as well. Hugh got his BCC treated under Mohs Surgery which was described to be the most effective. Cryotherapy and electrodesiccation and cutter age were the two options.

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Almost 200,000 residents near the Oroville Dam were forced to evacuate their homes and have to stay indefinitely to distant locations to avoid the impending danger of a spill off. This has been the case of the United States' tallest dam when parts of it have eroded due to a damaged spillway.

Engineers were urgent enough to respond on Tuesday and have been working nonstop to repair the damages; as per National Weather Service, rain will pour as early as Wednesday up to Sunday. In a recent report from Yahoo News, families have already built their tents or have slept on their cars at Silver Dollar Fairgrounds in Chico, 25 miles far from Oroville where the damaged dam is.

The California Department of Water Resources has channeled out an emergency overflow with the help of helicopters and heavy construction equipment to facilitate the work. The primary spillway was also damaged but it is still functional, however, the possibilities of the emergency spillway's failure are a main concern of the engineers, as rains had been pouring for the past weeks.

This has been the first of the dam's 50-year history that water has reached the backup spillway considering that it has a solid top. Thus it will endanger the towns beneath it by releasing a wall of water of about three stories tall, NDTV reports. The Oroville Dam is 40 feet taller than the Hoover Dam which was built around 1962 and 1968; it stands 770 meters high, at the east of Oroville.

California Governor Jerry Brown has already written a letter to President Donald Trump for him to declare a state of emergency, which will speed up federal assistance to the affected communities. Officials are not yet sure when they will allow residents to go back to their homes since the status of the dam is still uncertain. Meanwhile, White House spokesman Sean Spicer has already assured that the government will extend its efforts to help and to uphold its promise to "overhaul its infrastructure".
Two of the giant smartphone companies before are now on trial for patent infringement. Blackberry filed a lawsuit against Nokia for reportedly infringed on 11 patents, and been using technology covered by patents. It includes the network software, controllers, and base stations as Blackberry claimed.

The two supreme companies of the old time appear to be a match as Blackberry Ltd filed a lawsuit against Nokia Oyj. According to The Financial Express, Blackberry demands royalties for Nokia's mobile network products and claimed that Nokia is using the technology covered by 11 patents.

Nokia accused infringing on 11 patents with its mobile products that include Liquid Radio software, Flexi Multiradio base stations and radio network controllers. Blackberry, the Canadian-based company further claimed that the Nokia is being consistent in encouraging the use of the standard complaint products even without a license.

Nokia insisted on providing the products and services to companies like T-Mobile and AT&T, Bloomberg has reported. As the market knows that Blackberry and Nokia have now lost the old time glory, the two company is now seeking to top a position again.

Blackberry, the once pioneer company demanded monetary damages regarding royalty fees though it hasn't been all cleared how much it would cost. The Canadian company claimed and made clarifications that they do not seek a ban on the use of the 11 patents. But Blackberry is in considering to get Nokia to start licensing the stolen patents.

According to the reports, several of the patents were made purchased from Nortel Networks Corp., by the Rockstar Consortium after the company went bankrupt. The patents were split between the companies like Microsoft, Apple, and Blackberry.

Both companies haven't given statements yet pertaining to the lawsuit that has been filed in the U.S District Court in Delaware. But for all the knowledge of everyone, Nokia and Blackberry are making a most in licensing their own business to other manufacturers that will likely retain their brand names.
And..

Land of Lager, Dumplings and Witches!

Some 170km south of Prague, and not far from the Austrian border in South Bohemia, is the fairy tale town of Cesky Krumlov; recently emerged from years of territorial fighting, enforced ownership and urban decay, its Bohemian charm has now been fully restored to its former glory, with winding streets hugging pretty candy cane painted burghers houses and small cobbled squares all overlooked by a sugar-coated Trompe lil castle, and so it was that at on the first Sunday in Advent last year, I took an early morning walk around the historic centre of this picture perfect UNESCO town. The day was sunny and bright, the first blue skies Id seen since landing in Prague a few days before..there was a definite winter chill in the air, but it was wonderful to walk about the town before the inhabitants and visiting tourists set foot outside their red-roofed homes and all mod cons hotels. It would appear, that South Bohemia is indeed the land of fairy tales in the Czech Republic.

The town is still wrapped in the mystery and intrigue of its historical past, with each ruling force attempting to impose their stamp of authority on the beleaguered town, and, the local townsfolk still talk about it and remember what it was like; on awaking from German and Soviet rule, and post the break up of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the town has achieved UNESCO status, which means it is firmly back on the map. Its not hard to see why it has been bestowed such a great honour, the fairy tale State Castle and Chateau Cesky Krumlov towers over the winding medieval streets below, whilst the Vltava river meanders through the centre of the town. The area surrounding Cesky Krumlov is equally magical, with beautiful countryside, rural farms and ancient monuments, as well as numerous carp ponds, rivers and forests

.our trip had taken us from Prague to Ceske Budejovice, where we visited the brewery of the original Budweiser Budvar beer, before being taken to Holasovice, Cesky Krumlov, Lipno nad Vltavou and finally Hluboka nad Vltavou. The trip, which was organised by Czech Tourism and Czech Stories, was highlighting the fact that there is more to discover in this fascinating country other than Prague, beautiful though the capital city may be. Our first stop was the The Budweiser Budvar brewery in Ceske Budejovice, where we followed the brewing process of this famous beer, as well as enjoying a meal in the brewerys restaurant, Budejovicky Budvar Restaurant, with beer and food pairings, including an authentic plate of Beef Goulash with the regions ubiquitous dumplings.

We stayed overnight at Hotel Maly pivovar, in Ceske Budejovice, where elegant townhouses are gathered around one of the largest squares in Europe, this is the capital of South Bohemia, and the city has preserved its historical character over the centuries, as well as being a modern regional centre for commerce and industry. There was a Christmas market on when I was there, and numerous market stalls plied their wares, with sausages, wurst, salamis and all sorts of exotic looking cheeses making a big appearance, as well as wooden toy stalls, and other stalls with Christmas paraphernalia.

Holasovice, which is situated in the middle of some of the prettiest landscapes in Southern Bohemia was our next stop, although we werent able to see much with the swirling fog and insensate rain, but, we could all see that the village was indeed charming. The wonderful Baroque farms that are set around the extensive village green are included in the UNESCO world heritage list, and it was easy to see why these buildings with their fusion of two vernacular building traditions, known as South Bohemian Folk Baroque, were included on the UNESCO list of heritage buildings. After lunch at one of the local restaurants, where garlic soup made another appearance, along with pork medallions in an almond and beer sauce, and some freshly made pastries by the owners mother, we made our way across the road to a Farming Museum.

Our next stop after lunch was at Cesky Krumlov, the beautiful town I mentioned above.on arriving, we had a guided tour around the towns imposing 13th-century castle with its Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architecture, a rather macabre but interesting puppet museum and we were also taken on a walk about the town, by dusk, which was truly magical. After checking in to Hotel Latran, dinner was taken in the extremely popular and atmospheric tavern, Krcma v Satlavske Uliciin, in the centre of the town, where all the food was cooked over an open wood fire.the chef was cooking a variety of steaks, chops, meat and chicken with the dexterity, juggling the meat from front to back and then to the sides of the hot open wood fire grill, and in full view of all the customers, my marinated chicken finally arrived and was deliciously moist with a crispy skin.

The next day saw us travelling to Lipno, to the very popular attraction Treetop Walk; this unique 675 metre trail in Lipno nad Vltavou enables you to walk among the treetops and enjoy views of the surrounding Sumava countryside and the distant Alps, it was a gradual walk around tiers of wooden walk ways before finally climbing up and around a wooden and metal spiral 40 metre high tower. We also had the opportunity to ride a bobsleigh at the appropriately named Slideland, in Lipno nad Vltavou, where there are two intertwined Bobsleigh Tracks  an Alpine coaster and Bobsleigh Track, both which were very exhilarating rides! Lunch was taken at a local lakeside restaurant, before we had some free time to explore Cesky Krumlov and the Christmas market by ourselves, before dinner.

Our last day dawned with the sound of the church bells for Advent Sunday and a clear blue skyafter a filling breakfast at the hotel we set off for Hluboka Castle, where we had a guided tour; the castle was filled with taxidermy, and it appears that the ruling family who used to live in the castle, the Schwarzenbergs, were very keen on hunting and stuffing their prizes, as animal heads, fur rugs and antlers adorn the castle, both inside and outside! It is a beautiful building however, filled with stunning furniture, and is apparently based on the design of Windsor Castle in the UK. After a wonderful lunch at Solidni Sance, we were then transferred back to Prague for our flight back to the UK.

My abiding impressions of this part of the Czech Republic, are that of Grimms Fairy Stories, its a beautiful part of the country with castles, lakes, breweries, taverns and tales of witches, fairies and goblins to entertain and horrify you in equal measuresthere are numerous outdoor activities to engage in, as well as ample opportunities to sample the local Budvar lager type beer and the ubiquitous dumplings! So, forget Prague next time you want a long weekend, and explore South Bohemia, its worth the transfer from the capital city..and there is so much to see and enjoy.

Fact File:

Time:

Local time in the Czech Republic is GMT+1 (Central European Time)

Communications:

The international access code for the Czech Republic is +420



The outgoing code 00 followed by the relevant country code (e.g. 0044 for the United Kingdom)

Currency:

Czech Koruna  CZK)



(Exchange rate for 1 GBP is about 31 CZK)

Flights:

There are regular flights to Prague from London, Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Bristol, Newcastle and Leeds

BREWERY TOURS at Budweiser Budvar Visitor Centre:

Tours and Times

Regular brewery tours without prior booking in Czech, English and German take place every working day at 2 pm

Upon prior order, the tours are also available in Russian, French, Spanish and Italian.

The tour takes approximately 60 minutes; the minimum amount of visitors is 5 and the maximum is 50.

50% discount for children under 18 and students (upon submitting the ISIC pass)

Disclaimer:

I was invited on a press trip in South Bohemia; all flights, transfers, accommodation, food and excursions were included at no cost to me and I was NOT asked to write a favourable review. Karen S Burns-Booth
Feb 17, 2017, 11:45am ET

Ford pushes ahead with two new factories in Mexico

The two facilities are expected to cost $2.5 billion and employ around 3,800 workers.

Ford has reportedly reassured its Mexico workforce that the recent decision to kill a $1.6 billion planned factory will not precipitate a wider departure from the country.

The company is currently moving forward with construction of two other facilities in Mexico -- together worth $2.5 billion -- that are scheduled to begin production later this year, according to a Mexico News Daily report citing Ford's Mexico chief, Gabriel Lopez. To be clear, the projects were announced nearly two years ago.

Part of the investment will be spent in Chihuahua to build a new engine plant and expand the engine production facility that currently resides at the site. The rest of the funds will pay for a new transmission factory in Guanajuato.

Ford employed approximately 11,000 workers in Mexico when it first announced the expansion, which will eventually require around 3,800 additional workers. Most will be tasked with building new gearboxes that will be shipped from Guanajuato to assembly plants in the US, South America, Europe and the Asia Pacific.

Echoing the company's previous statements regarding the nixed San Luis Potosi factory, Lopez argued the decision was "correct ... for shareholders" and "not a response to political concerns," apparently referring to President Trump's threats to renegotiate NAFTA and use tariffs to discourage automakers from shifting production to Mexico.
Feb 16, 2017, 3:35pm ET

Judge approves VW's 3.0L TDI settlement

VW will fix or buyback about 78,000 vehicles equipped with its 3.0L TDI engine.

A federal judge has approved Volkswagen's settlement to fix or buyback about 78,000 vehicles fitted with the company's 3.0L diesel V6 engine. Those vehicle were found to be in violation of federal emission standards.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer approved the settlement on Wednesday, which calls for VW to spend $1.2 billion to fix or buyback vehicles equipped with the company's 3.0L engine. That fine is in addition to the $14.7 billion settlement VW previous agreed to to address the company's emissions-cheating 2.0L TDI diesel engine.

Per the terms of the settlement, VW will fix about 58,000 Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche vehicles fitted with the 3.0L engine. VW will buyback the other 20,000 vehicles from owners. Nameplates covered by the settlement include the VW Touareg; Audi Q7, A6, A7, A8 and Q5; and the Porsche Cayenne.

"The proposed 3.0L TDI settlement will build on the substantial progress we are making with our 2.0L TDI settlement program, and provides a fair resolution for remaining affected customers in the United States, VW said in a statement, according to The Detroit News.

In addition to the $1.2 billion settlement, VW will also set aside another $225 million for a federal environmental mitigation trust fund. VW has already paid $2.7 billion into a similar fund as punishment for its 2.0L engine scandal.
Feb 17, 2017, 1:47pm ET

Toyota slashes Highlander Hybrid entry price

The company suggests the RAV4 Hybrid achieved stellar sales growth after its price tag was dropped for the 2016 model year.

Toyota has quietly reduced the Highlander Hybrid's entry price to help invigorate sales.

Until recently the hybrid powertrain was available exclusively with the Limited or Platinum packages, keeping the effective base price just shy of $48,000. The trim levels included plenty of other upgrades, though the relatively hefty sticker relegated the hybrid to a low-volume niche item.

The company has now brought the Highlander Hybrid downmarket with a more basic package that starts at just $37,230 (including $960 freight), representing a premium of just $5,640 over the model's cheapest configuration.

Speaking to Wards Auto, Toyota North America chief Jim Lentz suggests the company experienced better-than-expected success when it followed a similar strategy with the 2016 Rav4 Hybrid, which now starts at just under $30,000. The executive claims the Rav4 is responsible for propelling the entire hybrid truck segment to 300-percent growth. The gasoline-electric edition now accounts for 14 percent of total Rav4 sales.

The Rav4's success story has been overshadowed by a significant decline in sales for Toyota's iconic Prius, which experienced a nearly 16 percent drop last year.
Kentaya Whitaker had to grow up fast.

And her hopeless childhood probably led to her decision to nearly kill a man by stabbing him in the chest during a botched drug deal, relatives said.

The 20-year-old Bethlehem woman was sentenced Friday to 16 to 32 months in prison for the robbery Feb. 16, 2016, in the 500 block of Ontario Street in Bethlehem. Police said the victim was left in critical condition due to the stab wound.

Whitaker's mother, Tamika Alexander, said she could have done a better job raising her daughter, who she described as quiet and intelligent.

Whitaker was the oldest of Alexander's eight children and the one-time teen mom often left her in charge before she was 10 years old.

"I was drugging, smoking weed, drinking," said Alexander, who wore a Stay-Puft marshmallow man T-shirt to court.

Whitaker's grandmother told Northampton County Judge F.P. Kimberly McFadden she would come home sometimes to see Alexander passed out and Whitaker left in charge. The grandmother admitted that she too was addicted to drugs but is now clean.

"My daughter made bad choices. I made bad choices. So has Miss Taya," she said, referring to her granddaughter.

Defense attorney Matt Deschler said Whitaker tried several times to commit suicide. She suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder but a mental health evaluation determined she could not assert mental illness as a defense for the crime.

She was hooked on prescription painkillers and marijuana but went for treatment shortly before the stabbing, Deschler said.

"At the time I thought the system had failed me but I failed myself," Whitaker told the judge, adding she takes full responsibility for her crime.

When two of the three other co-defendants were sentenced last year, their attorneys noted that Whitaker was the only stabber in the conspiracy. Senior Judge Leonard Zito said "I get a sense that maybe there is some hope" for co-defendants Patrick Price and Tyrik Adams.

Deschler flipped that around, saying Adams manipulated Whitaker into joining the scheme. She was desperate to make friends. She won a $100,000 settlement from a car crash but spent it all in three months, mostly on the three men involved in the botched robbery, Deschler said.

"Other people take advantage of her goodwill," Deschler said. "She's kind of a follower and not a leader. That's how she got involved in this incident."

Price and Adams each pleaded guilty to a single count of robbery and were sentenced to five to 10 months in county prison followed by three years of probation by Senior Judge Leonard Zito.

Semaje Brunson was sentenced to five to 14 months in prison by McFadden last year.

McFadden acknowledged Whitaker's upbringing and that she has taken responsibility for her actions. But the fact remains she committed a serious crime.

"The community needs to be protected. There needs to be punishment for what happened here. You were the one who did the stabbing," McFadden said. "We can't ignore what happened. You should know better."

The judge expects Whitaker will be paroled to inpatient treatment for her drug and mental health issues. She sentenced her to serve three years of probation after her parole expires.

When she is released from rehab, Whitaker must spend her first 90 days at home under electronic monitoring. She must get a job and submit to random drug tests while she is on probation, the judge ordered.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
A Northampton County judge denied bail to a Hanover Township man convicted of driving into a 9-year-old boy, killing him and then driving away without offering help.

Royce Atkins suffers from an ingrown toenail, a problem that sounds minor but has "become major," according to his attorney, Phil Lauer.

He asked Judge Michael Koury to release the 23-year-old on bail so he can have his family podiatrist perform surgery on the toe, cutting back skin and the cuticle and redirecting the growth of the toenail with acid.

"Currently it's causing him a great deal of difficulty and pain," Lauer said.

Atkins faces a mandatory three-year prison sentence and up to 10 years for striking Darious Condash on Nov. 6, 2015, then driving away. Witnesses said Condash dropped a piece of candy on Schoenersville Road and bent down to pick it up when Atkins drove into him.

He was convicted by a Northampton County jury in November 2016.

Assistant District Attorney Joseph Lupackino said prison doctors are capable of treating the toe. If he needs treatment from his family podiatrist, he can request a furlough, go to the doctor with county sheriffs and return to prison.

Lauer said the infected toe won't clear up if he stays in the "less-than-sanitary environment" of the prison.

"The possibility for infection is a lot higher where I'm located," said Atkins, who has grown a scruffy beard in prison. "Everyone's sick."

Defense attorney John J. McMahon Jr. argued at trial that Atkins thought he hit a deer, which is why he drove off without stopping to help.

But two eyewitness said Condash went flying off the car within Atkins' sight. The child's eyelash was embedded into the hood and his tooth scraped it. The boy's DNA was found inches from Atkins' vantage point.

The sentence was put off at the request of Lauer, who took over the case after McMahon lost the trial. The sentencing is scheduled for March 3, which is only two weeks away. It could have taken place Friday or sooner if Lauer had not asked for more time.

Lauer said he only received the trial transcript a week ago and still needs time to review it.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
Drug charges in central Pennsylvania

Aaron Berhow, left, 34, of Florence, Massachusetts, and Jesse Bradford Hall, 26, of Stephens City, Virginia, face drug charges after a traffic stop Feb. 15, 2017, in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, pennlie.com reports. (Courtesy photo | From pennlive.com)

Traffic stops of interstates can yield huge amount of drugs.

In August, for example, about 79 pounds of heroin were found in a tractor-trailer at the Interstate 78 rest stop in Greenwich Township, New Jersey State Police report.

This week on Interstate 81 in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, state police recovered about 11 pounds of the drug ecstasy, pennline.com reports.

A southbound Honda Odyssey was pulled over about 10 a.m. Wednesday in Silver Spring Township due to the registration being revoked because the insurance was canceled, the news website said.

A vacuum seal box on a rear seat was among "indicators of criminal activity" in the vehicle, pennlive.com said, quoting police.

While driver Arron Berhow, 34, of Florence, Massachusetts, refused a request to search the vehicle, a drug dog named Zigi was brought in and eventually hopped through an open window and indicated there were drugs in a back seat, Pennsylvania State Police told pennlive.com.

Five vacuum-sealed bags with 5 kilos of ecstasy were discovered in a "floor compartment," the website said.

Berhow and passenger Jesse Bradford Hall, 26, of Stephens City, Virginia, were arraigned before District Judge Richard S. Dougherty of charges of possession with intent to deliver drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia, court records show. They were sent to county jail in lieu of $500,000 bail each. They face preliminary hearings on the charges on Feb. 27.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
For years, local townships and boroughs have watched as Pennsylvania legislators proposed charging municipalities that have full-time state police coverage.

Every year, it seemed the bills or proposals were voted down or fizzled out.

That changed last week, when Gov. Tom Wolf announced he's pushing to establish a $25 per resident service fee for municipalities that don't have their own police departments.

The governor is looking to raise about $63 million to help pay for state police coverage for the 2.5 million Pennsylvanians in those municipalities.

Lehigh Valley officials said the move by the governor's office is different than previous proposals, and the fee may actually come to fruition this time.

But, they say the $25 fee is a bargain for top-notch service from state police troopers.

"Right now, I'm extremely happy with the state police. They provide us very good service. I think they're trained very well. We have a very good relationship with them," said North Whitehall Township Manager Jeff Bartlett. "Everybody pays state taxes. Every municipality benefits from state police."

Bartlett previously worked for several different municipalities, and has experience with the "God-awful costs" of paying for a police department. Bristol Township in Bucks County had 50 sworn officers and a budget of $12 million, out of the township's $21 million annual budget, Bartlett said.

"A lot of people don't understand the hidden costs," of running a police department, Bartlett added, including funding pensions for retired officers.

Lower Macungie Township knows the sticker shock all too well, following a 2013 police service study.

The study projected it would cost the Lehigh County township between $4 million and $5 million annually for its own police department -- not including the seven-figure startup costs.

"The findings of that study are still generally the same," said Ron Beitler, a Lower Macungie commissioner. "We were very safe, and I think that's still the case. Most residents think state police do a good job."

East Allen Township in Northampton County hasn't thought about creating its own police department because it's too small, said Deborah Seiple, East Allen's township manager.

From time-to-time, Colonial Regional Police Department has checked to see if the township would like to join the regional department, Seiple said. Colonial Regional was formed in 1995 and its 24 officers cover Hanover Township, Lower Nazareth Township and Bath in Northampton County.

But East Allen's board of supervisors has always decided to stick with the state police, Seiple said. She served on the board of supervisors for 16 years, and grew up in the township.

The issue of state police funding keeps coming up, though, and " I think it will eventually have to be dealt with," Seiple added. "There's not a simple solution."

Hanover Township in Lehigh County is in the same boat. With about 1,700 residents, it's too small to have its own police department, said Bruce Paulus, chairman of the township council.

But that's what led to the creation of the state police, to provide coverage to smaller municipalities, he added.

"If (the fee) happens, it happens. Certainly we're not gong to get our own department," Paulus said.

A fraction of what other municipalities pay

The Associated Press reports Wolf's $25 figure is a fraction of what municipalities pay for local police departments.



About 950 municipalities reported spending $230 per person on local police in 2014, the AP reports, based on data provided by Wolf's administration.

PennLive.com created a database to allow residents to see how much their respective municipalities would pay under Wolf's proposal. You can search the database here.

In Lehigh County, Lower Macungie would pay the most of the nine townships covered by state police, close to $791,000 in the first year for its 31,639 residents.

North Whitehall Township follows with $401,575.

In Northampton County, Upper Mount Bethel Township tops the county's list of seven municipalities that would pay the fee, at $170,875 a year.

In comparison, Hempfield Township, a Pittsburgh suburb, is the largest municipality that uses full-time state police coverage, and would pay about $1 million to the state under the proposed fee.

Bracing for an expected increase

The most talked about issue for officials was what happens once the fee is established.

"I think that's a concern with any fee or mandate -- It's never gonna go away and it's never gonna go down," Beitler said. "$25 is still steal."

Beitler noted the proposed fee wouldn't cover all the costs for state police coverage, and he would expect that it would increase. In fact, Lehigh Valley officials said if the fee is established, it's not a matter of if but when it would increase.

"Today you can say $25 isn't bad. How about in five or 10 years?" Paulus asked.

After the first year, when does it increase to $50 or $150, Bartlett wondered. Officials would then have to consider at what cost would municipalities start looking to create their own department.

Bartlett said he would be interested in a locked-in fee for a period of time and/or a ceiling for potential increases.

"There's no guarantee with that and that's not what they're proposing," Bartlett said.

Paulus noted previous proposals set a population limit for affected municipalities, and those with populations of less than 5,000 or 10,000 people would have been exempt from paying. Paulus was hopeful population is taken into consideration with the proposed fee.

If that happens, Beitler said there may be an unintended result: small municipalities would look to limit growth in order to avoid paying a state police fee.

Beitler, a small growth advocate, said "A cap at 10,000 people would be an incentive for rural communities to stay rural."

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
By Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com

U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., voiced concern Thursday about an emboldened Russia, defended his vote for controversial Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and predicted "two or three years" before anyone with health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, loses coverage while a new system is hashed out.

Toomey, re-elected in November to a second six-year term, conducted his 48th telephone town hall, taking questions live and speaking with thousands of participating constituents. The event began about the time President Donald Trump was wrapping up a contentious news conference, and followed a period in which frustrated Pennsylvanians said they were unable to reach Toomey's office.

The senator addressed that, too.

Read on for a look at some of what was discussed. Click here to download an mp3 of the town hall in its entirety, available until March 3.

Don't Edit

From left, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa.; President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin (Pennlive.com/AP photos | For lehighvalleylive.com)

Putin 'a very, very dangerous man'

Trump, during his news conference, labeled as "not good" Russian provocations in recent days, but he refused publicly to chart a course to respond. Asked about Russian "antics" involving missiles and a spy ship spotted in international waters off the United States' East Coast, Toomey went a step or two further: "I'm very, very concerned, as you are," he told the questioner. "I think that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is a very, very dangerous man."

Toomey called the Russian leader an authoritarian who has stolen from his people, killed political opponents and journalists, invaded neighboring states, annexed Ukraine, meddled in last year's presidential election and flew fighter jets "way too close" to American Naval vessels and reconnaissance aircraft.

"Russia has been extremely counterproductive in Syria, where they have been massacring civilians," Toomey continued. "It is a long list of very bad behavior of Putin."

Toomey said he's "disappointed that President Trump has not been more openly critical" of Putin but believes Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson "fully understand the nature of the Russian" threats and hopes they can counsel the president. The senator continued that he supports strengthening sanctions and providing self-defense gear to Ukraine: "I think we need to take a very tough line. ... I think we need to push back aggressively."

Toomey was critical of the leaks to the press that led national security adviser Michael Flynn to resign on Monday, saying Americans are protected by law from spying. But simultaneously, he said, he supports continued investigation into attempts to Russia to influence the 2016 election.

Don't Edit

Immigration order 'too broad ... poorly presented'

Toomey also took issue with the president, a fellow Republican, on his Jan. 27 executive order temporarily banning immigrants from seven Muslim-majority nations: "It was too broad, it was poorly presented. It was not rolled out properly. It certainly should not have included green-card holders."

Yet, Toomey maintains support for tougher vetting of immigrants and refugees, and he reintroduced during the new 115th Congress his Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act (S.87) legislation that is in line with some of the president's goals; it aims to withhold certain federal funds from cities that forbid local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration officials.

"I want us to be as safe as we can be," Toomey said Thursday.

The Trump administration said in court documents on Thursday it wants a pause in the legal fight over its travel ban, so it can issue a replacement ban as it strives to protect the nation from terrorism, according to The Associated Press.

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Residents from in and around the Lehigh Valley protest Jan. 31, 2017, outside the office of U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., in Salisbury Township as part of the "Tuesdays with Toomey" demonstrations around the state. (Sarah Cassi | For lehighvalleylive.com)

Backs Obamacare repeal, in time

Toomey stressed the need to replace the Affordable Care Act with a health-insurance initiative that offers more choice and competition, gives patients more control in deciding what their health care should look like and finds a way to properly care for chronic conditions that can be "just unaffordable."

"We are going to try to stabilize the current market for two or three years for current people participating in it, to give us time to implement the reforms," Toomey said. "We've got a bad system now. It's failing."

But, he said, "We're not going to to pull the rug out from anyone. We are going to begin the process of dismantling this bill and repairing the American health-care system."

Fighting the repeal of Obamacare has been a priority of Pennsylvania's senior senator, Bob Casey, D-Pa. He was in Allentown two weeks before Trump's inauguration, vowing to "fight like hell" for the ACA, and planned to appear Friday in Lehighton, Carbon County, to discuss the effects of repeal on jobs in the health-care industry. He canceled that appearance, however, due to votes in the Senate on the nomination of Scott Pruitt as Trump's pick to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Don't Edit

Then-Education Secretary-designate Betsy DeVos arrives before testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017, at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. (AP Photo | For lehighvalleylive.com)

DeVos supporter

Toomey took two questions from opposite sides of the debate over new Education Secretary Betsy Devos, whose confirmation required a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Mike Pence after some Republicans opposed her. A school board member from Bucks County told Toomey he backed "a woman with no background in education and is willing to tear apart the public school system." The other caller, from Montgomery County, put her kids through Catholic school, while paying public school taxes, and is now in charge of her niece's education. She wants more choice, she told Toomey.

DeVos' vision, according to the senator, is for more school choice for "low-income, working-class, poor" parents who can't afford to move to communities with the best schools or afford a private education: "I want those families to have the same kind of educational options that wealthier families have."

Toomey directed those taking part in Thursday's town hall to his latest op-ed piece on pennlive.com, a sister site of lehighvalleylive.com, that expands on his support for DeVos.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Hello? Hello?

DeVos' confirmation process tied up Toomey's office phone lines, and critics said he was unreachable as they sought to sway his opinion on her.

"I just want to stress we have people who are answering phones full time all the time," he said. "We are doing the very best we can to keep up with the unusually high call volume, and that volume is a combination of people who are Pennsylvanians ... but they also include people from all over the country who are making it impossible for people from Pennsylvania to get through."

He promised voicemail inboxes would be emptied as quickly as possible, but also invited constituents to reach out to him via toomey.senate.gov, an online portal where they can ask a question or leave a comment.

"We have been responding to the tune of tens of thousands of submissions weekly," he said.

Don't Edit

The Wall Street entrance of the New York Stock Exchange is seen Oct. 2, 2014. Stocks around the world pulled back Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, following a record-setting run. (AP file photo | For lehighvalleylive.com)

Spreading the wealth

Toomey agreed with a caller that, amid record stock market heights and sky-high assets for the richest, wealth is not necessarily reaching the working class. What to do? He said he supports reforming the tax code, rolling back regulations that stymie need growth and ending "favoritism" and "cronyism" in government subsidies.

"If we did this, we'd have stronger growth, more jobs, higher wages and I think you'd see a significant improvement in the condition of working families," he said.

Toomey also blasted the "very dangerous" monetary policy of the Federal Reserve that he said equates inflated assets with a strong economy.

Don't Edit

AR-15 displays are seen Feb. 6, 2017, the Shooting Sports Hall of the National Rifle Association's Great American Outdoors Show in Harrisburg, Pa. (Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS | For lehighvalleylive.com)

Two views on gun control

The Republican-led Senate on Thursday voted to block an Obama-era regulation that would prevent an estimated 75,000 people with mental disorders from being able to purchase a firearm, The Associated Press reports; the 57-43 vote to revoke the regulation now sends the measure to Trump, who is expected to sign it. Toomey voted in support.

"Is there anybody you don't want to get guns at this point?" a Montgomery County caller asked.

Toomey reiterated his push for universal background checks on commercial firearm sales, something he's backed for years alongside U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va. He also called for no gun sales to anyone on the United States' no-fly list, "another huge lapse in our system," Toomey said.

The senator's office did not announce a date for another telephone town hall. Thursday's edition was announced on Facebook shortly before it started.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Jury selection is weeks away in the trial of Eric Frein, the self-styled revolutionary who shot and killed Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Bryon Dickson II more than two years ago.

Pike County District Attorney Ray Tonkin said Thursday jury selection is scheduled to begin March 9, followed by the start of the trial April 3.

By order of the state Supreme Court, jurors will be picked from Chester County to participate in the trial at the Pike County Courthouse in Milford, Pennsylvania.

Frein, 33, faces a dozen charges, including first-degree murder, first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer and possession of weapons of mass destruction.

His ambush the night of Sept. 12, 2014, outside the Blooming Grove barracks in Pike County also wounded Trooper Alex Douglass. During a 48-day manhunt that followed, Frein stayed ahead of local, state and federal pursuers focused on a wide swath of Pike County and neighboring Monroe County, where Frein had lived.

He was finally captured by U.S. Marshals the following Oct. 30, in an abandoned airplane hangar at Birchwood-Pocono Airpark in Monroe County.

A judge last month barred evidence of insanity or mental infirmity on Frein's behalf.

The prosecution plans to seek the death upon conviction.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
By Elisa Robles-Carlo

I am a founding member of the community group Sludge Free Slate Belt. Our group was at all of the Synagro "meet and greet meetings" in Plainfield Township and Weona Park in Pen Argyl, handing out flyers with facts about Synagro and sewage sludge. The majority of those who attended signed our petition, as they are fully aware of what we are facing with the proposal to import and dry sewage sludge in Plainfield Township.



Synagro has a long history of violations, fines and bribery scandals. From the company's former president, James Rosendall, convicted of conspiracy to commit bribery, to the closed Hunts Point, N.Y., sludge plant that exploded in 2009, and finally closed in 2010, there is nothing good that can be said about this company.

Sewage sludge was once dumped in our oceans, but that was banned in the early 1990s by the federal government when it was discovered it was creating dead zones. The problem then was no alternate solution existed to dealing with it on land. This gave Synagro and other companies the ability to become what it is today -- not a fertilizer company, but a sewage-sludge broker.



In an article published March 1, 2016, in The Hamilton Spectator entitled "Scientists' Open Letter on the Dangers of Biosolids" by Sierra Rayne, John Werring, Richard Honour and Steven R. Vincent, we see the educated views of not one but four scientists who have decades of independent research on sewage sludge. Their conclusion is the same: "The land disposal of sewage sludge has resulted in significant controversy, and a resistance movement is rightfully building to this misguided policy. Quite simply, the science doesn't support the disposal of sewage sludge across the landscape. The supposed benefits are more than offset by the risks to human and environmental health. As scientists, we have been watching the issue with increasing concern."



As a resident of Pen Argyl, I believe what this sludge plant will mean for our community is nothing short of catastrophic. The sludge that would be brought in for processing would come from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. With the concentration of industry in these states, we are looking at the most toxic mix of sewage sludge one can imagine.

Though Green Knight Economic Development Corp. claims to support our community with donations and scholarships, it will be little compensation if residents' health is compromised and property values end up in the toilet. The fact that Robert Cornman Jr. was both on the board of Green Knight and on the Plainfield Township Planning Commission, and that Stephen Hurni is a Plainfield Township supervisor and also a Green Knight board member are noted conflicts of interest. Though Cornman was voted off as vice chair of the planning commission on Jan. 3, Hurni remains in his post, and he was front and center at the Synagro "meetings" showing his support for the sludge plant.



With just a little research, it does not take long to conclude that Synagro is a company anyone should be wary of dealing with, and that sewage sludge is not what they would like people to believe it is. In this situation, to ignore this evidence reveals both a lack of good judgment and a concern for money over the well-being of the community.

I have not met any residents who are not somehow connected to Waste Management or Green Knight, who think this is a good idea. Our community has nothing to gain from this sludge plant, but have everything to lose. We already deal with the landfill, enough is enough!



Elisa Robles-Carlo, of Pen Argyl, is a member of the group Sludge Free Slate Belt.




The future of Laois TD and Government Minister Charlie Flanagan at the cabinet table looks set to be up in the air as speculation grows that Enda Kenny will forced to step down as Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader.

National media reports have carried stories speculating on who will survive a Cabinet cull under either Leo Varadkar or Simon Coveney.

The Irish Daily Mail's front page story lists the Laois TD and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade as one of five senior ministers who will lose their jobs in a cabinet "wipe out".

"The cabinet heavy-hitters - including high-profile Michael, Noonan, Frances Fitzgerald and Charlie Flanagan - are before the firing line regardless of who the Taoiseach will be," reported the paper following contact with senior sources close to both candidates.

The paper speculates that either Varadkar or Coveney could replace Minister Flanagan in foreign affairs.

However, the Irish Independent speculates that the Laois TD could survive a cull if Michael Noonan is cast aside when the Taoiseach departs.

"He's (Noonan) part of the old guard with Frances Fitzgerald and Charlie Flanagan, who are more likely to survive a cabinet reshuffle," a source told the Independent.

Minister Flanagan has stayed under the radar in recent days as the controversy exploded over Garda Sgt Maurice McCabe. He has not stated what his position was in relation to the party leadership in the coverage other than to rule himself out as a candidate.

The Laois TD has experience of leadership changes. He was seen to have been punished by the Taoiseach after he backed Richard Bruton in the last leadership heave against Kenny before the 2011 General Election. At the time, Minister Flanagan was the party's spokesperson on Justice and seen as a strong favourite for cabinet. After the election he did not make the senior or junior ministerial ranks.

However, he was appointed as Chairman of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party which gave him some clout among fellow backbenchers. He also chaired the Constitutional Convention which led to the referendum on gay marriage.

In 2014 his career was resurrected when was promoted to the cabinet where he took up the Minister for Children's job from the now Minister for Justice, Frances Fitzgerald.

Within months he was promoted again, this time to the Department of Foreign Affairs. Following the 2016 election he was reappointed to Foreign Affairs where he is responsible for much of the Governments interactions with Britain and the EU on Brexit.

He was to the fore in an unsuccessful heave against John Bruton in early 1994. As a result he did not make it to the cabinet of the Rainbow Coalition formed later that year led by John Bruton.

If Minister Flanagan is demoted it could have repercussions for Portlaoise hospital. His position on cabinet has been seen as a factor in preventing a decision to downgrade the hospital.
The existing three schools which serve the community of the Curragh could be removed from the Curragh Camp, and relocated to disused Department of Defence lands.

That is according to the Minister of State at the Department of Defence, Paul Kehoe.

He confirmed that he would consider proposals for the redevelopment of the three schools on the Curragh. He was speaking in the Dail in response to a question from Martin Heydon, TD, on the provision of a site for a new school campus on the Curragh.

Deputy Heydon said the three schools  the Curragh Post Primary School, the Curragh Boys National School and the Curragh Girls School  presently operate in sub standard accommodation.

The Minister said that: While the provision of schools is a matter for the Department of Education and Skills in the first instance I will of course consider any proposals regarding the development of schools on Department lands which are no longer required for military use.

As well as enabling the provision of new schools, such a proposal would result in the existing schools being removed from the Camp which would assist with the ongoing refurbishment and modernisation of the Camp facilities.

Deputy Heydon noted that the Department of Defence would need to provide a site for the new school campus on the Curragh.

The Minister is scheduled to meet with the Kildare South TDs next Wednesday to discuss the project.
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Tim Farron has described new research linking tens of thousands of deaths to a lack of proper social care as a national scandal and has called for action, including a potential tax rise.

The new research paper by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and University of Oxford concluded that the evidence points to a major failure of the health system, possibly exacerbated by failings in social care

Tim said:

It is a national scandal that in one of the richest countries in the world, vulnerable older people are missing out on the services they need and may even have died due to poor care.

Our health and care services are at crisis point and struggling to cope.

Day after day we hear more stories about services being cut back and targets being missed, yet there is a deafening silence from Number 10 and the Department of Health.

I dont know how bad the figures need to get for Government to actually take action.

Only the Liberal Democrats are prepared to make the case that we may need to raise tax to pay for the NHS and social care services people deserve.
Im not going to lie. Im not Tony Blairs biggest fan. In fact, there may have been a time when I rather naively described him as worse than Thatcher in some ways. You expect Tories to let down the poor and protect the rich. You dont expect that from a Labour Prime Minister. And then there was Iraq.

Blair, though, has long been lapped in the governmental race to the bottom by the Brexiteer zealots intent on driving our country off a cliff.

Today, he has given a pretty forceful speech saying that we must all rise up against Brexit.

He said:

Our challenge is to expose, relentlessly, what that cost is. To show how this decision was based on imperfect knowledge, which will now become informed knowledge. To calculate in easy to understand ways how proceeding will cause real damage to the country and its citizens and to build support for finding a way out from the present rush over the cliffs edge.

He knows more about foreign policy muck-ups and decisions based on imperfect knowledge than most people. You also have to think of probably his finest achievement as PM  the Good Friday Agreement  which could now be completely unravelled by Brexit as Nick Clegg pointed out the other day.

Heres the thing, though. Hes right to agree with us on Brexit. And its not only him. Sir John Major agrees with us too.

What is particularly interesting is that he gave the speech to the Open Britain organisation, which has hitherto been way too timid on opposition to Brexit, opposed to a referendum on the deal and way too accepting of restrictions on freedom of movement for my liking. If they are going to start being a bit more radical, then that is to be welcomed

I think that the threat to our country and our childrens future is so great that we need to forget the enmities of the past and work with those who share our values now. Between them, Farron, Clegg, Blair and Major can persuade a lot of people to become active participants in our countrys future and not just let May and the Brexiteers-in-Chief get on with it. Jeremy Corbyns Labour Party will not give the Government the scrutiny and opposition it needs, so its up to us and as many like minds as we can find.

The Liberal Democrats have been saying what Blair has been saying since the referendum. We have led the way on this and we still represent to the electorate the only anti-Brexit choice. In Scotland we are the only anti-Brexit, pro UK choice.

Blair said that Brexit changes the independence debate.

In addition to all this, the possibility of the break-up of the UK  narrowly avoided by the result of the Scottish referendum  is now back on the table but this time with a context much more credible for the independence case.

I am not sure how losing 40% of your market on top of 15% of your market does anything than make a catastrophic situation worse. However, if the referendum does come, those of us who want the UK to stick together will have to do a much better job than either the Better Together or the Stronger In campaign to capture hearts as well as minds. Theresa Mays Bargain Basement Brexit UK is not going to be an easy sell. In those desperate, grief-stricken hours after the referendum result, my position on independence changed from no (insert expletive of choice here) way to Ill think about it. Nothing I have seen or heard since then has convinced me that its a good idea and I cant see myself voting for it  but we are going to have to get out there and fight for every vote.

Tim Farron has welcomed Blairs intervention but emphasised that those who agree with him should join the Lib Dems:

Tony Blair is right. The challenge now is to persuade people to change their mind  and the Liberal Democrats are the only party offering them a chance to have their voice heard again. Blairs speech shows how badly Corbyns Labour has failed as an Opposition. Labour have waved the white flag and given Theresa May a blank cheque for a divisive, hard Brexit. So if you agree with Tony, join the Liberal Democrats  the real opposition to this Conservative Brexit Government.

Willie Rennie said he was right on Brexit but wrong on independence:

Tony Blair is right about Europe but wrong about independence. The Conservatives hard Brexit is bad for Britains economy which is why the public need the final say on the deal. But Tony Blair is wrong about independence. The case for independence is weaker, not stronger, now especially with the 15 billion black hole in the Scottish public finances that would hit our NHS and schools.

On this issue, Tony Blair and John Major are fellow travellers who still have a fair bit of sway. Blairs mistakes of the past are not wiped out, but the crisis we face now is of such a magnitude that we need all hands on deck. If he can bring help persuade people to speak out, then thats a good thing. We just have to hope that the effect is greater on the Government than when we all marched against Iraq.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
INDEPENDENT members of Limerick City and County Council voted among themselves to decide which of them would travel to the United States for St Patricks Day, it can be revealed.

Mayor Kieran OHanlon and three councillors will travel to New York for six days next month at a cost of around 12,000.

The decision to send a delegation was approved at a meeting of the local authority last November after it was announced that Limerick man Michael Dowling is to be the Grand Marshal of the New York parade.

Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show that following the meeting, Mayor OHanlon informed councillors by email that the party leaders had agreed the delegation would comprise of one member from Fine Gael, one from Fianna Fail and the third would be selected from the remainder of the Members outside these groups.

The documents show that Cllr Daniel Butler was selected to represent Fine Gael while Cllr Jerry ODea will represent Fianna Fail.

In a further email sent before Christmas the mayor sought expressions of interest from those who are not members of either party.

Six councillors  Elena Secas, Joe Leddin, Frankie Daly, Brigid Teefy, John Loftus and John Gilligan  all responded indicating their interest in travelling.

Noting this, Mayor OHanlon replied: Given the number of responses from the persons interested in travelling, I have decided that the person nominated to travel to New York will be chosen from the Independent group.

In the email, which was sent during Christmas week, Mayor OHanlon added that a member of the Labour Party will be selected to travel to Boston as part of a separate delegation in May.

A senior council official noted in a memo in early January that following discussions the mayor had confirmed that Cllr Brigid Teefy will represent the independent group of councilllors.

A futher hand-written memo confirms the delegation will fly with United Airlines from Shannon Airport to Newark International Airport.

As of February 3, the accommodation arrangements had not been finalised.
A FORMER Limerick Senator has been charged with criminal damages offences relating to an incident last month.

James Heffernan, aged 38, who has an address in Kilfinane, is accused of damaging two cars at St Anne's Terrace, in the village on January 20 last.

The former general election candidate was arrested on Thursday morning and immediately brought before Newcastle West court.

Mr Heffernan is accused of breaking the passenger window of one of the cars and giving a number of kicks to the driver's side door.

He is also accused of breaking the driver's side window and the back window on another car.

He is due to appear before Kilmallock court in March.

Separately, a bench warrant which was issued by Fermoy Court after he failed to appear in relation to separate matters on January 13, was executed by gardai.

Judge Mary Larkin was told there was no objection to bail and the matter was adjourned to next week.

Mr Heffernan must remain alcohol and drug free as part of his bail conditions. He must also obey a curfew between 10pm and 8am.

He is also required to sign on twice a week at Bruff garda station.
Parents of children who suffer from Cystic Fibrosis are to hold a candlelight vigil outside City Hall this Friday night.

The event is part of a national campaign urging the HSE and the Minister for Health to make the drug Orkambi available to those who have the disease.

Manufactured by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Orkambi is a breakthrough drug that could change the lives of hundreds of CF sufferers in Ireland.

Its the first drug to treat the underlying cause of the most common form of CF  Double Delta F508.

Months of negotiations last year failed to produce an agreement to supply the drug to around 550 Irish patients.

While Vertex initially sought 159,000 per patient per year, it says it substantially reduced its asking price during the talks.

The candlelight vigil, which begins at Merchants Quay at 7pm, has been organised by close friends Joy ODonoghue and Katie Sheehan whose two sons  Jason (8) and Michael (3)  both suffer from CF.

Basically, there was a protest in Dublin before Christmas and we are looking for access to Orkambi. There are people on it in Ireland as part of a trial and they are still on it and its halted the diease and it has prevented them for having long stays in hospital and it has dramatically changed their lives but the government dont want to fund it at the price its being offered, said Joy.

A number of local politicans are expected to attend the candlelight vigil which is due to last around an hour.
Aged 17, Donald Teskey stood gazing at the works of the great Jackson Pollock and Frank Stella in the Guggenheim and Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Each summer he would return for four years to broaden his mind, his own creative palette, and soak up the work of a diverse array of artists, whose paintings are evidently uniquely theirs.

He was struck by the Italian artist Giorgio Morandis still life arrangements, and the haunting realism of Edward Hopper.

Now, Teskeys own work captivates others. In the Hunt Museum, four red dots have been placed on the wall next to his individual works.

By Sunday week, all 25 pieces will be removed, and the four most coveted canvases to date will find new admirers, in expensive homes, on expansive walls throughout the country and overseas.

There was a time when every work by Teskey, a Rathkeale native who has lived in Dublin since 1979, garnered the red sold dot, and in Limerick, where his exhibition, Weather Gauge, is still running, buyers clamoured towards his biggest and most expensive work.

Salt Latitude has sold for 44,000, Sky Coast for 36,000, Tempest for 32,000, and Aura for 16,500; in all amassing 128,500.

Not bad, considering, he said, but certainly not boom worthy. Its very much a reflection of the times, he says given the depreciation in the art market.

Weather Gauge is a continuation of his seascape theme, inspired by the wild coastline of north Mayo.

When he wished to escape Dublin during the boom, when traffic became unbearable and people became even more unbearable, his refuge came when he accepted a residency place in Mayo in 1996, at the Ballinglen Arts Foundation at Ballycastle. The people, the landscape continue to draw him back.

And it was an experience that would change his artistic strokes, having previously been focused on dereliction in Dublin city, or more particularly the wildernesses that exist in the derelict spaces between buildings.

Viking areas of Dublin, the Guinness breweries, the Liberties, around the Liffey, Amien Street, are still an attraction, as are areas of Kerry, particularly Valentia Island. But none are as magnetic as Mayo, where he sees elements of his earlier cityscapes mirrored in nature.

The elements of the coast were almost like an echo of what was happening in the city, but in nature. It was so rugged and so elemental there was an almost architectural structure to it.

Aside from fluctuations in the art market within the last decade, artists of his era have had other challenges to contend with. As an emerging artist in the 70s, he said the Peace Process transformed how Irish artists were considered.

Only after The Troubles subsided did the London market, in particular, become much more accessible to Irish artists when they felt comfortable working with Irish artists. Doors and cheque books finally opened.

His first London show in UK in 1996 led to a wonderful relationship with collectors, which has continued for over 20 years, and where he continues to be represented by Art First.

He first exhibited in Dublin in the Lincoln Gallery, on Lincoln Place, and moved up to the capital on the strength of that show, with his first solo show in the Rubicon gallery on St Stephens Green.

Teskey went on to teach life drawing in the art college in Mountjoy Square, now part of DIT, all the while focusing his drawings of inner city dereliction.

His style evolved, became looser, more expressive, and he went through a transitionary phase of exhibiting very little while he honed his new style.

His career trajectory, he says, has largely all been highs, the most striking of which was seeing his work tour the US in the 90s for three years, after being selected by the prominent New York curator, Lucy Lippard.

After the Limerick show concludes, another solo show is in the offing at Oliver Sears Gallery on Molesworth Street in Dublin, as well as producing work for art fairs in London and New York.

Having an enthusiastic audience, he says, is a great motivator. It also provides a sense of validation, something, he says, every artist needs and desires.

Best-selling authors may earn a pittance in spite of producing award-winning works, but artists suffer an equally poverty stricken fate.

Following recent comments by author Donal Ryan that his succession of award-winning novels have not made him a millionaire, and he has forced him to return to his day job in the civil service to help pay his mortgage, Teskey too echoed his views.

While he has seen individual pieces sell for up to 60,000 and saw sell-out show after sell-out show in the boom, he said he is absolutely not a millionaire, and has called for greater State support and philanthropy for those working in both the visual and print arts.

It is the case for visual artists, that very few can make a living from art, not just artists starting off, but those well into their careers as well who still find it a struggle.

I'm very fortunate in many ways that my work connects with people on many different levels, the 60-year-old member of the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) told the Limerick Leader.

Even doing well as a successful artist in Ireland is being able to not struggle basically. I don't think there are any millionaire artists in Ireland, or ever were. If you think as an artist youre going to make a great living from it, youre in the wrong profession.

It takes a really long time to make a living as an artist, and that's if you ever do. You could building up a strong visual identity and still spend your career in poverty.

In a constantly changing art world, he sticks to what he knows, loves and does best, saying that any attempts to capitalise on trends would be a terrible mistake.

You can be riding a crest of a wave, and then drop out of people's consciousness, but it will eventually come back around again.

Accumulating a mountain of money has never been this artist's main motivation.

I never felt that being a commercial artist was central to what I was doing. I wanted to create work that people responded to and reached out to, rather than looking at the price-tag.

Art is about making someone feel something. If you look at a Picasso or Monet or Van Gogh, its not the value of the painting youre thinking of when you look at it, its how it makes you feel.

While there are some people who remain deeply committed to buying art, Teskey said vast swathes of buyers just vanished in the recession.

Now, it's a case of two steps forward, one step back, and it's hard to know what awaits us. It's very hard for young artists at the moment, but I don't know if its as hard as when we came out of college in the '70s and '80s, but theres a whole different world now.

Teskey's advice to emerging artists is to find your voice as an artist and stick to your guns, and just hope you can survive, and ride out the good and the bad times equally.

He immediately moved to Dublin after graduating from a four-year diploma in Fine Art from the Limerick School of Art and Design in 1978, where he studied under Charles Harper, then head of painting, to further his career.

The 1990s were a wonderful environment for artists, when there was steady support for the arts, but it changed in the early noughties when a frenzy of buying took off in the new millennium.

From about 2002 on, there was suddenly a new type of buyer, with people interested in buying art, seeing the potential to make some money, and flipping it at auction.

The auction houses evolved into manipulators of the market. This changed things enormously for artists, because prices needed to go up in line with what paintings were getting at auction, and they doubled almost within a very short space of time.

The same thing was being replicated in the property market and it got really out of hand. Certain people wanted to become dealers, and you had a whole new class of buyer that you had to be very wary of - you had to protect yourself from being exploited or manipulated, and your loyal customer base as well, who wouldnt sell your work on for a profit.

It just got ridiculous and you felt like shutting down and not putting anything out there. And then, for many people, it went back to square one.

At the same time, it did a huge amount for his profile and others, with his name becoming a currency in the art world in Ireland and internationally, which he agrees was one of the paradoxes of the time.

What you really wanted was a nice steady progression like in the 1990s, without going over the top.

Represented by Oliver Sears gallery in Dublin, Art First in London, and Dolan Maxwell in Philadelphia, his work has also sold at Sothebys for over 28,000.

Born in 1956, his familys ancestors, the Palatines, Protestant refugees from Germany, came to Limerick in 1709.

One of four children born to Maureen and Norman, he no longer has many family members living in Limerick, bar an aunt in Adare. Equally, Limerick hasnt featured in any great shape or form in his work to date, but he hasnt ruled out that changing in the future.

Its not for the want of looking. There are so many striking and quite beautiful parts of Limerick that I look at and wonder how I can do it, but Id need to live in Limerick for a while to do it. When I was growing up [in Rathkeale] that whole hinterland was quite influential, and that appreciation of nature and the outdoors was something I absorbed and took with me from my father.

The brooding intensity of the sea in Mayo will undoubtedly prove more of a draw, following on from this series, which Naomi ONolan, acting director of the Hunt Museum, has said are amongst his finest works yet.

Weather Gauge by Donald Teskey runs in the Hunt Museum until Sunday, February 19. Admission is free. See www.huntmuseum.com for more information
THE jury in the trial of a man, accused of murdering his flatmate at their home in Limerick has been told it must be unanimous in its verdict.

Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy had told the Central Criminal Court jury that it could reach three possible verdicts: guilty; acquittal; or not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter.

Arnis Labunskis, aged 56, with an address at Wolfe Tone Street claims he acted in self defence when he struck Dainius Burba (39) over the head with the leg of a coffee table.

The Latvian nation denies murdering Mr Burba on April 21 or April 22, 2015.

He had originally told gardai that he had come home to find his flatmate with serious injuries, but has since told the jury that he was responsible for inflicting the injuries.

The father-of-two testified that Mr Burba called him into his darkened bedroom in the middle of the night and began swinging a wooden table leg at him.

He said he managed to disarm him, but that Mr Burba continued to come at him with his fists. He said he then swung the table leg at him until the deceased shouted stop.

Ms Justice Murphy sent the jury out to begin deliberating on Thursday afternoon.

She called the three women and nine men back to court this Friday and said that any verdict had to be unanimous.

The jurors will resume deliberations this afternoon.
A 56-year-old father-of-two has been sentenced to life inmprisonment for murdering his flatmate by bludgeoning him to death with the leg of a coffee table in their Limerick home.

The Central Criminal Court trial heard that the 39-year-old victim had suffered a multiplicity of blows to his face; his broken skull was visible when his body was found.

His murderer had originally told gardai that he had come home to find his flatmate and colleague with serious injuries, blaming an intruder.

However, when he entered the witness box last week, he claimed that he had acted in self defencer. He testified that the father of one had called him into his darkened bedroom in the middle of the night and had begun swinging the wooden table leg at him.

He said he managed to disarm him, but that his flatmate had continued to come at him with his fists. He said he then swung the table leg at him until the deceased shouted stop.

Arnis Labunskis, a Latvian with an address at Wolfe Tone Street had pleaded not guilty to murdering Lithuanian native Dainius Burba in their house there on April 21 or April 22, 2015.

The trial heard that Labunskis had walked for almost an hour across the city to his daughers house after beating his flatmate. He told her hed been in a fight.

She drove him to the house of her brother, who told him to go home. However, she asked a neighbour to check on him, and the alarm was raised when that neighbour caught him trying to hide evidence.

The Deputy State Pathologist, Dr Michael Curtin, testified that he noticed obvious head injuries and could tell that Mr Burbas jaw was fractured when he saw his bloodstained body lying on a bed at the scene.

Dr Curtis later carried out a post-mortem examination and found several lacerations to his head. Many of these were full-thickness, meaning that the wound went down to bone. There was also visible fractured skull bone.

He concluded the deceased had received an estimated 19 blows to the head and face, resulting in severe brain injury. He gave the cause of death as blunt force injury.

The jury also heard technical evidence about blood spatter and how the victims blood would have ended up on his killers t-shirt, which was found in a wheelie bin near their home.

Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy told the jury that it could reach three possible verdicts: guilty; acquittal; or not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter in line with the defence of self defence.

However, following just two hours and one minute of deliberations, the three women and nine men returned with a unanimous verdict of guilty this Friday afternoon.

There were quiet sighs of relief from the family of the deceased, while the accused showed no emotion as a translater whispered the verdict to him.

The jury remained in court while Sergeant John Farmer read a short victim impact report on behalf of Mr Burbas sister, Gitana Burbaide.

She wrote that her brother had been a son, brother and father, and a good person, who never wanted to die.

He came to Ireland two months before his death looking for a better life, she explained.

She said that their mother was heartbroken, but that his daughter and partner were probably the most affected. A bicycle he had bought for his daughter shortly before his death was now her most important possession.

As a sister, the loss is huge, she wrote. When I marry my partner this year, I will not get to dance with Dainius at my wedding.

She said her children would never know their uncle. He was very loved by his family, who will miss him every day of our lives, she concluded.

Labunskis stood as the judge sentenced him to life imprisonment. She expressed the hope that the verdict would give some hope and closure to the family.

As well as thanking the jury, she commended the gardai involved, who she said conducted themselves in an exemplary manner.

This investigation is a fine model of how investigations should be conducted, she said.

Labunskis was led away to begin his life sentence before Mr Burbas sister and partner left the courtroom, supported by friends.
LIMERICK'S network for professional artists, PLAN, welcomes two creative practitioners from the UK to examine 'shared cultural values'.

The Limerick grouping marks its fourth AGM this Saturday and is hosting two representatives from the Creative Organisations of Liverpool (COol) to mark PLAN's milestone.

A collective of 31 key arts organisations based in Liverpool, COol is the leading cultural partnership model of its kind in the UK, with members creating exciting art in many forms.

PLAN said it was pleased to welcome Karen Gallagher, Artistic Director of Merseyside Dance Initiative and Emma Smith, Director of Liverpool Irish Festival to discuss how it has grown to play a pivotal role in promoting the cultural offering in Liverpool.

PLAN chairman Keith Bogue said the group was honoured that two representatives from COoL have taken the time to visit us in Limerick on the occasion of PLANs fourth AGM.

Historic Irish links with Liverpool have paved the way for shared cultural values with Ireland, most pertinent of which is now evident in Limerick where, like Liverpool, arts advocacy bodies have flourished in recent years, he added.

The talk will take place on Saturday in the Captain's Room of the Hunt Museum and is free for members and 5 for non-members, but places are limited. Email planlimerick@gmail.com.
Feb 16, 2017, 10 PM

By Michael Baadke

Maj. Gen. John Sullivan was an American military leader during the Revolutionary War, known for his 1779 defeat of the Indian confederacy that had allied with loyalist forces and attacked colonists frontier settlements in New York.

Sullivan was born Feb. 17, 1740, in Somersworth, N.H. He studied law and was elected to the New Hampshire provincial congress in 1774, representing the state at the first Continental Congress.

As a brigadier general in the Continental Army, Sullivan was sent to command the American forces at Quebec. Promoted to major general in 1776, he commanded troops at Long Island and during battles at Trenton, Princeton, and Brandywine in Pennsylvania.

The Sullivan Expedition was organized by Gen. George Washington and led by Sullivan and Brig. Gen. James Clinton, with more than 4,400 army troops. On May 31, 1779, Washington wrote to Sullivan, directing that the goal of the expedition against the hostile tribes was the total destruction and devastation of their settlements.

Sullivans health declined during the campaign, and he retired from the military soon after. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress of 1780-81, and also served as governor of New Hampshire, and as a U.S. district judge.

Sullivan was just 54 years old when he died on Jan. 23, 1795. A 2 carmine rose stamp commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Sullivan Expedition was issued June 17, 1929, featuring a portrait of Sullivan in the vignette (Scott 657).
May 3, 2021, 10 PM

Standard album pages provide guidance by identifying and/or illustrating the stamps the collector might choose mount. The page shown is from the Scott International Postage Stamp Album product line. Scott, like Linns Stamp News, is a division of Amos Med

Stock books are an alternative to stamp albums. This stock book with transparent pockets has overlapping French stamps on the left-hand page and individually placed stamps on the right. Overlapping stamps on a stock book page can be hazardous, especially

By Janet Klug

For those of us who use albums to house our stamp collections, it can be pretty annoying when you have interesting stamps with no designated spaces for them in the albums.

Dont dump these homeless stamps into a shoebox  its important to keep them in good condition now and for the future.

There might come a time when the albums seem to be taking up enormous amounts of space, as well as constantly requiring new pages for stamps recently released, but the good news is there are ways other than standard albums to keep your collection safe and enjoyable.

Connect with Linns Stamp News:

Sign up for our newsletter

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

The AmosAdvantage.com website and the display and classified ads (look under Accessories) in every issue of Linns can help you find stamp albums, pages, stock books, and other storage media for your collection.

If you are current with new stamp issues and you use albums that accept additional pages, you can buy updated supplement pages or use blank pages that fit into the albums you use.

Some easy-to-use preprinted stamp album pages are shown here in the first illustration.

Some collectors choose to make their own albums using nice binders and blank pages.

Also pictured is an album page for Norway stamps created by the collector who owns them. The layout is simple, just tidily arranged stamps hinged on a sheet of blank acid-free paper.

Of course, you can always add some zip to blank pages, being as imaginative as you wish and making the album uniquely your own.

There is plenty of space for making notes, arranging stamps in creative ways, or adding covers, large souvenir sheets and other ephemera.

Several recent Computers and Stamps columns in Linns by William F. Sharpe (including his Oct. 21, 2016, and Dec. 19, 2016, columns) discussed making your own album pages or downloading free examples online.

The American Philatelic Society has free album pages for recently issued United States issues, as well as pages for U.S. states and cities and topical stamp subjects. Find them here.

Philosateleia has about 800 free downloadable album pages for U.S. stamps, and posts new pages four times a year for the latest issues. The website can be found here.

The FreeStampAlbum.com website helps you to create pages with templates that are easy to navigate, with good instructions.

The American Air Mail Society offers pages for U.S. airmail stamps.

More sources for making pages or downloading them are listed here. Scroll down the web page, and under Philatelic Book, Reference, Supply and Software you will find posts about free pages for British Machin issues, Brazil, France, Portugal, and more.

Stock books can be used as albums. There are no printed spaces for stamps, but with their multiple rows of pockets on each page, stock books allow the collector to store stamps and move them in and out of the pages without needing hinges or mounts.

Individual stock pages, with a three-hole punch to fit standard binders, are another option.

Some stock books have pages and pockets made of cardstock material, so the bottom half of the inserted stamp is not visible, but others have clear plastic pockets, revealing the stamp designs.

If you love collecting mint never-hinged stamps, stock books work well, because you would not want to use hinges to store your stamps.

Once a stock book is filled up, just get another one (they are relatively inexpensive) and keep the collection going. The illustration shows an open stock book with clear plastic pockets holding stamps from France.

Two different storage styles are shown in the photograph. On the left-hand page, the stamps are overlapping in the pockets, and on the right, each stamp is placed individually.

The latter is the better method, both to showcase the stamps and to keep them flat and undamaged, especially if the stamps still have their gum.

If the stock book lives in a home that experiences conditions of high humidity, the stamps risk being ruined because they can stick together. Therefore, do not overlap mint stamps with gum in stock books.

In fact, to be more precise, keep the humidity in your home somewhere between 40 and 60 percent. You will be more comfortable  and so will your stamps.

The general rule is, keeping stamps in albums or stock books is best for their continued safety. These holders are certainly preferable to tossing stamps into your desk drawer or jumbling together hundreds of stamps in a cramped shoebox. That is a sure way of ending up with wrinkled, folded, or stuck-together stamps.

If you love your stamp collection, demonstrate this by taking good care of its housing.
Pressemitteilung: Silvia Kuhn startet YouTube-Kanal Clever Money mit Silvi Die Tochter der Honorarberater und Stiftung Warentest Autoren Stefanie und Markus Kuhn startete Mitte Mai mit ihrem neuen YouTube Kanal Clever Money mit Silvi. Ziel ist es, jungen Menschen alles Wissenswerte rund um Geld und Finanzen auf einfache Art und Weise nahe zu bringen. Die Idee zu einem YouTube Kanal ist aus einem Schulerpraktikum in 2019 entstanden. Silvia Kuhn hat

[mehr] Die Tochter der Honorarberater und Stiftung Warentest Autoren Stefanie und Markus Kuhn startete Mitte Mai mit ihrem neuen YouTube Kanal Clever Money mit Silvi. Ziel ist es, jungen Menschen alles Wissenswerte rund um Geld und Finanzen auf einfache Art und Weise nahe zu bringen. Die Idee zu einem YouTube Kanal ist aus einem Schulerpraktikum in 2019 entstanden. Silvia Kuhn hat

Pressemitteilung: Buntes Wachstum: Ceresana untersucht den Markt fur Farben Farben und Lacke verschonern nicht nur, sie konnen auch schutzen. Die Wande von Krankenhausern zum Beispiel werden zunehmend mit antibakteriellen Eigenschaften versehen. Hauchdunne, aber sehr haltbare Lackschichten bewahren Fahrzeuge vor Rost. Ceresana hat bereits zum vierten Mal den gesamten europaischen Markt fur Farben und Lacke untersucht: Im Jahr 2019 wurden 9,1 Millionen Tonnen dieser Beschichtungen verbraucht. Farbenfrohe Hauser und Autos Bautenfarben sind

[mehr] Farben und Lacke verschonern nicht nur, sie konnen auch schutzen. Die Wande von Krankenhausern zum Beispiel werden zunehmend mit antibakteriellen Eigenschaften versehen. Hauchdunne, aber sehr haltbare Lackschichten bewahren Fahrzeuge vor Rost. Ceresana hat bereits zum vierten Mal den gesamten europaischen Markt fur Farben und Lacke untersucht: Im Jahr 2019 wurden 9,1 Millionen Tonnen dieser Beschichtungen verbraucht. Farbenfrohe Hauser und Autos Bautenfarben sind

Pressemitteilung: Altlasten 2.067 Mrd. Euro - Krisensubvention 1.000 Mrd. Euro Die Welt leidet unter der Corona-Pandemie, deren Kosten viele Staaten an den Rand der Exixtens bringen konnte. Wie konnte es in Deutschland dazu kommen? Die Welt leidet unter der Corona-Pandemie, deren Kosten viele Staaten an den Rand der Exixtens bringen konnte. Wie konnte es in Deutschland dazu kommen? Lehrte 29.05.2020 In Deutschland wurden in den letzten 50 Jahren 25 Steuerarten

[mehr] Die Welt leidet unter der Corona-Pandemie, deren Kosten viele Staaten an den Rand der Exixtens bringen konnte. Wie konnte es in Deutschland dazu kommen? Die Welt leidet unter der Corona-Pandemie, deren Kosten viele Staaten an den Rand der Exixtens bringen konnte. Wie konnte es in Deutschland dazu kommen? Lehrte 29.05.2020 In Deutschland wurden in den letzten 50 Jahren 25 Steuerarten

Pressemitteilung: 16. Juni und 18. Juni um 15 Uhr CEST europaischer Zeit Real-Time Innovations (RTI) organisiert zwei neue Webinare speziell fur den europaischen Markt. Hier geht es um die Themen Konnektivitat von Elektrofahrzeugen sowie Landfahrzeugplattformen in Kombination mit Software-Systemen und DDS. Sie finden zu europaischer Zeit um 15 Uhr CEST statt und sind im Anschluss on Demand verfugbar. Sunnyvale (USA)/Munchen, Mai 2020 - Real-Time Innovations (RTI) organisiert zwei neue Webinare speziell fur

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Pressemitteilung: Latest in Electronic Test & Measurement Equipment MICHIGAN - May, 2020 - An international provider of electronic test and measurement equipment, AAATesters has announced that it now offers the INNO View 500 SM Fiber Optic OTDR w/ V20 Fiberscope (https://www.aaatesters.com/Inno_View_500_OTDR_Model_View500_Inno_500_1.html). This new addition to AAATesters expanding inventory of electronic test and measurement equipment, will assist consumers save time and money with greater testing proficiency and success. AAA

[mehr] MICHIGAN - May, 2020 - An international provider of electronic test and measurement equipment, AAATesters has announced that it now offers the INNO View 500 SM Fiber Optic OTDR w/ V20 Fiberscope (https://www.aaatesters.com/Inno_View_500_OTDR_Model_View500_Inno_500_1.html). This new addition to AAATesters expanding inventory of electronic test and measurement equipment, will assist consumers save time and money with greater testing proficiency and success. AAA

Pressemitteilung: Thomas May ist neuer Chefredakteur fur Perfect Eagle Thomas May ubernimmt mit 1. Juni 2020 die redaktionelle Leitung der fuhrenden multimedialen Golf-Lifestyle-Plattform im deutschsprachigen Raum. Bilder zur Meldung in der Mediendatenbank:  Mato Johannik https://leisure-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/office_leisure_at/Es4aLP2m5bhHtlEPowWj1SEB5hhgDDEv96D9i9Z_Ok9ajA?e=Xi0L1x Wien (LCG)  Perfect Eagle hat heuer allen Grund zum Feiern. Nachdem das Golf-Lifestyle-Magazin mit der Marz-Ausgabe seine erste Dekade feierte, begrut Herausgeber Thomas Wasserburger nun Thomas May als neuen Chefredakteur fur das multimediale Golf-

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[mehr] Gasnetz Hamburg pruft monatlich 1.200 Hausanschlusse  Arbeiten unter umfassenden Schutzmanahmen  Haushalte erhalten detaillierte Informationen zum Corona-Schutz  Sichere Gasanschlusse stehen im Mittelpunkt Hamburg. Ab sofort klingelt an vielen Hamburger Hausturen wieder der Gasanlagen-Prufer. Die turnusgemae Inspektion der Anschlusse in Kellern oder Wirtschaftsraumen von Ein- und Mehrfamilienhausern ist alle zwolf Jahre vorgeschrieben. Seit Marz hatte Gasnetz Hamburg die Hausbesuche unterbrochen. Nun schickt das Unternehmen wieder seine Fachleute zu den Anschlusskunden

Pressemitteilung: Wie COVID-19 unsere Kommunikation verandert Sprachexpertin Tatjana Lackner von Die Schule des Sprechens analysiert, wie sich das Kommunikationsverhalten in der COVID-19-Zeit verandert und welche Kommunikations-Trends daraus entstehen. Bilder zur Meldung in der Mediendatenbank https://leisure-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/office_leisure_at/EuP2VeRtjsdPpxlLUzBimIsB-GcG-m5aFr4de0hEQ_WCPw?e=s2GwN1 Wien (LCG)  Die Manahmen zur Eindammung der COVID-19-Verbreitung verandern durch Physical Distancing und zahlreiche neue Verhaltensregeln den personlichen Umgang miteinander. Korpersprache, Social Codes und Rituale bekommen eine wichtig Bedeutung in der neuen

[mehr] Sprachexpertin Tatjana Lackner von Die Schule des Sprechens analysiert, wie sich das Kommunikationsverhalten in der COVID-19-Zeit verandert und welche Kommunikations-Trends daraus entstehen. Bilder zur Meldung in der Mediendatenbank https://leisure-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/office_leisure_at/EuP2VeRtjsdPpxlLUzBimIsB-GcG-m5aFr4de0hEQ_WCPw?e=s2GwN1 Wien (LCG)  Die Manahmen zur Eindammung der COVID-19-Verbreitung verandern durch Physical Distancing und zahlreiche neue Verhaltensregeln den personlichen Umgang miteinander. Korpersprache, Social Codes und Rituale bekommen eine wichtig Bedeutung in der neuen

Pressemitteilung: Facebook diskutiert Strategie in der COVID-19-Pandemie Beim Moving Forward-Round-Table sprechen Facebook-Manager uber die Zusammenarbeit mit der WHO, die Intensivnutzung in Italien und andere Strategien gegen Falschmeldungen. Bilder zur Meldung in der Mediendatenbank:  JMC https://leisure-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/office_leisure_at/EsGAMdDUM2lNt4Jo2RfF_R4BhwzfZ8LXK305xeAAjGcAdw?e=EyC94A Video zur Meldung auf Facebook https://www.facebook.com/movingforwardconference/videos/973105823109354 Dublin/Wien (LCG)  Die Verbreitungsgeschwindigkeit der sozialen Medien war in den letzten Wochen essenziell, um Informationen zu COVID-19 zu streuen. Auch Fake News fanden in diesem Umfeld einen fruchtbaren

[mehr] Beim Moving Forward-Round-Table sprechen Facebook-Manager uber die Zusammenarbeit mit der WHO, die Intensivnutzung in Italien und andere Strategien gegen Falschmeldungen. Bilder zur Meldung in der Mediendatenbank:  JMC https://leisure-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/office_leisure_at/EsGAMdDUM2lNt4Jo2RfF_R4BhwzfZ8LXK305xeAAjGcAdw?e=EyC94A Video zur Meldung auf Facebook https://www.facebook.com/movingforwardconference/videos/973105823109354 Dublin/Wien (LCG)  Die Verbreitungsgeschwindigkeit der sozialen Medien war in den letzten Wochen essenziell, um Informationen zu COVID-19 zu streuen. Auch Fake News fanden in diesem Umfeld einen fruchtbaren

Pressemitteilung: Musikfestival Steyr: Kulturgenuss trotz Pandemie Als kultureller Impulsgeber fur die Region ermoglicht das Musikfestival Steyr auch heuer Kulturgenuss und wartet mit einem neuen Programm auf. Bilder zur Meldung in der Mediendatenbank https://leisure-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/office_leisure_at/EnbiYHVH3KNOg_ZakCqco3wBz529TPFExmEgRThtSEHHQA?e=fAzk1G Steyr (LCG)  In den vergangenen Wochen und Monaten haben die Manahmen der osterreichischen Bundesregierung zur Eindammung der COVID-19-Verbreitung die Kulturnation Osterreich in einen regelrechten Stillstand versetzt. Seit Anfang Mai 2020 setzt die neue Normalitat

[mehr] Als kultureller Impulsgeber fur die Region ermoglicht das Musikfestival Steyr auch heuer Kulturgenuss und wartet mit einem neuen Programm auf. Bilder zur Meldung in der Mediendatenbank https://leisure-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/office_leisure_at/EnbiYHVH3KNOg_ZakCqco3wBz529TPFExmEgRThtSEHHQA?e=fAzk1G Steyr (LCG)  In den vergangenen Wochen und Monaten haben die Manahmen der osterreichischen Bundesregierung zur Eindammung der COVID-19-Verbreitung die Kulturnation Osterreich in einen regelrechten Stillstand versetzt. Seit Anfang Mai 2020 setzt die neue Normalitat

Pressemitteilung: OstseeResort Olpenitz bei Kappeln/ Schlei Private Vermietung von ausgefallenen Ferienobjekten an der Ostsee - "Nie mitten drin, aber immer ganz nah dran!" ist hierbei die Devise. Auch wenn die Corona-Pandemie Urlaub und Ferienvermietung weltweit lahm gelegt hat  das Leben im OstseeResort Olpenitz ist trotzdem weitergegangen, und Ferienobjekte in diesem neuen Ferienresort bei Kappeln/ Schlei verkaufen sich weiterhin gut. Oder aber jetzt erst Recht? Das

[mehr] Private Vermietung von ausgefallenen Ferienobjekten an der Ostsee - "Nie mitten drin, aber immer ganz nah dran!" ist hierbei die Devise. Auch wenn die Corona-Pandemie Urlaub und Ferienvermietung weltweit lahm gelegt hat  das Leben im OstseeResort Olpenitz ist trotzdem weitergegangen, und Ferienobjekte in diesem neuen Ferienresort bei Kappeln/ Schlei verkaufen sich weiterhin gut. Oder aber jetzt erst Recht? Das

Pressemitteilung: Gut vernetzt: Ceresana-Report zum Markt fur Kunststoff-Rohre Die Nachfrage nach Kunststoffrohren steigt in vielen europaischen Landern. Besonders in Ballungsraumen werden derzeit neue Wohnungen gebaut. Allerdings boomt die Bauwirtschaft nicht uberall: Ausgelastete Kapazitaten, steigende Preise, Fachkraftemangel, fehlendes Bauland und zunehmende wirtschaftliche Unsicherheit bremsen die Dynamik. Dabei konnen sich Hochbau, Tiefbau und Infrastrukturbau sehr unterschiedlich entwickeln: Die verschiedenen Bausegmente sind in hohem Mae von den offentlichen Investitionen im jeweiligen

[mehr] Die Nachfrage nach Kunststoffrohren steigt in vielen europaischen Landern. Besonders in Ballungsraumen werden derzeit neue Wohnungen gebaut. Allerdings boomt die Bauwirtschaft nicht uberall: Ausgelastete Kapazitaten, steigende Preise, Fachkraftemangel, fehlendes Bauland und zunehmende wirtschaftliche Unsicherheit bremsen die Dynamik. Dabei konnen sich Hochbau, Tiefbau und Infrastrukturbau sehr unterschiedlich entwickeln: Die verschiedenen Bausegmente sind in hohem Mae von den offentlichen Investitionen im jeweiligen
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Africa, not a single story What to talk about when you talk about contemporary African literature /news/talking-point/africa-not-a-single-story-111646900958254.html 111646900958254 story

In 2009, the Nigerian novelist and non-fiction writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie warned the world of the danger of a single story"of whitewashing the cultural differences in Africa. Lounge gives you genre-bending stories from geographies across Africaand its diasporaas your expansive guide to contemporary classics, and lets you re-chart the literary cartographies of the continent, one book at a time.

Big-ticket buys

Chigozie Obioma, author of the Man Booker-shortlisted The Fishermen. Photo: AFP

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Chigozie Obiomas 2015 debut, The Fishermen, follows the fortunes and misfortunes of four brothers as a prophecy begins to break their familial bond. The same year also saw the English translation of the Congolese writer Fiston Mwanza Mujilas addictive Tram 83. In this, the dizzying narrative unravels in a bar in an unknown Congolese mining town, where the poet-protagonist Lucien is seen staggering through a world of drinks, drugs and dreamers. Lastly, its the Ghanaian-American novelist Yaa Gyasis Homegoing that for us is not just the African book of 2016, but also of the decade thus far. The story of two half-sisters, Effia and Esiseparated by the sinister forces of slaveryit details their different destinies across two continents and over two centuries.

Tram 83: By Fiston Mwanza Mujila.

Sci-fi sightings

Lauren Beukes, author of Zoo City. Photo: Getty Images

In its new Afro-futuristic avatar, the genre is reaching for newer galaxies. One glance at Nigerian-American writer Nnedi Okorafors corpuscatering to children, young adults and adults alikeor the anthologies, AfroSF: Science Fiction By African Writers (2013) and Terra Incognita: New Short Speculative Stories From Africa (2015), will take you to parallel prose worlds. South African author Lauren Beukes Arthur C. Clarke award-winning Zoo City (2010), which reimagines Johannesburg, confirms this theory. Also look out for Cape Town-based artist-writer-musician-film-maker Nikhil Singhs post-apocalyptic graphic novel, Taty Went West.

Flaneur fiction

Teju Cole. Photo: AFP

The Nigerian novelist Helon Habila opens his 2017 Guardian piece with the proclamation that the Lagos novel has become a genre in itself", adding that it is almost a rite of passage for Nigerian authors". Habila is reviewing and referring to Chibundu Onuzos second novel, Welcome To Lagos (2017), in which she paints the city of Lagos as a character, in colourful and unconventional tones. Her 2013 debut, The Spider Kings Daughter, also founds its home in sprawling mansions and slums in the city. Similarly, Every Day Is For The Thief (2014) and Looking for Transwonderland: Travels In Nigeria (2012) see Teju Colealso a photographer and prolific essayistand Noo Saro-Wiwa, respectively, translating their post-hiatus homecomings into moving works of travel writing and city-based cultural commentaries.

Welcome To Lagos: By Chibundu Onuzo.

Crime cases

Leye Adenle. Photo: AFP

From Leye Adenles Easy Motion Tourist to Abdelilah Hamdouchis Whitefly, 2016 saw nefarious and noir activities in the African novel world. While the formers fast-and-furious prose has prompted comparisons with Tarantino landing in Lagos"and possibilities of a sequel sooner than you may thinkthe latter has been promoted as the first Arabic detective novel in English. Translated by Jonathan Smolin, Whitefly is set on the beaches of Tangiers, Morocco, while Adenles Prix Marianne-winning book has been translated into French as Lagos Lady.

Migrant journeys

Taiye Selasi. Photo: AFP

If Chimamanda Ngozi Adichies Americanah (2013) is how you came to read contemporary immigrant itineraries from the continentand stayed a little longer to be captivated by NoViolet Bulawayos We Need New Names and Taiye Selasis Ghana Must Go, published in the same yearthen these books will carry you to other coordinates: Brian Chikwava transports you from Harare to Harare North (2009)emigrating Zimbabweans term for Londonin feverish fiction that is equal parts political and psychological thriller. And lo and Behold The Dreamers! Its 2016s much awaited read by Africas first million-dollar novelist, Imbolo Mbuein which a Cameroonian couple encounters the evils and entrapments of the American Dream.

Political truths

Aminatta Forna. Photo: Reuters

Meet Aminatta Forna, Binyavanga Wainaina and Yemisi AribisalaScottish-Sierra Leonean, Kenyan and Nigerian, respectivelywho play with the ontology of the 21st century African memoir, and oscillate between the deeply personal and the distinctly political. Fornas 2002 debut, The Devil That Danced On The Waterwhich considers her fathers execution as its departure pointcharts the first 10 years of her life, and the last 10 years of her fathers. Wainainafamously known for his satirical essay, How To Write About Africa" (Granta)has written a comic and unselfconscious coming-of-age story set in the east and south of Africa in One Day I Will Write About This Place (2011). Aribisalas Longthroat Memoirs: Soups, Sex And Nigerian Taste Buds (2016) is served as a mouth-watering appraisal of the cultural politics and erotics of Nigerian cuisine".

Longthroat Memoirs: Soups, Sex And Nigerian Taste Buds: By Aribisala

Short reads

Nigeria-born British writer Helen Oyeyemi. Photo: AP

The Nigerian-born Helen Oyeyemione of Grantas best young British novelists of 2013returned to the literary landscape with her collection of short stories, What Is Yours Is Not Yours, last year. Its utterly gorgeous editions aside, it also takes metaphorical and real locks and keys to thread the tales togethera trope which reminds us of South African writer Ivan Vladislavics Portrait With Keys: The City Of Johannesburg Unlocked (2006). Also a case of flaneur fiction, its playful prose is neither a novel nor a collection of short stories, and produces a planned map of the city, and a self-portrait of the author, in 138 snippets. Next, travelling to Entebbe, Uganda, Doreen Bainganas Tropical Fish: Tales From Entebbe (2006) tells the stories of three sisters, Christine, Patti and Rosaand touches on topics of religion and superstition, love, and AIDS. And finally, Africa39 (2014), which celebrates new writing from sub-Saharan Africa, is your curated guide to wide-ranging storytellers from the region.

Tropical Fish: By Doreen Baingana.

***

INSTAFRICA

Follow these three bookstagrammers for your e-fuel of #AfricanLiterature

Zaynab Quadri is a self-proclaimed African lit lover

For African literary festivals and flat-lays, @zaynabtyty

A senior associate at pulse.ng, Zaynab Quadri is a self-proclaimed African lit lover" and knows her paperback priorities: In 2016, she took up the #54booksacrossAfricaChallengeone for each country on the continent. You can also spot her snapshots from literary fests and book fairs in Nigeria.

Afrikult is an independent publishing house

For your calendar of African literature-related events, @afrikult

An independent publishing house, Afrikult is also a platform that discusses, discovers and celebrates African literature. Follow them for future editions of their London-based event: #WordsthatTravel.

#WellReadBlackGirl, has a staggering Insta-following of over 13,000.

For your one-stop social media shop on black womens writing, @wellreadblackgirl

Glory Edim (@guidetoglo), the Brooklyn-based founder of #WellReadBlackGirl, has a staggering Insta-following of over 13,000. When shes not too busy hosting book clubssubscribe to her newslettershe posts stunning shelfies, and passages from the African prose on her bedstand.
Chittrovanu Mazumdar: Art worlds recluse Chittrovanu Mazumdar rarely leaves his Kolkata home. We met him during his recent outing at an art fair /how-to-lounge/art-culture/chittrovanu-mazumdar-art-world-s-recluse-111646900681853.html 111646900681853 story

Chittrovanu Mazumdars work is triggered by magical momentsthe sudden brightening of the dark landscape by the glow of a single bulb the first time he saw a television being switched on in a village in Jharkhand, lending a touch of the miracle to the metal box. Some incidents mark you for life," he says. Jharkhand, which comes up often during our conversation, is an intrinsic part of his childhood memories, with Mazumdar having divided a bulk of his initial years between Kolkata and a tiny village called Agia in Jharkhand, where his father, the noted artist Nirode Mazumdar, owned some land.

These memories form the basis of his installation River Of Ideas, which spans several rooms at Aspinwall House as part of the ongoing Kochi-Muziris Biennale. This also marks his return to India after having focused on international shows over the last five years.

Responding to curator Sudarshan Shettys vision and inspired by mythical accounts of India as the land of seven rivers, Mazumdar refers to water as a space of transition. The first room consists of a black metal tunnel made dangerous with hanging, exposed wires through which one must pass to reach a bridge that is aglow with incandescent lights. The second room is more muted, a place for introspection, with walls covered in lights that sit in metal bowls, almost like ritual offerings. The third room features a book on which a video of the Ganga river is projected. The final room is full of metal and scraps, with a compilation of footage from Jharkhandof leaves, water and decayprojected on the floor nearby.

A smaller set of works inspired by the same theme was on display at the recently concluded India Art Fair, at the booth of 1x1 Gallery, Dubai, which represents Mazumdar.

When Sudarshan asked me to create a work for the Kochi biennale, we started talking about the river Saraswati, which doesnt exist any more but still lives on in memory," he says. River Of Ideas raises questions about how you perceive time and culture and the passing of a moment."

Mazumdar was one of the first artists that Shetty approached for the biennale. There is something in the way he approaches work, which resonates with how I look at my work. The way we make art is very different in its procedural aspects, but he is also a great student of poetry and cinema. These have many a time informed his work," says Shetty. He believes that the way Mazumdar combines these influences with industrial materials is nothing short of poetry. There are so many exposed wires that it seems perilous to walk through. But it is also eminently poetic," he says.

It is this lyrical quality that appeals to both individual and institutional collectors across the globe. Two of his works can be seen displayed at the headquarters of Deutsche Bank India in Mumbai. The banks chief executive officer, Ravneet Gill, also has two of Mazumdars worksa canvas and an installationin his personal collection. When you look at the typical Bengal school of painting, it is more classical, more traditional. Chittrovanu, on the other hand, is more modern and urbane. His works are conceptually very strong, with a certain underlying sensuality," says Gill.

Chittrovanu Mazumdars work, River Of Ideas, at the ongoing Kochi Biennale. Photo: Kochi Biennale Foundation.

In most of Mazumdars recent works, the viewer is at the centre of enquiry. His 2009 work, undated: Nightskin, for example, an installation spread across two flo

ors of a large warehouse. Using photographs, multimedia, tall towers, video and light projections and sound, Mazumdar created a sensorial representation of the many shades of night. The viewer could walk through mediated photographs of the ancient land of Jharkhand and stop there, or move on to black metal towers and, finally, to a square black spacemaking a choice to stay at or leave any of the chambers. It was a circular journey. We are back where we began. Or are we? The rest is interpretation. Translation. Hermeneutics," wrote writer-editor Anjum Katyal in an introduction to the exhibition held at Dubais Gallery 1x1.

Light and darknessthese themes recur in Mazumdars works. The splashes of colour in his early canvases began to be replaced with black, be it in photographs, videos or installations. Lights existence depends on darkness. Its an important moment in time when you see energy and colour," he says. Its not darkness as in what people saythe bad, the dark, the depression. It is a moment when you can construct things, like a musical note."

Structure is important to his style of creation. For the group exhibition Soundless, which was held in Dubai in 2013, he created a structural relationship with sound and the silences in between. Trained in Indian classical and European music, Mazumdar calls himself a great listener". With computers, you can build music in layers, just like painting. It is not a performative thing but more structural," he says. Malini Gulrajani of Gallery 1x1, who has been representing Mazumdar for more than a decade now, says that the element of poetry in Mazumdars video and sound scapes comes from his work with ancient, primordial sounds.

I ask her about her first meeting with Mazumdar. She recalls coming across three large paintings at the JW Marriott hotel in Mumbai 12 years ago. I completely fell in love with them. I tried reaching out to him, but he was the most difficult person to pin down. After calling him for over a year, one day he finally answered the phone and we were able to speak. He then sent me one painting and when it came back from the framer, I was stunned. It was beautiful," she reminisces.

Mazumdar is known for his fierce hold on privacy. He comes out of his home in Kolkata once a year, for showings such as the Kochi biennale or the India Art Fair, and then goes back to being a hermit in his studio. Events like these are important to see what your compatriots are doing and to get a sense of whats happening. One needs to show ones work but one also needs silence. I need to pause, to be able to breathe," he says.
Travelling on a sound cloud Chug chirp clink caw, plish plash whoosh crasha traveller tunes into the Kerala landscape /news/talking-point/travelling-on-a-sound-cloud-111646901185103.html 111646901185103 story

Its the start of a few days of travel in Kerala and I have no idea what Im supposed to be feeling. Im making my way around an installation by the Japanese artist Yuko Mohri in a colonial-era, former warehouse called Aspinwall House, the principal venue for the exhibits of the ongoing Kochi-Muziris Biennale. The room, white-tiled and spare, looks like a laboratory. Theres a wine glass half-filled with water on one surface. Copper rings are lined up like a set of wheels, catching the light from the arched windows. A gramophone sits on the floor, a cord attaching it to a mechanism on the ceiling.

Its all a little mystifying. I learn that these are collections of objects that Mohri has found in cities all over the world but still feel none the wiser. I walk past forks set out in straight lines, a scattering of bolts, a glockenspiel.

And then I hear it: a tinkle. I stop. A few seconds later, I hear it again, a little fainter, but unmistakably a tinkle. Its a moment when everything begins to make sense.

When we visit an art exhibition, we prepare ourselves to be engaged visually, we marshal our concentration and we come prepared to see. It takes a surprising amount of effort to recalibrate our expectations and prepare ourselves to hear.

Mohris work uses disparate objects to produce circuits of sound, in ways that draw on the Japanese belief of dead ancestors calling on their descendants. Relying on gravity, wind and magnetic forces, connections are made between the spiritual and material worlds, the lost and the found, the visible and the invisible. As I turn and face away from the windows, a breeze sails through the room and there is a clink from a tiny bell. A steel cog pings against a tile, a set of dangling bars chime.

Yuko Mohris sound installation at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. Courtesy Kochi Biennale Foundation.

This metaphysical connection between sound and space is an unexpectedly moving experienceit feels like time traveland as I leave the exhibition space, I resolve to try and pay more attention to the wealth of sounds that surround us. Ill be travelling to parts of Kerala that are removed from the hubbub of cities and highways and I feel confident that there will be plenty of reverberations, large and small, for me to catch. On this trip, the listening will take precedence over the seeing. As if on cue, a ship in the harbour sounds its foghorn, transforming the tourist bustle of Fort Kochi into a place of sudden melancholy.

Later, in my hotel, there is a curious absence of sound. It is December, peak season, yet there is little evidence of other guests. The sole staff member is a middle-aged man with a completely impassive face. I slowly begin to suspect that there is never anyone there to assist him.

At breakfast, he rushes to the reception to answer the phone, speaking in something of a low croon. He races back to the kitchen and the door slams shut. I hear the clatter of crockery and then a fat sizzle. He serves the breakfast and I hear his footsteps on the stairs. Could he be on his way to make every bed in this 12-room hotel? The phone rings again and he thunders down the stairs. Then I spot him in the doorway with a stepladder. There is a squall against the windowpane and I would like to ask him if I can borrow an umbrella. But I decide he probably has enough to deal with at the moment.

This metaphysical connection between sound and space is an unexpectedly moving experienceit feels like time travel-

The next day Im on a boat in the backwaters, which, in spite of their relative silence, are rich with tones and resonance. A kingfishers vibrato pierces the air and is drowned out by the chug of a passing boat. A few minutes later, a cormorant glides past, dropping something into the water with a dull plop. There is a startling smash on the bank. Two men are offloading crates of soft drinks from their canoe, the clink of the bottles abnormally loud in this calm. The sound seems to trail and echo as the men deposit their cargo, and then, just as abruptly, stops. The oars slap into the water as the canoe moves off towards the wider expanse of the lagoon. And the silence returns. It reminds me that it will soon be the end of the year and that it is likely that party boats will cruise through these channels on New Years Eve. It seems almost impossible to imagine now, but there will be whoops and cheers and a thudding bass. A bottle will smash, there will be a low gurgle as a catfish retreats into the shallows.

The Santa Cruz Basilica church at Fort Kochi. Photo:iStockphoto.

Almost as soon as darkness falls, the night sounds begin. There are some I can identify, like the throaty rasps of frogs. But a much more complicated soundscapea series of clicks, chirps and whirrsforms. The best I can do to categorize the noises is to liken them to other sounds: water being gulped, leaves being raked, shells being crunched. From the boats depths the woodwork emits a plaintive creak before subsiding into a resigned silence.

Substantial research has been carried out into the way music affects us, how the hemispheres of our brains respond, and whether our reactions are hardwired into our cognitive functions. The science writer Philip Ball, in his book The Music Instinct: How Music Works And Why We Cant Do Without It, endorses the theory that music engages our brains in a tantalizing process of prediction: What are the patterns of notes that will come next? Whether the process is active or subconscious, and whether we are correct or not, what results is an emotional response, perhaps unintended by the creator of the music. If this is the case, sounds must act in a similar way. The boat drifts and the waters lap against its side. I wait for the next plish, the next plash, expecting a profound calmness to descendbut a sudden extraneous noise intervenes. A mosquito dives past my ear, producing its prolonged whine, and my emotional response is swift and unambiguous: intense annoyance.

My final weekend in Kerala takes me to Chowara Beach, about 30km from Thiruvananthapuram. I expect the usual soundscrashing waves, the whoosh of the sea breezebut the first thing I hear is sharp whistles. A lifeguard is keeping a keen watch on swimmers. The waves, although large, do not seem dangerous. But at this time of the year, there is a strong undertow. A pair of arms rise up in the distance. The lifeguard blows his whistle again, this time more insistent.

Further up the beach, tough grass sprouts from the sand, and turns into wide strips of sward where cows graze. Crows wheel in the air, bold and raucous, each caw distinct. The land begins to slope upwards, a narrow path leading past rock formations broken up by the odd flowering cactus. I begin to hear sharper whistles. The lifeguard is barely visible in the distance so its certainly not him. At the crest of the hill stands a small temple with walls the colour of coral. Next to the doorway is a stern signboard prohibiting all photography. The shrill blasts come from a security guard taking to his whistle every time he spots someone on the temple premises trying to take a selfie. He throws a suspicious glance at the phone in my hand and then sees a couple with a selfie stick. There is a sharp pre-emptive trill.

What is that sound, we ask. Is it a toot, a honk, a peep? Part of the joy of listening for sounds has been the pleasure of locating an onomatopoeic equivalent. This is a game of language, encompassing mimicry, musicality and rhythm, but something beyond that too: a primal instinct for sound. Maybe it first takes shape in childhood with the joy of hearing funny noises, and, later, the thrill of seeing a ka-pow" or a ker-plunk" framed in a cartoon bubble. Wherever it comes from, the satisfaction it offers is overgenerous, the same as finally fitting the right peg into its hole.

On the other side of the hill, theres a church, the crosses in its graveyard a ghostly white in the evening light. As I pass its gates, the singing starts. Their verses seem to roll down the hillside. A man wheeling his bike pauses to listen, a woman with a child leans against a tree. I dont understand Malayalam so the words dont distract me from the harmonies. In that moment, it is simply impossible to analyse any response to the singing, whether cognitive or emotional. All I can really say is that its effect is to collapse the space around us, erase the sights. The hymn continues but it becomes clear that one voice is out of tune, a few beats behind everyone else. In spite of its discordance, it is making every effort, doing its best, struggling on, keeping the faith. It is in one sense ruining the hymn but, in another, lifting it higher. The light around me continues to fade and the listeners continue to stand silently. When the song comes to an end, the straggling voice rushes to a halt with a final breath. Was it a phew"? Or an uff"? Or maybe it was a long, slow aha".

Mahesh Rao is the author of a collection of short stories, One Point Two Billion, and a novel, The Smoke Is Rising.
Djinns, a dentist and a goat Bilal Tanweer's genius in translating Muhammad Khalid Akhtar helps place this wickedly funny Urdu writer on the global map /news/talking-point/djinns-a-dentist-and-a-goat-111646901153720.html 111646901153720 story

In a world that seems hell-bent on upsetting all known paradigms, the past is a seductive place. Oh, the good old days, sigh the nostalgists, when order reigned, everyone knew where they belonged and what they didnt know didnt really matter. Well, then, heres more fuel for those daydreams: a window into the mid-century neighbourhood of Chakiwara, Karachi, in the still newish country of Pakistan.

Love In Chakiwara And Other Misadventures, the translation of Muhammad Khalid Akhtars 1964 Urdu book Chakiwara Mein Visaal, is authentic to its time and place in the way narratives can be only when the writer speaks the same language as his readers, when he lives in their milieu and, perhaps most importantly, shares a belief system that accommodates djinns and gigolos with equal aplomb.

Half a century is a long time to expect a literary locale to retain its appeal, but Chakiwara is curiously enduring, even timeless, much in the manner of R.K. Narayans Malgudi. Add a dash of bromance (The Association of Chakiwara Bachelors imposes an oath of fidelity on its hapless members) and a touch of magic realism that would do Salman Rushdie proud, and one might just begin to get an inkling of the joyous, boisterous, mysterious neighbourhood that plays the starring role in the three short stories and single novella that make up this anthology.

Chakiwara is the kind of place that our great subcontinental cities still nurture in their hearts, using labyrinthine lanes and faded signboards to shun the droves of tourists drawn by glowing Old Town" descriptors. They are strictly insider-access, not unfriendly but definitely a bit stiff in the welcome, wary of judgement. That bakery there makes the best bread in town, but it may hold other secrets, and why should you know them? Or that park with the soapbox? Why are you so interested in the speaker, oddly attired in a graduation gown and Oxford cap?

Love in Chakiwara And Other Misadventures: By Muhammad Khalid Akhtar; translated from the Urdu by Bilal Tanweer, Picador India, 312 pages, Rs499.

Akhtara longtime fan of Saadat Hasan Manto, incidentally, who edited Khoya Huwa Ufaq, one of the young authors early stories, to half its original lengthknows only too well that a star is only as good as his supporting cast. Chakiwara would be no good if it were peopled by regulars and, in that sense, while Chakiwara is not flawless, it is pretty much perfect. There, thats Ah Fung, the Chinese dentist with a hair-raising backstory and a sinister Buddha statue. And Dr Ghareeb Muhammad, who, when he is not curing physical and spiritual maladies, invents devices to do the impossible. Down the lane is novelist Qurban Ali Kattar, sometimes in the grip of a creative dry spell and sometimes so inspired even the extraction of all his teeth cannot affect his output.

Then theres Chakori, one-time actor of cinema across the border, an assortment of sassy streetwalkersincidentally, the only women characters with any degree of agencysuccessful, if star-struck, baker Iqbal Changezi and Shahsawar Khan, who has on leash a monkey, a goat and a bear. Theres shape-shifter Muhammad Deen Asp, sometimes a baker, sometimes a doctor. Oh, and theres also a dog named Musafir, who comes and goes as he pleases, and assorted djinns, whose hithering-dithering are as unpredictable.

Not all these characters feature in all the stories but, such is Akhtars skill, they all inform the context. Critically speaking, the short storiesThe Smiling Buddha, The Love Meter and The Downfall Of Seth Tanwariwork better than the flabby novella that gives the book its name. All three begin in the humdrumness of Chakiwara and climax sensationally in blood and gore, but they are also humane, wry and wickedly funny.

In fact, the humourdry, sly and frequently self-deprecatory (consider the fact that the stories are narrated by Changezi and Asp while Kattar wallows in successive writers blocks or unrequited love or dental trauma)is Akhtars signature and also the showcase for his translator Bilal Tanweers genius.

Tanweer is himself the author of the well-regarded novel The Scatter Here Is Too Great, but it calls for a different skill set to convey so effectively the ethos and subtleties of another era. The fact that Akhtar and his Chakiwara live and breathe in these pages can be attributed wholly to Tanweer and, for his placing of this quintessentially Urdu writer on the global map, we are grateful.
Tie and tell An exhibition and sale of 370 selected silk saris of up to Rs3 lakh this weekend /news/talking-point/tie-and-tell-111646900906530.html 111646900906530 story

Two years ago, when Anita Lal, 68, and her creative team of 20 at Good Earth went to Varanasi on a research trip, they were looking forward to buying intricately woven saris for themselves. So they were dismayed to find designs very different from the ones Varanasi is famous for.

In the traditional Banarasi, the patterns are delicate and fine, whereas here the motifs were huge and the complexity of the weave on the edges of the pallu wasnt there," recalls Lal, the founder of the lifestyle brand. The Good Earth team eventually realized that the karigars (craftsmen) were catering to the demand for fast-moving items and, to do so, were using Chinese filament high-twist yarn, which is easier to weave but results in a flatter texture. Lal and her team began researching past weaving forms to see if they could be resuscitated.

The result is saris made using low- twist spun yarn from Ahimsa silk (when the moth escapes, it leaves a hole in the cocoon, resulting in broken fibres that need to be spun like cotton), a fine Khadi-like fabric with uneven texture that drapes fluidly. These are on display till 19 February at the Good Earth store at Lower Parel, Mumbai, under their brand Sustain. The exhibition Forever Sari also features seven other design labels known for their singular, innovative workmanship with the garment: Akaaro, Anavila, Anjul Bhandari, Ashdeen, Eka, pero by Aneeth Arora and Raw Mango.

We may all be parts of different brands, but what is needed is to work together and strengthen the saris positioning," says Malika Verma Kashyap, founder of the blog Border&Fall, who moderated a panel discussion on Friday. Kashyap, who is working on a film series on different ways to drape a sari, adds, Its important to spark a perception shift for people who are either indifferent, on-the-fence, or hesitant about wearing the sari. The day we stop asking why are you wearing a sari?, we would have secured its future as a utilitarian, functional garment in urban India."

Having helped up the saris cool quotient while reviving laborious dyeing and weaving techniques, each of the participating designers hopes to achieve just that. Akaaros handwoven saris are unusually evocative of the future, especially given their unique metallic textures. Anavila, famous for its linen saris, is showing multiple other forms, including patchwork saris crafted in Jharkhand. Anjul Bhandari features handcrafted Chikankari pastels, including painstaking single-thread or ek taar embroidery. Ashdeen Lilaowalas refreshing refashioning of hand-embroidered Parsi Gara is deliciously feminine. Ekas natural-dyed wool silk, linen silk, linen Khadi with Jamdani inlay and pure linen are worthy of any eco-warrior. Pero promotes everyday comfort by mixing textiles from different regions, like floral-printed Chanderis with Ikat and Bandhini mixed with Bengali checks, while playfully incorporating details like buttons and tassels. The Delhi-based label Raw Mango puts forth what it does best: Severe lines and simplicity of design in a sea of deep colours that gives handwoven its sexy back. And Good Earths Sustain uses pure silver zari and mines traditional coloursphalsa, neel, baingani, dhaani, pyazi, aasmanito create heirloom saris.

In todays context, the sari needs to evolve to suit each individual, it cant be static," says Sanjay Garg of Raw Mango. In the past, the sari was based on various different forms and textiles and worn in myriad ways. People need to recognize its versatility."

With 370 saris on display at price points ranging from Rs10,500 to Rs3 lakh, the exhibition endeavours to showcase a garment that hasnt lost its relevance, though it has lost some of its rich design and artisanal production heritage. If this initiative can regain that lost ground by elevating interest, Make In India can truly percolate down to the craftspeople whose skills need sustaining.

The exhibition, Forever Sari, will be on till 19 February, 11am-8pm, at Good Earth, Raghuvanshi Mills, Lower Parel, Mumbai.
Have you been to any bad countries? The author on his experiences with American immigration officials /news/talking-point/have-you-been-to-any-bad-countries-111646901171749.html 111646901171749 story

Ever since Donald Trump issued his executive order suspending the entry of individuals from seven predominantly Muslim countries and temporarily halted the arrival of refugees into the US, the image of the land of Lady Liberty extending a warm welcome to people from around the world has taken a severe beating. There is something particularly powerful about arriving in the immigration hall at an American airport. It can be an intimidating experience. The sullen look on the faces of the staff instructing passengers loudly and slowly, as if you dont understand English, stands in contrast with screens showing cheerful images in loop of people saying Welcome to America" in different languages. The lines are long, consisting of students carrying letters of admission and I-20 forms; businessmen clutching their return tickets to prove they will go back; harried executives worried they might not make their connections; and new immigrants, intimidated and worried that something might go wrong.

I first went there as a student in 1983, and most of my encounters with American immigration officials have been pleasant. Once an officer patted my thick passport and, looking at the dozens of visas with curiosity, said, This passport is like a phone book." I smiled and said, We need a visa even to cross the road." He smiled back. Another time, an officer asked me, Why do you travel so much?" I blamed my work. So he asked me what I did, and I said I was a writer and worked on human rights issues. At that time, I was with Amnesty International, and when I said that, the officers mood changed. He said, Sir, then you should have a diplomatic passport and you shouldnt have to queue up." I smiled. In some countries, it isnt wise to say that you work on human rights or are a writer. It leads to more raised eyebrows, more questions, and greater scrutiny. In that innocent time, it was okay to say that in New York.

Sometimes there were utterly unexpected questions. I was returning from Bogota to London and changing planes in Miami. The flight from Bogota was an overnight one, and I was tired when I reached the immigration counter. The officer looked at my Colombian visas and said, Wow, you go to Colombia a lot." Yes, I do; work takes me there, I told him. Work? What kind of work do you do?" he asked me. I said I was part of a team conducting human rights training workshops at an oilfield in central Colombia. Hmm, interesting," he said, while turning over the pages. Tell me," he asked, FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia)are those guys good guys or bad guys?"

Was that a trick question? If I said good", would he mark me down as a Communist sympathizer? If I said bad", would he believe me? I said, It depends on your politics, isnt it?" And he smiled and said, Thats smart. Welcome to the United States." The correct answer, probably, was neither", but that moment had passed.

At a British airport once, Amartya Sen had written down his local address in the UK as The Masters Lodge, Trinity College, Cambridge" on the disembarkation card. The immigration officer asked Sen if he knew the Master of Trinity College. For the officer, the Master of Trinity had to be white. Do I know myself, Sen wonderedbut rather than confuse the officer with a deeply philosophical question, Sen quietly said he indeed knew the Master of Trinity College, and that was that.

While not philosophical, questions in America can be unexpectedly revealing. Maybe it was the shape of things to come: Recently, in New York, the officer leafed through my passport and said, Youve been to many places." Yes, I said. Have you been to any bad countries?" he asked. I didnt know what he meantlooking at my puzzled face, he said, I mean, like Iraq, North Korea, places like that?" No, I said. It didnt seem like a good time to debate what made a country good. Dont go to such places. They arent safe," he told me. I nodded.

That was then. What will it be like now? Will it be the warm chattiness of that time in Dallas when an officer asked me if I knew Sudha Tripathi? I had said no", and he had said, Darn. We have a colleague called Sudha and I wanted to call her and say, hey, your cousin is here."

Or will it be something else? I will find out.

Salil Tripathi also writes the column Here, There, Everywhere for Mint
Remember the alpha male? Like O. Panneerselvam, most legislators in Tamil Nadu, the men especially, possess the gift of shamelessness, the very reason why they succeed /news/talking-point/remember-the-alpha-male-111646900892874.html 111646900892874 story

O. Panneerselvam has a good bowing technique. When J. Jayalalithaa, the late Tamil Nadu chief minister, would speak to him, he would bend his knees, fold his upper body at his hips, hold his chest with one hand and cover his mouth with the other. This way he could stand in subordination as long as his boss needed to finish her conspiratorial whisper, his ears very close to her mouth so that she did not have to raise her voice and be audible to his rivals. No matter how close his face was to hers, his manner was always slavish enough to reassure her. And, no one could read his lips. When he bowed to her official vehicle, he had a slightly different deep bend. Some days he fell at her feet on all fours, some days he lay flat on the ground; it is not clear what made him choose one way of falling over the other.

Like him, most legislators in Tamil Nadu, the men especially, possess the gift of shamelessness, an unsung talent. They may seem unusual to many Indians but they are symbolic of a way of the world, which is today filled with Panneerselvams. Their flexibility is not always obvious, and they may appear far more dignified in plain sight than him, but they are, in private, as reverential and loyal as he was to Jayalalithaa. It is the very reason why they succeed. They are rewarded precisely for not possessing exceptional qualities. Edappadi K. Palanisamy, the man whom Sasikala V.K. picked as chief minister after she learnt she was going to prison, is of the same type. Dependent, hence loyal. In the heart of Tamil Nadu politics today is the battle of two newly liberated loyalists. Is the world outside very different?

The White House may disagree but the fact is that in many walks of modern life, the dominant and manly alpha, who once had evolutionary advantages, has no chance of competing. It appears that in the changing world, domineering qualities are inessential, even repulsive. But the crucial reason why the alpha has receded is in the innate flaw he always contained.

The powerful are wary of worthy challengers, hence they promote the obeisant and the meek over the special and the dudes. As a result, in many professions, the alpha type is killed very early, in the preliminary stages. The innately manly realize it and transform into something more agreeable. Most alphas learn when they are only boys that their careers depend on ensuring that old people do not feel threatened by them.

Also, beta men, like alcoholics, attract more friends than the strong do because men find the frailties of other men comforting and endearing. And what the strong and solitary realize very late is that success is so often a reward given by friends. Also, the practised flexibility of the betas, who can bend, crawl and slither, and absorb the daily humiliations of being subordinate, makes them great survivors in the treacherous world outside their homes. In homes, too, the alpha has vanished. Men who could do anything they wanted and remained unchallenged at home, who could belong to the night, who took mistresses, who never knew the exact ages of their children and who never entered the kitchen.

As to what ended the golden age of such men, people would point to the rise of women. But there is another, underrated reasonsons who observed their fathers carefully and chose not to be like them. The world is transformed not only by revolutions, but also by children who do not wish to be like their parents. Sons who eventually become decent men, family men, men who know the names of maids, men who transfer food from large bowls into small bowls and put them in the fridge.

It was inevitable, though, that the increasing domestication of men would create a caricature, the farcical modern men who say what is noble and admissible, who lurk around holding labels like sexist" that they can stick on other men, who claim to be feminists without the experience of being women, who claim to be more aroused by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak than Sunny Leone, who flog their emotions as proof of their modernity, and talk about how they cry as though it is an achievement, and how all men should cry; men who take political correctness to such absurd extremes that the journalist Tina Brown, as she recently said, is often relieved to meet some honest rogue males.

The association of betas would promote other likeable betas, further shrinking the prospects for the alpha type in almost all subjective fields of human activity, including academics, literature and politics. The stray political strongmen who have risen in several parts of the world are fascinating exceptions; they are beneficiaries of a string of extraordinary accidents and aberrant conditions. Their victories, as in the case of Donald Trump, are not evidence of alpha prospects but only show how ridiculous such men look in the modern world. A problem with the alpha, who is preoccupied with the stiffness of his backbone, is, to borrow from the late Margaret Thatcher, that his spine does not seem to reach his brain.

It is not that the alphas are going extinct; just that in a softer, more collaborative modern society there is no place for a man to begin his career as a fiery formidable ape. It is something he can become later when the time is right. He must bow until he need not. Like Panneerselvam, who asserted himself only when there were no more feet in Chennai that he would have to kiss.

There are many strongmen in Indian public life who started out as pliable humble men with no air in their chests. In politics, such agreeable men can be seen often as deputies bent reverentially in front of their chiefswhispering. A fascinating character of Indian politics is the frequency of stage whispers. Why do the chief and his sidekick often whisper to each other on the stage as though the matter cannot wait until the function is over? It is not a lazy coincidence. This is how the deputy ensures that he is seen by the public, and seen as having the ear of the chief. Narendra Modi, now prime minister, and Arvind Kejriwal, now chief minister, too have been there, as humble deputies listening or whispering to old men in full public view. Then a time comes when the deputies suddenly become dominant, formidable men and eclipse their chiefs. And they cautiously appoint agreeable betas, who do not threaten them, at least for the moment.

Manu Joseph is a journalist and a novelist, most recently of The Illicit Happiness of Other People.
Rooshad Shroff: Breaking craft out of its cast The title of Rooshad Shroff's exhibition, '15,556', acknowledges the man-hours it entailed /news/talking-point/rooshad-shroff-breaking-craft-out-of-its-cast-111646900646258.html 111646900646258 story

A long line of architects such as Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Eero Saarinen, Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid have chosen chairs as their favourite medium of expression. Perhaps its the scale. Its compact but complete, covering form, function, material and all the values that a maker cares for.

Mumbai-based architect-designer Rooshad Shroff, 35, has taken that route too. He first shot to fame with his C-Series chairs; sculptural, cantilevered pieces in perfect wooden joinery. Over the course of five years, he has scaled new artistic heights. At an exhibition opening today in the Capital, Shroff is launching his latest collection, 15,556, in collaboration with the Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai. The title, 15,556, is indicative of the man-hours that went into the collection, acknowledgement of the time and skill used to create a handcrafted object.

Shroff studied at the Cornell and Harvard universities and worked in architectural firms such as REX, New York, and Zaha Hadid Architects, London, before returning to Mumbai in 2011 to set up his own firm. I worked in offices that were heavily invested in digital fabrication. I was fascinated with it then. But the script-driven aesthetic became so generic that it could not be identified. It had no authorship," he says. Thats when Shroff found inspiration in Indian crafts. Relooking the know-how we have in our country, I felt it was so untapped. Its reduced to a souvenir," he adds.

15,556 consists of 26 chairs, tables, benches, screens, a daybed, and lighting. It explores three distinct techniques. In the first set, holes have been drilled into wood before its been embroidered with Zardozi and French knots, a technique that Shroff has patented. Though the idea seems simple, it doesnt come easy. An artisan was drilling holes for the first six months just to get used to it," he explains.

The second is a colour-sanded set where layers of paint are applied on wood and then sanded down to reveal different contours. The third set consists of tables and light pendants created from hollowed-out marble and then carved.

All the woodwork is hand-done in traditional joinery techniques, without any screws, nails or glue. While some of the chairs are older prototypes, the embroidery, colour-sanding and marble work are recent innovations. In one of the pieces, the embroidery is double-sided and things like a change in thread colour and knots are navigated within the thickness of the wood.

Rooshad Shroffs pieces from 15,556.

The process of designthe conception of an idea, experimenting with a materialis what Shroff finds most challenging and fulfilling. 15,556 is the culmination of my research so far. The process of making is more important to me than the end result," he says.

And the process is not a painless one. As much as it is about making anew, it is also about letting go of the old. Shroff recalls his early scepticism of embroidery. A friend who worked with embroidery for fashion brands opened up his factory to me and that was my introduction to the craft. Before that, I considered it ornamentation."

Shroff used to consider embroidery to be limited to fabric. But the architectural notion of skin and structure emerged, the idea that upholstery isnt something that you add on but something that exists within the structure," he explains. It was embroiderys latent possibilities that attracted Shroff.

In exploring the limits of material and maker, Shroff also presents his view of the blurred borders of art, craft and design. Someone might criticize my pieces saying that they are not the most comfortable or they may ask how to clean this embroidery. But I feel Im pushing other boundaries. At some point, comfort is not the driving force of the piece." Perhaps thats where Shroff crosses over to a space of art. He suggests that embroidery is not just for a sari and a chair is not just for sitting. Shroff maintains that while his architectural practice goes on, furniture is the purest form of (his) research. It is not diluted by constraints put up by a client".

15,556 opens today at Bikaner House, New Delhi, and is on till 3 March. It will show at the Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai, in June. The limited-edition pieces will be available for sale, with an option for made-to-order.
According to the latest annual intelligence report from civil rights advocacy group the Southern Poverty Law Center, 917 hate groups were active across the nation last year, up from 892 in 2015, and 784 in 2014.

Because these groups have a tendency to hide the nature of their organizations, these tallies -- while the best available numbers -- likely underestimate the true levels of hate group activity. Based on data provided by SPLC, Montana leads the nation with 9.6 known active hate groups for every 1 million state residents. Indiana rounds out the list of 10 with 3.9 hate groups per 1 million. Nationwide, there are 2.8 hate groups for every 1 million Americans.

ALSO READ: Cities Where You Don't Want to Get Sick

Active hate groups in the United State rose dramatically after former President Barack Obamas election in 2008. According to SPLCs count, the number of hate groups surged 800% from 2008 to 2012, when the tally peaked at 1,360 groups. Obamas race likely led to the hate group spike in 2012. SPLCs observations suggest the promotion of far-right radicalism in Trumps campaign rhetoric led to the more recent rise in hate crimes.

In an interview with 24/7 Wall St., Mark Potok, senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said, Trumps election has been absolutely electrifying to the radical right. Over 1,000 hate crimes were counted in the month after Trumps election, and Trumps slogan Make America Great Again was named by perpetrators in well over a third of those crimes.

According to Potok, Trump and his administrations rise to power reflects the rise of right wing populism, a movement pitted against government elites and defined by the belief that the United States is a country created by and for white people. However, he added, these sentiments, and the consistent rise in active hate groups, can be traced to longer-term trends -- namely, globalization and its consequences for the U.S. economy (the decline in the manufacturing industry in particular) and to population makeup (immigration patterns).

Story continues

The rise in immigration in the 1910s preceded the unprecedented growth of the Ku Klux Klan in the United States. In 1910, foreign-born Americans comprised 14.7% of the population, and by 1920 that figure was still relatively high, at 13.2%. By 1925, the Ku Klux Klan had grown to some 4 million members, the largest in U.S. history, and following a number of quota-based and other racist immigration policies, the flow of immigrants to the U.S. declined.

Click image to enlarge.

The surge in hate group activity in recent years also coincides with the growth of the U.S. foreign-born population, which at 13.2% of the population as of 2015 is approaching 1910 levels.

Because the flow of new immigrants tends to be greater in areas with already large foreign-born populations, and because individuals seeking residency in the United States tend to avoid areas where they are not welcome, many states with relatively high numbers of hate groups do not have large foreign-born populations. Foreign-born individuals make up 5% or less of the populations in eight of the 10 states with the most hate groups, and on this list, no states immigrant population exceeds the national average share of 13.2%.

Potok explained that the ongoing process of globalization brings a range of other economic consequences, including forty years of falling manufacturing wages, historic levels of income inequality, and unlike in the past, the absolute necessity of having a college degree if you expect to be supporting a family on your wages.

Few states have been spared from the decline in manufacturing jobs in recent years, and plenty of states with struggling manufacturing sectors are not home to high -- and often rising -- numbers of active hate groups. Still, for states with the highest concentrations of organized hatred, economic decline is likely tied to hate sentiments. In five states on this list -- Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee -- the manufacturing sector is relatively large, with shares of employment in the sector in the top 10 compared with other states. But these are also states where manufacturing employment has fallen dramatically in the past decade. In Arkansas, manufacturing employment dropped by 22% between 2006 and 2015.

ALSO READ: The Best (and Worst) States for Business

These are the states with the most hate groups.

10. Indiana

> Hate groups: 3.9/million

> Number of hate groups: 26

> Pct. pop. identifying as white: 84.0% (19th highest)

> Pct. pop foreign born: 4.9% (20th lowest)

The SPLC identified 26 hate groups operating in Indiana in 2016 -- a 63% increase over the previous year. Adjusting for the population, there are 3.9 hate groups for every 1 million state residents, one of the highest concentrations of such groups in the country.

Many hate groups in the state operate in Indianapolis. The capital city is home to a KKK chapter, a neo-Nazi group, two black separatist organizations, and a racist skinhead organization called American Vikings. There are over a dozen groups operating in the rest of the state, including a neo-Nazi organization called Gallows Tree Wotansvolk Alliance.

9. Missouri

> Hate groups: 3.9/million

> Number of hate groups: 24

> Pct. pop. identifying as white: 82.4% (20th highest)

> Pct. pop foreign born: 4.0% (13th lowest)

Like many states with a high concentration of hate groups, Missouri has a long history of racial strife. Admitted to the Union in 1820, Missouris initial status as a slave state was the subject of bitter national debate. The atrocity of slavery provides a backdrop for racial hatred in the state today. The SPLC identified 24 active hate groups in the state in 2016, including four KKK chapters, four white nationalist groups, and two racist skinhead organizations. The vast majority of the states hate groups are either scattered throughout the southern half of the state or clustered in and around St. Louis.

Like many states with especially high concentrations of hate groups, Missouri has a higher share of white residents than the nation as a whole. Some 82.4% of state residents identify as white, compared to 73.1% of all Americans.

8. Virginia

> Hate groups: 4.6/million

> Number of hate groups: 39

> Pct. pop. identifying as white: 68.2% (12th lowest)

> Pct. pop foreign born: 12.2% (14th highest)

Virginia is home to some 39 active hate groups, ranging from KKK chapters to black separatist organizations. As is the case across much of the country, anti-Muslim groups are on the rise in the state. Currently, there are six anti-Muslim hate groups operating in Virginia, twice as many as there were in 2015. Groups primarily motivated by hate of people of a specific religion do not stop there. The state is also home to a number of anti-Semitic Christian groups as well as a neo-Nazi organization.

ALSO READ: Cities Where Crime Is Soaring

Another recent trend identified by the SPLC is the rise in anti-immigrant sentiment nationwide. Virginia is home to two anti-immigration groups, one in Arlington and another in Monterey. Animosity towards immigrant populations may be stoked by the relatively high influx of foreign-born residents to the state. Virginia added 330 green card holders for every 100,000 residents in 2015, a larger share than the majority of states.

7. Kentucky

> Hate groups: 5.2/million

> Number of hate groups: 23

> Pct. pop. identifying as white: 87.4% (11th highest)

> Pct. pop foreign born: 3.6% (9th lowest)

The number of hate groups operating in Kentucky increased from 13 in 2015 to 23 in 2016. In keeping with national trends, the SPLC reported increases in the total number of neo-Nazi, white nationalist, and black separatist groups in the state. In addition, the total number of neo-Confederate organizations in Kentucky increased from two to four in 2016. Such groups are unique to the American South.

The Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi website that championed Trump throughout his presidential campaign, has a chapter in Louisville. The city is home to at least four other hate groups, including three black separatist groups and a white nationalist organization.

6. Arkansas

> Hate groups: 5.4/million

> Number of hate groups: 16

> Pct. pop. identifying as white: 77.5% (24th lowest)

> Pct. pop foreign born: 4.8% (19th lowest)

The number of hate groups operating in Arkansas fell from 22 in 2015 to 16 in 2016. While the number of active groups dropped last year, the Jonesboro-based anti-Muslim group ACT for America was added to Arkansas tally. ACT for America was founded in 2007 by Brigitte Gabriel. The group claims 280,000 members and over 1,000 chapters, which would make it the largest anti-Muslim group in America.

Potok noted the rise in hate group activity also has an economic component. Manufacturing jobs that were once pillars of the American white middle class are no longer as widely available or well paying as they once were. Such economic declines are often blamed on foreigners. Total employment in Arkansas manufacturing sector declined 22.5% in the last decade, one of the steepest drops of any state.

5. Alabama

> Hate groups: 5.6/million

> Number of hate groups: 27

> Pct. pop. identifying as white: 68.5% (13th lowest)

> Pct. pop foreign born: 3.5% (8th lowest)

As is the case across much of the Southern United States, organized hatred in Alabama is likely rooted in the states legacy of slavery. Thousands of racially-motivated lynchings taking place between the late 19th to mid 20th centuries have been documented across the South, hundreds of which occurred in Alabama. And with Dr. Martin Luther Kings protest march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, it may not come as a surprise that hate group activity in Alabama today tends to be racially motivated. There are currently 11 KKK chapters throughout the state, five neo-Confederate groups, and two white nationalist organizations.

ALSO READ: The Most Dangerous Cities in America

The SPLC identified last year militant anti-immigration hate group Border Keepers of Alabama. The Birmingham-based organization may have as many as eight heavily armed volunteer teams it says can be deployed to patrol border towns.

4. Tennessee

> Hate groups: 5.7/million

> Number of hate groups: 38

> Pct. pop. identifying as white: 77.7% (25th lowest)

> Pct. pop foreign born: 5.0% (21st lowest)

There are approximately 38 active hate groups in Tennessee, including 11 under the KKK umbrella. There were 221 hate crimes, mostly racially motivated incidents, reported in the state in 2015.

For members of hate groups, perhaps especially in Tennessee, the decline of the manufacturing sector and the growth of immigrant populations have perhaps helped fuel hate sentiment. According to SPLC expert Mark Potok, there is a perception among hate groups members, particularly the whites, of a lost country. These composition changes in the population and industry go against their belief that the United States ought to mostly contain and largely benefit the white population. Tennessees manufacturing sector remains relatively dominant, accounting for 14.4% of non-farm employment, the ninth largest share compared with other states. But the number of Tennessee manufacturing jobs has dropped by 16.7% since 2006, one of the larger such declines in the nation. Tennessee has a relatively small foreign-born population, at just 5.0% of the population. Of foreign-born Tennesseans, 63.6% are not U.S. citizens, the seventh highest such share.

3. Mississippi

> Hate groups: 6.0/million

> Number of hate groups: 18

> Pct. pop. identifying as white: 58.8% (4th lowest)

> Pct. pop foreign born: 2.4% (5th lowest)

Unlike most states with the highest concentrations of hate groups, Mississippis white population is relatively small. Residents identifying as white alone comprise 58.8% of the total population, nearly the lowest such share of all states. While three black separatist hate groups were identified in Mississippi, including two chapters of the Nation of Islam and one group called the New Black Panther Party, various chapters of the KKK outnumber all other hate group types in the state.

The recent rise in hate group activity appears largely related to non-white immigration into the United States. However, because the flow of new immigrants tends to be greater in areas with already large foreign-born populations, and because individuals seeking residency in the United States tend to avoid areas where they are not welcome, states with high numbers of hate groups often do not have large foreign-born populations. Immigrants comprise just 2.4% of Mississippis population, the fourth smallest share of all states.

2. Idaho

> Hate groups: 7.1/million

> Number of hate groups: 12

> Pct. pop. identifying as white: 91.5% (5th highest)

> Pct. pop foreign born: 5.7% (22nd lowest)

There are 7.1 hate groups for every 1 million people in Idaho, nearly the greatest concentration of any state considered. One of the least diverse states in the country, some 91.5% of the states population identifies as white, nearly the largest share of any U.S. state. Despite the states relative racial homogeneity, or perhaps because of it, one of the dozen hate groups operating in Idaho is a KKK chapter based in Hayden.

ALSO READ: America's 25 Murder Capitals

Newly emerging hate groups in Idaho reflect the broader changes occurring on a national scale. The SPLC identified five anti-Muslim groups operating in the state in 2016, groups that were not active as recently as 2015.

1. Montana

> Hate groups: 9.6/million

> Number of hate groups: 10

> Pct. pop. identifying as white: 88.9% (8th highest)

> Pct. pop foreign born: 2.1% (4th lowest)

There are 10 active hate groups in Montana, up from six in 2015. Adjusted to the states population of just over 1 million, no state has a higher concentration of active hate organizations. The true level of organized hatred conducted in a state can often be difficult to determine. In Montana, however, white supremacy and far-right radicalism is often closer to the surface than in other parts of the country. They are, for example, talking points of local Montana politician Taylor Rose, who has a history of involvement with white nationalist organizations. Despite his views and affiliations, Rose received broad GOP support and narrowly lost the election for the Montana House of Representatives this past year.

Widespread anti-Islamic sentiment surfaced also after a refugee resettlement program was introduced at the end of last year in Missoula. Over 97% of Montana residents are U.S. natives, the second highest percentage, and just 2.1% of the population are immigrants, the fourth smallest share.



METHODOLOGY

To identify the states with the most hate groups, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the number of hate groups in each state for every 1 million state residents according to data provided by non-profit civil rights advocacy group Southern Poverty Law Center. To be considered for our ranking, a state needed to have at least 10 active hate groups. Rather than reviewing such factors as history of violence, SPLC identifies hate groups by ideology. These organizations claim that entire groups of human beings are evil by virtue of their class characteristics (e.g., race, religion, origin, gender and so on). For SPLC, to be considered, groups also needed to be active in the year they are listed. Activity needs to be on-the-ground activity, such as holding rallies or simply accepting memberships and selling literature. SPLC provided the names of all hate groups tracked in each state for every year between 2000 and 2015.

We also reviewed the number of green cards issued in 2015 to residents of each state from the report, Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2015, published in 2016 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics. The foreign-born population in each state (the immigrant population), the most common country of birth, the number of immigrants in each state from the most common country of birth, as well as a range of social and economic data, including the percentage of adults 25 and over with at least a bachelors degree, the percentage of each states population that is white, poverty rates, and median household income, came from the U.S. Census Bureaus 2015 American Community Survey.

ALSO READ: The Most Republican County in Each State

December unemployment rates, and the percentage of each states nonfarm workforce employed in the manufacturing sector in each year between 2006 and 2015 came from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The incidence of hate crimes came from the FBIs 2015 Uniform Crime Report.

Related Articles
Ronald Reagan implemented large pro-growth tax policies during weak spells for business investment.

Small business optimism in the US recently soared to its highest level since 2004, thanks in part to Donald Trumps tax cut promises.

These US businesses may believe tax cuts will boost the overall economy, including companies of all sizes. But a new note by Credit Suisses James Sweeney and team suggests that past tax cuts have not corresponded to major economic growth in America.

That note points to two major examples of tax cuts that didnt boost the economy.

Tax cuts under the Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush administrations came amid weak periods of business investment but failed to sustain economic growth. The Reagan tax cuts are what people refer to when they talk about the failure of trickle-down economics. And on the flip side, tax hikes in the early 90s were followed by periods of sustained growth.

Another example is more recent, and more local. In 2012, Kansas tried to boost investment and employment by getting rid of income taxes for so-called pass-through businesses. These businesses include sole proprietorships, partnerships, and S corporations but exclude C corporations (most major companies are C corporations, and these companies are taxed separately from their owners, unlike S corporations).

On top of ditching the income tax for certain businesses, Kansas also lowered the top individual income tax rate to 4.6% from 6.45%. By looking at growth in nearby states, the Credit Suisse team figured out that the tax cuts did not in fact lead to economic growth in the state.

Whats worse, these tax cuts have likely contributed to a worsening fiscal situation in Kansas with plunging revenues and debt downgrades, Credit Suisse wrote.

Prior to Kansass tax reductions, economist & director of state projects at the Tax Foundation, Scott Drenkard, warned the Kansas House Committee that the tax cuts would result in either a decrease in spending or increased taxes elsewhere. The bill still passed.

When the tax cuts passed, the state estimated that 191,000 business owners would benefit. By 2013, however, the Wichita Eagle reported, the number had spiked to 280,737. Elaborating on this phenomenon, Drenkard wrote on the Tax Foundation website, While decreasing taxes is generally associated with greater economic growth, the pass-through carve out is primarily incentivizing tax avoidance, not job creation.

Story continues

The Credit Suisse report analyzed these past tax cuts against the backdrop of proposals from Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan to cut business taxes.

Under Trumps plan, pass-through businesses wouldnt be taxed above 15%; Ryan wouldnt tax them above 25%. Even Ryans more modest proposal would create eye-popping deductions for certain businesses, the Credit Suisse economists note.

While Ryans plan might create some hiring and investment among S corporations, Credit Suisse argues that the prospects for both seem limited. For one thing, pass-through businesses are more labor-intensive than capital-intensive, so theyre not likely to spend tax savings on investment.

Moreover, with a relatively low unemployment rate, pass-through businesses might be reluctant to bring on more workers. As Credit Suisse concluded: Ultimately, business owners who find it difficult to expand may be especially likely to simply pocket their tax windfall.

More from Omil:

The US consumer will be in particularly good shape in 2017

How robots could revolutionize your grocery store

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A Berthe's mouse lemur, teeniest primate on the planet, and discovered in Madagascar in 2000.

Madagascar, the fourth-largest island in the world, has proved to be a taxonomist's dream in recent years. Since 1999, on a nearly weekly basis, scientists have uncovered a parade of 615 new species from the colorful and cuddly to the downright bizarre.

The world's smallest primate, Berthe's mouse lemur, a creature teeny enough to perch inside a shot glass at 3.5 inches (9 centimeters) tall and weighing in at just an ounce (30 grams), and a lizard that wears a tree-bark disguise are among the standouts of the hundreds of species to debut, all compiled in a new report from the conservation organization WWF. [See some of the amazing species discovered .]

And although some new species are more charismatic than others (a yam isn't quite as photogenic as a lemur ), Nanie Ratsifandrihamanana, WWF Madagascar's conservation director, said it's hard to pick a favorite.

"All the species are so special, and many are unique to Madagascar," Ratsifandrihamanana told OurAmazingPlanet. "They don't exist anywhere else in the world."

A colorful species of chameleon discovered in an isolated rainforest in Madagascar. (Image credit: Jom Kohler/WWF Madagascar.)

Treasure trove of species

The island's treasure trove of unique species stems from its relative isolation. Madagascar has been separated from Africa and the Indian subcontinent for the last 80 million to 100 million years, allowing its plant and animal residents to evolve into fantastical forms. About 70 percent of its species are unseen anywhere else on the planet.

In total over the last 12 years, researchers have identified 17 fish, 41 mammals, 61 reptiles, 69 amphibians, 42 invertebrates and 385 plants new to science since 1999. And the pace of discovery shows no signs of slowing.

In fact, due to growing scientific interest in Madagascar's denizens, and thanks to technological advances that allow for faster identification, such as DNA coding, Ratsifandrihamanana said the onslaught of new species described could continue or even increase.

But the news isn't all good.

"The sad part is that there could be many species that will disappear before they are discovered," she said.

Many of the creatures discovered are already endangered and are losing habitat quickly.

Madagascar's Ranobe Protected Area. Every year, large areas of its forests are felled for fuel. In the past, the region was home to mining operations digging for the area's rich mineral deposits. (Image credit: Xavier Vincke / WWF Madagascar.)

Disappearing forests

Madagascar's forests, home to many of its unique species, were cleared at a rate of about 2 percent a year from 1950 to 1990. According to WWF, the island has lost 90 percent of its original forest cover.

That's because humans depend on the island's forests, too. About 80 percent of the Malagasy population uses wood as its main source of energy.

In addition, large swaths of forest are cleared for subsistence farming.

Although Ratsifandrihamanana said the rate of deforestation was cut in half from 1990 to 2005, the last year for which figures are available, she said it remains a serious problem.

"We're really trying to empower local communities so they are better managers of the resources , because they are the ones who make the daily decisions for how they will use the forest," Ratsifandrihamanana said, adding that one major piece of the puzzle is improving the population's economic situation.

The country is one of the poorest on the planet, and a 2009 coup further complicated the nation's already bleak financial situation. Since the political upheaval, international funding for the country's environmental program was cut off, and there's been an increase in trafficking in exotic animals and prized, rare trees.

However, despite its troubles, Ratsifandrihamanana said WWF and other international organizations continue conservation efforts on a local level in Madagascar.

"It's an extraordinary place," Ratsifandrihamanana said. "We need a lot of support now for the environment."

Reach Andrea Mustain at amustain@techmedianetwork.com. Follow her on Twitter @AndreaMustain.
The Supreme Court justices wait to hear President Barack Obama's last State of the Union address on Capitol Hill January 12, 2016 in Washington, D.C.

Politics aside, based on the 112 justices who have served on the U.S. Supreme Court thus far, what qualities should the ideal justice have?

That is, what traits do judges need besides knowing the law inside and out?

This question is on the minds of many as Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch prepares for his confirmation hearing this year. Here's a list of five admirable qualities that historians say have benefited justices and the courts they've served. [8 Supreme Court Decisions That Changed US Families]

1. Collegiality

Justices can serve on the Supreme Court for life, so it's vital they get along with and respect one another. But collegiality also serves another purpose: This quality can help a judge bring another justice to his or her side during a case, experts told Live Science.

"Justice [Clarence] Thomas, who is often in the minority, once said we have to keep cordial relations, because the person who votes against me today, I may need him or her tomorrow for another opinion," said Melvin Urofsky, the editor of the Journal of Supreme Court History.

This is why justices almost always sign a dissent with the phrase "respectfully submitted," Urofsky said.

Collegiality is paramount, said Mark Graber, regents' professor at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. Justices need "the ability to understand and get along with people on the court," he told Live Science.

2. Intelligence and modesty

It's an understatement to say that justices on the Supreme Court need to be smart, but they also need to have a good sense of themselves, Urofsky said.

"Some of the worst justices who have been on the court were people who really didn't want to be there, didn't have a strong sense of who they were in terms of jurisprudence," Urofsky said. "[They] were scared or overawed of other people on the court," because they thought these other justices were smarter.

In addition to being bright, it's important for justices to be modest, Graber said. Justices need to understand "that on the Supreme Court, you cannot solve the problems of the world. You're a Supreme Court justice and not a celebrity."

Former Justice David Souter is a good example of an intelligent but modest justice, Graber said. Souter didn't go out of his way to pen sound bites like a celebrity, but "he had a good sense of what the court could do and what the court couldn't do," Graber said. "He was not a court leader, but his opinions demonstrated that he understood that judges are judging human beings and human beings are not perfect beings."

3. Respect for the court

In addition to having respect for one another, justices should respect the institution that they serve. This means understanding that the judicial branch is independent and one-third of government, Urofsky said.

"Practically every justice appointed has, at one time or another, disappointed the president who named him [or her]," Urofsky said. "I think Gorsuch already knows that, because he's been a federal judge."

Urofsky pointed to an example that played out earlier this month, when Gorsuch reportedly told Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal that President Donald Trump's comments toward the judicial system were "demoralizing and disheartening." This was allegedly in response to a tweet the president posted calling federal Judge James Robart a "so-called judge" after Robart put a hold on Trump's travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority nations.

"I don't think [Gorsuch] was playing up to the Democrats on that," Urofsky said. "I think he meant that."

(Later, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Blumenthal was talking in general terms, not responding to anything the president had done.)

4. Varied backgrounds

Presidents once nominated justices with diverse backgrounds, choosing senators, law school professors and prominent attorneys, Urofsky said. However, ever since Richard Nixon's presidency, most of the nominations have been judges from lower courts, largely because these individuals appear easier to confirm than nonjudges, Urofsky said.

"I think it's been a big mistake," Urofsky said. "We used to have judges who had some political experience."

By this, Urofsky said he doesn't mean that justices should, at some point, hold political office. Rather, like former U.S. Justices Louis Brandeis (who died in 1941) or Felix Frankfurter (who died in 1965), it might be helpful if justices had served as advisors to the president or in other branches of government, Urofsky said.

For instance, justices need to be mindful of how cases play out in the real world, as a politician would, Urofsky said. "What I would like to see in the ideal judge is someone who at least understands how the government actually works," Urofsky said.

5. What not to do

Some past judges had some, but not all of these ideal qualities. For instance, Justice Frankfurter "may have been one of the brightest to ever go on the court," but his ego was large and he frequently lectured his fellow justices, Urofsky said.

"They wouldn't stand it," Urofsky said. "These are people who had strong egos of their own. [Former Justice] William O. Douglas, whenever Frankfurter used to start talking, would pick up his mail, go to the couch and sit there and take care of his mail.

"When Frankfurter was done, [Douglas] would say something like, 'I was ready to vote the other way, until Felix talked me out of it.' In other words, he would have voted with Felix until he heard Felix talk," Urofsky said.

Original article on Live Science.
Brazil's elusive tree boa, Corallus cropanii  also known as Cropan's boa  is one of the world's rarest boas, infrequently sighted and known from only a handful of dead specimens collected after the snake was first seen and described in 1953.

However, the species is alive and well, scientists recently discovered. One of the slippery serpents was captured in January  the second living specimen ever seen, and the first glimpsed in 64 years.

The boa was brought to local scientists by rural residents of the Ribeira Valley Region, in response to extensive outreach efforts coordinated by researchers from the Museum of Zoology of the University of Sao Paulo and the Butantan Institute (BI), a biological research center, BI representatives explained Feb. 3 in a Facebook post.

Scientists developed the outreach program to raise local awareness about Cropan's boa  to educate community members about the snake's ecological importance and to encourage them to help biologists learn more about its habits. The boa would likely never have been captured alive without this essential collaboration, BI representatives said on Facebook. [See Photos of Snakes from Around the World]

In fact, the boa was nearly killed by one of the people who first spied it in January, according to a report in the journal Science. But two bystanders recognized the snake from fliers and posters, and intervened before the boa could be harmed. The rescued snake, a female, measured about 5.6 feet (1.7 meters) in length and weighed 3.3 lbs. (1.5 kilograms).

Scarce snake sightings

Cropan's boa is found only in Brazil's Atlantic Forest, in a 116-square-mile (300 square kilometers) region in Sao Paulo; it is the rarest type of boa in the New World and possibly the rarest on Earth, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. The organization classifies the boa as "Endangered" because its habitat is restricted to one location that is declining in quality, and though the population size is unknown, the scarcity of sightings hints that there probably aren't a lot of these snakes to be found.

The species was described in 1953 from a single adult male specimen. Scales along its back were an olive-beige color, with dark-brown spots "that appear from the neck as far as the tail," according to a study published in May 2011 in the journal Salamandra. After that first sighting of a living animal, the only Cropan's boas seen by scientists  five in total, and all thought to come from the same Atlantic Forest region  were already dead, the study authors wrote.

Cropan's boas have never been observed in the wild. But when the recently captured female is released, she'll be carrying an implanted radio transmitter, which could provide scientists with a few more clues about how these snakes survive in their forest home.

"The snake will be studied in order to discover more information about its biology and habits. As it has never been observed in nature, we do not have much information about its behavior," Livia Correa, a biologist at the Butantan Institute, told Carta de Noticias. "It will be released in its natural habitat and receive equipment with radiotelemetry that will enable its tracking in nature and the transmission of information to researchers," she said.

Original article on Live Science.
Some 12,000 years ago, beach pebbles were used in death rituals to paint the bodies of the dead.

Beach pebbles were "killed" 12,000 years ago in death rituals that involved using the stones as spatulas to paint the bodies of the dead, according to excavations in a cave in northern Italy.

The pebbles were uncovered in the Caverna delle Arene Candide, a cave on a steep cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea in Liguria.

According to a study published in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal, Paleolithic people living in the area collected oblong pebbles from a nearby beach, used them in the cave to apply ochre onto deceased individuals, and then intentionally broke them.

"The reason for breaking the stones could have been to 'kill' them, discharging them of their symbolic power," co-author Julien Riel-Salvatore, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Montreal, said.

Home to a necropolis containing the remains of some 20 adults and children buried between 13,000 and 11,000 years ago, the cave is located near the present town of Finale Ligure, some 30 miles from Genoa.

RELATED: Gruesome Rituals Revealed in 9,500-Year-Old Graves

The site has been excavated since the 1940s, with archaeologists unearthing more than 600 fragmented pebbles. However, the oblong stones were overlooked and no research was carried out to determine their meaning and function

Researchers at the University of Montreal, Arizona State University and the University of Genoa who excavated a portion of the cave between 2009 and 2011 found 29 limestone pebbles and examined them through macroscopic and microscopic analysis.

It emerged the pebbles were carefully selected on the beach for their polished, flat and oblong morphology. Moreover, traces of ochre were found on the edges and centers of most pebbles, indicating the stones were used as spatulas to decorate the deceased before burial.

The oblong shape allowed "the use of the edges and tip while holding the pebble comfortably and securely in the hand," the researchers wrote.

The funerary ritual ended with the "killing" of the pebbles. Analysis suggested the stones were broken following a specific technique, namely by giving direct blows to their center.

Excavations inside the Arene Candide Cave, overlooking the Mediterranean, uncovered a necropolis containing the remains of 20 adults and children. (Image credit: Roberto Maggi)

"We experimented by hitting and dropping similarly shaped pebbles in different ways to see which produced the breakage characteristics of the pebbles found in the assemblage," study author Claudine Gravel-Miguel of Arizona State University, told Seeker.

"The pebbles were broken by snapping them on a rock or by hitting their flat surface with a bigger rock," she added.

The "killing" of inanimate objects to break their symbolic power is a well known ritual associated with some prehistoric human burials. Until now, it was thought that this practice only appeared in the Neolithic period in Central Europe, about 8,000 years ago.

"If our interpretation is correct, we've pushed back the earliest evidence of intentional fragmentation of objects in a ritual context by up to 5,000 years," Gravel-Miguel said.

The new evidence may indeed be the earliest instance of ritualistic breakage of artifacts, dating to somewhere between 11,000 and 13,000 years ago.

"At that time people in Liguria were hunter-gatherers but also fishermen. Isotopes analysis of another, much older, burial indicate that 20-25 percent of the food had a marine origin," Roberto Maggi, at Genoa University, told Seeker.

RELATED: Oldest Prostate Stones Suggest a Man Was in Agony 12,000 Years Ago

All of the pebble fragments analyzed by the researchers were missing some matching pieces. They suggest that the missing halves were kept by the living as talismans, souvenirs or mementos, to symbolize lasting bonds to the deceased.

"They might have signified a link to the deceased, in the same way that people today might share pieces of a friendship trinket, or place an object in the grave of a loved one," Riel-Salvatore said.

"It's the same kind of emotional connection," he added.

According to the researchers, archaeologists usually overlook these objects.

"If they see them at a site, they usually go 'Oh, there's an ordinary pebble,' and then discard it with the rest of the sediment," Riel-Salvatore said.

Now the finding could have important implications for research at other Paleolithic sites where pebbles have been found.

As Gravel-Miguel said, "We demonstrated that studying seemingly mundane objects found around burials, instead of focusing only on the burials themselves, can give a new perspective on how people dealt with death in the deep past."

Original article on Seeker.
ATLANTA  Infectious-disease specialists are concerned that climate change is contributing to the spread of certain diseases, including the germs that cause cholera and other diarrheal illnesses.

Data now suggest that the locations where certain pathogens are found have changed, said Dr. Glenn Morris, the director of the Emerging Pathogens Institute at the University of Florida. Morris gave a talk here today (Feb. 16) at the Climate & Health Meeting, a gathering of experts from public health organizations, universities and advocacy groups that addressed the health impacts of climate change.

Pathogens tend to live in places that have ideal sets of conditions, Morris said. For example, these bugs may have evolved to function best within certain temperature ranges, he said. And as climate change occurs and global average temperatures rise, researchers are beginning to see some indications that the areas where certain pathogens can live are shifting, he said. [5 Ways Climate Change Will Affect Your Health]

"We are seeing the spread of pathogens to new ecological niches," Morris said.

And the pathogens that live in water are among scientists' top concerns, Morris told Live Science.

An increase in sea temperatures, of even just a degree or two, can have a large impact on an organism's ability to live and multiply, Morris said. In many cases, as waters warm, pathogens will be able to expand into new areas. On the other hand, if water temperatures in a region increase too much, the number of pathogens there may decrease, Morris added.

Vibrio and algal blooms

One group of bacteria, called Vibrio species, are particularly well-studied, Morris said. Vibro bacteria are responsible for cholera and other diarrheal diseases. Although cholera can be treated by rehydration according to the World Health Organization, the disease can still be fatal if not treated quickly enough.

Vibriobacteria live in seawater, and with sea temperatures rising, scientists have recently observed a northward shift in the bacteria's range, he said. In addition, diseases such as cholera often spread following events like flooding, which may become more common with climate change, Morris said.

Other waterborne diseases can come from harmful algal blooms, which are caused by toxic forms of algae, Morris said. Algal blooms have been linked to illnesses such as ciguatera, which people get from eating fish that contain toxins produced by the algae Gambierdiscus toxicus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Another illness linked to harmful algal blooms is amnesic shellfish poisoning, which is caused by eating contaminated shellfish.

These harmful algal blooms are showing up in places where they previously didn't occur, including the Pacific Northwest, Alaska and Maine, Morris said.

But what about mosquitos?

Morris noted that there have also been some concerns about mosquito-borne diseases, because of evidence suggesting that certain species of the insect are moving farther north than they used to. But it's unclear what impact this will have in the long term, Morris told Live Science. He noted that in developed countries, including U.S., many aspects of homes help protect people against mosquito bites, such as the use of window screens and air conditioning. [6 Unexpected Effects of Climate Change]

While the illnesses Morris noted in his talk are all known diseases, they can still pose public health challenges when they move into parts of the world where they haven't occurred before, he said.

"We've always thought about tropical areas as having particularly significant problems with infectious diseases," but "we're starting to see some greater indications that those diseases may be creeping up here" in the U.S., he said.

Morris said that the U.S. can handle those diseases, but the bigger concern is that pathogens are always evolving. Mcroorganisms may be able to change over time, "and increasingly take advantage of conditions that may not have been present before," he said.

Originally published on Live Science.
What do you see when you look at this inkblot, part of the Rorschach test?

Whether you see a butterfly, dancing elephants, bloody humans or some other imagery when peering at one of the abstract blobs that makes up the Rorschach inkblot test, your answers can divulge some of the darkest, or just hidden, corners of your mind.

And now, scientists have figured out why people see so many images when looking at the inkblots: The number of images elicited by these inkblots is determined by the irregular shapes at the edges of each. The researchers specifically looked at fractals, or repeating patterns that can be seen at all scales (close-up and farther away). When the fractals are more complex, people see fewer images than when such patterns are simpler.

"These fractals are inducing these images that aren't there. They're kind of fooling the visual system," said lead study author Richard Taylor, a physicist at the University of Oregon.

The brain's visual system is adapted to process patterns, Taylor told Live Science. In nature, fractals are abundant, and can be found in trees, clouds, lightning and coastlines, he said. The visual system's ability to efficiently process such fractals results in what Taylor calls "effortless looking."

Taylor and his team decided to use Rorschach inkblots to study this image processing, given the inkblots' inclusion of fractal patterns, he told Live Science. The inkblots were first produced in 1921 by Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach, who published 10 different patterns that were then promoted as a "psychological X-ray," according to the study. The test relies on a phenomenon called pareidolia, in which people see familiar images where none actually exist (seeing a face in the clouds, or on Mars, for example). Rorschach would use his patients' interpretations of each blot to help him evaluate their mental state. [Seeing Things On Mars: A History of Martian Illusions]

A psychologist at a mental hospital in 1955 discusses a patient's interpretation of an inkblot in the Rorschach test. (Image credit: Three Lions/Getty Images)

The researchers had 23 first-year psychology students look at 24 different Rorschach inkblot images and determine how many shapes they could see in each image, from "none" to "seven or more." By using an artificial parameter called fractal dimension, the researchers were able to quantify how complex the fractals were in each inkblot. After analyzing their results, the researchers found that the more complex the fractals were, the fewer images the participants saw in each.

The researchers found similar results when they looked at data sets from two past studies: an analysis conducted in the 1930s by psychologist Marguerite Hertz of responses from 1,050 participants to the Rorschach blots; and a study in 1953 of Rorschach inkblots that involved people with and without schizophrenia.

Taylor hopes to apply the findings toward the development of artificial visual systems.

"We have to study the natural visual system if we're going to replace it with an artificial system," he told Live Science, adding that to build a robust artificial system, the researchers have to examine how and why the natural visual system gets fooled.

Currently, Taylor's research on artificial eyes is in the in vivo stage, meaning his team is about to implant prototypes of the eyes into mice, he said. He and his team have already completed in vitro (petri dish) studies on the concept.

Taylor noted that his team still has more research to perform before testing the artificial eyes in human patients, a move that is still about 10 to 15 years out, he said.

The study was detailed online Feb. 14 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.

Originally published on Live Science.
Based on geological definitions of a continent, the Earth actually has a lost eighth continent, known as Zealandia. Most of this continent is submerged beneath the sea, while a tiny sliver, including New Zealand, is above the water.

Earth has eight continents, and world maps should reflect this, geologists say.

The eighth, a lost continent called Zealandia, isn't a huge landmass that geographers have somehow missed. Rather, only small bits  including New Zealand, New Caledonia and a few other specks of land in the vast Pacific Ocean  are above sea level. The rest of this continent lies beneath the waves, a new study suggests

"I hope Zealandia will now start to appear on world maps which show the other continents," said Nick Mortimer, a geologist with GNS Science in Dunedin, New Zealand. "There is an extra one, and it is as real as all the others." [Photos: The World's Weirdest Geological Formations]

Decades of evidence

The new study synthesizes decades of evidence for a hidden continent lying beneath the ocean surrounding New Zealand. The first line of evidence comes simply from looking at the ocean floor around New Zealand: The continental shelves of Zealandia lie at a depth of about 3,280 feet (1,000 meters) below sea level, while the nearby oceanic crust is about 9,800 feet (3,000 m) below that, Mortimer said. Just like other continents, Zealandia has a huge range in altitude, from the sub-ocean depths to Aoraki/Mount Cook at 12,217 feet (3,724 m) above sea level.

The second line of evidence supporting Zealandia's designation as a separate continent comes from extensive study of the rocks beneath the ocean. Over the past 20 years, geologists have set sail on ships to dredge rocks from the seafloor. Unlike the nearby oceanic crust, which is made up of basaltic rocks from the fairly recent geologic past, the crust surrounding New Zealand is composed of a variety of different rock types, including granite, limestone and sandstone, some of which are incredibly ancient. That is typical of continental crust, the researchers reported in the March/April issue of the journal GSA Today.

Finally, scientists have shown that there's a narrow strip of oceanic crust separating the continent of Australia from the subterranean reaches of Zealandia, meaning the two are separate continents, Mortimer said.

Ancient formation, distant future

A proposed world map showing the eighth continent Zealandia. Though most of this continent is submerged beneath the ocean, scientists say it has all the geologic hallmarks of a separate continent. (Image credit: Nick Mortimer/GNS Science)

Zealandia was born from the breakup of the supercontinent of Gondwana, about 85 million years ago, Mortimer said. At that time, an ocean began to emerge between Australia and New Zealand.

"Zealandia is somewhat unusual, in that just before it separated from the supercontinent of Gondwana, it got stretched," Mortimer told Live Science.

That stretching essentially thinned out the continental crust, making it sink more than thicker continental crust, which tends to float, he said.

Compared with other continents, Zealandia is pint-size; at 1.8 million square miles (4.9 million square kilometers), it's a little bigger than India and half the size of Europe.

And although only a tiny amount of the continent is lying above the water currently, at one time, its above-water footprint was even smaller. Based on geologic layers unearthed on New Zealand, the continent reached its maximum level of submergence about 30 million years ago, Mortimer said.

Now, the movement of the Australian plate is cutting Zealandia in two, which should break the continent in half in tens of millions of years, Mortimer said.

While the new findings are unlikely to change seismological maps or hazard assessments around New Zealand, "I think it will focus minds; it's just a more correct depiction of the geology and tectonics of this corner of the planet," Mortimer said.

From a geological perspective, defining Zealandia as a continent makes sense, said Bruce Luyendyk, a professor emeritus in geology at the Univeristy of California at Santa Barbara, who first coined the term "Zealandia."

As to whether maps should reflect this geologic reality, "That's a question answered by geographers and politicians, not geologists," Luyendyk told Live Science.

But there's some precedent for recognizing the continental boundaries that lie beneath the water, Luyendyk said. Other continents have continental shelves that project deeper out into the ocean, and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which sets the economic limits of a nation along its coastline, already recognizes these geologic boundaries, Luyendyk said.

Originally published on Live Science.
Good luck streaming any Oscar nominees ahead of the big awards show. (Photo by Dan MacMedan/WireImage)



Its Oscar season and once again, it looks like your best bet to watch an Oscar nominated movie at home is going to be on DVD or Blu-ray.

Streaming movies online has countless advantages over getting a polycarbonate platter in the mail, but selection is often not among them. Thats especially so at Netflix (NFLX), which must wait its turn before subscribers can watch the award seasons top films on its flat-rate plans.

Thats because the movie industry still makes more money through purchases and rentals than streaming films.

But even if you limit yourself to rentals and purchases at Amazon (AMZN) and others, where the selection should be about even between physical and digital, DVDs and Blu-ray discs retain some advantages.

This years nominees, sort-of playing on Amazon

Watching many of the Academy Award nominees that debuted only recently still requires going to a theater. Home viewing  well, legal home viewing  is only an option for a handful of contenders in the big five categories of best picture, best director, best actor, best actress and best (original and adapted) screenplay.

Good luck watching Hidden Figures at home any time soon.

For example, among the nine best picture nominees, only the crime drama Hell or High Water is available as a digital download (for rent or purchase) or as a disc at Amazon.

Two other dramas, Hacksaw Ridge and Manchester by the Sea, will land on Amazon as downloadable purchases on Feb. 7 and in disc form on Feb. 21. The sci-fi hit Arrival arrives in physical form Feb. 14, but Amazon doesnt show a digital due date.

Home viewing of best picture nominees Fences, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Lion and Moonlight, meanwhile, requires an indefinite wait.

I found one best original screenplay possibility, 20th Century Women, listed only on Amazon as a free Appstore app whose sales pitch included the line Now you this request cold Android all 4K-Ultra-HD-3DMovies. It vanished after a query to Amazon PR.

Not so much luck on Netflix

Netflix subscribers will have to wait even longer to watch this years Oscar contenders, especially folks without a DVD subscription.

Story continues

Best actress nominee Florence Foster Jenkins (Meryl Streep), best actor nominee Captain Fantastic (Viggo Mortensen) and best original screenplay nominee The Lobster are only available via DVD through Netflix, but you can digitally rent or purchase them on disc at Amazon.

La La Land is up for a host of awards, but watching it at home before the Oscars is going to be tough.

That pattern prevails for last years nominees, as well. Of eight 2016 best-picture contenders, only two are on Netflixs streaming menu: Spotlight (which won my own Oscar for best depiction of newsroom slovenliness) and The Big Short.

The other six  Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, The Revenant and Room  are DVD-only at Netflix. You can buy downloads or discs of all of them at Amazon, and all but Bridge of Spies and Brooklyn are available as digital rentals there. Room is also free to stream for Prime subscribers.

Given the choice between buying a digital file tied to digital rights management software and a disc that you can loan or resell, physical media should warrant paying a little more. Especially if the disc itself comes with digital versions to watch on a computer or tablet.

How this works

The explanation for this is not any Hollywood hostility toward Netflix, but the intersection of copyright law and the movie industrys release window strategy of selling movies in one channel at a time to maximize profits.

The windows were never set up for the benefit of the consumer, said Michael Goodman, director of research for Strategy Analytics. In a perfect world, everything would be released day and date  simultaneous digital and theatrical debuts.

Manchester by the Sea will soon be available as a DVD, but theres no word on when itll land on streaming services. (Photo: Roadside Attractions)



Once physical sales do start, however, Netflix can rent discs without permission, just as used bookstores dont need a publishers say-so to operate.

Thats courtesy of a legal principle called the first sale doctrine, holding that a copyright holders control over a creative works distribution doesnt extend to a particular purchased physical copy.

That doctrine doesnt cover digital files sold subject to a terms-of-use license. So Netflix must negotiate with studios to stream their films  and studios still make more money from rentals and purchases than streaming via a subscription.

The consumer price-per-view of a movie streamed 18 months after release is measured in cents, whereas the same film purchased as a recent release, on whatever format, is measured in dollars, wrote Richard Cooper, an analyst with IHS Markit.

Neither analyst expects this to change, even as studios have begun experimenting with selling digital downloads a few weeks before DVD and Blu-ray sales start.

The result, for streaming viewers, can be a frustrating Venn diagram in which convenient, legal and comprehensive barely overlap.

Its kind of balkanized, Goodman said. I do this professionally, and I have to see who the studio is and cross-reference to see who they have an distribution agreement with.

More from Rob:

Email Rob at rob@robpegoraro.com; follow him on Twitter at @robpegoraro.
Activists participate in an art project conceived by Cannupa Hunska Luger, from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, on Dec. 3, 2016 outside Cannon Ball, North Dakota. Native Americans and activists from around the country have been gathering at the camp trying to halt the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

For several months Native American protesters and others have been opposing the building of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The plans for construction pass through sacred land for the Native American tribe, Standing Rock Sioux.

But, within days of taking office, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum supporting the construction of the pipeline. Recently a U.S. federal judge denied a request by tribes to halt construction on the final link of the project.

On Wednesday, however, the protesters appeared to have received support from none other than Pope Francis, a long-time defender of indigenous people's rights. The pope said indigenous cultures have a right to defend "their ancestral relationship to the Earth." He added,

"Do not allow those that destroy the Earth, which destroy the environment and the ecological balance, and which end up destroying the wisdom of peoples."

As a Native American scholar of environmental history and religious studies, I am often asked what Native American leaders mean when they say that certain landscapes are "sacred places" or "sacred sites."

What makes a mountain, hill or prairie a "sacred" place?

Meaning of sacred spaces

I learned from my grandparents about the sacred areas within Blackfeet tribal territory in Montana and Alberta, which is not far from Lakota tribal territory in the Dakotas.

My grandparents said that sacred areas are places set aside from human presence. They identified two overarching types of sacred place: those set aside for the divine, such as a dwelling place, and those set aside for human remembrance, such as a burial or battle site.

In my forthcoming book "Invisible Reality," I contemplate those stories that my grandparents shared about Blackfeet religious concepts and the interconnectedness of the supernatural and natural realms.

My grandparents' stories revealed that the Blackfeet believe in a universe where supernatural beings exist within the same time and space as humans and our natural world. The deities could simultaneously exist in both as visible and invisible reality. That is, they could live unseen, but known, within a physical place visible to humans.

One such place for the Blackfeet is Ninaiistako, or Chief Mountain, in Glacier National Park. This mountain is the home of Ksiistsikomm, or Thunder, a primordial deity. My grandparents spoke of how this mountain is a liminal space, a place between two realms.

Blackfeet tribal citizens can go near this sacred place to perceive the divine, but they cannot go onto the mountain because it is the home of a deity. Elders of the Blackfeet tribe believe that human activity, or changing the physical landscape in these places, disrupts the lives of deities. They view this as sacrilegious and a desecration.

A living text

Sacred places, however, are not always set aside from humanity's use. Some sacred places are meant for constant human interaction.

Anthropologist Keith Basso argued in his seminal work "Wisdom Sits in Places" that one purpose of sacred places was to perfect the human mind. The Western Apache elders with whom Basso worked told him that when someone repeated the names and stories of their sacred places, they were understood as "repeating the speech of our ancestors."

For these Apache elders, places were not just names and stories  their landscape itself was a living sacred text. As these elders traveled from place to place speaking the names and stories of their sacred text, they told Basso that their minds became more "resilient," more "smooth" and able to withstand adversity.

The sacredness of the pipeline site

At different national and international venues, Lakota leader Dave Archambault Jr. has stated that the Lakota view the area near the potential construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline as both a "sacred place" and a "burial site," or as both a place set aside from human presence and a place of human reverence.

Lakota scholar Vine Deloria Jr. described the "sacred stones" in North Dakota in his book "The World We Used to Live In" as having the ability of "forewarning of events to come."

Deloria described how Lakota religious leaders went to these stones in the early morning to read their messages. Deloria shared the experiences of an Episcopal minister from 1919.

"A rock of this kind was formerly on Medicine Hill near Cannon Ball Sub-station. Old Indians came to me and said that the lightning would strike someone in camp that day, for a picture (wowapi) on this holy rock indicated such an event. And the lightning did strike a tent in camp and nearly killed a woman. I have known several similar things, equally foretelling events to come, I can not account for it."

Deloria explained that it was "birds, directed by the spirit of the place, [that] do the actual sketching of the pictures." The Lakota named this area Inyanwakagapi for the large stones that served as oracles for their people. The Americans renamed it Cannonball.

Not just Dakota

Historians, anthropologists and religious thinkers continue to learn and write about Native American religious ideas of place. In so doing, they seek to analyze complex religious concepts of transformation and transcendence that these places evoke.

However, despite their contributions to the academic interpretation of religion, these understandings do not often translate into protection of Native American places for their religious significance. As legal scholar Stephen Pevar tells us,

"there is no federal statue that expressly protects Indian sacred sites. in fact, the federal government knowingly desecrates sites."

In the past year we have seen protests over the potential desecration of sacred places at Mauna Kea in Hawaii (over the construction of another telescope on a sacred volcano), Oak Flats in Arizona (over a potential copper mine on sacred land) and now at Standing Rock in North Dakota.

Lack of understanding of sacredness

William Graham, a former dean of the Harvard Divinity School, wrote that,

"Religion will long continue to be a critical factor in individual, social, and political life around the world, and we need to understand it."

The intimate connection between landscape and religion is at the center of Native American societies. It is the reason that thousands of Native Americans from across the United States and indigenous peoples from around the world have traveled to the windswept prairies of North Dakota.

But, despite our 200-plus years of contact, the United States has yet to begin to understand the uniqueness of Native American religions and ties to the land. And until this happens, there will continue to be conflicts over religious ideas of land and landscape, and what makes a place sacred.

Editor's note: This is an updated version of an article first published on Nov. 2, 2016.

Rosalyn R. LaPier, Visiting Assistant Professor of Women's Studies, Environmental Studies and Native American Religion, Harvard University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
Infrared satellite imagery of Hurricane Dorian as it made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane over three islands in the Bahamas on the morning of Sep. 2, 2019.

If you live or like to vacation along the world's coastlines, chances are good you've been affected by a tropical storm or hurricane.

Hurricanes, which are more broadly called "tropical cyclones" because they originate over Earth's tropical oceans, are some of nature's largest and fiercest storms. They get their name from Hurican, the Carib god of evil, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) .

Worldly windstorms

Tropical cyclones form in most of the world's tropical oceans, but always at least 300 miles (480 kilometers) north or south of the equator. Any closer to the equator than this, and the inertial force that causes storms to spin to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere, called the coriolis force, won't cause the storm system to spin.

When they form in the Atlantic or Eastern Pacific Oceans, tropical cyclones are called hurricanes. In the western North Pacific, the same type of storms are called typhoons. And in the South Pacific and Indian Oceans, they are called cyclones.

The Atlantic hurricane season lasts from June through November. The Eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from mid-May through November. Typhoons in the North Pacific occur year-round but peak in late August. And in the South Pacific, the cyclone season begins in October and ends in May.

In the Atlantic, hurricanes typically follow one of three paths, according to NOAA's National Hurricane Center :

Originating off the West Coast of Africa near the Cape Verde Islands and traveling west toward the Caribbean and the East Coast of the United States.

Originating in the western Caribbean, and moving into the U.S. Gulf Coast, or along the U.S. East Coast.

Originating in the Gulf of Mexico and crashing into the Gulf Coast states, anywhere between Texas and Florida.

Graphic representation on world map of the activity in the worlds major ocean tropical cyclones basins between 1842 - 2017. (Image credit: Shutterstock)

How hurricanes form

As with any weather event, certain atmospheric ingredients must be in place for a hurricane to cook up over the open ocean. According to NOAA's National Weather Service , these include:

Warm ocean waters of at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 Celsius) extending from the sea surface to a depth of 150 feet (46 meters) underwater.

A moist and unstable atmosphere. In other words, an atmosphere with high humidity at upper levels and one in which air has a tendency to rise.

A pre-existing disturbance near surface levels, such as a complex of thunderstorms, which meteorologists call tropical easterly waves.

Sufficient distance (at least 300 miles, or 480 km) from the equator.

Little to no wind shear, meaning wind speed and direction varies little between the surface and the troposphere, the lowest level of Earth's atmosphere, which stretches tens of thousands of feet above the surface.

When a storm forms under these minimum criteria, it is deemed a tropical cyclone, or more specifically, a tropical disturbance. At this initial stage, the disturbance is essentially a cluster of marine clouds and thunderstorms, but if ocean temperatures remain sufficiently balmy, the disturbance will continue to strengthen. And as the system becomes slightly more organized it may start to circulate. When the storm system's winds begin to circulate around a well-defined center, but its maximum sustained wind speeds have not exceeded 38 mph (61 km/h), the storm becomes categorized as a "tropical depression." It's at this stage that the storm earns a name.

Related: Storm targets: Where the hurricanes hit (infographic)

Once maximum sustained winds reach between 39 and 73 mph (63 to 117 km/h), the cyclone is classified as a "tropical storm." And when a storm's sustained winds reach 74 mph (119 km/h) or greater, the cyclone is classified as a hurricane  or typhoon if it's in the North Pacific, and cyclone if in the South Pacific.

How hurricanes are categorized

Hurricanes are categorized according to the speed of their maximum sustained winds. The scale used for this purpose, called the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale , was developed in 1971 by civil engineer Herbert Saffir and by meteorologist and then-director of the U.S. National Hurricane Center, Bob Simpson. The Saffir-Simpson scale rates a hurricane's severity from 1 (very dangerous) to 5 (catastrophic), based on the following wind speeds:

Category 1: Winds of 74-95 mph (119-153 km/h)

Category 2: Winds of 96-110 mph (154-177 km/h)

Category 3: Winds of 111-129 mph (178-208 km/h)

Category 4: Winds of 130-156 mph (209-251 km/h)

Category 5: Winds exceeding 157 mph (252 km/h)

Hurricanes that reach Category 3 or higher are considered "major hurricanes" because of their potential to cause significant damage and loss of life. Similarly, typhoons with winds exceeding 150 mph (241 km/h) earn the title of "super typhoon."

Although winds are the most common way to measure how intense a tropical cyclone is, central barometric pressure, which is the air pressure exerted by Earth's atmosphere on the storm's geographical center, is another way meteorologists measure a storm's intensity. In general, the lower a storm's central pressure, the stronger the storm. While lower pressure and higher winds tend to go hand-in-hand, one isn't necessarily indicative of the other. For example, as of 2019, Hurricane Wilma (2005), a Category 5 hurricane, held the record for the lowest central pressure (882 millibars) of any Atlantic hurricane, but Hurricane Allen (1980), also a Category 5 hurricane, ranks as the Atlantic hurricane with the strongest winds (its sustained winds reached 190 mph, or 306 km/h).

Beware of these features and hazards

The main physical features of a hurricane are its rainbands, eye and eyewall. These features take shape as surface air from all directions spirals in toward the center of the storm in a counter-clockwise pattern (or clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere).

Because this converging air has nowhere else to go it rises, creating a column of forceful rising air at the storm's center known as the eyewall. Rising air encourages clouds and thunderstorms to develop, which is why the eyewall is surrounded by a ring of towering thunderstorms that inflict some of the cylone's most severe punishment. Curved bands of clouds and thunderstorms trail away from the eyewall in a spiral fashion. These rainbands, which typically extend outward 50 to 300 miles (80 to 483 km) from the cyclone's center, can produce heavy bursts of rain and wind, as well as tornadoes.

Related: Hurricane preparation: What to do

The eyewall's strong rotation of air creates an empty vortex at its center. This empty area is the eye of the storm, and spans a distance about 20 to 40 miles (32 to 64 km) in diameter on average, according to NOAA . Inside the eye, air from the top of the cyclone sinks back down toward the surface to fill the void of the air that was pulled into the storm. Sinking air inhibits cloud formation, which is why the eye has calm winds and clear skies. A tropical cyclone is said to have made landfall when its eye hits the shoreline.

Violent winds are not the only hazard of hurricanes or cyclones. Storm surges  walls of seawater that are pushed toward shore by the sheer force of a storm's winds  can increase water levels by 15 feet (4.5 m) or more above the predicted astronomical tide. In 2017, the National Weather Service began issuing storm surge watches and warnings to alert areas along the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic coasts of the unique risk for life-threatening inundation from approaching tropical cyclones.

Flooding caused by storm surges and by heavy rainfall is a major hazard of hurricanes. According to a 2014 study published in The Bulletin of the American Meteorology Society , storm surge flooding has been the leading cause of hurricane-related fatalities for the past 50 years.

Related: The costliest hurricanes in history

Who picks hurricane names?

Hurricane names are determined by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, that serves as the international authority on weather, climate and hydrology. The WMO maintains six lists of alphabetical names that are recycled and reused every six years for the Atlantic and eastern Pacific Ocean basins. It also composes separate lists for the globe's five other cyclone zones, including the western Pacific, northern Indian, southwestern Indian, southeastern Indian, and Australian Ocean basins.

According to the National Hurricane Center , the current practice of assigning male and female names to hurricanes wasn't put into place until 1979. Before this, only female names were used. And for hundreds of years before that, storms often took the name of the holiday or saint's day on which they occurred.

Names are preferred to numbers because they're easier to remember. The one exception to this no-numbering rule is tropical depressions; because they aren't named, they take the title of whatever number cyclone they are within a particular season-year, that is, "Tropical Depression Three," or "Tropical Depression Fifteen," etc.

If a storm is ever so deadly or destructive that the future use of its name would be insensitive, that name is retired and a replacement name is chosen. For example, the names Katrina and Sandy have been removed from the list of Atlantic cyclone names because of the astounding amount of destruction and death that resulted from Hurricanes Katrina (2005) and Sandy (2012). More recently, Matthew (2016), Maria (2017), Florence (2018), and Michael (2018) were retired .

During extremely busy Atlantic hurricane seasons, all the names on the names list may be used up. When this happens, subsequent storms receive a name from the Greek alphabet (Alpha, Beta, Gamma and so on). This has only ever happened twice, according to NOAA : in 2005 and again in 2020.

Tropical Storm Beta nears the Texas coast on Sept. 21. (Image credit: NOAA/NESDIS/STAR GOES-East Geocolor)

Hurricanes and climate change

Hurricanes feed off of heat energy, so as Earth's global temperatures continue to rise, hurricanes are bound to be affected. So far, it's not evident that hurricanes are necessarily forming more often because of rising temperatures, although scientists do predict that hurricane activity and intensity will likely increase in future years.

There is, however, a clear link between global warming and an increase in the number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes. Climate change also appears to be causing hurricanes to intensify more rapidly than ever before, and to produce far more rain, according to Yale Climate Connections . These trends are likely a result of higher ocean temperatures and higher water vapor content in the atmosphere as the air heats up, according to NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory .

Warmer-than-average ocean temperatures in the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean Sea are already contributing to the active 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, NOAA reported . Similar conditions have been producing busier-than-normal hurricane seasons since 1995. Scientists predict the annual trend of more frequent extreme storms and record-breaking hurricane seasons to continue as long as climate change persists.

Additional resources:
ATLANTA  Climate change may have surprising and wide-ranging effects on mental health, experts say.

That's because climate change is both a root cause of mental health crises and a "threat multiplier," meaning that it makes existing mental health problems worse, said Dr. Lise Van Susteren, a psychiatrist in private practice and an advisory board member for the Center for Health and the Global Environment at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Van Susteren spoke about the connection between climate change and mental health yesterday (Feb. 16) here at the Climate & Health Meeting, a gathering of experts from public health organizations, universities and advocacy groups that focused on the health impacts of climate change. [5 Ways Climate Change Will Affect Your Health]

For example, researchers have documented a link between extreme climate and weather events and higher levels of aggression, Van Susteren said. A 2013 study published in the journal Science found that increases in temperature and extreme rainfall are associated with increased levels of conflict between individuals, and between groups, she said.

One possible explanation for the link between rising temperatures and aggression is that higher temperatures increase levels of adrenaline in the body, which can contribute to aggression, Van Susteren told Live Science.

In her talk, Van Susteren also highlighted the link between rising air-pollution levels  which can be caused by rising temperatures  and a higher risk of neurological and psychiatric problems. When a person breathes in particulate matter from air pollution, that matter can enter a person's olfactory nerve and cause neural inflammation, she said.

Neural inflammation is linked to disorders found in all age groups, including Alzheimer's disease and cognitive disorders, she said.

One question that needs to be explored, however, is whether this neural inflammation also causes more conventional psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety and depression, Van Susteren told Live Science.

The American Psychological Association has reported that when pregnant women are exposed to air pollutants, their children are more likely to have symptoms of anxiety and depression, Van Susteren said in her talk.

In addition, research has shown that the average numbers of emergency room visits for panic attacks and threats to commit suicide are higher on days with poor air quality, Van Susteren said.

But she noted that not all of climate change's effects on health can be easily quantified in studies. "Not everything that counts can be counted," she said. Rather, there are "insidious" effects of climate change that could cause psychological strain on a societal level that will be hard to overcome, she said.

In one case, a 17-year-old boy in Australia developed such distress over climate change that he wound up hospitalized, Van Susteren said. The doctors who treated him called his condition "climate change delusion" in their report of his case, which was published in 2009 in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. The boy had refused to drink water because he believed that it would cause millions of people in the drought-ridden country to die.

In her talk, Van Susteren stressed the need to take action on climate change; if action is not taken, she said, it will have profound effects on other children's mental health as well.

Originally published on Live Science.
When the U.S. president needs to fly to another city or country, the primary mode of transportation is a huge 747 jetliner dubbed Air Force One. But now, a panel of aerospace and defense analysts is considering trading in the famous Air Force One jet for a smaller, less expensive aircraft to transport the president.

According to a report in Aviation Week, the suggestions for alternatives include a 737 jet by Air Force One's lead contractor, Boeing, and even a B-21 stealth bomber developed by Northrup Grumman.

President Donald Trump has criticized the Air Force One program, saying on Twitter that upgrades and replacement costs for the aircraft are "out of control." And last month, Defense Secretary James Mattis ordered a full review of the $3.73 billion presidential aircraft program, the Associated Press reported. Now, industry experts are taking note. [Flying Saucers to Mind Control: 22 Declassified Military & CIA Secrets]

According to the report in Aviation Week, major savings can be achieved by switching to smaller planes. The 737, for example, is not only smaller but also has been retrofitted for other military operations, according to Popular Mechanics.

Another proposal is to ditch the 747 for the B-21 Raider, a long-range bomber aircraft under development by Northrop Grumman. The sharp, angular design of the B-21 is based on the B-2, which was created in the late 1980s and introduced in 1997. The new B-21, which was revealed last year, improves on invisibility to radar detection and provides unrivaled shielding against conventional and electronic attacks.

But for now, the president is still using the traditional 747 jets in the Air Force One program to get around. Here are some interesting facts about Air Force One.

Technically, Air Force One is the radio call name for any plane on which the president of the United States travels. It helps avoid confusion with other planes nearby, and the naming convention was established after an incident in 1953, when Eastern Air Lines Flight 8610 flew into the same airspace as President Dwight Eisenhower's plane, which was called Air Force 8610 at the time. Today, the term "Air Force One" refers to one of two twin aircraft that are specially equipped to carry the president.

The two current Air Force One planes are due for replacement. The planes are highly customized Boeing 747-200B series jets that were purchased under President Ronald Reagan's administration and began service in 1990 under President George H. W. Bush. But because Boeing shut down its 747-200 production several years ago, it has become extremely difficult to replace the planes' parts, according to the trade publication Defense One. That's why, during his second term in office, President Barack Obama ordered a replacement fleet for the Air Force One program that will be built based on the new 747-8 series.

The plane must be able to serve as a mobile command center. Essentially, Air Force One is a gleaming, three-level, flying Oval Office, according to the White House. The interior is modified so that the 4,000 square feet (about 370 square meters) of space includes a conference room, offices and state-of-the-art electronics for the president to be able to continue conducting operations midflight. Air Force One also has two food-preparation galleys, a medical operating room and a doctor on board every flight  just in case.

There's room for officers, staff and guests on board. In fact, Air Force One can seat up to 70 people. Plus, there are living quarters to accommodate all of the senior advisers, Secret Service officers, reporters and other guests who accompany the president.

The whole flight is considered a military operation. If the president is leaving from the White House, a Marine One helicopter usually flies the president to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. While in the air, Air Force One has hidden electronic jammers and flares that can be deployed to divert heat-seeking missiles, according to the Defense Media Network. And the U.S. Air Force typically sends the president's bulletproof motorcade ahead of Air Force One in a C-141 Starlifter cargo plane so that the president has access to safe transportation at the destination as well.

Air Force One can be refueled in midair. As with other combat planes, Air Force One can top off its tanks during a flight, with help from a fuel plane that arrives and hovers overhead when needed. This gives Air Force One the ability to stay up in the air indefinitely, such as if an unsafe situation is unfolding on the ground, but this is typically reserved for emergency situations, CNN reported.

It can travel at a top speed of about 600 mph (965 km/h). That's almost the speed of sound. And during flight, Air Force One can reach a maximum altitude of 45,100 feet (13,750 m). For comparison, commercial flights usually fly at an altitude of only about 30,000 feet (9,100 m).

All of the customization and facilities cost a lot. According to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) letter obtained by Judicial Watch, Obama's Air Force One cost taxpayers $206,337 every hour it flew. Building the replacement 747-8 jets will also be expensive  an estimated $3.73 billion over 12 years. But that's still a small portion of the entire defense budget of $8.132 trillion over that same 12-year time frame, according to Politifact. But because those costs are driven by national security concerns, they could go up in time, too.

Original article on Live Science.
Grand Mesa and Senator Beck Basin in Colorado, two sites where scientists with NASA's SnowEx are analyzing snow to unravel its unique role as a global water resource.

No resource on Earth is more precious than water; all life on the planet depends on it to survive. However, only a fraction of Earth's water, a mere 3 percent, is freshwater, and about 70 percent of that freshwater is inaccessible, locked up in glaciers, ice and permanent snow cover.

In fact, both seasonal and year-round snowpack are vital parts of Earth's water cycle and its freshwater reserves. Recognizing this, NASA recently launched a new initiative to investigate the planet's snow and the relationship of this snow to readily available liquid water.

SnowEx, a multiyear airborne research campaign led by NASA scientists, seeks to improve methods used to measure snow depth and volume. By testing equipment and techniques for calculating the amount of water contained in snow cover, scientists hope to improve their understanding of how fluctuations in snow accumulation affect water accessibility worldwide  for agriculture, power and drinking, NASA said. [Monitoring Snow Changes: NASA Scientist Dalia Kirschbaum Explains | Video]

NASA experts will collaborate with dozens of scientists from across the U.S., Canada and Europe, said Edward Kim, a SnowEx researcher, in a statement. Kim is also a remote sensing scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

"Our goal is to find and refine the best snow-measuring techniques and [determine] how they could work together," Kim said. "This is the most comprehensive campaign we have ever done on snow."

Grand Mesa and Senator Beck Basin in Colorado, two sites where scientists with NASA's SnowEx are analyzing snow to unravel its unique role as a global water resource. (Image credit: SnowEx/NASA)

Because snowpack is typically 40 to 95 percent air, water content is calculated by either measuring the snowpack's mass or establishing its depth and density, according to a NASA report.

A multisensor approach

Satellites have monitored seasonal snow cover from space for decades, but they can't accurately measure the amount of water trapped in snow across different types of snow-covered landscapes, according to NASA. Accurately measuring forest areas is particularly challenging, and prior evaluations are thought to have underestimated water storage in snow by as much as 50 percent, agency officials said.

Other surveys using remote-scanning technologies also painted an incomplete picture of water storage in snow. Microwave frequencies become "blind" to snow when it's partly melted, and lidar, a scanning method that uses lasers, is unable to penetrate clouds, limiting its usefulness to track snowstorm accumulations.

To overcome these technical limitations, SnowEx will gather its data with multiple sensors, incorporating emerging technologies  such as those that use altitude and gravity sensing  with more established methods like spectroscopy, radar and radio sensing. A total of five aircraft deploying 10 different sensors will allow scientists to adjust scanning options in response to different terrains and different types of snow, NASA representatives said in a statement.

Scientists will also work on the ground at two Colorado sites: Grand Mesa and Senator Beck Basin. Data collected during fieldwork will serve to verify the findings of remote-sensing aircraft, and the results will help to determine SnowEx goals in the coming years  perhaps even informing the future development of satellites capable of detecting snow volume from space, NASA officials said.

Original article on Live Science.
The queer community has close to $1 trillion in disposable income and many of us don't have children. That's a lot of money and not a lot of responsibility. So how are we spending our discretionary income?

It's so common it's cliche: Queer people love to travel! According to 2015's 20th Annual LGBT Tourism & Hospitality Survey, "the annual economic impact of [American] LGBT travelers is over $75 billion per year in the U.S. alone."

Now is when we're trying to get away from the cold or plan our summer vacation. If that sounds like you, here are five cost-conscious tips for queer travelers to get your travel on right.

1. Use Travel Sites

We're super fans of websites and apps that make our travel planning and budgeting easier.

One of our favorite apps is Rome2Rio. It maps the most efficient routes to get from one location to the next in terms of time and cost. If you're in Brussels and want to get to get to Cape Town, for instance, Rome2Rio will get you there.

Another favorite tool is Skyscanner, which searches the sky for the cheapest flights to get from one location to the next. Skyscanner relies completely on its algorithm to find flights, and not its relationship to airlines, so its recommendations are unbiased.

Our friends Stefan and Sebastian, who blog at the The Nomadic Boys, say, "Our starting point for planning our travels is Booking.com. It not only shows the best prices for the filters entered, but after using them for a while, you'll receive discounts."

2. Less Is More

In 2012, we spent a month Down Under. For 30 days, we traveled to Sydney, Australia, to be tourists; Cairns to snorkel The Great Barrier Reef; Sydney again for Mardi Gras with Kylie Minogue as Grand Marshal; Melbourne to eat up its foodie scene; Auckland, New Zealand, to be tourists; Waiheke Island for wine; Kaikoura to swim with dolphins; and then Rotorua to sit in hot springs.

With all that travel, we each had one medium-size suitcase full of clothes. What at first seemed impossible was a lifesaver. When hopping from planes to trains to automobiles, elevators, steps, sidewalks and, yes, sand, we were all the better for our lighter load. This will also save you money because many cost-conscious international airlines charge for luggage over a certain size or weight.

Story continues

3. Stay Off the Beaten Path

Sometimes the best way to contain travel costs is to take the road less traveled. Below are some LGBT-friendly destinations that are uncommon and cost-conscious:

Costa Rica is a Central American country with coasts in both the Caribbean and Pacific Oceans. Costa Rica is known for being very queer-friendly, with the heart and soul of its queer community in Manuel Antonio. In addition to seaside activities, Costa Rica boasts beautiful volcano parks, rivers and waterfalls that are great for hiking, playing and exploring.

Latvia's coast is on The Baltic Sea and boarders Estonia and Lithuania. Latvia prides itself on "green tourism" and hosts many natural and manmade wonders. It started warming to the queer community in 1992, when it broke from the Soviet Union. While same-sex marriage is still illegal, the country does prohibit discrimination against queer people.

Belize is another Central American country on the Caribbean Ocean. Belize has amazing marine and coral life, especially where we traveled, in San Pedro, which makes it great for snorkeling and scuba diving. It includes hundreds of small islands called "cayes." Though Belize is accepting of gay people, it is very much a conservative country and frowns on any public displays of affection.

4. Search Gay Travel Sites

With the popularity of travel sites, it was inevitable that the queer community would get its own.

One popular site that you've probably seen on your Facebook feed is Misterb&b. Misterb&b is not related to Airbnb. Misterb&b connects travelers with locals. You can rent the home of a queer peer while they're away or sleep on their couch while they're home. In most cases, doing so is cheaper than hoteling it.

Another travel site is Ebab.com, which stands for "Enjoy Bed & Breakfast." Ebab was the very first queer travel site, originally founded in 1996, when queer rights weren't what they are today. Ebab was founded on the principle that "everyone has the right to travel freely and without discrimination."

5. Stay Out of Trouble

Even though the queer community has made much progress in the last 20 years, especially in the U.S., homophobia still exists. Even the U.S. State Department publishes a useful page with LGBT travel information. As you're planning your next vacation alone, with your partner or family, consider these cost-conscious tools, tricks and destinations to help you save money  and stay safe.

Looking for more money-saving reads? Check out Credit.com's personal finance learning center.

This story is an Op/Ed contribution to Credit.com and does not necessarily represent the views of the company or its partners.

More on Credit.com:
A felon found in possession of two firearms following a raid in Las Americas neighborhood last month has pleaded not guilty, court documents show.

Raul Flores Jr., 31, pleaded not guilty Feb. 9.

An indictment filed Jan. 31 charged Flores with one count of possession of firearm by a convicted felon and two counts of possession of firearm with an obliterated serial number.

Homeland Security Investigations special agents and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force officers set up surveillance Jan. 7 of a home on Cuernavaca Drive.

Laredo police pulled over a white Ford F-250 that had departed from the residence.

Flores, the driver, allegedly allowed federal authorities to search the home, states the criminal complaint filed Jan. 8.

Authorities said they found a Smith and Wesson MP15 rifle and Smith and Wesson MP9 Shield pistol in a locked bathroom closet.

Federal agents also discovered 119 rounds of 5.56mm ammo and nine rounds of 9mm ammo.

Court documents show Flores was previously convicted on drug possession and human smuggling charges.
WOBURN, MA / ACCESSWIRE / February 17, 2017 / Advisory Group Equity Services, Ltd. (AGES), part of the holding company TAG Group, Inc., today announces that it has scooped up a team from Source Capital Group, an independent broker dealer with an investment banking unit. The team will bring the total assets of AGES and its affiliates to $1.1 billion.

The new team will operate under RHK Capital with headquarters in Westport, Connecticut, and offices in New York, New Jersey, Arizona and Hawaii.

"We are very excited to bring on this new team," says AGES President William H. McCance. "This transaction will increase our core independent broker dealer model while enhancing our investment banking capabilities. With the changes in the industry over the past ten years, it has become clear that diversity of revenue streams is critical. This is what the RHK team brings to us. Bruce Ryan, managing director, and Richard Kreger, head of banking, are true gentlemen with a wealth of industry experience. We are thrilled to have them as part of our team."

TAG Group is a leading provider of estate, business and financial services for high-net-worth individuals and business entities. TAG maintains a comprehensive network of legal, financial and accounting professionals who are committed to providing the highest level of service to their clients. TAG maintains three separate and distinct operating units under its corporate umbrella: Trust Advisory Group, Ltd., Advisory Group Equity Services, Ltd., and Estate Insurance Services, Ltd.

The team completed its first conference, The Disruptive Growth and Healthcare Conference, in New York.

About Advisory Group Equity Services Ltd.

Advisory Group Equity Services, Ltd. (AGES) is a full-service broker dealer firm, member FINRA/SIPC. The firm was founded with the goal of assisting its clients in every aspect of their financial lives. The firm provides the most personal service available, thus earning a reputation for excellence in the financial industry. For each of its clients, AGES strives to help create financial stability and security to provide financial independence. Its staff consists of experienced professionals with a "hands on" approach to financial guidance.

Story continues

For more information visit www.TrustAdvisoryGroup.com

Communications Contact:

NetworkNewsWire (NNW)

New York, New York

www.NetworkNewsWire.com

212.418.1217 Office

Editor@NetworkNewsWire.com

SOURCE: Advisory Group Equity Services, Ltd.
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Cllr Paul Ross has called for a complete upgrade of the N55 main road from Ballymahon to Granard.

Following on from the proposed works and consultation day held in Tang last week on the N55 south of Ballymahon, the local area representative in the Ballymahon Municipal District said it was vitally important that infrastructure was completed throughout Co Longford.

This is one of the worst roads in the country and being a vital north/south link, it is an extremely busy road which is in a poor condition with a number of sections of road totally unsuitable to the heavy volumes of traffic which are using it, he added.

I call on Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and Minister for Transport, Shane Ross to prioritise funding to ensure that this section of road is upgraded.

Not only will an upgrade on this road save lives, it will also encourage tourism and investment in the area and enhance our center of Ireland location.

This upgrade in Longford should be done in conjunction with the Westmeath upgrade and leave this Road safer for all.
A vigil will be held at Longford Garda Station this Saturday (February 18) at 6pm to support Maurice McCabe and other Garda whistleblowers.

John Stokes, of Eirigi, told the Longford Leader that the vigil will show public support and solidarity with Maurice McCabe and all guards who need protection for speaking out against wrongdoing.

Mr Stokes urged people to join them for an hour tomorrow at Longford Garda Station.

Vigils and gatherings are being held at Garda Stations across the country as a grassroots movement, Uplift, has sprung into action.

Uplift members have organised fifteen vigils and Siobhan O'Donoghue of Uplift said. The grassroots nature of this- they way people from all of walks of life are taking action across the country - shows just how deeply shocked the nation has been by the scandal of how Maurice McCabe was treated.



She added, Uplift members have been calling for the Garda Commissioner to stand aside as the smear campaign against Maurice McCabe is investigated. We deserve a police force we can trust - and we deserve answers and accountability - sooner rather than later.



Ms O'Donoghue clarified that these demonstrations were about expressing disappointment and anger - but also hope and solidarity.

There are decent Gardai in every county and town in Ireland - they shouldnt have to live in fear about coming forward if they see something wrong - our democracy needs whistleblowers - and they should be protected and supported - not smeared and abused.
Press Releases

By Allison Gayne Published: February 17 2017

Teachers Federal Credit Union donated gifts for families in need and raised $500 for Patchogue-Medford Youth & Community Services over the holidays.

Hauppauge & Patchogue, NY  Teachers Federal Credit Union, one of the countrys largest credit unions, donated gifts for families in need and raised $500 for Patchogue-Medford Youth & Community Services. The mission of the not-for-profit agency is to provide support, strength and opportunity for positive growth to youth, their families and the community through education, recreation, intervention and outreach.

The holiday season was a busy time for Team TFCU, and members rallied to support the Patchogue-Medford Youth & Community Services, an organization that manages valuable and enriching programs filled with educational and recreational activities for adults and youth in the community. The gifts for families and donation of funds demonstrate good will for those who live in the communities we serve here on Long Island, said Robert G. Allen, TFCUs President/CEO.

TFCU, with more than 270,000 members and over $5 billion in assets, is committed to supporting local not-for-profit organizations. For more information about TFCU or becoming a credit union member call 631-698-7000, ext. 6780 or go to www.teachersfcu.org

Teachers Federal Credit Union (TFCU), one of the countrys largest credit unions, is a full-service, not-for-profit financial institution. TFCU was founded on Long Island in 1952 and now has over $5 billion in total assets, serves more than 270,000 members and has 25 full-service branches throughout Long Island including: Amityville, Bay Shore, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Central Islip, Commack, East Northport, Farmingville, Hauppauge, Holbrook, Huntington, Manorville, Merrick, Nesconset, North Babylon, North Massapequa, Oakdale, Patchogue, Port Jefferson Station, Riverhead, Rocky Point, Selden, Shirley, Smithtown, South Setauket, and Wading River. Members also have access to services at more than 5,000 shared service centers located across the country. TFCU offers financial services to all people and businesses located in Nassau and Suffolk counties. More information is available about TFCU by visiting www.teachersfcu.org or by calling (631) 698-7000.

###

PHOTO CAPTION: Teachers Federal Credit Union's Team TFCU donated holiday gifts for families along with $500 to Patchogue-Medford Youth and Community Services. Pictured from the left are Shawn Hirst, Executive Director of Patchogue-Medford Youth and Community Services, Jennifer Gunn, Marketing Manager at TFCU, and Teresa Reilly, theOrganization's Administrative Coordinator..
Local News, Business & Finance, National & World News, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: February 17 2017

The U.S. Senate confirmed on Tuesday President Donald Trumps nomination of Linda E. McMahon as the 25th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Washington, DC - February 17, 2017 - The U.S. Senate confirmed on Tuesday President Donald Trumps nomination of Linda E. McMahon as the 25th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Small businesses are the engine of our national economy, McMahon said upon her confirmation. I will work to revitalize a spirit of entrepreneurship in America. Small businesses want to feel they can take a risk on an expansion or a new hire without fearing onerous new regulations or unexpected taxes, fees and fines that will make such growth unaffordable. We want to renew optimism in our economy.

I want to thank President Trump for this opportunity to join his Administration and to advocate for our nations small business owners and entrepreneurs, McMahon said. I would also like to express my appreciation to Joe Loddo for his leadership as Acting Administrator during this transition, along with everyone at the SBA for the hard work they are doing to support Americas small businesses.

In testimony on January 24 before the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, McMahon discussed her hands-on experience managing and helping to grow small businesses.

As an entrepreneur myself, I have shared the experiences of our nations small business owners. My husband and I built our business from scratch. We started out sharing a desk. Over decades of hard work and strategic growth, we built it into a publicly traded global enterprise with more than 800 employees. I am proud of our success  I know every bit of the hard work it took to create that success.

I believe in leadership by example. As a CEO, I never expect employees to do anything I am not willing to do myself. I believe in setting expectations and holding people accountable, but trusting them to do the job for which they were hired. I look forward to working with the SBA staff. I am eager to learn from their experience and expertise. I will listen, and their ideas, concerns and recommendations will be taken seriously.

As Administrator of the SBA, McMahon will direct a federal agency with more than 2,000 full-time employees, with a leading role in helping small business owners and entrepreneurs secure financing, technical assistance and training, and federal contracts. SBA also plays a leading role in disaster recovery by making low interest loans.

McMahons experience as an entrepreneur and small business owner is welcomed in the New York District, said Beth Goldberg, District Director of the SBA New York office. Administrator McMahon wants to create more jobs and continue to grow the economy. New York is on board with this mission! Were ready to keep delivering the same vital services to the 1.6 million small businesses in our district.

McMahon is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Womens Leadership LIVE, as well as the co-founder and former CEO of WWE. She was the Republican nominee to represent Connecticut in the U.S. Senate in 2010 and 2012. McMahon is an advocate for small business and continues to promote entrepreneurship, particularly among women.

McMahon is a graduate of East Carolina University. She and her husband, Vince, have two adult children and six grandchildren.

Link to McMahons Statement to the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship: here

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 and since January 13, 2012, has served as a Cabinet-level agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation. The SBA helps Americans start, build and grow businesses. Through an extensive network of field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations, the SBA delivers its services to people throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam.
A.G. Schneiderman Encourages New Yorkers to Test Internet Speeds and Submit Results as Part of Ongoing Investigation of Broadband Providers

Tech & Science, Local News, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: February 17 2017

New Yorkers encouraged to test their Internet speeds and submit the results as part of an ongoing investigation into whether or not Internet service providers are delivering on the speeds and services promised.

Rochester, NY - February 16, 2017 - Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman is encouraging New Yorkers to test their Internet speeds and submit the results via his website as part of an ongoing investigation into whether or not Internet service providers are delivering on the speeds and services promised.

He is also urging New Yorkers to use his new consumer alert as a tool in selecting the internet service plan that best suits their needs. This follows the Attorney Generals announcement earlier this month of his offices lawsuit against Charter Communications Inc. (Charter) and its subsidiary Spectrum Management Holdings, LLC, (f/k/a Time Warner Cable, Inc.,) (together, Spectrum-TWC) for allegedly conducting a deliberate scheme to defraud and mislead New Yorkers by promising Internet service that they knew they could not deliver.

Millions of New York families and businesses depend on reliable internet for everything from running a business to communicating with family and friends, said Attorney General Schneiderman. No one should be paying a premium for speeds and services they arent receiving. Conducting a speed test will ensure people are getting the speed theyre paying for, and I urge New Yorkers to submit their results and help my office continue to hold service providers accountable."

With over 570,000 subscribers in the Western New York region, Spectrum-Time Warner Cable is the largest supplier of Internet service in the state. The complaint alleges that since January 2012 Spectrum-TWCs marketing promised subscribers who signed up for its internet service that they would get a "fast, reliable connection" to the Internet from anywhere in their home. But a 16-month investigation by the Attorney Generals office  which included reviewing internal corporate communications and hundreds of thousands of subscriber speed tests  found Spectrum-Time Warner subscribers were getting dramatically short-changed on both speed and reliability.

The Attorney Generals Office looked into thousands of complaints from New York subscribers, including more than 300 from Western New York.

The suit alleges that subscribers wired Internet speeds for the premium plan (100, 200, and 300 Mbps) were up to 70 percent slower than promised; WiFi speeds were even slower, with some subscribers getting speeds that were more than 80 percent slower than what they had paid for. As alleged in the complaint, Spectrum-TWC charged New Yorkers as much as $109.99 per month for premium plans could not achieve speeds promised in their slower plans.

Click here to read more about the lawsuit.

Attorney General Schneidermans consumer alert provides consumers with a guide to asking the right questions in order to determine the appropriate Internet plan for their households needs. When choosing an Internet plan, consumers ask the following:

What will you be using the Internet for?

How much speed do you really need?

What equipment do you need?

How much speed are you actually getting?

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offer a variety of speeds that are measured in megabits per second (Mbps) from as low as 6 Mbps to upwards of 100, 200 or even 1,000 Mbps. Internet users should consider how theyll be using their Internet and what speeds are recommended for these Internet applications.

Consumers should also consider whether theyll need a modem and/or router to connect to the internet in their home and ensure that its compatible with their ISPs network. Keep in mind that as technology evolves, modems and routers will need to be able to handle more and more speed. The AGs investigation also found that Spectrum-TWC executives knew that the companys hardware and network were incapable of achieving the speeds promised to subscribers, but nevertheless continued to make false representations about speed and reliability. The investigation further revealed that while Spectrum-TWC earned billions of dollars in profits from selling its high-margin Internet service to millions of New York subscribers, it repeatedly declined to make capital investments necessary to improve its network or provide subscribers with the necessary hardware.

Finally, consumers should check to see what speed theyre actually receiving, rather than relying on the promises of their Internet service provider. There are a number of online tools that can help check your speed:

If youre not receiving the speed youre paying for, find out why and call your Internet Service Provider. The problem may be as simple as needing to move your router to a better location in your house. Or it could be an issue that only your provider can fix such as performing maintenance on its network.
Two Women Arrested During Massage Parlor Raid in Lake Ronkonkoma

Crime, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: February 17 2017

Suffolk County Police have arrested two Flushing women for unauthorized practice of a profession during a massage parlor raid in Lake Ronkonkoma.

Pictured: (right) Lina Ma, 30, and (right) Huan Li, 27, both of Flushing, arrested.

Lake Ronkonkoma, NY - February 16, 2017 - Suffolk County Police have arrested two Flushing women for unauthorized practice of a profession during a massage parlor raid in Lake Ronkonkoma.

In response to numerous community complaints, Suffolk County Police Fourth Precinct Crime Section officers, Suffolk County Police Fourth Squad detectives, Suffolk County Police Criminal Intelligence Section detectives, U.S. Department of Homeland Security officers and Town of Brookhaven Code Enforcement officers conducted an investigation into illegal activities at Luna Spa, located at 723 Hawkins Ave., on February 15 at approximately 3 p.m.

Lina Ma, 30, and Huan Liu, 27, were arrested and charged with Unauthorized Practice of a Profession, a Class E Felony under the New York State Education Law. They were scheduled to be arraigned today at First District Court in Central Islip.

An investigation by the Town of Brookhaven Building Inspector, Town of Brookhaven Code Enforcement officers and a Town of Brookhaven Fire Marshal revealed numerous occupancy and town code violations. The investigation is continuing.

A criminal charge is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Nature & Weather, Local News, Health & Wellness, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: February 17 2017

Kaminsky and Brooks joined by Senate Democratic leadership to unveil water quality report and bills.

Long Beach, NY - February 16, 2017 - State Senator Todd Kaminsky was today joined by Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Democratic Policy Group Chair Daniel Squadron and Senator John Brooks to unveil a series of bills which will protect New Yorks water quality and protect New Yorkers health. The legislation was introduced in connection with a report issued by the Senate Democratic Policy Group entitled, Unpoisoning the Well: 7 Ways New York Can Better Protect Your Drinking Water which detailed the threats to New Yorks water supply and families and made proposals to address them. Senator Kaminsky and his Democratic colleagues pledged to work with all state officials to pass these common sense initiatives and protect New Yorkers health.

In light of disturbing news about chemicals found in the water on Long Island and across New York State, governments needs to move aggressively, Senator Todd Kaminsky said. We must ensure that our drinking water is safe and pristine, that our water infrastructure is upgraded, and that our aquifers are preserved. This is no time for passivity.

Here on Long Island and across New York State our communities deserve the security of knowing that our water is safe and protected, Senator John E. Brooks said. Water is a limited and precious resource, especially here on Long Island where water quality issues have been at tipping point for too long with inadequate action. We cannot afford to take any chances, which is why I am committed to crafting and supporting legislation that will protect our water supply, and ensure that Long Island, and all New Yorkers have access to safe, clean drinking water for generations to come.

With the Trump Administration pledging to gut environmental protections, New York State officials have a responsibility to step up and take action and that is exactly what Senator Todd Kaminsky is doing, Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said. I thank Policy Group Chair Senator Daniel Squadron and the entire Senate Democratic Policy Group for their comprehensive report detailing the water crisis our state is facing and ways to confront it. Now is the time for bold leadership, and I commend Senators Kaminsky and Brooks for stepping up for Long Islanders and all New Yorkers.

Senate Democratic Policy Group Chair Daniel Squadron said, Water, water everywhere, but is there a safe drop to drink? Working with Senators Kaminsky and Brooks, the proposals outlined in our Policy Group report will go a long way to addressing concerns about New York's water safety, along with the Governor's important proposals. I look forward to working with the Senate Democratic Conference and the Governor to make them a reality.

The Senate Democratic Policy Group report, Unpoisoning the Well: 7 Ways New York Can Better Protect Your Drinking Water, found that in the last two years alone drinking water supplies around New York State have been confirmed to be contaminated with PFOA and PFOS  persistent, toxic chemicals linked to cancer. Drinking water sources around the state have also tested positive for elevated levels of other likely carcinogens, including 1,4 dioxane and the Erin Brockovich chemical chromium-6. Long Islands water supplies have shown particularly high levels of these chemicals, which New York does not specifically regulate in drinking water.

In addition to these toxic threats to the state water supply, the Senate Democratic Policy Group also found that New Yorks water infrastructure is crumbling and in desperate need of investment and modernization. The American Society of Civil Engineers has graded New York a D for wastewater and a C for drinking water. These infrastructure issues are threatening New Yorkers health, as outdated and crumbling systems contribute to water contamination.

The Senate Democratic Policy Group report, Unpoisoning the Well: 7 Ways New York Can Better Protect Your Drinking Water, includes information on 7 threats facing New Yorks water supplies and infrastructure and makes proposals to address them. These include:

1. There is No Limit on PFOA, the Hoosick Falls Chemical, in New Yorks Drinking Water -- Establish a New York State Drinking Water Limit for PFOA/S

2. New York Needs to Aggressively Act On Other Likely Carcinogens That Are In Our Drinking Water -- Protect New Yorkers from 1,4 Dioxane, Chromium-6 (the Erin Brockovich chemical), and Other Likely Carcinogens Present in Drinking Water

3. New Yorkers Need Greater Protection From Contaminants Flagged By Other States and the EPA -- Proactively Protect New Yorkers from Known Toxins

4. One-Third of New Yorkers Are Drinking Water that Isnt Fully Tested -- Test All Water Supplies; Not Just the Largest Ones and Make the Results Public

5. With the EPA Under Threat, Theres No Dedicated Water Safety Regulator or Meaningful Public Role in New York -- Establish a State Agency with a Citizen Voice for Water Safety

6. New Yorks Water Infrastructure is Crumbling and Localities Need Help -- Provide Funding and Support for Localities Water Infrastructure Projects

7. More Tests Are Showing Lead in School Water, and Daycares Are Not Being Tested -- Lead the Way on Protecting Kids from Lead

You can read the full report and analysis here

To address the alarming facts detailed in the Senate Democratic Policy Group report, Senators Todd Kaminsky, John Brooks and their Senate Democratic colleagues introduced a series of bills. These measures include legislation that will:

Immediately Protect New Yorkers from Likely Carcinogen 1,4 Dioxane Senator Kaminsky

o Recent testing has shown high levels of likely carcinogen 1,4 dioxane in 71% of water districts tested on Long Island compared to 7% of those tested nationally. Due to the cancer-causing potential of this chemical, multiple states have already taken steps to protect their residents from this toxin. Senator Kaminskys legislation would take steps to address this problem and set limits to protect drinking water.

Immediately Protect New Yorkers from Likely Carcinogen Chromium-6 (the Erin Brockovich chemical)  Senator Brooks

o The chemical that inspired the film Erin Brockovich, Chromium-6, has been found in water supplies in the water supplies throughout New York State, including Long Island, New York City, the Hudson Valley, Central and Western New York, the Southern Tier and the North Country.

o Due to the harmful nature of this chemical, multiple states have already taken regulatory action to protect their residents from this toxin. Senator Brooks proposal would take steps to address this problem and set limits to protect drinking water.

Establish a New York State Drinking Water Limit for PFOA/S  Senator Breslin

o Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) are persistent, toxic compounds linked to cancer that have been discovered in New York drinking water supplies in Suffolk County, Hoosick Falls, Petersburgh, Berlin, and Newburgh. At least seven states have established state-level drinking water guidelines for PFOA and New York is not one of them.

o Although New York announced over a year ago that the state would perform a PFOA health risk analysis, that study needs to be expedited. This legislation will require New York to set a state-level PFOA/S drinking water limit, as in New Jersey whose proposed rule would provide its residents with the strongest protection in the nation against PFOA.

Proactively Protect New Yorkers from Known Contaminants - Senator Hoylman

o Instead of waiting for evidence to pile up in other states, this legislation will mandate that the State Department of Health immediately review accepted lists of known, contaminants which present the greatest public health concern and inform the public what action New York is taking to protect residents from each toxin.

Test All Water Supplies; Not Just the Largest Ones And Make the Results Public - Senator Hoylman

o New York should expand testing of wells and water systems beyond the limited testing required under federal rules that exempt small systems. Expanded testing should ensure review for known contaminants and newly covered systems should be provided with financial and technical support.

o As evidenced by the states response to the Hoosick Falls contamination, New York needs to do more to ensure residents get accurate, timely information about the safety of their drinking water. New York should strengthen the timetable and means by which water safety information is provided to residents, including to ensure all impacted residents receive test results and provide state support to small localities to make accurate and timely notifications.

Provide Citizens With Clear and Enhanced Notification of Water Quality Problems  Senator Dilan

o While New York provides statewide and local water testing, results of these tests are not easily accessible to the public. In order to provide additional transparency, the Department of Health would be directed to post water quality test results on its website on an annual basis.

Require Greater Transparency on Water Quality from Local Systems  Senator Sanders

o While local water systems are currently required to provide annual quality testing statements to their customers, these reports are rarely put on website for easy review. This legislation would address this problem by modernizing the reporting requirements and ensuring this information is posted on the websites of the local water system or the overlapping towns, villages, or cities.

Require State Department of Health Website to Post Quality of Local Water Pipes  Senator Hoylman

o This legislation would require the Department of Health to post easy-to-access notices on pipes and lead content which could contribute to water contamination and a public health crisis.

Extend Lead Pipe Testing to Day Care Facilities  Senator Montgomery

o While last years first-in-the-nation law provided for lead testing in school water supplies, other states have highlighted that daycare facilities should also be tested. Expanding New Yorks school lead testing law to cover daycares and ensuring that tests conducted under these laws are performed properly will better protect New Yorks children.

o In addition, as lead is discovered in more school facilities pursuant to newly required tests, localities will need assistance identifying the appropriate steps to take to remediate health threats and repair local water systems. Lansing, Michigan and Madison, Wisconsins system-wide projects to replace all lead pipes, and other successful projects nationwide provide lessons that New York can follow in designing our response to water contamination. State experts are in the best position to help localities evaluate local threats and advise on successful approaches and lessons learned in other states.

For bill numbers and information about these Senate Democratic initiatives, please visit: here

Bill sponsor, Senator Neil Breslin said, There is nothing more important than ensuring the health and safety of our communities. At the forefront of this effort is having safe drinking water which is why I am sponsoring S.4386 which would direct the Commissioner of the Department of Health to conduct a comprehensive health review for PFCAs and PFCAs and to establish maximum contaminant levels for their presence in public supplies of potable water that is protective of public health. Safe water is a right, not a privilege and we must do all we can to ensure that it is free from any harmful contaminants.

Bill Sponsor, Senator Martin Malave Dilan said, Every New Yorker should be able to easily determine if their water is safe. With so much information at our finger-tips, the idea that millions of New Yorkers are still in the dark about their water quality is simply unacceptable. My legislation would address this problem and ensure all New Yorkers have the information they need for peace of mind.

Bill Sponsor, Senator Brad Hoylman said, One of the most basic duties of government is to ensure a clean and safe water supply. But from elevated lead levels in Harlem and the Bronx to PFOA contamination in Hoosick Falls and Petersburgh, New Yorkers understandably have grave concerns about the quality of their drinking water. Rather than waiting to respond to the next crisis, Senate Democrats, under the able leadership of Andrea Stewart-Cousins, are acting proactively to protect the health and well-being of our constituents. The package were announcing today -- including my own bills to address unregulated chemicals, potentially hazardous lead pipes, and private wells  would provide New York the tools it needs to address water quality in a comprehensive way. I want to thank Senator Brooks and Senate Environmental Conservation Committee Ranking Member Kaminsky for their leadership on this issue as well as Senate Democratic Policy Group Chair Squadron for helping to produce this important and illuminating report.

Bill Sponsor, Senator Velmanette Montgomery said, Clean drinking water is an absolute necessity for the citizens of any developed nation. It is our responsibility to protect New Yorks drinking supply and I completely support this legislative package to ensure our drinking water is safe for our families, especially our children.

Bill Sponsor, Senator James Sanders Jr. said, New York State has been a bastion for clean drinking water. Each day our watersheds deliver more than a billion gallon of water to New Yorkers. But recently, New York has fallen behind in bolstering critical, water infrastructure needs. Our water delivery system is antiquated and threatens our welfare and quality-of-life. Quality, drinking water is an indispensable resource; a resource that we cannot afford to lose. So I stand with the Senate Democratic Conference and its legislative initiatives aimed at unpoisoning the well and protecting New Yorks drinking water.

Senate Democratic Deputy Leader, Senator Mike Gianaris said, Too many of our localities are facing public health threats due to water quality issues. Providing communities with proper infrastructure to prevent this threat is critical to ensuring the protection of our children from harmful health consequences.

Senator Tim Kennedy said, It is simply inexcusable for any New Yorker to lack access to clean drinking water. We are the Empire State, and we have a basic responsibility to protect the natural resources which are essential to daily life and our economic strength. I'm proud to join my Senate Democratic colleagues to lead the way on this issue, and urge immediate action to protect the quality of our state's water and environment.

Senator Liz Krueger said, New Yorkers deserve to know that their drinking water is clean and healthy. Yet Congress and our own State Senate Majority Coalition are chomping at the bit to gut environmental protections that keep us safe. New Yorkers know better -- we know that its important for government to implement smart policy to protect our families against dangerous chemicals and make long-term investments in our water infrastructure. Im proud to stand with my colleagues in the Democratic Conference in laying out significant and immediate actions New York State can take to protect our vital water supply.

Senator George Latimer said, When there are dangerous level of harmful pollutants in the water, government is failing the people it exists to serve. I am proud of the work my colleagues and I did through the Senate Democratic Policy Group highlighting our state's water quality concerns and for the innovative bills which have been sponsored to address this situation. I will continue to stand up and fight so that every single New Yorker can rest assured that their water is clean and healthy.

Senator Roxanne Persaud said, Our drinking water is a precious resource and every effort must be made to preserve it. We must have safeguards in place to prevent a threat to public health and ensure that all New Yorkers have access to clean drinking water.

Senator Jose Serrano said, Clean water is a basic human right and if the Trump Administration follows through on pledges to gut our environmental protection agencies, then State government must step up to protect New Yorkers. As a member of the Senate Democratic Policy Group, I am especially proud of the work done by the group in uncovering the perilous state of New York's water infrastructure and quality, and for my colleagues taking bold steps to address these problems. Every New York resident deserves access to clean water, and the Senate Democrats will fight to ensure they receive it.

Senator Toby Ann Stavisky said, I want to thank my colleague Senator Todd Kaminsky and the Senate Democrats for leading the charge on this important issue. Access to clean drinking water is a right no New Yorker should be without. From the likely carcinogenic 1,4 Dioxane levels found in Long Island's drinking water to the Perfluorinated Compounds found in Newburgh, we must guarantee safe water for all. I am proud to support this legislative package, which restores the quality of New Yorks drinking water.



Senator Kevin Parker said, Clean drinking water is in not a luxury, it is an absolute necessity. The solutions proposed by the Senate Democratic Policy Group will ensure we are doing all we can to protect all New Yorker's and working to create and maintain clean drinking water.

Senator Gustavo Rivera said, Access to safe and clean drinking water is a right that should be guaranteed to every New Yorker. As the Ranking Member of the Senate Health Committee, I am committed to working with my colleagues in the Senate Democratic Conference to push for these critical measures in an effort to protect our State's water supply and public health, especially now as we face the possible dismantling of environmental protections from the federal government.

Marcia Bystryn, President of the New York League of Conservation Voters said, With the myriad water crises going on around the state, enacting a comprehensive package of solutions should be on the top of every legislator's priority list this session. We're pleased that the Senate Democrats have substantively added to the dialogue on this important issue. New Yorkers have the basic right and expectation that safe and clean water will come out of their taps, and that it wont make them sick. We look forward to working with the Governor and state legislators to evaluate any and all ideas that will lead to the strongest possible set of laws to protect our precious drinking water.

Paul J. Granger, Superintendent of the Port Washington Water District said, A reasonable timeframe for completing health effects studies on emerging contaminants must be undertaken by the state health department. This is important so that a practical maximum contaminant level (MCL) that is protective of public health and based on sound scientific data can be established. The promulgation of MCLs for emerging contaminants must provide a realistic timeframe for wellhead treatment design, funding, regulatory approval and implementation.

Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director, Citizens Campaign for the Environment said, These types of initiatives make us hopeful that this is the year of clean water. Clean drinking and surface waters are vital for public health, a healthy environment, and a thriving economy. We need our elected officials to work together and advance protections to drinking and surface waters this year. We can no longer wait, the problems are getting worse.
Nature & Weather, Local News, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: February 17 2017

Governor Cuomo directed the DEC to undertake an immediate engineering investigation to expedite containment of the groundwater plumes contaminated in Nassau County.

Long Island, NY - February 17, 2017 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today directed the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to undertake an immediate engineering investigation to expedite containment of the groundwater plumes contaminated with industrial solvents at the U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman Bethpage site in Nassau County.



This investigation will assess expedited cleanup options, including full containment of the plumes, in order to ensure the contamination does not threaten additional drinking water wells. These new aggressive actions are part of New Yorks ongoing efforts to hold the polluters accountable and utilize state Superfund resources to address the movement of groundwater contamination.





Photo by Governor's Press Office, via Flickr.

Protecting New Yorks drinking water is critical and is a top priority for this state, Governor Cuomo said. "This new engineering investigation will advance an aggressive and expedited cleanup to ensure Long Islanders have access to clean water resources. Our budget proposal includes a record $2 billion for clean water infrastructure, and the Water Quality Rapid Response team continues to proactively combat potential water contamination in communities across our state.



DEC will continue to use all our legal authorities to hold Northrop Grumman and the Navy accountable and ensure they expeditiously advance and pay for the necessary remediation of this groundwater contamination plume, DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said. The new engineering investigation will provide critical insights and actionable recommendation to ensure the cleanup is faster and more protective for the surrounding community.



Todays actions will build on past findings and comments received from water districts and other experts to provide a more robust and detailed assessment of remedial options. Earlier assessments of full hydraulic containment lacked critical details on a number of outstanding issues, including the reuse or recharge of any extracted and treated water.

The new investigation will include field surveys and engineering analyses to fully identify the feasibility of options to contain the contamination plumes. Specifically, this effort will:

Identify and evaluate options for disposal, reuse, or recharge of treated groundwater;

Perform field surveys, engineering analyses, and aquifer pumping tests, to determine the number, locations, depths, and screened intervals for extraction wells necessary for plume management;

Create new localized groundwater modeling and additional sampling to evaluate the: migration of existing contamination 'hotspots' and the potential for movement of the freshwater-saltwater interface under different treatment scenarios influence of increased groundwater withdrawal on nearby water supply wells impacts on surface water and marine environments, including Great South Bay



The details of the states new engineering investigation were outlined at a roundtable discussion on Long Island water quality organized by Governor Cuomo at SUNY Farmingdale. The conversation focused on addressing recent threats to local groundwater resources, including trichloroethylene and unregulated contaminants such as 1,4-dioxane. The following individuals participated in the conversation regarding the state's ongoing actions to address emerging threats to water quality:

New York State Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos

Senator John Brooks

Senator Todd Kaminsky

Senator Elaine Phillips

Assemblymember Anthony D'Urso

Assemblymember David McDonough

Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino, Town of Oyster Bay

Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano

Nassau County Commissioner of Health Dr. Lawrence E. Eisenstein

Commissioner Shila Shah-Gavnoudias, Nassau County Department of Public Works

Joseph Velardi, Legislative Aide to Senator Hannon

Carrie Gallagher, Department of Environmental Conservation Region 1 Director

Venetia Lannon, Deputy Secretary for the Environment, Governor's Office

Dr. Harold Walker, Co-Director, Stony Brook Center for Clean Water Technology

Michael Boufis, Superintendent, Bethpage Water District

John Reinhardt, Hempstead Water Department Commissioner

Anthony Iannone, Hicksville Water District Superintendent

Stan Carey, Massapequa Water District Superintendent and Chairman of Long Island Water Conference

Andy Bader, Plainview Water District and President of the Nassau/Suffolk Water Commissioners Association

Richard Humann, H2M Water District Consultant

Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director, Citizens Campaign for the Environment

DEC contractors will immediately begin synthesizing current information and reports and identify the necessary field work that will begin in the spring of 2017. DEC expects to release preliminary findings for public review by the end of 2017.



The investigation will also analyze how the alternatives evaluated relate to and supplement remedial actions already underway or proposed at the U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman facilities. The cleanup of contamination at this state Superfund site is being conducted by Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy under multiple Consent Orders and agreements with New York State. DEC is requiring the two parties to remediate soil and groundwater contamination found in the contamination plumes nearly three miles long by one mile wide.



DEC will consider the new engineering analysis in accordance with Federal and State Superfund laws, and if the states evaluation requires full containment, DEC will require Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy to conduct and pay for all necessary remedial actions. The state has also commenced a Natural Resource Damages Assessment to quantify the impact to groundwater resources and obtain funding from the responsible parties to support critical ecosystem restoration projects.



Todays roundtable at SUNY Farmingdale builds on the discussion about Long Island water quality held at SUNY Stony Books Center for Clean Water Technology held on February 11th. Following last weekend's roundtable, DEC and DOH announced that New York State is formally calling on the U.S. EPA to establish an official drinking water standard for the federally unregulated contaminant 1,4-dioxane. Under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, the EPA has primary authority to regulate drinking water quality. The Maximum Contaminant Level is the legal threshold set by the EPA limiting the amount of a given substance in public water systems. In a letter to the EPA, Governor Cuomo made clear that this is a national issue, but if the federal government does not take action to regulate 1,4-dioxane, New York will move to set a state MCL.



Commissioner of Health Dr. Howard Zucker said, "Access to clean drinking water is one of the defining issues of our time. Under Governor Cuomo's leadership the state will continue its commitment to addressing 1,4-dioxane and other emerging contaminants with robust funding, innovative technologies, and aggressive action by the Water Quality Rapid Response Team."



To date, the EPA has not only failed to issue an MCL for 1,4-dioxane, but an existing federal loophole exempts public water systems serving less than 10,000 people from even testing for federally unregulated contaminants like 1,4-dioxane. Despite the federal governments inaction, New York State has stepped up under the leadership of Governor Cuomo to fill the void and ensure access to clean drinking water statewide.
The study, published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, finds there were approximately 30,000 excess deaths in 2015, with a large spike in January that year. This represents one of the largest increases in year on year deaths in the post-war period. These extra deaths are in comparison to what would have been expected if the average age-specific death rates in 2006-2014 had continued. Deaths among people aged 75 and over, who are most dependent on health and social care, were found to have contributed most to the changes.

In their exploratory analysis, the researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, University of Oxford and Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, went on to look in more detail at the January 2015 spike in mortality and tested possible explanations.

They found no evidence that the rise was attributable to data anomalies or cold weather, and the analysis indicated that flu was unlikely to be the main explanation. When they looked at NHS performance data, they found the peak in deaths coincided with evidence of health system failures. These included all ambulance call-out times falling below target, including those for immediately life-threatening responses, and A&E waiting times increasing, despite unexceptional A&E attendances compared to the same month in previous years. Delayed transfers for care peaked, leading to a shortage of beds, perpetuating the wait in A&E. Staff absence rates also rose and more posts remained empty as staff had not been appointed.

The authors say that while the evidence is not conclusive, the analysis does suggest that failures in health and social care could be the possible cause for the rise in deaths, and further investigation is urgently needed. They say the findings should be seen in the context of the worsening financial situation of the NHS and disinvestment in health and social care services in England.

Study author Professor Martin McKee, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: "The impact of cuts resulting from the imposition of austerity on the NHS has been profound. Expenditure has failed to keep pace with demand and the situation has been exacerbated by dramatic reductions in the welfare budget of 16.7 billion and further reductions in social care spending in England.

"With an aging population, the NHS is ever more dependent on a well-functioning social care system. Yet social care in England has faced severe cuts, with a 17% decrease in spending for older people since 2009, while the number of people aged 85 years and over has increased by 9%. To maintain current levels of social care would require an extra 1.1 billion, which the government has refused."

Setting the findings in context, the researchers say that while deaths among the elderly (aged over 75) fell slightly in 2016 compared to the exceptional rise in 2015, they were still higher than in 2013 and 2014. This continued upward trend is a reversal of what had been a steady decline until 2011. While data is only available from the first few weeks of 2017, they also show a marked increase over 2013 and 2014.

Study author Lucinda Hiam, said: "Simply reorganising and consolidating existing urgent care systems or raising the 'agility' of the current A&E workforce is unlikely to be sufficient to meet the challenges that high levels of hospitalisation of frail elderly people and others who are vulnerable are likely to present in the future."

The researchers note the limitations of the study, stressing that it is an exploratory analysis attempting to address a complex phenomenon. They say the increase in mortality should be considered a warning and, while evidence of its causes should be viewed as preliminary, they call for further investigation.

Publications
Culture / Art Republik

Art Republik talks with the gallerys Director in Asia Pacific to find out more about the business and highlights from 2016

Feb 17, 2017 | By Nadya Wang

Opera Gallery was created in Singapore back in 1994, and now has branches in Paris, Monaco, London, Geneva, New York, Miami, Aspen, Hong Kong, Seoul, Dubai and Beirut. The global enterprise presents a wide range of modern and contemporary art to its collectors and visitors over 22 years across the globe and shows no signs of slowing down.

In 2016 alone, Opera Gallery Singapore presented a diverse line-up of artists, from Icelandic painter Katrin Fridriks and Chinese painter Liu Jiu Tong in a duet show Energies Unleashed to a Masters of Distinction show offering works by luminary artists such as Claude Monet and Pierre Bonard to Infinite Diversity celebrating contemporary Japanese artists such as Takashi Murakami and Yoshitomo Nara. The variety attests to Opera Gallerys intentioned inclusiveness in presenting art in all its forms to their clients.

Art Republik speaks with Stephane Le Pelletier, Director of Opera Gallery Asia Pacific, who oversees the gallerys operations in Singapore, Seoul and Hong Kong, to find out more about Opera Gallerys offerings, his view of the regional art market, and advice for art collecting.

Could you briefly tell us about Opera Gallery?

We have an assembly of top artists collected by renowned museums. Combined with the exclusiveness of the artwork, prestige of the artist and the reputation of our gallery, Opera Gallery is able to provide our clients with a valuable piece of art that is instilled not just with a sense of history and desirability but also as an investment grade artwork.

What sort of artworks do you offer?

We are known for our artworks by Masters such as Chagall, Monet and Picasso, to name a few. Besides our Masters Collection, we also represent internationally renowned contemporary artists, which include Spanish artist Lita Cabellut, French artist Andre Brasilier, British artist Joe Black and many more. Lita Cabellut is known for her vibrant, expressive portraits done on her signature textured canvas, Andre Brasilier for his sublime and tranquil paintings of landscapes and horses while Joe Black is presented by his intricate portraits of famous personalities made up of tiny plastic soldiers.

As director of Opera Gallery Asia Pacific, how would you sum up 2016?

2016 has been a successful and constructive year for Opera Gallery Singapore. We have participated in two art fairs and hosted five exhibitions in our gallery. Through the visitors and media exposure from these art fairs and exhibitions, it has brought greater awareness from the public to the artworks and artists we represent.

Could you discuss one or two exhibitions that you have been most proud of and/or were great successes in 2016?

I am proud of each exhibition that has been organised by our gallery. There are two which I find most notable, namely our Masters of Distinction exhibition and our presentation at Art Stage Singapore. Both were successful in all aspects from the exemplary artworks featured, the overwhelming response and support from our visitors and clients as well as the strong media support given.

How did you begin working at Opera Gallery?

I began with the gallery in Singapore as the general manager, overseeing the day to day running of the gallery, with roles including increasing the local autonomy, sales and expansion of the business. Since then, I have curated numerous major art exhibitions  including artists like Picasso, Renoir, Chagall, Monet and Warhol.

Could you talk about the various roles you fulfil at Opera Gallery?

Currently, as the director of Opera Gallery Asia Pacific, I oversee the business direction for our galleries in Seoul, Hong Kong and of course, Singapore. I ensure the maintenance of a strong relationship with our clients, to create and build up greater awareness of our galleries and our artists, to discover new artists from this region and be constantly attuned to the art trend and art consumption patterns of this region. Being the director, I also need to ensure a strong and correct branding of our gallery in the region and how we are presented to the public.

What are the challenges in your work?

Looking for good-quality art pieces, up-and-coming new artists, artists with potential that can fit into our gallerys direction, as well as curating the gallery space to make it attractive at all times.

And what are the rewards?

Building and developing of relationships with clients and the artists we represent. In a way, we grow together, exchanging, sharing our experience and interest in art.

What are in the works for Opera Gallery in 2017?

We will have a solo exhibition with Manolo Valdes in the third quarter of 2017. He is one of the most important artists of our time. This will be his first solo and most comprehensive exhibition in Asia where a detailed oeuvre of his extensive artworks will be featured, ranging from paintings to large-size sculptures that will line the boardwalk of Orchard Road.

There are more and more online platforms to purchase artworks from. As a brick-and-mortar gallery, what advantages does Opera Gallery offer to the art buyer that these online avenues simply do not?

Relationship is built on trust over time. Once a bond is established, the gallerist can assist the clients to look for art that is specific to their liking. At Opera Gallery, we strive to understand our customers and over time, we get a better understanding of their specific needs, requirements and preferences which enables us to give recommendations and advice that are specially tailored for them. It is this customised, personalised service, care and understanding of our customers which online avenues cannot provide.

What are your thoughts on the art scene in Singapore, and how does it compare with others?

The gallery scene in Singapore has certainly become more vibrant and varied over the years with galleries representing a wide spectrum of artists and genres from different countries. Singapore is gradually getting in line with the more mature art markets of Asia such as Hong Kong, China and Japan in terms of the quality and representation of art and artists. Japan and Hong Kong has always had strong art markets and in more recent years, China has developed one too.

What changes have you seen in the past five to ten years?

The art scene in Asia has developed significantly, with art consumers gaining a greater depth of understanding, interest and appreciation of art. They are increasingly well-travelled and hence have acquired a greater knowledge of art in the international art arena. In addition, there is an increasing trend of people acquiring art as an alternative form of investment option to guard against the volatility of economic conditions.

What changes lie ahead?

With regards to changes that lie ahead, as art lovers and collectors are more tech-savvy, Opera Gallery has moved with the times and increased our online visibility via our website as well as social media. We are also moving ahead of the trend as young collectors are more open to mixed-media artwork as well as photography by introducing new media artists via our many exhibitions.

Who are your favourite modern and/or contemporary artists?

My taste varies. In my line of work, I get to see very good works not just of one artist but many. I am more drawn to contemporary works with unique creativity such as Lita Cabellut and photographer Gerard Rancinan. I also love the works of Andre Brasilier.

For art buyers out there, in your opinion, which is more important  the love of a piece or its investment value?

When it comes to collecting art, first and foremost and above all, it should be out of genuine liking for a work. As your collection expands, your expenditure on an artwork will also increase. It is a natural progression that you would gradually look out for the possible investment value and return on the artwork as well, looking beyond aesthetics to other aspects of the artwork such as its provenance and the portfolio of the artist.

This article was first published in Art Republik.
Culture / Design

The Finnish design house, which is famous for its glass-work, is celebrating a century of its countrys independence with a collection themed around ultramarine blue

Feb 17, 2017 | By AFP Relaxnews















Ultramarine is the centrepiece for the Finnish design house, Iittalas new collection. While the pigment is largely known to have soothing qualities, Ultramarine was chosen due to its significance to Finland. As the national colour of Finland, the shade brings to mind blue skies, the countrys many lakes, and the deep blue which comes before night.

Thats why to honour the centenary of Finlands independence, all the pieces in Iittalas new collection will feature ultramarine blue. They include the Kivi candles by Heikki Orvola, items by the famous designer Alvar Aalto, Karto by Kaj Franck, Kastehelmi by Oiva Toikka and Kiuru, Iittalas annual bird for 2017.

All these pieces, apart from the Kastehelmi plates, are sold in blue packaging. The Alvar Aalto collection will be engraved to mark the centenary and Iittalas new annual bird will be a limited edition.

Every year since 1993, Iittala has released a new bird at the beginning of the year. The bird for 2017 is Kiuru, meaning skylark, and it is dressed in Finlands national colors. According to Finnish legend, the Kiuru announces the arrival of summer, its designer Oiva Toikka explains. As the only annual bird to have wings, it was designed with the help of five glass-blowers. All the parts of the birds body were created separately, then assembled when the glass was still hot. The limited edition Kiuru will be accompanied by an egg.

A dove has also been designed for this special centenary collection. This limited series of 2017 features the same ultramarine blue along with touches of green, silver and darker blue.
By Alonso Soto and Leonardo Goy

BRASILIA, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Brazil is preparing legislation to fast-track the concession of smaller infrastructure projects in a bid to bolster investment in cash-strapped states and cities, a government official familiar with the plan told Reuters.

President Michel Temer will likely submit the bill to Congress before July as part of his push to increase private participation in the logistics, energy and mining sectors, the official said.

"We believe the process should be simpler for smaller projects," said the official who asked for anonymity because he was not allowed to speak publicly. "Everybody wins - the consumers and the local government governments that need investment."

Two years of recession have forced many Brazilian states and municipalities to slash investment in public works and move to approve tough austerity measures after years of prolific spending.

Temer is overhauling Brazil's complicated concession model to bring more foreign investors to a country struggling to exit its worst recession in more than a century.

The official said the government has not yet decided on the size of the projects that could be included in the new scheme. One option is to give preferential treatment to projects in cities with a population of 50,000 or less.

The bill would facilitate concessions by jettisoning requirements such as demand studies for highways and small airports as well as investment projections. The duration of the concession could also be reduced to 10-15 years from the current 20-25 years.

The government is in talks with the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), World Bank and the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) for them to participate directly in the projects instead of giving loans to states and municipalities.

The high debt load of local governments is preventing them from taking new loans from multilaterals.

"We need multilateral banks to...take some of the project risk," said the official.

Story continues

He added those banks could participate by buying infrastructure bonds linked to the project, reducing builders reliance on Brazil's state-development bank BNDES.

The government is seeking to diversity the sources of funding for new concessions to reduce the exposure of BNDES and other state-run banks, which were hit by financial difficulties at major builders involved in a massive corruption scheme.

(Reporting by Alonso Soto; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
The great Gold Rush Music Festival returns to the township of Waihi, with the first nuggets of gold dropping for the highly anticipated return of the 2023 festival.
Snapchat's parent company, Snap Inc., just released its roadshow materials, including a 35-minute video, providing an important look into how the company sees itself  and how it will pitch itself to investors.

Snap plans to go public on March 1 and is seeking a valuation of $22 billion.

"Snap is a camera company," CEO Evan Spiegel said in the video.

Historically, cameras provided a way for people to keep memories, he said. "Now, cameras augment the way that we talk."

He compared his product to the keyboard and its impact on the computer. "With Snapchat, the camera has become the primary input for the phone," Spiegel said.

Evan Spiegel

Spiegel and his management team, including Chief Strategy Officer Imran Khan and CFO Drew Vollero, will officially kick off meetings with investors  known as the roadshow  on Friday. They will speak with smaller investors in the Mid-Atlantic before going to London on Monday and New York on Tuesday and Wednesday.

They'll travel throughout the US until the intended pricing date on March 1.

Vollero will play a backseat role, according to one person familiar with the matter. Khan will present mainly on the company's business model, while Spiegel will talk about the product itself.

In a management meeting with salespeople on Thursday morning, Spiegel said he spends 50% of his time focused on the product, 40% on recruiting, and 10% on things he doesn't want to do but gets paid to do (that is, running the rest of the business), this person said.

In larger group meetings, they are expected to simply present this video and then take questions  much like Facebook did during its IPO roadshow.

Bobby Murphy

The management team is expected to emphasize the quality of engagement over quantity of users, according to the person familiar with the matter. Rather than focusing exclusively on increasing the number of users, Snap would rather users enjoy the product. Spiegel wants to innovate the product to make it more usable, and he believes that to do so, users must have higher-end phones.

Story continues

Snapchat works best on iPhones, and while some problems persist on Android and other phones, Spiegel says he will not dilute the product to make it work on every phone, this person said. So unlike Facebook, which has nearly 2 billion users around the world, Snap will not focus on non-iPhone-using customers in places like the developing world because those markets are not easily monetized. The logic is that advertisers want to reach North America and develop Europe rather than the rest of the world.

"It's about being able to communicate how you feel and doing that in the moment," Spiegel said in the roadshow video.

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More From Business Insider


Karachi : Nearly 100 people were killed and dozens injured tonight when an Islamic State suicide bomber blew himself up inside the crowded shrine of revered Sufi Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan town, some 200 kms northeast of Karachi, in a string of deadly blasts this week in Pakistan. The bomber entered the shrine through its Golden gate and blew himself up near the site where the ritual of sufi dance Dhamal was taking place. He first threw a grenade, which failed to explode, SSP Jamshoro Tariq Wilayat said. "He first threw a grenade to cause panic and then blew himself up," the SSP said.

Sehwan police station SHO Rasool Baksh told reporters that around 100 people, including women and children, have been killed in the suicide bomb attack. Hundreds of devotees were present inside the premises of the vast mausoleum of the saint at the time of blast. Faisal Edhi of the Edhi foundation confirmed they have shifted 60 bodies to hospitals in Hyderabad and Jamshoro. The ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack on their Aamaq news agency, saying a suicide bomber had targeted a "Shiite gathering" at the shrine in Sindh. Commissioner Hyderabad Kazi Shahid said since the shrine was located in a remote area, some 130 kms from Hyderabad, ambulances and vehicles and medical teams were being sent from Hyderabad, Jamshoro, Moro, Dadu and Nawabshah to the blast site to take care of the injured and move the bodies.

"Emergency has been declared at hospitals in these places and rescue operations have started," he said. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that the Pakistan army had been requested to provide night flying helicopters to shift the dead and injured. "Yes it is a tragic incident and because the shrine is away from a major city there have been problems in providing rescue operations," he said. The army said a C130 aircraft will be used to lift the injured from Nawabshah. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack and urged Pakistan to "stand united". Devotees gather at the shrine of the revered Sufi saint every Thursday to participate in a dhamaal and prayers. Television channels reported that dead bodies and injured were lying inside the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, a Sufi philosopher-poet of present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan. PTI
Gold, Silver, US Dollar Cycles

Gold is setting up for a historic rally based on my analysis. Recent news provides further evidence that the Precious Metals and Currencies are in for a wild ride. Just this week, news that Chinas reserves fell below $3 Trillion as well as the implications that the fall to near $2T in reserves could happen before the end of 2017. Additionally, we have recent news that the EU may be under further strain with regards to Greece, the IMF and debt. The accumulation of Precious Metals should be on everyones mind as well as the potential for a breakout rally.

Based on my analysis, I would estimate that near June or July 2017, Gold will be near $1315 ~ $1341 (+13% from recent lows). This level correlates to a Fibonacci frequency that has been in place for over 3 years now. A second Fibonacci frequency rate would put the project advancement levels, possibly closer to October/November 2017, near $1421 (+21% from recent lows). After these levels are reached, I expect a pullback to near $1261 if the Gold rally ends near $1315~1341 or to near $1308~1309 if the Gold rally ends near $1421. This pullback would setup a massive next wave rally to $1585 or $1731. So, if you need confirmation of this move, just wait for any rally to end above $1315, then wait for a pullback below $1280 or $1315 and BUY.

Subscribers and followers of my work profited handsomely this month locking a 112% profit with NUGT ETF with my service at ActiveTradingPartners.

Remember, the volatility expansion I am expecting in the VIX near March/April will likely be the precursor event to a much larger volatility expansion later this year. I cant accurately detail the scale and scope of the projected March/April event other than it will likely be larger than the last VIX expansion. I expect these global debt events to unravel the low volatility activity we have been seeing and shake up global markets/currencies. Within this process, Precious Metals will likely see a massive upside run as a protection from uncertainty and risk.

Silver Rally

Much like Gold, the other shiny metal is set for incredible runs as well. Given my Fibonacci frequency analysis, a similar type of patter may occur in Silver. Before we get too much further into this analysis, let me be clear about one thing. We are already nearly +50% towards the upside rally target in Silver based on simple Fibonacci frequency. This target is $19.10. This does not mean this is the end of the run (yet). It means we have already achieved some success in one level of predictive analysis and now we need to see if the second Fibonacci frequency plays out. The second Fibonacci frequency target is $20.78 (nearly +25% from recent lows)

Much like the Gold analysis, after these levels are reached, I expect a retracement/pullback to levels that reflect the Fibonacci frequencies before a follow through rally continues. The first Fibonacci frequency pullback range is $18.26~$17.85. The second, larger, Fibonacci frequency pullback range is $19.50~$18.82. Case in point, these retracement levels are based on what I can determine as common Fibonacci frequencies. The pullbacks could be deeper and reflect more uncommon frequency functions. As of right now, I dont believe that will be the case  but I could be wrong on this matter. In any event, once the rally points ($19.10 or $20.78) are reached and Silver pulls back to below my retracement objectives ($18.26~$17.85 or $19.50~$18.82 respectively), look for long entry positions or accumulate more physical metals. Want to know what my upside second wave objective might be based on my frequency analysis for Silver?

Silver Charts  Daily & Weekly

Seeing as though you have been so patient in reading my analysis/article regarding these VIX cycle patterns and what I believe could happen with the US and global markets, Im going to shed a little light into the future cycle phases of Silver. Well focus on Silver for one reason, it is a cheaper precious metal for most traders to participate in and it has some very interesting facets of cycle/Fibonacci analysis. One key date range that keeps appearing in my cycle analysis is April 17th through April 24th.

Additionally, June 26, July 31 and August 14 appear to be key cycle dates. Given my earlier analysis, I suspect the April dates will be critical to the VIX cycle spike that Im expecting. It could also drive further expansion or price rotation in the Gold, Silver and OIL charts. What is interesting about these Fibonacci Time/Price inflection points is that they can be drivers of many outcomes (rallies, collapses, rotations, tops or bottoms). They simply tell us that we need to be aware of these dates and they may, and will likely, present key information for future decision making.

Now, onto the extended projections for Silver. If my first, shorter, Fibonacci frequency is correct, any subsequent (second wave) rally will likely start near $17.85~$18.15 sometime near or after April 10, 2017. This second phase rally will likely run to near $21.46 before finding resistance (possibly slightly higher). Target objective date ranges for this rally to end are June 19 through July 24.

If my second, longer/larger, Fibonacci frequency analysis is correct, any subsequent (second wave) rally will likely start near $18.80 sometime near or after May 8, 2017 and run to near $24.85 before finding resistance (possibly higher). Target objective date ranges for this rally to end are July 3 through August 7 (or later).

Remember, these second wave projections in Silver represent a 20.5% and 32.85% rally from my projected retracement levels. These are massive moves and I hope you are all able to take advantage of these triggers. Gold should move in somewhat similar manners  so pay attention. Smart traders and followers of ATP newsletter may take advantage of trades to play these moves.

USD (US Dollar) and Foreign Currencies

I touched on this topic earlier, yet I feel the need to provide further documentation regarding my belief that the USD will continue to enjoy renewed strength at least for the next few months. First, I expect the global weakness in foreign markets to continue to propel the USD and the US stock market to greater attempts at new highs. I believe large amounts of money will keep pouring into the US markets for reasons that are obvious to most  US strength and capabilities for growth. As I often tell my clients, if the US is growing, so is the rest of the world. The current situation is a bit different though as the US markets and currency is, as I believe, going to be a standout marketplace in a global pot of debt and confusion.

There is one level of resistance on the USD that we have to be concerned with, the $102.25 level. Beyond that, I believe the USD could reach $104~105 before August 2017. The possibility that a VIX expansion could drive the USD higher would be more highly correlated if there is some external (global) event that provides a catalyst for a stronger US Dollar. For example, a crisis in Europe, Greece or Asia that undermines expected currency valuations and results in strength in the USD. Right now, I would put that possibility at about 50/50 given some of the news items Im seeing and the continued fundamental strength of the US economy.

USD Daily & Weekly Charts

The EURUSD relationship will continue to see downward pressure with a likely target objective near 1.035 as a first target. This downward pressure could drive the EURUSD valuations well below this level, but I feel the potential for the EURUSD falling below the 1.00 level is still far off. It would take a global cataclysmic event to drive the EURUSD values below PAR. Im not saying it could happen, but I am saying I dont see it happening anytime soon (without a global cataclysmic event).

My Fibonacci frequency target levels for the EURUSD are 1.014 and 0.999. As I stated, I dont believe there is much downside risk below 0.99 unless the EU completely collapses. I still feel the Euro will survive as a global currency near PAR with the USD.

EURUSD Daily & Weekly Charts

Take a look at some of my recent trades to see how weve been able to generate profits for our valued members.

I hope you have enjoyed my analysis of the VIX cycle patterns and how the relate to opportunities for all traders? If you find this type of analysis helpful and want to take advantage of clear, concise and profitable trading signals, visit ActiveTradingPartners.com where I share even more detailed analysis and trading triggers with my members.

John Winston

Co-Author: Chris Vermeulen

www.ActiveTradingPartners.com

Chris Vermeulen

www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com

Chris Vermeulen is Founder of the popular trading site TheGoldAndOilGuy.com. There he shares his highly successful, low-risk trading method. For 7 years Chris has been a leader in teaching others to skillfully trade in gold, oil, and silver in both bull and bear markets. Subscribers to his service depend on Chris' uniquely consistent investment opportunities that carry exceptionally low risk and high return.

Disclaimer: Nothing in this report should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. Technical Traders Ltd., its owners and the author of this report are not registered broker-dealers or financial advisors. Before investing in any securities, you should consult with your financial advisor and a registered broker-dealer. Never make an investment based solely on what you read in an online or printed report, including this report, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly-traded company that isnt well known. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report has been paid by Cardiff Energy Corp. In addition, the author owns shares of Cardiff Energy Corp. and would also benefit from volume and price appreciation of its stock. The information provided here within should not be construed as a financial analysis but rather as an advertisement. The authors views and opinions regarding the companies featured in reports are his own views and are based on information that he has researched independently and has received, which the author assumes to be reliable. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content of this report, nor its fitness for any particular purpose. Lastly, the author does not guarantee that any of the companies mentioned in the reports will perform as expected, and any comparisons made to other companies may not be valid or come into effect.

Chris Vermeulen Archive

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.




COLLINSVILLE  A Henry County judge recently denied a defense motion to suppress evidence including about two pounds of methamphetamine and a pistol, all seized during a warrantless search of a vehicle.

Judge David V. Williams denied a defense motion to suppress evidence on charges of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, transportation of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possessing of a firearm while possessing methamphetamine against Elaine Marie Pennington, 21, of Savannah, Georgia.

John Swezey, Penningtons lawyer, argued in a written motion that using evidence obtained as a result of the warrantless search of a vehicle would violate certain of Penningtons rights under the U.S. and Virginia Constitutions, and that the evidence should be suppressed.

Pennington and a co-defendant were charged in an incident on May 26, 2016.

A retired special agent with the Virginia State Police who was affiliated with a criminal task force involving federal and state agencies testified that he received information that a carrier driving a black vehicle was transporting illegal drugs from Georgia to Axton. He later received information that the carrier had gotten lost in West Virginia and would be spending the night in a hotel or motel in the Martinsville area before delivering the drugs to Axton.

The special agent said he located a vehicle matching the description in the parking lot of Collinsville hotel and set up surveillance. At one point, two women got in the car -- a Ford Taurus  and left the parking lot. The agent said he radioed other law enforcement that the car was on the move. The agent said the cars window(s) appeared to be darker than allowed in Virginia, but even if the car had not had dark window(s), he felt law enforcement had probable cause to stop the car because of the information he had received about the suspected drug delivery that was planned.

Another state trooper stopped the car and a canine unit was called in. The canine indicated the presence of drugs in the car. During a search of the car, two ceramic owl figurines in a shopping bag were located behind the drivers seat. A .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol also was found in the car.

According to testimony, Pennington gave a statement to law enforcement in which she alleged that a man in Georgia asked her to transport the owl figurines to Axton and she agreed she agreed to. She planned to do that on her way driving to Baltimore to see friends. Along the way Pennington allegedly picked up a woman (her co-defendant) in Charlotte, North Carolina, got lost and ended up in West Virginia. At that point, Pennington allegedly told the man in Georgia that she would not be going to Axton after all but would be going on to Baltimore.

Pennington allegedly said the man in Georgia insisted that she go to Axton and offered to pay her lodging. At that point, Pennington allegedly suspected drugs were involved.

Pennington allegedly stated to law enforcement that the man in Georgia previously had asked her on a number of occasions to transport things, but she always declined.

In court, Swezey argued that law enforcements claim the car had too-dark windows was a pretext to stop the car and that evidence obtained from the car as a result of the search should be suppressed. Judge Williams denied the motion, and Swezey objected to Williams ruling.

HENRY COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT

In another case, Judge Williams dismissed charges of possession of oxycodone, possession of hydrocodone/acetaminophen and possession of pregabalin in the case of a head-on collision involving injuries on Sept. 23, 2015. A Virginia State Police trooper testified that he was unable to speak with Hodge face to face after the wreck but later spoke to a man by phone who identified himself as Hodge. The trooper had not talked with Hodge before. The trooper said the man who identified himself as Hodge on the phone said the pills found in the vehicle he was driving were his and that he had a prescription for them.

Hodges lawyer, Vikram Kapil of the public defenders office, said his client did not know the pills were in the car and that they were his mothers pills.

At one point, Kapil called Hodges mother to testify, but before she could testify, Judge Williams dismissed the drug charges against Hodge, so there was no need for her to testify.

Hodge also was charged with several traffic offenses stemming from the accident.

Hodge pleaded guilty to driving on a suspended license-third or subsequent offense and received a sentence of 90 days in jail, with 80 days suspended. He was fined $150.

Hodge pleaded not guilty but was found guilty of reckless driving and received a sentence of 12 months in jail, all suspended on conditions including good behavior. He was fined $250.

In another case, the prosecution dropped a charge of receiving stolen property (on Feb. 2, 2013) against Lisa Hartzell Booth of Glade Hill.

In another case, Christopher Roger Riggs of Bassett, who pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon (on Aug. 1, 2016), received a sentence of five years in prison, with three years suspended on conditions including one year and six months of supervised probation.

Also in Henry County Circuit Court, Brittany Renea Williams of Bassett, who pleaded guilty to two counts of shoplifting-third or subsequent offense (on Aug. 18 and Oct. 22, 2016) and two counts of forgery (on Oct. 22, 2016), received sentences totaling 20 years in prison, with a total of 19 years and one month suspended on conditions including supervised probation.
RICHMOND  A House-approved plan to force universities to limit out-of-state enrollment or use the additional tuition revenue to lower costs for in-state students died in a Senate committee Thursday.

Sen. Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax, told the Senate Education and Health Committee that the bill would have cost the College of William and Mary $3.5 million and the University of Virginia $20.7 million in redirected revenue based on the current enrollment mix.

House Bill 1410 by Del. David Albo, R-Fairfax, tackled the twin constituent complaints that college costs and access to top state schools have become out of reach.

Albos bill would have required universities that exceed a 30 percent out-of-state cap to lower costs for Virginia residents with the tuition revenue that remained after education costs are covered for out-of-state students.

W&M enrolls 2,080 out-of-state students, 33.4 percent of its enrollment; UVa enrolls 5,836, or 34.7 percent.

While Virginia undergraduates pay $21,234 in tuition and mandatory fees at W&M and $15,714 at UVa., out-of-state students are charged $42,274 at W&M and $45,058 at UVa.

Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax , challenged Saslaw on whether the lost revenue was actually a loss because the money would have benefited Virginia students.

So lets make that clear. This is not money leaving the commonwealth, he said.

The two senators had sparred in Wednesdays subcommittee meeting over whether the bill should be sent to the Finance Committee, where it would have met a certain death.

But Thursday, Petersen said that while he supported the goal of the bill and still maintained that the Finance Committee should not decide its fate, he would not vote for it. He described the bill as overly complicated and almost unworkable.

Two motions, one referring the bill to Finance and the other reporting it to the Senate, were defeated.

Albo said he was not happy the committee took up his bill without alerting him by text so that he could be present. When he did arrive, however, he said committee members agreed to request a study on the issue.

He said he would be satisfied if a legit study is made on out-of-state enrollment and revenue use at W&M and UVa. They are the only schools impacted by the bill, which exempted Virginia Military Institute and Virginia State and Norfolk State universities. Virginia Techs out-of-state enrollment is below 30 percent.

University representatives spoke against the legislation, but two mothers urged the committee to support the plan as a first step to lower costs and improve access for Virginia students.

Danielle Lewandowski of Chesapeake said the prospect of four years of tuition for her three children is very daunting to me.

Let me ask you, Saslaw said, lets suppose we do this and its capped.

Schools have had to raise tuition to make up for reductions in state appropriations, he said.

In 1998-99, when the state froze tuition, universities cut back on course offerings to compensate, Saslaw said.

Parents called to complain their children had to go an extra semester to get the courses they needed to graduate, he said, so there were no savings.

Thats what happened the last time we tried to do the right thing, Saslaw said.
Comcast Roku app.

Comcast is letting you ditch your cable box for a Roku.You can finally dump your cable box thanks to a surprising source: your cable company.

The assist comes from Comcast (CMCSA), which on Tuesday launched an app for Roku streaming-media players and Roku-enabled TVs that duplicates just about all of the functions normally found on the companys cable boxes ranging from on-demand video to its cloud DVR service.

The news is both overdue  the underlying streaming-to-apps technology has been in tests by cable operators since at least 2012  and timely, since Tuesday also formally ends the Federal Communications Commissions attempt to require subscription-TV providers to ship apps that would allow fee-free viewing of their channel bundles.

Unfortunately, other TV providers dont seem interested in following its example  and although the app is free, the actual savings look like theyll turn out to be less than youd hope.

Comcasts new app deal: warning, math required

The new, free-to-download Xfinity Beta app isnt Comcasts only offering that allows you to stream cable. It is, however, the first that lets you stream your service on an actual TV instead of forcing you to use a smartphone or tablet. The Philadelphia companys iPad app, though, still blocks AirPlay output to an Apple TV.

Like the cable providers others apps, the Xfinity offering doesnt rely on Comcasts traditional TV cable lines. Instead, it streams channels over a separate portion of your broadband internet connection to ensure buffering-free viewing.

The Roku app will work on all Roku TVs and devices shipped in the last couple of years including the Roku Express, Roku Express+, Roku Streaming Stick, Roku Premiere, Roku Premiere+, Roku Ultra, Roku 2, Roku 3 and Roku 4.

You get the same interactive programming grid found on Comcasts X1 cable boxes, including access to on-demand video and the ability to record and watch shows using its cloud DVR service. All you give up in terms of your TV-watching experience, according to Comcast, is the voice control capabilities available through the X1 remote.

Story continues

But while the app is free, you wont save as much as youd think. Comcast normally refunds $2.50 a month if you use your own cable box, but it wont offer that during the beta-test period. Its usual $10 monthly fee for cloud DVR service will still apply too.

Comcasts Roku app will let you watch your on-demand video.

After the beta trial, though, you will start collecting that $2.50 monthly credit. What if you have a second screen? Youll get a second $2.50 credit for using the app instead of a box, and Comcasts FAQ says youll dodge the providers $9.95 monthly fee for a second outlet.

Thats not the case with another fee, the $9.95 a month you pay for HD service for that second outlet (even though its free on the first). The FAQ also reports that youll have to pay that second-line charge post-beta, leaving your savings over time just $2.50 a month per Roku app used to replace a Comcast box.

A Roku Streaming Stick, our current favorite among streaming-media playback options, costs only $50, so those $2.50 credits will help recoup its cost somewhat quickly. But this Kafka-esque pricing  Comcasts site doesnt provide a simple list of these fees  does help explain why Comcast hasnt exactly been Americas most-loved TV service.

Whos left out: most other subscribers

Comcast announced its app initiative last year at a cable-industry convention in Boston, when it showed off an early but mostly-decorative version of the Xfinity app running on a Samsung smart TV. The company says it plans to ship a beta for Samsung sets later this year.

The rest of the industry, however, is not proceeding at the same speed even after lining up behind a Ditch the Box initiative last year that would have them ship similar apps. Subscribers to Charter (CHTR), the second-biggest cable operator in the country, can use a Roku app to replace a secondary box, but other pay-TV operators like AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) either fail to offer a full section of channels with their TV-linked apps or have stopped experiments in box-free viewing.

Comcasts Roku app will save you money, but not as much as you might think.

Under President Obama, the FCC had set out to force action. Then-chairman Tom Wheeler had initially proposed requiring both cable and satellite providers to allow third parties to develop apps and boxes compatible with their services and their security systems, then amended that to require only that TV providers ship apps for major software platforms like Roku, iOS, Android, Windows and the Mac.

Wheelers proposal ran out of time  and with Wheeler now replaced by his fellow commissioner Ajit Pai, a longtime opponent of that plan, promoted by President Trump to run the agency last week, its officially dead.

If you have Comcast as an option in an area, the new app arrival should rate as an upgrade. Otherwise, youre stuck with the same radical option as before: If you cant bargain your way to a lower bill by threatening to cancel service entirely, youre better off dropping your service in favor of streaming media over the Internet and, if you have sufficient reception, over-the-air programming from local stations. And if you do that on every TV, youll be in line to save a lot more money than this Comcast initiative ever could deliver.

More from Rob:

Email Rob at rob@robpegoraro.com; follow him on Twitter at @robpegoraro.
ELGIN, IL / ACCESSWIRE / February 17, 2017 / Elgiloy Specialty Metals in Elgin, Illinois, recently worked on a project with Siemens, embracing continuous improvement by modernizing a used tension leveler, which is a machine that improves material flatness and shape. The company states that the benefits of this process include greater throughput, improved yields, reduced inspection, and lower overall cost. Those who need more information can contact Elgiloy Specialy Metals (ESM) through their official website.

"This new addition to our manufacturing equipment gives us the means to provide a better product to our customers. It also gives us the confidence to quote orders with more demanding requirements," states James Darrow, Production Manager with ESM.

The Illinois precision strip rerolling mill serves customers in the aerospace, automotive, chemical processing, and medical device industries, as well as other markets where high performance alloys are required. Material specifications in these markets demand exceptional quality. Darrow states that the company's tension leveler is another milestone in its commitment to supplying customers with the best materials available from its precision strip operations.

Due to the completely upgraded used tension leveler from its machine base, ESM reports that they, along with Siemens, were able to incorporate 21st century technology. Darrow states that the effort proved to be cost effective and allowed the company to incorporate the design criteria into mechanical and electronic functions. The additions are said to have greatly enhanced the ability of the machine operator to adjust functions to produce the very best quality. Retrofitting saved Elgiloy roughly 40% off the cost of a new machine.

"ESM engineers visited the manufacturer and determined the unit would meet all the requirements needed in a tension leveler with some major upgrading," states Darrow. "A cost analysis determined this was a great opportunity. We purchased the unit knowing we would need to make the changes."

Story continues

Elgiloy selected the service team from Siemens, stating that while there were other companies considered, Siemens was the clear choice. The decision to choose Siemens was made because Elgiloy's engineers were very familiar with the Siemens PLC control systems, and they had positive experiences with the company's engineering team from prior projects. Those interested can learn more about Siemens at the company's website.

"Incorporating mechanical upgrades along with safety systems took a lot of teamwork. We all learned a lot from this and will use the same format on other projects," explains Ryan Hill, Project Engineer at ESM. "Although mechanical design does change over time, each situation needs to be well thought through. In this case, it was absolutely the right decision on retrofitting a used piece of equipment."

With the addition of a tension leveler with 21st Century technology, ESM states that they can process materials to meet very demanding requirements and to benefit all customers.

Contact Elgiloy Specialty Metal:

James Darrow

888.843.2350

1565 Fleetwood Drive Elgin, IL 60123

SOURCE: Elgiloy Specialty Metal
Pull both groups left + right (that are 6 mobs).

Kill everything except casters (prefer single target hits)

Get both casters mobs together and press F6 (F6 is the start of my macro)

Stay at around 25yard range and go afk

Picture of how it is looking in action:

Code: #include HotKeySet("{F6}","_Start1") While 1 Sleep(1000) WEnd Func _Start1() While 1 Send("1") ;root Sleep(5000) Send("2") ;attack Sleep(2500) Send("2") ;attack Sleep(2500) Send("2") ;attack Sleep(5000) Send("2") ;attack Sleep(2500) Send("2") ;attack Sleep(2500) Send("2") ;attack Sleep(5000) Send("2") ;attack Sleep(3000) Send("1") ;root Sleep(1000) Send("1") ;root Sleep(1000) Send("1") ;root WEnd EndFunc

I'm releasing my spot here and right now.You may say, there are others which are better. I honestly don't care, because during this event, it was all about the spot itself, not the amount of charms you get, because of all that fixing during the last event.I think it will be fixed sooner now.Anyway...(this guids is somewhere optimized for druids lvl 100)The farmspot is inside the throne of thunder. You set the instance to 10man nhc.It's right at the first trashpacks. At the left and the right side, there are mobs which are called "zandalari water binder".They have a spell called: Bind Water aka Bind Water - Spell - World of Warcraft This spell is "channeled" with a 6 second duration and a one second trigger. Each trigger spawns a water elemental with 27.000 HP which drops a lovely charm. The entire Spell has a cooldown of 10 seconds.In total there are two casters, so in summary this means: 6 Mobs in 10 Seconds, aka 36 mobs in 1 minute, aka 2160 mobs in 1 hour and 4320/hour since there are two casters.The summoned mobs are doing melee hits only. The casters are mainly casting, but at some point they will end up in melee range. So you can theoretically kill them if you just spam AoE. So I'll tell you my method how to avoid this and make this 100% AFK without resetting. You can try it my way or figure out a way for yourself.(a simple attack/stopattack macro should work to keep the casters safe tho, i.e. a warrior with victory rush)It's a bit tricky to get it working 100% AFK. My method was keeping those casters at maxrange, which I did as a druid. I specced guardian and massroot. (dont skill bramble!)This way i kept those casters at max range and those little adds were running towards me, which i simply killed with swipe.This is a two button autoit script, which works basically forever.Don't spec bramble, because this will kill the casters.Spec Ysera's Gift for selfheal.Spec Massroot for the root.Other attacks don't matter.Use heirloom trinkets for selfheal if needed: Swift Hand of Justice - Item - World of Warcraft If you dont have artefactweapon, just use a lvl 100 heirloom weapon.Setup:(wow in active window) Script:If you need to reset/repair, you can simply run outside and reset. (aka for repair or if you somehow killed a caster)
Yes, I know, Ive already reviewed Apples new laptop line, the MacBook Pro.

But that was when they first came out. When I had a review unit supplied by Apple (AAPL). Before I spent $3,000 on my own, suped-up, top-of-the-line 13-inch MacBook Pro.

I know: Thats an obscene amount of money. But this is my main machine, my livelihood. If you add up the hours, I spend more time with my laptop than I do with my bed, car, or home. I figured it would be worth the splurge.

As it turns out, thats a big Yes and a big No.

Life with this thing has been a roller coaster: one emotional whiplash after another. Cool! Oh, NO! Cool! Oh, NO!

My $3,000 life companion.

Looking good on paper

Four things attracted me to this new laptop. First, you can get it with a 1-terabyte hard drive (actually a giant flash drive). Im a big photos-and-videos guy. Ive spent the last five years struggling against the storage limitations of MacBook Airs. Im ready.

Second, the size. This thing is at least an inch smaller than the MacBook Air all the way around. Apple shaved away most of the margin around the screen. Ive wrestled with my laptop on an airplane tray for the last time.

Third, the screen. Im finally ready for Retina resolution on my main machineand having enough brightness to light up a runway doesnt hurt, either.

Fourth, being able to log in with a touch, thanks to the fingerprint reader. (You can read about the Touch Bar here. Its super handy to be able to adjust the volume or brightness with one quick swipe, and navigating a video is super quickbut otherwise, I dont use it much.)

Its nice to be able to adjust the volume or brightness with a single swipe.

I knew I was also getting far better speakers; a much bigger trackpad; the Touch Bar above the keyboard; and four USB-C jacks instead of the usual USB, video, and power jacks. I didnt think any of those things would affect me.

At the time.

Up: The power thing

I know everybody bellyaches about the loss of the standard jacks. But USB-C is awesome, man. You cant plug this cable upside-down. Theres no right end or wrong end. A single cable carries audio, video, power, and data.

Story continues

The whole industry is going to USB-Cphones, tablets, laptops, desktopsso get used to it.

Right off the bat, I love that you can plug the MacBook Pros power cord into either side, since any of its four USB-C jacks can accommodate it. Useful more often than youd think.

Yeah, its sad that weve lost Apples MagSafe magnetic power-cord connector. But the fact that we dont have to buy Apples power cords anymore easily makes up for it.

For example, I like to have a spare charger next to my bed, and another one in my laptop bag for travel. But I dont like paying $70 or $80 to Apple for spare cords.

Now, I dont have to. Any old USB-C charging cord will work. You can get power from the wall, from your cars cigarette jack, from one of those backup batteries, or even from another USB-C laptop! Like mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for laptops.

I bought a $27 Dell charger and a Udoli one for $35. The Dell one lights up to show that its getting power, which the new Apple cord doesnt. The Udoli one has a regular USB jack on the side for charging your phone or Fitbit (FIT), which the Apple cord also doesnt.

My $35 second charger. Bye-bye, $80 adapters!

Now, in theory, any USB-C device can charge from any USB-C charger; the voltage and whatnot is adjusted automatically. You can even charge the MacBook Pro from a phone charger. Itll take forever, but itll charge.

My cheapo Dell charger supplies 27 watts; the Udoli offes 45 watts. Neither, in other words, charges as fast as the Apple charger (61 watts). And the Dell charger does a weird thing when the laptop is closed: It chimes every couple of minutes, as though the power is being unplugged and replugged.

I dont care. I got away with price murder on these spare chargers, and theyre smaller and handier than Apples.

Oh! And I also bought, for $15, a charger that plugs into my car cigarette lighter. It juices up the laptop great (Im frequently the passenger on long drives to the airport), and has an extra USB jack for charging something else.

Power in the car!

Down: The Trackpad

Apple made its new trackpad huge, and I cant figure out why. What does that get you?

What it gets me is accidental clicks, caused by my left thumb as it hovers while I type. My cursor or insertion point suddenly pops into the wrong place or the wrong window.

Apparently, this problem is much worse if youve turned on Tap to Click (which requires only touching the trackpad, not actually clicking down on it, to register a click).

Ive solved the problem by taping a piece of cardboard to the trackpad, in essence shrinking it. Real classy.

My solution to accidental clicks.

Up: The Keyboard

The key travel has gotten dissed for its shallowness, but I can really fly typing on this keyboard. Its crisp and firm. Loud as hell, but crisp and firm.

Neutral: The adapter thing

Of course, switching into MacBook Pro Land means getting adapters for everything that normally plugs into USB. Sometimes, that just takes the form of a $6 replacement cable; sometimes, you need a $3 plug adapter.

Everybody talks about how many dongles theyll need, but thats not been my experience. I still have one Fitibit cord, one MiFi cord, one digital camera charging cord, and so on; its just that some of them have an adapter plug on the end.

Theres no USB-C Fitbit cord, so I popped a $3 adapter onto the end.

I did have to buy a new Lightning-to-USB-C cable for my iPhone. Apples version is $19, which is absurd. I found this awesome one on Amazon (AMZN) for $9. It has a sturdy, non-tangling nylon fabric outer shell, available in three metallic colors to match the three MacBook Pro colors.

My new Lightning cable. (I chose gold so itd show up in the depths of my laptop bag.)

Ive read here and there that cheapo Chinese USB-C adapters and cables can be glitchy. But all the ones Ive picked up on Amazon have worked like a champ, except for the Dell dinging-power-cord thing.

Down: No card slot

I deeply, deeply miss a memory-card slot. Used to be, transferring photos from a camera was as easy as popping out its memory card and slamming it into my MacBook Air. Now I have to go looking for my $8 USB-C card reader, or hook up the camera with a cable.

I no longer have any video-output jack, eitherlike VGA, HDMI, or Mini-DVI. So for $45, I bought a multi-jack dongle that offers both VGA and HDMIand Ethernet and a regular USB jack. So Im covered there.

Up: One-cable docking station

I spend a lot of time doing book layouts, so I sprang $524 for the LG UltraFine 4K 21-inch monitor. Whats amazing about it is not just the gorgeous image; its that one USB-C cable connects it to the MacBook. That single cable charges the laptop, carries audio and video to the monitors screen and speakers, and conducts data both directions (there are four USB-C jacks on the back of the monitor).

Presenting: The one-cable docking station.

I used to hook up my MacBook Air to a docking contraption every time I came home from the road. Now, I plug in one cable, and my entire desktop system is ready to go. Its fairly awesome.

Down: Shorter battery life

Apple says this smaller laptop has a smaller battery than the MacBook Airand yet that it still gets the same 10 hours of work time.

Thats baloney.

Theres been a lot of confusion and analysis about why the MacBook Pro does or does not get the battery life its supposed to. But this much I can say for sure: You get better battery life if you install the latest Mac OS version, 10.12.3. And if you keep the screen dimmer than full brightness. And if you dont do heavy-lifting work like Photoshop, video editing, and games.

This much I can also say for sure: No matter what you do, you wont get as much life out of this battery as you would doing exactly the same work on the MacBook Air. Its a 33% smaller battery; its not going to have the same capacity. I usually get six or seven hours from it.

I wasnt ready for that, and its a real drag. Thank goodness Ive got chargers all around me.

Whiplash

If youre a Mac person and cant afford to switch to Windows, then the new MacBook Pro is it. Apple doesnt intend to update the MacBook Air or the older MacBook Pros anymore. The future is this or nothing.

But you know what? This really isnt a MacBook at all.

I mean, it doesnt have the same anything. Screen, jacks, power cord, keyboard, battery, trackpadit has almost nothing in common with previous Apple laptops.

Its much better in some ways, and much worse in others. Youve been warned; keep hands and feet inside the tram at all times.

David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes non-toxic comments in the Comments below. On the web, hes davidpogue.com. On Twitter, hes @pogue. On email, hes poguester@yahoo.com. You can read all his articles here, or you can sign up to get his columns by email.
Prospera Business Network is the lead non-profit organization advancing and supporting community-centered economic development in southwest Montana. Our focus is helping people start and grow their business  in turn strengthening our regions economy and communities.
SBA 504 Loans offered statewide! Real estate and equipment, acquisitions, renovation, and new construction. Low, fixed-rates up to 25 years with as little as 10% down.
A search committee tasked with hiring a new University of Montana president held its first meeting on campus Thursday afternoon.

An email to staff from Interim President Sheila Stearns said Commission of Higher Education Clayton Christian was on campus to lead the meeting.

The committee is working alongside a private consulting firm to find a new president. Former President Royce Engstrom announced he would resign in December after falling enrollment and budget woes.

The University is encouraging people to submit their feedback in the search by sending an email to [email protected].

http://www.abcfoxmontana.com/story/34525938/um-president-search-gets-underway
Some folks wonder whether the newer, faster wireless convention of 5G will mean rural areas can skip expensive fiber networks. The answer is "no, that dog wont hunt." Like other blended systems, wireless 5G requires fiber to the neighborhood to be effective.

By Bill Coleman

Full Story: http://www.dailyyonder.com/speak-your-piece-new-5g-wireless-will-increase-need-for-fiber-not-reduce-it/2017/02/16/17543/
Canadian glaciers account for a huge portion of Arctic ice. As the planet warms, meltwater is eating away at them at an astonishing rate.

BY PAUL HELTZEL

Full Story: http://www.seeker.com/canadas-glaciers-are-melting-900-percent-faster-since-2005-2264050059.html
A stone cistern and evidence of a potato cellar are all that remain of the Fales homestead near Deaver, Wyoming.

David Fales frequently walks the 87 acres his great-grandparents once called home. Heart Mountain dominates the landscape to the east. Sometimes, he comes across rusty old tools his ancestors used to work the land a century ago.

The Fales family came from Missouri on the heels of the Buffalo Bill Dam project, which opened this part of northwest Wyoming to farming and ranching.

"They came out here with nothing. No roads, no telephones," Fales said. "Nothing but a patch of land, and they had to build it all from scratch."

Fales sat in his office about an hour from the old homestead on a recent January day. Outside, a foot of snow blanketed the parking lot, reminding him of pre-dawn days spent cracking the ice in the cows water trough so the animals could drink.

Full Newsletter: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WYBUSINESS/bulletins/18244ea
Recently, Elon Musk had the chance to share his thoughts on universal basic income (UBI) at the World Government Summit in Dubai. At the Summit, Musk had the opportunity to talk about the future, and the challenges the world will face in the next hundred years  including artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and the job displacement expected to come with it.

Full Story: https://futurism.com/elon-musk-automation-will-force-governments-to-introduce-universal-basic-income/
Weve come a long way since pong and Donkey Kong  thanks to virtual reality, players can actually enter new worlds, and now the owners of Bifrost VR are here to help you step into another dimension.

Have you ever looked at the stars and wondered what it would be like to fly through space? Or what it would be like to defend a village from an onslaught of orcs? Or what it would be like to fight off hordes of zombies?

Well, thanks to Landon Nill and James Mcneilan, you can stop wondering. They recently opened the arcade of the future in Missoula. They call it Bifrost http://crossthebifrost.com/ .

By Eric Clements

Full Story: http://www.kpax.com/story/34517277/two-missoula-entrepreneurs-are-reinventing-the-arcade
Not only are Tesla cars saving the environment, theyre also saving lives. Earlier this week a Tesla Model S driver in Germany noticed a Volkswagen Passat swerving on the Autobahn. Realizing the cars driver was unconscious, Tesla driver Manfred Kick risked his vehicle to save the drivers life. Then Elon Musk got wind of Kicks heroism.

by Lacy Cooke

Full Story: http://inhabitat.com/tesla-to-cover-repair-costs-after-model-s-owner-sacrifices-his-car-to-save-a-life/
T-Mobile, man. That company (TMUS) is just determined to mess with the traditional cellphone-carrier model.

This is the company that eliminated the two-year contract. That lets you stream all the music and video you want, without counting it against your data allotment. That eliminated international roaming charges.

And now, the company wants to give you another phone number.

Its called T-Mobile Digits, a new service, currently in free beta testing for T-Mobile customers. The central idea is that Digits breaks the one-to-one bond between your phone number and your phone.

In so doing, Digits introduces all kinds of new flexibilityand complexityinto your digital life. They fall into one of two categories, which Ill call One to many or Many to one.

When you sign up for the program, you can choose one of those categories, or both of them. (Told you this was going to involve some complexity!)

One to many

When you sign up for this option, your one T-Mobile number rings all your phoneseven phones from Verizon (VZ), Sprint (S), or AT&T (T), and even WiFi-only devices like tablets! The idea is that you can now take and make calls, and send or receive messages, from whichever phone you have with you.

(If youre hoping to include a non-smartphone in your arsenal, T-Mobile will send you an SIM card for it. Which means youll have to replace the phones existing SIM card. Which means it will have only one phone number. Which means you wont be able to use the many to one feature described below. Did I mention that this all gets a little complex?)

When someone dials your one T-Mobile number, all of your associated gadgets ring at once. When you pick up one to answer it (or decline it), all the other devices stop ringing.

All your phones ring simultaneouslyeven non-T-Mobile ones.

So why is this useful? Well, if you race out of the house and forget your phone, no problem! You can borrow a phone, or you can use the Digits website. You can still get your calls and texts.

Or maybe you want to take a cheap ratty old feature phone with you running or rowing, instead of carrying your precious $700 smartphone. No sweat; now that ratty old feature phone can get (and send) your calls and texts.

Story continues

Heck, you could now treat cellphones like multiple extensions of a landline. You can keep one phone up by your bed, and another downstairs; pick up whichever one is handiest when someone calls or texts.

Whats cool is that you can access your calls, texts, and voicemail from any device. From a watch. From a WiFi tablet. From any computer, tablet, or phone in the world, via the Digits website.

Suddenly, any browser on earth is a cellphone you can use.

Many to one

The other Digits option is the reverse: That is, you can also get a second phone number for your one phone. You can give out Phone Number A to your personal contacts, and reserve Phone Number B for business use.

When people call your one phone, youll see on the screen whether theyve called Number A or Number B, so youll know which voice to use when you answer it. (You wouldnt want to pick up and say, Hey there, sugar lips when its your boss, now, would you?)

And what about placing a call? How do you choose which line to use?

Heres where things start getting complicated. If you have a recent Samsung model (Galaxy S6 or S7 family, or Note 5), the dialer app includes a handy pop-up button that lets you choose the outgoing line.

Recent Samsung phones have multiple-line options built right in.

If you have any other phone, you have to use the T-Mobile Digits app to place your calls and send your texts. It, too, offers a pop-up switch that lets you choose the line.

On non-Samsung phones, the Digits app asks which number you want to use for dialing.

How is this not Google Voice?

Now. If you think all this sounds like Google Voice, youre right. Google (GOOG, GOOGL) Voice also gives you a virtual number that also rings all your phones at once. And also lets you place calls from that virtual number from any device. And Google Voice is free, which T-Mobile Digits wont be after the beta period. (T-Mobile hasnt said what the monthly cost will be.)

Google Voice also offers a bunch of other cool features. You can specify which phones ring at which hours of the day (Dont ring this phone after 6 p.m., for example). You can record a different voicemail greeting for each caller in your Address Book. You can transfer a call from one phone to another in mid-call. You get written transcriptions of your voicemail, which is not always perfect but is always useful. (This feature seems to be available in the Digits app, but I couldnt figure out how to turn it on.)

T-Mobile argues that Digits is better than Google Voice. For starters, you can keep using your existing T-Mo phone number. (Of course, you can always port your existing phone number to Google Voice, too.)

Moreover, you get high-definition voice (the enhanced audio quality available when youre calling another T-Mo customer) using Digits. Its a real, carrier-grade call, a rep told me; its not being routed through some Google computer.

On the other hand, just last week, Google Voice received its first big upgrade in five years, along with a promise from Google that its chronic neglect of Voice is over. (Funny about that timing, eh? Five years without a peepthen T-Mobile unveils Digits, and BOOM!)

The iPhone conundrum

Its pretty cool that your one T-Mobile number can somehow ring non-T-Mobile phones.

If you have an iPhone, however, theres a footnote concerning iMessages. (Thats Apples (AAPL) proprietary enhanced texting service, filled with additional features: no length limit; a the other person is currently typing indicator; message read indicators; synchronized texts across all your Apple products; easy file transfers; and so on.)

Most reviewers are reporting that you have to give up iMessages entirelyturn it offin order to use Digits. Indeed, thats what I said in my video, above.

The answer is actually more nuanced. Your iMessages still workits just that they wont show up on your other Digits devices. If you go for a run with your cruddy 2007 Samsung, youll miss any text messages people send to your iPhone, and messages you send from Messages on that iPhone wont appear on any of your other Digits devices.

You have to turn off iMessages only if you want all your incoming text messages to appear in the Digits app, on all your devices.

Told you this was complicated.

The impossibility of a conclusion

So how do you review T-Mobile digits? Its really tough, because we dont yet know what it will cost.

And, of course, everybodys different. Your life may be complicated enough that youd welcome the Digits decoupling of phone number and phone. Or you may crave simplicity and wonder why anyone would want or need the Digits kind of flexibility.

For now, heres what we can say: There are some small bugs; for example, if you reject an incoming call, it goes into your phones regular voicemail appbut if you let it ring through to voicemail, it goes to the Digits apps voicemail. And, of course, that iPhone iMessages business is a drag.

Still, even in its free beta-test period, Digits does what it says it will do. If youre a T-Mo customer who faces the Digits use cases (you want two lines; you want multiple phones with the same number), youll be pleased.

If youre anyone else, theres always Google Voice.

David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes non-toxic comments in the Comments below. On the Web, hes davidpogue.com. On Twitter, hes @pogue. On email, hes poguester@yahoo.com. You can read all his articles here, or you can sign up to get his columns by email.
By Bruno Federowski SAO PAULO, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Latin American stocks and currencies fell on Friday as profit-taking in global equities following a recent rally triggered risk aversion in wider markets.

Signs of strength in the U.S. economy and bets on lower corporate taxes under President Donald Trump have lifted U.S. stocks to new all-time highs in recent weeks.

Traders booked from that rally on Friday ahead of the U.S. Presidents' Day holiday on Monday, dampening demand for higher-risk assets.

Currencies from oil-heavy economies, such as Colombia's and Mexico's pesos, led the losses as crude futures slipped on concerns over global oversupply.

Brazil's benchmark Bovespa stock index fell 0.6 percent amid a mixed batch of corporate updates.

Shares in Rumo Logistica Operadora Multimodal SA, Brazil's largest rail operator, were among the biggest declines after a larger-than-expected decline in operating profit.

Airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA, which are not part of the index, rose to a two-year high as a stronger currency and lower borrowing costs helped it post a smaller-than-expected fourth-quarter loss.

Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1510 GMT: Stock indexes daily % YTD % Latest change change MSCI Emerging Markets 937.88 -0.82 9.67 MSCI LatAm 2615.66 -1.75 13.74 Brazil Bovespa 67437.66 -0.56 11.97 Mexico IPC 47121.86 -0.36 3.24 Chile IPSA 4359.27 -0.1 5.01 Chile IGPA 21742.50 -0.05 4.86 Argentina MerVal 19428.84 -0.68 14.84 Colombia IGBC 9999.53 -0.43 -1.27 Venezuela IBC 35231.80 0.86 11.12 Currencies daily % YTD % change change Latest Brazil real 3.1045 -0.69 4.66 Mexico peso 20.4800 -0.51 1.29 Chile peso 644.1 -0.87 4.13 Colombia peso 2902.8 -1.10 3.40 Peru sol 3.259 -0.34 4.76 Argentina peso (interbank) 15.5250 -0.58 2.25 Argentina peso (parallel) 16.28 0.00 3.32 (Reporting by Bruno Federowski; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
PARIS, Feb 17 (Reuters) - France will evaluate the proposed sale of General Motors' Opel division to Peugeot maker PSA Group in close daily consultation with the German and British governments, Industry Minister Christophe Sirugue said on Friday.

"We are in discussion primarily to share information because we too learned of this announcement in the press," Sirugue told Reuters after a news conference at the finance ministry.

Following conversations with his British and German counterparts, Sirugue said the ministers would speak daily as they "assess what is at stake for each of our countries" in plans for Paris-based PSA to buy GM's European division. The talks were confirmed by the companies this week.

Government discussions on the proposed tie-up would seek to establish "whether it is an opportunity - which we don't rule out - or whether on the other hand it carries risks that we need to evaluate," Sirugue said.

(Reporting by Jean-Baptiste Vey; writing by Laurence Frost; editing by Jason Neely)
As corporate media continue to haemorrhage ad revenue to websites like Facebook, and credibility to social media activism, dissent seems to be increasingly viewed as a luxury the mainstream can ill afford.

Where once a handful of dissidents was allowed to challenge the Grand Propaganda Narratives (GPN) of the day, modern leftists are tolerated only if they accept these narratives even as they talk radical change.

A Guardian regular who stands out in this regard is Paul Mason, formerly BBC Newsnight Business Editor and Channel 4 News Economics Editor. Promoted to prominence by the corporate system he ostensibly resists, Mason reinvented himself as a vocal left activist who strongly supports Jeremy Corbyn. Mason now has 377,000 followers on Twitter, an impressive total for a political commentator. And yet some of his views are incongruous to say the least.

In a Guardian piece this week, Mason focused on the latest North Korean missile test, which he declared a clear threat or a clear bluff So the question for the world is: how do we contain the threat and detect the bluff?

Mason was thus reinforcing the GPN that all problems are our business, and that we have the moral credibility to do something about them. This despite our appalling track record, recognised by Mason himself:

Weve been here before, of course, with Saddam Hussein in 2003. Then, the chemical weapons turned out to be a bluff and the biggest threat to world peace emanated from Washington and London.

In other words, the same we that needs to contain the North Korean threat to peace was itself the actual threat to peace in Iraq. Subsequent Western war crimes in Libya, Syria and Yemen suggest that little has changed.

In claiming that Saddam Hussein tried to bluff the West on WMD, Mason reinforced the GPN that Iraq was more than just a wanton war of aggression. Instead, Western leaders were suckered by Saddams suicidal braggadocio, by faulty intelligence, and so on.

In an unpublished letter to the Guardian in response to Masons piece, journalist Ian Sinclair wrote:

In reality the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz told ABC News in December 2002: We dont have weapons of mass destruction. We dont have chemical, biological or nuclear weaponry. Hussein himself repeated this in February 2003, telling Tony Benn in an interview screened on Channel Four: There is only one truth and therefore I tell you as I have said on many occasions before that Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction whatsoever. (Email to Media Lens, February 16, 2017)

Not only did the Iraqi government not attempt a bluff, it was telling the truth.

Mason insisted that Britain should work to ensure that the response to North Korea is restrained, proportional and done through the UN security council. But in claiming, as Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen burn, that the US-UK alliance might suddenly, somehow act multilaterally and responsibly  despite its track record of unilaterally pursuing self-interest at almost any human cost  he was promoting a GPN.

An Epitaph To Die For

But the really remarkable thing about Masons article is the extent to which he demonised North Korean leader Kim Jong-un:

People like Kim want to be remembered for a thousand years. And, as the current outbreak of swastikas on the walls of western cities show, if its a phoneix-like [sic] rebirth you are after, you dont have to wait a thousand years. I triggered a nuclear war with the USA and reduced South Korea to a toxic wasteland would be, for Kim, an epitaph worth dying for. Even better if he could add, and I destroyed the multilateral global order for ever.

This is another classic GPN: while identity, location and appearance may change, there is always a fantastically insane Bad Guy at large in the world who simply must be confronted by the Wests heroic arms industries and tax-funded militaries, their budgets grown fat on fear-fuelled socialism for the rich.

We were so shocked by Masons comment that we contacted John Feffer, the director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies, and author of several books on Korean politics:

Would be interested in your thoughts on this piece claiming Kim Jong-un would be willing to die to kill 50 million South Koreans.

Feffer was kind enough to reply immediately:

no indication that Kim believes such a thing  narcissists usually prefer self-preservation at all costs. (Feffer to Media Lens, February 14, 2017)

Korea specialists Markus Bell at the University of Sheffield and Marco Milani at the University of Southern California, commented earlier this month:

a nuclear attack from Pyongyang appears highly unlikely. The government is fully aware that it would incur an overwhelmingly destructive military response from the US and South Korea.

We also wrote to Mason:

Whats your evidence for the claim Kim Jong-un would be willing to die, if it meant he could kill 50 million South Koreans?

As ever, Mason ignored us.

Why would a high-profile left activist emulate extreme, hard-right demonising of an official Bad Guy, the kind of thing that is a fixture in The Times, Telegraph and Washington Post? Why would an activist do this having witnessed the literally millions of deaths, injuries and refugees generated by exactly this kind of cartoon demonisation of Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, Bashar Assad, and others? And why risk fanning the flames of a conflict that could consume millions of Korean lives when North Korea offers precisely zero threat to Britain?

Mason also worked more subtly to breathe life into the responsibility to protect GPN that has been a disastrous adjunct of demonising propaganda over the last few decades:

If the missile crisis escalates, I have no doubt that by the weekend there will be people on the streets of western capitals chanting No war with North Korea. Thats good  but the left has to realise there is no direct read-off from Iraq to the DPRK.

This reinforced the theme  tirelessly emphasised by Perpetual Warmongers like Jonathan Freedland, David Aaronovitch and Nick Cohen  that the mistake in Iraq should not mean we naively, selfishly and irresponsibly give up on the humanitarian intervention so beloved of Western fossil fuel and arms companies.

Bizarrely, Mason suggested that Trump might be tempted to utilise the crisis to launch a pre-emptive, unilateral strike on North Korea; a notion that seems simply preposterous.

Masons article also fits well, if ironically, with his views on Britains own nuclear missiles. Mason said last year:

I think Labour should vote to keep Trident.

Why? Because Britain does face rapidly evolving threats: terrorism and a newly aggressive and unpredictable Russia.

The idea that Trident can deter terrorism is as risible as the idea that Putin  albeit threatened by a newly aggressive and unpredictable Nato  is contemplating a nuclear strike on Britain. Yes, of course there is a vague theoretical possibility. But it is invisibly tiny compared to the overwhelming likelihood that Britain will be subject to near-term devastation as a result of runaway climate change. A threat the UK government  obsessively concerned, as it is, with our welfare and national security  tries hard to bury rather than address.

Writing in the New York Times this week, Anatol Lieven responded to the much-loved GPN that is the supposed Russian threat:

There are many good reasons for the United States to reach conciliation with Moscow on issues from Eastern Europe to the Middle East. The real question will be if Washington can control its own desire for global hegemony enough to make that possible. Unlike China, Russia is not an emerging peer competitor to the United States. Russia is a regional power struggling to retain a fragment of its former sphere of influence. Moreover, it should be a natural ally of the United States in the fight against Islamist extremism. A reduction of tension with Russia would allow the United States to concentrate on more important geopolitical issues.

This is the kind of sober, non-partisan analysis one would expect to read from a leftist journalist. By contrast, Mason again reads like a hard-right Times or Telegraph neocon.

Mason continued:

I think it is worth saying: Fine, spend 41bn plus on a system thats designed never to be used militarily but that has kept the peace strategically.

He was right to add the plus. In 2014, the independent Trident Commission estimated that the missile system would have a lifetime cost of around 100 billion. Conservative Foreign Affairs Committee chair Crispin Blunt put the cost at 167 billion. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has estimated 205 billion.

Mason failed to explain that one might, for example, argue (although we do not) that nuclear weapons have helped keep the peace and are needed now, without backing the white elephant Trident system. But Mason wants to keep the message simple: We need Trident! See Ian Sinclairs detailed rebuttal of Masons arguments here.

Uncompromised dissident analysis is fast disappearing from stressed corporate media across the spectrum. It is time to stop being deceived and instead work hard to build rational, compassionate, non-corporate alternatives.

DE
CNN en Espanol has turned to YouTube to continue offering its news programming after the Venezuelan government yesterday ordered cable providers to block the network.

According to CNN, Venezuela banned the Spanish-language cable network days after it aired an investigation into the alleged fraudulent issuing of Venezuelan passports and visas.

CNN and CNN en Espanol teamed up in a year-long joint investigation that led to the special report Passports in the Shadows, which the networks say uncovered serious irregularities in the issuing of Venezuelan passports and visas, including allegations that from 2008 to 2012, 173 individuals from the Middle East were issued Venezuelan passports and IDs  some of them connected to the terrorist group Hezbollah.

Venezuelan government officials refused to answer any questions about the allegations, insisting they are lies and that the report threatened the peace and democratic stability of the country.

In a statement, the Spanish-language news cable network said it wouldnt back down from censorship:

CNN en Espanol will continue to fulfill its responsibility to the Venezuelan public by offering our live signal on YouTube free of charge and news links on CNNEspanol.com, so they may have access to information not available to them in any other way.
by Jess Nelson , February 16, 2017

Skyword announced the launch of a new recommendations engine on Wednesday to help its customers personalize on-site and email marketing with artificial intelligence.

Skyword Personalized Recommendations (SPR) adds a predictive intelligence tool to Skywords content marketing software, helping marketers to increase email engagement, Web site visits and conversions by tailoring Web and email content for added relevancy.

Recommended content can be embedded directly into email marketing campaigns via Skywords integrations with marketing automation, CRM, and email marketing services. Web site visits from email campaigns are tracked by Skywords recommendations engine, linking visitors to individual customer profiles.

Headquartered in Boston, Skyword provides a centralized platform for its customers to develop, curate, personalize and distribute content.

It used to be enough to create content based on a persona or representation of your ideal customer, states Tom Gerace, CEO and founder of Skyword. Todays consumers expect stories that address their specific needs and preferences. Otherwise, they'll bounce from your site or ignore your emails.

Gerace says beta customers of Skyword Personalized Recommendations have averaged a 65% increase in Web site engagement and a 120% increase in email response rates.
by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, February 17, 2017

CNN President Jeff Zucker may or may not have been drawing a parallel between Donald Trump and the authoritarian regime in Venezuela when Zucker spoke out on Thursday about the Venezuelan regimes crackdown on CNN this week.

Some stories that started to appear on Thursday afternoon following a lunchtime press op with Turner Networks execs in Manhattan made this interpretation.

The stories concluded that in talking about the Venezuelan governments reaction to a CNN corruption investigation, Zucker was slyly equating the Venezuelan crackdown with a supposed ban instituted by the Trump administration against providing guests for CNN talk shows.

The TV Blog attended the same event and did not come away with this linkage at all. Not only did Zucker (photo, above right) talk about both subjects separately, he indicated that he wasnt even sure an actual Trump ban was really in effect, even though various reporters referred to it emphatically as the ban.

And if there is a ban, Zucker was dismissive of it. I dont know if its a full ban on their part, Zucker said to the roomful of reporters dining on halibut and filet mignon (there was a choice of entree).

Its OK. We dont feel that its hurting us in any way, he said.Our journalism has been leading the way in its coverage of this administration. Were not being hurt in our ability to tell the story or to attract an audience.

Indeed, Zucker indicated that the intense attention being paid to, and generated by, the Trump administration has been a boon to CNNs ratings. He said viewership is up 51% so far this year compared to the same weeks at the beginning of 2016.

Zucker indicated that as he understands it, the so-called ban has really only affected CNNs Sunday-morning public affairs show State of the Union.

They have not been willing to put guests on our Sunday morning show State of the Union for the last three weeks, he said, while also noting that Kellyanne Conway appeared on The Lead with Jake Tapper just last week for a confrontational interview that lasted 25 minutes.

Zuckers comments about the Trump administration came during a Q&A portion of this luncheon some 16 minutes after he made a few opening remarks about the situation in Venezuela.

According to Zucker, the government there this week took CNN En Espanol off the air following investigative reports last week that alleged that the Venezuelan government was selling fake passports through its Baghdad embassy, possibly to terrorists. The story traced this passport deal-making all the way up to the Venezuelan vice presidents office.

As a result, CNN En Espanol is no longer available in Venezuela, and the government is now threatening to block various other Spanish-language CNN networks and Web sites from the country.

Thats an attack on freedom of the press everywhere, Zucker said. The reason theyve done that is they are angry at CNNs journalism. Thats an issue of press freedom for all of us  Thats what happens when an authoritarian regime starts taking down feeds and blocking web sites just because we expose the truth.

This Turner Networks press lunch also included remarks from Turner Chairman and CEO John Martin, Turner President David Levy and Giorgio Stock, president of Turner EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Asia).

Time Warners pending merger with AT&T -- approved this week by Time Warner shareholders -- was also a big topic at the lunch, even if it was overshadowed somewhat by reporters questions about CNN and Trump.

2017 is going to be another record year for us, Martin said. With the Time Warner shareholder approval occurring this week, were going to begin to start to meet and begin integration plans. We havent really started to do that yet.

There is a great sense of excitement and enthusiasm within the employee ranks because if you think about what weve been trying to do at Turner, weve been trying to dramatically improve our data capabilities [and] our technology capabilities.  So if you think about AT&T, theyve got massive consumer relationships with Directv and 130 million mobile customers [and] they have very significant technology platforms and significant data. And so the idea thats exciting to us is the idea of supercharging the speed with which we can transform and innovate.

Added Levy: We talked about this last year. We are going to do a lot more target marketing [this year] using the analytics that we have. Obviously, putting [the data that AT&T can provide to Turner] into our systems allows us to push out more target marketing.

Better understanding of the consumer not only helps our advertising business, but it will also help our marketing business, Levy said. It will also help us [in] developing our programming, when you have that kind of information. So its exciting to have that opportunity in front of us, and looking forward to the upfront this year.
by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, February 17, 2017

YouTube confirmed Friday that it will stop supporting 30-second unskippable ads as of 2018, to focus on more engaging commercial formats.

Were committed to providing a better ads experience for users online," a YouTube spokesperson wrote in an email to Search Marketing Daily. "As part of that, weve decided to stop supporting 30-second unskippable ads as of 2018 and focus instead on formats that work well for both users and advertisers."

It's not clear whether YouTube made the decision to stop supporting the ads after running tests on viewing habits that would suggest 30-second ads are just too long and individuals tend to click the browser closed rather than wade through to the end of the ad. It may be that YouTube will support shorter, non-skippable in-stream video ads that appear pre-, mid-, or post-roll in shorter increments such as 10, 15, or 20 seconds.

Mobile video traffic accounted for 60% of total mobile data traffic in 2016, and now accounts for more than half of all mobile data traffic, according to Cisco. Some 78% of the worlds mobile data traffic will be video by 2021.

Shorter ads seem to improve product recall, especially when combined with TrueView or Google Preferred campaigns. In April 2016, Google announced Bumper ads, a six-second video format, sold through the AdWords auction on a CPM basis.

For advertisers, the ability to stream videos more effectively is very important, Thomas Burnett, director of service provider marketing and thought leadership at Cisco, wrote earlier in an email to Search Marketing Daily.

For Google, "efficiently" likely means faster streams with short intervals that won't interrupt the viewing experience. No doubt the company ran tests to determine the exact amount of time that viewers will tolerate.

The online media publication Campaign, which first reported the news, suggests that YouTube will make use of six-second unskippable video ads instead.
Asthma affects hundreds of millions of people across the world. New research links the guts microbes with the risk of developing asthma, and identifies a specific fungus in babies that might increase the risk of childhood asthma.

Share on Pinterest For the first time, a study links a yeast found in babies guts with the risk of childhood asthma.

Asthma is a chronic disease of the lungs airways that affects approximately 334 million people worldwide, and around 25 million people in the United States.

Historically, it was believed that asthma is a disease of high-income countries, but this theory is no longer valid as most people living with asthma are from low- and middle-income countries.

Across the world, asthma prevalence is distributed unevenly. The highest prevalence worldwide occurs in Latin America and in English-speaking countries (where over 20 percent of the population live with asthma), whereas the lowest prevalence (at less than 5 percent) was noted in India, Asia-Pacific, and the Eastern part of the Mediterranean, as well as Northern and Eastern Europe.

Countries such as Canada and Ecuador both have a significant incidence of the disease, with approximately 10 percent of the population living with asthma.

New research suggests that a yeast in the gut of Ecuador-born babies may be a strong predictor for childhood asthma. The study was carried out by a team of researchers from the University of British Columbia in Canada and was led by microbiologist Brett Finlay.

The findings were presented at the annual meeting for Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston, MA.
Its absurd. This was the response that Olga Jonasson  a medical student at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine  received from her chief Dr. Warren Cole when she told him that she wanted to become a surgeon. It was the late 1950s, a time when female surgeons were sparse. Share on Pinterest Dr. Olga Jonasson.

Image credit: University of Illinois at Chicago/Roberta Dupuis-Devlin Twenty years later, Dr. Jonasson became the first woman in the United States to be named chief of surgery. Olga Jonasson cuts through sexist barriers and takes over surgery at County Cook Hospital, states a headline from an article published in People magazine in 1978, proving that the idea of a female surgeon was not so absurd after all. Ten years on, Dr. Jonasson was announced as the chair of the Department of Surgery at the Ohio State University, becoming the first woman in the U.S. to hold such a position. Today, there are 16 female chairs of surgical departments across the U.S. and Canada, and women make up around half of surgical residents in the U.S. I think this was incredibly important to see a woman who was so competent and professional chosen to lead a department of surgery at a major institution, Dr. Mary Hawn, chair of the Department of Surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine in California, told Medical News Today. In the second of a series of articles celebrating female role models in medicine, we explore Dr. Jonassons life and career. How has Dr. Jonasson helped to shape the current landscape for leadership among female surgeons? What challenges remain for women in surgery?

The uphill struggle to surgical leadership Up until 1970, women in the U.S. and Canada made up no more than 6 percent of students in medical school, and in 1980, only 2 percent of surgical residents in the U.S. were women. Dr. Constance Bonbrest  who studied with Dr. Jonasson at UIC  said in 2006 that they were frequently dismissed by male colleagues and patients, who often commented that they should stay home instead of taking up a job that a man should fill. Share on Pinterest In my mind, she represented all that was admirable about surgeons and doctors, said friend and colleague Dr. Charles J.H. Stolar.

Image credit: National Library of Medicine

It was an uphill struggle. It really was, she added. But Olga was so good at what she did, so skillful that she just amazed them all. Dr. Jonassons passion and enthusiasm for surgery could not be denied, and this extended beyond the operating room. When a motorcyclist whizzed past and was not wearing a helmet, she gunned her engine, raced alongside him, rolled down her window, and nonchalantly handed him a kidney donor card, recalled her friend Jane Meyer. It was her way of reminding young bikers that kidneys are obtained for transplant from just such a case and she was always promoting her causes. Through her spirited personality and exceptional surgical skills, Dr. Jonasson gained much respect in a field that was highly male centric. In my mind, she represented all that was admirable about surgeons and doctors [] and it had absolutely nothing to do with her being a woman. It had only to do with who she was and how she related to those around her, said Dr. Charles J.H. Stolar, who worked alongside Dr. Jonasson at UIC between 1974 and 1980, when she was a general surgery attendant. Her intimidating qualities notwithstanding she was held in awe by all of us residents. She represented the quintessential surgeon [] smart, accurate, adept, clever, direct, compassionate, and honest. We all wanted to be like OJ, and still do, he added. These enviable characteristics got her far, earning her the title of the first woman in the U.S. to head an academic surgical department  an achievement that inspired a number of female surgeons to follow suit.

A friend, leader, and muse Her becoming chair showed us all that it could be you being chair, Dr. Julie A. Freischlag  vice chancellor of human health science at the University of California-Davis, and former chair of the Johns Hopkins Department of Surgery  told MNT. Dr. Freischlag has never hidden the fact that Dr. Jonasson was a big career influence. In a 2015 lecture on women in academic medicine, she thanked Dr. Jonasson for inspiring women like me to pursue my passion for surgery. Echoing Dr. Freischlags sentiment is Dr. Hawn, who told MNT that Dr. Jonasson inspired her in both the field of transplantation and as a surgical leader. Dr. Nancy Ascher, chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), added: Dr. Jonasson was the first to ask where are all the women? This question focused our attention on the pipeline, lack of female leadership, and decreased visibility at meetings. It forced us to think about how to attract women in our fields. However, it is not only Dr. Jonassons perseverance through gender inequality that makes her an inspiration. Male and female surgeons alike highlight her relationship with patients as a pivotal role in her success. In her paper, Dr. Freischlag points to an article in the Chicago Tribune from 1981, in which Dr. Jonasson is hailed by a kidney transplant recipient as the patients best friend. She talks to you like you were a person, a friend, he said. Shes not just a doctor, and you know she really does care. After she gave me my kidney, she helped me find a job. Thats a friend, a real friend.

Current challenges for female surgeons In 1978, Dr. Jonasson said: The decisions of the surgeon as team leader are final, and men have simply been unwilling to accept women in that role of the all-powerful decision maker. This statement is a reflection of the challenges Dr. Jonasson faced in order to become a leader in the field of surgery. But is this true almost 40 years on? I think this statement is much less true today, Dr. Hawn told us. Women are taking leading roles in all professions and both men and women are becoming increasingly comfortable with a woman leader. Share on Pinterest While progress has been made toward gender equality for female surgeons, disparities remain. Though this may be the case, there is no doubt that disparities remain. Surgery is still a male-dominated field of medicine. Women account for less than a fifth of the surgical workforce in the U.S. and only 1 percent of surgical department chairs. As Dr. Freischlag says: Being the lone woman in a sea of black suits is a great metaphor for the experience of women pursuing careers in medicine and science today, particularly academic leadership roles. Talking to MNT about current leadership barriers for females surgeons, Dr. Freischlag said that they are similar to what all women in leadership positions face. Do people see a woman as able to lead? Can she do it in her own style? And can she balance work and home with support from others in her life? she asks. Male chairs are facing similar struggles now, as they, too, have to balance their personal and professional lives. Another key issue for women in surgery is the disparity in pay. One study published last year found that female surgeons earn approximately $44,000 less than male surgeons. Salary equity is still an issue across all disciplines but it is better than it was, Dr. Freischlag told MNT. Men are known to negotiate harder to get more. Leaders need to be sure that both men and women are paid correctly. Institutions now review salary equity annually so the disparities are less than in the past.
A study by Manchester and Stanford scientists into the effects on fish of a 2010 oil disaster could shed new light on how air pollution affects humans' hearts.

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster resulted in a major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, an area of water which is heavily populated with fish species. In a paper published in Nature Scientific Reports, the team analysed the effects of individual components of crude oil on the hearts of fish.

By studying cardiac cells from pelagic fish, like tunas and mackerels that live in the Gulf of Mexico, the team identified phenanthrene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) released from oil as a key factor in disrupting heart function.

Furthermore the processes in the heart which are affected by this PAH are common across all vertebrates, including humans, and underlie both the strength and the rhythm of the heart.

This is of particular importance as phenanthrene is present in air pollution in urban areas.

Dr Holly Shiels, a senior lecturer at The University of Manchester who worked on the study, said: "These open ocean fish are hard to study in captivity, but understanding what component of the Deepwater Horizon disaster oil negatively affected the heart is really important. It could help us distinguish the cardiotoxic potential of environmental catastrophes.

"It also provides insight into the possible cardiac impacts of urban air pollution on public health."

The use of oil and its derivatives, in particular in car engine combustion, has been a cause of concern for some time, with high levels of air pollutants measured in urban areas around the world, including in the UK.

Dr Shiels added: "Very little information to date has been available on individual PAH chemical toxicity beyond developmental and carcinogen effects. As a result we hope that this study will raise global interest in this important pollutant, given the prevalence of petroleum and PAHs in our environment."
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have uncovered new clues to the link between Nodding syndrome, a devastating form of pediatric epilepsy found in specific areas of east Africa, and a parasitic worm that can cause river blindness. The study, published in Science Translational Medicine, suggests that the mysterious neurological disease may be caused by an autoimmune response to the parasitic proteins.

"This study identifies a cause of Nodding syndrome. But more broadly, these findings provide a novel perspective on epilepsy and suggest that some forms of this neurological disorder may be autoimmune in nature," said Avindra Nath, M.D., clinical director of the NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).

Nodding syndrome is a form of epilepsy that occurs in children between the ages of 5 and 16 who live in distinct regions of Tanzania, Uganda and the Republic of South Sudan. It is characterized by head nodding, seizures, severe cognitive deterioration and stunted growth. Nodding syndrome may lead to malnutrition and patients have died through seizure-associated traumas such as fatal burns and drowning.

Many studies have reported an association between Nodding syndrome and Onchocerca volvulus, a parasitic worm that can also cause river blindness. The worm is spread by black flies in specific geographic areas, where clusters of Nodding syndrome have been observed. However, it was unclear whether the worm caused this neurological disorder.

In this study, Nath and his colleagues compared serum samples from patients with Nodding syndrome and healthy controls who all lived in the same village in Uganda.

The results showed high levels of antibodies to leiomodin-1 in the samples obtained from patients. In addition, antibody to leiomodin-1 was also present in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Nodding syndrome. Previous studies have shown leiomodin-1 is found in muscles, but this was the first time researchers saw it in the nervous system.

To confirm that finding, Nath's team examined brain tissue and found leiomodin-1 inside brain cells, notably in regions associated with symptoms of Nodding syndrome. Furthermore, when healthy neurons in a dish were treated with serum from the patients and antibodies against leiomodin-1, they did not survive, but removing the antibodies increased brain cell survival.

"These results may ultimately provide a diagnostic test, which can help identify individuals at risk for developing Nodding syndrome," said Tory Johnson, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow in Nath's lab who conducted many of the research experiments.

In addition, Nath and his group found that antibodies that bind to leiomodin-1 also attach to proteins from Onchocerca volvulus. Structurally, leiomodin-1 was shown to be very similar to specific proteins from that parasite.

The results of this study suggest that Nodding syndrome may be an autoimmune disease, in which the immune system incorrectly attacks the body's own proteins. According to the researchers, the immune system creates antibodies to fight off the parasite following infection with Onchocerca volvulus. However, those antibodies also bind to leiomodin-1, so the immune system - incorrectly - will attack brain cells that contain that protein, which can result in symptoms of Nodding syndrome.

"The findings also suggest that therapies targeting the immune system may be effective treatments against this disorder and possibly other forms of epilepsy," said Nath. "Another huge implication of this study is that exterminating black flies and getting rid of the parasite should stop the disorder from occurring."

More research is needed to learn about the role of leiomodin-1 in healthy people as well as in individuals with epilepsy. For example, one-third of controls also had leiomodin-1 antibodies, but it is unclear whether these individuals may eventually develop Nodding syndrome.

Nath's team is currently developing an animal model of Nodding syndrome to further study the disease and test potential therapies.

This work was supported by the NIH Intramural Program.
(Adds analyst comments and view on copper price increase, closing stock price)

By Susan Taylor

TORONTO, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Freeport-McMoRan Inc said on Friday it cannot meet contractual obligations for copper concentrate shipments from its Grasberg mine in Indonesia following a five-week export ban, the second big producer in a week to declare force majeure.

Production at Freeport's giant mine in Papua, Indonesia, came to a standstill last week after the government banned copper concentrate exports on Jan. 12, part of an effort to boost Indonesia's smelter industry.

BHP Billiton's Escondida in Chile, the world's largest copper mine, declared force majeure on Feb. 10, two days into a strike that halted output.

"Those two mines are currently offline and that's about 2 million tonnes - almost 10 percent of global copper supply  which is a big deal," Jefferies analyst Chris LaFemina said.

Grasberg was expected to produce 800,000 tonnes of copper in 2017, about 3.5 percent of global supply, he said.

For each month the mine is offline, the world copper supply is reduced by some 90 million pounds, said LaFemina, who adds Freeport's 70-million-pound share to a share for joint venture partner Rio Tinto .

Copper prices, which have surged to 20-month highs on supply worries, slipped to $5,960 a tonne on Friday on profit-taking. But strong demand from top consumer China and supply disruptions are expected to help support prices.

If the two mines remain halted for a month, prices could pop up to $3 a pound from $2.70 currently, LaFemina said.

Shares of Freeport, the world's biggest publicly traded copper miner, declined 1 percent Friday to close at $14.91.

Under new Indonesian mining rules introduced in January, Freeport must switch from its current contract of work to a special mining permit before applying for export permits.

The new permit would require Freeport to pay taxes and royalties it was previously exempt from and divest up to 51 percent of its Indonesian unit, an increase from a previously set 30 percent. To date, it has divested 9.36 percent.

Story continues

The permit may also remove or limit Freeport's right to take disputes to an international arbitration court, analysts say.

Indonesia's mining ministry recommended on Friday that Freeport be allowed to export 1.1 million tonnes of copper concentrates until Feb. 16, 2018.

But that is conditional on Freeport accepting the special mining permit, said spokesman Eric Kinneberg, repeating that the Phoenix, Arizona-based miner will only agree to a permit providing the same fiscal and legal protection in its current contract.

(Reporting by Susan Taylor; Editing by Alistair Bell and Leslie Adler)
OTTAWA

Feb. 17, 2017

Canada

.

Canada's

November 2016

Canada's

/CNW/ - Reducing the harm associated with problematic use of opioids requires a comprehensive response that involves health professionals, law enforcement, and all levels of government. In addition, we must take steps to better inform Canadians about the potential risks associated with the use of these medications.Today, Health Canada announced that it will put forward a regulatory proposal to make warning stickers and patient information handouts mandatory with all opioids dispensed in. This commitment to raising awareness is a component of Health Canada's Opioid Action PlanThe sticker would warn patients about the risks of addiction and overdose with opioid use, and would be applied to the container being dispensed to the patient. The handout would contain broader information on the safe use of opioids and important risks associated with opioid use. By being better informed about their medications, Canadians will be better able to use them appropriately and reduce risks of dependence and overdose.Healthproposed content for the sticker and handout is currently being developed based on the recommendations of the external Scientific Advisory Panel on Opioids, which met in. The Panel's full recommendations can be viewed online in the Panel's Record of Proceedings.The proposed content and format for both the warning sticker and patient handout will also be included with the draft regulations as part of the, Part I consultation process later this year.HealthOpioid Action Plan focuses on a broad range of actions to address all parts of the opioid crisis. It includes better informing Canadians about the risks of opioids, supporting better prescribing practices, reducing easy access to unnecessary opioids, supporting better treatment options, reducing the availability and harms of street drugs, and improving the national evidence base. The Joint Statement of Action to Address the Opioid Crisis further builds on commitments to take action on this crisis.By working together, we can protect ourselves and our families from the harms associated with the problematic use of opioid medications.The Honourable Jane Philpott, P.C., M.P.SOURCE Health Canada
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A surprising behavioral effect, discovered in mice by neuroscientists at the Champalimaud Center for the Unknown (CCU), in Lisbon, Portugal, strongly suggests that serotonin is involved in a biological mechanism which affects the animals' motivation. The study has now been published in the online open access journal eLife.Serotonin-producing neurons are located in an area of the brainstem (the most "primitive" part of the brain in evolutionary terms) called the raphe nuclei. Because these neurons project their axons to multiple brain regions, serotonin acts widely across the brain. After being released by the neurons in the raphe nuclei, those same neurons reabsorb the excess of serotonin.Until recently, it was very difficult to study the biological mechanism underlying serotonin's action because there were no fast and specific ways to stimulate the release of this neurotransmitter in the brain while simultaneously looking at a mouse's behavior. But nowadays, thanks to a technique called optogenetics, which uses light to manipulate neurons (by stimulating or silencing them), it is possible to observe the impact of serotonin on the behavior of these animals.Using optogenetics, the team stimulated the release of serotonin from neurons in the raphe nuclei. They first induced "peaks" of serotonin by stimulating these neurons with pulses of light, lasting three seconds every ten seconds, over three five-minute time periods.The mice, placed in a box, were left free to explore their environment. In these conditions, their most frequent spontaneous behaviors are walking around, rearing, grooming, digging holes or keeping relatively still, but nevertheless alert.The only difference the scientists saw was that stimulation caused the mice to reduce their locomotive speed by about 50%. In general, this stimulation of serotonin-producing neurons did not affect other behaviors.The effect of these serotonin "peaks" on locomotion was almost instantaneous (speed reduction manifested one second after stimulation) and transient, with things going back to normal after five seconds. But during this short period of time, "the animals acted as if they weren't motivated", says Zach Mainen, who led the study.However, locomotive speed was affected only when the animals were not immersed in a particularly engaging task at the time of stimulation. "These stimulations reduced the animals' motor activity only when they were freely exploring a new environment, with no directed 'goals'", says co-author Patricia Correia, who carried out the experiments, and, together with colleague and co-author Eran Lottem, analised the results."But the same stimulation does not have any effect if the animal is already engaged in a specific task such as running to get a reward", she adds. "Our study reveals that serotonin has a direct effect on the mouse's locomotion and exploration, and potentially on motivation."The scientists further showed that the slowing-down effect is not due to an increase of their anxiety levels - a factor that could seriously hinder movement. "What we see is some other motivational component, which is neither anxiety nor reward expectation", explains Zach Mainen.The next step was to determine what would happen if they stimulated the serotonin-producing neurons repeatedly for a longer period of time.To do this, in a second series of experiments, the team stimulated the mice daily over 24 consecutive days. Surprisingly, even though each stimulation still transiently reduced locomotive speed, overall locomotive speed progressively increased. At the end of more than three weeks of this regimen, it was 30% to 40% higher than it had been compared to the starting point. "This long term effect took us completely by surprise", says Zach Mainen. "Long term stimulation triggered a second effect. The mice became globally more active", explains Patricia Correia.This second effect "is a weird but important feature of the serotonin system", says Zach Mainen. "We don't know what it means in terms of depression, but the motivation to move may be related to a state of apathy."The existence of this second effect, which is associated with the long term increase of serotonin levels in the brain, may nonetheless also explain why SSRIs take about three weeks to have an effect on depressive symptoms. "SSRIs work, in part, on the serotonin system - and maybe we've stumbled on something related to why they take so long to produce an effect", concludes Zach Mainen.Source: Eurekalert
ISROs launch of 104 satellites made news around the world because the hard-working team of Indian scientists broke the previous Russian record of launching 37 satellites, in a triumphant fashion.

The launch was monitored by various space agencies around the world especially because of the cost-effective manner in which the ISRO goes about its affairs. That a country which commissioned its space program in 1962 achieved this feat was a great way to answer all those critics who believed that India is light years away from doing something good in the commercial rocket space.

And so, this cartoon published in the Times of India, was a perfect retort to NYTs insulting cartoon from three years back.

 Twitter

For the uninitiated, NYT had published this cartoon after India launched its Mangalyaan mission in 2014 which angered the Indian community around the world. That cartoon was made by a Singapore based artist named Heng Kim Song.

 Twitter

People loved the TOI reply and these tweets will haunt NYT for some time to come:

Dear @nytimes Please check what @CartoonistSan @hemantmorparia have to say about your 2014 jibe at @isro .

Hope this humbles u pic.twitter.com/Lh35kI8VVC  kitsharma (@kitsharma) February 17, 2017

Old NYT cartoon was just arrogance & ignorance, while India's @isro launched 104 satellites, in one go, of which 96 from the US. #ISRO pic.twitter.com/EGW3EFphBE  deepak (@deepakkmohanty) February 15, 2017

Well done ISRO! Now on to bigger and better stuff!
As the nation sat glued to their TV sets watching ISRO's workhorse, PSLV-C37, launch 104 satellites into space+  a new world record  the vapour trail of this dream leads back to the year 1962. It was then that the rocket dreams were first conjured up in meetings of the National Committee for Space Research (NCSR) at Ahmedabad PRL, under the leadership of Vikram Sarabhai. Back then, it was a proposal to fly American made Nike-Apache sounding rockets for upper atmospheric studies. On Wednesday, of the 104 satellites the PSLV carried and successfully put into orbit, 96 were American satellites.

At those NCSR meetings were three Ahmedabad-based scientists, Dr Praful Bhavsar, Dr Satya Prakash and Prof U D Desai. Sarabhai had sought help from the United Nations and NASA to help set up the Thumba rocket launching station at Trivandrum. By 1963, Prof Bhavsar and Dr G S Moorthy were in-charge of launching the country's first rocket, the 725kg Nike-Apache sounding rocket on November 21, 1963. The rocket had travelled at 3,800km per hour.

 Twitter

"Vikram wanted to free the nation from the clutches of poverty by using technology and development of science, dissemination of information, nuclear power for self-reliance and a management institute for a competitive business environment and he set up institutions for that," Dr Bhavsar told TOI in an earlier interview.

Dr Bhavsar was handpicked by Dr Sarabhai in 1948 for PRL, to study cosmic rays. Dr Bhavsar claims that by 1950, most discussions at PRL centered on rockets and satellites. So it was on November 20, 1967, that India first launched its indigenously made Rohini RH-75 sounding rocket from Thumba. Along with this launch was a Judy-dart rocket with an indigenous payload. Dr Bhavsar said the first Rohini sounding rocket did not carry a payload and was just to see whether India had the capability to launch its own rockets. "We came out triumphant in the very first attempt," said Dr Bhavsar.
A class of fifth graders freaked out in the middle of class when their science teacher proposed to their match teacher in front of them. Watch the video here:

Fifth grade class erupts in cheers when their science teacher proposes to their math teacher in the middle of class. https://t.co/lBEKAokg0e pic.twitter.com/9erUf6AkIz  ABC News (@ABC) February 17, 2017

"I knew they would freak out, they'd be a little bit hyper and they were just overwhelmed with excitement," Seifert told ABC News.

"Some students said they were snooping on Facebook and saw that we were in a relationship. There would be a brave kid that would make some comments like, 'I heard you and Miss. Barker were dating.' I'd say, 'Really? You heard that? I hadn't really heard that yet!'"

Jason Seifert, 39, and Ally Barker, 28 then late got engaged on Valentines Day.
The Mughal era was one of the most extravagant eras of Indian history. With a love of art, wine and luxury, the Mughal Empire saw a flourishing of architecture and some of the most majestic monuments were built at this time. But as is with all things extravagant, the empire saw decline during the British Raj, with the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar being a patron of arts and poetry.

 Pinterest

Once overflowing with wealth and luxury, the Mughal Empire ended with Bahadur Shah Zafar who was exiled to Rangoon on account of the murder of 57 Europeans in his palace that was being used by the rebels of the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, though he wasnt involved in the killing. And thereon, the glitter of the empire faded.

 Famous Wonders

His great-grandaughter-in-law Sultana Begum now lives in a small slum in Kolkata and lives off a meager pension of Rs 6000 form the government. In stark contrast to the opulence in which her ascendants lived, Sultana Begum can hardly make ends meet.

 Dailymail

Sultana had even appealed to the government, asking for monetary help. In 2003, the government gave her Rs 50,000 and an apartment, but the poor woman fell victim to local goons who threw her out of the apartment. She ran a tea stall but even that was not enough to provide for her and her 6 children.

 Quora

She had written a letter to Sonia Gandhi citing her ancestry and asking the government to provide her a decent life. She wrote, "The Union government earns crores of rupees from such places (Mughal buildings) per year in entry fee from visitors. But, descendants of actual owners of these properties are deprived of any compensation and are left to starve."
BERLIN, Feb 17 (Reuters) - German unions and the federal states have agreed on a wage increase for more than 2 million civil servants and other public sector employees of 4.35 percent over the next two years, the Verdi and dbb unions said on Friday.

Pay will rise 2.0 percent this year, starting retroactively on January 1, and 2.35 percent from January 2018, they said.

Germany's biggest white collar union Verdi had initially demanded a yearly pay hike of 6 percent.

(Reporting by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Louise Ireland)
* Spiegel report says IMF to contribute up to 5 bln euros

* IMF's position on Greece has not changed, spokesman says

* Merkel, Lagarde to meet for talks next Wednesday (Adds IMF comment, Merkel/Lagarde meeting, background)

By David Lawder and Michael Nienaber

WASHINGTON/BERLIN, Feb 17 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund declined to comment on a media report on Friday that it was likely to contribute up to 5 billion euros ($5.3 billion) to a third bailout package for Greece, saying its views on the deal had not shifted.

The German magazine Der Spiegel said in an unsourced report that European lenders were now expecting the IMF to contribute a sum of this size after first having hoped for 16 billion euros.

"We will not comment on speculation. The Fund's position is well known and hasn't changed," an IMF spokesman in Washington said.

It remains unclear whether the Fund will be involved in the programme, and this is likely to be one of the main talking points when German Chancellor Angela Merkel and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde meet next Wednesday.

Germany's government, gearing up for what is forecast to be a close-run national election in September, opposes debt relief for Greece as demanded by the IMF. Still, Berlin says the current programme can only continue if the Fund joins in.

A finance ministry spokeswoman on Friday reiterated the government's position that Berlin considers it essential that the IMF participate in Greece's third aid-for-reforms package.

The Fund has insisted on debt relief and precautionary fiscal measures to ensure that Athens can meet its fiscal targets before it will consider participating in the bailout.

Without new policies, the IMF believes Greece can only meet a primary fiscal surplus target of 1.5 pct of gross domestic product by 2018.

The Spiegel report said the IMF had now adopted the view of European lenders that Greece should post a primary budget surplus of 3.5 percent in order to get fresh aid.

Story continues

RED LINE

In Athens, Labour Minister Effie Achtsioglou said Greece could not cut pensions any further as demanded by the IMF, drawing a line in the sand days before euro zone finance ministers assess Greece's progress in fulfilling the conditions of its bailout.

The review has been beset by delays and disputes between Greece and its European Union and IMF creditors. As disagreement has arisen over Greece's fiscal targets and reforms prescribed under its bailout programme, fears have grown that Europe could face a new financial crisis.

Greece's slow progress in carrying out reforms has been overshadowed by the rift between Germany and the IMF over the size of projected fiscal surpluses in and after 2018, when the third bailout, worth up to 86 billion euros, is due to end.

The IMF insists that Athens cannot meet the EU's target for a primary surplus of 3.5 percent of economic output in 2018 unless it adopts more austerity.

But rather than more Greek belt-tightening, the IMF says it wants the primary surplus target cut to 1.5 percent of GDP and wants significant debt relief for Athens.

Euro zone officials said last week that the lenders would ask Greece to broaden the tax base and cut pensions again, in measures which together would be worth 3.6 billion euros or 2 percent of GDP. (1 = 0.9383 euros) (Additional reporting by Michele Kambas and Renee Maltezou in Athens; Writing by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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JAKARTA, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Indonesia's mining ministry said on Friday it has issued a recommendation that is expected to allow the local unit of Freeport McMoRan Inc to resume copper concentrate exports within days.

The announcement comes after a more than one-month stoppage which push global copper prices to 21-month highs this week.

Freeport will be allowed to export 1.1 million tonnes of copper concentrate over the next one year, the mining ministry said in a statement seen by Reuters.

(Reporting by Wilda Asmarini; writing by Fergus Jensen and Kanupriya Kapoor; editing by Jason Neely)
Alternate Foreign Minister G. Katrougalos paid a two-day visit to Berlin, following an invitation of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) parliamentary group, and met with German federal MPs.

More specifically, Mr. Katrougalos spoke at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), on the subject of "The future of Europe: challenges and prospects".

Subsequently, he had a working luncheon with the President of the Bundestag Budget Committee, G. Lotzsch (Die Linke).

Mr. Katrougalos was also a guest keynote speaker at an event hosted by the SPD parliamentary group, on "Our Europe: Strong-Social-Just -- Ensuring EU cohesion in the face of growing nationalism," which was participated in by the Labour Ministers of Germany, Austria and Sweden. In his address, he raised issues concerning collective bargaining and the need to bring it back, highlighting the need for a broader social alliance of progressive forces so that we can pull away from neoliberalism.

Today, Mr. Katrougalos had meetings at the Bundestag with the Deputy Chairperson of the Die Linke party, Axel Troost, and MPs of the same party. He then addressed the Bundestag's European Affairs Committee and participated in an exchange of opinions on issues of European and Greek interest.
Deputy Foreign Minister Terens-Nikolaos Quick met at the Foreign Ministry today with the honorary Consul of Botswana in Greece, Nektarios Polychroniou, and was briefed on special issues concerning Botswana and on the Greek community living and working there.

The meeting was held in the context of preparations for the visits the Deputy Foreign Minister is scheduling to select countries of sub-Saharan Africa-- some of which have never before been visited by a member of the Greek government -- with which it is deemed that there is room for strengthening of bilateral political and economic relations.
* Investors cheer ECB hints at bond purchase adjustments

* Leadership contest seen delaying explosive Italy election

* French yields up on prospect of socialist election tie-up

* Euro zone periphery govt bond yields http://tmsnrt.rs/2ii2Bqr (Updates prices)

By John Geddie

LONDON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Italy's benchmark government bond yield was set for its first weekly fall for over a month on Friday as investors pushed back their expectations for elections and tipped the country to benefit more from central bank debt purchases.

While the country's benchmark 10-year yield edged up on the day, it remained near a three-week low struck Thursday after the European Central Bank kept the door open to changing the proportion of bonds it buys from each country.

The ECB currently weights its purchases based on the size of a country's economy, meaning the lion's share of buying is in Germany, but investors expect any deviation from that could benefit countries with the biggest debt pools such as Italy.

Investors in Italy have been beset by political worries since the resignation of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi last December as it potentially paves the way for new elections in which the eurosceptic 5-star Movement could be contenders.

Renzi's call this week for a leadership contest in his ruling party appears to have brought some respite as it is seen as potentially delaying those elections.

A prominent Italian minister said on Friday it would be impossible to hold a national election in June unless Renzi backed down.

"The mood was improving in the first half of the week for Italian bonds and Renzi was a factor in that but the largest part of the movement came after the ECB minutes," said Luca Cazzulani, a rates strategist at UniCredit in Milan.

Italian 10-year bond yields edged up 3 basis points (bps) to 2.18 percent, only giving up some of the 16 bps fall seen on Thursday that pushed yields to a near three-week low of 2.13 percent.

Yields were set for around a 9 bps drop on the week, their first weekly fall in five.

Story continues

The gap between Italian and German bond yields - which moved lower on the day to 0.31 percent - sat at around 187 bps, well off a three-year high of over 200 bps hit 10 days ago.

Friday's rise in Italian yields came during a corresponding rise in French yields as a new twist in the race for the France's presidency rattled investors.

The two main left-leaning candidates in the election are holding talks on possible cooperation, a move that could potentially put one of them in contention to reach the crucial election run-off.

Investors fear a hard-left Socialist candidate such as Benoit Hamon would fare worse against the anti-EU, anti-immigrant Marine Le Pen than other centrist contenders.

For Reuters Live Markets blog on European and UK stock markets see reuters://realtime/verb=Open/url=http://emea1.apps.cp.extranet.thomsonreuters.biz/cms/?pageId=livemarkets

(Editing by Keith Weir and Mark Potter)
Soon to face a weighty rival.

Nearly ten years after its launch, M-Pesa finally has what could be a major competitor in the multi-billion dollar mobile money transactions business.

Kenyan banks, who petitioned regulators to prevent M-Pesas launch in 2007, have now launched PesaLink, a mobile and electronic money transaction service.

After regulators quashed banks concerns and gave M-Pesa a chance in Mar. 2007, banks were amongst the first players to strike partnerships with the service after its run-away success from the onset. At least 40 banks used it to grow their deposits, issue out loans and facilitate bills payments serving over 3.1 million customers every month. In 2012, the banks estimated they were losing up to $22 million annually in commissions to mobile money providers such as M-Pesa and Airtel.

While M-Pesa limits daily money transfer amounts to 140,000 Kenya shillings ($1,400), banks have set the limit at up to $10,000 meaning they are likely to attract a larger constituency of high value transfers. PesaLink transactions can also be initiated from the mobile phone, the banks branch, at the ATM, at agency banking outlets or via the Internet.

The banks can deliver scale because as a customer, you get to keep your bank account and still transact with people having accounts in other banks in real time, says Eric Musau, an analyst at Nairobi-based Standard Investment Bank.

It is certainly a much stronger proposition and competitor to M-Pesa.

Kenyan Bankers Association chief executive Habil Olaka sees PesaLink as a complementary tool to existing financial products including mobile money.

Users can transact up to $5 free of charge unlike M-Pesas feeless limit of $1. They also dont have to rely on M-Pesa or other mobile money services and can simply transfer money from one bank account to another in real time using the banking sector platform.

Story continues

George Bodo, head of banking research at Ecobank says the costs and waiting period associated with transacting large value transactions of say, $10,000 will decline significantly. The previous process involved drawing of cheques or making electronic funds transfers, which are lengthy and costly.

This is just an enhancement in the retail payments space. It is what the banks should have done a while back, he tells Quartz.

But, a crucial competitor advantage with M-Pesa is its ubiquity and the ease with which it has helped millions of people access financial services. In the past many of these people were locked out because the cost of owning a bank account was way too high for them.

Like most products that go on to dominate their respective sectors, Safaricoms M-Pesa is synonymous for mobile money transfer and for this reason we think it will be difficult for the banks to significantly disrupt this relationship, analysts at Exotix Partners observe (pdf).

Currently, M-Pesa controls 85% of person-to-person money transfer valued at over $7 billion in the first half of 2016. In second place is Equitel, a mobile money service operated by Equity Bank, at 15% with $1.1 billion in transfers in the same period.

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CASS CITY  The state of Michigans directive to preserve a historic building is delaying construction and substantially adding to the cost of a proposed grocery store in downtown Cass City.

Last fall, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) and the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) requested Mark Molter keep the Cass City Antique Mall and include it in the design to build his Farm Fresh Supermarket in the heart of the downtown.

Honoring the states request added several thousands of dollars to the stores cost and requires new blueprints of the store, which had been expected to start construction in April.

Molters original plan to build a 21,000-square foot, Spartan-brand store included tearing down the former Fairway Discount store, which cannot be used because of a fire years ago and abandonment for years has compromised the stores integrity, as well as the Cass City Antique Mall at 6544 Main St. Plus, it includes relocating Rotary Park, which is located between the two stores.

Having to start over again doing the stores design is a setback. We are working closely with the state on this to determine exactly want they want us to do and the design they want so there wont be any more design changes, Molter said. The changes the state wants is about one-quarter of the exterior.

We were thrown a curve ball on this. It will add several more months to when we would be able to break ground.

The estimated cost for the original store was about $5 million, now its estimated at about $5.8 million.

To do the changes the state wants, will add about 15 percent more to the cost  about $800,000, he said, noting he is trying to get grants to help with the additional cost to include the historic building in the design.

In keeping the antique mall, the buildings design would provide a kind of farmers market atmosphere.

Molter is also working with the MEDC to try to secure funding to help with the cost of bringing a grocery story to the community of about 2,372 residents, who have been without a local grocery store since Erlas grocery closed about five years ago.

Despite the setbacks, Molter said he is trying to forge ahead.

The changes to satisfy the state have been frustrating. Im trying to work through it, he said. I like the community, and the location where I hope to build. ... Its an exciting project, and would help with the downtown, being vibrant.

His plan is to build a state-of-the art market that would include meat and butcher shop section, fresh fruits and vegetables, a bakery and a deli.

In November 2016, the Cass City Downtown Development Authority recommended selling the antique mall building to Molter for about $54,000, which is the remaining cost of the village-owned structure, and the council approved the sale.
This essay appears in todays edition of the Fortune Brainstorm Health Daily. Get it delivered straight to your inbox.

Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!

So shouted Howard Cosell two minutes into the first round of the Sunshine Showdown in Jamaica, as a punishing upper cut from George Foreman sent Smokin' Joe to the canvas on January 22, 1973.

And if you listen very closely, there are echoes of Cosell's legendary incantation, his exultant chime, in this one-sentence call made yesterday by a three-judge patent trial and appeal board in Alexandria, Virginia:

"In light of the determination that the parties' claims do not interfere...we enter judgment of no interference-in-fact, which neither cancels nor finally refuses either parties' claims."

It takes a second or two, but you can hear, in those words, the brutal poetry of pugilism. The biggest biotech fight of the century thus far, the heavyweight title bout between the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT and the University of California over the ownership of the CRISPR-Cas9 genome-editing technology--or the Thrilla in Virginia, as I described it in December--is over. And decided by the most technical of TKOs.

"Down goes Doudna!" the words from the patent office cry.

That would be Jennifer Doudna, of UC Berkeley, who developed the modern-day version of CRISPR--a revolutionary hack of an age-old bacterial defense system--with Emmanuelle Charpentier, who is now affiliated with Berlin's Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology. The technique, widely hailed as a breakthrough, allows for the simple and (mostly) precise editing of virtually any genome.

But...the most valuable patents for this invention (at least for now) will remain with the Broad scientist who got the patent office to "fast track" his claim. Yesterday's ruling effectively said that Feng Zhang's adoption of the technique in human and mouse cells was, in fact, a new and patentable invention rather than an "obvious" extension of Doudna's and Charpentier's work. (Sharon Begley at STAT has a nice analysis here as well as a link to the patent appeal board's 51-page explanation of its judgment.)

Story continues

That decision could be worth billions of dollars to the Broad and its parent institutions. And in my view, it will also put yet another chill on collaborative science, forcing inventors to keep their discoveries close to the vest until they're absolutely sure they've unlocked every last cent of financial value. Expect university lawyers and tech transfer offices to tighten those lids even more than they already do.

After that first knockdown by Foreman in the 1973 bout, the champ got his mandatory eight count and then returned to his feet. But in round two, Frazier would go to the mat five more times before the fight was called.

The University of California released a press release yesterday that suggests it isn't giving up hope. But just as with the Foreman-Frazier fight, this match is clearly won.

See original article on Fortune.com

More from Fortune.com
The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said Thursday he doesn't expect the administration to order a major push of ground troops into Syria, or a new buildup of combat forces in Afghanistan, even though both possibilities have been publicly discussed in recent weeks.

Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill, Rep. Mac Thornberry, a Republican from Texas, said he believes the advise-and-assist role that U.S. troops are currently executing in Syria as they help local forces prosecute a fight against the Islamic State is the correct one.

"I do not see the United States putting a large ground force in, to take and occupy territory in Syria," he said in response to a Military.com question. "I do believe this assist role is the right one for us there. Of course, having said that, that's a long way from saying I see the solution for Syria."

He added that he has concerns about Syria's future as an "ungoverned space" and potential base of operations for terrorist groups including the Islamic State and al-Qaida. Even if the coalition fight against ISIS goes well in Iraq and Syria, he said, the threat would not disappear entirely.

This week, reports surfaced that a plan being drafted by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to accelerate the fight against ISIS will include options to send a U.S. ground force into Syria, in addition to the roughly 500 troops currently filling an advise-and-assist role in the country.

It is unclear how many troops have been recommended for such a prospective ground offensive.

It's also rumored that President Donald Trump is considering sending more troops into Afghanistan, more than two years after the formal conclusion of ground combat operations in that country.

The Wall Street Journal reported in late January that Trump had mentioned in a call to Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani that he would mull sending additional troops in to assist with security.

And the commander of all coalition troops in Afghanistan, Army Gen. John Nicholson, told Congress last week that he needs several thousand more to properly execute the ongoing training and advisory mission he oversees. Currently, some 8,400 U.S. troops are deployed to Afghanistan.

Thornberry said he doesn't believe the country will see a "big buildup of huge numbers of combat troops" returning to Afghanistan, but said he opposes the strict caps on troop presence that have forced the military to pursue workarounds, such as leaving unit mechanics home and hiring expensive contractors in theater.

"If we can just get rid of the political artificiality and say, 'OK, this is what we're doing in Afghanistan. We're trying to conduct counterterrorism operations and advise and assist the Afghan forces. This is what we think it will take. And then do that, and be up front about it, and not play these political games, we'll be more efficient with our dollars, but we'll also be more effective," Thornberry said.

Deployments to Syria and Afghanistan and elsewhere in support of the counter-terrorism fight could happen without the approval of Congress, thanks to the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, or AUMF, which gave infamously broad powers to the executive branch to pursue the war on terror.

Thornberry, who introduced two previous efforts to redraft the AUMF, said he still believes a new version is needed, but could not say when that might happen.

"I think not only from a legal standpoint, but to show the men and women who are in Syria and Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere that the country stands behind their efforts," he said. "I think we have somewhat of a moral obligation to do that."

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck.
Camp Lejeune Town Halls Aim to Help Those Exposed to Toxic Water. Heres How You Can Go.

Retired Marine Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger made it his mission to tell the world that if they lived or served on Camp Lejeune...
President Trump's first choice to succeed the departed Michael Flynn as national security adviser has turned the job down due to family reasons, sources close to the situation told Fox News late Thursday.

One source told Fox that retired Navy Vice Admiral Robert Harward "really wanted" to do the job, but ultimately decided that he could not.

There was no immediate comment from the White House. Harward had been due to meet with Trump Thursday night.

At a news conference earlier Thursday, the president said he had "somebody that I think will be outstanding for the position" of national security adviser, but did not mention any names.

A former Navy SEAL, Harward served as deputy commander of the United States Central Command under Gen. James Mattis, who is now defense secretary. He quickly emerged as the favorite to replace Flynn after the latter resigned Monday night, ending days of speculation about his fate following reports that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other officials about his discussions with Russia prior to Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration.

After Flynn stepped down, Trump named retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg as the acting national security adviser. Kellogg and former CIA Director David Petraeus were the two other candidates rumored to be under consideration.

Fox News' Serafin Gomez and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Updated 4:40 p.m. Eastern

The Trump administration on Friday rejected a report of a plan to mobilize up to 100,000 National Guard troops to detain unauthorized immigrants.

The Associated Press reported a draft memo was under consideration indicating "millions" of immigrants could be affected in 11 states, not necessarily near the Mexico border.

"That is 100 percent not true," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said, according to a pool report. "It is irresponsible to be saying this."

He said, "There is no effort at all to round up, to utilize the National Guard to round up illegal immigrants. I wish you guys had asked before you tweeted," he added.

A reporter for The Associated Press said the organization repeatedly asked the White House for comment prior to publishing the story.

"I don't know what could potentially be out there, but I know that there is no effort to do what is potentially suggested," Spicer said. "It is not a White House document."

The AP reported the 11-page memo dated Jan. 25 was written by John Kelly, secretary of the Homeland Security Department and a former Marine Corps general, and addressed to the then-acting heads of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

A copy of the memo posted online calls for expanding a program to include state Guard units in the border region. The so-called 287(g) program, part of the Immigration and Nationality Act, authorizes the use of such personnel "to investigate, identify, apprehend, arrest, detain, and conduct searches of an alien for the purposes of enforcing the immigration laws," it states. The effort has identified more than 402,000 potential people for removal in an almost 10-year period through September 2015, according to the document.

"I am directing the Commissioner of CBP and the Director of ICE to immediately engage with the Governors of the States adjacent to the land border with Mexico and those States adjoining such border States for the purpose of entering into agreements under section 287(g) of the INA to authorize qualified members of the State National Guard, while such members are not in federal service, or qualified members of a state militia or state defense force under the command of the Governor, to perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension, and detention of aliens in the United States," the memo states.

A spokesman for the Homeland Security Department said the AP report wasn't accurate. "It's incorrect," David Lapan, the spokesman, said in an email. "The Department is not considering mobilizing the National Guard for immigration enforcement." In a follow-up email, Lapan said Kelly didn't author any memo outlining such a plan.

An unidentified department official told The New York Times the document was an early draft that wasn't reviewed by the secretary.

Sarah Sanders, a White House spokeswoman who discussed the matter with reporters on Air Force One en route to Florida, said, "Secretary Kelly did not draft that memo," according to a separate pool report. When asked who drafted it, she said, "I'm not aware of the specific person, but I know that it wasn't Secretary Kelly or at his direction."

Spokespeople for the Defense Department, Army National Guard and Air National Guard said they weren't aware of the proposal.

The U.S. military has roughly 441,000 members of the Guard, including 335,000 in the Army National Guard and 106,000 Air National Guard, according to Pentagon budget documents from fiscal 2017, which began Oct. 1.

The Guardsmen are part of an overall military force of about 2 million troops across the active and reserve components.

An estimated 11 million people live in the U.S. without authorization, according to the AP.

-- Hope Hodge Seck, Richard Sisk, Matthew Cox and Oriana Pawlyk contributed to this report.

-- Brendan McGarry can be reached at brendan.mcgarry@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Brendan_McGarry.
"Do nothing" and "shoot it right out of the water" were two possible courses of action President Donald Trump mentioned Thursday with regards to a Russian intelligence ship that has been loitering in international waters off the East Coast.

Trump mentioned Russia 56 times during a wide-ranging and rambling 80-minute press conference but ultimately refused to provide any insight into his plans regarding the presence of the Vishnya-class ship Viktor Leonov, which has been slowly moving down the coast, briefly lingering about 30 miles offshore of New London, Connecticut -- home to a Navy submarine base -- before transiting toward Norfolk, Virginia.

Trump used the ship as a talking point in defense of what some have perceived as his close relationship with Russia.

"If we could get along with Russia, that's a positive thing," he said. "We have a very talented man, [Secretary of State] Rex Tillerson, who's probably going to be meeting with them shortly and I told him. I said, 'I know politically, it's probably not good for me.' The greatest thing I could do is shoot that ship that's 30 miles offshore right out of the water."

Asked by a reporter about the presence of the ship as well as other recent provocations -- including a Feb. 10 incident last week in which the guided-missile destroyer Porter was "buzzed" by multiple Russian fighter aircraft while it conducted operations in the Black Sea, and the test launch of a Russian intercontinental ballistic missile in January -- Trump repeatedly called the incidents "not good."

He connected the three incidents, saying they were "doing the same thing," but said he wasn't going to tell the public anything "about the response I do."

"So when you ask me what am I going to do with a ship, the Russian ship as an example, I'm not going to tell you," he said. "But hopefully, I won't have to do anything, but I'm not going to tell you."

From an international law perspective, the Russian spy ship has been operating within accepted norms, which recognize a nation's territorial waters as extending 12 miles from the shoreline. The U.S. Navy follows the same protocols when it conducts routine patrols around the world and freedom of navigation operations in contested regions such as the South China Sea.

Notably, it's not the first time the Viktor Leonov has been spotted lurking offshore. It was also observed off the East Coast, ostensibly to gather intelligence on U.S. submarine operations, in 2014 and 2015.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck.

Related Video:
Alexandre Mars Epic Foundation

Alexandre Mars is a serial entrepreneur who has been dubbed the "French Bill Gates."

Since he started his first company at the age of 17, he says his goal has been to create a movement around charitable giving.

Mars now runs Epic Foundation, a non-profit that aims to ensure 100% of philanthropists' money reaches their charity of choice. Now it wants to encourage businesses to donate 1% of their profits to charity and launch a new platform to encourage non-wealthy donors to give to good causes.

Ever since he was a teenager, Alexandre Mars has always wanted to create something for social good. The French serial entrepreneur turned philanthropist said he always pictured his life as a quest to fulfill that goal.

"You know you will have to battle hard and fight. But you will be successful. That's epic for me," the serial entrepreneur Alexandre Mars told Business Insider.

Mars is the founder of Epic Foundation, a non-profit aiming to improve charitable giving by ensuring that 100% of a donation actually reaches the people it is meant to reach.

Until now, it has targeted only wealthy people and companies. But in March, the foundation will launch a new platform called Epic Generation, to enable anybody to donate even small amounts to charity.

Mars fronts all the operational costs for Epic. The foundation was started in 2014 and now has 25 employees across five global offices.

Mars wants to create a global movement of social good

41-year-old Mars, made much of his wealth as a serial entrepreneur, creating over five online and mobile marketing companies. One of those he sold to Publicis Groupe and another to Blackberry.

His goal has always been to create a social good company, something he kept in mind when he was creating and selling companies. This led to French media referring to him as the country's Bill Gates, but Mars says he isn't as wealthy  although he doesn't disclose his net worth  and has always wanted to create a way to empower everybody to give to charity.

Story continues

With the new platform, Mars wants to reach a younger millennial audience that he believes is one of the most socially engaged generations to have existed.

"We want to democratize giving. Maybe you don't have 50 grand for me, but you want to give 25 bucks," he said.

Epic goes through a careful process to select NGOs and social enterprises, all focusing on helping young people from the age of zero to 25-years-old, that will make up the shortlist from which donors can choose. Last year, 1,900 organizations applied to be a part of the foundation. Of those, Mars and his team selected only 10. At the time of the interview, he was in the middle of the selection for the 2017 batch.

"We behave like a venture capitalist. We have 45 data points to help us decide which organizations we'll select and we spend seven months vetting every social organization presented to us," he explained.

Epic doesn't disclose its donor sheet, but, according Fast Company, it includes executives from tech companies Vice, Facebook, and Giphy, as well as firms like L'Oreal and the supermarket chain Carrefour.

I was delighted to speak at The HEC Investment Banking and Private Equity Alumni Group event in London and share my views on entrepreneurship and philanthropy. I hope you will join the EPIC journey! Thank you for having me @AssociationHECAlumni! #hecalum A post shared by Alexandre Mars (@alexandremars9) on Nov 10, 2016 at 1:20am PST on Nov 10, 2016 at 1:20am PST

As a larger share of younger people come into the workforce, Mars explained it's also important not just for the wealthy to give to social causes but for companies to participate in the movement.

"An organization can become the new Nokia or Kodak, not because they didn't see the wave of technology coming, but because they didn't see the wave of social disruption coming," he said.

Companies that are part of the Epic Foundation pledge 1% of their profits to social causes.

"The French Bill Gates"

Originally from the south of France, Mars grew up living in the United States and his home country. He attributes much of his success to his parents and multicultural background. Mars' father was a consultant and entrepreneur, something Mars said drove him to start over five companies. His mom, a former airline stewardess, was the one who instilled in him a social consciousness, Mars said. It's something he wants to pass on to his own children.

When Mars spoke to Business Insider in New York  his adopted home  the city was experiencing a blizzard, and he was returning from a homeless shelter with his kids.

In his home country of France, Mars was given the label of the "French Bill Gates" by Le Monde. Unlike the American one, Mars said he doesn't have the power to change laws in developing countries. His goal is to change the mindset of people and drive more social good.

Alexandre Mars Epic Foundation

Mars said he always knew he wanted to create something that would have a social impact: "When I was 20, I was sure that it would take me three years to become the next Bill Gates. It would be easy and fast."

He laughed at his own naivety: "As we all know, it's super hard to be successful. You work really hard, it takes amazing team and cunningness to get there."

It took him 21 years, somewhat longer than the three years he had envisioned.

Mars started his first company, a concert promotions agency, at the age of 17, after his parents had returned to France. Four years later, he started one of the first online marketing agencies in France, called A2X, while simultaneously launching his own venture capital firm, Mars Capital, in the United States.

"It was very hard at the beginning, I was 20 with a ponytail and a beard trying to explain to the decision makers that the internet will be the next big thing," he said.

Alexandre Mars Epic Foundation

His fourth startup would turn out to be the one to really put Mars on the map. He founded Phonevalley, which he built into the largest mobile marketing agency in Europe before selling it to the French advertising group Publicis, where it became the agency's mobile marketing division with him at the head.

In 2013, after his earnout finished, Mars left the holding company, and turned his focus to another startup he had started in parallel to Phonevalley. Called ScrOOn, it was a social media marketing service that allowed brands to manage their social media, at a time when social networks were still emerging.

"I'm bad at many, many things but what I'm good at is seeing the wave coming and being able to interpret that wave," Mars said. He sold ScrOOn to Blackberry in 2013 for an undisclosed amount.

After selling two of his companies, Mars decided to take a step away from tech startups.

For him, starting and selling companies was always a means to an end, with the goal to create something philanthropic.

"I had the skills from being an entrepreneur, I had the network from traveling the world to meet people, and now I finally had the money," Mars said.

Combining entrepreneurship and philanthropy

Mars and his wife then took their children out of school for a year and traveled the world, on what he called a "market research" journey. They visited both social organizations and met with donors to find the best approach.

Mars found people held back from giving to charities because of a lack of trust in them, an inability to track what happened with a donation, and donors' lack of knowledge when it came to choosing the right organization. With Epic Foundation, Mars set out to right that. The foundation puts a number of apps and tools at the disposal of donors through which they choose the charity they want to give to and track what's happening with their money.

For Mars, this allows him to do everything he would do as an entrepreneur.

"I still work a lot, even more than I used to," he said.

Another great session with our amazing Paris2024 'Sport & Society' team! @grandcorpsmalad @TonyESTANGUET @SBetsen @michelcymes and many more.... A post shared by Alexandre Mars (@alexandremars9) on Nov 5, 2016 at 3:36am PDT on Nov 5, 2016 at 3:36am PDT

Alongside Epic Foundation he runs his family office, called blisce/, through which he has invested in a number of large tech companies, including Spotify, Pinterest, and Alibaba prior to its IPO. He was also named the chair of the committee for the 2024 Paris Olympics bid, which he said, in an editorial for the Huffington Post France, was the first Olympic Games candidacy placing social issues at its heart.

Creating more social good is fundamentally at the core of everything he does. 85% of his time is dedicated to Epic Foundation.

"We're in this new era where purpose is everywhere. We're building a social good movement, it's why we didn't want to have a business model attached to it," Mars said.

"Epic is a startup, the goal for the future is to keep building new tools and open new offices, the only difference is we change lives and we don't make money."

NOW WATCH: Watch Budweisers Super Bowl ad  it makes a strong statement on immigration





More From Business Insider


Were still getting suckered by malware.

Too many of us still fall for the old click this attachment email trick, and get our computers infected with malware or viruses. The result: our data is increasingly being taken hostage by ransomware creators.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Malwarebytes new State of Malware Report 2017 brings that and more bad news about security to light. But a chat with one of the people behind the study offered a few reasons to be optimistic, as well. Specifically, that a lot of todays software, if properly updated, can help protect itself.

Ransomware rising

Ransomware, or apps that encrypt your data and then demand you pay a ransom (usually in Bitcoin) for a decryption key, have become a big business. In fact, the malware has afflicted everything from hospital computer systems to the occasional smart TV to the more than 100 surveillance cameras in Washington hacked days before President Trumps inauguration.

Malwarebytes report which is largely based on data from the companys Windows and Android anti-malware apps, helps provide some context as to how bad the ransomware problem has become.

According to the report, in January 2016, ransomware constituted 18% of all malware delivered by email or through exploits of existing software. By November 2016, it had climbed to 66%, which the report labels an unprecedented domination of the threat landscape.

The U.S. is the top target, while Russia, the home of many ransomware developers, is one of the least popular targets.

Ransomware will hold your computer hostage unless you pay up.

In a phone interview, Malwarebytes director of malware intelligence Adam Kujawa noted the pickiness exhibited by the two major families of ransomware, Cerber and Locky: Both avoid any systems that appear to be coming from Russia or the surrounding countries.

Old cons come back

But thats not the depressing part of this report if youve been following the virus business for a while. That comes when you learn that Malwarebytes still sees a lot of malware getting on computers via in email attachments, many of which are Microsoft (MSFT) Office attachments with embedded macros whose code will attack your computer.

Story continues

Those techniques date back to the days of dial-up internet, when Office was much more lenient about running macros in random documents and defending against them was harder.

And yet here they are again. As Kujawa put it: Where are we, 2005?

Todays malware spam often comes personalized for particular users and tries to fool them into thinking that clicking a button in a Word document or Excel spreadsheet will unlock it for viewing, when in reality it will start a download of malicious code that can then take over their computers.

(You can read a detailed breakdown of one such attack in this December post from Sophos researcher Paul Ducklin.)

Other opponents

The Malwarebytes report also calls out a few other growing hazards online. One ad fraud malware, which can generate a decent amount of income for cybercriminals, proved nearly as popular as ransomware. Ad fraud malware commanders a victims computer to visit sites and click on ads placed by the authors of the malware attack or their business partners.

The report further nods to the rise in botnet software taking over computers  including Internet of Things devices like connected security cameras  and using them as part of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. Unlike ransomware, however, the U.S. isnt seeing the worst of this form of malware. According to Malwarebytes, 61.2% of all botnets are found in Asia, while about 15% are found in Europe.

Even your connected refrigerator can be turned against you.

Interestingly, the U.S. was the leading venue for Android malware, with 12.74% of all detections happening here. But if you stick to Googles (GOOG) Play Store for downloading apps  the default in the U.S.  your odds of being the victim of an attack are exceedingly low.

Kujawa noted that Google does a good job of quickly yanking the occasional malware app that sneaks into its app market. He further added that Apples (AAPL) iOS, which cant connect to alternative app sources, is even safer.

Not all software is created equal

While Malwarebytes report leaves it to the reader to figure out how to avoid being a victim of malware, Kujawa pointed out that many of these attacks can be thwarted by using current software.

A lot of these exploit kits, the vulnerabilities they target, theyve been patched for a long time, he said. For example, he noted one common way criminals attack peoples computers is through an Adobe (ADBE) Flash flaw from 2012  but his advice for that fast-fading media plug-in remains to disable it entirely.

(Follow Adobes instructions to uninstall Flash.)

The operating system you run matters, too. You may feel comfortable with Windows 7, but Kujawa called Windows 10 a more secure operating system at the base level, and other security researchers have come to the same conclusion.

The Mac remains relatively more secure, even after incidents like last years brief ransomware outbreak. Said Kujawa: Every year, we say this is the year when Mac malware is going to be huge, and it has yet to come to fruition.

But more secure software doesnt mean that malware authors will give up and get real jobs. Theyll just switch their attention to attacking our brains instead of our apps, trying various forms of social engineering to get us to pause our skepticism and click the wrong link just this one time, because its really important.

More from Rob:

Email Rob at rob@robpegoraro.com; follow him on Twitter at @robpegoraro.
The World Affairs Council of Western Michigan's "Great Discussion" series continues at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27, with a discussion on "South China Sea: Clash of Strategies."

The speaker will be John Adams, a retired U.S. Army brigadier general, who will lay out a road map on how to deal with China as a growing world power.

Adams retired from the U.S. Army in 2007, after more than 30 years of active duty. He was deployed outside the United States for more than 18 years, including in Operation Desert Storm in 1991, Operation Guardian Assistance in Rwanda in 1996, throughout the Balkans from 1998 to 2003; and on temporary duty in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2004.

He was stationed at the Pentagon, in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, on Sept. 11, 2001, and participated in disaster recovery operations at the terrorist crash site and coordinated international support for the diplomatic and military response.

He was formally designated as a U.S. Army strategist in 1993, and served in strategic intelligence assignments for much of his subsequent career, including three intelligence assignments with the Defense Intelligence Agency in Europe and northeast Asia, focused among other issues on the relationship with China.

His final military assignment was deputy U.S. military representative to the NATO Military Committee in Belgium. He is a two-time recipient of the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Bronze Star, and the Director of Central Intelligence's Exceptional Human Intelligence Collector Award.

Since retiring from active duty, Adams has studied the health of the United States defense industrial base, particularly its vulnerabilities to Chinese and other foreign disruption and exploitation, and authored a study entitled "Remaking American Security," which documents the range of vulnerabilities to the U.S. defense supply chains from China and other foreign actors.

He currently serves as president of Guardian Six LLC, a service-disabled veteran-owned business that assists clients in analyzing national security issues and navigating the defense marketplace. He serves as a member of the board of directors of Veterans Florida.

World Affairs Council discussions are open to the public and no reservations are required. Cost is $10 and parking is free. The event will be held in the Aquinas College Performing Arts Center, 1700 Fulton St. SE.
IMG_1661.JPG

University of Michigan Hillel Chair Josh Blum talks about the experience of Jewish students on campus during public comment of the Board of Regents meeting on Thursday, Feb. 16.

(Martin Slagter l The Ann Arbor News)

ANN ARBOR, MI - Several community members urged the University of Michigan Board of Regents and administrators to voice their support for the Jewish student population following anti-Semitic emails sent to students last week.

The calls for the university to support Jewish students who were targeted by anti-Semitic emails came with the belief from some who participated in public comment that a double standard has been applied by speaking out for other marginalized student groups following incidents of hate.

"I urge the university to find its voice and finally make it clear that there will be no more double standard," said Eugene Greenstein, who spoke on behalf of the Zionist Organization of America, Michigan Region. "Jewish students' concerns matter, just like everyone else's. That means truly living up to the university's commitment to create a climate of inclusion by clearly and forcefully speaking out when Jewish students are targeted ostracized and made to feel less than fully welcome."

UM President Mark Schlissel was quick to defend the university's response to the latest incident of racist and anti-Semitic emails reiterating that he has denounced the act and that bigotry on the basis of race, ethnicity and religion are not tolerated.

Schlissel also expressed his admiration for the Jewish student population at UM during the public comment session.

"Anti-Semitism is not tolerated here or elsewhere and should not ever be," Schlissel said. "I'm very proud of the fact that the University of Michigan has a thriving Jewish community, the most impressive Hillel, a thriving Chabad house, faculty, staff and at least two presidents of the institution that are Jewish, including myself.

"The rights of our Jewish students are as valuable as the rights of any other majority or minority member on the campus and I'm very proud of that community," he added.

Late Tuesday, Feb. 7, emails attacking black and Jewish students were sent to College of Engineering students by a person or persons who forged the email address of J. Alex Halderman, a professor of computer science and engineering. He said he did not send the emails and the university has determined the emails were forged or "spoofed."

The UM Division of Public Safety & Security and the ITS security team continue to investigate the incident with the help of the FBI.

Sheldon Freilich, who spoke during public comment, said he was appalled to see what he described as an ugly climate of anti-Semitism on the UM campus over the last few years, with Jewish students experiencing harassment and name calling.

"Jewish students have been harassed and intimidated on campus, violating federal civil rights law by creating a hostile environment for this religious and ethnic minority," said Freilich, the president of the Zionist Organization of America, Michigan Region. "As a citizen, I expect that college officials take the harassment of Jewish students seriously, and in the same forceful way as they respond when African-American, women, Muslim, gay and other students are targeted."

Members of the Board of Regents echoed the sentiments of Schlissel in voicing their support for Jewish students at UM, including Regent Andrea Fischer Newman.

"I want to agree with the president's remarks, and I think that abuse of any student - Muslim, Jewish or otherwise - is not acceptable on this campus," she said. "Until recently, I didn't appreciate the fact that some felt there was a double standard for Jewish students and I wanted to thank those students and others who have reached out to let me know how they feel."

Michigan Hillel Chair Josh Blum said the Jewish student group has banded together with other groups like the Black Student Union and the Michigan Refugee Assistance Program to build positive relationships at a time when acts of hate have created a tumultuous climate on campus.

"We feel it is important for our communities to show support for one another and come together," he said. "Just last week, several Hillel student leaders worked in partnership with the Michigan Refugee Assistance Program to show support for refugees. We are committed to finding more ways to bring groups and students together for positive change on this campus."
child luring report at UM.PNG

A Google Map shows the parking lot where a man is reported to have attempted to lure a child to his vehicle on University of Michigan's North Campus on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2017.

(Courtesy)

ANN ARBOR, MI - University of Michigan police are investigating a report that a man attempted to lure a child into his vehicle on Thursday, Feb. 16 on the university's North Campus.

The incident occurred about 8:15 a.m. Thursday in the NW 46 parking lot at 1400 McIntyre Drive, near the North Campus Research Complex, according to a security bulletin issued on the University of Michigan Division of Public Safety and Security website Thursday evening.

The man was reported to have waved to a 10-year-old girl to enter his vehicle, police said. The child, however, immediately ran away.

The man was described as a white male, about 50 or 60 years old, with gray hair styled "like Albert Einstein," a black leather jacket and sunglasses. His vehicle was described as a four-door black car.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the University of Michigan Division of Public Safety and Security at 734-763-1131.

In the bulletin, the division encouraged parents to speak with their children about being vigilant when it comes to strangers. The division suggested parent instruct children to never approach an unknown person's vehicle and yell 'no' and find a trusted adult if asked to do something that makes them uncomfortable or seems dangerous.

The Thursday incident is the second time in two weeks that police have reported an incident of someone attempting to lure a child to a vehicle in Washtenaw County.

An 11-year-old boy reported that a man offered him candy and a ride on Feb. 8 in Ypsilanti Township, a little more than a mile away from Lincoln Middle School.
child luring report at UM.PNG

A Google Map shows the parking lot where a man is reported to have attempted to lure a child to his vehicle on University of Michigan's North Campus on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2017.

(Courtesy)

ANN ARBOR, MI - A report of a man attempting to lure a child into his car is unrelated to a similar incident reported near an Ypsilanti school, a University of Michigan official said.

At 8:15 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, UM police responded to a report of a man attempting to lure a child into his vehicle on the university's North Campus.

The week prior, the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office investigated a report of a man driving a sedan offering a child candy and a ride home about a mile from Lincoln Middle School in Ypsilanti Township.

Diane Brown, UM Division of Public Safety and Security spokeswoman, said police do not believe the incidents are related.

There are no new updates in the investigation into the incident at UM, she said.

The reported incident at UM was in the NW 46 parking lot at 1400 McIntyre Drive, near the North Campus Research Complex.

According to UM Police, a gray-haired, white man in his 50s or 60s waved at a 10-year-old child to enter his vehicle, a black four-door car. The child ran away.

Anyone with information about the incident should call the UM Division of Public Safety and Security at 734-763-1131.

In the Ypsilanti Township incident, a white man in his mid-40s approached an 11-year-old boy at near Berwick Drive and Berwick Court and offered him candy and a ride home. The boy refused and ran away, according to the sheriff's office.

Anyone with information should call Washtenaw County Sheriff's Detective Mark Neumann at 734-323-0436 or the tip line at 734-973-7711.
mary barra

The GM CEO has enough strength to execute a major deal by selling Opel.

GM's overarching agenda now is to maximize its return on invested capital.

Barra is in a position to be the best GM leader since Alfred Sloan.

Since the news broke last week that General Motors is pursuing a sale of its European division  Opel in Germany and Vauxhall in the UK  to France's PSA Group, the deal has rapidly accelerated.

It now looks as if GM will be shedding Opel/Vauxhall, a move it contemplated and rejected in 2009, when the automaker was coming of bankruptcy and streamlining its operations.

The deal died back then not because it wasn't a good idea  GM has been struggling to make Opel, a brand it's controlled since before World War II, profitable in Europe's messy auto market. Rather, the GM board was concerned that an acquisition by Magna, a part supplier and contract car manufacturer, alongside a Russian bank would compromise GM's technology.

It's possible that GM wanted to make this move sooner, but CEO Mary Barra took the reigns at the automaker just as a massive and deadly ignition-switch recall was roiling the company. The time simply wasn't right for a major deal.

But Barra is now firmly ensconced in her leadership role, having negotiated the recall and assembled perhaps the best management team GM has ever had. The company has made bold moves under her direction including GM exiting the Russian market, pulling the Chevy brand out of Europe, and winding down Australian manufacturing.

During her tenure, GM has also forged ahead with a strategy to transform mobility. In 2016, GM launched its ride-sharing service Maven, acquired Cruise Automation, made a substantial investment in Lyft, and launch of the all-electric Chevy Bolt.

As if that wasn't impressive enough, Barra has presided over years of consecutively profitable quarters and transformed GM's balance sheet into a fortress. And as of late, the carmaker's stock price has even seen a modest uptick, which has largely disappointed investors since a 2010 IPO.

Story continues

The legacy of Alfred Sloan

Alfred Sloan My Years at GM

She was up against unprecedented challenges as the first female CEO of a major automaker, but Barra has been so effective that you have to go back to 1950s to find a leader of similar capability: GM's legendary midcentury President, Alfred Sloan, when effectively created the modern American corporation.

Barra doesn't have the 50% US market share that Sloan did, but she has considerable vision  and the capability to execute on the two major pieces of her strategy.

The Opel sale forms an integral part of this. For several years, Barra has stressed that GM will be ruthless about maximizing its return in invested capital. If there's an overarching message at the company now, that's what it is, and it's been echoed by everyone I've talked to at the carmaker.

Wasting money isn't in the playbook, and that's why GM has been making big moves in Europe and Russia, with Opel just the latest example. The moment is also ideal to sell Opel to PSA, which was bailed out by the French government and Chinese investment and needs to drastically increase its market share in Europe. The European market has also probably recovered as much as it reasonably can at this point, and the last thing Barra wants is to manage Opel through a downturn.

Chevy Chevrolet Bolt

Losing money becomes investing money

GM has by all accounts enjoyed a happy collaboration on several vehicles with PSA and CEO Carlos Tavares, so the French automaker makes for buyer ready to deal, with only the intricate politics of German and British approval to contend with (no mean feat, and Barra has been on deck with this issue, traveling to Europe this week).

Losing money in Europe can now be transformed into investing money in the US and China, which together could account for something like 40 million in annual vehicle sales in total, with GM capturing 30% and bolstering the bottom line by selling profitable trucks and SUVs.

Investment could also flow to new opportunities in ride-hailing, self-driving vehicles, and new connectivity technologies that will tap the flow of data that GM can collect with its vehicles.

Unlike the last time around, there now appears to be will at GM to say goodbye to Opel after almost a century. Barra has provided the backbone. Now all the automaker has to do is execute.

NOW WATCH: This is what it's like to drive Chevy's Tesla-killer





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GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- A Grand Rapids Police Officer who didn't administer a breathalyzer test to former Assistant Kent County Prosecutor Josh Kuiper at a crash scene won't be fired, city officials announced Friday.

Officer Adam Ickes was among three GRPD officers city officials sought to fire in the investigation of a wrong-way crash Kuiper was involved in last year. Kuiper had been drinking prior to the crash at a retirement party for his supervisor.

Friday, officials announced that the police union and City Manager Greg Sundstrom had reached an agreement -- negotiating a 30-day unpaid suspension for Ickes instead of terminating his employment.

"He has also acknowledged and accepted responsibility for his role during this event," the city said in a statement.

Ickes was the officer on the scene handling the investigation of the crash, which occurred just after midnight Nov. 19, 2016. Kuiper drove the wrong way on Union Avenue and crashed his pickup into a PT Cruiser, injuring a man getting a coat from the car.

Body cam video released in December shows Ickes ordering Kuiper to perform dexterity tests, and then later telling Kuiper that there wasn't "probable cause" to give a breathalyzer test. The video shows Kuiper having balance issues when asked to walk "heel to toe" down the sidewalk.

Kuiper has been charged with reckless driving causing serious injury -- a felony that carries a possible five-year sentence -- as well as with a misdemeanor moving violation.

Termination hearings for the other two officers implicated in the crash investigation -- Sgt. Thomas Warwick and Lt. Matthew Janiskee -- are scheduled in the coming weeks.

All three have been suspended without pay since Jan. 27.

The three officers also each have been in the public spotlight at various times in recent years.

Ickes was featured in a popular Grand Rapids Police Facebook post in May 2016 after he stopped to talk with a 5-year-old boy in a Power Wheels police cruiser. He let the boy sit in the front seat of his cruiser.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Any Kent County resident could spend a month in Perugia, Italy, learning Italian - for free - through a scholarship offered by the city of Grand Rapids' Sister Cities International program.

Perugia is one of Grand Rapids' official Sister Cities.

The scholarship is available for the first time in 2017 to any resident of Kent County - not just to students.

Leonardo Tombelli, chairman of the Perugia Committee, said the group decided it was time to open up the opportunity to more applicants.

There are two scholarships available each year, which offer one month of intensive Italian tuition-free at the University for Foreigners (Universita per Stranieri, known as UNISTRA). The scholarship also offers a modest living stipend through UNISTRA and a $2,000 cash award from the GRSCI Perugia Committee to assist with plane tickets and living expenses.

The deadline for applications is March 15. Applications are available online - and require interested parties to submit an application, resume, cover letter and two letters of recommendation.

The committee will select the two scholarship winners. The awards must be used during the 2017 calendar year, and participants have to write a report to the committee after their stay in Perugia. Contact grsistercities.perugia@gmail.com with questions.

Find more information about the Perugia scholarship here

The city of Grand Rapids helps to fund its participation in the Sister Cities International organization. Locally the programs are run by volunteers and the local contribution to the scholarship is funded through donations brought in through fundraisers.

Grand Rapids' other Sister Cities are Bielsko-Biala, Poland; Ga District, Ghana; Omihachiman, Japan; and Zapopan, Mexico.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Local police, immigration lawyers and a representative from Gov. Rick Snyder's office will be present at a Immigration Town Hall meeting planned for Monday, Feb. 20, at the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan in Grand Rapids.

The town hall will begin at 6 p.m. Monday on the second floor of the Hispanic Center at 1204 Grandville Ave. SW in Grand Rapids.

The event is in response to President Donald Trump's relationship with the immigrant population in the U.S. in the first month of his term.

The Hispanic Center is hosting the event to help local immigrants know their rights and know how to protect themselves and their families. The event will cover the status of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, travel advice and how to respond if U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) comes to someone's home.

Panelists at the event include:

Immigration lawyers from Avanti law office and the Immigrant Rights Center

Anne Armstrong, Gov. Snyder's representative in West Michigan through the Office of Urban Initiatives

Grand Rapids Police Department representatives

Wyoming Police Department representatives

Friday, news broke of Trump's administration considering a proposal to mobilize as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorized immigrants, including millions living nowhere near the Mexico border. The information was included in a draft memo from U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general, that was obtained by The Associated Press.

The memo calls for an unprecedented militarization of immigration enforcement in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. Governors in the 11 states would have a choice whether to have their guard troops participate, according to the memo.

The news comes a day after nationwide protests in which immigrants stayed home from work and school.

In Grand Rapids, 600 people marched in support of the Day Without Immigrants Thursday -- and enough children were kept home from school that some districts couldn't count the day as instructional time.

For more information about the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan's town hall, call 616-742-0200 or email omartinez@hispanic-center.org.

-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Close

Asus ROG, also known as Asus Republic of Gamers, has announced that it will be the official hardware provider for the popular eSports team "Ninjas in Pyjamas" or NIP, according to Hexus. They are best known for being the reigning champions from Dreamhack Masters Malmo last year.

The world's best CS:GO teams including NIP, are participating for the Dreamhack Master's $450,000 in cash prizes in Las Vegas.

ROG Global Marketing Director Derek Yu, stated that the company is very excited to join forces with NIP and provide them with the latest ROG gear. Yu also added that their devices have the highest levels of performance, quality and stability.

Asus ROG also announced their latest gaming mouse, the Strix Impact, which is perfect for multiplayer online battle arena games. The device is an evolution of the Sica design which is lightweight and can be used by left or right handed individuals.

The company upgraded the Omron switches to be rated at 50 million clicks and an on-the-fly DPI adjustment switch and DPI indicator which allows users to know their current settings quickly. Its ROG Armoury software gives its users great control over their mouse with the adjustment of button mappings, saving of mouse profiles and tweaking performance settings. The device has RGB lighting which can be synchronized with other Asus Aura peripherals.

Lastly, the Asus ROG Strix Impact has a 5000DPI sensor, a tracking speed of up to 130IPS, tracking acceleration of 30g and has a low-friction cable and angled cable attachment point that minimizes cord drag.

The device will soon be available in the UK for 46.99 or $58.60.

What do you think of the Asus ROG Strix Impact gaming mouse? Write and share your thoughts on the comments section down below.

 Copyright 2020 Mobile & Apps, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

President Trumps new head of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai, hasnt been in office long, but hes has been quick to make his policy priorities clear. And diluting the net-neutrality regulations adopted by his predecessor Tom Wheeler  if not outright deleting them  looks high on his list.

The rules currently remain in force, and still bar internet providers from stopping or slowing down legal websites and apps  or straight up charging them for faster delivery of their data. But in his first two weeks as chairman, Pai has followed through on his longstanding opposition to those regulations by taking early steps to weaken them, which could mean your favorite sites and apps like Spotify will load a lot slower or cost more.

Opening moves

One of Pais first moves as chairman was to propose a five-year extension of an expired waiver that had let smaller internet providers out of reporting requirements mandating disclosure of network management practices, performance and commercial terms, otherwise known as fees and surcharges you may owe them.

Pai said that exemption, limited to providers with 250,000 subscribers or less (the old waiver set that ceiling at 100,000), would free them from unnecessary, onerous and ill-defined reporting obligations. But it also liberates them from the pressure to adopt last years FCC proposal for nutrition-label-style disclosures.

Days later, Pai terminated an investigation into whether AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) were violating net-neutrality principles by exempting their own video services from their wireless data caps. In a statement, Pai defended those free-data plans by saying they are popular with customers and boost competition among wireless providers.

Neither move should have surprised readers of Pais earlier statements. When the FCC adopted net-neutrality rules in early 2015, his 67-page dissent denounced them as intrusive government regulations that wont work to solve a problem that doesnt exist using legal authority the FCC doesnt have.

Story continues

In that and older writings  see, for instance, his May 2014 statement on net-neutrality  Pai has suggested that the FCC should defend basic freedoms to connect to and use legal sites and apps while allowing ISPs to charge sites and apps for better-than-basic delivery.

In a live-streamed press conference held Tuesday, Democratic senators lined up to defend the existing rules.

There is no problem that needs to be fixed, said Sen. Ed Markey (D.-Mass.). Sen. Patrick Leahy (D.-Vt.) scorned Pais vision of the internet as free and open if youve got money.

Varying views from private industry

A venture capitalist who has long backed net-neutrality rules, Union Square Ventures partner Fred Wilson, wrote in a blog post that backing startups on a field tilted in the favor of the incumbents is not fun and not particularly profitable either.

Another veteran investor who had expressed fears in 2014 about the viability of media-based startups, however, was more confident Monday.

I am not really worried about this issue, said John Backus, co-founder and managing partner of the PROOF Fund. He pointed to increasingly fast and cheap bandwidth, much of it from WiFi hotspots instead of cellular networks.

Backus also rejected the idea that startups would pay ISPs for premier treatment: I have never seen a startup want to use high-cost equity capital to prioritize delivery of their bits.

Large content companies, meanwhile, dont seem afraid. Netflix (NFLX) has told shareholders that its now popular enough with ISPs customers to discourage any bullying attempts.

Young Turks Network founder Cenk Uygur pointed to his two big content hosts as reason for confidence that ISPs wont bog down his news-and-talk shows.

If they come for us, theyre coming for Google and Facebook, he said in an interview Saturday. I at least have some pretty decent heavyweight partners.

Uygur, a net-neutrality advocate, added that smaller video sites had more to fear.

What about internet providers themselves? Big ones like Comcast (CMCSA) have made a point of saying they already follow open-internet principles. Net-neutrality opponents suggest that dumping the current rules would let smaller providers raise money by crafting their own deals, but will a Netflix pick up the phone when they call?

We will never have the volume of traffic to get significant revenue on the content side, said Michael Goldstein, vice president of sales and marketing at Ting. Ting, which resells Sprint (S) and T-Mobile (TMUS) wireless service and offers its own gigabit fiber internet connection in a few locations, backs net-neutrality.

An experiment with real-world consequences

The net-neutrality debate can seem abstract, especially since the current rules are call for the FCC to treat internet providers as common carriers that, like phone companies connecting calls, must treat all customers equally.

But the outcome of argument will have real-world consequences for not just internet providers and video sites, but you the paying subscriber.

Pai and other opponents say rolling back the current rules will free internet providers to invest in upgrading their service. Thats something we should be able to check in two years: If your connection gets faster and cheaper than it would have otherwise, the FCC chair can claim a victory.

But if going to sites or apps that your ISP hasnt blessed gets notably more annoying, youll have grounds for complaint. That will also be the case if you get stuck paying more for less, as Markey warned in Tuesdays press conference.

None of those outcomes are assured today. Its easier to predict the persistence of the problem net-neutrality rules are supposed to address  a lack of competition. So whatever the FCC does, odds are youll still have the same couple of wired broadband providers  which for many of you will mean only one, the local cable company.

Disclosure: Verizon is in the process of buying Yahoo Finances parent company, Yahoo.

More from Rob:

Email Rob at rob@robpegoraro.com; follow him on Twitter at @robpegoraro.
By Camillus Eboh ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's "bad bank" said on Thursday it had taken over the day-to-day running of Arik Air in an attempt to rescue the country's largest airline, which it placed in receivership last week after it was unable to pay workers or creditors. Michael Arumemi-Ikhide, the founder of Arik Air, has said the government seized the airline to meet a political goal of creating a "national carrier" and told Reuters he would challenge the move in court. Arik Air, which controls around 55 percent of the domestic market and is West Africa's biggest airline by passenger numbers, has been hard hit by Nigeria's currency crisis as its customers has to pay for fuel in dollars not naira. Arik owes AMCON, Nigeria's bad bank, around 147 billion naira and another 165 billion naira to four commercial lenders, AMCON's chief executive, Ahmed Kuru said in a presentation to lawmakers on Wednesday following the takeover. Its founder Michael Arumemi-Ikhide owed AMCON 263.7 billion naira from other businesses and Arik Air, the bad bank said. Arumemi-Ikhide was not available for comment on Thursday, while Arik Air declined to comment. "We have deployed people there (at Arik) to manage it, pending when we can stabilise it and then bring in investors to take (it) over," Kuru said, adding that AMCON would review the next steps after managing the airline "for about six months". Arik had wanted to expand internationally both to bring in more hard currency, as well as to cushion the impact of the economic slowdown at home, and was looking for new investors to help it grow rather than using debt. However, AMCON said the state of the airline had turned off prospective investors, with only about 10 planes flying out of a fleet of 30 and total assets of less than 40 billion naira. "Converting the airline to a national carrier is not on the table. Government does not have plans to do that. The interest of government is that we must continue to fly," Kuru said. Arik generates around 7 billion naira monthly but would need around 10 billion naira to stabilise it, Kuru said, adding he expected the airline to be able repay the intervention monies within the next three months. AMCON was thinking of suspending Arik's international flights to save cost and focus on domestic routes, Kuru said. (Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by Alexander Smith)
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State Bank of Indias (SBI) five associate banks will offer voluntary retirement schemes (VRS) for their employees before the merger comes into effect. The date for the merger is yet to be notified.

State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) board has already approved the VRS while other associate banks have placed the scheme before their boards for approval, two officials aware of the development told Moneycontrol.

This move is in line with the decision taken to merge SBI with its five associate banks  State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur ( SBBJ ), State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH), State Bank of Mysore ( SBM ), State Bank of Patiala (SBP) and State Bank of Travancore ( SBT ). Union Cabinet had cleared the merger on Wednesday.

The VRS scheme will be open to all permanent award staff and officers in the Bank, except those specifically mentioned as ineligible, who have put in 20 years of service or have completed 55 years of age as on November 30, 2016, said the VRS offer document sent to the Board of one of the associate banks for approval.

The VRS scheme will apply to approximately over 50,000 employees of all associate banks.

This would help SBI reduce their staff costs as they take over the liabilities from the associate banks after the merger. One of the above officials said, "This would also lead to more expenditure from the associates thereby reducing their profits, which will lower their valuations during the takover."

SBIs staff expense in the December quarter was Rs 7,137 crore, rising 16.5 percent year-on-year. SBIs pension obligation is estimated to be around Rs 3,500 crore. This would increase once associate bank employees come under the SBI fold.

Currently, SBI has just over 2 lakh employees while its associate banks have a cumulative headcount of about 71,000.

Under the VRS scheme, the staff members whose request for voluntary retirement is accepted will be paid an ex-gratia amounting to 50 percent of the salary for the residual period of service (up to the date of superannuation), subject to a maximum of 30 months salary. This includes basic pay, stagnation increment, Professional Qualification Pay (PQA), special pay and dearness allowance.

This will be paid in cash within five weeks of the date of retirement.

A senior bank official with an associate bank said, The HR issues are yet to be clear. VRS is generally not an attractive package. We need to see what will be offered to us from SBI and if we will be allowed to stick to the existing package or move to SBI. The younger lot is happy but some seniors are concerned as there is a lot of uncertainty, the regional flavour will be gone, and some who have been performing well at present may lose their identity.

It is not a straight-jacket wage structure, said an SBI official. Everyone may not get everything. But there are positives in both. The wage structure for SBI and the associates is slightly different."

In associate banks, all employees draw 50 percent of their last drawn salaries as pension. They also have service gratuity linked to the number of years they have serviced. They do not get provident fund i.e. their bank does not contribute for the PF of the employees. Up to Scale 3 or so, pension is 50 percent, while above it is 40 percent of the last drawn salary. "We at SBI have a cap on gratuity and we have a contribution to provident fund, the official added.

Under the VRS, other benefits such as the gratuity, provident fund, pension, encashment of balance privilege leave will be applicable as per the relevant date or the date when the service ends.

Additionally, apart from the housing loan, those who opt for VRS will also have to repay all the outstanding loans before the date of retirement under VRS, failing which the amount of ex-gratia and other terminal benefits payable will be paid towards the loan and only the balance amount will be payable to the employees.

The retiring employees will not be able to negotiate the conditions of the scheme and also will not be entitled to dispute the payment benefits received under the scheme.

The scheme will remain open for 15 days (inclusive of the date of launching and last date of receipt of application) with an option to the Bank to close early/extend the scheme without any reasons. The launch date will be soon finalised by the Managing Director of the respective bank.
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You have to hand it to Kim Jong-un, North Koreas unpredictable president: Launching a new ballistic missile just as President Trump and Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe were meeting in Washington couldnt have been more provocative.

Factor in the assassination of Kims estranged half-brother a few days later and you have to figure this is a busy young man with a tight schedule.

The North tested more than a warhead-bearing technology last Sunday. It also tested the incoming administrations resolve, and with good reason. For the first time in nearly a decade, theres serious talk of new negotiations to resolve what is now a crisis over Pyongyangs nuclear program.

Related: The Missile North Korea Just Tested Will be Difficult for the US to Stop

There is no debate on this point: The Norths tests contravene a Security Council resolution barring the development of ballistic missiles and the weaponization of what nuclear capabilities it may have. The Chinese, the Russians, the South Koreans, the Security Council itselfeveryone condemned this latest act of bold assertion. In Washington, Trump and Abe stood shoulder to shoulder.

Abe said, North Koreas most recent missile launch is absolutely intolerable, while

Trump replied, I just want everybody to understand and fully know that the United States of America stands behind Japan, its great ally, 100 percent.

Intolerable is a pretty big word and raises a big question: If the Norths nuclear advances are unacceptable, whats the rest of the world going to do about them?

Thats Trumps question more than anyone elses. As the Chinese just reminded the U.S. for the umpteenth time, a solution to the North Korea question lies in talks involving Washington and Pyongyang.

As Barack Obamas second term drew to a close, the outgoing president warned his successorthen widely assumed to be Hillary Clintonthat the Korean peninsula would be the most pressing foreign policy problem on the Oval Office desk. At the time, campaign officials indicated that Clinton vigorously agreed that this was the priority issue.

Story continues

Related: U.S. Demands International Action on North Korea Tests

Now Trump inherits precisely the same three policy options Clinton had in her dossiers:

China gets an ultimatum: Force Pyongyang to curtail its nuclear program or the U.S. will prepare for one or another kind of military intervention. There was an influential constituency behind this option at the time of Trumps election, Washington sources said then; during his visit to Seoul earlier this month, Defense Secretary Mattis signaled that its still in place.



Do nothing. In other words, the status quopersistent tensions, occasional provocations from the Northreigns. Last weeks test, U.S. analysts said, marked a minor advance from previously tested intermediate-range missiles and didnt pose a threat to North America.



Reopen negotiations. While the Obama administration dismissed the thought, preferring to strengthen sanctions, there is a decades-long history of talks with Pyongyang. On his first visit to Beijing as Obamas secretary of state in 2013, John Kerry sought Chinas help to bring the North back to the negotiating table.

Related: Trump Administration to Weigh Options, Press China on North Korea Missile Test

A military solution, a diplomatic solution, no solution: Thats about it. There are problems with all three of these alternatives, but one has fewer than the other two.

Unless China brings the North Koreans around, forceful intervention overestimates Beijings leverage in Pyongyang and its willingness to exert what influence it has. China has seen the North as a useful if troublesome buffer since the Korean War. Most important, military analysts say the North could destroy a quarter to a third of Seoul within a matter of minutes after it is attacked. This risk alone takes the military option more or less off the table.

Doing nothing just got a lot less tenable. Last Sundays test sent a missile 310 miles into the Sea of Japan. Thats slightly less than half the distance between the North and the Japanese coast, but Kims signal is clear: Were upping the ante, and theres more where this came from.

That leaves negotiation. With a record of failures in view, lets call it the least unpromising alternative.

Talks with the North on its nuclear program go back to the mid-1990s when President Clinton signed an Agreed Framework to bring Pyongyang back into the International Atomic Energy Agency. When that accord fell apart in 2002, six countries met regularly -- South Korea, Japan, Russia, and China -- until 2009.

Related: U.S. Will Strengthen Pacific Allies Against North Korea Hostility

It is time to try again, for two reasons:

Many Asiansincluding Japans premiermark down Obamas sanctions against North Korea as a failure, and they would be correct. Sanctions hurt, but they dont get other nations to do things much differently. See Russia. See Iran.





Turn last weeks test upside down, and it could be a positive signal. Kim looks at the Iran nuclear accord, and then at Trumps inclination to negotiate a better relationship with Russia, and wonders if he has a chance to make a deal with the artful dealmaker. Note in this connection: Kim may have eliminated a dynastic rival if he had his half-brother assassinated this week, but the president who craves acceptance also furthered his reputation as an international pariah.

Japan, China, and South Koreas main opposition party, the Democrats, are now on the record favoring a new round of talks. So are many influential China experts and former officials in the U.S. For his part, Trump appears to leave the door open. Look again at his statement while he stood at the podium with Abe: He didnt mention the missile test. And it was after his talks with Trump that Abe suggested to parliamentarians back home, Lets try something new.

If talks materialize, theres a clear advantage for returning to the six-party format. China and Russia are powerful influences, given the Kim dynastys long shared ideological history with Beijing and Moscow.

Theres a big advantage for Trump, too: Even beginning a negotiation process would help repair the presidents stony start in his relations with Beijing. Trump seems to know this.

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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,
Rabbis installation at Keneseth Israel will get a boost of student creativity
February 16, 2017

In Which Reporting About "Fake News" Turns Out To Be Such

Another rather amusing piece about fake news is published in today's New York Times.

The headline:

Fake News, Fake Ukrainians: How a Group of Russians Tilted a Dutch Vote

It is amusing because no fact in the piece agrees with the headline. The piece itself turns out to be fake news. It is about old stuff, not news at all, and the content does not support the theses.

Some Ukrainian expats lobbied in the Netherlands against a vote for a EU-Ukrainian association agreement. Some Dutch people of Russian heritage also lobbied that way. The Dutch eventually rejected the agreement with 61.1% of votes against it and 38.1% in favor.

That vote took place in April 2016. I am not aware of any reason why that poll would now deserve a piece. Its purpose is certainly not to report current news or the vote itself. It does no explain what the vote was really about nor does it mention the numeric results.

A few expats in the Netherlands took part in public discussions and argued for the side of the vote that eventually won. They did so without hiding their identity, fairly and completely within the bounds of all laws. There is no sign at all that they had any influence on the vote.

But that is not good enough for the NYT. "Putin did it" is a standing order. Indeed the lobbying Ukrainians must have been "fake Ukrainians" and secretly Russians because somehow no Ukrainian would ever argue against the violent Maidan putsch and its consequences:

They attended public meetings, appeared on television and used social media to denounce Ukraines pro-Western government as a bloodthirsty kleptocracy, unworthy of Dutch support.

...

The most active members of the Ukrainian team were actually from Russia, or from Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine, and parroted the Kremlin line.

The author seems to express that people "from Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine" (which include at least a third of the country) are "fake Ukrainians"? That they have no agency as Ukrainians but are only capable to "parrot the Kremlin line"? Are these Russian speaking Ukrainians of less value? Is there something wrong with having an opinion that does not parrot the Washington/Brussels line?

Then comes a caveat that takes the intended blow out of the whole buildup of the piece:

It is unclear whether the Ukrainian team was directed by Russia or if it was acting out of shared sympathies ...

Could it be that it is neither-nor? That there is third reason why they acted that way? Maybe because they are convinced that the EU-Ukraine agreement is not in the best interest for either country? (Not said in the piece: The agreement in questions is way more than an trade or economic agreement. It includes binding defense and political alignment clauses.)

Let us look at the "Fake Ukrainians" and "Group of Russians":

One such [Russian] contact is Vladimir Kornilov, a Russian-born historian and political analyst who grew up in eastern Ukraine and now lives in The Hague, where he runs a one-man research outfit called the Center for Eurasian Studies. Before the Dutch referendum last year, Mr. Kornilov campaigned against the Ukraine trade deal, describing himself benignly as a Ukrainian expat in The Hague who was stunned by the seemingly endless stream of lies and propaganda about Russia and felt obliged to respond.

Vladimir Kornilov looks around 40 years old. When he was born there was no "Russia" or "Ukraine" as we understand them today. The historic Russia included the Ukraine. When Kornilov was born there was the Soviet Union with many federal entities. "Russian-born" and "grew up in eastern Ukraine" is a national categorization that no one made before the USSR fell apart. People would have said "born in Moscow" and "grew up in Donetsk" or something of that kind.

Kornilov strongly disagrees with the NYT piece and especially the "fake Ukrainians" headline:

Vladimir Kornilov @Kornilov1968 @nytimesworld Dear editors! What does it mean "Fake Ukrainians"? Your author know that I'm an Ukrainian citizen and don't have another pass

4:07 AM - 16 Feb 2017

The only "Russian" with which the piece comes up with is a young student who came to the Netherlands as a child:

A particularly active member of the Ukrainian team was Nikita Ananjev, a 26-year-old student born in Moscow who moved with his mother to the Netherlands, where he is now chairman of the Russian Student Association.

Ananjev describes himself publicly as "Dutch raised but still 80% Russian".

Kornilov and Ananjev are the only two relevant persons the NYT piece identifies. They are the "Fake Ukrainians" and "Group of Russians" the headline describes.

The "fake Ukrainian" is not "fake" at all but a real Ukrainian. The "Group of Russians" is a Dutch raised student in Rotterdam. The NYT has found no sign of any actual Russian influence on their public arguments or opinions. There is zero evidence in the piece, none at all, that these people "tilted a Dutch vote". There is not even one attempt made to show that this was the case.

The people of the Netherlands, Dutch people, voted against the preference of the NYT editors by a quite large margin. That this might have to do with the rather bad agreement the vote was about, or with the illegality of the U.S. organized Maidan putsch, does not deserve any question or attention. Instead we get false assertions about foreign influence stated as facts with nothing to back that up.

The "fake news" in the headline makes sense only as a description of the piece itself.

There is no argument in it that actually supports the headline. There are no "fake Ukrainians", there is no "Group of Russians" and those few expats who were active did not "tilt the Dutch vote".

The piece is also fake news because it contains no news at all. The vote was 10 month ago. The expats lobbied openly before the vote took place. Nothing mentioned in the piece has since changed. There is no one new fact in it.

It is cooked up propaganda which does no include any facts to back up its message. A rather sorry attempt to stoke the anti-Russian campaign that was intensified by Hillary Clinton first to win the election and, when that had failed, to explain her loss. It fits the imperial illusion of the "sole superpower" the NYT generally peddles. But it does not really serve its purpose. It is completely unconvincing and easy to debunk. It is fake news.

Posted by b on February 16, 2017 at 21:03 UTC | Permalink

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High winds and rain in Morgan Hill overnight and into the morning of Feb. 17 were responsible for downed power lines, fallen trees, widespread electricity outages, mild panic in at least one school and possibly even a structure fire.

The structure fire on Lindo Lane, across the street from Britton Middle School, was reported to local emergency agencies at 9:14 a.m. Feb. 17, according to CalFire Battalion Chief Jesse Morris. Crews responded to find a garage burning, and at least one set of power lines fallen across the propertys backyard, Morris said. Its too early to say if these fallen lines are the official cause of the fire, which is under investigation, but it could have contributed, he added.

Between the house (where the fire occurred) and school, there was one power pole leaning over and one set of lines on the ground, Morris said.

Two loud bangs could be heard right before sirens, and then first responders quickly arrived to Central Avenue in front of Britton, according to one bystander who had just dropped their middle schooler off. Morgan Hill police blocked off Central Avenue from Monterey Road while fire engines and crews arrived and worked the scene.

The structure on fire was a garage, detached from the home on Lindo Lane, Morris added. Crews were able to extinguish the fire shortly after arriving, and cleared the scene by 11:10 a.m. No injuries were reported.

The incident prompted Britton Middle School officials to evacuate students from classrooms to the school gymnasium on the southside of campus away from the house fire while firefighters went to work.

Morgan Hill Unified School District officials sent out a phone alert to parents shortly afterward, stating that students were safe although power was out at Britton and some other school sites. A second alert notified parents that rainy day procedures were in effect so students would remain indoors throughout the day.

However, parents of Britton students lined up in the rain outside the gym by late morning to sign their children out for the day. Schools are closed next week for Presidents Week vacation.

Widespread power outages

The downed power lines also likely contributed to electricity outages throughout town.

According to PG&Es website, as of about 12:20 p.m. Feb. 17 more than 4,000 homes and businesses throughout Morgan Hill were without electricity. The biggest outage was a large swath on the west side of town, where 2,554 customers were without power. Traffic lights were also not functioning throughout town.

The utility companys website, pge.com, gives no indication when the power might be restored.

With winds estimated up to 30 MPH, according to a National Weather Service forecast, multiple trees were reported down around town, including one blocking Church Street between Barrett and San Pedro avenues.

Another large tree was down on Vineyard Boulevard in front of the Morgan Hill Police station the morning of Feb. 17.

Weather reports are expecting rain throughout the rest of the day into the evening Feb. 17.
RALEIGH  On Tuesday, the South African Police Service in Pretoria charged parents of a 14-year-old girl with multiple sex crimes discovered by the State Bureau of Investigation through a Catawba County child pornography case.

This investigation highlights the far-reaching effects of criminal activity through the internet, said SBI Director Robert Schurmeier. Reaching across continents, law enforcement agencies can combat crimes and rescue innocent victims.

The North Charleston Police Department in South Carolina, a member of the national Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, sent the SBI Computer Crimes Unit information about a North Carolina man who was allegedly soliciting someone to engage in sex acts with his six-year-old niece. Working with Homeland Security Investigations Charlotte, the SBI was led to a suspect in Catawba County, who was located and found to be in possession of child pornography.

Agents examined the suspects cellphone and learned he was paying for, and receiving, sexually explicit images from an individual in South Africa. HSI agents traced the instant messaging activity, tracked the transfer of funds and located an address in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The HSI Attache, Pretoria, South Africa, working in conjunction with the South African Police Service, used this information to initiate an investigation in that country.

On Feb. 14, the girl was located by HSI and the South African Police Service. The minor was interviewed and stated her parents were sexually assaulting her and producing pictures and videos of the activity.

The childs mother confessed to law enforcement about her and her husbands repeated involvement in the production of child pornography and the sexual assault of the child. The 14 year old and her two younger brothers were removed from their home and placed in protective custody. The South African Police Service charged the parents with numerous crimes related to the production of child pornography, sexual assault, rape and abuse of the child.

When partners from local, state, federal and international agencies work together to combat crimes that cross jurisdictional lines, rescues like this one are possible, Schurmeier said. The SBI Computer Crimes Unit will continue to seek out and pursue prosecutions for anyone involved in child pornography, no matter where they live. Every child deserves to be protected from sexual abuse.

Defendants such as these trafficking in child pornography and illicit sex acts against minors, strip victims of their humanity; treating them as little more than pieces of meat to generate cash, said HSI North Carolina Assistant Special Agent in Charge Christopher Healy. The depravity of the subjects in this particular case reaches its lowest form, by forcing underage girls into this dark underworld of abuse and victimization; the public should breathe a sigh of relief that these dangerous criminals are now safely behind bars.
My paternal grandfather was a farmer in Ohio. He raised a variety of crops, but his bread and butter were hogs. In southwestern Ohio hogs were big business a century ago. In fact, at one time Cincinnati  where I was born  was known as Porkopolis. Farmers like my grandfather drove their hogs from outlying farms to the packing houses in the city.

The day my grandfather bought a tractor changed the economy of his small farm. The tractor was a technological breakthrough for farmers. Tractors could plow many more acres in a day than a horse or mule. Plus they conserved the energy of the farmer, who could now ride rather than walk and push their way through fields.

As a result, the productivity (output per input) of farmers soared. The productivity of farms jumped an amazing 140 percent between 1910 and 1950. This is what technology does. It makes us get more from less.

And farm gains have kept coming. With the introduction of machinery like the combine harvester, techniques such as irrigation and pest control and improved knowledge about adapting plants to the local environment, farm productivity took another 170 percent leap from 1950 to 2010, more than doubling the productivity gains in the nonfarm economy.

There have been three major economy-wide changes resulting from this revolution in farm productivity. One is the need for fewer workers in farming. With technology, machinery and improved knowledge about growing continually increasing the amount of output each farmer could achieve, millions of workers left farms in the 20th century.

This movement of workers off the farm in the first decades of the last century was an important factor behind the development of new industries in the nation. Ex-farmers moving to cities built and operated the factories of the growing manufacturing sector. Later, the children and grandchildren of these farm-to-factory workers were behind the growth of the technology, education and healthcare sectors.

The second change has been urbanization. The increase in farm productivity and the decline in the number of farm workers dramatically changed where people lived. In 1900, over a third of people still lived on farms, and as late as 1980 the majority of North Carolinas population resided in rural areas. Today, North Carolina is a majority urban state, with two-thirds of the states people living in cities or urbanized areas.

Last, gains in farm productivity have directly led to the increased affordability of food. A century ago the average household spent over one-fourth of their disposable income on food. Today, food spending  both for food eaten at home as well as food consumed in restaurants  requires only 9 percent of the typical households total budget.

So, just as enormous gains in farm productivity allowed workers to develop and grow the manufacturing and service sectors, those gains also freed-up resources for households to spend on the outputs of those industries.

Are the productivity gains in farming over? Hardly! Experts see new technologies being adopted on the farm that will make the advances of a few decades ago seem quaint.

Farmers have always relied on information about farm conditions to know when to irrigate, provide nutrients to crops and give treatment to animals. In the past, much of this information was based on guesswork or rules of thumb. But no longer.

Crop sensors and livestock biometrics are giving farmers access to a wealth of real-time data telling them the precise condition of their animals and crops. Treatments and applications will no longer be general, but instead will be precise in amount and timeliness. For example, rather than irrigating an entire field, farmers can determine what parts of their fields need water and exactly how much. This both saves money and improves production.

Farm equipment is also being taken to a new level. A long-time problem with tractors is the compacting of soil caused by their heavy tires. New tractor tire technology is being implemented to reduce this issue. Also, environmentally-friendly farm machinery engines are being manufactured. And yes, as you may have guessed, agricultural robots  dubbed agbots  may soon be coming to farms, just as may be driverless tractors and combines.

As data and information become increasingly available to farmers, the need to access and analyze the data becomes more important. Fortunately, new internet access for remote rural areas is being perfected, as are agricultural apps for smartphones and tablets to allow farmers to apply sophisticated decision-making techniques to the data.

There are other technologies on the way in customized seeding, drought resistant crops and environmentally-friendly and cost-efficient pest control. The technology revolution in farming started one-hundred years continues and will push farm productivity to new heights.

The late Nobel Prize winning economist James Buchanan titled his memoirs, Better Than Plowing. Having grown up on a farm in Tennessee in the early 1900s, he experienced the extraordinarily hard work involved in farming, just as my grandfather did. Farming is still hard, but technology has made it better and definitely more productive.

So is farming a high-tech industry? Some say it was actually the first high-tech industry. You decide!

Mike Walden is a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor and Extension Economist in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at North Carolina State University who teaches and writes on personal finance, economic outlook and public policy.
DIYARBAKIR, Feb 17 (Reuters) - At least one person was killed and ten others were wounded in an explosion in the southeastern Turkish town of Viransehir near the border with Syria, hospital sources said on Friday.

The explosion took place outside a housing complex for judges and prosecutors. A witness told Reuters the blast shattered windows in nearby buildings.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Louise Ireland)
Maintaining independence and editorial freedom is essential to our mission of empowering investor success. We provide a platform for our authors to report on investments fairly, accurately, and from the investors point of view. We also respect individual opinionsthey represent the unvarnished thinking of our people and exacting analysis of our research processes. Our authors can publish views that we may or may not agree with, but they show their work, distinguish facts from opinions, and make sure their analysis is clear and in no way misleading or deceptive.

To further protect the integrity of our editorial content, we keep a strict separation between our sales teams and authors to remove any pressure or influence on our analyses and research.

Read our editorial policy to learn more about our process.
Beyond making it more difficult for first-time buyers to qualify for loans, the recent, far-reaching changes to federal mortgage rules are also applying a significant level of stress to home sales numbers nationwide, according to the latest analysis by Dominion Lending Centres.



In a February 15 note, DLC chief economist Sherry Cooper cautioned that 2017 will prove to be a challenging year for the Canadian residential real estate segment and for the economy as a whole.



Housing activity will not provide the boost to overall economic growth in 2017 that it did in 2015 and the first half of 2016 as first-time homebuyers will find it more difficult to qualify for a mortgage and credit availability is diminished by the disproportionate impact of the new regulations on nonbank lenders, Cooper wrote.



Fully half of the nations housing marketsincluding the Greater Toronto Area, Greater Vancouver, and Montrealhave suffered declines in sales activity.



Supply shortages are a major issue depressing sales activity and raising prices, especially in and around Toronto and parts of BC. Price pressures will continue in these markets unless demand declines significantly, Cooper added.



Accompanying these developments is the consistent dearth of housing supply in major metropolitan markets.



The number of newly listed homes fell 6.7% in January, the second consecutive monthly decline. New listings were down in about two-thirds of all local markets, led by the GTA and environs across Vancouver Island.



The statements echoed recent warnings from BMO economist Robert Kavcic, who predicted a gradual winding down of sales activity due to various ill-advised policy moves by federal and provincial governments last year.



One of the big contributors has been Vancouver, and just through the last four or five months the market there has already started to correct, Kavcic told The Canadian Press last month.





Related stories:

Condo units now among hottest commodities in downtown Toronto

Vancouver finally feeling the pain of foreign home buyers tax
Latest data from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) revealed that resale volume in the national housing market has declined by 1.3 per cent month-over-month in January, accompanying continuous price growth in the Toronto housing marketan unstable concoction that has escalated fears of the housing bubble being finally here.



Average home resale prices in Toronto have seen a significant 22.6 per cent year-over-year upward spike in January, pumping the national average by 15.0 per cent, Reuters reported.



BMO Capital Markets chief economist Doug Porter issued a strong warning after the Wednesday (February 15) release of the CREA data.



Let's drop the pretense. The Toronto housing market - and the many cities surrounding it - are in a housing bubble, Porter wrote in a research note.



Toronto and any city that is remotely within commuting distance are overheating, and perhaps dangerously so. It's a very different story in most of the rest of the country, where conditions are generally calm and under control.



The statement mirrored the latest edition of the Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index, which found that the consistently exceptional performance of the Toronto housing market has propelled the national home price average to new heights last month.



And despite dampened sales volume recently due to tighter federal mortgage rules, CREA noted that price growth might not slow down even this year due to supply scarcity in red-hot markets (including Toronto).



Unless sales activity drops dramatically, the outlook for home prices remains strong in places that face a continuing supply shortage, CREA chief economist Gregory Klump wrote in the February 15 report.





Related stories:

Commentary: The Canadian housing market is not invincible

Existing facts about Torontos housing market sorely lacking - political strategist


The logo of German car manufacturer Opel is pictured at the compnay headquarters in Ruesselsheim , Germany February 15, 2017. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski (Reuters)

By Paul Carrel and Edward Taylor

BERLIN/RUESSELSHEIM, Germany (Reuters) - Germany will do all it can to secure Opel plants and jobs in the country if Peugeot maker PSA buys the General Motors (GM) business, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday, highlighting the political challenges the carmakers face in sealing a deal.

Her comments came as workers' representatives at German-headquartered Opel said they were prepared to hold talks with PSA <PEUP.PA>, as long as commitments to jobs and investments were upheld - some of which extend beyond 2020.

GM <GM.N> and PSA said this week they were in talks over a potential deal for the French carmaker to buy GM's European arm Opel, sparking concerns in Germany and Britain of job losses. Germany accounts for about half of Opel's 38,000 staff, while 4,500 are in Britain where Opel operates as Vauxhall.

Europe's car industry has been dogged for years by overcapacity and analysts think cuts will be needed for a deal to make sense. Two sources close to PSA told Reuters on Thursday that job and plant cuts were part of the tie-up talks, with the two Vauxhall sites in Britain in the front line.

However, any job losses would be fraught with difficulties, with elections in both Germany and France this year and Britain anxious to prove its departure from the European Union will not lead foreign investors to pull out.

"With Opel, the talks are under way. The government has a coordination process under way," Merkel told reporters after meeting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Berlin.

"We will do everything we can politically to secure jobs and sites in Germany," she added.

Merkel helped broker a deal in 2009 for Opel to receive government guarantees if GM sold a stake in the business to Canadian auto parts supplier Magna <MG.TO> to avert mass lay-offs among Opel's German workforce. GM ended up pulling the plug on that plan, however, instead restructuring, shutting Opel factories in Belgium and Germany and withdrawing the Saab and Chevrolet brands from sale.

Story continues

DAILY CONTACTS

Earlier, British business minister Greg Clark said he had been told by PSA executives in a meeting on Thursday evening that the French company planned to build on the success of the Vauxhall business if it succeeded in buying Opel.

French Industry Minister Christophe Sirugue also pledged on Friday to stay in daily contact with the German and British governments on the potential deal. The French government owns a 14 percent stake in PSA.

For PSA, owner of the Peugeot, Citroen and DS brands, buying Opel would give it a 16.3 percent share of Europe's passenger car market, vaulting it into second place in the region, ahead of France's Renault <RENA.PA> but behind Germany's Volkswagen <VOWG_p.DE>.

While economies of scale could help PSA reduce Opel's long-running losses, many analysts think it would also need to make cost cuts to make the deal work.

But Opel's labour leaders are in no mood for compromise.

"The fundamental basis for these talks ... must be the unequivocal recognition and implementation of existing agreements for all Opel/Vauxhall sites," the German and European works councils and trade union IG Metall said in a statement on Friday.

Opel Chief Executive Karl-Thomas Neumann tweeted: "A combination with PSA makes fundamental sense. I have great understanding for our staff and customers' many questions."

At Opel's headquarters in Ruesselsheim near Frankfurt, where European works council chairman Wolfgang Schaefer-Klug briefed staff for about 45 minutes on Friday, workers took the latest twist in Opel's fate in their stride.

"Comment allez-vous?" one grinning worker greeted another following the meeting.

(Additional reporting by Jean-Baptiste Vey in Paris and Kate Holton in London; Writing by Georgina Prodhan and Mark Potter; Editing by Maria Sheahan/Keith Weir)
Posse saddles up to help children Russell Libby describes his golden palomino horse, Sonny, as the calmest, sweetest guy and his best friend for nearly two decades. Sonny is the reason Libby and his wife, Laura,...

Kris Kringle to support library programs The Moorpark Friends of the Library is offering the second annual Letter from Santa fundraiser. For a $25 donation to the Moorpark Friends of the Library, children will receive a...

Oakmont welcomes new executive director Ronda Wilkin, certified dementia practitioner and a senior living executive, joins Oakmont of Moorpark with more than three decades of experience in health and human services. During her 15 years...
Black History Month isnt just for the older residents in our community.

That is a message that will be passed on this weekend at a Black History Month awareness event planned for Saturday at Susies South Forty, 401 S. Marienfeld St.

The day will be divided into two parts.

The morning session is for 5- through 12-year-olds. Jaden Evan, 11, will sign copies of The Magical Black Tower, which he wrote and illustrated when he was 8. Also available will be his book, The Rain. McKinley Evans, age 6, who writes poetry and short stories, also will be in attendance. Both students attend Midland Academy Charter School.

More Information -- Jazz musician Tom Braxton will share his music with Midlanders today. He is scheduled to sell CDs from 11 a.m. - noon at Bedazzle and play music from 6 - 8 p.m. at Rue 432. Braxton will also speak to students at Bowie and Parker elementary schools. The Midland African American Roots Historical Cultural Arts Council is sponsoring the visit. -- Mount Rose Baptist Church is to host a Black History Month event, titled Unapologetically Black:A Celebration of Black Art and Culture. Read about it Sunday's Culture section. See More Collapse

Guest speakers for the morning session include Troy A. Barber of Killeen, Midland businessman Roy Nelson and Midland College Board President Larry Lawrence. Those attending the morning session can have lunch and take a tour of the candy factory at Susies South Forty.

Lawrence said a goal is to focus on the communitys youth and set some direction for them.

Particularly for minority youth, it is often difficult to see a pathway to success, said Lawrence, the chief financial officer and vice president of Natural Gas Services Group and on the board of Legacy Reserves. Many of us started with a lack of vision, and there are a lot of people who overcame those circumstances and enjoyed successful careers. We are trying to get them to envision that kind of path.

The afternoon session is a teen empowerment summit for students 13-18. It is scheduled for 1-3 p.m., and lunch will be served. Guest speakers include television station KMID anchor Horace Brown, Barber and Tameka Polk with Black Nurses Rock.

Audrey White of West Texas Social Events, which is hosting the event, said the organization hosted a Black History Month event earlier this month and wanted to do another geared toward Midlands children. Education will be an important topic, she said.

She said there is a responsibility to provide more Black History Month events because such education has been taken out of the schools, and a lot of kids dont get that history here.

---

Black History Awareness Social Event

When: Saturday

Where: Susies South Forty

Schedule of events

Event for children ages 5-12

When: 10 a.m. to noon

10-10:30 a.m.: Book signing and words from Jaden Murray Evans and McKinley Noel Evans

10:30-11 a.m.: Troy A. Barber

11-11:30 a.m. Guest speakers Roy Nelson and Larry Lawrence; lunch and Speaker - Eddie Rabb, CEO, West Texas Social Events

11:30 a.m.-noon: Tour Susies South Forty Candy Factory

Teen Empowerment Summit

Event for ages 13-18

When: 1-3 p.m.

1-1:10 p.m.: Lunch

1:15-2 p.m.: Speaker - Eddie Rabb - CEO, West Texas Social Events Lunch

1:15-2 p.m.: Guest speakers: Horace Brown, Troy A. Barber, Tameka Polk (Black Nurse Rock)

2-3 p.m.: Teen Empowerment Summit






Midland Police Department/ Facebook

Four oil companies  Concho Resources, Occidental Petroleum, Anadarko Petroleum and Pioneer Natural Resources  have come together to purchase a van for Midland Police Officer Jacob Churchwell. Churchwell was seriously injured after crashing his police cruiser during a high-speed pursuit of a motorcycle.

He has been at a facility in Colorado and returned to Midland on Tuesday. A welcome home celebration was held at the Midland Police Department, 601 N. Loraine, at which time Churchwell was presented the keys to his special van. City and police department representatives, along with representatives of the four oil companies, were at the ceremony.
ISLAMABAD (AP)  A brutal attack on a beloved Sufi shrine that killed 88 people raised fears that the Islamic State group has become emboldened in Pakistan, aided by an army of homegrown militants benefiting from hideouts in neighboring Afghanistan, analysts and officials said Friday.

Pakistani security forces have carried out sweeping country-wide raids following Thursday's bombing of the shrine in Pakistan's southern Sindh province that also wounded 343 people. The military's public relations wing reported on its official twitter account that more than 100 suspected "terrorists" were killed in the raids, while government officials lashed out at Kabul accusing the Afghan government of ignoring earlier pleas to crackdown on militant hideouts.

Zahid Hussain, an expert on militants in the region, said a toxic mix of violent Sunni militant groups, many belonging to banned groups that are flourishing under new names, have wrapped themselves in the banner of the Islamic State group.

"The Islamic State (group) might not have a strong organizational structure in Pakistan but we have thousands of members of banned groups sympathetic to the (their) ideology," Hussain said in an interview. "They subscribe to the Islamic State (group) world view."

Thursday's terror attack  Pakistan's deadliest in years  stunned the nation and raised questions about the authorities' ability to rein in militant groups despite several military offensives targeting militant hideouts.

It also threatened to drive a deeper wedge between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Islamabad quickly lashed out at Kabul, saying the bombing was masterminded in militant sanctuaries across the border in Afghanistan, whose own security forces have been assaulted by Islamic State fighters. Overnight Thursday, Afghan authorities said 17 Afghan soldiers were killed by IS insurgents.

Pakistan's Army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa spoke by phone with U.S. Gen John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, to protest militant sanctuaries on Afghan soil, according to a statement carried on the military's official twitter account. Bajwa said the Afghan government was not taking action against the hideouts and warned that its "inaction" was testing "our current policy of cross border restraint," without further elaborating.

Story continues

Underscoring tensions between the two neighbors, Pakistan fired blistering rounds of artillery shells into Afghan territory on Friday and shut down the Torkham border crossing  a key commercial artery between the two neighbors. Pakistan said the barrage was in response to a militant attack on one of its border posts in its Khyber tribal region.

Pakistan TV, quoting unnamed military sources, said Pakistan targeted camps belonging to Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban. Pakistan blames Jammat-ul Ahrar for the shrine attack although IS claimed responsibility. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has claimed to have carried out a number of attacks, including the Feb. 13 suicide assault in Lahore that killed 13 people, including three senior police officials.

According to local TV reports the Pakistani shelling destroyed one militant camp in Afghanistan.

Afghan officials said scores of families have been displaced by the Pakistani shelling. Attaullah Khogyani, the spokesman for Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar provincial governor, said he welcomed any operation, including the one carried out by Pakistan, against terrorist camps but told AP Television that "on a provincial level there wasn't any kind of coordination with us."

In a telephone call Friday to Afghanistan's National Security Adviser, Pakistan's senior foreign ministry official, Sartj Aziz accused Afghan President Ashraf Ghani of ignoring Islamabad's earlier request to put an end to the sanctuaries in its territory. Pakistan also handed over a list of 76 militants it says are hiding in Afghanistan, demanding they be arrested and extradited to Pakistan.

Pakistan's military did not specify who was on the list, but it has long claimed that the head of the Pakistani Taliban, Mullah Fazlullah, and other militants are hiding on Afghan soil with the purpose of fomenting violence inside Pakistan.

Ghani, meanwhile, condemned the shrine attack. "Terrorists once again proved that they have no respect for Islamic values," he said in a statement.

In Thursday's attack, the suicide bomber walked into the main hall at the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sehwan in southern Sindh province, and detonated his explosives among a crowd of attendees. At least 20 women and nine children were among the dead.

The Islamic State group, claiming responsibility for the attack in a statement circulated by its Aamaq news agency, said it targeted a "Shiite gathering." The Sunni extremist group views Shiites as apostates and has targeted Pakistan's Shiite minority in the past. It also views Sufi shrines as a form of idolatry.

The Sehwan shrine, which reveres a Muslim Sufi mystic, is frequented by the faithful of many sects of Islam but the majority of the faithful attendees are usually Shiite Muslims.

Raja Somro, who witnessed the attack, told a local TV network that hundreds of people were performing a devotional dance known as the "dhamal" when the bomber struck.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed that security forces would track down the perpetrators, according to Pakistani state TV.

But Hussain, who has authored two books on Pakistan's militancy, said the government's counterterrorism strategy has been inept, allowing groups that have been banned to remerge, individuals on international terrorist lists to operate freely, and ignoring funding of these groups arriving from radical Sunni Muslim charities in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.

"The government has no clear strategy. They don't have a clear policy to deal with it," said Hussain. "They have to strike the source of the militancy, the institutions where they are brainwashed," a reference to those madrassahs or religious schools that teach a radical version of Islam that reviles Shiite Muslims as well as adherents of all other beliefs other than their own. He also said Pakistan's promised judicial reform has not occurred nor has the government choked the sources of funding to those radical religious schools operating in Pakistan.

Yet Pakistan has been at war with the Taliban and other extremist groups for more than a decade. In recent years it has launched major offensives against militant strongholds in the tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan, but insurgents have continued to carry out attacks elsewhere in the country.

Still the Islamic State group has been expanding its presence in Pakistan and has claimed a number of deadly attacks, including a suicide bombing at another Sufi shrine in November 2016 that killed more than 50 people.

The government has downplayed the IS affiliate, insisting that only a small number of militants have pledged allegiance to the group.

"Either the entire government is in a state of denial, or they know it well but don't want to do anything about it," said Hussain.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have long accused each other of failing to crack down on militants who operate along their porous border. Pressed on whether this would strain relations between the two countries, U.N. Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General Farhan Haq said Friday, "This is a challenge that has crossed borders, in terms of the presence of different terrorist entities, and we have tried to make sure that the countries can cooperate in their efforts to deal with their mutual threat."

Later in Sehwan on Friday, police fired tear gas and swung batons to disperse a rally of several hundred demonstrators who demanded justice for the victims and more effective security measures from the government. Some protesters set fire to a car before the police broke up the rally.

At one of the funerals held Friday, relatives consoled the wailing mother of Zeeshan Ali, a 13-year-old who died in the shrine blast. Ali's uncle, Shoukat Ali, said he was devoted to his nephew and had raised him since he had no children of his own.

"I raised him like my own child... and they took him from me," he said.

___

Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed and Zarar Khan in Islamabad, Jawad Adil in Karachi and Amir Shah in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.
Governor Rick Snyder has declared February Cooperative Education and Internship Month, in Michigan. In making the proclamation, Snyder called co-ops and internships critical tools to retaining bright, young talent in Michigan as they help students gain competitive occupations skills by linking career instruction with supervised training and experience on the job.

Snyders endorsement of co-ops and internships comes as no surprise to Michigan Technological University students who, in Snyders words, gain necessary skills that enable an easier transition from school to the workplace in large numbers.

Stephen Patchin, director of Career Services at Michigan Tech, says students as well as companies understand the importance of cooperative education. At this point we have 215 recruiting organizations committed to our Spring Career Fair, Patchin says. In addition to 156 committed to recruiting full-time positions, 143 are looking for interns and 67 are looking for co-ops. Companies are definitely here to fill their summer needs.

Patchin adds theyre willing to pay to see those needs met. Since 2008, weve seen the average hourly wage for our graduate student co-ops stay fairly stable in the $23 to $25 per hour range, he says. But the real wage growth during that period has been with our undergrad co-ops who have gone from making an average salary of $15.16 an hour in 2008 to averaging $18.99 an hour in 2016.

According to Patchin, in addition to the income and experience internships and co-ops provide students, they are important to the University in other ways as well.

The best promoter of the quality of our current students and graduates is their performance on the job in these co-op/internship opportunities, he explains.

Patchin says the big reason companies approach Career Services to recruit at Michigan Tech is because of past performance. They tell us they have had one of our students or graduates on their corporate team, and they want more just like them.

Many corporations find employees who began as co-ops or interns become more desirable full-time employees. Patchin says that fact became clear at the recent International Auto Show in Detroit when he attended an event hosted by DENSO, the second largest auto supplier in the world. DENSO was looking to attract more students from Michigan Tech and similar institutions.

DENSO has found they convert between 80 to 85 percent of their co-ops to successful, full-time employees, Patchin says. They also retain these employees much longer than those recruited the traditional way, through career fairs, online job postings and using placement firms.

" I would recommend a co-op to fellow students." Sarah Jo Martens

Patchin says DENSO has found their co-op experiences enable them to identify and develop desired skills in their interns and co-ops, a process that serves as an early onboarding process for these future employees.

Co-ops offer both employers and students a form of mutualism, a relationship in which both sides certainly benefit.

Sarah Jo Martens agrees. She is a third-year environmental engineering major from Hortonville, Wisconsin. Last fall she did an environmental engineering co-op with Expera Specialty Solutions in Rhinelander, Wisconsin.

Expera is a specialty paper production facility for grease-proof and coated papers for industries such as commercial bakery products, medical packaging, and food packaging Martens says.

With the environmental department, I worked primarily on a large regulatory compliance demonstration project that included construction, instrumentation, testing and reporting to meet updated EPA regulations for the coal fired power plant on site.

Martens, who is in the Pavlis Honors College, calls her co-op most certainly a positive experience.

It had its ups and downs, just like any job would have, and a steep learning curve. But the experience I was able to get in such a short time was well worth it.

Martens says the co-op gave her the opportunity to work on projects she never thought shed see as a college student. Not only did she get real world job experience, the co-op proved beneficial once she returned to campus.

For my degree, many of the classes primarily focus on water treatment and principles, whereas my experience while on co-op showed me how vital it is to have a well-rounded knowledge, especially in air quality and regulations for industry, she says. For that reason, and many others, I would recommend a co-op to fellow students.

The opportunity to be a part of real-world projects and see first-hand the impact of what is taught in the classroom was extremely beneficial to solidify the theories I had previously learned, she goes on to say.

Patchin says this months Spring Career Fair and the upcoming fall event are important recruiting tools, but they arent the only tools, for students seeking employment and the companies looking to employ them.

One important tool is Handshake, the web application developed by a trio of Michigan Tech students who were frustrated over the difficulty of getting in the door at top tech companies.

Today, Handshake, now based in San Francisco, is a team of more than 40 employees partnering with upwards of 170 universities, making it easier for 120,000 companies to recruit well beyond their traditional core schools. Handshake has increased the opportunities for 3,500,000 students to get good co-ops, internships and jobs leading to meaningful careers.

While pairing students with co-op and intern opportunities is a year-round endeavor, according to Patchin, the month-long designation by the governor is significant.

Co-ops and internships are important to Governor Snyder, Patchin says, because, like the DENSO model, they lead to job opportunities. It is an early connection between talent and corporate needs. These opportunities can begin as early as high school and be available all the way through the educational pipeline ending with doctoral programs.

Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 students from 55 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigans flagship technological university offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.
This is going to sound insane. But since Apple released iOS 10, a lot of people have asked how to hang up at the end of a call. Its true: The bright red Hang Up button no longer appears on the call screen!

For a mysterious reason known only to Apple, once you press your Home button for any reason during a callto wake the phone because its gone to sleep, for example, or to open a different app for referencethe red Hang Up button goes away, as shown in the video above.

So heres the solution: To hang up, press the Sleep button (the off switch on the side or top of the iPhone). That hangs up on the call.

Alternatively, you can tap the persons name and number at the top to make the red Hang Up button appearand then tap it.

Now youre no longer baffledas much.

Adapted from Pogues Basics: Tech. David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes non-toxic comments in the Comments below. On the Web, hes davidpogue.com. On Twitter, hes @pogue. On email, hes poguester@yahoo.com. You can read all his articles here (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/david-pogue/), or you can sign up to get his columns by email (http://j.mp/P4Qgnh).

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As legislation to reform Florida's death penalty sentencing law speeds toward final passage, critics are calling on Republican leaders to broaden the legislation in order to avoid another encounter with the state Supreme Court.

New bills require unanimous jury for death sentences

Based on Florida Supreme Court rulings

Critics say too many crimes qualify for the death penalty

In October, the court struck down a reform package passed last year by the GOP-controlled legislature, ruling the package's provision allowing for supermajority votes by juries for death sentences was unconstitutional. Given the gravity of a death sentence, the court decided, only unanimous votes will do.

Under the legislation (HB 527/SB 280), unanimity would be required, satisfying the court's ruling and, Republicans hope, ending a series of legal setbacks that have effectively thrown dozens of death penalty cases into limbo for more than a year.

"For me, it's important that there's an orderly system of justice in place for families of victims," said Senate President Joe Negron (R-Stuart).

The legislation unanimously passed the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee this week, but not before a bipartisan chorus of critics testified in support of expanding the measure to shorten the list of crimes that qualify for death sentences. Those aggravating and mitigating factors, as they're known in legal parlance, have caused Florida's docket of capital cases to explode, prompting questions about their constitutionality.

"It will give us a constitutional death penalty process for now," Florida Public Defenders Association President Rex Demmig said of the House bill. "What it does not do is correct or address the myriad of other constitutional problems that have been raised over the course of years."

Another point of contention is how to handle the cases of hundreds of death row inmates sentenced under the now-unconstitutional scheme. In its ruling, the Florida Supreme Court ordered that some, but not all, of the inmates should receive new sentencing trials. Reformers are now advocating for a legislative mandate that any inmate sentenced with less than a unanimous jury recommendation should receive a new trial.

"In short, what the bill does is resolve the constitutional crisis de jour, while kicking the can, or in this case, perhaps, the barrel of other problems further down the road," Demmig said.
Salem Thomas dreads waking up at 5:30 a.m.

"You get to school and you've got to go," said Thomas, who is a 10th grade student at Boone High School in Orlando.

Orange County Public Schools discusses school start times

Pediatricians recommend pushing middle and high school start time later

School district worries about cost

RELATED: READ the results of OCPS school start time survey (.PDF)

She thinks waking up later could help her be more alert in school.

"You come to school sleepy and ready to go to sleep versus in middle school, you're energized," Thomas explained.

Some school board members like the idea of starting school 20 or 30 minutes later.

They also like the idea of keeping the students later in the afternoon, creating longer days for students across the district.

"The board understands that high school start times should be later. It's a values issues. It's where do you want to spend your money. I think this is an important allocation of money for me personally," shared Orange County School Board Chairman Bill Sublette.

In 2014 the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended delaying the start of class for middle and high schoolers to 8:30 a.m. or later.

The recommendation was based on studies by the National Sleep Foundation and other groups that found students were getting less than the recommended 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep on school nights.

The studies say teens' natural sleep cycles make it difficult for them to fall asleep before 11 p.m., which means they go to school sleep-deprived the next day.

However, for other board members, everything depends on whether there is an increase in education funding in this year's state budget.

"I don't want to spend more money because I don't think the people in the survey want to spend money on it," said Nancy Robbinson, who represents District 6 on the Orange County School Board.

For Salem's mother, she thinks starting school at 7:15 a.m. is an introduction to adulthood.

Its all about adjusting because shes in 10th grade now. Shes only two years away from graduating and getting out into the real would," said Boone High School Parent Kesha Thomas.

"You can't always determine what your schedule will be when you get a job. You're either going to work it or you won't have job. So it's about growing up and adjusting to whatever is being required of you," Kesha Thomas said.

However, for Salem every minute before school is precious.

"It would do a lot because you'll feel better, more rested," Salem Thomas said.

School board members are not expected to discuss changing start times until the end of the school year.

One of the two proposals would cost the district an additional $5 million every year, because of the added operational busing costs.

That plan would also call for the district buying about $7 million worth of additional buses. That cost would be spread out over time.

Orange County Public Schools has a yearly operational budget of approximately $2.3 billion.
Texas would join eight other states in calling for a new constitutional convention under legislation considered Thursday by the Senate State Affairs Committee. This plan would seek to restrict new amendments to those relating to reining in the authority of the federal government. Author Sen. Brian Birdwell of Granbury said that this action may be necessary to return America to the government the Founding Fathers intended. "For years we've watched as the executive, judicial and frankly the legislative branches have usurped more and more power from the states," he said. "It is my firm belief that the only way we will save this republic and federalism as a whole is to go about the process of the states taking control of the federal government that they created."

The U.S. Constitution allows the states to petition for a convention for the purpose of amending the document if 34 out of 50 states pass resolutions in favor. Amendments passed by convention delegates would then need to be ratified by 38 states in order to be added into the Constitution. The call under consideration before the committee in the form of SJR 2 has tight limitations, and only asks for amendments relating to three areas: a balanced budget for the Federal government, term limits for federal officeholders and empowering state sovereignty.
Two local residents long known for their many years of volunteer service and civic involvement in all phases of the community  Donald "Donnie" Ebeling Jr. and Norvene Owen  were introduced Thursday by Plainview's Man and Woman of the Year for 2016.

The announcement highlighted the annual Plainview Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture Banquet, held in the Laney Center on the Wayland Baptist University campus. Each were introduced by last year's award recipients, J.W. Hamby and Sherrie Wall.

Ebeling was described as a lifelong resident of Hale County, Plainview High School graduate and fourth generation farmer. "He gives back to the community without expecting to receive in return  that is his nature," his nomination read. "He is an unselfish leader in our community."

His lengthy list of activities include serving on the Hale County Hospital Authority Board, Happy State Bank Advisory Board, Plainview Chamber of Commerce Board and Hale County Stock Show Board.

Ebeling is a longtime member and current tail twister for the Plainview Noon Lions Club, First Methodist Church and Genesis Sunday School Class, Plainview Buyers Club, Plainview/Hale County Economic Development, Hale County Noxious Weed District Board and Plainview/Hale County Industrial Corporation Board. He served as Plainview Band Boosters president for two years and has participated in the Hale County Extension Service Leadership Committee.

Even though he no longer has children in the program, Ebeling continues to take a leadership role in local stock shows. He consistently helps with and organizes special cooking events for a variety of local and regional organizations and organized numerous fundraisers to help with medical expenses for the late Lana Watson while going through a second bone-marrow transplant.

Ebeling on numerous occasions helped harvest neighbors' crops during times of need, and is known for keeping an eye open to see the needs of others. Often that includes providing generous financial support.

"Donnie is one of those folks who will do anything to get the job done, especially when it benefits children and those less fortunate," one nominator wrote. "He is a man of integrity and high morals, faithful to God through his church and his family. After you visit with him, you always feel proud to know someone like him."

As a final comment, Hamby said Ebeling is one of the many people who work diligently to make sure that "love can float all across our city, always checking on the needs of others and working wherever it is needed. He is constantly giving back to the community."

In accepting the award, Ebeling admitted being humbled by the honor. "I thank you, and really appreciate every one of you, and all that you do. The love exhibited by the entire community is really nothing new, it's just something we do. I guess you can say Plainview is just a pro bono town," referring to comments made earlier by the guest speaker.

Norvene Owen, Plainview's Woman of the Year, is described as having a unique "quality to see a need in a friend or customer, and caring for that need."

A longtime officer of Hale County State Bank (now Centennial Bank), Owen was lauded for making numerous contributions to the local business community for more than 50 years while also regularly visiting nursing homes and hospitals.

"Norvene's qualities are not known by the media or for the public to hear about, but the lives she has touched and cared for in Plainview are very common," a nominator wrote.

Her community involvement includes serving on the advisory committee for Runningwater Draw RSVP, Plainview Planning and Zoning Board, Crime Stoppers Board, as Soroptimist charter member, on the Finance Committee of First United Methodist Church, Plainview Area United Way volunteer and as an advocate for both Wayland Baptist University and Plainview ISD.

She serves on the board of the Crisis Center of the Plains, Rainbow Room and National Association of Banking Women.

"Norvene has been a regular hospice volunteer, traveling to and from Lubbock as a caregiver for those with medical needs, and clips more newspaper pictures and articles than anyone," a nomination reads. "Norvene's association with Hale County State Bank allowed her to become a household name in Plainview for years as an advocate for families in need."

Another individual notes her special talents dealing with and taking care of "seasoned customers," particularly through the 50 Grand program at HCSB.

Some of her outstanding qualities include: Seeing the needs of anyone and doing all she can in meeting them; Listening to others and making others feel cared for; Visiting "friends" who have no family in nursing homes, taking them gifts and spending time with them; Setting up local kids who are going off to college or moving out of time with a trusted banker in their new community.

"(She's) a hospice volunteer who is assigned to a family throughout the year after a loved one passes on to be there for all the 1sts  first birthday, first Christmas, first anniversary, etc., without them," a nominee writes. "For taking a friend back and forth to Lubbock for years for chemo treatments, and sitting with her."

Norvene is also known for her "card ministry." "She writes more letters and cards to others than could be counted."

Wall added that she strives to always be there, either it is making sure that a cancer patient is able to get a new wig, or making sure another has new scarves for a while year "so she can stay warm and feel beautify."

Acknowledging the standing ovation she received following the announcement of her name and Woman of the Year, Owen admitted, "I'll bet you've never known me to ever be speechless before," adding, "Oh, I wish I could have done more. Thank you all, and I will cherish this moment for evermore, and I could not have done any of this without your help."

Earlier in the program, Mayor Wendell Dunlap was announced as the 2016 Chamber Ambassador of the Year. Also receiving special recognition were the 2016 Chamber Businesses of the Month and the 33nd Leadership Plainview Class. This year's banquet was the Chamber's largest with 250 tickets sold in advance.

Dr. Bobby Hall is outgoing Chamber president. Tim Hardage is incoming president.
ice immigration raid

Republican governors said they had "concerns" about a Friday Associated Press report regarding a leaked draft memo written by the Department of Homeland Security that proposed mobilizing as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up and deport unauthorized immigrants.

The draft of the memo, which appeared to have been written by DHS Secretary John Kelly, mentioned mobilizing National Guard troops in 11 states as far north as Oregon. State governors could choose whether they wanted their National Guard troops to participate, according to the memo.

Republican governors were quick to react to the report on Friday morning.

"While we havent had any contact from the Administration in regard to this issue, I would have concerns about the utilization of National Guard resources for immigration enforcement with the current deployment responsibilities our guardsmen have overseas," Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson told Business Insider.

"During my time at Homeland Security, we utilized National Guard partnerships for specific responsibilities along the border, so the concept is fine, but it's a matter of resources," said Hutchinson, who served under President George W. Bush as the undersecretary for border transportation and security under after 9/11. "In Arkansas, I believe it would be too much of a strain on our National Guard personnel."

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert told Business Insider that "while we cannot speculate as to what may be requested via official channels in the future, we have serious constitutional concerns about activating the National Guard to provide the mentioned services and the potential financial impacts of doing so."

Hurricane Katrina National Guard

Story continues

Mari St. Martin, the communications director for Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, told Business Insider that it hadn't been contacted by DHS regarding the draft memo.

"It's premature to comment on potential actions regarding the Nevada National Guard and its citizen-soldiers based entirely on a draft memo and outside speculation," St. Martin said. "The governor said earlier this morning that he didn't think it was an appropriate use of the guard."

John Wittman, the press secretary for the Texas governor's office, told Business Insider: "The Office of the Governor has not received, much less seen, a memo or request from the White House or Department of Homeland Security regarding the use of Texas National Guard troops for immigration enforcement. ... The White House has adamantly denied there are efforts underway to mobilize the National Guard for this purpose."

The Louisiana governor's office told Business Insider that it hadn't been contacted by the Trump administration regarding the memo. The Oklahoma governor's office told Business Insider that it would be "premature to discuss" the memo, as the office hasn't seen the document. The Colorado governor's office also told Business Insider it hadn't been contacted by the Trump administration.

A DHS representative told Business Insider that the AP report was "incorrect," and that the department was "not considering mobilizing the National Guard for immigration enforcement."

Sean Spicer, President Donald Trump's press secretary, called the AP's reporting "false" and "irresponsible" on Friday morning.

Sean Spicer

"It is irresponsible to be saying this," Spicer said, according to a pool report. "There is no effort at all to round up  to utilize the National Guard to round up illegal immigrants. I wish you guys had asked before you tweeted."

An AP reporter said that the wire service had requested comment from the White House multiple times before publishing. Spicer, meanwhile, said he didn't know if the draft memo had been considered by the DHS and that he knew of "no effort to do what is potentially suggested."

Another DHS official told Cox Media producer Dorey Scheimer that the immigration memo was "a very early, pre-decisional draft ... and was never seriously considered by the department."

Reaz Jafri, an immigration expert and a partner at Withers Bergman, told Business Insider on Friday morning that the DHS memo would be "subject to immediate legal challenges" because it would allow the National Guard to perform the function of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials  including the "apprehension and detention of individuals that have committed no crime and may otherwise have a legal basis, under our immigration laws, to be in the US."

Claude Arnold, a former ICE special agent who now works for Frontier Solutions, a Virginia-based crisis-management firm, told Business Insider that using the National Guard to enforce immigration laws is not "legally or practically feasible."

Arnold pointed to the Posse Comitatus Act, a federal law that limits the power of military personnel to enforce domestic policies  like immigration laws  within the US. However, Arnold said that under the Bush Administration, National Guard forces were deployed along borders to act as "eyes and ears," and provide supplementary equipment to assist CBP officials.

The Trump administration has signed executive orders increasing the scope and abilities of both ICE and Customs and Border Protection officials to detain unauthorized immigrants. Trump himself said during the campaign that he would create a "deportation force" to round up unauthorized immigrants.

Business Insider has reached out to the governors' offices in the 11 states affected by this memo and will update this story as we hear back.

Michelle Mark contributed to this report.

NOW WATCH: Mexican architects visualized Trump's proposed $25 billion wall to show how unrealistic it would be





More From Business Insider


The newest exhibit in Wayland Baptist Universitys Abraham Art Gallery, Roger Holmes: New Works in Clay, features a regional ceramic artist and teacher who has a special interest in working with young people and sharing his love of making pottery.

The solo exhibition presents a variety of forms and vessels in clay, and some special firing and glazing techniques such as iridescent Raku glazes, Saggar firing, wood fired and soda fired pottery. These different firing methods create unique surface designs and colorations on the pottery.

Holmes, works will be showing in the Abraham Gallery through April 12, and on Friday, March 3, the artist will give a gallery talk about his work at a special reception which is open to the public. He will also be doing a pottery making demonstration in early April for art students and interested artists.

Roger Holmes was born in 1951. A third generation native to the farm and ranch country of the San Luis Valley, Colorado, he spent his growing-up years in the Rio Grande Valley of Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado.

Holmes always had a close tie to the desert and the landscape of that region. Camping and hiking were a passion from an early age. In 1969, Holmes moved to Lubbock to attend Texas Tech University to pursue a degree in Architecture. After four years in the Architecture program he, by a twist of fate, took a ceramics class as an elective. This was life changing for him.

He spent the next four years totally immersed in the clay program at Tech. Making pottery for a living, however, was a dream that wasn't realized until many years later.

After 30-plus years as an art foundry manager, carpenter and remodel contractor, Holmes was able to return to his love of making pots when he took the position of clay studio manager at the Helen DeVitt Clay Studio, part of the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts in Lubbock.

Holmes now runs the clay program, teaches classes and is able to spend time creating his own work. He readily admits to the great influence of the Pueblo Potters of New Mexico and the high desert landscape on the pots he makes today.
MINNEAPOLIS  Xcel Energy announced this week a first-of-its-kind partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration to research the safe operation of drone technology to inspect critical infrastructure. The agreement involves using unmanned aircraft systems to inspect more than 20,000 miles of Xcel Energy transmission lines in 10 states. The data collected from diverse climates, conditions and geographies will be used by the federal agency to secure the nations airspace now and in the future.

Were proud to partner with the FAA to explore ways unmanned aircraft systems can enhance public safety while protecting the national grid and gas pipelines, said Kent Larson, Xcel Energys executive vice president and group president of operations. Drone technology is already giving us better inspection data to efficiently and effectively monitor our systems, ensuring employee safety and improving reliability to better serve customers.
With the snow plowed and melting, its time to take in some unique shows this weekend. In Meriden, a murder-mystery play with audience participation opens. In Wallingford, a professional magic show will be performed by a Sheehan High School graduate. Theres also a seminar on re-energizing relationships in Southington and a chance to learn how to make a hardcover book into a work of art in Cheshire.



MERIDEN



The Curse of the Hopeless Diamond



When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday



Where: The Almira F. Stephan Memorial Playhouse, 59 W. Main St.



Description: An audience participation murder mystery show presented by the Castle Craig Players. Tickets are $15, available at www.castlecraig.org.







Coffee, cake and true Islam



When: 8 p.m. Friday



Where: Baitul Aman House of Peace Mosque, 410 Main St.



Description: Ask questions, get answers and learn. Sponsored by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community CT. For more information, call 860-670-6402.







State representatives meet and greet



When: 10 a.m. to noon Saturday



Where: Meriden Public Library, 105 Miller St.



Description: The public is invited to a meeting with State Reps. Cathy Abercrombie, Hilda Santiago and Emil Buddy Altobello.







WALLINGFORD



Magic show



When: 7 p.m. Friday



Where: Sheehan High School, 142 Hope Hill Road



Description: Rescheduled from last week. Fundraiser for Sheehans music department. Magic in Heels, a family-friendly show presented by Sheehan graduate Kayla Drescher, features audience participation, comedy and storytelling. Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for kids and seniors.







Birds of prey presentation



When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18



Where: Community Room, Wallingford Public Library, 200 N. Main St.



Description: Blue Moon Raptors will present live birds of prey. Local birding organizations also will be on hand to answer questions. Enter to win a pair of tickets for a Connecticut River birding cruise. For more info, call 203-265-6754.







SOUTHINGTON



Re-energizing relationships seminar



When: 10-11:30 a.m. Saturday



Where: Southington Public Library, 255 Main St.



Description: Melissa Ericksen-Salmon, author of Creating a Love that Lasts, leads a seminar for couples seeking to rejuvenate and recharge their relationships. Registration is required, online or by calling 860-628-0947, extension 5.







Winter carnival and cardboard box race



When: All day, cardboard box race starts at 4 p.m.



Where: Mount Southington, 396 Mount Vernon Road



Description: Several activities are planned, including a cardboard box race down the mountain. Registration for the race begins at 3 p.m.







CHESHIRE



Tip-a-Cop fundraiser



When: 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday



Where: Pauls Restaurant, 1127 Highland Ave.



Description: Manson Youth Correctional Institution officers take over as servers to raise money for Special Olympics Connecticut.







Book folding workshop



When: 1-3 p.m. Saturday



Where: Artsplace CPFA, 1220 Waterbury Road



Description: Learn to make hardcover books into pieces of art. Make one book to take home; books will be provided. Cost is $25.







Want your weekend event listed? Contact Lauren Takores at LTakores@record-journal.com






MERIDEN  When Sen. Len Suzio returned home from the state legislature Wednesday night, he found a belated Valentines Day card waiting for him.



The card wasnt from a secret Valentine, but rather from roughly a dozen area residents who demonstrated outside his house earlier in the evening. Members of the liberal DUE Justice Coalition gathered for similar demonstrations outside the homes of other state senators from both political parties.



The idea is to push for progressive causes, said Steve Volpini, a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Meriden.



The coalition includes churches, unions, and other groups.



Sen. Joe Markley, R-Southington, said he also found a poster when he arrived home. A spokeswoman for Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, said she was unaware of a demonstration at his house.



Suzio, R-Meriden, who was at the legislative office building for the roughly 30-minute demonstration, expressed disappointment that he didnt have the chance to talk with the group.



I think thats great, thats what Americas about, he said. If you disagree with me, I have no problem with that at all.



He said he enjoys the opportunity to discuss politics with his constituents, even those who disagree with him. Suzio added he thrives on recent events in Middletown and Meriden, where groups of constituents attended public meetings to voice their opposition to his proposals and policy stances.



Markley declined to comment on the card left at his home, calling it a non-event. and Fasano didnt respond to a request for comment.



Volpini and the other demonstrators said they had concerns about Suzios political views on both fiscal and social issues. DUE Justice is pushing for a minimum wage increase, more funding for public education, social justice reform, pro-choice policies, and other objectives.



Volpini expressed concern that campaign expenditures from independent organizations will lead to more conservative policies.



Suzio, who benefited from campaign expenditures from the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, dismissed the notion that outside money only benefits Connecticut Republicans.



He noted his opponent, former State Sen. Dante Bartolomeo, D-Meriden, also benefited from independent expenditures, while Democrats changed campaign finance laws a few years ago to allow the state committee to spend more on a single campaign.



Suzio said he disagrees with the DUE Justice coalition on some social issues, particularly abortion, but said his focus is on the upcoming two-year state budget.



I dont run away from (social issues), but I dont make that a priority right now because the budget is a catastrophe, he said.



He also said he opposes a minimum wage increase because you cant legislate economics, adding income is held down by a flooded market of labor from immigration.



If we had better control and enforce whatever our immigration is  and Im not saying we shouldnt change our immigration laws, but they are what they are right now  you would find that people at the lower end of the labor pool would be getting better compensation, Suzio said.



msavino@record-journal.com 203-317-2266 Twitter: @reporter_savino






A thick stack of benchmark reports comparing San Francisco with other municipalities was released this week, and while much of the information confirms what residents already know, its interesting to see how the city stands out.

San Francisco has more rush hours per day than other cities. It also has the highest cost of living, population density and average household income, at $112,459, coupled with the lowest percentages of children and African American residents. San Franciscans love their libraries, logging an average eight visits each per year, and visiting their parks.

The citys Charter mandates that the city analyze its policies every few years. The report compares San Francisco with 16 other cities, like Oakland, Chicago, Denver, Philadelphia and Seattle.

New York City isnt in the group because its too large to compare reasonably with San Francisco, a spokeswoman in the controllers office said  they try to stick to apples-to-apples comparisons, a policy that excludes the Big Apple.

The findings come from data gathered in 2014, and provide useful context for the public and policymakers to assess how San Francisco compares (with) similar peer jurisdictions and to identify areas for further research, the report said.

This is the first time the city has combined the reports into an all-encompassing 98-page document  theyre usually released in 25-page chapters every few years.

But the controllers office doesnt rate the services, and there is no correlation between where money should be spent. The report shakes down to a hodgepodge of interesting factoids about San Francisco and the people who live in the city.

What this does is tell us what some of these comparisons look like, said Natasha Mihal, performance program manager in the controllers office.

There is no specific action to say, we do better or worse in this area. But it can highlight areas where we want to investigate and do a deeper dive. For example, speed of transportation. We are going to be slower because our city is made up differently than a place like Houston.

The average speed of San Franciscos buses is 8.1 miles per hour  the slowest among its peers. On average, residents hopped on public transportation 272 times, a number that is 65 times higher than other cities systems.

We are always looking for ways to improve transit service, said Municipal Transportation Agency spokesman Paul Rose.

The data points point to the value of the projects we are doing. You see that 8.1 miles per hour, which is slow, and then you see the work we are doing on transit signal priority and transit-only lane projects to get people to their destinations faster. We use this information to confirm that we are doing the work that needs to be done.

San Francisco earned high marks on many of the livability measures, bringing plenty of back-patting from officials in charge of the departments. The city uses 42 gallons of water per day, well below the 68 gallons per day average. San Francisco ranked No. 2 in air quality, with 301 good air days compared with San Mateos 332  Los Angeles ranked last at 28 days.

San Franciscos pavement-condition score was 68 out of 100 in an updated 2015 analysis, the second-highest among its peers behind Denver, which might chagrin San Francisco residents who complain about the citys pothole-riddled streets.

We are actually up to 69 now, said Public Works spokeswoman Rachel Gordon. We have been intent and committed to improving the conditions of our roads. Through voter approval of the street bonds in 2011, we have seen a steady improvement of the pavement condition. Were going after the Rockies road score.

Park lovers will also be pleased: The citys Recreation and Park Department spent more money per resident on services, at $213 per head, compared with $151 on average in the other cities. Residents also spent more time in the open spaces, with 33 visits per capita annually  more than double the 14 per-capita average.

We are gratified to see that San Francisco parks continue to enhance quality of life in San Francisco, said Rec and Park spokeswoman Sarah Madland. These great results reflect the incredible support the public has shown the department and the excellent work of our staff.

Residents also spent more time in libraries, with eight visits per capita, three more than the average. It ranked No. 2 in the category, only lagging behind Seattle.

San Franciscans love their library, and the strong financial support had direct impact, said City Librarian Luis Herrera.

The SFPL is poised to respond to our changing community needs and poised for a vibrant future. We certainly want to push hard to have every San Franciscan become a library-card holder.

Lizzie Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ljohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LizzieJohnsonnn
By Hyunjoo Jin and Joyce Lee SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Group chief Jay Y. Lee was arrested on Friday over his alleged role in a corruption scandal rocking the highest levels of power in South Korea, dealing a fresh blow to the technology giant and standard-bearer for Asia's fourth-largest economy. The special prosecutor's office accuses Lee of bribing a close friend of President Park Geun-hye to gain government favours related to leadership succession at the conglomerate. It said on Friday it will indict him on charges including bribery, embezzlement, hiding assets overseas and perjury. The 48-year-old Lee, scion of the country's richest family, was taken into custody at the Seoul Detention Centre early on Friday after waiting there overnight for the decision. He was being held in a single cell with a TV and desk, a jail official said. Lee is a suspect in an influence-peddling scandal that led parliament to impeach Park in December, a decision that if upheld by the Constitutional Court would make her the country's first democratically elected leader forced from office. Samsung and Lee have denied wrongdoing in the case. Prosecutors have up to 10 days to indict Lee, Samsung's third-generation leader, although they can seek an extension. After indictment, a court would be required to make its first ruling within three months. Prosecutors plan to question Lee again on Saturday. No decision had been made on whether Lee's arrest would be contested or whether bail would be sought, a spokeswoman for Samsung Group said. "We will do our best to ensure that the truth is revealed in future court proceedings," the Samsung Group said in a brief statement after Lee's arrest. The same court had rejected a request last month to arrest Lee, but prosecutors this week brought additional accusations against him. "We acknowledge the cause and necessity of the arrest," a judge said in his ruling. The judge rejected the prosecution's request to also arrest Samsung Electronics president Park Sang-jin. Shares in Samsung Electronics ended Friday down 0.42 percent in a flat wider market. Ratings agencies did not expect any impact on the flagship firm's credit ratings, and said Lee's arrest would accelerate improvements in management transparency and corporate governance. SENSITIVE TIME While Lee's detention is not expected to hamper day-to-day operations at Samsung firms, which are run by professional managers, experts said it could hinder strategic decision-making at South Korea's biggest conglomerate, or chaebol. Samsung is going through a restructuring to clear a succession path for Lee to assume control after his father was incapacitated by a heart attack in 2014. Decisions that could be complicated by Lee's arrest include deliberations over whether to reorganize the group under a holding company structure, as well as its plan to abandon its future strategy office, a central decision-making body that came in for criticism during the scandal. Staff moves have also been in limbo. Samsung, which employs around half a million people, has yet to announce annual personnel promotions and changes, which it typically does in December. One employee at Samsung Electronics chip division said colleagues were unsettled that prosecutors had singled out Samsung. "The mood is that people are worried," the person said. However, another Samsung Electronics employee described the situation as business as usual. "It wouldn't make sense for a company of that size to not function properly just because the owner is away." Both employees declined to be identified, given the sensitivity of the matter. Lee's incarceration comes as Samsung Electronics tries to get past last year's disastrous roll-out of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, which were prone to fires. It is under pressure for the upcoming launch of its next flagship phone, the Galaxy S8, to be a success. WIDER IMPACT Major business groups criticised the decision, worried about the impact on Samsung and the country. "A management vacuum at Samsung, a global company representing the Republic of Korea, will increase uncertainty and undermine global confidence, posing a big burden on the already struggling economy," the Korea Employers Federation said. Lee's arrest gives a boost to prosecutors who have zeroed in on Samsung to build their case against President Park and her close friend Choi Soon-sil, who is in detention and faces charges of abuse of power and attempted fraud. Both Park and Choi have denied wrongdoing. Prosecutors have focused on Samsung's relationship with Park, 65, accusing the group of paying bribes totalling 43 billion won ($37.74 million) to organizations linked to Choi to secure government backing for the controversial 2015 merger of two Samsung units, a deal that was seen as key to smoothing Lee's succession. The prosecution office on Friday accused Lee of bribery not only in seeking to smooth the merger but in the broader process of his succession. A prosecution spokesman did not elaborate. If parliament's impeachment of Park is upheld, an election would be held in two months. In the meantime, she remains in office but stripped of her powers. Her would-be successors praised the decision to arrest Lee. "We hope it marks a beginning to end our society's evil practice of cozy ties between government and corporations and move towards a fair country," said Kim Kyoung-soo, a spokesman for Moon Jae-in, a member of the liberal opposition Democratic Party who is leading opinion polls in the presidential race. (Additional reporting by Ju-min Park and Cynthia Kim; Writing by Tony Munroe; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Ian Geoghegan)
San Francisco supervisors indicated Thursday they would be willing to provide Public Defender Jeff Adachi with funding to hire more attorneys to defend detained immigrants facing deportation proceedings.

I would like to have a conversation about increasing the number of positions in the public defenders office but I dont really know what that number is, Supervisor Malia Cohen said at a hearing of the Budget and Finance Committee.

To allow time to sort out questions like that, the three-member committee continued the item for two weeks.

Sources in City Hall also said Mayor Ed Lee is newly receptive to the idea, although he believes money would be best directed to community-based legal defense groups instead of the public defenders office.

Lee met Thursday afternoon with Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer, who is spearheading the push to fund the public defenders office. The mayors budget director, Melissa Whitehouse, and Adachi were also set to meet to discuss a potential deal.

Fewers legislation would allocate an additional $418,105 for the public defender through the end of July and another $2.2 million in subsequent years. That would pay for eight attorneys, four paralegals and two senior clerks.

However, sources said negotiations between the public defender, mayor and Fewer are likely to center on a much lower figure for this year. The mayor also is likely to insist that Adachi use roughly $200,000 in salary savings over the past year toward the effort.

The time is urgent, Fewer said. If we have the money now it allows the public defender to actually start building a team for next year.

She said immigrants in detention centers are sitting ducks, because its likely the first place the Trump administration will deport from.

But Deirdre Hussey, the mayors spokeswoman, rejected any suggestion that the mayor would increase the public defenders funding this fiscal year to defend detained immigrants. She said the mayor believes Adachi should work within his existing budget to begin hiring immigration attorneys.

The money for Adachis proposed team would go toward defending detained immigrants in deportation proceedings in San Franciscos immigration court  an estimated 1,500 people.

By contrast, Lee allocated about $4.5 million over the next year and half to nonprofit groups to defend the roughly 35,000 immigrants in San Franciscos court who are in deportation proceedings but not detained. Thats on top of the $3.8 million immigration groups already receive annually.

Those nonprofit groups have strongly backed additional funding for the public defenders office, in part because those cases tend to be procedurally more complicated and a substantial number of detained immigrants have some criminal history, which put the cases at the intersection of criminal and immigration law.

You might ask why should the public defender be doing so? Why not the nonprofit organizations? Adachi testified at the committee meeting.

Even with the additional resources allocated by the mayor and the board, there is no way that the nonprofits would be able to handle the detained cases, he said. This is not to say the nonprofit agencies dont want to do these cases, but they have their hands full.

Emily Green is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: egreen@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @emilytgreen
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A fizzy delicacy popular with Texans could be jeopardized if President Donald Trump enacts trade policies hostile to the U.S. southern neighbor.

Coca-Cola bottled in Mexico, dubbed Mexican Coke, has gained popularity during the past decade as hipsters flocked to the drink with a sleek glass bottle and a reputation for using cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup.

The retro-looking beverage is ubiquitous in San Antonio and South Texas. Grocery stores, big-box retailers and convenience stores stock individual bottles in coolers and soda aisles. Trendy restaurants and food trucks order them lest they lose their hipster cred. But the sugary drink has long been in a mainstay in Latino communities in the U.S.

But supplies of the popular fizzy drink along with other sodas sweetened with Mexican cane sugar could be disrupted should the Trump administration pursue aggressive trade policies toward Mexico.

A previous trade dispute forced at least one Texas soda manufacturer to switch to U.S. sugar.

Austin-based Party Time Beverages had used Mexican cane sugar in its Doppleganger line of sodas, owner Joe Stanke said. The company supplies sodas to Torchys Tacos and Hopdoddy Burger Bar, both of which each have San Antonio locations, among other Austin-area restaurants.

But in 2014, a spat between the U.S. and Mexico over prices of Mexican cane sugar disrupted his supply. Although the two nations eventually came to an agreement, we just bit the bullet and said, Were just going to get it in the states and pay more, Stanke said. The companys clients and customers didnt note a change in taste, he said.

At least two companies  Coca-Cola FEMSA, based in Mexico City, and Arca Continental  handle Coca-Colas bottling operations south of the border.

A spokeswoman for Coca-Cola, based in Atlanta, declined in an email to answer questions about whether the company has contingency plans should a trade war break out between the U.S. and Mexico, how many bottling plants the company uses in Mexico and whether the company has found any significant difference in taste between soda bottled in the U.S. and in Mexico.

While Coca-Cola from Mexico sold in the U.S. continues to grow, it is minimal compared to the (overall) sales of Coca-Cola in the U.S., the spokeswoman said.

Click here for the full report on ExpressNews.com or read Fridays edition of the Express-News.
'I Am Not Your Negro' Magnolia Pictures 'Fist Fight' Warner Bros. Pictures 'The Cure for Wellness' Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox/Associated Press 'The Great Wall' Photo Credit: Legendary and Univ/Associated Press

"Fist Fight," the movie where Ice Cube challenges Charlie Day to a fight after school -- which is allegedly hilarious because they're teachers not students -- is not a good movie.

It's also the best movie opening in wide release this week, unless you're a big fan of eels or giant lizards.
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Luke, the River Walk restaurant that helped usher in a wave of chef-driven restaurants in San Antonio, is shutting down at the end of the month.

It started with a flourish and the bright lights of New Orleans-based celebrity chef John Besh and much acclaim, but its quality declined over the years and a review in October 2016 documented its downfall.

Whatever charms celebrity chef John Besh brought to this stylish New Orleans saloon when it opened in 2010, they've faded with time, the 2016 review stated. (The) Luke experience fell squarely in the languid execution zone favored by more modest hotel restaurants.

Read the review that showed the final stages of Lukes demise .

The closing was first reported by the San Antonio Current, and the Besh Restaurant Group confirmed the closure in a statement.

The version of Luke that opened in November 2010 seemed like a completely different place from the one thats now closing. In those heady times, it was the first restaurant from Besh outside his native New Orleans and immediately caused a stir in San Antonio.

Luke has quickly become the most talked-about restaurant downtown, if not the entire city, and for good reason, said a January 2011 review. To be sure, this French-German brasserie by way of New Orleans serves very good dishes, but what keeps people coming back is something even more elemental: genuine hospitality.

Read the review of Luke when it was at the top of its game in 2011 .

The excitement of the first  and still only  national celebrity chef to come to San Antonio brought a national buzz the city had rarely experienced.

And the everyday happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m. featuring 50 cent Gulf oysters, 50 cent meat pies and half price cocktails quickly cemented the restaurants place as a must-visit attraction. The restaurants version of a French 75, substituting cognac for the traditional gin, muscled itself as one of the citys favorite cocktails.

That same year, it received the Express-News Readers Choice award for best new restaurant and scored with critics for service and its happy hour.

In 2015, the performance at Luke was strong enough to land it as No. 13 in The top 20 restaurants list in the inaugural Express-News Top 100 Dining & Drinks list. Early the following year, it had slipped, but still was strong enough to make the overall list in the 2016 Top 100 guide.

That all changed late last year when it was reviewed again. A pair of visits found mostly empty tables instead of the packed and lively dining room, indifferent service and mostly forgettable dishes.

Then-executive chef John Russ left Nov. 28, the restaurant group said. Louisiana native Drake Leonards succeeded him. Russ is said to be working on a new restaurant project with his wife, pastry chef Elise Broz Russ. He did not respond to a request for comment made late Thursday.

Luke leaves behind some strong alumni, who have gone on to their own achievements.

The first executive chef, Steve McHugh, is now chef and owner of Cured in The Pearl and just received his second James Beard Award nomination as Best Chef-Southwest. He was traveling Thursday and unavailable to comment.

Luis Colon, a cook on the team that opened Luke, created what Texas Monthly called the best burger in the state at the now-closed Folc restaurant. That burger will appear on the menu on the soon-to-open Bexar Pub, a new project for the Folc team, and at the new location of Folc itself, whenever and wherever it opens.

Diego Galicia worked at at Luke for a year while attending the Culinary Institute of America-San Antonio. He now is the chef and co-owner of Mixtli, the modernist restaurant that has garnered regional and national acclaim for its creative stylings of regional Mexican cuisine.

I learned (at Luke) that cooking is a team sport, and we really had to meld together for the whole thing to work, Galicia said. Among the cooks, there was a certain sense of pride, a sense of ownership.

But he, too, saw it decline more recently.

It was sad slowly watching it die, Galicia said. Im pretty sad its closing.

Joe Melton, general manager for the Embassy Suites San Antonio River Walk Downtown where Luke is a tenant, said the hotel is in talks with both local and out-of-town restaurateurs to fill the space.

Its a great space, said Melton. We certainly want to fill that space with another great restaurant property.

etijerina@express-news.net
Googles (GOOG, GOOGL) Chromebooks are, by and large, excellent, low-cost alternatives to more expensive Windows PCs and Apples MacBooks. They get you online and let you stream movies and music. You can even play a few games on your Chromebook.

And now, with the Samsung Chromebook Plus, available Feb. 12, and Pro, available this April, Chromebooks let you run any of the millions of Android apps available through the Google Play Store right out of the box.

To be sure, the Chromebook Plus and Pro arent the first Chromebooks to offer Android app compatibility; three older Chromebooks can already run Android apps via software updates. But these are the first Chromebooks purpose-built with Android apps in mind.

The Plus and Pro arent perfect, though. There are still some kinks to work out when it comes to running Android apps on a 12-inch laptop. And theyve got some stiff competition in the form of Apples iPad Pro.

Still, for the first time, Im genuinely considering buying a Chromebook.

Plus and Pro: The same, but different

Lets get one thing out of the way before I dive into this review: the difference between the Plus and the Pro. In general, the systems are identical. They share the same design, though the Plus is silver and the Pro is black; the have the same 12.3-inch screen and they both included styluses. Styli? Stylusses? You know what? Lets just say they both have pens.

The main difference between the Samsung Chromebook Plus and Pro is on the inside.

The main difference between these systems is their processors. The Chromebook Plus runs on an ARM processor and costs $449, while the Chromebook Pro gets a more powerful Intel chip and costs $549.

How do you decide between the two? Easy. The Plus is meant for basic web browsing and gaming. Think people who check their email or use Google Drive often. The Pro, on the other hand, is for folks who tend to browse the web with 20 tabs open, while streaming music through Spotify and perusing Twitter and Facebook.

Handsome hardware

The Plus and Pro are thin and lightweight at just 0.55 inches thick and 2.4 pounds, respectively. I packed the Chromebook Plus into my backpack along with my regular MacBook Air 13-inch and hardly noticed the added weight.

Story continues

Unlike most Chromebooks, the Plus and Pro also double as tablets thanks to their 360-degree-hinged, 12.3-inch, 2,400 x 1,600 resolution displays. I watched some movies and browsed the web and found the Pros display to be crisp and colorful.

Apples 12.9-inch and 9.7-inch iPad Pros are both thinner, lighter and have higher resolution screens than Samsungs Chromebooks. But Apples offerings are also far more expensive. The 9.7-inch iPad Pro starts at $599, while the 12.9-inch model starts at $799. And thats without the added cost of a keyboard and stylus.

Styling stylus

Speaking of styluses, the Chromebook Plus and Pros each have small ports built into their sides to store the pens when not in use. The iPad Pro does not.

Writing with the stylus feels incredibly natural thanks to a bit of added resistance provided by its tip and Googles machine learning magic.

The Chromebook Plus and Pro use Googles machine learning software to cut down on lag when writing with the stylus.

See, Google has programmed the Plus and Pro to understand how most people write. As a result, the Chromebooks are able to predict how fast youre jotting something down, and all but eliminate the kind of lag that makes writing with a stylus feel unnatural. The Plus and Pros displays are also pressure sensitive  so if you press hard while writing, youll see a wider, darker pen stroke.

Keyboard problems

The Plus and Pro are well-built machines, but they do have some problems. Compared to the full-size keyboard on my MacBook Air, the Chromebooks keyboards feel cramped, leading me to strike the wrong keys on occasion.

Whats more, the Chromebook Plus and Pro only feature USB C ports, so youll need to purchase a separate adapter if you want to connect legacy devices like printers. On the flip side, though, the Plus and Pro is a microSD card slot and headphone jack.

As far as battery life goes, I spent the majority of my day typing away on the Chromebook Pro and didnt need to plug it in until I got home at night.

Android goes Chrome

Its great that the Plus and Pro are well-built, but the biggest reason youd by these Chrome OS-powered machines is that they run Android apps.

Core Google apps like Gmail, YouTube and Calendar all run in Chrome browser-style windows, while a handful of others like Maps and the Play Store run in their own independent, resizable Windows. But third-party apps need a bit more polish.

Samsungs Chromebook Plus and Pro are the first Chromebooks purpose-built for using Android apps.

Twitter (TWTR), Facebook (FB), Netflix (NFLX) and Spotify all run as enlarged versions of their smartphone or tablet versions. Spotify in particular is difficult to navigate, due to the apps confusing and stretched interface. Hulu also proved bothersome, as the Chrome OS toolbar cut off subtitles.

I also noticed that I couldnt watch videos in Netflix while browsing the web in Chrome, which was a major pain, especially when I was trying to stream Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia at the office while pretending to do work. Apples iPad Pro, on the other hand, lets you stream Netflix and Hulu while browsing the web via picture-in-picture mode.

But again, youre going to pay a lot more money for that privilege compared to Samsungs Chromebooks.

Should you buy it?

Sure, youre not going to get the kind of performance out of a Chromebook that you would out of a more powerful Windows PC or MacBook, but the Plus and Pro will prove to be more than enough for the majority of users.

In other words, if you want a low-cost alternative to your PC, Mac or even iPad Pro, go for the Chromebook Plus or Pro.

More from Dan:

Email Daniel at dhowley@yahoo-inc.com; follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.
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When a little girl in San Angelo blew out her candles, she also blew away Selena fans everywhere with a birthday party fit for a Tejano queen.

Family members describe 6-year-old Ayvah Vega as a little girl with a giant personality, who is also a Selena superfan. Her only request for her party last weekend was for the Queen of Tejano to be the theme.

"We created a mini Selena concert," dad Alex Vega said, adding that his little girl kicked off her bash by teaching her friends how to pull of Selena's famous dance move, "The Washer Machine."

RELATED: San Antonio 6-year-old's Drake-themed birthday party made all others look like child's play

Alex Vega said he and his wife, Belinda, spent months and more than $500 perfecting their little girl's big day.

A mini stage, Selena performer, rose-embellished cake, replica of the star's most-famous ensemble and a pinata (which none of the little girls wanted to leave a dent in), completed the festivities at the Vega household.

The Vegas said some of the little party guests didn't know who Selena was before Ayvah's birthday, but they all left their home dancing and singing along with her songs.

"It kind of felt like you were at one of Selena's concerts," Alex Vega said. "It was so loud in there but the girls loved it."

RELATED: S.A.-area great, great grandma celebrates 107th birthday in style

Ayvah was the most pleased with her party. Her family said her obsession with the star, who was tragically killed more than 20 years ago, began at the start of this school year after she found a YouTube video of a Selena performance and was immediately enamored.

"For two months straight, her alarm was 'Bidi Bidi Bom Bom.' I came to work singing it," Ayvah's dad joked. "We introduced her to the movie and she's probably watched it 100 times  if it's not being played in the house, it's being played in the car."

RELATED: Thomas J. Henry threw his daughter one of the most lavish quinceaneras San Antonio has ever seen

Like her idol, the 6-year-old already has an impressive schedule of dancing, singing, cheerleading, gymnastics and impromptu talent shows in her living room whenever she has free time.

"Our little girl has always been a performer since the age of 2, she's always dancing and singing for us,"Alex Vega said. "There's just something about (Ayvah), when you put her on stage, she just switches."

The Vegas said they never expected the photos of Ayvah's party to extend further than their family members, but fans as far as London have reacted to the original Facebook post.

"To see it carry on to others  I think that was really neat," Alex Vega added.

Check out the gallery above for the party that will make your heart go "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom."

mmendoza@mysa.com

Twitter: @MaddySkye
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Sometimes a girl's best friend is the creepy Guy Fawkes look-alike spying on her first date from a table away.

Dawsyn Eubanks and Georgia Hoyer, friends from Rockwall, Texas, are earning cheers from all over the internet this week after one of the girls initiated a first-date spy operation Thursday that went viral.

In less than a day  and more than 400,000 likes and nearly 200,000 retweets later  the Dallas-area besties are bona fide internet sensations.

Now the beloved masked wingwoman, Hoyer, is speaking up.

RELATED: Internet mourns young Texas man put in ultimate 'friend zone' after series of dates

"Since I had gotten off work, the first thing I did was call Dawsyn and ask if she wanted to hang out. She said she was getting ready for a date and I was like 'ohh where,' and she told me," 18-year-old Hoyer said.

With a location locked down, Hoyer's plan fell into place and she dropped by a nearby party store for a disguise.

"As I was leaving work, I got the idea to go in and buy a mustache and show up on the date," she said. "I got a few weird stares, but (Dawsyn) didn't notice me until I texted her. Her date didn't either."

The viral moment was captured by the completely unaware Eubanks after Hoyer sent her a text saying "Why aren't you eating your food."

RELATED: Internet loving this S.A. mom for sneaking corn on the cob into movie theater

"When your best friend wants to make sure your first date goes well," the 19-year-old said in a tweet of Hoyer with a hoodie and mask on.

The third wheel said she stuck around for about five minutes after revealing her true self and although she didn't speak much to her best friend's date, she thinks it went well.

As for being everyone's favorite Twitter best friends, Hoyer says neither of them expected the attention. According to Hoyer, Eubanks took a nap after she posted the tweet, then woke up to reactions by the thousands.

"We have a very strange sense of humor that only one another understand. It's never been to this extent though, usually its just funny texts," Hoyer added.

Eubanks wasn't at all embarrassed by her waiting-in-the-wings wing woman, if anything she said she "hopes everyone has a best friend like her in their life."

mmendoza@mysa.com

Twitter: @MaddySkye
As I sat to write this article, feelings of fear and uncertainty are inescapable in my community. The fear of being banned from entering our country, the fear of backlash and hate, is halting us in our tracks. Its a deafening silence, a long and uncertain wait of what will happen next. We sit glued to our screens, hoping that our families and children will be OK.

As these days go by, the unpredictability grows. Members of my congregation contact me through phone calls and emails, demanding answers on how to cope with all of this. News of mosques being burned down, shootings at mosques, and discrimination at airports has paralyzed some of my community. As people of faith, our trust and hope is in Allah, but it has never been tougher to reaffirm our commitment to faith than in these trying times.

Allah reminds us in the Quran of the struggle Moses and his people went through. When the tyranny and oppression of Pharaoh was getting out of hand, Moses led his people towards the Red Sea in the darkness of the night.

By the morning time, Pharaoh had gotten word of his departure and mobilized an army in hot pursuit. When Moses and his people reached the Red Sea and saw Pharaoh and his army getting closer, they started to lose hope and exclaimed, We are doomed!

Moses sensed his people losing faith. He sensed their apprehension, their angst, their dread. He took the opportunity to remind them who truly is in control of all things and replied, Never! Surely, my Lord is with me, and he will show me a way out. In another verse, Allah gives us hope and says, Do not be weak, and do not be grieved. You will surely be victorious, if you believe.

It is not just Muslims and immigrants who are targets of fear and hatred, but others as well. Unfortunately, anti-Semitism is once again on the rise in our country. Symbols of hate were spray-painted right here in our city and in surrounding areas. There was anti-Semitic graffiti painted on a sign near a Jewish institutes entrance in Cincinnati and on a New York City subway. These are disturbing attacks that impact us all.

These are times in which we need to continue to support one another against any type of hatred and discrimination. Our strength is in us coming together. Though we may have many differences, our commonalities far exceed our differences.

Acts of kindness will revive humanity, and will remind us that there is hope. Acts such as the leaders of a Jewish congregation giving Muslims the keys to their synagogue so they could continue to worship after their mosque was burned down in Texas. Acts such as when passengers on the train got together to clean off anti-Semitic graffiti in New York.

This reminds me of when a funeral procession of a Jewish person passed by the Prophet Muhammad, and he stood up out of respect. His companions asked why he did so, mentioning to him that it was a Jewish person, not a Muslim. To this, the Prophet Muhammad rhetorically asked, Is he not a human being?

The history of the world is rich with stories of people of different faiths living and thriving alongside each other. In fact, if we take a look at Muslim Spain, you will find Muslims and Jews flourishing and prospering in solidarity. This was a time when Muslims and Jews were both subjected to violence. Hundreds of years later, and we find ourselves in the same position.

I am proud and delighted to say that through the last few months, the outpouring of love and support that our mosque has received is amazing. Instead of the fabric of our country being torn apart, we find ourselves coming together. We have been receiving messages and donations full of support and love. I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who reached out to us and those who visited us. Your strength and kindness is priceless.

A hope of mine is to have all marginalized communities and minority groups to come together and build a coalition of solidarity. I pray that we as people of different backgrounds can come closer together to support one another in the face of hate to make our world a better world.

Imam Usman Akhtar is the director of religious affairs at the Islamic Society of Western Connecticut. He can be reached at imam.danburymasjid@gmail.com.
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DANBURY  As the sun set on City Hall, about 500 people gathered around Latino business leaders, who told them in Spanish they should not fear federal immigration authorities in the Hat City.

We need to let the people know theyre safe here. Were all with them, said Rolando Castro, owner of several delis that closed Thursday along with dozens of other Danbury businesses for the national Day Without Immigrants strike. People need to know not to leave Danbury because theyre afraid.

On Main Street, about every third store was locked, and many of those had posted signs in Spanish and English expressing solidarity with the protest.

At the rally, residents held up signs saying No Hate City and Immigrants Make America Great. As Latino business leaders spoke through a squad-car speaker, people were streaming into City Halls parking lot: Police blocked some of Dear Hill Avenue for the crowd, which kept growing, and organizers thanked the department.

Jose Arriaga was one of several protesters who said President Donald Trumps administration was stoking deportation fears in immigrant communities.

This guy wins the election and thinks he owns the country, Arriaga said. He owns Trump Tower. He doesnt own the country ... we all own the country.

The goal of the Day Without Immigrants protest was to demonstrate the importance of immigrants  documented or undocumented  to the U.S. economy. Latino community leaders Thursday said 40 to 100 Danbury businesses closed after they saw their neighbors do so. Customers unaware of the observance were met by locked doors at some of their favorite shops and restaurants.

Denise Bertalovitz was one of about 30 people who showed up around lunchtime at Elmers Diner on Padanaram Road, not knowing owner Elmer Palma and his employees had decided the day before not to open. She missed enjoying a bowl of split-pea soup, but understood about the protest.

If anyone at Elmers were sent back, we would be heartbroken, Bertalovitz said. Theyre like family ... We bring the kids here for their birthdays.

Al Doceti, of New Fairfield, agreed.

So Ill have to bounce around for lunch, he said. Ill do this for Elmer anytime.

Others werent as forgiving, saying the daylong closure was silly or stupid and immigration advocates should leave it alone.

Im all for immigrants, as long as theyre legal, said Richard Dottrres as he stood outside the diner. But if theyre illegal, theyre illegal.

The strike was not called by any particular advocacy group, but the idea spread rapidly on social media and Spanish-language TV, largely as a reaction against Trumps criticisms of illegal immigration and stepped-up enforcement efforts in many states, including New York.

The Associated Press reported Thursday the number of foreign-born workers in the U.S. has gone from nearly 3.1 million in 2007 to 25.9 million today. Those workers account for 56 percent of the increase in U.S. employment over that period, according to the Labor Department.

An estimated 1.3 million in the restaurant industry are immigrants living in the U.S. undocumented, according to Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, which works to improve working conditions in that industry.

On Saturday, the Danbury Area Justice Network will host a dinner crawl, Pack the House for Justice, from 5 to 7 p.m. to support shop owners who closed Thursday.

blytton@hearstmediact.com; 203-731-3411; @bglytton
Our country and world are confronting serious challenges, and yet we are suspending our legal and religious principles because we are frightened.

As a result of heinous acts by individuals, we have witnessed a ratcheting up of anti-Muslim political speech, and wholesale targeted actions against an entire religious group. The recent refugee ban targeting Muslims, and the shooting at the Canadian Mosque, are subsequent results that foster a world torn more apart.

In January, two Texas mosques were burned to the ground. The Islamic Center of Victoria was destroyed by a massive fire less than three weeks after the partly constructed Islamic Center of Lake Travis suffered the same fate. Muslim communities across our country are frightened for their families, and confronting an environment that is becoming more and more toxic each day.

Amid the devastation of the Islamic Center of Victoria, the Jewish community can be proud of the immediate response of the local synagogue which gave them the keys to their own house of worship, and have joined in the efforts to help rebuild the mosque.

Growing up in Palo Alto, Calif., I personally witnessed the burning of the nearby synagogue, Beth Jacob, in Redwood City. Amid the ashes rose immediate hope because numerous houses of worship from different faiths assisted with fundraising and other much-needed support. This proactive response made an indelible impression on me.

Each of us has a moral obligation to share our time and resources with others who are in need. When lives are literally in peril, our own obligation to respond with charity and acts of love and kindness is imperative.

Within our Jewish history we know too painfully the results of bias, prejudice, etc.

Almost 2,000 years ago, the Chazal (sages of blessed memory) declared, "Be moderate and measured in the judgments you make." Their fundamental warning was to avoid the pitfalls that come from making extreme characterizations about others.

Judaism asserts that we have an obligation to be very careful when making judgments and to always avoid classifying anyone, except when there are proven facts specific to an individual.

"Innocent until proven guilty" is not just a prudent societal safeguard by which to protect individuals from false convictions. It is a religious mandate.

"Love your neighbor as yourself" is of similar intentions. If you took yourself and switched places with another, how would you expect to be treated?

It is also why the ethics of our fathers declared, "Judge every individual on the positive side of the scale."

Fear, anger, worry ...are all understandable feelings. But they cannot rule one's obligation as to how we appropriately judge others.

First impressions cannot be taken as facts. If our first, second and even third judgments are negative about others, we need to consciously set aside the negative(s) and see if we can perceive or find the positive(s).

We imagine that God can "see all" and look into our hearts and minds. We expect that God can be the "honest" judge. We hope that when we stand before God in judgment, that God will weigh our positives more heavily than our negatives. What we want God to do for us within a context of mercy is not what we often want for someone else. We expect stricter divine justice.

We want other people to first extend us mercy. But when we feel personally wronged, we first want "justice."

Too many of us, at times, are neither being moderate and measured in our judgments, nor avoiding the sin of extreme characterizations about others.

We have forgotten that our language can either build or destroy, and when our anger is allowed to serve as an extra catalyst, there will almost always be a bad result.

Recently, the town of Greenwich held a leadership diversity training session led by the Anti-Defamation League. The essence of the dialogue was first in recognizing the "Pyramid of Hate" and then finding effective mechanisms by which to lessen the power of this significant human challenge.

The Pyramid of Hate demonstrates how the seeds of hatred are planted, and how easily it can blossom into senseless violence. At the bottom of the pyramid is "Bias." Within human interactions, this can be defined as occurring when we fall prey to words and/or actions that are not deliberate and measured, which starts substituting emotion for looking first for the positives in others.

Bias is commonplace in our lives, and we give into our own bias, and/or the bias of others, when we use stereotypes, indulge in non-verification of the facts and/or make insensitive remarks. Bias unchecked nurtures the possibility for acts of prejudice  the second level of the Pyramid.

When people cultivate bias, their prejudicial feelings and attitudes grow, and the permissiveness increases for bullying, ridiculing and scapegoating. Prejudice is putting bias into action.

When prejudice is permitted then a community or society that tolerates it will permit or even endorse discriminatory actions  the third level on the Pyramid of Hate. After which the fourth level of the Pyramid becomes viable, which is the condoning and/or participating in acts of violence against those who are the "other."

The fifth level is, of course the worst. It is the time and place when wholesale violence and hatred is channeled so as to eliminate the perceived threats.

The Holocaust was possible because Nazi Germany was able to implement the Pyramid of Hate, and others either stayed silent because of their own biases or they simply didn't have the moral courage to combat the hatred in a timely enough manner.

Specific to the contemporary challenges within America today, we have to ask ourselves a series of questions:

Am I moderate and measured in the judgments I make, and are those who lead me, and those I listen to, moderate and measured in the judgments they make?

Am I avoiding the pitfalls that come from making extreme characterizations about others, and are those who lead me, and those I listen to, moderate and measured in the judgments they make?

Do I indulge in bias or even prejudice? Do those who lead me, and those I listen to, indulge in bias or even prejudice?

Am I participating in actions of prejudice and/or silently standing by as others participate in actions of prejudice?

When we give honest answers to these questions, we can then carefully choose our next steps. We can become the agents of change by which we recognize the emergence of the Pyramid of Hate and we become enabled to effectively interrupt the progression toward the higher levels of the Pyramid.

Jewish history and human history have too many examples where bias has ultimately led to hateful acts. The greatest accomplice in the evil done toward others was the indulgence in either indifference or silence.

We all have an opportunity to speak out.

Our religious principles are not limited to partisan political affiliations, and in fact the most effective change agents will be the individuals who, within their own political affiliations, help others to recognize the dangers that come from permitting within society the construction of the Pyramid of Hate.

Let's all take direct personal action in some way: volunteer with a refugee agency, contact elected representatives, become more engaged with mission driven organizations that combat hate and prejudice.

There are numerous institutions which are worthy of our time and support. I encourage us all to seek out every opportunity to speak out against hate before, God forbid, it's too late, and I further encourage everyone to investigate any vehicle which can help us make a difference, and perhaps literally save lives.

Rabbi Mitchell M. Hurvitz is Senior Rabbi Temple Sholom of Greenwich, co-founder of the Sholom Center for Interfaith Learning and Fellowship and a past president of the Greenwich Fellowship of Clergy For an archive of past Greenwich Citizen columns, please visit www.templesholom.com
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Hundreds of bridges across Connecticut  including four along I-95 in Fairfield County  are structurally deficient, placing the state in the middle of the pack nationally in terms of bridges needing work, according to a new report based on inspections.

The analysis of federal data by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association found that more than 8 percent of the states roughly 5,300 bridges are deficient. The study ranked Connecticut 28th nationally among the 50 states for the percentage of structurally deficient bridges and 38th for the number of structurally deficient bridges.

Americas highway network is woefully underperforming, said Premo Black, chief economist for the association. It is outdated, overused, underfunded and in desperate need of modernization. State and local transportation departments havent been provided the resources to keep pace with the nations bridge needs.

The association noted that four of the 10 most traveled and structurally deficient bridges are in Fairfield County. Those include the I-95 Yankee Doodle Bridge in Norwalk, the I-95 bridge over the Byram River in Greenwich and the I-95 bridge over Route 33 at Exit 17 in Westport.

The structurally deficient designation, also referred to as poor condition, does not mean the bridge is unsafe, experts pointed out. It represents a threshold reached in the life of a bridge that signals more extensive repair and rehabilitation is needed.

Kevin Nursick, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said all bridges eventually reach a poor condition.

More Information Definition: A structurally deficient designation means a bridge has reached a point in its life span when more repair and rehabilitation is required. The bridge remains safe for use. 8.4 percent of the Connecticut's bridges are structurally deficient 20 percent of Iowa bridges are structurally deficient; 19.8 percent of Pennsylvania bridges are deficient 1.6 percent of Nevada's bridges are deficient, the best percentage among states Connecticut ranks 28 nationally in percentage of structurally deficient bridges; 38 for number of structurally deficient bridges Trucks and school buses nationally cross 55,710 structurally compromised bridges daily. State transportation departments natonally have identified 13,000 Interstate bridges that need replacement The most traveled and structurally deficient bridges in Fairfield County are: I-95 Yankee Doodle Bridge in Norwalk I-95 bridge over the Byram River in Greenwich I-95 bridge over Route 33 at Exit 17 in Westport I-95 ramps over Metro-North tracks and local roads east of Exit 8 Northbound Source: The American Road & Transportation Builders Association: See More Collapse

At some point, every bridge will deteriorate and become structurally deficient, Nursick said. This is normal and expected. Its a trigger point for overhaul and a part of a normal process over decades and decades.

Nursick noted the number of state owned bridges in poor condition dropped from 331 in 2011, to 270 in 2016.

The number of town-owned bridges in poor condition dropped from 193 in 2011, to 159 in 2016.

Functionally obsolete

The builders association found that nationally cars, trucks and school buses cross 55,710 structurally compromised bridges daily. About 1,900 of those bridges are on the Interstate Highway System, and state transportation departments have identified 13,000 Interstate bridges that need replacement, widening or major reconstruction.

Black said the inventory of structurally deficient bridges declined 0.5 percent since 2015, but added at that pace of improvement it would take more than two decades to replace or repair all of them.

In Connecticut, the association found 1,072 bridges, or 25 percent of the states bridges, are classified as functionally obsolete, meaning the bridge does not meet current design standards, and that 54 bridges are posted for load restricting the size and weight of vehicles crossing.

The association noted federal investment in Connecticut funded $2.1 billion in improvements on 541 bridges between 2005 and 2014. But the state has identified needed repairs on 88 bridges, with an estimated price tag of $917 million, the association said.

Douglas Taylor, a nationally recognized bridge expert and president of Taylor Devices, which makes seismic dampers that protect bridges during earthquakes and high winds, said more federal money should be earmarked for bridge repair.

Thats definitely a concern for the people who use those bridges every day, Taylor said. From a technological stand point they can be fixed, but the money to do so isnt coming any time soon.

Nursick said the state owns 4,004 bridges, and roughly 270 of those are in poor condition, while towns and cities own 1,290 bridges, with 159 in poor condition.

Our infrastructure in the Northeast is older than the rest of the country, Nursick said. We continue to face challenges. But we would never allow the public to use a bridge we consider unsafe.
RIDGEFIELDThe Rotary Club of Ridgefield announced this week that last months Taste of Ridgefield event raised over $25,000.

With over 30 establishments participating, the Jan. 29 event allowed residents to sample food and drinks from local restaurants. The proceeds will go to a student scholarship and grants to local organizations.
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The White House on Friday labeled as false a memo reportedly drafted by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly that indicated the Trump administration was considering using up to 100,000 National Guard troops to round up undocumented immigrants.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer issued a statement saying the report was 100 percent not true.

It is false, Spicer told reporters on Air Force One. It is irresponsible to be saying this.

He added that the memo, obtained by the Associated Press, is not a White House document.

However, a unidentified Homeland Security official told Cox Media Group that the memo was a very early, pre-decisional draft. The official added that the suggestion was never seriously considered by the department.

The AP reported that the White House had not responded to requests for comment on the draft memo before the story was posted.

The 11-page draft mentions 11 states, including California, Oregon and Nevada, where National Guard troops could be mobilized to search for and seize undocumented immigrants, the AP said. But, according to the wire service, the governors of those states would have final say on whether to use the troops.

California Gov. Jerry Brown would not be likely to approve such a move. In his State of the State Speech in January, Brown said, Let me be clear, 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.

Californias freshman Democratic senator, Kamala Harris, weighed in after the Associated Press story was posted, tweeting, Let us not mince words about what this would be: a deportation force designed to break up families and deport millions of people.

What we dont know:

 Which states would welcome a National Guard roundup. In addition to California, Oregon and Nevada, the states listed in the reported draft include Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

 The legality of using the National Guard to round up undocumented immigrants.

The Chronicle has published numerous stories on Trumps plans for stemming the flow of illegal immigration in the United States, including building a wall along the Mexican border. Here are some links:

 Trump could scapegoat H-1B visas for immigration goals

 Tech leaders, workers condemn Trumps immigration ban

 SF officials say they will not follow Trumps immigration orders

Bill Hutchinson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: bhutchinson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @bill_hutchinson
President Trump is considering reaching back into a pool of retired military generals to replace Michael Flynn as national security adviser.

Trump tweeted Friday that retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg is among four candidates for the to take over for Flynn, who resigned Monday after giving a briefing to Vice President Mike Pence on his pre-election conversation with Russias U.S. ambassador that the president considered unsatisfactory.

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Leaked information on the phone call between Flynn and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak indicates they discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia, the Washington Post reported.

General Keith Kellogg, who I have known for a long time, is very much in play for NSA - as are three others, Trump tweeted.

Kellogg joined Trump on Air Force One Friday as the president traveled to Charleston, S.C., for an event at a Boeing plant.

Following the resignation of Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, Trump named Kellogg his acting national security adviser. Kellogg has been serving as chief of staff on the National Security Council.

More for you Eye-opening effects of the drought-killing storms

Kellogg, 72, served more than 30 years in the Army and was director of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq following 2003 invasion of the country.

Kelloggs name emerged as Flynns replacement a day after former Vice Admiral Robert Harward turned down Trumps offer take on the post, which does not require a Senate confirmation hearing.

The Chronicle has published several articles on Flynns resignation. Here are some links:

Trump Today: President says Russian phone call leaks un-American

Trump Today: President says Flynn resigning not the real story

Trump knew Flynn misled WH weeks before ouster: officials

Bill Hutchinson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: bhutchinson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @bill_hutchinson
WASHINGTON (AP)  Over the strong objections of environmental groups, the Senate confirmed Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday, giving President Donald Trump an eager partner to fulfill his campaign pledge to increase the use of planet-warming fossil fuels.

Pruitt was sworn in later Friday by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

In six years as Oklahoma's attorney general, Pruitt filed 14 lawsuits challenging EPA regulations that included limits on carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. He also sued over the EPA's recent expansion of water bodies regulated under the Clean Water Act, a federal measure opposed by industries that would be forced to clean up polluted wastewater.

Pruitt submitted his resignation as attorney general to Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin on Friday.

Pruitt's supporters cheered his confirmation, hailing the 48-year-old Republican lawyer as the ideal pick to roll back environmental regulations they say are a drag on the nation's economy.

"EPA has made life hard for families all across America," said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. "The agency has issued punishing regulations that caused many hardworking Americans to lose their jobs. Mr. Pruitt will bring much needed change."

The vote was 52-46 as Republican leaders used their party's narrow Senate majority to push Pruitt's confirmation despite calls from top Democrats to delay the vote until requested emails are released next week.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was the lone Republican vote against Pruitt. Two Democrats from states with economies heavily dependent on fossil fuels crossed party lines to support Trump's pick, Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota.

During his Senate confirmation hearing last month, Pruitt said he disagreed with Trump's past statements that global warming is a hoax. However, Pruitt has previously expressed doubt about scientific evidence showing that the planet is heating up and that humans are to blame.

Story continues

Pruitt's nomination was vigorously opposed by environmental groups and hundreds of current and former EPA employees, who fear he will preside over massive budget and staff cuts.

"The biologists, scientists, lab technicians, engineers and other civil servants who work at the EPA must be able to do their jobs without political interference or fear of retribution," said J. David Cox Sr., president of the American Federation of Government Employees, a labor union representing more than 9,000 EPA employees.

Democrats boycotted a committee vote on Pruitt's nomination last month, citing his refusal to hand over thousands of emails that he exchanged with oil and gas executives. As part of a public records lawsuit, a state judge in Oklahoma on Thursday concluded there was no legal justification for Pruitt's withholding his correspondence for the past two years. She ordered him to release most of the emails by next week.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to delay Pruitt's confirmation vote for 10 days. Schumer, of New York, tried to draw a direct line between Pruitt's withheld emails and last year's demands from Republicans during the presidential campaign.

"Emails! Remember emails?" Schumer asked on the Senate floor. "'We should get them out!' they said about Hillary Clinton. ... If they weren't worried about them, then why rush?"

To dramatize their cause, Democrats kept the Senate in session Thursday night into Friday morning with speeches opposing Pruitt's confirmation. Democrats were still marching to the floor at daybreak.

In the end, McConnell had the votes. So far, the Senate has confirmed 14 out of 22 Trump Cabinet or Cabinet-level picks requiring confirmation.

Another nominee, billionaire businessman Wilbur Ross, cleared a Senate hurdle on Friday and is on track to win approval to serve as commerce secretary. A final vote is slated for Feb. 27.

Trump has tapped some of the wealthiest Americans to serve in his Cabinet, and ethics reviews have slowed the confirmation process. So have Senate Democrats, who have opposed nominees and forced hours of debate.

Pruitt is closely aligned in his home state with oil and gas companies, whose executives have backed his political campaigns. Though Pruitt ran unopposed for a second term in 2014, public campaign finance reports show he raised more than $700,000, much of it from people in the energy and utility industries.

Environmental groups have already begun hiring additional lawyers to stymie as much of Pruitt's agenda as possible in court.

"Scott Pruitt is the worst pick ever confirmed to lead the EPA," said Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "We'll use every tool in the kit to stop him from harming our air and water, endangering our communities and surrendering our kids to climate catastrophe."

___

Tim Talley contributed from Oklahoma City.

___

Follow AP environmental writer Michael Biesecker at Twitter.com/mbieseck
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Phil and Janice Wagner, founders of Through the Storm Ministries, revealed plans of expansion for Haven on the Hill at a recent Humble Rotary meeting.

The Wagners' plan to add a community center, dining room to be used as a classroom and workshop space and, if possible, build another children's home. Haven on the Hill was founded in May 2000 to help children, particularly boys, abounded on the streets of Nairobi, Kenya. With enough funding, the Wagners hope to open another children's home in Nairobi to serve the girls and women of the community.

Janice Wagner was exposed to the horrors of Nairobi when she was invited by a friend to go along on a trip to Kenya.

"We were in Nairobi and she (my friend) had a bag of chicken, and she had to go into an office building because she had something waiting for her, and a little boy that was dressed in rags came up to the window," Janice Wagner recalled. "He looked to be about 5, and he says, 'Hungry.' I pulled a leg of chicken, and I handed it to him."

Children as young as 5 years old were abounded in hospitals, overcrowded orphanages, malnourished and some even abused.

"Seeing the need, and when I went back, that haunted me. I couldn't sleep," Janice Wagner said.

There was an unsettling moment when she learned what children would do in order to escape the feeling of hunger.

"They were sniffing glue because they were so hungry that when they do that, they don't feel hungry, and they were passed out in the streets," she said.

Seeing children in such dire need of help is what prompted Janice Wagner to report back to her husband and move forward with a plan of action.

"So he went with me in 2001, and it was 2002 that we finally started the process of becoming an NGO," she said.

Being tenacious is one of the key factors Phil Wagner said kept them moving toward their goal.

"It was a struggle, we had many opportunities to let that vision pass us by, but we kept the vision in front of us," he said.

Janice Wagner plans to add a program to help teach women to be more creative in ways to make money.

"I want to educate these women that go out to the field and they strap their babies on their back. They pick tea; they make maybe 10 dollars a month, not a day," she said.

Adding a community center will create a space for hosting sewing classes for women because Haven on the Hill currently accommodates only boys.

"My dream is to bring them in and bring people that can teach them how to sew, how to make good quality things from Africa, and then try to sell it. That's where I'm going now with this. I want that to happen; it's always been there for me," Janice Wagner said.

For more information, visit http://throughthestorm.org.
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Tragedy struck the Magnolia area last week as separate automobile crashes claimed the lives of two young students, both from the area.

The wrecks happened within 48 hours of each other in Montgomery County, the first on FM 149 near Johnson Road that killed Magnolia High School senior Darian Eckhardt.

Eckhardt, 18, was heading to class around 7:15 a.m. Feb. 14, driving south on FM 149 just north of its intersection with Jackson Road when she veered into an oncoming 18-wheeler, according to DPS Sgt. Erik Burse. Eckhardt died on scene, while the truck driver suffered no injuries.

Eckhardt had been a student in Magnolia ISD since early in her life, starting at an elementary school in the district with hopes of graduating from MHS this year, school officials said. She was active in the MHS theater program.

"Our thoughts and deepest sympathy goes to her family," Magnolia ISD Director of Communications Denise Meyers said. "Our administration is working with the family during this difficult time."

Meyers said the district is providing additional counselors to support students.

The crash is still under investigation, although inclement morning weather could have contributed to the wreck, Burse said.

The second crash, a mere 30 hours later, killed Sam Houston State University junior Alyssa Ann Mills, a Magnolia native, as she was driving on FM 1488 Feb. 15.

Mills, 21, was driving west on FM 1488 near Lake Lamont Lane around 2:30 p.m. when she crossed the center line into oncoming traffic, according to a DPS report. Mills, driving a 2013 Ford Fiesta, crashed into a 2005 GMC Yukon heading east. Mills, along with the driver of the Yukon, was taken to an area hospital, where Mills died the next day.

Investigators do not know what caused Mills to cross the center line.

Friend and SHSU classmate Alex Haeberle said Mills was a sweet and upbeat person.

"Even on days where she only got three hours of sleep, she was always smiling or made time to make conversation," Haeberle said. "She was so attentive when you talked to her. She loved to have fun and just live her life."

She was studying psychology at Sam Houston State University, according to SHSU Director of Communications Julia May.
Plainview Lions Club

The "meet at noon" Pride of Plainview spread vittles at the civic center Wednesday for their regular pow-wow, after meeting at the Senior Citizens Center last week. Feline headmaster Jim Tirey, Queen Katie Mahagan and Princess McKinley Whalen controlled the action from the head table, and asked Ashley Mayberry to lead pledges, Travis Thornton and Jim Tirey to lead singing and Fred Meeks to offer the invocation. Roaring in on his Honda was the Arch Bishop Rey Rodriquez who quizzed feline about their loyalty to effort in serving. Lanell Julian introduced guest Sandy Forehand, with Beverly Dunlap. New chair of Lions volunteers for Meals on Wheels, Logan Pritchett, secured workers for the week.

Lion Andrea introduced Mark Stephens, assistant manager of Hope Lodge in Lubbock. The facility was started with a $50,000 donation of Lions in District 2T2 which Plainview is a representative. The large unit offers accommodations for cancer patients and their loved ones while in medical care at local hospitals in Lubbock. Its location is 3511 10th St., 79415.

Our weekly Tailtwister Raffle gobbled up $93 for Passionate Care. Winners of the drawing were Katie Mahagan and John Bertsch, who readily accepted winnings of untold value. Prizes are provided each week by the provider of good cheer in our club. Lion Donnie Ebeling, occasionally assisted by Lion son Steven.

It's great to be a Lion. We Serve - Ron White

Kiwanis International of Plainview

Fifteen people met at noon Thursday at Plainview Country Club. Charles Lawson offered a prayer following the Pledge of Allegiance.

J Pat Manning has made arrangements with our partner organizations in anticipation of the first flag day of the year this coming Monday for President's Day. Thanks again to the new subscribers as well as to all previous subscribers, and thanks to the PHS Band Boosters, PHS Jr. Navy ROTC, Elks Lodge, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts for your help in displaying almost 800 flags on eight holidays throughout the year.

Homer Marquez introduced Chris Quinn of Athens, Texas, who was in town on business with High Plains Radio Network. Accompanying him were Megan Chavez, Cynthia Monroe and Adrian Cortez, all with HPRN. Chris brought an inspirational message about the role the Kiwanians have played in his life. - Kevin Lewis

Plainview Rotary Club

The Rotary Club met Tuesday at the Plainview Country Club.

Leslie called the meeting to order. Chris Hanoch led the invocation and Kenneth Hooper led the Pledge of the Allegiance.

Guests for the meeting were Paul Kite, visiting Rotarian, Paul Schacht. Students of the Month, Melody

Brown, and Andrew Allison. Also, Sasha Gonzales, Rotary Foreign Student for February and Fernanda Dilli Nano, Rotary Foreign Student of the Month.

The day's guest speaker was Jackie Smith, agricultural economist. Kenneth Hooper introduced him.

He told the club that this year's crop was a good quality of cotton. The cotton made more bales than was originally expected. The market came up and it was good economics for the people. The cotton made 115 billion and the corn made 65 billion.

The only counties that did better than Hale County were the counties that had feed lots. What has helped the farmers has been the sprinkler drop system which has made it possible for crops to be successful.

Changes have been made. Texas has been a large industry. Consumers are making influences as they want quality healthy products. There is also a new demands of rural lands and new technology.

There are 70 varieties of cotton. A farmer now has to know the genetics and chemistry as to know what to plant.

Wind farms have also been successful as the income from the farms have saved several school systems financially.

Kenneth led the Four Way Test and Leslie dismissed the group. - Cynthia Gregory.
AUSTIN -- Senate committees this week took up a number of significant bills, some that would regulate abortion practices and some that would answer Gov. Greg Abbott's emergency call for a constitutional convention. The latter bills are the last addressing four issues tagged as emergencies by Abbott in his State of the State address to be taken up by the Senate.

Abbott said in his January speech that the federal government has overstepped its bounds and called on the legislature to pass an official petition to call an Article V convention for the purposes of amending the U.S. Constitution. Thursday, the Senate State Affairs Committee took up two measures that would do that. SJR 2, by Granbury Sen. Brian Birdwell, would tell Congress that Texas wants to amend the nation's founding document to rein in the powers of the federal government, including term limits for federal elective offices, requiring a national balanced budget and strengthening state sovereignty. Birdwell says he believes this is the only way to restore the original intent of the Constitution. "For years we've watched as the executive, judicial and frankly the legislative branches have usurped more and more power from the states," he said. "It is my firm belief that the only way we will save this republic and federalism as a whole is to go about the process of the states taking control of the federal government that they created."
PM Lee gave his nod on dual-class shares.

According to Bloomberg, Singapore is a few steps ahead of Hong Kong in the battle for IPOs. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last week gave his approval to dual-class shares and other measures proposed by a panel to drive economic growth. The city-states stock exchange on Thursday started a public consultation, a final hurdle before allowing the structure. Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Charles Li in January revisited the topic after a 2015 proposal was shot down by his regulator.

While Hong Kong is one of the worlds leading IPO venues, its been passed over by big Chinese companies such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Baidu Inc., which listed on New York bourses where different classes of shares are allowed. As Alibabas banking and payments arm Ant Financial prepares an IPO, Singapore and Hong Kong are trying to balance the interests of founding shareholders with those of other investors.

Read the rest of the story here.





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On this Sundays episode of Segue, the weekly talk show airing on WSIE 88.7 FM The Sound, Southern Illinois University Edwardsvilles Greg Budzban, PhD, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), welcomes prolific American educator Robert Parris Bob Moses, an architect of the civil rights movement. They discuss Moses place in the movement as well as his success in education.

In the 1960s, Moses worked to build alliances between several social and political organizations to register black people and sharecroppers to vote. After decades of work in the civil rights movement, he received the MacArthur Fellowship in 1982. With this fund, he created the Algebra Project, which aims to improve education for the bottom quartile of students in mathematics.

Moses was at the center of the civil rights movement. After graduating from Hamilton College in 1956, civil and human rights activist Ella Baker, and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Secretary Jane Stembridge encouraged Moses to travel to Cleveland, Miss. In 1960, he begin working on NAACP chair Amzie Moores voter registration campaign. Approximately nine months later, the Freedom Riders penetrated Mississippi and focused on direct action and public accommodations for black people.

After organizing several protests, numerous points of direct action, some of which were frowned upon by the NAACP, SNCC decided to instead focus its attention on equal voting rights.

The right to vote became the SNCC goal, Moses says. That allowed us to enter into an alliance with the NAACP, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Martin Luther King Jr.s organization.

The Mississippi theater became the only theater in the movement where the four major civil rights organizations were working together on a common goal, program and strategy, he says. Having that alliance was crucial to gathering resources into Mississippi around the right to vote.

The subtext behind the right to vote began with targeting sharecroppers and teaching them how to read.

Sharecroppers were assigned a certain kind of work and got the education, at best, for the work that had been preassigned, Moses says. They were told they didnt need an education except what they might have needed to be a sharecropper. Those of us working on voting rights said the country cant use politics to set up the standard of literacy, then turn around and say you cant participate in politics because you are not literate.

This same argument ultimately led to the 1965 U.S. Supreme Court decision that the state of Louisianas voter registration literacy requirements were unconstitutional.

After stepping away from the civil rights movement, Moses went on to study the philosophy of mathematics at Harvard University. He began teaching high school math in Cambridge, Mass. As he moved forward in his career as an educator, Moses was awarded the MacArthur Fellowship and founded the Algebra Project.

The Algebra Project stresses the vital importance of the student population in the U.S. to gain mathematical literacy necessary for the knowledge work that is available in the 21st century. This project follows the same basic ideals of his original push to educate sharecroppers. In order for one to participate actively in our current information-age economy, one must possess the required quantitative literacy. Moses stresses the importance of reforming education models to become sustainable and focus on the bottom quartile of students, especially minorities.

Building alliances nationally to ensure that this fundamental transformation occurs is so incredibly important, Budzban says, It must occur, so that quality education for the bottom quartile can be something that happens in this country.

Moses commends Budzban for his own work in transforming mathematics education. In the early 2000s, Budzban was investigating a research problem called the Road Coloring Problem.

I figured that kids down in Mississippi could work on this problem - got some hula hoops and color-coded sticks, and called you, Moses reminisces.

I had to come down to Mississippi to see it for myself! Budzban says.

As a result of that meeting, Moses and Budzban began a collaboration that continues until today. In 2001, they co-wrote a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to transform the way mathematics is taught. The NSF has continued to be a key supporter of both Moses and Budzbans work in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education. In fact, the NSF is funding a national conference in St. Louis that the two are organizing the weekend of February 17-19. Moses plans to showcase the efforts of the Algebra Project and then work on implementing it around the country.

We want to form this program around the students themselves, the teachers who teach them, the school leaders who house them and the communities to support them, Moses says. We are bringing all these people together, and we are going to explore if we agree on this goal about bottom quartile math literacy, and how its appropriate for 21st century knowledge. From there, we can move toward establishing alliances that can operationalize such a goal.

Tune in to WSIE 88.7 The Sound at 9 a.m. Sunday to listen to the conversation in its entirety. Segue allows listeners to hear about the ideas and issues on the SIUE campus.

SIUE Marketing & Communications
Thanks to the strong manufacturing sector.

The Singapore economy has expanded by 2% for the whole year of 2016, a similar to the 1.9% growth it manifested in 2015.

According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the manufacturing sector reversed its 5.1% decline in 2015, growing 3.6% in the whole year. Growth in the sector was driven primarily by the electronics and biomedical manufacturing clusters. However, transport engineering and general manufacturing clusters continued to contract.

Meanwhile, the construction sector expanded at a slow 0.2%, easing from the 3.9% growth in 2015. This was weighed down by the sluggish private sector construction works.

The service producing industries grew by 1.0%, easing from the 3.2% growth in 2015. This is supported by the transportation & storage sector, which expanded 2.3%





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LOS ANGELESNothing compares to flying five space missions and summiting Mount Everestunless youre running a business. Turns out, the worlds most avid adventure seekers and entrepreneurs have more in common than we might think.

I had the chance to interview Dr. Scott Parazynski at the City Gala, an event thats all about entrepreneurship and creating a brighter future through charity. Between climbing Everest, going to space five times and starting his own virtual reality hardware enterprise, Parazynski has had to face his fears in every situation imaginable.

Here are four things Parazynski does to overcome fear and achieve success despite insurmountable odds.

1. Take that first, bold step.

No one has ever achieved greatness for themselves or for others by sitting idly by. Whether youre on an African Safari, deep sea diving or starting a passion project, Parazynski reminds us that the only way to find success is by simply trying.

If the ship doesnt ever leave the port, he says, youll never know what you can discover.

Related: Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy to Take Center Stage at Star-Studded Gala

2. Push past failure.

There is only one way to find success, and that is through failure. For every path that exists to achieve our goals, there are a dozen other ways we can mess it up.

But it is through these failures that we learn and growand succeed. Arianna Huffington was rejected by 36 publishers. Bill Gates watched his first company crumble. Steve Jobs was booted from his own company. These successful entrepreneurs didnt let failure stop them, and neither should we. Pick yourself up, dust off and keep trying, Parazynski says.

3. Learn how to mitigate risk.

Parazynski, surprisingly, says that he is not a risk taker and that he is most definitely not fearless.

Instead, he prefers the title of risk manager, meaning he takes into account all the possibilities and outcomes that can happen and plans accordingly to ensure the highest chance of success.

As entrepreneurs, we accept many risks, from sacrificing personal capital and giving up a steady paycheck to trusting employees and betting on deadlines. Arm yourself with knowledge about the situation, be honest about your limitations, and explore any other unknowns to manage inevitable bumps along the way.

4. Look for opportunities to innovate.

Parazynskis excursions are more than just adventuresthey are also opportunities to innovate. Simply by existing in these extreme environments, Parazynski is inspired to think outside the box and imagine new ways that he can invent better technologies for society.

Related: Actress Halle Berry's Lessons for Succeeding-No Matter the Odds

Dont look at where the problem is now, he says. Instead, look ahead and see where the problem might exist. Of course, you dont need to have a SCUBA suit or a spaceship to unveil ways to find inspirationinnovation is all around you.

With his unmatched experience, Parazynski is the kind of person who can offer real-world advice in literally any circumstance. But, as he states, he does experience fearhe just manages it. As we brave our entrepreneurial frontiers, we can also take that first bold step, push through failure, mitigate risk, look for opportunities to innovate and break barriers in the process.

Related:

This Adventure-Seeking Astronaut Shares 4 Tips for Overcoming Fear

Procrastination, Resistance, Fear? Join the Club.

How to Win Your Emotional Enemies At Work ?



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
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The Trump administration is considering a proposal to mobilize as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorized immigrants, including millions living nowhere near the Mexico border, according to a draft memo obtained by The Associated Press.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the AP report was "100 percent not true" and "irresponsible." ''There is no effort at all to utilize the National Guard to round up unauthorized immigrants," he said.

White House spokesperson Michael Short also denied the story in a tweet. The memo was reportedly drafted by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly.

The 11-page document calls for the unprecedented militarization of immigration enforcement as far north as Portland, Oregon, and as far east as New Orleans, Louisiana.

Four states that border on Mexico are included in the proposal  California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas  but it also encompasses seven states contiguous to those four  Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Governors in the 11 states would have a choice whether to have their guard troops participate, according to the memo, written by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general.

While National Guard personnel have been used to assist with immigration-related missions on the U.S.-Mexico border before, they have never been used as broadly or as far north.

The memo is addressed to the then-acting heads of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It would serve as guidance to implement the wide-ranging executive order on immigration and border security that President Donald Trump signed Jan. 25. Such memos are routinely issued to supplement executive orders.

Also dated Jan. 25, the draft memo says participating troops would be authorized "to perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension and detention of aliens in the United States." It describes how the troops would be activated under a revived state-federal partnership program, and states that personnel would be authorized to conduct searches and identify and arrest any unauthorized immigrants.

The draft document has circulated among DHS staff over the last two weeks. As recently as Friday, staffers in several different offices reported discussions were underway.

If implemented, the impact could be significant. Nearly one-half of the 11.1 million people residing in the U.S. without authorization live in the 11 states, according to Pew Research Center estimates based on 2014 Census data.

Use of National Guard troops would greatly increase the number of immigrants targeted in one of Trump's executive orders last month, which expanded the definition of who could be considered a criminal and therefore a potential target for deportation. That order also allows immigration agents to prioritize removing anyone who has "committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense."

Under current rules, even if the proposal is implemented, there would not be immediate mass deportations. Those with existing deportation orders could be sent back to their countries of origin without additional court proceedings. But deportation orders generally would be needed for most other unauthorized immigrants.

The troops would not be nationalized, remaining under state control.

Spokespeople for the governors of Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Colorado, Oklahoma, Oregon and New Mexico said they were unaware of the proposal, and either declined to comment or said it was premature to discuss whether they would participate. The other three states did not immediately respond to the AP.

The proposal would extend the federal-local partnership program that President Barack Obama's administration began scaling back in 2012 to address complaints that it promoted racial profiling.

The 287(g) program, which Trump included in his immigration executive order, gives local police, sheriff's deputies and state troopers the authority to assist in the detection of immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally as a regular part of their law enforcement duties on the streets and in jails.

The draft memo also mentions other items included in Trump's executive order, including the hiring of an additional 5,000 border agents, which needs financing from Congress, and his campaign promise to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

The signed order contained no mention of the possible use of state National Guard troops.

According to the draft memo, the militarization effort would be proactive, specifically empowering Guard troops to solely carry out immigration enforcement, not as an add-on the way local law enforcement is used in the program.

Allowing Guard troops to operate inside non-border states also would go far beyond past deployments.

In addition to responding to natural or man-made disasters or for military protection of the population or critical infrastructure, state Guard forces have been used to assist with immigration-related tasks on the U.S.-Mexico border, including the construction of fences.

In the mid-2000s, President George W. Bush twice deployed Guard troops on the border to focus on non-law enforcement duties to help augment the Border Patrol as it bolstered its ranks. And in 2010, then-Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer announced a border security plan that included Guard reconnaissance, aerial patrolling and military exercises.

In July 2014, then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry ordered 1,000 National Guard troops to the border when the surge of migrant children fleeing violence in Central America overwhelmed U.S. officials responsible for their care. The Guard troops' stated role on the border at the time was to provide extra sets of eyes but not make arrests.

Bush initiated the federal 287(g) program  named for a section of a 1996 immigration law  to allow specially trained local law enforcement officials to participate in immigration enforcement on the streets and check whether people held in local jails were in the country illegally. ICE trained and certified roughly 1,600 officers to carry out those checks from 2006 to 2015.

The memo describes the program as a "highly successful force multiplier" that identified more than 402,000 "removable aliens."

But federal watchdogs were critical of how DHS ran the program, saying it was poorly supervised and provided insufficient training to officers, including on civil rights law. Obama phased out all the arrest power agreements in 2013 to instead focus on deporting recent border crossers and immigrants in the country illegally who posed a safety or national security threat.

Trump's immigration strategy emerges as detentions at the nation's southern border are down significantly from levels seen in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Last year, the arrest tally was the fifth-lowest since 1972. Deportations of people living in the U.S. illegally also increased under the Obama administration, though Republicans criticized Obama for setting prosecution guidelines that spared some groups from the threat of deportation, including those brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Last week, ICE officers arrested more than 680 people around the country in what Kelly said were routine, targeted operations; advocates called the actions stepped-up enforcement under Trump.

___

The AP National Investigative Team can be reached at investigate@ap.org

Follow Garance Burke on Twitter at @garanceburke
Contributed / Contributed photo

As the nation heads into Presidents Day weekend it is a good time to reflect on one of the most impressive presidential visits to the Westport area. In November 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy flew into Bridgeport Municipal Airport in Stratford and campaigned in the area, stopping at Railroad Station Plaza in Bridgeport on Nov. 6. This photograph was taken that day, just two days before the election. Students from the recently-formed Young Democratic Club at Fairfield University were there, helping to campaign for the Senator. The Connecticut Sunday Herald estimated 75,000 people were at the event.

The photograph was taken by Frank Gerratana, whose work was featured at an exhibition at the Fairfield Museum & History Center last year. Gerratana worked as a professional photographer for over 40 years, becoming chief photographer for the Connecticut Sunday Herald, as well as the New England director and a lifetime member of the National Press Photographers Association. He served as president of the Bridgeport Camera Club. During his lengthy career, he noted he had photographed every U.S. president since Roosevelt and had been on campaign tours with Truman, Stevenson and Eisenhower.
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WESTPORT  Kira Ganga Kieffer and her husband, Aaron Eisman, although both politically conscious, were never activists until President Donald Trump was sworn in.

The Boston-based couple, both of whom grew up in Westport and met at Coleytown Middle School, made the 8-hour trek to join one million other protestors for the Womens March on Washington, D.C. They sought an opportunity to stand together in solidarity for those citizens fearing threats on their rights from the Trump administrations policies. Kieffer called it a cathartic experience after the results of the election.

As they were driving back to the Boston area on Interstate 95, Kieffer and Eisman felt energized by the march and had an urge to build on the positives they saw there. When we saw the magnitude of the womens march mobilization across the nation and internationally, we wanted to come up with a way to continue the momentum beyond the march, Kieffer said.

How do we perpetuate the energy and excitement that we just witnessed? How do we make this into something that has exponential impact beyond this one day of protest? the couple asked.

Kieffer, a doctoral student at Boston University, and Eisman, a medical student at Brown University, put their heads together to create YouLobby.org  a website aimed at helping citizens find their elected officials phone numbers, complete with call scripts and talking points on issues including womens rights, climate change and health care. Eisman did the coding for the site and Kieffer wrote the bulk of the scripts. Launched on Feb. 6, the site has seen over 500 zip codes entered into the website from 35 different states and it has 400 likes on Facebook.

The website asks visitors to enter their zip code and instantly, all relevant congressional representatives  both U.S. Senate and U.S House of Representatives  appear with a phone number. They chose this platform for their progressive site because they found calling elected officials was one of the most influential ways of lobbying and it also helps other people who want to call their representatives but previously did not know how to go about doing it or what to say.

More Information YouLobby.org Enter your zip code to get contact information for U.S. Senators and Representatives. See More Collapse

We are just so upset with the amount hate and intolerance that the Trump campaign and policies perpetuate, Kieffer said.

Since Trumps inauguration, congressional offices across Capitol Hill have received an increase in constituent calls, including that of U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.

Weve definitely seen an uptick since the election of and inauguration of President Trump, said Laura Maloney, the press secretary for Murphy. Weve received tens of thousands of calls, emails, and letters opposing President Trumps administration and his policies.

Regarding U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy Devos nomination, Murphys office received over 18,500 calls, emails, and letters opposing her, Maloney said. YouLobby had a script opposing DeVos confirmation.

YouLobby facilitates the way in which a citizen can lobby for causes important to him or her during a time where corporate interest groups and big lobbying firms have a huge amount of leverage in Congress, Kieffer said.

We wanted people to feel that everyday people deserve to have their voice heard and that lobbying really represents democracy. You are what democracy looks like and your call is important, Kieffer said.

This is a tool for democracy, she added.

@chrismmarquette; cmarquette@bcnnew.com
By Hyunjoo Jin

SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Group chief Jay Y. Lee was arrested early on Friday over his alleged role in a corruption scandal that led parliament to impeach South Korean President Park Geun-hye, dealing a fresh blow to the world's biggest maker of smartphones.

The 48-year-old Lee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd , was taken into custody at the Seoul Detention Centre, where he had awaited the court's decision following a day-long closed-door hearing that ended on Thursday evening.

The judge's decision was announced at about 5:30 a.m. (2030 GMT) on Friday, more than 10 hours after Lee, the sprawling conglomerate's third-generation leader, had left the court.

The same court rejected a request from prosecutors last month to arrest Lee. On Tuesday, the special prosecutor's office had requested a warrant to arrest him and another executive, Samsung Electronics president Park Sang-jin, on bribery and other charges.

However, the court rejected the request to arrest Park, who also heads the Korea Equestrian Federation, saying it was not needed given his "position, the boundary of his authority and his actual role."

The prosecution said it had secured additional evidence and brought more charges against Lee in the latest warrant request.

"We acknowledge the cause and necessity of the arrest," a judge said in his ruling, citing the extra charges and evidence.

Samsung and Lee have denied wrongdoing in the case.

"We will do our best to ensure that the truth is revealed in future court proceedings," the Samsung Group said in a brief statement after Lee's arrest.

While Lee's detention is not expected to hamper day-to-day operation of Samsung Group companies, which are run by professional managers, experts have said it could affect strategic decision-making by the country's biggest conglomerate.

The Samsung Group [SAGR.UL], a key driver of Asia's fourth-largest economy, has been engaged in a restructuring process as it clears a succession path for Lee to assume control after his father, Lee Kun-hee, was incapacitated by a 2014 heart attack.

Story continues

"It is not like Samsung's business will be grinding to a halt. There are many smart people at the company," former Samsung Electronics executive Kim Yong-serk said recently.

However, Lee's arrest would have an impact on longer-term investment decisions, said Kim, now a professor at Sungkyunkwan University.

"Samsung presidents are evaluated on an annual basis, so they cannot make bold bets about the future. They need a chairman when making long-term investment decisions," he said.

Samsung is also the world's biggest maker of memory chips and flat screen TVs.

ZEROING-IN

The arrest gives a boost to prosecutors who have zeroed-in on Samsung Group to build their case against President Park and her close friend Choi Soon-sil, who is in detention and faces charges of abuse of power and attempted fraud.

Both Park and Choi have denied wrongdoing.

The office has focussed its investigations on Samsung's relationship with Park, 65, who was impeached by parliament in December and has been stripped of her powers while the Constitutional Court decides whether to uphold her impeachment.

Prosecutors accused Samsung of paying bribes totalling 43 billion won ($37.74 million) to organizations linked to Choi to secure the government's backing for a merger of two Samsung units.

That funding includes Samsung's sponsorship of the equestrian career of Choi's daughter, who is in detention in Denmark, having been on a South Korean wanted list.

If the decision is upheld by the Constitutional Court, she will become South Korea's first democratically elected leader to be forced from office early.

Park remains in office but stripped of her powers while the Constitutional Court decides whether to uphold her impeachment by parliament.

"This is a painful event for Vice Chairman Lee," said Kim Sang-jo, a shareholder activist and economics professor at Hansung University who was questioned by the special prosecutor as a witness in the probe.

"But this will be an important opportunity for Samsung Group to sever ties with the past, he said, referring to links between the government and the country's conglomerates, also known as chaebol.

(Additional reporting by Joyce Lee and Ju-min Park; Editing by Tony Munroe and Lincoln Feast)
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UTSA President Ricardo Romo, who was put on leave earlier this week pending a review of allegations related to his conduct, indicated Thursday that he expects to prove his innocence.

I look forward to a speedy resolution and the clearing of my name, he said in a statement issued through his attorney Ricardo Cedillo in response to the article published by the San Antonio Express-News on Thursday.

In the statement, the University of Texas at San Antonio president confirms hes the subject of a complaint brought against him by a university employee. Romo also said he complied with university officials in removing himself from his office for the time being.

RELATED: UIW fires President Louis Agnese after controversial comments

In accordance with university policy, I was requested to and I wholeheartedly agreed to be placed on administrative leave with pay pending this investigation, he said.

While he did not give details about the complaint, sources say Romo's leave was connected to the firing of two people in his office that could be viewed as retaliatory.

Sources who have direct knowledge of the investigation said the complaint against him was related to an allegation of sexual harassment. They also reported that Sonia Martinez, Romo's chief of staff, was placed on leave, but it was not clear why and she couldn't be reached for comment.

RELATED: How San Antonio universities rank among Texas' best according to College Choice

UTSA and UT System officials have declined to specify the conduct that is under review.

In his statement Thursday, Romo indicated he has been bolstered by positive encouragement from the community.

The outpouring of community support has been humbling and overwhelming, and my family and I will be forever grateful for the prayers and love being sent our way, he said.

sfosterfrau@express-news.net
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Thousands of casual pot smokers will keep clean records and Harris County will save more than $25 million a year under the district attorney's new "pre-charge diversion" program for those caught with small amounts of marijuana.

The program announced Thursday by District Attorney Kim Ogg - which allows most offenders with less than four ounces of marijuana to avoid a criminal charge by taking a drug education class  brought sharp criticism from some state leaders but strong support from top law enforcement officers in Houston.

Ogg said the county's resources would be better spent arresting serious criminals such as burglars, robbers and rapists.

NOT A FAN: Patrick blasts Ogg's pot policy, but other lawmakers more supportive

"We have spent in excess of $250 million, over a quarter-billion dollars, [over 10 years] prosecuting a crime that has produced no tangible evidence of improved public safety," she said. "We have disqualified, unnecessarily, thousands of people from greater job, housing and educational opportunities by giving them a criminal record for what is, in effect, a minor law violation."

Ogg formally announced the program Thursday flanked by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, Police Chief Art Acevedo, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis and other local officials whose Democratic ranks were bolstered in the November election. It is set to start March 1.

Turner, who has long championed criminal justice reform, called the program an "innovative and smart approach" to criminal justice.

"We must always be smart and safe with our law enforcement decisions," he said. "We don't want to make things worse, but business as usual is not a solution. "We can be tough on crime ... but at the same time we can be smart and cost-efficient."

OVERVIEW: What you need to know about Houston's new marijuana policy

The new policy means good news for nonviolent offenders who don't have other charges pending against them.

"They just want to keep productive citizens in a position where their life isn't crippled by a thing like this," said one woman who was arrested in Harris County for a small amount of marijuana last year. "It's going to free up time and resources to focus on violent crime.

The Baytown woman, 26, who asked not to be identified by name for fear of repercussions, was an administrator for a construction company when she was arrested last year. She spent three months on probation but still has to deal with an arrest on her record.

Under the new diversion program, she would not have been arrested and would have no criminal record.

'Sky will not fall'

Reaction was strong Thursday from both sides of the issue.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick quickly blasted Ogg's program as akin to Houston becoming a sanctuary city for low-level drug crimes.

"The lieutenant governor has said repeatedly regarding sanctuary cities that he does not believe that law enforcement has the discretion to choose what laws to enforce and what laws to ignore," said Patrick press secretary Alejandro Garcia. "That is his position regarding DA Ogg's proposal."

REACTIONS: What other leaders have to say about DA's plan to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana

But Gov. Greg Abbott, who in the past has not publicly favored lessening penalties for drug crimes, had no immediate comment Thursday. Aides said they were reviewing the new policy.

In June 2015, Abbott signed into law the Texas Compassionate Use Act, allowing the prescription of low-THC cannabis to patients who have been diagnosed with intractable epilepsy.

Law enforcement officials standing with Ogg asked that critics hold their fire until the plan can be implemented.

"The sky will not fall," said Acevedo, who was police chief in Austin before accepting the Houston job last year. "There are already critics out there. We've been down this path before with my old department. Rather than see an uptick in crime, in the city of Austin we reduced violent crime between 2007 and 2014 by 40 percent."

Ellis, a former state senator, likewise praised the move.

"For too long, Harris County jails have been filled with people arrested for minor offenses like misdemeanor marijuana possession, leading to dangerous overcrowding and costly prosecutions that do nothing to improve overall public safety," he said. "This new diversion program has the potential to intervene in this vicious cycle by offering people the opportunity to avoid jail and the stigma of a drug conviction with regard to marijuana possession."

In Montgomery County, however, District Attorney Brett Ligon accused Ogg of trying to legalize marijuana by making Harris County a "sanctuary for dope smokers."

Saving officers' time

Under the new program, police officers would identify suspects with less than four ounces of marijuana and no other legal issues or warrants, then offer them the option of taking the drug education class. If the suspect takes the class, the drugs are destroyed and the agreement is filed away.

If the offender does not take the class, an arrest warrant will be issued and the criminal charges will be filed, officials said.

SIDE EFFECTS: Although known for stomach-calming properties, smoking pot can make you throw up

The $150 class will be managed by the county's probation department, which puts on other classes, Ogg said.

"It's paid for by the offender and if the offender is too poor to pay, we will issue a waiver," Ogg said.

A suspect would be able to take the class over and over again regardless of past criminal history, officials said.

But Ogg said her office would be monitoring the program to make sure it works and if it doesn't, it would be changed. That includes people who abuse the program by becoming serial offenders, she said.

Ogg said the program is not "decriminalization" of marijuana - a term that is considered a middle step between strict enforcement and legalization. Ogg said criminal penalties, including up to a year in jail, are still an option if offenders do not follow the requirements.

Supporters acknowledge, however, that it is a lessening of criminal penalties - and allows many offenders to avoid criminal prosecution at all.

Officials have said it could divert an estimated 12,000 people a year out of the criminal justice system and would save officers hours of processing time now spent on low-level cases. More than 107,000 cases of misdemeanor marijuana cases have been handled in the past 10 years, officials said.

Under the diversion program, officers would be able to seize the marijuana and drop it off at a police station at the end of their shift, along with a record of the encounter in case the suspect does not take the class.

Activists pleased

Some community activists praised the initiative.

"It's a sign of intelligence," said Dean Becker, a contributing drug policy expert at Rice University's Baker Institute who produces radio programs advocating an end to the drug war for Pacifica Radio.

"It's showing we're not going to beat ourselves up for another five or ten decades of believing we can rid the world of this 'Devil's Weed,'" he said.

Becker said Thursday he was celebrating the announcement by smoking marijuana.

"I'm a good citizen. I've proven it. I've succeeded rather well and I smoke pot every day of my life," the 68-year-old said. "I've been doing it 52 years."

The Texas Organizing Project, which organizes minority efforts in Harris County and other counties, said the move could particularly help people of color.

"Jailing people for possessing small amounts of marijuana never made sense," according to an statement from Mary Moreno, TOP communications director. "But it did invite racial profiling by making it easier to jail black men and people of color."

Officials with the Houston National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws likewise praised the initiative.

"We've been fighting for this for a while, so this is elating," said Sam Oser, communications director for the pro-marijuana group, which campaigned for Ogg last year.

Staff writers Mike Ward and Keri Blakinger contributed to this report.
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









A man who died in a street-racing accident that ejected his passenger Monday night on the West Side was identified by the Bexar County Medical Examiner.

Jose Del Carmen Ramirez Jr., 24, was found dead in the drivers seat when officers arrived at about 8:30 p.m. just feet away from the intersection of West Military and Timbercreek Drive, officials said.
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A trio arrested in connection with last weekends shooting of a postal carrier was able to avoid a police dragnet at North Star Mall days later with help from a friend  who later turned them in, court documents reveal.

Federal court records show one of the suspects, Sarah Richford, called a male friend, who drove her and her co-defendants, Bradley AHearn and Piper Allan Lee, away from the mall, where the trio had abandoned Lees vehicle in a parking garage Tuesday.

Federal authorities say the trio robbed the letter carrier in Spring Branch, in Comal County, and say AHearn traded gunfire with pursuing officers on U.S. 281 on Monday and fired more shots Tuesday on the North Side before the trio fled to the mall.

After picking them up Tuesday, Richfords friend took them to the Sunset Inn Motel south of downtown, where he checked them into a room under his own name, according to court documents.

Shortly thereafter, the friend called law enforcement and led them to the motel, where a San Antonio police SWAT team arrested the suspects Wednesday. The friend was not charged and is now a confidential source, court records show.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Bemporad on Thursday ordered AHearn, 22, Richford, 26, and Lee, 40, held pending bail hearings in the coming weeks.

When I was arrested, my head and face were slammed into the concrete, and I was kicked, AHearn told the judge. I lost consciousness.

AHearn said he might not comprehend some of his proceedings, but the judge said his lawyer would explain his rights more fully. The judge appointed lawyers for all three.

AHearn and Richford face charges of assaulting a federal officer, carjacking, mail theft and interfering with interstate commerce. They could face up to 65 years in prison if convicted and the sentences are stacked. Lee faces charges of aiding and abetting the assault of a federal officer, which carries a maximum of 20 years in prison.

The court documents reveal that Richford told investigators that AHearn was the shooter in the robbery of the postal carrier and the subsequent police pursuits. Richford was with him during the three incidents, she told investigators.

Lee, meanwhile, helped the suspects elude capture, the court documents say, after they ditched the Toyota Venza they were in and drove them around in his yellow Volkswagen, which had personalized license plates saying DOPEST. That was the vehicle that investigators found abandoned at the mall, court records show.

Public records show Lees vehicle is registered to the same apartment on Henderson Pass that is listed as Richfords home address. Federal agents raided it Wednesday night.
TXdot

A man killed in a Tuesday accident that left his passenger critically injured has been identified by the Bexar County Medical Examiner.

John Mosley, 69, was driving eastbound at about 8 p.m. on Northwest Loop 410 approaching Vance Jackson which was partially shut down because of an accident, according to a San Antonio Police Department report.
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A San Antonio man accused of attempted capital murder of a police officer, acting as his own defense attorney, rarely cross-examined witnesses at his trial Thursday, including the officer who shot him.

Darnell Rogers was 22 when he was shot in the upper torso and critically wounded Sept. 18, 2015, after he allegedly pointed a gun at two deputy constables responding to a call about a shooting in the 3800 block of East Southcross Boulevard on the Southeast Side.

Cpl. Fabian Gonzalez, a deputy with the Bexar County Constable Precinct 4 office, became emotional while on the witness stand Thursday as he described the fear he felt as he and his partner chased Rogers, who he said fired his gun at them as he fled between buildings of an apartment complex.

I'm trying to catch up to him, to stop him, but when I heard the gunshot, I thought he shot at my partner, Gonzalez said, his voice breaking.

Gonzalez said Rogers stopped, turned and faced the deputies and intentionally pointed the gun at them and fired.

I was thinking, oh (expletive), he doesnt want to run anymore, he wants to fight, Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said he fired three shots at Rogers.

After the first shot, he turned and dropped, the deputy said.

A second fleeing suspect got away. Although the deputies were fitted with body cameras, they forgot to turn them on during the chaos, according to testimony.

Rogers, paralyzed from the waist down and in a wheelchair, is acting as his own defense counsel. Testimony is expected to continue Friday in 227th state District Court.
The first ever male CoverGirl cover model James Charles is getting national attention again after tweeting Thursday that he fears an upcoming class trip to South Africa would expose him to the ebola virus. He has since apologized.

"I can't believe we're going to Africa today omg what if we get Ebola. James we're fine we could've gotten it at chipotle last year...," he wrote.
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SAN ANTONIO  Authorities arrested a man Friday for his alleged role in the shooting death of a 23-year-old father, whose decomposing body was found inside the trunk of his vehicle earlier this month, according to court documents.

Ashton Lucas Lomas, 23, was charged with capital murder, which poses a maximum sentence of life in prison or the death penalty.

Martin Gonzales, 23, was reported missing in late January. On Feb. 7, police in Universal City were dispatched for a suspicious vehicle call at an apartment complex in the 500 block of Dukeway Drive.

RELATED: 3 arrested in connection with S.A.-area mail carrier shooting, crime spree

Investigators smelled a foul odor coming from the trunk of the vehicle and saw flies flying around the trunk of the vehicle, according to Lomas arrest affidavit.

The investigators believed a decomposing body was inside the vehicle and had a towing service help open the trunk. Once the vehicle was opened, the body, which was later identified as Gonzales, was found in a green military-style bag.

The medical examiners office arrived and unzipped the green bag to find the body was wrapped in bed sheets and other clothing articles, the affidavit said.

During the autopsy, investigators learned Gonzales arms were zip-tied and his legs wrapped with a white rope. His head was wrapped in cellophane, which covered a gunshot wound, according to the affidavit.

RELATED: Body found in trunk in Universal City identified as 23-year-old father

On Thursday, Feb. 16, the San Antonio Police Department said they received a call from Lomas, who said he had killed Gonzales. Lomas then provided police details about the killing and other facts not initially released to the public, according to the affidavit.

Lomas told investigators he and two other men took Gonzales to the 10000 block of Ware Seguin Road in Converse, where they robbed him.

They allegedly took his watch, a gold chain, two guns along with $40 and some marijuana, according to the affidavit. Lomas said he then received an order to shoot the victim which he did with a revolver.

Lomas said he and another one of the suspects cleaned the crime scene and helped him carry the body into the victims vehicles trunk. The same man that told him to shoot Gonzales told him to get rid of the body, according to the affidavit.

RELATED: Foul smell led to discovery of wrapped body in trunk of car in Universal City

Gonzales was known by the nickname Chubbs, and is survived by a wife and two children, according to previous reports.

Text "Breaking" to 48421 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

twhite@mysa.com

Twitter: @tylerlwhite
As districts across the state deal with flu outbreaks, two Texas school districts closed its campuses Friday after a spike in reported illnesses.

Carlisle Independent School District and Ingram Independent School District each closed Friday after the number of students out sick became too high, though each district did not specify whether or not it was the flu.
Our attitude toward cybersecurity can pretty much be summed up as fear with a dose of \_()_/.

Thats the unfortunate takeaway from a new survey of Americans attitudes about online security put out by the Pew Research Center Thursday morning.

The nonpartisan Washington think tanks Americans and Cybersecurity study of about one thousand U.S. adults found both deep-seated anxiety over the safety of our bits, and widespread hesitancy to use free tools to do something about it.

If Americans were taking a cybersecurity test right now, wed be getting maybe a gentlemans C, said Pew associate research director Aaron Smith.

Have you been hacked yet?

To spin this survey optimistically, a majority of Americans reported no harm in each individual category of data breach covered in its questions. At worst, 41% had spotted fraudulent purchases on a credit card (yeah, me too), and 35% had received a data-breach notification.

Meanwhile, only 16% had an email account taken over without permission, while 13% had a social-media account hijacked in the same way.

But looking at the total picture, including more serious cases of identity theft such as tax-refund fraud (reported by 6%), 64% of respondents had become acquainted with data theft at some level.

Almost half of respondents thought things were getting worse: 49% felt less confident about the security of their personal data than they did five years ago. And even before recent revelations of Russian hacking, 70% expected to see a cyberattack on public infrastructure in the next five years.

Password pain

You might not know this from a great deal of cybersecurity coverage, but youre not helpless against threats like malware and phishing. Unfortunately, the Pew survey suggests many Americans cant be bothered to take basic steps.

Take managing passwords: 65% said they mostly keep them in their heads, a number that makes it completely unsurprising to see on the surveys next page that 39% admitted reusing passwords across many accounts, an invitation to disaster, and that 25% copped to picking simpler passwords.

Story continues

The way out of that mess is to use a password-management app like LastPass, Dashlane or 1Password to store your logins, generate complex passwords as needed, and encrypt them until you unlock them with a master password or a fingerprint.

But only 12% of respondents said they use a password manager, and only 3% said it was their primary password tool.

The second most popular password system was writing them on paper18% relied on that most, and 49% used it sometimes. Thats not crazy if done right, cryptographer Bruce Schneier wrote in a 2005 post observing that the wallet you already know to protect should be a safe hiding place for a password cheat sheet.

Pews Smith tried to capture the mindset at work here: The chances are that if I just muddle along, things are going to be not terrible.

Other security measures

Passwords alone wont keep you safe. Two-step verification, where you confirm a login with a one-time code sent to your phone, makes a stolen password worthless.

Pew found impressively, maybe suspiciously, high use of that. 52% of participants said they employed the measure on at least one account. Interviewers were supposed to define two-step verification if a respondent requested clarification, but the people really lost on the concept might not have known they needed such help.

There is clearly some room for confusion on the part of respondents or to say the socially desirable thing, Smith said, adding that an upcoming study will look deeper into peoples grasp of security features.

Pews questions about smartphone security reveal more cause for gloom. Only 71% of respondents reported using any security feature to unlock their phones, and of them 35% relied on a numeric code. 32% used a fingerprint-recognition feature, but the survey did not establish how many had phones supporting that form of biometric security.

Worst of all, 14% said they never updated their phones operating system, and 10% never updated their apps. Walking around with obsolete phone software is just asking for trouble.

Who do you trust?

When it comes to protecting their information, respondents said they trust the federal government the least (28% were not at all confident), followed by social-media sites (24% not at all confident). Cell-phone manufacturers earned the highest trust, with 43% saying they were somewhat confident in them and 27% calling themselves very confident.

Interestingly, 46% of respondents felt the government should be able to force tech companies to them with the ability to decrypt consumers devices, while 44% backed the right of tech companies to ship uncompromised crypto.

Yes, this was the same population that trusted phone vendors more than the government with their data.

We remain confused and conflicted on this subject. But you probably didnt need a survey to tell you that.

More from Rob:

Email Rob at rob@robpegoraro.com; follow him on Twitter at @robpegoraro.
A masked mob dragged five suspected cattle thieves kicking and screaming from the Mason County jail on Feb. 18, 1875, lynched three of the terrified outlaws and touched off a nasty feud forever known as the Hoodoo War.

In the chaotic aftermath of the Civil War, Texans often took the law into their own hands. Desperate characters, who mistook common folk for easy pickings, were routinely dispatched without benefit of judge, jury or clergy.

Like so many similar episodes, the Mason County hanging might soon have been forgotten had the vigilantes not been Germans and the victims so-called "natives." Blood began to flow when fear replaced reason, and people blindly picked sides along ethnic lines. Small ranchers and farmers of German descent hesitated to strike back against the saddle tramps plundering their precious few possessions in the early 1870's. Having suffered for their pro-Union opinions during the war, they wanted only to pick up the pieces of their quiet lives. The last thing most German Texans wanted was trouble.

Confronted by a worsening crime wave, Mason County voters elected a new sheriff, who promised a complete cleanup. John Clark did his best, but the rustler rings were always one step ahead of the inexperienced lawman.

In February 1875, the sheriff got lucky. He caught five members of the notorious Backus Gang red-handed with a herd of stolen cattle. That evening a crowd of irate citizens overcame light resistance at the local lockup and whisked the prisoners off to the nearest tree.

A Texas Ranger, who just happened to be passing through, crashed the necktie party in time to save a pair of the badmen. Sheriff Clark suddenly appeared to back his play but swore he could not identify any members of the mob that disappeared in the darkness.

Word of the lynching spread like wildfire. Although the "native" ranchers could have cared less about the Backus bunch, they feared indiscriminate attack from an aroused German community. In a show of force, they occupied the county seat.

At the head of 60 armed Germans, Sheriff Clark retook the town and negotiated a fragile truce. Six weeks later, the cold-blooded killing of a popular "native" rancher shattered the peace. Lured off his property by a deputy sheriff, Tim Williamson was brutally bushwhacked.

The senseless slaying brought into the simmering feud Scott Cooley, the victim's half-crazed adopted son. Since Indians slaughtered his parents and held him captive as a child, Cooley had never been quite right in the head. The murder of the stepfather he idolized pushed the grief-stricken youth over the edge.

Coming upon the guilty deputy digging a well, Cooley shot him six times, repeatedly stabbed his dead body and removed his scalp. To prove his gruesome point, he made the rounds of the Mason saloons proudly displaying the grisly trophy in each and every establishment.

Both sides suffered casualties in the ensuing county-wide conflict. Cooley organized his own band of trigger-happy misfits, who had no stake in the affair but relished the combat. Mason County quickly became a blood-soaked battleground.

After weeks of strife, a Ranger company commanded by Major John B. Jones temporarily restored order. Sheriff Clark complied by immediately resigning and vanishing without a trace.

Cooley, however, calmly stayed put. The former Ranger bet his old comrades would be reluctant to bring him in, and to the disgust of Major Jones, he was right.

Six weeks later, the Rangers pulled out of the war-torn county leaving a token force to keep up the half-hearted hunt for Cooley. Meanwhile, the fugitive shrewdly steered clear of Mason but continued his search for German targets.

In late 1875, Cooley and sidekick Johnny Ringo, the same gunslinger who later blazed his way into the history books in Arizona, were arrested in Burnet. Hopes for an end to the bloodshed soared in Mason County only to be dashed by news of a suspicious jailbreak.

Freed by friends in Lampasas County, Cooley resumed his rampage. But revenge did not put food on the table, and to satisfy his grumbling followers as well as his own stomach, he turned to the tried-and-true practice of rustling cattle. In a few months, Cooley was teaching old hands a thing or two about swiping steers.

Deliverance sometimes comes in strange packages, and for Mason County it came in a bottle. Cooley stopped for dinner at Fredericksburg and bought a fifth of whiskey for the road. Several swigs later, he tumbled from the saddle and lapsed into a coma.

By dawn Scott Cooley was a goner, done in not by a dose of lead but poison. With him died the Hoodoo War, and the barricades at last came down in battle-scarred Mason County.

Bartee's three books "Texas Depression-Era Desperadoes," "Murder Most Texan" and "Texas Boomtowns: A History of Blood and Oil" are available for purchase at barteehaile.com.
Donald Trump has declared war on reality. And reality is winning.

He campaigned as a self-anointed Emperor of Information, advancing his own -- often false -- version of the world. He's doing the same thing as president, making patently untrue claims about voter fraud during the election and about crowd sizes during his inauguration.

Those falsehoods are largely harmless. They might feed his insatiable ego, but don't directly affect public policy or the national welfare.

But now his penchant for prevarication is getting serious, and two recent episodes demonstrate why: the downfall of national security adviser Mike Flynn, and the determination of three federal courts to block his executive order on refugees.

In Flynn's case, intelligence officers uncovered evidence that he was possibly breaking the law by talking to the Russian ambassador before Trump took office, and assuring him that the new administration would take a softer line than its predecessor on economic sanctions against Moscow.

Dogged reporting by Washington Post columnist David Ignatius surfaced the story in mid-January, and Team Trump went into complete denial mode. A Trump spokesman told the Post that "economic sanctions were not discussed whatsoever" on the call. White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters that the call concerned only logistics: "That was it, plain and simple."

Those were both falsehoods. Further reporting by the Post and The New York Times revealed that the acting attorney general, Sally Yates, had warned the White House about Flynn's actual conversation weeks before. Hours after those stories appeared, Flynn resigned.

Trump reacted by blaming others, of course. "The real story here is why there are so many illegal leaks coming out of Washington?" he tweeted. And in a sense, he's right.

The "real story" here is that reality is revolting against the president. Professional fact-finders refuse to be intimidated by the Emperor of Information. To answer the president's question: There are "so many illegal leaks coming out of Washington" because the Trump administration so often refuses to tell the truth.

The president's executive order, barring refugees for 120 days and banning all travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries, also demonstrates his aversion to veracity. The president and his lawyers insisted that the order was essential to protect the nation's security. But two district court judges, whose main job is fact-finding, disputed that assertion.

One of them, Leonie M. Brinkema, who sits in Virginia, said the president's lawyers "have not offered any evidence to identify the national security concerns that allegedly prompted this EO (executive order)." She then quoted approvingly from a statement by 10 former "national security professionals": "We view the Order as one that ultimately undermines the national security of the United States, rather than making us safer."

The president also maintained that the order had caused minimal disruption, but again Brinkema disagreed on the facts. Just one of many examples she cited in her opinion: In 2015, 465 foreign students from the seven banned countries enrolled in Virginia schools. Barring such students in the future would cost more than $20 million in lost tuition and fees.

Another argument advanced by the White House is that the order contained no direct reference to Muslims, and thus did not impose any discrimination based on religion. Again, Brinkema went to the record, citing statements by Trump during the campaign that he wanted "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States."

Those statements, said the judge, indicated his true intent, no matter what the order said. "Just as the Supreme Court has held that 'the world is not made brand new every morning,' a person is not made brand new simply by taking the oath of office," she wrote.

Finally, the judge rejected Trump's assertion that federal law gives him unfettered power over immigration questions. "Maximum power does not mean absolute power," she lectured.

The lesson from both cases is clear and compelling. Professional fact-finders -- lawyers, judges, journalists, academics, researchers, scientists, intelligence officers -- cannot be deterred or intimidated.

Nor should they fall prey to the president's strategy of dangling shiny objects in front of the press to distract them from the real story. He prompted media coverage of Ivanka Trump's fashion products while his national security adviser was lying about his talks with the Russians and possibly breaking the law.

No matter how many tweets and tantrums emanate from the president, no matter how many "alternative facts" he presents, no matter how many leakers he denounces, the truth still matters. And we have to keep telling it.

Steve and Cokie Roberts can be contacted by email at stevecokie@gmail.com.
To the editor:

It was refreshing to see the interest in preserving Willis history in a recent letter by Zach Goodlander.

As an alternative to building an annex onto the Willis Library, the history of Willis is already exhibited in our galleries at the Heritage Museum of Montgomery County located at 1506 I-45 North Feeder (Inside Candy Cane Park), Conroe. The Museum is celebrating its' 32nd year and educating the public about Montgomery County's Rich History including Willis. The Museum collects, preserves and exhibits articles and artifacts significant to the history of the county, past and its present. We acquire and create special exhibits not limited to local history. We sponsor classes and programs to stimulate interest in Montgomery County History and creative activity among adults and children. We offer many programs for children, seniors, local author booksignings, field trips for public and private schools, and among other activities, tours about Montgomery County to the public.

Our Galleries contain history from all areas of Montgomery County including Willis' rich history of the Willis Brothers, Peter and Richard, and their Cotton and Tobacco crops in Willis, Old Danville and other areas of Montgomery County. Willis history is already here to share with everyone at the Heritage Museum of Montgomery County. We invite Mr. Goodlander and the public to stop by and learn more about Willis and Montgomery County's Rich History. We are open Wednesday - Saturday 9am - 4pm; Adults $2.00 and Children $1.00.

Sally Copley

Executive Director

Heritage Museum of Montgomery County

Conroe

Not showing up for work? Send 'em packing

To the editor:

If all the so-called immigrants who decided not to go to work Thursday were fired, that would be a good thing. I saw on the news about this and all they showed were Latins, not PC to call them what they are.

So I guess anyone else who is an immigrant was smart and went to work or kept their business open. What would happen if everyone who has any kind of immigrant in their family stayed home or did not open. There would be nobody doing nothing but staying home. At one time or another, everyone in this country came from an immigrant coming here. But then it is the Latins who "protest."

If President Trump had not said he was going to ship the illegals back, this would not have happened. Of course the democronies jumped on this as the greatest thing since sliced bread. But then what do they know, guess none of them has an immigrant in their family.

My family came here from Ireland a long time ago, so guess I am an immigrant, and proud of it. After this, I will not go to any Latin business, don't want to support an illegal or immigrant, might get mistaken for a democronie, sure don't want that to happen. Sure am going to miss Mexican food.

So all you "immigrants who don't like President Trump's policies, leave and go back where you came from. To businesses that "immigrant," aka Latin, workers did not come to work, fire them. Then you can hire "non-immigrant" workers, if you can find anyone in this country that is not an immigrant in some way. Only people that fit that bill are Native Americans. I know if workers in my business did not show up for work because of something like this, they would be out the door and on the street.

B. K. Morgan

Conroe
If you didnt think the internet was a wretched hive of scum and villainy before, Symantec (SYMC) CEO Greg Clark might just change your mind. Clark, who sat down for an interview with David Pogue at Yahoo Finances All Markets Summit, explained how criminals on the internet are not only incredibly active, but are almost always changing where they live online and how they attack.

Its a new theater of war. Its serious business, Clark said.

To put a finer point on it, Clark explained that about 60% of hostnames on the internet are open for just 24 hours or less, which suggests they might exist solely for criminal activity. Hostnames are used to point to specific sites on the internet. For instance, www.yahoofinance.com is a hostname for Yahoofinance.com. Now, think about the millions of hostnames on the internet at any given moment, and you begin to understand how truly enormous that 60% figure really is.

One of the most nefarious ways in which cybercriminals attack is through email phishing or spear phishing attacks. Phishing attacks come in the form of emails that trick users into downloading malware-infected software or clicking links that take them to malware-infected websites that automatically install malicious code on a persons computer.

That software can then turn your PC, smartphone or tablet into a zombie device for a botnet army that can be used to flood targeted websites with requests for information until they can keep up and go offline.

Alternatively, phishing and spear phishing attacks can trick users to download ransomware, which can lock down a persons computer. The criminals will then keep the computer locked down until the victim pays up, usually in the form of Bitcoin.

Both of these kinds of attacks are caused by people unknowingly infecting their own computers. And as Pogue put it, There is no antivirus program for human stupidity.

Clark, however, pointed to Symantecs own Project Dolphin. The system sees Symantec scour the worlds websites to determine if they appear similar to known phishing sites. The idea is to identify phishing websites before they actually take off and prevent victims from visiting them by accident.

Story continues

So there might just be an antivirus for human stupidity after all. Sign me up.

More from Yahoo Finances All Markets Summit:

Email Daniel at dhowley@yahoo-inc.com; follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.
The University of Texas Systems limited disclosure on why UTSA President Ricardo Romo has been placed on paid administrative leave is a disservice to the university, the taxpayers and Romo.

In a short email sent Tuesday afternoon to the staff and faculty at one of the fastest growing campuses in the UT System, Chancellor William McRaven wrote, It is my duty to inform you that University of Texas at San Antonio President Ricardo Romo has been placed on administrative leave, effective immediately, pending a review of allegations related to his conduct.

The systems communication office wont comment further, stating it is a personnel issue.

The suspension of a public university president is no minor matter. As one of the highest paid public employees in our community whose personal reputation is closely tied to that of his institution, the taxpayers have a right to know the circumstance surrounding his sudden removal.

We dont need to know the specific details or the names of individuals involved in the investigation. However, a bit more transparency on what prompted the chancellor to remove Romo and appoint an acting president would be welcome.

Speculation and rumors were rampant immediately after the chancellors email. Romo, 73, who has led the citys largest public university since 1999, appeared headed to retirement in August on a high note. He is credited with transforming the school during his tenure. His associates in the academic and San Antonio community were blindsided by the news of Romos paid administrative leave.

Regrettably, inquiries submitted to the UT System officials about what prompted the leave have received no reply. We are also awaiting response to questions about the basis for withholding further details and the policy or law they are adhering to in not commenting further.

Sources told the Express-News that Romos leave was prompted by the firing of two employees in the presidents office that could be viewed as retaliatory, higher education writer Silvia Foster-Frau reports. They also suggest it may be related to a formal sexual harassment complaint filed against Romo.

On Thursday, a day after that published report, Romos lawyer Ricardo Cedillo issued a statement in which Romo confirmed hes the subject of a complaint brought against him by an employee. That information should have come from the UT System immediately. We urge the review into the allegations against Romo be handled expeditiously and carried out as transparently as possible.

The reputation of UTSA is riding on this.
Re: Threads for students; NEISDs PTA opens first Clothes Closet, Metro, Tuesday:

What a wonderful idea  and what horrible hours! Most families requiring assistance have very limited transportation flexibility. Expecting those families to reach the facility in the middle of the day  a school day, at that  is shortsighted. If the volunteers really want to help, theyll open on Saturday or a weekday evening.

Molly Hartshorn, Windcrest

Wreck blame

Re: Premiums rise for drivers after not-at-fault wrecks, group finds, Business, Tuesday:

Many years ago, I was stationed in Iran as an adviser to an Iranian army unit. Before I arrived in the country, I had been told, If you are in a taxi that becomes involved in an accident, get out and run away fast. I learned why.

If you hire a cab to take you somewhere, and if theres an accident en route, the driver blames you for having hired the cab and causing it to be at the scene. That way, hes not at fault. Im not sure about the attitude of the insurance company  if any.

Jim Douglas

Keep lies to self

Re: Trumps new world demands journalists old values, O. Ricardo Pimentel, Opinion, Sunday:

Mr. Pimentel, we have spent years listening to and reading propaganda from so-called journalists such as yourself. Now that the people of this country are seeing the truth, you are trying to make us believe you have been honest purveyors of the news. So, I say to you, sir, if you like your lies you may keep them  to yourself.

Leo Dye, Bulverde

Straddling the fence

Re: When the truth is propaganda, John Eubanks, Jan. 4:

According to this column, sales are up for the book 1984 since President Donald Trumps election.

Isnt it ironic that I felt the need to reread it last year when President Barack Obama proclaimed Ive got a pen, and I can use it to take executive and administrative actions?

Guess it depends on which side of the political fence you are on over approving of executive actions.

Maggi Smith

Rep. Flat Earth

Re: Fake news, Your Turn, Monday:

In his letter to the editor, Rep. Lamar Smith stated, Its no surprise that the medias credibility is at a record low with the American people, according to a recent Gallup Poll. A recent poll confirms exactly what I said and refutes what (columnist Rick) Casey said (What we learn when the news source is Trump, Other Views, Feb. 4). Forty-nine percent find the administration truthful, while only 39 percent find the media honest. So, yes, the American people agree with me that Trump is a better source than the biased media.

Just because a poll finds 49 percent believe the administration truthful and 39 percent find the media honest doesnt make it so. Alternate facts are not truth, just somebodys lies. In the 1400s, more than 90-plus percent of the people in Europe probably believed the world was flat. That didnt make it so. This administration continues to tell lies and many people are gullible enough to believe it.

Dennis McDonald

Trumps war

Re: New president fighting a different culture war, Rich Lowry, Other Views, Jan. 29:

Mr. Lowry extols the Trump culture war without mentioning the major flaws.

First, the frequent lies, usually followed by significant course correction.

Second, the dictatorial approach to settle many major issues without consultation.

Third, the narcissistic frets and tantrums on public display.

Fourth, the evident dependency and reliance on Russian friendship.

This Trump culture crusade does not comply with a Jacksonian-American ethos. The corrupt establishment is not the Eastern intellectual elites but the moneyed elites. Most Cabinet officials are from the billionaire class and have no intention of fulfilling the legally assigned mission of the respective departments they will head. If good public schools, for instance, are abandoned as the highest priority of the Education Department, then democracy is in dire trouble.

Accuse the left of treason? No! Consorting with Russian leadership is treason. If immigration as a positive theme in the American experience is rejected  again  true American culture is threatened. Rejoicing in Trumps culture war is not appropriate, thats what is treasonous.

Michael Vogelsang

Narcissist in chief

Re: Dis to office, Your Turn, Jan. 4:

It appears the only person showing disrespect to the office of the president is the current occupant of the Oval Office. In the first few weeks of his administration, Donald Trump has managed to insult most of the world, caused renewed pollution by rolling back regulations and served as a lackey for Wall Street. Trump is the most insecure, narcissistic man to ever call the White House home! God help the United States of America under this fools reign!

Randy G. Whitworth

Presidential circus

Re: Trumps order targets tougher Wall Street rules, Business, Feb. 4:

Here is the great America under Donald Trump. Drain the swamp means filling the Cabinet with billionaires and insiders. Protecting the average American means repealing the financial regulations to allow Wall Street to run wild again. Keeping us safe means cuddling up with Vladimir Putin, the KGB operative-turned-president. Keeping us mighty means threatening our solidarity with NATO and questioning the ability of our intelligence professionals.

Building the wall means we will pay for that albatross. Being presidential means insulting the integrity of the judiciary. Being presidential means waging war against immigrants and minorities. And, most astonishing of all, is Trumps denial of truth, excused and tolerated by his circle of advisers and politicians. I dont think this Trump circus is working to our advantage.

Rick Rodriguez
When Jaroslav Halak came down to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers to start January, Stephon Williams stuck around and Eamon McAdam went to Missouri of the ECHL.

McAdam got hot again, winning seven in a row for the Mavericks. Hes back, and Williams has been sent to Missouri.

Williams left Saturdays game against Providence with an upper-body injury after giving up four goals for the second straight start. McAdam came up on Monday, and both goalies practiced Tuesday as Halak got an extra day off after playing three days in a row.

Halak has been the winner in 10 straight decisions, and having the veteran around hasnt left much time for the backup. Williams won two starts in a row, including the win in Providence that began Bridgeports current run of 12 wins in 13 games and another victory over Rochester.

McAdam won his first seven starts for Bridgeport, but by the time he was sent down after being pulled from three out of four starts, his save percentage was down to .885. He has a .916 save percentage in the ECHL and an 11-3 record for Missouri.

Williams save percentage is .892. The league average is .908. Halaks is .929, and the injured Christopher Gibsons is .912.

It appeared that leading scorer Bracken Kearns would be available for the weekend. Kearns, after scoring a goal and an assist in the first period, left Sundays win over Hershey with a lower-body injury.

More Information Bridgeport Sound Tigers at Rochester Americans WHEN: Friday, 7:05 p.m. WHERE: Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial, Rochester, N.Y. ON THE AIR: MSG WEBCAST: www.soundtigers.com RECORDS: Bridgeport 30-16-1-1; Rochester 20-27-0-2 SEASON SERIES: Bridgeport leads 2-0. LAST MEETING: The Sound Tigers won 3-2 Feb. 3 at home. ABOUT THE SOUND TIGERS: G Jaroslav Halak, who made 25 saves the last time these teams met, has a team-record 10-game winning streak. ... Bridgeport has won four in a row and 12 out of 13. ... LW Carter Verhaeghe is 3-1-4 in two games since coming back from Missouri (ECHL), where he had 32 points in 16 games. ... F Tanner Fritz is 3-6-9 in the past six games. ABOUT THE AMERICANS: Rochester has fallen 10 points out in the North Division playoff race with a 5-9-0-1 dip, which includes a five-game home winless streak. ... Former UConn LW Cole Schneider is sixth in the AHL in scoring at 18-25-43. ... G Linus Ullmark has played 38 of the Amerks' 51 games. He has at least a share of the league lead in wins (18) and losses (18). UP NEXT: Saturday at Albany, 1 p.m. MICHAEL FORNABAIO See More Collapse

Kearns, whose 39 points rank him 16th in the league, and Devon Toews and Ben Holmstrom are the only Sound Tigers to play all 48 games so far. Holmstrom has played every game since he arrived last season.

Fridays game airs live from Rochester on MSG at 7 p.m. Bridgeport visits Albany on Saturday afternoon, then plays Hershey again on Sunday afternoon at home.

mfornabaio@ctpost.com; http://twitter.com/fornabaioctp; http://blog.ctnews.com/fornabaio
1 Baghdad bombing: A car bomb in Baghdad killed at least 55 people and wounded more than 60 on Thursday, Iraqs Interior Ministry said. Ministry spokesman said the attack took place in the southwestern al-Bayaa neighborhood. The Islamic State claimed the bombing in an online statement. The Sunni extremist group said it was targeting Shiite Muslims. Iraqi officials said the bomb targeted car dealerships in the mostly Shiite neighborhood.

2 Fawning media: The Kremlin ordered state media to cut way back on their fawning coverage of President Trump, reflecting a growing concern among senior Russian officials that the new U.S. administration will be less friendly than first thought, three people familiar with the matter said. The order comes amid a growing chorus of anti-Russian sentiment in Washington, where U.S. spy and law enforcement agencies are conducting multiple investigations to determine the full extent of contacts Trumps advisers had with Russia during and after the 2016 election campaign. Vladimir Putins administration justified the decision to curb coverage of Trump by saying that Russian viewers no longer find details of his transition to power interesting, according to one source. In reality, some of the most popular TV segments on Trump touched on ideas the Kremlin would rather not promote, such as his pledge to drain the swamp, the person said.
Parliament of Zimbabwe today expelled five legislators after the ruling Zanu-PF notified the august House that they no longer represent the interests of the party.

The five affected members are:

Ignatious Chombo (Zvimba North),

Saviour Kasukuwere (Mount Darwin South),

Professor Jonathan Moyo (Tsholotsho North),

Kudzanayi Chipanga (Makoni West) and

Mandiitawepi Chimene (Makoni South).

Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Mabel Chinomona said by operation of the law, the constituencies are now vacant.

Zanu-PF Chief Whip, Lovemore Matuke confirmed the development, saying the five were expelled from the party as they were no longer serving interests of the party.

Matuke also said they are not going to hold by-elections for the five but will replace them with shadow MPs as general elections are scheduled to be held next year.

Breaking News via Email
North East Regional Initiative (NERI) is an International Development OrganizationPosition Start Date: ImmediatelyThe State Program Manager (SPM) will be responsible for the development, contracting, implementation and close-out of a portfolio of activities at the state-level. The SPM will work with Abuja-based Program Development staff, NERI Senior Management, and community stakeholders to identify, prioritize and design activities that will respond to community development priorities in order to further the objectives of the NERI project. The SPM, working with state-level grants and implementation staff, will be charged with oversight of project activities to ensure that all tasks are completed within timeframe and budget parameters defined during project design. The SPM will be tasked with the programmatic and administrative closeout of all activities, including final reporting, disbursement of funding (in concert with finance staff) and disposition of any project inventory. The SPM will serve as the main point of contact for state-level actors and community stakeholders to ensure that all activities fit within a strategic and coherent portfolio. The SPM will be expected to regularly report to Program Development and Grants staff and receive management and guidance from NERI Senior Management. The SPM will be expected to liaise with various levels of stakeholders, including government officials, civil society organizations and community actors; the selected candidate must be able to maintain good relations with all associated parties. This position will be based at Adamawa State (north eastern Nigeria,) with frequent coordination visits to Abuja.Reporting & Supervision:The State Program Manager reports to the Program Development Manager.Primary responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:General oversight of a portfolio of state-level projects.In concert with program development staff and senior management, advice on programmatic design of new projects, monitor implementation to ensure timely completion and adherence to budget and administrative and programmatic closeout at state-level.Work alongside Government of Nigeria (GoN) officials, community stakeholders and civil society actors to ensure coherent and strategic programming as part of a unified project.Serve as the focal point for all state-level programming and ensure that the GoN and communities are informed of the objectives and purposeIn coordination with Community Development Facilitators, establish community-level project oversight committees to ensure community buy-in of activities.Help set up transparent management and oversight mechanisms and work to incorporate with a wide range of project beneficiaries, GoN and other important stakeholders as possiblePerform other tasks, as assigned.University degree in a related field is required.Five years experience in grants management with international donor programs is required.Experience in working with communities to implement grassroots development projects.Prior experience with internationally-funded projects is highly desirable.Proficiency at using Microsoft office software: MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc. is required.Ability to work under short deadlines and efficiently handle multiple tasks.Attention to detail and the ability to function well in a team.Experience of working in a conflict environment is a plus.Fluency in oral and written English is required.Fluency in Hausa or any of the local state languages in the North Eastern part of Nigeria is requiredInterested applicants for this position MUST submit the following documents to nigeria_recruitment@neri-nigeria.com A current resume or curriculum vitae (CV) listing all job responsibilities; ANDA cover letterPlease reference the job title and location on the subject line, your cover letter and resume/CV.Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.1 March, 2017
Tax season is a waking nightmare for Americans. Well, it is for me, at least. Between figuring out how to file, trying to understand my W2 and remembering how to do basic math, it can be extremely stressful. But theres something even scarier lurking out there this time of year: tax scammers.

Yes, in case wringing your hands over the tax man werent enough, criminals are out there trying to swipe your hard-earned cash and personal information from right under your nose.

Luckily, there are a few ways to spot these scams and protect yourself.

Fake IRS phone calls

One of the most common scams out there today is the IRS phone call. It usually goes something like this. You get a call from someone claiming to be from the IRS. They say you havent paid your taxes properly and owe Uncle Sam some serious cash. The scammer will then demand that you pay them immediately, or theyll send the feds over and have you arrested.

How to avoid these 7 major tax scams.

Thats some pretty scary stuff right there, especially if you have no idea what youre doing when it comes to your taxes, and live in constant fear that you screwed up your last filing and are on the hook for thousands of dollars in fines.

But the truth is that the IRS will never contact you over the phone. Whats more, they wont demand that you pay on the spot. The government actually gives you an opportunity to appeal the amount you owe.

And despite how scared you might be of the government, the IRS will never threaten to send in Johnny Law to arrest you for a first-time tax problem. It should also go without saying that the feds will never ask for you to pay your taxes in gift cards. Yes, thats seriously something criminals have done.

Scammers trying to confirm IRS contact information

This is another phone-based IRS scam, but rather than just calling you up and demanding money, the criminals use a little more finesse to steal from you. According to the IRS, the confirmation scam sees a scammer spoof their phone number to make it look like the call is coming from the IRS.

Story continues

When you become suspicious, the thief will tell you to open up the IRS.gov website on your web browser and look for the services telephone number. Once you see that the number on the website matches the spoofed number the scammer called you from, they will go back to demanding money for unpaid taxes.

A similar scam sees criminals pretending to be from the IRSs Taxpayers Advocacy Service, an independent internal service meant to assist taxpayers with questions and issues with their tax bills. In this instance, the scammer will spoof the number of the TAS and then ask the victim to check the number on the TAS site to prove that the scammer isnt a fake.

Again, the IRS will never contact you via a phone call. And even if they did, identifying themselves using a phone number should be highly suspicious.

Phony IRS emails

TL;DR: If you get a random email from the IRS, its not from the IRS.

These are just like those fake IRS phone calls, but in email form. Unfortunately, these can be even more convincing fakes, as they include things like official-looking IRS logos and signatures.

I actually received a phony email from Britains version of the IRS, HM Revenue & Customs. Considering I live in Queens, New York, and not the U.K., though, that scammer missed the mark by a few thousand miles or so.

Outside of trying to trick you out of your cash, these emails also come with the added risk of malware and ransomware if you download any files embedded in them or click on any included links.

One particular way scammers try to trick consumers is by including an attachment titled Tax Transcript, though it could go by other names as well. The key here is to remember that the IRS wont reach out to you via email. The only way the IRS will try to get in touch with you is via snail mail.

W2 scammers

This one specifically targets companies payroll and human resources departments. The scheme works like this: Criminals send an email impersonating a companys CEO or other executive officer to that organizations payroll or HR professionals asking for personal information about employees.

According to the IRS, which issued a warning about this scam in January, criminals will request items like employee names, Social Security numbers, and income data. The scammers will then try to file fraudulent tax returns using the victims information in order to receive their refunds.

According to a report by Sophos Naked Security Blog, Snap, Inc. fell for this exact scam back in 2016.

Fraudulent websites

According to Wired, the security firm Lookout has come across a number of websites masquerading as the homepages for Intuits Turbotax and Quickbooks. The idea here is to record a victims username and password or their Social Security number in some cases.

The websites are specifically crafted with URLs that line up closely to TurboTaxs and Quickbooks real URLs but are slightly off by or have added a few characters. The point is to get victims to search for either website using Google or another search engine, and then trick them into believing they are clicking a link for the actual TurboTax and Quickbooks site.

The best way to avoid a situation like this is to ensure that the link youre clicking on is accurate by looking at it closely before entering your private information.

The non-existent federal student tax

Have you ever heard of the federal student tax? No? Good, because the IRS says theres no such thing. But that doesnt stop criminals from trying to trick people into believing there is such a tax and that they need to pay for it.

This works the same way as other standard IRS scams. Victims receive a phone call or email from criminals impersonating the IRS telling them that they havent paid their student tax and that if they dont theyll be arrested or fined.

The crooks will then demand that the victim pay via their credit or debit card or with gift cards. Basically, if anyone tells you theyre trying to collect on the federal student tax, tell them to take a hike.

Verifying tax information

This particular scam sees criminals asking victims to verify items like the last four digits of their Social Security numbers, or other tax information. The scammers could also ask for items like your bank account information or your full Social Security number.

Remember, the IRS wont ask you for any information over the phone. If the person is impersonating a tax preparer or preparation agency, your best bet is to hang up and call your actual tax agent or send your real tax professional an email asking if they need your information.

What to do if you suspect its a scam

If you receive a phone call that you think is a scam, hang up. If you receive an email you suspect is fraudulent dont reply or click any embedded links. Instead, report it to the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at the TIGTAs website, or by calling 1-800-366-4484.

And if someone asks you to pay your taxes in iTunes gift cards, please ignore them.

More from Dan:

Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@oath.com; follow him on Twitter at@DanielHowley. Follow Yahoo Finance on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, andLinkedIn.finance.yahoo.com/
Posted on

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By Gaius Publius, a professional writer living on the West Coast of the United States and frequent contributor to DownWithTyranny, digby, Truthout, and Naked Capitalism. Follow him on Twitter @Gaius_Publius, Tumblr and Facebook. GP article archive here. Originally published at DownWithTyranny

TYT reporter Nomiki Konst interviews DNC Chair candidate Tom Perez

If you ask mainstream Democrats (not a homogeneous group, but easily identifiable by their Clintonist, Obamist policies), and also their collaborators in the so-called left media, this question  What about the battle within the Party?  theyll ask incredulously back, What battle? Doesnt everyone want unity?

Which is, itself, the next phase of the battle within the Party. The old guard, the Clinton and Obama factions, want unity  so long as theyre still in charge. Which sets the twin terms over which the next phase of the battle will be fought: the demand for Party unity, and the insistence on silence about fundamental, irreconcilable differences.

Here are two small instances to illustrate that battle and its terms, field notes if you will about how the Party split is being handled its leaders. Both are from the above interview by TYT reporter Nomiki Konst with Tom Perez, the Obama wing candidate for DNC Chair.

Keeping the Money Game Alive

Lets begin with an exchange about the interests of big-money consultants and consulting firms in keeping the Partys budget bloated (Konsts term) so they could drain into consultant coffers money that could bolster state party organizations instead. (Recall that Party funding and use of money was a key Sanders concern.)

At 3:48, Konst asks Perez about the Partys ties to those high-dollar consultants and firms. His answer is revealing. He starts by saying he believes in grassroots organizing instead of just putting money into high-dollar TV advertising. Yet when pressed (at 6:08, which is where I cued the clip) about the role of those consulting firms, who benefit financially from their role in current Party practices, in shaping the future of the Party, he avoids the question completely.

So she tries again. At 7:30 she asks about conflicts of interest between what the consulting class wants and what the Party needs. Her example is the forward-looking Unity commission, on which a major Party consultant sits. This, to her, is a clear conflict of interest.

Heres that exchange (my transcript; emphasis in the original conversation):

Konst: Arent conflicts of interest a concern? If youre going to change the culture on the ground, how do you change it without banning these conflicts of interest who want to keep the party bloated? Perez: When you say that someone wants to keep the party bloated, I dont know. The people that I talk to want to build a Democratic Party that works for everyone.  The folks that are running the Unity Commission, theres going to be a lot of different perspectives that are put to bear  thats what we want! Konst (incredulous): Including consultants? Perez: We have a big tent in the Democratic Party.

He then pivots to talking about how he would use more minority contractors  in other words, he repeats the Democratic Party appeal to identity rights and benefits as a way to distract Democratic voters and supporters from how money changes hands in the inner circles.

Shorter Perez: Were a big-tent party. Even the corrupt have a seat.(For a real-life example of what that corruption looks like, scroll or jump down to the end of this piece.)

Where Are Your Sanders Supporters?

The second interview chunk I want to point out is about why his own campaign for DNC Chair contains no high profile Sanders supporters or surrogates. At 9:08, Konst sees shes being given the off-camera signal by a Perez staffer to wrap it up, so she hurries to ask one last question:

Konst: This is about unity, right? Who in the Bernie Sanders world, of the surrogates, is supporting you?  Do you have any notable Bernie Sanders supporters?  Perez: I think youre asking the wrong questions. Konst: I mean, youre talking about unity. Every single candidate has both sides. Every single candidate that weve asked has a surrogate from both sides. Perez:  Do only celebrities count? Konst: No its not celebrities  union leaders, party chairs 

Ponder that. For Perez, it seems the only Sanders people of note are celebrities. And the capper  after Konst says that the future of the Party is about unity (a statement Im not in agreement with, by the way), we hear this:

Perez (emphasizing each word): I think the future of the party is about making sure that we are focused on what we have to do together to take on our existential threat, which is Donald Trump. And when we focus on that existential threat together, thats how we move forward.

Shorter Perez: But  Trump! Thats the unity Im talking about.

Yes, Donald Trump is certainly an existential threat  to the country. But it sure sounds like for Perez, the existential threat to the Party are those pesky Sanders people and their challenges about money, about who gets it, and about how the consulting class, which feeds on and impoverishes the Party, is protected by Partys leaders, its Obama and Clinton wings.

The Democratic Consulting Class

Ill have more to say in a bit about the Democratic Party consulting class  a group of, I have to say it, predators. But this should get you started if the topic is new to you. From my friend Joe Sudbay via email, we find this article on the subject from 2005. The writer, Amy Sullivan, asks the question, Why do Democrats continue to hire campaign advisors who lose races? and then illustrates with examples.

Heres the start of her answer (my emphasis):

Fire the Consultants Why do Democrats continue to hire campaign advisors who lose races? If you were a Democrat running as a first-time candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2002, Joe Hansen was most likely a familiar part of your life. As the field director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), Hansen was responsible for recruiting promising candidates, and then for getting the nascent campaigns off to a running start. In the first overwhelming days of your campaign, Joe was a lifeline. He took you out to dinner for pep talks, broke down the fundraising process into something almost manageable, walked you through the selection of campaign staff and consultants, and promised that  if you proved you were a serious candidate by putting together the right team  the DSCC would happily write the checks that might make the difference when things really heated up in the fall. And when it came to choosing just the right firm to design and produce the fliers, postcards, and door hangers that would blanket your state in the closing weeks of the campaign, Joe recommended the very best consultant he knew: Joe Hansen. In addition to his job at the DSCC, Hansen was also a partner in the direct mail firm of Ambrosino, Muir & Hansen. His sales pitch must have been effective  Democrats in nine of the closest Senate contests in 2002 signed up with Hansen, including Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire, Max Cleland in Georgia, and Alex Sanders in South Carolina. The day after the election, only two(Tim Johnson in South Dakota and Mark Pryor in Arkansas) were still standing.

Why do I call them predators? Because the only people whose success they feed, is their own.

Bottom Line

Four points:

Whatever his other merits, theres no question that Tom Perez is running at the behest of the Obama wing of the party as a counter to Keith Ellison, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Theres also no question, whatever the organizational merits of any of the DNC Chair candidates, that for medium- to low-information voters this is seen as a proxy battle between the Obama-Clinton wing and the Sanders wing of the Party (search here for the phrase proxy battle).

And theres absolutely no question that one of Sanders big issues in the primary was (a) the role of money in politics, and (b) the role of money in the way the Party does business. Needless to say, that message resonated with a great many supporters who had no interest in seeing the Partys current leadership continue. That was not only true for all Sanders voters in the primary; it was true for many Sanders supporters who failed to turn out in general election as well.

Which means, finally, that if Perez wins this contest, those medium- to low-information voters may well think the Party hasnt changed much after all, and just stay home again in 2018.

After all, dont you think that if every Sanders supporter had pulled the lever for Clinton, shed have won in a landslide instead of lost in a squeaker? Its not on the voters to think the Party is attractive, no matter how ugly the Trump regime is. Its on the Party to make its own self attractive enough to prevent another Trump-size disaster.

Or so one would think, unless one had a vested interest in keeping the Party just the way it is. Field notes from the battle within the Democratic Party. Stay tuned.
By David Llewellyn-Smith, founding publisher and former editor-in-chief of The Diplomat magazine, now the Asia Pacifics leading geo-politics website. Cross posted from MacroBusiness

From the always essential Jeremy Granthams latest note:

An extraordinary, large exit poll run by Reuters/Ipsos in which 45,000 people participated took place in the early evening on election day in the US. To say this was a detailed poll is an understatement. The spreadsheet for each question in small print runs the length of a generous dining room table, 11 feet! It will tell you how the American Hindu sample of 172 voted. The polls early results of 9,0002 inputs also revealed on the night before the election, when the bookies odds 3 against Trump were 5 to 1, that the odds were wrong. The critical statement polled, in my opinion, was this: America needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful.

From my perspective, the pushback against the rich and powerful for several decades has been very unexpectedly wimpy. Occupy Wall Street aside, the average voter had sat still for a series of major tax cuts for the higher tax brackets and on capital  capital gains and dividends. The lowerincome workers had paid the cost of outsourcing and labor-saving technology but had received no material help, while corporations and corporate officers and owners were the beneficiaries. In fact, money spent on worker training and education declined relative to foreign competitors. This shows up clearly in declining educational standards where today the US global rank is, to be friendly, mediocre. Most scarily in this regard, the average Chinese 20-year-old now ranks 2 full years ahead of his American counterpart in math proficiency! So, all in all, we can say that global forces pushed wages down and politics pushed them deliberately lower. The combined result is shown in Exhibit 1: The share of GDP going to labor hit historical lows as recently as 2014 and the share going to corporate profits hit a simultaneous high. Similarly, Exhibit 2 shows that the share of all income going to the top 0.1% rose well beyond any previous record and approached 100% of all the recovery in total income since the lows of 2009!

The rich and powerful not only increased their share of income and capital at an unprecedented rate in recent decades, but they also increased their grip on politics through a rising tide of political spending, including lobbying and the new Super PACs, courtesy of the Supreme Courts ruling in Citizens United. Even before this ruling, Princeton University Professors Gilens and Page had reported4 on the complete lack of influence that voter opinion had on the probabilities of any bill passing through Congress. If favored by the public the average 31% chance of passing rose to a dizzying 32%. If not favored, it fell to 30%, justifying the nickname given to the influence of the average citizen: Gilens Flatline. When favored by the richest 10%, bills passed at a 65% rate  there is inertia after all. But when opposed by the wealthier and supported by inertia, the passing rate was essentially nil. Those hoping that there is any life at all left in representative democracy have to hope that some critics of this work are right when they claim that the data is complicated to sort out and the conclusions may be overstated. Anecdotal evidence on such issues as the minimum wage and gun laws, though, suggests that majority opinion is, shall we say, easily offset. Scarily, Gilens work does not include the post Citizens United data on political spending that is shown in Exhibit 3. I could not resist throwing in political contributions from unions, which are often cited by right-wingers as somehow balancing the books. And once upon a time they did. But, as unions have been severely weakened by the same combination of global forces and politics previously described, political contributions from unions have become a rounding error, offsettable by a mere handful or less of billionaires.

The Citizens United ruling reminds me of what a good ally of the rich and powerful and corporatism the Supreme Courts majority has recently been, particularly in its strange assumption that corporations are human and deserve the same constitutional protections as we humans. It turns out, though, that humans are quite often cooperative and altruistic for no apparent self-advantage. Corporations, tied as they are these days to the single-minded goal of profit maximizing, seem to be close to saying that altruism, or the common good, when it compromises profitability, is a dereliction of their duty. In a human this would be considered pathological. (I wonder what the Founding Fathers would really have thought of this odd idea of corporate humanity. Or the equally odd idea that unlimited spending by corporations on elections is the moral equivalent of free speech.)

It is data like this that has led me over the last 10 years to believe that this country does indeed need to be saved from the rich and powerful; to believe that corporate interests were coming to dominate the public good; to believe that when in conflict corporations would, perhaps under the usual career risk pressure we all know so well, choose short-term profit maximizing over the well-being of workers. Nowhere was this better demonstrated than in their dispensing with the jewel in the crown of the old social contract, the defined benefit plan. This was done on the stated grounds of unaffordability even as corporate profits hit unprecedented high levels of GDP. Pensions that guaranteed a share of final salary were always going to be expensive and in hindsight we should perhaps consider it remarkable that it was ever voluntarily done at alla testimonial to the old days when labor, cities, and countries of origin were also considered to be stakeholders of corporations. Worse yet, when deciding between their grandchildrens well-being in a climate-controlled world or maximizing profits in a climatedamaging world, so far at least, they have collectively chosen short-term profits. In fact, the erosion of democracy began in earnest in the mid 70s when Senator Lawton Chiles (D. Florida) began his successful crusade to shine light in the dark places of government. His Government in the Sunshine legislation opened the door to vastly more effective lobbying by those with the means to pay, because the spotlight his legislation cast on government work, such as Committee mark-ups of Congressional bills, enabled lobbyists to pay fully only for loyalty they could actually observe.

The data on rising inequality also led me to check what others had thought and written on this issue and made me realize that a self-destructive streak in capitalism had been well-noted in the past. A particular surprise to me was Schumpeter  he of creative destruction fame  who believed capitalism in its current form would eventually fail through overreaching, using its increasing power to dispense with regulations designed to protect the public good (that has a painful echo today doesnt it?) until pushback FDR style (or Teddy Roosevelt style) results in a more controlled mix, which Schumpeter called socialism. There was also a suggestion in his work and that of Keynes that excessive corporate power would weaken the demand from ordinary workers and hence weaken the economy. This last point is also emphasized more recently by Mancur Olson, who argued that Parochial cartels and lobbies tend to accumulate over time until they begin to sap a countrys vitality. A war or some other catastrophe sweeps away the choking undergrowth of pressure groups, as The Economist rather eloquently summarized his thinking in his obituary of March 1998.

To promote a pushback against excessive corporatism (and elements of oligarchy) one needs first of all to recognize the problem. Given the rather apathetic response from what used to be called the workers to the last 30 years of relative slide, there appears to have been no such recognition. But then on the eve of the election I realized that the point had finally been made. For an astonishing 75% of those first 9,000 polled agreed that, yes, we did indeed need to be saved from the rich and powerful. From now on, in my opinion, we live in a different world from the one we grew up in. A world in which a degree of economic struggle between the financial elite, perhaps 10% but more likely 1%, and all the rest is finally recognized. The wimpy phase is probably over. The question now is which path will this struggle take? Will it be a broad societal effort through established political means to move things back to the 1950s to 1960s when a CEOs pay was 40x his average employees pay and not todays over 300x; when corporations never dreamt of leaving the US merely to save money; when investment banks set the standard (and a very high one) of ethical behavior? Or do we try to do it through the other historically well-used method, and a much more dangerous one  that of resorting to a strong leader? Strong leaders work out just fine if we end up with a Marcus Aurelius, the mostly benevolent and wisest of Roman Emperors. But when things go wrong, as they often do, we could more easily end up with Caligula.

As I read the poll on election night, recapturing the country from the rich and powerful seemed a long overdue cry from the broad public. The kick in the stomach, however, was the strong leader bit. On feeling that kick, a more dynamic betting man than I would have realized how wrong the 5 to 1 odds against Trump were and would have made a big wager on him. He not only would have scored higher on the strong leader bit than his rival, but despite his personal wealth, the words rich and powerful were much more closely aligned with establishment for candidate Clinton, almost a Ms. Establishment 2016 in the minds of supporters and opponents alike.

I felt the pain from the strong leader bit because, like almost all in my age cohort, I am fanatically well-disposed to democracy. We were born, after all, at a time that overlapped the trio of nightmarish, strong leaders of the 1930s and 1940s, Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin. But I believe this fanaticism has weakened in other age cohorts born less close to these three as they have receded steadily into history. A recent report5 captured this decline: Of those born, as I was, in the 1930s, fully 75% gave a 10 out of 10 for extreme support for democracy. But each younger cohort felt less enthusiastic: 62%, 57%, 50%, and 43% for each younger cohort by decade until by the time we get to those born in the 1970s, the 40-year-olds, extreme support is down to 32%! And this is not the worst of it. The same report listed those who were actually against democracy as a bad or very bad way to run this country. Shockingly, in the period from 1995 to 2011, the percent of each age group agreeing to that proposition doubled. From 5.5% to 12% for those over 65 rising to a frightening 24%, up from 12.5% for the 16- to 24-year-olds.

By this time some readers may be asking for a profile of the 74% of the final 45,000 who voted against the rich and powerful. Who are these people? Well, they are us. All of us. I have never heard of a vote so uniform: whether Republican 72% or Democrat 77%; Male 74% or Female 75%; White 75% or Black 74%; Rich 70% or Poor 79%; Christian 74% or Muslim 72%; Graduates 68% or not 76%; they all agreed. They have all had it with the rich and powerful. And as for me, I dont blame them. I think capitalism has lost its way. And has badly diluted the value of democracy along the way. We can only hope it is very temporary.

Trump recognized this streak of strong opinion and played to it, clearly stating his intention to look after the forgotten workers. Clinton diffused her message as looking after almost everyone and, I suppose, that includes you workers  as it were. To move the dial in the right direction is very important: Measures of income equality are correlated positively with everything valuable in a cohesive society. Exhibit 4 shows nine of these clear correlations, for which the US shows poorly in all! How far away this is from the widely-held belief that the US is best or nearly best at everything that matters. The way to improve this situation, though, is fortunately straightforward: Increase taxes on capital and on the very rich, perhaps slowly over a number of years, and increase the effort on worker training and education. These actions will by no means be a total cure for long-term job displacement but they would be a great and necessary improvement.

The real challenge in promoting less inequality is to increase the share of GDP going to labor. Almost certainly, for any given increase in their share of GDP there must be a decline in the share going to corporate profits. How does the program of the new strong leader stack up on this one? He is surrounded by capitalists and billionaires who, to further advantage corporations and the super rich, are apparently prepared to wage war on the already sadly diminished regulations that defend ordinary people (and, yes, with no regulations corporations would make more money). The war would also include direct tax cuts for the rich and corporations, which would further increase the share of the pie going to corporations. This is a strategy that if successful in the long-run  despite its current market appeal  could not possibly be worse for the workers if he tried. Perhaps they, the workers, will feel betrayed as their share drops in order to further fatten corporations. Perhaps they will be bamboozled enough not to notice the betrayal. For bamboozlement of the working poor has become an art form in the last 30 years, with bamboozlement defined as an ability to persuade people to vote against their own economic interest for one reason or another. For example, 62% of voters do not like the sound of death tax, which in the form of estate tax is paid by only 1-2% of American families. An astonishing 35% of those earning less than $10,000 a year do not approve of increasing taxes on the rich. Does it get any richer than that? It has been called the Homer Simpson effect,6 whereby the poor voter reacts negatively to the idea of tax, which like death has little appeal, but does not get the point that a tax decrease for the rich has unpleasant implications for them. But, the gods willing, you probably cant bamboozle enough of the people enough of the time. And the Reuters/Ipsos poll clearly shows that the worms have turned. The lack of class war or economic war in the US has always been a fiction, but it has been mostly hidden, and deliberately so, by the side so completely winning the undeclared war. Perhaps the 74% vote was indeed a public declaration that the war is now official.

Post Script

The Republican Administration seems to feel that it received a broad mandate and perhaps it did. But my guess is that this poll provides the real mandate that waits to be addressed. And it is a narrow, focused one: Save me, oh leaders, from the rich and powerful! It looks so far as if this point has been largely missed. If it has been, there will likely be powerful and sustained pushback from the poor and not yet quite powerless.
Yves here. Readers, please welcome Toni Gilpin!

By Toni Gilpin, a writer, educator and labor historian with a Ph.D in American History from Yale University. She was in graduate school at Yale when the clerical workers there undertook an organizing drive and engaged in their first strike, and she is the co-author of On Strike for Respect: The Clerical and Technical Workers Strike at Yale University, 1984-85. She is currently at work on a book entitled The Long Deep Grudge: An Epic Clash Between Big Capital and Radical Labor in the American Heartland, the story of the left-wing Farm Equipment Workers and its relationship with corporate behemoth International Harvester. Toni lives in Evanston, Illinois with her husband Gary Isaac, dog Phoenix, and whichever daughter might be home from college at the moment

Theres a different sort of resistance out there, one thats been going on a while, in unexpected places. I visited one of them  South Bend, Indiana  on February 11.

That date marks the anniversary of the conclusion of the Flint sit-down strike, and to commemorate it many members of the United Auto Workers wear white shirts. Thats because back in 1937 when the sit-down ended, the workers  whod just won a significant wage increase and their first contract  wanted to demonstrate what having a union meant: that they were just as good as the men who ran General Motors, the managers who sported white collars and kept their hands clean. Of course, most of the workers only had one good shirt, reserved for weddings and funerals. But they wore them into their plant that day.

So this past Saturday in South Bend, white shirts were much in evidence. UAW members from the Ford plant in Chicago, from various facilities in Detroit, and from other parts of Indiana came to South Bend to show support for the workers at the Honeywell plant there, whove been locked out by their employer for over nine months now. Other union members and community residents were there too; all told about 150 people showed up for the rally for Local 9 at the UAW hall on Main Street. Not all of them wore white, however, since they faced the same problem the workers in 1937 did: no dress shirts in the closet. Some improvised: one man bought a shirt at Goodwill just for the occasion. Others had pulled white tees over sweatshirts. The pastor who gave the benediction, himself a worker at the Chicago Ford plant, wore a Chicago Blackhawks jersey  Patrick Kanes  which, since it was the away version, was mostly white.

There are a lot of presumptions these days about what UAW members from the heartland must look and think like and whom they want to associate with, but anyone who attended this gathering would find many of those notions challenged. The South Bend Honeywell workers are white, black, and Hispanic, as was the crowd in the union hall. The speakers roster included African-American city council member Regina Williams-Preston. We need to shine the light on the injustice taking place here, she told the crowd. April Lidinsky, a professor of womens and gender studies at the local branch of Indiana University, was also an invited speaker. She was the force behind the Womens March in South Bend which she organized, she said, because she knew women there could not afford a trip to Washington. Lidinsky, the daughter of a union plumber, recalled the difficulties her family had faced when her father had been on strike, and her repeated refrain  that workers rights are womens rights and vice-versa  drew cheers.

Rank-and-file workers, of course, addressed the room as well, and their focus was broader than some might expect. Two auto workers from Detroit gave a brief presentation about the abuses inflicted on General Motors employees in Colombia; workers injured on the job there are simply fired by GM. The room then voted that a third of the money that had been collected that day for the locked-out Honeywell workers should be donated to the Colombia workers organization.

But it was a member of the Steelworkers union who might have drawn the most applause. People need to realize, he said, that unions are the line of defense for our democracy. Im not sure how many people outside that room recognize that, but the management at Honeywell, which doesnt have much use for either unions or democracy, understands it very well.

Honeywell is not putting the squeeze on its employees in South Bend because the company is in financial trouble: quite the contrary. It is a thriving Fortune 100 multi-billion dollar enterprise whose top executive, David Cote, receives over $33 million in total compensation annually, putting him near the top of Americas managerial elite. The business press thinks he deserves every penny. Honeywell is outperforming its peers by virtually every metric, reads a typical article, saluting the companys six-year streak of double-digit earnings growth and dividend increases. Cote orchestrated one of the best corporate comebacks in recent memory, gushes Fortune. But he has other fans as well: though a lifelong Republican, Cote was frequently identified as one of President Obamas corporate favorites and visited the Obama White House more than any other CEO. He was a key member of the Simpson-Bowles committee and is also a director of the New York Federal Reserve. Cote has received far less public scrutiny than [Jeff] Immelt, says one source, although he may have greater influence over U.S. economic policy.

The policies Cote embraces, at least at the company he runs, are simple and time-honored: give less to the people who actually make the products. Labor costs, Cote determined when he took over at Honeywell in 2002, were higher than at the companys competitors, a situation he couldnt abide. Not abiding meant, among other things, demanding that the workers at the South Bend plant accept deep cuts to their health insurance and a rejiggered seniority system.

But UAW members there made clear there were some things they couldnt abide either, like givebacks to further enrich the 1%, and last May they rejected a concessions-laden contract. In response, Honeywell locked out the union rather than continue negotiations, and brought in temporary workers through Strom Engineering, which bills itself as the nations most reputable industrial strike staffing company: in union vernacular, a scab-herding outfit. Many of us went out to the Honeywell picket line on February 11 after the rally concluded, and so we got a chance to see  and jeer at  the fleet of big white vans the company utilizes to ferry the temporary employees in and out of the plant. Its unclear just how much production has been maintained there, but the lockout didnt prevent the Defense Department from awarding the plant a $47 million contract in early January. Honeywells last offer, which was little better than its first, was again turned down by the South Bend workers last November  just before their unemployment insurance expired. The Saturday rally was invigorating, but its been a tough and often lonely struggle for the members of UAW Local 9 there.

The workers may feel isolated but theyre not unique: for Honeywell the lockout has become standard operating procedure. Once a relatively rare management tactic, lockouts are now increasingly utilized without embarrassment by employers seeking to break those remaining pockets of union resistance. Honeywell employees in Metropolis, Illinois  just across the Ohio River from Kentucky, and yes, Supermans home town  have been forced into two lengthy lockouts: one for fourteen months beginning in 2010 and another in 2014 that lasted seven months.

At the Metropolis plant, cake uranium is transformed into gas for nuclear power facilities, and so workers there  members of the United Steelworkers of America  handle chemicals that are among the most dangerous in existence. They feel entitled to good wages, adequate healthcare, and a decent retirement in exchange for their hazardous duty.

Honeywell thought otherwise  those labor costs are just too damn high  and locked out the USA members in an effort to impose substantial increases in employee health care premiums, along with the elimination of pensions and retiree healthcare altogether. The company endeavored to continue production through these lockouts with inexperienced replacement workers, a risk to the surrounding community that became all too real in 2014, when highly toxic uranium hexafluoride began leaking from the plant. So the USA members, already struggling through their lockout, found themselves and their families facing the additional strain posed by the noxious fog wafting through their neighborhood. (David Cote, of course, lives nowhere near Metropolis  no superman, he.) But hanging tough is something that Steelworkers are known for. Both lockouts concluded with the workers making some concessions but they retained the health care system that mattered so much.

Now Honeywell is trying the lockout ploy again, this time in South Bend. Most people whove never visited know of only one landmark there: the golden dome of Notre Dame University. But the campus is far removed, literally and figuratively, from the industrial section of South Bend, as one can drive off the interstate and through town to the Honeywell plant without realizing that there is an educational institution anywhere in the vicinity. There are no outposts selling Fighting Irish trinkets near the UAW hall, though if you are looking for a fight there are several gun shops just down the street, Femme Fatale being the one that caught my attention. South Bend doesnt usually make the familiar list of rust belt cities, like Akron or Flint or nearby Gary, but it qualifies nonetheless: its other prominent landmark  the hulking abandoned Studebaker factory just south of the city center  makes that starkly evident.

At its height during World War II some 20,000 worked at Studebaker; where there was once a cacophony all has been silent since 1963, when the plant closed and laid off its last 5,000 employees. There were other manufacturers in South Bend, too, like Bendix, which made brakes for cars and airplanes: it is this facility that was taken over by Honeywell in the 1980s. The Bendix plant, in fact, was the site of the first sitdown strike that occurred during the organizing upsurge of the 1930s  it took place in November 1936, and the workers victory there introduced a tactic which would be replicated by auto workers in Flint a month later. All of the sitdowners became part of the nascent United Auto Workers, as did the workers at the Studebaker factory. Thanks to their union contracts the employees at these plants were guaranteed some measure of fair treatment at work and brought home good paychecks that bolstered South Bend through the 1940s and 50s. In those years manufacturing accounted for more than half the jobs in South Bend.

Workers in South Bend did not all experience life exactly equally, regardless of where they were employed. South Bends small African-American community grew exponentially during the first and second Great Migrations (the city is now about one-quarter black). Indiana, the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan, enforced both de jure and de facto segregation even in its northernmost cities and South Bend was no exception: blacks were relegated to the worst schools and confined to crowded, substandard housing. But a union paycheck made it more possible to challenge those circumstances. African-American workers at Studebaker, all of them UAW members, led the effort in 1950 to create Better Homes of South Bend, a pioneering  and successful  effort to purchase a tract of land in a nice neighborhood (i.e. a white one) and construct blocks of comfortable homes for black families.

The neat homes created then on South Bends west side  those that are still there  dont look so inviting anymore. What happened in South Bend is a familiar rust belt story  boarded-up factories led to boarded up houses and decimated neighborhoods. It retains some industrial employment, but while Bendix once employed several thousand there are now fewer than 350 workers at the Honeywell plant. Notre Dame, now the towns largest employer, isnt paying enough to keep the town from hemorrhaging population or to get the poverty rate below 28%. Some of the few good jobs that still exist  for those without Ph.D.s, anyhow  are at the Honeywell plant. Or they will be, if the UAW members can get back into the plant with their contract intact.

Thats why the workers there are putting up such a fight: they know just how much is at stake, not just for them personally but for South Bend generally. Enduring a lockout, or a strike, is tough going. UAW members get $200 a week from the national union, and that helps, but it doesnt match the wages the workers had been receiving. So the rank-and-file leadership  none of whom have been through anything like this before  have had to learn a lot in a short time. Like how to reach out to churches and community groups to stock the food pantry theyve established in the union hall. Or where the social service agencies are that can help keep workers who cant make their rent from being evicted. Or if theres a way to interest the press in their story when no one covers labor disputes anymore. The locals vice-president told me hes never been so exhausted.

And thats why those other union members got up early and drove several hours to South Bend to show their support for the Honeywell workers: because these struggles over union contracts are about something larger. They speak to the premise that working people deserve to be treated with dignity and to earn their just due. That the people who make the products should have the right to be part of the conversation that determines how the profits are divided up. Like the Steelworker said, its about democracy. A democracy defined not just by political representation but by economic justice as well.

So there is that sort of resistance  a concerted refusal to bow down to corporate greed and arrogance  going on out there, but its difficult to find. David Cote and his friends, whether theyre in the board room or the White House, dont want you to know about it. Its vital to them that they promote the notion that there is no alternative to the status quo. But the thing is: the managers of GM were peddling that back in 1937 as well. The white shirts worn on February 11 are reminders that, when enough working people realize that they are every bit as good as the folks in the front office, circumstances can change in a hurry.
I dont like to discuss politics and travel if it results in heated debate, but sometimes you have to put your feet to the flames. I dont support President Donald Trumps travel ban, but I do believe that everyone should have a right to travel unless they are a terrorist, convicted criminal or they are sick and could contaminate others. I say that as a Caucasian woman, living in the San Francisco Bay Area, in possession of a valid United States passport. If I were a person of a different nationality in possession of a green card, I would have a very different look at travel in this era of uncertainty. I was recently at the Bay Area Travel & Adventure Show and, as usual, I came away inspired with travel destination ideas. Below are some of the reasons why you should go travel.

We are the unpredictable country to travelers, said CBS News Travel Editor Peter Greenberg at the Bay Area Travel & Adventure Show.

We are the unpredictable country to travelers, said CBS News Travel Editor Peter Greenberg at a recent appearance in Santa Clara, California at the annual Travel & Adventure Show. But we should still travel, as there is so much to see in this world. In fact, travel opens up dialog between people in different parts of the world. I wish everyone had the opportunity to travel within the United States and internationally.

I have yet to visit so many parts of the globe, but with the help of a green screen I was able to transport myself to the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival in Taiwan and reel in a massive rainbow trout from Mammoth Lakes, California. I watched Chhavi Singal dance to Morey Piya, a song about two lovers torn apart from India and I was magically transported to Ireland with the help of some young Irish dancers in California. I did this all in a day spent at the Travel & Adventure Show in Santa Clara, California.

With booths representing California, Asia and the South Pacific, the Caribbean, Mexico, Latin America and Europe, among other places, travelers were offered many trip ideas. In addition, there were stages strategically placed throughout the convention center featuring Global Beats to a Taste of Travel cooking stage and well-known travel speakers like TV Personality Rick Steves, Patricia Schultz, Author, 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, Phil Keoghan of The Amazing Race and Peter Greenberg.



When I walked onto the trade show floor, the first music I heard was from three musicians from Fijis Suva Conservatory of Music, along with Master Lai. This was the trios first time to visit the United States. I hope they meet friendly and helpful people while they visit California. As a fourth generation Northern California girl, I feel a responsibility to represent the Golden State as a travel ambassador of sorts. I want everyone to enjoy California and our many beautiful destinations as much as I do.

Some of the places that I hope to visit this year are Greenhorn Creek Guest Ranch in Eastern Plumas, California, Stillpoint Lodge in Alaska or Queen Charlotte Safaris Lodge in British Columbia, Canada. Id like to circle back to pet-friendly Mendocino County or take a bike ride and hot air balloon ride in Sonoma County. I had never considered visiting India, but after watching Chhavi Singal dance, I was intrigued with the culture. Of course, I wouldnt mind switching my phone off to start roaming in FIji either!

Ive always wanted to visit Africa and experience a safari and I was very pleased to see the SATA Azores Airline booth as I love traveling to Portugal and the Azores. But what Im truly looking forward to in the immediate future is my trip to Ireland to meet the people and stay in castles and manor houses with Irelands Blue Book. Thats why I went a little overboard on the Irish girls dancing photos. They are just too cute!

Insider Tip:

Dont let this era of uncertainty limit your travel plans. Thanks to discount carriers like Norwegian Air and WOW airlines, the major carriers such as United, Delta and American Airlines are starting to price match airfare to Europe and beyond. Apply for a passport if you dont have one and be sure to keep on top of your passports expiration date so you dont get caught with an expired passport  you need to renew your passport six months before it expires.

If You Go:

Travel & Adventure Show coming to a location near you.

Traveling in an era of uncertainty written by Nancy D. Brown. Photos and YouTube video courtesy Travel Writer Nancy D. Brown.
Particles from outer space are wreaking low-grade havoc on personal electronics (Nanowerk News) You may not realize it but alien subatomic particles raining down from outer space are wreaking low-grade havoc on your smartphones, computers and other personal electronic devices.

When your computer crashes and you get the dreaded blue screen or your smartphone freezes and you have to go through the time-consuming process of a reset, most likely you blame the manufacturer: Microsoft or Apple or Samsung. In many instances, however, these operational failures may be caused by the impact of electrically charged particles generated by cosmic rays that originate outside the solar system.

This graph shows estimated failure rates from single event upsets at the transistor, integrated circuit and device level for the last three semiconductor architectures. (Image: Bharat Bhuva, Vanderbilt University)

"This is a really big problem, but it is mostly invisible to the public," said Bharat Bhuva, professor of electrical engineering at Vanderbilt University, in a presentation on Friday, Feb. 17 at a session titled "Cloudy with a Chance of Solar Flares: Quantifying the Risk of Space Weather" at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston.

When cosmic rays traveling at fractions of the speed of light strike the Earth's atmosphere they create cascades of secondary particles including energetic neutrons, muons, pions and alpha particles. Millions of these particles strike your body each second. Despite their numbers, this subatomic torrent is imperceptible and has no known harmful effects on living organisms. However, a fraction of these particles carry enough energy to interfere with the operation of microelectronic circuitry. When they interact with integrated circuits, they may alter individual bits of data stored in memory. This is called a single-event upset or SEU.

Since it is difficult to know when and where these particles will strike and they do not do any physical damage, the malfunctions they cause are very difficult to characterize. As a result, determining the prevalence of SEUs is not easy or straightforward. "When you have a single bit flip, it could have any number of causes. It could be a software bug or a hardware flaw, for example. The only way you can determine that it is a single-event upset is by eliminating all the other possible causes," Bhuva explained.

There have been a number of incidents that illustrate how serious the problem can be, Bhuva reported. For example, in 2003 in the town of Schaerbeek, Belgium a bit flip in an electronic voting machine added 4,096 extra votes to one candidate. The error was only detected because it gave the candidate more votes than were possible and it was traced to a single bit flip in the machine's register. In 2008, the avionics system of a Qantus passenger jet flying from Singapore to Perth appeared to suffer from a single-event upset that caused the autopilot to disengage. As a result, the aircraft dove 690 feet in only 23 seconds, injuring about a third of the passengers seriously enough to cause the aircraft to divert to the nearest airstrip. In addition, there have been a number of unexplained glitches in airline computers - some of which experts feel must have been caused by SEUs - that have resulted in cancellation of hundreds of flights resulting in significant economic losses.

An analysis of SEU failure rates for consumer electronic devices performed by Ritesh Mastipuram and Edwin Wee at Cypress Semiconductor on a previous generation of technology shows how prevalent the problem may be. Their results were published in 2004 in Electronic Design News and provided the following estimates:

A simple cell phone with 500 kilobytes of memory should only have one potential error every 28 years. A router farm like those used by Internet providers with only 25 gigabytes of memory may experience one potential networking error that interrupts their operation every 17 hours. A person flying in an airplane at 35,000 feet (where radiation levels are considerably higher than they are at sea level) who is working on a laptop with 500 kilobytes of memory may experience one potential error every five hours.

Bhuva is a member of Vanderbilt's Radiation Effects Research Group, which was established in 1987 and is the largest academic program in the United States that studies the effects of radiation on electronic systems. The group's primary focus was on military and space applications. Since 2001, the group has also been analyzing radiation effects on consumer electronics in the terrestrial environment. They have studied this phenomenon in the last eight generations of computer chip technology, including the current generation that uses 3D transistors (known as FinFET) that are only 16 nanometers in size.

The 16-nanometer study was funded by a group of top microelectronics companies, including Altera, ARM, AMD, Broadcom, Cisco Systems, Marvell, MediaTek, Renesas, Qualcomm, Synopsys, and TSMC

"The semiconductor manufacturers are very concerned about this problem because it is getting more serious as the size of the transistors in computer chips shrink and the power and capacity of our digital systems increase," Bhuva said. "In addition, microelectronic circuits are everywhere and our society is becoming increasingly dependent on them."

To determine the rate of SEUs in 16-nanometer chips, the Vanderbilt researchers took samples of the integrated circuits to the Irradiation of Chips and Electronics (ICE) House at Los Alamos National Laboratory. There they exposed them to a neutron beam and analyzed how many SEUs the chips experienced. Experts measure the failure rate of microelectronic circuits in a unit called a FIT, which stands for failure in time. One FIT is one failure per transistor in one billion hours of operation. That may seem infinitesimal but it adds up extremely quickly with billions of transistors in many of our devices and billions of electronic systems in use today (the number of smartphones alone is in the billions). Most electronic components have failure rates measured in 100's and 1,000's of FITs.

"Our study confirms that this is a serious and growing problem," said Bhuva. "This did not come as a surprise. Through our research on radiation effects on electronic circuits developed for military and space applications, we have been anticipating such effects on electronic systems operating in the terrestrial environment."

Although the details of the Vanderbilt studies are proprietary, Bhuva described the general trend that they have found in the last three generations of integrated circuit technology: 28-nanometer, 20-nanometer and 16-nanometer.

As transistor sizes have shrunk, they have required less and less electrical charge to represent a logical bit. So the likelihood that one bit will "flip" from 0 to 1 (or 1 to 0) when struck by an energetic particle has been increasing. This has been partially offset by the fact that as the transistors have gotten smaller they have become smaller targets so the rate at which they are struck has decreased.

More significantly, the current generation of 16-nanometer circuits have a 3D architecture that replaced the previous 2D architecture and has proven to be significantly less susceptible to SEUs. Although this improvement has been offset by the increase in the number of transistors in each chip, the failure rate at the chip level has also dropped slightly. However, the increase in the total number of transistors being used in new electronic systems has meant that the SEU failure rate at the device level has continued to rise.

Unfortunately, it is not practical to simply shield microelectronics from these energetic particles. For example, it would take more than 10 feet of concrete to keep a circuit from being zapped by energetic neutrons. However, there are ways to design computer chips to dramatically reduce their vulnerability.

For cases where reliability is absolutely critical, you can simply design the processors in triplicate and have them vote. Bhuva pointed out: "The probability that SEUs will occur in two of the circuits at the same time is vanishingly small. So if two circuits produce the same result it should be correct." This is the approach that NASA used to maximize the reliability of spacecraft computer systems.

The good news, Bhuva said, is that the aviation, medical equipment, IT, transportation, communications, financial and power industries are all aware of the problem and are taking steps to address it. "It is only the consumer electronics sector that has been lagging behind in addressing this problem."
Designing new materials from 'small' data (Nanowerk News) Finding new functional materials is always tricky. But searching for very specific properties among a relatively small family of known materials is even more difficult.

But a team from Northwestern Engineering and Los Alamos National Laboratory found a workaround. The group developed a novel workflow combining machine learning and density functional theory calculations to create design guidelines for new materials that exhibit useful electronic properties, such as ferroelectricity and piezoelectricity.

Few layered materials have these qualities in certain geometries  crucial for developing solutions to electronics, communication, and energy problems  meaning there was very little data from which to formulate the guidelines using traditional research approaches.

When others look for new materials, typically they look in places where they have a lot of data from similar materials. Its not necessarily easy by any means, but we do know how to distill information from large datasets, said James M. Rondinelli, assistant professor of materials science and engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering. When you dont have a lot of information, learning from the data becomes a difficult problem.

The novel data science approach finds promising materials from small data. (Image: Northwestern University)

The research is described in a paper in Nature Communications ("Learning from data to design functional materials without inversion symmetry"). Prasanna Balachandran of Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico is the papers coauthor. Joshua Young, a former graduate student in Rondinellis lab, and Turab Lookman, a senior researcher at Los Alamos, also contributed.

Supported by funding from the National Science Foundation and the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program through Los Alamos, Rondinellis group focused on a class of two-dimensional complex oxides  or Ruddlesden-Popper oxides. These materials exhibit many technology-enabling properties, such as ferroelectricity and piezoelectricity, and can be interfaced with traditional semiconductor materials found in todays electronic devices.

In this family, the data set is puny. Currently, there are only around 10 to 15 materials that are known with the desired properties, Rondinelli said. This is not much data to work with. Traditionally data science is used for big data problems where there is less of a need for domain knowledge.

Despite the small data nature of the problem, Balachandran added, our approach worked because we were able to combine our understanding of these materials (domain knowledge) with the data to inform the machine learning.

Therefore, the group began building a database of known materials and using machine learning, a subfield of computer science that builds algorithms capable of learning from data and then using that learning to make better predictions. With machine learning, we are able to identify chemical compositions that are likely candidates for the material you want to develop, he said.

Of the more than 3,000 possible materials investigated, the data science approach found more than 200 with promising candidates. Next, the team applied several types of rigorous quantum mechanical calculations. This assessed the atomic structures of the potential materials and checked their stability.

We wondered: Would the material have the predicted structure? Does it have electric polarization? Can it be made in a laboratory? Rondinelli added.

This work narrowed the possibilities to 19, which were recommended for immediate experimental synthesis. Yet there are likely many more possibilities among the 200 candidates.

Typically, when developing new materials, the number of possibilities is too large to explore and develop each one. The process of screening potential materials is very expensive, and scientists must be selective in their investments.
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick; REUTERS/Shu Zhang

Call it a protest by app.

Some users in recent days have ditched Uber for competitor Lyft over concerns that the popular ride-hailing app attempted to capitalize over the weekend on airport strikes around the country by charging less for rides. Around the US, demonstrators showed up in droves at airports in areas such as San Francisco, New York and Seattle to protest a controversial executive order President Donald Trump signed on Friday barring people from seven primarily Muslim countries from entering the US for at least 90 days.

The movement, which earned the Twitter hashtag #deleteUber, generated a slew of headlines on its own, causing many users to rethink their relationship with their favorite ride-hailing app.

Although Uber and Lyft declined to comment for the purposes of this story, data from third-party app tracking firm App Annie indicates Lyft surpassed Uber in the US on Sunday for most app downloads on iOS in the US in a single day  more than twice the number of times people downloaded Lyft just two weeks prior. Downloads for the Android version of Lyfts app in the Google Play store also saw a significant boost that day.

As a first-generation immigrant who used to be undocumented, I want to support tech companies and founders who support immigrants, Carlo Almendral, CEO and co-founder of The Data School, explained to Yahoo Finance.

For Samantha Unger Katz, a resident of Brooklyn, New York, the decision to stop using Uber in lieu of Lyft was weeks in the making, spurred by the news in December that Uber CEO Travis Kalanick had joined Trumps Strategic and Policy Forum, an advisory board of 19 business leaders that now also includes Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk and PepsiCo (PEP) CEO Indra Nooyi.

Katz finally made the switch on Sunday after Lyft announced it would donate $1 million over the next four years to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Over the weekend, a judge temporarily blocked part of the White Houses immigration order after the ACLU filed a lawsuit over it.

Story continues

I think its important to put our money where our mouth is, Katz told Yahoo Finance. Just as [outgoing Starbucks CEO] Howard Schultz said we should live by our values, I think we should invest and shop by our values. Through shifts in spending, we can make an impact.

Lyft CEO Logan Green. Laura Buckman/Reuters

Not everyone necessarily sees it that way.

Uber, for its part, said on Twitter (TWTR) over the weekend that it did not intend to break the airport strikes by charging less. While Kalanick came under fire for joining Trumps advisory board  a move viewed by some as Ubers CEO aligning himself with the new US president  Kalanick himself argued in a January all-hands meeting his advisory role will help aid the companys mission of improving global transportation.

Kalanick also separately promised the company would create a new $3 million legal defense fund to help Uber drivers stranded overseas because of Trumps travel ban.

In light of these promises from Uber, Travis Katz, CEO and co-founder of the travel site Trip.com, believes a boycott against the ride-hailing app might not make sense. Of all the ways we, as Americans, could be investing energy to safeguard our democratic principles, boycotting a company that is actively supporting your cause, albeit via different tactics feels misguided, he told Yahoo Finance.

Its far too early to tell whether users who switched to Lyft will remain Lyft users for the long-haul or whether the boycott will ultimately prove temporary. But if this latest protest is any indication, democracy, in all its diversity and divergence, is obviously still alive and kicking.



JP Mangalindan is a senior correspondent for Yahoo Finance covering the intersection of tech and business. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook.

More from JP:

Surprise and disgust: What 6 Silicon Valley CEOs said about Trumps ban

Qualcomm president: Apple is behind regulatory attacks

Amazon is now worth more than the 8 largest retailers combined

How Silicon Valley reacted to Trumps inauguration

AMD CEO: Why its good to be the smaller guy

Nick Jonas explains why you should buy his new headphones

Inside San Franciscos last affordable neighborhood
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's temporary legal victory on Thursday has lowered the odds that President Trump will seek to remove the agency's director, Richard Cordray, despite repeated calls by prominent Republicans for his ouster.

The court agreed to an "en banc" review of the case, PHH Corp. v. CFPB, throwing out an earlier decision that said the CFPB director could be fired at will by the president. In setting a May 24 hearing, the appeals court is signaling it is not likely to make a decision until late summer at the earliest.

Given the ongoing legal uncertainty, lawyers said it was unlikely that the Trump administration would seek to launch a separate court battle by attempting to fire Cordray "for cause," the only way a CFPB director can be fired under the Dodd-Frank Act.

"It would be a very challenging move to make," said Quyen Truong, a partner at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan and a former CFPB assistant director and deputy general counsel. "It would ignite a major legal challenge."

To be sure, Trump excels at defying predictions, but any move against Cordray will be heavily criticized and challenged immediately.

"All signs point to Trump waiting to see how this plays out," said James Kim, an attorney with Ballard Spahr. "It's sticky, it's complicated."

If Trump doesn't attempt to fire Cordray, what happens next? Following is a guide to the possible ways the case might now play out:

The full appeals court again strikes down the "for cause" provision:

The case began in 2014 when the CFPB sued New Jersey mortgage lender PHH, alleging it took illegal kickbacks from mortgage insurers in violation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.

An administrative law judge initially fined the company $6.4 million, which Cordray later overruled, increasing the fine to $109 million. PHH sued, arguing that the agency was unconstitutional and that Cordray wielded too much power.

Though the D.C. Circuit posed three questions focused mostly on the CFPB's constitutionality, the court also asked whether it could avoid deciding the constitutional question and instead focus on the statutory issues.

One outcome for the case would be for the court to strike language in the Dodd-Frank Act that allows the CFPB's director to be removed only "for cause." That remedy was suggested by a three-judge panel that ruled in October the CFPB's structure was unconstitutional.

But it's not clear that the full appeals court  a panel of 10 judges  will agree to go that route. Some lawyers suggested the full D.C. Circuit would be more sympathetic to the CFPB than the conservative smaller panel, which was led by Judge Brett A. Kavanaugh, an appointee of President George W. Bush and protege of former Baylor University president and independent prosecutor Kenneth Starr

The appeals court goes after administrative judges

The appeals court surprised many lawyers with a question asking whether agencies can appoint their own administrative law judges or if they should be appointed by the president.

"The issue did come out of the blue and the fact that they shoe-horned it into this case raises a lot of questions," said Truong.

In the PHH case, the CFPB did not hire its own administrative law judge but rather had borrowed Judge Cameron Elliot from the SEC, thus allowing the court to examine the issue.

The D.C. Circuit also separately agreed to rehear another case, Lucia v. SEC, one of a number of cases challenging the constitutionality of the Securities and Exchange Commission's use of administrative proceedings rather than courts to settle disputes.

Dodd-Frank gave the SEC authority to use the administrative process to resolve issues but companies have increasingly challenged that agency.

Invalidating the ability of agencies to appoint administrative law judges would have a significant impact on many federal agencies, and likely would be appealed to the Supreme Court, lawyers said.

"It's a very difficult set of issues and it's very significant not only for the SEC but in this town with a whole alphabet of agencies that have hearing officers," said Tom Gormon, a partner at Dorsey and Whitney. "If [the D.C. Circuit] invalidated the [administrative law judge], what about all the other cases that did not get appealed and those that are pending?"

How that would impact the case against the CFPB's constitutionality is unclear. The judges could tackle the administrative judges question, and avoid ruling on the issue of Cordray altogether. One of the three questions the court asked was whether the case could be resolved without attempting to resolve concerns about the CFPB's constitutionality, raising the question about whether the court will sidestep that fight.

Leave challenges to RESPA hanging in the balance

Mortgage lenders were disappointed that the appeals court did not directly mention the underlying issues in the PHH case related to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, a 1974 law that prohibits lenders from accepting kickbacks in exchange for referrals.

For years, the mortgage industry has relied on an interpretation by the Department of Housing and Urban Development that allowed the payment of fees in exchange for referrals as long as the payment was a reasonable value for the services provided. But the CFPB reinterpreted the definition of kickbacks in its case against PHH.

The three-judge panel in October heavily criticized Cordray for his novel interpretation of the statute. But the full appeals court didn't ask any questions about RESPA, raising the prospect that it might choose to avoid dealing with that issue as well. That will create further uncertainty for many mortgage lenders.

"Once the panel ruling came out the market decided that it was back to business as usual until the D.C. Circuit accepted the appeal," said Sarah Johnson Auchterlonie, a special counsel at the law firm Carlton Fields, and a former assistant litigation deputy and acting deputy enforcement director. "Because we don't have a good regulation that matches the market right now, there is a lot of uncertainty."

One potential outcome is that the appeals court could remand the case back to the CFPB, which would have to refile their charges against PHH with a different rationale, she said. Such an outcome would not resolve many of the underlying questions about RESPA.

"It's an area that has the entire mortgage lending community concerned," said Auchterlonie.
CALIFORNIA

EMERYVILLE

NMI Holdings Inc. said that Glenn Farrell, executive vice president and chief financial officer, plans to retire on July 31.

Adam Pollitzer, formerly of JPMorgan Securities, has been named to succeed Farrell as the company's next executive vice president and chief financial officer effective May 2.

As of May 2, Farrell will step down as chief financial officer but will remain executive vice president and chief accounting officer until his retirement.

Pollitzer was most recently a managing director in JPMorgan's corporate and investment banking division, where he led advisory and capital raising efforts on behalf of North American insurance companies.

PLEASANTON

Ellie Mae said that John Abel has joined the company as senior vice president and chief information officer.

He will be responsible for all aspects of the company's internal information technology and systems.

Abel brings over 20 years of experience in technology to the Ellie Mae, and prior to joining the company he was senior vice president of IT at Hitachi Data Systems.

SAN CLEMENTE

Berkadia has hired Arthur Tuverson as a managing director.

Tuverson, who brings more than 19 years of industry experience, will be responsible for debt origination for commercial real estate properties.

Prior to joining Berkadia, he spent 17 years with GE Capital Real Estate, followed by a two-year stint at Pillar Real Estate Investors.

NEW YORK

NEW YORK

Mission Capital Advisors said that Jillian Mariutti has joined the firm as a director in its debt and equity group.

Most recently, she worked at derivatives advisory firm JCRA Financial as the head of real estate in North America.

Prior to JCRA, Mariutti served as a vice president at Wells Fargo, and also worked at Wachovia, where she covered a variety of industry groups within the firm's corporate and investment banking platform.

PENNSYLVANIA

BALA CYNWYD

Allied Mortgage Group has appointed Joe Duffy as its senior vice president of production.

In this role, Duffy will be lead the company's origination efforts within its retail and wholesale channels

Prior to joining Allied Mortgage Group, he had a 20-year history with Santander/Sovereign Bank where he was responsible for all aspects of sales and production for wholesale and retail lending, hiring and budget forecasting.

TEXAS

PLANO

Starkey Mortgage said that Tim Cotten has joined the firm as director of recruiting.

Cotten has over 10 years of recruitment, leadership and business development experience in the mortgage industry.

He previously worked at SWBC Mortgage as AVP/manager of talent acquisitions and at Chase as AVP, senior sales recruiter.

UTAH

DRAPER

Castle & Cooke Mortgage said that Jaeson Morris has joined the firm's Brentwood, Tenn., office. Morris will serve as branch manager in tandem with current branch manager, Rodney Jones.

Morris, who brings more than 13 years of mortgage experience to his new role, most recently served as a branch manager at 1st Financial in Brentwood.

Castle & Cooke also said that Lance Culp has joined the company's Greenwood, Ind., branch.

Culp brings to the company 14 years of mortgage industry experience, with an emphasis on new construction financing.

Are you a mortgage professional who recently changed jobs? Let us know! Send your announcement and photo (if available) to Glenn McCullom at glenn.mccullom@sourcemedia.com.
Art3D - Fotolia

The era of self-service online mortgages has arrived. The challenges these new mortgage lenders faced in creating a functional compliance and reporting infrastructure were great, but have been largely overcome (at least regionally). Multipoint, data-driven lending is clearly superior to lending decisions based solely on a credit score or a couple of meetings between banker and client. It boils down to the fact that humans may be more biased than algorithms.

The financial crisis of 2007-2008 badly hurt nonbank mortgage lenders that once profited handsomely from originating loans and then securitizing them. Many firms small and large closed their doors or reorganized from 2008 to 2011.

However, the nonbank mortgage lending sector has bounced back over the last couple of years, and now represents close to 70% of Federal Housing Administration loans. That said, nearly all of these loans meet the FHA's new stricter rules for qualification.

The relatively high costs of relationship lending encourage bankers today to seek large customers instead of smaller ones. This has resulted in a situation where new businesses and borrowers on the periphery of the banking system are left without many options.

Peer-to-peer lenders and crowd-sourcing firms have developed new ways of assessing risk. Kabbage and OnDeck use information on everything from social-media reviews to usage of logistics firms to assess the current state of small businesses. Avant has developed a unique machine learning system to underwrite consumers whose credit scores were hurt during the financial crisis.

The peer-to-peer segment continues to evolve beyond marketplace lenders. Successful firms like SoFi have morphed into hybrid online banks that raise capital and run hedge funds. Despite an established track record of success in the personal loan and commercial lending sectors by the still-evolving P2P segment, penetration into the mortgage lending sector has been limited, largely due to the regulatory complexities and expenses.

Marketplace lenders are also finding innovative methods for dealing with regulatory compliance in their sectors. For starters, a fully online loan application process literally eliminates paperwork and notably simplifies proof of regulatory compliance.

Note that as of this past summer, nonbank lender Quicken (with their online lender Rocket Mortgage) has moved up to the No. 3 U.S. home lender after Wells Fargo and Chase, originating just under $80 billion in mortgages in 2015.

The online lending and fintech space is maturing from a markets and regulatory standpoint. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has taken steps towards additional regulation of the online loan sector, including online mortgage lenders. Of interest, some executives in the expanding segment are actually calling for more regulation to set the stage for the next wave of growth in the industry.

One of the more well-known online lenders, SoFi began in the student loan segment in 2011, allowing recent graduates a chance to consolidate and refinance their loans at better rates. The firm began moving into personal loans and mortgages a couple of years ago. SoFi will sign off on home loans up to $3 million with down payments ranging from 10% to 50%.

SoFi uses a fully online application process where you apply and upload documents online. As of October 2016, the firm is licensed to originate mortgages in 28 states and Washington, D.C.

Better Mortgage has streamlined the mortgage experience into a seamless online process using data science, artificial intelligence, and user experience design. The firm is based in New York, and originates mortgages that they then sell to investors. The entire process from an initial quote through to the ultimate house purchase occurs 100% online. Better Mortgage has originated more than 11,200 mortgages to date.

Fintech is here to stay. Mainstream financial institutions, including Wells Fargo and JPMorgan, have been investing in and acquiring small marketplace lenders and other fintech firms over the last few years. Not surprisingly, some analysts are suggesting that mortgage industry-focused fintech firms are likely to be involved in the next wave of fintech-related investment and M&A activity.

The interest in acquiring these new mortgage industry innovators is not just about new business models and access to relatively untapped markets, it's also about acquiring regulatory expertise in a highly regulated sector. Acquiring a firm like Better Mortgage includes a core team of knowledgeable mortgage professionals with demonstrated regulatory competence. These professionals understand how to leverage technology to improve the customer experience and simplify regulatory compliance, and larger firms will pay to bring this talent in-house.

Brad Walker is the CEO of Income&, a fintech firm focused on fixed-income investment strategy.
Attending the Munich Security Conference on Friday and Saturday (17-18 February 2017), NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the need for Europe and North America to work together was stronger than ever in times of turmoil and unpredictability. The Secretary General stressed the importance of fair burden-sharing, noting that all 28 Allies have made clear commitments to increase defence spending.

The Secretary General made the case for the importance of the transatlantic bond in his keynote speech on Saturday (18 February 2017). During his two-day visit, the Secretary General also held a range of bilateral talks, including with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, President Sauli Niinisto of Finland, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Liberman, US Secretary for Homeland Security John Kelly and US Senator John McCain.

The Munich Security Conference is one of the world's foremost foreign and security policy gatherings, and more than 30 heads of state and government are scheduled to attend. This years conference will focus on transatlantic relations, European security cooperation, relations with Russia and the conflict in Syria.
(Natural News) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has yet to apologize for publishing some fake climate science that apparently ushered in the December 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

The agency claims it is looking into the scandal.

In a bombshell scoop in the Daily Mail, an NOAA whistleblower alleged that the agency rushed out a paper containing manipulated data to influence or convince the COP21 conference that no pause or slowdown in global warming had occurred in the last decade or two.

The politicized NOAA pausebuster report that discredited a generally accepted notion of a slowdown or hiatus apparently convinced pandering and science-illiterate world leaders like Barack Obama and then-U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron and others to sign off on the climate change agreement, with the ordinary taxpayer picking up the tab.

Despite all the hype, COP21 imposes no mandates on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that each country must reduce, although countries agreed to limit average global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures.

The report claimed that the pause or slowdown in global warming in the period since 1998  revealed by UN scientists in 2013  never existed, and that world temperatures had been rising faster than scientists expectedBut the whistleblower, Dr. John Bates, a top NOAA scientist with an impeccable reputation, has shown The Mailirrefutable evidence that the paper was based on misleading, unverified data. It was never subjected to NOAAs rigorous internal evaluation process  which Dr. Bates devised, the Daily Mail explained about the cooked calculations.

Describing the NOAA as the chief advocate for man-made climate change, Health Ranger Mike Adams, the founder of Natural News, asserted earlier this month that the agency fabricates temperature data as a standard practice to justify its doomsday forecasts. Adams has separately detailed that the oft-repeated claim that 97% of scientists agree that man-made climate change is settled science  as if science is ever settled  is a bunch of hot air. (RELATED: Read more about the climate change movement at ClimateScienceNews.com.)

In a follow-up story, the Daily Mail noted that flawed as it was, the Pausebuster paper unquestionably helped persuade world leaders to sign an agreement that imposes massive emissions cuts on developed countries.

The NOAA claims that it will review the Bates allegations, the Washington Times indicated, whatever that means. In the meantime, left-wing websites and climate change industry cultists have predictably circled the wagons around the NOAA. (RELATED: Read more about fake science predictions at FakeScience.news.)

U.S. Rep Lamar Smith, chair of the House Science Committee, says that the NOAA has to date stonewalled requests for background information on the pausebuster paper.

Camerons signature on the pact will cost U.K. taxpayers about $400 billion in emissions-reductions commitments by the year 2030 along with additional climate aid to developing countries, the Daily Mail added. Its likely that Obama put U.S. consumers on the hook for a similar outlay.

President Trump has yet to make a final decision about bailing on the Paris accord. If Trump wants to get out, the Congressional Research Service has come up with three different exit strategies, The Daily Caller noted. One is to withdraw as of November 2019 (as provided for in the text of the agreement), do an end-run by getting rid of Obamas overall Climate Action Plan, or ditching the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the parent treaty, although this may require Congressional approval.

Parenthetically, in his new movie, grandstanding globalist Al Gore, a.k.a. the climate con man, is also engaged in some reverse-engineering by justifying his apocalyptic weather whopper about the danger of flooding in lower Manhattan by referencing Hurricane Sandy rather than melting ice caps.

Sources:

DailyMail.co.uk

DailyMail.co.uk

WashingtonTimes.com

DailyCaller.com
Friday, February 17, 2017 by: Vicki Batts Tags: Americans , immunizatons , vaccines This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author

(Natural News) A new report from the CDC Advisory Committee On Immunization Practices has revealed that fewer Americans are getting vaccinated than ever. According to the committee, adults in the United States are not getting as many vaccines as they would like.

Recent data from a new Pew Research Center survey has also revealed that parents of young children are growing increasingly skeptical of the safety of immunizations, like the MMR vaccine. While the majority of Americans still approve of vaccination, the numbers are beginning to shift. For example, 17 percent of Americans supported parents right to choose.

Young adults, in particular, appear to be leading the charge in this new development. Adults younger than 30 were reportedly less inclined to believe that the risks of the MMR vaccine outweighed its benefits compared to older age groups. Roughly 79 percent believed MMR benefits outweighed the risks in the under-30 set, while older age groups averaged around 90 percent.

Questioning the validity of vaccine science

Part of this is attributed to the growing number of people that are beginning to question vaccine safety and efficacy. While there has been no shortage of scrutiny for those who dare to contest the mainstream belief that vaccines are unequivocally safe, there are plenty of reasons why more Americans should be free to make their own decisions  and question the governments protocols.

One of the most questionable aspects of vaccines no doubt lies within the fact that only manufacturer-funded and designed studies are required to prove a products safety and to win FDA approval. You can see already where that would be problematic.

A paper on the topic of industry funding of clinical trials was published by JAMA in 2003. The paper notes that industry-funded clinical trials are often subject to a host of issues that correlate with businesses protecting their corporate interests, whether they be financial or otherwise. For example, withholding the reporting of data is also not uncommon, though it is certainly frowned upon.

Bias can exist in industry-funded studies in a variety of ways, and it would be tough to argue that clinical trials of vaccines are somehow immune to something that is rampant in other parts of the pharmaceutical industry.

Healthy user bias is a common issue when it comes to vaccine science. You see, healthy people are more likely to be vaccinated than people who already have signs of certain diseases or conditions. Doctors often do not recommend vaccines to people who have pre-existing conditions, like immune system disorders. These people, even in the absence of vaccines as a whole, would still be more prone to disease.

In vaccine studies, groups of unvaccinated people are often compared to vaccinated people. The issue is that these studies are essentially comparing sick, immuno-compromised people to people that are perfectly healthy. Even if neither group was vaccinated, its clear who would be less likely to catch the flu.

In the British Medical Journal, Dr. Peter Doshi of Johns Hopkins University explains, Since at least 2005, non-CDC researchers have pointed out the seeming impossibility that influenza vaccines could be preventing 50% of all deaths from all causes when influenza is estimated to only cause around 5% of all wintertime deaths.

By selecting already-healthy individuals for vaccination, one can almost guarantee the impression of efficacy, even though it doesnt really prove anything.

Beyond the myriad of issues surrounding the actual trial-and-approval process for vaccines, and their overall validity, there are also many concerns about what is actually in vaccines. Many people are concerned about the potential for the aluminum in some vaccines to cause adverse neurological effects, among other things.

Do citizens have the right to question what theyre being told by government agencies and the media? Absolutely, and most independent research indicates we should probably do so more often.

Sources:

Healthline.com

PewResearch.org

JAMANetwork.com

CDC.gov

VaccinePapers.org
Friday, February 17, 2017 by: Vicki Batts Tags: breast cancer , cancer industry , unneeded surgery This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author

(Natural News) When it comes to the presence of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic mutations, which are often called the breast cancer genes, preventive surgery has been a recommended course of action. According to Breastcancer.org, mutations in these two genes account for about 10 percent of all breast cancers.

Women with abnormal BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes are sometimes advised to undergo prophylactic (protective) surgery to remove their ovaries and breasts, in order to reduce their cancer risks for those organs. Past research has indicated that removing the ovaries prevents ovarian cancer, and the surgery has even been purported as a method for reducing breast cancer risks. However, new research has revealed that going under the knife may not be so beneficial after all.

Research shows ovarian surgery doesnt stop breast cancer

While Breastcancer.org says past research strongly suggests that removing ovaries in women with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations is a good way to prevent or reduce breast cancer risks, recent findings published by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute suggest otherwise.

The study found that ovary removal surgery or oophorectomy does not actually reduce the risk of breast cancer for most women. However, the study, led by scientists from Womens College Hospital, did support previous research that indicated women with these genetic mutations should consider mastectomy (removal of their breast tissue) in order to reduce their risk of breast cancer.

Scientist Joanne Kotsopoulos, Ph.D., and senior study author Dr. Steven Narod, the director of the familial cancer research group at WCH and a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Breast Cancer, piloted the research.

Kotsopolous stated, Our findings show that oophorectomy does not protect against breast cancer for BRCA1 mutation carriers. She did note that some benefit was observed in surgery recipients under the age of 50 with BRCA2 mutations, but notes that further research is required to confirm that finding.

Previous research indicated that removing the ovaries and Fallopian tubes in women with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations prevented breast cancer in 50 percent of cases. However, the more recent data from Kotsopolous and Narod did not support the previous findings.

This reminds us that it is important to re-evaluate the role of known risk factors for hereditary cancer through large, long-term studies of many women, Kotsopolous commented.

To conduct their research, the team recruited 3,722 women from around world with mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that had no history of cancer. For several years, they used follow-up surveys to track ovary removal surgeries and breast cancer diagnoses. The researchers found that oophorectomy was not associated with breast cancer risk when compared to women who did not undergo the surgery.

In spite of the shocking findings, the study authors maintain that they recommend surgery for at-risk women at age 35 for BRCA1 mutation carriers, and age 40 for those who carry the BRCA2 mutation. Its not surprising: mainstream medicine is notoriously slow to change its opinion on things (look at all the controversy surrounding medical cannabis).

But, their findings will hopefully inspire further research, and perhaps prompt more patients to ask their doctors, Is this treatment really necessary?

Unneeded treatments are a tremendous problem

More people should be questioning convention when it comes to mainstream, modern medicine. Many times, the surgeries and medications people are prescribed are totally unnecessary.

In 2013, USA Today conducted a study that revealed tens of thousands of unnecessary surgeries were performed in the United States every year. In fact, in some specialties, the amount of unwarranted surgery can reach as high as 10 or 20 percent.

When it comes to medications, the outlook isnt any better. The CDC reports that about 1 in 3 antibiotic prescriptions are totally unnecessary  and thats just a single class of prescription medication. Last year, a survey revealed that about 27 percent of antibiotic prescriptions were doled out even when doctors knew the medication wouldnt help. (RELATED: Read more news about modern medicine at Medicine.news.)

Other studies have suggested that about half of all opioids prescribed after surgery are unnecessary, as well. There are many other drug treatments that doctors often push on their patients, even when they know it is questionable  such as the antipsychotic drugs that are often given to dementia patients, in spite of the clear risks they pose.

Unneeded medical treatment is a growing problem in the for-profit medical industry, and time to stop sweeping it under the rug, under the guise of needing more research.

Sources:

WomensCollegeHospital.ca

BreastCancer.org

Academic.Oup.com

USAToday.com

UPI.com

CDC.gov
Friday, February 17, 2017 by: News Editors Tags: conspiracy , Donald Trump , Flynn , government This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author

(Natural News) While the present news cycle is focusing on the forced resignation of Michael Flynn, as well as the reasons behind it, with Americas spies illegally divulging confidential information to the press, if we take a step back and look at the bigger picture, we see how America became a police state right under our noses, just as Independent Media has long warned, but were mocked and called conspiracy theorists.

(Article by Susan Duclos from Allnewspipeline.com)

Only now, every American has just been exposed to the truth of the shadow government, the deep state, whether referred to as the NWO, the Illuminati, whatever one chooses to label them they exist, they are real, and they are attempting to take down America right now because Americans elected a man that is not controlled by them.

WHEN CONSPIRACY IS PROVEN TO BE REALITY  DEEP STATE SHADOW GOVERNMENT EXPOSED

The Shadow Government is described by Wikipedia as  a family of conspiracy theories based on the notion that real and actual political power resides not with publicly elected representatives (for example, the United States Congress) but with private individuals who are exercising power behind the scenes, beyond the scrutiny of democratic institutions. According to this belief, the official elected government is in reality subservient to the shadow government who are the true executive power.

Deep State redirects to State Within a State and is described as a political situation in a country when an internal organ (deep state), such as the armed forces and civilian authorities (intelligence agencies, police, administrative agencies and branches of governmental bureaucracy), does not respond to the civilian political leadership. Although the state within the state can be conspiratorial in nature, the Deep State can also take the form of entrenched unelected career civil servants acting in a non-conspiratorial manner, to further their own interests (e.g. job security, enhanced power and authority, pursuit of ideological goals and objectives, and the general growth of their agency) and in opposition to the policies of elected officials, by obstructing, resisting and subverting the policies and directives of elected officials.

I cannot count the number of times that we, and other Independent Media sites have been trolled and mocked when mentioning the deep state or called a conspiracy theorist when reporting that the shadow government has been controlling the U.S. for decades upon decades.

Even liberal writers with nothing but disdain for both President Trump and Michael Flynn, are now reporting that the deep state targeted a man working in one of the political branches of the government by dishing to reporters about information it has gathered clandestinely, while at the same time taking Democrats and liberals cheering the political assassination perpetrated by Americas spies, to task by writing Those cheering the deep state torpedoing of Flynn are saying, in effect, that a police state is perfectly fine so long as it helps to bring down Trump.

Eli Lake reports the following at Bloomberg:

Normally intercepts of U.S. officials and citizens are some of the most tightly held government secrets. This is for good reason. Selectively disclosing details of private conversations monitored by the FBI or NSA gives the permanent state the power to destroy reputations from the cloak of anonymity. This is what police states do. In the past it was considered scandalous for senior U.S. officials to even request the identities of U.S. officials incidentally monitored by the government (normally they are redacted from intelligence reports). John Boltons nomination to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations was derailed in 2006 after the NSA confirmed he had made 10 such requests when he was Undersecretary of State for Arms Control in George W. Bushs first term. The fact that the intercepts of Flynns conversations with Kislyak appear to have been widely distributed inside the government is a red flag.

The Deep State used classified information, with the full complicity of the MSM, specifically Washington Post and the New York Times, in order to declare all out war against President Trump, using information disseminated illegally, to carry our what is being dubbed as a soft coup.

DEEP STATE OVERPLAYED THEIR HAND  COMMITTED A FELONY CRIME

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes said on Tuesday that those who leaked the contents of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynns phone calls belong in jail.

That was not hyperbole, as 18 U.S. Code  798  Disclosure of classified information, clearly states that those that knowingly and willfully communicates, furnishes, transmits, or otherwise makes available to an unauthorized person, or publishes, or uses in any manner prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detriment of the United States any classified information,  Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

Nunes expands on the illegal nature of what America just witnessed, reported by Breitbart:

The chairman said there are only two ways that intelligence agencies can listen in on an Americans phone call  after obtaining a warrant, or inadvertently, such as in the case of Flynn speaking with a foreign official being spied on, which the report suggests was the case. Nunes said its pretty clear that there was no warrant. Its pretty clear thats not the case, he said. Im pretty sure the FBI didnt have a warrant on Michael Flynn  To listen to an Americans phone call you would have to go to a court, thered be all that paperwork there. So Im guessing that doesnt exist. In case Flynn was speaking to a foreign official  Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in this case  Nunes said there should have been a process to mask Flynns identity. Unless its a high-level national security issue, and then someone would have to unmask the name, someone at the highest levels, theyd have to unmask that name, Nunes said. Its a very high threshold to unmask an American citizens name, thats a very high threshold, almost unprecedented. And if you were going to unmask it, it seems like you would immediately go get a warrant. If they did that, how does all that get out to the public which is another leak of classified information, he added. Whoever did it, its illegal.

The Daily Mail reports that Trump is not taking this lying down and is launching all-out war on his own intelligence agencies as he says malicious NSA and FBI leakers are illegally giving out classified information to reporters like candy.

As well he should.

TRUMP MUST REDIRECT FOCUS TO CLEANING HOUSE  NOW!

President Trump has spend his first weeks attempting to keep his campaign promises and to fulfill his Contract with the American Voter, so his supporters already understand he meant what he said and he said what he meant, but right now, in the interest of national security, as one of those supporters, I respectfully suggest President Trump redirect his focus, back burner the rest of those campaign promises just long enough to clean house.

As we note from a Fox News report, cleaning house would not necessarily mean removing all members of the relevant departments, as the information in question was highly restricted as former NSA analyst Bill Binney asserts that less than 100 [people would have access to the intelligence].

I think it is compartmentalized, meaning a small circle, less than 100 [people would have access to the intelligence], Binney said. They are supposed to minimize the American side.  All presumed U.S. citizens have rights under the Fourth Amendment. Nunes said the timing may be significant because the authorization to unmask Flynn was likely taken under the Obama administration, as the phone calls occurred in December. The committee chairman said the issue goes beyond politics because it is also undermining the relationship between a president and world leaders.

Not only did they overplay their hand and expose the truth of the Shadow Government and Deep State to every American and the world, vindicating everyone that warned the country of their existence, but the information they chose to reveal also considerably narrows down the search for who is behind the leak, and who is part of the Deep State, and they can follow the money to find out who is behind this shadow government, pulling the strings.

BOTTOM LINE

While the Flynn issue exposed them , as well as showing they violated the 18 U.S. Code  798  Disclosure of classified information law, the leaked phone calls between President Donald Trump and the leaders of Australia and Mexico shows they did not just spy on an American citizen with Flynn, but are actively spying on the President of the United States, presently.

That ladies and gentlemen, is treason.

18 USC Ch. 115: TREASON, SEDITION, AND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES

Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.

Read more at: Allnewspipeline.com
NASA is building the most powerful rocket ever made. Now that parts of the rocket are almost near completion, the space agency is reportedly considering sending a team of astronauts in the rocket's maiden flight.

The acting NASA administrator ordered the agency to study the possibility of a manned SLS flight. Acting administrator Robers Lightfoot asked associate administrator Bill Gerstenmaier of the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate to conduct the assessment.

"I know the challenges associated with such a proposition, like reviewing the technical feasibility, additional resources needed, and clearly the extra work would require a different launch date," Lightfoot said in a memo.

This means that the first SLS flight, known as the Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), might be a manned flight as opposed to the original unmanned launch plan. The mission will also be the first integrated flight between the Space Launch System and NASA's Orion spacecraft.

READ: Who Won NASA's Space Poop Challenge? Find Out Here!

The Orion spacecraft is being developed to ferry astronauts beyond the low-Earth orbit. Astronauts bound to the moon, Mars and even beyond might be able to reach their destinations aboard the Orion capsule in the future. The Orion is an integral part in the success of NASA's expanding space exploration programs.

"With the Orion Service Module, we are part of a historic space mission," said Francois Auque, Head of Space Systems in an interview with Space Daily. "We will make sure this mission is a success, working hand in hand with our customers ESA and NASA and our industrial partner Lockheed Martin Space Systems."

The agency is looking into the opportunities that could hasten the attempt for a crewed flight of the SLS, according to a report. The study will also help identify the necessary steps to take in order to advance NASA's dream of pushing humans farther into space where no man has ever been before.

NASA is collaborating with private companies in order to achieve the goal of exploring the rest of the Solar System. The agency believes that in doing so, the human race will be able to gain more knowledge about the universe.
NASA launched a controversial competition in order to help find ways to deal with poop in space. The results are in and an innovative idea just won the challenge.

The competition aims to discover ways to enable astronauts to poop in a spacesuit. NASA rewarded some of the participants that included people from various fields -- from medical practitioners, engineers, to product designers.

Dealing with poop while in microgravity is a vital step in space living. Despite some people thinking this challenge is somewhat funny, it could actually enhance the living quality of astronauts, especially in future space exploration programs.

In total, there were more than 5,000 ideas that competed for NASA's Space Poop Challenge. The winning idea was submitted by Thatcher Cardon, an Air Force officer, physician and flight surgeon. His design was inspired by his intent not to store poop in the spacesuit.

"I thought about what I know regarding less invasive surgeries like laparoscopy or arthroscopy or even endovascular techniques they use in cardiology -- they can do some amazing things in very small openings," Cardon said in an interview.

READ: NASA Considering Astronauts in Its Large Rocket's Maiden Flight

He designed an airlock at the suit's crotch that can hold an inflatable bedpan and diapers. These items can then be passed through a small opening and expand. This way, the astronauts will be able to "change" underwear while still wearing the spacesuit using the opening.

Cardon, a family practice physician who calls Seattle home, said in an interview with the San Antonio Express-News that his solution on the space poop debacle is pretty simple and was amazed that no one has thought about it before.

"I wish I had been there to invent quantum theory and not space poop handling methods, but I guess I'll take the minor achievement," Cardon joked. He allegedly thought of the idea in half an hour that led to his $15,000 cash prize.
A new study from New Zealand revealed that men can also experience a kind of depression that typically affects women during and after their pregnancy.

The study, published in the journal JAMA Psychology, showed that men also suffer from elevated depression symptoms during the last trimester of their partners and months after their baby was born.

For the study, the researchers followed 3,523 expecting couples. Men were asked to complete a interviews during their partner's pregnancy and nine months after the birth of their child.

Overall, about 2.3 percent of the men experience elevated depression symptoms during the third trimester of their partners. The number of men experiencing elevated depression symptoms rose to 4.3 percent nine months after their babies were born.

READ: Weird Pregnancy: Baby's Extended Legs Poked Through Mother's Uterus and Still Lived

Unlike the postpartum depression experienced by women, which were more likely to be caused by raging hormonal and physiological changes, the elevated depression symptoms experienced by men during and after the pregnancy were associated to external factors, including stress and relationship status.

According to the report from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in eight women in the U.S. experiences postpartum depression. On the other hand, approximately four percent of fathers experience depression in the first year after their child's birth.

In a report from Health, Gail Saltz, M.D., contributing psychology editor of the magazine, said "Joyful events, like having a baby, can still be stressful for everyone involved. There's the added feeling of responsibility, of being a provider, the changes in your relationship dynamic. And when the baby is born, you both have sleep deprivation on top of that."

Dr. Saltz, who was not involved in the study, noted that the additional stressors due to birth of their child could pile up on the other stressors experienced by men in their day-to-day lives.

Aside from typical symptoms of depression, patient with postpartum depression may present crying more than usual, feelings of anger, withdrawal from loved ones, feeling numb or disconnected from the baby, worrying that he/she might hurt the baby and feeling guilty about not being a good parent to the baby.
After the dazzling megacity of Dubai and the so-called "happiness city," the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is reaching for new heights with its next project: a city on Mars.

A projet, called Mars 2117, will be working to establish the first human settlement on the red planet within a hundred years, according to an official report from the Dubai media office. The announcement was made during the 5th World Government Summit.

A dream city in space is not an impossible stretch for UAE. After all, the country is famed for designing majestic cities such as Dubai. Its also among the world's top investors in space science, Prime Minister and Vice-President of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, pointed out.

"The new project is a seed that we plant today, and we expect future generations to reap the benefits, driven by its passion to learn to unveil a new knowledge," he continued, explaining that humans have long been dreaming of living in other planets, and UAE is intended to "make this dream a reality."

READ: 3 Landing Sites Shortlisted for Mars 2020 Mission to Retrieve Rocks From the Red Planet

It's unlikely any living person today will get to see the envisioned city in Mars, but the long-term project will be taking its first steps in the near future. The first objective of Mars 2117 will be to develop the educational system to aid future generations in cutting edge scientific research, according to Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed.

Around the world, the public and private sector have certainly set their sights on Mars. The buzz is around NASA's 2020 Mars rover mission, which will send a vehicle to the red planet to collect and store dirt, rock and air samples to eventually be picked up by future missions, a report from Nature revealed.
A new study has revealed that Earth actually has eight continents.

For millennia, mankind has lived knowing that the Earth is divided in seven continents -- Africa, Asia, Antarctica, Australia, Europe, North America and South America. But there's actually another piece of the puzzle, and it's called Zealandia.

According to the paper published in The Geological Society of America, New Zealand is actually sitting on this massive continent that has been hiding in plain sight all these years.



Zealandia, which measures five million square kilometers, broke away from Australia and sank about 60 to 85 million years ago. At present, it is 94 percent submerged in the southwest Pacific. The paper added that it broke away from Australia and sank about 60 to 85 million years ago.

As reported by CNN, currently, New Zealand and New Caledonia are grouped with Australia. But over the last two decades, geologists have been looking for a proof that it should actually be considered a separate continent. Geophysicist Bruce Luyendyk coined the term Zealandia in 1995.



What made the researchers finally nail the proof that Zealandia is a continent?

As mentioned by the Sydney Morning Herald, there are four criteria that must be met to be classified as a continent. Among those, the most important is that it should be highly elevated as compared to the ocean crust.

To realize this, the researchers used satellite technology. Gravity maps of the sea floor have revealed that Zealandia is a large unified area. While most of the part of Zealandia is submerged, its area is massive, intact and well-defined. Above all, it has a crust that's thicker than the regular ocean floor.

In essence, Zealandia not only encompasses New Zealand, but as well as New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, the Lord Howe Island group and Elizabeth and Middleton reefs.

"The significance of the recent paper is that it is the first peer reviewed published paper properly defining and proposing Zealandia. As such we hope it will be the 'go to' reference on the subject," Nick Mortimer, lead author of the study, told Fairfax Media.

Meanwhile, there is currently no scientific body that formally recognizes continents. The only thing that would make it be declared as such is if a scientific body is formed or if most of the scientific community agrees to it.
Anyone can join NASA's search for exoplanets as the agency invites the public to help them find undiscovered worlds. For many, this is the closest they can get to space, so might as well dive in the opportunity presented.

A NASA-funded program is asking for the public's help to manually analyze photographs of space to spot exoplanets. Experts believe that human eyeballs can do what smart algorithms cannot, and it may help the agency discover interesting bodies that could potentially cater to life.

The project is called Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, the objective of the program is to gather the help of the public to aid scientists in identifying objects near the Solar System. Although some computer programs are specifically designed to do the job, the movement of bodies in the sky made it more difficult for algorithms to spot dwarf planets, according to Engadget.

"By using Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, the public can help us discover more of these strange rogue worlds," Jackie Faherty, a member of the Backyard Worlds team said in a statement.

This is where manual scrutiny comes into play. The human eye can spot obvious objects while using computer algorithms are bugged since "moving objects can easily get lost in crowded fields of stars," Marc Kuchner of Backyard Worlds said in a blog post.

Those who are interested will analyze infrared images obtained by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) telescope. The citizen scientist can then mark the location of the object on the website if they spotted something that appears to be a dwarf planet or an exoplanet.

Experts are banking on the program to help scientists discover Planet 9, an object located beyond Neptune that is believed to be affecting the Earth's gravitational pull. Anyone interested in becoming citizen scientists must head to the Backyard Worlds website to start learning how to spot exoplanets by clicking the classify button.
At a campaign rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in October, then-candidate Donald Trump proclaimed, "I love WikiLeaks."



He went on to read hacked emails related to opponent Hillary Clinton that WikiLeaks had made public. Trump referred to the documents several times during the final stretch of a bitter campaign.

As president, though, Trump has denounced leaks from intelligence officials to major newspapers. His latest tirade against leakers came Wednesday morning, following a series of Washington Post and New York Times reports about contacts with Russian officials from his administration, and previously his campaign.

The Post's reporting led to the revelation that former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn may have misled Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about the topics of his conversation with Sergey Kislyak, Russian ambassador to the United States. Flynn resigned Monday night, and the White House said Trump asked him to do so because of a breach of trust, not because the administration thought he may have broken the law.

The Times then reported that intercepted calls show Trump campaign officials had contact with Russian intelligence officials during his campaign. The officials may not have been aware that their Russian contacts were intelligence officials, the Times said.

Trump claimed that the "real scandal" in his White House was not the handling of Flynn's actions but the leaks to newspapers. He argued that the intelligence community's actions are "just like Russia," after comparing U.S. leaks to Nazi Germany last month.

Story continues

Democrats and Republicans have often been more critical of leaks when the information given out hurts their agenda. Trump's attacks on the intelligence community, and the number of leaks coming out of his administration, threaten to continue to pit Trump against intelligence officials.





More From CNBC


On a Spring day in 1942, with young peaches clinging to the trees, and fields of strawberries on the verge of picking, Jimi Yamaichi and his family were uprooted from their San Jose farm  and forced into a long journey that delivered them finally to a tarpaper barrack near the Oregon border where they would spend four years.

All of a sudden, Yamaichi, 94, recently remembered, you lose everything you have and put away like that.

The Yamaichis were among 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast ordered into internment camps as a result of executive order 9066, which turns 75 this Sunday.

The order, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt cleared the way for the government to banish what they believed were potential enemy sympathizers to concentration camps scattered across the nation. The order also targeted German-Americans and Italian-Americans.

We never been to Japan, Yamaichi said, but they said youre loyal to Japan.

Yamaichi said the eras racially charged climate reminds him of current times, specifically President Trumps proposed controversial order attempt to block immigration from a list of Muslim countries.

The climate right now is almost the same as when we were first exposed to all that, said Jimis wife Eiko Yamaichi, whose family was shuttled between half a dozen internment camps during World War II. It doesnt matter the color of your skin, or religion or anything  you should never be put into a camp like that.

Jimi Yamaichi remembered the summons for his familys evacuation came from a notice nailed to a telephone pole near the familys twenty acre farm in San Joses Blossom Hill neighborhood. The family was ordered to show up at the San Jose State University gymnasium for evacuation orders.

Thats when we lost our identity as a person, Yamaichi said, our family number was the thing  like our family number was 32420.

Unlike many Japanese-Americans who lost homes, businesses and possessions  the Yamaichis farm was saved by a family friend who volunteered to watch over the land while the family was away. Yamaichi remembered the family piled all its possessions into a single room before shipping out.

The Yamaichis spent four years in the Tule Lake encampment where a population of 19,000 internees was surrounded by twenty-eight guard towers and guarded by up to 2000 soldiers. The familys barrack consisted of a twenty by twenty room with a stove and tarpaper walls that could barely muster a defense to the areas fierce winters.

Eiko Yamaichis family was evacuated from Seattle and had spent time in camps in Fresno, Tule Lake, Arkansas and Arizona by the time the war ended.

It was quite a shock to us, Yamaichi said, wondering why the government would spend so much money to send us all the way down there.

She recalled as a teenager taking the rambling, unscripted journey in stride. Her parents, she said, bore the brunt of the worry.

You know, I think the parents had it harder than we did, Eiko Yamaichi said. They were in the prime of their life in their thirties, forties  here they uprooted not knowing what the future was going to be.

Seventy-five years later, she said the shame and anger had finally sunk in.

We lost our liberty, right? Yamaichi said. Lost citizenship and the right to vote, all our liberty was taken away and we were confined.

When the war ended, internees returned to the fabric of the country to try and rebuild lives  many starting over from nothing.

They give you $25 and a one-way ticket to whatever destination youre going, said Jimi Yamaichi.

A few years after their release from the camps, Jimi and Eiko met and married, settling in San Jose. Though their journeys were similar, they barely spoke of the camps and the dismantling of their young lives.

But that changed some years ago when the couple took part in a reunion gathering of former internees at the site of the Tule Lake encampment. Thats when the responsibility of sharing their experience began to weigh on them.

Thats when I think both of us realized, aha, we need to get this information out, said Eiko Yamaichi, because so many who dont know about what happened.

Jimi Yamaichi went on to help found and build the Japanese-American Museum of San Jose, which includes a replica of the spartan barrack his family lived in at Tule Lake. On a recent day he stood inside the small wooden room, its ceiling beams visible above. The bunks were covered in thin army blankets. He said at one winter, his camp ran out of blankets and began to make them out of military coats.

A window in the replica barrack was framed with an image of a guard tower which Yamaichi said was burned into his memory. He recalled that every sound and smell, from a baby crying to a roasting hot dog, quickly dispersed among the individual barracks  enjoining the families in every way beyond their cataclysmic uprooting.

This is how we lived for four years, Yamaichi said glancing around the room. You wonder how we survived all this.
A violation notice was issued Thursday for a high-rise in San Francisco after a construction mishap forced the evacuation of more than a dozen surrounding buildings.

The notice means work on the high-rise apartments in the city's South of Market neighborhood must stop until all corrections are done and approved.

William Strawn with San Francisco's Department of Building Inspection said the notice of violation for the building on Tehama Street outlines what has to happen in the next 48 hours.

"They need to continue doing the corrective work beyond the stabilization," Strawn said. "They have to dismantle the machine that was causing the problems and take that off the site and correct whatever that distortion was on the 35th floor."

Hines, the company in charge of construction at the building, said Wednesday's incident occurred between levels 35 and 36 when a hydraulic jack failed on an interior forming system, causing the form to tilt and trigger fears of a collapse.

Those fears led firefighters to evacuate 16 buildings. The evacuations were lifted late Wednesday.

There was no damage or injuries reported, authorities said.
The protest begins at noon at the University of California at Davis. Its the busiest time of day, when students are changing classes. Four students put on monkey masks and plant themselves at the Memorial Union  the central hub of campus. One of the protesters, Lindsay Rubin, started Free Davis Primates in 2014, along with partners Grace Amico and Caroline Webb.

Our first and foremost goal is to let people know that the Primate Center exists, says Rubin. So much of the community in Davis doesnt even know this happens.

NBC Bay Area

There more than 6,000 monkeys at the California National Primate Research Center at UC Davis. A little more than half are in a breeding area, and more than 2,700 are in research studies. Rubin and her fellow protesters think the research should stop.

Their natural instinct tells them to live in colonies of over one hundred, says Webb. She points out that the confinement of a research cage is the opposite of the free-roaming nature of these Rhesus Macaque monkeys. It would be like a human living in a cage the size of a refrigerator by themselves their entire life.

UC Davis, California National Primate Research Center

MORE THAN 100,000 PRIMATES IN RESEARCH CENTERS

Across the country, there are 159 research centers as well as 15 federal facilities that test on primates. Collectively, those facilities house over 100,000 nonhuman primates as part of ongoing studies or breeding colonies used as part of future research, according to government records obtained and analyzed by the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit.

Of those primates, 25,483 are involved in experiments that can cause pain or distress. About 740 of those monkeys are not given any form of pain medication, since that could interfere with the research.

RESEARCH MONKEYS SHARE 93% OF HUMAN DNA

Macaque monkeys are anatomically and physiologically very similar to humans, and share 93 percent of the same DNA. Supporters of primate research argue the striking similarities make nonhuman primates ideal candidates for studying drugs, vaccines, and medical procedures before human trials begin.

Animal rights advocates, however, point to another nearby campus  University of California at Berkeley, where new research holds the promise of eliminating drug tests on monkeys. Dr. Kevin Healy and his staff are developing heart-on-a-chip technology: actual human heart cells  living and beating on a plate that is wired to a computer, which could eventually be used to test the effects of drugs in humans.

As Dr. Healy explains, the ion channels of the human heart are very different from those of the monkey, and yet theyre very important in determining how the heart responds to a drug. His team is even working on a liver component, which they would add on to the heart chip to get an accurate read on how the liver would react to a drug as well. If perfected, this technology could one day replace the testing of human drugs on monkeys.

NBC Bay Area

The science is not there yet, says Dr. Carrie Wolinetz, Director of Science Policy at the National Institutes of Health, which funds much of the primate research in the United States. I think these animals really remain critical to our ability to both understand disease and to develop treatments and therapies for human diseases.

That said, she still acknowledges that new technology is on the horizon that could drastically alter the landscape.

Scientists are always exploring new ways to answer the scientific questions  helping us understand in new and different ways how human disease works, Wolinetz said. But right now theyre not sufficient to entirely replace our use of primates or any other species.

Primates are at the leading edge of human health research for treatments, cures, and medical advancements relating to Parkinsons disease, vaccine development, and prosthetics.

At Duke University, for example, scientists are utilizing monkeys to develop new technology that enables prosthethic arms and legs to communicate directly with the human brain.

Duke University

'IF WE DO NOT DO SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH  THATS A RISK'

Research centers across the country have been issued 377 citations for noncompliance over the past three years, which includes 77 violations that directly impacted the health of animals, according to government records obtained by the Investigative Unit.

We must weigh scientific objectives with animal welfare, said Dr. Allyson Bennett, faculty director of the Animal Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which houses more than 2,500 primates.

The primate center focuses on research dealing with infectious diseases, including HIV, Ebola, and Zika. Additionally, scientists at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center are working to develop new treatments to combat Parkinsons disease.

Since 2014, federal inspectors have cited the facility for nine violations. That includes a noncompliance citation in 2015 that noted 12 incidents of nonhuman primates escaping enclosures during 2015. Those incidents resulted in several injuries that left some monkeys without portions of their tongues, whiles others required partial digit amputations, according to inspection records.

Its a small rate of errors, but we expect better and we regret those errors, so we continue to work to minimize the risk, Bennett said.

We also recognize there is harm in doing nothing  if we do not do scientific research, if we walk away from questions that could potentially benefit society, thats a risk.

NBC Bay Area spent months compiling data and records from the federal government in order to gain a better understanding of the scope of primate testing across the country. The Investigative Unit obtained violation records and primate population totals for every research facility in the country.

Using the interactive map below, you can easily locate primate research centers in your area and learn how many primates are being studied and what kinds of research are being done.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PURGES SITE OF ANIMAL WELFARE VIOLATION RECORDS

Violation records and reports animal research have long been available to the public through government websites and public databases. On Feb. 3, however, the USDA, which regulates animal research facilities, hastily purged its website, citing privacy concerns. The Investigative Unit obtained the data just days before the public records were taken offline. In its place, the USDA posted the following message:

Based on our commitment to being transparent, remaining responsive to our stakeholders informational needs, and maintaining the privacy rights of individuals, APHIS is implementing actions to remove documents it posts on APHIS website involving the Horse Protection Act (HPA) and the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) that contain personal information.

See full USDA statement here.

UC Davis, California National Primate Research Center

UC DAVIS HOME TO MORE THAN 6,000 PRIMATES

The California National Primate Research Center at the UC Davis is one of the largest primate research centers in the country, with more than 6,000 monkeys. The facility has been cited 13 times in the past three years by the USDA for violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

UC Davis declined repeated requests for interviews by NBC Bay Area, but offered a statement defending its research center.

"Animal research at UC Davis is strictly regulated," the statement read. "UC Davis follows all applicable laws and regulations, and we strive to continuously improve our standards of animal care."

According to the statement, "breakthroughs in treatments for illnesses such as Alzheimers, heart disease, cancer, and HIV/AIDS would not have been possible without preclinical studies using animal models of disease."

See complete UC Davis statement

Last year, a monkey at UC Davis had to be euthanized after suffering serious injuries. Seven other primates died at the facility in 2004 after a heating system malfunctioned, sending the temperature in the room up to 115 degrees fahrenheit. Two monkeys had temperatures of 109 degrees -- more than 10 degrees above what is considered normal.

Davis says such incidents involving their research monkeys are rare, however, animal rights activists argue the research itself is cruel and unusual.

This is surgery, this is implants in their skull and their craniums, implants in other parts of their bodies, their backs and their spines, said Bob Ingersoll, a well-known animal activist who has studied primates for more than 40 years.

Ingersoll says monkey collars are routinely used by technicians to administer medicine to the primates.

Researchers dont want to get too close to monkeys because they can have all kinds of diseases, he explains, so with [the collars] on their necks, they can put a stick into the cage with a hook on the end, and pull the monkey right up against the front of the cage to give it medication or whatever they need to do with it.

[[414035866, C]]



Ingersoll said he is often sought out by technicians and scientists who are eager to find homes for their lab monkeys once their research is complete.

We hope that the labs will have a non-adversarial relationship with us and we can work with them, Ingersoll said.

This is about doing the right thing  they formed a relationship with one of the animals that theyre using and testing.

Ingersoll often finds those monkeys a home at Mindys Memory  a primate rehab facility in Newcastle, Oklahoma that welcomes former pets and research animals.

UNEXPLAINED BEHAVIORS

Maya, an 11-year-old male Macaque, has lived at the sanctuary ever since he was released from a California research laboratory four years ago. Each time he makes direct eye contact with a human, he makes a sudden motion to bite his hand.

Once theyre in captivity, theyre always going to be affected from it for the rest of their lives, said Darren Tindall, who runs Mindys Memory and takes care of the monkeys each day. We have some monkeys that will pace back and forth in the same spot.

The pacing, according to Tindell, could be from living in confinement, or a way of coping with stress.

Both he and Ingersoll are now calling for a larger focus on alternative testing in hopes of reducing the number of monkeys in research labs and, eventually, animal sanctuaries across the country.

Ideally, places like this shouldnt have to exist, said Tindall. But in the long term, theres just going to be a lot of this going on.

______________________________________
California's Salinas Valley is referred to as the "salad bowl of the nation," best described in iconic pages when John Steinbeck, American author and son of the Monterey County community, put pen to paper in most of his classic writings.

It's here in this region of sprawling fields about 100 miles south of San Francisco where Japanese immigrants found their American dream after World War II in the cut flowers business, evident even today.

"A lot of these houses are Japanese-style houses," said Alicia, a cannabis properties realtor.

With California's law legalizing marijuana poised to go into effect next year, Salinas enters a new chapter in its agricultural history. It could become the cannabis capital of the state.

Alicia agreed to show us around the valley on the condition we don't share her last name. She specializes in the new green that's growing here, pointing out farms she says are now cannabis farms.



"Look. Barbed wires, cameras," she said.



Alicia works to sell, buy or manage what used to be properties housing the booming flower market, properties that have since fallen apart due to various free trade agreements over the years.



She says ever since California legalized marijuana, there's new life breathing into the valley and sucking dry the idea of continuing with the cut flowers business, when owners can sell their properties for millions.



"It wouldn't make sense to grow flowers, you know, at $5 million," she said.



Under new California law, cannabis cultivators are banned from building new greenhouses, unless they are built in the footprint of old ones. So any "green" house in the state has the potential to evolve into a "grow" house.



"California cannabis is its own brand, no different than California wine or anything else," Michael Williamson, the director of operations at Harborside, a leading cannabis grower and distributor in Northern California.



He says his hairnet, white jumpsuit and gloves are a way to keep the product pure and free from human interaction.



"When you look at our product and our plants, it's really not that different than a lot of the cut flowers market," he said. "Which makes this valley kind of the potential to be the Sonoma Valley of cannabis."



Williamson wouldn't say how much Harborside makes on its product, adding that for now, it's grown solely for medical purposes.



He said the company is eyeing Los Angeles for what's to come.



"Our moral compass is always the same," he said. "We want to create a safe, consistent and hopefully potent cannabis."



Growers in Monterey County say they take pride in more than just their product, but also what the industry is doing for the local workforce: the general contractors, green house manufacturers, security companies, fence installers, security camera installers and providers.



"We feel that cannabis could be a $1 billion crop within the next 24 months in Monterey County," said Mike Bitar, the cofounder of Grupo Flor, a company that's been actively seeking out empty greenhouses to manage. "These greenhouses are getting a second life. Right now there are no empty greenhouses in Monterey County. They've all either been leased up or purchased in the last six months."



The numbers are already massive.



According to Arcview market research, a company specializing in the marijuana market, California accounted for 31 percent of the legal cannabis market in the U.S. last year. Locally that's only for medical use. Compare that with Colorado at 19 percent and Washington at 11 percent, where marijuana is legal for recreational use.



"This industry has grown by leaps and bounds," said Daniel Yi, a spokesman for Medmen, a cannabis management and investment firm based in Los Angeles. The company has a cultivation site in Sun Valley and also runs a dispensary in West Hollywood.



"LA plays a huge role in terms of what we've learned over 20 years of regulation, what we've learned in techniques and cultivation. We have a lot of experience and a lot of demand," he said.



Yi says research is showing as states legalize marijuana for recreational use, more and more users are opting against the flowery buds for smoking and turning to products that come from extracting the oils from pot plants.



"There are edibles, there are extracts, there are vape pens," he said.



And with much of the state's demand coming from LA, it leaves the smaller towns up north with dreams of what that could do for them.



"It'll be a pretty phenomenal crop going to LA, I'm sure, because their numbers are big," said Salinas Mayor Joe Gunter, adding his city is actively working to become a model for others in how to regulate the industry.



"We have to embrace it because it's coming."



For many, though, it's been here for decades.



"Our industry has been testing cannabis, has been labeling cannabis and has been concerned to consumer safety long before the California legislature woke to this monster," said Salinas attorney Gavin Kogan who made cannabis law a specialty.



But there's one thing that's keeping cannabis from growing greener across the country: the stigma of the drug the feds still say is illegal.



"We're chipping away at it," Yi said.
The United States Attorneys Office in Massachusetts has announced charges involving the extradition of an Israeli national from Poland on charges of money laundering and drug trafficking.

According to the affidavit an Israeli citizen touched down at Logan just before 1 p.m. Thursday.

He allegedly started inquiring about buying a large amount of cocaine several years ago.

Officials say nearly $1 million dollars was wired from a Turkish bank to a bank in Boston.

Since then, the man, talking with an undercover DEA agent, allegedly tried over the years to raise enough money to ship a large amount of drugs from Columbia through Boston, and then onto Israel.

Finally, according to the affidavit, the efforts picked up steam, leading to the man's arrest in Poland and extradition back here.

The money has been seized and officials are seeking one more person in the investigation.

Officials have not released the suspects identity.
An elderly nun suffering from dementia who had been reported missing in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, has been found, according to state police.

Authorities say Sister Loretta Ciccarelli, 79, was found safe at 3:30 p.m. Friday on Scenic Highway in Bourne after she was last seen around 9 p.m. Thursday.

Sister Loretta had been last seen wearing a gray bathrobe, blue pajamas and glasses. Police had warned the public that she may have been driving a purple/maroon 2016 Toyota Rav4 with a Massachusetts license plate reading PC 4KE174.

Police said that Sister Loretta has no short-term memory.
A former Barack Obama campaign manager who was also once a senior executive for Uber was fined $90,000 after he illegally lobbied Mayor Rahm Emanuel for the rideshare app, the Chicago Tribune is reporting.

David Plouffe violated city ethics rules after he failed to register as a lobbyist, the newspaper reports, after he reached out to Emanuel regarding regulations for Uber picking up passengers at OHare and Midway airports.

Plouffes ethics violation, which the city's Board of Ethics reportedly voted 5-0 on, came to light after Emanuel released a cache of personal emails under a pair of open records lawsuits by the Tribune and the Better Government Association.

The message was sent from Plouffe to the mayor on Nov. 20 of 2015, according to the Tribune.

"Assume both of us thought the airport issue was settled and we would never have to discuss again, but unfortunately two significant new hurdles were introduced," Plouffe reportedly wrote in the email. "Coming to you because of their severity that would prevent us from operating. We were all set to announce Monday we were beginning pickups."

Plouffe then details Ubers concerns, the newspaper reports, about pickup fees and required airport placards in its registered vehicles.

Emanuel responded by saying it was impossible for him to address the issue from China and urged Plouffe to discuss the issue with his staff in Chicago, according to the Tribune report.

The Board of Ethics determined Uber and Plouffe did not dispute the allegations that there was a violation of Chicagos lobbying ordinance, according to the newspaper. Plouffe and Uber did however argue they should only have to pay $1,000, the Tribune reports.

According to the newspaper, the board thought such a low fine would encourage unregistered lobbying activity.
An Amtrak police officer has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a 25-year-old Minnesota man outside Union Station last week.

LaRoyce Tankson, 31, turned himself into law enforcement authorities late Thursday, according to the Cook County State's Attorney's office. He was charged in connection with the fatal shooting of Chad Robertson.

Robertson died Wednesday at Stroger Hospital, one week after being shot near Jackson and Canal.

His death came a day after a federal lawsuit was filed on his behalf against the rail agency and the officer who shot him.

Chicago Police have said Robertson was unarmed.

"Amtrak continues to cooperate fully with the Chicago Police Department and States Attorneys office," the transit agency said in a statement Friday. "As this matter is ongoing, we are unable to comment further."

The two officers involved were reassigned to desk duty per Amtrak policy following the shooting, spokesman Marc Magliari said.

Amtrak is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Chad Robertson, Magliari said. Amtrak is cooperating fully with the Chicago Police Department and States Attorneys office as they conduct an independent investigation.

During an hourlong layover on a Megabus trip from Memphis to Robertsons hometown of Minneapolis, the officers were aggressive when they walked up to him and two other riders inside Union Station, before following them as they walked outside to a restaurant, the suit says.

The officers stopped them again and started searching them, the suit says. Robertson feared for his life and started running.

One officer calmly dropped to one knee, removed his gloves, unsecured his weapon and fired a shot from about 30 feet away that missed, according to the suit, which says the second shot hit Robertson in the back. He was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition.

The officer gave no commands but calmly stated, Its a gun out. Its a gun out,' the suit says.

Chicago Police said Robertson was shot in the shoulder and that he was carrying cash and drugs. His attorney said he had an insignificant amount of marijuana, and that the father of two has no criminal record.

Doctors werent able to remove the bullet from Robertsons spine, who was left quadriplegic in his final days, the suit says.

When he found out about his condition from the doctors, he was heartbroken, his sister, Nina Robertson, said at a press conference last week. He just said, The police ruined my life.

Magliari said Amtrak would review the suit but declined to comment Wednesday night. Chicago Police had no updates on the investigation.

Robertsons family said his two companions who witnessed the shooting were set to appear before a grand jury last week. Representatives for the Cook County states attorneys office declined to comment.

An autopsy on Robertson was scheduled for Thursday.

The nine-count civil rights suit claims the officers used excessive force and searched Robertson illegally. The suit is seeking an unspecified amount in damages.
The police chief in northwest suburban Des Plaines said reports of a bomb threat at a local mosque Thursday are not credible.

Officers were called to the Islamic Community Center in the 400 block of Potter Road on Wednesday for a possible bomb threat, according to Des Plaines Police Chief Bill Kushner.

They learned a man in his 30s, who is known to police, rollerbladed into the mosque, commented about the building and made an indication with his hands of something blowing up.

A custodian at the mosque who talked to the man later reported the incident, and police were called six hours later, Kushner said. The person who reported the threat ultimately declined to press charges.

If you look at the totality of this thing, its not a credible threat, Kushner said. I think its blown out of proportion.

But the Council on American-Islamic Relations Chicago conducted a press conference Thursday, and said in a statement that a white, middle-aged man entered the mosque and told someone, Everything here will be blown up by Friday.

Kushner said police interviewed the man, and based on this statements, they took him to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge for a psychological evaluation. Kushner said he believed the man would be held for 72 hours and released if he is determined not to be a threat to himself or others.

Authorities were not releasing the mans name, nor images taken from video surveillance at the mosque, because criminal charges have not been filed, Kushner said.

In the last four years, Des Plaines police have stepped up patrols at all SWAT targets in the community, which he said includes houses of worship, schools and government buildings. No special patrols have been put in pace in relation to the incident at the mosque.
Chicagoans who say theyre angry and ready to curb the violence in their city gathered Thursday night near where a 2-year-old was shot to death earlier in the week.

Three children were murdered in Chicago in the past week. Residents, activists and police came together during Operation Wake Up Thursday night in the citys Lawndale neighborhood. 2-year-old Lavontay White was fatally shot in the 2300 block of South Kenneth Avenue Tuesday afternoon. His pregnant aunt was wounded and a 26-year-old man was also killed in the shooting.

Tywone Lee knows the pain of laying a child to rest, she says. Her son was murdered over the summer.

"My sons death is everybodys sons deathcause your child could be next! she said through tears at the gathering. Your child could be next and everybodys at home right now just sitting therewe have to stand up.

Her statement was made less than a block from where Lavontay was murdered.

At the meeting, residents were encouraged by police to form block clubs, stay connected and to be an active voice in their community.

The event drew less than 100 people.

Its aboutI dunnomaybe 50 people out here, said resident Aleta Clark. More news people and police officers than community activists and community citizens and thats a problem.

Lees husband Trillo Thompson says he struggles to comfort their children.

I dont even know how to talk to my kidsit hurts so band I dont even know what to say to them, he said, wiping away tears.

No one is in custody in relation to Lavontay's death, police said.
Time is running out for the daughter of Tommy Schaefer and Heather Mack to find a new home outside of the prison she has known her entire life.



Stella Schaefer is currently being raised in a Bali prison by Mack, who, along with Tommy Schaefer, was convicted of killing Sheila von Wiese-Mack. Next month Stella turns 2 years old and must leave the prison, per Indonesian custom.



Stellas paternal grandmother, Kia Walker, said her son, Tommy Schaefer, wants her to raise Stella in the Chicago area.

"I've never believed she deserved to spend time in prison and I'm just here to speak up," Walker said. "I'm her grandmother and I'm her voice."



Walker filed a motion for guardianship and presented it Friday to the Cook County judge who is overseeing Macks trust fund court case. But because Mack could soon be tried under Illinois Slayer Statute, which prohibits convicted murderers from benefiting financially from a crime, the judge made it known that his courtroom was not the appropriate place to determine Stellas guardianship.



As a result, Walkers motion was denied.



"The judge didn't say that she can't go for guardianship. He just said she can't go for guardianship in this courtroom," said attorney Michael Goldberg, who is representing Walker.



Goldberg filed a new motion for guardianship on behalf of Walker in another Cook County court Friday afternoon.

Mack, however, wants Stella to remain in Bali while she serves out her prison sentence.



She loves her child and she's gonna maintain a relationship with her child, Macks attorney Vanessa Favia said.



According to Stellas court-appointed guardian ad litem, Peter Schmiedel, plans are being made for another couple in Bali to raise the girl. However, nothing has been finalized.



"We're just trying to get something done before the 17th of March," Schmiedel said. "I have my fingers crossed."
In todays political climate many people feel there are questions that dont have any answers, as the song goes.

But according to one Michigan GOP committee member, Kid Rock could be the answer to the question of who could take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Wes Nakagiri, a Michigan Tea Party activist, says the conservative rap-rocker and Detroit advocate could be a great candidate for the Senate, the newspaper reports.

The comments were made at the Michigan Republican Party Convention in Lansing earlier this month.

Nakagiri reportedly said Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, "has name I.D., is an out-of-the-box idea, and would kind of get rid of that stodgy Republican image."

Nakagiri also told the paper President Donald Trumps candidacy in the last election could be a template for Kid Rock to follow.

Kid Rock was born in Romeo, Mich., and supported Trump during the election. He has called himself a Republican with central leanings in previous interviews.

The Detroit Free Press reports many Michigan Republicans are looking for more conventional candidates.

Kid rock has not weighed in on his name being mentioned as a possible candidate as of Thursday evening.
Standing on her front porch, Lansing resident June Weathers is just feet from the scene of what seemed to be a straightforward accident last summer. A semi-truck hit an overhead utility wire on July 18, pulling it down and punching out power to the neighborhood.

"The first thing I thought was, did an airplane go down? Because it was that loud," she told NBC5 Responds. He had hit the lines, and that's what caused the noise and the surge.

June snapped some picturesof the truck, the driver and the responding utility crews. She says she never dreamed that six months later shed be almost bankrupted by that accident, in which she played no role.

"Big businesses have a way of passing the buck. And the consumerthe little personthey get stuck," Weathers said.

Her story starts with the power surge that followed the accidentblowing out her sump pump and battery back-up. Because of recent hip surgery, June says she could not navigate the stairs to her basement to check on the sump pump. When she asked a relative to take a look a few days after the outage:

"He said, you know you have about three feet of water in your basement. I said, come on, stop joking."

He wasnt kidding. Years of her belongings, soaked in feet of water. Her pictures show the staggering loss of water-logged items and knotty pine paneling she had to remove when mold set in. June says her bills neared $60,000 in loss and remediation costs. She started asking who would be responsible.

"Every company I contactedfrom the trucking company to my insurance company to the electric companyeverybody said no," she said.

And when she says everybodyshe means it. NBC5 Responds traced the trail.

First, the Missouri-based truck driver, who told police the power lines were lower than they should have been and thats why he hit them.

Isaac Truckings insurance, Northland, then blamed Com Ed for the low-lying lines and denied Junes claim.

ComEd, which owns the poles, said not our lines after its investigation, and requested Lansing police take its name off the police report and put Comcasts name onstating the cable lines were the lowest ones on the pole and the ones that were damaged.

Comcast, parent company of NBC, said its inspection of the accident site did not find conclusive evidence that its line was lower than required, and also denied responsibility.

June Weathers last hope, her homeowners insurance, also said, No. State Farm says it doesnt cover basement flooding, regardless of whether a power surge caused it or not.

"We're gonna keep passing the buck. It's not our fault. Now you're up next. Anybody but us," Weathers said. "And I thoughtthis is not right. I'm the victim here. They're all saying that no one did anything.

But something did cause the accident, which led to the damage in Junes home.

Through a Freedom of Information request, NBC5 Responds learned the Isaac Trucking driver had the proper permit to drive an over-height load, and that the Illinois Department of Transportation told him to drive on Burnham Avenue.

So was a utility wire too low here?

Looking at the most recent Google image available, from 2013, the Illinois Commerce Commission told NBC5 Responds part of the thicker cable strand on these poles, which we learned belongs to Comcast, appears "defective" and "sagging."

Those words sound familiar to Lansing business owner Bob Eenigenburg. He was driving to work two months before the July accident when he says a low-lying line on the same poles startled him.

"I saw a heavy cable and I ducked," Eenigenburg told NBC5 Responds.

Strands that he says were sagging so much the 7-foot-two-inch high antenna on his van hit one.

That was in May. When he called authorities, according to incident reports obtained by NBC5 Responds, they called Comcast, which came and secured the lines.

Later that day when he passed the scene, Bob Eenigenburg says that repair job worried him.

"It just seemed like it was still too low, he said. Like it was an accident waiting to happen."

Two months later, an accident did happen, when the semi hit the line.

Comcast declined to say how high it maintains its line on the Burnham Avenue pole.

A Comcast spokesman offered this statement:

Our hearts go out to Ms. Weathers, and we want reassure her that were taking her issue very seriously. When we were first made aware of it, we quickly sent out a claims processing team to investigate the site. The team did a thorough inspection and was unable to find evidence that our line was below the height requirement. Weve reviewed the additional information that has come to our attention since our initial investigation and still havent found conclusive evidence that our line was below the height requirement at the time of the incident on July 18.

As for the May incident, a Comcast spokesperson said in a statement:

Note that the Lansing Fire Department requested that we come out to 18622 Burnham Av. to fix a downed line crossing Burnham Ave. at Otto and Burnham on May 26, 2016, less than two months before the incident. It was not our line, but because the road was closed, we temporarily fixed it. The fire department declared the street safe for passage when the repair was complete and reopened the road, so we know our line as well as the line we temporarily repaired was at a height under which traffic could pass shortly before the July18 incident.

The spokesman would not say whose utility line Comcast fixed in that case.

After our questions about the power surge damage, State Farm re-opened June's claim and changed its decision. Her insurer will now cover her appliance loss, about $2600.

A small victory compared to her overall loss, but one June Weathers says she was ecstatic to hear.
Retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward has turned down an offer to become President Donald Trump's national security adviser, a White House official told NBC News Thursday.

"It's purely a personal issue," Harward told The Associated Press Thursday evening. "I'm in a unique position finally after being the in military for 40 years to enjoy some personal time."

Press Secretary Sean Spicer told NBC News: "He is a great man who has served his country with distinction. Any discussion was subject to him overcoming family and financial concerns that he could not do."

Harward would have replaced retired Gen. Michael Flynn, who resigned at Trump's request Monday after revelations that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about discussions he held with a Russian diplomat.

Officials said this week that there were two other contenders: acting national security adviser Keith Kellogg, and retired Gen. David Petraeus.

Harward, a former Navy SEAL, served as deputy commander of the United States Central Command under Gen. James Mattis, who is now defense secretary.

Harward served on the National Security Council under President George W. Bush and commissioned the National Counterterrorism Center.

Upon retirement as a vice admiral in 2013 after a nearly 40-year career in the Navy, Harward became chief executive officer for defense and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin in the United Arab Emirates. Trump has recently been in very public negotiations with Lockheed over the cost of its F-35 fighter jet program.
Three employees at a YMCA Learning Center in Wallingford will no longer be working with children at the facility after the parents of a 3-year-old girl said their daughter was alone and locked inside the daycare, according to the center's executive director.

We are committed to ensuring that our parent community is comfortable with the handling of this situation and have informed them that the three individuals primarily involved in Tuesdays incident will not be working with their children at any of our sites, Sean Doherty, the executive director of the Wallingford YMCA, told NBC Connecticut Friday in an email.

It was not immediately clear if the employees were fired or if they continue to work for the YMCA under a different department.

Friday the daycare held a meeting for parents to discuss what happened Tuesday.

Bernadette Sorbo, the mother of 3-year-old Aubrie, said her daughter is picked up at 6 p.m. every day. But on Tuesday, the doors were locked and the building appeared to be closed when Aubries dad went to pick her up at YMCA's Learning Community at Choate Rosemary Hall, so he called Sorbo to get a code to enter the building.

Sorbo said she was only a few minutes away when she received the calls so she drove to the daycare and the pair found their daughter in the bathroom, covered in feces.

The father said no employees were at the daycare when he arrived, but the lights were on and he saw his daughter's coat and lunch bag inside. Sorbo said her daughter was left alone for at least 45 minutes. The couple called police.

While Sorbo said shes relieved to hear the news about the employees involved, she said theres still more that needs to be done.

I know people makes mistakes but that is something that is careless and could have potentially endangered my daughter, she said.

Sorbo said that she was unsure if she could trust any day care after the incident and for now shes taking her daughter with her to work.

The daycare reported the incident to the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood and the agency is investigating.

Wallingford police have said the situation, while alarming, is not criminal in nature.
(Adds appeals court suspending proceedings in paragraph seven)

By Ayesha Rascoe and Dan Levine

WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 16 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will issue a new executive order to replace his controversial directive suspending travel to the United States by citizens of seven mostly Muslim countries.

At a White House news conference on Thursday, Trump said the new order would seek to address concerns raised by federal appeals court judges, who temporarily blocked his original travel ban.

"The new order is going to be very much tailored to what I consider to be a very bad decision," Trump said, adding: "We had a bad court."

Trump gave no details about the replacement order. Legal experts said a new directive would have a better chance of withstanding courtroom scrutiny if it covered some non-Muslim countries and exempted non-citizen immigrants living in the U.S. legally.

The original order, issued on Jan. 27, triggered chaos at some U.S. and overseas airports, led to international protests, complaints from U.S. businesses and drew more than a dozen legal challenges.

In a court filing on Thursday, the Justice Department asked for a pause in proceedings before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which sided with a federal court in Washington state to suspend the travel ban, while litigation over its legality according to the U.S. Constitution played out.

The Justice Department asked the court to vacate that ruling once the administration has rescinded its original order and issued a new one. In an order later on Thursday, the 9th Circuit put proceedings over the ban on hold but did not say whether it would eventually withdraw its previous ruling.

The ban has been deeply divisive in the United States, with a Reuters/Ipsos poll indicating about half of Americans supported it shortly after the order took effect.

LEGAL UNCERTAINTY

Trump's decision to issue a new directive plunges court proceedings over his earlier order into uncertainty. Litigants around the country said they will carefully examine any new policy to see if it raises similar constitutional issues and will continue to pursue legal action if necessary.

Story continues

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who filed the case that produced the 9th Circuit ruling, claimed victory on Thursday.

"Today's court filing by the federal government recognizes the obvious - the president's current executive order violates the Constitution," Ferguson said, in a statement. "President Trump could have sought review of this flawed order in the Supreme Court but declined to face yet another defeat."

Trump has said travel limitations are necessary to protect the United States from attacks by Islamist militants. His original order barred people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the country for 90 days. Refugees were banned for 120 days, except those from Syria, who were banned indefinitely.

Trump said on Thursday that the widely criticized rollout had been "very smooth" and once again blamed the court for "a bad decision."

The Justice Department court filing on Thursday said Trump's order would be "substantially revised" but provided no more details than the president did at his press conference. Last week an congressional aide who asked not to be identified told Reuters that Trump might rewrite the original order to explicitly exclude green card holders, who have legal permission to live and work in the United States.

Stephen Griffin, a professor of constitutional law at Tulane University, said adding non-Muslim countries could also help a new order withstand accusations that it discriminates based on religion. Given that the administration already identified the seven Muslim-majority countries as a threat, he said, it would be unlikely to remove any of those.

"I'd speculate they would add to the list, as opposed to walk it back," he said.

(Additional reporting by Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; Editing by Caren Bohan and Bill Rigby)
A 3-year-old girl was found locked inside a Wallingford daycare Tuesday, and police said the incident is "alarming," but not criminal. But the toddler's mother disagrees.

"We found our daughter in the toilet and she was covered in her own feces with nobody around," Bernadette Sorbo said.

Sorbo said that her daughter Aubrie is picked up from the YMCA's Learning Community at Choate Rosemary Hall every day at 6 p.m.

When the girl's father, Timothy McWade, arrived at the daycare Tuesday to pick up the toddler, the doors were locked and the building appeared to be closed. McWade called Sorbo - who was only a few minutes away - to get the access code to enter the building. Sorbo drove to the daycare and the couple found their daughter in the bathroom covered in feces.

"I got her off the potty. I wiped her down and cleaned her off and we went over to the cubby," Sorbo said. "She was so excited to show me all her gifts."

The parents called 911 and McWade told the dispatcher his daughter was left in the building, unattended, and that all the daycare's employees left.

Th daycare reported the incident to the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood one day later and the agency is investigating.

NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters found an online inspection summary that details 13 unannounced visits to the daycare since April 2009.

The records also show several complaints filed in October, including "diapering and toileting, sleeping arrangements and administering medications," that resulted in 10 violations.

A corrective action plan was ordered by the watchdog agency. The Troubleshooters requested the full inspection documents from the state.

On Friday, Police said an investigation found internal errors with procedures are to blame that don't rise to the level of anything criminal.

Meanwhile, Sorbo said her daughter, traumatized by the incident, has developed nightmares.

"She was up all night crying and upset about it," Sorbo said. "She would wake up in the middle of her sleep screaming for me or her dad and that was upsetting."

Sean Doherty, the executive director of the Wallingford YMCA, tells NBC Connecticut their mission is "to promote children's emotional, social, physical and intellectual development while meeting the needs of families. We believe in the core values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility. We've been in communication with our parent community since this incident and have conducted an immediate and thorough investigation to prevent an incident like this from occurring again."
Branford residents will still have to travel out of town to buy their bulk paper towels and mayonnaise by the gallon at Costco. The wholesale giant its backing out of plans to build a new location off Interstate 95 after almost two years of planning.

In a letter Branfords first selectman received this week, Costco said it was business decision that prompted the cancelling of the development that could brought with it an estimated $800,000 in taxes and several hundred new jobs.

People getting their groceries at the Stop & Shop not far from the site of what wouldve been the new store told NBC Connecticut they werent happy about the news.

I like to buy in bulk, so to be able to have something closer to home would be nice, Emily LeQuin, of North Branford, said.

I was waiting for them to come up here. Going to Milford is kind of far. I have my membership and I dont use it that often because its that far, MaryAnn Ferrucci, of East Haven, said.

Branfords first selectman, James Cosgrove, said he learned Costco was scrapping its plans through that letter, which was sent to town hall, and is disappointed about all of the jobs that now wont be coming to town.

Were all aware of the fiscal constraints of the state. That burden is being shifted down to the municipalities and the residents and the taxpayers of Connecticut and Branford, Cosgrove said.

But not everyone sees the news as a loss, including residents who said the presence of a retailer the size of Costco wouldve been a nightmare for the community.

Its a small town and I understand there has to be growth, but you still want that small town flavoring, Kim Healy said.

Cosgrove said Costco didnt offer more information about why they backed out of the plan, but said the retailer wouldve been welcome.
A Fairfield physician was sentenced to two years of probation and issued 200 hours of community service for illegally prescribing oxycodone, according to the U.S. Attorneys office.

Prosecutors said that 56-year-old Paul Bellofiore, M.D., who lived in Trumbull and practiced in Fairfield, had been prescribing the controlled substance to a married couple who used to live in Connecticut.

The patients moved to Florida in 2011, but still made yearly visits to Connecticut where they had scheduled appointments with Bellofiore. When the couple was unable to travel back to Connecticut, Bellofiore would leave predated prescriptions for a friend or relative of the couple to pick up.

After each appointment, the physician prescribed the couple with up to six months worth of predated prescriptions including oxycodone and Percocet. Prescriptions of a Schedule II controlled substance cannot exceed a 90-day supply, as stated in the Controlled Substances Act. The prescriptions must be dated as of and signed on the day when issued and bear the full name and address of the patient. However, Bellofiore did not include the couples most current Florida address on the oxycodone and Percocet prescriptions.

The prescriptions Bellofiore wrote were improperly dated to make it appear like they were issued monthly, investigators said.

The former Connecticut couple then sold their medications through a middleman involved in Waterbury, according to the U.S. attorneys office.

Prosecutors said that Bellofiore should have been aware of the possibility that the couple was abusing or selling their forged prescriptions.

On Oct. 13, 2016 Bellofiore pleaded guilty to one count of issuing unlawful prescriptions for oxycodone.

DEAs New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad is responsible for conducting this investigation.
The two minarets from the Turkish-American Religious Foundation mosque tower over the neighboring homes and daycare on Middletown Avenue in New Haven.

Islam requires the minarets, the call to prayer towers, be taller than the dome on the mosque.

There seems to be a height violation, City of New Haven Director of Communications Laurence Grotheer said.

That violation prompted the citys building department to issue a stop work order for any further construction on the unfinished mosque.

The building on that site has become non-compliant with the permit that was issued for the site, Grotheer said.

City officials did not discover the dilemma until November after the 81-foot crescent-topped towers from Turkey were erected.

New Haven granted the permit based on a design plan showing the minarets were supposed to be 57 feet," Grotheer said. The city is working with cooperative owners to resolve the issue and come up with a reasonable solution.

NBC Connecticut exclusively obtained the response the mosque's architect, John Torello submitted to the citys building official and zoning enforcement officer Jim Turcio, in which he says he does not believe any violations exist.

"The current situation is the result of an interpretation that fails to recognize the provisions of the zoning regulations that allow the current construction which was reviewed by the Building Inspector at all phases of design and construction for applicability to code and life safety requirements," the letter states.

While some have called the minarets and "eyesore," others say they are not bothered by the towers.

Never had an issue with it. The neighbors are great people, theyve been here for years, Joseph Lopez said.

The mosque is located in the ward that Alderman Gerald Antunes represents.

We dont want to violate religious rights, but we still have some laws on the books and they were aware of them, Atunes said.

Torello said if you average the height of the minarets, the dome and the roof of the building, there is no violation of city code.

For now, the future of the mosque is up in the air.
About 60 businesses in Danbury decided not to open Thursday as part of a national demonstration "A Day Without Immigrants".

The protest, like others across the country, is intended to demonstrate the impact of immigrants on the economy.

The message for today was for the immigrant community regardless of what country you come from not to spend, not to go out, not to open your business, not to send your kids to school, said Rolando Castro, owner of C & C Delicatessen.

Castro's business was among those that closed for the day.

Giovanni Novo not only closed his two liquor businesses, he did not send his son to school today.

The reason is because Im an immigrant and your blood is immigrant, too. The message is were also supposed to be treated the same way and I dont want that to happen to you in the future they look at you because youre an immigrant, said Novo.

Danbury High School student Rhoeert Lopes is originally from Brazil and he also did not attend school Thursday.

We lost a day of school, thats bad. But we are going to gain like so much more. I feel like I am doing the right thing, said Lopes.

But not everyone was on board with the idea.

Thats education were talking about like, no, I dont understand that, said Tykera Brown of Danbury.

Not to go to school thats hurting their own children so that is wrong, said Mike Daubert of Danbury.

NBC Connecticut reached out to Danbury Public Schools to see how many absences theyve had on Thursday, but they have not gotten back after several attempts to reach them.

Connecticut ACLU's outreach and advocacy director, Melvin Medina said in a statement:

Documented or undocumented, every person in Connecticut has rights under our Constitution. Immigrants are vital members of Connecticut communities. Businesses participating in today's protest sent the right message of support and solidarity for new Americans.
A week after a blizzard dumped a foot of snow in New Haven, the city is issuing targeted parking bans on streets where more snow still needs to be removed.

This is from a public safety standpoint, Deputy Director of Emergency Operations Rick Fontana said. weve got to get cars off the street to get these cleared.

After a sweep of the city, the New Haven Fire Department identified several streets still obstructed by snow.

Maybe a piece of fire apparatus couldnt get down, Fontana said.

A number of the trouble spots are in the Fair Haven section of the city.

On Thursday, a caravan of New Haven Public Works trucks led by a snow thrower made its way down several residential streets where parking ban signs are posted.

Theyve had you know all yesterday afternoon and all morning to move their cars. As you can see, pavement, and they can move them back in.

Jose Mejias, who lives on Poplar Street, isn't satisfied with the cleanup in the area outside of his home.

They came with the equipment. Use the equipment properly, Mejias said. Early this morning they came and towed the vehicles and once they towed the vehicles you can see the cleaning they did, very, very poor cleaning.

Some residents told NBC Connecticut they support the city enforcing the parking ban.

Get em off the streets or tow them. Gary Deraleau said. Let them clear the streets so people got a place to go.

But Deraleau said he wishes the snow removal trucks went through his neighborhood earlier in the week.

The city trucks plan to dump all the snow they picked up at East Shore Park.

People need to be patient, but it does take time and I think the streets as we go through the removal process, these streets will get back to normal, Fontana said.
Pratt and Whitney's announcement of an expansion in Georgia is expected to be beneficial for the operation in Connecticut.

The engine maker, which is based in East Hartford and manufactures engines in Middletown, announced this week that it would invest $386 million in a new facility in Columbus, Georgia, where the company has had a presence for more than 30 years.

Ray Hernandez, a spokesman for Pratt and Whitney, said in a statement, "This particular expansion supports a specific, new technology need where the capabilities currently exist. The investment we are making will complement Pratt & Whitneys production value stream in other facilities, including our Connecticut operations."

Pratt announced late last year that it would hire 8,000 new employees in Connecticut over the next decade, as it expects to double production of the engines it makes for commercial aircraft. The company currently has a 7,000 engine backlog it's looking to address.

State Representative Matt Lesser said he thinks any expansion for Pratt nationwide, does well to help the company's operations in Connecticut.

They have more work right now than they know what do with," Lesser said. "They have an enormous backlog of orders and its important to do what we can to ensure that those engines are produced in Connecticut."

The company has similar partnerships in Georgia as it does in Connecticut with community colleges and vocational tech programs. In Columbus, the company has partnered with Columbus Technical College, while in Connecticut it's partnered with, among others, Asnuntuck Community College, Manchester Community College, Middlesex Community College, Goodwin College, and UConn.

Lesser said as long as those partnerships hold, the state should have a secure future with Pratt and Whitney.

We need to do what we can to make sure our community colleges, our votech schools are helping expand that workforce and allowing them to continue their commitment to Connecticut.
Stratford police said they arrested a robbery suspect after he crashed a stolen car in Milford.

Stratford police said the suspect, identified as Robert Keith Abel, 54, of Florida, robbed Webster Bank of $1,200 and tried to rob a Walgreens Pharmacy in Stratford around 1 p.m. Friday. No weapons were shown in either incident and no injuries were reported.

Police found Abel and arrested him after he crashed the car he was driving in Milford.

According to police, the car had been stolen in South Carolina. Abel was harged with second-degree robbery, fourth-degree larceny, second-degree larceny and attempted robbery.

Editor's note: Police initially identified the suspect as Keith Abel, but it was determined that Keith is his middle name. The story above has been updated to reflect that.
Days after parents of a 3-year-old girl said they daughter was alone and locked inside a Wallingford daycare, police said the situation is alarming, but not criminal.

Tonight, the daycare will be holding a meeting for parents to discuss what happened Tuesday.

Bernadette Sorbo, the mother of 3-year-old Aubrie, said her daughter is picked up at 6 p.m. every day, but the doors were locked and the building appeared to be closed when Aubries dad went to pick her up at YMCA's Learning Community at Choate Rosemary Hall Tuesday, so he called Sorbo to get a code to enter the building.

Sorbo said she was only a few minutes away when she received the calls so she drove to the daycare and the pair found their daughter in the bathroom, covered in feces.

"We found our daughter in the toilet and she was covered in her own feces with nobody around," "I got her off the potty. I wiped her down and cleaned her off and we went over to the cubby."

Then the parents called police.

Wallingford Police said they were dispatched to the YMCA's Learning Community at 333 Christian St. at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday for a welfare check. When they arrived, they found the little girl and her mother in their vehicle.

The father said no employees were at the daycare when he arrived, but the lights were on and he saw his daughter's coat and lunch bag inside.

The daycare reported the incident to the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood a day later and the agency is investigating.

Sean Doherty, the executive director of the Wallingford YMCA, told NBC Connecticut their mission is "to promote children's emotional, social, physical and intellectual development while meeting the needs of families. We believe in the core values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility. We've been in communication with our parent community since this incident and have conducted an immediate and thorough investigation to prevent an incident like this from occurring again."

Police said they determined there was a breakdown in internal procedures and the child was not intentionally left behind.

"While the situation is one of an alarming nature, it does not rise to the level of criminal conduct," Wallingford police said in a news release.

The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Friday at the daycare and parents are invited to discuss this, or any other concerns they have.
Critics of President Donald Trump saw in his news conference a combative, thin-skinned chief executive who continues to blame the media for the controversies roiling his administration.

His supporters saw something else: A champion of Middle America who is taking on the establishment and making good on his campaign promises to put the country first.

The Associated Press contacted Trump supporters across the country to see how they viewed a Thursday news conference in which the president said his administration was running like "a fine-tuned machine" despite the resignation of his top national security adviser, a court setback on his immigration order, a defeat for his nominee as labor secretary and reports of internal divisions.

Here are views of some of those supporters:

Richelle Kirk of Logan, West Virginia, watched some of Trump's news conference on Thursday and didn't see any head-scratching comments from the president.

"I back him 100 percent," said the 42-year-old stay-at-home mom. "You either love it or get out, is my opinion."

During Barack Obama's presidency, her husband was laid off from his coal-mining job, a loss they blamed on Obama's environmental policies. She said they lost a home and "everything we owned."

After West Virginia voters resoundingly rejected Obama during his 2012 re-election, "we didn't show our hind ends when Obama was re-elected," Kirk said. So she believes people shouldn't overreact to Trump, either.

She particularly agreed with the president when he took credit for an optimistic business climate and a rising stock market, saying Trump is beginning to fulfill his campaign promise to put people back to work.

Reporters, she said, "need to leave him alone. He's just doing what he said he's going to do."

Kevin Felty of Norfolk, Virginia, said it was the "most impressive presidential press conference" of his life.

"Largely because it was so unorthodox," said Felty, 48, who works as a surgical assistant and sells life insurance. "It was hyper adversarial between the president and the press. And yet he was able to control the questioning and the tone and the mood in the room."

Felty said the media needs to move on regarding Russia and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

"There was nothing illegal that General Flynn had done at that time," Felty said. "What he did do is make a mistake in not being accurate with the vice president."

He also said he believes Trump is trustworthy as president.

"He doesn't need the media to chide him to make the right decisions," Felty said. "It's something he's been doing well for decades."

Regina Lenoir of Picayune, Mississippi, enjoyed watching Trump's news conference and said the president "looked more relaxed."

Lenoir, 69, said she was most interested in the president's comments about the alleged leaks that led to the resignation of Michael Flynn as national security adviser.

"We don't know the conversation that happened between him and (Vice President Mike) Pence. Only they know. But the news media gets out there (and) says such and such with no corroboration," she said. "I'm sick of them making up stories. You know, we're intelligent people. We can make up our own mind on whether they're telling the truth."

She agreed with Trump's take on how the media has covered his administration and campaign, saying those covering his administration are good reporters but biased.

She said if people gave Trump a chance, "he might just surprise everyone.

"He wasn't my first choice, but he is my president," Lenoir said. "I think he handled the news conference very well."

Joseph Gatlin of Virginia Beach, Virginia, said he did not watch the news conference but heard about the question a Jewish reporter asked Trump about a rise in anti-Semitic incidents around the country.

Trump told the reporter to sit down and said it was not a simple or fair question before describing himself as "the least anti-Semitic person you've ever seen in your entire life."

Gatlin, who is Jewish and who was born in Israel, said the media needs to move on from "asking the same question."

"He's not a racist. He doesn't believe in racism," said Gatlin, who owns a flooring company. "He's not anti-Semitic at all."

Gatlin pointed to the number of Jewish people in Trump's inner circle, including his son-in-law and White House adviser, Jared Kushner. He said the media instead should be asking Trump about terrorism and the economy.

"I think that it's become ridiculous," Gatlin said. "He wants the serious questions. He wants people to ask him questions that people care about. You can't mention racism in every speech. They're looking at the wrong things."

Scott Hiltgen, a 66-year-old office furniture sales broker from River Falls, Wisconsin, said he was glad to see the president push back against the media. He said reporters have no proof Trump or anyone around him did anything wrong.

"They're trying to make up a story that Trump worked with the Russians to rig the election," he said. "Now they're trying to make a big deal out of (former national security adviser) Mike Flynn. He was doing what he was supposed to do. He was talking to his counterparts. He was talking to the Russians. He got fired because he lied to (Vice President Mike) Pence. There's no story there. The left media is so excited. They think they took this guy down. No, he made a mistake. He just lied."

Hiltgen said he remains squarely behind the billionaire president because he has done what he said he would do on the campaign trail.

"He's accomplished more in, whatever, three weeks, regarding the stuff he talked about," Hiltgen said. "That's what people voted for. I can't believe there's actually a politician doing what he says he would do. That never happens."
Trump China newspaper

Remember when Donald Trump promised to label China a currency manipulator "on Day One"? Whatever happened to that promise?

A review of recent developments in the relationship between the Trump administration and the Chinese is elucidating.

Trump rattled China early on in his administration after taking a phone call from Taiwan's president. It was never clear whether the phone call was a diplomatic blunder or a deliberate strategy.

However, just weeks later, Trump reassured Chinese President Xi Jinping that the United States would support the "One China" policy that sees Taiwan as part of China. Why the abrupt change of heart?

It's worth noting that a few days after that phone call, something else happened: China granted Trump's business a valuable 10-year trademark. The trademark was considered a surprise win for Trump.

Critics have said Trump's business interests create an impossible web of conflicts that could make him vulnerable to undue influence by foreign actors. The China story corroborates those concerns in spades. Consider this: In China, Trump "has 49 pending trademark applications and 77 marks already registered in his own name, most of which will come up for renewal during his term," according to The Associated Press.

"China's decision to award President Trump with a new trademark allowing him to profit from the use of his name is a clear conflict of interest and deeply troubling," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, in a statement. "If this isn't a violation of the emoluments clause, I don't know what is.

"The fact that this decision comes just days after a conversation between President Trump and President Xi Jinping where President Trump reaffirmed the US policy of 'One China' is even more disturbing as it gives the obvious impression of a quid pro quo," she added.

Story continues

The issue initially fell through the cracks because of the uproar over the Trump team's suspicious links to Russia, which was found by US intelligence to have been involved in hacking the American elections.

During the presidential campaign, Trump took an extremely tough tone on China and Mexico, accusing the two US trading partners of stealing US jobs because of what he called "unfair" trade deals and, in China's case, deliberate currency undervaluation. He said he'd respond by hiking tariffs on Chinese goods to an exorbitant 45%, despite warnings of a possible trade war.

trump chart

Never mind that China has been struggling to prevent its currency from falling too quickly in recent months.

What about China's vicious currency manipulation, which Trump claimed cost American workers millions of jobs? Forget about it.

NOW WATCH: The president's close friend of 40 years explains Trump's sense of humor





More From Business Insider


A Somali man trekked 21 hours as temperatures hovered around 0 degrees Fahrenheit to make it across the northern U.S. border into Manitoba, Canada, CBC, a Canadian news agency reported.

The freezing and exhausted man shared his story with a CBC news reporter at about 4:30 a.m. Saturday.

"I have a problem. America is [the] problem now," he said, according to the report.

He was eventually picked up by Canadian police who brought him to get medical care.

The man is one of several Somali refugees who have fled into Manitoba since Donald Trump took office, CBC reported. Concerned about their legal status in the U.S., they've braved freezing temperatures on exhausting treks to make it over the northern border.
Over the strong objections of environmental groups, the Senate confirmed Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday, giving President Donald Trump an eager partner to fulfill his campaign pledge to increase the use of planet-warming fossil fuels.

Pruitt was sworn in later Friday by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

In six years as Oklahoma's attorney general, Pruitt filed 14 lawsuits challenging EPA regulations that included limits on carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. He also sued over the EPA's recent expansion of water bodies regulated under the Clean Water Act, a federal measure opposed by industries that would be forced to clean up polluted wastewater.

Pruitt submitted his resignation as attorney general to Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin on Friday.

Pruitt's supporters cheered his confirmation, hailing the 48-year-old Republican lawyer as the ideal pick to roll back environmental regulations they say are a drag on the nation's economy.

"EPA has made life hard for families all across America," said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. "The agency has issued punishing regulations that caused many hardworking Americans to lose their jobs. Mr. Pruitt will bring much needed change."

The vote was 52-46 as Republican leaders used their party's narrow Senate majority to push Pruitt's confirmation despite calls from top Democrats to delay the vote until requested emails are released next week.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was the lone Republican vote against Pruitt. Two Democrats from states with economies heavily dependent on fossil fuels crossed party lines to support Trump's pick, Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota.

During his Senate confirmation hearing last month, Pruitt said he disagreed with Trump's past statements that global warming is a hoax. However, Pruitt has previously expressed doubt about scientific evidence showing that the planet is heating up and that humans are to blame.

Pruitt's nomination was vigorously opposed by environmental groups and hundreds of current and former EPA employees, who fear he will preside over massive budget and staff cuts.

"The biologists, scientists, lab technicians, engineers and other civil servants who work at the EPA must be able to do their jobs without political interference or fear of retribution," said J. David Cox Sr., president of the American Federation of Government Employees, a labor union representing more than 9,000 EPA employees.

Democrats boycotted a committee vote on Pruitt's nomination last month, citing his refusal to hand over thousands of emails that he exchanged with oil and gas executives. As part of a public records lawsuit, a state judge in Oklahoma on Thursday concluded there was no legal justification for Pruitt's withholding his correspondence for the past two years. She ordered him to release most of the emails by next week.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to delay Pruitt's confirmation vote for 10 days. Schumer, of New York, tried to draw a direct line between Pruitt's withheld emails and last year's demands from Republicans during the presidential campaign.

"Emails! Remember emails?" Schumer asked on the Senate floor. "'We should get them out!' they said about Hillary Clinton. ... If they weren't worried about them, then why rush?"

To dramatize their cause, Democrats kept the Senate in session Thursday night into Friday morning with speeches opposing Pruitt's confirmation. Democrats were still marching to the floor at daybreak.

In the end, McConnell had the votes. So far, the Senate has confirmed 14 out of 22 Trump Cabinet or Cabinet-level picks requiring confirmation.

Another nominee, billionaire businessman Wilbur Ross, cleared a Senate hurdle on Friday and is on track to win approval to serve as commerce secretary. A final vote is slated for Feb. 27.

Trump has tapped some of the wealthiest Americans to serve in his Cabinet, and ethics reviews have slowed the confirmation process. So have Senate Democrats, who have opposed nominees and forced hours of debate.

Pruitt is closely aligned in his home state with oil and gas companies, whose executives have backed his political campaigns. Though Pruitt ran unopposed for a second term in 2014, public campaign finance reports show he raised more than $700,000, much of it from people in the energy and utility industries.

Environmental groups have already begun hiring additional lawyers to stymie as much of Pruitt's agenda as possible in court.

"Scott Pruitt is the worst pick ever confirmed to lead the EPA," said Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "We'll use every tool in the kit to stop him from harming our air and water, endangering our communities and surrendering our kids to climate catastrophe."
President's Day Weekend is typically one of the busiest weekends for ski resorts throughout New England. Whether you're planning to head north for the weekend or enjoy the mountains right here in Connecticut you will be greeted with plenty of snow. Plus, this weekends weather looks phenomenal for all of New England.

Ski resorts in Connecticut are doing very well, ranging between 40 to as much as 60 inches of snow.

Andrew Medichini/AP

The impressive snowpack can be found into areas of Massachusetts, southern Vermont, and southern New Hampshire.

Wachusett Mountain and Jiminy peak are reporting over 60 inches of snow at the summit.

Northern Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine are experiencing some of the best conditions in recent memory. Most resorts have between 50 and 60 inches of snow at the summit.

Noelle Tuttle from Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine says, "Conditions are some of the best weve seen in recent years, and getting better by the day."

Sugarloaf currently has the highest reported snow depth in all of New England at 77 inches.

JJ Tolland a representative from Jay Peak Resort in Vermont told us conditions are much better this year compared to last year.

"Our snowfall total for the entire 2015-16 winter was 208 inches. As of 6:00 AM this morning, Jay Peaks picked up 344 inches so far for the 2016-17 winter, and its still dumping. All of this seasons storms so far have either hit the week before or during a holiday week, which has caused our occupancy to be at 100% during all of the critical periods."

The weather conditions this weekend will be quite pleasant. Southern New England can expect temperatures in the low 40s Saturday with partly cloudy skies and into the upper 40s by Sunday with partly cloudy skies.

Hans Pennink/AP

Temperatures in northern New England will be near 40 degrees on Saturday with partly cloudy skies and into the middle 30s Sunday with scattered snow showers.

If you're hitting the slopes this weekend be sure to snap some photos or video. You can tweet them at us using the hashtag #nbcct or email them to us at shareit@nbcconnecticut.com
In the final years of his life, James Woodard spent a lot of time outside.

"He was in prison for almost three decades," said Joyce King, who dated him after he was cleared by DNA evidence. "And when we got him out, the Innocence Project of Texas, in 2008, he just didn't like being cooped up inside. He liked being outside under the stars."

King said they had plans to marry, but she admits their relationship was not perfect and ended badly.

And he was a troubled man.

Once Woodard started getting compensation money from the state, King said he made terrible choices.

"The 4.2 million dollars that he deserved and was awarded was a magnet for trouble," she said.

Woodard used drugs. He wrecked multiple cars -- nearly killing himself more than once.

"And in the end, there were drug charges," King said.

In August 2012, Woodard was arrested with a gram of cocaine. His attorneys decided not to bail him out as they worked on a plan to get him into rehab and protect his compensation money.

That October, still in jail, Woodard died.

"I got the phone call that James was found dead, had gone into a seizure on the floor of the Dallas County jail," King said. "And that was very devastating to me."

She calls his death "Shakespearean."

King decided Woodard deserved to be remembered as more than just a man who lived and died tragically.

"His story is a hopeful story," King said. "The people that remember James know that I made this promise to him, I'm going to keep working to exonerate more innocent men so they don't suffer what James did."

She wrote a book about Woodards brief life and titled it "Exonerated."

Shes also shopping a screenplay.
Officials in Austin have approved a $3.25 million settlement for the family of a teenager who was running naked along a street when he was fatally shot by a police officer.

The city council approved the settlement Thursday with the family of David Joseph, who was killed in February 2016 by officer Geoffrey Freeman.

Freeman had responded to reports of a naked man disturbing neighbors and running in the street. The 17-year-old Joseph sprinted toward Freeman when he exited his patrol car.

Freeman has said he feared for his life when he fired at the teen. Joseph was neither clothed nor armed.

A Travis County grand jury declined to indict Freeman, but he was fired from the force.

Late last year, the city reached a $35,000 settlement with Freeman.




Dallas police said a man reported missing Thursday evening has been found safe.

According to police, Derek Williams, 42, posed a danger to himself and others.

No further information was released.
A Day Without Immigrants meant a day without school for many Dallas students.

A press relesase from the Dallas Independent School District said attendance in Dallas schools on Thursday was 85 percent, compared to 95 percent the day before.

More than 23,500 students were marked absent on the day set aside for those in support of rights for immigrants to show the country how important their roles are.

"Various national discussions across the country led to a demonstration where a number of our students participated in a peaceful display to express their thoughts and feelings," said the press release.

Specific campuses reporting higher-than-normal rates of absence include Thomas Jefferson High School, Skyline High School, Piedmont G.L.O.B.A.L. Academy, Roger Q. Mills Elementary School, Stevens Park Elementary School and Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women's Leadership High School.

Thomas Jefferson High School; Skyline High School, Piedmont G.L.O.B.A.L. Academy; Roger Q. Mills Elementary School; Stevens Park Elementary School; and Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women's Leadership High School.
There's been something missing from Granbury's historic town square. For the last two weeks, the horse-drawn carriage that brings lovers on romantic dates and history buffs on tours has been absent.

"You kind of miss the clip clop," explained Robin Arquette, assistant to carriage driver, Wendy Inga. "I think there's a magic to it. A magic of a time gone by."

Earlier this month, Inga was critically injured in a freak accident while trying to get her horse, Bubba, out of his trailer. She slipped and was crushed. Inga has been in the intensive care unit at Harris Methodist in Fort Worth ever since.

"When a 2,200 pound draft horse is standing on you, it's critical," said Arquette. "You have lots of broken things."

But Inga also had lots of friends. Some of them, she didn't even know.

"I knew that she needed prayers and she probably was going to need some financial help, too," said Melina Ray, owner of the Nutt House Hotel and Granbury's unofficial town historian. "So I just started trying to get the word out."

Word spread on social media, and socially through the greater horse community.

"The horse community itself is a large, huge family," said Stockyards carriage driver, Laurie Reed. "There is always people that we help out whenever they're in need."

Inga was in need.

Reed is among the carriage drivers across North Texas stepping up to fill in for Inga's bookings to help keep her business afloat until she gets better.

They money will go a GoFundMe page that is raising money for Inga's medical expenses and her horses' care.

"We have a passion for what we do," explained Reed. "So when you have a passion for something, that can define love, and you'll just help everybody that you can."

In Granbury, Ray is looking forward to the day Inga can return to work and breathe life into the town's history.

"I think people forget sometimes that if we just are good to each other," Ray said. "That's really what it's all about."
Former Vice President Al Gore on Thursday said more attention must be paid to the dangerous health consequences of climate change, and he called on scientists, health officials and health care providers to work together to find solutions to the crisis.

Gore made the comments Thursday during the Health and Climate Meeting at The Carter Center in Atlanta. Gore helped organize the conference after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention abruptly canceled its own conference on climate change and health.

A number of CDC employees were attending, however, including Patrick Breysse, who leads the agency's efforts to investigate the relationship between environmental factors and health. CDC spokeswoman Kathy Harben said Breysse was there to represent the CDC but that some agency officials were attending on their own time.

Officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Institutes of Health and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were also attending.

Public health experts have long said that climate change is a man-made problem that contributes to a range of health issues and illnesses, including heat stroke, respiratory illness and diseases spread by tropical insects.

The problems are already here, the Noble Peace Prize Winner said in his keynote speech, noting infectious diseases like zika are now spreading to areas where they previously were not found.

"It's hard to focus on some of these horrific consequences of the climate crisis on health, but hope is justified," Gore said. "We are going to win this.

Gore also said the effects of climate change are falling hardest on the poor. Outbreaks of cholera, an acute intestinal illness caused by ingesting infected food and water, have in recent years struck places like Haiti and Niger. Cholera causes severe diarrhea and can lead to death by dehydration, sometimes within hours.

"Cholera likes warmer water," Gore said. "There are lots of examples of temperature spikes with water that had high levels where cholera becomes much worse and much worse of a problem."

In 2012, President Donald Trump tweeted that the concept of global warming was created by the Chinese to make U.S. manufacturing noncompetitive. He later said he was joking, but during the presidential campaign referred to global warming as "a hoax."

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, Trump's pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, has been met with opposition from environmental groups and some Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said Wednesday that she's going to vote against Pruitt because she has "significant concerns" over his active opposition to EPA policy and his lawsuits against the agency on policies important to Maine.

"We are now facing a new headwind," Gore said of the situation in Washington. " ... This is not the first time that there has been an unexpected obstacle. We will win this."
A Florida man is accused of plotting to blow up Target stores along the East Coast.

Federal prosecutors say Mark Barnett, 48, paid a man $10,000 to put at least 10 explosive devices, disguised as food items, in Target stores from Florida to New York.

Barnett's plan was ruined after the man he paid to assist him surrendered the explosive devices over to police.

According to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Ocala, Barnett was charged with "possession of a firearm (destructive device) affecting commerce by a previously convicted felon."

"Barnett theorized that the company's stock value would plunge after the explosions, allowing him to cheaply acquire shares of Target stock before an eventual rebound in prices," the complaint said.

NBC News reported that Barnett  a registered sex offender on probation for multiple felony kidnapping, sexual battery and grand theft counts  made the bombs at home and gave them to the individual, along with a bag of gloves, a mask and a license-plate cover, to complete the job, authorities alleged.

Barnett is currently in custody at the Marion County Jail. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in federal prison.
Bills heeding Gov. Greg Abbott's calls for a "convention of states" to amend the U.S. Constitution have begun making their way through the Texas Legislature.

Abbott has long backed legislatures nationwide convening a convention to impose a federal balanced budget amendment. He made it an "emergency item," fast-tracking proposals on the issue.

A proposed amendment to the Texas Constitution allowing for such a convention was introduced Thursday in the Senate State Affairs Committee. Some conservative Texans testified to applaud the idea, despite the GOP now controlling Congress and the White House.

But others opposed it, worried about a "runaway" convention where liberal states could weaken things like the Second Amendment.

The proposed amendment passed committee hours later, but faces an uncertain future before the full Texas Senate and House.
Former U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is weighing in on recent movement in President Trump's cabinet.



Hutchison reiterated what Trump has said about Michael Flynn, who resigned as White House Security Adviser.

His conversations with Russia aren't the problem, but the leaking of information is.

"The fact that he talked as a national security ad visor designate, to counterparts in Russia, is not unusual and it's not necessarily bad," Hutchison said. "I don't know what he said in those conversations, so I can't make a judgment if he went over the line or not."



The issue, she said, was misinformation passed on to Vice President Mike Pence.

"Russia is not our friend," Hutchison said. But added we do have a common enemy: ISIS.

If both countries can work together in a way that's beneficial for everyone, she said the United States should try to do that.



But what about Andrew Puzder? The man Trump tapped to be Labor Secretary, before Puzder withdrew his nomination.



"I don't think that's unusual," Hutchison said. "I think it's being handled expeditiously. I don't know all the questions that we're raised, but it's not unusual at all."
Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne announced Thursday she would not run for re-election in May after serving two three-year terms.

Van Duyne said she will focus on national issues with more details to come soon.

While I am looking forward to new opportunities to serve our nation, I will never forget you and the remarkable achievements we made, working together, on behalf of our great city, Van Duyne said on her Facebook page.

Two challengers who filed already were prepared to campaign against Van Duyne.

Irving native and business owner David Pfaff said Van Duyne promoted division in the diverse city.

The divisiveness doesnt really need to be happening here in Irving, Pfaff said. The founding fathers had a great message to us; 'come here, work hard, love the country and thats what we have in this city already.

Public relations executive Elvia Espino moved to Irving three years ago from Houston, but said Van Duyne was also an Irving transplant, from New York state.

Espino said 11,000 Irving Hispanics voted in the November election and she hopes to rally them as Irvings first Latina mayoral candidate.

This is not a Democratic or Republican issue. This is a people issue. And I believe that the country is divided enough, Espino said. I want to bring Irving back together again.

Irving's population is about 40 percent Hispanic.

Two other candidates are rumored to be considering Irving mayoral campaigns before Fridays 5 p.m. filing deadline.
A senior Democratic lawmaker said the creation of a 9/11-style commission to investigate Russian interference in the presidential election has gained bipartisan support.

Rep. Elijah Cummings told MSNBC the creation of the commission was necessary "to really get into how all of this happened, what was the relationship between the Trump campaign and the Russians, and try to figure out how to make sure that this does not happen again."

Cummings, the ranking member on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said the Republican co-sponsor of a bill to create the commission is "a congressman from North Carolina" whose name would be made public Friday.

Sen. Ben Cardin, the leading Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has previously called for an independent commission into election meddling.
A 24-year-old woman is warning others to be careful when selling property online after she was robbed at gunpoint.

Ann, who wished only to be identified by her first name, said she learned that lesson the hard way when she used Offer Up to sell her high-end electronics.

Offer Up is a smartphone application that allows people to sell items to people in their neighborhoods.

Ann said she arranged a meeting with a man in San Diego's Chollas Creek neighborhood at approximately noon Thursday, near 52nd and Oak Park.

When the man arrived, he looked through her property in her duffel bag and then he showed her a gun tucked into his pants.

"When I showed him the stuff, he pulled out a gun and threatened me," Ann said. "He was going to shoot me if I dont get out of here. That was his exact words, get out of here.'"

The suspects took a computer, camera and headphones.

Ann said the whole incident left her shaken.

I was scared, I was frightened, I didnt know what to do, so I just backed off and I just told him to take the stuff because its just stuff, I cared more about my life," Ann said.

The suspects have not been caught. Police are looking for two men last seen in a silver Dodge Charger fleeing the scene. The driver was described to be about 14 to 16 years old. The passenger in the car was described as approximately 20 years old with a gun.

The victim told police they were doing a deal on the "Offer Up" app when the robbery occurred, according to SDPD Officer Billy Hernandez.

Anyone with information is asked to call police.

No other information was available.
Authorities have arrested a Denver man at a hotel near Los Angeles international airport after a search of a hotel room where he had stayed in Denver yielded several pipe bombs.

Adam Hayat, 36, was being sought after pipe bombs were found at a hotel that he lived in in the Denver area, according to law-enforcement sources.

Police did not find any similar materials when he was arrested Thursday at a Holiday Inn LAX. He flew to LA Wednesday, the sources said.

The U.S. Attorney Office in Denver is preparing a statement.

Denver police and the FBI are investigating.



Hayat has no local arrest record, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

NBC4 affiliate KUSA in Denver reports that he is a former US Marine.
Authorities Thursday restated their appeal for public help in solving the killing of a man who was gunned down while celebrating his 39th birthday with relatives in front of his home in the Willowbrook area.

Ramiro Lepe was shot about 9 p.m. Aug. 5 in the 2600 block of East 129th Street and died at a hospital. He is survived by his wife and four children. According to investigators, three young Hispanic men got out of a faded red 1990s four-door compact car, and one of them opened fire on Lepe with a handgun.

A reward of $10,000 has been offered by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for help in solving the crime. Anyone with information on the case was urged to call the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.
Hundreds of flights were delayed or canceled Friday at Los Angeles International Airport, as driving rain and gusting winds wrought havoc on air travel across the Southland, with dozens of flights also impacted in Burbank and Orange County.

According to LAX officials, 333 flights were either delayed or canceled at the airport by late afternoon -- out of 1,413 total flights scheduled for Friday. The airport reported delays of 186 arriving flights and cancellations of 34 others. Among departing flights, 84 were delayed and 29 were canceled. Flights were averaging delays of about two hours.

Some flights involving LAX were delayed because airplanes were arriving from the west -- over the ocean -- and departing to the east -- the opposite of the normal operating procedure.

Travelers were advised to check with their airlines for the latest information.

Southwest Airlines posted a notice on their website warning that service Friday and Saturday "may be disrupted."

According to Southwest, flights may be delayed, diverted and/or canceled for the following cites: Burbank, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Ontario, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose.

"Customers who are holding reservation to, from or through the above cities on Friday Feb. 17 or Saturday Feb. 18 and (who) want to alter their travel plans may rebook in the original class of service or travel standby within 14 days of their original date of travel between the original city-pairs and in accordance with our accommodation procedures without paying any additional charge," the statement said.

Dozens of flights were also canceled at Burbank Hollywood Airport. In Orange County, the storm forced the cancellation of multiple flights at John Wayne Airport with American Airlines canceling all of its takeoffs and arrivals until 7:30 p.m.

Southwest Airlines also canceled most of Friday's flights, airport spokeswoman Deanne Thompson said.

Other carriers have called off a few flights, she said.

"We expect delays and diversions due to the weather today," Thompson said.

There hasn't been much commotion at the airport over it because the airlines "do a good job of reaching out to their customers" to alert them to a cancellation, she said. Airport officials also are using social media to alert passengers.

"For the most part it's pretty calm" at the airport, Thompson said.

"It's very windy, and the wind is the main problem," Thompson said.

"And we expect heavy rain later today. There are some flights taking off, and for some it's business as usual but in an abundance of caution other flights are being canceled."

On Saturday morning, as rain was expected to taper off, flights heading into LAX were experiencing delays of an average of 31 minutes. Flights heading to San Francisco International Airport from LAX were also experiencing delays.

Alasa, American Airlines, Delta, JetBlue, Soutwest and United airlines were waving change or cancelation fees for tickets that were booked.
A settlement was reached in a lawsuit filed by the estate of Paul Walker against that of the man who died with the actor in a 2013 high-speed crash in Santa Clarita, in which "The Fast and the Furious" co-star's father sought a return of vehicles his son kept in a car collection.

Attorneys for the two estates told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Sotelo on Thursday that the case was resolved.

No terms were divulged.

The actor's estate and his father, Paul Walker III, filed the lawsuit in March 2015 against the estate of Roger Rodas and Rodas' widow, Kristine Rodas. It sought a return of the cars the actor and Rodas co-owned before their deaths, when the autos became the exclusive property of the estate of Paul Walker, according to the complaint.

Walker owned about 30 cars in the collection that he stored in a Valencia warehouse, but only a portion were co-owned by him and Rodas, the suit stated. The cars sought from the Rodas estate may have been collectively worth about $1.8 million, according to court papers filed by lawyers for the Walker estate.

Among the cars the actor's estate sought from Rodas' estate were an Audi R8, a 1969 Ford Mustang and a 1970 Dodge Charger, the suit stated.

Paul Walker III is the executor of his son's estate.

Walker, 40, and Rodas, his friend and business partner, died after Rodas lost control of a Porsche Carrera GT, which crashed into trees and a utility pole before exploding in flames on Nov. 30, 2013.
The White House distanced itself Friday from a Department of Homeland Security draft proposal to use the National Guard to round up unauthorized immigrants, but lawmakers said the document offers insight into the Trump administration's internal efforts to enact its promised crackdown on illegal immigration.

Administration officials said the proposal, which called for mobilizing up to 100,000 troops in 11 states, was rejected, and would not be part of plans to carry out President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration policy.

If implemented, the National Guard idea, contained in an 11-page memo obtained by The Associated Press, could have led to enforcement action against millions of immigrants living nowhere near the Mexican border. Four states that border on Mexico were included in the proposal  California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas  but it also encompassed seven states contiguous to those four  Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Despite the AP's public release of the document, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said there was "no effort at all to utilize the National Guard to round up unauthorized immigrants." A DHS official described the document as a very early draft that was not seriously considered and never brought to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly for approval.

However, DHS staffers said Thursday that they had been told by colleagues in two DHS departments that the proposal was still being considered as recently as Feb. 10. DHS spokeswoman Gillian Christensen declined to say who wrote the memo, how long it had been under consideration or when it had been rejected.

The pushback from administration officials did little to quell outrage over the draft plan. Two Republican governors spoke out against the proposal and numerous Democratic lawmakers denounced it as an overly aggressive approach to immigration enforcement.

"Regardless of the White House's response, this document is an absolutely accurate description of the disturbing mindset that pervades the Trump administration when it comes to our nation's immigrants," said U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.)

Arkansas Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he would have "concerns about the utilization of National Guard resources for immigration enforcement," believing such a program "would be too much of a strain on our National Guard personnel."

Utah GOP Gov. Gary Herbert would have serious concerns about the constitutional implications and financial impact of activating the National Guard to round up unauthorized immigrants, the governor's office said in a statement.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), said, "This administration's complete disregard for the impact its internal chaos and inability to manage its own message and policy is having on real people's lives is offensive."

The AP had sought comment from the White House beginning Thursday and DHS earlier Friday and had not received a response from either. After the AP released the story, Spicer said the memo was "not a White House document" and said there was "no effort to do what is potentially suggested."

Governors in the 11 states would have had a choice whether to have their guard troops participate, according to the memo, which bears the name of Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general.

At a maximum, approximately 100,000 Army National Guard and Air National Guard personnel are available for stateside missions in the 11 states, according to statistics and information provided by the National Guard Bureau.

While National Guard personnel have been used to assist with immigration-related missions on the U.S.-Mexico border before, they have never been used as broadly or as far north.

The memo was addressed to the then-acting heads of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It would have served as guidance to implement the wide-ranging executive order on immigration and border security that President Donald Trump signed Jan. 25. Such memos are routinely issued to supplement executive orders.

Also dated Jan. 25, the draft memo says participating troops would be authorized "to perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension and detention of aliens in the United States." It describes how the troops would be activated under a revived state-federal partnership program, and states that personnel would be authorized to conduct searches and identify and arrest any unauthorized immigrants.

If implemented, the impact could have been significant. Nearly one-half of the 11.1 million people residing in the U.S. without authorization live in the 11 states, according to Pew Research Center estimates based on 2014 Census data.

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized when staffers in the Department of Homeland Security discussed the proposal. Those discussions took place as recently as last Friday, Feb. 10.
Verizon has brought back its unlimited data plan. So how does it stack up to the competition? (Image: Digital Trends)

Some five and a half years after killing its unlimited-data plan, Verizon (VZ) is resurrecting the offering, putting the carrier back on an even footing with competitors like AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile.

The move, announced Sunday, completes a remarkable turnaround for the industry. Back in mid-2012, only Sprint (S) offered a plan with unlimited full-speed data, which, given its horrible network then, wasnt too appealing anyway. But in August 2012, T-Mobile (TMUS) added an unlimited plan to its stable of offerings. In January, AT&T (T) brought back unlimited data for its subscription-TV customers. And now Big Red has joined the trend.

Verizons plan is actually a solid deal thanks to its unlimited high-definition video streaming and 10 GB of data for Wi-Fi tethering. But its also one of the most expensive options. Heres how Verizons unlimited plan compares to the competitions.

Prices and prioritization

Verizons Unlimited offering can actually be considered unmetered, as it does have some limitations. But thats also the case with the unlimited-data deals from each of the three other nationwide carriers.

And the severity of the restrictions on each so-called unlimited plan often has little do with how much more or less it costs next to competitors plans  a lineup in which Sprint is cheapest, followed by T-Mobile, then Verizon and finally AT&T.

Heres how the plans shake out:

AT&T (reserved for DirecTV and U-verse TV subscribers): $100 per month for one line, $40 per month each for the second and third lines. The fourth line is free.



Sprint: Sign up now through March 31, 2017 and youll pay $50 per month for one line, $40 for the second and nothing for the third and fourth lines through March 31, 2018. After that youll pay $60 a month for one line, $40 for a second and $30 each for the third and fourth. If you sign up after March 31, 2017, youll pay the standard $60 a month for the first line, $40 for the second line and $30 each for the third and fourth lines.

T-Mobile: $70 per month for one line, $60 for the second line and $20 each for the third and fourth lines.



Verizon: $80 per month for one line, $60 for the second, $22 for a third and $18 for a fourth.

Story continues

The most obvious limit is the point at which your data speeds slow if your carriers network becomes congested. This doesnt mean getting kicked back to 2G speeds  the fallback, unmetered data service AT&T, Sprint and Verizon provide on their limited plans  but could mean slower webpages and poor streaming quality. Its hard to say how much this could impact you, though, as user reports about the severity of this deprioritization have varied widely.

AT&T and Verizon will start to deprioritize your date after you use 22 GB in a month, while Sprint sets its limit at 23 GB. T-Mobile says ranking among the top 3% of its users, which the carrier says equates to burning more than 28 GB a month, will see your data fall to a lower priority level.

Other caveats: hotspots, high-def video

What about using your phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot, otherwise known as tethering? AT&Ts unlimited plan bans that, while Sprint limits it to 5GB a month. Verizon, meanwhile, includes 10 GB of LTE tethering and drops you down to 3G speeds once thats depleted. As of Monday morning, T-Mobile offered unlimited tethering but at painfully slow 3G speeds; that afternoon, it reversed course and said it would include 10 GB of full-speed tethering starting Feb. 17.

Video also faces limits on most of these plans. While Verizon offers unlimited high-definition video streaming, Sprint and AT&T constrain streaming to 480p resolution, or DVD quality. AT&T lets you opt out of this Stream Saver feature to watch movies at a higher resolution. Sprint (which also limits music streaming to 500 kilobits per second and gaming to 2 megabits per second) charges $20 extra per line for an Unlimited Premium plan that enables high-definition video and quadruples music and gaming speed limits.

T-Mobiles Monday switcheroo also ended the carriers policy of limiting streaming video to 480p resolution. Youll be able to get higher resolution streams starting Feb. 17. If youre already on the carriers T-Mobile One unlimited plan, youll also be able to switch to this upgraded version Feb. 17.

After Verizon announced its new unlimited plan, T-Mobile announced updates to its own unlimited plan.

T-Mobile and Verizon also specify that you must enable automatic payments on your account to get the advertised pricing for their plans, while Sprint requires that you use paperless billing. If youre fond of mailing back a check each month, look elsewhere.

Your alternatives

Whether these mostly-unlimited options work for you depends not on how much data you use, but on how you use it.

If you regularly use your phone as a hotspot, AT&T is out of the question while T-Mobile and Verizon clearly beat Sprint. If, however, mobile video dominates your data use and you watch on larger-screen devices, T-Mobile and Verizons support for HD streaming and AT&T letting you turn off Stream Saver may count in their favor.

Some of these plans include bonus features that may help tip the decision for you. AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, for example, include free roaming in Canada and Mexico. T-Mo also sweeps taxes and fees into its unlimited plans advertised price, unlike the other three carriers.

What about the old, unlimited-data plans AT&T and Verizon yanked off their sites a few years ago?

In Verizons case, you should almost certainly drop it: That old plans combined price for unlimited data, 450 voice minutes and only 250 text messages  tethering excluded  now stands at $95 after a $20 increase imposed on those grandfathered subscribers.

At AT&T, stand pat. The old unlimited-data option, combined with 400 minutes of calling and 200 texts, will cost $85 after a $5 price hike next month. Both old and new unlimited deals block tethering.

Either way, check your bill to see just how much data you use  the answer might mean the limited plans at AT&T, Sprint and Verizon suit you better. (Note that VzWs listed prices for 2 GB, 4 GB and 8 GB plans exclude a $20 per month line-access charge factored into its $80 advertised unlimited-data rate.) Buying more data than you use, subject to conditions youre more likely to notice, is not bandwidth management but an unprofitable form of psychological self-care.

Disclosure: Verizon is in the process of buying Yahoo Finances parent company, Yahoo.

More from Rob:

Email Rob at rob@robpegoraro.com; follow him on Twitter at @robpegoraro.
Two women boarded a flight to Havana with U.S. Immigration and Customs officials Friday, becoming the first Cuban nationals to be deported since the immigration policy known as "wet foot, dry foot" ended last month.

ICE officials told NBC 6 the women, who were seeking asylum in the U.S., were placed on a morning flight back to the island nation Friday morning. Their identities were not made public.

The Obama administration announced the end to the 'wet foot, dry foot' policy, which granted residency to Cubans who made it to the U.S., just days before President Donald Trump took office.

Wilfredo Allen, an attorney for one of the women, said they had arrived at Miami International Airport with European passports. The women requested asylum and were detained.

"They asked for political asylum as Cubans, what happens is the world has changed," Allen said.

Allen asked for them to be released so they could return to Cuba on their own, but the U.S. government denied the request and said they would be deported, sources said.

"I think part of the reason why they're being deported is to send a message that they will enforce the law, they will enforce it severely," Allen said.

President Trump has not established what, if anything, will change regarding U.S. Cuba policy. Press secretary Sean Spicer told NBC 6's Jackie Nespral earlier this month that the administration is reviewing its position with Havana.

"There will be no more paroles issued at the airport for people who seek asylum with a Cuban passport or with a European passport," Allen said.
Fans of Miami Dolphins great Dan Marino may get a chance to honor their hero as they drive down the road  while benefiting the fight against autism.

First reported by NBC affiliate WPTV, a bill proposed by Democratic State Rep. Joseph Abruzzo of Boynton Beach would create a new specialty license plate in the state, possibly with an image right on it.

All proceeds from sales of the plate would go to the Dan Marino Foundation, which raises money and provides services for people with autism and other developmental disabilities.

Already, the subcommittee that handles new tags has backed two new plates: one for the American Eagle Foundation and one that would honor former President Ronald Reagan. Two more proposals will go before the subcommittee, with the full legislature voting on any new plates once the session starts March 7th.

Currently, there are 125 specialty plates offered to drivers in Florida.
The human remains found in a wooded area in Pompano Beach have been identified as a woman who was reported missing in December, officials said Friday.

The body of 54-year-old Theresa Anne Seavey were found last Friday morning near the intersection of Blount Road and Copans Road, Broward Sheriff's Office officials said.

The remains were found by members of the Broward Sheriffs Office, Palm Beach Sheriffs Office, Fort Lauderdale Police and Miami-Dade Police who were in the area searching for Seavey, who had been reported missing in late December.

Officials said the remains will be examined to determine a cause of death. The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information is asked to call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.
An estimated 120,000 people are expected to have made their way to Coconut Grove for a yearly tradition that has gone on for over half a century.

The Coconut Grove Arts Festival shows off work from over 350 renowned artists from across the world for the three day event. Proceeds from the weekend go toward arts programs in the school system of Miami-Dade County and the community as a whole.

The event also means parking issues for those making their way to the area. Bayshore Drive will be closed from Aviation Avenue to McFarlane Road and fromMcFarlane Road to Grand Avenue starting Friday morning until Monday night.

Drivers are advised that heavy traffic is expected on SW 27th Avenue and they should use 22nd and 32nd Avenue as alternatives or use Miami-Dade transit.

Tickets are still avalible for many of the events and can be purchased by clicking on this link.

NBC 6 News Team at Coconut Grove Arts Festival

NBC 6 is a proud sponsor of the event - be sure to stop by the NBC 6 booth located on the corner of McFarlane Road and South Bayshore Drive and meet members of the NBC 6 News Team. See you there!
Police officers often put their lives on the line, but how do they recover when faced with danger?

Dr. Scott Allen, Miami-Dade Police Psychologist, says a traumatic event is any event that is outside the typical scope of normal human actions.

And October 30th, 2013 was anything but normal for Officer Mario Gutierrez. While parked at a gas station on Le Jeune Road and NW 25th street he saw smoke and a man pulling the gas hose.

"I was afraid we were going to blow up," Gutierrez said. "But I knew that I had to deal with the problem."

Gutierrez says he fired his taser at Dominique Jean, but seconds later the man viciously attacked him.

"I remember getting up on my knees and he starts to stab me across my chest," he said. "And I got very scared, because I was like man I'm not going to see my family. And then I got pissed, I got so angry."

Gutierrez then remembers reaching for his gun he shot and killed his attacker. Fellow officers then rushed Gutierrez from this gas station to the hospital.

"As soon as I was in that emergency room, the first thing I said was get me Dr. Allen," Guitierrez said.

Dr. Scott Allen has been a police psychologist with the Miami-Dade Police Department for more than 30 years. The department's psychological services team is on call 24/7 for officers.

"We respond to all the scenes of officer involved shootings, we respond to the hospital when there is a major traumatic event," Allen said.

Dr. Allen says he was hired in the 1980s to help lower the incidence of suicide in the department. According to the "Badge of Life" there were 108 police suicides in the United States in 2016 a number that has dropped since 2008.

"We average probably one police suicide every two years, so that is an incredibly low incidence," he said.

And after such a traumatic experience that almost took his life, Officer Gutierrez recognizes the importance of a healthy mind to continue doing the job he loves.

"You need it... how are you going to heal your mind, how are you going to heal your emotions if you don't talk. Where are you going to go... it's going to eat you alive," Gutierrez said.
Seeing Karen Uriostegui volunteering with disabled students at Braddock High School is almost the same as watching a teacher at work. She uses flash cards to teach them about people, places and things. She uses toy clocks to teach them about time. The special needs kids may not even realize that Karen is just a student who developed a passion in freshman year.

When I started working with them I really liked the feeling, helping others and putting a smile on their face, something so simple, but it felt good, it felt amazing, Karen said.

She is the student government president, and the president of the club that brings disabled kids into the mainstream of student life. For Karen, its not a one-way street.

I actually got one of the non-verbal students to say my name and thats the moment that I was like, I want to do this the rest of my life, said Karen, a senior.

The whole aspect of, you get out what you put into it, and i think she puts a lot into it because she expects a lot out of it, said Manuel Garcia, the principal at Braddock High. Thats what she does, she just continues to give back and I think she likes stretching herself into challenging areas.

The work Karen does with her mentally and physically disabled peers is noticed beyond the special needs classrooms. It inspires her friends.

An extreme inspiration, its not something that i would picture myself doing but Karen does it and inspires me to do better, said classmate Joel Gonzalez.

Karens sincerity is noticed.

She doesnt do it as a resume booster, she doesnt do it so that people could recognize her, Karen does it because she truly wants to make a difference, said classmate Patricia Velasco.

Karen also is an academic superstar. She has a 5.3 GPA in the Cambridge Program, shes in the top 1% of her class, and shes president of the peer-counseling HIP club. She will also be the first in her immigrant family to go to college.

I came here when I was 8 years old, had to learn the language, had no one to help me, I had to teach myself English, I had to work on my own, but it feels good to see how much the hard work paid off, Karen said.

She has also found a calling. Karen says shell turn her hobby of working with the disabled into a career after college.
President Donald Trump offered his spin on the first weeks of his administration, and made some familiar false claims, during his Feb. 16 news conference:

The president praised his administrations implementation of his anti-terrorism executive order, which has been largely blocked by the courts. The rollout was perfect, he said. But the order caused confusion at the nations airports, including for green-card holders and dual citizens.

Trump said that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which unanimously decided not to reinstate Trumps travel ban, has had its rulings overturned by the Supreme Court at a record number. Not true.

Trump wrongly said that Hillary Clinton gave Russia 20 percent of the uranium in the United States. Clinton was one of nine votes approving the deal. She alone couldnt have stopped the deal, which involved 20 percent of U.S. production capacity, not stocks, and the uranium cant go to Russia without export licenses.

The president claimed his November victory was the biggest Electoral College win since Ronald Reagan. It wasnt. Three presidents since Reagan captured a larger share of electoral votes than Trump did, including Republican George H.W. Bush.

Trump said jobs have already started to surge since his election, citing investments by Ford, Fiat Chrysler and Intel. But the investments, much of which were in the works before the election, were largely market driven.

Contrary to the presidents claim that nobody mentions that Hillary received the questions to the debates, there was plenty of press coverage in October when it was revealed that former CNN contributor Donna Brazile shared several questions with the Clinton campaign during the primary election.

Trump said he thought the media had a lower approval rate than Congress. No  the publics approval of Congress is lower than its trust in the media.

Trump took questions from the media after announcing his new pick for labor secretary, R. Alexander Acosta, dean of the Florida International University College of Law and a former U.S. attorney.

Perfect Executive Order Rollout?

Trump described his administration as a fine-tuned machine, and in particular praised its implementation of his anti-terrorism executive order, which has been largely blocked by the courts.

The rollout was perfect, Trump said.

Of course, that is his opinion. But there are some facts that suggest it was less than perfect.

The order included a 90-day travel ban on citizens from seven predominately Muslim countries. It was signed on Jan. 27, and caused confusion and sparked protests at international airports.

For example, the order did not say  and the administration failed to immediately clarify  whether lawful permanent residents of the U.S., known as green-card holders, would be barred from reentering the U.S., if they are citizens of the seven banned countries.

On Jan. 28, CNN reported that green-card holders from the affected seven countries would need a waiver to enter the country, citing unnamed administration sources. A day later, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly issued a statement confirming that green-card holders would be allowed into the U.S. on a case-by-case basis. Three days later, the administration issued an update on Feb. 1 declaring green-card holders would not need a waiver.

Stars Katherine Langford and Christian Navarro took to social media to announce that the Netflix series is back in production

They no longer need a waiver because if they are a legal permanent resident they wont need it anymore, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said at a Feb. 1 briefing.

It also was unclear how the order affected dual citizens. For example, that caused confusion for dual-citizen Canadians who held citizenship in one of the banned countries. The Toronto Star reported that the Trump administration informed Canada late on Jan. 28 that dual citizenship holders traveling from Canada would not be affected by the order.

The word from National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, relayed to the media by Canadas Washington embassy, ended a day of confusion and turmoil over a vaguely worded Trump policy that had appeared to ensnare tens of thousands of Canadian citizens and abandon 150 years of border tradition, the Star wrote.

President Donald Trump said he believed Michael Flynn "was just doing his job" as a then-incoming national security advisor to the White House when he called a Russian minister. Trump maintained that Flynn was fired for misleading Vice President Mike Pence.

On Feb. 3, a week after Trump signed the order, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a definitive statement to clarify the classes of aliens affected by the 90-day temporary pause on travel. It also now provides an FAQ page that answers more than two dozen questions about the order.

Trump and other administration officials sought to downplay the impact of the temporary travel ban. The president tweeted on Jan. 30 that only 109 out of 350,000 were detained and held for questioning. But, as we wrote, the order affected tens of thousands of people. The State Department has estimated that about 60,000 visa holders were affected by the travel ban, and the United Nations estimated that about 20,000 refugees would be affected by the 120-day suspension of the U.S. refugee program.

[NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and More

Not a Record on Reversals

Trump also wrongly said that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which unanimously decided on Feb. 9 not to reinstate Trumps travel ban, has had its rulings overturned by the Supreme Court at a record number.

Trump: In fact, we had to go quicker than we thought because of the bad decision we received from a circuit that has been overturned at a record number. I have heard 80 percent, I find that hard to believe, that is just a number I heard, that they are overturned 80 percent of the time. I think that circuit is  that circuit is in chaos and that circuit is frankly in turmoil. But we are appealing that, and we are going further.

In 2015, the most recent year for available data, the 9th Circuit did have a reversal rate of 80 percent, but the 11th Circuit had a reversal rate of 100 percent. And the year before that, the 9th Circuit had a reversal rate of 63 percent, when four other circuits had 100 percent of their rulings overturned.

And over a longer period of time, between 1999 and 2008, the 9th Circuit, at 80 percent, had the second highest reversal rate, according to a 2010 report from the American Bar Association. The highest rate, 83.3 percent, belonged to the Federal Circuit. The ABA wrote that the common perception that the 9th Circuit is the rogue circuit is not true.

The ABA noted that the Supreme Court overturns most circuit court decisions that it reviews, but reviews less than 1 percent of all circuit court rulings.

Uranium Overreach

Trump repeated his misleading claim that Hillary Clinton gave Russia one-fifth of all U.S. uranium.

Trump: You know, they say Im close to Russia. Hillary Clinton gave away 20 percent of the uranium in the United States. Shes close to Russia.

Hes wrong on several counts. The deal Clinton had a role in approving gave Russia ownership of 20 percent of U.S. production capacity  not existing stocks of uranium. Furthermore, Clinton alone could not have stopped the deal; only the president could have done that with a finding that national security would be endangered. Lastly, none of the uranium goes to Russia. That would require export licenses.

Trump was referring to Clintons role in the 2010 purchase by Russias nuclear agency of Uranium One, a Toronto-based company with mining operations in Kazakhstan, Tanzania and the United States, where the companys operations amount to about 20 percent of annual U.S. production capacity.

The fact is  as we reported nearly two years ago  Clinton had no veto power to stop that deal. She was one of nine voting members on the foreign investments committee that unanimously approved it, a panel that also includes the secretaries of the treasury, defense, homeland security, commerce and energy, the attorney general, and representatives from two White House offices  the United States Trade Representative and the Office of Science and Technology Policy. (Separately, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission needed to approve (and did approve) the transfer of two uranium recovery licenses as part of the sale.)

Only the president could have stopped the sale, and only if at least one member of the foreign investment committee had objected. And even then, the president cannot prohibit a transaction without finding credible evidence that the foreign interest exercising control might take action that threatens to impair the national security, according to the federal regulation that governs such matters.

Finally, Russia may own the mines, but the uranium coming out of them stays in the U.S. As the Nuclear Regulatory Commission noted when it approved the sale, no uranium produced at either facility may be exported.

Trump made the same claim in slightly different words three times during his news conference. Its a replay of a bogus accusation he made during last years campaign, when it was debunked by us and other independent fact-checking sites. But constant repetition doesnt make a false statement true.

President Donald Trump has told Republican senators that the House health care bill is "mean" and that the Senate version should be "more generous."

No Electoral Bragging Rights

Trump claimed that we got 306 electoral votes because people came out and voted like theyve never seen before so thats the way it goes. I guess it was the biggest Electoral College win since Ronald Reagan.

Actually, Trump finished with 304 electoral votes, since two members of the Texas Electoral College did not cast their votes for Trump even though he won the state.

Also, as weve written before, Trumps Electoral College victory margin ranks 46th out of 58 presidential elections, based on Trumps share of the 538 electoral votes. Trump received 56.5 percent of the electoral vote.

Since President Reagans victories in 1980 and 1984, three presidents have captured a larger share of the electoral vote than Trump did in 2016. President George H.W. Bush won 79.18 percent in 1988; President Bill Clinton won 68.77 percent in 1992 and 70.45 percent in 1996, and President Barack Obama won 67.84 percent in 2008 and 61.71 percent in 2012.

Later in the press conference, a reporter pointed out that Obama and other presidents since Reagan had received more electoral votes than Trump did. The president clarified that he was talking about just Republicans, but hes wrong about that too, as the reporter pointed out.

I was given that information, I dont know, Trump responded. I was just given it. We had a very, very big margin.

Trumps Jobs Record

Trump claimed that jobs have already started to surge since his election, citing investments by Ford, Fiat Chrysler and Intel in new U.S. plants. But much of the U.S. expansion was in the works before Trump was elected, and the investments were largely market driven.

While many corporate leaders  including at those companies mentioned by Trump  have praised the presidents plan to cut regulations and corporate taxes, it is too early to tell how those changes have or will affect the job market overall.

Lets deal with some of the specific claims one at a time.

Trump: Jobs have already started to surge. Since my election, Ford announced it will abandon its plans to build a new factory in Mexico, and will instead invest $700 million in Michigan, creating many, many jobs.

As we wrote when Trump boasted in a tweet two days prior to his inauguration that jobs at Ford and other companies are coming back to the U.S. because of me, Trump is giving himself too much credit with Ford.

Ford announced on Jan. 3 that it was cancelling its plan to build a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico, and that it planned to invest $4.5 billion over the next five years to ramp up production of electric cars, including an investment of $700 million at its plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, to manufacture two of them.

The decision not to build the plant in Mexico, where Ford had planned to build the next generation Ford Focus, was scrapped because weve seen decreasing demand here in North America for small cars, and we simply dont need the capacity anymore, Ford CEO Mark Fields said on Fox Business News. Instead, he said, Ford will build the Focus in an existing facility in Mexico.

As for the investment in electric vehicles, Fields said in announcing the plan that it was a reaction to the reality that the era of electric vehicles is dawning, adding that he expected to see production of electric cars exceed traditional gas-powered ones in the next 15 years.

Host Neil Cavuto asked if any of the decisions were based on Trumps criticisms during the campaign.

Well, were doing this based on whats right for our business, Fields said. Fields added that Ford is anticipating more positive U.S. manufacturing business environment under Trump, and he said the company welcomes some of the pro-growth policies such as regulation and business tax changes that Trump talked about during the campaign. Fields said Fords announcement was a vote of confidence that the president will deliver on these things.

Fields noted that the 700 new jobs were in addition to the 28,000 the company has added over the last five years. The company also has invested $12 billion in U.S. plants over the same period.

Would you have done this [the moves announced] if Donald Trump were not elected president? Cavuto asked.

Yes, absolutely, Fields said.

Trump: Fiat Chrysler announced it will invest $1 billion in Ohio and Michigan, creating 2,000 new American jobs.

Fiat Chrysler announced on Jan. 8 a $1 billion investment in plants in Michigan and Ohio, and the addition of 2,000 new American jobs. The company said the investment was part of an ongoing commitment to strengthening its U.S. manufacturing base, which has included commitments to invest more than $9.6 billion in its U.S. manufacturing facilities, and the creation of 25,000 new jobs to date, since 2009.

In comments the day after the announcement, Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne told reporters the announced investments were in the works for more than a year and had nothing to do with Trump or his policy ideas, USA Today reported.

Rather, he said, It has been part of the discussion going back to 2015 negotiations with the United Auto Workers.

Trump: Intel just announced that it will move ahead with a new plant in Arizona that probably was never going to move ahead with. And that will result in at least 10,000 American jobs.

Trump has a stronger case with this example, though the history is a bit complex.

While Intels CEO credited Trumps pro-business platform for the recent announcement of a $7 billion investment in a new factory in Arizona that will make semiconductor chips  which he said will result in 10,000 direct and indirect jobs in the state  this is actually the second announcement for the facility.

Back in 2011, Intel announced a $5 billion investment in the same facility, which Obama touted in an early 2012 visit to Arizona.

Intel began building the shell of that facility several years ago, but the project was left uncompleted because of a lack of general demand for the product, a company spokesman told CNN Money.

Were making this investment now to meet demand that we now expect, Intel spokesman William Moss said. That said, we certainly join other companies in supporting the administrations pro business and pro investment goals.

That praise was echoed by Intel CEO Brian Krzanich in an announcement at the White House on Feb. 8 that the project would be moving forward. He credited Trumps pro-business platform as the impetus to move forward.

Krzanich was asked if there was something that President Trump did or said that made you want to announce this here and now.

Said Krzanich: Its really in support of the tax and regulatory policies that we see the administration pushing forward that really make it advantageous to do manufacturing in the U.S.

In the bigger picture, Trump claimed that he inherited a mess with jobs pouring out of the country when he took office. But as we noted in our Jan. 20 story What Trump Inherits, the economy added nearly 2.2 million jobs in the 12 months before Trump took office. It has gained jobs for 75 straight months  the longest streak on record.

The number of job openings also has continued to hold at near record levels for the last two years. And the unemployment rate, at 4.8 percent in January, is well below the historical norm. We wont know how Trump is doing on jobs until the Bureau of Labor Statistics comes out with its monthly figures for February, and it may take many more months or even years, to fully evaluate Trumps impact on jobs.

No Question on Debate Coverage

Trump said that nobody mentions that Hillary [Clinton] received the questions to the debates. As we have written before, there was plenty of press coverage when it was revealed that former CNN contributor Donna Brazile shared questions with Clintons campaign during the primary election.

Trump: Now, when WikiLeaks, which I had nothing to do with, comes out and happens to give, theyre not giving classified information. Theyre giving stuff  what was said at an office about Hillary cheating on the debates. Which, by the way, nobody mentions. Nobody mentions that Hillary received the questions to the debates.

Perhaps no one mentions it now because the election was over three months ago. But there was plenty of press coverage back in October when emails allegedly obtained from the account of Clintons campaign chairman, John Podesta, revealed that former CNN contributor Brazile shared several town hall and primary debate questions with members of Clintons campaign.

According to the emails, Brazile sent multiple questions to the Clinton campaign before a CNN town hall in mid-March last year, and she sent at least one question to Clintons campaign prior to a Democratic debate earlier that month.

Politico and others reported that the hacked emails showed that Brazile sent a town hall question about the death penalty in an email on March 12, 2016, to Clintons communications director, Jennifer Palmieri, with the subject line, From time to time, I get the questions in advance.

Politico also reported that an additional email showed that Brazile forwarded the campaign other town hall questions  one about unions and another about income inequality. Clinton was asked the question about unions, and Sen. Bernie Sanders was asked about income inequality in the town hall.

There were also multiple news reports that another email showed that Brazile tipped off the Clinton campaign to a potential question the day before a Democratic debate between Clinton and Sanders on March 6 in Flint, Michigan. In that email, Brazile tells Podesta and Palmieri that one of the questions directed to HRC tomorrow is from a woman with a rash who will ask what if anything will Hillary do as president to help the ppl of Flint.

CNN, which was among those that reported on the emails, accepted the resignation of Brazile, the acting DNC chair, on Oct. 14, three days after the first press reports on the controversy.

However, there is no evidence that Clinton herself directly received any questions.

And though the alleged Clinton campaign emails that WikiLeaks published did not contain classified information, the organization has made classified information public before. For example, in 2010, WikiLeaks published hundreds of thousands of classified documents pertaining to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that it had obtained from Chelsea Manning, a transgender woman and former Army intelligence officer.

Manning was convicted of violating the Espionage Act and other counts in August 2013 and sentenced to 35 years in prison. But she is scheduled to be released on May 17, after then-President Obama commuted her sentence in mid-January.

President Donald Trump has told Republican senators that the House health care bill is "mean" and that the Senate version should be "more generous."

Media Approval

Trump also stumbled over the facts when he taunted the reporters questioning him by saying, People  I mean, you have a lower approval rate than Congress. I think thats right. I dont know.

No, thats not right.

Its true that Americans trust in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly had dropped to its lowest level since the Gallup organization began asking the question in 1972, as of Gallups most recent annual report on the subject last September.

And Trump would have been correct to say that trust in the media is even lower than approval of himself. According to Gallup, Trumps approval rating stood at 41 percent, as of the week ending Feb. 12, while the publics trust in the media was down to 32 percent.

But even fewer people say they approve of the way Congress is doing its job. As of January, only 19 percent said they approve, while 76 percent disapproved, according to Gallup.

 Robert Farley, DAngelo Gore, Brooks Jackson, Eugene Kiely, Ilana Nathans and Lori Robertson

FactCheck.org is a non-partisan non-profit organization that will hold candidates and key figures accountable during the 2016 presidential campaign. FactCheck.org will check facts of speeches, advertisements and more for NBC.
Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez was among a group of Hispanic congressmen barred from a meeting Thursday with a top federal immigration enforcement official, while lawmakers who did make it to the meeting worry all undocumented immigrants are at risk of deportation.

According to Gutierrez, a Democrat, members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus were scheduled to meet Tuesday with acting Immigration and Custom Enforcement Director Thomas Homan to discuss President Donald Trumps controversial executive order on deportation.

The meeting was canceled at the last minute and rescheduled for Thursday, at which point, Gutierrez said, it was transformed into an invitation-only, Republican-led affair. The congressman was ultimately asked to leave by an aide to House Speaker Paul Ryan, who wasnt on hand. Several other members of the CHC were also excluded.

In 20-plus years, I have never heard of the Republicans controlling what meetings Democrats can have with officials of the Executive Branch and never had a staffer ask me to leave a meeting to which I am entitled to attend, Gutierrez said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for Ryan told Politico Thursday that the speakers office organized the bipartisan meeting at the request of the DHS, limiting attendance to members with jurisdictional interests in immigration enforcement, including certain members of the Democratic caucus.

As NBC News reported, the members of Congress who did get to attend the meeting didn't walk away comforted. They still expressed concern for undocumented immigrants in the U.S.

Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Michelle Lujan Grisham said that "all immigrant communities are at risk" with changes ordered by President Donald Trump through his executive orders.

Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif., said in a statement that, "in effect, every undocumented person in America is now vulnerable to arrest and removal as a result of the president's orders."

Jennifer Elzea, an ICE spokeswoman, said in a statement that the meeting emphasized that ICE "does not conduct arrests indiscriminately" or use checkpoints. Officers instead seek out preidentified individuals for arrest at specific locations based on law enforcement leads." She explained that the arrests are made on "a case by case basis."

Rep. Linda Sanchez, a vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said that "they said we can and should expect many more arrests and removals this year."

Last week, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement began carrying out Trumps deportation order, arresting more than 680 individuals in Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta and San Antonio.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly insisted Monday that the order only affects convicted criminal aliens and gang members and individuals who have violated our nations immigration laws, although some continue to question the scope of the enforcement.

"My constituents have questions about who is being targeted by ICE, which DREAMers with DACA they are targeting for deportation, which victims of domestic violence ICE is deporting, which immigrants at church shelters are being targeted, Gutierrez said.

We know the statements by Trump about targeting criminals is a lie, but we were hoping someone could give us the truth or any information at all, he added.

A group of Democratic senators, including Illinois Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, introduced legislation Thursday to rescind the measure.

Its time for Congress to stand up and make it clear that we will not be intimidated by the Presidents bullying, Durbin said in a statement. This legislation would end the Administrations mass deportation scheme and begin to lay the groundwork for a smarter, fairer immigration approach."

Trump extolled the virtues of his divisive order during a White House press conference Thursday,

"We've begun a nationwide effort to remove criminal aliens, gang members, drug dealers and others who pose a threat to public safety," he told reporters. "We are saving American lives. Court system has not made it easy for us."

Outlining his vision for bolstering the country's borders, Trump detailed plans for a "great wall" on the Mexican border and a crackdown on sanctuary cities, like Chicago. In addition, the president was unable to give a clear answer Thursday about how his administration would handle DACA students, who came to the country as young children and applied for deferred action, a form of relief from deportation.
Eighteen-year-old Jordan Johnson was a star athlete at East Hampton High School -- until, last month, he was rushed to Southampton Hospital, nearly dead after suffering a drug overdose.

"They brought us into a room and told us his kidneys were shutting down, and he was breathing on a ventilator," recounted his mother, Christine Moran.

Jordan was placed in a medically induced coma until he stabilized. And then his parents learned how he ended up in the hospital, through social media.

A Snapchat video posted around 8 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 29, shows a boy shouting through a megaphone into Jordans ear. Jordan does not appear to hear, and he lays motionless while his peers continue to use the megaphone directly in his ear. A caption on the video reads, "Why is he out still."

Police say they did not receive a 911 call about this incident until 9:18 the following morning.

"You could see that he was unresponsive and passed out," said Jordans father, Andre Johnson. "They didnt call anyone until the next day. He laid there for 12, 14 hours without no assistance, no ambulance, no calls, nothing. So thats how most of the damage came out."

According to his parents and his friends, the Snapchat was posted by a girl who lived at the home where Jordan was.

"He wasnt with any of his actual real friends," said Justin Napolillo, Jordans friend since childhood.

The home, Napolillo says, was a known party house.

"At the door, shell ask you for 10 dollars and theres usually a guy who waits outside the door who is her dads friend," said Napolillo. "Youll walk in and shell get you Xanax or Oxy from her father."

But according to Jordan, who admits he took drugs that night, thats not what put him in the hospital. Speaking to NBC 4 New York's I-Team via Skype from his hospital bed, he said, "He told me it was cocaine but it ended up being morphine."

Jordan says he was given 100 milligrams of morphine. It was a first for him, as was his experience afterwards.

"It was a party, and I was ODing on the ground, throwing up on myself and they didnt call the ambulance," he said.

East Hampton town police said they cannot comment on an open investigation but those familiar with the investigation confirm an adult was home at the time Jordan overdosed. Police said they have been called to the house numerous times before, for noise and parking complaints.

"Something should have been done a long time ago before this incident," said Andre Johnson.

A few days after Jordans overdose, friends and family say the girl posted an advertisement for yet another party on Instagram. It reads in part, "10 dollars at the door" and "if you have no drugs or alcohol or money you are not going in."

"How many kids are going to have to have an overdose or alcohol poisoning before they say enough we got to shut this down?" said Johnson.

For now, Jordan remains at the hospital, slowly relearning skills he took for granted, like walking and talking. While his parents fight to make sure this doesnt happen to any other teenager.

"People dont want to see this," said Christine Moran. "Maybe some people are a little blind to it, but it is happening in the smaller communities. Its happening in the Hamptons."
A 25 year veteran of the NYPD, assigned to the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) for 16 years, died suddenly earlier this week.

Robert Losada, 59, of Staten Island was a highly decorated Detective Sergeant when he retired from the NYPD in 2009. He continued his service with the JTTF as a criminal investigator with the U.S. Attorneys office in Brooklyn.

Bobby faithfully served the people of New York City, said U.S Attorney Robert Capers, keeping the country safe from real terror threats.

Losada was a 9/11 first responder and investigated the terror plot to blow up the gas lines at Kennedy Airport and a plot to bomb a shopping mall.

Bobby was well known throughout the FBIs New York office and was a highly respected member of our JTTF, said Assistant FBI Director William Sweeney. He was instrumental in ensuring integration between the FBI and the NYPD.

Losadas funeral and burial was Thursday on Staten Island. He is survived by his wife, Daria, and their five children.
More than three dozen undocumented immigrant fugitives were arrested last week in the New York area as part of a nationwide ICE operation targeting wanted criminals.

The list, which News 4 New York obtained from a law enforcement source, covers a wide variety of sexual, drug and other violent crimes.

The vast majority of those arrested come from Latin America; roughly one-third of them are from El Salvador alone.

Among those arrested:

 A 31-year-old El Salvador national with a criminal conviction for assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering and self-admitted MS-13 gang member. He was arrested in New Hyde Park, NY

 A 49-year-old Jamaican national with a criminal conviction for first degree sexual assault of a victim under the age of 11. He was arrested in Bronx, NY.

 A 60-year-old Mexican national with a criminal convicted for first degree sexual assault of a victim under the age of 11 and endangering the welfare of a child. He was arrested in Staten Island, NY.

 A 23-year-old Guyana national with a conviction of rape. He was arrested in Richmond Hill, NY.

 A 29-year-old Guatemala national convicted of rape. He was arrested in Bronx, NY.

 A 30-year-old El Salvador national with a conviction of rape. He was arrested in Jamaica, NY.

 A 51-year-old El Salvador national with a conviction of a sex offense against a child/fondling. He was arrested in College Point, NY.

 A 54-year-old Guinea national convicted of sexual assault carnal abuse. He was arrested in Bronx, NY.

 A 38-year-old Ecuador national with a conviction of sexual assault carnal abuse. He was arrested in Jackson Heights, NY.

 A 43-year-old Mexican national with a conviction of sexual assault carnal abuse. He was arrested in New York, NY.

 A 30-year-old Ecuador national convicted of sexual assault. He was arrested in New City, NY.

 A 35-year-old Mexican national with a conviction of a sex offense. He was arrested in New York, NY.

 A 34-year-old El Salvador national with a conviction of a sex offense. He was arrested in College Point, NY.

 A 30-year-old Honduras national with a conviction of assault. She was arrested in Monroe, NY

 A 40-year-old Mexican national with a conviction of assault. He was arrested in Staten Island, NY.

 A 34-year-old El Salvador national with a conviction of endangering the welfare of a child. He was arrested in Hempstead, NY.

 A 29-year-old Mexican national convicted of family neglect. He was arrested in Elmhurst, NY.

 A 30-year-old previously removed Mexican national convicted of robbery. He was arrested in Brooklyn, NY. He will be prosecuted federally by the U.S. Attorneys Office in New York for re-entry after deportation

 A 56-year-old El Salvador national convicted of robbery. She was arrested in Riverhead, NY.

 A 25-year-old Trinidad national convicted of robbery. She was arrested in Roosevelt, NY.

 A 31-year-old Honduras national convicted of larceny. He was arrested in Island Park, NY.

 A 27-year-old El Salvador national with a conviction of burglary. He was arrested in Bayshore, NY.

 A 44-year-old Colombia national with a conviction of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. He was arrested in Brooklyn, NY.

 A 41-year-old previously removed Dominican Republic national convicted of cocaine sale. He was arrested in Bronx, NY. He will be prosecuted federally by the U.S. Attorneys Office in New York for re-entry after deportation.

 A 46-year-old El Salvador national with a conviction of cocaine possession. He was arrested in Elmont, NY.

 A 38-year-old previously removed Dominican Republic national convicted of drug possession. He was arrested in Bronx, NY. He will be prosecuted federally by the U.S. Attorneys Office in New York for re-entry after deportation.

 A 44-year-old previously removed El Salvador national with a conviction of police obstruction. He was arrested in Roosevelt, NY. He will be prosecuted federally by the U.S. Attorneys Office in New York for re-entry after deportation.

 A 40-year-old Mexican national with a conviction of invasion of privacy. He was arrested in Bronx, NY. He will be prosecuted federally by the U.S. Attorneys Office in New York for re-entry after deportation.

 A 35-year-old previously-removed El Salvador national convicted of driving under the influence. He will be prosecuted federally by the U.S. Attorneys Office in New York for re-entry after deportation. He was arrested in Hempstead.

 A 54-year-old Guatemalan national with convictions of driving under the influence/Human Rights Violator. He was arrested in New York, NY.

 A 26-year-old previously-removed Guatemala national with a conviction for driving under the influence. He was arrested in the Riverhead, NY.

 A 28-year-old Guatemala national convicted of driving under the influence. He was arrested in Brewster, NY.

 A 36-year-old El Salvador national with a conviction of driving under the influence. He was arrested in Copiague, NY.

 A 40-year-old El Salvador national with a conviction of driving under the influence. He was arrested in Brentwood, NY.

 A 52-year-old Mexican national with a conviction of driving under the influence. He was arrested in Suffern, NY.

 A 41-year-old El Salvador national with a conviction of driving under the influence. He was arrested in Wyandanch, NY.

 A 36-year-old El Salvador national with a conviction of driving under the influence. He was arrested in Brentwood, NY.

 A 57-year-old Trinidad national with a conviction of driving under the influence. He was arrested in Richmond Hill, NY.

 A 35-year-old Honduras national who is considered a fugitive with a final order of removal was arrested in Newburgh, NY.

 A 25-year-old Ecuador national who was considered a fugitive with a final order of removal was arrested in Brooklyn, NY.

 A 33-year-old previously-removed Mexican national. He will be prosecuted federally by the U.S. Attorneys Office in New York for re-entry after deportation. He was arrested in New York, NY.
A New York Police Department psychologist who told detectives she was knocked unconscious by an intruder on the night her husband was shot has pleaded guilty to attempted assault.

Emily Dearden pleaded guilty to attempted assault, Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino announced Friday. As part of a plea deal, she will serve three-and-a-half years in state prison and two years of supervised release. She is due back in court for sentencing June 7.

She is accused of shooting her husband, Kenneth Dearden, as he slept in their Yonkers home. He survived and has filed a lawsuit against her, alleging she was trying to get rid of him because she was having an affair and wanted to avoid a messy divorce.

The 46-year-old pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, assault and weapons charges at her May 2015 arraignment as prosecutors released accounts of several statements they say she made after the Nov. 14, 2013, shooting.

[NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and More

Emily Dearden told police both she and her husband had had "infidelities," the transcript says. But she told detectives that on the night of the shooting, she woke up before dawn, left her husband sleeping in their bed and went downstairs.

There, according to the police account, "I got hit hard on the left side of my head. ... I don't know what I got hit with. I don't know who hit me. I never saw it coming. I was knocked to the floor, unconscious."

The next thing she remembers, according to the transcript, was being shaken awake by Dearden, who was bleeding from a gunshot wound.

An ambulance took him to the hospital. It turned out he had been shot while the couple's children were sleeping nearby. He spent about eight days in the hospital, including surgery to remove a bullet from his jaw.

Police also say Emily Dearden told them there were no weapons in the house. But she is charged with possessing four guns, including two .22-caliber pistols. Prosecutors say a.22-caliber bullet was removed from Kenneth Dearden's jaw.

Dearden, who has been suspended from her NYPD job, was allowed to remain free on a $150,000 bond. She is due back in court July 30.

Top Tri-State News Photos
When New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie visited the White House this week, President Trump insisted he have the meatloaf for lunch, allegedly describing it as "fabulous."

So what's so great, exactly, about a comfort food that's not much more than a brick of ground beef?

As it turns out, meat loaf was known to be a favorite food of a number of presidents, Richard Nixon included, and the recipe from the Nixon White House is online in the National Archives. (It's not clear if the Trump White House makes it the same way; press officials there were not immediately available to comment.)

The recipe, as recorded in the files of Gwendolyn King, an aide to First Lady Pat Nixon:

1.5 pounds ground beef

3 tbsp bread crumbs

2 tbsp whipping cream

2 tbsp tomato sauce

1 egg

1 tbsp chopped parsley

2 tsp salt

 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp seasoning salt

Mix all ingredients well with meat; form loaf. Place loaf in pan, cover top with additional tomato sauce (spread very thin over loaf). Bake for 50 minutes. Set oven at 375 degrees and turn down to 350 degrees after 30 minutes. Serves six.
The Republican-led House this week overturned a regulation then-President Barack Obama put in place to protect Title X funding, prompting criticism from Democrats and others over the move's impact on women's health care.

The House on Thursday scrapped a rule that barred state and local governments from withholding federal funds from family planning providers that offered full reproductive services, including abortion.

With this bill, Republicans are demonstrating that they will stop at nothing to limit womens access to health care, a spokeswoman for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told NBC.

The Republican-sponsored H.J. Res. 43 passed in a 230-188 vote, largely along party lines.

Obama had finalized the regulation on Jan. 18  two days before leaving office  in an attempt to enforce pre-existing Title X laws after states had tried to circumnavigate them during his presidency. Implemented under Richard Nixon, Title X provides federal funding to the United States most qualified family planning providers.

Federal funds are not used to perform abortions, and Title X is a reimbursement program, requiring beneficiaries to report how they use grants.

When Rep. Diane Black defended her resolution on the House floor, she said, while I am unapologetically pro-life, you dont have to be in order to support this resolution. She cited the 10th Amendment and claimed that Obama had violated states rights.

Despite the histrionics you may hear on the other side of the aisle today, with this resolution we are not voting to defund Planned Parenthood, voting to cut Title X funding, or voting to restrict abortion rights, Black continued.

But for many, H.J. Res. 43 was a move toward an abortion-less America.

We are very pleased with the House vote today on H.J. Res. 43, Carol Tobias, President of National Right to Life, told NBC. This 11th-hour rule, promulgated by the Obama administration, was a last-minute gift to Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider.

Of the four million Americans who benefit from the Title X program, 1.5 million are patients at Planned Parenthood. According to Monica McLemore, assistant professor at University of California-San Francisco, the House measure was a thinly veiled campaign to start to defund Planned Parenthood."

For Rep. Julia Brownley from Californias 26th congressional district, it was a very easy choice to vote no.

The resolution is obviously deeply disturbing and morally corrupt, Brownley told NBC.

She said that even before she took office in 2013, conservatives had targeted health benefits for women, and particularly women who need it the most.

According to a Department of Health and Human Services annual report, at least 30 percent of Americans who benefited from Title X services identified as nonwhite, and 32 percent said they were Hispanic or Latino in 2015. Two-thirds had a family income below the poverty level.

Theres also a geography issue when it comes to womens health care, according to McLemore. As a certified nurse, she travels around California. In rural areas, she said, patients sometimes have to drive for an hour or two to find a clinic.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, a center for reproductive health research, 39 percent of American women ages 15-44 lived in counties without abortion clinics in 2014. That doesn't necessarily mean that residents in those areas didnt have access to reproductive care, but it might limit their contraceptive options.

A 2017 report from Guttmacher found that Planned Parenthood locations are far more likely than health departments or federally qualified health centers to provide same-day IUD insertions, which are more effective than other forms of birth control. For those in need of pill packs, 83 percent of Planned Parenthood clinics offer on-site distribution, compared to 34 percent of federally qualified health centers.

Cutting out a provider that sees nearly a third of patients in the Title X program will mean that more women will go without services, have to pay out of pocket for care, or travel farther for services, said Audrey Sandusky, director of advocacy and communications at the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association. You cant simply shift providers overnight.

The New England Journal of Medicine published a study detailing how since 2011, anti-abortion initiatives in Texas have resulted in a 27 percent increase in childbirth among women who had previously taken injectable contraception through publicly funded programs. The state itself has reported that there was over a 25 percent decrease in clients from the Texas Womens Health Program between 2011 and 2013.

"For many people, not being able to get care at their trusted health care provider means that they dont get care at all, Danielle Wells, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood, told NBC. Those hurt the most would be people who already face barriers to accessing health care  especially people of color, those who live in rural areas, and people with low incomes.

Attempts to defund Planned Parenthood dont only affect reproductive health. The clinic is known for its wide-ranging care, including treatment for STIs and breast and cervical cancer screenings. Title X funding doesnt exclusively benefit women, either: in 2015, one out of 10 patients were male. Planned Parenthood serves both genders.

Proponents of H.J. Res. 43 believe other health service providers are poised to take Planned Parenthoods place if it loses its Title X grants.

Its not about defunding womens health care or trying to take away access to people getting the care that they need, said Melanie Israel, research associate at the The Heritage Foundations DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society.

Israel said that for every Planned Parenthood facility, there are 20 other federal community health centers that could provide services for women. She pulled this tally from analysis by anti-abortion organizations Charlotte Lozier Institute and the Alliance Defending Freedom; House Speaker Paul Ryan cited the same number at a CNN town hall in January.

Thats just a false statistic, Brownley said.

As the Washington Post reported, the ratio may indeed be misleading. A little over 4,000 of the 13,000 facilities included in the study are part of the Rural Health Clinic program, which does not require its providers to accept low-income clients. This means that some of the centers could turn away the most vulnerable demographics represented under Title X.

The Congressional Budget Office found that at least in the short-term, 5- to 25 percent of Planned Parenthood patients would have reduced health care access if the reproductive health organization were defunded. Experts said they dont know of any existing medical resources that could fill Planned Parenthoods shoes.

There is no health care service provider that currently exists that could absorb the volume of patients across the country that Planned Parenthood sees, McLemore said.

If services are lost in a community, there is a significant lag in terms of another service provider or another health care system being able to adjust, she added. Were not that nimble.

In January, the House passed H.R. 7, another attempt to prohibit abortions by dissuading insurance companies from covering the procedure. Both H.R. 7 and H.J. Res 43 will be kicked to the Senate, where a Republican majority will decide their fate.
Pennsylvania celebrated its first day of selling beer in Wawa Thursday morning with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by the company's CEO Chris Gheysens, Wawa staff and fans.

The recently remodeled convenience store-- located on Naaman's Creek Road in Chadds Ford -- includes a walk-in beer cooler to keep alcoholic beverages cold and 30 restaurant-style seats.

Wawa renovated the Delaware County store by adding the new features to comply with Pennsylvania's unconventional beer laws. However, Wawa implemented beer laws of their own.

"Internally, we are allowing one beer per person when they sit and consume [in the dining area]," said Gheysens, the "lead goose" of the company.[[413963133, C]]

Customers are only allowed to buy two 6-packs or one 12-pack from a wide variety of brew. The store provides a separate register for buyers to check-out-- where each person will get asked to show identification.

Additionally, Wawa has rules about what time customers can purchase alcoholic beverages; on Mondays through Saturdays, beer can be bought from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. and from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Sundays.

Wawa fans hoping for beers to hit the racks at their local stores are out of luck. The Delaware County store will be the only Wawa in the state to sell beer because of its size.

"This is the largest store we have in our entire fleet of 750 Wawas," Gheysens said. "This was the only [Wawa in Pennsylvania] that allowed us to ... meet the license requirements."

Beer sales aren't a new feature for Wawa; stores in Florida and Virginia already sell beer.
Separate shootings claimed the lives of two brothers and a bar manager in Philadelphia overnight.

A gunman walked into Moniques Lounge at N 23rd Street and W Indiana Ave in North Philadelphia around 1 a.m. Friday and got into a physical fight with the owner's son, who was managing the bar, Philadelphia Police said.

The suspect shot the 46-year-old manager then announced a robbery.

"After shooting the victim, according to the witnesses, the shooter then pointed the gun at the bartender and announced a robbery and asked her to to give her all the money that was in the register," Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said.

The gunman wanted more than the $175 in the cash register.

"The perpetrator then leaned over and took a wallet and car keys from the individual he had just shot," Small said. [[414059633, C]]

The manager died at the hospital a short time later.

Investigators said the shooter was a heavyset male, his face covered and wearing blue jeans, standing around 5-foot, 9-inches tall. He left a bloody footprint at the scene.

Around 10:45 p.m. Thursday, a gunman killed two brothers in a driveway along Upsal Street near Chew Avenue in the East Mount Airy neighborhood in the city.

The brothers, one 23 the other 24, were pronounced dead at Einstein Medical Center. Neither was immediately identified.

The shooting may have stemmed from an ongoing dispute in the neighborhood since the brothers moved in a bout a month ago, Small said.

Investigators searched for four men witnesses said fired at least seven shots before fleeing on foot, police said.

Anyone with information on either shooting is urged to contact Philadelphia Police.
Russia has deployed a cruise missile in violation of a Cold War-era arms control treaty, a Trump administration official said Tuesday. A Russian intelligence-collection ship has been operating off the U.S. east coast in international waters, a U.S. defense official told The Associated Press. And NBC News reported that last week four Russian aircraft flew in an "unsafe and unprofessional" manner near a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Black Sea, according to the Pentagon.

President Donald Trump, who has frequently praised Russian leader Vladimir Putin, has not publicly commented on these Russian actions. Instead, he used his Twitter account Wednesday to slam former President Barack Obama's foreign policy toward Russia and leaks to the media.

In a series of tweets Tuesday, Trump attacked media reports that U.S. agencies intercepted phone calls last year between Russians and members of his presidential campaign team.

"The fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred. @MSNBC & @CNN are unwatchable. @foxandfriends is great!" Trump said.

"This Russian connection non-sense is merely an attempt to cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clinton's losing campaign," Trump went on, adding that "Information is being illegally given to the failing @nytimes & @washingtonpost by the intelligence community (NSA and FBI?).Just like Russia."

He later added: "The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by 'intelligence' like candy. Very un-American!"

The news of Russian missile deployment came the day after U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Flynn resigned following reports he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other officials about his contacts with Russia. Trump was informed Flynn had misled Pence but the president kept his No. 2 in the dark and waited nearly three weeks before ousting the aide.

Asked why Trump kept Flynn, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Tuesday, "The irony of this entire situation is that the president has been incredibly tough on Russia. He continues to raise the issue of Crimea, which the previous administration allowed to be seized by Russia."

Spicer continued, citing a statement from U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley before the U.N. Security Council on her first day denouncing the Russian occupation of Crimea: "As Ambassador Haley said at the time, 'The dire situation in eastern Ukraine is one that demands clear and strong condemnation of Russian actions.'"

Trump tweeted Wednesday, "Crimea was TAKEN by Russia during the Obama Administration. Was Obama too soft on Russia?" He added, "The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by "intelligence" like candy. Very un-American!"

In his first public comments on Flynn's firing, Trump said during a White House news conference with Israel's prime minister Wednesday that it was "really a sad thing that he was treated so badly."

Trump has been critical of numerous foreign leaders while on the campaign trial and after taking office, including U.S. allies Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Germany's leader Angela Merkel. He has refused to explicitly criticize Putin.

Asked by Fox News's Bill O'Reilly earlier this month if he respects Putin, Trump said, "I do respect him, but I respect a lot of people. That doesn't mean I'm going to get along with him."

Trump said he would appreciate any assistance from Russia in the fight against ISIS and would rather get along with Putin.

"But, [Putin] is a killer," O'Reilly said.

"There are a lot of killers," Trump responded, "We've got a lot of killers. What do you think? Our country's so innocent?"

NBC has reached out to the White House for comment on Russia's deployment of a cruise missile and the Russian ship roaming off the U.S. east coast.

The Russian spy ship Vicktor Leonov had made a port call in Cuba prior to moving north, where it has been monitored off the coast of Delaware Tuesday, the official told the AP.

The ship was Wednesday spotted in international waters abut 30 miles south of Groton, Connecticut, Fox News reported, citing a U.S. official.

Business Insider quoted a Defense Department spokeswoman as saying the Pentagon was aware of the vessel.

"It has not entered U.S. territorial waters. We respect freedom of navigation exercised by all nations beyond the territorial sea of a coastal State consistent with international law," Lt. Col. Valerie Henderson told the news organization.

According to the Military Times, the Pentagon said Gen. Joe Dunford will meet with his "Russian counterpart Thursday to discuss military relations & recent close encounters."

The Obama administration three years ago accused the Russians of violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty by developing and testing the prohibited cruise missile, and officials had anticipated that Moscow eventually would deploy it. Russia denies that it has violated the INF treaty.

U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that the missile became operational late last year, said an administration official, who wasn't authorized to publicly discuss the matter and demanded anonymity.

The deployment may not immediately change the security picture in Europe, but the alleged treaty violation may arise when Defense Secretary Jim Mattis attends his first NATO meeting in Brussels on Wednesday.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that "compliance with arms control agreements is of great importance and especially when it comes to treaties covering nuclear weapons."

He said that "any non-compliance of Russia with the INF Treaty would be a serious concern for the alliance."

The deployment has also stirred concern on Capitol Hill, where Sen. John McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, called on the Trump administration to ensure U.S. nuclear forces in Europe are ready.

"Russia's deployment of nuclear-tipped ground-launched cruise missiles in violation of the INF treaty is a significant military threat to U.S. forces in Europe and our NATO allies," McCain, R-Ariz., said in a statement Tuesday. He said Russian President Vladimir Putin was "testing" Trump.

The New York Times, which was first to report the missile deployment, said the Russians have two battalions of the prohibited cruise missile. One is at a missile test site at Kapustin Yar and one was moved in December from the test site to an operational base elsewhere in the country.

The State Department wouldn't confirm the report. It noted that last year it reported Russia was in violation of its treaty obligations not to possess, produce or flight-test a ground-launched cruise missile with a range of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers, or to possess or produce launchers for such missiles.

"The administration is undertaking an extensive review of Russia's ongoing INF treaty violation in order to assess the potential security implications for the United States and its allies and partners," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

John Tierney, executive director of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, said strategic stability on the European continent is at stake.

"If true, Russia's deployment of an illegal ground-launched cruise missile represents a very troubling development and should be roundly condemned," Tierney said.

Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy in a statement Wednesday tied reports about the spy ship, treaty violation, buzzing of the U.S. Navy destroyer and fighting in eastern Ukraine as all part of "a series of aggressive actions."

"Putin clearly thinks the Trump administration has given him a permission slip to flex his muscles," he said. "President Trump and his administration must end their silence and immediately respond to these threats to our national security.
As San Diego native Hilary Kearney zips up her white mesh bee suit, she says this moment is never where she saw herself.

"If you'd told me 10 years ago this is what I would've been doing, I don't know what I would've thought," she says. "I studied art."

She's not complaining.

"I just think they're cool," she adds.

She's talking about bees, or her roughly 60,000 colleagues in the Golden Hill backyard where we caught up with her.

It's just one of the homes where Kearney has setup a backyard beehive, or apiary, for a customer. She regularly checks on and maintains the apiaries, and over the past few years, business is booming for her business, Girl Next Door Honey.

Backyard beekeeping is growing in popularity in San Diego County. NBC 7's Greg Bledsoe speaks with local beekeeper Hilary Kearney, who owns the business Girl Next Door Honey.

She's also been stung more times than she can count.

In the county of San Diego, there are now 160 registered beekeepers, and more than 400 apiary locations. That's more than triple the number of locations from back in 2012, before the city and county changed rules making it easier to become a backyard beekeeper. Per regulations, apiaries have to be at least 15 feet from a property line.

Kearney says the average colony she maintains can produce about 100 pounds of honey a year, but she believes there's another reason people are so interested in what she's doing lately.

"I think it's because it's in the headlines with the bees dying. People just want to learn more what it's about," she says.

[G] Backyard Beekeeping in San Diego

She's talking about the mysterious die-off of the world's honey bees. There are a lot of theories about why it's happening. Kearney believes it's linked to pesticides.

Whatever the reason, the consequences are potentially devastating to commercial beekeepers, and all the rest of us as well.

"They're losing 40 percent of their bees every year," says Kearney. "One in every three bites of food that you eat is pollinated by a bee. And so, these beekeepers have to work really hard to keep their bees alive. They're losing money. This could drive up the cost of food."

In San Diego county, commercial bee keeping is a $4 million per year industry. And nationally, the USDA reports the value of honey at more than $315 million a year, and bees' impact on crop production at $14.6 billion a year.

Travis Elder with the County Department of Agriculture says the department investigates bee die-offs when they're reported and that they regularly inspect hives to check for pests and dieseases.

Kearney says her biggest concern is not the commercialized honey bees, or even the bees in those small, backyard apiaries. It's the native bee species.

"They really keep the whole ecosystem up and running," she says. "So, the best thing people can do to help bees is not to get a beehive, but to plant flowers. And that's a much easier thing to do."

For anyone interested in learning more about hosting apiaries, the county offers free online introductory classes on its website.
A bill that could open access to food supplements for military families was reintroduced to Congress by a local representative on Tuesday.

The Military Hunger Prevention Act (H.R. 1078) aims to prevent military housing allowances from being considered when determining a familys eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Housing allowance is currently considered as income for military families for the purpose of determining their eligibility.

Those who make great personal sacrifices in service to our country should not have to struggle to provide regular, nutritious meals for their families, said Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-San Diego). Unfortunately, an unintended policy barrier prevents military families struggling with food insecurity from getting help from available federal nutrition assistance programs. This is a simple, common sense solution to ensuring that we properly care for our men and women in uniform and their families

Representatives Lynn Jenkins (R-Kansas), Jim McGovern (D-Massachusetts), Don Young (R-Arkansas) and Tim Walz (D-Minnesota) joined Davis as cosponsors of the bill.
The FBI and San Diego Police (SDPD) are looking for the public's help in finding "The Short Fuse Bandit", responsible for three armed robberies across San Diego County.

The bandit used a semi-automatic .40 caliber handgun to rob three different liquor stores in 2017: Perry Liquor on the 4700 block of Federal Blvd. on Jan. 11, Par Liquor on the 5000 block of Federal Blvd. on Jan. 11 and Green Cat Liquor on the 5100 block of Imperial Blvd. on Jan. 11., according to the FBI.

In each instance, the robber verbally demanded money from a store employee and fired a round from his handgun.

Once a store employee gave the man cash, he would flee on foot.

The man wore a dark, long-sleeved sweatshirt or Pendleton-style shirt, a blue bandanna covering his face below the eyes, black sunglasses and a glove on his right hand at the time of the robberies.

He should be considered armed and dangerous, officials said.

A $2,500 reward is being offered for information leading to the conviction of "The Short Fuse Bandit." Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force at (858) 320-1800, the San Diego Police Department, Robbery Unit, at (619) 531-2299, or Crime Stoppers Tip Line at (888) 580-8477.
After some San Diego businesses closed their doors on Thursday to participate in the nationwide Day without Immigrants strike, another pro-immigrant movement took place locally on Saturday.

At 11 a.m., a group gathered at Waterfront Park in downtown San Diego for a rally ahead of the "Immigrants Make America Great March," a demonstration in support of immigrants and refugees.

The event began with a rally at Waterfront Park, followed by a march to the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Office Building. Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher and San Diego City Councilman David Alvarez gave speeches at the event and then the march continued through downtown San Diego.

Demonstrators held signs with phrases such as, "No Ban, No Wall, Sanctuary For All," and "We Love Refugees."

One of the organizers of the march, Mohamed Abdallah, told NBC 7 that by marching he felt like he was sending a message to President Donald Trump.

Im a Muslim immigrant in this country; Ive been here for many years. Seeing whats happening right now is really taking a toll on all of us -- on me, the Muslim [community], the country, all over, he said.

We really have to make a difference, we have to stand together to tell Trump that we are here to stay, we are welcomed here, and that is what makes our country great, Abdallah added.

The same sentiment was echoed in Monica Morelli, a mother who brought her two little ones to the march. She told NBC 7 that even though she is not personally being affected by Trumps executive orders, she still believes in supporting other families.

When I see families torn apart, thats very hard because I imagine how it would be to be taken away from my children. So, I think its important to stand up even though we are not personally affected, Morelli told NBC 7. I would love to see San Diego become a sanctuary city. I would love to see Trumps actions be stopped.

The march brought out people from all backgrounds, including Army veteran Robert Andrews.

Im a California veteran. Thirty-seven years in the Army flying helicopters, and fought for my country in Vietnam, Andrews told NBC 7. Now, I feel like I am fighting for my country for the freedom to be fought for.

I feel like I should get out and protest, instead of staying at home and watching other people do it, he added. Its my responsibility to stand up for our country, and this president is not standing up for our country.

Another Immigrants Make America Great March was also held in Los Angeles.
A 70-year-old Israeli man who went missing from a family members La Jolla home has been safely reunited with his family, San Diego Police (SDPD) confirmed.

According to police, around 5 p.m., Shmuel Rezmovitch left the house at 8866 Caminito Primavera in search of olive oil with no money, wallet or cell phone on his person.

He was described to be a Missing Person at Risk because he suffers from Alzheimers disease and is unfamiliar with the area. He speaks Hebrew, Yiddish and Russian and will respond to his first name, according to the San Diego police Department.

Rezmovitch was located at a beach in good health and returned to his family Thursday evening.
Residents in a Mira Mesa neighborhood said the collision that took the life of a 59-year old woman and injured her husband Thursday morning was the not the first crash to occur in the area.

"I say there is an accident at least once a year," neighbor Stephanie told NBC 7. She did not wish to reveal her last name.

Around 6 a.m., a driver failed to stop at a red light and crashed into two people crossing Mira Mesa Boulevard at Marbury Avenue, according to San Diego Police.

The woman died in the collision and her 64-year old husband was rushed to a nearby hospital with a broken bone and head injuries, police said.

The driver, identified only as a 26-year-old man, stayed at the scene.

Several people stopped by to help the victims, including a nurse and an officer with the academy.

Stephanie told NBC 7 that Thursday's crash was one too many.

"Before we moved in, we didn't know but we found out later that there was a car crash where the car ran directly into of this house," she said.

She added that speeding is an issue on Mira Mesa Boulevard.

"We could really kind of use a big protective wall," she said.

The driver was not arrested or cited in the collision. The investigation was ongoing.
DailyFX.com -

Talking Points:

The New Zealand Dollar was buffeted by a double data miss

Retail sales were below expectations for January

The manufacturing sector also came up short

The New Zealand Dollar was hit early Friday thanks to two economic data misses and the reported views of its central bank.

The currency was hit early by an underwhelming performance form the countrys Performance of Manufacturing index for January. This is like the Purchasing Managers Indexes released elsewhere. A number above 50 indicating expansion in the sector, while anything below that means contraction. Januarys came in at 51.6, but that was well below the 54.2 chalked up in December.

BusinessNZ publishes the index and said that the Christmas holiday break and bad weather conditions may have affected manufacturing performance. Looking on the bright side it said that those survey respondents who mentioned neither factor often reported business as usual.

NZD/USD slipped on these figures, and did so again shortly afterward on the release of retail sales figures for the final three months of 2016. They rose 0.8% on the quarter, below the 1% gain expected. The previous quarters rise was revised down to 0.8% from 0.9%. The data werent all bad. StatsNZ said that eleven of the fifteen retail sectors reported higher sales volumes over the quarter.

Still, NZD/USD slipped after this data double whammy. It was at 0.72155 in the aftermath, below 0.72244 before the numbers.

Data battered: NZD/USD

New Zealand Dollar Battered By Double Data Miss

Chart Compiled Using TradingView

Some reported commentary from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand crossed the wires as the data came out. They didnt help kiwi bulls much either. Reportedly a briefing to an incoming finance minister given earlier this year, it said that upward pressure on NZD may be turning, but that monetary policy is expected to remain accommodative.

Want to know more about the financial markets? Why not take a look at the DailyFX Trading Guide?

--- Written by David Cottle, DailyFX Research

Story continues

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.
During his first solo press conference in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, President Donald Trump announced plans for a new immigration executive action. It could come as early as next week.

This new order comes on the heels of his previous ban getting struck down by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously.

One of the issues the court had was the ban's broad scope.

For example, the original wording even included some lawful permanent residents. That was later clarified by the White House.

President Trump said this new executive action will be "tailored" to that court's ruling, which means it will likely be much more narrow in scope.

Dan Eaton, an attorney here in San Diego, said that likely means three things: It will probably exclude lawful permanent residents, exclude non-citizens who have previously been admitted and wish to travel to and from the United States. Finally, Eaton said you can expect it to exclude non-citizens who have an interest in coming to the United States.

Eaton also said regardless of the verbiage used in this new order, expect a legal fight.

"No matter what executive order Donald Trump issues next week, there will be a legal challenge to it," he said.
At a campaign-style event Friday, President Donald Trump denounced what he described as criminal leaks that took down his top national security adviser and revived questions about his own ties to Russia.

On Monday, the president demanded the resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn following revelations that Flynn had misled Vice President Mike Pence about Flynn's contacts with Russia.

Is President Donald Trump too close to Russia? Is this just politics? How concerned about Russia should the average American really be?

These are just a few of the questions at the center of the internet this week surrounding Russia and the president.

If youre looking for a San Diego expert on the relations between the United States and Russia, youll eventually find Ron Bee.

Bee worked on the issue of nuclear weapons at the Pentagon during the Cold War.

His expertise in the nuclear arms race made him an expert in Russia and a frequent lecturer on local college campuses.

Bee is currently the Managing Director of the Hansen Summer Institute on Leadership and International Cooperation at the University of San Diego. Here are his thoughts.

NBC 7: How concerned are you about what you're seeing in the last week and the last month out of Russia and the administration?"

Bee: "I think the National Security Advisor Flynn controversy was more about trust between him and the vice president, but what's behind it all? the Russians have been involved in messing with our elections. Not good. The Russians have invaded Ukraine. Not good. The Russians preside over a mass slaughter in Syria. Not good. Fifty percent of Western Europes energy is provided by Vladimir Putin. So what we're seeing is a realignment of Russia as a player, almost another Cold War I'd say. But if you start taking a look at our interests versus their interests, the one thing we have in common is counter terrorism, everything else doesn't look so good. They have client states in the middle east, they've kept Syria going for another 3 to 4 years by their intervention. Iran is a big client state, as soon as we lifted sanctions they started making deals, nuclear service deals with Iran. Ukraine, that has not improved. We just deployed more troops to Romania and Poland to reassure the eastern flank of NATO about Russia. Let's just say I'm very concerned about the trend, not just the last couple weeks or months, but the last couple of years"

NBC 7: Is the Trump Administration too close to Russia or is this all politics?"

Bee: "I think it is mostly politics as the president has a learning curve as a business man coming into the most powerful office in the world. You've seen some appointments that suggest they're friendly to the Russia Federation, the secretary of state in particular who has helped Russia do some drilling for oil. But, if you look on the other side, if you look at the United Nations, Ambassador Haley has come out saying we really need to reinforce the sanctions against Russia for what they're doing in Ukraine. And we've just sent troops to Poland and to Romania to bolster the eastern flank right to the west of Ukraine. I'd say a lot of it is politics, but it does speak to what degree is Russia on the radar screen for this administration. We're going to have to give them some more time before that policy comes out. And frankly they don't have everybody in place yet to be able to judge whether or not this is a more pro-Russian administration."

NBC 7: We've heard the President say having a good relationship with Russia is better. Would you agree with that principle?"

Bee: "It is a good principle, but let's not forget our national interests at the same time. There was a Russian reset that was planned by the Obama administration and the reset turned out to be a mistake and ended up in sanctions against Russia for Ukraine. It's very important to have good relations with Russia because they are after all a nuclear weapons state, in fact the largest one after us, so that's important. But, lets not kid ourselves they're in it for their national interests and we need to be in it for ours too"

NBC 7: What do you make of Russian fighter jets buzzing America ships and the spy ship off the east coast?"

Bee: "Well the things that are really concerning are the planes flying without their transponders on so an air traffic controller can't tell they're even there. That's part of a deal we've had all the way back to the cold war. What you see is a reemergence of Russia projecting its power, such that it is, and I think it's overblown, along the ways of the cold war. I've heard many in the business say this reminds me of about 30 years ago when this was commonplace and now it's coming back. Lets remember Vladimir Putin was in the KGB in east Germany, he was in an area where they use the same sorts of things they're using now in terms of messing with elections, with casting doubts on governments and how they run by messing with them, by spying on anyone and everyone who has an interest for the Russian Federation. I do see Russia becoming more belligerent. They invaded Ukraine. They sent planes and ships to Syria. Now they're selling things to Iran that could help them get a nuclear weapon. Yes they're becoming more belligerent, not quite at the cold war level where we had 80,000 nuclear weapons. We only have a fraction of those now, but one nuclear weapon can sure mess up your day. They have mentioned modernizing their nuclear weapons and possibly even using them, that's something that should raise concern anywhere."

NBC 7: What do you like, if anything, about what President Trump is doing with Russia?

Bee: "He has already stood up at the United Nations through his ambassador to suggest sanctions are necessary. Last week troops and tanks were deployed to Romania, which would suggest we're reassuring our NATO allies there. He has put in charge a grown up as secretary of state who I believe will represent the country well, regardless of his oil background. He is still working through his confirmation process and dealing with the press in a way he probably didn't think he'd have to. I'd give him some time and his administration some time to see how this all plays out. Takes about 200 days for an administration to plant themselves firmly, we're not quite there yet, we're not even at a hundred days. Some of this is politics, lets see what he does over the next hundred days or so."

NBC 7: What is the thing about Russia you feel is overblown and what is the thing people aren't talking about that they should be?"

Bee: "I think what's overblown is that Russia is on the same wave length or power as the United States. They're not. Their economy sucks. They're not diversified. Their economy is overly dependent on oil and with oil prices down they can't even meet their budget. They need oil prices to be 110 a barrel, it's about 50 now, so you do the math. They're overblown, they're a paper tiger. We shouldn't be worried as much about them because their economy is so bad. Outside Moscow and St Petersburg high unemployment."

"in terms of what I think we need to worry about, is we need to worry about more our own national interests with Russia and not just good relations. Good relations are important, but our own national interests, economically, politically, and militarily. We don't want another arms race, nuclear weapons are only good if you don't use them and they cost a lot of money. Economically we should build up our trade with Europe and start selling natural gas to Europe instead of Russia selling natural gas to Europe. Politically we have to reassure our alliances and the main one being NATO, which right now is engaged in deterring Russia from doing more damage in Ukraine. Overtime Ukraine is going to cost Russia a lot of money and will cost political capital back home, as I think Syria will as well. I think we're making Russia more important than it is, but lets also treat it in our own national interest"
San Diego countys nine dams and reservoirs are all in good working condition," according to the director of the City of San Diego's Public Utilities Department.

In light of the damaged spillway at the Oroville Dam, City officials gave a tour at Miramar Lake to discuss the state of local dams Thursday.

San Diego's nine dams and reservoirs are inspected weekly by ground and by boat.

Were out here looking at property erosion and were also looking for saturation, things that are not normal, said Maile Guerrero, Assistant Reservoir Keeper for Miramar.

Currently, Lake Miramar is at 80 percent capacity. The lakes spillway is located at it's southwest edge. The public utilities director said the spillway has never been used.

The likelihood of spilling is very close to zero," said director Halla Razak. "So there are no concerns. The reason we have a spillway is in case of a major earthquake or something catastrophic happening."

By way of comparison, the lower Otay reservoir is at 91 percent capacity. Razak says any overflow caused by rainfall would spill into a natural creek.

The safety and integrity of dams has been top of mind recently.

Last year, in February, weve gotten into a contract that is going to last for five years to do thorough examinations of all our nine dams, said Razak.

City officials say they will work proactively with inspectors and consultants, but theyre also calling on the public to inform them if they spot any problem areas.
The victim and suspect in a California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) sex assault that occured in broad daylight last month communicated through the popular instant messaging app Kik, police say.

The sex assault happened on Tuesday, Jan. 31 at approximately 11 a.m. in Lot B on campus, according to an advisory sent to students.

The pair met and communicated on Kik for an unknown period of time before meeting on campus, where the suspect drove the victim to Lot B and raped her, according to CSUSM Police Department Sgt. Ray Derouin.

The suspect then drove the victim back to Craven Circle, where he let her go. The victim notified University police shortly after.

Derouin said the department had to subpoena Kik, a Canadian company instant messaging company, to get access to some of the communications between the suspect and victim, since the application is anonymous.

In a statement to NBC 7, Kik said the company takes online safety very seriously and is constantly working to imrpvoe safety measures:

"There are two ways we do this. One is through technology and constant improvements to the product itself. We recently launched a proprietary SafePhoto technology as an enhancement to Microsofts PhotoDNA that detects, reports, and deletes known child exploitation images sent on our platform. We also upgraded our users ability to filter unknown senders and report content or contact that violates our terms of service. We believe it is possible to both protect user privacy and get rid of bad actors on our platform, using a combination of technology and human effort to remove users who violate our terms of service or harass other users."

"The other is through education and partnerships with organizations that help adults and teens understand the challenges of todays online landscape and how to avoid bad situations. For years, weve had teams dedicated to this, and we will continue to invest in those types of tools, provide resources to parents, and strengthen relationships with law enforcement and safety-focused organizations."

"This is a priority for us. We want all users to be safe on Kik and will continue to make Kik a safe, positive and productive place for our users to interact."

Derouin said students using apps like Kik should be cautious when communicating with people.

"The use of the automatic, anonymous deleting application makes it hard for us to track and use as evidence if in fact something illegal occurs," he said.

Police also had a phone call between the suspect and her attacker, which they traced back to the suspect, Derouin said.

The suspect is a 28-year-old man not affiliated with the university, and police have not released his name yet, though he was interviewed by police and gave a statement, according to CSUSM officials.

The man is not a San Diego County resident and was in the process of moving home at the time of the incident.

Authorities say there is still pending forensic evidence in the case. Derouin said police do not believe there are further victims.

The case has been sent to the San Diego County District Attorney's office to determine whether they will proceed with an arrest.

University police are asking anyone with information to call them at (760) 750-4567, or use the Universitys SAFE hotline at (760) 750-SAFE. If you wish to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
The White House and the Department of Homeland Security denied a report from The Associated Press Friday that the Trump administration is considering a proposal to mobilize as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to enforce immigration law.

An 11-page draft memo obtained by the AP calls for the unprecedented militarization of immigration enforcement as far north as Portland, Oregon, and as far east as New Orleans, Louisiana.

The AP said Friday that its requests to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security for comment and a status report on the proposal were not answered. After the AP published the report, a spokeswoman for the DHS told NBC News the "AP story about the National Guard is incorrect. It's not true."

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer also told reporters the report is "100 percent not true."

DHS said it will be issuing guidance later Friday on how Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration, signed last month, will be implemented.

Four states that border on Mexico are included in the draft proposal  California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas  but it also encompasses seven states contiguous to those four  Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Governors in the 11 states would have a choice whether to have their guard troops participate, according to the memo, written by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general.

While National Guard personnel have been used to assist with immigration-related missions on the U.S.-Mexico border before, they have never been used as broadly or as far north.

The memo is addressed to the then-acting heads of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It would serve as guidance to implement the wide-ranging executive order on immigration and border security that Trump signed Jan. 25. Such memos are routinely issued to supplement executive orders.

Also dated Jan. 25, the draft memo says participating troops would be authorized "to perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension and detention of aliens in the United States." It describes how the troops would be activated under a revived state-federal partnership program, and states that personnel would be authorized to conduct searches and identify and arrest any unauthorized immigrants.

The draft document has circulated among DHS staff over the last two weeks. As recently as Friday, staffers in several different offices reported discussions were underway.

If implemented, the impact could be significant. Nearly one-half of the 11.1 million people residing in the U.S. without authorization live in the 11 states, according to Pew Research Center estimates based on 2014 Census data.

Use of National Guard troops would greatly increase the number of immigrants targeted in one of Trump's executive orders last month, which expanded the definition of who could be considered a criminal and therefore a potential target for deportation. That order also allows immigration agents to prioritize removing anyone who has "committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense."

Under current rules, even if the proposal is implemented, there would not be immediate mass deportations. Those with existing deportation orders could be sent back to their countries of origin without additional court proceedings. But deportation orders generally would be needed for most other unauthorized immigrants.

The troops would not be nationalized, remaining under state control.

Spokespeople for the governors of Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Colorado, Oklahoma, Oregon and New Mexico said they were unaware of the proposal, and either declined to comment or said it was premature to discuss whether they would participate. The other three states did not immediately respond to the AP.

The proposal would extend the federal-local partnership program that President Barack Obama's administration began scaling back in 2012 to address complaints that it promoted racial profiling.

The 287(g) program, which Trump included in his immigration executive order, gives local police, sheriff's deputies and state troopers the authority to assist in the detection of immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally as a regular part of their law enforcement duties on the streets and in jails.

The draft memo also mentions other items included in Trump's executive order, including the hiring of an additional 5,000 border agents, which needs financing from Congress, and his campaign promise to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

The signed order contained no mention of the possible use of state National Guard troops.

According to the draft memo, the militarization effort would be proactive, specifically empowering Guard troops to solely carry out immigration enforcement, not as an add-on the way local law enforcement is used in the program.

Allowing Guard troops to operate inside non-border states also would go far beyond past deployments.

In addition to responding to natural or man-made disasters or for military protection of the population or critical infrastructure, state Guard forces have been used to assist with immigration-related tasks on the U.S.-Mexico border, including the construction of fences.

In the mid-2000s, President George W. Bush twice deployed Guard troops on the border to focus on non-law enforcement duties to help augment the Border Patrol as it bolstered its ranks. And in 2010, then-Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer announced a border security plan that included Guard reconnaissance, aerial patrolling and military exercises.

In July 2014, then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry ordered 1,000 National Guard troops to the border when the surge of migrant children fleeing violence in Central America overwhelmed U.S. officials responsible for their care. The Guard troops' stated role on the border at the time was to provide extra sets of eyes but not make arrests.

Bush initiated the federal 287(g) program  named for a section of a 1996 immigration law  to allow specially trained local law enforcement officials to participate in immigration enforcement on the streets and check whether people held in local jails were in the country illegally. ICE trained and certified roughly 1,600 officers to carry out those checks from 2006 to 2015.

The memo describes the program as a "highly successful force multiplier" that identified more than 402,000 "removable aliens."

But federal watchdogs were critical of how DHS ran the program, saying it was poorly supervised and provided insufficient training to officers, including on civil rights law. Obama phased out all the arrest power agreements in 2013 to instead focus on deporting recent border crossers and immigrants in the country illegally who posed a safety or national security threat.

Trump's immigration strategy emerges as detentions at the nation's southern border are down significantly from levels seen in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Last year, the arrest tally was the fifth-lowest since 1972. Deportations of people living in the U.S. illegally also increased under the Obama administration, though Republicans criticized Obama for setting prosecution guidelines that spared some groups from the threat of deportation, including those brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Last week, ICE officers arrested more than 680 people around the country in what Kelly said were routine, targeted operations; advocates called the actions stepped-up enforcement under Trump.
President Donald Trump wasted little time at his Thursday news conference getting to one of his favorite subjects: bashing the "fake news media."

But Trump did take a moment to single out one example of an organization he believes is doing it right.

"I watched this morning a couple of the networks. And I have to say, 'Fox & Friends' in the morning, theyre very honorable people. Theyre very  not because theyre good, because they hit me also when I do something wrong. But they have the most honest morning show," Trump said. "Thats all I can say. Its the most honest."

Trump also addressed what he perceived to be a constantly negative tone in the media coverage about his administration.

"The tone is such hatred. Im really not a bad person, by the way. No, but the tone is such  I do get good ratings, you have to admit that  the tone is such hatred."

Addressing a reporter from CNN, a frequent target, Trump lambasted the network yet again.

"You look at your show that goes on at 10 oclock in the evening. You just take a look at that show. That is a constant hit. The panel is almost always exclusive anti-Trump. The good news is he doesnt have good ratings. But the panel is almost exclusive anti-Trump," he said. "And the hatred and venom coming from his mouth; the hatred coming from other people on your network."

Trump also had a tense exchange with NBC News' Peter Alexander, who challenged the president on his false claim that he had the biggest Electoral College victory since Ronald Reagan.

After some back and forth, Trump said: It was a substantial victory, you do agree with that?

Youre the president, Alexander responded.

Despite his constant criticism, Trump did admit to being a faithful CNN viewer.

"I watch it. I see it. Im amazed by it. And I just think youd be a lot better off, I honestly do. The public gets it, you know. Look, when I go to rallies, they turn around, they start screaming at CNN," he said. "They want to throw their placards at CNN."

At the same time as Trump was lambasting the media, CNN President Jeff Zucker said that his network's brand "has been as strong as it has ever been," The Associated Press reported.

He said an internal study he ordered to find out if Trump's "fake news" label had sticking power found that less than a third of 2,000 Americans surveyed believed CNN's Trump coverage was unfair.

Trump did make one concession during the news conference. He would stop addressing the media as "fake news."

"Im changing it from fake news, though," he said. "Very fake news."

On Thursday, the Trump campaign released a "Mainstream Media Accountability Survey." The statement accompanying the survey said "You know that I dont trust the media to report on anything we achieve."

"You are our greatest asset in helping our movement deliver the truth to the American people. Which is why I need you to take the Mainstream Media Accountability Survey to do your part to fight back against the medias attacks and deceptions."

Trump tweeted Friday afternoon, calling the media "enemy of the American people," and mentioning The New York Times, NBC News, ABC, CBS, and CNN.

The tweet comes after he tweeted a similar tweet saying "The FAKE News media (failing @nytimes, @CNN, @NBCNews and many more) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American people. SICK!" and then deleting the tweet immediately.
One of Robert Durst's closest friends testified Thursday that the real estate heir admitted killing their mutual best friend.

Nathan Chavin said Durst told him in 2014 that he had killed Susan Berman in 2000.

Chavin said the admission came on a New York City sidewalk after the two had met for dinner to discuss the 1982 disappearance of Durst's wife, Kathleen Durst, and the death of Berman.

Durst said: "I had to. It was her or me, I had no choice," Chavin testified before Durst's potential murder trial.

Chavin became emotional and reached for a tissue and blew his nose. Durst showed no emotion.

Chavin was asked if he still had warm feelings for Durst.

"It sounds ridiculous, but yes," Chavin said. "This was a best friend who admitted to killing my other best friend."

Durst has pleaded not guilty to murder in Berman's 2000 shooting. Prosecutors contend she was shot to keep her from telling police what she knew about the disappearance of Kathleen Durst.

Authorities have long suspected he killed his wife, but he's never been charged and her body has never been found.

Earlier, Chavin testified that Berman told him Durst had confessed to killing his wife  but he didn't believe her for years.

"Susan said to me specifically that Bob killed Kathie, and I said, 'No, he didn't,'" Chavin said.

Chavin told prosecutors in a recording played in court that Berman exaggerated and lied and was "a real fantasy writer."

According to Chavin, Berman said she and Chavin loved both Dursts and now that Kathleen was gone, "we need to protect Bob."

Chavin, 72, was called as a witness in a rare hearing to record testimony in case he is unavailable if Durst is ordered to trial. A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has allowed testimony from witnesses who are elderly or fear for their safety.

Prosecutors have suggested that with Durst's estimated $100 million fortune, he could have witnesses knocked off. The defense calls that suggestion absurd, pointing to the 73-year-old Durst's frail health and the fact that he is in jail, where his phone conversations are recorded.

Before he took the stand, Chavin's identity had been a secret. He entered the courtroom through a back door with a personal security detail.

Chavin, who considered Durst his best friend for many years, said he began to question his doubts about the millionaire's involvement in Kathleen Durst's disappearance after Berman was shot in her home.

"I began to doubt my own feelings," Chavin said. "It seemed to me that no one else had any reason to harm Susan Berman."

Durst, wearing headphones to better hear the witness, stared straight ahead at his friend through a pair of large eyeglasses.

Chavin said his questions deepened when he learned that Durst, charged with killing an elderly neighbor in Galveston, Texas, in 2001, conceded that he chopped up the man's body and tossed it out to sea in bags.

Durst was acquitted of murder after testifying that he killed Morris Black in self-defense.

Chavin said his reaction was "extreme shock. Disbelief."

"I didn't think he was capable of hands-on violence of that extreme," Chavin said. "Now it was like taking the gloves off."

Chavin testified a day earlier that Kathie Durst confided in him that she feared her husband. He described watching their marriage deteriorate.

"She said she was afraid of him," Chavin said. "She never said he hurt her."
A fire spread quickly Thursday in Lawrence, Massachusetts, leaving 11 residents homeless and one person injured.

The blaze was intense from the start when it broke out around 4:30 p.m. on Manchester Street, keeping firefighters busy for hours.

As the fire raged, employees from a nearby restaurant raced to help. They opened up their restaurant so the victims, normally their customers, could stay warm as their home burned.

One person was transported to a hospital in Lawrence, and later to another in Boston. The nature of that person's injuries was not known.
A potential juror in the Aaron Hernandez double murder trial was reportedly excused Friday after mixing the case up with the Deflategate saga.

The Boston Herald reports prosecutors asked a young woman about the case involving the former New England Patriots' tight end, and she replied, "I heard something about Deflategate, but that's it."

Suffolk Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Locke informed her the two are not related, drawing laughter from some in the courtroom, including Hernandez himself.

Jury selection in the double murder trial began Tuesday.

Hernandez, who is already serving a life sentence for the murder of Odin Lloyd, is accused of shooting and killing two men, Safiro Furtado and Daniel de Abreu, in July 2012.

The Boston trial is expected to begin March 1.
Authorities seized a cache of explosives and arrested a man Thursday in Easthampton, Massachusetts, according to police.

Police responded on Feb. 5 to the Lower Mill Pond area, finding several explosive devices during their initial investigation. In the days that followed, Easthampton police worked with the ATF, the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Massachusetts State Police bomb squad and the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Around noon Thursday, authorities executed a search warrant at a rented space at 142 Pleasant St. Police say they found manufactured explosives and the materials used to make them, as well as ammunition and other contraband.

Shortly after the search, police identified and found Bryan Desmarais. He faces multiple charges for explosives and incendiary devices, as well as a count of ammunition possession without an FID card.

It was not immediately clear if Desmarais had an attorney.
Two Massachusetts men are accused of stabbing a taxi driver in the back after holding a gun to his head and demanding money.

Police in Fall River say Carlos Collazo and Luis M. Cruz-Soto, both Fall River residents, face a slew of charges, including assault and battery with a weapon and armed robbery.

Investigators say officers responded to Plymouth Avenue and Slade Street late Thursday evening for a report of a possible shooting, and when they arrived, they found a 33-year-old taxi driver who had been stabbed in the back three times.

The driver told police that he was dropping off two men nearby when one of the men pulled out a handgun, put it to his head and demanded money. The victim was then assaulted by the other man during a struggle for the gun, according to police.

Police say the driver was stabbed several times in the back and was shot when he took a chance to flee his taxi cab.

He was treated at the scene and then taken to a local hospital.

Fall River police say the Collazo and Cruz-Soto were found during the investigation, and were arrested after a brief chase. Both are due in court Friday. It's unclear if they have attorneys.

Investigators are also looking into whether this case is connected to another shooting that happened nearby earlier that evening involving a 21-year-old man, who is in the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head.

Anyone with information on either case is asked to call Fall River police.
A New Hampshire soldier is fighting for his life six days after he was shot in the neck by a fellow soldier in a tragic accident.

In an interview youll only hear on NBC Boston, that soldiers father explains the reason his son, Army Specialist Joshua Keller, is still alive is his twin brother, Zachary.

The two grew up in Hudson. They did everything together, so its no surprise that in Joshuas darkest hour, Zach was the first one by his side.

I am so proud of Zachary for what he did. Im proud of Joshua for fighting, said their dad Matt Keller.

Keller spoke to NBC Boston from a Washington state hospital, where his 23-year-old son is fighting to survive following an incident at his West Coast Army base. Keller says Josh and Zach were heading to the shooting range when one of their Army buddies accidentally fired his gun and hit Josh in the neck.

Zachary checked his pulse, saw there was none, and administered lifesaving CPR, Keller explained.

Zach was the one who kept his brother alive until paramedics arrived - a skill he learned from close family friends at the Hudson Police Department.

The work Zach performed in saving Josh is a testament to his character, explained Capt. Bill Avery.

Avery watched the boys grow up, graduate from Alvirne High in 2012, then enlist in the United States Army.

Not only are they twins, but they are best of friends, Avery said. Josh is a very resilient person and he will come through it.

Joshs dad is just as confident, saying his son has already beaten the odds.

I dont know anybody thats ever survived a wound like that, Keller said. Hes always had a stubborn streak. At times when he was growing up, that was frustrating, but right now, I am so thankful he is stubborn and doesnt quit."

Josh still isnt breathing on his own, but hes making progress through small miracles every day.

By the grace of God, the prayers of thousands of people, our sons alive, Keller said.

The Kellers say they are overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from friends, family and even complete strangers.

The soldier who shot Josh was arraigned this week on a second degree assault charge.

To help the Keller family, follow this link.
Police in Lowell, Massachusetts are looking for a man who broadcast a violent crime that put a woman in the hospital on Facebook Live.

Elijah Jeremiah Rodriguez, 20, with a last known address of 71 Bigelow St., Lawrence, is wanted for the violent assault and robbery of a 19-year-old woman on Feb. 6.

The assault was broadcast on Facebook Live and the victim had to be hospitalized as a result.

Rodriguez has multiple outstanding warrants for his arrest, including armed robbery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury.

He has multiple tattoos, including on his throat and above his right eye

Lowell police are also looking for another man connected to a separate violent crime this month.

Lowell Police

John Casey, 48, of 28 Kilby St. #4, Dracut, is wanted in connection to a violent incident on Feb. 14 where he attempted to run down two police officers with a vehicle. He then lead them on a lengthy pursuit that traveled into New Hampshire.

He has multiple warrants outstanding for his arrest, including armed assault with intent to murder and burglary.

Both of these men are considered dangerous and should not be confronted. Anyone with information can call the Lowell Police Department at 978-937-3200.
UConn Health Center plans to disband its longtime fire department and paramedic services in Farmington as of June 1. At that point, Farmington firefighters will be called upon for help.

Currently, the department has 16 members who said they were stunned by Thursday's announcement.

"No one likes to hear that theyre going to lose their job, especially when you have firefighters who are dedicated to a campus. This is a small city, for the most part," Glen Terlecki, Connecticut Police & Fire Union president, said.

UConn Health blames "fiscal pressures" for closing the station, which was founded in 1971. Staff respond to about 4,350 calls a year.

In a statement, UConn Health CEO Dr. Andrew Agwunobi, wrote in part:

Given the long and proud tradition associated with the UConn Health fire department, this was not an easy decision. However UConn Health has to make such hard choices to protect its core mission of research, teaching and patient care while dealing with the reality of financial pressures."

The plan going forward is for the town of Farmingtons fire department to handle calls, while some staff would remain on the campus for non-emergency calls.

UConn Health would not provide additional details, including how much money this move will save.

In the current fiscal year, the fire union says UConn Health spent about $3.9 million on the department, which responds to more than 4,300 calls per year.

Firefighters fear the switch will increase response times and that other responders do not know the facilities and procedures as well as they do.
The rough stretch of winter weather humans in the northeast have endured over the past 10 days is affecting Vermont wildlife, too, with some species having to adapt to the changes significant snowfall has brought to their habitat.

There are going to be winners and losers, observed Tom Rogers, a biologist who works for the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department.

Deer are among the animals having a tougher time these days, he said. The deeper the snow gets, the harder is for them to move around and find food, especially as accumulations or drifts reach the height of their bellies.

For the most part, they just kind of wait it out and lose some weight, Rogers explained, adding that deer are likely to hang around evergreen trees where snow depths wont be as significant, and eat some woody boughs.

However, the conditions have not gotten in the way of some species.

Bald eagles, for example, have been able to hunt in open water on lakes and rivers, Rogers noted.

This week, as necns Vermont news crew shot video along the Winooski River, a mink emerged from the water in front of the camera having caught a fish.

And snow is actually a benefit to other animals.

The snowshoe hare has a pure white coat that acts in the snow as camouflage, protecting it against predators.

The snow also can function as insulation for black bears, who are now fast asleep in their dens.

Any time theres enough of a snow pack to close in their den or mostly close it in, to keep the cold winds and cold temperatures from coming in, bears do great, Rogers said.

Bridget Butler, a wildlife educator known in Vermont as the Bird Diva, told necn that owls can have it rough too. With fields covered, they cant as easily spot mice or voles, she noted.

However, Butler explained the hunters have excellent hearing, so can often hear those critters tunneling under the snow even if they cant see them.

They are powerful birds of prey, so they can bust through the snow to get at the animals that are underneath, Butler said. However, if we get a lot of melting, thawing, and freezing, that forms a crust and then it is even harder to break through.

Those hunting challenges are forcing owls and other birds of prey closer to roads, where its easier to see small animals crossing, according to Butler. Several wildlife rehabilitators have reported an uptick in collisions between owls and cars, she said.

Drivers should stay extra vigilant, especially at dusk and dawn, she added.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said Friday that he is against the use of National Guard troops to round up unauthorized immigrants.

"I am opposed to any suggestion of using this approach to enforce our nation's broken immigration system, and believe the federal government should instead be focused on detaining criminals, gang members or suspected terrorists wanted by federal authorities and who pose a significant threat to public safety or national security, while working on long overdue bipartisan and comprehensive reforms," he said.

He added that Massachusetts "is a global and diverse community and our administration is committed to continuing to make it a welcoming place to live, work and raise a family." He said the use of National Guard members for this reason would be "an inappropriate use of their resources."

Baker's statement was in response to an Associated Press report that the Trump administration considered a proposal to mobilize as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to carry out immigration enforcement.

The White House and the Department of Homeland Security both denied the report.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer called the report "100 percent not true," adding that there was "no effort at all to utilize the National Guard to round up unauthorized immigrants."

A DHS official described the document obtained by AP as a very early draft that was not seriously considered and never brought to the secretary for approval.

Massachusetts was not named in the report, and no request was made to the Massachusetts National Guard.
More than 100 members of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the majority of them stationed around the Gaza strip, fell victim to a cyberespionage attack that used malicious Android applications to steal information from their mobile devices.

The attack campaign started in July and continues to date, according to researchers from antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab, who cooperated in the investigation with the IDF Information Security Department.

The Israeli soldiers were lured via Facebook Messenger and other social networks by hackers who posed as attractive women from various countries like Canada, Germany, and Switzerland. The victims were tricked into installing a malicious Android application, which then scanned the phone and downloaded another malicious app that masqueraded as an update for one of the already installed applications.

For example, the Kaspersky researchers have seen a payload named WhatsApp_Update." Once installed on the phone, this malicious app allows hackers to execute on-demand or scheduled commands. The commands can be used to read text messages, access the contacts list, take pictures and screenshots, eavesdrop at specific times of the day, and record video and audio.

The Kaspersky researchers concluded that this is likely only the "opening shot" of the operation and that it is a targeted attack against the Israel Defense Forces, "aiming to exfiltrate data on how ground forces are spread, which tactics and equipment the IDF is using, and real-time intelligence gathering."

The attack is a clear example of how malware can be used in warfare to spy on enemy soldiers. A similar attack, also using Android malware, has recently infected the mobile phones of Ukrainian artillery personnel involved in a conflict in the Donbass region.

The Ukrainian malware, created by the Russian APT28 cyberespionage group, was delivered as a trojanized version of a custom application intended to help artillery forces more quickly process targeting data for the Soviet-made D-30 howitzer. The malware might have been used to track the movement of Ukrainian units, with open source data suggesting that in the two years of conflict the Ukrainian artillery lost over 80 percent of its D-30 howitzers.
Google Brain announced release 1.0 of its machine learning (ML) library yesterday at the TensorFlow Developer Summit in Mountain View. ML is a method of programing computers with data to make highly reliable predictions, instead of creating a program in a language like Java, C# or Python.

ML is a more efficient method of solving problems such as image recognition, language translation and ranking things like comments and recommendations. Google, along with Facebook, IBM and Microsoft has used ML internally to solve problems like ranking search results.

A little over a year ago Google released TensorFlow based on its experience with its proprietary ML library, DistBelief. TensorFlow is in use within Google with about 4,000 source code directories including TensorFlow model description files. It is used in many applications including Google Search, Maps and Gmails spam filter.

According to Google senior fellow and artificial intelligence superstar Jeff Dean, TensorFlow is the most popular ML repository on Github. Some of the measures he cited were: 500 independent programmers developed and submitted their software, 1,000 commits per month (application of new code modules and patches), and 5,500 independent Github repositories, with the name Github in them. The University of Toronto, Berkley and Stanford are teaching Machine Learning using TensorFlow.

Google

Creating original ML models requires highly skilled developers with advanced training in linear algebra, probability, and ML which many developers do not possess. Other developers, though can apply it. There are three types of ML applications, that can be applied by developers with differing skill sets.

Experts: Original ML models, for example, a model that learns to play Atari Deep Q better than a human are built by a minority of developers with specialized skills in linear algebra, probability, and machine learning.

Domain Experts: There is a second group, developers who can take an existing model such as Inception v.3 image recognition and apply with domain-specific expertise to solve problems in fields of their expertise. In the cases cited at the Summit, the field was healthcare. Inception V3 recognizes many different types of objects within images and can be retrained to recognize new types of images.

Stanford Ph.D. student Brett Kuprel presented an application of Inception V3 that differentiates images of benign lesions from skin cancer and between benign and malignant skin cancer based with accuracy equal to a human dermatologist that was published in the Journal Nature last month.

Googles Lilly Peng presented another application, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, of Inception V3 that diagnosed the major cause of blindness, diabetic retinopathy at slightly better accuracy than a human ophthalmologist.

Application Developers: Developers skilled in the use of restful APIs  almost all web and mobile developers - can use pre-trained models to add features to existing applications. Examples of this are a speech to text, language translation, and ranking comments.

Abstraction brings ML to more developers and use cases

TensorFlow Release 1.0 brings higher level constructs that enable more developers with varied capabilities to use TensorFlow in application-specific use cases.

Google

The diagram above corresponds to the different developer skills explained earlier. Experts work to build original models with the tools in the stack beginning at Layers and below, domain experts at the Estimator and Keras Model level of the stack and application developers at the top denoted Models in a Box.

Extensible hardware platforms

TensorFlow is a software platform that is extensible to hardware platforms at different scales, from experimentation to production.

The experimental XLA compiler will compile ML models to different hardware architectures that use the LLVM open source framework, a collection of modular and reusable compiler and toolchain technologies written in C++ that abstracts the compiler from the specific platform such as X86, ARM, and Nvidia DSP.

XLA is designed to address two important hardware scale considerations. The first, small models can be built to run on IoT and smartphone devices to extend their capabilities. Qualcomm demonstrated an 8X performance improvement on the Snapdragon 820 by moving the ML application from the CPU to the Hexagon DSP. Though Qualcomm did not use the XLA compiler, it demonstrated the potential of running optimized ML models within the performance and power profiles of a smartphone. XLA has been applied to IBMs PowerAI distribution and Movidiuss Myraid2 accelerator so far

Todays hardware, though, is not fast enough to meet the production requirements of large ML models. It is fast enough for research but in some cases the cycle time for researchers to train a model and get results can be days, weeks or even approaching a month. Research can prove that a researchers thesis can work, but it is an entirely different problem to apply this proof to production running on hundreds of data center servers used by hundreds of thousands or millions of users.

The ML deep and wide programming paradigm is new. It calls for an architecture that accommodates large matrixes and vectors and is very tolerant of reduced precision. Much of the optimization applied is to extend the capabilities for this type of computation on hardware architectures not yet optimized as a silicon system architectures for ML.

Google and Francois Chollet

Keras integrated with TensorFlow and demonstrated by Francois Chollet is an open source neural network library designed to enable fast experimentation with deep neural networks with minimal coding that is modular and extensible. Chollet demonstrated an application with less than 20 lines of Keras code that analyzed a video to answer two questions, what is the woman doing? and what is the color of her shirt?

The first question is not so simple because the ML model had to determine if she was packing or unpacking. This demonstration showed the high level of abstraction and the limited amount of software that needed to be written to accomplish a fairly complex task to answer these two questions. But it is very possible, that in production the latency of this or larger ML models could be too great for a given application and the model would need optimization.

Within the stack, and within the scope of the Keras program, the performance bottlenecks could be solved by rewriting the constraining code with native C++ code. Really big models, like Google Search rankings, can not run on a single GPU or even multiple GPUs, but rather have to run on interconnected banks of GPUs communicating over a high-speed internal systems bus or fiber optic bus interconnecting multiple systems.

An ML model proven during the research phase, may not economically scale for production, especially if low latency is needed in the order of hundreds of milliseconds like the users expectation for a response from Google Search to his query. Applying more hardware would increase cost significantly and might not still solve the problem because builders of ML at scale are still awaiting needed capabilities to be implemented in silicon hardware architectures. TensorFlow is optimized with a set of distributed TensorFlow APIs that enables an expert to write native code in C++ to distribute and coordinate the workload across a systems bus and interconnected systems.

Whats in it for Google and why open source

Google built TensorFlow and the community around it for four reasons:

1.) Independently developed code contributions and new use cases that will extend the capabilities of TensorFlow. Try as it may, no matter how good the perks are at Google, not all expert developers want to work at Google who also want to contribute to TensorFlow. And Googles applications of ML do not represent all the potential use cases that will define TensorFlow 2.0 and later releases. Open source licensing brings code and perspective.

2.) Google thrives by acquiring a steady stream of talent from open source communities and student interns from which the best talent can be recruited.

3.) The academic and industry artificial intelligence and ML community is hyper open, sharing and building on each others research. So open that Google and competitor Facebooks R&D teams contribute to one anothers papers. A proprietary approach would slow innovation.

4.) Google can monetize the innovation from the community by improving its products and offering TensorFlow on Googles Cloud Platform.

TensorFlow is a platform, and Googles intention is to build it to be as pervasive as Linux and as large as Android.
Come to the RSA show, and youll find plenty of cybersecurity technology. The top vendors from across the industry are here, showing products for fighting ransomware, preventing data breaches and more.

But even the best security software is useless if users and businesses arent taking the right steps to protect themselves. So we asked experts at the show for their best cybersecurity tips.

Joe Stewart, director of malware research at Dell SecureWorks

He advises everyone to set up two-factor authentication to protect their internet accounts, especially email. It can be particularly useful when stopping hackers who are trying to steal login passwords from users, whether through malware or email phishing schemes.

Even if the hacker manages to loot your passwords, two-factor authentication ensures youre still protected from all but the most sophisticated attacks. Access to your account will require another form of authentication, such as your fingerprint or a text message from your mobile phone.

+ ALSO FROM THE SHOW: +

This would stop most of these fraudsters cold, Stewart said. Because they are not operating on that level, with things like banking malware that can manage to bypass two-factor authentication.

This would cut out most of the business email compromise right there, he said.

Mike Sentonas, vice president of technology strategy at CrowdStrike

Businesses need to first think about what assets theyre trying to protect from cyber threats, as opposed to blindly buying the latest security products, Sentonas said.

Those assets might be your staff, your intellectual property, your customer database, or something else. Everybody has something of value, he said. Understand what you have thats valuable. And then understand where it is, and who has access to it.

Thats going to generate conversations around: 'Do we need education? Do we need people to come in to help us build a stronger architecture? Sentonas said. Its not always about buying the latest and greatest widget. Sometimes, it ends up there. But it shouldnt be the starting point.

Mike Buratowski, vice president of cybersecurity services at Fidelis Cybersecurity

Many people still think hackers will never target them. But that assumption is wrong, Buratowski said. Everybodys information is valuable, he said.

Although people dont need to be paranoid, they do need a healthy sense of awareness that cyberattacks are real and often involve hackers trying to exploit gullible victims, he said. For example, employees are often quick to respond to email phishing schemes, thinking the message came from a legitimate source.

The person on the other end may not be who they say they are, he said.

Chris Wysopal, chief technology officer at Veracode

Dont completely trust the technology. That includes the software and internet services you use or buy. For all you know, none of it is secure, and it may be easy to breach, Wysopal said.

Expect it to be compromised, he said. Dont put data out there, into Facebook or something, unless you really want to share that out to the world.

Users and businesses need to be skeptical. The security risks come not only from hackers, but from vendors that havent done their due diligence in securing their products.

Make them earn your trust, he said. Make them demonstrate why you should trust them.

Jeremiah Grossman, chief of security strategy at SentinelOne

He recommends businesses do an inventory of every asset they own. This can help determine what company resources are online and where they might be vulnerable.

When a company gets hacked, it's largely because there's a computer, a box, a website that they didn't know they owned, he said.

For a small business, an inventory may take a day, while for a Fortune 500 company, it can take a few weeks, he said. It can be done internally or outsourced to a consulting firm.

His advice for a company's IT security staff : If I were to jump into a new company, what is it that Im protecting?
Augmented reality has a powerful ally, and apparently ardent supporter, in Apple CEO Tim Cook. The leader of the most valuable publicly traded company in the world reiterated his optimistic outlook for the future of augmented reality (AR) and highlighted the technologys capability to layer improvements in the physical world.

Im excited about augmented reality because unlike virtual reality, which closes the world out, AR allows individuals to be present in the world but allows an improvement on whats happening presently, he told The Independent in a recent interview. Most people dont want to lock themselves out from the world for a long period of time and today you cant do that because you get sick from it. With AR you can, not be engrossed in something, but have it be a part of your world, of your conversation. That has resonance.

Cook compares AR to smartphones

Cook, who is secretive about Apples future plans, has hyped up AR multiple times during the last year and there are other hints, such as job postings, that indicate Apple is investing in AR and at least developing product prototypes. Whether Apple eventually releases an AR product or not is another matter, but it certainly seems to be in the cards based on Cooks latest comments.

[ Related: Tim Cook: Augmented reality is the future, and fake news is ruining everything ]

I regard it as a big idea like the smartphone, Cook said. He adds AR will be just as attractive on a global scale, similar to how the iPhone crosses divides in culture, socioeconomics and business functions. I view AR like I view the silicon here in my iPhone, its not a product per se, its a core technology, he said. But there are things to discover before that technology is good enough for the mainstream. I do think there can be a lot of things that really help people out in daily life, real-life things, thats why I get so excited about it.

Brian Blau, research vice president at Gartner, says he also believes AR will be a very powerful technology, but it will take years before we see significant uptake. While AR and virtual reality (VR) share many similarities, a form factor that mixes the real world with virtual layers is a more compelling, interactive scenario than you find with VR, which covers your whole face, he says.

AR has the potential to be different than other technologies as it provides a core user experience that bring the person and their environment closer together than any other type of technology, Blau says.

Why Apple is pursuing AR over VR

Despite massive investments from Facebook, Google and others, VR is still in its infancy with critical mass at least five years out, according to Thomas Husson, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research. I think AR will offer more potential in the shorter term because it will be powered by smartphones and will offer benefits in people's daily lives by adding a digital overlay to the reality we will experience in the physical world around us, he says. AR will be used in more places and for more minutes per day.

AR is also rising on the heels of mobility, which has activated many adjacent technologies, according to Husson. Somehow as consumers we are using mobile as a sixth sense to explore the world around us, he says. Creating new AR experiences on top of smartphones will be quite disruptive. If the human senses serve as effortless faculties through which we access information on the world around us, then mobile has become the sixth sense. It brings digital to consumers in their daily lives.

Apples iPhone business will be a tremendous asset for the company to tap into as it pushes further into AR, according to Christian Renaud, research director at 451 Research. Apples large developer community is also familiar with, and generally excited to develop applications rapidly for new Apple hardware, Renaud says.

VR, although valuable in its own right, is somewhat limited to gaming and a subset of professional applications right now, neither of which are square in Apples wheelhouse, he says. AR, on the other hand, is already present in early forms on the iPhone with things like Yelps Monocle feature and Google Translates real-time translation. What is missing is the innovative interface to display this data in context.

[ Related: 2017 will be big year for AI thanks to tech giants ]

Predicting Apples next move in AR is almost futile, but Cooks comments paired with technological advancements and increased investment, at least suggest something related to AR could be on the horizon. I think it would make sense for the iPhone's tenth anniversary, Husson says.

By analogy with the previous industrial revolution, mobile is like electricity: Once you have access to it, it is a disruptive enabler of adjacent technologies powering more powerful innovation, he says. Let's not forget smartphones are barely entering their teenage years.

This story, "Why is Apple hyping augmented reality?" was originally published by CIO .
The U.S. Senate's leading proponent for increasing the H-1B visa cap is Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). His previous legislative efforts have infuriated critics of the visa program. Hatch's 2015 visa cap-increasing bill, I-Squared, was so awful, said the IEEE-USA, that it would "help destroy" the U.S. tech workforce.

Hatch is updating his I-Squared bill with reforms he hopes buy leeway with his critics. That doesn't seem likely.

Hatch heads the Republican's High-Tech Task Force, which on Thursday released its "Innovation Agenda." In presenting it, Hatch remained adamant that the U.S. suffers from a shortage of STEM workers and needs high-skilled foreign workers. But he says some employers abuse the H-1B visa.

"We need to ensure that this system is not manipulated to undercut domestic wages or displace American workers," said Hatch, in a statement. "Unfortunately, a handful of bad actors has created a great deal of unease about H-1B visas by misusing the system to offshore jobs to foreign workers. We've all seen the news reports."

Hatch may be referring to stories such as the displacement of workers at Disney, Southern California Edison, New York Life, Cengage Learning, SunTrust Banks, Hertz, MassMutual, Health Care Service Corporation, Emblem Health, the University of California at San Francisco, and other organizations.

[ To comment on this story, go to Computerworld's Facebook page. ]

The IEEE-USA, an association of about 200,000 engineering, computing and technology professionals, said it applauds Hatch's "recognition that the H-1B program is dominated by outsourcers," said Russell Harrison, the association's director of governmental affairs. But he called on Hatch to take action now by urging President Donald Trump to change the visa lottery.

The U.S. will hold its annual H-1B visa lottery on April 1. The IEEE-USA is urging Trump to change how the lottery works.

The H-1B rules recognize, broadly, two types of companies. There are H-1B dependent firms, with 15% or more visa workers, and non-dependent firms, with less than that percentage. H-1B dependent firms are mostly IT offshore outsourcing firms.

The IEEE-USA wants the lottery to give priority to non-dependent firms in the H-1B distribution, and move the dependent firms to the back of the line.

"That will go a long way to solving two of the problems Hatch identifies -- it will free up 50,000 H-1B visas for the employers the senator likes, and it will cripple H-1B outsourcers whose business model is to take jobs from Americans," said Harrison.

But the time for taking action is short, said Harrison. The Trump administration can change the lottery through an interim regulation, but it has to make the change by the end of February to give the rule the 30 days it needs before it can take effect by April 1.

The H-1B visa cap is set at 85,000, with 20,000 set aside for advanced degree graduates of U.S. schools. Firms that offshore work based in the U.S., and in India, have gotten as many as half of the 65,000 H-1B visas set aside under the so-called base cap.

Among Hatch's proposals are capping the number of visas any single employer can apply for, and requiring employers to attest that they first tried to hire an American worker. He also proposed something called a "shot clock," rule that will revoke a visa if it isn't used within a certain period of time.

Hatch also called for easing the pressure on the H-1B visas "by streamlining the process for green cards."

The last time that Hatch introduced the I-Squared bill, in 2015, it called for increasing the H-1B cap from 65,000 to 115,000. It allowed the cap to rise as high as 195,000, depending on demand. The Hatch bill also "uncapped" the U.S. advanced degree exemption.

Hatch's office issued a press release late Thursday with supporting statements from Oracle, Microsoft, the Consumer Technology Association, and other industry groups.

But others had different views about Hatch's latest effort.

"I can't think of any time that Senator Hatch has proposed or pushed for measures that would protect or improve the wages and working conditions of American or migrant workers," said Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research at the Economic Policy Institute. "In fact, he's constantly pushed for the opposite -- by proposing a vast expansion of the flawed H-1B program and opposing commonsense reforms like those proposed in legislation from Senators Durbin and Grassley."

Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) are Hatch's chief rivals on this issue.

Grassley and Durbin worked to get H-1B reforms in the 2013 comprehensive immigration bill. They wanted, in particular, a requirement that employers make a "good faith" effort to hire a U.S. worker before bringing on an H-1B worker. But Hatch successfully fought that effort. Costa also said that Hatch "wrongly scapegoats 'a handful of bad actors,' that have abused the H-1B program -- suggesting that the documented cases of replacing U.S. workers with lower-paid H-1B workers is the only problem with the program," he said.

The visa program allows "all companies that hire H-1B workers to not just replace U.S. workers, but also to avoid hiring U.S. workers in the first place, and allows companies to pay the H-1B workers they hire much less than they deserve according to U.S. wage standards," said Costa.

Hatch's argument that the U.S. faces a shortage of STEM workers is in dispute. In 2015, Hal Salzman, a professor of planning and public policy at Rutgers University, told the Senate Immigration Subcommittee that "the U.S. supply of top -performing graduates is large and far exceeds the hiring needs of the STEM industries, with only half of new STEM graduates finding jobs in a STEM occupation."

In response to Hatch's latest effort, Salzman said some of the proposals Hatch is suggesting could provide meaningful reform for the visa program. But he said rather than "try to tinker with a fundamentally flawed bill" -- the I-Squared bill -- he said that Hatch should work with previous bills, those authored by former Sen. Jeff Sessions, who is now attorney general, and the Grassley and Durbin effort, which he said are bills "that actually provide real reform."

This story, "H-1B advocate Sen. Orrin Hatch sets stage for new visa battle" was originally published by Computerworld .
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Mention cybersecurity conference and most people think of the annual RSA Conference, which was held last week. But halfway around the world, the annual CyberTech Tel Aviv event is building momentum as one of the largest gatherings of cybersecurity professionals in the world. This year, more than 10,000 people representing 67 countries amassed in Tel Aviv, and I had the privilege of being one of them.

Israel is making a name for itself, and that name is Cyber Nation. A 2011 government resolution created the National Cyber Bureau as an advising body for the Prime Minister. The bureaus main mission is to bolster Israels national cybersecurity defenses, but a secondary mission is to promote research and development in the cyber field and encourage the commercial cyber industry in Israel.

As a keynote speaker at the conference, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of the importance of developing cybersecurity technology and solutions as a key economic driver and a leading export for Israel. Toward this end, he said, the country established CyberSpark, the new Israeli Cyber Innovation Arena that is a joint venture of the Israel National Cyber Bureau, Beer-Sheva Municipality, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and leading companies in the cybersecurity industry.

CyberSpark offers a comprehensive ecosystem that is unprecedented in terms of innovation and prospective success. It creates a unique geographical cluster of leading cyber companies, multinational corporations, ground-breaking academic research, leading technology defense units, specialized educational platforms, and the National CERT. The physical proximity and shared interests among these parties drive new collaborations and opportunities.

The efforts are paying dividends. In 2016 alone, there were 83 new cybersecurity companies launched in Israel. And while global investment in cybersecurity startups dropped off last year, money continued to funnel into Israeli startups at a brisk pace.

One of the major early stage investors in Israeli startups is YL Ventures, which had a hand in showcasing new companies at CyberTech in a shoot-out style competitive event. The Startup Competition is the key event for cybersecurity startups during CyberTech, said Yoav Leitersdorf, Managing Partner, YL Ventures. When thinking about the format of the competition, we wanted to give Israeli entrepreneurs the opportunity to not only expose their startup and pitch in front of leaders of the most influential vendors, customers and investors in the international cybersecurity landscape, but also receive meaningful feedback and advice about their companies. We aimed at putting a spotlight on the judges as we believe that the entrepreneurs are extremely interested in hearing how these high level executives analyze and evaluate early-stage start-ups.

The panel of judges included: Jacques Benkoski, Partner, USVP; Bob Blakley, Global Director of Information Security Innovation, Citigroup; Glenn Chisholm, CTO, Cylance; David B. Cross, Cloud Security Engineering Director, Google Security and Privacy Organization; Alex Doll, Founder & Managing General Partner, TenEleven Ventures; Jay Leek, Managing Director, ClearSky Venture Fund and former CISO & Managing Director, The Blackstone Group; Doug Russell, Managing Director & SVP of Strategy & Corporate Development, MassMutual Ventures; and Rich Telljohann, Director, Business and Corporate Development, IBM Security.

While many startups vied for the opportunity to appear in the Startup Competition, only these five finalists were chosen to compete:

Aperio Systems (winner of the competition) has developed a technology that is said to identify, send out alerts and take real-time corrective action when hackers try to artificially manipulate data to damage critical infrastructures such as electricity grids or water supply networks. Through the use of algorithms, Aperios technology scours the systems and alerts users to forgeries by monitoring the machinery and seeking inconsistencies in physical realities compared to their historical performance. Any mismatches generate an alert and the software pinpoints the attacked equipment and faked process data.

Cybellum has developed a Zero-Day Prevention Platform that prevents and detects zero-day attacks. The solution claims to defeat cyber attacks while drastically reducing the enormous cost of traditional security. To date, Cybellum has discovered twelve zero-day vulnerabilities.

Cymulate is a SaaS-based cyber attack simulation platform, like an automated hacker that always tries to penetrate your network from different attack vectors, and challenges your security posture. By exposing hidden vulnerabilities and offering actionable insights, Cymulate helps identify and resolve security gaps before it is too late.

Sepio Systems supply chain security suite protects organizations against device supply chain attacks. The suite stops rogue hardware before it can damage the normal operation of the organization or degrade system performance.

Intezer uses a process that is reminiscent of DNA mapping to stop attacks. Intezer understands all the 1s and 0s running in memory, their function and origin, leaving no stone unturned. This new approach enables organizations to not only identify malicious code, but also have an unprecedented level of control over all software running on the organizations systems. Security teams can now detect sophisticated in-memory attacks such as software tampering (e.g. the SWIFT attack), and even discover legitimate software potentially putting the organization at risk.

These companies (and many others like them) hope to become the next Check Point Software, one of the largest and most successful cybersecurity companies to come out of Israel. Other interesting Israeli companies that went public are Imperva, Cyberark and Varonis.

YL Ventures also hosted networking events to give the newly formed companies and up-and-coming entrepreneurs access to industry luminaries for advice and mentoring. We believe strongly that startups will succeed faster and go further when they can benefit from the insight and experiences of industry leaders. We do this for our own portfolio companies like Twistlock, Karamba Security and Hexadite, and we are happy to help the broader Israeli startup community as well.

One of the events was a Fireside Chat where the panelists discussed greenfield opportunities for startups and shared tips on what they look for when deciding to back new companies. They also talked about Israeli entrepreneurs that come out of the 8200 unit of the Israeli Defense Force (an elite cybersecurity unit), how to build big companies, and the future of cyber insurance.

In addition to David Cross of Google, Glenn Chisholm of Cylance and Jay Leek of ClearSky Venture Fund, other panel members offering insights included: Steve Krausz, General Partner, USVP; Mark Hatfield, Founder & General Partner, TenEleven Ventures; and Mark Goodman, Managing Director, MassMutual Ventures. Scott Crawford, Research Director of Information Security at 451 Research, presented his predictions and key trends of the cybersecurity industry in 2017.

If there was a common theme at CyberTech it was how to use technology to augment what humans do. There arent enough cybersecurity experts to meet the needs today, so technology has to be able to pick up the slack. This will allow people to be relieved of mundane but necessary tasks in order to focus on critical tasks that require human thought. With so many cybersecurity companies putting efforts into developing these kinds of tools and technologies, we can look forward to solutions that automate response capabilities when a cybersecurity event is detected.
Life at Highclere Castle 120 years ago revealed

AN ALBUM of photographs revealing life at Highclere Castle more than 120 years ago is heading back to its aristocratic roots.

The album, which shows life during the real Downton Abbey period at the historic castle where the award-winning ITV series was filmed, was set to go under the hammer on February 3, with a 500 price tag.

However, Lawrences auctioneers of Crewkerne/Somerset revealed on Monday that its managing director Helen Carless had secured a private treaty sale of the album and it had been bought by the Highclere Estate.

The estate said: Lady Carnarvon is absolutely delighted and looks forward to welcoming Helen Carless from Lawrences with the album at the castle in the near future.

Some 44 photographs of the 80-bedroom house, staff and grounds are displayed between the album covers, with fascinating glimpses into the lives of the fifth Earl of Carnarvon, George Herbert, and his wife, the Countess of Carnarvon, Almina Herbert.

The fifth Earl was best known for the discovery of the Egyptian tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, along with British archeologist, Howard Carter, the historical story of which is reflected in an Egyptian exhibition in the castle.

The album created high interest, due to the overseas popularity of the Downton Abbey series.

Meanwhile, Highclere Castle has been named Hampshire residents favourite building in the county in a survey commissioned by groundworks and materials specialist Rudridge, after snatching 43 per cent of the votes.

Second was Winchester Cathedral, with 24 per cent.

Other favourites included Jane Austens House Museum in Alton and Mottisfont Abbey.
By PTI

MUMBAI: Amid the IT giant Infosys coming under the scanner for alleged corporate governance malpractices, Sebi chairman today said the regulator will not spare any violations irrespective of whether the entity found guilty is big or small.

"Any input that we receive from any source is taken to its logical end. Sebi does not believe that just because some allegations have been made, it is true," Sinha told reporters at the international conference of commodity derivatives.

"We have to apply our mind and follow the due process. All I can assure you is that after an investigation if we conclude that something wrong has happened then they will not be spared howsoever big or small they are," he said without naming any company.

Infosys has become the latest major corporate to attract regulatory attention for alleged corporate governance lapses being played out in public after the Tatas, United Spirits and Ricoh India, among others.

A senior SEBI official had recently told PTI that they are keeping a "close watch" on all the developments with a "special focus" to ensure that minority investors' interests are safeguarded.

While Infosys and its top management led by chief executive Vishal Sikka have put up a brave face saying all was well in the company and denied any misgovernance or any other lapses, there have been reports that the founders of the IT giant are not happy with the current leadership team.

Some former Infosys executives have also raised questions about the way the company is being run currently, as also about the pay packages of some people including severance deals given to a few.

MUMBAI: Amid the IT giant Infosys coming under the scanner for alleged corporate governance malpractices, Sebi chairman today said the regulator will not spare any violations irrespective of whether the entity found guilty is big or small. "Any input that we receive from any source is taken to its logical end. Sebi does not believe that just because some allegations have been made, it is true," Sinha told reporters at the international conference of commodity derivatives. "We have to apply our mind and follow the due process. All I can assure you is that after an investigation if we conclude that something wrong has happened then they will not be spared howsoever big or small they are," he said without naming any company. Infosys has become the latest major corporate to attract regulatory attention for alleged corporate governance lapses being played out in public after the Tatas, United Spirits and Ricoh India, among others. A senior SEBI official had recently told PTI that they are keeping a "close watch" on all the developments with a "special focus" to ensure that minority investors' interests are safeguarded. While Infosys and its top management led by chief executive Vishal Sikka have put up a brave face saying all was well in the company and denied any misgovernance or any other lapses, there have been reports that the founders of the IT giant are not happy with the current leadership team. Some former Infosys executives have also raised questions about the way the company is being run currently, as also about the pay packages of some people including severance deals given to a few.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: The hyacinth weeds on the fringes of Bellandur lake caught fire on Thursday evening. The fire was reportedly due to the high content of methane, a combustible gas, caused by industrial waste flowing into the lake, along with the dumping of solid waste and the rise in ambient temperature. There was no damage to any property around the lake.

Thick smoke emanating from the fire could be seen from far. A fire engine was also reportedly on standby in case the fire got out of hand. The lake had caught fire at least twice earlier -- once in May 2015 and again in August last year.

Civic activist Kavitha Reddy, who has been involved in efforts to restore the lake, said efforts to restore the lake had not seen any progress at all. She said the committee formed one-and-a-half years ago to clean up the lake had not been able to achieve anything due to the induction of politicians into it.

BENGALURU: The hyacinth weeds on the fringes of Bellandur lake caught fire on Thursday evening. The fire was reportedly due to the high content of methane, a combustible gas, caused by industrial waste flowing into the lake, along with the dumping of solid waste and the rise in ambient temperature. There was no damage to any property around the lake. Thick smoke emanating from the fire could be seen from far. A fire engine was also reportedly on standby in case the fire got out of hand. The lake had caught fire at least twice earlier -- once in May 2015 and again in August last year. Civic activist Kavitha Reddy, who has been involved in efforts to restore the lake, said efforts to restore the lake had not seen any progress at all. She said the committee formed one-and-a-half years ago to clean up the lake had not been able to achieve anything due to the induction of politicians into it.
Yathiraju By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: AIADMK leader V K Sasikala, her sister-in-law Ilavarasi and nephew Sudhakaran dont have to serve the full four years of imprisonment. They can return to Tamil Nadu politics earlier. Plus, they wont have to go out with empty pockets. The trio can get their jail term commuted by approximately a year if they work during their stay in prison.

Convicts get six days remission per month for good conduct in prison. Apart from this, they also get a special jail time of 20 days per year for good conduct. Sasikala, Ilavarasi and Sudhakaran will have to serve only about one-third of the 47-month term if they work to prison standards.

Sasikala was in jail for 35 days whereas Ilavarasi and Sudhakaran served 22 days each earlier. They were sentenced to four years in jail and penalty.

According to Karnataka Prison Manual, they can work in jail every day and earn money. Working every day is not compulsory for inmates sentenced to simple imprisonment, but they are not barred from doing it.

For this, they just have to submit a requisition to the prison superintendent stating they are willing to work. It will then be placed before the medical officer for approval. After approval, necessary training will be given to them. Approval is the discretion of jail superintendent.

If they impress the authorities by doing a good job with good behaviour, they will get a remission of six days per month. Accordingly, the total remission is 72 days per year. They can work from the second month of their entry into prison and stop a month before completion of their term. Excluding this, 20 days of special remission per year will be given for good conduct in prison, an official told Express.

Considering their experience and service, the jobs are classified as skilled and unskilled. Accordingly, wages will be fixed at `30, `40 and `50 a day, considering the recommendations of the instructor. The wages for men and women are equal.

There is a provision for remission of seven days per month if the convicts are ready to do jobs related to the conservancy, cleaning, cooking and taking care of patients suffering from diseases, said P N Jayasimha, former DIG, Prisons Department. He added that the remission will be calculated for every six months. It can be withdrawn if an inmate displays poor behaviour.

BENGALURU: AIADMK leader V K Sasikala, her sister-in-law Ilavarasi and nephew Sudhakaran dont have to serve the full four years of imprisonment. They can return to Tamil Nadu politics earlier. Plus, they wont have to go out with empty pockets. The trio can get their jail term commuted by approximately a year if they work during their stay in prison. Convicts get six days remission per month for good conduct in prison. Apart from this, they also get a special jail time of 20 days per year for good conduct. Sasikala, Ilavarasi and Sudhakaran will have to serve only about one-third of the 47-month term if they work to prison standards. Sasikala was in jail for 35 days whereas Ilavarasi and Sudhakaran served 22 days each earlier. They were sentenced to four years in jail and penalty. According to Karnataka Prison Manual, they can work in jail every day and earn money. Working every day is not compulsory for inmates sentenced to simple imprisonment, but they are not barred from doing it. For this, they just have to submit a requisition to the prison superintendent stating they are willing to work. It will then be placed before the medical officer for approval. After approval, necessary training will be given to them. Approval is the discretion of jail superintendent. If they impress the authorities by doing a good job with good behaviour, they will get a remission of six days per month. Accordingly, the total remission is 72 days per year. They can work from the second month of their entry into prison and stop a month before completion of their term. Excluding this, 20 days of special remission per year will be given for good conduct in prison, an official told Express. Considering their experience and service, the jobs are classified as skilled and unskilled. Accordingly, wages will be fixed at `30, `40 and `50 a day, considering the recommendations of the instructor. The wages for men and women are equal. There is a provision for remission of seven days per month if the convicts are ready to do jobs related to the conservancy, cleaning, cooking and taking care of patients suffering from diseases, said P N Jayasimha, former DIG, Prisons Department. He added that the remission will be calculated for every six months. It can be withdrawn if an inmate displays poor behaviour.
Toby Antony By

Express News Service

KOCHI: The CBI probe into the sensational multi-crore nursing recruiting scam has revealed a massive onrush of money from Kerala to Gulf countries through hawala channels. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken over the probe into the hawala angle in the recruitment of nurses for the Kuwait Ministry of Health.

The CBI found Uthup M Varghese, proprietor of Al Zarafa Travels and Manpower Consultants, had transferred over `97 crore to Abu Dhabi via shady channels. He smuggled out the money in collusion with one Suresh Babu and Abdul Nazeer, who ran a forex trading business.

The recruitment agency had collected over Rs 117 crores between December 29, 2014, and March 25, 2015, from 95 nursing candidates. Mostly, the employees of Al Zarafa dispatched the money to Suresh Babu, the CBI officer said.

Sometimes, he said, Suresh would directly collect the cash from the Kochi office and sent it to Abu Dhabi through Abdul Nazeer.

The ED officers are also probing the money laundering angle in the case. Our inquiry found the recruitment agency had laundered money through hawala channels. As the CBI has filed a charge sheet, we would initiate legal proceedings against the recruitment agency, the ED officer said.

The CBI inquiry found the agency had made bogus entries in the office register to cover up usurious sums collected as fees from the prospective candidates. The employees were told to fudge the figures by removing the last two digits from the net amount. That is, if Rs 20 lakh was received, they would make an entry for only Rs 20,000, the CBI officer said.

The agency had recruited around 1,267 nurses for the Ministry of Health Affairs. Each candidate was promised a salary of 681-705 Kuwait Dinars per month.

The agency asked selected candidates to open NRI accounts and collected blank cheques from those who failed to pay the fees, he said.

The central agency, in its final report submitted before the CBI court in Kochi, claimed L Adolfus, Protector of Emigrants (POE), failed to initiate action against the recruitment agency despite receiving several complaints.

Besides, Uthup Varghese- who is also involved in a murder attempt case registered at the Kottayam East Police Station- was given a favourable report by Adolfus, enabling the renewal of the licence of the agency, the report said.

On March 2015, the CBI registered a case against various recruitment agencies for charging an exorbitant fee in the form of a service charge from nurses who applied for jobs with the MoH Kuwait. It was found that Rs 19.5 lakh was collected from each recruited person while the legal upper limit was Rs 19,500.

An Interpol red corner notice was issued against Uthup Varghese.

KOCHI: The CBI probe into the sensational multi-crore nursing recruiting scam has revealed a massive onrush of money from Kerala to Gulf countries through hawala channels. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken over the probe into the hawala angle in the recruitment of nurses for the Kuwait Ministry of Health. The CBI found Uthup M Varghese, proprietor of Al Zarafa Travels and Manpower Consultants, had transferred over `97 crore to Abu Dhabi via shady channels. He smuggled out the money in collusion with one Suresh Babu and Abdul Nazeer, who ran a forex trading business. The recruitment agency had collected over Rs 117 crores between December 29, 2014, and March 25, 2015, from 95 nursing candidates. Mostly, the employees of Al Zarafa dispatched the money to Suresh Babu, the CBI officer said. Sometimes, he said, Suresh would directly collect the cash from the Kochi office and sent it to Abu Dhabi through Abdul Nazeer. The ED officers are also probing the money laundering angle in the case. Our inquiry found the recruitment agency had laundered money through hawala channels. As the CBI has filed a charge sheet, we would initiate legal proceedings against the recruitment agency, the ED officer said. The CBI inquiry found the agency had made bogus entries in the office register to cover up usurious sums collected as fees from the prospective candidates. The employees were told to fudge the figures by removing the last two digits from the net amount. That is, if Rs 20 lakh was received, they would make an entry for only Rs 20,000, the CBI officer said. The agency had recruited around 1,267 nurses for the Ministry of Health Affairs. Each candidate was promised a salary of 681-705 Kuwait Dinars per month. The agency asked selected candidates to open NRI accounts and collected blank cheques from those who failed to pay the fees, he said. The central agency, in its final report submitted before the CBI court in Kochi, claimed L Adolfus, Protector of Emigrants (POE), failed to initiate action against the recruitment agency despite receiving several complaints. Besides, Uthup Varghese- who is also involved in a murder attempt case registered at the Kottayam East Police Station- was given a favourable report by Adolfus, enabling the renewal of the licence of the agency, the report said. On March 2015, the CBI registered a case against various recruitment agencies for charging an exorbitant fee in the form of a service charge from nurses who applied for jobs with the MoH Kuwait. It was found that Rs 19.5 lakh was collected from each recruited person while the legal upper limit was Rs 19,500. An Interpol red corner notice was issued against Uthup Varghese.
Fayaz Wani By

Express News Service

SRI NAGAR: Clashes between Kashmiri youth and the police continued on Friday, and what stood out were the green and black flags sported by the agitators. Two days after the Army chief warned those indulging in anti-national activities, youngsters in Srinagar took to the streets after congregational prayers, waving Pakistan, Islamic State and even Lashkar-e-Taiba flags.

A group of masked youngsters clashed with the police and paramilitary personnel at Nowhatta in downtown Srinagar, chanting pro-Pakistan, pro-freedom and anti-India slogans.

They pelted stones at cops, who responded by firing smoke shells and the now-controversial pellets, and resorting to heavy baton charge. The clashes eventually spread to adjoining areas, up to half a kilometre around Nowhatta.

Down with India, protestors shouted and pelted stones at the police and CRPF men. After about an hour of action and violence, the youngsters disappeared from the scene and normalcy restored. Some of them sustained injuries in the clashes. It was much after the actual clashes that ISIS and Lashkar-e-Taiba flags were waved, said sources in the public and police force.

Waving of Pakistani flags is nothing new, it happens every Friday in downtown Srinagar, they said. Clashes, of similar fashion, were also reported in the volatile Sopore area of Baramulla District in North Kashmir.

Earlier, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat had warned those creating hurdles during anti-militancy operations, saying they would also be treated as anti-nationals and would face harsh actions.

Cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, considered to be a moderate separatist leader, termed the Army chiefs statement unfortunate, during his Friday sermon at the historic Jamia Masjid. This illustrates the mindset of the Government of India, which has given a free license to kill people of Kashmir. It is also against all international laws and regulations, he said.

The CPI (M) State Secretary and MLA, Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami also expressed disappointment over General Rawats statement. At a time when efforts need to be made to reach out to people, such statements end up widening the gulf between people in the Valley and rest of the country, he said.

SRI NAGAR: Clashes between Kashmiri youth and the police continued on Friday, and what stood out were the green and black flags sported by the agitators. Two days after the Army chief warned those indulging in anti-national activities, youngsters in Srinagar took to the streets after congregational prayers, waving Pakistan, Islamic State and even Lashkar-e-Taiba flags. A group of masked youngsters clashed with the police and paramilitary personnel at Nowhatta in downtown Srinagar, chanting pro-Pakistan, pro-freedom and anti-India slogans. They pelted stones at cops, who responded by firing smoke shells and the now-controversial pellets, and resorting to heavy baton charge. The clashes eventually spread to adjoining areas, up to half a kilometre around Nowhatta. Down with India, protestors shouted and pelted stones at the police and CRPF men. After about an hour of action and violence, the youngsters disappeared from the scene and normalcy restored. Some of them sustained injuries in the clashes. It was much after the actual clashes that ISIS and Lashkar-e-Taiba flags were waved, said sources in the public and police force. Waving of Pakistani flags is nothing new, it happens every Friday in downtown Srinagar, they said. Clashes, of similar fashion, were also reported in the volatile Sopore area of Baramulla District in North Kashmir. Earlier, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat had warned those creating hurdles during anti-militancy operations, saying they would also be treated as anti-nationals and would face harsh actions. Cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, considered to be a moderate separatist leader, termed the Army chiefs statement unfortunate, during his Friday sermon at the historic Jamia Masjid. This illustrates the mindset of the Government of India, which has given a free license to kill people of Kashmir. It is also against all international laws and regulations, he said. The CPI (M) State Secretary and MLA, Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami also expressed disappointment over General Rawats statement. At a time when efforts need to be made to reach out to people, such statements end up widening the gulf between people in the Valley and rest of the country, he said.
By PTI

AHMEDNAGAR: Four more persons died after they consumed "adulterated liquor" at the dinner party of a candidate, who contested the local body election in district's Pangarmal village, police said. The toll in the incident has reached seven with the death of Shahadev Avhad last morning, assistant civil surgeon Dr Bapusaheb Gadhe told PTI yesterday.

Three persons had died after they had consumed liquor in excess at the party hosted by a Shiv Sena candidate on Sunday. On Monday morning, some persons (who attended the dinner) started complaining of vomiting and loose motions and were rushed to a nearby hospital where three of them died. Police had initially ruled out hooch consumption.

"So far, seven people have died after consuming adulterated liquor at the party and few more are undergoing treatment," Deputy Superintendent of Police Ghanshayam Patil said. The three persons, who were booked in this connection -- Zakeer Shaikh, Hanif Shaikh and Jitu Gambhir -- were produced before a court yesterday which remanded in police custody till February 20.

Meanwhile, the villagers of Panagarmal boycotted the Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti polls held yesterday for 15 ZPs and 165 Panchayat Samitis across Maharashtra. Panagarmal recorded 'zero voting' and the villagers did not exercise their franchise despite being requested by Tehasildar Sudhir Patil, assistant election officer Arun Anandkar said. The angry locals demanded immediate compensation for the families of the victims and those hospitalised.

AHMEDNAGAR: Four more persons died after they consumed "adulterated liquor" at the dinner party of a candidate, who contested the local body election in district's Pangarmal village, police said. The toll in the incident has reached seven with the death of Shahadev Avhad last morning, assistant civil surgeon Dr Bapusaheb Gadhe told PTI yesterday. Three persons had died after they had consumed liquor in excess at the party hosted by a Shiv Sena candidate on Sunday. On Monday morning, some persons (who attended the dinner) started complaining of vomiting and loose motions and were rushed to a nearby hospital where three of them died. Police had initially ruled out hooch consumption. "So far, seven people have died after consuming adulterated liquor at the party and few more are undergoing treatment," Deputy Superintendent of Police Ghanshayam Patil said. The three persons, who were booked in this connection -- Zakeer Shaikh, Hanif Shaikh and Jitu Gambhir -- were produced before a court yesterday which remanded in police custody till February 20. Meanwhile, the villagers of Panagarmal boycotted the Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti polls held yesterday for 15 ZPs and 165 Panchayat Samitis across Maharashtra. Panagarmal recorded 'zero voting' and the villagers did not exercise their franchise despite being requested by Tehasildar Sudhir Patil, assistant election officer Arun Anandkar said. The angry locals demanded immediate compensation for the families of the victims and those hospitalised.
By IANS

LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Friday lashed out at the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh and called upon the people to vote for her party, so that the rule of law could be established in the state.



"There is seething anger among the people against the ruling party and they are looking with hope towards the BSP to change the situation," she said at a rally in Fatehpur.



Alleging atrocities on Dalits and women, the four-time Chief Minister also said that there was a sense of fear and insecurity among the people. This could be removed only by a BSP government, she later told a crowd of supporters at Allahabad.



Referring to the bitter feud within the Samajwadi Party (SP), Mayawati said at every step SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav had humiliated his younger brother Shivpal Singh Yadav in his blind love for son Akhilesh Yadav.



"This will ensure that the SP ship sinks faster," she predicted.



Warning people not to "waste" the votes by going for the BJP or the SP-Congress alliance, the Dalit leader urged them to ensure that the BSP candidates won everywhere with handsome margins.

LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Friday lashed out at the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh and called upon the people to vote for her party, so that the rule of law could be established in the state. "There is seething anger among the people against the ruling party and they are looking with hope towards the BSP to change the situation," she said at a rally in Fatehpur. Alleging atrocities on Dalits and women, the four-time Chief Minister also said that there was a sense of fear and insecurity among the people. This could be removed only by a BSP government, she later told a crowd of supporters at Allahabad. Referring to the bitter feud within the Samajwadi Party (SP), Mayawati said at every step SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav had humiliated his younger brother Shivpal Singh Yadav in his blind love for son Akhilesh Yadav. "This will ensure that the SP ship sinks faster," she predicted. Warning people not to "waste" the votes by going for the BJP or the SP-Congress alliance, the Dalit leader urged them to ensure that the BSP candidates won everywhere with handsome margins.
Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Its every soldiers nightmare. What do you do when some of the very people you are sworn to protect gang up against you?

In a clear change of tactics, the same people who organised the stone-pelters of Srinagar have now mobilised or coerced locals to harass the military during anti-insurgency operations and encounters. Following the killing of Hizbul militant Burhan Wani by security forces in July last year, a trend of civilian mobs surrounding encounter sites and attacking the forces has been gaining momentum in Kashmir.

At least 25 militants managed to flee in 12 encounters, where 2,000-strong crowds pelted stones on security forces. Faced with this situation, the Army too is too is redrawing its tactics. Local commanders are now focusing on a more structured approach to deal with this trend in close co-ordination with the local police and paramilitary forces.

On Wednesday, Army chief General Bipin Rawat issued a stern warning that those hampering the operations will be dealt with harshly. He also warned that local boys who have picked up guns and others displaying Pakistani and ISIS flags will be treated as anti-national elements and the security forces will go after them.

Elaborating upon the worrying phenomenon of surging crowds, officials said most of these incidents took place in densely populated areas of South Kashmir, where crowds of 3,000 to 4,000 were rushing to encounter sites, making it difficult for the police and paramilitary contingents to control them without using disproportionate force.

Explaining the tactics adopted so far, sources said while the Army engages the terrorists, the police and para-military, including the CRPF, lay the outer cordon to control the crowds. But given the large number of people, the law enforcement agencies are hesitant to use tough measures, and at times allow some to breach the cordon.

Once they come close to the site where the firefight is on, the Army is also cautious and willy-nilly the crowd helps the militants escape in the resultant confusion, an officer said. The latest incident took place in Kulgam, where three militants escaped and four Army personnel, including a Major were, killed.

Only last year, the Army had changed its tactics, with small teams conducting anti-terror operations and getting out of the area quickly after informing the police. However, such operations are possible only in rural areas where the population is sparse. While in crowded areas like Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian, the Army now conducts joint operations with the police and paramilitary, sources said.

Anticipating a turbulent summer, officials said the Army will adopt steps like warning crowds through loud-hailers from coming too close to the encounter site and sensitising the public about these measures through interactions.

NEW DELHI: Its every soldiers nightmare. What do you do when some of the very people you are sworn to protect gang up against you? In a clear change of tactics, the same people who organised the stone-pelters of Srinagar have now mobilised or coerced locals to harass the military during anti-insurgency operations and encounters. Following the killing of Hizbul militant Burhan Wani by security forces in July last year, a trend of civilian mobs surrounding encounter sites and attacking the forces has been gaining momentum in Kashmir. At least 25 militants managed to flee in 12 encounters, where 2,000-strong crowds pelted stones on security forces. Faced with this situation, the Army too is too is redrawing its tactics. Local commanders are now focusing on a more structured approach to deal with this trend in close co-ordination with the local police and paramilitary forces. On Wednesday, Army chief General Bipin Rawat issued a stern warning that those hampering the operations will be dealt with harshly. He also warned that local boys who have picked up guns and others displaying Pakistani and ISIS flags will be treated as anti-national elements and the security forces will go after them. Elaborating upon the worrying phenomenon of surging crowds, officials said most of these incidents took place in densely populated areas of South Kashmir, where crowds of 3,000 to 4,000 were rushing to encounter sites, making it difficult for the police and paramilitary contingents to control them without using disproportionate force. Explaining the tactics adopted so far, sources said while the Army engages the terrorists, the police and para-military, including the CRPF, lay the outer cordon to control the crowds. But given the large number of people, the law enforcement agencies are hesitant to use tough measures, and at times allow some to breach the cordon. Once they come close to the site where the firefight is on, the Army is also cautious and willy-nilly the crowd helps the militants escape in the resultant confusion, an officer said. The latest incident took place in Kulgam, where three militants escaped and four Army personnel, including a Major were, killed. Only last year, the Army had changed its tactics, with small teams conducting anti-terror operations and getting out of the area quickly after informing the police. However, such operations are possible only in rural areas where the population is sparse. While in crowded areas like Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian, the Army now conducts joint operations with the police and paramilitary, sources said. Anticipating a turbulent summer, officials said the Army will adopt steps like warning crowds through loud-hailers from coming too close to the encounter site and sensitising the public about these measures through interactions.
By Express News Service

MUMBAI: Union minister Venkaiah Naidu snubbed his own party amidst election campaign at Pune on Friday.



BJP spokesperson Shweta Shalini had demanded to the State Election Commision (SEC) that publication of Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana should be suspended for three days including the day of voting. However, Naidu, while addressing a media persons' meet said that that the feat was utterly wrong and banning newspapers was not the culture of his party.



"It is not our party's culture to ban a newspaper. So, we won't ban any newspaper and curb the freedom of expression. Let people write whatever they want. If they are going to write against Prime Minister, they would themselves stoop low," Naidu said while replying to queries about the BJP's complaint against the Shiv Sena mouthpiece with the SEC.



Meanwhile, the SEC, who in a recent order had put a ban on advertisements by the political parties within the two days preceding the day of voting, has taken note of the BJP's letter and sought explanation from Shiv Sena.



"Saamana publishes content that gives a political advantage to Shiv Sena. The SEC needs to ascertain whether it amounts to violation of model code of conduct and whether it is included in the election expenditure of the party candidates," Shalini had said in her letter. If the expenditure on Saamana is not included in election expenditure of party candidates, it needs to be considered 'paid news' he had contended in her letter.



However, the feat attracted heavy criticism, calling the demand as BJP's attempt to curb the freedom of expression.



Naidu also snubbed his party men over local politics. "Due care needs to be taken before inducting anyone to the party," he said while replying to questions over large-scale infusion of people with dubious background to the BJP.



Naidu, however, also slammed the Shiv Sena calling their criticism of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as mere "outburst of frustration".



"The heavy criticism of each other by BJP and the Shiv Sena is not an ideal situation for political parties who are in an alliance. However, I fail to understand how the Shiv Sena, that had been criticising the Congress all along has suddenly started praising the party," Naidu said.

MUMBAI: Union minister Venkaiah Naidu snubbed his own party amidst election campaign at Pune on Friday. BJP spokesperson Shweta Shalini had demanded to the State Election Commision (SEC) that publication of Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana should be suspended for three days including the day of voting. However, Naidu, while addressing a media persons' meet said that that the feat was utterly wrong and banning newspapers was not the culture of his party. "It is not our party's culture to ban a newspaper. So, we won't ban any newspaper and curb the freedom of expression. Let people write whatever they want. If they are going to write against Prime Minister, they would themselves stoop low," Naidu said while replying to queries about the BJP's complaint against the Shiv Sena mouthpiece with the SEC. Meanwhile, the SEC, who in a recent order had put a ban on advertisements by the political parties within the two days preceding the day of voting, has taken note of the BJP's letter and sought explanation from Shiv Sena. "Saamana publishes content that gives a political advantage to Shiv Sena. The SEC needs to ascertain whether it amounts to violation of model code of conduct and whether it is included in the election expenditure of the party candidates," Shalini had said in her letter. If the expenditure on Saamana is not included in election expenditure of party candidates, it needs to be considered 'paid news' he had contended in her letter. However, the feat attracted heavy criticism, calling the demand as BJP's attempt to curb the freedom of expression. Naidu also snubbed his party men over local politics. "Due care needs to be taken before inducting anyone to the party," he said while replying to questions over large-scale infusion of people with dubious background to the BJP. Naidu, however, also slammed the Shiv Sena calling their criticism of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as mere "outburst of frustration". "The heavy criticism of each other by BJP and the Shiv Sena is not an ideal situation for political parties who are in an alliance. However, I fail to understand how the Shiv Sena, that had been criticising the Congress all along has suddenly started praising the party," Naidu said.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: While defending the Army Chief Bipin Rawat's statement on tough action against locals hampering counter-militancy operations in the Kashmir valley, the BJP on Friday slammed the Congress for politicising the issue. The Union Minister of state in the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) Jeetendra Singh accused the Congress of speaking the language of the separatists in the Kashmir valley.

The Army Chief has not warned the people but expressed concerns over civilians' safety in the Kashmir valley. But its appalling that the Congress is falling to this temptation of politicising the Army Chief's statement. It seems that the Congress can go to any extent for political benefits and appears speaking the voice of separatists for lowly political gains, said Singh, while speaking to reporters at the BJP headquarter.

In the context of remarks of the Congress leaders -- Ghulam Nabi Azad and Sandeep Diskhit  on the statement of the Army chief, Singh stated said these were quite unbecoming of a national party. He sought to know from the Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi if such statements were the partys official view points.

"What the Army chief has said is not a warning but an expression of concern. He is worried and hence has cautioned the people to take precautions not to come in the line of fire at times of anti-terrorist operations in the valley, the minister said.

Singh also alleged that the National Conference after losing power is now speaking the language of separatists. The NC as well as the Congress have adopted the jargons of the separatists, Singh alleged. He added that Kashmiri youths had begun realising of being misled by separatists. They now want to be part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's developmental agenda, Singh said.

Meanwhile, the minister claimed that none of the accused arrested in Madhya Pradesh for allegedly being part of a Pakistan-run espionage racket had ever been members of the BJP. Responding to the Congress releasing photographs of some accused in the company of BJP leaders, Singh said: Such pictures do not have an evidentiary value. Photographs showing Congress leaders with BJP's will not make them its members. The BJP state unit has already issued a clarification.

Incidentally, 11 people were arrested from different places of Madhya Pradesh on February 9 for being part of an alleged espionage racket being run from Pakistan to collect strategic information on important Indian establishments.

NEW DELHI: While defending the Army Chief Bipin Rawat's statement on tough action against locals hampering counter-militancy operations in the Kashmir valley, the BJP on Friday slammed the Congress for politicising the issue. The Union Minister of state in the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) Jeetendra Singh accused the Congress of speaking the language of the separatists in the Kashmir valley. The Army Chief has not warned the people but expressed concerns over civilians' safety in the Kashmir valley. But its appalling that the Congress is falling to this temptation of politicising the Army Chief's statement. It seems that the Congress can go to any extent for political benefits and appears speaking the voice of separatists for lowly political gains, said Singh, while speaking to reporters at the BJP headquarter. In the context of remarks of the Congress leaders -- Ghulam Nabi Azad and Sandeep Diskhit  on the statement of the Army chief, Singh stated said these were quite unbecoming of a national party. He sought to know from the Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi if such statements were the partys official view points. "What the Army chief has said is not a warning but an expression of concern. He is worried and hence has cautioned the people to take precautions not to come in the line of fire at times of anti-terrorist operations in the valley, the minister said. Singh also alleged that the National Conference after losing power is now speaking the language of separatists. The NC as well as the Congress have adopted the jargons of the separatists, Singh alleged. He added that Kashmiri youths had begun realising of being misled by separatists. They now want to be part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's developmental agenda, Singh said. Meanwhile, the minister claimed that none of the accused arrested in Madhya Pradesh for allegedly being part of a Pakistan-run espionage racket had ever been members of the BJP. Responding to the Congress releasing photographs of some accused in the company of BJP leaders, Singh said: Such pictures do not have an evidentiary value. Photographs showing Congress leaders with BJP's will not make them its members. The BJP state unit has already issued a clarification. Incidentally, 11 people were arrested from different places of Madhya Pradesh on February 9 for being part of an alleged espionage racket being run from Pakistan to collect strategic information on important Indian establishments.
Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

From a housewife, she became a politician overnight when her husband Dayashankar Singh was sacked from the BJP and was on the run due to his uncharitable comment against BSP chief Mayawati. Swati Singh is currently a BJP candidate from the biggest constituencySarojininagarin Lucknow district, and is pitted against CM Akhilesh Yadavs cousin. In a candid interview with NIEs Namita Bajpai, she points out that despite never wanting to be a politician herself, she will never stop her daughter from following the path.



What are the major issues you are facing?

Womens security is the biggest challenge. It is one of the gravest issues across the state and in Lucknow. My constituency is a blend of urban and rural electorate. Besides a fear-free society, people also expect basic amenities including better roads and better power supply. No development is possible without proper roads. Moreover, lack of schools is another issue here. In my constituency, a large number of management institutes have mushroomed in the recent past on expansive stretches of land but primary educational institutions are very few in number. It is high time that we bring some good schools in this area.



How do you evaluate SP-Congress alliance in the state?

People are fed up with the hooliganism and lawlessness which has been prevailing in the state for the last five years under the Akhilesh Yadav government. They want to get rid of this goondaraaj. Irrespective of any political alliance by the SP, people are going to reject it. However, their ally is a non-entity in the state. On the other hand, since Modiji enjoys a very positive impact on voters, it will help improve partys prospects in the remaining phases.



Has there been any impact of demonetisation in your constituency?

I have got a mixed bag of voters who come from both rural and urban segments. Demonetisation has left a very positive after-effect here as the people, especially those coming from humble backgrounds, are happy that the rich and mighty are now at par with them after notebandi.



BJP is often attacked over going without a CM-face in the ensuing polls. Your take...

In BJP, it is the right of our legislator party to choose its leader as the chief minister after being elected to power. In my party, anyone who is competent to serve the people in earnest is given a chance to head the government unlike the SP and the BSP which are family and personality centric outfits. While in SP, only a person belonging to the Yadav clan can qualify for the CM post, the thought of chief ministership starts from Mayawati and ends at her in BSP.



Your entry into politics was more by compulsion. Did you ever have any political ambition?

I am not new to politics. I was actively involved in student politics during my college days. However, I had been keeping a low profile after marriage as I was busy taking care of my two kids. After the controversy surrounding in which my husband was embroiled, my children and I were at the receiving end. Circumstances forced me to take the plunge as the party wanted me to step out and bring my side of the story to the fore. It was a lone battle which I fought then. But now I am fully confident and ready to take on rivals.



Who are your rivals?

When the BJP decided to field me, I made it clear that I wanted to fight against BSP chief Mayawati. My party waited till the last moment while finalising my ticket. But when she decided not to contest, I was given a ticket from this

seat on which CM Akhilesh Yadav has fielded his cousin Anurag Yadav who is playing all tricks to win the election.



In view of the prevailing political scenario, will you ever want your daughter be a politician?

Earlier, I never wanted her to be a politician but after having a first-hand experience of politics myself, I think if she will want to enter this field, I shall not stop her.



How much help did you get from state government while facing BSP onslaught?

Initially, the state government provided me security but withdrew it as I started appearing on electronic media with regard to the controversy. Though I approached them time and again to seek security for my kids, they evaded the issue for one reason or the other. Till date, no action has been taken against BSP leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui who not only was after my life but was not ready to spare my daughter.



How do you see this metamorphosis from a house wife to an active politician?

Active politics in this phase of my life is by compulsion. Initially, it was a bit difficult. However, I was never a novice to this domain. But knowing the nuances and actually being in the middle of them are two different things. When I was appointed the state chief of BJP womens wing, I was apprehensive of the fact that I might be annoying many other aspirants who have served the party since long but have not got their aspirations fulfilled. So I tried to take everyone along on the assurance that they will never be denied their due in the organisation, especially in my wing.

From a housewife, she became a politician overnight when her husband Dayashankar Singh was sacked from the BJP and was on the run due to his uncharitable comment against BSP chief Mayawati. Swati Singh is currently a BJP candidate from the biggest constituencySarojininagarin Lucknow district, and is pitted against CM Akhilesh Yadavs cousin. In a candid interview with NIEs Namita Bajpai, she points out that despite never wanting to be a politician herself, she will never stop her daughter from following the path. What are the major issues you are facing? Womens security is the biggest challenge. It is one of the gravest issues across the state and in Lucknow. My constituency is a blend of urban and rural electorate. Besides a fear-free society, people also expect basic amenities including better roads and better power supply. No development is possible without proper roads. Moreover, lack of schools is another issue here. In my constituency, a large number of management institutes have mushroomed in the recent past on expansive stretches of land but primary educational institutions are very few in number. It is high time that we bring some good schools in this area. How do you evaluate SP-Congress alliance in the state? People are fed up with the hooliganism and lawlessness which has been prevailing in the state for the last five years under the Akhilesh Yadav government. They want to get rid of this goondaraaj. Irrespective of any political alliance by the SP, people are going to reject it. However, their ally is a non-entity in the state. On the other hand, since Modiji enjoys a very positive impact on voters, it will help improve partys prospects in the remaining phases. Has there been any impact of demonetisation in your constituency? I have got a mixed bag of voters who come from both rural and urban segments. Demonetisation has left a very positive after-effect here as the people, especially those coming from humble backgrounds, are happy that the rich and mighty are now at par with them after notebandi. BJP is often attacked over going without a CM-face in the ensuing polls. Your take... In BJP, it is the right of our legislator party to choose its leader as the chief minister after being elected to power. In my party, anyone who is competent to serve the people in earnest is given a chance to head the government unlike the SP and the BSP which are family and personality centric outfits. While in SP, only a person belonging to the Yadav clan can qualify for the CM post, the thought of chief ministership starts from Mayawati and ends at her in BSP. Your entry into politics was more by compulsion. Did you ever have any political ambition? I am not new to politics. I was actively involved in student politics during my college days. However, I had been keeping a low profile after marriage as I was busy taking care of my two kids. After the controversy surrounding in which my husband was embroiled, my children and I were at the receiving end. Circumstances forced me to take the plunge as the party wanted me to step out and bring my side of the story to the fore. It was a lone battle which I fought then. But now I am fully confident and ready to take on rivals. Who are your rivals? When the BJP decided to field me, I made it clear that I wanted to fight against BSP chief Mayawati. My party waited till the last moment while finalising my ticket. But when she decided not to contest, I was given a ticket from this seat on which CM Akhilesh Yadav has fielded his cousin Anurag Yadav who is playing all tricks to win the election. In view of the prevailing political scenario, will you ever want your daughter be a politician? Earlier, I never wanted her to be a politician but after having a first-hand experience of politics myself, I think if she will want to enter this field, I shall not stop her. How much help did you get from state government while facing BSP onslaught? Initially, the state government provided me security but withdrew it as I started appearing on electronic media with regard to the controversy. Though I approached them time and again to seek security for my kids, they evaded the issue for one reason or the other. Till date, no action has been taken against BSP leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui who not only was after my life but was not ready to spare my daughter. How do you see this metamorphosis from a house wife to an active politician? Active politics in this phase of my life is by compulsion. Initially, it was a bit difficult. However, I was never a novice to this domain. But knowing the nuances and actually being in the middle of them are two different things. When I was appointed the state chief of BJP womens wing, I was apprehensive of the fact that I might be annoying many other aspirants who have served the party since long but have not got their aspirations fulfilled. So I tried to take everyone along on the assurance that they will never be denied their due in the organisation, especially in my wing.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI/GUWAHATI: The ghost of former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Kalikho Pul is continuing to haunt the corridors of power. Pul committed suicide on August 9 last year weeks after being unseated as the chief minister by a ruling of the Supreme Court quashing Presidents Rule in the state.

On Friday, the first of his three wives, Dangwimsai, moved the Supreme Court with a prayer for a CBI probe into the circumstances leading to her husbands death. The trigger for her petition was the revelation of a 60-page suicide note that Kalikho Pul purportedly wrote before hanging himself at the chief ministers bungalow in Itanagar. The noted contained allegations of corruption in Arunachal as well as in the nations judiciary, particularly by two Supreme Court judges who were parties to the judgment which quashed Presidents Rule and led to the unseating of my husband, Dangwimsai said.

Kalikho Puls widow called a press conference in New Delhi to highlight her demand for a probe into the circumstances of her husbands death.

In the suicide note, Pul also levelled charges of corruption against incumbent chief minister Pema Khandu and his predecessor Nabam Tuki but Dangwimsai did not take their names although she enclosed a copy of the suicide note with her appeal.

Here are three main points of Dangwidsais press conference:



Order a CBI investigation

The Supreme Court has laid down that any allegations of an offence made to police officers must be investigated after registering an FIR. This note contains several allegations constituting offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and others, and therefore, it is essential that an FIR be registered on the basis of the allegations contained in it and the case be investigated by the CBI since the primary allegations are of corruption of judges at the highest level, Dangwimsai said.

The then governor of Arunachal J P Rajkhowa had strongly recommended a CBI investigation into the serious allegations contained in the suicide note of my husband. Unfortunately, it appears that no FIR has been registered and no investigation conducted, she said.

Threats to my life: Dangwimsai

Dangwimsai alleged that her family is getting threats from the Arunachal Pradesh government. "Ever since the (suicide) note surfaced in the media, my family including myself, my children and relatives have been subjected to threats from different quarters," she claimed.

Punish the guilty

"We want a free and fair probe in this case (into his death) and action according to law against those who are guilty of corruption," Dangwimsai said.

NEW DELHI/GUWAHATI: The ghost of former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Kalikho Pul is continuing to haunt the corridors of power. Pul committed suicide on August 9 last year weeks after being unseated as the chief minister by a ruling of the Supreme Court quashing Presidents Rule in the state. On Friday, the first of his three wives, Dangwimsai, moved the Supreme Court with a prayer for a CBI probe into the circumstances leading to her husbands death. The trigger for her petition was the revelation of a 60-page suicide note that Kalikho Pul purportedly wrote before hanging himself at the chief ministers bungalow in Itanagar. The noted contained allegations of corruption in Arunachal as well as in the nations judiciary, particularly by two Supreme Court judges who were parties to the judgment which quashed Presidents Rule and led to the unseating of my husband, Dangwimsai said. Kalikho Puls widow called a press conference in New Delhi to highlight her demand for a probe into the circumstances of her husbands death. In the suicide note, Pul also levelled charges of corruption against incumbent chief minister Pema Khandu and his predecessor Nabam Tuki but Dangwimsai did not take their names although she enclosed a copy of the suicide note with her appeal. Here are three main points of Dangwidsais press conference: Order a CBI investigation The Supreme Court has laid down that any allegations of an offence made to police officers must be investigated after registering an FIR. This note contains several allegations constituting offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and others, and therefore, it is essential that an FIR be registered on the basis of the allegations contained in it and the case be investigated by the CBI since the primary allegations are of corruption of judges at the highest level, Dangwimsai said. The then governor of Arunachal J P Rajkhowa had strongly recommended a CBI investigation into the serious allegations contained in the suicide note of my husband. Unfortunately, it appears that no FIR has been registered and no investigation conducted, she said. Threats to my life: Dangwimsai Dangwimsai alleged that her family is getting threats from the Arunachal Pradesh government. "Ever since the (suicide) note surfaced in the media, my family including myself, my children and relatives have been subjected to threats from different quarters," she claimed. Punish the guilty "We want a free and fair probe in this case (into his death) and action according to law against those who are guilty of corruption," Dangwimsai said.
Aishik Chanda By

Express News Service

KOLKATA: Ostracisation of persons with disabilities took new heights when parents of students at a teacher-deficient school in Raidighi in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district protested against the appointment of a qualified young man in wheelchair and threatened to withdraw their children from the school to avoid being taught by who they called 'a cursed teacher'.

When Arnab Haldar, a graduate in History, who had also qualified the Teacher's Eligibility Test (TET), came with his parents to Raimanikhakhi school in Raidighi to join as the third teacher in the 60-student school, he was greeted by a group of 25-30 angry protesters who said they did not want their children to be taught by a 'cursed' disabled teacher. Some of the protesters also threatened headmistress Rekha Kansari Purkait of 'dire consequences' if Arnab was hired.

However, after several phone calls from the West Bengal Board of Primary Education and visits by around 30 teachers from several schools in the neighbouring villages, Arnab was finally hired and all formalities were completed by Friday afternoon. District Magistrate P.B. Salim and Trinamool district president Sobhan Chattopadhyay also assured all help to Arnab.

However, the headmistress, who is a local villager, expressed concerns over the possibility that the parents might retaliate against the appointment later.

Arnab was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when he was ten. Over the years, both his legs and left hand became paralysed. He does all his work with his weak right hand. "I told the protesters to give me one day to so that I can prove to them my competence. I have a laptop and I do not have any problem in speaking and hence teaching either. I would teach my students well. But, they just wouldnt listen to me," Arnab said.

Resident of neighbouring Chapla village, Arnab's father Ashish Haldar is also a teacher. Both the parents, who had accompanied Arnab were baffled and sad over the public reaction to their disabled son's appointment.

KOLKATA: Ostracisation of persons with disabilities took new heights when parents of students at a teacher-deficient school in Raidighi in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district protested against the appointment of a qualified young man in wheelchair and threatened to withdraw their children from the school to avoid being taught by who they called 'a cursed teacher'. When Arnab Haldar, a graduate in History, who had also qualified the Teacher's Eligibility Test (TET), came with his parents to Raimanikhakhi school in Raidighi to join as the third teacher in the 60-student school, he was greeted by a group of 25-30 angry protesters who said they did not want their children to be taught by a 'cursed' disabled teacher. Some of the protesters also threatened headmistress Rekha Kansari Purkait of 'dire consequences' if Arnab was hired. However, after several phone calls from the West Bengal Board of Primary Education and visits by around 30 teachers from several schools in the neighbouring villages, Arnab was finally hired and all formalities were completed by Friday afternoon. District Magistrate P.B. Salim and Trinamool district president Sobhan Chattopadhyay also assured all help to Arnab. However, the headmistress, who is a local villager, expressed concerns over the possibility that the parents might retaliate against the appointment later. Arnab was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when he was ten. Over the years, both his legs and left hand became paralysed. He does all his work with his weak right hand. "I told the protesters to give me one day to so that I can prove to them my competence. I have a laptop and I do not have any problem in speaking and hence teaching either. I would teach my students well. But, they just wouldnt listen to me," Arnab said. Resident of neighbouring Chapla village, Arnab's father Ashish Haldar is also a teacher. Both the parents, who had accompanied Arnab were baffled and sad over the public reaction to their disabled son's appointment.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to hear a plea which sought to make singing of the national song mandatory in schools.



A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra referred to Article 51 A (a) of the Constitution and said it deals only with the national anthem and the national flag and not the national song.



Therefore, we do not intend to enter into any debate as far as the national song is concerned, the bench said.



The bench, which was hearing a plea by Aswani Upadhyay which sought direction for framing of a policy to promote and propagate the national anthem, the national flag and the national song, tagged the petition with another similar plea on the issue which is pending before it.



However, the court said it will hear the plea which sought direction to ascertain the feasibility of singing or playing the national anthem and the national song in schools only and not in Parliament or a state Assembly, public offices and courts.



The court had last year made it mandatory for the cinema halls to play the anthem to instil committed patriotism and nationalism.



The apex court had said that "love and respect for the motherland is reflected when one shows respect to the national anthem as well as to the national flag".



The court's directions came on a PIL filed by one Shyam Narayan Chouksey seeking directions that the national anthem be played in cinema halls across the country before a film begins and proper norms and protocol be fixed regarding its playing and singing at official functions and programmes where those holding constitutional office are present.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to hear a plea which sought to make singing of the national song mandatory in schools. A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra referred to Article 51 A (a) of the Constitution and said it deals only with the national anthem and the national flag and not the national song. Therefore, we do not intend to enter into any debate as far as the national song is concerned, the bench said. The bench, which was hearing a plea by Aswani Upadhyay which sought direction for framing of a policy to promote and propagate the national anthem, the national flag and the national song, tagged the petition with another similar plea on the issue which is pending before it. However, the court said it will hear the plea which sought direction to ascertain the feasibility of singing or playing the national anthem and the national song in schools only and not in Parliament or a state Assembly, public offices and courts. The court had last year made it mandatory for the cinema halls to play the anthem to instil committed patriotism and nationalism. The apex court had said that "love and respect for the motherland is reflected when one shows respect to the national anthem as well as to the national flag". The court's directions came on a PIL filed by one Shyam Narayan Chouksey seeking directions that the national anthem be played in cinema halls across the country before a film begins and proper norms and protocol be fixed regarding its playing and singing at official functions and programmes where those holding constitutional office are present.
Ritu Sharma By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Long overdue visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is likely to fructify in April this year, albeit without the Teesta water sharing accord as the Mamta Banerjee government has not come on board.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as part of his Neighbourhood First policy, had visited Bangladesh in 2015 and had settled the 41-year-old boundary dispute between the two countries. A similar historic Teesta Water sharing agreement was expected the long awaited visit of the Bangladesh Prime Minister. However, the Teesta water sharing agreement is stuck at the state government level.

The Bangladesh Prime Ministers visit would be happening in April and would be happening without the Teesta Agreement, sources in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) told the New Indian Express.

During Modis visit to Bangladesh, West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee stood next to the Prime Minister and expressed confidence of a fair solution: to the sharing of the water of Teesta and Feni river. But all that is past now as the Centre and the West Bengal State government have lost their bonhomie. It is difficult to get the West Bengal government on board with rift between the centre and the state, the Government officials added.

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar will be a visiting to Dhaka between February 23rd and 24th. He will be meeting his Bangladeshi counterpart Md. Shahidul Haque. The two Foreign Secretaries are expected to work out details of Sheikh Hasinas visit besides reviewing other areas of bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

But the two countries are expected to ink over a dozen agreements during the visit, including that of using Chittagong port by India. The Indian side has sent a long list of 41 agreements, a Bangladeshi diplomat in New Delhi said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has proved herself to be an important ally of India by cracking down on extremists in the country where radicalisation has been on the rise. The two countries have been sharing intelligence to combat terrorism in the region.

NEW DELHI: Long overdue visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is likely to fructify in April this year, albeit without the Teesta water sharing accord as the Mamta Banerjee government has not come on board. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as part of his Neighbourhood First policy, had visited Bangladesh in 2015 and had settled the 41-year-old boundary dispute between the two countries. A similar historic Teesta Water sharing agreement was expected the long awaited visit of the Bangladesh Prime Minister. However, the Teesta water sharing agreement is stuck at the state government level. The Bangladesh Prime Ministers visit would be happening in April and would be happening without the Teesta Agreement, sources in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) told the New Indian Express. During Modis visit to Bangladesh, West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee stood next to the Prime Minister and expressed confidence of a fair solution: to the sharing of the water of Teesta and Feni river. But all that is past now as the Centre and the West Bengal State government have lost their bonhomie. It is difficult to get the West Bengal government on board with rift between the centre and the state, the Government officials added. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar will be a visiting to Dhaka between February 23rd and 24th. He will be meeting his Bangladeshi counterpart Md. Shahidul Haque. The two Foreign Secretaries are expected to work out details of Sheikh Hasinas visit besides reviewing other areas of bilateral cooperation between the two countries. But the two countries are expected to ink over a dozen agreements during the visit, including that of using Chittagong port by India. The Indian side has sent a long list of 41 agreements, a Bangladeshi diplomat in New Delhi said. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has proved herself to be an important ally of India by cracking down on extremists in the country where radicalisation has been on the rise. The two countries have been sharing intelligence to combat terrorism in the region.
By ANI

MUMBAI: Following the attack on his car by few identified men, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Delhi chief Manoj Tiwari on Friday hit out at the opposition and said these kinds of acts cannot deter him.

This is very strange for me. But the people are supporting me here, might happen that some of the opponent party must have done this thing. They are trying to threaten me but this kind of act cannot deter me, Tiwari told ANI.

We have filed a complaint with the police. Now, they will investigate the matter. I live in Mumbai. I have a home here and to carry out such thing in front of my house is a very serious issue, he added.

Tiwari also vowed he will try his best to bring the saffron party to power in the Brihannmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls.

The incident took place around 5 p.m., when Tiwari was about to leave his house. A stone was hurled at his car, followed by a piece of paper tied to another stone. It was written on the paper, "Abhi to kaanch toda hai, zyaada prachaar karogey to munh tod dengey,"

Tiwari, the Lok Sabha member from Delhi North-East, has been campaigning for the party in Mumbai for the upcoming BMC polls.

The elections are scheduled to be held on February 21 and the results will be announced on February 23.

MUMBAI: Following the attack on his car by few identified men, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Delhi chief Manoj Tiwari on Friday hit out at the opposition and said these kinds of acts cannot deter him. This is very strange for me. But the people are supporting me here, might happen that some of the opponent party must have done this thing. They are trying to threaten me but this kind of act cannot deter me, Tiwari told ANI. We have filed a complaint with the police. Now, they will investigate the matter. I live in Mumbai. I have a home here and to carry out such thing in front of my house is a very serious issue, he added. Tiwari also vowed he will try his best to bring the saffron party to power in the Brihannmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls. The incident took place around 5 p.m., when Tiwari was about to leave his house. A stone was hurled at his car, followed by a piece of paper tied to another stone. It was written on the paper, "Abhi to kaanch toda hai, zyaada prachaar karogey to munh tod dengey," Tiwari, the Lok Sabha member from Delhi North-East, has been campaigning for the party in Mumbai for the upcoming BMC polls. The elections are scheduled to be held on February 21 and the results will be announced on February 23.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Arrival of foreign tourists has increased by over 16 per cent in the month of January this year as compared with last year. Officials claimed that demonetisation had no impact on the arrivals as the current rise surpassed the previous years corresponding growth of 6.8 per cent observed in January 2016 over January 2015.

As per the latest data, total 9.83 lakh foreign tourists arrived in India in January, an increase of 16.5 per cent as compared to the same period last year. Officials of the Union Tourism ministry said that among the top 15 source countries in the first month of the year, the US had the highest share at 15.01 per cent, followed by Bangladesh at 14.91 per cent, the UK at 11.11 per cent and Canada at 4.63 per cent.

While arrival of foreign tourists does not show any impact of the note ban, officials said foreign tourists generally plan their tour two-three months in advance.

Of the total arrivals in January, 1.52 lakh tourists availed e-visa facility, an increase of 72 per cent over 0.88 lakh people opting for the online service during the same month last year. In the e-visa segment, the UK with 22.9 per cent share ranked first among the 15 top countries availing the facility, followed by the US (13.6 per cent), Russia (8.3 per cent), China (6.3 per cent) and France (5.6 per cent).

The share of tourists availing e-visa in January 2017 is 15.5 per cent as against 10.4 per cent in the January 2016, showing "the steady success of e-visa facility in quantifiable terms", officials said.

Officials said that India usually registers higher number of tourist arrivals from October till March due to pleasant weather conditions.



NEW DELHI: Arrival of foreign tourists has increased by over 16 per cent in the month of January this year as compared with last year. Officials claimed that demonetisation had no impact on the arrivals as the current rise surpassed the previous years corresponding growth of 6.8 per cent observed in January 2016 over January 2015. As per the latest data, total 9.83 lakh foreign tourists arrived in India in January, an increase of 16.5 per cent as compared to the same period last year. Officials of the Union Tourism ministry said that among the top 15 source countries in the first month of the year, the US had the highest share at 15.01 per cent, followed by Bangladesh at 14.91 per cent, the UK at 11.11 per cent and Canada at 4.63 per cent. While arrival of foreign tourists does not show any impact of the note ban, officials said foreign tourists generally plan their tour two-three months in advance. Of the total arrivals in January, 1.52 lakh tourists availed e-visa facility, an increase of 72 per cent over 0.88 lakh people opting for the online service during the same month last year. In the e-visa segment, the UK with 22.9 per cent share ranked first among the 15 top countries availing the facility, followed by the US (13.6 per cent), Russia (8.3 per cent), China (6.3 per cent) and France (5.6 per cent). The share of tourists availing e-visa in January 2017 is 15.5 per cent as against 10.4 per cent in the January 2016, showing "the steady success of e-visa facility in quantifiable terms", officials said. Officials said that India usually registers higher number of tourist arrivals from October till March due to pleasant weather conditions.
Fayaz Wani By

Express News Service

SRINAGAR: The induction of a senior PDP leader and former minister in cabinet by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and reshuffle of portfolios of some ministers on Friday has led to crisis in the ruling party with two disgruntled PDP ministers resigning in the evening.

Sources said two PDP ministers  Syed Basharat Bukhari and Imran Ansari  resigned from the cabinet this evening.

Both the ministers have submitted their resignations to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. Both have listed reasons for their resignation in their respective letters to CM, they said.

Broadcaster-turned-politician, Bukhari was divested of key portfolios of Revenue, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction and given charge of only less important Horticulture department by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti after senior PDP leader and former minister Altaf Bukhari was inducted in the cabinet today.

Imran Ansari, who was Minister for Information Technology, Technical Education and Youth Services & Sports, resigned because he was promised by Mehbooba that he would be given an important portfolio as and when cabinet is expanded, sources said.

Earlier, in the afternoon Governor N N Vohra administered oath of office and secrecy to Atlaf Bukhari at Raj Bhawan in Jammu.

With Bukhari's induction, the council of ministers of PDP-BJP coalition government has gone up to 24.

The state can have a maximum of 25 ministers. As per agreement between PDP and BJP, PDP will be having 14 ministers including Chief Minister and BJP 11 ministerial berths.

After his induction in the cabinet, Altaf Bukhari was given charge of Education Department, which was earlier held by Naeem Akhtar.

Akhtar was given charge of high profile Public Works Department, which was earlier held by Abdul Rehman Veeri.

Veeri was assigned charge of Ministry of Revenue, Disaster Management, Relief Rehabilitation & Reconstruction and Parliamentary Affairs.

Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu was also divested of Culture department, which will be looked after by CM Mehbooba herself.

Altaf Bukhari was R&B minister in Mufti Sayeed-led PDP-BJP coalition government. He was dropped by Mehbooba after taking over as CM of the coalition government due to his proximity with BJP during over three months stalemate on government formation in the State after Mufti Sayeeds death on January 7 last year.

Now, he has been inducted in the cabinet with an eye on bypoll of Srinagar Lok Sabha seat.

The seat fell vacant after the PDP MP Tariq Karra resigned from the party and the Lok Sabha last year.

Karra was the face of PDP in Srinagar and is all set to join Congress and contest the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat as Congress candidate.

Bukhari wields lot of influence in Srinagar and can prove beneficial for the PDP in check-mating Karra and strengthen party in Srinagar, which has remained stronghold of NC.

SRINAGAR: The induction of a senior PDP leader and former minister in cabinet by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and reshuffle of portfolios of some ministers on Friday has led to crisis in the ruling party with two disgruntled PDP ministers resigning in the evening. Sources said two PDP ministers  Syed Basharat Bukhari and Imran Ansari  resigned from the cabinet this evening. Both the ministers have submitted their resignations to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. Both have listed reasons for their resignation in their respective letters to CM, they said. Broadcaster-turned-politician, Bukhari was divested of key portfolios of Revenue, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction and given charge of only less important Horticulture department by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti after senior PDP leader and former minister Altaf Bukhari was inducted in the cabinet today. Imran Ansari, who was Minister for Information Technology, Technical Education and Youth Services & Sports, resigned because he was promised by Mehbooba that he would be given an important portfolio as and when cabinet is expanded, sources said. Earlier, in the afternoon Governor N N Vohra administered oath of office and secrecy to Atlaf Bukhari at Raj Bhawan in Jammu. With Bukhari's induction, the council of ministers of PDP-BJP coalition government has gone up to 24. The state can have a maximum of 25 ministers. As per agreement between PDP and BJP, PDP will be having 14 ministers including Chief Minister and BJP 11 ministerial berths. After his induction in the cabinet, Altaf Bukhari was given charge of Education Department, which was earlier held by Naeem Akhtar. Akhtar was given charge of high profile Public Works Department, which was earlier held by Abdul Rehman Veeri. Veeri was assigned charge of Ministry of Revenue, Disaster Management, Relief Rehabilitation & Reconstruction and Parliamentary Affairs. Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu was also divested of Culture department, which will be looked after by CM Mehbooba herself. Altaf Bukhari was R&B minister in Mufti Sayeed-led PDP-BJP coalition government. He was dropped by Mehbooba after taking over as CM of the coalition government due to his proximity with BJP during over three months stalemate on government formation in the State after Mufti Sayeeds death on January 7 last year. Now, he has been inducted in the cabinet with an eye on bypoll of Srinagar Lok Sabha seat. The seat fell vacant after the PDP MP Tariq Karra resigned from the party and the Lok Sabha last year. Karra was the face of PDP in Srinagar and is all set to join Congress and contest the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat as Congress candidate. Bukhari wields lot of influence in Srinagar and can prove beneficial for the PDP in check-mating Karra and strengthen party in Srinagar, which has remained stronghold of NC.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Congress today hit back at BJP asking whether the morale of jawans was not affected when 188 were killed in terror attacks in last 30 months and when Prime Minister Narendra Modi feasted with Nawaz Sharif.

BJP had earlier accused the opposition party of speaking the language of separatists and of playing politics over Army chief Bipin Rawat's remarks that affected the morale of jawans.

"Please tell if morale wasn't affected as 188 Jawans were martyred in 30 months in terror attacks but Modiji couldn't contain Pakistan," Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said in a series of tweets.

"Please tell if the morale of our jawans wasn't affected when Modiji feasted with PM Sharif in Pakistan as jawans sacrificed for India," he tweeted.

He also asked the Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh whether the morale of jawans was not affected when Modi invited "rogue ISI" to investigate the Pathankot terror attack.

"Please tell if the morale of Jawans wasn't affected as BJP- PDP government gave compensation to the kin of dreaded terrorists in J&K?

"Please tell if the morale of Jawans isn't affected as Madhya Pradesh BJP members are caught teaming with the ISI and running a racket to spy on Army," Surjewala tweeted.

Earlier, in reply to a query on the Army chief's remarks that "stern action" will be taken against those siding with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said restraint should be adopted by security forces while dealing with people in the state.

"The issue of internal security of the country is a serious one and there can be no compromise on it. But as I had said during the last Parliament session, atrocities should not be inflicted on innocents. Action should be taken against those involved in wrongdoings but there is need to adopt restraint," Scindia said.

He said children were blinded and atrocities were committed against them during the agitation last year in the state.

"There is a need for restraint as no one wants to give shelter to bad people. There should be strict action against wrongs, but that should happen after proper investigation," he said.

Earlier, Jitendra Singh asked political parties not to politicise the Army chief's statements and appealed to them, including Congress, to not indulge in any kind of politicking at the cost of morale of security forces.

NEW DELHI: Congress today hit back at BJP asking whether the morale of jawans was not affected when 188 were killed in terror attacks in last 30 months and when Prime Minister Narendra Modi feasted with Nawaz Sharif. BJP had earlier accused the opposition party of speaking the language of separatists and of playing politics over Army chief Bipin Rawat's remarks that affected the morale of jawans. "Please tell if morale wasn't affected as 188 Jawans were martyred in 30 months in terror attacks but Modiji couldn't contain Pakistan," Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said in a series of tweets. "Please tell if the morale of our jawans wasn't affected when Modiji feasted with PM Sharif in Pakistan as jawans sacrificed for India," he tweeted. He also asked the Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh whether the morale of jawans was not affected when Modi invited "rogue ISI" to investigate the Pathankot terror attack. "Please tell if the morale of Jawans wasn't affected as BJP- PDP government gave compensation to the kin of dreaded terrorists in J&K? "Please tell if the morale of Jawans isn't affected as Madhya Pradesh BJP members are caught teaming with the ISI and running a racket to spy on Army," Surjewala tweeted. Earlier, in reply to a query on the Army chief's remarks that "stern action" will be taken against those siding with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said restraint should be adopted by security forces while dealing with people in the state. "The issue of internal security of the country is a serious one and there can be no compromise on it. But as I had said during the last Parliament session, atrocities should not be inflicted on innocents. Action should be taken against those involved in wrongdoings but there is need to adopt restraint," Scindia said. He said children were blinded and atrocities were committed against them during the agitation last year in the state. "There is a need for restraint as no one wants to give shelter to bad people. There should be strict action against wrongs, but that should happen after proper investigation," he said. Earlier, Jitendra Singh asked political parties not to politicise the Army chief's statements and appealed to them, including Congress, to not indulge in any kind of politicking at the cost of morale of security forces.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Within 48 hours of breaking the world record with the launch of 104 satellites in a single mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Friday produced another stellar performance.

In its very first attempt, the home-grown cryogenic upper stage (C-25 D) passed the long duration endurance test at ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri, becoming the sixth nation in the world to have mastered the complex cryogenic technology.

The cryogenic stage capable of producing a thrust of 20 tonnes using a propellant loading of 25 tonnes on board is the first Indian turbo pump engine that is indigenously developed. It was conceived, designed, fabricated with the ISRO with external support of Indian industry. It draws its strength using liquid hydrogen (at 20 Kelvin temperature) and liquid oxygen (at 90 Kelvin temperature) as propellants.

The full stage was ignited and tested for 640 seconds from 5 pm like it is done during the actual flight scenario. The ISRO chairman AS Kiran Kumar told Express that the test was successful and fulfilled all the requisite parameters.

It was a static performance heat test and the results matched the predicted values of chamber pressure, liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen flow, injection pressure temperatures and other critical parameters.

It was carried out meticulously with zero error. We can now confidently go for the launch of first developmental flight of GSLV MkIII, which is being planned around April 20 tentatively, said Kiran Kumar.

It took close to 15 years of hard work for the ISRO scientists to reach this point. The GSLV MkIII project began in October 2002 and with no reference cryogenic stage to bank on, the scientists toiled from the scratch.

The industrial partners like Godrej, L&T and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) stood by the ISRO all along providing hardware and other critical components.

Kiran Kumar said the full duration endurance test by itself was an extremely complex task considering the fact that liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen had to be kept at their operational temperature of -2530C and -195 0C, respectively, and they had to go from the tank to the thrust engine and all the sub-systems had to function at the right time initiating the ignition.

Besides, there are several suction elements on the ground that play spoilsport like extreme heat, vibration etc. The actual thing happens in a vacuum, whereas here we are doing at an ambient environment, he said. PV Venkitakrishnan, the director, ISRO Propulsion Complex, said this was the last in the series of tests that were conducted before attempting Fridays full duration cryogenic stage test.

To a query, Kiran Kumar said that GSLV MkIII suffered a little setback in 2010 when two GSLV MkII missions failed. The test facilities at IPRC were designed to suit the MkII testing once the space agency was able to overcome that hurdle, the IPRC facility was re-engineered to suit the MkIII cryogenic stage testing.

The IPRC director said the final flight stage was getting ready and would be transported to Sriharikota in a month which would then be integrated with the GSLV MkIII rocket. Already other two stages with liquid core stage (L110) and solid strap-on motors (S200) had reached Sriharikota and integrated. Once the GSLV MkIII was fully operational, India could be self-reliant and would have the capability of launching 4 tonne class of satellite, Venkitakrishnan said.

CHENNAI: Within 48 hours of breaking the world record with the launch of 104 satellites in a single mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Friday produced another stellar performance. In its very first attempt, the home-grown cryogenic upper stage (C-25 D) passed the long duration endurance test at ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri, becoming the sixth nation in the world to have mastered the complex cryogenic technology. The cryogenic stage capable of producing a thrust of 20 tonnes using a propellant loading of 25 tonnes on board is the first Indian turbo pump engine that is indigenously developed. It was conceived, designed, fabricated with the ISRO with external support of Indian industry. It draws its strength using liquid hydrogen (at 20 Kelvin temperature) and liquid oxygen (at 90 Kelvin temperature) as propellants. The full stage was ignited and tested for 640 seconds from 5 pm like it is done during the actual flight scenario. The ISRO chairman AS Kiran Kumar told Express that the test was successful and fulfilled all the requisite parameters. It was a static performance heat test and the results matched the predicted values of chamber pressure, liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen flow, injection pressure temperatures and other critical parameters. It was carried out meticulously with zero error. We can now confidently go for the launch of first developmental flight of GSLV MkIII, which is being planned around April 20 tentatively, said Kiran Kumar. It took close to 15 years of hard work for the ISRO scientists to reach this point. The GSLV MkIII project began in October 2002 and with no reference cryogenic stage to bank on, the scientists toiled from the scratch. The industrial partners like Godrej, L&T and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) stood by the ISRO all along providing hardware and other critical components. Kiran Kumar said the full duration endurance test by itself was an extremely complex task considering the fact that liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen had to be kept at their operational temperature of -2530C and -195 0C, respectively, and they had to go from the tank to the thrust engine and all the sub-systems had to function at the right time initiating the ignition. Besides, there are several suction elements on the ground that play spoilsport like extreme heat, vibration etc. The actual thing happens in a vacuum, whereas here we are doing at an ambient environment, he said. PV Venkitakrishnan, the director, ISRO Propulsion Complex, said this was the last in the series of tests that were conducted before attempting Fridays full duration cryogenic stage test. To a query, Kiran Kumar said that GSLV MkIII suffered a little setback in 2010 when two GSLV MkII missions failed. The test facilities at IPRC were designed to suit the MkII testing once the space agency was able to overcome that hurdle, the IPRC facility was re-engineered to suit the MkIII cryogenic stage testing. The IPRC director said the final flight stage was getting ready and would be transported to Sriharikota in a month which would then be integrated with the GSLV MkIII rocket. Already other two stages with liquid core stage (L110) and solid strap-on motors (S200) had reached Sriharikota and integrated. Once the GSLV MkIII was fully operational, India could be self-reliant and would have the capability of launching 4 tonne class of satellite, Venkitakrishnan said.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Gearing up for the trust vote on Saturday, the ruling AIADMK received yet another jolt after one of its MLAs, a former top cop, said he would vote against Chief Minister 'Edappadi' K Palanisamy's motion of confidence in the state Assembly. This has reduced Palanisamy's support to only 123 members (excluding the Speaker's vote) in the all-important special Assembly session convened tomorrow morning at 11 am.

"I'm feeling heavy inside. People and party cadres are extremely angry about the recent developments and I have to respect their feelings. So mine will be a conscience vote and not just a confidence vote tomorrow," Mylapore MLA R Natraj told Express.

"You know she (Sasikala) killed Amma, then why should we support her?" -- R. Bommi, Mylapore Ward No. 125 Councillor. #ops @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/a6SAFE3QOY  Dia Rekhi (@diarekhi) February 17, 2017

Natraj was a DGP before retiring and taking a plunge into politics by contesting the May 2016 Assembly polls from Mylapore in Chennai on AIADMK ticket. Though he refrained from taking sides in the ongoing political battle for the chief minister's post between Palanisamy and his predecessor, rebel leader O Panneerselvam, Natraj said people in not just Mylapore but other constituencies too were clearly opposing Palanisamy as the chief minister.

Changing his earlier stance of trying to unite both Sasikala and Pannerselvam factions, Natraj said the 'right approach' was not happening. He refused to answer on switching sides and extending support to the rival camp, stating that he was against split vote within the government. "This mandate was not won by Pannerselvam or Palanisamy, but late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. So what is the point in claiming their rights on it over and over again?"

CHENNAI: Gearing up for the trust vote on Saturday, the ruling AIADMK received yet another jolt after one of its MLAs, a former top cop, said he would vote against Chief Minister 'Edappadi' K Palanisamy's motion of confidence in the state Assembly. This has reduced Palanisamy's support to only 123 members (excluding the Speaker's vote) in the all-important special Assembly session convened tomorrow morning at 11 am. "I'm feeling heavy inside. People and party cadres are extremely angry about the recent developments and I have to respect their feelings. So mine will be a conscience vote and not just a confidence vote tomorrow," Mylapore MLA R Natraj told Express. "You know she (Sasikala) killed Amma, then why should we support her?" -- R. Bommi, Mylapore Ward No. 125 Councillor. #ops @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/a6SAFE3QOY  Dia Rekhi (@diarekhi) February 17, 2017 Natraj was a DGP before retiring and taking a plunge into politics by contesting the May 2016 Assembly polls from Mylapore in Chennai on AIADMK ticket. Though he refrained from taking sides in the ongoing political battle for the chief minister's post between Palanisamy and his predecessor, rebel leader O Panneerselvam, Natraj said people in not just Mylapore but other constituencies too were clearly opposing Palanisamy as the chief minister. Changing his earlier stance of trying to unite both Sasikala and Pannerselvam factions, Natraj said the 'right approach' was not happening. He refused to answer on switching sides and extending support to the rival camp, stating that he was against split vote within the government. "This mandate was not won by Pannerselvam or Palanisamy, but late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. So what is the point in claiming their rights on it over and over again?"
By Express News Service

NALGONDA: Two young men climbed up a cell phone tower in a village in Yadadri district of Telangana and threatened to jump if social boycott enforced upon them by their caste elders was not revoked.

When reports last came in, Sandra Yadaiah and Arruru Yadaiah were still atop the tower in Duppalli village in Valigonda mandal of Yadadri district, 60 km from Hyderabad. They went up in the early hours of the day before the village woke up.

Caste elders of the village had banished them from the community for not adhering to a resolution passed during the elections to the local village school development committee six months ago.

There were two contestants for the post of chairman: Yerra Narsaiah and Anthati Narsaiah. The Scheduled Caste community of the village decided to support Yerra Narssiah and passed a diktat that all Scheduled Caste votes in the village go to the chosen candidate.

But Sandra Yadaiah and Arruru Yadaiah voted for Anthati Narsaiah, who won. The margin of victory was two votes.

The elders have been cut up with the two young men ever since then. Villagers stopped talking to them and the duo was not allowed to attend any marriages, funerals or other ceremonies in the community.

The two men lodged a police complaint against the social boycott and even approached the local tehsildar for justice. But there was no response. So early Friday morning, they decided to climb up the cell phone tower demanding that their problem is solved.

Cell phone towers in Telangana range in height from 50 ft to 200 ft. Its a common form of protest in Telangana for young people to climb up cell phone tower to attract attention to their grievance. Local administration officials have gone to the village to persuade the two young men to get down.

NALGONDA: Two young men climbed up a cell phone tower in a village in Yadadri district of Telangana and threatened to jump if social boycott enforced upon them by their caste elders was not revoked. When reports last came in, Sandra Yadaiah and Arruru Yadaiah were still atop the tower in Duppalli village in Valigonda mandal of Yadadri district, 60 km from Hyderabad. They went up in the early hours of the day before the village woke up. Caste elders of the village had banished them from the community for not adhering to a resolution passed during the elections to the local village school development committee six months ago. There were two contestants for the post of chairman: Yerra Narsaiah and Anthati Narsaiah. The Scheduled Caste community of the village decided to support Yerra Narssiah and passed a diktat that all Scheduled Caste votes in the village go to the chosen candidate. But Sandra Yadaiah and Arruru Yadaiah voted for Anthati Narsaiah, who won. The margin of victory was two votes. The elders have been cut up with the two young men ever since then. Villagers stopped talking to them and the duo was not allowed to attend any marriages, funerals or other ceremonies in the community. The two men lodged a police complaint against the social boycott and even approached the local tehsildar for justice. But there was no response. So early Friday morning, they decided to climb up the cell phone tower demanding that their problem is solved. Cell phone towers in Telangana range in height from 50 ft to 200 ft. Its a common form of protest in Telangana for young people to climb up cell phone tower to attract attention to their grievance. Local administration officials have gone to the village to persuade the two young men to get down.
By Associated Press

MAIDUGURI: Battling multiple bombers strapped with suicide vests, Nigerian troops and civilian self-defense fighters repelled the fiercest Boko Haram extremist attack in months on the key northeastern city of Maiduguri on Friday. Nine bombers and two civilians were killed, according to witnesses, soldiers and police.

The city is the birthplace of the Islamic insurgency and the headquarters of the military campaign to halt it.

Residents awoke to mighty explosions around midnight. Three female suicide bombers blew themselves up at a truck station, detonating vehicles at Muna Garage on the city's eastern outskirts, according to police Deputy Superintendent Victor Iskukwu. Muna Garage has been attacked many times in recent months.

Two civilians died in the blasts and seven self-defense fighters were wounded, witness Ayuba Ibrahim told The Associated Press.

"Most of the trucks that were loaded with goods for export to Chad and the border communities were destroyed, along with commodities worth millions of naira," Ibrahim said.

One blast occurred as people were trying to board the trucks, said resident Isa Mamman.

The attack also targeted a military checkpoint, according to Ahmed Satomi of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency.

Soldiers later fired at a group of gunmen on motorcycles escorting other suicide bombers, killing at least six of the bombers.

A multinational force of troops from Nigeria and its neighbors last year drove Boko Haram out of towns and villages in northeast Nigeria, but isolated attacks and suicide bombings continue.

The seven-year Islamic uprising has killed more than 20,000 people and driven 2.6 million from their homes, creating the worst humanitarian crisis on the continent with millions facing starvation.

MAIDUGURI: Battling multiple bombers strapped with suicide vests, Nigerian troops and civilian self-defense fighters repelled the fiercest Boko Haram extremist attack in months on the key northeastern city of Maiduguri on Friday. Nine bombers and two civilians were killed, according to witnesses, soldiers and police. The city is the birthplace of the Islamic insurgency and the headquarters of the military campaign to halt it. Residents awoke to mighty explosions around midnight. Three female suicide bombers blew themselves up at a truck station, detonating vehicles at Muna Garage on the city's eastern outskirts, according to police Deputy Superintendent Victor Iskukwu. Muna Garage has been attacked many times in recent months. Two civilians died in the blasts and seven self-defense fighters were wounded, witness Ayuba Ibrahim told The Associated Press. "Most of the trucks that were loaded with goods for export to Chad and the border communities were destroyed, along with commodities worth millions of naira," Ibrahim said. One blast occurred as people were trying to board the trucks, said resident Isa Mamman. The attack also targeted a military checkpoint, according to Ahmed Satomi of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency. Soldiers later fired at a group of gunmen on motorcycles escorting other suicide bombers, killing at least six of the bombers. A multinational force of troops from Nigeria and its neighbors last year drove Boko Haram out of towns and villages in northeast Nigeria, but isolated attacks and suicide bombings continue. The seven-year Islamic uprising has killed more than 20,000 people and driven 2.6 million from their homes, creating the worst humanitarian crisis on the continent with millions facing starvation.
P K Balachandran By

Express News Service

COLOMBO: Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar will be meeting Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and other Sri Lankan leaders during a brief visit to the island on Monday.

Officials described Jaishankars visit as a routine one to keep himself abreast of the latest developments in the island nation, besides keeping track of the progress of existing Indian development projects, and to explore possibilities of future engagement in the development and commercial sectors. Jaishankar will also explore possibilities for the Indian private sector investment.

One of the issues which is likely to crop up in the discussions is the uncertainty which has crept into the Lanka Indian Oil Corporations (LIOCs) hold on the oil tanks in Trincomalee.

The Maithripala Sirisena-Ranil Wickremesinghe government has indicated its interest in taking over 3-30 oil tanks for use during the expected power shortage due to drought. But the LIOC states that these tanks cannot be arrogated unilaterally as the LIOC had got the tanks through a government-to-government agreement in 2003. The LIOC further stated that if the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation wants some tanks to be refurbished and used, the LIOC could help them do it.

Meanwhile, the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) went a step further and accused the LIOC of not entering into a Lease Agreement and paying the rental regularly. The LIOC contends that because the tanks were transferred to the LIOC by a government-to-government agreement, no lease agreement was required and that the annual fee of US$ 100,000 is being paid regularly.

At any rate, any further development of the tanks will have to await the decision of the governments of Sri Lanka and India. However, the issue, which was hot not so long ago, has cooled down now.

The Indian Foreign Secretary would also like to know the prospect of the Indian Railways getting further contracts to build rail networks in Sri Lanka. India has earmarked US$ 468 million for this and is awaiting Colombo to seek bids. But there has been little movement from the Sri Lankan side in this matter so far.

Following President Sirisenas request to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the long-standing Indian project to build a 500 MW coal fired power plant in Sampur was given up, and India agreed to put up a 500 MW LNG-fired power plant in Kerewelapitiya. But in this matter too ,there has been no further movement from the Sri Lankan side.

Meanwhile, there is talk in Sri Lankan government circles about developing Trincomalee port with an economic zone around it. The Sri Lankan government is keen on getting India, Singapore and Japan into drafting schemes for this to counter balance China which has been given control of the Hambantota port.

Here again, there has been no progress though it is said that a Singapore firm Surbana Jurong is doing a feasibility study of hinterland development. There is still no clarity about plans to develop Trincomalee port as such. Indian officials said that while India is not pushing for a role in Trincomalee port development, it might be interested if Sri Lanka comes up with a request and a concrete plan. And Trincomalee may not cost as much as Hambantota port (US$ 1.5 billion) as it is a natural harbour.

Two Indian companies were to head a consortium of companies to build the Third Container Terminal in Colombo, but suddenly the government decided to tweak the bid requirement to meet legal requirements. Meanwhile, it is learnt that further development of Colombo port has been stalled to enable Hambantota port to rake in some much-needed business.

The Indian Foreign Secretary would also find out how far the Sri Lankan government has gone in the matter of drawing up a new constitution and how it hopes to face the UN Human Rights Council in March in regard to setting up a judicial mechanism to probe and try war crimes cases and other mechanisms to bring about ethnic reconciliation. However, India is unlikely to put pressure on the Sri Lankan government in this delicate matter.

Likewise, the talks might only cursorily cover the fishing row between the two countries as the situation in the Northern sea is not alarming. Thanks to the Sri Lankan governments policy of impounding and not releasing intruding boats, the number of seizures has come down from about 700 to about 200 now.

Jaishankar is also unlikely to touch on the controversial Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) as talks are still on at the Commerce Ministry officials level. The Foreign Ministries will come into the picture only when a political decision is to be taken.

COLOMBO: Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar will be meeting Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and other Sri Lankan leaders during a brief visit to the island on Monday. Officials described Jaishankars visit as a routine one to keep himself abreast of the latest developments in the island nation, besides keeping track of the progress of existing Indian development projects, and to explore possibilities of future engagement in the development and commercial sectors. Jaishankar will also explore possibilities for the Indian private sector investment. One of the issues which is likely to crop up in the discussions is the uncertainty which has crept into the Lanka Indian Oil Corporations (LIOCs) hold on the oil tanks in Trincomalee. The Maithripala Sirisena-Ranil Wickremesinghe government has indicated its interest in taking over 3-30 oil tanks for use during the expected power shortage due to drought. But the LIOC states that these tanks cannot be arrogated unilaterally as the LIOC had got the tanks through a government-to-government agreement in 2003. The LIOC further stated that if the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation wants some tanks to be refurbished and used, the LIOC could help them do it. Meanwhile, the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) went a step further and accused the LIOC of not entering into a Lease Agreement and paying the rental regularly. The LIOC contends that because the tanks were transferred to the LIOC by a government-to-government agreement, no lease agreement was required and that the annual fee of US$ 100,000 is being paid regularly. At any rate, any further development of the tanks will have to await the decision of the governments of Sri Lanka and India. However, the issue, which was hot not so long ago, has cooled down now. The Indian Foreign Secretary would also like to know the prospect of the Indian Railways getting further contracts to build rail networks in Sri Lanka. India has earmarked US$ 468 million for this and is awaiting Colombo to seek bids. But there has been little movement from the Sri Lankan side in this matter so far. Following President Sirisenas request to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the long-standing Indian project to build a 500 MW coal fired power plant in Sampur was given up, and India agreed to put up a 500 MW LNG-fired power plant in Kerewelapitiya. But in this matter too ,there has been no further movement from the Sri Lankan side. Meanwhile, there is talk in Sri Lankan government circles about developing Trincomalee port with an economic zone around it. The Sri Lankan government is keen on getting India, Singapore and Japan into drafting schemes for this to counter balance China which has been given control of the Hambantota port. Here again, there has been no progress though it is said that a Singapore firm Surbana Jurong is doing a feasibility study of hinterland development. There is still no clarity about plans to develop Trincomalee port as such. Indian officials said that while India is not pushing for a role in Trincomalee port development, it might be interested if Sri Lanka comes up with a request and a concrete plan. And Trincomalee may not cost as much as Hambantota port (US$ 1.5 billion) as it is a natural harbour. Two Indian companies were to head a consortium of companies to build the Third Container Terminal in Colombo, but suddenly the government decided to tweak the bid requirement to meet legal requirements. Meanwhile, it is learnt that further development of Colombo port has been stalled to enable Hambantota port to rake in some much-needed business. The Indian Foreign Secretary would also find out how far the Sri Lankan government has gone in the matter of drawing up a new constitution and how it hopes to face the UN Human Rights Council in March in regard to setting up a judicial mechanism to probe and try war crimes cases and other mechanisms to bring about ethnic reconciliation. However, India is unlikely to put pressure on the Sri Lankan government in this delicate matter. Likewise, the talks might only cursorily cover the fishing row between the two countries as the situation in the Northern sea is not alarming. Thanks to the Sri Lankan governments policy of impounding and not releasing intruding boats, the number of seizures has come down from about 700 to about 200 now. Jaishankar is also unlikely to touch on the controversial Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) as talks are still on at the Commerce Ministry officials level. The Foreign Ministries will come into the picture only when a political decision is to be taken.
By AFP

WASHINGTON: A former navy admiral reportedly tapped by President Donald Trump to be his national security advisor has declined the post, US media said on Thursday.

Robert Harward's rejection of the position leaves the Trump administration without a replacement for Michael Flynn, who was forced to resign earlier this week amid a scandal over pre-inauguration phone conversations he allegedly had with Russian officials.

In a statement read on CNN, Harward said he had turned down the job because he "could not make that commitment."

"This job requires 24 hours a day, seven days a week focus and commitment to do it right. I currently could not make that commitment," the statement read.

The rejection capped a riotous day for the 70-year-old US president, who earlier on Thursday lambasted his critics in the media and in politics in a wide-ranging one hour, 16-minute-long press conference.

WASHINGTON: A former navy admiral reportedly tapped by President Donald Trump to be his national security advisor has declined the post, US media said on Thursday. Robert Harward's rejection of the position leaves the Trump administration without a replacement for Michael Flynn, who was forced to resign earlier this week amid a scandal over pre-inauguration phone conversations he allegedly had with Russian officials. In a statement read on CNN, Harward said he had turned down the job because he "could not make that commitment." "This job requires 24 hours a day, seven days a week focus and commitment to do it right. I currently could not make that commitment," the statement read. The rejection capped a riotous day for the 70-year-old US president, who earlier on Thursday lambasted his critics in the media and in politics in a wide-ranging one hour, 16-minute-long press conference.
By AFP

KUALA LAMPUR: The body of Kim Jong-nam, the assassinated brother of North Korea's leader, will not be released until his family have provided DNA samples, Malaysia said on Friday, despite a request from Pyongyang.

Detectives in Kuala Lumpur are trying to get to the bottom of the cloak-and-dagger murder that South Korea says was carried out by poison-wielding female agents working for their secretive northern neighbour.

Forensic specialists were on Friday carrying out tests on samples from the dead man's body to try to determine the toxin that was apparently sprayed in his face as he readied to board a plane earlier this week.

North Korean diplomats have objected to the post-mortem examination, Malaysian officials say, but Kuala Lumpur has stood firm, and said on Friday that it would not release the body until procedures were complete.

"So far no family member or next of kin has come to identify or claim the body. We need a DNA sample of a family member to match the profile of the dead person," Selangor state police chief Abdul Samah Mat told AFP.

"North Korea has submitted a request to claim the body, but before we release the body we have to identify who the body belongs to," he added.

Laboratory technicians working on blood and tissue samples would "conduct the analysis as soon as possible", Dr Cornelia Charito Siricord of the science ministry's chemistry department told national news agency Bernama.

Police were meanwhile questioning two women -- one travelling on a Vietnamese passport and the other on an Indonesian document -- as well as a Malaysian man.

The drama erupted on Monday morning as Jong-nam, the estranged elder brother of Kim Jong-un, readied to board a plane to Macau.

Malaysian police say the chubby 45-year-old was jumped by two women who squirted some kind of liquid in his face.

Jong-Nam told staff he was suffering from a headache and was taken to the airport clinic grimacing in pain, according to Malaysian media citing CCTV footage from the airport.

One of the women walked to a taxi rank immediately after the attack, according to the same footage.

He was rushed to hospital suffering from a seizure but was dead before he arrived.

South Korea has pointed the finger of blame at the North, citing a "standing order" from Jong-un to kill his sibling and a failed assassination bid in 2012 after he criticised the regime.

- Woman in 'LOL' top -

Pyongyang has made no comment on the killing, and there has been no mention of it in North Korean media.

AFP correspondents in Pyongyang say celebrations to mark the birthday of Kim Jong-Il, the late father of both men, have gone ahead without reference to the death.

Malaysian police on Wednesday arrested a 28-year-old woman carrying a Vietnamese passport which identified her as Doan Thi Huong.

Local media said she was the woman seen in CCTV images from the airport wearing a white top with the letters "LOL" emblazoned on the front.

Officers later arrested Muhammad Farid Bin Jalaluddin, a 26-year-old Malaysian man. He led them to his girlfriend, a 25-year-old Indonesian named Siti Aishah according to her travel documents.

Jakarta confirmed late on Thursday that Aishah was an Indonesian citizen and embassy officials were providing her with legal assistance.

Selangor state police chief Abdul Samah earlier told AFP he was looking for several more suspects, but declined to say how many were being sought.

First-born Jong-Nam was once thought to be the natural successor to his father, but on Kim Jong-Il's death in 2011 the succession went to Jong-Un, who was born to the former leader's third wife.

Reports of purges and executions have emerged from the current regime as Jong-Un tries to strengthen his grip on power in the face of international pressure over nuclear and missile programmes.

The most notable of these was the 2013 execution for treason of the young leader's influential uncle, Jang Song-Thaek.

KUALA LAMPUR: The body of Kim Jong-nam, the assassinated brother of North Korea's leader, will not be released until his family have provided DNA samples, Malaysia said on Friday, despite a request from Pyongyang. Detectives in Kuala Lumpur are trying to get to the bottom of the cloak-and-dagger murder that South Korea says was carried out by poison-wielding female agents working for their secretive northern neighbour. Forensic specialists were on Friday carrying out tests on samples from the dead man's body to try to determine the toxin that was apparently sprayed in his face as he readied to board a plane earlier this week. North Korean diplomats have objected to the post-mortem examination, Malaysian officials say, but Kuala Lumpur has stood firm, and said on Friday that it would not release the body until procedures were complete. "So far no family member or next of kin has come to identify or claim the body. We need a DNA sample of a family member to match the profile of the dead person," Selangor state police chief Abdul Samah Mat told AFP. "North Korea has submitted a request to claim the body, but before we release the body we have to identify who the body belongs to," he added. Laboratory technicians working on blood and tissue samples would "conduct the analysis as soon as possible", Dr Cornelia Charito Siricord of the science ministry's chemistry department told national news agency Bernama. Police were meanwhile questioning two women -- one travelling on a Vietnamese passport and the other on an Indonesian document -- as well as a Malaysian man. The drama erupted on Monday morning as Jong-nam, the estranged elder brother of Kim Jong-un, readied to board a plane to Macau. Malaysian police say the chubby 45-year-old was jumped by two women who squirted some kind of liquid in his face. Jong-Nam told staff he was suffering from a headache and was taken to the airport clinic grimacing in pain, according to Malaysian media citing CCTV footage from the airport. One of the women walked to a taxi rank immediately after the attack, according to the same footage. He was rushed to hospital suffering from a seizure but was dead before he arrived. South Korea has pointed the finger of blame at the North, citing a "standing order" from Jong-un to kill his sibling and a failed assassination bid in 2012 after he criticised the regime. - Woman in 'LOL' top - Pyongyang has made no comment on the killing, and there has been no mention of it in North Korean media. AFP correspondents in Pyongyang say celebrations to mark the birthday of Kim Jong-Il, the late father of both men, have gone ahead without reference to the death. Malaysian police on Wednesday arrested a 28-year-old woman carrying a Vietnamese passport which identified her as Doan Thi Huong. Local media said she was the woman seen in CCTV images from the airport wearing a white top with the letters "LOL" emblazoned on the front. Officers later arrested Muhammad Farid Bin Jalaluddin, a 26-year-old Malaysian man. He led them to his girlfriend, a 25-year-old Indonesian named Siti Aishah according to her travel documents. Jakarta confirmed late on Thursday that Aishah was an Indonesian citizen and embassy officials were providing her with legal assistance. Selangor state police chief Abdul Samah earlier told AFP he was looking for several more suspects, but declined to say how many were being sought. First-born Jong-Nam was once thought to be the natural successor to his father, but on Kim Jong-Il's death in 2011 the succession went to Jong-Un, who was born to the former leader's third wife. Reports of purges and executions have emerged from the current regime as Jong-Un tries to strengthen his grip on power in the face of international pressure over nuclear and missile programmes. The most notable of these was the 2013 execution for treason of the young leader's influential uncle, Jang Song-Thaek.
By PTI

ISLAMABAD: In an unusual move, Pakistan Army today handed over a list of 76 "most wanted" terrorists to Afghan embassy officials and demanded "immediate action" against them, amidst a spurt in terror attacks in the country.

Pakistan Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz also telephoned Afghan National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar and urged him to take action against militants involved in terrorism inside Pakistan.

Aziz called the Afghan National Security Adviser after an unnamed official from the Afghan embassy was summoned to military headquarters in Rawalpindi and handed down a list of 76 "most wanted" terrorists for "immediate action" or extradition to Pakistan.

The Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement that Aziz underlined that the government and the people of Pakistan were in a state of deep anguish and pain at the recent terrorist incidents in various parts of Pakistan resulting into loss of precious human lives.

He conveyed to the Afghan National Security Adviser that terrorist group Jamat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) was behind these barbaric acts of terrorism in Pakistan.

Director General, Inter-Services Public Relations, Major General Asif Ghafoor said that the Afghan official was summoned to lodge protest against the use of Afghan soil by terrorists to carry out attacks in Pakistan, he said.

Afghanistan was asked to either take "immediate action" against the named terrorists or hand them over to Pakistan, he

said.

The move comes two days after a senior Afghan diplomat was summoned to the Foreign Office in Islamabad to receive protest over the use of territory of his country for launching terrorist attacks in Pakistan, Dawn newspaper reported.

The Afghan diplomat was given a demarche containing details of the recent terrorist attacks and supporting information.

Pakistan army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa yesterday vowed to avenge "every drop of blood" spilled by terrorists in Pakistan.

"Recent terrorist acts are being executed on directions from hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan. We shall defend and respond," he had said.

Pakistan has been hit by a series of terrorist attacks since Afghanistan-based JuA announced its 'Operation Ghazi'.

The current wave of terrorism sweeping the country took a turn for the worse yesterday when a suspected woman suicide attacker set off explosives at the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sindh province, leaving at least 80 devotees dead and over 200 injured.

Pakistan closed its border with Afghanistan after the shrine attack due to security concerns.

On February 13, a suicide bomber had struck a protest in Lahore, killing 13 and injuring 85. The attack had happened right outside the gates of Punjab's Provincial Assembly. The attack was claimed by JuA.

On the same day, two personnel of Balochistan's bomb disposal squad were killed as they attempted to defuse an explosive device planted under a bridge in Quetta, the provincial capital.

ISLAMABAD: In an unusual move, Pakistan Army today handed over a list of 76 "most wanted" terrorists to Afghan embassy officials and demanded "immediate action" against them, amidst a spurt in terror attacks in the country. Pakistan Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz also telephoned Afghan National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar and urged him to take action against militants involved in terrorism inside Pakistan. Aziz called the Afghan National Security Adviser after an unnamed official from the Afghan embassy was summoned to military headquarters in Rawalpindi and handed down a list of 76 "most wanted" terrorists for "immediate action" or extradition to Pakistan. The Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement that Aziz underlined that the government and the people of Pakistan were in a state of deep anguish and pain at the recent terrorist incidents in various parts of Pakistan resulting into loss of precious human lives. He conveyed to the Afghan National Security Adviser that terrorist group Jamat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) was behind these barbaric acts of terrorism in Pakistan. Director General, Inter-Services Public Relations, Major General Asif Ghafoor said that the Afghan official was summoned to lodge protest against the use of Afghan soil by terrorists to carry out attacks in Pakistan, he said. Afghanistan was asked to either take "immediate action" against the named terrorists or hand them over to Pakistan, he said. The move comes two days after a senior Afghan diplomat was summoned to the Foreign Office in Islamabad to receive protest over the use of territory of his country for launching terrorist attacks in Pakistan, Dawn newspaper reported. The Afghan diplomat was given a demarche containing details of the recent terrorist attacks and supporting information. Pakistan army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa yesterday vowed to avenge "every drop of blood" spilled by terrorists in Pakistan. "Recent terrorist acts are being executed on directions from hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan. We shall defend and respond," he had said. Pakistan has been hit by a series of terrorist attacks since Afghanistan-based JuA announced its 'Operation Ghazi'. The current wave of terrorism sweeping the country took a turn for the worse yesterday when a suspected woman suicide attacker set off explosives at the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sindh province, leaving at least 80 devotees dead and over 200 injured. Pakistan closed its border with Afghanistan after the shrine attack due to security concerns. On February 13, a suicide bomber had struck a protest in Lahore, killing 13 and injuring 85. The attack had happened right outside the gates of Punjab's Provincial Assembly. The attack was claimed by JuA. On the same day, two personnel of Balochistan's bomb disposal squad were killed as they attempted to defuse an explosive device planted under a bridge in Quetta, the provincial capital.
By ANI

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday summoned officials from Afghanistan embassy and handed down a list of 76 wanted terrorists to be handed over to Islamabad.



Afg Embassy officials called in GHQ. Given list of 76 Ts hiding in Afg. Asked to take immediate action/be handed over to Pakistan, tweeted militarys media wing DG ISPR Major-General Asif Ghafoor.



The officials were summoned at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi to lodge protest against the use of Afghan soil by terrorists to carry out attacks in Pakistan.

The move comes in light of the recent terror attacks, the latest on Thursday night at shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan that has so far claimed at least 70 lives while dozens of others were wounded.

Post the attack, Major-General Asif Ghafoor had vowed response towards the recent terrorist acts that he alleged were being executed on directions from hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan.

Recent Ts acts are being exec on directions from hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan. We shall defend and respond, he tweeted.

Post the shrine attack on Thursday, Pakistan shut down the Torkham border crossing with Afghanistan for an indefinite period of time.

Torkham border connects Nangarhar province of Afghanistan with Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas ( FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday summoned officials from Afghanistan embassy and handed down a list of 76 wanted terrorists to be handed over to Islamabad. Afg Embassy officials called in GHQ. Given list of 76 Ts hiding in Afg. Asked to take immediate action/be handed over to Pakistan, tweeted militarys media wing DG ISPR Major-General Asif Ghafoor. The officials were summoned at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi to lodge protest against the use of Afghan soil by terrorists to carry out attacks in Pakistan. The move comes in light of the recent terror attacks, the latest on Thursday night at shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan that has so far claimed at least 70 lives while dozens of others were wounded. Post the attack, Major-General Asif Ghafoor had vowed response towards the recent terrorist acts that he alleged were being executed on directions from hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan. Recent Ts acts are being exec on directions from hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan. We shall defend and respond, he tweeted. Post the shrine attack on Thursday, Pakistan shut down the Torkham border crossing with Afghanistan for an indefinite period of time. Torkham border connects Nangarhar province of Afghanistan with Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas ( FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
By AFP

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani forces said Friday they had killed more than 100 "terrorists" after 88 people died in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group on a Sufi shrine which stoked fears of a fresh surge in militancy.

The devastating blast came after a series of bloody extremist assaults this week, including a powerful Taliban suicide bomb in the eastern city of Lahore which killed 13 people and wounded dozens.

Prime minister Nawaz Sharif and army chief of staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa Friday visited the town of Sehwan in Sindh province where the latest attack took place.

Sharif vowed to eliminate militants "with the full force of the state".

Pakistan's military later said operations were in progress across the country. "Over 100 terrorists have been killed since last night", it said, adding others had been detained.

The emergence of Islamic State group (IS) and a Taliban resurgence would be a major blow to Pakistan, and the attacks have dented growing optimism over security after a decade-long war on militancy.

Police Friday cordoned off the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, a 13th-century Muslim saint, in Sehwan, some 200 kilometres (124 miles) northeast of financial hub Karachi.

The centuries-old shrine's white floor was smeared with blood, scattered with shoes, shawls, and baby bottles.

At 3.30 am the shrine's caretaker stood among the carnage and defiantly rang its bell, a daily ritual that he vowed to continue, telling AFP he will "not bow down to terrorists".

Health officials said the number of people killed in the shrine blast had jumped to 88, including at least 20 children, making it the deadliest attack in Pakistan since a 2014 assault on a Peshawar school.

Islamabad has denied the presence of IS, despite several high-profile attacks and the group's apparent affiliation with homegrown militants, such as the banned Sunni sectarian organisation Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).

"I think they (IS) are capable of doing this" with help from homegrown groups, security expert Amir Rana said of the shrine bombing, as analyst Imtiaz Gul warned the group would claim more such attacks.

Gul also warned there are "visible signs" that factions of the umbrella Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, or Pakistani Taliban), which is distinct from the Afghan Taliban, are regrouping after a military crackdown.

TTP faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed the Lahore attack on Monday, days after it announced a fresh offensive. Two members of a bomb disposal team in Quetta, capital of southwestern Balochistan province, were killed the same day defusing a device there.

- 'Intense' wave of attacks -

On Wednesday four suicide bombers struck in one day in the tribal areas and on a van carrying judges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial capital Peshawar, killing six people in attacks also claimed by the TTP.

An IED attack in Balochistan which killed three soldiers Thursday unnerved Pakistanis further, while gunmen on motorcycles killed four policemen and a civilian in the northwest overnight Friday.

Rana predicted the "intense" wave of TTP attacks would continue, saying security forces had failed to crack the militants' operational infrastructure, especially in cities.

But both the military and the foreign office said the recent attacks had been carried out from sanctuaries in Afghanistan, and that Kabul had been asked to take action. Neither referred specifically to the IS claim.

Pakistan's push against extremism was stepped up after the country's deadliest ever attack, a TTP assault on a school in Peshawar in 2014 which left more than 150 people dead -- mostly children.

Critics have long argued the military and government crackdown does not address the root causes of extremism.

Security officials said at least 18 terrorists had been killed in Sindh province overnight, and 13 more in the country's northwest.

Pakistanis vented their grief and fury at the bombings on social media and with small protests in some cities.

"The government should identify and punish these terrorists," Ghulam Shabbir Bhatti, a resident of Sehwan, said.

"Sunnis, Shias, Hindus, ppl from all faiths visit Sehwan... This is an attack on our identity & culture," wrote Twitter user Zahraa Saifullah.

Sufism, a mystic Islamic order that believes in living saints, worships through music and is viewed as heretical by some hardline groups.

IS has targeted Sufi shrines in Pakistan previously, killing 52 at a shrine in Balochistan last year.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani forces said Friday they had killed more than 100 "terrorists" after 88 people died in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group on a Sufi shrine which stoked fears of a fresh surge in militancy. The devastating blast came after a series of bloody extremist assaults this week, including a powerful Taliban suicide bomb in the eastern city of Lahore which killed 13 people and wounded dozens. Prime minister Nawaz Sharif and army chief of staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa Friday visited the town of Sehwan in Sindh province where the latest attack took place. Sharif vowed to eliminate militants "with the full force of the state". Pakistan's military later said operations were in progress across the country. "Over 100 terrorists have been killed since last night", it said, adding others had been detained. The emergence of Islamic State group (IS) and a Taliban resurgence would be a major blow to Pakistan, and the attacks have dented growing optimism over security after a decade-long war on militancy. Police Friday cordoned off the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, a 13th-century Muslim saint, in Sehwan, some 200 kilometres (124 miles) northeast of financial hub Karachi. The centuries-old shrine's white floor was smeared with blood, scattered with shoes, shawls, and baby bottles. At 3.30 am the shrine's caretaker stood among the carnage and defiantly rang its bell, a daily ritual that he vowed to continue, telling AFP he will "not bow down to terrorists". Health officials said the number of people killed in the shrine blast had jumped to 88, including at least 20 children, making it the deadliest attack in Pakistan since a 2014 assault on a Peshawar school. Islamabad has denied the presence of IS, despite several high-profile attacks and the group's apparent affiliation with homegrown militants, such as the banned Sunni sectarian organisation Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). "I think they (IS) are capable of doing this" with help from homegrown groups, security expert Amir Rana said of the shrine bombing, as analyst Imtiaz Gul warned the group would claim more such attacks. Gul also warned there are "visible signs" that factions of the umbrella Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, or Pakistani Taliban), which is distinct from the Afghan Taliban, are regrouping after a military crackdown. TTP faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed the Lahore attack on Monday, days after it announced a fresh offensive. Two members of a bomb disposal team in Quetta, capital of southwestern Balochistan province, were killed the same day defusing a device there. - 'Intense' wave of attacks - On Wednesday four suicide bombers struck in one day in the tribal areas and on a van carrying judges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial capital Peshawar, killing six people in attacks also claimed by the TTP. An IED attack in Balochistan which killed three soldiers Thursday unnerved Pakistanis further, while gunmen on motorcycles killed four policemen and a civilian in the northwest overnight Friday. Rana predicted the "intense" wave of TTP attacks would continue, saying security forces had failed to crack the militants' operational infrastructure, especially in cities. But both the military and the foreign office said the recent attacks had been carried out from sanctuaries in Afghanistan, and that Kabul had been asked to take action. Neither referred specifically to the IS claim. Pakistan's push against extremism was stepped up after the country's deadliest ever attack, a TTP assault on a school in Peshawar in 2014 which left more than 150 people dead -- mostly children. Critics have long argued the military and government crackdown does not address the root causes of extremism. Security officials said at least 18 terrorists had been killed in Sindh province overnight, and 13 more in the country's northwest. Pakistanis vented their grief and fury at the bombings on social media and with small protests in some cities. "The government should identify and punish these terrorists," Ghulam Shabbir Bhatti, a resident of Sehwan, said. "Sunnis, Shias, Hindus, ppl from all faiths visit Sehwan... This is an attack on our identity & culture," wrote Twitter user Zahraa Saifullah. Sufism, a mystic Islamic order that believes in living saints, worships through music and is viewed as heretical by some hardline groups. IS has targeted Sufi shrines in Pakistan previously, killing 52 at a shrine in Balochistan last year.
Express News Service

COLOMBO : Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be renewing his links with Buddhism when he visits Sri Lanka as one of the chief guests at the United Nations Vesak Festival to be held here from May 11 to 13.

The Sri Lankan Minister of Justice and Buddha Sasana, Wijayadasa Rajapakshe, told Xinhua on Friday that several heads of government and state have been invited for the landmark event recognized by the UN, and that Modi has confirmed his participation.

We are going to celebrate the thrice blessed day on a grand scale, Rajapakshe said.

Vesak Day marks the birth, enlightenment and passing away of the Buddha. It is recognized as an international festival by the United Nations.

Modi has a strong bond with Buddhism and had made Gujarat a part of the Buddhist pilgrimage trail in India when he was Chief Minister of that state.

In fact, he has often proudly stated that his home town, Vadnagar, was an established Buddhist center of learning in ancient times and Baruch, as a port, had played a critical role in the spread of Buddhism overseas.

Modi got the Gujarat Archeology Department to dig up and preserve buildings associated with Buddhism in ancient times.

Speaking at the International Seminar on Buddhist Heritage in Gujarat in 2010, in which the Dalai Lama was a participant, Modi said:  The link between Buddha and Gujarat is as old as Buddha himself. The trade and commerce of Gujarat played a role in bringing Buddhism to western India. The reason why Gujarat and particularly the port of Bharukaccha (modern Baruch), is frequently mentioned in the oldest Buddhist literature is obvious. Traders coming from Buddhist centers like Benaras and Vaisali brought Buddhism to Gujarat during its early days along with their merchandise.

The Ashokan rock edict in Jungadh bears witness to the spread of Buddhism in Gujarat during his time. During the time of Greeks, Partho-Scythians, Satvahanas, the Bodhi dynasty, Ksatrapas and Saka rulers, several rock-cut Buddhist structures came up in Gujarat, many of which have not been excavated yet.

During the time of the Maitraka kings, there were more than 13,000 monks in Gujarat. We also had one of the greatest Buddhist universities, the Vallabhi Buddhist University in Vallabhipur in Gujarat, during that period.

Gujarat is also the land of Shantideva, who gave the marvelous Bodhcaryavatara  one of the landmark texts in Buddhism in Sanskrit, which is known to us as the way of the Bodhisattva.

Prosperous Gujarat, whose warehouses were full, and whose merchants carried out extensive commercial activity according to Hieun Tsang, supported intellectual giants of Buddhism like Dharmagupta, Shrimathi and Gunamathi.

Chinese traveler Hieun Tsang travelled extensively to places like Bharuch, Kutch, Vallbhipur, Saurasthra, including Vadnagar, and noted that both Hinayana and Mahayana were practiced in Gujarat.

COLOMBO : Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be renewing his links with Buddhism when he visits Sri Lanka as one of the chief guests at the United Nations Vesak Festival to be held here from May 11 to 13. The Sri Lankan Minister of Justice and Buddha Sasana, Wijayadasa Rajapakshe, told Xinhua on Friday that several heads of government and state have been invited for the landmark event recognized by the UN, and that Modi has confirmed his participation. We are going to celebrate the thrice blessed day on a grand scale, Rajapakshe said. Vesak Day marks the birth, enlightenment and passing away of the Buddha. It is recognized as an international festival by the United Nations. Modi has a strong bond with Buddhism and had made Gujarat a part of the Buddhist pilgrimage trail in India when he was Chief Minister of that state. In fact, he has often proudly stated that his home town, Vadnagar, was an established Buddhist center of learning in ancient times and Baruch, as a port, had played a critical role in the spread of Buddhism overseas. Modi got the Gujarat Archeology Department to dig up and preserve buildings associated with Buddhism in ancient times. Speaking at the International Seminar on Buddhist Heritage in Gujarat in 2010, in which the Dalai Lama was a participant, Modi said:  The link between Buddha and Gujarat is as old as Buddha himself. The trade and commerce of Gujarat played a role in bringing Buddhism to western India. The reason why Gujarat and particularly the port of Bharukaccha (modern Baruch), is frequently mentioned in the oldest Buddhist literature is obvious. Traders coming from Buddhist centers like Benaras and Vaisali brought Buddhism to Gujarat during its early days along with their merchandise. The Ashokan rock edict in Jungadh bears witness to the spread of Buddhism in Gujarat during his time. During the time of Greeks, Partho-Scythians, Satvahanas, the Bodhi dynasty, Ksatrapas and Saka rulers, several rock-cut Buddhist structures came up in Gujarat, many of which have not been excavated yet. During the time of the Maitraka kings, there were more than 13,000 monks in Gujarat. We also had one of the greatest Buddhist universities, the Vallabhi Buddhist University in Vallabhipur in Gujarat, during that period. Gujarat is also the land of Shantideva, who gave the marvelous Bodhcaryavatara  one of the landmark texts in Buddhism in Sanskrit, which is known to us as the way of the Bodhisattva. Prosperous Gujarat, whose warehouses were full, and whose merchants carried out extensive commercial activity according to Hieun Tsang, supported intellectual giants of Buddhism like Dharmagupta, Shrimathi and Gunamathi. Chinese traveler Hieun Tsang travelled extensively to places like Bharuch, Kutch, Vallbhipur, Saurasthra, including Vadnagar, and noted that both Hinayana and Mahayana were practiced in Gujarat.
By PTI

HOUSTON: The US state of Texas has become the first to support Donald Trump's travel ban on travellers from seven Muslim-majority nations, defending the President's controversial executive order as a move to protect America.

Texas Attorney-General Ken Paxton filed an amicus brief with the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday in support of the US Department of Justice. "The law makes it very clear that the president has the discretion to protect the safety of the Americans and our nation's institutions with respect to who can come into this country," Paxton said in a statement.

The brief follows court wrangling over President Trump's January 27 executive order to bar people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the US for 90 days. The order banned refugees for 120 days, except those from Syria, who were banned indefinitely.

The courts have put a temporary hold on the President's ban. The amicus brief argues for broad executive power in the area of immigration. Texas also contends that Trump's order does not target Muslims as is generally suggested. Trump's executive order targeted specific nationalities, not a religion, and the states could not support their legal challenge with the president's campaign statements, it said.

A total of 18 states and the District of Columbia are opposing the travel ban at the 9th Circuit. A group of 15 states led by New York filed an amicus brief arguing that the Trump order is unconstitutional.

A three judge bench last week had refused to remove the stay on the executive order by another federal court in Seattle. A broader set of 9th Circuit judges is now considering whether the stay request should be taken up by an 11-judge appeals court panel. Texas has also supported some of Trump's other plans to crack down on immigration, including a threat to withhold federal funds from "sanctuary cities." It led the legal fight against former President Barack Obama's plan to protect up to four million immigrants from deportation, joined by 25 other Republican-led states.

HOUSTON: The US state of Texas has become the first to support Donald Trump's travel ban on travellers from seven Muslim-majority nations, defending the President's controversial executive order as a move to protect America. Texas Attorney-General Ken Paxton filed an amicus brief with the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday in support of the US Department of Justice. "The law makes it very clear that the president has the discretion to protect the safety of the Americans and our nation's institutions with respect to who can come into this country," Paxton said in a statement. The brief follows court wrangling over President Trump's January 27 executive order to bar people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the US for 90 days. The order banned refugees for 120 days, except those from Syria, who were banned indefinitely. The courts have put a temporary hold on the President's ban. The amicus brief argues for broad executive power in the area of immigration. Texas also contends that Trump's order does not target Muslims as is generally suggested. Trump's executive order targeted specific nationalities, not a religion, and the states could not support their legal challenge with the president's campaign statements, it said. A total of 18 states and the District of Columbia are opposing the travel ban at the 9th Circuit. A group of 15 states led by New York filed an amicus brief arguing that the Trump order is unconstitutional. A three judge bench last week had refused to remove the stay on the executive order by another federal court in Seattle. A broader set of 9th Circuit judges is now considering whether the stay request should be taken up by an 11-judge appeals court panel. Texas has also supported some of Trump's other plans to crack down on immigration, including a threat to withhold federal funds from "sanctuary cities." It led the legal fight against former President Barack Obama's plan to protect up to four million immigrants from deportation, joined by 25 other Republican-led states.
By AFP

MUNICH: The bond between Europe and America is the "strongest bulwark" against instability and violence, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said Friday as he tried to calm jittery allies seeking clarity from Donald Trump's White House.

International partners remain deeply troubled after Trump's campaign rhetoric questioned long-established alliances, and they worry about a growing scandal over possible ties between some of Trump's staff and Moscow.

"The transatlantic bond remains our strongest bulwark against instability and violence," Mattis told the Munich Security Conference.

"I am confident that we will strengthen our partnerships, confronting those who choose to attack innocent people or our democratic processes and freedoms."

Mattis, a retired four-star Marine general who spent years working with international partners, has often taken a divergent tone from his boss, hammering the importance of transatlantic ties and sounding a skeptical tone on the potential for military cooperation with Russia.

Trump has said he is open to closer cooperation with Moscow on Syria, particularly in the fight against the Islamic State jihadist group.

But Mattis told a NATO summit on Thursday that he is not "in a position right now to collaborate on a military level" with Moscow and said Russia must first "prove itself" and follow the international law before envisioning any closer military ties.

Conference chairman Wolfgang Ischinger said the situation was unprecedented in modern history and described a "massive uncertainty" gripping the continent.

"European leaders and European governments are leaders are extremely impatient to find out what will really drive US foreign policy in this new period," he said, underscoring that many in Europe are clamouring to find out about the future of US-Russian relations.

The White House is still reeling from the forced resignation Monday of Trump's national security advisor, Michael Flynn, after he held pre-inauguration phone calls with the Russian ambassador about US sanctions policy.

Trump, who has repeatedly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Thursday denied he or his staff had any pre-election contacts with Moscow.

"I have nothing to do with Russia," Trump said. "The whole Russia thing is a ruse."

MUNICH: The bond between Europe and America is the "strongest bulwark" against instability and violence, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said Friday as he tried to calm jittery allies seeking clarity from Donald Trump's White House. International partners remain deeply troubled after Trump's campaign rhetoric questioned long-established alliances, and they worry about a growing scandal over possible ties between some of Trump's staff and Moscow. "The transatlantic bond remains our strongest bulwark against instability and violence," Mattis told the Munich Security Conference. "I am confident that we will strengthen our partnerships, confronting those who choose to attack innocent people or our democratic processes and freedoms." Mattis, a retired four-star Marine general who spent years working with international partners, has often taken a divergent tone from his boss, hammering the importance of transatlantic ties and sounding a skeptical tone on the potential for military cooperation with Russia. Trump has said he is open to closer cooperation with Moscow on Syria, particularly in the fight against the Islamic State jihadist group. But Mattis told a NATO summit on Thursday that he is not "in a position right now to collaborate on a military level" with Moscow and said Russia must first "prove itself" and follow the international law before envisioning any closer military ties. Conference chairman Wolfgang Ischinger said the situation was unprecedented in modern history and described a "massive uncertainty" gripping the continent. "European leaders and European governments are leaders are extremely impatient to find out what will really drive US foreign policy in this new period," he said, underscoring that many in Europe are clamouring to find out about the future of US-Russian relations. The White House is still reeling from the forced resignation Monday of Trump's national security advisor, Michael Flynn, after he held pre-inauguration phone calls with the Russian ambassador about US sanctions policy. Trump, who has repeatedly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Thursday denied he or his staff had any pre-election contacts with Moscow. "I have nothing to do with Russia," Trump said. "The whole Russia thing is a ruse."
By AFP

MUNICH: China on Friday urged a resumption of six-party talks with North Korea on Pyongyang's nuclear programme, saying a "negative cycle" of nuclear missile tests followed by sanctions must end.

"Today, what we see is nuclear test, sanction, nuclear test and then sanction again," said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

"This negative cycle should not continue. Because the ultimate end result could be something that no one can bear. It's a situation where everyone loses," he said.

Wang stressed that UN Security Council resolutions -- including sanctions -- against Pyongyang should be fully implemented, but added: "We cannot give up on seeking a resumption of talks."

"On this point, the United States and North Korea ... must quickly come to a political decision," he said.

"We hope and call on all parties to stop taking any action that would provoke tensions."

The North quit the now-stalled negotiations aimed at curbing its nuclear weapons programme in 2009, and soon afterwards carried out its second atomic test. The talks are hosted by China, and include South Korea, the United States, Russia, and Japan.

Beijing, the North's main diplomatic protector and economic benefactor, wants to revive negotiations, although Washington, Seoul and Tokyo all insist Pyongyang must first take some tangible steps towards denuclearisation.

Earlier Friday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson used his first meeting with Wang to urge Beijing to help rein in North Korea after its series of nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

North Korea's latest missile was launched Sunday near the western city of Kusong and flew east about 500 kilometres (310 miles) before falling into the Sea of Japan (East Sea), South Korea's defence ministry has said.

MUNICH: China on Friday urged a resumption of six-party talks with North Korea on Pyongyang's nuclear programme, saying a "negative cycle" of nuclear missile tests followed by sanctions must end. "Today, what we see is nuclear test, sanction, nuclear test and then sanction again," said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. "This negative cycle should not continue. Because the ultimate end result could be something that no one can bear. It's a situation where everyone loses," he said. Wang stressed that UN Security Council resolutions -- including sanctions -- against Pyongyang should be fully implemented, but added: "We cannot give up on seeking a resumption of talks." "On this point, the United States and North Korea ... must quickly come to a political decision," he said. "We hope and call on all parties to stop taking any action that would provoke tensions." The North quit the now-stalled negotiations aimed at curbing its nuclear weapons programme in 2009, and soon afterwards carried out its second atomic test. The talks are hosted by China, and include South Korea, the United States, Russia, and Japan. Beijing, the North's main diplomatic protector and economic benefactor, wants to revive negotiations, although Washington, Seoul and Tokyo all insist Pyongyang must first take some tangible steps towards denuclearisation. Earlier Friday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson used his first meeting with Wang to urge Beijing to help rein in North Korea after its series of nuclear and ballistic missile tests. North Korea's latest missile was launched Sunday near the western city of Kusong and flew east about 500 kilometres (310 miles) before falling into the Sea of Japan (East Sea), South Korea's defence ministry has said.
Who are Newport's top taxpayers? Take a look at the top 50.
In the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Dr. Ralph Horwitz and colleagues outline new methodologies, in addition to the well-known randomized controlled trials, to gather information that may lead to individualized patient care.

The individualized care of patients has always been the focus of physicians in the practice of medicine. The commitment of physicians to the care of sick patients has remained steadfast despite the urgings of health policy experts who often prefer an emphasis on population medicine or of health system leaders who emphasize system-level efficiency and economic performance.

The ideal information base for a clinician choosing treatment for a particular patient is an archive of clinical histories closely matched to the patient in question, where some individuals have received the contemplated treatment and others have not.

Most of the data currently available about the results of using alternative treatments derive from RCTs. Unfortunately, the populations enrolled in such trials are far more heterogeneous than are required for a set of close matches to the patient being seen by the physician. Although these average treatment effects from heterogeneous RCTs may be acceptable for regulators licensing drugs, they are rarely sufficient for the clinician focusing on a single patient. Likewise, psychosocial features of patients at the individual level also directly affect clinical outcomes.

Dr. Horwitz and colleagues argue that rather than relying solely on the average results of groups of patients drawn exclusively from randomized trials, we can use information from biology, behavior, and psychosocial influences to describe distinct profiles of individual patients. Patient profiles would then be formed by integrating information across all of these domains, biology, behavior, and psychosocial.

To accomplish this objective requires improved taxonomic systems and improved measurement tools. Clinical medicine is fast developing new ways to profile patients. Current devices are capable of "digitizing" a person with wearable sensors that quantify physiological metrics such as vital signs, provide high-definition images of a persons' anatomy, and characterize the microbiome. What remains missing, however, is a comprehensive approach that seeks to understand how the interactions among genetics, mind, body, behavior, and the environment affect both the risk for disease and the response to treatment.

Genetics & Genomics eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today

The new era of individualized patient care will require new ways of thinking, new types of data that describe clinical, social, and behavioral features of individuals, and new methods of analysis. What will no longer suffice is the sole reliance on the average results from randomized controlled trials to guide treatment decisions.

The first step in new ways of thinking is to acknowledge that the primary focus of the research and evidence generation must be at the individual level, rather than the group or population. Individual level data will emphasize detailed and repeated measures over time of each subject across multiple domains including deep biology, clinical physiology, social and behavioral features, and the associated environment. It will then be necessary to create individual-based "profiles" that integrate the data across these domains and to assemble large archives of these profiles to enable the identification of approximate matches for each subject. Next, it is essential that we expand the customary data beyond the usual information collected in RCTs to include genomic and other "-omics" data, the microbiome, and the newly available data made possible through new digital technologies. These capabilities already exist. What does not yet exist are analytical methods that create patient profiles with a full integration of multiple domains and with repeated measures over time.

The strategy of analysis will not proceed from large populations to smaller subgroups. Instead, it starts with the individual patient, and uses his/her characteristics to define populations relevant to guide patient management - i.e. the approximate matches to the individual patient. Personalized medicine, so constituted, will require a new kind of evidence base containing the multidimensional patient histories associated with a large number of common chronic disorders.
The old adage about two being better than one doesn't necessarily apply to brain surgery. That's according to a study performed by University at Buffalo engineers that used high performance computing to examine how to best treat aneurysms.

To reduce blood flow into aneurysms, surgeons often insert a flow diverter -- tiny tubes made of weaved metal, like stents -- across the opening of an aneurysm. With the blood flow into the aneurysm reduced, the risk of rupture is minimized.

If the opening, or neck, of an aneurysm is large, surgeons will sometimes overlap two diverters, to increase the density of the mesh over the opening. Another technique is to compress the diverter to increase the mesh density and block more blood flow.

But which technique is better?

A computational study published in January in American Journal of Neuroradiology points to the single, compressed diverter provided that it produces a mesh denser than the two overlapped diverters, and that it covers at least half of the aneurysm opening.

The research, which is ongoing, could eventually help doctors determine the best way to treat patients suffering from aneurysms.

"When doctors see the simulated blood flow in our models, they're able to visualize it. They see that they need to put more of the dense mesh here or there to diffuse the jets (of blood), because the jets are dangerous," said Hui Meng, a mechanical engineering professor at UB and lead author of the study.

Meng, PhD, holds appointments in UB's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. She is also co-director of the Toshiba Stroke Research Center at UB.

Using UB's supercomputer

Working with UB's supercomputing facility, the Center for Computational Research, Robert Damiano and Nikhil Paliwal, both PhD candidates in Meng's lab, used virtual models of three types of aneurysms -- fusiform (balloons out on all sides), and medium and large saccular (balloons on one side) -- and applied engineering principles to model the pressure and speed of blood flowing through the vessels.

The engineers modeled three different diverter treatment methods - single non-compacted, two overlapped, and single compacted -- and ran tests to determine how they would affect blood flow in and out of the aneurysm using computational fluid dynamics.

"We used equations from fluid mechanics to model the blood flow, and we used structural mechanics to model the devices," Damiano said. "We're working with partial differential equations that are complex and typically unsolvable by hand."

These equations are converted to millions of algebraic equations and are solved using the supercomputer. The very small size of the mesh added to the need for massive computing power.

"The diverter mesh wires are 30 microns in diameter," Paliwal said. "To accurately capture the physics, we needed to have a maximum of 10 to 15 micron grid sizes. That's why it is computationally very expensive."

Compressed versus overlapped

The models showed that compressing a diverter produced a dense mesh that covered 57 percent of a fusiform-shaped aneurysm. That proved more effective than overlapping two diverters.

The compacted diverter was less effective in saccular aneurysms. As diverters are compressed, they become wider and bump into the sides of the vessel, so they could not be compressed enough to cover a small opening of an aneurysm. Compression was more effective in a large necked saccular aneurysm, producing a dense mesh that covered 47 percent of the opening.

Complete coverage of an aneurysm using a solid diverter is not favorable because a porous scaffold is needed to allow cell and tissue growth around the neck of the aneurysm, Paliwal said. In addition, the danger of blocking off smaller arteries prevents the use of solid diverters.

Next, as part of a National Institutes of Health-funded project, the team wants to look back over hundreds of previous cases, to determine how blood flow was affected by the use of diverters. The idea is to build a database so that more definitive conclusions can be drawn.

"We're going to look at and model previous cases, and hopefully we'll have a way to determine the best treatment to cause the best outcome for new aneurysm cases," Damiano said.
More than three million people across the UK could fend off acute respiratory infections such as colds or flu every year if everyone took Vitamin D supplements, according to a new study published by the British Medical Journal.

Professor Adrian Martineau, who conducted the research said:

Assuming a UK population of 65 million, and that 70% have at least one acute respiratory infection each year, then daily or weekly vitamin D supplements will mean 3.25 million fewer people would get at least one acute respiratory infection a year.

Multiple trials have found that oral vitamin sprays elevate serum vitamin D levels on average 2.5 times more effectively than traditional tablets and capsules.

Researchers at Cardiff University, when testing BetterYous DLux vitamin D oral sprays, found that absorption within the mouth was far superior to the more traditional digestive route of tablets and capsules benefiting from very absorbent tissue and the close proximity of a rich vein system.

Dr Charles Heard, who lead the Cardiff University absorption trial, explains:

The ultra-fast uptake is due to the very absorbent tissue within the mouth and the close proximity of a rich vein network. In some cases, it is close to that of IV or intramuscular injections.

A pilot study by BetterYou and City Assays (part of Sandwell and Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust) successfully demonstrated how a high dose oral spray of vitamin D can dramatically increase vitamin D levels and resolve insufficiency/deficiency (below 50 nmol/L or 20 ng/ml) to an optimal level (100-150 nmol/L or 40-60 ng/ml).

Public Health England announced last year that everyone should take vitamin D supplements in autumn and winter for the sake of healthy bones and muscles.

BetterYous range of DLux oral vitamin D sprays come in different strengths for people of all ages. The key benefits of an oral spray include convenience and guaranteed absorption which traditional tablets, capsules and drops simply cant. An oral spray doesnt require water to take and does not need to be taken with food.
Screen time before bed can mess with your sleep. But people without TV and laptops skimp on sleep too, researchers say. A Duke University study of people living without electricity or artificial light in a remote farming village in Madagascar finds they get shorter, poorer sleep than people in the U.S. or Europe.

But they seem to make up for lost shuteye with a more regular sleep routine, the researchers report in the American Journal of Human Biology.

Americans sleep less than they did a generation ago. The decline is largely attributed to artificial light before bedtime wreaking havoc on our ability to stay in sync with the 24-hour day.

Our bodies are particularly sensitive to the short-wavelength "blue" light emitted from smartphones, TVs, computers, LED bulbs and other devices. Staring at bright bluish light before bed sends a signal to the brain to secrete less melatonin, the hormone that makes you sleepy.

"I think we can safely assume that our ancestors weren't staying up late at night cruising Facebook or looking at their e-readers," said David Samson, a senior research scientist in evolutionary anthropology at Duke. "It makes falling asleep much harder."

To better understand our natural sleep patterns, Samson, Duke professor Charles Nunn and colleagues went to the remote village of Mandena, in northeastern Madagascar, where most households do without electricity.

A farming community where people grow rice and cash crops such as vanilla, this tiny town at the outskirts of Marojejy National Park is one of the few remaining places on Earth where light pollution is not a problem.

The villagers of Mandena are among more than a billion people worldwide who live without artificial light. Instead of switching on a light when the sun goes down, most people in Mandena spend their evenings in relative darkness. Nights are lit by the glow of cooking fires and kerosene lamps, or, when it's clear, the natural light of the moon and the stars.

The Duke researchers analyzed sleep-wake patterns in 21 people aged 19 to 59 while they slept at night and napped during the day.

The participants wore watch-like devices with built-in light and motion sensors that tracked subtle changes in their body movements and light exposure from one minute to the next, for 292 total nights of data.

Nine of these people also took a sleep test called a polysomnogram to determine how deep and restful their sleep was. The test uses sticky electrodes on the skin's surface to measure and record electrical activity in the brain and muscles.

The data revealed that even without artificial lighting to disrupt their rest, people in Mandena get less sleep than most adults in the U.S. and Europe.

The villagers usually turned in around 7:30 p.m., two hours after sunset, and woke up around 5:30 a.m., about an hour before sunrise. But only 6.5 of those hours were spent sleeping -- 30 minutes to an hour less each night than people in the U.S. or Italy.

What sleep they did get was fragmented and light. Mandena villagers sleep together in houses with bamboo walls and tin or thatched roofs that do little to buffer noise. "On a nightly basis there are parties, dogs, roosters, children crying. It is a challenging environment for getting a good sleep," said Nunn, director of the Triangle Center for Evolutionary Medicine and professor of evolutionary anthropology and global health at Duke.

The participants frequently woke up in the middle of the night, sometimes to use the bathroom, and then stayed up for an hour or two before returning to sleep. They also spent less time in deep sleep and the dream state known as REM sleep compared with Western populations.

Yet rather than complain about being bleary-eyed or foggy-brained, 60 percent reported they were happy with their sleep.

People in Mandena compensate for lost nighttime sleep by napping during the day, often for up to an hour. That's nearly twice as long as the average catnap for Westerners, Samson said.

More importantly, Samson said, their sleep patterns were more consistent than most Westerners from one day to the next. Even when the researchers gave 10 people an LED camping lantern for a week, they still slept and woke at virtually the same times each day.

"Sticking to a schedule may be just as important as getting a solid night's sleep," Samson said.

The findings support other studies suggesting that humans were shortchanging their sleep even before the advent of electronic gadgets.

Diaries, court records and other historical documents suggest the ideal of getting seven to nine hours of uninterrupted sleep didn't come about until recently. In preindustrial times broken sleep was the norm, according to research by sleep historian Roger Ekirch of Virginia Tech.

Samson plans to continue studying sleep patterns in traditional societies across the globe. "My ultimate goal is to build a global data set of traditional sleep," he said.

Source: https://today.duke.edu/2017/02/people-far-urban-lights-bright-screens-still-skimp-sleep
As one of the first records of human music, infant-directed singing permeates cultural boundaries and parenting traditions. Unlike other forms of caregiving, the act of mothers singing to infants is a universal behavior that seemingly withstands the test of time.

On the surface, the exchange between mother and child may seem standard, but to Shannon de l'Etoile, professor of Music Therapy and associate dean of Graduate Studies at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, there is much more to the infant-directed song than meets the eye--and ear.

"We know from previous research that infants have the innate ability to process music in a sophisticated manner," explained de l'Etoile. "Initially, I set out to identify infant behaviors in response to live infant-directed singing compared to other common maternal interactions such as reading books and playing with toys. One of the main goals of the research was to clarify the meaning of infant-directed singing as a human behavior and as a means to elicit unique behavioral responses from infants," she added.

Additionally, de l'Etoile explored the role of infant-directed singing in relation to intricate bond between mother and infant. In an initial study, she filmed 70 infants responding to six different interactions: mother sings an assigned song, "stranger" sings an assigned song, mother sings song of choice, mother reads book, mother plays with toy, and the mother and infant listen to recorded music. The results were promising, but also raised additional questions.

"High cognitive scores during infant-directed singing suggested that engagement through song is just as effective as book reading or toy play in maintaining infant attention, and far more effective than listening to recorded music," said de l'Etoile. "But what did the infant engagement tell us about the mother's role during the interaction?" she questioned.

de l'Etoile continued the study by focusing on the role of the caregiver during infant-directed singing by measuring the make-up of the song and the mother's voice.

"Findings revealed that when infants were engaged during song, their mother's instincts are also on high alert," said de l'Etoile. "Intuitively, when infant engagement declined, the mother adjusted her pitch, tempo or key to stimulate and regulate infant response."

While the intuitive adjustment of the song or singing voice seemed natural to most of the mothers, de l'Etoile was inclined to dig further. In a study published in the Journal of Music Therapy, she explored the acoustic parameters in the singing voices of mothers with post-partum depression.

"The extraction and analysis of vocal data revealed that mothers with post-partum depression may lack sensitivity and emotional expression in their singing," stated de l'Etoile. "Although the infants were still engaged during the interaction, the tempo did not change and was somewhat robotic."

According to de l'Etoile, for mothers with postpartum depression, infant-directed singing creates a unique and mutually beneficial situation. Through song, the infants are provided with much-needed sensory stimulation that can focus their attention and modulate their arousal. Simultaneously, mothers experience a much-needed distraction from the negative emotions and thoughts associated with depression, while also feeling empowered as a parent.

"Mothers around the world sing to their infants in remarkably similar ways, and infants prefer these specialized songs," she said. "The tempo and key certainly don't need to be perfect or professional for mothers and infants to interact through song. In fact, infants may be drawn to the personalized tempo and pitch of their mother, which encourage them to direct their gaze toward and ultimately communicate through this gaze," added de l'Etoile.
GENDER plays no role in corneal transplants says the director of the worlds leading corneal graft registry.

Keryn Williams, the founder of the Australian Corneal Graft Registry (ACGR) in South Australia, said that a British study linking transplant success to gender was not relatable to every population.

Picture: Demietrich Baker

We know that in Australia the gender of recipient and donor dont matter very much, she said.

We reported back to our surgeons that following the paper from Britain, we have looked back at our 30,000 plus records in Australia and we just dont see it.

Some of the eye banks have asked us if they need to begin matching the genders of donors and recipients and what we can say is not in Australia, which is really important because there are never enough (corneas) to go around and it just isnt necessary.

The British study of 18,000 patients found a higher rate of successful transplants in female patients who got their new corneas from other women instead of men.

Professor Williams said the British study should be interpreted as a selective case and might not be relatable to other countries.

The ACGR analysation of gender roles, led by Dr Miriam Keane, was presented to surgeons and eye-bankers at the ANZ Cornea Society Meeting in Brisbane on February 4.

Based at the Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide, South Australia the ACGR is the worlds first and largest repository of information on corneal transplants, with more than 33,000 case studies from about 900 contributors from around Australia since 1985.

The ACGR collects data on corneal graft patients such as information about a donors body, a recipients body, a surgeons experience as well as details about the surgical procedure and the outcome.

It then provides the evidence and best practice suggestions to ophthalmologists around Australia and internationally.

The registry is also used to test the effectiveness of conventional techniques and is set to publish a report on the learning curve for Descemet's stripping endothelial keratoplasty (DSEK).

DSEK is a relatively new technique that involves a back-layer cornea transplant and has been endorsed as a superior method to traditional thick-layer transplants by the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Professor Williams said the report found that practice made perfect and DSEK procedures showed there was a learning curve involved.

The Australian Corneal Graft Registry also shattered the belief that cornea donors had to be young.

Professor Williams said the registry had been instrumental in bringing in more comprehensive information about corneal transplants for Australia and more countries were interested in creating similar databases.

As a result Australia now has virtually no waiting list for corneal transplants for the 1600 patients who need a transplant each year.

There are a lot of altruistic ophthalmologists who are volunteering their time for this cause and working with our team to continue learning more about how we can make effective use of the available corneas we do have.
The company took the wraps off the concept version at its UK headquarters in July, but this will be the first time that anyone other than potential owners will have seen it in the flesh.



"The AM-RB 001 is destined to become the defining hypercar of this decade and a hugely desirable investment for collectors and enthusiasts," said Aston Martin President and CEO, Dr. Andy Palmer.



Developed in partnership with Red Bull Racing and its superstar Formula 1 designer, Adrian Newey, the AM-RB001 will boast a mid-mounted naturally aspirated V12 engine and a one-to-one power to weight ratio.



It will also use cutting-edge racing developed aerodynamic trickery so that it behaves like an F1 car in the bends and at the limits of grip. However, because all of these systems will be largely integrated to the car's underside, there won't be huge spoilers, splitters or side skirts negatively impacting on the car's visual aesthetic.



Even with such an impressive team working on the AM-RB001, there is no guarantee that it will be a decade defining hypercar -- especially as Mercedes-AMG is plotting a similar vehicle of its own that will be unveiled at this year's Frankfurt Auto Show in September.



However, in terms of its appeal to the car collecting community, the Aston boss is completely correct.



Even though this car won't be going into production until 2018 and when it does it will come with a 2 million price tag, every one of the 150 planned examples (25 of which will be track-only models) are already sold out. What's more, if a potential owner changes his or her mind, Aston won't be worried, as there's a long list of people waiting to step in and take a car if an order is cancelled.



The 2017 Canadian International Autoshow will be held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and opens its doors to the public on February 17.
New Delhi: British telecom major Vodafone has brought in Martin Pieters, former Managing Director and CEO of its Indian arm, to work on proposed merger of Vodafone India with Idea Cellular, sources said.



Vodafone Group Chief Executive Vittorio Colao is also likely to brief all business heads of the Indian arm over a conference call next week about the proposed merger.



"Martin Pieters has reached India to oversee proposed merger of Vodafone India with Idea Cellular. Vittorio (Colao) will brief all business heads of Vodafone India over a conference call on the merger on February 24," said a source. Vodafone declined to comment.



Pieters, the longest serving Chief Executive Officer of a telecom firm in the India, who stepped down on April 1, 2015 to be succeeded by present Vodafone India MD and CEO Sunil Sood.



If the deal is successful, the combined entity will create largest telecom player in the country with revenue share of around 40 percent and over 380 million subscribers base, as per India Ratings and Research.



However, given the present spectrum holding, revenue and subscriber base, both the companies need to work on synergy to comply with rules.



According to the merger and acquisition rules, an entity should not hold more than 25 percent spectrum allocated in a telecom circle and 50 per cent on spectrum allocated in a particular band in a service area.



The merger entity should also not have more than 50 percent revenue and subscriber market share.



As per CLSA report, the merged entity would breach revenue market share, subscriber and spectrum caps in five markets. The combined entity as per present scenario will breach spectrum cap in 900 Mhz band in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, Haryana and UP West and in 2500 Mhz band in Maharashtra and Gujarat, it said.



CLSA estimated that the excess spectrum which would need to be surrendered or sold off is valued around Rs 5,400 crore and for the merger both the companies will also have to shell out Rs 5,700 crore for liberalising radiowaves that they were allocated administratively.



According to sources, the companies are likely to request government to relax merger and acquisition rules.
: The Delhi government may hand over the management of Asha Kiran Homes, where deaths of 11 inmates were recently reported, to an expert panel following Chief Secretary's report that pointed out at "administrative lapses" at the shelter.Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has directed the Social Welfare Department of Delhi Government to prepare a note on rope in an expert panel to run Asha Kiran Homes for mentally challenged children and women.Earlier this month, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had ordered Chief Secretary M M Kutty to submit his report on shelter after 11 deaths of inmates were reported."The Deputy CM has asked Social Welfare Department to submit a note in this regard," said an official. Sources said the Deputy CM wants that expert panel should be headed by a psychiatrist.Sisodia had recently directed Social Welfare Department to submit CCTV footages to his office as soon as possible. They said the report of the Chief Secretary will be submitted in the court which is hearing the matter related to this issue.In his note to Kutty, Kejriwal had hit out the Secretary of the Social Welfare Department, that runs the home, and sought to know the reason behind her silence on the "11 deaths" that reportedly took place over the last two months."I am extremely disturbed by the prevailing conditions reported by DCW and in the media on the home. Chief Secretary should personally ensure that all these deficiencies are removed within a week to the satisfaction of DCW," the CM had said in the note.
The suicide attack at the famed Sufi shrine at Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sindh is a defining moment and will give a fillip to Sindhi nationalism as the shrine is intrinsically linked to Sindhi identity, Indias first consul-general to Karachi Mani Shankar Aiyar told News18.Pakistan has been struggling ever since its birth on how to make religion bond with nationhood. As a result of this, while it is Islam that unites Pakistan, it has always been true that it is Islamisation that divides Pakistan because any process of Islamisation means choosing between different versions of Islam, Shankar, who served as consul-general in Karachi from 1978 to 1982, said.Over 100 people died when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the shrine in Sehwan in the outskirts of Hyderabad city in Sindh on Thursday during the dhaamal function. ISIS has taken credit for the attack that prompted Pakistans new Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa to swear revenge.The attack will be a defining moment in the evolution of Sindhi politics and Sindhi nationalism for several years to come, Aiyar said. It has only shot up the significance of Sindhi identity and nationalism as Sehwan is not only the single most important religious shrine, but is also the symbol of Sindhi identity, he said.The Congress leader and former Union minister also said the attack will drive any nascent Sindhi sympathy for the ISIS out of the picture. At the same time, I doubt that there was any significant Sindhi sympathy for ISIS and maybe that is why this is the kind of ISIS revenge on the Sindhi Muslim for not being particularly well-disposed towards them, he said.He felt it will certainly lead to a churning in the political life of Sindh. The Sindhi will begin to say that once again the central government of Pakistan, which many perceive as a Punjabi government, has not provided the required protection and this is negligence on the part of the central government rather than viciousness on the part of the ISIS that has actually caused this terrible blast and damaged the shrine, he said.After the attack, Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the terrorist attack on the shrine in Sehwan was the worst form of terrorism aimed at ripping apart the Sufi fabric of unity and peace. This was an attack on our culture, history and civilisation. Every single individual of this land will fight against the terrorists and uproot this menace. The Bhuttos hail from Larkana, not far from Sehwan.Aiyar said the blast was only a sign of things to come. This is going to worsen as ISIS picks itself against the people who call themselves Muslims but who ISIS really thinks to betray the cause of Islam, he said.
New Delhi: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has been cautioned by the Election Commission over alleged bribery remarks made by him during campaigning for the Goa elections.



The election watchdog found his remarks referring to votes-for-money as violation of the Model Code of Conduct. But what exactly did Parrikar say on January 29, 2017 in Chimbel town? Did he actually ask voters to take money and vote?



As per the Election Commission of India's interpretation of his speech in Konkani, it is a case of violation of the Model Code of Conduct.



Parrikar, however, thinks his speech has been lost in translation and is now planning to file an RTI to find out who exactly translated his speech for the Election Commission, sources tell News18.



Earlier, the Commission did not heed to his request for an open forum with the translators. In his response to the EC notice, Parrikar suggested a discussion with EC translators along with an independent Konkani expert in the presence of three Election Commissioners.



However, in a letter dated February 16, the poll panel expressed satisfaction over the translation done by the three-member committee. Referring to the translation by the language expert, the Commission said it was substantially the same and did not contain any inaccuracy.



However, sources claim that what Parrikar actually said in Konkani was not a statement but a question. "Konache don hazar ruppya gheun mat marap? Sources say it translates to: Will you vote for someone who gives you Rs 2,000? But according to the EC transcription of the Konkani speech, Parrikar is heard saying: Konache don hazare ruppya gheun tanka mat mara. The difference is not an affirmative sentence, but a question.



Meanwhile, sources point out discrepancies in the two EC letters itself while quoting Parrikar's same comment. In the notice dated February 1, 2017, Parrikar's election campaign remark was quoted as: "...Today, take from anyone Rs 2,000 and vote for them." In the next notice dated February 7, 2017, the remark was quoted as: "You vote him by taking Rs 2,000 from someone (voice is not clear).



The complaint against Manohar Parrikar was made by AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who was himself censured for similar remarks. The EC had, in fact, ordered the filing of an FIR against Kejriwal as the poll panel found him guilty of promoting/abetment of bribery to the electors in a public meeting on January 8, 2017 in Mapusa, Goa.






New Delhi: The second round of the Jat agitation in Haryana shows no sign of slowing down as protests entered their 20th day on Friday. Yashpal Malik, leader of the Akhil Bhartiya Jat Aarkashan Sangarsh Samiti (ABJASS) which is spearheading the agitation, said they will observe February 19 as Balidan Diwas (Sacrifice Day) for those who died during last years Jat agitation.



Speaking to News 18, Malik claimed that over 25 lakh Jat youths will hit the streets in protest on Sunday across Haryana.



Last year, many of our young Jat protesters were martyred when the police took action against them. On Sunday, we will remember them by observing Balidan Diwas. There will be simultaneous protests across all districts of Haryana on that day. In Rohtak alone, we will manage to bring over five lakh people together to remember our martyrs, Malik said.



He alleged that the BJP government in Haryana was not serious about meeting their demands. Our demands are quite simple. The first demand, which had brought these young men to the streets, is the demand for reservations for the Jat community. We also demand that the cases filed against protesters from last year be withdrawn. Those who are in lodged jails should be released.



The BJP, meanwhile, denied the allegations. Haryana BJP president Subhash Barala said, The charge that we are not serious about meeting the demands of the protesters is simply not true. However, we cannot simply withdraw our cases against everyone. Due process of law needs to be followed in this regard. We have also been reaching out to members of the community and are trying to resolve the deadlock.


New Delhi: A highly respected think tank, The International Crisis Group (ICG) has come out with a damning report on Pakistan's fight against terrorism and explains how the countrys security agencies follow a selective approach to terror groups.



The report focuses on the deteriorating law and order in the city of Karachi. The report titled "Pakistan: Stoking the fire in Karachi" begins by saying "Ethnic, political and sectarian rivalries, jihadist groups, criminality and heavy-handed security policies are turning Pakistan's biggest city into a pressure cooker of tensions".



The report vindicates India's stand that Pakistan's government and Army follow a selective approach in eliminating terrorists and groups like the LeT, JeM and JuD operate freely in Pakistan. It says, "Pakistan's most dangerous groups actively contest Karachi's turf and resources. The anti-Shia Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and anti-India LeT/JD and Jaish-e-Mohammed have umbilical links with the city's large, well-resourced madrasas".



While preparing the report the International Crisis group spoke to politicians, government officials, journalists and civil society members who said Pakistani rangers have spared many areas in Karachi which are hubs for good jihadists like LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed.



The report says There are pockets all along the Super Highway of good Taliban and any time Pakistan-India or Kashmir tensions flare, these groups mobilise in the heart of the city. It further quotes a senior government official as saying, You cant treat LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed as your friends in one part of the country and your enemies elsewhere.



When CNN-News18 approached Pakistan government officials for a reaction they said, Pakistan has been pursuing action against all terror groups without any discrimination.



Despite repeated requests from India Pakistan is yet to move forward on the 26/11 trial and the Pathankot attack investigation. Terrorists like Maulana Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi are yet to be punished.



Interestingly Indias most wanted underworld gangster Dawood Ibrahim lives in the posh Clifton area of Karachi, the same city profiled by the International Crisis Group in its report.



The report comes at a time when Pakistan has been rocked by one of the worst terror attacks in recent times. At least 100 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up 200KM northeast of Karachi.







Indias former ambassador to Pakistan TCA Raghavan says the report by the International Crisis Group shows the mindset in Pakistan has not changed. This selective approach never works because terror groups dont have single agenda. They have multiple agenda.



Their cadres are motivated from multiple directions. Attacks on religious shrines like the one in Karachi on Thursday reinforces that perception, Raghavan said.



The ICG report also says prominent pro-jihadist madrasas continue to operate freely, including those with close ties to Jaish-e-Mohammmed.
New Delhi: The father of a 24-year-old boy from Delhis Malviya Nagar has claimed that his son is being confined illegally by his employer in Kuwait for the last month and being beaten every day for refusing to carry out work for them.



Mohammed Sikandar, the father of 24-year-old Intazar Khan, met his local MLA Somnath Bharti, who then wrote to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj seeking her intervention in the matter.



Bharti, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Malviya Nagar, also tweeted a copy of the familys FIR to Sushma Swaraj saying, @SushmaSwaraj mam, one young man of my constituency is held up illegally against his wish in Kuwait. Plz help him.



Speaking to News18, Mohammed Sikandar said his son Intazar Khan left for Saudi Arabia in May last year.



My son flew to Riyadh on May 29 last year via Abu Dhabi. In Saudi Arabia, he worked as a waiter in a restaurant. For about five months, he worked there as a waiter. In November, my sons employer told him to shift to Kuwait since there was a new restaurant coming up there. When my son refused to go to Kuwait, they forcibly put him in a car and drove him to the Kuwait border. That was when we lost touch with him," said Mohammed Sikandar.



Sikandar, a tailor by profession, added, On February 10, we got a call from a stranger in Kuwait with a message from my son. The man on the phone said that my son is being confined illegally in a room without any food or water and is being beaten every single day. My son is a graduate but they are forcing him to do construction work... All I want is to have my son safely back home. When we got no response, we decided to meet our MLA. He has assured us all help and said he will also raise the matter with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.



Bharti said he, too, was disappointed by the lack of response and would continue to apply pressure on the Centre.



This is a matter of grave concern and I am disappointed that Sushma Ji has not yet responded. It has been five days since the FIR was registered and yet, there is no response from the police. I have sent a letter to Sushma Ji and I will also take up the matter with the Delhi Chief Minister. We will ensure that Intazar comes back home safely. This matter is a priority for me.




In the former years of civilization, people observed multiple religious traditions and rituals with the sole motive of revering the Supreme Being. But as the time passed, not just beliefs, but also faiths and religions modified and grew. Interestingly, as the world turns into a global village, where all religious activities coexist, people - irrespective of their castes, creeds, religions - show no qualms in observing ceremonies together. And Taiwan Lantern Festival is one such occasion that is observed by people despite their different religions and rituals.Much like Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, devotees in Taiwan illuminate and adorn their homes using lanterns, and colourful light bulbs to observe the Lantern Festival. Celebrated on the first full-moon night of the Lunar Year, the Lantern Festival is regarded as one of the key festivals in Taiwan.As far as the origin of the Lantern Festival is concerned, it is believed to have started by an emperor of the Han dynasty (206 B.C.  220 A.D.). The emperor, a sincere Buddhist, had asked his people to exhibit lights on the fifteenth night of the first month of the Lunar Year to pay obeisance to Lord Buddha. According to the same legend, lanterns are held in hands on the same night to spot deities as they descend from heaven to bless the earth. If another legend in the Tang dynasty is anything to go by, the emperors would observe the festival by asking gorgeous women to croon and dance with lanterns.These festive activities got popular with the commoners and turned into the most famous festival in the year after Chinese New Year.Since the festival was almost forgotten in the late 80s, the Taiwan Tourism Bureau felt it was right to collect all the light displays in one spot to make people aware of the Lantern Festival. It started gaining huge popularity after it was first held in Taipeis Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in 1990. After over a decade, in 2001, the festival was shifted from Taipei to Kaohsiung, with different cities in Taiwan being given turns to host every year.In Taiwan, the main lantern festival is held in different counties and this year, Yunlin County which is in the central part of Taiwan hosts the Lantern Festival, says Shelley Shan, a local visitor.While this is the first time in its 28-year-long history that Yunlin has been selected to host the festival, Shelley explains us the procedure that different counties need to follow to get selected. The Lantern Festival is organized by the Tourism Bureau in Taiwan and each year the Lantern Festival takes place in a county. Different counties compete to host the festival. They have to propose  if they have specific plan for the festival and then the Toruism Bureau chooses which county they want for the concerned year, she adds.The Lantern Festival which was inaugurated on February 11 in Yunlin county in the southwestern part of Taiwan will continue until February 19. Since this years theme is friendly earth, diverse cultures, the focus of the festival include an eco-friendly approach and the varied traditions, cultures, and beliefs here.With residents and travelers attending the festivities from across the world, it has undoubtedly become popular with international tourists too. I had only read about its celebrations - including lanterns, light displays in temples and firecrackers - on multiple websites. But to be in Taiwan and witness people as they end the Lunar New Year with a bang is an experience one would not want to miss out on, says David, a traveler.Noel Saxena, Country Head, Taiwan Tourism Bureau, Rep. Office managed by New Delhi-based Think Strawberries explains what helps the festival gain huge acceptance. Several dance and music performances throughout the island depict their history and culture and keep the entire city into a festive mood. The lights and the decorations during this time are worth seeing. The colorful streets and the friendly people of Taiwan will make you feel at home, he says.For the uninitiated, the festival is celebrated not just by focusing on lantern making and the displays of pretty lanterns, but by playing lantern riddle games too. As Shelley tells us, the festival is also important for tourists and residents alike because of the traditional festival food that is whipped up. At the Lantern Festival, apart from the exhibition, people also like to eat rice dumplings. It is a dumpling with filling inside  usually it is very cold and people eat it to celebrate the festival and keep themselves warm, she explains.So if you have spent enough time appreciating the beauty around, make sure you also dig into the glutinous rice dumplings which usually come with sweet or savory fillings.While Yunlin featured 19 light-themed and decorated areas to celebrate the Lantern Festival, Yanshui grabbed everyones attention with its cacophony of fireworks. For those who came in late, fireworks are used to call on the gods, the tiny town in the north of Tainan County certainly makes headlines as several thrill-seeking festival goers and visitors show no inhibitions in being hit by a barred enclosure filled with bottle rockets.The Lantern Festival in Yanshui is called the Beehive Fireworks Festival because this barred enclosure turns into a horrid hive of bees which are set off at the people. Traditionally, the idea of being hit by fireworks is referred to as an act that brings one good luck for the new year. For those who follow religious rituals, it is an activity that helps them endure the pain to exhibit their spiritual determination.To ensure people arent hurt by the fireworks, they wear non-flammable clothes and dont let their skin remain exposed. The best way to protect ones head and face is by wearing a helmet that comes with a full-face visor. Next, wear a towel to the helmet that can be wrapped entirely around your neck. Since the air gets smoky and usually debris is thrown at the visitors from the exploded fireworks, make sure you wear a face mask.So if you happen to be in Taiwan at this time, make sure you dont miss out on its Lantern Festival celebrations. Much like any other festival across the world, it is significant for the culture, and explains how festivity is an interesting passageway to the most insightful aspects of life.
Mumbai: The makers of the forthcoming coming film Machine, starring Kiara Advani and debutant Mustafa, have decided to release it a week earlier than scheduled.



It was to release on March 24 but will now hit the screens on March 17, a statement said.



The film is said to be the launchpad for Mustafa, the son of director Abbas Burmawalla of Abbas-Mustan duo fame.



Machine is reported to be a love story with a twist, which is the signature style of the director duo who have given hits like Baazigar, Ajnabee, Race and "Race 2.


The 234 MLAs of Tamil Nadu will decided on Saturday if VK Sasikala loyalist Edappadi Palaniswami gets to rule Fort St George, the seat of power in Chennai. And all eyes are on one man  Speaker P Dhanapal.So just who is this man who gets to decide whether Saturdays vote of confidence would be a secret ballot  as demanded by team O Panneerselvam  or an open floor test?Dhanapal is a Dalit leader who was one of the first to join MG Ramachandran when he founded the AIADMK, breaking from the DMK in 1972. He was also the first Speaker to be elected for the second consecutive term in 2016.MGR handpicked him and made him contest the Sankagiri constituency (Reserved) in Salem district in 1977. He along with C Ponnaiyan, Panrutti S, Ramachandran and KA Sengottaiyan contested the Assembly elections for the first time after MGR launched the party. Dhanapal won the first elections. He won again from the same constituency in 1980 and 1984.After MGR's death, when the party split into two  one faction led by the late MGRs widow Janaki and the other led by Jayalalithaa. He chose to join the latter and contested the Sankaragiri constituency in 1989, but for the first time, he lost the elections. He was again fielded from the same constituency in 2001 and won. In 2011, he contested Rasipuram constituency and again won as Sankagiri was converted into a general constituency by then.One year later, Jayalalithaa picked him as the Speaker. This was after Speaker D Jayakumar, another Jayalalithaa loyalist, resigned from his post. The government release did not give further details and had just maintained that the Speaker will discharge the duties while the office of the Speaker remained vacant. Six supporters of Jayakumar were also stripped of their posts. Reports suggested that Jayakumar's gala birthday celebrations had posters hailing Jayakumar when Jayalalithaa had warned her people that the posters should have only the pictures of Periyar, Annadurai, MGR and herself. So when the Speaker's post fell vacant, Dhanapal was elevated to the post.And somewhere down the line, he got close to Sasikala and her family.The Panneerselvam faction met the Speaker on Friday, but did not reveal details of the meeting. The camp has always reiterated that there should be a closed ballot so that they can prove their majority.On Saturday at 11 am, we would know if the trust vote would be an open one or a closed ballot. But it is likely the Speaker will go the open ballot way. And as a precedent, he can point to Uttarakhand, where there was an open floor test recently.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami has won the vote of confidence, minutes after DMK Working President MK Stalin told media that his party members were beaten up and forcefully evicted from the house. Palaniswami garnered 122 yes votes, while members voted against him. Earlier, while showing his torn shirt, Stalin told media,We repeatedly appealed to the speaker for a secret ballot, but he refused to address our plea. We are heading to the Governors office to intimate him of all the events.

As it happened.

Read all the Latest News , Breaking News , watch Top Videos and Live TV here.
Mumbai: The political situation in Maharashtra will change drastically after the February 23 civic polls with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis soon loosing his chair, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut claimed on Thursday.



His comments are the latest in the acrimonious exchange of words between the estranged saffron allies ahead of the civic polls, which they are contesting separately.



"Fadnavis is soon going to become an ex-Chief Minister. He has opened up a 'clean chit factory' where hooligans and criminals are promptly given a clean chit by him. There will be a drastic change in the political situation of Maharashtra after February 23," Raut said while speaking in Amravati in Vidarbha region.



Elections to 10 municipal corporations, including Mumbai, are slated for February 21 and the results will be announced on February 23.



The Uddhav Thackeray-led party has also dropped broad hints that it will review its support to the BJP-led government after the civic poll results are announced. The Sena and BJP have snapped their ties in BMC, but they remain allies in the ruling coalitions in Maharashtra and at the Centre.



Responding to BJP's demand for a three-day "ban" on publication of Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana', Raut said the saffron outfit was "playing with fire by asking for a ban".



Raut is Executive Editor of the Sena organ, which has been severely critical of BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last few weeks.



A Maharashtra BJP functionary has written to the State Election Commission seeking a ban on Saamana on certain days, claiming it would "impress" upon voters even after the campaigning for civic, Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti polls ends.



"There is a ban on publishing content or undertaking publicity campaign (of parties and candidates) two days before polling date," state BJP spokesperson Shweta Shalini said in the letter to SEC.



"Considering the poll dates, there should be a ban on publication of Saamana on February 16 (first phase of Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti polls), February 20 and 21," she added.
Mumbai: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has emerged as BJP's face in Maharashtra civic bodies poll campaign-related publicity material, with a new video hitting the social media on Thursday that lauded the work initiated by him since assuming charge in October 2014.



The 2.43 minutes video titled "This is our Devendra" has been released in Hindi and Marathi and lists various developmental schemes under Fadnavis' leadership in the state, including those for women's security and employment.



Also out is a comic book like caricature strip, showing Fadnavis as the harbinger of water to drought-hit Latur last year, when the state government ran 'water trains' to the Marathwada town. The strip shows people of Latur thanking Fadnavis, who is seen peeping from clouds bringing rain.



There is also a Marathi audio jingle on local radio stations doing the rounds, which asks voters to remember the "surgical strikes by the Modi government and the good work by Fadnavis". The jingle is in the form of a powada, a kind of ballad written in an exciting style and used to narrate historical events in an inspiring manner.



Added to this are hoardings on city roads and memes and photos on social media.



Posters featuring Fadnavis and declaring "ha shabda maza ahe (this is my word)" have been put up all over the city to counter Sena posters, which claim credit for work done by the civic body. The BJP posters have the tagline as "parivartan tar honarach (change will happen)" denoting its resolve to dethrone the Sena in the BMC.



Besides the official BJP posters and social media accounts, animated videos depicting the Shiv Sena as a "corrupt tiger" being controlled by a "lion" are also making the rounds.
Will BJP manage a 2014 Modi-wave redux? Will Mayawatis efforts at forging Dalit-Muslim coalition translate into electoral success? Will the Rahul-Akhilesh duo pull a Nitish-Lalu of 2015?

With a population of over 20 crore people, the issues in UP are just as diverse as its people. In some western UP districts, for example, one of the biggest issues facing farmers is the delay in payment of sugarcane arrears by sugar mills.

Like Jats, Muslims, too, are keen to break the image that they vote en bloc, as one vote-bank.

For the last year, analysts have been searching for an overarching theme that will decide the 2017 UP Assembly polls.After the dust from the first two phases has settled, there is a growing realisation that the overarching theme of this election is that there is none.UP assembly polls will be decided not on the larger battles but by 403 separate battles being fought in each constituency. Increasingly, the phrase neck-to-neck contest is being used in nearly every constituency in Uttar Pradesh.What is, perhaps, an indicator of the volatility of this election is that several heavyweight leaders are worried about saving their own seats after polling in the first two phases.In the Meerut city seat, for example, BJP leaders are not fully certain that former UP BJP chief Laxmikant Bajpai will be able to defend his seat against Rafiq Ansari of the Samajwadi Party, who has been trying to consolidate the minority vote.In Rampur, where SP veteran Azam Khan is a seven-time MLA, the nomination of Dr Tanveer Ahmed of the BSP has thrown up a tough political battle. In Suar Tanda, also in Rampur district, five-time MLA Nawab Kazim Ali Khan is facing Azam Khans youngest son Abdullah Azam Khan.In Saharanpur, UP Congress vice-president Imran Masood, who lost the Lok Sabha elections by less than a margin of 6%, is contesting from the Nakur Assembly seat. While Masood is believed to be popular in his bastion, he is taking on Dharam Singh Saini, who switched from BSP to BJP, in a close election.In Meerut Cantt, a seat that BJP has not lost since 1989, three-time MLA Satyaprakash Aggarwal is on a sticky wicket. Candidates, too, admit that the election will not be a cakewalk for any of them.A senior Congress leader, who contested in the second phase, says that he faces a tough fight. We have the strongest chance in the constituency but it would be unwise to write the other candidates off. It will be a tough fight for sure, he said.Last year, bypolls were held in three Assembly seats in UP. All three constituencies threw up vastly different results. The BJP won the Muzaffarnagar Assembly seat, Congress won Deoband and the Samajwadi Party won the Bikapur seat.While Muzaffarnagar and Deoband are less than 25 km apart, polarising issues played out differently in both seats in 2016. While BJP candidate Kapil Dev Aggarwal won in Muzaffarnagar by more than 7,000 votes, Rampal Singh Pundhir came in third in Deoband.This time, too, local trends are likely to dominate in these seats. Aggarwal, while confident of his own win, is aware of the fact that he will face a tough battle against Gaurav Swaroop, the son of deceased former MLA Chitaranjan Swaroop.It would be wrong to say that he (Swaroop) has no support. He is the only one in the fight against me and will throw a good challenge. However, it will not be enough. I will certainly win because I am running on a progressive platform. People are with BJP," said Aggarwal.In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, when the BJP swept the state, old considerations of caste and community broke down. This time, however, identity politics  of the caste and clan variety, not religion-based  is likely to play a large role in the election.Vinod Jatoli, a Meerut-based sugarcane farmer from the Jat community, said: In 2014, it was a Modi wave. Rajendra Aggawal won the Meerut Lok Sabha seat because he belonged to Modis party. In fact, there was a saying - Rajendra Aggarwal majboori hai, kyunki Modi zaroori hai (Rajendra Aggarwal is a compulsion because Modi is a necessity). Now we know that Modi is not going to be the CM. Besides, they have proven in the last two years that they are running an anti-farmer government. We are Hindus later and farmers first. Even our identity as Jats is linked to our profession as farmers. Neither Akhilesh nor Modi has ensured payment for sugarcane farmers. Modi promised a raise in minimum support price of wheat but that has been unfulfilled. That is why most of us are going back to the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) because they are the only ones who have been agitating for sugarcane farmers in western UP.Yusuf, a tea-stall owner on the Rampur-Moradabad road, said, Akhilesh Yadav bahut achche hain, kaam bhi kiya hai, lekin hamara problem Lucknow tho nahin le jayenge! (Akhilesh Yadav is a good man, he has worked also. But he will not take our local problems to Lucknow).The BSP has been hoping that endorsements from top clerics will help build support among minorities. On the ground, however, there is little evidence that Muslims will vote for one party simply because clerics said so. Take, for example, Hashimpura colony in Meerut. In 1987, 42 Muslim men from the colony were allegedly rounded up by security personnel, shot dead and dumped into the Muradnagar canal. Years later, survivors of the massacre say they remain unaffected by any wave in support for one party or another. For them, their own personal fight for justice matters above all.Zulfikar Nassir, who was 17 years old when he was picked up, said, When the verdict came and the accused were acquitted, nobody from any other party came to meet us. Only SP leaders sympathised with us. Mayawati didnt lift a finger to help us. It doesnt matter how many Muslim candidates are fielded by BSP. We will only support the party that has wiped our tears.Muslim voters told News18 that they are voting like any other community rather than as one homogeneous group. Dr Shabnam, a Rampur-based physician, said, My vote is for safety and security instead of religion. It is about local issues. Over here, I dont see the need for consolidation of the Muslim vote.If 2014 was the year of Ab ki baar, Modi Sarkar and 2015 was the year of Phir ek baar Nitish Kumar and Paanch Saal Kejriwal, 2017 is shaping up to be a wave-less election. In an election where local issues like sugarcane in western UP and drought in Bundelkhand will matter more than polarisation, where the pro-activeness of local candidates will matter more than the brand Akhilesh or brand Modi, every single one of UPs 403 seats could throw up a surprise.
Lucknow has always been a headline writer's delight. Whose Luck Now?, Luck Now or Never.



The above two are among the sundry examples deskers use to read and predict the political temperature in the capital of India's politically pivotal state.



This time, however, these headlines are missing because the race is predicted to go down to the wire. The historically rich city goes along on its own pace, unruffled by what twists and turns various sub-editors give to its ancient name. The imambaras are beautifully lit up and the business is brisk at Tunday's and Dastarkhan, both offering delectable stuff to people coming from all over the world to savour arguably the finest Mughlai dishes in the world.



There's plenty of food and food for thought for everyone. The buzz of politics and incessant chatter of who will take Lucknow are heard everywhere. Lucknow has always been a deeply political city and a witness to many historical turns, both good and bad. Many moons ago, full of pain, Wajid Ali Shah sang mellifluously Jab chhod chale Lucknow nagari... He was right. You can leave Lucknow, but Lucknow never leaves you.



Peddling Dreams

Politics in India is also a dreamworld. Like our films that sell fantasies by the hundreds, politicians and their acolytes too peddle different and magical dreams to attract people to themselves.



But all dreamworlds need fuel to crank out weird dreams. Sometimes, this fuel comes from bags of currency, sometimes from electric speeches, sometimes from navigating treacherous campaign trails, sometimes from the fervour of untiring workers and sometimes it comes from just cups of steaming hot tea and samosas mashed into a delightful plate of chickpeas.



At Naresh's tea shop in Raebareli, a group of bald men, attired in white kurta-pyjamas and Nehru jackets, drum up support for their parties. The political temperature at the small, flashy restaurant gets heated as empty clay cups of tea accumulate on the table, which is already littered with carelessly eaten samosas.



The conversation acquires a high fever and then suddenly peters out as it does not show any signs of reaching a conclusion. All the participants, tanked up with politics and palaver, disperse with their pieces of dreamworlds intact.








Priyanka Gandhi campaigned in Raebareli with brother and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Friday.

Heres a recap:

Read all the Latest News , Breaking News , watch Top Videos and Live TV here.


The chatter is that Priyanka could contest the next Lok Sabha polls. In such a case, she is being closely watched.

: On the first day of her campaign, Priyanka Gandhi hit the BJP where she felt it would hurt the most. Skipping any direct reference to Union minister Smriti Irani, Priyanka gunned for Prime Minster Narendra Modi, asking why should Uttar Pradesh need an outsider like him? This in the context of the PM saying recently at a rally that he had adopted UP as his state.An unstoppable Priyanka played the women card asking why any woman should be referred to as someone's wife or sister?The crowds clapped and cheered. And many were left wondering what took her so long to come? Said one party worker, "It's a tough situation in Amethi and Raebareli this time. The BJP has begun to do well and we wanted her to be here so she could counter Smriti Irani and the BJP."But close advisors of Priyanka refer to this infighting and the tough spot for the Congress in the bastions of the Gandhis as reasons why she should curtail her travel plans. Despite hectic campaigning by Priyanka in 2012, the Congress came up with a poor performance. But then, Rahul Gandhi had not emerged as Congress's counter to the PM.As Rahul's attacks against the PM become sharper, the BJP is increasing its focus on Amethi and Raebareli.Gone is the earlier tactic of putting up a weak candidate against the Gandhis in their pocket boroughs. This time, Smriti Irani was put up against Rahul Gandhi, and despite Rahul winning, Smriti hasnt stopped visiting Amethi. Its clear that the BJP wants to put up a fight against the Gandhis here.A poor performance by the Congress here after a hectic campaigning by Priyanka would be seen as the failure of the Congress's ultimate trump card.The real worry is that despite the euphoria over the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance, there are worrying signs. On ground zero, the friendship between 'UP ke ladke' is not being mirrored. For example, in Lucknow Central, there is a bitter battle between Maroof Khan and Ravidas Mehrotra. Problem is Maroof is from the Congress, while Ravidas is the sitting MLA from SP. Maroof has released big ads in local newspapers and his party cannot ask him to step down.In Amethi, too, while Gayatri Prajapati is contesting from SP ticket, Ameeta Singh is the Congress candidate. But it is Sanjay Singh's first wife Gayatri Devi who the BJP has put up who could steal the show. This would be a huge blow for the Congress and the Gandhis specially.It is felt that it would be safer if Priyanka is kept away and she should venture out to do only small rallies. But then, many among Amethi and Raebareli party workers feel she is too good to be kept away.
Firing another salvo at the estranged ally Shiv Sena, BJP on Thursday alleged that the city civic body BMC gave road repair contracts to tainted firms.The Income Tax department in 2010-11 had raised objections to and even probed a certain contractor which continued to get road repair contracts despite being blacklisted in road repair scam, BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said here."The IT department found that...had been indulging in giving bogus bills to contractors without even supplying them with materials like steel, cement and dumpers. The state Sales Tax and Value Added Tax department's have declared this contractor to be a Hawala dealer," he said.Because of whose blessings this blacklisted contractor was still getting road repair contracts, he asked."The IT department had recommended to the BMC to take action against the contractor and wanted to know why no action was being taken against him," Bhandari said.Further, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in its 2006 report had pulled up the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation over purchase of an imported pothole repairing machine, it said.What happened to this imported `Jetpatcher' machine, Bhandari sought to know. "They should reveal how much money the Sena-ruled BMC spent to purchase the machinery and whether it had secured a guarantee of pothole-free roads and how much money was spent on the machinery and repairing the potholed roads till 2017," Bhandari said.On Sena president Uddhav Thackeray's charge that BJP was bringing back "Emergency" by demanding a three-day ban on Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' in the run-up to February 21 BMC elections, Bhandari said `those who had supported the 1975 Emergency or did not oppose it' had no right to talk about it."BJP has merely asked the State Election Commission to ensure equal treatment for all the political parties. Sena itself states that Saamana is its mouthpiece," he said.
Lucknow: After weeks of dilly-dallying, postponements and cancellations, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is set to campaign for the Congress in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections on Friday.



According to senior Congress leaders of Uttar Pradesh unit, Priyanka will be showing up with brother Rahul Gandhi in Rae Bareli, a parliamentary seat held by her mother Sonia Gandhi.



The absence of Priyanka, who is a great crowd puller and is among the 40 'star campaigners' the party has listed for the polls, had reportedly upset the cadres, specially in the family bastion of Amethi-Rae Bareli, where she has been campaigning in previous elections.



This time, the Congress has entered an alliance with the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP).







Informed sources said many campaign programmes of Priyanka Vadra had been made and cancelled in the past owing to the seat-sharing formula on these seats continuing to be an irritant.



Now since both the alliance partners have withdrawn five candidates each from their side, she is said to have agreed to come and campaign.



She was one of the main negotiators with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav when the alliance talks were on the brink of collapse.



While her name has been repeatedly appearing in the star campaigner list of the party, she is likely to restrict herself to Amethi-Rae Bareli only, an informed party source told IANS.



Congress President Sonia Gandhi is scheduled to address a rally on February 20.



She has so far kept herself away from campaigning as she is reportedly not in "the best of health".



Rae Bareli goes to polls on February 23 and Amethi on February 27.
A South Korean court ordered the arrest of Jay Y. Lee, the 48-year-old head of the Samsung Group, on suspicion of bribery and other charges in a corruption scandal that led parliament to impeach President Park Geun-hye.Read more: Apple iPhone 8 May Have a Fingerprint Reading Screen A South Korean court ordered the arrest of Jay Y. Lee, the 48-year-old head of the Samsung Group, on suspicion of bribery and other charges in a corruption scandal that led parliament to impeach President Park Geun-hye.Read more: Snapdeal Exchange Fest: Deals on Google Pixel, Le 2, Oppo F1S and More Prosecutors accuse Lee in his capacity as head of South Korea's largest conglomerate, or chaebol, of pledging 43 billion won ($37.74 million) to a business and organisations backed by Park's friend, Choi Soon-sil, in exchange for support of a 2015 merger of two Samsung companies.Samsung and Lee have denied wrongdoing in the case. Park, whose impeachment will be upheld or overturned by the Constitutional Court, has also denied wrongdoing.Read more: Xiaomi Redmi Prime 3S Flash Sale Today Samsung watchers have said Lee's arrest would not affect the day-to-day running of group companies including Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS), which are run by professional managers, but a prolonged absence could impact longer-term and strategic decision making.Lee's arrest is likely to put greater public focus on three key executives at the sprawling conglomerate.Choi Gee-sung, vice chairman, Samsung ElectronicsChoi, 66, heads Samsung's group strategy office, dubbed the "control tower". Known to be Jay Y. Lee's mentor, Choi had been expected by group insiders to take charge of the conglomerate in the event of Lee's absence.With more than three decades at Samsung, Choi has been deeply involved in preparing a plan for Jay Y. Lee to assume control of the group from his father, who was incapacitated by a 2014 heart attack.Previously CEO of Samsung Electronics, Choi created the role of chief operating officer in 2010, and appointed Jay Y. Lee to that post.MR. CHIPKwon Oh-hyun, vice chairman and CEO, Samsung ElectronicsThe 64-year-old Kwon, who succeeded Choi as Samsung Electronics CEO in 2012, mainly oversees Samsung's cash-cow components business, which includes the world's biggest maker of memory chips, a key driver of revenue and profits.Known as "Mr. Chip," the low-profile Kwon may find himself with a larger role as he guides Samsung Electronics through the aftermath of last year's crisis over exploding Galaxy Note 7 smartphones.The elder of Jay Y. Lee's two younger sisters, 46-year-old Lee Boo-jin heads Samsung's Hotel Shilla arm, which is among the world's largest duty-free retailers. Shares in the company rallied earlier this week on market speculation that she would take a bigger role in the group if her brother was arrested.Some group watchers dismissed that likelihood, noting that Lee Boo-jin does not have experience at the flagship Samsung Electronics or hold a significant stake in the company.It is extremely rare in South Korea for a woman to assume control of a family conglomerate.
Washington: President Donald Trump insisted Thursday that neither he nor his campaign team had contacts with Russian officials in the run-up to last year's US election, contradicting an explosive report which he blasted as "fake news."



Trump also defended Michael Flynn, the national security advisor whose resignation he demanded and received this week, saying Flynn "wasn't wrong" for holding pre-inauguration phone calls with the Russian ambassador about US sanctions policy.



Instead, Trump accused members of US intelligence agencies of breaking the law by leaking information about the calls.



The new president, in the midst of a turbulent week of back-and-forth accusations about contacts with Russia and his battle with the intelligence community, addressed the concerns during an extraordinary White House press conference.



Asked whether he or anyone on his staff had engaged in contacts with Russia prior to the election, Trump proclaimed: "No, nobody that I know of."



"I have nothing to do with Russia," Trump said. "The whole Russia thing is a ruse."



It was a full-throated denunciation of a bombshell report by the New York Times which said intercepted calls and phone records show Trump aides were in repeated contact with Russian intelligence officials well before the US elections.



"It's all fake news," Trump said, unleashing verbal assaults on the media.



Trump stressed that the Times story centered instead on inappropriate action by US intelligence agencies, as he stepped up earlier Thursday attacks in which he vowed to catch "low-life leakers" of potentially classified information that led to the ouster of his national security advisor.



- Jeopardy -

"Those are criminal leaks" by people angry about Democrat Hillary Clinton's loss, he told reporters, as he revealed he has asked the Justice Department to investigate the disclosures.



"The people that gave out the information to the press should be ashamed of themselves."



The Washington Post meanwhile reported that current and former US officials said Flynn denied to FBI agents that he had discussed US sanctions on Russia with Moscow's ambassador.



Should it turn out that he discussed the sanctions, as Trump appears to believe he did, Flynn could be in legal jeopardy because lying to the FBI is a felony.



"What he did wasn't wrong," Trump stressed.



"I didn't direct him" to discuss sanctions with Russia's envoy, Trump added. "But I would have directed him because that's his job" to talk with foreign contacts.



In his wide-ranging presser Trump defended his political agenda, and said that next week he will introduce an amended version of the much-criticized travel ban now caught up in court.



He also pledged that new trade deals were coming that would stop countries from "taking advantage of us," and said he would "show great heart" in dealing with undocumented immigrants who arrived as children and are protected from deportation.



But the crux of his remarks centered on Russia connections.



"I would love to be able to get along with Russia," he insisted. "It would be much easier for me to be tough on Russia, but then we're not going to make a deal."



The latest salvoes came amid reports that Trump plans to name New York billionaire Stephen Feinberg -- who has no national security experience -- to lead a sweeping review of US intelligence agencies, raising fears of a bid to curtail their independence.



Trump had pointed the finger at the National Security Agency, which conducts electronic surveillance, and the FBI, which handles counter-intelligence probes, as possible sources of the leaks.



The drumbeat of revelations has infuriated Democrats and alarmed Republican leaders, wary of Trump's overtures toward Russia.



"It is a cloud over the White House," said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who has called for in-depth investigations.



- 'Collusion?' -

Amid mounting calls for more sweeping congressional investigations, one Democrat openly accused Trump's campaign of improper contacts with Russia.



"I believe there was collusion," House Democrat Maxine Waters told CNN, stressing that Trump's focus on the leaks was a distraction.



Trump's stance on leaks has flipped since last year's campaign when he proclaimed "I love WikiLeaks" -- the organization that published hacked Clinton campaign emails.



He also dismissed as a "joke" his suggestion that Russia was behind the damaging leaks.



By January, US intelligence had concluded that those leaks were part of a wider campaign ordered by President Vladimir Putin to try to tilt the election in Trump's favor. Moscow denies any involvement.



Meanwhile, the Trump administration has moved gingerly on Russia, sending top officials to Europe to reassure NATO allies while making its opening official contacts with the Russians.



Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Bonn, and said Washington is prepared to work with Russia "when we can find practical areas of cooperation."



In Brussels, Defense Secretary James Mattis said the Pentagon was not ready "right now" for military cooperation with Moscow "but our political leaders will engage and try to find common ground."
Geneva: The United Nations is no longer using the phrase "political transition" to describe the goals of next week's Syria peace talks, in a potentially major concession to negotiators representing President Bashar al-Assad.



"Political transition" is a phrase understood by the opposition to mean a removal of Assad or at least an erosion of his powers. But his government has rejected any suggestion that it could be on the table, and at previous peace talks in Geneva his negotiators consistently tried to steer away from it.



Yara Sharif, spokeswoman for U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura, initially told a regular U.N. briefing in Geneva on Friday that the talks, due to start on Feb. 23, would address the political transition.



"I think, yes, you can use the word 'political transition'. It is going to be a focus I guess as it has been in the past," she said in response to a reporter's question.



But she later sent an email to clarify her comment.



"This morning at the briefing I was asked about the intra-Syrian negotiations and whether the issue of political transition would be discussed," she said.



"For clarification purposes, please note that the negotiations will be entirely guided by (U.N.) Security Council Resolution 2254, which talks specifically about governance, a new constitution and elections in Syria."



The December 2015 resolution was unanimously adopted as the basis for peace talks, which ran fitfully through the first months of 2016 but never resumed after the end of April.



The resolution says the U.N. Secretary-General should convene formal negotiations on "a political transition process on an urgent basis... with a view to a lasting political settlement of the crisis". It also refers to previous international agreements which called for a transition.



But its description of the political process contains no mention of the phrase, setting out the aims as a new constitution, free and fair elections administered under supervision of the United Nations, and transparent and accountable governance.



The last set of U.N.-led Syria talks in Geneva ended in April last year, with de Mistura setting out a summary of what had been agreed so far and what next steps were needed.



"No one is doubting any more that there is an urgent need for a true and credible political transition," the U.N. envoy said at the time. "You remember when the word transition, at least in certain area, was taboo? Not any more."
A former navy admiral reportedly tapped by President Donald Trump to be his national security advisor has declined the post, US media said on Thursday.Robert Harward's rejection of the position leaves the Trump administration without a replacement for Michael Flynn, who was forced to resign earlier this week amid a scandal over pre-inauguration phone conversations he allegedly had with Russian officials.In a statement read on CNN, Harward said he had turned down the job because he "could not make that commitment.""This job requires 24 hours a day, seven days a week focus and commitment to do it right. I currently could not make that commitment," the statement read.The rejection capped a riotous day for the 70-year-old US president, who earlier Thursday lambasted his critics in the media and in politics in a wide-ranging one hour, 16-minute-long press conference.US President Donald Trump offered the job of National Security Adviser to Vice Admiral Robert Harward, sources close to the situation said on Wednesday.Harward, a 60-year-old former Navy SEAL, served as Deputy Commander of US Central Command under now-Defence Secretary James Mattis. He previously served as Deputy Commanding General for operations of Joint Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, CBS News reported.Harward has also commanded troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan for six years after the 9/11 attacks. Under President George W. Bush, he served on the National Security Council as director of strategy and policy for the office of combating terrorism.
Update: A Bedford County judge on Friday dismissed an obstruction of justice charge against a sister of Richard Welch, named a person of interest in the Lyon sisters abduction and murder case.

Prosecutors asked for the charge against Gladys Stangee, of Bedford, to be dismissed, citing what they called her cooperation with authorities.

Richard Welch has not faced charges; his nephew, Lloyd Lee Michael Welch Jr., faces two counts of first-degree murder in the case, with a jury trial scheduled for April.

Lloyd Welch is accused of abducting and killing Sheila and Katherine Lyon, sisters who vanished during a trip to a Wheaton, Maryland, shopping mall in 1975. Sheila was 12 and Katherine 10 at the time. Investigators claim after killing the girls, he disposed of their bodies in Bedford County.

Stangee was one of three Welch relatives accused in September 2015 of impeding the investigation into what happened to the girls.

Stangee appealed her conviction on the obstruction charge, a misdemeanor, in Bedford General District Court in November 2015.

Commonwealths Attorney Wes Nance said Friday she since has cooperated withauthorities, leading to the dismissal motion before Judge James Updike Jr.

Nance noted she had no criminal history prior to the misdemeanor charge.

Since her original appeal from General District Court in November 2015, she has remained of good behavior, and she has cooperated with the commonwealth and investigators, he said.

Stangee was represented in court by Bedford County Public Defender Webster Hogeland.

A dismissal means its just like being found guilty, he said after Fridays hearing. Its our position that Ms. Stangee was not guilty of anything.

Shes cooperated from the very beginning of this investigation, and she continues to cooperate, Hogeland said. She doesnt really know anything [about the case]. I dont think she can help much.

This is the second time in as many months an obstruction charge was dropped against one of the Welch relatives.

Updike in January similarly dismissed the same misdemeanor charge against a relative of Welch, Amy Ann Johnson, citing what they called her recent cooperation.

Earlier: A Bedford County judge on Friday dismissed an obstruction of justice charge against a sister of Richard Welch, named a person of interest in the Lyon sisters abduction and murder case.

Prosecutors asked for the charge against Gladys Stangee, of Bedford, to be dismissed, citing what they called her cooperation with authorities.

Richard Welch has not faced charges; his nephew, Lloyd Lee Michael Welch Jr., faces two counts of first-degree murder in the case, with a jury trial scheduled for April.

Lloyd Welch is accused of abducting and killing Sheila and Katherine Lyon sisters who vanished during a trip to a Wheaton, Maryland, shopping mall in 1975. Sheila was 12 and Katherine was 10 at the time. Investigators claim after killing the girls, he disposed of their bodies in Bedford County.
RICHMOND The bill intended to shorten the gap between when legislators win special elections and when they take their seats failed to pass a House Privileges and Elections subcommittee Thursday.

Sen. Mark Peake, R-Lynchburg, carried the bill that passed the Senate 23-17 after he and Sen. Jennifer L. McClellan, D-Richmond, won special elections the night before the 2017 General Assembly convened.

The bill failed unanimously in the House subcommittee Thursday after opposition from the Virginia Department of Elections and the Voter Registrars Association of Virginia.

As a matter of principle, the department opposes this bill because we believe every vote should be counted before the election is certified. Moreover, this would put electoral board members in a position of testifying to results they know are incomplete, said Martin Mash, a Department of Elections policy adviser.

Because of a voter ID law requiring three days to verify some provisional ballots, a Senate tradition, and back-to-back state holidays, Peake and McClellan might have had to wait a week before taking their seats. The Senate, however, made an exception to the tradition and swore them in anyway.

Peakes bill would have required registrars to certify special elections before every provisional ballot was counted unless the total number of outstanding provisional ballots could change who wins. The provisional ballots still would be counted.

The problem, Peake said, is that in between the January special election and certification, about 400,000 people were unrepresented.

The bill also would have required electoral boards to meet regardless of federal holidays, a provision registrars supported, according to Albemarle County Registrar Jake Washburne.

I think that would really remedy the situation, Washburne said.
It's a conspiracy against Trump

There is plenty of criminal activity going on in our government, and it has little to do with National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Donald Trump.

The Flynn conversation with the Russians is just the tip of the iceberg.

When the Obama regime was in power, Flynn (no fan of Baracks) told him to stick it where the sun dont shine.

That ticked off a lot of the minions in the government, loyal to Obama.

Obama is finally gone, but many of his political holdovers still roam the halls of the intelligence agencies and the State Department.

One of these hacks leaked the Flynn conversation(s) to the complicit media  which was completely silent when Obama told the Russians that he would have more flexibility after the election in 2012.

Who leaked the Flynn conversation to the press? Isnt that a crime? The same media (silent no more) is more than happy to further the anti-Trump agenda, by reporting unsubstantiated facts.

Flynn is just a small piece of the puzzle, all linked together (by the liberals) to bring down Trump who by the way, stole the election from Hillary Clinton with the help from the Russians.

These Democrats need a trumped-up enemy to further their political agenda, and now they have two joined at the hip, Trump and Vladimir Putin.

Heads need to roll, and its not Flynns or Trumps.

RICHARD BARR

Forest

Rules that protect the little guy

Every once in a while I read something that is so baffling that I wonder at what point common sense has left the premises.

I do not consider myself naive or easy to be manipulated. Whenever I hear or read about another poor, very often elderly person having been taken advantage of, frequently losing their life savings, I am saddened, angry and then amazed about how gullible some people can still be. I even found a message on my answering machine some time ago, spoken in a very heavy accent, telling me that if I did not immediately pay my debt to the I.R.S., I would end up in jail. I called the Lynchburg Police Department to let them listen to the message and they basically said that theyd heard it all before and there was nothing they could do about it. I asked them if people were still falling for these kinds of scams, and they said, Youd be amazed. But I digress.

I was reading in a weekly news magazine about the fiduciary rule. From what I understand, the fiduciary rule requires financial advisers to put the clients interests ahead of their own when giving financial investment advice. Say what? Should not their advice always be in their clients best interest? I would think that most investors would take this for granted. Apparently it is not uncommon for an investment firms agent to push a product that is more profitable for them/their company but less profitable to the investor. This is a bit of a simplification, but these are basically the facts.

Now we get to the good part: In 2015, the former administration decided that this fiduciary rule should be enacted by all financial advisers. Makes sense, doesnt it? Well, apparently not to the current administration which signed an executive memo instructing the Department of Labor to review this fiduciary rule because it might be inconvenient (read: less profitable) to the financial adviser.

It has been estimated that the loss to retirement funds, without this fiduciary rule is $17 billion annually. Yes, that is billion with a B. Can anyone even imagine being against this rule that would save billions of dollars of middle class peoples hard earned retirement accounts?

I have been fortunate in having advisers that Im sure have my best interest at heart. Should not everyone who has been saving and often scrimping for their retirement, be able to trust their advisers?

This is not a political issue; this is  or should be  a bipartisan issue. In other words, common sense.

LYA HALE

Lynchburg

Youll get over it  eventually

Note to the Left: Four years ago, conservatives were just as depressed.

LUCILLE WILLIAMS

Lynchburg
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Home News Sports Social Obituaries Events Letters Arrest made in St. Ann's arson February 16, 2017 Shane Rucker, 33, Bonners Ferry, was arrested today on a two-count federal indictment in the District of Idaho charging him with destruction of religious property and using a fire to damage or destroy religious property.



A federal grand jury sitting in Boise returned the indictment on February 15. Rucker, who is in custody in the Bonner County Jail, will make his initial appearance at 9 a.m. Friday at the federal courthouse in Coeur dAlene.



According to allegations in the indictment, on April 21, 2016, Rucker set fire to St. Anns Catholic Church in Bonners Ferry because of the religious character of the property, in violation of the Church Arson Prevention Act. The church was completely destroyed as a result of the fire.



An indictment is a means of charging a person with criminal activity. It is not evidence. The person is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.



If convicted of destroying the church because of its religious character, Rucker faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Using a fire to destroy the church carries a mandatory 10 year sentence that must run consecutive to any other sentence.



The case is being investigated by the Bonners Ferry Police Department, the Bonner County Sheriffs Office, the Idaho State Fire Marshals Office, the Boundary County Sheriffs Office Fire Investigation Team, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.



The case is being prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Wendy Olson and Assistant U.S. Attorney Traci Whelan of the District of Idaho and Trial Attorney Angie Cha of the Civil Rights Division. Questions or comments about this article? Click here to e-mail!
CLEAN THE WATER

A day after the lead contamination disclosure was made by officials of the Solid Waste Management Company Limited (SWMCOL) to a e Public Accounts Enterprises Committee (PAEC) of Parliament, Government said it wants answers from SWMCOL and WASA on how this situation was allowed to continue for three years.

In addition, Government is demanding that all relevant agencies act immediately to assure the population that there is either no threat to the countrys water supply or that any potential threat has been eliminated.

In fulfilling this mandate, WASA yesterday issued a press release reiterating water supplied to the public from its Caroni Water Treatment plant is safe for human consumption and meets international health standards.

Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi and Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh outlined Governments plans to deal with this issue at the post-Cabinet news conference yesterday. Young said, As a Cabinet, we have asked for a report...an urgent report on this. Stressing that Government will not issue any premature directives to the population regarding water consumption, until it knows what the facts are, Young said, we dont want to overreact or under react. He added that to date, there has been no evidence of any lead contamination of the countrys potable water supply.

Young said he would be shocked and surprised, if SWMCOL and WASA have not started working on resolving the issue, with immediacy. Describing the disclosure by SWMCOL officials to the PAEC as, historical information, AG Al Rawi said, The report has to come carefully but its much more than Ministry of Health and (Ministry of) Public Utilities. He said this issue cuts across the Ministries of Planning (which now has responsibility for the environment), Energy (dealing with renewable energy) and Rural Development and Local Government (which manages the countrys landfills). Al Rawi said this problem cannot be solved simply by closing the Guanapo Landfill or any other landfill.

Saying this issue is not novel and other countries have successfully dealt with it, Al-Rawi was confident that once Cabinet is apprised fully, the best efforts will be taken with immediacy. For his part, Health Minister Deyalsingh said, When you have an issue of potential lead poisoning, I dont think you have a line minister. All ministers should be concerned because this issue cuts across everything. Young said a committee looking at the future of landfills in TT, is awaiting certain reports before making recommendations to Cabinet.

WASA: HAVE NO FEAR WASA in a release yesterday said water supplied from the Caroni Water Treatment Plant is safe to drink. The Authority wishes to assure customers and the general public that water it produces meets and exceeds guidelines set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for potable or drinking water quality, the WASA release stated.

The statement listed mechanisms for treating water to WHO standards. Lead is a heavy metal contaminant which is easily removed from water during WASAs coagulation/flocculation and sedimentation processes. In addition, there is disinfection to eliminate dangerous pathogens, the release stated. Additionally, WASA undertakes regular water quality tests at the Plants on-site laboratory in keeping with WHO Guidelines.

Water Quality Monitoring System (WQMS) monitor water quality parameters in the Caroni River Basin and provide real- time water quality data to the Plant from several locations upstream of the Caroni Plant. This system measures six water quality parameters which are key indicators of different types of pollution that can impact the Plants output, WASA said.

WASA said that in recent years the Water Resources Agency (WRA), SWMCOL and the University of the West Indies (UWI) have worked together to improve water quality in the Guanapo River. This work includes reducing the volume of leachate (pollution run-off) from the Guanapo landfill entering the river, through measures such as terracing the landfill, construction of three ponds within the landfill to control run-off, pumping the ponds and the removal of the leachate, and construction of an artificial wetland to assist with bio treatment of the leachate.

Environmental Management Authority (EMA) managing director Hayden Romano yesterday said that while lead in general is a very serious pollutant, information from WASA is that water supplied from the Caroni Plant meets WHO standards, including the level for lead. While the EMA has a regulatory role for specific instances of pollution such as piped effluent, air pollution and noise pollution, he said the agency is still awaiting its Waste Rules due by mid-year to broaden its remit.

Chaguanas West MP Ganga Singh, the then Public Utilities Minister under the former Peoples Partnership government, yesterday said the water-intake into the WASA system is heavily polluted but this contamination is removed by WASAs treatment system. Saying sewerage from 16 sources flow into the Caroni water courses and the PP built a water treatment plant in Malabar to ensure a higher quality of effluent in the system.

AIR POLLUTION TOO Arima businessman and activist Roger Belix yesterday urged the authorities to employ the service of foreign experts to test levels of toxins in the water courses and atmosphere from the Guanapo landfill.

Seven years ago the Justin Belix Foundation conducted a test. We looked at the air and water pollution from the Guanapo landfill. When we did our test back then, Cariri (Caribbean Industrial Research Institute) could only handle a certain type of chemical component, not bacterial component, and we realised it (pollution) was coming from the dump.

The then PNM government and then the UNC after, said they would look more into it. And that was that. We met with persons from WASA and they said they would give us a test every three months to ensure things are safe.

After so many years, now we are getting this report when before we were getting from them that pipe-borne water was as safe as you can get, Belix said.

Belix said while they felt vindicated about being right about lead poisoning, there were other chemical tests that could not be done locally. He believes the air around the landfill is heavily polluted.

We are time bombed now because there are a lot of people now who would be getting a lot of ailments that we cant explain.

We are not the research people, we are just normal people on the sidelines observing these trends.

We hear people complaining on a daily basis. Just this morning a guy came, very pale, and he said they were doing tests, but they not know what it is.

He lives on deGannes Street which is downhill from the dump. He said he was going abroad to have more tests done.

This thing is so far and wide we need specialists to come in to really pinpoint what is happening, Belix said.

(Additional reporting by CAROL MATROO and SEAN DOUGLAS )
Man in court for MovieTowne murder

King, 30, of Chinapoo Village, Morvant and Mora Drive, Cleaver Heights, Arima was charged late Wednesday after Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard SC, gave instructions to police.

King was remanded into custody as murder is a non-bailable offence, but his attorney Kiev Chesney, who held for attorney Christian Chandler, requested of the chief magistrate that the accused be separated from the general prison population as threats were made to his life. After being asked to clarify what he was asking of the court, Chesney said perhaps prison authorities can place King in a supervised area in the prison or anything the court can do to ensure the allegation does not come to fruition. Chesney also asked that a state prosecutor be appointed in the shortest possible time so the preliminary inquiry can begin. King will return to court on March 16.

De Revenauxs mother Sharon Hernandez-de Revenaux sat quietly at the back of the courtroom while her daughters alleged killer made his first court appearance.

Also charged in connection with assisting King to evade arrest were Christopher OConnor of La Fillette Village, Blanchisseuse and Jamal Lewis of Arima Old Road, Arima and Block 22, Upper Laventille. It is alleged, according to the charge read out to them separately by the chief magistrate, that between February 4 and February 11, they perverted the course of justice by doing a deliberate act to conceal King, with intent to assist him evade arrest and/or lawful apprehension.

Neither man was called to enter a plea and bail was objected to by court prosecutor Inspector Kenneth Dillon. In OConnors case, he has ten pending matters. His lawyer Nicholas Rampersadsingh noted that some of those matters were already dealt with and submitted there are only two charges for resisting arrest and using obscene language that were pending.

A visibly upset OConnor was told by the chief magistrate to provide copies of court extracts to substantiate his claim that some of the cases against him were discharged.

OConnor was advised to apply to a judge in chambers for bail and told to return to court on March 16. Lewis will return to court on February 20, so that bail can be considered once the police verify one of the addresses he gave. De Revenauxs throat, according to an autopsy report, was slit from ear to ear.
Soca Monarch prize $$ cut

In a release, the Caribbean Prestige Foundation (CPF) for the Performing Arts said it had to adjust the prize structure for the competition and as a result, this years winner will receive $500,000.

The CPF said the prize for second place will be $250,000 compared to last years prize of $750,000.

This year the third place prize will be $150,000 compared to last years $500,000 while those who place fourth to 22nd will receive $50,000 compared to last years $100,000.

There has also been a reduction in the prize money for the Carib Breakout artiste. This year, the winner will receive $50,000 compared to last years prize of $100,000.

Speaking with Newsday yesterday Minister of Community Development, Culture and the Arts, Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said this year, CPF received an estimated $1.3 million compared to the $3.5 million they received last year.

Based on our reduced allocations we were not able to approve anything greater than that this year, she said.

The CPF said in an effort to ensure the maximum prize earnings for all finalists it acquired additional funding to enhance the 2017 prize disbursements.

Newsday tried contacting CPF Chairman and CEO Peter Scoon but his phone remained unanswered up until press time.
Here Are the Most Overrated

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Always check your pockets. That's the message Bob Hoffman learned the hard way after his wife donated one of his old shirtsand $8,000 he had stuffed in a pocket. The man from Long Beach, Calif., was keeping the secret stash to surprise his wife, Linda, with a dream trip to Italy after he retired in 2018, the Orange County Register reports. For six years, Hoffman, 65, had been padding the wad, which he had kept in a bank account. He withdrew the cash earlier this month with the intention of helping out a relative who had fallen on hard times. In the meantime, he tucked in an envelope in the pocket of an orange shirt deep in his closet. Then he forgot about it until he had another $100 to contribute.

Hoffman remembered that two days earlier his wife was making a Goodwill run and he helpfully offered to donate a bunch of old shirts. In the pile was the cash-stuffed orange shirt. Hoffman confessed his botched romantic plan to his wife, and the pair raced to the charity shop. But there no trace of the shirt. "Bob is an extremely strong human being," Linda Hoffman tells the Register. "I dont want to hurt his male ego ... but he was crying." They went home and prayed. The next morning at 7:30 a phone call restored their faith in humanity. A Goodwill worker searching the warehouse found a bin of men's shirtsincluding an orange one. The couple recovered the cash and offered a fat reward. Goodwill refused. The Hoffmanns compromised and footed a pizza party for the staff. "What touched our hearts the most is how honest they were," Linda Hoffman tells ABC 7. (Read more uplifting news stories.)
Elizabeth Royte recently headed out to a remote part of Yaphank, Long Island, to talk to a man she calls the "compost king of New York." His name is Charles Vigliotti, and Royte profiles him in the New York Times, explaining how the 63-year-old plans, through his American Organic Energy company, to turn the "largely untapped" piles of food waste that accumulate in dumps into alternative energy. Vigliotti, who hails from a trash-hauling family and grew up "hanging off the back of a commercial garbage truck," explains how the $50 million anaerobic "digester" he plans on constructing within months will start churning out this resourceand how it can work even in heavily populated cities, where traditional composting processes often don't, due to space limitations and the stink factor.

What makes Vigliotti's system viable: the anaerobic aspect, meaning it uses microbes, not oxygen, to break food debris down. That means the food can be turned into either fertilizer or carbon-neutral biogas (available to produce either heat or electricity) in smaller, air-free containers that also facilitate odor control. The process also cuts out "energy-sucking bulldozers" and other machinery required for composting. Not that Vigliotti is disingenuous about what flicked on his energy-creating lightbulb. "I'd like to say I had a vision of environmental responsibility, but I saw [it] as a business opportunity," he tells Royte. What could hold back the plans of the guy with slicked-back hair and fancy suits, not typical in the "crunchy-granola world of urban compost": adhering to "staggering" regulations. Read more about Vigliotti's garbage kingdom here. (The feds are getting serious about food waste.)
This whole nostalgia thing is getting out of control because scientists are about to bring back the woolly mammoth, the Guardian reports. Harvard professor George Churchwho New Scientist calls a "maverick geneticist"is leading a "de-extinction" team that says it's about two years away from creating a hybrid embryo combining mammoth traits with Asian elephant DNA. Woolly mammoths went extinct about 4,000 years ago due to human hunting and warming temperatures. But in the past few years, Church and his team have managed to splice 45 mammoth edits into Asian elephant DNA, including ones that control for a mammoth's shaggy hair, small ears, fat layers, and more.

While Church and his team believe they can have a "mammophant" embryo in two years, it will be much longer before anyone sees one in the wild. The team wants to grow mammophants completely in a lab in order to not mess with the reproduction of endangered Asian elephants, and that technology doesn't exist yet. But if his team succeeds, Church says it could do a lot more than gives zoos a neat new exhibit. He tells NBC News that releasing a herd of mammophants into the Arctic could fight climate change by keeping the tundra from thawing. "They will punch down the snow in wintertime allowing cold air to come in," Church explains. (Alaska's woolly mammoths likely died of thirst.)
The community of Orem, Utah, first got a clue something was up via a December Facebook post from the local police department. "Are you missing a quadcopter?" the quirky seven-question survey asked, adding, "Have you been convicted of Voyeurism in the past?" and "Would you like to turn yourself in before we have to come knocking at your door, maybe on Christmas morning, with a warrant?" Looks like the cops got their man (and woman), per the Deseret News: Aaron Foote, 39, and his 34-year-old girlfriend, Terisha Lee Norviel, who were charged Jan. 19 with voyeurism by electronic equipment for allegedly sending up a drone to peep into Orem residents' bathrooms and bedroomssome many stories high in apartment buildings, per a warrant unsealed Tuesday.

The peeping drone was busted on Dec. 3, when a man saw the drone lurking outside his bathroom window, followed it to a church parking lot, and called police, the Smoking Gun reports. In addition to many videos found on the drone that showed the spying, there were also videos of a man flying it standing next to a truck. Cops tracked down the owner of that vehicle, who turned out to be Foote. He and Norviel , said to be a mom of six and real estate agent, are due to soon attend preliminary hearings in the case. It's not the first voyeurism charge for Foote, who also has burglary, theft, and domestic abuse arrests under his belt: In the late 2000s, he pleaded guilty to voyeurism at a tanning salonfor which he was made to complete a voyeurism treatment regimen, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. (That time a drone caught a prostitute and an old guy in the act...)
Liberty German loved to go hiking, and safety was a regular topic of discussion in her home. "It was something that I stressed, but I guess not enough," says Liberty's grandfather, who raised the teen along with his wife. Like many in the small Indiana community of Delphi, Mike Patty says he "can't imagine" why someone would've wanted to kill his 13-year-old granddaughter and her best friend, 14-year-old Abigail Williams, both of whom were found dead near the popular hiking spot of Monon High Bridge at the Delphi Historic Trails on Tuesday. "I just don't knowmy mind is really mush right now," he tells People.

Police, who have not named a suspect or cause of death, said Wednesday they hoped to find a man photographed at the trails around the time the girls were there on Monday. With the exception of that man, "we've talked to everybody that we feel that has been through there and none of them are coming up as suspect," Indiana State Police Sgt. Kim Riley said Thursday, per the Concord Register. Later Thursday, Riley told the Lafayette Journal & Courier that officers had interviewed a man and searched his home not far from the trails in Delphi but no arrests were made. It wasn't immediately clear if the man was the same one photographed Monday. (Read more murder stories.)
Thanks to a mass act of kindness by Union City police officers, the story of a cookie-selling Girl Scout robbed at gunpoint has a sweet ending. The 12-year-old and her mom were selling cookies outside a California Safeway around 5pm on Feb. 8 when a man approached and asked about buying some cookies, the Mercury News reports. The man walked off but soon returned. Police say he pulled out a handgun and threatened the Girl Scout's mom, who handed over an undisclosed amount of their cookie proceeds. The man ran off and hasn't been caught. "We see all kinds of awful things, but this is horrible," Officer Lisa Gratez tells KGO.

But then something great happened. Sgt. Steve Mendez says that after hearing about the robbery, officers around the city "started busting out their wallets." While officers collected donations to cover the money the Girl Scout lost in the robbery, the Union City Police Officers Association bought out her remaining cookie stock. All told, police gave the Girl Scout more than $1,000. "We did what we could," Gratez says. (Read more uplifting news stories.)
There was nobody around to hear the crack when an iceberg around a mile long broke off from Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier, but a NASA satellite high above captured the dramatic event. The Landsat 8 satellite captured the iceberg's separation late last month in what was believed to be the sheet's biggest loss of ice since 2015, when a massive chunk of ice 20 miles long broke away, Live Science reports. This loss wasn't on the same scale, but NASA describes it as further evidence of the ice shelfs "fragility," which is especially alarming because of the amount of ice the Pine Island sheet moves from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to the ocean.

The new iceberg broke off from a floating ice sheet at the end of the glacier, meaning its loss won't contribute to rising sea levels, Mashable reports, explaining the floating sheet buttresses huge amounts of land-based ice behind it. Researchers expect more ice to break off from the glacier soon. The latest break was the "calving equivalent" of an "aftershock" from the 2015 event, Ohio State University glaciologist Ian Howat says in a NASA press release. "Apparently, there are weaknesses in the ice shelfjust inland of the rift that caused the 2015 calvingthat are resulting in these smaller breaks." (Researchers fear the much larger West Antarctic Ice Sheet has already passed the point of no return.)
A Florida man is in custody charged with plotting a bombing campaign as part of a bizarre investment strategy. Investigators say Mark Charles Barnett, 48, planned to put at least 10 bombs disguised as food items on the shelves of Target stores along the East Coast, NBC News reports. Court documents state that Barnett believed the bombings would tank the company's stock, "allowing him to cheaply acquire shares of Target stock before an eventual rebound in prices." The registered sex offender was busted after offering a man $10,000 to place the explosive devices in Target stores in New York, Virginia, and Florida. The man went to authorities instead, giving them the devices Barnett had provided and explaining the plot.

Prosecutors say the devices Barnett crammed in containers, including empty stuffing mix boxes, could have caused serious injury or death, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Investigators found more bomb-making materials at his home. Barnett has been charged with "possession of a firearm (destructive device) affecting commerce by a previously convicted felon" and faces up to 10 years in prison. He's already locked up without bail for violating parole conditions related to his disturbing past: News 6 reports he was on probation for felony charges, including for a 1992 kidnapping and rape of a math teacher in South Carolina. (Another bizarre criminal plot involved cyanide, a suitcase, and a priest.)
It wasn't the topic of conversation of Tuesday's lunch meeting between Chris Christie and President Trump that drew attention. It was the meatloaf. During an interview with WFAN radio show Boomer and Carton on Thursday, Christie let slip that Trump ordered his meal for him at the White House, reports NJ.com. ''He says, 'There's the menu, you guys order whatever you want,'" Christie said, noting his wife was among the party. "And then he says, 'Chris, you and I are going to have the meatloaf  I'm telling you, the meatloaf is fabulous.'" While host Craig Carton described the move as "emasculating," per the Huffington Post, Christie disagreed.

Billy Eichner pointed out that Trump once fired musician Meat Loaf on Celebrity Apprentice. Trump looks to be a fan of the iconic American dish of the same name, though. In a 2012 tweet, he said "my mother's famous recipe" is served at Trump Grill in New York. (One for the Table has the recipe.) Even before Christie's comments, CBS News reported meatloafa favorite dish during the Depression and World War IIis making a comeback. As for the real meat of their meeting, Christie was at the White House to discuss the opioid addiction crisis with Trump. (Read more Chris Christie stories.)
The Chilean flag is annoyingly similar to Texas' state flag, but that doesn't mean Lone Star Staters should appropriate Chile's flag emoji when they feel like expressing Texas pride. That's the gist of what one state lawmaker is trying to push through via Texas House Concurrent Resolution 75, which takes it upon itself to "urge" residents not to use the Chilean icon online as a substitute for the non-existent Texas flag emoji, the Houston Chronicle reports. In what the Dallas Morning News says belongs under the "yes, it's a real bill" umbrella, Cypress' conservative Rep. Tom Oliverson filed the resolution, noting, "Just as our flag could never fully embody the country of Chile, neither can the Chilean flag inspire feelings of pride and passion in the heart of a true Texan."

He points out that although both flags feature a similar red, white, and blue layout capped by that lone star, which often causes emoji-users to confuse Chile's flag for Texas' flag, Chile's colors are meant to symbolize "sky, snow, and blood spilled while fighting for freedom," while Texas' hues are meant to represent "loyalty, purity, and bravery." He also notes that the blue in his state's flag extends all the way down to the bottom, while Chile's is cut off into a square about halfway down (he even wants to get the #TheBlueGoesAllTheWayDown hashtag to pick up steam). That said, Oliverson concedes this bill isn't "the most pressing issue" the Legislature has on its plate at the moment, per the Morning News. (The White House rejected a Texas secession petition a few years back.)
Family and former neighbors of the Indonesian woman suspected of involvement in the audacious killing of the North Korean leader's half brother in Malaysia are stunned by the arrest of the young mother who they say was a polite and quiet "nice girl." Siti Aisyah, 25, is one of three people arrested so far by Malaysian police for possible involvement in the apparent assassination of Kim Jong Nam, per AP. She has told police she thought she was participating in a prank, reports the Telegraph, citing an Indonesian media outlet. Between 2008 and 2011, Aisyah and her then-husband lived in a modest dwelling in western Jakarta. Her former father-in-law Tjia Liang Kiong, who lives in a nearby middle-class neighborhood and last saw Aisyah on Jan. 28, described her as a "very kind, polite and respectful person."

The three suspectsAisyah, a woman carrying a Vietnamese passport and a man said to be Aisyah's Malaysian boyfriendwere arrested separately Wednesday and Thursday. The women were identified using surveillance videos from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, where Kim Jong Nam was killed with what is believed to be poison. "Oh my God, how can I believe it," said one of Aisyah's former neighbors. "She's very nice with all the people here, she's so naive." Indonesia's Vice President Jusuf Kalla said he believed Aisyah was not aware that she was participating in a murder: "From the information we have received and also what was circulating in the media, what has happened in Kuala Lumpur is Kim Jong Nam and Aisyah were victims. Aisyah was a victim of some sort of manipulation or fraud." (Read more North Korea stories.)
The Sacramento Dispatch had a breaking "bombshell" on its website the other day: President Trump and Vladimir Putin had been seen hobnobbing at a Swiss resort before Election Day. Which would've been quite alarming, considering the recent hubbub around Trump's alleged Russia tiesexcept, as the Washington Post points out, the Dispatch isn't a real paper. And neither are a handful of other "news" websites concocted as a promotional ploy for 20th Century Fox's A Cure for Wellness, its new Gore Verbinski mystery-horror flick that opens Friday. The marketing scheme backfired, however, fooling many on social media (including some well-known tweeters) and leading 20th Century Fox to issue a statement calling the idea "inappropriate on every level."

BuzzFeed on Monday first made the big reveal about the fakery, which included a slew of phony anti-Trump stories, such as the president pulling government support for California after the Oroville Dam flood because of its pro-immigrant stance. Regency Enterprises, one of the film's production companies, tried to explain in a statement, noting the movie was "about a 'fake' cure that makes people sicker"ostensibly justifying the whole fake-news approach. (Some of the stories prodded readers to react by tweeting their thoughts along with #acureforwellness.) Marketing and ad experts don't agree it was a wise move: Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman, tells the New York Times the tactic is "perverse" and "counterproductive." 20th Century Fox now agrees, noting in its statement, "In this case, we got it wrong." (Read more fake news stories.)
Doctors in Florida are now free to ask patients about guns in their home despite protests from the National Rifle Association. A federal appeals court struck down a provision of the so-called "Docs vs. Glocks" law barring doctors from asking patients about gun ownership unless the information is medically relevant in a 10-1 decision Thursday, noting it violates a doctor's right to free speech. The provision was included in 2011's Firearm Owners' Privacy Act after a few incidents: In one, a couple complained their doctor refused to see them because they wouldn't discuss guns, per the Miami Herald. The Washington Post puts some doctors' position thusly: That it's "within the bounds of ethical medical care for doctors to ask about gun safety at home, in the way a physician might ask parents of small children if they have a backyard pool."

The court found Thursday "there was no evidence whatsoever" that doctors "infringed on patients' Second Amendment rights." Indeed, the law meant doctors could face penalties simply by "adequately performing their professional obligation," read the majority opinion, per WJXT. Florida's ACLU branch says "the court has finally put to bed the nonsensical and dangerous idea that a doctor speaking with a patient about gun safety somehow threatens the right to own a gun," per Reuters, though the issue could still be brought in front of the Supreme Court. With Thursday's decision, doctors will still be barred from discriminating against patients because they own guns. As always, patients can also refuse to answer questions from doctors. (Read more Florida stories.)
If North Koreans living along the country's demilitarization zone with South Korea don't yet know that their leader's half-brother was assassinated this week, they probably will soon. South Korea announced plans Thursday to broadcast news of Kim Jong Nam's death on loudspeakers aimed across its border with North Korea, reports Chosun Ilbo. A military official said "North Koreans will be quite shocked" by the news since Nam was the "eldest descendant" of North Korea's founder, Kim Il Sung. South Korea has previously used the speakers to broadcast anti-Pyongyang propaganda and world news up to 15 miles away.

Meanwhile, Malaysian officials say North Korea has filed a request to claim Kim's body, per the Guardian. However, the officials say the body won't be released without a DNA sample of a family member. Kim is thought to have six children, but the Washington Post reports that no relative has emerged to claim or even identify the body. North Korean officials are also said to have tried unsuccessfully to prevent an autopsy on Kim. No results have been released, but he is believed to have been poisoned. Three people have been arrested, including an Indonesian woman who may have thought she was participating in a prank. (Read more North Korea stories.)
In a tax fraud case that captivated Spain, Princess Cristina was found not guilty Friday of being an accessory to fraud, but her husband was convicted and sentenced to more than six years in prison. A panel of judges ruled that Cristina, the 51-year-old sister of King Felipe VI, has to pay more than $280,000 in fines because the court feels she indirectly benefited from the fraud, the AP reports. Her husband, Inaki Urdangarin, 49, was found guilty of evading taxes, fraud, and other charges. He was sentenced to six years, three months in prison and a fine of $545,000. The trial centered on accusations that Urdangarin used his former title, the Duke of Palma, to embezzle about $6.6 million in public funds for the nonprofit Noos Institute. Urdangarin can appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.

In a country mired with corruption scandals in politics and business, Spaniards have paid close attention to the case since the first signs of Urdangarin's involvement emerged six years ago. As the scandal unfolded, former King Juan Carlos' decision to abdicate the throne in 2014 was seen as an effort to allow his son, Felipe, to restore the monarchy's credibility. When his sister Cristina was indicted, King Felipe canceled her title of Duchess of Palma, granted by their father in 1997 on the occasion of her wedding. She and Urdangarin are no longer invited to any official events by the Royal House. A spokesman for the Royal House told Spanish media they respected the courts' independence. (Read more Spain stories.)
On a morning in June 2001, two teenage boys were walking to school in Northridge, Calif., when they were accosted by a man with a gun. One boy fled, but the man blindfolded and abducted the other, who was 14, and sexually assaulted him. Fifteen years later, police finally got a break in the case. Late last year, 54-year-old Mirek Voyt was convicted of stealing money from his place of employment, a grocery store chain. Since that's a felony, his DNA was taken and entered into a databaseand authorities found that it matched DNA evidence from the years-ago attack. Voyt was arrested Tuesday and charged with the assault, the Los Angeles Times reports.

He pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of kidnapping to commit rape and forcible oral copulation. Police believe Voyt took the victim to his home to assault him; he ultimately released the boy, KTLA reports. Authorities now fear Voyt may have committed other attacks in the intervening years, and are asking anyone with information to get in touch with police. He's moved around the Los Angeles area during that time, NBC LA reports, and worked in a management position at a "large" grocery store chain police are not naming specifically. Says an LAPD captain, "One would find it hard to believe that this was his only" sexual assault. (Read more sexual assault stories.)
A former US Gymnastics doctor already facing federal child pornography charges and dozens of civil lawsuits from gymnasts who say he molested them will have to stand trial for criminal sexual conduct, a Michigan judge has ruled. CBS News reports the decision was made after a 25-year-old woman testified against Larry Nassar on Friday. The woman says Nassar, a family friend, sexually abused her between the ages of 6 and 12, according to MLive. The woman says the abuse started with Nassar exposing himself to her, then graduated to rubbing his genitals on her feet and masturbating in front of her during games of hide-and-seek in his basement, NBC News reports. She says the smell of lotion "still makes me sick."

The woman, who also claims Nassar "often" put his fingers inside her vagina, told her parents about the abuse when she was 13, but "they made me feel like I had done something terrible." She says her father promised to ruin her life if she didn't admit she was lying about Nassar, who they remained friends with and continued to visit. The woman's father killed himself last year. Nassar has pleaded not guilty in all the cases against him. On Friday, his lawyer tried to discredit the woman, saying she wasn't emotional enough while discussing the alleged abuse. Nassar's other alleged victims, some of them US Olympians, say he molested them under the guise of performing medical treatments. (Read more Larry Nassar stories.)
Jared Kushner recently met with an executive from CNN's parent company and complained about what he sees as the network's unfair and anti-Trump coverage, the Wall Street Journal reports. Sources say President Trump's son-in-law and adviser took his concerns to Time Warner's Gary Ginsberg, with whom he's been friends for years, specifically calling out CNN's Van Jones and Ana Navarro. After seeing the story, Navarro tweeted: "Really, Little Jared complaining about me cuz I get under President Daddy-in-Law's skin? Oh, baby boy, I'm so sorry."

Meanwhile, Time Warner is seeking government approval for an $85.4 billion sale to AT&T, which Trump has already said he wouldn't approve, specifically mentioning CNN. Trump called the network "very fake news" on Thursday, and his White House says it's costing the network in the ratings department. CNN would disagree. Adweek reports CNN CEO Jeff Zucker says the network did its "biggest brand survey" ever last month and found Trump's "fake news" label isn't hurting them. He tells New York Magazine CNN reporters "wear [Trump's] insults like a badge of honor" and "morale is incredibly high." Contrary to White House claims, CNN's ratings are up 51% this year. And Zucker says the network is as "strong as it's ever been." (Read more CNN stories.)
After a rough couple of days in the stocking of President Trump's administration, the Senate got back to business and pushed at least one more through. Oklahoma AG Scott Pruitt will head the Environmental Protection Agency, the Hill reports, after a Friday Senate vote confirmed him 52-46. As promised, Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins didn't cast a ballot for Pruitt, but every other GOP Senator did, with the exception of Arizona's John McCain, who was overseas at a conference. On the other side, West Virginia's Joe Manchin and North Dakota's Heidi Heitkamp declined to join their Dem colleagues in voting against him (Indiana's Joe Donnelly was the only Democrat who didn't vote).

Democrats had lobbied to stall the vote for Pruittdescribed by the New York Times as having "built a career out of suing to block the EPA's major environmental rules"until after next Tuesday, when thousands of emails were ordered to be set loose by Pruitt's office regarding his correspondence with members of the oil and gas industries. But Jeff Holmstead, an EPA administrator in the George W. Bush administration, shrugs off the outcry over Pruitt. "Whoever was nominated by President Trump, the environmental community was going to demonize," he tells the Washington Post. (Read more Scott Pruitt stories.)
Essays by Winston Churchill that have long been hidden reveal his thought about alien life. These essays have been archived at the National Churchill Museum in Fulton, Missouri since the 1980's.

According to a report these essays from Churchill was given by his wife to Churchill's publisher when she died. The National Churchill Museum invited an Israeli astrophysicist Mario Livio to review the essays. The copyright of these essays at this time is preventing for the said essays of Churchill to be published.

Timothy Riley, the director and chief curator of the National Churchill Museum shared that the essays reveal Churchill's personality. He noted that Churchill had a curious mind as a politician. The essays also reveal that Churchill was inclined to science and believe d that science can lead to progress.

A report indicated that these essays by Churchill had been written in 1939. The 11-page essay had been titled "Are We alone In the Universe?" The essays that are already reviewed by Livio had been noted to have modern conclusions about the future.

There are also insights in the essay about extraterrestrial existence. The essays had been hidden for more than three decades. This is the first time that there is an explanation about these essays that Churchill wrote a long time ago.

Meanwhile, a report indicated that Livio has found these essays as interesting since he saw a great politician who has been writing about scientific topic. Livio further shared that Churchill expressed in the essay that the most important characteristics of men are to "breed and multiply."

He also moved on to describe about water being the necessity of life. The essay further stated that life can exist only at a certain degrees of frost and boiling point of water. Churchill is also noted to express in the essay that the only other planet that life can exist aside from Earth are Venus and Mars.
New Delhi:

Youth Congress workers on Wednesday staged protest outside BJP leader Vinay Katiyars residence in Delhi over his sexist remarks on Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

When asked about Priyanka being named as a star campaigner by Congress for Uttar Pradesh polls said, Katiyar had 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 had said.

Scoffing at Vinay Katiyar for his sexist remarks against her, Priyanka Gandhi on Wednesday said it exposes the BJPs mindset towards the better half of the countrys population while the Congress sought an apology for insulting women.

ALSO READ | Priyanka Gandhi says Vinay Katiyars remarks expose BJPs mindset towards women; Congress demands apology

Congress hit out at Katiyar, saying it reflects the petty and insulting culture of BJP that commodifies women and accused the BJP of insulting Indias womanhood for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah should apologise.

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!!!, Priyanka Gandhi said in response to Katiyars remarks.

ALSO READ | More beautiful women star campaigners than Priyanka Gandhi, says Vinay Katiyar



Coming down heavily on the firebrand BJP leader, better known for pushing the Hindutva agenda, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said BJP has insulted Indias womanhood and such conduct, behaviour and words prove BJPs mentality.

BJP has insulted Indias womanhood. Such conduct, behaviour and words prove BJPs 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 Indias women by physical features and not by their capacity, capability, strength and sacrifice proves the lowly BJP mentality, he also said.

Youth Congress workers stage protest outside BJP leader Vinay Katiyar's residence in Delhi over his remarks on Priyanka Gandhi Vadra pic.twitter.com/T02DEYAbwn  ANI (@ANI_news) January 25, 2017

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.

Exposes shameful mindset of sm political leaders.Vinay Katiyar shld publically apologise for hs remarks-Robert Vadra on Vinay Katiyar's stmt

(With inputs from PTI)

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New Delhi:

The last few days witnessed a lot of drama unfold in Tamil Nadu's political landscape. With the SC convicting Sasikala in the disproportionate assets case, it was Panneerselvam who came out as a winner of sorts in the slugfest between the two political heavyweights.

Let us give it to him. The hour, at least in Tamil Nadu, belongs to Panneerselvam. The caretaker TN Chief Minister has finally staged the coup no one thought he was capable of. Certainly not Sasikala.

In a party dominated by a sorority of heavyweights (Sasikala Pushpa, Sasikala Chinnamma Natarajan and the redoubtable Amma herself), Panneer has always made the picture of quiet subservience. The genial giant had donned the mantle of Chief Minister twice; each time his mentor had faced some problem or the other.

On the last occasion in 2016, his oath taking was marked by such lachrymal overflow as to earn him the sobriquet Kanneerselvan - Kanneer being tears in Tamil. Both times, Panneerselvam had promptly relinquished the position once his mentor had been cleared off the charges and ready for the role.

That is the kind of seat warming loyalty that had earned him Ammas trust who, in turn, had rewarded him with growth and recognition. Jayalalithaas blessings had paved his way from the backwaters of Bodinayakannur in Theni district to the plush corridors of Assembly in Chennai.

Paneers rise within the ranks of AIADMK mirrors the topsy turvy nature of Tamilnadu politics. In the chaos that followed MGRs demise in 1988, as a war of succession broke out between his widow, Janaki Ramchandran and Jayalalithaa, Panneer had initially aligned his fortunes with the former camp.

In the ensuing election he had supported his future mentors rival. The Janaki challenge however dissipated soon and in a stroke only fate could explain OPS found himself in the good books of the freshly anointed AIADMK supremo.

The media is making much of their purported bonhomie these days, but it is generally forgotten that before they left for the headier brew of politics both Panneer and Modi had started their lives with that elixir of the common masses tea.

With his friend Vijayan he had set up the PV Canteen in his home town. The canteen survives till this day and apparently enjoys an excellent local reputation for serving quality Theni tea. In a twist of fate that can only be turned ironic under the circumstances, his erstwhile partner now competes with him with a canteen of his own. Friends turning into rivals is not the exclusive preserve of the arena of politics.

The event of last few days had revealed a new side of the Thevar leader. In the first week of February, the media went to a tizzy when it was revealed that Panneer was planning to hand over the reins of the state to Chinnamma. When asked by a reporter on TV, OPS responded with his trademark smile of mystery.

The media speculation however turned out to be true when the caretaker CM tendered his resignation with the same air of submission which had come to characterize most of his actions. The Sasikala camp declared that Panneer had requested her to take over as the next CM.

The intervening events are still unclear. But two days later the nation was watching with bated breath as Panneer took to a half an hour long meditation at the Jayalalitha memorial on Marina beach. And followed up with a bombshell. In a monologue that stunned the nation, OPS debunked Sasikalas claim and informed that he had indeed been coerced to resign from his post. And yes, he wanted to fight to retain his position.

This was cowboy stuff. To use a metaphor from bull fighting (the memory of Jallikattu is still fresh); the reluctant matador had finally entered the ring. Only the bull had almost bolted.

His resignation was already with the governor and Sasikala claimed the support of 130 of the 136 MLAs AIADMK had in the assembly. She wasted no time in calling him a betrayer. She also spirited away the precious MLAs to a Mahabalipuram resort.

Help, however arrived from unexpected quarters. Luminaries of the film fraternity, a very influential group in Tamil politics have announced their support for the embattled warrior.

As things stand today, the fracas in Tamil Nadu are showing no signs of quelling. The Supreme Court has found Sasikala guilty on a ten year old disproportionate asset case and has ordered her to serve a jail term. The lady has used her position as General Secretary to expel the challenger from the party. Probably she would place a confidante in the chair till she finishes her time in jail and is ready to assume power.

That would mean she now has to find her own Panneer. As in Alice in Wonderland, the more things change, the more they remain the same. As per the original, one has to wait and see.

Disclaimer: The article presents the personal views of the author on the recent events that engulfed the political landscape of Tamil Nadu

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New Delhi:

Edappadi K Palanisamy took oath as next Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on Thursday. Along with Palanisamy, 30 other ministers have taken oath.A The swearing-in happened a day after AIADMK chief V K Sasikala was sent to jail. The Supreme Court restored her conviction in the disproportionate assets case.

After a long wait, Governor C Vidyasagar Rao on Thursday invited AIADMK legislator party leader and Sasikala's proxy Edappadi K Palanisamy to form the government in Tamil Nadu.

With the swearing-in of Chief Minister in Tamil Nadu, there was an end to the long-drawn battle to throne vacated after former CM JA Jayalithaa's demise.

Meanwhile, outgoing CM O Panneerselvam has said that he will continue the 'fight' untill the Amma's rule is not established. The Opposition party DMK has raised doubts on the fact that CM-designate Palanisamy has been given 15 days for floor test by the Governor.

Here are the updates:

#8:09PM

O Panneerselvam paid tribute at Jayalalithaa's memorial at Marina Beach

#7:36PM

TN Assembly to convene on 18th February 2017: AIADMK

#7:32PM

Congratulate new govt; hope it'll not function under control of VK Sasikala who's in Bengaluru jail; CM should remember his oaths: MK Stalin, DMK

#7:30PM

AIADMK MLAs head back to Kuvathur's Golden Bay resort after Tamil Nadu cabinet and CM E Palanisamy's oath ceremony

Chennai (TN): #AIADMK MLAs head back to Kuvathur's Golden Bay resort after Tamil Nadu cabinet and CM E. Palanisamy's oath ceremony. pic.twitter.com/2Jp9I6wqRj a ANI (@ANI_news) February 16, 2017

#6:40PM

TN CM E Palanisamy and VK Sasikala's nephew TTV Dhinakaran pay tribute at Jayalalithaa's memorial at Marina Beach

Chennai: TN CM E. Palanisamy and #VKSasikala's nephew TTV Dhinakaran pay tribute at #Jayalalithaa's memorial at Marina Beach. pic.twitter.com/NzcAo79tby a ANI (@ANI_news) February 16, 2017

#6:01PM

Clash between newly appointed minister CV Shanmugam and O Panneerselvam supporters

#5:14PM

Governor C.Vidyasagar Rao with the newly sworn-in Tamil Nadu Cabinet

Chennai: Governor C.Vidyasagar Rao with the newly sworn-in Tamil Nadu Cabinet pic.twitter.com/LwrY2U2dym a ANI (@ANI_news) February 16, 2017

#4:54PM

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Cabinet being sworn in

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Cabinet being sworn in pic.twitter.com/f4d45NngvO a ANI (@ANI_news) February 16, 2017

#4:49PM

Tamil Nadu Cabinet being sworn in

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Cabinet being sworn in pic.twitter.com/25hsny0ZVr a ANI (@ANI_news) February 16, 2017

#4:46PM

E Palanisamy takes oath as next Tamil Nadu CM

Chennai: E. Palanisamy takes oath as next Tamil Nadu CM pic.twitter.com/LaRxCgGvsZ a ANI (@ANI_news) February 16, 2017

#4:20PM

Tamil Nadu cabinet and CM-designate E. Palanisamy's oath ceremony to begin at Raj Bhavan, shortly

Chennai: Tamil Nadu cabinet and CM-designate E. Palanisamy's oath ceremony to begin at Raj Bhavan, shortly. pic.twitter.com/sso57mYksH a ANI (@ANI_news) February 16, 2017

#3:35PM

AIADMK leaders reach Raj Bhavan for Tamil Nadu cabinet and CM-designate E Palanisamy's oath ceremony

#3:32PM

31-member Tamil Nadu cabinet to be sworn-in at 4.30 PM: Raj Bhavan

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New Delhi:

The O Panneerselvam faction of the AIADMK on Thursday moved the Election Commission challenging the election of V K Sasikala as general secretary of the party, saying she was elevated in violation of the norms.



A 12-member delegation of the faction led by Rajya Sabha MP V Maitreyan met Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi and other top officials, and submitted a memorandum demanding that it decline approval to her elevation to the top party post.



In its 42-page petition, the delegation claimed Sasikalas election was violative of the party constitution as she was chosen by the general council of the party and not the primary members.



It said the general council was empowered to frame policies and programmes, and not elect someone as general secretary.



The representation also quoted clause 30 (V) of the party constitution to say that a person was required to be a primary member of the party for five years for being eligible for the post.

ALSO READ | AIADMK crisis over: Edappadi Palanisamy sworn-in as 21st CM of Tamil Nadu; 30 ministers also take oath



The Panneersalvam camp said she was expelled from the party on December 19, 2011 and taken back in March the next year, resulting in a break in her primary membership.Panneerselvam, the outgoing Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, expelled from AIADMK by Sasikala, has claimed she lacked necessary powers to sack him.



He also said in Chennai today that his fight against Sasikala and her family will continue till the time J Jayalalithaas regime is restored.

ALSO READ | Will take forward fight against Sasikala, vows Panneerselvam



Let us all together stop the party and government from going into the hands of a single family again. Let us form a peoples government again in sync with the aspirations of people and till then this struggle will continue, he said.

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Beijing:

China should put "more pressure" on India to promote free trade as calls to boycott Chinese goods have hurt the interests of many Chinese firms, official media said on Friday.



China "may need to adjust its speed and rhythm" to avoid overheating its outbound investment to India, state-run Global Times said.



The "Opinion" piece in the daily came as China's direct investment to India in 2016 reached 1.06 billion dollar - six times the volume the year before - and India intensified efforts to make the country an attractive investment destination by easing rules and reforming its tax structures.



India is ramping up efforts to boost domestic industries and cut reliance on imports under 'Make in India' initiative. Also, the article warned the Chinese government about boycott calls in India for China-made products. There were calls on social media to boycott Chinese products following Beijing's opposition to a proposal at the United Nations by India to ban JeM chief Masood Azhar.



The calls were triggered after Beijing obstructed India's membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).



"Calls for boycotting of Chinese goods in India have hurt the interests of many Chinese companies in the country and such risks deserve serious attention. Additionally, Chinese firms have to contend with the risk that no bilateral investment treaty has been signed between the two countries -an agreement that would protect the interest of Chinese businesses," the piece said.

The article asked the Chinese government to watch out its efforts to boost foreign investment "amid concerns that new forms of protectionism are taking root" across the world.

"Relevant countermeasures should be in place if India adopts forced localisation measures as a means to attract foreign investment, because boosting exports is as important as encouraging outbound investment for China.

Beijing should put more pressure on New Delhi to promote free trade while continuing to adopt an open attitude toward overseas investment," it said.

It claimed that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) found India's solar Domestic Content Requirement policy was inconsistent with its treaty obligations under the global trading regime.

The piece asked Chinese investors to be "more patient" in acquainting themselves with the local market and regulations on foreign investment.

"At the least, more time is needed for some companies to adapt to the local business culture to better handle labour rights issues which are one of the most intractable challenges they face," it said.

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Mumbai:

Actress Kangana Ranaut says she is currently focusing on her carrier but when she will plan to get married she will never hide it from the world.

Kangana will be next seen in Vishal Bhardwajs Rangoon alongside Shahid Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan.

I just want to focus on promoting Rangoon right now. There will be a time for this (marriage) and I will not shy away from marriage. I will not hide anything (referring to being in a relationship) as I am not like that, the 29-year-old actress told.

Recently, in an interview the Tanu Weds Manu actress said that she is in a relationship and wants to get married this year.

Coming from a small town of Himachal Pradesh, Kangana has made it big in Bollywood but her personal life has been in limelight thanks to her ugly spat with Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan ended with both the actors slapping legal notices at each other.

While Hrithik denies being in a relationship with Kangana, the actress maintains that they were romantically involved.

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Mumbai:

Vishal Bhardwaj has given him two of his career-defining films and Shahid Kapoor, who has re-teamed with the director for the third time in 'Rangoon', says they have developed a dynamic relationship over the years.

Bharadwaj's films 'Kaminey' and 'Haider' brought Shahid, 35, critical and commercial success and the actor says he has a lot of respect for the director and feels he will never be able to say no to him.

"Vishal sir always bounces off ideas to me and then we discuss. He narrates the script, dialogues and talks about music. So it's like a process of sharing and it's like 'what do you think?' We have a candid relationship," Shahid said.

"It will really take a lot for me to not do a film with him. I would be surprised if he comes to me with something and I would say no to him for a film. I doubt that will happen."

Shahid says Bhardwaj had talked about 'Rangoon' while they were working on 'Haider', the director's last movie in his Shakespearean trilogy.

"When we were doing 'Haider', he had told me about this film. He wanted me to do it and I was happy that he considered me again. Because a filmmaker of his calibre can get bored of an actor as he has the best (actors) at his disposal. So when he comes back to me I feel very happy and privileged."

'Rangoon', a period war romance, will see Shahid team up with Kangana Ranaut and Saif Ali Khan, another actor who got a major career boost with Bhardwaj's 'Omkara'.

When asked about his experience of working with Saif and Kangana, Shahid says, "When you work on a film you become very good friends with some actors and with some it's just a professional thing. With Saif it was very relaxing and easy and with Kangana it was strictly professional."

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New Delhi:

Rana Daggubatti is on his toes these days as he is gearing up for the first release of the year 'The Ghazi Attack', which is releasing on February 17.

The movie has been the talk of the town given that it revolves around 1971 Indo-Pak war and the mysterious sinking of Pakistan's submarine Ghazi.

'The Ghazi Attack' is an underwater tale of the courage and patriotism of the men aboard the Indian Submarine S-21 who destroyed the Pakistani submarine, PNS Ghazi, when it ventured into Indian waters to destroy the INS Vikrant.

A Sankalp Reddy directorial, the movie featured a stunning ensemble of cast, starring Rana, Taapsee Pannu, KK Menon and Om Puri in pivotal roles.

So as 'The Ghazi Attack' is all set to hit the theatres, we bring you the real-life incident that is the inspiration behind this much-touted movie:

1. Originally called as USS Diablo (SS-479), 'PNS Ghazi' was leased from the United States by the Pakistani Navy in 1963. The submarine was earlier serving the US Navy from 1945 to 1963.

2. PNS Ghazi had a major role in the Indo-Pakistani war theatre of 1965 and was also stalking INS Vikrant, then India's only aircraft carrier. However, it wasn't able to locate it during the entire war.

3. In 1971, PNS Ghazi was stationed at Karachi coast. However, when India transferred INS Vikrant to Visakhapatnam, Pakistan was forced to completely change their submarine operations as East Pakistan (today, Bangladesh) coast was in no position to defend itself against strong Indian Navy forces.

4. While the Pak government was pressurising the Pakistani Navy to deploy the ageing, often-malfunctioning Ghazi to defend East Pakistan, the naval force was hesitant to do so fearing that it would endanger their precious submarine.

5. However, the Pakistani Navy had no options to deploy PNS Ghazi when the war was inevitable. The submarine secretly sailed from the Arabian Sea to Bay of Bengal to locate INS Vikrant.

6. But the Indian army was well prepared in advance. First, they decided to send off Vikrant to a point that was far enough from the Eastern fleet for the Pakistani ships to effectively combat. Second, sufficient steps were taken to make Pakistani authorities falsely believe that Vikrant was headed to the Madras coast. The submarine INS Rajput was deployed by the Indian side to destroy Ghazi.

7. PNS Ghazi mysteriously sank on December 4, 1971. While India claims that INS Rajput had loose two depth charges off the Visakhapatnam coast on December 3, whose explosions in turn led to the sinking of PNS Ghazi, Pakistan refuted the Indian version of the incident.

8. On December 4, the Ghazi was no more, having sunk mysteriously with 92 men on board on the Visakhapatnam coast.

Well, the mystery surrounding the sinking of PNS Ghazi still continues and the Sankalp Reddy has made an attempt to concocted the war tale on the big screen.







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Varanasi:

A man, who was declared dead in revenue records allegedly on the basis of forged documents presented by his cousins to grab land in his village, has filed his nomination for UP polls to prove he is alive and also with an aim to help all who are dead like me.



Santosh Murat Singh, the resident of Chitauni village in Chaubeypur police station area of Varanasi, is fighting a legal battle to prove he is officially alive and get his name back on his 12.5 acres of ancestral land, which he lost to his cousins.



He claims he lost the land after his cousins got their names enrolled on the property on the basis of forged documents.



Santosh wishes to be the Chief Minister for a day so that he could help all those who are declared dead on land and revenue records on the basis of forged papers and make them officially alive.



He wants to help them get their land back.



He filed his nomination papers from the Shivpur assembly seat in Varanasi on Wednesday.



Talking to media persons after filing his nomination papers, he said he filed his nomination papers to prove that he is still alive.



He claimed there are nearly 50,000 people in the state who have been declared dead on records but are alive.



He said he is unsure if his papers would be accepted after the scrutiny in the absence of relevant documents, but he still says my motive of proving would be fulfilled.



Earlier also in order to prove that he is alive he had once filed his nominations for the presidential elections, which was rejected by authorities.



Santosh says that upto year 2000, he was living in his village.



It is in that year that actor Nana Patekar came for a shooting in his village and he went to Mumbai with him and even worked as a cook in his house, he claimed.



When after marrying a Dalit girl from Maharashtra, I returned to my village, the village community refused to accept me saying I had married a girl from a lower caste. I returned to Mumbai again, he said.



Later in year 2003, it came to light that my cousins grabbed my 12.5 acres of land in my native village and I was declared officially dead in land and revenue records, he said, adding his parents passed away during his childhood.

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New Delhi:

Wife of former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Kalikho Pul, who committed suicide last year, demanded a CBI probe into his death on Friday.



"It is essential that an FIR be registered on the basis of the allegations contained in the suicide note and the case be investigated by the CBI since the primary allegations are of corruption of judges at the highest level," Dangwimsai Pul said in her appeal to the Chief Justice of India, a copy of which she made public at a press conference in Delhi.



She alleged that her family is getting threats from the Arunachal Pradesh government and she was advised not to hold the press conference in which she made the late chief minister's suicide note public.



"Ever since the (suicide) note surfaced in the media, my family including myself, my children and relatives have been subjected to various threats from different quarters," she claimed.



Pul had committed suicide on August 9 last year and his body was found hanging in the official residence of the chief minister, which he was yet to vacate.



After months of intense political developments, Pul had taken over the reins of Arunachal Pradesh on February 19, 2016 for a brief period but had to relinquish the job following a Supreme Court order in July.



"We want a free and fair probe in this case (into his death) and action according to law against those who are guilty of corruption," Dangwimsai said.

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Jammu:

An Army jawan has committed suicide by shooting himself with his service rifle in Jammu and Kashmirs Samba district prompting the Army to order a Court of Inquiry (CoI).

Havildar Krishen Singh shot himself with his INSAS rifle at an army unit in Maheshwar area in Samba district on Thursday morning and died, army officials said.

Police have registered a case and post-mortem has been conducted, they said. Singh was from Rajasthan and had joined the army in 1997. Army has ordered a court of inquiry (CoI) into the suicide, they said.

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Srinagar:

Youths waving Pakistani flags clashed with security forces and pelted stones after Friday prayers at several places in old Srinagar city.

Young boys with their faces covered were carrying green and white Pakistani flags as several dozen youths raised slogans after Friday prayers ended at Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta area of the city, a police official said.

He said the youths also hurled stones at security personnel who used tear smoke shells and batons to chase away the miscreants.

The clashes were going on till last reports came in but there were no reports of any casualties so far, the official said. Stone-pelting incidents were also reported from several other places in north Kashmir and south Kashmir, he added.

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New Delhi:

BJP said on none of the accused arrested in Madhya Pradesh for allegedly being part of a Pakistan-run espionage racket were ever its members.



With Congress releasing photographs of some accused in the company of BJP leaders, Union minister Jitendra Singh said such pictures do not have an evidentiary value and that photographs showing Congress leaders with BJP's will not make them its members.



"The state unit has already issued a clarification. None of the accused has even been BJP's office-bearers. Such photographs have no evidence in public life," he told a press conference.



Eleven people were arrested from different places of Madhya Pradesh on February 9 for being part of an alleged espionage racket being run from Pakistan to collect strategic information on important Indian establishments.



Singh declined to comment on demand for a CBI probe into the suspected suicide of former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Kalikho Pul, saying the state government would take a call.



BJP is in power in the north eastern state. The deceased's wife made the demand here today as she made public his suicide note in which he had levelled allegations against several people.

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Chennai:

Despite a line has been drawn between the two factions, the O Panneerselvam camp on Friday "expelled" to AIADMK General Secretary V K Sasikala and her two relatives from the party for working against party principal ideals".

In a released statement, E Madusudanan, who was expelled as Presidium Chairman by Sasikala, said she did not keep her promise to the late Jayalalithaa that she will never enter into politics, and she had no inclination to be a part of the party or government. He asked party activists not to have any association with Sasikala.

The development came a day after Sasikala loyalist Edappadi K Palaniswami was sworn in as Chief Minister and he will seek a trust vote tomorrow in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

Here are the highlights:

#3.36 PM

Minister KA Sengottayan appointed as floor leader of Tamil Nadu assembly: AIADMK- ANI

#2:48 PM

O Panneerselvam team members meet Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal; urge him to have secret ballot for confidence vote.

#2:45 PM

Whatever happens if it's through a democratic process, everybody will be happy: MLA R Nataraj, AIADMK on TN Assembly floor test



#1:10 PM

DMK has made it very clear that we'll not be against/for it; we'll not be participating: Kanimozhi, DMK on Assembly floor test pic.twitter.com/wKyX04z5RG  ANI (@ANI_news) February 17, 2017

#1:00 PM

E Madhusudanan also removes #VKSasikala's nephew TTV Dinakaran & S Venkatesh from their respective party posts



#1:00 PM

AIADMK Presidium Chairman E Madhusudanan removes VK Sasikala from primary membership of the party

#12:00 PM

NGO Satta Panchayat Iyakkam withdraws application from SC seeking a stay on the appointment of Sasikala as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu

"V K Sasikala is being removed from the party's primary membership for going against the party principles and ideals, and having violated her promise to Amma (Jayalalithaa), besides facing criminal cases. She has brought disrepute to the party," he said in a statement.

Madusudanan, who had joined the Pannneerselvam camp last week, had been replaced with K A Sengottaiyan as the Presidium Chairman by Sasikala, a move rejected by the Panneerselvam camp.

He was also removed from the party's primary membership but insisted Sasikala had no authority to do so. Sasikala, serving a jail term in connection with the Rs 66 crore disproportionate assets case in Bengaluru, had also removed former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam from the party's primary membership in the wake of his revolt against her. Madusudanan also announced the "expulsion" of AIADMK Deputy General Secretary T T V Dinakaran and S Venkatesh, both relatives of Sasikala, from the party.

He said Jayalalithaa had earlier (in 2011) expelled them from the party for "betraying" her. "Their re-induction, done without any authority, is being cancelled," he said. The two were allowed to join AIADMK on Wednesday by Sasikala, after six years of expulsion by her predecessor Jayalalithaa.

Sasikala had announced that they were being allowed to join after they expressed regret for their acts in person and through letter and requested that they be allowed to join the AIADMK again. In an intra-party power struggle, Panneerselvam had revolted against Sasikala on February 7, alleging he was forced to step down to make way for her elevation as Chief Minister.

She had been elected the AIADMK Legislature Party leader on February 5 to enable her become chief minister. But the Governor, Ch Vidyasagar Rao, had apparently chosen to await the outcome of the Supreme Court verdict in the disproportionate assets case.

Also Read: Nearly 200 AIADMK advocates support Panneerselvam

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Jaipur:

The special branch of Rajasthan police has placed under arrest the suspected Pak spy Haji Khan who was picked up from Jaisalmer on Sunday. The accused allegedly passed on strategic information to ISI from Jaisalmer and border area in the state in lieu of money, officials said.

During initial interrogation, he revealed that his relatives live in Pakistan and he has visited the neighbouring country several times, DIG CID Raghvendra Suhasa said.

He is being further interrogated.

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Lucknow:

Ruling Samajwadi Party is facing a tough battle as it tries to retain the seven Assembly seats it had won last time out of nine in Uttar Pradesh capital, while BJP and BSP queer the pitch.

The two other seats were shared by BJP and Congress. The SP candidates include Mulayam Singh Yadavs daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav and three ministers, one of whom was recently sacked.



BJP has preferred to field turncoats on two seats - Lucknow Central and Lucknow Cantt. Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who had won on Congress ticket last time, has been fielded by BJP from Cantt seat against Aparna.



BSP has fielded Yogesh Dixit, who is trying to woo voters by promising good governance by party supremo Mayawati.

ALSO READ | UP minister Vijay Kumar Mishra joins BSP, terms SP as 'anti-Brahmin'



Lucknow Central is also witnessing a keen contest, where sitting SP MLA and cabinet minister Ravidas Mehrotra is facing an uphill task with Congress candidate Maroof Khan refusing to withdraw from the field despite a tie-up between the two parties.



BJP has given ticket to former MP Brijesh Pathak, a fromer Lucknow University student union president, who switched from BSP.



BSP has given ticket to Rajiv Srivastava here. An interesting contest is on in Sarojini Nagar seat, where BJPs woman face and state women wing chief Swati Singh is in fray. BJP has never won the seat.

However, this time the situation for SP is difficult with its MLA Sharda Prasad Shukla contesting on RLD ticket after being spurned by the party.

UP polls: Congress rejects Modi's charge of murder bid on Mulayam Singh Yadav



SP has given ticket to Anurag Yadav, cousin of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, BSP has fielded Shiv Shankar Singh alias Shankari, while BJP rebel Rudra Daman Singh alias Babloo is also in the fray on Shiv Sena ticket.



Babloo was runners up on the seat in 2012 polls and secured 41,333 votes, much more than BJP candidate Virendra Tiwari, who got only 29,339 votes and finished third.

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Meerut:

A 60-year-old man hired for the security of EVMs in a mill in Meerut after the Assembly elections was found dead in Partapur area, police said on Friday.

Kishanlal, who owns two langurs, was hired to prevent monkeys from damaging the Electronic Voting Machines and other poll-related equipment kept in a strong room in a spinning mill after the February 11 Assembly elections in Meerut, they said.

Kishanlal went missing from the mill on Thursday. His naked body was, later, recovered from a gutter inside the mill, police said.

The deceaseds family has filed a police complaint alleging that he was murdered. However, the possibility has been ruled out after initial investigation, they added.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Vineet Agarwal Sharda accused the administration of negligence and demanded a probe by the district magistrate along with Rs 50 lakh compensation for Kishanlals family.

He also said that he will write to the Election Commission regarding the death.

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Fatehpur:

BSP supremo Mayawati on Friday addressed a rally of reportedy over 2.5 lakhs people in Uttar Pradeshs Fatehpur district. Calling it a mere drama, she launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who on Thursday called himself an 'adopted son of Uttar Pradesh'.

Here are the Highlights:

#Our party doesn't agree with the interference in Triple Talaq and Uniform Civil Code



#After seeing the enthusiasm of this huge crowd I am confident that BSP will form government in UP



#You will vote for BSP and not BJP and SP for the good of Uttar Pradesh



#BJP has not presented its CM face yet



#Corruption and gundaraj prevails in UP and the law and order condition is worse



#The way Mulayam Yadav has insulted his brother Shivpal Yadav everywhere, Shivpal & his team will surely harm Akhilesh and his team: Mayawati

#People won't bless BJP, no matter how much drama PM Modi does by calling himself an adopted son of UP: Mayawati in Fatehpur. #uppolls

#Ppl are angry with PM due to his wrong policies, in such situation BJP have not yet dared to project a CM face in UP: Mayawati in Fatehpur

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New Delhi:

Just minutes after Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi addressed an election rally at RaeBareli in Uttar Pradesh on Friday, Priyanka Gandhi also addressed people ahead of UP Elections. All the contesting parties are upping the ante against each other through road shows and rallies.

Rahul Gandhi attacked PM Modi asking for just three things- farmer's loan waive of, electricity bill partly diminished and increase the support price.

Here are the Live updates:

#Every youngster of Uttar Pradesh can become a leader and develop the state.

#WATCH: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra says, "PM Modi claimed that UP has adopted him, but does UP need to adopt an outsider for development?" pic.twitter.com/ukoyPUPCWx  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 17, 2017

#UP doesn't need adopted sons, it has its own.

#UP doesnt require an outside leader, says Priyanka Gandhi

#4:10 PM: Cash ban has hit hard farmers, shopkeepers and small-scale businessmen.

#Mallya who sells liquor was granted crores loan but what about farmers who make the food?

#With Elections, Modiji starts remembering farmers.

#Modi ji seems very tired. He should stay in Delhi. We can govern UP. In 2019, we'll ask him to leave Delhi as well, so he can relax

#Modi ji didn't even fulfill his promises that he made to Varanasi. What about Bhojpuri film city and Clean Ganga?

#Modi ji has promised farmers of UP, didn't UPA had waived off the farmer's loan?

#3:45 PM: PM has abandoned the poor, says Rahul Gandhi at an election rally in Raebareli

ALSO READ | Smriti Irani takes a jibe at Priyanka Gandhi: She can't face people's questions

Congress President Sonia Gandhi represents Rae Bareli in the Lok Sabha, while Rahul is MP from neighboring Amethi. Sonia has stayed away from the l campaign so far. The sources said she might address rallies in the constituency on February 18.

Assembly constituencies under Amethi and Rae Bareli go to polls in the 4th and 5th phase of polling in the state on February 23 and 27. Alliance partners Congress and Samajwadi Party are fighting with each other on several Assembly seats where both parties have fielded their candidates.

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New Delhi:

The issues that working women face and the impact of women at workplaces will be the main topics at the Women Writers' Festival in New Delhi, scheduled to begin on February 24.



The festival will see eminent women writers including Urvashi Butalia, Sonia Golani, Amrita Tripathi, discussing issues like lack of successful women writers in the country and balancing professional spaces with motherhood among others.



The two-day event that will be held at Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts and Communication in New Delhi, will also focus on 'men of feminism and if they believe the glass ceiling has been shattered'.



Professional workshops, panel discussions and break-out sessions on topics ranging from personal finance to social networking, will also be organised.



Emphasising the need to recognise women in other writing forms beyond literature, Shaili Chopra of SheThePeople.Tv said, "We need to celebrate writing across genres, way beyond literature. We have women ahead in screen writing, short stories, business and entrepreneurship, fiction, environment, some fantastic columnists and more."



"As part our effort to do more with writers across India, this is a first of its kind festival that promises to ignite rising minds," Chopra said.



Writers like Monika Halan, Bahar Dutt, Aparna Jain, Veenu Venugopal, Mala Bhargava, Yashodhara Lal, Nishita Jha, Bee Rowlatt, Shaili Chopra, Shreyasi Singh will also attend the festival.
New Delhi:

NASA is planning to create first-ever space technology research institute that will focus on developing technologies critical to extending human presence deeper into solar system.

The new Space Technology Research Institute (STRIs) created under project will help bring together researchers from various disciplines and organisations to collaborate on the advancement of cutting-edge technologies in bio-manufacturing and space infrastructure, with the goal of creating and maximising Earth-independent, self-sustaining exploration mission capabilities.

NASA is establishing STRIs to research and exploit cutting-edge advances in technology with the potential for revolutionary impact on future aerospace capabilities, said Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator for NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington.

These university-led, multi-disciplinary research programmes promote the synthesis of science, engineering and other disciplines to achieve specific research objectives with credible expected outcomes within five years.

At the same time, these institutes will expand the US talent base in areas of research and development with broader applications beyond aerospace, said Jurczyk.

Each of the STRI will receive up to USD 15 million over five-year period of performance.

The names of the selected institutes are: Centre for the Utilisation of Biological Engineering in Space (CUBES) and Institute for Ultra-Strong Composites by Computational Design (US-COMP).

NASA has been shifting its focus from low-Earth orbit to deep space missions for which the agency plans to invest in the development of technologies that will allow long-duration mission crews to manufacture the products they need, rather than relying on the current practice of resupply missions from Earth.

For such deep space missions, NASA would require transformative materials for the manufacturing of next-generation transit vehicles. Though these materials need to be lighter and stronger than those currently used in even the most advanced systems.

With PTI Inputs

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Bonn:

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson may face tough questions from global peers seeking clarity about the United states position on the Syria conflict ahead of crunch UN peace talks in Geneva.

On the sidelines of a G20 gathering in Germany, Tillerson will join a group of countries supporting the Syrian opposition for talks pushing a political solution to the nearly six-year war.

It will be the first meeting of the so-called "like-minded" nations -- made up of around a dozen Western and Arab countries as well as Turkey -- since US President Donald Trump took office.

Tillerson, on his first diplomatic trip abroad, will likely face pressure to spell out where Trump stands on the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. "It will be an opportunity to gauge the American position on the political aspect of the Syrian issue," a French diplomatic source told AFP.

The meeting comes ahead of a new round of United Nations-led talks in Geneva on February 23 involving Syrian regime and rebel representatives. Under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, Washington insisted Assad had to go, putting it at odds with Moscow which backs the Syrian leader.

Trump has said he is open to closer cooperation with Moscow on Syria, particularly in the fight against the Islamic State jihadist group, leaving the Assad question open. With Russia's sway in the conflict growing, Moscow has seized the initiative by hosting separate peace talks in Kazakhstan with key NATO ally Turkey, brokering a fragile truce in late December between the warring parties in Syria but making little other progress.

"It's essential to know what the US administration has in mind," a European diplomat said ahead of Friday's talks in the Rhine river city of Bonn. "Our goal is to make sure to bring the (peace) process back under the UN control," the source added. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who is hosting the G20 meeting, said he wanted the "like-minded" countries to speak as one.

"What we need is unity so we can achieve the resumption of negotiations in Geneva between the different interest groups and parties to the Syrian conflict." Tillerson, who has kept a low profile so far, yesterday reassured allies with a cautious approach to Russia, signalling that there would be no radical shift despite Trump's pledges to seek a softer line on Moscow.

Speaking after his first sitdown with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Tillerson said the US sought cooperation with Moscow only if it "will benefit the American people".

Also Read | Syria: UN warns of possible catastrophe in 4 towns

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Beijing:

Reacting to Indias demand, China on Friday clarified that it needs "solid evidence" against JeM chief Masood Azhar to ban the terrorist by the United Nations.

Foreign secretary S Jaishankar and China's executive vice-foreign minister Zhang Yesui will discuss strategic issues in Beijing on February 22, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told a media briefing.

The two nations will have an in-depth exchange of views on the international situation and other regional and global issues of mutual interest in the strategic dialogue which is an important communication mechanism between India and China, he said.

Commenting on reports of "friction points" in the bilateral relationship, including the Masood Azhar issue and India's admission into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Geng said "differences are only natural".

"Through all kinds of conversation and exchanges, including (the) upcoming Strategic Dialogue, (the) two sides can step up communication to narrow differences and reach new consensus on achieving cooperation," he said.

On the Masood Azhar issue, over which China has put a technical hold on the recent US move to list the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief as a terrorist in the 1267 committee of the UN Security Council, Geng said China will support the move if there is solid evidence.

"China upholds principles of objectivity, impartiality and professionalism and takes part in relevant discussions. Whether last year's application by India or this year's by (the) relevant country, our position is consistent," Geng said.

"Our criteria is only one, we need solid evidence. If there is solid evidence the application can be approved. If there is no solid evidence there is hardly consensus," he said.

Stating that China has reiterated its stand several times, Geng said, "On (the) 1267 committee, the latest development is relevant countries have made another application with the committee. Relevant members of (the) committee are in consultation and relevant parties have failed to reach consensus so far."

China last year put a technical hold twice on India's application to get Masood Azhar banned by the UN.

This year, the US moved the proposal in the UNSC to designate Masood Azhar, the mastermind of the Pathankot terror attack, as a terrorist. China once again has put a technical hold on the move.

On India's entry into the NSG, he said, "We have said many times this is a multilateral issue".

"We stick to two-step approach namely, first NSG members need to arrive at a set of principles for the entry of non-NPT state parties into NSG and then move forward discussions of specific cases," Geng said.

Also Read: India formally shows protest against China for blocking ban on JeM Chief Masood Azhar

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Karachi:

Angry protesters took to the streets against the Pakistan government's failure to provide security at a famed Sufi shrine in the Sindh province where a suicide bombing claimed at least 80 lives.

Thursday's attack by Islamic State at Sufi Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan town, some 200 kms northeast of Karachi, is one of the deadliest in the country.



A spokesperson of the Sindh health department said 67 bodies have been identified and handed over to their families.



"The death toll from the suicide attack stands at 80, including 20 children. Over 200 people who were inside the shrine were wounded and are being treated at hospitals in Sehwan, Nawabshah, Moro and Jamshoro," he said.



Faisal Edhi of Edhi foundation, a non-profit social welfare group, rushed to Sehwan for the rescue operations. He feared that the death toll could rise as some of the injured were still in critical condition.



Angry people took to the streets in Sehwan town to protest against the terrorist attack and failure of the government to provide proper security at the shrine where thousands of devotees gather every Thursday.



The mobs damaged vehicles and set a police van on fire and burnt tyres to block roads.



"There is only one scanner at the shrine for thousands of devotees who come to the shrine and even it was not working properly," a protester, who lost his brother and friends in the blast, told a television channel.



Relatives of the injured people complained about improper medical care facilities at the civil hospitals in Sehwan and Nawabshah.



Initial investigations said that there was no proper electricity at the shrine when the attack took place.



"Investigations point to the fact that the attacker came dressed in a Burqa and entered the shrine from the golden gate amidst the heavy crowd of devotees," DIG Hyderabad range Manzoor Rind said.



Hyderabad is the largest city closest to the town of Sehwan where the shrine was attacked. Rind said the CCTV footage at the shrine was being examined to identify the attacker.

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Pakistan:

Pakistan Afghanistan border has been closed with immediate effect due to security reasons, informed Inter Public Relations on Friday. The call for closure was taken after a bomb blast ripped through a Shia shrine in interior Singh leaving over 70 dead.

A suicide bomber attacked the crowded Sufi Shrine of Lal ShahBaz Qalander in Sehwan injuring over 250 persons.

Also Read | Pakistan: At least 100 dead, scores injured in suicide attack at Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine, IS claims responsibility

Pakistan Major General Asif Ghafoor tweeted the closure call, Pakistan-Afghanistan Border closed till further orders due to security reaons. He was tweeted, "Afghan Embassy officials called in GHQ. Given list of 76 Ts hiding in Afg. Asked to take immediate action / be handed over to Pakistan."

Pakistan-Afghanistan Border closed with immediate effects till further orders due to security reasons.

 Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (@OfficialDGISPR) February 16, 2017









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Islamabad:

In an unusual move, Pakistan Army handed over on Friday a list of 76 "most wanted" terrorists to Afghan embassy officials and demanded "immediate action" against them, amidst a spurt in terror attacks in the country.



Pakistan's Prime Minister's adviser on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz also telephoned Afghan national security adviser (NSA) Hanif Atmar and urged him to take action against militants involved in terrorism inside Pakistan.



Aziz called the Afghan NSA after an unnamed official from the Afghan embassy was summoned to military headquarters in Rawalpindi and handed down a list of 76 "most wanted" terrorists for "immediate action" or extradition to Pakistan.



The Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement that Aziz underlined that the government and the people of Pakistan were in a state of deep anguish and pain at the recent terrorist incidents in various parts of Pakistan resulting into loss of precious human lives.

Read: Lal ShahBaz Qalander shrine blast | Security concerns trigger closure of Pak-Afghan border sine die



He conveyed to the Afghan NSA that terrorist group Jamat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) was behind these barbaric acts of terrorism in Pakistan.



Director general, Inter-Services Public Relations, Major General Asif Ghafoor said that the Afghan official was summoned to lodge protest against the use of Afghan soil by terrorists to carry out attacks in Pakistan, he said.



Afghanistan was asked to either take "immediate action" against the named terrorists or hand them over to Pakistan, he said.



The move comes two days after a senior Afghan diplomat was summoned to the Foreign Office in Islamabad to receive protest over the use of territory of his country for launching terrorist attacks in Pakistan, Dawn newspaper reported.

Read | Pakistan Sufi shrine bombing angers people, protests erupt in Sindh province



The Afghan diplomat was given a demarche containing details of the recent terrorist attacks and supporting information.



Pakistan army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa had on Thursday vowed to avenge "every drop of blood" spilled by terrorists in Pakistan.



"Recent terrorist acts are being executed on directions from hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan. We shall defend and respond," he had said.



Pakistan has been hit by a series of terrorist attacks since Afghanistan-based JuA announced its 'Operation Ghazi'.



The current wave of terrorism sweeping the country took a turn for the worse on Thursday when a suspected woman suicide attacker set off explosives at the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sindh province, leaving at least 80 devotees dead and over 200 injured.



Pakistan closed its border with Afghanistan after the shrine attack due to security concerns.

Read | 24 millitants killed in Pakistan security crackdown after deadly shrine blast



On February 13, a suicide bomber had struck a protest in Lahore, killing 13 and injuring 85. The attack had happened right outside the gates of Punjab's Provincial assembly.



The attack was claimed by JuA. On the same day, two personnel of Balochistan's bomb disposal squad were killed as they attempted to defuse an explosive device planted under a bridge in Quetta, the provincial capital.

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New Delhi:

Islamic State (IS) suicide bomber struck a crowded and historic Sufi Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine on , killing almost 100 people including women and children. The incident took place during Dhamal (Sufi ritual) when hundreds of devotees were present inside the premises of mausoleum of the saint.



A large number of devotees, from across the country, visits the shrine on Thursday. This is the shrine where the Sufi Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar was buried.



Sufi Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar is revered across South Asia, including India and Pakistan. He was a traveller, profound scholar of religions and was fluent in Pashto, Persian, Turkish, Arabic, Sindhi and Sanskrit. He visited almost all the Muslim world and settled in Sehwan where he was eventually buried.

Also Read: Pakistan: At least 100 dead, scores injured in suicide attack at Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine, IS claims responsibility



After the death of Sufi Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, Hindus within Sindh started identifying Lal Shahbaz Qalandar or as Jhulelal.



This Sufi pilgrimage center, Sufi Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine was built in 1356 and is also known as 'Sehwan da Sakhi Shahbaz Qalandar' which has also been mentioned in the popular qawwali Dama Dam Mastt Qalandar which has been penned by Amir Khusro and after a period of time both Hindu and Muslim in Sindh started to referrer him as Jhulelal.



The shrine is decorated with Sindhi 'kashi-tiles', mirror-work and with a gold-plated door donated by the Shah of Iran.



The inner sanctum of the shrine is about 100 square yards with a silver-canopied grave in the middle, also there is a set copies of Quran for devotees to read.



A brutal terrorist attack on a such a shrine leaves an impact beyond loss of life, it is a loss of cultural heritage and shared the history of Pakistan, as well as India.

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Calexit leader discovered to have ties to Russia communists attempting to take California away from the USA

Most conservatives would agree that California more closely resembles an entirely different planet than simply Americas western-most state. From the oddballs in Hollywood, to regulating cow farts, to spending $25,000 per month to fight Donald Trump, California is definitely out there. Thats not to say that there arent some really great things about the state, but in terms of its political and cultural environment, California is screwed up.

In the wake of Donald Trumps election, more and more Californians are growing fond of the idea of seceding from the union; that is to say, make their state a country of their own. The Yes California campaign, dubbed Calexit by supporters and those that are involved, is a movement to do just that.

The leader of the Calexit movement is a man named Louis Marinelli, an American who currently resides in Russia. Im in Russia for a number of reasons, Marinelli told ABC7 News in a recent interview. I have personal reasons. I want to be here and I have political goals to achieve while Im here, one of which is to build a bridge between California and Russia. He went on to say that by personal reasons, he meant reasons concerning his marriage.

In 2016, Marinelli promoted the idea of Californias secession at a conference in Moscow, a meeting that has raised serious concerns about just how involved Russia is in the Calexit movement. Strangely enough, the Moscow conference was partially funded by a charity with direct ties to Vladimir Putin. The Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia is also providing office space for free, which Marinelli describes as a California embassy in Moscow.

Leon Panetta, a former United States Secretary of Defense, explained why Californians should be concerned about Russias involvement in the movement. If you can weaken the leadership of the United States in the world, Russia can be able to get away with a lot more of what they want to do. He added that Russia has been known for years to use political chaos and civil unrest as a weapon.

But while Calexit is gaining a lot of support, there are still several steps that must be taken until California can officially secede from the nation. The states Constitution would first need to be changed to allow California to begin the process. Subsequently, an immediate special election would be held asking citizens whether or not they support the idea of becoming their own country. Once that passes, the measure would still need to be approved by congress and two-thirds of the state legislatures. Currently, 33% of Californians support the idea of secession, according to a Reuters poll.

Marinelli explained that withdrawing California from the United States would make it possible to establish the kind of liberal and progressive republic that we want in California, but often cant have because of congress, because of the White House, because of the Supreme Court.

Whats good for Russia and one third of Californians, though, isnt necessarily good for our country as a whole. Whether they want to accept it or not, the people of California are intertwined with the rest of the country, politically, economically and culturally, which would make separation difficult and even unnatural. Furthermore, while we respect the California National Guard, it is impractical to believe that they would be as effective at defending the Californians as the United States military would. After all, one of the few duties of the federal government is to provide for the common defense and promote the general welfare. While California can legally take the steps necessary for secession, the negative impacts it would have on the union as a whole is undeniable.

Sources:

ABC7news.com

ReturnToOrder.org

Submit a correction >>
Former NSA official tweets out Trump will die in jail in ongoing war with deep state intelligence community

The battle between anti-Trump careerists within the U.S. intelligence community and the commander-in-chief is getting more serious by the day.

On Wednesday, in the aftermath of the resignation of Trumps national security advisor, Michael Flynn  thought to be the first of many Trump national security team casualties to come  former NSA analyst and Naval War College professor John Schindler was asked by a follower, What do you think is going on inside NatSec right now after Trumps intelligence tweet this morning?

The follower was referring to a tweet in which Trump noted, correctly, that sensitive, classified information was being illegally leaked to the media. (RELATED: See how the New York Times and other media are committing treason at NewsTarget.com)

Schindler, who also writes regularly for the New York Observer online  which is owned by Jared Kushner, President Trumps son-in-law  responded:

Now we go nuclear. IC war going to new levels. Just got an EM fm senior IC friend, it began: He will die in jail.

No question that Schindler, known to be a bomb-thrower on social media, is siding with his contacts inside the intelligence community, because he also tweeted out, US intelligence is not the problem here. The Presidents collusion with Russian intelligence is. Many details, but the essence is simple.

He then forecasted that a Trump supporter, upset that the president was jailed, would attempt to infiltrate an intelligence center with a weapon, only to be gunned down:

Most likely outcome is 15 rounds through the idiots #MAGA hat, but any blood shed will be on Trumps tiny hands.

Trump has clearly angered the intelligence community, elements of which are going all-in to discredit him, delegitimize him, hamper his agenda and stop him from implementing any real reforms to business as usual, which the very co-opted and compromised Hillary Clinton would have adopted had she won in November.

The tension really ramped up following an appearance by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on MSNBC, in which he told host Rachel Maddow it was really dumb of the president to anger the intelligence community, because they have six ways from Sunday of getting back at you (I doubt Schumer would have been so tolerant of the IC if it had taken similar action to delegitimize Barack Obama).

But this kind of blatant, over-the-top disrespect for the president of the United States, coming from careerist intelligence and foreign policy bureaucrats, is unprecedented in the modern era. There were plenty of errors made by the Obama administration  but apparently most of the careerists agreed with Obamas foreign policy, perhaps because he didnt fight the intel establishment. (RELATED: Did A Major U.S. Military Command Manipulate Intelligence To Match Obama Administrations Narrative On ISIS?)

Trump came into office promising to drain the swamp, and it has become obvious the intelligence community was on the list. Two things back up that assertion: 1) Flynn, appointed by Obama, was known as a reformer at the Defense Intelligence Agency, which he ran for two years. He was forced out. And 2) Trump has questioned the necessity of the Iraq war and, after the campaign, questioned the intelligence communitys capabilities, calling it out for getting it wrong about Saddam Husseins supposed weapons of mass destruction (which were not found in the quantities the IC claimed).

He also took on the intelligence community regarding the leak of the now-infamous Trump dossier, which contains mostly unsubstantiated raw intelligence and some salacious sexually-related claims the Washington establishment media knew about for months but could never confirm.

Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to leak into the public. One last shot at me. Are we living in Nazi Germany? he tweeted Jan. 11.

In mid-January, The Daily Beasts Kimberly Dozzier interviewed several ex-U.S. intelligence officials who said Trumps insults and mistrust were akin to a declaration of war on the IC. Apparently that is the case.

Stay informed at Trump.news, NationalSecurity.news and WhiteHouse.news, as this situation is fluid.

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources:

WashingtonPost.com

TheDailyBeast.com

TheNationalSentinel.com

NewsTarget.com

InfoWars.com

Submit a correction >>
Trump calls out press for sabotaging his efforts to improve relations with Russia

With the help of operatives in the Obama administration, the Clinton campaign and the deep state, the gutless hacks who pose as journalists in the Left-wing establishment media created the narrative that there was no way Hillary could have lost to Donald J. Trump, a political neophyte and former reality TV host, unless something happened to take her victory from her.

That something was the Russians.

Within days of Trumps victory, the Washington Post published an unsourced and unsubstantiated claim by a previously unknown group that Russia planted anti-Clinton propaganda with as many as 200 websites in a concerted effort to discredit her and help Trump win. The ridiculous story was very quickly discredited as fake news, but it, coupled with additional planted stories about Russian hacking of the election to help Trump nevertheless established a phony narrative that endures to this day.

On Thursday, Trump held a press conference in which he addressed this fake Russian narrative following reports earlier in the week that his now-resigned national security advisor, Michael Flynn, may have had improper conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States after Trump won the election but before he was inaugurated. Additional reporting by The New York Times and followed up by others essentially was a rehash of earlier unsubstantiated allegations and insinuations that Trump campaign officials may have had contact with Russian officials during the campaign, though no one has or can confirm any such contacts. (RELATED: NYT Commits TREASON In Fake News Attempt To Overthrow The United States Government Is It Time To Start Arresting Traitors Who Pretend To Be Journalists?)

Trump has made no bones about his desire to improve relations with Russia  just as many Republicans in Congress and some of his Cabinet picks have made no bones about their distrust of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom Trump has called a better leader that former President Obama.

Hes also said he doesnt know whether or not hell be successful in improving U.S.-Russia relations, a point he reiterated again at his presser.

But he went a step further on Thursday: He actually blamed the U.S. media for making it harder to try to improve relations because of its manic desire to push the false narrative about Russian interference in the U.S. election  without any proof that it had any effect at all on the outcome.

The whole Russia thing, its a ruse, Trump said. And by the way, it would be great if we could get along with Russia. Just so you understand that.  We had Hillary Clinton do a reset. We had Hillary Clinton give Russia 20 percent of the uranium in our country.  Nobody talks about that.

I didnt to anything for Russia, the president continued. Ive done nothing for Russia. Hillary Clinton gave then 20 percent of our uranium.  If we could get along with Russia, thats a positive thing.

Trump was then asked about incidents involving Russia this week  a Russian spy ship being spotted in international waters off the coast of Connecticut, where a U.S. submarine base is located, and Russian aircraft buzzing American warships in the Persian Gulf. (RELATED: Putin Orders Russian Air Force To Prepare For War)

He said one possibility would be to order the ship destroyed  which would, of course, be problematic for many reasons  or he could take a different approach, one that had not been taken by successive U.S. presidents including Obama after his failed reset effort, and that is rapprochement.

However, he said the media was making that nearly impossible.

Look where we are now? Trump said. Its possible I wont get along with Putin, but I want to just tell you  the false reporting by the mediathis horrible, fake reporting, makes it much harder to make a deal with Russia. Probably Putin said, You know, I see whats going on in the United Statesits gonna be impossible for President Trump to ever get along with Russia because of all the pressure hes got with this fake story. And thats a shame.

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources:

NBCNews.com

RealClearPolitics.com

NaturalNews.com

TheNationalSentinel.com

Submit a correction >>
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HARTFORD  Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Wednesday called for lawmakers to enlist in a regional effort to help the states troubled city schools, giving them more state funding at the expense of wealthier towns.

But in the partisan atmosphere in a General Assembly dominated by lawmakers from suburbs and rural areas, Malloys proposed revamping of municipal aid, with added local responsibilities, could meet stiff opposition. While leaders of the major cities welcomed additional support, lawmakers from the suburbs criticized the two-year, $40.5 billion package.

The truth is that for too long, weve allowed certain communities to be disproportionately impacted by the states fiscal challenges, Malloy said during a 27-minute budget address to a joint session of the House and Senate. Disparities have persisted and grown over the years, creating large pockets of concentrated poverty where communities sometimes sacrifice education for services.

The budget would hike per-pack cigarette taxes to $4.35, equal to New York State. It would reduce the amount awarded to low-income residents under the Earned Income Tax Credit and cut state spending by $1.36 billion in the first year.

About $400 million in teachers pension disbursements would be shifted from the state to towns and cities annually. For the first time, municipalities would be allowed to levy local real estate taxes on hospitals, with the state reimbursing the facilities.

Thirty one of the 169 towns and cities would see net increases in state aid, with Stamford gaining $6.4 million under Malloys scenario. Darien and New Canaan would see cuts of $4.5 million and $3.5 million respectively; and Greenwich would lose $6.6 million under the proposal.

According to Malloys plan, Stamford Public Schools would receive about $5.4 million more in education cost-sharing funding and nearly $6.4 million in special-education aid. The city would also see revenue of about $8.3 million from property taxes on Stamford Hospital  a first for the city. On the downside, Stamford would have to pay a third, or $14.2 million, of teachers pension costs.

Pluses and minuses

Mayor David Martin, who attended the governors budget presentation in Hartford on Wednesday, said a preliminary look at the budget indicates it could help strengthen our schools. But he urged the public not to get confused or too excited about the figures Malloy presented because getting a spending plan approved is an arduous process.

It would be premature for any of us to expect that the governors budget is adopted the way it is now, Martin said. Some of these things could completely evaporate The truth is, we shouldnt count our chickens before they hatch.

The mayor said the budget has its pluses and minuses that need to be reviewed carefully.

The state budget will likely not be finalized before Stamford votes on its own municipal spending plan. For that reason, Martin said, we really need to be a little bit conservative when assuming how much state funding the city will receive.

At least we wont be caught flat-footed, he said.

Superintendent Schools Earl Kim and Board of Education President Geoff Alswanger did not return requests for comment Tuesday.

Republican Rep. Terrie Wood, whose Darien district stands to receive zero funds to run its schools next year with the exception of about $102,000 for special-education needs, said that towns shouldnt be lumped together just for financial reasons.

Regionalism should be driven by the individual communities coming together on their own, said Rep. Terrie Wood, R-Darien. I dont believe it should be a top-down mandate.

Lone wolf

In his speech, Malloy singled out affluent Greenwich, in particular.

In the current fiscal year, the state is spending $24 million to cover pension costs of teachers and administrators in our most-affluent community, Greenwich, a school district that enrolls 8,800 students, Malloy said. Under the budget proposal, which goes to the General Assembly for vetting, public hearings and compromise, towns and cities would pick up one-third of teacher retirement costs: $400 million. A popular $200 property tax credit on state income taxes would also end, under Malloys plan.

Lets have the courage to collectively tackle the challenge of inequity in town aid, Malloy said.

But veteran state Rep. Fred Camillo, R-Greenwich, said his town already generates nearly 15 percent of Connecticuts total tax revenue.

Once again, hes asking municipalities that have been footing most of the bill to pay even more, Camillo said. The path to fiscal sustainability for those municipalities that are still struggling will have to be centered on economic development.

Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim praised Malloy, the former 14-year mayor of Stamford, for acknowledging the plight of cities.

Its a strong, bold budget and I support it, said Ganim, who would see an increase of $19 million in state aid next year.

I have always been an opponent of forced regionalism, said Rep. Gail Lavielle, R-Wilton. Voluntary regionalism is a different animal. In this case, it is difficult to see whether anything is being provided in return.

Over the last two weeks Malloy unveiled several major proposals, including a massive realignment of educational funding, as well as a plan to force towns and cities to pay for one third of the contributions to the teachers retirement fund, a liability municipalities have never had to bear.

Malloy also wants $700 million in union concessions, under the threatened layoff of 10 percent of the state workforce: 4,200 employees. That plan drew the ire of union leaders including Lori Pelletier, president of the state AFL-CIO. What would happen if we had a company that said they were going to lay off 4,200 workers? Pelletier asked. The state would be coming in like the cavalry. Theres a double standard between private employees and public sector employees.

Facing a first-year deficit of between $1.5 billion and $1.7 billion, Malloys budget will next go through the legislative committee process for collaboration and consensus before the session expires at 12:01 a.m. on June 8.

kdixon@ctpost.com; Twitter: @KenDixonCT
Any Connecticut student who pays tuition at the states public colleges and universities should be eligible to seek financial aid.

Certainly it is in everyones best interest to have an educated workforce that can meet the needs of businesses and contribute in taxes after graduating.

But some students are prohibited from applying for state financial aid for one reason  they are undocumented residents. The students came to this country at a young age with their parents, illegally and with no choice, went to public schools and consider the local community their home, like their classmates.

The issue is a matter of fairness. A portion of every students tuition payment, about 15 percent, goes into a pool for institutional financial aid. Therefore, every student should be allowed to apply for the aid with the same consideration as everyone else.

A bill before the state General Assembly would enable the equal access to aid. Called the Afford to Dream Bill, Senate Bill 17, An Act Assisting Students Without Legal Immigration Status with the Cost of College, was introduced last month by Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney with the stated purpose of improving the state labor force. The bill is with the Joint Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee, which conducted a public hearing last week. The House version is HB 7000.

For the past two years, similar bills have passed in the Senate with bipartisan support, but failed in the House. Now is the time for both chambers to do what is right.

The undergraduate in-state tuition rate for the 2016-17 academic year is $10,017 at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, for example, which does not include a room, food or books. Even with working while attending college, some students have to drop out for a while to save money.

The main argument against opening institutional financial aid to all students is that legal residents might get less. But without the undocumented students paying tuition, the pool is smaller. No one is asking for a special favor  the students would have to prove financial need and maintain good grades, just like anyone.

In some cases, these students may be subsidizing the cost of attendance for students who have much less financial need than they do. All they are asking for is the opportunity to access a fund which they are currently supporting with their own hard earned dollars, said Mark Ojakian, president of the state university system, in testimony submitted for the public hearing.

The bills are revenue neutral, meaning they would not increase the state budget; no taxpayer money is involved. The state Board of Regents and the public universities would maintain discretion on awarding any financial help.

Connecticut would not be leading the way; several other states, such as California, Minnesota and Texas, have already opened their financial aid to all students regardless of immigration status.

It is Connecticuts turn now to do what is fair and right.
Upgrades to Centre will provide training to Inuit and help improve quality of life in the community

RANKIN INLET, NU, Feb. 17, 2017 /CNW/ - Today, the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for CanNor, announced an investment of over $440,000 from the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program to renovate the Elder and Youth Centre in Rankin Inlet.

The Centre will be a space where elders and youth can meet to share experiences and Inuit traditional knowledge. New programs will encourage inter-generational activities, including mentorships and workshops, helping to enhance the health of the community. Further, the training experience provided to workers and the creation of a full-time position will help to enhance employment opportunities for members of the community.

This investment will support renovations to expand the size of the Centre by adding a meeting room and office space. The renovations will include clean technology upgrades by installing LED lighting and repairs to walls, windows, and doors to increase the energy efficiency and improve the quality of the building.

Quotes

"The Government of Canada is pleased to invest in the renovations and improvements to the Elder and Youth Centre in Rankin Inlet. These upgrades will help the residents of Rankin Inlet, while providing training and jobs for Inuit."

Navdeep Bains

Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, and

Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency

"In a community where winter temperatures can average a minus 30 to 35 degrees below zero for several months of the year and at times exceed minus 40, indoor activity space for youth and elders is essential for healthy living. The enhancements provided by this contribution will allow us to provide new programing and activities as well as opportunities which will benefit us for many, many years."

Robert Janes

Hamlet of Rankin Inlet

Quick Facts

The total investment in the project is $593,000 over two years. CanNor is investing $442,650 , with the Hamlet of Rankin Inlet contributing $100,350 and the Government of Nunavut adding $50,000 .

Associated Links

John Ollie Complex Gets a Facelift

Upgrades Improve Kugluktuk Arena Complex

SOURCE Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor)

For further information: Office of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Pauline Tam, Director of Communications, [email protected], 343-291-2500; Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, Craig Welsh, Communications Advisor, Nunavut Region, 867-975-3722; For more information about CanNor, visit cannor.gc.ca; Hamlet of Rankin Inlet, Robert Janes, Mayor, 867-645-2895

Related Links

http://www.cannor.gc.ca


OTTAWA, Feb. 17, 2017 /CNW/ - What: The Canadian Nuclear Association is hosting its annual conference and trade show. This year's theme is "Mission Possible: Innovation for a Cleantech Future." The event will feature a variety of speakers and experts from industry, academia and government, addressing the indispensable role of nuclear in fostering innovation and maximizing Canada's contribution to clean tech infrastructure.

When: February 22-24, 2017

Where:

The Westin Hotel

11 Colonel By Drive

Ottawa, ON

K1N 9H4

Who:

The Honourable Jim Carr, Minister of Natural Resources

The Honourable Glenn Thibeault, Ontario Minister of Energy

Mr. Phil Fontaine, Former National Chief, Assembly of First Nations

Dr. Michael Binder, President and CEO, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission

Ms. Kirsty Gogan, Co-Founder and Global Director, Energy for Humanity

Dr. Laura Dawson, Director, Canada Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars

Mr. Mike Rencheck, President and CEO, Bruce Power

Mr. Jeffrey Lyash, President and CEO, Ontario Power Generation

Mr. Mark Lesinski, President and CEO, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories

Dr. John Barrett, President and CEO, Canadian Nuclear Association

Mr. Preston Swafford, Executive Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer, SNC-Lavalin

Mr. Joel-Denis Bellavance, Ottawa bureau Chief La Presse

Ms. Susan Delacourt, Columnist, Toronto Star

Mr. Timothy Powers, Vice Chairman, Summa Strategies Canada

Mr. Drew Dudley, Founder, Day One Leadership

Why: Canada has long been a leader in nuclear innovation, providing clean energy for sustainable development, both domestically and internationally, through Canadian-developed nuclear reactor technology and fuel from uranium resources. Today, the world needs low-carbon solutions to ensure the health and well-being of the planet and its citizens.

That is why, in 2017, we highlight the importance of Canada's nuclear innovation. Explaining, clarifying, presenting the solutions offered by nuclear innovation and advanced technologies is required today more than ever.

Visit

www.cna.ca/conference

SOURCE Canadian Nuclear Association

For further information: Paul Hebert, CNA Director Communications, 613-237-4262 ext. 106, [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.cna.ca


Eric Schmidt was CEO of Google from Aug 2001 to April 2011. Eric has recently admitted that he underestimated machine learning and artificial intelligence

Schmidts assessment back then was that artificial intelligence research faced tremendous obstacles that inhibited its progress. He didnt think it would scale, he said of the machine learning tech.

And he said he also didnt think it would generalize, meaning becoming more flexible and elastic, like the human mind, rather than remaining a specialized tool suited only to specific tasks.

Schmidt had underestimated the power of simple algorithms to emulate very complex things, he said, while qualifying that were still in the baby stages of doing conceptual learning.

Googles current CEO Sundar Pichai has described the world as having entered an AI-first era. The preceding phase was a focus on all things mobile- and smartphone-first, according to Pichai, who succeeded Schmidt after a second CEO stint by Google co-founder Larry Page

This past fall, Google held two major product launches in San Francisco less than a week apart. At the first, it unveiled Google Cloud, a big expansion of offerings for business customers, such as the G Suite assortment of productivity tools (formerly known as Google Apps). The second was an Apple-esque hardware extravaganza at which the company announced the first Google-designed smartphones (the Pixel and Pixel XL), as well as a competitor to Amazons Echo speaker (Google Home), a virtual-reality headset (Daydream View), a wireless router (Google Wifi), and an upgrade to its video-streaming gizmo (Chromecast Ultra).

The wide scope represented by that lineup may suggest that Pichai isnt picking his competitive battles. But his key ambitions are bound by a core prediction: that the world is moving from the smartphone age into, in Pichais phrase, an AI-first era, in which Google products will help people accomplish tasks in increasingly sophisticated, even anticipatory ways. The Pixel phones and Google Home, for instance, are the first devices with embedded support for Google Assistant, a rival to Apples Siri and Amazons Alexa that is designed not only to handle straightforward commands but also fuzzier requests such as Play that Shakira song from Zootopia. The Assistant is also designed to engage in relatively complex conversations related to tasks such as making vacation arrangements.
A group, Southern Kaduna Coaltion of Professionals (SKCOP) Friday lambasted the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), for the continues detention of former Group Managing Director, GMD, of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Engr. Andrew Yakubu, after they claimed that the man has met all the bail conditions set for him.

The group also said that the EFCC was selective in its anti-corruption crusade challenging it to also parade the others which it claimed huge sums of stolen monies have been recovered from.

The statement which was signed by its General Secretary Mr. Haliu Sagamu Jaspar (JP) and made available to the Press in Kaduna reads in part: The Nigerian society is awash with news of a cache of foreign currency that includes humongous amounts of US dollars and Pounds sterling of which the former Group Managing Director (GMD) of NNPC Engr. Any Yakubu, has since admitted being the owner. The said amount is put at $9.7 million and 74,000 found in a safe in property belonging to the man who has served the NNPC for 35 years, rising to be its GMD.

While we await to see if a court of law can establish if the said amount found in his home is a proceed of crime, or whether there is indeed a law that forbids anyone from keeping his earnings at home, we suspect that the deliberate negative publicity the EFCC is generating over his arrest and its failure to release him from their detention after meeting his bail conditions, is more vindictive and political than fighting corruption.









We want to state that the desperate attempts to rubbish Andy Yakubu, (the

of Atyap Chiefdom) by those who think that a man from Southern Kaduna has no business becoming the GMD of NNPC started right when he was in office.

In 20014, the then CBN governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, raised a bogus alarm that under the watch of Andy Yakubu, $48.9 billion had gone missing at the NNPC. When pressed further, he said it was actually $20 billion. The Senate took the matter very serious and instituted its own probe into the clearly silly allegation. An audit firm of global repute, PriceWaterHouseCoopers was brought in by the federal government. After a forensic investigation, the firm said no such monies were ever missing.

Still bent on disgracing the only person from the Middle Belt to ever occupy that position after rising from the ranks, Andy Yakubu was in UK in June last year, when the EFCC invited him. With his conscience clean and clear he arrived Nigeria just for the EFCC to clamp him in detention over an alleged criminality in an NNPC subsidiary  (NPDC)  after Yakubu has left office. With nothing to link him to any crime, the EFCC humiliated him for days before admitting before Justice Binta Nyako of Federal High Cout Abuja that the man was an innocent man. That the suspects were former Minister of Petroleum Mrs Allison Maduekwe  still hiding in London and Jide Aluko, who lives a lavish lifestyle in the US and is a fugitive of the law in Nigeria. Other still in court over the alleged multi-billion dollar crude oil deal were: Jide Omokore, Victor Briggs, Abiye Membere, David Mbanefo, Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Limited.

Andrew Laah Yakubu, before he ascended the top slot as GMD of NNPC- had held high profile and very sensitive positions  ranging from Head of NNPC London Office. He was Managing Director, Warri Petrochemical Refinery and was promoted Executive Director, Exploration and Production, a position next to that of the GMD of the NNPC. When the post of the boss of NNPC became vacant, he was the most qualified to became the GMD.





So it was by the din of his handwork, integrity and intelligence that he became GMD, through the goodwill of then President Goodluck Jonathan. For anyone to think that such a man, both in earnings, savings and goodwill cannot have the amount found in his house is to express his ignorance on how much even mid-cadre managers of the NNPC earn yearly.

A man who had solved the problems of perennial fuel queues during his time, tamed the militancy against oil installations and took Nigeria daily crude output to an all-time high of 2.5 million does not deserve this harassment.

Why are people who have been indicted in some high-level corruption not been so disparaged by the EFCC? It is simply because they are Hausa/Fulani?

Never, have we heard of someone, who is already, safely outside the Country willingly fly back and face opprobrium and humiliation, except Andy Yakubu.

Ahmed Gambo Saleh, a Registrar of the Supreme Court, now promoted to as the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Judicial Commission, NJC, has been arraigned for corruption without this kind of deliberate destruction of his personality by the EFCC.

Col Lawal Jaafaru Isa (rtd) military governor of Kaduna State was also charged for illegally taking N200m from the former National Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), the man is walking as free as anyone. The Erstwhile Custom Comptroller General Abdullahi Dikko also was alleged to have helped himself to billions of Naira, the EFCC did not see him.

We are therefore beginning to feel that this is a concerted and well-orchestrated plan to pull down our illustrious son and sacrifice him to the dogs as a means of weakening the strong among us ahead 2019 general elections.

This is unacceptable and we say this with a loud voice that we are alaw-abidingg people and will remain so. But it will be height of cowardice and naivety to endeavor playing the politically correct card of keeping mute as our own is being sacrificed on the altar of a dubious corruption war.

Our stand: That Andy Yakubu on his own flew to the country from the US to defend his honour and how he earned the money shows that he was sure of himself if the law would be judiciously applied to his case.

The EFCC should free Andy Yakubu having fulfilled his bail conditions and the said amount temporarily forfeited to the Federal government.

Keeping him in detention for almost two weeks despite the above is a means of psychologically tormenting him and for the public to prolong their odium on his person, without giving him a chance to state his own side of the story.

If Andy Yakubu is not being persecuted because he comes from Southern Kaduna and the Middle Belt, we challenge the EFCC to also parade all the people it claims to have recovered humongous sums of money from. Failure to so would mean the agency is lying, or has two sets of law for two kinds of Nigerians.

We demand that this animal farm doctrine of putting some ahead of others desist immediately. We therefore call for full disclosure of persons found culpable and wanting.

We ask that persons, companies fronted and proxies connected directly or indirectly to any such matters be released.

And Yakubu should be charged to court as stipulated by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria so that he can defend himself.

Enough of this parody of justice in which the EFCC is the accuser, the judge and the jailer.





Iyan
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has revealed that himself, president of the Senate, Bukola Saraki and leader of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, discussed national issues when they visited President Muhammadu Buhari in London.The lawmakers arrived at the Abuja House on Wednesday a few minutes before 8pm  Nigerian time.Dogara on Thursday in a tweet via his verified official twitter handle@YakubDogara said the delegation discussed national issues with the President in the United Kingdom.His Special Adviser Media & Public Affairs Turaki Hassan further quoted Dogara as saying President Buhari is as fit as a fiddle and cracked jokes in his usual manner.President is as fit as a fiddle; after burning national issues, it was all PMBs vintage humorous jokes. Im so elated he is as fit as a fiddle.Saraki and Dogara had last week announced that they separately spoke on telephone with Buhari.They made the London trip ahead of next Tuesdays resumption of plenary to discuss issues the President has interest in as well as any input he might have.The meeting also delibrated on other matters of mutual interests between the Executive and the Legislature.The two leaders used the opportunity to personally pray for President Buhari and wish him quick return to Nigeria.Recall that last week, the national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Chief Bisi Akande also paid Buhari a visit.
The much publicized Malaysia edition of the Help from Above crusade kicked off on Tuesday, February 14th 2017 as the president and founder of Omega Fire Ministries worldwide, Apostle Johnson Suleman with his team of 12 senior pastors, stormed the South East Asian country for the great soul-winning conference. The man of God was received on entry by representatives of the Malaysian government while the conference was adjudged the largest Malaysian gathering in recent time.The 2- day conference which held at the Shaftsbury Asteria in Cyber 6, Selangor, Malaysia, was well attended, witnessing over 3,000 attendees from neighbouring countries like Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Jakarta, China, Cambodia, Thailand, Taiwan, Mynmar and Australia. The programme kicked off with miracles and testimonies as God confirmed His word as given to the man of God in his mandate in Acts 10: 38.The well organized crusade recorded diverse miracles with every participant feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit as souls were revived and lives reformed.There was the case of a woman, Mrs. Rahni, who had been crippled and could not walk without aid for over 15 years. The afflicted woman from Bantin Region was healed by the servant of God. The experience was amazing to the daughter of the healed woman who confessed that she never believed in Nigerian pastors or miracles but was shocked her mum could be truly healed.As the conference progressed, the man of God took prophecy to another dimension as he was led by The Holy Ghost to forensically and microscopically identify individuals, families and generations. He also gave mind blowing revelations to people. He gave in depth insight to challenges and solutions of many as well as unraveling directions for them.There was the peculiar case of a family that had at least one family member prophetically located in every session of the conference. Apostle Suleman led over 1,500 persons to the merciful throne of God as they gave their lives to Jesus, which is the hallmark of all his meetings. He also blessed the land of Asia and asked the Lord to continually prosper his children and those doing legitimate businesses in the land.In his entourage were senior pastors like Rev. Kingsley Aigbe, Rev. Fidelis Ayemoba, Pastor Irelen Josiah. Others are from his media and music team. The list also includes Rev. Chibueze Amadi who is the international coordinator of the Sons of the Prophet Network and Pastor Rich Aghahowa, the OFM Houston Texas pastor, and pastors and members of the OFM from around Malaysia.Pastors Henry and Charity Osemeka, senior pastors of OFM Malaysia hosted the conference.The Oracle of God has promised to visit Malaysia yet again and Australia before the year runs out.
The Southern Kaduna Coalition of Professionals (SKCOP) has faulted the detention of Andrew Yakubu, a former group managing director (GMD) ...

The Southern Kaduna Coalition of Professionals (SKCOP) has faulted the detention of Andrew Yakubu, a former group managing director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) detained Yakubu after allegedly recovering huge sums of money at his house in the Sabo Tasha area of Kaduna state.Yakubu admitted ownership of the money, but claimed that they were gifts from unnamed persons.In a statement on Thursday, Sagamu Jaspar, general secretary of SKCOP, wondered if there was a law which forbade anyone from keeping his earnings at home.He alleged that some persons were plotting to pull down our illustrious son and sacrifice him to the dogs as a means of weakening the strong among us ahead 2019 general election.We are waiting to see if a court of law can establish that the said amount found in his home is a proceed of crime, or whether there is indeed a law that forbids anyone from keeping his earnings at home, Jaspar said.We suspect that the deliberate negative publicity the EFCC is generating over his arrest and its failure to release him from their detention after meeting his bail conditions, is more vindictive and political than fighting corruption.We condemn the desperate attempts to rubbish Andy Yakubu, (the Iyan of Atyap Chiefdom) by those who think that a man from southern Kaduna has no business becoming the GMD of NNPC started right when he was in office.The group said some people were out to tarnish the reputation of the only man from the middle belt to have led the oil firm.It added that in 2014 when Sanusi Lamido, former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) raised the allegation of missing $20 billion, the agency which audited the corporation which was led by Yakubu at the time, gave NNPC a clean bill of health.In 2014, the then CBN governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, raised a bogus alarm that under the watch of Andy Yakubu, $48.9 billion had gone missing at the NNPC. When pressed further, he said it was actually $20 billion. The senate took the matter very serious and instituted its own probe into the clearly silly allegation, the group said.An audit firm of global repute, PriceWaterHouseCoopers was brought in by the federal government. After a forensic investigation, the firm said no such monies were ever missing.Still bent on disgracing the only person from the middle belt to ever occupy that position after rising from the ranks, Andy Yakubu was in UK in June last year, when the EFCC invited him. With his conscience clean and clear he arrived Nigeria just for the EFCC to clamp him in detention over an alleged criminality in an NNPC subsidiary, NPDC after Yakubu has left office.Demanding his immediate release, Jaspar challenged the EFCC to parade all those whom the agency recovered money from.He said failure to do so would confirm the allegation that the commission is persecuting the suspect.Keeping him in detention for almost two weeks despite the above is a means of psychologically tormenting him and for the public to prolong their odium on his person, without giving him a chance to state his own side of the story, he said.If Andy Yakubu is not being persecuted because he comes from Southern Kaduna and the Middle Belt, we challenge the EFCC to also parade all the people it claims to have recovered humongous sums of money from. Failure to so would mean the agency is lying, or has two sets of law for two kinds of Nigerians.
A Lagos High Court has ordered Musiliu Obanikoro, a former junior minister of defence, to settle before the Alternative Dispute Resolution...

A Lagos High Court has ordered Musiliu Obanikoro, a former junior minister of defence, to settle before the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), within seven days, a defamation suit he filed against Premium Times and Sahara Reporters.The judge said Mr. Obanikoro should give a progress report on the suit on April 7, the next adjourned date.The former minister had instituted defamation charges against the two media companies for their reports implicating him in the Ekiti State governorship election rigging scandal.Details later.
President Muhammadu Buharis daughter, Zahra on Friday, while extolling her mother, Aisha on her 45th birthday called her the Nigerias Fi...

President Muhammadu Buharis daughter, Zahra on Friday, while extolling her mother, Aisha on her 45th birthday called her the Nigerias First Lady. Recall that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari has undermined the office of the First Lady, and had all along referred to Mrs Buhari as wife of the President.But Zahra Buhari-Indimi failed to heed to the policy by referring to her mother as Nigerias First Lady in her wishes.On her Instagram page @mrs_zmbi, Zahra wrote: Happy birthday to Nigerias First Lady @aishambuhari but most importantly happy birthday to you mummy, temple of greatness, reservoir of inspiration and a light to everyone that comes next to you.So kindhearted, wise and special in every way.May Allah increase you in every way my darling Mother.Lots of love xxxxx, she added.Recall also that Aisha had personally asked that she be called the wife of the President and not First Lady as the glory of the said office had died years ago.She told Tribune that, First of all, as you said that the current first lady is receiving bashes from all corners of the country.The former first lady, late Mariam Babangida, may her soul rest in peace, introduced the office of the first lady, but I am beginning to think that she died with the glory of the office.I think I will prefer to be called the wife of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria than the first lady of Nigeria, Aisha had said.
US President Donald Trump said Thursday the United States faces a host of problems at home and abroad, declaring: I inherited a mess.

US President Donald Trump said Thursday the United States faces a host of problems at home and abroad, declaring: I inherited a mess.Trump, speaking at his first solo news conference, said jobs were pouring out of the country to Mexico and other places, and mass instability was prevalent overseas.To be honest, I inherited a mess. Its a mess. At home and abroad. A mess, he saidLow pay, low wages. Mass instability overseas no matter where you look. The Middle East a disaster. North Korea. Well take care of it, folks. Were going to take care of it all. He made the remark after presenting Alexander Acosta, a former federal prosecutor from Florida, as his nominee for to lead the Department of Labor.Acosta was tapped after Trumps first nominee for the post, Andrew Puzder, withdrew under pressure over his business record and other past controversies in his personal life.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed says Miss Nigeria Pageantry is an integral part of the nations creative indu...

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed says Miss Nigeria Pageantry is an integral part of the nations creative industry that should be made a national asset.The minister stated this on Friday in Abuja when the management of Daily Times, the initiator and franchise owner of Miss Nigeria pageantry visited him in his office.It was reported that the delegation was led by the Chairman of Daily Times, Mr Fidelis Anosike and accompanied by the 40th Miss Nigeria, Chioma Obiadi.Mohammed said that the competition which started way back in 1957 had evolved over the years and should be strengthened to become a national asset.Linking pageantry to tourism, the minister said the history of the competition globally dates back to medieval time in 1821 when a businessman wanted to attract tourists to his city, New Jersey.I look at beauty pageantry as one of the integral part of creative industry because it awakens all segments of the sector.Beauty Pageantry is beyond gathering together of some beautiful ladies to judge them by their physical attribute. It is a catalyst for the creative industry and it must be encouraged.At the beginning of the beauty pageantry all over the world, it was not too popular and some people view it as not decent. However, over the years, the occupiers of the titles have made a whole of difference of it.Today, we see a beauty pageant becoming a role model and we have seen where the position is used effectively even in times of war and conflict.At the level of Miss Nigeria, the occupier has become the ambassador and embodiment of everything that is good in Nigeria and it is not a title to be taken lightly, he said.The minister advised the delegation to partner with the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) in promoting the Miss Nigeria Pageantry. He said the partnership would put the competition on a completely new pedestal.We can work out the details, but in doing so you must be ready to let go some of the proprietorship interest, he said.Anosike said that Daily Times conceived Miss Nigeria pageantry in 1957 to create a young female empowerment platform. He recalled that the winner of the maiden Miss Nigeria pageantry is Mrs Grace Oyelude, now 85 years, from Kogi state and she represented Kano state at the competition.Anosike said the platform had helped in promoting the nation, its culture and values and therefore seek collaboration with the ministry to further advance the competition.Obiadi, the reigning pageant who represented Anambra state, thanked the minister for receiving them and pledged her readiness to partner with government in promoting national cultural values and heritage.
One of the passengers of the bus which plunged into a river at Owode Elede around Mile 12 area of Lagos state, has revealed that rescue op...

One of the passengers of the bus which plunged into a river at Owode Elede around Mile 12 area of Lagos state, has revealed that rescue operations did not commence until about two hours after the accident happened.Speaking with newsmen at Ajegunle police station, Owode Onirin, the victim, who simply identified himself as Nnamdi, said he felt the end had come.Nnamdi said he boarded the ill-fated bus at Benin in Edo state, and that the journey was smooth until the incident at Owode Elede.He explained that GUO Transport Service Co. LTD, owners of the bus, invited him to the station to write a statement on the accident.I joined the bus at a park in Benin last night. I heard it bus was coming from Aba, he told newsmen.The journey was smooth. In fact some of us were even cracking jokes The accident happened in the twinkle of an eye. We started crying for help, but no one came to us. After over one hour, I began to lose hope.Some of us were praying, some were just crying. I got confused and didnt know what to do. It was when it almost got to two hours that some men came to rescue us. At that time, three people had died.Nnamdi, who revealed that he is a trader on Lagos Island, lacked words to express his feelings after surviving the terrible experience.I just dont know what to say. Where would I have been by now? Its still like a dream, he told newsmen.The police officers at the counter declined to speak with newsmen, saying only the public relations officer (PPRO) of the force in the state, was authorised to comment on such issues.Dolapo Badmos, spokesperson of the Lagos police command, has yet to respond to inquiries by newsmen. The response to a text message sent is still being awaited.However, a woman, who said her husband was also involved in the accident, was also at the station.She refused to speak at length and declined to have her pictures taken, just like Nnamdi.The woman said officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority (LASEMA) had taken her husband to a hospital, but that she had not seen him.She said she rushed to the office of the transportation company at Iddo in Lagos Mainland, when she heard about the accident, but was asked to come to the station.The bus, with registration number Anambra GDD 386 YE, was parked around the station as of the time this report was filed.According to LASEMA, three people died, while 23 sustained injuries in the accident.It was learnt that the accident caused gridlock on the every-busy Ikorodu road in the early hours of Friday.
Super Eagles captain John Mikel Obi has backed strong, very positive and level headed Kelechi Iheanacho to regain his Manchester City spot.The former Chelsea midfielder who now plies his trade in China with Tianjin TEDA has encouraged the Manchester City striker to not allow his present status at his club to affect him but be prepared to make maximum use of his chance when given the nod to play again.Iheanacho will become a better player after this phase.He is a strong lad, a very positive minded being and level headed. He will regain his spot in the team, he just has to keep on working hard in training and wait for his chance, when it comes I know he wont disappoint.Every player wants to play and when you are not getting into the matchday squad it can be so discouraging. But I have learned to always pick the positives from every situation, he said.Kelechi Iheanacho has not played for the Citizens since he was subbed on in their 4-0 defeat at the hands of Everton, since then Pep Guardiola has not used him in their last five games, in fact, he didnt make the bench in 4 of the last 5 games he hasnt played in.With Gabriel Jesus out injured the Nigerian striker stand a big chance of wearing the sky blue jersey again.
We have a lot of good immigrants in Canada and some useless ones.



Those from India tend to fall more into the useless category. Let's look at some facts to support this.

Canadians of E Indian origin make up about 5% of Canada's population, that means if they are carrying their fair share of contributing to Canada, all activities where Canadians are involved, the make up should consist of 5% E Indians. Well let's look at some examples;



-our military only consist of only a few E Indians, no where near 5%

-our Olympic mentalist,,,don't know any E Indians who win Olympic metals for Canada

-Hockey Players/Football players, other Canadian Prof sports,,,few if any are E Indian,,, certainly no Stampede Cowboys (too coward for this)

-how many EI support these sports, see few EI as fans.

-fund raising walks/runs,,,for those who are active in these events,,,few EI participate and support these events, no where near 5%,,,but they sure like using its benefits.

Etc

Etc,,,,I could go on and on, but you get my picture.



Btw, E Indians didn't begin to immigrate to Canada until after WW11, they didn't come earlier because they could not handle the harsh environment, i.e.,they couldn't poop outside in the winter time.
Abraham Nwankwo, director-general of the Debt Management Office (DMO), on Thursday revealed that the nations total debt profile as of Dec...

Abraham Nwankwo, director-general of the Debt Management Office (DMO), on Thursday revealed that the nations total debt profile as of December 31, 2016, was $57.39 billion (N17.36 trillion).He made this known while defending the agencys 2017 budget before the senate committee on local and foreign debts in Abuja.Nwankwo said the amount included domestic and foreign debts owed by the country.He said the external debt profile stood at $11.41 billion (N3.48 trillion), while the domestic debt stock stood at $45.98 billion (N13.88 trillion).According to him, the debt stock of N17. 36 trillion owed by the country included debts of the federal government, the 36 states of the federation and the federal capital territory (FCT).Nwankwo also said that the difference was due to the projected debt service payments in respect of new financing that was not fully utilised, as only few loans became effective during the period.He said the domestic debt stock of the federal government, the 36 states and the FCT accounted for about 80 percent of the total debt, while their external debt stock accounted for about 20 per cent.Nwankwo said though Nigerias debt profile was on the increase, it was not in a precarious economic situation that would warrant seeking for debt relief.He added that in spite of the recession, the economic indices had not portrayed Nigeria as a weak economy to warrant seeking for debt relief.Nigeria is not in a position to beg for debt forgiveness, he said.In spite of the present state of the economy, the country is still counted as a strong economy among other countries. The economic indicators show that Nigeria has a strong economy.He said if borrowing would be genuinely committed to infrastructural development, it would go a long way in the move to develop the economy.On repayment of the debt, he said the ministry of finance was making effort to expand the nations tax base.According to him, this will be done by ensuring that people and companies that are not paying taxes begin to pay to boost the revenue base and reduce the need for borrowing.He lamented that tax collection in Nigeria had been poor, contributing to reduced revenue generation.
T. Y. Emmanuel, a clergy, has urged the Bayelsa state government to clear the six months salary arrears owed to workers in the state in or...

T. Y. Emmanuel, a clergy, has urged the Bayelsa state government to clear the six months salary arrears owed to workers in the state in order to avoid Gods anger.Emmanuel gave the advice on Thursday in Yenagoa while delivering a sermon titled Make God Your Refuge.The sermon was delivered in church service to commemorate the first anniversary of the second tenure of Seriake Dickson, governor of the state.Emmanuel, who was the guest preacher at the thanksgiving service, claimed that God had asked him to inform the governor to pay workers properly.God is angry when you dont pay workers. God has asked me to tell you that hired servants should be properly paid, he said.The cries of the hired servants have come to God and God has heard them, misapplication of riches is what poses danger, we need wisdom from God to function.He said leadership was given to man by God for the purpose of service and benefit to mankind.Emmanuel called on the governor to acknowledge the essence of Gods purpose for instituting government authority for man.When God gives a man leadership, there is an assignment he wants to fulfill, every government is of God, though it might have human mistakes, he said.The cleric who quoted amply from various books including Psalm 127, James 5:1-5 and Deuteronomy 24:14-15 in the Bible to exemplify his points, advised the governor to take solace in God.Dickson acknowledged Gods hands in his re-election for second tenure in office.He told the people that even things were tough, his government was making efforts within the limited resources available to enhance the welfare of its workforce.Our dreams are so high that you cant even use a ladder to see. In the midst of recession, we are building the best schools, roads and hospitals in the state, he said.
Six of the eight Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members of the Lagos state house of assembly have announced their defection to the ruling ...

Six of the eight Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members of the Lagos state house of assembly have announced their defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).Azeez Sanni, acting clerk of the house, read a letter dated February 16, and signed by the defectors, indicating that they had decided to join the APC.In the letter, the lawmakers said they were taking the step due to the division and infighting which had factionalised their party.The lawmakers are Akeem Bello (Amuwo Odofin II), Mosunmola Sangodara (Surulere II), Jude Idimogu (Oshodi/Isolo II), Dayo Famakinwa (Ajeromi Ifelodun II), Oluwa Fatai (Ajeromi/Ifelodun I) and Olusola Sokunle (Oshodi/Isolo I).Speaking at plenary, Famakinwa said the achievements of Akinwunmu Ambode, governor of the state, inspired him to join APC.On his part, Oluwa said he joined the ruling party in Lagos because of the feud between Ali-Modu Sheriff and Ahmed Makarfi factions of PDP.Idimogu said: APC is better. I dont know how to appreciate the good work of the governor than to join his party to move the state forward.Sokunle said the decision to align with the ruling party was borne out of his desire to move his constituency forward.Sangodara, the only woman among the defectors, said she took the step to serve her constituents better.We are all aware of what is happening in PDP, she said.Mudashiru Obasa, the speaker, welcomed the the lawmakers to APC and commended them for their decision.Other APC lawmakers also received the defectors into the party.
The Nigeria army on Thursday killed six suspected suicide bombers when they tried to storm into the town at the Mafa checkpoint, 9 kilomet...

The Nigeria army on Thursday killed six suspected suicide bombers when they tried to storm into the town at the Mafa checkpoint, 9 kilometer to Maiduguri Capital.It was also learnt that the six Boko Haram militants came with three other suicide bombers who detonated their explosives at Muna motor park and Muna Dalti, a community located opposite an IDPs camp, killing two and injuring eight members of the civilian JTF.A civilian JTF, Baani Aliko, told newsmen that the incident took place around 11.30pm at Muna motor park while the other attack occurred at Muna Dalti around 2.02am on Friday.Nine persons were killed, including the suicide bomber.The security agencies are yet to issue a statement.
At least 11 persons were killed as suicide bombers attacked Maiduguri, the Borno state capital on Thursday night, witnesses and security s...

At least 11 persons were killed as suicide bombers attacked Maiduguri, the Borno state capital on Thursday night, witnesses and security sources said.Nine suicide bombers were among the dead, they said.Multiple explosions echoed across the city at about 11 p.m. on Thursday as three female suicide bombers detonated their explosive belts near Muna Garage, a popular bus station that has suffered many of such attacks in recent times.The explosions killed two residents, witnesses said. But police said only the suicide bombers were killed in the attack.Several commercial vehicles that were on queue for a trip to the border areas the next day were also razed in the explosion.A witness, who identified himself as Ayuba Ibrahim, told journalists that seven Civilian-JTF operatives were injured, while all the suicide bombers died.But most of the trucks that were loaded with goods for export to Chad and the border communities were destroyed and commodities worth millions of naira may have been destroyed, said Mr. Ibrahim, a businessman from Taraba State.Civilian-JTF operatives said few hours after the Muna explosions, soldiers at Muna Dalti, a location about 1 kilometre away from the first explosion, shot six suicide bombers who were attempting to sneak into town at about 2 a.m.Some Boko Haram gunmen who were riding on motorcycles accompanied the six suicide bombers, they said.The Borno State police command confirmed the Muna Garage attack.The spokesman for the Borno command, Victor Isukwu, a deputy superintendent of police, said only the suicide bombers died in the attack.Yesterday at about 2318hrs, a suicide bomber sneaked into the midst of 13 pick up trucks loaded with goods along Maiduguri/Mafa road, said to be awaiting departure to Gamboru Ngala early hours of today and detonated IEDs strapped on self, he said.The resulting Explosion razed down the parked vehicles beyond recognition. EOD/Police patrol team was promptly deployed to the scene to restore safety & normalcy.He also confirmed that soldiers had in the night spotted some persons on motorcycle and opened fire in their direction.
The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) is waiting for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)s investigation into a possible div...

The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) is waiting for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)s investigation into a possible diversion of the Paris Club refund to statesChairman of the NGF and Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari, spoke with State House correspondents at the end of the Forums meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.It was reported last week that the NGF might have used fictitious consultants to divert some of the money from Paris Club which had attracted the attention of the EFCC.The Presidency had also reportedly ordered a full-scale investigation into the disbursement of the funds.Insisting that the governors were ready for the EFCC probe, Yari expressed governors support for the administrations war against corruption, noting that they would wait for the outcome of the EFCCs investigation.He said: We discussed the issue of Paris Club and London Club. We observed that EFCC said it is doing investigations. Yeah, we support the federal government for fighting corruption.We are waiting for the EFCC to come up with what they say is the investigation and come up with the result.Some of the reports also suggested that the governors were spoiling for war with acting EFCC Chairman Ibrahim Magu over the decision of the EFCC to investigate alleged diversion of the money.The reports suggested that the EFCC might have questioned the Director General of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Asishana Okauru, over the matter.
The federal government has said that it stopped paying Ekiti State funds from the Budget Support Facility (BSF) because it failed to mee...

The federal government has said that it stopped paying Ekiti State funds from the Budget Support Facility (BSF) because it failed to meet the requirements agreed to by the state governors and the federal government, on the programme. A statement by the Director of Information of the Federal Ministry of Information, Mr. Salisu NaInna, in Abuja , Thursday, indicated that Ekiti had been warned about the situation, as far back as August , last year, but that the warning was ignored.It said, The fact is that, the Ekiti State Government failed to comply with the necessary requirements for participating in the Budget Support Facility (BSF), which is a Conditional Loan Programme to State Governments introduced with the view to enhancing fiscal prudence and designed particularly to enhance transparency, efficiency in public expenditure and payment of salaries. This is not the first time of non-compliance by the Ekiti State Government.His administration defaulted in meeting the conditions specified and agreed upon by the 35 State Governments that are participating in the programme as contained in the Fiscal Sustainability Plan (FSP) and the Ekiti State Government was warned formally of its failure to comply with the full requirements vide a letter on August 5, 2016, with reference number HMF/FMF/ASG/1/2016.The failure of Ekiti State Government to comply with the requirements and conditions for the Budget Support Facility (BSF) resulted in a letter sent to the Chief of Staff to notify him of the suspension of BSF for Ekiti State and it was conveyed to Mr. President before payment to the Ekiti State Government was reinstated. The Ekiti State Government and all the other participating States are aware of the consequence of failure to comply with the full conditions and it is not the first time that a State would be stopped from accessing the Facility due to non-compliance.In the course of its normal duties, the Ministry of Finance has the right to query, suspend or withhold funds as part of the conditions of the Budget Support Facility. The process is for the Commissioner of Finance of any State or the Governor having issues to contact the Federal Ministry of Finance and resolve the issues without resorting to the media because such issues are of a financial nature and therefore, confidential; they are routinely resolved amicably by the parties involved. The Federal Ministry of Finance wishes to restate very strongly that the Budget Support Facility is a conditional programme and the Federal Government would not be intimidated or threatened in the discharge of its duties.When newsmen asked to know what specific conditions of the BSF Ekiti State failed to meet, an official who insisted he must not be quoted said that the Resolution by the State House of Assembly, authorizing it which should be approved by the state Executive Council was never submitted by the state. Another official said, that the BSF was a loan that must be repaid and that each state must meet the condition before it could benefit from it.
The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, Femi Adesina, has said the Presidency will not hold any special ...

The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, Femi Adesina, has said the Presidency will not hold any special reception for Buhari on his arrival from the United Kingdom, UK after his medical vacation.Adesina urged Nigerians to be on the alert as the president might soon arrive the country. He, however, did not give a definite time frame for his principals return.He made this known in a chat with Arise Television in Abuja on Thursday.Adesina, responding to why there had been no video evidence to support claims the president is indeed in good health said, That is not necessary, given that Buhari recently had a telephone conversation with United States President, Donald Trump, and the fact that he has just received the National Assembly officials led by the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki in London.The fact that the president is receiving visitors, the fact that he has spoken with the American president and the fact that he has asked us to tell the world that hes fine. I think thats just enough.I wish I could give you a definite date, I really wish but then we just have to hang on to what the president has told us.In the letter to the National Assembly, he said as soon as his doctors rule out some things.I will just tell Nigerians to stay on the alert and watch and before they know it the president is back. It could be anytime.You dont need much preparation; I will tell you what will happen.On the morning of a certain day, we will just receive an alert from protocol that the president is on the way. And six hours later, theyll be here.The president is a simple man, Adesina stated.Recall that Buhari left for a 10-day vacation in the UK and had written to the senate to extend his vacation indefinitely due to health issues an action that has drawn so much condemnation from Nigerians.
Amnesty International has promised to commence investigation into the death of the Chief Protocol Officer to the Minister of State for Def...

Amnesty International has promised to commence investigation into the death of the Chief Protocol Officer to the Minister of State for Defence, Desmond Nunugwo, who allegedly died in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission eight months ago.The AIs Campaigner (Amnesty Nigeria), Mrs. Esther Ikubaje, stated this when the widow of the deceased, Suzanne, led over 100 protesters to its Nigerian Headquarters in Abuja, demanding justice for her late husband.Several calls and SMS by Northern City News to the phones of the spokesman of the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, were not responded to.Ikubaje assured the widow that AI would look into the matter and assist her to get justice.AI will not allow the late Nunugwos case to be swept under the carpet like other cases. We will look into the case and ensure that justice is done through a thorough and transparent investigation, she stated.Suzanne said her late husband died in the custody of EFCC barely six hours after he was invited by the commission for questioning, saying the EFCC failed to make public the result of its investigation.While accusing the commission of refusing to pay for an autopsy, she said the EFCC was still holding on to the remains of her late husband eight months after he was pronounced dead by the commission.The protesters also visited the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), where the widow accused the EFCC of allegedly killing her husband and labeling him a criminal.She said, This is our third protest to this place (Ministry of Justice). The first time we came here, we were able to see the minister (Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami) and he assured us that he was going to get on top of this matter but nothing has been done.All we want is very simple: justice. I mean Desmond died in EFCCs custody barely six hours he was taken in and the next morning, the EFCC issued a press statement that it was an alleged fraudster that died in their custody.All we want is justice; probe all business that he did. Was it really a fraud? Or it was a mere business transaction that went wrong? Let them conclude investigation. Let us know. Is he innocent? Is he culpable? The Minister of Justice should please ensure that my late husband gets justice.
Jonathan Brown is the Alwaleed bin Talal Chair of Islamic Civilization in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and he is the Director of the Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim Christian Understanding.



Its very hard to have this discussion because we think of, lets say in the modern United States, the sine qua non of morally correct sex is consent. We think of people as autonomous agents. Everybodys an autonomous agent and its the consent of that autonomous agent that makes a sexual action acceptable. Correct?



For most of human history human beings have not thought of consent as the essential feature of morally correct sexual activity. And second, we fetishize the idea of autonomy to the extent that we forget, again whos really free? Are we really autonomous people? I mean what does autonomy mean? Can I just drivecan I be like a cowboy and in a movie or an action TV series where I just get on my motorcycle and just ride to the West? No, I got kids. I have a mortgage. I mean were all born into and live in a network of relationships and responsibilities and duties, but we have this obsession with the idea of autonomy.





We see [the difference between being a concubine and a wife] as enormous because were obsessed with the idea of autonomy and consent, would be my first response.







So who is Jonathan Brown Brown has recently hit the headlines for defending the practices of slavery and concubinage in a lecture . Like many apologists he borrows from discourses more usually associated with secular liberalism to soothe his listeners ears. Some use the language of human rights and liberalism to defend illiberal practices. Brown disingenuously invokes postmodern relativist uncertainty to trivialise rape. Here are some excerpts from his justification (taken from this piece at the Daily Banter ).With horrible sophistry, in a calm and chatty tone, Brown presents the fact that we cannot do exactly what we feel like all the time (or will pay a price if we try to do so) as a justification for rape. Here, via Tom Holland, is another statement on the topic (from 2015).This story broke a couple of days ago but has received comparatively little coverage. There is nothing in the mainstream media, as far as I can see, although there is of course a post on Jihad Watch and a great many Trump supporters are tweeting their disapproval. To be fair, so are a good many liberals  but its more dispiriting than surprising to see such comparative indifference to a tenured academic at a US university expressing these utterly horrifying views.
Who's to blame when 'just following orders' means murder?



By Frida BerriganJanuary 7, 2008



A Marine squad was on a dusty road in Iraq, far from home. Suddenly, a deadly roadside bomb explodes the early morning calm and kills a lance corporal and wounds two other Marines. The mission: tend to the wounded and find those who were responsible ... Or make someone pay? Three sleeping families awaken to the sound of grenades and guns.





By the end of the "operation," 24 people were dead, including three women and six children. Bullets, fired at close range, tore through bodies and lodged deep in walls. A one-legged elderly man was shot nine times in the chest and abdomen. A man who watched the violence from his roof across the road told The Washington Post that he heard his neighbor speak to the Marines in English, begging for the lives of his wife and children, saying, "I am friend. I am good." All the family was killed except one: 13year-old Safa. Covered in her mother's blood, she reportedly fainted and appeared dead.

In a road nearby lay the bodies of five men--four college students and their driver.



On Nov. 20, 2005, a Marine spokesman reported: "A U.S. Marine and 15 civilians were killed yesterday from the blast of a roadside bomb in Haditha. Immediately following the bombing, gunmen attacked the convoy with small-arms fire. Iraqi army soldiers and Marines returned fire, killing eight insurgents and wounding another."



The only truth in that statement was that there was a roadside bomb and that a Marine--Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas, known as T.J. to the other men in his squad--was killed instantly. The rest was a lie. It took months for the truth to come out, and the search for justice is taking even longer. The 24 Iraqi bodies have since been buried in a cemetery in Haditha, a farming town beside the Euphrates River. But no one--from the commander on down--has been sentenced to prison, and the effort to hold Marines responsible for this crime has focused on a few men who are low on the chain of command.



Geoffrey Corn, a retired lieutenant colonel and a professor at Southern Texas College of Law, says the laws of war work because "for every case of atrocities that we read about, there are thousands of Marines and soldiers who act with restraint."



The Laws of Armed Conflict and the Geneva Conventions were designed as the basis for military conduct in times of war. Three central principles govern armed conflict: military necessity, distinction (soldiers must engage only valid military targets) and proportionality (the loss of civilian lives and property damage must not outweigh the military advantage sought). Among other things, the Geneva Conventions identify grave breaches of international law as the "willful killing; torture or inhuman treatment; willful causing of great suffering; and extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully or wantonly." An examination of the military's actions in the aftermath of Haditha reveals a clear unwillingness to apply these principles.

Whose neck is on the line?



"You stop war crimes by coming down on the ranking officer," says Ian Cuth-bertson, a military historian and senior fellow at the World Policy Institute.



"All armies in all wars at all times have committed war crimes," he continues. "The question is: Does command authority condone or stop them? You can't just give an 18-year-old an automatic weapon and tell him, 'Don't shoot prisoners in the head.' You need an officer to rein him in. The officer needs to feel as though his own neck is on the line."

In the case of Haditha, Marines have not put officers' necks on the line. Maj. Gen. Richard Huck, who was in charge of Marines in Haditha in 2005, along with his chief of staff Col. Richard Sokoloski and Col. Stephen Davis, who headed the regimental combat team, all received letters of censure from the secretary of the U.S. Navy. The censure did not strip the men of their rank or salary, but they will be barred from future promotions, which could force them out of the Marines. According to Gary Solis, a military law expert and former Marine, censure is the Marine Corps' most serious administrative sanction.

But, as Cuthbertson points out, the generals are not being censured for letting Haditha happen. They are being punished for not investigating. This is a big difference.



Cuthbertson cites the Allied response to the Malmedy massacre in Belgium as one example of taking war crimes seriously up the chain of command. In 1944, German soldiers killed more than 70 unarmed U.S. prisoners of war. In war crimes trials after Germany was defeated, justice was swift and extended far beyond those who actually pulled triggers. "The commander of the regiment wasn't there. He was found guilty and sentenced to death," says Cuthbertson. "The general of the Army wasn't there. He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison."

Unraveling the massacre



In January 2006--a month after the Haditha massacre--an Iraqi journalism student gave Time magazine a video of the bloody aftermath. Taher Thabet shot footage in the homes and at the morgue, recording the carnage in shaky frames. Time passed the footage on to the chief military spokesman in Baghdad, forcing the Marines to launch an investigation. Until the evidence was in their hands (and widely available on the Internet), they appeared ready to accept as truth the flimsy, contradictory account of events cobbled together by the squad leader and his men.



Two months later, the investigation determined that Marines--not insurgents--killed the civilians, and Naval Criminal Investigative Services further concluded that the civilians were deliberately targeted. CNN reported on the investigations on March 16, and Time published a long article on March 27. President Bush, however, did not address the Haditha issue until June 1, when he called the allegations "very troubling for me and equally troubling for our military."



But it took until December 2006 for eight Marines to be charged: four enlisted men with unpremeditated murder, and four officers with dereliction for covering up or failing to report the killings. These indictments helped the Marines create the impression that those responsible for Haditha were rigorously prosecuted. Yet the four charged with murder were not the only four who pulled triggers that day. And the four officers charged in the cover up were not the only four who lied.



In handing down the eight indictments, the Marines also granted immunity to at least seven others who either participated in the killings or tried to hide what the squad had done. The military ultimately offered immunity deals to two of those charged with murder in exchange for their damning testimony. Charges against two of the officers were also dismissed after their "Article 32 hearings," a sort of a half trial, half grand-jury proceeding unique to military criminal proceedings.



At this point, criminal responsibility for 24 murders in at least four separate locations is being placed on two Marines: Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich and Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum. Of their squad of 13, they are the only two who face general court martial for the killings.

Tatum, from Edmund, Okla., is charged with involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. His trial date has not been set, but if found guilty of all three, Tatum could face a maximum 19 years in confinement, a dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of pay. During his July 24, 2007 military investigation hearing, the 25-year-old Marine choked back tears, saying, "I am not comfortable with the fact that I might have shot a child. I don't know if my rounds impacted anyone. ... That is a burden I will have to bear."



For his part, Wuterich, the Marine squad leader, was originally indicted with more than a dozen counts of unpremeditated murder, as well as soliciting another to commit an offense and making false official statements, which carry a maximum penalty of imprisonment for life. After his Article 32 hearing in August 2007, Investigating Officer Lt. Paul Ware recommended dismissing 10 murder charges and reducing seven others to negligent homicide. There has not been a determination on that recommendation, and a court martial date has not yet been set. Wuterich told CBS's "60 Minutes": "Everyone visualizes me as a monster--a baby killer, cold-blooded, that sort of thing." On the TV screen, he was handsome, polished and impossibly young looking.



Of the other four charged with the lesser offense of failing to report the incident, or obstructing the investigation--only two remain under indictment. One of them, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, is the most senior U.S. servicemen to face a court martial for action in combat since Vietnam. He is not being charged for allowing the crimes to happen, but for violating a lawful order and willful dereliction of duty for failing to report and investigate the deaths.

In cold blood?



The cases will hinge not on what happened or why, but how: Was it a rage-induced rampage or a by-the-book operation? The answer to that question depends on which side of the gun you're on.



Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), a former Marine who chairs the Subcommittee on Defense in the House Appropriations Committee, told reporters in May 2006 that the investigations would reveal that "our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood."

But soldiers are not supposed to kill in cold blood. "War is not a license," wrote Telford Taylor, a lead-prosecutor at Nuremberg, in Vietnam, an American Tragedy. "It does not countenance the infliction of suffering for its own sake or for revenge."



Thabet, the Iraqi journalism student who filmed the aftermath at Haditha, saw rage, telling Time: "They not only killed people, they smashed furniture, tore down wall hangings and when they took prisoners, they treated them very roughly. This was not a precise military operation."



Not so, says Wuterich. "We reacted to how we were supposed to react to our training and I did that to the best of my ability," he told "60 Minutes." "The rest of the Marines that were there, they did their job properly as well. We cleared these houses the way they were supposed to be cleared." Lt. William Kallop ordered Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich to "clear" one of the homes. He was granted immunity from future prosecution in exchange for his testimony.



Another Marine, Lance Cpl. Humberto Manuel Mendoza, who was not indicted, told investigators that he shot at least two people: "I was following my training that all individuals in a hostile house are to be shot." Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, whose murder charges were dropped in exchange for his testimony against Wuterich, testified that after riddling dead bodies with automatic fire, he urinated on the head of one corpse. "I know it was a bad thing what I done, but I done it because I was angry T.J. was dead."

'I was just following orders'



Justifying crimes with assertions that "we reacted to how we were supposed to react to our training" is not new. It echoes Befehl ist Befehl--I was just following orders--words Nazi leaders accused of war crimes used to justify their actions. The Nuremberg Tribunals following World War II found many of them guilty, sentencing them to death or life in prison.



The tribunals placed the conscience of the individual above the will of military superiors. "In the military, there is a culture of compliance, fear, blind obedience, silence," says Camilo Mejia, 32, who joined the Army when he was 19 and went to prison rather than return to Iraq. Mejia served in the Florida National Guard and went to Iraq as staff sergeant in 2003. "Behavior is suggested and implied. The expectation is that if everyone else is doing it, you should do it."



At a detention facility in Al Assad, Mejia's unit was responsible for keeping prisoners awake for long periods of time in preparation for interrogation. In an interview, he described their job as "sleep deprivation with loud sounds, mock executions, treating them as sub-humans." His unit performed this long enough to "see that this was a systematic problem from the very top," says Mejia. "They had set the tone and the work. We just followed suit. No one sat us down and said, 'We want you to commit war crimes.' But they communicated what we were supposed to do, and that was war crimes."



In June 2004, Mejia told CBS's "60 Minutes II" about the 12 or 13 Iraqis he and his men killed in Ramadi, mostly civilians caught in the crossfire. "Whether you want to admit it or not to yourself, this is a human being," Mejia. "And I saw this man go down and I saw him being dragged through a pool of his own blood and that shocked me."

In war, Mejia says, "committing war crimes is what you are expected to do."

Hamdaniya



The month after the Haditha massacre became news, the Marines found themselves shamed by another atrocity. On April 26, 2006, Marines based in Hamdaniya dragged Hashim Ibrahim Awad, a 52-year-old man and father of 11 children, from his home in the middle of the night, bound his hands and feet and shot him to death. The Marines' plan was to snatch a suspected insurgent said to be behind a rash of roadside bombings and who had been repeatedly captured but released. When the Marines could not find him, they kidnapped and killed the man's neighbor instead. Later, they stole an AK-47 and staged the scene so that it appeared that Awad was caught while deploying a roadside bomb.



Seven Marines and a Navy corpsman--who became known as the Camp Pendleton Eight--were charged in the case. During the Article 32 hearings, defense attorneys said the Marines' superiors told them they were too soft. They had witnessed their superiors beating Iraqi suspects and felt pressured to be more aggressive in an environment where roadside bombs and attacks were constant and assailants melted in and out of the civilian population. Lance Cpl. Robert Pennington testified that the men were "sick of" their rules of engagement and decided "to write our own rules to keep ourselves alive."

Trent Thomas, a corporal from East St. Louis charged in the case, appeared on "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees." When asked if he was ordered to kill Awad: "I really can't say," Thomas responded, but later allowed, "I think your leadership plays a huge factor in what you do. That's all I can say."



Thomas was demoted to private and received a bad conduct discharge.

Only two of the Camp Pendleton Eight remain in prison. Pennington is expected to serve eight years on a 14-year sentence after a plea agreement, and Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins was sentenced to 15 years. But Gen. James Mattis--the same convening authority who made determinations in the Haditha killings--is reportedly considering reducing both sentences.

Abu Ghraib



The world learned about Abu Ghraib from the photos. Piles of naked bodies. A man leashed like a dog. A hooded figure standing on a box with wires hanging from him. A menacing dog inches from a cringing man's face.



Assertions that the torture was the result of sadistic, bored or under-supervised soldiers have been widely discredited. "There is no way that a handful of low-ranking soldiers could have invented techniques all by themselves that, curiously enough, were used at Guantanamo and at other places in Iraq and Afghanistan," says Stjepan Mestrovic, a sociologist at Texas A&M University.



After months of cover-up, the blame was laid at the feet of several low-ranked soldiers, pictured grinning and giving the thumbs-up. Pvt. Lynndie England and Spc. Charles Graner were tried, convicted and sentenced to three and 10 years, respectively. Seven others have been sentenced for abuse at Abu Ghraib.



Only 54 military personnel--a fraction of the more than 600 U.S. personnel implicated in detainee abuse cases throughout Iraq and elsewhere in the war on terror--have been convicted by court martial. And only 40 have been sentenced to prison time, many for less than a year, according to a 2006 analysis by the Detainee Abuse and Accountability Project. No U.S. military officer has been held accountable for criminal acts committed by subordinates under the doctrine of command responsibility.

International law limps into the breach



Military prosecutors have won convictions against soldiers and Marines in more than 200 cases of violent crimes, including murder, rape and assault against Iraqi civilians, according to a July 27, 2007 New York Times analysis. In some cases, these convictions may come with severe sentences. Federal prosecutors are said to be seeking the death penalty for former Pvt. Stephen Green, who is accused of raping and murdering a 14-year-old Iraqi girl, as well as slaying her parents and younger sister. He will be tried as a civilian because he was discharged before the crimes came to light. This horrific crime is the subject of Brian de Palma's new movie Redacted.



But seeking the death penalty for Green, sentencing Hutchins to 15 years or court-martialing Wuterich for multiple unpremeditated murders is not the same as seeking justice for war crimes. These three should be held responsible, but the scales of justice are tipped toward scapegoating the convenient foils. They have committed awful and criminal acts, but their guilt cannot be easily separated from those who are the architects of the war.



In November 2006, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a nonprofit legal and educational organization, filed a criminal complaint, asking a German federal prosecutor to open "a criminal prosecution that will look into the responsibility of high-ranking U.S. officials for authorizing war crimes in the context of the so-called war on terror," according to a CCR statement. On behalf of 12 Iraqi citizens whom the U.S. military detained and tortured at Abu Ghraib, the complaint names former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and other high-ranking U.S. officials. The German court dismissed the case in April 2007, ruling that a U.S. court should hear the charges. But CCR--along with other groups--have filed similar charges in Sweden, Argentina and France.



"This is a case of universal jurisdiction," says Belinda Cooper, editor of War Crimes: The Legacy of Nuremberg and a professor of human rights and international law at New York University's Center for Global Affairs, "It's brought under the theory that any country can take jurisdiction of particularly heinous crimes, especially if the country that would normally prosecute them is unlikely to do so." She continues: "But can you imagine Bush being tried in the U.S. or Putin in Russia for, say, torture of detainees during their administrations? The new international criminal court is not going to touch a Putin or a Bush."



While these projects inch forward, soldiers are taking matters into their own hands. In March 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will convene new Winter Soldier hearings, modeled on the February 1971 meetings in a Detroit Howard Johnson's. In the shadow of the My Lai massacre revelations, the hearings provided a platform to more than 125 Vietnam veterans to describe the atrocities they participated in and witnessed. This effort could once again give the United States a chance to listen to soldiers and Marines as they break the silence, hold themselves and each other accountable and demand the same from the architects of the war.
All of you should take a break and give thanks to Donald Trump for being a beacon in a rough sea.Those of you that are Canadian have the most to fear. Trump's secret death squads are massing on the border of the lower mainland, southern Onterrible and Quebec. Anyone living within 50 miles of the border is likely to be killed.For the rest of us, living away from Trump's Line of Death, we are destined to be taken out by drones that will be dropping nerve agent, crop poison and a virus that causes flesh eating disease. If you have ANY hope of survival, the best thing to do is to 'hunker in the bunker'. You do have one built, don't you?This is the official 'end of daze' that Nostadamus and a few others talked about.In the meantime, while the Canadians are waiting for their long, painful deaths, some Barry Manilow.Not originally spoken by Star Trek's Khan, but by Captain Ahab, in Herbert Melville's book. Just as Ahab plunges a harpoon into the large Dick (Moby), he speaks this line. And a good one too! For ye too have reached the end of daze.
Its tough to lose a shepherd.

And parishioners of First United Methodist Church in Fremont are mourning the loss of a man who helped guide the flock for many years.

The Rev. Greg Hall, the churchs associate pastor, died Wednesday at Lakeside Hospital in Omaha.

He was 65.

A former deputy sheriff, Hall later became a minister, serving churches in Nebraska, including those in Fremont and neighboring towns.

Those who knew Hall remember him for the solid relationships he built with people, the engaging sermons in which he used his own real-life stories to convey spiritual truths, and his love of music.

He meant so much to our church family and our community, said congregant Kevin Eairleywine. He was a very special part of our lives.

Eairleywine remembers Halls care for others.

It was a real mission for him to make personal connections, Eairleywine said. That was a big part of his ministry. He took it upon himself to make sure when people walked into our church to interact with them and get to know them on a personal level.

In preparing for a funeral, Hall would talk with the family about their loved one, never taking notes.

He worked so hard at listening and developing that relationship that by the time he left that conversation, he knew about that loved one  even if hed never had a lot of interactions with him, Eairleywine said.

It was something he and his family experienced when Hall delivered the sermon at the funeral for Eairleywines father, LeRoy.

He spoke about dad as if hed known him for years, Eairleywine said.

During the sermon, Hall even shared a story about LeRoys startled reaction to a group of Christmas carolers in a way that was compassionate, humorous and meaningful to family and friends, Eairelywine said.

Hall also was going to perform the wedding for the Eairleywines daughter, Erin, in June.

The family was looking forward to having Hall preside at the wedding and he was, too, Eairleywine said quietly.

Other church members also shared warm remembrances.

Tim and Janet Todd have been members of the church for many years.

Todd recalled how Hall helped them when their son, Brian, who died in 2005.

He really helped us through the tough times, Todd said. We met with him privately a few times and we were very appreciative of the attention he gave us.

Like other parishioners, Todd recalled Halls sermons, which included illustrations from his own past.

Hall had grown up in Curtis, a small town about 35 miles south of North Platte.

The church website states that Hall worked for his father in the oil business. After that business was sold, Hall became a deputy sheriff for the Frontier County Sheriffs Department.

Hall wove those life experiences into his sermons.

He was a great storyteller, Todd said. He had story after story of things that happened to him and the people around that community and he incorporated that into his sermons. It brought his message home and made it real.

Eairleywine also recalled how Hall used his experiences to communicate and personalize the Scriptures in the sermons.

Young people loved to listen to him as well as those of us who are a little bit more mature, Eairleywine said.

Both Todd and longtime church member Bob Missel remembered Halls care for shut-ins.

Missel and his wife, Michelle, joined the church when they moved to Fremont in 1983.

He had a heart of gold, Missel said of Hall. He never missed an opportunity to reach out and visit people in the nursing homes and in hospitals. That was his gift. He had a presence that put people at ease.

Halls love of music was remembered as well.

He was a huge promoter of the energy that our praise band brought to the worship and to our congregation, Eairleywine said. He would even write songs for them. He would take a popular pop song or a rock song and he would work with the wording to give it a spiritual twist and meaning for us.

Missel described Hall as a kind soul.

He will be missed, Missel said.

Hall entered the ministry in 1990. He served congregations in Scotia and Craig.

In 1999, Hall was appointed to serve the United Methodist churches in North Bend, Hooper and Fremont Calvary.

The next year, he was appointed to serve Hooper Faith, Fremont Calvary and First United Methodist Church in Fremont.

He then began serving First United Methodist full time.

Hall and his wife, Cindy, have three children and eight grandchildren.

The funeral will be 10 a.m. Saturday at First United Methodist Church in Fremont. The Rev. Michael McGregor and the Rev. Ron Croom will officiate. Moser Memorial Chapel in Fremont is in charge of arrangements.
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.
Cox Communications is offering low-income area families the opportunity to receive discounted home internet services.

Designed to help close the digital divide by providing affordable internet service and devices to struggling students and families, Connect2Compete offers families Cox High Speed Internet for $9.95 a month.

Families must have at least one student in grades K-12 who live in the household, and the household must be participating in one of the following government assistance programs: free or reduced lunch through the National School Lunch Program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or public housing.

Families also cannot have subscribed to Cox internet services in the last 90 days or have any outstanding Cox bills or unreturned equipment.

As of Dec. 31, 2016, more than 1,100 households in the metro area have enrolled in the Connect2Compete program. Interested families can learn more by visiting Connect2Compete.org/Cox or by calling (855) 222-3252.

Every student deserves educational resources that will help them grow and thrive, said company spokeswoman Lisa Caudle said. Access to a fast, reliable internet connection at home is a fundamental way that parents can give students the tools to succeed while building the skill sets they need in todays world.
The Iowa Department of Public Health is calling for widespread testing for hepatitis C after a study showed cases in Iowa have almost tripled since 2000.

Data shows the number of Iowans diagnosed with the hepatitis C virus increased from 754 in 2000 to 2,235 in 2015, a press release from department stated. The number of diagnoses among Iowans between 18 and 30 years old more than quadrupled since 2009, with 303 cases alone in 2015.

More than 55 percent of Iowans with HCV live in Pottawattamie, Woodbury, Polk, Linn, Scott or Black Hawk counties, the release stated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that everybody born between 1945 and 1965 should be tested for the virus, as well as people who have a higher risk of exposure because of specific factors, including:

 Injecting non-prescription drugs, even once.

 Treating a blood-clotting problem before 1987.

 Receiving a blood transfusion or organ transplant before July 1992.

 Being on long-term hemodialysis treatment.

 Having liver disease or abnormal liver tests.

 Working in health care or public safety and were exposed to blood through a needle stick or other injury by a sharp object.

 Being infected with HIV.

At one time, only people who may have been exposed through these factors were considered high risk, said Dr. Sandeep Mukherjee, a specialist in gastroenterology and hepatology who practices at CHI Health Creighton University Medical Center and CHI Health Creighton University Medical Center Bergan Mercy.

But that left too many cases without an explanation.

Many of them didnt have any of those conventional risk factors, he said. We dont know why they came down with the virus.

And simply watching for symptoms isnt enough.

A lot of these people arent symptomatic, said Stacey Tams, director of practice operations at Methodist Physicians Clinic in Council Bluffs.

Added Mukherjee: Most people with chronic hepatitis C dont even know they have it.

He recently had a patient born between 1945 and 1965 who tested positive for the virus and has no idea how he got it, he said.

Left unchecked, a hepatitis C infection can be serious or even fatal, Mukherjee said.

The big concern with hepatitis C, it can lead to cirrhosis (of the liver), he said.

Eventually, a patient may need a liver transplant. Medications for treating hepatitis are much better than they used to be, Mukherjee said. While patients once had to have injections, now there are more medications. They are available in a pill form, effective and cause less serious side effects. The latest ones became available in late 2013 or early 2014.

Overall, the side effect profile is very, very good, Mukherjee said, unlike the Interferon shots people once had to have. In addition, newer medications do not have as many drug interactions. Because they are more effective, treatment is completed faster.

Methodist Physicians Clinic is encouraging patients to be tested, Tams said.

We need to raise a little more awareness with hepatitis C, because it is out there, she said. You dont want to have long-term effects on your liver.
Jim Hunter loved EquiFest, a Topeka, Kansas festival that features a rodeo, horse riding and jumping events, vendors, speakers and other equine-related events. Hunter, of Council Bluffs, died at 80 last year in a car crash en route to the 2016 event.

The 2017 EquiFest, Feb. 24-26, will feature the Jim Hunter Memorial Ranch Rodeo.

Its such a great honor to have our dad be recognized like that for all his achievements in the rodeo business, said Paula Miller, his daughter.

Hunter was a longtime real estate agent and auctioneer in Council Bluffs. In 1990, he teamed with his partner, Carol Martin, to open Bronco Billys Arena and Tack. The business sells saddles, bridles, breast collars and many other various things for horses. Bronco Billys designs saddles that are manufactured in Texas.

A pretty entertaining guy, Martin said of Hunter. He was a very fun person. Very upbeat. People really loved him.

Hunter and Martin were on their way to EquiFest on Feb. 24, 2016, with Hunter driving a pickup pulling a 45-foot stock trailer traveling southbound on U.S. Highway 75 about seven miles south of the Kansas-Nebraska state line when a westbound sport-utility vehicle driven by 47-year-old Douglas L. Rehfeld of Overland Park, Kansas, failed to stop at a stop sign and pulled into the path of the pickup truck.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported that Hunters truck hit the SUV broadside. Both drivers were pronounced dead at the scene of the collision.

Martin, 71, was injured in the crash.

She and Bronco Billys manager Laurie Staton will head to Kansas this year, where Bronco Billys will again be a vendor.

Martin said Hunter was known as a great salesman. She said that, thanks in part to Hunter, the business is known worldwide, selling saddles to clients as far away as Italy, Germany and Australia.

Jim was just a really talented guy. He was an entrepreneur, could really see things in the industry and where to go, Staton said. He took pride in the Bronco Billys saddles. He was dedicated to finding a saddle tree that fits the horse and the rider.

Scott Tucker, chairman of the ranch rodeo committee for EquiFest of Kansas, called Hunter a close, personal friend and a big supporter of the event.

Tucker explained a ranch rodeo is different from a traditional rodeo, featuring skills you would use in a ranch setting like trailer loading and team cattle sorting.

Jim was always a big supporter of the EquiFest event, Tucker said. I wanted to do something to honor him and bring recognition.

Tucker said the rodeo has been a part of EquiFest for the past six or seven years but is not a permanent part, as EquiFest officials vote on the schedule each year. He wasnt sure if the rodeo would bear Hunters name beyond the 2017 event.

The rodeo will be held at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25 and at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 26. For more information go to equifestofks.com.

Last year, it was so fresh  such a tragedy, Tucker said. This year, we wanted to bring recognition to this loss.
With the debate over cities use of traffic cameras still unresolved by Iowa lawmakers, a new study conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety suggests again that greater, not reduced, traffic enforcement efforts are needed to reduce the carnage on our urban and rural roadways.

The AAA study, which questioned 2,511 licensed drivers age 16 and over, found that well over half of drivers in every age group have texted behind the wheel, run a red light or driven faster than the speed limit in the last 30 days.

Not unexpectedly, younger drivers who took part in the study were, by their own admissions, the worst offenders. Eighty-eight percent of drivers ages 19 to 24 admitted to at least one of those behaviors. At the same time, the youngest drivers  those ages 16 to 18  were less likely to engage in speeding, running red lights or texting while driving than drivers in their 20s through 50s.

Twenty-three percent of drivers  and 36 percent of those ages 19 to 24  think its acceptable to drive 15 mph over the speed limit on a freeway. Forty-six percent of drivers say they have driven that fast on a freeway in the last 30 days.

But AAA officials were quick to point out that even mature drivers skirted the rules more often than researchers expected. For instance, 10 percent of drivers between 60 and 74 have texted or sent email from behind the wheel, while 37 percent of drivers over 75 said theyd driven through a light that had just turned red.

It was a surprise that there were relatively high rates of these behaviors among the drivers we think of as safer, Lindsay Arnold, a research associate with the AAA Foundation, told the AP.

Arnold said the responses were similar to those in past years, indicating a troubling trend. In 2015, U.S. traffic deaths rose 7 percent to 35,092, the largest single-year increase in five decades. Theyre expected to rise again in 2016 when that data is finalized.

It points to the need to improve driver behavior if were going to reverse this alarming trend, Arnold said.

Traffic cameras, at least the red light cameras that have been in use in Council Bluffs for the past several years, have proven to be an effective tool in helping reshape drivers behavior. In 2015, 20,647 violations were recorded by the cameras, a number that dropped to 18,887 in 2016  a decrease of slightly more than 8.5 percent.

The numbers compiled by the city show that the red light cameras have had a positive impact in terms of changing drivers habits for the better, but more needs to be done. A state-ordered ban or reduction in the use of traffic cameras would be an ill-advised step backwards.
Young people gather at annual educational event

Students from six area schools competed at the 2017 eighth grade and high school Regional Health/Science Meet at North Platte Community College on Thursday.

Eighty-four projects were presented and judged, and students also took a tour of the Health and Science Center for various workshops.

One classroom the students seemed to enjoy was the dental assisting program. Teacher Laurie Rogers explained Looking Out by Looking In.

We did cordless digital imaging, Rogers said. Its dental X-rays, but theyre digitized now. Theyre not film-based. Its a lot less radiation exposure for the patient.

Another course the students had the opportunity to participate in was This is Why We Clot, which included using glue to simulate blood clots as instructor Martin Steinbeck directed the students. Other workshops were Hands-On CPR and The Great American Eclipse in Nebraska.

Throughout the day, students had their projects judged. Kathy Harrison and Kristy Volentine, two of the judges, explained what they looked for in a project.

There are some specific things were looking for, Harrison said. One of the things we notice right off the bat is what the display looks like.

The judges consider how well the project is documented, the students hypothesis and their conclusions.

The research theyve done in order to obtain their information and get more background on it is another thing we look at, Volentine said.

Jessie Craig of Perkins County talked about her project.

Mine is over illusions and what age of people can actually see them, Craig said.

Craig sent four illusions to people of varying ages and recorded what they said they saw. One illustration asked whether the viewer saw Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe or both. Her conclusion was that age doesnt matter.

Its basically the eye of the beholder, Craig said. Most people see both, but most people see Albert Einstein over Marilyn Monroe from that illusion.

Winners received medals and ribbons and advanced to the 2017 Nebraska Junior Academy of Sciences State Science Fair at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln April 20.

Additionally, eighth-grade winners were invited to attend a State Science Meet at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha in June.

The winners in the middle school division were: first, Kayla Schilke, Chase County Schools; second, Rian Good, Gothenburg Public Schools; third, Bronson Long, Gothenburg Public Schools; fourth, Sean Worthman, Cozad Community Schools; fifth, Elissa Foley, Gothenburg Public Schools; sixth, Alyssa Kolbo, Cozad Community Schools.

The winners in the high school division were: first, Sam Aden, Gothenburg Public Schools; second, Emma Ferguson, Chase County Schools; third, Keifer Anderson, Gothenburg Public Schools; fourth, Samantha Jack, Eustis-Farnam Public Schools.

A new award was also given out this year. Lincoln Industries donated $125 to an overall winner from Lincoln County. That winner was Landon Klasna of St. Patrick Junior/Senior High School in North Platte.

The science meet was sponsored by the Nebraska Academy of Sciences, UNMCs Area Health Education Center and the Nebraska Coalition For Lifesaving Cures.
Company again seeks route through the state; opponents vow another fight

LINCOLN  The debate and controversy over the Keystone XL pipeline officially returned to Nebraska on Thursday.

Canadian pipeline company TransCanada filed an application Thursday for a pipeline route across Nebraska, following the same route that state regulators had approved in 2013.

Safety and a respect for the environment will guide the companys work, said Russ Girling, TransCanadas president and chief executive officer.

The founder of Bold Nebraska, which led the opposition to the pipeline, pledged to again use protests and lawsuits to halt the project, first proposed nine years ago.

Bold [Nebraska] continues to stand with farmers and ranchers to protect property rights from being infringed upon by a pipeline for their private gain, said Jane Kleeb. Keystone XL is and always will be all risk and no reward.

The application by TransCanada sets up a review by the Nebraska Public Service Commission that may take up to a year.

While proponents tout the construction jobs and tax payments that will be generated by the project, critics say that much of the oil is destined for foreign countries and that few permanent jobs will be created in Nebraska.

The 36-inch pipeline would carry crude oil produced in Canadas tar sands region to oil refineries on the Gulf Coast.

In 2015, President Barack Obama denied a permit for the project to cross the U.S. border, prompting TransCanada to withdraw its application for a 275-mile route across Nebraska.

But last month, President Donald Trump signed executive orders designed to revive the Keystone XL and end a stalemate over completion of the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota.

Trump said he also would seek a better deal for the Keystone XL, including use of U.S. steel in its construction.

Terry Cunha, a TransCanada spokesman, said that pipe for the unfinished portion of the Keystone XL already has been purchased and 75 percent of it is from the United States. He said the company is awaiting an interpretation of Trumps recent order about the pipe.

TransCanadas application was filed Thursday with the Nebraska Public Service Commission, which was granted authority to review oil pipeline projects by the Nebraska Legislature.

The company must show that the pipeline is in the public interest, according to a press release from the PSC. The commission now has 210 days to approve or deny the application, according to PSC spokeswoman Deb Collins.

But Kleeb, who now heads the multistate Bold Alliance, said that a national lawsuit will be filed soon claiming that Trumps executive order is unlawful because it allows no public comment and only a 60-day review of the project.

Local landowners, she said, will file objections to the project via the PSC review process. One argument will be that TransCanada should avoid disrupting additional land and build the Keystone XL parallel to an existing pipeline it completed in 2010 that crosses eastern Nebraska.

Kleeb said that if the PSC approves Keystone XLs proposed route, lawsuits and protests will follow.
Regarding the Paul Hammel article in the Feb. 5 Telegraph, Groene In Position of Power, profiling state Sen. Mike Groene, his lead sentence is misleading if not totally incorrect. Groene and I organized the Western Nebraska Taxpayers Association (WNTA) because we believed the Nebraska Legislatures spending was out of control. We fiscal conservatives circulated petition No. 423, Stop Over Spending, to put limits on spending increases. The petition was not directed at cutting public school budgets but was intended to limit budget growth at the state level.

Hammel points out that past heads of the Education Committee have historically had direct ties to the educational establishment. The past election shows that the public is looking for answers outside the establishment. Groene represents that outside independent thinking. This need for change is evidenced by our North Platte 11th-grade students score of 45 on the standardized math test. Also, 40 percent of incoming freshmen to Mid-Plains Community College in North Platte are required to enroll in remedial classes. The taxpayer paid for instruction in these subjects in our public schools and now must pay for them again at the junior college level.

We all have heard of the growing discipline problems in our public schools. Discipline should be the priority in the classroom if optimum learning is to be achieved. Groenes LB 595 is a step in that direction. Groene is giving us leadership we have been sadly lacking.

Dr. Gary Heinzle

North Platte
In 2017 Brad Fittler and his Hogs For The Homeless tour, supporting Father Chris Riley's Youth Off The Streets and backed by the New South Wales Rugby League, will once again hit the streets of NSW.

For the latest on the tour, stay locked on www.NSWRL.com.au as we preview the tour's route and profile those who'll be hitting the open road in the name of charity.

Members of the public can support the cause by purchasing raffle tickets, with proceeds going directly to Father Riley's worth charity. A number of great prizes are once again on the line, including a Harley-Davidson XL1200 CX Roadster (value $19,495), a money-can't-buy State of Origin experience for four people at Game Two on Wednesday, 21 June, 2017 (value $6,000), and a signed 2017 VB Blues Jumper.

Click here to purchase raffle tickets to support the cause

Hogs for Homeless background information

Australia may be considered the lucky country to many but for 105,237 Australians this isnt the case. One in 200 people are homeless in Australia on any given night when they sleep in the streets, struggling with fear and hunger.

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to a standard of living - that includes housing. Yet here in the lucky country 17% of homeless people are under the age of 12 (17,845) and while the population of indigenous people only represents 3% of the Australian total, they represent 25% of those who are homeless with 26,744 indigenous people living on the streets.

Despite being largely ignored by the mainstream population, there are many inspirational NGOs who attempt to provide assistance for the homeless nationwide.

One such organisation is Father Chris Rileys Youth off the Streets. While we often hear the terms street kids and runaways being used when referring to young homeless people the reality of it is much different.

Most young people experiencing homelessness are hidden from view and for the 42% of homeless people under the age of 24, domestic and family violence, as well as family breakdowns have played a large role in their situation. A number of structural factors also contribute to youth homelessness, including poverty, social inequality and youth unemployment.

In 2012, rugby league legend and NSW Blues warrior Brad Fittler said that as a father it made him feel sick that there were nearly 47,000 homeless young people under the age of 25 in Australia.

This prompted Freddy to contact Father Chris Riley and his Youth off the Streets team with the idea of creating a fundraising event to help a worthwhile cause. Freddy enlisted the help of some of his mates, fellow rugby league legends Ian Schubert and Nathan Hindmarsh to ride their Harley-Davidson motorcycles throughout NSW to raise awareness and funds for the homeless youth of Australia.

With the support of Harley-Davidson and the NSWRL they showed their true blue spirit and created Hogs for the Homeless.

You can also donate directly to Father Chris Rileys Youth Off The Streets charity by clicking here.

Youth Off The Streets is a non-denominational community organisation working for young people who are homeless, drug dependent and recovering from abuse. We support these young people as they work to turn their lives around and overcome immense personal traumas such as neglect and physical, psychological and emotional abuse.

Since opening in 1991, Youth Off The Streets has grown from a single food van delivering meals to young homeless people on the streets of Kings Cross to a major youth specific agency offering a full continuum of care through delivery of a wide range of services.

There are 25 services including aboriginal programs, crisis accommodation, alcohol and drug services, counseling, accredited high schools, outreach, residential programs and a mentoring program. Volunteers support us every step of the way.

Youth Off The Streets is accredited as a Designated Agency for Out of Home care and maintains policies and procedures that comply with the benchmark standards as defined by the Office for Children the Children's Guardian.
MUNICH  Making his debut on the world stage, Vice President Mike Pence is looking to reassure skeptical allies in Europe about U.S. foreign policy under President Donald Trump, who has made his "America First" mantra a centerpiece of his new administration.

Pence arrived Friday in Germany, his first overseas trip as vice president, on a mission to ease concerns about the U.S. commitment to multinational institutions like NATO and the European Union. The visit, which will include a stop in Brussels on Sunday and Monday, comes amid worries in Europe about Russian aggression, and amid lingering questions about Trump's relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and whether the new president may promote isolationist tendencies.

The dismissal of Trump's national security adviser, retired Gen. Michael Flynn, has also put Pence and his stature within the administration under new scrutiny. Flynn was forced to resign Monday following reports he misled Pence about contacts with a Russian diplomat, which the vice president learned about through media accounts.

Landing on a cold, rainy evening, Pence was greeted by about two dozen members of the Bavarian Honor Guard and local dignitaries at Munich's airport. On Saturday, he will deliver a speech at the Munich Security Conference and then meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Pence is also scheduled to sit down with the leaders of the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko  countries facing the threat of Russian aggression  along with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.

"These are pretty blunt-spoken people and they are very nervous. Pence is looking like an adult," said James Jeffrey, a U.S. ambassador to Iraq during the Obama administration and a distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "The question is will Trump listen to him?"

Pence was also expected to meet with the leaders of Iraq and Afghanistan, where the U.S. is embroiled in two separate wars. In the earliest days of his presidency, Trump declared his intention to fight and defeat the Islamic State group. But he also remarked that the U.S. may get a second chance to take Iraqi oil as compensation for its efforts in the war-torn country, a notion rebuffed by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who will be meeting with Pence.

Trump's immigration and refugee ban has also ruffled feathers with a number of Muslim-majority countries affected by the order currently tied up in court, including Iraq  a close ally in the fight against IS.

The American allies will be seeking clues from Pence as to how the Trump administration plans to deal with Russia in the aftermath of Flynn's departure, U.S. inquiries into Russia's involvement in the presidential election and Trump's past praise for Putin.

European countries along Russia's border were rattled about deeper U.S.-Russian ties after Trump suggested sanctions imposed after Russia's annexation of Crimea could be eased in exchange for a nuclear weapons deal and the president referred to NATO as "obsolete" in an interview before his inauguration. Trump has since tempered his language, telling foreign leaders in phone calls about the importance of the NATO alliance.

NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is a military alliance of European and North American democracies created after World War II to strengthen international cooperation as a counter-balance to the rise of the Soviet Union. In 2014, the 28-member alliance created a rapid-reaction force to protect the most vulnerable NATO members against a confrontation with Russia.

But Trump cast doubt as a candidate about whether the U.S. might fulfill its NATO obligations if he won the White House, saying in a July interview that he would decide whether to protect the Baltic republics against Russian aggression based on whether those countries "have fulfilled their obligations to us."

Pence will travel to Brussels, Belgium, on Sunday for meetings related to NATO and the European Union. His Monday itinerary includes face-to-face meetings with EU Council President Donald Tusk, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

As part of his message, Pence is expected to press allies in Europe to raise their defense budgets to NATO's target of 2 percent of GDP. Germany has been wary of the costs and pointed to its expenditures from supporting refugees and investing in international development.

As Indiana's governor, Pence led a number of foreign trade missions, and he traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan as a member of Congress. But he is just beginning his relationships with foreign leaders and aides said the trip was also aimed at establishing personal ties with U.S. partners.

"There's considerable concern, but because they don't know (Pence) they're willing to give him a chance," said Julianne Smith, a former deputy national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden. "This is the opportunity for the administration to reassure very skittish allies across the European continent and beyond."

__

Associated Press writer Vivian Salama contributed to this report.
HAMMOND  Just two years since its inception, the Commercialization and Manufacturing Excellence Center at Purdue University Northwest is already gaining attention and attracting entrepreneurs from throughout the Region.

PNW Dean of the College of Technology Niaz Latif said the center has two main goals.

Through the commercialization component, PNW seeks to bolster economic development by providing insight and instruction to entrepreneurs and small employers with entrepreneurial ideas.

As these ideas surface and move forward, students in the school's College of Technology get involved and benefit through hands-on learning about how to move new ideas to the marketplace.

The center also is an advanced manufacturing site for business and industry, focusing on workforce development. It provides 21 weeks of training to displaced workers. In the past two and a half years, more than 350 have gone through training. About 70 percent of them have gained jobs, earning more than they previously did.

Associate Director Mont Handley is a successful entrepreneur in his own right, having created a product and small business called PITTMoss, an environmentally friendly alternative to peat moss.

In cultivating his product, Handley appeared on the popular television show, "Shark Tank," that generated valuable start-up cash for his business. As a result of his success with PITTMoss, Handley went to the White House last month and was awarded the coveted Tibbets Award for driving small-business innovation, research and development.

"I started out with an idea," Handley said.

"I pitched it on 'Shark Tank' and raised money from Mark Cuban and other investors. Now, I own a portion of a plant in Pittsburgh, (which is) manufacturing my product.

"We're trying to find those next new innovations that will become commercially viable. We're working with people from concept to commercialization. Anyone can come in  people in the community, students, faculty, just anyone."

New programs, ideas unfolding

In September, the center added a new feature called "1 Million Cups." Offered in cities throughout the country to promote innovators, the Hammond chapter of "1 Million Cups" is offered at 9 a.m. every Wednesday, and entrepreneurs are invited to come in, talk about their start-up, get feedback and have a cup of coffee with the group.

Lawrence Bova, of Michigan, and formerly of Northwest Indiana, is putting together a website called mi-auto.com that focuses on a person's second-most expensive purchase, their vehicle. Once launched, the site will be able to lower the cost of owning a car, Bova said.

Jim Perez, of Steger, Illinois, owns a marketing/public relations firm and is rebranding in hopes of launching a new product.

Davida McGruder, of Chicago, said she has a product she's hoping to get a patent for that will assist the elderly.

Caren Decesaris, 23, of Munster, who is a senior marketing major at PNW, helps out at the center but also has her own product she's hoping to launch.

"It's a health app for people with digestive issues," she said.

"Once you scan in the bar code for the foods you eat, it will tell you what you can't and can have. For example, if you're allergic to peanuts, the app will tell you if peanuts is one of the ingredients. I intent to enter it in The Big Sell."

The Big Sell Entrepreneurship Competition was created to offer people with big dreams an opportunity to put those ideas into action. Applicants who are selected will have two minutes to sell their idea to a large audience that votes electronically for the best ideas in Northwest Indiana and the country. Winners of this national competition get to share about $100,000 in cash and prizes.

Both Lorri Seldt, regional director of the Indiana Small Business Development Center, and Ken Gonzalez, business adviser, were on hand to offer support and listen to the ideas.

Handley said entrepreneurs who start small businesses are where the new "net jobs" will surface.

"It's going to be inventors and entrepreneurs, and it may be anywhere from one to nine employees," Handley said.

"There will always be places like Chambers of Commerce for small businesses to belong to, but there was really no place for people with new ideas and start-ups to meet, gain support and get ideas. We have '1 Million Cups' to give those people a welcoming space."
A Chinese private equity firm reached an agreement to acquire Merrillville-based DirectBuy, a 40-year-old buying club that was one of the few national brands ever to emerge from Northwest Indiana.

CSC Generation won a Delaware court's approval to purchase DirectBuy out of bankruptcy in a deal valued at up to $950,000 in cash and assumed liabilities. DirectBuy has about 200,000 members nationwide who pay membership fees to buy home goods and other product at wholesale prices.

This is really great news for DirectBuy. Three years ago, we set out on a mission to transform DirectBuy into a contemporary, member-focused organization that is easy to do business with and this sale is a testament to the hard work our teams have made in bringing us across the finish line, DirectBuy CEO Mike Bornhorst said.

CSC Generation will offer jobs to at least 417 DirectBuy employees in the United States and Canada, according to a declaration Bornhorst filed with a federal bankruptcy court in Delaware.

DirectBuy said in a statement it would continue to be headquartered in Merrillville, with more than 340 local employees working in member services, merchandising, vendor support and other business support services. DirectBuy employed around 400 at its corporate headquarters on Broadway late last year.

CSC Generation, which is helmed by CEO Justin Yoshimura, also has invested in other retail and business-to-business firms. It wants to diversify into home furnishings and home improvement through the acquisition, according to DirectBuy.

Highland resident Jim Gagan founded DirectBuy in 1971, and sold it to private equity firm Trivest Partners in 2007. It faced a slew of lawsuits for high-pressure sales practices, but new leadership came in and tried to reinvent it as an online retailer.
Fans of British rockers The Rolling Stones will have a chance to be immersed in the history of the band and its influence on fashion, film, art, and more during an upcoming monumental exhibit.

Exhibitionism, an engaging display on The Rolling Stones, opens in Chicago on April 15. On Thursday, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced the debut of the exhibit at Chicago's Navy Pier, where 500 items related to the legendary band will be displayed through July 30.

"It's full circle that this exhibit is coming to Chicago given the importance Chicago plays in the history of the Rolling Stones," Mayor Emanuel said. The Stones were influenced by many musicians from Chicago's rich blues scene.

Chicago is only the second U.S. city to feature Exhibitionism. It made its U.S. premiere in New York City, where it runs through March 12, before heading to the Windy City. The exhibit officially premiered in April of 2016 in London.

"This is a great exhibit. I'm happy it's going to be in Chicago and happy it's going to be at Navy Pier," Mayor Emanuel said.

He added, as a city, the tourism count recently hit 54 million.

"I've set a goal to (bring) 55 million visitors to Chicago," Mayor Emanuel said, adding the Stones exhibit will surely draw enthusiastic music lovers and fans to the Windy City.

In Exhibitionism, visitors will see a variety of items including clothing, instruments, handwritten lyric books, works of art, film and photos, an interactive recording studio, and much more. There will also be a 3D concert experience.

FYI: Tickets for Exhibitionism's Chicago debut go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Feb. 24. For tickets, visit StonesExhibitionism.com. There will be an exclusive Early Bird Offer of a 25 percent discount on limited edition commemorative VIP tickets through Feb. 21 only. Exhibitionism will be displayed April 15 through July 30 at Navy Pier's Festival Hall, 600 E Grand, Chicago.
Viva la Revolution Brewing.

That's a toast Region craft beer lovers can raise a glass to.

Northwest Indiana residents will soon be able to quaff IPAs and other craft brews from Chicago's popular Revolution Brewing without having to make a trip into the city.

Revolution, which was founded in 2010 and has since grown into Illinois' largest independently owned brewery, reached a deal to distribute its craft beer across Northern Indiana. The craft brewery, which has a major presence across the city, has won awards from Ratebeer, the Great American Beer Festival, the World Beer Cup and Chicago Magazine.

It's perhaps best known for its hoppy Anti-Hero IPA, a 6.5 percent Alcohol By Volume, 70 IBU India Pale Ale that's sold in distinctive cans with a raised fist and a military figure with a hop flower for a head. Its Anti-Hero, Eugene Porter, Fist City and Bottom Up Wit have been widely available in Chicago bars for years.

The hip brewery has a taproom in Chicago's chic Logan Square neighborhood, where auteur Joe Swanberg filmed part of the movie "Drinking Buddies."

Revolution Brewing is celebrating its expansion into neighboring Indiana with several launch week events, including a tap takeover from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Franklin House, 58 S Campbell Street in Valparaiso and a booth from noon to 5 p.m. at the Shelf Ice Brewfest in Franklin Street in downtown Michigan City Saturday.

Revolution is featuring its Anti-Hero, Local Hero IPA, A Little Crazy Pale Ale, Straight Jacket Barley Wine, and Dear's Tar Russian Imperial Stout.

The craft brewery, which also has a production brewery in Avondale, said in a Facebook post that it also hopes to expand into Southern Indiana and may soon have news about distribution there.
A Gary teen who earlier in the week was considered in "extreme danger" is now being charged with her mothers murder, Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Cater confirmed Thursday night.

Chastinea Reeves, 15, is being detained at the juvenile center on charges in connection with the death of Jamie M. Garnett, 34, who was found dead at her residence at about 2:10 a.m. Monday in the 4400 block of West 23rd Place in Gary. The Lake County coroner's office confirmed Thursday night Garnett's cause and manner of death were stab wounds in a homicide.

Carter said his office is seeking a waiver from a juvenile court judge to move Reeves to adult court. Reeves made her first appearance in juvenile court Thursday, Carter added.

Reeves  who was located by Gary police Tuesday afternoon  will be back in court April 12, when Carter said the waiver will be considered.

Reeves first went missing at about 2 a.m. Monday, police said, and was last seen in the area of 2027 Maine St. Reeves went to that address to seek assistance after her mother was the victim of a crime police reported.

An Amber alert was issued Monday for the missing teen. That alert was canceled just after Gary police held a press conference to announce Reeves had been found.
VALPARAISO  The sentencing of a former Lake County police officer on numerous drug charges was derailed at the last minute Friday when the judge rejected the plea agreement and scheduled the case for trial.

After listening to the accused, Gary Pilipovich, 33, of Chesterton, describe his view on the case, Porter Superior Court Judge Bill Alexa stopped the sentencing hearing and said he was not convinced a crime had been committed.

He questioned why a police officer would be charged with having what Pilipovich described as a very small amount of cocaine and a single tablet of MDMA, or ecstasy, that were used to field train new officers and police dogs.

Pilipovich also admitted he had anabolic steroids without a prescription for body building.

Alexa said it sounded to him like there was a defense for the charges in the case.

Defense attorney Larry Rogers said his client had pleaded guilty to the four felony charges because he was facing several more charges with this case and another alleging bomb-making and wanted to put the matters behind him.

The case was set for trial Oct. 2, with a preliminary hearing Aug. 25.

Alexa left Pilipovich out on bond and eliminated the supervision requirements.

Pilipovich was arrested and charged in June 2012 in Porter County with felony counts of possessing cocaine, possessing a syringe and possessing a controlled substance, and misdemeanor counts of possessing marijuana and paraphernalia.

The charges stemmed from a search of Pilipovichs Willowcreek Estates apartment triggered when an officer claimed he saw a bag of marijuana in plain view earlier in the day while assisting with an eviction.

Then, in January 2015, Pilipovich was arrested again on allegations of bomb-making and additional drug charges.

Prosecutors said in court in 2015 that black powder and ball bearings were found within a few feet of a fire at Pilipovichs new residence in the 200 block of South Calumet Road in Chesterton.
PORTAGE  Director of Administration Joe Calhoun resigned this week over what he called differences in philosophies with Mayor James Snyder.

"It just came to a point where our leadership philosophies weren't meshing," Calhoun said. "It is my job to get on board or to get out of the way. I decided to get out of the way."

Calhoun added that he had recently been pulled into the investigation of Snyder by the FBI, saying he was interviewed by agents after Snyder was indicted in November. He wouldn't comment on the particulars of the interview.

Snyder appointed Calhoun to the position more than three years ago. A 17-year Portage firefighter, he was technically on special assignment from the department to take the job and could return to the department.

"It was a fantastic job. I do feel like a lot was accomplished to bring the departments together," he said, praising department heads for their efforts over the last three years to move the city forward.

"I can't say enough about their dedication. They came together and worked together. They were awesome to work with."

Calhoun was considered the second in command at City Hall, providing a link between departments and between departments and the mayor. He managed policies, aligned human resource policies and was involved in union negotiations with employee groups. He said those negotiations are not yet completed.

"Sometimes jobs in the public sector, especially the job Joe Calhoun had, can be more punishing than rewarding," Snyder said in an email statement. "Right now we are on the grueling end with five union negotiations, the federal intensity on myself, dozens of major projects and the council scrutiny."

"Joe is a great friend to me and Portage, his service has been relentless and he is one of the hardest working men I know. He is doing what is best for him and his family; what he has accomplished in Portage will change it for generations to come. All that I can say to Joe is 'thank you,'" Snyder said.

Calhoun said he wasn't sure of his future. He has had a conversation with Fire Chief Tom Fieffer about returning to the department. A merit lieutenant, Calhoun was serving as an assistant chief when he was appointed director of administration.

"I have resumes out throughout the country, and I am hoping something will come through," said Calhoun, adding it may be his time to retire from the department and to "move on" and leave Portage.

"Portage residents are receiving and will continue to receive the same high quality of service. All department heads are stepping it up a bit for now, and when the time is appropriate we will work on replacement," said Snyder.
INDIANAPOLIS  Porter County Special Olympics is just one signature away from regaining the option to rent buses from local school corporations to take athletes to events.

The Indiana Senate voted 49-0 Thursday to send House Enrolled Act 1507 to Gov. Eric Holcomb for his expected approval.

It previously passed the House 97-0.

The legislation would eliminate what, until recently, was a long-ignored requirement that an organization serving individuals with developmental disabilities be state-supported to rent a school bus.

Porter County Special Olympics is funded through private donations.

It has had to shell out more of its limited resources to rent privately owned buses after the bus rental restriction was re-discovered by an insurance company lawyer.

State Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso, the sponsor, thanked senators for the expedited change to the law "on behalf of more than 500 Special Olympians in Porter County."

The measure was co-sponsored by state Sens. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes; Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago; Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores; and state Reps. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso; Jim Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie; and Earl Harris Jr., D-East Chicago.
EAST CHICAGO  Gov. Eric Holcombs visit Friday was filled with optimism and promises of more aid for residents living in the lead- and arsenic-contaminated USS Lead Superfund site and a cash-strapped city grappling with crisis.

"We will bring all there is at our disposal ... I feel like when we come out of this on the other end and get this right, we will be in a better place," Holcomb said Friday at a roundtable with state legislators, East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland, along with other local officials and representatives from East Chicago community groups.

Holcombs visit comes a week after issuing an emergency declaration Feb. 9 providing 30 days of enhanced state assistance to help relocate the remaining 86 families from the West Calumet Housing Complex, secure money to demolish the complex, seek funding to replace lead water service lines and other aid.

'Man-made catastrophe'

The order also authorizes state agencies to coordinate an emergency response, petition EPA to provide grant money for the replacement of lead pipes, engage the new federal administration for greater assistance and provide more blood testing.

His predecessor, now-Vice President Mike Pence, was heavily criticized for leaving office without issuing such a declaration.

The Rev. Cheryl Rivera, executive director for the Northwest Indiana Federation of Interfaith Organizations, thanked Holcomb for the declaration.

We want to thank you for acknowledging the cries of the people because we knew the city did not have all the resources needed to address this man-made catastrophe, she said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency added the 322-acre site to the Superfund list in April 2009, but it wasn't until this past summer that the city told more than 1,000 residents at the West Calumet Housing Complex  located in the first of three residential cleanup zones  they had to move out after sampling revealed soil in some areas contained more than 200 times the EPA's allowable limit for lead.

Residents living at more than 1,000 properties in zones 2 and 3 have not been told to relocate, and the EPA began excavating contaminated soil from their yards in October.

The governors visit was welcomed Friday by community leaders and affected residents, but many of their questions  centered on urgent needs of homeowners, such as water filters, and how to address long-term health effects of those exposed to these toxins decades before the crisis came to light last summer  went unanswered.

Asked by reporters, Holcomb shied away from fully committing to providing state funds for water filters in light of EPA finding elevated lead levels in some homes drinking water last year. He did say hes keeping an open mind and is in talks with federal officials about options.

Mayor Copeland said he is working with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to conduct comprehensive testing of the city's entire water supply.

City eyes March 31 move

As part of Holcombs declaration, U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Indiana, said he is working closely with HUD and local officials in securing emergency funds to demolish West Calumet.

Holcombs declaration, issued Feb. 9, provides for 30 days of enhanced state assistance for residents who have yet to relocate from the lead contaminated West Calumet Housing Complex, as well as other lead-impacted citizens in the affected area.

Holcomb told The Times he will re-evaluate the situation at the end of the 30 days to see if an extension is necessary.

Holcomb also ordered state agencies to seek federal approval for more lead testing sites throughout the city, promote the development of new, affordable rental housing in East Chicago and create a one-stop website for residents to keep up with federal, state and local progress reports. In addition, the Indiana Department of Homeland Security is empowered to obtain any services needed on an emergency basis from any level of government.

A total of 86 of 340 families remain at the West Calumet Housing Complex, where people were told last summer they had to relocate because of lead and arsenic contaminated soil. Housing Authority officials want residents out by March 31.

East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland told reporters Friday the city is rehabbing public housing units in the North Harbor area to relocate families that remain at West Calumet beginning March 31.

Under a civil rights agreement reached by the East Chicago Housing Authority and a Chicago-based housing justice watchdog in November, the local housing authority can temporarily relocate the remaining families starting March 31, but the emergency transfer is subject to HUD review of vacancies.

Akeesha Daniels, a mother of three who remains at West Calumet, argued at Fridays roundtable that there are too few housing options available to move out by March 31. She fears moving her three sons to the Harborside area due to gang tensions between the two communities.

Ive looked at over 40 properties on my own without no help, Daniels said. I havent been successful in finding a place to move to.

Lingering effects of industry

After Superfund homeowners laid out serious health ailments potentially caused by long-term lead exposure, East Chicago Health Commissioner Gerri Browning said the heavily industrialized community has long suffered an inordinate amount of health problems, questioning elected officials immediate focus on relocation and demolition.

What about the health of all the people who lived in the area all of these years? he said. Its well known to us, both anecdotally and factually, that East Chicago has its fair share of disease. Its no secret that our people who are either black, brown or poor, are living in these industrial areas  and weve suffered health-wise because of that.

Holcomb said while a tall order, alleviating the crisis in East Chicago is achievable.

"Hoosiers help Hoosiers. We're going to prove it, he said.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb and other state officials plan to visit East Chicago on Friday to meet with local officials and community leaders about the emergency declaration he issued last week for the USS Lead Superfund site.

Holcomb signed an executive order Feb. 9 providing for 30 days of enhanced state assistance to help relocate any remaining residents from the lead- and arsenic-contaminated West Calumet Housing Complex, secure money to demolish the complex, seek funding to replace lead water service lines and more.

Residents have said Holcomb's order is a good first step, but they have questioned whether it will adequately address the most immediate needs of all the sites residents.

About 100 families remained at the complex late last week, officials said, and residents living in about 1,000 properties in two other cleanup areas have not been told to move.

Holcomb, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, state legislators, East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland, other local officials and representatives from East Chicago community groups are expected to meet, according to the governor's office.

The meeting will be focused on outlining goals and providing updates on Holcomb's executive order.
HAMMOND  More than 100 people showed up to view and discuss what transit-oriented developments might look like around two proposed commuter train stations in Hammond, but some residents are not ready to jump on board with the plans.

A workshop Thursday at Kenwood Elementary School on Hohman Avenue was the second of two held this week on transit-oriented development along proposed South Shore stations that could come with the railroad's West Lake Corridor. The meeting on Thursday focused on possible development scenarios around the Hammond South and Gateway stations.

On Tuesday, Doug Farr, the head of Farr Associates consulting firm, presented three concepts for each of the areas around the proposed Munster/Dyer Main Street and Munster Ridge Road stations. At that meeting, Farr also said a marketing analysis of the full West Lake Corridor, including Hammond, contains strong demand for housing  up to about 4,600 units by 2040  and for office space  as much as 360,000 square feet by 2040. Current and projected demand for retail is light.

On Thursday, Farr presented three concepts each for transit-oriented development around stations in South Hammond, at approximately 173rd Street and Lyman Avenue, and the Gateway Station by Gostlin Street and the state line.

In May, consultants are expected to return and present one preferred plan for each station to residents.

Most of the residential demand is expected to be around the Munster and Munster/Dyer stations, while most of the demand for office space is expected to be in Hammond, primarily around the proposed Gateway Station. Farr, however, indicated to residents it was up to them to say what they preferred to have in these areas.

One of the concepts for the Gateway Station, for example, envisioned 250,000 square feet of office space, 8,000 square feet of commercial retail space, a 20,000-square-foot community building, and no residential. Other concepts showed less office space, and 84 to 135 dwelling units. All the concepts envisioned a pedestrian underpass going under the tracks and walkable, mixed-use development.

Farr noted that a market study found that 15 percent of residents around the proposed South Hammond station commute to Chicago, the highest among all the stations. The concepts for those stations all envisioned new park space, which would ideally tie in with the Monon Trail, and an at-grade pedestrian crossing at Lyman Avenue. One concept called for 2.3 acres of total park space, 235 new dwelling units, and 1,000 commuter parking spaces. The other plans called for less commuter parking. One called for 3,000 square feet of commercial/retail and another envisioned 8,500 feet of community space.

Connie Taylor and others at the table where she sat were opposed to the South Hammond station. Noting that one plan envisioned 1,000 parking spaces, Taylor said she didn't want to see all that traffic in her neighborhood.

Robert Ochi, however, said if the stations brought in more residential development that would be a good thing.

"I want my property value to increase," he said.

Pat Sinclair, however, said she didn't want to see any more high density housing around the area where the South Hammond station is proposed.

The South Shores operator, the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, hopes to begin construction on the West Lake Corridor project in 2020, and begin operations in late 2022.

The project has an estimated construction cost of between $590 million and $660 million, which will require a 50 percent matching grant from the federal government.

Farr Associates maintains a website regarding its work at westlaketod.civicpage.com.
LAKE STATION  City leaders are seeing if there's more money to be had through a possible sale of the municipality's water system.

The City Council voted 5-2 Wednesday to table acting on an ordinance to accept Indiana American Water's offer of nearly $20.7 million for the Water Department, which is about $300,000 more than the appraised value of the utility. Councilwomen Esther Rocha-Baldazo and Jennifer Miller voted against tabling the measure.

Councilman Rick Long said if Indiana American wants the water system that bad, the company could be willing to pay more for the utility. The city will now consider issuing a counteroffer for the department.

Rocha-Baldazo said seeking an increased amount could result in a surcharge associated with water rates that would be in place if Indiana American acquires the department. Long said a surcharge is a possibility if the company's current offer is accepted.

The amount of the counteroffer hasn't been determined. Mayor Christopher Anderson said a meeting will soon be scheduled to discuss how Lake Station will handle the situation.

Anderson said if Indiana American accepts the counteroffer, it doesn't mean the proposed sale is a done deal.

The council will still need to adopt an ordinance authorizing the sale of the water system, he said.

If the council decides to privatize the department, it would take 30 to 45 days to establish an asset purchase agreement for the water system. It will then be filed with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, which will have to approve the sale to Indiana American. That process could take six to seven months.

The council initially was scheduled to make a final decision about the proposed sale by Thursday to meet a deadline associated with the certification of the appraisal for the department, but that meeting has been canceled because the issue has been tabled.

Long said the appraisal will need to be certified again, and it won't cost taxpayer money for that to be done.
One need not fall into a quagmire of political rhetoric to be welcoming of diverse neighbors.

It's why we appreciate a movement afoot in some Region communities  and elsewhere in the nation  to display signs welcoming neighbors of all creeds and nationalities.

We all must recognize that American tenets of national security and promoting immigration and diversity aren't mutually exclusive.

Together, these concepts are essential to the history and future of the United States.

But we need not become wrapped in the fiery rhetoric raging on the national political stage to appreciate a local yard-sign movement.

It began when Sarah Highlen, of Chesterton, was looking for ways to express concerns that some national policies weren't sending a message of inclusiveness to immigrants.

A friend referred Highlen to the website of the Immanuel Mennonite Church in Virginia.

During the divisive 2016 presidential campaign, the church created a yard sign, which states in three languages, "No matter where you are from, we're glad you're our neighbor."

The church makes an electronic PDF version of the sign available on its website for anyone who wants to replicate and use it, free of charge.

Highlen provided the PDF to a local sign maker and found enough interest from a local Facebook group to purchase 96 yard signs containing the inclusive message.

Many of those signs can now be found displayed on property in Valparaiso and Chesterton.

Regardless of the tone or direction of high-profile political squabbles, we appreciate the signs and the people displaying them for the openness they foster in our Region.

We must continue to find ways of securing our way of life while also ensuring immigrants, who would become a productive part of our society, feel welcome to do so.

Our nation can't be one without the other.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia  North Korea said Friday it will reject the results of an autopsy on its leader's estranged half brother, the victim of an apparent assassination this week at an airport in Malaysia. Pyongyang's ambassador said Malaysian officials may be "trying to conceal something" and "colluding with hostile forces."

Speaking to reporters gathered outside the morgue in Kuala Lumpur, North Korean Ambassador Kang Chol said Malaysia conducted the autopsy on Kim Jong Nam "unilaterally and excluding our attendance."

Kim Jong Nam, who was 45 or 46 and had lived in exile for years, suddenly fell ill at the Kuala Lumpur airport on Monday as he waited for a flight home to Macau. Dizzy and in pain, he told medical workers at the airport he had been sprayed with a chemical. He died while being taken to a hospital.

"We will categorically reject the result of the postmortem," Kang said, adding that the move disregarded "elementary international laws and consular laws."

Kang said the fact that Malaysia has yet to hand over the body "strongly suggests that the Malaysian side is trying to conceal something which needs more time and deceive us, and that they are colluding with the hostile forces towards us who are desperate to harm us."

South Korea has accused its enemies in North Korea of dispatching a hit squad to kill Kim Jong Nam at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, saying two female assassins poisoned him and then fled in a taxi.

North Korean diplomats in Malaysia objected to an autopsy and had requested custody of Kim Jong Nam's body, arguing that he had a North Korean passport. Malaysian authorities went ahead with the procedure anyway, saying they did not receive a formal complaint.

The autopsy could provide some clarity in a case marked by speculation, tales of intrigue and explosive, unconfirmed reports from dueling nations. Authorities were still awaiting the autopsy results.

Malaysia said Friday it wants DNA samples from Kim Jong Nam's family as part of the post-mortem procedure and that officials were not yet willing to hand the body over to the North Koreans. Although Kim Jong Nam is believed to have two sons and a daughter with two women living in Beijing and Macau, police in Malaysia say none have come forward to claim the body or provide DNA samples.

"If there is no claim by next-of-kin and upon exhausting all avenues (to obtain DNA), we will finally then hand over the body to the (North Korean) embassy," said Abdul Samah Mat, a senior Malaysian police official. He would not say how long that process might take.

Malaysian police have arrested three people in the investigation but have released few details.

On Friday, Indonesia's national police chief said the Indonesian woman arrested for suspected involvement in the death was duped into thinking she was part of a comedy show prank. The police chief, Tito Karnavian, said he was citing information received from Malaysian authorities.

Karnavian told reporters in Indonesia's Aceh province that Siti Aisyah, 25, was paid to be involved in "Just For Laughs" style pranks, a reference to a popular hidden camera show.

He said she and another woman performed stunts which involved convincing men to close their eyes and then spraying them with water.

"Such an action was done three or four times and they were given a few dollars for it, and with the last target, Kim Jong Nam, allegedly there were dangerous materials in the sprayer," Karnavian said. "She was not aware that it was an assassination attempt by alleged foreign agents."

Karnavian's comments come after a male relative of Aisyah said in an Indonesian television interview that she had been hired to perform in a short comedy movie and traveled to China as part of this work. Indonesian Immigration has said Aisyah traveled to Malaysia and other countries it did not specify.

Investigators were still trying to piece together details of the case, and South Korea has not said how it concluded that North Korea was behind the killing.

Malaysian police were questioning three suspects  Aisyah, another woman who carried a Vietnamese passport, and a man they said is Aisyah's boyfriend.

Kim Jong Nam was estranged from his younger half brother, the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He reportedly fell out of favor with their father, the late Kim Jong Il, in 2001, when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

Yoji Gomi, a Japanese journalist who wrote a book about Kim Jong Nam, said he criticized the family regime and believed a leader should be chosen "through a democratic process."

Gomi said he met Kim Jong Nam by chance at Beijing's international airport in 2004, leading to exchanges of 150 emails and two interviews in 2011  one in Beijing and another in Macau  totaling seven hours.

Kim Jong Nam appeared nervous during the interview in Macau, Gomi said.

"He must have been aware of the danger, but I believe he still wanted to convey his views to Pyongyang via the media," Gomi said. "He was sweating all over his body, and seemed very uncomfortable when he responded to my questions. He was probably worried about the impact of his comments and expressions. The thought now gives me a pain in my heart."

In Indonesia, Aisyah's family and former neighbors said they were stunned by her arrest, describing her as a polite and quiet young mother.

Between 2008 and 2011 she and her then-husband lived in a home with flaking red paint in a narrow alley of Tambora, a densely populated neighborhood in western Jakarta.

Her former father-in-law, Tjia Liang Kiong, who lives in a nearby middle-class neighborhood and last saw Aisyah on Jan. 28, described her as respectful.

"I was shocked to hear that she was arrested for murdering someone," he said. "I don't believe that she would commit such a crime or what the media says  that she is an intelligence agent."

Aisyah's mother, Benah, said by telephone that the family comes from a humble village background and has no ability to help her.

"Since we heard that from the television, I could not sleep and eat. Same as her father, he just prays and reads the holy Quran. He even does not want to speak," said Benah. "As villagers, we could only pray."

According to Kiong, Aisyah only completed junior high school and moved to Malaysia with her husband in 2011 to seek a better life after the garment-making shop they ran from their home went out of business. The couple left their nearly 2-year-old son in Jakarta under the care of Kiong and his wife.

She and her husband divorced in 2012.

Malaysia, which is approaching developed-nation income levels, is a magnet for millions of Indonesians, who typically find work there as bar hostesses, maids and construction and plantation workers.

The three suspects were arrested separately on Wednesday and Thursday.

The women were identified using surveillance videos from the airport, police said. Early Friday, police took the pair back to the crime scene at the budget terminal of the airport "for further investigations," Abdul Samah said. Local media reported that police wanted to re-create the crime scene to establish new leads.

___

Associated Press writers Niniek Karmini and Ali Kotarumalos in Jakarta, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Tim Sullivan in New Delhi contributed to this report.
Officials identified Friday the person they say was killed during a shootout with police in East New York on Thursday afternoon.

Authorities said Kadeem Torres, 17, opened fire on a group of police officers after they approached him around 4 p.m. near the Cypress Hills Houses.

The three officers were on patrol in the area when they saw Torres run out of the complex.



The Brooklyn resident ran away after he fired at police, according to the NYPD, but one officer followed Torres into an alley, and then fatally shot him once.

Police said they recovered a gun at the scene, seen on the left.
We have seen in the recent past Chinese companies wade into countries nobody else would, said Philippe de Pontet, an analyst at the Eurasia Group, a private research firm. That may be changing.

Image A Guinean worker at a site where a Chinese company is building a hospital in Conakry. The friendship between Guinea and China dates from the 50s. Credit... Olivier Asselin for The New York Times

In 2007 China announced a $9 billion deal with Congo for access to its giant trove of copper, cobalt, tin and gold in exchange for developing roads, schools, dams and railways needed to rebuild a country roughly the size of Western Europe and shattered by more than a decade of war.

But that deal is now in doubt as falling prices have left Congo in a much weaker negotiating position. It also suddenly finds itself needing the help of the International Monetary Fund, which has objected to writing off the countrys old debt even as Congo takes on what amounts to new mineral-backed loans from China. Congos political and ethnic turmoil remains deep, and its economy is near collapse.

A year ago those factors seemed irrelevant. Chinese companies did not flinch from making deals to search for oil in the pirate-infested waters off Somalia, or to mine industrial metals in places like Zimbabwe.

Unlike many Western companies, Chinese state oil companies had no qualms about doing business with the government of Sudan, which has become an international pariah because of the conflict in Darfur.

China espoused a new model for African investment: mutually beneficial trade between sovereign nations with none of the meddling so common among Western donors and investors, with their demands for labor and environmental standards, as well as respect for democracy and human rights.

These policies proved popular among African governments, and trade between Africa and China grew to more than $100 billion by 2008, from less than $10 million in the 1980s. African leaders spoke openly about Chinas offer of an alternative to the edicts of Western-dominated institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Some might see an element of financial risk in the Schmidts purchase of the sort of property that one segment of buyers view as an investment, but Mr. Schmidt said that he and his wife were not driven by the profit motive. "We came down here really not as an investment per se, he said. It was more of a lifestyle change. Life at Hacienda Iguana, a gated development about 20 miles northwest of San Juan del Sur with 250 home lots and over 70 condos already built, moseys along at a paradisiacal, watch-dissolving pace. Tidal swings and sunsets mark the days most important events.

I think our buyers now are end users, said Zach Lunin, a co-founder of Aurora Beachfront Realty in San Juan del Sur. The people who are buying with us and investing here are people who want to spend time here. Bottom line is most of the people that were seeing are not the flippers. Nicaragua is a heart buy for most people, not that it doesnt make sense on paper. But people come here and they fall in love with the country, and thats why they buy property."

Considering that Nicaragua scored an underwhelming 2.5 out of a possible 10 for honesty in the Worldwide Corruption Perception Index of 2009 (the United States was at 7.5, Canada at 8.7 and Mexico at 3.3) as tallied by Transparency International, the romance may include a few speed bumps. (If you drive to Managua, it is very unlikely that you wont be pulled over, Mr. Schmidt said of the incessant traffic shakedowns and bribery attempts performed on gringos by police patrolling the roads.) And while Nicaraguas coming 2011 presidential election is a reminder of the countrys political uncertainty, not all foreigners are so easily deterred.

Nicaragua kind of acts like a natural filter, Mr. Lunin said. Its not everybody who gets on a plane and says, Lets go down to Nicaragua, whereas it is everybody who gets on a plane and goes to Costa Rica.

Image A road within the community. Credit... Patrick Ruddy

The impression that Nicaragua is inherently unstable has unquestionably slowed development, but it has also made an investment in the New Costa Rica, more affordable and appealing to the adventurous segment of aspiring second-home owners. In many cases the numbers support the gamble. In 2008 tourism brought in an estimated $944 million (nearly one-sixth of the G.D.P.), and it has grown by 8.2 percent in the past year, with almost 24 percent of visitors hailing from the United States.

Oceanfront lots in gated, rural communities like Hacienda Iguana are selling for around $250,000, and according to some real estate agents, prices have dropped as much as 40 percent in the last two years.
SANTIAGO, Chile  The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has condemned Uruguay for its actions related to the forced disappearance of a woman in the 1970s, in a case that human rights experts see as a watershed for ending impunity for crimes against humanity committed under Uruguays military dictatorship.

The court ruled that Uruguay must pursue investigations into the forced disappearance of the woman, Maria Claudia Garcia Iruretagoyena de Gelman, with the goals of finding her remains and bringing perpetrators to justice.

Ms. Gelman was abducted in Buenos Aires in 1976 at age 19 while seven months pregnant. She was later transferred to a clandestine detention center in Uruguay. Her daughter, Maria Macarena Gelman, was born in captivity and left in a basket at the door of a Uruguayan police officer; the couple adopted her, giving them their name. The childs grandfather, the Argentine poet Juan Gelman, tracked her down more than 20 years later and she restored her identity.

The judgment, announced on Wednesday night, renders ineffective a 1986 law known as the Expiry Law of Demanded State Punishment, which has given impunity to the Uruguayan armed forces for human rights violations committed during the dictatorship there, according to the Center for Justice and International Law. The dictatorship ended in 1985, and the center brought the case in 2006.
When he left the navy three years later, he moved to Roatan, a Caribbean island where Episcopal missionaries had set up the first hyperbaric chamber for Miskito Indian divers.

Throughout medical school in Tegucigalpa, Dr. Mejia never wavered. He has climbed aboard the lobster boats to learn more about the fishing trips and endure the same conditions as the divers. Typically, 100 sleep on hammocks slung together in the cramped cabin of a boat measuring no more than 80 feet. To dull pain and fear, they smoke marijuana, clouding the boat with so much smoke that Dr. Mejia said he had to go to the prow for fresh air.

Finally, in 2009, through contacts in the United States and with financial help from the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming, he was able to buy the hyperbaric chamber. He rented a truck and drove the chamber to Honduras from Virginia in nine days.

He is a man of strong conviction, said Dr. Caroline Fife, the director of clinical research at the Center for Hyperbaric Medicine at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston, where Dr. Mejia studied in 2008. He practices what he believes.

The clinic here, called La Bendicion, or the Blessing, gets no outside help and is financed by what Dr. Mejia charges fishing boat owners for treating divers, an average of $300 to $350 per diver. The shoestring operation is a family affair: Dr. Mejias wife, a nurse, their son and a brother, work with him.

Compression sickness occurs when a diver ascends too fast and nitrogen in the bloodstream that is normally expelled by the lungs forms bubbles. The bubbles can lodge in the joints or along the spinal cord, causing paralysis. A bubble that reaches the brain causes an arterial gas embolism, which can be fatal.

In the hyperbaric chamber, the atmospheric pressure is raised to what the diver would experience underwater and then reduced over several hours as the diver breathes oxygen through a mask, allowing the nitrogen to be expelled.
NIAMEY, Niger  Nearly every day, and sometimes twice daily, an unarmed American drone soars skyward from a secluded military airfield here, starting a surveillance mission of 10 hours or more to track fighters affiliated with Al Qaeda and other militants in neighboring Mali.

The two MQ-9 Reapers that are based here stream live video and data from other sensors to American analysts working with French commanders, who say the aerial intelligence has been critical to their success over the past four months in driving jihadists from a vast desert refuge in northern Mali.

The drone base, established in February and staffed by about 120 members of the Air Force, is the latest indication of the priority Africa has become for the United States at a time when it is winding down its presence in Afghanistan and President Obama has set a goal of moving from a global war on terrorism toward a more targeted effort. It is part of a new model for counterterrorism, a strategy designed to help local forces  and in this case a European ally  fight militants so American troops do not have to.

But the approach has limitations on a continent as large as Africa, where a shortage of resources is chronic and regional partners are weak. And the introduction of drones, even unarmed ones, runs the risk of creating the kind of backlash that has undermined American efforts in Pakistan and provoked anger in many parts of the world.
On his way out the door, President Obama declared as national monuments 1.35 million acres of federal land in Utah and 300,000 acres near Gold Butte, Nevada, a state where the federal government owns nearly 90 percent of the land. According to the New York Times, these moves were to protect the lands from development and nail down the presidents environmental legacy.

Out west, some decried this move as the latest federal land grab, but all Americans might turn attention to California. Golden State Gov. Jerry Brown has empowered a different kind of land grab that poses a stronger threat to property rights.

As mayor of Oakland, Brown supported redevelopment, but, in his second coming as governor, he eliminated redevelopment agencies during a budget crunch. The Legislature, in constant pursuit of more money to spend, duly restored redevelopment and passed Assembly Bill 2492. Last year, Brown signed the measure, a militant surge in the abuse of eminent domain, a concept Donald Trump has said is wonderful.

Eminent domain gives government power to take private property for public use  roads, parks, bridges, schools and so forth  in return for just compensation. The California legislation, in the style of the Supreme Courts 2005 Kelo v. City of New London ruling, allows governments to grab property and hand it over even to private developers.

For purposes of comparison, President Obama set out to protect more than a million acres in Utah and Nevada from development. Imagine if the president had transferred the property rights to some politically connected interest group, who then filled the land with casinos, theme parks and mansions.

In California, as a San Francisco Chronicle headline put it, your home can be their castle. The new legislation does this by making it easier to tag areas as blighted, and therefore target them for the property grab. According to the California Alliance to Protect Private Property Rights, more than two-thirds of Californias landmass, a full 121,000 square miles, stands at risk of condemnation.

This means that private homes and mom-and-pop independent businesses will be razed for some political insiders condo or business project. As Justice Sandra Day OConnor wrote in her dissent to the Kelo decision, the government now has license to transfer property from those with fewer resources to those with more.

A spike in eminent domain takings should not be a surprise in a state that has already institutionalized hostility to property rights. For example, an unelected Coastal Commission of regulatory zealots trashes property rights and overrides scores of elected city and county governments on land-use issues.

The Commission started on Browns first watch during the 1970s, and, on his glide path to departure in 2018, he has made no effort to curtail it. Indeed, the governor approved legislation that empowered the Commission to bypass the courts and impose fines directly.

In 1978, Gov. Brown opposed Proposition 13, which placed limits on property taxes. After the measure passed in a landslide, Brown proclaimed himself a born-again tax cutter. He now supports the highest income and sales taxes in state history.

In similar style, Brown has changed his position on redevelopment and become a born-again land grabber. For all his wrath against Donald Trump, Californias recurring governor has signed legislation that will empower predatory developers to thrive as never before. That is the stuff of which corruption legacies are made.

K. Lloyd Billingsley is a policy fellow at the Oakland-based Independent Institute.
IRBIL, Iraq  A car bomb exploded in a crowded Shiite Muslim neighborhood in Baghdad late Thursday afternoon, the latest terror attack in the capital claimed by the Islamic State, security officials reported. At least 54 people were killed and at least 63 more wounded in the bombing, making it the deadliest in Baghdad in at least a month.

The attack came as Iraqi security forces, backed by U.S. military advisers and Special Operations forces, prepared to assault an Islamic State stronghold in Mosul, Iraqs second-largest city, about 225 miles north of Baghdad.

The country has been consumed by news from Mosul, where Iraqi forces have been mounting the countrys largest military operation since the U.S. invasion in 2003, driving Islamic State fighters from eastern Mosul over the last month.

Security officials said the bomb in Baghdad went off in a parked pickup truck. Ambulances responding to the scene quickly filled to capacity, so police and civilians helped transport other victims to hospitals, according to Abu Jafar, a police commissioner.

The Islamic State militant group posted a statement online claiming responsibility for the attack, and said that it was aimed at Shiite Muslims, whom many fundamentalist Sunnis consider to be nonbelievers. Shiites are a majority in Iraq and dominate the national government.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi convened an emergency meeting with top military and security officials Thursday night to discuss efforts to combat terrorist attacks.

A witness to the bombing, Amir Abas, 35, said he was standing about 150 yards from the pickup truck when it exploded. I saw a lot of burned bodies, and injured people and burned cars everywhere, he said.

The bombing took place in the Baya neighborhood of southern Baghdad, where there are a number of parking lots in which people gather to buy and sell used cars, attracting large crowds on weekday afternoons.

Civilians in Shiite neighborhoods have often been the targets of attacks claimed by the Islamic State. Shiite militias, known as popular mobilization forces, are expected to take part in the military assault in western Mosul and particularly in the neighboring city of Tal Afar to the west.
Rising pension costs will pose a tremendous burden to Californias public schools for years to come.

The California Public Employees Retirement System, or CalPERS, voted in December to reduce its long-term, annual investment return assumption from 7.35 percent to 7 percent over the next two years. This month, the California State Teachers Retirement System, or CalSTRS, did the same, reducing its assumed rate from 7.5 percent to 7 percent. The practical consequence of these decisions will be higher contributions by taxpayers, leaving less funding available for actual services.

Public employee pensions are funded through three primary sources: government contributions, employee contributions and investment returns. The higher the assumed rate of investment returns, the better funded pension funds are assumed to be and the less taxpayers and government employees are expected to contribute. For years, it has been known the pension systems have been using investment assumptions that are unrealistically high, leading to underfunding and making it easier for politicians to promise lucrative pensions that werent being adequately funded.

The practical impact of the pension problem has been observed across the state, in cities like Stockton and San Bernardino which filed for bankruptcy in part because of mounting pension costs, and in most cities that have pitched a tax hike in recent years. But now the problem will become increasingly clearer in schools.

According to a recent report from the states nonpartisan Legislative Analysts Office, between fiscal year 2014 and fiscal year 2021, school districts statewide will have seen their combined CalPERS and CalSTRS pension contributions grow from $3.083 billion to $9.445 billion. State contributions to CalSTRS will nearly triple over that same time period as well, from $1.36 billion to $3.589 billion. In the current fiscal year, school districts are paying just over $5 billion towards pensions, and so should expect to see contributions nearly double to $9.445 billion in the next four years.

Some districts have been hit harder than others. According to Bloomberg, since 2013, Los Angeles Unified, San Diego Unified and Long Beach Unified have seen their pension costs grow between 74 and 78 percent, with Long Beach Unified impacted the most. Combined, the three districts have a net CalSTRS liability over $5 billion.

A considerable amount of this problem is a result of the tendency of politicians refusing to govern responsibly. For years, the LAO raised the alarm over the fact that CalSTRS was underfunded by as much as $4 billion annually. It was only in 2014 when the state finally decided to properly fund CalSTRS, forcing taxpayers to play catch-up to the detriment of practical, tangible services.

This pension burden will be one taxpayers will bear for years to come. Until taxpayers understand the extent to which they are being ripped off, this will only continue to get worse.

Taxpayers are now in a position where they are handing more of their money away to the government, but getting less for it, while politicians continue to do nothing about mounting obligations too politically inconvenient to take on.
FRIDAY

Trio Celeste: UC Irvines ensemble in residence Trio Celeste will perform an all-Russian program featuring Dmitri Shostakovichs Second Piano Trio and Anton Arenskys Piano Trio in D minor. See the Southern California trio in From Russia with Love at Winifred Smith Hall at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts. 8 tonight. $16. West Peltason Drive, Irvine. 949-824-2787 or arts.uci.edu

Evita: With music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, Evita tells the story of Eva Peron and her rise from poverty to becoming Argentinas controversial First Lady. Musical Theatre West will present this musical featuring the memorable song, Dont Cry for Me Argentina at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center. Various times through Feb. 26. $17-$120. 6200 Atherton Street, Long Beach. 562-985-7623 or carpenterarts.org

Moby Dick: A self-destructive madman and other colorful characters search for a white whale as Chicagos renowned Lookingglass Theatre Company brings Herman Melvilles classic novel to life. The West Coast premiere runs at South Coast Repertory. 8 tonight and Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. $25-$79. 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 714-708-5555 or scr.org

Postmodern Jukebox: This collective of rotating musicians re-imagines modern pop hits in the style of jazz, ragtime, and swing classics from the 1920s to 1950s. Created by Scott Bradlee, the group is a viral sensation on YouTube with over 450 million views. The group has performed on Good Morning America and topped iTunes and Billboard music charts. 8 tonight at Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. $39-$119. 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa.714-556-2787 or scfta.org

The Family Stone: The original founding members of Sly and The Family Stone will perform a night of iconic hits like Everyday People, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), Dance to the Music, and Family Affair. 8 tonight at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. $15-$55. 14900 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada. 562-944-9801 or lamiradatheater.com

ABBA Tribute Band: Flashback to the 1970s when Swedish tribute band Arrival plays hits made famous by ABBA. The show features original musicians from the band and costume changes to portray various periods in the groups career. Hear songs such as Voulez Vous, SOS, Money, Money, Money, Take a Chance on Me, Dancing Queen and others at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts. 8 tonight. $35-$65. 12700 Center Court Drive, Cerritos. 562-467-8818 or cerritoscenter.com

SATURDAY

Matt Haimovitz: The Grammy-nominated cellist, who made his debut as a 13-year-old soloist with the Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic, will perform Bachs Six Suites for Cello and overtures to Bach written by contemporary composers. 8 p.m. at Soka Performing Arts Center. $32-$40. 1 University Drive, Aliso Viejo. 949-480-4270 or soka.edu

SUNDAY

The Five Irish Tenors: Enjoy a showcase of Irish tunes and Pop songs performed by this music ensemble from Dublin. Hear solo, duet, trio, quartet and quintet arrangements of songs such as Hey Jude, The Piano Man, Danny Boy, Will You Go Lassie Go, and Mozarts II Mio Tesoro at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts. 3 p.m. Sunday. $50-$80. 12700 Center Court Drive, Cerritos. 562-467-8818 or cerritoscenter.com

TUESDAY

Maria Schneider Orchestra: As a Grammy Award-winner in both the jazz and classical categories, its no surprise that Maria Schneiders work is described as blurring the lines between genres. Her work has been commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center and The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and she collaborated with David Bowie. See her at Soka Performing Arts Center at 8 p.m. Tuesday. $37-$45. 1 University Drive, Aliso Viejo. 949-480-4278 or soka.edu

WEDNESDAY

Lunar New Year Event: Celebrate the Lunar New Year at Pretend City with crafts and other activities. Kids will make and decorate lanterns and hear a story about the Lunar New Year tradition. 10 a.m.-1 p.m. $12.50. 29 Hubble, Irvine. 949-428-3900 or pretendcity.org

THURSDAY

Aida: See this semi-staged concert opera production of Verdis most popular opera. Aida tells the story of a doomed love triangle involving the Pharaohs daughter, the enslaved Nubian princess Aida and the soldier they both love. The title role will be performed by Kelebogile Besong who makes her North American debut. 8 p.m. February 23, 25 and 28 at the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. $60-$215. 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 714-755-5799 or pacificsymphony.org
Vintage photographs and colorful quilts from the local African American community will be on display Saturday at the Heritage Museum of Orange Countys inaugural Celebrating History, Culture, and Community event.

The free celebration will offer family-friendly activities, including five guest exhibitors, arts and crafts, face painting, food and more.

The Santa Ana museum has hosted lecture programs to observe Black History Month, but this will be the first event that offers something for all ages.

Our mission is to preserve, promote and restore Orange County history. We understand and are aware that much of the cultural history of our African American community is not known throughout Orange County, said Kevin Cabrera, the museums executive director.

The five exhibitors include Victoria Burnett, who is associated with the Segerstrom Center for the Arts Arts Teach program and specializes in rich storytelling. Burnett will present stories that honor and showcase the contributions of African Americans and their culture.

Artist Marva Whitehead will have a diverse exhibition of her artwork, which includes mixed media, sculpting and quilts.

Quilt fiber artist Sandra Johnson will have a variety of her hand-stitched, multicolored quilts on display.

Johnsons core materials for quilting are thread and cloth. However, she often employs recycled denim, yarns, dyed fabrics and stamps to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary, Cabrera said.

Minister, author and museum vendor DelShanna Moore will discuss topics such as ministry. Her book Journey From Salvation to Worship Workbook will be available for sale.

Pencil artist Clarence Pointer, whose artwork has been displayed in many popular places, including the Hollywood restaurant Roscoes House of Chicken and Waffles, will present an exhibit of his pencil drawings.

Community resource booths and local vendors will be in attendance, and food and beverages will be available for purchase from the Santa Ana restaurant Andres Southern Kitchen.

Live gospel, jazz and blues music will be showcased.

Cabrera said guests also can take in a historical photograph exhibit that chronicles the lives of the local African American community, with some photos dating to the 1940s. The photos will be on display at the museum through the end of February.

This is a fun, educational experience to learn about the African American history, culture and contributions to the community, Cabrera said. It is an opportunity to teach, teach, and honor what the community has done for Orange County.

Contact the writer: jmoe@ocregister.com
In the face of intense pressure from workers across the country and mounting concerns from Republican lawmakers, President Trumps nominee for labor secretary, Andrew Puzder, withdrew himself from consideration this past week.

The move came on the heels of protests across America, including one this weekend in Orange County, over Puzders abhorrent treatment of the workers he employs as CEO of CKE Restaurants. The once O.C.-based corporation is the parent company for fast food chains Carls Jr., which first opened in Anaheim, and Hardees, among others.

As CEO, Puzder repeatedly violated worker-protection laws that as labor secretary he would have been responsible for enforcing. His puzzling nomination  like other appointees in recent weeks  appeared to place someone in charge of running an agency he would much rather destroy.

According to news reports, under Puzders leadership, CKE and its restaurants have been investigated numerous times by the Labor Department, which has found the chains guilty of, among other violations, refusing to pay overtime, paying a sub-minimum wage and forcing fast-food workers to clock out and sit in a parking lot when business slowed down, then clock back in when business picked up again.

Philosophically, Puzder also appeared to favor profits over the well-being of his workers. He has opposed any increases in the minimum wage, and advocated for swapping out employees for machines because machines are always polite, they always up-sell, they never take a vacation, they never show up late, theres never a slip-and-fall, or an age-, sex- or race-discrimination case, he told Business Insider last year.

As labor secretary, Puzder would have been responsible for protecting women in the workplace. One factor that spooked Republican lawmakers this week was a 1980s Oprah Winfrey Show video that surfaced this week called High Class Battered Women, where Puzders former wife appeared in disguise and described being in fear of her husband, who she said threatened her for leaving, then took their Porsche and Mercedes-Benz and left her with nothing. (Puzder has denied the allegations, and his former wife also later downplayed her taped comments.)

For Orange County, the news of Puzders withdrawal carries additional symbolic weight. Puzders appointment would have been a sad reminder for those of us who grew up going to Carls Jr. of how far the multinational chains values have strayed from its philanthropic, community roots.

Puzder was responsible for shifting the companys image from a mom-and-pop burger shop to the provocative purveyor of sexualized advertising, with commercials depicting nearly naked women slowly eating dripping burgers to a backdrop of suggestive music and creepy narration. Once considered a great place to work, claims of discrimination, wage theft, sexual harassment and more mounted at Carls Jr. after Puzder took over.

Workers across America deserve better than a bad boss at the helm of an agency that is supposed to protect them. And thats why so many people spoke out about the damage Puzder had done in their lives, and could have done if confirmed. This week is evidence that, even in this world of alternative facts, the truth matters. And, when people stand together in support of fairness, we can make change.

On Thursday, the president announced a new pick for labor secretary, law school dean R. Alexander Acosta. Lets hope that, in the weeks to come, through a transparent confirmation process, we learn that Mr. Acostas values align with the promises the president made on the campaign trail about protecting workers.

Jennifer Muir Beuthin is general manager of the Orange County Employees Association.
Updates: The voluntary evacuation for the Silverado Canyon burn area was lifted by Orange County public safety officials late Friday night. Flights at John Wayne Airport have resumed this morning according to schedule.

As of 10:18 a.m., about 1,500 customers remained without power in Orange County, according to Southern California Edison. The hardest hit areas include Costa Mesa with 462, customers, Santa Ana with 200, Lake Forest with 100 and Brea with 100. Edison serves the whole county expect for Anaheim.

***

Flights were canceled, resorts were shuttered, traffic problems piled up, and one community was under voluntary evacuation orders in what could be the wettest storm of the season in Southern California.

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch that started at noon Friday and will last until 4 p.m. Saturday. The agency also issued a high wind warning that kicked in at 7 a.m. Friday and continues through 2 a.m. Saturday.

Its a lot of power in a short period of time, said Derek Schroeter, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service. Its a quick hitter. There could be a half-inch to an inch of rain an hour.

Heavy rain from the 150-mile-wide storm pounded Malibu early Friday morning and reached Los Angeles and Orange counties along with the Inland Empire in the early afternoon.

Predictions of widespread flooding and winds in the evening of up to 60 mph caused airlines to cancel, delay or divert many flights slated to land or leave Friday from John Wayne Airport and other California airports.

The forecast also prompted voluntary evacuations for residents in portions of Silverado Canyon. And it caused Knotts Berry Farm, Mountain High resort, Santa Anita racetrack and other operations to keep their gates closed for the day.

The storm triggered problems on roadways throughout Southern California, as it toppled trees, overturned trucks and caused massive potholes. And it left thousands of people without power.

Crews had to rescue a man who got stuck in a storm channel in Westminster in the afternoon.

An Orange County Fire Authority swift water rescue team was sent to help the man trapped at Sherwood Place and Westminster Avenue just after 4 p.m., OCFA Capt. Larry Kurtz said. Crews quickly rescued the man from the channel. He was taken by ambulance to an area hospital. Details on his condition were not immediately available.

STORM COVERAGE:

 Power out for thousands due to heavy winds, rain in Orange County

 Most flights canceled at John Wayne Airport due to storm

 Storm update: Road closures and traffic in Orange County

 Knotts closed for rain; Disneyland remains open, but closing early

 Here are some of the downed trees that fell in Orange County

 Voluntary evacuations for canyons in Orange County ahead of storm

 Where to get free sandbags in Orange County

Forecasters are predicting the storm will bring 3 to 5 inches of rain in Los Angeles County and 2 to 4 inches to Orange County and the Inland Empire.

The San Gabriel Mountains could get 6 to 8 inches of precipitation, while the Santa Ana Mountains could receive 4 to 5 inches and the San Bernardino Mountains may get 2 to 6 inches, Harrison said.

That would mean more rain in one day than the area typically gets throughout the whole month of February, which is often the wettest month of the year.

Santa Ana registered no rain on this day last year and averages just 2.72 inches of rain for the entire month, according to records with Orange County Public Works. The area has already received more than twice as much rain this season as it did last season, county records shows, with nearly 19 inches compared with 8 inches that fell last year.

Snow was falling Friday in local mountains, with Big Bear Mountain Resort saying they expect to get up to two feet of snow before the storm is over.

Mudslides and flooding are possible throughout the region at the height of the storm, with reports of both along Pacific Coast Highway and Highway 138 near Wrightwood.

CHP officials are recommending high-profile vehicles stay off roadways. And the Orange County Sheriffs Department is reminding residents to stay out of flood control channels through Saturday, with scattered showers expected into Saturday evening.

Beaches are also being affected, with waves possibly reaching up to 10 feet Friday. On Saturday, waves could reach 15 feet in some areas, such as Huntington Beach.

Seal Beach lifeguards said the surf has so far been sloppy but not hitting quite as hard as expected, with waves topping out at around 4 feet.

Huntington Beach Fire Department had seven staff members on standby to do swift water rescues if needed. But Marine Safety Lt. Claude Panis said things had been quiet as of 3:30 p.m.

Temperatures should stay cool to mild throughout the storm, averaging in the high 50s and low 60s during the day.

National Guard armories in Fullerton and Santa Ana, which can accommodate about 200 people each, will extend their hours at winter shelters to provide relief for homeless people during the rainstorm.

Mercy House Living Centers will operate the shelters  at 612 E. Warner Ave., Santa Ana and 400 S. Brookhurst Road, Fullerton  continuously through 6 a.m. Sunday. Regular operating hours will resume Sunday evening.

The Santa Ana shelter is open to families and single women only. The Fullerton armory is open to any single individuals.

Staff writers Shane Newell, Theresa Walker and Laylan Connelly contributed to this report.




Derek Haskayne was driving along Lakeview Avenue in Placentia on the night of Jan. 29 when, authorities say, he smashed into a high-voltage power box.

Witnesses would say he tossed liquor bottles from his car after the crash, and an officer determined he appeared to be under the influence, court records show.

Haskayne, a 51-year-old Placentia businessman, was taken into custody  his ninth arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence in Orange County in less than six years.

An estimated 1.5 million people are arrested for driving under the influence in the United States each year. One in three first-timers will go on to get another DUI, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In Orange County, about 19,000 people have been convicted of more than one DUI since 2000, said Orange County Senior Deputy District Attorney Susan Price. The county has one of the highest DUI-conviction rates in the state, succeeding nearly 85 percent of the time, Price said, but repeat offenders continue to be a serious problem.

Our office is constantly looking at ways we can help to educate the community and fix loopholes in the law that deal with multiple DUI offenders, she said.

While the punishment increases for each new DUI offense, in most cases the maximum sentence a person can receive is three years in prison for the fourth or more felony DUI convictions within 10 years, attorneys said.

For some people, especially those in the grips of addiction, time behind bars is not a deterrent, said Laguna Beach DUI defense attorney Barry Simons.

Ive been doing this for over 40 years and Ive seen CEOs of companies and successful people destroy their lives, he said. Thats how profound the addiction is.

Haskayne was arrested for his first DUI in October 2011 when he was 47.

An owner of a successful manufacturing company, d/k technologies in Placentia, Haskayne was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to enroll in a first-time offender program.

Less than two months later, he was again arrested for a DUI, according to court records. He was arrested again the following year in March, and again in April.

By July 2012, less than a year after his first, he had racked up six DUI arrests.

His long-time defense attorney, Marlon Stapleton, said Haskayne would post bail after each arrest, and because the charges in his second case were still pending, he was essentially netting DUI arrests faster than the legal system could catch up with him. The five cases were all pending at the same time.

Stapleton said Haskayne at the time was experiencing a major life trauma, which triggered his addiction.

He went through some really bad times when he picked up most of them, Stapleton said.

Haskayne said he was devastated when his wife of 20 years left him in 2011, according to court records. Records show she filed a restraining order against him that year, stating that he was a severe alcoholic and that she feared for the safety of their young son.

The District Attorneys Office consolidated his six DUI cases and charged him with multiple felonies. In June 2013, Haskayne pleaded guilty and was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Walter Schwarm to one year in jail and five years of formal probation.

He could have faced two years in prison, but the judge agreed that Haskayne would be better served with jail time and formal probation, where he could get treatment, Stapleton said.

Everyone agreed it was the right thing to do for him at the time, Stapleton said. In prison, alcoholics get zero help and no supervision once theyre out.

In jail custody, Haskayne was able to enroll in the Orange County Sheriffs Departments community work program, which allows some inmates to perform work for the county during the day and spend nights at home.

And in October 2013, less than four months after his guilty plea, Haskayne was arrested for his seventh DUI while technically still in jail custody.

This time he was sentenced to two years in prison. He agreed to monitoring via a portable breathalyzer after his release in October 2014, according to court records. But in June of the following year, Haskayne was driving on a suspended license when a Laguna Beach police officer watched him glide slowly onto a sidewalk and crash into a light pole.

The offender was slumped over the steering wheel and appeared out of it, a probation report says. He appeared to be dazed and groggy.

He was sentenced to three years in prison and later completed a residential treatment program. But on Jan. 20, he was kicked out of his sober-living home for testing positive for methamphetamine and cocaine, according to court records.

A week later, he crashed in Placentia  for his ninth DUI arrest.

In all, he has served a total of about a year in state prison and was twice released into the countys custody for post-release supervision, according to the California Department of Corrections. It is unclear how much time he spent in county jail.

In court on Wednesday, Haskayne was sentenced to six months in jail for violating his probation. The charges for the ninth DUI are pending.

Price, the deputy district attorney, said the DAs Office intends to seek the maximum punishment in light of Haskaynes history. She said he continuously ignores the law and poses a threat to public safety.

Unfortunately  there are times where even the best efforts to warn a driver of the dangers of DUI dont result in meaningful behavior change, she said.

While Stapleton has had many clients with repeat DUIs, he said, Haskaynes case is extreme. Haskaynes family, friends and employees are all worried and frustrated, he said. Stapleton said hes hopeful his client can get proper treatment.

Hes a unique guy that has a raging problem, and we gotta figure out this time how to stop him and get him help, the lawyer said. Of course, we thank God he hasnt hurt anyone.

With his prior cases and aggravating factors, Haskayne is now facing up to five years in prison, he said.

Price said the legal system offers many resources for repeat offenders. In addition to jail and prison time, a driver could be ordered to attend daily Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and enroll in an 18-month alcohol diversion program. An ignition interlock device, which acts as a breathalyzer, could be ordered by a judge to be installed in the offenders car.

The District Attorneys Office recently drafted proposed legislation that would fix a loophole that allows first-time felony DUI offenders to petition to reduce the felony to a misdemeanor after a certain amount of time. The legislation would make the felony a permanent mark on the drivers record.

While most first-time DUIs are charged as misdemeanors, a driver can be charged with a felony for his first DUI if, for example, he caused an accident with great bodily injury.

Patricia Rillera, regional executive director for MADD Southern California, supports stiffer laws, including ignition interlock devices for all offenders.

The laws dont always align themselves with the severity of the crime, she said. Drunk driving affects everyone, and thats why its so important that we continue to educate the public about making smart and safe choices.

Staff writer Shane Newell contributed to this report

Contact the writer: kpuente@ocregister.com
SANTA ANA  Several airlines canceled flights to and from John Wayne Airport Friday, causing headaches for many passengers as a heavy storm moves into Southern California.

It didnt even occur to me to check my flight in advance, said Catherine Cheung of Irvine, who was supposed to fly with two of her daughters to a dance competition in Seattle.

I grew up on the East Coast, Cheung said, as she waited in the unusually quiet Southwest Airlines terminal. Rain is no big deal. Its rain, its not snow.

But the looming storm prompted Southwest, American and United airlines to cancel some flights in and out of the airport.

Americans flights were canceled as of 9 a.m. through at least 7:30 p.m. Southwest flights were canceled beginning at 10 a.m., and United started canceling some flights by around 11 a.m.

About 175 arriving and departing flights from the airport had been canceled as of 11:20 p.m., according to the JWA homepage.

Along with John Wayne Airport, Southwest says it expected to cancel, delay or divert flights out of Burbank, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Ontario, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose due to the storm.

In the state of California, weve proactively canceled more than 250 flights and expect the number to stay around there for today, a spokesperson for Southwest said via email.

Other airlines, including Delta and Alaska, still show flights scheduled to leave later today out of John Wayne Airport.

Im 60, and this is the first big air travel crisis Ive experienced, so I guess Im lucky, passenger Manu Ghaffari said.

Ghaffari and his girls water polo club team, the Rocky Mountain Neptunes, met chaos this morning when trying to fly out from Denver for a meet in Orange County that begins tonight.

Teammates were separated. Those flying on Frontier Airlines arrived without problem. But for Southwest travelers, it was a different story.

Ghaffaris flight to John Wayne was canceled right after he checked through his luggage full of sports equipment. He and some of his teammates got a flight to Ontario and drove to John Wayne Airport, where he was told he could find his luggage  confusing information, since that plane didnt fly out. Other members of the team are still trying to get out of Denver.

We can borrow balls, Ghaffari said. But Im sorry that some of the girls are going to miss tonights meet.

Barbara Hendricks of Dana Point was scheduled to fly to Austin on Friday to visit her cousin. But her flight was canceled, so she headed home.

These people are wusses, she said. I grew up in Minnesota. A little rain? Are you kidding me? We fly in blizzards!

While heavy rain started to move into Orange County around noon, experts said its the wind that often causes bigger concern for airlines.

Sustained winds of 29 mph and gusts reaching 45 mph are possible throughout Friday at Los Angeles International Airport and John Wayne Airport, causing potential problems for planes, said Derek Schroter, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service.

Its difficult to land when there are crosswinds perpendicular to runways, he said.

There is also a risk of thunderstorms after 5 p.m. that could impact John Wayne Airport, Schroter said.

Most travelers today know in advance when flights have been canceled and know not to come to the airport, John Wayne Airport spokeswoman Deanne Thompson said. The airlines do a good job of letting people know. But we always have a few people who show up and are taken by surprise. It is a frustration for those people.

Cheung of Irvine said her husband and oldest daughter were already waiting for them in Seattle. But she planned to just go home Friday with her younger daughters  Ally, 11, and Casey, 8  since other airlines were also canceling their flights.

Its fine, well live, she said. Ally can miss a competition. Ill just ask for a refund  and more.

Check ocair.com for the latest flight information.

Staff writer Scott Schwebke contributed to this report.
In the four years that Ive worked daily to promote solutions to climate change, Ive experienced more ups and downs than I could possibly count. Im not going to lie  election day was definitely a low point. How do we build toward prudent, workable policy solutions when the new president is also climate denier-in-chief?

But as I have searched for answers in the days since the election, Ive come to a new and more hopeful realization. This is a case where a wall may actually be ready to come down.

Although President Trump has called global climate change a hoax and has said that he will pull the U.S. out of Paris Climate Accord, he also has shown that he often says things just to provoke a reaction. Distracted by ill-conceived pipelines to stranded assets, I suspect that he thinks acknowledging climate change means signing on to more government regulation. We can show him an alternative path that grows the economy without expanding the size of government.

There are lots more jobs in sources of renewable energy like solar and wind than there are in fossil fuels.

Even the presidents selection of Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as secretary of state may actually be a positive sign. We now know Exxons history of climate-change denial and paying for denialists to spread doubt, even while the companys own scientists were telling executives that the risks were real and growing. But it was Tillerson who spearheaded changes at the company.

More than a decade ago, his public statements started acknowledging that climate change is real, and that the burning of fossil fuels is making it worse. More recently, he has called a tax on carbon-based fuels a more direct, a more transparent and a more effective approach to limiting the greenhouse-gas emissions that are warming the planet.

Now I may be a volunteer who pays his own way to Washington to lobby Congress, but Im definitely not naive. I realize that there are a lot of PR reasons for Exxon Mobil to change its stance. The companys previous tactic of denial and obfuscation was taken directly from the tobacco-industry playbook, and now its leaders have to be concerned about lawsuits. But Tillersons success has been built on practical deal-making based on global realities. You really dont get more real than 2016 being the third straight hottest year on record.

Like Nixon opened doors to China and Clinton championed welfare reform, maybe Trump and Tillerson can claim this issue as their own.

But the truth is for substantive policy action to happen, the impetus has to start in Congress, which desperately needs to prove it can still solve big problems. Health care will be a slog; immigration a minefield. The search for an issue with bipartisan possibilities just might lead to climate change.

Believe it or not, there are signs of progress. After more than 25 meetings with congressional offices in Orange County, where I live, and during three trips to D.C., Ive seen Republican attitudes shift dramatically. These days, some of our best meetings are with GOP congress members and staff, as growing numbers acknowledge that climate change is a problem that needs solving.

With recent additions there are now 20 members of the House Bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, which may be our best hope for serious progress on climate policy. The presence of longtime climate advocates like Alan Lowenthal helps add an appropriate level of urgency.

The caucus is where I go in search of optimism. The chair is Florida Republican Carlos Curbelo, who during his first term in Congress ignored possible political risks and stepped up to lead on this issue. Not only did he win re-election, but his GOP colleagues also gave him a seat on the influential Ways and Means Committee. He put the planet before politics and actually banked some political capital. Maybe others will find similar courage and flip this issue in their favor.

The good news for them and for us is that there are market-based policy options that dont ask anyone to compromise values. For instance, by putting a fee on carbon-based fuels but returning the money directly to U.S. households, we can speed our transition to a clean energy future without more subsidies and government regulation. An analysis by Regional Economic Modeling Inc. shows that under this plan, not only do we cut carbon emissions in half in 20 years, and but we create more than 2 million new jobs, and we expand GDP.

There was a time when Republicans viewed prudent environmental stewardship as a fundamental principle of conservatism. Maybe the prospect of economic growth that empowers clean-energy entrepreneurs can spark a renaissance of that spirit.

This may seem like a whole lot of faith to place in a system still largely powered by fossil-fuel industry influence. But after four grass-roots years invested in creating the political will for a livable world, I can tell you that faith in American ideals remains a pretty good source of sustenance.

Dennis Arp lives in Orange County and works at Chapman University.
The Day Without Immigrants played out locally with mixed participation, as some people joined the national push to skip school or close their stores while others found different ways to tell Trump administration that immigrants are essential players in the national economy and culture.

The Anaheim Elementary School District issued robo-calls Wednesday night, urging students to come to class  much like districts in Los Angeles and Inland Empire.

Roughly 2,000 of the 18,300 elementary school students in Anaheim were absent Thursday, more than double the number of absences the district typically sees each day, according to Keith Sterling, communications director for Anaheim Elementary School District. Absences did not increase at Anaheim Union High School District.

In Santa Ana Unified, the number of absences in elementary schools tripled from Wednesday and in the intermediate schools, it was more than double. The districts high schools, however, saw an uptick in absences but not as significant.

Its a fairly substantial increase, said Deidra Powell, a spokeswoman for Santa Unified, which serves 52,000 students.

We can definitely attribute some of that to the boycott. Of course, we dont know how many. When you have an increase such as that, theres something going on, like today, Powell said.

The concept of Day Without Immigrants launched as a social media push in response to President Donald Trumps promised crackdown on people living in the country illegally.

It gained traction in the food service industry, with several well-known chefs in cities like Washington, D.C. and Chicago announcing that they would close their restaurants in solidarity with the boycott.

Locally, some restaurants closed for the day while others stayed open and promised their profits to groups that help immigrants.

Taco Maria, like so many American Dreams, was built by immigrants and descendants of immigrants, wrote Carlos Salgado on his Costa Mesa restaurants Facebook page, adding he would donate whatever he made Thursday to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Going forward, Salgado said, the restaurant will share 1 percent of its profits with organizations that champion our core values of diversity, equality, respect, and social justice.

Cafe Gratitude, a chain of vegan restaurants in Southern California, joined the strike by closing its locations in Newport Beach, Venice and Larchmont Thursday. Burritos La Palma, in El Monte, also closed in solidarity with the boycott.

Still, it is not clear if how widespread participation was in Orange County. Several local immigrant rights groups said Thursday that they were not participating in the nationwide strike.

We have a lot of things going on right now, so it hasnt been on our radar, said Hairo Cortes, programs coordinator with O.C. Immigrant Youth United.

Shakeel Syed, executive director of OCCORD, said that while there are no demonstrations planned in Orange County Thursday, a group of local activists will join protests in Los Angeles.

This is a day of solidarity, so were going to go out on the streets and scream our hearts out, he said.

Northgate Gonzalez Markets, an Anaheim-based chain of Mexican grocery stores, remained open Thursday, having decided not to participate in the strike.

We believe that we can support our communities through ways better than closing our stores, said Northgate senior vice president Carl Middleton. He added that employees who wanted to take time off to participate were given that opportunity.

For business owners and others that did take part in the boycott, the decision was personal.

The family that owns La Noria Market in San Bernardino closed both of their stores for the day.

This market is 100 percent operated by Hispanics and is mostly frequented by Hispanics, the market announced in a Feb. 14 Facebook post.

We want to demonstrate that in this country Hispanics come here to prosper.

Fabiola Diaz said her two brothers, who came to this country illegally and opened La Noria Market, have thrived as business owners for more than a decade. The two markets employ 55 employees, most of whom are Mexican and Central American, Diaz said.

Closing the markets will hurt financially, she said, but its more important to make this statement in support of immigrants.

Many immigrants around the United States stayed home from work and school Thursday to demonstrate the important role they play in Americas economy. The boycott is in reaction to Trumps immigration crackdown and recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions. In Southern California, more than 160 immigrants were arrested and some were deported.

In 2015, there were 26.3 million foreign-born people employed in the U.S., making up 16.7 percent of the labor force, according to the United States Department of Labor.

The foreign-born  who include American citizens, green-card holders and those working without legal authorization  tend to be younger and to take jobs in fields that have been growing fastest, including restaurants, hotels and stores.

Our father and mother came to this country to pursue The American Dream, and that dream should continue to live on in our community, said Bricia Lopez, co-owner of Leos Tacos Truck, which on Thursday closed all four of its Los Angeles locations.

To those who feel silenced we say: Dont be afraid, be strong.

Staff writers Hannah Madans, Roxana Kopetman and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
A potentially violent storm moving slowly off the Northern California coast is expected to slam into Los Angeles and Orange counties and the Inland Empire this afternoon, bringing 60 mph winds and heavy rains that could cause flooding, according to the National Weather Service.

Dont take the storm lightly, said Stephen Harrison, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service. It wont be a good day to do anything.

The morning will see isolated showers. However, between 1 and 3 p.m., the full force of the storm is forecast to hit Los Angeles County and then will make its way to Orange County and the Inland Empire around 4 p.m., Harrison said.

Wind gusts could reach 50 mph to 60 mph, most likely sweeping through between 4 and 8 p.m. Friday. It will be strong enough to cause downed trees and power lines and structural damage, Harrison warned. Stay inside if you can.

The storm was also expected to bring 3 to 5 inches of rain to Los Angeles County and 2 to 4 inches to Orange County and the Inland Empire.

The San Gabriel Mountains could get 6 to 8 inches of precipitation, while the Santa Ana Mountains could receive 4-5 inches and the San Bernardino Mountains may get 2-6 inches, Harrison said.

Mudslides and urban flooding are possible throughout the region.

Coastal areas will also be impacted, with waves possibly reaching up to 9 feet today. On Saturday, waves could reach 15 feet in some areas, such as Huntington Beach.

Some cities were taking precautions, offering residents sandbags and sand.

In Seal Beach, lifeguards will monitor the pier to determine if it needs to be closed, and pumps have been placed around town.

All we can do is go off the forecast, said Joe Bailey, Seal Beachs lifeguard chief. Were concerned about the high wind blowing down trees and power outages.  Well see how it stacks up.

Staff writer Laylan Connelly contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7767 sschwebke@scng.com Twitter: @thechalkoutline
SANTA ANA  A former Costa Mesa police officer was convicted Thursday of committing insurance fraud.

Ryan Patrick Natividad, 31, sat with his hands clasped and his face slightly downcast as a court clerk read the verdict of an Orange County Superior Court jury finding him guilty of felony counts of insurance fraud and making a fraudulent statement.

Natividad, a Corona resident, was accused of falsely claiming that he struck his fist against a wall while trying to stop a stumbling arrestee from falling. Video footage contradicted his story, a prosecutor said, adding that the injury didnt occur.

Deputy District Attorney Noor Hasan unsuccessfully requested that Natividad be taken into custody pending his sentencing, arguing that he had taken the stand as a police officer and provided false testimony.

Natividad will return to court on Apr. 7. He faces up to six years in prison.

Contact the writer: semery@ocregister.com
COST MESA  Orange Coast College has received hundreds of calls and e-mails from people who want the school to lift its suspension and other sanctions against a student who secretly recorded an instructor making anti-Trump statements.

Were hearing from random people across the country, said college spokesman Doug Bennett.

Most are in support of Caleb ONeil, he said.

Mr. ONeil is a de facto whistle blower who has sunshined an instructor that is wasting the taxpayers monies and the students tuition, wrote Robert Bernosky, a school board member of the Hollister School District and regional vice chair of the California Republican Party.

Rita Bluemel, 81, of Laguna Niguel doesnt do Facebook or e-mail. But she called the college to give officials a piece of her mind.

Theyre crucifying this poor guy, Bluemel told the Register.

Others have taken to social media, e-mails and posting news comments to share their thoughts about free speech and liberal indoctrination on college campuses.

Mr. ONeil is the Edward Snowden of the college system and kudos to him for exposing this kind of leftist hyperbole Lamont McAmis, 66, a Buena Park resident, wrote in an e-mail to the Register.

In a newsletter to his constituents Thursday, state Sen. John Moorlach suggested if the college is going to punish the student, it should also punish the instructor.

ONeil faces a two-term suspension and was also told he needed to write a three-page essay and apologize to the instructor, Olga Perez Stable Cox, for videotaping her without her permission. The video clips were posted online by the campus College Republicans and they went viral, attracting national attention from conservative newsmakers. It also attracted angry people who bombarded Cox with e-mails and calls, some of it threatening.

School officials say ONeil violated the Orange Coast College Community Districts Student Code of Conduct against unauthorized recording and use of an electronic device in the classroom.

Cox, who couldnt be reached for comment, said previously she wanted to offer comfort and resources to students who would be upset by the election of Donald Trump. ONeil, as a conservative student in her human sexuality class, said he felt threatened by her comments.

Rob Schneiderman, president of the union that represents the colleges faculty, wrote in an e-mail Thursday: Simply because the student felt (falsely) scared that I may have repercussions to my grades does not give him permission to break the student code of conduct and education code and actually endanger students and faculty. His fear was imaginary because the reality is he received an A. However, the firestorm and threats which resulted from his unlawful action were real.

ONeil is allowed to continue with his classes pending an appeal. It is unclear whether a suspension would start this semester or during the summer, said Bennett, who spoke about general cases and not ONeils particular situation.

ONeil said hes been bombarded with unwanted attention since he spoke out publicly for the first time Wednesday.

Old friends are calling me, even people from elementary school. Im looking online and seeing my picture blow up everywhere. Its been rough, ONeil said. I dont know why it had to be like this.

Contact the writer: rkopetman@scng.com and Twitter@roxanakopetman
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan  At least 73 people were reported killed and up to several hundred injured Thursday when a suicide bomber struck inside a famous Sufi shrine in southeastern Pakistan while devotees were gathered for a weekly ritual of music and motion, police and medical officials said. Islamic State, a Middle East-based militant group with allied outfits in Pakistan and Afghanistan, asserted responsibility for the blast through an affiliated news site. Such extremist Sunni Muslim groups view Sufism, a mystical South Asian religion, as un-Islamic.

The attack in the isolated town of Sehwan, in Sindh province, was one of the countrys deadliest bombings in a decade of terrorism, which the government has struggled to combat with limited success. Local hospital officials said they had received 60 dead bodies and 250 injured patients, including 40 in critical condition,

The bombing followed three successive days of violence that claimed 25 lives in all four provinces of Pakistan and two tribal areas. On Monday, a suicide bombing in the eastern city of Lahore killed 13 people and injured scores. An affiliate of Islamic State, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, said in an email to journalists that the bombing was the start of an operation targeting government agencies and sites.

Pakistan formally complained to next-door Afghanistan on Wednesday, charging that the Islamic State-linked militants were operating from sanctuaries across the border. Late Thursday, army officials also announced that all border crossings would be closed until further notice for security reasons.

It was not possible to confirm, however, whether Islamic State or a local affiliate had carried out the latest attack at the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine. In August, when a bomb killed more than 70 people in the southwestern city of Quetta, both Islamic State and an allied group based in the border region claimed to be behind it. Islamic State is also known as ISIS or ISIL.

Troops were sent to the shrine and the surrounding areas Thursday, and all naval hospitals in the region were placed on special alert to receive victims. Pakistans army chief, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, issued a statement appealing to the nation to remain calm.

Your security forces shall not allow hostile powers to succeed, he said. Each drop of the nations blood will be avenged, and avenged immediately. No more restraint for anyone.

The army chiefs tough declaration echoed a statement made Wednesday by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after a meeting with senior civilian and military officials. He vowed to eliminate all terrorism, whether domestic or foreign in origin, and said all those who threaten Pakistans peace and security will be liquidated by the might of the state.

Pakistan has often been accused of coddling some violent Islamic groups that serve as its proxies in India and Pakistan, while cracking down on others that oppose the Pakistani state and unleash violent attacks on domestic targets. Recently, though, officials placed an extremist anti-India cleric under house arrest, calling it a policy decision by both civilian and military leaders.

Islamist militants including the Pakistani Taliban have attacked numerous Sufi shrines in recent years. In November a shrine in Balochistan province was bombed, killing 45 people. The shrines are open to all, offering poetry and musical events, quiet places to meditate, and free food to the poor.

Officials said Thursday night that security had been increased at Sufi shrines across the country, and that some had been temporarily closed, Pakistani news channels reported.

In addition to targeting Sufis, violent Sunni sectarian groups have also attacked Christians, Shiites and Ahmaddiyas, a faith group that sees itself as a branch of Islam but is reviled by many Muslims. Political leaders in Punjab province have been accused of appeasing some sectarian groups there.

In Sindh, some political leaders have reportedly resisted pressure from security agencies and provincial officials to ban or place more controls on extremist Islamic groups and seminaries that train and recruit them. Over the past decade, terrorist bombings have targeted shrines, mosques and other sites across the province.

As groups affiliated with Islamic State including Jamaat-ul-Ahrar have become more active in Pakistan in the past year, they have created controversy among many local Islamist factions. Some groups have seen their followers defect to the foreign-linked outfits, while others have distanced themselves from ISIS allies who profess to admire them.

When Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed the recent Lahore bombing, it named its planned terror operation for the late leader of Islamabads famed Red Mosque, the scene of a dramatic army siege in 2007. But this week, current leaders of the mosque denounced the ISIS affiliate as an enemy of Islam and said its actions were un-Islamic.
CHARLESTON, W.Va.  Critics of President Donald Trump saw in his Thursday news conference a combative, thin-skinned chief executive who continues to blame the media for the controversies roiling his administration.

His supporters saw something else: A champion of Middle America who is taking on the establishment and making good on his campaign promises to put the country first.

The Associated Press contacted Trump supporters across the country to see how they viewed a news conference in which the president said his administration was running like a fine-tuned machine despite the resignation of his top national security adviser, a court setback on his immigration order, a defeat for his nominee as labor secretary and reports of internal divisions.

Here are views of some of those supporters:

 Richelle Kirk of Logan, West Virginia, watched some of Trumps news conference on Thursday and didnt see any head-scratching comments from the president.

I back him 100 percent, said the 42-year-old stay-at-home mom. You either love it or get out, is my opinion.

During Barack Obamas presidency, her husband was laid off from his coal-mining job, a loss they blamed on Obamas environmental policies. She said they lost a home and everything we owned.

After West Virginia voters resoundingly rejected Obama during his 2012 re-election, we didnt show our hind ends when Obama was re-elected, Kirk said. So she believes people shouldnt overreact to Trump, either.

She particularly agreed with the president when he took credit for an optimistic business climate and a rising stock market, saying Trump is beginning to fulfill his campaign promise to put people back to work.

Reporters, she said, need to leave him alone. Hes just doing what he said hes going to do.

 Regina Lenoir of Picayune, Miss., enjoyed watching Trumps news conference and said the president looked more relaxed.

Lenoir, 69, said she was most interested in the presidents comments about the alleged leaks that led to the resignation of Michael Flynn as national security adviser.

We dont know the conversation that happened between him and (Vice President Mike) Pence. Only they know. But the news media gets out there (and) says such and such with no corroboration, she said. Im sick of them making up stories. You know, were intelligent people. We can make up our own mind on whether theyre telling the truth.

She agreed with Trumps take on how the media has covered his administration and campaign, saying those covering his administration are good reporters but biased.

She said if people gave Trump a chance, he might just surprise everyone.

He wasnt my first choice, but he is my president, Lenoir said. I think he handled the news conference very well.

 Kevin Felty of Norfolk, Va., said it was the most impressive presidential press conference of his life.

Largely because it was so unorthodox, said Felty, 48, who works as a surgical assistant and sells life insurance. It was hyper adversarial between the president and the press. And yet he was able to control the questioning and the tone and the mood in the room.

Felty said the media needs to move on regarding Russia and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

There was nothing illegal that General Flynn had done at that time, Felty said. What he did do is make a mistake in not being accurate with the vice president.

He also said he believes Trump is trustworthy as president.

He doesnt need the media to chide him to make the right decisions, Felty said. Its something hes been doing well for decades.

 Scott Hiltgen, a 66-year-old office furniture sales broker from River Falls, Wisc., said he was glad to see the president push back against the media. He said reporters have no proof Trump or anyone around him did anything wrong.

Theyre trying to make up a story that Trump worked with the Russians to rig the election, he said. Now theyre trying to make a big deal out of (former national security adviser) Mike Flynn. He was doing what he was supposed to do. He was talking to his counterparts. He was talking to the Russians. He got fired because he lied to (Vice President Mike) Pence. Theres no story there. The left media is so excited. They think they took this guy down. No. He made a mistake. He just lied.

Hiltgen said he remains squarely behind the billionaire president because he has done what he said he would do on the campaign trail.

Hes accomplished more in, whatever, three weeks, regarding the stuff he talked about, Hiltgen said. Thats what people voted for. I cant believe theres actually a politician doing what he says he would do. That never happens.

Associated Press writers Ben Finley in Norfolk, Va.; Chevel Johnson in New Orleans; and Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisc., contributed to this report.
The storm of the century is supposed to hit SoCal hard Friday but by midday many people were wondering where this monster storm was at?

The short answer: wait for it.

While light showers were forecasted for Thursday night and early Friday, the heavy isnt anticipated to hit Southern California until the afternoon on Friday.

Still, most people were starting to get skeptical.

Viewing on a mobile device? Click here: Wheres the rain?
With Loretta Sanchezs departure from Congress after a failed bid for U.S. Senate, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher stands alone as the countys most distinctive, spontaneous and colorful House member.

And the Costa Mesa Republican has continued to live up to the role.

After a visit to Egypt this month, for example, he stopped in France with Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, to meet with that countrys most prominent anti-immigration proponent, Marine Le Pen, controversial president of the National Front.

US Congressmen King & Rohrabacher pay a visit to discuss Liberty & shared values w/ (next president of France?) Marine Le Pen, King tweeted along with a photo of the three.

I asked Rohrabacher spokesman Ken Grubbs about the meeting.

The Le Pen meeting was arranged by Steve King, he emailed. They met with another center-right candidate as well.

Where the center is can depend on your perspective.

Le Pens National Front is usually described as ultra-conservative. The Norwegian Centre for Research Datas scorecard, based on party policies, places the National Front well to the right of Frances other major parties.

Farther to the east, Rohrabacher stirred things up in the Republic of Macedonia this month when, appearing on Albanian television, he said, Macedonia is not a state and should be divided up among neighboring countries.

There is such a division in their country they will never be able to live together in the future, he said of the nation that formed in 1991 as Yugoslavia was dissolving.

On Friday, Rohrabacher issued a statement that sounded like a change of heart.

Upon reflection, I see that some of those statements did not accurately convey my intent, he said in a news release. This release clarifies my position. Macedonia is a legitimate country with the right of self-determination and sanctity of borders. My comment alluded, perhaps inartfully, to my concern with internal governing challenges that Macedonia faces concerning ethnic minorities.

Rohrabacher chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats.

Reaction to Flynn

Rohrabacher was among Congress most ardent defenders of Michael Flynn. Flynn stepped down as national security adviser on Feb. 13 amid reports that he lied about conversations with a Russian official about the lifting of U.S. sanctions.

The fact is every administration goes through bumps, and people dont know exactly how far their authority is, and they have to make sure people doing things right, Rohrabacher told the Independent Journal Review.

And Im sorry, Gen. Flynn is a patriot. The man has contributed a great deal to his country. This is really nauseating to see people waiting to beat this person up when hes on the ground and kick his face in.

Orange Countys other Republican House members offered no such support for Flynn when I asked if they wanted to see further investigation into the erstwhile national security adviser.

An intelligence committee will be looking into the issue involving Gen. Flynn, as it should, as part of the congressional investigation of Russian meddling in our democratic process, said Rep. Ed Royce, R-Fullerton, who is chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The president was right to ask for Flynns resignation, said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista. You cant have a national security adviser misleading the president and vice president, then going around and trying to hide it.

Sometimes the cover up is worse than the crime. One way or another, though, the American people deserve to get to the bottom of it. They deserve to have all the information on what exactly happened as well as when and how it happened.

Rep. Mimi Walters, R-Laguna Beach, did not respond to my inquiry.

Contact the writer: mwisckol@scng.com
SAN FRANCISCO  A state appeals court has ruled that the mandatory life sentence handed down to a Bay Area woman who shot and gravely wounded a man who had just beaten her father is unconstitutional.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Deyanira Cuiriz had been sentenced to 27 years to life in prison for attempted voluntary manslaughter, mayhem and shooting at an occupied vehicle. On Tuesday, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco ruled the sentence was excessive and reduced it to 12 years.

Cuiriz, of Richmond, and her family had been out celebrating her 19th birthday in August 2012 when two men beat her father. As the men drove away, she fired a gun into their truck, striking one of the men in the spine and paralyzing him.
A great white shark thrashes around with a big hook through its mouth. Not far away, surfers sit on boards waiting for waves to roll in.

The chance of those two worlds colliding could spell trouble.

A 7-foot great white shark was hooked at the end of the Huntington Beach Pier on Tuesday. The fisherman isnt on the hook because his line snapped and the great white shark  illegal to catch  wasnt technically reeled in. But shark experts, lifeguards and surfers worry that anglers targeting big game so close to shore could put surfers at serious risk.

The biggest concern is the use of heavy gear off the ocean piers where people swim and surf, said great white expert Chris Lowe, professor of marine biology at Cal State Long Beach and director of the schools Shark Lab.

It was a scenario that played out in July 2014 off the Manhattan Beach Pier. A fisherman hooked a great white and wrestled with it for 45 minutes. The shark escaped, agitated, and attacked a swimmer who had to be rushed to the hospital with bites in his torso and arm.

After the attack, the city of Manhattan Beach enacted emergency restrictions and banned steel, metal and braided leader lines, as well as large fish hooks and snag lines. But after objections from state agencies, including the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, those bans were lifted.

The city was able to add some restrictions, including no overhead casting, only one fishing line per person, no fish-cleaning on the pier and no chum-throwing into the ocean. Signs are posted along the pier.

We continue to work with other agencies to ensure safety is upheld and fishermen have public access, said Kendra Davis, a Manhattan Beach management analyst.

Surfer Gary Sahagen, president of the Huntington Beach Longboard Club Crew, said he hopes Huntington will take similar action.

Its just a matter of time before someone gets bit, he said.

He understands its a mixed-use pier and the two groups have to make room for one another. But signage about laws and restrictions on the number of poles, chumming and cleaning fish on the pier could help mitigate dangers.

I think the personal safety of swimmers and surfers comes before catching a fish, Sahagen said.

A few weeks ago, surfer Billy Hopkins spotted a 9-foot great white near the pier in Huntington Beach and shouted to other surfers, including Sahagen, to get out of the water.

It goes in the shallows looking for sting rays. Theres been a lot of sting rays, Sahagen said. Whenever you have an increase in sting rays, thats when we go into high alert for great whites.

Marine Safety Lt. Claude Panis also has concerns about big-fish gear being used off the pier and the impact on public safety. Theres also worry about the use of chum buckets used to attract larger game fish that would not normally frequent the water off Huntington, he said.

Lifeguards posted an advisory in the area around the pier for 24 hours following Tuesdays incident, but because the shark was less than 8-foot, it did not prompt a closure, Panis said.

California law prohibits catching the protected great white shark, but in this case no legal action will be taken, said Andrew Hughan, spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The law is youre not allowed to catch a great white shark, but its hard to determine what it is until it is close enough, he said. Once you realize, you are obligated to stop reeling in and cut the line.

It was no harm, no foul on the angler, Hughan said. From what I can gather, he was fishing legally. He just happened to catch a white shark.

Other than the law against catching great whites, there are no regulations against going after other big sharks, including bull or mako.

For us, hes just fishing, Hughan said. Its a big ocean  you get what you get.

Lowe said there is a similar issue in Florida, where recreational fishers are targeting sharks off ocean piers, putting swimmer and surfer safety at risk, he said.

Unfortunately, this is a relatively new development since most of our coastal shark populations have been depleted for decades, but are finally coming back, he said. Fishers are always looking for big things to catch and if they dont have a boat, you can fish for free off ocean piers. So, it is probably time for some new rules about this activity, or at the very least a lot of education.

Contact the writer: lconnelly@scng.com
MOSUL, Iraq  The water taps are dry in Rashidiya.

The water and sewage system collapsed in this eastern Mosul neighborhood after 100 days of street combat. On Sunday, Haitham Younis Wahab and his neighbor Shamsuldeen Ahmed Saed decided to do something about it.

Out came the sledgehammers, steel pipes and shovels.

The two men pounded and dug for three days. Sixteen feet down. Twenty feet down. Nothing. And then, 26 feet beneath the cracked sidewalk, they struck water. After all, they live just a half mile from the muddy Tigris River, which divides eastern and western Mosul.

We came across the two neighbors as we walked through the crumbling streets of Rashidiya to find out how residents were faring three weeks after Iraqi security forces had driven most Islamic State fighters from eastern Mosul.

Every few blocks was another freshly dug well. Some residents had penetrated worn pavement by pounding a pipe with a sledgehammer for hours and days. Others dug through the muddy earth with picks, shovels or hand-cranked drills operated by two men.

Wahab and Saed had cobbled together sections of hose and a small electric pump for sucking up free underground water. Somehow they had coaxed water up through this jury-rigged system  Mosul MacGyvers making use of the tools at hand.

It took us three days, working every morning and afternoon, Saed, 50, said as he and Wahab struggled to connect the wells protruding steel pipe to the rest of the contraption with a section of tubing.

We dont drink the water, Wahab, 30, said. It was good only for washing and cleaning dishes, he said.

For drinking water, residents buy bottled water brought in and sold by anyone who can reach more secure areas of eastern Mosul, where water as well as fruit, vegetables and other food are readily available.

Life in Rashidiya these days requires ingenuity and perseverance. Because the electric grid has been knocked out, several entrepreneurs have set up diesel generators and are charging residents to hook up their homes.

Just down the street, Dhahir Hasan, a burly 32-year-old, cranks up an ancient, oily diesel generator twice a day  from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Hasan said he gets 300,000 Iraqi dinars ($235) a month from the owner of the generator, who charges local residents 9,000 dinars per ampere per month to hook up their homes.

Most homes require at least three amperes a month, Hasan said. That comes to roughly $21 a month for many families in an area where most people have lost their jobs.

Abu Mohammed, 70, was not happy about paying generator fees for power a few hours a day. He was also frustrated by something else: He and his son had hit water after gouging out a hole 33 feet deep, but the water they got was hardly worth it.

It smelled awful and we couldnt use it, he said.

Mohammed Jameel, 41, had better luck. For days, he pounded a pipe into the ground and finally hit water about 26 feet down this week. He was holding a hose, letting sluggish brown well water run into the gutter.

The murky water was gritty and left behind a gray residue.

We have to let it run a long time before it turns clear, Jameel said.

Two streets away, Mahmoud Yunis, 33, a powerfully built former police officer with a pair of pliers tucked into his belt, yanked on a hose connected to a 30-foot-deep well he had dug. He said water had trickled out of the hose for five minutes, then stopped.

Yunis chatted amiably for a few minutes, then sent me on my way. He pulled out his pliers and went back to work.
Labs To Go, a paternity testing laboratory in Virginia Beach, has come under fire for its use of a couple of controversial billboards that they claim were just intended to be funny. People didnt see them that way, though, and its easy to see why.

The billboard that got the most attention in the media is located off Armistead Ave. near Downtown Hampton, and shows a male U.S. soldier standing next to a smiling postman, with the catchphrase Whos the Daddy taking up most of the advertising space. While the fact that they chose an African-American man as the postman and a Caucasian soldier makes the joke extremely obvious, that didnt prevent folks from expressing their disapproval of the advert.

The second Labs To Go Billboard is on display in Norfolk, and shows a blonde woman with a Pinocchio-like nose next to the catchphrase Is the Mother a Liar? and phone number of the paternity testing lab. This one didnt sit too well with the local community either.

Photo: News 3

Im offended as a woman that this is something that is being put on billboards, said Erin McMenamin, a Norfolk resident who has been a military wife for the last 15 years. They just send a message that men should be worry about what their wives are doing while they are gone.

She wasnt the only one to argue that, despite their humorous tone, the billboards are sending the wrong message to children and husbands, but Labs To Go has defended their ad campaign, saying that they were only meant to be funny.

It was absolutely not to offend anyone, Labs To Go president, Cheree Owens told News 3. It was to spark humor, and it only may offend someone who may fit in that category.

Photo: News 3

Now I was inclined to believe that this was all done in good spirit, to give people a good laugh and maybe get some new customers in the process, but then Owens admitted that she deliberately chose to feature a man in uniform on the billboard because she was inspired by reality.

Its reality, she said. This is something that I see in my office every day. A lot of military are coming in [and] having paternity tests because they were gone.

So which one is it, a joke, or reality? Or both?

Anyway, Labs To Go admits that they did receive a few phone calls from members of the community complaining about their advertising billboards, but mostly it was business as usual, with most callers simply inquiring about the paternity tests.

Despite the controversy they have caused around Hampton Roads, Cheree Owens has made it very clear that she does not intend to take the billboards down.


APCO Reps Leader of Democratic Opposition in Belarus Wed., Sep. 28, 2022 APCO Worldwide is providing media relations services for Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the leader of the democratic opposition to Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko. She stepped in for her husband and ran for president in 2020 but lost in the rigged election.
The dust boils in the slipstream of a C-130 Hercules at an undisclosed location as vital supplies are being delivered where the enemy shadows the innocent.

The war in Afghanistan may be over but Airmen are still there, sacrificing time with family and sometimes their very life to help protect the Afghan people.

In the process of service before self, some Airmen rise to the top and their leadership and dedication cannot be ignored. One such Airman, Master Sgt. Nicholas Whitney, 55th Security Forces Squadron, led a Fly Away Security Team (FAST) in Afghanistan from late 2015 to early 2016 that earned him the Air Force Outstanding Security Forces Senior Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year Award.

According to Whitney, there are three teams that helped him receive this honor.

As part of the 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, I was the squad leader of a 13-member team at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, said Whitney. We were providing security on C-130s that was moving personnel and delivering resources throughout Afghanistan in a combat environment.

Before Whitney and his team arrived in Afghanistan, they found out that a couple of Airmen had just been killed in the squad they were going to replace.

We were attacked almost daily but this 13-man team performed beyond anything I could ever have imagined or have been more proud of, Whitney said. During the deployment my counterpart and friend, Tech. Sgt. Joseph Lemm, was killed but the teams continued to move forward to bring the fight to the enemy.

Whitney wears a bracelet to remember his friend, Joseph Lemm, originally from Nebraska, who was killed on Dec. 21, 2015.

The second team is the men and women of the 55th Security Forces Squadron, Whitney said. I was the flight chief for Alpha Flight, in charge of 75 men and women from Navy, Air Force and [DoD] civilians. What they do every day for Offutt [AFB], to show up to work with some of the shift schedules we work, and the conditions we work, cops are always there.

To show up to work and pick up their weapon, knowing it is -20 degrees and go stand out at the gate and never complain and have a good attitude, speaks volumes, he added.

The last team that Whitney refers to gets personal.

My wife has pushed me harder than any supervisor ever could, constantly convincing me that I am capable of accomplishing more and doing this all while taking care of our 3-year-old, giving birth to our son while I was deployed to Afghanistan, Whitney said.

Those are the three teams that I was fortunate to be a part of, they mean a lot to me, he added.

Whitney smiled brightly as he recounted the names of his team members

They are really the ones who deserve the recognition, Whitney said. They are all so dedicated and worked so hard that it was impossible for me not to do the same.

When Lt. Col. Ian Dinesen, 55th SFS commander, was asked about Whitney his words were straight to the point.

Master Sgt. Whitney is simply a phenomenal senior NCO, exceptional leader and an all-around great human being, Dinesen said. We are no doubt privileged to have him on our team and we are all better through is shining example.

Make no mistake, he continues to have a positive daily impact on every member of the 55th Security Forces Squadron. I am proud to know him and even more proud to serve with him, he added.
LINCOLN  A Nebraska death row inmates claim of innocence took a major blow Friday when the states highest court rejected his allegations of prosecutorial misconduct.

Marco Torres Jr. claimed prosecutors withheld or destroyed evidence that he argued could have proved his innocence of a 2007 double murder in Grand Island.

Torres, 41, also claimed in his motion for post-conviction relief that he received an inadequate public defense during his jury trial and subsequent appeals.

The Nebraska Supreme Court said Friday in a unanimous opinion that all of Torres claims are without merit.

Attorney Alfred Corey III of Grand Island, who represented Torres in the post-conviction action, declined to comment Friday, saying he had not yet been able to speak to his client.

The state was represented by Attorney General Doug Peterson and Assistant Attorney General James Smith.

A Hall County jury convicted Torres of the March 2007 shootings of Ed Hall and Tim Donohue in a Grand Island home owned by Hall. Both men were slain by multiple gunshots fired at close range.

Among the evidence presented by prosecutors was surveillance video of Torres using Halls ATM card at about the time of the murders and the discovery of Halls burned-out station wagon in Texas, where Torres had driven it.

Torres also could not be excluded from DNA recovered from a cloth sash used to gag Hall, an extension cord used to bind him and cigarette butts found in Donohues room. Donohue was staying at Halls residence.

The convictions and death sentence previously have been upheld by the Supreme Court. Torres filed the post-conviction motion to take up issues not addressed on direct appeal.

Torres argued that the prosecution withheld or destroyed evidence that may have shown Hall and Donohue were present at a soup kitchen later than the time of death as determined by the states pathologist. The evidence included sign-in sheets and video surveillance at the Salvation Army kitchen.

He also said the prosecutor released the house to Halls relatives before Torres lawyers could examine the murder scene. The house later was burned down in a fire department training exercise because it was ruled uninhabitable.

Torres, a known drug dealer, argued methamphetamine was being made in Halls house and other drug dealers would have had motive to kill the men.

Supreme Court Judge John Wright, who wrote Fridays opinion, said deposition testimony showed Torres lawyer chose not to go into the house because he feared for his own health and he determined that police photos of the scene were sufficient.

The judge also said whether or not the house was being used to manufacture meth was irrelevant. There was no dispute that illegal drugs were being sold out of the house.

Case records also show that both the Salvation Army video and sign-in sheets were turned over to Torres lawyer prior to trial. In a deposition, the defendants first lawyer thought he saw the video, but couldnt say for sure. Torres second attorney had no recollection of the video.

As for the sign-in sheets, the defense employed a handwriting expert who could not conclude whether the Ed on the sheet was the signature of Ed Hall.

Torres also argued his trial lawyer failed to call a forensic evidence expert to describe how the sash, extension cord and cigarette butts could have been contaminated with Torres DNA by poor collection practices used by the police.

At trial, Torres lawyer raised the possibility of DNA contamination while cross-examining the prosecutions DNA expert. The defense team decided there was not enough difference of opinion between the two experts on the issue to warrant putting their own expert on the witness stand.

The Supreme Court said the decision did not constitute an error by the defense.

Torres was sentenced to death in 2009, making him the last man sent to death row. He is one of 10 inmates currently awaiting execution in Nebraska.
LINCOLN  A proposal to limit the amount of overtime worked by corrections officers could leave prisons understaffed at essential posts, the head of the states prisons told a legislative panel Thursday.

Limiting overtime would result in less programming for inmates and less time outside their cells, putting the prisons and ultimately the public at risk, Corrections Director Scott Frakes told members of the Legislatures Judiciary Committee.

Theres four facilities in particular that Im not sure what I would do, he said. Im not sure how wed operate the facilities today with overtime restricted.

Legislative Bill 245 would limit protective services staff who guard inmates to working no more than 32 hours of overtime during a two-week period.

The bill also would require that employees are granted at least eight hours off before a shift and would protect them from repercussions if they didnt volunteer to work overtime. If necessary, the department could declare an emergency and suspend the rules.

Supporters of the measure argued that not limiting overtime would lead to employee burnout.

Overtime has doubled in all the states prison facilities during the last three years, but has increased even more in some, said Inspector General of Corrections Doug Koebernick. Overtime at the Lincoln Correctional Center has more than tripled.

Driven by staff vacancies, overtime  including mandatory overtime  is among the problems facing the security workers. The Corrections Department also has been dealing with inmate overcrowding and high staff turnover.

I believe this is an issue of safety, said State Sen. Kate Bolz of Lincoln, a key lawmaker on prison issues, who introduced the measure. When employees are not rested or (are) forced to work overtime when they may already be exhausted, chances of making a mistake or an error that can be harmful to inmates or other employees can happen.

Supporters of the measure included Koebernick and the State Ombudsmans Office.

Mike Marvin, head of the state employees union representing corrections officers, was neutral in his testimony, saying hes heard concerns from employees on both sides.

Frakes called overtime a symptom of the prisons recruitment and retention problems. Capping the number of hours someone may volunteer to work wouldnt address either, and could decrease morale if an employee were prevented from working more overtime, he said.

LB 245 was one of two prison-related bills before the committee. A second, also sponsored by Bolz, aims to address assaults on staff at the states prisons, regional centers and youth treatment facilities.

Under LB 243, administrators of state institutions would be required to inform staff whove been assaulted of any disciplinary action taken against the assailant. The administrator would be required to alert a county attorney, who would be required to report his or her decision on whether to file charges.

Three people who work at the Lincoln Regional Center testified that they are often left in the dark about whether a patient is held accountable following an assault, and said they felt not enough was done about a recent assault of a female security worker.

After the hearing, Kathie Osterman, a Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman, said the State Patrol was contacted the day a patient physically assaulted a mental health security staffer and ripped her clothing. The December incident resulted in the patient being transferred to the most restrictive unit. The matter was referred to the county attorney, who later filed charges.
LINCOLN  A special legislative committee wants to know whether a petition challenging Omaha State Sen. Ernie Chambers residency was properly filed.

State Sen. Dan Watermeier of Syracuse, the committee chairman, said Thursday he had issued a show cause order to both Chambers and John Sciara of Omaha, who filed the challenge.

The order gives both sides until March 1 to present arguments about whether the committee should continue considering the challenge.

While it appears that all statutory requirements have been satisfied, it also appears that Mr. Sciara failed to strictly comply with the requirements of Legislative Rule 10, the order said.

Sciara, who lost to Chambers in November, filed a petition claiming that Chambers lives in Bellevue and not in the north Omaha district that he represents.

Chambers, who owns a home at 1825 Binney St., has disputed the claim that he does not live in his district.

State law and legislative rules require residency challenges to be filed within 40 days of the general election and a $5,000 bond within 10 days after the petition was filed.

Sciara filed a 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 show cause order said both petitions deviated slightly from the requirement in legislative rules.

The first one did not include a required affidavit. The second one did not include proof that it had been served on Chambers.

Chambers said he will write a response to the order. He declined to say what he will argue in that response.

Sciara said he will be arguing that he should be granted a little more leniency since he had filed the challenge pro se, meaning without help from an attorney.

He also argued that lawmakers should have started investigating the challenge within 15 days of receiving the petition, which would have given him time to correct any flaws.

Watermeier said he expects the committee will have a public meeting to consider the arguments and decide whether to continue its work.

The seven-member committee was created under legislative rules to consider the challenge and determine whether Chambers meets the residency requirements to continue serving in the Legislature.

Chambers was seated conditionally at the beginning of the session, pending the outcome of the challenge.

The Nebraska Constitution requires that senators live for at least a year in their district before they can serve in the Legislature.
The plane carrying her mother and niece arrived an hour and a half late, but Amina Mohamed wasnt complaining.

Were it not for the federal court decision blocking parts of President Donald Trumps executive order on refugees, the Somalis relatives wouldnt have landed in Omaha at all.

So, so excited; Im so happy, Mohamed said early Friday after embracing her mom and niece in long hugs.

But despite that happy reunion and the recent court stay, Trumps order is nonetheless poised to significantly ratchet down refugee resettlement in Nebraska. And its already having a major impact on the finances and operations of the agencies that settle refugees here, including employee layoffs.

Many overlook that the court decision did not block one of the most significant provisions of Trumps order: slashing the number of refugees admitted into the United States during this federal budget year from the planned 110,000 to 50,000. That reduced cap means resettlement agencies have already settled the vast majority of refugees they will see between now and when the budget year ends Sept. 30.

In response, Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska, the states largest refugee resettlement agency, announced Friday it is cutting the jobs of 15 refugee resettlement workers, seven of whom will be reassigned to other jobs within the agency.

The Refugee Empowerment Center has already laid off two workers, declined to fill a third open position and expects additional layoffs. Its board is currently looking at a revised budget that will be down one-third from the one it had a year ago.

Both agencies rely on the federal dollars that come with each refugee settled to fund the vast majority of their refugee operations.

With the new limit of 50,000 total refugees, the numbers will have to drop to a trickle very soon, said Kathy Bigsby Moore, interim director of the Refugee Empowerment Center in Omaha.

By early March its estimated some 39,000 of the 50,000 refugees allotted for this year will already have been admitted. That means that in the final seven months of the budget year there will be about 11,000 slots remaining.

The impacts are likewise being seen across the nation. On Wednesday, World Relief, an evangelical relief and redevelopment agency that is among the nations largest refugee resettlement agencies, announced it was laying off 140 U.S. staff members directly due to the order. World Relief said Trumps order would damage U.S. refugee resettlement infrastructure and expertise that has been built up over decades.

America is now less able to help those around the world who need our help the most, said Tim Breene, CEO of World Relief.

Its arguable no state will see more impact from the cut than Nebraska. The state during 2016 settled 1,782 refugees  more for its size than any other state, and three times the national rate.

Nebraska has long been a preferred landing spot for refugees in part because of its stable economy and available entry-level jobs.

Lincoln-based Catholic Social Services of Southeast Nebraska has a small refugee resettlement staff which at this point is not affected by the refugee cut.

We will have to see what happens come Sept. 30, said J.D. Flynn, a spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln. We are committed to supporting immigrant and refugee families here and who are still able to come to Nebraska.

Trumps executive order is part of his America First agenda  necessary, he has said, so that radical Islamist terrorists do not enter the United States.

The Jan. 27 order suspended all refugee resettlement in the United States for 120 days, indefinitely suspended any Syrian refugees, banned for 90 days all travel to the United States from seven Muslim-majority nations and slashed total refugee numbers by nearly 55 percent.

I hereby proclaim that the entry of more than 50,000 refugees in fiscal 2017 would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, and thus suspend any such entry until I determine that additional admissions would be in the national interest, Trumps order said.

As president, Trump has broad powers to control the number of immigrants and refugees admitted into the country.

A federal judge in Seattle a week later struck down the travel ban and the provisions suspending refugee resettlement but didnt impact the 50,000 limit.

That decision reopened the door for those families who had seen their travel plans canceled by the order, including the family of Amina Mohamed.

Mohameds family had fled the violence of Somalias civil war in 2007, spending nearly a decade living in a tent city in Kenya. The conflict claimed the life of her father, and her sister went missing  the reason her niece came to live with her and her mother.

Mohamed landed in the United States in December, and she was looking forward to the arrival of her mother, Halimo Hassan, and 12-year-old niece, Nimo Abdikadir. Then they became among the first casualties of the travel ban. Their flights were canceled.

Mohamed said she understood the presidents desire to protect the country. But she said the refugees from her country who have spent all those years living in tents have not been waiting there for a chance to destroy America. Theyre looking to start a new life in a place where they will be safe.

In the end, with the judges stay, Trumps order had the effect of delaying the arrival of Hassan and Nimo for 15 days.

After greeting her mother and niece just after midnight early Friday, Mohamed said she was looking forward to helping them settle in Omaha, which she has found to be a very nice place. Omahas people, she said, have been very welcoming.

Moore, of the Refugee Empowerment Center, said every refugee arrival is special. But the one early Friday was especially so given that two weeks ago it was unclear when Mohamed would be reunited with her family.

This is a really, really, special night, said Moore, whose agency greeted the new arrivals with signs reading Soo dhowow, which means welcome in their native tongue. They arrived tonight and are all back together, forever.

But even as they celebrated the new arrivals, Moore and her agency were staring at the new realities that come with Trumps cut in overall refugee numbers.

As Moore sees it, if her agency receives only 45 percent of the refugees it had originally contracted for this year, the total will be 157. The agency has already settled 129, meaning it would receive only 28 more between now and Sept. 30.

The agency does not yet know exactly how many refugees it will receive. But it currently has no new arrivals scheduled after next Thursday.

Funding appears poised to dry up. Most of the agencys dollars come from the $2,000 of federal funds that go along with each refugee, dollars that also must pay for the refugees first three months of housing and other direct needs.

Moore said the agency is seeking to raise additional funds privately. But all its 19 remaining staff members are aware of what could lie ahead.

Weve talked to all the staff. They know we are doing what we can to protect their positions, she said. But if the funding stops, the work stops.
The Nebraska 150 Express, a Union Pacific Streamliner locomotive, will roll across Nebraska this summer to help mark the states sesquicentennial.

Gov. Pete Ricketts, his wife, Susanne Shore, and U.P. Chief Executive Lance Fritz were at the Durham Museum in Omaha on Friday to announce the three-day whistle-stop tour, set for Aug. 4 through Aug. 6.

Shore said the locomotive, carrying Nebraska celebrities and speakers, will make eight 1-hour stops across the state, starting in Omaha.

The other stops, where cities will host events and festivals to tout Nebraskas 150th birthday, are Columbus, North Platte, Ogallala, Sidney, Gering, Kearney and Grand Island.

Nebraska 150 organizers have extended invitations to a select group of Nebraska native celebrities and notable figures that they hope will be part of the tour. The celebrities will get off the train to give speeches, take photos and sign autographs for people who show up at the stops.

Shore said Friday that organizers were grateful to Union Pacific for its support and thanked the Nebraska cities hosting the whistle stops. Shore said planning for the event began 18 months ago.

Ricketts said railroads were key to Nebraskas development and to growth west of the Cornhusker state 150 years ago.

Union Pacific has been a great citizen for Nebraska over the years, he said.

Fritz said Nebraska has been a good home for the railroad.

Union Pacific couldnt be happier to be celebrating this sesquicentennial, he said. Were proud to call Omaha our home.

To keep the tour on schedule, Shore said, no train tickets will be sold and no public tours of the train will be offered.

The schedule:

Friday, Aug. 4

Depart Omaha

Noon - Columbus

Late afternoon - North Platte

Saturday, Aug. 5

Morning  Ogallala

Noon  Sidney

Evening  Gering

Sunday, Aug. 6

Morning  Kearney

Noon  Grand Island

Return to Omaha
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied a report by the Associated Press that President Donald Trump was considering using the National Guard to round up undocumented immigrants.

"That is 100 percent not true. It is false," Spicer told reporters aboard Air Force One, calling the AP's report that Trump may call up as many as 100,000 troops "irresponsible."

Spicer said he had no information about the origin of the report. The Associated Press cited an 11-page draft memo it said was written by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, and said that the White House and Kelly's agency did not respond to requests for comment.

"The Department is not considering mobilizing the National Guard," Gillian Christensen, Department of Homeland Security acting press secretary, said in an email.

The National Guard says it hasn't seen any proposal or where it came from.

"The National Guard Bureau is aware of the reports in the media regarding a proposal to activate 100,000 troops to support immigration missions," Defense Department spokesman Major Jamie Davis said in an email. "However, we have received no official notification to execute any activations at this time."

The AP said the memo was dated Jan. 25, addressed to the heads of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and was intended to supplement an executive order on immigration and border security that Trump issued the same day.

The memo envisions mobilizing Guard troops in the four states on the Mexican border and the seven states contiguous to them, as far north as Oregon and east to Arkansas, the AP said. Governors would be able to opt out of the mobilization, the AP said, citing the memo.

A Homeland Security Department official who insisted on anonymity to describe internal deliberations said the memo was an early idea that was never seriously considered.
Why wait until 2050?

Theres only one thing wrong about the Midtown 2050 plan (Putting muscle behind shared vision, Feb. 5 World-Herald). It should be called Midtown 2020 instead. Why wait?

The strength of Mutual of Omaha, Kiewit, Nebraska Medicine, the Nebraska Medical Center and Heritage Services means real private-sector power is behind this visionary transformation for Midtown Omaha. We cant allow ourselves to wallow in yet another round of studies, delay and timidity.

We must move forward. Now.

I encourage everyone involved with this project to move forward with confidence to create this urban, high-rise magnet for young professionals. This is the sort of thinking Omaha needs to show the world just how desirable a place our city is and will continue to be.

The naysayers are bound to criticize plans for a light-rail/trolley system for transporting people around Midtown and downtown. However, research shows that the current generation of young thinkers and doers are forsaking their cars and suburban lifestyles for a more pedestrian-oriented way of life in the cores of cities across America.

Omaha, dont fight it, join it! Be quick about creating a new, big, high-rising Midtown. Just dont put it off until 2050.

Kevin Penrod, Omaha

Legislature belongs to no party

I believe in common-sense state leadership that is flexible enough to meet the needs of all Nebraskans, both rural and urban. We created a bipartisan Legislature to make sure our state senators focus on solutions and not political partisanship.

But in this past election Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts contributed thousands of dollars to candidates to create a highly politicized Legislature. Now the same kind of ideological rigidity that has tied up Congress for so many years has come to Nebraska.

The legislative session is almost a third over, and little has been accomplished but bickering over rule changes.

Our governor and state senators need to put aside their party ties and work together to solve the important problems facing Nebraskans. They cannot do this by digging in their heels and arguing. They need to focus on reasonable compromises and solutions.

Kristine McVea, Omaha

Mello cant snow over Stotherts record

It is apparent from Omaha mayoral candidate Heath Mellos angst over some of his sup-porters inability to drive during the morning rush hour in a 2-inch Nebraska snowfall that he has little substance by which to challenge Mayor Jean Stothert.

I think the mayors exemplary record in implementing two property tax rate decreases speaks volumes in contrast to Mellos lack of similar experience.

In addition, outside of complaining about Mother Nature, Mello provides no challenge to a mayor whose concentrated effort in public safety resulted in 56 new police officers. Perhaps the paltry 2-inch snow kept Mello from noticing the impact of the mayors increased budget for improving community streets.

Mello may want to consider snow removal and lawn service as part of his career path for future elections.

Marita McCarthy, Omaha

South Omaha is Mello territory

South Omaha is in the heat of the upcoming mayoral election. This year, South Omaha showed strong support for Hillary Clinton in the presidential election. I think this is really telling for what Omahans can expect to happen this spring.

Im confident that mayoral candidate Heath Mello is the right choice to represent South Omaha in the upcoming election (Tougher go this time for Stothert in South O, Feb. 12 World-Herald).

Mello is a South Omaha native. After serving the past eight years in the Nebraska Legislature and actively supporting South Omaha and what it represents, I look forward to voting for Mello this spring.

Bryant Bustamante, Omaha

She doesnt run away from questions

We truly admire Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert. Her commitment to transparency is admirable. She is always willing to answer any questions posed to her with a truthful and fact-filled reply. She knows Omaha well and is working hard to continue to make it a better place for those who live in this great city.

Kathie and Ron Horvath, Omaha

Ask for IDs, within reason

I agree with Feb. 12 Public Pulse writer Linda Gomez that there need to be better methods in place to stop underage drinking than underage sting operations.

However, requiring everyone to show their picture IDs to purchase alcoholic beverages is the wrong approach. Businesses that sell alcoholic beverages need to balance their requirement to follow the law while making sure that their profit margin isnt diminished by unhappy elderly customers who were treated with disrespect simply because of their age.

In order to accomplish both of these goals, I propose a simple approach: Businesses should require their employees to ask customers, except those who are obviously senior citizens, to show picture IDs when buying alcoholic beverages.

This practice will promote great customer service because it shows that they respect all customers, while making sure that no customers under 21 years old are able to buy alcoholic beverages.

Melissa C. Harmon, Bellevue

Founders anticipated a Donald Trump

Donald Trump is living proof that wealth neither confers nor is evidence of wisdom or virtue.

Trump may not be able to differentiate fact from fiction. He may not be able to separate the relevant from the irrelevant. And, so far, it appears that he has met few logical fallacies he doesnt like.

It suggests that the leader of the free world is not likely to make his choices based on fact or logic, including his judgment of the character of others. The Michael Flynn resignation and disarray in his national security staff are but symptomatic.

Fortunately, our Founding Fathers didnt waste their energy trying to answer the question of who should rule (or be granted power). Instead, they answered the more appropriate question: No matter who is given power, how can institutions be created so that person cannot mess things up too much?

In the case of Trump, my guess is the Constitution and government institutions will keep him pretty much in check. His lack of aptitude for governance and the ineptitude of the people he has chosen to surround him will take care of the rest.

Brian Hicks, Omaha

Hold Trump up to Sasses Clinton standard

Nebraska U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse was very critical of Hillary Clintons use of a private email server. He accused her of dishonesty and carelessness with classified information and called for her to be held accountable.

If Sasse was serious when he said that about Clinton, he should immediately call for a full investigation by a bipartisan commission of:

 The Trump administrations contacts with Russia during the campaign and the transition.

 Any presidential directives given to Michael Flynn as he prepared to speak with the Russian ambassador.

 The presidents decision to allow Flynns lies about not having brought up Russian sanctions in these conversations to stand uncorrected for weeks.

Sasse should also have no problem calling for an investigation of the Trump teams handling of highly sensitive national security information in front of dozens of photo-snapping resort guests at Mar-a-Lago.

If integrity is truly important to Sasse, he will admit that investigation of these matters by Republican-led House and Senate committees (or, in the Mar-a-Lago case, no investigation at all) would not sufficiently restore public trust in national security matters.

Consistency matters, too, Sen. Sasse. Dont be a hypocrite.

Jennifer Gilg, Omaha

Expand transit even farther west

I totally agree with the Feb. 14 Public Pulse letter by Eric Watts (A better transit idea than streetcars) except for one thing  why have the buses only run to 192nd Street?

Since the town of Elkhorn was annexed 10 years ago, it is pretty much ignored in issues like this. Yes, 192nd is technically Elkhorn, but it runs out to about 216th Street. Our main drag is Highway 31, now 204th Street.

If you are going to have a comprehensive bus service, consider Elkhorn too. There are plenty of times Id take a bus if it were available.

Jane Wilson, Omaha

A play for the whole family

My granddaughter took me to the Omaha Community Playhouse for my birthday, and we saw Around the World in 80 Days.

It was so well done. The acting was great, so funny. It was perfect for a family outing.

Darlene Cisar, La Vista
What Tamil history says about Sasikala's grave thumping

Bengaluru

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Bengaluru, Feb 17: After she was convicted in the disproportionate assets case, Sasikala Natarajan headed to Jayalalithaa memorial and thumped her grave thrice, murmuring something that was inaudible. Some called it theatrics, some called it a pledge of vengeance and others simply trolled Sasikala for her actions.

Social media was abuzz with jokes and memes of Sasikala's grave thumping. But a report in The Hindu traced the 'thumping of vengeance' in Tamil literature and history and concluded that the action was not so strange after all. Time and again, swearing over someone's dead body has found relevance in Tamil history if one were to trace it.

Tamil folklore and history are full of stories where people pledged vengeance at the grave of their leaders, kings, friends or family. The loyalists of the departed would swear to destroy everyone who were responsible for their death, loss etc. In this case, some reports suggested that Sasikala vowed to destroy the BJP, the DMK and other 'enemies'.

The report speaks of a scene in Kalki's Ponniyin Selvan in which, loyalists of the Pandya king meet at midnight at the Pallipadai temple. The temple was raised over the body of their leader. They pledged to destroy the Cholas and the very act is called Vanjinam Uraithal or avenging. Actions of Sasikala at Jayalalithaa memorial were somewhat similar.

The report in The Hindu quoted V Arasu, the former head of the department of Tamil in Madras University. He said that Vanjinam Uraithal was very common in villages during the reign of the kings. He added that the slamming of ground was common since it was believed to be mother earth or homeland.

It is said that such pledges would be taken in graveyards or in the battlefield to avenge the killing of a king or a warrior. Special bodyguards of the Chola kings called the 'Velakkara padai' or the workers' army vowed to chop off their heads if they failed to protect the king, historians added.

The report even threw light on how the British destroyed the body of Veerapandia Kattabomman along with the rope that was used to hang him so that his followers do not swear by his dead body to avenge his death.

OneIndia News
When the court evaluated Jaya's 1Kg waist belt with 2,389 diamonds,18 emeralds & 9 rubies

Bengaluru

oi-Vicky

Bengaluru, Feb 17: To cover the Jayalalithaa disproportionate assets case in Bengaluru, several journalists from Chennai had come down. Over a cup of tea and a cigarette, us fellow journalists have had many discussions about the case. After all, it was the journalists from Chennai who began covering the case first before the Supreme Court transferred it to Bengaluru.

Among the many stories that were shared, the one which caught my attention the most was the day the assets belonging to one of the most powerful politicians in the country was brought down to the court for assessment. Most prominent among the assets evaluated by the court was the 1,044 gram (a little more than a kg) waist belt with 2,389 diamonds, 18 emeralds and 9 rubies.

Known as an ottiyanam, one must recall it being worn by both Jayalalithaa and Sasikala during the wedding of Sudhakaran in 1995. This was the wedding that became the basis of the disproportionate assets case as the obscene amount of wealth amassed by Jayalalithaa and Sasikala was out there on display.

Journalists recalled, "In February 2000, the special court housed in the Chennai collectorate building was bustling with activity. The presiding judge Sambandham was in court and everyone was excited as the three boxes of jewellery belonging to Jayalalithaa was to be brought to court."

There were three suitcases of gold, but what caught everyone's attention was the waist belt or odiyanam. There was only one as the investigators were not able to find the other waist belt. The belt was enough to show the amount of wealth that had been amassed. Another interesting fact is that it took the court nearly three days to valuate just the gold.

[Check gold rates here]

OneIndia News
2005 Delhi blasts: How ELITE Delhi polices lazy attitude failed the victims

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The judgment in the October, 2005 Delhi serial blasts, acquitting two persons of all charges was nothing short of a shocker. Another was convicted for being a member of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, although no charges against him in the case could be proved. On October 29, 2005, three serial blasts ripped the national capital leaving 67 dead and 100 injured.

For the victims and their kin, this verdict is akin to a slap on the face. But the important thing here is, that the court does not have be blamed, but the Delhi police, which carried out a shoddy, lazy and terrible investigation.

The court said in its 140-page order, said that the only evidence brought forward by the prosecution and the 'ELITE' anti-terror wing was intercepted conversations dated November 1 and 4, 2005. The 'mastermind' Tariq Ahmed Dar had told 'C' (code for LeT handler) that the four boys had come back and that Rafiq Shah (another accused) was one of these four boys and that the talk was regarding the blasts on October 29, 2005.

The prosecution has failed to prove Shah was involved in the placing of the bomb in a DTC bus on October 29, 2005. Therefore, the part of the conversation regarding four boys having come back cannot be held to be referring to Shah," the court order read.

The judge added, "There is no evidence regarding involvement of Dar in any manner, prior to October 29, 2005. The conversation about 'Diwali tohfa' is not a muted reference to the blasts because it was repeated twice. Even otherwise, knowledge of the blasts would have been gained by November 1, 2005 since the said incidents were widely reported. The prosecution has not been able to prove any link between 'suspects 'Muhammed Hussain Fazili and Rafiq Shah or Dar," it said.

"The conversations, therefore, fall short in enabling this court to come to any definite conclusion that Dar was part of the conspiracy behind these blasts," the court observed.

Lazy probe:

A month after the blasts, the Delhi police said at a press conference that the case was solved. In a 'run-of-the-mill' press conference held in Delhi, the police said that Dar had orchestrated the blast at the behest of the LeT. He selected the bombers, arranged the material and radicalised them.

The police went on to speak about a satellite phone used to plan the attack.

Two calls made on these phones were part of the charge-sheet. The police said that the money came from Pakistan and added that Dar was motivated by money. He had four bank accounts despite his salary at an MNC being just Rs 10,000, and hence his motivation was the money, it was alleged.

The cross-examination of the investigating officer clearly did not help the case. The court threw this theory out while stating, "A possibility arises of Dar working with Helen Pharmaceutical which was given 4-5 per cent commission for sales turnover of stocks of Jonson and Jonson from which he might have received income." The crucial cross-examination of one of the senior investigating officers also did not help the prosecution's case.

OneIndia News
AFSPA in parts of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland extended for 6 months from today

PM Modi likely to visit Arunachal on Oct 30 to inaugurate greenfield airport

Arunachal Pradesh: Kalikho Pul's wife demands probe into his suicide

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, Feb 17: Late Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Kalikho Pul's wife on Friday demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe to find the actual reasons behind her husband's suicide.

"We want a central investigation agency, the CBI or the National Investigation Agency, to investigate the case," said Dangwimsai Pul addressing the media in the national capital.

She also alleged that the state government did not probe the death of Pul properly, despite an FIR by the family.

Kalikho Pul allegedly committed suicide on August 9, 2016, at his official residence.

The 47-year-old leader was found hanging from a ceiling fan, weeks after being unseated as the chief minister by a ruling of the Supreme Court.

Dangwimsai Pul said the family has also appealed to the Chief Justice of India against the four judges whose names were mentioned in Pul's suicide letter alleging corruption.

She said the current state government was threatening the family for demanding a CBI probe.

The Arunachal Police had found a 60-page letter written by Kaliko Pul near his body. Titled 'Mere Vichar' (My Views), the letter mentioned several "deliberate irregularities" by state leaders and Supreme Court judges over the years.

Pul had become chief minister on February 19, 2016, after he along with 29 (19 Congress and 11 BJP) MLAs had defected to the People's Party of Arunachal Pradesh to form a new government, bringing down the existing Congress government led by Nabam Tuki.

However, the Supreme Court reinstated the Tuki government on July 13, 2016, following which Pul and his supporters returned to the Congress and supported Pema Khandu as the Chief Minister.

Though Khandu became the chief minister on July 16 last year, Pul was yet to vacate the official residence at the time of his death.

IANS
Watch video: Bellandur Lake on fire again, no lessons learnt

India

oi-Anusha

For the third time, the Bellandur Lake in Bengaluru caught fire on Thursday evening. Thick clouds of smoke filled the air, choking residents of Bellandur and Iblur areas around the lake. Locals alleged that debris dumped into the lake and the lakes's bank along with garbage was set ablaze illegally by miscreants that led to the massive fire.

The toxic foams formed on the surface of the lake as a result of heavy pollution fuelled the flames that raged on for hours with no remedies to contain it. The Bellandur Lake has been dying a slow death with unchecked chemical waste as well as pollutants being dumped into the water body. Residents allege that the government and civic agencies have done nothing but lip service to clean up the lake and rejuvenate it.

Citizens took to social media to put out videos and pictures of the lake on fire in a bid to convey their frustration with the government's inaction. The lake is not only heavily polluted but fires that break out now and then are a major health concern for those living in the vicinity. The fact that a water body caught fire only goes on to expose the pollution levels in the lake.

OneIndia News
You don't talk to me: Sonia Gandhi told Smriti Irani in Parliament over 'rashtrapatni' row

DGama's family says, 'absolutely no connection' with firm linked to Irani's family

Cong trains gun at Irani for her remarks on Priyanka

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Irked by Smriti Irani's remark on Priyanka Gandhi about not campaigning in Amethi, the Congress on Friday tried to rake up the row over the textile minister's education qualification.

Senior Congress leader PC Chacko told news agency ANI that it was none of Irani's business to pass remarks on where Priyanka should campaign. He said the former HRD minister has a pending case about her educational qualification, adding that she has a lot to answere on that.

Chacko said that Irani had in fact given directions the her department to not divulge details of her education to an RTI query.

The Union textiles minister had on Thursday said that Priyanka is not campaigning in Amethi due to unfulfilled promises made by her party to the people.

"Priyanka wants to avoid people's questions," she had reportedly said.

Priyanka will on Friday campaing alongside Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi in the party's stronghold Rae Bareli.

She is said to have played a key role in stitiching together the SP-Congress alliance for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Friday, February 17, 2017, 14:05 [IST]
Anand Mahindra's tweet about UPI at country's 'last tea shop' is every Indian's emotion

Lunar eclipse 2022: Temples to be closed on Nov 8; Are you allowed to worship?

Delhi: Sisodia faces protest while flagging off new buses

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, Feb 17: Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday faced the ire of a man from east Delhi who alleged that Sisodia had never visited his constituency in the past two years.

While flagging off 100 cluster buses from Delhi Secretariat, Sisodia was confronted by the man who said he belonged to Sisodia's Patparganj constituency and claimed that the Dy CM had never visited his constituency in the past two years and had no connect with the people.

The Aam Aadmi Party leader, however, dismissed the charge and said the protestor belonged to the liquor mafia.

The man, after the incident, also spoke to media persons and said his name was Sanjeev Jain and he did not belong to any political party or liquor mafia.

"I belong to Sisodia's Patparganj constituency," he said.

"He called me a member of the liquor mafia. I belong to his constituency. He never visited his constituency and never met the people there in two years," the protestor alleged.

Flagging off 100 cluster buses, Sisodia said the new cluster buses are GPS-enabled and it would strengthen the public transport system in Delhi.

Delhi Transport Minister Satyendar Jain, who was present on the occasion, said it was only the beginning as Delhi government would soon launch more cluster and Delhi Transport Corporation buses.

"We will soon launch 450 AC buses, and 250 cluster buses in Delhi. We will also build eight depots in the national capital," Jain said.

He said a plan to develop bus depots with multi-level parking was being considered.

Delhi has around 4,500 DTC and cluster buses.

IANS
'Gandhada Gudi' box office collection: Here's how much it collected in the US

Environment ministry orders enquiry into Bengaluru's Bellandur lake

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Feb 17: The Environment ministry has ordered an enquiry into the incident of fire that had broken out in the garbage strewn around Bellandur lake in Bengaluru. "We are enquiring into it. The report will come by evening.

We will have to see what were the reasons behind the fire," Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave said. Thick smoke had enveloped Bellandur lake after the fire, which also triggered panic among motorists on the busy Sarjapur main road.

Residents hit out at the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials for their "lackadaisical" attitude in stopping garbage dumping. Karnataka State Pollution Control Board Chairman Lakshman said notices have been issued to BBMP, Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewage Board and other agencies to stop the dumping.

He also said the board is in the process of inspecting sewage treatment plants in the area. The lake has been in news for the last one year for spillover of froth and toxic fumes.

PTI
Health sector improving despite challenges: J P Nadda

India

oi-PTI

Jaipur, Feb 16: Union Health Minister J P Nadda today said the government is working to improve healthcare sector despite challenges and the decision to slash prices of coronary stent is one of the moves to provide relief to people.

Addressing the platinum jubilee annual conference of All India Ophthalmological Society here, the minister said there are several challenges in the healthcare sector but the government is making all efforts to address them. "The government decided to slash prices of stents and we will look how other such decisions can be taken," he said.

From disease-centric approach, now "we are now moving with preventive approach" so that diseases could be detected and diagnosed at early stage, he said. "Lack of human resources and healthcare facilities in rural areas, disparity in facility regionwise are some of the challenges in the healthcare sector and the government is making all efforts to deal with them," the minister said.

"We are trying to develop not AIIMS like institutions but AIIMS. We will not compromise the standards in the new AIIMSes," he said. The minister said there is decline in MMR, CMR which indicates that the situation is improving. Rajasthan health minister Kalicharan Saraf and others were present in the programme.

PTI
Manipur: Irom Sharmila covers 20-km on bicycle to file nomination in style

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Imphal, Feb 17: She is not a regular politician, who travels in expensive cars and well-guarded by several people. Activist-turned-politician Irom Sharmila Chanu--who is also known as the Iron Lady of Manipur--has always done things differently. Even when she had to file her nomination papers for the upcoming assembly polls in the northeastern state, Irom decided to cover a distance of approximately 20 kilometres from Imphal (her home) on her bicycle.

Irom, who has founded the People's Resurgence and Justice Alliance party last year, filed her nomination papers from Thoubal constituency of the state. "PRJA's Irom Sharmila rides a bicycle to file nomination for Thoubal Assembly seat in Manipur assembly polls against CM Okram Ibobi," reported ANI on Friday.

PRJA's Irom Sharmila rides a bicycle to file nomination for Thoubal Assembly seat in Manipur assembly polls against CM Okram Ibobi (16/2) pic.twitter.com/xz4olU0kf0  ANI (@ANI_news) February 17, 2017

Sharmila filed nomination on behalf of People's Resurgence & Justice Alliance, covered a distance of about 20 kms from Imphal on her bicycle pic.twitter.com/xgx351chki  ANI (@ANI_news) February 17, 2017

Irom is contesting the election against Congress leader and three-time chief minister of Manipur, Okram Ibobi Singh. In fact, she is regular seen campaigning on her bicycle wearing a cap to protect her from the sun and dust.

Recently, she created a stir by revealing that the Bharatiya Janata Party had allegedly offered her Rs 36 crore to fight the elections as a saffron party candidate. Irom was on a 16-year-long fast demanding the revocation of the Armed Forces Special Power act (AFSPA) from the state before joining mainstream politics last year.

Polling for the 60 seats Manipur Assembly elections will be hosted in two phases on March 4 and March 8. Results will be declared on March 11. In the last assembly polls, the Congress won 42 seats and Singh was re-elected as the chief minister of the state.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Friday, February 17, 2017, 11:42 [IST]
Parrikar backs army chief's comments on Kashmir protesters

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Feb 17: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Friday backed Army Chief Bipin Rawat's comments that those obstructing anti-terror operations in Jammu and Kashmir will face tough actions. As Rawat's comments triggered a political slugfest, Parrikar said those creating hurdles security forces in Jammu and Kashmir are trying to protect the terrorists and that the government has given free hand to army to carry out anti-terror operations.

"Those who obstruct the operations are trying to protect the terrorists and his (General Rawat's) comment is based on that. In these matters, the decision to act will be the commanding (officer) or the officer who is on the spot. It cannot be generalised," Parrikar told India Today TV. Acknowledging that the hostile conduct of locals was causing higher casualties in the Kashmir valley, Rawat on Wednesday had warned those attacking security forces during anti-militancy operations of "tough action".

He had said people creating hurdles during anti-terror operations and displaying flags of Pakistan and ISIS in Jammu and Kashmir will be dealt as anti-nationals and will face "harsh" actions. "People who are indulging in stone throwing, people who are indulging in supporting the terrorists and helping them escape will be treated like over ground workers of the terrorists and will be dealt with accordingly," he had said.

He had said security forces in Jammu and Kashmir were facing higher casualties due to the manner in which the local population was preventing them from conducting the operations and "at times even supporting the terrorists to escape". "We would now request the local population that people who have picked up arms, and they are the local boys, if they want to continue with the acts of terrorism, displaying flags of ISIS and Pakistan, then we will treat them as anti-national elements and go helter-skelter for them.

"They may survive today but we will get them tomorrow. Our relentless operations will continue," the Army Chief told reporters here. General Rawat said those supporting terror activities are being given an opportunity to join the national mainstream but, if they continue with their acts, security forces will come down hard on them.

Replying to a query on the Army chief's remarks, Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said restraint should be adopted by security forces while dealing with people in the state. The BJP accused the Congress of speaking in the voice of separatists and politicising the Army for "lowly political gains" while defending Rawat's statement on tough action against locals hampering counter-militancy operations in Kashmir.

PTI
From February 10-12, 2017, a delegation of promising young Turkish Americans attended the Council of Turkish Canadian (CTC) 9th Annual Turkish-Canadian Youth Congress in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Six Turkish American college students and young professionals spent the weekend attending meetings with officials and experts, learning about the Canadian political system, and developing a network with their Canadian peers. They came away from the weekend inspired to further collaborate with the Turkish Canadian community, continue to engage in local, national, and international politics, and implement the lessons they learned as effective leaders in the Turkish American community.

The Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) sponsored the travel for three of the Turkish American participants and CTC sponsored the accommodation and conference participation of all six.

Participants attended meetings and briefings with leaders of the Turkish Canadian community, Canadian politicians in the Canadian House of Commons, prominent Ottoman History historians, and former Turkish officials. The Turkish Ambassador to Canada, H.E. Selcuk Unal, also addressed the group. In addition, they toured the Canadian Parliament and attended a reception to celebrate the opening of the Modern Turkish Studies (MTS) Center at Carleton University.
PM Modi is a dramebaaz; voters are angry with him, says Mayawati

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Lucknow, Feb 17: Attending an election rally in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh on Friday, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre for failing to fulfill its promises. The Dalit leader called PM Modi a dramebaaz (one who resorts to theatrics), during her rally at Fatehpur.

"People won't bless the BJP, no matter how much drama PM Modi does by calling himself an adopted son of UP," said Mayawati. "Voters are angry with the PM due to his wrong policies, in such a situation the BJP has not yet dared to project a chief ministerial face in UP," she added.

Wooing the Muslim voters, Mayawati said that her party did not agree with the interference in Triple Talaq and Uniform Civil Code.

The BSP supremo said that Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav and his team are likely to cause harm to Akhilesh Yadav's prospect of becoming the chief minister of UP for the second time.

"The way Mulayam Singh Yadav has insulted his brother Shivpal everywhere, Shivpal and his team will surely harm Akhilesh Yadav and his team," Mayawati added. In her previous election rallies, the BSP chief claimed that her party will win the assembly polls with full majority.

This time, the assembly polls in UP is divided into seven phases. The first and second phases of polling got over on February 11 and February 15 respectively. The third phase of voting is scheduled on February 19.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Friday, February 17, 2017, 15:30 [IST]
Prakash Javadekar asks opposition not to politicise the armed forces

India

oi-PTI

Imphal, Feb 17: Amid political mudslinging over Army chief Bipin Rawat's remarks, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar today asked the opposition to "keep pace" with democracy and "not politicise" the armed forces.

"Opposition should not politicise everything. They have raised doubts on surgical strike which was never done before in history (of India). Now they are reacting and politicising an issue which they should not be doing. So I request them to keep pace with democracy and not politicise the military," he told PTI.

The HRD Minister's comments came in the backdrop of the Army chief's statement on tough action against stone pelters in Kashmir.

The stern message from Rawat came after three soldiers faced heavy stone-pelting at Parray Mohalla of Bandipore in north Kashmir when they were about to launch an operation against militants holed up there.

PTI

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Story first published: Friday, February 17, 2017, 16:38 [IST]
Priyanka's campaign electrified atmosphere across UP: Azad

India

oi-PTI

Allahabad, Feb 17: Hitting back at Union minister Smriti Irani over her barbs at Priyanka Gandhi, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad claimed the latter's campaign on Thursday has "electrified the atmosphere across Uttar Pradesh".

"It is true that Priyanka campaigned only in Rae Bareli but she is closely monitoring the Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance's campaign across all 403 Assembly segments in the state," he told reporters here.

On Irani's comments in Kanpur on Wednesday that Priyanka was "shying away" from campaigning in the ongoing polls as she "can not face the people's questions", the AICC general secretary said, "This only shows the BJP is scared of the drubbing it is bound to suffer in Uttar Pradesh."

"Priyanka Gandhi may have decided to actively campaigned only in Amethi and Rae Bareli but her presence has electrified the atmosphere across the state. "On the other hand, we have Prime Minister Narendra Modi desperately holding rallies in every nook and corner of the state which shows that he has sensed the impending defeat of his party in the Assembly polls," Azad said.

Priyanka, who addressed an election rally in Rae Bareli for the first time during the ongoing Assembly polls, joined her brother Rahul in attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his "adopted son" remark, saying Uttar Pradesh does not need an outsider when it has its own to take it forward.

PTI
Priyanka Gandhi to campaign with brother Rahul in Rae Bareli today

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Lucknow, Feb 17: After weeks of dilly-dallying, postponements and cancellations, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is set to campaign for the Congress in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections on Friday.

According to senior Congress leaders of Uttar Pradesh unit, Priyanka will be showing up with brother Rahul Gandhi in Rae Bareli, a parliamentary seat held by her mother Sonia Gandhi.

The absence of Priyanka, who is a great crowd puller and is among the 40 'star campaigners' the party has listed for the polls, had reportedly upset the cadres, specially in the family bastion of Amethi-Rae Bareli, where she has been campaigning in previous elections.

This time, the Congress has entered an alliance with the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP). Informed sources said many campaign programmes of Priyanka Vadra had been made and cancelled in the past owing to the seat-sharing formula on these seats continuing to be an irritant.

Now since both the alliance partners have withdrawn five candidates each from their side, she is said to have agreed to come and campaign. She was one of the main negotiators with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav when the alliance talks were on the brink of collapse.

While her name has been repeatedly appearing in the star campaigner list of the party, she is likely to restrict herself to Amethi-Rae Bareli only, an informed party source told IANS.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi is scheduled to address a rally on February 20. She has so far kept herself away from campaigning as she is reportedly not in "the best of health". Rae Bareli goes to polls on February 23 and Amethi on February 27.

IANS
Sasikala's 1st day in jail: Tamarind rice, ragi, a stroll and back to the cell

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

On Thursday, convicted AIADMK interim general secretary Sasikala Natarajan spent her first day in the Bengaluru central jail after being convicted by the Supreme Court in the disproportionate assets case. "She spent the day like any other ordinary convict," said a jail official. Tamarind rice for breakfast and ragi (millet)-based food for lunch and dinner was what she was given.

Draped in a white saree, she spent most of her day walking around with her co-convict Ilavarasi. Later in the evening, the jail guards escorted her back to her cell.

Sasikala is serving a simple imprisonment and hence no hard tasks are given to her, such as candle making, and she would earn Rs 50 a day making them.

Sasikala is expected to have a hectic day on Friday. Many from the AIADMK including newly sworn in chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Edapaddi Palanisamy are expected to visit her in jail. This would be a courtesy visit as the entire cabinet including the CM of Tamil Nadu was handpicked by her.

Sasikala is also likely to meet with her advocates who would discuss with her the formalities of filing a review petition. After being convicted on Tuesday by the SC, her legal team had immediately said that they would like to seek review of the verdict. She may also consider filing an application seeking a transfer from the Bengaluru central jail to a prison in Tamil Nadu.

OneIndia News
LeT terrorist Mohammad Arif to hang after SC confirms death in 2000 Red Fort attack case

SC orders filing of FIR against UP minister Gayatri Prajapati

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

The Supreme Court on Friday ordred registration of FIR against Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Minister Gayatri Prajapati in connection with alleged rape and blackmailing of a social worker, said reports.

The social activist had last year accused the minister of spiking her tea with an intoxicating substance and then raping her.

According to reports, the victim also accused him of taking photographs of the heinous act and later blackmailing her.

The activist, who has also served as a counselor in Municipality, claimed that the minister also tried to assault her 17-year-old daughter.

OneIndia News
Shocking: Delhi school served dead rat in midday meal, 9 students hospitalised

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New Delhi, Feb 17: Imagine a bunch of school-going kids all excited to enjoy their food. Instead, they were served a 'dead rat' in their meal. That's exactly what has happened in a government-run school in the national capital on Thursday. The incident has left nine children ill, who are currently undergoing treatment in a hospital.

The entire episode has shocked the nation. It has once again brought to light the poor quality food served to underprivileged children as a part of their midday meal across the country. "Nine students at a government school in Delhi hospitalised after they consumed a midday meal in which a dead rat was allegedly found," reported ANI.

"Rat was found in the meal my son had consumed yesterday, such negligence is not acceptable," a mother of one of the students hospitalised, told ANI. Senior Congress leader Kiran Walia demanded an enquiry into the whole episode. "Strict supervision must be done on cleanliness and hygiene during food preparation. We ordered an enquiry. Nobody should be spared," said Walia.

The incident happened at Government Boys' Senior Secondary School in Deoli area, Delhi. The students were rushed to Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital after they fell ill.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia visited the students at the hospital. "A rat has been found in midday meal in a government school. Nine students were rushed to hospital. I have spoken to doctors and the children are fine," Sisodia informed in a tweet.

"An FIR is also being lodged and from tomorrow our officers will monitor cooking of food in the kitchen," he added. The school authorities have filed a complaint in this regard, police officials said.

"Today a PCR (police control room) call was received informing that nine children of GBSSS fell ill after consuming midday meal." "All the children are out of danger. School authorities are giving complaint in this regard," said a senior police officer.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Friday, February 17, 2017, 8:32 [IST]
Plunging new depths to promote chess as scuba divers play chess undersea in Chennai

Tamil Nadu to unveil new Startup and Innovation policy soon: CM Stalin

Why is the DMK continuing to oppose the imposition of Hindi? - 50 years of struggle and the truth!

Stalin to Palanisamy: Dont smile at me in the assembly

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Chennai, Feb 17: DMK's Working President M.K. Stalin on Friday advised newly-sworn-in Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palanisamy against smiling at him in the assembly.

The strange advice came just a few days after AIADMK General Secretary V.K. Sasikala had noted that former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam had smiled at Stalin -- and cited that as one of the reasons for asking him to step down.

Reacting to that, Panneerselvam had said smiling at another human being is one of the qualities that differentiates humans from animals.

Stalin, who has termed the Palaniswami government as "anti-people", was accused by Sasikala of conspiring with Paneerselvam to sideline her in the party.

A Sasikala loyalist, Palanisamy was sworn in as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on Thursday, along with 31 cabinet ministers, ending the political crisis sparked by the death of Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa in December.

IANS

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Story first published: Friday, February 17, 2017, 15:17 [IST]
The Litchi who circulated fake notes in India

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

She goes by the name 'Litchi' and her crime was that she was part of a major fake currency racket in India. Litchi, 43, whose original name is Fatima, is a Bangaldeshi national, was actively involved in the circulation of fake currency in India and was arrested from Agra on Thursday.

Litchi, who is a resident of Sushil Nagar in Agra is married to one Sher Ali Khan. Her name came up during an investigation conducted by the National Investigation Agency, which took over the case that was busted in West Bengal.

Anarul Islam, a Bangladeshi national, was apprehended on January 1, 2016 by Kaliachak police in a joint operation with the Border Security Force. After questioning by NIA, it was found that he used to collect the fake notes from his associate, Ripon, following which it would be supplied to Litchi.

At the time of her arrest, officials found two old fake Rs 1,000 notes which she had been unable to dispose off post demonetisation. The NIA also found incriminating documents which included Litchi's bank accounts statements that revealed that lakhs of rupees was paid to her.

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Story first published: Friday, February 17, 2017, 11:12 [IST]
TN CM Palanisamy will NOT meet Sasikala before floor test

India

oi-Anusha

Newly sworn-in Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisamy will not meet AIADMK's interim general secretary Sasikala Natarajan who is currently lodged at the Bengaluru central jail. It was expected that Palanisamy would meet her on Friday after he took over the office or chief minister on Thursday evening, but the same is unlikely until the floor test.

Speculations are rife that the chief minister meeting Sasikala who has been convicted in a disproportionate assets case by none other than the Supreme Court will provide ammunition to the DMK as well as the O Panneerselvam camp to attack him during the vote of confidence.

A special session of the Tamil Nadu assembly has been called for on Saturday where Palanisamy will prove majority to retain the post of the chief minister. Moreover, the AIADMK would like the chief minister to stay back in the state and not let MLAs at the resort be by themselves before the floor test.

A visit to Bengaluru has not been scheduled for the chief minister on Friday yet as against expectations. It is convention for the head of state not to meet a convict but for the AIADMK the reasons stretch beyond mere convention.

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Story first published: Friday, February 17, 2017, 10:46 [IST]
How the numbers add up in UP: This is what BJP's win percentage was

UP election- Rahul, Priyanka hit out at Modi on son of soil remark

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia

Raebareli, Feb 17: Star campaigner for the Congress Priyanka Gandhi Vadra finally began campaign for Uttar Pradesh assembly election by addressing a poll rally with brother Rahul Gandhi. They addressed a rally at mother Sonia Gandhi's Lok Sabha constituency Raebareli.

Priyanka Gandhi in her first ever speech in Raebareli declared Rahul Gandhi as the true son of UP and asked the crowd if UP needed an adopted son for development. She addressed the youth of the state and said they are capable enough to develop the state on their own.

Priyanka's comment was in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comment that he was the adopted son of UP. In her short speech she had slammed PM on demonetisation and had called it as torture for women.

Also, Rahul Gandhi in his speech hit out at Modi over demonetisation and farmer suicides. He said that during the month long yatra in Uttar Pradesh he spoke to many farmers and the farmers told him about their problems. Rahul too in his election speech ridiculed Modi on his son of the soil comment. He further attacked PM on making people stand in long queues during demonetisation and had said that PM's Make in India was creating no jobs for youth.

Rahul promised farmers that their loans will be waived off if SP-Congress comes to power. He also said that women will get loans. Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Modi, he said if PM wanted he can waive off farmer loans in two minutes.

He also attacked NDA government for taking away food park from Raebareli. He said that he wanted to plant 40 factories but PM did not let it happen.

Priyanka will not be campaigning for any other constituencies in UP as she had told earlier that she will be campaigning only in Raebareli and Amethi.

OneIndia News
How the numbers add up in UP: This is what BJP's win percentage was

UP election 2017: Third phase has 250 crorepati candidates

India

oi-Vicky

Lucknow, Feb 17: The third phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections would witness 813 candidates battling it out. There are 110 candidates with criminal backgrounds and 250 crorepatis in the fray. Out of the 110, there are 82 candidates who have declared serious criminal charges against them, says a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms.

Seven candidates have declared cases related to murder while 11 have charges relating to attempt to murder. Six candidates have declared cases like assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty. Five candidates have declared cases related to kidnapping for ransom, etc.

Party wise Candidates with Criminal Cases:

Twenty-one out of 68 candidates from Bhartiya Janta Party, 21 out of 67 candidates from Bahujan Samaj Party, 5 out of 40 candidates from Rashtriya Lok Dal, 13 out of 59 candidates from Samajwadi Party, 5 out of 14 candidates from Indian National Congress, and 13 out of 225 independent candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

There are 21 constituencies in the third phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly elections having three or more candidates with declared criminal cases. Red Alert Constituencies are those which have three or more candidates with criminal cases contesting elections.

Financial Background

Out of the 813 candidates, 250 (31%) are crorepatis. 56 out of 67 candidates from BSP, 61 out of 68 candidates from BJP, 51 out of 59 candidates from SP, 7 out of 14 candidates from INC, 13 out of 40 candidates from RLD and 24 out of 225 independent candidates have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.

The average of assets per candidate contesting in the third phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections is Rs 1.61 crore.

Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 14 INC candidates is Rs 6.20 crores, 68 BJP candidates is Rs 3.79 crore, 67 BSP candidates have average assets of Rs 4.18 crore, 40 RLD candidates have average assets worth Rs 73.56 lakh, 59 SP candidates have average assets worth Rs 5.70 crore, and 225 independent candidates have average assets of Rs 72.25 lakh. Two candidates have declared zero assets in their self sworn affidavits.

OneIndia News
Why is the DMK continuing to oppose the imposition of Hindi? - 50 years of struggle and the truth!

When a court staff nearly lost job for wearing Sudhakaran's 487-gm gold belt

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

There is no doubt that the marriage of Sudhakaran the former foster son of Jayalalithaa was a lavish affair. It was this wedding that became the basis of the disproportionate assets case in which a conviction was recorded by the trial court and then the Supreme Court.

There are several incidents that transpired both in and outside the courts which were a subject of discussion for legal correspondents covering the trial. Journalists from Bengaluru and Chennai would very often discuss such incidents over coffee and cigarettes.

A 487.4 gram diamond studded gold belt was brought to the Chennai special court presided over by Judge Sambadham. The gold belt worn by Sudhakaran during his lavish wedding in 1995 was quite the head turner, journalists recall. Everyone wanted to have a look at it and one journalist even went ahead and held it in his hand.

However, an overzealous male typist took it a notch further. He wore the gold belt known as the Kaasumaalai around his neck for a while and then handed it to others. He was pulled up and only then did he realise the seriousness of his act. Following the court proceedings he pleaded with the journalists present not to report the incident. The journalists obliged.

But a week later, the New York Times published a story about the incident. The story was based on inputs from journalists inside the court hall. This was then translated by a Tamil daily and this spelt trouble for the typist. He was suspended briefly after being issued a memo.

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Story first published: Friday, February 17, 2017, 14:49 [IST]
When its time for Jihad, anti-India forces join hands in the heart of Karachi

India

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, Feb 17: A report released by a Brussels based thinktank has termed Karachi as the hub of anti-India activities. The report titled, "Pakistan: Stoking the fire in Karachi" was released by the International Crisis Group.

It speaks about how easily jihadi elements are able to carry out their activities right under the nose of the security agencies. Groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammad are linked to the madrasas. They enjoy the support of the Pakistan army, the report also states.

The report speaks about how Karachi has always been spared by the law enforcement agencies during a crackdown on terror. This is because of the Pakistan policy called the "Good Jihadi, Bad Jihadi." The Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish are part of the 'Good Jihadi' group and hence their activities, which are very prominent in Karachi, have always been spared.

Further the report also speaks about how anti-India activities are always planned in Karachi. Their activities can be seen the most at the time of Indo-Pak tension. Every time there is an agenda to be carried out against India, especially Kashmir, these groups join hands in the heart of Karachi and plan operations, the report also states.

Jihad is a job in Karachi. The terror groups tap into the homes where unemployed youth are housed. They are roped in for these activities, the report states. These youth earn a living and hence Jihad is a job in Karachi, the report also states.

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Story first published: Friday, February 17, 2017, 8:33 [IST]
Why much sought after Priyanka Gandhi is missing from UP poll campaigning

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Lucknow, Feb 17: Everybody wants a slice of charismatic Priyanka Gandhi in the high-stake Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, literally. It's not just Congress party workers; even the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party is 'badly' missing Priyanka. Recently, BJP leader and union minister, Smriti Irani, said Priyanka was not campaigning because she had no answer for the tough questions which the voters would ask her.

Finally, reports say Priyanka is joining the Uttar Pradesh campaign trail on Friday. Priyanka and her brother and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will address a rally in Rae Bareli, the parliamentary seat held by their mother Sonia Gandhi.

Reasons behind Priyanka skipping campaigning in Uttar Pradesh

In the last Lok Sabha elections in 2014, Priyanka was seen actively campaigning across the state. In fact, she was the only person who boldly replied back to all the allegations labelled against the Congress and its leaders by the BJP. It was not Rahul, Sonia or any other senior Congress leader, but Priyanka who dared to take on BJP's star campaigner Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, immediately after Congress' defeat in the Lok Sabha polls, Priyanka almost shut herself out from public life. This assembly election season, we first heard about her when reports emerged that it was because of Priyanka's negotiation skills that sealed the alliance between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party for the UP polls.

If on one hand, party workers in the ground want Priyanka to be actively involved in UP poll process, the senior Congress leaders maintain that she is working 'behind the scenes' and 'micro-managing' things for the party and her brother.

State Congress in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "Priyanka is playing an important role and she knows about all constituencies in the state, something which I don't even know."

Political experts say assembly elections in the five states are very crucial for Rahul's political career. If the Congress-SP alliance manages to win the UP polls then that will catapult Rahul's fortune. That is why Priyanka does not want to steal Rahul's thunder.

Moreover, the Congress has always been very protective about the Gandhi family. The party will not like to use its 'best' card (read Priyanka) extensively for assembly elections. As few poll pundits suggest, may be, the Congress is saving Priyanka and her charisma for the next Lok Sabha elections slated in 2019.

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Story first published: Friday, February 17, 2017, 10:34 [IST]
40 down and counting: Forces on the verge of wiping out Pakistani terrorists in Valley

Mubin did it in Coimbatore: Why do Islamist terrorists shave their body before a suicide mission

Pakistan shrine blast: 35 militants die as Pak launches crackdown

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Karachi, Feb 17: At least 35 terrorists were killed as the law enforcement agencies launched a security crackdown across Pakistan on Friday. The crackdown comes after a bomb ripped through the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, a revered 13th century Muslim saint, in Sehwan city of Sindh province which left 75 persons dead and hundreds injured, The News International reported.

According to a statement by Sindh Rangers, 18 terrorists were killed in operations in Karachi overnight, while six were killed in Orakzai agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

At least four militants were killed in Bannu and two died in a police encounter in Dera Ismail Khan city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Three terrorists were shot dead during a search operation in Peshawar city and two were killed in Sargodha city of Punjab province.

The Islamic State (IS) militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack at the crowded shrine on Thursday, which followed a series of extremist assaults this week. "Scores of suspects were arrested from different cities after the federal and provincial law enforcement authorities started a crackdown across the country," a government official said.

According to the official, the crackdown will continue for the coming days. The Sindh government announced three days mourning period as Pakistanis vented their grief and fury on social media, bemoaning the lack of medical facilities to help the wounded.

Many of the injured were flown to Karachi and other major towns in Sindh for medical facilities. Pakistan has been experiencing a fresh resurgence in terror attacks with the bombing at Qalandar's shrine the tenth assault over the past five days in the country.

IANS
Donald Trump hits out at media, says no chaos inside the White House

International

oi-PTI

Washington, Feb 17: US President Donald Trump on Friday asserted that his administration is "running like a fine-tuned machine" and there is "no chaos" inside the White House as being reported by, what he called, the "dishonest" media.

"The media is trying to attack our administration because they know we are following through on pledges that we made, and they're not happy about it for whatever reason," he told reporters at a hurriedly convened White House news conference.

Trump, who has used the medium of Twitter and Facebook to convey his views and react to news stories, said that a lot of people are happy about his administration. But his political opponents and the media is not that happy, he said at his fourth news conference in a week. The other three were with the visiting world leaders from Japan, Canada and Israel.

"I turn on the TV, open the newspapers, and I see stories of chaos. Chaos! Yet, it is the exact opposite," Trump asserted during the news conference wherein he continued to bash the media calling them "dishonest and very fake". "This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine, despite the fact that I can't get my Cabinet approved," Trump asserted as his top aides were sitting in the front row including Vice President Mike Pence, top strategist Steve Bannon and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

"So we have a wonderful group of people that's working very hard, that's being very much misrepresented about, and we cant let that happen," Trump said in an apparent explanation of him holding a news conference that went on for 80 minutes.

In his lengthy opening statement, Trump listed out his achievements on multiple fronts including domestic, foreign, economy and defence. "We have made incredible progress. I dont think there's ever been a President elected who, in this short period of time, has done what we've done," he said. "I ran for President to represent the citizens of our country. I am here to change the broken system so it serves their families and their communities well. I am talking, and really talking, on this very entrenched power structure, and what we're doing is we're talking about the power structure, we're talking about its entrenchment," he said.

"As a result, the media is going through what they have to go through to oftentimes distort -- not all the time -- and some of the media is fantastic, I have to say; they're honest and fantastic. But much of it is not -- the distortion," the President said. At several points, he was challenged by reporters on his allegations that the media is fake.

"I just see many, many untruthful things. I tell you what else I see. I see tone. You know the word 'tone'. The tone is such hatred. I'm really not a bad person, by the way. No, but the tone is such -- I do get good ratings, you have to admit that. The tone is such hatred," he told CNN's White House correspondent.

PTI
India not allowing SAARC Summit to take place: K P Oli

International

oi-PTI

Kathmandu, Feb 16: Nepal has not taken any steps to stop India's move to "weaken" SAARC process, former prime minister K P Oli said today as he stepped up his anti-India rhetoric.

Oli in his political document presented during the CPN-UML's politburo meeting, which concluded here today, claimed that India is giving more importance to sub-regional groupings such as BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) and BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal Initiative).

"India is giving more importance to sub-regional groupings such as BIMSTEC and BBIN but it is effortful in not allowing SAARC Summit to take place," Oli said. "Nepal has not taken any measure to stop India's move to weaken SAARC process," he said in his 10-page political document.

"SAARC is weak due to Indo-Pak standoff and India's policy towards Bangladesh," according to the paper. It also criticised the government for allowing foreign security personnel inside Tribhuvan International Airport. Oli, who became Prime Minister in October 2015 following promulgation of the new constitution, resigned from the post in August last year blaming India for his fall.

He had inked the landmark Nepal-China Transit and Transportation Agreement after Nepal-India border remained blocked for almost six months.

PTI

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Story first published: Friday, February 17, 2017, 12:58 [IST]
Trump doubles down on 'made in America' pledge at Boeing visit

International

oi-PTI

Charleston, Feb 17: US President Donald Trump on Friday held a rally at a Boeing factory that just voted against unionising, marking the unveiling of the company's latest "Dreamliner" aircraft. Even as the aerospace giant hopes the new president will not follow through on his protectionist rhetoric, Trump doubled-down on his "made in America" manufacturing policy.

At the rally in South Carolina, he also repeated his promise to prevent firms from offshoring jobs and go after countries that are "cheating" in trade relations. "This is our mantra, buy American and hire American," Trump told the cheering crowd. "We want products made in America, made by American hands." He said "it has to be much easier to manufacture in our country and much harder to leave. I don't want companies leaving our country."

"We're not letting that happen anymore, folks. Believe me, there will be a very substantial penalty to be paid when they fire their people and move to another country," he said. He also repeated his pledge to cut corporate taxes and "massively reduce job crushing regulations." Trump said he will create a level field for American workers in trade relations. "We are going to enforce, very strongly, enforce our trade rules and stop foreign cheating. Tremendous cheating. Tremendous cheating." The plant showcased the first of the latest update of the Boeing-787 "Dreamliner" planes to come off the production line. The larger version of the aircraft that has been on the market since 2011, it can carry 330 passengers and fly up to 6,430 nautical miles. Boeing already has delivered more than 500 Dreamliner planes and received 149 orders for the 787-10.

On Tuesday, an overwhelming 74 percent of 2,828 Boeing South Carolina employees who cast votes rejected the overtures by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers to unionise the plant that produces the 787. Boeing employs 7,500 overall in the southern state.

The US South has historically been hostile to unionization, a factor in the decision by automobile makers from Europe and Japan to build plants in the region. Boeing's investment in South Carolina was cemented with the USD 1 billion purchase in 2009 of Vought Aircraft Industries, which had been a supplier to Boeing on the 787 program. Trump's visit could give Boeing a chance to score points with the new president.

Shortly after the election, Trump publicly blasted Boeing over the high costs of the new version of the 747 that serves as the Air Force One presidential plane. "Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than USD 4 billion. Cancel order!" Trump said on Twitter on December 6.

Trump stepped back from that criticism after Boeing promised to work to keep costs of the plane under control. However, as the sole major US aerospace manufacturer, it likely has a hold on the contract in any case.

PTI
US University invites Dalai Lama, irks Chinese students

International

oi-PTI

Beijing, Feb 17: A US University headed by an Indian-origin academician has rejected call by Chinese students to withdraw invitation to exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama but assured them that his speech would have nothing to with politics.

Chancellor Pradeep K Khosla of the University of California San Diego (UCSD) met with three groups of Chinese overseas students, namely the Chinese Union, Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) and the Chinese Business Society, state-run Global Times reported on Friday. The university in a meeting with Chinese overseas students refused to withdraw the invitation to the Tibetan spiritual leader for a graduation speech in June but assured them that his speech would "have nothing to do with politics" the report said.

"The university said that they would not disinvite the Dalai Lama but will stop using words like 'freedom fighter' and 'spiritual head and leader of the Tibetan people' to describe him," Fan Da member of the Chinese Union told the daily. The chancellor promised that the Dalai Lama would not include any political content in his speech and the university would soon publish a notice about the issue.

"When we asked the chancellor if he knew that the university's invitation to the Dalai Lama hurt Chinese people's feelings, the chancellor said he only knew that the Dalai Lama is a 'religious activist' but had no idea about what he did," Fan said, adding that it was not clear what actions the students would take to continue their protests. The protests by Chinese students came after write ups in the state-run Chinese media warning overseas Indians.

"By calling the Dalai Lama "the exiled spiritual head and leader of the Tibetan people" and "a man of peace," the UCSD has shown admiration for the Buddhist monk," an article in the paper had said. "What is laughable is that the person behind the infamous invitation was campus Chancellor Pradeep Khosla, an Indian- American.

The campus website posted a photo of Khosla who met the Dalai Lama in Dharmsala, India, last October. "This shows how some Indian-Americans agitate China-India and China-US relations," it said. The UCSD announced on February 2 that it has invited the Dalai Lama to give a keynote speech at the All Campus Commencement on June 17, as well as a speech on June 16 at a public event. The university described the Dalai Lama, as "the exiled spiritual head and leader of the Tibetan people" in the announcement.

PTI
Will fee be charged to send money through WhatsApp? Here is what Zuckerberg has to say

Zuckerberg hails Modi for using social media to engage people

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New York, Feb 17: As India conducts assembly elections in five states, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's style of working using the social networking platform to establish a meaningful dialogue between the people and the government.

Modi recently asked his ministers to share their meetings and information on Facebook so that they can receive direct feedback from citizens, the Facebook CEO wrote in a 5,700 words post on its 'Community Standard' Page.

Zuckerberg hailed the use of social media in election campaigning and gave the examples of countries like India, the US, Kenya and Indonesia where leaders were active on social platforms and connected well with the people.

"In recent campaigns around the world -- from India and Indonesia across Europe to the United States -- we've seen that the candidate with the largest and most engaged following on Facebook usually wins. Just as TV became the primary medium for civic communication in the 1960s, social media is becoming this in the 21st century," he wrote.

"We can help establish direct dialogue and accountability between people and our elected leaders," Zuckerberg added.

He said the use of social platforms created an opportunity for people to connect with their representatives at all levels.

"In the last few months, we have already helped our community double the number of connections between people and our representatives by making it easier to connect with all our representatives in one click," Zuckerberg noted.

At the same time, he said, Facebook wanted its users to define what is 'objectionable', eventually empowering them to decide how much nudity and violence they are comfortable seeing.

"The idea is to give everyone in the community options for how they would like to set the content policy for themselves," Zuckerberg wrote.

"Where is your line on nudity? On violence? On graphic content? On profanity? What you decide will be your personal settings. We will periodically ask you these questions to increase participation and so you don't need to dig around to find them," he asked.

The letter also noted that for those who do not make a decision, the policies decided by majority of people in their region would be enforced.

To classify the objectionable content, the Menlo Park-based company will use artificial intelligence and it wants to start with the cases in 2017.

IANS
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The Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA) celebrates its 50th anniversary this year as the countrys oldest and largest corn growers organization. The ICGA, created from a statewide grassroots effort, was formed in 1967 with the distinct purpose of serving as the collective voice for its Iowa corn farmer-members, lobbying on ag issues at the state and federal level.

The Iowa Corn Growers Association has been a steadfast advocate for our membership over the last 50 years and will continue to be for the next 50 years and beyond, said Iowa Corn Growers Association President Kurt Hora, a farmer from Washington. The world may be a different place since our inception, but the dedication of our members at the grassroots level and their engagement in policy development has remained unchanged. Today, ICGA is home to nearly 7,500 corn farmer-members across the state, and our pro-farmer advocacy remains the number one reason members join ICGA.

The beginning of Iowa Corn can be traced back to roughly 10 years before its inception when founder Walter Goeppinger had a vision for a farmer-driven group and in 1957 rallied his neighbors together to create the National Corn Growers Association. In 1959, he also was instrumental in airlifting Iowa hogs and corn to Yomanshi, Japan, after a typhoon wiped out their hog farms. Goeppingers diplomacy is felt today with Japan being a top market for Iowa corn and pork. Flying the sows to Japan on an airplane, led to the establishment of the U.S. Grains Council and the U.S. Meat Export Federation and the market development efforts of the U.S. Department of Agriculture today.

In 1976, Goeppinger then set his sights on creating a state affiliate and founded ICGA. Membership dues were established to help finance the Iowa Corn Growers Association's lobbying and legislative efforts in both Iowa and Washington, D.C. In celebration of 50 years, the Association is launching a new membership push with the goal of reaching 10,000 members.

As we continue to grow and represent the needs of corn farmers across the state, we are calling on our current members and those with a vested interest in agriculture, to help us expand our organization and strengthen our voice, Hora said. No matter the level that you are willing to be involved, from being a member engaging in a call-to-action to serving on a county board, it is imperative that we have the resources to continue supporting agriculture at the county, state, federal and global level. We have been here for Iowa corn farmers for the last 50 years, help us be here with full force for 50 more.

The association offers various levels of membership including a grower membership for $60 annually in addition to student and associate memberships. In honor of this historic anniversary, ICGA is also offering a discounted membership for farm couples to enjoy a linked membership of $90 per year or $200 for three years. If you would like to learn more about what it means to be an ICGA member, please visit iowacorn.org/membership.
The market for soybean oil (labeled vegetable oil in the supermarket) is looking cloudy; prices dropped beneath 33 cents per pound on Friday for the first time since October.

Bean oil is falling even as the price for soybeans has been robust. Demand for soybean meal, a livestock feed ingredient, has been strong, which has encouraged processors to buy more beans and crush them into meal. This crushing process separates the oil from the high-protein meal and has created an abundance of soybean oil.

Soybean oil is consumed widely in the food industry as a cooking oil, processed food additive, and as the basis for many salad dressings, mayonnaises, and margarines, but those sources of demand dont typically rise drastically to soak up excess supply.

As a result, the soybean oil glut will likely need to be met by exporting the excess oil or converting it into biodiesel, a demand source that currently consumes nearly 20% of U.S. bean oil.

Heat wave deflates gas prices

Natural gas prices are collapsing, reaching a three-month low near $2.83 per million British thermal units.

The market is selling off as temperatures across the U.S. are projected to be 15-30 degrees warmer than usual this weekend, sapping demand for the heating fuel. Overall, this winter was extremely warm; the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), estimates that heating demand for natural gas is nearly 20% below average.

Without significant heating demand, natural gas inventories could stay near record levels and may pull prices lower still.

Longer-term, the U.S. natural gas market may be increasingly dependent on exports to keep demand in line with production. Foreign sales have been rapidly increasing, especially to Mexico, although exports still account for less than 5% of U.S. production.

Metals rocket on global anxiety

Gold and silver have been blasting higher, driven primarily by global concerns.

While our government has been battling internal leaks and allegations against former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, there have been major missile launches by North Korea, Russia, and Iran, a signal that Americas adversaries may be testing limits on the global stage.

These actions inspired fearful investors to buy gold and silver, which reached $1245 and $18 per ounce on Friday, respectively.

Opinions are solely the writers. Walt & Alex Breitinger are commodity futures brokers with Paragon Investments in Silver Lake, KS. They can be reached at (800) 411-3888 or www.paragoninvestments.com. This is not a solicitation of any order to buy or sell any market.
by  Graham Pierrepoint



Another day and another set of dramatic turns take place at the height of US government. Divisive President Donald Trump, who was inaugurated last month, has hit headlines worldwide for recent executive orders such as the controversial barring of immigration from seven Muslim countries  an order which has since been blocked by a federal judiciary. His team, consisting of ex-Breitbart executive Steve Bannon, have also come under critical fire. Flynn, however, made a dramatic exit from Trumps top team this week over communications the advisor had with the Russian Embassy  and it has become apparent that the President has known of his transgressions for some time.

Flynn was forced to resign from his post after it emerged that he misinformed the FBI over his communications with the Russian ambassador to the US on the grounds that sanctions on the country would be overturned. It emerged that the advisor had not been truthful on communications he had with Russian units and it was therefore determined that his role as part of the Presidents staff should be terminated. Trump, however, is thought to have known about Flynns activity for at least three weeks, which has brought into question  once again  the possibility that the President may face impeachment or even legal action.

Trumps ties to Russia have been rumored and heavily criticized for some time, with allegations dating back to late last year that queried whether or not Russian authorities had influence over the outcome of the US General Election. There is thought to be a trail of financial and communication records, too, which establish that Trumps associates may have had frequent contact with Russian government representatives ahead of the election  and Trump himself was criticized for his praise of Russian head Vladimir Putin.

Representatives from both parties in Congress are calling for an investigation to be taken place into exactly how Trump and his team are tied to Russia, and to what extent. Veteran US newscaster Dan Rather, who recalls Richard Nixons Watergate scandal, even stated that this scandal appeared to be picking up pace  stating that while Nixons affairs are still above and beyond the most scandalous, Trumps Russian debacle could be gathering steam. Where will the scandal end? Will Trump and his team face legal action  or could the President be impeached? Pressure is likely to be mounting in the coming weeks  which could make for an even more interesting month ahead in US politics.
DES MOINES | State senators are looking to modify a firearms law they passed last year to expand it provisions to renters and hired hands.

Iowa landowners now are allowed to carry a loaded firearm while operating a snowmobile or an ATV on their property. Off-road vehicle operators on someone elses property are required to place unloaded shotguns or rifles in a case.

In addition, Iowans with a permit to carry a handgun would be allowed to possess a pistol if it is secured in a holster similar to those used by law enforcement officers. Another provision of the new law requires snowmobilers and ATV riders to get off the vehicle to shoot.

Senate File 227, which cleared a Senate Judiciary subcommittee Thursday, would extend the provisions to Iowans who rent property or who work as a laborer as part of an animal agriculture operation. The bill now goes to full committee for consideration.

NATURAL GAS PRICES FALL: Moderating winter weather is affecting Iowans heating bills in a favorable way. The state Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardships weekly fuel price report indicated that natural gas prices fell 18 cents this week, closing at $2.86/MMbtu.

Likewise, propane prices were down a penny from last weeks report, with a statewide average of $1.28 per gallon. Home heating prices were the same as last week, ending with a statewide average of $2.03.

On the motor fuels side, the price of regular unleaded gasoline averaged $2.32 a gallon across Iowa according to AAA. That was three cents higher than one week ago and 73 cents higher than one year ago. The national average on Tuesday was $2.28 a gallon, up a penny from last weeks price. Retail diesel fuel prices in Iowa were down a penny from last weeks price with a statewide average of $2.46 a gallon. One year ago diesel prices averaged $1.87 in Iowa.

NOMINATIONS SOUGHT: Iowa Women's Hall of Fame highlights women's heritage and recognizes their contributions. It was established by the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women in 1975. As of 2016, 168 women have been inducted into the hall.

The Cristine Wilson Medal for Equality and Justice recognizes and honors the accomplishments of Cristine Wilson, first chairwoman of the commission and is awarded selectively to an individual who has made significant contributions to the principles of equality and justice in the state of Iowa. So far, 21 men and women have received the medal.

For more information, contact Kristen Corey at 515-281-4470 or women@iowa.gov.

OUTDOOR WOMEN: The 2017 spring Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) workshop will be April 28-30 at Honey Creek Resort State Park in Moravia. Becoming an Outdoors-Woman is an international program aimed primarily at women, but is an opportunity for anyone 18 years or older to learn outdoor skills usually associated with hunting and fishing, but useful for many outdoor pursuits.

Workshop courses include fishing, firearms, foraging, outdoor cooking, boater education, shotguns, turkey hunting, backpacking and even stand up paddle-boarding. Participation is limited to 84. The workshop cost is $260 for a single occupancy room or $215 for a double occupancy room for registration by March 26. To register or to learn more about the workshop, go to www.iowadnr.gov/bow.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "It's nice to see fresh faces come into the room because we're all starting to wear on each other. I was immediately told by a fresh face that I've grown a beard overnight and i guess i have. I feel like I've aged."  Sen. Tony Bisignano, D-Des Moines, commenting from the Senate floor Thursday after an all-night debate at the Iowa Capitol Building in Des Moines
Wibbitz Top Stories 24 Oct 2022

Dementia Affects , 1 in 10 Americans Over 65, , New Study Finds.

The study was conducted by researchers at Columbia..
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Samsung said it had appointed Lee Jae-yong, who was jailed for bribing South Koreas former president, due to the "uncertain..
DES MOINES  The top Republican in the Iowa Senate says he does not expect to raise Iowas minimum wage this session.

The exception would be if the federal government takes an action, Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix, R-Shell Rock, said, increasing Iowa's $7.25 hourly statewide minimum to a higher national standard.

Dix said he does not share Gov. Terry Branstads view that a modest boost in Iowas minimum wage would keep the state competitive with neighboring states with higher hourly wage minimums.

I would expect that at this point were going to stay connected with the federal minimum wage and so if the federal government were to make a decision to move the federal minimum wage higher that likely would cause legislative Republicans to consider matching the federal rate. Absent that, he expected well just maintain a statewide rate that is equal to the federal $7.25 hourly minimum wage.

The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 an hour since July 2009. Iowa adopted the same level when the 2007 Legislature adopted and Gov. Chet Culver signed legislation increasing the minimum wage to $6.20 in April 2007 and to $7.25 in January 2008.

Iowas hourly minimum currently is lower than Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri and Nebraska,

Officials in Johnson, Linn, Polk and Wapello counties in Iowa have approved hourly wage minimums in their jurisdictions already in effect or slated to take effect in the future that exceed Iowas law. Those actions would be rendered void and unenforceable if the Legislature passes and Branstad signs a bill in the House preempting such local action.

Sponsors of House File 295 say the legislation would preempt local governments from usurping state authority in business and civil rights areas. It seeks to bar cities and counties from establishing minimum wage levels or employment regulations, invoking marketing or consumer merchandise sales restrictions or adopting civil rights ordinances that go above and beyond what the Legislature and governor have set as a statewide standard.

I think its clear that as we look at one of the key factors of growing our states economy and making sure that we send a statement  not only to the employers and the job creators in our state, but others that are looking to Iowa as a place to grow  that our employment laws will very easily understood and statewide. We believe firmly that thats some thing needs to be considered to keep Iowa an attractive place to grow, Dix said in an interview Thursday.

Rather than focusing our time and attention on what those minimum wages are, were really focusing our time and attention on how can we make Iowa more attractive to high-paying jobs and long-term careers, he added.

Earlier this week, Branstad said he supports legislative efforts to preempt local entities from setting higher wage minimums than the state. He also said he would support a modest increase to the $7.25 statewide hourly minimum, phased in gradually.

I dont want anything thats going to destroy jobs, but I do think the present minimum wage has been in place for some time and it may be appropriate to do a modest increase over a period of time, Branstad told his weekly news conference, like some of our neighboring states have done.

House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, has said the issues covered in H.F. 295 have always been the functions of state and federal government and not the responsibilities of local entities. She did not know whether there would be a separate bill to come before representatives this session to raise the state minimum wage. She added majority Republicans were not interested in grandfathering in higher minimum wages that have been passed in four counties.

At the local level, Johnson County was the first in the state to pass a countywide minimum wage ordinance, which brought the local rate up to $10.10 last month. Future adjustments are possible based on committee recommendations.

Linn Countys minimum wage increased last month to $8.25 an hour, and is slated to increase to $9.25 next year and reach $10.25 in 2019. Wapello County approved an increase to $10.10 in 2019, while Polk Countys minimum wage will reach $10.75 an hour that same year.
CherryAffiliates Double Winners at iGB Affiliate Awards

Published February 17, 2017 by Arthur M

Swedish affilaite programme CherryAffiliates have won in two categories at the 10th Annual iGaming Business (iGB) Affiliate Awards.

At the 10th Annual iGaming Business (iGB) Affiliate Awards held in London on February 11th, CherryAffiliates won in two categories, being named Best Casino Affiliate Program, with Helen Taylor named as Best Lotto Affiliate Manager. It's not the first time this company, which only began in the current form in 2011, has won major awards.

About CherryAffiliates

With a history that can be traced back to Sweden in 1963, Cherry has grown with the industry to become a major player that represents the brands of the Cherry group including EuroLotto, SpilleAutomater and the flagship CherryCasino. The affiliate programme was launched in 2011 and rewards their partners with commissions of up to 45%.

They have already been awarded Online Gaming Operator of the Year in 2014, so CherryAffiliates are no strangers to winning the top accolades from the industry, but winning the double awards has given them a perfect start to 2017.

Their Reactions To The Wins

Their Head of Affiliate Marketing at Cherry iGaming, Katy Stafford said of the awards: We are astounded at the support we have been shown by the very strong competition in both categories and we would like to thank iGB Affiliate, who, as ever, created a fabulous LAC and awards show, our industry friends, our fantastic colleagues at Cherry and ComeOn! and above all, our amazing affiliates.''

She added that Being shortlisted and winning Best Casino Affiliate Program is overwhelming and we feel it has sealed our place in a very competitive industry. Being recognised in one of the newest verticals of online lotto goes to show the diversity and strength of our affiliate offering.''
Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York:

State Street Global Advisors, the asset management business of State Street Corporation, has promoted Olivia Engel to the newly-created role of deputy chief investment officer for its Global Active Quantitative Equities (AQE) team. Engel, who currently serves as SSGA's head of Active Quantitative Equity in the Asia Pacific region, will relocate from Australia to Boston in March to take up her new role where she will work alongside veteran Ted Gekas, chief investment officer of the Active Quantitative Equities team at SSGA, before his planned departure at the end of the calendar year.

Engel's role will combine her current responsibilities, including global oversight of all benchmark-unaware strategies (portfolios that are not constructed relative to benchmarks), with expanded responsibilities for oversight of the broader AQE research agenda, portfolio management and product innovation. Engel has directed all of State Street Global Advisors' global benchmark-unaware strategies since 2013.

Prior to joining State Street Global Advisors in Australia six years ago, Engel held senior-level investment management positions at GMO, Colonial First State Global Asset Management and Commonwealth Investment Management.

"Growing inflows to our benchmark-unaware strategies demonstrate that investors are exploring alternative ways of constructing portfolios to achieve efficiency with their fee budget and low redundancy across the......................

To view our full article Click here
Komfie Manalo, Opalesque Asia: With the country's outstanding fund management industry at $54bn and growing, the Philippine market and its investors are ready to invest in "more sophisticated" asset management products, like hedge funds and alternative investments, said Deanno J. Basas, president of the Fund Management Association of the Philippines and Managing Director at ATR Asset Management (ATRAM). "Despite the relatively limited products that the private fund and trust management space in the Philippines are offering, the industry has continued to grow, and there is still too much potential for expansion. I believe that we can offer more products to our clients and hedge funds and alternative space are possible growth horizons," Basas said. Basas made the statement in light of reports that some Philippine-based fund managers are referring their high net-worth clients to seek offshore funds to allocate their funds because of the limited product offerings in Manila. There are three general types of trust funds available in the Philippines where investors can allocate their funds. These are equity, bond and money market funds that are available in peso or US dollar. Fund managers invest equity funds in stocks and offer the highest possible returns, but it is also the riskiest and most volatile amongst the three funds. Bonds funds invest in government bonds and treasury notes as well as corporate securities, while money market is the safest but offer the ...................... To view our full article Click here
Opalesque Industry Update - Gramercy Funds Management LLC, a $5.8 billion dedicated emerging markets investment manager, today announced the appointment of Bradshaw McKee to the position of Managing Director, Capital Solutions and Distressed Portfolio Manager. Mr. McKee has over 24 years of distressed and structured credit experience in emerging markets. He most recently co-headed emerging markets structured credit trading at Deutsche Bank, and during his career has held numerous senior emerging market banking and trading positions at Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan in the US and Latin America. Mr. McKee will report to Robert Koenigsberger, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer. Mr. McKee will be a part of Gramercy's Alternatives Portfolio Management team and will expand Gramercy's Capital Solutions team and effort, which develops financing solutions that assist companies in emerging markets and provide compelling potential returns for Gramercy's investors. Over the last 18 months, Gramercy has raised approximately $1B of long-term capital in part to pursue private credit opportunities within emerging markets, including opportunities identified by the Capital Solutions team. The addition of Mr. McKee reflects Gramercy's strong commitment to being the leader in this growing sector within emerging markets credit. Commenting on the appointment, Mr. Koenigsberger said, "Gramercy has always been devoted to bringing our clients a level of emerging markets investment expertise they cannot find elsewhere. Brad's experience allows us to broaden the spectrum of investment opportunities we deploy in our portfolios, utilizing our entire integrated credit platform, for the benefit of our investors. He expands our Capital Solutions team, which is seeing excellent opportunities, especially in markets where traditional sources of credit have been disrupted or displaced." "I am excited to be joining a team that shares my passion for emerging markets investing," said Mr. McKee. "Gramercy offers a unique platform in today's market to take advantage of the structured credit and distressed space. Gramercy's team is a thought leader in emerging markets and has an ambitious vision for the future. I look forward to being part of the Gramercy team and capitalizing on credit opportunities on behalf of our investors." Prior to joining Gramercy, Mr. McKee was Managing Director, Global Co-Head of Emerging Markets Structured Credit Trading at Deutsche Bank. As Senior Trader of the Emerging Markets Corporate Credit Principal Desk in Latin America and CEEMEA, he was responsible for over $2B of risk across distressed and high yield corporate bonds and loan investments, direct lending and non-performing loan portfolios. He also served as a member of Deutsche Bank's Emerging Markets Executive Committee, Emerging Markets Reputational Committee and Global Markets Americas Management Committee. Prior to Deutsche Bank, Mr. McKee spent thirteen years at JPMorgan in various banking and distressed trading roles while working from Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and New York. He earned his MBA from Columbia Business School and his B.A. from Middlebury College. About Gramercy:

Gramercy is a $5.8 billion dedicated emerging markets investment manager based in Greenwich, CT with offices in London, Hong Kong, and Mexico City, and a presence in Lima and Buenos Aires. The firm, founded in 1998, seeks to provide investors with superior risk-adjusted returns through a comprehensive approach to emerging markets, supported by a transparent and robust institutional platform. Gramercy offers both alternative and long-only strategies across all emerging markets asset classes including USD debt, local currency debt, high yield corporate debt, distressed debt, equity, private equity and special situations. press release Bg Article source - Opalesque is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
The world is not an illusion, said Alfred Korzbyski, it is an abstraction. You may know Korzbyski for another famous maxim, the map is not the territory. Jorge Luis Borges took this idea to its most absurd lengths by imagining in his story On Exactitude in Science a map that corresponded in size and scale at every point with the territory. Borges, wrote Colin Marshall in a previous Open Culture post, illustrated the idea that all maps are wrong by imagining the preposterousness of a truly correct one.

That observation occurs in the context of a video from Vox that explains why it is mathematically impossible to create a completely accurate flat world map at any scale.









We must abstract; the surface of a sphere cannot be represented as a plane without some form of distortion, and so cartographers use a technique called projection. The design mapmakers have most popularly used dates to 1569, from a cylindrical projection by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator.

For either cultural or navigational reasons, this hugely distorted map inflates the size of Europe and North America and makes Greenland and Africa roughly the same size. A long overdue update, the Peters Projection from 1973, improved the Mercators accuracy, but at the cost of legibility and proportion.

But last year, architect and artist Hajime Narukawa of Keio Universitys Graduate School of Media and Governance in Tokyo solved these problems with his AuthaGraph World Map, at the top, which won Japans Good Design Grand Award, beating out over 1000 entries in a variety of categories, writes Mental Floss. You can view it in a larger format here.

Instead of abstracting the globe into a cylinder, then a plane, as the Mercator Projection did, the AuthaGraph turns the earth into a tetrahedron, which then unfolds in any number of ways, as you can see further up, and can be tessellated just like an MC Escher painting much in the same way that we can traverse the planet without ever coming to an end. Rather than one focal pointthe North Atlantic in Mercators casenearly any place around the earth can be at the center. Versions of the map are already being used in Japanese textbooks, and you can purchase a poster or buy a paper kit that allows you to unfold your own globe-to-tetrahedron-to-rectangle map (see above).

The video above from Ponder explains the AuthaGraph design, which is notand could never be100% mathematically accurate, but can, Narukawa writes, with a further step in its subdivisions be officially called an equal-area map. The concept was important to him because of the urgent relevance of globalist thinking. As he points out, writes Japanese design blog Spoon & Tamago, A large bulk of the 20th century was dominated by an emphasis on East and West relations. But with issues like climate change, melting glaciers in Greenland and territorial sea claims, its time we establish a new view of the world. Those in the centers of Eastern and Western power ignore the rest of the world at everyones peril. It may help to have a much more equitable way to visualize our shared planet.

Note: Several readers mentioned that this map seems obviously influenced by Buckminster Fullers Dymaxion map. We have since written a separate post on that. Find it here.

via Mental Floss

Related Content:

Why Making Accurate World Maps Is Mathematically Impossible

Download 67,000 Historic Maps (in High Resolution) from the Wonderful David Rumsey Map Collection

Browse & Download 1,198 Free High Resolution Maps of U.S. National Parks

Josh Jones is a writer and musician based in Durham, NC. Follow him at @jdmagness
Global Saudi Arabia Paints and Varnishes Market 2017 : Hempel, Jotun, Sigma, Raghagan, Berger, Paintco

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Global Polyethyleneimine Market 2017-2022 Forecast Research Report by Manufactures - Alfa Aesar, Leap Labchem, Hisunny Chemical, Tokyo Chemical Industry

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Global Anticonvulsant Market for Fibromyalgia: OverviewThe global market for anticonvulsants used for fibromyalgia demonstrates a massive potential for future growth. The efficiency of anticonvulsants in the treatment of various neurological disorders, specifically fibromyalgia, is likely to increase their popularity, reflecting greatly on their demand over the forthcoming years.The increasing prevalence of fibromyalgia, boosted substantially by the ever-rising base of geriatric population and the increasing expenditure on healthcare, thanks to the augmented disposable income of people have been acting as the key factors driving this market and are expected to maintain its growth pace in the near future too.Request a Brochure of the Report @Global Anticonvulsant Market for Fibromyalgia: Drivers and RestrainsCurrently, a number of both, patented and off-label anticonvulsant drugs, are being used in the treatment of fibromyalgia. Although with expired patents, Topiramate, levetiracetam, divalproex sodium, lamotrigine, oxcarbazepine, and carbamazepine are driving the global market for anticonvulsants used for the treatment of fibromyalgia considerably. In addition, a robust pipeline of anticonvulsants drugs is waiting for U.S. FDA approval, which, post approval, is expected to add significantly to this market in the years to come. The rising preference for generic products is also projected to influence this market remarkably over the next few years.On the other hand, the stringent regulatory guidelines for the approval of drugs may create obstacles in the growth trajectory of this market to some extent. However, the advancement in medical and healthcare infrastructure in emerging economies is likely to normalize their effects on this market in the near future.Request for TOC of the Report @Global Anticonvulsant Market for Fibromyalgia: Geographical AnalysisThe global market for anticonvulsants used for fibromyalgia registers its presence across Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and the Rest of the World. Due to the presence of a large pool of established players, North America has acquired the leading position in this market. The high disposable income of consumers that enables them to afford expensive treatments, is likely to maintain the growth pace of the North America market for anticonvulsants for fibromyalgia over the next few years. Apart from this, the growing awareness among consumers regarding health and wellness and the rising number of neurological disorders are also expected to further drive this market.Asia Pacific, on the other hand, is anticipated to offer the most promising opportunities for the growth of the worldwide market for anticonvulsants used for fibromyalgia in the near future. The improvement in economic conditions, rise in purchasing power, and the increase in the living standard of people in Asian countries, such as India and China, are likely to boost this regional market over the years to come. The substantial progress in the medical tourism industry in this region is also projected to reflect positively on the demand for anticonvulsants in Asia Pacific in the near future.Read Complete Report @Global Anticonvulsant Market for Fibromyalgia: Companies Mentioned in the ReportPfizer Inc., GlaxoSmithKline Inc., UCB Group, Novartis AG, Johnson & Johnson (J&J), and Abbott Laboratories are some of the leading players operating in the global market for anticonvulsants used for fibromyalgia.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
DES MOINES | The fights not over and now its personal.

The leader of the states largest public employee union plans to file a lawsuit Friday challenging the constitutionality of legislation significantly reducing its members bargaining rights.

This battle is not over. This war is not over, AFSCME Local 61 President Danny Homan said Thursday after the Iowa House and Senate approved changes in Iowa public employee collective bargaining law that pits employees within state government against each other by treating police and firefighters differently than other public employees.

Its extremely unconstitutional, he said about House File 291 that was passed 53-47 in the House and 29-21 in the Senate after a debate that spanned three days. Under the bill, police and firefighters have more collective bargaining rights than other public employees. Thats unfair, according to Homan and other union leaders who spoke at a Statehouse news conference that took on the tone of a rally.

If youre a policeman or firefighter somehow you have more risks on your job than a correctional officer, Homan said. I call that bulls---. My members get beat up every day.

The lawsuit, which Homan expects will be joined by at least three state employees and filed in Polk County District Court, will be his parting shot in a long, contentious relationship with Gov. Terry Branstad. He claimed a GOP senator told constituents the legislation was a going away gift to Branstad, who as a member of the House in 1974, voted against Chapter 20, the collective bargaining law.

Well, Im giving Terry a different present tomorrow. Im giving him a lawsuit, Homan said.

This has been payback against me and the union I represent because were not taking a backseat and we havent bent over and let Terry do whatever he wants, said Homan, noting AFSCME has sued Branstad three times. Were going to continue to fight this.

Teachers are fired up like never before, according to Tammy Wawro, a Cedar Rapids teacher and president of the Iowa State Education Association.

Were feeling the love from our members, she said, adding that memberships have increased this week as HF 291 has been debated.

We are united and we are stronger because of what they have given us, which is a fight we are ready to fight in a way we were never ready to fight before, Wawro said.

Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO President Ken Sagar added his voice to that commitment.

We didnt start his fight, we did not want this fight, but we will not give up on this fight for the rights and lives of working Iowans, Sagar said.

Also, United Faculty at the University of Northern Iowa has indicated it is prepared to join civil litigation to prevent the implementation of the new law, much of which take effect when signedBranstad, perhaps as soon as Friday.
Supplier Relationship Management Software Market 2016 Share, Comparison Analysis and Global Market Drivers

Market Research Reports

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http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-supplier-relationship-management-software-market-professional-survey-report-2016.htm

http://www.qyresearchreports.com/reports.htm

Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Supplier Relationship Management Software Market Professional Survey Report 2016" to its huge collection of research reports.The global market for Supplier Relationship Management Software is the subject of a newly added market report, which discuses it in great detail. The report furnishes a thorough peek into the drivers and restraints in the global Supplier Relationship Management Software market. It segments the global Supplier Relationship Management Software market by relevant criteria and studies each of the segments at length to furnish a granular view of the market. All regional segments of the global Supplier Relationship Management Software market are have been analyzed for their historical and recent figures. Leveraging this data along with the different growth driver and restraints, the growth prospects of the global Supplier Relationship Management Software market have been examined.The report uses market-leading analytical tools such as SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis to present a quantitative and qualitative overview of the global Supplier Relationship Management Software market. Data uncovered from such analysis has been then studied by leading experts in the industry to spot key trends and opportunities in the market. The experts have also been interviewed for their take on the market, which makes the report an authoritative guide to the global Supplier Relationship Management Software market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report sheds light on the top-notch players in the global Supplier Relationship Management Software market. It studies their winning strategies, product offerings, share in the market, and growth prospects. The report also delves into the macro-economic factors governing the Supplier Relationship Management Software market so as to enable both aspiring and existing market players to chart a growth map.Some of the key questions answered by the report are:Which factors are impacting the growth in the market?What factors are acting as a roadblock to the market?What are the prospects of the market?Who are the key players in the market?What are the product offerings of the key players?What are the key strategies adopted by leading players in the market?Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of Contents1 Industry Overview of Supplier Relationship Management Software1.1 Definition and Specifications of Supplier Relationship Management Software1.1.1 Definition of Supplier Relationship Management Software1.1.2 Specifications of Supplier Relationship Management Software1.2 Classification of Supplier Relationship Management Software1.2.1 Type I1.2.2 Type II1.2.3 Type III1.3 Applications of Supplier Relationship Management Software1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 21.3.3 Application 31.4 Market Segment by Regions1.4.1 North America1.4.2 China1.4.3 Europe1.4.4 Southeast Asia1.4.5 Japan1.4.6 India4 Global Supplier Relationship Management Software Overall Market Overview4.1 2011-2016E Overall Market Analysis4.2 Capacity Analysis4.2.1 2011-2016E Global Supplier Relationship Management Software Capacity and Growth Rate Analysis4.2.2 2015 Supplier Relationship Management Software Capacity Analysis (Company Segment)4.3 Sales Analysis4.3.1 2011-2016E Global Supplier Relationship Management Software Sales and Growth Rate Analysis4.3.2 2015 Supplier Relationship Management Software Sales Analysis (Company Segment)4.4 Sales Price Analysis4.4.1 2011-2016E Global Supplier Relationship Management Software Sales Price4.4.2 2015 Supplier Relationship Management Software Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment)5 Supplier Relationship Management Software Regional Market Analysis5.1 North America Supplier Relationship Management Software Market Analysis5.1.1 North America Supplier Relationship Management Software Market Overview5.1.2 North America 2011-2016E Supplier Relationship Management Software Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.1.3 North America 2011-2016E Supplier Relationship Management Software Sales Price Analysis5.1.4 North America 2015 Supplier Relationship Management Software Market Share Analysis5.2 China Supplier Relationship Management Software Market Analysis5.2.1 China Supplier Relationship Management Software Market Overview5.2.2 China 2011-2016E Supplier Relationship Management Software Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.2.3 China 2011-2016E Supplier Relationship Management Software Sales Price Analysis5.2.4 China 2015 Supplier Relationship Management Software Market Share Analysis5.3 Europe Supplier Relationship Management Software Market Analysis5.3.1 Europe Supplier Relationship Management Software Market Overview5.3.2 Europe 2011-2016E Supplier Relationship Management Software Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.3.3 Europe 2011-2016E Supplier Relationship Management Software Sales Price Analysis5.3.4 Europe 2015 Supplier Relationship Management Software Market Share AnalysisList of Tables and FiguresFigure Picture of Supplier Relationship Management SoftwareTable Product Specifications of Supplier Relationship Management SoftwareTable Classification of Supplier Relationship Management SoftwareFigure Global Production Market Share of Supplier Relationship Management Software by Type in 2015Table Applications of Supplier Relationship Management SoftwareFigure Global Consumption Volume Market Share of Supplier Relationship Management Software by Application in 2015Figure Market Share of Supplier Relationship Management Software by RegionsFigure North America Supplier Relationship Management Software Market Size (2011-2021)Figure China Supplier Relationship Management Software Market Size (2011-2021)Figure Europe Supplier Relationship Management Software Market Size (2011-2021)Figure Southeast Asia Supplier Relationship Management Software Market Size (2011-2021)For Latest Market Research Reports Visit @QYResearchReports.com is an unimpeachable source of market research data for clients that comprise acclaimed SMEs, Chinese companies, private equity firms, and MNCs. We provide market research reports on various categories such as Energy, Chemicals, Alternative and Green Energy, Manufacturing, Machinery, Pharmaceuticals and Materials, and Glass.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States
Mobile Virtual Network Operator Market 2017 Global Industry Share and Production (Unit) by Manufacturers

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Mobile Virtual Network Operator Market Research Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.This report on the global Mobile Virtual Network Operator market is a rich data repository assembled with the aim of presenting before the reader a new viewpoint on the markets present state and estimated future growth. The report compiles vast data quantitative as well as qualitative insights into the key elements of the market. The report is intended to impart decisive data on the global Mobile Virtual Network Operator market so as to enable the reader formulate effective growth strategies, take informed decisions, and stay ahead of the competition.The report includes a discussion of the key market trends of the past and present times affecting consumer choices and having a significant influence on the overall development of the Mobile Virtual Network Operator markets growth. A detailed analysis of the key drivers and restraints is also included in the report, along with an analytical overview of the prospective impact of these factors on the future growth prospects of the market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Through detailed analysis of historical data pertaining to current market trends and the key market elements, the report presents an accuracy-driven forecast for the Mobile Virtual Network Operator market. This forecast on the Mobile Virtual Network Operator market also includes all factors that could influence it in the near future.The report also gives a thorough overview of all the key factors that are a part of the structural foundation of the market. An overview of the regulatory scenario of the global Mobile Virtual Network Operator market has also been included in the report, wherein details pertaining to key rules, policies, regulations, and plans are discussed.The report also gives an insight into the competitive landscape of the market by providing detailed business profiles of some of the key vendors operating in the global Mobile Virtual Network Operator market and other relevant business details pertaining to the key players in the market.Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of Contents1 Mobile Virtual Network Operator Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Mobile Virtual Network Operator1.2 Mobile Virtual Network Operator Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Mobile Virtual Network Operator by Type in 20151.2.2 3G1.2.3 4G LTE1.2.4 4G WiMax1.3 Mobile Virtual Network Operator Segment by Application1.3.1 Mobile Virtual Network Operator Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Branded Resellers1.3.3 Service Providers1.3.4 Full Mvno1.4 Mobile Virtual Network Operator 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)2 Global Mobile Virtual Network Operator Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Mobile Virtual Network Operator Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global Mobile Virtual Network Operator Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Global Mobile Virtual Network Operator Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers Mobile Virtual Network Operator Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Mobile Virtual Network Operator Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Mobile Virtual Network Operator Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Mobile Virtual Network Operator Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion7 Global Mobile Virtual Network Operator Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 LycaMobile7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.1.2 Mobile Virtual Network Operator Product Type, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 3G7.1.2.2 4G LTE7.1.3 LycaMobile Mobile Virtual Network Operator Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Virgin Mobile7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.2.2 Mobile Virtual Network Operator Product Type, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 3G7.2.2.2 4G LTE7.2.3 Virgin Mobile Mobile Virtual Network Operator Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Truphone7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.3.2 Mobile Virtual Network Operator Product Type, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 3G7.3.2.2 4G LTE7.3.3 Truphone Mobile Virtual Network Operator Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.3.4 Main Business/Business OverviewList of Tables and FiguresFigure Picture of Mobile Virtual Network OperatorFigure Global Production Market Share of Mobile Virtual Network Operator by Type in 2015Figure Product Picture of 3GTable Major Manufacturers of 3GFigure Product Picture of 4G LTETable Major Manufacturers of 4G LTEFigure Product Picture of 4G WiMaxTable Major Manufacturers of 4G WiMaxTable Mobile Virtual Network Operator Consumption Market Share by Application in 2015Figure Branded Resellers ExamplesFigure Service Providers ExamplesFigure Full Mvno ExamplesFigure North America Mobile Virtual Network Operator Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)For Latest Market Research Reports Visit @QYResearchReports.com is an unimpeachable source of market research data for clients that comprise acclaimed SMEs, Chinese companies, private equity firms, and MNCs. We provide market research reports on various categories such as Energy, Chemicals, Alternative and Green Energy, Manufacturing, Machinery, Pharmaceuticals and Materials, and Glass.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States
Stromtank starts partnership with Audio Deluxe for United Arab Emirates

Stromtank S500 now available in the UAE

www.stromtank.com

Dubai, United Arab Emirates  Berlin-based High-end audio specialist Stromtank starts its cooperation for the Arabian states with Audio Deluxe.Through a trustworthy and mutually profitable collaboration, Stromtank wants to work more intensively on the market and thus offer all customers the service they can expect when purchasing a high-quality Stromtank product.Curious customers can experience the independent power source Stromtank in action at Audio Deluxe showroom at Sunset Mall, Jumeirah Beach Road in Dubai.Mrs. Annett Dehmel, CEO of Stromtank: We are looking forward to a successful partnership with the specialist for High-end Audio components Audio Deluxe. I am confident that Mr. Daniel Niedings will lead Stromtank on the right path forward in the UAE. Because of his long-term experience in the High-end Audio business he is a very professional and reliable counselor to upgrade audio systems to the next level of music quality. The Stromtank offers the unique possibility to separate hifi-systems completely from the grid.Stromtank is a high-power battery pack with integrated pure-sign wave converter power supply  totally disconnects audio systems from the grid. With the Stromtank you can enjoy up to 8 hours listening to music before it connects uninterrupted and automatically with the grid to recharge. During the recharging process you can listen without any interruptions.Premium home theatre equipment quality will improve both visually and sonically with the Stromtank.WinBat Technology GmbH is a Germany-based manufacturer of High End power source and battery systems. With the Stromtank, WinBat Technology developed the first clean power source for high end audio systems.WinBat Technology GmbHSchillerstrasse 104910 ElsterwerdaGermanyPhone: +49 30 52688330E-Mail: info@Stromtank.comPress Contact: Mrs. Annett Dehmel
Medical Tourism Market to Exceed US$ 54.00 Billion by 2022

https://www.marketresearchengine.com/reportdetails/global-medical-tourism-market

https://www.marketresearchengine.com/requestsample/global-medical-tourism-market

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Florida, February 17: Market Research Engine has published a new report titled as Medical Tourism Market by Treatment Type and by Geography - Global Industry Analysis by Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2015  2022.The Global Medical Tourism Market will Grow at CAGR of 18% in the given forecast period and will cross USD 54.00 Billion mark by 2022.Browse the full report here:Due to the rising medical services cost in the western countries and availability of high quality medical services at lower prices in the Asian countries like Singapore, India, Brazil, Thailand, Malaysia, Mexico, Taiwan, Turkey, South Korea, Costa Rica, Poland, Dubai and Philippines has led to the expansion of medical tourism industry in this area. Many countries are planning to leverage medical tourism as a strategy to boost their healthcare services and tourism industry. By encouraging its presence in the medical tourism market, a country can stimulate its economic growth and create employment opportunities.Consequently, the medical tourism industry is rapidly expanding and is anticipated to have a significant growth in the near future. According to the one study done by Medical Tourism Association it was estimated that approx 1.6 million Americans have travelled to other destinations in 2012 for medical/healthcare services and this number is anticipated to grow in the near future.This market research report on the global medical tourism helps in understanding the important forces responsible for the growth of this industry. The research report provides in-depth analysis of the geographies facilitating inbound medical services that include Singapore, India, Thailand, Brazil, Malaysia, Mexico, Turkey, Taiwan, South Korea and prospective countries. The market overview section of the report comprises qualitative analysis of the overall market considering the factors determining the market dynamics such as drivers, restraints and opportunities along with Porters five forces analysis. These different analyses would provide a thorough understanding about the market from its past, present and future perspectives and help market players to design effective business strategies. Further, the report on medical tourism comprises executive summary chapter that will help you understand the overall market size, growth rate of various segments, geographies and competitors present in the market in a very precise manner.Download Free Sample Report:The medical tourism industry is segmented on the basis of type of treatment and geographyBY TREATMENT TYPE Cosmetic Treatment Dental Treatment Cardiovascular Treatment Orthopedics Treatment Fertility Treatment Other General TreatmentBY GEOGRAPHY Singapore India Malaysia Mexico Costa Rica Brazil Turkey South Korea Thailand Taiwan Philippines Dubai PolandAbout MarketResearchEngine.comMarket Research Engine is a global market research and consulting organization. We provide market intelligence in emerging healthcare technologies, 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, +91-860-565-7204Website:Address: 3422 SW 15 Street, Suite #8942, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442, United States
Review of the E-world energy & water 2017 trade fair at Essen, Germany

www.natuvion.com

www.professional-system-security.de

The trade fair E-world energy & water 2017 has, again, beat all records and strengthend their position as the leading event in the European market.A total of 710 exhibitors (last year: 650 exhibitors) from 30 nations showed their solutions for the energy industry from the 7th to 9th of February at the trade fair Essen, Germany. Natuvion also took part with their employees at the event. Similar to the previous year, we were able to present our innovative IT solutions for the energy industry at two booths. Partnering with SAP at one booth and with regiocom at another.The conversations with existing and new customers as well as prospects led to dicussions about many topics, but most importantly Data Compliance and Data Security in SAP.Even the digitization of the energy market was pushing the dialogues. Besides we got our contacts enthusiastic about our advanced application for mobile devices. Due to the stricter General Data Protection Regulations in Europe, we built an app solution based on the SAP HANA Cloud Platform.We were able to take countless impressions and ideas back home. We are going to use all the information we have from the event, to permanently improve our product portfolio and develop new solutions for the next E-world 2018.We would like to use this opportunity to thank all our customers and visitors for the interesting and multifaceted conversations!See you all again next year at the E-world energy & water 2018!As Natuvion, we combine many years of experience in SAP projects with profound understanding of and process skills in the utilities sector. Our actions focus on trusting and creative working methods. We are convinced that cooperation is the inspiration for professional and technically innovative IT services. We create future-oriented, cost-effective and technologically leading solutions together with our customers.This has also been recognized by SAP with the Gold Partner status and recognized expertise in Landscape Transformation and Utilities. Natuvion is worldwide the only SAP Gold Partner with the combination of Utilities and LT.Our solutions and services comprise the entire SAP Business Suite with the additional core competency in the field of SAP for Utilities. We offer tailor-made solutions in the fields of Big Data Analytics, Data Privacy & Security, and Transformation.Natuvion  Solutions for your Success.Natuvion GmbHAltrottstrae 3169190 WalldorfFon +49 6227 73-1400Fax +49 6227 73-1410
Infections reduced by 28 percent, quality of hand hygiene greatly improved: The OPHARDT Hygiene Monitoring System in clinical use

Infections reduced by 28 percent: The OPHARDT Hygiene Monitoring System in clinical use

http://bdh-klinik-greifswald.de

http://www.ophardt.com/index.php/en/ohms-im-praxiseinsatz.html

www.ophardt.com

www.compliance-campus.com

Issum, February 16th. How can electronically controlled hand hygiene monitoring help to improve treatment quality in daily hospital life? The BDH-hospital in Greifswald, Germany, () has examined how the use of the OPHARDT Hygiene Monitoring Systems (OHMS) affects behaviour around hand hygiene and the number of nosocomial infections.Over the period of one year (May 2013 - April 2014) the use of hand disinfectants, the number of nosocomial infections and the use of antibiotics on an Intermediate Care Station were measured.Convincing results from the systemThe first passive stage of 6 months served as a trial period where employees had time to come to terms with the functionality of the system and to get used to it. At the beginning of the second 6 month active period special training sessions were offered based on the data collected in the first 6 months and the effects of the training sessions were watched and evaluated.Senior and specialist internist Dr. Andreas Glockner says: Using OHMS enables us to precisely evaluate hand hygiene and recognise weak spots- this helps us to concentrate on these weak spots and train our staff accordingly. The system was accepted well by staff and does not cause extra work. The results speak for themselves: Within the test period and in comparison to the previous year the use of hand disinfectant increased by 30% per patient day and there was a reduction in nosocomial infections of 28% per patient day.Further information:OPHARDT hygieneThe family owned business group OPHARDT hygiene develops, manufactures and distributes an encompassing product range of dispensers and complete hygiene solutions for the implementation of the highest hygienic standards in the realms of medicine, pharmacy and food processing facilities, as well as for use in public washrooms. As a business with more than 50 years of experience, world-wide success and European roots, six production sites and more than 450 employees, consistent customer focus and future-oriented innovations are the basis for a sustainable business development.OPHARDT HYGIENE-TECHNIK GmbH + Co. KGLindenau 27D-47661 IssumPress & Media Relations:Corporate CommunicationsMarkus Hochkirchenmhochkirchen@ophardt.comPhone +49 (0)2835 18-141
Sample Preparation Market: Bio-Rad Laboratories, Agilent Technologies, Danaher Corporation

https://www.marketresearchengine.com/reportdetails/sample-preparation-market-report

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New York, February 16: Market Research Engine has published a new report titled as Sample Preparation Market by Product Types, by Techniques, by End Users and by Applications (Metabolomics, Transcriptomics, Epigenomics, Protemics, Genomics)  Global Market Analysis, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024The sample preparation market is expected to exceed more than US$ 8.0 Billion by 2024; Growing at a CAGR of more than 6.5% in the given forecast period.Browse Full Report:What is Sample Preparation?Sample preparation in analytical chemistry refers to the sample of material is extracted from a larger quantity and prepared for analysis. In most analytical techniques sample preparation is used and it is called as sampling and it has a special and unique importance. The effectiveness and success of analysis is depends on the correctness and accurateness of the sample prepared. So that the products which includes new advanced equipment or technology to convey a high degree of accurateness, cost reduction and time for organizing the sample are spectator a stable growth in the market.How Big is Sample Preparation Market?The Major Driving factors of sample preparation market are as follows:Developments in tools pertaining to sample preparation goodsRise in Research and Development expenses in life scienceThe Restraining factors of sample preparation market are as follows:High rate of equipmentThe sample preparation market is segmented on the lines of its technique, end user, product, application and geographic. Based on technique segmentation the market is segmented into protein precipitation, liquid- liquid extraction, protein precipitation and others such as SFE, QuEChERS, etc. Under end user segmentation it covers academic institutes, diagnostic laboratories, biotechnology, pharmaceutical industries and others includes forensics, food industry and environment testing. The sample preparation market is segmented on the lines of its product like accessories, sample preparation kits, consumables and sample preparation instruments. Based on application segmentation the sample preparation market contains metabolomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, proteomics and enomics. The sample preparation marketin geographic segmentation covers various regions such asMiddle East and Africa,North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America,. Each geographic market is further segmented to provide market revenue for select countries such as the U.S., Canada, U.K. Germany,India, China, Japan, Brazil, and GCC countries.Download Free Sample Report:This report provides:1) An overview of the global market for sample preparation 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 2021.3) Identifications of new market opportunities and targeted promotional plans for sample preparation4) 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 various types of Sample preparation market with the reasons given for variations in the growth of the industry in certain regions.The report covers company profiles of the key participants operating in the global market and all the details of the competitive outlook including market share. Key players profiled in the report include Bio-Rad Laboratories, Agilent Technologies, Danaher Corporation, Merck KGaA, Biotage AB, F Hoffman La Roche, Illumina, Inc., Waters Corporation, Inc., QIAGEN N.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., and PerkinElmer. Company profile includes assign such as SWOT analysis, financial summary, business strategy and planning, company summary, and current developments.The Top Companies Report is intended to provide buyers with a snapshot of the industrys most influential players and new technology.The Sample Preparation Market has been segmented as below:By Technique AnalysisProtein PrecipitationLiquid- liquid extractionProtein PrecipitationOthers (SFE, QuEChERS, etc)By End-user AnalysisAcademic InstitutesDiagnostic LaboratoriesBiotechnologyPharmaceutical IndustriesOthers (Forensics, food industry and environment testing)By Product AnalysisAccessoriesSample preparation kitsConsumablesSample preparation instrumentsBy Application AnalysisMetabolomicsTranscriptomicsEpigenomicsProtemicsGenomicsBy 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
Cytology and HPV Testing Market - North America to Dominate the Market by 2024 New York, February 16: Market Research Engine has published a new report titled as Cytology and HPV Testing Market by Product and Services (Cytology Testing and HPV Testing) - Global Market Analysis, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024



The Cytology and HPV testing market is expected to exceed more than USD 10 Billion by 2024. HPV testing market will grow at a CAGR of more than 10% in the given forecast period. While Cytology testing market will grow at a CAGR of around 5% from 2016 to 2024.



Purchase Report From Here: https://www.marketresearchengine.com/reportdetails/cytology-and-hpv-testing-market-report



What is Cytology and Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Testing?



Cytology also called as cell biology and cytopathology in which study of cell composition, cell structure and the interaction among cells and the environment in which they exist. It also examines the cell structure which helps to diagnose disease. Human papilloma virus (HPV) is group of more than 100 related viruses. They can affect the moist membranes of body part such as anus, vagina, vulva and lining of the mouth and throat. It also affects the skin of human body, trachea, bronchi, inner nose, mouth and inner eyelids. All human papilloma viruses (HPV) in the group are specified a number called an HPV type. The implication of early diagnosis and detection is not lost on them resultant in the improved adoption of these tests such as cytology and HPV testing.



How Big is the Cytology and HPV testing market?



The Major Driving factors of cytology and HPV testing market are as follows:



Growing cervical cancer screening awareness plans

High occurrence rate of HPV infections

Increasing the amount of cervical cancer globally



The Restraining factors of Cytology and HPV testing market are as follows:



Low understanding of the global population

Need of correct primary healthcare infrastructure



Download Free Sample Report: https://www.marketresearchengine.com/requestsample/cytology-and-hpv-testing-market-report



The cytology and HPV testing market is segmented on the lines of its product, service and by geography. Based on product and service segmentation the cytology and HPV testing market covers HPV testing and cytology testing. HPV testing is further segmented into services, assay kits and system. Based on cytology testing segment the market covers services, assay kits and system. The cytology and HPV testing market covers the geographic segmentation in various regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa. Each geography market is further segmented to provide market revenue for select countries such as the U.S., Canada, U.K. Germany, China, Japan, India, Brazil, and GCC countries.



This report provides:



1) An overview of the global market for cytology and HPV testing 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 2021.



3) Identifications of new market opportunities and targeted promotional plans for cytology and HPV testing market.



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 various types of cytology and HPV testing market with the reasons given 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 Becton, Dickinson and Company, Cepheid, Inc., Abbott Laboratories, Inc., F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Fujirebio Diagnostics, Inc., Arbor Vita Corporation, Hologic, Inc., QIAGEN N.V., and OncoHealth Corporation. 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 the buyers with a snapshot of the industrys most influential players.



The Cytology and HPV testing Market has been segmented as below:



By Product and Services Analysis



HPV Testing

Services

Assay kits

System

Cytology Testing

Services

Assay kits

System



By Regional Analysis



North America

Europe

Asia-Pacific

Rest of the World



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Market 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.



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Spectral Computed Tomography (CT) Market Dynamics, Comprehensive Analysis, Business Growth, Prospects and Opportunities 2016-2027

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1026

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/spectral-computed-tomography-market

Market ScenarioComputed tomography (CT) has enjoyed in a position of unmistakable quality in medicinal imaging since its creation in the past decades. The methodology gives a more complete picture of the body than X-rays, its predecessor, taking images at a few distinct angles to construct a cross area, including bone and tissue. The inconvenience is that it can be hard to recognize one object from another in the white palette, especially with regards to smaller injuries or metal artifacts inside the body. The market for Spectral Computed tomography (CT) is expected to reach US$ XX Million by the end of the forecasted period and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of XX%SegmentsGlobal Spectral Computed tomography (CT) market has been segmented on the basis of types which consist of Cardiac Imaging, Neutral Imaging, Clinical images others. On the basis of application which includes Cardiovascular, Neurovascular, Spinal and others On the basis of End Users Diagnostic centers and hospitalsRequest a Sample Report @Regional AnalysisGlobally North America is the largest market for Spectral Computed tomography (CT). The North American market for Spectral Computed tomography (CT) is expected to grow at a CAGR of XX% and is expected to reach at US$ XXX Million by the end of the forecasted period. Europe is the second-largest market for Spectral Computed tomography (CT) which is expected to grow at a CAGR of XX%Key PlayersSome of the major key player of the spectral computed tomography market are; General Electric Company, Hitachi medical corporation, NeuroLogica Corp, Neusoft Medical Systems, Koninklijke Philips N.V., Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Shenzhen Anke High-tech Co., LtdThe report for Global Spectral Computed tomography (CT) market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different markets segments and regionsAccess Report Details @Study Objectives To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 10 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the Global Spectral Computed tomography (CT) Market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To Analyze the Global Spectral Computed tomography (CT) Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- Americas, Europe, Asia, and RoW To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country level analysis of the market for segments by type, by application, by end users and sub-segments. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the Global Spectral Computed tomography (CT) MarketContact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.comAbout Market Research FutureAt Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Market Research FutureOffice No. 524/528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Trend of Escalators Market Technology and Market Overview

http://www.marketintelreports.com/report/allied0538/global-escalators-market--opportunities-and-forecasts-20142022

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Report HighlightsFactors such as rapid urbanization, increase in concerns for safety, and changes in demography lead to the increase in adoption of escalators. An escalator is a conveyor transport device, in the form of moving staircase, used to carry people across different floorsThe growth of real estate sector has fueled the adoption rate of escalators in numerous industries. The escalators market is driven by factors such as need for efficient and rapid transit systems and rapid urbanization.Check complete report @The market is segmented based on type, industry vertical, and geography. Based on type, the market is segmented into parallel, multi-parallel, walkway, and others. Based on industry vertical, the market is segmented into commercial, public transit, and others. The market is analyzed based on four regions, namely North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA (Latin America, Middle East, and Africa) along with the country-wise analysis.The report includes the profiles of prominent market players, such as Schindler Group, Kone Corporation, Thyssenkrupp AG, Dover, Hyundai, Fujitec, Mitsubishi Electric, SIGMA, Otis, and Omega along with information regarding business overview, financials, product portfolios, investments, and recent strategies & developmentsAvail more information from Sample Brochure of report @This study comprises analytical depiction of the global escalators market along with current trends and future estimations to depict the imminent investment pockets.The overall market potential is determined to understand the profitable trends for gaining stronger coverage in the market.The report presents information regarding key drivers, restraints, and opportunities along with detailed impact analysis.The current market is quantitatively analyzed from 2014 to 2022 to highlight the financial competency of the market.Porters Five Forces analysis of the market illustrates the potency of buyers and suppliers.Order a copy of Global Escalators Market Research Report @mand  Supply Gap. We cover more than 15 industry verticals being: Automotive, Electronics, Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, Chemicals, Building & Construction, Agriculture, Food & Beverages, Banking & Finance, Media and Government, Public Sector Studies.About us:MarketIntelReports (MIR) aim to empower our clients to successfully manage and outperform in their business decisions, we do this by providing Premium Market Intelligence, Strategic Insights and Databases from a range of Global Publishers.A group of industry veterans who are well experienced in reputed international consulting firms after identifying the sourcing needs of MNCs for market intelligence, have together started this business savior MarketIntelReports.MIR intends to be a one-stop shop with an intuitive design, exhaustive database, expert assistance, secure cart checkout and data privacy integrated. It curates the list of reports, publishers and studies to ensure that the database is constantly updated to dynamically meet the targeted, specific needs of our clients.MarketIntelReports currently has more than 10,000 plus titles and 35+ publishers on our platform and growing consistently to fill the Global Intelligence DeContact us:Mayur S.Sales Manager2711 Centerville Road, Suite 400,Wilmington, Delaware, 19808United Statessales@marketintelreports.comTelephone: 1-302-261-5343
IOWA FALLS | An Iowa Falls man has been arrested on sex abuse allegations following an investigation.

Gary Dean Havens, 71, was arrested Feb. 3 on charges of two counts of second-degree sexual abuse and three counts of sexual exploitation in connection with incidents in 2008 and 2016 and a search of his home.

He has been released from jail pending trial.

Havens is charged with a January 2016 incident where he allegedly put his hand down the front of a 5-year-old girl's pants and touched her inappropriately while playing tag.

He is also charged in connection with a September 2008 incident where he allegedly touched a 6-year-old girl's groin area, records state.

The incident was reported to law enforcement in 2008, but the girl denied it happened at the time and no charges were filed.

When the recent investigation into Havens was launched, the victim was interviewed again and disclosed the touching, court records state.

In December 2015, investigators recovered 27 pairs of young girls' panties from Havens' trash, and a search of his home in February 2016 turned up a locked metal box containing three smaller locked boxes.

The smaller boxes contained five pairs of girls' underwear, each folded, court records state.

A locked ammo box at his home contained 36 magazines with child pornography, records state.

Jeff Reinitz writes for the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, another Lee Enterprises newspaper. Reach him at jeff.reinitz@wcfcourier.com.
E-Grocery Market  By Product Type (Food Products and Beverage, Beverages, Cosmetics & Personal Care, Baby Care, Stationery, Households) Forecast (2016-2021)

E-Grocery Market 2021

http://www.marketintelreports.com/report/FBR0106/egrocery-market--by-product-type-food-products-and-beverage-beverages-cosmetics--personal-care-baby-care-stationery-households-by-demography-age-gender--by-geography--forecast-20162021

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E-grocery refers to online purchase and delivery of grocery products. An online grocery store primarily sells foodstuffs and household goods. Busy lifestyles and increasing trends of digital shopping is driving the market for e-grocery. It helps in saving time and is a cost effective approach. Multiple distribution channels, flexible delivery options and multiple modes of payments are the major growth drivers of global E-Grocery market. Expensiveness, Unavailability of quick delivery and out of stock products are a few faced by global e-grocery companies which might limit the market growth in near future.Check Complete Report @The global e-grocery market has been analyzed with respect to different parameters such as demand, supply, end-users, pricing and distributors. This market has been categorized by product type and by geography. On the basis of product type, the market is segmented into food products, beverages, cosmetics & personal care, baby care, stationery and households. Global e-grocery market is estimated to witness growth of XX% CAGR through 2016-2021.The overall e-grocery market is also presented from the perspective of different geographic regions and the key countries in each region. Europe is the dominant region with XX% share in global e-grocery market. North American e-grocery market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of XX% through 2021. In Asia-Pacific region, China and India have a huge potential for growth.Get Sample Brochure of the Report @The global e-grocery market was dominated by companies, namely: Tesco Plc (U.K.) Amazon.com, Inc. (U.S.) Ocado Group plc. (U.K.) J Sainsbury Plc (U.K.) Wal-Mart Stores (U.S.).These companies have considerable brand image and have gone through several M&As, partnerships and collaborations.Other major players in this industry are: Ahold Inc. (The Netherlands) Asda Stores Ltd. (U.K.) AaramShop.com (India) Supermarket Grocery Supplies Pvt. Ltd (India) Costco Wholesale Corporation (U.S.) and others.Order a copy of E-Grocery Market Report now @About us:MarketIntelReports (MIR) aim to empower our clients to successfully manage and outperform in their business decisions, we do this by providing Premium Market Intelligence, Strategic Insights and Databases from a range of Global Publishers.A group of industry veterans who are well experienced in reputed international consulting firms after identifying the sourcing needs of MNCs for market intelligence, have together started this business savior MarketIntelReports.MIR intends to be a one-stop shop with an intuitive design, exhaustive database, expert assistance, secure cart checkout and data privacy integrated. It curates the list of reports, publishers and studies to ensure that the database is constantly updated to dynamically meet the targeted, specific needs of our clients.MarketIntelReports currently has more than 10,000 plus titles and 35+ publishers on our platform and growing consistently to fill the Global Intelligence Demand  Supply Gap. We cover more than 15 industry verticals being: Automotive, Electronics, Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, Chemicals, Building & Construction, Agriculture, Food & Beverages, Banking & Finance, Media and Government, Public Sector Studies.Contact us:Mayur SSales Manager2711 Centerville Road, Suite 400,Wilmington,Delaware,19808United Statespr@marketintelreports.comTelephone: 1-302-261-5343.
Microarray Analysis Market Research Report- Global Forecast to 2027

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/777

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/global-microarray-analysis-market

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/request-toc/777

Global Microarray Analysis Market Report: OverviewLife science relates to the study of living organisms which includes plants, humans, and microorganisms among others. With unparalleled connectivity, evolving demographics, impressive growth in patent applications in emerging markets and pharmaceutical demand changes worldwide, the trend of Life science is also changing and improving. It is estimated that 2 million engineering and life science jobs will become open during forecasted period due to continue rise in aging population. The factors such as global innovation, increase taxation by government, awareness about education in Life science field, improved R&D expenditure driving global demand for genetic study which includes Microarray, population genomics, and molecular biology among other life science study areas.Global Microarray Analysis Market Report: ApplicationMicroarray analysis is been used in various industries such as healthcare, life science, medical among others. For instance, cancer germline mutation analysis is used to study cancer predisposition, cytogenomics is useful in detection of low-level mosaics, CNVs, LOH, across the genome, Agrigenomics genotyping is used for the study about plants and animals, and many more.The advantages of Microarray analysis includes: Reproducible, high-quality data at a low cost Support fast, high throughput, multiplex processing Available in expert and custom formatsRequest a Sample Report @Global Microarray Analysis Market Report: Market SegmentationGlobal Microarray Analysis Market can be segmented into types, methods, applications, and end-users.Global Microarray Analysis Market by Types: DNA Microarray LOC (Lab-on a-Chip) Protein Microarray Tissue Microarray OthersGlobal Microarray Analysis Market by Methods: Human genotyping Non-human genotyping Gene expression analysis Methylation analysis Mutation analysis OthersGlobal Microarray Analysis Market by Applications: SNP detection Genotyping Forensic analysis Research Diagnostics OthersGlobal Microarray Analysis Market by End-users: Pharmaceuticals Medical Healthcare Laboratories OthersBrowse Report Details @Global Microarray Analysis Market Report: Key PlayersSome major market players in Global Microarray Marker are as follows: Affymetrix, Inc. Agilent Technologies, Inc. Sequenom, Inc. Roche NimbleGen Illumnia, Inc., and Applied MicroarraysOther companies operating in the global microarrays market are biome rieux SA Discerna Gyros AB Luminex Corporation NextGen Sciences, PLC. ProteoGenixGlobal Microarray Analysis Market Report: Latest News Molecular Devices Launches High-Content Imaging System with New 3D Analysis Software, announced on 19th April 2016. The Agilent Cary 8454 UV-Visible spectrophotometer builds on 30 years of experience in photodiode array (PDA) technology and delivers an updated instrument that is easy to use, is ideal for routine applications, and meets the compliance needs of global pharmaceutical companies.Request Table of Contents for this Report @ hThe reports also covers brief analysis of Geographical Region includes:Americas North Americao USo Canada Latin AmericaEurope Western Europeo Germanyo Franceo Italyo Spaino U.Ko Rest of Western Europe Eastern EuropeAsia Pacific Asiao Chinao Indiao Japano South Koreao Rest of Asia PacificThe Middle East& AfricaAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
SwiftTech Solutions Recognized for Excellence in Managed IT Services

www.CRN.com/msp500

www.crn.com/msp500

http://swifttechsolutions.com

Lake Forest, CA, February 16, 2017  SwiftTech Solutions, Inc., announced today that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has named SwiftTech Solutions to its 2017 Managed Service Provider (MSP) 500 list in the MSP Pioneer 250 category. This annual list recognizes North American solution providers with cutting-edge approaches to delivering managed services. Their offerings help companies navigate the complex and ever-changing landscape of IT, improve operational efficiencies, and maximize their return on IT investments.In todays fast-paced business environments, MSPs play an important role in helping companies leverage new technologies without straining their budgets or losing focus on their core business. CRNs MSP 500 list shines a light on the most forward-thinking and innovative of these key organizations.The list is divided into three categories: the MSP Pioneer 250, recognizing companies with business models weighted toward managed services and largely focused on the SMB market; the MSP Elite 150, recognizing large, data center-focused MSPs with a strong mix of on-premise and off-premise services; and the Managed Security 100, recognizing MSPs focused primarily on off-premise, cloud-based security services.SwiftTech Solutions, Inc., headquartered in Lake Forest, Calif., offers Managed IT services to small and medium businesses throughout Southern California. SwiftTechs business model meets the increased need for outsourced IT departments, particularly for organizations that cannot afford to hire additional internal IT staff. SwiftTech's MSP portfolio includes 24/7 technical support, technology consulting, PC/systems maintenance, network security, remote monitoring, backup and recovery, cloud computing, and more.Managed service providers play an increasingly important role in the day-to-day operations of businesses across North America, said Robert Faletra, CEO of The Channel Company. MSPs help organizations streamline their spending, effectively allocate limited resources, and benefit from advanced expertise in the latest technologies. We congratulate the service providers on CRNs 2017 MSP500 list, who have continually succeeded in meeting their customers changing needs and help them get the most out of their IT investments."Our team is delighted to be recognized in the CRN 500 list again," said Joshua Ross, CEO of SwiftTech Solutions. "Were fully committed to helping our clients grow by using technology to maximize IT system uptime, increase staff efficiency, and raise overall profits. This award is a testament to the hours of hard work with these ongoing efforts.The MSP500 list will be featured in the February 2017 issue of CRN and online atFollow The Channel Company: Twitter, LinkedIn and FacebookTweet This:@TheChannelCo names @ swifttechllc to @CRN 2017 MSP 500 list #CRNMSP500About SwiftTech Solutions, Inc.SwiftTech Solutions offers comprehensive, reliable, and affordable IT services to SMB's, government agencies, and non-profit organizations. SwiftTech provides our clients with peace of mind the job will be done correctly, efficiently, and cost-effectively. We use only proven and stable methods to secure the future of our clients' integrity and security. SwiftTech Solutions is a certified partner of Dell, Microsoft, VMware, HP, Veeam, and Citrix. Learn more atCopyright 2017. The Channel Company, LLC. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved.SwiftTech Solutions, Inc. Contact:Kimberly LorimerSwiftTech Solutions, Inc.877-794-3811info@swifttechsolutions.comThe Channel Company Contact:Melanie TurpinThe Channel Company508.416.1195mturpin@thechannelco.com
Personalized Medicines Market : Latest Trends,Analysis & Insights 2023

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=394

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/personalized-medicines-market.html

www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Personalized medicine is a concept that has the potential to transform medical interventions by providing effective and tailored therapies. The development of personalized medicine is a novel approach to introduce new dimension in medicine and healthcare industries. It includes the use of molecular analysis to achieve optimal medical outcome in management or diagnosis of patients disease. The main objective of personalized medicine is to identify most appropriate treatment option for patient population.Download Exclusive Brochure of This Report :The market of personalized medicines and pharmacodiagnostics can be segmented as below:By TherapeuticsCancer ManagementTissue-based TestsBlood MarkersCirculating Tumor CellsInfectious DiseasesHIVHBVHCVHospital Acquired InfectionsCoagulation TherapyAutoimmune DiseasesCardiovascular DiseasesCNS DisordersDiabetesBlood Transfusion SafetyBy DiagnosticsBy TheranosticsBy ApplicationPharmaceuticalDiagnosticsHealthcareOthersThe market of personalized medicine is witnessing positive growth owing to the advancement in technologies coupled with introduction of new technologies by key players. For example, in June 2013, Natural Molecular Testing Corporation launched expanded cardiac personalized medicine based on Luminex Corporations xMAP technology. In addition, introduction of technologies like NanoVelcro chip devices and gene therapies by using pill for treating cancer will increase the customer base for personalized medicines and hence stimulates the market growth. Furthermore, personalized medicines have increased the possibility of healthcare profits, safety of patients and improve the clinical results which will further drive the growth of the market of pharmacodiagnostics and personalized medicines. For example, personalized medicines offer cost-effective treatment and also eliminate overspending for the cancer treatment. This factor would ultimately attract more number of customers to use personalized medicines and hence drives the market growth. Moreover, various other factors like early diagnosis of diseases, high adverse reaction of prescription drugs, changing patients trend and patient compliance would also augment the market growth. Furthermore, personalized medicines have major impact on small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). It offers great business opportunities for these companies to develop their industrial boundaries across the globe. Thus, all the above mentioned factors would increase the use of personalized medicines by SMEs and hence further augments the market growth. However, implementation of personalized medicines in biomedical research and in clinical applications is still at a low pace which might restrict the growth of this market.Geographically, North America dominates the global personalized medicines market. Advancement in technologies and increasing research activities on human DNA by various biotechnology companies in North America will drive the market growth. In addition, increasing incidence and prevalence of cancer and cardiovascular diseases in North America further drives the market growth. Europe is considered as the second largest market of personalized medicines. The growth of personalized medicines market in Europe is mainly attributed to consistent efforts of private research institutes and government for the development of clinical application for cancer, heart diseases and neurodegenerative disorders. Asia-Pacific region is considered as an emerging market for personalized medicines owing to ability of personalized medicines to provide cost effective and safer treatment options.The leading players competing in personalized medicines market are Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Abbott Molecular, Inc., Celera Diagnostics, Hologic, Inc., Rosetta Genomics Ltd., Macrogen, Inc., IRIS Personalized Medicine, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cepheid, Curagen Corp., Decode Genetics, Exagen Diagnostics, Dako Denmark A/S, Exact Sciences Corp. and others.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:This research report analyzes this market on the basis of its market segments, major geographies, and current market trends. This report provides comprehensive analysis ofMarket growth driversFactors limiting market growthCurrent market trendsMarket structureMarket projections for upcoming 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.ContactMr.Sudip S90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Eyewash Equipment Sales Market 2017-2022 Haws, Carlos Arboles, Arcat, Technology Progress

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Global Eyewash Equipment Sales Industry 2017 is an analytical research report that delves into the dynamics of the global Eyewash Equipment Sales industry.It presents an executive-level blueprint of the market with key focus on its operations in globe. In a lucid chapter-wise format, the report presents the historical statistics of the Eyewash Equipment Sales market in addition to studying the competitive landscape. The purpose of this study is to present a comprehensive overview of the market for industry participants. Key findings of this report will help companies operating in the Eyewash Equipment Sales market to identify the opportunities that they can capitalize on to propel growth.The study analyzes the Eyewash Equipment Sales industry in detail. To begin with, it enumerates the primary market operations, evaluating the nature and specific characteristics of products and services it provides. In the following chapters, the study classifies the Eyewash Equipment Sales market in terms of its varied product types, applications, network of supply chain, and geography. Based on the market segmentation, the report analyzes the competitive landscape of the Eyewash Equipment Sales market and lays down the development status of key regions in globally.Download Free Sample Report @The study progresses with a detailed, incisive analysis of the strategies and trends common in the Eyewash Equipment Sales market, and how the same is likely to impact the future course of action of players in the market and the growth trajectory of the market. Region-wise market share for the Eyewash Equipment Sales industry is analyzed for the purpose of which the prominent players are profiled and their respective market share is calculated. Growth drivers, restraints, and opportunities are studied in detail with the help of industry-leading tools, based on which the report presents insightful growth forecasts for the Eyewash Equipment Sales market. Key findings of the study will help stakeholders gauge the growth prospects and understand the investment feasibility.The Eyewash Equipment Sales market research study has been composed using key inputs from industry experts. Furthermore, the extensive primary and secondary research data with which the report has been composed helps deliver the key statistical forecasts, in terms of both revenue and volume. In addition to this, the trends and revenue analysis of the global Eyewash Equipment Sales market has been mentioned in this report. This will give a clear perspective to the readers how the Eyewash Equipment Sales market will fare in globe.Access Full Report @This report also presents product specification, manufacturing process, and product cost structure etc.Production is separated by regions, technology and applications. Analysis also covers upstream raw materials, equipment, downstream client survey, marketing channels, industry development trend and proposals. In the end, the report includes Eyewash Equipment Sales new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, investment return analysis, and development trend analysis. In conclusion, it is a deep research report on Global Eyewash Equipment Sales industry. Here, we express our thanks for the support and assistance from Eyewash Equipment Sales industry chain related technical experts and marketing engineers during Research Teams survey and interviewsFior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.We have a team of experts that compile precise research reports and actively advise top companies to improve their existing processes. Our experts have extensive experience in the topics that they cover.Fior Markets provides you the full spectrum of services related to market research, and corroborate with the clients to increase the revenue stream, and address process gaps.Contact UsMark StoneSales Manager2566, Lincoln StreetPrinceton,New Jersey 08540USAPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog:
The study covers the Dental Suture Market taking into account the sales of registered companies in the market

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Global Dental Suture Market: Brief OutlineThe world dental suture market is prognosticated to enjoy a bright future, taking advantage of the rising geriatric population in major regions, increasing dental procedures, and common incidence of periodontal diseases and dental caries. The research analysts also prophesy the global market to ride on the increasing disposable income of developing countries for its growth.In a voluminous study about the different segments of the global dental suture market, the analysts foresee the market to be categorized according to type, technique, and end user. Interrupted suture and the non-absorbable type are foretold to be the key segments.Request a Brochure of the Report @This customizable report compiled by the expert analysts at TMR Research is a result of painstaking primary and secondary research and data collection through key industry experts and critical opinions of market leaders. It bases the current and future scenario of the global dental suture market on the micro and macro factors, technological furtherance, and market size in respect of value and volume.Global Dental Suture Market: Top OpportunitiesOut of the key growth influencers of the international dental suture market, there are a few that have presented themselves prominent. The swelling awareness about healthcare across the world is considered to be a customary driver of the global market. Nonetheless, a rising number of dentists operating in Europe, North America, and even emerging nations has significantly boosted the growth of the market. These latest trends in the dental suture industry have played a vital role in the advancement of the international market. One of the major factors deemed responsible for the timely growth of the market is the amplification of wound care management on a global platform. Besides this, the market is anticipated to put the foot down and march toward an undying progress on the back of novel development techniques and evolution in technology.Request for TOC of the Report @Global Dental Suture Market: Geographical AnalysisNorth America is expected to be a strong breeding ground for the global dental suture market, which is evident through its handsome market share. Until the end of the forecast period 20172025, the North America region is predicted to continue its supremacy in the global market. The U.S., Canada, and other major countries of North America are thoroughly involved in the development of technologically advanced products. Moreover, a wide variety of dental suture devices have been adopted at a higher rate of late, at least during the forecast years. All of these factors have collectively added impetus to the North America market for securing a commanding position in the industry.Not much far behind from the ennobling progress of North America, the Europe market is predicted to hold the second position in terms of share. For the purpose of the betterment of oral health in Europe, a large number of masses have been demanding effective policies and greater reforms, either to be fulfilled by government or private organizations.Asia Pacific, on the other hand, is regarded as a faster growing region in the global dental suture market with countries such as Japan, India, China, and South Korea in the limelight.Read Complete Report @Global Dental Suture Market: Company ProfilingThe world dental suture market is envisioned to hold a high potential for growth in the near future with the existence of major players in top regions such as Europe and North America. Surgical Specialties Corporation (U.S.), Hygitech SAS (Paris), Ergon Sutramed S.P.A. (Italy), B. Braun Melsungen AG (Germany), Ethicon US, LLC. (U.S.), Shandong Sinorgmed Co., Ltd. (China), Demetech Corporation (U.S.), Osteogenics Biomedical (U.S.), and Assut Europe S.P.A. (Italy) are some of the chief players succeeding in the global market.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Dental Software Market : The study provides information on restraints, drivers and opportunities 2017 - 2025

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Global Dental Software Market: Brief OverviewThe world market for dental software is looking to take advantage of the growing adoption of dental practice management software, especially in developed countries such as the U.S. For the major part of the demand, legislations such as the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act have played a pivotal role. Programs such as the Meaningful Use encourage providers to function on a fixed set of standards formulated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and adopt technologies such as electronic health record (EHR). Moreover, the switch from desktop to cloud based software systems such as Denticon has boosted the market for enterprise dental practice management software.Some of the vital categories for the segmentation of the global dental software market are application, component, type, deployment or delivery mode, and end user. A study of the market segmentation allows buyers to peep into the near future and current scenario of the global industry.Request a Brochure of the Report @The publication offered herewith comes with the feature of customization as per the requirements of the interested parties. Our analysts are seasoned enough to bring you the most appropriate and errorless insights into the global dental software market.Global Dental Software Market: Trends and SegmentationAccording to the delivery mode type of segmentation, the world dental software market could be classified into on-premise, web-based, and cloud-based. With a high security assurance, cheaper price, prompt software updates, large presence of industry players, and limitless storage capacity, the web-based segment is predicted to hold a mammoth share. However, cloud-based delivery mode is foreseen to rise rapidly while riding on the surging response to the inflating patient-centricity trend.Request for TOC of the Report @By component, the segmentation could include patient communication, scheduling, and invoice and billing as commanding segments among others. Out of which, scheduling module gained traction with the indispensable features provided for maximizing resources and accurately scheduling dental checkups.A host of opportunities in the global dental software market is envisioned to birth from the increasing focus on improving oral healthcare and providing quality service to patients. The global aging population demanding oral healthcare services is also laying a solid platform for growth. As per the National Institute on Aging, the population aging 65 years and above is expected to reach 1.5 bn by 2050 in the U.S. itself.Read Complete Report @Hospitals and dental clinics are finding it feasible to adopt various dental software with the availability of subscriptions. Plus, they are quite impressed with the level of assistance received with the use of these software.Global Dental Software Market: Geographical AnalysisWith a geriatric population base in millions, the North America market is attributed for a sizable amount of contribution toward the growth of the global dental software market. As there is a substantial number of patients rising from the wide geriatric population base, North America is expected to gain more demand for dental software. Besides this, the complexity of ICD-10 guidelines requires coding assistance, which has increased the adoption of dental practice management software for the uninterrupted operation of revenue cycle.Europe is anticipated to be poised for an impressive share in the global dental software market on the back of revenue contributions by countries such as Spain, Italy, France, the U.K., and Germany.Asia Pacific is envisaged to leverage its significant CAGR gains for securing its foothold in the global dental software market. Some of the prominent drivers of the Asia Pacific market could be the fragmented nature of the market and elevating shortage of labor. Moreover, the market is looking to fulfill the demand for better healthcare quality by aggressively adopting healthcare IT solutions. While India and China are still looked upon as emerging avenues, Australia, South Korea, Japan, and Singapore have been at the vanguard of technology adoption.Global Dental Software Market: Competitive LandscapeGiant players in the global dental software market are taking to acquisitions and mergers for cementing their position in the industry. Henry Schein, for instance, had made an agreement with Dental Cremer S.A. in 2016 to expand into the distribution of supplies and equipment in Brazil. Henry Schein Dental, Dexis, ACE Dental, Denti Max, ABELDent Inc., Sirona Dental Systems, Clear Dent, Carestream Health, Inc., and Open Dental are some of the dominating companies in the global market. The industrial players are looking to stretch their presence in the market by also coming up with different innovative technological solutions.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
The report segments and cross-examines the Air Separation Plant Market on the basis of device and geography

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Global Air Separation Plant Market: OverviewAir separation plants essentially refer to facilities where atmospheric air is separated into its primary components, mostly nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen, and sometimes into rare inert gases such as krypton, argon, xenon, and helium. Considered to be the only viable source for recovering these rare gases and high purity oxygen and nitrogen, air separation plants support the growth of a vast number of industries. The market for air separation plants has witnessed significant growth in the past few years owing to the vast rise in applications and technological advancements in distillation and filtration capabilities.This report on the global air separation plants market presents a thorough overview of the present growth dynamics of the market and its key elements. A detailed analytical overview of factors such as growth drivers, restraints, trends, challenges, and regulatory scenario governing the development of the market across key regional markets is also included in the report. The competitive landscape of the market is also analyzed in great details in the report, with detailed business profiles and data pertaining to finances, geographical presence, strengths and weaknesses, and product portfolio of some of the key vendors included.Request a Brochure of the Report @Global Air Separation Plant Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe thriving metal fabrication and semiconductor industries are expected to lead to an increased demand for air separation plants in the next few years. The rising expenditure on the production and refining of oil and steel and petrochemicals in emerging economies such as India, China, and Brazil is also expected to emerge as one of the key demand drivers of the global air separation plant market over the reports forecast period.Global Air Separation Plant Market: SegmentationThe report segments the global air separation plant market on the basis of criteria such as separation process, gas, end-use industry, and geography. On the basis of separation process, the market can be segmented into cryogenic and non-cryogenic processes of air separation. The segment of non-cryogenic air separation processes includes sub-segments such as pressure swing adsorption, vacuum pressure swing adsorption, and membrane separation. Cryogenic distillation is presently the most commonly used method for air separation owing to a vast range of application areas spanning a number of industries.Request for TOC of the Report @Some of the key applications of air separation plants are seen across industries such as semiconductor, healthcare, oil and gas, chemical, and iron and steel. Of these, the oil and gas and iron and steel industries are amongst the leading generator of revenue in the global market. Over the reports forecast period, the oil and gas segment is expected to exhibit growth at the most promising pace owing to the rising demand for niche application areas such as enhanced oil recovery.Global Air Separation Plant Market: Geographical OutlookOf the key regional markets for air separation plants, Asia Pacific has been highlighted in the report with the most promising future growth prospects. The thriving industrial sector in emerging economies such as China and India has made the region one of the leading markets for air separation systems. Over the reports forecast period as well, the region is expected to emerge as one of the leading destinations for air separation plants owing to the rising demand for pure gases across industries such as semiconductor, metal fabrication, and healthcare.Read Complete Report @Global Air Separation Plant Market: Competitive DynamicsSome of the key vendors operating in the global air separation plant market are Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Praxair, Inc., Air Liquide S.A., Enerflex Ltd., Technex Ltd., Linde AG, Messer Group GmbH, Universal Industrial Gases, and Taiyo Nippon Sanso CorporationAbout TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Hop Extracts Market Share and Size by 2026

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Growing demand for beer and ale is driving the Hop Extracts market globally. Consumers all around the world are getting attracted towards Hop Extracts because of its ease and low production costs which is driving the market. Hop extracts save time and energy while producing beer. Hops are generally added in Wort in order to give bittering, aroma and flavour to beer. Countries like China, India, and Hong Kong, are the future markets for alcoholic beverage and thus a promising market for Hop Extracts. Perception towards alcoholic beverage in the Middle East and APEJ is changing, and with the rise of per capita income, people changed their way of living and shifted towards beer from fruit juices. Hop Extracts serves best for the purpose of brewing when one needs to save time which won't be possible without Hop Extracts. Hence, Hop Extracts market is expected to grow during the forecast period due to its versatile benefits.However, Hop Extracts comes along with some restraints. Hop Extracts cannot be easily found in developing markets. Most of the people have no knowledge of Hop Extracts in most of the countries which is a big restraint for this market because of limited advertisement. People also fears of dangers such as change in alcoholic content, conversion of liquid to poison or acid and others that they perceive in using Hop extracts instead of pellets or hop fruit.Hop Extracts market has an opportunity to expand in APEJ and MEA region. In the past decade, hundreds of Hop Extracts players entered China because of decent Hop production in the country and all of them are doing great. There is a need to increase the presence throughout the region.Hop Extracts is a brewing component used commonly in making beer for commercial and personal purposes. In the year 2000, a journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry listed hops as anti-oxidant. Later in 2005, Journal of Molecular Nutrition listed Hops as Anti-Infective. Due to its properties, Hops became a critical ingredient in beer production and achieved a significant role in the same. In 1405, Hops was first legalized in Flanders (currently Belgium) which witnessed high growth in production since then. In 1516, REINHEITSGEBOT (German Beer Purity Law) passed a bill in Bavaria State of Germany which requires only water, barley malt, hops, and yeast may be used for crafting beer. This is one of the oldest law still applied globally. Almost all the countries have a market for Hop and Hop Extracts. During the time, many unique Hop Extracts are developed in order to satisfy the taste buds of people and their preferences. Hops are used to give flavor, aroma, color and taste to a beer when mixed in appropriate proportions during the brewing process. While many factors create overall beer flavors, hops will have the biggest impact on how beer is perceived. Hop Extracts market is strong in Americas and Europe because a large portion of the population consumes beer which is driving the Hop Extracts market. While a large population of APEJ and MEA still don't drink alcoholic beverages which have restricted the Hop Extracts market in these regions. However, countries like India, have shown significant growth in beer consumption; India is the most growing beer market in the world is likely to become next home of many international Hop Extracts producers in next 5 to 10 years. Although, India doesnt produce Hops which create a great opportunity for companies to start producing hops in the country. Apart from India, China and Hong Kong are also one of the most growing markets of Hop Extracts in APEJ region due to their historical relation with beer. Hop Extracts market is expected to witness an escalating demand among the consumers because of its significant use and increasing presence of beer, ale and other beverages throughout the globe.Hop Extracts market can be segmented on the basis of type which includes oil, pellets and aroma. Hop Oil is the most commonly used ingredient in beer. Hop Extracts market can be segmented on the basis of Hop variety which includes Cascade, Nugget, Willamette, Citra, Crystal, Cluster, Centennial and Others (Chinook, Columbus, Mosaic, etc.). Hop Extracts market can also be segmented on the basis of types of applications which includes brewing, herbal treatment and pharmaceutical.A sample of this report is available upon request @Regional coverage for Hop Extracts market includes North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ) and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). Hop Extracts market witnesses a high demand in North America and Europe because of the high consumption of beers in the region. However, the Hop Extracts market is expected to grow significantly in APEJ region as consumers have widely adopting beer and ale.Request to view table of content @The market players in Hop Extracts market are Hopsteiner, BSG, Northern Brewers, The Malt Miller, MoreBeer, Charles faram and many more.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.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
The Construction Repaint Market can be analyzed on the basis of type, crop type, mode of application, and geography

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Global Construction Repaint Market: OverviewConstruction repaints are paints used in residential buildings, commercial, and institutional establishments for the purpose of maintenance works, making repairs, and carrying out renovation. They typically consist of varnishes, emulsions, and enamels. The paints are primarily waterborne or solvent-borne formulations. The large number of buildings and constructions across the globe that need renovation and repairs have necessitated the demand for these repaints and kept the construction repaint market fast emerging.The construction repaints market can be segmented on the basis of resin type, formulation, application, and region. Major resin types that have applications as repaints are acrylic, epoxy, alkyd, polyurethane, and epoxy. Key regions witnessing the growth of the construction repaint market are North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America.Request a Brochure of the Report @Waterborne paints being water soluble are widely used as construction repaints. Acrylic paint, a resin type and having waterborne formulations, occupies a prominent share in the construction repaint market. Acrylic paints are available as emulsions, lacquers, powders, and enamels and are easy to maintain. Being cost-effective and having low volatile organic compounds (VOC), they are preferred over other construction repaints. Stringent environmental regulations related to emission norms of volatile organic compounds laid down by the governments in various countries have led to a significant demand for these construction repaints.The research report provides a comprehensive insight into the manufacturing processes, current and emerging trends, and the advances in specialty chemicals. The study analyzes the key market dynamics and assesses their impact on the demand for the major types of construction repaints across the globe. Prepared with the help of insights from various industry leaders and market experts, the report evaluates the development of upstream raw material value chain, downstream client survey, and supply chain network, along with their impact on competitive dynamics. The insights help stakeholders track the key trends and enable players to devise impactful strategies to gain a stronghold in the construction repaint market.Request for TOC of the Report @Global Construction Repaint Market: Drivers and RestraintsWorn-off paint coatings in a large number of commercial and residential buildings and the damage of paints in various construction structures over time are the key factors driving the demand for construction repaints. Coupled with this, the rising demand for various repair and maintenance activities in the construction sector is anticipated to boost the growth of the construction repaint market. The demand for paints in different end-use industries such oil and gas, petrochemical, mining, and pharmaceutical is expected to stimulate the demand for construction repaints for various applications.In contrast, volatility in the raw materials prices due to fluctuating crude oil prices and growing popularity of glass buildings are crucial factors expected to hinder the growth of the construction repaints market. The application of durable paints, which has slowed down the decay of paints in buildings, is likely to impede the growth of the construction repaint market to some extent. In addition, the high cost involved in the manufacturing of paints having high performance characteristics is expected to hinder the growth of the market in some regions. However, the demand for bio-based paint materials  driven by stringent environmental regulations by various governments in developed and developing regions  is anticipated to create promising growth opportunities for players in the construction repaint market.Global Construction Repaint Market: Region-wise OutlookThe Asia Pacific region is estimated to contribute a major share in the construction repaint industry. The growth in the region is driven by the construction of residential and commercial buildings in countries such as China, Japan, and India, which has spurred the demand for cost-effective construction repaints. Growth of non-residential constructions due to increased urbanization in these countries and the rise in infrastructural spending have stimulated the demand for construction repaints in Asia Pacific. Companies vying for a significant share in these regions need to evaluate the market dynamics and the key development trends to devise business strategies.Companies mentioned in the report:Prominent players operating in the construction repaint market include Akzonobel N.V., PPG Industries Inc., The Sherwin-Williams Company, Axalta Coating Systems LLC, RPM International Inc., The Valspar Corporation, Nippon Paint Holdings Co., Ltd., Kansai Paint Co., Ltd., and Asian Paints Ltd.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
MASON CITY | The local Classical Conversations community will inform local officials about its educational services during an event next week.

Classical Conversations, a faith-based home schooling organization, says it hopes to show officials who they are, while thanking them for their service to the community.

We want to honor and thank members of our community who selflessly serve to help make it a better place, member Tammy Hoffman said.

Classical Conversations says it has more than 50 students in the Mason City area, who will present and who what they've learned during the Excellence in Education event.

This will give our students a chance to thank them and it offers an educational opportunity, Hoffman said. We want them to learn how to be good hosts and hostesses.

The students will have the opportunity to interact with local officials and ask questions.

We know there are some who arent supporting of homeschooling, Hoffman said. We want to show them were normal parents. We are supportive of public schools.

Classical Conversations meets every Wednesday at Grace Church for group learning. During that time students can study multiple subjects, work on science projects and learn how to give presentations.

Hoffman, who joined Classical Conversations last year, said its been a blessing for her family.

She has been home schooling her seven children for 13 years.

"I was starting to struggle to keep up with my older kids, while being there for the younger ones," she said.

Finding support in the community was helpful for Hoffman.

It gives students and families community, accountability and support, Hoffman said.

Hoffman said the organization is growing and may need to open a second Mason City community in the fall.
Natural Flavours Market To Increase at Steady Growth Rate

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The market for natural flavours has grown tremendously over the past couple of years due to increase awareness of health coupled with emerging middle class across the globe. Flavours are used in food and beverages in order to enhance the taste and quality of the products. Thousands of natural volatile compounds make up the flavours and aromas of the food products that we eat in our day to day life. The definition of natural flavour under the Code of Federal Regulations is: the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavouring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavouring rather than nutritional. The market is buoyant for the coming years especially in Europe for the natural and clean label flavours.Natural Flavours Market: Drivers and RestraintsGrowing consumer interest in natural ingredients coupled with the strong command of retailers in the supply chain has made natural flavours easily and widely available in the market for consumers and are the major driving forces of the market globally. However, rising cost of raw materials and the issues of sustainability and stability of natural flavours over synthetic flavours are major restraining factor of the natural flavour market. Trends of the natural flavour market includes demands for clean-label products categories such as confectionery and soft drinks and growth in R&D for stability of natural flavour.Request For Report Sample@Natural Flavours Market: SegmentationNatural flavour market is segmented on the basis of product type, application and region. On the basis of product type the market can be segmented into natural extract, aroma chemical, essential oils and other natural flavour. Furthermore, on the basis of application natural flavour market can be segmented into beverages, dairy product, confectionary, oral products, tobacco and others. Beverages was the largest segment in natural flavour market followed by dairy products in 2014. Lastly, on the basis of region the market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan and Middle East and Africa.Natural Flavours Market: Region-Wise OutlookIn 2014, North America holds the largest market of natural flavours followed by Europe. However, Asia Pacific and Latin America are key emerging region in natural flavours market and are expected to marginally take a lead in the global natural flavours market by 2025 over developed regions.Visit For TOC@Natural Flavours Market: Key PlayersSome of the global key players in the natural flavour market are Givaudan, Firmenich, Takasago International Corporation, Symrise AG, Sensient Technologies Corporation, Kerry Group PLC, Frutarom Industries Ltd. to name a few. Givaudan, a Switzerland based company holds the maxium market share in the global natural flavour market. Big multinational companies in the natural flavour market focus on the acquisition activity in order to expand within the growth areas of natural flavour market. Major Companies such as Givaudan currently marking its footprint by increasing number of production sites, creative centres, an increased marketing and sales force and also opening new offices in Africa and Asia to cater the local demandABOUT 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.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Soy Protein Ingredient Market Forecast Research Reports Offers Key Insights 2015-2025

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Soybean is processed primarily into three forms which includes soy protein isolates comprise ~90% protein, soy protein concentrates with ~70% protein, and soy flour with ~50% protein. Soy protein ingredient is considered to be the best substitute for animal protein. Soy protein ingredient comprises amino acids and are also rich in fiber, calcium, iron, potassium, polyunsaturated fats and lecithin, magnesium and vitamin B. Thus it contains high health-related benefits and functional properties. Due to its characteristics it primarily used as emulsifier, gel, tenderizer, binder, stabilizer, and thickener by food and beverages processing industry. Soy protein ingredients are also environmental friendly as they require less amount of water while processing.Soy Protein Ingredient Market SegmentationOn the basis of type soy protein ingredient can be segmented as soy protein isolates, soy protein concentrates and soy flour. Among all these product type soy protein isolates is expected to account for the potential market share followed by soy protein concentrates. Due to high percentage of protein content in soy protein isolates is supporting the demand for the same during the forecast period. Soy flour is also expected to show a substantial growth in the near future. However due to less protein content in the soy flour is expected to restrain its growth in the near future.Request For Report Sample@Furthermore the soy protein ingredient market is segmented on the basis of application which includes bakery and confectionary, processed meat products, functional foods, dairy replacers, infant foods and others. Among all these segment functional food is expected to be the major contributor in supporting the growth soy protein ingredient followed by processed meat products. Rising awareness among the consumer for health beneficiary products is supporting the demand for soy protein ingredient market during the forecast period. Moreover, infant food is also expected to support the demand of soy protein ingredient market. This is due to the increasing parental concern for providing the nutritious and healthy food to their child.Geographically Europe and North America is expected to account for the major market share in the forecast period. However these region is expected to record moderate growth. In North America, U.S. is expected to be the major contributor in terms of revenue followed by Canada. Moreover Asia pacific is expected to show the double digit CAGR growth during the forecast period followed by Latin America. In Asia pacific region China and India is expected to account for the substantial growth due to increased demand for nutritional food among the consumers. Moreover in Latin America, Brazil is expected to be the major contributor in terms of revenue followed by Mexico.Soy Protein Ingredient Market DriversHigh functional properties of the soy protein ingredient coupled with ecofriendly and natural health benefits is driving the demand of soy protein during the forecast period. Moreover it is cost effective than the animal protein and reflects the same protein content. This is expected to enhance adoption of soy protein across various end-use industries resulting in increasing the shelf life of the processed food, so it is also considered as the most sustainable protein ingredients which is favoring its growth in alternate way.Soy Protein Ingredient Restraining FactorsHowever, its anti-nutrients and allergic nature of soy protein ingredients is restraining its growth during the forecast period. Moreover, negative impact of genetically modified (GM) soy coupled with the availability of various alternatives such as milk proteins, pea proteins and other animal proteins are also effecting the growth of soy protein ingredient in the forecast period.Visit For TOC@Soy Protein Ingredient Market: Key PlayersKey international players operating in the soy protein ingredient market are, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) Company, Dean Foods Company, Armor Proteins, Gelita Group, Bunge Alimentos SA, Kerry Ingredients Inc., Burcon NutraScience, Cargill Health & Food Technologies, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Kellogg Company, Doves Farm Foods, Kraft Foods Group Inc., Manildra Group, MGP Ingredients, Omega Protein Corporation, George Weston Foods and others.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.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Research report provides a detailed analysis of the opportunities present the Compressor Rental Market

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Global Compressor Rental Market: OverviewCompressors are devices that convert mechanical energy into pneumatic energy by using compressed air and gas. As this compressed air or gas is released, a considerable amount of energy is trapped, so as to utilize it for a variety of purposes, such as air transfer, cleaning, and pneumatic device activation. As the rate of urbanization and industrial activities increases, the market for compressor rentals will advance rapidly.The report provides key information about the market trends, opportunities, growth drivers and challenges, along with aspects such as market size, supply and demand ratio, and detailed market segmentation. The leading market players are analyzed in terms of their market shares, product portfolios, and business strategies.Request a Brochure of the Report @Global Compressor Rental Market: Drivers and RestraintsWith the development of designs of compressors, more efficiency has been attained so as to meet the demands of various end-users. Some of the compressors being portable, are extensively used in industrial and domestic activities, benefitting the growth of the global compressor rentals market. Technological advancement in the field of compressors is expected to boost the adoption rate of compressors. One example is that of air compressors. Traditional air compressors are run at full speed, and have to be stopped when they reach the right pressure. Then, the compressed air is stored to allow pressure hysteresis. As this is a wasteful practice, technological upgrades in air compressors have been carried out to control speed, thereby saving energy, and contributing toward market growth. Air compressors facilitate transfer of air in several industries such as chemical plants, oil extraction, food and beverage, automobiles, and transport. This is expected to expand the global market for compressor rentals.On the other hand, factors such as high maintenance costs and the contamination of air caused by oil lubrication are expected to limit growth. Also, oil-free compressors can be noisy, and thus can restrict demand for them.Request for TOC of the Report @Global Compressor Rental Market: Key SegmentsThe market can be segmented based on end user, technology, types, and geography. On the basis of their design and function, compressors can be divided into centrifugal compressors and positive displacement compressors. In terms of end user, the market for compressor rentals was dominated by the construction segment. The construction segment gained prominence because the execution of construction and building activities such as blasting, piling, spraying, and operating pneumatic tools require portable air compressors.Oil-free air compressors have been growing popular recently as they supply non-contaminated air. The portable air compressors, on account of the convenience they offer, are high in demand in off-site operations. The key end-user segments for air compressors can be industrial, commercial, and residential. Industrial air compressors are similar to commercial air compressors; only they are more powerful and bigger in size and volume. Commercial level air compressors are not very portable when compared to residential ones, but they are certainly more powerful. They can run for a long time without a refill. On the residential level, air compressors are used to spray paint, fill air in balloons, balls, and tires. These functions are generally conducted with electric air compressors, which are ideal for domestic purposes. As the demand for air compressors in all these sectors increases, the compressor rental market is slated to present significant opportunities.Read Complete Report @Global Compressor Rental Market: Regional OutlookAccording to geography, the key segments can be Asia Pacific, Latin America, North America, Europe, and EMEA. The region of Asia Pacific has been exhibiting substantial growth, thanks to the presence of a number of capital-intensive companies that are inclined towards renting compressors instead of buying them. Large- scale construction projects in the countries of Asia Pacific, such as China, Thailand, and India, will further fuel market growth.Global Compressor Rental Market: Vendor LandscapeSome of the key players operating in the global compressor rental market include Caterpillar Inc., Ingersoll Rand, Atlas Copco, Aggreko plc, and United Rentals, Inc. One key development in the competitive landscape is the launch of new GA VSD+ oil-injected, compact, rotary screw compressors by Atlas Copco in 2013. These air compressors are designed to cut energy consumption to half the amount required by traditional compressors of similar type. The leading companies in the global compressor rental market have been emphasizing on better product offerings through increased investments in R&D activities.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Flavored Milk Market Revenue and Value Chain 2015-2025

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Overview:Flavored milk is a dairy drink produced with milk, sugar, colorings, and additional flavor and sweetener. It offers some vital nutrients such as calcium, potassium, protein, phosphorus, vitamins A, D and B12, niacin and riboflavin. The flavored milk is generally available in different flavors such as strawberry, chocolate and vanilla flavors in fat free and low fat ranges.The Global Flavored Milk industry is at nascent stage as the consumption is still low as compared to other drinks such as carbonated soft drinks. Upbeat consumer perceptions about the various health benefits of milk are creating prospects for flavored drinks consumption across the World. This will escalate the overall flavored milk market globally.Request For Report Sample@Global Flavored Milk Market Segmentation:Global Flavored Milk industry can be divided on the basis of types of ingredients such as calcium propionate, hydrocolloids, natural colors, natural flavors, food and beverage enzymes, food and beverage emulsifiers, food and beverage texturants, food phosphates, high intensity sweeteners, food and beverage preservatives, flavourant, food and beverage stabilizers and systems, food and beverage colorants, food and beverage sugar and its substitutes, and fruit concentrates. The industry can also be segmented on the basis of products such as high pressure processing and sodium reducing agents. Global Flavored Milk Market can also be segregated by types of packaging such as paper-based (cartons), plastic, glass, metal, and others.Global Flavored Milk Region-wise Outlook:Geographically, the Global Flavored Milk industry can be divided by major regions which include North America, Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific region, Japan, Middle East and Africa. Presently, China captured the highest market share in the overall revenue of Global Flavored Milk market, followed by the U.S. and India holding second and third position respectively. In Asia, rising demand for flavored milk over the past few years were highly propelled by China, Indonesia, and India. In the next few years, the demand for flavored milk is anticipated to incline globally especially in Latin America and some regions of Asia.Global Flavored Milk Market Growth Drivers:Rising health consciousness and aspiration for nutritious and healthy food, changing lifestyle along with the change in consumers taste and preferences especially in developing countries are strengthening the growth of Global Flavored Milk industry. Besides this, consumers unscheduled eating habits due to busy working schedule are also fostering the demand for flavored milk in different parts of the world.Visit For TOC@Global Flavored Milk Market: Major Players:Some of the key players identified across the value chain in the Global Flavored Milk market includes Danone (France) and Kraft Foods Group (U.S.A.). These two companies have captured the major chunk in the Global Flavored Milk Industry. Besides this, there are other major players dominating in this industry such as Yili Industrial Group Company Limited (China), China Mengniu Dairy Company Limited, (Amul) Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (India), Mother Dairy Fruit and Vegetable Private Limited (India).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.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Hydro-processing Catalysts Market Industry Analysis, Trend and Growth, 2014-2020

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In last two decades, the business of refining catalyst has grown from regional to global level. Refinery product values are dependent on process catalysts of refined products, petrochemical products and chemicals alongwith other refinery operations. One of the major concerns in the refinery is to reduce the sulphur content to the required limit. Hydro-processing catalysts (HPC) are primarily consumed in the hydro-processing operation of crude oil fractions. Such crude oil fractions include kerosene, naphtha and diesel. As a common practice, hydro-processing of crude oil fractionsis carried out at an elevated temperature and pressure.Hydro-processing is required to remove pollutants such as sulphur, heavy metals and nitrogen from fuel oils. These catalysts also help in the catalytic hydrocracking process to crack larger hydrocarbon molecules into smaller sizes,to be used as fuel oils. Thus, hydro-processing catalysts enable conversion of heavy feedstock into lighter products for efficient processing. Hydro-processing catalysts market is the fastest growing refinery catalysts market segment in the world. In addition, hydro-processing catalysts supplement the process control and operational efficiency improvement activities. Therefore, it is expected that the hydro-processing catalyst market will dominate the global refinery catalyst market by 2020.The global hydro-processing catalysts market can be categorized on the basis of its product type as molybdenum oxides, cobalt oxides, nickel oxidesand tungsten oxides. These metal oxides are carried on a carrier or matrix of silica, alumina and silica/alumina. Further, global hydro-processing catalysts market can also be categorized on the basis of their applications such as creating cleaner fuels, ultra-low sulphur levels in diesel fuels (ULSD) and others. On the basis of technology, global hydro-processing catalysts market can be segmented as hydro-treating catalysts, hydrogenation catalysts, hydrocracking catalysts, isomerisation catalyst and reforming catalyst. Among these, hydro-treating catalysts are dominant segment at present,accounting for more than half of the global hydro-processing catalysts market.Request For Report Sample@Refiners are more focusing to maximize residue feedstock yield through hydro-processing catalysts as petroleum product prices are rising globally. This is one of the key supply side drivers of the global hydro-processing catalysts market. Moreover, stringent environmental regulations and legislations are expanding, which, in turn, affects the heaviercrude processing and sulphur elimination process market.Enhanced refinery capacities coupled with the rising oil production are driving the growth of global hydro-processing catalysts market.Environmental fuel specifications regulations introduced by Europe, the U.S.and few Asia Pacific countries have been driving the global hydro-processing catalysts market.Further, developed countries have mandate to reduce sulphur content whereassulphur restrictions are implemented in the developing countries such as India, China and Mexico. As hydro-processing catalysts are advantageous to reduce sulphur content, these countries are likely to open up opportunities for hydro-processing catalysts market.Due to presence of giant oil and gas chemical manufacturers in the refinery catalyst market; the market competition is quite high. Expansion of production facilities in oil producing fields along with the strategic alliances are few of the major market strategies in the global hydro-processing catalysts market.Request For TOC@Some of the major market participants of global hydro-processing catalysts market include HaldorTopse, W. R. Grace and Company, Albemarle Corporation, Axens, UOP- Honeywell International Inc., Chevron Corporation, Royal Dutch Shell plc, BASF SE, Criterion Catalysts & Technologies, Criterion catalysts & Technologies and others. Among these, BASF has increased its R&D efforts since it acquired Engelhard. Further, BASF SE has come up with new developments in the processing of residue to increase the quality of yield.W.R. Grace and Companyhas introduced new products inthe hydro-processing catalysts market in the past five years. Thus, it is clear that global hydro-processing catalysts market participants are focused to expand their business through innovative product launches with specific market application. These innovative products include catalyst to eliminate sulphur content upto mandate limits. The worldwide hydro-processing catalysts market stands ready to meet the challenges, where energy costs significantlyfluctuate. However,fluctuating raw material prices, price spike, price collapse along with the governments enact legislation for certain related products or technologies, the demand of hydro-processing catalyst market are expected to undergo fluctuation.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.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Skin Lightening Products Market Segments and Key Trends 2015-2025

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Skin lightening products help reduce the pigmentation of the skin and also hiding scars, acne, discoloration, age spots, and pimples. It increases the persons confidence and boost self-esteem by hiding their imperfection. They can hide their wrinkles, spots on the face by using skin lightening products. It can also make the person look more attractive and alluring.Melanin is a pigment which is responsible for our skin colour. It is produced by melanocytes, which are specialized cells. People with light skin have less melanin and people with dark skin have more melanin. Melanin quantity in ones body depends on a genetic makeup. Skin lightening products help in reducing this pigment on the skin. It equals the skin tone so that the skin looks radiant, brighter, smoother and glowing. The potential of this product is increasing due to challenging lifestyle of consumers.Request For Report Sample@Skin Lightening Products Market: Drivers & RestraintsSkin lightening products arent famous or limited to women, but also among men too. Personal grooming is gaining a lot of popularity and men arent ashamed to be called as Metrosexuals. The desire to look fair and have even skin toned are the most important driving factors for skin lightening products. Theres a sea change in consumer habits and companies are emphasizing more on social media and digital advertising to lure consumers. Increasing demand from emerging nations like Africa and India is most of skin lightening products.Though skin lightening products are desired and are lot in demand, but it has a lot of constraints too, which sometimes compels us not to use it because of its hazardous after effects. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), skin bleaching products can cause blood cancer such as leukemia, liver and kidney cancer and could also result in severe skin conditions. They have also reported that few companies use harmful toxins illegally such as mercury, metal that blocks the properties of melanin. Perhaps they are catering to the demand of consumers, but with a lot of risk.Skin Lightening Products Market: SegmentationSkin Lightening products are broadly classified on the basis of the following segments -By Product types:OrganicNaturalConventionalBy Sales Channel Type:RetailersWholesalerOnline PurchaseOthersSkin Lightening Products Market: OverviewThe skin lightening products market has grown substantially at a healthy CAGR due to increase per capita spending on beauty and wellness products, rising standard of living, strong desire among men and women to look fair. With rapid technological advancement and variety of options available in the market, skin lightening products market is expected to grow. Japan represents the largest market for this product category. Asia Pacific will emerge as the fastest growing region for skin lightening products.Skin Lightening Products Market: Region-wise OutlookThe skin lightening market is expected to register a double-digit CAGR for the forecast period. Depending on geographic regions, the skin lightening market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. As of 2015, Asia Pacific dominated the global skin lightening products market in terms of market revenue. China and India are the fastest growing market. Theres a robust demand from the Middle East for skin lightening products. The skin lightening products market is small in Europe as compared to Japan and other Asian countries.Visit For TOC@Skin Lightening Products Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market players in skin lightening products market are Clarins SA, E.T. Browne Drug Company, CavinKare Pvt Ltd, Shiseido Company Limited, Beiersdorf AG, The Procter & Gamble Company.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.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Market size and forecast, 2014-2020

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Polyvinyl Chloride generally known as PVC is a polymer which is widely produced after polyethylene and polypropylene. It is said to be the third largest most widely produced polymer. PVC is preferred against traditional materials that include iron, copper or wood in a number of profile applications due to its operational efficiencies and benefits. Pure polyvinyl chloride is a brittle solid white in color and slightly soluble in tetrahydrofuran whereas insoluble in alcohol. It can be made flexible and soft by adding plasticizers and phthalates. In flexible and soft form, PVC is used in electrical cable insulation, plumbing and inflatable products and some applications which can replace rubber. PVC has high mechanical and hardness properties, which enhance along with molecular weight and gradually decrease with rising or increasing temperature. PVC decomposes at high temperature as its heat stability is very poor. It has good insulation properties but owing to its high polar nature, its electrical insulation property is less significant to non-polymers that include polypropylene and polyethylene.Polyvinyl Chloride can be produced from a wide range of hydrocarbons such as derivatives of plants including sugarcane and coal. Currently, PVC is produced from ethylene, which is a product of oil and gas industry. It is therefore known as a petrochemical product. Polyvinyl Chloride has a wide range of applications, which include electric cables, pipes, unplastisized polyvinyl chloride for construction, furniture and clothing, healthcare and plasticizers among others. It exists in a wide range of consumer products that include bottles, credit cards, cling films and packaging among others and construction materials such as window frames, pipes, cables, flooring and wallpaper among a range of products.Request For Report Sample@The PVC production costs are based on types of production expenses that include raw materials such as chlorine, ethylene and acetylene. In Asia Pacific, the PVC costs are highly influenced by PVC prices in China, hence, in addition to ethylene prices; acetylene is widely used in the production of PVC and therefore has growing importance in this region.The construction industry is the major driver of global PVC market owing to a wide range of applications in the household, commercial and industrial sectors. Due to improving infrastructure and housing conditions in the developing economies are expected to maintain the demand for PVC. Long-term demand for PVC depends on the renaissance of the construction markets in the urbanized economies.The key segments for PVC market include the North America, Asia Pacific, Europe and Rest of the World (RoW). The demand for PVC remains moderate in Europe due to debt crisis along with depressed business climate and due to slow monetary recovery. Owing to huge manufacturing facilities in China, Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest and largest growing market for PVC. The collapse of the building and construction industry in North America was the major reason for stagnant demand for PVC in this region. In addition, sluggish growth in construction industry in the large economies such as Italy, Germany and U.K. lead to stagnant demand in Europe.Request For TOC@The major companies profiled in the PVC market are: Aiscondel, Arkema, Chemplast Sanmar Limited, Chemson Group, Formosa Plastics Corporation, INEOS Group Ltd, LG Chem, Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Occidental Chemical Corporation, Solvay, Vinnolit GmbH & Co. KG, PolyOne Corporation and Georgia Gulf Corp among others.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.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Music Market and Streaming Services Market Growth, Trends and Value Chain 2015-2025 by FMI

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Global Music market and streaming services are becoming more dynamic owing to increased inclination of consumers towards such services. The increasing up-gradation in the technology is anticipated to increase the demand of music streaming among the smartphone users over the forecasted period. Music market and streaming services market is expected to show significant growth due to the streaming of songs through audio and video platforms. However, market of physical album is expected to decline relatively. Global music market is consolidated market with various companies undergoing mergers and acquisitions, partnerships and strategic alliances in order to increase their market share.Music Market and Streaming Services SegmentationGlobal music market is segmented into digital downloads, physical, streaming, synchronization and ringtones. Digital download is the largest market segment in terms of revenue, followed by the streaming. Furthermore, streaming services are segmented into sound exchange distributions, on demand ad-supporting services and subscription services. Music market and streaming services are further segmented on the basis of region as North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East and Africa. In North America, U.S contributes the maximum revenue in terms of revenue contribution, Also, European region is expected to reflect a significant growth during the forecast period. However the global music market is expected to lose significant portion of its revenue due to the piracy in the near future. Accordingly government across various countries have taken several initiatives to curb piracy. For instance, U.S. possess copyright alert systems that keep check on piracy. In Europe service providers have blocked the access to the pirate bay.Request For Report Sample@Music Market and Streaming Services: Region-wise OutlookMusic market and streaming services market is expected to show tremendous growth in the coming years due to the rising number of high net worth individuals coupled with increasing number of consumers upgrading to smartphones. . Globally among all the regions, North America is expected to contribute the largest market share followed by European region in the forecast period. US is expected to be the dominant market for the music market and streaming services in the North American region. However, European region is expected to be the fastest growing market followed by Asia Pacific.Music market and streaming services: DriversIncreasing number of internet enabled mobile devices such as iPhone drives the growth of music market and streaming services. Rising disposable income leading to increasing purchase of smart phones and other devices, which offer specification support to music and streaming services are expected to fuel the music market and streaming services market growth. Other factors that fuel the growth of music market specifically includes increasing usage of subscription and streaming services by the consumers. Subscription streaming is the key driver for the streaming services market. In music streaming market there is increasing adoption of cloud services as it provides consumers to access music online and presently it is also being increasingly adopted by the various companies to increase the subscribed users to access the digital content stored in remote serversVisit For TOC@Music Market and Streaming Services: Key PlayersThe key international players operating in Music market and streaming services includes Google Inc., Rhapsody International Inc. Apple Inc., Pandora Media Inc. Various companies operating in streaming services market are continuously launching various music streaming servicesABOUT 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.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Nanomaterials Market Forecast By End-use Industry 2015-2025

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The science of nanomaterials has created a lot of expectation amongst various end user industries. With the increasing applications of nanomaterials, the demand for it is increasing at an increasing rate and is becoming a part of daily lives. Nanomaterials are important product under the nanotechnology. They embrace nanoparticles, smaller than 100 nanometres in at least one dimension. Nanomaterials are widely used in healthcare, electronics, cosmetics and other areas nowadays. Continuous improvement and innovation in the field is driving the growth of the global nanomaterials market.The extraordinary physical and chemicals properties of materials at the nanometre scale enable novel applications ranging from energy conservation and structural strength enhancement to antimicrobial properties and self-cleaning surfaces. The nanotechnology is being increasingly modernised by expending largely on R&D activities which is resulting in the advancement of existing technologies and innovations with reference to the new materials.Request For Report Sample@Energy storage and construction market is providing a huge growth potential to these materials and driving the overall market for nanomaterials. The increasing electronics market is also providing opportunities to the global nanomaterials market due to the falling prices and improving materials property and efficiency.NanomaterialsMarket: Drivers & RestraintsThe market penetration of the already existing materials and ongoing development of new materials and applications is driving the global nanomaterials market. The unabated market for nanomaterials is being strongly supported by the governmental funding to support the potential growth. The increasing availability of several methods in the field of nanotechnology and new novel methods for fabricating the patterned nanostructures is offering opportunity for better modeling. Some of the other drivers for the growth of global nanomaterials market is partnerships & strategic alliances, increasing number of market players and newer material developments. One of the major factor restraining the growth of global nanomaterials market implies to the growing concerns over environmental impact and toxicity of nanomaterials.NanomaterialsMarket: SegmentationOn the basis of material type, the global nanomaterials market is segmented as follows:Metal Oxide (Silica, Aluminium Oxide/Hydroxide, Titanium Dioxide, Zinc Oxide, Iron Oxide, Other Metal Oxides)MetalsChemicals and Polymers (Nanopharmaceuticals, Liposomes, Other Chemicals & Polymers)NanotubesOthers (Conventional Materials and New Materials)On the basis of applications the global nanomaterials market is segmented as follows:ConstructionPackagingConsumer GoodsElectrical and ElectronicsEnergyHealth CareTransportationOthers.Nanomaterials Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global nanomaterials market is expected to register a favourable growth for the forecast period, 2015?2025. North America and Europe are the two prominent regions that are projected to endure the control on the global nanomaterials market. Decreasing prices due to the increasing mass production is responsible for the robust growth of the above mentioned markets. The demand for nanomaterials is also surging across Asian regions. The Asia-Pacific region is projected to witness remarkable growth rate owning to the greater demand of nanomaterials in the developing regions like India and China and their continuous research and developmental activities.Visit For TOC@Nanomaterials: Key PlayersThere are a lot of players in the nanomaterials industry of which some of the key market participants in global nanomaterials market are BASF, EMFUTUR Technologies, Evonik Industries, Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC, Bayer AG, SkySpring Nanomaterials, Altair Nanotechnologies Inc., and Nanomaterials Company and others.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 trends616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Takaful Market - Global Industry Forecast to 2019

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Takaful is a Sharia-compliant insurance product based on the religious Islamic principles of mutual assistance. Policyholders contribute a sum of money to a common pool of funds managed by a takaful management company, which is then used to pay for claims made by the policyholders. The surplus amount is used for making Islamic investments, which earns higher profits for the policyholders. At the end of the takaful term, the excess amount is returned to the policyholders, along with the profits earned through the Islamic investments.Request for sample copy of this report @The concept of takaful is based on the following:Mutual guarantee: The objective of takaful is to agree and contribute funds to a common pool of funds that will take care of a defined set of loss, which is recovered from the pool of funds, and the surplus funds are distributed among the policyholdersOwnership of funds: All the policyholders who contribute toward takaful funds are the owners of the pool of funds. They are the ones who receive the funds in the event of loss, and they also receive the surplus funds at the end of each yearInvestment parameter: The only parameter that matters to an investor here is the compliance of the product with Sharia principles, which prohibits interestManagement: Takaful products are offered and managed by takaful operators or insurance companiesResearch analysts forecast the global takaful market to grow at a CAGR of 18.64% over the period 2014-2019.Covered in this reportThe report covers the current scenario and the growth prospects of the global takaful market for the period of 2015-2019. The two major products in the global takaful market include: life/ family takaful General takafulRead more details of the report @To calculate the market size, the report considers the total value of takaful considerations or funds collected by policyholders toward life/ family takaful and general takaful.Research report, Global Takaful Market 2015-2019, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers APAC, GCC, and ROW; it also covers the landscape of the global takaful market and its growth prospects in the coming years. The report includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key regions APAC GCC ROWKey vendors Dubai Islamic Bank Kuwait Finance House Malayan Banking BerhadOther prominent vendors Bank Mandiri HSBC Amanah Takaful PT. Asuransi Jiwa BRINGIN JIWA SEJAHTERAKey market driver Rapid economic growth in emerging countries For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey market challenge Development of human resource personnel For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey market trend Growing geographic expansion For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this report What will the market size be in 2019 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?Enquire more about this report @Companies Mentioned:Kuwait Finance House, Dubai Islamic Bank, Malayan Banking Berhad, Bank Mandiri, HSBC Amanah Takaful, PT. Asuransi Jiwa BRINGIN JIWA SEJAHTERA.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.Hector CostelloSenior Manager  Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas  75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +9164101019Follow Us on LinkedIn:Follow us on Twitter:Like us on Facebook:
FOREST CITY | Winnebago Industries has made reductions at its recreational vehicle plant in Forest City, employees said.

Two employees told the Globe Gazette Thursday afternoon they had been informed of layoffs and reduced hours at the plant.

They did not know how many employees were affected.

Company spokesman Sam Jefson did not return four phone messages left Thursday afternoon on his cell phone and office line seeking comment.

Forest City Mayor Barney Ruiter and City Economic Development Director Beth Bilyeu were unable to confirm the reports Thursday afternoon.

Residents in North Iowa and Forest City in particular have voiced concerns in recent months about the recreational vehicle manufacturers future since new CEO Michael Happe was hired on Dec. 21, 2015.

Happe chose to continue living in the Twin Cities, instead of relocating to Forest City, prompting concerns about his vision for Winnebago going forward and how Forest City fit into those plans.

A press release sent out after Happes hiring said the company would expand its corporate footprint in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area but the expansion would not have a significant impact on the companys corporate headquarters in Forest City.

Like other manufacturers in the region, Winnebago has struggled to hire and maintain its workforce in North Iowa.
Electric Vehicle Market Production, Share, Demand, Applications and Opportunities Market Research Report 2027

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Market ScenarioThe major growth driver of Electric Vehicle Market includes growing integration of electric vehicles within the product portfolio of OEMs, collaboration of e-mobility value chain, growing infrastructure, and innovative government regulations and subsidies among others. However, high cost of electric vehicle and high charging time of vehicle are the factors which are hindering the growth of Electric Vehicle Market.SegmentsSegmentation by Type: HEVs (Hybrid Electric vehicle), BEVs (Battery electric vehicle) PHEVs (Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles)Segmentation by Components: Batteries, Sub-assemblies, Automotive parts among others.Segmentation by Manufacturing Process: Raw materials, Design, Assembly, Quality control.Request a Sample Copy @Key Players Nissan motors (Japan), Tesla Corporation (U.S.), General motors (U.S.), Mitsubishi Motors (Japan), Volkswagen (Germany), Daimler AG (Germany), Smith electric Vehicle (U.S.), Bosch GmbH (Germany), Delphi Automotive plc.(U.K.) among othersTaste the market data and market information presented through more than 50 market data tables and figures spread in 110 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Electric Vehicle Market Research Report- Global Forecast to 2027Industry News: Growing sales of electric vehicles is developing demand for Cobalt metal which is a key component of Lithium-ion batteries. Recently in 2016, Nissan announced to expand its free charge promotional activities to compete with Tesla and other automotive competitors. Samsung SDI and LG Chem Ltd. Got failed in getting battery certifications from China. They are going to resubmit the application for certification in end of year 2016. Volkswagen is planning to launch 30 new electric models by 2025 to reposition itself as a leader in green transport.Objective of Electric Vehicle Market Study: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 10 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the global Electric Vehicle Market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To Analyze the Electric Vehicle Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW). To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by type, applications and sub-segments. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the marketRequest a TOC, Tables, and Figure @Reasons to Purchase this report:From an insight perspective, this research report has focused on various levels of analysesindustry analysis (industry trends), market share analysis of top players, supply chain analysis, and company profiles, which together comprise and discuss the basic views on the competitive landscape, emerging and high-growth segments of the Electric Vehicle Market, high-growth regions, and market drivers, restraints, and opportunitiesKey questions answered in this report What will the market size be in 2027 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?Related ReportVirtual Reality Market Research Report- Forecast to 2027The market for Virtual Reality Market is expected to grow at XX% CAGR (2016-2027).Know more about this report @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Wood Pellet Market Volume Forecast and Value Chain Analysis 2015-2025

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In order to meet the increasing demand for energy and fossil fuels alternative along with intensifying concerns for greenhouse gas (GHG), the demand for global wood pellet market is rapidly escalating. Wood pellet is a solid fuel that is produced by compressing biomass or organic matter. Usually, it is made from waste timber like sawdust, residues of forest and various industrial by products. Its length is 1-2 cm and generally the diameter is 6, 8, 10, or 12mm. At greatest, it is possible to produce 25mm wood pellet. Being extremely thick, it is produced at low moisture, which allows them to burn with high combustion efficiency. Over the other types of solid biomass available, feasibility in transportation, storability and high energy density, among many others are the advantages of using wood pellet and so, it is used as fuels for residential & commercial heating, cooking and generating power.Wood Pellet Market: Drivers & RestraintsIncreasing consumption of wood pellets and the policy support for heating/CHP application (either large scale or small scale plant) is the main driver for the wood pellet market. The increasing (heating) oil prices, carbon dioxide price, concerns over climatic change, demand for large scale electricity production gives the potential scope for the growth of wood pellet market. However, the fluctuation in feedstock prices and limitation of the availability of woody biomass are the major constraints for the wood pellet market. Other factors hindering the growth of wood pellet market are logistical barriers for the transportation, competition with natural gas, coal and other fossil fuels and fulfilling technical quality standards.Request For Report Sample@Wood Pellet Market: SegmentationOn the basis of the feedstock, the global wood pellet market can be segmented into Forest and wood waste resources, Agricultural residues & waste and Energy crops. On the basis of types of pellet heating appliances, it is segmented into free standing pellet stoves, pellet stove inserts and pellet boilers.On the basis of application, the global wood pellet market is segmented intoIndustrial pellet for CHP/district heatingIndustrial pellet for co-firingPellet for heating residential/commercialOthersThe wood pellet market can also be segmented on the basis of density variance which is different for different brand as well as bags in which they are packed.Wood Pellet Market: Region-wise OutlookGlobal wood pellet market is foreseen to witness the highest growth in Europe, currently accounting for almost 80% of global consumption, followed by U.S. and South Korea. The export of wood pellet are mainly done by Russia, U.S. and Canada. South America, South Africa and Australia are the emerging regions for becoming the potential exporters of the wood pellet market. As per our in-depth analysis by 2020, the annual demand for woody biomass would rise to 305 million tons. Owing to this, the demand for global wood pellet market is anticipated to reach double digit million tons during the forecast period.Request For TOC@Wood Pellet Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players of the global wood pellet market are Corinth Wood Pellets, New England Wood Pellets, Energex, OUOsulaGraanul, the subsidiary of AS Graanul Invest, Natures Flame, Green Circle Cottondale, Weyerhaeuser, Mitsubishi Corporation and many others.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.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Tequila Market Size and Share by 2026 : PMR

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Alcoholic drinks have been associated with human being from an old time. From medieval period human has been making constant effort to make such drinks from various fruits and natural fermentation process across globes be it Greeks or the Turks all have mastered their own art of making such drinks. Tequila is also a discovery of such an effort from a much lesser known civilization from South America continent. It was initially fermented as a prized drink by an Aztec civilization in lowlands of Mexico. It is made with the sap of agave plant, which is found mostly only in dry arid lands of Mexico. The drink consist of 50%-70% of alcohol. The demand for tequila has grown amongst consumers, which will fuel the growth of tequila market and over the forecast period, tequila market will gain significant CAGR.Cocktail culture has gain momentum across various societies. Improvement in economic condition of individuals has been a driving force for the cocktail culture. The demand for tequila in cocktails is not confine to bars and restaurants; it has also gained spaces in parties organized at homes. It can also be observed that a market shift, especially in the younger population, from binge drinking to more sophisticated drinking such as tequila. Moreover, in 21st century with change in outlook and more broadness in human way of thinking, drinking of tequila has been irrespective of any sex. In country such as U.S., there has been increase in demand of handcrafted tequila. As per data provided by Distilled Spirits Councils Economic & Strategic Analysis Department tequila consumption volume raised from 7 million 9 liters cases in 2003 to 15 million 9 liters cases in 2015. Economic improvement of individuals, improvement in infrastructure of places across countries are also few of the possible drivers, which is contributing towards tequila market growth.Request to view table of content @Decrease in agave plant cultivation, conflicts in Mexico, rise in fuel and energy prices are few restraints which can deter the growth of tequila market globaly.Based on purity, Tequila market is segmented into:100% Tequila60% TequilaBased on the product type, Tequila market is segmented into:BlancoJovenMixto GoldReposadoAnejoExtra AnejoBased on distribution channel, Tequila market is segmented into:B2BB2CE-CommerceBased on the geographies, the global vinyl acetate market is fragmented into seven key regions -- North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific except Japan, Japan, and the Middle East & Africa. Among the aforementioned regions, North America accounts for a significant share of global Tequila market, owing to relatively high consumption of tequila among the masses. Business sectors such as restaurants, bars and pubs are growing significantly in North America, which are potential driver of tequila market. Western Europe is followed by North America region in the global tequila market, owing to the substantial growth in consumption of tequila in the region. The Asia-Pacific except Japan region accounts for significantly high volume share in the global tequila market owing to change in consumer behavior. Eastern Europe and Japan also accounts for significant value share in the tequila market over the forecast period, in past few years people in these regions are preferring tequila over other alcoholic drinks due to prevalence of perception that tequila is much more sophisticated and less of harmful compared to other drinks. In MEA due to prevalence of Islamic culture mostly, drinking of alcoholic beverages is limited, therefore the growth of tequila market is not so optimistic. In Latin America, tequila market has been quite healthy. Since, Mexico is the origin of excellent and authentic tequila, most Latin countries are more likely to have affinity for tequila compared to other nations. The market is significantly growing in Latin America.A sample of this report is available upon request @The major players identified in the global tequila market includes:Jose CuervoDon JulioCasa CorralejoTequila512AmbharDos LunasEl GradoAbout 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.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Hydrogen Electrolyzer Market to Register a Strong Growth by 2026

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Global Hydrogen Electrolyzer Market: IntroductionHydrogen, used across various industrial applications such as chemicals, electronics, glass, etc., is produced both as a principal product and a by-product. More than 90% of total hydrogen demand across the globe depends upon fossil fuel based resources. Only a small fraction of this demand is met by hydrogen produced by water electrolysis. Different kind of electrolyzers such as alkaline electrolyzer, polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzer, solid oxide electrolyzer etc. are available in the market, which differ in processing methods and operational efficiency. Hydrogen electrolyzer disintegrates water into oxygen and hydrogen gases by passage of electric current. In order to meet optimum volume demand for different applications, these electrolyzers are available in varying capacities with hydrogen generation ranging from small scale production (100 liter/h) to large scale production (1000 liter/h).Sample of this report is available upon request @Considered as a green fuel of the future, governments across the globe are highly focused on creating a sustainable hydrogen economy, for which electrolyzers are expected to play a significant role over the coming years. Besides, hydrogen electrolyzers are also anticipated to gain popularity in small scale industrial applications with more end-users favoring for on-site hydrogen generation in industries such as food & beverages, metal production and fabrication, electronics, and others.Global Hydrogen Electrolyzer Market DynamicsGovernment regulations and public-private partnerships for promoting the use of hydrogen as an automotive fuel and energy carrier are expected to emerge as the most significant growth driver for electrolyzers market over the forecast period. Moreover, in geographies where transportation of hydrogen from long distances is either not cost effective or generation cost from natural gas is comparatively higher, end-users are preferring small scale electrolyzers for on-site generation.Although, technological advancements in hydrogen electrolyzers are bringing the overall hydrogen production cost down, still there is a long way to go to make electrolysis as cost efficient as other conventional methods of production i.e. steam methane reforming, etc. Ongoing process level developments for increasing overall electrolyzer efficiency, such as advancements in catalyst & membrane effectiveness, are expected to make the process of electrolysis more cost effective over the coming decade. Further, development of efficient hydrogen storage system and high-pressure electrolyzers are expected to provide significant growth opportunities in the global hydrogen electrolyzer market over the forecast period of 2016-2026.The key trends involved in the global hydrogen electrolyzer market include a use of renewable energy resources such as wind & solar coupled with electrolyzer system for hydrogen production and, in turn, for electricity generation.Global Hydrogen Electrolyzer Market SegmentationGlobal hydrogen electrolyzer market is segmented on the basis of type, end-user, and regions.On the basis of type, global hydrogen electrolyzer market is segmented into Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) Electrolyzer Alkaline Water Electrolyzer Solid Oxide ElectrolyzerOn the basis of end-user, global hydrogen electrolyzer market is segmented into Chemicals Automobile Energy Food and beverages Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Electronics Glass Metal production and FabricationGlobal Hydrogen Electrolyzer Market: Regional OutlookNorth America and Western Europe are expected to hold significant shares in the global hydrogen electrolyzer market. The market in Asia-Pacific is still in its nascent phase in terms of an untapped opportunity it holds, however, over the forecast period, a market in Asia-pacific is expected to create significant growth opportunities owing to increasing use of hydrogen across various end-use industries such as glass, electronics, welding & metal fabrication etc.Global Hydrogen Electrolyzer Market: Key PlayersKey players involved in the value chain of global hydrogen electrolyzer market includes Itm-power, Ballard Power Systems, Plug Power, Proton Power Control Pvt Ltd., Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies worldwide Inc., HyperSolar - Technology, Kingkar technologies, Acta S.p.A and others. Companies are largely focused on research and development to reduce overvoltage of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in electrolyzers in order to make the process more cost efficient.TOC of this report is available upon request @The report covers exhaustive analysis on: Market Segments Market Dynamics Market Size Current Trends/Issues/Challenges Key playersRegional analysis includes: North America Latin America Asia Pacific excluding Japan Japan Western Europe Eastern Europe Middle East & AfricaReport highlights: A brief introduction of global market of hydrogen electrolyzer. Market trends In-depth market segmentation Recent industry trends and developments Strategies of key players and products offered Potential and niche segments, geographical regions exhibiting promising growthAbout UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Combined Heat And Power Systems Market Would Register a Healthy Growth Rate During the Forecast 2026

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Cogeneration (also known as combined heat and power systems (CHP)) is a cluster of technologies primarily used for the concurrent generation of electricity and useful heat. This combined generation of heat and electricity is much more effective than separate generation of electricity and useful heat in a way that CHP systems offers improved energy efficiency, reduced managing cost, low CO2 emission and others. Growing data center capacity as business operate more processes, handle complex analytics with increasing storage requirements for customer data and employing rich media. Handling of such large data requires continuous supply of reliable power making cogeneration systems of primary importance. Efficiency level for cogeneration systems can reach up to 80 % against separate generation of heat and electricity which provides combined efficiency of 40-50 %. CHP systems for data centers are gaining traction in the market as using such plants as source of data center power leads to energy efficient and substantial cost reduction benefits. However, another technology commercially available for powering data centers includes fuel cells. Although CHP systems are less efficient than fuel cells but requires lesser fuel to generate the same amount of power and has a win when its ability to supply chilled water is factored. Some of the major benefits offered utilizing CHP systems for data centers are limited reliance over external power supply, increased energy efficiency, low site carbon emission and others.Sample of this report is available upon request @Global CHP System market for Data Centre: Market DynamicsRegions with high electricity cost are readily adopting CHP systems primarily to save on their energy cost to provide base load power and using such systems to provide absorption cooling for the facility. Moreover, government initiatives to install CHP systems in data center facilities due to low CO2 emissions is also expected to increase its adoption rate thereby increasing the adoption of CHP system in data centers.Low economic life of data center IT equipment results in consumer reluctance towards adoption of CHP systems for data centers since these systems have equipment life of around 10-15 years in comparison to economic life of IT equipment which is only 2-3 years.Global CHP System market for Data Centre: SegmentationThe global CHP system market for data center can be segmented on the basis of data center types, facility size, installation type and region. By Data center types the market can be segmented into Telecoms, ISPs (internet Service Provider), CoLos (Co-located server hosting facilities), server farms, corporate data centers, university/ national laboratory and others. Based on facility the market can be segmented into less than 200 sq.ft, 200-700 sq.ft, 700-1,200 sq.ft, 1,200-6,000 sq.ft and more than 6,000 sq.ft. Based on installation type global cogeneration systems market for data center can be segmented into newly installed systems and retrofit systems. By region global CHP system market for data centers can be segmented into seven key regions namely North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Middle East and Africa and Japan.TOC of this report is available upon request @Global CHP System market for Data Centre: Key PlayersSome of the major players identified across CHP system market for data center includes ENER-G, Korea Electric Power Corporation, National Grid plc, Exelon Corporation, NextEra Energy, Inc., Chubu Electric Power Company, American Electric Power Company, Inc. and others.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
FMI Releases New Report on the Fruit Snacks Market 2015-2025

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Fruit snacks is the type of processed food eaten as a snack in various countries. Fruit snacks includes various types of candies that are usually high in sugar content and includes apple and grape juice. Fruit snacks market is increasing drastically especially among kids due to the health benefits associated with the consumption of fruit snacks. Fruit snacks imparts high nutritional value to the consumers especially kids.Fruit Snacks Market SegmentationGlobal fruit snacks market is segmented on the basis of application, distribution channel and region. Based on the application fruit snacks market segmentation includes beverages, dairy, sweets and savoury and others. Among all the segments of the fruit snacks market sweet and savoury is expected to be the dominating segment over forecast period ,followed by other fruit snacks segments owing to the high preference of consumers for the processed food that are rich in nutritional content in comparison to other regular processed food. However, dairy segment of the fruit snacks market is anticipated to witness significant growth in comparison to other segments of the fruit snacks market over the forecast period. On the basis of distribution channel fruit snacks market is segmented into supermarkets, convenience stores, general stores, online and others. Among all the segments of fruit snacks market general store is expected to be the dominating segment, followed by other segments over the forthcoming years. However, online distribution channel for the fruit snacks market is expected to experience noticeable growth in the coming four to five years. Global fruit snacks market is segmented on the basis of region into North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Middle East and Africa and Japan.Request Report Sample@Fruit Snacks Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global fruit snacks market is expected to witness robust growth over the forecast period due the high nutritional content present in the fruits added to the various products. Globally, among all regions, North America is expected to be the dominating segment in terms of revenue contribution ,followed by other regions especially Europe during the forecast period. In North America, U.S. is the most dominant country that contributes the maximum market share to the overall fruit snacks market in North America. However other regions especially Asia Pacific is expected to show fast growth owing to rising disposable income of the consumers in the developing regions coupled with health awareness among consumers related to the consumption of the food rich in nutritional content.Fruit Snacks Market: DriversMajor factors that fuel the growth of fruit snacks market includes the health benefits related to the consumption of the snacks rich in fruit content and rising consumer awareness related to the consumption of fruit based products such as snacks. Other factor that is expected to boost the growth of the fruit snacks market is the rising disposable income among consumers in the developing region such as India. Major restraint that hinders the growth of fruit snacks market is the increasing perception among consumers related to the harmful effects of the consumption of various processed food.Visit For TOC@Fruit Snacks Market: Key PlayersMajor companies operating in fruit snacks market are Welch Foods Inc., General Mills Inc., SunOpta, Kellogg Co., Sunkist Growers, Inc., Crunchies Food Company. Companies operating in the fruit snacks market are promoting product innovation by investing huge amount in the product development activities in order to cater the demand of the existing and also potential customers. For instance company such as SunOpta are investing huge amount for launching new products in order to increase its market presence and also grab the potential untapped marketABOUT 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: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Global Permeate Market Set for Rapid Growth And Trend, by 2025

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Permeate is a dairy ingredient rich in lactose content which is produced after the removal of protein and other ingredients from milk or whey. Whey and milk permeates are used in various food application to enhance the salty flavor. Permeate is considered as the cost effective alternative to the other expensive ingredients used to add salty flavor to the food products. Owing to the rising demand of consumers for low sodium products, which results to the increasing use of permeate in various applications including bakery, prepared meals, soup and others. Moreover, high lactose in permeate results in brown appearance and caramelized aroma in baked products. Whey permeate is formed as a co-product of whey protein concentrate and whey protein isolate. However, milk permeate is a formed as the co-product of milk protein isolate and milk protein concentrate. Permeate is used as an alternative to ingredients such as whole milk powder and skim milk. Overall dairy industry is much consolidated market with various small players operating in it. Permeate market is expected to contribute significant growth in the next four to five years due to the evolving needs related to the milk coupled with the rising population in the forthcoming years.Permeate Market SegmentationGlobal permeate market is segmented on the basis of product type, application and region. Based on the product type global permeate segmentation includes whey and milk. Of which, whey permeate is expected to be the dominating segment over forecast period ,followed by the milk permeate segment due the various benefits associated with it such as it is less sweet than sucrose, absorbs synthetic and natural pigments, absorbs volatile flavor compounds and comparatively more moisture resistant. On the basis of application permeate market is segmented into, soups and sauces, dairy foods, beverages and meat. Among all the segments of permeate market dairy food is the leading segment, followed by other segments over the forecast period. Permeate market is expanding especially in Asia Pacific due to the rising awareness among consumers regarding the health benefits associated with the consumption of dairy products which includes high protein content coupled with increasing number of upper middle class population in the Asia Pacific region. Global permeate market is segmented on the basis of region into North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Japan.Request Report Sample@Permeate Market: Region-wise OutlookThe Global permeate market is expected to witness robust growth over the forecast period due the various health benefit related to the consumption of permeate. Globally, among all regions, North America is expected to contribute the maximum market share during the forecast period. In North America, U.S is the dominating segment that contributes highest market share owing to the increasing production of permeate in U.S. However Asia Pacific is anticipated to witness significant growth owing to the rising awareness among consumers related to benefits of dairy ingredient such as permeate coupled with rising high income consumers in region such as India and China.Permeate Market: DriversMajor factors that fuel the growth of permeate market includes increasing consumption of milk and rising awareness among the consumers related to the health benefits associated with the consumption of permeate in the mature markets. However factor that hinder the growth of permeate market include lack of awareness among consumers in the emerging countries related to the benefits of the dairy ingredient such as permeate.Visit For TOC@Permeate Market: Key PlayersMajor companies operating in permeate market are Arla Foods Ingredients Inc., American dairy product institute, Fonterra Co-Operative Group, Nestle S.A, Silwan International General Trading LLC , La Belle Inc. and Volac International LimitedABOUT 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: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
The report covers historic analysis and forecast for the Mobile BI Market on a global and regional level

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Global Mobile BI Market: SnapshotMobile Business Intelligence or mobile BI is the ability that aids the mobile personnel to attain business insights via information analysis employing applications improved for mobile devices. Business intelligence or BI is basically referred to computed-based techniques employed in the spotting, extracting, and evaluating business information such as associated incomes and costs or sales revenue by departments or products. Though, the notion of mobile computing has been long prevalent, the concept of mobile BI has gained momentum in the last few years. This growth has been encouraged due to the significant change in the wire world with the advent of wireless technology with smartphones giving rise to a new era of mobile computer technology, prominently in the field of business intelligence.Organizations are developing their personal Information Technology (IT) monitoring tools in order to gain enhanced visibility into the new intricacies. The right solutions can help one detect patterns that will help predict issues early before they occur. Mobile BI permits big data from IT to be transformed into appropriate and actionable insights for a rapid resolution. It further enables the business organization to extract information from key operational data units such as log files, events, performance metrics, and trouble tickets to proactively dodge outages, attain faster mean time for repairing, and understand cost savings through better operational efficiency.Request a Brochure of the Report @The market intelligence publication delves into the possible growth opportunities for the global mobile BI market and the chronological growth of the market throughout the forecast period. It also uniquely provisions required data related to facers such as dynamics influencing the progress in all possible retrospective manner. Several ubiquitous and non-ubiquitous trends have also been mentioned in the study. An outlook of extensive nature keeping in mind the Porters five forces analysis has been provided to make the vendor landscape transparent to the reader. The report further reaches out to point out accomplishments related to R&D, acquisitions, mergers, and crucial partnerships and verifications. The companies in limelight have been analyzed on market shares, products, and key strategies.Global Mobile BI Market: Trends and ProspectsThe key drivers of the global mobile BI market are the growing trend of bring your own device (BYOD), rising platforms of mobile enterprise application, burgeoning popularity of Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface (REST APIs), growth of in-memory computing, and robust advancement in the features of mobile device. The global mobile BI market is also progressing owing to the transformation from the generic BI techniques for the purpose of business data analysis to advanced methods and the upsurge in the flow of unstructured and structured data.Request for TOC of the Report @The mobile BI market can be classified on the basis of industry verticals, amongst the segments of insurance, financial services, and banking are likely to be the leading adopters of mobile BI due to the extensive rise in data volume and the growing demand for IT systems in banks and several other financial institutes.Global Mobile BI Market: Regional AnalysisThe market in North America is expected to emerge lucrative owing to the growing technological advancements and early adoption of business intelligence solutions. Due to the high opportunities for vendors in the industry verticals of the Asia Pacific region, mainly in Japan, China and India, the market is projected to witness strong growth.Read Complete Report @Global Mobile BI Market: Competitive LandscapeSome of the leading players in the market are Qlik Technologies, SAS Institute, Tableau Software, SAP SE, Microsoft Corporation, and IBM Corporation.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Global Hair Serum Market Will Grow Steadily At A CAGR Of 5.29% During The Period 2016-2020

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Hair Serum Market 2016-2020" to its huge collection of research reports.Based on product type, the market has been segmented into the following categories:Hair styling serumsHair treatment serumsTechnavios analysts forecast the global hair serum market to grow at a CAGR of 5.29% during the period 2016-2020.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global hair serum market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the retail sales of hair serum to individual customers.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEuropeMEATo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Technavio's report, Global Hair Serum 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 vendorsHenkelKaoL'OralP&GUnileverOther prominent vendorsAmka ProductsAvonFantasiaGiovanni CosmeticsMirta de PeralesMarket driverIncreasing importance of vitamin and mineral fortified hair serumsFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeCultural and pricing barriersFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendIncreasing demand for scalp serumsFor 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 @
IoT in Smart Cities Market to 2025-Industry Analysis, Applications, Opportunities and Trends |The Insight Partners

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Latest market study on IoT in Smart Cities Market to 2025 - Global Analysis and Forecasts by Technology, Solution, Platform, Vertical and Region, the report include key understanding on the driving factors of this growth and also highlights the prominent players in the market and their developments.Browse market data tables and in-depth TOC of the IoT in Smart Cities Market to 2025 @A 'smart city' is an urban region that is highly advanced in terms of overall infrastructure, sustainable real estate, communications and market viability. It is a city where information technology is the principal infrastructure and the basis for providing essential services to residents. The concept of a "smart city" is becoming more and more prevalent, with cities recognizing that analytics and business intelligence can be integral to running a municipality more efficiently.The report aims to provide an overview of Global IoT in smart Cities Market with detailed market segmentation by technology, platform, solution, industry vertical, and geography. The global IoT in smart cities market is expected to witness decent growth during the forecast period due to increasing demand of intelligent cites. Growing urbanization and increasing demand for better energy management are further fueling the growth of this market.Request Sample Copy @The objectives of IoT in Smart Cities Report is as follows: To provide overview of the global IoT in smart cities market To analyze and forecast the global IoT in smart cities market on the basis of technology, platform, solution and industry vertical To provide market size and forecast till 2025 for overall IoT in smart cities market with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South America (SAM), which is later sub-segmented by respective countries To evaluate market dynamics effecting the market during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend To provide exhaustive PEST analysis for all five regions To profiles key players influencing the market along with their SWOT analysis and market strategiesSome of the leading players in IoT in Smart Cities market are SAP SE, IBM Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, SAS institute, Salesforce, tableau, Intel Corporation, Cisco Corporation and Bosch Software Innovation GmbH.Inquire about discount on this report @The report segments the global IoT in Smart Cities Market as follows:IoT in Smart Cities Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025 -Technology Bluetooth Market Cellular Network Market NFIC Market RFID Market Satellite Network Market Zigbee Market Others MarketIoT in Smart Cities Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025 - Platform Device management Market Connectivity management Market Data collection & analytics Market Application management MarketIoT in Smart Cities Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025 - Solution Location Analytics Market Network Security Market Application Security Market Real-Time Streaming Analytics Market Network Bandwidth Management Market Remote Monitoring System MarketIoT in Smart Cities Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025 - Industry vertical Infrastructure Management Market Transportation Market Energy management Market Building automation Market Others MarketIoT in Smart Cities Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2025 - Geographical Analysis North America Europe Asia Pacific (APAC) Middle East & Africa (MEA) South America (SAM)About The Insight Partners:The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Media, and Telecommunication industries.Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@theinsightpartners.comThe Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Media, and Telecommunication industries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
HAMPTON | Some Hispanic-owned businesses in Hampton closed for the day on Thursday and students stayed home from school as part of a nationwide protest called A Day Without Immigrants.

El Valle Mexican grocery store was among the business closed on Thursday, according to Sister Maura McCarthy, associate director of the La Luz Hispana community center in Hampton. Some restaurants also closed, she said.

The purpose of A Day Without Immigrants was to show what the United States would be like without them, according to McCarthy.

Immigrants around the U.S. stayed home from work and school to demonstrate how important they are to America's economy and way of life, and many businesses closed in solidarity,

The boycott was aimed squarely at President Donald Trump's efforts to crack down on immigration, legal and illegal, by such means as a wall at the Mexican border. Organizers said they expected thousands around the country to participate or otherwise show support.

Todd Lettow, superintendent of the Hampton-Dumont School District, said almost 300 students -- roughly 25 percent of the student body -- were not in school Thursday.

Around 38 percent of the students in the district are Hispanic.

Lettow said the flu was going around and some students were at the State Wrestling meet, but that would not account for a 25 percent absentee rate. He noted 7 percent of the student body was absent Wednesday.

Some students called on Thursday to say they were staying home as part of A Day Without Immigrants, according to Lettow.

"We appreciate that they call in," he said.

However, it still counts as an unexcused absence, Lettow added.

As long as a student has a good attendance record in general, one unexcused absence won't affect his or her grades or status in class, he said.

However, "We are here to educate kids," he said. "If they are not here, we can't do that."

Lettow said Hispanic families in the community "feel safe at the school."

However, there's definitely "a fear of the unknown" about what will happen to them.

He said a community meeting Monday night in which Hispanic residents had the opportunity to ask local law enforcement questions helped, noting another meeting is scheduled in early March.

No longer a sanctuary: Franklin County discusses policy change for undocumented immigrants HAMPTON | More than 200 people attended a meeting Monday in Hampton evening to question loca

Sister Carmen Hernandez, director of La Luz Hispana, said comments on Facebook she has seen indicated some members of Hampton's Hispanic community supported A Day Without Immigrants, but others stated they could not afford to lose a day's wages by staying home from work.

The day's activities also included rallies in several cities nationwide.

Marcela Ardaya-Vargas, who is from Bolivia and now lives in Falls Church, Virginia, pulled her son out of school to take him to a Day Without Immigrants march in Washington.

"When he asked why he wasn't going to school, I told him because today he was going to learn about immigration," she said, adding: "Our job as citizens is to unite with our brothers and sisters."

Organizers appealed to immigrants from all walks of life to take part, but the effects were felt most strongly in the restaurant industry, which has long been a first step up the economic ladder for newcomers to America with its many jobs for cooks, dishwashers and servers.

Expensive restaurants and fast-food joints alike closed across the country. Sushi bars, Brazilian steakhouses, Mexican eateries and Thai and Italian restaurants turned away lunchtime customers.

At a White House news conference held at the same time as the lunch-hour protests, Trump boasted of his border security measures and immigration arrests of hundreds of people in the past week, saying, "We are saving lives every single day."
The study provides a comprehensive view of the IoT IAM Market by segmenting the market based on its applications

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Global IoT IAM Market: Inclusive InsightThe Internet of Things (IoT) is undergoing significant development in consumer and business environments. The IoT presents the necessity to manage efficiently more identities than current IAM systems are mandated to back. The security industry is witnessing a paradigm change whereby IAM is no longer exclusively concerned with the management of people but also handling the numerous things that might be connected to a particular network. In several instances, these things are connected irregularly and is likely to mandate communicate with other things such as mobile devices and the prerequisite backend infrastructure. Some have also begun referring this to as the new identity ecosystem known as the Identity of Things (IDoT). The IDoT is the relationship between devices and devices, devices and application/service devices and humans, or a human and an application/service.Industry is on the verge of moving towards designing and installing the IoT, thus it is an opportunity in order to consider how IoT IAM connects with other security services needed for an IoT-connected enterprise. This comprises services such as cryptographic key and asseer management. At times, IoT solution companies have begun integrating IAM as a byproduct for linking IoT assets together.Request a Brochure of the Report @The market intelligence publication delves into the possible growth opportunities for the global IoT IAM market and the chronological growth of the market throughout the forecast period. It also uniquely provisions required data related to facers such as dynamics influencing the progress in all possible retrospective manner. Several ubiquitous and non-ubiquitous trends have also been mentioned in the study. An outlook of extensive nature keeping in mind the Porters five forces analysis has been provided to make the vendor landscape transparent to the reader. The report further reaches out to point out accomplishments related to R&D, acquisitions, mergers, and crucial partnerships and verifications. The companies in limelight have been analyzed on market shares, products, and key strategies.Global IoT IAM Market: Trends in FocusThe global market for IoT IAM is expected to grow at a significant rate over the forecast period. This growth can be attributed to the extensive deployment of IoT IAM across several industry verticals such as travel and hospitality, education, manufacturing, oil and gas, energy, healthcare public sector and utilities, consumer packaged goods and retail, telecom and IT, automotive, and banking financial services and insurance (BFSI). The BFSI segment is anticipated to contribute the leading market share in the IoT IAM Market owing to early implementation of IoT and upsurge in online banking dealings for businesses via mobile devices and web. The energy, oil, and gas industry is likely to grow at a strong CAGR during the forecast period in the global IoT IAM Market as these particular industries have implemented IoT technologies for business-critical applications, which are measured as the key targets for cyber criminals.Request for TOC of the Report @Global IoT IAM Market: Geographical OverviewRegion-wise, North America is likely to emerge as a potential region in the global IoT IAM market in terms of adoption of IoT IAM owing to the presence of numerous IoT IAM vendors across the region. Asia Pacific is also expected to offer potential growth prospects for the vendors to capitalize on as the countries in the region are turning towards advanced IoT IAM solutions for defense against cyber threats.Read Complete Report @Global IoT IAM Market: Companies Mentioned in the ReportSome of the leading companies in the market are GlobalSign, Certified Security Solutions, Ping Identity, ForgeRock Inc., CA Technologies, and Amazon Web Services.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Market Research on Aerogel Market 2015 and Analysis to 2025

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The global aerogel market is on the rise due to increased applications of aerogel in industries such as oil & gas, marine, automotive, and aerospace. Aerogel is an extremely low density solid material, mainly composed of air, and is manufactured using conventional gel. Global aerogel market consists of material exhibiting numerous properties, making it suitable for the applications in aforementioned industries. These properties include thermal & acoustic damping, low density, high degree of porosity and other desired properties in various applications industries. In addition to the abundant uses of aerogel in industrial applications, one of the key reasons for increasing global aerogel market is due to the fact that the material is being witnessed as a good replacement for thermal insulation materials, since it is providing cost competitiveness to other high performance thermal insulating materials.Aerogel Market: Drivers & RestraintsThe increasing demand of aerogels by the end users such as oil & gas, automotive, marine & aerospace , etc. are driving the global aerogel market. Growing globalization leading to an increase in investments, new establishments for construction and properties of aerogel such as high insulation, being cheap and abundant availability of the raw material are some of the factors driving the growth of global aerogel market. High production cost is the major challenging factor for the growth of global aerogel market.Request Report Sample@Aerogel Market: SegmentationIn terms of application industry, the global aerogel market is segmented into key applications:Oil & gasMarine & aerospacePerformance coatingsLVHSDay-lightingAutomotiveConstructionWithin these applications, the oil & gas industry accounts for a leading share in the global aerogel market. Among other applications, wherein significant growth is likely to be witnessed is automotive and construction applications, wherein thermal insulation properties of aerogel material are being exploited.On the basis of product types, the global aerogel market is can be segmented into:SilicaPolymerCarbonThese different types of aerogel are being utilized in the global marketplace, wherein polymer type of aerogel is expected to witness the highest growth in coming years. In terms of market share, the global aerogel market has been dominated by silica type aerogel, which is likely to continue its dominance through the forecast period as well.On the basis of forms, the global aerogel market has been segmented into:MonolithBlanketArticlePanel formThe global aerogel market is dominated by blanket form of aerogel, which is widely used for thermal insulation applications across the industries. The global aerogel market is expected to witness the tremendous growth in particle form of aerogel, which is expected to contribute towards the growth in demand for aerogel in global aerogel market during the forecast period.On the basis of processing segment, the global aerogel market has also been segmented into:Virgin processedFabricatedIn terms of processing, within the global aerogel market, virgin aerogel is witnessed to be the dominating processing segment. This is due to the fact that virgin aerogel is free from composites and additives, which enables its applications in research & development activities. Further virgin aerogel is accompanied with high commercial availability in the global aerogel market.Visit For TOC@Aerogel Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global aerogel market has witnessed increased growth in North American region, which accounts for a leading share in the global aerogel market. Followed by North America, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region accounts for the second leading regions in terms of aerogel consumption across the globe, which is due to high amount of consumption in China. However, the European market is likely to be the leading region, in terms of annual growth, in years to come.Aerogel Market: Key PlayersThe global aerogel market is dominated by major players such as Cabot Corporation, Aerogel Technologies LLC, Aspen Aerogels, Inc. and BASF SE, to name a few.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: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Global Concrete Admixtures Market Revenue Predicted To Go Up by 2021

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Concrete is the prime essential construction materials for all type of construction project, and serve the essential requirements of civil structures such as strength and durability of the final structure. Concrete consists of mixture of sand, aggregate, binder, water and admixtures.A sample of this report is available upon request @The concrete admixtures contain specialty chemical solvent or mixture. It is used as an additive in cement or concrete to enhance the physical and chemical properties of the concrete such as aesthetic, functional, and design requirement of concrete structures. The concrete admixtures are extensively used in almost all type of concrete structures such as construction of residential buildings, industrial amenities, social and commercial complexes, and surface transportation infrastructure projects. The various cost and performance benefits offered by chemical admixtures include improved strength of the concrete structure, chemical resistance, enhanced durability and color properties, enhanced working properties of concrete and significantly low water and cement requirement. It also provides superior surface finish and better resistance to endure adverse climatic conditions.Based on the different product type the market can be divided two broad categories: mineral admixture (including fly ash, granulated blast furnace slag, silica fume and rice husk ash) , and chemical admixture (including super plasticizers, normal plasticizers, accelerating agents, retarding agents, air-entraining agents, and waterproofing admixtures).World Bank has estimated about 900 billion for the infrastructure development in developing countries till 2030. Moreover the improving quality of civil structure in developing countries of Asia Pacific is offering a double digit growth for the concrete admixture market. Various support mechanism such as foreign direct investment (FDI) for pacing infrastructure development in some of the major concrete civil structure dominant market such as India and China is providing new market opportunities for the concrete admixture market.Increasing prices of concrete admixtures chemicals coupled with lack of awareness about the advantages of admixtures in unorganized construction sector of Asia Pacific and other developing region is restricting the market expansion of the concrete admixture.Growing residential requirement due to rising middle classes coupled with government initiatives such as stricter contraction quality regulations, upcoming infrastructure development programs such as home for every citizen of India (India Vision 2020, Planning Commission of India), development of transportation infrastructure and proposals of new megacities in both India and China is expected to display new market opportunities for concrete admixture market in upcoming years.Asia Pacific is by far the largest market of concrete admixture followed by North America and Europe. Asia pacific and Rest of the World region (includes Middle East, Latin America, and Africa) are two of the fasted growing market of concrete admixture exhibiting a lucrative double digit growth over the years, whereas market of develop region such as Europe and North America is heading towards maturity and expected to grow at an below average rate. Country wise, China, India, Brazil, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Japan, Italy, Spain, U.S., Canada and Mexico are some of the predominant market of concrete admixture.Request to view Table of content @Some of the major companies operating in global concrete admixtures market, include, The Dow Chemical Company, BASFSE, SIKA AG, W.R. Grace & Co., Cemex S.A.B. De C.V., Rpm International Inc., Ashland Inc., Pidilite Industries, Fosroc International Ltd, Chryso Sas, Mapei South Africa (PTY) Ltd, CICO Technologies Ltd., and CEMEX S.A.B. de N.V.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- Peracetic Acid Market Expand Their Businesses With New Investments

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Peracetic acid (PAA) or peroxy acetic acid is a colorless and highly acidic liquid. Hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid are used as principal constituent in commercial manufacturing of peracetic acid. It is used in various products with concentration ranging from 5%-35% content. Peracetic acid is one of the most effective oxidizing agents after ozone. It is highly water soluble and does not produce any health and environmentally hazardous byproducts.A sample of this report is available upon request @Based on the different application of the peracetic acid the market can be further segmented as disinfectants, sterilant, sanitizer and others. Disinfectant segment held largest market share worldwide in 2013. Disinfectants are used in healthcare, food and beverages industry, water treatment and bleaching application in pulp & paper industry. Sterilant and sanitizer were the two of the fasted growing application segment in 2013.The Peracetic acid market is mainly driven by the increasing application of peracetic acid in various allied industries such as food processing and beverage industries. Peracetic acid got recognition from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as antimicrobial and as safe chemicals to protect food for longer time. This has developed many new application of peracetic acid as food preservatives and microbial disinfectants over the past few years. In food industry peracetic acid is widely used as a preservative for meat and poultry and fisheries products. Moreover, rising demand of peracetic acid in various beverages processing application is also acting as a leading growth driver for the market. Nevertheless the traditional application of peracetic acid market such as industrial cleaning disinfectants, healthcare and personal care applications is rising which in turn is driving the market of Peracetic acid.Advancement in manufacturing technology, growing popularity of bio-based chemicals and innovative techniques developed for the use of peracetic acid in many new applications in an array of product is expected to lay new opportunities for of peracetic acid market in upcoming years.Direct exposure to Peracetic acid can cause severe burns, allergy, and other hazardous health effects to the eyes, skin, and respiratory organs. Peracetic acid can cause severe health issues if ingested in higher concentrations, together these factors are restricting its wide acceptance in at house hold application which is one of the major challenges for peracetic acid market.Europe is the largest market of Peracetic acid followed by North America, Asia Pacific and rest of the world (RoW). Asia Pacific and RoW (include Latin America, Middle East, and Africa) are two of the fasted growing Peracetic acid market of the world. Country wise, China and India are two of the largest regional market of peracetic acid. China held the largest market share in terms of regional consumption of peracetic acid in 2013. The size of peracetic acid market is relatively low in the RoW region, but expected to display a healthy growth throughout the forecasted period.Request to view Table of content @Some of the major companies operating in global peracetic acid market include, Kemira Chemicals, Mitsubishi Gas Chemicals, Seitz GMBH, Aditya Birla Chemicals, Ecolab, Solvay Chemicals, Peroxychem, Evonik Industries, Enviro Tech Chemical Services, Helios Group, Christeyns and Promox S.P.A.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
The Hadoop Big Data Analytics Market is broadly segmented on the basis of applications, end use, and geography

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Global Hadoop Big Data Analytics Market: Inclusive InsightHadoop is referred to an open source structure that allows big data analytics and storage and employs simple programming plans across dispersed clusters of computer. Big data is a huge volume of data and information and can be structured as well as unstructured. As the volume of information is extremely large, it cannot processed and stored by the conventional systems. Furthermore, it also supports institutions and organizations for understanding the trend and help in the decision making for the corporate level in real-time. With the advent of this solution, data can be stored, evaluated, and extracted in order to meet the desired objective. It aids in modernizing the models of business and maximize the revenue of the vendors.The accumulation of information is done at an extensively high pace keeping in mind the velocity, volume, and variety owing to the daily operation of the respective industries. In a situation as such, organizations are likely to face several technical difficulties in the process of collecting, storing, analyzing, and reporting via shared and interlinked dashboards. Management of such information needs high-end data management equipment and suitably channelized flow of information. The companies require state-of-the-art for bog data resolves in order to collect, store, evaluate, picture, and predict the future from the available evidence attained from the massive volumes of information.Request a Brochure of the Report @The market intelligence publication delves into the possible growth opportunities for the global Hadoop big data analytics market and the chronological growth of the market throughout the forecast period. It also uniquely provisions required data related to facers such as dynamics influencing the progress in all possible retrospective manner. Several ubiquitous and non-ubiquitous trends have also been mentioned in the study. An outlook of extensive nature keeping in mind the Porters five forces analysis has been provided to make the vendor landscape transparent to the reader. The report further reaches out to point out accomplishments related to R&D, acquisitions, mergers, and crucial partnerships and verifications. The companies in limelight have been analyzed on market shares, products, and key strategies.Global Hadoop Big Data Analytics Market: Focus on TrendsThe global market for Hadoop big data analytics is likely to be driven by the mounting demand for the installation of solutions for Hadoop big data analytics for the purpose of evaluating the extensively growing unstructured and structured data in order to attain beneficial insights from it. Furthermore, the rising need for information conversion by Internet of Things and big data by organizations for the purpose of decision making has substantially propelled the growth of the global Hadoop big data in the last couple of years. Convergence of Internet of Things and big data is another facet that is expected to fuel the growth of the market.Request for TOC of the Report @The dearth in safety standards and the lack of appropriate big data supervisory structure is presumed to hinder the industry growth in the near future. The shortage of skilled personnel who are capable of converting machine language into operational solutions for advanced analytics and data warehousing is expected to further act as a restraint in the growth of the market.Global Hadoop Big Data Analytics Market: Regional OutlookEurope and North America are the possible regions which are likely to provide lucrative opportunities for growth to the vendors operating in the global hadoop big data analytics market. The developing economies in Asia Pacific are anticipated to emerge as profitable markets to capitalize on.Read Complete Report @Global Hadoop Big Data Analytics Market: Companies Mentioned in the ReportA few of the leading companies in the market are Tableau Software Teradata Corporation, IBM Corporation, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Corporation, and Pentaho Corporation.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
New Trends of Men Grooming Products Market with Worldwide Industry Analysis to 2025

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Men grooming products includes cosmetics, toiletries and shaving products. Conventionally men grooming products comprise toiletries and shaving products only but recently demand for men beauty products are surging popularity across the globe. Men grooming products become very popular over western developed countries from the beginning of twenty first century, the trend is now shifting to Asia Pacific and Latin America.Men grooming beauty products becoming very popular over Asia Pacific including ASEAN countries, China and India; in Latin America Brazil and Mexico demand for men grooming products has already started growing at a significant rate; however, GCC countries are the potential market for men grooming products in the next five to six years. Demand for anti-aging, oil-free cream and face wash is going popular gradually in North America, Western Europe, Japan. However, demand for men grooming products in Latin America, is expected to grow in the next five to six years.Request Report Sample@Men Grooming Products Market Segmentation:On the basis of product type men grooming products market is segmented into skin care, deodorants, toiletries, shaving products and others (talc, concealers and sun protection). Skin care segment is sub-segmented into moisturising, anti-aging, skin whitening and anti-acne. Toiletries segment is sub-segmented into soap, shampoo, hair-conditioner and after shower. Shaving products segment includes shaving gel, cream, foam and after shave lotion. Male grooming products consumers consumption trend shows bath and shower products have highest consumption among male grooming products followed by shampoo and deodorants. Shaving accessories, facial skin care, hair conditioner and sun care products have comparatively less consumption but facial skin care and sun care have good opportunity in the men grooming market with a high growth rate during next five to six forecasted years.On the basis of distribution channel men grooming products market is segmented into departmental stores/supermarket, hypermarket, drug stores and online retail stores.Geographically men grooming market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East & Africa. Currently, North America and Western Europe dominating in the toiletries segment globally. Latin American market has shown a steady growth and it is also expected continue for the next five to six forecasted years. In Asia Pacific, skin care is a booming segment among consumers, which shows double digit growth rate in the forecasted years.Visit For TOC@Men Grooming Products Market Dynamics:Metrosexual culture is one of the main growth drivers for men grooming products. Spornosexual style was a trend in the beginning of twenty first century, however recently there is a trend Lumbersexual style is following among young generation since rugged looking is a kind of fashion currently. Men grooming market is very dynamic, which has led companies to add values in the existing products in order to avoid the declination in demand after maturity stage, moreover to capture new market companies are focused on new innovation of men grooming products.Less awareness among male consumers is driving the market slowly. New technology and the product innovation is the biggest opportunity for the marketers, emerging economic countries are the biggest prospect for men grooming products. Men grooming premium products have high opportunity in North America and Western Europe.Men Grooming Products Market Key Players:Some of the prominent players operating in global men grooming products market are Molton Brown, L'Oreal International, Unilever NV, The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. and COTY Inc.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: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
The report provides detailed statistical information about the Factory Automation Platform as a Service Market

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Global Factory Automation Platform as a Service Market: OverviewThe global factory automation platform as a service market is poised to tread along a healthy growth track in the forthcoming years. Factory automation platform as a service provides connectivity among cloud and factory, security resources, and data analytics platform. It facilitates factory automation application development and offers solutions and services to factory operators and factory owners by just developing core logic of each application. It is used across a large number of industries such as oil and gas, chemicals, food and beverages, pharmaceutical, paper and pulp, and water and wastewater management.The research report on the global factory automation platform as a service market offers a thorough overview, focusing on the market dynamics that are anticipated to impact the growth of the overall market and its affiliated industries. With the help of tools such as Porters five force analysis and market attractiveness analysis, the study highlights the growth factors, opportunities, current trends, and limitations in the market. It profiles prominent players in the market along with their business strategies, market shares, contact information, revenue generation, and latest developments.Request a Brochure of the Report @Global Factory Automation Platform as a Service Market: Drivers and RestraintsAmid the intense competition in the manufacturing industry across the world, there is a dire need for systems promoting rapid product development, resource optimization, shorter lead times, and quality lead times. Therefore, the growing emphasis on energy efficiency, minimum cost of production, and resource optimization is translating into the greater uptake of factory automation platform as a service. Moreover, the advancements in the cloud computing technology are fuelling the market.On the other hand, the operation of factory automation platform as a service requires high technical acumen and thus, the dearth of skilled workforce is inhibiting the growth of the market. Furthermore, the issues related to data security and privacy are challenging the growth of the market. However, the emergence of the concept of Industry 4.0 is opening new avenues for players in the market.Request for TOC of the Report @Global Factory Automation Platform as a Service Market: Region-wise OutlookThe regional markets covered in the research report are North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World. Asia Pacific will command a substantial share in the market throughout the forecast period. The increasing investments by private and public organizations for technological advancements in the field of factory automation platform as a service are creating phenomenal growth opportunities for the growth of the region. The establishment of local data centers by large international players is also providing a push to the growth of the region.Moreover, the availability of cheap and skilled workforce, improving infrastructure and technological capabilities, and favorable government initiatives are augmenting the market in Asia Pacific. Developing countries such as Indonesia, South Korea, and Singapore are sites of high growth in the region owing to the rising adoption of cloud technology. North America is estimated to progress at a noteworthy CAGR during the same span.Read Complete Report @Global Factory Automation Platform as a Service Market: Competitive LandscapeThe majority of the players in the global ransomware protection market are focusing on the development of new products to attain inorganic growth in the global factory automation platform as a service market. Partnerships and acquisitions are also among the commonly adopted strategies by prominent players to boost their offerings in the market. Some of the prominent players in the market are Schneider Electric SE, General Electric Company, Siemens AG, Rockwell Automation Inc., Honeywell International Inc., Microsoft, Hitachi Data Systems Corporation, and IBM.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Remote Patient Monitoring Devices Market Intelligence Report Offers Growth Prospects

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Remote patient monitoring devices supports in monitoring of patients physical condition. Patient does not need to visit the medical practitioner. Digital technology is used in remote patient monitoring devices to gather health and other forms of medical data to securely pass on to healthcare providers situated at different location for clinical review. The accuracy of remote patient monitoring devices allows reliable diagnosis, leading to a more specific and efficient treatment. Remote patient monitoring devices helps to reduce costs of hospital stays by continuing to monitor patient condition, irrespective of patient location and also it helps to reduce overcrowding at clinics and diagnostic centers. Remote patient monitoring devices systems are used for continuously monitoring important physiological parameters like, heart activity, body temperature, blood pressure, pulse rate and other clinical conditions. Remote patient monitoring devices is based on real time data sharing which helps physicians to take vital decisions to ensure better patient treatment. Physician and healthcare providers are extending the use ofremote patient monitoring devices to enhance the excellence of patient care and reduce expenses by prognosis.Remote Patient Monitoring Devices Market: Drivers & RestraintsRemote patient monitoring devices market is fueled by great technological advancements. The increasing incidence and prevalence of chronic diseases like heart conditions and diabetes requires compulsory life-long monitoring will also contribute to remote patient monitoring devicesglobal market. Increase in geriatric population around the globe is leading to enhanced global market forremote patient monitoring devices. Awareness among the medical practitioners and improved private sector and government involvement in remote patient monitoring devices is supporting the global market for remote patient monitoring devices dwell in developing countries. Deficiency of trained and expert professionals are hampering the growth of remote patient monitoring devices.Request Report Sample@Remote Patient Monitoring Devices Market: SegmentationGlobal remote patient monitoring devices market is segmented as following:By Product Type:Heart Rate MonitorsBlood Pressure MonitorsHeart MonitorsBreath MonitorsSleep Apnea MonitorsBlood Glucose MonitorsWeight MonitorsBody Temperature MonitorsInfusion PumpsBy End User:HospitalsAmbulatory Surgical CentersHomecare settingsRemote Patient Monitoring Devices Market: OverviewIncreased technological improvement, rise in the incidence and prevalence of chronic diseases along with increase in aging population, enhanced demand for remote monitoring, private sector and government involvement in remote patient monitoring devices, the global market for remote patient monitoring devices market is expected to have a healthy growth rate in the forecast period (2016-2026).Remote Patient Monitoring Devices Market: Region-wise OutlookDepending on geographic regions, global remote patient monitoring devicesmarketis segmented into seven key regions: North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East & Africa.Visit For TOC@North America is the leading global remote patient monitoring devices market due to the high volumes of surgical procedures being performed. Also, the availability of established healthcare infrastructure, high influence of healthcare to economy are the reasons for the high demand in North America. Europe is also a lucrative market for remote patient monitoring devices due to rapid technological advancement in terms of healthcare sector. Asia Pacific market is expected to grow at a good rate as compared to NA and Europe as there is ample market opportunity in countries like India and China due the large population.Remote Patient Monitoring Devices Market: Key PlayersSome of the key participating global remote patient monitoring devicesmarketare Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., AMD Global Telemedicine, Honeywell International Inc., Omron Healthcare, Smiths Medical, Medtronic, and others.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: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Global Electronic Adhesives Market Estimated to Grow Strongly by 2021

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Electronic adhesives are a part of the electronic components used in the manufacture and assembly of electronic circuits and products. They are mainly used in wire tacking, binding the surface-mount components, and encapsulating components. Raw materials used in the production of electronic adhesives include silicones, epoxies, polysulfides, polyurethanes, and cyanoacrylates.A sample of this report is available upon request @Based on type, electronic adhesives market is segmented into four categories: thermal conductive, electrically conductive, UV curing, and others. Among these, electrically conductive and thermally conductive are the leading segments of the electronic adhesives market. The UV curing adhesives segment is experiencing the fastest growth in recent times. Electrically conductive adhesives are considered as a substitute for traditional tin-lead solders due to their improved thermal and conductive properties. Based on form, the electronic adhesives market is classified as solid, liquid, and paste. On the basis of application, the market is segmented into semiconductor & IC and printed circuit boards. Electronic adhesives are used as conformal coating in printed circuit boards.Miniaturization of existing electronic products resulting in increasing usage of adhesives and merger and acquisition of key companies are some of the major factors responsible for the growth of the electronic adhesives market. Moreover, rise of the automobile sector globally is increasing the demand for electronic adhesives. This is because electronic adhesives find their application in collision avoidance systems, engine status displays, power electronic modules, anti-theft systems, and LED packaging. However, huge installation costs involved in product assembly and lamination & packaging of advanced machinery are hampering the growth of the electronic adhesive market. Matured market for electronic adhesives in developed countries and fluctuations in currency exchange rates are the other factors hindering the growth of the market. Moreover, high product costs is also restraining the growth of the market to some extent.On the other hand, advancement in technology coupled with implementation of safety regulations for electronic applications is expected to drive the growth of the electronic adhesives market in the near future. Implementation of new solid-state semiconductor technologies in industrial and consumer applications is likely to accelerate the growth of the market in the years to come. Companies are investing more on R&D activities for the use microelectronic devices in niche applications. This, in turn, is expected to impel the growth of the electronic adhesives market.Asia Pacific is the leading market for electronic adhesives, with major development in India, China, and Japan. The market for electronic adhesives across the Rest of the World (RoW) has witnessed the fastest growth in the recent times due to growing economies in Brazil and Russia, which has resulted in increasing buying of end products which use electronic adhesives.Request to view Table of content @Some of the key players operating in the electronic adhesives market are BASF SE, The Dow Chemicals Company, Alent Plc, Henkel Ag & Co. KGaA, Alent Plc, KYOCERA Chemical Corporation, Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd., H.B. Fuller, LG Chem Ltd., 3M Company, Indium Corporation, and Mitsui Chemicals, 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
Macadamia Market Forecast Research Reports Offers Key Insights

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Macadamia nut was introduced in the early 1960s to the Kenyan highlands from Australia. Macadamia is a member of the family Proteaceae, native to Australia. Australia and Hawaii are the major producing areas of macadamia with others including eastern and southern Africa, and Central and Latin America. Several species of macadamia exist in Australia but only two species such as M. tetraphylla and Macadamia integrifolia and their hybrids are grown commercially. Production of macadamia nuts in Australia is mainly in eastern shore of Australia (northern New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland). Currently, Hawaii is the largest producer of global macadamia, accounting for around 70 percent of total macadamia production worldwide followed by Australia, around 22 percent, rest is produced by other countries including Malawi, South Africa, Kenya, Guatemala, Mexico, California, Costa Rica, Brazil, New Zealand and China.Tree nuts include almond, cashew, hazelnut, pistachio, walnut, macadamia, and pecan. Currently, macadamia accounts for around only one percent among all the tree nuts available across the globe. Almond nut dominates the nut segment, accounting for around 34 percent. Increasing health claims for macadamia have witnessed a surge in recent years, which if succeeded is expected to increase the consumption of macadamia nuts among consumers.Request Report Sample@Global Macadamia Market Segmentation:On the basis of application the global macadamia market is broadly segmented into food industry, and cosmetics industry. In food industry macadamia is widely used in confectionaries including chocolate bar, chocolate covered candy, ice cream and other baking products. In cosmetics industry it is used in shampoos, sunscreens, soaps and others.Geographically, global macadamia market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East & Africa. Currently, North America and Western Europe account for major market share for macadamia however, Asia Pacific excluding Japan is expected to grow significantly in the forecasted years.Global Macadamia Market Dynamics:Owing to increasing variety of applications of macadamia, various workshop are taking places in order to increase the international trade for macadamia and since capitalise the growing demand for macadamia. Adoption of macadamia in chocolate and ice cream among consumers is expected to drive the demand for global macadamia in the near future. The biggest restraint for macadamia market is increasing crop losses due to immature nuts and moldy / rotten nuts. The crop losses due to these type of nuts accounts for around 50 percent of the total macadamia wastage globally. Thereby, reducing inclination of crop growers for macadamia and thus, hampering the market growth.Visit For TOC@There is a high opportunity to increase the market share of macadamia in terms of revenue across countries such as Mexico, China, South Africa and others. Companies are investing in these countries through promotional activities in order to increase the footprint of macadamia worldwide.Global Macadamia Market Key Players:Some of the key players operating in the global macadamia market are Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corp., Hamakua Macadamia Nut Company, MacFarms, Wondaree Macadamias, NAMBUCCA MACNUTS Pty Ltd, Golden Macadamias, Royal Macadamia (Pty) Ltd., Kenya Nut Company Ltd. and MWT Foods Australia.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: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
This is the first of a three-part series discussing the importance of Hospice and its effect on North Iowa families faced with terminal illness.

OSAGE | Bob Freins eyes moisten when he speaks of the deep gratitude he has for the comfort hospice brought to him, his wife, Marlene, and their family over a decade ago.

Marlene was admitted to full hospice care on Jan. 13, 2006. She died Jan. 20.

On May 21, 2005, while we were preparing for an anniversary trip, was when we got the bad news, said Frein, former Osage public works supervisor.

Frein said Marlene, had been taking good care of herself by eating healthy, walking five miles a day and practicing yoga, but her family noticed she was slowing down at the end of 2004.

Testing at Mayo Clinic revealed Marlene had lung cancer.

The two took their anniversary trip, but Frein admits their minds and hearts were centered on Marlenes diagnosis.

She was strong and healthy and she felt she had a good chance, Frein said.

Though Marlene was tough and worked hard at recovery, doctors after Thanksgiving said cancer had spread throughout her body.

By December, Marlene had grown worse, so the Freins contacted Hospice of North Iowa, who sent a representative to talk with the family.

The representative was like an angel coming to help us, said Frein, and I hoped we would get her, but she said she would send someone even better to help us.

With Marlene in and out of Mayo throughout December 2005, Frein found managing her pain medication was overwhelming until hospice came to administer the medicine and help Marlene with personal care.

I would get up at 2, 3, 4 in the morning and I had already given her morphine and what could I do? Frein said. I called hospice in the early hours, one morning, and the director said they would have a woman coming from Floyd.

It seemed I had just laid down the phone and she was right there, Frein said. You get to your limits with medications and other things and when hospice came, it was like a load off my shoulders.

She (Marlene) was a strong and tough Norwegian. We did Christmas and the grandkids sat and watched their grandmother on oxygen.

Frein recalled the day he was going to visit a dear family friend in Mitchell County Regional Hospital's hospice room.

Marlene, whose condition was grave, insisted she go along to wish their friend well. It was anguishing for Frein, because he knew Marlene would soon be in that same room.

Frein said he still marvels at Marlenes love and courage to venture out to visit their gravely-ill friend.

I was going downhill and the kids saw I was going downhill and so the hospice nurse, who came to our home went and talked with Marlene, Frein said. She (Marlene) knew it was time for her to go to the hospice room in the hospital.

Later that year, Hospice of North Iowa approached the Freins, asking if Bob would be willing to share some of his story and his admiration for what hospice had done for their family.

It got pretty sentimental, but we wanted to do it for hospice, Frein said. The television thing helped the family express their feelings toward each other and it helped in emotional healing.
Force Sensors Market size in terms of volume and value 2016-2026

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Force sensors are also known as force transducers that converts an input mechanical force into an electrical output signal. It act as a force sensing resistor in an electric circuit. It has various benefits such as flexibility and ultra-thin sensor construction which leads to minimal interference in normal action of device and precise response. Depending upon the working and sensing method, variety of force sensors are available in the market.Force Sensor Market: Drivers and RestraintThe global force sensor market is expected to witness substantial growth over the period of forecast. Technological advancement, low manufacturing cost, increasing product demand, rise in the demand of industrial robots, advancement of medical devices with force sensing technology, innovations and development in the manufacturing are the few factors encouraging the growth of global force sensor market.Request Report Sample@On the other hand, factors which are restraining the global force sensor market are instability in the demand across various end-user industry and underdeveloped aftermarket sales channels.Force Sensor Market: SegmentationThe global force sensor market can be segmented into type, application and region. On the basis of type, the global force sensor market can be segmented into, optical force sensor, piezoresistive force sensor, capacitive force sensor, magnetic force sensor, ultrasonic force sensor, strain gauges, and electrochemical force sensorsSensors has become an essential part of any measurement and automation applications. Overall global sensor market is witnessing a trend of increasing sensor accuracy, reliability, response time, efficiency, communication capability and robustness encourages the demand for sensors across various applications. On the basis of application, the global force sensor market can be segmented into, medical & pharmaceutical sector, automotive, printing & packaging, consumer electronics, industrial (robotic & manufacturing), and aerospace & defence. Key developments in the prominent industries such as medical & pharmaceuticals, robotics, aerospace & defence, manufacturing and others is expected to encourage the growth of global force sensor market by 2025. Force sensors are used in manufacturing tools, transportation equipment, microelectronic packaging, transportation equipment etc. Force sensors can also be used in wireless inventory management system to improve order scheduling which helps in avoiding inventory stock-out issue.Request For TOC@Force Sensor Market: Region wise outlookOn the basis of region, the global force sensor market can be seven regions which include  North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan and Middle East & Africa. North America is dominating the global force sensor market due to high technological advancement and increasing adoption among various end-user applications. However, revenue contribution from Asia Pacific excluding Japan is expected to grow significantly over the forecast period.Force Sensor Market: Key PlayersKey players in the global force sensor market are FUTEK Advanced Sensor Technology, Inc., OMRON Corporation, Texas Instruments Incorporated are the top players are global force sensor market. Apart from them, various other players are existing in market such as TE Connectivity Ltd., Tekscan, Inc., ATI Industrial Automation, and Sensata Technologies, Inc. Key players are focusing on development of new technologies and new product launch. Merger and acquisition is another activity observed in the market by the market participants to increase their product portfolio and to grow the business. The growth in global force sensor market is also due to growing awareness about the potential use of force sensors in different electronic devices by the original equipment manufacturers. For example, in August 2015, Apple, Inc. posted a patent report, An Advanced Force Touch Patent for the iPad Surfaces in Europe to develop techniques to integrate the force sensors into the iPhone and iPad.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.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:
Greek Yogurt Market Poised for Steady Growth in the Future

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Currently, greek yogurt is one of the most popular dairy products across the globe. Since greek yogurt is prepared through the straining process in order to separate the yogurt from the excess watery whey, it is also known as strained yogurt. The straining process makes the yogurt much thicker and creamier as compared to the regular or traditional yogurt. Greek yogurt contributes significantly to the growth of the global yogurt market. This is mainly attributed to its benefits such as higher protein and lower carbohydrates value as compare to traditional yogurt. Presently, greek yogurt is the highest growing product category among others including regular yogurt and yogurt drinks and second holds largest market share in terms of revenue, after traditional yogurt in the overall yogurt market. Demand for greek yogurt market is expected to increase in the next five to six forecast years owing to increasing lunch of new product with variety of flavours such as blueberry, vanilla, honey, chocolate and others.Global Greek Yogurt Market Segmentation:On the basis of product type, the global greek yogurt market is segmented into regular greek yogurt and non-fat greek yogurt, which is made from skim milk. Owing to increase the consumption of fat free and healthy products, non-fat greek yogurt products are gaining increasing popularity among the consumers.Request Report Sample@On the basis of distribution channel, the global greek yogurt market is segmented into supermarket/ hypermarket, grocery stores, convenience stores, and online retailing. In terms of revenue contribution, supermarket / hypermarket is expected to hold the highest share among all the other segments. However, online retail for global greek yogurt market witnesses steady growth in the forecasted years. This is attributed to increasing visibility of greek yogurt especially through online retailing.Geographically, global greek yogurt market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, and Middle East and Africa (MEA). North America and Western Europe are the two most lucrative market for greek yogurt in the world. In North America around half of the yogurt sold is greek yogurt.Global Greek Yogurt Market Dynamics:Increase in health consciousness among consumer has led to shift in eating preference towards healthy and nutrition food products. Availability of high nutritional value, which includes high protein, probiotics, vitamin such as vitamin D, B12, minerals such as potassium, iodine and calcium in greek yogurt is key factor that has led to increased adoption of greek yogurt among consumers and thus, fuelling the global greek yogurt market growth.Visit For TOC@Increasing application of greek yogurt is another growth driver for greek yogurt market since it is used for various medium in different countries. For instance, in Mediterranean region greek yogurt is mainly used as savoury but in the US, Mexico and Canada it is used as sweet snack with added fruits and flavours. Greek yogurt is also used in making many sauces for instance beef and lamb sauces. Greek yogurt is also used as a substitute products, for instance it is used as a substitute product for sour cream, cream cheese and butter. Thus, increasing its application among food products.Among dairy products, greek yogurt is a good option for the consumers who have slight lactose intolerance, since in the production process much of the lactose is removed from the greek yogurt. This leads to drive the scope of greek yogurt among such consumers globally. However, high lactose intolerance is restrain for adoption of greek yogurt, thus restricting the market growth. There is a high opportunity to expand and increase the revenue for greek yogurt in the Asia Pacific excluding japan and Middle East countries.Global Greek Yogurt Market Key Players:Some of the key players operating in the global greek yogurt market are Chobani LLC, Stonyfield Farm, Inc, FAGE International S.A., GROUPE DANONE, and General Mills, Inc. Owing to have strong distribution and marketing strategies companies are able to meet the increasing demand for global greek yogurt.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: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Lights Dimmer Switches Market 2017 - Busch-Jaeger Elektro, LEVITON Lighting, Retrotouch, Merten GmbH, CP Electronics, Jung

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A market study based on the "Lights Dimmer Switches Market" across the globe, recently added to the repository of Market Research, is titled Global Lights Dimmer Switches Market 2017. The research report analyses the historical as well as present performance of the worldwide Lights Dimmer Switches industry, and makes predictions on the future status of Lights Dimmer Switches market on the basis of this analysis.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here :Top Manufacturers Analysis Of This ReportBusch-Jaeger ElektroR Hamilton & Co LtdLEVITON LightingRetrotouchMerten GmbHCP ElectronicsHeinrich Kopp GmbHJungVitrumLUTRON ELECTRONICSGIRACRESTRONClipsalETAPFEDELEGRANDRhombus EuropeArkos LightAveBticinoThe report studies the industry for Lights Dimmer Switches across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Lights Dimmer Switches market & dynamics of demand and supply of Lights Dimmer Switches into consideration. The 'Lights Dimmer Switches' research study covers each and every aspect of the Lights Dimmer Switches market globally, which starts from the definition of the Lights Dimmer Switches industry and develops towards Lights Dimmer Switches market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Lights Dimmer Switches market is classified and analyzed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Lights Dimmer Switches market. The geographical segmentation of the Lights Dimmer Switches industry has also been covered at length in this report.The competitive landscape of the worldwide market for Lights Dimmer Switches is determined by evaluating the various industry participants, production capacity, Lights Dimmer Switches market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Lights Dimmer Switches market worldwide.Enquire Here :The global Lights Dimmer Switches market 2017 is also analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Lights Dimmer Switches production volume, data regarding demand and Lights Dimmer Switches supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, and market attractiveness analysis has been used in the research to present a comprehensive study of the industry for Lights Dimmer Switches across the globe.About UsWe provide global enterprises and businesses across different industry verticals comprehensive market research services from off-the-shelf research reports to customized research conducted by our highly experienced industry analysts.Contact UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development HeadEmail id - sales@apexresearch.bizWebsite -
Portable Lamps Market 2017 - Faro Barcelona, ESYLUX, GANDIA BLASCO, VIBIA LIGHTING, TRADEWINDS, STELTON, Royal Botania, Ares

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A market study based on the "Portable Lamps Market" across the globe, recently added to the repository of Market Research, is titled Global Portable Lamps Market 2017. The research report analyses the historical as well as present performance of the worldwide Portable Lamps industry, and makes predictions on the future status of Portable Lamps market on the basis of this analysis.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here :Top Manufacturers Analysis Of This ReportFaro BarcelonaESYLUXGANDIA BLASCOVIBIA LIGHTINGNingbo Feng Shen FengdianTRADEWINDSSTELTONRoyal BotaniaGAIA&GINOTheben AGAltatensioneAresArtuceAteliers Phi SAB.LUXBentuBLUE MARMALADEBOCCIBonacina VittorioCASAMANIAThe report studies the industry for Portable Lamps across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Portable Lamps market & dynamics of demand and supply of Portable Lamps into consideration. The 'Portable Lamps' research study covers each and every aspect of the Portable Lamps market globally, which starts from the definition of the Portable Lamps industry and develops towards Portable Lamps market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Portable Lamps market is classified and analyzed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Portable Lamps market. The geographical segmentation of the Portable Lamps industry has also been covered at length in this report.The competitive landscape of the worldwide market for Portable Lamps is determined by evaluating the various industry participants, production capacity, Portable Lamps market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Portable Lamps market worldwide.Enquire Here :The global Portable Lamps market 2017 is also analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Portable Lamps production volume, data regarding demand and Portable Lamps supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, and market attractiveness analysis has been used in the research to present a comprehensive study of the industry for Portable Lamps across the globe.About UsWe provide global enterprises and businesses across different industry verticals comprehensive market research services from off-the-shelf research reports to customized research conducted by our highly experienced industry analysts.Contact UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development HeadEmail id - sales@apexresearch.bizWebsite -
Power Sockets Market 2017 - Z.S.E. Ospel, Doug Mockett, 6ixtes PARIS, GIRA, EVOline, Retrotouch, Jung, MELJAC, Simon

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A market study based on the "Power Sockets Market" across the globe, recently added to the repository of Market Research, is titled Global Power Sockets Market 2017. The research report analyses the historical as well as present performance of the worldwide Power Sockets industry, and makes predictions on the future status of Power Sockets market on the basis of this analysis.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here :Top Manufacturers Analysis Of This ReportZ.S.E. OspelDoug Mockett6ixtes PARISGIRAEVOlineRetrotouchKOMTECH KommunikationstechnikJungMELJACSimonBerkerR Hamilton & Co LtdGotessonsLEGRANDFind More @The report studies the industry for Power Sockets across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Power Sockets market & dynamics of demand and supply of Power Sockets into consideration. The 'Power Sockets' research study covers each and every aspect of the Power Sockets market globally, which starts from the definition of the Power Sockets industry and develops towards Power Sockets market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Power Sockets market is classified and analyzed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Power Sockets market. The geographical segmentation of the Power Sockets industry has also been covered at length in this report.The competitive landscape of the worldwide market for Power Sockets is determined by evaluating the various industry participants, production capacity, Power Sockets market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Power Sockets market worldwide.Enquire Here :The global Power Sockets market 2017 is also analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Power Sockets production volume, data regarding demand and Power Sockets supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, and market attractiveness analysis has been used in the research to present a comprehensive study of the industry for Power Sockets across the globe.About UsWe provide global enterprises and businesses across different industry verticals comprehensive market research services from off-the-shelf research reports to customized research conducted by our highly experienced industry analysts.Contact UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development HeadEmail id - sales@apexresearch.bizWebsite -
Global Antimony Tin Oxide Market to Record an Impressive Growth By 2021

www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4262

www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/4262

Antimony tin oxide (ATO) is known as an alloy of tin oxide which is usually doped with antimony pentoxide. It exhibits significantly high conductivity with tin:antimony ratios being typically in a range of 80:20 to 95:5. Owing to their good electrical properties, antimony tin oxide has the ability to form nano particles which are further used in a wide variety of applications such as alloys and composites. ATOs morphology is spherical and appears in the form of blue powder, although their consumption can sometimes lead to serious skin and eye irritations. Some of the primary applications of antimony tin oxide include additives for plastics, electronic applications such as touch screen, textiles, and coatings, sunlight shielding, dispersing liquid for producing sunlight shielding solid as well as transparent substrate. The nano particles of these metal oxides possess several novel properties such as magnetic, optical and electrical from high surface to volume ratio and quantum size effect. These materials are applied across a broad range of applications in various high-tech technologies and industries owing to their exceptional optical and magnetic properties, which significantly depend on their shape, structure and size.A sample of this report is available upon request @The global market for antimony tin oxide has been witnessing a noticeable increase owing to growing demand from its end-user industries. Electronics such as touch screen technology widely consume antimony tin oxide in their technology. Touch screens generally use antimony tin oxide in the touch system as well as in the LCD technology. Resistive touch screens which serve as an important segment in the market are usually constructed with two layers of electrically conductive materials antimony tin oxide or indium tin oxide, separated by insulated dots. In addition, capacitive touch screens are emerging as a high end version of the touch screen industry, specifically since the inception of iPhone by Apple Inc. which practices capacitive technology. However, resistive touch screen industry is expected to acquire majority of the shares in the touch screen industry. Use of antimony tin oxides in plastics as additives has been an important factor in the growth of the market. However, increasing regulations and environmental policies have been affecting the plastic industry due to which additive manufacturers have been under pressure to produce eco-friendly and safe chemicals.High demand for electronics owing to rising disposable incomes of the individuals as well as changing lifestyles are expected to be one of the major factors driving the demand for antimony tin oxide in the electronic products such as touch screen. In addition, growth of the overall textiles market on account of rising demand for apparels has also contributed towards the demand for antimony tin oxide. Product development and innovations, improved product properties such as durability and strength, growth and technological advancement of the global textiles industry are the major factors that have been driving the market for antimony tin oxide. Other applications of ATO such as additives for plastics have also been prevalent in the growth of the market. The industry is anticipated to rise significantly owing to growth in plastic consumption, consumer appliances, automotives, and compliance with environmental regulations. However, rising health hazards regarding the use of plastic additives as well as growing potential for the market of biodegradable plastic additives is expected to slow down the growth of the market.Request to view Table of content @American Elements, Guangdong Tuopu Zhongrun Nano Science & Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai Huzheng Nano Technology Co., Ltd., and Sigma Aldrich Corporation are some of the key players present in the ATO industry.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
Announcement Of New Personnel Hiring & Launch Of New Audit Course in Aberdeen, UK

www.kbaeurope.org

http://www.kbaeurope.org/news.php

KB Associates Europe (KBAE) is pleased to announce the appointment of Tim Chesshire to fill the newly created role of General Manager and Natasha Attrill as Subsea Consultancy Manager. These new positions are a significant demonstration of KBAEs commitment of continuous growth development to enhance the strength of its service offerings in Europe, America and Africa.Tim brings with him a scientific background and more than 40 years of diving and offshore experience. He previously fulfilled the roles of Diving Safety Advisor and Technical Authority in the UK after a range of work worldwide as diving consultant and 25 years with a major Operator culminating as global Diving Technical Authority. Tim commented, I am delighted to join the KBA family and am very much looking forward to working with such a motivated and professional team with a vast range of skills and experience as we expand and develop our business around the world.Natasha qualified with a BSc Physics in 2006, and since then has worked within the Subsea Energy industry primarily providing consultancy services to dive, ROV, construction and IRM scopes of work for Operators and Contractors globally with a focus on competence assurance and high quality deliverables. Natasha commented, I am excited to join KBA Europe to be a part of the continued growth of both the consultancy and training services to the Energy Industry in support of safe and efficient operations. In a challenging market the timing is ideal for a fit for purpose and cost effective service.We are very excited to welcome Tim and Natasha to our KBA team, they both bring a wealth of experience in subsea safety management, diving consultancy and training that compliments with KBA Europes business development while supporting regional and global clients. This expansion of expertise within KBAE reinforces our strategic plan and together will strengthen our goal to be the preferred subsea safety consultancy and training provider in the region and globally working with our Singapore Office. said Brendan Kearns, Managing Director.On a different note, KBAE is launching a new combined course of Diving System Assurance Training and Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality Analysis Awareness course with the first run scheduled on the 15 to 19 May 2017. The five-day combined course is aimed at enhancing the knowledge of personnel who already work in the diving industry and equip them with the basic foundation necessary for auditing or FMECA consultancy or to work with auditors in a constructive sense as an auditee when the auditor visits the asset on which they are working. In this way, the combined course extends the delegates working potential or enhances their present situation.For further information regards to the services and training courses offered, please contact Natasha Attrill at Tel: 44 7784 530301 or visit website atKBA Group of Companies has over 15 years experience in the consultancy and training industry. KB Associates (Europe) Limited  its UK subsidiary - provides consultancy services (safety management consultancy, safety management auditing, diving systems, ROV systems assurance, marine assurance and supply of client worksite representatives). Together with the subsidiary KBA Training Centre, KBAE has expanded to deliver National / International accredited health, safety and environmental training (NEBOSH, IOSH, and CIEH), IMCA Approved Diving Supervisor, ALST and Diver Medic Training, engineering support services and other professional development training.KB Associates Europe LimitedKBA House, Minto Drive, Altens Industrial Estate, Aberdeen AB12 3LWJeslyn Chenmarketing@kbassociates.org+44 1224 872741
Endoscopic Vessel Harvesting System Market Growth, Trends, Absolute Opportunity and Value Chain 2016-2026

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1620

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1620

www.futuremarketinsights.com

With the increasing rate of cardiovascular disease constant innovation and advancement in technology has become paramount. In the field of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) introduction of endoscopic vessel harvesting system market has open up newer opportunities for companies. Coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) is a procedure for restoring the blood supply to the heart muscle due to blockage or narrowing of one or more coronary arteries. Traditionally, the technique involved in harvesting procedure was open vein harvesting (OVH) which involved a single continuous skin incision. With the recent advancement in technology, the process is less invasive by endoscopic vessel harvesting (EVH) this technique reduces leg wound morbidity because of small incisions compared to open vein harvesting. Endoscope is a medical instrument used for capturing a picture inside a hollow area, which is connected to a video camera and inserted through a small incision that is made in the leg. The saphenous vein inside the leg is viewed by the endoscope and helps the surgeon in identifying and to remove the vein with minimal pain to the leg.According to Center of Disease Control and Prevention, around 3,95,000 CABG surgeries were performed in the United States in 2013. The endoscopic vessel harvesting system market is mainly driven by the incidence and prevalence rate of coronary diseases. Moreover due to benefits such as less invasive modality, including a lower infection rate, fewer wound complications, improved cosmesis, and greater patient satisfaction physicians and patients are opting for this treatment. High pool of geriatric population and awareness programs among surgeons will drive the endoscopic vessel harvesting system market. However, endoscopic vessel harvesting system market has some restraints, lack of skilled professionals in the developing countries and unstable reimbursement regulations are hampering the growth of endoscopic vessel harvesting system in developing countries. Apart from this the presence of alternative therapies may hinder the growth of the endoscopic vessel harvesting systems market.Request Report Sample@The Global endoscopic vessel harvesting system market is segmented on the basis of product type and regional presence:Segmentation based on product typeDisposableReusableGeographically the endoscopic vessel harvesting system market is segmented into five key regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific and MEA region.CABG is most common type of heart surgery performed in North America region as per University of Michigan. North America followed by Europe are currently leading in the endoscopic vessel harvesting system market as high incidence of coronary disease due to sedentary lifestyle pattern adopted in these region and availability of all the types of minimally invasive CABG surgeries. The endoscopic vessel harvesting system market in Asia Pacific is expected to deliver tremendous growth due to the growth in per capita income in Asian countries and increase in medical tourism industry. With the growing access of public with healthcare professional and expanding economy china is expected to be the fastest growing market for endoscopic vessel harvesting system.Request For TOC@Some major companies in the endoscopic vessel harvesting system market are Maquet Holding B.V. & Co. KG., OLYMPUS CORPORATION, Terumo Cardiovascular Systems Corporation., Med Europe S.r.l. (Elite Life Care), Sorin Group Inc., Saphena Medical, Inc and Terumo Cardiovascular Systems Corporation.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.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:
Suspended Lamps Market 2017 - SPI Lighting, Ligman Lighting, Lumenpulse, Paber Srl, ASTEL LIGHTING, Ares, KARMAN, Lombardo

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https://goo.gl/d9nf6u

http://www.apexresearch.biz/

A market study based on the "Suspended Lamps Market" across the globe, recently added to the repository of Market Research, is titled Global Suspended Lamps Market 2017. The research report analyses the historical as well as present performance of the worldwide Suspended Lamps industry, and makes predictions on the future status of Suspended Lamps market on the basis of this analysis.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here :Top Manufacturers Analysis Of This ReportSPI LightingLigman LightingLumenpulsePaber SrlASTEL LIGHTINGBOVER BarcelonaAresKARMANLombardoPUK LIGHTINGRoger PradierZEROIvela spaHiveFaro BarcelonaArtemideBEL-LIGHTINGCivic S.r.lDELTA LIGHTIndelague SAThe report studies the industry for Suspended Lamps across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Suspended Lamps market & dynamics of demand and supply of Suspended Lamps into consideration. The 'Suspended Lamps' research study covers each and every aspect of the Suspended Lamps market globally, which starts from the definition of the Suspended Lamps industry and develops towards Suspended Lamps market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Suspended Lamps market is classified and analyzed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Suspended Lamps market. The geographical segmentation of the Suspended Lamps industry has also been covered at length in this report.The competitive landscape of the worldwide market for Suspended Lamps is determined by evaluating the various industry participants, production capacity, Suspended Lamps market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Suspended Lamps market worldwide.Enquire Here :The global Suspended Lamps market 2017 is also analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Suspended Lamps production volume, data regarding demand and Suspended Lamps supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, and market attractiveness analysis has been used in the research to present a comprehensive study of the industry for Suspended Lamps across the globe.About UsWe provide global enterprises and businesses across different industry verticals comprehensive market research services from off-the-shelf research reports to customized research conducted by our highly experienced industry analysts.Contact UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development HeadEmail id - sales@apexresearch.bizWebsite -
Ductless Heating and Cooling Systems Market : The report provides company profiles of the major players in the industry

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https://www.tmrresearch.com/ductless-heating-cooling-systems-market

Global Ductless Heating and Cooling Systems Market: OverviewThe global market for ductless heating and cooling systems is estimated to register a healthy growth rate in the next few years. The rising demand from the construction industry, especially from developing economies is likely to accelerate the growth of the overall market in the next few years. Furthermore, the development of new product and technological developments are anticipated to supplement the markets growth in the next few years. The research study has provided a detailed analysis of the market, focusing on the key growth factors that are estimated to encourage the growth of the market. Moreover, the key segmentation and the competitive scenario of the market have also been included in the study.Global Ductless Heating and Cooling Systems Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe rising demand for energy efficient devices and the rapid pace of infrastructure development across diverse nations worldwide are some of the major factors anticipated to fuel the growth of the global ductless heating and cooling systems market in the next few years. In addition, the increasing income of consumers and their rising inclination towards enhancing their lifestyles are expected to accelerate the growth of the overall market in the next few years.Request a Brochure of the Report @On the contrary, the requirement of high initial cost and lower capacity of ductless heating and cooling systems in comparison with ducted air conditioners are projected to curtail the growth of the global market in the coming years. Moreover, several concerns related to the government regulations for refrigerant are likely to restrict the growth of the overall market. Nevertheless, the rising awareness among consumers regarding the concern for indoor air quality and the rising use of ecofriendly refrigerant are expected to contribute towards the development of the market.Global Ductless Heating and Cooling Systems Market: Region-wise OutlookFrom a geographical perspective, in 2015, Asia Pacific led the global ductless heating and cooling systems market and is anticipated to remain in the topmost position throughout the forecast period. The robust growth of the Asia Pacific market can be attributed to the tremendously rising population and the economic growth in several developing economies. In addition, a substantial contribution from India, China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, and Indonesia is expected to contribute extensively towards the development of the Asia Pacific market in the coming years.Request for TOC of the Report @Furthermore, the increasing use of ductless heating and cooling systems in commercial and residential buildings is anticipated to accelerate the growth of the market in the near future. The rising demand for ductless heating and cooling systems from China and the untapped opportunities in India are projected to fuel the growth of the overall market in the next few years. The research report has provided the market share, size, and growth rate of the regional segments in order to offer a clear picture of the global market.Key Players Mentioned in the Research Report are:At present, the global ductless heating and cooling systems market is highly competitive and fragmented in nature. The entry of new players in the global market is expected to result in a stiff competition among key players throughout the forecast players. Some of the prominent players operating in the ductless heating and cooling systems market across the globe are Daikin Industries Ltd., LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Whirlpool Corporation, Trane, Electrolux, Johnson Controls, United Technologies Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, and Hitachi, Ltd.Read Complete Report @The research study offers an in-depth competitive landscape of the global ductless heating and cooling systems market. The company profiles of the leading players in the market have been provided, along with their financial overview and business strategies. In addition, the SWOT analysis, recent developments, and mergers and acquisitions if any have been listed in the scope of the research study.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
CHARLES CITY  Betty Kluwe, 82, of Charles City, died Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017, at Faith Lutheran Home in Osage, Iowa.

A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017, at Hauser Funeral Home in Charles City with Pastor Wendy Johannesen from West St. Charles United Methodist Church in rural Charles City officiating.

Inurnment will be at Beckwith Cemetery at a later date.

A gathering of family and friends will be from 12:30 p.m. until the start of the service at the funeral home on Tuesday.

Hauser Funeral Home, in Charles City, is in charge of local arrangements.
Lavandula Oil (Lavender Oil) Market Growth, Trends, Absolute Opportunity and Value Chain 2016-2026

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1853

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1853

www.futuremarketinsights.com

Lavandula oil is extracted from the lavender flowers scientific known as Lavandula Angustifolia. Production of lavendula oil requires huge laborious work and help of distillation process, Lavandula oil (Lavender oil) is extracted. There are different methods from which this essential oil is extracted such as hydro distillation, steam distillation and solvent extraction. It is one of the expensive and versatile product among all essential oils. This product is gaining demand from cosmetic sector as it is used as a fragrance and in food industry it is used for flavoring purpose. Lavendula oil also has application in pharmaceutical industry where it is most used for therapies and to cure with other health diseases like diabetes, cold, cough etc.Market Dynamics of Lavandula Oil:Major driver behind increasing demand of lavendula oil in current market scenario is due to its fragrance and flavored eminence. Nowadays consumers are mostly influenced towards that product which has natural quality, organic in nature and also good for their health, due to which it has higher demand among growing economies of world. On the other side as per the current market trend, lavendula oil is trending in market because of its wide application in body care and beauty care products. This oil is mostly used in body creams, lotions, soaps, perfumes and many other cosmetic products. In addition to this, lavendula oil is also gaining demand from specialty food industry where consumers preferred to buy food and beverages which are rich in terms of natural ingredient, natural flavor, taste, aroma etc.Request Report Sample@Market Segmentation of Lavandula Oil:Lavendula oil market is segmented on two different basis as on the basis of application and distribution channel. Market segment as per application, it is segmented on the basis of its application in cosmetic, food and beverage and pharmaceutical. Among these application segment cosmetic and pharmaceutical segments are expected to contribute more that 50% market share and expected to grow at higher space. Another segment is on the basis of distribution channel which includes health and beauty stores, pharmacy and drug stores, online retailing and other (direct selling) distribution channels. On analyzing the demand of lavendula oil on pie, it was assessed that cosmetic industry acquires majority of share in terms of volume followed by the demand of lavendula oil in food and beverage industry. Primary reason behind its increasing demand of lavendula oil in global level market is due to its richness in natural quality and organic nature. Lavendula oil has wide application in products of cosmetic industry such as in perfumes, skin care, and hair care and in many other beauty care products. Demand of lavendula oil is also growing from food and beverage and pharmaceutical industry. In food and beverage industry, lavendula oil has primarily demand as a food flavoring like in dairy products, tea, culinary herb, jelly etc. and in pharmaceutical industry, lavendula oil is used for therapies, dermatitis, diabetes, cold, asthma, insect repellant and for many other purposes.Regional Outlook of Lavandula Oil Market:On the basis of regional outlook, lavendula oil market is segmented in seven different regions of world: America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Asia-Pacific region, Japan and Middle East and Africa. In lavendula oil market, Western Europe accounts majority of share in terms of volume contribution and from which Bulgaria is expected to be lucrative market in all over the world in terms of production of lavendula oil followed by Asia-Pacific region. On the other side, in terms of consumption North America is expected to be largest consumer of lavendula oil in the world.Request For TOC@Key Players in Lavandula Oil Market:Some of the key players operating in lavandula oil market are Young Living Essential Oils, d?TERRA, NOW Foods, Ovvio Oils, Enio Bonchev, Alteya Group, Alpha Aromatics, Mother Herbs Private Limited, Sydney Essential Oil Co. Pty Ltd and NHR Organic Oils are some of the major lavandula oil selling companies.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.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:
Steering Column Control Modules Market Growth, Trends, Absolute Opportunity and Value Chain 2016-2026

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2073

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2073

www.futuremarketinsights.com

Automobile design, operation, aesthetics and technology are continuously evolving and witnessing significant advancements. Previous designs and operations in automobiles included various switches for different purposes, which were simple in design but complex in operation. Especially, steering systems witnessed prominent advancements in past decade. Development of hybrid, electric and hydraulic steering are some of the examples. Integration of various operational switches for convenience in steering wheels and column is indeed a timely innovation, which can also be claimed as one amongst the important innovation in an automobile.It was never thought that someone could come up with an idea of Steering Column Control Module (SCCM) where one can control the switches very comfortably with ease while driving. The safety and the ease of driving an automobile has increased considerably due to the installation of steering column control modules on the steering wheel of vehicles.Request Report Sample@The module which controls the switches on or around/below the steering wheel are known as the steering column control modules. Typically, there are many electromechanical systems installed on the steering wheels nowadays in automobiles. A Steering column control module is mounted on the steering column but it is placed below the steering wheel, this steering column module is the main network for all the systems surrounding it. The operating switches known as the stalk lever switches, are positioned to the right and the left sides of the steering column control modules. The stalk lever switches and the controls which are mounted on the steering wheel and systems i.e. (sound controls buttons, cruise controls, horns, Bluetooth and hands free calling buttons and air bags) are all connected with the other system through the Steering Column Control Module. Typical assembly components of steering column control module includes circuit board, connectors and electrical wire cables for interconnection between the systems. The features and controls which are provided in the steering column control module are also dependent the type of the automobile i.e. Passenger Cars, Commercial Vehicles, Transport vehicles etc. Introduction of new technologies, comfort features and active safety systems in vehicles is expected to drive steering column control modules market in near future.Steering Column Control Modules Market dynamics:The market of steering column control module has been marked with presence of established players. A challenging task in steering column control modules market is to manufacture these modules as the interconnection between many components and the systems in the steering assembly. The automotive manufacturers are heavily dependent on the providers of the steering system owing to their technological expertise. Steering column control module market is witnessing continuous development from its providers with new ideas and innovation.Request For TOC@Increasing safety of vehicle occupants and pedestrians is one of the prime concerns of automakers and many manufacturers are trying to develop steering column control modules so that safety and comfort features are enhanced to a much higher level. As per the current scenario, steering column control modules have become integral part of automobiles. The increasing standard of cabin comfort level has triggered utilization of requirement specific or custom made steering column control modules in great demand and this is expected to provide significant boost in the near future. The market for the steering column control modules is expected to provide significant opportunities to component providers, integrators and original equipment manufacturers across the globe.Steering Column Control Modules Market segmentation:Steering Column Control Modules can be segmented by type of sales channel, by components position and automobile type.By sales channel,Steering Column Control Modules Market can be segmented as:Original equipment manufacturerAftermarketBy Component Position type, Steering Column Control Modules Market can be segmented as:On the Steering Wheel (Sound Control, Airbags, etc.)Around/Below the Steering Wheel (Stalk levers, i.e. Wiper control, Head light control etc.)By Automobile type, Steering Column Control Modules Market can be segmented as:Passenger carsCommercial vehiclesHeavy Trucks and BussesOff-road VehiclesSteering Column Control Modules Market: Regional Outlook:Steering Column Control Modules can be divided into seven different geographical regions/divisions such as North America, Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan, Middle East and Africa. The demand for steering column control modules is significant in Asia Pacific followed by Europe and North America owing to automotive steady rates of production volumes and sales. Owing to lack of production facilities in Middle East and Africa and relatively low production of vehicles in Latin America, the market potential of steering column control module is low. The Asian giant countries like India and China which have significant sales and production of automobiles are expected to witnessmomentous growth in steering column control module market in the coming years.Steering Column Control Modules Market: Key Players:ZF TRWLeopold Kostal Gmbh & Co. KGDelphi Automotive LLPIdiditNexteer AutomotiveValeoFuture 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.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:
Burn Care Market Worldwide Industry Volume By Region 2025

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https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=785

https://www.tmrresearch.com/burn-care-market

Global Burn Care Market: OverviewThe global burn care market is expected to witness healthy growth in the next few years, thanks to the growing awareness among consumers. The rising cases and the technological advancements in this field are estimated to accelerate the growth of the overall market in the near future. The research study further offers a comprehensive analysis of the global market and throws light on the key factors supplementing the markets growth. The key segmentation, latest trends, and the competitive scenario of the global burn care market have been discussed in the research report.Global Burn Care Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe rising number of cases of burn injuries across the globe is considered as one of the key reasons anticipated to fuel the growth of the global burn care market throughout the forecast period. In addition, the increasing awareness among patients regarding the effective medicines and products available for burn care and the rising healthcare expenditure are some of the other aspects expected to supplement the growth of the overall market in the next few years.Request a Brochure of the Report @On the flip side, the high cost of products and the increasing cost of burn care treatments are projected to restrict the growth of the global burn care market in the next few years. Nevertheless, the rising demand for skin grafts and substitutes and advancements in the burn acre products are estimated to accelerate the growth of the market in the near future. Moreover, the untapped opportunities in several developing markets are expected to offer growth prospects to key players operating in the global burn care market.Global Burn Care Market: Region-wise OutlookThe research study further offers a detailed analysis of the key regional segments of the global burn care market. Some of these segments are Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and the Rest of the World. The estimated growth rate and share of each segment have been included in the research study in order to offer a strong understanding to readers and market players. According to the research study, North America is likely to register a progressive growth rate throughout the forecast period and maintain its leading position. The high growth of this segment can be attributed to the increasing use of advanced dressings and the growing demand for biologics.Request for TOC of the Report @Furthermore, North America is expected to be followed by Europe and Asia Pacific in the next few years. The rising awareness regarding the availability of effective burn care products and treatments among consumers, especially in emerging economies is estimated to fuel the overall growth of the burn care market in the near future. Moreover, the rising contribution from India, China, and Japan is predicted to accelerate the growth of the Asia Pacific burn care market in the forecast period.Key Players Mentioned in the Research Report are:The research study offers a clear picture of the competitive landscape of the global burn care market. The leading players operating in the market have been listed, along with their profiles to guide the new entrants of the global burn care market. In addition, the product portfolio, business strategies, financial overview, SWOT analysis, and the recent developments have been highlighted in the scope of the research study.Read Complete Report @Some of the leading players mentioned in the research study are Deroyal Industries, Inc., Medtronic, Derma Sciences, Inc., Coloplast A/S, Convatec Healthcare B S.A.R.L., Molnlycke Health Care, Smith & Nephew PLC, Hollister, Inc., 3M, and Acelity L.P. Inc. These players are focusing on new product development in order to offer effective solutions to consumers. Technological developments in the healthcare field are further anticipated to encourage the growth of the global burn care market and attract the participation of new players across the globe.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Wound Closure Devices Market : Detailed Analyses Of Industry Trends & Key Players By Teleflex Medical, Smith & Nephew

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Wound closure devices are apparatus that help in closing a wound by pulling the edges of the wound tissue together and aid in healing. Devices such as sutures, staples, adhesives, mechanical wound closure devices and strips aid in lending strength and tissue to the wound tissue, minimize tissue trauma and reduce risk of infection and excess scaring.We cover the global wound closure devices market, discussing a detailed overview of the industry, its emergence, development and forecast. The industry has grown with the evolution of medical science and technology, and TMRs report tracks the growth of the market at its various stages. It highlights the major factors that have strongly influenced the market and helped increase its popularity and demand. It also identifies the challenges faced, while offering strategies and suggestions to overcome the same.For Any Queries Get Solutions With A PDF Sample :The report segments the market based on products, applications and geography, and also lists leading companies that operate in the global wounds closure devices market along with their financial and sales profiles.Overview of the global wound closure devices marketEach device has its own functions and needs, and may vary in design and size. Sutures, both absorbable and non-absorbable, dominate the wound closure devices market since they are used in almost every form of surgery. Sutures can be divided into two categories: braided and monofilament. While braided sutures are more commonly used due to better knot security, monofilaments are more popular in cardiovascular, neurological and ophthalmic surgeries. Companies have made constant efforts to come up with innovations to improve the quality of life for a patient. Firms that have headed the campaign for innovations include Abbott Vasculars ProGlide, Perclose and Prostar suture-mediated devices.Stapler devices have evolved from sutures, and though they possess the same function as sutures, the surgical procedure becomes easier and quicker using a stapling device. The market for stapler products has grown over the years since they are more precise, provide better safety and offer reduced recovery time than traditional sutures.In terms of demand, mechanical wound closure devices follow after sutures in the global market.However, with the demand for minimally invasive surgeries on the rise, the prospects for wound closure devices have dimmed. Minimal invasion means reduced usage of sutures, wound strips as well as mechanical wound closure devices. Minimally invasive surgeries also reduce the size of incisions made, thereby lowering the number of sutures required for closing otherwise large incisions.View exclusive Global strategic Business report :On the other hand, the rise in plastic and cosmetic surgeries has led to a subsequent increase in demand for synthetic absorbable sutures.Companies mentioned in the global wound closure devices market research reportThe key players in the wound closure devices market include Sutura Inc., Teleflex Medical, Smith & Nephew, Radi Medical Systems, Ethicon Inc. (Johnson & Johnson), Abbott Vascular, Derma Sciences, and NeatStitch Ltd.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Stationary Catalytic Systems Market Deep Research Study with Forecast by 2025

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Stationary catalytic systems help in reducing the harmful emissions such as hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides from power-plants as well as petro-chemical and other manufacturing industries. Besides destroying carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons with oxidation catalysts, these stationary catalytic systems can also capture fine particulate matter and are are built to withstand high operating temperatures or thermal shock. With the growing environmental concerns across the world, global stationary systems market is projected for a healthy growth rate during the forecast period of 2017 to 2025.Request a Brochure of the Report @This report on global market for stationary systems market is a comprehensive analysis of all the factors that are expected to impact the growth rate over the course of next few years, and presents estimations of the future scenario. Considering stringent guidelines set by several governments as a primary factor of this market, the report highlights some of the important regulations in place in various countries. One of the key feature of this report is the section on company profiles wherein some of the key players in this market have been analyzed for their market share, regional outreach, product portfolio, and recent strategic developments. The global stationary catalytic systems market can be segmented on the basis of technology into selective catalytic reduction and catalytic oxidation, and on the basis of application into power plants, chemical and petrochemicals, cement, and metal.Global Stationary Catalytic Systems Market: Drivers, Restraints, and OpportunitiesRegulations pertaining to GHG emission, which are getting stricter every passing year due to growing environmental concerns, is the primary driver for the market. For instance, in the U.S., regulations such as National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) is in place for industries to follow in order to reduce industrial pollutant emissions. Coal fired boiler replacement program in China is another recent development that will positively reflect on global stationary catalytic systems market. China, a country with vast population and landscapes, retrofitted 400,000 MW of existing coal-fired boilers with selective catalytic reduction in 2012. With an average life of 3 to 5 years, the country-wide market of china is expected to generate fresh demand for stationary catalytic systems during the forecast period. Some of the other factors complementing the growth rate are expanding adoption of oxidation catalysts to control pollutant emission from gas turbine power generators, varied application of catalytic incineration process at refining, chemical, metal, and food and beverage industry in Asia Pacific, escalating demand for electricity with growing population, and rapid industrialization.Request for TOC of the Report @The report detects that selective catalytic reduction segment has the maximum demand in terms of product segment while application-wise, power plant stationary catalytic systems dominate owing to electricity demand from the commercial, industrial, and residential sector.Global Stationary Catalytic Systems Market: Regional OverviewCountry-wide markets of China and India make Asia Pacific the most lucrative region, and with growing number of power plants, the region is anticipated to remain highly profitable through-out the forecast period. Government of India has set aside a budget of US$44 bn for the development of 35,000 km road across the country, which will augment the demand for stationary catalytic systems. France generates maximum demand from Europe market while Canada dominates North America market. Canadian government has pledged an investment of US$11.9 bn for the improvements of social infrastructure that is in sync with environment.Read Complete Report @Companies mentioned in the reportDCL International Inc., Johnson Matthey, BASF, CORMETECH, Amec Foster Wheeler, Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, MECA, APC technologies, Ducon Technologies, Air Clean LLC, and Hamon Corporation are some of the prominent names in global stationary catalytic systems market.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Global Hydrogen Generator Industry Analysis, Research, Trends 2015

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Global Hydrogen Generator Industry 2016 Market Overview, Size, Share, Trends, Analysis, Technology, Applications, Growth, Market Status, Demands, Insights, Development, Research and Forecast 2016-2020.This report on global Hydrogen Generator market is a research study that answers pertinent questions about the emerging trends and growth opportunities in this industry. It also identifies each of the prominent barriers to growth, apart from identifying the regional trends and trends within various application segments of the global market for Hydrogen Generator. Collecting historical and recent data from authentic resources, and based on all the factors and trends, the report presents a figurative estimation of the future of the market, along with compound annual growth rate (CAGR).To Get Free Sample Copy of Report visit @The study segments the market by geography into: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. It provides forecasts of revenue of the market as a whole as well as each application segment. The competitive landscape is mapped based on product and technology. This study also offers an overview of pricing trends and ancillary factors that will influence pricing in the global Hydrogen Generator market. The market study, estimation, and market sizing have been done utilizing a combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches.Of special value are the key recommendations and predictions by our analysts, intended to steer your strategic business decisions. The company profiles section of this research service is a compilation of the growth strategies, product portfolio, financial status, and recent developments of key market participants. The report provides detailed industry analysis of the global Hydrogen Generator market with the help of proven research methodologies such as Porters five forces. The forces analyzed are bargaining power of the buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, and the degree of competition.Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of Contents1 Industry Overview1.1 Definition and Specifications of Hydrogen Generator1.2 Classification of Hydrogen Generator1.3 Applications of Hydrogen Generator1.4 Industry Chain Structure of Hydrogen Generator1.5 Industry Regional Overview of Hydrogen Generator1.6 Industry Policy Analysis of Hydrogen Generator1.7 Industry News Analysis of Hydrogen Generator2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Hydrogen Generator2.1 Raw Material Suppliers and Price Analysis of Hydrogen Generator2.2 Equipment Suppliers and Price Analysis of Hydrogen Generator2.3 Labor Cost Analysis of Hydrogen Generator2.4 Other Costs Analysis of Hydrogen Generator2.5 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Hydrogen Generator2.6 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Hydrogen Generator3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Key Manufacturers in 20143.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Key Hydrogen Generator Manufacturers in 20143.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Hydrogen Generator Key Manufacturers in 20143.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Hydrogen Generator Key Manufacturers in 20144 Production Analysis of Hydrogen Generator by Regions, Technology, and Applications4.1 Global Production of Hydrogen Generator by Regions (US, EU, China, Japan, etc.) 2010-20154.2 Global Production of Hydrogen Generator by Technology 2010-20154.3 Global Production of Hydrogen Generator by Applications 2010-20154.4 Price Analysis of Global Hydrogen Generator Key Manufacturers in 20154.5 US Capacity, Production, Price, Cost and Revenue of Hydrogen Generator 2010-20154.6 EU Capacity, Production, Price, Cost and Revenue of Hydrogen Generator 2010-20154.7 Japan Capacity, Production, Price, Cost and Revenue of Hydrogen Generator 2010-20154.8 China Capacity, Production, Price, Cost and Revenue of Hydrogen Generator 2010-20154.9 US Supply, Import, Export and Consumption of Hydrogen Generator 2010-20154.10 EU Supply, Import, Export and Consumption of Hydrogen Generator 2010-20154.11 Japan Supply, Import, Export and Consumption of Hydrogen Generator 2010-20154.12 China Supply, Import, Export and Consumption of Hydrogen Generator 2010-20155 Sales and Revenue Analysis of Hydrogen Generator by Regions5.1 Global Sales of Hydrogen Generator by Regions (US, EU, China, Japan, etc.) 2010-20155.2 Global Revenue of Hydrogen Generator by Regions (US, EU, China, Japan, etc.) 2010-20155.3 Global Price Analysis of Hydrogen Generator Sales by Regions (US, EU, China, Japan, etc.) 2010-20155.4 Global Price, Cost and Gross of Hydrogen Generator 2010-2015For 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
Food Packaging Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast To 2023

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Food packaging market is by far the largest application segment of the packaging industry, accounting for more than one-third of the global packaging market. From a global perspective, the food packaging market is at a very interesting situation, where the market has almost reached a plateau in terms of technology in the more developed nations in North America and Europe, while the emerging countries of Asia Pacific region are playing catch up to the packaging technologies and food supply chain management. Different types of food products require varied packaging types according to their individual usage and perishability.Download Research Brochure PDF@The sea change in food habits and preference for processed food has propelled the food packaging market in the past. The market for packaged food has already reached a holistic level in North America and Western Europe, while rapid lifestyle changes and economic growth, coupled with rising population in Asia Pacific countries such as China and India, has spiked the growth rate of food packaging in the region. The growth rate in South America and the Middle East is also on the higher side compared to the developed economies. The main reason for increasing preference for processed food is the shifting population dynamics towards urban centers from rural areas. This has resulted in the advent of dual income urban families, who prefer processed food due to time constraints. Packaged food has evolved from super markets to neighborhood stores in countries such as China, India, Brazil and Thailand among others. The market dynamics in North America and Europe however, is governed by branding activities undertaken by food processing companies.Tremendous opportunity exist in the food packaging market in emerging economies as the food packaging technology is in its growth phase in this region. Antimicrobial packaging technique is of particular interest as it helps to improve the shelf life of perishable food products. The market is however, slightly restrained by the declining growth in North America and Europe.The food packaging market can be segmented into application segments such as convenience foods, confectionary items, dairy items, fruits and vegetables, meat and sauces and dressings. The popularity of the different food applications is different across the globe. For instance packaged meat is making foray into Asia Pacific region while it is mainstream in North America and Europe. Materials used to package food can also be segmented into plastic, paper & board, metal and glass. They may also be classified as rigid, semi-regid and flexible by type of packaging material. The preferences for different packaging materials also vary with regions due to the food habits specific to the regions. Flexible packaging accounts for the largest share of food packaging.North America is the largest food packaging market followed by Europe and Asia Pacific. However the growth rate exhibited by these regions has subsided considerably as the market is close to its peak. The growth parity is however, restored by the high growth regions of Asia Pacific and South America. China and India have exhibited exceptional growth potential and is expected to overtake the market leading position from North America in the near future.Some of the major players in the food packaging market are American Packaging Corporation, Anchor Packaging, Crown Holdings, Inc. and Bemis Company, Inc., among many others.Browse Full Report@About Us:-Transparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact Us:-Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com
Hydraulic Cylinder Market Trends, Size, Growth, Shares And Forecast Research Report 2025

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A hydraulic cylinder refers to a mechanical actuator that is utilized to provide unidirectional force through a unidirectional stroke. Powered by pressurized hydraulic fluid, hydraulic cylinders have extensive applications in construction, manufacturing, heavy industries, and agriculture.The research report presents a detailed assessment of market drivers, market challenges, growth trends that will impact the growth of the global hydraulic cylinder market during the forecast period. The report provides detailed insights into the vendor landscape of this market throwing light on the growth opportunities that leading players can leverage.Request a Brochure of the Report @Global Hydraulic Cylinder Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe top factor driving the global hydraulic cylinder market is rapid industrialization combined with economic growth in developing countries. The robust demand for modern agriculture equipment for improved productivity and conservation of energy is expected to augment the growth of the global hydraulic cylinders market. Furthermore, the evolution of food processing industries combined with the modernization of agricultural practices will fuel the demand for hydraulic cylinders in the coming years.Furthermore, the rising demand for material handling equipment for minimizing the risk of downtime will fuel the growth of the global hydraulic cylinder market in the near future. Material handling equipment such as electronic overhead traveling cranes and level luffing cranes are utilized across a large range of industries such as food and beverage, oil and gas, power, and retail.Request for TOC of the Report @In developed countries such as the U.S., large-scale initiatives for the exploration of shale gas is expected to benefit the markets growth. In industrial units, factors such as the expansion of production capacity and capacity utilization will also augment the growth of the hydraulic cylinder market.Global Hydraulic Cylinder Market: Regional OutlookThe global hydraulic cylinder market can be divided into the regional segments of North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. China is expected to contribute significantly to the growth of the Asia Pacific hydraulic cylinder market. This is mainly due to huge investments announced by the Chinese government in the infrastructure sector. The modernization of agricultural practices combined with increasing investment in infrastructure will lead India to contribute significantly to the Asia Pacific hydraulic cylinder market during the forecast period.In North America, the U.S. hydraulic cylinder market is expected to grow by leaps and bound. The increasing investment on defense and material handling and aerospace will further boost the industrys growth.Read Complete Report @Russia is anticipated to display significant gains in the hydraulic cylinder market. The increasing demand for modern agriculture and construction equipment will bolster the demand for hydraulic cylinders in the country. In Latin America, Brazil is expected to display significant demand for hydraulic cylinders. The increasing investment in transport infrastructure and government initiatives for the development of the transportation sector will boost the hydraulic cylinder market in this region.Major Companies Mentioned in ReportSome of the leading companies in the global hydraulic cylinder market are Wipro Infrastructure Engineering, Best Metal Products, Eaton Corporation PLC, Lignon Industries LLC, Hydrapac Italia, Chapel Hydraulic, Bailey International LLC, Enerpac Corp., Parker-Hannifin Corporation, Texas Inc., Hydrosila, Weber-Hydraulik Group, Bosch Rexroth AG, Aggresssive Inc., Hannon LLC, Perfection Prince Manufacturing Corporation, Burnside Autocyl (Tullow) Ltd, United Hydraulics, Caterpillar Inc., Hyco International Inc., Precision group Inc., Norrhydro OY, and Pacoma GmbH.Each of the companies is profiled for their business attributes of competitive position, technological developments, financial standing, and SWOTs.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Cloud ERP Market Expected to Show Steady Growth 2017 - 2025

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Global Cloud ERP Market: OverviewThe global cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) market is expected to display double-digit growth rate in the coming years. Businesses are increasingly integrating cloud-based ERP applications with conventional ones, thereby creating hybrid ERP systems that can support new business models and can be scaled to serve new customer demands.The cloud ERP market can be segmented by function, organization site, component, deployment mode, vertical, and region. In terms of function, finance is projected to display the highest growth rate in the coming years; this is mainly due to the need for efficient and reliable management of different financial activities such as assets management, cash flow management, accounting, and investments. However, operations stood as the largest function segment in the recent years due to the exponentially increasing demand for such solutions from various industry verticals for the execution of business processes.Request a Brochure of the Report @In terms of component, managed services is expected to display the highest growth rate in the coming years, while professional services is expected to account for the largest share of the overall market. Furthermore, consulting professional services is expected to exhibit the highest growth rate in the coming years. In the recent past, implementation services accounted for a major share in the cloud professional services market due to the complexities involved in their integration with existing systems.The report on the global cloud ERP market looks into the various growth factors and market opportunities along with factors holding back the markets growth. The meticulous segmentation of the market covered in this report helps to comprehend the growth prospects of different segments, which in turn, assist to make strategic moves in this industry.Request for TOC of the Report @Global Cloud ERP Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe rising adoption of cloud services and mobile applications along with the increasing demand from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to attain optimum business process efficiency and transparency are the major factors driving the global cloud ERP market.An increasing demand from SMEs and large enterprises from diverse industry verticals for hosted ERP services and solutions is further propelling the growth of the cloud ERP market. The increasing support from governments across the world for the advancement of IT infrastructure across enterprises is expected to boost the demand for such solutions.Global Cloud ERP Market: Regional OutlookThe global cloud ERP market can be divided into the regional segments of North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. North America followed by Europe account for the largest revenue contribution to the global market. This is mainly due to the presence of established cloud ERP vendors and service providers in these regions. This is complemented with the early adoption of innovative technological solutions in the developed economies of the U.S., the U.K., and Canada.Read Complete Report @However, Asia Pacific is projected to emerge as the fastest growing region in the global cloud ERP market due to the ever-increasing adoption of such solutions across both large and SMEs in this region.Global Cloud ERP Market: Competitive OutlookSome of the leading companies that offer cloud ERP solutions and services worldwide are Microsoft Corporation, SAP SE, Sage Software Inc., Intacct Corporation, PLex Systems Inc., Oracle Corporation, Infor, Epicor Software Corporation, Finacialforce.com, and Ramco Systems. The report looks into the both inorganic and organic growth strategies that have been employed by key vendors in this market. This includes innovative product launches, partnerships and collaborations, and mergers and acquisitions to expand their portfolio in the global cloud ERP market.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Global Bismuth Market to be Worth US$ 400.0 Million by 2024 End

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Global demand for bismuth is expected to grow at a Y-o-Y growth rate of 4.9% by 2016 end. China is a major consumer, producer, and exporter of bismuth and is anticipated to maintain its dominance in the global market in the near future. The country is estimated to account for 27.0% share of overall bismuth sales by the end of 2016. The increasing use of bismuth oxide in growing manufacturing industries is anticipated to drive consumption in the region. The rapid growth of the automobile end-use industry is expected to drive further market growth.A sample of this report is available upon request:Increasing environmental regulations regarding lead usage in various end-use industries would drive demand for bismuth and bismuth derived compounds. Stringent regulations and initiatives by leading manufacturers in end-use industries to phase out lead production is expected to spur bismuth market growth. Major paints & coatings manufacturers such as BASF SE and PPG Inc. are actively offering bismuth-based products replacing their lead based portfolio, in order to provide environmentally-friendly product offerings.The bismuth market in APAC is anticipated to witness higher growth rates due to increasing manufacturing activities in China and India. Demand in Europe is also anticipated to be above average due to stringent lead restricting directives in the region, while demand in North America, Latin America, and MEA is expected to be moderate. Declining lead production due to regulations and declining consumption of lead-acid batteries is anticipated to be a major restricting factor for the global market. The increasing use of bismuth alternatives in pharmaceuticals and alloys is also a major obstacle to market growth.Hunan Jinwang Bismuth Industry Co. Ltd., Hunan Bismuth Co. Ltd., and Nui Phao Mining Company Limited are some of the top producers of bismuth, with a cumulative annual production capacity of 11,000 metric tons.Request to view Table of Content:...PMR Long-term Outlook on Global Bismuth Market: The global bismuth market is expected to reach US$ 400.0 Mn expanding at a CAGR of 6.7% during the forecast period (20162024). Asia Pacific is anticipated to be the largest market for bismuth, with a market share of 46% in overall sales by the end of 2024.To Buy Full Report for a Single User:About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
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Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide Market - Startup Strategy Resources, Business Plan, Manufacturers,Supply, Revenue

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Global Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide Market: OverviewHydrogen peroxide is chiefly used in several industries due to its bleaching properties. Its day-to-day use is found in washing powders as well. Hydrogen peroxide is vastly brought into use to make sodium perborate and sodium percarbonate, which acts as bleaching agents in liquid and solid detergents.The global industrial hydrogen peroxide market can be classified on the basis of function into sterilizing/disinfecting, oxidizing, bleaching, and propulsion. Based on end-use industry, the market may be segmented into chemical synthesis, water and wastewater treatment, healthcare and personal care, pulp and paper, food processing, textile, and electronics and semiconductor.Request a Brochure of the Report @In the report, TMR Research provides a detailed analysis of drivers and restrictions in the global industrial hydrogen peroxide market. It also offers insight to the various segments and regions of the market.Global Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide Market: Key TrendsOn the basis of function, bleaching will hold a prominent share in the global industrial hydrogen peroxide market. This particular function is rising due to its excessive usage in the pulp and paper and textile industries. To achieve the desired brightness suitable for magazine papers, board and tissue products, bleaching of pulp and paper becomes more than necessary, thereby increasing the significance of the bleaching function of industrial hydrogen peroxide. Furthermore, industrial hydrogen peroxide is favored for bleaching of cotton fabrics to accomplish the preferred whiteness after the removal of the catalyst.The pulp and paper industry is a key contributor to the growth of the global industrial hydrogen peroxide market and is expected to grow at a higher rate during the said period. Industrial hydrogen peroxide is used for bleaching of mechanical pulp, chemical pulp, and recycled pulp (de-inking). With the help of industrial hydrogen peroxide in the pulp and paper industry, bleaching increases brightness stability, improves brightness levels, and reduces manufacturing cost, as it is the only chemical required. In addition, with the use of hydrogen peroxide, dangerous halogenated composites and effluents present in pulp are reduced and the color of the effluent is also lightened.Request for TOC of the Report @Industrial hydrogen peroxide achieves better results in oxidizing, bleaching, sterilizing/disinfecting, and etching applications than its alternatives present in the market and it is also environment friendly. However, there are numerous limitations of industrial hydrogen peroxide. If eyes are exposed to industrial hydrogen peroxide with a concentrations of 5% or more, it can result in permanent loss of vision. Moreover, skin exposure can cause burns, painful blisters, and skin whitening, restricting the growth of the global industrial hydrogen peroxide market.Global Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide Market: Regional OverviewGeographically, the global industrial hydrogen peroxide market can be segmented into North America, South America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa. Asia Pacific held a significant share in the market in 2015 and is projected to continue its positive streak through 2025. In the Asia Pacific region, China is presently an immensely strong player in the industrial hydrogen peroxide market. The key factors driving the growth include increasing demand from the pulp and paper, textile, and chemical industries and the rising need for environment-friendly and chlorine-free bleaches. India and Japan are two other promising markets for industrial hydrogen peroxide in Asia Pacific.Read Complete Report @Global Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide Market: Key PlayersThe report profiles key players in the global industrial hydrogen peroxide market based on various attributes such as company overview, business strategies, recent development, and financial overview. Some of the players in the market are BASF SE, The Dow Chemical Company, Ecolab Inc., Solvay SA, AkzoNobel N.V., Evonik Industries AG, Kemira Oyj, Arkema SA, Merck Group, and Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Inc.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Corporate Office State Tower 90 State Street, Suite 700 Albany, NY 12207,United StatesContact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Cardiovascular Drugs Market Explores New Growth Opportunities By 2021

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Cardiovascular diseases, also known as heart diseases, are diseases of heart and circulatory system. Some of the most common cardiovascular diseases are hypertensive heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, cerebrovascular heart disease, ischemic heart disease and inflammatory heart disease. Hypertensive heart disease occurs due to high blood pressure. Major problems associated with hypertensive heart disease include heart failure, hypertrophy, coronary heart disease and angina. Rheumatic heart disease is caused by rheumatic fever. Rheumatic fever occurs by preceding group A streptococcal infection. It is one of the most common acquired heart diseases in children in many countries of the world, especially in developing countries.A sample of this report is available upon request @Cerebrovascular disease affects blood vessels of the brain. Most common types of cerebrovascular disease are vascular dementia, stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage and transient ischemic attack (TIA). Ischemic heart disease is characterized by reduced blood supply to the heart. It is one of the most common causes of death in western parts of the world. Inflammatory heart disease occurs due to the infection of bacteria and virus. This type of inflammation is often associated with episodes of rheumatic fever and kawasaki disease.The global cardiovascular drugs market is categorized based on various anti-hypertensive drugs, anti-dyslipidemics drugs and anti-thrombotics drugs. Anti-hypertensive drug segment is further sub-segmented into Diovan/Co-Diovan, Blopress, Benicar/Benicar HCT, Micardis/Micardis HCT, Aprovel/CoAprovel, Tekturna/Rasilez, Edarbi, Cozaar/Hyzaar, Norvasc, Exforge/Exforge HCT, Coversyl and Seloken/Toprol-XL. Anti-dyslipidemics drug segment includes Lipitor, Crestor, Niaspan, TriCor/Trilipix, Zetia/Vytorin and Tredaptive. Anti-thrombotics drug segment is further sub-segmented into Plavix, Lovenox, Pradaxa, Xarelto, Brilique/Brilinta and Eliquis.In terms of geographic, North America dominates the global cardiovascular drugs market. This is due to increased awareness about various heart diseases in the region. The U.S. represents the largest market for cardiovascular drugs followed by Canada in North America. In Europe, Germany, the U.K., Spain, Italy and France holds major share of cardiovascular drugs market. However, Asia is expected to show high growth rates in the next five years in global cardiovascular drugs market. This is due to many companies constructing their R&D facilities in the region. Less stringent wages and availability of skilled labor attracts manufacturing companies to invest in Asia. In addition, increasing awareness about heart related problems is also supporting in the growth of cardiovascular drugs market in the region. Japan, China and India are expected to be the fastest growing cardiovascular drugs markets in Asia.In recent time, increasing prevalence of heart diseases and extensive pipeline drugs are some of the major drivers of global cardiovascular drugs market. Increasing aging population and rising number of life-style diseases are also contributing in the growth of global cardiovascular drugs market. Rising number of diabetic patients holds immense potential to the growth of global cardiovascular drugs market.However, stringent regulations and side-effects of cardiovascular drugs hamper the growth of global cardiovascular drugs market. Moreover, patent expiry of various blockbuster drugs also obstructs the growth of the global cardiovascular drugs market. Increasing mergers and acquisitions between drug manufacturing companies and rapid product launches are key trends of the global cardiovascular drugs market.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Some of the major companies operating in the global cardiovascular drugs market are Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Abbott Laboratories Inc., AstraZeneca PLC, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Novartis AG, Forest Laboratories Inc., Bayer AG, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., GlaxoSmithKline plc, Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd., Pfizer Inc. and Solvay SA.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.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
STAMOD Engineering Announces Innovative Product Design & Engineering Services

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Chicago, IL  STAMOD Engineering, a portfolio company of ALCOR Fund and a product designing and development company based in Chicago, Illinois, announces a creative and innovative assortment of services. STAMOD is a leader in engineering and technology solutions, specializing in product engineering services and R&D services with integrated prototype solutions. The advanced services launched by STAMOD Engineering offer all-inclusive and competitive engineering and design services that assist the clients in achieving high-quality products with international design standards.Tooling, Designing & Engineering Services Offered by STAMOD:STAMOD Engineering based in Chicago, IL, and its Indian wing provides niche technology and engineering solutions with easy customization options to suit all the designing needs of the clients. STAMOD is a portfolio company of ALCOR Fund and has a geographical reach spanning from North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East & Africa. The primary focus of STAMOD is towards offering value driven solutions that bring the best results for the clients. The company has a proven track record of having excellent product turnaround time, achieved by a team of engineers with affluent experience and expertise.The company has invested in setting up new offshore wings and advanced technology tools to offer quick turnaround speed for the esteemed clientele that comprises of Tier 1, Tier 2 companies and OEMs from various industrial verticals including Aerospace, Automotive, Medical, Robotics and such others for high-speed product design and development. STAMODs accomplished engineers have a vast experience in designing critical product features and determination in providing the clients with high-end, customized technology solutions. The products and services offered by STAMOD Engineering include: Drone Design Engineering Analysis & Validation Knowledge-Based Engineering Legacy Data Conversion Manufacturing Support & Tooling Multibody Dynamics New Product Design & Development Plant Engineering Predictive Engineering Prototype & Production Mold Manufacturing Rapid Tooling Robotics Precision Prototyping Sustenance Engineering Tool Designing Value Analysis & Value EngineeringAbout STAMOD:STAMOD Engineering is a niche engineering and technology solutions provider serving global corporations in their pursuit for faster innovation and technological excellence. STAMOD Engineering provides Product Engineering Services, R&D Services with integrated prototype solutions customized to specific needs of every individual customer. The high-quality engineers, proactive support, professionalism, and flexible business models are the hallmarks of our solutions.STAMOD Engineering is driven by talented and passionate engineers guided by seasoned technocrats with several years of international experience. Strategically located in Pune, India, best known as the hub for Engineering, we primarily cater to the needs of organizations based out of the USA, Canada, Europe, and India.When it comes to leveraging globalized development approach, STAMOD Engineering partnered with global companies to provide integrated solutions. We commit and deliver high quality, faster and innovative solutions coupled with cost-effectiveness and productivity.Visit:Contact:Stamod Engineering Solutions Inc.8770, West Bryn Mawr, Suite 1300,Chicago, Illinois 60631Email: services@stamod.comTel: +1 800 507 4489/773 896 1531Fax: +1 512 605 3795
Cell Expansion Market is worth USD 7.96 billion in 2016 and is expected to reach USD 18.74 billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 15.3%

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https://www.scalarmarketresearch.com/market-reports/stem-cell-therapy-market

https://www.scalarmarketresearch.com/market-reports/synthetic-biology-market

According to the new market research report, "Cell Expansion Market, by Products (Consumable, Instruments, Automated Cell Expansion System), Cells Types (Human, Animal), Applications (Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, Cancer, and Cell-Based Research), End-users (Biopharmaceutical and Biotechnology Companies, Research Institutes, Cell Banks) - Global Revenue, Trends, Growth, Share, Size and Forecast to 2022", published by Scalar Market Research, the global cell expansion market is expected to reach USD 18.74 billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 15.30% from 2016 to 2022. According to the report, the market is expected to be worth USD 7.96 billion in the year 2016.The global cell expansion market report offers in-depth analysis of the market size (revenue), market share, major market segments, different geographic regions, key players, premium insights, technology trends and forecast to 2022. It also focuses on the key drivers and opportunities in this market.Browse Report Summary:Buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.Key findings of the report:1. The growing instances of various chronic diseases and disorders are expected to drive the research and development activities, driving the cell expansion market growth.2. The rapid technological advancements and the strong rise in the government funding are also expected to be some of the major driving factors for the growth of the cell expansion market during the forecast period.3. According to the report, the cell expansion market is also expected to witness major boost with the increasing cost-effective instruments used for cell-based research.Flow cytometers projected to witness the fastest growth in the cell expansion marketAccording to the cell expansion market report, the flow cytometers are expected to dominate the product segment during the forecast period. The bioreactors are also expected to witness significant growth in the market in the next few years. The growing research and development activities are attributed as one of the major driving factors for these products during the forecast period.Asia-Pacific region expected to dominate the cell expansion marketWhile the North America region is expected to hold the largest share of the global cell expansion market, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR. This growth of the Asia-Pacific region is attributed to the rising demand, increased investments in the stem cell therapy market, and growth in the number of aging population.Request Sample:The cell expansion market report provides analysis of the key players, including:1. Beckman Coulter, Inc.2. Becton, Dickinson and Company3. GE Healthcare4. Lonza Group5. Merck KGaA6. Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.7. Corning IncorporatedBrowse Related Reports:Stem Cell Therapy Market, by Treatments (Allogeneic Stem Cell Therapy, Autologous Stem Cell Therapy), Applications (Oncology, Eye Diseases, Central Nervous System Diseases, Musculoskeletal Diseases, Wound & Injuries, Metabolic Disorders, Cardiovascular Disorders, Immune System Disorders), End-users (Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgical Centers) - Global Revenue, Trends, Growth, Share, Size and Forecast to 2022Synthetic Biology Market, by Product (Core Products and Enabling Products), Application (Chemical, Healthcare and Agriculture), Technology (Genome Engineering, DNA Sequencing, Bioinformatics and Biological Components and Integration Systems) - Global Revenue, Trends, Growth, Share, Size and Forecast to 2022ABOUT US:Scalar Market Research Inc. aspires to assist organizations from around the world to achieve their business goal with premium market research reports and consulting services. Our real-time industry tracking with the help of advanced analytics offers a crystal clear view of all the activities in niche markets. Our team, with thorough global understanding, works relentlessly to gather the necessary market insights, including customer analysis, competitions and global forecast.CONTACT:Moses Nakka8770 W Bryn Mawr Ave.,Suite 1300Chicago, IL 60631Tel.: +1-800-213-5170 (U.S./Canada Toll-free)Email: sales@scalarmarketresearch.com
Lingerie Market: Global Analysis 2024; Online Stores Take over Global Market!

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Lingerie market has been growing at a steady rate over the past few years as lingerie is considered to be a necessity to every woman across the globe. The dependency on lingerie for functional as we as for fashion purposes has been propelling the growth of the market in recent years. Owing to these reasons, the report states that the global lingerie market was valued at US$33.18 bn in 2015 and is expected to be worth US$55.83 bn by the end of 2024. The global market is estimated to rise at a CAGR of 6.4% during the forecast period of 2016 and 2024 due to various growth drivers that have been carefully studied in this research report.Download PDF Brochure:Availability of Broad Product Range to Fuel Growth of Lingerie MarketThe global lingerie market is expected to grow at a steady pace due to the wide availability of these products. Today, lingerie can be bought online as well as through retail stores. With the help of accurate size charts and description lingerie can be purchased through online shopping with the option of exchanging or returning it if it does not fit. Thus, the convenience of shopping has also boosted the growth of the global market. Analysts state that the broad product range that suits every budget has also lured in bigger consumer base in the global lingerie market. Furthermore, continuous efforts to improve the materials used for making various types of lingerie, research and development, and strong branding have all favored the growth of the global market in recent years.On the basis of product types, the global lingerie market is segmented into bra, knickers and panties, loungewear, shape wear and others. The report indicates that the bra segment holds the biggest share in the global market due to its indispensable usage. The knickers and panties segment too is expected to make a significant contribution to the overall market as these are considered essential items of an attire as well.Online Stores Take over Global Market as they Offer Convenience of ShoppingOn the basis of distribution channel, the market is segmented into channel into online stores and storefront. Online stores dominated the global lingerie market in 2015 as they offer convenience, varieties, wide range of discounts, offers, and coupons. Online stores are gaining importance due to penetration of internet that provides a strong platform to the customers to make easy purchases. Further, the due to the rapid penetration of premium range of smart phones among the young population is expected to drive the e-commerce segment thereby promoting online retail.Store front refer to shopping within supermarkets and hypermarkets and departmental and convenience stores. The emergence of online shopping and e-commerce is going to weigh down on this segment in both developing as well as developed countries. However, the adult female population that is not yet familiar with using technology for making purchases is expected to drive this segment in the coming years. A strong presence of a fashion-conscious female population is expected to drive this regional market in the near future.Europe to Lead Global Market with Presence of Fashion-conscious ConsumersIn terms of geography, the global lingerie market sprawls over regions such as Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa, Latin America, and Asia Pacific. Analysts project that Europe is expected to lead the global lingerie market in the coming few years.The key players operating in the global lingerie market are Jockey International Inc., Wisconsin, Hanes, Groupe Chantelle, LVMH, L Brands Inc., MAS Holdings Limited, Ann Summers, Marks and Spencer, and PVH Corporation among others.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Pine Wood Market Sales Analysis and Opportunity 2017 to 2021

Pine Wood

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The survey report by Market Research Store is an overview of the global Pine Wood market. It covers all the recent trends including key developments in the global market in present and in future. Analyses of the global Pine Wood market trends along with the projections of CAGRs (compound annual growth rates) are provided in the research report.Further, an evaluation of the history of the global market and the basic information of the global market is included in the report. A developmental perspective of the industry is also documented in the report. Competitive profiles of the key players in the industry are also discussed.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The research report provides both an assessment of recent developments in the industry along with forecasts examining the industry from the perspective of major competitors, present players and prospective end users in the Pine Wood market.Forecasts are generated on the basis of region, type, product, supply, demand, and other vital factors of the global market. The research report analyzed the major factors driving the global Pine Wood market in various countries with a satisfactory and manufacturing and structure of the global market. Forecasts are also provided region-wise in the research report.The research report comprises several chapters, tables, figures, graphs, and various other presentations formats so as to provide a precise overview of the market. The sequence of the report is maintained in such a way that highlights the overall flow of the global market. Recent developments in the global market are further described in the research report. The report also summarizes latest trends along with abstracts of the Pine Wood market. Major competitors of the global market including commercial and non-commercial participants in the global market are also covered in the report.Inquiry For Bying Report @Thus, the research report provides in-depth analysis covering all the major regions, competitors, and vital aspects of the Pine Wood industry.About Us:MarketResearchStore.com is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Contact US:Joel JohnSuite #8138, 3422 SW 15 Street,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803
Packaging Coatings Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2024

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Packaging plays a significant role in every manufacturing process. Manufacturers and packers are paying noteworthy attention to packaging for ensuring product safety, ease in supply chain, promoting sales, and increasing consumer convenience. Hence, packaging coatings plays a major role in improving the packaging process with a view to attain the above mentioned attributes. Packaging coating not only helps enhance the packaging process by providing additional protection, corrosion resistance, and numerous chemical attributes, but also helps in improving the overall aesthetic characteristics of the packaging form. The growing application areas of packaging are estimated to benefit the global packaging coatings market. Changing lifestyle and food habits are estimated to be the major reasons for the rise of the food and beverages sector, which is a major application segment for the global packaging coating market. Rise in consumption and manufacturing of PET bottles is also estimated to be a major growth contributor for the global packaging coating market.Download Research Brochure PDF@The global packaging coatings market is primarily driven by the growth witnessed in the packaging industry. Global, the packaging industry is estimated to expand at CAGR of 4% over the forecast period. The growing scope of packaging in various products, especially in consumer goods and food and beverages industry, is estimated to further drive growth of the globally packaging coatings market in the coming years. The increasing need for maintaining original quality and taste and keeping a check on contamination are pushing manufacturers to use packaging coatings, especially in the food and beverages market. On the other hand, stringent government laws and regulations, especially in terms of food and beverages packaging, is expected to restrain growth of the global packaging coatings market in the coming years. Besides, increasing concern and awareness regarding the side effects of chemicals used in coatings of cans and bottles among both, manufacturers and end users, is anticipated to further restrain growth of the global packaging coatings market in the coming years.Growth opportunity for players operating in the global packaging coatings market lies in the usage of environmentally safe and organic materials, which could be reuse and recycled, in the production of packaging products.The global packaging coatings market is segmented on the basis of packaging type, resin type, end use sector, and regions. On the basis of packaging type, the global packaging coatings market is segmented into rigid packaging coatings and flexible packaging coatings. On the basis of resin type, the global packaging coatings market is segmented into Epoxy, Acrylic, Phenolic, Amino, Vinyl, Polyurethane, Polyester, and others. On the basis of substrate type, the global packaging coatings market is segmented into glass, metal (cans, containers, and sheets), plastic (PET bottles, jars, and others), and paper. On the basis of end use sector, the global packaging coatings market is segmented into food and beverage sector, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, industrial goods, and others.On the basis of geography, the global packaging coatings market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), the Middle East and Africa (MEA), and Latin America. North America is anticipated to be the largest market for global packaging coatings due to rise in food packaging practices, especially in the can segment in the region. Asia is anticipated to contribute significantly towards growth of the global packaging coatings market in the coming years, due to the increasing demand for packaging coatings in the packaged food and consumer goods segments in the region. Latin America is estimated to be the leading consumer of packaging coatings after Asia Pacific. The Latin America market is expected to be followed by the Europe market. The Middle East and Africa market is estimated to exhibit sluggish growth in the global packaging coatings market.Some of the major players in the global packaging coatings market are PPG Industries, Inc., The Valspar Corporation. , Akzo Nobel N.V., Allnex Belgium SA/NV, Wacker Chemie AG, BASF SE, ARKEMA GROUP, Axalta Coating Systems, LLC, W. R. Grace and Company, The Dow Chemical Company, Mantrose-Haeuser Co., Inc., and Sun Coating Company.Browse Full Report@About Us:-Transparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact Us:-Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com
Global Consumer Camera Drones Market Analysis, Growth, Shares, Strategies and Forecasts 2016 to 2022

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Consumer Camera Drones Market Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2016 to 2022" to its huge collection of research reports.Worldwide consumer drone markets are poised to achieve significant growth with the use of cameras on stable flying platforms that are used to help implement video and picture taking from the air. Activity visualization from the air lets users share images and videos that are interesting and help build relationships.Camera drones use automated process to make socialization more interesting. Drones provide better, more flexible visualization for sharing on social networks. Smart drone cameras provide the prospect of building social networks that are stronger and have increasingly further outreach. Smart consumer drones connect seamlessly and securely to the Internet, permitting instant upload of videos and images. The camera drones can connect to each other, providing the prospect of filmmaking that comes from stitching together video of a single scene shot from multiple angles.Camera drone technology has reached a level of maturity that has put these systems at the forefront of picture taking modernization. People around the entire world are adapting to drone availability, using aerial cameras to visualize daily activities from up in the air. Use cases are evolving rapidly. Video, specialized video, targeted video, and high quality image systems are offered.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Consumer photography drones are enormously popular as flying cameras, lifting cameras so every person who wants it can rise above the earth to look down from above. Photography drones are set to make every industry more productive with better, more flexible visualization. Photography drone uses provide the prospect of trillions of dollars in economic growth. Drones connect seamlessly and securely to the Internet and to each other.Photography drone aerial vehicle (UAV) technology has reached a level of maturity that has permitted DJI to garner $1 billion in revenue in 2015, doubling their revenue in one year. This achievement puts the photography drone systems at the forefront of aerospace manufacturing. Every industry and around the entire world vendors are adapting to drone availability. Use cases are evolving rapidly. Video, photos, specialized video, targeted video, and high resolution images systems are offered.Photography drones have cameras that lift the user visualization above the earth, creating videos and images that are dramatic and impactful. The devices are smart: They have sensors and software that permits automated response to camera input. Smart drones are evolving the ability to interconnect to smart phones, but drones are smart even without smart phone guidance systems. They have microprocessors that can be used to automate processes. Smart commercial drones connect seamlessly and securely to the Internet and to each other.Use of drones represents a key milestone in provision of value to every industry. Customized cameras are used to take photos and videos with stunning representations. Digital controls will further automate flying, making ease of use and flight stability a reality. New materials and new designs are bringing that transformation forward. By furthering innovation, continued growth is assured.The worldwide market for camera drones is $2 billion anticipated to reach $21.5 billion by 2022. The complete report provides a comprehensive analysis of drones in different categories, illustrating the diversity of uses for remote flying devices that have high quality cameras on board. Analytics makes the images more cogent. Cameras used from the air are used to anticipate infrastructure problems that only become visible to humans on land days, weeks, or months after the drone images detect issues.Companies ProfiledMarket Leaders- Northrop Grumman AeroVironment- Boeing / Insitu- General Atomics- Lockheed Martin- Draganflyer- Textron / AAI- IAIMarket Participants- AeroVironment- ASN Technologies- Aurora Flight- Aviation Industry Corp (Avic)- BAE Systems- Boeing- Challis UAV Inc.- China Aerospace- Denel Dynamics- DJI- Draganflyer- Finmeccanica- Flirtey- General Atomics- General Dynamics- Google- GoPro- Honeywell- Integrated Dynamics- Israel Aerospace Industries- L-3 Communications- Laird / Cattron Group International- Lockheed Martin- Marcus UAV- MMist- Northrop Grumman- Parrot/senseFly- Prox Dynamics- Proxy Technologies- RUAG Aerospace- Safran Morpho- SAIC- Scaled Composites- Schiebel- Textron- TRNDlabs- Wing LoongMake 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 @
Nano Films Market: Global Industry Analysis & Trends 2023

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Nano film is a fabrication of quantum dot layers with a built-in gradient of nanoparticle size, composition or density. The unique characteristics of nano films are finding its applications in energy storage devices and design of solar cells. Nano films are generally used for surface modification process in the technological world. Surface modification improves the performance of new and existing products. Techniques used for surface modification process include surface treatments, where the composition of mechanical properties is changed or the deposition of thin films or coatings is altered and a different material is deposited to create a new surface.Download PDF Brochure:Nano films have extensive applications in microelectronics industry, storage industry, solar energy and optics industry. The commercial method of manufacturing nano films is a challenge. Traditional methods of building nanostructured materials cant form nanostructures while more effective methods like langmuir-blodget microchemical method or atomic layer deposition are expensive. The cost-efficient alternative for manufacturing nano films is flying particles method. Nano films are used for photovoltaic applications to enhance transport of electrons and improve internal quantum efficiency and photocurrent. Magnetic nano films have unique properties and are used in medical industry for biomedical applications. Magnetic nano films are used as a solution for closing surgical wounds and as nanoplasters for localized drug release.The growth in end-use industries is expected to increase consumption of nano films. The growth of microelectronics, storage and solar industry is expected to boost demand for nano films for surface modification applications. In addition, rising consumption of electronics in emerging economies of Latin America and Asia Pacific is set to drive nano films market. Furthermore, nanotechnology?based thin films for biomedical applications are expected to provide new opportunities for market growth. However, availability of substitutes and volatile raw material prices could hamper the growth of this market.The Asia Pacific market is projected to be the fastest growing market for nano films due to increasing demand for electronics and solar energy. The BRIC (Brasil, Russia, India, China) countries are a major market for microelectronics industry. Most of the major international microelectronic manufacturers are focusing on expanding their base in BRIC. Rise in disposable income, large population and rapid economic development is expected to contribute to the growth of microelectronics in emerging economies such as China and India. The growth of microelectronic industry is expected to drive the growth of the nano films market. Mexico, Argentina, Thailand and Turkey are other potential markets for nano film industry. Europe and North America are mature markets and expected to experience moderate to high growth.The nano film industry is highly fragmented and dominated by small and medium enterprises. Companies are investing in research and development to develop different grades of nano films to compete in the market. In addition, companies are using strategic acquisitions and aggressive marketing to capture market share. Furthermore, companies are expanding their presence in emerging economies due to growing demand from end-use industries. Some of the key players operating in this market are Nanofilm( U.S.) , Nanofilm Technologies (U.S.) Nano Foam Technology Private Limited (India), Nano Therapeutics Pvt. Ltd (India), Nano Lab India (India), Cosmo Films Limited (India), Smart Source Technologies (India), NanoGram Corporation (U.S.), MAT-VAC Technology (U.S), LOT-Oriel (United Kingdom), Maxtek Technology (Taiwan) , MicroChem (U.S.) , MetaTechnica (U.S.) and Advanced Thin Film (U.S.) among others.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Pet Food Industry Key Trends, Size, Growth, Shares And Forecast Research Report (2016-2020)

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Pet Food Market: Size, Trends and Forecasts (2016-2020)" to its huge collection of research reports.The report titled Global Pet Food Market: Size, Trends and Forecasts (2016-2020) provides an in-depth analysis of the global pet food market with detailed analysis of market size on the basis of value along with the comprehensive examination of each of the major segments of the market, namely, dog food and cat food.The report provides detailed regional analysis of the United States, UK, Germany, France and Canada. The regional analysis of the markets includes market size by value along with the analysis of the dog food and cat food market, in terms of the value.The report also assesses the key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth of the industry. Growth of the overall global pet food market has also been forecasted for the period 2016-2020, taking into consideration the previous growth patterns, the growth drivers and the current and future trends. The competition in the global pet food market is stiff and dominated by the big players like Nestle Purina PetCare Company. Further, key players of the market Hills Pet Nutrition Company and Mars, Incorporated., are also profiled with their financial information and respective business strategies.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Regional CoverageUnited StatesUKGermanyFranceCanadaCompany CoverageNestle Purina PetCare CompanyHills Pet Nutrition CompanyMars, IncorporatedExecutive SummaryThe global pet food market witnessed an upsurge at a significant CAGR during the span of 5 years, i.e., 2010-2015 and projections are made that the market would rise in the next five years i.e. 2016-2020 tremendously. The market is spread across North America, Europe and Asia. Among these regions, the North America held the largest share, followed by the Europe and Asia-Pacific region.The pet food market can be segmented on the basis of pet type, product type, ingredients and price. On the basis of pet type, market can be segmented into dog food, cat food and other pet food, while on the basis of product type, the market can be classified into wet food, dry food and treats & mixers. The market can be distinguished into natural and non-natural food, on the basis of ingredients. However, on the basis of price, the food market can be segmented into economy pet food, mid-priced pet food and premium pet food. Among all the classifications, segmentation on the basis of pet type is most popular, with dog food dominating the market.The major growth drivers for the global pet food market are: an increase in the pet population, pet humanization, health conscious consumers, upsurge in urbanization and personal disposable income. Despite the market is governed by various growth drivers, there are certain challenges faced by the market such as pet obesity, grinding challenge, supply chain challenge and nutritional sustainability. Some of the recent trends in the market include the rise in social awareness among consumers, sustainable packaging, cooked pet food and exotic ingredientsMake 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 @
OSAGE  LuVerne Wagner, 88, of Osage, died Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017, at Faith Lutheran Home in Osage.

A Funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 20, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Osage with Father Raymond Burkle officiating.

Burial will be at Sacred Heart Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Champion-Bucheit Funeral Home in Osage, with a Knights of Columbus Rosary at 4:30 p.m.

Champion-Bucheit Funeral Home, Osage.
Growth Cosmeceuticals Market : 2016 - 2022

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Owing to the increasing consumer consciousness regarding the appearance, the cosmeceuticals market is expected to witness a surge across the globe. Cosmeceuticals segment is expected to experience the fastest growth in personal care industry. Increasing demand from middle age and growing urban population are expected to drive the global cosmeceuticals market. Global cosmeceuticals market is further supported by various factors such as the presence of superior quality and premium priced cosmeceuticals products. Cosmeceuticals products are used for varied applications such as skin irritation, skin lightening, tooth whitening and others. Cosmeceuticals market is growing rapidly and expected to witness double-digit growth in the next four to five years. Although demand for cosmeceuticals is increasing significantly but various other treatment options are entering the market. These treatment alternatives are expected to increase the completion in the cosmeceuticals market and expected to hinder the growth of cosmeceuticals market to some extent.A Sample of this Report is Available Upon Request @Global Cosmeceuticals Market is segmented on the basis of product type, ingredient and region. Based on the product type segmentation includes hair care, skincare, lip care, tooth whitening, injectable and others. Of which skincare is expected to be the dominating segment, followed by hair care in the forecasted period. Among skincare, anti-ageing sub-segment is expected to contribute maximum revenue over the forecasted period. However, the injectable segment is expected to witness the fastest growth in the next four to five years due to the various advantages such as weight treatment and wrinkle reducer associated with it. Based on the ingredient used, cosmeceuticals market is segmented into antioxidants, proteins, peptides, botanicals, moisturizers and others. Of which antioxidant segment is the leading segment which is expected to contribute the highest revenue during the forecasted period. Global cosmeceuticals market is segmented on the basis of a region into North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, Middle East and Africa, and Japan.The Global Cosmeceuticals market is expected to witness robust growth over the forecasted period due to the rising consumer awareness regarding the benefits of cosmeceuticals coupled with increasing number of premium quality cosmeceuticals products. Globally, among all regions, North America is expected to contribute the highest market share, followed by Europe over the forecasted period. However, Asia Pacific is anticipated to witness the highest growth owing to the rising disposable income of consumers in various countries. In Asia Pacific, Japan is anticipated to contribute highest market share and expected to grow with highest CAGR, followed by China.Major factors that fuel the growth of cosmeceuticals market includes increasing consumer consciousness regarding the appearance and increasing number of urban population coupled with rising consumer awareness related to benefits of cosmeceuticals. Another factor that is driving the growth of cosmeceuticals market is increasing the affordability of consumers in the emerging markets such as China and India. A major factor that restraints the growth of cosmeceuticals market is growing consumer awareness related to harmful effects of ingredients used in cosmeceuticals.To View TOC of this Report is Available Upon Request @Major companies operating in cosmeceuticals market are Procter and Gamble, LOreal SA, Unilever, Active Organics, Allergan, Arch Chemicals, Inc., BASF SE, Bayer AG, Symrise AG. Companies operating in cosmeceuticals market are adopting a strategy by investing the huge amount in research and development (R&D) activities in order to launch new products and penetrate into emerging markets. Companies are developing new ingredients such as peptides and stem cells for cosmeceuticals products.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated re-search, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Con-sumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs en-gagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.com
Global Health Insurance Market Will Grow Steadily At A CAGR Of 11.14% During The Period 2016-2020

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Health Insurance Market 2016-2020" to its huge collection of research reports.Health insurance is a type of insurance where the insurer pays the medical expenses on behalf of the insured. The insurer has to pay a monthly premium to the health insurance company, which can be on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. Health insurance covers disability and long term nursing. The healthcare providers cover the costs related to medical treatments, drugs, and other expenses. The coverage depends on the health insurance plan taken by the insurer. Health insurance plans are provided through direct-insurance companies, independent brokers, and employer-sponsored programs. Beside the premiums being paid by the insurer, there are other additional costs that are taken into consideration in health insurance coverage that includes co-insurance, co-payments, deductibles, and stop loss limits.Technavios analysts forecast the global health insurance market to grow at a CAGR of 11.14% during the period 2016-2020.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global health insurance market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the total amount of premium generated primarily in emerging markets, such as APAC, EMEA, and the Americas.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEATo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Technavio's report, Global Health Insurance 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 vendorsZurich InsuranceUnited HealthcareAvivaAXAAllianzOther prominent vendorsAetna FoundationAIA InsuranceBlue Cross Blue ShieldKaiser foundationMarket driverGrowth in the number of aging population and increase in life expectancyFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengePressure in cost associated with health insuranceFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendInnovations in healthcare products and solutionsFor 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 @
How the Plastic Bags and Sacks Market is Positioned to meet Consumer's Demand?

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The retail sector has witnessed impressive growth over the last few years owing to significant increase in the number of modern retail outlets such as supermarkets, hypermarkets, and convenience stores worldwide. Global retail sales, including online retail and in-store sales, is expected to increase at an impressive CAGR of about 5.5% over the forecast period. These factors are expected to drive growth of the global plastic bags & sacks market over 20162024. Also, increasing disposable income and purchasing power of consumers are in turn expected to lead to increasing demand for convenient and cost-effective carry bags for various products. The plastic bags and sacks market in APEJ is expected to register significant growth owing to growth in the regions retail & consumer sector, whose growth is in turn driven by factors such as changing consumer lifestyle, increasing per capita disposable income of consumers, rapid urbanization, and growth in the industrial sector.Get PDF Brochure for more Professional and Technical industry insights atPlastic bag is one of the most common forms of minimized packaging, and it consumes less raw material as compared to boxes, cartoons, and jars. Macroeconomic factors such as rising disposable income and increasing purchasing power among consumers are fuelling demand for convenient and cost-effective plastic bags & sacks. Also, improvement in the global economic performance and rising standard of living of the middle income population group are in turn anticipated to strengthen sales of plastic bags and sacks. Over the last decade, most major players, especially in the consumer goods sector, have been focusing on marketing in order to enhance brand visibility, with brand owners laying emphasis on promotional merchandise. Brand owners are capitalizing on latent opportunity to use plastic bags as a promotional medium. This trend is anticipated to be adopted by several brands in the near future, in turn fueling demand for plastic bags. Plastic bag manufacturers offer various printing options to clients, and an increasing shift has been observed towards customization of plastic bags in order to cater to specific demands of brand owners.Increasing demand for consumer goods, food & beverage, and grocery in the retail industry, followed by significant increase in the number of modern retail formats such as hypermarkets, supermarkets, and convenience stores are expected to fuel demand for plastic bags & sacks. Also, stringent policy and regulatory landscape as well as actively imposed bans on the use of lightweight and single-use plastic bags have been major challenges for plastic bag manufacturers worldwide.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrigs Disease) Treatment Market Estimated to Grow Strongly by 2016 - 2022

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Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a neurological disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cords which controls the activity of voluntary muscles. It is also termed as Lou Gehrigs disease. There are several causes behind ALS which includes gene mutation, disorganized immune response, chemical imbalance etc. The symptoms for ALS mainly include fasciculation, respiratory problems, muscles weakness and cramps. The mortality rate in the ALS patients in high due to breathing problem. ALS disease is rare and affect 1 or 2 out of 100,000 people across the globe.A Sample of this Report is Available Upon Request @Increasing in the number of patients affected with ALS is one of the major factor to drive the growth of ALS treatment market. Sporadic and familial are two types of ALS disease, in which sporadic disease is most common disease found with 9095% of the overall cases in US and the government initiatives to examination the research for rare disease and FDA approvals creates an opportunity for various market players due to which the global market of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis treatment is expected to expand at healthy CAGR during the forecast period. Due to lower prevalence rate, awareness about the disease and low treatment availability hinder the growth of ALS treatment market.The competition in the ALS treatment market is weak due to the presence of only one drug in the market. Riluzole is the only drug which is approved by FDA and dominating the market which increase the patients survival rate. Also, ALS low efficacy, high cost and moderate safety of therapy constrains the utilization of the Riluzole drug. Rise in the ageing population worldwide would enlarge the development of ALS treatment market. The Collaborative ALS Drug Discovery Initiative (CADDI) and government regulations have taken initiative to accelerate the new drug development and treatments for ALS, which will further increase the number of pipeline drugs.Depending on geographic region, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis treatment market is segmented into five key regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East & Africa. North America is estimated to contribute maximum revenue share in the global market of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis treatment followed by Europe. Asia Pacific regions are expected to grow at a higher growth rate owing to high occurrence of ALS diseases. The developing nations in Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa hold huge potential for growth in the global amyotrophic lateral sclerosis treatment, due to large number of surgical procedures in these regions.Request to View Tables of Content @Key players of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis treatment market are GNT Pharma, Amkor Pharma, Synthetic Biologics, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, Avicena inc, sanofi, and generic versions are manufactured by Apotex Corp, Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc, Impax Laboratories.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated re-search, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Con-sumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs en-gagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Telepresence Robots Market to reach $7 billion by 2022: education, healthcare, business, and manufacturing

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Recent research and the current scenario as well as future market potential of "Telepresence Robots: Market Shares, Strategy, And Forecasts, Worldwide, 2016 To 2022" globally.Worldwide Telepresence Robots markets are poised to achieve significant growth. People like mobility, they like remote communication and telepresence robots add a new dimension to remote communication.The quality of remote communication is uplifted by the robotic platform approach to connecting people located in different places. The visualization provided by the telepresence robot is not reproducible by the smartphone and large telepresence systems are not mobile. So ultimately all people will want access to telepresence robots in order to move around and see for themselves what is going on in another place.Clearly terrorism is here to stay. As nationalistic wars decline as a way to settle disputes, terrorism has emerged in spades. The recent terrorist attacks in Boston, Paris, and Belgium illustrate the risk that civilian populations are exposed to. Telepresence robots represent the best and perhaps last line of defense against terrorists. Telepresence robots can go where no man or woman can go, they can go safer, they can go faster, they can provide a presence that might not be achieved in any other way.There are more civil uses for telepresence robots: in education, healthcare, business, and manufacturing. People can drive a telepresence robot around a work environment, around a school, around a hospital to reach people that they night otherwise have a difficult time contacting.Get The Sample Copy Of This Report:Remote telepresence healthcare diagnosis and treatment market is especially important for the treatment of stroke. Stroke damage can be mitigated if symptoms are treated within 4 hours of the onset of symptoms, otherwise the stroke damage is likely permanent. Global telehealth partnerships. The aim is to integrate diagnostic tools into tele-stroke solutions.Stroke occurs when a vessel in the brain ruptures or is blocked by a blood clot. There are two types of strokes: hemorrhagic and ischemic. An ischemic stroke occurs as a result of an obstruction within a blood vessel supplying blood to the brain, which accounts for 87% of all stroke cases. A hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a weakened blood vessel ruptures and spills blood into brain tissue. 800,000 people in the U.S. and 15 million people worldwide suffer a stroke each year.These markets portend to be very large worldwide and represent good uses of telepresence. The ability of a clinician specialist to diagnose and initiate immediate treatment of a stroke from a gold course or other location is lifesaving.Manufacturing and engineering telepresence robot uses are expected to proliferate. Monitoring and telepresence are being combined to achieve remote repairs that provide better customer services at lower cost. Manufacturing and engineering resources for companies frequently are in different places. The same is true for IT, the software developer engineers and the software IT users are frequently located in different places. It is useful to have a mobile device that can be controlled by the engineer to go have a look around when a trouble call comes in from a site.A remote telepresence device can use monitoring and telepresence to achieve remote repairs. The ability to integrate the remote physical location with the engineer who knows the system often involves travel, sometimes long arduous travel. Telepresence and mobile video telecommunications technologies can be very useful in postponing or eliminating the travel.Browse More Published Reports By Winter Green Research Market Research:A mobile, real-time, 3D-hybrid telepresence system permits the user to go and have a look around and talk to different people about the problem without actually being there. Integration of telepresence images with computer generated virtual environments can be superimposed over the remote real worldview. This integrated system incorporates emerging mobile telecommunications technologies to give rapid and easy access to the real and virtual construction sites from arbitrary locations. This system allows remote surveillance of the construction site, and integration of real world images of the site with virtual reality representations, derived from planning models, for progress monitoring.Use of the telepresence robot with the video and microphone capability to achieve remote presence is a vital aspect of personal mobility devices. Telepresence robots are poised to achieve a vital extension of electronic communication in ways that will become indispensable to everyone soon.Telepresence robot device markets at $825 million in 2015 are anticipated to reach $7 billion by 2022 as next generation robotic devices, systems, and instruments are introduced to manage remote presence. The robotic platform will be extended to include grippers and cameras of all types, sensors and sophisticated navigation software.The complete report provides a comprehensive analysis including units sold, market value, forecasts, as well as a detailed competitive market shares and analysis of major players success, challenges, and strategies in each segment and sub-segment. The report covers markets for security, law enforcement, manufacturing, healthcare, education, and business telepresence.Companies ProfiledMarket LeadersInTouchDouble RoboticsMantaroVgoGeneral DynamicsNorthrop GrummanQuinetiQLockheed MartinSDRiRobotKongsbergTelerobRecanRoboticsMarket ParticipantsAnybotsDimaa Network Services LTD (DNS)DJIDouble RoboticsGlobalMediRobotInbot Technology PadBotIntouchMantaroOrbis RoboticsQinetiQRbotReconRoboticsRevolve RoboticsRobosoftRobotexSuitable TechnologiesTechnoRobotVGoVseeAbout usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.To View The Latest Industry Press Releases:ContactMr. Nachiket90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E-Mail: sales@marketresearchreports.bizFollow us on LinkedIn:Thanks..!!!!!!!!!!!MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
United States Cheese Sauce Market - to Grow in the Coming Years, New Research explores Factors Responsible

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Research Beam added a report United States Cheese Sauce Market Report 2017Description:United States Cheese Sauce Market Report 2017:The United States Cheese Sauce Market Report 2017 Industry Research Report is a comprehensive study of the recent market trends and consumption analysis in the global industry. The report provides an in-depth analysis for the historic period, 20112016 and the forecast period, 20162022. Market overview is offered on the basis of product overview and scope of United States Cheese Sauce Market Report 2017 in the Food and Beverage. Furthermore, the study covers a detailed segmentation in terms of types, applications, and regions.Get Sample@:Regional analysis for the United States Cheese Sauce Market Report 2017 in the Food and Beverage Sector market is provided based on revenue, sales, and growth rate. In addition, sales and market share for each segment are included for each region.Following manufacturers are analyzed: Gehl Foods Prego Knorr Ricos Kraft Foods Ragu Southeastern Mills DiGiorno Frito-Lay Conagra Foodservice Berner Foods AFP advanced food products Nestle Bay Valley California Creamery Casa Fiesta Funacho Tatua Fonterra Kim Chua McCormick Ottoggi Kenko KewpieManufacturing cost analysis is offered based on raw material analysis and cost structure along with manufacturing process analysis. The research offers industry chain analysis in terms of upstream raw material sourcing and downstream buyers. Moreover, an extensive analysis of production, consumption, and revenue for each segment is offered for the forecast period.Data & statistics are provided with the help of tables and figures to help manufacturers, investors, and shareholders gain comprehensive understanding. Research conclusions are offered at the end of the report.GetEnquire@TOC Includes: Market Overview Segment by Application Global Market Competition by Manufacturers Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017) Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2012-2017) Market Analysis by Application Manufacturing Cost Analysis Market Forecast (2017-2022)Check Full TOC@About Us:With the arsenal of different search reports, Research Beam helps you here to look and buy research reports that will be helpful to you and your organization. Our research reports have the capability and authenticity to support your organization for growth and consistency. With the window of opportunity getting open and shut at a speed of light, it has become very important to survive in the market and only the fittest and competent enough can do so. So, we try and provide with latest changes in the market that can suit your needs and help you take decision accordingly.Contact Us:5933 NE Win Severs Drive,#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesU.S. & Canada Toll Free: + 1-800-910-6452International: + 1-503-894-6022UK: + 44-845-528-1300India: +91 20 66346070Fax: +1 (855) 550-5975Email: help@researchbeam.comWeb:
Powder Packing Machine Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trend and Forecast 2016 - 2024

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Food industry is experiencing a massive growth in developed and developing economies that in turn intensifies the sales of powder packing machine during the forecast period. Baby food packaging is also gaining popularity among the food manufacturing company which is expected to further fuel the growth of powder packing machine. Moreover, increasing number of coffee shops and restaurants are expected to augment the sales of powder packing machine because powder packing machine aids to increase the production as a result the product can be delivered to the distributors in a short period of time. Apart from that many spices are available in the market in powder form which further intensifies the growth of powder packing machine market.The demand of small pouches of tea, coffee and other different spices are rising which is expected to further boost the sales of powder packing machine. Automatic and modern powder packing machines offer a wide range of durable and flexible pouch designs along with different sizes. The pouches can be customized according to the needs and requirements of clients. Powder packing machine is extensively used in the fast moving consumer goods especially for detergents which is expected to positively impact the sales of powder packing machine during the forecast period.Get PDF Brochure for more Professional and Technical industry insights atPowder packing machine: Market SegmentationThe global powder packing machine market is segmented on the basis of automation solutions, production capacity and end useBased on the automation solution the global powder packing machine market is segmented into:AutomaticSemi-automaticManualBased on the production capacity the global powder packing machine market is segmented into:Up to 500 pouches/ hour500  1,000 pouches/ hour1,000  1,500 pouches/ hour1,500 -2,000 pouches/hour2,000  2,500 pouches/hourAbove 2,500 pouches/hourBased on the end use the global powder packing machine market is segmented into:FoodPharmaceuticalFMCG productsOthersPowder packing machine Market: Regional outlookIn terms of geography, the global powder packing machine market has been divided in to five key regions including North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Middle East & Africa. Asia Pacific region is expected to dominate the powder packing machine market in the near future owing to the increasing growth of food & pharmaceutical industry in that particular region. North America is expected to witness healthy growth during the forecast period. But Latin America and Middle East & Africa regions are expected to be sluggish in the upcoming decade.Powder packing machine Market: Key playersSome of the key players in the global powder packing machine market are Nichrome Packaging Solutions, Inc., Ipk packaging India Pvt Ltd, Shivalaya Machinery Manufacturing Company, Viking Masek Global Packaging Technologies etc. Key players are increasing their production capacity and launching new products to obtain the new customers.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.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Food Contact Paper Market - Global Analysis, Technological Advancements, Evolving Industry Trends, Insights 2024

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Any paper that is intended to come in direct contact with food or other consumables is known as food contact paper. This paper is usually used in packaging edibles such as confectioneries, bakery products, dairy products, frozen food, groceries, fresh food, takeaway food, liquids, or beverages. Food contact paper is widely used across the food and beverages industry.Download Research Brochure PDF@Major market segmentation is done on the basis of type of paper and presence of coating. Three major types of paper used in food packaging include corrugated paper, kraft paper, and wrapping paper. Paper packaging materials used in packaging of liquid food and beverages have an inner lining on the surface that directly comes in contact with consumables. This is done to avoid direct contact between paper and food items and prevent spoilage of both food and paper. This type of paper is said to be poly-coated, while dry edibles can be stored in simple food-grade papers, known as non poly-coated papers.Food Contact Paper Market: SegmentationFood contact paper is used in varied packaging applications across bakeries, dairies, beverages, confectioneries, groceries, fresh food, and other applications. Packaging of fresh food, groceries, and beverages accounted for approximately two-third share of the market in terms of application in the year 2014. Fresh food packaging held substantial share of the food contact paper market, with nearly one-third of the global share in various applications, while groceries and beverages packing applications together accounted for nearly about one-third share of the market in 2014. Packaging of bakery products, takeaway food, ready-to-eat meals, frozen food, and non-liquid dairy products constituted remaining market share in terms of application. In terms of type of paper used, corrugated paper was the key product type, accounting for significant share of the market. This was followed by kraft paper, while the remaining share was occupied by wrapping paper. Wrapping paper has developed into the most popular food contact paper type during the past few years; a similar trend is expected to continue due to its easier availability and recyclability. Poly-coated papers are used in packaging of beverages, takeaway food, frozen food, and ready-to-eat meals, while rest of the market is dominated by non poly-coated paper packaging.Food Contact Paper Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThere has been growing concern over the usage of poly-coated paper in food packaging. Poly-coated papers are non-biodegradable; hence, they pose environmental concerns. Numerous key players in the market have initiated research and development projects to find a sustainable alternative to poly-coated paper to avoid environmental restraints. Growing urbanization has been chiefly driving the food contact paper market during the past few years. There has also been rising demand for good quality paper to be used in food packaging due to growing consumer awareness toward food security and health concerns. This trend is expected to further augment the food contact paper market. This, in turn, would compel producers to come up with sustainable alternatives to existing low-quality and non-biodegradable papers.Food Contact Paper Market: Geographical and Competitive DynamicsAsia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing market for food contact paper followed by Middle East & Africa due to presence of strong middle class population in growing economies such as China, India, South Africa, and countries in ASEAN. Increasing disposable income and flourishing food and beverages industry are expected to primarily boost the market in this region. Stringent norms for food packaging in North America are likely to fuel the food contact paper market in this region. Europe is anticipated to witness sluggish growth due to stringent environmental norms in the region. Latin America is estimated to witness steady growth in the food contact paper market led by developing economies in the region such as Brazil.Major players in the food contact paper market include International Paper, HUHTAMAKI GROUP, Mondi, Smurfit Kappa Group, Georgia-Pacific, Glatfelter, Burrows Paper Corporation, Seaman Paper Company, Nordic Paper, Pactiv LLC and Cascades Inc.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:
Global Animal Parasiticides Market Analysis, Size, Application Analysis, Regional Outlook, Competitive Strategies and Forecasts, 2017 To 2022

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Global Animal Parasiticides Industry 2016 Market Research Report was a professional and depth research report on Global Animal Parasiticides Market that you would know the world's major regional market conditions of Animal Parasiticides Market, the main region including North American, Europe and Asia etc, and the main country including United States, Germany, Japan and China etc.Animal Parasiticides Market report focused on global and regional market, major manufacturers, as well as the segment market details on different classifications and applications.Animal Parasiticides New Version Animal Parasiticides Market Research Report is a deep market research report in this market.First, Animal Parasiticides Market report analyzed the basic scope of this industry like definition, specification, classification, application, industry policy and news in Chapter 1.Complete Global Animal Parasiticides Market of 112 pages having tables and figures is available for purchase atSecond, the analysis on industry chain is provided including the up and down stream industry also with the major market players. And the analysis on manufacturing including process, cost structure and major plants distribution is conducted in Chapter 2.Then the global and regional market is analyzed. In these chapters, Animal Parasiticides Market report analyzed major market data like capacity, production, capacity utilization rate, price, revenue, cost, gross, gross margin, supply, import, export, consumption, market share, growth rate and etc. For regional market, this report analyzed major regions like Europe, North America, South America, Asia (Excluding China), China and ROW. These analysis are conducted in Chapter 3 and 4.The lisetd pricing for this Animal Parasiticides market report starts at US $2800. Request Discount for Global Animal Parasiticides Industry Research Report @Table of Contents in Global Animal Parasiticides Research Report1 Introduction1.1 Definition1.2 Specification1.3 Classification1.4 Application1.5 Industry Policy and News Analysis1.6 Industry Overview2 Industry Chain Analysis2.1 Up Stream Industries Analysis2.1.1 Raw Material Analysis2.1.2 Equipment Analysis2.2 Manufacturing Analysis2.2.1 Manufacturing Process Analysis2.2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis2.2.3 Manufacturing Plants Distribution and Capacity/Production Analysis2.3 Down Stream Industries Analysis3 2011-2016 Global Market and Major Manufacturers Analysis3.1 2011-2016 Global Capacity, Production, Capacity Utilization Rate, Price, Revenue, Cost, Gross and Gross Margin Analysis3.2 2011-2016 Major Manufacturers Performance and Market Share4 2011-2016 Regional Market and Major Manufacturers Analysis4.1 2011-2016 Regional Market Performance and Market Share4.2 Europe Market4.2.1 2011-2016 Capacity, Production, Capacity Utilization Rate, Price, Revenue, Cost, Gross, Gross Margin Analysis4.2.2 2015 Major Manufacturers Performance and Market Share4.2.3 2011-2016 Supply, Import, Export and Consumption AnalysisBrowse full table of contents and data tables For Global Animal Parasiticides Report @In Chapter 5, the performance of major manufacturers are analyzed and then in Chapter 6 and 7 the analysis on major classification and application.Then the marketing channel analysis is provided including the major distributors in Chapter 8.Then Animal Parasiticides Market report analyzed the market forecast from 2017 to 2022 for global and regional market in Chapter 9 and the new project investment feasibility analysis in Chapter 10.At last, Animal Parasiticides Market report provided the conclusions of this research in Chapter 11.Request a sample copy of Global Animal Parasiticides Market Research Report @Related Reports: -North America Ammonium Sulphate Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022Ammonium sulfate is an inorganic chemical compound with the chemical formula (NH4)2SO4. It contains 21 percent nitrogen in the form of ammonium ions and 24 percent sulfur as sulfate ions. The purified material takes the form of white granules or crystals.MarketSizeForecasters.com, a Skyline Market Research LLP brand, is an online aggregator of market research reports. MarketSizeForecasters.com offers a comprehensive collection of full length reports on global and regional markets in 100+ industry verticals. We have partnered with some of the leading business and market research publishing houses and regularly update our online library to offer wide range of reports to our customers.Market Size ForecastersThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: +1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: +1 866-764-2150Email: sales@marketsizeforecasters.comWebsite:Connect with us: LinkedIn | Twitter
Better collaboration thanks to cloud connected CAD software

Cloud integration with Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive

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Modern CAD systems offer integration with cloud services such as Dropbox and Google Drive, in addition to PDM systems.Cambridge, UK and Pittsford, NY  15 February 2017: Modern CAD systems offer integration with professional data-management systems, but these powerful systems are often too expensive for small businesses to implement. So there is a clear need for a simpler, more cost-effective solution.Cloud integration with Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDriveCloud data storage increasingly popularCloud data storage services such as Google Drive, Dropbox or Microsoft OneDrive offer free and secure online storage for any type of data. For example, design data can be easily stored and shared with other companies or colleagues based at remote locations. This makes these services a simple solution for data management.CAD software integrationCloud data storage services are also increasingly being integrated with CAD systems because companies are increasingly relying on cloud services for collaboration, particularly for small projects and non-sensitive data. The MEDUSA4 2D/3D CAD system, for example, offers direct integration with leading services such as Google Drive, Dropbox and Microsoft OneDrive.CAD collaboration in the cloudWith MEDUSA4 users can store design files directly in the cloud and retrieve them when required. If a cloud folder is shared with other users, they have immediate access to the data and can open the files and work on them. This leads to increased communication and faster collaboration between team members.For further information on the MEDUSA4 2D/3D CAD software:Try the MEDUSA4 2D/3D CAD software for free:MEDUSA4 can be trialled for 30 days free of charge. Video tutorials and documentation are available to provide a simple introduction to the software.About CAD SchroerCAD Schroer is a global software development company and engineering solutions provider, helping to raise the productivity and competitiveness of customers working in manufacturing and plant design, including the automotive sector and its supply chain, the energy sector and public utilities. CAD Schroer has offices and subsidiaries throughout Europe and in the United States.CAD Schroers product portfolio includes 2D/3D CAD, plant design, factory layout and data management solutions. Customers in 39 countries rely on MEDUSA4, MPDS4 and STHENO/PRO to provide an efficient, flexible and integrated design environment for all phases of product or plant design  cutting costs while raising quality. CAD Schroer emphasizes close customer partnerships and supports its clients objectives through extensive consultancy, training, development, software support and maintenance services.CAD Schroer UK Limited2nd Floor Godwin HouseCastle ParkCambridge UKCB3 0RA
ROCHESTER, Minn.  Margaret Maggie Ruth Bonnette, 83, of Rochester, formerly of Riceville, Iowa, died Feb. 13, 2017, at home.

Inurnment will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, in the Osage Cemetery, Osage, Iowa.

Celebration of Life will be at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 18, at Trinity Lutheran Church, Rochester, Minnesota, with visitation one hour before.

Memorials are preferred to Trinity Lutheran Church in Rochester, or St. Peters Lutheran Church in Riceville, Iowa.
Global Meat Market  Share, Size, Trends, Growth, Forecast 2017-2025

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IndexBox has just published a new report "World: Meat - Market Report. Analysis And Forecast To 2025" ().This report provides an in-depth analysis of the global meat market. Within it, you will find the latest data on market trends and opportunities by country, consumption and production, food balance and price developments, as well as global trade (imports and exports). The forecast reveals market prospects to 2025.Countries coverage: WorldwideProduct coverage:MeatData coverage: Meat market size and value; Per Capita consumption; Forecast of the market dynamics in the medium term; Global meat production, split by region and country; Global meat trade (exports and imports); Producer, export and import prices for meat; Meat market trends, drivers and restraints; Key market players and their profiles.Reasons to buy this report: Take advantage of the latest data; Find deeper insights into current market developments; Discover vital success factors affecting the market.TABLE OF CONTENTS1. INTRODUCTION1.1 REPORT DESCRIPTION1.2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY2.1 KEY FINDINGS2.2 MARKET TRENDS3. MARKET OVERVIEW3.1 MARKET VOLUME AND VALUE3.2 CONSUMPTION BY COUNTRY3.3 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES BY COUNTRY3.4 MARKET FORECAST TO 20254. PRODUCTION4.1 PRODUCTION, STOCK AND YIELD IN 2007-20154.2 PRODUCTION BY COUNTRY4.3 STOCK AND YIELD BY COUNTRIES5. IMPORTS5.1 IMPORTS IN 2007-20155.2 IMPORTS BY COUNTRY5.3 IMPORT PRICES BY COUNTRY6. EXPORTS6.1 EXPORTS IN 2007-20156.2 EXPORTS BY COUNTRY6.3 EXPORT PRICES BY COUNTRY7. PRICES AND PRICE DEVELOPMENT7.1 PRODUCER PRICES7.2 PRODUCER PRICES INDEX8. PROFILES OF MAJOR PRODUCERSDownload a free sample of the report now!You can also find a template on SlideShareIndexBox is a leading market research publisher in the world. We conduct market research and publish reports.You can find more than 25,000 research reports in our web store, which cover global industries and regional markets. All the worldwide marketing data you need is at your fingertips.We collect this data from hundreds of highly reliable sources, verify it and carry out market analysis, uncovering new business opportunities and empowering you with actionable insights.The structure of our reports is intuitive and clear. We do our best to allow you to make strategic decisions and take immediate action. If you want to go further and be a step ahead of the market, just tell us your goals and we will tailor a report to your needs.Company Name: IndexBoxContact Person: Kirill BezverhiEmail: kirill.bezverhi@indexbox.co.ukPhone: +44 20 3239 3063Adress: United Kingdom, 44 Main Street, Douglas, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, ML11 0QWWebsite:
Homeland Security Market to Reach $418 Billion, Globally, by 2022

Homeland Security

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The homeland security market in Asia-Pacific region is projected to grow at significant rate during the forecast period, owing to increasing number terrorist activities, territorial wars, political unrest, protests, and government inclination towards police modernization in countries including India, Japan, China, and Sri Lanka.The Homeland Security Market research report published by Allied Market Research. Homeland security market is expected to garner $418 billion by 2022, registering a CAGR of 5.9% from 2016 to 2022. The cyber security segment is expected to dominate the global market throughout the forecast period. North America is expected to be the leading contributor to the global revenue during the forecast period.View full summary of the report at:Growing instance of terrorist attacks, wars between neighboring countries, domestic wars due to political unrest, communism, riots, and others have fostered the adoption of homeland security solutions. In addition, increasing number of natural as well as man-made disasters including earthquakes, floods, cyclones, fire, industrial hazards, rail accidents, plane crash, and others are expected to drive the market. However, lack of awareness and high installation cost of technological advanced products and services of homeland security restrict the market growth. The development of technologically enhanced products, such as unmanned vehicles and terahertz radiation (T-ray) for detecting chemical composition of objects, robots for automation, executing human tasks, and others would provide numerous opportunities for the growth and development of the homeland security market.In 2015, cyber security accounted for the maximum revenue share in the overall homeland security market, due to increasing threat of cyber terrorism, cybercrime, and internet fraud. Increasing trend of bring-your-own-device (BYOD), Internet of Things (IoT), web deployment, trends, cloud services, and big data analytics that need enhanced security provide huge growth opportunities to the cyber security market. In addition, the critical infrastructure segment is presently the fastest growing segment, and is projected to grow at a CAGR 7.2% during the forecast period, owing to proactive government initiatives for protecting critical infrastructures in areas such as telecommunication, power plants, oil & gas, defense, financial & security services, manufacturing, and others.Request for sample report at:North America accounted for majority of the global market share in 2015, and is expected to maintain its dominance during the forecast period due to heavy investment by government organizations in homeland security in the region.Key findings of the Homeland Security Market:- In 2015, cyber security segment dominated the overall homeland security market in terms of revenue, and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 4.3% during the forecast period.- Critical infrastructure security segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of over 7% during the analysis period.- Public end user segment is projected to generate the highest revenue in the market during the forecast period.- In 2015, North America generated the highest revenue among all regions in the global homeland security market.- Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.2% from 2016 to 2022.IBM Corporation, Lockheed Martin Corporation, General Dynamics Corporation, and Northrop Grumman Corporation are some of the prominent players in the market. Market players have focused on product launch and partnership for expansion in the market. For instance, in June 2016, IBM partnered with the GW Center for Cyber and Homeland Security, an organization for research and analysis on homeland security, counterterrorism, and cyber security issues in the U.S. IBM would help the latter to prepare its homeland security strategy.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.Contact Us:5933 NE Win Sivers Drive,#205, Portland, OR 97220,United States.Int'l: +1-503-894-6022Toll Free: +1-800-792-5285Fax: +1-800-792-5285help@alliedmarketresearch.com
Growing Demand For Data Connectivity In Outdoor Wi-Fi Global Market During The Forecast Period 2017 - 2021

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ResearchMoz presents this most up-to-date research on "Growing Demand For Data Connectivity In Outdoor Wi-Fi Global Market During The Forecast Period 2017 - 2021".Wi-Fi technology is crucial for various systems such as Machine to Machine (M2M), Hot Spots, Outdoor Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi on the Go and In-Flight Wi-Fi. Outdoor Wi-Fi market is expected to grow at a substantial growth rate throughout the forecast period. Outdoor W-Fi technology is emerging across various verticals such as healthcare, education, public sector and travel and hospitality among others.The global outdoor Wi-Fi market is segmented into three major categories, on the basis of product into: access points, Wlan controllers, wireless hotspot gateways, and others (repeaters, relays). The market is also segmented by services into network planning and design, installation, support, survey and analysis. On the basis of end use industry the market is segmented into education, healthcare, public sector, logistics and transportation, travel and hospitality and others. The market is further segmented by geography into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe and rest of the world (RoW) regions.This research report analyzes this market depending on its market segments, major geographies, and current market trends. Geographies analyzed under this research report includeNorth AmericaAsia PacificEuropeRest of the WorldThis report provides comprehensive analysis ofMarket growth driversFactors limiting market growthCurrent market trendsMarket structureMarket projections for upcoming yearsTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @This report is a complete study of current trends in the market, industry growth drivers, and restraints. It provides market projections for the coming years. It includes analysis of recent developments in technology, Porters five force model analysis and detailed profiles of top industry players. The report also includes a review of micro and macro factors essential for the existing market players and new entrants along with detailed value chain analysis.Reasons for Buying this ReportThis report provides pin-point analysis for changing competitive dynamicsIt provides a forward looking perspective on different factors driving or restraining market growthIt provides a technological growth map over time to understand the industry growth rateIt provides a seven-year forecast assessed on the basis of how the market is predicted to growIt helps in understanding the key product segments and their futureMake 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 @
Medical Tubing Market - Trends and Opportunities for the Industry by 2024

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Medical tubing plays an important role in variety of healthcare applications and market is experiencing steady growth due to growth of medical procedures such as minimally invasive surgeries and medical devices that uses tubing. Increasing aged population and growing concern about health problems, especially in developing nations like Asia-pacific driving the population to spend money on quality healthcare facilities and services which contributes as one of the drivers for global medical tubing market.Download Research Brochure PDF@Large volume of medical tubing is used in bulk disposable tubing application. Government of several countries are taking initiatives to improve the quality of their healthcare infrastructure which results in increasing demand for medical tubing. The demand for Polyvinyl chloride is expected to remain high during the forecast period because of its equivalent functional properties and low cost as compared to other polymers. Polycarbonate, polyamides, florupolymer, PEEK etc. are some of the specialty plastics used for medical tubing in very small volume.The drug delivery system segment in the global medical tubing market is anticipated to experience a significantly high CAGR during the forecast period. Many companies are expanding their business across the globe to fulfill the demand for medical tubing. Silicones is the fastest growing material type and it is expected to expand with high CAGR during the forecast period.Based on the material type, the global medical tubing market is segmented into:Polyvinyl chloridePolyolefinTPE & TPUSiliconesSpecialty polymers ( PEEK, polyamide, fluoropolymers, polycarbonate)Based on the application, the global medical tubing market is segmented into:Bulk Disposable TubingCatheters & CannulasDrug Delivery SystemsSpecial ApplicationsPeristaltic Pump TubingGas Supply TubingSmoke Evacuation TubingIn terms of geography, the global medical tubing market has been divided in to five key regions including North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Middle East & Africa. The global medical tubing market is expected to register healthy CAGR during the forecast period. Currently Europe is on the lead for this technology followed by North America. Asia-Pacific region possesses enormous potential for growth of medical tubing market due to the raised standard of living and government initiatives. China, Japan, India and Australia are some of the key countries contributing to the growth of Global Medical tubing market.Some of the key players in the global medical tubing market are Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, LLC, W.L. Gore & Associates Inc., Freudenberg Medical, Dow Corning Corporation etc.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:
Boxboard Cartons Market - Global Industry Analysis, Growth, Trends and Forecast For 2024

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Global Industrial sector continues to develop at an impressive rate. As a result, packaging marketplace is undergoing huge changes with specialized focus on offering innovative packaging tools/products to various industries. Packaging is primarily done to achieve aspects such as product safety, maintain product quality, extended product storage and for other specific applications.Download PDF Brochure:Boxboard cartons are thin, lightweight containers used to package various items including cereal, shoes, detergent and many other, primarily, household products. Boxboard is a packaging material made almost entirely out of recycled materials. It is comprised of old corrugated cardboard boxes, old newspapers, used computer paper, or leftover material from converting cartons into packaging.Boxboard Cartons Market  Market Segmentation:On the basis of materials, boxboard cartons market is segmentedPaperPlasticBased on cartons types, boxboard cartons market is segmentedRecyclableBio-degradableMoisture & water proofOthersBased on application, compostable packaging materials market is segmentedFood & BeverageMailingIndustrialOthersBoxboard Cartons Market  Regional Outlook:Geographically, the boxboard cartons market can be segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Middle East & Africa (MEA). The growth of global boxboard cartons market is expected to witness a healthy CAGR over the forecast period between 2016 and 2024. APAC is expected to hold the significantly high market share of the boxboard cartons market in terms of volume during the forecast period. Large scale foreign investment is also expected to rise in the region, and is anticipated to fuel the demand of boxboard cartons over the forecast period. Latin America region is projected to be one of the fastest growing regions in terms of volume during the forecast period. As the retail sector expands in developing countries such as BRICS, the market for boxboard is expected to advance significantly over the forecast period of 2016 - 2024. Many small Chinese players hold significant market share in the Asia Pacific boxboard cartons market in terms of value. Region wise, Asia Pacific, countries including China, Japan and Australia are the major growth driving markets for boxboard cartons in terms of revenue contribution. In Latin America, countries such as Brazil and Mexico are expected to grow significantly during the forecast period in terms of revenue. In Europe, EU 4 and U.K holds significant market share in Europe boxboard cartons market in terms of value. In, MEA, GCC countries are expected to create significant value opportunity during the forecast period.Boxboard Cartons Market  Market Dynamics:The global boxboard cartons market is expected to witness a strong growth attributed to the rising demand from food and beverage industry. The boxboard cartons have several benefits which has been driving the global boxboard cartons market in terms of value; some of the benefits include cost-effective, lightweight, flexible, functional and custom-designed.However, there are a few challenges in the boxboard cartons market. For instance, the major difficulty faced by boxboard recyclers is contamination. Hot melt glues and adhesives cause considerable problems. They are not easily removed through the cleaning process and they contribute to visual imperfections in the recycled boxboard. Changing to water-based adhesives, and educating households to separate boxboard from other materials, are some possible solutions.High demand for bio-degradable boxboard cartons creates a lucrative opportunity for the global boxboard cartons market. Increasing demand from large scale industrial companies is expected to create significant opportunity to raise the revenue of the global boxboard cartons market.Boxboard Cartons Market  Major Players:Some of the major players identified across the globe in the boxboard cartons market are Amcor Limited, Boxboard cartons pty ltd., Grief Inc., National Packaging Company, R Howard Ltd, Packwell D&S Ltd., Sonoco Products Company and Display Pack Inc. etc.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:
At A CAGR Of 7%, Assembly-Line Robots Global Market Will Expand From 2017 - 2020

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "At A CAGR Of 7%, Assembly-Line Robots Global Market Will Expand From 2017 - 2020" to its huge collection of research reports.Technavios research analyst predicts the global assembly line robots market to grow steadily at a CAGR of 7% during the forecast period. The need for flexibility in plant operations is one of the primary drivers of the market. As most industries now serve their customers 24/7, employees are required to work round the clock. The adoption of robots has reduced the employee workload drastically. Monotonous jobs such as assembling are now carried out by robots in the production line with high productivity and consistent quality. With the use of robots, employees can focus more on supervising and decision-making roles. The use of collaborative robots has helped the automotive industry to a great extent. For example, BMW introduced collaborative robots in its human production lines in September 2013.The small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that include contract manufacturers of auto components and machine tools are reluctant in making heavy investments on robots, but this trend is witnessing a change owing to the challenges they face in handling manual labor. This has led them to increasingly adopt collaborative robots that are easy and safe to operate on the assembly lines. For instance, Rethink robots offer robotics solutions for small industries starting at $25,000.End-user segmentation and analysis of the global assembly line robots marketAutomotiveNon-automotiveThe automotive segment accounted for nearly half of the assembly line robots market demand owing to their increased application in assembling heavy components like chassis, powertrain, and so on. All major companies such as BMW, Ford, and GM have adopted assembly line robots in their production lines to enhance and improve their production efficiency and to maintain consistent quality of their finished products.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Geographical segmentation and analysis of the global assembly line robots marketAmericasAPACEMEAAPAC accounted for nearly 62% of the overall assembly line robots market in 2015 but the fastest growth is expected to be seen from EMEA during the forecast period. This rapid growth in EMEA can be attributed to the monetary stimulus package announced by the European Central Bank and investments that are planned by the automotive majors in the region.Competitive landscape and key vendorsThe assembly line robots market is facing stiff competition due to innovations in products and marketing strategies. Also, all major vendors are focusing on providing complete industrial robotic solutions. They are developing innovative technologies to provide better support services and superior quality robots enabled with IoT services. Technavios analysts expect the competitive environment in this market to intensify further with an increase in R&D investments and M&A during the forecast period.The leading vendors in the market are -ABBFanucKUKAYaskawaOther prominent vendors in the market include Apex Automation and Robotics, Denso Robotics, Epson Robotics, Kawasaki Robotics, Mitsubishi Electric, Nachi Robotic Systems, Rethink Robotics, TM Robotics, and Universal Robots.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 Vacation Rental Market will reach $169.7 billion by 2019

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Albany, NY, Feb 17, 2017: Market research analyst believes that the global vacation rental market will reach $169.7 billion by 2019. The key regions where global vacation rental adoption is highest are Europe and North America, wherein the awareness of the concept of a vacation rental is widespread.The entry of new technologically oriented start-ups and higher interest in vacation rentals among travelers is one of the reasons for market growth. Travelers are more inclined to using business intelligence software and data mining tools to harness their data to improve their decision-making. Also, price optimization by utilizing revenue management software is gaining popularity in the market.What is vacation rental and why is it important?A vacation rental is an alternative lodging option that involves the short-term rental of myriad properties, such as apartments, farm stays, private homes, cabins, beach houses, villas, cottages, or chalets, to travelers and tourists. These dwelling units are offered on a nightly, weekly, or a monthly basis, although the dominant practice in the market is renting it out weekly. They are also commonly referred to as holiday lettings, tourist rentals, bed and breakfast, homestay, and gites.Get a Sample Research PDF with TOC:The vacation rental business is becoming more complex and necessitates the micro-management of processes to improve competitiveness. Spotting this opportunity, several companies that provide tailored services have entered the market. This market trend will continue, and will become even more important in the next five years. It can increase the rental income for hosts and provide a stress-free travel experience for renters, improving the overall environment of the market.Geographical segmentation of global vacation rental market- Europe- North America- APAC- Latin America- MEAEurope accounted for the largest share of the market in 2014. The presence of several large, established players and increasing funding from high-profile investors is driving up market potential and accelerating its shift to the mainstream category. The promotion of the concept of renting out a vacation rental home on social and digital platforms is expected to play a key role in attracting these new customers.In regions such as APAC, a large number of houses are lying vacant, and the affiliation for vacation rentals is growing, demonstrating that the market has the resources and can contribute substantially to its growth.Factors driving global vacation rental market- Rise of sharing economy- Expansion of online distributionThis market research report provides a number of factors contributing to the adoption and opportunities in the global vacation rental market. It also offers an analysis of each factor and an estimation of the extent to which the factors are likely to impact the overall market growth.Factors challenging global vacation rental market- Lack of proper regulations- Stalled conversion of lead to transactionThese are only a few of the challenges covered in this market research report. The full version of this market analysis provides a more comprehensive list and a discussion on each of the challenges faced by the global vacation rental market.Enquiry at:Key questions answered in the report include- What are the key factors driving the vacation rental market?- What are the key market trends impacting the growth of the vacation rental market?- What are the various opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the vacation rental market?- Growth forecast for the key segments of the vacation rental market?- Trending factors influencing the market shares for APAC, Europe, North America and ROW?- Key outcome of the market analysis of the leading countries in the vacation rental market?- Key outcome of the five forces analysis on the vacation rental market?ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at:
Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market On Global And Regional Level: Size, Trends & Forecasts 2017 - 2020

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ResearchMoz presents this most up-to-date research on "Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market On Global And Regional Level: Size, Trends & Forecasts 2017 - 2020".The report titled Global Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market: Size, Trends & Forecasts (2016-2020), provides an in-depth analysis of the global online takeaway food delivery market by value and by penetration rate. The report also gives an insight of the global food services market and takeaway food delivery market.The report provides a regional analysis of the online takeaway food delivery market, including the following regions: US, Canada, UK, Australia, Denmark, Italy, Spain and France.The report also assesses the key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth of the industry. Growth of the overall global online takeaway food delivery market has also been forecasted for the period 2016-2020, taking into consideration the previous growth patterns, the growth drivers and the current and future trends.The competition in the global online takeaway food delivery market is fragmented with several new players emerging in the industry. However, key players of the online takeaway food delivery market, Just Eat, GrubHub and Rocket Internet (Foodpanda and Deliver Hero) are profiled with their financial information and respective business strategies.Country CoverageUSCanadaUKAustraliaDenmarkItalySpainFranceTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Company CoverageJust EatGrubHubRocket Internet (Foodpanda and Deliver Hero)Executive SummaryThe food services industry is experiencing a revolution. Even the food delivery market is undergoing a dynamic change. It is the online mode that is reaping attention in the current scenario. The food delivery market is both online and offline. The online food delivery market is also known as online takeaway food delivery market.Online takeaway food delivery market provides an online and mobile platform for food takeaway. The platform is essentially a marketplace where consumers are matched with restaurants. Consumers choose to order on takeaway restaurant (TR) webpage or an app rather than directly on restaurant websites because they can easily compare multiple cuisine options, and also pay safely. In online mode mobile apps are available for iOS and Android of either the restaurants or TR. Customers select restaurants that deliver to their locations, make selection from menus and prices, and make purchases using a mobile device or via the web without the need for phone calls.In recent years online food delivery market is gaining popularity because of the increased internet penetration across nations and increased smartphone dependence.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 Amphoteric Surfactant Market: Industry Manufacturers Analysis and Forecasts to 2021

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The Report added on Amphoteric Surfactant Market added by DecisionDatabases.com to its huge database. This research study is segmented on the basis of applications, technology, geography, and types. The Report provides a detailed Amphoteric Surfactant Industry overview along with the analysis of industrys gross margin, cost structure, consumption value, and sale price. The leading companies of the Amphoteric Surfactant Market, manufacturers, and distributors are profiled in the report along with the latest Industry development current and future trends.Access the Report and full TOC @This report studies Amphoteric Surfactant 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, covering* BASF* Evonik* Lonza* Oxiteno* Pilot Chemical Company* Solvay* Akzonobel N.V.* Calriant Corporation* Croda* Huntsman Corporation* Lonza Company* The Lubrizol Corporation* Oxiteno Sa* Pilot Chemical* Stepan CompanyMarket Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share, and growth rate of Amphoteric Surfactant in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), like* North America* Europe* China* Japan* Southeast Asia* IndiaDownload Free sample Report @Split by product type, with production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided into* Betaine* Amine Oxide* Amphoacetates* AmphopropionatesSplit by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Amphoteric Surfactant in each application, can be divided into* Pharmaceuticals* Cosmetics* Household CleaningTable of Contents-Snapshot1 Market Overview2 Global Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2011-2016)4 Global Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)5 Global Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type6 Global Market Analysis by Application7 Global Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis8 Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Market Forecast (2016-2021)13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 AppendixPurchase a copy of Report @View More Related Reports @About Us:DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research reports provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research Report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains.Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed.3rd Floor, Fountain chambers,Nanabhai Lane, Fort, Mumbai - 1E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.comPhone: +91 99 28 237112Web:
Europe H1N1 Vaccines Market 2017

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Latest market study on " Europe H1N1 Vaccines Market Report: 2017 " available with Single User Europe USD 3900 at OrbisResearch.comThe H1N1 Vaccines Market report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the Europe H1N1 Vaccines market for 2017-2022 The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. To calculate the market size , market share, market growth, market analysis , market forecast, and covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years .Get More Information of Europe H1N1 Vaccines Market Report @Market Research Report on H1N1 Vaccines Market begins with :Countries Germany France UK Russia Italy Spain BeneluxManufacturer like Sanofi Pasteur AstraZeneca Novartis GlaxoSmithKline Serum Institute Sinovac Biotech Zydus Cadila BioCSL Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Protein Sciences Corporation Baxter InternationalType like Type I Type IIApplication can be divided into Application 1 Application 2Request a sample of Europe H1N1 Vaccines market @This H1N1 Vaccines market report offers the following benefits:Comprehensive analysis of product types and geographic segments enables the identification of growth opportunities within the Europe H1N1 Vaccines marketThe H1N1 Vaccines market report gives a detailed overview of the key segments in the market . H1N1 Vaccines Market report focuses on the major drivers and restraints for the key players. The Europe H1N1 Vaccines Industry report gives a comprehensive account of the Europe H1N1 Vaccines market. Details such as the size, key players, segmentation etc. The fastest and slowest growing market segments are covered in this reportPurchase a copy of Europe H1N1 Vaccines Market visit @For more information contact sales@orbisresearch.com .Table of Contents:1 Europe H1N1 Vaccines, Revenue and Price Forecast (2017-2022)2 Europe H1N1 Vaccines and Growth Rate Forecast (2017-2022)3 Europe H1N1 Vaccines Revenue and Growth Rate Forecast (2017-2022)4 Europe H1N1 Vaccines Price and Trend Forecast (2017-2022)5 Europe H1N1 Vaccines, Revenue and Growth Rate Forecast by Regions (2017-2022)6 Europe H1N1 Vaccines, Revenue and Price Forecast by Type (2017-2022)7 Europe H1N1 Vaccines Forecast by Application (2017-2022)For any enquires before buying, connect with us @ enquiry@orbisresearch.comAbout 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; +9164101019Follow Us on LinkedIn:Follow us on Twitter:Like us on Facebook:
CHARLES CITY  Mildred M. Schanfeld, 92, of Charles City, IA went to be with the Lord on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017.

There will be no services at this time. A combined service at a later date will take place when her husband Lloyd passes.
Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Market Would Register a Healthy Growth Rate During the Forecast 2015 - 2021

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The global augmented reality & virtual reality market is expected to grow at a substantial growth rate especially in training and infotainment market. Heavy penetration is the wide spectrum of application areas for these technologies. Virtual reality application in healthcare shows a tremendous growth and driving the market for augmented reality & virtual reality. It is a field of computer research which deals with the combination of real-world and computer generated data. Augmented reality consists of various benefits which includes interactive in real time, also data can be generated in real-time. Augmented reality has various applications which include video games (physical interaction with 3D models), presentations, television, theme park, and simulations (driving, flying etc.).Sample of this report is available upon request @The report contains the global scenario of augmented reality & virtual reality market discussing detailed overview and market figures. The research report analyses the industry growth rate, industry capacity, and industry structure. The report analyses the historical data and forecasts the augmented reality & virtual reality market size, production forecasts along with key factors driving and restraining the market growth.The global augmented reality & virtual reality market is segmented into two major categories, on the basis of technology into augmented and virtual reality technologies, on the basis of sensors and components into sensors, semiconductor components, augmented reality sensors and components, virtual reality sensors and components. The market is also segmented by application into E-commerce, gaming, medical, education, military and other industrial applications. The market is further segmented by geography into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe and rest of the world regions. Among these regional markets, Asia Pacific registered the fastest growth rate during the forecast period from 2013 to 2019.The global augmented reality & virtual reality market is driven by factors such as the increasing demand in healthcare, boosting demand for smartphones. Rising Prevalence of Computer Technology and Internet Connectivity will also act as drivers for the global augmented reality & virtual reality market.Some of the factors inhibiting the growth of the global augmented reality & virtual reality market are privacy and awareness, image latency. Requirement of hardware is also restraining the growth of the global augmented reality & virtual reality market. Programming physics, costs, under development and graphics are also other factors restraining the growth of the global augmented reality & virtual reality market. The emerging applications and increase in R&D initiatives will serve as an opportunity, fuelling the growth of the global augmented reality & virtual reality market.TOC of this report is available upon request @Some of the key players dominating the market are Blippar, Catchoom, Innovega Inc., Laster Technologies, Metaio Gmbh, Total Immersion, Vertalis Ltd, Augmented Pixels Co., Kooaba AG, Kishino Limited, Qualcomm Incorporated, Wikitude Gmbh and others. Earlier the global augmented reality & virtual reality market was dominated by players with relatively low brand image. However, after the entrance of new big players in the industry, the demand for augmented reality & virtual reality has increased among the consumers.Key geographies evaluated in this report are: North Americao U.So Canada Europeo France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UKo Eastern Europeo CIS APACo Chinao Indiao Japano Australiao Others Latin Americao Argentinao Brazilo OthersKey features of this report Drivers, restraints, and challenges shaping the Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality market dynamics Latest innovations and key events in the industry Analysis of business strategies of the top players Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality market estimates and forecasts(2015 -2021)About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Worldwide Patient Monitoring Equipment Market are anticipated to reach $26.2 billion by 2022: Industry Shares, Strategies and Forecasts

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ResearchMoz added Latest Research Report titled " Patient Monitoring Equipment: Market Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2016 to 2022 " to it's Large Report database.The 2016 study has 615 pages, 365 tables and figures. Worldwide Patient Monitoring markets are poised to achieve significant growth as a resurgence in tracking vital signs extends from the intensive care unit ICU and emergency department to all areas of the hospital, to patient transport venues, and to home outpatient treatment locations.The patient monitoring platform is modular, integrating various components. Modular systems are developed in the context of consideration of probable specifications for the interaction of system components. Patient Monitoring systems are making a market resurgence because smaller, lighter, wireless units are less costly and more valuable in the context of treatment evaluations and recommendations. People who have cardiac or respiratory difficulty have more treatment options, making more extensive patient monitoring useful.Designs take into consideration users with mild, moderate, and severe chronic disease condition restrictions. Users come from chronic disease groups and older age groups.Request for Sample PDF of Premium Research Report with TOC:The core of a patient monitoring platform is an integration of separate vital signs detection sensors that form a system that supports adapting to numerous clinical requirements. Modules implement ways to determine patient condition. Market driving forces for multi-parameter and specialized vital signs patient monitors relate to more societal willingness to pay for vigilance, an increase in vigilance of sick people at risk. Cardiac and respiratory symptoms are measured as vital sign shifts by patient monitors.Symptoms are represented by shifts in vital sign monitoring that measures disease conditions impacted deterioration of patient well-being. The monitoring is frequently done in conjunction with blood work.There is a lot of complexity in determining the meaning of the patient monitor vital signs measurements. Shortness of breath is a common symptom of cardiac disease. It is frequently misdiagnosed as a respiratory symptom or ignored by patients and is not even considered a symptom.Read All Patient Monitoring Market Research Reports @Table of ContentsPatient Monitoring Systems Executive Summary 33Patient Monitoring Systems Market Driving Forces 33Hospital Cardiac Patient Monitoring Company and Technology Challenges 36Patient Monitoring Market Shares 37Patient Monitoring Market Forecasts 391 Patient Monitoring Market Description And Market Dynamics 411.1 Transforming Health Care Landscape Provides Opportunity 411.1.1 Quality Healthcare Delivery 461.2 Advances In Remote Patient Monitoring 461.3 Vendor Positioning in Hospital Patient Cardiac Monitors 471.3.1 Improving Supply Chain Efficiency 481.3.2 Vendors Seek to Become More Competitive 481.4 Multi-Parameter Patient Monitor Market Shares and Market Forecasts 491.5 Healthcare Markets 501.6 Wireless Patient Monitoring 531.6.1 Wireless Patient Monitoring Category 542 Patient Monitoring Systems Market Shares And Market Forecasts 552.1 Patient Monitoring Systems Market Driving Forces 552.1.1 Hospital Cardiac Patient Monitoring Company and Technology Challenges 582.1.2 Lives Improved: Striving to Make the World Healthier and More Sustainable Through Innovation 602.1.3 Addressing Patient Monitoring Technology Challenges: Social and Ecological Approach 612.2 Patient Monitoring Market Shares 692.2.1 Philips Healthcare 722.2.2 Philips IntelliVue MX40 732.2.3 GE Healthcare 74About 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 @
ENT And Bronchoscopy Market: Major Asian regions are predicted to face aging population crisis in coming years leading to increased ENT and lung diseases that will drive the market growth

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ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) and Bronchoscopy devices market comprises of a wide array of medical devices such as ENT powered instruments and radiofrequency devices, ENT hand instruments, endoscopes, bronchial stents, bronchial flexible scope and airway stents. These devices are used in a number of surgical procedures and treatment associated with ENT and lung diseases such as myringotomy, stapedectomy, tonsillectomy, internal biopsy and bronchial stenting. These surgical procedures are used in the treatment of a variety of diseases such as acute oitis media, eustachian tube dysfunction, conductive hearing loss and malignant and benign tracheobronchial stenosis. ENT powered instruments are used in a variety of ENT surgeries and facilitate better precision, surgical access, safety and speed. An endoscope is a device used to examine the interior surfaces of an organ inside the body. An endoscope encompasses a light and a video camera enabling doctors to see images and recording on the screen. In ENT endoscopes are used to look into nasal & sinus cavities and vocal cords and other throat tissues while in lung diseases it is used to look through airway of lungs and help in taking tissue sample.Read Full Report:The global ENT and bronchoscopy devices market is segmented broadly into ENT device market and Bronchoscope device market. The ENT device market is further segmented into powered ENT instruments market, ENT hand instruments market, ENT endoscope device market and ENT radio frequency & ultrasonic device market. The bronchoscopy device market is segmented into bronchial stent market, bronchial forceps & transbronchial aspiration needles market and bronchial hand instruments market.The market for ENT and Bronchoscopy market is predicted to grow under the influence of increasing incidences of ENT and lung diseases worldwide such as chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD), sinusitis and otitis media, increasing habit of smoking and technological advancements leading to less invasive procedures such as radio frequency and powered instruments. WHO (World Health Organization) reports that COPD is the 4th leading cause of death worldwide and is expected to hold 3rd position by 2020 and it was reported that 64 million people were suffering from COPD worldwide in the year 2004. Geographically North America and Europe are leading the way in the market respectively with a combined market share accounting for more than 60% of the total market value. Major Asian regions are predicted to face aging population crisis in coming years leading to increased ENT and lung diseases that will drive the market growth.Download exclusive Sample of this report:Some of the market players in this industry are Boston Scientific Corporation, Carl Zeiss AG, Medtronic Inc., Lumenis Ltd., Meditech, Olympus Corporation and Broncus Technologies, Inc.About us:Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Social Networking Market to grow at a CAGR of around 18% during Forecast 2016-2020

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Albany, NY, Feb 17, 2017: Technavios research analyst predicts the global social networking market to grow at a CAGR of around 18% during the forecast period. Social media advertising has gained popularity over the past decade, mainly due to the active participation of social media users. Social media advertising offers a solid platform for advertisers to exhibit their brands/products, especially during global events, which are actively followed across the world.One of the reasons for the growth of advertisement spending on social media is the fact that social media acts as a platform that helps in directing search keywords toward the companys website, leading to increased website traffic and brand popularity/visibility. Besides, social media allows brands to interact with people by offering an effective platform for communication, thereby leading to higher conversion rate and improved brand loyalty.Segmentation by device and analysis of the social networking market- Social network advertisement spending on desktop computers- Social network advertisement spending on mobile devicesAlthough desktop computers accounted for around 51% of the total social media advertisement spending during 2015, the market is expected to shift significantly toward advertisement spending on mobile devices during the forecast period. This is mainly due to the growing usage of smartphones and tablets. Mobile devices help in effectively targeting potential audience as most personal and professional interactions take place in these devices. Social media apps designed for mobile devices regularly track these interactions and further increase the relevance of advertisements.Get a Sample Research PDF with TOC:Geographical segmentation and analysis of the social networking market- Americas- APAC- EMEAThe market in the Americas is mature as North America accounts for around 93% of the market share in the region. It has a social media penetration of around 58%, which is the highest globally. Though this existing high penetration makes it difficult to attract new users toward social media, it offers brands a broad base of target audience, resulting in greater chances of monetizing their advertisement efforts.Competitive landscape and key vendorsThe global social networking market is dominated by a few global vendors. These vendors are constantly trying to innovate and update their platforms/solutions to keep up with the latest trends and developments in the market. Mergers and acquisitions are common in the market as major vendors like Facebook, Twitter and Google try to acquire new entrants in the market in which they see significant potential.The leading vendors in the market are -- Facebook- Google Plus- LinkedIn- Sina Weibo- Twitter- YouTubeThe other prominent vendors in the market include Instagram, iQIYI, Pinterest, Qzone, Renren, and Tumblr.Enquiry at:Key questions answered in the report include- What will the market size and the growth rate be in 2020?- What are the key factors driving the global social networking market?- What are the Key Market trends?impacting the growth of the global social networking 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 vendors in the global social networking market?- Trending factors influencing the market shares of the Americas, APAC, and EMEA?- What are the key outcomes of the five forces analysis of the global social networking market?ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at:
Global Smart Band Market 2016-2020 - High Demand for Wearable Lifestyle Devices is the key growth driver for this market

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Albany, NY, Feb 17, 2017: Technavios research analyst predicts the global smart band market to grow steadily at a CAGR of around 8% during the forecast period. The high demand for wearable lifestyle devices is the key growth driver for this market. Consumers use smartwatches, smart bands, and wearable rings to monitor daily fitness and health activities, listen to music, check virtual/3D videos, play virtual games, and access social networking websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. The popularity of these devices is highest among the younger population, especially in the US.The strategic partnership among supply chain members is an emerging trend in the smart band market. In recent years, smart band manufacturers have increased their relationships with industry players worldwide. For instance, during 2015, HTC partnered with Under Armour to develop the Grip smart band.Geographical segmentation and analysis of the smart band market- Americas- APAC- EMEAGet a Sample Research PDF with TOC:The Americas accounted for 65% of the market share during 2015 and is expected to retain its market leadership until the end of the forecast period. Its dominance was due to the presence of tech-savvy consumers with greater awareness of technologically advanced products such as smart bands. Fitbit, Garmin, and Jawbone; which are among the top five leading vendors in the market are also based out of the US.Competitive landscape and key vendorsThe global smart band market is characterized by intense competition due to the presence of multiple small and large vendors. The report predicts uncertain market growth for all vendors in 2016. Although large vendors such as Fitbit, Jawbone, and Samsung already have an established presence in the market, yet small vendors from APAC such as Xiaomi is taking over due to the low cost of manufacturing in the APAC region.The leading vendors in the market are -- Fitbit- Garmin- Jawbone- Samsung Electronics- XiaomiThe other prominent vendors in the market include Lenovo, LG, Nike, Razer, and Sony.Enquiry at:Key questions answered in the report include:-- What will the market size and the growth rate be in 2020?- What are the key factors driving the global smart band market?- What are the Key Market trends?impacting the growth of the smart band 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 vendors in the global smart band market?- Trending factors influencing the market shares of the Americas, APAC, and EMEA?- What are the key outcomes of the five forces analysis of the smart band market?ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at:
Woodies Train Shop presents the Best Model Steam Engine Kit

New York, February 1 2017 - Hobbies are much valued in the modern society. They are said to be a great relief that battle illnesses which are usually progressing later in life. Keeping the thought occupied with some intelligent hobby is always recommended by the doctors and not only. Some people are collecting stamps and other are playing video games. The hobbies can be diverse but that doesnt truly mean that we are all so different from each other.The Best Model Steam Engine Kit site is presenting people with details about an exotic hobby that isnt much discussed in the mainstream. These people are loving technologies and they are recreating miniatures steam engines that are based on the models of old. Such a hobby can easily push a person in the direction of technology and can nurture in a child the willingness to find out more about how engines started functioning in the first place. People are saying that in most part their interest connecting to such a hobby has sprouted when their parents have pushed them in this direction.As a father or mother, a person can easily divert then attention of their child towards the steam engine construction hobby. Such pages as this one can help people out by making the Best Model Steam Engine Kit known so that the money are well invested. Who better to listen to than to professionals who have been in this field for so many years. The choice is pretty obvious and paying attention to the smaller details is always very rewarding by the end of the day. Intelligent people are usually magnets for the rest of the persons that are like themselves.There is certainly an exotic appeal to start crafting what was new at the end of the industrial age. The uniqueness of such a model when compared to the modern engines stands out and it is a revelation for many. Those people that are currently interested by the motors of modern cars would find such a steam engine kit a very interesting hobby to practice. The Best Model Steam Engine Kit is a basically the greatest present that a friend can actually get them these days. Try it out for yourself as to find out.About Woodies Train Shopwoodiestrainshop.comThe Best Model Steam Engine Kit is a basically the greatest present that a friend can actually get them these days. Try it out for yourself as to find out.2549 Keith RoadNorth Vancouver, BC V5T 2C1
Fluoropolymer Market will explore robust size & growth during 2016 - 2024

Fluoropolymer Market

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Polymer made up of carbon and fluorine molecules is known as fluropolymer. Fluropolymer is a kind of high quality plastic that offers high heat resistance and excellent tensile strength. It is mainly combined to withstand harsh chemicals and extreme temperature. This polymer has ability to provide high quality texture to the end products. Therefore, fluropolymer has broad range of application in large number of industries such as defense, automotive, aerospace, electronics and telecommunications. On other hand, fluoropolymers is also used in consumer products for nonstick coatings in cookware and small appliances.Fluoropolymer market is primarily driven by increasing demand for the polymer from various end applications. Emerging market of electrical appliances including computers and smart phones is expected to drive growth of the fluropolymer market. Stringent outline to manufacture and use of fluoropolymers implemented by several regulatory bodies is a major restraint that holds the growth of the fluropolymer industry.Get Sample Research Report at :The report segments the global fluropolymer market, on the basis of product types into PTFE, PVDF, FEP, fluoroelastomers and others. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) market dominated the global fluoropolymers industry. Polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) is estimated to witness the fastest growth due to it is highly employed as an insulation material in electrical wires because it offers flexibility, low weight, low thermal conductivity, high chemical corrosion resistance and heat resistance.Based on application the market is segmented as automotive, electrical & electronics, construction, industrial equipment and others. Industrial application is one of the leading applications of the market. Fluorine based polymers are used in industrial applications to afford thermal and corrosion resistance. Automotive sector is another important outlet that is likely to have promising growth due to increasing proliferation in fuel engine systems to reduce emissions and provide heat resistance.The study analyzes the product value chain, beginning with feedstock up to end-use. Additionally, it evaluates the market based on Porters Five Forces Model, which analyzes the degree of competition in the market by considering factors such as bargaining power of buyers and suppliers and threat of substitute products and new entrants. The report includes a detailed competitive landscape of the fluropolymer market. It comprises market share analysis of companies and profiles of key market participants.Browse the full report at:The study provides the comprehensive perspective on the fluropolymer market growth, throughout the forecast period in terms of volume (in Kilo Tons) and revenue (in USD Million), across different region, which includes North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa (MEA) with its further bifurcation into major countries including U.S., Germany, France, UK, China, Japan, India and Brazil. Asia-Pacific is likely to be the fastest growing market in the forecast period owing to the swift innovation and increasing demand from key countries such as China, Japan and India.Some of the key participants for the global fluropolymer market include Jinan 3F Fluoro-Chemical Co. Ltd, Arkema SA, AGC Chemicals Europe, E.I. DuPont De Nemours, Dyneon GmbH, Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd., 3M Chemicals, Solvay SA, Zhonghao Chenguang Research Institute of Chemical Industry, Shanghai 3F, Fuxin Hengtong, Honeywell International Inc., and DAIKIN INDUSTRIES, Ltd.This report segments the global fluropolymer materials market as follows:Global Fluoropolymer Market: Product Segment AnalysisPolytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)Polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF)Fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP)FluoroelastomersOthersGlobal Fluoropolymer Market: Application Segment AnalysisAutomotiveElectrical & ElectronicsConstructionIndustrialOthersGlobal Fluoropolymer Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia-PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East & AfricaAbout UsSyndicate Market Research provides a range of marketing and business research solutions designed for our clients specific needs based on our expert resources. The business scopes of Syndicate Market Research cover more than 30 industries includsing energy, new materials, transportation, daily consumer goods, chemicals, etc. We provide our clients with one-stop solution for all the research requirements.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@syndicatemarketresearch.comWebsite:
Tattoo Machine 2017 Global Market Key Players - Hongtai,Cornucopia Laser Tattoo cleaning Machine,Saltwatertattoo Analysis and Forecast to 2022

Tattoo Machine Market

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Tattoo Machine ReportThis report studies Tattoo Machine 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, coveringHongtaiCornucopia Laser Tattoocleaning MachineSaltwatertattooTry Sample Report @Market Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Tattoo Machine 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 intoDouble MachineCombine MachineSplit by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Tattoo Machine in each application, can be divided intoCommercial UseTeaching UseSome Major Points from Table of content:Global Tattoo Machine Market Research Report 20171 Tattoo Machine Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Tattoo Machine1.2 Tattoo Machine Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Tattoo Machine by Type in 20151.2.2 Double Machine1.2.3 Combine Machine1.3 Tattoo Machine Segment by Application1.3.1 Tattoo Machine Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Commercial Use1.3.3 Teaching Use1.3.4 Application 31.4 Tattoo Machine 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 Tattoo Machine (2012-2022)For Detailed Reading Please visit @2 Global Tattoo Machine Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Tattoo Machine Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global Tattoo Machine Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Global Tattoo Machine Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers Tattoo Machine Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Tattoo Machine Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Tattoo Machine Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Tattoo Machine Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion..7 Global Tattoo Machine Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Hongtai7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.1.2 Tattoo Machine Product Type, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Hongtai Tattoo Machine Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Cornucopia Laser Tattoocleaning Machine7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.2.2 Tattoo Machine Product Type, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Cornucopia Laser Tattoocleaning Machine Tattoo Machine Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Saltwatertattoo7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.3.2 Tattoo Machine Product Type, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Saltwatertattoo Tattoo Machine Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.3.4 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)About UsWise 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 5042info@wiseguyreports.com
Shrovetide Inspired Logo for Ashbourne-based Healthcare Provider

Henmore Health Ltd branding by Kieran Harrod Design

www.henmorehealth.co.uk

www.derby.graphics

Derby, Derbyshire, UK: 16 February 2017  Derby-based logo & branding creator and graphic designer, Kieran Harrod, is behind the new branding and logo for Ashbourne-based healthcare provider Henmore Health.Kieran, from Kilburn, Derbyshire, has been working in the design industry for 18 years undertook the project alongside the team at Henmore to bring a modern, professional and fresh look to the services provided by Henmore Health.Kieran was commissioned to develop a brand that reflected this nature and the commitment of those who operate within it. The Henmore H was born: a design which takes the geography of Ashbourne as its skeleton.The bottom corner and right diamond are aligned with the locations of the Shrovetide goals beside the Henmore, with the river represented in blue between. A series of 3 blues highlight the river as the central inspiration for this design with accents of green for the land and a dark stone for the goals.Henmore Health Ltd is owned and operated by the GP Partners and Practice Manager of a successful GP Practice located in Ashbourne, at the gateway to the Peak District.Recognising the changing environment in General Practice and the pace of evolution, Henmore Health seeks to promote the Tiered Care Model for NHS Practices, evolve Primary Care Facilities to be more sustainable and robust in the current climate and provide Private Services to patients who seek a high-quality private care pathway.Commenting on the project, Kieran said:Creating a brand for an exciting, forward-thinking organisation such as Henmore has been excellent. Im proud with the result, a brand thats inspired by the geography of Ashbourne, anchored by the Shrovetide goals, yet looks confidently outward from the town towards the future. On working with Kieran, Danny Smart of Henmore Health stated:Kieran did a terrific job with the Henmore Health branding and the solution expertly met the brief we provided. It was great to work with a professional brand designer who offered significant value for money and someone we would be happy to recommend.More information about Henmore Health Ltd can be found atand more about Kieran Harrod can be found atAbout Kieran HarrodKieran Harrod is a Creative, Professional & Reliable Graphic Designer skilled in branding, print and web design, with bags of integrity. Based in Derby, UK, Kieran set up his own business in May 2011 after practising design since 1997 including 7 years as an in-house designer and marketing manager for the UK arm of a multinational. Creator of graph and chart based blog Life in Graphs, Kieran also writes for LogoCurio.us, a logo design blog.About Henmore Health LtdA traditionally minded, caring organisation, Henmore Health has recognised the need for effective change to meet the modern demands of Healthcare in the 21st Century. However this is not at the detriment to a high quality, patient focused care model and Henmore Health promises to provide the highest standard of care to all our patients. NHS or Private, our patients will receive a level of care that combines best practice with innovation and sustainability. Our facilities and services will remain highly accessible, fit for purpose and sustainable for this decade, and the next.Kieran Harrod DesignFriar Gate StudiosFord StreetDerbyDE1 1EE
Chimeric Antibody Market Size To 2021

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Global Chimeric Antibody Industry 2021 Market Research Report analyzed the current state in the definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The report also focuses on the development trends as well as history, competitive landscape analysis, and key regions etc in the international markets.Global Chimeric Antibody Industry 2021 Market Research Report is a professionally prepared report comprising of in-depth information as well as knowledge which is helpful to the new entrants and the established players. Key statistics on the state of the industry and the complete demand analysis of the industry is showcased in the report.Download Sample Report @The development policies, plans as well as the bill of materials, cost structures are well studied and explained within the report for a better understanding. It also includes the study of the sales, import/export consumption, supply and demand Figures, cost, price, revenue and gross margins. Also, the complete analysis of the prices, revenue share, growth rate etc.Through combining the well-integrated data with the deep analytical skills valid findings are detected. It gives out a strong prediction about the growth of the Chimeric Antibody industry in the future years to come. Furthermore, each and every important variable which is responsible for shaping the Global Chimeric Antibody Industry in the incorporated during the preparation process of the report.The report begins with the industry overview furnishing the details about the specifications, classification, applications, industry chain structure as well as gives out the policy analysis of the industry. It moves further on towards determining the manufacturing cost structure analysis, technical data as well as the manufacturing plant analysis. A lot of insightful predictions about the production, export/import, and consumption is provided in the report.Complete Report Details @Future Development Trends in the Global Chimeric Antibody Company through the market share, SWOT analysis, revenue, gross margin is indicated through the report. Apart from it the report also provides great prospects of the new projects investments, SWOT analysis of the new projects, details about the key consumers with the complete contact details for the new entrants to engage in better opportunities.The competitive landscape of the market state showcases the study of the most renowned players in the China markets in the field of Global Chimeric Antibody industry. A detailed and thorough analysis of the company profiles, production as well as consumption, traders, marketing distributors along with the impact is covered throughout the report. The overall research conclusions with the investment avenues are prevalent in the report. Through the report, the new entrants are able to get the complete overview of the current state of the Global Chimeric Antibody which will be beneficial for them.....ContinuedTo Buy Full Report @For more information, please visitMarket Reports Center is an e-commerce platform obliging the needs of knowledge workers, experts, professionals who are subject to market research information for their work, or to make strategic business decisions. Market Reports Centers team consistently works to update and extend our existing repository of market research reports by partnering with new publishers and adding their studies to our websiteSam Collins303, Astral Court,Aundh, Pune,MH - 411045, Indiainfo@marketreportscenter.com
FOREST CITY | Twenty-five employees who were laid off from Winnebago Industries in Forest City this week are expected to be called back in about a month, the company CEO said Friday.

Company CEO Michael Happe said it was a temporary move to adjust to seasonal industry conditions.

"In any manufacturing company you have the ability to flex your workforce as needed, especially in a seasonal business, to make sure we're not having the wrong talent in the wrong place as we run this business," he said. "Here this week about 25 employees were notified that their services for the next several weeks weren't needed. It's not a permanent layoff."

Affected employees will be asked back to work as production ramps back up in their areas. He declined to say which areas of the Forest City workforce were affected.

"Certainly as we're trying to evolve the competitiveness of Winnebago going forward and working with our employees to make sure the pace of the work fits how that specific week or month or quarter is going, we are routinely adjusting schedules and asking employees to be flexible and work with us and do what's right for the company long term," Happe said

The company employs approximately 2,300 at its Forest City facility, which produces Class A and C motorhomes and provides support.

The company in January announced to employees it had leased a new space in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, and intended to move a majority of the company's executive leadership positions to that location.

Twenty employees are based in that new office, Happe said. The company eventually plans to have 100 workers at that location.

He said the Twin Cities office, which will provide corporate shared services to all of the company's locations, is not an indication the Winnebago's commitment to Forest City is waning.

Instead, Happe said the company will continue to work to make all of its locations as competitive as it can in today's marketplace.

"We very much respect the legacy and the importance to Forest City of Winnebago," he said.

Overall, the company says on its website it employs more than 3,900 people at seven locations, which also include the former Grand Design facility in Middlebury, Indiana, and Junction City, Oregon.

"We still have several thousand employees that work in North Iowa and we're doing everything we can from a leadership perspective to create a business that still has a similar amount of people working in North Iowa in the future," Happe said.

Winnebago employs about 100 in Lake Mills, 80 in Waverly and 200 in Charles City.

The Lake Mills facility makes Class B vans. Charles City houses several operations, including solid-surface countertop fabrication and exterior compartment door production.

Waverly is home to the wire loom assembly.
E-book Reader 2017 Global Key Players - Kindle, Natusun, BOOX, Hanvon Market Analysis and Forecast to 2022

E-book Reader

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E-book Reader ReportThis report studies E-book Reader in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with capacity, production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringKindleNatusunJDReadBOOXHanvonMGYOKESRAKWSBOYUEiReaderMuYangOBOOKLEIMAIShy bearBejoyStigerUCONSSONYXREADERCapshiTry Sample Report @Market Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of E-book Reader in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanKoreaTaiwanSplit by product type, with production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoElectronic Ink ScreenLCD ScreenSplit by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of E-book Reader in each application, can be divided intoMenWomenSome Major Points from Table of content:Global E-book Reader Market Research Report 20171 E-book Reader Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of E-book Reader1.2 E-book Reader Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of E-book Reader by Type in 20151.2.2 Electronic Ink Screen1.2.3 LCD Screen1.3 E-book Reader Segment by Application1.3.1 E-book Reader Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Men1.3.3 Women1.3.4 Application 31.4 E-book Reader 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 Korea Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Taiwan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of E-book Reader (2012-2022)For Detailed Reading Please visit @2 Global E-book Reader Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global E-book Reader Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global E-book Reader Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Global E-book Reader Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers E-book Reader Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 E-book Reader Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 E-book Reader Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 E-book Reader Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion..7 Global E-book Reader Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Kindle7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.1.2 E-book Reader Product Type, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Kindle E-book Reader Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Natusun7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.2.2 E-book Reader Product Type, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Natusun E-book Reader Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 JDRead7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.3.2 E-book Reader Product Type, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 JDRead E-book Reader Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 BOOX7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.4.2 E-book Reader Product Type, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 BOOX E-book Reader Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 Hanvon7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.5.2 E-book Reader Product Type, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 Hanvon E-book Reader Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.5.4 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)About UsWise 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 5042info@wiseguyreports.com
Cholera Vaccine Market Trends and Forecasts To 2022

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Global Cholera Vaccine Industry 2021 Market Research Report analyzed the current state in the definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The report also focuses on the development trends as well as history, competitive landscape analysis, and key regions etc in the international markets.Global Cholera Vaccine Industry 2021 Market Research Report is a professionally prepared report comprising of in-depth information as well as knowledge which is helpful to the new entrants and the established players. Key statistics on the state of the industry and the complete demand analysis of the industry is showcased in the report.Download Sample Report @The development policies, plans as well as the bill of materials, cost structures are well studied and explained within the report for a better understanding. It also includes the study of the sales, import/export consumption, supply and demand Figures, cost, price, revenue and gross margins. Also, the complete analysis of the prices, revenue share, growth rate etc.Through combining the well-integrated data with the deep analytical skills valid findings are detected. It gives out a strong prediction about the growth of the Cholera Vaccine industry in the future years to come. Furthermore, each and every important variable which is responsible for shaping the Global Cholera Vaccine Industry in the incorporated during the preparation process of the report.The report begins with the industry overview furnishing the details about the specifications, classification, applications, industry chain structure as well as gives out the policy analysis of the industry. It moves further on towards determining the manufacturing cost structure analysis, technical data as well as the manufacturing plant analysis. A lot of insightful predictions about the production, export/import, and consumption is provided in the report.Complete Report Details @Future Development Trends in the Global Cholera Vaccine Company through the market share, SWOT analysis, revenue, gross margin is indicated through the report. Apart from it the report also provides great prospects of the new projects investments, SWOT analysis of the new projects, details about the key consumers with the complete contact details for the new entrants to engage in better opportunities.The competitive landscape of the market state showcases the study of the most renowned players in the China markets in the field of Global Cholera Vaccine industry. A detailed and thorough analysis of the company profiles, production as well as consumption, traders, marketing distributors along with the impact is covered throughout the report. The overall research conclusions with the investment avenues are prevalent in the report. Through the report, the new entrants are able to get the complete overview of the current state of the Global Cholera Vaccine which will be beneficial for them.....ContinuedTo Buy Full Report @For more information, please visitMarket Reports Center is an e-commerce platform obliging the needs of knowledge workers, experts, professionals who are subject to market research information for their work, or to make strategic business decisions. Market Reports Centers team consistently works to update and extend our existing repository of market research reports by partnering with new publishers and adding their studies to our websiteSam Collins303, Astral Court,Aundh, Pune,MH - 411045, Indiainfo@marketreportscenter.com
French True Fleet Market stumbles out of the blocks in January

www.dataforce.de

The French True Fleet Market appears to be recovering from a slight overindulgence while celebrating the record year of 2016 producing a - 1.5 % for January. However this was still the 2nd highest January on record for True Fleet since Dataforce statistics started in 2004. Private and Dealership/Manufacturer showed healthy gains over Jan 2016 but it was the Short Term Rental Market showing by far the most interesting gain, achieving a + 51.9% . In total the passenger car Market recorded + 10.6% and registered a little over 153,000 vehicles again making this the best January volume since 2012.After seeing the gains in the Short Term Rental channel piquing our interest we decided to look further into the numbers. While it was no surprise the majority of the 51.9% gain came from the home grown manufacturers of Peugeot, Citroen and Renault it was Ford with a + 696.4% and Nissan with + 181.5% that took our focus, literally for one of those manufacturers. From Nissan the SUV segment was predominantly where those gains were made. Juke proved to be the leader in terms of growth percentage gain followed by the X-Trail and then the Qashqai in comparison to January 2016. Fords highest percentage growth gains were spread over three vehicle segments, C-Max in the Mini-Van segment came in 3rd, Kuga in the SUV segment in 2nd but our focus was firmly on the Focus which came in 1st. Achieving 26.7% of all Fords Short Term Rental registrations for January 2017 which in comparison to January 2016 result of 3.6% marks it out as a particularly noteworthy rise within the Ford line up.As we looked into manufacturer rankings for True Fleet the Top 10 remained the same with only place changes for January. Renault in 1st and Peugeot in 2nd swapped places when compared to last year, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th remained the same for Citroen, VW, BMW and Audi respectively. Ford in 7th and Toyota in 8th each jumped a place at the expense of Nissan, which in 9th dropped 2 places. Mercedes finished out the Top 10 retaining its 10th position but only just with Fiat hot on its heels.Staying with True Fleet and in particular the fuel type for the SUV segment we are starting to see an ever increasing amount of hybrids registered in the segment. As more manufacturers add hybrid to their SUV engine lineup, the True Fleet Markets appetite has also grown accordingly so much so that it is perhaps now poised in 2017 to overtake Petrol as the 2nd most common fuel type in the SUV segment even though the hybrid bonus is scheduled to expire in March. Over Jan 2016 to Jan 2017 it has more than doubled its share in the segment moving from 3.9% to 8.5% whereas Petrol has moved from 12.7% in Jan 2016 to 9.5% in Jan 2017. No surprises in perhaps who is the strongest manufacturer, Toyota, but with Kia entering the fray with Niro, Audi bringing the Q7 and even Mercedes introducing the GLC, the market look set to continue its growth. Final mention for the release rightly belongs to Toyota and specifically the C HR as it became the #1 registered hybrid for True Fleet SUV in January 2017 beating out its stable mate the RAV 4 which has held the #1 spot for the last 6 months in a row.DATAFORCE  Focus on FleetsDataforce is the leading provider of fleet market data and automotive intelligence solutions in Europe. In addition, the company also provides detailed information on sales opportunities for the automotive industry, together with a wide portfolio of information based on primary market research and consulting services. The company is based in Frankfurt, Germany.Contact: Michael GergenDataforce Verlagsgesellschaft furBusiness Informationen mbHHamburger Allee 1460486 Frankfurt/MainPhone: +49 69 95930-231Fax: +49 69 95930-333Email: michael.gergen@dataforce.de
Inductive Loop Detection Research Analysis by Manufacturers and Consumption Forecast 2021

Inductive Loop Detection

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Notes:Sales, means the sales volume of Inductive Loop DetectionRevenue, means the sales value of Inductive Loop DetectionGet Sample Report @This report studies sales (consumption) of Inductive Loop Detection in Global market, 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, covering3MCitilogEfkon AGFLIR Intelligent Transportation Systems NVImage Sensing SystemsINIT Innovation In TrafficItraMAS Corporation Sdn BhdKapsch TrafficComLeddarTechQ-Free ASAMarket Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Inductive Loop Detection in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeUnited StatesChinaEuropeJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaSplit by product Types, with sales, revenue, price and gross margin, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoType IType IISplit by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Inductive Loop Detection in each application, can be divided intoApplication 1Application 2Leave a Query @Table of ContentsGlobal Inductive Loop Detection Sales Market Report 20171 Inductive Loop Detection Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Inductive Loop Detection1.2 Classification of Inductive Loop Detection1.2.1 Type I1.2.2 Type II1.3 Application of Inductive Loop Detection1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 21.4 Inductive Loop Detection Market by Regions1.4.1 United States Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.2 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe 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 and Volume) of Inductive Loop Detection (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Inductive Loop Detection Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Inductive Loop Detection Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)9 Global Inductive Loop Detection Manufacturers Analysis9.1 3M9.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.1.2 Inductive Loop Detection Product Type, Application and Specification9.1.2.1 Product A9.1.2.2 Product B9.1.3 3M Inductive Loop Detection Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.2 Citilog9.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.2.2 Inductive Loop Detection Product Type, Application and Specification9.2.2.1 Product A9.2.2.2 Product B9.2.3 Citilog Inductive Loop Detection Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.3 Efkon AG9.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.3.2 Inductive Loop Detection Product Type, Application and Specification9.3.2.1 Product A9.3.2.2 Product B9.3.3 Efkon AG Inductive Loop Detection Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.4 FLIR Intelligent Transportation Systems NV9.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.4.2 Inductive Loop Detection Product Type, Application and Specification9.4.2.1 Product A9.4.2.2 Product B9.4.3 FLIR Intelligent Transportation Systems NV Inductive Loop Detection Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.5 Image Sensing Systems9.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.5.2 Inductive Loop Detection Product Type, Application and Specification9.5.2.1 Product A9.5.2.2 Product B9.5.3 Image Sensing Systems Inductive Loop Detection Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.6 INIT Innovation In Traffic9.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.6.2 Inductive Loop Detection Product Type, Application and Specification9.6.2.1 Product A9.6.2.2 Product B9.6.3 INIT Innovation In Traffic Inductive Loop Detection Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.7 ItraMAS Corporation Sdn Bhd9.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.7.2 Inductive Loop Detection Product Type, Application and Specification9.7.2.1 Product A9.7.2.2 Product B9.7.3 ItraMAS Corporation Sdn Bhd Inductive Loop Detection Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.8 Kapsch TrafficCom9.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.8.2 Inductive Loop Detection Product Type, Application and Specification9.8.2.1 Product A9.8.2.2 Product B9.8.3 Kapsch TrafficCom Inductive Loop Detection Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.9 LeddarTech9.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.9.2 Inductive Loop Detection Product Type, Application and Specification9.9.2.1 Product A9.9.2.2 Product B9.9.3 LeddarTech Inductive Loop Detection Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.10 Q-Free ASA9.10.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.10.2 Inductive Loop Detection Product Type, Application and Specification9.10.2.1 Product A9.10.2.2 Product B9.10.3 Q-Free ASA Inductive Loop Detection Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.10.4 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. 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Global Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Market by Manufacturers, Type and Application, Regions, Forecast to 2021

HYBRID-CERAMIC DENTAL CAD/CAM MATERIAL

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HYBRID-CERAMIC DENTAL CAD/CAM MATERIALCovered in this Report:This report studies sales (consumption) of Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material in Global market, 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, coveringProminent vendors:VITA3M EspeShofu DentalGCIvoclar Vivadent...Market Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material in these regions, from 2011 to 2021(forecast),The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:United StatesChinaEuropeJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Split by product Types, with sales, revenue, price and gross margin, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoLow Translucent ShadesHigh Translucent ShadesEnamel ShadesSplit by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material in each application, can be divided intoLaminate VeneersFull Crowns for TeethTo get complete copy of report visit @Key Points in Table Of ContentGlobal Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales Market Report 20171 Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material1.2 Classification of Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material1.2.1 Type I1.2.2 Type II1.3 Application of Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 21.4 Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Market by Regions1.4.1 United States Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.2 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe 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 and Volume) of Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 Global Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Competition by Manufacturers, Type and Application2.1 Global Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1.1 Global Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.2 Global Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.3 Global Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material (Volume and Value) by Regions2.3.1 Global Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Market Share by Regions (2012-2017)2.3.2 Global Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Revenue and Market Share by Regions (2012-2017)2.4 Global Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material (Volume) by Application3 United States Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.1 United States Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.2 United States Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.3 United States Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)3.2 United States Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers3.3 United States Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Market Share by Type3.4 United States Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Market Share by Application4 China Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 China Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.1 China Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.2 China Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.3 China Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)4.2 China Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers4.3 China Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Market Share by Type4.4 China Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Market Share by Application5 Europe Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5.1 Europe Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Value (2012-2017)5.1.1 Europe Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.2 Europe Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.3 Europe Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)5.2 Europe Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers5.3 Europe Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Market Share by Type5.4 Europe Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Market Share by Application...... Continued...To Purchase Report visit @Contact Us:Norah TrentPartner Relations & Marketing ManagerSales@Wiseguyreports.ComPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Follow on LinkedIn:Subscribe Our YouTube Channel @Click Here For More DetailsABOUT US: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 Military Tank Containers 2016 - Market Size, Analysis, Share, Research, Growth

Military Tank Containers

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Notes:Sales, means the sales volume of Military Tank ContainersRevenue, means the sales value of Military Tank ContainersGet Sample Report @This report studies sales (consumption) of Military Tank Containers in Global market, 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, coveringKlingeKrampitz TanksystemTextainerUralVagonZavodWesterwalder EisenwerkAAR Mobility SystemsACMHAncoraNuova ManaroVarielMarket Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Military Tank Containers in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeUnited StatesChinaEuropeJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaSplit by product Types, with sales, revenue, price and gross margin, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoType IType IISplit by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Military Tank Containers in each application, can be divided intoApplication 1Application 2Leave a Query @Table of ContentsGlobal Military Tank Containers Sales Market Report 20171 Military Tank Containers Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Military Tank Containers1.2 Classification of Military Tank Containers1.2.1 Type I1.2.2 Type II1.3 Application of Military Tank Containers1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 21.4 Military Tank Containers Market by Regions1.4.1 United States Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.2 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe 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 and Volume) of Military Tank Containers (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Military Tank Containers Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Military Tank Containers Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)9 Global Military Tank Containers Manufacturers Analysis9.1 Klinge9.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.1.2 Military Tank Containers Product Type, Application and Specification9.1.2.1 Product A9.1.2.2 Product B9.1.3 Klinge Military Tank Containers Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.2 Krampitz Tanksystem9.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.2.2 Military Tank Containers Product Type, Application and Specification9.2.2.1 Product A9.2.2.2 Product B9.2.3 Krampitz Tanksystem Military Tank Containers Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.3 Textainer9.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.3.2 Military Tank Containers Product Type, Application and Specification9.3.2.1 Product A9.3.2.2 Product B9.3.3 Textainer Military Tank Containers Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.4 UralVagonZavod9.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.4.2 Military Tank Containers Product Type, Application and Specification9.4.2.1 Product A9.4.2.2 Product B9.4.3 UralVagonZavod Military Tank Containers Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.5 Westerwalder Eisenwerk9.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.5.2 Military Tank Containers Product Type, Application and Specification9.5.2.1 Product A9.5.2.2 Product B9.5.3 Westerwalder Eisenwerk Military Tank Containers Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.6 AAR Mobility Systems9.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.6.2 Military Tank Containers Product Type, Application and Specification9.6.2.1 Product A9.6.2.2 Product B9.6.3 AAR Mobility Systems Military Tank Containers Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.7 ACMH9.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.7.2 Military Tank Containers Product Type, Application and Specification9.7.2.1 Product A9.7.2.2 Product B9.7.3 ACMH Military Tank Containers Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.8 Ancora9.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.8.2 Military Tank Containers Product Type, Application and Specification9.8.2.1 Product A9.8.2.2 Product B9.8.3 Ancora Military Tank Containers Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.9 Nuova Manaro9.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.9.2 Military Tank Containers Product Type, Application and Specification9.9.2.1 Product A9.9.2.2 Product B9.9.3 Nuova Manaro Military Tank Containers Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview9.10 Variel9.10.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors9.10.2 Military Tank Containers Product Type, Application and Specification9.10.2.1 Product A9.10.2.2 Product B9.10.3 Variel Military Tank Containers Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)9.10.4 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
Rubina Ratnakar, a Creative Individual with a Strong Penchant for Designing

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Rubina Ratnakar is an acclaimed creative professional who has worked on numerous projects in order to express her raw imaginative talents. She has been a successful stylist, a photographer, a blogger, a model, an event planner and a mom. In her prestigious career, she has worked alongside numerous top photographers, architects, designers and event planners on multiple projects. This has not only offered her many creative outlets to express her inner self but has also enabled her to learn many new things in the process. In these various projects, Rubina Ratnakar has worked as a stylist, a photographer, a model, a makeup artist and as a staging professional.As a professional interior design specialist, she manages a wide range of projects that require advanced skills and aesthetic sensibilities. She is also a food and fashion stylist who works on numerous projects of her own on a regular basis. She does professional make-up for brides as well as models. She not only works as a wedding planner but also coordinates numerous other special events. She also stages model homes as well as homes for sale.Being a designer with a strong sense for client requirements, she designs company logos and various forms of stationery products. With a keen sense for details and symmetry, she can make sure that all of her designs are unique and aesthetically pleasant. Her seamless execution and critical attention to detail always help her to come up with designs and products that are of the finest quality. She also maintains her own blog site where she writes about ideas and things that move her deeply and the experiences that have helped her to become a developed human being.To learn more about Rubina Ratnakar, visitRubina Ratnakar is a creative individual who wears many different caps in her feather as she loves to explore her creative self in more than a single way.To learn more about Rubina Ratnakar, visit3430 Temple CourtBethlehem, PA
Condition Monitoring Market: Utilization of Wireless Technology to Drive Market Growth

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Machine condition monitoring is also called as machine health monitoring and includes the process of measuring and monitoring certain parameters within an equipment including pressure, humidity, temperature, and others in order to detect any important change and faults within an equipment.The global machine condition monitoring market is fuelled by the increasing implementation of predictive maintenance from preventive maintenance in numerous process industries. In addition, numerous technological developments such as the employment of remote monitoring and wireless technology in machine condition monitoring will provide impetus to the development of this market.Furthermore, the increasing demand for air conditioning, ventilating, and heating within small factories will positively impact the development of this market. The launch of cloud technology and the swift growth in wind energy market will also work in favor of the growth of the market for machine condition monitoring. On the other hand, the report states that long maintenance periods may hamper the development of the global machine condition monitoring market.The segmentation of the market comes next in the report. Machine condition monitoring is employed across a number of sectors such as energy and power, metal and mining, oil and gas, chemicals, marine, aerospace and defense, automotive, and others. Of these, energy and power is the leading application segment in the market, trailed by the sector of oil and gas.PDF Sample For Latest Industry Happenings @In terms of type, the market is segmented into motor current signature analysis, lubricating oil analysis, corrosion monitoring, ultrasound emission, vibration monitoring, and thermography. By component, the report categorizes the market into vibration sensors, corrosion probes, ultrasound detectors, spectrometers, spectrum analyzers, infrared sensors, and others. Of these, vibration sensors are further segmented into proximity probes, tachometers, and accelerometers.Geographically, the report segments the market into Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, and Rest of the World (RoW). Amongst these, the machine condition monitoring market has experienced demand in both Europe and North America due to the development of energy and power sector and oil and gas sectors. The presence of numerous players in these regions will also fuel market development in these two regions.Azima DLI Corp. (U.S.), Emerson Process Management (U.S), General Electric Company (U.S.), Honeywell International Inc. (U.S.), National Instruments Corporation (U.S.), Parker Hannifin (U.S.), Fluke Corporation (U.S.), Rockwell Automation, Inc. (U.S.), and SKF (Sweden), among others, are the top players in the global machine condition monitoring market, as per this study.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:
Wireless Charging Market - High Hopes for Global Market as Consumer Electronics and Automotive Demands Skyrocket

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Two key drivers expected to fuel the global wireless charging market now and in the immediate future are the applications of wireless charging in consumer electronics and in wearables. The penetration of wireless charging applications in wearable devices is expected to skyrocket over the coming years, providing its players with ample opportunities and revenue streams. Yet another driver expected to show and accelerated growth for the market is the growing use of wireless charging in the automotive industry. This factor is expected to become stronger over time due to the growing consumption of electric and hybrid vehicles.Based on technology used, the global wireless charging market can be segmented into resonant charging, RF charging, and inductive charging. Inductive charging has gathered a staggering majority of the revenue in the market currently, owing to its relatively matured technology and a vast scope of use across all applications. Meanwhile, as research and development efforts continue to bear fruits, resonant and RF technologies are gaining power at a steady but assured rate. Players such as Samsung and Qualcomm have already begun commercializing these charging technologies, citing advantages such as the fast charging of multiple devices simultaneously.The segmentation of the global wireless charging market can be made on the basis of its product applications, into defense, automotive, medical, industrial, and consumer electronics. At the moment, consumer electronics is leading the global wireless charging market in terms of demand as well as revenue generation. The future of the global wireless charging market will, however, be a more diversified field of applications as the technology progresses and incorporates the rapid charging of more power-intensive devices, such as industrial tools and portable medical electronic devices.PDF Sample For Latest Innovations And Advancements @North America remains the leading consumer region for the global wireless charging market, for now. Players are already looking at the massive range of opportunities that are expected to come from Asia Pacific, owing to its exceptionally strong consumption rate of consumer electronics.The leading players in the global wireless charging market at the moment, include Texas Instruments, Inc., Duracell Powermat (Procter & Gamble Co.), Qualcomm Inc., Fulton Innovation LLC, Energizer Holdings, Convenient Power HK Ltd., Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Inc, WiTricity Corporation, Oregon Scientific, Inc., Integrated Device Technology, Inc., and Anker. Apart from these key players, the global wireless charging market also includes a list of the worlds prominent mobile phone manufacturers that are expanding their product profile to include wireless chargers, such as HTC, LG Electronics, Nokia, and Samsung.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:
Tight Oil Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends & Forecast : 2024

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Global Tight Oil Market: OverviewTight oil, popularly known as shale oil, has been providing stiff competition to crude oil and natural gas of late. This has roiled the global oil markets, with OPEC countries exponentially upping production of crude to address the challenge. This has resulted in a steep drop in global crude oil prices. As per the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the tight oil production is likely to more than double from 2015 to 2040 to reach a value of 10.36 mn barrels per day in 2040 from 4.98 mn barrels per day in 2015.Download the Exclusive Report Here :To study the global market for tight oil, a report by Transparency Market Research segments it on the basis of applications, technology, location of tight oil reserves, and the tight oil producing countries.Tight oil is extracted by the hydraulic fracturing of sedimentary rocks. The process entails mixing liquid, usually water, with chemicals and sand which is then injected applying high pressure into the well. The high pressure breaks the non-permeable sedimentary rocks resulting in the outflow of the tight oil. Like crude oil, tight oil is refined to act as fuels and various chemicals. The main products include methane, heavy fuel oil, diesel, light fuel oil gasoline, naphtha, and tar, among others.Global Tight Oil Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThe TMR report furnishes a granular analysis of the drivers and restraints in the global market for tight oil. It finds that the growing number of applications, rising energy demand, and concerns about energy security are some of the primary factors filliping the global tight oil market. Yet another major growth driver in the market is the progress in exploration and production techniques that have resulted in reduced costs. The application of more effective hydraulic fracturing techniques and the use of multiwell-pad drilling, coupled with modifications in well completion designs, are expected to up the amount of oil extracted from a single well.Factors countering the growth in the global tight oil market is the dearth of take-up of modern technology in emerging countries due to high capital requirements. Negative impact on the environment is also crimping the growth in the market.Global Tight Oil Market: Region-wise OutlookGeographically, the global tight oil market can be segmented into Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World. Most of the tight oil reserves in North America are present in the U.S., followed by Mexico and Canada. In Europe, Russia dominates and in Asia Pacific, China leads, with Pakistan, Indonesia, and Australia trailing it. In the Middle East and Africa, Libya and Argentina produce a sizeable proportion of tight oil. Venezuela follows them.Going forward, Canada, Russia, and Argentina, led by the U.S., are likely contribute most to the global tight oil market, due to their substantial oil resources and existing, developed oil industries. In the U.S., tight oil production has proven more resilient to low oil prices, defying analysts predictions. According to EIA, the U.S. contributes about 10.4% of total crude oil production out of which 4.3% -- which comes to around 3.22 mn barrels per day  is accounted for by tight oil.Companies Mentioned in the Research Report:To present an in-depth assessment of the competition prevailing in the global tight oil market, the report profiles companies such as Total S.A, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Chevron Corporation, British Petroleum Plc, and others. The report throws light on their revenues, market shares, costs, manufacturing methods, geographical presence, and growth prospects.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit Blog :
Diesel Gensets Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends & Forecast : 2019

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A diesel generator is a combination of a diesel engine along with an electric generator thus forming a distributed generation unit. The basic function is power generation via an internal combustion engine to produce energy from gaseous fuels. The chief advantage of distributed generation is the quick ramp up of electricity as opposed to traditional generation in power plants. Especially suitable for remote areas, diesel generators are an effective solution for tackling power shortages and growing energy demand. Heavy industries, commercial zones, Information Technology (I.T.) parks, and residential areas are some of the major markets for this industry. Some of the most critical infrastructure of any city which includes hospitals, telecom stations, power plants, and airports among others is also heavily dependent on the diesel genset industry.Download the Exclusive Report Sample Here:The industry for diesel gensets is driven by a need for reliable, mobile, and easy-to-use backup of electricity to be used either in off-grid locations or coupled with existing locations covered by the grid. Part of the reason for their popularity is also the inefficiency associated with distribution & transmission of power through cables over long distances. As the electricity industry targets the supply of continuous power for alleviating any emergency, the diesel genset is likely to be of paramount importance. A possible threat does emerge in the form of alternative means of battery storage using benign materials and renewable sources of energy. However, the market penetration of existing gensets along with the fact that the technology is perfectly established provides a relief to the diesel genset industry. There exists an opportunity of furthering the diesel genset cause in emerging economies where many new industries are likely to be established during the next decade. Proper & timely maintenance of the gensets can ensure that this aim is brought to fulfillment through cost reduction and improved performance.The technological segmentation for diesel gensets is carried out based on factors such as size, fuel storage, and the desired power rating. Sizing is based on the site conditions and the type of appliances or equipment to be powered by the genset. Based on the power rating, a diesel genset could have a standby rating, prime rating, or base-load rating. Also, the electrical power derived from a genset could be consisting of a single-phase or multiphase. These segmentations have to be well defined if the diesel genset in question is to have proper functioning and low maintenance. There are software programs which assist genset manufacturers to make the correct choice for the given load requirement.Europe and North America, the traditional markets for diesel gensets are likely to remain stable and largely unchanged in the next decade. There has been a considerable demand from Asia Pacific and the emerging markets of Africa and South America. In Asia, the focus is on India and China, two countries which are expected to add many power plants thus furthering the need for diesel genset units. The technology improvements in the telecom sector in India are expected to be a major driver for growth of the genset industry. As for Middle East and Africa, power generation using oil & gas is likely to be backed by diesel gensets to prevent grid brownouts. The regional segmentation would be done as Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Rest of the World (ROW).Some of the key players in the diesel genset market include Caterpillar, Cummins, GE Energy, Dresser-Rand, Briggs & Stratton, Kohler Co., Generac Power Systems, Guascor Power, Wartsila, and MTU Onsite Energy among others.This research report analyzes this market depending on its market segments, major geographies, and current market trends. Geographies analyzed under this research report includeNorth AmericaAsia PacificEuropeRest of the WorldAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit Blog :
Defoamers Industry Trends and key Insights by 2023

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Transparency Market Research has published a new report titled Defoamers Market - Latin America Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2023. According to the report, the Latin America defoamers market was valued at US$196.2 mn in 2014 and is anticipated to reach US$273.1 mn by 2023, expanding at a CAGR of 3.8% between 2015 and 2023.Rise in demand for defoamers in paper and pulp, food and beverages, and water treatment applications in Latin America has been driving the defoamers market. Defoamers are used to reduce and prevent formation of foam. Foam poses difficulties to various industries such as chemicals, especially during the biochemical process. It hampers flow of liquid and blocks transfer of oxygen from air. Therefore, defoamers such as silicone oils are added to prevent the problem of foaming. Silicone-based defoamers are the most widely used defoamers across the globe in various applications including paper and pulp, water treatment, paints and coatings, food and beverages, and others. Growth in various application industries especially in Brazil and Argentina is driving the Latin America defoamers market. However, stringent regulatory policies are estimated to hamper the market growth in the near future.Get PDF Brochure for more Professional and Technical insights :Silicone-based defoamers was the largest product segment, accounting for more than 40% share of the Latin America defoamers market in 2014. Silicone-based defoamers are considered heavy-duty defoamers and are good at both cracking down surface foam and releasing entrapped air. Oil-based defoamers constituted the second-largest share of the Latin America defoamers market in 2014. Oil-based defoamers have an oil carrier; oil may be mineral oil, vegetable oil, white oil, or any other oil that is insoluble in the foaming medium, except silicone oil. Water-based defoamers are also among the major product segments of the Latin America defoamers market.In terms of demand, paper and pulp has been dominating the defoamers market since the past few years. Defoamers used in the paper and pulp industry include water-based defoamers, oil-based defoamers, powder defoamers, silicone-based defoamers, and alkyl polyacrylates defoamers. Defoamers used in the paper and pulp industry tackle problems of surface foam and entrapped air. In terms of demand, paints and coatings accounted for the second-largest share of the defoamers market in 2014. Other major applications of defoamers include food & beverages and water treatment.In terms of demand, Brazil has been dominating the defoamers market during the past few years. The region held over 60% share of the Latin America demand for defoamers in 2014. This trend is estimated to continue during the forecast period. Rise in demand for defoamers in paper and pulp, water treatment, and food and beverages are key factors driving the defoamers market in Latin America.The report provides a comprehensive view of the defoamers market in terms of volume and revenue. It includes current demand analysis and forecast for product segments and application segments in Latin America. Furthermore, the report provides detailed country-wise analysis of the defoamers market in Latin America. The defoamers market has been divided into the following segments:Defoamers Market  Latin America Product Segment AnalysisWater-based DefoamersOil-based DefoamersSilicone-based DefoamersOthers (EO/PO-based Defoamers, etc.)Defoamers Market  Latin America Application AnalysisPaper and pulpWater TreatmentPaints & CoatingsFood & BeveragesOthers (Pharmaceuticals, Mining, Printing, Agricultural Chemicals, etc.)Defoamers Market  Latin America Country AnalysisLatin AmericaBrazilColombiaArgentinaRest of Latin AmericaAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Advanced Gas Generators Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends & Forecast :2019

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The global market for advanced gas generators is projected to witness robust growth in the coming years. The increasing dependence of people on electronic products such as refrigerators, air conditioners, and washing machines, on account of the increasing urbanization, is likely to fuel the need for an uninterrupted supply of electricity, leading to a surge in demand for advanced gas generators over the next few years.Download the Exclusive Report Sample Here :The worldwide advanced gas generators market is spread across Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, and the Rest of the World. Multi-fuel gas generators, propane generators, biogas generators, field gas generators, and coal gas generators are the major types of advanced gas generators available in the global market. The industrial, commercial, residential, and various other sectors have emerged as the key end users of advanced gas generators across the world.This research study on the global advanced gas generators market presents a comprehensive overview of this market. It analyzes the markets current as well as historical performance. Major trends, driving forces, restrictions, opportunities, and growth prospects of this market have also been evaluated at length in this report.Overview of Global Advanced Gas Generators MarketAdvanced gas generators have derived much of their demand from the rapid depletion of non-renewable energy sources. The worldwide market for advanced gas generators is riding high on the growing demand for these generators from various industries.Europe and North America have emerged as the leading regional market for advanced gas generators. The high adoption rate of these generators is driving this market in both the regions. Analysts predict these regional market to remain dominant in the coming years.The markets for advanced gas generators in Asia Pacific and the Rest of the World are also expected to witness significant growth over the next few years on account of the rapid industrialization in emerging economies.Overall, the global market for advanced gas generators exhibits immense potential for future growth. However, the high cost associated with equipment is projected to impact the market negatively in the near future.Companies mentioned in the research reportCarrier Corp, General Electric Co., Eastern Tools & Equipment, Eaton Corp., Cummins Inc., Baldor Electric Co., Briggs & Stratton Power Products Group LLC, Honda Motor Co. Inc., and Generac Power Systems Inc. are some of the leading companies operational in the global advanced gas generators market.Currently, these enterprises are focusing on improving the overall equipment efficacy so that generators they produce can also find application in large-scale industries. Hence, they have increased their spending on research and development activities. Mergers, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships are also trending among market participants looking to strengthen their presence in the global market.Major regions analyzed under this research report are:EuropeNorth AmericaAsia PacificRest of the WorldAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit Blog :
Computer Numerical Controls Market - Witnessing Robust Growth in terms of Industrialization, thereby Propelling the Regional Market

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The growing demand for production efficiency is aiding the uptake of computer numerical controls (CNC) as these machines streamline various operational processes by reducing production time and minimizing human error. The highly competitive environment has compelled players to focus on efficient manufacturing techniques.They are also trying to gain competitive advantage by redesigning their manufacturing facilities to include CNC machines. The integration of 3D printing with CNC machines is one such addition to some of the new production units, which is expected to offer better product design with little to no resource wastage.Fueled by these factors, the global market for computer numerical controls is projected to grow from a value of US$52.6 bn in 2015 to US$93.4 bn by 2024. If these values hold true, the CNC market is expected to register a CAGR of 6.3% during the forecast period.Automated Manufacturing Drives Demand for CNC in Industrial and Automotive SectorsBased on type, the global computer numerical controls (CNC) market is led by lathe machines and the segment is poised to dominate the market throughout the forecast period.The demand for lathe machines can be attributed to a wide application area. On the other hand, milling machines are anticipated to register a strong growth rate during the forecast period. Milling machines are compatible with a wide range of materials and surfaces and help improve overall efficiency.Furthermore, technological innovation has led to the development of advanced milling machines that can provide a more consistent finish to the products.In terms of application, the industrial segment held the dominant share and is likely to retain its lead through 2024. The growing demand for automated manufacturing in the industrial sector resulted in the increasing uptake of CNC machines.Request A Sample Of This Report:The establishment of manufacturing facilities in developing regions such as Asia Pacific has also spurred the usage of computer numerical controls in this sector.The automotive sector, on the other hand, is set to be the most rapidly developing segment in the coming years thanks to the soaring rate of automated automobile manufacturing.From a geographical viewpoint, the global market for computer numerical controls is led by Asia Pacific, with the region accounting for a share of approximately 35.0% in 2015.Developing economies such as China and India have been witnessing robust growth in terms of industrialization, thereby propelling the regional market.The automotive sector has been estimated to be register rapid growth in the Asia Pacific CNC market during the forecast period owing to the rising demand for automobiles in the region.In addition, the easy availability of labor and the declining prices of components have resulted in manufacturers shifting their production units in this region. This is further propelling the APAC computer numerical controls market.Considering that the U.S is the one of the earliest adapters of new technologies, the North America market for CNC machines is relatively saturated. Be that as it may, rising concerns over global warming and depleting energy reserves have led to the production of alternative sources of power such as solar, water, and wind, and this has significantly upped the demand for computer numerical controls in the region. CNC machines are actively used in power generation as the process requires wide-scale automation.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:
Calcitonin Salmon Market - Global Market Snapshot by 2026

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Transparency Market Research presents this most up-to-date research on "Calcitonin Salmon Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016"Calcitonin, also called thyrocalcitonin, is a linear polypeptide hormone produced in human thyroid glands by parafollicular cells. In fish, birds, and other non-mammalian animals, calcitonin is produced by cells of ultimobranchial body. Calcitonin lowers the levels of calcium and phosphate in blood and promotes the bone formation. Calcitonin inhibits the bone removal cells called osteoclasts and simultaneously promotes bone formation cells called osteoblasts. The potency of calcitonin salmon per mg is greater and has longer duration of action than calcitonin produced by mammalian origin. Calcitonin salmon is produced either by synthetic processes or by microbial processes using recombinant DNA technology. Calcitonin salmon is available in two forms: injection and nasal. Miacalcin and Fortical are commonly available brands for calcitonin salmon. Calcitonin salmon is used for indications such as osteoporosis, hypercalcemia, Pagets disease of bone, and other bone related diseases.The global calcitonin salmon market is driven by increasing number of osteoporosis patients globally. According to the International Osteoporosis Foundation, over 8.9 million people suffer from osteoporosis globally each year. Osteoporosis is more dominant in women than men and is common in geriatric population. The International Osteoporosis Foundation study reveals that over 200 million women are affected by osteoporosis globally. The FDA advisory committee has recommended to prevent use of calcitonin salmon for the treatment of postmenstrual osteoporosis in women as there exists a potential risk of cancer development. Moreover, calcitonin salmon is used as second line of treatment for osteoporosis. Side effects of calcitonin salmon are likely to be key restraints of the global market. Large number of people are not aware about having osteoporosis until they have first fracture and also Pagets disease is not common in people. These factors hamper the growth of the calcitonin salmon market. Easy availability of other medications for the first line treatment of osteoporosis and related diseases is likely to restrain the market. The FDA advisory committee has suggested to companies developing new calcitonin salmon products to prove its effectiveness in reducing bone fractures. This is expected to boost the market.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:The global calcitonin salmon market has been segmented based on route of administration and type of indication. Calcitonin salmon can be administered through injection or by nasal spray. The calcitonin nasal spray is indicated for patients for whom alternative treatments are not suitable. Calcitonin injections are used for the treatment of Pagets disease of bone and hypercalcemia. It can be administered through subcutaneous, intramuscular, and intranasal routes. Calcitonin salmon is used for the treatment of osteoporosis, Paget's disease, and hypercalcemia.Geographically, the global calcitonin salmon market has been segmented into five regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. Over 75 million people are estimated to be affected by osteoporosis in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. This highlights the growth opportunity in these regions. Prevalence of osteoporosis is higher in Middle East & Africa than in countries in the West. This is expected to propel the calcitonin salmon market in this region. Increasing geriatric population with bone related diseases is likely to fuel the growth of the market in Asia Pacific during the forecast period.Key players in the calcitonin salmon market include Novartis AG, Apotex, Inc., Upsher-Smith Laboratories, Inc., Alkem Laboratories Ltd., Torrent Pharmaceuticals Limited, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., and United Biotech (P) Limited.Novartis AG, Upsher-Smith Laboratorie, Inc., and Torrent Pharmaceuticals are the leading players in the global calcitonin salmon market.Download 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:
Blood Component Extractor Market Analysis: Products, Growth Trends and Forecast to 2024

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Transparency Market Research presents this most up-to-date research on "Blood Component Extractor Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024"Whole blood is a mixture of cells, colloids, and crystalloids and can be separated into four major components: plasma, red blood cells, platelets, and cryoprecipitate. Each of these components have different applications as per indications in medicinal practice. Blood component extractors are used to isolate these specific blood components. These extracted components require different storage and temperature conditions on the basis of lifespan of each component. Centrifugation and filtration techniques are used for blood component extraction. Technological developments such as dual press technology, bar code readability, and easy connectivity to monitors using LAN/WAN and Wi-Fi, and development of advanced filtration membrane in blood component extraction has led to development of automated blood component extraction using centrifugation technique. The filtration technique is restricted to therapeutic purpose and has limited market. Apheresis process, which involves extraction of desired blood component from donor and returning back remaining blood to donor, is commonly followed practice worldwide for extraction of blood components. Blood component extractor enhances the utility of whole blood unit. Blood component extractor equipment are required by hospitals, blood banks, research institutes, and pharmaceutical companies.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:Blood component extractors using centrifugation techniques are characterized by single and dual press system, number of sealing heads, number of optical sensors, number of inbuilt programs, blood volume capacity, barcode reader, connectivity to LAN/WAN and Wi-Fi, and number of blood donations that can be performed at a time. Centrifugation can be done either continuously or intermittently as per need and requirement. Blood component extractors are required in hospitals for different apheresis processes. These processes include plasmapheresis, erythropheresis, erythrocytopheresis, platelatepheresis, and leukapheresis. Blood component extractors have different applications in these apheresis processes. One blood component extractor may have applications for one or more of the above processes. Hemodialysis machines are also used for plasmapheresis using filtration technique. In filtration techniques, different types of membranes such as hollow fiber membrane, polysulfone membranes, and polyethylene membranes are used for separation of plasma from blood.Rise in demand for specific blood component instead of whole unit of blood, increasing pressure of requirement of high quality purified blood components, time saving, ease of access, multiple applications of blood component extractors with one unit of blood, increasing number of blood banks and hospitals, increasing number of blood transfusion therapies worldwide, and significant improvement in health care infrastructure especially in developing countries are the key drivers of the global blood component extractor market. High cost of blood component extractors and maintenance of blood components, lack of interest of donors for blood donations, lack of trained/skilled manpower for handling these equipment, histocompatibility issues, and costlier therapeutics process are the major restraints of the global blood component extractor market.In terms of region, the global blood component extractor market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. Automated blood component extractors hold major share of the blood component extractor market in North America. Isolation of blood components using membrane filtration technique is least practiced. In countries such as Germany and Japan, plasmapheresis process is widely practiced using membrane filtration technique than centrifugation. Europe is the second largest market for blood component extractors. Regions such as Asia Pacific and Middle East & Africa are expected to grow at a higher rate in the near future.Kawasumi Laboratories, Inc., NxStage Medical, Inc., Fenwal, Inc. (Fresinius Kabi), Bioelectronica MILANO, Terumo Corporation, Delcon SRL, Medica S.p.A., Haemonetics Corporation, and Baxter International, Inc. are the key players in the global blood component extractor market.Download 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:
Microarray Market Analysis: Products, Growth Trends and Forecast to 2024

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Microarray is an advanced molecular biology technique used to spot expressions of many genes at the same time. Gene expression is a crucial part of normal gene functioning and plays significant role in understanding normal growth and development of life. Any abnormalities in gene functioning can lead to critical disease. Research involving the study of many genes by traditional method is next to impossible. Microarrays serve the purpose. Thousands of genes can be arrayed at one time and analyzed accurately. It is fast, accurate, cost effective and easy to do assay design. Microarray can be used for many micro molecules such as DNA, RNA, proteins, and also for enzymes, carbohydrates, and tissues. It can be used for gene expression profiling, molecular interactions, biomarker profiling, enzyme activity, pathway identification, and mutations. Microarray is not limited to basic research, but has expanded to clinical research and diagnosis.Based on type, microarrays can be segmented into DNA microarrays, protein microarrays, and antibody microarrays. DNA microarrays can be used for single nucleotide polymorphism-based diagnostics, forensic detection, gene expression profiling, etc. Large number of applications of DNA microarrays makes it a major segment of the microarray market. Protein microarrays are used in biomarker screening, enzyme substrate profiling, small molecule profiling, protein-protein interaction, etc. Antibody microarrays find applications in immunology in antibody specificity profiling, electronic immunoassays, etc.Download Exclusive Brochure of This Report :In terms of application, microarrays can be segmented into gene expression profiling tool, comparative genomics tool, disease diagnosis, drug discovery, and toxicological research involving the uncharacterized microbial populations exposed to toxins and pollutants. With the help of microarrays some of the uncharacterized microbes can be identified and their original gene pattern and functionality can be studied. Microarray technology has provided a new insight into the evolutionary studies, as many arrays can be studied parallel that are specific for particular species. Microarrays can be used in comparative genomics and pathway probing. Microarrays provide information, though not complete but useful, about the gene or group of genes that can be studied further, illuminating the biological pathways. Microarray has helped in better understanding of some diseases, their pathogenesis, and genetics. Scientists are able to differentiate cancer on the basis of organs harboring tumor, leading to a better understanding of gene pattern in the tumor cells. Microarray has also benefitted therapeutics development. Better understanding of any drug addiction followed by better treatment in any patient is an example of it. In diagnosis of diseases, particularly at the time of outbreaks, where a quick and accurate diagnosis is required, microarray has gained recognition in identifying the causative agent or the pathogen and the specific strain or antigen (serotype).Based on product type and analysis, the microarray market can be segmented into consumables and instruments. Large number of applications of microarray has led to high demand for consumables such as reagents, primers, buffers, DNA chips, and reagent kits.Microarray has widespread applications in genomics as well as proteomics. The progressively evolving information and software technology and emerging bioinformatics are some of the factors driving the microarray market, making it economical, unfailing, and durable. The development of biological products such as vaccines and therapeutic proteins involving microarray technologies could lead to promising results. However government protocols have mentioned that minor changes in the biological process may lead to distinguished end product, there is an urgent need of extensive testing and authentication. And these factors may hamper the market.In terms of region, the microarray market can be segmented into five regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America was the largest market for microarrays. Advanced technology, high quality result oriented research, public awareness about personal health, and government initiatives are the factors contributing to the growth of the microarray market in North America. Europe was the second largest market for microarrays, followed by Asia Pacific. Increasing awareness among the people about genetic diseases, education, government initiatives, and modern technology in diagnosis and treatment of diseases are propelling the microarray market in Asia Pacific.Key players in the microarray market are Agilent Technologies, Illumina, Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific and Merck. Other companies include Applied Microarrays, BioGenex, Perkin Elmer, QIAGEN, and Phalanx Biotech.Browse Global Strategic Business 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:
Dipstick Urinalysis Marker : Evolving Market Trends & Dynamics 2026

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Urinalysis is analysis of urine sample to diagnose various conditions such as kidney disorders, liver problems, diabetes or other metabolic conditions, and urinary tract infections. Urinalysis comprises several microscopic, visual, or chemical examinations used to detect cells or substances associated with various conditions listed above.Dipstick urinalysis is a basic diagnostic tool to determine pathological changes in patients urine. Dipstick urine strips comprise various reagents, when the urine sample comes in contact with the stripe the change in color is seen. Urine dipsticks are small strips with plastic coating and different colors of squares are attached to it. Each square of different color represents a factor of test used to understand urinalysis. The color conversion takes approximately some seconds to a few minutes from dipping the strip. The complete test strip is immersed in the urine sample and changes in color are measured. The change in color on specific square shows specific defects in the sample caused by certain chemical reaction. The reference for the color changes is noted from container of urine strip. The color square on the dipstick represents components such as concentration of urine that is specific gravity, pH of urine, and presence of some other components such as ketones, proteins, nitrite, bilirubin, urobilinogen, and blood in urine.Download Exclusive Brochure of This ReportThe dipstick urinalysis market has been segmented based on application, end-user, and region. In terms of application, the market has been segmented into disease diagnosis and pregnancy test. The disease diagnosis segment is sub-segmented into urinary tract infections (Utis), kidney diseases, diabetes, liver diseases, and other diseases. Increasing geriatric population and rising prevalence of urinary tract infections are the key factors driving the segment. Increasing prevalence of diabetes is also one of key factors likely to fuel the growth of the segment. The rise in sugar can also be measured by urine test.Based on end-user, the dipstick urinalysis market has been segmented into hospitals, clinics, diagnostic laboratories, research laboratories and institutes, and home care settings. Dipstick urinalysis is a point-of-care diagnostics tool, which provides quick results. Rising demand for research is expected to fuel the growth of the market during the forecast period. Dipstick test strips are easily available and cost effective. Dipstick urinalysis is easy to handle and hence this method has become the choice of tool for urine analysis and interpretation of disease. The home care settings segment is expected to experience robust growth during the forecast period. Rising patient education and availability of test for home use is anticipated boost growth of the segment.In terms of region, the global dipstick urinalysis market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America and Europe dominate the dipstick urinalysis market. Rising research in the region is the key factor driving the dipstick urinalysis market in North America. Asia Pacific is the most progressive market for dipstick urinalysis. Increasing prevalence of urinary tract infection and kidney disease in the region is likely to boost market growth in Asia Pacific and expected to register highest CAGR. Growing awareness about womens health in developing countries is the key factor fueling growth of the market.Major players in the dipstick urinalysis market are Siemens Healthcare, F. Hoffmann-LA Roche Ltd., Danaher Corporation (Beckman Coulter, Inc.), Arkray, Inc., Acon Laboratories, Inc., Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., 77 Elektronika Kft., Mindray Medical International Limited, and Urit Medical Electronic Group Co., Ltd., among others. Dipstick urinalysis is a cost effective method and is sensitive in nature. Increasing competition among global and regional players is likely to drive the dipstick urinalysis market during the forecast period.Browse Global Strategic Business 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:
Finished Lubricant Industry Analysis Market - African Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Trends, Growth & Forecast :2020

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The key role of a lubricant is to reduce the friction between the two surfaces. Lubricants are attracting public awareness in recent times owing to the central environmental matters such as cutting emission and saving energy. According to a research, 0.4 % of the gross domestic product can be easily saved for energy purposes in Western industrialized countries if proper knowledge related to lubrication, friction and wear, was applied to lubricated processes.Download the Exclusive Report Sample Here :Lubricants are segmented into two major groups such as industrial lubricants and automotive lubricants. Industrial lubricants are further broken down into industrial oils and industrial lubricants. Specialties include metal working lubricants, solid lubricant films and greases.A rapid increase in lubricants produced from recycled base oils in East African market has been noticed. Lubricants are either imported as base oil or finished lubricants which are then blended locally. Lubricants produced from recycled base oil are comparatively cheaper than the products manufactured from virgin base oils.Base oils are major constituents of finished lubricants occupying large share of the finished product. Remaining share is occupied by chemical additives which are added to enhance the performance. These additives are added on the recommendation of the manufacturer to meet the specifications set by American Petroleum Institute (API).Kenya bureau of standards provided their views on the influx of substandard lubricants by setting the minimum specifications for lubricants, further this initiative was then taken by different East African authorities of quality standards.However, through such type of initiative, these specifications laid down are obsolete as per product market. The standards set by East African lubricant market are quite low as compared to the other markets. According to the standards, they are supposed to provide a minimum drain interval of some thousands of kilometers. In case drain intervals extends, life of the equipment are sharply reduced due to high engine wear.For a lubricant to adhere to any standard, the additive producer must develop the additives which are then blended into a lubricant which is then tested into various engines. Generally, these products are then manufactured from virgin base oils so that they adhere to the specification. Product developed through re-cycled base oil does not qualify for any international standards.In African region majority of the lubricant demand arises from countries such as Algeria, South Africa and Nigeria. South African lubricant industry includes lubricant blending and base oil refining and the marketing of finished products. The lubricants industry in South Africa is one of the largest of its kind and plays a vital role in South Africa. It is supported through the chemicals industries of South Africa which has the capacity to offer domestic production of bulk additives. Lubricant industry has played a key important role to meet the demand of automotive market and industrial sector. In general, the demand through mining industry, agricultural sector and manufacturing sector has ensured a healthy growth of the lubricants industry. The lubricants industry of South Africa is highly competitive and is subjected to the government control pertaining to fuels such as diesel and gasoline.Lubricants are sold through fuels marketing companies along with wide range of smaller companies. South African lubricant market is one of the strongest lubricant markets in Africa, with South Africa meeting majority of the lubricant demands from neighboring countries.Some of the key companies in the business of finished lubricants in Africa market are BP Plc, Chevron Corporation, Engen Petroleum Ltd. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc among others.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit Blog :
Disposable Medical Sensors Market Research Report by Regional Analysis - North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East & Africa : forecast 2023

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The medical devices manufacturing companies are in a nonstop process of improving medical devices in terms of convenience, safety and most prominently, sterility. This sterility factor significantly led to the manufacturing of the disposable medical devices. The new sensor technology that senses as well as records changes in any electrical properties aided the creation of disposable medical sensors. The use of these sensors in medical sector strongly depends on the type of application. The various types of disposable medical sensors includes ingestible sensor, implantable sensors, and invasive sensors.An ingestible digital sensor isswallowed in a pill for tracking health data from inside the human body. Implantable sensors are mainly used in medical research for measuring force, temperature, and pressure inside the human body.Invasive sensors are used for detection of physical as well as chemical parameters by inserting a probe inside a human body.In medical diagnostics, sensors are necessary in digital thermometers, digital blood pressure meters, breath analyzers, peak flow meters, spirometers, sleep apnea monitoring devices and respiration pulse oximeters. The therapeutic equipment such asheart-lung machines, respiration equipment and anesthetic equipment in intensive care, as well as infusion and transfusion pumps use these disposable sensors. Therapeutic sleep apnea devices and dialysis systems are the further examples of therapeutic equipment which in turn rises the sensors demand.On the basis of technologies, the disposable medical sensors are categorized into temperature, pressure, image, acoustic, gas, and flow sensors. Disposable blood pressure sensors are used for continuous patients blood pressure monitoring during the surgery.They are plugged in to a monitor which then shows the patients vital information. Pressure sensors are also used in intensive-care units (ICU), however must be replaced in every 24 hours. The image sensors along with camerascan be used for optical, X-ray and ultrasonic purposes in hospitals and clinics.Browse full report on Disposable Medical Sensors Market -The global demand of wireless wearable,and disposable medical sensors continues to increase in a significant manner. In May 2012, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)eliminated the protected broadband spectrum in the wireless medical sensor devices called medical body area networks (MBANs). These sensors monitor as well as read vital signs of a patient wirelessly. This decision was taken at the suggestion of Philips Healthcare, and GE Healthcare. FCC has also allocated 40 MHz of spectrum for MBAN devices to use on a shared and secondary basis.The growing demand for sensors in clinics and in homes for treatment or diagnosis purpose is the major factor that is driving the global disposable medical sensors market. The increasing prevalence of chronic long term diseases such as cancer andkidney disorders along with rising incidences of infections in hospitals are propelling the need for global disposable medical sensors in medical sector. Also, thegrowing number of patients worldwide has significantly increased the adoption of disposable medical sensors among end-users. In addition, the rising government provisions, huge investments in healthcare sector and technological developmentssuch as wearable wrist watch devices as well asdisease detectiondevices are further expected to fuel the growth of global disposable medical sensors market.Companies in disposable medical sensors market are coming up with various product launches along with innovations in order to tailor with rising and varying demand among end-users. For instance, in July 2015, MEMSIC, Inc. launched MFC2030 Bi-Directional Flow Sensor for medical applications such as anesthesia, analytical instruments, and process control. In October 2014, Sensirion AG launched disposable liquid flow sensors for medical devices. They are intelligent, compact as well as cost-effective disposable flow sensors. These sensors provide liquid flow measurement capability inside a medical tubing, such as catheter or infusion set on a real time basis.Some of the key players in disposable medical sensors market are Sensirion AG, MEMSIC, Inc., Measurement Specialties, ST Microelectronics, Smiths Medical, Philips Healthcare, Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., Medtronic, GE Healthcare, Analog Devices, Inc., Honeywell International, Inc. Given Imaging Ltd., and Coividien, plc.This research report analyzes this market on the basis of its market segments, major geographies, and current market trends. Geographies analyzed under this research report includeNorth AmericaAsia PacificEuropeMiddle East and AfricaLatin AmericaRequest for sample of this report -syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.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, TMRsUS Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) Market Research Report by Regional Analysis - North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East & Africa : forecast 2023

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Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) is a surgical procedure to remove excess part of the prostate gland which obstructs normal urine flow. The prostate gland is a vital part of the male reproductive system which secretes fluid that nourishes and protects sperms. This obstructive condition of prostate is also referred as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Initial signs and symptoms of BPH are often vague, variable, and nonspecific, making its diagnosis challenging. During TURP procedure, prostate gland is investigated through the cystoscope (surgical instrument) and a small surgical tool is inserted through the cystoscope to remove the enlarged prostate. Sometimes, the fluid that is used to flush bladder during transurethral resection enters into bloodstream and causes severe problems such as hypothermia, bradychardia and hypoxia. This condition is known as TUR syndrome and is temporary in nature.For more than 60 year, TURP has been the gold standard for treating lower urinary tract obstructions caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and benign prostatic obstruction (BPO). Current technological advancements such as continuous-flow instruments, bipolar TURP and video-TURP have substantially decreased the mortality and morbidity due to urino-genital infections. Globally increasing elderly population has been identified as one of the major factors contributing to the growing demand for transurethral resection procedures. As per the U.S National Library of Medicine, 60% of men over the age of sixty years and 80% of men over the age of 80 years have been diagnosed as BPH patients. Visual, hands-on access to the prostate, immediate removal of excess tissue and ability to combine with other procedures are some of the advantages of TURP over other available treatment options for lower urinary tract infections. Some major minimally invasive treatment options for BPH include lasers, microwave, radio waves, photoselective laser vaporization of the prostate (PVP) and ultrasound. These treatment options are expected to serve the market for TURP as growth restraints during the forecast period from 2014 to 2019. Moreover, medications, another possible treatment option such as alpha 1-blockers, antibiotics, finasteride and dutasteride to decrease the size of the prostate are also restraining the current TURP market.Browse full report on Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) Market -Resectoscopes, catheters and resectoscopes electrodes (monopolar electrodes bipolar electrodes, grooved roller turp electrodes and straight cutting loop turp electrodes) are some major devices that are widely used during TURP procedures.Based on geography, the TURP market has been analyzed as North America, Asia-Pacific,Europe, and the Rest of the World (RoW). North America and Europe held the largest shares in terms of market revenue of the global TURP market in 2013. The primary reasons for North America and Europe holding the leading positions in the global TURP market are high prevalence of lower urinary tract diseases such as BPH and BPO, and well established healthcare infrastructure in both the regions. According to the American Urological Association, 15 million men in the United States are symptomatic to BPH and in the approximately 150,000 people have TURPs performed each year. However, Asia-Pacific is expected to witness highest growth rate during the forecast period from 2014 to 2020. A number of factors such as increasing prevalence of urinary tract infections, aging population, increasing focus on research and development would be fuelling the growth of TURP market in Asia-Pacific in coming years. According to the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, 23 million individuals aged 80 years or over were living in China in 2013. The Department of Economic and Social Affairs further states that nearly 10 million and 9 million individuals aged 80 years or over were living in India and Japan, respectively in 2013.Some of the major players in TURP market include Olympus Corporation, Richard Wolf, Degania Silicone Ltd, Limbs & Things Ltd and KARL STORZ GmbH & Co. KG.Request for sample of this report -About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Medical Waste Management Market Research Report by Regional Analysis - North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East & Africa : forecast 2019

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Continuously expanding healthcare industry supported by growing population with geriatric population in particular has led to the generation of substantial amount of medical waste, each year, over the world. These medical wastes have been categorized into four major types, namely, infectious, hazardous, radioactive and general wastes. Of these infectious, hazardous and radioactive medical wastes being potentially risky to human as well as environment are required to be disposed of with special caution. General wastes which are similar to common domestic and official wastes and do not require special treatment. There are a large number of companies that offer waste management services to healthcare facilities seeking help for medical waste disposal. The medical waste management market was valued at USD 14,541.5 million in 2012 and is expected to reach USD 20,130.1 million in 2019, growing at a CAGR of 4.8% during the forecast period 2013 to 2019.Collection, processing and disposal are three major services offered by medical waste companies. Collection constituted the largest segment of the overall medical waste management market with a revenue share of 54.5% in 2012. However, during the forecast period 2013 to 2019, processing segment has been anticipated to grow with the fastest CAGR mainly because the industry is witnessing a rise in demand for non-incineration technologies for waste treatment. Healthcare facilities have been grouped into large quantity generators (LQGs) and small quantity generators (SQGs), based on the amount of medical waste generated. The market for medical waste management is witnessing a continuous rise in the revenue generated from SQGs. It is primarily because most service providers are focusing their attention towards the SQGs as they offer higher profit margin than LQGs and are also easy to target.Browse full report on Medical Waste Management Market -Geographically, North America held the majority share of the overall medical waste management market, followed by Europe that accounted for the second largest share. These two regions are expected to retain their position throughout the forecast period 2013 to 2019. Governmental regulations mandating proper disposal of medical waste across North American and European countries has been considered as one of the major factors driving market growth in these regions during the forecast period. In Asia-Pacific region, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are the major markets that offer immense opportunities to waste management companies operating in this market. However, in countries like India and China, the market is highly untapped owing to low awareness level and due to lack of strict governmental regulations. In Rest of the World (RoW), Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Israel, Turkey and UAE are the major markets where medical waste management market is expected to record maximum growth.Stericycle, Inc., Waste Management, Inc., Republic Services, Inc., Veolia Environmental Services, Suez Environment SA, Clean Harbors, Inc. and US Ecology, Inc. are some major companies providing various waste management services to healthcare facilities seeking help for waste disposal.Request for sample of this report -About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Ablation Technologies Market Research Report by Regional Analysis - North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East & Africa : forecast to 2020

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Ablation technologies based surgeries are minimally invasive and are emerging as an alternative to primitive invasive surgical procedures. Ablation involves either complete destruction or removal of abnormal tissue with the aim to cure the disease. Ablation technologies market can be segmented into two prominent categories namely thermal ablation and non-thermal ablation. The thermal ablation technology encompasses radiofrequency, microwave, ultrasound, hydrothermal, electrical and light/laser technologies whereas, cryoablation technology falls under non-thermal ablation category. The principal advantage of these procedures over surgery is short recovery time, minimum invasion, low risk of infection, lesser blood loss, and shorter hospital stays. Ablation technologies have applications in various clinical areas such as cancer, cardiac, ophthalmology, urology, gynecology and orthopedics. The report also provides the compound annual growth rate (CAGR %) for each of the segments for the forecast period 2014-2020, while market size estimations have been made considering 2012 and 2013 as base years.The global market for ablation technologies market has been studied on the basis of application type and technologies type. The application segment has been sub-segmented into these prominent categories namely cardiovascular, gynecology, pain management, oncology, urology, ophthalmology and others. Whereas, the ablation technologies market has been fragmented into radiofrequency, light/laser, electrical, ultrasound, microwave, cryotherapy and others. RF ablation is the most established device type, but ultrasound ablation and cryoablation are growing rapidly owing to advantages associated such as minimal damage to associated tissues among others. Cryoablation devices are the only kind of ablation device that can be used to treat prostate cancer. Urologists and interventional radiologists both use cryoablation to treat kidney cancer using differing techniques. As per an analysis by Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) approximately 5.1 million people face heart failure every year of which one in nine deaths in 2009 were primarily due to cardiac arrhythmia. As per WHO projection, approximately 32 million people are living with some form cancer causing 8 million deaths across the world which clearly depicts scope of opportunities for players operating in the ablation technologies market.Browse full report on Ablation Technologies Market -Geographically, North America which includes the United States and Canada continues to be a leading market in ablation technologies. The United States market accounts for major contribution owing to larger population base, larger penetration of healthcare services and wider acceptance of these novel technologies. Although Canadas contribution in North America revenue is significantly low as compared to the United States yet there has been a shift in trend towards adoption of novel ablation technologies such as radiation and microwave ablation therapies in past couple of years. Pertaining to the adoption rate, the market for ablation products is likely to grow exponentially in forthcoming years. An estimated 191,300 new cases of cancer and 76,600 deaths from cancer will occur in Canada in 2014 accounting for 30% of overall deaths. About 52% of all the new cases of cancer in Canada will include prostate, breast, lung and colorectal cancers. Companies like Medtronic in 2008, looking at the untapped opportunities in Canadian market acquired Montreal based CryoCath Technologies Inc. to form Medtronics AF Solutions division which as of now offers an extensive line of diagnostic, cryoablation and radiofrequency ablation tools to diagnose and treat a broad spectrum of cardiac arrhythmias.Some of the key companies operating in this market include St. Jude Medical, Inc., Bioscience Webster Inc., Medtronic, Inc., Boston Scientific Corp, Covidien PLC and Angiodynamics, Inc. among others.Asia-Pacific region during the forecast is the fastest growing region owing to larger population base of patients suffering from cardiovascular, cancer and arthritis and other orthopedic disorders. Overall drivers to Asia-Pacific market for ablation technologies include increasing healthcare awareness, rise in healthcare expenditure and increase in chronic diseases due to change in lifestyle and food habits. Rest of the World market is still at nascent stage and is expected to grow considering continuous rise in prevalence rate of hypertension, cardiovascular and urological diseases.Other prominent drivers to the global ablation technologies market include increasing adoption of ablation techniques and devices in cosmetics such as varicose vein treatment, psoriasis among others are key areas of opportunities in developing economic countries. Restraints to the ablation technologies market include disparities in the reimbursement scenario across globe along with regulations to curb pricing pressure which include Affordable Care Act and deployment of Accountable Care Organization especially in developed economic regions, thus affecting the overall growth and uptake of the ablation devices. Furthermore, high procedural cost is main area of concern for companies operating in this market.Request A Sample Of This Report -About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Medical Transcription Services Market Research Report by Regional Analysis - North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East & Africa : forecast 2019

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Medical Transcription Services Market : Future Demand and Growth AnalysisIn the past, medical documentation involved lots of paper work and was time consuming. Such documents were sometimes handwritten or typed on paper and gradually started occupying space in healthcare institutes, hospitals and clinics. Apart from being space consuming, retrieving any particular patient record from piles of record files posed as a bigger issue. Documentation and maintenance of patient records was not only a burden on hospitals but also on physicians and other healthcare staff which thereby created demand for a medical documentation process which involved less manpower, space and processing time.Browse full report on Medical Transcription Services market -Medical transcription process involves transcribing the patient information dictated by physician into text format. Physicians record patient information using audio recorders and send such recordings to medical transcriptionist for further process. This process has not only reduced writing work and efforts of physicians across the globe but has also helped in reducing space required for the saving of such documents. Apart from efficiently recording patient records medical transcription services also turn out to be instrumental in reducing the risk of legal disputes and insurance reimbursement issues.Many medical transcription service providers are offering both transcription services and transcription software. Audio recorders are being rapidly replaced with speech recognition software that allows automatic conversion of audio into text format. Medical transcription service providers offer services mainly to transcribe History and Physical reports (H&P), Discharge Summary (DS), Operative Notes (OP), Consultation reports (CONSULT) and other reports. Medical transcription services can be offshored or outsourced. Many developed countries prefer offshoring medical transcription jobs to the companies situated in developing countries such as India, China and Philippines. Medical transcription demands high end accuracy and hence requires skilled manpower. Developing in-house manpower capable of transcribing medical information with accuracy along with developing and maintaining infrastructure necessary for providing medical transcription services is a costly affair. Hence many healthcare professionals outsource their transcription jobs to save both time and monetary resources. Healthcare institutes prefer offshoring medical transcription activities over outsourcing as it is more beneficial for labor as well as healthcare institutes to avail the transcription services in exchange of dollars (currency rate benefits).Medical transcription has extended definitions of healthcare services by enabling physicians and specialty physicians to treat patients across the globe, refer documents in history for special cases and guide for physicians in case of transfer of patient from one physician to another for better treatment. Developing countries in Europe are investing more on building medical transcription service organizations (MTSOs). Countries in Asia-Pacific are focusing more on medical transcription service industry rather than on availing medical transcription services. Governments in India, Philippines and China are providing subsidies, incentives, cost benefits in internet services and tax benefits for developing infrastructure required for set up of medical transcription company, developing skilled manpower and improving technology.Geographically, North America dominates the global medical transcription services market due to increased medical documentation in the U.S. Contribution of the U.S. in availing medical transcription services is going to increase further as effects of passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Furthermore, most of the healthcare professionals availing medical transcription services are domiciled in the U.S. thus giving more scope to in-shore outsourcing. Many major MTSOs are coming up with cost effective products in the market that is driving cost reduction in this market. Growing awareness of medical documentation and its implementation by many healthcare professionals, hospitals, clinics and healthcare institutes is driving growth of medical transcription market.Moreover, factors such as increased awareness about the benefits of electronic patient recordkeeping, government initiatives, increased geriatric population worldwide; reimbursement processing and availability of various software leading to competitive cost reductions are driving growth of medical transcription services market. Use of novel recording system, which combines different type of automatic audio recorders and speech recognition technology, is a rapidly progressing trend. Medical transcription services is a promising and a fast growing segment in the field of next generation patient documentation and healthcare database and is changing the perception and look of healthcare industry.Request A Sample Of This Report -About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. 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Welcome to Best Bets, a weekly column in which The Oregonian's arts desk highlights selected theater, classical music and dance performances and visual arts events. Here are our picks for Feb. 17-23.

"Swimming While Drowning"

Teatro Milagro presents the world premiere of Emilio Rodriguez's play about a Latino teen who leaves his homophobic father's home and ends up at a homeless shelter for gays and lesbians, where he meets another Latino boy. Through rap music and poetry, the play addresses issues of identity, belonging and stability. 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday through Feb. 25, Milagro Theatre, 525 S.E. Stark St. $20-$27, milagro.org or 503-236-7253.

"Testament of Mary"

Corrib Theatre, which specializes in works about the Irish experience, presents novelist Colm Toibin's imagining of the final days of the mother of Jesus Christ as she ruminates on his life. 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday through March 5, New Expressive Works, 810 S.E. Belmont St. $20-$25, corribtheatre.org or Brown Paper Tickets.

Corrib is excited to bring you The Testament of Mary, opening Feb 16 at New Expressive Works. It's the story of Mary,... Posted by Corrib Theatre on Tuesday, February 7, 2017

"Songs of Love and War"

Portland Opera launches its new "Vino e Voce" performance series with a fully staged set of madrigals by Italian Renaissance composer and priest Claudio Monteverdi. Together, the songs address "courtship and seduction, sensual attraction, unrequited love, sexual passion, betrayal, lovers at war, and the tension between chastity and sensual pleasure," says the opera's general director, Christopher Mattaliano. Some performances include pre-show talks, complimentary wine and a post-show question-and-answer session. 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17; 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, Feb. 21, 23 and 25, Hampton Opera Center, 211 S.E. Caruthers St. Tickets start at $10; portlandopera.org, Ticketmaster or 503-241-1802.

Johann Sebastian Bach

Portland Baroque Orchestra presents an all-Bach program, featuring all four of his orchestra suites. "Bach's music appeals to those who seek meaning, sense or emotion," says guest conductor John Butt, Gardiner Professor of Music at the University of Glasgow and director of Edinburgh's Dunedin Consort. He'll give pre-concert talks one hour before each performance. 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Feb. 17-18, First Baptist Church, 909 S.W. 11th Ave.; 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19, Kaul Auditorium, Reed College, 3203 S.E. Woodstock Blvd. Tickets start at $25; pbo.org or 503-222-6000.

Portland Youth Philharmonic/Bravo Youth Orchestras

String musicians from Portland Youth Philharmonic join their peers from Bravo, which provides classical music instruction in high-poverty areas, to present a side-by-side concert that includes Antonio Vivaldi's Concerto in D, Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8, and Pharrell Williams' "Happy." Portland Youth Philharmonic's musical director, David Hattner, says of Bravo, "They are one of the most important new musical organizations in Oregon." 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19, Wieden+Kennedy, 224 N.W. 13th Ave. Free.

CCN-Ballet De Lorraine

One of Europe's most acclaimed companies makes its West Coast debut, with more than 20 dancers performing a classical and modern program by choreographers including Merce Cunningham and with music by composers including Philip Glass. The company, based in Nancy, France, is one of 19 National Choreographic Centers creating new work and serving as a resource center for dance. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 S.W. Broadway. $26-$70, whitebird.org or 503-245-1600.

Hap Tivey

Tivey, an installation artist whose work is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, combines his knowledge of physics and his experience as a Zen monk in Japan to create "Something Light," an installation that continues his longstanding presentation of light as an interactive medium. "I like to think our conscious mind enjoys giving structure and color to emptiness," he told an interviewer last year. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, through March 11, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, 417 N.W. Ninth Ave. Free, elizabethleach.com or 503-224-0521.

Hap Tivey Enso, 2016-17 wood, gesso, metal leaf, varnish, acrylic screen and LED lights on aluminum base 48 x 49.5 x 45" 86 x 49.5 x 45" with base Posted by Elizabeth Leach Gallery on Wednesday, February 1, 2017

If you would like your event to be considered for inclusion in Best Bets, email the details to fineartsbestbets@oregonian.com.
Dirck White

A man

is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in connection with the killing.

Dirck White, 44, was booked into the Clackamas County Jail Thursday from California, where he was sentenced last June to prison time for breaking into a car and shooting at police in Hollywood. White was injured in the shooting and it occurred nine months after Grady Waxenfelter's death.

White faces accusations of murder and felon in possession of a firearm in the Oregon case. He is also a suspect in a child rape investigation in Pierce County, Washington, according to the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office.

White is accused of fatally shooting Waxenfelter, 47, when the assistant weighmaster stopped White's truck along Oregon 224 near Boring to check the trailer in February 2014. He fled afterwards.

That November, White fired at Los Angeles police officers after they spotted him trying to break into a car, the police department said. The officers fired back, hitting White in the arm and face. He survived the shooting, was treated at a hospital and then booked into jail.

In May 2016, a Los Angeles County jury found White guilty of attempted murder, assault on a police officer with a semiautomatic firearm, exhibiting a deadly weapon while resisting arrest, possession of a firearm by a felon and second-degree burglary of a vehicle. He was sentenced a month later to 38 years and eight months to life in prison.

Clackamas County hasn't allowed weigh masters to conduct traffic stops since Waxenfelter's death. The county was

by the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division for not properly training and equipping weighmasters for such stops.

Clackamas County

the next month to settle a wrongful death lawsuit. His family initially sought $2.75 million.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com

503-221-8343; @EvertonBailey
RWD_5848.jpg

Two days after another Oregon Democrat rejected a plan to keep a state forest publicly owned, Rep. Brian Clem, a Salem Democrat, aired a plan to study the transfer of federal lands to state control. Conservation groups say it would be a step toward privatizing the lands.

(Rob Davis/Staff)

House Bill 2365 is what's known as a message bill, a legislative way for lawmakers to take a stand, even though their proposal won't pass. It's walking dead.

The bill would establish a task force to study transferring most of Oregon's federal land to state control. Places like the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area and the Mount Hood National Forest would move a step closer to being owned by a state already on the brink of selling public land.

But there it was Thursday morning in Salem, being discussed in Hearing Room D of the Oregon Capitol after Rep. Brian Clem, a Salem Democrat who chairs the Agriculture Committee, called a public hearing.

What surprised conservation groups who came to speak in opposition was not the idea - similar bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the West. It was that a Democrat granted a public forum to what they described as a fringe, far-right idea promoted by Ammon Bundy and his family. The Bundys led the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016.

"That the Oregon legislature would consider HB 2365 to us is deeply troubling," Sean Stevens, the executive director of Oregon Wild, told lawmakers. "We're just a year removed from the armed occupation of the Malheur refuge. The Bundys preached a warped view of America's public land. HB 2365 appears to embrace the idea of the Bundys."

In the West, where the federal government is the majority landowner, public lands have been a target of the right for decades.

But the fight over their fate took on new life after the Malheur occupation, with the Republican Party including the conveyance of federal land to local control in its national platform. A Utah Republican congressman, Jason Chaffetz, recently withdrew a bill targeting the sale of federal lands in Oregon and elsewhere in the West amid an outcry from hunters and anglers. The Trump administration, meanwhile, has signaled that it is not interested in privatizing public lands.

Rep. Carl Wilson, a Josephine County Republican.

Rep. Carl Wilson, a Josephine County Republican who sponsored HB 2365, told lawmakers Thursday that the federal forests in his district are poorly managed, fire-prone and beset by litigation. He said he thought Oregon state agencies could exercise a "much more loving, caring oversight."

"We would make the decisions in Salem, rather than Washington, D.C.," he said. "I just have to believe we would do a better job. We would care more."

Transferring federal timberland to state control would subject it to logging laws that are less environmentally protective than federal rules, which prohibit practices like the aerial spraying of herbicides on clear cuts. Oregon's aerial spray laws are the weakest on the West Coast.

Wilson said he only wanted to study the question of how Oregon could steward federal land if the legal hurdles were cleared, something scholars say there is no chance of happening.

"I think it would be fun just to find out what it would be like," Wilson said.

Michael Blumm, a Lewis & Clark Law School professor who studies public lands and did not attend the hearing, said the state has no legal authority to demand the federal government hand over its land. "The task force would be a whole lot better off studying things like why federal public lands produce better water quality and species protection than state lands do," Blumm said.

He said Clem's decision to hold a hearing on the idea was curious. "It does seem surprising to me that he would do this, because it does fan the flames," Blumm said.

The protest Thursday morning from conservation groups did not go unnoticed by Democratic lawmakers, who criticized the advocates for criticizing them. Said Rep. Susan McLain, a Hillsboro Democrat, "I don't like the way some people were in my mind impinging the idea that we would even listen to a colleague."

Stevens said in a later interview that he worried the hearing helped legitimize the Malheur occupiers' anti-government philosophy. Lawmakers should be considering resolutions endorsing the value of federal public lands, he said, not debating their divestment.

"There are thousands of bills introduced every year. Brian Clem has a choice of what he wants to hear," Stevens said. "This is providing some imprimatur of authority to ideas that should be in an extreme box."

Clem acknowledged the hearing was poorly timed. He should've waited a month, he said, or done it a week earlier. Instead, it was held two days after another Oregon Democrat, state Treasurer Tobias Read, voted to support the privatization of the Elliott State Forest, an 82,500-acre parcel in the Coast Range northeast of Coos Bay.

The state is constitutionally obligated to manage the Elliott to benefit schools, and timber revenue from the land has dropped after environmental lawsuits. But when Read rejected Gov. Kate Brown's proposal for retaining public ownership on Tuesday, it drew an immediate rebuke from environmental groups, who said he had betrayed their support.

Clem said he was staunchly opposed to the Bundys' philosophy, calling them "whack jobs that needed to be arrested." He said there was "no chance" that he'd move HB 2365 out of committee. His only interest in federal land, he said, is if it's ever put for sale, like the privately owned Klamath Falls property that became the Gilchrist State Forest.

Clem said he held the hearing because his committee had the time this early in the legislative session. A recent meeting adjourned 45 minutes early, he said, because lawmakers ran out of bills to discuss. "Until we have a problem, I'm not rationing anybody," he said.

"To be anti-public hearing because it may legitimize something is a horrible policy for us to consider," Clem said. "That's just anti-democratic. It sounds very Trump-like, honestly."

-- Rob Davis

rdavis@oregonian.com

503.294.7657
Christina1.jpg

Christina Ebersohl

(Tom Hallman Jr./The Oregonian)

Before she lost the sight in both eyes a few years ago, Christina Ebersohl would have easily walked down this Portland State University hallway. Now, she used a red-tipped cane, tapping walls on her way to a practice room in the university's department of music.

The small room is where she comes to renew her heart and soul, and continue working toward a dream that not too long ago seemed impossible. Even though she can't see the notes on a musical score, Ebersohl wants to make a living as a soloist and member of a chamber ensemble. Inside this room, a crucible of sorts, she felt for her viola and began playing before stopping to explain the meaning of music.

"Music permeates everything we do," Ebersohl said. "It's a complex and innate part of human existence."

Her journey to this room has been both difficult and empowering. As she encountered obstacles, she turned, for comfort and strength, to music.

Now, at 29, Ebersohl once again believes she can make a life in music.

Before she lost her sight, she was a bit of a prodigy. She started piano lessons at 7. While continuing piano, she also learned how to play the flute, bass guitar, tuba. By the time she earned an associate's degree in art from an Illinois community college she could also play the guitar, harmonica, dulcimer, mallets, organ and violin.

Based on her ability, teachers suggested she apply to the Julliard School in New York City. She sent a videotape of her performances and was one of a select few applicants invited to audition in person. She didn't have enough money for a plane ticket and realized attending the school was financially out of the question. She let go of that dream.

Then, she won a $10,000 scholarship to major in music at Millikin University in Illinois. Even so, she still couldn't swing it.

"My family and I didn't have the money," she said. "I knew music was a part of me, and it wouldn't just go away. Life was taking me on a different path."

That path took her to the U.S. Army. She planned to serve four years and get her college paid through the GI Bill. After basic training, she was considered smart enough to be selected by commanders to study Arabic at the Defense Language Institute California.

Two years in, she ended up in the hospital for three weeks. Doctors diagnosed a rare illness, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder. It left her unable to eat and caused problems in her left eye. She received an honorable discharge but didn't qualify for the GI Bill and returned to Illinois to live with her father.

She turned again to music. "I went to a music store one day and bought a viola," she said. "I played it, and I knew it was the instrument for me. It was magic."

Christina Ebersohl

She found a teacher, took two lessons a week and within two months was playing in public.

"Then I started losing my sight," she said. "The disease damaged me again. Over the year, I was in the hospital six times. Slowly, I also began losing sight in my right eye."

Soon, she was blind in both eyes.

Could she still be a musician?

By then, Ebersohl was married to a soldier she'd met in California. They moved to Colorado, where he continued linguistic studies with the Army.

When he was discharged, Ebersohl returned to her dream of a musical life. She wanted a second chance.

Her husband, Lenny Van Scyoc, supported her decision and was willing to move to any place she was accepted.

"I was looking for a teacher who could help me with my dream," she said. She applied to five schools and was accepted at three.

"Many teachers are obsessed with child prodigies," she said. "I wanted a teacher who believed in me and who would challenge me. I didn't want a teacher who thought music would make a nice hobby."

On her visit to PSU, she met Joel Belgique, and she knew he was the one. She enrolled in 2015 and began studying with Belgique, an adjunct instructor who is also the principal viola player in the Oregon Symphony.

"Christina is an amazing person," Belgique said. "Talent alone is not enough. It's her personal history and her drive. She's inspiring. She's the hardest working student I've ever had."

She owns a beautiful viola and bow worth more than $23,000.

"I saved money," she said. "And I make payments at the credit union."

Because she can't sight read, Ebersohl learns musical scores in Braille and then memorizes them. She uses computer software that lets her hear tonal differences in a score, the subtle change, for example, between an F and a F#. She listens to music, slowing it down with a computer application, and focuses on the viola part and then memorizes it.

"The hard parts are the passages," Belgique said. "Where she must come in, playing with others. Think about listening and picking out the viola in an opera. Think about the amount of music to learn. She works incredibly hard."

Ebersohl, who practices at least six hours a day, also relies on tricks that only people in the orchestra know.

"It's called the sniff technique," she said. "Everyone is taught that in a section that everyone must be ready to lead. When it's time to play, you hear a sniff and know it's time."

She picks up her viola, a sign that it's time for her to resume practice. She needs to prepare for two concerts, March 3 and 5, when the Portland State Orchestra will perform at the First United Methodist Church. Tickets are available at PSU.

"If a person has enough willpower, she can do anything," she said. "I can't imagine my life without music."

She closes the door and begins to play, lost in her music.

--Tom Hallman Jr.

thallman@oregonian.com; 503 221-8224

@thallmanjr
Oregon lawmakers will consider a wide range of marijuana issues this session, including a proposal to merge key elements of the state's longstanding medical program with the tightly controlled recreational one and a bill that would allow cannabis-friendly clubs and special events.

With the lucrative recreational marijuana program well underway and generating an estimated $3 million in sales each week, lawmakers are taking a hard look at how to move thousands of smaller medical marijuana growers into the seed-to-sale system managed by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.

Proponents of the proposal say integrating the two systems would not only prove more efficient for the industry and bureaucrats, it would tackle the vexing problem of how to keep Oregon marijuana out of the robust black market.

For now, medical marijuana growers are subject to a relatively light touch when it comes to regulation and oversight under the Oregon Health Authority. They also have increasingly limited legal options when it comes to selling their product; they can provide it directly to patients or sell it to dispensaries, which are allowed to sell only to medical marijuana patients and caregivers. With recreational marijuana now legal in Oregon, the number of dispensaries operating statewide declined sharply, shrinking a significant legal outlet for medical producers.

Senate Majority Leader Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, who also serves as co-chair of the legislative committee overseeing marijuana policy, said this week that knitting the two systems together is the main focus this year. She said some in the medical marijuana industry were reluctant at first to merge with the recreational system, but the first year of regulation under the liquor commission has gone relatively smoothly and that helped to relieve some of their concerns.

Folding medical production into the recreational system means those growers have access to a much larger and more profitable consumer market.

"The more we can consolidate," said Burdick, "the better it is for the industry."

Yet some medical marijuana advocates worry integration spells trouble for Oregon's long-standing program. They argue that regulation by the liquor commission comes with higher costs and increased security requirements that pose burdens to smaller producers.

They worry, too, about patients who've come to rely on free or low-cost cannabis from medical marijuana growers who shift to the recreational market. As the market increasingly caters to recreational consumers' tastes and preferences, advocates fear the sick will be left behind.

"We really do have a medical program that's been functioning for nearly two decades that really has benefited tens of thousands of patients and to disrupt that for regulatory ease is not very good," said Anthony Taylor, a longtime advocate for patients.

"I understand they want to capture as much commerce as they can," he said, "but adding medical marijuana patients to their plate doesn't really mean that's going to happen, at least not for patients."

House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, this week said her priority is ensuring adequate oversight of the medical and recreational programs. She said while she wouldn't be surprised to see them consolidated under the liquor commission, she, too, wonders about medical marijuana patients.

"We do need to have a robust medical marijuana market," she said. "It's really important for people's health. I do worry a little bit that recreational somehow will supersede all of that."

Taxes and pot lounges among other proposals

Burdick outlined other key marijuana-related priorities the Legislature will address this session. Among them: allowing local governments to impose up to 8 percent sales taxes on recreational sales. Currently, local taxes are capped at 3 percent. That's on top of a 17 percent state tax on the drug.

Burdick said she and Senate Republican Leader Ted Ferrioli, of John Day, have worked together on the proposed tax increase, hoping that the prospect of increased revenue will entice local governments to reconsider bans on the businesses. According to the liquor commission, 89 cities and counties have banned recreational marijuana businesses.

Combined, the proposed increase and the state tax would bring the overall tax rate to 25 percent -- the same rate that was in place last year. Washington, by comparison, imposes a 37 percent marijuana excise tax. Pot purchases may be subject to state and local sales tax as well.

"My hope is that by increasing the local tax in a reasonable manner, there will be more incentive for localities to opt in," Burdick said. "That really needs to happen because people in the opt-out areas are still going to have issues around cannabis and the more that are actually in the system, the more you can control and regulate."

'Social' cannabis consumption a hot issue

Lawmakers also are considering proposals to allow cannabis clubs and special events featuring marijuana consumption. Marijuana advocates argue that while anyone 21 and older can legally grow and buy cannabis, they don't have many options when it comes to consuming it.

"Now that cannabis is legal for adults in Oregon, we are left out with no safe place to consume," said Madeline Martinez, who owned the World Famous Cannabis Cafe, a Portland marijuana club that closed early last year due to the clean indoor air rules.

Martinez said her Southeast Portland establishment, which didn't sell marijuana but offered people a place to consume their own or share with others, served Oregonians and tourists as well.

"I had people coming in taxis to be dropped off at the cafe with their carry-on bags because they were coming to Portland to experience the freedoms we voted for and now where do they go?" she said.

But Oregon's Indoor Clean Air Act prohibits the use of marijuana, along with tobacco, in public areas and workplaces. And the state's leading public health officials strongly oppose proposals that would weaken the law.

Marijuana smoke is harmful, they argue, and events and establishments that feature marijuana smoking send the wrong message to young people.

"Regardless of the cause of the smoke, whether it's tobacco or cannabis or a campfire or pollution, inhaling particulate matter is not good whether you are smoking it yourself or breathing secondhand smoke," said Dr. Katrina Hedberg, state epidemiologist and health officer with the health authority.

Hedberg pointed out that public health surveys found hookah use increased significantly between 2008 and 2009 among eighth-graders living in the five Oregon counties where hookah lounges operate compared to middle-schoolers living in counties without them. Existing lounges were grandfathered into the clean air rules and proliferated around 2009, state health officials said.

Dr. Paul Lewis, a pediatrician and Tri-County Health Officer for Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties, also pushed back against proposals that would weaken indoor clean air rules. He said allowing smoking at special events would change "social norms about smoking, a setback to the last half-century of progress on this topic."

"The intention of the Oregon Indoor Clean Air Act is to protect all Oregonians, employees, as well as the public, from the dangers of secondhand smoke," he said in written remarks submitted this week to lawmakers.

Burdick called social consumption, particularly smoking as opposed to marijuana-infused edibles, "a really difficult issue" given public health concerns.

Burdick said lawmakers may not be able to settle the issue during the current session. Among the proposals before Oregon lawmakers: establish a task force to study the matter.

"You always hope you can reach some closure on an issue, but I am not sure it's doable," she said.

-- Noelle Crombie

503-276-7184; @noellecrombie
TRUMP33.JPG

President Donald Trump, on Thursday, in Washington, D.C.

(Mario Tama/Getty Images)

By The Washington Post Editorial Board

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signaled a dangerous retreat from the Middle East policy that Republican as well as Democratic presidents have pursued for the past two decades. In a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said he "can live with" a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that creates a single state for both peoples, rather than separate Israeli and Palestinian entities. He did so while strongly asserting his desire to broker "a bigger and better deal" in the region. In fact, by retreating from the two-state formula, the president has made the already slim prospects for an accord even more remote - and increased the chances that one of the few relatively peaceful corners of the region will return to conflict.

Trump cast his policy shift - which contradicted the position of not just President Barack Obama, but also Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton - as a matter of acting as a neutral broker. "I'm looking at two states and one state. I can live with either one," he said, depending on what the Israelis and Palestinians agreed to. But there is no workable one-state formula under which Israel would remain both a Jewish state and democratic. Palestinians rightly say a single state would have to grant them equal rights, including full voting rights. Most Israelis who favor it imagine an apartheid-like system in which Palestinians would live in areas with local autonomy but without either sovereignty or the same democratic rights as Jews.

Trump may have been trying to accommodate Netanyahu, who has been under tremendous pressure from his far-right coalition partners to abandon the two-state formula, which he endorsed in 2009. For his part, the Israeli prime minister declined to restate his support for Palestinian statehood, instead insisting that peace would require Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and accept Israeli security control over all of the West Bank.

Both leaders indicated they will seek to pursue a new diplomatic avenue - first proposed last year by Netanyahu - in which Israel would develop closer ties with Arab Sunni states, which presumably would help broker a settlement with Palestinians. But Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan will never support a deal in which Palestinians do not have full political rights; Netanyahu, at least, surely knows this. His proposal for a regional initiative is less a serious peace plan than a dodge. By naively embracing it, Trump has set himself up for diplomatic failure. He also has raised the odds that Palestinian frustration will spill over into a new wave of violence.

To his credit, Trump did seek to check Netanyahu in one area: settlements. The Israeli leader, who recently approved thousands of new West Bank housing units, responded that he would seek an agreement with Trump so "we don't bump into each other." A U.S.-Israeli deal limiting construction to existing communities close to Israel's borders would have the practical effect of preserving the possibility of side-by-side states. If Trump really wants to broker a deal, he should start by pressing Netanyahu for such a commitment.

(c) 2017, The Washington Post
Oregon's tough land use laws, coupled with a state agency that depends heavily on voluntary compliance with environmental regulations, requires in leaders the ability to see things from a distance and up close.

Richard Whitman, a lawyer by training but a veteran of Oregon land use and environmental battles, is such a person. His appointment this week to lead the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is smart and shows promise as the state struggles to balance population and economic growth with myriad protections against water pollution and air emissions. That's to say nothing of the need for any DEQ chief to manage a productive relationship with the governor's office and Legislature, feats Whitman already has shown he can do.

The DEQ has for years been derided as a toothless tiger, issuing low fines for big environmental abuses. Last year, the agency came under fire for failing to protect Portland neighborhoods against toxic air emissions from nearby glass-makers - a sustained saga that prodded the retirement of DEQ's longtime director, Dick Pedersen.

Whitman's biggest achievement, however, has little to do with swinging a regulatory bat. He was the unseen force who helped guide ranchers, tribes and politicians through difficult water-brokering agreements in the arid Klamath Basin. If he can succeed at that, and he did, he has a shot at lifting DEQ to higher ground.

-The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board
By David Ignatius

WASHINGTON -- President Trump confronts complicated problems as the investigation widens into Russia's attack on our political system. But his responsibilities are simple: A month ago, he swore an oath that he would "faithfully execute" his office and "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

That's apparently easier said than done. In a rambling press conference Thursday and his blizzard of tweets, Trump has dismissed inquiries into his campaign's contacts with Russia and denounced leakers as "low-life and "un-American." These statements seem more likely to confound ongoing investigations than faithfully execute his role as chief executive.

Michael Flynn's forced resignation as national security adviser this week, after concealing details of his contacts with a Russian diplomat, has been blurred by Trump's contradictory comments. So it's worth going back to basics: Why was the U.S. expelling Russian spies at the time Flynn made his late December call to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak? Why would Flynn have hidden for weeks that he talked with Kislyak about those anti-Russian sanctions, or have denied it to the FBI, as The Washington Post reported late Thursday? What would Trump have known about these issues?

You don't need leaks of classified information to understand why Flynn's dealings with an aggressive Russia were inappropriate. You just need to look at the public record.

The seriousness of Russia's assault on America first became clear on Oct. 7, when the intelligence community released a statement charging that "Russia's senior-most officials" (meaning President Vladimir Putin) had launched a cyberattack "intended to interfere with the U.S. election process."

Intelligence officials had been briefing members of Congress about the Russian activities since the summer. Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, had pushed the White House since September to respond, to no avail. FBI Director James Comey, meanwhile, had decided against disclosing the bureau's own pre-election investigation of possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign.

So on Election Day, the public wasn't aware of the growing belief among intelligence analysts that Russian hackers were trying to help Trump and hurt his rival, Hillary Clinton. That judgment was only shared many weeks after the election, in a Jan. 6 report that said Russia sought "to denigrate Secretary Clinton and harm her electability and potential presidency" and that the Kremlin "developed a clear preference" for Trump.

President Obama finally took decisive action on Dec. 29, when he expelled 35 Russian intelligence operatives and closed two "vacation" compounds, on Long Island and Maryland's Eastern Shore, which the Russians were using to collect signals intelligence. (The loss of those monitoring platforms may explain why a Russian spy ship carrying a forest of antennas sailed up the Delaware coast toward Connecticut this week.)

Here's where the timeline gets intriguing: The White House said in a Dec. 29 conference call with reporters that Obama had informed Trump about the impending sanctions on Dec. 28, one of the days when Flynn communicated with Kislyak, according to the Trump team. (U.S. officials told me a call took place Dec. 29.) Hours after the expulsion was announced, Trump issued a bland statement: "It's time for our country to move onto bigger and better things."

We now know that Flynn promised Kislyak that Trump would "review" the U.S reprisals -- a fact Flynn withheld from Vice President Pence and the public for weeks. Flynn finally shared his version Monday with the conservative Daily Caller, the day he was fired. He said his conversation with Kislyak "was about the 35 guys who were thrown out. ... It was basically, 'Look, I know this happened. We'll review everything.'"

Flynn's promise to review the case evidently encouraged Putin to forgo the usual tit-for-tat retaliation, despite an initial Kremlin statement that there was "no alternative to reciprocal measures." On Dec. 30, Putin said that rather than taking immediate countermeasures, he would instead seek "to restore Russian-U.S. relations based on the policies of the Trump administration."

Trump tweeted later that day: "Great move on delay (by V. Putin) -- always knew he was very smart!"

Given the magnitude of Russia's cyberattack on America, it remains puzzling that Flynn and Trump were so cavalier about the U.S. government's attempt to hold Moscow accountable. That's one reason investigators keep asking what contacts the Trump team had with Russia before the election. Trump said Thursday there hadn't been any. Yet Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Nov. 10: "Obviously, we know most of the people from [Trump's] entourage."

The FBI and the Senate Intelligence Committee are investigating the scope of Russia's pro-Trump activities. Inevitably, there will be leaks, but that issue is a red herring. For all Trump's talk about "fake news," the country needs answers.

David Ignatius' email address is davidignatiuswashpost.com.

(c) 2017, Washington Post Writers Group
ELLIOTT2.JPG

In this October 2016 photo, Joe Metzler walks across a fallen log over a creek in the Silver Grove of the Elliott State Forest.

(AP Photo/File)

Exhibit A for Official Displays of Discord: This week's meeting of the Oregon State Land Board, which decided to move forward with a sale of the 82,500-acre Elliott State Forest, near Coos Bay, to a logging company partnering with tribes. Upon voting 2-to-1 to sell with conditions attached, one board member, a dissenting and angry Gov. Kate Brown, then directed a state agency head to return to the board in April with an option to keep the forest in public ownership.

Exhibit B for A-Deal-Is-A-Deal-Is-A-Deal: Secretary of State Dennis Richardson's motion to override Brown's directive. He'd argued the state put the forest up for sale and now, with a willing buyer, needed to honor the transaction - which, by a vote of 2-to-1, the board had just done.

Exhibit C for Truly Weird Capitol Moments: Nobody, in this case the land board's third and final member, Treasurer Tobias Read, would second Richardson's motion to override Brown, leaving the motion to die and the room in silence.

If it seems clear the state intends to unload the Elliott for $221 million and invest it to support school districts statewide, it's just as clear Brown has reversed from the board's position in 2015, when it decided to sell the Elliott in the first place. More power to her. Things change.

At Tuesday's meeting, Brown underscored the influence of a new political climate under which federal lands, comprising roughly half of Oregon, could be under threat. She cited rising environmental and social values of the Elliott, among them species and water protection, public access for recreation and the capacity of large contiguous forests to hold carbon as the climate grows warmer. If her comments had a theme - a correct one, at that - it would be that we don't know what's ahead for successive generations of Oregonians. Selling the Elliott State Forest now might create remorse down the line, especially as the forest's values deepen in a state whose public land holdings have dwindled over several decades.

But successive generations of Oregonians are at the center of the Elliott debate for a more fundamental reason: Children attend public schools that depend upon the forest's revenue production, mainly from logging, and in recent years it's fallen off dramatically. That means the Elliott, and its land board overseers, are failing a constitutional mandate to generate sufficient revenue for the Common School Fund, whose earnings are distributed to 197 school district statewide. A persistently unproductive Elliott will punish future generations of children.

The mandate dates back several decades following the federal government's transfer of lands to Oregon with the proviso a small portion of them be used for the benefit of the Common School Fund. It worked well for decades: Logs paid for teachers. But, with the decline of logging, no more. And the land board has been scrambling over what to do. The clock is ticking. In an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board, Richardson pointed out at that $220 million properly invested over the last five years would have generated $54 million for schools - many times more than the Elliott as presently managed generates.

It's hard to argue against that kind of money when the alternative is nothing - and as lawmakers face a $1.8 billion hole in the budget. Yet any decision on the Elliott must take into account the long haul. And the forest's fate will come down to whether Brown can muster the support from lawmakers to consider her proposal to bond up to $100 million to be placed in the Common School Fund while partnering with or selling to tribes in such a way as to maintain public ownership of the Elliott. Senate President Peter Courtney added to the drama Tuesday by appearing at the land board meeting to say he was willing to help keep the Elliott publicly owned, Rob Davis of The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.

It's often too easy to spend public money. But it's always hard, and sometimes impossible, to recover or reclaim a natural asset, even if conditions upon its sale are designed to achieve proper stewardship and ensure public access. Members of the land board, as well as the Legislature, should think hard about this before they decide what's right for Oregonians now and ahead.

-The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board
By Megan McArdle

The last days have brought one long string of bad news for Obamacare. Tuesday, the insurer Humana announced that it would be pulling out of the exchanges for next year. Then we found out that the IRS had responded to Trump's executive order on Obamacare by quietly rolling back a new rule planned for this year, which would have required filers to indicate whether they had maintained coverage in 2016 or to pay a penalty. And on Wednesday, word came that Mark Bertolini, the CEO of Aetna, had told a Wall Street Journal conference that Obamacare was in a death spiral. This stands in pretty stark contrast to claims by Andy Slavitt, who ran the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services under President Barack Obama, that things were shaping up splendidly for 2018, so long as Republicans didn't screw anything up.

Or does it? Could Humana's withdrawal (and Aetna playing footsie with the idea) be because they expect the Republicans to, well, screw things up?

That may be a factor. But it's not the only factor. And after parsing what they've said, I doubt it's even the most important one.

A lot has been happening in the health care world recently. Most notably, Aetna and Humana's attempt to merge into a behemoth of legendarily gargantuan proportions has fallen apart under regulatory scrutiny. (A similar proposed merger by Anthem and Cigna is currently under appeal but seems likely to meet the same fate.) It's certainly a stunning coincidence that the day after they announced the breakup, both companies were out there with some hard words for the Affordable Care Act.

They may have been maintaining their presence on the exchanges in the hopes that this would make their merger more palatable to the administration and the courts; they may have been holding off making decisions until it was clear whether they would be one entity or two; or perhaps the inability to merge, and gain the benefits of economies of scale, made the losses seem newly unpalatable (especially given the hefty termination fee Aetna owes to Humana). Democrats will undoubtedly claim that this is the companies following through on their threat to leave the exchanges if they weren't allowed to merge.

That doesn't actually seem particularly likely to me. For one thing, they can't pay back the Obama administration for killing their merger, since that administration no longer exists. For another, Aetna is the one that issued the "threat," but Humana was the one that announced it was pulling out.

But most importantly, the reason Humana cited for pulling out of the exchanges is pretty plausible: The company lost money on the exchanges in 2015, and wasn't doing so well in 2016 either. Humana said an initial analysis of the 2017 enrollees indicated that the pool continued to be "unbalanced" -- for which, read "sick."

Why not just raise the premiums? Because a pool comprising too many sick people can't be stabilized at any price. Once you start jacking up the premiums to pay for all the pricey health care your members are using, you start losing your remaining healthy customers, and the premiums have to be jacked up still further. The result -- the dread "death spiral" that Bertolini was talking about -- will ultimately end up with premiums that no one is willing to pay, or can afford to. What Humana is saying (and Bertolini made similar remarks) is that they've got a pool that they simply don't think can be sold into profitably, because the problem isn't that they mispriced the premiums. The problem is that too few healthy people are buying insurance. And now that exchange enrollment has begun to shrink, it's obvious that problem isn't going to get better. It's likely it's going to get worse. Bertolini predicts that more insurers are going to pull out for 2018, leaving many areas without any insurers at all offering plans.

The Trump administration's actions aren't helping, and the rule changes that CMS has just proposed to shore up the exchanges are flimsy Band-Aids that aren't going to keep them from toppling over. If Bertolini's right, then we have moved onto the next phase of Obamacare politics: not arguing about whether (and how) the exchanges can be saved, but playing "hot potato" as both parties vie to avoid being stuck with the blame for the ensuing disaster.

As a policy wonk recently observed to me, there's just enough evidence for both sides to feel justified in pointing fingers at the other. The Trump administration has made rule changes that made participation less likely by healthy people -- trivial changes that probably haven't had much effect, to be sure, but enough for Democrats to complain about. And the general air of uncertainty about what Republicans are going to do definitely isn't going to encourage insurers to stick around.

On the other side, Republicans can point to ... well, everything else. The exchanges have been struggling for their entire life. There has never been a time at which enrollment was booming beyond expectations, or insurers were making money in aggregate. Whatever frail health the exchanges did achieve required a heroic (also illegal) regulatory juggling act by the Department of Health and Human Services. There's a good case that the exchanges were going to die anyway, as insurers realized that no matter what they did, many of these markets simply could not be made profitable.

Democrats may respond that the only reason that the exchanges don't work is that Republicans refused to pass rules that would make them work better. To which Republicans could justly respond that if the law couldn't work as written, it was probably a bad idea to say "elections have consequences" and ram the thing through on a straight party-line vote over the strenuous objections of voters and the minority party.

The things that needed to be fixed to make the law work were unpopular moves like a higher penalty for failing to comply with the individual mandate -- moves for which Republicans would have paid a price at the ballot box. It takes some pretty brazen chutzpah to say that because Democrats passed an unworkable law to set up what Republicans think is a bad system, Republicans now have a moral obligation to get themselves unelected saving that system, while Democrats take credit for the parts people like.

Regardless of the morality of it, expecting people to actually behave this way is daft. Republicans predictably didn't lean into the strike zone and help Democrats save the exchanges. If the exchanges are indeed collapsing, Republicans will be striving even harder to avoid being tarred with their failure. As will the Democrats who once hoped they would be running on Obamacare's triumphs for years to come.

(c) 2017, Bloomberg View

Megan McArdle is a Bloomberg View columnist. She is the author of ""The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well Is the Key to Success."
MATTIS.JPG

James Mattis

(AP Photo/File)

By Leonid Bershidsky

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis has delivered to America's allies a message often heard during Donald Trump's election campaign: Spend more on defense or expect the U.S. to "moderate its commitment to the alliance." While European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have agreed, they won't necessarily rush to meet U.S. demands.

In 2014, NATO members reaffirmed their commitment to spend 2 percent of their economic output on defense and 20 percent of that amount "on major new equipment, including related research and development." The U.S. wants them to stick to these top-line promises. But 2 percent and 20 percent are only numbers. As John Deni of the U.S. Army War College wrote in a 2015 blog post for the Carnegie Endowment, Greece consistently spends 2 percent of its gross domestic product on defense -- a model U.S. ally on that count -- but when it comes to actual fighting, Denmark, which has averaged 1.5 percent of GDP in defense spending since 2000, provides more troops and more aircraft, takes part in riskier missions, and suffers more casualties.

Defense spending is perhaps not the best measure of European countries' fighting ability. Even if they hit the spending targets, that won't allow them immediately to boost a measure such as deployability -- the share of armed forces structured, prepared and equipped for deployed operations. The NATO requirement is 50 percent. No European country meets it, and, according to the European Defense Agency, the countries that are meeting the 2 percent spending requirement or are eagerly working toward it don't have the most prepared armies.

Even these numbers may often be less important for NATO burden sharing than political considerations. Ghent University's Tim Haesenbrouck listed them in a 2016 paper on NATO's 2011 Libya operation. Countries contribute more if their participation is critical to an operation's success, which means bigger nations -- and those with military budgets that are large in absolute, not relative, terms -- are always more committed. But participation decisions are always tempered by other factors, such as a nation's proximity to the conflict zone, how much it values its alliance with the U.S., and how far off the next election is.

When the U.S. stresses its readiness to meet its NATO responsibilities, as Mattis did in Brussels on Wednesday, the allies understand it as a promise to adhere to Article 5 of the treaty that states that an attack on one is treated as an attack on all. Even under President Trump, Europeans believe it is in the U.S. national interest to honor its Article 5 commitment if a NATO country is attacked by, say, Russia, the bloc's original adversary. Barring such an extreme situation, a decreased U.S. commitment may mean something akin to what Europe faced in Libya in March through October 2011.

In NATO's first major military actions, the U.S. bore most of the operational burden. It flew more than 65 percent of strike operations in Bosnia and Kosovo. It contributed 60 percent of the deployed units in Afghanistan. But Barack Obama was not an interventionist president, and in operation Unified Protector, the Libyan intervention, the U.S. let the European allies do most of the work. France and the U.K. bore the brunt of the fighting, flying two-thirds of the sorties and putting more of their personnel at risk. Italy, too, played an important part, flying about 10 percent of the strike missions -- a disproportionate contribution on the basis of Italy's economic output and defense spending. Belgium, Canada, Denmark and Norway contributed in accordance with their size. Germany declined to participate.

This record reflects the different calculus of individual alliance members. David Cameron, initially a reluctant interventionist, became passionate about what he saw as an imperative to save Libyans from a potential genocide and keep the momentum of the Arab Spring, though the doomed intervention was later damned by the U.K.'s Foreign Affairs Committee for mission creep and being based on shoddy intelligence.

For France and Italy, geographic proximity, the potential for a large refugee influx and economic interests were major stimulants. Countries such as Denmark and Norway consider Atlanticism a mainstay of their foreign policy, so they usually participate in NATO action to the degree that they can to let the U.S. know they are strong allies. Besides, for Northern European countries, voters expect their militaries to help mitigate humanitarian disasters. German voters couldn't understand why Libya mattered to them, and Chancellor Angela Merkel's government kept out.

European NATO members know now that they may have to play leading roles in future NATO operations if the action takes place in an area that's more important to them than to the United States. That's especially so, as Haesenbrouck noted, when Washington makes clear it is not willing to act or only wants a minor role.

That, essentially, is what Mattis was telling his NATO counterparts on Wednesday. A less interventionist administration in Washington may even be welcomed -- at least Europe won't be pressured to send troops into conflicts that are a tough political sell. And they won't be particularly eager for a greater role in operations that are primarily U.S. business -- such as the next Iraq or Afghanistan. But Libya showed that they can act when required. Even if Libya's subsequent chaos is often portrayed as the result of a mission, the intervention itself was successful and NATO suffered no losses.

For Poland and other eastern European nations, the hypothetical threat is bigger than for other Europeans. Their voters remember living in the Soviet sphere of influence; for them, defense spending is about ties with the U.S., and an insurance policy. But when other European countries increase their defense spending, it is largely because they understand they may be required to take the lead in European security as the U.S. recedes.

In that sense, they have already internalized Mattis's threat. If the Trump administration proves as uninterested in global affairs as its first month has shown, these countries will just keep moving toward alternative security arrangements that are already under discussion.

(c) 2017, Bloomberg View

Leonid Bershidsky is a Bloomberg View columnist. He was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru.
1library.JPG

A woman walks by Branford Price Millar Library on the campus of Portland State University, Oct. 26, 2016.

(Mike Zacchino/Staff)

By Gregory Hinckley

Oregon business and the state's economy depend on a highly educated workforce. We all know the benefits of having well-trained professionals and technical specialists with a diversity of experience and backgrounds. At the same time, hiring employees educated in this state offers a particular advantage, because the latter are more invested in Oregon and understand the state's needs and its sometimes quirky ways. For the best employment outcomes, we need a balance of these two groups.

But right now we are not getting enough Oregon-educated employees. That's because not enough are being educated here.

Any business owner knows you must invest to ensure a successful enterprise. Yet Oregon has not invested in one of our most important assets: our public universities. Out of 50 states, we rank 45th when it comes to state support for our universities.

That's not just embarrassing. It hurts efforts to keep, recruit and grow industry in Oregon. And it has forced universities to raise tuition to levels that cause students to pile up debt or, even worse, decide not to even try to get a college degree. This presents a difficult challenge for the 2017 Oregon Legislature - but also a real opportunity.

Lawmakers already are deep into the job of balancing the two-year state budget, deciding how to spend $20.8 billion in general fund and lottery revenue. The good news is that Oregon's economy is on the upswing, adding new dollars into state coffers. Presidents of the state's seven public universities say that with an investment of $100 million above the 2015 allocation, they can keep tuition increases at or below 5 percent. To business leaders like me, this seems like a reasonable investment.

Here's why.

Our public universities are great incubators of ideas, innovations, research and graduates who serve our cities and mobilize our economy. They have produced Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, start-ups that grew into multinational corporations, urban thinkers who transformed our biggest city into one of the world's most livable places. More importantly, they provide opportunity for all students to move up the economic ladder and participate in all this state has to offer.

Share your opinion

Submit your essay of 500 words or less to commentary@oregonlive.com. Please include your email and phone number for verification.

My hometown university in particular, Portland State, is one of those great working-class colleges that educates a disproportionate number of first-generation students, students of color and low-income students, and helps them achieve dreams once considered impossible.

Oregon's economy is humming, ahead of the nation. Unemployment has plummeted. Income is rising. People are moving here more than to almost any other state. These are signs we should all be proud of. The fastest way to kill that momentum, however, is to send the message that we don't care much about our universities.

Lawmakers face difficult decisions in the coming weeks and months. Investing in an educated workforce has got to be a top priority if we wish Oregon to prosper. Keeping our universities flourishing is necessary to keep our state moving forward.

Gregory Hinckley is president of Mentor Graphics, based in Wilsonville.
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This June 25, 2004 file photo shows trees in the Mt. Hood National Forest outside Zigzag, Ore. Timber-dependent counties have benefited from federal funding in the past to help offset lost revenue from reduced harvests but the program has expired.

(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

By Tim Freeman, Simon Hare and Craig Pope

The Secure Rural Schools program, which provided funding to timber dependent communities hit hard by declining harvests, is often described as a "lifeline" to rural Oregon counties with forest lands under federal ownership. Yet the program expired in October 2015, resulting in a 90 percent revenue reduction to counties struggling to balance budgets and still provide minimum service.

The program's expiration follows years of declining and uncertain payments. And overall, the subsidies have failed to address the underlying economic and social problems facing our counties. For our federal representatives, the only solution is to create good-paying jobs and generate revenue through science-based forest management.

Sixty percent of Oregon's forests and timber lands are owned by the federal government. Many of our rural counties are dominated by lands that can't be taxed, transferred, nor developed for private industry. Though recreation and tourism jobs have been created since the 1990's, those jobs have not replaced the income that was earned in the woods and in the mills and generate little or no revenue to support county services. In fact, those jobs cost the government more than they bring in. Tourism and recreation significantly increase demand for law enforcement, road maintenance, search, rescue and emergency services on or near the federal lands. Because the federal lands are not contributing dollars to rural counties to provide these services, the burden is placed on the backs of county taxpayers.

Rural Oregon counties are at a fiscal cliff and are now being forced to make budget cuts unlike any that our citizens have seen before. Many rural Oregon counties don't have funding to provide round-the-clock law enforcement. Public and mental health services have been severely cut back or returned to the state. Roads and infrastructure are deteriorating and libraries have closed. Because many of these public services are mandated under law, the state government may ultimately become responsible for providing those services. Salem can ill afford this responsibility.

Share your opinion

Submit your essay of 500 words or less to commentary@oregonlive.com. Please include your email and phone number for verification.

Some believe the only solution is to increase property taxes, but there is limited appetite for higher taxes in counties and communities suffering from high unemployment and poverty. Many properties have reached the maximum allowable tax rate. Though another reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools program is well-intended, it would be a mistake for our federal representatives to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results. Rather than seeking to renew a full subsidies program like Secure Rural Schools, our representatives should focus on restoring rural Oregon's economy, by increasing sustained yield timber harvests from federal forest lands. Rural county governments would strongly support a long-term solution that starts with short term bridge funding to sustain vital services, and then transitions to stable and predictable revenues from sustained yield timber harvests that supports good paying jobs and county services in our communities.

It's a myth that logging on federal lands would have to be increased to unsustainable levels to restore the rural economy and reverse damaging cuts to local services. Higher levels of harvest can be achieved on our federal lands while still protecting the recovery of endangered species, providing clean water and fish habitat, ensuring landscape resiliency, supporting a wide range of recreational opportunities and increasing carbon storage. Forests are Oregon's most abundant and renewable natural resource, and responsibly managing them is a big part of the solution to replacing lost federal subsidies to counties.

Tim Freeman is president of the Association of O&C Counties and a Douglas County commissioner. Simon Hare is the association's vice president and a Josephine County commissioner. Craig Pope is the association's secretary/treasurer and a Polk County commissioner.
By Eugene Robinson

WASHINGTON -- President Trump is flailing like a man who fears he's about to go under, and he hasn't even been in office a full month. His instinct is to flee to the warmth and comfort of his political base -- but he will learn that while presidents can run, they can't hide.

Trump's administration faces two acute, interlocking crises: serious questions about his campaign's contacts with official and unofficial representatives of the Russian government, which U.S. intelligence agencies believe made concerted efforts to help Trump win the election; and appalling levels of dysfunction in the White House that make self-inflicted wounds the rule rather than the exception.

The president's response has been to rant on Twitter and schedule a campaign-style rally Saturday in Florida -- all of which may boost Trump's morale but will do nothing to make his problems go away.

It is unclear whether Trump is trying to fool the nation or fool himself. Witness one of the angry tweets he sent out Thursday morning: "The Democrats had to come up with a story as to why they lost the election, and so badly (306), so they made up a story -- RUSSIA. Fake news!"

Let me take a moment to unpack the misinterpretations, distortions and contradictions jammed into those two sentences.

"The Democrats had to come up with a story" refers to Trump's claim that the Russia allegations are nothing more than a tantrum by Democrats upset that Hillary Clinton did not win as they had expected. That is ridiculous. The Democratic Party is focused on rebuilding at the grass-roots level and finding new leadership. Democrats I've spoken to have as much criticism as praise for Clinton and the campaign she ran.

Trump's phrase "they lost the election, and so badly" ignores the facts. Clinton did comfortably win the popular vote, after all. And Trump's electoral margin was historically quite modest.

The part about how Democrats "made up a story -- RUSSIA" is absurd. It was U.S. intelligence agencies, not the Democratic Party or the Clinton campaign, that made the finding that Russia meddled in our election with the aim of boosting Trump's prospects. If anything, the chief Democrat at the time -- former President Obama -- reacted too mildly.

And the tweet ends with what has become Trump's favorite way to dismiss anything he'd rather not hear: "Fake news!" But why would he fire his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, over inauthentic news reports? In other Thursday morning tweets, Trump attacked "low-life leakers" in the intelligence community -- thus essentially confirming that leaked information about the Russia connection is genuine, not "fake." Not even a president can have it both ways.

The idea that Russian President Vladimir Putin played a big role in putting Trump in the White House presents such a grave challenge to our democracy that even reluctant Republicans in Congress will have to investigate. The FBI is already probing reported contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence officials. We must, and I believe will, learn the truth.

This sort of crisis would test any White House. Based on performance so far, it may drown Trump's.

Who's in charge? Chief of Staff Reince Priebus is yet to establish any reasonable sense of order or any effective process for making decisions. Chief strategist Stephen Bannon and senior adviser Stephen Miller constitute a competing power center, and were responsible for the shoddily drafted travel and refugee ban that was blocked by the courts. Counselor Kellyanne Conway goes on television and speaks confidently for the administration but increasingly is out of the loop -- as when she said Trump had "full confidence" in Flynn just hours before his dismissal. Press secretary Sean Spicer struggles daily to reconcile Trump's pronouncements with objective reality.

No communications director has been hired. Who would take the job?

Among Trump's inner circle, only senior adviser Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, seems to be having a relatively positive impact. Yes, this administration has reduced me to applauding nepotism.

Last weekend we saw Trump and his brain trust learning details of an ominous geopolitical development -- a new North Korean missile test -- as the president hosted a dinner party for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on a terrace at Mar-a-Lago, surrounded by other diners who belong to the posh club. Within range of prying eyes, Trump and party used the flashlight apps on their cellphones to read incoming documents.

Trump claimed Thursday that his administration is running like "a fine-tuned machine." A test-crash simulator, perhaps?

I guess things could be worse. Don't ask me how.

Eugene Robinson's email address is eugenerobinsonwashpost.com.

(c) 2017, Washington Post Writers Group
A federal judge Thursday dropped one of three criminal charges against Marcus Mumford, Ammon Bundy's lawyer, and ruled he'll issue a verdict on the other two charges, not a jury.

U.S District Judge John C. Coughenour dismissed a charge that accused Mumford of creating a disturbance by impeding the official duties of government officers because it encompassed the same conduct alleged in the second count, failing to comply with official signs that prohibit the disruption of federal officers' official work.

Coughenour declined to grant Mumford a jury trial, as requested, or his motion to dismiss all the charges.

Document: U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour's ruling

Mumford's lawyer Michael Levine has argued that the deputy U.S. marshals engaged in "outrageous'' government misconduct and lacked authority to wrestle Mumford to the ground and stun him with a Taser gun while he was arguing on behalf of Bundy in a federal courtroom last fall. The scuffle occurred after Bundy was acquitted of all charges on Oct. 27, 2016, at the end of a five-week trial stemming from the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

"Here, the transcript and video footage do not support such a finding,'' the judge wrote. "The U.S. marshals' conduct does not rise to a level that 'shocks the conscience.' ''

Marcus Mumford's shirt was torn during the courtroom scuffle and his arrest on Oct. 27, 2016.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Ohms this week defended the charges, contending Mumford was blocking marshals from taking Bundy back into custody at the end of trial. When Mumford resisted arrest, he was stunned with the Taser, Ohms said.

Coughenour said in his ruling: "It appears from the transcript and the courtroom video that defendant interfered with the marshals taking his client into custody.''

He referred to Mumford's argument to U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown at the conclusion of the trial that Bundy is "free, Your Honor.''

Coughenour also denied a request by Mumford's lawyer to hold an evidentiary hearing before trial. The judge said the record as it stands is sufficient.

The judge wasn't swayed by Levine's arguments that the marshals didn't have authority to act against Mumford while he was advocating for his client in court or that the charges against him are vague.

Coughenour held that Congress authorized the Department of Homeland Security to establish regulations with criminal penalties relating to the protection of federal property similar to powers it has granted to the National Park Service, Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management.

"Defendant was not charged with violating the regulations for making arguments in the courtroom,'' the judge wrote. "At the heart of the allegations is that defendant interfered with the U.S. marshals taking custody of his client. A person of ordinary intelligence would understand that interfering with a U.S. marshal removing a defendant who was in their custody following the completion of court constitutes a disruption of the performance of a marshal's duties.''

A trial is set for April 13 on the two remaining misdemeanor charges: failing to comply with courthouse signs that prohibit the disruption of federal officers' duties and failing to comply with a federal officer's direction to stop kicking and resisting and to place his hands behind his back.

On the dismissal of one charge, Levine said Thursday afternoon, "Hey, one out of three ain't bad.''

"The judge has ruled. I respect his ruling, and we'll go on to trial,'' Levine added.

In additional rulings, Coughenour ordered prosecutors to turn over to Mumford's lawyer any text messages between marshals, federal protective service officers or court security on their government-issued cellphones that "reveal hostility'' toward Mumford "or in any way casts doubt on their credibility.'' The government also must turn over information that casts doubt on a witness' credibility, as required by law, the judge noted.

He declined to order prosecutors to produce any records from a meeting Brown had with jurors after the trial of Bundy and six co-defendants, finding those materials are in the possession of a district judge and out of the scope of criminal procedure.

Mumford's lawyer had sought that material, noting that the judge described the events leading to Mumford's arrest to jurors, who had filed out of the courtroom just before the skirmish.

Coughenour, a judge from the federal Western District of Washington, has been assigned to preside over the case. Brown and local prosecutors were recused from it. Brown, her courtroom deputy, law clerk and court reporter could be called as witnesses at trial, Levine said.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian
In his first major issue as a state senator, Tom Greene whiffed.

The Burlington Republican  a former school board member  failed to participate in a school funding bill, which has become law with a measly 1.11 percent increase.

He neither debated nor voted.

School superintendents from Keokuk to Sioux City complained the action will result in layoffs and larger classroom sizes. Pro-education officials were pressing for at least a 4 percent increase, saying it was necessary simply to remain in place. Early literacy initiatives and local efforts to boost student achievement will have to wait. Further backsliding is probable.

Four percent seemed generous, but for the past half dozen years, the Legislature has adopted a Scrooge-like mentality for public education. Where 30 years ago, Iowa ranked in the top 10 in education spending and had student performance scores to match, it has dropped into the bottom half of states.

Gov. Terry Branstad, who two years ago scuttled a compromise plan to add one-time spending to boost per-student spending, signed the spending bill into law even though he advocated adding $78 million more on K-12 education  nearly twice as much as Republicans put into the bill.

Greene had the opportunity to share his expertise as a Burlington School Board member and local struggles with math and literacy scores with his fellow Republicans, who control both chambers, but he chose not to. Not only did Green fail to participate in the debate, he was the only Republian absent when the vote was taken. Greene told The Hawk Eye protracted Democratic discssion and an unspecified family matter were to blame. He later acknowledged he would have voted with his colleagues for 1.11 percent allowable growth.

"We didn't have much choice this year," Greene told reporter Elizabeth Meyer. "I certainly would like to pass out more money but the primary thing we wanted to do was get it to the superintendents early in the process. That was a huge point when I was on the Burlington School Board. Every year, the supplemental school aid was not set until April and school boards have to certify their budget much earlier than that .... Although it was low, it was only 1.11, every superintendent I talked to said just get us the number early so we can plan and face our reality as soon as possible. So that's what we did."

It's unpersuasive. Budgets are about priorities and clearly, Republicans do not value education as they once did.

Two things are going on here.

For one, as long as Republicans pass minuscule education measures year after year after year, it forces Democrats to seek larger and larger allowances to make up for lost ground. During campaigns, GOP candidates can use "real facts" and say the opposition party wants unrealistic increases  a win for them.

The other is Republicans don't care.

During an appearance last week on "Iowa Press," House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, suggested local school districts will be able to make up the gap between state funding and their needs by a streamlining effort to make reports filed with the state Departments of Education resemble federal paperwork.

It demonstrates how out of touch her party is. Paperwork? Really?

Greene, while new to the Legislature, has the background to present a convincing case why Upmeyer was wrong. He chose not to.

He ran saying he'd be a voice independent of his party. Given a stellar chance to do so, he didn't.

This editorial appeared in the Feb. 9 edition of the Burlington Hawk Eye.
A judge this week dismissed charges against three people arrested in the fatal shooting of a southern Oregon man during a suspected home-invasion marijuana robbery pending a grand jury hearing in the case.

Josephine County Circuit Judge Lindi Baker on Monday dismissed all charges against Lieth Mohammad, Nicholas Scarnechia and Kacey Ann Brunson, court records show. They were all arrested in California shortly after the killing.

A grand jury continues to hear witness testimony in the Nov. 4 killing of Jason A. George and could still return an indictment, said Josephine County Deputy District Attorney Matt Corey. Logistics in rounding up some witnesses delayed the case, he said.

A police investigation of the killing also continues, Corey said. He didn't know when the investigation or grand jury process would be complete.

George, 25, was killed at a home in O'Brien, an unincorporated town about five miles north of the Oregon/California border, a state police detective said in a search warrant affidavit. Two witnesses, including George's girlfriend, told investigators that at least two men came into the home and one of them shot George in the head after George pulled a gun.

The girlfriend told investigators the shooter claimed he shot George in self-defense, the affidavit said. The intruders then took marijuana drying in the house and drove away, said the other witness.

The affidavit identified the shooter as Mohammad, the son of the property owner who lived in California. He, Scarnechia and Brunson was arrested in California four days after the shooting during an unrelated police marijuana raid.

Mohammad was accused of aggravated murder, murder, first-degree burglary, first- and second-degree robbery, unlawful use of a weapon and felon in possession of a firearm in George's death.

Scarnechia and Brunson were accused of first-degree burglary and first- and second-degree robbery. Scarnechia also was accused of murder.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com

503-221-8343; @EvertonBailey
WASHINGTON - Education Secretary Betsy DeVos softened her view Thursday on the objections to her appointment to President Donald Trump's Cabinet, a day after she criticized protesters who she said want to keep new thinking out of schools.

"While some have characterized the flurry of attention around my confirmation in negative terms, I view it as expressions of passion, passionate parents and passionate advocates who care deeply about their kids and about education," Devos said in remarks to a conference of community college leaders in Washington. "I applaud it and I know the same kind of passion drives all of you."

In her first appearance at a public higher education event, DeVos lauded the work of community colleges, but offered no details on how the department she leads will support their efforts. DeVos, who has no professional experience in education and narrowly won Senate confirmation, has not said much about her vision for higher education. As a result, policy analysts and college leaders have been eager for signs of where she and the Trump administration stand on student aid, regulations and other higher ed issues.5 highlights of Betsy DeVos' first public speech as education secretary

On Thursday, DeVos praised two-year public schools as "essential engines of workforce and economic development." Though she named legislative priorities that are top of mind for community colleges, including an expansion of Pell Grants for low-income students, DeVos did not take a position on any of them. Congress has authority to affect higher ed policy through legislation, but the secretary can advocate policies she deems important. It was unclear from Thursday's event whether DeVos plans to use her bully pulpit to that end, and the audience had no chance to ask because the secretary was whisked off stage following her remarks.

DeVos spent much of her brief remarks on the role of community colleges in workforce development, noting Trump's plans to expand vocational and technical education that she said two-year institutions "excel" at providing. She said she shares the president's vision of making multiple paths for postsecondary education a priority, without elaborating on how the department will accomplish that.

"Your institutions working hand and glove with your business partners play an important role in the goal of getting Americans back to work," DeVos said. "The president was elected to help bring back jobs and economic opportunity in every region of this country, and he's outlined a bold plan to foster the creation of 25 million new American jobs in the next decade and to achieve a 4 percent annual economic growth rate."

Community college leaders have welcomed the Trump administration's interest in the career and technical training they offer. In advance of DeVos' address, J. Noah Brown, president and chief executive of the American Association of Community Colleges, said stakeholders in the sector were waiting for signals on areas where they could work together with the administration. He said there is some indication that the new administration supports enabling full-time students who qualify for Pell grants to receive them three semesters a year instead of two. Proponents say the expansion would help students afford to take a full load of courses year-round, earn a degree faster and avoid taking on a lot of debt. Legislation supporting the restoration of so-called year-round Pell cleared the Senate but died in the House last year.Opinion: Betsy DeVos could never be Ruby Bridges

"We need to do everything we can to accelerate student progress and lessen time to degree or transfer," Brown said. "I've heard the administration may be interested in that, which would be great."

Brown said he is also interested in proposals to extend Pell to fund short-term vocational or occupational training certificates. That, he said, would align with labor force needs and help students find pathways to better-paying jobs. The Trump administration's interest in vocational education may prove fruitful on both fronts, though no commitments have been made at this point.

DeVos also spoke highly of programs that allow high school students to take college-level classes at community college. Former President Barack Obama's administration launched an experiment that let high school students enrolled in college courses pay for them using Pell grants. Though that trial is supposed to run for three years, the secretary has the authority to end or extend it.

"Early college programs are a great example of a unique role played by community colleges," DeVos said. "Not only are these students ready for well-paid jobs in fields like health care and advanced manufacturing, but they can also seamlessly continue their education by transferring to a four-year bachelors program."
On March 9, 2016, Klamath Falls Republican lawmakers Doug and Gail Whitsett rescinded their re-election bids. Both had officially qualified to run for their seats in the Oregon state Senate and House, respectively.

Their about-face, reported by the Klamath Falls Herald and News, came the morning after the March 8 filing deadline. That left any potential candidates for the now-open seats with write-in campaigns as their only option.

Two candidates did manage to file the day before, however: local businessmen Dennis Linthicum and Werner Reschke. Both knew the Whitsetts planned to withdraw and filed just minutes before the 5 p.m. deadline. Virtually unopposed, Linthicum and Reschke handily won the seats, in the Senate and the House, respectively.

Powerful Republican and Democratic lawmakers announced Thursday that they're backing a new measure aimed at preventing incumbent lawmakers from hand-picking their successors. House Bill 2945 would give other candidates more time to file in situations like the one the Whitsetts created.

The bill would give candidates three extra days to file when an incumbent politician withdraws from a race after or within three days before the regular filing deadline.

House Republican Leader Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte, introduced the bill Thursday. House Democratic Leader Jennifer Williamson, Senate Republican Leader Ted Ferrioli and Senate Democratic Leader Ginny Burdick also support it.

The practice of pulling a bid for office at the last minute to ensure a hand-picked successor is elected is a strategy that has been employed by both Republicans and Democrats, McLane said in a statement.

In addition to the Klamath Falls example, Republicans pointed to last year's election of Rep. Janelle Bynum to fill former Rep. Shemia Fagan's seat, as well as the 2014 election of Rep. Susan McLain, who replaced former Rep. Ben Unger.

And the same day Linthicum and Reschke made their bids for office in Klamath Falls, Democrat Janeen Sollman filed to run for a Hillsboro seat in the House.

The last-minute filing came the same day incumbent Joe Gallegos announced he would not seek re-election, after Gallegos asked Sollman to run for his seat, she said. Like Bynum and McLain, Sollman won and now serves in the Legislature.

The practice of hand-picking successors prevents fair competition in state elections, McLane said.

"It is time to put an end to it," he said. "Oregonians have had enough."

The bill is expected to go to the House Rules Committee, chaired by Williamson, for consideration.

-- Anna Marum

amarum@oregonian.com

503-294-5911

@annamarum

This story has been updated to reflect a correct timeline. A previous version of the story included an incorrect timeline for the Whitsetts' withdrawal of their candidacies. They withdrew the bids after the filing deadline, not before.
Farmers and ranchers in Malheur County whose crops were crushed or whose livestock was lost in winter storms may now apply for emergency loans through the US Department of Agriculture.

The department's Farm Service Agency announced Thursday it would offer assistance to those in Malheur County, as well as several neighboring counties.

Those in Baker, Grant and Harney counties in Oregon, Canyon, Owyhee, Payette and Washington counties in Idaho, and Humboldt County in Nevada may also apply for the loans.

The announcement comes a month after Oregon Governor Kate Brown declared a state of emergency due to the dangerous levels of snow in eastern Oregon.

Some communities were cut off from from emergency services, and accumulations of up to 50 inches caused dozens of onion storage sheds in eastern Oregon and Idaho to collapse.

The Associated Press reported that this caused as much as $100 million in damage and drove up onion prices.

Brown, along with Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, asked the USDA to offer assistance to those affected by the storm.

The loans are available to farmers and ranchers who need to repair or replace physical property that was damaged or destroyed in the storm. Examples include farm buildings, equipment, livestock, perennial crops, fruit and nut bearing trees, and harvested or stored crops and hay.

To apply for the loans, farmers and ranchers should contact their local Farm Service Agency office. Contact information is available on the USDA's website.

-- Anna Marum

amarum@oregonian.com

503-294-5911

@annamarum
Forest Grove High School protest

Students arrive at Forest Grove High School, May 19, 2016, where students are planning a walk out in protest to a banner that was hung briefly in the school hall that read "build a wall." On Feb. 16, 2017, Forest Grove schools saw a substantial drop in attendance during the national Day Without Immigrants demonstrations.

(Kristyna Wentz-Graff/Staff)

As businesses across the Portland Metro area closed in support of Thursday's national Day Without Immigrants, school districts also reported dips in attendance.

Reynolds School District records show a little more than 18 percent of students were absent Thursday, a spike of 12 percentage points over the previous week.

The demonstrations were part of a larger national movement meant as a rebuke to proposals by President Donald Trump such as a crackdown on undocumented workers and plans to build a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

More than 97 percent of students at Reynolds High School showed up to class one week ago on Feb. 9. On Thursday, fewer than 88 percent of students were in class.

Attendance in the district's middle schools averaged 90 percent on Feb. 9. One week later, average attendance at H.B. Lee, MLA, Reynolds and Walt Morey middle schools was closer to 80 percent.

Reynolds Middle School registered a 27 percent absentee rate Thursday, more than triple the previous week's 8.7 percent.

Hillsboro School District spokeswoman Beth Glazer told The Oregonian/OregonLive that administrators were also "experiencing a high number of absences among our Latino students."

"We were made aware of the movement and we communicated to our principals that it would be a possibility," Grazer said in a voicemail.

Teachers at Hillsboro schools were instructed to count students' absences as excused if a parent called in.

OPB reports that Witch Hazel Elementary, where 63 percent of the students are Latino, saw 174 absences among its 560 students. That's more than 30 percent of the student body.

At Bridgeport Elementary in the Tigard-Tualatin School District, where approximately 47 percent of the student population is Latino, teachers were reporting classrooms half full. Forest Grove School District spokesman David Warner also said schools with predominantly Latino populations were experiencing high absentee rates.

Reynolds spokeswoman Andrea Watson said the district doesn't record students' immigration status.

OPB reports that Woodburn schools saw absentee rates topping 40 percent at middle and elementary schools. At the high school level, some classes were reporting more than 60 percent of their students absent.

--Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344

@edercampuzano

ecampuzano@oregonian.com
Update: The GoFundMe has been closed. Glover's medical bills have been paid.

Half a century later, Thelma Glover will have a community again.



In the 1950s and '60s, Glover owned a home in the heart of Portland's African American community. In 1970, Portland urban renewal officials used eminent domain to boot Glover and 200 other black families from the neighborhood.



"That was my first home," Glover said. "I was living close to everything that I was accustomed to. But they came and took the place. I had to give up my life."



The Oregonian/OregonLive told Glover's story earlier this year. More than 300 people contacted the paper hoping to help Glover, who lives alone in East Portland now. Others reached out to city officials. This Sunday, a community group will host a public birthday party for Glover.



"I want her to know, 'There are people who heard your story," said Alicia Byrd, one of the organizers. "You are displaced. You are out there in that cul de sac, but there are people who care, and they don't mind showing up for you. Let us recreate that community."





Glover turned 99 on Wednesday. Her health has deteriorated in recent months. She fell twice and fainted once.



Home health workers stayed with her around the clock in January. Last week, she received the bill -- $13,030. Medicare will not cover the cost, Glover said. A niece in Chicago confirmed Glover's insurance will not pay for the care.



Glover lives on social security benefits. She has some money saved but had planned to leave it to her relatives to cover her funeral costs one day.



"I don't want to be a burden on anyone," she said. "At my age, I don't know what to do except do the best I can until my time is up."



To help offset her medical costs, the party organizers are raising money online for Glover. The party, which begins at 3 p.m. at the Billy Webb Elks Lodge in Glover's old neighborhood, is open to the public. Glover said she hopes "lots of people" from across the city will attend.



"I hope I enjoy it because I've been going through so many bad things," Glover said. "I want to enjoy everybody. I want them to make me feel I haven't been shocked so much. So many people have tried to make me enjoy my life, and I thank them for it."

Glover's party begins 3 p.m., Feb. 19, at the Billy Webb Elks Lodge, 6 N. Tillamook Street.

-- Casey Parks

503-221-8271

cparks@oregonian.com; @caseyparks
Friday 17 February 2017 12:22pm

Four University of Otago initiatives are among the latest projects to be successfully awarded a total of $2m in the 2017 Unlocking Curious Minds funding round. The fund particularly focuses on projects that engage young New Zealanders who have fewer opportunities to be involved with science and technology.

Otagos projects are:

Dr Sara Filoche (Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Wellington)

Science fusion: kura + whare wananga = science in te reo Maori, $29,937

What do you get if you mix a kura and a whare wananga?  Increased access to science teaching and learning in te reo Maori.

Area: Wellington

Professor Lisa Matisoo-Smith (Anatomy)

From Africa to Aotearoa  the Longest Journey, $89,000

Through their own DNA analyses, teachers can demonstrate the value of DNA for studying human migrations. Their students, through video-recording, can celebrate and share their own family journeys to Aotearoa.

Areas/Regions: Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawkes Bay, Taranaki, Manawatu-Wanganui, Wellington, Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough, West Coast, Canterbury, Otago, Southland

Dr David Warren (Chemistry)

Manuka Chemistry in the Community, $99,818

Local manuka will be collected by school students across all NZ and tested for bioactivity in class. The results will put schools "on the map" of national manuka variation.

Areas/Regions: Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawkes Bay, Taranaki, Manawatu-Wanganui, Wellington, Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough, West Coast, Canterbury, Otago, Southland

Professor Peter Dearden (Biochemistry)

Lab in a Box III: The Country takes on Science (North Island), $110,000

Lab-in-a-Box is a science engagement platform for rural New Zealand. We will engage North Island schools and communities, seed citizen-science projects, and discuss future technologies for environmental management.

Areas/Regions: Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawkes Bay, Taranaki, Manawatu-Wanganui, Wellington

Project summaries:

Science fusion: kura + whare wananga = science in te reo Maori

Dr Sara Filoche

We aim to establish a hands-on science programme that is developed in partnership with local and regional kura (Maori immersion schools). Our goal is to increase medical and health science opportunities for these kura and to promote science teaching in te reo Maori. Increasing access to science for Maori is a national education priority, and one that has a direct impact on meeting the national demand for more Maori health professionals in the health and science sector. Our project will help realise these national needs.

The results will be three-fold:

a science teaching programme in te reo Maori for each kura; an application of matauranga Maori in science teaching; an increased appreciation and learning of matauranga Maori and te reo Maori.

This programme is outside of our usual activities. We are a tertiary education centre -wananga- (Te Whare Wananga o Otago ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara, University of Otago Wellington, UOW) whose activities include Public Health and Medical education and biomedical research. We have this opportunity to bring together a team of passionate researchers and teachers to facilitate the delivery of science education for Maori students, and with that the chance to learn more about matauranga Maori and te reo Maori. Neither of which would be possible without the other.

From Africa to Aotearoa  the Longest Journey

Professor Lisa Matisoo-Smith

The project aims to educate and inspire students (12-18) and science teachers (especially Biology teachers, but could also include social sciences) on the use of DNA analysis to trace the evolution and movement of humans out of Africa, and ultimately across the Pacific, to New Zealand. This great adventure story excites students about science, history, and life in general. It encourages them to engage with and appreciate the stories of how of their own families came here and that they are equally part of the great human diaspora - epic tales of imagination, exploration and endurance in quest of better lives.

There is a significant focus on the settlement of the Pacific region, making it particularly relevant to Maori and Pasifika students, but also of interest to all New Zealanders.

We have already seen that this story-telling is highly appealing to all students, especially Maori and Pasifika students, and the children of migrants and refugees. Their ancestors embarked on the longest and most dangerous journeys of all. It is well known that there is a need to better engage these students in the education system.

This programme will also be of professional development value for teachers, updating them on the latest genetic technologies, and what we now understand about the settlement of the Pacific and Aotearoa.

Teacher notes assist with in-class activities and are in alignment with the New Zealand curriculum.

This programme is outside the normal scope of outreach activities for Professor Lisa Matisoo-Smith and requires the partnership of the Biological Educators Association of New Zealand (BEANZ) to help deliver it in the best way for schools, teachers and students.

Manuka Chemistry in the Community

Dr David Warren

This project will engage students in understanding the chemical ecology and economic potential of a familiar plant, i.e. manuka, the most widespread and economically important New Zealand native plant.

They will contribute to a current research question, the mystery of manuka variation.

The hands-on research activity, both field- and lab-work, for school students will complement their school science, linking them to other nation-wide research projects on the diversity of biologically active (bioactive) natural products in manuka. Extensions from this project will: 1) encourage participants to explore the role that traditional knowledge (Matauranga Maori) can play in informing modern scientific research; and 2) investigate the ecological effects of natural herbicides in manuka foliage on regrowth in local manuka stands.

Participants will use a robust test to evaluate the effectiveness of extracts of their local manuka as herbicides. The process of their investigation will introduce the participants to scientific skills such as: sample collection and storage replication of results, simple measurements, identification of the parts of a plant, the use of controls and the need to control variables. This robust plant growth test would be suitable for use as part of the science course from years 7 to 13 as an illustration of the Nature of Science as well as supporting simple plant biology and a range of chemistry at different levels. In particular the results of the chemical analysis provided by Plant & Food Research (PFR) would be suitable for classes at year 13 who are sitting the 3.2 Spectroscopy and the 3.5 Organic chemistry standards.

Knowledge gathered in this project will be added to a national database on manuka chemotypes and biological activities and added to an interactive online map, thus involving schools directly with results from their peers around the country and from research scientists.

Lab in a Box III: The Country takes on Science (North Island)

Professor Peter Dearden

The Lab-in-a-Box project is based around a mobile science laboratory that can be delivered to rural schools and communities. Supporting Lab-in-a Box is a national network of professional science communicators and researchers from the partners' organisations, together with an interactive website.

Lab-in-a-Box aims to support science teaching in rural schools, spark interest in science in rural communities, and leave those communities with a citizen science project with continued supported from the Lab-in-a-Box team.

This phase of Lab-in-a-Box will complete its roll-out by engaging North Island rural communities. We have partnered with the Bioheritage National Science Challenge (BHNSC) and the Bioprotection CoRE, and will focus on engaging schools and communities with science related to conservation genetics, pest control and eradication and our biological heritage.

In this phase we will use LIAB to not only spark engagement, but also to initiate conversation about the use of new science technologies such as CRISPR genome editing technologies and gene drive systems that cause extinction of pest populations to support the aspiration of the Bioheritage National Science Challenges and Predator-Free New Zealand. We will develop engagement programmes based on Bioheritage and Bioprotection science, a citizen science project based on designing and deploying new wasp traps, and deliver these to schools during the day. After school and in evenings we will act as a safe space for families to engage and discuss the science around the new technologies proposed to eradicate pests in New Zealand.

Lab-in-a-Box I and II were necessarily limited to the South Island, due to the logistics of supporting engagement programmes from Otago. Our new Partners, Te Papa, Victoria University of Wellington, University of Otago Wellington and The Bioheritage National Science Challenge, give us the support needed to deliver Lab-in-a-Box to the North Island rural communities.
SAN DIEGO, Feb. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Shareholders Foundation, Inc. announces that a lawsuit in California was filed for certain purchasers of shares of Gigamon Inc (NYSE:GIMO) over alleged Securities Laws Violations by Gigamon.

Investors, who purchased shares of Gigamon Inc (NYSE:GIMO) in September 2016 or earlier and currently hold any of those NYSE: GIMO shares, have certain options and should contact the Shareholders Foundation at mail@shareholdersfoundation.com or call +1(858) 779 - 1554.

The plaintiff claims that the defendants failed to disclose that Gigamon was experiencing reduced product bookings in its North America West region, that several of the Companys significant customers were deferring purchasing decisions into 2017, that the Company failed to properly include these trends in its financial guidance, and that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants statements about Gigamons business, operations, and prospects, including statements about its revenue guidance, were false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

The lawsuit seeks to recover damages for certain NYSE: GIMO investors.

Those who purchased shares of Gigamon Inc (NYSE:GIMO) in September 2016 or earlier and currently hold any of those NYSE: GIMO 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.
FALLS CHURCH, Va., Feb. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The board of directors of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.90 per share on Northrop Grumman common stock, payable Mar. 22, 2017, to shareholders of record as of the close of business Mar. 6, 2017.



Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, strike, and logistics and modernization to customers worldwide. Please visit news.northropgrumman.com and follow us on Twitter, @NGCNews, for more information.
One foot in the Algarve for the U's

Oxford United are pleased to announce that they will be heading for Portugal this summer with a week-long training camp on the Algarve.





Following on from the hugely successful pre-season tours to Austria in 2015 and Spain in 2016 the Us will have a week in the sun from July 10th to 16th, staying near the Vilamoura resort and including two friendly games.





Details on the opposition will be confirmed over the next few weeks and talks are ongoing with a travel company to provide an inclusive flights and hotel package for the week. Those will be confirmed as soon as possible.





Chairman Darryl Eales said:





The trips to Austria and Spain have been unforgettable experiences and have really helped form an unbreakable bond between the players, staff and fans. The players know they will have a lot of hard work to get through but I know they will look forward to visiting Portugal just as much as the fans.

We wanted to announce the dates and location as early as possible to allow supporters to book their time off and make plans. We are slightly earlier in doing so than most teams which is why we arent able to announce who we will be playing quite yet, but it will be another hugely enjoyable week and we would love as many fans as possible to join us.
Midland County Habitat for Humanity is partnering with the SpartanNash Foundation during its retail scan campaign to provide shelter in the local community.

Through Feb. 19, store guests who visit the Family Fare Supermarket in Midland will have the opportunity to donate $1, $5, or $10 at any checkout lane, with 100 percent of dollars raised going to Midland County Habitat for Humanity.

Habitat for Humanitys partnership with the SpartanNash Foundation aligns their missions to provide decent affordable homes to those in need, said Jennifer Chappel, executive director of Midland County Habitat for Humanity.

Locally, the Midland Family Fare Supermarket, located at 2026 N. Saginaw St., will be participating in the scan program to help Midland County Habitat for Humanity. In addition to the retail-based scan program, Family Fare associates will be showing their support through a number of fundraisers, including paying to wear jeans to work and selling hot dogs for a $1 or more donation to Habitat from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18. All funds raised throughout the campaign will go to Midland County Habitat for Humanity and will help provide decent, affordable housing for Midland County residents in need.

Habitat for Humanitys mission is to put Gods love into action by bringing people together to build homes, communities and hope.

In total, 70 local Habitat for Humanity affiliates in eight states will receive monetary support thanks to the scan to provide shelter, with many SpartanNash stores teaming up to support the same chapter in their area.

In addition to supporting their local Habitat for Humanity affiliate, store guests who donate during the fundraising campaign will also receive four coupons toward Spartan or Our Family brand products.

SpartanNash  which owns the Family Fare Supermarkets supporting the local Habitat affiliate  underwrites the cost of the fundraising campaign so that all donations will have a significant impact in the local community where it was raised. SpartanNash also provides financial support, and many company associates volunteer at Habitat affiliates throughout the year.

In 2016, nearly $825,000 was granted through the SpartanNash Foundations companywide scan campaigns, benefitting local Habitat for Humanity, Special Olympics, patriotic and food pantry partners.
Officials this week talked another study to address affordable housing needs both in the city of Midland and Midland County.

Affordable housing, which by one measure serves those at 30 percent of annual median income (but the parameters for which vary), is a very highly talked about subject in the city, Grant Murschel, the citys community development planner, said at a recent City Housing Commission meeting.

A steering committee is giving attention to the subject to determine how much affordable housing is needed in Midland in the next five years, if any.

Median household income for Midland County residents is $54,059, while per capita income is $30,172; for city residents, household income is slightly lower at $53,722 while per capita is slightly higher, at $31,343, according to most recent Census data. About 12 percent of county residents are in poverty and 15.7 percent of city residents are in poverty, according to Census data.

The city hasnt had a housing study done since 2006, Murschel said. Community Development Block Grants were used to fund it.

The City Housing Commission this week discussed plans to pay a Virginia-based consulting firm to conduct a similar study. It could cost $50,000. Officials plan to pursue grants to pay for it.

CZB, an urban planning and development consulting firm based in Alexandria, Virginia, had put together a housing study for Bay City that produced earth-shattering results, he said. The report showed Bay City had approved too much affordable housing and, paired with an aging housing stock built prior to World War II, the city has experienced a 70 percent depression in housing values, according to Murschel.

Noting a healthy housing market, Murschel said he doesnt think Midland faces a similar outlook, but that the hope is for robust results, which could arrive by summer.

Officials would likely wait for study results before making a decision regarding the citys Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) affordable housing program funded by federal and state dollars.

The citys housing commission in 2009 received the Housing Needs Assessment, prepared by Okemos-based Community Research Services, which stated Midland was short on affordable housing for households with less than $20,000 income: http://bit.ly/2l8hcmZ

The Downtown Development Authority and housing commission called for a study in 2008 to give prospective developers an idea of what kinds of housing, and for what price range, would appeal to people who would like to live downtown. It also examined the need for housing that could meet the price range of lower-income people and investments needed.
Jordan Reid, of Midland, was named to the Oklahoma Norman campus honor roll and the president honor roll for the spring 2016 semester.

In most colleges, students must earn a minimum 3.5 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale to be included on the honor roll. Students in the college of architecture are recognized with a 3.3 or better, and students in the college of engineering are recognized with a 3.0 or better. Students who earned a 4.0 grade-point average were named to the president honor roll.
French English

AEOLIX will improve the visibility of data throughout the supply chain, making the transport of goods across Europe more efficient and sustainable while reducing energy consumption by more than 30%.

Paris, Madrid, 17 February 2017 - Atos, a global leader in digital transformation, is one of the partners of AEOLIX, a 13 million euro project co-funded by the European Union as part of the Horizon 2020 program, to develop a digital ecosystem for logistics operations. The project aims at making the management, planning and/or synchronization of goods transportation more efficient. AEOLIX, which involves 34 partners, began last September and will have an estimated duration of 3 years.

Atos is leading on the design and implementation of the platform's technological architecture for the project. The Group will also share its expertise by providing advanced technological services, agile and robust solutions that guarantee interoperability, security, resiliency and real-time optimization that will also promote profitable, green and secure transportation.

AEOLIX aims at:

solving the fragmentation and lack of connectivity of IT systems throughout the supply chain

establishing a collaborative, cloud-based ecosystem to manage and configure information flow in the logistics process

improving the visibility of data throughout the supply chain

The new digital ecosystem will make freight transport in Europe more efficient and sustainable. In addition, improving the efficiency of processes will reduce energy consumption and, therefore, greenhouse gas emissions by at least 30% compared to current consumption.

AEOLIX will be tested, validated and implemented in 11 "Living Labs", open innovation ecosystems representing the European logistics community. It will cover 9 "TEN-T" (Trans-European Transport Network) corridors - located in Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

About Atos

Atos SE (Societas Europaea) is a leader in digital transformation with circa 100,000 employees in 72 countries and pro forma annual revenue of circa  12 billion. Serving a global client base, the Group is the European leader in Big Data, Cybersecurity, Digital Workplace and provides Cloud services, Infrastructure & Data Management, Business & Platform solutions, as well as transactional services through Worldline, the European leader in the payment industry. With its cutting edge technologies, digital expertise and industry knowledge, the Group supports the digital transformation of its clients across different business sectors: Defense, Financial Services, Health, Manufacturing, Media, Utilities, Public sector, Retail, Telecommunications, and Transportation. The Group is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic & Paralympic Games and is listed on the Euronext Paris market. Atos operates under the brands Atos, Atos Consulting, Atos Worldgrid, Bull, Canopy, Unify and Worldline.

Sylvie Raybaud | sylvie.raybaud@atos.net | +33 6 95 91 96 71 | @Sylvie_Raybaud

About AEOLIX

AEOLIX project is co-financed by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 program and has a total budget of 13 million Euros. AEOLIX includes transport companies, service providers, terminal operators, public authorities, and is supported by the ICT, financial, legal and manufacturing industries. The consortium consists of 34 partners: ERTICO - ITS Europe (Coordinator), Kuehne Nagel, Unilever, Mondelez Int, IRU Projects, ATOS, PTV, T-Systems, Hamburg Port, Jan de Rijk Logistics, NTEX, COOP, GIVENTIS, Geoloc Systems, TEAMNET, ITERKS, CERTH / HIT, Chalmers, ICOOR, AustriaTech, CTAG, CEAGA, NOVACOM, CEREMA, Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce, SEVE, TX Logistics, CONNEKT, Smart Freight Center, University of Northamptonshire, SAMER, FERNETTI and HOLM.

For more information: http://aeolix.eu/
To the editor:

I disagree with Mr. Parmele, Mr. Bufka, Mr. Russian and any other dissenter who has written to this paper recently with a progressive viewpoint. And I would side with recent opinion that questions why so many columns by the Rev. Jeff Liebmann are allowed to consume this page. I loved the editorial which questioned marching and protesting. And I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Heiny; like it or not, radical Islam has declared war on the U.S. Their war is against anyone who disagrees with their religious convictions, as has been seen in the terror incidents worldwide.

But there is a new sheriff in town. Mr. Trump is siding with Christians. Mr. Trump is protecting Americans. He will succeed. Maureen Dowd, an editorialist at the liberal New York Times who is quite liberal, shared her brother, Kevins, thoughts on the election in a recent column, Election Therapy From My Basket of Deplorables. Dowd shared Kevins column after her colleague Paul Krugman had tweeted that affluent, educated suburbanites who voted for Trump are fools. She noted that Kevin is an affluent, educated suburbanite, and shared his column titled an Election Therapy Guide for Liberals:

The election was a complete repudiation of Barack Obama: his fantasy world of political correctness, the politicization of the Justice Department and the IRS, an out-of-control EPA, his neutering of the military, his nonsupport of the police and his fixation on things like transgender bathrooms. Since he became president, his party has lost 63 House seats, 10 Senate seats and 14 governorships.

The country had signaled strongly in the last two midterms that they were not happy. The Dems answer was to give them more of the same from a person they did not like or trust.

Preaching  and pandering  with a message of inclusion, the Democrats have instead become a party where incivility and bad manners are taken for granted, rudeness is routine, religion is mocked and there is absolutely no respect for a differing opinion. This did not go down well in the Midwest, where Trump flipped three blue states and 44 electoral votes.

The rudeness reached Its peak when Vice President-elect Mike Pence was booed by attendees of Hamilton and then pompously lectured by the cast. This may play well with the New York theater crowd but is considered boorish and unacceptable by those of us taught to respect the office of the president and vice president, if not the occupants.

Here is a short primer for the young protesters. If your preferred candidate loses, there is no need for mass hysteria, canceled midterms, safe spaces, crying rooms or group primal screams. You might understand this better if you had not received participation trophies, undeserved grades to protect your feelings or even if you had a proper understanding of civics. The Democrats are now crying that Hillary had more popular votes. That can be her participation trophy. ...

Mr. Trump received over 62 million votes, not all of them cast by homophobes, Islamaphobes, racists, sexists, misogynists or any other ists. I would caution Trump deniers that all of the crying and whining is not good preparation for the coming storm. The liberal media, both print and electronic, has lost all credibility. I am reasonably sure that none of the mainstream print media had stories prepared for a Trump victory.

The medias criticism of Trumps high-level picks as not diverse enough or too white and male  a day before he named two women and offered a cabinet position to an African-American  magnified this fact.

Here is a final word to my Democratic friends. The election is over. There will not be a do-over. So let me bid farewell to Al Sharpton, Ben Rhodes and the Clintons. Note to Cher, Barbra, Amy Schumer and Lena Dunham: Your plane is waiting. And to Jon Stewart, who talked about moving to another planet Your spaceship is waiting. To Bruce Springsteen, Jay Z, Beyonce and Katy Perry, thanks for the free concerts. And finally, to all the foreign countries that contributed to the Clinton Foundation, there will not be a payoff or a rebate.

As Eddie Murphy so eloquently stated in the movie 48 Hours: Theres a new sheriff in town. And he is going to be here for 1,461 days. Merry Christmas.

Kelly Anne Conway a short time ago stated that the media totally missed the change in public sentiment. Mr. Trump was able to capitalize on this. Although Democrats and some Republicans have difficulty accepting his cabinet, the nominees are nonetheless getting confirmed. It will be stellar. We will have an originalist in the Supreme Court once Neil Gorsuch is confirmed. This means he will follow closely the intent of the Constitution when he interprets the law.

As this paper shrinks and no longer prints/employs Midlanders, I suggest we are seeing a rejection of the media. Hopefully a more conservative means of communication will take its place,

MARY LAFORET

Midland
U.S., Japanese and Australian military forces launched Exercise Cope North 2017 here Feb. 15.



Approximately 2,700 service members will spend the next two and a half weeks building international partnerships and increasing interoperability on the ground and in the air.



This is an opportunity for us to fly and fight together  to get better at our craft, said Col. Scott Hurrelbrink, 36th Wing vice commander. Cope North enables us to work together, to train with different tactics, and to learn how other nations fight wars.



Boasting more than 100 aircraft, this years Cope North  the 88th held  is the second largest iteration of the now-annual exercise. Participants include the: U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, Japanese Air Self-Defense Force, and Royal Australian Air Force.



In a region where more than a thousand languages are spoken, simply talking with one another is a key benefit to bringing the three Pacific nations together.



Im excited to develop my communication skills in English, said JASDF Captain Tatsuya Takahashi, a Mitsubishi F-2 pilot assigned to the 8th Fighter Squadron at Tsuiki Air Base. The language we use in flight with Japanese controllers is English, but its a Japanese-English. Here we have to use proper English which is very challenging but rewarding.



Along with breaking down language barriers, Cope North provides valuable training opportunities.



Working together allows us to share and combine tactics to make our own better, Takahashi said. Were also able to gain experience working with the other countries, increasing our overall interoperability.



This year, the RAAF is bringing their largest force to ever participate in a Cope North. Their capabilities being exercised include a combat support element and aeromedical evacuation team.



Cope North gives us the opportunity to validate the effectiveness of our training in a complex and demanding air combat scenario, said RAAF Group Captain Tim Alsop, director of RAAF Cope North forces. This is the sixth time Australia has participated in the exercise and every year we gain a further appreciation of how our equipment, aircraft and personnel operate together in this environment.



In addition to the RAAFs increased presence, the USMC returns to participate after a 14 year absence and the B-1B Lancer is scheduled to make its debut in this premier Pacific Air Forces-led exercise.
Multiple U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft assigned to the 18th Aggressor Squadron took off Feb. 12 to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam in support of exercise COPE NORTH 2017.

The group of jets along with more than 120 maintainers assigned to the 354th Maintenance Group, and pilots from the 18th AGRS and 353rd Combat Training Squadron, will lend their support by being the best bad guys in the world.

COPE NORTH is similar to RED FLAG-Alaska, but it encompasses Pacific Air Forces units that dont participate often, said Maj. Christopher Shawn McGoffin, the 354th Fighter Wing deputy inspector general. Its a localized exercise that helps with the same basic objectives we have here.

During these exercises it is essential for coalition forces to have a formidable adversary to fly against, which is the role the Aggressors will play.

The Aggressors are providing the adversary support just as they would during RF-A, said McGoffin. Since they are leading the adversary, or Red Air portion of the exercise, they will be part of every sortie flown.

The exercise is meant to help prepare Airmen, Sailors, Marines and coalition partners in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region for possible contingency operations.

While it focuses on flying operations, it also gives maintainers from multiple units the opportunity to exchange best practices and work with coalition partners from across their area of responsibility.

These exercises are important to train combat air forces on tactics, techniques and procedures to validate the way training is conducted in their individual units, said McGoffin. They also expose people to large-force exercises, which include multiple platforms in a single mission fighting for the same goal; similar to a contingency operation.

In order for the Aggressors to provide the best adversary for CN17 they must be properly maintained which presents a challenge in itself.

A sortie of any length requires about three maintenance hours to prepare for the next mission if it comes back Code-1, which means nothing is broken, said Master Sgt. Ian Neske, a 354th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron specialist section chief. These Aggressor F-16s are the oldest in the fleet, and the aircrew puts the aircraft through a lot of stress, sometimes pulling nine G-forces. More often than not the aircraft come back with something that requires repair. Each problem the aircrew brings to maintenance is different and requires a different degree of skill and length of time to repair.

Even with challenges, such as not having parts already in Guam and the temperature difference of almost 100 degrees, the 354th AMXS Airmen do what they need to overcome the obstacles and support the mission.

The Aggressor maintenance team is made up of some of the most resilient and focused people you will ever meet, said Neske. Harsh weather, reduced manning, increased operations and lack of resources are problems the aircraft maintenance folks overcome on a daily basis. Their teamwork, adaptability and problem solving skills are rarely found elsewhere.
EAST AURORA, N.Y., Feb. 17, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Moog Inc. (NYSE:MOG.A) and (NYSE:MOG.B) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the global Rotary Transfer Systems business (Rotary) from Morgan Advanced Materials. The purchase price is 40 million ($42 million U.S.) in cash and includes Rotarys European manufacturing sites in Antweiler, Germany and Chalon-St-Memmie, France. The transaction is subject to receipt of applicable regulatory approvals in Germany and customary closing conditions and is expected to happen within 60 to 90 days.



Rotary designs and manufactures a portfolio of electromechanical systems for the transfer of current, signals and data in rotating devices or structures. The technology can be combined to include electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic and multi-channel fibre optic transfers and is typically used in tower cranes, radar systems, wind turbines, automotive and construction equipment.

"This acquisition gives the Components Group the opportunity to offer a complete line of industrial slip rings and rotary transfer solutions that meet the needs of our expanding customer base in Europe, Asia and North America," said Larry Ball, Moog Inc. Vice President and President of Moogs Components segment. In addition, it provides us a strategic base and a solid business in mainland Europe to further grow our slip ring business.

Rotary had 2016 revenues of approximately $21 million.

The acquisition is expected to add approximately $13 million to Moogs sales for the remaining seven months of Moogs 2017 fiscal year. This acquisition is expected to be neutral to Moogs earnings per share for the year ended September 30, 2017.

The Company has sufficient cash on hand and availability under its revolving credit facility to finance the acquisition.

About Moog

Moog Inc. is a worldwide designer, manufacturer, and integrator of precision control components and systems. Moogs high-performance systems control military and commercial aircraft, satellites and space vehicles, launch vehicles, missiles, automated industrial machinery, wind energy, marine and medical equipment. Additional information about the company can be found at www.moog.com.

Cautionary Statement

Information included or incorporated by reference in this report that does not consist of historical facts, including statements accompanied by or containing words such as may, will, should, believes, expects, expected, intends, plans, projects, approximate, estimates, predicts, potential, outlook, forecast, anticipates, presume and assume, are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to several factors, risks and uncertainties, the impact or occurrence of which could cause actual results to differ materially from the expected results described in the forward-looking statements. These important factors, risks and uncertainties include:

the markets we serve are cyclical and sensitive to domestic and foreign economic conditions and events, which may cause our operating results to fluctuate;





we operate in highly competitive markets with competitors who may have greater resources than we possess;





we depend heavily on government contracts that may not be fully funded or may be terminated, and the failure to receive funding or the termination of one or more of these contracts could reduce our sales and increase our costs;





we make estimates in accounting for long-term contracts, and changes in these estimates may have significant impacts on our earnings;





we enter into fixed-price contracts, which could subject us to losses if we have cost overruns;





we may not realize the full amounts reflected in our backlog as revenue, which could adversely affect our future revenue and growth prospects;





if our subcontractors or suppliers fail to perform their contractual obligations, our prime contract performance and our ability to obtain future business could be materially and adversely impacted;





contracting on government programs is subject to significant regulation, including rules related to bidding, billing and accounting kickbacks and false claims, and any non-compliance could subject us to fines and penalties or possible debarment;





the loss of The Boeing Company as a customer or a significant reduction in sales to The Boeing Company could adversely impact our operating results;





our new product research and development efforts may not be successful which could reduce our sales and earnings;





our inability to adequately enforce and protect our intellectual property or defend against assertions of infringement could prevent or restrict our ability to compete;





our business operations may be adversely affected by information systems interruptions, intrusions or new software implementations;





our indebtedness and restrictive covenants under our credit facilities could limit our operational and financial flexibility;





significant changes in discount rates, rates of return on pension assets, mortality tables and other factors could adversely affect our earnings and equity and increase our pension funding requirements;





a write-off of all or part of our goodwill or other intangible assets could adversely affect our operating results and net worth;





our sales and earnings may be affected if we cannot identify, acquire or integrate strategic acquisitions, or if we engage in divesting activities;





our operations in foreign countries expose us to political and currency risks and adverse changes in local legal and regulatory environments;





unforeseen exposure to additional income tax liabilities may affect our operating results;





government regulations could limit our ability to sell our products outside the United States and otherwise adversely affect our business;





governmental regulations and customer demands related to conflict minerals may adversely impact our operating results;





the failure or misuse of our products may damage our reputation, necessitate a product recall or result in claims against us that exceed our insurance coverage, thereby requiring us to pay significant damages;





future terror attacks, war, natural disasters or other catastrophic events beyond our control could negatively impact our business;





our operations are subject to environmental laws, and complying with those laws may cause us to incur significant costs; and





we are involved in various legal proceedings, the outcome of which may be unfavorable to us.

These factors are not exhaustive. New factors, risks and uncertainties may emerge from time to time that may affect the forward-looking statements made herein. Given these factors, risks and uncertainties, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as predictive of future results. We disclaim any obligation to update the forward-looking statements made in this report.
Question: Just observed was the 208th birthday of Illinois' favorite son, Abraham Lincoln, born Feb. 12, 1809. In an amazing twist of fate and history, can you name who was also born on Feb. 12, 1809?

Answer: While Lincoln was born Feb. 12, 1809 in Kentucky, meanwhile born on Feb. 12, 1809, in England, was the man who today is described as one of the most influential figures in human history: Charles Darwin. He is best known for Darwins Theory and his contributions to the science of evolution. (Thanks to Allan Griffith, of Bloomington, for this little-known fact.)
ATLANTA  Two new Congressional bills could help promote and commemorate the historical significance of Route 66.

The Mother Road could become a National Historic Trail under legislation drafted by U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, a Dunlap Republican, and 100th anniversary celebrations would get a kick-start via a bill from U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, a Taylorville Republican.

Making the road a National Historic Trail would bring "a very minimal federal funding" to maintain and promote Route 66, but it could make a big difference for tourism, LaHood told The Pantagraph.

It's significant that the Congress of the United States thought it important enough that they passed a law to designate it that way, he said of historic trails. Cities and communities that are located along the route can use that designation as they wish in terms of promotion.

Designating Route 66 as a National Historic Trail was one of the ideas raised at the series of Route 66 collaboration workshop meetings facilitated by the Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership during the summer of 2015, said Logan County Economic Development Partnership Director Bill Thomas, who also is chairman of the partnership.

Davis' bill would create a 19-member commission to plan centennial events. Route 66 was established on Nov. 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year.

We are hoping to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Route 66 in 2026 in grand fashion, Thomas said. We think this is going to be a significant event in this country. And with something like this, 10 years can be a short period of time.

Davis agreed the time is right to start planning. He hopes to secure local representation on the commission, whose members would be selected by President Donald Trump.

"We want to make sure those in our districts who have been Route 66 enthusiasts and supporters are considered," said Davis.

Davis' bill also "directs the Department of Transportation, in consultation with governors of the eight states through which 66 passes, to develop a plan on the preservation needs of Route 66," according to a news release.

The preservation plan would be delivered within three years of the bill passing, said Ashley Phelps, communications director for Davis. The centennial commission would deliver a report on possible activities within five years.

Davis and LaHood also plan to visit several Route 66 sites in April. Both said they can't confirm exact sites, but Bloomington-Normal is very likely to be included in that tour.

"Illinois State Rep. Tim Butler, who has introduced (legislation that) establishes an Illinois commission to commemorate the 2026 centennial, will join the event," according to the release.
BLOOMINGTON  More than 100 explosive devices were found by Normal police Thursday during a search of a suspected drug dealer's home in Normal.

Gilbert Wilson, 32, of the 800 block of West College Avenue, is charged with unlawful use of weapons, unlawful possession of marijuana with intent to deliver the drug and unlawful possession of marijuana.

According to a statement read in court by McLean County Assistant State's Attorney Emily Young, police found 128 explosive devices each containing about a half ounce of dynamite or explosive powder.

Police also found about 19 ounces of marijuana and items commonly used to package drugs for sale, said Young.

After he was taken into custody, Wilson admitted to being involved in marijuana sales, said Young "but he was vague about the explosives devices and what he intended to do."

The devices were picked by the Illinois Secretary of State's bomb squad for destruction.

Bond was set at $250,000, meaning Wilson must post $25,035 to be released. A March 3 arraignment is scheduled.

Associate Judge Pablo Eves granted a motion from the state that requires Wilson to prove that any bond money he posts comes from a legitimate source.
FARMER CITY  Farmer City has hired Terry Scott as its police chief, replacing Andy Denno, who parted ways with the city in December.

Scott, 61, started his career with the Farmer City department, working as a patrolman in March 1980. In July, he was promoted to assistant chief and in May 1981 was promoted to chief following the resignation of Carl Boyd. Scott resigned in July 1984 to accept the police chief position in Dwight. Three years later, Scott left his post to accept a position with the FBI.

This is a perfect fit, said City Manager Larry Woliung. We had a nationwide search for a new police chief and when Terry heard about it, he contacted me and we worked it out.

Woliung, also a former Farmer City police chief, said he has always admired Scotts cool approach to handling difficult situations.

He is a career FBI agent and was in charge of the Champaign office, he worked in California and even overseas, Woliung said. In talking with him about this position, he said that he felt a sense of loyalty to Farmer City because this is where he got his start.

Scott could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Woliung said that Scott has been retired for a couple of years, but decided it was time to go back to work.

I think he took some time off and completed a couple of projects he was working on and then decided that it was time to go back to work, he said. There were a lot of opportunities just in Central Illinois that are open or will be coming open and so he really had a choice as to where he could go, particularly with his background and experience. We are thrilled he chose to come back here.

Scott will be paid $27 per hour, Woliung said.

The main thing he does for us is to bring some credibility to this department, he said. We have been through some ups and downs over the past few years and Terry will really help us get over some of those bumps we had.
In a bizarre example of life imitating art imitating life, Kate McKinnon and Hillary Clinton are hanging out because it is a strange, wonderful world we live in.

.@HillaryClinton and Kate McKinnon (SNL's Hillary) enjoy a night on the town in NYC: https://t.co/OKs5PnYQH0 pic.twitter.com/4FwFlFyNbk

 Marlow Stern (@MarlowNYC) February 17, 2017

"A night on the town" no less! What did this night entail? Was it a chill dinner before heading back to Kate's for a casual pregame before gearing up for a boogie at Berlin? Did they make a Tinder profile and troll the 55+ age group with a series of "wuu2"s and "hey sexy, how do you feel about women on top (of the political ladder) ;~)"s? Let us pray.



Hillary, master of the sub-drag, also popped up at Oscar de la Renta's NYFW yesterday, honoring the late designer with a very poignant speech describing how he built his life in America as an immigrant.

"Oscar de la Renta was an immigrant, and aren't we proud and grateful that he was," she said. "In the corner of these striking stamps, it says 'USA Forever.' Let us remember what is durable and lasting about Oscar's legacy. Of course it is the fashion, it is the great worldly success. But it's also going with him to Washington Heights, going to a nightclub, and watching him dance the salsa with young people, who are just starting out their lives in this great city, in this blessed country. He knew what they were hoping for. He gave up his heart and his soul to make sure that his example would live on."

Hillary Clinton honors Oscar de la Renta with talk on immigration pic.twitter.com/mzhFjWlfzi

 Andy Campbell (@AndyBCampbell) February 16, 2017

She really gets around, our Hillz.

Image via YouTube.
Too often, bad parenting has been blamed for kids exhibiting symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A new study reveals, however, that ADHD is not a behavioral issue. It is a result of an actual brain disorder as experts found five underdeveloped regions in the brain among people with ADHD.

Researchers, whose findings were published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal, examined data from previous ADHD studies around the world. It covered 1,713 people with ADHD and 1,529 without ADHD from ages four to 63.

Experts looked into the MRI scans of the participants to check the regions associated with ADHD development. They learned that in people with ADHD, five important regions of the brain  amygdala, caudate nucleus, hippocampus, nucleus accumbens and putamen  were smaller and underdeveloped compared to those who were not diagnosed with ADHD, CNN reports.

Research also saw the brain structure difference in people with ADHD as greater in children than in adults and despite taking medication to control the behavioral symptoms of ADHD, the brain structure difference was present and constant among them. Thus, experts concluded ADHD is not a result of bad parenting. It is a brain disorder.

"We hope that this will help to reduce the stigma that ADHD is just a label for difficult children or caused by poor parenting," study author Dr. Martine Hoogman said, according to the Telegraph. "This is definitely not the case, and we hope that this work will contribute to a better understanding of the disorder."

Experts have long suspected that ADHD is a brain disorder. The new findings, however, sheds more light on the condition as it presented new evidence linking ADHD to the accumbens, amygdala and hippocampus brain regions.

"The bigger story here is that alterations in amygdala have not been widely accepted as part of ADHD, so seeing that effect emerge here is quite interesting," psychiatry professor Joel Nigg told CNN. "These findings would suggest that it's possible that there's actually a more primary disturbance in emotional processing," Professor Dr. Jonathan Posner said in the same report. Both experts are not part of the study.

Some 10.2 percent of children are diagnosed with ADHD in the United States, according to CDC. More boys develop the condition than girls and at least two-thirds of the children deal with this condition well into their adulthood.
An Orange Coast College student filmed his professor ranting about President Donald Trump and that student got suspended. The professor's rant, which became viral after it was posted online, talked about Trump's presidential win as an act of terrorism.

The teacher involved received violent threats from the supporters of the president. In the video, the professor was heard saying, "We're really back to being in a civil war."

It seemed the student, identified as 19-year-old Caleb O'Neil, did not agree with his psychology professor so he showed the video to a campus Republican group. The group complained about the professor, identified as Olga Perez Stable Cox, abusing her power. In the video, which was taken after the November 2016 presidential election, Cox called Trump a white supremacist, Washington Post reported.

A lawyer for the group who complained against Cox said the statements of the professor are irrational and does not belong in the classroom. The administration reportedly did not act on the matter but took the clip online.

O' Neil said he had to record the rant because he was scared her dislike for Trump could affect his grades because the teacher knew the student supported Trump. Cox is also said to be comforting students scared by the rhetoric of Trump against Muslims and other minority groups. The 66-year-old said in a recent statement she is paranoid now because she feels like she is attacked by a mob of people from all over the country, Fox News reported.

Weeks after the video went viral, O'Neil received a letter regarding his suspension. The dean said they felt badly about the things that happened to the individuals affected in the spreading of the video, but the student broke campus rules against using recording devices. Thus, a semester-long suspension was given as punishment.

The suspension would end if O' Neil would apologize to Cox and write an essay as to why he decided to put the matter online. An attorney for the student said O' Neil will still attend classes as he appeals the suspension.
MOBILE, Ala., Feb. 17, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nfina TechnologiesTM Inc., manufacturer of highly reliable servers and storage devices, announces that the Nfina 724i20 Server has been designated a VMware ESXi 6.0 certified server. Nfina has completed the VMware Hardware Certification Program testing criteria and the 724i20 is now listed on the VMware Compatibility Guide. This certification can be viewed by visiting the VMware compatibility page here: http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php and entering Nfina in the search criteria. Nfina previously announced that the 324i2 value server and 528i2 performance servers had achieved VMware certification. Now Nfina adds a true workhorse performance server to its line of VMware ESXi 6.0 certified servers. VMware users now have a choice of servers with a five-year warranty that will meet requirements ranging from a basic value server to a high-performance hypervisor.



This certification assures VMware users that the 724i20 Server seamlessly integrates with VMwares vCenter management capabilities. The 724i20 now combines a remarkably low cost of acquisition, an industry leading five-year standard warranty, and VMware ESXi 6.0 certification, creating a new standard of value for performance servers.

The VMware Hardware Certification Program enables VMware Technology Alliance Partner (TAP) program members to provide mutual customers with jointly supported hardware solutions. Virtualizing platform and computing resources with VMware significantly reduces the time it takes to provision custom, multi-tier network topologies and enterprise services, cuts operating and capital expenditures, and increases deployment flexibility.

The 724i20 is Nfinas most cost-effective, highest density server offering. It is a dual socket server with twelve 3.5 drive bays, dual power supplies, offers numerous storage and processor options including SSD drives and caching RAID and utilizes only best in class components. This flexibility makes it more than capable of meeting the demands of a heavily virtualized computing environment. Like all Nfina products, the 724i20 delivers high performance, extreme fault-tolerance and high reliability at a remarkably affordable price. Please visit Nfinas website to learn more about the 724i20 at this URL: https://www.nfinausa.com/product/724i20-dual-socket/.

With three servers designated as VMware ESXi 6.0 certified servers, Nfina has emphatically demonstrated that we are committed to providing high performance and remarkable value to VMware users, said Warren Nicholson, CEO of Nfina Technologies. We are actively working on securing VMware certification on more of our products as well, look for more announcements very soon. The relationship between VMware and Nfina will deliver the power of VMware virtualization technology along with Nfinas reputation for building high-performance, reliable, fault tolerant products with a five-year standard warranty. The net result to the end user is lower cost of acquisition, and lower cost of operation, and a tremendous value for their IT capital dollar.

Nfina Technologies, Inc., develops, manufactures, and markets highly reliable server and storage products: designed to provide the highest value proposition in the most demanding mission critical data center and enterprise IT environments. Our customers are Engineering and Information Technology professionals who require products designed and manufactured to the highest standards in the industry.
Another gang violence case took the life of a 15-year-old girl from Maryland after her body was discovered earlier this week in Springfield, Virginia. Of the suspects in connection to the case, six are teens, while the four others are adults.

The teenager killed was identified as Damaris A. Reyes Rivas and her body was found at an industrial park in Virginia. She was originally from Gaithersburg, Maryland and authorities said she might have been taken to the area against her will.

Police also said she was assaulted before she was killed. It is believed the crime happened on Jan. 8, CBS News reported.

Nine suspects were already arrested. It appeared they know each other and are linked to a gang. Police said, however, not everyone is directly involved in the murder.

The nine were charged with abduction and gang participation, but additional charges are expected. A 10th suspect is still being hunted by authorities, who is said to be a 16-year-old girl.

The four adult suspects were identified as Cindy Blanco Hernandez, Aldair J. Miranda Carcamo, Jose Castillo Rivas and Wilmer A. Sanchez-Serrano. Hernandez, Carcamo, and Rivas are all 18-years-old and are from different parts of Virginia.

Sanchez-Serrano's age and address was not released. The ages of the suspects range from 15 to 21.

The Washington Post reported Damaris left her home on Dec. 10. Authorities said her case might have links to the two other teenage girls who went missing but have since returned home, as well as the death of a 21-year-old man.

The mother of Damaris said she is relieved people were arrested but she has a lot of questions. She wants to know why her daughter was killed.

Damaris contacted her mother through Facebook when she left home. On Jan. 4, the mom called her daughter and begged her to come home but Damaris replied she cannot. She did not explain why.

The gang that the suspects are linked to was not yet released. The investigation is ongoing.
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I recall my grandfather say once, the more someone speaks the more likely he or she will say something dumb. I agree with him. It is always better to listen more and to speak less. Unfortunately today in society everyone speaks, but not many listen. The number of outlets to express opinions has rapidly multiplied in the last few decades  I venture to say that the internet has so much information that several lifetimes would not be enough to read it all.

Though millions are connected today, not many are communicating. The art of a dialogue between two people appears to have been replaced mostly by one way arguments that aim to crush the other person rather than to debate fairly with facts. Disagreement over ideas erroneously leads to vicious personal attacks. This is the case not only in politics, but also in religion, marriage, law, and many other areas. Without respect for the other, effective communication is impossible.

When I was in college, a history professor enjoyed recreating significant historical debates that occurred in Congress. The students did not choose which side to argue, it was assigned. So I found myself once arguing as the South Carolina Senator John C. Calhoun in the 1832 Nullification Crisis and for another assignment I was the Kentucky Senator Henry Clay in the debate which led to the Compromise of 1850 (these two crises of US history are little known but were significant paving stones of the civil war). This historical exercise stretched me, forcing me to understand completely the point of view of another person. I did not have to agree with the argument, but I had to understand it thoroughly.

In order to move forward with constructive and effective dialogue, especially in todays political scene, there is a need for better understanding of the other. This goes both ways. I must know and understand where I stand, and must equally know and understand where my adversary stands. I cannot make assumptions nor can I make personal judgements, I need facts. I must listen to the arguments of my opponent and respect his or her personal conviction. My opponent is a human being like I am, with a different background and way of thinking, but my opponent demands respect. I may not agree, but I do not have a right to rip him or her apart.

Today I went to the bank to unfreeze my bank accounts after an incident forced me to freeze my accounts. I was greeted by the young banker and as he helped me, he asked me how long I had been and priest and how I had received my call. This led to a long and pleasant conversation about the spiritual life, parables, the importance of daily prayer and the Holy Spirit. He was not Catholic, we had different insights, and there was respect. What a welcomed dialogue in the midst of such negativity and constant division! A true encounter with another person involves more listening and less talking, facilitating constructive dialogue. In this manner the truth emerges in love and respect.
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Don't Call Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps Terrorists

02/16/17

By Reza Nasri (source LobeLog)



A group of IRGC commanders

(September 2015 file photo by Islamic Republic News Agency)



According to news reports, the Trump administration is weighing the option of designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO). In parallel, Congress also seems to be taking steps in that direction. Some of the most hawkish and ideological elements of the American foreign-policy establishment, as well as hardcore opponent of the nuclear agreement such as United Against Nuclear Iran and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, have long pursued this designation for the IRGC. Radical Iranian opposition groups like the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK), a formerly "designated" terrorist group itself, have also fiercely lobbied to this end.



However, such a designation would have serious international ramifications on the legal regime governing the laws of war; It would have unintended consequences that may seriously jeopardize regional efforts to fight terrorist organizations like the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, and affiliates. And it could cause undue hardship to U.S diplomatic effort to form coalitions to fight the mentioned groups.



First, such a designation is not legally and logically sound and it could set bad precedents: Despite politically motivated claims, the IRGC is not a terrorist organization in the legal and proper sense of the term. Rather, it is the official conventional armed forces of a sovereign nation. It has all the characteristics of a regular army. For instance, it derives its authority from the Iranian constitution. It has a well-defined command structure and a ratified code of conduct that it is held accountable to according to Iranian law. Its members wear a uniform and have a fixed distinctive and recognizable emblem. Nearly half the Iranian male population does its military service in the IRGC. And it operates in accordance with the Geneva Conventions and the laws and customs of war. In fact, as documented by credible international organizations such as the Red Cross, the IRGC has a rather good record of self-restraint and compliance with international humanitarian law, even as it fought an eight-years-long war of attrition against the notoriously aggressive and WMD-using army of Saddam Hussein.



Officially labeling the conventional army of a High Party to the Geneva Conventions as a terrorist organization introduces the inherently flawed notion of a "terrorist army" into international relations. Further, it confuses and disrupts the legal regime governing the conduct of war, with unintended consequences for the U.S army as well. If this practice becomes the norm and countries begin designating each others' armies as "terrorist organizations," U.S service members, commanders, and even veterans could also be tried and treated as "terrorists" if captured in foreign land. Because this designating is not legally sound, it could also seriously diminish the credibility of the designation process and cast doubt over the authenticity of other U.S. designations.



Second, designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization neglects the realities on the ground and the security landscape of the Middle East. The IRGC has in fact been the most effective force containing terrorist groups such as the Islamic State (ISIS or IS) and al-Qaeda in the region. Without the IRGC, terrorist groups that have actually inflicted the most harm to U.S national security so far would have extended their reach far beyond Afghanistan. And IS would have already taken over the entire territories of Iraq and Syria, since the IRGC has worked closely with Iraqi, Syrian, and even Russian government forces against IS. Nor is the fight against IS something new for the IRGC. It played an important role in overthrowing the Taliban in Afghanistan in the months after 9/11, as its members fought alongside and advised the Northern Alliance and U.S forces in their joint military operations. Designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization would effectively kill the option for the U.S of cooperating with such an actor again, should circumstances require it.



Third, the FTO designation could constitute a U.S-initiated violation of the Iran nuclear agreement, otherwise known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). In fact, if the designation takes effect, it would directly affect all European and Western companies that conduct business transactions with legitimate Iranian entities in which the IRGC holds an interest, and eventually subject them to sanctions and other legal prosecutions by U.S authorities. Considering the scope of the IRGC's involvement in the Iranian economy, the designation would constitute a violation of Paragraph 29 of the JCPOA, which mandates the United States and other parties to "refrain from any policy specifically intended to directly and adversely affect the normalization of trade and economic relations with Iran." Of course, such a U.S-initiated violation of the accord, which enjoys the binding endorsement of the United Nations Security Council, would be inconsistent with U.S national interests, as even senior Republican Party leaders have conceded.



In sum, the designation would be an unnecessary provocative measure that stems from an unwarranted "politicization" of security matters rather than a genuine and de-politicized assessment of the region's security landscape. The Trump administration should acknowledge the realities on the ground rather than operate based on convenient alternative facts.



About the author: Reza Nasri is an international law expert from Geneva's Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (HEI). He specialize in Charter law and the legal aspects of Iran's nuclear program and has written on the role of the Security Council in the Iranian nuclear dossier, among other subjects.
Targeting Iran's Regime Will Strengthen, Not Break, the Moscow-Tehran Alliance

02/17/17

By Mark N. Katz (source: LobeLog)



Iranian President Hassan Rouhani Russian President Vladimir Putin

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed published on February 13, hawkish scholar Michael Ledeen argued that "dismantling the Khamenei regime as peacefully as possible" is the best way to end what he describes as the Russian-Iranian alliance. His argument, though, contained several questionable assertions that cast doubt on the feasibility of his policy recommendations.

Early on in the article, Ledeen notes that before Russia intervened in Syria in September 2015, the survival of the Assad regime was seriously threatened despite receiving military assistance from Iran. But his assurance that "[w]ithout Russian bombers and special forces, Iran would face defeat, as would Mr. Assad" is not necessarily true. Now that Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah (as well as other Shi'a militia forces) have inflicted severe losses on the opposition to Assad, Iran and its Shi'a allies could likely defend Assad even if Russian forces withdrew. Further, with Saudi Arabia now preoccupied with the conflict in Yemen and Turkey focused on suppressing the Kurds in both Turkey and Syria, it is not clear that these two countries would be willing or able to support the Syrian opposition to the point where it could threaten the Assad regime as it did just prior to the Russian intervention.

Although Ledeen describes the Russian-Iranian relationship as "very tight," he points out several reasons why Putin should prefer a "nonjihadi" Iranian regime. These include Iran's strong military and nuclear capabilities. Although many in the West and Israel understandably fear Iranian acquisition of nuclear weapons, Russia is not equally fearful of this outcome. Indeed, many Russian scholars and observers I have spoken with over the years are incredulous that the U.S. actually fears an Iranian nuclear capability. America, after all, has tolerated a nuclear Pakistan, which many in Moscow see as far more erratic and threatening than Iran. They also wonder why the rules of nuclear deterrence-nuclear states are deterred from launching nuclear attacks by the knowledge that they will immediately come under nuclear attack themselves-are not seen as applying to Iran. The ayatollahs, after all, want to preserve their rule, not see it destroyed.

Ledeen's assertion that Iran "supported separatist Muslim movements in the 'stans and Chechnya" is just plain false. To this day, Russian observers express appreciation for Iran's cooperating with Moscow to negotiate an end to the Tajik civil war in the 1990s instead of supporting the opponents of the Kremlin-backed post-Soviet regime there. And, unlike certain Arab countries, Iran did not support the Chechen rebels. The desire to maintain good relations with Moscow as well as the fear that Chechen secession would inflame secessionist movements inside Iran were far more important to Tehran than solidarity with fellow Muslims (especially ones who are Sunni).

This leads to another point that Ledeen overlooked: Russian and Iranian cooperation is not just based on common animosity toward America and Israel, but also on a common fear of Sunni jihadists. Just as groups like al-Qaeda and the Islamic State are anti-Western, they are also anti-Shi'a as well as anti-Russian. Moscow and Tehran, then, have a common interest in working against them independent of their shared antipathy toward the U.S.

Toward the end of his article, Ledeen recognizes that the U.S. is not really in a position to offer a deal to Moscow that would draw it away from Tehran. His recommendation for breaking the Russian-Iranian alliance, then, is to help the "vast majority of Iranians" (whom he numbers in the millions) "topple the Islamic Republic and establish a secular government resembling those in the West." But America's efforts to promote democracy in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya should raise doubts about its ability to do so in a much larger country such as Iran. Ledeen does not actually call for U.S.-led military intervention in Iran, but he doesn't explain how some lesser degree of American support can enable even millions of Iranians to topple the Islamic Republic. The ayatollahs and their Republican Guard allies have, after all, been quite successful at suppressing the regime's opponents. Ledeen does not explain how this is going to change now.

Further, it is not clear that the downfall of the Islamic Republic would actually result in a "secular government resembling those in the West." One possibility is that an even more zealous regime could replace the current Islamist one. Another is that, like Iraq and Syria, the downfall of an authoritarian regime that holds the country together by force could result in an outbreak of secessionist conflict involving groups with cross-border ties: Azeris, Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen, and Baluchis. Despite the examples of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya, Ledeen does not acknowledge even the possibility that the downfall of the current authoritarian regime in Tehran could lead to indefinite conflict there-which would not benefit America's allies or interests in the region.

Last but not least: If Tehran even suspects that the Trump administration is seriously attempting to topple it as Ledeen proposes, the immediate effect will be to motivate the country to strengthen its alliance with Russia. And if Putin thinks that Washington is attempting to topple the Islamic Republic, this will only increase his fears that Washington could try to topple him too. Following Ledeen's policy advice, then, is only likely to strengthen the Russian-Iranian alliance and not end it.



About the author:



Mark N. Katz is a professor of government and politics at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. He earned a Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1982. He is the author of many books and articles, including Leaving without Losing: The War on Terror after Iraq and Afghanistan (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012).
The Problem with Thinking on Your Knees

02/17/17

Opinion article by Mahmoud Omidsalar



photo: Iran's missile tests



Somewhere in Thinking the Twentieth Century (2009), a book, which is based on a series of conversations between the historians Tony Judt (1948-2010) and Timothy Snyder, Judt says-and I'm paraphrasing-Intellectuals around the world share a common frame of reference because they tend to read the same books, enjoy the same art, and receive their information from the same international network. Most end up having more in common with one another than they do with the general populations of their respective countries. Consequently, the Iranian and the Indian, the British and the Brazilian, or the Chinese and the Chilean intellectuals can communicate with each other better than they can with the general public of their own countries. Their non-intellectual compatriots, especially those of lower economic circumstances, assess social, economic, and political issues differently.

Take the Trump administration's recent threats against Iran. The Iranian public does not seem particularly alarmed. These are threats that it has heard a thousand times before. The more fatalist among them shrug and say, "God does what God wills." But the more combative say, "Let them come and get a taste of us. Iran isn't Iraq or Afghanistan." The group that is driven to despair by Trumps threats is the small minority of intellectuals in and out of Iran. They are concerned that a fight between Iran and the U.S. can only end in Iran's defeat and destruction. This view, it seems to me, is born of their vantage point. That is, if they get off of their knees and look carefully, they might be able to see a better and broader vista.

Two short essays that were recently published in the liberal LobeLog are representative of the alarmist interpretations of the present situation. Both were written by Iranians who live in the U.S. The first, entitled, "RT: Call Iran," is by a younger analyst who emphasizes the urgency of establishing a link between the Iranian Foreign Minister, Dr. Javad Zarif and his U.S. counterpart, Rex Tillerson. It refers to Iran's "provocative" missile test, which led to Trump's warning to Iran and suggests that Iran and American may soon end up in war, hence the need for an urgent phone call.

The second essay, "Iran Should Take American Threats Seriously," by a more seasoned scholar, voices the same concerns; citing Lt. General Micheal Flynn's threat of "officially putting Iran on notice," advises Iranians to take America's threats seriously. It also argues that Iran's recent missile tests have "dissipated any good will" that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) may have generated. The author suggests that the Trump administration's policies offer only two choices to Iranians. They can choose to survive "as a country, nation, and culture," or confront the U.S. and risk utter destruction.

Let's assume that Iran's military leadership, virtually all of whom are battle-hardened, and the Iranian government, which has survived some four decades of overt and covert attempts at regime change, are interested in the advice of those of us who live in the United States. Even so, since America's policy toward Iran remains one of naked aggression regardless of what administration is in power, why should Iran lower its guard or weaken its defensive posture? Is the United States more likely to attack a weak and vulnerable country or one that is able to mercilessly pound America's regional assets and allies? The history of the American military operations since the end of the Second World War offers an answer.

Since WW-II, the United States has succeeded in overpowering and defeating only countries that can truly be called defenseless. The invasion of the tiny Caribbean country of Grenada is a good example. President Reagan's invasion of Grenada, an island no bigger than Martha's Vineyard with a population that could barely fill the Rose Bowl marked the end of what was called the "Viet Nam Syndrome." The invasion took place in October of 1983 and required a force of 7,600 American fighters, supported by naval and air assets. Some 5000 American soldiers received medals for defeating the Grenadian armed forces, which were made up of 1,200 to 1,500 poorly equipped soldiers. The victory was later glamorized in Clint Eastwood's 1986 movie, Heartbreak Ridge.

Between 1945 and 1988, that is, during the decades of the Cold War, the United States engaged in direct large-scale military actions only six times. After the Cold War and the disappearance of Soviet power as a deterrent, the U.S. relied on military action as an almost exclusive instrument of implementing its foreign policy. In the period between 1989 (the overthrow of Panama's Manuel Noriega) and 2003 (the overthrow of Saddam Hussein), the United States conducted no less than nine major military interventions in addition to innumerable lesser actions that ranged from firing cruise missiles at a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan to bombing various regions of the world (see The New American Militarism, 2005, p.19). The investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill has copiously documented America's aggressive use of its Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in his books, Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield (2013), and The Assassination Complex: Inside the Government's Secret Drone Warfare Program (2016).

It is objectively demonstrable that almost all of the countries that became victims of America's post-Cold War aggression were defenseless. America's longest war, the one in Afghanistan, is in its sixteenth year, and the confused operations against ISIS and its clones-sometimes bombed and sometimes armed by the U.S. and its allies-continue in Iraq, Syria, and Libya. If Iraq's gradual stabilization and the impending defeat of the ISIS in Syria may be interpreted as lights at the end of a long tunnel, they are chiefly results of Iranian actions, rather than anything that the U.S. and its allies have done.

American statecraft seems to be in freefall, and given the presence of white supremacists that are gathered in Trump's administration, the country's democratic institutions will not be far behind. But that's no concern for Iran. What is important for Iran in the context of the boisterousness of the new administration is that the American general staff knows that war with Iran is neither necessary nor as simple as the civilian punditocracy imagines it to be.

According to the Washington Post in February 4th, and shortly after his boss's National Security Advisor put "Iran on notice," the U.S. Defense Secretary, Jim Mattis advocated restraint, adding that the "threat from Iran's missile program does not currently require the realignment of U.S. forces in the Middle East." Four days later, on February 8th, the Post reported that General Mattis tried once again to calm the overly excitable by pointing out that no military steps against Iran were necessary. He has consistently spoken against provoking Iran and has even departed from Trump's promise of tearing up the nuclear agreement, saying during his confirmation hearings that the United States should honor the deal.

There are two reasons why Mattis is hesitant to provoke Iran. First, because he is familiar with the deadly effects of Iranian rockets from personal experience. In 2011, when he was fighting in Iraq, his troops came under volleys of Iranian rockets that were launched by Iran's so-called "proxies." He lost 15 soldiers in what the Washington Post described as the worst month for U.S. troops in Iraq in more than two years. Mattis, therefore, knows the damage that Iranian forces can inflict.

The second reason is that General Mattis is a seasoned warrior who succeeded General Petraeus as the chief of the Central Command (CENTCOM). Although he is no dove and is well-known for his aggressive views on Iran, Mattis knows that launching a conventional assault on Iran would require a massive commitment of soldiers and supplies. To put things in context, consider that, even for the war against the much smaller and less populated Iraq, 466,985 U.S. personnel had to be deployed in addition to the forces that were contributed by the U.S. allies.

It is hard to believe that Iran would sit and wait while U.S. forces get into position. That leaves the option of cruise missiles and air assaults. But modern Iran is not the same country that went to war with Saddam in the 80s. Not long ago, the Iranian Air Defense operators took over one of America's most advanced drones and landed it in Iran. According to the Guardian, the Iranians have built attack drones similar to the one that they captured from the U.S. by reverse-engineering it.

During a recent interview, General Mohsen Rezaei, the former commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, who now serves as Iran's secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council, pointed out that Iran's military capabilities have advanced far beyond American expectations. He added that, in spite of this progress, he believes that Iran's most lethal weapon is not its advanced tools of war, but the vast military experience that the country's armed forces have gained in the past four decades. Referring to the recent missile tests that have been called "provocative" by so many, Rezaei said:

We don't claim that we should start randomly firing missiles in response to Trump's threats. Such an action would amount to adventurism. Of course if the enemy moves against us, we will definitely respond. But we will not be the one who starts anything. If Trump is allowed to believe that threats work and can cause fear, he will increase his threats. He is a bully ... if he feels that his opponent can also be a bully, he will back down. Otherwise, he will keep advancing. ... Showing weakness has often led to war. ... Our most important defensive doctrine is to maintain our strength as a deterrent against war. Our strength is our means of deterrence. ... I ask those who are against strengthening our military: If we had our present power at the time of Saddam's invasion, could he had dared to invade us? There may be no doubt that the answer to this question is "No." Don't let anyone mislead you into asking: Why is Iran after developing its missile capabilities at all? If we are weak, if we don't have missiles then we will have war. ... Let me humbly tell our intellectuals that the view that Iran's having missiles will lead to war is wrong. On the contrary, if we don't have missiles, then we will have war.

The present nervous reaction to the Trump administration's aggressive statements about Iran is an overreaction. It reminds me of the poem, "The Little Man Who Wasn't There," by William Hughes Mearns (1875-1965):

As I was going up the stair



I met a man who wasn't there!



He wasn't there again today,



I wish, I wish, he'd stay away!

America's over-extended military, the unpopularity of the governments of the U.S.'s Persian Gulf allies, and the weakness and vulnerability of their forces and assets all work in Iran's favor. Moreover, the size and quality of the Iranian forces, and the devastating results of any clash between Iran and the U.S. for the whole region and the world, make General Flynn's threats meaningless. With the recent news of his resignation, it seems General Flynn has turned into Iran's "The Little Man Who Wasn't There."



About the author:



About the Author: Mahmoud Omidsalar obtained his Ph.D. in Persian Literature from the Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of California, Berkeley, where he also studied Folklore under Alan Dundes. In addition to publishing many essays on Persian literature and folklore, he has also edited the 6th volume of the new critical edition of the Shahnameh, under the general editorship of Professors Khaleghi-Motlagh and Ehsan Yarshater. He has served on the editorial board of the Encyclopedia Iranica since 1990, and was appointed to the Supreme Council of the Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia (Tehran) in 2006. In 2004, the first volume of his collected English and Persian papers received the book of the year award of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance in Iran. His most recent English book, "Iran's Epic and America's Empire" was published by Afshar Publishing in 2012



Iran's Epic and America's Empire by Mahmoud Omidsalar

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EU reports huge rise in Iran steel imports

02/17/17

Source: Press TV

The European Steel Association - Eurofer - has reported a significant rise in Iran's exports of steel to Europe, saying the country is now the third biggest exporter to the continent after China and India.



Steel ingot plant in Hormozgan province in southern Iran

(2012 file photo by ISNA)



Reuters in a report quoted a statement by Eurofer as saying that Iran's exports to Europe in 2016 had increased to above 1 million tons.



It added that the figure was almost eight times higher than that registered in 2013.



The report added that Iran was now trailing China and India whose exports to Europe in 2016 respectively stood at 5.7 million tons and 1.9 million tons.



Iran is the biggest steel producer in the Middle East after Turkey, according to the World Steel Association.



The country has already devised serious plans to increase its steel production capacity to 55 million tons per year from the current level of roughly 17 million tons per year by 2025.



The country's export capacity is also expected to rise to above 13 million tons per year.



Mohammad-Reza Nematzadeh, Iran's minister of industry, mine and trade, told a local steel conference in Tehran this week that the country's steel output had seen a growth of 10 percent in 2016.



Nematzadeh hailed this as a significant achievement that had been achieved at a time that world's average steel production had increased only by about 1 percent.



Eurofer - the steel lobby group of the European Union - further in its report described Iran as a threat to European steelmakers.



"The threat from Iran is new and it's going to be one of the top three issues: China, India, Iran," Karl Tachelet, external relations and trade director at Eurofer, told Reuters.



The report further added that the European Union was investigating alleged dumping of hot-rolled steel by producers in Iran, as well as Serbia, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.
Iran Needs Billions to Upgrade Gas Fields, But Will Investors Invest?

02/17/17

By Henry Ridgwell, VOA

The CWC Iran Gas Conference in Frankfurt, Germany, is bringing together government figures and private investors.





South Pars gas field on the northern coast of Persian Gulf in Asalouyeh, Iran

(December 2015 file photo by Islamic Republic News Agency)



Watch Video: Energy Giants Say Iran Needs $100 Billion for Gas Upgrade



FRANKFURT, GERMANY - Iran sits on what are thought to be the world's largest gas reserves, yet can barely supply its own domestic demand.



Since the United Nations-backed deal over Tehran's nuclear program spurred the lifting of international sanctions, the country has strived to attract foreign investment in developing oil fields and upgrading its aging infrastructure.



The Ministry of Petroleum helped to convene the CWC Iran Gas Conference this week in Frankfurt, Germany, to bring together government figures and private investors.

Industry experts: $100 billion needed

Industry estimates suggest Iran needs to invest $100 billion in order to fully exploit the reserves. The nuclear agreement removed some sanctions on Iran, but mainly in Europe. It remains extremely difficult for American companies to do business, according to Reiner Jahn, vice president of the German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce and expert on financing deals with Iran.



"Unless it's licensed by OFAC, the U.S. sanctions authority, there is no way for an American to negotiate any transaction with an Iranian," he said.

So Iran is looking elsewhere.

Indian demand for gas is forecast to grow rapidly, and Tehran sees it as a key market. The private consortium South Asia Gas Enterprise, or SAGE, has advanced plans for the world's deepest underwater pipeline connecting the two countries.



"Our reconnaissance survey was performed between Oman and India. Unfortunately at that time the leg that went to Iran couldn't be surveyed because of sanctions. SAGE is expecting to perform the remaining leg of the survey to Iran this year," project director Ian Nash told delegates at the conference.



The 1,300-kilometer, $5 billion pipeline would lie on the seabed, more than 2,500 meters below the ocean's surface. The viability of such investments depends on the price of gas, currently difficult to predict, says Vincent Groote of Dutch engineering firm Twister Supersonic Gas Solutions.

An OPEC for natural gas

"You get [the price] floating up and down, which is not what investors would like. So I can imagine that as a natural development, similarly as OPEC for oil, in the long future we could think about a 'GPEC' - let's say a Gas-Producing-Exporting Country' type of infrastructure."



Iran likely would wield considerable power in such a cartel, though there are clouds on the horizon.



U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the nuclear deal, and he has imposed new sanctions on Iran following a recent missile test. History shows that the United States could still intervene to disrupt foreign investment, says Jahn.



"The U.S. invented secondary sanctions, where they sanction European companies that acted in complete accordance with EU law, but not in accordance with U.S. law. Therefore. I think they have an impact in our market," he said.



The French bank BNP Paribas was fined $8.9 billion by U.S. authorities in 2014 for breaking such sanctions.



The nuclear deal may have lifted some restrictions, but analysts say Trump has introduced new uncertainty just as foreign investment in Iran starts to build.
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The arrest of Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong on Friday in South Korea may not have a direct impact on the companys high-profile electronics business, including its smartphones unit, according to analysts.

Samsung announced in 2012 the promotion of the executive, also known as Jay. Y. Lee, to his current formal position at Samsung Electronics. But he is largely seen as the de-facto leader of the Samsung Group, running the business on behalf of his ailing father, Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-Hee.

He was arrested on charges of bribery as part of an alleged corruption scandal that led to the impeachment of South Koreas President Park Geun-hye.

I wouldnt expect much disruption to Samsung Electronics in the short term given the leadership and operational teams in place, said Bryan Ma, vice president of Devices Research at IDC. One could argue that the business is subject to more pressing factors like the whims of the smartphone market as well as supply and demand of components like memories and displays, he added.

Lee is not the global face of the brand and is not involved with the companys day-to-day activities, Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, told CNBC Squawk Box. I dont see any short-term impact, he said.

In the long term though, Lees arrest could begin to show on the operations of the company. The impact of the arrest may be more about the long-term outlook, including their strategic direction, management succession planning, and their effort to create a more nimble corporate culture, Ma said.

Lees arrest comes as Samsung recovers from the handling of yet another crisis, the overheating and even explosions of some Galaxy Note7 smartphones, which led to the embarrassing and expensive recall of about 3 million of these smartphones.

The company reported that the third quarter revenue of its IT and Mobile Communications division was down 15 percent from the same period in the previous year to 22.5 trillion Korean won (US$19.8 billion). The divisions operating profit also fell 95 percent to 100 billion won, as a result of the discontinuation of the Note7, which had to be recalled twice because replacement phones also had the same problems with their batteries.

The company put the blame for the smartphones problems on faulty batteries from two suppliers.

Samsung Electronics did not immediately comment on the arrest. Besides smartphones, Samsung Electronics also makes displays and memories and consumer electronics products like TVs.
Bradley Pate knows how it feels not to get anything on Valentines Day.

So this year, the senior at Alta Loma High School in Rancho Cucamonga wanted to make sure the girls at his campus  all 1,178 of them  werent singled out for not receiving a Valentines Day gram.

So he bought a colorful array of carnations and, during the lunch hour Tuesday, with the help of friends and family, passed them out to his female classmates.

I wanted people to know that theres somebody there and that somebody cares, he said.

Pate said he likes to put others before himself.

When I see other people happy, it makes me feel good, Pate said.

Many of the girls shyly walked up and asked for a carnation, some posed for a photo with him, while others were giddy as they received the flowers.

Alijah Medina, 15, jokingly told Pate she wanted to be his best friend after receiving her carnation.

I thought it was so cool, she said. Its really sweet because you never see people like that.

Pate, the youngest of three, always has been a compassionate kid, his mother, Deanna Lytle, said Tuesday.

He was bullied as a kid. His family put him in martial arts when he was in sixth grade. In 2013, Pate earned his black belt. His mother said that along with mastering the physical requirements, the discipline taught him empathy, compassion, sincerity, honesty and dedication.

I consider him a gift from God. Bradley will give blankets to the homeless. He keeps them in his car, she said.

To carry out Operation Carnation, he picked up 1,200 carnations from Chino Swap Meet for $300, he said.

Holding a yellow carnation, Jaylynne Champlin, 15, said she saw Pate setting up the tent during fourth period.

I was wondering what it was. I thought we had to buy them, she said. Then I get to lunch and they start handing them to everybody. Its so sweet.

The gesture wasnt lost on his classmates, who thanked him. Theres a lot of times theres girls who just sit there and watch other girls get stuff and think, One day. And now today, everybody will be the same, Champlin said.

Contact the writer: lmarquez@scng.comTwitter: @JournaLiset
After a year-long clash, the Lake Elsinore City Council and the proponent of a sprawling 8,000-home subdivision proverbially kissed and made up on Valentines Day.

Yet, there remains a major catch  a ballot initiative that would supersede the agreement if approved by voters.

The council, with Castle & Cookes support, approved a revised Alberhill Villages Specific Plan and development agreement Tuesday, Feb. 14. The plan replaces one the council had adopted in June over the developers objections, which arose following the planning commissions endorsement of the proposal in February 2016.

We had the opportunity to sit down with city staff and work on this (revised plan) for a period of time, Castle & Cooke attorney Mark Jones said Wednesday, and we were able to work out a whole host of benefits for the project, benefits for the future of the city, and benefits for the citizens, and theres a development agreement thats a benefit to all of the parties.

Yet, city voters are facing a May 2 election on an initiative proposing a version of the plan that company representatives crafted as an alternative. If approved, city officials contend, the initiative proposal has the potential to bankrupt the city because it would hinder its ability to levy fees supporting public services and infrastructure required by the additional residents.

While city officials and Castle & Cooke resolved their differences, they cant legally stop the election.

So, the company and its supporters find themselves in the unique position of campaigning against an initiative they pushed onto the ballot through a successful signature-gathering campaign. That opposition by the previous proponents will happen once the councils approval is legally formalized, as scheduled Feb. 28, Jones said.

Both Castle & Cooke and the city of Lake Elsinore would put out the message to the supporters that there  is a better plan than what the initiative would provide, he said. At this point, we would be urging voters to vote no on the measure.

Castle & Cookes community outreach organization, Live Lake Elsinore, issued a release this week to supporters advising them to vote no. The message also is emphasized in bold in the initiative proponents ballot statement released Thursday: Measure A is no longer necessary and no longer represents what is best for our city and its residents.

The company also is pursuing the dismissal of two lawsuits against the citys previously approved plan.

In addition to houses and apartments, Alberhill Villages would consist of parks, open space, a lake, schools, offices, retail centers, and possibly a university and hospital. The features would be installed on 1,400 acres north of Lake Street and west of Interstate 15, which arcs east and west through the city.

The property has been mined for more than a century by Pacific Clay Products, now a Castle & Cooke auxiliary, and its predecessors.

Among the major changes in the amended plan, the developer would have more flexibility in building near mining operations, as those issues are being phased out over the estimated 30-plus year life of the project.

The development agreement provides funding mechanisms for public safety, infrastructure and parks so existing city taxpayers wont be burdened with those costs.

Several residents who have opposed Castle & Cooke expressed suspicion of the deal and urged the council to delay a decision until after the election. But if the initiative were to pass, it would probably face major legal changes and ultimately could have severe consequences for the city.

This is a better plan for the residents of the city, Councilman Steve Manos told the audience. It is time for us to walk out of this room together and work together on a common goal.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9690 or michaelwilliams@scng.com
Riverside County employees will now be able to carry self-defense sprays like Mace at county facilities thanks to a policy change approved by the county Board of Supervisors.

The change, authorized by the board on Feb. 7, removes pepper spray, Mace and tear gas from the list of prohibited items on county property. Members of the public are still restricted from carrying those items when they visit county facilities.

Also, the list of prohibited items was changed  for the public and county employees  to include knives with blades of 4 inches or longer. Firearms and clubs are still prohibited unless those items are part of an employees duties; a sheriffs deputy, for example, can still carry a gun into a county building.

The change to the countys workplace violence policy stems from the work of an ad-hoc committee of county employees formed to consider security measures in the wake of the Dec. 2, 2015, terrorist attack in San Bernardino.

Related: Workers say Hemet mental health clinic is unsafe

Since then, public access points to the County Administrative Center in downtown Riverside have been restricted to one entrance and exit. The public must pass through metal detectors and have their bags searched by uniformed security guards.

County spokesman Ray Smith said the change was prompted out of concern for employee safety as they go to and from work.

Some employees work in remote locations, others are concerned about personal safety on their commute, et cetera, he said.

Related: Metal detectors installed at Riverside County HQ

In this day and age, some people certainly want the sense of security they get by carrying a legal form of personal protection at any time.

Employees who choose to carry Mace and the like will be doing so on their own, with their own personal devices, Smith said. The county is not involved.

Workplace safety has come up in the context of ongoing collective bargaining talks between the county and labor unions. Service Employees International Union Local 721 has expressed concern that understaffing and other issues compromise union members safety.

Related: Post-terror security upgrades advancing

In December, SEIU filed a grievance against the county over safety at a Hemet mental health clinic. Employees there have been attacked outside the facility, the union maintains.

Smith has said that additional security has been hired for the clinic.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9547 or jhorseman@scng.com
UPDATE (Friday, Feb. 17 at 7:45 a.m.): NBC News reports White House and Dept. of Homeland Security deny this AP report on draft memo for Natl Guard deployment for immigration round-ups. Also, AP updated story below with White House denial.

The Trump administration is considering a proposal to mobilize as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorized immigrants, including millions living nowhere near the Mexico border, according to a draft memo obtained by The Associated Press.

The 11-page document calls for the unprecedented militarization of immigration enforcement as far north as Portland, Oregon, and as far east as New Orleans, Louisiana.

Four states that border on Mexico are included in the proposal  California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas  but it also encompasses seven states contiguous to those four  Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the AP report was 100 percent not sure and irresponsible. There is no effort at all to utilize the National Guard to round up unauthorized immigrants, he said.

Governors in the 11 states would have a choice whether to have their guard troops participate, according to the memo, written by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general.

While National Guard personnel have been used to assist with immigration-related missions on the U.S.-Mexico border before, they have never been used as broadly or as far north.

The memo is addressed to the then-acting heads of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It would serve as guidance to implement the wide-ranging executive order on immigration and border security that President Donald Trump signed Jan. 25. Such memos are routinely issued to supplement executive orders.

Also dated Jan. 25, the draft memo says participating troops would be authorized to perform the functions of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension and detention of aliens in the United States. It describes how the troops would be activated under a revived state-federal partnership program, and states that personnel would be authorized to conduct searches and identify and arrest any unauthorized immigrants.

Requests to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security for comment and a status report on the proposal were not answered.

The draft document has circulated among DHS staff over the last two weeks. As recently as Friday, staffers in several different offices reported discussions were underway.

If implemented, the impact could be significant. Nearly one-half of the 11.1 million people residing in the U.S. without authorization live in the 11 states, according to Pew Research Center estimates based on 2014 Census data.

Use of National Guard troops would greatly increase the number of immigrants targeted in one of Trumps executive orders last month, which expanded the definition of who could be considered a criminal and therefore a potential target for deportation. That order also allows immigration agents to prioritize removing anyone who has committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense.

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Under current rules, even if the proposal is implemented, there would not be immediate mass deportations. Those with existing deportation orders could be sent back to their countries of origin without additional court proceedings. But deportation orders generally would be needed for most other unauthorized immigrants.

The troops would not be nationalized, remaining under state control.

Spokespeople for the governors of Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Colorado, Oklahoma, Oregon and New Mexico said they were unaware of the proposal, and either declined to comment or said it was premature to discuss whether they would participate. The other three states did not immediately respond to the AP.

The proposal would extend the federal-local partnership program that President Barack Obamas administration began scaling back in 2012 to address complaints that it promoted racial profiling.

The 287(g) program, which Trump included in his immigration executive order, gives local police, sheriffs deputies and state troopers the authority to assist in the detection of immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally as a regular part of their law enforcement duties on the streets and in jails.

The draft memo also mentions other items included in Trumps executive order, including the hiring of an additional 5,000 border agents, which needs financing from Congress, and his campaign promise to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

The signed order contained no mention of the possible use of state National Guard troops.

According to the draft memo, the militarization effort would be proactive, specifically empowering Guard troops to solely carry out immigration enforcement, not as an add-on the way local law enforcement is used in the program.

Allowing Guard troops to operate inside non-border states also would go far beyond past deployments.

In addition to responding to natural or man-made disasters or for military protection of the population or critical infrastructure, state Guard forces have been used to assist with immigration-related tasks on the U.S.-Mexico border, including the construction of fences.

In the mid-2000s, President George W. Bush twice deployed Guard troops on the border to focus on non-law enforcement duties to help augment the Border Patrol as it bolstered its ranks. And in 2010, then-Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer announced a border security plan that included Guard reconnaissance, aerial patrolling and military exercises.

In July 2014, then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry ordered 1,000 National Guard troops to the border when the surge of migrant children fleeing violence in Central America overwhelmed U.S. officials responsible for their care. The Guard troops stated role on the border at the time was to provide extra sets of eyes but not make arrests.

Bush initiated the federal 287(g) program  named for a section of a 1996 immigration law  to allow specially trained local law enforcement officials to participate in immigration enforcement on the streets and check whether people held in local jails were in the country illegally. ICE trained and certified roughly 1,600 officers to carry out those checks from 2006 to 2015.

The memo describes the program as a highly successful force multiplier that identified more than 402,000 removable aliens.

But federal watchdogs were critical of how DHS ran the program, saying it was poorly supervised and provided insufficient training to officers, including on civil rights law. Obama phased out all the arrest power agreements in 2013 to instead focus on deporting recent border crossers and immigrants in the country illegally who posed a safety or national security threat.

Trumps immigration strategy emerges as detentions at the nations southern border are down significantly from levels seen in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Last year, the arrest tally was the fifth-lowest since 1972. Deportations of people living in the U.S. illegally also increased under the Obama administration, though Republicans criticized Obama for setting prosecution guidelines that spared some groups from the threat of deportation, including those brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Last week, ICE officers arrested more than 680 people around the country in what Kelly said were routine, targeted operations; advocates called the actions stepped-up enforcement under Trump.

RELATED

From taco trucks to Latino markets, owners shut down in support of immigrants
A number of grocery stores, restaurants, and other businesses across Southern California are participating in A Day Without Immigrants today, a national boycott in response to President Donald Trumps actions to crack down on undocumented immigrants.

Theyre either closing for business or donating their profits to organizations advocating for immigrant rights.

For many business owners, the decision was personal.

The family that owns La Noria Market in San Bernardino closed both of their stores for the day.

This market is 100 percent operated by Hispanics and is mostly frequented by Hispanics, the market announced in a Feb. 14 Facebook post. We want to demonstrate that in this country Hispanics come here to prosper.

Fabiola Diaz said her two brothers, who came to this country illegally and opened La Noria Market, have thrived as business owners for more than a decade.

The two markets employ 55 employees, most of whom are Mexican and Central American, Diaz said. Closing the markets will hurt them financially, but its more important to make this statement in support of immigrants, she said.

Many immigrants around the United States stayed home from work and school Thursday to demonstrate the important role they play in Americas economy, and to show what their absence would look like in communities nationwide.

The boycott is in reaction to Trumps immigration crackdown and recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions. In Southern California, more than 160 immigrants were arrested.

In 2015, there were 26.3 million foreign-born people employed in the U.S., making up 16.7 percent of the labor force, according to the United States Department of Labor.

The foreign-born  who include American citizens, green-card holders and those working without legal authorization  tend to be younger and to take jobs in fields that have been growing fastest, including restaurants, hotels and stores.

The day of action also affected some schools.

On Wednesday night, the Anaheim Elementary School District sent a robocall acknowledging that students had faced pressure to stay home for the Day Without an Immigrant, and reminding parents that schools remained open.

Roughly 2,000 of the 18,300 K-6 students in Anaheim public schools were absent Thursday, more than double the number of absences the district typically sees each day, according to Keith Sterling, communications director for Anaheim Elementary School District.

Santa Ana Unified said the Thursday absences were fairly substantial when compared to Wednesday, Feb. 15. And, Moreno Valley Unified also experienced some absences, but not as many as expected, said district spokesman Tim McGillivray.

The protest, though, which spread across social media this week, gained traction in the food service industry, with several well-known chefs in cities like Washington, D.C. and Chicago announcing that they would close their restaurants in solidarity with the boycott.

In Orange County, the critically acclaimed restaurant Taco Maria announced it will remain open for service and that all profits will be donated to the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

Owner and chef Carlos Salgado, the son of Mexican immigrants, grew up working in his familys small Mexican eatery, La Siesta, in Orange.

Taco Maria, like so many American Dreams, was built by immigrants and descendants of immigrants, Salgado said in a statement on Facebook.

After Feb. 16, the restaurant will continue to share 1 percent of the profits to organizations that champion our core values of diversity, equality, respect, and social justice, Salgado said.

A number of taco trucks and restaurants shut down in Los Angeles.

The popular Leos Tacos Truck announced all four of its locations will be closed for the day.

In LAs Koreatown, the well-known Oaxacan restaurant La Guelaguetza is also closed.

Co-proprietor Bricia Lopez said in a statement that the restaurant stands in solidarity with the entire U.S. immigrant population. Shes the daughter of Fernando Lopez and Maria Monterrubio, who opened the eatery in 1994.

Our father and mother came to this country to pursue The American Dream, and that dream should continue to live on in our community, she said. To those who feel silenced we say: dont be afraid, be strong.

Staff writers Grace Wyler, Roxana Kopetman, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9462, amolina@scng.com, or on Twitter @alemolina
A Liberty Elementary School technology aide was arrested Thursday on suspicion of inappropriately touching four students, and police say there may be more victims.

A female student accused Fernando Figueroa, 24, of Riverside of touching her in a sexual manner Feb. 9, according to a news release from the Riverside Police Department.

The investigation that followed revealed three additional victims. Riverside police Officer Ryan Railsback said all of the victims were younger than 10.

Figueroa was placed on administrative leave immediately after the accusations were made, the release said.

He was restricted from all Riverside Unified School District schools during the investigation.

Police say Figueroa also had access to children at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Redlands-Riverside, where he worked at an after-school program, and it is believed there are victims there.

The Boys and Girls Clubs said in a statement Friday that Figueroa was barred from the facility and placed on indefinite leave.

Figueroa had worked at Liberty since August 2015, district spokesman Justin Grayson said.

He was paid $16.65 an hour to work four hours a day teaching and assisting students and staff to use computers and other electronics. Figueroa was a tutor with the school district from February to August 2015, when he was hired at Liberty.

The school district notified parents of Liberty students with an auto-dial phone message early Friday, Grayson said.

In a letter posted on the schools website, Liberty Principal Esther Garcia wrote that Figueroa was a part-time employee and had passed a federal background check.

Detectives served a search warrant at Figueroas home in the 5000 block of La Sierra Avenue and arrested him on suspicion of oral copulation with a child younger than 10, lewd acts with a child younger than 14 and being a sex offender of multiple victims.

He was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center, where bail was set at $4 million.

Liberty was closed Friday for a school holiday and will be closed Monday for Presidents Day, but Garcias letter noted that extra counselors and district staff will be on campus Tuesday to offer assistance.

Anyone who might have information about the case should contact Detective Paul Miranda at 951-353-7945 or pmiranda@riversideca.gov or Detective Evereth Bercian at 951-353-7950 or ebercian@riversideca.gov.

Staff writer Alicia Robinson contributed to this report.

Liberty Parent Letter by The Press-Enterprise / pressenterprise.com on Scribd
Riverside County Sheriffs deputies are investigating a shooting that occurred Thursday afternoon, Feb. 16, near a bar in Wildomar.

Nobody was injured in the shooting, which was reported just before 3:40 p.m. near The Hideaway in the 32300 block of Mission Trail, said Sheriffs Department spokesman Deputy Mike Vasquez. No suspects had been taken into custody by 6 p.m.

Deputies located a person nearby who they believe was the target of the shooting, Vasquez said. However, neither the victim nor potential witnesses were willing to cooperate with authorities.

Anyone who may have information on the shooting is encouraged to call the Sheriffs Department dispatch center at 951-776-1099.
Social media chatter in the Pass suggested that Walking Dead star Norman Reedus was in Banning this week.

Turns out, there are government documents to show he likely was for a few hours Wednesday.

Television production of Ride with Norman Reedus sought a filming permit from the city for a location shoot at the privately owned Museum of Pinball on South Hathaway Street in Banning for five hours Wednesday afternoon.

The same New York-based Left/Right production company also obtained a city business tax certificate for the date, according to public records obtained from the city.

The Ride show on AMC features Reedus, a motorcycle enthusiast, on open road rides to explore local biker culture in different cities with stops along the way that might include a custom bike shop, tattoo parlor or collectors warehouse, according to the shows website.

The group was to be accompanied by two California Highway Patrol officers for traffic control, with a city stop using restrooms at Museum of Pinball, according to the permit application.

Social media also had photos of Reedus at the museum.

The museum displays pinball and arcade video games, some dating to the 1960s.

The museum, near the Banning Municipal Airport, will get more attention next week as the destination for a tour group that arrives from Modernism Week, Palm Springs annual celebration of iconic American architecture and design.

Contact the writer: gwesson@scng.com951-368-9075
ONTARIO >> United Airlines canceled more than a dozen flights in and out of Ontario International Airport Friday morning as the region is expected to be hit with the biggest rainstorm of the winter.

As of noon, United has canceled six inbound and seven outbound flights, airport spokesman Dan Adamus said.

Were taking all the precautions, he said. Its mother nature. Were hoping for the best and preparing for whats coming.

Southwest says it expects to cancel, delay or divert flights out of Ontario, John Wayne Airport, Burbank, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose airports because of the storm.

Related:

5 things to know about Fridays monster Southern California rainstorm

What the Inland area should expect from rainy weather today

Video of Forest Falls landslide; it sounded like a freight train, resident says

Flights, events canceled as storm slams Southern California with powerful first punch

Storm cancels dozen-plus flights canceled out of Ontario Airport

Wheres the rain? Be patient

In the state of California, weve proactively canceled more than 250 flights and expect the number to stay around there for today, a spokesperson for Southwest said via email.

At John Wayne Airport, several airlines have canceled all departing flights as a heavy storm moves into Southern California.

Both American and Southwest Airlines have canceled flights in and out of the airport, according to John Wayne Airport spokeswoman Deanne Thompson. Americans flights were canceled as of 9 a.m. through at least 7:30 p.m. Southwest flights were canceled beginning at 10 a.m.

Adamus advises those traveling out of Ontario airport first check with their airline.

Staff writers Susan Goulding and Brooke Edwards Staggs contributed to this report.
Jim Hinckley has researched, written and talked about Route 66 for much of his adult life, yet he still learned something new while researching his latest book on the subject.

I learned that Buster Keaton filmed a movie in Kingman, Arizona the year before Route 66 was certified, said Hinckley, who has lived in that city for decades.

The movie was Go West, released in 1925.

For the movies climatic final scenes, Keaton filmed a cattle stampede in downtown Los Angeles, Route 66s original most western point, that involved 300 head of steers.

These are among the morsels of information Hinckley included in his new book, The Illustrated Route 66 Historical Atlas.

He writes in the introduction that he had two goals for the book, the first of which was as a means to add depth and context to the Route 66 experience as well as encourage exploration beyond the traditional search for neon and roadside time capsules. The second aspect was a bit more grandiose in that I envisioned it as a repository for some of the more obscure and colorful aspects of this storied highways history for future generations of enthusiasts.

Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California each get a chapter in the book. Chapter categories include pre-1926 historic sites, military, parks, crime/disaster and film/celebrity.

Mitlas Cafe, the Wigwam Motel, the Sycamore Inn and other Inland Empire landmarks are noted.

Hinckley has written four books on Route 66 and hopes his writing will shed new light on the tailfins and neon roadway.

Route 66 has become a fun thing, he said.

He write about crimes and natural disasters that took place along the roadway because theyre part of its history.

Heres a little taste of what youll find in Hinckleys book. Note: The following is not safe for the faint of heart:

He writes of a man, Arthur Eggers, who murdered his wife in 1945 at their home in Temple City in the Los Angeles area. He chopped off her head and hands and took Route 66 east to a ravine in the San Bernardino Mountains, where he disposed of her torso. Eggers, a sheriffs deputy, was arrested, tried in San Bernardino, found guilty and executed in the gas chamber at San Quentin.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9552 or ewaldner@pressenterprise.com
The Food and Agriculture Ministry has scaled up the effort to substantially increase cassava production in the Kwahu South District. It has through the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP), supplied improved planting materials to farmers in the area.



Mr. Daniel Mantey, the Officer in charge of the Project, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that 195 farmers had so far benefitted.They are in Bepong, Kwahu-Praso, Kwahu-Tafo, Asakraka and a number of other farming communities.He mentioned the cassava varieties distributed to them as Sika bankye, Bankye hemaa and Ampong.



He said the planting materials supplied could cover a total of 67.96 hectares and gave the assurance that more farmers would benefit from the project.





Source: GNA









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The Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas (CSPOG), a group that has been at the fore front of ensuring the efficient management of the countrys hydrocarbon resources since the discovery of Jubilee, is urging government to abandon its decision to raid the oil and gas Heritage Fund for the purpose of financing its free Senior High School (SHS) programme.



According to the group, the current arrangement which sets aside only 9 percent of net petroleum revenues as a heritage for future generations is the result of intense negotiations and broad national consultations. It therefore considers it as an act in bad faith, if the achieved consensus is altered by any person(s) without recourse to the people of Ghana.



CSPOG points out that, the savings versus spending arrangements, the prohibition of collateralization of the petroleum funds, and the elaborate transparency provisions contained in the in Ghanas Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA) have received international acclaim and are often cited as best practice, and so care must be taken not to roll back the progress so far made.



It is indeed important for the government to recognize the fact that the establishment of the Heritage Fund moves Ghana away from the reckless practice of spending the entirety of the current years natural resource revenue in the next years budget, often paying for recurrent expenditure items.



We have even sold our golden share in AngloGold Ashanti and used the proceeds to pay salary, and today we have nothing to show for it said CSPOGs chair, Dr Steve Manteaw.



CSPOG does not discount the importance of education in nation-building, and is in fact in full support of the free SHS policy, but beliefs this can be done without encumbering the small fund we are preserving for future generation. The group rejects the suggestion that the children of today are the future generation referred to in the PRMA, explaining that the future generation is the generation unborn, and who are unlikely to meet the countrys oil wealth by the time they are born. This according to CSPOG is the reason the law provides that when the oil is depleted the Stabilisation Fund and the Heritage Fund would be joined to form the Ghana Petroleum Wealth Fund. This will be invested and the returns, as may be determined by parliament would be spent through the budget for the benefit of successive generations.



CSPOG wishes to also point out that, at the current production levels and world market prices, the Heritage Fund is not likely to yield more than US$25 million a year, and so once the accumulated fund is exhausted in the first year of the free SHS programme, which will certainly be the case, the annual Heritage streams will be woefully in adequate in meeting the free SHS expenditure, raising serious questions about its sustainability.



Feasibility



CSPOG however believes in the feasibility of the free SHS programme, because even Uganda, whose economy is by far weaker than Ghana has been implementing the programme in the last decade, and Kenya has been implementing same for nine years now.



A simple comparison of some economic statistics between Uganda and Ghana will perhaps provide better anchor for CSPOGs conviction that free SHS is implementable in Ghana.



In 2007, when Uganda introduced its free secondary education programme, the countrys GDP according to World Bank data, stood at US$12.293 billion. Ghanas GDP in the year it is planning to introduce free SHS is US$37.54 billion, three folds the GDP of Uganda at the time it embarked on its programme.



Ugandas population in 2007 was 29.9 million. Ghanas population in the year of its introduction of the programme is 27.41 million. Ugandas Gross National Income (GNI) per capita was a mere US$380 in 2007 when it introduced the programme, compared to Ghanas US$1,480 at the time it is contemplating the introduction of the programme.

The most rational conclusion to draw from this comparison therefore, is that Ghana is economically much stronger to implement its free SHS programme today, than Uganda was when it did so in 2007.



A further comparison, using a common baseline data i.e. 2015, still shows Ghana in a stronger position economically to undertake such initiative. Ugandas GDP in 2015 was US$27.529 billion, while Ghanas was US$37.54 billion, a whooping US$10 billion difference. The Gross National per capita for Uganda in 2015 was US$700 while Ghanas was more than double i.e. US$1,480.



Reasons for concern



In spite of CSPOGs conviction that the policy is implementable it has reasons to be concern about the governments approach.

First, it does not look like the government has a well rehearsed and properly costed implementation plan with clearly identified sources of funding.



Again, the rollout of the scheme risks abuse if adequate built-in safeguards are not put in place to prevent foreigners, especially from neighbouring countries from taking undue advantage of it, and through that, compounding the cost to be borne by the state.



Other reasons for concern arise out of lessons that can be drawn from the Ugandan experience, which indeed resonates with Ghanas own experience at the basic school level. In Uganda, the impact of the decade old free secondary school programme has been mixed. On the positive side, more children from poor families are able to transition from the basic level of education to the secondary level. Enrollments have increased, and this has created increased demand for more teachers leading to job creation in the education sector.



Further jobs have been created in the construction sector, as government developed more educational infrastructure to respond to the increases in enrollment.



On the negative side however, there has been a sharp decline in the quality of secondary education arising out of inadequate numbers of teachers required to teach the teeming student population, as well as insufficient teaching and learning materials. These are of course consequences that Ghana faced in the early years of the implementation of universal basic education and till date, not all of them have been effectively addressed.



Missing details



In Uganda, students who obtain set benchmark grades in each of the four primary school-leaving examinations are automatically allowed to proceed to study free in public schools and participating private schools. The government pays the schools an annual grant of up to $52 (Ugandan Shillings equivalent) per student, spread over three school terms. The amount covers fees and text books, while parents are made to provide uniforms, stationery and meals.



In the case of Ghana, it is not clear yet what the cut-off point would be for admission to the SHS or whether there will be a cut-off point at all. The impression one gets from the rhetoric is that we could end up with a wholesale transition of children from JHS to SHS.



If that happens to be the case, then WASSSE will remain useful only for the purpose determining who gets selected to which school, and not as a decider on who gets to continue to SHS. That will then mean that greater numbers will have to be provided for in the budget.



It also appears that Ghanas free secondary school programme will not cover students in private schools. If that is the case, then it is likely we will see a massive drift of students from private secondary schools to the public ones as facilities are expanded, ostensibly to also benefit from the scheme. This will serve as a disincentive to private sector participation in education delivery at the secondary level in the short to medium term, but in the long term, as overcrowding and inadequate teaching and learning materials cause quality to suffer, the private sector is likely to cash-in by providing a more quality education at that level, leading to the replication of the situation at the basic level, where private schools deliver better quality in terms of examination outcomes.

CSPOGs Proposals for the free SHS Policy



1. Government should re-think the policy as currently conceived to make its implementation smooth and painless for the economy;



2. Ghana can avoid the pitfalls in its bid to give every



Ghanaian child a fair chance in life, by finding ways to stagger the implementation into phases, to allow the expansion of facilities, recruitment of teachers, and procurement of teaching and learning materials to run in tandem with the expected enrolment boom;



3. The government should seize upon the public interest the issue has generated to convene a national dialogue on financing options for its free SHS programme. This will help procure the publics buy-in into whatever financing option is settled on;



4. Government has an option within the law as it stands, to prioritise education in the ABFA expenditure framework, where much more financial resources can be leveraged than from the Heritage Fund;



5. In the medium to long term, government should be working to close all the financial leakages in the education sector. A research conducted by the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) in the last decade indicated that about 25% of educational budget do not get to the intended beneficiaries or targets.



CSPOG wishes to caution the government and all Ghanaians alike, that the over-reliance on oil revenue, which presently constitutes a paltry 3 percent of total government revenue could lead to the country being afflicted by the dreaded Dutch disease. We must look more to taxes as the major financing mechanism for our development, and treat oil as a mere addition.

Signed



Dr Steve Manteaw

Chairman, CSPOG

Source: Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas









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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Teacher unions have protested against threat by the Education Minister; Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh that basic and second cycle school heads who record 90 percent failure in their schools final exams will be sacked.



The unions accused the minister of failing to identify problems that confront the educational sector before making that pronouncement. The Education Minister while addressing heads of senior high schools (SHS) in Kumasi as part of a two-day familiarization visit to the Ashanti Region emphasized that any school head who superintends over a failure of over 90% cannot be allowed to stay in office.



Reacting to the issue on Onua FM on Thursday, the General Secretary, Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), David Ofori Acheampong said it is not right to blame teachers. He asserted, We should blame the government for this because go to schools in Accra and find out, only KGs have printed syllabus.



The rest are on pen drive and teachers will be called to come for it and print them. He said the logistics are not there so if they will sack teachers, then the minister himself will be sacked because it will mean all those in the chain of command did not do their work well and that is not the way to go. If we want to find the way to solve it, that is not the way to go and we shall not wait for such thing to happen.



The previous government did the same. They never saw anything good in teachers and that is not the way to go, he lamented. David Acheampong said this will not happen in the country and we are ready for them. The President of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Christian Addai Poku also remarked, I am surprised about the comment and it is really unfortunate.



On what bases did he said 90%. How about the teachers, workers and the people who are going to work? he queried. He said we need to motivate them and not threaten them. You dont just conclude that because the children failed, the headmaster is the cause. Mr. Addai Poku explained that if you duel on the headmasters alone, it does not make sense. If that is his agenda, then we have a problem. If he is going to use threat to achieve his goals, then there is a problem.

Source: 3news.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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Hearing of the merits in the dispute concerning the delimitation of maritime boundary between Ghana and Cote dIvoire ended in Hamburg, Germany on Thursday after two weeks of legal tussle between the two countries.



The President of the Special Chamber constituted to hear the case, Judge Boualem Bouguetaia, told the parties that the tribunal would deliver its judgement at the end of September 2017.



The Judge did not give the exact date but told the parties the tribunal would communicate the date to them via its registrar on time.



Judge Bouguetaia, announced the date to the parties after Cote dIvoire ended its final round of oral arguments.



The registrar of the Special Chamber, Mr Philippe Gautier told the parties that they (parties) had up to Friday, February 24, 2017 to correct mistakes in their presentations without modifying the meaning.



Other members of the panel hearing the case are Judges Rudiger Wolfrum Germany and Jin-Hyun Paik, Republic of Korea.



Ad hoc judges Thomas Mensah, Ghana and Ronny Abraham, France; were selected by Ghana and Cote dIvoire respectively per the rules of the ITLOS.



Cote dIvoire finished its final arguments four hours ahead of schedule and prayed the tribunal to declare that Ghana had moved into its maritime boundary.



Ghana, led by the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Ms Gloria Afua Akuffo, ended Ghanas round of oral arguments on Monday, February 13, 2017, and prayed the tribunal to reject Cote dIvoires claims that Ghana had moved into its maritime boundary.







Source: graphic.com.gh









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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King Mohammed VI of Morocco was the second child and oldest son of King Hassan II with his second wife, Lalla Latifa Hammou.



On the day of his birth, Mohammed was appointed the Heir Apparent and Crown Prince to the King.



His father was keen on giving him a religious and political education at an early age. At age four, he started attending the Qur'anic School at the Royal Palace.



He completed his primary and secondary education at the Royal College and attained his Baccalaureate in 1981, before gaining a Bachelor's Degree in Law at the Mohammed V University at Agdal in 1985.



His research paper dealt with "The Arab-African Union and the Strategy of the Kingdom of Morocco in matters of International Relations.



He has also frequented the Imperial College and University of Rabat and was later appointed President of the Pan Arab Games and commissioned as a Colonel Major of the Royal Moroccan Army on November 26, 1985.



He served as the Co-ordinator of the Offices and Services of the Royal Armed Forces until 1994. In 1987, Mohammed obtained his first Certificat d'Etudes Superieures (CES) in Political Sciences in July 1988 and obtained a Diplome d'Etudes Approfondies (DEA) in Public Law.



In November 1988, he trained in Brussels with Jacques Delors, then President of the European Commission.



King Mohammed obtained his PhD in Law with Distinction on 29th October, 1993 from the French University of Nice, Sophia Antipolis, for his thesis on "EEC-Maghreb Relations".



On 12th July 1994, he was promoted to the military rank of Major General, and later that same year became President of the High Council of Culture and Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Moroccan Army.



Social Reforms and Liberalisation Policies



Shortly after ascending the throne on 30th July, 1999, King Mohammed VI addressed his nation via television and promised to alleviate poverty and stamp out corruption.



He also promised to create jobs and improve Morocco's human rights record, however, his reformist rhetoric was strongly opposed by Islamist conservatives and some of his reforms angered fundamentalists.



In February 2004, he enacted a new family code, or Mudawana, which granted women more power. Women were guaranteed "civic and social" equality with men. Previously, only "political equality" was guaranteed, though the 1996 Constitution granted all citizens equality in terms of rights before the law.



The King retains complete control over the armed forces and the judiciary as well as matters pertaining to religion and foreign policy; and also retains the authority to appoint and dismiss prime ministers.



Morocco practises parliamentary constitutional monarchy, however, criticising or directly opposing the king is still punishable with imprisonment.





Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Audio Attachment: Listen to Kweku Baako Jnr.

Kweku Baako Jnr., Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide has asked government to review the policy which allows State vehicles to be auctioned to government officials.



Speaking on Peace FM's Kokrokoo, Kweku Baako expressed worry over the culture where government officials exit office with State vehicles in their possessions because it doesn't augur well for the country.



The tendency is to play on the keyboard of peoples emotions. You throw these matters into the street, the masses win. So, perhaps, the government needs to think that in order not to suffer any collateral damage, we should take a second look at this policy.



Addressing the issue on Kokrokoo, Mr. Baako gave credence to reports that over 200 cars were missing from the Flagstaff House, revealing that the erstwhile Mahama government auctioned 200 vehicles to its officials before ceding power to the current administration.



He stated that, per his investigations, records for these cars are not adequate which makes the sale questionable.



He further recounted that the NDC also took away about 144 cars in 2001 and another trend happened in 2009 after former President John Agyekum Kufour exited government.



Mahama's Ford...Interesting Twist



He also debunked claims that the Ford Expedition that was given as a gift to former President John Dramani Mahama was not in the fleet of cars at the Flagstaff House.



According to him, the Ford Expedition is not missing; "it's at the Flagstaff House. It is there but theres an interesting thing. The NDC list that they issued by a certain Johnny Osei Kofi, when you go to that list; you wont see the Ford there. Its not on the list. I have gone for a copy of also the Administrator Generals list. I have also scanned through, the Ford is not listed. These are problematic areas in terms of record keeping. But incidentally, I have a copy of what the Logistics Officer of the office of the President handed over, interestingly I found it there."

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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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Over the last 48-hours or so, a cartoon depicting a stereotypical bimbo picking up a book and morphing into an apparent smart / normal woman has been going viral on social media.

Imagine carrying a child for 9 months & give birth & take care of them for years for them to grow up to be the person who created this? pic.twitter.com/CaTCVjMytL  boqor riya. (@hausofriya) February 15, 2017

The image has been shared thousands of times across various channels, with most people expressing disgust at the sexist messages in the image. Yknow  hot women arent smart, smart women arent hot, the usual sexist crap we did away with the death of lads mags.

Some people have even fixed it.

He corregido la historia porque mejor cutre que misogina. pic.twitter.com/oDLUC3GW9G  Maggie McGill (@MaggieMacGill) February 14, 2017

Translation: I have corrected the story because better crappy than misogynist.



As it turns out, the image is actually a piece of erotica from a fetish called bimbo transformation, and the artist  who goes by Sortimid on DeviantArt  had no idea it would prove so controversial.

S/he even created a Twitter account to attempt to explain the image in a public forum.

It is called bimbo transformation, they wrote in a series of tweets to one of the images most outspoken critics. Its audience is aroused by the idea of a person becoming a hypersexualised stereotype. It represents people losing their inhibitions, enjoying their sexuality. Some people, like the client who commissioned the image  also enjoy seeing the process in reverse.

The artist also identified as a feminist, which uh  didnt go down well with some critics.

@MaggieMacGill I apologize if you feel Im not worthy to support you. It doesnt change what I believe.  Sortimid (@SortimidArt) February 14, 2017

@MaggieMacGill I also apologize for insulting you with my image. Is there something else I can do that would help?  Sortimid (@SortimidArt) February 14, 2017

Part of the reason Sortimid had no idea the image would cause such outrage is that theyve been creating art for this fetish for at least five years.

The fetish also includes men transforming into female bimbos.

The intense scrutiny became so fierce that Sortimid updated the images original post to include an apology.

Many people are understandably upset about this image. It was never my intention to make a sexist proclamation but it seems that, inadvertently, I have done just that. I firmly believe women should be free to look and act any way they want. Ive maintained this position in the images comments from the moment it was posted. This image is not a statement, its meant to satisfy a clients kink. I honestly did not expect an audience outside the transformation porn community. If I have offended you, I apologise.

But the image being taken out of context  that is, being shared outside of Deviantart  isnt to say its not sexist. It is, and Sortimid freely admits that.

In a blog post about the controversy, they wrote:

Bimbofication is, undeniably, a sexist fantasy. I was very conflicted about this. In everyday life, I like to consider myself a feminist. Can I support feminism and womens rights while harbouring sexist fantasies? What if I create work that caters to others sexist fantasies? After all, we dont choose what turns us on. I believe erotic art is a way to indulge sexist fantasies safely and harmlessly. However, its nature as porn needs to be clear. In the end, thats what caused the outrage: outside its context, people mistook a sexist, fetishistic fantasy for a statement about the real world. Its also the reason I apologised; not for creating the image, but for unintentionally offending with its statement. Most of my artwork is obviously sexual, so people can dismiss it without reading too much into it. I suspect that, because De-bimbofication isnt clearly identifiable as porn, people assumed it must be some sort of social commentary.

Both BuzzFeed and Spanish-language website Magnet wrote about the controversy, and since then, Sortimid writes that the hate directed her way has transformed into a hatred of outrage culture.

Finally, now it seems weve come full circle, they wrote. People are outraged about the outrage.







All photos: Sortimid via DeviantArt.
This summer has been absolutely brutal  not just for us, but for Gods purest angels, our sweet doggos. The latest in a string of heat-related pet deaths is Ruby, a four-year-old boxer who died of heatstroke after staying at a Sunshine Coast boarding kennel.

Rubys owner has now joined a growing community of grieving pet owners whose beloved animals have died in kennel care.

The website Boarding Kennel and Cattery Reform Australia has been set up to document the tragic stories, and to call for changes to the laws around pet boarding. A Change.org petition is also currently active, calling for the introduction of registry and regulation and a standard code of practice in all boarding kennels, and has nearly reached its 15,000 signature goal.

Ruby is the fifth dog documented on the Kennel Reform Australia website to have died in Queensland kennels. According to her owner, who has chosen to remain anonymous, Ruby suffered heatstroke on New Years Day, despite being 100% healthy when she was left at the kennel. Her owner is also calling for widespread kennel accreditation:

As day care centres need to be accredited, relevant processes and practices also need to be applied to kennels both to prevent these situations from happening, and to support and protect animals, their families, as well as the kennel owners.

Currently, there is no Australia-wide animal welfare policy in place; it varies from state to state, and the quality of kennel care appears to reflect that inconsistency.

The woman behind both the website and the Change.org petition is Jayne Cvetanoski, from Newcastle, who told the Courier Mail that her actions are in response to a recent spate of unrelated pet deaths in kennels throughout Australia, explaining:

Councils need to crack down and put regulations on how many animals can be in a kennel, what kinds of kennels, if they should be air conditioned, what qualified staff they have there, do they have access to vet care and other policies and procedures.

A forum will be held in NSW this month to discuss possible reform of pet boarding regulations, with representatives of the RSPCA, PIAA, the Australian Veterinary Association, other animal welfare organisations, and some government officials attending.

Source: Courier Mail.

Image: Boarding Kennel and Cattery Reform Australia.
Its a classic manoeuvre: pretend youre friends with a person whose public profile is greater than your own and hope no one finds out youre full of shit.

But deliciously vain ex-Bachelor contestant / current Im A Celebrity contestant Keira Maguire got found out doing just that on national television, outed by the very person who she claims to be best friends with: model Kris Smith.

The Melbourne personality told everyone whod listen about their close personal friendship when she first joined the rest of the cast in the African jungle.

I know Kris. We see each other all the time, she said.

Fast forward to a piece-to-camera with Kris himself, in which he clarifies they met one time.

We used to live in a similar suburb  a friend of mine owns a bar and Id always go down and have a drink. She introduced herself to me in that bar. Nice to meet you, quick chat  off I went.

Back at the campsite, Keira tried extra hard to cement their faux-friendship in front of everyone.

Kris, do you think its weird that Im in here? she asked him. Do I think its weird? Why?, he shot back. Cos, like, did you even know that I went on The Bachelor? You told me when I saw you once. Oh yeah. I just didnt know if you knew.

In private, Kris cracked it to the cameras.

Why would I be surprised that [shes] here?! She thinks were best of mates and  I dont really know her at all.

When comedian and fellow contestant Nazeem Hussain caught a second alone with Kris later on, he couldnt help riling him up about it.

Seems like youre downplaying your friendship, he jibed.

Shes upstaging it. Massively. Did you know I was on The Bachelor? Yeah, you told me on one of the five times Ive ever met you in my life!, Kris said.

Keiras face when she gets booted and watches all this back:

Photo: The Bachelor.
Never ask a question you dont already know the answer to. Any lawyer will tell you that.

Twitter polls are a bit the same. Particularly if youre a politician looking to smugly reaffirm your own views on topics.

Only problem with that is you need to have the self-awareness to realise both a) who youre asking, and b) what theyre likely to answer.

Somehow One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts  the one who managed to accumulate a grand total of 77 first preference votes in the election  has gotten it into his head that his batshit crazy and profoundly baseless empirical evidence arguments against climate change are, in fact, the majority mindset.

To back this up, old mate took to Twitter with a poll asking people what should be done with the $5billion of funds the Federal Government currently spends on green energy.

It could not have backfired on him any more spectacularly.

You can practically see his little-shit-on-the-bus-flicking-tickets-who-bursts-into-tears-when-someone-finally-arcs-up-at-him lookin ass smugly poring over the keyboard, utterly convinced that the Green Energy option was gonna get duck eggs.

Course when it very obviously didnt, owing to the fact that on the subject of climate change he is both wrong and an idiot, Senator Roberts natural reaction was to go searching for excuses.

I think my poll has been rigged by the clean coal industry wanting their share of the $5 billion in taxpayer green subsidies. https://t.co/8dwOJhviQL  Sen. Malcolm Roberts (@SenatorMRoberts) February 16, 2017

Yeah. Yeah, thats gotta be it, m8.

Unsatisfied with that result, Roberts decided to run yet another poll in an attempt to rinse those who voted in the first one.

Would you believe that not only did that too go awry, but it rumbled him even more spectacularly than the first.

What are ya! A bloody SOCIALIST or someth-

Yes.

oh.

My goddddd.

Course none of this will constitute any of the empirical evidence of public support for climate action that Roberts keeps bleating on about. As far as hes concerned, that shit is probably resting in a dusty binder hard up against the actual Holy Grail.

Here lies Malcolm. Felled by his own online hubris.

Source: Twitter.
An extremely dangerous synthetic opioid called Carfentanyl has been discovered by the Australian Border Force at a Brisbane mail centre, prompting Queensland police to issue an urgent warning.

Carfentanyl is a structural analog of fentanyl  the opiate that caused Princes accidental death last year  but is much, much stronger.

At about 10,000 times stronger than morphine, its one of the most potent opioids currently being manufactured, and its side effects include itching, nausea, and most worryingly, fatal respiratory depression. It is illegal in Australia, but overseas is most commonly used as a large animal tranquilliser, i.e. zoos use it to knock out elephants. This is not a drug for humans.

Police Minister Mark Ryan explained to the Brisbane Times:

I am advised that Carfentanyl is a highly toxic and potent synthetic based drug, with a 0.002mg dose enough to kill a person. The fact that this illegal drug has been located in Queensland is very concerning and together with the police, we are urging people to not take any risks at all with this illicit drug.

For some perspective, that lethal dose of 0.002mg is less than a grain of salt. I just cannot overstate how dangerous this stuff is.

Carfentanyl comes in the form of a white powder, and is notorious for popping up in heroin supplies in China and North America, causing mass overdoses. Carfentanyl is also potent enough to cause significant risk to anyone who comes into contact with it, even on their skin or eyes.





Detective Superintendent Jon Wacker of the Queensland Police Service Drug and Serious Crime Group told reporters:

Make no mistake, these are not party drugs. These are dangerous drugs and its not a matter of if it will kill you. This drug will kill you.

Stay safe, friends. Elephant tranqs are just not to be trifled with.

Source: Queensland Police / Brisbane Times / ABC.

Photo: St. Thomas Police Service.
U.S. President Donald Trumps bullshit is coming very close to reaching critical mass, and the media is still trying to rationalise  hell, trying to explain  Trumps first combative, deceptive, and anti-factual press conference as Commander in Chief.

Seriously, there was a lot to unpack. While the channels Trump has repeatedly branded as fake news are doing their best to work through it all, Late Night with Seth Meyers figured itd shoulder some of the load, too.

Tearing through some of the conferences more egregious moments, the eponymous host latched onto Trumps repeated dismissals, put-downs and apparent belief that sinking a Russian ship would be a bloody gr8 thing to do.

Notably, Meyers also tore into Trumps response to a question about meeting the Congressional Black Caucus. Trump insinuated no such meeting had been organised, and asked the African-American journalist who asked the question if she knew em.

Welp, in addition to Meyers pretty solid take that its racist to assume all black people know each other. You dont know all orange people, the group in question went ahead and posted this:

Hi, @realDonaldTrump. Were the CBC. We sent you a letter on January 19, but you never wrote us back. Sad! Letter: https://t.co/58KiuHmITF  The CBC (@OfficialCBC) February 16, 2017

Thanks to all of that, you may have a better idea of how truly gacked the whole deal was. Watch the clip from 4:30 below:

Source and photo: Late Night with Seth Meyers / YouTube.
Niche fragrance houses are really having their moment  more and more youre finding yourself sniffing your mates and saying whats that youre wearing? only to be told its some obscure scent from a perfume house youve never heard of before.

If there was an unofficial top three niche fragrance houses list, Le Labo is surely up there. But its for more than just the fact they have some killer perfumes in their extensive range. Theyre doing some pretty cool things in the fragrance space, and we are 100% here for it.

Up until now Le Labo was only available in Mecca stores around Oz, which is cool coz they have the full range and lets be real  Mecca is a beauty lovers heaven so were never gonna be sad to go in there. But with the announcement that theyre opening their first Aussie flagship in Melbourne at the end of March, we thought wed school you up on why this cult brand is so A+.

ALL PRODUCTS ARE 100% VEGAN





Perfumes, candles, hand soaps  all vegan. And none of its tested on animals, so you can pamper yourself without a worry in the world.

THE FABOOSH FRAGRANCES ARE UNISEX





If youre so loved-up that you want to create a fragrance collection that is completely shared, Le Labo are your guys. All their scents are designed to be just as lush on a gals skin as a guys, and a lot of this is to do with they way they combine their fragrance notes.

Take their ROSE 31 for example  sounds pretty feminine, yeah? And while rose is the hero here, theyve thrown in some cumin, cedar and amber to ground it. Basically, these arent your run of the mill perfumes  be prepared for people to stop you in the street and ask what youre wearing. FYI, Justin Bieber is reportedly a SANTAL 33 fan.

EVERYTHING IS MIXED ON-SITE, RIGHT BEFORE YOUR EYES









The cool thing about Le Labo opening a Melbs store next month is you can finally get amongst their unique, mix-in-house method. Basically, say you decide to buy a bottle of LYS 41. You dont just pick up your bottle and scoot out of there; theyll mix you your own, fresh batch.

YOU CAN PERSONALISE YOUR PARFUM

All Le Labo fragrances can be printed with your name, where and when it was mixed or something else cute that fits within 23 characters. Want to add even more fance? Engrave your initials onto their gorge solid perfume cases.

The very first Le Labo Aussie standalone store opens in Melbs on 183 Gertrude St, Fitzroy sometime late in March, so check their site for further updates on the offish opening day.

While we have you: want enough $$$ to buy every Le Labo scent in existence? How about entering our lil comp right here, where you can win a lump sum of $20k:

HERE IS YOUR CHANCE TO WIN $20K! ENTER HERE NOW!

Images: Supplied.
A Somali woman walks through the halls of the Pillsbury United Community Centre in Minneapolis, Minn., on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017. The centre is a main meeting place for the large local Somali community and is where an immigration centre has been set up to try and help people interested in leaving the United States. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Triple murderer Douglas Garland will learn today if he will spend the rest of his life in prison when he is sentenced in a Calgary courtroom. Garland is escorted into a Calgary police station in connection with the disappearance of Nathan O'Brien and his grandparents, in Calgary in a July 14, 2014, file photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2017, file photo, Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the Republican congressional retreat in Philadelphia. Pence is making his debut on the world stage with a trip to Germany and Belgium designed to reassure European and Mideast partners about U.S. foreign policy. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
Harbor Springs women reflect on Ukraine war after time with refugees

Julie Bacon and Sujo Offield of Harbor Springs went to Poland in March to help refugees fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.
Mexico, NAFTA and energy on the same side



No doubt about it: NAFTA favors Mexico when it comes to energy NEW YORK

Petroleumworld.com 02 17 2017

When it comes to NAFTA and energy, there is no doubt that Mexico gets the better end of the deal with a series of special carve outs for its national industry. The result has been an unbalanced, incongruous relationship between the United States, Mexico and Canada. In other words, when it comes to energy, NAFTA is anything but free trade .

Take the following examples from chapter six of NAFTA, addressing energy trade:

An American company is permitted to open a power plant in Mexico to generate power for Texas, but, according to the provisions carved out for Mexico's nationalized energy industry, the power plant would have to sell all of its excess power to Mexico's Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) at the rate negotiated by CFE. ( Annex 602.3(5) ) If a cogeneration plant is built in Mexico with the express purpose of providing power for a Canadian company's factory in Mexico, then, according to NAFTA, it must sell any excess power to CFE. ( Annex 602.3(5)(b) ) In both cases, the American and Canadian operations face a disadvantage in price negotiations because they are required to sell excess power to CFE only.

When it comes to oil and gas exploration, NAFTA includes a provision requiring the three countries to maintain incentives to encourage companies to find new energy reserves. ( Article 608.1 ) However, in the special provisions, Mexico is exempted from incentivizing  or even permitting  private exploration and development. This special provision makes clear that the Mexican State reserves to itself all E&P, nuclear power, foreign trade, transportation, storage, distribution and electrical supply within its own borders. ( Annex 602.3(1) ). In the U.S. and Canada, free trade in energy exploration must be promoted. In Mexico, the government can do what it chooses .

Mexico is allowed to restrict the granting of import and export licenses for the sole purpose of reserving foreign trade in a variety of energy goods including (but not limited to): aviation fuel, gasoline, shale and tar sands, diesel oil, most forms of commercial gasses and kerosene. ( Annex 603.6 ). The U.S. and Canada must keep import and export licenses open.

These carve outs meant to favor Mexico's national energy industries have not been kind to Mexico's economy, energy supply or business development. Mexico has insisted one form or another of nationalized energy for almost a century . Basic tenants of capitalism explain that a closed, national energy regime prohibits competition, leading to misalignment of resources and prices. Absent a truly robust and well-managed system in Mexico, this is what happened.

In 2014, historically low levels of oil production, higher energy consumption and depleted oil reserves led Mexico amend its constitution to open Mexico's state energy industries to foreign investment. These changes permitted the Mexican government to auction off certain oil and gas leases to foreign, private companies for development and to allow foreign companies to participate in owning pipelines, refineries, petrochemical plants and even electricity generation. Mexico also committed to bringing gasoline and natural gas prices in line with market prices rather than setting them artificially.

Although the process has not always been smooth  Mexico is experiencing gasoline shortages and spikes in gasoline prices, in part, as a result of these efforts  the overall trend towards liberalization in Mexico's energy industry is promising. Many companies have bid for offshore leases to produce oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico and the opportunities to invest in Mexican energy businesses are growing.

Since the Mexican state is no longer the only legal investor, owner, producer, buyer and seller of energy and energy products in Mexico, there is now a potential to renegotiate chapter six of NAFTA and eliminate the special provisions and carve outs for Mexico. This would not only help improve Mexico's energy situation, but improve trade relations amongst the three North American trade partners.








Federal prosecutors charged three employees of a Montgomery County tree-removal company this week with conspiring to hire undocumented workers using false identification and Social Security numbers.

Asplundh Tree Expert Inc. fired employees, including about 100 in the Philadelphia region, after a federal audit in 2009 found that they were not eligible for work in the United States. But many of those workers were re-hired under fake identification and Social Security numbers, federal prosecutors said.

Asplundh is based in Willow Grove, and removes brush and vegetation from electric and gas lines. Much of the company's work is based on contracts with utilities, including Peco, and federal, state, and local governments. An Asplundh spokeswoman said the company had no comment Friday.

Unauthorized immigrants account for 21 percent of workers in the landscaping industry, according to a 2014 analysis by the Pew Research Center, with about 300,000 undocumented workers in landscaping jobs across the country.

The charges against Asplundh's employees were announced this week as President Trump reiterated promises to crack down on illegal immigration. Members of the Asplundh family have long been contributors to Republican candidates. A political action committee in the company's name gave more than $470,000 to Republican candidates during the 2016 election, including $10,000 to Trump, according to campaign finance records.

A 2009 audit of Asplundh workers by Homeland Security Investigations showed that the company had "a number of employees" who were ineligible to work in the U.S., according to the criminal information filings.

A worker's status can be checked using E-verify, a database managed by the Department of Homeland Security that confirms whether a Social Security number matches an employee's identity.

After Asplundh's audit, prosecutors allege, workers fired for being undocumented were rehired under false identities.

Larry Gauger, a regional manager charged with conspiracy, "instructed management that it would have 'plausible deniability' as to the fraudulent hiring because even though the employees' Social Security numbers did not truly belong to these employees, the employees' proffered Social Security numbers would be positive matches in the E-verify database."

Arthur Donato Jr., Gauger's lawyer, said Friday that he could not comment on the details of the case.

"Mr. Gauger is a good man," Donato said. "He has been with the company for a long time, and we're going to be taking a look at everything and deciding how to proceed."

Jude Solis and Juan Rodriguez, supervisors for Asplundh, were also charged this week with conspiracy and fraud. Prosecutors said Gauger instructed the supervisors, instead of compliance officers, to manage the tasks of hiring and compliance.

Solis and Rodriguez could not immediately be reached for comment. They did not have attorneys listed in court documents.
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.
As he has done every year since 1982, Woody Allen has been working on a new movie; this one is slated to be released later in 2017. And after dipping his toes back into the Hudson River with last year's Cafe Society, it seems his latest film will bring Allen back to his hometown borough.

According to Woody Allen Pages, the new movie is called Wonder Wheel, after the famous ferris wheel located in Coney Island. This marks the director's first return to the Boardwalk since 1977's Annie Hall. The Wonder Wheel happened to make a cameo in that movie as well.

The film, which reportedly takes place in the 1950s in and around the amusement park, stars Kate Winslet, Justin Timberlake, Juno Temple, Jim Belushi, and at least a few former Sopranos cast members (including Paulie!). There are already release dates for France, Netherlands, Australia and more, but no definite release for America yet, although it's speculated it could come sometime in July 2017.

"I feel the Wonder Wheel is not just a piece of old New York, its New York itself," Steven Vourderis, who runs the Ferris wheel with his brother Dennis, told Brooklyn Paper. "Its a modern marvel and who better to highlight it and Coney Island than Woody Allen? Its terrific that he named it after the Wonder Wheel, it really is."

"Woody Allen movies are always a big event and the fact that its set here and named after the Wonder Wheel, I feel this will help further highlight the amusement park, added Dick Zigun, the so-called 'Mayor of Coney Island.' "And I know this means much to the continuing legend of Coney Island. Itll keep the lore alive."

Timberlake spoke to Variety about the movie back in the fall: "All day Im thinking about what Woody was going to say to me on set, like, Man, hes gonna annihilate me. I think we all have a level of anxiety. I have it. Ive had panic attacks."
Derek Harrell, 59, of Roxborough, a retired Philadelphia police officer who served on the force for 20 years, died Sunday, Feb. 12, of organ failure.

"It was his life dream to become a police officer," said his widow, Carol. "He loved helping people."

A Police Department spokeswoman confirmed that Mr. Harrell joined the force in 1987 and retired in 2007. Carol Harrell said her husband served in several districts over his career, including the 25th, 12th, 18th, and 92nd.

Mr. Harrell was born in October 1957 to Robert D. and Richardean Harrell, and was the oldest of three children. After graduating from Benjamin Franklin High School, he worked as a painter for Common Pleas Court for several years before joining the police.

Mr. Harrell was considered the unofficial "mayor" of his block, his wife said.

"He could never go outside and not have 20 people driving by and blowing their horn to say hello or stopping to talk for a while," Carol Harrell said.

"The one thing everybody always said about him was that 'Derek is a good guy. He will do anything for everybody.' "

When he was not working, Mr. Harrell loved to spend his time rebuilding, repairing and driving race cars, she said.

"Cars were his main passion. He loved to race cars at Atco, and we would always go to the annual car shows at Wildwood. We would make a weekend of it."

One of Mr. Harrell's pride and joys was the 1973 Ford Mustang convertible that had been his wife's first car. "He rebuilt it and took it to the race track in Atco," she said. "He made it into a race car."

Carol Harrell was 17 when she met her future husband, then 19, in Strawberry Mansion. Although they both lived on 29th Street, about a block apart, they had gone to different high schools and had not met before a day she saw him riding a unicycle.

"I looked out the window and saw him. I thought he was handsome," she said. So she asked her brother to introduce him to her.

When Mr. Harrell came over, they sat on the front steps and started talking. "We were inseparable since then," she said. They were married for 35 years and had been a couple for 40, she said.

In addition to his wife and father, Mr. Harrell is survived by a sister and a brother.

A viewing will be at 10 am. Monday, Feb. 20, at Shiloh Apostolic Church, 1500 Master St. A funeral service will follow at 11 a.m. Interment will be at Mount Peace Cemetery.
The "fine-tuned machine" that is the Trump administration achieved another tremendous milestone yesterday when Donald Trump held his first solo press conference as president. It was such a complete and total and utter and incredible and amazing and huge success, Rush Limbaugh said it was one of the greatest ever! The late night comedians were also across the board impressed with the level of sophistication and nuance Trump brought to the single most batshit crazy press conference in presidential history.

Watch below as Seth Meyers identifies all of Trump's different tactics for avoiding answering questions on Russia, lists all the historical instances in which presidents had to say they weren't "ranting and raving" at the media ("Who could forget Lincoln's tirade at Gettysburg, or FDR's fireside meltdowns, or Ronald Reagan famously saying, 'Mr. Gorbachev, if you don't tear down this fucking wall, I'm gonna lose my shit!'"), and all the many petty grievances, slights, and false claims Trump pushed.

And don't forget about his blatantly racist interaction with a black reporter: "It's racist to assume all black people know each other," Meyers said. "You don't know all orange people. Hey Donald, can you set up a meeting with Snookie and the Lorax?"

"This was just him, by himself," Stephen Colbert said at the start of his show about the 'stress conference.' "Evidently, he didn't even bring his meds with him, it was just him, alone." Colbert was equally impressed with Trump's ability to deflect all blame from himself: "He started off by defending the rough start his administration has had by immediately attacking Americas true enemy: anybody but him." Watch below as Colbert points out what Trump truly inherited ("You inherited a fortune, we elected a mess") and has a revelation about his erroneous electoral college boasting: "Do you think 306 is larger than 365? Wow, Betsy DeVos works quick."

And over at The Daily Show, Trevor Noah discussed how they had to rip up their plans for last night's show because "Hurricane Trump happened, again." Noah was also mesmerized by Trump's insistence on spouting incorrect facts about his electoral victory, and impressed with the NBC News reporters who called him out on it to his face: "I dont know who that reporter is, but he just shoved Trumps face in that like it was a pile of bullshit and he was training a bad dog. Look what you did! Look at it! Bad Trump!'" Noah said.

"Youre the president," he added. "Thats the information you were given? If you cant trust your president to get the right information on a Googlable fact, then can you really trust him with the harder stuff? Which, by the way, is everything else the president of the United States has to deal with."
[UPDATE BELOW]: President Trump's pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, has spent the majority of his career fighting against the EPA, having served as an outspoken ally of the fossil fuel industry and, as Oklahoma's attorney general, repeatedly suing the agency over protective policies. So, unsurprisingly, the folks who work at the EPA are aghast at the prospect of having him as their boss, and they're lobbying their senators in hopes of getting his confirmationset for todayblocked.

The Times reports that scientists, environmental lawyers and policy experts within the EPA are terrified that Pruitt and Trump, who denies that climate change is real, will undo the regulations set by the agency. Trump is already reportedly preparing to sign executive orders on the EPA as soon as Pruitt is confirmed, with a source inside the administration telling Inside EPA the orders could suck the air out of the room, which is not a great metaphor for the department in charge of keeping air breathable. It's likely at least one of the orders will have something to do with the United States' participation in the Paris climate deal, which Trump has vowed to void, because fuck it, who needs civilization?

Though it is incredibly rare for workers in a bureaucracy to attempt to block their cabinet pick, EPA workers say Pruitt, who sued the EPA at least 14 times as Oklahoma's AG, has a record showing him to be a comrade-in-arms with the anti-climate change, anti-regulation Trump administration. E.P.A. staff are pretty careful. Theyre risk-averse, Judith Enck, who left the EPA last month, told the Times. If people are saying and doing things like this, its because theyre really concerned.

As for former EPA employees, nearly 800 have signed a letter also asking senators to block Pruitts nomination.

Lovers of the environment shared by all life on earth fear Pruitt will roll back Obama regulations like the Clean Power Plan and the Waters of the U.S. rule. It seems like Trump and Pruitt want a complete reversal of what E.P.A. has done. I dont know if theres any other agency thats been so reviled. So its in our interests to do this," EPA lawyer Nicole Cantello said.

Pruitt will probably be confirmed, with two Democratic senators Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin III of West Virginiaset to vote for him. Only Maine senator Susan Collins has vowed to oppose him on the Republican side. Still, Pruitt will hopefully face an uphill battle within the agency, considering the opposition to him within it. What it means is that its going to be a blood bath when Pruitt gets in there, Christine Todd Whitman, who served as EPA administrator under George W. Bush, told the Times. Civil Service laws will make it difficult for Pruitt to boot employees who disagree with his policies, but the White House can change those laws.

Meanwhile, an Oklahoma judge ruled yesterday that 3,000 emails Pruitt sent as Oklahoma AG must be released, a move environmental groups hope will dig deeper into his cozy relationship with fossil fuel companies. The bad news is that judge gave the AG's office until Tuesday to release those emails, and the Senate will vote on Pruitt today. Groups like Greenpeace are calling on the Senate to delay the vote until after the emails are released.

Todays ruling is just the sort of transparency that people have been demanding and that the Trump administration has been working desperately to cover up," Greenpeace spokesperson Travis Nichols said in a statement. "Instead of allowing the release of these documents to inform their decision, the Senate is attempting to rush through a vote. The question is, what are they afraid of? The see-no-evil approach is not going to work for America."

Update 1:19 p.m.: Pruitt was confirmed by the Senate this afternoon, by a vote of 52 to 46.

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman issued the following fiery statement:
In the most embarrassing thing to happen to the Jets this offseason since owner Woody Johnson joined the Trump administration as their ambassador to the United Kingdom, cornerback Darrelle Revis has been accused of knocking out two Pittsburgh men after an altercation on the street.

Multiple outlets have reported that Revis was charged with aggravated assault, robbery, conspiracy and terroristic threats by Pittsburgh police after a late-night encounter with at least two men in Pittsburgh's South Side. The Daily News, rudely calling the admittedly slowed-down Revis "a fading cornerback," reports that the confrontation started when a 22-year-old man recorded himself talking to Revis, and then following him around while still recording the encounter on his phone.

Revis allegedly grabbed the man's phone and tried to delete this video, and the 22-year-old and another man, a 21-year-old, tried to get the phone back. What happened next is unclear, but police found the men unconscious on the street, and they allege Revis knocked them out.

Revis's attorney, Blaine Jones, told Pittsburgh's WTAE that Revis did not knock the two men out, and that "he tried to retreat" and "de-escalate the situation." If any punches were in fact thrown by Revis, his attorney says they were thrown in self-defense. Jones also told ESPN that Revis was approached by five men, and that he thought he was being robbed.

While Revis isn't in custody at the moment, his lawyer told the News the cornerback will turn himself in soon. Should Revis stand trial for the incident, my advice is that he ask for a change of venue, since the Jets are winless in their last three trips to the Steel City.
Tomorrow morning at 10:01 a.m. EST (15:01 UTC), a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to blast off from launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center. NASA TV coverage begins at 8:30 a.m.

This is a pretty big deal, for several reasons: It's SpaceX's first east coast launch since a Falcon 9 exploded at Cape Canaveral last September. It's the first NASA-contracted mission since that accident. And it's the first flight from SpaceX's new launch facility at KSC pad 39A, where Saturn rockets and space shuttles have soared into space since the 1960s.

Here is everything you need to know about the mission.

SpaceX leases pad 39A from NASA.

Two launch pads were built during the Apollo program to host the mighty Saturn V moon rocket: 39A and 39B. The pads were then repurposed for space shuttle flights. After the shuttles retired in 2011, NASA decided they only needed a single pad, since the shuttle's successor vehicle, the Space Launch System, will have a comparatively low flight rate. In 2014, NASA leased 39A to SpaceX on a 20-year agreement. The company is responsible for operating and maintaining the facility at their own expense.
VIDEO: Injured OH Officer Returns to Patrol After 7 Years

Columbus, OH, Police Officer Michael Shannon returned to patrol work at the 19th precinct Tuesday afternoon to the sound of bagpipes blaring. The day was significant for Shannon, 41, who had not worked patrol for nearly seven years after he was shot in the line of duty. And Columbus police had a welcoming party for him to mark the occasion, reports the Columbus Dispatch.

"I'm ready to go back to work," he told a group of reporters before beginning his patrol of the Hilltop area.

On March 13, 2010, a man he was pursuing at a Far West Side apartment complex opened fire on him. He nearly lost a leg when a bullet shattered the femur.

"I knew I could come back," he said. "Injuries don't stop you. You can get through anything you want to. You just have to put your mind to it."

Shannon has worn out about seven to eight pairs of crutches. He's been in and out of hospitals with nine surgeries on his leg. He worked light-duty assignments helping at the police academy until he was able to go back to patrol.

The man who shot Officer Shannon is serving a 17-year prison sentence.
A protest in downtown Tucson against President Trumps immigration law enforcement policies escalated Thursday evening. Three officers sustained minor injuries in clashes with demonstrators; no one was taken to a hospital, said Tucson Police Sgt. Pete Dugan.

One officer was hit in the face and another in the back, Dugan said. He wasnt sure how the third was injured.

Three men were arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault on a police officer, Dugan said. A woman was arrested on suspicion of obstructing, and of failing to identify herself,

The protest was peaceful until many started to enter the roadway, disrupting traffic on Congress. An officer was struck from behind and when officers tried to take a suspect into custody, members of the crowd surrounded the officers, moving closer. Some protesters locked arms and got in front of a police vehicle. Police used pepper spray to disperse the crowd, the Arizona Daily Star reports.
Today, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) issued a statement of support for the re-introduction of S. 424, the Law Enforcement Officers Equity Act, co-sponsored by Senators Corey Booker (D-NJ) and Rob Portman (R-OH).

The bill would allow federal law enforcement officers who are not covered by the FERS law enforcement officer retirement system, to transition into that system. Currently, due to a technical error, Postal Police Officers, VA Police Officers, FBI Police Officers, and 30,000 others are barred from the FERS law enforcement retirement. This act would correct that issue.

In response to the legislation, FLEOA President Nathan Catura said, "It is preposterous that this technical glitch has barred these federal law enforcement officers from their rightful retirement system. They are on the front lines of protecting Americans every day and have earned a law enforcement officers retirement."

Upon introduction of the bill, Senator Booker stated, "There is perhaps no harder job in the United States than that of law enforcement officers. Each day, brave men and women work under tremendously stressful conditions to keep our communities safe. From apprehending violent criminals to arresting drug kingpins, these brave men and women in uniform put their lives on the line for a higher cause. We owe them our sincerest gratitude for their service."

FLEOA thanks the Fraternal Order of Police and the Law Enforcement Action Network for their support for this legislation and looks forward to its swift passage.

For more information about FLEOA, visit www.fleoa.org.
Agencies that understand the investigative power of vehicle location intelligence are generating more leads, solving more crimes, apprehending more violent offenders, enhancing officer safety, and better protecting the communities they serve.

As a former NYPD Lieutenant Commander of Detectives, I have conducted hundreds of investigations, many with the help of license plate recognition (LPR) technology. And every time the topic of LPR comes up, people inevitably want to talk about the cameras. Maybe thats because the cameras can easily be seen and touched. But, in reality, the real power is in the LPR data.

Cameras Capture Data and Data Helps Solve Crimes

The camera serves a twofold, specific, and targeted purpose: to capture anonymous, publicly available license plate data, and send alerts to a police car. Heres how that data capture works:

The cameras take pictures of the plates required by law to be visible in public.

The software reads the characters on the plate and notes the date, time and location of the image capture.

No personal data is collected and access to the data is governed by a strong federal law called the Drivers Privacy Protection Act (DPPA).

It is what goes on behind the scenes after the data is captured that makes LPR such a valuable tool for law enforcement. Thats when the data becomes more than just data; its when the data becomes vehicle location intelligence, valuable to law enforcement in three important ways:

Analytics Prediction Real-time alerts

Time and again, I have seen how vehicle location intelligence helps law enforcement develop leads, solve crimes, and stay safe on the job.

Analytics Power the Data

How? Through powerful analytical capabilities that enable agencies to develop leads and solve crimes quicker and more efficiently. For example, partial plate searches, as well as being able to filter by year, make, model, time, date, and location enable law enforcement to quickly verify what license plates were scanned in the area around a set of crime scenes. This provides more than a simple dump of scans from a camera  it provides actionable, workable intelligence.

From there, agencies can analyze and identify a plate or plates common to multiple crime scenes. In a matter of minutes, one officer sitting at his desk can identify a potential lead in a pattern or serial crime simply by analyzing historical vehicle location data or detections.

Once a plate or vehicle of interest is identified, the same historical data can help investigators predict where that vehicle can be found.

Sample Case: Take for example, the case of a hit and run involving a 9-year old girl who was holding her mothers hand as they crossed the street. The child was struck by a sport-utility vehicle. The police had a general description of the vehicle and a partial plate. They performed a partial plate search of the LPR data and identified a suspect plate through the search. They then took that suspect plate and searched Vigilant Solutions Commercial LPR data and shared LPR data from neighboring agencies. The search returned images of the suspect vehicle. The mother and eyewitnesses can then confirm that it was in fact the vehicle that struck the girl.

Predictive Intelligence Is Better than Guessing

Once a plate or vehicle of interest is identified, the same historical data can help investigators predict where that vehicle can be found. By looking back at previous scans and scoring methodology, they can identify a set of locations where the vehicle is most likely to be, and even give investigators the location type (residence, business, etc.). They can even compare how many times a vehicle has been seen versus the number of times an LPR unit scanned at that location for a percentage seen; essentially reporting a canvass seen rate. Again, this allowed further development of vehicle location intelligence for investigators, while maximizing resources. All thanks to the power of the data.

Real-Time Alerts Improve Situational Awareness

Now lets go one step further into this hypothetical investigation. Investigators have identified the vehicle and the locations where the vehicle is most likely to be found. Investigators now have probable cause to add the license plate to a hotlist of vehicles of interest. Upon sending officers to the suspects likely residence and work place, the vehicle isnt there, but officers are posted to wait for its return.

At the same time, a patrol officer across town or even an officer across the state, gets a real-time alert as they pass the vehicle of interest on a hotlist at a shopping mall. With permissible purpose to access DMV records and determine the owner of the vehicle under the Driver Privacy Protection Act, the officer is able to determine the driver has a history of violence and aggression. This real-time intelligence leads to a call for backup, and officers apprehend the person of interest without incident, and turn the suspect over to the investigating officers.

All of the vehicle location intelligence in the scenario, from identification to location prediction and real-time situational intelligence for officers, would only be possible thanks to data, not just a camera. Agencies that understand the investigative power of vehicle location intelligence are generating more leads, solving more crimes, apprehending more violent offenders, enhancing officer safety, and better protecting the communities they serve. In the end, thats what it all about.
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Despite the new Washington Post report that Michael Flynn lied to the FBI about his communications with Russia, its still up to Donald Trumps Department of Justice to pursue any charges against him.

As the newspaper reported: Any decision to prosecute would ultimately lie with the Justice Department.

This means that Flynn  who spoke with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak about sanctions prior to taking office  will likely get off scot-free.

Not only is the Justice Department now run by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, but Trump himself said at todays unhinged press conference that he doesnt think there was anything wrong with what Flynn did.

I dont think he did anything wrong, the president said. If anything, he did something right.

Video:

Pres. Trump on Flynns talks with Russia: I dont think he did anything wrong, if anything he did something right. https://t.co/hvIYqfIRui pic.twitter.com/QzKTQCvNyw  ABC News (@ABC) February 16, 2017

He was just doing his job, Trump added.

Doing his job?

Flynn reportedly told the Russians  the same Russians that waged a cyberattack against the United States  that the new administration would ease sanctions on Russia once Trump took office. He then lied to the FBI about having done so.

In other words, it wasnt just the Russians meddling in American affairs. Flynn, too, was interfering with U.S. foreign policy when he had no authority to do so  and when his pledges to Moscow were in direct conflict with the Obama administrations policy at the time.

Its deeply disturbing that the new administration, which sees nothing wrong with Flynns conduct, is now in charge of holding him accountable for it.

Its yet another reason why an independent investigation is badly needed.
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Echoing Donald Trumps absurd statement today that his administration has been running like a fine-tuned machine, spineless GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan said the new presidents agenda is exactly on track.

We put together a 200-day plan for the president to get this agenda that we all have agreed on, Ryan said Thursday in an interview with shameless Trump cheerleader Sean Hannity. We are exactly on track and on our timeline with our agenda.

Ryans comments come after four weeks of utter incompetence and cluelessness from the new administration when it comes to governing the country. They also come in the midst of an explosive scandal involving connections between Russia and Michael Flynn, as well as the Trump campaign.

To top it off, Trumps lengthy meeting with the press today was nothing short of a complete meltdown. It was hardly the behavior of a president who is on track, either mentally or politically.

Ryans current attitude toward Trump is a complete reversal from what is was last year.

During the campaign, the relationship between the two men was rocky at best, with Ryan never really offering an enthusiastic endorsement of Trump and often criticizing his inflammatory rhetoric. The Speaker even called Trumps attack last year on a Mexican judge the textbook definition of a racist comment.

Now, after completely selling out to the new president, Ryan has come so far that he cant even acknowledge what is obvious to every functioning adult in America: The first four weeks of this new administration have been a complete dumpster fire.

Politically and policy-wise, Trumps first month has been a catastrophe. Not a single moment of it can be described as exactly on track.

And if thats truly how Paul Ryan feels, then he should be nowhere near the halls of Congress.
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Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) called out President Trump for making up a story about the Democratic congressman being told by Chuck Schumer not to attend a meeting with him.

During his press conference, Trump claimed, Lets go set up a meeting. I would love to meet with the Black Caucus. I think its great, the Congressional Black Caucus. I think its great. I actually thought I had a meeting with Congressman Cummings and he was all excited. And then he said, well, I cant move, it might be bad for me politically. I cant have that meeting. I was all set to have the meeting. You know, we called him and called him. And he was all set. I spoke to him on the phone, very nice guy. He wanted it, but we called, called, called and cant make a meeting with him. Every day I walk and say I would like to meet with him because I do want to solve the problem. But he probably was told by Schumer or somebody like that, some other lightweight. He was probably told  he was probably told dont meet with Trump. Its bad politics.

Rep. Cummings said that Trumps claim that Democrats backed out of the meeting with him was a made up piece of fiction.

In a statement to the press, Rep. Cummings said:

I have no idea why President Trump would make up a story about me like he did today. Of course, Senator Schumer never told me to skip a meeting with the President. I was actually looking forward to meeting with the President about the skyrocketing price of prescription drugs. What I have been doing for the past several weeks is working closely with my partner on these efforts, Senator Bernie Sanders.

My goal was to finalize our proposal to allow HHS to negotiate lower drug prices so I could present it to the President. The President has said many times that he supports this proposal, so I wanted to have our bill ready to get his support.

I also sincerely have no idea why the President made this claim in response to an unrelated question about the Congressional Black Caucus. I am sure members of the CBC can answer these questions for themselves. The skyrocketing price of prescription drugs is an issue that affects every American familynot just people of colorand I hope the President will make good on his promise to finally allow HHS to negotiate lower drug prices on behalf of American families. I look forward to meeting with him on this issue and others.

On any other day with any other president, a member of the Congress claiming that the president made up a story about him would be at the top of the news headlines, but in the era of Trump, it gets overlooked and consumed by a tidal wave of other falsehoods.

What happened to Rep. Cummings is proof that there is nothing too small for President Trump to lie about. Trump will make up stories about anything, and if the American people cant trust him to tell the truth about why he hasnt met with African-American Congressional leaders, they definitely cant trust him to tell the truth about his relationship with Russia during the presidential campaign.
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The Protecting Our Democracy Act (H.R. 356) which has as its purpose to establish a commission to examine any attempts or activities by the Russian government, persons or entities associated with the Russian government, or persons or entities within Russia to use electronic means to influence, interfere with, or sow distrust in elections for public office held in the United States in 2016.

Including Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA), the bill has 198 cosponsors and it has just gained the one thing it was missing: its first Republican co-sponsor, Rep. Walter B. Jones (R-NC). MSNBCs Kyle Griffin tweeted the news this morning:

The announcementRep. Walter Jones (R-NC) 1st GOP cosponsor of bill to create independent commission investigating Russian elex interference pic.twitter.com/2Fohw6itil  Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 17, 2017

As Rep. Swalwell announced in December,

This past election, the principles of our democracy were attacked. We owe it to our constituents to defend the integrity of our representative democracy, starting with finding out what exactly happened and how we prevent it from ever happening again, said Ranking Member Swalwell. While our intelligence agencies have concluded with high confidence that Russia meddled in Americas elections, to what degree and whether other state or non-state actors were involved remains unresolved. Americans of all political parties are rightfully worried and deserve answers. To protect our democracy, we are calling for a fact-based, independent, bipartisan-appointed commission on foreign interference in the 2016 election.

As Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) said in a tweet yesterday, It is unconscionable that Republicans are refusing to investigate Russias interference with our elections. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) is more concerned with leaks than with what was leaked, as is Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT).

Former Independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin, also a Republican, has like Democrats in Congress been outspoken in his criticism of Republicans more interested in pushing a conservative agenda than defending our national security, accusing them of shirking their duties.

Democrats are fighting an uphill battle in holding the Trump administration accountable. Republicans, who were more than eager to investigate Hillary Clinton without any evidence whatsoever, are now refusing to even look for evidence.
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Evan McMullin appeared on CNNs New Day this morning to tell Alisyn Camerota that Donald Trump wants to weaken the U.S. intelligence community because he knows as long as he has the issues he has with Russia the intelligence community and he are not going to get along.

.@Evan_McMullin: President Trumps Russian connections present an acute danger to American national security https://t.co/Sr1VIVFTV3  New Day (@NewDay) February 17, 2017

Camerota asked Steve Hall, the former CIA Chief of Russia Operations about Trumps press conference yesterday. Hall answered that,

I dont think there is very much good news especially after we saw the press conference Donald Trump conducted yesterdayhe said things like it wouldnt be so bad if we had a good relationship with Russia.

Hall cited his old boss, ambassador Mike McFaul (ambassador to Russia 2012-2014) that attempting to have a good relationship with Russia is not a policy.

He explained that you have to first identify U.S. and Russian interests, fully understand that and then find that very slim part of the Venn diagram as to where there might be cooperation.

There isnt much hope of finding that, however, as Hall warned that because Vladimir Putins goal is to undermine liberal democracies in the West and to drive wedges in NATO its awfully difficult to find that kind of common ground.

He said we need a realistic policy and that there is no evidence from the Trump administration of an open-eyed approach to Moscow. As McMullin said in a tweet this morning,

Trying to "get along with Russia" and colluding with it in subversion of American democracy are two very different things.  Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) February 17, 2017

Mike McFaul too, is leery, tweeting the need for a bipartisan, independent, 911-like commission to investigate foreign meddling in our elections.

McMullin, who wrote an op-ed in The New York Times today, called recent revelations about Trump and Russia alarming and a grave, grave set of facts given Trumps close connections with Russia.

Asked by Camerota why Republicans dont speak out more forcefully, McMullin answered that Republicans are allowing themselves to be distracted by a shiny thing  namely, the chance to advance the conservative agenda under Trump.

He also worried that Republicans may not understand how serious things are, that they recognize it as a problem but arent as alarmed by it as they should be. This latter is much more difficult to believe. One does not have to be an intelligence expert to understand the threat posed by Russia.

In his op-ed, McMullin stressed that President Trumps disturbing Russian connections present an acute danger to American national security and warned that This plotline is unlikely to improve of its own accord, and Americas security is now at stake.

McMullin makes it clear that Republicans are now responsible for protecting the nation from its dangers. Sadly, as he also pointed out both to Camerota and in his op-ed, we cant expect them to do that.
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Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-KY) gave a four-word answer when asked if he believed Trump that nobody from his campaign had contact with Russia that was a bad omen for the White House.

During a Friday morning press conference, the Senate Majority Leader was asked, Trump said nobody he knew of from his camp was in contact with Russian officials. Do you believe him?

McConnells answer:

REPORTER: Trump said nobody he knew of from his camp. was in contact w/ Russian officials. Do you believe him? McCONNELL: "I have no idea." pic.twitter.com/5ibNoqD4qD  Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 17, 2017

The Republican Senate Majority Leader said, I have no idea.

McConnells spokesperson tried to clarify, but his clarification might have done more harm than good:

REPORTER: Trump said nobody he knew of from his camp. was in contact w/ Russian officials. Do you believe him? McCONNELL: "I have no idea." pic.twitter.com/5ibNoqD4qD  Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 17, 2017

Mitch McConnell doesnt know if the Trump campaign was in contact with Russia during the election, which sounds like a really good reason for a select committee or a special prosecutor to be appointed to investigate Trump administration officials for misconduct. It really doesnt matter if McConnell personally believes Trump or not.

The relevant question is, did the Trump campaign collude with Russia during the presidential election? To question of contact between the two McConnell answered, I have no idea. The one way to find out is to hold an investigation.

Given his support for Trump, expect Majority Leader McConnell to resist calls for an investigation, but when even he has to admit that there are unanswered questions, the President has big problems.

McConnell didnt answer with some general statement of support for Trump, which is why his I dont know was harmful. The fact that the Republican Senate Majority Leader wont throw all of his weight behind Trump is a bad sign.

Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan are going to try to hold off a full-blown investigation of Trump, but the fact that the Senate Majority appeared to be hedging his bets is a bad sign for the Trump White House.
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*The following is an opinion column by R Muse*

Since there is a pressing need for a much-needed respite from the dizzying cluster-f*ck going on in Trumps bizarre administration, it is worth taking a brief look at what kind of abominable Republican machinations to put women in their place are being implemented in Republican theocracies in the former Confederacy. Although it hasnt yet occurred at the federal level, Republicans in the states are ramping up their attacks on womens right to control their own bodies and be autonomous American citizens; something religious Republicans find intolerable.

In two Southern theocracies recently, religious Republicans in Arkansas and Oklahoma have passed, or are close to passing, legislation punishing women who think they have civil rights as American citizens and autonomy from religious Republican men. What is clear in each of the two instances cited is that religious Republicans are passing legislation giving men, even men that are violent rapists, control over womens bodies and final say over their reproductive rights.

In one case in Oklahoma, Republicans are in the process of passing legislation requiring that women seeking an abortion must first obtain written permission to control her own body from her sexual partner. The religious patriarchal bill also legally requires a woman to provide the prospective fathers name to her OB/GYN and would forestall the procedure if the man wanted the opportunity to challenge paternity; anything to force the womans gestation period to past the fetus viability time period to prohibit termination.

However, that Oklahoma bill, as bizarre as it is, fairly pales in comparison to the recently-passed Arkansas law that allows a rapist to wield control over the woman he sexually assaulted by forcing her to carry the object of a crime to term; whether she likes it or not. Worse yet is that the new law allows the rapist to sue a physician who performed a termination because they did not get written permission from the rapist first.

The co-founder of Arkansas Abortion Support Network, Karen Musick, told The Daily Beast that she could not even begin to fathom how this particular piece of religious legislation had actually become the law. Ms. Musick said:

There is zero part of me that understands why a rapist or someone who got someone pregnant against their will, maybe incest, would have any right in that decision. I cannot wrap my brain around the fact that there would be anyone who thinks otherwise.

Ms. Musick likely doesnt know much about patriarchal evangelicals driving the movement or she wouldnt make such a foolish and ignorant remark. Apparently shes missed the past 40 years worth of religious white males attempting to control womens bodies as well as make their medical decisions for them; especially where they pertain to highly personal reproductive decisions.

One of the religious legislations Republican co-sponsors is also president of the evangelical Arkansas Right to Life; a church subsidiary of Americas largest evangelical pro-life organization, the National Right to Life Committee. State Representative Andy Mayberry assailed the routinely and reliably safe medical procedure called D&E (dilation and evacuation) a gruesome, barbaric procedure. D&E is typically utilized mid-second trimester (12 weeks) well within the court-ruled non-viable period of 22 weeks.

Since Mayberry gets all of his medical expertise from a non-existent version of somebodys phony Christian bible, he proclaimed that the medical professions safest routine abortion measure is one that no civilized society should embrace. Mayberrys comment informs precisely why Americas bastardized version of Christianity is in no possible universe a replacement for real medical science. Any sane human being, and even real Christians, knows it just isnt.

The legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Arkansas, Holly Dickson, related to the Huffington Post that the religious bill is not constitutional. Ms. Dickson said:

They created a whole new right  the right of a husband or family member to sue a doctor on behalf of an adult patient. I cannot begin to tell you what the intent was, but we have raised concerns about that provision and the entire rest of the bill, which is unconstitutional.

The Arkansas branch of the ACLU said it plans to challenge the religious law in court before it goes into effect later this year. It is noteworthy that the civil rights organization will most certainly be successful in a lawsuit to stop the establishment of religion by virtue of a Republican religious law. Thus far six other states have passed nearly identical laws and in each of the four states where the law was challenged in court  Louisiana, Alabama, West Virginia, and Mississippi  religion lost because the courts hewed to the Constitution and not some odd-ball version of biblical evangelicalism.

The real danger to women is that prior to Trump, the Obama Department of Justice was diligent in protecting their right to control their own bodies and make their own medical decisions; because they acknowledged that women are not property of the church. Now, however, there is an evangelical malcontent as the nations top law enforcer so women can expect no assistance to protect their constitutionally- and judicially-protected rights as autonomous human beings.

The idea that women are not under authority of a man, even if it is a man that violently raped them, is abhorrent to religious Republicans. If any American thinks these kinds of abominable religious laws are not being discussed right now at the federal level, they are deluded and have been focused too sharply on the abomination in the Oval; an abomination who will happily sign any legislation putting women where he and religious Republicans think they belong; under authority of a man even if that man raped and impregnated them. This is just one aspect of how Trump and his religious Republican cohort intend to make America great.

**The above article contains news reports with commentary by R Muse**
Two Queens detectives have been arrested on official misconduct and filing a false instrument charges stemming from a 2014 gun possession arrest they made in Washington Heights, which prosecutors say was based on an illegal search justified by repeated lies.

Detectives Kevin Desormeau and Sasha Neve, both 33, work for the Queens South Gang Squad, but were uptown on November 6th, 2014 when they allegedly searched a woman's apartment on West 175th Street and arrested a man for gun possession. In a slew of documents and statementsa police report, a criminal complaint, a search warrant application written after the fact, a handwritten confession purportedly by the defendant, and in Neve's case, grand jury testimonythe detectives said that a man pointed them to the apartment where someone had pointed a gun at him, and that the unnamed suspect answered the door with a gun in his waistband, whereupon they arrested him.

Witness interviews, surveillance footage, and text messages by the officers show that those statements were lies, and the gun charges were thrown out, according to prosecutors, but not before the 38-year-old suspect was indicted. Neve is also being charged with perjury.

Former mayor Michael Bloomberg and former NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly awarded Desormeau the Police Combat Cross, the second-most-prestigious NYPD award, in 2013. The medal was to commemorate a January 2011 chase and shootout Desormeau was involved in.

Neve faces two felony charges that carry as many as seven and four years in prison, and two misdemeanors that carry as much as a year in prison each. Desormeau faces a felony charge with a maximum sentence of four years, and a one-year misdemeanor. A judge released them without bail yesterday afternoon. Their lawyers didn't respond to calls seeking comment.

This isn't the first time the detectives have been accused of lies and misconduct. Neve and/or Desormeau are named in four recent federal civil rights lawsuits, wherein their alleged victims painted a picture of them and their colleagues as indifferent to truth and decency. In one, a man reported being cuffed along with a neighbor outside his Jamaica row house on an evening in 2013 when a SWAT team raided a neighboring building. When asked by a fellow cop what he should "do with them," Neve allegedly grunted, "Take them in."

The plaintiff in the case, Ronald Fourcand, was wearing a surgical boot after a recent operation, and he reported asking Neve at the precinct for his foot to be bandaged to avoid an infection. She allegedly responded, "Shut up." After 48 hours in custody, Forucand learned he had been charged with a drug crime for an apartment that he said he had never been in, and had indeed gotten a nasty infection, according to the suit. The city settled the case for an undisclosed amount of taxpayer money.

In another case, stemming from an August 2015 encounter, Desormeau and a partner allegedly jumped out of an unmarked car and frisked a man walking home from work in East New York. When the man tried to take a photo of the officers' license plate afterwards, they allegedly drove the car into him, rifled through his pockets as he lay on the ground, and didn't call an ambulance before leaving. The city settled that case, again for an undisclosed amount.

Also in 2015, Desormeau and several others allegedly raided an apartment in Brownsville, and arrested two men over a gun found in a locked box in a bedroom. The man who sued spent four days in jail before making bail, and three weeks later, a grand jury rejected the charges. Again, the city settled for an undisclosed amount.

In an ongoing case that is perhaps the most egregious, both Neve and Desormeau are accused of involvement, and the city stopped defending them midway through, leaving the task to Detectives' Endowment Association lawyers. In that case, a man named Roosevelt McCoy says that in 2014, the cops pulled him out of a restaurant in Jamaica, Queens, searched him without cause, arrested him without cause, strip-searched him at the precinct, and even though they found nothing on him, charged him with selling drugs, saying they had seen him make a sale and found drugs on him. Unable to make bail, McCoy spent 52 days on Rikers Island, and the Queens District Attorney's Office did not drop the charges until a year and seven months later.

The city recently agreed to pay out $547,500 in that case, and the claims against the two cops as individuals are ongoing.



The growing ubiquity of cellphone and surveillance video is making it harder for police officers to lie in reports, as Officer Jonathan Munoz has learned. (Rankin and Taylor/YouTube)

None of the civil rights lawyers who worked on the cases against Neve and Desormeau were shocked.

"I'm not surprised, because the conduct thats described in the DAs press release is strikingly similar to the conduct that is at issue in the Roosevelt McCoy case," said McCoy's lawyer Gabriel Harvis. "What were talking about is a very disturbing betrayal of the public trust. We all rely on the integrity of police officers out in the street, and when they start making things up out of thin air, nobodys safe."

Police misconduct is common enough that whole law firms can survive almost exclusively on civil suits focused on it. And though juries and judges sometimes formally find officers' statements incredible, criminal prosecutions of police officers for false statements are rare. "You can count on one hand the number of perjury prosecutions that have been brought," said Harvis, who has run a civil rights practice for about a decade and previously worked for the city Law Department.

In a filing on behalf of Arthur West, the man arrested in Brownsville on the false gun charge, lawyer Nicole Bellina argued that the Law Department and NYPD fail to track civil rights lawsuits against police officers, thus nullifying their potential deterrent value, that the NYPD does nothing to track court findings regarding officers' credibility, and that the Civilian Complaint Review Board and NYPD Internal Affairs complaint system provide too many opportunities for police brass to opt out of punishing bad officers.

"As a result, the NYPD does not learn of potential problem officers, fails to take curative action, and not infrequently fosters a situation in which an officer will engage in another act of violation, resulting in harm to another person and further damages from the City," Bellina wrote.

Advocates say that the information the NYPD, DA's offices, and Law Department need to clamp down on problem officers is readily availableit's just a matter of trying. Doing so, they said, would save the city money in the long run.

"Now, as a result" of the detectives' arrests, "the city is potentially facing, I would imagine, quite a few lawsuits coming down the pike," Harvis said. "It's going to lead to the dismissal of a lot of cases, and Im sure they werent all tainted. Theyre now all tainted. Youre going to see guilty people go free. Thats the price we have to pay as a society."

A Queens District Attorney's Office spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the office will review past convictions that rely on Desormeau and Neve's police work.

The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment on its misconduct-tracking efforts.

The department does have a Risk Management Bureau, which is supposed to draw from lawsuits, misconduct complaints, and internal investigations to identify "officers who might be in need of enhanced training or supervision." Founded in 2015 in response to a Daily News series laying out the most-sued officers in the department, the bureau has been faulted by the NYPD's inspector general for gaps in its tracking system, including not having a feature to search lawsuits by officer name.

A Manhattan District Attorney's Office spokeswoman said that the office has a Conviction Integrity Program in which it tracks civil rights cases against cops to vet witnesses and identify information that needs to be disclosed to defense attorneys. In late 2015, Manhattan DAs touted their indictment of NYPD Officer Jonathan Munoz on felony filing a false instrument charges related to his allegedly arresting a man for filming him, then claiming he had taken a swing at him. Munoz is still awaiting trial.

The city paid out $228.5 million in awards and settlements for police misconduct suits in 2016, nearly triple the payouts in 2005. That of course is only one way of measuring the impact.

"Let's not lose sight of the fact that we're not just talking about money and civil rights lawsuits and settlements," Bellina told Gothamist. "We're talking about an officer lying, a person being taken to jail, people losing housing, jobs, relationships, all those sorts of things."
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Provokatsiya. This is the Russian word that refers to a hoax designed to embarrass or discredit the someone. Or, as we call it here in the U.S., Rovian tactics.

Is this whats happening right now with the APs story about the Trump White House considering using the National Guard to round up undocumented immigrants?

On a day when Republicans are desperately selling the idea that the Media lies so bad so much so hard in order to make Trumps wildly frightening press conference on Wednesday somehow OK, and Macedonian twitter eggs who recently joined the social media outlet got #MediaLiesAgain trending on twitter, the AP ran a story about the Trump administration considering using 100,000 National Guard troops to round up undocumented immigrants.

Shortly later, on Marine One en route to South Carolina, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied the AP report and chastised the AP for not asking first. The AP reporter replied that they did ask, several times, per a pool report provided to PoliticusUSA by the White House.

That is 100% not true. It is false. It is irresponsible to be saying this. There is no effort at all to round up, to utilize the National Guard to round up illegal immigrants, Spicer said, condemning the press report.

I wish you guys had asked before you tweeted, Spicer finished.

The AP reporter replied that they asked multiple times before publication.

The AP report cited a draft document it obtained that has circulated among DHS staff over the last two weeks. As recently as Friday, staffers in several different offices reported discussions were underway.

Spicer didnt deny that this had ever been discussed in the administration, but said there was no effort to do what is potentially suggested and It is not a White House document.

So is the press very fake news or, is the media being set up to look like fake news by reporting stories that are leaked to them as bait. (Ironic perhaps that it was Time pooler Zeke Miller of the MLK, Jr bust that suddenly reappeared in the Oval office or was always there and somehow Miller missed it, who was tasked with reporting this.)

Security consultant and former NSA analyst John Schindler called it out as deliberate:

So, the WH is bating MSM with fake stories which they run in order to discredit them. There's a word for that.in Russian.#provokatsiya  John Schindler (@20committee) February 17, 2017

The talking point script for Republicans is solid today, as the White House Press Secretary for President George W. Bush between 2001-2003 (read, lead up to Iraq War) weighed in with notion that despite all polls but Rasmussen, the public loves Trump and the media is wrong in their perceptions that he is erratic and unstable:

MSM panned Trump convention speech, Inaug Address and ystrdy news conference. We know viewers liked first two. Will press be 0-3?  Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) February 17, 2017

Let the record reflect that Republicans are not fleeing the Russian ship in order to take a stand for their country. Party first and all of that.

The National Guard story might be another disappearing bust story, but it also certainly follows along with things the Trump administration has suggested. But either way, the Trump White House doesnt have a leg to stand on when it comes to claiming outrage over fake news.

The only fake news that is really happening just so happens to be either coming from the President himself or from websites selling total fabrications of events that just so happen to support Donald Trump, like a recent story falsely claiming that Bill Gates believes Trump will be one of the greatest presidents.

The problem with what it appears that the Trump White House is doing is it is designed to not only discredit the media, but make reporters question running stories, not out of proper caution but out of fear. Getting the press to self-censor, to do your job of silencing for you, is one of the first achievement necessary for authoritarian control.

Should the press wait for the White House to reply, even when they get no reply until they publish, as the AP claims?

If so, that would be super handy and convenient for a White House that lies so much the biggest challenge facing Saturday Night Live writers is knowing when to just let reality tell the story. Because then nothing would be real until Trump deemed it so.

This seems to be yet another attempt to make Americans doubt everything until they hear it from Donald Trump or one of his alternative fact machines.

Update: Here is the document, shared by Vox, on which the AP based the National Guard story.
Indie stars Bleached are out with a new single, "Can You Deal?" that gives fans a preview of their upcoming EP of the same title. The song booms with grunge guitar, quick drums and lyrics about Sabbath and solos.

Fronted by sisters Jennifer and Jessica Clavin, the band from Los Angeles released their second studio album, Welcome the Worms, in 2016. The album showed off their punk-influenced indie sound with standout tracks like "Wednesday Night Melody" and "Keep On Keepin' On." That sound is right up front on "Can You Deal?" the first taste of what's to come.

Guitar-heavy "Can You Deal?" features the slightly-off-sounding vocals of some of their other songs, backed by glowing "oohs" and "aahs" and hard drumming. The mysterious opening bass sounds of the song give way to a punchy, grunge guitar verse. The chorus is a fast, rocking statement of a middle-finger lifestyle.

"I listen to Sabbath with all of my friends, yeah it's real," she sings. She's talking about parties and guitar solos and all the ingredients of the classic rock and roll band. Also a theme on Welcome the Worms, it looks like this EP's going to be exactly what it stands foran extended play, bonus material from the album.

The band writes on their website about life leading up to album. "Sometimes [writing this album] made me hate myself and sometimes it made me love myself," said Jennifer Clavin. The album name came from a religious pamphlet given to her by strangers on a random walk through the night. Among the various images and phrases was the one that mattered: "Welcome the worms."

They're currently preparing for an almost nightly tour of the West Coast with The Damned for the 40th anniversary of Damned Damned Damned. Upcoming dates include a solo show on April 6 at Echoplex in L.A., followed by dates with The Damned:

4/7: House of Blues in San Diego

4/8: House of Blues in Anaheim

4/9: House of Blues in Las Vegas

4/11: The Fillmore in San Fransisco

4/12: Ace of Spades in Sacramento

They'll leave California for Portland on April 14 and, from there, travel through Canada and the U.S. to eventually land in New York City on Randall's Island on July 28 and 29.
Here's The Introduction

This is the part of the article where I tell you that I enjoyed La La Land. I paint myself as one of those rare cinematic consumers who neither overrated nor underrated Damian Chase's musical ode to the City of Angels. It has moving moments but a slow beginning. But this isn't a film review. This is about the music.

Much of what makes La La Land compelling is the bold simplicity of its themes. Musical themes. Hidden beneath layers of minor 7ths and modulation are some pretty clear-cut melodies that indelibly imprint themselves right onto the amygdala. One such theme is from "Another Day of Sun". The opening number contains a progression and melody that is repeated throughout the film and appears as an island of pop in an ocean of jazz. It rings of familiarity, yet it's hard to place.

After seeing the film, I soon found myself humming this theme everywhere. In the shower, back alley stairwells, the toothpaste aisle at the grocery store. This melody, both pervasive and elusive, haunted my steps, longing to be connected with an identity long past. Then one day, I was making a chicken salad sandwich in the kitchen, discussing the matter with my brother (at this point it had become a matter of great importance). Suddenly, it struck me, like the scene in Jaws, when Roy Scheider's character hears the screams of the first shark attack and that weird dolly zoom thing happens on screen. Not familiar? Take a moment to refresh yourself:









Anyway, it was just like that. After days of incessant humming, trying to excavate my mind for melodic memories, a neurological wall broke open, and out of the dust, a single figure appeared.

[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://media.rbl.ms/image?u=%2Fmedia%2Fl0HlRQgn2erimUcI8%2Fgiphy.gif&ho=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.giphy.com&s=218&h=58934464e242ecf46a4602558b71241ce8c94e3032bb539e8f3d6ca7b1c24fa4&size=980x&c=2851815847 photo_credit="" pin_description="" image-library="0" expand="1" caption=""]

Giphy

Of course! How could I have been so deaf to the blatantly obvious? Justin Hurwitz's theme lines up with the Pre-Chorus from Grande's "Problem". Don't believe me? Let's take a listen.

First, we'll listen to Hurwitz's "Another Day of Sun Melody" as it reappears towards the end of La La Land. Listen carefully!





Catchy ain't it? Alright, now that we've got that covered, let's head on over to Ariana and take a listen to the Pre-Chorus from "Problem".









It's so clear! Justin Hurwitz was clearly listening to My Everything while composing for La La Land. I can't believe that...what? Oh, you're still unconvinced? Hmm, well, let's try them together and see what you think.









The Reveal

So what do you think? Well, I don't really care what you say, because to me, La La Land and Ariana Grande will forever be inextricably linked. And every good story needs a reveal so here it is: I love this. Far from ruining La La Land, this confluence of Teen Nick royalty and Hollywood hierarchy only serves to strengthen my love of each respective work. Yes, the title was a lie, but get used to it, this is the internet.

If you have yet to see La La Land, it's sure to stay in theaters for awhile. If you haven't heard Ariana Grande's My Everything, honestly that's impressive and I applaud your skills of evasion. At any rate, I encourage you to check out both the film and the album. If you need to hear that mash up again before embarking...well be my guest...
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Some sun this morning with increasing clouds this afternoon. High around 80F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 64F. Winds light and variable.
Papaya King has been a New York City cheap eats staple since 1932; even now, filling up on a few kraut-topped dogs with a fruity drink to wash them down is about $5. To honor 85 years this year, they're offering some throwback pricing you could easily meet with the change rattling around in your sofa.

Set a calendar alert now for March 3rd and 4th, when the two NYC locations of Papaya Dog (plus the one in Vegas, should you find yourself in Sin City for the weekend) will be selling hot dogs and the brand's Papaya Tropical Drinks for just 32 cents. Dogs can be topped with kraut, NY onions or relish without adding any pennies, but those curly fries are gonna cost you 2017 prices.

Notes about the event promise "Papaya King Brand Ambassadors" giving away some food and "tons of prizes." Another fun fact from the release: "They cook your franks while facing you so that you can see each others smiles (and because it is rude to have you stare at their backs)."

Papaya King is located at 179 East 86th Street and 6 Flatbush Avenue
Legal Aid immigration attorney Sarah Gillman has a client who she thinks deserves leniency. A green card holder, he has lived in the United States for years. His criminal record can be absorbed at a glance: one misdemeanor for marijuana possession. That conviction technically qualifies him for deportation, but Gillman is banking on a set of Obama-era Immigration and Customs Enforcement guidelines issued in 2011, and updated in 2014, that rank him as a low priority.

"The Obama administration endorsed and supported the idea of being able to look at cases in a discretionary manner," Gillman, who supervises the immigration law unit, told Gothamist in a recent interview. "That doesn't mean that it was exercised in every case, but it does mean that discretion was a possibility."

Gillman currently has a pending application with ICE at 26 Federal Plaza, requesting that her client's case be taken off of the court docket. In technical speak, she's applied for prosecutorial discretion, or PD. A positive ruling would defer, likely indefinitely, the looming threat of deportation.

But the climate in Immigration Court has changed palpably since the election of President Donald Trump, and defense attorneys say a positive outcome in any PD case is far from certain. Several told Gothamist that they understand all applications to be on hold.

"There's been a clear and distinct shift," said Michael Musa-Obregon, managing attorney for the New York-based immigration firm MusaObregon and Associates. "Before January 20th we would go into court and there were legal accommodations being made under PD. After January 20th applications are not being accepted."

Alisa Wellek, executive director of the Immigrant Defense Project, said she'd also observed a change. "We've heard the trend of PD being denied now," she told Gothamist. "According to some attorneys, they have been told that all Department of Homeland Security Office of Chief Counsel prosecutors have been instructed not to exercise PD in removal cases."



(Scott Lynch / Gothamist)

Prosecutorial discretion has been exercised to a degree in immigration courts for decades. ICE, after all, only has so much capacity. The undocumented population in the US has hovered around 11 million for years. ICE deports around 400,000 people per yeara population that also includes lawful permanent residents like Gillman's client.

"PD is basically the idea that a judge can differentiate between a jaywalker and a bank robber," Wendy Feliz, head of communications for the American Immigration Council, a pro-immigrant policy organization, told Gothamist.

But the Obama administration memos, written by then-ICE Director John Morton, marked the first time that ICE explicitly listed case characteristics deserving leniency. "What the administration was saying is: we have to build some grace into the system," Feliz said.

Guidance issued that summer stated that ICE should give priority to a wide range of deportation cases, including those against suspected terrorists, individuals with a felony conviction or multiple misdemeanor convictions, gang members, and those who had crossed the border illegally in the last three years.

Non-priority cases, meanwhile, were to be taken off of the administrative docket. These included cases for people with a "very long-term presence" in the US, those with children who are US citizens, the young, the elderly, those with physical and mental disabilities, and legal permanent residents with a single conviction. People with "serious" misdemeanor convictionssexual abuse, drunk driving, gun possessionwere to take priority for deportation over, say, marijuana convictions.

"These are the low-level cases where someone gets caught up in a raid and is in the wrong place at the wrong time," said Volunteers of Legal Service Immigration Project Director Liz Markuci. (While NYC laws limit cooperation between ICE and law enforcement, ICE still has the bandwidth to investigate cases and make arrests here.)

Clarifications to PD in 2014 went further, explicitly directing DHS to consider the "totality of the circumstances" in each case, and potentially offer leniency in cases that don't meet the PD guidelines.

At the time, a Migration Policy Institute report predicted that the new guidelines could reduce deportations from towns and cities (as opposed to border removals) by about 25,000 cases per year. According to MPI, about 87 percent of non-citizens in the US as of 2015, or 9.6 million people, likely fell outside of the prioritization categories.

Interior removals had already dropped off significantly since 2011, though a tripling of border removals solidified President Obama's reputation as the "Deporter in Chief".

"What you are going to see under Trump, is he wants that interior number way up," Feliz predicted. "No discretion. Move them all out."



(Scott Heins / Gothamist)

"PD by its very name means that it's a case-by-case determination, and people have complained that even under the 2014 guidelines many were denied PD who they felt warranted it," said Stephen Yale-Loehr, an immigration professor at Cornell Law School.

According to TRAC Immigration, a nonpartisan database for immigration statistics, PD has accounted for about 10 percent of all closed cases in New York City immigration court since it was instituted in 2011: 6,506 of a total 60,573. (Mary Giovagnoli, a former deputy assistant secretary for immigration policy at DHS, argues that PD is likely applied much more often, as discretion can kick in before a case even gets to court.)

Theodore Hartman, another MusaObregon attorney, worked in immigration court in Louisiana before moving to New York. He says PD has become a reliable option for him, though it has been unevenly applied nationally.

"I probably asked for PD 20 times in Louisiana and got it zero times," he told Gothamist. "But I don't remember a time that we went for PD in New York and didn't get it. It's always the default plan."



(Scott Lynch / Gothamist)

ICE spokeswoman Rachael Yow Yong denied that PD is on hold, stating, "ICE attorneys continue to exercise prosecutorial discretion in immigration court on a case-by-case basis."

But Feliz pointed to the broad language of Trump's executive order, "Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States." In it, a person who has crossed the border illegally is ranked on par with a violent criminal.

"They haven't said, 'Hey we're scrapping the Morton Memos,'" Feliz said. "But the executive order gives ICE this signal that it's okay to start going after people they wouldn't normally."

Attorneys said the shift away from PD could have a range of consequences. "Cases that wouldn't have been a priority under Obama are just going to be clogging up the court system even more," Camille Mackler, director of legal initiatives at the New York Immigration Coalition, predicted. "It's going to take longer and longer for courts to get through cases."

According to TRAC, the average wait time for an immigration case in NYC is 636 days, up from 512 in FY 2011.

Markuci said she fears hardline rulings across the board. She has clients with old removal orders that prevent them from applying for a visa. They may not currently be on ICE's radar. "Normally you could go try to work with ICE counsel and say, 'Hey, we want to reopen that old removal case so you can terminate it,'" Markuci said. "Now we're rethinking our strategy."

Even if a non-citizen ultimately evades deportation, "The strain of going to court, of having the threat of removal always there, can be very damaging for someone," Gillman said.

There are, of course, logistical restraints. "There are only so many ICE enforcement officials, and the new executive order basically makes everyone a priority," said Yale-Loehr. "So it's going to be hard for them to... actually deport more people, unless Congress funds the money."

Gillman added that she and her fellow attorneys are going to continue to pursue "every right our clients have." (See our guide to those rights.) NYC has a strong representation recordabout 90 percent of immigrants in deportation proceedings have a lawyer, compared to 40 percent nation-wide.

Meanwhile, evidence of aggressive ICE activity is mounting: a mother in Arizona was deported after eight years of low-priority status; a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals student was detained in Seattle. And of the 608 ICE arrests last week, 25 percent were of people with no criminal record.

"PD is a benefit for some individuals when the scales are tipped so out of balance against them," said Markuci. "The idea that even that might be in jeopardy is really challenging for anyone who's trying to advise people and look for ways to protect their rights."
Digital Mike fans  and there are legions  note that yours truly is a fan of webcams that let us see the world close to home and far away. At SocialICE time, there's one camera that's my go-to.

Eye on the Plaza

The Rochester Downtown Alliance's webcam in the Peace Plaza is a fun one to monitor at various times, especially during events. It's posted up near Lasker's and pointed back toward the Shops at University Square and the Peace Plaza fountain, so it's not perfect for SocialICE, which is going on now, perhaps dripping. But it sure beats nothing at all. The cam that used to rest in UMR Chancellor Stephen Lehmkuhle's office was the gold standard, but it seems to have disappeared . Perhaps it's a job for the Answer Man and his pack of sleuths. In the meantime, dig into the fun. Webcams are fun, but it can't beat being there, so try to schedule a stop at SocialICE before it's gone after Saturday night.

www.downtownrochestermn.com/webcam

How many solved?

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There's a lot of hyperbole about crime and other mayhem in our country, but you really need to dig into the statistics. One person who has and can offer a perspective on how well law enforcement solves homicides is Thomas Hargrove , a retired investigative journalist who covered the White House once upon a time, and is the founder of the nonprofit organization Murder Accountability Project. He established the online effort in 2015 to track unsolved homicides nationwide. I'm fascinated by it, because it shows what the solved rate is in various metro areas. You can dig into Rochester at this link . It's not to say law enforcement didn't try, but it's a good piece of information to review. There's a lot of worry and hurry after a homicide is committed, as it should be. But after the news dies down, it sometimes can be forgotten. Perhaps less so in a community our size, but it's good to remember that these people who died were part of the lives of many. Give it a look and see what you think. There's plenty of data and ways to look at the information on this site, which is what I like.

www.murderdata.org

Jacob Wetterling

I'm not sure if you took the time to listen to the APM Reports Season 1 podcast or broadcast of "In the Dark" about the Jacob Wetterling disappearance investigation. It's compelling listening. It's good to take it all in as it sifts through the police work and what went right or wrong. You can look at it from various angles in determining what happened and why with the police work, but it's definitely worth a listen. Take some time to look around the site at the other work this stellar team has done through American Public Media, which is based in St. Paul.

www.apmreports.org/in-the-dark

Legal questions

The Lawfare blog has become one of my primary break-it-down sites as issues have arisen with President Trump's executive order on visas and refugees. There are other good sources, too, and if you've read this column, you note that's my philosophy: Don't pin all of your information and thinking on one source. Be broad, challenge your views with an open mind. What I like is that these folks will break things down with data and knowledge of the law. As they note: "We mean to devote this blog to that nebulous zone in which actions taken or contemplated to protect the nation interact with the nation's laws and legal institutions." I say blend it into your reading.

lawfareblog.com

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Great Bear Lake

I've mentioned the New York Times ' multimedia efforts in the past and in my indulgence of all that is winter, I came across the work of Peter Kujawinski, who writes about Great Bear Lake, which he describes as straddling the Arctic Circle in the remote Northwest Territories of Canada. He notes that it's just over 12,000 square miles, making it the eighth-largest lake in the world. "It is bigger than Belgium and deeper than Lake Superior, and it is covered in ice and snow most of the year. The surrounding area is wilderness too  a sprawling land of untouched boreal forest and tundra, rivers and mountains." And there's just one human settlement. It's an amazing winter landscape. Dig into the piece and the photos and experience some deep winter. Our winter will be gone soon. I think.

tinyurl.com/j9vkuqg
I'm a major breakfast girl. I could eat breakfast nonstop, if my metabolism would allow it. I could also sleep until 10 a.m. every day with absolutely no problem.

So, needless to say, when I started looking into Midwestern bed-and-breakfasts, I was in heaven. Unfortunately, I came to find out that a lot of bed-and-breakfasts are a let-down. A piece of toast and a bowl of cereal? I could do that at home, and I could do it for much cheaper.

However, The Ellery House in Duluth is the farthest thing from a let-down. From the complimentary sherry and port to the immaculate, huge breakfasts, this is the ultimate romantic getaway (or any other kind of getaway, really).

Jim and Joan Halquist, the owners of The Ellery House, make you feel welcome from the second you make your reservation to the moment you leave the B&B. With over 20 years of innkeeping experience, the Halquists know their way around a B&B, providing cozy bedrooms and homemade breakfast.

For example, the strawberry rhubarb muffins, a house specialty, are absolutely incredible, with gooey rhubarb and berries taking center stage. Other tasty recipes include stuffed French toast, fruit masterpieces (seriously, we're talking at least five different types of fruit) and egg bakes. Plus, you can meander down to the massive dining room table and chat with other guests over your breakfast or request that breakfast be delivered right to your room.

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If you're not sold on booking your stay yet, you will be soon.

As a reporter, I can't exactly afford to stay in swanky B&Bs, so I definitely held my breath as I clicked on the pricing for The Ellery House for the first time. But, with rooms starting at only $119 per night, it turned out to be a wildly affordable stay  plus, if you're able to clean your plate at breakfast, there's no way you'll need to buy lunch.

Now, I would stay at The Ellery House if it was located almost anywhere, even if there was absolutely nothing else to do in the town except snuggle into the comfy beds at the B&B and sip sherry. But that's not the case; in fact, when you do manage to drag yourself out of those comfy beds, Duluth is waiting with open arms.

Hitting up Duluth in the middle of a Minnesota winter is probably not on the top of your list. I get that. But with lower prices and less hectic schedules, it's easier and cheaper to make the trip in January or February than it is to make the trip in July or August, and there's still a lot to do in the chilly city.

Adventurous? Try hiking out to Enger Tower  just make sure you wear boots, because the snow can get pretty deep out there. History buff? Check out Glensheen Historic Estate , which is said to be the site of some gruesome murders. However, as a heads up, the tour guides typically don't discuss the estate's sordid past on tours, focusing instead on the exquisite 39 rooms in Glensheen's main house.

Thirsty? A variety of breweries and taprooms line Duluth's narrow streets, with a wealth of delicious and unique brews to try. Although you probably won't find yourself relaxing on the shores of Superior, you can still enjoy the rest of what the city has to offer.

From decadent breakfasts, intimate rooms and gracious hosts to its location in a city full of culture, I can honestly say that The Ellery House has it all.

What are you waiting for?
I am offering the solution to a problem most Republicans don't know they have -- that they can be outmaneuvered and thrown on the defensive endlessly, on nearly any issue, because they accept as true Democrat lies about the Republican Party. To correct that misperception and to help the Republican Party get 'back to basics' is why I'm a man on a mission.

A few years ago, after one of my speeches, a man told me "Do you know what your problem is? You're too far ahead of your time!" My efforts to show Republicans how they would benefit from celebrating the heritage of our Grand Old Party have been arduous, but if this were easy someone else would have already done it.

Among my speech topics are Reconciling the Tea Party and the GOP; Barack Obama, the Worst President Ever; Socialism, the new Slavery; Appreciating the Heritage of our Grand Old Party; Returning to the Founding Principles of the United States; The Womens Rights Achievements of our Grand Old Party; Abraham Lincoln, Republican; Frederick Douglass, Republican; Martin Luther King and the Republican Civil Rights Legacy.
WINONA  A 56-year-old rural Altura man died while kayaking on the Mississippi River late Thursday night.

At about 9 p.m. Thursday, the Winona County Sheriff's Office received a call from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, which had discovered a vehicle parked at the Minneiska boat landing, according to Deputy Chief Jeff Mueller.

The individual was identified as Timothy Heim. Authorities learned that Heim was a frequent kayaker in the area, and notified his family, who said it was unusual that Heim would be out at that time of night.

Game wardens with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Winona County Sheriff deputies, the Winona dive and rescue team, and the Minnesota State Patrol helicopter were called out to search.

At 12:42 a.m., Heim's body was discovered on shore about 10 feet from the river. He was about 50 feet from his parked vehicle. He was found to have cuts on his hand, and the kayak wasn't anywhere to be found. A cause of death has not yet been determined.
ST. PAUL  A Southeast Minnesota lawmaker is leading the charge to scrap the state's ban on Sunday liquor store sales.

Republican Sen. Jeremy Miller introduced two bills on Thursday to lift the ban. One of the bills gets rid of the ban entirely. The second would allow liquor stores to be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays but would not allow deliveries that day.

"I'm hearing from more and more consumers that they just want the opportunity to buy beer, wine and liquor on Sundays," Miller said.

Historically, attempts to lift the ban have failed at the Capitol, but this year might be different. For starters, GOP House Speaker Kurt Daudt is a co-sponsor of the bill to allow Sunday liquor sales. A House vote on the issue is slated for Monday, and Daudt has said there are enough votes to pass it. The big political question mark is the Minnesota Senate.

"At this point, I don't know if we have the votes in the Senate. I believe that it will be very close," Miller said.

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Minnesota is one of 12 states in the nation that does not allow Sunday liquor sales. The state's so-called "blue law" dates back to 1936  three years after prohibition ended.

Support for Sunday liquor sales does not fall along party lines. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle oppose and support the idea. Critics of the idea warn it could end up hurting family-run businesses and municipal-owned stores that are trying to compete with big box retailers.

If a survey of area lawmakers is any indication, plenty of senators have yet to make up their minds on the issue.

Sen. Dave Senjem has voted for Sunday liquor sales in the past. But now the Rochester Republican is torn over what to do. He fears that allowing Sunday liquor sales will end up hurting small liquor stores.

"If I had to vote in the next five minutes, I'm not sure what I would do," Senjem said

Also undecided is Sen. Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin. Historically, he has voted against allowing Sunday liquor sales, but the Austin Democrat is considering voting "yes" this time because he has been hearing from more constituents who want it.

"I'm open-minded to it," Sparks said.

Also on the fence is freshman Sen. Mike Goggin, R-Red Wing. He said constituents and liquor store owners in his district are split on the issue 50-50. He has heard concerns from some restaurants that fear if Sunday liquor sales are allowed, they could lose business because people will opt instead to pick up a bottle of wine or a six pack of beer.

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"I have not made up my mind," Goggin said. "I'm waiting until the bitter end."

Miller said he has been working with groups that have traditionally opposed Sunday liquor sales, including the Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association and the Teamsters, to address some of their concerns. That includes adding language to his bill that wouldn't allow liquor stores to request deliveries of new displays or other merchandise on Sundays.

Miller emphasizes that nothing in his bills would require a liquor store to open on Sundays. He noted that his district borders both Iowa and Wisconsin where Sunday liquor store sales are already allowed. He said the main thing he hears from consumers is that Sunday is a day they tend to do a lot of errands and they want the option to be able to do their liquor shopping then.

"We've fallen short to get this language passed into law up until now, but support and momentum have been building," Miller said. "I'm optimistic that this is the year we can finally get this done."
The journalism profesional didn't exactly shine this past election cycle.

It was evident that subscriptions and clicks drove the agendas of TV networks and the national newspapers. During the primaries, for example, one network turned into (almost) Trump TV, with carefully selected talking heads to endlessly regurgitate every statement, word and comma.

Add to that the barrage of "fake news" stories, endless claims and vicious debates on social media, and it's not surprising that Americans don't know which media outlets or individuals they can trust.

Nor is it surprising that some are calling for journalists to be licensed, an idea that comes up from time to time, and especially in this new media environment.

It's a terrible idea that all mediafrom the local citizen writing a regular blog about the local school board to the finest New York Times reportermust oppose.

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The problem lies in who would do the licensing. Since there is no way that the press, broadcast and Internet media could ever come together, set standards and form a licensing entitywe wouldn't want to do that anywaythe licensing would be handled by the government.

The Founders passionately believed a separation needs to exist between the press and government. If the government licensed journalists, it also could deny licenses to those reporters or institutions it deemed unworthy.

Imagine if Richard Nixon would have had the power to take away the licenses of Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Imagine if someone on a licensing board were a devout Catholic and insisted on denying licenses to the Boston Globe's Spotlight team. The Globe's stories that exposed the church's vast scheme to hide pedophiles and other religious who sexually assaulted their flock likely wouldn't have been printed.

In the end, any "licensing" must be performed by readers and viewers, who have and will judge each media's reports by the standards of fairness and accuracy. If we fail, we will lose those readers, viewers and followers.

Control the media, our Founders argued, and you lose your democracy.

That should be the end of the argument regarding licensing journalists.
This morning we conclude our preview of the new (Winter) issue of the Claremont Review of Books. Thanks to our friends at the Claremont Institute, I have read the new issue in galley to select three pieces to be submitted for the consideration of Power Line readers. As always, wanting to do right by the magazine and by our readers, I had a hard time choosing. You, however, can do your own choosing at the heavily subsidized price of $19.95 a year by clicking on the link above and accessing subscription services. At that price the CRB affords the most cost-effective political education available in the United States of America. Subscribe by clicking on Subscription Services at the link and get immediate online access thrown in for free.

In the 2009 book Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam and the West, Weekly Standard senior editor Christopher Caldwell looked into Europes dire future. It is an eloquent and prescient book that makes no concessions to the imperatives of political correctness on the subject of the books subtitle.

The current issue carries Caldwells timely essay Sanctimony cities. In the essay Caldwell seeks to capture the world of the urban haute bourgeoisie, i.e., the world of the anti-Trumpers. Caldwell observes along the way: Trump understood something no Republican had understood in decades. The partisan division in the United States was less about ideology than about sociology. Ideology was there, of course, but it arose from the sociology: you look at life differently when you write the rules than when you have to submit to them.

Writing for a quarterly publication, Caldwell must have worked up the essay before Trumps inauguration last month. Nevertheless, this could have been written yesterday:

Elites have full-spectrum dominance of a whole semiotic system. What has just happened in American politics is outside of the system of meanings elites usually rely upon. Mike Pences [Chevy Chase] neighbors on Tennyson Street not only cannot accept their election loss; they cannot fathom it. They are reaching for their old prerogatives in much the way that recent amputees are said to feel an urge to scratch itches on limbs that are no longer there. Their instincts tell them to disbelieve what they rationally know. Their arguments have focused not on the new administrations policies or its competence but on its very legitimacy.

Despite its length, the Caldwell essay merits your time if you seek to deepen your understanding of the present situation. It is also one of the issues four essential essays for understanding the Trump era, as institute president Michael Pack puts it in a letter to subscribers.
Vice Admiral Robert Harward has turned down President Trumps offer to be national security adviser. This feeds the Democratic Party medias chaos theme:

Vice Admiral Robert Harward has turned down an offer to be President Donald Trumps new national security adviser, the latest blow to a new administration struggling to find its footing.

Why did Harward say no? The APs report sheds no light:

Harward told The Associated Press that the Trump administration was very accommodating to my needs, both professionally and personally. Its purely a personal issue, Harward said Thursday evening. Im in a unique position finally after being the in military for 40 years to enjoy some personal time. Asked whether he had requested to bring in his own staff at the National Security Council, Harward said, I think thats for the president to address.

How could Trump have publicly offered the post to Harward without knowing Harward would accept it? This seems like incomprehensibly bad staff work. Maybe Trumps staff thought they had Harward lined up for the job, and then something went awry. But this shouldnt happen.

The AP is licking its chops at the possibility that Trump might next turn to David Petraeus:

Officials said earlier this week that there were two other contenders in the running for the job: acting national security adviser Keith Kellogg and retired Gen. David Petraeus. Petraeus, a retired four-star general, resigned as CIA director in 2012 and pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information relating to documents he had provided to his biographer, with whom he was having an affair. He was also fined $100,000 and remains on probation.

The Harward episode was an unforced error. Lets not have another one.
Iowa, like so many other states, has gone Republican. What happens when you have a Republican legislature and a Republican governor? The corrupt public sector union spigot gets turned off.

Public sector unions in Iowa will have less authority to negotiate working conditions for teachers, nurses and correctional officers under a bill passed Thursday in the new Republican-controlled Legislature that critics say is aimed at crippling organized labor in the state.

Not crippling organized labor, but rather crippling public sector unions. Which Franklin Roosevelt and I say shouldnt be allowed to exist, due to the inherent conflict of interest that exists when unions negotiate with politicians who get millions in political support from those same unions.

On Thursday morning, following days of on-and-off debate, Republicans used a rare procedural move in both chambers to force floor votes. This happened despite dozens of pending filibuster challenges from Democrats.

What a terrible thing, voting on legislation! It is comical to see how fond the Democrats have become of the filibuster, now that their power is slipping away in one state after another.

The proposal is similar to Wisconsins 2011 collective bargaining law that drew large demonstrations in that state. In Iowa, hundreds of people turned out at weekend forums to oppose the bill, which culminated with a large gathering Monday night at the Iowa Capitol. But the building has been relatively empty since then, a stark contrast to the turnout in Wisconsin that made national headlines.

Hundreds turned out to oppose the bill, in a state with over three million people? Not impressive. And the AP seems to regret the fact that the building has been relatively empty since then.

Since the collective bargaining law went into effect in Wisconsin, membership for both public and private unions in the state has dropped 40 percent.

That makes no sense. The 2011 public sector union legislation would have no effect on private sector unions. If there really has been a 40% decline in private sector union membership, which I havent been able to verify readily, it is perhaps due to subsequent passage of right to work legislation.

But this, of course, is what it really is all about: corruption. Public sector unions use the power of the state to extract money from members, which then goes to increase the power of the state:

Two of the largest public sector unions in Iowa, AFSCME Iowa Council 61 and ISEA, contributed a combined total of more than $1 million to the Iowa Democratic Party in 2016, a figure that is based on available campaign contribution filings.

That $1 million is probably a drop in the bucket. Voters have had it with public sector union corruption. Iowa is the most recent state to rebel, but it wont be the last.
A South Sudanese minister has defected to the rebels, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Friday, becoming the second high-level resignation this week in the war-ravaged nation.

Gabriel Nam, a Lt.-Gen. and Minister of Labour, sent a one-page letter saying he would join the rebellion of former vice president Riek Machar.

I reaffirm my full allegiance and commitment to the wise leadership of Dr. Riek Machar, he wrote.

Two rebel spokesmen confirmed the authenticity of the letter to Reuters. The government spokesman declined to comment.

Oil-rich South Sudan, the worlds youngest nation, was plunged into civil war in 2013 after President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, fired Mr. Machar, his deputy and an ethnic Nuer.

The fighting that followed has increasingly followed ethnic lines, and in December the United nations warned that it was setting the stage for genocide.

More than three million of the countrys 11 million citizens have been forced to flee their homes.

Thomas Swaka, a Lt.-Gen. and respected deputy head of logistics, resigned from the military six days ago but did not say he was joining the rebels.

He cited massive human rights abuses by the military and rampant ethnic favouritism, charging that Mr. Kiir was filling key posts in the security forces with Dinka from his home area.

Many human rights groups have reported on that the military has looted, raped and killed civilians.

Days after Mr. Swaka resigned, the government released a statement saying he had been implicated in a corruption investigation and had fled to avoid justice.

(Reuters/NAN)

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Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabes wife, Grace Mugabe, on Friday warned those aspiring to take over from her husband that there is no vacancy at the state house.

Speaking at a rally in Buhera North, Manicaland Province, the first lady lashed out at perceived factionalists and successionists in the ruling Zanu-PF party, who were bent on toppling her 93-year-old husband.

Mr. Mugabes tenure as party leader ends in 2019, but the party in 2014 had endorsed him as its presidential candidate for the 2018 elections.

Whoever is engaging in factionalism must stop forthwith, stop it, she bellowed to thousands of people that included school children.

Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa is seen as the face of successionist politics but he has since denied harbouring ambitions to take over from Mr. Mugabe before his tenure ends.

The first lady challenged the successionists to self-introspect to determine whether they possess leadership qualities and are able to emulate her husband.

She added that her husband was irreplaceable and even if he contested the election as a corpse the people would vote for him.

When God finally decides that he should leave office, then you can also enter the fray; (until that moment) theres no vacancy, she said.

Mr. Mugabe, who has been in power since Zimbabwe gained independence from Britain in 1980, is the worlds oldest leader.

The first lady also donated food, clothes, laptops and exercise books to the gathering in her first leg of tours to drum up support for her husband in the 2018 general elections. (Xinhua/NAN)

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The Supreme Court in Australia on Friday fined news website Yahoo7 $320,000 over a story it published in 2016 that led to a murder trial in Melbourne being aborted.

The article contained information the jury had not yet heard, which led to the jury being discharged.

The court convicted the website and journalist of contempt of court.

Justice John Dixon said that aborting the trial wasted considerable time, incurred substantial costs and burdened the court, and caused great inconvenience and stress to the accused, the victims family and witnesses.

Mr. Dixon also slammed Yahoo7, a joint-venture of Yahoo! and Australian Channel 7 television, for a serious lack of proper oversight.

The article, titled Man paused to take a smoke break while bashing girlfriend to death, was on the Yahoo7 website for over four days.

It was removed only after it was discovered that it had caused the jury to be discharged.

The article said a second trial was held a few months later and the man was found guilty.

Mr. Dixon said Yahoo7 was responsible for contempt since it failed to ensure its systems for controlling and disseminating information about court cases were sufficient to stop prejudicial material from being aired.

(dpa/NAN)

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Indonesias vice president said Friday the woman held in Malaysia for suspected involvement in the murder of North Korean leader Kim Jong-uns half brother thought she was taking part in a TV prank, reports said.

She was deceived into doing what was thought to be a media prank, a reality show, Jusuf Kalla was quoted as saying by Detik.com news website.

Thats what they told us, he said.

Three people, including Indonesian national Siti Aisyah, have been arrested in Malaysia in connection with the murder of Kim Jong-nam at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Aisyahs mother, Benah, told Detik that the family found out about her arrest from television news.

We were shocked.

We didnt know anything, she said

Benah said Aisyah worked in Batam, an Indonesian island near Singapore, selling clothing and usually sent her 500,000 rupiah (37 dollars) every month.

She went to Malaysia as a tourist, she said.

(dpa/NAN)

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Following the upsurge in the Boko Haram insurgency the North-East geopolitical zone, Nigeria has entered into agreement with France and four of its neighbours to increase the level of coordination and exchange of intelligence as well as hold regular meetings of experts with a view to containing the menace.

The Republic of Benin, Cameroon, France, Chad and Niger also agreed with Nigeria to ensure effective policing of common borders to avoid the infiltration of terrorists and other criminals as well as the repatriation of suspects in conformity with existing protocols.

These are some of the recommendations made by the Directors-General of External Intelligence Services of the six countries, who met in Abuja on March 5.

The one-day meeting with the theme Challenges of Combating Boko Haram in the Sub-region was facilitated and declared open by the National Security Adviser, NSA, Sambo Dasuki and attended by the Nigerian Chief of Defence Staff, Service Chiefs, Inspector General of Police, Heads of Security and Paramilitary Organisations, representatives of Heads of the External Intelligence Services, Director-General of State Security Service, and representatives of the Commander of the 7th Division of the Nigerian Army and representatives of the French Intelligence Service, all of who made presentations.

The meeting was held behind closed doors at the conference room of Nigerias Defence Intelligence Agency but PREMIUM TIMES became aware of its details last Thursday.

The Boko Haram insurgency has claimed thousands of lives in Nigeria, particularly in the north eastern flank of the country since 2009. Besides, the activities of the dreaded sect have seriously damaged the economy and reputation of the region.

Although, he declared a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, President Goodluck Jonathan has increasingly come under attack for allegedly not adopting other method of curtailing the sect.

The recent meeting of the Directors-General of External Intelligence Services is believed to be a boost to the activities of the Multi-national task force comprising troops from Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

The meeting also recommended that the doctrine proposed by President Goodluck Jonathan that an act of terror against one nation is an act of terror against all, be adopted by Heads of State of participating states and that the reaction of member-states to acts of terror be spontaneous, concerted, broad-based and integrated.

It further recommended the effective implementation of existing regional and Confidential Agreements on Small Arms Light Weapons; the sensitization of the local communities in border areas on the need to assist military and security agencies with timely information necessary for their operations; and the discouragement of payment of ransom in all its ramifications.

It noted that due to the sensitive nature of defence matters, and to allow for members with the appropriate competences to participate, a meeting involving competent law enforcement officers to include Heads of the Armed Forces, Police, Immigration, Customs and Gendarmes of the five countries be convened before the end of March, to discuss the conduct of simultaneous security operations along the borders.

That meeting, where modalities for a joint military offensive is being worked out, is ongoing in Yaounde, the Cameroonian capital.

The Abuja meeting also decided to recommend to heads of state of member states to consider the formation of a Joint Multinational Task Force and other related operational issues to combat the menace.

The forum, which broke into thematic groups based on the issues raised in the presentations, also agreed as follows:

-Acknowledged and appreciated existing cooperation between intelligence and security services of participating countries;

-Recognized that Boko Haram has metamorphosed into a regional phenomenon with strong continental and global reach;

-Noted that the activities of the Boko Haram constitute the most potent security threat to Nigeria and her neighbours with the goal of an Islamic State in Nigeria and eventually in neighbouring countries;

-Noted Boko Harams propensity to instigate ethno-religious conflicts, erode the confidence of people in Government and create a condition of chaos with the use of sophisticated weapons, including Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAMs), Rocket Launchers and Man Portable Air Defence System (MANPADS).

-Accepted that Boko Haram has established operational relations with international jihadist groups such as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Al-Shabab, Ansar-e-Dine and the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO);

-Noted the increasing correlation between terrorism and arms, drugs and human trafficking, smuggling, violent crime and the militarization of the civilian population of member countries;

-Expressed concern that terrorism has continued to thrive in the sub-region due to the proliferation of arms, the explosion of Information and Communication technology (ICT), expansion of terrorist networks, easy availability of recruits and existence of safe havens.

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A meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) held Thursday in Abuja with members discussing measures they said are planned to take the country out of recession.

NEC is composed of all the 36 state governors, the minister of the Federal Capital Territory and the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. Thursdays meeting, the first this year, was presided over by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.

(The) Minister of Budget and National Planning assured the Council members that Federal Government has a recovery plan that will take Nigeria out of the woods, Laolu Akande, the spokesperson for Acting President Osinbajo, said in a statement at the end of the meeting.

Mr. Akande also quoted the Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, who briefed the Council, as announcing the hiring of eight accounting firms to audit the monthly Budget Support Facility to states, a verification process she said would ensure benefiting state governments comply with the mutually agreed Fiscal Sustainability Plan prescribed by NEC.

Below are highlights of the NEC meeting.

NEC (1ST in 2017) 74TH NEC MEETING  THURSDAY, 16TH FEBRUARY, 2016

A. INAUGURATION OF THE NATIONAL ROAD SAFETY ADVISORY COUNCIL BY HIS EXCELLENCY ACTING PRESIDENT

 Budget and National Planning Minister made a presentation to the Council on the National Road Safety Strategy (NRSS) 2014  2018 document before the inauguration.

 He said the NRSS document was approved by FEC and has provided for the establishment of the Advisory Council, as a demonstration of Governments commitment to address the challenges of road safety in the country in line with UN Agenda to reduce road accident related deaths.

 Members of the 24-man Advisory Council include the following:

 Six Governors representing each geopolitical zone as follows:

 South-West  Governor of Lagos State

 South-East  Governor of Anambra State

 South-South  Governor of Delta State

 North-West  Governor of Kaduna

 North East  Governor of Gombe

 North-Central  Governor of Kwara State

Others include:

 Honourable Minister of Transport

 Honourable Minister of Power, Works and Housing

 Honourable Minister of Education

 Honourable Minister of Health

 Honourable Minister of Environment

 Honourable Minister of Finance

 Honourable Minister of Justice

 Honourable Minister of Labour and Productivity

 Honourable Minister of Interior

 Honourable Minister FCT

 Honourable Minister of Information and Culture

 Honourable Minister of Budget and National Planning

 National Security Adviser (NSA)

 Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF)

 President NACCIMA

 President Nigeria Society of Engineering (NSE)

 FRSC Corp Marshall

B. PRESENTATION BY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE

 Council was informed of the massive wheat production in the States of Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi and Zamfara among others.

 The States however appealed to the Federal Government to make plans for the purchase of excess wheat to ensure price stability and sustainable production.

 Council agreed to discuss and make adequate buy-back arrangements in order to support price stability.

C. REPORT ON EXCESS CRUDE PROCEEDS BY THE FINANCE MINISTER

 Minister of Finance reported to the Council that the balance in Excess Crude Account (ECA) stood at USD 2,458,382,844.03 as at February 15, 2017

D. UPDATE ON BUDGET SUPPORT LOAN FACILITY

 Minister of Finance also reported that Eight Accounting Firms have been appointed to start the verification process of the monthly Budget Support Loan Facility to States, based on the approved Fiscal Sustainability Plan of NEC.

E. ON ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLAN

 Minister of Budget and National Planning assured the Council members that Federal Government has a recovery plan that will take Nigeria out of the woods.

 Consultations on the plan are ongoing to firm-up the plan with clear roles for all the stakeholders and the States.

 He told the Council that the plan addresses the following:

Agriculture and food security

Energy sufficiency-power and petroleum availability

Improving transportation infrastructure

Industrialization, SMEs, and manufacturing

Stabilization of the macro-economic environment

F. ON THE EXCHANGE RATE

 After a brief presentation on Forex Policy options by the CBN Governor, Council members generally expressed concern over the current situation of the exchange rate and called for an urgent review of the current Forex Policy, especially the gap between interbank and the parallel market rates. The CBN Governor sued for patience and understanding, assuring that the situation is being closely managed.

G. UPDATE ON THE BOARD APPOINTMENTS INTO THE NIGERIA SOVEREIGN INVESTMENT AUTHORITY (NSIA)

 Minister of Finance reported that a member each from the six geo-political zone has been nominated as follows:

North-East  Mrs. Halima Buba

North West  Mr. Bello Maccido

North Central  Ms. Lois Laraba Machunga-Disu

South West  Mr. Babajide Zetilin

South East  Mr. Urum Kalu Eze

South-South  Mr. Abue Ighodalo

 Council members unanimously adopted the nominations and forwarded them to the President for his final approval.

H. ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS OF THE NIGERIA SOVEREIGN INVESTMENT AUTHORITY (NSIA) BY THE MD/CEO OF NSIA

 Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Uche Orji presented a report to Council on the NSIA annual reports and accounts for the year ended 2015 and update on 2016 activities.

 In its report to NEC, Council members were informed that Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund (NSWF) has the highest ranking in Africa in terms of performance and capitalization.

 The report highlights, among others, the following:

 Financial performance 2014 to Q3 2016

 Update and investment strategy on the NSIA Future Generation Fund (FGF)

 NSIA Infrastructure strategy and Agriculture Fund

 NSIA  Old Mutual Real Estate Co-Investment Vehicle, among others.

 NSIA outlook, among others, are as follows:

 NSIA plans to increase domestic infrastructure investment in 2017 as there are compelling opportunities in the environment.

 NSIA will also focus on Social Infrastructure including investments in the form of affordable housing, and healthcare through the development of specialist hospitals.

 Council, while adopting the report of the NSIA, decided to inject a fresh $250 million into the SWF sourced from the ECA.

I. VALEDICTORY SESSION FOR ONDO STATE GOVERNOR

 Council held a valedictory session for the Ondo State Governor Dr. Olusegun Mimiko who was attending the meeting for the last time as his tenure expires this month.

 Council members commended Dr. Mimikos contributions to the Council and commended him for facilitating a smooth transition in the State. In his response, the out-going Governor praised President Muhammadu Buhari for his leadership of the nation, the Vice President as chairman of the Council for his productive leadership and personal commitment, and the Council members for an enjoyable relationship and quality of debate.

 Both Mimiko and the Ondo State Governor-elect who was also in attendance today in observer status hugged each other to the delight of the Council, attracting a huge round of applause.

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Officials at the Office of the Vice President on Friday blamed bad weather for the inability of Yemi Osinbajo to attend the commissioning of some projects executed by the outgoing governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko.

The Vice President was expected in Akure on Friday to commission the Akure International Event Centre and other projects of the outgoing government.

The event which was scheduled for 10 a.m. was delayed until well over 2 p..m and traditional rulers and other dignitaries waited patiently for the arrival of Mr. Osinbajo.

It was organised as part of the activities signalling the end of the Mr. Mimikos eight year administration and showcasing his landmarks in development of the state.

But at 2.50 p.m., Mr. Mimiko arrived the venue with some officials of the Office of the Vice President to explain the situation.

Apologizing for the long wait, he said the event had been postponed to Monday, February 20 due to the cloudy weather which hampered flights from Abuja to Akure.

Also speaking in the same vein, the Chief Protocol Officer of the Vice President, Ambassador Olisa, said the Vice Presidents plane hovered in the air for long but was unable to land because of bad weather.

She said the Vice President would be present on Monday for the event and would also be holding another meeting as part of his ongoing interactions with the oil producing states.

Ms. Olisa was in company of the Special Adviser to the President on Amnesty, Paul Boro, and other officials of the presidency.

Mr. Mimiko, while urging the dignitaries to return on Monday at 12 noon, said, the Vice President is a stickler to time and had taken off from Abuja at 10 a.m., but the plane hovered in the air for about an hour and could not land due to the cloudy weather.

He had to return to Abuja and was waiting at the airport in Abuja for several hours for the clouds to clear.

He asked the dignitaries present to return on Monday to honour Mr. Osinbajo who would commission the centre and other projects in the state.

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The family of Sandra David has sued the Nigerian government and the Federal Medical Centre for N500 million over the death of the 29-year old woman at the centre due to medical negligence.

In a suit, number FHC/ABJ/CS/74/2016, filed by Ms. Davids mother, Portia Sambo, the family is also demanding the payment of N8.2 million as cost of treatment of the deceased at the Federal Medical Centre and the Nizamiye Hospital in Abuja.

Ms. David was taken to Nizamiye, a Nigerian-Turkish medical facility, after complications arising from mismanagement of her health condition at the Federal Medical Centre (formerly Federal Staff Hospital), Abuja.

The suit was filed against the Ministry of Health, the Federal Medical Centre Abuja, the Chief Medical Director of the Hospital, Chinwe Igwilo, Obed Dads, Amadi Ikechukwu, and the office of the Attorney General of the Federation as co-defendants.

PREMIUM TIMES had on December, 31 reported several allegations by families of late Ms. David and others whose loved ones died following suspected medical mismanagement by the FMC.

According to our investigation, Ms. David had gone to the hospital for a surgery in March, expecting the process to last only a few days. But after months at the hospital, she was transferred to Nizamiye Hospital where she died on July 12.

We all expected the treatment and recuperation to take a short period and that she would return to work very quickly, her sister, Sophia, had recalled.

But days ran into weeks and she was still at the hospital. Rather than tell us the truth about her situation, they waited and waited for my sister to die, Sophia had said in a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES.

Other victims like Eddy Pious John Paul also recounted their experiences blaming poor treatment at the FMC for the death of their babies.

Although the hospital declined to respond to the allegations, the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, the regulatory body for medical institutions in the country, said it was investigating the issue of late Ms. David.

We have received an official complaint against the FMC regarding the case of late Sandra and copies of the allegations have also been forwarded to the concerned persons at the FMC, the council said.

What we do here is that once there is such a complaint, we make our own findings, which most often results in the involvement of more people in cases like this.

For example, in the affidavit containing the allegations against workers at the FMC, there was only three doctors mentioned. But when we made our own investigations, we found about 11 people involved. We have demanded the counter affidavits from all the affected persons. After that is gotten, we will proceed to the next stage of the investigation, said Enejo Abdu, a medical doctor, who is also the assistant registrar and head of department of professional discipline of the council.

He however added that the council was yet to receive any complaint from other victims mentioned in the story by PREMIUM TIMES.

Explaining further, the Acting Registrar, MDCN, T. Sanusi, said the council would only attend to a complaint if they were sent in form of affidavits.

A complaint like that must be in form of an affidavit sworn to before a commissioner for oath or a notary public. The affidavit will include the names of the doctors who treated the patient in question. Copies of these affidavits will be sent to the doctors involved for their own counter affidavits. When all these is done, the official notification will then be included in a queue of similar complaints.

When its time to look into the case, the doctors and other parties will be invited with their council, if they so choose, to the MDCNs investigative panel. At the end of the investigation, if the medical practitioners are not found wanting, it ends there.

But if they are, then it is taken to the MDCNs tribunal, said Mr. Sanusi, who added that the outcome of the tribunal is something that the proceedings alone can predict, at that stage.

Mr. Sanusi further stated that the council only awards such penalties as seizure of medical license but does not involve monetary compensations.

If the victims want any firm of monetary compensation, than that is a matter for the conventional courts, he added.

According to the suit filed by late Ms. Davids family, it also asked that N2 million be paid by the defendants as cost of instituting the suit; while it also asked for an additional cost of 10 per cent interest on the judgement sum from the defendants until the judgement sum is fully paid.

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The Ahmed Makarfi faction of the Peoples Democratic Party has said it would appeal Fridays Appeal Court judgement declaring Ali Modu Sheriff as the authentic national chairman.

It also accused the ruling All Progressives Congress of manipulating the victory in favour of Mr. Sheriff.

The faction stated this through the PDP Twitter handle @OfficialPDPNig shortly after the judgment.

The Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt, Division, had declared Mr. Sheriff the authentic chairman of the party.

Three justices presided over the case. While Justice B. G. Sanga and Justice A.A, Gumel ruled in favour of Mr. Sheriff, Justice T.S. Orji-Abadua ruled in favour of Mr. Makarfi.

The Judgment has finally shown that the ruling Party, the APC is out to create a one-party state in the country, the Makarfi faction tweeted immediately after the court ruling.

The party is proceeding immediately to the Supreme Court to file an appeal against the ruling of todays appeal court judgment.

Also speaking at a press conference in Abuja, the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, said the party believed in the ability of the judiciary to do justice to the matter

He appealed to members and supporters of the party to remain calm and should not take laws into their hands.

Crisis broke out in the PDP last May 21 when Mr. Sheriff, a former governor of Borno State, was removed as the national chairman at a national convention in Port Harcourt.

The party then and appointed the caretaker committee led by Mr. Markarfi, a former governor of Kaduna State.

The committee was mandated to organise a fresh convention within 90 days to elect national officers of the party.

No fewer than four lower courts in Rivers State and Abuja had given judgements on the leadership crisis in the main opposition party in the country before the matter was brought before the Court of Appeal.

Sheriff not a threat

Meanwhile, the Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Walid Jubrin, has said that the Appeal Courts confirmation of Mr. Sheriff would not threaten the party.

Reacting to the judgment Mr. Jubril said the judgment would bring the party members together.

The BoT chairman, who was speaking to journalists in Abuja ,expressed confidence in the judiciary, but said that the party would go to any length to resolve the leadership tussle.

Mr. Jubrin urged PDP members to be calm and not defect to other political parties, saying that the party was consulting with its various organs to ensure that it remained strong.

Such organs, according to him, include PDP former and serving governors, senators, House of Representatives members, former and serving ministers, chairmen of state chapters, the youths and the women.

He assured that the party would come out with a statement about the judgment by Tuesday.

I am sure that very soon everybody will smile. Those who are crying today will laugh.

Those who are disturbed and worried will smile and PDP will one day become one party as we know it.

All these is a question of time, Mr. Jubrin said.

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The Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt, Thursday, declared Ali Sheriff the authentic National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Mr. Sheriff had gone to the Appeal Court to challenge the judgment of Justice Mohammed Liman of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, delivered on July 4, 2016, which upheld the appointment of Ahmed Makarfi as the Chairman, PDP National Caretaker Committee.

The Appeal Court, in a split decision, ruled that it was illegal to replace the Sheriff-led National Working Committee with the Makarfi-led caretaker committee.

Two out of the three-member panel of justices sided with the pro-Sheriff judgment, while the other ruled in favour of Mr. Makarfis faction.

Justice B.G. Sanga, who delivered the lead judgment, said that the PDP failed to follow the provisions of its constitution when it opted to remove Mr. Sheriff and the national working committee.

The judge said the party didnt pass a vote of no confidence on Mr. Sheriff and his committee as provided by the Article 47(3) of the party constitution, and that the national working committee was not put on notice.

Justice Sanga held that it was an error for the lower court presided over by Justice Liman to rule that the appellant, Mr. Sheriff, abused the court process when he postponed the PDP National Convention that was scheduled to take place on May 21, 2016, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The Appeal Court awarded N100,000 cost in favour of Mr. Sheriff.

Another of the Appeal Court judges, Justice A. A. Gumel, dismissed as being incompetent, the preliminary objection filed by the PDP against the suit.

Justice Gumel held that Mr. Sheriff and his executive cannot be removed until August 2017, except the party holds an election.

Justice T.S. Orji-Abadua, who gave a dissenting judgment, held that Mr. Sherriff was only appointed in an acting capacity, pending election.

Justice Orji-Abadua further held that going by Article 33(3) of the PDP Constitution, Mr. Sheriff didnt have an overriding power against the PDP National Executive Council, and therefore had no right to unilaterally cancel the convention.

She also held that Article 47 of the party constitution did not make it mandatory for it to pass a vote of no confidence before removing its officers.

Mr. Sheriff and Mr. Makarfi, former governors of Borno and Kaduna states respectively, have been engaged in a prolonged leadership tussle which has factionalised the party and caused many of its leaders to decamp to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

Meanwhile, Mr. Makarfis faction, in its reaction to the Court of Appeal judgment, Port Harcourt, accused the APC of manipulating the victory for Mr. Sheriff.

The faction, through its PDP Twitter account @OfficialPDPNig, said, The Judgment has finally shown that the ruling Party, the APC is out to create a one-party state in the country.

The Party is proceeding immediately to the Supreme Court to file an appeal against the ruling of todays appeal court judgment, it said.

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The Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, and his Edo State counterpart, Godwin Obaseki, on Thursday in Lagos stated that the acquisition of vocational training can help fight the increasing unemployment in the country.

The governors, who were speaking at the inaugural edition of the Annual Lecture of Swaaya Limited, publishers of Freedom Online newspaper, with the theme: Unemployment: How Do We Tame This Monster? mentioned steps they have taken to roll back unemployment in their states.

Mr. Obaseki, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Taiwo Akerele, said his administration has made huge strides in technical and vocational education aimed at empowering the youth and creating more jobs.

We realised that with the right skills and technology, the problem of unemployment can be addressed and the Edo State Government has put in policies to create 200, 000 jobs within four years, he said.

Similarly, Mr Ambode, who was represented in the lecture by his deputy, Idiat Adebule, stated that the acquisition of skills and vocational training are the panaceas to the countrys unemployment problem.

He said: The Lagos State Government has been providing windows of opportunities in this regard through various vocational skills acquisition centres in parts of the state.

The governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu, in his keynote address said unemployment was a socio-economic problem that has led to an increase in crime.

Mr Ikpeazu who was represented at the lecture by his deputy, Ude Oko-Chukwu, identified several factors responsible for the rise in unemployment in the country.

He listed wrong education policy, epileptic power supply, corruption, ghost workers syndrome, neglect of agricultural sector, high importation and lack of access to capital funds as some of them.

We need to discuss the issue of unemployment as a matter of urgency because it is fundamental to the progress and development of the country, he said

There must be a reformation of the education system where practicals and skills are taught to empower people.

Government has a lead role to play by creating the enabling environment and the unemployed must acquire skills to make them productive, self-reliant and employable.

On his part, the director general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Dakuku Peterside, said human capacity development is a sure solution to the countrys unemployment crisis.

Mr. Peterside, who was represented by NIMASAs executive director for maritime labour and cabotage services, Gambo Ahmed, said the agency is rolling back unemployement through its Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme, NSDP.

He stated that the NSDP has trained over 2,500 Nigerian students in various maritime related courses in reputable maritime institutions outside the country.

He said, through the programme Nigeria is on course to becoming an exporter of seafarers like India and the Philippines, which make millions of dollar annually from their pool of seafarers.

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Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has inaugurated a 24-member National Road Safety Advisory Council for the country.

The inauguration of the body was done at Thursdays National Economic Council meeting attended by state governors, and presided over by Mr. Osinbajo.

The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, had before the exercise made a presentation to the meeting on the National Road Safety Strategy (NRSS) 2014  2018 document.

Mr. Udoma said the NRSS document was approved by the Federal Executive Council.

The document, he said, provided for the establishment of the Advisory Council as a demonstration of governments commitment to addressing the challenges of road safety in the country in line with United Nations agenda to reduce road accident related deaths.

Members of the 24-member Advisory Council include the following:

 Six Governors representing each geopolitical zone as follows:

 South-West  Governor of Lagos State

 South-East  Governor of Anambra State

 South-South  Governor of Delta State

 North-West  Governor of Kaduna

 North East  Governor of Gombe

 North-Central  Governor of Kwara State

Others include:

 Honourable Minister of Transport

 Honourable Minister of Power, Works and Housing

 Honourable Minister of Education

 Honourable Minister of Health

 Honourable Minister of Environment

 Honourable Minister of Finance

 Honourable Minister of Justice

 Honourable Minister of Labour and Productivity

 Honourable Minister of Interior

 Honourable Minister Federal Capital Territory (FCT)

 Honourable Minister of Information and Culture

 Honourable Minister of Budget and National Planning

 National Security Adviser (NSA)

 Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF)

 President, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA)

 President Nigeria Society of Engineering (NSE)

 Corp Marshall, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC)

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A 56-year-old pastor, Jones Nwaeze, was on Friday arraigned before an Ikeja Magistrates court in Lagos for allegedly chasing worshippers with sticks and threatening to burn down his church.

Nwaeze, a resident of Oba Akinjobi Road, Ikeja, Lagos, is being tried for breach of peace and assault before Magistrate Y.O. Ekogbule.

The prosecutor, Clement Okuoimose, said the accused committed the offences on February 12 at No. 95, Tina St., Ojodu, Lagos.

He said that the accused, a pastor of Minister of Gospel of God Church, conducted himself in a manner likely to cause breach of peace by chasing away other worshipers with stick and fuel.

The prosecutor said the accused invaded the church during Saturday morning prayers, disrupted the service and assaulted some of the worshipers.

He said that the security man attempted to prevent the accused from gaining access into the church premises because it was not the first time he (accused) was disrupting church service.

He (pastor) hit the security man with a stick on the head, dragged him on the ground and the security man sustained injuries.

One of the worshippers alerted the police who rushed to the scene, the prosecutor said.

Mr. Okuoimose, a police inspector, said the accused claimed ownership of the church saying had invested heavily on it by bringing coverts and he needed his share.

The prosecutor said the offences contravened sections 166 and 171 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

Section 171 states that if found guilty, the accused will serve three years jail term.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the offences levelled against him.

The magistrate granted him bail in the sum of N20, 000 with two sureties in like sum and adjourned the case till March 13for mention.

(NAN)

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The United Nations, UN, has said it is planning to raise over $1 billion to address the needs of about 6.9 million people affected by the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria.

The plan is within the framework of an 18-month deadline the global body has set to ensure that the people displaced by the insurgency in the north-east are reintegrated into their communities.

The UN Resident Coordinator, Edward Kallon, who disclosed this on Thursday at a parley with reporters in Abuja, said over 450,000 children would suffer from severe acute malnutrition in Borno State alone if the Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, were not resettled within the set target.

Mr. Kallon described the crisis as the fourth largest in the world. He said the challenges confronting Nigeria were enormous, saying they include security, governance and economy.

According to Mr. Kallon, the insurgency in north-east poses threat to the regions economic and long-term development.

The challenges are enormous and solvable. As UN body, we are providing support to the Federal and state governments on the crisis.

76 per cent of the survivors of Boko Haram attack presently live in Borno State, Mr. Kallon added.

To provide a lasting solution, he called for the adoption of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in tackling the situation.

There are 14 million people that have been affected by the Boko Haram and the plan is to assist 6.9 million and expect the governments to provide assistance for the rest 7.1 million people.

The Humanitarian Response Plan 2017 for Nigeria seeks more than $ 1 billion to meet the needs of the 6.9 million people targeted.

The conflict in Nigerias north-east provoked by Boko Haram, resulted in widespread displacement, violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, protection risks and a growing humanitarian crisis.

Since the start of the conflict in 2009, about 100,000 people have been killed according to official figures, countless women and girls abducted, and children drafted as suicide bombers into Boko Haram.

Up to 2.1 million people fled their homes at the height of the conflict, 1.8 million of whom are currently internally displaced and 0.2 million in neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

In the three most affected states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, almost seven million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, more than 50 per cent of whom are children.

In newly accessible areas, vulnerable host populations are in critical need of humanitarian interventions including food, water, sanitation, protection, education, shelter and health services.

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The Head of the Netherlands Delegation in Lagos, Michel Deleen, on Friday announced his governments plan to support about 500 young Nigerians in the development of their business ideas, this year.

Mr. Deleen told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that the delegation was also looking at the possibility of involving Dutch companies in Nigeria in the training of young, employable Nigerians.

In 2016, we started a programme aimed at assisting young men and women across Nigeria, who are interested in increasing their employability.

This year, outside our plan to continue to strengthen our agricultural development cooperation with Nigeria, we are also going to be providing support for young Nigerians with the right business ideas.

We are going to be supporting young Nigerians, who have good business ideas, but have no funds to effectively process such ideas, he said.

The Netherlands Deputy Ambassador said that the essence was to also encourage young Nigerians to come up with good business ideas and concepts in the communities.

The envoy expressed optimism that with the support, would be beneficiaries would be stimulated to expand their businesses, earn money and even employ others.

Deleen also said that the encouragement of young Nigerians with business ideas, would make more also initiate ideas that would make them contribute effectively to the Nigerian economy.

We strongly believe that every Nigerian, especially the youth, should contribute to the growth of the Nigerian economy.

So, we have decided this year, to provide the needed support for young Nigerians with good business ideas in different parts of Nigeria, he added.

(NAN)

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Justice Baraka Wali of Katsina State High Court, on Friday struck out a suit filed by the Trustees of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) and Stefanos Foundation against the conversion of a girl, Habiba Ishaku, to Islam.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the girl had eloped, converted to Islam and married Jamilu Lawal in Wawarkaza village of Kankara Local Government Area, Katsina State.

Her father, Ishaku Tanko, Stefanos Foundation and the Church, went to the court seeking to annul the decision, saying the girl is a minor.

Respondents in the case were the Katsina State Government, Katsina Emirate Council and the girls husband, Jamilu Lawal.

NAN also reports that the girl had, however, written a letter to the court to disassociate herself from the suit purportedly instituted on her behalf.

She denied being a minor and put her age at 18 as at the time she embraced Islam and got married.

During the Friday proceedings, Justice Wali, struck out the case while ruling on a notification letter of discontinuation of the suit sent to the court by the plaintiffs counsel, Bawa Yakubu.

She said that the letter indicated an amicable settlement of the matter between all the parties involved following the intervention of Gov. Aminu Masari.

An applicant has right to file a case or withdraw it, she said, and ordered the applicants to pay N10,000 cost to Jamilu Lawal, for withdrawing the suit.

The judge, however, turned down the prayer of counsel to Habibas husband, Bako Nasir, which asked the court to issue a proactive order that would prevent police from arresting and intimidating his client in connection with the case.(NAN)

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Some opposition lawmakers on Thursday questioned the non-inclusion of one of them in the National Assembly delegation that recently visited President Muhammadu Buhari.

The lawmakers, including House Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, suggested there was a decision to exclude members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, from the visit even though one of them  Ike Ekweremadu  is the Deputy Senate President.

Notwithstanding, the PDP lawmakers exactly a half dozen in total who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES in separate telephone interviews ,Thursday evening, said they were happy to learn from the media that the visit was productive and the president was in good health.

The reactions came a day after Senate President Bukola Saraki travelled to the United Kingdom with Speaker Yakubu Dogara and Senate Majority Leader, Ahmed Lawan, to see Mr. Buhari in London.

The trio arrived in London around Wednesday evening and met with President Muhammadu Buhari.

Mr. Buhari left Nigeria for London on annual vacation January 19, with a promise to return on February 6. He also noted that he would see his doctors while there and handed over power to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

But on February 5th, a day before he was due to return, the president sent another letter to the National Assembly, informing lawmakers of his intention to extend the trip until his doctors complete a cycle of medical examination on him.

The prolonged absence, which came amidst raging economic crisis, got many Nigerians worried.

Although he had telephone conversations spread over several days with individuals, including Messrs. Saraki and Dogara as well U.S. President Donald Trump, startling rumours about his health persisted.

But the visit by the National Assembly leaders on Wednesday helped convince many Nigerians that the president was not dead or bedridden.

Mr. Saraki declared in a Twitter update shortly after seeing the president that there was no cause for alarm.

Mr. Dogara reported Mr. Buhari was fit as a fiddle.

But some PDP lawmakers said Messrs. Saraki and Dogara should have included at least one member of the opposition on the trip.

Even though the lawmakers did not allege foul play or cover up during the visit, they raised concerns about absence of one of them.

Mr. Ogor likened the visit to a similar one paid by APC leaders, Bola Tinubu and Bisi Akande.

Youre aware that the first visit was done by Tinubu and Akande, Mr. Ogor told PREMIUM TIMES. There was no PDP member that participated in that visit, so you can clearly see that it is more of a political party thing.

Mr. Ogor, from Delta State, said he got wind of the visit early enough and was elated to see the president in good spirit.

I have a hint of the visit much earlier. I saw the president smiling. I saw the Senate President smiling. I saw the Speaker smiling. And when I saw that picture, I also smiled.

We thank God for his live. We wish him well, Mr. Ogor said.

But he insisted that those who made the journey did so in their own personal capacity because there was no consensus amongst lawmakers delegating any group of persons for the journey.

But I am convinced that that visit was purely based on political colouration. So, it is totally inconsequential because we were not invited.

It is at the discretion of the president to invite whoever he wants to see him.

It is not a National Assembly delegation. It is like a private visit to see the president. First, you know were not in session. Neither was there any resolution of the House or that of the Senate to go and see the president, he said.

Mr. Ogors position was echoed by another lawmaker from Kogi State.

I did not hear about this visit before, the lawmaker said. I read it last night on PREMIUM TIMES and I was initially shocked, but then said to myself: no need to be surprised about anything these people do.

Since we werent told ahead, I think its very clear that they werent making the trip on our behalf, the PDP lawmaker, who sought anonymity so as not to be seen criticising the House leadership, said. And theyve clearly expressed that in the manner they picked those who went on the trip.

A source in Mr. Ekweremadus office claimed the Deputy Senate President was not informed about the trip.

They didnt invite the Deputy Senate President on the trip, the source said, refusing to be quoted. They bypassed him down to the Senate Leader for reasons we still dont know.

The sources claim could not be independently verified.

The source said Mr. Ekweremadu just returned from a trip abroad but would have followed them to London if invited.

Yes, he just returned from abroad, but that could not have hindered him from being part of the delegation if they had extended him the courtesy, he said. If only to make him be the representative of the southern part of the country instead of all the northern politicians that made the trip.

The House spokesman, Abdulrazak Namdas, and his Senate counterpart, Sabi Abdullahi, did not respond to requests for comments Thursday evening.

The spokespersons for Messrs. Saraki and Dogara also declined comments.

But Nicholas Ossai, a PDP lawmaker from Delta State, said he had no reservations about the makeup of the delegation.

Mr. Ossai said even though adding a PDP member would have been good, it would not make much difference since the delegates were duly elected by all lawmakers to represent the National Assembly as an institution.

We believe in the Speaker and the Senate President, Mr. Ossai said. We have confidence in them that theyll tell us the true position of things.

We didnt elect them as APC Speaker or Senate President of the APC. We elected them on the basis that we have confidence in them and we believe in them to tell us the truth.

This is a leadership of complete explanation and transparency. Probably taking an opposition along would have been a boost, but, all the same, we believe in our leadership, Mr. Ossai said.

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Three yet-to-be-identified people died in an accident in the early hours of Friday when a luxurious bus skidded off its track and plunged into a nearby waterway in Lagos.

The accident occurred around 3:23 A.M. at Owode Elede, around Mile 12 area, Ikorodu Road, Lagos.

The bus, with registration number Anambra GDD 386 YE, belongs to GUO Transport Service Co. LTD and was enroute Maza-Maza from Aba, Abia State.

According to the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, there were 59 passengers on board. Twenty three people got injured and were treated on the spot by a joint team of the agencys Paramedics and LASAMBUS.

Kehinde Adebayo, LASEMAs spokesperson, added that nine of the treated victims were taken to the Lagos State Trauma Centre at the Toll Gate for further treatment.

Three passengers, however, died on the spot. The victims include the bus conductor and two other passengers whose identities were not immediately known.

Their bodies were recovered from the canal, LASEMA said.

The bodies and the bus had been handed over to the men of the Nigeria Police, Owode Division, the agency added.

The General Manager of LASEMA, Adesina Tiamiyu, said a proper investigation would be conducted on the incident.

He however advised motorists to be safety conscious and avoid over-speeding while driving, especially during night journeys.

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The Federal High Court, Abuja, will on February 28 rule on the application of Umar Mohammed seeking permission to travel abroad for medical treatment.

Justice John Tsoho fixed the date following an appeal from Hassan Liman, counsel to Mr. Mohammed, that he needed more time to provide the court with relevant documents to back his application.

Mr. Liman told the court that he came ready to move the application but was confronted with a counter affidavit by the prosecution vehemently opposing his application.

He said the reason that the prosecution gave was that the ailment for which Mr. Mohammed was seeking to travel abroad was treatable in Nigeria.

In the light of this, we need to file a further affidavit because the defendant got a review of his health condition at the National Hospital, Abuja, but it is not before the court.

We crave your indulgence for a short adjournment to enable us present all the necessary material in regards to our application before the court so that my lord can take a decision on the matter.

The prosecuting counsel, Shuaibu Labaran, said that ordinarily, the prosecution would not object to the application since granting such an application was at the discretion of the court.

We only did it to guide the court to take some precautionary steps in granting such an application.

He said he had no objection to the application for an adjournment to enable the defence produce the necessary documents in court.

Mr. Mohammed, a retired air commodore, had on February 14 approached the court with an application seeking permission to travel abroad for medical treatment.

He told the court that he was suffering from the consequences of a plane crash he was involved in while still in service as an officer.

He, however, added that the request to travel abroad was not a ploy to delay the trial.

Mr. Mohammed is a former member, presidential team investigating the arms deal in the country.

The Department of State Services, DSS, had in July 2016, arraigned him over allegations of money laundering, possession of fire arms and violation of Official Secret Act.

He was accused of laundering $1.3 million (about N400 million).

(NAN)

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The Ali Modu Sheriff- led Peoples Democratic Party has described the Court of Appeal Port delivered in his favour as the confirmation of the will of the people.

Cairo Ojougboh, the Deputy National Chairman to Mr. Sheriff, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Friday in Abuja.

Mr. Ojougboh said the Sheriff-led National Working Committee of PDP was still ready to dialogue with the Ahmed Makarfi-led group irrespective of the judgement.

To us the judgment is no victory, no vanquish.

Irrespective of the judgement our door is open to our brothers who unfortunately are in the other group.

We promised not to victimise anybody but work together to reunite the party, he said.

Mr. Ojougboh added that following the judgement, Mr. Sheriff was ready to organise a credible National Convention of the party as soon as possible.

The will of the masses is that the party should be handed over to the people and that is what the Sheriff has come to do and he will never be distracted in achieving that

The PDP Chairman, Sheriff has directed me to assure our party members that the PDP National Working Committee would as soon as possible organise a national convention that would lead to the election of credible leaders of the party, he said.

He, however, added that should Makarfi-led group appeal the judgement, Sheriff-led NWC would also be ready to meet them in the Supreme Court.

All of us had earlier pledged to accept whatever is the outcome of the court judgment and I hope the Makarfi-led group will still respect that.

Should they say they will proceed to the Supreme court to appeal the judgment, we are also ready to meet at the Apex Court, but I expect them to respect their promise.

Mr. Ojougboh, who commended the party members and supporters for keeping faith in Mr. Sheriff, urged them to keep supporting him and his effort to return the party to the grassroots.

(NAN)

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On February 4, Pfizer joined the rest of the world to commemorate World Cancer Day. World Cancer Day is observed to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection and treatment. It is a singular initiative under which the entire world can unite together in the fight against the global cancer epidemic.

Pfizer partnered with Project PINK BLUE on awareness activities and setting up Abujas first breast cancer support group to join the advocacy on breast cancer.

Cancer has been defined with different pathetic axioms in Nigeria due to the severe pain, death, low survival rate and most painfully metastatic breast cancer. With the UICC Pfizer SPARC grant we have been able to start changing patients journey and access to palliative care in Nigeria. As the number of cancer patients grow, we must do everything we can to increase cancer survivors said the Executive Director of Project PINK BLUE, Runcie C.W. Chidebe

This collaboration is aimed at providing increased awareness on cervical and breast cancers and reaching out to the government to take action against the disease.

Margaret Olele, Corporate Affairs Director of Pfizer Nigeria stated that Pfizer is committed to spreading knowledge and fostering hope in the fight against cervical and breast cancers as early detection can help in reducing the number of deaths.

About Pfizer Inc.: Working together for a healthier world

At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to improve health and well-being at every stage of life. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacturing of medicines for people and animals. Our diversified global health care portfolio includes human and animal biologic and small molecule medicines and vaccines, as well as nutritional products and many of the worlds best-known consumer products.

Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. Consistent with our responsibility as the worlds leading biopharmaceutical company, we also collaborate with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For more than 150 years, Pfizer has worked to make a difference for all who rely on us.

To learn more about our commitments, please visit us at www.pfizer.com

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The Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, on Friday matriculated 7,290 students admitted for the 2016/2017 academic session.

Speaking at the event, its Vice Chancellor, Abdullahi Zuru, said that the new students were admitted out of over 22,000 candidates who applied for admission into the institution.

Mr. Zuru explained that the figure represented an increase of about 40 per cent of admissions when compared to those admitted for the 2015/2016 session.

He said: The 2016/2017 admission had given priority to the sciences and science- related programmes with about 74 per cent.

The priority was in compliance with the Federal governments directive of according 60:40 ratio of Science to Humanity students.

This is also in our response to the federal governments desire to ensure rapid development of the country through advances in science and technology.

Every year, we witness an increase in the number of students seeking admission into the university.

 This is attributable to our track records of excellence, peace, high moral values and absence of cultism.

The Vice Chancellor disclosed that the National University Commission (NUC), had granted approval for the University to establish a Faculty of Engineering with effect from the 2016/2017 academic session.

He said, the faculty had taken off with five full time programmes, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Information and Communication Technology and Environmental Management and Resources.

This enables the University to key into the laudable determination of the present administration to industrialize Nigeria, within the shortest time possible, Mr. Zuru said.

He further called on the matriculated students to strictly adhere to the universitys rules and regulations.

This include personal discipline, high moral standards and respect for constituted authorities, the vice chancellor added.

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The electoral commission, INEC, on Friday opened its defence in the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its candidate in the September 28, 2016 governorship election in Edo, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, before the Justice Ahmed Badamasi three-member tribunal in Benin.

The PDP and its candidate are challenging the declaration by INEC of Godwin Obaseki of the APC as winner of the election.

The petitioners listed INEC, Obaseki and the APC as first, second and third respondents respectively.

The petitioners on February 10 closed their case after calling 91 witnesses and tendering several documentary pieces of evidence before the tribunal.

At the resumed hearing on Friday, the INEC counsel, Onyeachi Ikpeazu, informed the tribunal that his client was ready to open its case although witnesses may not be called.

We have led copious evidence through cross examination of the petitioners witnesses.

We propose to tender few documents when we need to confront them and enhance evidence already led and at the end of which, if need be, we will call witnesses, he said.

Mr. Ikpeazu thereafter sought the tribunals permission to tender as evidence 10 copies of form EC8B, being ward collation result for wards in Uhunmwonde Local Government Area of the state .

The counsel to the petitioners, Ize-Iyamu and PDP, Kemi Pinheiro, counsel to Mr. Obaseki, Ken Mozia and APCs lawyer, Lateef Fagbemi, all did not oppose the application for tender.

Mr. Pinheiro, however, observed that since the documents sought to be tendered as evidence by INEC were same as those before the tribunal as exhibits, it will make proceeding smoother if we harmonise the documents with a schedule during trial,

He argued that the form EC8B document tendered was the same as exhibit PO4(154-163) tendered by the petitioners.

 If not harmonised for different exhibit numbers, this will create precipice of confusion.

I am saying that since the petitioners document and those sought to be tendered by INEC are from same source, I thought INEC should call oral witness to identify the exhibits before the tribunal, he said.

Mr. Ikpeazu, however, replied saying, we have brought documents we have front loaded to support our case. They have done theirs; it is not for the petitioners to determine how we should organise our defence even if these documents are the same.

I am therefore asking for an adjournment to Monday while I concede to the suggestion that parties examine the documents sought to be tendered.

I also intend to interact with electoral officers we may call as to who I wish to tender as witnesses, he added.

Ruling, the tribunal chairman admitted the documents as exhibit IR(1-10) and ordered INEC to serve the petitioners and the other respondents with its schedule of the other documents to be tendered before the tribunal.

Mr. Badamasi also ruled that parties should use Saturday to examine INEC documents sought to be tendered before adjourning till Monday.

(NAN)

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The National Economic Council, NEC, on Thursday, held a valedictory session for outgoing Ondo State governor, Olusegun Mimiko.

The NEC is composed of the Vice President as its Chairman, the 36 state governors, the Minister of the FCT, the Minister of Finance and the Governor Central Bank of Nigeria.

Thursdays meeting was also attended by the incoming Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, as an observer.

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity to the President, office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande, said it was Mr. Mimikos last attendance of the meeting as he would be ending his tenure as governor next week.

Council members commended Dr. Mimikos contributions to the Council and commended him for facilitating a smooth transition in the state, the statement said.

In his response, the out-going Governor praised President Muhammadu Buhari for his leadership of the nation, the Vice President as chairman of the Council for his productive leadership and personal commitment, and the Council members for an enjoyable relationship and quality of debate.

The statement further said Messrs. Mimiko and Akeredolu hugged each other to the delight of the Council, attracting a huge round of applause.

The governor had on Wednesday expressed satisfaction that his government succeeded in touching the lives of the Ondo people in the last eight years.

While speaking at the occasion of the launching of his biography, Mimikos Odyssey, he said he was leaving with the satisfaction that his administration met the aspirations of the people of the state.

Mr. Akeredolu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, who won the governorship election of September 26, 2016, will formally be sworn into office on February 24.

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The Governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, has described the burning of a High Court in Ilesa by hoodlums as an assault on civilization.

The Governor visited the site for an on-the-spot assessment of the premises of the high court which was allegedly set ablaze by hoodlums on Monday morning.

Mr. Aregbesola inspected the court building in company of the state Chief Judge, Adebola Ojo.

The fulcrum of human civilisation is based on two things: the maintenance of law and order and secondly the upholding of justice and truth, he said.

Where law and order cannot be guaranteed, when the instruments of justice cannot be guaranteed, what you have is chaos and anarchy. Our government will not allow this to happen.

This attack is a major assault on the civilisation of the land because when you attack the major instrument of justice then you are also attacking the common man on the street.

As a government we are very disappointed that this has happened.

The governor vowed to ensure that the perpetrators of the act were brought to book, and hinted that the state commissioner of police had been charged to apprehend those involved as quickly as possible.

Governor Aregbesola, who noted that the vandalised court calls for urgent rehabilitation, stated that the high court in Ilesa and others across the state will be given urgent attention in terms of rehabilitation and security.

The governor also used the visit to sympathise with one of the security men at the premises, Olanrewaju Owoeye, who was beaten up and wounded by the hoodlums during the attack.

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A leader of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Bode George, has lavished praises on the Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, for the infrastructural projects he has undertaken in some parts of the state.

Mr. George, a former deputy national chairman of the PDP, spoke with journalists at the Sheraton Hotel Ikeja, Lagos, on Thursday, during the first Annual Lecture of Swaaya Limited, publishers of Freedom Online newspaper.

He said he was in awe of Mr. Ambode for the infrastructural development the governor had undertaken in Epe Local Government Area of the state. He urged the governor to replicate same in the formers local government of Lagos Island.

I have never met this young man, but I must say that I am impressed with his performance so far, especially in the area of infrastructural developments, Mr George said.

I dont know everywhere in Lagos because I hardly go round, but I must sincerely commend him on what he is doing in Epe Local Government. I am very proud of what he is doing there.

I passed through Epe recently and I thought I was in a different state. I want to appeal to him that when he is done with Epe, he should head back to my local government, which is Lagos Island, so that when he leaves office, not only will Epe people remember him for his performance, but the entire Lagos will remember him and say: Yes, there was one Governor that passed through here and his name is Akinwunmi Ambode.

Mr. George, a fierce critic of Mr. Ambodes last two predecessors, Bola Tinubu and Babatunde Fashola, said the incumbent has also done exceedingly well in the area of traffic management in the state.

I also must commend him in the area of traffic management, especially in the area of traffic decongestion in the state, he said.

He, however, quickly added that his party will outperform the governor if given a chance to govern the state.

He is a Yoruba man and he is doing his best, but I know that we as opposition will do better when we get there, he said.

Since the return of democratic rule in 1999, the PDP has tried but failed to get elected into government house in Alausa, Ikeja.

On Thursday, the opposition leader was, however, more concerned about advising the incumbent governor.

My advice to him is that he should ensure that the standards of living of Lagosians are improved, especially in the areas of education and healthcare. I must commend him because it is not easy governing a state like Lagos. Lagos is like the New York of the United States, he said.

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A Polish-Ukrainian presidential consulting committee will meet in early April in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, the Polish president's aide Krzysztof Szczerski informed on Thursday. The commitee's previous sitting took place last March in Warsaw.

The 2015 sitting was devoted to NATO-Ukraine relations, the protection of the eastern EU frontier, and historical dialogue.

Krzysztof Szczerski, who on Thursday met with visiting Ukrainian parlamentarians from the presidential committee, said the talks mainly centred on historical issues, security, Ukraine's economic situation and anti-corruption reforms. He added that also discussed was Saturday's meeting between the Polish and Ukrainian presidents at the Munich Security Conference.

"We mostly talked about historical dialogue and action to be taken in this respect. I made an appeal that the common judgment of history be reached through the truth and not through attempts to write separate versions of it as this is indeed what creates barriers between societies" - said minister Szczerski after the meeting.

On Thursday and Friday the 11 Ukrainian MPs are holding a series of meetings in the Polish Sejm (lower house) to talk security and Polish-Ukrainian historical sore points.(PAP)
President Andrzej Duda and Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko in Warsaw (photo by Krzysztof Sitkowski/KPRP)

Although Poland is an advocate of Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic choice, among other things it expects partnership as far as history-based politics is concerned, presidential aide Krzysztof Szczerski has told PAP.

On Saturday Polish President Andrzej Duda will meet with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko during the Munich Security Conference. On Friday both presidents are taking part in a discussion panel. May be of interest to you Polish-Ukrainian presidential consulting committee to meet in April President to speak at Munich Security Conference

Minister Krzysztof Szczerski pointed out that the Polish president had presented Poland's message for Ukraine during his visit to Kiev late last year. "Poland is an advocate of Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic choice, but it also expects domestic stability from Ukraine, state reforms, and partnership with Poland as regards history-based politics and rapprochement between the two societies", he said.

He added that Poland is suggesting a place for Ukraine in regional cooperation. "Ukraine should be much more strongly committed to placing itself firmly among regional partners, among everything that Poland is building as a regional community: the Adriatic, Baltic and Black seas", Krzysztof Szczerski explained.

Ukraine has true friends in the region, whose fate is linked directly to what unfolds in Ukraine, according to minister Szczerski. "What goes on in Ukraine, for example in terms of instability, has a direct impact on Poland's security", he pointed out. May be of interest to you President Poroshenko starts a visit to Warsaw

Polish-Ukrainian social rapprochement is needed, he also told PAP. "It cannot take place without open, tough talks about the past", Krzysztof Szczerski said. (PAP)
A few years ago, Joe Alcodray was on a plane coming back to Detroit from a business trip to Chattanooga, Tenn. Little did he know at the time that the trip would change his life  and the lives of many in need.

As a strategic initiative leader for the PSCU in Allen Park, Alcodrays trip was for business purposes. This is where he met Yasir Khogali, who also was returning from a business trip.

Heres this young man with these dreadlocks and this interesting look about him, Alcodray said. I forgot how we got on the topic, but he was like, Oh my God, I thought about doing that,too! And I said, Why dont you just work for me? We have this strange relationship that all started from a chance conversation at 30,000 feet.

The idea the two shared was collecting extra toiletries from their hotel visits and giving them to those in the community. This is the concept of Alcodrays organization, The Give Back Project, for which Khogali is now a board member.

Alcodray got the inspiration for the organization from his co-worker and other board member, Heidi Nixon. He would see her collect soaps, shampoos and lotions from the hotels they were staying in, and knew that he wanted to do the same thing, only on a larger scale.

The Dearborn Heights resident created the Give Back Project in 2014 by building a website. Then, following Nixons footsteps, he began collecting toiletries during his business trips.

When I travel for work, I clear them [the toiletries] every day, he said. If I stay two or three nights in a city, I can come home with three shampoos, not just one.

Every two months, Alcodray donates supplies to the Noah Project, a community center inside Central Methodist Church that provides services for the homeless. He also gives materials to the Pope Francis Center, a shelter inside the Saints Peter and Paul Jesuit Church. Both religious institutions are located in downtown Detroit.

The founder also has gotten his fellow employees at PSCU involved with the project. A few weeks ago, he placed a collection box inside his office. Within two days, it was full, he said.

Alcodrays next step is to continue spreading awareness about the Give Back Project around the metropolitan Detroit area in hopes of gaining more businesses to collect materials. Companies he wishes to partner with include Ford Motor Co., General Motors, and the Boys and Girls Scouts of America. However, the organization he most wants to work with is the Transportation Security Administration at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. With easy access to travelers, he believes the airport will be the ideal location to collect plenty of toiletries.

It could be big publicity for the TSA, and it would be good for the community, Alcodray said. If I get more items, I could help more people in need.

Alcodray is not alone in his search for new participants.He has the assistance of Timothy Davis, a professor at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. A lecturer of business administration and entrepreneurship, he is also the director of iLabs, the colleges center for innovation research. Last year, Alcodray initially reached out to the dean of UM-Dearborns College of Business, Raju Balakrishnan. He then lead Alcodray to Davis, who was interested in growing the Give Back Project.

Last fall, Davis launched an experiment with students involved in the American Marketing Association and the Financial Investment Club. The organizations are responsible for finding businesses that will most benefit the nonprofit.

Wheres the best place to find people who have these travels? Davis said. A company like Ford Motor Co., that has people who travel for business? Is it having it in a retail location, like a mall where theres a luggage store? Is it better to have it in a restaurant thats near the hotels? Is it better to have it in a public place, like a library or a school?

Although the six students involved have found it challenging to talk to business owners and professionals, they have found more than 10 collection locations, according to Davis. Some of the businesses include advertising agency Campbell Ewald, public relations agency Fleishman Hillard, the Henry Ford Centennial Library and Starbucks in Dearborn. The organizations have until April to reach a conclusion.

I like that the students get to manage the project, and I am hopeful that what theyve learned is going to be a great benefit to Mr. Alcodray to help his organization and help more people in need, Davis said. As one person, you can only do so much, but if you have students to help, then it makes his job easier to help more people.

Along with businesses, Alcodray also is willing to work with individuals who may want to have a collection box at their house. A $30 donation will cover the cost of a box and five removable bags. When the bin is full, it can be sent to the organizations post office box or Alcodray can pick it up.

My goal is to get an awareness out there about the project, get more businesses that want to put my boxes in their lunchrooms or lobbies, and tell their employees when they travel, bring back those unused toiletries, he said.

For more information about the Give Back Project, visit gbproject.org.
Jose Garces long-awaited Tropicana restaurants now have an opening date  March 4. The three new concepts, Olon, Okatshe and Bar Olon, will open their doors just in time for Atlantic Citys Restaurant Week  running from March 5 to 10.

Olon, inspired by the coastal town in Ecuador, will offer guests fresh seafood in a laid-back atmosphere, complete with a 43-seat ceviche bar and lounge. Cozy cabanas and an impressive view of the ocean and boardwalk, with deck seating when the weather gets warm, give Olon a beachy vibe.

The second restaurant Okatshe transports guests to Tokyo, featuring a Japanese candy store up front. Inside, the menu will focus on Garces modern take on Japanese izakaya.

The two restaurants will be attached by Bar Olon, a 60-seat double-sided bar and lounge. A full bar offering draft and bottle selections, wine and specialty cocktails will compliment the light food available at the bar. Bar Olon will specialize in nostalgia, with vintage neon signs, bongos and beachy fans adding to the throwback vibe.

My team and I have worked hard at creating all-new restaurant options unlike any of our other restaurants. Each of the three restaurants has a unique look and feel that transports guests to either a Japanese streetscape, seafront coastal town and beachside beer bar, says Garces in a press release. We look forward to debuting these unique concepts in Tropicana while bringing our passion for our family-inspired traditions and hospitality back to Atlantic City.
ATLANTIC CITY  The resorts businesses could use some prayers.

They survived the recession and Hurricane Sandy and are weathering the closings of five casinos, the most recent of which happened in October.

So the Rev. Jon Thomas, pastor of the Parish of Saint Monica, decided to host a Mass to pray for the success of the city business community.

Its a challenging time for Atlantic City, so its important for the church to show its concern for our business people, honoring their perseverance in the city, their creativity, Thomas said. In Psalms, it says we should ask the Lord to bless the work of our hands.

The Mass is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Saint Nicholas of Tolentine Church on Pacific Avenue.

The idea grew out of the Mass and procession to support members of Unite Here Local 54 last February at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church on Atlantic Avenue, Thomas said.

It was time to recognize the challenges faced by the businesses, Thomas said. Obviously, they face a lot of challenges in Atlantic City. The church has equal concern for them.

The Catholic Church is known for supporting the labor movement, Thomas said. For instance, Catholic members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have celebrated Mass at St. Patricks Cathedral in New York City.

A Mass for businesses, I havent heard of that, Thomas said.

Planning started a couple months ago, with Thomas talking to parishioners. About 50 invites were sent out early last month, followed by phone calls. Invitations were sent to business leaders, who are parishioners, and contractors, among others.

Thomas will deliver the sermon. Organist Steven Ball, musical director of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine, will play.

The letter sent to local businesses was signed by Anthony Mack, co-owner of the McDonalds here, Cathy Burke, owner of the Irish Pub here, and John J. McAvaddy, executive director of the Gormley Funeral Home, which has had been providing services in the city since 1893.

I was born and raised in Atlantic City. There have been a lot of new businesses that have not been acknowledged, McAvaddy said.

Even during tough times, Gormley Funeral Home endured in the city.

The business has had to evolve to survive. It started by mostly serving Italians and Irish, but now the work is divided one-third equally among services for Italians and Irish, Hispanics and Vietnamese.

If local businesses are successful, that translates into many more people living in or connected to the city being successful, Thomas said.

Thomas mentioned the Hard Rock Cafe Atlantic City staying open even though the building it is located inside the shuttered Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort. In June, Docks Oyster House, one of South Jerseys oldest restaurants, reopened after an expansion and renovation.

A lot of businesses are taking risks, Thomas said. They need some credit.

Burke also signed the letter inviting her fellow local businesses to attend. The Irish Pub was established in 1972 in a 100-year-old building.

Many of those attending this Mass represent the cornerstone of our business community, Burke said. Its only fitting that we come together to overcome the challenges we face. This Mass represents our faith and hope for our community.
Shore towns and boardwalks in South Jersey are awakening from a months-long winter slumber for Presidents Day weekend, giving visitors a taste of summer.

And with temperatures expected to climb into the 60s, towns are gearing up for thousands of visitors.

Sams Pizza Palace, a staple of the Wildwood Boardwalk, opened its doors Friday morning, marking its 60th year in business.

The popular pizza shop at 26th Avenue and Boardwalk opens on this weekend every year, and its become a tradition for local families and tourists alike to grab a slice on opening day.

Its really becoming a sign of spring, said manager Toni Fuscellaro, the founders granddaughter. Its like our own Groundhog Day.

For the most part, it was locals who packed the pizza parlor shortly after it opened at 10:30 a.m. The visitors come later, Fuscellaro said.

She said teenagers will drive from Philadelphia after school just to say they went to Sams.

Nicole DeStefano and her daughter, 2-year-old Ella, both enjoyed plain slices. They were the first ones in line.

My brother lives all the way in Philadelphia and hes coming down just for the pizza, said DeStefano, 28, of Wildwood Crest.

In Ocean City, as a multimillion-dollar boardwalk reconstruction project is wrapping up, business owners were preparing their storefronts.

Wes Kazmarck said he is doing double-duty this weekend as he prepares stores in both Ocean City and Sea Isle City. Sea Isle City is expecting big crowds for its 23rd annual Polar Bear Plunge Weekend, which lasts through Sunday.

Kazmarck, who is co-owner of Surf Mall on the Ocean City Boardwalk and president of the Ocean City Boardwalk Merchants Association, said the opening of Ocean Citys Boardwalk this week will also be a big draw.

Shore towns take down time to fix up infrastructure Millions of dollars will be poured into infrastructure in and around South Jersey shore town

The heart of the Boardwalk  between Moorlynn Terrace and 10th Street  was closed most of the winter as the city replaced the decking and substructure.

The timing is really great that the Boardwalk just opened and youve got this unseasonably warm weather, Kazmarck said.

He said that of the Boardwalk business owners who live locally will open to take advantage of the visitors trying to combat cabin fever.

It would be a no-brainer, he said. When you have two or three months of cold weather and that first 60-degree weekend pops, everybody wants to get out. The Boardwalk will absolutely be packed.

Charlene Hodinka, of Bridgeton, was buying fudge and macaroons from Shrivers. Hodinka, a teacher, was off from work for the holiday weekend and couldnt resist the urge to visit her favorite vacation spot, she said.

We were here at Christmas and we had to come down and see the progress theyre making on the Boardwalk, Hodinka said.

Shrivers general manager, Holly Kisby, said the Ninth Street business, which is open daily, held a sale during Boardwalk construction and updated customers on the progress via Facebook. She said Shrivers is preparing for Presidents Day weekend by stocking shelves with a variety of candy and making sure to have staples  taffy, fudge and macaroons  in place.

With the great weather, well see a great flow of traffic, she said. Everyone seems to know the Boardwalk is open.

Tables and bar seats were filling up inside Manco and Manco Pizza at 12th Street. General manager Tom Rossi of Upper Township was tossing dough for fresh pies but couldnt guess how many pizzas they would sell this weekend.

Its going to be a lot, he said.

Ocean City to consider Manco and Manco expansion plans OCEAN CITY  Manco & Manco pizzeria, with plans to open an expanded restaurant in the fo

One of three stores on the Ocean City Boardwalk, the 12th Street location is open every weekend but expects the high temperatures to draw extra crowds.

Everyone likes to come to the Boardwalk when its nice out to get a taste of summer, Rossi said.
Public school teachers in New Jersey make less money than other full-time employees, according to a report released this week by the Economic Policy Institute.

But the disparity is at least partly due to the fact teachers overall work fewer weeks per year than other professions.

Teachers also get more of their total compensation as benefits than private-sector workers, although the gap is closing.

According to the report, developed using U.S. Census data, the average annual wage of teachers in New Jersey from 2012-14 was $68,301, compared with $82,223 for other full-time employees, or a 17 percent difference.

But most full-time employees reported working an average of 51.2 weeks per year, while teachers reported working 47.5 weeks a year, or 7 percent less. Teachers also reported working about two hours per week less than other full-time workers.

The reports author, Jeffrey Keefe, said the large number of weeks teachers reported working could include working summer school or other summer jobs.

Based on the mandated 180 days of school plus adding five days for professional training, a teacher who did not work summers would work 37 weeks per year, which would reduce the pay gap even more.

Keefe, a professor emeritus at the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, said the high number of weeks teachers reported working did strike him as odd.

The data is self-reporting but it doesnt say what they are doing every week, Keefe said.

The report also shows teachers received a higher proportion of the pay as benefits, but a change in state law requiring teachers to contribute to their health benefits has narrowed the gap slightly.

On average, benefits make up 22 percent of private sector workers total compensation, but comprise almost 31 percent of state and government worker compensation.

For teachers, the percentage dropped from almost 29 percent to 25 percent after teachers began to contribute.

Teachers are also among the most educated workers, with virtually all having a bachelors degree, and almost half having a masters degree. The profession is 75 percent female, which the report says contributes to data showing women make less than men.

Black and Hispanic teachers make slightly less than white teachers, but the gap is smaller among teachers than among other full-time workers.

Keefe said union contracts create transparency and equality in pay. He said the pay gap between racial and ethnic groups would need more investigation, but may reflect where teachers work since each district negotiates its own contracts and sets its own salaries.

The EPI is a pro-labor group, and the report found those teachers who are unionized earn about 13 percent more than nonunion teachers. It said unions counterbalance the pressure to reduce taxes by reducing teacher compensation.

Keefe said the report was prepared largely in response to Gov. Chris Christies criticism of teachers. He said the profession needs to attract good candidates, and criticisms implying they are overpaid have made the profession more unattractive.
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP  Stockton University student leaders and administration met Friday to develop a consensus on how the university can provide a safe zone for students and faculty regardless of their immigration status.

The Stockton Safe plan includes a series of protections, many of which are already in place for those who are undocumented, along with measures to educate the community about immigration rights.

The plan will be discussed by the Faculty Assembly on Feb. 21 and the Board of Trustees on Feb. 22. A final agreement is expected by Feb. 24.

The university, to the fullest extent permitted by law, protects the identity and information of all members of the community, Stockton President Harvey Kesselman said in a statement.

The Stockton Student Senate met earlier this week and approved a resolution to make Stockton a Sanctuary Campus. Their resolution included a list of 13 suggestions including protecting the identities of undocumented students and prohibiting campus security or local law enforcement from inquiring about a persons immigration status or participating in enforcement of immigration laws.

The final plan was not available, but the group agreed to align Stockton with the state Legislature, which this week passed resolutions affirming that college campuses should continue to serve as a safe zone and resource center for students and their families threatened by immigration enforcement or discrimination.

Today, as a result of the students voice, Stockton took a step in the right direction to protect our own, said Kaltoum Alibrahimi, an anthropology major in the Stockton statement.

Ike Ejikeme student Board of Trustee alternate, called the consensus addresses what will be most beneficial to students.

The United Black Students Society and Stockton STAND also participated in the process.

Students call for sanctuary campus at Stockton University protest GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP  Protesters at Stockton University called for the school to become a sanc

This movement is a sway against strong currents in uncertain waters. This is a sway in the right direction, Mahalia Bazile, president of Unified Black Students Society said in a statement.
Atlantic City

Black History Month film series: The Atlantic City Free Public Library celebrates Black History Month with a free screening of the film Night Catches Us 2 p.m. Friday at the main branch, 1 N. Tennessee Ave. The series continues to Feb. 24. The movies may include introductions and discussions with guest speakers. For information, call 609-345-2269, ext. 3112.

Lower Township

Slain officer remembered: The Police Department will mark the 23rd anniversary Saturday of the death of Officer David C. Douglass in the line of duty. The flags at Township Hall and the Police Department will be flown at half-staff. A memorial wreath will be placed at his grave at the Cold Spring Presbyterian Church, 780 Seashore Road, Cape May. Fire sirens in the township will be activated at about 7:15 p.m. in his memory. For information, call 609-886-1619.

Ocean City

Library celebrates Black History Month: The Free Public Librarys Black History Month celebration continues 6 p.m. Friday with a film screening of The Jackie Robinson Story. The program is free and open to all ages. For information, call 609-399-2434.

Tuckerton

Who Chopped Down the Cherry Tree?: Children ages 2 to 8 are invited to discover the legend of George Washington and the cherry tree at a free program 11:30 a.m. Feb. 21 at the Ocean County Library, 380 Bay Ave. Stay to make a craft. Its free. To register, call 609-296-1470.

Vineland

Black History program: New Bethel AME Church, 414 N. Seventh St., invites the community to celebrate Black History Month with a special program 3:30 p.m. Sunday. The play Strong Holds Come Down will be performed. For more information, call 856-691-1349.

Woodbine

Rabies clinic: Borough residents may bring their dogs and cats to the free rabies clinic from 10 a.m. to noon March 4 at the Ambulance Corps Building/Public Safety facility on DeHirsch Avenue. Information on low-cost spay and neuter will be available. Borough Hall will be open to purchase pet licenses. The cost is $11.20 for dogs, $8.20 if spayed or neutered. Cats are $5. After March 31, a $5 late fee will be added. For information, call 609-861-2153.
Dear Abby: My fiance and I are getting married in a year. We have some very close gay friends, and I have gay family members on my moms side. The majority of our family is gay-friendly, but a few on my fathers side are very open about their dislike of the LGBT community.

Our ceremony will be at a Unitarian Universalist church, because we love that they are supportive of the LGBT community and want everyone to feel comfortable and accepted on our big day.

Im terrified my family members will do or say something to hurt or offend guests at our wedding who have same-sex partners.

I am considering putting a note on my wedding website that our wedding will be a celebration of love, and to please set aside political and personal beliefs and accept every one of our guests during this happy occasion. Would this be appropriate?

I dont know how else to convey the message that we will not tolerate any hateful or offensive remarks or actions against our loved ones.  Bride for Marriage Equality

Dear Bride: Do not post that message on your website. Your message should be delivered via a telephone conversation with the people you think may have a problem.

A way to phrase it would be to tell them you are planning your wedding and some of the guests in attendance will be same-sex couples. Ask if this would make them uncomfortable, and if the answer is yes, do not invite them.

Dear Abby: My darling husband recently passed away. Its a sad time for all of us.

I wrote his obituary for our local paper and included the names of charitable causes, requesting donations be sent to them in lieu of flowers.

I sent the obituary to my husbands mother and sister who live out of state, in case they wanted to publish it in the paper in the town where he grew up.

They did, but changed the charities to ones of their choice. They didnt tell me they were doing it or ask my opinion. I found out only when I saw his obituary online.

I am extremely upset, especially because one of the causes they listed is a hospital I feel contributed to my husbands early death.

What is the etiquette in this situation? Was it acceptable for them to make that change? Should I say something, or should I let it go?  Wounded Widow in Texas

Dear Wounded Widow: Please accept my sympathy for the loss of your husband.

You have every right to be upset his obituary was altered. What his mother and sister did was wrong. They should not have changed it without your permission.

By all means, tell them how you feel about what they did, and that you feel the care your husband received at that hospital contributed to his early death.

Had they consulted you as they should have, they would have known better.

Write to Dear Abby at P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069 or at dearabby.com.
ATLANTIC CITY  A Goya produce truck arrived at La Villita Farm Market on Thursday afternoon, but the delivery people found a dark store and a locked door.

Employee Maria Rendon let them in, but turned away customers throughout the day.

Sorry, the store is closed today, she said in Spanish.

Thursday was Un Dia Sin Inmigrantes: A Day Without Immigrants, when some immigrant-owned stores closed for the day and immigrant families were encouraged not to shop. The day was intended to show the impact of immigrants across the country and to show opposition to President Donald Trumps stance on immigration.

The protest was nationwide, closing restaurants in major cities such as New York, Chicago, emptying classrooms in New Mexico and California and shuttering stores in Philadelphias Italian Market.

Locally, the movement was community-driven. Nefaki Moreno of La Organizacion Azteca, a Mexican cultural preservation group in Atlantic City, said, We went to owners of business and explained the day and asked for support, door to door.

Moreno said 20 businesses closed for the day in the Atlantic City area, and we know a lot of people who called out or requested off today.

We encouraged people not to demonstrate, not to march, but to stay home and see how the towns look without immigrants, Moreno said.

On Atlantic Avenue in the citys Chelsea section, restaurants El Patron, Sabor Salvadoreno and Queen Pizza Palace had handwritten signs in the window.

We wanted to support the people, Sabor Salvadoreno owner Ana Salazar said. Salazar, who came from El Salvador, lives in Atlantic City legally and opened her restaurant three months ago.

Immigrants will lose money today, but Id lose more if there were no immigrants here.

Rendon estimated 95 percent of their customers are immigrants or of Hispanic heritage.

We didnt know much about it until customers came in and asked if we would be protesting, said Rendon. I talked to the owner, my husband, about (the Day without Immigrants.) I told him that it was going to hurt us, but he said were not going to get richer by one day.

According to a 2012 report from the U.S. Small Business Association, the rate of business ownership for immigrants is higher than non-immigrants  10.5 percent to 9.3 percent.

The U.S. Labor Department said since the end of 2007, the number of foreign-born workers employed in the U.S. climbed from 3.1 million to 25.9 million and account for 56 percent of the increase in U.S. employment.

The Pew Research Center reported in 2014 11.1 million immigrants are living in the U.S.

According to Moreno, a national strike day has been set for May 2 with the same message against the recent political attacks on immigration and encouraging demonstrations and marches.

We were once immigrants. Gladly, we are legal here now, but we feel for what other families are fearing because we were there at one point of our lives. Rendon said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
ATLANTIC CITY  People rallied against the president and his policies Thursday on the Boardwalk, starting at one closed Trump property and ending at another.

Eileen and Jennifer Tolan, a mother and daughter who started Atlantic County Citizens Action, chose to hold a National Strike Day rally locally, rather than joining other marches in Philadelphia or North Jersey.

The group started its rally at 10:30 a.m. at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, then marched to the former Trump Plaza and ended at the grandstand at Kennedy Plaza.

Atlantic County Citizens Action incorporated a tour into their march. Levi Foxs company Jersey Shore Tours guides several walking tours, including the Donald Trump Gambling Heritage tour.

I wanted to support these folks who are politically engaged and make them informed, given Mr. Trumps history in Atlantic City, and maybe have others see what hes done here, Fox said.

Jennifer Tolan said other participants had to leave the rally to attend other events, including a meeting with U.S. Rep Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd, at his Mays Landing office.
New Jersey has started its annual prescribed-burn program to help reduce wildfire risks.

Motorists are advised they might see smoke in the areas of the controlled burns in Atlantic and Ocean counties. There was one burn Monday near Atlantic City International Airport.

Also on Monday, firefighters burned brush in Tabernacle Township, Burlington County off Route 563.

Last week, the Forest Fire Service conducted a controlled burn near Strawberry Fields, off Route 322, west of Carmens Farm Market in Mays Landing, Hamilton Township police said.

Controlled burns will continue through the end of March. State workers will burn between 10,000 and 20,000 acres of forests and grasslands this season, depending on the weather. Most burns take place on state-owned property, such as state forests, parks and wildlife management areas.

Residents may see large plumes of smoke in areas where these controlled burns are being conducted.

The state Division of Parks and Forestry will post notices of prescribed burns at facebook.com/newjerseyforests. The public may also contact the state Forest Fire Service at 609-292-2977 for information.

When in doubt about the source of smoke or fire, residents should call 911 or 877-WARN-DEP (877-927-6337).

The peak wildfire season in New Jersey typically begins in middle to late March and runs through late spring, when the weather tends to be dry, windy and warmer.

Because of the types of trees and shrubs it supports, the sprawling pinelands region of southern New Jersey is particularly susceptible to wildfires and is typically the focus of much of the prescribed burning activity conducted by the Forest Fire Service.

In 2016, the Forest Fire Service responded to 1,065 wildfires, 75 percent of which were a quarter-acre or smaller. The largest was a 464-acre fire in Bass River State Forest in Burlington County.
High school kids face a lot of uncertainty about their paths going forward, but this is certain: Nearly all will have to learn basic money and consumer skills. To the old let the buyer beware adage has been added let the borrower, renter, patient, saver, taxpayer, giver and so many others beware.

With that in mind, the clever program by the N.J. Credit Union League to make learning about personal finance more fun is a welcome addition to the largely minimal efforts along these lines by high schools. Its NJ Reality Fair, one of which was held in Millville last month, simulates for students the choices and consequences involved in securing lifes necessities.

The fair gave students the luxury of choosing a job and distributing its salary as needed or desired. Then spins of the Wheel of Reality  what adults might call the Wheel of Fortune and Misfortune  showed them how things can go wrong, a lesson in preparing for the unexpected.

Even better than teaching students to manage their affairs is giving more of them something closer to the fairs magical power to pick a career.

There are a lot of indicators that students, families and employers want that. The methods are fairly well-known, and the benefits are well-established. And recent data show significant progress by New Jersey institutions in providing this occupational instruction.

Start with the need. Representatives of the N.J. Bankers Association told The Press last month that their business clients have a lot of job openings  but cant find appropriately trained workers.

As Michele Siekerka, New Jersey Business & Industry Association president and CEO, said this month, We hear it from our members every day: They have jobs that they need to fill, and there are plenty of people who want to work, but they dont have the skills they need.

With the opening of the Cumberland County Technical Education Center last fall, all area counties have thriving vocational technical schools. Still, demand for enrollment exceeds capacity. One result is the schools can be selective about whom they admit, which typically results in the schools having higher graduation rates, as well as higher rates of going on to college or post-secondary technical institutions.

The payoff can be seen in a November report by the National Center for Education Statistics, whose tracking of 16,700 students since 2003 has found that 86 percent of occupational graduates were employed in 2009  higher than the 82 percent of college academic graduates. And 74 percent of occupational graduates were working in a field related to their study, compared to just 53 percent for their academic peers.

Data released last month show the progress schools in New Jersey have made in aligning education with career employment. While 23,612 completed post-secondary occupational education (but less than a bachelors degree) in 2008, by 2014 the number of career-training graduates had climbed 26 percent to 29,635.

More would go that route. Twice as many apply to the Atlantic County Institute of Technology as can be admitted. That sounds like room to double this path to careers that doesnt go through typical college degrees  an expansion that students and employers want and the economic health of society demands.
A 43-year-old registered violent offender is jailed on accusations he was living with an alleged victim who has a no-contact order against him.

Christopher Darold Banda faces felony charges of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and failure to register as a violent of sexual offender.

According to court documents filed Thursday, police investigated a reported domestic assault that occurred on Saturday at a home on Idaho Street in Helena. While interviewing those involved, police found Banda had been staying at the home, which was not the address where he was registered and also were the victim of a previous charge of partner or family member assault was living.

Police then went to the place on Wylie Drive in East Helena where Banda was registered and learned he hadn't been there since his release from jail in December, court documents state. A woman at the home told police Banda only stayed there three days before being kicked out. She said Banda had texted her asking her to lie about him living there, the documents note.

Authorities arrested Banda in August for allegedly selling meth and again in September on accusations he beat a woman nearly unconscious.

Banda is a registered violent offender stemming from a 2003 conviction for felony partner or family member assault.
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.




A bill allowing big game hunters to choose between fluorescent orange or pink is about more than just fashion, a Thompson Falls legislator testified on Thursday.

Sen. Jennifer Fielder sponsored Senate Bill 237, a committee bill introduced by the Senate Fish and Game Committee and heard under that same body Thursday. The bill would allow big game hunters to wear the now required orange, or opt for pink.

This bill is not about fashion despite what the media reports may have honed in on, she said. Blaze pink is an attractive color to many women and maybe some men. But it is a color with high visibility.

Fielder referenced a University of Wisconsin study conducted as that state considered allowing hunter pink. She pointed to some findings that pink could actually be more visible than orange, particularly during fall when orange becomes a prominent color in the natural landscape.

In addition to safety, Fielder noted that hunter pink clothing would likely be geared towards female hunters, and thus would be tailored to women, making movement easier in the field. Womens hunting clothing brands have gained traction in recent years, and the senator expected that trend to continue.

This is a bill catching up with the interest out there in the public, Fielder said.

No one spoke for or against SB237.

Bob Gilbert spoke as an informational witness, and noted that tow truck drivers switched to pink for road signs due to better visibility.

Wayde Cooperider, who leads Montanas hunter safety program and also serves with the International Hunter Education Association, also testified informationally. The association reviewed the Wisconsin study, he said, and decided to maintain its official position that absent any nationally accepted scientific evidence, it still considers hunter orange as the most effective safety color.

Sen. Chas Vincent, R-Libby, has been the most outspoken opponent through committee, and continued his opposition Thursday. He said he had a hard time understanding the lack of availability for womens hunting clothing, pointing to his own wifes collection. He asked Fielder to provide a list and costs of brands offering hunter pink.

I guess Id just like the record to show there is a lot of womens gear out there that is available for those that choose to hunt and I do not believe making the color different will bring more of them in, he said. I think its a little bit insulting for those that assume that.

Fielder closed on the bill saying that hunter pink has been proven safe, while also considering it attractive and appealing, and more manufacturers would mean a drop in prices for hunters.

If it proves to be just as safe, why not open that option? she asked.

The committee did not take immediate action on SB237.
DUBAI, UAE, February 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Arton Capital is pleased to announce a Global Affiliate Partnership with YPO, the premier leadership organization of chief executives in the world. Today, YPO empowers more than 24,000 members in more than 130 countries, diversified among industries and types of businesses. Altogether, YPO member-run companies employ more than 15 million people and generate USD6 trillion in annual revenues.

YPO members will now have exclusive access to the unique range of Arton Capital's tailored products and services. Arton empowers individuals and families to become global citizens by securing second residency or citizenship around the world. Enabled by a multinational, global team speaking more than 20 languages, Arton offers private, world-class concierge services by Quintessentially and membership to Global Hotel Alliance, the world's largest alliance of independent hotel brands. These are just a few of the highly valued benefits our clients enjoy.

"With members representing more than 130 countries, YPO is truly a global organization, and an alliance with Arton will help support YPO leaders' needs as they explore and expand their businesses around the world," said Scott Mordell, CEO of YPO.

YPO is a community of peer leaders who are committed to lifelong learning and idea exchange, traits essential to any global citizen. The organization empowers its members around the world to build lasting relationships, develop themselves personally and professionally, and give back to their communities.

"Being a YPO member, I recognize the need for chief executives to think beyond borders and become global citizens, expanding their business ventures and their relationships around the world" said Armand Arton, founder and president of Arton Capital and a member of YPO. "That is why I am truly excited that Arton Capital is partnering with YPO, and I'm looking forward to sharing our knowledge at the upcoming YPO Global Leadership Conference and YPO EDGE in Vancouver later this month.

In recent years the demand for residency and citizenship by investment has seen an unprecedented surge to more than 20,000 investors seeking a second residency or citizenship every year. To address this need, Arton's global operations include 15 offices around the world, including Montreal, Toronto, Istanbul, Cape Town, Dubai, Singapore, and Hong Kong to name a few. Arton's unique touch is highly valued by thousands of high net worth investors every year.

About YPO

The premier leadership organization of chief executives in the world.

Today, YPO empowers more than 24,000 members in more than 130 countries, diversified among industries and types of businesses. Altogether, YPO member-run companies employ more than 15 million people and generate USD6 trillion in annual revenues.

YPO is the global platform for chief executives to engage, learn and grow. YPO members harness the knowledge, influence and trust of the world's most influential and innovative business leaders to inspire business, personal, family and community impact.

Leadership. Learning. Lifelong. For more information, visit YPO.org.

About Arton Capital

Arton Capital is a leading global financial advisory firm specializing in investor programs for residence and citizenship, and helping governments, industry professionals and investors meet their goals quickly, efficiently and more effectively.

As an industry leader, Arton is a founding member of the Global Investor Immigration Council and creator of the Passport Index, the innovative real-time ranking of the world's passports.

Founder of the Global Citizen Forum and the Global Citizen Foundation, Arton Capital is a member of The Arton Group, which comprises fully licensed international banking, financial advisory and investment consulting companies tailored to the needs of Global Citizens.

Empowering Global Citizenship. For more information, visit artoncapital.com

John Hanafin, CEO, Arton Capital - Empowering Global Citizenship, info@artoncapital.com , T +971-4-456-9220

SOURCE Arton Capital
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- BIGO LIVE, the fastest growing social media video streaming app community, is proud to announce that it is achieving excellent growth as a community for LIVE streaming and has achieved an unprecedented feat by connecting LIVE streamers not only from China and other Asian regions but also from across the globe with users from Europe, Russia, South Korea, Japan and the Middle East all joining in to make BIGO LIVE grow. Compared to the sprawling number of LIVE streaming platforms and apps available now, BIGO LIVE is the only platform that stands out by not focusing in just one certain region. It is truly an app for the global community.

BIGO LIVE helps connect interesting people with others that share the same interest and thanks to the highly-diverse and varied audience of BIGO LIVE, it is slowly growing to become a more interesting place with lots of activities taking place.

BIGO LIVE's success comes from its excellent ability to adapt to its userbase's needs and apply its technology to best cater to these needs. Thus, BIGO LIVE makes its users feel right at home with features they want, right at their fingertips.

BIGO LIVE allows exploring of streamers without limits, no matter wherever you are and whoever you are. Real-time interaction is the key to BIGO LIVE's success and its responsive platform allows streamers and viewers to actively interact without the need to wait. Viewers can reward broadcasters with gifts from BIGO and show their support as a fan. Providing the people that deserve it, support and gifts.

To further allow broadcasters and viewers connect, BIGO LIVE makes it possible to interact with viewers directly on stream and have a public face-to-face LIVE discussion. This gives streaming broadcasters a level of personal touch to their users which is as rewarding as the gifts given by their viewers.

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=sg.BIGO.LIVE

iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/app/id1077137248

About BIGO

BIGO Technology is in the process of market access, operational test and learning about the users' habit and behavior for BIGO LIVE products in in various regions. The company has oriented BIGO LIVE as a global product, to be operated and supplied in the form of a cross-border platform.



Website: http://www.BIGO.tv/new_index_pc.html

Contact Person:

Vondi Lin

Phone Number: +886-2-8911-0960

Email: PR102@cybermedia.com.tw





SOURCE BIGO Technology Pte. Ltd.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Azerbaijan has rejected allegations about corruption at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), pointing to a court decision in Italy, which has decided not to bring any charges against Italian politician Luca Volonte and others who had been investigated by the Milan prosecutor's office for allegedly accepting bribes from Azerbaijan.

In a strongly-worded statement, Azerbaijani MP and PACE member Elkhan Suleymanov, the President of the Association for Civil Society Development in Azerbaijan (ACSDA), denounced "anti-Azerbaijani forces" that have acted in "ruthless and immoral ways, slandering and smearing us in order to damage the international image of Azerbaijan."

He referred to the decision on January 27, 2017 by the Council of Judges on Preliminary Investigations of Milan Prosecutor's Office, in which the Milan court "decided not to proceed against Luca Volonte regarding the accusation of corruption during the exercise of his function."

Suleymanov said he was surprised that despite the court ruling, certain Western politicians and media representatives continue to "repeat these low attacks" when they should be "obliged to respect the court's decision."

He added that, "Regretfully, the ones who groundlessly attack, slander and smear against Azerbaijan, are often regarded as hero-fighters. It became clear to all once again that this ruthless slander and smear campaign against my country was part of a broad international conspiracy, organized by foreign corporate forces to create unrest in order to destabilise Azerbaijan."

"I always ignore slander and gossip, as it is part of my life as a man with public vocation. However, I will continue to mobilise all my efforts to protect my country from biased, groundless attacks, as well as destabilising attempts by anti-Azerbaijani forces," Suleymanov said.

ACSDA: http://avciya.az/en/index.php?newsid=106

SOURCE ACSDA
DUBLIN, Feb 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Cryptosporidium Forecast for selected Asian Markets 2017-2027" report to their offering.

Cryptosporidium is a microscopic parasite (Apicomplexan oocyst-forming protozoan) that causes the diarrhoeal disease cryptosporidiosis. Both the parasite and the disease are also known as ""Crypto.""

There are 20 different species of Cryptosporidium; however the main two species that infect humans are C. hominis and C. parvum (also found in bovines). Other species that have been found to infect humans, but are rarer, include C. meleagridis, C. felis, C. canis, C. andersoni, C. suis, C. baylei and C. muris. Within each species, multiple sub-types exist (e.g. Ia, Ib etc).

This report provides the current incident population for Cryptosporidium across Selected Asian Markets (Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, and Vietnam) split by gender and 5-year age cohort. Along with the current incidence, the report also contains a disease overview of the risk factors, disease diagnosis and prognosis along with specific variations by geography and ethnicity.

Providing a value-added level of insight from the analysis team, several of the main symptoms of Cryptosporidium have been quantified and presented alongside the overall incidence figures. These sub-populations within the main disease are also included at a country level across the 10-year forecast snapshot.

Crypto occurs worldwide, although there are certain factors which can increase its likelihood.



These include:

- Sanitation levels & source of drinking water

- Cohabitation with infected animals

- Age

- Immune status

Key Topics Covered:

1. Introduction



2. Cause of the Disease



3. Risk Factors & Prevention



4. Diagnosis of the Disease



5. Variation by Geography



6. Disease Prognosis & Clinical Course



7. Methodology for quantification of patient numbers



8. Top-line Estimated Incidence for Cryptosporidium



9. Cryptosporidium in Vietnam



10. Abbreviations used in the report



11. Patient-Based Offering



12. Online Pricing Data and Platforms



13. References



14. Appendix

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/5j34xt/cryptosporidium

Media Contact:

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Related Links

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SOURCE Research and Markets
Drones in agriculture will prove to be the greatest advancement in ag in decades, and the type of high tech drone work I have seen at Montanas Universities will help to revolutionize farming. Drones are already increasing Montanas farm profits, and are poised to dramatically decrease water usage and herbicide input saving billions of dollars a year while keeping our environment cleaner. And thats just the beginning!

Montanas high tech drone industry brings millions of dollars into the economy across Montana. In small towns and big cities, from Alzada to the Yaak, drone manufacturers, operators, and associated industries employ dozens of people in Montana today. As a drone entrepreneur, Im concerned about recently introduced legislation to severely limit drone usage in Montana.

State Senator Hinebauchs bill is essentially a drone ban. As written, SB 170 makes it impossible to meaningfully operate a drone in Montana. Banning or severely limiting unmanned aircraft usage in Montana will hurt our economy and cost jobs. SB 170 was reportedly written to curtail rogue drone operators. As written, it isnt legal (as it steps on federal authority over airspace) and it wont likely stop any criminals either.

Dont get me wrong, I wholeheartedly dislike rogue drone operators, probably more than most. Anyone serious about unmanned flight tech looks at rogue drone operators with some level of disdain. Stopping these problem children has proved difficult, even with existing laws. These rogue drone pilots willfully flaunt their lawbreaking then post their antics on social media. Adding an ill-conceived and unenforceable Montana statute wont stop these lawbreakers, just the law-abiding operators and hobbyists.

Per recent political ads, Montana politicians seem likely to seek a lead based solution in the form of a 12 gauge or similar remedy in response to drone problems. We are all rightly anxious about how drone technology could affect our lives, our privacy and our safety. No American wants to be harassed or surveilled by the government or anyone else. However, severely limiting drones is a knee-jerk reaction.

Im certain that drone anxiety played into the development of SB 170, which points to good intentions with bad implementation. The proposed rule would apply heavy fines to our brightest young people who dared fly a drone in Montana airspace. Drones provide so much opportunity for STEM education our kids need in our increasingly high tech world. While drone operators unquestionably require defined boundaries, banning drone flights isnt the answer or a good idea.

Our neighboring states of North Dakota and Idaho, whose combined airspace is second only to Montanas, have become tech hubs for drones. The states University systems and private industry are seeing great benefit from drone development in the form of cash and economic diversification and growth. That means high tech jobs for local kids when they graduate college and more money into the local economy through cutting edge industry. Laws like SB 170 can kill these opportunities.

Rather than banning or severely limiting drone flights for Realtors, hobbyists, and school kids working on science projects; our Legislature can find more reasonable and enforceable privacy rules that would protect our citizens while still welcoming millions and billions of dollars in investment to our state.

North Dakota and Idaho, who are both traditionally more politically conservative than Montana, have already blazed a trail for drones legislatively that protects privacy while promoting a growing industry. Last I checked Idaho had not become a drone surveillance state. Lets use laws like Idahos 21-213 governing UAVs as a starting point. It protects privacy and ensures a healthy drone industry.

Instead of bowing to drone hysteria born of ignorance, lets work towards realistic enforceable solutions that will keep Montana on the cutting edge of a high-flying, high-tech industry. If other states have addressed drone related privacy issues without banning drones, surely Montana can too.

Pepper Petersen is CEO of Big Sky UAV in Helena. He frequently speaks on drone technology and was named among the Top 20 under 40 entrepreneurs in Helena in 2016 for his work with drones.
DUBLIN, Feb 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) Systems - Global Strategic Business Report" report to their offering.

The report provides separate comprehensive analytics for the US, Canada, Japan, Europe, China, South Korea and Rest of World. Annual estimates and forecasts are provided for the period 2014 through 2022. Market data and analytics are derived from primary and secondary research. This report analyzes the worldwide markets for Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) Systems in US$ Million.

The report profiles 60 companies including many key and niche players such as

3M (US)

Atlantia SpA ( Italy )

) G.E.A. ( France )

( ) International Road Dynamics, Inc. ( Canada )

) Kapsch TrafficCom AG ( Austria )

) Perceptics Inc ( USA )

) Q-FREE ASA ( Norway )

) Raytheon Company ( USA )

) Sanef ( France )

) Schneider Electric, SA ( France )

) Siemens AG ( Germany )

) TRMI Systems Integration ( USA )

) Toll Collect GmbH ( Germany )

) Transcore Holdings, Inc ( USA )

) Xerox Corporation ( USA )

Key Topics Covered:

1. MARKET DYNAMICS

Road User Charging

A Perspective

Highway Tolling: A Necessity in 21st Century Highway Maintenance & Development

Electronic Toll Collection: Transforming Traditional Toll Collection Procedures

The Need for Infrastructure Funding

Business Case for ETC Systems

Justifying High Implementation Costs

A Must for Attracting Investments on ETC Projects

ETC Market Remains Relatively Cushioned Against Economic Fluctuations Seen in Recent Past

After Excellent Growth During 2014 to 2016, Market to Stabilize in 2017 & Beyond

Developed Markets

Traditional Revenue Contributors for ETC Systems

Developing Markets to Remain Growth Hotspots

Low Penetration in Developing Countries Points Towards High Growth Potential

Competitive Scenario

List of Select Leading Players by Category

Industry Witnesses Consolidation

2. NOTEWORTHY TRENDS, GROWTH DRIVERS & ISSUES

Need to Avoid Lengthy Waiting Lines & Environmental Pollution at Toll Plazas to Drive Demand for ETC Systems on Highways

Tolling as Means to Reduce Road Congestion & Vehicular Pollution Drives Demand for ETC Systems in Urban Metropolis Areas

Government Focus on Open Road Electronic Tolling: A Key Growth Driver

Growing Focus on ITS Deployments Augurs Well for ETC Market

Opportunity Indicators

Lower Operational Costs of ETC Systems Enable Increased Acceptance

Increased Payment Convenience for Users Propels ETC Market

Roaming Arrangements Boost Effectiveness of ETC System

Encouraging Use of Transponder

The Need of the Hour

Innovation & Market Differentiation

Key Determinants for Success of ETS Projects

Smart Cards in Demand for ETC Systems

Convergence With Mobile Communications: A Shot in the Arm for ETC Systems

GPS/GSM-based Toll Collection

New Avenues in Road User Charging

GNSS: A Potential Tool for TDP Tolling

Product Developments

The Saga Continues

Emerging ETC Technologies

Odometer Tolling

Satellite-based Tolling

Advantages

Disadvantages

Mobile Phone Tolling

Bluetooth Detection

Electronic Tolling Technology for Improved Traffic Management

Time-of-Day Pricing

Dynamic Pricing

Key Issues & Challenges

Electronic Toll Collection

The Privacy Factor

High Upfront Costs & Low Awareness Delay Wider Adoption of ETC Systems in Developing Nations

High-Speed Electronic Collection

Key Hurdles

Violation Enforcement Imperative to Leverage True Potential of ETC Systems

Measures for Enforcement

Image Capture of License Plates

Acquisition of Name and Address

Violator Payment

Legal Aspects of Toll Enforcement

3. PRODUCT OVERVIEW

Toll Roads

History of Toll Roads

Varying Forms of Toll Operations

Toll Collection

Manual Toll Collection

Collection Automatic Toll Collection

Electronic Toll Collection

Electronic Toll Collection

A Prelude

ETC System Components

Major Application Systems

Automatic Vehicle Identification (AVI) Systems

AVI Technologies

RFID

The Basic Technology for AVI

Types of RFID Tags

Active RFID Tags

Passive RFID Tags

The eGo System

TransCore's Leading RFID Product

eGo Tags

eGo Readers

Electronic Tags

RF Tags

Types of RF Tags

RF Smart Tags

Smart Cards Incorporating RF Transponders

Roadside Antennas

Roadside Readers

Communication Systems

Inductive-Loop Systems

Optical Systems

Optical License Plate Recognition

Bar Coding

Surface Acoustical Wave

Communication from Readers to Centralized Computer System

Automatic Identification of Vehicles by Plate Reading

License Plate Recognition (LPR)

Structure of the LPR System

Plate Region Extraction

Segmentation

Character Recognition

AVI Systems

Major Applications

Automatic Vehicle Classification (AVC) Systems

AVC Technologies

Treadles

Electromechanical Treadles

Piezoelectric Treadles

Optical Treadles

Resistive Rubber Treadles

Weigh-in-Motion Equipment/Devices

Bending Plates

Piezoelectric Sensors

Capacitive Strip

Inductive Loops

Scanning Devices

Laser Scanners

Infrared Scanners

Ultrasonic Scanners

Video-based Image Processing Devices

Light Beams

Light Curtains

Violation Enforcement Systems (VES)

VES

Key Technologies

Image/Photographic Cameras

Video Image Processing Systems

Videotape Recording

Video Based Digital Imaging

Transaction Processing Systems

Classification Based on Technology

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

Dedicated Short Range Communication based ETC Systems

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)

Global Positioning Systems (GPS)-based ETC Systems

A Comparison of DSRC and GPS based ETC Systems

GSM

Classification Based on Lanes

Single-Lane ETC Systems

Open Road Tolling/ Multi-Lane Free Flow ETC Systems

ETC System

OBU Classification

Read-only Systems

Read/write Systems

ETC Toll Collection Process

Fixing of Toll Rate

Means of Toll Collection

Postpaid Account

Prepaid Account

Violation Enforcement

Accounting and Management

Interoperability

Various Types of Interoperability

Transponder-level Interoperability

Peer-to-Peer Interoperability

Consolidated Operations

Travel Time Data Measurement

An Overview

Video Imaging

Cellular Phone Tracking

Electronic Distance-Measuring Instruments (DMI)

Electronic License Plate Matching

ETC

Implementation and Functional Challenges

Costs Associated with ETC Implementation and Operation

Cost to Tolling Agency

Cost to the Customer

Preliminary Sunk Costs

Key Benefits of ETC Systems

Advantages of Electronic Toll Collection at a Glance

For Users

For Toll Operators

Common Advantages

Major Drawbacks

ORT

Key Operational Issues 4. RELATED TECHNOLOGIES

Intelligent Transportation Systems

Partners in Success

Key Enablers of Intelligent Transportation Systems

Intelligent Transportation Systems

Solution for Today's Traffic Congestion

Advanced Traffic Management Systems

Public Vehicle Transportation Management Systems

Commercial Vehicle Operations Systems

Electronic Vehicle Registration Systems

EVR Applications

Tachograph

Tachograph Tampering

Tachograph

German Regulations

5. RECENT INDUSTRY ACTIVITY

Kapsch TraffcCom AG Bags Contract from ASFINAG for Modernizing Austrian GO Toll Collection System

Q-Free Signs Slovenia Truck Tolling System Contract

Q-Free Bags 3-Year Agreement for Delivery of Tags to Via Verde

TransCore Gets 10 Year Extension of its Contract with the Maine Turnpike Authority

TransCore Gets 5 Year Extention of its Contract with the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission

Bip&Drive and Bip&Go Introduce First Single Teletoll System for Toll Roads in France and Spain

and Kapsch TrafficCom Bags New Contract from State of Queensland for Toowoomba Second Range Crossing

for Toowoomba Second Range Crossing Q-Free Gets Extension for its Contract with Miami Dade Expressway

Kapsch TrafficCom Bags New Tolling Contract for Replacing Existing Road Tolling Systems for Sydney Harbour Bridge and Tunnel

and Tunnel Q-Free Gets Extension of its Toll Collection Operations Contract with Norwegian Public Roads Administration

Q-Free Bags New Contract from TransCore

Gentex and TransCore Enter into Agreement to Provide Vehicle- Integrated Nationwide Tolling Solution to Auto Manufacturers

The Florida Department of Transportation Awards Contract to Xerox for Toll Transaction Processing Services

Kapsch TrafficCom Secures New Tolling System & ITS Provisioning Contract in Chile

Kapsch TrafficCom to Take Up Technological Upgrade of Existing Tolling System on Pan-American Highway Ruta 5

ASFINAG & Toll Collect to Extend their Cooperation by 3 Years

Kapsch TrafficCom Bags a New Contract in Sydney

Toll Collect Unveils TOLL-EasyChange

Kapsch Takes Over Transdyn

Raytheon Wins Contract from Massachusetts Department of Transportation

Kapsch TrafficCom Wins New Orders for ETC On-Board Units

PAT Traffic Mexico Secures Contract from Mexico Constructora Industrial

6. FOCUS ON SELECT GLOBAL PLAYERS

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/5mttnw/electronic_toll

About Research and Markets

Research and Markets is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

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

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U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

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Related Links

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SOURCE Research and Markets
Level 3's connectivity portfolio serves a major client need and includes private connections, direct cloud connectivity, satellite services, Internet, and value-added services (VASs). Some of its outstanding VAS include:

Load balancing services: Connection in pass-through mode requires no special settings for easy and non-intrusive integration, transparent installation with no need to change firewall settings or routers from client devices, and balancing team functioning as a layer 2.

Wide area network (WAN) optimization: This enables users to speed up traffic across the WAN without increasing the bandwidth by using next generation compression technology, substituting more efficient transport protocols and sending larger bundles of data.

Traffic shaping: This includes precise policy-based traffic management and shaping through L7, performance packet classification and marking, advanced L7 capabilities hostname, URL, HTTP file wildcard downloads, traffic discard/block, time of day policies, and adaptive response.

Content delivery networks (CDNs): In addition to data transportation to other countries, the most requested services in Latin America are encoding and video compression and CDNs focused on media and entertainment companies. Hence, Level 3 is expanding its CDN solution throughout the region, anchored by a network operations center (NOC) in Brazil to support regional customers.

are encoding and video compression and CDNs focused on media and entertainment companies. Hence, Level 3 is expanding its CDN solution throughout the region, anchored by a network operations center (NOC) in to support regional customers. Vyvx linear channel distribution (LCD): High-quality TV channel programmers are replicated to supply the multichannel video programming distributors (MVPD) such as TV companies and cable and satellite video over-the-top (OTT) providers.

"Level 3 stands out from traditional providers because its service is based on fiber, allowing content providers to scale the distribution of its channels for MVPDs and over-the-top companies worldwide," said Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Carina Goncalves. "Through the use of high-capacity transmissions, secure and redundant by fiber, the service delivers robust user experience and superior video quality. Essentially, customers have a greater visibility in the distribution process and can make necessary changes quickly."

Incorporating long-range, macro-level scenarios in the innovation strategy, Level 3 aims to simplify its operating environment and is moving toward a global platform that is underlined by continuous customer experience improvement and consolidated regional customer assurance. Level 3 also bundles equipment and services along with connectivity to maintain the value of the total contract.

One of the main differentiators for Level 3 is its vast global coverage. It has more than 33,000 route miles of its own submarine cable; connected more than 60 countries, 500 markets, and 173,000 intercity and metro route miles; over 350 data centers; and 43 Tbps of IP and CDN global capacity. Its operations in Latin America span Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. Additionally, Level 3 has launched a customer experience improvement program designed to enhance its customer Web portal and automated customer communications.

"The company's market leadership is founded on its operational excellence and consistent efforts to innovate. Its position received a further boost with the strong and reliable alliances it forged with both global and local technology suppliers," noted Carina Goncalves. "Lastly, its expertise in the convergent telecom-IT services arena has reinforced its reputation and image as a leading provider of customized solutions."

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated excellence in terms of growth strategy and implementation. The award recognizes a high degree of innovation with products and technologies and the resulting leadership in terms of customer value and market penetration.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.

About Level 3 Communications (Level 3)

Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) is a Fortune 500 company that provides local, national and global communications services to enterprise, government and carrier customers. Level 3's comprehensive portfolio of secure, managed solutions includes fiber and infrastructure solutions; IP-based voice and data communications; wide-area Ethernet services; video and content distribution; data center and cloud-based solutions. Level 3 serves customers in more than 500 markets in over 60 countries across a global services platform anchored by owned fiber networks on three continents and connected by extensive undersea facilities. For more information, please visit www.level3.com or get to know us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector, and the investment community. Contact us: Start the discussion.

Contact:

Chiara Carella

P: +44 (0) 207.343.8314

F: 210.348.1003

E: chiara.carella@frost.com

Paula Vivo

Level 3, Latin America

+55 11-3957-2424

paula.vivo@level3.com

Related Links

http://www.frost.com



SOURCE Frost & Sullivan
NEW YORK, February 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Hoverboard is a battery operated, two-wheeled self-balancing device that is used for personal transportation. It is also referred to as a self-balancing electric scooter, or electric skateboard, or hands-free Segway (traditional Segway's with handles are not included in this definition). Rider or the operator stands on the hoverboard with both feet and have to use their body weight to control movement of hoverboard. Over the past few years, demand for hoverboards increased owing to growing use of hoverboard for personal mobility, as well as for recreational activities across the globe. Moreover, rising interest of people in battery operated self-balancing scooters, coupled with growing youth population are further anticipated to drive global hoverboard market during the forecast period.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140117/663730 )



According to TechSci Research report, "Global Hoverboard Market By Type, By Application, By Region, Competition Forecast & Opportunities, 2015-2021", hoverboards market is projected to surpass $1.8 billion by 2021, owing to expanding youth population, increasing adoption of hoverboards for personal mobility and recreational activities. Moreover, 6.5 inch hoverboard dominated global hoverboard market in 2015, and same trend is further anticipated to continue during the forecast period, on account of it's low price and easy availability. Asia-Pacific region accounted for largest share in global hoverboard market in 2015, and the region is forecast to continue its dominance during the forecast period as well due to increasing demand from countries such as China, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia. "Global Hoverboard Market By Type, By Application, By Region, Competition Forecast & Opportunities, 2015-2021" report elaborates following aspects of hoverboards across the world:

Global Hoverboard Market Size, Share & Forecast

Segmental Analysis - By Type (6.5 Inch, 8 Inch and 10 Inch), By Application (Recreational Activities, Personal Mobility Device, Business Purposes & Other*), By Region ( Asia-Pacific , Europe , North America , Rest of World and South America )

, , , Rest of World and ) Policy & Regulatory Landscape

Changing Market Trends and Emerging Opportunities

Competitive Landscape and Strategic Recommendations

Why You Should Buy This Report?

To gain an in-depth understanding of global hoverboard market

To identify the on-going trends and segment wise anticipated growth in the coming years

To help industry consultants, hoverboard companies and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies

To obtain research based business decision and add weight to presentations and marketing material

To gain competitive knowledge of leading players

To avail 10% customization in the report without any extra charges and get the 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 on both primary and secondary sources. Primary research included interviews with hoverboard manufacturers, distributors, retailers and industry experts. Secondary research included an exhaustive search of relevant publications like company annual reports, financial reports and proprietary databases.

Table of Content:

1. Product Overview

2. Research Methodology

3. Analyst View

4. Global Hoverboard Market Outlook

4.1. Market Size & Forecast (Value & Volume)

4.2. Market Share & Forecast

4.3. Market Attractive Index (By Region)

4.4. Market Attractive Index (By Hoverboard Type)

5. Global 6.5 Inch Hoverboard Market Outlook

5.1. Market Size & Forecast (Value & Volume)

5.2. Market Share & Forecast

6. Global 8 Inch Hoverboard Market Outlook

6.1. Market Size & Forecast (Value & Volume)

6.2. Market Share & Forecast

7. Global 10 Inch Hoverboard Market Outlook

7.1. Market Size & Forecast (Value & Volume)

7.2. Market Share & Forecast

8. Asia-Pacific Hoverboard Market Outlook

8.1. Market Size & Forecast (Value & Volume)

8.2. Market Share & Forecast

8.3. Asia-Pacific Country Analysis

9. North-America Hoverboard Market Outlook

9.1. Market Size & Forecast (Value & Volume)

9.2. Market Share & Forecast

9.3. North America Country Analysis

10. Europe Hoverboard Market Outlook

10.1. Market Size & Forecast (Value & Volume)

10.2. Market Share & Forecast

10.3. Europe Country Analysis

11. South America Hoverboard Market Outlook

11.1. Market Size & Forecast (Value & Volume)

11.2. Market Share & Forecast

11.3. South America Country Analysis

12. Rest of World (ROW) Hoverboard Market Outlook

12.1. Market Size & Forecast (Value & Volume)

12.2. Market Share & Forecast

12.3. Rest of World (ROW) Country Analysis

13. Market Dynamics

13.1. Drivers

13.2. Challenges

14. Market Trends and Developments

15. Policy & Regulatory Landscape

16. Competitive Landscape

17. Strategic Recommendation

About TechSci Research:

TechSci Research is a leading global market research firm publishing premium market research reports. Serving 700 global clients with more than 600 premium market research studies, TechSci Research is serving clients across 11 different industrial verticals. TechSci Research specializes in research based consulting assignments in high growth and emerging markets, leading technologies and niche applications. Our workforce of more than 100 fulltime Analysts and Consultants employing innovative research solutions and tracking global and country specific high growth markets helps TechSci clients to lead rather than follow market trends.



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Mr. Ken Mathews

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Manhattan, NY,

New York - 10017

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SOURCE TechSci Research
NESS ZIONA, Israel and CHIBA, Japan, February 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

NRGene has assembled the octoploid, heterozygote genome of the commercial strawberry in only two weeks using reads produced on Illumina sequencers

NRGene, a globally recognized leader in genomic analysis, is the first ever company to assemble the complex genome of a commercially grown strawberry.

Most plant, animal, and human genomes are diploid - containing two variants from each gene. The strawberry genome contains eight nearly identical copies of each gene, making the accurate phasing of each something that has never been done before - until NRGene's DeNovoMAGIC 3.0.

The octoploid, heterozygous strawberry genome was assembled using reads produced on Illumina sequencing technology and assembled by NRGene's cloud-based DeNovoMAGIC 3.0 software package in only two weeks.

"It's exciting to see how NRGene's analysis, combined with data from Illumina sequencers, can be used to quickly and affordably assemble complex genomes, like that of the strawberry," said Ryan Rapp, Associate Director, Agrigenomics for Illumina. "We hope that this technology will make genomics accessible to agricultural researchers worldwide, helping to improve the food supply to make it more sustainable and efficient."

NRGene's DeNovoMAGICT3.0 delivers complete, highly accurate genome assemblies in the form of long, phased sequences using Illumina-based reads. As more genomes are generated, NRGene's PanMAGIC is used to compare the complete genome sequences of multiple individual samples to capture the broad genomic diversity, better pinpointing positive traits across all varieties.

"With the data from NRGene, strawberry breeders will be able to accelerate the release of better performing strawberry varieties, creating hardier, more disease-resistant varieties with longer shelf lives," says Sachiko Isobe, head of the plant genomics and genetics laboratory at Japan's Kazusa DNA Research Institute.

NRGene has delivered the first bread wheat, Emmer wheat, and durum wheat genomes; dozens of new maize, soybean, cotton, and canola genomes; and is delivering more accurate versions of previously mapped genomes built on older, more inefficient technologies.

"The strawberry assembly demonstrates that even the most complex genomes can be mapped quickly and accurately," says Gil Ronen, CEO of NRGene. "The ultimate value in our technology is that it can be deployed to analyze and assemble any genome across all species."

Detailed results are available: http://nrgene.com/strawberry-results

The project was done in cooperation with Japan's Kazusa DNA Research Institute and supported in part by Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

About NRGene

NRGene is a genomic big data company developing cutting-edge software and algorithms to reveal the complexity and diversity of crop plants, animals, and aquatic organisms for supporting the most advanced and sophisticated breeding programs. NRGene tools have already been employed by some of the leading seed companies worldwide as well as the most influential research teams in academia. http://www.nrgene.com

NRGene PR contact

Amy Kenigsberg

K2 Global Communications

+1-(913)440-4072

amy@k2-gc.com



SOURCE NRGene
Aerotek receives dual designation for second consecutive year and highest NPS/satisfaction rating ever

HANOVER, Md., Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Aerotek Inc., a leading provider of recruiting and staffing, announced today it was recognized in Inavero's Best of Staffing Client and Talent Awards. The awards recognize staffing agencies that have proven superior service quality based completely on the ratings given to them by their client and contract employees. This marks the second consecutive year that Aerotek has been named Best of Staffing for both client and contract employees, a designation achieved by less than two percent of all staffing companies in North America.

Through direct feedback from more than 33,000 contract employees and nearly 9,000 clients, Aerotek received a high satisfaction score of nine or 10 out of 10 from 66 percent of its clients and 71 percent of its talent. With a Net Promoter score of 58 percent from its clients and 60 percent from its contract employees, Aerotek far surpasses the staffing industry's average of 4 percent and 21 percent, respectively.

"We mean it when we say our people are everything, especially when it comes to our contract employees and clients," said Aerotek President Todd Mohr. "We take pride in the Best of Staffing Award, and it is an honor to be recognized for a second consecutive year by our customers for our dedication to delivering on their needs and wants."

"Staffing firms are giving top companies a competitive advantage as they search for talent in North America," said Inavero's CEO Eric Gregg. "The 2017 Best of Staffing winners have achieved exceptionally high levels of satisfaction."

To find out more information about Aerotek and the services they provide, visit Aerotek.com.

About Aerotek

Our people are everything. For more than 30 years, Aerotek Inc. has distinguished itself as a leader in recruiting and staffing services, by having a deep understanding of the intersection of talent and business. As a strategic partner to more than 17,000 clients and 300,000 contract employees every year, Aerotek's people-focused approach yields competitive advantages for its clients and rewarding careers for its contract employees. Headquartered in Hanover, Md., Aerotek operates a network of over 230 non-franchised offices with more than 6,000 internal employees dedicated to serving our customers. Aerotek is an operating company of Allegis Group, a global talent solutions provider. To learn more, visit Aerotek.com.

About Inavero

Inavero administers more staffing agency client and talent satisfaction surveys than any other firm in the world. Inavero's team reports on over 1.2 million satisfaction surveys from staffing agency clients and talent each year and the company serves as the American Staffing Association's exclusive service quality partner.

About Inavero's Best of Staffing

Inavero's Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the U.S. and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service quality based completely on the ratings given to them by their clients and job candidates. Award winners are showcased by city and area of expertise on BestofStaffing.com  an online resource for hiring professionals and job seekers to find the best staffing agencies to call when they are in need.

SOURCE Aerotek

Related Links

https://www.aerotek.com


SEDONA, Ariz., Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Guests, old and new, who visit Garland's Oak Creek Lodge, starting March 10, when the resort opens, will find on their next stay that the property has a new name, Orchard Canyon on Oak Creek, that honors the heritage of this exclusive destination and highlights why the place is a cherished Arizona landmark.

Ken McElroy, managing partner of the partnership that bought Garland's Oak Creek Lodge two years ago, knew early on that preservation was paramount. "The property is nestled in Oak Creek Canyon, right on the water. Within its ten acres are two of the original orchards that used to be so much a part of this region. They are still producing."

Gary and Mary Garland allowed the property to retain the Garland's name for two years, but recognized after that it would be time to pass the torch, just as they did when they bought the property from the Todds, more than forty years ago.

"It has been a joy living here and welcoming guests for all these years. There are so many stories, so many memories. I'm thrilled that the place is going to retain its heritage," said Gary Garland.

"The Orchard Canyon name perfectly reflects the essence of this place," said Chris Bosselman, general manager. The company worked with a Scottsdale-based branding company, Heasley & Partners, as well as asked regular guests for their input. The new name is a reflection of all the input received.

Orchard Canyon on Oak Creek will be transitioning from Garland's over the next several months. Everyone is invited to join in the journey as the new look and offerings that showcase this unique destination are brought to life.

About Orchard Canyon

Orchard Canyon on Oak Creek is an Arizona original. Tucked into the walls of Oak Creek Canyon and sprawling over ten acres, Orchard Canyon on Oak Creek (formerly Garland's) is known for its beautiful wooded surroundings, towering canyon walls and acres of orchards. It is the destination of choice for visitors who stay in their 17 exclusive cabins year after year. The property features a five-star, award-winning restaurant and meals are included in the price of every stay. It's the place for weekend getaways, mid-week business retreats, engagement parties, weddings as well as festivals and events that happen throughout the year. For more information visit www.EnjoyOrchardCanyon.com or www.GarlandsLodge.com.

PRLog ID: www.prlog.org/12620724

SOURCE Orchard Canyon on Oak Creek

Related Links

http://www.EnjoyOrchardCanyon.com


MECHANIC FALLS, Maine, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the U.S. International Trade Commission determined that imports from China of amorphous silica fabric ("silica fabric"), that were previously found by the U.S. Department of Commerce to be unfairly priced and subsidized, materially injure the U.S. industry. This is the culmination of the petition filed by Auburn Manufacturing, Inc. ("AMI") in January 2016. As a result, U.S. importers of silica fabric will be required to post combined estimated antidumping and countervailing duties ranging from approximately 200% to 300%. AMI is the largest U.S. manufacturer of silica fabric, operating two manufacturing plants in Maine. AMI is the principal supplier of amorphous silica fabric to the U.S. Navy.

AMI had lost a significant number of sales to Chinese imports due to extremely low import prices, resulting in AMI having to lay off workers. As a result of the successful petition and the imposition of duties, AMI is seeing a rebound in sales, which has allowed it to hire back many of the previously laid off workers. Just as important, AMI will be able to continue being a viable supplier of silica fabric to the U.S. Navy.

AMI very much appreciates the effort by the U.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce in investigating the unfair trade practices of the Chinese producers. Ms. Leonard, the President and CEO of AMI, states the following:

"I am extremely happy with the outcome of the proceedings and thank the U.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce for levelling the playing field for my company. I am also grateful to U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King and Representatives Chellie Pingree and Bruce Poliquin. The Maine delegation was instrumental in taking a stand against unfair trade from China."

For more information, please contact Rhonda Cox at [email protected] or 207-345-8771 or go to www.auburnmfg.com

About Auburn Manufacturing, Inc.

Since its founding in 1979, Auburn Manufacturing, Inc., has become a leading developer, manufacturer, and marketer of textile products for hundreds of extreme temperature industrial applications throughout the world, including welding protection, industrial insulation, safety apparel, gaskets and seals, and other MROP (Maintenance, Repair, Operations and Production) and OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) applications.

Contact: Rhonda Cox, Auburn Mfg

Phone: 207.345.8771

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.auburnmfg.com

SOURCE Auburn Manufacturing, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.auburnmfg.com


MIAMI, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- #BankSocial 2017 (http://www.banksocialmediaconference.com/) is just weeks away, and the conference agenda is shaping up to be a blockbuster. Kicking things off this year is a workshop on social media and innovation presented by representatives of Avidia Bank. Scheduled for April 3 from 12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., "Creating a Culture of Social Media & Innovation in Your Bank" is the first of several optional pre-conference workshops. The complete #BankSocial agenda is available at http://www.banksocialmediaconference.com/agenda/.

"Avidia Bank is a true leader in this industry, and its leadership continues to set a great example of how to manage innovation for banks and credit unions across the country," says #BankSocial Founder John Siracusa. "Social media is no doubt one of the biggest changes we've witnessed in the last decade, and this workshop will provide a great opportunity to see how social connections can foster a better, more productive working environment."

"The perception of being a community bank and not having the capabilities of a larger FI needs to be dispelled," says Mike Allard, SVP and Chief Marketing Officer at Avidia Bank. "As long as some consumers consider smaller banks as 'the place where my grandmother has her passbook so how could they possible deliver a mobile banking experience that will do what I need', we still have some work to do. Social media has provided us a platform to show the more contemporary side of Avidia while making people aware of just how capable we are."

The year 2016 saw social media become an integral part of the training programs at Avidia Bank. After all, social media today intersects with virtually every aspect of sales, marketing, communications and branding. The Avidia Bank workshop will dive into how this reality impacts corporate culture at banks and credit unions. Data from a Global Workforce Gallup study paints a clear picture: employees who are socially engaged in their brand feel more connected and inspired and, importantly, are more likely to stay with their employer.

Since 2007, Avidia Bank has been an important member of the banking community in Massachusetts. Headquartered in Hudson, the bank has continually invested in technology improvements that improve the customer experience, as well as increase employee retention. Concentrating on social media's influence on corporate culture is a natural progression of that investment.

#BankSocial 2017 registration is ongoing; special advanced pricing ends in less than two weeks. This year's event runs from April 3 to 6 and is taking place in sunny Miami, Florida. In the meantime, a comprehensive digital network has already been deployed for those who want to get the conversations started early.

About #BankSocial

Banking isn't like every other industryregulations have made social media a nerve racking territory. That's why #BankSocial was created to inspire bank and credit union marketers and executives to be the best at exceeding customer's expectations, while navigating through the red tape. Whether you're a social media rock star or a beginner, you'll gather a wealth of knowledge from industry leaders through content innovation, open discussions, networking, and so much more. Learn more at http://banksocialmediaconference.com.

Contact:

Ally Davis

#BankSocial

201-941-1458 ext. 703

[email protected]

http://banksocialmediaconference.com

SOURCE #BankSocial

Related Links

http://www.banksocialmediaconference.com


"Life at Bexley embraces the best of Florida, with homes that beautifully blend indoor-outdoor living and a master-planned community that offers endless adventures through an extensive trail system, community clubhouse and pool, neighborhood parks and even bark parks  all at a price point that is manageable for first-time homebuyers and growing families," said Dave Bulloch, Tampa Division President for CalAtlantic Homes.

Homes within Bexley range from 1,527 to 2,834 square feet, with two to four bedrooms and two to four baths. These one- and two-story home designs have been reimagined for the Bexley community, with Great Room centered floor plans that flow seamlessly into gourmet kitchens, and indoor-outdoor patio spaces that take full advantage of Florida's sunny climate. Each home features a generous owner's suite with a spa-inspired bath. Select models also feature flexible loft options.

Homes at Bexley can be further personalized with a choice of Traditional or Bungalow exterior styles, and every home features welcoming front porches and rear-load garages. At a price point starting in the mid $200,000s, Bexley is an affordable way for homebuyers to establish themselves in this popular Florida neighborhood.

The new community is located within the Bexley master-planned community, a new 1,200-acre development that features more than 10 miles of hiking and biking nature trails, neighborhood parks and bark parks. It is also the home of The Bexley Club, a lakefront clubhouse encompassing two resort-style pools, a cafe, information center, fitness center and indoor and outdoor fireplace gathering areas. The community will also feature Bexley Elementary School, which is slated to open in August 2017.

Bexley is conveniently located close to the Suncoast Parkway/State Road 589, Highway 41 and I-75. It is less than 30 minutes from nearby beaches, employment centers and downtown Tampa, and is surrounded by major retailers and restaurants. Children living in Bexley will have the opportunity to attend Oakstead Elementary School, Charles S. Rushe Middle School and Sunlake High School, all part of Pasco County Schools.

To learn more about Bexley, please call (813) 475-4170 or visit the Sales Center at 3909 Balcony Breeze Drive, Land O' Lakes, FL 34638. For more information, visit www.calatlantichomes.com.

About CalAtlantic Group, Inc.

CalAtlantic Group, Inc. (NYSE: CAA), one of the nation's largest and most respected homebuilders, offers well-crafted homes in thoughtfully designed communities that meet the desires of customers across the homebuilding spectrum, from entry level to luxury, in 41 Metropolitan Statistical Areas spanning 17 states. With a trusted reputation for quality craftsmanship, an outstanding customer experience and exceptional architectural design earned over its 50-year history, CalAtlantic Group, Inc. utilizes its over five decades of land acquisition, development and homebuilding expertise to acquire and build desirable communities in locations that meet the high expectations of the company's homebuyers. We invite you to learn more about us by visiting www.calatlantichomes.com.

Contact: Danielle Tocco

National Communications Director

CalAtlantic Group, Inc.

[email protected]

Direct Line: 949.789.1633

SOURCE CalAtlantic Homes

Related Links

http://www.calatlantichomes.com


Services for senior citizens and those who need long-term care were slashed as part of budget cuts made to the Department of Public Health and Human Services by a legislative budget committee Friday.

It is a significant cut to nursing homes, said Sen. Mary Caferro, D-Helena, who voted against the cut. Nursing homes are an entitlement and they are a strong business in local communities. I think we are going to have a lot of problems with all of these different cuts in all of these different areas.

Without program-level final numbers from the legislature's fiscal division, it was unclear Friday exactly how much the Health and Human Services Joint Appropriations Subcommittee trimmed the program's budget, but advocates for senior citizens and those who work to care for them called the cuts severe.

The subcommittees action today harms Montanas most vulnerable citizens, including children, families, the elderly and people with disabilities. It also sends a dangerous message to families and devoted workers who are committed to protecting and supporting Montanas children, department Director Sheila Hogan said in a statement Friday.

Gov. Steve Bullocks budget trimmed $27 million from senior and long-term care, and the Legislature pitched another $14.9 million, which passed on a 5-2 vote on Friday. The committee built back in the ability for some money to reach the program, but there is still a gap between what the governor proposed and the Legislature cut. The governor's proposal is about $10 million less than the program was given in the last biennium.

Montana is facing dwindling revenues after a decline in oil and gas tax revenues put a dent in state coffers. Bullocks initial budget relied on millions in cuts, new and increased taxes and fund transfers to balance the budget and build a rainy day fund. Republican lawmakers have said the fund transfers and tax increases are non-starters.

According to a report from the Legislative Fiscal Division on Friday, the department as a whole will get $1.038 billion in general fund money under what the committee approved. That amount could change as the plan and House Bill 2, the budget bill, work their way through the House Appropriations Committee, and then are sent to the full House, followed by a similar process through the Senate.

The $1.038 billion is $10.6 million less than Bullock's budget called for, but still $10.3 million more than the department got in the last biennium, or a 1 percent boost.

Still, some parts of the department faced steep cuts. Despite direct pleas to lawmakers from employees who deal with abused and neglected children and statements from legislators who said cuts to workforce affect front-line staff more than administrative positions, the committee voted to limit the number of employees in the department.

Bullocks two-year budget already proposed 5 percent vacancy savings, and the Legislature had added another 2 percent earlier this year. A proposal by Rep. Bob Keenan, R-Bigfork, to cut another 2 percent passed on a 6-1 vote out of the Joint Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services, which sets the department's budget.

Keenan said his proposal would keep the department at its current staffing level with about 8.3 percent of positions vacant. The department Friday said it would increase the previous reduction of Child and Family Service workers from nine to 18.

But Rep. Marilyn Ryan, D-Missoula, said the cuts will hit those who service neediest Montanans most and not be felt at the administrative level.

We already know the stress levels in Child and Family Services, Ryan said. They dont get a break. You cannot reduce staff continuously and expect the same level of achievement. When you look at the cuts, it goes directly to the people who service our clients, the people in the state of Montana with the most need.

Rep. Jon Knokey, R-Bozeman, argued the jobs are not currently filled, and perhaps by having fewer employees the department might be able to offer higher wages for some positions.

How do we right-size our full employment and potentially with those savings look into the future about setting ourselves up to have living wages for people doing really good work on the ground? he asked.

Ryan brought a proposal, which failed on a 5-2 vote, to raise the pay of direct care workers by $1 an hour. It would have cost $13.7 million.

Knokey voted against the increase, saying it wasnt enough to make a difference.

I agree we need to do something, but the challenge before us is that you can make $9 doing this job and $16 at Panda Express," he said. "What does that $1 get you?

The committee approved Bullocks pitch to give an additional $16 million to the Child and Family Services Division to help pay for youth in foster care, but Rep. Nancy Ballance, R-Hamilton, brought a motion to make it a one-time appropriation, not the permanent funding Bullock proposed.

The House Appropriations Committee will be the next to take up the health department budget as a part of its deliberations on House Bill 2, the general budget bill, which will happen sometime in early March.
"As a locally based company, we have a responsibility to find ways to stimulate and excite young people on Long Island," said Seymour Liebman, Executive Vice President, Canon U.S.A, Inc. "With substantial investments in our facility and training our employees, we wanted to invite young professionals here to see our vision and show them that Long Island is the future."

Event attendees were welcomed by Canon U.S.A., Inc.'s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Joe Adachi and Executive Vice President Seymour Liebman, both of whom spoke of Canon's role in the Long Island business community and what the Company does to market itself to young talent in the area. Joining the presentation was Town of Huntington Supervisor Frank Petrone, who detailed initiatives focused on attracting and retaining talented young professionals specializing in a number of capacities. Guests also participated in a question and answer session to discuss their feelings about living and working on Long Island, including what resources they see as important for growing careers on Long Island and what local businesses can do to help keep young professionals in the area.

Anthony Dalessio, managing partner at KPMG and chair of the LIA Young Professionals Committee said: "It is a true testament to paying it forward when we allow the LIA Young Professionals Committee to connect with the leaders of Long Island. Listening to the needs of young professionals shows that we want future generations to stay on Long Island and achieve success. The insights conveyed by Mr. Adachi and Mr. Liebman truly allow the Committee members to inspire to make Long Island the clear choice. This meeting set the stage for future sessions so that our young professionals can strive for successful and fruitful careers and lifestyles in our local community."

"We at the LIA are always considering how we can help keep future generations working close to home. It's clear that Canon shares the vision of attracting young talent to help keep Long Island vibrant with a multi-generational and diverse workforce. I thank Canon for inviting us and listening to our committee's perspective," said Robert Renda, an associate at Forchelli, Curto, Deegan, Schwartz, Mineo & Terrana, LLP, who is a member of the LIA's Young Professionals Committee and was in attendance for the event.

The program was part of Canon U.S.A's ongoing efforts to be an active member of the Long Island community, where it has been headquartered since 1971.

For more information about Canon U.S.A, visit www.usa.canon.com.

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.

Canon U.S.A., Inc., is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions to the United States and to Latin America and the Caribbean markets. With approximately $29 billion in global revenue, its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), ranks third overall in U.S. patents granted in 2016 and is one of Fortune Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies in 2016. Canon U.S.A. is committed to the highest level of customer satisfaction and loyalty, providing 100 percent U.S.-based consumer service and support for all of the products it distributes. Canon U.S.A. is dedicated to its Kyosei philosophy of social and environmental responsibility. In 2014, the Canon Americas Headquarters secured LEED Gold certification, a recognition for the design, construction, operations and maintenance of high-performance green buildings. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company's RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/rss and follow us on Twitter @CanonUSA. For media inquiries, please contact [email protected].

 Based on weekly patent counts issued by United States Patent and Trademark Office.

All referenced product names, and other marks, are trademarks of their respective owners.

Canon U.S.A. website:

http://www.usa.canon.com

For sales information/customer support:

1-800-OK-CANON

SOURCE Canon U.S.A., Inc.

Related Links

http://www.usa.canon.com


LOS ANGELES, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CIT Bank, N.A., (Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender), and its Southern California retail bank division OneWest Bank, today announced that it will provide a $1.25 million grant over five years to the University of Southern California (USC) Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement (the Murray Center). The grant supports a new financial fitness program that will offer financial literacy training to thousands of community leaders with the goal of promoting economic development in low- to moderate-income Los Angeles neighborhoods.

Over the course of five years, the Murray Center will partner with churches to train 6,000 individuals in personal financial management and small business development, including credit remediation, savings and investments, and homeownership. Staff from the Murray Center, along with volunteer CIT bankers and financial professionals, will instruct the workshops.

"Urban communities suffer from the poverty of money, safety, and most of all opportunity. CIT/OneWest Bank is giving people in these often overlooked communities the chance to gain financial capabilities," said Mark Whitlock, executive director of the Murray Center at USC. "With CIT's generous support, the Murray Center will be able to help religious leaders and their constituents gain knowledge and resources for financial fitness, which will transform communities into better places to live, work, and worship."

Steve Solk, president, CIT consumer banking, said, "Developing strong partnerships with organizations such as the Murray Center helps us serve community needs where we do business, using our collective networks and expertise. We're pleased to launch this new program with the Murray Center and make a long term commitment to helping our communities prosper."

Rick Lieber, senior vice president, CIT, stated, "We're focused on building pathways to economic sustainability by addressing the issues of financial education and community development. Through our philanthropic efforts and the power of our employee volunteers, we're working to create thriving economies and a better future for us all."

EDITOR'S NOTE:

CIT thought leadership content can be found at the Knowledge Center on CIT.com (cit.com/knowledgecenter) and our CIT Point of View blog (cit.com/pov). View our corporate video (cit.com/corporatevideo) and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Facebook. Register to receive press releases at cit.com/newsalerts.

About CIT

Founded in 1908, CIT (NYSE: CIT) is a financial holding company with more than $65 billion in assets. Its principal bank subsidiary, CIT Bank, N.A., (Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender) has more than $30 billion of deposits and more than $40 billion of assets. It provides financing, leasing and advisory services principally to middle market companies across a wide variety of industries primarily in North America, and equipment financing and leasing solutions to the transportation sector. It also offers products and services to consumers through its Internet bank franchise and a network of retail branches in Southern California, operating as OneWest Bank, a division of CIT Bank, N.A. cit.com

About USC Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement

The Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement equips faith leaders to transform low-income neighborhoods in Southern California. Through training sessions for clergy and lay leaders, the center addresses civic engagement and economic opportunity, areas that are essential to the health of underserved communities. The Murray Center is a component of the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture. As pastor of First AME Church in Los Angeles, Rev. Cecil Murray served as an essential link between the community and civil authorities during the 1992 civil unrest. He and Rev. Mark Whitlock, now executive director of the Murray Center, founded FAME Renaissance, the economic development arm of FAME Church, which created more than 4,000 jobs in South Los Angeles. After retiring from FAME, Rev. Murray join the faculty of the religion department at University of Southern California, where he has passed on the "Murray Method" of faith and civic leadership to hundreds of community leaders. crcc.usc.edu/murraycenter

CIT MEDIA RELATIONS:

Matt Klein

Director

(973) 597-2020

[email protected]

USC CECIL MURRAY CENTER FOR

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MEDIA RELATIONS:

Megan Sweas

Director of Communications

213-743-1611

[email protected]

SOURCE CIT Bank, N.A.
MIAMI, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In partnership with CitiHope, Panexus Haiti and Friends for Good Health, The Jack Brewer Foundation (JBF Worldwide) has sent a 40-foot-long container filled with millions of dollars' worth of medicine to Innovating Health International (IHI) in Haiti. IHI is a non-profit dedicated to treating chronic diseases and addressing women's health issues in developing countries. IHI is extremely active in Haiti and providing these medicines to the organization will save and improve countless lives.

"We will distribute the medications to our partners across the country, especially in the areas hit hard by Hurricane Matthew," says IHI's Dr. Vincent DeGennaro, Jr. "As the recovery efforts continue, the medications will treat thousands of people across the devastated areas."

Since 1990, CitiHope has procured, shipped, and distributed over $1 billion in medicine, medical supplies, nutritional and developmental resources to 40 countries across the world. For the last 26 years, CitiHope has held the same values: seeking to put a healthy life within reach by promoting health, preventing disease, and providing cures to underserved populations worldwide, striving to uphold the values of stewardship, integrity, and compassion in concrete actions as people of faith, and committing to fiscal transparency.

"It has been a privilege to partner with JBF and IHI to send these medicines to Haiti. Both organizations have excelled at getting aid into the hands that need it quickly," says CitiHope's Program Fulfillment Officer, Austin Landes, "We look forward to continued efforts to bring hope and health to the Haitian people."

CitiHope's medical relief programs are now a bridge, linking indigenous medical institutions and physicians, such as IHI, with the medicine and medical supplies needed, while also educating on the proper treatment protocols. IHI's team has been working in Haiti since 2004 and operates a Women's Cancer Center with the support of JBF Worldwide.

IHI seeks to use multi-disciplinary teams to shape healthcare delivery, prevention, and education. IHI's team includes doctors, nurses, social workers, and community health workers, many of whom are former patients. JBF Worldwide secured funding for the shipment of medicines to reach Port-au-Prince with the help of Friends for Good Health. The partners have worked together on several humanitarian missions over the years.

Panexus Haiti will support the transport and coordination of medicine distributions in Haiti upon the retrieval from customs. CitiHope and JBF Worldwide will continue to work together to raise funds and medicine to support these organizations and countries in their attempt to rid their citizens of chronic diseases.

"We are humbled to have the opportunity to help bring medical relief to the people Haiti," says JBF Worldwide Founder and Executive Director Ambassador Jack Brewer. "JBF Worldwide is dedicated to serving the underserved and bringing together likeminded organizations to make a difference. Our partnership with CitiHope and Innovating Health International will save lives."

SOURCE The Jack Brewer Foundation

Related Links

http://www.jbfworldwide.org


EAGAN, Minn., Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ConvergeOne, a leading global provider of state-of-the-art communications and data solutions, announced today that Avaya has named ConvergeOne Overall Partner of the Year for 2016. The recognition is the highest honor awarded to a partner by Avaya. The company was also distinguished as Service Partner of the Year for 2016. Avaya announced all the award winners this week during Avaya ENGAGE 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Overall Partner of the Year

ConvergeOne received the accolade for Overall Partner of the Year, recognizing its outstanding revenue growth in 2016 in Product and Services in all sectors. Further to its aforementioned achievements, ConvergeOne is also lauded as Avaya's top partner with leading virtual infrastructure and performance growth.

Service Partner of the Year

ConvergeOne is a single-source provider for IT needs; from phone systems and computer networks, to hardware and application development. As an Avaya partner, ConvergeOne has demonstrated best-in-class growth in all services. This includes maintenance services with high renewal rates and Contact Center growth of 30 percent. It's also led the roll out of C1 Cloud Powered by Avaya.

"As an Avaya partner, ConvergeOne has demonstrated best-in-class growth in services with superb renewal rates, excellent customer retention and delivery metrics that demonstrate their absolute customer focus," said Gary Levy, Vice President of U.S. Channels, Avaya. "Not only have they grown their Avaya Networking business, but they have also been integral in a number of large strategic Breeze wins for Avaya in 2016."

"Being honored with the 2016 Overall Partner of the Year and Service Partner of the Year awards truly underscores the commitment ConvergeOne has made to design and deliver best-in-class communication solutions," said John F. Lyons, President and Chief Executive Officer, Enterprise, ConvergeOne. "Receiving Avaya's awards reinforces ConvergeOne's leadership position and reflects our continuing commitment to customers," said Lyons.

About ConvergeOne, Inc.

Founded in July 2005, ConvergeOne is a leading provider of custom information, communications and data technology solutions and services for any environment, regardless of existing vendors or systems. The company offers best-in-class solutions in customer experience, collaboration, contact center, cloud, enterprise computing, data center and virtualization, enterprise networking, and security. Through its best-of-breed Professional Services, ConvergeOne can facilitate everything from system design and installment to application development and infrastructure. Its industry-leading Managed Services experts provide ongoing support for contact centers, collaboration, data centers, networking, and security. With the ability to enable and support cloud services at any level, ConvergeOne has achieved a new, elevated level of partnership with its clients, and has gained a significant competitive advantage over other managed service and support organizations across the U.S.

The company has earned more than 1,700 industry certifications and has strategic partnerships with more than 100 global industry leaders, including Avaya, Cisco, IBM, Interactive Intelligence, and Microsoft. Headquartered in Eagan, Minn., ConvergeOne maintains more than 30 offices, 3 Network Operating Centers and more than 1,350 employees nationwide. ConvergeOne joined the Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. portfolio in June 2014. Clearlake is a private investment firm with a sector-focused approach. The firm seeks to partner with world-class management teams by providing patient, long-term capital to dynamic businesses that can benefit from Clearlake's operational and strategic expertise. The firm's core target sectors include industrials, energy and power; technology, communications, and business services; and consumer products and services.

Media Contact:

Scott Clark

651.393.3957

[email protected]

SOURCE ConvergeOne
NEW YORK, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Convergex, an agency-focused global brokerage and trading related services provider, is pleased to announce that it has won Fund Technology and WSL Awards 2017 in the category of "Best Broker-Dealer Algorithm - Darkest." The Fund Technology and WSL Awards 2017 recognize and reward firms providing solutions to asset managers and institutional traders that have demonstrated exceptional customer service and innovative product development.

"Convergex is honored that its Darkest algorithm was recognized as the "Best Broker-Dealer Algorithm" as we are focused on providing our clients with a broad suite of algorithms which enable them to optimize performance and minimize market impact," said Eric W. Noll, Convergex President and CEO.

Convergex offers a broad suite of algorithms that provide both buy-side and sell-side traders with greater control over trade execution in global markets. They are designed to increase flexibility while addressing cost, timing, performance, transparency and market structure. Below is an overview of three of Convergex's featured algorithms:

Darkest Algorithm

The Darkest algorithm is designed to dynamically source liquidity from over 20 non-displayed ATSs while maintaining anonymity. Darkest's proprietary methodology monitors liquidity conditions on an ongoing basis and adjusts its attributes to take advantage of the liquidity opportunities that are available.

Small Cap Algorithm

Convergex's Small Cap algorithm is designed to maximize liquidity in less liquid names while simultaneously minimizing market impact. The Small Cap algo rests completely hidden in over 15 ATSs, yet will exit the market when it senses that it is signaling its presence in the market place. The algorithm will then return to the market when it determines that it is advisable to re-engage. Meanwhile, block executions are continuously analyzed for the potential execution of conditional orders.

ABRAXAS( SM) Algorithm

Abraxas dynamically balances orders among the most desirable global market venues, efficiently accessing numerous sources of displayed and non-displayed liquidity while seeking to minimize information leakage.

About Convergex

Convergex is an agency-focused global brokerage and trading related services provider that takes on the industry's toughest challenges, from complicated trades to complex businesses. With clients' interests as the top priority, Convergex delivers comprehensive solutions that span global high-touch and electronic trading, options technologies, prime brokerage, clearing, commission management and beyond. Headquartered in New York with a presence in several other locations including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Orlando, San Francisco and London, the company serves nearly 3,000 clients accessing over 100 global market centers.

Important Information

Convergex is an agency-focused global brokerage and trading related services provider. In the U.S., Convergex offers products and services through Convergex Execution Solutions LLC (member NYSE/FINRA/NFA/SIPC), of which Convergex Prime Services and Options Trading and Technology are divisions; Westminster Research Associates LLC (member FINRA/SIPC); and Convergex Solutions LLC, of which Jaywalk and LDB are divisions. In London, Convergex operates through Convergex Limited, which is incorporated in England and Wales (registered with company number 06262150). Convergex Limited is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the United Kingdom. Westminster Research Associates LLC is regulated in the United States by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Westminster provides services in Australia pursuant to an exemption from the requirement to hold an Australian financial services license under the Corporations Act 2001 (ASIC Class Order [CO 03/1100]).

Convergex provides brokerage services primarily on an agency basis, but may operate in a riskless principal and/or net trading capacity, and in connection with certain ETF or ADR transactions, may act as principal or engage in hedging strategies. Convergex does not engage in market making or investment banking activities.

The material, data and information (collectively "Convergex Information") that is available from Convergex is intended for institutional investor use only; is for informational purposes only; is subject to change at any time; is not intended to provide tax, legal or investment advice; and does not constitute a solicitation or offer to purchase or sell securities. Convergex Information is believed to be reliable, but Convergex does not warrant its completeness or accuracy and Convergex assumes no duty to update such information. Clients should read their account agreement(s) and documentation with Convergex carefully as those documents contain important information and disclosures about the products or services covered thereby. Convergex is not responsible for third-party information or services, including market data from the exchanges. (Rev. 01/03/17)

 2017 Convergex Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

Contact: Lynda Caravello

[email protected]

212.468.7713

SOURCE Convergex
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta International Oil & Gas Inc. (OTCQB: DLTZ) ("Delta") is pleased to announce that it has signed a Letter of Intent ("LOI") to acquire Naptech Test Equipment, Inc. ("Naptech") in collaboration with Bayberry Capital, Inc. ("Bayberry"). The signing of the LOI is the first step in a strategic acquisition plan of technology companies that Delta has developed.

Under the LOI, Delta will acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of Naptech in exchange for a combination of preferred and common stock of Delta. As part of the transaction, Bayberry Capital principals Jay Wright and Bill Forkner will become advisors to and shareholders of Delta. Throughout the process, the current Delta shareholders will maintain control of management, the board, and the majority of the outstanding shares of the company. Following signing the LOI, there is a 30-day due diligence period and Delta's auditors will review Naptech's financials prior to closing. Once the definitive agreement is executed and the transaction closes, Delta will invest in Naptech to help accelerate its growth.

"We're really excited to move the company into the next step," stated Santiago Peralta, CEO of Delta. "As we are in the process of selling our existing properties in Argentina, it will be great to have the Bayberry team with their extensive M&A expertise involved with Delta as we seek to grow the company over the next 24-36 months. Naptech, led by Roger Briggs, has deep IT experience and appears to be a great first candidate to work with us to execute our strategy."

About Naptech Test Equipment, Inc.

Naptech has been in the IT and Test Equipment business for over 23 years. The company focuses on providing IT services and selling enhanced test equipment to both government customers and commercial clients in industries ranging from Telecom to Utilities. During its time in business, Naptech has generated over $70 million in total revenue with gross margins of up to 68%.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forwardlooking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, which may include statements about business strategy and development plans, plans for entering new business, anticipated sources of funds, including proceeds from future operations and plans, objectives, expectations and intentions contained in the Press Release that are not historical facts such as "estimated grossprospective resources, will be sold, etc." Because these forward looking statements involve risk and uncertainties, actual results could differ materially from those discussed in the Press Release. These risks are outlined in our SEC filings.

SOURCE Delta International Oil and Gas, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.deltaoilngas.com


WASHINGTON, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A day before President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer will offer a prebuttal to the President's speech at a National Press Club Newsmaker news conference at 2 p.m., Mon., Feb. 27, in the Club's First Amendment Lounge. National Press Club President Jeff Ballou will serve as the moderator.

Pelosi has led the House Democrats since 2003 and was the first woman elected to be Speaker of the House; Schumer became Democratic leader in January with the retirement of Sen. Harry Reid.

The two top Democrats have supported an independent investigation of the intelligence community's findings that Russia intervened in the U.S. election to help elect Trump, have been critical of the president's refusal to release his income tax returns, and have objected to several of his Cabinet nominees and executive orders.

The National Press Club is located on the 13th Floor of the National Press Building at 529 14th St., NW, Washington, D.C. This news conference is open to credentialed media and NPC members, free of charge. No advance registration is required.

Contact: Jonathan D. Salant, 301-802-6692, [email protected]

SOURCE National Press Club
BEIJING, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese B2B e-commerce company DHgate.com announces an upgrade to their mobile app, adding new functionalities for social media, discounts, and an enhanced buyer experience, see more below. DHgate offers buyers mobile-app exclusive discounts on over 20 million products, available in the APP and Google Play Stores . In 2017 DHgate will enhance the customer experience by speeding up and simplifying the buying process.

New Mobile APP Features are already optimized and operational, buyers who use the mobile app:

are eligible to receive special coupons from DHgate when they share items, stores, or promotions to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or via text message;

will receive instant notifications on the shipping status of any order;

can chat with suppliers in China anytime to have all questions answered directly;

anytime to have all questions answered directly; purchase any product instantly with the new "1-Step Buy" button that buyers can activate anytime, buyers simply add their default address and payment info and the entire order process is condensed into one single quick and secure step;

lastly, DHgate has added a Recently Viewed/Purchased Items Zone for customers to easily track their recent browsing and buying records : this feature will assist buyers in accessing their favorite stores with just one click without even searching.

Follow @dhgate on Facebook for updates on discounts, sales, and new features!

About DHgate

DHgate.com is the first to market and the biggest B2B transactional cross-border e-commerce marketplace in China, aiming to provide global buyers with quality products at competitive prices. Founded in 2004, DHgate.com has approximately 10 million global buyers from 230 countries and regions, with 1.4 million global sellers offering 40 million products. DHgate.com's business enables buyers to directly access global manufacturers of the world's top brands with rich product selections. DHgate.com is an all-in-one platform with integrated services for international logistics, cross-border payments, internet financing, etc. DHgate.com's US, UK, Spain, and UAE product distribution warehouses allow for 24 hour delivery and convenient product returns & refunds, bringing great convenience to buyers at http://www.dhgate.com

SOURCE DHgate.com

Related Links

http://www.dhgate.com


WASHINGTON, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- EEI President Tom Kuhn today issued the following statement on Scott Pruitt's confirmation as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator.

"EEI congratulates EPA Administrator Pruitt on his confirmation, and we look forward to engaging with him on environmental policy issues important to our industry.

"EEI's member companies are committed to a healthy environment and to a clean and affordable energy future. Today, EEI's member companies are making significant investments in diverse energy resources, including clean coal, natural gas, nuclear, solar, wind, and energy efficiency. We will continue to advocate for policies that maintain a diverse and balanced energy mix, which is critical to the reliable, affordable electricity our customers expect."

EEI is the association that represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies. Our members provide electricity for 220 million Americans, operate in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and directly and indirectly employ more than one million workers. EEI has dozens of international electric companies as International Members, and hundreds of industry suppliers and related organizations as Associate Members.

SOURCE Edison Electric Institute

Related Links

http://www.eei.org


PHILADELPHIA, February 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Care Planning, a 2017 KLAS Category Leader Award winner, to be featured with Elsevier's other world-class clinical decision support solutions

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, will showcase its Integrated Clinical Decision Support solutions at booth #2961 at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2017 annual meeting in Orlando, Fla, Feb. 19-23.

A leader in bringing evidence-based content into the care process, Elsevier focuses on encouraging quality, enhancing efficiency and improving outcomes - providing empowering knowledge that enables action at the point of care. Representatives from Elsevier's Clinical Solutions will be available to discuss how active clinical decision support solutions and integrated clinical content and information at the point of care can improve care delivery.

"With the changing healthcare landscape, Elsevier is uniquely positioned to partner with healthcare providers to improve clinical outcomes," said Dr. John Danaher, President, Clinical Solutions at Elsevier. "Our solutions span the entire care continuum, across care settings and consider the patient at the center of care delivery. The recent recognition of Elsevier's Care Planning with the 2017 Best in KLAS award affirms our leadership in innovative, easy-to-use, high-quality evidence-based solutions integrated into healthcare systems and clinical workflows."

"We are proud of our collaborations with our customers to advance the practice of interprofessional care teams and engagement of patients in support of exceptional patient care," Danaher said.

Elsevier will also be highlighting new clinical pathway technology during the HIMSS interoperability showcase. This innovation will be demonstrated via a community care use case scenario.

Elsevier is also celebrating the distinction of HIMSS 2016 Book of the Year Award to Health Information Exchange: Navigating and Managing a Network of Health Information Systems. Edited by Brian E. Dixon, PhD, FHIMSS, an Associate Professor at the IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health and Research Scientist at the Regenstrief Institute, the book was published in March 2016 by Elsevier's Academic Press.

For more information on Elsevier HIMSS activities, visit Elsevier's Clinical Solutions HIMSS17 website.

---

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading provider of information solutions that enhance the performance of science, health, and technology professionals, empowering them to make better decisions, deliver better care, and sometimes make groundbreaking discoveries that advance the boundaries of knowledge and human progress. Elsevier provides web-based, digital solutions - among them ScienceDirect, Scopus, Research Intelligence and ClinicalKey - and publishes over 2,500 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and more than 35,000 book titles, including a number of iconic reference works. Elsevier is part of RELX Group, a world-leading provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries. www.elsevier.com

Media contact

Christopher Capot

Director, Corporate Relations, Elsevier

+1-917-704-5174

[email protected]



SOURCE Elsevier
WASHINGTON, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- J. David Cox Sr., national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 9,000 employees at the Environmental Protection Agency, today issued the following statement in response to the Senate's 52-46 vote to confirm Scott Pruitt as EPA Administrator:

"As head of the EPA, Scott Pruitt will be responsible for leading the agency's efforts to ensure the safety of our air and water, repair our aging infrastructure of water lines and treatment plants, clean up hazardous waste sites, and enforce environmental laws and regulations that help protect our precious natural resources.

"EPA's workforce is smaller today than it was in 1999, despite a significant growth in responsibilities. Starving this vital agency of the resources it needs to carry out its important work threatens the health and safety of all Americans.

"The biologists, scientists, lab technicians, engineers, and other civil servants who work at the EPA must be able to do their jobs without political interference or fear of retribution. Ensuring the independence of our career civil servants at EPA and all federal agencies is an essential part of our democratic government and something that we will fight to maintain."

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing 700,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia.

For the latest AFGE news and information, visit the AFGE Media Center.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

SOURCE American Federation of Government Employees

Related Links

http://www.afge.org


"When there is a preference to have grease-proof products without the use of fluorochemicals, Expera Specialty Solutions has the unique capability of manufacturing them," said Robyn Buss, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Expera. "Increasingly, consumers are looking for a fluorochemical-free option, and they still need the product to meet FDA requirements for food contact and be cost-effective and eco-friendly. At Expera we are uniquely situated to provide that option."

Grease-Gard FluoroFree papers not only meet a wide variety of grease resistant needs, but also offer a broad range of basis weights, an array of finishes, and great glueability and printability. Staying committed to Expera's sustainability Initiative, SOAR, the Grease-Gard FluoroFree papers can be produced with bleached, natural, blended and post-consumer waste recycled options that are FDA approved for direct food contact.

"We keep adapting our Grease-Gard family of technologies to hit every performance and sustainability goal you need," said Zack Leimkuehler, Product Development Manager for Expera. "Expera has been manufacturing grease-resistant papers since the 1930s, well before the creation of fluorochemistry."

As a leading manufacturer of grease resistant papers and one of the first to engineer fluorochemical-free papers, Expera Grease-Gard and Grease-Gard FluoroFree technologies flex to hit every performance spec. Find out more by visiting expera.com.

Expera Specialty Solutions is the leading North American manufacturer of specialty paper products for use in the tape, pressure-sensitive release liner, industrial and food packaging segments. Expera Specialty Solutions' manufacturing platform includes machines at four Wisconsin mills located in Rhinelander, Mosinee, Kaukauna, and De Pere. For more information, visit www.expera.com.

SOURCE Expera Specialty Solutions

Related Links

http://www.expera.com


MADISON, Wis., Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation has been named one of the top mortgage employers in America by National Mortgage Professional Magazine. Headquartered in both Madison, WI and Carrollton, TX, Fairway ensures their team members best interests are at hand by cultivating the Fairway core values, supporting career and development aspirations, and always listening to their team members for continuous satisfaction. Fairway also offers unique programs to its employees such as their Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), established in 2015 giving employees an ownership stake in the company.

Starting out with a staff of only 16 people, Fairway is currently licensed in each state with over 4,300 team members, 1,500 producers and over 300 branches nationwide. Volume in 2016 exceeded 17.6 billion. Fairway's distinctive culture exemplifies their ten "Core Values," some of which include: Having fun, family focused and consistent, honest communication. The Core Values are said to be a guide in determining how to better serve not only customers but also to motivate and empower team members as well.

National Mortgage Professional Magazine has become "The Source for Top Originators" connecting today's mortgage professionals with the most up-to-date news, insight and advice regarding the mortgage industry. The list ranks the nation's top mortgage employers nationwide for 2017 based on compensation, speed, marketing support, corporate culture, innovation and more.

About Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation:

Founded in 1996 by Steve Jacobson, and named by a childhood best friend, colleague and forever member of the Fairway family, Randy Cross, Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation is a mortgage lender headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin and Carrollton, Texas. The company has more than 300 locations and over 4,300 employees nationwide. At Fairway, customer service is a way of life. Not only are we dedicated to finding great loan products and rates for our customers, we also offer some of the fastest turn times in the industry. Our goal is to act as a trusted advisor, providing highly personalized service and helping clients through every step of the loan process. It's all designed to exceed expectations, guarantee satisfaction and earn trust.

For more information, please visit our website at www.FairwayIndependentMC.com.

SOURCE Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation

Related Links

http://www.fairwayindependentmc.com


HOUSTON, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A wholly owned subsidiary of Five Point Capital Partners LLC ("Five Point") and Matador Resources Company (NYSE: MTDR) ("Matador") today announced the formation of San Mateo Midstream, LLC ("San Mateo" or the "JV") to own, operate and expand natural gas, crude oil, and produced water midstream assets in the Delaware Basin, including Matador's midstream assets in Eddy County, New Mexico and Loving County, Texas (the "Midstream Assets"). At formation, Five Point and Matador owned 49% and 51% of the JV, respectively, with Matador's midstream team continuing to operate the Midstream Assets.

The implied value of the Midstream Assets and the associated gathering, processing and disposal agreements entered into with Matador was approximately $500 million at closing, after taking into account performance incentives. Funding for the JV includes an initial cash consideration of $176.4 million by Five Point and certain of its co-investors, with a subsidiary of Matador contributing the Midstream Assets. The parties to the JV have also committed to spend up to an additional $150 million in aggregate to expand the JV's midstream operations and asset base.

David Capobianco, CEO and Managing Partner of Five Point, said, "Our JV with Matador perfectly aligns with Five Point's strategy of proactively identifying industry leading management teams to partner with to build out world-class midstream infrastructure companies. The JV will build oil, NGL, gas and water infrastructure to support the needs of Matador, as our anchor customers, as well as third party producers in the region who seek infrastructure solutions. We firmly believe that the JV will create significant value, as the Delaware is one of the most promising producing basins in North America, yet currently lacks sufficient permanent 'in-basin' midstream infrastructure."

Joseph Wm. Foran, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Matador, said, "We are very pleased and excited to announce this transaction with Five Point, which recognizes the significant value that Matador has already created with our midstream assets in the Delaware Basin. In addition, this joint venture gives us and our partners at Five Point the opportunity to continue to build out and expand these assets to further enhance their value for our respective stakeholders, while giving Matador the opportunity to retain operational control of these important assets and providing critical support to our ongoing exploration and production operations in the Delaware Basin. The joint venture will not only provide midstream services for Matador but will also serve third party customers in and around our Rustler Breaks and Wolf asset areas. We had many opportunities to make a deal on these assets with a number of different companies over the past year, and we are confident that Five Point is the right joint venture partner for Matador. We look forward to working together closely with the Five Point team going forward."

Matt Morrow, COO and Managing Partner of Five Point, said "We are delighted to partner with Joe and the Matador team, who we believe to be one of the preeminent operators in North America. The Delaware Basin is one of the most economic and active oil and gas basins in all of North America, and we look forward to building a world-class infrastructure business to meet the region's expanding needs."

Additional Details on the JV:

The JV will continue to provide firm capacity service to Matador at market rates, while also being a leading service provider to third party customers in and around Matador's Rustler Breaks and Wolf asset areas. The JV expects to expand the Black River Cryogenic Processing Plant in Matador's Rustler Breaks asset area from its current inlet capacity of 60 million cubic feet of natural gas per day to as much as 260 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. This expansion is expected to be operational as early as the first quarter of 2018 and serve both Matador and third party customers. The JV also plans to accelerate the buildout of oil, natural gas and water gathering lines throughout both the Rustler Breaks and Wolf asset areas, as well as to drill and complete at least one additional commercial salt water disposal well in the Rustler Breaks asset area in 2017.

Included in the Midstream Assets contributed by Matador to the joint venture are:

The Black River Cryogenic Processing Plant in the Rustler Breaks asset area in Eddy County, New Mexico ;

; One salt water disposal well and a related commercial salt water disposal facility in the Rustler Breaks asset area;

Three salt water disposal wells and a related commercial salt water disposal facility in the Wolf asset area in Loving County, Texas ; and

; and All related oil, natural gas and water gathering systems and pipelines in both the Rustler Breaks and Wolf asset areas.

Matador retained its ownership in certain midstream assets owned in South Texas and North Louisiana.

In connection with the JV, Matador dedicated its current and future leasehold interests in the Rustler Breaks and Wolf asset areas pursuant to 15-year, fixed-fee natural gas, oil and salt water gathering agreements and salt water disposal agreements. In addition, Matador dedicated its current and future leasehold interests in the Rustler Breaks asset area pursuant to a 15-year, fixed fee natural gas processing agreement. The JV will provide Matador with firm service under each of these agreements in exchange for certain minimum volume commitments.

About Five Point Capital Partners

Five Point Capital Partners is a private equity firm focused on midstream energy infrastructure and energy sector investments across North America. Five Point's investment strategy is to partner with, develop and support strong management teams through buyouts and growth capital investments within the midstream energy sector. Based in Houston, Texas, Five Point is currently investing from Five Point Capital Midstream Fund II L.P. and manages more than $600 million of capital. For further information, please visit www.fivepointcp.com.

About Matador Resources Company

Matador is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production and acquisition of oil and natural gas resources in the United States, with an emphasis on oil and natural gas shale and other unconventional plays. Its current operations are focused primarily on the oil and liquids-rich portion of the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring plays in the Delaware Basin in Southeast New Mexico and West Texas. Matador also operates in the Eagle Ford shale play in South Texas and the Haynesville shale and Cotton Valley plays in Northwest Louisiana and East Texas. Matador also conducts midstream operations in support of its exploration, development and production operations and provides natural gas processing, natural gas, oil and salt water gathering services and salt water disposal services to third parties on a limited basis. For more information, visit Matador Resources Company at www.matadorresources.com.

Media Inquiries:

Daniel Yunger or Ethan Lyle

KEKST

212-521-4800

[email protected] / [email protected]

SOURCE Five Point Capital Partners

Related Links

http://www.fivepointcp.com


SAN DIEGO, Feb. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Forbes School of Business and Technology at Ashford University will host the first event of its 2017 Distinguished Lecturer Series on Tuesday, March 7, 2017. This free event, open to all Ashford students, alumni, faculty, and staff, will be held at 8:00 a.m. PST at the University Club, located at 750 B Street #3400 in downtown San Diego.

Forbes contributor John Tamny will speak at the March 7 event. Tamny, who contributes to a variety of financial publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Investor's Business Daily, Financial Times, National Review, and London's Daily Telegraph, frequently writes on the topics of securities markets, along with tax, trade, and monetary policy issues that impact those markets. In addition, he has written several books and is a weekly guest on Fox News Channel's "Forbes on Fox" financial show.

The Distinguished Speaker Series is a benefit for the students of the Forbes School of Business and Technology at Ashford University. Launched in 2014, the speaker series provides a forum for business experts to share their extensive business knowledge with the Ashford academic community.

To register for the event, visit http://bit.ly/2j5fCkh. To learn more about the Forbes School of Business and Technology, visit www.ashford.edu/degrees/online/business.htm.

About Ashford University

Where heritage meets innovation  that's Ashford University. At Ashford, students discover relevant degree programs, innovative technology, and cherished tradition. Ashford offers associates, bachelor's, and master's degree programs online, allowing students to balance life by providing the flexibility to do school work anywhere, anytime. For more information, please visit www.ashford.edu, www.facebook.com/ashforduniversity, www.twitter.com/AshfordU, or call Marianne Perez, Media Relations Manager, at 858.513.9240 x11636.

About Forbes Media

Forbes Media is a global media, branding and technology company, with a focus on news and information about business, investing, technology, entrepreneurship, leadership and affluent lifestyles. The company publishes Forbes and Forbes Asia magazines, as well as Forbes.com. The Forbes brand today reaches more than 94 million people worldwide with its business message each month through its magazines and 38 licensed local editions around the globe, websites, TV, conferences, research, social and mobile platforms. Forbes Media's brand extensions include conferences, real estate, education, financial services and technology license agreements.

Contact: Marianne Perez, Media Relations Manager

858.513.9240 x11636  [email protected]

SOURCE Ashford University

Related Links

http://www.ashford.edu


MENLO PARK, Calif., Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Girls Who Code, Deloitte and Facebook join Governor Gina Raimondo, Governor Mary Fallin, and Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds for the first-ever female Governors' Summit to identify new state-led policies aimed at closing the gender gap in technology. The day-long working session among governors and their staff was formed to share best practices among states and identify new policies and programs that increase young girls' interest and participation in the field. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg hosted the Summit at Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park, California.

The 2017 Female Governors' Summit is the first summit of its kind to bring together state leaders to work together and identify meaningful policy solutions that address how to best drive interest and participation in computer science among girls of all ages. While computing skills are the most sought-after in the US job market, with demand growing three times the national average, there are over 500,000 open computing jobs in the United States and only 40,000 annual graduates in computer science to fill them.

"I am thrilled to welcome leaders from across the country to work together on a critical issue that will affect an entire generation of young girls," said Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. "Women remain dramatically underrepresented in technology fields. They're missing out on opportunities and the world is missing out on their ideas. We need to harness the full talents of our population and this summit is proof that our female governors are committed to addressing and closing the gap."

Women represent one of the single largest untapped sources of talent in the technology field and according to new research, only 24% of technology jobs are held by women today. Solving this challenge demands a tailored and sequenced series of actions starting in junior high school that are sustained throughout high school and college. It also requires a renewed effort on the part of state and national leaders to ensure equitable interest in and access to computer science education among girls.

The gender gap in technology reflects billions of dollars in untapped income. Despite unprecedented attention and momentum behind the push for universal computer science education, the gender gap in computing is getting worse with women expected to hold only 22% of technology jobs in 10 years.

"The fact that we are joined here at Facebook today by Governors Raimondo, Fallin, and Lieutenant Reynolds sends a clear signal that our elected officials recognize that computer science and computing skills are a critical path to success in today's economic landscape," said Reshma Saujani, Founder and CEO of Girls Who Code. "We've made tremendous strides helping tens of thousands of girls learn about computer science in our after school programs, but there are multiple areas where governors can continue to expand the number of girls in this field. I look forward to working with the leaders here today to strategize on how we can make real progress on closing the gender gap in technology and ensure that our daughters have access to the economic opportunities of the 21st century."

"The work done by Girls Who Code and its partners is helping to address technology skill gaps that are essential to a healthy economy and the future workforce," said Janet Foutty, Chairman and CEO of Deloitte Consulting LLP. "Together we can ensure that the next generation of young women has access to tech education in a way that challenges their thinking and gets them excited about using and advancing world-changing technologies."

Watch a live stream of the Girls Who Code Female Governors' Summit Summit beginning at 10 AM PST here: https://www.facebook.com/girlswhocode

About Girls Who Code

Girls Who Code is a national non-profit organization working to close the gender gap in technology. Through its Summer Immersion Program and Girls Who Code Clubs, the organization is leading the movement to inspire, educate, and equip young women with the computing skills to pursue 21st century opportunities. Additional information is available at http://www.girlswhocode.com/.

Media contact:

Michaela Balderston, 703-405-5895

[email protected]

SOURCE Girls Who Code

Related Links

http://www.girlswhocode.com


HOUSTON, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Harvest Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE:HNR) ("Harvest" or the "Company") today announced that its Board of Directors has adopted a Rights Agreement (the "Rights Plan") designed to preserve its substantial tax assets. As of December 31, 2016, Harvest had cumulative net operating loss carryforwards ("NOLs") of approximately $56.0 million, which can be utilized in certain circumstances to offset possible future U.S. taxable income.

After considering, among other matters, the estimated value of the Company's tax benefits, the potential for diminution upon an ownership change, and the risk of an ownership change occurring, the Board of Directors adopted the Rights Plan, which is intended to protect Harvest's tax benefits and to allow all of Harvest's stockholders to realize the long-term value of their investment in the Company. Harvest's ability to use these tax benefits would be substantially limited if it were to experience an "ownership change" as defined under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code. An ownership change would occur if stockholders that own (or are deemed to own) at least five percent or more of Harvest's outstanding common stock increased their cumulative ownership in the Company by more than 50 percentage points over their lowest ownership percentage within a rolling three-year period. The Rights Plan reduces the likelihood that changes in Harvest's investor base would limit Harvest's future use of its tax benefits, which would significantly impair the value of the benefits to all stockholders.

In connection with the adoption of the Rights Plan, the Board of Directors declared a non-taxable dividend of one preferred share purchase right for each share of the Company's common stock outstanding as of February 17, 2017. Effective as of the close of business today, if any person or group acquires five percent or more of the outstanding shares of the Company's common stock, or if a person or group that already owns five percent or more of the Company's common stock acquires additional shares ("acquiring person or group"), then, subject to certain exceptions, there would be a triggering event under the Rights Plan. The rights would then separate from the Company's common stock and entitle the registered holder to purchase from the Company one one-hundredth of a share of the Series D Preferred Stock of the Company, at a price of $26, subject to adjustment. Rights held by the acquiring person or group will become void and will not be exercisable.

The Board of Directors has the discretion to exempt certain transactions, persons or entities from the operation of the Rights Plan if it determines that doing so would not jeopardize or endanger the Company's use of its tax assets or is otherwise in the best interests of the Company. The Board also has the ability to amend or terminate the Rights Plan prior to a triggering event. The rights issued under the Rights Plan will expire on February 17, 2020, or on an earlier date if certain events occur, as described more fully in the Rights Plan that the Company will file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC").

Additional information regarding the Rights Plan will be contained in a Form 8-K and in a Registration Statement on Form 8-A that Harvest is filing with the SEC.

Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP acted as legal counsel to the Company.

About Harvest Natural Resources

Harvest Natural Resources, Inc., headquartered in Houston, Texas, is an independent energy company with exploration and exploitation assets in Gabon. For more information visit Harvest's website at www.harvestnr.com.

CONTACT:

Stephen C. Haynes

Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

(281) 899-5716

Forward Looking Statements

This press release includes "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. Forward-looking statements give our current expectations, opinion, belief or forecasts of future events and performance. A statement identified by the use of forward-looking words including "may," "expects," "projects," "anticipates," "plans," "believes," "estimate," "will," "should," and certain of the other foregoing statements may be deemed forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the use of NOLs to offset future taxable income and the use of the Rights Plan to prevent an "ownership change" as defined in Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code. For Harvest, particular risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: the difficulty of determining all of the facts relative to Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code, unreported buying and selling activity by stockholders and unanticipated interpretations of the Internal Revenue Code and regulations, our ability to generate taxable income to utilize all or a portion of the NOLs prior to the expiration thereof, the possibility that the Rights Plan may not successfully deter stockholders from triggering an ownership change through the purchase of common stock of Harvest, risks associated with the enforceability of the Rights Plan under Delaware law or other applicable law, risks that the Rights Plan may have an adverse effect on the value of Harvest's common stock, and other risks and uncertainties discussed in our filings with the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. By issuing forward-looking statements based on current expectations, opinions, views or beliefs, Harvest has no obligation and, except as required by law, is not undertaking any obligation, to update or revise these statements or provide any other information relating to such statements.

SOURCE Harvest Natural Resources, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.harvestnr.com


As part of the agreement, HMP will assume ownership of EMS World Expo, North America's largest EMS, EMT and paramedic event. The meeting was recently named one of the 50 fastest growing trade shows by Trade Show Executive magazine. Also included in the acquisition is EMS World, a 45-year old print and digital asset that covers clinical and educational topics relevant to emergency medical professionals.

The combination further bolsters HMP's existing stable of offerings for the healthcare community and is consistent with the company's events-first strategy.

"This acquisition broadens HMP's footprint and significantly expands our market reach," said Jeff Hennessy, chairman and CEO, HMP. "It adds another strong layer to our high-performing, multi-channel portfolio. We see tremendous value in these established brands and opportunities to create synergies between this group and our other therapeutic offerings. We are thrilled to welcome the EMS World employees to HMP. Together, we look forward to working with the EMS team to build upon the already strong foundation they have established, and achieve future success."

"We are extremely enthusiastic to begin the next chapter of value creation for the EMS community by joining the HMP team," said Scott Cravens, Group Publisher, EMS World. "HMP is a well-established and highly successful business that has built an industry leading position in healthcare, and we believe the EMS World brands will benefit from a move that positions the portfolio firmly in the healthcare space. We look forward to working with HMP to continue to provide high quality, relevant content and education for the EMS audience, both within the U.S. and around the world."

With the acquisition, HMP will produce more than 260 national, regional and local events in 2017 across a range of therapeutic areas.

Corporate Solutions of Westport, Connecticut represented SouthComm as the exclusive advisor in this transaction.

About HMP Communications Holdings, LLC

HMP Communications Holdings, LLC (HMP), a collaborative formed by HMP Communications, LLC and the North American Center for Continuing Medical Education, LLC (NACCME), is a multi-channel leader in healthcare content and education, with a mission to improve patient care. The company produces clinically relevant, evidence-based journals, events and accredited, continuing education for the healthcare community, across a range of therapeutic areas. Its brands include Consultant, the monthly, award-winning journal relied upon by primary care practitioners, Psych Congress, the nation's largest, independent mental health meeting, and the Symposium on Advanced Wound Care (SAWC), the largest wound care meeting in the world. For more information, visit hmpholdings.com.

About SouthComm

Formed in 2007, SouthComm is the nation's second largest publisher of alternative weeklies, one of the largest publishing companies serving chambers of commerce, and a significant player in the B2B publishing world, with more than 30 titles targeting both B2B and consumer audiences. For more information visit southcomm.com.

About EMS World Expo

As North America's largest and most internationally attended EMS conference and trade show, and recently named one of the "Fastest 50" trade shows by Trade Show Executive magazine, EMS World Expo, hosted in partnership with the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT), annually attracts more than 5,500 EMS professionals. EMS World Expo sets the standard in EMS education, offering the training professionals need to do their jobs today, with the progressive curriculum and technology that provides the solutions for tomorrow. For more information, visit emsworldexpo.com.

SOURCE HMP

Related Links

http://www.hmpholdings.com


BOSTON, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A coalition of over 130 investors representing over $685 Billion in assets under management called on banks financing the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) to address or support the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's request to reroute the pipeline and avoid their treaty territory. Lead investor Boston Common Asset Management is joined by Storebrand Asset Management and Calvert Research and Management, with support from First Peoples Worldwidealong with CalPERS and the Comptroller of the City of New York. In a statement today, the investors encourage the banks to take urgent action and arrive at a peaceful solution that is acceptable to all parties.

The investor group cites concern about reputational and potential financial risks for banks with ties to DAPL. Banks may be implicated in conflict and controversies related to the pipeline and could face long-term brand and reputational damage resulting from consumer boycotts and possible legal liability. To date, consumers have closed bank accounts worth over $66 millionand are threatening to pull another $2.3 billionfrom the banks financing DAPL. The City of Seattle, for example, voted unanimously to sever its ties with Wells Fargo over its involvement with DAPL, potentially divesting $3 Billion.

Steven Heim, Managing Director, Boston Common Asset Management

"It is time for the Banks to take collective action to protect their reputations and investments as financiers of the Dakota Access Pipeline. As investors and fiduciaries, we urge them to address or support the Tribe's call for rerouting the pipeline and achieve a resolution satisfactory to all parties, including the Tribe. As it stands, the projected route for the pipeline threatens the Tribe's water supply and sacred sites. As part of our human rights due diligence on investments, we have long advocated for free, prior, informed consent from Indigenous communities, in light of the potential harm to their vital assets like their land, water, and air. Therefore, Boston Common organized this coalition of over 130 concerned investors with almost $700 Billion in assets under management. We expect investor support to grow over the coming weeks."

Rebecca Adamson, President and Founder, First Peoples Worldwide

"The fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline has implications beyond the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. It is a fight for everyone who wants clean air, clean drinking water, and a voice in what happens in their backyard. As governments increasingly prove incapable or unwilling to protect these things, citizens are turning to the market and the market is responding."

Anne Simpson, Investment Director, CalPERS

"It's important that we join with our fellow investors to ensure that the banks we own exercise proper oversight in their lending. Attention and respect for community concerns and environmental risks are fundamental to sound business practice. Financing a project does not mean these responsibilities can be checked at the door. We're looking for a positive response from the banks. They hold the purse strings."

Comptroller Scott M. Stringer, City of New York

"Building this pipeline on tribal lands is wrong, and the banks associated with DAPL must act. By funding this project, they are risking great reputational harm  especially if the conflict escalates. Alternatives do exist. We implore the banks involved to take meaningful action and develop a new plan that respects the tribe and the sovereignty of their land."

Matthew Smith, Head of Sustainable Investments, Storebrand Asset Management

"Storebrand Asset Management is concerned that financing this project carries reputational and financial risks. We trust the banks understand this and will work to achieve a suitable solution that meets the needs of all parties involved."

John Steur, President and CEO, Calvert

"As an investor, Calvert Research and Management is concerned about the impact of financing the Dakota Access Pipeline. We believe these large banks need to recognize the reputational and other risks they face through their involvement in this project."

Banks Engaged

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (Mitsubishi UFJ), BayernLB (Bayerische Landesbank), BBVA (BancoBilbao Vizcaya Argentaria), BNP Paribas, Citibank (Citigroup), Credit Agricole, DNB, ICBC (Industrial and Commercial Bank of China), ING, Intesa Sanpaolo, Mizuho Bank (Mizuho Financial Group), Natixis, Societe Generale, SMBC (Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group), SunTrust Bank, TD Securities (Toronto-Dominion Bank), Wells Fargo

Media Contacts:

Steven Heim, Boston Common Asset Management

617-960-3908 or 617-785-9527 (mobile)

[email protected]

About Boston Common Asset Management

Boston Common Asset Management is an experienced investment manager dedicated to the pursuit of financial return and social change. We invest over $2 billion on behalf of institutional and individual investors. We analyze investment risks and opportunities from a broader perspective, because we believe understanding environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors is fundamental to valuing a company. We combine this research with rigorous financial analysis to build diversified portfolios of high-quality, socially responsible companies. We strive to be responsible stewards of our clients' assets by seeking competitive investment returns from portfolios of companies that can contribute to and benefit from sustainable, global growth. As shareowners, we urge our portfolio companies to improve transparency, accountability and attention to ESG issues. We are proud to have built a strong investment record and believe we have meaningfully improved corporate practices globally through our engagement.

SOURCE Boston Common Asset Management

Related Links

http://www.bostoncommonasset.com


TUCSON, Ariz., Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

----------------------------------------------------X IN RE AUDIOEYE, INC. SECURITIES LITIGATION ----------------------------------------------------X No. 4:15-cv-00163-DCB CLASS ACTION





SUMMARY NOTICE

TO: ALL PERSONS WHO PURCHASED OR OTHERWISE ACQUIRED ANY COMMON STOCK OF AUDIOEYE, INC. ("AUDIOEYE") DURING THE PERIOD FROM MAY 14, 2014 THROUGH AND INCLUDING APRIL 1, 2015

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED, pursuant to an Order of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona (the "District Court") and Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, that a hearing will be held at 1:30 P.M. on May 8, 2017 before the Honorable David C. Bury, United States District Court Judge, at the Evo A. DeConcini U.S. Courthouse, 405 West Congress Street, Suite 6170, Tucson, AZ 85701, for the purpose of determining: (1) whether the proposed settlement of the Litigation for the principal amount of $1,525,000, plus accrued interest, should be approved by the District Court as fair, reasonable, and adequate; (2) whether the Order and Final Judgment should be entered by the District Court dismissing the Litigation with prejudice; (3) whether the proposed Plan of Allocation is fair, reasonable, and adequate and, therefore, should be approved; and (4) whether the Attorneys' Fee and Expense application should be approved. In connection with the Attorneys' Fee and Expense application, Lead Plaintiffs' Counsel will request attorneys' fees of up to one third of the Settlement Fund, plus interest, and expenses (exclusive of administration costs) not to exceed $75,000.

If you purchased AudioEye common stock during the period from May 14, 2014 through April 1, 2015, inclusive, your rights may be affected by the settlement of the Litigation. To receive a detailed Notice of Pendency and Proposed Settlement of Class Action (the "Notice") and a copy of the Claim Form, you may obtain copies by writing to In re AudioEye, Inc. Securities Litigation, c/o JND Class Action Administration, P.O. Box 6847, Broomfield, CO 80021, or by calling toll-free 1-844-357-6871, or on the internet at www.audioeyesecuritieslitigation.com, or from Lead Plaintiffs' Counsel's website at www.kmllp.com. If you are a Settlement Class Member, in order to share in the distribution of the Net Settlement Fund, you must submit a Claim Form, postmarked on or before April 24, 2017, establishing that you are entitled to recovery.

If you desire to be excluded from the Settlement Class, you must submit a request for exclusion received no later than April 7, 2017, in the manner and form explained in the detailed Notice referred to above. All members of the Settlement Class who have not timely and validly requested exclusion from the Settlement Class will be bound by any judgment entered in the Litigation pursuant to the Stipulation of Settlement dated as of December 13, 2016. If you properly and timely exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you will not be bound by any judgments or orders entered by the Court in the Litigation and you will not be eligible to share in the proceeds of the Settlement.

Any objections to any aspect of the proposed Settlement, the proposed Plan of Allocation or Lead Plaintiffs' Counsel's application for an award of attorneys' fees and reimbursement of expenses, must be filed with the Court and delivered to designated representative Lead Plaintiffs' Counsel and counsel for the Defendants such that they are received no later than April 17, 2017, in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Notice.

PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE DISTRICT COURT OR THE CLERK'S OFFICE REGARDING THIS NOTICE. If you have any questions about the Settlement, you may contact Lead Plaintiffs' Counsel:

Ira Press, Esq.

Mark Strauss, Esq.

KIRBY McINERNEY LLP

825 Third Avenue, 16th

New York, NY 10022

Tel: (212) 371-6600

DATED: February 17, 2017 BY ORDER OF THE COURT UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

SOURCE Kirby McInerney LLP

Related Links

http://www.kmllp.com


Kendrick's experience includes representing employers in a variety of labor and employment and workplace injury matters, including but not limited to, claims of discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, retaliation, issues involving the Family Medical Leave Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, National Labor Relations Act and both federal and state wage and hour laws. She has been involved in defending matters in both state and federal court and before the EEOC, Ohio Civil Rights Commission, Department of Labor, and other administrative bodies. Kendrick also regularly advises employers on issues involving employment law compliance and policy development.

At McDonald Hopkins, Kendrick joins a national team of labor and employment attorneys who counsel management in all aspects of employment and labor law mattersfrom practice before state and federal agencies to state and federal trial work, and from advice and counsel regarding individual employee issues to assistance in significant business restructuring decisions.

Kendrick earned a J.D. from West Virginia University College of Law, Order of the Coif, and a B.S., summa cum laude, from Glenville State College. She can be reached at 216.348.5408 or [email protected].

About McDonald Hopkins

Founded in 1930, McDonald Hopkins is a business advisory and advocacy law firm with locations in Cleveland, Chicago, Columbus, Detroit, Miami, and West Palm Beach. With more than 50 service and industry teams, the firm has the expertise and knowledge to meet the growing number of legal and business challenges our clients face. 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 LLC

Related Links

https://mcdonaldhopkins.com


NEW YORK, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- MetTel, a fast-growing communications solution provider for businesses, today announced that it has tapped Jake Levy from LG to lead the company's Telehealth solutions group as part of the company's growing healthcare business, which is centered within the company's Mobility Division.

Nearly one million people will reach retirement age every year for the next 20, and will profoundly impact how the healthcare system delivers services for decades to come. In 2050, the population aged 65 and over is projected to be 83.7 million, almost double its estimated population of 43.1 million from 2012, according to Census Bureau estimates.

Given this scenario, a significant issue facing hospitals in particular is the number of re-admissions, which leads to penalties that further complicate the situation. In fact, last year Medicare said that these penalties are expected to total $528 million, up about $108m from 2015 due to changes in how readmissions are measured. This financial burden severely impacts an organization's revenue and Telehealth solutions are poised to help address and solve this industry-crippling phenomenon.

To meet this exploding demand, healthcare IT professionals and providers are currently challenged with the procurement of the right technology, underlying network as well as effective data and management solutions to ensure their Telehealth initiatives are successful. MetTel's robust telecommunications experience, from SD-WAN solutions to mobile-first as well as the automation of network infrastructure, has allowed the company to address a key challenge in today's Telehealth market  deployment.

As Director of Health Information Technology, Levy will head up MetTel's Telehealth group to continue driving innovative solutions for Telehealth devices, data and deployment. Levy will also work across MetTel's broad telecommunications platform to leverage a converged solution incorporating all aspects of voice, data, mobility and cloud-managed solutions for the company's strategic focus on the healthcare industry.

MetTel's unique ability to collaborate with several carriers, medical device vendors and cloud-based offerings, allows the company to provide customizable Telehealth solutions that can address specific customer pain points associated with deployments of this size and scale.

By leveraging its innovative technology and this vast vendor ecosystem, MetTel can provide the complete solution set for such deployments, which includes tablets, data plans, mobile device management (MDM), sensors, cloud-management portal and kitting. The MetTel Telehealth solution is preconfigured along with the vendor's Telehealth system, which is then shipped directly to the end customer with actual deployment taking place in two days or less. This saves hundreds of man-hours and resources that healthcare providers would normally spend on implementing Telehealth systems.

"MetTel is ready to fill a gap in Telehealth that has slowed the market's development," said Levy. "MetTel has the answer given our ability to be vendor and carrier agnostic and provide a truly customized solution. We're able to provide the expertise, innovation and infrastructure needed to deploy an end-to-end Telehealth solution that's tailored to each of our clients' needs which allows them to deploy within two days or less. This unmatched speed of deployment, which requires minimal upfront costs and saves IT staff hundreds of hours, enables healthcare providers to reinvest these resources back into providing quality care."

MetTel's Telehealth solutions are focused on improving the quality of care through better care coordination, communication and infrastructure, all at a lower cost and faster rate of deployment. For the patient, the end result is higher system utilization, greater reliability and the ultimate benefit of improved healthcare services and outcomes.

Max Silber, MetTel's VP of Mobility, stated, "We see a tremendous opportunity to lead the way with Telehealth innovation by offering these customizable mobile health solutions that are aligned with our current portfolio and allow us to further expand our footprint within the healthcare industry. Jake joins us at a critical time to help the company continue working with strategic partners and deliver quality solutions to our customers that will affirm MetTel as a leading Telehealth provider and support our overall Mobile strategy."

Levy, based in MetTel's New York City office, brings over 25 years of experience in the Health Information Technology industry, with a focus on the Long-Term and Post-Acute Care markets. He previously spent 18 years as CEO and Founder of CareKeeper Software, an industry leading medical software company, specializing in electronic health records and revenue cycle management. He has also held executive management positions in other leading healthcare IT companies, most recently heading up LG CNS' Telehealth group.

MetTel will be at HIMSS17 (Booth #7273), which takes place at the Orange county Convention Center in Orlando, Florida from February 19-23. The company will be providing demonstrations of their Telehealth mobile solutions at the event.

About MetTel

MetTel is a leading global provider of integrated digital communications solutions for enterprise customers. By converging all communications over a proprietary network, MetTel enables enterprise companies to easily deploy and manage technology-driven voice, data, wireless and cloud solutions worldwide. MetTel's comprehensive portfolio of customer solutions boosts enterprise productivity, reduces costs and simplifies operations. Combining customized and managed communication solutions with a powerful platform of cloud-based software, the company's MetTel Portal enables customers to manage their inventory, usage, spend and repairs from one simple, user friendly interface. For more information visit www.mettel.net, follow us on Twitter (@OneMetTel) and on LinkedIn, or call us directly at 877.963.8663.

MetTel. Smart Communications Solutions.

SOURCE MetTel

Related Links

http://www.mettel.net


SOUTH EASTON, Mass., Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Workers at Liberty Bakery Kitchen in Brockton voted this week to join Local 653, joining a dozen drivers at the facility that produces donuts for Dunkin' Donuts who organized with the Teamsters last year.

The campaign to organize the 88 bakery employees began last October. It occurred despite a contentious battle with the company to halt the effort. Workers there, many of whom earn only the minimum wage and get one paid holiday a year, are seeking higher pay as well as better benefits and working conditions.

"It was a team effort," said Brian McElhinney, Secretary-Treasurer at Local 653. "With the help of Sean O'Brien and New England's Joint Council 10, we were able to get this accomplished."

Maria Veiga, a packer at Liberty Bakery Kitchen for almost five years, said workers are now optimistic about their future. "All of us are happy that the union won," she said. "Now we hope we can have better work conditions and get better wages soon."

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.

Contact:

Brian McElhinney, (508) 230-7140

SOURCE Teamsters Local 653

Related Links

http://www.teamster.org


AURORA, Ore., Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- At 2:50 AM on Monday, February 13th, Life Flight Network's Communications Center received a request from Beaverhead County Sheriff's Department to conduct a search and assist for two overdue snowmobilers in a remote part of Beaverhead County, Montana. Life Flight Network's primary role and commitment is to provide ICU-level air transport of critically ill or injured patients, but at times can assist local agencies with search operations.

Life Flight Network's Butte-based helicopter was activated. The helicopter was in the air within 15 minutes of the initial request and started searching for the two male subjects in the Wise River/Grasshopper area. "The entire crew knew the area we'd be searching as we too have explored there, but looking for two snowmobilers in a 100 square mile search area, at night, in the Montana back country is a daunting task," says Kris Wyant, pilot for Life Flight Network.

After searching the area for over an hour the aircraft returned to Butte to refuel. The flight crew felt they had a great chance of finding the missing individuals due to aid from night vision goggles and the possibility the missing individuals had flashlights or a warming fire. The flight crew began a second search after refueling.

Shortly after returning back to the search area, the crew saw the light from a fire the snowmobilers had started. Upon locating the missing party, communication was made with Beaverhead County Search and Rescue and the crew landed. The two subjects said they were uninjured but were lost and low on fuel. Thinking quickly, the pilot and crew came up with a plan to aid the two back to the groomed trail and ultimately their vehicles. Using the helicopter's high-powered spot light, the pilot shown the way to the groomed trail below and directed the lost individuals to their vehicles.

"It's impossible to describe the weight that was lifted from my chest and the satisfaction that is gained from flying over a ridge after an hour of searching and seeing that tiny fire glowing in the trees," recalls Wyant.

"I was truly amazed by the response of Beaverhead County Search and Rescue; I believe they had 15 people on snowmobiles out searching. It made my heart happy to know that we were able to help locate the missing men and get them home to their families safe and sound," says Collette Lilyquist, Clinical Manager and flight nurse for Life Flight Network.

Life Flight Network prides itself on being a community partner. "Our employees live, work, and play here. We understand the uniqueness of Montana and are committed to help whenever possible. We get a lot and give a lot back. That could have been any of us out there," says Lilyquist.

"Life Flight has been great to work with and is always willing to help," says Beaverhead County Undersheriff Dave Chase.

ABOUT LIFE FLIGHT NETWORK:

Life Flight Network, a not-for-profit air medical service, is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS) and the National Accreditation Alliance of Medical Transport Applications (NAAMTA). Life Flight Network has administrative offices in Aurora, Oregon and is owned by a consortium of Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, Oregon Health & Science University, Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, and Providence Health System. Aviation services provided by: Life Flight Network, Jackson Jet Center, Inc., and Metro Aviation. For more information about Life Flight Network, visit www.lifeflight.org.

For more information, contact:

Dominic Pomponio, Regional Director

[email protected]

208-412-0194

SOURCE Life Flight Network
Mr. Yardley has represented clients in a broad range of matters involving banking, finance, mining, energy, technology, media and telecommunications issues. He has represented clients before all divisions of the English High Court, the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court and the Privy Council. Mr. Yardley has also appeared in numerous overseas courts, as well as before institutional and ad hoc arbitration tribunals.

"Adding a top-tier litigator such as Jason builds on the global momentum we have gathered since launching the London office," said Terrence J. Truax, the firm's managing partner. "His experience strengthens the strategic build-up of our cross-border litigation and international arbitration practices."

Mr. Yardley joins a team of lawyers known for their track record of success, deep working knowledge of international courts and arbitral forums, and leadership roles in global dispute resolution organisations. He also joins the firm's growing office in London. Opened in 2015, the London office now has 14 lawyers and an increasing reputation for its work in complex commercial litigation, investigations and international arbitration.

Before joining the firm, Mr. Yardley practiced for almost 17 years at White & Case in London, becoming a partner in 2004. His practice has encompassed claims relating to joint ventures and shareholder disputes, derivatives, fraud, contentious insolvency and breaches of contract, trust and fiduciary duties, for clients including banks, funds, companies in the oil, gas, energy and telecoms sectors, amongst others, and sovereign states.

He has litigated large-scale disputes in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia and a number of offshore jurisdictions, with notable success in matters involving parties from Russia and the former CIS states.

"Jason is a wonderful addition to our office and to the firm," said Charlie Lightfoot, managing partner of the London office. "I worked with Jason for over 15 years and know first-hand what an accomplished and well-respected lawyer he is. His hire is a very significant milestone in the build-out of our London platform."

"Joining Jenner & Block is a unique opportunity for me at this stage in my career. I am delighted to be working again with Charlie and excited about contributing to the firm's growing London office and building a world-class practice," said Mr. Yardley.

Legal 500, Chambers and Chambers UK have recognised Mr. Yardley for his dispute resolution practice, describing him as "without doubt one of the best," a "tough litigator who is tenacious in his pursuit of opponents" and "an extremely clever and creative lawyer."

ABOUT JENNER & BLOCK'S LONDON LITIGATION AND INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION PRACTICE Jenner & Block's lawyers act on some of the most widely reported litigation currently before the English High Court. We represent clients in jurisdictions around the world, including in emerging markets and have particular experience advising in relation to disputes in the banking and financial services, real estate, energy and resources, construction, defence, telecommunications, automotive, healthcare and life sciences/ pharmaceutical sectors. Our international arbitration lawyers have acted in cross-border commercial and investment arbitrations administered by institutions including the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), American Arbitration Association/ International Centre for Dispute Resolution (AAA/ICDR) and the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC).

ABOUT JENNER & BLOCK

Jenner & Block (www.jenner.com) is a law firm with global reach, with more than 500 lawyers and offices in Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, DC. The firm is known for its prominent and successful litigation practice and experience handling sophisticated and high-profile corporate transactions. Firm clients include Fortune 100 companies, large privately held corporations, financial services institutions, emerging companies and venture capital and private equity investors. In 2016, The American Lawyer named Jenner & Block to the A-List, which recognizes the top 20 US law firms. The American Lawyer also recognized the firm as the #1 pro bono firm in the United States six of the past nine years; the firm has been ranked among the top 10 in this category every year since 1990.

SOURCE Jenner & Block

Related Links

http://www.jenner.com


DALLAS, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- MegaFest  the internationally acclaimed four-day faith, film and family festival hosted by best-selling author, entrepreneur and pastor, Bishop T.D. Jakes  is returning to Dallas for the third time, attracting an estimated 100,000 visitors to Dallas/Fort Worth June 28  July 1.

Experience the interactive Multimedia News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8043351-megafest-returns-to-dallas-summer-2017/

"MegaFest is uniquely spectacular," Bishop Jakes said. "There's nothing like it for men, women, youth, children and entire families. It fills so many needs in people's lives today  whether getting over your past or claiming your future ahead. It's healing, it's inspiring, it's exciting, it's entertaining  it's an experience with something for everyone."

A partial listing of this year's featured motivators include:

Bishop T.D. Jakes  pastor, filmmaker, New York Times best-selling author and senior pastor of the 30,000 member church, The Potter's House and host of " The Potter's Touch " broadcast;

 pastor, filmmaker, best-selling author and senior pastor of the 30,000 member church, The Potter's House and host of " " broadcast; Mrs. Serita Jakes  author, speaker and visionary committed to the betterment of women battling abuse, divorce, joblessness and grief; founder of SJ Home candles and housewares;

 author, speaker and visionary committed to the betterment of women battling abuse, divorce, joblessness and grief; founder of SJ Home candles and housewares; Dr. Caroline Leaf  host of "Switch on Your Brain" television series, creator of the Metacognitive Map and other tools and processes to help individuals develop and change their thinking and subsequent behavior; and

 host of television series, creator of the Metacognitive Map and other tools and processes to help individuals develop and change their thinking and subsequent behavior; and Pastor Bill Winston  Chicago -based pastor and founder of the Joseph Business School, and producer of the Believer's Walk of Faith television and radio ministry

The complete roster of speakers, entertainers, seminars and other events will be announced soon in keeping with MegaFest's four core program tracks:

MegaInspiration  Woman Thou Art Loosed, Man Power , MegaYouth Fire Code, MegaKidz Destiny World, Alive Dance/Mime Conference;

 Woman Thou Art Loosed, , MegaYouth Fire Code, MegaKidz Destiny World, Alive Dance/Mime Conference; MegaEntertainment  A Time to Laugh Comedy Show, International Faith & Family Film Festival, Celebrity Meet & Greets;

 A Time to Laugh Comedy Show, International Faith & Family Film Festival, Celebrity Meet & Greets; MegaEmpowerment  BusinessTalk, Financial Talk, Health Talk, Tech Talk and numerous breakout sessions  plus the exciting Expo of exciting new products and services; and

 BusinessTalk, Financial Talk, Health Talk, Tech Talk and numerous breakout sessions  plus the exciting Expo of exciting new products and services; and MegaCommunity  Career Corner, MegaFit, College Corner, Fashion Show, Health and Wellness.

"There is no event in the world that has more power to inspire and empower than MegaFest," said Dallas Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Erik Wilson, "and Dallas is proud to call MegaFest home. We are excited to welcome the tens of thousands of visitors from around the world, and are enthusiastic to show each one what makes Dallas such a wonderful place to live and to visit."

Recognized as the world's largest multi-day family festival, MegaFest attracted more than 91,000 visitors to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in 2015 with an estimated economic impact of more than $59 million. This year's festival is expected to attract visitors from all 50 states and around the world.

At this year's MegaFest, attendees can expect a diverse and dynamic set of programing designed for all festival goers, including well-recognized events from T.D. Jakes, as well as several new initiatives such as an innovative entrepreneurial contest in collaboration with the University of North Texas at Dallas for budding business-builders in both middle and high school, and a powerful partnership with the Dallas Theater Center featuring a community-healing initiative on the anniversary of the tragic shooting of Dallas police officers in July 2016.

About MegaFest

Since its inception in 2004, MegaFest has been a meeting place for diverse audiences from Atlanta, Ga., to Johannesburg, South Africa, and has reached nearly 1 million people. Visit www.mega-fest.org for more confirmed talent and special event updates, and stay connected via Twitter by following @tdjmegafest, @wtalconf, @mpconf and @myecode. General admission tickets for all events can be purchased by visiting www.mega-fest.org.

SOURCE T.D. Jakes Ministries
GREENBELT, Md., Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA announced the opening of a free new art exhibit inspired by the James Webb Space Telescope at the Visitor Center at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The public opening occurs on March 3 for six weeks. Members of the Media are invited to a preview at 1 p.m. EST on March 2.

In November 2016, artists from around the country applied to visit NASA Goddard to see the telescope, with its 6.5 meter high, gold-coated mirror. Twenty five were selected to bring art supplies with them, and be inspired to create right in front of Webb, which was housed inside a massive cleanroom, behind a viewing window. The artists represented a broad range of artistic media and styles, including: watercolor, 3D printed sculpture, silk screening, acrylics, sumi-e (East Asian brush technique), comics, letterpress, woodwork, metalwork, jewelry making, fiber art, ink, mural painting, kite-making, tattooing, scientific illustration, poetry, songwriting, and video making.

Visitors can view an exhibit of the resulting artwork at the Goddard Visitor Center from March 3 to April 16, 2017. There is no entry fee for the Visitor's Center. It is free and open to the general public.

The Webb telescope, a joint mission between NASA, the European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency, will study every phase in the history of our Universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of planetary systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own Solar System and beyond.

For more information about NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, visit: www.nasa.gov/webb or jwst.nasa.gov

For directions to the NASA Goddard visitor's center: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/visitor/directions/index.html

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov


TORONTO, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Peraso Technologies, Inc., a leading vendor in Wireless Gigabit (WiGig) technology, introduced today the first mobile WiGig USB adapter reference design, utilizing their W120 phased array chipset. The reference design is the world's first and only solution for smartphone vendors to add 802.11ad capability through a USB connector. WiGig technology has a host of capabilities that make it unique in the wireless market, including multi-gigabit data rates, sub-frame video latency and low power usage.

"We're finding smartphone vendors are embracing WiGig for a range of exciting new applications," explains Ronald Glibbery, President and CEO of Peraso Technologies. "The W120-based reference design allows our customers to simply and rapidly get their applications to market in advance of directly embedding WiGig into their phones."

The reference design enables a series of WiGig applications paired ideally with the smartphone market, including:

Rapid Sideloading  Using WiGig technology, an HD movie can be downloaded in under 10 seconds. This allows users to almost instantaneously download a variety of content to their device.

Mobile VR - WiGig provides a wireless, private and secure connection between a smartphone VR headset and a remote device such as a laptop or tablet. This allows users to access significantly more content that can be stored on a smartphone, while utilizing the superior GPU horsepower of the remote system.

Remote Content Upload - Users can upload content immediately to their social media platform, which requires rapidly transferring the content to their smartphone device. As the market transitions to 4k video, WiGig overcomes onerous and time consuming file transfers associated with traditional methods such a Bluetooth or wired USB.

4K Wireless Video  The high data rates and excellent power efficiency provided by 802.11ad makes WiGig an ideal technology for streaming 4K video.

Multi-Gigabit Wi-Fi Networking  WiGig offers mobile users a fresh, uncongested wireless band for smooth, uninterrupted access to the Internet.

The Peraso mobile WiGig USB solution will be available in a variety of configurations to address different smartphone connectors. Based on the recently announced W120 phased array chipset, the reference design collateral package will include the software driver and application software necessary to support a complete go-to-market implementation.

"By having an 802.11ad reference module that allows for after market installation, Peraso is making many of the applications of WiGig like rapid file transfers and content pre-loading a reality for devices that may have not shipped with 802.11ad built-in," explains Anshel Sag, Associate Analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. "Peraso is the only company in the world currently offering an 802.11ad accessory solution, and one of the few Wi-Fi Alliance certified chipsets available on the market. Peraso's 802.11ad reference design helps to accelerate the pace of WiGig innovation while offering a Wi-Fi Alliance certified solution to virtually any OEM looking for an 802.11ad solution."

In October 2016, Peraso was named one of three silicon vendors to meet Wi-Fi WiGig compliance certification, along with Qualcomm and Intel. Peraso solutions are natively included in the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED WiGig compliance test bed, which ensures that all equipment undergoing certification must be compliant with Peraso silicon.

Peraso's WiGig chipsets and solutions will be on display at Mobile World Congress 2017 - February 27th - March 2nd. To arrange a private demonstration, please contact: [email protected].

About Peraso Technologies, Inc.

Peraso is a fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Toronto, Canada. The company is focused on the development of 60 GHz chip sets and solutions compliant with the IEEE 802.11ad specification. 60 GHz has been adopted for interoperability certification by the Wi-Fi Alliance under the WiGig brand, and WiGig has seen strong industry endorsement by tech giants such as Samsung, Qualcomm and Intel. For more information, visit www.perasotech.com

Follow Us: Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter

SOURCE Peraso Technologies, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.perasotech.com


The executive team fueling Provision's strategy and vision is principal founder and Chief Executive Officer, Clay Hill, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, David Tordoff, along with Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, David Marlow.

Prior to launching Provision with Tordoff, Hill was a co-founder of Clearview Management Consultants, later branded Clearview International, LLC. With more than 28 years of experience, Hill has advised companies worldwide on transforming their businesses while gaining maximum value from their IT investments. Hill's focus on innovative solutions and more efficient operations led to the significant growth of Clearview and its subsidiary, Waco Data Partners. As CEO of Provision, he oversees the company's corporate direction providing clients with leveraged technology and agile business operations.

In his career, Tordoff has led many data center initiatives, from ground-level build outs to re-engineering facilities into state-of-the-art infrastructures. As co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Provision, he ensures the company's corporate strategies are aligned with overall market dynamics, customer needs and operational requirements. His extensive knowledge of network-centric data centers provides the team with long-term leadership and management expertise.

Marlow is a 32-year industry veteran with experience in rapid market growth cycles, competing in global markets and overseeing the successful sale of a $35 million manufacturing company. Marlow brings versatile expertise in electronic/semiconductor manufacturing and SAAS/cloud computing driving Provision's new market development and sales.

"Our vision for Provision Data Services is to provide best-in-class infrastructure technology for Fortune 500 enterprises to small independents," said Clay Hill, chief executive officer of Provision Data Services. "Dallas-Fort Worth is the hub of connectivity for U.S. bandwidth with users and cloud providers seeking flexible environments with access to internetworked connectivity and reliable operations."

Provision is the only large-floor space provider with wholesale availability in the Dallas CBD offering users:

Oncor delivery is a double-contingency system that serves the high-density load in the CDB. Five separate networks serve Provision.

Double-contingency design assures uninterrupted service in the event of the loss of one or two network feeders or transformers.

14 MW of utility power is available with scalability to increased capacity.

Tier 3 conformal and SAS 70 Type 2, SSAE 16 SOC I, SOC II compliant facility.

Flexible colocation space for single tenant floors; private, locked cages and suites; build-to-suits for independent data centers; two separate Meet-Me-Rooms; up to 10,000 square feet of contiguous space with wholesale colocation options.

24x7 on-site personnel with 12-foot perimeter wall and multi-factor security fencing enclosing generator yard.

The Dallas-Fort Worth market is one of the top data center markets in the country, and the fourth largest MSP in the U.S. The North Texas region offers reliable, cost-effective electricity with high-speed connectivity provided by multiple services providers, as well as attractive tax incentives and a large pool of qualified technical talent.

About Provision Data Services

Provision Data Services provides secure and scalable data center, colocation and interconnection solutions with Tier 3 reliability for enterprise users. Provision's managed data center services are anchored in densely connected, strategically located facilities. Headquartered in Dallas, the company's customized IT solutions offer customers advanced IT infrastructures to allocate company resources more efficiently. For more information, visit Provision Data Services' website at www.provisiondataservices.com.

SOURCE Provision Data Services

Related Links

http://www.provisiondataservices.com


NEW YORK, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- RA Holding Corp. ("RA Holding" or the "Company") announced today that it has approved a partial redemption of its Class A Preferred Shares issued pursuant to the Second Amended Joint Plan of Reorganization of Arcapita Bank B.S.C.(c) in the amount of $20 million. The redemption shall take place on or before March 31, 2017. Upon completion of the redemption of approximately 247 thousand shares, the Company will have approximately 6 million Class A Preferred Shares outstanding.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT AN OFFER TO PURCHASE OR A SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO SELL ANY SECURITIES

About RA Holding Corp.

RA Holding Corp. is the top level holding company in the group created pursuant to the plan of reorganization of Arcapita Bank B.S.C.(c) and certain affiliates under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.

Press Contact: Allan Ripp 212-262-7477 [email protected]

SOURCE RA Holding Corp.
SAN DIEGO, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sempra Energy's Mexican subsidiary, Infraestructura Energetica Nova, S.A.B. de C.V. (IEnova) (BMV: IENOVA), will announce its fourth-quarter 2016 earnings at 7 p.m. EST, Feb. 21.

IEnova executives will conduct a conference call at 11 a.m. EST, Feb. 22.

Investors, media, analysts and the general public may listen to a live webcast of the conference call at IEnova's website, www.ienova.com.mx, by clicking on the appropriate audio link. For those unable to obtain access to the live webcast, the teleconference will be available on replay a few hours after its conclusion by dialing 001-855-859-2056 and entering passcode 5546 5924#.

Briefing materials will be posted on IEnova's website by 7 p.m. EST, Feb. 21.

IEnova develops, builds and operates energy infrastructure in Mexico. As of Dec. 31, 2015, the company had invested more than US$4 billion in operating assets and projects under construction in Mexico and is one of the largest private energy companies in the country. IEnova is the first energy infrastructure company to be listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange.

Sempra Energy, based in San Diego, is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company with 2015 revenues of more than $10 billion. The Sempra Energy companies' 17,000 employees serve more than 32 million consumers worldwide.

IEnova is not the same as the California utilities, San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) or Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), and IEnova is not regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission.

SOURCE Sempra Energy

Related Links

http://www.sempra.com


GAITHERSBURG, Md., Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Sodexo, world leader in Quality of Life services, hosted executives, members and graduates of Leadership Montgomery for a reception and service event today benefiting Manna Food Center's Smart Sacks program. Held at Sodexo's corporate headquarters for North America in Gaithersburg, Md., the event highlighted expanded programming offered by Leadership Montgomery following its expansion last month to include the Corporate Volunteer Council (CVC) of Montgomery County. Somerset Mayor Jeffrey Slavin and Montgomery County Councilmember Sidney Katz were also in attendance to support the service activity, which benefits students at Washington Grove Elementary School.

The 2016-2017 school year marks the 10th anniversary of Sodexo's support of Manna Food Center's Smart Sacks program, providing supplemental nutrition to students at Washington Grove Elementary School, where 74 percent of free and reduced-price meals. Attendees and other volunteers at today's service event were able to pack enough sacks to provide two weeks of donations.

"In 2005 Sodexo convened a diverse group of stakeholders to pilot Smart Sacks, a nutrition program that bridges the gap between Friday and Monday, for children and their families who might not have another meal until after the weekend," said Shondra Jenkins, executive director, Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation. "That pilot supported 15 children at Summit Hall Elementary School. Today it serves 2,500 kids each week at 60 elementary schools."

Sodexo was specifically selected as the backdrop for Leadership Montgomery's first service event after joining forces with CVC because of its dedication to improving quality of life in local communities, its commitment to fighting hunger and its corporate culture, where employees are both enthusiastic and empowered to volunteer time and talent. As part of the company's Better Tomorrow 2025 commitments, its Stop Hunger program mobilizes employees, clients, customers, suppliers and youth to join forces and combat hunger. Created in 1996, Stop Hunger is now present in 44 countries.

In remarks delivered at the service event, Leadership Montgomery president and CEO, C. Marie Taylor, announced that, with the assistance of a grant from the Meyer Foundation, a three-part strategy was developed to provide a clear model of community impact. It entails leadership development, leadership engagement and leadership in action. Through newly expanded programming, Leadership Montgomery will offer the same services and programs as delivered previously, along with additional programs that are specific to corporate citizenship and volunteerism through its new CVC component. All of this further enhances its ability to serve new and established leaders in Montgomery County while providing added opportunities for community service and volunteerism in leadership.

"We have a history of supporting nonprofit collaborations, and what makes them successful is a clear, shared sense of a bigger, bolder vision," said Nicky Goren, president and CEO of the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation. "That's just one of the things that is so exciting about this collaboration: two organizations that came together from a place of strength to assess the work that they are trying to do in the community, and they acknowledged that their synergy would result in a greater impact."

Sodexo delivers more than 100 services across North America that enhance organizational performance, contribute to local communities and improve quality of life. The Fortune Global 500 company is a leader in delivering sustainable, integrated facilities management and food service operations.

Learn more about Sodexo at its corporate blog, Sodexo Insights.

SOURCE Sodexo

Related Links

http://www.sodexoUSA.com


NEEDHAM, Mass., Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SolarOne Solutions, Needham, MA USA, a provider of professional solar area lighting solutions to customers worldwide, today announces its acquisition of Inovus Solar, Inc, a solar lighting company with complementary products, markets and technologies.

With this transaction, SolarOne Solutions brings the Boise-based firm's technology, project pipeline, brand and other assets into its fold. All Inovus Solar personnel immediately become part of SolarOne Solutions and will continue to support its customer base worldwide.

Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma University of Georgia

"One would be hard pressed to find two more complementary companies," said Moneer Azzam, SolarOne CEO. "The Inovus architecturally appealing wrapped PV pole with embedded Lithium-ion energy storage fits perfectly with SolarOne's conventional line of professional lighting systems. But what comes next from the melding of these two dedicated and talented teams is what I am most excited about. No other solar lighting company has this depth. It will allow us to accelerate our worldwide growth initiatives."

Inovus Solar CEO, Doug Stewart, who will remain as a Board member and strategic advisor to the company said: "The combination of products, technical and marketing expertise and geographic footprint that results from this transaction is transformative for both companies and sets the stage to become the largest solar lighting business in the world."

For more information on SolarOne Solutions, visit www.solarone.net.

About SolarOne Solutions, Inc.

SolarOne Solutions, Inc. designs, manufactures and sells commercial-scale, solar-powered lighting and light emitting diode ("LED") technology for use in a variety of outdoor applications such as parking lots, streets, pathways, pedestrian areas, landscapes, outdoor signage and shelters. SolarOne is a recognized leader in the "grid-independent" outdoor area lighting segment and was the first company to deploy successful commercial-grade photovoltaic/LED large-area lighting systems.

About Inovus Solar, Inc.

Inovus Solar is a leader in commercial solar lighting with installations worldwide. The company has developed successful commercial products utilizing flexible solar collectors and has been the recipient of recognition and design awards for these products. The company, based in Boise, Idaho, is backed by private equity investment.

Contact:

Nic Kawaguchi

Director of Marketing

Inovus Solar

208-922-6614

[email protected]

SOURCE SolarOne Solutions, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.solarone.net


CHICAGO, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With Americans losing tens of billions of dollars annually to investment fraud schemes, what mindsets and behaviors are common among those who fall victim? A new survey by the AARP Fraud Watch Network finds that the most susceptible typically exhibit an unusually high degree of confidence in unregulated investments and tend to trade more actively than the general investor population. More of the investment scam victims also reported that they value wealth accumulation as a significant measure of success in life and acknowledged being open to unsolicited telephone and email sales pitches.

Based on these findings, the AARP Fraud Watch Network has launched a campaign to warn consumers about the inclinations and activities common to investment fraud victims. The campaign includes an online quiz designed to prompt investors to consider adjusting their investment approach if results show they fit the profile of those most at risk of becoming a victim.

AARP's survey report notes that economic forces have converged to make the current environment ideal for investment swindlers to practice their craft. "The decline in traditional pensions has prompted millions of relatively inexperienced Americans to take on the job of investing their own money in a fast-moving and complex market," said Doug Shadel, Ph.D., lead researcher for the AARP Fraud Watch Network. "Meanwhile, today's sophisticated technology makes it significantly easier for scammers to reach large numbers of investors."

The Fraud Watch Network survey, conducted in August and September 2016, included interviews with more than 200 known victims of investment fraud and 800 interviews with members of the general investing public.

"While previous surveys in this area have developed a demographic picture of investment fraud victims  usually older, financially literate males who are more educated and have higher incomes  our goal with this survey was to learn about why people fall prey and how it can be avoided," said Shadel.

The AARP survey found stark differences between the past investment fraud victims and regular investors in three areas:

Psychological Mindset  More victims reported preferring unregulated investments, valuing wealth accumulation as a measure of success in life, being open to sales pitches, being willing to take risks, and describing themselves as ideologically conservative.

Behavioral Characteristics  Victims reported that they more frequently receive targeted phone calls and emails from brokers, they make five or more investment decisions each year, and more of them respond to remote sales pitches  those delivered via telephone, email or television commercials.

Demographics  Somewhat replicating the previous industry studies, higher percentages of victims were found to be of older age, male, married and military veterans.

By taking the AARP Fraud Watch Network's online quiz, investors can learn whether they possess the characteristics that may predict likely fraud victimization. Investors who score high on the quiz are urged to apply a new level of caution when they receive unsolicited investment overtures, and adhere to the following investor protection tips:

Do: Invest only with registered advisors and investments.

with registered advisors and investments. Don't: Make an investment decision based solely on a TV ad, a telemarketing call or an email.

Do: Put yourself on the Do Not Call list.

Do: Get a telephone call blocking system to screen out potential scammers.

Do: Limit the amount of personal information you give to salespersons until you verify their credentials.

Don't: Make an investment decision when you are under stress. For example, when you've recently experienced a stressful life event such as the loss of a job, an illness or death of a loved one.

The AARP Fraud Watch Network was launched in 2013 as a free resource for people of all ages. The website provides information about fraud and scams, prevention tips from experts, an interactive scam-tracking map, fun educational quizzes, and video presentations featuring Fraud Watch Network Ambassador Frank Abagnale. Users may sign up for "Watchdog Alert" emails that deliver breaking scam information, or call a free helpline at 877-908-3360 to speak with volunteers trained in fraud counseling.

Survey Methodology

The sample for the telephone survey of fraud victims was provided by AARP from of database of known victims of fraud. All telephone survey interviews were conducted by an independent telephone calling center, Opinion Access Corp. (Opinion Access), between Aug. 23 and Sept. 7, 2016. Opinion Access completed 214 telephone interviews. All analysis of interview data was conducted by Applied Research Consultants.

For the Survey of U.S. Investors, ARC conducted a total of 814 computer-aided telephone interviews (CATI) with investors in the United States (age 18 and higher). All respondents were targeted from random digit dialing (RDD) lists of eligible landline telephones in the United States. All respondents were screened to have taxable, non-retirement assets. Telephone survey interviews were conducted by two independent telephone calling centers, Opinion Access Corp. (Opinion Access) and MKTG Inc (MKTG), between Sept. 23 and Oct. 17, 2016. Opinion Access conducted 600 telephone interviews and MKTG conducted 214 telephone interviews. All analysis of interview data was conducted by ARC. See survey report for detail.

SOURCE AARP Illinois

Related Links

http://www.aarp.org


THE SHOW : Hosted by fashion photographer Nigel Barker and held at NYC's Skylight Clarkson Sq., the show's featured performer was hip-hop pioneer and BMI recording artist Sky Katz from America's Got Talent . There were also scores of celebrity kid models rocking the runway, including Leah Still, Kennedy Cruz, Brooklyn Barber, Jack and Jasmine Barker, Alyssa Cheatham, Harper and Saint Tillman, Jagger, Jurzie and Jordynn Cromartie, Theo Mallis, Jaliyah Manuel, Kiara and Ivana Beltran, Gabriella, Milania, and Audriana Giudice, Antonia, Gino, and Joey Gorga, and many more. In addition, Jordan Brand unveiled select pieces from its Fall 2017 RE2PECT line of boys' and girls' apparel and accessories, offering a sneak peek into Jordan Brand's full Fall 2017 RE2PECT collection for kids and its first-ever RE2PECT line for infants , coming later this summer.

THE CROWD: Proud celeb parents were everywhere, thrilled to be watching their kids kill it on the catwalk. Top celebrities in the audience included Kevin Jonas, Ice T and Coco, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Jenni "Jwoww" Farley, Toni and Towanda Braxton, musical artists Wyclef Jean, Remy Ma, and Tony Sunshine, Victor Cruz, Tiki and Traci Barber, Antonio Cromartie, Carlos Beltran, Buster Skrine, Fern Mallis, Fabolous, Fat Joe, DJ Camilo, DJ Envy, Christopher Jackson, Ariane Andrew, Carole Radziwill, Hisham Tawfig, Ashley North and Dashon Goldson, Clare Foley, Eden Sasson, Lamarr Houston, designer Pnina Tomai, Miles Chamley Watson, and The Real Housewives of New Jersey stars Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga.

THE CHARITY: All of the proceeds from this year's show went to the Make-A-Wish Metro New York, an organization dedicated to granting the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions. Since its national founding in 1983, the charity has fulfilled the wishes of more than 11,000 children in the Metro New York area alone, and on average, a wish is granted every 35 minutes in the United States. This year, Macy Charles, 18, who suffers from sickle cell anemia and Rylee Bess, 16, who has cystic fibrosis, both got their wishes granted to be models for a day in NYC. Macy got her hair and makeup done, walked the red carpet, and sat front row as a VIP at the Rookie USA show. Two days later, fashion photographer and show host Nigel Barker  a longtime supporter and participant in the Rookie USA Fashion Show  will treat both Macy and Rylee to their own exclusive photo shoots.

THE PHOTOS: Photos available on GETTY

Photo Caption: Celebs attend Rookie USA Fashion Show in NYC hosted by photographer Nigel Barker and benefitting Make-A-Wish Foundation.

ABOUT HADDAD BRANDS: Haddad is a privately held family business with over 60 years' experience in the children's apparel & accessories industry. A leader in the children's wear industry, Haddad Brands is focused on the most iconic global brands, which include: Nike, Nike SB, Jordan, Converse, Hurley, and Levi's. Supported by a team of professionals skilled in the design, sourcing, sales & distribution of premium quality children's wear Haddad distributes globally to over 60 countries and maintains sales and sourcing offices in 22 cities globally, including New York, Shanghai, Bangkok, London and Montreal.

ABOUT MAKE-A-WISH: Make-A-Wish grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. Since 1983, Make-A-Wish Metro New York has fulfilled the wishes of more than 11,000 children residing in the Metro New York area. In Fiscal Year 2016, the chapter touched the lives of 693 wish children and their families by granting the wishes of 477 local children and facilitating 216 wish assists for children who reside in other areas, but whose wishes took place in New York. The chapter received the highest rating  4 Stars  from Charity Navigator in June 2016. For more information, please visit www.metrony.wish.org. Headquarters: 1111 Marcus Avenue, Suite LL22, Lake Success, NY 11042  516/944-6212  516/944-6441 (fax)

SOURCE Haddad Brands
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, Feb. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Honduras's West Bay Beach, located in the famed Bay Islands, has been named in the 2016 TripAdvisor Traveler's Choice Awards as the best beach in Central America, according to the Honduras Presidency. Additionally, West Bay Beach was ranked among the top 10 in the world.

Every year the popular travel planning and booking website TripAdvisor ranks the best beaches and destinations in the world, based on the quality and quantity of user reviews for the year and issues the Traveler's Choice Awards, which have become the go-to guide for selecting travel destinations among the site's more than 350 million unique monthly visitors.

"We are thrilled TripAdvisor's global online community of travel fans are connected with Honduras and with everything it has to offer," said Emilio Silvestri, director of the Honduran Institute of Tourism. "West Bay Beach is now a leading destination in the world and we will continue working to connect visitors to the Honduras' diverse touristic offering that includes not only some of the world's most beautiful beaches, but also jungles and important archeological sites."

White sands and crystalline waters, as well as world class snorkeling and diving with access to the world's second largest barrier reef, have long made Honduras' Bay Islands a leading destination for world travelers and a popular stop for cruises.

Roatan's Mahogany Beach was also included in the top 10 beaches in Central America, alongside the most popular beaches from Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama. The top 10 beaches in the world also featured beaches in Turks and Caicos, Brazil, Cuba, Seychelles, and Venezuela, among others.

Honduras' booming tourism scene also recently earned the country a spot among CNN's top 16 emerging travel destinations in the world for 2016.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160218/335038

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151014/276980LOGO

SOURCE Honduras Presidency
ROCHESTER, Pa., Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania-based nonprofit Lincoln Learning Solutions today announced it will provide elementary school students in Louisiana with state standards-aligned, engaging curriculum as part of a choice of learning tools at University View Academy.

"We are working hand-in-glove with administrators at University View Academy to assure their kindergarten through fifth-grade students have a top-notch experience with Lincoln Empowered, our flagship curriculum," Bob Clements, President of Lincoln Learning Solutions, said.

University View Academy, which serves 2100 students from 60 parishes, will utilize the courses in the 2017-2018 school year to teach nearly 600 kindergarten through fifth-grade students in English Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, Physical Education Art and Music. Kindergarteners also will use Empowered's Math course.

"It's a solid partnership," Clements said, "primarily because we at Lincoln Learning Solutions are of the same mindset as the school's administrators, whose priority it is to focus on each student's individual needs."

Empowered can be deployed virtually, in a blended environment, in brick-and-mortar settings, and at home. Additionally, it provides students with an interactive experience, and gives everyone who uses it easy-to-navigate course content that is accessible 24-7.

"Like University View, we are a non-profit organization, and serving schools and communities is central to our mission," Clements said. "It's a natural fit."

Clements said Superintendent Dr. Alonzo "Lonnie" Luce and his staff have fostered a process that will allow Lincoln Learning to easily integrate University View students and position them to get off to a to a smooth start when the new school year begins.

Lincoln Learning Solutions is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering K-12 learning communities to meet the needs of 21st century students. Based in Rochester, Pennsylvania, Lincoln Learning is the developer of Lincoln Empowered, a digitally based curriculum that delivers proven, standards-based, and engaging instruction in both online and blended learning environments. Lincoln Empowered offers a dynamic array of courses in language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, physical education, and the creative and performing arts. Lincoln Learning Solutions currently serves more than 400 schools in 17 states, and upward of 14,000 students.

Contact: Christina Zarek, Director of Communications

Phone: (717)805-2337

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Lincoln Learning Solutions
DENVER, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Welltok, the leading consumer health enterprise Software as a Service company, released new research today that provides the business case for engaging employees and dependents in their health. The research confirms that employee health and well-being programs are not only good for employees, but the bottom line as well. Based on experience supporting employers across the nation and extensive analysis, Welltok reveals that healthier employees produce substantial financial value for employers, as well as a more loyal and productive workforce.

"Employers have been investing in employee health engagement because it is the right thing to do, but have an increasing need to capture the financial value of these efforts too," said David Veroff, senior vice president of evidence and value science for Welltok, and lead author of the report. "Our research validates the financial benefits of doing well by employees, and provides concrete direction on where to focus efforts and strategies to stimulate employee health engagement."

For example, an employer group with 10,000 employees could drive almost $3 million in annual new value by increasing engagement by 10 percent in key health activities among employees and dependents. High value activities include better management of chronic conditions, improved emotional health and optimal medication use, which all contribute to reductions in medical costs and improvements in on-job productivity.

"Our employer clients are taking a more holistic approach to healthcare, supporting employees and their families across all aspects of their health, including emotional, financial, social and physical," said Michelle Snyder, chief marketing officer for Welltok. "As employees are taking on more of the cost burden for healthcare, they are not only welcoming the support, but are increasingly expecting it."

A recent report by Welltok and the National Business Group on Health (NBGH) validated that employees want their employers to play a bigger role in their health. Getting cost effective care and providing emotional/personal support resources ranked highest among respondents (77 percent and 74 percent agreed or strongly agreed, respectively). The majority of employees also see a role for their employer in helping them to stop unhealthy behaviors or managing financial issues (53 percent agreed or strongly agreed).

Welltok has experience delivering solutions and demonstrating measurable value for Fortune 500 companies. Its employer-specific benefit optimization platform incorporates sponsored programs and resources, precisely targets resources through advanced analytics, guides users to adapt new behaviors, and recognizes and rewards individual efforts. As part of its commitment to the employer market and to bolster its offerings, Welltok also recently acquired key capabilities, expertise and select assets from Keas, developers of a popular employee wellness program used by several leading employers.

To learn more about how much value is possible from increased employee health engagement, register for Welltok's free webinar http://bit.ly/2lizWTH and get early access to the full report.

About Welltok

Welltok, the leading consumer health enterprise Software as a Service company, is on a mission to empower consumers to achieve their optimal health. Its award-winning CafeWell Health Optimization Platform connects consumers with available and relevant benefits, resources and rewards by designing personalized action plans. Additionally, the company's technology-enabled services leverage both advanced analytics to derive meaningful consumer insights and multi-channel communications to reach consumers through the right channel with the right message. Welltok drives greater consumer engagement and healthcare value for customers across the healthcare continuum including payers, employers, government programs (Medicare and Medicaid) and providers. Follow @Welltok

Media Contact:

Erica Sniad Morgenstern

720.390.6373

[email protected]

SOURCE Welltok

Related Links

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CHICAGO, Feb. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Windsor Advantage, LLC, a leading provider of outsourced loan servicing to banks and credit unions, significantly expanded its USDA loan initiative in 2016.

In 2016, Windsor clients funded more than $80 million in USDA loans. The USDA loans processed by Windsor have made a significant impact in 17 states. With the proceeds from these loans, more than 2,100 jobs have been created or maintained in rural communities across the country. As of December 31, 2016, Windsor's USDA loan servicing portfolio exceeded $150 million.

"The USDA offers several loan programs providing critical capital to rural areas" noted Shawn Andrews, Managing Director of Windsor Advantage. "We are committed to supporting these programs in 2017 and beyond. This focus has allowed our clients to fund opportunities ranging from rural business loans to utility scale solar development. We expect this increase in USDA lending to continue in 2017 with our clients projecting more than $150 million in USDA loans, including a significant focus on the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP)."

REAP loans help increase American energy independence by expanding the private sector supply of renewable energy and decreasing the demand for energy through energy efficiency improvements. Over time, these investments can also help lower the cost of energy costs for small businesses and agricultural producers. Through Windsor, the REAP loans have been used to assist solar developers to build and operate utility scale solar projects in rural communities: "In my current position as a solar developer and as an alumni of the USDA, I understand the positive impact these loans can have on rural borrowers and communities. The longer terms available through the Rural Energy for America loans allows us to continue to assist rural communities, creating jobs and increasing US energy independence" noted David Thigpen, Director of Project Finance at Cypress Creek Renewables.

In addition to the REAP loans, Windsor supports various other USDA programs including the Business & Industry (B&I) program, the Farm Services Act (FSA) program and the Community Facilities (CF) program.

Learn more about USDA loan opportunities by contacting Windsor Advantage.

About Windsor Advantage, LLC

Windsor provides a comprehensive outsourced USDA and SBA loan department to lenders nationwide. With more than 150 years of collective SBA lending experience, cutting edge systems and rigid controls, Windsor Advantage is uniquely qualified to support its clients to develop and implement a thoughtful and profitable USDA and SBA 7(a) loan program.

Since 2010, Windsor has processed more than $1.2 billion in government guaranteed loans and currently services a portfolio of more than $1 billion in loans for more than 60 banks across the US. Windsor Advantage is based in Chicago, Illinois, with offices in Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Charleston, SC. For more information, call 312-724-6425 or visit WindsorAdvantage.com.

SOURCE Windsor Advantage, LLC

Related Links

http://www.windsoradvantage.com


EL-ARISH, Egypt (AP)  Suspected Islamic militants gunned down a Coptic Christian teacher on his way to school in northern Sinai on Thursday, the second killing of a Christian in less than a week in the turbulent region, officials said, amid fears of escalating attacks on Christians.

Gamal Tawfiq, 50, was shot in the head by two militants on a motorbike who followed him as he walked from home to work at El-Samran School in the coastal city of el-Arish. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the killing, but a security official said the Islamic State's affiliate in Sinai was the prime suspect.

A school official confirmed Tawfiq's death to The Associated Press but declined to give details. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

On Sunday, suspected militants gunned down a local vet, Bahgat Zakher, in el-Arish, and in late January, Wael Milad, a merchant, was killed by militants who stormed his shop. Both were Coptic Christians.

Egypt is home to one of the world's oldest Christian communities, accounting for roughly 10 percent of its 92 million people. The Copts have long complained of discrimination and have frequently been targeted by Islamic militants. IS claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in a packed Coptic church in Cairo in December that killed nearly 30 worshippers.

Since the 2011 uprising that ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak, northern Sinai has plunged deeper into strife, with Islamic militants gaining a strong foothold. The insurgency in Sinai grew deadlier and, in some cases, spread to the mainland following the military's 2013 ouster of the country's Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi.

Most Egyptian Christians, along with many of the country's Muslim majority, supported Morsi's ouster, thus inviting retaliation by the militants.

"For long, incidents of shooting and killing Christians were sporadic, but recently we are witnessing an increase that I think will turn into a repetitive pattern in el-Arish," said Ishaq Ibrahim, a researcher at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.

Last year, several Christians were shot to death in attacks, including in Sinai, where priest Rafael Moussa and health ministry employee Massak Nasrallah were gunned down.

In May last year, an elderly Christian woman was stripped off her clothes and paraded naked through the streets of a southern village by a Muslim mob who accused her son of having an affair with a Muslim woman.

Egyptian prosecutors threw the case out last month, citing lack of evidence, but authorities reversed the decision this week after the woman's defense appealed. The suspects were also referred to a criminal court.
DECATUR  With a spring-like weekend ahead, some parts of Central Illinois are poised to break their warm-weather records over the next few days.

The high temperature in Decatur today is forecast as 67 degrees, while its record high is 61 degrees. Weather is expected to continue in the 60s through the weekend.

It's lovely to have this kind of weather in February, said Heather Stanley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. You'll be flirting with the record all weekend.

Conditions today are so dry and sunny that the weather service raised concerns about the potential for fires to spread quickly. A hazardous weather outlook was issued shortly before 6 a.m. for counties including Macon, Christian and Sangamon, and outdoor burning is discouraged.

It has been awhile since we've had any rain so there's a lot of dry grasses out there, Stanley said. We have to keep an eye on our winds and potential fire weather danger.

When Mother Nature gives, she sometimes punishes later. That doesn't seem to be the case this time, however, as Stanley said next week's forecast so far continues with highs in the 60s.
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
New Delhi, Feb 13 : The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday slapped a fine of Rs 20,000 on Uttarakhand government and other agencies for not filing reply against a plea seeking rehabilitation of villages inside Rajaji National Park.

The Tribunal bench, headed by chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, slapped the fine on the Uttarakhand government, forest department and the chief conservator of forests of Pauri Garhwal District.

Rajaji National Park, which is known for leopards, elephants and tigers, has about ten villages towards south of its western region. According to the park officials, mass scale rehabilitation of some communities is already going on.

The Tribunal imposed fines against the government and agencies following their careless attitude against a plea of Uttarakhand's resident Madan Singh Bisht, who demands to set a monitoring committee for rehabilitation of the revenue villages inside the park.

"I am not aware of what happened in the tribunal today but those ten villages are outside the boundary of the national park," a senior forest official told IANS on the condition of anonymity.

According to the officials, Rajaji Park was declared a National Park in 1984 but the same was notified in 2013 and in May 2015 the park was declared a Tiger Reserve.

"When the boundaries of the park were notified, it was found that those villages are outside the forest boundary, but the villagers still want to move," another official added.

According the Indian government's policies, the families shifted from the forest areas are offered a relocation package, which is land against land or Rs 10 lakh per adult. The Forest Rights Act, however, leaves the choice of moving or staying with the families.
Mumbai, Feb 14 : Bangladesh is setting up a World Trade Centre at Chittagong port, which will help strengthen trade ties with India, a Bangladeshi Minister has said.

Shahriar Alam, Bangladesh's State Minister for Foreign Affairs, said: "Trade remains the fundamental basis of India-Bangladesh relations and the establishment of a World Trade Centre in Chittagong will help strengthen our trade cooperation."

He said that Bangladesh considers the northeastern states of India as a potential market, particularly in the sector of FMCGs. He was speaking at an interactive meeting held at the World Trade Centre here on Monday.

Urging the WTC Mumbai to work together with WTC Chittagong, Alam said that two Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in the north-west of Bangladesh bordering India were dedicated to Indian businesses.

The presence of the Indian private sector in Bangladesh is growing and in recent years Reliance has been actively involved in the LNG sector, Adani is setting up a coal-based power plant and Tata is expanding its manufacturing operations in the country, he said. Godrej too is present in Bangladesh, Alam said, according to an official release.

He said another important area of cooperation is in Blue Economy where spatial planning integrates conservation, sustainable use of living resources, oil and mineral wealth extraction, bio-prospecting, sustainable energy production and marine transport.

Alam said that both countries have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the area of coastal shipping and added that there was great potential for cooperation in the fishing sector.

Vijay Kalantri, Vice Chairman, World Trade Centre Mumbai and President, All India Association of Industries said the trade between the two countries had grown by more than 17 per cent in the last five years.

"India's exports to Bangladesh in 2015-16 (July-June) were $5,453 million and imports from Bangladesh were $690 million," Kalantri said.
Lucknow, Feb 14 : Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday accused the Samajwadi Party (SP) of "institutionalising gangsterism" in Uttar Pradesh.

"It is a shame and an anarchic situation wherein traders are being shot in cold blood; a prominent doctor was murdered; a rape victim who accused a ruling party legislator is found dead," he told the media here.

Jaitley, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader, also took a dig at the Akhilesh Yadav government by saying that first it labelled some persons criminals and then embraced them by fielding them in elections.

The reference was apparently to tainted minister Gayatri Prajapati and many like him.

The Union Minister said the state government's "ideological bankruptcy" could be gauged from the fact that the Chief Minister was seeking votes in the name of an incomplete 302-km road.

He was referring to the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, tom-tommed by the state government as a big achievement.

Jaitley said the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre was, in comparison, constructing 10,000 km of roads every year.

He accused the ruling SP of entering into an "unholy alliance" with the Congress, a party which he said was always opposed by socialist formations in the country.

The motto of most of the parties has always been 'Congress hatao, desh bachao', Jaitley said and added that the "SP had given up its ideological standing by embracing a dynasty".

"Parties and their ideologies may be subject to compromises and opportunism but they should well realise that people don't change their views and keep a close eye on everything," he said.

Claiming the BJP had done exceedingly well in the first phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh on February 11, he said his party will get a comfortable majority in the assembly.
Chandigarh, Feb 14 : The AAP on Tuesday expressed concern over a sharp "decline" in the enrolment of students in government schools in rural areas of Punjab and the simultaneous rise in admission in private schools.

Aam Aadmi Party MP Bhagwant Mann said the Shiromai Akali Dal-BJP government in Punjab had made tall claims of reforms in the educational system but the ground reality was different.

"The ground realities were totally opposite of what Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema claimed during elections. Most of the private schools opened during the last five years of SAD-BJP rule," Mann said.

Mann said a report prepared by Mumbai-based NGO 'Pratham' said the number of students studying in private schools was more than in government schools.

He said the SAD-BJP government had deliberately shut down government schools in villages on the pretext of introducing a cluster system.

Under the cluster system, the government shifted students where the number of students were less than 20 to other schools within five kilometers radius.

Mann said this was aimed at helping private schools to fill the gap.

The AAP leader also said that 51.6 per cent of students from rural areas were enrolled in private schools against 45.5 per cent in 2014.

The standard of education in government schools had declined gradually and, as per the report, only 35.4 per cent students studying in Class V in government schools can understand English compared to 83.2 per cent in private schools, Mann said quoting the report.

The dropout rate in government schools after Class 10 was above 70 per cent and only 5 per cent students went beyond higher secondary education, he said.

Mann said that as per the report, 19 per cent of schools don't have drinking water and 21 per cent schools lacked toilets. About 24 per cent schools were without toilets for girls.

Mann said the AAP government in Delhi had provided education and health services of international standard and this would be done in Punjab if the AAP formed a government.
New Delhi, Feb 14 : A drug peddler, who used to sell narcotics to teenagers, was arrested here and 275.45 gm of heroin, valued at Rs 7.5 lakh, recovered from his possession, Delhi Police said on Tuesday.

According to police, the accused, identified as Munna, 24, a resident of New Seemapuri area in east Delhi, was arrested on February 11 at around 8 a.m. after a tip-off from some minor children who were in the habit of consuming drugs obtained from him.

"Munna was arrested when he was on his way to supply heroin to some of his agents in his area," Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Nupur Prasad said.

"On questioning, Munna disclosed that he and his three associates, Salman, Sonu and Pampu, were supplying heroin. The gang members used to purchase the heroin from Loni, in Ghaziabad district in Uttar Pradesh, and supplied it in small packets to teenagers in various parks," Prasad added.

He also confessed to selling 2,000 packets of heroin in a day. Police are looking for his associates who were absconding, the DCP said.
Dhaka, Feb 15 : The fourth Indo-Bangla Trade Fair-2017 is going to be held here on Thursday, with an aim to promote bilateral trade between Bangladesh and India, media reports said.

Organised by the India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IBCCI), the event will be inaugurated by Bangladesh Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed.

More than 3O companies related to automobile, processed food, banking, insurance, consumer goods, power, paints, electronics, textiles, cement and lubricants manufacturing sector will exhibit their products and services in six pavilions and 3O stalls at the Pan Pacific Sonargoan Hotel, bdnews24.com reported.

The fair will become "a landmark event" for the bilateral business relation between the neighbours, IBCCI CEO Jahangir Bin Alam said at a press briefing on Tuesday.

Bangladesh and India two-way trade was $6.14 billion in 2015-16, which was heavily tilted towards India. In the last two years, however, Bangladesh's exports to India have seen a huge increase after India allowed duty-fee market access.

In 2015-16, Bangladesh's exports to India surged 30.8 per cent to $689.62 million and Indian exports declined by 6.3 per cent.

The fair will remain open from 1O a.m. to 7 p.m. every day. There is no entry fee.
New Delhi, Feb 15 : Several ministries, including of health and agriculture, will come together on February 22 to launch a campaign against anti-microbial resistance (AMR), Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda said on Wednesday.

Nadda said that the initiative was being taken to strategise a proper plan against the AMR and to avoid any kind of mismatch by various departments obstructing the efforts of the government.

"The ministries will also have their Memorandum of Understandings over the issue," said Nadda.

Anti-microbial resistant bacteria are responsible for high-mortality diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhea and sepsis.

Addressing the media for the first time after the announcement of the Union Budget on February 1, Nadda said that the government is taking a slew of measures to strengthen the country's health system and the budget allocation for health in the coming years will see a constant rise.

The budget allocation for the health sector for 2017-18 is Rs 48,853 crore, 27 per cent higher than last year, which stood at Rs 39,688 crore.

"This budget has a sizable increase. The total increase that we have got is Rs 11,165 crores which is 27.77 per cent," said Nadda.

One of the major initiatives the health ministry has taken as part of the health budget is the upgradation of 1.5 lakh sub-centres into wellness centres across the country.

Nadda said that the government aims to improve the sub-centres by adopting universal schemes.

"We will do this in 100 districts this year. It will be in phased manner," said Nadda.

Asked about the money allocated for the upgradation of sub-centres to wellness centres, Nadda told IANS: "It's a continuous process. We have not kept a separate budget for that (wellness centres)."

However, Health Secretary C.K. Mishra said that the allocations might vary for the wellness centres from state to state.

On the occasion, Nadda also said that the government has been unable to get land in four states to set up medical facilities on the lines of the premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

He said the states were Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Assam.

According to the ministry, though it has identified land in Assam, an issue related to the National Green Tribunal has cropped up.
Seoul, Feb 16 : The Seoul Central District Court will on Thursday decide whether to order the arrest of Samsung group's heir Lee Jae-yong, a media report said.

The Vice President of Samsung Electronics is being investigated for his involvement in the "South Korean Female Rasputin" corruption scandal.

Lee Jae-yong appeared in the court an hour before the start of the hearing, which was scheduled at 10.30 a.m. local time, Efe news reported.

During the hearing, the judges would decide on his arrest, which was requested by the prosecutors in the case.

The head of South Korea's largest business conglomerate is facing his second arrest warrant in the bribery case that lead to the impeachment of South Korean President Park Geun-hye in 2016.

South Korea is trying to establish whether the 48-year-old de facto leader of Samsung instructed the financial support to Choi Soon-sil, nicknamed the "Female Rasputin," in exchange for the government's backing for a merger between two of the group's subsidiaries.

On Tuesday, the prosecutors investigating the corruption scandal called for a new arrest warrant against Lee, after a local court rejected a previous request in January.

The court back then argued that it was not clear whether the donations were made in exchange for favours, but prosecutors said that after three weeks of additional investigations they have obtained new evidence against Lee.

In addition to bribery, the prosecution also accuses Lee of embezzlement and perjury for having given several versions of the events during his appearances in courts.

Lee and other Samsung personnel admitted having paid about $37 million to entities allegedly controlled by Choi but they deny that it was to get support for the merger process in 2015.

Lee Jae-yong took over the Samsung conglomerate in October 2016, after his father, Lee Kun-hee, suffered a heart attack in May 2014, which still keeps him hospitalised and unable to communicate.

Choi is still in detention since her arrest in October 2016 when she was charged with colluding with Park to create a network of corruption in which the President, members of her government and the main business conglomerates of the country were apparently involved.

In December 2016, the South Korean Parliament approved Park's dismissal. The final decision is now in the hands of the Constitutional Court, which has until June to decide in favour or against the impeachment.
Seoul, Feb 16 : The South Korean government has confirmed that the North Korean citizen assassinated at a Malaysian airport was Kim Jong-un's half-brother, a media report said on Thursday.

Seoul -- on the Malaysian government's request on Tuesday -- carried out a test to compare the fingerprints of the deceased with that of Kim Jong-nam's, South Korean officials said, Japanese public channel NHK news reported Thursday.

After detecting a similarity between the two impressions, Seoul opened its own investigation into the incident, Efe news reported.

Malaysian authorities had till now only confirmed that a North Korean citizen, who was travelling through Kuala Lumpur International Airport with a passport under the name of Kim Chol, had died in the attack, although South Korea was claiming he was Kim Jong-un's elder brother.

The victim, born in 1970 in Pyongyang according to his passport died Monday while being transferred to a hospital in Putrajaya (Malaysia's administrative capital), after he was reportedly attacked by two women who sprayed a chemical on his face.

The police arrested one woman on Wednesday with Vietnamese documents and a second woman on Thursday, in connection with the alleged murder.

Since Wednesday, the body was at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital, where forensic experts carried out an autopsy although the results were yet to be announced.

Kim Jong-nam had been considered best-placed to replace his father as the head of the North Korean regime until he fell out of favour with him at the turn of the century.

Since then he has held no official position in the North Korean regime and has lived mainly in Hong Kong, Macao and Beijing.

Born to dictator Kim Jong-il and his first mistress actress Song Hye-rim, Jong-nam had attracted attention in recent years with his criticism of the North Korean regime's policies and its succession system through correspondence with a Japanese journalist and in statements to a Japanese television station.
Seoul/Kuala Lumpur, Feb 16 : South Korea and Malaysia confirmed on Thursday that the North Korean citizen assassinated at a Malaysian airport was Kim Jong-un's half-brother after a fingerprint test came positive, a media report said.

The Malaysian government, confirming the death of Kim Jong-nam, who was apparently assassinated on Monday, said that it will transport his body to the Communist country's authorities, Efe news reported.

Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi said the incident would not affect bilateral ties, and dismissed as "speculation" the notion that the North Korean regime is behind the suspected killing.

Malaysian security forces have detained two women, one from Vietnam and the other from Indonesia, in connection with Kim Jong-nam's killing.

Seoul -- on the Malaysian government's request on Tuesday -- carried out a test to compare the fingerprints of the deceased man with those of Kim Jong-nam's, South Korean officials said, Japanese channel NHK news reported Thursday.

After detecting similarities between the two impressions, Seoul opened its own investigation into the incident.

Malaysian authorities had till now only confirmed that a North Korean citizen, who was travelling through Kuala Lumpur International Airport with a passport under the name of Kim Chol, had died in the attack.

South Korea all this while has been claiming he was Kim Jong-un's elder half-brother.

Jong-nam died Monday while being transferred to a hospital in Putrajaya after he was reportedly attacked by two women who sprayed a chemical on his face.

Since Wednesday, his body was at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital, where forensic experts carried out an autopsy although the results were yet to be announced.

Kim Jong-nam had been considered best-placed to replace his father Kim Jong-il as the head of the North Korean regime until he fell out of favour with him at the turn of the century.

Since then he held no official position in the North Korean regime and lived mainly in Hong Kong, Macao and Beijing.

Born to dictator Kim Jong-il and his first mistress actress Song Hye-rim, Jong-nam had attracted attention in recent years with his criticism of the North Korean regime's policies and its succession system through correspondence with a Japanese journalist and in statements to a Japanese television station.

The confirmation of his death comes on the same day when North Korea celebrates the 75th birth anniversary of Jong-nam's father, the country's late leader.
Ranchi, Feb 16 : Eassar group Chairperson Shashi Ruia on Thursday said he is confident that both state and the Centre will support fuel linkage to start the state Jharkhand power project.

"We are now awaiting fuel linkage and are confident that the state and central government will support fuel requirement for the project through the upcoming coal mine auctions and linkages," said Ruia while speaking at the Global Investor Summit in Ranchi.

He said: "Our company has committed for about Rs 10,000 crore investment in Jharkhand for setting up a 1,200MW power plant at Tori in Latehar district and development of Tokisud North Coal Mine with an estimated investment of about Rs 1,100 crore."

"The power project is at an advanced stage of completion, with over Rs 4,700 crore already invested on the ground. Once operationalised, the Power Plant and Tokisud North Coal Mine shall together generate employment to approximately 5,500 people with a direct employment of 1,000 people and indirect employment of 4,500 people.

"Essar's outsourcing business Aegis has set up BPO facility at Jamshedpur with 2,500 seating capacity. I am happy to inform you that we are considering to set up a similar facility at Ranchi which will have 2,000 seating capacity," Ruia added.
Jammu, Feb 16 : Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N. Vohra will on Friday administer the oath office to two new ministers, including Altaf Bukhari, who returns to the cabinet.

The name of the second minister is not known. The portfolios of some PDP ministers may also be shuffled.

A Raj Bhavan communique said the oath of office and secrecy would be given at 12.30 p.m.

Sources close to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said Bukhari, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) MLA from Amira Kadal in Srinagar, would be re-inducted into the cabinet.

Bukhari was the Public Work Department Minister in the Mufti Muhammad Sayeed-led PDP-BJP coalition government.

After Sayeed's death, his daughter Mehbooba Mufti did not give Bukhari a ministerial berth. The sources said Bukhari would get an important portfolio.

Another PDP MLA is likely to be sworn in as a junior minister.

The strength of the council of ministers is 23 while the maximum number of ministers in Jammu and Kashmir can be 25.

The state constitution allows for 20 per cent of the total legislators in the bicameral legislature to be in the ministry.

The number of MLAs in the state assembly is 89 while the legislative council or upper house has 36 legislators.
Lucknow, Feb 17 : After weeks of dilly-dallying, postponements and cancellations, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is set to campaign for the Congress in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections on Friday.

According to senior Congress leaders of Uttar Pradesh unit, Priyanka will be showing up with brother Rahul Gandhi in Rae Bareli, a parliamentary seat held by her mother Sonia Gandhi.

The absence of Priyanka, who is a great crowd puller and is among the 40 'star campaigners' the party has listed for the polls, had reportedly upset the cadres, specially in the family bastion of Amethi-Rae Bareli, where she has been campaigning in previous elections.

This time, the Congress has entered an alliance with the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP).

Informed sources said many campaign programmes of Priyanka Vadra had been made and cancelled in the past owing to the seat-sharing formula on these seats continuing to be an irritant.

Now since both the alliance partners have withdrawn five candidates each from their side, she is said to have agreed to come and campaign.

She was one of the main negotiators with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav when the alliance talks were on the brink of collapse.

While her name has been repeatedly appearing in the star campaigner list of the party, she is likely to restrict herself to Amethi-Rae Bareli only, an informed party source told IANS.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi is scheduled to address a rally on February 20.

She has so far kept herself away from campaigning as she is reportedly not in "the best of health".

Rae Bareli goes to polls on February 23 and Amethi on February 27.
Seoul, Feb 17 : Samsung's heir apparent Lee Jae-yong has been placed under arrest in South Korea, accused of bribery and other charges, the media reported.

The case is linked to a scandal that led to the impeachment of the country's President Park Geung-hye, BCC reported on Friday.

Lee is currently vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics. But since his father, Lee Kun-hee, suffered a heart attack in 2014, he is considered de facto boss of the entire Samsung Group conglomerate.

Samsung is accused of giving donations to non-profit foundations operated by Choi Soon-sil, a friend of Park, in exchange for government favours.

Lee and the Samsung Group denied any wrongdoing.

"We will do our best to ensure that the truth is revealed in future court proceedings," the Samsung Group said in a brief statement following Lee's arrest.

The Samsung chief had already been questioned with several other company executives in January but a subsequent court ruling decided there was insufficient grounds for an arrest.

But on Friday, a court spokesman said in a statement: "It is acknowledged that it is necessary to arrest (Lee Jae-Yong) in light of a newly added criminal charge and new evidence."

Lee has been in detention since he was summoned back to court for a hearing held behind closed doors earlier this week.

Prosecutors accused Lee of giving bribes worth 41 billion won ($36 million) to President Park and her close friend Choi Soon-sil to win government support for a smooth leadership transition within Samsung.

Lee Jae-yong, also known as Jay Y Lee, first gave evidence in front of a parliamentary hearing in December last year. Since January he has been treated as an official suspect in the case.

At the parliamentary hearing, Samsung admitted giving a total of 20.4 billion won to two foundations, but denied seeking favours in return.

And Lee also confirmed the firm gave a horse and money to help the equestrian career of Choi's daughter, Chung Yoo-ra, something he said he now regretted.

Prosecutors now have 20 days to detain and question him before they have to formally indict Lee.
Manila, Feb 17 : Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has said he would resign if Senator Antonio Trillanes IV can prove that he had, at one time, $40.06 million worth of bank deposits, a media report said on Friday.

"If Trillanes can prove his allegation that I have amassed pesos illegally or if that bank account under my name has a total deposit at one time of even just half a billion, I will resign as President immediately," Duterte said in a taped video released on Thursday night.

Duterte denied the allegations of the Senator and branded it as "old" and "rehashed", Xinhua news agency reported.

He said he had already answered the allegations before he became president, referring to the bank deposits that he supposedly had at a branch of the Bank of the Philippine Islands that Trillanes alleged during the campaign period.

He said despite the allegations, 16 million people still voted for him and placed him in the office.

The President also defended his family and their respective sources of income, saying that they have their respective businesses and professions that help generate income and savings.

Duterte said his partner Honeylet Avancena for instance has a donut business that she had been running for the past 18 years apart from being a meat supplier to five malls in Davao.

He also defended her daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio whom he said is a practicing lawyer who had actual clients that paid for her services.
Washington, Feb 17 : Nearly 200 people demonstrated in front of the White House as part of the "Day without Immigrants" movement against the immigration policies of US President Donald Trump, a media report said.

In an effort to show Trump that the work of immigrants is necessary for the "prosperity" of the country, Mexicans, Salvadorans, Hondurans and Colombians, among others, protested on Thursday, Efe news reported.

They took off their work uniforms and took on the role of activists.

Many immigrants left their jobs and refused to buy anything or take public transport in the US capital and in other major cities across the country to dissociate themselves from the US economy and demonstrate their importance.

Dominican national Maria Sorial chose not to show up to work in solidarity with the movement, as did her colleagues, who are mostly Latinas.

"We (the Latinos) do the work that Americans don't want to do. We clean the offices, the hotels and the houses, we take care of their children, we work in the construction sites and we feed them food. Let's hope that ...will help the President realize how important we are to the country's economy," Sorial said.

Demonstrators culminated their protest in front of the White House after marching for more than 4.5 km from Mount Pleasant, the city's most important Hispanic neighbourhood.

Children who had taken the day off from school, small business owners and catering workers were among those carrying protest placards and the flags of their home countries on the march to the White House.

"It's hard work, and we do it for minimum pay, so I don't think Americans want to do it," Norma Escobar, an undocumented Guatemalan woman who lost her job "without any explanation" at a restaurant on Monday, said.

"I especially ask the President not to deport us, because we are afraid to go back to our countries. There is a lot of violence there. They have killed my brother," she said through tears.

Norma Salvador, a Salvadoran woman who has been working in cleaning and hospitality since arriving in Washington more than a decade ago and whose two siblings have been deported, said she had faith that the power of protest would help to bring recognition to the work of immigrants.
Wellington, Feb 17 : Ministers from China and New Zealand met here on Friday to discuss climate change, and experience and expertise in the field, a media report said.

After the bilateral talks, New Zealand Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett said : "China is a key player in the global response to climate change and the implementation of China's commitments under the Paris Agreement will be critical for its success."

Bennett met with China's top official for climate change, Zhang Yong, Vice Chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, for the first ministerial dialogue under the New Zealand-China Climate Change Cooperation Arrangement Memorandum.

The memorandum was signed by the two nations in 2014, Xinhua news agency reported.

Zhang's extended visit to New Zealand so soon after the Paris Agreement entering into force underscores New Zealand's standing within the international climate change community and the prospects for greater bilateral cooperation, Bennett's statement said.

The dialogue built on positive discussions in November 2016, with senior Chinese representatives at the COP 22 climate change negotiations in Marrakech, said Bennett.
New Delhi, Feb 17 : Wade through a journey from the dangerous heights of Mount Everest to the equally treacherous margins of Europe in the mid-20th century; read about ground-breaking new ideas; and navigate the maze of plot construction, narrative viewpoint, character development, dialogue creation and the like as a writer.

The IANS bookshelf has some really interesting reads for the weekend ahead.

1. Book: Summit; Author: Henry Farthing; Publisher: Westland; Pages: 632; Price: Rs 350

In the autumn of 1938, Germany's Reichsfuhrer, Heinrich Himmler, grows frustrated at the British using their regional power in India to block passage of an SS expedition to Tibet. Determined to spite them, he plots to steal something the British hold dear and have failed for the seventh time that spring to achieve -- a first summit of Mount Everest.

Seventy years later, seasoned mountain guide Neil Quinn's ninth visit to the top of the world's highest mountain in the charge of the 16-year-old son of a Long Island billionaire begins to unravel. As a desperate fight for their lives begins in the freezing air high above Tibet, Quinn stumbles across a clue to a story that questions everything he thinks he knows about the great mountain.

When the bitter aftermath of Quinn's disastrous climb turns into violent tragedy in Kathmandu, his discovery pushes him into a relentless journey that takes him from the dangerous heights of Everest to the equally treacherous margins of a new Europe where history hungers to repeat itself. Amidst a rich and diverse cast of characters, each with their own reason to possess the mystery of his discovery, Quinn has to fight, increasingly desperately, for order and the truth.

2. Book: Ideas Are Your Only Currency; Author: Rod Judkins; Publisher: Sceptre; Pages: 260; Price: Rs 350

What skills and abilities will a student need to prosper in five, 10, or 20 years' time? In a world of change, where skills become out of date quickly, it is ideas that last.

We all need to be prepared for a world that is fluid, global and interdisciplinary. Distinctions between specialties will blur and overlap. Change is happening at electrifying speed. In this vortex there are no maps.

Featuring 100 interactive chapters to inspire ground-breaking new ideas, this is perfect for fans of Keri Smith's "Wreck this Journal", Paul Arden's "It's Not How Good You Are" and Rolf Dobelli's global bestseller "The Art of Thinking Clearly".

3. Book: Kissing The Demon; Author: Amrita Kumar; Publisher: Harper Collins; Pages: 247; Price: Rs 350

Do you have a great story to tell but don't know where to begin or how to give it shape? Whether you are an aspiring writer or a seasoned one, a writer of fiction or narrative non-fiction, "Kissing the Demon" will help you navigate the maze of plot construction, narrative viewpoint, character development, dialogue creation and description even while allowing your imagination to flow.

Written by an editor and publisher who has, for over four decades, nurtured some of India's finest writers, it also tackles the insular world of publishers, agents, contracts and editors. It tells you how to find a publisher or agent, what gets a publisher's attention and what turns it off -- the stuff writers take years to learn.

Finally, it offers solutions to the vexing issue of balancing everyday life with writing, a problem every author faces and the reason why so many books remain unwritten. George Orwell once described writing as a horrible, exhausting experience and that he wouldn't have written a single book were he not driven by some demon he could neither resist nor understand. "Kissing the Demon" will make your journey as a writer a little less painful and make you look upon that demon with a little more love.
Panaji, Feb 17 : Goa's voters may have been prolific and equalled a past voting percentage record in the recently concluded assembly poll, but its officials appear to lack the same enthusiasm, especially when it comes to casting their postal ballots, poll data shows.

Data compiled by poll authorities in the state reveals that out of the 17,590 elibile to do so, only around 40 per cent have actually cast their ballots -- although political parties, including the Aam Aadmi Party, has alleged that government servants are being coerced by political parties into casting votes in their favour.

"Only around 6,000 plus postal ballots have been received by us. They have until 8 a.m. on March 11, the morning of the counting exercise to send us their postal ballots," an official at the poll office in Goa told IANS on Thursday.

The 17,590 government officials and police personnel oversaw the arrangements for voting on February 4, when nearly 83 per cent of eligible voters exercised their franchise.

Political parties in the state have expressed concern at the slow pace at which government employees were exercising their franchise.

"Is it a case, that only these people (government servants) cannot cast their ballot in reasonable time? Other people have to give up everything and give vote at a particular time (on poll day)," AAP's Goa convenor Elvis Gomes told IANS on Thursday, demanding that postal ballots be wound up by Friday.

"It is in the open that pressure is exerted on the voters and there are instances when money is paid to vote in favour of a particular candidate," he also said.

According to Chief Electoral Officer Kunal (the official does not use his surname) government servants would be severely punished if they demand bribes for votes from political parties.

"We have conveyed to political party representatives about legal provisions on offering bribes to voters and they should convey it clearly to all candidates," Kunal said.

"Same way any government servant demanding bribe for voting will be punished as well as disciplinary proceedings shall be initiated. Strong action will be taken," he added.
Washington, Feb 17 : A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying about 2,500 kgs of experiments and supplies is scheduled for launch to the International Space Station from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, NASA said.

The gear is packed into a SpaceX Dragon capsule that will fly into orbit aboard the company's Falcon 9 rocket.

It will take two days for the Dragon to catch up to the space station and move within reach of the station's 57-foot-long robotic arm.

Astronauts Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency will use the arm to capture Dragon and maneuver it to its berthing port on the station.

"The forecast issued today from the 45th Weather Squadron calls for a 60 percent chance of acceptable conditions Saturday morning for the launch of the CRS-10 mission," the US space agency said in a statement on Thursday.

If the launch does not occur Saturday, the next launch opportunity is on Sunday, NASA said.

The tenth commercial resupply mission from SpaceX will deliver advanced space research to improve disease-fighting drugs, observe Earth's climate and automate spacecraft navigation, the US space agency added.

The SpaceX mission is expected to last about a month with the Dragon capsule being detached from the station by the robotic arm.

The Dragon will fly the return flight path on its own as SpaceX and NASA mission controllers watch over its progress.

Flying into the atmosphere protected by a heat shield, the Dragon will splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, where it will be recovered and its payloads dispatched to researchers.
New York, Feb 17 : Scientists are appealing for more people to donate their brains for research after they die, a media report said on Friday.

They say they are lacking the brains of people with disorders such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder for their study due to lack of knowledge among people, who do not attach much importance to these problems.

The researchers aim to develop new treatments for mental and neurological disorders, the BBC reported.

In recent years, researchers have made links between the shape of the brain and mental and neurological disorders.

More than 3,000 brains are stored at the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Centre at McLean Hospital just outside Boston. It is one of the largest brain banks in the world.

Most of their specimens are from people with mental or neurological disorders.

Samples are requested by scientists to find new treatments for Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and a whole host of psychiatric disorders.

Scientists at McLean Hospital and at brain banks across the world do not have enough specimens for the research community.

According Kerry Ressler, who is the chief scientific officer at McLean hospital, new treatments for many mental and neurological diseases are within the grasp of the research community. However, he says it is the lack of brain tissue that is holding back their development.

"We have the tools and the ability to do some great deep-level biology of the human brain now. What we are lacking are the tissues from those with the disorders we need to really understand."

There is a shortage of brains from people with disorders that are incorrectly seen as psychological - rather than neurological in origin. These include depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Sabina Berretta, the scientific director of the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Centre, said: "If people think that there are no changes in the brain of somebody that suffers from major depression or post-traumatic stress disorder then there is no reason for them to donate their brain for research because (they think that) there is nothing there to find."

"This conception is radically wrong from a biological point of view," she added.
Washington, Feb 17 : The US has condemned the suicide bombing at the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sindh province of Pakistan and offered its support in bringing the perpetrators to justice.

The US State Department in a statement on Thursday said it stood by Pakistan in the fight against terrorism.

Pakistan has blamed militants from Afghanistan for the deadly bombing at the shrine that left 75 persons dead and nearly 300 injured.

The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attack.

"We offer our support to the Pakistani government as it works to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice," acting spokesman Mark Toner said.

The bombing was the latest in a series of violent attacks across the country.

"We stand with the people of Pakistan in their fight against terrorism and remain committed to the security of the South Asia region," Toner said.

The US would continue working with Pakistan and its partners across the region to combat the threat of terrorism.
New Delhi, Feb 17 : Former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) Chief, Rajinder Khanna, will join the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) on a contract basis, the government announced on Friday.

"The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Rajinder Khanna, as OSD (Neighborhood Studies) in the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), on contract basis," an official release said.

His tenure with the NSCS would be for one year.

To accommodate him the vacant post of Additional Secretary has been temporarily upgraded to "that of a Secretary for a period of one year or until further orders, whichever is earlier," the statement added.

The National Security Council is the apex body of national security planning and is headed by the Prime Minister.

The Neighbourhood Studies department prepares policy papers of neighbouring countries, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Khanna was appointed chief of RAW -- India's external intelligence agency -- in December 2014 for two years.
New Delhi, Feb 17 : Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday faced the ire of one of his east Delhi constituents, who alleged that Sisodia had never visited his constituency in the past two years.

While flagging off 100 cluster buses from Delhi Secretariat, Sisodia was confronted by the man who said he belonged to Sisodia's Patparganj constituency and claimed that the Dy CM had never visited his constituency in the past two years and had no connect with the people.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, however, dismissed the charge and said the protestor belonged to the liquor mafia.

The man, after the incident, also spoke to media persons and said his name was Sanjeev Jain and he did not belong to any political party or liquor mafia.

"I belong to Sisodia's Patparganj constituency," he said.

"He (Sisodia) called me a member of the liquor mafia. I belong to his (Sisodia's) constituency. He never visited his constituency and never met the people there in two years," the protestor alleged.

Flagging off 100 cluster buses Sisodia said the new cluster buses are GPS-enabled and it would strengthen the public transport system in Delhi.

Delhi Transport Minister Satyendar Jain, who was present on the occasion, said it was only the beginning as Delhi government would soon launch more cluster and Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses.

"We will soon launch 450 AC buses, and 250 cluster buses in Delhi. We will also build eight depots in the national capital," Jain said.

He said a plan to develop bus depots with multi-level parking was being considered.

Delhi has around 4,500 DTC and cluster buses.
Rae Bareli, Feb 17 : Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused him of making false promises and taking innocent people for a ride.

Addressing a rally in the parliamentary constituency of his mother Sonia Gandhi, he imitated the speaking style of the Prime Minister and said that everywhere that he went, he made false promises.

"Modiji was in Varanasi in 2014 where he coined a new slogan -- 'Ganga Maiyya', his mother -- and made a long list of promises, but nothing has happened there yet," he said while detailing how Modi during the 2014 polls had promised cleanliness in the temple town, clean Ghats, clean river, potable water to every household, free internet and much more.

Asking the media to go with cameras and show the ground reality of Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Modi, Rahul said that the media would not do so as they were scared of him.

Rapping the Prime Minister for seeking votes in lieu of the loan waiver dole for farmers that he was pitching during his speeches in UP, the Gandhi scion accused Modi of lying.

"When the UPA government was at the Centre, we were not in power in UP, but we waived off Rs 70,000 crore loans of farmers. Why can't Modi do it?" he said pointing out that the PM could do it in 15 minutes by calling a Cabinet meeting and then taking a decision.

He also said that he had met the Prime Minister some time back, along with Congress MPs, but alleged that when he petitioned Modi on the problems, his response was nothing but silence.

"And now he talks of loan waivers in UP," the Congress leader said.

He told the gathering that such promises were also made during the Bihar assembly elections where special packages of lakhs of crores had been promised but all came a cropper later.
Lucknow, Feb 17 : Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Friday lashed out at the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh and called upon the people to vote for her party, so that the rule of law could be established in the state.

"There is seething anger among the people against the ruling party and they are looking with hope towards the BSP to change the situation," she said at a rally in Fatehpur.

Alleging atrocities on Dalits and women, the four-time Chief Minister also said that there was a sense of fear and insecurity among the people. This could be removed only by a BSP government, she later told a crowd of supporters at Allahabad.

Referring to the bitter feud within the Samajwadi Party (SP), Mayawati said at every step SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav had humiliated his younger brother Shivpal Singh Yadav in his blind love for son Akhilesh Yadav.

"This will ensure that the SP ship sinks faster," she predicted.

Warning people not to "waste" the votes by going for the BJP or the SP-Congress alliance, the Dalit leader urged them to ensure that the BSP candidates won everywhere with handsome margins.
New Delhi, Feb 17 : Despite the claim of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley that printing of new money was done efficiently after the November note ban and things were "normalised" in a few weeks, on Friday many ATMs here were found gasping for cash.

As IANS went around the ATMs in the national capital, it found that the situation had only marginally improved from what it was in the thick of turmoil that followed the demonetisation and that most of the cash machines still were bone dry.

Only one ATM in Laxmi Nagar of east Delhi was found dispensing cash out of a total of eight visited by IANS. Rest bore either a 'no cash' sign or were simply 'out of order'.

Similarly, in the Yusuf Sarai area of south Delhi, the ATMs of HDFC Bank, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank (PNB), Kotak Mahindra Bank and IndusInd Bank were found cashless. An Axis Bank ATM was the only one found with cash in the vicinity.

Same situation prevailed in top locations like Sansad Marg (Parliament Street), where none of the four State Bank of India (SBI) ATMs had cash, in addition to an Axis Bank machine near the YMCA nearby, which has not had cash since the demonetisation on November 8 last year.

One found the situation more telling in Connaught Place, the bustling market in the heart of the capital, where as many as eight ATMs were found to be either dysfunctional or without ash over a stretch of two blocks.

These included four ATMs of SBI, two of PNB, and one each of Bank of India and Bank of Baroda.

Speaking at the 11th Foundation Day function of the Security Printing Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL) on Friday, Jaitley said: "People used to guess it will take a year or seven months for remonetisation. But in a few weeks, things were normalised."

He also applauded the security printing presses for their efficiency.
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 17 : Kerala BJP President Kummanem Rajasekheran on Friday denied any secret pact with the CPI-M in the SNC Lavalin case, as alleged by the Congress-led UDF.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was an accused in the case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation, but a special court here exonerated him in 2013.

The CBI then approached the Kerala High Court against the exoneration. On a few occasions the case has been postponed, either by the CBI or the counsel of Vijayan.

Rajasekheran was responding to the statement of Leader of Opposition and senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, who on Thursday said the case was being postponed because of a secret pact between the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Rajasekheran said the Congress was spreading canards in the case, which would be heard in the High Court next month.

"At times due to various reasons from either side, the case gets postponed and it's but a natural process. The counsel for Vijayan was unwell. Incidentally it's the Congress which is playing truant as when they were in office, they played the waiting game and now they blame us.

"Our stand is very clear and we want the case to reach its logical conclusion. The wrongdoers have to be punished," said Rajasekheran.

The case pertains to an agreement with Canadian company SNC Lavalin in 1997, when Vijayan was Kerala Power Minister, to repair three generators which allegedly caused a loss of Rs 266 crore to the exchequer.

Vijayan was arraigned by the CBI as the seventh accused in the case, leading to a political furore.

The CPI-M leadership however came to his defence then and said there was no reason for him to step down as secretary of the CPI-M Kerala State Committee as it was not a constitutional post.
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Partly cloudy. High near 85F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy in the evening. Thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low 71F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Karachi, Feb 17 : As Pakistan launched a nationwide crackdown after a horrific suicide bombing that killed nearly 90 people at a Sufi shrine, revered by Shias, in Sindh province, the custodian of the shrine announced on Friday that the evening 'Dhamaal' ritual would continue as usual.

The deaths in the attack, which the Islamic State owned, on the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine rose to 88 on Friday, health officials told media.

The police cordoned off the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine early on Friday, as forensic investigators arrived.

But the shrine's caretaker stood unshaken by the carnage and vowed to continue the weekly ritual that draws hundreds of devotees.

Devotees said they would not be deterred by the attack that left the shrine's white marbled precincts blood splattered, and tried to break the police cordon to enter the place.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa flew into Sehwan town and visited the injured in the hospital. They also visited the shrine. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has been stationed at Sehwan, his political constituency, since Thursday night soon after the attack.

The Islamic State group claimed the attack, which also left more than 200 injured, many critically. The bomber struck as devotees gathered for the evening 'Dhamaal' ritual in a crowded space within the shrine.

The province's Inspector General of Police termed the attack a result of a "security lapse".

Security was tightened at religious places across the country in the aftermath of the bombing at the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine, with some closed till further notice and entry to others severely restricted.

Stung by one of the worst terrorist attacks in the country, Pakistan government and military went into an overdrive against terror suspects, and in a nation-wide crackdown at least 44 militants were killed and as many suspects rounded up.

While Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack and said Afghan security forces were fighting all terrorist groups, including the Islamic State, Pakistan has blamed Kabul for harbouring the perpetrators.

Foreign Policy Adviser to Nawaz Sharif, Sartaj Aziz called Afghan National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar and stressed that the government and people of Pakistan were in deep anguish because of the recent spate of terrorist incidents.

Aziz conveyed to the Afghan official that terrorist group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar was behind the recent barbaric acts of terrorism. He expressed serious concern that the group continued to operate from its sanctuaries and safe havens in Afghanistan.

The Pakistan Army said that Afghan Embassy officials were called to General Headquarters in Rawalpindi and a list of 76 terrorists was handed over to them.

The bombing at Qalandar's shrine was the tenth militant attack over the past five days in the country. The fresh wave of terrorism started with an attack on a media van in Karachi on Sunday, leaving a media worker dead.

The next day saw a suicide attack in Lahore that killed 13 people, including two senior police officers. On the same day, a Bomb Disposal Squad commander and a policeman were killed while defusing an IED in Quetta, and two security personnel lost their lives when their vehicle hit a landmine in south Waziristan.

On Wednesday, four suicide bombers blew themselves up in Peshawar, Mohmand Agency, and Charsadda in an attempt to target security forces and members of the judiciary. The attack on the judges left some injured.

On Thursday, besides the attack on the Sufi shrine, three soldiers were killed in a bomb attack in Awaran area of Balochistan, and four policemen and a civilian were killed in an attack on a police van in Dera Ismail Khan.
Agartala, Feb 17 : The opening day of the month-long budget session of the Tripura assembly on Friday witnessed unprecedented noisy scenes after the Governor refused to read the entire text of the written speech, drafted by the Left Front ministry.

The bedlam began when Governor Tathagata Roy told the members of the Tripura assembly that he would read only some portions of the 32-page budget speech.

Protesting the Governor's assertion, opposition Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLAs backed by Congress legislators rushed to the speaker's podium and shouted slogans calling the Governor "agent of RSS", besides "go back governor", "hai hai governor".

Undeterred, the governor read out five/six pages of the 32-page speech before leaving the house within half an hour.

Later, TMC leader Sudip Roy Barman and Congress MLA Ratan Lal Nath separately told media persons that the Governor insulted the people of the state by not reading the full text of the customary speech.

"Roy did not read the entire text of the speech as in the speech there is criticism of the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) -led government at the Centre," Barman said.

Nath said: "By announcing that he would not read the entire text of the speech, the Governor breached the customary practice of the assembly."

"The Governor has parroted the political line of the ruling CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist) in his speech," said Nath, former opposition leader (Congress) who recently held a meeting with the state BJP president Biplab Kumar Deb fuelling speculation about his joining the party.

He said: "We cannot really blame him as he is constitutionally bound to read out the speech drafted and approved by the state cabinet. Governor has no freedom of choice in this regard."

The speech read out by the Governor, as expected, highlighted the success of the state government and expressed concern at the proliferation of communal tension and rising intolerance in different parts of the country.

"States now find no place to voice their concern and problems and seek relief from the central government," said the Governor adding that funds meant for MGNREGA has been falling.

The speech read that demonetisation has paralysed financial transactions, as over 85 per cent of the currency in circulation has been rendered illegal in one stroke. "It has caused immense hardships to the common people. The peasantry and working class are the worst sufferers of this move."
Ranchi, Feb 17 : MoUs worth more than Rs 3 lakh crore were signed by nine departments of the Jharkhand government on Friday, the second and concluding day of the Global Investors Summit here, an official said.

"Nine departments have signed 209 proposal MoUs worth Rs 3,03,987 crore with different companies. This will create 2,09,176 direct employment and 3,92,150 indirect employment," a statement of the Jharkhand government here said.

The MoU of the highest amount has been signed by the Department of Industries, Mines and Geology worth Rs 2,10,505 crore. A total of 121 proposals have been signed by this department and this will create 67,519 direct employment opportunities.

The Department of Urban Development and Housing follows next with proposals worth Rs 38,320 crore signed, while Department of Energy signed proposals worth Rs 37,150 crore.

The other departments, which signed MoUs include Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cooperative worth Rs 1,900 cores; Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare worth Rs 2,060 crore; Higher and Technical Education worth Rs 3,231 crore and IT and e-Governance worth Rs 8,499 crore.

Besides those from India, more than 9,000 delegates attended the event from partner countries -- Japan, Czech Republic, Tunisia and Mongolia -- as well as from 28 other nations such as Australia, the US, Britain, Russia, China, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Italy, and Pakistan, among others.
Kohima, Feb 17 : Normalcy was noticed in this Nagaland state capital on Friday after tribal groups partially suspended their indefinite shutdown after Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang sought a few more days to step down.

"We have partially suspended our agitation in view of the assurance given by the Chief Minister for his stepping down and his appeal to us to give him two to three more days in order to ensure smooth transition of office and in the larger interest of the state," Nagaland Tribal Action Committee (NTAC) convener K.T. Vilie told IANS.

But the NTAC still imposed the shutdown of government offices and a ban on plying of government vehicles till Zeliang put in his papers.

"If the Chief Minister failed to return to Kohima latest by Sunday (February 19), the NTAC will have no other choice but to resort to a fast-unto-death public rally in Kohima to force him to resign," Vilie said.

On Thursday, Governor P.B. Acharya and Zeliang left for New Delhi from Dimapur after 42 of the 49 Naga People's Front legislators "unanimously supported" their party supremo Shurhozelie Liezietsu to take over from Zeliang as the new legislature party leader.

Zeliang is expected to meet Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to appraise him of the prevailing situation and to insist with the Centre not to impose President's Rule in Nagaland.

"We are only waiting for Zeliang's return to Kohima from New Delhi and we are hopeful for the smooth transition of power in the interest of the people of Nagaland," a veteran NPF legislator, who wished not to be identified, told IANS.

In the 60-member assembly, the ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland coalition government, which comprises 48 NPF legislators, including suspended legislator Imkong Imchen, four of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and eight Independents.

Shurhozelie, who is the chairman of the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) government, is not an elected member of the Nagaland assembly.

Nagaland has been on turmoil since January, after the NPF-led government decided to hold local body elections in 12 towns across the state with 33 per cent reservation for women.

The government continued to shut down internet and mobile data service to stop the spread of rumours through social networking sites. It later declared the civic elections as "null" and "void".

Three persons were killed and many injured following clashes between the police and the public, who were opposing the civic polls.

In fact, NPF legislator Neiphrezo Keditsu had resigned as Chairman of Nagaland State Mineral Development Corporation Limited on moral grounds since one of the persons killed in the Dimapur police firing was from his village.

Nagaland has never elected a woman legislator since it gained statehood in 1963. The lone woman MP from the state was Rano M. Shaiza, who got elected in 1977.

In the 2013 Assembly elections, two women candidates -- one fielded by BJP and an Independent candidate -- contested unsuccessfully.
Dhaka, Feb 17 : Bangladesh is now India's biggest trade partner in South Asia, the Indian High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla has said.

Speaking at the opening of the fourth Indo-Bangla trade fair on Thursday, Shringla said, "In the last 15 years Bangladesh's exports to India have grown tenfold and India's exports to Bangladesh have grown six times."

"Bangladesh is now India's biggest trade partner in South Asia," bdnews24.com quoted him as saying.

Organised by the India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IBCCI) at the Pan Pacific Sonargoan Hotel here, the trade fair aims to promote bilateral trade between Bangladesh and India.

Companies from both India and Bangladesh are also exploring "new opportunities" for investing and setting up joint ventures in each other's country, Shringla said.

The total bilateral trade in 2015-16 was worth $6.14 billion. Indian investments registered with Bangladesh Investment Development Authority are more than $3 billion.

"Around $11 billion of investments from India in the power, LNG and port sectors in Bangladesh are in the pipeline," the High Commissioner said.

India has also been offered exclusive sites by Bangladesh to establish special economic zones, which may be at Mongla or Chittagong, he added.

In November last year, IBCCI had organised a fruitful discussion on enhancing India-Bangladesh Waterways Connectivity, which saw good participation from both the countries, the Daily Star reported.

"In an important development in waterways and sea connectivity between India and Bangladesh, the first container ship will arrive from Kolkata to Pangaon Inland Container Terminal tomorrow (Friday) under the Coastal Shipping Agreement between our two countries," Shringla said.

Around 60 companies from India and Bangladesh, from diverse sectors like automobiles, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, are participating in the fair.
Chennai, Feb 17 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami is all set to seek a vote of confidence on Saturday in the state assembly -- that is likely to see some tight-rope walk, with the rival AIADMK faction led by O. Panneerselvam joined by opposition parties to vote against the government.

The southern state, that has not seen a day without hectic political developments since the past 10 days, is poised for another day of intense political activity with the scene shifting to the state assembly.

Palaniswami, 63, a senior leader in the ruling AIADMK of the V.K. Sasikala camp, was sworn in on Thursday. He needs the support of 117 legislators to continue in the post.

The AIADMK party commands the support of 124 legislators, including the Speaker, while the breakaway group led by former Chief Minister Panneerselvam has 11 legislators.

The other opposition includes DMK with 89 members, Congress - eight, Indian Union Muslim League with one, and one seat is vacant. The DMK has said it will vote against the government, while the Congress has said it will wait for the party high command's directive. However, the Congress has indicated it will vote against the Palaniswami government.

The DMK (minus its President M. Karunanidhi who is unwell has 88 legislators to vote), Along with the Congress and Indian Union of Muslim League, the opposition group comes to 97.

The Panneerselvam camp has the support of 11, taking the tally against Palaniswami to 108. If there is some cross-voting to the tune of 10 legislators from Sasikala's camp then it could be the end for Palaniswami.

The assembly has a total strength of 234 of which one seat is vacant.

On Friday, the Chief Minister's support base suffered erosion by one legislator.

AIADMK legislator representing Mylapore constituency and former Director General of Police (DGP) R. Nataraj said he would vote against Palaniswami.

Following Nataraj's about-turn at the last minute, Palaniswami's support base is down to 124 legislators.

Meanwhile, a week after he was sacked from the AIADMK, former party Presidium Chairman E. Madhusudanan on Friday in turn "dismissed" General Secretary V.K. Sasikala, Chief Minister Palaniswami Deputy General Secretary T.T.V. Dinakaran, Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha M.Thambidurai, A. Navaneethakrishnan, Thangamani, N.Dalavai Sundaram, Valarmathi, R.B. Udhayakumar, C.Ve. Shanmugam and S. Venkatesh -- from the party's primary membership.

The vote of confidence is being held following a split in the AIADMK party after Panneerselvam revolted against General Secretary V.K. Sasikala charging her of forcing him to quit.

Sasikala is now in a jail in Bengaluru after being convicted in a corruption case.

On Thursday, Palaniswami was sworn in as Chief Minister and 30 ministers also took oath.

Majority of legislators belonging to Sasikala camp are housed in a beach resort around 90 km from here and Panneerselvam hopes to get some votes from those legislators.

After holding hectic discussions at Panneerselvam's residence on Friday morning, a small group of AIADMK leaders met the Speaker in the Secretariat and demanded secret ballot.

Speaking to reporters, S. Semmalai, part of the Panneerselvam camp, said they have urged the Speaker for a secret ballot to decide on the motion of confidence.

"Panneerselvam and the legislators supporting him should openly vote against the motion of confidence and to build on the credibility in the people's mind space," K.C. Palaniswamy, a former MP of AIADMK, told IANS on Friday.

On the other hand if secret ballot on the confidence motion is allowed and a whip is issued the issue before the Panneerselavam camp is whether to abide by the whip or disobey.

"In case if they disobey, whether they could be disqualified as legislators under the anti-defection law is a point to ponder," an AIADMK leader said.

"The party whip has to take orders from the leader before issuing any whip on the way in which legislators are to vote. In AIADMK's case the appointment of Sasikala as General Secretary is under dispute and also the appointments made by her. So that question would have to be decided before any legislator can be disqualified," Palaniswamy said.

Sasikala had recently dismissed Panneerselvam and former Minister K. Pandiarajan from the primary membership of the party and both are outside the purview of the anti-defection law.

DMK General Secretary K. Anbazhagan has predicted the government will not survive.

On Thursday, MPs belonging to the Panneerselvam camp had met Election Commission officials and petitioned to disqualify Sasikala's appointment as General Secretary.
New Delhi, Feb 17 : The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday sent a notice to AIADMK leader V.K. Sasikala and sought her reply on the petitions filed by a delegation of MPs from the O. Panneerselvam camp challening her appointment as party General Secretary.

Sasikala, currently lodged in Parappana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru, has been asked by EC to respond by February 28.

"The Commission has directed that your reply on the aforesaid petitions may be furnished latest by 28.02.2017, failing which it will be presumed that you have no comments to offer and the Commission will take appropriate action in the matter," the EC letter read.

On Thursday, a delegation of AIADMK MPs led by Rajya Sabha member V. Maitreyan petitioned the EC over Sasikala's appointment as the party's General Secretary, which they said was illegal.

The delegation comprising of 11 AIADMK parliamentarians told the EC in their petition that as per the party constitution, to become the party General Secretary, one has to be a member for five consecutive years, and pointed out that Sasikala did not fulfil this basic criterion.

The petition also mentioned Rule 20 (2) of the party by-law which says that the General Secretary shall be elected by the primary members of the party units of Tamil Nadu and members of other states.
Chandigarh, Feb 17 : The JK Tyre Xtreme 4Play, north Indias biggest off-roading competition, was flagged off here on Friday evening, with as many as 20 top teams from across the country competing for top honours in their modified cars.

The local team Gerrari Off Roaders will begin as the favourite to conquer the various obstacles in this three-day seven-stage event that is being held at Kikar Lodge, India's first private forest reserve, spread across 1800 acres on the foothills of Shivalik Mountains in Punjab.

Gerrari has fielded four teams, with each team consisting of two cars and manned by a driver and a co-driver, led by the duo of Gurmeet Singh Virdi and Kirpal Singh Tung who recently won the Rain Forest Challenge in Malaysia. Kabir Warcha and Yuvraj Tiwana will also be a team to watch out for.

The Bangalore Off-Roaders, who won the JK Tyre-Orange 4x4 Fury in the picturesque valley of Dambuk in Arunachal Pradesh late in December, are expected to be their main challengers. They have fielded six teams, with Siddarth Santosh and Lokesh Shivaraja as their drivers to watch out for.

Other teams in fray include MOCA from Arunachal Pradesh (2 teams), KTM Jeepers from Kerala (four teams), Gypsy Team from Punjab (two) and one team from Delhi and Haryana.

The race is divided into two categories -- XTreme 4Play for professionals in modified cars who have to tackle natural obstacles and 4x4Play for amateurs in non-modified cars who will face a handful of man-made obstacles as well.

The flagoff was done by, among others, Amarinder Singh (owner of Kikar Lodge) and Harjinder Singh (father of Asia Pacific champion Hari Singh).
New Delhi, Feb 17 : The Supreme Court on Friday refused to enter into a debate on the plea seeking declaration that "Vande Mataram" is the national song.

"...We do not intend to enter into any debate as far as the national song is concerned," said the bench of Justice Dipak Misra, Justice R. Banumathi and Justice Mohan M. Shantanagouder, declining the plea by a lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay.

Upadhyay, who is also the spokesman of the Delhi unit of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has urged the court to direct the framing of a "national policy to promote and propagate the national anthem, national song and national flag in the spirit of Article 51A to achieve the great golden goals, as set out in Preamble of the Constitution of India".

However, the court tagged the plea, urging it to ascertain the feasibility of singing/ playing of the national anthem and the national song in the school on every working day, with an earlier pending matter as it recalled that Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi too had urged the court to make singing of the national anthem mandatory in schools.

Tagging the plea with the early pending matter, the bench in its order said: "In the earlier writ petition, a contention was advanced by the ... Attorney General of India pertaining to schools and, therefore, as far as the prayer relating to 'schools on every working day' is concerned, it is kept alive."

However, the bench rejected the plea that had urged the court to "ascertain the feasibility of singing/ playing the national anthem and national song in Parliament/ assembly, public offices, courts ... on every working day."

While dismissing the plea for singing/ playing of the national anthem and national song in Parliament, state assemblies, public offices and courts, the bench said: "We may hasten to clarify when we have kept the prayer alive (singing/playing of the national anthem and national song in the schools) that does not mean that we have expressed any opinion on the same."
New Delhi, Feb 17 : The BJP on Friday staged a protest against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the aftermath of nine students of a government school being taken ill after a dead rat was found in their midday meal.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that the case is not an "isolated" incident of "mismanagement" in schools.

Hundreds of BJP workers led by south Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri staged a protest outside the Chief Minister's residence and raised slogans against him.

Police had to use mild force as the BJP workers tried to jump the barricade.

Addressing the demonstrators, Bidhuri said: "The midday meal food poisoning incident at Deoli Bandh is not an isolated incident of mismanagement in schools... The condition of most government schools in south Delhi's rural areas is very poor."

"Up to 80-90 students are made to sit in one classroom and many schools are in dilapidated condition," the BJP MP said.

He also said that there was a massive shortage of teachers in schools. "Even basic facilities of commerce and science courses are not available in rural schools."

The BJP leader also alleged that south Delhi, which was once ahead of the rest of Delhi in development, was now facing lack of new development projects, water shortage and poor health services in exterior areas.

Bidhuri also took potshots at the handling of the food poisoning incident by the Delhi government's Education Department and said it was "extremely suspicious and deplorable".

"With an intent to suppress the incident, the authorities took children to a government hospital in Malviya Nagar, which is eight kilometres away, instead of Batra Hospital that is hardly half-a-kilometre away," he said.
Munich, Feb 18 : US Defence Secretary James Mattis has reassured European allies nervous about Donald Trump's presidency that the US will defend any member of NATO that comes under attack from Russia.

On the campaign trail last year, Trump said he would not feel bound by NATO's article five, under which an attack on any one of the 28 members is treated as an attack on all.

Trump singled out the Baltic states, complaining that some of them were not contributing a fair share to Nato defence spending.

But Mattis, in contrast to Trump, told the Munich security conference on Friday: "Article five is a bedrock commitment." US security, he added, was "permanently tied" to that of Europe, The Guardian reported.

The conference, which is being attended by the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and other world leaders as well as 47 foreign ministers and 30 defence ministers, is the first chance most of them have had to meet members of the Trump administration and try to gain clarity about Trump's foreign policy goals.

But the conference is also a chance for the Trump team - including Mattis, the Vice President, Mike Pence, and the homeland security secretary, John Kelly - to confront European anxieties about their boss.

Those anxieties, which were exacerbated by Trump's extraordinary 77-minute press conference on Thursday, were on full display as the German defence minister, Ursula von der Leyen, delivered a robust response to Trump that contrasted with the softer approach of the British government.

Speaking before Mattis, Von der Leyen said negative remarks from Washington about the European Union, including support for Brexit, were not helpful.

"Our American friends know well that their tone on Europe and Nato has a direct influence on the cohesion of our continent," she said, warning that such remarks could prove damaging to the future cohesion of the EU.

"A stable European Union is just as much in the American interest as a united Nato."

She said the world needed a responsible US government and that there was a need to protect values, such as total opposition to torture. Trump has said torture can be useful.

Von der Leyen also said Nato should establish a better relationship with Russia, and that this should be done collectively, not by Trump going over people's heads direct to Moscow.

She said Germany accepted it could not continue to rely on the US whenever the going got tough and that it had to increase defence spending: "We must also carry our share of the burden."
Kuala Lumpur, Feb 18 : The dying words of Kim Jong Nam, half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, were "very painful, very painful, I was sprayed liquid", the media reported.

Poisoned and left to die, the playboy half-brother of North Korean tyrant Kim Jong Un staggered through the fourth floor of a Malaysian airport, looking for anyone to help him, the New York Post reported on Friday.

He desperately ambled about 50 feet and found a receptionist at the airport service counter.

Clinging to life, Kim Jong Nam managed just a few words that would turn out to be his last: "Very painful, very painful, I was sprayed liquid," according to reports citing the China Press, a Chinese-language paper in Malaysia.

The staffer flagged down an auxiliary policeman, who helped take the portly Jong Nam to a clinic on the airport's third floor.

But he quickly slipped into unconsciousness.

A doctor there knew things were dire, and rushed the 45-year-old to Putrajaya Hospital near Kuala Lumpur Airport, but it was too late. It was craps for the casino-loving jet-setter - he was pronounced dead on arrival.

His mysterious murder - occurring Monday morning in the crowded departure terminal of the airport - has triggered a massive police manhunt that has led to the arrests of the two women who authorities say doused Jong Nam's face with a toxic spray.

Family and friends of one female suspect, Siti Aisyah, 25, were stunned by news of her arrest, collectively describing her as a "nice girl." The other woman, Doan Thi Hoang, 28, has been dubbed the "LOL assassin" because she was caught on video surveillance wearing a white shirt emblazoned with the acronym for "laughing out loud."

Her father-in-law, Tjia Liong Kiong, said Aisyah was a "very kind, polite and respectful person."

"I was shocked to hear that she was arrested for murdering someone," he said. "I don't believe that she will do such a crime or what the media says, an intelligence agent, although I don't know what she had in her mind."

Police have also detained Aisyah's boyfriend, but he was only assisting investigators in their probe.

Four other men were being sought in connection with the slaying, suggesting that it was an organised plot to kill the playboy gambler.

South Korean officials have theorized that Jong Nam's dictator half-brother was responsible for the attack.

Jong Un had been at war with Jong Nam ever since Jong Nam dissed his leadership of North Korea in the press.

Before Monday, Jong Nam had reportedly dodged several attempts on his life - and Jong Un was believed to be behind the botched hits.
Heather VanderMyde Anchored by our Values

Coldwell Banker Seaside Realty, a leading real estate firm at North Carolina's Outer Banks would like to congratulate the VanderMyde Team for earning the firm's 2016 Listing Agent of the Year award. The VanderMyde Team is comprised of Heather VanderMyde, team leader, Will Gregg, Buyer's Agent, Kasey Rabar, Associate Broker and Kiirsten Farr, Associate Broker.

"Selling my client's listings for the highest price in the shortest amount of time possible is what drives me each day, while keeping the process as drama free as possible for everyone involved. 2016 was an eventful year with Coldwell Banker Seaside Realty acquiring our former brokerage - our partnership has gone well, with lots of new tools to help my sellers and plenty of support for my passion and values." says Heather VanderMyde, team leader of the VanderMyde Team.

In addition to earning the Listing Agent of the Year award, the VanderMyde Team has also been awarded the Agent of the Year Award for the Kill Devil Hills office. Heather VanderMyde earned the prestigious 2016 Coldwell Banker President's Circle award.

"Not only is Heather a top producing agent in our firm, she is in the top 3% of all selling agents on the Outer Banks. Working with both buyers and sellers, Heather's priority is offering outstanding customer service to all her clients and her marketing plan is second to none." says Pamela Smith, Vice President of Sales & Relocation.

Coldwell Banker Seaside Realty is a consistent top producing firm with over 25 years of local knowledge and experience. Family owned and operated, the company offers real estate services across the entire Outer Banks as well as all of northeastern North Carolina. Combined with the Coldwell Banker brand, one of the largest and most influential residential real estate brokerage franchises in the world, Seaside Realty offers top-tier real estate services to buyers and sellers throughout the region.

*As reported by OBAR for the period of 1/01/2016 - 12/31/2016
Judge Karen Zarikyan yesterday postponed a trial seeking to halt any future operation of the Amulsar gold mine in Armenias Vayots Dzor and Syunik provinces.

The plaintiffs, environmentalisst and residents of Gndevaz, are seeking to overturn the analyses of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and the Ministry of Nature Protection stating that mining in the region will have no substantial negative effects on the environment.

The reason for the postponement appears to have been a mail mix-up in which one of the plaintiffs never received a notice regarding the trial date.

In a separate suit, the plaintiffs are also seeking to a similar conclusion reached by the National Academy of Sciences Lake Sevan Preservation Expert Committee.

The plaintiffs claim that the conclusions reached by the above state agencies are in violation of various laws regarding Lake Sevan and endangered species.

Referring to many specialists in the field, the plaintiffs argue that mining in Amulsar would endanger Armenias fresh water reserves and indirectly lead to the depopulation of Gndevaz, a community located a mere one kilometer from the open-pit mine where toxic cyanides will be used over a minimum period of twelve years.
All members will now receive 50 GB of no-cost community storage to upload, manage and share their pathology image collections. MyObjective Cloud is a fully managed, secure hosting service, providing affordable and vendor-neutral cloud based digital pathology image management.

Cloud hosting is an ideal solution for medical education, academic research, pathology laboratories, veterinary pathology, bio-banking and biotech organizations. Flexible hosting plans are available to meet any individual or institutional hosting requirements.

W. Kemp Watson, CEO of Objective, states: "Pathology is undergoing a dramatic transformation from visual microscopic diagnoses to automation and on-demand network services. Open access over cloud will enable collaborative pathology not only within established institutions, but remotely in underserviced regions and areas of immediate need."

For more information about MyObjective Cloud, visit http://www.objectivepathology.com.

About Objective Pathology:

Founded in 2005, Objective Pathology is an innovator in the development of web-based digital pathology software. At Objective, the focus is on accessible, cost-effective, high-performance digital pathology infrastructure and application software. Our network, image management, hosting, and mobile applications allow pathologists, researchers and educators to connect and make digital pathology immediately accessible, regardless of location or resource limitations.

Objective Pathology Services Limited

Toronto, Canada
Assaf ft Nathan Nicholson - "Lost Souls" - artwork Assaf's music conjures scenes of flying close and fast over the sands of Outer Mongolia during the reign of Kublai Khan. Danger, uncertainty and breathless drama lurk behind every shadow, though splendor also abounds.

Magical. Tormented. Alive. The ethereal, hauntingly evocative music of DJ and electronic dance music producer, Assaf, is at once filled with angst and beauty. His music has the ability to impart the sensation that time collapses upon itself, as though eternity stretches backwards and forwards simultaneously to the point where both ends meet. Teaming up with Nathan Nicholson, the lead vocalist of the band, The Boxer Rebellion, Assaf releases his latest single. Assaf featuring Nathan Nicholsons Lost Souls (Black Sunset | Armada) is out now.

The Radio Edit kicks-off with a stirring, rapidly-strummed guitar from the outset like a psy-trance track. Theres something wonderful about the atmosphere of this song thats as mysterious as it is of-the-moment. An acoustic piano interlude tugs at ones heartstrings and its a dynamic foil to the high swells and pounding rock-n-roll infusion that meld with ear-catching synthesizers. The Extended Mix stretches out in its gooey, low-end glory and churns the warm and wide 4/4-beat until the listener is utterly mesmerized. Nicholson sings the refrain, We are / two lost souls, drawing-out the vowels of are and lost with such effect that the trembling of the soundwaves harkens back to the late-90s heyday of trance music. The song is urgent, essential and soaring. The Intro Mix is characterized by the atmospheric, highly cinematic intro. This version easily doubles as a film score, as one imagines scenes of flying close and fast over the sands of Outer Mongolia during the reign of Kublai Khan. Danger, uncertainty and breathless drama lurk behind every shadow, though splendor also abounds.

Assaf (real name, Youhanna Assaf) is a Canadian electronic dance music DJ and producer specializing in the sub-genre known as trance. By far the most popular form of electronic dance music, trance is noteworthy for its usually soaring, melodic composition and Assaf assails the norm by incorporating elements of intrigue and longing into his original productions. Together with business partner, Jeremy Vancaulart, Assaf heads the niche Black Sunset Music imprint, recently signed to leading trance label, Armada Music. Assaf featuring Laura Aquis After Dark was the breakout track that grabbed the attention of trance superstar Armin van Buuren in 2015 and caused the latter to sign Black Sunset as a sub-label. In the summer of 2016, Assaf released his original, Vela, on van Buurens A State of Trance imprint. To this day, those two recordings join Assafs remix of Dan Chase featuring Diana Leahs Voice Inside as being among the works for which Assaf is most well-known. As a live DJ, Assaf has performed at the legendary (though now-shuttered) Guvernment nightclub in Toronto and his music is supported by fellow trance luminaries, Markus Schulz, Giuseppe Ottaviani, Andrew Rayel and Armin van Buuren, among others. Said Assaf of his production style, My sound is all about tragedy, loss and most importantly, hope. I fancy myself a storyteller and each song is a reflection of my emotions. Maturity and deep introspection are not normally found in abundance in men of Assafs young age, but then again, Assaf is anything but ordinary.

Listen to Assaf featuring Nathan Nicholson, Lost Souls, here: https://blk184.lnk.to/LostSouls

For information on Andrew Rayel, MaRLo, Markus Schulz, RedOne, Price & Takis, The Bloody Beetroots, Giuseppe Ottaviani, Lodato, X-Change, Assaf, Mimo, Eastside Boyz, Harber, and artists like Armin van Buuren, contact EMILY TAN Media Relations (U.S.), +1(917) 318-3758, EmilyEmilyTan(at)aol.com. Follow EMILY TAN Media Relations on Twitter @EmilyEmilyTan and LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pub/emily-tan/4/342/70b.

# # #
We spent a great deal of time researching new, emerging brands, and Uncle Maddios really stood out, says franchisee Linda Zamboni.

Uncle Maddios Pizza announces its newest opening in St. Petersburg, FL, owned by Linda Zamboni, who is the former Director of Operations, franchise consultant and franchisee for McDonalds. Attracted to the simplicity of operations, Linda Zamboni has signed on to open five units of the wildly-popular fast casual pizza chain in the St. Petersburg  Clearwater area of Florida over the next 5 years. The St. Pete Uncle Maddios is located at 5226 4th St.

Uncle Maddios Pizza will offer free pizza for all at the St. Pete location from 5 to 8 p.m. on Sat. Feb. 18.

After spending 20+ years in operations and 12 years as a franchisee, Linda and her husband, Bob, couldnt pass on the opportunity to grow with a dynamic and forward-thinking brand like Uncle Maddios Pizza.

We spent a great deal of time researching new, emerging brands, and Uncle Maddios really stood out, says Zamboni. The difference between McDonalds and Maddios is huge. The simple operations at Uncle Maddios allows the staff to focus on the guest and to make fresh food they are proud to serve  and that Served with Love culture truly comes to life in the way Uncle Maddios operates.

With over 65 different entities in 19 states, Uncle Maddios is truly infiltrating the nation. In addition to the McDonalds link, Uncle Maddio's franchisees have multi-unit experience that runs the gamut  Jimmy John's, Firehouse Subs, Dairy Queen, Burger King, Krystal, Papa John's, Domino's, Golden Corral. The brand is on track to have 250 restaurants open in five years, with 1,000 units in development.

An active leader in the restaurant industry and community, Linda has been active in both local and the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. She also has been active in her local Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club. Bob is a former DJ in the Tampa Bay area and was known as Bob DeCarlo, or Bob and Judd in the morning on W101.

For information on Uncle Maddios Pizza, visit http://www.unclemaddios.com. Interested franchisees can visit unclemaddiosfranchise.com or contact Jocelyn Blain at franchising(at)unclemaddios(dot)com.

About Uncle Maddio's Pizza: With more than 1,350 Pizza Makers making more than 5,000,000 pizzas a year, Uncle Maddio's Pizza is category leader of the create-your-own, fast casual pizza restaurants. Opening 50 locations in 15 states, Uncle Maddio's has more than 150 units in development. Uncle Maddio's pizzas are customizable, made-to-order, and served up fast for about $8. With four pizza sizes, three types of crusts (including gluten free), six sauces and 48 fresh toppings, Uncle Maddio's has the freshest and largest menu in the category. The restaurant's unique fast bake ovens offer the most throughput in the industry and can produce 200 pizzas per hour. Uncle Maddio's also serves Foldwiches and salads. Uncle Maddio's 'Served with Love' philosophy and restaurant is for everyone  children and families, college students, the young and the young at heart  and includes extensive community involvement. Based in Atlanta, the Uncle Maddio's management team has 50 years combined experienced in the fast casual category.

Click here for photos: Uncle Maddios Photos

Twitter: @UncleMaddios

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unclemaddios/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/unclemaddios/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unclemaddios
We are more than just the percentage of talent we get credit for today. We are a holistic body of innovators, critical thinkers, collaborators and more...It's time we get credit for being our highest and best selves...

Discovering her Secret Sauce became increasingly important to Dawn Nicole, because she spent over a decade observing advancement opportunities that couldn't be explained.

As a Corporate Leader in Banking Technology by day, she was a corporate board room bandit who managed compliance issues for highly-visible projects. By night, Dawn Nicole was a creative-arts connoisseur, who produced and directed stage plays, short story films and romance novels. She spent nearly 20 years living a double-life while never quite understanding how her two worlds aligned and if so, what it all meant for her.

Dawns creative-art skills weren't exactly welcomed in her work profession and in the creative-community, people werent beating down her door to be tamed by her corporate structure. Her total opposite skill-sets, weren't exactly a complimentary pairing. Or were they?

What if the real fallacy was, that no one had ever taken time to see how the two could co-exist to create something greater? Something that could bring value to the other. Something remarkably powerful, on a unified front, that could only be derived from striking the right balance between the two; for a potent mix. Something like a Secret Sauce!

A rebel without a cause, Dawn Nicole was obsessed with this concept, yet at the time, had no real motive for digging deeper. She often found herself trying to make sense of her own radical talent combination, thinking... "God doesn't make mistakes and people are far more than the 60% they present themselves to be when they show up to work."

To peak her curiosity further, she remembered paying strict attention to fellow corporate consultants who quickly moved-up the ranks, advancing to Executive Leadership in no time. She noticed they too, had "ambidextrous talents", much like herself. Dawn Nicole paid attention to this phenomenon, and often observed its essence repeated in different facets throughout her career. Many people were unknowingly leaning on their dual strengths, pulling them in scope to create more value project by project.

Dawns theory was eventually proven and propelled in 2015, when she left the corporate arena to create GrowGetter (http://www.thegrowgetters.com), a Strategic Growth Consulting Business. As CEO and President, she vowed to enact the best of both of her skills, only to quickly discover, it indeed, created a POTENT RECIPE FOR HER SUCCESS!

Showing up confidently as a creative visionary who applied corporate structure, allowed her to quickly kill the chaos, while keeping visions alive and business owners could not get enough. She grew the practice into a national customer base with a thriving community of social media followers, who exuded brand loyalty, all in one year. There was definitely something to be said for discovering and coining their Secret Sauce.

GrowGetter later went on to create and grow successful in-demand brands for other businesses thru their Secret Sauce Strategies. They desired for everyone, of any industry, or sector, to discover their Secret Sauce and personal brand value, too.

Dawn Nicole quickly realized that for everyone to Discovery Their Secret Sauce, shed have to invent a tool which gave guidance and quick access. Therefore, she created an easy to use formula and online assessment called... What's your secret sauce?  (http://www.whatsyoursecretsauce.com), a new-age tool, designed for new-age thinking, in a new-era of relationship building and marketing.

Most people who discover their Secret Sauce will need additional guidance on what it all means for them, how to articulate its value quickly and how to master it. Therefore, GrowGetter broke the, What's your secret sauce? " program into 5 easy modules that will take anyone from beginning to winning!

Dawn Nicole believes, as a nation, we are more than just the percentage of talent we get credit for today. We are a holistic body of innovators, critical thinkers, collaborators and more. She feels, it's time we get credit for being our highest and best selves and more importantly, understand its value to ourselves and to the world around us.

Dawn Nicole wants to welcome you to a world, where your future starts now! Don't wait another moment, discover your SECRET SAUCE now and start taking advantage of all that you have to offer yourself and the world.

Follow them by using their Hashtags. #secretsaucechallenge #saucenation #secretsaucediscovery #whatsyoursecretsauce
2017 Best of Staffing Client Award Cornerstone remains deeply committed to provide long-term value and exceptional experiences for our clients, stated Steven Drexel, president and CEO. To earn this distinction two years in a row as a leader in service excellence reinforces our vision.

Cornerstone Staffing Solutions, Inc. (http://www.cornerstone-staffing.com), announced today they have won Inaveros Best of Staffing Client Award (http://www.bestofstaffing.com) for providing superior service to their clients. Presented in partnership with CareerBuilder, Inaveros Best of Staffing Client winners have proven to be industry leaders in service quality based completely on the ratings given to them by their clients. On average, clients of winning agencies are nearly three times as likely to be completely satisfied with the services provided compared to those working with non-winning agencies. Cornerstone also received this award in 2016.

Focused on helping companies find the right people for their job openings, Cornerstone Staffing Solutions received satisfaction scores of 9 or 10 out of 10 from their clients, significantly higher than the industrys average of 27 percent. Award winners make up less than two percent of all staffing agencies in the U.S. and Canada who earned the Best of Staffing Award for service excellence.

The employees at Cornerstone remain steadfastly committed to provide long-term value and exceptional experiences for our clients, stated Steven Drexel, president and CEO. To earn this distinction two years in a row as a leader in service excellence reinforces our vision. Im extremely proud of the teams accomplishment.

"Staffing firms are giving top companies a competitive advantage as they search for talent in North America," said Inavero's CEO Eric Gregg. "The 2017 Best of Staffing winners have achieved exceptionally high levels of satisfaction and I'm proud to feature them on BestofStaffing.com."

More About Cornerstone Staffing

Cornerstone Staffing Solutions is among the top 134 largest staffing firms in America, as ranked by Staffing Industry Analysts and received Inaveros Best of Staffing Client Award in 2016 a and 2017. Since 2003, Cornerstone has grown from a neighborhood staffing provider to a $100 million national firm that employs thousands of people at hundreds of companies from coast to coast. Providing candidate searching and job placement for administrative, industrial, technical, sales and transportation positions, Cornerstone truly is where talent and jobs meet.

Visit Cornerstone at: http://www.cornerstone-staffing.com.

About Inavero

Inavero (http://www.inavero.com) administers more staffing agency client and talent satisfaction surveys than any other firm in the world. Inaveros team reports on over 1.2 million satisfaction surveys from staffing agency clients and talent each year, and the company serves as the American Staffing Associations exclusive service quality partner.

About Inaveros Best of Staffing

Inaveros Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the U.S. and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service quality based completely on the ratings given to them by their clients and job candidates. Award winners are showcased by city and area of expertise on BestofStaffing.com  an online resource for hiring professionals and job seekers to find the best staffing agencies to call when they are in need.

# # #
The mission of the Port of Kalama is to induce capital investment in an environmentally responsible manner to create jobs & enhance public recreational opportunities. Spencer Creek Business Park construction and operational activities are projected to support more than 1,000 jobs and millions of dollars in new local economic activity.

The Port of Kalama Board of Commissioners has awarded a $1.2 million contract for Phase 2 site preloading and ground improvement of the Spencer Creek Business Park. The contract goes to Tapani Underground, Inc. a heavy civil construction company based in Battle Ground, Washington. Tapani was the company awarded build-out of Port of Kalamas Haydu Park.

The piles of sand moved onto the site are called a preload for the ground improvement process thats the first step to developing the site for Spencer Creek Business Park, says Mark Wilson, executive director, Port of Kalama. The purpose of the preload is to compress the native soils so that when buildings are constructed they doesn't settle and cause structural problems. The same holds true for roads. It can take anywhere from four months or more for a site to settle under a preload.

The Phase 2 project at Spencer Creek Business Park will complete site preloading and occur in several numbered phases with a land settlement period between each phase. (A project map is included below.) The project includes:



Removing all sand above 26.5 elevation from existing preloaded areas 1 and 2

Moving it in phases to preload areas 3 to 5 and filling area 6

Permitted clearing of some trees and vegetation, fences and structures

Compacting sand to 26.5 elevation.

Upon completion of Phase 2, the entire 70-acre footprint will be prepared for development. The project is scheduled to begin late Spring 2017. General business activity at the Port will not be interrupted during this time.

While East Port will be built out over many years, business park construction and operational activities are projected to support more than 1,000 jobs and millions of dollars in new local economic activity.

About Port of Kalama East Port

In 2014 the City of Kalama approved the Port of Kalamas proposal to annex 260 acres of Port property for both business and recreational purposes. The annexation made way for the Spencer Creek Business Park and Kalamas new state-of-the-art recreational facility, Haydu Park, including the Kalama Fairgrounds. The multi-use business property is expected to boost the areas economy and job opportunities while strengthening the citys revenue base.

About Spencer Creek Business Park

The Port of Kalama last year began development of the 70-acre Spencer Creek Business Park, located north of Kalama River Road right off of Interstate 5. While East Port facilities will be built out over many years, business park construction and operational activities are projected to support more than 1,000 jobs and millions of dollars in new local economic activity. The facility will support a mix of light industrial, office, commercial and retail uses including:



Light industrial

Commercial/retail

Hotel

Convenience store

Dining

About Port of KalamaWhere rail and water meet

The Port of Kalama is located in Southwest Washington on the Columbia River and immediately off of Interstate Highway 5. The port exists to induce capital investment in an environmentally responsible manner to create jobs and to enhance public recreational opportunities. Port of Kalama's industrial area includes five miles of riverfront property adjacent to the 43' federally-maintained deep draft navigation channel of the Columbia River. The Port is served by the Burlington Northern/Santa Fe and Union Pacific railroads. There are over 30 businesses located at the Port of Kalama, employing over 1,000 people. Port of Kalama offers all the superior facilities businesses need to thrive, and an unsurpassed quality of life. The port offers shovel ready sites, a new Industrial Park, state of the art Marine Terminals and transportation accessibility to rail and highway all just a 30 minute drive to the Portland International Airport. Port of Kalama also offers high-bandwidth communications, with dual access fiber-optic service to Seattle and Portland. Properties currently available at the port for businesses wishing to expand and thrive: Visit http://portofkalama.com/available-properties/.

Contact: Liz Newman, marketing manager, Port of Kalama, 360-673-2379 or Claudia Johnson, PR, 503-799-2220.
Cloud Academy is proud to announce a new partnership with the Arapahoe Community College Computer Network Technology program.

The collaboration will allow ACC students to engage in real-time Cloud Computing training and further enhance the value of the new Cybersecurity and Linux Administration associate degrees at ACC. The training will provide the student with in-demand 21st century skills.

We truly appreciate this opportunity to partner with Cloud Academy, said Rebecca Woulfe, Dean of Arts, Humanities, Business and Technology at ACC. ACC Computer Networking students will gain practical Cloud Computing experience, master concepts and build their knowledge base.

ACC strives to be responsive to workforce needs, preparing highly-educated and skilled students for the workforce of today and tomorrow. Additional information about ACCs Business and Industry Partnerships can be found at http://www.arapahoe.edu/bip.

Cloud Academy is a provider-neutral learning platform that helps both companies and individuals learn Cloud Computing technologies. ACC is Cloud Academys first educational partner.

Cloud Academy is an ideal solution for all higher education institutions that are looking to adopt a cloud skills-development adaptive-learning program into their curriculum, said Bessie Weiss, Head of Content at Cloud Academy. We look forward to seeing the program evolve and students succeed.

For more information about the ACC Computer Network Technology program, please email nina(dot)amey(at)arapahoe(dot)edu. Inquiries about Cloud Academy may be directed to talia(dot)wise(at)cloudacademy(dot)com.
Calton & Associates, Inc. is pleased to announce the recent hiring of Rebekah Powers, who will join the Calton team as Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer in our home office located in Tampa, Florida. As Chief Compliance Officer, Rebekah will be responsible for overseeing the broker/dealer, RIA and insurance agency compliance, as well as leading the compliance team.

I am excited to begin serving as Chief Compliance Officer with Calton & Associates. I look forward to leading the compliance group and working with the Calton management team to support our growth, Rebekah said. I am fortunate to be with a quality organization such as Calton, and look forward to contributing to the team.

Rebekah joins Calton with almost ten years of experience in compliance. Most recently, Rebekah held the position of Director of Compliance for nearly five years with Summit Brokerage Services, Inc. in Boca Raton, Florida. Some of Rebekahs responsibilities there included investment advisory and broker/dealer compliance, managing regulatory inquiries/exams, and customer complaint resolution. Prior to Summit Brokerage Services, Rebekah spent two years with Lincoln Investment Planning, Inc. in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she served as Designated Supervisor to independent representatives across the country.

Randall L. Ciccati, CEO for Calton said, Calton is very fortunate to have hired Rebekah to lead our compliance team. Her wealth of experience and industry knowledge will be a true asset to Calton, our compliance team and our advisors. We could not be more excited to add Rebekah to our management team and leverage her expertise to support our growth.

Rebekah has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with a concentration in Finance, from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She holds the FINRA Series 7, 24, 53, and 4 licenses, and the NASAA Series 66 license.

Calton & Associates is an independently owned broker-dealer and RIA dedicated to supporting independent advisors nationwide. Founded in 1987 by Dwayne Calton, the firm continues to offer the family environment with personal, high touch service to investment professionals.

Advisors, financial services firms, and journalists interested in learning more about Calton & Associates can visit http://www.calton.com or contact Senior Vice President Chris Radford (813.605.0918) for more information. Securities and advisory services are offered through Calton & Associates, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.
Our newly initiated warehouse will be adjacent to Londons Heathrow Airport, allowing customers outside of North America greatly improved access to AeroVisions inventory of regional aircraft parts

AeroVision International has announced it will open a new forward stocking location to service customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in collaboration with B&H Worldwide, a leading aerospace logistics provider. Our newly initiated warehouse will be adjacent to Londons Heathrow Airport, allowing customers outside of North America greatly improved access to AeroVisions inventory of regional aircraft parts said Pete Gibson, AeroVisions Vice President of Aircraft Services. Utilizing the 24/7/365 support of B&H Worldwide will cut lead times for normal shipments and greatly reduce the response time for EMEA customers AOG situations.

Rick Cramblet, Executive Vice President of AeroVision said, The relationship with B&H Worldwide, utilizing their LHR warehouse location, is the first step in building out a global support network for our customers. Additional forward stocking locations will be added as quickly as possible, enabling our customers to reduce their investment in inventory while increasing their dispatch reliability.

"We are delighted to have been chosen to provide these specialist logistics services to a leading global provider like AeroVision International. Our highly trained team at Heathrow will be focused on providing a first class service, which will enable AeroVision to maintain the highest integrity of its forward stocking supply chain," stated B&H Worldwides V.P. Americas, Reg Echeumuna.

About AeroVision International LLC: Founded in 2003, AeroVision International has become a trusted business partner to business and regional aircraft MR&O shops worldwide. AeroVision supplies business and regional commuter engines and engine parts (PT6 / PW100 / JT15D / PW300 / PW500 / TFE-731 / AE3007) in support of operators and MRO facilities around the world. With a strong focus on Embraer ERJ-135/145 and ATR 42 aircraft, AeroVision offers sales & leasing of aircraft, engines, auxiliary power units, avionics and landing gear as well as outright or exchange sales of all major internal and external spare parts. Information on AeroVisions support for the ERJ aircraft can be found at http://www.aerovi.com.

About B&H Worldwide: Established in 1988 in the UK, B&H Worldwide is a market leader in the highly specialist aerospace parts industry. Over the last quarter of a century is has expanded globally and today operates from ten strategically located aerospace hubs around the world and has a customer base which includes airlines, spare part stockists, MROs and repair vendors. Its innovative, in-house designed IT solutions are highly tailored to suit customer operating models and its OnTrack software sets the benchmark for the aerospace logistics industry.
Kount Inc., a leading innovator of solutions for fraud and risk management, today announced that CEO Brad Wiskirchen delivered the closing keynote address at Utah State Universitys 2017 Data Analytics Conference, Utah's largest and only comprehensive data analytics seminar.

Addressing an audience of 250 working professionals across the technology analytics industry and 150 graduate students, Wiskirchen discussed the advancements Kount has made in machine learning to detect fraud, as well as the future of machine learning and analytics. For more than a decade, Kount has employed artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning techniques to help businesses accurately detect and prevent fraudulent activity as it occurs in real-time. With a legacy of AI technology and an expanding portfolio of intellectual property, Kount has offered greater intelligence and insights to help inform decisions about fraud mitigation and growth strategies.

One of the greatest industry challenges is not procuring more data, but sorting and analyzing available data to make strategic decisions, said Wiskirchen. As cybersecurity and fraud remain a critical concern, its necessary for businesses to implement comprehensive solutions that include a combination of patented, proprietary technology, vast amounts of data, machine learning, and human intelligence to best combat fraud.

In addition to leading Kount, Wiskirchen is a member of the High-Level Advisory Group of the International Monetary Funds (IMF) Interdepartmental Working Group on Finance and Technology (IDWGFT), working with renowned financial technology thought leaders to inform and guide the IMFs research on the economic and regulatory implications of changes brought by advancements in FinTech. Wiskirchen also currently serves on the Marriott School of Managements National Advisory Council, is the co-founder and former Chair of the Idaho Software Employers Alliance, and has held board and leadership positions with the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Boise State University Office of Technology Transfer, the Intermountain Venture Forum, and many other organizations. He previously served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Salt Lake City Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

About Kount

Kount helps businesses boost sales by reducing fraud. Our all-in-one, SaaS platform simplifies fraud detection and helps online businesses accept more orders. Kounts turnkey fraud platform is easy-to-implement and easy-to-use. Kounts proprietary technology has reviewed billions of transactions and provides maximum protection for some of the worlds best-known brands. Merchants using Kount can accept more orders from more people in more places than ever before. For more information about Kount, please visit http://www.kount.com.
The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France and Richard Hoagland of the United States of America) met yesterday with the Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian and the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov, separately and then jointly. The Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, also participated in the meetings.

The Co-Chairs discussed with the Ministers the current situation along the Line of Contact and the ArmeniaAzerbaijan border. The Co-Chairs reiterated that there is no alternative to a peaceful solution to the conflict and that war is not an option, and called upon the sides to exercise restraint on the terrain as well as in their public communications and to prepare their population for peace and not for war. The Co-Chairs also urged the Sides to adhere strictly to the 1994/95 ceasefire agreements that constitute the foundation of the cessation of hostilities. The Co-Chairs recalled the May 2011 joint statements of their Presidents in Deauville emphasizing that the use of force would only bring more suffering and devastation and would be condemned by the international community. The Co-Chairs shared their views with the Sides on the steps which should be taken toward implementing decisions from the 2016 Summits in Vienna and St. Petersburg aimed at stabilizing the situation in the conflict zone.

The Co-Chairs stressed to the Ministers the need to demonstrate greater flexibility and to resume comprehensive negotiations on reaching a lasting settlement as soon as possible.

The Co-Chairs recognized that the Armenian authorities recent decision to return the body of an Azerbaijani serviceman was a helpful humanitarian gesture. The two Ministers reiterated their commitment to strictly observe their international humanitarian obligations including those of the Astrakhan Declaration of October 2010 issued by the Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Russian Federation.

The Co-Chairs are aware that a so-called constitutional referendum is scheduled to take place in Nagorno-Karabakh on February 20, 2017. Although the Co-Chairs note that the de-facto Nagorno-Karabakh authorities view the use of such a procedure as an effort to organize the public life of their population, they underscore again that no countries, including Armenia and Azerbaijan, recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent and sovereign state. Accordingly, the Co-Chairs do not accept the results of the referendum on February 20 as affecting the legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Co-Chairs also stress that the results in no way prejudge the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh or the outcome of the ongoing negotiations to bring a lasting and peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Co-Chairs plan to travel to the region in March.
AMERICAN FOUNDATION OF SAVOY ORDERS, INCORPORATED Philanthropy is the cornerstone of the Savoy Foundation's values and central to the philosophy of having a meaningful impact by taking meaningful actions.

The American Foundation of Savoy Orders, Incorporated http://www.savoia.org today announced the list of organizations supported through its charitable contributions during 2016. This list includes local, national and international organizations focused on health, human services charities, aid to victims of hurricanes and earthquakes, and education.

Since it was founded in 1991, the Savoy Foundation has been committed to philanthropic initiatives, following the centuries old traditions of the Savoy Orders. The diverse charitable giving list for 2016 included contributions to support four local, national and international charities focused on providing medical, educational and humanitarian assistance, as well as social assistance charities that provide services to those in need and scholarship grants to support university students in the fields of arts/humanities and international studies.

Savoy Foundation President Marco Grassi said, Philanthropy is the cornerstone of the Savoy Foundations values and central to the philosophy of having a meaningful impact by taking meaningful action. Important charitable grants are distributed in the medical, educational and humanitarian assistance fields."

In 2016, the Savoy Foundation provided the following financial support:



Americas VetDogs Program, a subsidiary of the Guide Dog Foundation Inc.: to meet the needs of disabled veterans by providing guide and service dogs specially trained to provide balance, relieve stress or perform other tasks.

Catholic Relief Services Earthquake Response in Central Italy: for relief work in connection with Caritas Italy to meet the immediate needs of families and deliver food and basic necessities in connection with the earthquake response in Central Italy in the towns of Amatrice and Norcia.

Catholic Relief Services Hurricane Response in Haiti: for relief work in connection with Hurricane Response in Haiti by providing emergency shelter materials, drinking water, hygiene kits, cash to families to cover their most immediate needs and living supplies

The New York Foundlings Camp Felix Program: to improve the quality of life of children in disadvantaged circumstances, to gain self-esteem and to develop life skills with an overnight camp experience each summer, providing a week-long adventure to change their outlook on life, their future, and their sense of pride. Camp Felix is the only overnight camp for children in the child welfare system. The Foundlings campers immerse themselves in activities that instill feelings of self-confidence, resilience, respect and community.

Savoy Orders Pigott Scholarships: to provide scholarships to college and university students studying in the fields of fine arts/humanities and international studies. International studies scholars participate in the Savoy Foundation NGO program at the United Nations.

Savoy History Lecture Series: to fund a lecture series on subjects relating the Royal House of Savoy and the history of Italy, Italian literature, history, art, science and impact on other countries.

About The American Foundation of Savoy Orders, Incorporated:

The American Foundation of Savoy Orders, Incorporated, a U.S. charitable 501(c)(3) organization, has three endowments: charitable causes, educational programs and operating expenses. The Savoy Orders Pigott Scholarship was also established by the Foundation to provide financial aid to students in the Humanities and International studies. Annual grants are also made to childrens and hospital programs. In order to raise funds for the support of its activities, the Savoy Foundation sponsors a winter event, Ballo di Savoia (http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/12/prweb13924916.htm) and a spring event, Festa della Primavera. The Foundation is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Roster Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Members of the Italian Royal Family, headed by His Royal Highness, Prince Victor Emmanuel of Savoy, actively support, attend and lend their names through formal patronage of the Savoy Foundations events. The Foundation also sponsors an annual history series on Italy and the Savoy dynasty which dates back over 1,000 years and is one of the oldest royal families in Europe.

About The American Delegation of Savoy Orders:

The American Delegation of Savoy Orders, (http://www.savoydelegation-usa.org/) which includes the United States of America and Canada, is a part of the Dynastic Orders of the Royal House of Savoy, among the oldest orders of chivalry in the world. The Savoy Orders are headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland and has over 30 Delegations worldwide that support the ongoing charitable works of these ancient Dynastic Orders of Knighthood and Merit. Their origins and their principles, traditions and humanitarian goals date back a thousand years. HRH Prince Victor Emmanuel, Prince of Naples and Duke of Savoy, is Head of the House of Savoy and Grand Master of the Savoy Orders. His ancestor, King Victor Emmanuel II, united the nation into the Kingdom of Italy between 1861 and 1870 and the Princes father, King Umberto II, Italys last reigning sovereign, died in 1983.
The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), the states leading association dedicated to the promotion and economic advancement of Georgias technology industry, today announced mLevel, Inc. as one of its Top 40 Innovative Technology Companies in Georgia. TAG will recognize this prestigious group at the 2017 Georgia Technology Summit (GTS) on March 23, 2017, at the Cobb Galleria Centre.

TAGS Top 40 Awards recognize Georgia-based technology companies for their innovation, financial impact, and their efforts at spreading awareness of Georgias technology initiatives throughout the U.S. and globally.

The 2017 Top 40 finalists are an elite group of innovators who represent the very best of Georgias Technology community, said Larry Williams, president & CEO of TAG. The 2017 Top 40 finalists are shining examples of what makes our State such a hotbed for technology and we applaud them for standing out as leaders in Georgias technology community.

This years Top 40 Companies were selected from among over 110 applications submitted by companies from across Georgia. Companies selected for the "Top 40" will be showcased in an exhibition at The 2017 Georgia Technology Summit.

"An extraordinary number of truly innovative technology companies participated in this years Top 40 competition, demonstrating the depth and breadth of Georgia's technology community," said Dennis Zakas, managing partner of Zakas & Leonard, LLP, CEO of Zinc., and chairperson of the Top 40 Selection Committee. In fact, based on the quality of the contestants, we could have had a 'Top 60' without losing a beat."

mLevel, a SaaS based microlearning solution that promotes rapid time to performance through an engaging learning experience, solves the modern-day learning challenge. Designed to accommodate the needs of todays modern learner, mLevel makes mission critical learning available anywhere, on any device, and can be deployed without writing a single line of code. As the first data-driven microlearning company, mLevel brings analytic learning insight and innovation to corporate and higher education markets.

We are excited to be recognized by TAG as one of the most innovative companies in Georgia, said Atlanta native mLevel CEO, Jordan Fladell. We look forward to sharing our award-winning eLearning solutions at this prestigious event.

The 2017 Georgia Technology Summit is expected to draw a crowd of more than 1,300 C-level executives, entrepreneurs, technology professionals and academia to celebrate and recognize Georgias technology community. In addition to presentations from some of the top technology influencers in the nation, the newest member of the Technology Hall of Fame of Georgia will be inducted.

For more information about TAG and the Georgia Technology Summit and to register for the event, visit http://www.tagonline.org/events/georgia-technology-summit Follow the conversation on Twitter through #TAGGTS.

About The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG)

TAG is the leading technology industry association in the state, serving more than 30,000 members through regional chapters in Metro Atlanta, Athens, Augusta, Columbus, Macon/Middle Georgia, and Savannah. TAGs mission is to educate, promote, and unite Georgias technology community to foster an innovative and connected marketplace that stimulates and enhances a tech-based economy.

Additionally, the TAG Education Collaborative (TAGs charitable arm) focuses on helping science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education initiatives thrive.

For more information visit the TAG website at http://www.tagonline.org or TAGs community website at http://www.hubga.com To learn about the TAG-Ed Collaborative visit http://www.tagedonline.org/

About Company

mLevel is the industry leading microlearning platform to improve the effectiveness, engagement and retention of learning by employees and students. With mLevel, you gain a measurable understanding of what your learners do and dont know by leveraging highly interactive learning activities to promote lasting results and rapid time to performance. Founded in June 2012 and headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., mLevel serves clients from the Fortune Global 500 to small businesses across a wide of range of industries. For more information, visit http://www.mLevel.com. For updates on how you can improve your learning effectiveness, follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, or check out the mLevel Blog.
Mohr Partners, Inc., a global corporate real estate advisory firm, today announced that Travis Mason joined the company as a Director in its Dallas/Fort Worth headquarters office. His focus will be on attracting new corporate accounts while servicing existing clients.

Before joining Mohr Partners, Travis spent more than five years as a corporate tenant advisor with Swearingen Realty Group, where he worked on assignments including Cheddars Restaurants build-to-suit headquarters location at Cypress Waters in Irving, TX.

The executive leaderships understanding of the changing dynamics in corporate commercial real estate attracted Travis to Mohr Partners. Mohr Partners attracts highly-specialized professionals to deploy industry-leading technology for its robust, no-conflicts platform, says Travis. Ultimately, we offer an ideal mix of talent, technology, and leadership with the confidence and ability to represent international clients. Travis continues.

We are thrilled to have Travis join us at Mohr Partners. With his extensive experience in tenant representation and talent for lease negotiation, we expect to see great things coming from him that will positively affect our core business, says Bob Mohr, Chairman and CEO of Mohr Partners, Inc.

The President of Mohr Partners is also very excited that Travis is here, stating that Travis has joined us at an ideal time. He will play an integral role in building business in the technology sector, Bob Shibuya, President of Mohr Partners, Inc.

Travis is a graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington with a B.S. in Economics and Finance, and an MBA in Finance/Real Estate.

About Mohr Partners:

Mohr Partners, Inc. is a global corporate real estate advisor, providing corporate tenants with portfolio services including strategic planning, portfolio/lease administration, research and site selection, project and construction management, comprehensive demographics analysis and economic incentives negotiations. Since 1986, Mohr Partners has been managing real estate portfolios for corporations, and each year completes transactions for its clients in all 50 U.S. states, all provinces of Canada and locations around the world. Mohr Partners seamlessly provides corporate real estate services globally through its strategic alliance partners. For more information on Mohr Partners, please visit http://www.mohrpartners.com.

For more information contact:

Jennifer Cheek

Managing Director, Marketing Communications

214 273 8647

jennifer.cheek(at)mohrpartners(dot)com

###

This release may contain forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, including statements that address activities, events or developments that we or our management intend, expect, project, believe or anticipate will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on managements assumptions and assessments in light of experience and trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other relevant factors. They are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ significantly from those envisaged by our forward-looking statements. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described or implied in the forward-looking statements are general business and economic conditions, production delays resulting from lack of regulatory certifications and other factors, competition in our existing and future markets, lack of market acceptance of our products and services, the substantial leverage and debt service resulting from our indebtedness, loss or retirement of key executives and other risks disclosed by us or generally associated with our business.
SiteSeer Technologies market intelligence software We look forward to using the SiteSeer platform to to help us with future store development and help us effectively manage our existing store portfolio.

Mattress Firm, the nations leading specialty bedding retailer and a subsidiary of Steinhoff International, has engaged Boise-based SiteSeer Technologies to help build tools to identify growth opportunities across the United States as they strive to expand in the future.

As a longtime user of Site Decision System, the predecessor Software-as-a-Service to SiteSeer Professional, Mattress Firm is augmenting the use of SiteSeer software with SiteSeers professional services. The Houston-based retailer has partnered with the SiteSeer team to help them enhance their site selection methodology and better evaluate future growth opportunities.

Danielle Yanskey, COO of SiteSeer Technologies, says that the firm looks forward to helping Mattress Firm achieve its objectives. Mattress Firm has an impressive history of developing markets both through acquisition and organic growth, she says. The SiteSeer team is excited to empower this great company with the tools and insight it needs to meet its growth goals.

Founded in 1986, Mattress Firm has grown significantly in the past several years. In 2016, it acquired Sleepys, the nations second largest specialty mattress retailer. Today, Mattress Firm has more than 3,500 company-operated and franchised stores in 49 states.

We are pleased with our partnership with SiteSeer, says Randy Carlin, senior vice president of real estate for Mattress Firm. Our teams have collaborated to develop a robust platform for market analysis that will help us make well-informed real estate strategy decisions. We look forward to using the SiteSeer platform to assist us with future store development and help us effectively manage our existing store portfolio. This partnership is a key component of our goal to make data-driven real estate decisions.

Learn more about Mattress Firm at http://www.mattressfirm.com.

ABOUT SITESEER TECHNOLOGIES, LLC

SiteSeer Technologies, LLC, provides a suite of software, professional services, consulting and support for site selection and market analysis. Its flagship Software-as-a-Service, SiteSeer Professional, is a web-based analytics platform that helps businesses make data-driven location decisions through mapping, demographics, custom reporting, analytics, and predictive modeling tools. The SiteSeer Professional product suite also includes customer intelligence software (ScorePinion), a real estate analytics tool (Void Analysis Pro), and a territory management tool (Automated Territory Optimization Model (ATOM)). Learn more at http://www.siteseer.com.
The strategy and creative ideas the Foth agency presented were powerful, and captured the essence of our brand."

Rusty Bucket Restaurant and Tavern has a shiny new ad agency. The Columbus-based casual restaurant company has named Ron Foth Advertising its agency of record following a review. Known for their made-from-scratch menu, hand-crafted cocktails, and friendly neighborhood atmosphere, Rusty Bucket has 24 locations in six states, including Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Florida and Colorado. New restaurants have recently opened in Sarasota, Denver and Columbus, and a new location opens in Miami (CityPlace Doral) early 2017. Founded in 2002, privately-owned Rusty Bucket is a sister company of Columbus-based Cameron Mitchell Restaurants.

Foth will provide strategic insights, creative development, design, production and media services for the overall brand and individual locations.

They really understood our business and what makes Rusty Bucket unique, said President Gary Callicoat. The strategy and creative ideas the Foth agency presented were powerful, and captured the essence of our brand. We look forward to building our business together.

Rusty Bucket is a growing brand, with a great reputation, said agency Creative Director and SVP Ron Foth Jr. Theyre expanding across the Midwest, the South, and out West. We are so proud to win this exciting piece of new business. And one of the best things? We get to celebrate the new account win at their place, with plenty of those fried pickles and craft beer.

About Ron Foth Advertising

Ron Foth Advertising is an award-winning, full-service ad agency and production company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Founded in 1975, Foth offers marketing, branding and digital solutions for clients across the country and around the world, including Wendys Restaurants, Safelite AutoGlass, MGM Resorts International, Santa Monica Travel & Tourism, San Franciscos California Academy of Sciences, The Columbus Zoo, Nutramax Laboratories, and others. For more, visit ronfoth.com.

About Rusty Bucket Restaurant & Tavern

Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Rusty Bucket, a sister company of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, was founded in 2002 and currently operates 24 locations in Ohio, Michigan, Florida, Indiana, North Carolina and Colorado. Rusty Bucket is a nationally-recognized brand with recent accolades, including Technomic's Top 500 Leading U.S. Chain Restaurants, FSR 50's Top 10 Fast Growing, High-Performing Chains, and ranked on Restaurant Business' Future 50 list. Rusty Bucket was also named by Nation's Restaurant News as a 2014 Breakout Brand. For more information, visit MyRustyBucket.com or call 614.621.1105. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
"InvestUp programs may be funded by grants, loans and investments and are expected to be long term relationships, said Nancy Sasaki, Executive Director of AHF.

The Alliance Healthcare Foundation (AHF) announced a new initiativeInvestUpto focus on foundational and sustainable systems change designed to further positively impact the health and wellness of our community in San Diego and Imperial Counties.

The Board of Trustees has long considered it our duty to seriously consider releasing our assets beyond our 5% targeted distribution each year for opportunities that hold meaningful potential to solve the health and wellness issues in our community. The distinction in this announcement is we are no longer waiting for something to come to us. Our InvestUp initiative signals a shift in our practice to now actively look for opportunities," said Elizabeth Dreicer, Board Chair for AHF. "With this announcement, we also hope to inspire more to come to us with their ideas. The hurdle is appropriately high as we are looking for projects designed to drive meaningful and sustained impact in our community.

"InvestUp programs will be greater than our $1M Innovation Initiative and may be funded by grants, loans and investments. They are expected to be long term relationships solving complex issues," said Nancy Sasaki, Executive Director of AHF. She further explained that this approach is "important in order to establish programs that have sustainably greater impact on health and wellness over years and decades. These programs will have a long term plan to ultimately impact thousands, even though they may start as smaller pilot projects."

Through InvestUp, AHF will direct funds towards health and well-being with an emphasis on behavioral health as we recognize that Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely absence of disease or infirmity. Wellness is an active process of becoming aware of making choices toward a more successful existence. AHF anticipates utilizing a variety of mechanisms to support positive, long lasting and sustainable change for our community.

AHF further announced that its first InvestUp recipient is the 2011 Innovation Initiative awardee, 2-1-1 San Diegos Community Information Exchange (CIE) program. Rob McCray, Immediate Past Chairman of AHF and Chairman of the InvestUp Committee said, The promise of CIE has evolved from a database for better care coordination to a system that links individuals and organizations together for not only better care coordination, but also more efficient exchange of information, less duplication of services and effort, as well as faster identification of need and connection to appropriate services.

Starting as a coordinating platform between the social services including St. Vincent de Paul, PATH, Emergency Services and law enforcement and healthcare communities Scripps Mercy Hospital, UCSD Hospital, and San Diego County Health & Human Services, AHF has just invested up to combine the CIE service program with 2-1-1 San Diego service overall as a person-centered system to better support the health and social needs of all 2-1-1 participantsboth individuals and the 6000+ service providers. 2-1-1 San Diego receives over 500,000 requests for assistance each year and the addition of the CIE allows for the connection between all the programs they provide, both internally and externally, with the full range of providers in the community. The CIE program is now poised to expand from the homeless population and seniors aging in the community to all people in needed of a social service in San Diego County.

John Ohanian, CEO, 2-1-1 San Diego reflected, It is an exciting time for 2-1-1 San Diego. Alliance Healthcare Foundations InvestUp initiative furthers the work were doing to build a 360 Community Coordination platform that uses a person-centric approach to care. Leveraging the success of CIE, we are transforming the work we do. AHF is a true partner working alongside 2-1-1 to build a region-wide ecosystem, utilizing bi-directional referrals, establishing a community care plan for all sectors and allowing for efficient and effective client care and measurement of a clients success over time. Recognizing the importance of social determinants of health, AHF bridges social and health services and their providers. AHFs InvestUp initiative is a great opportunity for nonprofit organizations to make substantive and long-lasting innovations in our community.

There is a growing consensus that the current health care delivery system, which focuses on treating diseases and conditions, only goes so far in containing cost and ensuring quality, said Nick Macchione, Director, San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency. But with policy focus and payment reform moving from volume to value, there is recognition that there are numerous factors that influence and impact health. Our regional vision, Live Well San Diego, focuses on developing a person-centered culture of health and wellness. We are fortunate to have partners like 2-1-1 San Diego and the Community Information Exchange (CIE), which will provide critical data about those community based factors impacting health. Bringing together our regional health information exchange  San Diego Health Connect  and the County Health and Human Services Agencys data-sharing platform  ConnectWellSD  we are quickly approaching the day where we will have the 360 person-centered view that allows integration of valuable data that is currently fragmented and often out of reach.

The 2-1-1/CIE project is fundamental to delivering a complete picture of a person receiving care. Presenting social services and medical information in a single presentation will give our providers much needed insights to a person that will not only impact diagnosis but treatment. San Diego Health Connect is excited about the opportunity to work with 2-1-1/CIE going forward in delivering whole person coordinated care, said Dan Chavez, CEO, San Diego Health Connect.

Person-centered care helps reduce health care spending. It is even more powerful to represent all the needs of the poor, children, the uninsured, homeless and other challenged populations with respect to access to services, said Ms. Sasaki.

Through the InvestUp initiative, AHF will provide funding for the types of systemic initiatives designed to truly address the needs, gaps and advocacy necessary to change the system so people are receiving the highest quality of service with the greatest impact for positive change while reducing costs. More details, including how to connect with AHF to learn more, can be found on the AHF website at http://alliancehealthcarefoundation.org.

ABOUT ALLIANCE HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION:

Alliance Healthcare Foundation is a San Diego-based organization which works with nonprofit, government and community agencies to advance health and wellness throughout San Diego and Imperial Counties. AHF works to serve the most vulnerable  the poor, uninsured, homeless and children by providing grants, advocacy, and education to support its region.
Roy Lichtenstein (American, 1923-1997), "I Love Liberty," silkscreen

Kaminski Auctions February 26, 2017 Estate Auction features Modern art from the collection of Michael Burrows of Palm Beach, Florida. A prominent real estate developer in the Palm Beach and South Florida area Mr. Burrows collection of modern art includes works by Robert Natkin, Gustavo Rosa, Jose Maria Bermejo, Peter Saari, Robert Swain, a sculpture by Robert Helsmoortel and bronzes by British artist Jonathan Kenworthy, and Irishman Rowan Gillespie.

The Robert Natkin (American, 1930-2010) in the collection is an abstract acrylic on paper which is part of the "Apollo" series. It measure 26 inches high by 36 inches wide and the lot includes the catalog of Natkin's exhibition at the Andre Emmerich Gallery in New York City. It is estimated at $8,000-$12,000.

A Gustavo Rosa (Brazilian, 1946-2013) oil on canvas titled "Father John," measures 47 inches high by 43 inches wide framed and was purchased from the Kouros Gallery in New York City and is valued at $6,000-$9,000.

There is also an aluminum and acrylic modern sculpture by the Belgian artist Robert Helsmoortel (Belgian, 1922-2007). The lot also includes a catalog signed by the artist.

Additional items of interest in the auction includes an I Love Liberty silkscreen print by Roy Lichtenstein (American, 1923-1997), signed by the artist, numbered AP 33/73 and dated 1982 in pencil lower right. Included in the lot is the Lichtenstein Catalog Raisonne as Cortlett 192, stating, "this print was executed in conjunction with the I Love Liberty celebration, taped on February 22, 1982 in Los Angeles, CA and was broadcast March 21, 1982." Valued at $5,000-$6,000, it is from a Massachusetts estate.

For Andy Warhol collectors there is a Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987), autographed Campbells beef soup can. This can was autographed at the Italian Fashion store Fiorucci in Los Angeles, CA in September 1978 when Warhol did an in-store signing while in town for an exhibition at the Ace Gallery.

There is also an interesting collection of twelve glass photographic negative plates of naturalist John Muir and Yosemite taken by Muir depicting Half Dome and the surrounding Yosemite National Park, as well as scenes from his life in Scotland. The lot is conservatively estimated at $1,000-$2,000.

Asian entries in the sale include a large and rare Rose Medallion vase circa mid-19th century standing 34  inches high and a Chinese Lama gilt bronze figure depicting the Lama sitting cross-legged atop a lotus blossom.

Russian Judaica silver, estate jewelry, furniture and continental decorative items round out this exciting auction that will be held at the Kaminski Auction gallery 117 Elliott Street (RT. 62), Beverly, Massachusetts on Sunday, February 26th, starting at 10:00 am EST. Preview hours are Wednesday through Saturday, February 22nd - 25th, 10:00pm  5:00pm and day of sale beginning at 8:00am. Preview is open all day while auction is live. For more information go to http://www.kaminskiauctions.com and sign up to bid with KaminskiLIVE.
Being included among the 2017 Best of Staffing Client award winners is a great honor and confirms that we are living up to our core values,

TransTech IT Staffing, a leading IT staffing firm known for exceptional technical talent in the Chicagoland area, announced today that they have won Inaveros Best of Staffing Client Award for their proficiency in providing superior service to their clients. This is the fourth consecutive year TransTech earned the prestigious Client award, demonstrating their rank among the best staffing firms throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Presented in partnership with CareerBuilder, Inaveros Best of Staffing Client award recognizes industry leaders who provide exemplary service and winners are those who received a high percentage of client satisfaction scores with ratings of 9 or 10 out of 10. Of TransTech IT Staffings clients, 58.8% gave their staffing firm satisfaction ratings of 9 or higher, earning them the elite Client Award status.

On average, clients of Best of Staffing award winning agencies are 2.5 times more likely to be completely satisfied with the full extent of services they receive compared to businesses that work with agencies who have never received the Client award.

Being included among the 2017 Best of Staffing Client award winners is a great honor and confirms that we are living up to our core values, says Mary Davenport, President and CEO of TransTech IT Staffing. Our TransTech team emphasizes a high touch approach that ensures our clients not only get a perfect technical and cultural fit, but that this partnership elicits the best possible outcomes.

Staffing firms are giving top companies a competitive advantage as they search for talent in North America, said Inaveros CEO Eric Gregg. The 2017 Best of Staffing winners have achieved exceptionally high levels of satisfaction and Im proud to feature them on BestofStaffing.com.

For more information on TransTech IT staffing, one of this years Best of Staffing Client award winners, visit the website and their awards page for a full list of the awards TransTech IT staffing has won.

About TransTech IT Staffing

TransTech IT Staffing is a high-touch IT staffing firm that has provided exceptional contract, contract-to-hire, and direct hire recruiting services since opening their doors in Itasca, IL in 1990. TransTech is WBE certified and serves national clientele of Fortune 500 companies as a Tier One vendor, delivering premium talent for vital projects. TransTech has been awarded Inaveros Best of Staffing Talent and Client Award and Chicagos Best and Brightest Companies to Work numerous times, reaffirming their proficiency among their peers and other business leaders. For more information, visit http://www.transtechit.com.

About Inavero

Inavero administers more staffing agency client and talent satisfaction surveys than any other firm in the world. Inaveros team reports on over 1.2 million satisfaction surveys from staffing agency clients and talent each year, and the company serves as the American Staffing Associations exclusive service quality partner.

About Inaveros Best of Staffing

Inaveros Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the U.S. and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service quality based completely on the ratings given to them by their clients and job candidates. Award winners are showcased by city and area of expertise on BestofStaffing.com  an online resource for hiring professionals and job seekers to find the best staffing agencies to call when they are in need.
The Regional Board of Directors of Strong Women, Strong Girls Pittsburgh (SWSG) today announced the resignation of Executive Director Sabrina Saunders Mosby, who is leaving on March 24 after three years with SWSG to assume the role of president and CEO of Pittsburghs Coro Center for Civic Leadership. According to SWSG Regional Board Chair Beth Marcello, SWSG expects to hire an interim executive while it conducts a search for a new director.

Sabrina has overseen a tremendous amount of growth at SWSG and we are grateful for her leadership, Marcello stated.

During Saunders tenure, SWSG:



Grew from 26 to 43 partner sites and from serving 425 to 640 girls annually.

Added Robert Morris University to its existing five university chapters, including University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, Carlow University, Point Park University and Duquesne University.

Increased its volunteer base from 140 to 200 college mentors.

Doubled its Strong Leaders program to include more than100 professional mentors.

Significantly increased corporate and individual contributions.

Our growing number of foundation and corporate partners reflect Sabrinas achievements as well as a universal movement toward gender equity, Marcello added. The mission of Strong Women, Strong Girls to uplift and empower girls in their formative years especially resonates in this environment.

In addition to mentoring grade school girls, SWSG Pittsburgh has become a training ground for young, diverse talent, developing a staff that includes university interns and a pipeline of recruits from Coro through the Public Allies program. An innovative four-credit, service-learning course at Carlow University called Girls in American Society was also developed under Saunders tenure.

Im proud of what weve accomplished together with our mentors, volunteers, schools, communities, and university partners throughout the greater Pittsburgh region, said Saunders. And while Im excited to take on this new challenge with Coro, I am confident that SWSG is positioned to continue making a great impact on girls in this region and beyond.

Sabrina laid a strong foundation that will help us transition to a new leader, remarked SWSG Executive Board Chair Louise Herrle. We look forward to the future and to more opportunities to help young girls realize their inner strengths to dream and do whatever their hearts desire.

# # #

About Strong Women, Strong Girls

Strong Women, Strong Girls (SWSG) Pittsburgh is a nationally recognized mentoring program empowering elementary school girls to develop the social-emotional and leadership skills necessary to cultivate high ambitions and achieve lifelong success. Founded in 2004, the mission of SWSG is to empower girls to imagine a broader future though a curriculum grounded on female role models delivered by college women mentors, who are themselves mentored by professional women. To achieve this mission, SWSG implements an innovative program model that utilizes the study of contemporary and historic female role models, skill-building activities, and relationships with college women who volunteer as mentors to support the girls. SWSG serves close to 700 girls in greater Pittsburgh, and engages 200 college-aged women as mentors annually. Learn more at http://www.swsg.org. Find SWSG on Twitter (@SWSG_Tweets), Facebook (Strong Women, Strong Girls), and Instagram (@strongwomenstronggirls).
Payza Global EVP Firoz Patel accepting the Online Payment Method Award on behalf of Payza. Winning this award wouldnt have been possible without the combined contributions of each and every Payza employee

Payza, a global online payment platform, is proud to announce that they have won the 2017 Merchant Payments Ecosystem Award for Best Online Payment Method. The MPE Awards were announced at the Merchant Payments Ecosystem Conference in Berlin, Germany, February 15, 2017.

2016 was a banner year for Payza, said Firoz Patel, global executive vice president of Payza, who accepted the award on the companys behalf. The United Kingdom, for instance, saw over 150% year-over-year growth in terms of new merchant accounts. Overall, Payza saw 50% YOY growth in business signups and 225% growth in merchant payment volume. To be recognized as the best online payment method from among Europes leading providers is a credit to Payza's continuing effort of providing local payment options to our users in Europe and across the globe.

The MPE Awards, which celebrate and honor the achievements of companies and personalities across the European merchant payments ecosystem, selected Payza as the Online Payment Method Award winner based on its built-in fraud protection and state-of-the-art unique account security features (such as tokenized dynamic payment buttons, custom avatars and greeting messages, and Password and PIN protection); its flexible payment options (such as recurring subscription and split payments for marketplaces); and its hassle free integration that provides European merchants the choice to set their payment preferences based on the countries to which they are selling.

Along with the Online Payment Method Award win, Payza was also shortlisted for the Data Information Award, which recognizes achievements in using big data to improve customer experience, decrease fraud, and increase profitability.

Other 2017 MPE Award winners include:



Verifone for Processing

Barclaycard for Data Information and Data Security

Yandex Money for Emerging Payment

The complete list of 2017 MPE Award winners can be found here: https://www.merchantpaymentsecosystem.com/en/MPE/Awards/Overview.alej

Winning this award wouldnt have been possible without the combined contributions of each and every Payza employee, continued Patel. From our amazing customer support staff, and our dedicated IT team and software engineers, to our merchant account managers, and our banking, fraud prevention, and account security teams, this achievement was the culmination of a full company effort.

About Payza

Payza is an award-winning online payments technology platform used by licensed entities around the world. Payza's highly secure platform provides businesses and consumers with convenient and flexible solutions for sending and receiving payments worldwide. The company offers access to payment services in both traditional and emerging markets, as well as a host of tools and services including: fraud screening, dispute resolution, currency exchange, global payouts and disbursement services. With millions of members, Payza offers its services around the world in 21 currencies, and is proud to provide its merchants around the globe with a complete solution for accepting payments and managing their businesses.

More information is available about Payza on its website, http://www.payza.com, Facebook, Twitter and the company's blog.

Payza is a registered trademark of UK-based MH Pillars Ltd.
Citing security as the first issue facing Armenia, former defense minister Seyran Ohanian, heading the Ohanian-Raffi-Oskanian alliance ticket in the upcoming parliamentary election, told reporters, Our state is in a complex region with many conflicts. We cant forget this for a second.

Ohanian said that the countrys security wasnt only dependent on the army, but on other factors like the economy, wellbeing of the people, public mood, and migration tendencies.

The former defense minister pointed to the fact that civilian oversight of the countrys armed forces increased in the latter years of his tenure, due to departments under his command, and that most exposes of inadequacies within the army were a direct result of this oversight.

Arguing that the current regime had exhausted all resources for advancement, Ohanian called for a new economic and foreign policy and closer ties with the public.

We need a new political and state elite. This is the only way to increase our degree of security. We support the formation of a new culture, said Ohanian.
Robolliance - The unified ecosystem of thought leaders focused on Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) for the security industry Sharp determined over four years ago the necessity of robotics for outdoor security perimeter patrol. The Unmanned Security Expo is yet another example of like-mindedness around this technology.

The buzz attendees will be hearing at what ISC calls the leading physical security event in North America, might just be from aerial drones flying overhead or unmanned ground vehicles cruising around. Unlike any other event, ISC West 2017 will feature its inaugural Unmanned Security Expo complete with a fully functional flight cage and robotics demonstration area. Vendors, representative of the latest robotic technology for security, will be showcased and some will participate in free exhibit floor educational sessions.

Robolliance, a forum for technology partners and industry experts in robotics, surveillance and security, created to advance the understanding and awareness of the Autonomous Robotics marketplace, is one of the four primary supporters of the Unmanned Security Expo. Robolliance sponsors, comprised of technology companies, security integrators and industry thought leaders, will be on hand April 5th-7th to welcome attendee inquiries and address the greater questions of Why Robotics? Why Security? Why Now?.

Founding sponsor of Robolliance, Sharp Electronics Corporation, will also take part in the Unmanned Security Expo by featuring its Sharp INTELLOS Automated Unmanned Ground Vehicle (A-UGV). Debuted in September 2016, the Sharp INTELLOS A-UGV is a cost-effective, multi-terrain, mobile sensor platform that can capture video, audio and environmental data, while providing a visible deterrent. The data it collects can enhance outdoor surveillance, security, safety and maintenance inspections, which will help organizations meet the challenges of an ever-changing security landscape by augmenting a skilled guard force. Other Robolliance technology sponsors having booth presence at the Unmanned Security Expo include Rajant, Nightingale Security, and National Solar Technologies. Robolliance technology sponsor IPVideo will be on the main exhibit hall floor.

Cliff Quiroga, Vice President of Sharp Robotics Business Development, the division of Sharp Electronics responsible for the Sharp INTELLOS A-UGV, is proud to support ISC West in this way. Sharp determined over four years ago the necessity of robotics for outdoor security perimeter patrol. By studying the market and through innumerable conversations with security integrators, guard companies and end users, we not only brought to the industry a product that is integral in safeguarding infrastructure, assets and people . . . Sharp brought to the industry a profit-making opportunity for resellers and a true technological partner for manpower guarding. Additionally, out of those conversations emerged the ecosystem of Robolliance, where thought leaders can together shine a light on the transformative nature of robotics for security. The Unmanned Security Expo is yet another example of like-mindedness around this technology.

To foster awareness and understanding about UGVs for security, visit Robolliance.com. Then stop by the Robolliance Sponsor Showcase as well as the Robolliance Expert Corner in booths #3135 and #4136 to meet the sponsors.

For a full list of right fit properties and missions for the Sharp INTELLOS A-UGV, visit SharpINTELLOS.com. There you will also find all the features and benefits as well as see the unit in action. The Sharp INTELLOS A-UGV can be found in booth #3137 during the ISC West 2017 Unmanned Security Expo.

About ISC West

ISC West is the security industry's premier event for new products, solutions and technologies. Each year, ISC West hosts over 1,000 international and domestic security product manufacturer companies, making ISC West the largest exhibition hall in North America for Security. The show provides over 29,000 security professionals from all segments of the industry with the latest products, solutions and insights. ISC West 2017 will take place April 5-7 at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas, NV. SIA Education@ISC will kick off a day prior to the exhibits, on April 4. Interested exhibitors, speakers and sponsors can learn more at http://www.iscwest.com/For-Exhibitors/Interested-in-Exhibiting/ or may contact Sherida Sessa at 203-840-5831 or ssessa(at)reedexpo(dot)com.

About Sharp Electronics Corporation

Sharp Electronics Corporation is the U.S. subsidiary of Japans Sharp Corporation. Sharp is a worldwide developer of one-of-a-kind home appliances, networked multifunctional office solutions, professional displays, robotics and energy systems. For more information, visit SharpUSA.com.
UNA-USA Members Day at the United Nations The United Nations tackles the worlds most challenging problems, and U.S. engagement is key for success.

The largest assembly ever of Americans gathered in support of the United Nations will take place today at the organizations headquarters in New York City. More than 1,200 Americans from across the country are expected to attend the annual Members Day at the United Nations event, hosted by the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA), a 50-state grassroots membership organization that is part of the United Nations Foundation.

Dynamic U.S. engagement is needed at the United Nations now more than ever, said UNA-USA Executive Director Chris Whatley. The unprecedented interest in this years event shows that Americans from all walks of life strongly support active U.S. participation at the UN to advance our nations national security and foreign policy objectives.

The annual UNA-USA Members Day event in New York convenes UN advocates for a day of expert presentations on topics like refugees, conflict resolution, and sustainable development, as well as networking opportunities with community leaders, academics and students, and representatives from think tanks and globally-focused organizations.

This years theme  New Leaders, Pressing Challenges  calls attention to the future of the U.S.-UN relationship following recent leadership changes in the United States and at the United Nations.

With a new U.S. President, new Congress, and new UN Secretary General in office this year, the time is now for Americans to make their voices heard on the issues that matter most, said UNA-USA National Council Chair Teta Banks. The United Nations tackles the worlds most challenging problems, and U.S. engagement is key for success. UNA members are joining together at UN Headquarters to demonstrate Americans support for continued leadership at the global body.

Research shows that American voters registered in both major parties agree that sustained U.S. leadership at the UN is vital. A nationwide poll released last month by the Better World Campaign found that a vast majority of Americans88 percentbelieve it is important for the U.S. to maintain an active role at the UN. Additionally, more than 8 in 10 Americans agree that the U.S. is better positioned to achieve its foreign policy goals when it works with major allies to solve global challenges rather than acting alone.

Throughout the day, event attendees will contact U.S. leaders, including their Members of Congress and U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, in support of refugees, full funding for the United Nations, and strong U.S.-UN relations.

Speakers at the event include: Ambassador Jeffrey D. Feltman, Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs; Kamal Amakrane, Director, Office of the President of the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly; Ihab Moustafa Awad Moustafa, Minister Plenipotentiary, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the UN; Ambassador Sebastiono Cardi, Permanent Representative of Italy to the UN; and Kathy Calvin, President and CEO, United Nations Foundation.

The complete agenda with a list of all speakers and their biographies can be found online at: unausa.org/membersday.

###

About UNA-USA

The United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) is a 50-state grassroots organization dedicated to inform, inspire, and mobilize the American people to support the ideals and vital work of the United Nations. For 70 years UNA-USA has worked to accomplish its mission through its national network of Chapters, youth engagement, advocacy efforts, education programs, and public events. UNA-USA is a program of the United Nations Foundation.

About the United Nations Foundation

The United Nations Foundation builds public-private partnerships to address the worlds most pressing problems, and broadens support for the United Nations through advocacy and public outreach. Through innovative campaigns and initiatives, the Foundation connects people, ideas, and resources to help the UN solve global problems. The Foundation was created in 1998 as a U.S. public charity by entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner and now is supported by philanthropic, corporate, government, and individual donors. Learn more at: http://www.unfoundation.org
The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBC), representing over 500,000 members, announced their support of President Donald J. Trumps nomination of Alexander Acosta for Secretary of Labor. A former Justice Department official and current dean of Florida International University College of Law, Acostas nomination was announced by Trump on February 16th, 2017.

Acosta is an experienced former government employee. He has served in three presidentially-appointed, Senate-confirmed positions: member of the National Labor Relations Board, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the United States Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney for Southern District of Florida.

Mr. Acosta is an advocate for the middle class. His experience will serve the members of the UBC well, said Douglas J. McCarron, General President of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. We look forward to working with him as Secretary of Labor to continue to build the skilled American workforce.

Acosta is an American success story who has demonstrated his commitment to public service. Additionally, he has demonstrated his commitment to issues important to the UBC such as fighting payroll fraud.

For more information on the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, please visit: http://www.carpenters.org
Complete Discovery Source (CDS), a leading eDiscovery company, announced that it will be partnering with In the House, an exclusive community for in-house legal professionals, to present a webinar on the Importance of Cybersecurity for M&A Data on Wednesday February 22, 2017 at 1pm ET. The 90-minute program, designed for law professionals whose practice areas include the handling of electronically stored data, is free to attend. Participants can register using the following link:

http://www2.cdslegal.com/ithcybersecurity

Matthew F. Knouff, eDiscovery Counsel at CDS, will be moderating a discussion between panelists Jaime Skinner, Senior Corporate Counsel at Caterpillar, LLC; Jay Kramer, Supervisor Special Agent and Attorney at the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Rani A. Habash, Antitrust Associate at Dechert LLP; and Brad Janssen, Director of Advisory Services at CDS. This webinar will address many of the hot topics around data security in M&A, including:



The impact of cybersecurity on business objectives, regulatory profile, and valuation model

Dealing with privacy policies and notices on both sides of the deal

Evaluating security controls of an acquisition target

Conducting cybersecurity due diligence

Post-closing and integration cybersecurity concerns

About Complete Discovery Source

Complete Discovery Source (CDS) is a leading eDiscovery company, providing litigation technology and hosting, advisory services, and managed services to support complex discovery matters. CDS is the first choice of the Am Law 100 and Fortune 500 and is recognized as Best in End-to-End eDiscovery by the National Law Journal and New York Law Journal. With a team of seasoned legal experts and technicians, CDS uses advanced, tested, and defensible services and software to support all stages and types of eDiscovery. CDS is an Orange-Level Best-in-Service Relativity Provider and provides one of the largest and highest volume footprints delivering that platform. CDS is headquartered in New York with regional offices in Chicago and Washington DC. The company maintains highly secure ISO 27001 certified hosting and Type 2 SOC 2 audited data centers in the US and Europe. Complete Discovery Sources web site is http://www.cdslegal.com.

About In The House

Founded in 2011, In The House is an exclusive community for in-house legal professionals. With more than 26,000 individual members reaching over 90% of Fortune 500 legal departments, In The House is the fastest growing private network for in-house counsel. Today, In The House provides its members with networking opportunities, career development tools, law department best practices and the opportunity to develop strategic relationships with other in-house counsel. For more information please go to http://www.InTheHouse.org .

Media Contact:

Kate Hutchinson

khutchinson(at)cdslegal(dot)com

(212) 813-7012
Butler Mobility Products is now an Exclusive Dealer for Stannah Stairlifts in the South Central Pennsylvania Area

Butler Mobility invited Ken Matthews to visit its manufacturing facility and showroom to learn more about the Stannah Stairlift and other Butler products. Ken was impressed with the safety and reliability of the Stannah Stairlift as well as with the Butler team, and agreed to endorse the product on his show. This endorsement by Ken Matthews can be heard on News Radio WHP 580 weekdays from 3:00 to 6:00 PM.

For more than 30 years Ken Matthews has shared his passions on the radio. His show airs weekdays from 3p-6p and covers the Central Pennsylvania region including parts of Centre, Columbia, Lehigh, Fulton and Franklin counties and also a part of Northern Maryland. Kens radio segment each day includes an endorsement about Butler Mobility Products and information about the Stannah Stairlift.

In keeping with the quality and customer friendly pricing, the Stannah Stairlifts are thoughtfully designed to be safe, reliable, attractive and easy to use. A practical, easy and inexpensive solution for total access of the home. The Stannah Stairlift allows many people to enjoy the home they love as they age. This is the reasoning behind the addition of this outstanding product line to Butler Mobility Products.

Butler Mobility lifts are known in the industry as The Lifts that Last. Butlers Inclined Platform Wheelchair Lifts and Dumbwaiters are proudly made in the USA. Call Butler Mobility, toll free, at 888-847-0804 and let their experienced team help with any home accessibility needs, or visit the companys new website. http://www.butlermobility.com
Today, the creators of XBAR Fitness, a revolutionary full-body workout system, announces its social media contest campaign in support of its latest Kickstarter endeavor, XBAR|FLYT. Fans of the fitness brand will have the opportunity to win one of ten XBAR prizes, designed by snowboard legend, Damian Sanders, by signing up via XBAR Fitness official page.

Through the Kickstarter campaign, XBAR Fitness seeks to raise funds to begin production for a late 2017 market launch. Early supporters of XBAR|FLYT are promised product by Christmas, and XBAR|FLYTs Kickstarter campaign will launch on Mar. 21, 2017.

We want our fans to know how much we appreciate their support, said Sanders. Were offering ten lucky people the opportunity to win their very own XBAR to thank all our followers for continuing to be our motivation.

Fans of XBAR Fitness can enter to win through XBARs Facebook by filling in their name and e-mail address on the page now through Feb. 24, 2017. Winners will be contacted via e-mail on Feb. 27, 2017. For official rules and regulations, to support XBAR Fitness and receive updates regarding XBAR|FLYTs Kickstarter campaign, visit https://www.xbarflyt.com/.

About XBAR Fitness

XBAR Fitness is the brainchild of snowboard icon, Damian Sanders. Developed from the need to incorporate fitness into his busy lifestyle, Sanders and his team have worked from the ground up to make XBAR an iconic fitness brand. The portable fitness system combines a curl bar, a push-up bar, an ab-slider and doorjamb resistance band system into one incredibly versatile fitness product, eliminating the need for additional equipment. Surpassing its initial Kickstarter funding goal in 2014 by 330%, XBAR is recognized as one of the top ten percent of Kickstarter campaigns that delivered rewards to its backers on time. For more information, please visit http://www.xbar.com.

###
Personal injury attorney Charles S. Roseman, founder of the Law Offices of Charles S. Roseman & Associates, recently filed a lawsuit (Alameda County Superior Court, Case No. HG 16800283) on behalf of a deaf client who is also considered disabled that alleges disability discrimination, unfair business practices, negligence, negligence per se, negligent infliction of emotional distress and loss of consortium. The case stems from Rosemans client (plaintiff) having to go to the Kaiser Emergency Room and not being able to effectively communicate with its staff because they were not provided with an American Sign Language interpreter when requested.

Court documents state that the plaintiff was hospitalized for three days allegedly without being able to effectively communicate with her doctors because, although requested by she and her husband (plaintiff), who is also deaf, and their family, they were deprived of effective communication through an American Sign Language interpreter as required by California law and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Court documents further allege that Kaiser did not have policies or procedures for providing a sign-language interpreter or alternative/auxiliary aids and services, and that Kaisers conduct manifested a deliberate indifference rising to the level of an allegedly intentional act to discriminate against the plaintiff and persons similarly situated.

The plaintiffs, according to court documents, claim that the failure to timely provide interpreter services resulted in unnecessarily prolonging her hospitalization, compelling her to incur unnecessary medical expenses and for both of them to suffer physical and emotional injuries causing them each to suffer humiliation, fear, fright, anger, disappointment, embarrassment and overall emotional distress. The plaintiffs are seeking declaratory relief and an injunction to correct the violations, special, general and statutory damages, punitive damages, attorneys fees, costs and interest.

About Charles S. Roseman, Law Offices of Charles S. Roseman & Associates

Charles S. Roseman and his associate, Richard D. Prager, are personal injury lawyers who focus on general civil litigation, wrongful death, catastrophic injuries, product liability injuries, professional malpractice, civil rights, wrongful termination, sexual harassment, discrimination, elder abuse, Americans with Disabilities Act, disability discrimination and more. Roseman is a member of the San Diego County Bar Association, the Federal and American Bar Associations and the State Bar of California. For more information or a free consultation, please call (619) 544-1500, or visit http://www.rosemanlaw.com. The law office is located at 1761 Hotel Circle South, Suite 250, San Diego, CA 92108.

About the NALA

The NALA offers small and medium-sized businesses effective ways to reach customers through new media. As a single-agency source, the NALA helps businesses flourish in their local community. The NALAs mission is to promote a business relevant and newsworthy events and achievements, both online and through traditional media. For media inquiries, please call 805.650.6121, ext. 361
Furlocity Think of our app as an Airbnb-like search platform, but for pet parents. We wanted to provide a simple and easy online search and booking process to the pet community

Furlocity Inc. has just released a beta version of its first mobile app that provides pet parents with easy access to pet services and travel providers. The company has developed an interactive mobile platform where parents can create a pet profile and search six types of service providers, health providers, events, pet places and source pet friendly hotels in the US and Europe.

Furlocity Chairman Ralph Amato partnered with Suman Akula, CEO of [s]Cube Inc., a tenant residing in the same building as Furlocity, the New York BizLab business accelerator in downtown Schenectady, New York. Furlocity envisions [s]Cube expanding the new mobile app and providing future software development for Furlocity.

The move to create the mobile app is a game-changer for the company, Amato said. The idea was to create a one-stop search platform for the pet parent community.

The pet services industry does not provide an automated platform where pet parents can book a service appointment for their pets via an online booking, Amato added. Pet parents, especially first time pet owners, do not have an easy way to discover, access or book the pet services that are available to them based on their location. Think of our app as an Airbnb-like search platform, but for pet parents. We wanted to provide a simple and easy online search and booking process to the pet community.

The Furlocity project presented a unique opportunity for [s]Cube to help fellow BizLab tenant Furlocity solve a critical problem for pet owners.

We really think Furlocity is addressing a large gap within the pet services marketplace with their new mobile app, Akula said. Using our global resources, we are excited to help them bring this solution to market.

Furlocitys mobile app will be available in the first quarter of 2017 in the Capital District, Chicago and San Francisco markets, with plans to expand into over 35 cities in the United States by the end of 2017, and to more than 100 cities in 2018.

New York BizLab Managing Director Rick DErrico said the Furlocity-[s]Cube partnership is an indication the BizLab model is working.

Our desire when we pick companies to move here is that they become part of the ecosystem and possibly work with one another. None of the companies located in the BizLab are competing with each other, DErrico said. In fact, we expect to see more partnerships like this as many of the companies here are working in complementary technologies.

About Furlocity

Furlocity (http://www.furlocity.com) was founded on the vision of making pet parents lives easier by utilizing 21st century technology to access the services they need for family members. Today, Furlocity.com provides a digital marketplace for pet owners to search, identify and book trusted pet boarding stays and pet-friendly hotels; simplifying the booking process. The new mobile app, available in Q1 2017, will extend our vision; creating localized Pet Parent Communities and forums along with giving them access to all pet friendly services and providers based on your location.

About [s]Cube

[s]Cube Inc. (http://www.scubeenterprise.com) is a technology services company that specializes in web and mobile application development, cloud migration and Internet of Things deployment. Our seasoned team  composed of project managers, business architects, agile developers and cloud specialists  helps businesses cross the digital divide by providing cost-effective, scalable solutions that are tailored to fit the unique needs of any organization.

About New York BizLab

The New York BizLab (http://www.nybizlab.net) is a business accelerator located in Schenectady, New York. It is focused on helping tech companies grow smart and grow fast. The BizLab has state-of-the-art space, 1Gig Internet access courtesy of Magnum5 and more than 30 CEOs and entrepreneurs in its stable of advisers. The BizLab, which is a Start-Up NY-approved site, was founded by Antonio Civitella, the president and CEO of Transfinder, a logistics software company that has been featured on Inc. magazines fastest-growing companies list for the past 10 years.
International Travel Security Corporate executives are increasingly skittish about stability and predictability.

IMG GlobalSecur, a leading international security consulting firm at http://www.theimg.com/, is proud to announce that Chris Hagon has been quoted in an important, recent, AP article, entitled "Trump Properties Face Global Terror Risk with Presidency." It should be noted that many high profile VIPs and corporate executives are likely to stay in Trump hotels overseas, and that Hagon is a recognized expert on international executive travel security.

"With the advent of the Trump presidency, corporate executives are increasingly skittish about stability and predictability. Among the concerns is a possible rise in terrorism against US interests abroad up to, and including, Trump-branded properties." explained Chris Hagon, CEO of IMG GlobalSecur. "One perspective is how to increase security at Trump-branded properties, but another - important one - is how all companies should work on their corporate security for international travel. Executives, VIPs, and even mid-level employees call face a new, heightened international security environment."

To read the article, visit http://apne.ws/2lmXGWJ. Interested parties can also learn more about Chris Hagon and the IMG's international travel security consulting services at http://www.theimg.com/security-services/international-security-consulting.php. Those interested in employee security more generally can visit http://www.globalsecur.com/employee-travel-security.php for a wealth of tips, insights, and information including travel briefings by email.

Likely and Unlikely Targets Overseas: USA-branded Institutions and Executives

It is an unfortunate reality that USA-branded institutions and executives are targets for terrorism overseas. For whatever reasons, 'made in USA' isn't always perceived in a positive light by all groups. Terrorist groups, in particular, may focus on USA assets for their attacks. The rise of the Trump Presidency and controversy surrounding the Trump brand have only heightened an awareness of terrorism targets and vulnerabilities. In the mentioned article, Chris Hagon is cited as a recognized expert on international travel security. Hagon points out that it will be difficult to secure all Trump-branded properties abroad. More importantly for the average corporate traveler is that any USA-branded asset is a potential target. This includes the very travelers themselves, as Senior Executives of US corporations make attractive targets for terrorism. By working with international travel security experts such as Chris Hagon, Harley Stock, Tim Bradley and the staff of the IMG, companies can pre-conduct security vulnerability audits and do their utmost to foresee and prevent international security problems.

About the Incident Management Group (IMG)

Incident Management Group is a leading international security consulting firm. Corporate or business organizations concerned about their need for robust travel security solutions can reach out to the IMG Group for assistance. The companys experts provide services such as executive, employee, VIP, and expatriate travel security, workplace safety, duty of care management, risk and threat assessments, workplace violence prevention, crisis management planning, and more.

Web. http://www.theimg.com

Tel. (877) 887-9914
Like most hospitals across the nation, Onslow Memorial Hospital is looking for more effective ways to reduce readmissions. Driven in large part by the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP), the return of a patient to the hospital within 30 days of discharge has been a key focus area for hospitals across the nation. While many providers are struggling to leverage limited resources and technology, Onslow Memorial Hospital has saved close to $1M in less than a year by incorporating advanced cognitive capabilities delivered by cognitive clinical leader Jvion.

The project, which has been championed by Onslow Memorial Hospital CEO Penney Burlingame Deal, DHA, is part of an overarching move to strengthen the hospital operationally, clinically, and financially. We wanted to incorporate the best technology that would help our patients stay healthy once discharged from the hospital, said Deal. Jvions Cognitive Clinical Success Machine is a key part of our solution. It delivers the most effective risk and intervention insights that help our caregivers identify at-risk individuals as early as possible and take the best action that will stop someone from returning to the hospital.

Jvions Cogntive Clinical Success Machine is integrated with Onslow Memorial Hospitals MEDITECH Electronic Health Record (EHR) solution. Patient predisposition, risk, and recommended intervention information is delivered to clinicians directly through the organic workflow. The result is a seamless experience that makes the best use of advanced cognitive power and hospital resources.

The underlying technology that drives Jvions Cognitive Clinical Success Machine is able to account for the external, socioeconomic factors that influence a patients risk and it does this using the data that we already have on hand without the requirement for a data lake or warehouse, explained Deal. By marrying the latest and best in cognitive science with the talented resources at Onslow Memorial Hospital, we are driving beyond our readmission goals to improve quality and thrive under at-risk models of care.

About Jvion

Jvion delivers a Cognitive Clinical Success Machine that serves as a high-performance appliance for providers and the healthcare community. It activates recommendations that help healthcare providers who need ultra-definition patient-level predictions, prioritizations, interventions, and suggestions produced with unmatched speed, clinical applicability, and verity. The machine delivers the action-level recommendations that will best reduce the likelihood of an adverse event. This capability is enabled by a cognitive engine driven by horsepower that is based on more than a quadrillion clinical and non-clinical considerations and thousands of data elements. The machines thousands of self-learning Eigen spheres are applied to this data for each patient in real time to help hundreds of hospitals across the nation reduce target illnesses and diseases. Jvions Cognitive Clinical Success Machine includes broad clinical application vectors that, when applied to specific patients, deliver individualized prioritizations, interventions, and suggestions within two weeks.

One of the reasons Jvions solution is independently ranked number one in clinical predictive science is because the machine is more than accurate, it is effective. Our approach mitigates the accuracy fallacy perpetuated within the industry by delivering a true picture of individual patient risk along with the actions that will lead to better health outcomes. Because Jvions machine works as a cognitive appliance, it plugs in directly to the existing Electronic Medical Record/clinical systems to deliver recommendations seamlessly into the organic workflow. Clinician and caregiver adoption of Jvions recommendations is accelerated because of the on-demand nature of the information. The machine outperforms and outsmarts even the highest performing predictive solutions/approaches available. And this performance hasnt gone unnoticed; Jvions solution has won numerous external awards including designation as the #1 Predictive Provider in Healthcare by Black Book Market Research. http://www.jvion.com

###
The National Dairy FARM Program is a voluntary program that promotes transparency in the food supply. It began in 2009 and has gained support from producers, milk cooperatives, and food companies. Forty-nine states and more than 98 percent of the U.S. milk supply is covered by the FARM Program.

Three team members from the National Milk Producers Federation presented the February webinar. Emily Yeiser Stepp, Jamie Jonker, and Ryan Bennett discussed the three silos to the FARM Program. They include animal care, antibiotic stewardship, and environmental stewardship.

While producers can talk about their good management practices, consumers and companies that sell to them want proof points to back up the claims that production agriculture makes.

A valid Veterinary Client Patient Relationship (VCPR) is a key feature. This is an important component and a very basic one. Your veterinarian needs to have an understanding of your operation and be in communication with you when issues arise. While most farms have a sound relationship with a veterinarian, putting it in writing is important in verifying the connection.

Quality of animal care is enhanced when there are standard operating procedures and employees understand the recommended procedures. These areas include caring for calves, pain management, non-ambulatory handling, and euthanasia.

The FARM Program includes a ban on tail docking that went into effect on January 1, 2017. Research does not support a benefit to tail docking. There was no improvement in milk quality, cow cleanliness, or worker safety.

The FARM representatives who conduct the on-farm evaluations look at incidence of lameness, body condition, and cow cleanliness. They discuss their finding with the producer.

When the industry comes together to support a program like FARM, it gives food marketers confidence, as well. This includes McDonalds, Walmart, Costco, and Taco Bell to name a few. Rather than each company trying to set up its own guidelines, they have chosen to accept FARM as an endorsement of proper animal care practices. This helps producers by enabling them to meet one widely accepted set of standards.

The FARM Program staff is currently working on developing a residue manual, an antibiotic pocket guide, and a mobile app.

FARM also promotes environmental stewardship. The carbon footprint that the dairy industry contributes has steadily declined, dropping 63 percent since 1944.

The environmental stewardship assessments are very comprehensive and take into consideration cow numbers, milk production and components, heifer and calf inventories, energy costs, and fuel bills. The end result is a number that represents the carbon footprint per pound of fat- and protein-corrected milk produced.

The three phases help producers be aware of their role in food production through animal care, judicious drug use, and stewardship. This, in turn, gives food buyers the confidence that producers are doing an excellent job of producing a product that has been held to the highest animal care and environmental standards.

To learn more about the FARM Program, visit www.nationaldairyfarm.com.

The webinar archive is found by clicking the link.

Patti Hurtgen

The author is the online media manager and is responsible for the website, webinars, and social media. A graduate of Modesto Junior College and Fresno State, she was raised on a California dairy and frequently blogs on youth programs and consumer issues.
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Two childrens book editors and a librarian gathered for a panel discussion on books in the school and library markets. The panel, part of a discussion series held by the American Book Producers Association, took place at Jefferson Market Library in Greenwich Village on February 14. The speakers were Rebecca Schosha, childrens librarian, Jefferson Market Library; Grace Maccarone, executive editor, Holiday House; and Joana Costa Knufinke, group editor, Scholastic Library Publishing. The panel was moderated by Stephanie Fitzgerald, founder of the packaging firm Spooky Cheetah and member of the ABPA board of directors.

Topics of discussion included the panelists own professional roles, the current state of the school and library markets, creating and marketing educational content, and the kinds of books that kids are most excited to be reading today.

Maccarone spoke first about the changing face of Holiday House. While the long-time publisher has been creating books for the school, library, and trade markets for 80 years, former Holiday House president John Briggs retired this summer and sold the company. Under the new ownership, Maccarone explained, the publisher is planning to expand its catalogue and to publish more books, authors, and illustrators. Going forward with new ideas and projects may include working more with book packagers, which the publisher has rarely done in the past. The publisher will also continue to focus on its tried-and-true series with strong institutional appeal. One example is the I Like to Read series of leveled readers. These books, Maccarone said, are geared toward new readers who might not be ready for a more complex series like Frog and Toad. With titles like Big Cat by Ethan Long, Maccarone believes that the books fill a niche role in the library and school markets. The books feature very simple language and an 8x10 trim size that is larger than early readers for older children. But, despite being geared toward very young readers, they feature quality stories written by beloved authors, she said.

Knufinke shared her observations from the frontlines of publishing books with educational content. As an editor at Scholastic Library Publishing, she has observed that some topics are perennial: books about animals are almost always in demand, as are titles that integrate Spanish content. Currently of strong interest are nonfiction books with a voice, and educational books that push the margins between the trade and education markets. For example, she shared the publishers Rookie PoetryAnimal Homes series, which blends nonfiction material about animals with poetry written by J. Patrick Lewis. Scholastic Library also publishes the character-driven series If You Were a Kid, which is set at different pivotal moments throughout American history.

Increasingly, many of Scholastic Library Publishings books feature back-matter that Knufinke believes can give a book a second life, urging readers to look again and delve more deeply into a books content. Its also a way to give a book increased appeal for schools. For many of the publishers titles, readers are meant to finish the book with an understanding of key concepts that often align with the type of overarching curriculum content that readers would be seeing in their schools.

Touching on the topic of book packaging, Knufinke noted that Scholastic Library Publishing actually has a very beneficial relationship with Fitzgerald and her book packaging company Spooky Cheetah. Theres a learning curve that needs to happen in order for a book packager and publisher to work effectively together, she said. But after that relationship is formed, a packager can do a lot of things for a publishing house, from writing text to creating teachers guides to go along with books.

Flying Off the Shelves: Nonfiction and Niche Titles

Schosha shared her firsthand knowledge of the kinds of books readers most often gravitate toward, first explaining how those books get to the library to begin with. She credits Christopher Lassen, youth material selector for the New York Public Library and Brooklyn Public Library, with singlehandedly managing to keep all of the branches stocked with books and doing so very effectively. Beyond the bulk of titles that are ordered centrally, Schosha can and will order specific titles to be purchased for the library. However, recent budget cuts and procedural changes impacting librarians abilities to order books through distributors Baker & Taylor have made the whole process of hand-selecting more arduous, she said.

Among the types of books that Schosha observes readers clamoring for are nonfiction titles focused on American history; this is a trend that she sees resulting from the election and the success of the musical Hamilton. American history-focused books that are flying off the shelves include the Who Was series from Grosset & Dunlap, which focuses on individuals of historical, cultural, and social importance. Comparing their popularity among kids to the Magic Tree House series, Schosha commented that the series is written really well, with an overall design and presentation that is very appealing to kids. Readers arent just seeking out stories about well-known individuals, but rather appear to be especially intrigued by biographies of obscure figures, she added. In other cases, the interests of young library patrons have stayed steady. Readers continue to gravitate toward books about animals and trucks, though interests can often be very, very specific. For example, she sees a lot of kids who love to learn about sanitation vehicles, like street sweepers. Overall, she commented that kids love information, and sometimes the subject matters of interest can be surprising.

Schosha continues to see interests divided along gender lines, with many girls having an undeniable attraction to pink books and boys being more drawn toward truck books. Yet she also sees girls loving astronomy and dinosaurs. From her perspective, parents and librarians need not deny readers certain books they feel drawn to, but said they are also responsible for exposing kids to other types of books that might broaden their interests.

Just as it can be a challenge for librarians to acquire specific titles in a timely fashion, publishers can struggle with getting their books on the radar screens of librarians. Getting starred reviews is really important, Maccarone said, noting how books that dont get starred reviews can be skipped over by librarians and material selectors, even if they are great books with positive reviews. Throughout her career, Maccarone has learned that, regardless of the critical reception a book may or may not get, every title being published is challenging and expensive. Every book is reinventing the wheel. Yet it can seem to publishers that sometimes the whole world is buying I Want My Hat Back and not anything else, she said.

When it comes to selecting projects to publish, though, Maccarones criteria might be similar to any parent entering a library: I look for something Id like to take home to read to my daughter, she said, admitting that her daughter is fully grown now. She added that in her professional role, I have to justify that choice to others. For Knufinke, deciding on new material to publish works at the gut level, too: regardless of how educational content is presented, she looks to find the next beautiful thing.

The panelists elaborated on the topic of aligning book content with school curriculum. Maccarone shared that Holiday House has been cautious when it comes to associating books directly with the controversial Common Core. Though the publisher does not acquire titles specifically because they would meet the standards of the Common Core, they will sometimes market titles in such a way. Regardless of the content of the Common Core and how it is being administered, how children learn and when they learn it probably hasnt changed much since I was in school, said Maccarone, adding that informational content has always been there. Schosha believes that one positive aspect of Common Core is that it has encouraged the mindset of bundling books on custom topics and has resulted in some very eclectic book lists. I dont think Common Core has killed reading, she added.

On a final note, the panelists addressed the topic of digital vs. print, overwhelmingly agreeing that print is here to stay and that kids strongly prefer reading physical books over reading on devices. Schoscha shared how it is still a common sight at the library to see kids with towering stacks of books ready for check-out. In fact, just the other day at the library, she spoke to a father who was surprised to see how many physical books his daughter was pulling off the shelves to take home. I just got her a Kindle! he told Schoscha.
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However one may feel about his policies, Donald Trump without question has delivered a shock to the American political system. And in the early days of his administration, Trump has also sent a jolt through the American Library Association.

After the November election, ALA faced a revolt from many of its members, following the release of a statement (later rescinded and referred to as a draft) in which ALA leaders offered to work with the Trump administration on issues of common interest. Librarians penned angry letters, blog posts, and editorials accusing ALA leaders of being collaborators. They took to social media. Some threatened to quit the organization entirely. And a hashtag was born: #NotMyALA.

For example, a few weeks into Trumps transition, ALA Washington Office Executive Director Emily Sheketoff sent an email to ALA councilors, explaining how the organization was planning to approach the new administration. It was the kind of postelection update shes surely sent many times before in her 17 years at ALA, probably without much feedback. This time, however, was different.

In a blistering post on her blog (bluntly titled: F@uck You, ALA), NYU librarian April Hathcock called Sheketoffs email a slap in the face to ALA members. My ALA does not collude with fascists. My ALA does not normalize hate. My ALA does not sell me and mine on the auction block to the highest bidder for a few bucks to fund a library, Hathcock wrote. This is not my ALA.

Full disclosureI am not a member of ALA. But as a reporter who has covered the organization for almost two decades, I found the backlash to be, well, refreshing. Inspiring, in fact. Because, in all my years covering the organization, never have I seen such engagement by rank-and-file members. For many librarians, ALA exists largely in the background of their professional lives. I mean, ALA is an organization of some 57,000 librarians, yet it only takes about 5,000 votes to win the ALA presidency (even though you can vote online over a period of weeks)hardly robust engagement, right? But in the first days of the Trump administration there was ALA, front and center.

OK, I wouldnt necessarily call all the criticism leveled at ALA constructive, and yes, the rhetoric got a little heated. But the message to ALA leadership was clear: were paying attention. And while anodyne statements and strategies may be normal for ALA following an election, the Trump administration, librarians stressed, is not normal.

Scenes From a Town Hall

Still, the question remains: How exactly should ALAa professional membership organization representing librarians from around the country, blue states and redapproach the Trump administration? Acknowledging the strong feelings of its members, ALA leaders decided to put that question directly to members.

At the 2017 ALA Midwinter Meeting, hundreds attended a town hall meeting, at which more than 30 librarians shared their views with ALA leaders. (A video replay is available on the American Libraries Facebook page, and a transcript is available on the ALA website).

Among the first to speak was John Sandstrom, a past ALA councilor, who acknowledged the tricky position ALA leaders now find themselves in. We have spent many years working to be part of the conversation, working and fighting to have a place at the table in policy making, Sandstrom said. If we walk away from the table because we dont like who is sitting at the head of it, we will hurt ourselves.

 We need to stand strong together for our core values, and for our communities, during these challenging times. 

Another librarian, Andromeda Yelton, questioned whether ALAs focus on funding issues might somehow be used to buy librarians silence on key issues such as free speech, Internet policy, or gay rights. Funding is important, but so is our soul, Yelton said, in an impassioned statement. And when I look at [ALA] messaging, I wonder, do we have a soul? Can it be bought? Or, are there lines we do not cross?

Sarah Houghton, director of the San Rafael (CA) public libraryand a strong critic of the ALAs postelection statements on her blog, Librarian in Blacksaid she did not want ALA to beg for scraps at the federal table, and cautioned ALA leaders not to dismiss the views of younger, millennial ALA members as inexperienced.

I do not want a future where our organization ignores the opinions of any of our members, Houghton said. We need to stand strong together for our core values, and for our communities, during these challenging times.

Hathcock was also on hand. We are not saying we dont want you to sit down with the Trump administration, she told ALA leaders. We are saying that we want you to understand where we are coming from. When you send us statements, when you send us emails about the work that you are doing, dont treat it like its business as usual, but acknowledge the fact that we have these concerns, acknowledge the fact that there are issues here, acknowledge the fact that some of us feel we are in danger as you are fighting for funding.

Sara Slymon, a public library director from Massachusetts, suggested that maybe ALA didnt need be so focused on how to work with the new administration. Instead, maybe librarians should focus on reaching out directly to the public.

Maya Angelou said when someone tells you who they are, believe them the first time. This administration has told us who they are, Slymon said. Its clear that the route to success for libraries will come not by appealing to the government, but by concentrating on activating the American people, our patrons, and our staffs. We need a loud and proud appeal directly to the public. By demonstrating our value to the people, they will mobilize to demand our preservation.

Extraordinary Times

If the library communitys strong political engagement strikes you as unusual, it isnt. In fact, librarians have a rich history of political engagement, as pointed out in an excellent and comprehensive article published last week on the PBS NewsHour website by arts reporter Elizabeth Flock.

In the article, Flock notes that, for example, in the 1950s librarians stood up to the Red Scare. In the 1960s, it was the battle for civil rights. Indeed every decade has had its political challenges: in the 1970s, the Vietnam War and Watergate tore at America. More recently, librarians fought back forcefully against the Patriot Act and the rise of government surveillance following the 9/11 attacks.

To be clear, librarians dont need the ALA to activate them politically. In her piece, Flock reported on a number of examples of local librarians standing up for their core values in the face of Trumps recent executive actions, unabashedly taking politically active stances.

Citing the ALAs Library Bill of Rights, the Cambridge, (Mass.) Public Library announced in January that it would continue to be a sanctuary space, Flock noted. The Hennepin County (Minn.) Public Library in Minnesota (which serves a large Somali population), launched a campaign called All Are Welcome Here.

And after Trumps travel ban was announced, Rebecca McCorkindale, assistant library director and creative director at the Gretna, Nebr., public library created and displayed a series of images in different languages proclaiming that Libraries are for Everyone. The images went viral and are now displayed in a number of libraries around the country, in many different languages.

Libraries are the heart of a community, for anyone and everyone that lives there, regardless of their background, McCorkindale told Flock. And so we strongly believe that libraries are not neutral. We stand up for human rights.

Message Received

To be fair, ALA does good work. And the Obama years were decent ones for ALA,with a number of legislative victories. In fact, for two years running, The Hill has named ALA in its roundup of top lobbying victories.

And it isnt as if ALA has not been socially and politically engagedjust look back at the strong slate of speakers for ALAs various conferences (most recently W. Kamau Bell; in 2015, Roberta Kaplan; Bryan Stevenson) or the outstanding work librarians did in Orlando following the mass-shooting there in 2016.

With the election of Trump, however, the political landscape has changed dramatically. For many librarians, Trumps rhetoric and policies are an attack on the libraries most fundamental values, and in conflict with the ALAs Code of Ethics. And for many librarians, its time for ALA to draw a line in the sand.

For their part, ALA leaders appear to have gotten the message. Following Trumps controversial executive orders, including a measure that would strip federal funds from so-called sanctuary cities and an order to drastically restrict entry into the U.S. by people from seven predominantly Muslim nations, ALA issued a blistering response.

ALA believes that the struggle against racism, prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination is central to our mission, read a January 30 statement from ALA president Julie Todaro. But its the final line of the statement that laid down a marker for ALAs future direction: ALA is committed to using its national platform for speaking up and speaking out for its members and constituents in these chaotic, unprecedented and challenging times.

A week later, ALA officials criticized Trumps new head of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai, for an order retracting multiple reportsa disturbing and increasingly common occurrence at various federal agencies these days. While new FCC leadership may have new policy directions, the public record should not be permanently altered, the ALA statement read, adding that ALA was dismayed by the FCCs attempt to revise the public record.

Staying Woke

If ALA leaders seemed to be sleepwalking through the first few weeks following the election, the angry voices of their members has awakened them.

In his January PW column, White Plains (N.Y.) Public Library Director Brian Kenney wrote about the ALAs initial communication missteps following Trumps election. Perhaps, as with so many things we fear today, some good will come from this episode, he concluded. Maybe it will help to mobilize a new generation of librarians who will lead ALA forward. Theres certainly a whole lot worth fighting for.

Indeed, in the month since Kenney wrote that column, the engagement of members has already appeared to have an effect on ALAs actions. Going forward, ALA members must remain engaged. Strong libraries will be vital in the coming months and years. And as much as any time in history, librarians need a strong ALA standing behind them.
In her new memoir, Olive Witch, Abeer Y. Hoque delves into her childhood as a Bangladeshi girl growing up in small-town Nigeria, and then into her move to Pittsburgh at 13. She describes her feeling of being an outsider, and her eventual move back to Bangladesh on her own. Hoque selects 10 titles that brilliantly depict the immigrant experience.

No list of books about the immigrant experience could possibly be comprehensive or essential. I live in Queens, touted as the most diverse place on earth with at least 138 different languages spoken within the borough. It would be a challenge to list ten books that would be remotely representative of even just my hood. Im going to leave out the heavy hitters  Diaz, Lahiri, Adichie  and pick some of my favourite new authors who have written about the immigrant experience in America and have done so in different genres: nonfiction, fiction, poetry, YA, and graphic narrative.

1. Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong I read Vietnamese American author Ocean Vuongs debut poetry collection Night Sky with Exit Wounds in one go as soon as I got it, and then immediately started it over again. His poems are gutting, mythic, wanton, vulnerable, sharp, fine, and full of beauty. The point of view could be anyone, from Vuong himself, to his mother or father, to a gun, to a ghost. At the end of it, you have a stunning sensate jigsaw puzzle of what it might mean to stand on the edges of country, family, lover, self. Despite the winding thread of despair, Vuongs work is in the ecstatic tradition of 13th century Persian Sufi poet, Rumi, and takes on the big questions: war, displacement, sexuality, identity. Dear god, if you are a season, let it be the one I passed through to get here. If thats not an ode to survival in the new world, I dont know what is.

2. Lena Finkle's Magic Barrel by Anya Ulinich Lena Finkles Magic Barrel is Russian American author and illustrator Anya Ulinichs second book, a graphic novel about love and immigration and relationships. Almost every aspect of the protagonists life rang like a bell in my head, from the awkward growing up, to being new in America, to the foibles of writing and online dating. Ulinich is hilarious and sharp and her illustrations are bold and sweetly drawn. Her book presents the immigrant experience as well as that of returning home, as impossible as that is, in pitch perfect funny prose and evocative, warm art. Now you know that no one ever truly arrives.

3. That Thing We Call a Heart by Sheba Karim That Thing We Call a Heart is Pakistani American author Sheba Karims second novel, and challenges the usual YA tropes with a spunky and sweet Muslim American teenage girl protagonist. First love, best friends and frenemies, the bloody history of Partition, sexual dalliances, drug use, pies, hijabs, and Radiohead  its all there, and vividly set in a tony private high school in Jersey. The cherry on top is Karims writing: witty and winning and oh so easy to read. I tossed my phone into the Louis Vuitton abyss, hoping the outcome would be yes, in fact the best night of your life rather than abject humiliation in front of the entire senior class.

4. Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi Ghana Must Go is Taiye Selasis first novel about a Nigerian-Ghanaian family falling apart between Ghana and the U.S. (and some London and Lagos). There are a lot of things Selasi writes that are in my wheelhouse: West Africans immigrants, making homes here and away, pride, art, and ambition. The book has a racing plot, and its secrets are intense and devastating, but my favourite thing of all is Selasis use of language. I felt like I was in a kinetic poem the entire time I was reading, anapests and dactyls, joined in alliteration and gorgeous language. He drove without looking, without needing to, from memory. Seeing instead of looking. He drove home by heart.

5. Don't Let Him Know by Sandip Roy Dont Let Him Know is Sandip Roys debut novel in stories. Each chapter stands on its own, but they come together to tell a story of three generations, reaching from old Calcutta to chilly Carbondale to sunny California. Every character is nuanced and real, leaping off the page without sensationalism or gimmick, and their stories, secret or spoken, are told with a light and poignant touch. Roys sense of place is wonderful: The snow had covered all the cars parked on the street turning them into ghostly cartoon shapes, their sharp edges rounded and softened. But its the seamless combination of stories that makes this book, even as the chapters jump around in time and space. The universal themes of money and marriage, love and longing, ambition and fate are seen through the lens of often thwarted lives.

6. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman is an astonishing and gripping book which changed the way I looked at cultures at odds with traditional Western medical care. A Hmong refugee family with a severely epileptic child, Lia Lee, lands up in California, and so begins the struggle between her well-meaning American doctors at a local hospital and her loving family and wider Hmong spiritual community about how best to take care of her. Its abundantly clear that everyone wants whats best for Lia, and its impossible to lay blame on anything but the cultural and communication divide between the parties. Fadiman is an accomplished and compassionate writer, journalist, and anthropologist, and her book should be required reading. that stubborn strain in the Hmong character which for thousands of years has preferred death to surrender.

7. Island of a Thousand Mirrors by Nayomi Munaweera Forget that Island of a Thousand Mirrors is Nayomi Munaweeras first book. You wont be reminded of it for a second. Not with that assured plot, the omniscient and precise characterization, the beautiful language, and the telling of tragic war torn history through the eyes of children and ordinary people. The story follows three children growing up in Colombo through civil war, the Tamil resistance movement, and a new life in America. Its all seamlessly done, Munaweera taking charge of the storytelling like the fables of old. This book is a fast ferocious education in Sri Lankan history, a wrenching treatise on the horrors of war, and a deeply moving story of families, childhood friendships, and adult relationships. This is what it means, then, to be spoiled. It means to be broken. It means forever.

8. Good Girls Marry Doctors: South Asian American Daughters on Obedience and Rebellion edited by Piyali Bhattacharya Good Girls Marry Doctors: South Asian American Daughters on Obedience and Rebellion is Piyali Bhattacharyas decade-long labor of love to bring together the stories of 27 South Asian American women in one essay collection. The authors families hail from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, with Hindu, Zoroastrian, Buddhist, and Muslim backgrounds. Theres something about knowing someone else has been through what you have that makes you not feel not so crazy, selfish, ungrateful, rude, unreasonable, political, brazen, and all the other things that were often accused ofnot just the South Asian daughters, but immigrant daughters. Not just immigrant daughters, but all daughters. We know this as women. The pressures of conforming are enormous, fatal even. Its difficult to describe all the essays in an anthology, especially when the themes are so varied, from the grief of losing a parent, to not wanting children, or being unable to have them, to the stifling legacy of student debt, to the simple desire to create ones own life. Part of it is as Bhattacharya says: For the women who have written for [the anthology], this represents the breaking of a long and deep silence.

9. What is the What by Dave Eggers What is the What by Dave Eggers is billed as a novel, because his subject, Sudanese Lost Boy Valentino Achak Deng, fictionalised conversations from his childhood (what memoirist or ghost writer doesnt do this to some degree?). I think Dengs name should at least be on the cover since this is the soulful and historically accurate story of his life (Dengs own words). Fiction or not, What is the What is a compelling and powerful read. In addition to filling in many gaps in my knowledge about the Lost Boys of Sudan and how this one made it, painfully alone, to America, the book is in turn beautiful, heartbreaking, taut, and clear eyed. Deng is supremely self aware and completely un-self-pitying, despite a life's worth of sorrow (and hope). The truth is that I do not like hanging in there. I was born, I believe, to do more.
Damion Searls. Crown, $28 (416p) ISBN 978-0-8041-3654-9

In this clear and well-illustrated study, writer and translator Searls shares the histories of Swiss psychoanalyst and psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach as well as his eponymous tests evolution and reception. As Searles notes, Rorschachs test was not totally original; one precedent was the work of Justinus Kerner, a 19th-century German Romantic poet and doctor. Rorschachs genius lay in attending to patient-sensitive specifics, including those of psychotics, and in developing an interpretative code that revolved around how the patient saw movement, color, and form in the inkblots. After Rorschachs 1922 death at age 37, his test saw widespread use in America during the psychoanalytically oriented 1940s and 50s; it was given to every student entering Sarah Lawrence College starting in 1940 and the army used a multiple-choice version after Pearl Harbor. However, it had fallen in popularity by the 1970s, eclipsed by the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and other personality tests. Despite its occasional abuse, the Rorschach regained some of its popularity around the turn of the millennium. Searls dutifully shows how the test added a whole new visual dimension to the emerging field of psychology in general, and the study and analysis of personality in particular.
So all the sound and fury over the costly, embarrassing and unnecessary drama surrounding old Hillsdale sewer bills was all for nothing.

On Tuesday, just as her host of supporters had long expected, felony charges of official misconduct against Hillsdale village clerk Jane Lundquist were officially dismissed by Judge Norma Kauzlarich.

Rock Island County State's Attorney John McGehee said he moved to drop the charges contained in a grand jury indictment after RICo sheriff's investigators "recently" discovered "new, credible and material evidence creating a reasonable likelihood of Jane Lundquist's innocence."

What was that new evidence? The accounts of two readily available former and current trustees who told investigators that, contrary to Mayor Michael Lambrecht's claims, Ms. Lundquist had legal authority from the village board to work with local residents to resolve past-due bill issues. That included forgiving the debt owed to the village related to two sewer bills which were central to the grand jury indictment.

What a pity Mayor Lambrecht and Police Chief Paul Garza hadn't interviewed all the the available witnesses back in August 2015 before they locked Ms. Lundquist out of her office and searched it and her computer, both in violation of her constitutional rights.

Thus began a fight that has cost this cash-strapped community $35,000, including for a forensic audit which now appears to have been entirely unnecessary, and which some trustees say they never actually approved.

In spite of that, the mayor told reporter Stephen Elliott, "It was definitely necessary. There are no checks and balances in Hillsdale. I don't bear any hard feelings toward Jane. I never have."

Were we in Ms. Lundquist's shoes we would not be feeling quite as magnanimous as the mayor.

We can't imagine how hard it must be to worry whether you would be sent to prison for two to five years and face fines of $25,000 for doing what your village board directed you to do. Nearly a year is an eternity to wait to be exonerated for doing your duty.

It's impossible to put a price tag on a good reputation. We fervently hope that the dismissal restores Ms. Lundquist's good name.

For his part, Sheriff Gerry Bustos believes the case's outcome shows that "even after Ms. Lundquist was indicted through the grand jury process, our investigators didn't stop the investigation."

Perhaps. But village trustee Janet Lease isn't alone in wondering why it took so long to close the book on the matter. After all, she and the former trustee whose accounts sparked the dismissal had frequently and publicly defended Ms. Lundquist's actions.

"It takes them a year to dismiss it?" Ms. Lease wondered. "I think it's ludicrous. I think the mayor owes Jane an apology. I think he owes the whole village an apology, but that's not going to happen."

Probably not. Instead, cash-strapped village residents will see more belt-tightening as Hillsdale continues to deal with the financial fallout of this now-dead case.
KEWANEE  Black Hawk College East Campus will host the 2017 Lincoln Trail Conference Scholastic Bowl Meet 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 25.

This will be the sixth year Black Hawk College has hosted the event, which pits students from different high schools against each other to answer questions from a variety of categories, such as history, literature, mathematics, music and science.

More than 100 high school students from 10 schools will compete. Participating schools are AlWood, Annawan, Cambridge, Galva, Mercer County, Princeville, ROWVA, Stark County, West Central and Wethersfield.

The public is invited to attend; admission is free. There will be nine, 45-minute rounds with awards at 5 p.m. The campus is located five miles south of Kewanee. Visitors should park in the lot next to Building A; the event is in Building B.

For more details, contact Kirk Watson at 309-854-1811 or watsonk@bhc.edu.
PEORIA  U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid on Thursday sentenced Dimitri Miles Lopez, 29, of Kewanee, to 16 years, eight months in federal prison for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of a short-barreled shotgun in furtherance of the drug trafficking crime.

Mr. Lopez has been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since he was arrested in December 2015.

On Oct. 19, 2016, Mr. Lopez pleaded guilty to the offenses. According to court documents, Illinois State Police Blackhawk Area Task Force agents executing a search warrant on his home on Dec. 2, 2015, found a loaded short-barreled 12-gauge shotgun under the living room couch. They also found a .38 revolver and two baggies that contained methamphetamine, as well as $2,000 in Mr. Lopezs pants pocket.

Mr. Lopez was convicted in 2011 conviction of an aggravated battery with a deadly weapon felony. He also was convicted in 2010 of criminal damage to property.

Mr. Lopez was sentenced to 80 months in prison for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possession of a short-barreled shotgun and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He also was ordered to serve 10 years in prison for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, to be served consecutive to the 80-month sentence.

The charges were investigated by the Illinois State Police Blackhawk Area Task Force, Kewanee Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney John K Mehochko prosecuted the case in the Rock Island Division of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Central District of Illinois.
GRANITE CITY, Ill. (AP)  A man has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for the fatal shooting of a 13-year-old Granite City boy.

The Belleville News-Democrat reports that 21-year-old LaRoyce McFadden was convicted of first-degree murder in December for the fatal shooting of Clayton Veninga during a random dispute with another child in 2013.

McFadden had returned from an earlier fistfight with a 14-year-old with a gun when he fired at a porch where several people were sitting. He hit Clayton, who died an hour later at a hospital.

McFadden apologized to the family during the sentencing hearing.

Clayton's sister, Asia Canter, says her family had been "destroyed" by Clayton's killing.
MOLINE  Rock Island County officials are trying to determine how many of the city's primary candidates on Feb. 28 will move on to the April 4 general election.

Moline has primary races for mayor and the city's At-Large aldermanic seat.

Six candidates are running for mayor, including incumbent Mayor Scott Raes and Ald. Stephanie Acri, At-Large. All but Mayor Raes are write-in candidates.

The At-Large aldermanic race has five candidates, including write-in Sonia Berg.

At issue are the rules under which the primaries will be conducted.

According to the city website, Moline's council and mayoral races are covered by Illinois' election rules for villages rather than those for cities.

The village rules state that primaries with only one candidate name to be printed on the ballot  such as the Moline mayor's race  require that the write-in candidate with the largest number of votes must also receive votes amounting to at least 10 percent of what the printed candidate receives.

Rock Island County Deputy County Clerk John Brown said the office is consulting with the Illinois State Board of Elections and the Rock Island County State's Attorney's Office to verify how many candidates will continue to the April 4 general election after the primary.

Their questions include how many write-in candidates advance, if they meet the 10 percent criteria.

For Moline's At-Large aldermanic race, the rules state the four candidates with the most votes advance.

On Thursday, Mayor Raes shared an email he received Feb. 3 that stated deputy city attorney Amy L. Keys had consulted with the state board of elections. In her interpretation, only the mayoral write-in candidate with the most votes who meets the 10 percent threshold would move on to the April 4 general election.

Also, for the At-Large aldermanic race, Ms. Keys interpreted the rules to mean the top four candidates would advance, regardless if their name was printed or a write-in.

Ken Menzel, general counsel for the state board of elections, gave a different interpretation of the mayor's race. According to Mr. Menzel, anyone meeting the 10 percent threshold would be able to move on to the general election.

He noted the state board of elections does not provide advisory opinions on state election law.

Rock Island County State's Attorney John McGehee said he was out of town Thursday and had not learned of the county clerk's request. Moline City Attorney Maureen Riggs declined comment until she speaks with Mr. McGehee.

Mayor Raes said he was unaware Moline's city elections were governed by village rules. He said Ms. Keys advised him that Moline, as a home rule entity, had the option to choose which election rules it used.

City ordinance specifies the village rules would apply to the successors of Moline aldermen elected in 2001. Mr. Brown said Moline switched from city to village rules when it switched from partisan to nonpartisan elections.

Ald. Acri said she was fine running under either set of election rules. But she expressed concern about the complexity of Moline's election rules.

Ald. Acri initially filed petitions of candidacy to run against Mayor Raes. Those petitions were disqualified Dec. 22 by the Municipal Officers Electoral Board who ruled they violated state rules because the petition pages were not numbered. The complaint against her petitions was made by Mayor Raes.

Within hours of the petitions being disqualified, Ald. Acri and four other candidates  Kirk Witherspoon, Jody Fear, Frederick Carman and Deborah Ryckeghem  filed as write-ins, creating the need for a primary.

Mr. Carman has said he ran to create an opportunity for one of the other write-in candidates to run against Mayor Raes in the April 4 general election. He said he did not intend to be mayor.

Mr. Witherspoon, Ms. Fear and Ms. Ryckeghem have declined comment or could not be reached for comment.

In the At-Large aldermanic race, Angie Normoyle, Carol Triebel, Gregory Swanson and Edward Johnson will have their names printed on the Feb. 28 primary ballot.

Ms. Berg also initially filed petitions of candidacy, but she also was disqualified Dec. 22 because the pages were not numbered. That complaint also was filed by Mayor Raes.
BRUSSELS (AP)  The Trump administration signaled Thursday there will be no change soon in U.S.-Russian relations, putting the onus on Moscow to prove itself if it wants closer cooperation with Washington. Russia's support for Ukrainian separatists was underscored as a test case of its willingness to change behavior.

At a NATO meeting in Brussels, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis made clear the United States isn't ready to collaborate militarily with its former Cold War foe against the Islamic State or other threats, a long-standing goal of the Kremlin's which new U.S. President Donald Trump says he wants, too. After meeting with Russia's top diplomat in Germany, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Moscow first must help stop violence in Ukraine.

The comments appeared to put the brakes on a rapid transformation in U.S.-Russian ties, which have been badly strained by fighting in Ukraine and Syria as well as by American accusations of Russian interference in last year's U.S. presidential election. European countries close to Russia's border have been especially alarmed by the prospects of U.S.-Russian rapprochement, given Trump's references to NATO as "obsolete" and his repeated praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Russia is going to have to prove itself first," Mattis said. Nations will seek "a way forward where Russia, living up to its commitments, will return to a partnership of sorts here with NATO," he explained.

But he made clear that a significant attitude change is required by leaders in Moscow, declaring that there is "very little doubt that they have either interfered or they have attempted to interfere in a number of elections in the democracies."

While Mattis addressed reporters, Tillerson met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the former West Germany capital of Bonn and U.S. Gen. Joseph Dunford, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, sat down with his Russian counterpart, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan. They represented the first meetings between the two countries' top diplomats and military men since Trump was sworn in.

Tillerson, a former Exxon Mobil CEO with long experience in Russia, having even been awarded a friendship medal by Putin, emphasized that Russia must abide by a 2015 deal aimed at ending fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists. "As we search for new common ground, we expect Russia to honor its commitments," he said.

Lavrov said in remarks broadcast live by Russian television that during the meeting the parties confirmed a shared interest in pooling efforts to fight terrorism. He credited Tillerson for having "voiced readiness to support" a Russian-led process to end Syria's civil war.

"Naturally we couldn't solve all the problems," Lavrov said. "But we have a shared understanding that on issues where our interests coincide, and there quite a few of them, we should move forward."

He said U.S. sanctions on Russia weren't addressed. The matter is extremely sensitive, given Trump's firing early this week of his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, over his discussions about sanctions with a Russian ambassador before Trump took office. The U.S. imposed penalties on Moscow after its 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.

Separately, Russia's Defense Ministry said Dunford and Gerasimov "exchanged opinions about the current state of the Russian-U.S. relations" and assessments about other parts of the world. "They have determined the areas of joint work to improve security of military activities, reduce tensions and risk of incidents." The United States later issued an almost identical statement.

But tensions clearly remained. A remark by Mattis at the NATO meeting about negotiating with Russia "from a position of strength" prompted a sharp response from Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who said such a strategy was "futile." Asked about Shoigu's reaction, Mattis said: "I have no need to respond to the Russian statement at all."

Trump has tempered his rhetoric about Russia since becoming president, after shocking Democrats and Republicans at home, and allies abroad, with his warm words for the Russians and their leader as a candidate. Various investigations are going on related to the accusations of Russian election meddling. Earlier this week, U.S. officials said Moscow deployed a cruise missile in violations of a Cold War-era nuclear arms agreement.

The U.S. ceased military-to-military relations with Russia after the Crimea takeover. But last year, the Obama administration considered plans to cooperate militarily with Russia as part of a cease-fire deal to end the war in Syria that has killed as many as a half-million people.

Senior Defense Department leaders opposed the plan, and it quickly fell apart as the truce collapsed. But Putin on Thursday voiced support for "a dialogue" with U.S. special services and those of other member countries of NATO.
Illinois legislators, no budget in 593 days; pensions owed and trouble getting dollars for schools; and Democrats and Republicans worry about abolishing states symbols, making Barack Obama's birthday a state holiday, doing away with the Firearm Owner Identification Cards?

Why are you not worried about the budget? Maybe stop paying them, and Democrats and Republicans might wake them up a little.

Pensions for state workers have been a problem for 40 to 50 years ever since people in Springfield got control of this money. Elected people should get the state back on its feet without taxing the people of Illinois.

Maybe we should take the money out of their paychecks, they are the ones who spent it.

Gov. Bruce Rauner is trying to break unions; this is middle class people and I think they are just trying to put the state's problems onto someone else when everyone knows it is the governors and state law makers over the past few years who have caused the state to be in such a poor state.

The people of Illinois should be protesting every day, all day, about the state's problems that the elected people in Springfield have caused!

Springfield, go back to sleep, maybe we can become Eastern Iowa.

Niles Gentry,

Moline
G'day! It's Murray here. I've put together a little quiz to test your musical knowledge. Think you can score top marks in Murray's Magic Music Quiz? Give it a go now!
This continues the trend seen in recent years - rail freight tonnage also declined in 2015 although tonne-km grew slightly.

Freight by rail and inland shipping in Germany fell from 116.6 billion tonne-km to 116 billion-tonne-km last year, reflecting the continuing decline in coal and steel volumes. However rail and inland shipping were the only modes to show a decline in absolute tonnage as the overall freight market grew 1.1% to 4.56 billion tonnes.

Rail freight declined by 1.6% to 361.3 million tonnes. Low water levels in major rivers in late 2016 partly explain the reduction in inland shipping although based on historical trends rail freight could have been expected to attract some of the 1.8 million tonnes of traffic diverted away from water-borne transport.

It appears road transport was the big winner from both in terms of market growth and attracting traffic from other modes, with volumes increasing 1.5% to 3.59 billion tonnes performance up 2.8% to 471.8 billion tonne-km.

Based upon these figures German rail transport lobby group Allianz pro Schiene estimate that rails' share of the total German freight market measured in tonne-km has fallen by 0.4% to 17.6%.

Earlier in February the Port of Hamburg announced 2016 figures which showed continued growth in the volume of rail freight passing through the port. Volumes rose by 1.5% to 46.4 million tonnes, while the total number of rail-borne containers increased 2.4% to 2.4 million TEU.
China to order 586 locomotives, 40,000 freight cars Written by Keith









China Railway Investment Corporation (CRIC) has issued RFPs (requests for proposals) for contracts to supply 586 electric locomotives and 40,000 freight cars to China Railway Corporation (CRC).

The electric locomotive order is divided into three lots, comprising 91 160km/h (100 mph) six-axle passenger locomotives, 191 9.6MW (12,875 hp) eight-axle freight locomotives, and 304 7.2MW (9,955 hp) six-axle freight units.

The car order comprises two lots and calls for the supply of 20,000 type X70 intermodal cars, and 20,000 type NX70A flat cars.

Chinas freight volume totaled 2.65 billion tons in 2016, down 2.3% from 2015, according to CRC.

China operates freight services to 15 European cities, including the experimental East Wind, a two-week, 12,000-km (7,440-mile) trip from Yiwu to London traversing Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has launched a search for a permanent CEO and General Manager for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA).

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker made the announcement during an address before the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, he recommended that the MBTAs Fiscal and Management Control Board (FMCB) exercise the two-year extension of its governance of the MBTA, as permitted by statute. Chief Administrator Brian Shortsleeve will continue to serve as Acting General Manager in the interim and will sit on the search panel.

The MBTA is showing real progress in its turnaround, from vastly improved winter operations to cutting its operating deficit by more than half, but more work is needed to deliver better and more efficient results to riders and taxpayers, said Gov. Baker. As the MBTA enters this next phase, the time is right for a transformative and permanent General Manager with a strong business background and experience in delivering major capital programming and providing direct service to customers. The unrelenting dedication and talent provided by [MassDOT] Secretary [Stephanie] Pollack, Brian Shortsleeve and Jeff Gonneville has steered the MBTA in a better direction and we look forward to their steady leadership as the search for a turnaround CEO proceeds. The FMCB is playing a critical role in reforming the MBTA and we welcome their request to extend their governance to continue the MBTAs turnaround.

Secretary Pollack, who by statute is charged with hiring the MBTAs General manager, has created a GM Search Advisory Panel and is in the process of securing an executive search firm to identify a CEO-style GM whose primary focus will be to continue the work of changing the MBTAs culture to focus on performance, capital investment and improved customer service. The search process will be coordinated closely with members of the FMCB, and board member Steve Poftak will serve on the search panel.

The MBTA now has the momentum to implement changes that will give customers the service they need and deserve and to rebuild its aging infrastructure, said Pollack. A new General Manager and the continued partnership of the FMCB will create the stability necessary for the MBTA to complete its transformation into the high-performing, customer-focused transit agency to better serve the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
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UK commercial TV company ITV is expanding its co-production ties with Chinese production house Huace Film & TV following the success of the Chinese version of its skating format Dancing on Ice.





Star on Ice, directed by filmmaker Zhang Yimou, was produced in China as part of the lead-up to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. The show, which features celebrities training with veteran Olympians, began airing in China in January and has been well received, both critically and in ratings.Based on the popularity of Star on Ice, Huace and ITV have agreed to put in place a long-term strategy cooperation, Du Fang, VP of Huace Group, told China Daily A new long-term co-operation agreement commits the companies to produce further content for the Chinese market and other international territories.Together with ITVs expertise, [Huace] hopes to achieve an even brighter future, added Du Fang.Now airing on a number of Chinese satellite networks, ITV and Huace plan to sell Star on Ice to other Asian outlets.It is a very good opportunity to introduce some of the sports, some of the skills needed to compete in the Winter Olympics to the wider Chinese population. We thought a figure skating competition was a very good way to introduce the audience to talent and also the skills that the competing Chinese might need to take part in the winter Olympics, Mike Beale, executive VP, ITV Studio, was quoted as saying by Chinas state broadcaster CCTV.Star on Ice is the first UK-China TV production to air since the two countries signed the China-UK TV Co-Production Treaty in December 2016.There is an understanding that we need to work together and get shows made, and it is not just about bringing Western content into China, but co-creating new content that will work in China and potentially leave China and work for the rest of the world as well, Beale said.
State Duma ratifies treaty of assistance in criminal matters between Russia and Turkey

MOSCOW, February 17 (RAPSI)  The State Duma has ratified an agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters and extradition of criminals between Russia and Turkey.

The treaty was signed in Ankara on December 1, 2014 for development of the international legal base of the Russian-Turkish cooperation in this field.

Under the agreement, parties are obliged to afford mutual legal assistance in investigations, court proceedings and other procedural actions related to criminal cases. Parties also undertake to extradite persons wanted for extraditable offences for their further criminal prosecution or execution of sentence.

Extraditable offences are criminally liable actions which result in prison sentences upwards of one year, in accordance with legislation of both countries.

The treaty includes rules different from those set in the Russian legislation, an explanatory note to the document reads. In particular, the agreement stipulates that legal assistance may be denied if the party in question considers that the requests fulfillment can infringe on its sovereignty, security, public order or other material interests. Russias Criminal Procedure Code does not contain this reason for non-cooperation.
The TPP Is Dead, But Could It Have an Afterlife?

The Trans-Pacific Partnership is dead, but could it have an afterlife?

Maybe.

Among President Trump's first acts was an order withdrawing from the TPP. This fulfilled Trump's campaign promise to torpedo the high-profile agreement between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries, led by Japan and Mexico. As important, it symbolized Trump's conviction that ineptly negotiated trade agreements are at the core of America's economy's problems.

Given this background, it seems astounding that anyone would suggest that the TPP may rise from the dead, with a new name and slightly altered provisions. Yet, that's the message of a new study from the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a think tank and unabashed advocate of TPP.

Written by Jeffrey Schott, the study makes two general points, one political and the other economic.

The political point is that, despite Trump's repudiation, TPP still has substantial backing on Capitol Hill. Schott says that both Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas  the chairmen respectively of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee, the two panels responsible for trade legislation  "strongly support" TPP, as do many other members of Congress.

Similar support exists abroad, Schott argues. "Since the U.S. election, the leaders of Japan, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand have emphasized the strategic importance of TPP for their countries and for leadership in the region," he writes. The main reason is China. "U.S. withdrawal from TPP effectively opens the door for China to assert a more pronounced leadership role," writes Schott.

The economics reinforce the politics. Contrary to Trump's opposition, Schott says, the TPP would strengthen demand for U.S. exports. Some of these sales will now be lost to foreign competitors, because they will negotiate their own "free trade agreements (FTAs)," lowering import barriers between them. American firms will be at a disadvantage. "U.S. beef and pork exporters already face loss of market share in Japan due to the Japan-Australia FTA," he says.

Meanwhile, Schott says, with American markets already open to most trade, U.S. trade negotiators gave up very little. Even a small 2.5% tariff on imported autos will be phased out only over 25 years. Little wonder, Schott notes, that "almost every major U.S. farm and industry association supports the TPP."

On its face, all this constitutes a powerful case for reviving TPP. But, despite this, "there is (as yet) no indication that the Trump administration would consider revisiting the pact," Schott writes. He speculates that Trump will change his mind. First he'll concentrate on his still-unveiled tax and spending proposals. If Congress approves these, he will have more freedom to negotiate modest trade changes and ditch the Obama-era title of "Trans-Pacific Partnership."

This may be plausible  or just wishful thinking.
THE HAGUE  Harry van Bommel, a left-wing member of the Dutch Parliament, had persuasive allies in convincing voters that they should reject a trade pact with Ukraine  his special Ukrainian team, a gleefully contrarian group of emigres whose sympathies lay with Russia.
President Donald Trump has said little about the worlds longest undefended border  the one between the U.S. and Canada.

Trump barely addressed the issue at his first meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Feb. 13 in Washington. Although Trudeaus vision of openness and diversity may conflict with Trumps vision of America First, the leaders parted ways with an amicable handshake.

The two leaders have different views on their borders. While Trudeau announced that Canada is open to the worlds refugees, Trump has focused the worlds attention on the U.S.-Mexico border by drawing up plans for a US$21.6 billion border wall.

During their joint press conference, Trump offered an optimistic assessment of the overall state of the Canada-U.S. relationship. He said, America is deeply fortunate to have a neighbor like Canada. We have before us the opportunity to build even more bridges  bridges of co-operation and bridges of commerce. This kind of statement signals hope for a continuation of the status quo, rather than a more secured border.

At 5,525 miles, the Canada-U.S. border is more than twice the length of the border with Mexico. And yet only 2,059 U.S. border agents patrol it, compared to the 17,026 along the U.S.-Mexico border. From Ottawas point of view, the goal of bilateral talks with the U.S. is to separate any discussion of the northern border from the southern border. A related objective is to ensure that, for any future border policy updates, security concerns do not trump trade.

Our research on the Canada-U.S. border and the two countries long-standing alliance demonstrates the inherent tension between Canadas reliance on open borders for trade and on the U.S. as a security partner. These factors force Canada to be responsive to changes in U.S. security policy.

Post-9/11: Balancing trade and security

Canadas willingness to respond to evolving U.S. security priorities is best reflected in the changes along the border post-9/11. New security measures were implemented such as arming the Canadian border guards and the creation of integrated border enforcement teams.

Many refer to the impact of these policies as a hardening or thickening of the border because it resulted in a reduction in traffic and trade flows. Yet, Canada needs the northern border to remain soft for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to work optimally. Indeed, fast-tracking goods and people across the border is vital for key industries in both countries.

The Canada-U.S. border is one of the worlds most profitable with US$2 billion in bilateral trade each day. Canada is the United States second largest trade partner and largest export market.

The meeting between Trump and Trudeau revealed little new information on the future of NAFTA. While a full renegotiation remains on the table, Trump only talked about making tweaks to the trade agreement.

Meanwhile, recent reports suggest that the borders current openness is being exploited by human traffickers and drug smuggling rings. Attempts at fully securing the border are inherently difficult, not only because of its length but also because Indian reservations, or First Nations territories, straddle the border. Restrictions on federal access to these areas means little can be done to enforce customs and immigration law.

Years of illicit flows of goods and people are now combined with a skyrocketing number of illegal entries into Canada from the U.S. since the November 2016 election. In November 2016 alone, 273 people entered the province of Quebec illegally and requested refugee status, compared to 263 in the same province for all of 2015.

After Trump imposed a travel ban, asylum seekers in the U.S. started making the trek northward, braving harsh winter conditions to reach Canada on foot in order to bypass border crossings. Migrants are crossing the northern border in spite of the fact that, under the Safe Third Country Agreement, they must apply for asylum in the first country they arrive in. They cannot make asylum claims in both Canada and the U.S.

Free trade above all else?

Concerns over homegrown violent extremism and radicalization are growing both in the U.S. and Canada. Canada has a foreign-born population of almost 6.8 million people, of whom 17.2 percent or 1,160,000 are recent immigrants. They may soon face new immigration restrictions and border controls.

A bill introduced by Trudeaus Liberal government would give U.S. border guards unprecedented powers to question, search and detain travelers in Canadian airports and other pre-clearance areas. Pre-clearance zones, which have been in place for years, require travelers from Canada to pass through U.S. Customs and Immigration before they physically cross the border into the U.S.

Canadians, like Americans, have had mixed feelings about immigration. A month before the U.S. election, 79 percent of Canadians polled said they felt that Canadas immigration and refugee policies should give priority to Canadas own economic and workforce needs rather than prioritizing people in crisis abroad. A January 2017 poll indicated that Canadians remain ambivalent about immigration, with 35 percent of respondents neither in favor of nor opposed to a total ban on immigration into Canada. This suggests that Canadian attitudes are malleable.

While Trudeau steers clear of linking terrorism and immigration, Trump made the connection explicit during their meeting: We have some wonderful ideas on immigration. We have some, I think, very strong, very tough ideas on the tremendous problem that we have with terrorism.

For Trudeau, working with Trump will mean striking the right balance between the need to nurture positive ties with the U.S. and standing by principles such as diversity and an openness to the world. The cooperative relationship between the U.S. and Canada is deeply institutionalized on both the economic and security fronts. But, while Canadians largely reject Trumps rhetoric, the Canadian economy is heavily reliant on free trade with the U.S. This is a bargaining advantage that Trump is unlikely to ignore when he looks to renegotiate with his northern neighbor.

Jessica Trisko Darden, Assistant Professor of International Affairs, American University School of International Service and Stefanie von Hlatky, Assistant Professor of Political Studies and Director of the Centre for International and Defence Policy, Queen's University, Ontario

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
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By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 02/16/2017



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.
The Register Guard, a Eugene, Oregon newspaper, recently posted an article about a shooting involving Chuck Pressburg, a US Army combat veteran and brand ambassador for military electro-optical company B.E. Meyers. The February 13 post shared very basic information gathered from the Eugene police along with what appears to be a mugshot of Pressburg. In part, it reads:

Eugene police said the incident happened shortly after midnight on Sunday morning in the 700 block of Rossmore Street, when Charles Michael Pressburg, 44, retrieved a handgun he had been carrying and fired a round, injuring someone whose age and gender were not released.



[Charles Pressburg, 44. Source]



While the report mentions alcohol, it makes no mention of a fight, leaving the possibility the shooting was the result of a negligent discharge.

Today, B.E. Meyers released a statement in support of Pressburg:

Recently, a news release came to light identifying one of our contracted employees and brand ambassador, Mr. Charles Chuck Pressburg of Presscheck Consulting, in an unfortunate firearms incident. The media coverage of this incident is vague and allows for misperception. In addition to this limited reporting by the press, malicious speculation online is fueling and in some way exacerbating many inaccuracies in the story. This incident is by no means indicative of the performance or standards that we know Chuck to uphold, and in no way impacts his credentials as a Subject Matter Expert on the topic of low-light operations as well as night vision and laser combat employment. He represents our brand, and we support him as strongly today as we ever have. While this was an obviously unfortunate incident involving our brand ambassador, the details of the situation will come out at a time and in a method that are legally appropriate. While it would not be appropriate for our brand ambassador to make a statement himself at this time, B.E. Meyers & Co. Inc. and industry entities cited in this message stand in his support to speak for him. I encourage the community to take a pause, know that all the details cannot be currently released, and to question the narrative provided to them by the Oregon media that has spread to the national press level. Stop breaking out the Jump-to-Conclusions Mat, stop trying to fill in the blanks erroneously, and start letting the facts develop. Let the legal system work, and come to your own conclusions in due time. I personally stand with Chuck.

B.E. Meyers & Co. Inc. stands with Chuck.

Those of character in this industry stand with Chuck. We are ALL, all in for Chuck. #ALLINFORCHUCK Sincerely, Matthew Meyers

President and Co-Owner

B.E. Meyers & Co. Inc.
On Feb. 16, Sr. Sol was one of a handful of Athens businesses to close its doors for a day to commemorate "a day without immigrants."
An exhibit of artistic distaffs is on display at the Georgia Museum of Art now until April 16.
Meryl Streep: 'When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose.'

Jennifer Lopez: 'There is no time for despair, no place for self pity, no need for silence, and no room for fear.'

Julia Louis-Dreyfus: 'I want you all to know that I am the daughter of an immigrant.'

Every awards ceremony in Hollywood this year, says Monali Sarkar, has seen A-list celebrities talk about diversity, inclusion and politics, sometimes even mentioning President Donald Trump and his policies by name.

Meryl Streep turned her Cecil B DeMille lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes into one of the most scathing attacks on Donald Trump.

'There was one performance this year that stunned me. It sank its hooks in my heart. Not because it was good... It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter... It kind of broke my heart when I saw it and I still can't get it out of my head because it wasn't in a movie. It was real life.'

'This instinct to humiliate when it's modeled by someone in the public platform by someone powerful it filters down into everybody's life. Disrespect invites disrespect. Violence incites violence. When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose.'

As Rediff.com's Raja Sen noted, 'We know Streep can do anything; it's what she chooses to do that makes her a true legend.'

Photograph: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

While accepting her Grammy for the Best Urban Contemporary album for Lemonade, Beyonce said, 'My intention for the film and album was to create a body of work that would give a voice to our pain, our struggles, our darkness and our history. To confront issues that make us uncomfortable.'

'It's important to me to show images to my children that reflect their beauty so they can grow up in a world where they look in the mirror -- first through their own families, as well as the news, the Super Bowl, the Olympics, the White House and the Grammys -- and see themselves. And have no doubt that they're beautiful, intelligent and capable.'

Photograph: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

Before she presented the Grammy for Best New Artist to Chance the Rapper, Jennifer Lopez said, 'At this particular point in history, our voices are needed more than ever.'

'As Toni Morrison once said, this is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self pity, no need for silence, and no room for fear. We do language, that is how civilisations heal.'

'So tonight, we celebrate our most universal language, music, as we honour the voices of the past and the present.'

In a comic vein, Grammys host James Corden earlier rapped: 'Live it all up because this is the best, and with President Trump we don't know what comes next.'

Photograph: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

Katy Perry and Skip Marley, wearing an armband that said 'Persist', performed Chained to the Rhythm at the Grammy Awards as a giant video projection of the US Constitution loomed over the stage.

With a refrain of We Think We're Free, the song's lyrics talk about being lulled into a 'comfortable bubble.'

Skip is the grandson of Jamaican reggae legend Bob Marley, whose songs often protested against oppression and social injustice.

Photograph: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

Hip-hop pioneers A Tribe Called Quest -- along with Anderson Paak and Busta Rhymes -- broke down a wall during their performance at the Grammy Awards.

In their politically charged medley they called out 'Agent Orange,' a nickname for Trump, sarcastically thanking him for his 'unsuccessful attempt at the Muslim ban.'

At the end of the song, women wearing headscarves joined the performers onstage accompanied by cries of 'Resist!'

Photograph: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

Michael Jackson's daughter Paris, at the Grammys, spoke up for those protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

'We could really use this excitement at a pipeline protest, guys,' she said. 'Hashtag no DAPL.'

Photograph: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who won Best Comedy TV actress at the Screen Actors Guild Awards for her role in HBO's political satire Veep, spoke out about Trump's immigration ban.

'I want you all to know that I am the daughter of an immigrant,' she said. 'My father fled religious persecution in Nazi-occupied France, and I'm 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.'

Photograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Mahershala Ali, who won best supporting actor at the SAG Awards for his role in Moonlight, noted that he is the Muslim son of a mother who is a Christian minister.

'She didn't do backflips when I called her to tell her I converted 17 years ago, but I tell you now, we put things to the side, and I was able to see her. She is able to see me. We love each other. The love has grown, and that stuff's minutiae. It's not that important,' he said.

Photograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Viola Davis praised African-American playwright August Wilson, who wrote the play that Fences was based on, when she won Best Supporting Actress for her role in that film at the SAG Awards.

'What August did so beautifully is he honored the average man, who happened to be a man of colour,' she said.

'And sometimes we don't have to shake the world and move the world and create anything that is going to be in the history book.'

'The fact that we breathed and lived a life and was a god to our children, just that, means that we have a story and it deserves to be told.'

'We deserve to be in the canon of any -- in the centre of any narrative that's written out there.'

'And that's what August did. He elevated my father, my mother, my uncles who had eighth and fifth grade educations, and he just encapsulated them in history.'

Photograph: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

Actors Simon Helberg and Jocelyn Towne took a silent but effective stand on the SAG Awards red carpet.

Photograph: Alberto E Rodriguez/Getty Images

Emma Stone made a veiled reference to President Trump in her acceptance speech for Best Actress for La La Land at the BAFTAs.

'In a time that's so divisive I think it's really special that we were able to come together... to celebrate the positive gift of creativity and how it can transcend borders and how it can help people to feel a little less alone,' she said.

Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

Jada Pinkett-Smith, who boycotted the 2016 Oscars with her husband Will Smith, told Variety that she feels more optimistic about this year's diverse Academy Award nominations.

'It's a beautiful thing to see,' she said. 'We had a lot of exceptional films this year. I'm glad to see that projects like Hidden Figures, Fences and Moonlight are getting recognition.'

'Because of the state that our country is in,' she added, 'as artists it's 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. It's important that we take responsibility for that.'

Photograph: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
'The people of Tamil Nadu are fed up of these people, whether it is Panneerselvam or Palaniswami.'

IMAGE: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham Deputy General Secretary V N Dinakaran, to his left, along with ministers at J Jayalalithaa's samadhi at Marina beach after the swearing-in ceremony in Chennai. February 16, 2017. Photograph: PTI Photo

E V K S Elangovan, former president of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, had backed Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao's decision to wait for the Supreme Court verdict in the disproportionate assets case before considering V K Sasikala's claim to be sworn in as chief minister.

But he is against the governor's decision to swear in Sasikala's nominee Edappadi Palaniswami as chief minister.

In an interview to Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier, Elangovan, left, says President's rule should be imposed in the state followed by fresh elections.

How do you explain the political situation in Tamil Nadu?

The political situation in Tamil Nadu is very unstable. The only solution I see is fresh elections.

Till then the chaos will continue.

It is quite clear that the people of Tamil Nadu are fed up of these people, whether it is Panneerselvam or Palaniswami.

The mood of the people is for fresh elections and not continuing with some permutation or the other.

Fresh elections are the only solution to the problem.

But can the governor go by public sentiment and call for fresh elections even when one person has the required numbers in the legislature?

The mood of the people in Tamil Nadu is against Sasikala, which everybody knows and has seen.

They have been watching her for the last 30 years. People say just because she was serving Jayalalithaa, she cannot capture power.

Even though she is behind bars after the Supreme Court verdict, she has the party in her clutches, and now the government too.

This is against the wishes of the people.

Sasikala's MLAs have been in Chennai for the last 15 days, but once they get back to their constituencies, I am sure the people will force them to resign.

In a situation like this, when public sentiment is against the current dispensation, can the governor look at the mood of the people and not just arithmetic alone?

I feel the governor should have taken the mood of the people into consideration instead of just the numbers.

I don't know the rules and regulations and what the Constitution says, but as an ordinary citizen of India, I totally agree with you.

Why do you think the MLAs do not see how strongly the people feel about this?

People feel that Jayalalithaa got into trouble because of Sasikala and they want her to not come into politics at all.

But she still holds all the MLAs with her. That's why the people are so wild and angry with them.

What the MLAs are looking at is being in power for another four-and-a-half years. They want to somehow complete their term.

Once they are back in their constituencies, I am sure they will be forced by the people to resign.

Do you feel if they had been thinking of a long political career, they would not have behaved so? Why are they giving importance to short-term gains?

I agree with you. If they wanted to have a long-term innings in politics, they would not have supported Palaniswami.

But what they feel is they have a chance right now and four-and-a-half years in front of them.

Do you think they were held captive in the resort against their will by Sasikala's people?

It is very obvious that they have been forced to be at the resort and not be let out at any cost.

Even then, they could have escaped, some of them did.

Till the floor test, the MLAs will stay at the resort. Is it not a mockery of democracy?

Keeping the MLAs with goondas all around is definitely a challenge to democracy.

I don't know why the governor has not taken all these things into consideration before inviting Palaswami.

The governor should have gone in for President's rule and then fresh elections. That would have been the best decision.

I don't know under what circumstances the governor took this decision.

Do you think there will be some surprise during the floor test?

Anything can happen with these MLAs as their mind is only on survival, not work for the people.

I want to say again that a stable government can be established only after fresh elections.

If there is a fresh election, will it be advantage DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam)?

Definitely, it is advantage to the DMK-Congress alliance. People are fed up of the AIADMK.

But the image of the DMK also is not that good.

What to do? That is the only alternative the state has.

The three major parties in Tamil Nadu are the AIADMK, the DMK and the Congress. All other parties are not represented in the assembly.

As the people are dead against the AIADMK, there should be a fresh election.

Our alliance will win when it happens.
Nine students at a government school in the national capital ended up in the hospital on Thursday, after they consumed a mid-day meal in which a dead rat was allegedly found.

The students from the Government Boys Senior Secondary School in Deoli area were immediately taken to the Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital, after they reported feeling nauseous and complained of acute pain in their stomach and head post consuming the meal.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who visited the children in the hospital, took to Twitter saying, A rat has been found in the mid-day meal in a government school. Nine students were rushed to hospital. I have spoken to doctors and the children are fine.

He further informed that an FIR is also being lodged and that from Friday onwards, their own officers will monitor the cooking of food in the kitchen.

An FIR has been lodged against the midday meal supplier and we will also blacklist him. We will not tolerate any carelessness when it comes to the health of children, Sisodia said.

This is not the first time that students have fallen ill after consuming a mid-day meal. Back in 2015, in Bihar, 66 students had taken ill after eating a mid-day meal at a primary school.

The children, students of class one to five, began vomiting and fell unconscious after eating the meal, head mistress of Govindpur Sanduari Primary School Sunita Kumari said. The head cook, who had tasted the food before serving it to the children, too started vomiting and fell unconscious, she said.

-- With inputs from Agencies

Image used is for representational purposes only.
IMAGE: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis addresses a campaign rally for Zilla Panchayat election in Sangli. Photograph: PTI Photo

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has emerged as Bharatiya Janata Partys face in Maharashtra civic bodies poll campaign-related publicity material, with a new video hitting the social media on Friday that lauded the work initiated by him since assuming charge in October 2014.

The 2.43 minutes video titled This is our Devendra has been released in Hindi and Marathi and lists various developmental schemes under Fadnavis leadership in the state, including those for women's security and employment.

IMAGE: Fadnavis with other BJP leaders and workers at a party rally in Chinchpokli area of Mumbai. Photograph: @Dev_Fadnavis/Twitter

Also out is a comic book like caricature strip, showing Fadnavis as the harbinger of water to drought-hit Latur last year, when the state government ran water trains to the Marathwada town.

The strip shows people of Latur thanking Fadnavis, who is seen peeping from clouds bringing rain.

There is also a Marathi audio jingle on local radio stations doing the rounds, which asks voters to remember the surgical strikes by the Modi government and the good work by Fadnavis.

IMAGE: The CM addresses a gathering at suburban Ghatkopar in Mumbai. Photograph: @Dev_Fadnavis/Twitter



The jingle is in the form of a powada, a kind of ballad written in an exciting style and used to narrate historical events in an inspiring manner.

IMAGE: Fadnavis during election campaign for Zilla Parishad and Panvel Municipal Corporation at Ulwe, Navi Mumbai. Photograph: PTI Photo

Added to this are hoardings on city roads and memes and photos on social media.

Posters featuring Fadnavis and declaring ha shabda maza ahe (this is my word) have been put up all over Mumbai to counter Sena posters, which claim credit for work done by the civic body.

IMAGE: The Maharashtra CM at a municipal election rally in Karad. Photograph: PTI Photo

The BJP posters have the tagline as parivartan tar honarach (change will happen) denoting its resolve to dethrone the Sena in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

Besides the official BJP posters and social media accounts, animated videos depicting the Shiv Sena as a corrupt tiger being controlled by a lion are also making the rounds.
Elections for Asias richest civic body -- the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation -- is right around the corner (February 21) and theres a pitched battle between the political parties to stake claim to Mumbais civic body.

Even as parties continue to battle it out, heres a list of some interesting candidates who have thrown their hat into the ring.

1) Jayant Dandekar aka Dada

He is all of three feet tall but that hasnt stopped Jayant Dandekar from aiming high and filing his nomination for the civic election.

The 53-year-old candidate, contesting on a Maharashtra Navnirman Sena ticket from ward 118 of Vikhroli, hopes to tackle the various problems in the ward like helping for medical issues and inadequate drainage system.

2) Parag Shah aka Richie Rich

With declared assets worth Rs 690 crore, Parag Shah is not known as Richie Rich for nothing. This builder from Ghatkopar, a central suburb in Mumbai, is believed to be the richest political candidate in the history of Maharashtra.

Shah, who owns Man Infraconstruction, which handles several redevelopment projects in the suburbs and south Mumbai, is contesting from ward number 132 in Ghatkopar.

3) Priya Patil

Patil has made history by becoming the first transgender to contest the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections. She has filed her nomination from ward number 166 in Kurla West Bail bazar.

Patil is supported by the NGO, Kinnar Maa Trust, which works for transgender rights and health issues. Patil was quoted as saying, "After becoming a corporator I want to represent the problems related to our community in the BMC.

4) Mayur Morye

This former employee of Cambata Aviation has thrown his hat into the ring and will be contesting the polls from the western suburb of Jogeshwari (ward number 77) as an independent.

What makes Morye unique and different from the rest of his competitors is that he funded his campaigning through crowd-sourcing. All expenses like printing banners and raising the deposit amount of Rs 5,000 for filing his nomination came from contributions made by local people.

5) Vinod Argile

He may suffer from permanent congenital blindness, but Vinod Argile has chalked out a vision for Kamathipura, ward 213, from where he is contesting the polls.

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader hopes to eradicate illiteracy, remove encroachments and empower the youth.
Ahead of its strategic dialogue with India, China on Friday said solid evidence was needed for it to back efforts to get JeM chief Masood Azhar banned by the United Nations.

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and Chinas Executive Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui will hold a new round of strategic dialogue in Beijing on February 22, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told a media briefing in Beijing.

The two sides will have an in-depth exchange of views on the international situation and other regional and global issues of mutual interest in the strategic dialogue which is an important communication mechanism between India and China, he said.

Commenting on reports of friction points in the bilateral relationship, including the Azhar issue and Indias admission into the Nuclear Suppliers Group, Geng said differences are only natural.

Through all kinds of conversation and exchanges, including (the) upcoming Strategic Dialogue, (the) two sides can step up communication to narrow differences and reach new consensus on achieving cooperation, he said.

On the Azhar issue, over which China has put a technical hold on the recent US move to list the Jaish-e-Mohammed chief as a terrorist in the 1267 committee of the UN Security Council, Geng said China will support the move if there is solid evidence.

China upholds principles of objectivity, impartiality and professionalism and takes part in relevant discussions. Whether last years application by India or this years by (the) relevant country, our position is consistent, Geng said.

Our criteria (sic) is only one, we need solid evidence. If there is solid evidence the application can be approved. If there is no solid evidence there is hardly consensus, he said.

Stating that China has reiterated its stand several times, Geng said, "On (the) 1267 committee, the latest development is relevant countries have made another application with the committee. Relevant members of (the) committee are in consultation and relevant parties have failed to reach consensus so far."

China last year put a technical hold twice on Indias application to get Azhar banned by the UN.

This year, the US moved the proposal in the UNSC to designate Azhar, the mastermind of the Pathankot terror attack, as a terrorist. China once again has put a technical hold on the move.

On Indias entry into the NSG, he said, We have said many times this is a multilateral issue.

We stick to two-step approach namely, first NSG members need to arrive at a set of principles for the entry of non-NPT state parties into NSG and then move forward discussions of specific cases, Geng said.

Our position is consistent. Apart from India, other non-NPT state parties are also making applications. Our position on those applications is consistent, he said.

Whether the Azhar issue or the NSG issue, they are in essence multilateral issues and not bilateral ones, Geng said.

We hope India can understand Chinas attitude and position on the two matters, he said, adding that China and India are the two largest developing counties having a wide range of converging interests.

China India cooperation benefits not only two countries but the region and developing world which can contribute to our solidarity, he said.
Pakistan Army on Friday claimed to have killed more than 100 suspected terrorists in retaliation to a Islamic State suicide bombing at a crowded Sufi shrine in Sindh province that claimed 88 lives.

The media wing of the army, ISPR, said a "sizeable" number of suspects have also been arrested since Thursday night, when a Islamic State bomber blew himself up at the popular shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan in the southern province.

The statement did not specify where the militants were killed or about the arrests and said "details will be shared".

The blast was one of the deadliest in Pakistan in years and a continuation of several terrorist strikes in the country this week, despite the army's offensive against militants.

Pakistan Army has launched combing operations across the country, including Punjab province.

"Intelligence agencies are making progress to unearth networks behind recent (terrorist) incidents," military spokesman Major Gen Asif Ghafoor said, without providing details.

Immediately after the blast, Pakistan claimed the bombing was planned in militant sanctuaries across the border in Afghanistan, threatening renewed hostilities between Kabul and Islamabad.

The army claimed it has found linkages to militant support networks operating from Afghanistan and it has closed the border due to security reasons after the bombing on Thursday night.

Pakistan Army began an operation in Shalman area near the Pakistan-Afghan border, using heavy artillery fire, reports said. The border with Afghanistan at Torkham has been shut.

"No cross-border or unauthorised entry will be allowed into Pakistan from Afghanistan," it said.

Afghan diplomats were earlier on Friday summoned to General Headquarters in Rawalpindi by the Army, which lodged a protest over the use of Afghan soil by terrorists to carry out attacks in Pakistan.

The Afghan officials were also handed over a list of 76 terrorists hiding across the border and directing or supporting terrorist activities in Pakistan, the statement said. "Afghan government has been asked to target them and hand them over to Pakistan."

Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa assured the people, saying the "hostile" agenda will not be allowed to succeed "whatever it may cost".

"Army is for security of people of Pakistan against all types of threat. Nation to stay steadfast with full confidence in their security forces," he was quoted as saying in the statement. Officials said the crackdown against militants would be intensified in the coming days.

"After the string of terrorist attacks in the country in the past week, the government and military are on one page and the crackdown was ordered," a top government official said about the operations by security forces across Pakistan.

The crackdown was launched simultaneously by federal and provincial governments after at least eight terror attacks rocked Pakistan in the past week. The attacks began with a suicide bomber targeting a protest rally outside the Punjab assembly in Lahore on Monday, killing 14 people.

The same day a terrorist attack was foiled in Quetta, but two officials of the Bomb Disposal Squad were killed while defusing the bomb. Terrorists also carried out attacks in Mohmand agency and Peshawar followed by shrine blast in Sindh.

Image: A man mourns the death of a relative who was killed in a suicide blast at the tomb of Sufi saint Syed Usman Marwandi on Thursday evening. Photograph: Akhtar Soomro/Reuters
The big birds have flocked at the 11th edition of the international aerospace and defence exhibition -- Aero India 2017 -- at the Air Force Station, Yelahanka in Bengaluru.

One of the most sought after exhibitions in Asia, as many as 549 companies are participating this year with 53 fighter aircraft on display.

While the Sukhoi 30 MKI, the indigenous light combat aircraft Tejas, Lockheed Martin's F-16 Falcon from the US, the Gripen fighter from Sweden's SAAB and the French Rafale have been drawing major attention, the British Yakovlevs aerobatic team, the Scandinavian Skycats and our own Surya Kiran aerobatics team (returning to the show in Hawk AJTs) and the Sarang helicopter display team are providing the stunt thrills.

Scroll down to see few glimpses from Aero India 2017:

Multi-role Light Combat Helicopter puts up an impressive display. LCH is the first attack helicopter which landed at an altitude of 4.5 km in the Himalayas with considerable load of weapons and fuel. IAF would get 10 LSP variants and Army will get five. IAF will acquire 65 LCHs and Army will acquire 114 LCHs in total. Photograph: MoD/Twitter

SAAB Gripen presenting aerial maneuvers. Saab says that Gripen is the smart answer to India's need for effective and affordable 21st century airpower. Saab's Gripen E full-scale replica is open to visitors and gives visitors a first-hand experience of Gripen's future-proof operational capabilities. Gripen is also a highlight of the daily flying display. Photograph: MoD/Twitter

Tejas trainers in a paired take off. The IAF plans to purchase 83 Mark 1A LCA at a cost of Rs 50,025 crore and the Defence Acquisition Council has already given its nod to the procurement by way of acceptance of necessity. This is over and above the 40 Tejas aircraft that the IAF is already getting. Photograph: Rakesh Mangaraj/MoD Twitter

USA's F-16 Falcon, the single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft, in action. At the Aero India, US assets this year include F-16C fighting Falcons, a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft and a C-130J Super Hercules transport. A Pacific Air Forces F-16 demonstration team is showcasing the capability of one of the US Air Force's leading fighters and a combined India-US parachute demonstration is also planned. Photograph: MoD/Twitter

Su-30MkI zooms through the sky. Moscow and New Delhi are preparing documents to tie up a contract on modernization of the Russian-designed Sukhoi Su-30MKI multirole fighter. After modernization, the fighter jet will get the AL-41F turbofan engines designed for 4++ generation aircraft currently being installed on the Su-35 fighters. The IAF has a fleet of over 200 Russia-designed aircraft built under license by India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. Photograph: MoD/Twitter

Pilatus PC-7 performing aerobatics. IAF rookie pilots fly the propeller-driven Pilatus PC-7 Mark II. Photograph: MoD/Twitter

Scandinavian Skycats wave at spectators. During flight the two Skycats climb up and pose on the wings of the aircraft in different formations like "Lazy Cat", "Super Cat" etc. while the pilot makes numerous aerobatic manoeuvres like loops and barrel rolls. Photograph: MoD/Twitter

French Rafale zooms through the sky. India is buying 36 of Rafales, which can also play the role 'airborne strategic delivery system', which in simple English means they can carry nuclear bombs. The first squadron of Rafale that India will receive will be deployed on the Chinese border in the north-east and are set to be hardwired for nuclear delivery. India also has an option for 18 more aircraft which can be exercised in the future. Photograph: MoD/Twitter

Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa flew a trainer version of the Light Combat Aircraft with Air vice-Marshal AP Singh, who is principal director at NFTC, being his co-pilot during the sortie over Yelahanka airbase. Less than 15 days after taking over as the IAF chief, he flew solo in a Mig-21 fighter jet, the oldest fighter aircraft in the IAF's inventory. Dhanoa flew the Mig-21 Type 96 aircraft from the IAF base at Uttarlai, a forward base in Rajasthan. Photograph: MoD/Twitter

Sweden's SAAB Gripen delivers a thundering aerobatic display. Gripen combines exceptional operational performance, highly advanced net-centric warfare, sensor fusion, unique BVR capability and cost efficiency with true transfer of technology and comprehensive industrial partnership. Weapon Systems include the MBDA Meteor, the RBS 15 and Taurus. Also on display is Gripen Maritime, the naval variant of Gripen E. Photograph: MoD/Twitter

USA's F-16 Falcon steers through the clouds. A cross-section of US military aircraft and equipment is present at the airshow through static displays and aerial demonstrations including two F-16 Fighting Falcons from the 35th Fighter Wing, Misawa Air Base, Japan; and one C-130J Super Hercules from the 143rd Airlift Wing, Rhode Island Air National Guard. One F-16 will conduct a single-ship demonstration during the show. Photograph: GuruDutt/MoD Twitter

After having skipped two editions of Aero India, the Surya Kiran Aerobatics team of the Indian Air Force was back on display with a new jet-powered advanced Hawk aircraft. The SKAT performed for the record 500th time on Tuesday. Photograph: MoD/Twitter

The 'Tiger Moth' over Bengaluru skies. The 'de Havilland DH82 'Tiger Moth' is a two-seat, single bay biplane powered by a 145 hp Gypsy Major four-cylinder inverted air-cooled engine. It was the primary trainer aircraft for the Royal Air Force during the Second World War and was also the basic trainer aircraft in the IAF right from 1940. Training schools in the IAF operated the Tiger Moth and later it was replaced by the HT-2.The Tiger Moth has no electric system and has to be started manually. Even it is refueled manually by pouring fuel in the tank above on the biplane. Photograph: MoD/Twitter

The Make In India ensemble -- LCA Dornier, Su-30MkI, Hawk-i & HTT-40. Photograph: MoD/Twitter

Light Utility Helicopter makes its first-ever public display. The helicopter has been designed and developed by the Bengaluru-headquartered defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. Officials said the flight was a big step in the Make in India programme. The prototype was piloted by Wing Commander Unni Pillai. The helicopter, which is suited for operating in small areas, performed several manoeuvres. Photograph: MoD/Twitter

IAF C-130J Super Hercules on the tarmac. The C-130s began operational use with the Sikkim earthquake in September last year, and their legs have been stretched by pilots with visits to Car Nicobar and other remote parts of the country. A modified version of the C-130J called the 'Sea Hercules' will participate in the Indian Navy's medium range maritime reconnaissance aircraft competition. Photograph: MoD/Twitter

Light Combat Helicopter performing aerial maneuvers. The HAL-developed LCH is capable of high-altitude warfare. It can reach any height ranging from 19,700 to 21,300 feet. It can be used in various operations such as counter surface force operations, destruction of enemy air defence operations, providing an escort to special heliborne operations, counter-insurgency operations, offensive employment in urban warfare, support of combat, search and rescue operations, anti-tank action and scout duties. Photograph: MoD/Twitter

Netra, India's first indigenously-developed airborne early warning and control system, was handed over to the IAF at Aero India. The indigenous system mounted on an aircraft can track area within 240 degrees of its sides at any given point of time. The AEW&C consists of a state-of-the-art active electronically scanned radar, secondary surveillance radar, electronic and communication countermeasures, Line of Sight and beyond-LOS data link, voice communication system and self-protection suite, built on an Emb-145 platform, having a mid-air refuelling capability to enhance surveillance time. Photograph: MoD/Twitter

A Scandinavian Wasp enthralling spectators. Photograph: MoD/Twitter

IAF's Sarang helicopter takes flight. The 55-member Sarang team flies the indigenous Advanced Light Helicopter manufactured by the HAL in spectacular formations with a stealth entry. Photograph: Abhishek N Chinnappa/Reuters

A Skeldar V-200 remotely-piloted aerial system. SKELDAR V-200 is unique in the VTOL space due to its double payload capacity and ability to run on heavy fuel, making it the ideal platform for maritime and naval operations as well as military and civilian activities. Flexible and highly versatile, the system is multi-role meaning it can perform a wide range of applications including reconnaissance, identification, target acquisition and electronic warfare. Additionally, the drone is deployable with a number of COTS high resolution EO/IR, SAR and EW sensors. Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo
Despite Army Chief Bipin Rawat's stern message, Kashmiri youths on Friday waved Pakistani and Islamic State flags and pelted stones at security forces in old Srinagar city.

Soon after the Friday prayers, young boys with their faces covered gathered at Kashmir's Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta and started chanting pro-freedom slogans.

Stone-pelting incidents were also reported from several other places in north Kashmir and south Kashmir, a police official said.

On Wednesday, the army chief had warned those attacking security forces during anti-terrorism operations of "tough action".

The stern message from Rawat came a day after three soldiers faced heavy stone-pelting at Parray Mohalla of Bandipore in north Kashmir when they were about to launch an operation against terrorists holed up there.

Alerted by the stone-pelters, the militants got an opportunity to fire hand grenades and empty a few magazines from AK-rifles into the advancing troopers, leaving three jawans dead and some others, including a Commanding officer of CRPF, injured. One terrorist managed to flee the area.

With inputs from PTI

All Photographs: Umar Ganie/Rediff.com


President Donald Trump on Friday said that he would issue a new executive order next week that would address the concerns raised by the court on his previous order that temporarily suspended entry of Syrian refugees and people from seven Muslim-majority countries into the United States.

10 members of Trump's Advisory Commission quit in protest of immigration policies As many as 10 members of Trumps Advisory Commission on Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders have resigned to protest against some of his policies on immigration, including visa ban on travellers from seven Muslim-majority nations. 'Although the Commissioners' term ends 9/30/17 (sic), we can no longer serve a President whose policies aim to create outcomes that are diametrically opposite to our principles, goals, and charge,' said the letter signed by 10 of the members of the Commission, all of whom were appointed by the previous President. The letter, dated February 15, referred to some of the policies of the Trump Administration including visa ban, repeal of affordable care act, increased border and immigrant enforcement, as well as building a wall between Mexico and the US as some of the reasons for their resignation. 'We object to your portrayal of immigrants, refugees, people of colour and people of various faiths as untrustworthy, threatening, and a drain on our nation,' the letter said. The Commission had 20 members. Six of them had already resigned on January 20 when Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. Now only four commissioners are left. 'We urge you and every member of your administration to respect all Americans by protecting civil rights and civil liberties for everyone, promoting broader dialogue and understanding, and keeping the federal government accessible to all people living in the United States  regardless of their status as citizens, immigrants or refugees, the letter said.

"The new (executive) order is going to be very much tailored to what I consider to be a very bad decision, but we can tailor the order to that decision and get just about everything, in some ways more," Trump told reporters at a hurriedly convened White House news conference.

Soon thereafter the Justice Department approached a federal court in San Francisco for a pause in the proceedings.

The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in its order late Thursday put the proceedings of the case on hold.

Last week, the court had refused to lift the hold on Trumps executive order by a federal court in Seattle.

In Trump's January 27 executive order, there was a ban on people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the US for 90 days. Refugees were banned for 120 days, except those from Syria, who were banned indefinitely.

Trump told reporters that his new executive order is being tailored. We have some of the best lawyers in the country working on it. And the new executive order is being tailored to the decision we got down from the court, he said.

However, he did not give details of the new order.

Trump criticised the court order suspending the travel ban as a very bad decision, very bad for the safety and security of our country. The rollout was perfect.

"We've vetting very, very strongly. Very, very strongly. But we need help, and we need help by getting that executive order passed," he said.

The new executive action next week, he said, will comprehensively protect the country.

"We will be going along the one path and hopefully winning that. At the same time, we will be issuing a new and very comprehensive order to protect our people, and that will be done some time next week, toward the beginning or middle at the latest part," he said.

Meanwhile, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson who was instrumental in filing the case against the executive order claimed victory.

"Let's be clear: Today's court filing by the federal government recognises the obvious -- the President's current Executive Order violates the Constitution. President Trump could have sought review of this flawed Order in the Supreme Court but declined to face yet another defeat, he said.

Ferguson alleged that the Executive Order violates the US Constitutions guarantee of Equal Protection and the First Amendments Establishment Clause, infringes individuals constitutional right to Due Process and contravenes the federal Immigration and Nationality Act.

'Intelligence leaks to be reviewed'

President Trump has said he might take the services of a New York billionaire to review American intelligence agencies and the leaks flowing out of them which have fuelled a string of damaging news reports on his administration.

Trump said that Stephen Feinberg, co-founder of Cerberus Capital Management, has offered his services and he might tap him to look into the leaks. He described Feinberg as a very talented and successful man.

"He has offered his services and, its something we may take advantage of," Trump said.

"But I dont think we need that at all because of the fact that you know, I think that we are going to be able to straighten it out very easily on its own," he added.

Trump said Mike Pompeo is now heading the CIA and James Comey was in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation while hoping that Dan Cote would soon be confirmed for the position of Director of National Intelligence.

"I hope that well be able to straighten that out without using anybody else," he said.

During the news conference, Trump publicly vented out his anger and frustration at the leaks of classified information including his own conversation with some of the top leaders of the world.

He said the information about his conversation with heads of States of Mexico and Australia was leaked which prompted him to demand the resignation of his national security advisor Michael Flynn.

"All this information gets put into the Washington Post and gets put into the New York Times and Im saying whats going to happen when Im dealing on the Middle East? Whats going to happen when Im dealing with really, really important subjects like North Korea? We got to stop it. Thats why its a criminal penalty," Trump said.

The renewed focus on tracking down leaks comes following Flynn's resignation amid reports that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about a phone call with a Russian diplomat. Flynns alleged deception was revealed by leaks.

While Trump apparently sought Flynn's resignation, the episode swiftly rekindled the Presidents feud with the intelligence community.

'It would be great if we could get along with Russia'

Batting for warm relations with Russia, Trump said it is a good thing if the US gets along with Moscow as both the countries are nuclear powers.

"It would be great if we could get along with Russia, just so you understand that. Now tomorrow, you'll say Donald Trump wants to get along with Russia, this is terrible. Its not terrible. Its good," Trump told reporters at a White House news conference.

He was responding to a series of questions on some of the recent provocative behaviour of Russia.

Asked if Putin was testing him, Trump said he did not think so.

"No, I don't think so. I think Putin probably assumes that he can't make a deal with me anymore because politically it would be unpopular for a politician to make a deal. I cant believe I'm saying I'm a politician, but I guess that's what I am now. It would be much easier for me to be tough on Russia, but then we're not going to make a deal," Trump said.

Trump said he wanted to do right thing for the world.
Robert S Harward, the retired vice admiral and former Navy SEAL who was United States President Donald Trumps top choice as national security adviser, has turned down the post.

This job requires 24 hours a day, seven days a week focus and commitment to do it right. I currently could not make that commitment, the New York Times quoted Harward as saying.

He added that he had "the opportunity to address financial and family issues that would have been challenging in this position for the first time, since retiring from a 40-year military career.

Two senior administration officials also confirmed that Harward cited family and financial considerations in turning down the post.

Earlier, Trumps national security adviser Michael Flynn resigned over controversy about his Russian ties. The resignation was quickly followed by the abrupt withdrawal of Andrew Puzder, his nominee for secretary of labour.

But by then, Harward, who is a top executive at Lockheed Martin, had decided he was not willing to take the post. He wrote to Trump and Mattis conveying his decision, two of the officials said.

Trumps National Security Council has been embroiled in political controversy. In an executive order last month, which Trump later complained privately that he had not been fully briefed on, the president placed Stephen K Bannon, his chief strategist, on its principals committee, giving a political advisor a position of parity with the secretaries of state and defence and with the national security adviser.

Two former national security officials, who have worked closely with Harward, said he would have been unlikely to take the position without assurances from Trump that he could run the NSC free of intervention by political advisers. They also spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak about the matter.

Harwards withdrawal from consideration prompted David H Petraeus, the former general and director of the Central Intelligence Agency, to step up his lobbying for the post, according to officials familiar with the process.

Petraeus resigned from the CIA in 2012 after admitting that he had an extramarital affair.

Image: Vice Admiral Robert S Harward cited family and financial considerations in turning down the post. Photograph: Sgt Shawn Coolman/US Marines/Reuters
State Debate: The anti-austere Scott Walker, the scourge of student debt, a campaign to save DNR magazine
Iran: Slain Protester's Mother Arrested

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 16 February 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Iran: Slain Protester's Mother Arrested, 16 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a6af954.html [accessed 6 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 Iranian authorities have arrested and detained the mother of one of the victims of the government's violent crackdown on protests in 2009, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should immediately release Shahnaz Karimbeigi, who became an activist after her son was killed and has been in Evin prison since January 25, 2017, or promptly bring recognizable criminal charges against her and guarantee her a fair trial.

Karimbeigi's 26-year-old son, Mostafa, was one of several protesters who were shot and killed during protests on December 27, 2009, linked to the disputed 2009 presidential election. Fifteen days after his disappearance, authorities directed the Karimbeigi family to the Kahrizak detention center morgue, where they identified Mostafa's body, a source familiar with the case told Human Rights Watch. In the ensuing years, Karimbeigi has become a visible presence, demanding that the authorities identify and prosecute those responsible for her son's death. Three weeks after her arrest, her family has not been informed of any reason for her detention.

"Arbitrarily detaining a woman who has repeatedly asked for justice for her son is simply shameful," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "The judiciary should focus on finding out who killed Shahnaz Karimbeigi's son, instead of prosecuting her for peaceful activism."

Authorities from the Intelligence Ministry arrested Karimbeigi at her workplace on the morning of January 25, and later that day searched her apartment and seized all her electronic devices, including her laptop. They also threatened Karimbeigi's daughter and husband over the phone and summoned them for several hours of interrogation at the ministry's "Follow-up Office" the next day, the source told Human Rights Watch. But it is not clear what charges Karimbeigi faces, and she has been denied access to a lawyer. Authorities had threatened, harassed, and briefly detained Karimbeigi several times before her arrest, the source said.

International law guarantees anyone accused of a crime access to a lawyer at all stages of criminal proceedings, including during the investigation, the pretrial proceedings, and during the trial itself. Iran's 2014 criminal procedure law stipulates that anyone arrested should be given access to a lawyer while under investigation, with the exception of those accused of "national security crimes," for whom such access could be delayed for up to a week. Article 48 of the law also requires people accused of national security offenses to select their counsel from a pre-approved pool of lawyers chosen by the head of the judiciary. The judiciary has yet to provide the list of pre-approved lawyers mandated by the new law, but even in the absence of a list, officials are effectively denying detainees' access to legal defense and the right to be represented by a lawyer of their choice when they face national security crimes.

Since her son's death, Karimbeigi had participated in several memorial gatherings with the mothers of other victims of the 2009 crackdown to demand justice for their loved ones, as well as organized public support for the families of imprisoned activists. Most recently, Karimbeigi was one of several advocates using social media campaigns to support Arash Sadeghi, a human rights defender serving a 15-year prison sentence in Evin prison.

In October 2016, Sadeghi began a hunger strike, which he ended in December, to protest his wife's imprisonment. Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, Sadeghi's wife, is serving a six-year sentence on charges of "insulting the sanctities of Islam" and "spreading propaganda against the state."

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
Iraq: UN health agency delivers medical aid to newly retaken areas of Mosul

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 16 February 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Iraq: UN health agency delivers medical aid to newly retaken areas of Mosul, 16 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a6b09c40d.html [accessed 6 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.

16 February 2017 - The United Nations health agency has delivered medical supplies to parts of eastern Mosul, the Iraqi city liberated from the Islamic State (ISIL), where clinics are receiving an influx of people in urgent need of medical care.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said the supplies will support treatment of patients with infectious diseases, chronic conditions, diarrheal diseases and trauma cases who have been deprived of medical care.

According to the press release, the supplies are a donation from the Government of Norway and include medicines, emergency health kits, surgical kits and an interagency diarrheal disease kits.

They were delivered to newly retaken areas of Mosul, including 16 primary health centres, one hospital and the Directorate of Health (DOH) of Ninewa  the governorate which includes Mosul.

WHO has appealed for $65 million to support health interventions in this part of Iraq through the end of the year. So far, $14 million has been received.
New UN report reveals obstacles to combat impunity for conflict-related sexual violence in Ukraine

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 16 February 2017 Related Document(s) Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Ukraine: 14 March 2014 to 31 January 2017 Cite as UN News Service, New UN report reveals obstacles to combat impunity for conflict-related sexual violence in Ukraine, 16 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a6b0ce412.html [accessed 6 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.

16 February 2017 - Lack of laws, capacity and professional experience to effectively investigate and prosecute conflict-related sexual violence in Ukraine is not only resulting in widespread impunity, it is causing survivors of sexual violence to be "victimized twice", according to a new United Nations human rights report.

What's the point of saying what happened to me? No one will be able to help and no one will be able to find those who did it. No one will punish them, one survivor of sexual violence quoted in the report said.

The report, issued today by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), also revealed that beatings and electrocution on the genitals, rape, threats of rape and forced nudity were used to punish, humiliate or extract confessions. In the territory controlled by armed groups, sexual violence was also used to compel people in detention to hand over property or to do as the perpetrators demanded, as an explicit condition for their release.

The majority of the documented cases happened when people, both men and women, were detained by either Government forces or armed groups.

[...] he told me that if I refused to write, perpetrators would bring my [...] daughter in and will make me watch how they take turns one after another to rape her. After that I filled in eight pages with the text they dictated to me, read the report, citing a woman who was detained on conflict-related charges.

The investigation and conviction of perpetrators of sexual violence is vital for the victims who are entitled to justice and redress, said Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, underscoring that doing so can also have a decisive impact in preventing such crimes.

Impunity encourages the criminals, for that is what they are, to continue.

Furthermore, the report also noted that deteriorating economic situation, particularly in conflict-affected regions, combined with a breakdown of community ties due to conflict and displacement, has led some people to use harmful survival strategies and coping mechanisms that may increase the risk of sexual violence and trafficking.

The report was prepared by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) - deployed to the country in in March 2014 upon the invitation of the Government of Ukraine - and looks at the period from 14 March 2014 to 31 January this year and covers all territory of the country, including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, with a special focus on the eastern regions, parts of which are under the control of armed groups.

Lack of support for victims further complicated by restrictions placed by armed groups

The report also draws specific attention to the lack of support for victims, especially in areas of Donetsk and Luhansk controlled by armed groups.

Furthermore, medical professionals and state institutions throughout the country lack the specific knowledge and skills needed to deal with survivors of torture and conflict-related sexual violence.

In this situation, civil society organizations are stepping in through donor-funded programmes, as well as by various UN agencies and international organizations to offer support to the victims. However, these are mostly confined to urban areas and there is little or no assistance available in smaller towns and rural areas.

On top of this, restrictions imposed by the armed groups have hindered these organizations to carry out their programmes, particularly those linked to protection and psycho-social support and there are no real redress mechanisms available for victims in the territory controlled by armed groups, noted the report.
South Sudan: UN deplores lack of information on 20,000 people displaced in Upper Nile

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 16 February 2017 Cite as UN News Service, South Sudan: UN deplores lack of information on 20,000 people displaced in Upper Nile, 16 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a6b1eb40e.html [accessed 6 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.

16 February 2017 - The top United Nations peacekeeping official in South Sudan has described the lack of information about the situation of some 20,000 internally displaced people on the west bank of the Nile in the country's north, as a "real problem."

"We want to find out what has happened to those people, and provide them with assistance if they need it," said David Shearer, the Secretary-General's Special Representative and head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), who was making his first field trip to the town of Malakal after taking up his position as Mission chief four weeks ago.

According to a press statement issued today by the office of the Mission's spokesperson, UNMISS believes that the 20,000 people have fled towards Kodok from Wau Shilluk, a town eight miles north of the UN base in Malakal on the west bank of the River Nile.

Fighting between the Government Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) forces and opposition forces has expanded geographically across the west bank over the past week, and shows no signs of abating, forcing more people to flee their homes.

On Thursday, UN peacekeepers attempted to carry out a foot patrol to Wau Shilluk, but were prevented from doing so by SPLA soldiers located at Wau Shilluk, a situation Mr. Shearer described as "very frustrating."

Meanwhile, the statement noted that UNMISS has described government relocations by air of internally displaced people through Juba into Malakal as unsustainable if they are not also supported with humanitarian assistance on arrival.

The Shilluk population of Malakal has abandoned the town and 33,000 people are currently taking refuge in the camp administered by UNMISS.
UN and regional partners urge DR Congo parties to resume political talks

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 16 February 2017 Cite as UN News Service, UN and regional partners urge DR Congo parties to resume political talks, 16 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a6b20e40e.html [accessed 6 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.

16 February 2017 - Increasingly concerned about the political impasse in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations and regional partner organizations today urged political actors to work out how to implement the 31 December political agreement on a timeframe for elections.

The UN, the African Union (AU), the European Union (EU) and the International Organization of La Francophonie (IOF) today released a joint statement warning that the situation "has the potential to undermine the political goodwill" that led to the signing of the agreement in December.

"The four partner organizations note that six weeks after agreeing on the modalities of a transition period leading to the holding of peaceful and credible elections by December 2017, the parties are yet to conclude discussions on the effective implementation of the agreement," according to the statement.

The agreement - facilitated by Conference Episcopale Nationale du Congo (CENCO) mediators, and reached in DRC's capital, Kinshasa, on 31 December 2016 - would result in new elections being held in the country before the end of the year and for President Joseph Kabila to step down.

In today's statement, the four partner organizations reaffirm the need for all parties to rally behind the mediation efforts by CENCO, and urge all stakeholders "to redouble, in good faith" their efforts to conclude the ongoing talks.

A lack of implementation plans threaten to shake the "legitimacy of the transitional institutions until elections," the partners said.
Aid obstacles are 'matter of life and death' for besieged Syrians, says senior UN adviser

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 16 February 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Aid obstacles are 'matter of life and death' for besieged Syrians, says senior UN adviser, 16 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a6b23440e.html [accessed 6 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.

16 February 2017 - Assurances have been given to humanitarians by the Syrian Government that obstacles to aid deliveries will be removed across the war-torn country, a senior United Nations adviser said today.

Speaking to journalists in Geneva, UN Special Adviser Jan Egeland said that the agreement was needed to remove what he called an "administrative quagmire" that has prevented all aid from reaching besieged populations by road so far this year.

Ahead of a round of Intra-Syrian negotiations in the Swiss city next week, Mr. Egeland added that the issue is "a question of life and death" for many.

So far this year, aid agencies and their partners have not reached a single besieged area inside Syria by land. There are 13 of these besieged and hard-to-reach areas in all, where well over 600,000 people are increasingly vulnerable, after six years of war.

Mr. Egeland described the lack of aid deliveries as an "enormous disappointment," before announcing that the Syrian Government had given assurances that requests to deliver food and medical supplies would be met, rather than being blocked at the last moment.

In recent days "men with guns" had jumped onto more than two in three convoys to unload diarrhoea kits for children and maternity kits for pregnant women, Mr. Egeland said.

UN Senior Advisor, Jan Egeland. UN Photo/Luca Solari (file)

"This must change and can change," he continued, adding that there had been intensive diplomatic activity by the UN or UN envoys and with the help of members of the task force with the Government of Syria, who say that a new and better system avoiding the "administrative quagmire where we have to have green lights from so many instances that in the end no convoy moves to any besieged area."

Nowhere is aid needed more than in the so-called 'Four Towns' of Foah, Kafraya, Madaya and Zabadani.

"We hope and believe it will change now; it must change now. Because if we are not reaching the 'Four Towns' very soon we will see again the scenes that we saw when the whole thing started a year ago: people starving."

With UN-facilitated talks in Geneva due to begin next week, Mr. Egeland said it would send "a very important signal" if aid convoys that were standing by were allowed through to Al Waer in Homs governorate, another besieged location.

'Mixed results' for Humanitarian Taskforce's first year

Assessing the work carried out by the Humanitarian Taskforce in the year since its establishment by the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) to boost aid access, he said the results had been mixed.

The ISSG established respective taskforces on humanitarian aid delivery and a wider ceasefire. They have been meeting separately since early 2016 on a way forward in the crisis. Russia and the United States are the co-chairs of the taskforces and the ISSG, which also comprises the UN, the Arab League, the European Union and 16 other countries.

While noting that the taskforce had nearly trebled the number of people reached in 2016 compared with the previous year, he said progress has been hampered of late.

"The Humanitarian Taskforce could provide access especially through the initiatives of the co-chairs Russia and the United States when they were active and working together, but also other Member States helped us in real time in a number of convoys that were stopped and in the end were helped through checkpoints because of diplomatic initiatives," he explained.

As such, "it is a shame that members of the task force were not able to lift a single siege by negotiations in 2016. There is commitment to try to do that in 2017, it could happen through talks in Astana, in Geneva and elsewhere. 'Lift the sieges' is our appeal. Sieges belong in the Middle Ages, they do not belong in 2017," said Mr. Egeland.

Looking ahead, he appealed for the taskforce's co-chairs to do more, along with Member States who have influence on the Syrian Government and armed opposition, such as Iran, Turkey and the Gulf States.

News from the political front

Meanwhile, according to a UN spokesperson, the Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, met in Moscow today with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov.

They discussed the ongoing meeting in Astana and how best it can contribute to the preparations for the Geneva round of negotiations scheduled for next week. Meetings were useful and productive. Other issues, such as humanitarian access and UN-Russia cooperation, were also discussed.

The spokesperson confirmed that a five-member UN delegation is in Astana to lend its expertise in discussions on the consolidation of the ceasefire regime and related issues.
Yemen: Senior UN aid official 'appalled' by airstrikes that kill women and children

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 16 February 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Yemen: Senior UN aid official 'appalled' by airstrikes that kill women and children, 16 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a6b25340c.html [accessed 6 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.

16 February 2017 - The top United Nations humanitarian official in Yemen today said he was extremely saddened and appalled by the airstrikes that killed six women and a girl gathering for a funeral in a private residence in the Arhab District of Sana'a Governorate yesterday.

"The manner in which the parties to the conflict are waging this war is taking an unacceptable toll on the civilian population in Yemen and as illustrated by this most recent tragedy, women and children are paying with their lives," said UN Humanitarian Coordinator Jamie McGoldrick in a statement.

The statement, issued by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that health authorities confirm six women and a girl killed, as well as at least 15 other women injured, some gravely. Unfortunately, the number of dead could rise as the critically injured struggle to survive.

"I am alarmed to see this tragic loss of life further escalate the fighting, with reports of a retaliatory ballistic missile strike into Saudi Arabia's Asir region," he said.

This incident comes at a time of severe hardship and suffering in Yemen where imposed import restrictions are causing food scarcity and price hikes resulting in worsening food insecurity and malnutrition across the country.

The economic decline caused by the conflict is leading to the collapse of basic service provision. Sana'a airport remains closed to commercial flights, limiting options for those who need this service to access life-saving medical care and restricting movements in and out of the country.

"The people of Yemen have suffered long enough. Peace is the only solution to help end the suffering in Yemen," he said, calling on all the parties to return to the negotiation table.

In a separate statement on the incident, UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, stressed that every day, across Yemen, civilians are killed by indiscriminate attacks by all parties to the conflict on residential areas in complete disregard of the rules of international humanitarian law.

"Attacks on civilians are unjustifiable, regardless of the circumstances. Women and children in particular have been subjected to unspeakable suffering in this brutal conflict. This should stop immediately," he said, calling an all parties to adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law and respect the sanctity of civilian life.

Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed went on to note that the ongoing military clashes on the Red Sea coast are aggravating an already catastrophic humanitarian situation, with tens of thousands of civilians caught in the war zone without access to humanitarian assistance and unable to flee to safety.

"The military activities in the region threaten to disrupt the import of commercial and humanitarian supplies which could have a terrible impact on the food security for large parts of the population," he said, urging all parties to ensure the unhindered movement of commercial and humanitarian supplies, without which millions of Yemenis are at risk of death and famine.
Pakistan: UN condemns deadly terrorist attack on Sufi shrine in Sindh province

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 16 February 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Pakistan: UN condemns deadly terrorist attack on Sufi shrine in Sindh province, 16 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a6b2bc40c.html [accessed 6 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.

16 February 2017 - The United Nations has condemned the terrorist attack on worshippers at a Sufi shrine in Sehwan, in Sindh, Pakistan, today, which reportedly left dozens dead and hundreds injured, and for which the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh) has claimed responsibility.

This attack, claimed by ISIL/Da'esh, follows a suicide bombing at a rally in Lahore on Monday, and a suicide bombing on a Government compound in the Mohmand tribal area and an attack on a Government van carrying judges in Peshawar on Wednesday, according to a statement issued this afternoon by the Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

"We extend our condolences to the families of the victims and to the Government and people of Pakistan, and wish a speedy recovery to the injured. We call for the perpetrators of this attack to be brought to justices swiftly," said the statement, adding that the UN supports the Government of Pakistan in its fight against terrorism in full respect of international and human rights norms.
EU: Polish Government Undermines Rule of Law

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 16 February 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, EU: Polish Government Undermines Rule of Law, 16 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a6b39f4.html [accessed 6 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 European Commission should pursue enforcement action against the government of Poland under the Article 7 of the EU treaty, as the government continues to undermine the rule of law, Amnesty International, FIDH, Human Rights Watch, the Open Society European Policy Institute, Reporters Without Borders said in a letter to the Commission today. The European Union and its member states need to show resolve to halt Poland's backsliding from the common values of the EU, the organizations said.

One year ago, under its EU Rule of Law Framework, the European Commission began a dialogue with the Polish government designed to determine whether there was a systemic threat to the rule of law in Poland and prevent its escalation. In the course of the process, it then issued two rounds of recommendations to the government -- in July and December 2016. The Polish government has largely ignored those recommendations, and worryingly has also increasingly attempted to restrict the rule of law and human rights, including media freedom, freedom of assembly and women's sexual and reproductive rights.

"By attempting to silence critical voices and dismantle vital protections, Poland is creating an ever more suffocating climate for the judiciary, media and civil society. The Commission is duty-bound to act firmly and swiftly to stem this disturbing regressive tide" said Iverna McGowan, Head of Amnesty International's European Institutions Office.

Since October 2015, the President of Poland has refused to swear in lawfully appointed Constitutional Tribunal judges. The Polish Parliament adopted successive reforms affecting the Constitutional Tribunal's functioning, undermining its legitimacy and seriously reducing its ability to carry out its work. The government has routinely refused to publish and implement rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal.

"In a society based on the rule of law, the head of state cannot pick and choose whether to respect that law," said Philippe Dam, Europe and Central Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "The Commission has a duty to continue to respond to the deliberate attempts to interfere with courts, undermine basic checks and balances, and dilute the functioning of democratic institutions in Poland."

"The Polish government repeatedly attacked media freedom during the past year," said Julie Majerczak, head of Brussels office of Reporters Without Borders. "The European Union shouldn't allow one of its members to trample on EU's core values."

The European Commission triggered its Rule of Law Framework in January 2016, when the Polish government first sought to curb the independence of the Constitutional Tribunal. This mechanism, established by the Commission in 2014, was designed to address threats to the rule of law in a member state before they escalate to a level that would warrant resort to Article 7 to of the Treaty on European Union. Article 7 provides for preventive action and possible sanctions, including suspension of a member state's voting rights within the Council of the EU, if that member state violates the EU's founding values, such as the rule of law.

In July, the European Commission gave Poland three months to implement a set of recommendations to correct what it considered as a "systemic threat to the rule of law" in the country. The Polish government refused to implement the Commission's recommendations. In its December assessment, the Commission stressed that there continues to be a systemic threat to the rule of law in Poland but refrained from moving ahead to Article 7 TEU. Instead, it decided to issue a set of additional recommendations and to set Poland a new deadline to implement them. The Polish government has apparently failed to date to take any relevant steps to address those concerns, despite the approaching February 21 deadline.

"One year after it first took action to halt the deterioration of the rule of law in Poland, it is time for the European Commission to acknowledge that the dialogue with Poland under the Rule of Law Framework has failed" said Elena Crespi, FIDH Europe Desk Director. "The Commission must now move on to the next steps and recommend resort to Article 7 TEU. This would mark the start of a new phase, where all EU actors, particularly member states, will have to stand up to defend EU values."
Kazakh editor's arrest aims to silence opposition paper

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 14 February 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Kazakh editor's arrest aims to silence opposition paper, 14 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a6b5274.html [accessed 6 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 release of Zhanbolat Mamay, the editor of the opposition newspaper Tribuna/Sayasi kalam, whose arrest on 10 February in Almaty shows that the Kazakh government's persecution of the country's few remaining independent media outlets is not letting up.

On 11 February, a court ordered Mamay held for at least two months pending trial on a charge of money-laundering, which carries a possible seven-year jail sentence.

Investigators have interrogated five of his colleagues, family members and close associates, including deputy editor Inga Imanbay, and have conducted searches in which notebooks, mobile phones, computers and other electronic devices were seized.

At the same time, the newspaper's owner has been pressured into closing the business and firing Mamay.

Mamay is alleged to have funded the newspaper in 2013-2014 with the help of Mukhtar Ablyazov, a wealthy businessman and opposition politician now living in France. The authorities claim that Mamay used his legal newspaper publishing activity to launder money previously embezzled by Ablyazov.

Both Mamay and Ablyazov deny ever being in contact. "I have never had any economic or financial activities in my life," Mamay has repeatedly insisted.

"The sole aim of Zhanbolat Mamay's arrest is to silence one of the few remaining critical media outlets in Kazakhstan," said Johann Bihr, the head of RSF's Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk.

"We ask the authorities to release him without delay and to drop the charges against him, which are clearly politically motivated. It is high time that the government's international partners denounced the destruction of pluralism in Kazakhstan."

The claim that Ablyazov funded Tribuna/Sayasi kalam seems all the more absurd given that the newspaper has been dogged by economic problems causing repeated delays in paying its printers and the salaries of its employees.

Ablyazov was in prison in France in 2013 and 2014, when he was supposed to have been funding the newspaper. He was not released until December 2016, when France's Council of State definitively rejected the requests for his extradition.

The already fraught climate for the media in Kazakhstan became suffocating after the simultaneous closure of the leading national opposition media outlets in December 2012. Since then, any attempt to launch new independent publications is quickly quashed.



Arrests of journalists and bloggers are also common.

Kazakhstan is ranked 160th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2016 World Press Freedom Index.
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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.
Sudan: Urgent Concern for Rights Defender on Hunger Strike Over Unlawful Detention

Publisher International Federation for Human Rights Publication Date 14 February 2017 Cite as International Federation for Human Rights, Sudan: Urgent Concern for Rights Defender on Hunger Strike Over Unlawful Detention, 14 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a6b7ef4.html [accessed 6 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.

Dr. Mudawi Ibrahim Adam, a prominent Sudanese human rights defender, has been unlawfully detained for over two months, held by the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) at Khartoum's Kober Prison without charge or access to legal representation, 39 human rights groups and activists said.

Dr. Mudawi, who was arrested with his driver, Adam El-Sheikh Mukhtar, on December 7, 2016 at the University of Khartoum, has received three brief visits from family members, all of which have been supervised by the NISS. A public statement issued by the family after meeting him on January 27, 2017 stated that he appeared to be in poor health with visible weight loss. They said that the NISS have prevented Dr. Mudawi from receiving essential medication for a pre-existing heart condition. The latest visit, on February 9, followed a week-long hunger strike that continues to date. The family noted that Dr. Mudawi has lost further weight and is extremely fragile with decreasing blood pressure.

Released detainees also reported to Hurriyat and Radio Dabanga that they saw Dr. Mudawi being beaten by NISS officers following the declaration of his first hunger strike.

February 14, 2017 is 70 days since his arrest, and 13 days since Dr. Mudawi resumed a hunger strike to protest his detention without charge or access to legal representation. He originally went on hunger strike on January 22, but ended it on January 27 following a family visit. Dr. Mudawi resumed his hunger strike on February 2 to protest the continued unlawfulness of his detention. He has since been placed into a "punishment cell" with bad ventilation and very hot temperatures, thereby exacerbating his medical concerns. The NISS have furthermore opened proceedings against Dr. Mudawi under Article 133 (Attempted Suicide) as a result of his hunger strike.

The Government of Sudan, under law, is responsible and accountable for the mental and physical integrity of Dr. Mudawi, and over a dozen other detainees who are being held by NISS without charge or access to their families and lawyers. They include human rights defenders Tasneem Ahmed Taha Alzaki and Hafiz Idris. The NISS is known for ill-treatment and torture. Released detainees have reported harsh beatings by officials in Kober prison.

The undersigned organisations and individuals call on the Sudanese authorities to immediately release all detainees or to charge them with an internationally recognised offence, and to ensure their physical and psychological integrity in custody.

The prolonged detention, without access to counsel, of Dr. Mudawi and his colleagues constitutes a clear violation of international human rights norms, which prohibit arbitrary or unlawful detention. Sudan's 2010 National Security Act allows NISS to hold detainees for up to four and a half months without judicial review, in violation of international human rights norms.

Moreover, the abuse of detainees - as documented by these organisations - violates Sudan's obligations under international law and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, which prohibit torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and treatment.

The organisations condemn the silencing of political opposition members, activists, and human rights defenders through arbitrary detention, despite constitutional guarantees of the freedom of expression, association, and assembly. The criminalisation and arbitrary detention of human rights defenders is contrary to the protections guaranteed by the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and Sudan's obligations under international and regional human rights law.

The groups call upon the Government of Sudan to grant the aforementioned detainees immediate and unequivocal access to their lawyers and family members, and release them in the absence of valid legal charges consistent with international standards.

The groups also call on Sudan to reform the 2010 National Security Act which grants the NISS wide powers of arrest and detention for up to four and a half months without judicial review, as well as broad powers of search and seizure, permits incommunicado detention without prompt access to a lawyer, and grants immunity to officials.

The groups furthermore call for the investigation and prosecution of those found responsible for ill-treatment and torture. The organisations are unaware of any prosecution of NISS officers despite wide reporting of ill-treatment and torture in NISS facilities. Impunity for such violations remains the norm.

Background:

Dr. Mudawi was arrested by NISS on December 7, 2016 from the University of Khartoum with his long-time driver, Adam El Sheikh Mukhtar. NISS did not notify Dr. Mudawi's family that he was in custody until one week after his arrest. Nora Abaid, an accountant at Dr. Mudawi's engineering company, Lambda Engineering, is also detained. She was detained on December 12, 2016 by plain-clothes NISS officers in an unmarked car. She has received one family visit, following which there were concerns over her psychological well-being.

NISS officials interrogated the three detainees twice during the initial week of their respective detentions and have not questioned them since. The reason for their arrest and detention remains unclear.

On January 13, 2017, two of Dr. Mudawi's brothers were allowed a very short meeting supervised by the NISS. Family again visited Dr. Mudawi on January 27 and persuaded him to temporarily abandon his hunger strike for the benefit of his health and to allow the family to make representations on his behalf to national institutions. Dr. Mudawi agreed, though stated he would commence an open-ended hunger strike on February 2 unless the authorities issued formal charges or released him. The deadline has passed and Dr. Mudawi has started his second hunger strike. Dr. Mudawi suffers from a long-standing heart condition thereby increasing the risks and dangers associated with a hunger strike. The family were allowed access again on February 9, one week after the commencement of his hunger strike. They noted he was incredibly weak and was consequently visited by a prison doctor on February 5. The doctor took his blood pressure, which was low and decreasing. The family have demanded that Dr. Mudawi be granted access to his own doctor.

Former detainees' report that Dr. Mudawi has suffered torture at the hands of security officials. A source reports that Dr. Mudawi was chained to a cooling system in an isolated part of Kober Prison, his hands and feet bound together, and beaten by members of the security forces over several days. Individuals reported that Dr. Mudawi was beaten on January 22 and 23.

Please follow this link for further background: Prominent Human Rights Defender Detained Incommunicado.
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Press freedom violations recounted in real time January 2017

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 17 February 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Press freedom violations recounted in real time January 2017, 17 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a6f66b4.html [accessed 6 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.

17.02.2017 - Editor freed on completing jail term

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has learned that Ehssan Mazndarani  the editor of the newspaper Farhikhteghan and one of the victims of a wave of arrests in November 2015  was released on 9 February. He had been given a seven-year jail sentence that was reduced to two years on appeal, His lawyer said he was freed as a result of a decision that he had completed his sentence. While in prison, he was hospitalized several times with heart and chest problems after a three-week hunger strike.

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10.01.2017 - Website reporter flogged for getting facts wrong

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is appalled to learn that Hossien Movahedi, a local news website reporter, was flogged last week in Najafabad, a city 450 km south of Tehran, for getting one of his facts wrong in a story about the confiscation of mopeds from female students at a technological secondary school in the city.





Movahedi reported on the Najafabad News website on 14 June 2016 that the police seized 35 mopeds when, according to the police, it was only eight. Although he apologized for his mistake and although the police were allowed to publish their version on the website, the police pressed charges against him and a Najafabad court sentenced him to 40 lashes for "publishing false information." This inhuman and medieval sentence was carried out on 4 January.





Iran has yet to ratify the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment.

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06.01.2016 - Woman journalist freed on completing one-year jail term

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has learned that Rihaneh Tabatabai, a journalist who has worked for several reformist newspapers, was released yesterday on completing a one-year jail term on charges of endangering national security and anti-government publicity. She was arrested on 12 January 2016 to begin serving the sentence, which was originally imposed in November 2014 and was confirmed by a Tehran appeal court a year later. The sentence also includes two-year ban on political and journalistic activity in the media and online following her release. In all, Tabatabai has been jailed four times since 2010 in connection with her journalistic activities.





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Press freedom violations recounted in real time (January -December 2016)



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Press freedom violations recounted in real time (January -December 2015)

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Press freedom violations recounted in real time ( January-December 2014)

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Press freedom violations recounted in real time ( January-December 2013)

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Press freedom violations recounted in real time (January-December 2012)

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Press freedom violations recounted in real time (January-December 2011)

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Press freedom violations recounted in real time (July-December 2010)

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Press freedom violations recounted in real time (January-July 2010)

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Press freedom violations recounted in real time (June-December 2009)
A v Secretary of State for the Home Department

Publisher United Kingdom: Court of Session (Scotland) Publication Date 27 May 2016 Citation / Document Symbol [2016] CSIH 38 Cite as A v Secretary of State for the Home Department, [2016] CSIH 38, United Kingdom: Court of Session (Scotland), 27 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,GBR_CS,58a7039f4.html [accessed 6 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.

EXTRA DIVISION, INNER HOUSE, COURT OF SESSION

[2016] CSIH 38

P1025/14

Lady Paton

Lady Dorrian

Lord Drummond Young

OPINION OF THE COURT

delivered by LADY DORRIAN

in the Reclaiming Motion

by

A

Reclaimer;

against

THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT

Respondent:

Reclaimer: Dean of Faculty, Ms Irvine; Drummond Miller LLP

Respondent: Webster; Office of the Advocate General

27 May 2016

Background

[1] The petitioner is a Ugandan national. On 1 July 2009 the petitioners husband, also a Ugandan national, was granted refugee status in the UK on the grounds of fear of persecution for reasons of political opinion, and granted 5 years leave to remain until 30 June 2014. His current immigration status is unknown, although the petitioner believes him to have applied for, and been granted, indefinite leave to remain in the UK (ILR).

[2] The petitioners husband having been granted leave to remain in the UK as a refugee, she applied for a visa for herself and four of their children to join him. Leave which may be granted under such a visa reflects that of a type and for a period equivalent to that granted to the refugee himself. On 22 July 2010, a family reunion visa was granted for the petitioner and her three youngest children, with leave to remain until 30 June 2014. The family were reunited in Glasgow in late 2010.

[3] The petitioner and her husband separated on 6 November 2011, following an assault on her by him which had been the culmination of a series of verbal and physical abuse. She remained in Glasgow, where her three children are in full-time education, at school or university. The petitioner has enrolled at college and avers that since moving to Glasgow she has made a number of close friends, several of whom supported her during the domestic abuse suffered by her.

[4] In November 2011 the petitioner claimed asylum and humanitarian protection based upon imputed political opinion as a result of her husbands political activities, and threat from his family in Uganda as a result of her having left him. Her claims were refused on 26 April 2012, but she was granted discretionary leave to remain on the basis of family life until 25 April 2015. The decision letter accepted that she was a victim of domestic violence.

[5] On 20 January 2014, the petitioner applied for ILR as a victim of domestic abuse. That application was refused on 17 February 2014. It was considered that the petitioner failed to meet the requirements of the immigration rules for a grant of leave to remain as a victim of domestic violence, on the basis she was not the spouse of a British citizen or an individual settled in the UK. However, on the basis of their private and family life, the petitioner and her children were granted further discretionary leave to remain, until 16 February 2017.

[6] In her petition for judicial review, the petitioner sought reduction of the decision of 17 February 2014 and declarator that the relevant section of the Immigration Rules (E-DVILR1.2) was ultra vires of the Secretary of State, in that in excluding from its scope spouses or former spouses of refugees, it unlawfully discriminated directly against such spouses, in violation of articles 14 and 8 of the ECHR, contrary to section 6 of the HRA 1998. The rule was also indirectly discriminatory against women who were the spouses or former spouses of refugees, on the basis that women were more likely to be the victims of domestic violence.

The Immigration Rules

[7] The spouse (or partner) of someone who has been granted refugee status in the UK may apply for leave to remain in, or enter, the UK as a partner. They may do so under the family reunion scheme, as did the reclaimer, or they may do so under separate rules which provide for a grant of limited or indefinite leave to remain as a partner under Appendix FM of the rules.

Family Reunion Visa

[8] As noted in rule 339R, the family reunion scheme is contained in rules 352A to 352FJ of the Immigration Rules. The important point to note for present purposes is that the permission is granted to the spouse or dependent children in terms of different paragraphs of the scheme. So far as a spouse is concerned, the leave granted is referred to as leave to enter or remain as the spouse or civil partner of the refugee. The leave will be granted for the same duration as the leave granted to the refugee. The respondent had averred that the reclaimer has never held limited leave to remain in the United Kingdom as a spouse or partner of any kind. That averment was not insisted upon in argument. It had been made at a time when her exact status had not been clear, and it was accepted that the leave granted to her under the family reunion scheme was leave as the spouse of a refugee.

Appendix FM

[9] The provisions for limited or indefinite leave to remain contained within this appendix apply not only to the partners of refugees but to the foreign partners of British Citizens or persons settled in the UK. For the purposes of Appendix FM a partner is defined as a spouse, civil partner, fiancee or proposed civil partner, or someone who has been living with the applicant in a relationship akin to marriage or civil partnership, unless a different meaning of partner applies elsewhere in the appendix. Section GEN.1.1 of the Appendix notes that the purpose of its provisions is to create a route to settled status for nonnationals seeking to enter or remain in the UK on the basis of their family life with a person who is a British Citizen, is settled in the UK, or is in the UK with limited leave as a refugee or a person granted humanitarian protection. A spouse or partner of someone within the latter categories may apply for permission to enter or remain in the UK as a partner. Provided that the other relevant conditions are satisfied, a qualifying person may be eligible for leave to remain which may be indefinite (ILR) or for a limited period. An applicant who meets the requirements will be granted limited leave to remain for a specified period, and subject to certain financial conditions, will be eligible to apply for settlement after a continuous period of at least 60 months with such leave. Settlement in these circumstances means ILR as a partner. In the most general terms, a person who, through this route, has obtained limited leave to remain as a partner and has completed a continuous period of at least 60 months with that leave, will be granted indefinite leave to remain.

Victims of domestic violence

[10] Generally, for a grant of ILR as a partner, the relationship must still be subsisting. However, specific provision is made for the grant of ILR to victims of domestic violence, notwithstanding that they had separated from their spouse. The provisions have since been amended but at the time of the decision in this case essential eligibility requirements, so far as relevant to the current proceedings, were that the last grant of limited leave must have been as a partner of a British Citizen or a person settled in the UK, and that evidence was produced to show that during that last period of limited leave the relationship broke down permanently as a result of domestic violence. Where all the relevant requirements were met the applicant would be granted indefinite leave to remain as a victim of domestic violence.

[11] The domestic violence provisions were first introduced into the rules in 2002. Prior to that, the Secretary of State had from 1999 operated a concession in relation to victims of domestic violence. At both dates, the phrase a British Citizen or a person settled in the UK would have included reference to a refugee, since, until 2005, an individual whose refugee status was recognised by the UK government was immediately given ILR, thus becoming a person settled in the UK. The foreign spouse of a British Citizen or a person settled in the UK would initially be granted leave to enter for a probationary period before they would be entitled to apply for ILR. This was initially 12 months, appeared to increase to 24 months and is now 5 years. At the end of the probationary period, the spouse could apply for settlement (ILR). If, for whatever reason, the marriage broke down during that probationary period, settlement would normally be refused, since the fundamental reason for admission in the first place  to continue or commence family life  no longer existed. However, it was recognised that this put the victim of domestic violence in an invidious position. As the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department put it when the issue was debated in the House of Commons (Hansard, 24 June 1998, vol 314, cols 1023-30):

When the overseas spouse becomes the victim of domestic violence during her first year here, she faces the prospect either of staying within that violent relationship or of being refused settlement if she escapes from it, because the marriage would then be no longer subsisting.

He went on to say:

Paragraph 35 of the Select Committee report sets out the problem graphically. It says: Some black and ethnic minority women may be particularly inhibited from reporting domestic violence because of the provisions of immigration legislation. In essence, a spouse of a person who is present and settled in the United Kingdom is admitted to this country for an initial period of 12 months. During that period, she or he may not have any recourse to public funds, and, if the marriage breaks down, is liable to deportation. If a woman with this immigration status is the victim of domestic violence, as the Southall Black Sisters told us, she is likely to be fearful of using either the criminal or civil justice system because she realises that she is at risk of being required to leave the country, and believes that the authorities will take action against her. Consequently, her choice is starkshe must risk her physical safety or risk deportation, and she will not even have the opportunity to use the social security system if she needs refuge accommodation.  The report went on to conclude: We recommend that the Home Office inquire further into the scale of the problem, and consider what changes in IND practice might be appropriate to accommodate cases of genuine hardship whilst avoiding any collusion or deception intended to circumvent the Immigration Rules.

The Under-Secretary added:

We want to ensure that we comply with the Select Committees recommendation. We need to consider the nature of the problem, which involves a relatively small number of women. We must create mechanisms that prevent the exploitation of any gap in the immigration rules, and, at the same time, deal with the problem of domestic violence.

It was against that background that the concession was introduced, disapplying to victims of domestic violence the requirement to have completed the full probationary period of residence before an application for ILR could be made. At that stage therefore, the spouse of a refugee whose marriage broke down during the probationary period as a consequence of domestic violence would be able to qualify for ILR under the concession. To obtain such status they no longer required to continue living with an abusive spouse during the whole of the probationary period.

[12] In a written answer introducing the concession (16 June 1999), the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department said;

We have decided to introduce a concession, which will be outside the Immigration Rules, for overseas spouses who wish to remain in the United Kingdom, but who wish to leave their partner because of domestic violence before completion of the 12 month probationary period.  An applicant whose marriage breaks down during the probationary year as a result of domestic violence may be granted indefinite leave to remain exceptionally, outside the Immigration Rules, provided the domestic violence occurred while the marriage was subsisting and the applicant is able to produce (evidence).

[13] At the time when the concession was first incorporated into the rules (26 November 2002), the Minister for Citizenship and Immigration explained, in a written ministerial statement, that

The domestic violence concession was introduced on 16 June 1999 in an effort to help foreign spouses or unmarried partners who wish to leave their partner because of domestic violence before completion of the probationary period. 

[14] The form in which the concession was introduced to the rules in 2002 applied to the spouse or unmarried partner of individuals who were present and settled in the UK. Until the introduction of the 5 year initial limit of leave for a refugee introduced in 2005, an individual in the position of the reclaimer would have been entitled to claim ILR as a victim of domestic violence, since (a) she had been granted leave to remain as a spouse or partner (albeit under rule 352A rather than Appendix FM) and (b) her husband would have been a person settled in the UK.

The Lord Ordinarys opinion

[15] The Lord Ordinary concluded that the reclaimers status as a spouse of a refugee with limited leave to remain in the UK rendered her a potential beneficiary of the provisions of article 14, if treated differently from those in other similar situations, and provided that the facts fell within the ambit of one or more of the rights and freedoms safeguarded by the convention. He was in fact satisfied that the facts of the case came within the ambit of article 8. He therefore addressed himself to the question whether, if the treatment were discriminatory, it had an objective and reasonable justification. He asked himself the question: Does it pursue a legitimate aim and is there a reasonable relationship of proportionality between the means employed by the policy behind Appendix FM and the aims sought to be realised? Contracting States enjoyed a margin of appreciation in assessing whether and to what extent differences in otherwise similar situations justified different treatment, and unless the policy applied was manifestly without reasonable foundation, the courts would generally respect it. The rules in question had been debated in and approved by Parliament, calling for considerable caution before a court would be justified in holding a measure passed in such circumstances to be unlawful. Spouses of British citizens or persons settled in the UK had a legitimate expectation of being allowed to remain indefinitely in the UK. The spouses of those with limited leave to remain had no such expectation as their leave to remain is precarious and may be brought to an end, for example, by a cancellation, cessation or revocation of the refugee status. The case of Rodrigues da Silva, Hoogkamer v the Netherlands (2007) 44 EHRR 34, indicated that it was also relevant that the family life was created at a time when the persons involved were aware that the immigration status of one of them was such that the persistence of family life within the host State would from the outset be precarious. The Lord Ordinary thus concluded that:

While there is no doubt that under section EDVILR.1.2 nonnational spouses of persons with refugee leave are treated less favourably than the spouses of British citizens and persons with settled status, the State is entitled to pursue the aim of regulating immigration for the maintenance of economic and social order, and to determine where the line should be drawn. I am unable to hold that drawing the line where it is drawn by section EDVILR is without objective or reasonable justification. A policy which grants a concession to those who already have a right to but denies it those (sic) who do not have that right is comprehensible and cannot be said to be irrational. In the light of the opinion in Rodrigues da Silva I cannot say that the provisions of the section are disproportionate. I conclude therefore that there is no room for the intervention of the court on the very limited basis available to it.

[16] The Lord Ordinary added that, had he been deciding in favour of the petitioner, he would have restricted his decision to reduction of the decision and would not have granted the declarator sought, the relevant rule being no longer in force.

The grounds of appeal

[17] The reclaimer maintains that the Lord Ordinary erred in:

adopting a rationality test: rationality is a minimum condition for proportionality but is not the whole test. applying an overly deferential standard of review when considering the margin of appreciation and proportionality; relying on a weak form of Parliamentary scrutiny; and applying the manifestly without reasonable foundation test to the proportionality question. assessing the reasonable expectation of settlement which may be held by a refugee, wrongly equiparating the position of a refugee with an illegal entrant. failing to determine whether the measure was indirectly discriminatory on the ground of sex: if so, in the absence of a justification the petitioner would have been bound to succeed. failing to assess both the aim and the effects of the measure. refusing to grant declaratory relief.

[18] The position of the respondents was that the Lord Ordinary had been entitled to decide as he did, on the basis that any discrimination (which was not admitted) was reasonably justified. The Immigration Rules distinguished between those joining partners who had a right to live permanently in the UK, and partners who had not such right. Those in the former category may well have loosened or severed ties with their country of origin, in the expectation of living permanently in the UK. That consideration did not apply to those in the latter category, who could have no such expectation, and who would be aware that they might have to leave the UK. The reclaimer fell into that latter category, having come to the UK when her husband held only limited leave to remain.

[19] The affidavit in which the rationale for the policy is set out, notes that the domestic violence provisions enable the partner of a British Citizen or someone with indefinite leave, but who has been the victim of domestic violence to apply for immediate indefinite leave, adding :

4. The rationale behind the provisions is that these individuals will have come to the UK in the knowledge that their UK based partner already has a right to live permanently in the UK. It is reasonable for them to expect to have their future and their permanent home with their partner in the UK, so from the outset they may well loosen or cut their ties with their country of origin. The domestic violence provisions mean that someone who has come to the UK on this basis and who is the victim of domestic violence should not feel compelled to remain in the abusive relationship for the sake only of qualifying for indefinite leave.

5. Their position is therefore different from individuals who have come to the UK as the partner of someone who does not yet have settled status, but is here to work or study or as a refugee. There is no guarantee that someone here on a temporary basis will, at the end of the temporary leave, be in a position to apply for indefinite leave to remain or will wish to do so. They may well choose, or be required, to leave the UK when their leave ends or their purpose for being in the UK comes to an end and any dependants will be expected to leave with them. Their dependant partners therefore cannot, and should not, have come to the UK with any expectation that the family would be making a permanent life here but with the knowledge that they may well be required to leave the UK with their partner at the end of his or her leave. It is therefore reasonable to expect them to have retained links and ties with another country and to be prepared to leave the UK should the relationship, which is the reason for their presence, break down.

Submissions

[20] The court was furnished with written submissions on behalf of the reclaimer and the respondent. In addition, on 23 December 2015 Lady Smith granted leave to the Commission for Equality and Human Rights to enter process as interveners and to lodge a written submission not exceeding 5000 words, which was also before the court.

Submissions for reclaimer

[21] On behalf of the reclaimer, the Dean of Faculty submitted that underlying the domestic violence provision was the intention that a person within those provisions who had come to the UK as a spouse and been subjected to domestic violence should not feel compelled to remain in an abusive relationship for the sake only of qualifying for indefinite leave. It had as its aim the moral and physical integrity of victims of domestic violence, which regrettably bore disproportionately on women. In particular, statistics showed that refugee migrant women were more at risk than those who have always lived in the UK. The difference in treatment was that the benefit of the rule accrued only to the spouses of a British Citizen or person settled in the UK, and did not apply to a spouse who had come to the UK to join her refugee husband, and whose marriage broke down as a result of domestic violence. Such a woman must either stay in the abusive relationship, or lose her leave to remain in the UK, contrary to the rationale upon which the provision was based.

[22] The justification advanced for the difference in treatment, concerning the reasonableness of the spouse of a British Citizen or person settled in the UK to expect to have a permanent home in UK, was one which would apply equally to the spouse of a refugee. The position of the spouses of refugees had been wrongly contrasted with that of the spouses of those who had come to work/study in the UK and who thereby should have no such expectation. Paragraph 5 of the statement in which the justification is given equiparated a refugee without settled status with someone in the UK to work or to study. That equiparation illustrated that the line had not been drawn in the right place. Someone who came to the country to work or study was plainly in the country on a temporary basis, and was in a different position from a refugee. The justification set out in the statement suggested that the particular position of refugees had not been considered.

[23] The factual position was that unless one of limited grounds for withdrawal of refugee status, or expulsion, was made out, a refugee could expect to remain in the country after the 5 year period. The figures showed that 95% of refugees, at end of 5 years, were granted ILR.

Refugee status

[24] The starting point for consideration of the status of a refugee was that they had suffered from a well-founded fear of persecution in their own country. Refugees were admitted pursuant to the UKs international obligations under the Refugees Convention (Geneva 28 July 1951; New York 16 December 1966) and also as a matter of EU law under the Qualifications Directive 2004/83/EC. In effect a refugee had a right to asylum. In that respect a refugee was quite different from someone permitted to enter the country by choice to work or study.

[25] Refugee status was declaratory in nature. It was not a status bestowed by the state  if the status of refugee existed the state had to recognise it by the grant of asylum.

Further, the state had a positive obligation to facilitate the naturalization and assimilation of refugees under article 34 of Convention:

Article 34

Naturalization

The Contracting States shall as far as possible facilitate the assimilation and naturalization of refugees. They shall in particular make every effort to expedite naturalization proceedings and to reduce as far as possible the charges and costs of such proceedings.

[26] This recognised as a matter of international law that it was reasonable for refugees to expect to have their future and home in the refugee state as long as they have that status. Of course the status of refugee could be lost, but the circumstances in which that could happen were limited. The refugee might effectively give up the status, for example by re-availing himself of the protection of his country of nationality; or the circumstances which led to recognition of this refugee status might have changed (article 1C of the Convention). Other than where there were grounds for considering that an individual was a danger to the security of the country, or to the community by virtue of committing a particularly serious crime, a refugee could not be expelled from the country of refuge (article 33 of the Convention). These provisions were reflected in the terms of the Immigration Rules, but they indicated that the status of refugee was not comparable to that of a student or worker. Refugees were individuals to whom the state owed obligations under international and European law and unless the status were lost under article 1C, or the individual expelled under article 33, might reasonably be expected to proceed to assimilation under article 34.

[27] Once an individuals refugee status had been recognised, he or she was likely to proceed to settlement in the UK. The same could be said of their dependents. This was made clear in the Governments Asylum Policy Instruction (1 October 2013), which explained:

1.2 Background

A person who has been recognised as a refugee or person in need of HP [Humanitarian Protection] will usually be granted five years limited leave to enter or remain along with any dependants included in the initial claim or before the decision is made. During that period of leave, they can apply for family reunion or ask for any children born to them in the UK to be granted leave in line. When their leave is due to expire, they should apply for ILR for themselves and any dependants.

Settlement provides permission to stay in the UK permanently and freedom from immigration control. However, in specific circumstances, an application for settlement can be refused. This is when a person:

 is liable to deportation or administrative removal;

 has obtained leave by deception;

 ceases to be a refugee or person in need of HP because of their own actions

 fails to meet the requirements of the immigration rules for settlement as a refugee or

person with HP.

The policy intention was stated in that document as being to provide a route to settlement in the UK:

1.3 Policy intention behind settlement protection

The underlying policy objective when considering applications for settlement from refugees and those with HP is to:

Ensure that the UKs obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Refugee Convention are met where there is a continuing need for protection and provide a route to settlement in the UK;

As a matter of international obligation and practical expectation, whilst they may initially have a 5 year grant, unless one of a limited number of grounds applied, they would thereafter move to settled status.

The Domestic Violence Rule

[28] There was a very obviously compelling reason for the domestic violence concession, to prevent someone requiring to stay in an abusive relationship out of concern only for their immigration status, as was made clear during the discussion at the time of introduction of the concession. That concession was not framed specifically under reference to refugees, but in applying to the spouse of someone who was a British Citizen or person settled in the UK, it would have applied equally to the spouse of a refugee, since at the time of the concession, and the introduction of the rule, a refugee would have been given settled status. That the concession and the rule does not now apply to refugees seems to have been an unintended consequence of the introduction of the 5 year rule in 2005, when there appears to have been no consideration of the side-effect which this might have on the spouses of refugees who were subjected to domestic violence after coming to this country.

[29] That domestic violence had a disproportionate effect on women, especially migrant women, was commented upon in the Scottish Governments Statistical Bulletin: Domestic Abuse Recorded by the Police in Scotland, 2010-2011 and 2011  2012 (30 October 2012) which noted that the percentage of incidents of female victims and male perpetrators in reported cases of domestic violence was in the region of 80%. The statistics in England and Wales were somewhat lower: about 66%. The Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (May 2011, signed by the UK but not ratified) recognised this imbalance: in its preamble:

Recognising that women and girls are exposed to a higher risk of genderbased violence than men;

[30] In relation to residence status, article 59 provided that:

1 Parties shall take the necessary legislative or other measures to ensure that victims whose residence status depends on that of the spouse or partner as recognised by internal law, in the event of the dissolution of the marriage or the relationship, are granted in the event of particularly difficult circumstances, upon application, an autonomous residence permit irrespective of the duration of the marriage or the relationship. The conditions relating to the granting and duration of the autonomous residence permit are established by internal law.

Whether the status of a refugee or the spouse of a refugee is precarious

[31] The Lord Ordinary considered it relevant that family life had been created at a time when the persons involved were aware that the immigration status of one of them was such that the persistence of family life within the host State would from the outset be precarious. He did so under reference to the case of Rodrigues da Silva, a completely different situation where a relationship had developed when an immigrant was living in the country illegally. The case of Jeunesse also referred to by the respondent was similar, involving someone who had overstayed on a tourist visa. Such cases were a long way removed from the present case.

Legal issues arising

[32] It had not been disputed that the circumstances of the present case fell within the ambit of article 8 of the ECHR, as the Lord Ordinary found. In relation to article 14, the Lord Ordinary concluded that:

...the petitioners status as a spouse of a refugee with limited leave to remain in the UK in my view renders her a potential beneficiary of the provisions of article 14 if she is treated differently by the State from those in otherwise similar situations.

As to the issue of a comparator, the Lord Ordinary noted (para 20):

I am content to follow these dicta, but nevertheless would have felt able to say that the treatment of the petitioner under Appendix FM might reasonably be compared with the treatment of victims of domestic violence whose partners are British citizens or persons settled in the UK.

[33] The rule in question drew a distinction between the spouse of a British Citizen or a person settled in the UK, and the spouse of a refugee, but that distinction had no reasonable justification. The basic approach to the question of justification could be seen in the case of R (Tigere) v Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills [2015] 1 WLR 3820 in the judgment of Lady Hale at paragraph 33:

With those considerations in mind, I turn to the issue of justification. It is now well-established in a series of cases at this level, beginning with Huang v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2007] 2 AC 167, and continuing with R (Aguilar Quila) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (AIRE Centre intervening) [2012] 1 AC 621, and Bank Mellat v HM Treasury (No 2) [2014] AC700, that the test for justification is fourfold:

(i) does the measure have an legitimate aim sufficient to justify the limitation of a fundamental right; (ii) is the measure rationally connected to that aim; (iii) could a less intrusive measure have been used; and (iv) bearing in mind the severity of the consequences, the importance of the aim and the extent to which the measure will contribute to that aim, has a fair balance been struck between the rights of the individual and the interests of the community?

[34] The exclusion of the spouse of a refugee was not rationally connected to the aim specified in para 4 of the policy statement quoted in paragraph [19] above, produced, which focused on expectation of permanence and the severing of ties. Neither of these factors justified the exclusion of refugees. Nor was it justified to bracket refugees with students or workers. Such an approach failed to recognise the international obligations underpinning the status of refugees and the relative prospect of permanent settlement.

[35] Counsel referred to the judgment of Lord Reed in the case of R(SG) v The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2015] 1 WLR 1449 as to the circumstances in which a breach of article 14 may be found:

7 The general approach followed by the European Court of Human Rights in the application of article 14 was explained by the Grand Chamber in Carson v United Kingdom (2010) 51 EHRR 369, para 61:

in order for an issue to arise under article 14 there must be a difference in the treatment of persons in analogous, or relevantly similar, situations. Such a difference of treatment is discriminatory if it has no objective and reasonable justification; in other words, if it does not pursue a legitimate aim or if there is not a reasonable relationship of proportionality between the means employed and the aim sought to be realised.

8 A violation of article 14 therefore arises where there is: (1) a difference in treatment, (2) of persons in relevantly similar positions, (3) if it does not pursue a legitimate aim, or (4) if there is not a reasonable relationship of proportionality between the means employed and the aim sought to be realised.

9 In practice, the analysis carried out by the European Court of Human Rights usually elides the second element -the comparability of the situations- and focuses on the question whether differential treatment is justified. This reflects the fact that an assessment of whether situations are relevantly" similar is generally linked to the aims of the measure in question: see, for example, Rasmussen v Denmark (1984) 7 EHRR 371, para 37.

[36] On the question of comparing refugees with those on a work/study visa it was important to note that discrimination may arise from a failure to recognise the difference between those categories, Lord Reed having gone on to say:

12 Article 14 is not confined to the differential treatment of similar cases: Discrimination may also arise where states without an objective and reasonable justification fail to treat differently persons whose situations are significantly different: Pretty v United Kingdom (2002) 35 EHRR 1,para 88. An example is the case of Thlimmenos v Greece (2000) 31 EHRR 411, where this type of discrimination was first recognised.

[37] In Hode & Abi v UK (2013) 56 EHRR 27 the court noted (para 52) that:

 a difference in treatment has no objective and reasonable justification if it does not pursue a legitimate aim or if there is not a reasonable relationship of proportionality between the means employed and the aim sought to be realised. The Contracting State enjoys a margin of appreciation in assessing whether and to what extent differences in otherwise similar situations justify a different treatment. The scope of this margin will vary according to the circumstances, the subject matter and the background. A wide margin is usually allowed to the state under the Convention when it comes to general measures of economic or social strategy. Because of their direct knowledge of their society and its needs, the national authorities are in principle better placed than the international judge to appreciate what is in the public interest on social or economic grounds, and the Court will generally respect the legislatures policy choice unless it is manifestly without reasonable foundation.

[38] Although this was an area in which the Strasbourg Court allowed States a margin of appreciation, this was different from the question of how much regard should be given in domestic law to the choices exercised by government in determining the intensity of review to be applied in assessing the justification advanced. That matter was context dependent and it was well recognised that when dealing with provisions regarding the bestowing of financial benefits, the national court should take a relatively light touch. This, however, was not a case for such a light touch. Reference was made to Mathieson v Secretary of State for Work & Pensions [2015] 1 WLR 3250, where Lord Wilson noted (para 25):

In the Stec case 43 EHRR 1017 the Grand Chamber proceeded at para 52 to address the margin of appreciation which it should afford to the UK in relation to its social security provisions and held that it should generally respect its policy choices in that area unless they were manifestly without reasonable foundation"; by application of that principle, it concluded that the challenges failed. Of course it does not necessarily follow that the domestic judiciary should afford a margin of equal generosity to the domestic legislature: In re G (Adoption: Unmarried Couple) [2009] AC 173, para 37 (Lord Hoffmann). Indeed this court has at last helpfully recognised that the very concept of a margin of appreciation" is inapt to describe the measure of respect which, albeit of differing width, will always be due from the UK judiciary to the UK legislature: In re Recovery of Medical Costs for Asbestos Diseases (Wales) Bill [2015] AC1016, paras 4454 (Lord Mance JSC).

[39] Lord Sumption in R (Lord Carlile of Berriew) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] 3 WLR 1404 put it thus:

29 However, traditional notions of the constitutional distribution of powers have unquestionably been modified by the Human Rights Act 1998. In the first place, any arguable allegation that a persons Convention rights have been infringed is necessarily justiciable. Section 6 of the Act requires public authorities, including the courts, to give effect to those rights. Secondly, the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights calls for a standard of review of the proportionality of the decisions of public authorities which is not only formal and procedural but to some extent substantive. As Lord Bingham put it in R (SB) v Governors of Denbigh High School [2007] 1 AC 100, para 29:

The focus at Strasbourg is not and has never been on whether a challenged decision or action is the product of a defective decision making process, but on whether, in the case under consideration, the applicants Convention rights have been violated The unlawfulness proscribed by section 6(1) is acting in a way which is incompatible with a Convention right, not relying on a defective process of reasoning, and action may be brought under section 7(1) only by a person who is a victim of an unlawful act."

[40] It follows, as he went on to point out, at para 30, that

The courts approach to an issue of proportionality under the Convention must go beyond that traditionally adopted to judicial review in a domestic setting. The inadequacy of that approach was exposed in Smith and Grady v United Kingdom (1999) 29 EHRR 493, para 138, and the new approach required under the 1998 Act was described by Lord Steyn in R (Daly) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2001] 2 AC 532, paras 2528, in terms which have never to my knowledge been questioned. There is no shift to a merits review, but the intensity of review is greater than was previously appropriate, and greater even than the heightened scrutiny test adopted by the Court of Appeal in R v Ministry of Defence, Ex p Smith [1996] QB 517, 554. The domestic court must now make a value judgment, an evaluation, by reference to the circumstances prevailing at the relevant time."

[41] The court therefore had to exercise a different approach to that of Wednesbury but alive to the appropriate weight which must be given to the constitutional role of Parliament.

[42] The Lord Ordinary had concluded that:

22 Unless the policy is manifestly without reasonable foundation the courts will generally respect it.

24 A policy which grants a concession to those who already have a right to but denies it those who do not have that right is comprehensible and cannot be said to be irrational.

[43] In saying this, the Dean submitted, the Lord Ordinary erred in treating the test of manifest unreasonableness or rationality as the touchstone for his decision. Ultimately the balancing act which required to be carried out was one for the court itself. The phrase manifestly without reasonable foundation was a phrase from European jurisprudence, picked up in Humphreys v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2012] 1 WLR 1545 a case concerning child tax credit. In that case, manifest unreasonableness was relied upon as the sole test, but the observations in that case had to be read subject to the decision in In re Recovery of Medical Costs for Asbestos Diseases [2015] 2 WLR 481, where Lord Mance (para 52) carefully analysed when the test might be appropriate, indicating that it was not appropriate at the fourth proportionality stage of the exercise. The analysis of Lord Mance carefully separated out the question of whether the aim was manifestly without reasonable foundation, retaining to the court the ultimate balancing of the proportionality test. Counsel noted however, that even as the UKSC was considering the Medical Costs case, it was considering the case of R(SG) in which it applied the manifestly without reasonable foundation test to the question of justification (para 11). In Tigere the court was sharply divided, Lady Hale holding that this test did not require to be applied, but Lords Reed and Sumption firmly disagreeing. However, counsel submitted that this apparent difference of view was of little effect, since even applying the higher test the difference in treatment could not be justified, for the following reasons:

1. This was a case within the ambit of A8 not A1P1 with which Humphreys and other benefits cases were concerned.

2. The nature of the discrimination. The difference in treatment was applied in the capacity of spouse but also had the practical effect of differentiating on grounds of sex, given the disproportionate effect on women of domestic violence. In the context of A14 justification, one had to take into account both the aim and the effect of the measure. This was a measure with the practical effect of affecting women more than men: where the discrimination affected such a core issue, justification would be all the more difficult to maintain. Reference was made to the judgment of Lord Wilson in Mathieson v The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2015] 1 WLR 3250, at para 21.

3. The primary decision maker has not specifically addressed the issue: it appears to be an unintended side effect of the introduction of the 5 yr rule. No specific consideration was given to the position of refugees.

4. The parliamentary process the rules had gone through was not particularly strong. Although the court had to accord appropriate respect to the fact that these were rules made by the Home Secretary and laid before Parliament, the level of respect to apply was far from the highest. When first introduced, there was an affirmative vote on Appendix FM; and when the rule was changed it was by negative resolution. Reference was made to MS v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] CSIH 52 where Lord Drummond Young (in an opinion mistakenly attributed to Lord Mackay of Drumadoon) observed:

21 There has been some debate about the precise status of the new rules: see R (Nagre) v Home Secretary, supra , at paragraphs 25 et seq. The rules are not a statute but merely a statement by the executive of how it intends to exercise powers conferred by statute. Consequently the application of the rules in individual cases is potentially subject to judicial review. Nevertheless, the new rules have been debated in Parliament, which confers a certain degree of democratic approval. Moreover, they are instructions put forward by the minister in a democratically elected government who is charged by statute with the administration of the immigration system. To that extent, too, the rules can be said to result from democratic processes. These are factors which must be given some weight when a court considers the application of the rules, although they cannot be conclusive because the rules do not have the force of statute.

5. The justification in the affidavit and statement (paragraph [19] above] did not address the particular features of refugee status. The court did not have a considered reason or considered explanation for the exclusion of persons falling within this category from the benefit of the rule. The explanation offered did not stand scrutiny. The absence of engagement in the justification with the particular position of a refugee or his spouse, was compounded by reliance in these proceedings on cases relating to illegal migrants and overstayers and the erroneous proposition that a refugees status was precarious. The spouse of a refugee fell squarely within the underlying reason in paragraph 4 that it was reasonable to expect them to loosen or cut ties with their country of origin and that they may reasonably expect to have a future in the UK. When addressing the question of fair balance the court should bear in mind that the effect of the rule was to exclude the spouse of the refugee from the route to ILR under the domestic violence concession, even though the refugee may well, and probably will benefit from that ILR. The abuser got the benefit, and his spouse, who had left by reason of domestic abuse, was deprived of it.

[44] As to remedy there was a question whether the court should grant declarator under a rule which had been superseded. However, because it appears that the policy remained the same, it may be helpful for the court to grant a declarator in the terms sought.

Submissions for the respondent

Policy justification

[45] Counsel for the respondent referred to the justification for the policy as being that contained in paras 4 and 5 of the statement quoted in paragraph [19] above, which was before the Lord Ordinary and had been accepted in R(T) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] EWHC 2453.

Refugee status

[46] A refugee was not given an automatic, unqualified or unlimited right to remain in a host state. The Refugee Convention (Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, Geneva, 28 July 1951) provided both for circumstances in which the Convention might cease to apply (article 1C) and afforded the host state a right of expulsion (article 32). The Immigration Rules provided for a grant of limited leave to remain, usually for five years, for those to whom the respondent has decided to grant asylum. That policy had been held to be lawful (R (Algeria) & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2006] EWHC 3513 Admin).

Discrimination

[47] Any reliance upon article 14 had to be made in conjunction with an alleged breach of another protected right, and a difference in treatment would not be discriminatory if it had an objective and reasonable justification (Stec v UK (2006) 43 EHRR 47). The emphasis was not on a direct comparator but on whether differences in otherwise similar situations justified different treatment (AL (Serbia) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2008] 1 WLR 1434). Reference was again made to the judgment of Lord Reed in R (SG) paras 8 & 9. Without concluding that the treatment was discriminatory against any identified comparator, the Lord Ordinary proceeded to consider whether, if it were discriminatory, it had an objective and reasonable justification.

Justification and the standard of review

[48] Respect for Parliaments function called for considerable caution before the courts would hold to be unlawful that which was within the ambit of Parliaments review (Bank Mellat v HM Treasury (No 2) [2014] AC 700; Mathieson, para 51). Appendix FM was laid before Parliament in terms of section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 and was the subject of debate and approval.

[49] The European Court of Human Rights accorded to contracting states a wide margin of appreciation in social and economic policies (James v UK (1968) 8 EHRR 123), meaning that the state was entitled to make policy choices which may be controversial (R (RJM) v Secretary of State for Work & Pensions [2008] UKHL 63 [2009] 1 AC 311). Those policy choices should be respected unless manifestly without reasonable foundation, including in cases of indirect sexual discrimination (Stec; Humphreys v HMRC [2012] 1 WLR 1545; R (MA) v Secretary of State for Work & Pensions [2014] EWCA Civ 13).

[50] The margin of appreciation allowed by Strasbourg in social and economic areas was such that the ECtHR would generally respect the legislatures choice unless it was manifestly without reasonable foundation. Counsel relied heavily on paragraphs 15-20 of Humphreys to submit that this was the standard of review to be applied domestically, including in cases of discrimination. In such cases one looked not at the difference of treatment but at the aim upon which it had been created. Here the aim was to treat spouses of settled persons differently from the spouses of those who were not settled, and this was the context in which the court required to consider the matter. In the Medical Costs case, the court had indicated that the margin of appreciation was not applicable in a domestic context, and the fact that a measure fell within the margin of appreciation was not conclusive of its proportionality, although it remained relevant to that issue. As Lord Nicholls had observed in Wilson v First County Trust Limited No 2 [2004] 1 AC 816:

The court is called on to evaluate the proportionality of the legislation, not the adequacy of the ministers exploration of the policy options or his explanations to Parliament.

[51] It is not for the court to evaluate the sufficiency of the legislative process leading up to the enactment. Parliament may apply a different level of scrutiny to different types of measure, but that is a matter for Parliament. Consideration of a qualified right, such as article 8, required the court to be less astute to find disproportionality. A lesser degree of judicial activism was justified in the case of a policy which had been promulgated in a manner consistent with democratic principles. The practical effect of the quality of judicial scrutiny will depend on context. As Lord Sumption said in R (Lord Carlile) (para 34):

In particular, it will depend on the significance of the right, the degree to which it is interfered with, and the range of factors capable of justifying that interference, which may vary from none at all (article 3) to very wide ranging considerations indeed (article 8). But the legal principle is clear enough. The court must test the adequacy of the factual basis claimed for the decision: is it sufficiently robust having regard to the interference with Convention rights which is involved? It must consider whether the professed objective can be said to be necessary, in the sense that it reflects a pressing social need. It must review the rationality of the supposed connection between the objective and the means employed: is it capable of contributing systematically to the desired objective, or its impact on the objective arbitrary? The court must consider whether some less onerous alternative would have been available without unreasonably impairing the objective. The court is the ultimate arbiter of the appropriate balance between two incommensurate values: the Convention rights engaged and the interests of the community relied on to justify interfering with it. But the court is not usually concerned with remaking the decision-makers assessment of the evidence if it was an assessment reasonably open to her. Nor, on a matter dependent on a judgment capable of yielding more than one answer, is the court concerned with remaking the judgment of the decision-maker about the relative advantages and disadvantages of the course selected, or of pure policy choices (eg do we wish to engage with Iran at all?). The court does not make the substantive decision in place of the executive. On all of these matters, in determining what weight to give to the evidence, the court is entitled to attach special weight to the judgments and assessments of a primary decision-maker with special institutional competence.

[52] In that case, and in Bank Mellat the court recognised that, although the degree of restraint to be practised by courts domestically applying the principle of proportionality, and the extent to which they would respect the judgment of the primary decision-maker would depend on context (Lord Reed, Bank Mellat para 71) nevertheless in areas of policy of the kind under consideration in the present case, considerable respect required to be given to the policy choices made by government. In R (SG) the majority had decided that for the purposes of an article 14 claim the legislatures choice in relation to general measures of economic or social policy should be respected unless manifestly without foundation. In that case Lord Reed had observed:

92 Finally, it has been explained many times that the Human Rights Act 1998 entails some adjustment of the respective constitutional roles of the courts, the executive and the legislature, but does not eliminate the differences between them: differences, for example, in relation to their composition, their expertise, their accountability and their legitimacy. It therefore does not alter the fact that certain matters are by their nature more suitable for determination by Government or Parliament than by the courts. In so far as matters of that nature have to be considered by the courts when deciding whether executive action or legislation is compatible with Convention rights, that is something which the courts can and do properly take into account, by giving weight to the determination of those matters by the primary decision-maker.

93 That consideration is relevant to these appeals, since the question of proportionality involves controversial issues of social and economic policy, with major implications for public expenditure. The determination of those issues is pre-eminently the function of democratically elected institutions. It is therefore necessary for the court to give due weight to the considered assessment made by those institutions. Unless manifestly without reasonable foundation, their assessment should be respected.

[53] Even if the consequence of a measure was discrimination on the ground of gender, there might nevertheless be a reasonable justification for it. It was necessary to respect the fact the Government, through Parliament, had to make difficult choices. The focus of the assessment had to be informed by the aim or objective for which the policy was introduced, rather than the practical consequence. It was for the executive to say where the balance should lie.

[54] The state was entitled to draw bright lines when making policy of this kind, in the interests of a workable system (Mathieson; R (Carson) v Secretary of State for Work & Pensions [2006] 1 AC 173; R (Animal Defenders International) v Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport [2008] AC 1312;). As Lord Bingham observed at paragraph 33 of that latter case:

A general rule means that a line must be drawn, and it is for Parliament to decide where. The drawing of a line inevitably means that hard cases will arise falling on the wrong side of it, but that should not be held to invalidate the rule if, judged in the round, it is beneficial.

[55] Article 8 did not afford to those in relationships the right to choose where they live, nor does it oblige a state to grant the partners of refugees a right to remain (Rodrigues da Silva, Hoogskamer v Netherlands (2007) 44 EHRR 34; Jeunesse v Netherlands (2015) 60 EHRR 17; R (Nagre) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] EWHC 720 (Admin).

[56] Immigration rules were within the primary responsibility of the executive and the fact that there may be an adverse effect on certain groups, including gender groups, may be no more than an unavoidable consequence. The reclaimer was not herself a refugee. The spouse of a refugee may properly be compared with the spouse of a worker or student who has been given limited leave to remain in the UK, and for whom there was no guarantee of ILR. The spouse was at one stage removed from the primary individual  refugee, student, worker. The primary individual may elect not to maintain their immigration status, a refugee may return to his home country, or the circumstances there may have changed. Over and above that the status may be lost: individuals who joined asylum seekers with limited leave to remain knew that at some point the ability to continue to reside would undoubtedly come under the scrutiny of the state  that was the certain uncertainty of their position. If they did find themselves in an abusive situation, they were more likely to be able to leave and re-establish such ties as they had in their state of origin. That was to be contrasted with the position of the spouse of a settled person or citizen who did not have that certain uncertainty, and who was more likely, with a view to fulfilling the settled status held by the spouse, to cut ties with the country of origin. The state recognised that such individuals were in an invidious position if the marriage broke down through domestic violence. To prevent a situation where they could only stay in the country by remaining in the abusive relationship the Home Secretary introduced into the rules the domestic violence concession. There was no manifestly unreasonable justification for drawing the line where it had been drawn. This uncertainty of position of those granted 5-year leave was commented on by David, J in R (Algeria) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2006] EWHC 3513 (Admin), when the 5-year policy was introduced:

23 There was debate before me as to the true significance of the differences between five years' initial leave to remain and indefinite leave to remain. The most important difference, as it seems to me, from the perspective of the refugee, is that it gives rise to a lack of certainty, in that if the situation in the country of origin has improved in that time, the refugee is liable to be required to be returned there.

[57] Counsel for the reclaimer had sought to emphasise that the term precarious had been used in cases of illegal immigrants or overstayers, but the word was not to be equiparated with illegality. Although an individuals presence in the host country might be described as unlawful the word used to describe the commensurate immigration status of such a person was not unlawful but precarious, suggesting that the two words were not being used inter-changeably- see, for example, para 39 of Rodrigeur da Silva. Furthermore, by amendment in 2014 of the 2002 Act Parliament had introduced a requirement for the court to attach little weight to the effect of family life established in such circumstances. Section 117B provides that in relation to public interest considerations:

Little weight should be given to a private life established by a person at a time when the persons immigration status is precarious

[58] In Deelah v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] UKUT 00515 (IAC) one of the issues raised was whether:

The adjective precarious in section 117B(5) of the 2002 Act does not contemplate only, and is not restricted to, temporary admission to the United Kingdom or a grant of leave to remain in a category which permits no expectation of a further grant.

McCloskey, J said:

30. I consider that Mr Maliks submission is confounded in any event by the decision of the Upper Tribunal in AM at [19]  [33], AM (S117B) Malawi [2015] UKUT 260 (IAC), at [19][33] and, in particular, the conclusion enshrined in [32]:

To put the matter shortly, it appears to us that a persons immigration status is precarious if their continued presence in the UK will be dependent upon their obtaining a further grant of leave. It is precisely because such a person has no indefinite right to be in the country that the relationships they form ought to be considered in the light of the potential need to leave the country should that grant of leave not be forthcoming

Judges and practitioners should be constantly alert to this clear and concise formulation of the principle of precariousness. More recently, in BM and Others (Returnees  criminal and non-criminal) DRC CG [2015] UKUT 00293 (IAC), the Upper Tribunal stated, in the context of a person who had been granted limited leave to enter and remain in the United Kingdom after making an asylum claim, at [107](v):

Section 117B(5): We find that this Appellants immigration status in the United Kingdom was at all material times precarious. All of his attempts to establish a stable, secure status in the United Kingdom were unsuccessful. It follows that the private life which he has developed in the United Kingdom qualifies for the attribution of little weight.

31. The argument that in the Strasbourg and domestic jurisprudence a precarious immigration status generally equates to unlawful residence was not developed by reference to any decided cases. Furthermore, it is not easily reconciled with the Appellants principal contention, formulated in [3](iv) above. In addition, in Jeunesse v the Netherlands (Application No. 12738/10), the Grand Chamber stated that the Applicants residence in the Netherlands during a 17 year period - which, on the facts of her case, could not be described as anything other than precarious - was unlawful: see [102]. She was an alien whose presence was tolerated by the host state: see [103]. The precarious nature of her presence emerges clearly in the succeeding passage:

Confronting the authorities of the host country with family life as a fait accompli does not entail that those authorities are, as a result, under an obligation  to allow the applicant to settle in the country. The court has previously held that, in general, persons in that situation have no entitlement to expect that a right of residence will be conferred upon them .

[Emphasis added].

As the case references which follow demonstrate, there is clear and consistent Strasbourg authority to this effect. See, for example, B v Sweden (Application No. 57442/11).

32. I consider that the word precarious is an unsophisticated, unpretentious member of the English language. It denotes generally, something which is unstable, uncertain, fragile. It describes a state of affairs, condition or status which is bereft of guarantees and security. It is the antithesis of something which is stable, secure, certain. This is its ordinary and natural meaning. In deciding whether a persons immigration status is precarious, the application by the court or tribunal concerned of this ordinary and natural meaning will focus on the nature, quality and reality of such status.

33. Giving effect to the principles and approach outlined above, I conclude unhesitatingly that in enacting these statutory provisions it was the intention of the legislature that a person who is granted limited leave to enter and remain in the United Kingdom as a student is possessed of an immigration status which is precarious. Such status regulates the life, arrangements and affairs of the person concerned for a measured period of time and with no assurance of continuation or extension. It does not extend beyond the short or medium term. Its effect is to convey to the beneficiary from the outset an unequivocal message, or admonition, that permission to reside in the United Kingdom for the permitted purpose and complying with all of the stipulated conditions will expire on a specified date, or sooner in certain eventualities. The immigration status of every such person is, in my view, both captured and defined by the adjective precarious. Furthermore, Parliament has made a clear and deliberate distinction between those unlawfully present in the United Kingdom and those whose presence derives from a precarious immigration status. The suggestion that Parliament has legislated in a manner which treats unlawful immigration status as synonymous with precarious immigration status is confounded by the clear statutory language and has no jurisprudential underpinning which was brought to the attention of the Tribunal. I reject all of Mr Maliks arguments accordingly. For this combination of reasons the fourth ground of appeal must fail.

[59] It was not the legality but the absence of an entitlement to expect a further grant which created the precariousness. The governments policy reflected that difference in the character and status of a person already settled in the country, and one who was not, and informed the attitude taken to the likelihood of the spouse being in a position to return if the relationship turned abusive. As such it could not be said to be manifestly without a reasonable foundation.

The Lord Ordinary

[60] In paragraph 21 of his opinion the Lord Ordinary, regarding the treatment of the reclaimer, asked himself: Does it pursue a legitimate aim and is there a reasonable relationship of proportionality between the means employed by the policy behind Appendix FM and the aims sought to be realised?, showing that he understood the nature of the issue and that he required to consider both the questions of legitimate aim and proportionality. He considered the justification advanced; and the weight which might be afforded to family life created at a time when the immigration status of one of the persons was precarious. He concluded that drawing the line where it had been drawn was not without reasonable or objective justification, and that not only was that not irrational, it was proportionate.

Remedy

[61] In the event that the reclaimer were successful, declarator was unnecessary and inappropriate (Mahmood v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2005] CSOH 54; Boum v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2006] CSOH 111; Mathieson, paras 49 and 61).

Written Submissions for the Commission for Equality and Human Rights

[62] In their written submissions the CEHR submitted that the correct approach to review in a case such as the present was that identified in Medical Costs by Lord Mance at para 45, namely a four stage proportionality test under which the court must decide for itself (a) whether there is a legitimate aim; (b) whether the measure is rationally connected to that aim; (c) whether the aim could have been achieved by a less intrusive measure; and (d) whether, on a fair balance, the benefits of achieving the aim by the measure outweigh the benefits resulting from the restriction of the relevant protected right.

[63] The margin of appreciation was not applicable at the domestic level, and the fact that a measure was within a national legislatures margin of appreciation was not conclusive of proportionality, although the national court must attach appropriate weight to informed choices at each stage of the convention analysis (Medical Costs, para 54).

[64] The factors relevant when assessing the margin of discretion accorded to the legislature included: the extent to which the matter was one of broad economic or social strategy; the nature of the complaint, particularly if it was one of alleged discrimination; the vulnerability of the group in question; the blanket nature of the criterion; the extent to which the decision was the result of a democratic process, in respect of which there was a spectrum with primary legislation at one end, and the decisions of unelected officials at the other: in the present case there was no evidence that Parliament addressed the issue of persons falling into the situation of the reclaimer; and the quality of the decision-makers review of the material  a lack of consideration significantly narrowed the margin of discretion. The focus was on the discriminatory effect of a measure and not the scheme as a whole. In considering whether the measure in question discriminated against the spouses of refugees on the grounds of sex, international conventions or treaties relating to the treatment of women were relevant. Of particular relevance are: the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979 and ratified by the UK on 7April 1986 (CEDAW); the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (UN General Assembly RES/48/104); and the Istanbul Convention.

[65] The CEDAW committee has recognised that violence against women, including domestic violence, is a form of discrimination against women. The Istanbul Convention required states to take legislative or other measures to protect all victims from further acts of violence. The international materials illustrated the breadth and extent of the States positive duties towards victims of domestic violence.

Decision

[66] The aim of the measure in question is said to be that the spouses of those settled in the UK should be treated differently from the spouses of those without that status. The rationale for doing so is that the former are likely to have a reasonable expectation of settlement in the UK, and thus to have cut or loosened their ties with their country of origin in that expectation, whereas the spouses of the latter could have no such expectation, and would be less likely to cut or loosen those ties. In asserting that rationale, the respondent equiparates the position of refugees with those granted work or study leave. We do not accept, as a matter of fact, that this is a sound equiparation. A person admitted to the country as a student or for work is very clearly someone admitted on a limited and temporary basis, entirely at the discretion of the state. The status of refugee, as has been pointed out, is declaratory. Once it has been determined to exist the state has no discretion, in terms of its international and humanitarian obligations, but must grant asylum. The worker or student enters the country by choice; the refugee out of necessity. The circumstances in which refugee status may be lost are extremely limited, and can in no reasonable way be compared to the situation applying to a worker or student. Once refugee status is acknowledged, international obligations require the state to facilitate assimilation and naturalisation, again a situation quite different from that of a worker or student. Accordingly, whilst we accept that it is not reasonable for the spouses of students or workers to have any reasonable expectation of having their future and a permanent home in the UK, and that such spouses are less likely to cut or loosen their ties with their country of origin than the spouses of British Citizens or persons with settled status, we cannot accept that this applies equally to the spouses of refugees. One can readily see that the spouse of a worker or student can have no reasonable expectation of having their future life or a permanent home in the UK, and that they would not be expected to cut or loosen their ties with their country of origin. The same cannot be said of the spouse of a refugee. A refugee is not in this country as a matter of choice or selection in the way that a student or worker may be: they have been admitted to the country because they have a well-founded fear of persecution in their own country. The idea that the spouse of such a person might be any less likely from the outset to loosen or cut their ties with their country of origin seems to us to be fanciful. Such an approach ignores several aspects of the reality of the position of a refugee.

[67] Statistical material before the court (which was not disputed by the respondent) indicates that some 95% of refugees granted 5 year limited leave to remain are granted ILR at the end of the 5 year period. That accords with the view of the AIT quoted in para 47(17) A (Afghanistan) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2009] EWHC Civ 825 that:

while refugee status is said to be subject to active review at this point, in practice indefinite leave is nearly always granted.

[68] The justification fails to recognise the factors which we have just mentioned: namely, that although refugee status may be lost, or a refugee expelled, the grounds upon which either might occur are significantly limited, not simply as a matter of domestic law, but as a matter of international law; and the effect of article 34 of the Refugee Convention.

[69] Accordingly unless the status of refugee is lost in terms of article 1C, or there are grounds for expulsion in terms of article 33, a refugee can reasonably expect to proceed to assimilation and naturalisation under article 34 and to ILR. Proceeding to settlement at the end of the 5 year period is very much the rule, rather than the exception. These considerations in our view indicate that the position of a refugee is in no way to be equiparated with that of a student or worker, and the spouse of a refugee corresponds much more closely to the spouse of a British Citizen or person settled in the UK.

[70] Insofar as the Lord Ordinary accepted that a refugee could be equiparated with someone in the UK on a work or study visa, and considered that the spouse of a refugee was not entitled to have any reasonable expectation of proceeding to have a future life and permanent home in the UK, we consider that he misdirected himself.

[71] The Lord Ordinary considered it relevant that family life was created at a time when the immigration status of one of the parties was such that family life within the host state would from the outset be precarious. We accept the submission of counsel for the respondent, as observed in Deelah, that precarious does not mean unlawful but we do not consider that this advances his argument. We would observe that in none of the cases cited to us in which the term precarious has been applied was that term applied to the immigration status of a refugee with 5-year limited leave to remain. Family life established by a refugee pre-flight and which lawfully subsists post-flight cannot be compared to family life established post-flight and in the full knowledge that one of the parties has no right to stay at all. The respondent relied heavily upon the observations of McCloskey J in Deelah but (a) the observations were obiter, since the issue was held not to arise; (b) the case related to a student; and (c) the analysis at paras 32 and 33, whilst appropriate to a student/worker, does not apply equally to refugees, largely for the reason we have already given.

[72] Although in R (Algeria) Davis J recognised that the 5-year initial limited leave introduced in 2005 gave rise to a lack of certainty, in that if the situation in the country of origin has improved in that time, the refugee is liable to be required to be returned there, he went on to add:

24 As against that, as pointed out by Mr Otty QC appearing on behalf of the Secretary of State, it is fundamental to the new policy that a refugee will not be liable to be returned unless the situation in his home country has sufficiently changed on a significant and non-temporary basis so as to render it safe to do so. It is said that such a decision to return would call for the appropriate objective country information; that each case would be reviewed on its own merits; and further that there would be the potentiality for appeals and for the raising of any Article 8 points in individual cases that may have arisen. Overall, it is submitted, and I agree, that the grant of five-year leave to enter or remain, subject to further review, is significant and valuable protection.

[73] This significant and valuable protection is an important consideration: the fact that the position of a refugee may come under review may indeed introduce a degree of uncertainty, compared to the secure position of a settled individual, but that is not by any means to say that his position must therefore be considered precarious. We consider that insofar as the Lord Ordinary appears to have considered that the immigration status of the reclaimers husband was precarious he was in error.

[74] Rule 339B of the Immigration Rules provides:

When a persons refugee status is revoked or not renewed any limited or indefinite leave which they have may be curtailed or cancelled

[75] It will be seen therefore that the respondents arguments as to the certain uncertainty of position relative to a refugee with limited leave to remain would apply to a settled refugee, yet the spouse of the latter could obtain the protection of the domestic violence concession, whilst the spouse of the former could not. In our view this significantly weakens the respondents argument, making it very difficult to justify the difference in treatment on the basis which has been advanced.

[76] The history of the provisions shows that when introduced as a concession, and when initially that concession was included in the rules, it applied equally to the spouse of a refugee as to the spouse of a citizen. The difference in treatment arose not directly under these provisions, but as a consequence of the introduction, in 2005, of a policy granting in the first place a 5-year limited leave to refugees. The effect of that change was that refugees would not acquire settled status until after the expiry of that period, and hence until then their spouses would be excluded from the operation of the domestic violence concession. The reasons for the policy change in 2005 were examined in R (Algeria) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2006] EWHC 3513 (Admin):

20 On 19 July 2005 there was a written ministerial statement by Mr Tony McNulty, Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality, in the course of which he said this: I am also announcing today that from 30 August onwards refugees will be granted five years limited leave in the first instance, rather than immediate settlement as at present. If there is a significant and non-temporary change in conditions in a country, we would consider whether this should, in line with the Convention's cessation clauses, trigger a case by case review of the position of all or some refugees from that country with limited leave 

21 There were no formal changes to the Immigration Rules at this time to give effect to the new published policy. In the event, on 25 August 2005 there was issued a guidance note by the Immigration and Nationality Appeals Directorate as operational policy guidance headed:

Changes to Refugee Leave and Humanitarian Protection from 30 August 2005.

That guidance note included the following passage:

Family reunion and other benefits

The change to the period of leave being granted will not affect refugees' other rights. They will still be entitled to family reunion, travel documents and to use the welfare state/NHS, as they are now. Family reunion rights will be extended to those who are granted leave on Humanitarian Protection grounds on or after 30/8/05. These people will now be able to be joined by their spouses, minor children etc on the same terms as are available to refugees.

[77] The guidance note indicated that those who had been granted leave as a refugee would be subject to review of their claims if, during their initial 5-year leave, Ministers were satisfied that there had been a significant and non-temporary change in the conditions in their country. It went on to observe that:

If that happens, then a decision will be taken on whether they still qualify for asylum/HP and, if they do not, their leave will be curtailed so that no leave remains. Any such curtailment would attract a right of appeal. However, a person who ceases to qualify for asylum or HP may qualify for leave on some other basis (for instance on article 8 grounds, in which case DL may be appropriate). In such cases, leave will be varied rather than removed altogether.

[78] The guidance note recorded that leave would also be reviewed or curtailed where the refugee had brought himself within the cessation provisions, had acquired his status by fraud, or had committed a serious crime, noting that:

However, provided this does not happen, and the person applies in time for further leave before his/her initial grant expires, s/he will be granted ILR/E provided s/he does not fall within the exclusion or cessation provisions of the Refugee Convention, and has not been convicted of a particularly serious crime, and provided his/her presence here is not otherwise deemed to be unconducive to the public good (see paragraph 5.4 of the API on Limited Leave or, for HP cases, para 2.5 of the API on HP for further details).

[79] Neither in the explanation given in that case for the 2005 changes nor in argument before this court was any material or submission advanced to indicate that at the time of those changes any consideration had been given to the effect on the spouses of refugees who might otherwise have been able to avail themselves of the domestic violence concession. The concession was not framed specifically under reference to refugees, or their spouses, and it seems that no thought was given to the position of the spouses of refugees, who, until 2005, would have been entitled to seek to avail themselves of the concession. The justification advanced to the court did not address the considerations applicable to refugee status at all: there is no considered reason placed before the court for the exclusion of such individuals from the operation of the concession. No consideration was given to the question whether it would be appropriate to equiparate refugees and their spouses with workers/students and their spouses, and so remove them from the protection afforded by the concession. Equally, no consideration was given to whether the effect of the changes would be consistent with the underlying aim of the domestic violence concession that the victims of domestic violence should not be required to stay in an abusive relationship, or the extent to which it was consistent with the governments policy of supporting international measures aimed at the elimination of violence towards women. There was no material before us to suggest that it was the view of the government that there was an aim being pursued which was thought sufficiently important to justify regulations having this difference in treatment, including an effect which was not disputed as being indirectly discriminatory to women. There was ample material before us  which was not contested - to suggest that women are significantly more likely to be the victims of domestic violence than men are. Scottish Government figures for 2011-2012 indicate that 81% of recorded incidents of domestic violence involved a female victim and a male perpetrator. Statistics in England & Wales show a different balance, but one which is still indicative of a female victim/male perpetrator balance in two-thirds of cases.

[80] This is not in our view a case in which a policy choice on the critical question has in fact been made, with due consideration of the issues, looked at in the light of the governments policy both in relation to refugees and domestic violence. In the absence of any such choice or consideration, or any reasonable basis upon which a refugee could be equiparated to a worker/student, or the reasonable expectations of their spouses being as limited as those of the spouses of students/workers, and having regard to the effect on the spouses of refugees, as well as the underlying aim of the domestic violence concession, we cannot say that the difference in treatment is proportionate. The position of those such as the reclaimer has simply not been brought into consideration. The effect on them is not an informed choice made by government upon due consideration, but appears to be an unintended by product of the changes introduced in 2005. We do not require to examine in depth the issue of the standard of review, because we are satisfied, even on the application of the higher test of whether the justification is manifestly without foundation, that the justification must be found wanting. We fully agree that policy choices of government are deserving of significant respect and we would not demur from the application of such a test. We note, however the words of Lord Dyson in R (MA) v Secretary of State for Work & Pensions [2014] PTSR 584:

60 I acknowledge that, despite the fact that we should (i) apply the manifestly without reasonable foundation test and (ii) exercise considerable caution before interfering with the scheme approved by Parliament, we are obliged to scrutinise carefully the reasons advanced by the Secretary of State in justification of his scheme: see the Humphreys case [2012] PTSR 1024, para 22 and R (Aguilar Quila) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (AIRE Centre intervening) [2012] 1 AC 621, paras 45, 46 and 61, per Lord Wilson JSC. That is particularly important since we are dealing with a vulnerable group (disabled persons) and the discrimination is closely connected with their disabilities

[81] We also recall the comments of Lord Neuberger in R (RJM) v Secretary of State for Work & Pensions [2009] 1 AC 311 that the court should be slow to substitute its views for those of the executive:

57 The fact that there are grounds for criticising, or disagreeing with, these views does not mean that they must be rejected. Equally, the fact that the line may have been drawn imperfectly does not mean that the policy cannot be justified. Of course, there will come a point where the justification for a policy is so weak, or the line has been drawn in such an arbitrary position, that, even with the broad margin of appreciation accorded to the state, the court will conclude that the policy is unjustifiable. However, this is not such a case, in my judgment.

[82] For the reasons given, even allowing full weight to the element of discretion to be accorded to the executive, we consider that this is a case in which the line has been drawn effectively by oversight, and where the justification advanced is weak to the extent of being unjustifiable. We accordingly allow the reclaiming motion and reduce the decision of the Secretary of State dated 17 September 2014 to refuse the petitioners application for ILR. We have decided not to grant the declaratory sought, on the view that it is not necessary in this case.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE

QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION

ADMINISTRATIVE COURT



Mr Richard Hermer, QC and Mr Chris Buttler (instructed by the Public Law Project) for the Claimant Mr Martin Chamberlain, QC, Ms Cathryn McGahey and Mr Malcolm Birdling (instructed by the Central Legal Team of the Legal Aid Agency for the 1st Defendant and by the Treasury Solicitor for the 2nd Defendant) Hearing dates: 10th  12th June 2015 ____________________

Mr Justice Collins:

"The case of IS is extreme. It is impossible to see how a man suffering from his disabilities could have had any meaningful involvement in the decision making process without the benefit of legal representation."

"The Lord Chancellor must secure that legal aid is made available in accordance with this part".

Legal aid includes provision for 'advice, assistance and representation': S.(1)(2)(b). Section 9 provides:-

"(1) Civil legal services are to be available to an individual under this Part if 

(a) they are civil legal services described in Part 1 of Schedule 1, and

(b) the Director has determined that the individual qualifies for the services in accordance with this Part (and has not withdrawn the determination)".

The Director is the director of the Legal Aid Agency (LAA), the first defendant. Section 9(2) contains a provision which enables the Lord Chancellor to add services to or vary them or remove them from Part 1 of Schedule 1. I do not need to go through the provisions of Part 1 of Schedule 1. Suffice it to say that it takes out of the scope of legal aid available under s9 a large number of cases which would have qualified for legal aid before LASPO came into force. But Section 10 provided what the ministers described to Parliament to be a safety net. It is central to this case. It provides, so far as material:-

"(1) Civil legal services other than services described in Part 1 of Schedule 1 are to be available to an individual under this part if subsection (2)..is satisfied.

(2) This subsection is satisfied when the Director -

(a) has made an exceptional case determination in relation to the individual and the services, and

(b) has determined that the individual qualifies for the services in accordance with this Part (and has not withdrawn either determination).

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), an exceptional case determination is a determination 

(a) that it is necessary to make the services available to the individual under this Part because failure to do so would be a breach of 

(i) the individual's Convention rights (within the meaning of the Human Rights Act 1998), or

(ii) any rights of the individual to the provision of legal services that are enforceable EU rights, or

(b) that it is appropriate to do so, in particular circumstances of the case, having regard to any risk that failure to do so would be such a breach".

The rest of Section 10 deals with the provision of legal services for inquests which is not material for the purposes of this case.

"(2) In setting the criteria, the Lord Chancellor

(a) must consider the circumstances in which it is appropriate to make civil legal services available under this Part, and

(b) must, in particular, consider the extent to which the criteria ought to reflect the factors in subsection (3).

(3) Those factors are

(a) the likely cost of providing the services and the benefit which may be obtained by the services being provided,

(b) the availability of resources to provide the services,

(c) the appropriateness of applying those resources to provide the services, having regard to present and likely future demands for the provision of civil legal services under this Part,

(d) the importance for the individual of the matters in relation to which the services would be provided,

(e) the nature and seriousness of the act, omission, circumstances or other matter in relation to which the services are sought,

(f) the availability to the individual of services provided other than under this Part and the likelihood of the individual being able to make use of such services,

(g) if the services are sought by the individual in relation to a dispute, the individual's prospects of success in the dispute,

(h) the conduct of the individual in connection with services made available under this Part or an application for such services,

(i) the conduct of the individual in connection with any legal proceedings or other proceedings for resolving disputes about legal rights or duties, and

(j) the public interest.

(4) In setting the criteria, the Lord Chancellor must seek to secure that, in cases in which more than one form of civil legal service could be provided for an individual, the individual qualifies under this Part for the form of service which in all the circumstances is the most appropriate having regard to the criteria.

(5) The criteria must reflect the principle that, in many disputes, mediation and other forms of dispute resolution are more appropriate than legal proceedings.

(6) Regulations under subsection (1)(b) may provide that no criteria apply in relation to a prescribed description of individual or services."

It is apparent from paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (3) that the Lord Chancellor is entitled to consider the existence of present and future recourses in setting the criteria. But it has not been suggested by Mr Chamberlain that this means that if the refusal of legal aid would result in a breach of relevant rights, availability of present or future resources can justify refusal.

"(1) Where the Director assesses, for the purposes of these Regulations, the prospects of success of a matter to which an application for civil legal services relates, the Director must classify the prospects of that matter as follows

(a) "very good", which means an 80% or more chance of obtaining a successful outcome;

(b) "good", which means a 60% or more chance, but less than an 80% chance, of obtaining a successful outcome;

(c) "moderate", which means a 50% or more chance, but less than a 60% chance, of obtaining a successful outcome;

(d) "borderline", which means that the case is not "unclear" but that it is not possible, by reason of disputed law, fact or expert evidence, to

(i) decide that the chance of obtaining a successful outcome is 50% or more; or

(ii) classify the prospects as poor;

(e) "poor", which means the individual is unlikely to obtain a successful outcome; or

(f) "unclear", which has the meaning given in paragraph (2).

(2) "Unclear" means the Director cannot put the case into any of the categories in paragraph (1)(a) to (e) because, in all the circumstances of the case, there are identifiable investigations which could be carried out, after which it should be possible for the Director to make a reliable estimate of the prospects of success."

(a) legal help;

(b) help at court;

(c) family help;

(d) family mediation;

(e) help with family mediation;

(f) legal representation; and

(g) other legal services.

Those are further defined in regulations 13 to 19.

"(1) Legal representation may be provided as either investigative representation or full representation.

(2) "Legal representation" means the provision of civil legal services, other than acting as a mediator or arbitrator, to an individual or legal person in particular proceedings where that individual or legal person

(a) is a party to those proceedings;

(b) wishes to be joined as a party to those proceedings; or

(c) is contemplating issuing those proceedings.

(3) "Investigative representation" means legal representation which is limited to the investigation of the strength of the contemplated proceedings and includes the issuing and conducting of proceedings but only so far as necessary

(a) to obtain disclosure of information relevant to the prospects of success of the proceedings;

(b) to protect the position of the individual or legal person applying for investigative representation in relation to an urgent hearing; or

(c) to protect the position of the individual or legal person applying for investigative representation in relation to the time limit for the issue of the proceedings.

(4) "Full representation" means legal representation other than investigative representation.

(a) instructing an advocate;

(b) preparing to provide advocacy; or

(c) advocacy.

But regulation 19 continues:-

"in proceedings in relation to which the Director, having applied the relevant merits criteria in accordance with regulations 48 to 50 (application of the merits criteria in exceptional cases), has made a determination under section 10(2)(b).(exceptional cases) of the Act."

"An individual may qualify for legal representation only if the Director is satisfied that the following criteria are met

(a) the individual does not have access to other potential sources of funding (other than a conditional fee agreement) from which it would be reasonable to fund the case;

(b) the case is unsuitable for a conditional fee agreement;

(c) there is no person other than the individual, including a person who might benefit from the proceedings, who can reasonably be expected to bring the proceedings;

(d) the individual has exhausted all reasonable alternatives to bringing proceedings including any complaints system, ombudsman scheme or other form of alternative dispute resolution;

(e) there is a need for representation in all the circumstances of the case including

(i) the nature and complexity of the issues;

(ii) the existence of other proceedings; and

(iii) the interests of other parties to the proceedings; and

(f) the proceedings are not likely to be allocated to the small claims track."

Investigative representation is dealt with in regulation 40. If the general regulation 39 criteria are met, investigative representation may be granted if the prospects of success are unclear and substantial investigative work is required and the Director has reasonable grounds for believing that on completion of the investigative work the criteria for full representation will be met both in terms of cost benefit and prospects of success.

"The prospects of success criterion is only met if the Director is satisfied that the prospects of success are

(a) very good, good or moderate";

Before this amendment which came into force on 27 January 2014 the regulation contained a sub-paragraph (b) which read:-

"[or] borderline, and the case is

(i) of significant wider public interest; or

(ii) a case with overwhelming importance to the individual."

I do not know why the amendment deleting (b) was made. It is somewhat curious since in borderline cases the need for legal representation to tip the balance where for example it is necessary to test or challenge evidence or argue issues of law is apparent.

"(1) Where the civil legal services which are the subject of an application are described in a category in the Category Definitions that form part of the 2010 Standard Civil Contract or 2013 Standard Civil Contract, the application must specify

(a) the category within which the civil legal services are described; and

(b) if the individual has identified a proposed provider, a provider with whom the Lord Chancellor has made an arrangement under section 2(1) of the Act for the provision of services which fall within the category specified in the application (unless the effective administration of justice test is satisfied).

(2) An application for a determination under section 10 of the Act must

(a) be made to the Director in writing in a form specified by the Lord Chancellor and signed by the individual and any proposed provider; and

(b) state whether it is proposed that the services should be provided as Controlled Work, Licensed Work or under an individual case contract."

Thus, as the claimant states in his re-amended grounds, an applicant must understand and apply the definitions of the categories of civil legal aid and services in legal and contract documents and must use the forms prescribed for the making of the application. As will become clear, these requirements do not make it at all easy for an unrepresented individual to make an application in accordance with the regulations.

"(1) A determination under section 10 of the Act may specify that the determination is to be treated as having effect from a date earlier than the date of the determination.

(2) Where the Director makes

(a) an exceptional case determination under section 10(2)(a) of the Act;

the Director must provide written reasons for the determination and notice of any right of review."

The power to back date is obviously of some importance since it enables providers to do work in preparing and submitting applications and to be paid for such work. But payment can only be made if the application for ECF is successful.

"It can therefore be seen that the critical question is whether an unrepresented litigant is able to present his case effectively and without obvious unfairness. The answer to this question requires a consideration of all the circumstances of the case, including the factors which are identified at paras 19 to 25 of the Guidance. These factors must be carefully weighed. Thus the greater the complexity of the procedural rules and/or the substantive legal issues, the more important what is at stake and the less able the applicant may be to cope with the stress, demands and complexity of the proceedings, the more likely it is that article 6(1) will require the provision of legal services (subject always to any reasonable merits and means test). The cases demonstrate that article 6(1) does not require civil legal aid in most or even many cases. It all depends on the circumstances. It should be borne in mind that, although in the UK we have an adversarial system of litigation, judges can and do provide assistance to litigants in person. The outcomes in X v UK, Munro and McVicar show that it is not a requirement of article 6(1) that legal services be provided in all but the most straightforward of cases. On the other hand, the outcomes in Airey, P,C and S, Steel and Morris and AK and L do not show that legal services are required only in such extreme cases as these. In short, we do not accept the submission of Mr Chamberlain that these decisions justify the passages in the Guidance which we have criticised at paras 44-45 above."

"The test under Article 6.1, as it seems to me, is whether a court is put in a position that it really cannot do justice in a case because it has no confidence in its ability to grasp the facts and principles of the matter on which it has to decide. In such a case it may well be said that a litigant is deprived of effective access..because, although he can present his case in person, he cannot do so in a way which will enable the court to fulfil its paramount and over-arching function of reaching a just decision."

Chadwick LJ had prefaced these observations by stating that a litigant who wished to establish that he needed legal aid to enable him to have effective access had a relatively high threshold to cross. The court in R(G) stated that it did not find that helpful. There is a need for both procedural justice (fairness) and substantial justice (reaching the correct result). Both of these have been considered in the ECtHR jurisprudence and that was what the court decided should be applied.

"If you choose to apply but do not use the prescribed forms then we are likely only to be able to provide you with a preliminary view based on the available information.

Please as a minimum include the following in your application.

1. The background to your case, including all the main facts.

2. What you need legal advice in or what court proceedings you need representation in.

3. Why you cannot represent yourself.

4. What outcome you wish to achieve.

5. Any relevant information that will support your application, e.g. Court applications and orders, expert and medical reports, copies of any decisions you wish to challenge.

6. Information on your financial situation.

If we either make an ECF determination or provide you with a positive preliminary view that your case might be exceptional, you will then need to find a legal advisor who will make the full application for you. It is also important to understand that a positive preliminary view is not a guarantee that a ECF determination will be made after the consideration of a full application and also that a determination may be withdrawn if, for example, new information is provided to us. If we are unable to make a determination or provide a preliminary view on the information you supply to us then you may seek help from a legal advisor."

"A client may apply direct to the LAA for exceptional funding. When this happens we will deal with the application, in whatever format it is made, on the basis of the information provided by the client. In the absence of a fully completed application for an exceptional case determination and provided that there is sufficient information to do so it is most likely that the ECF Team will provide a preliminary view based on the available information".

It goes on to state that a fully completed application will have to be submitted together with a means form. Providers are told that they will not receive any payment unless a successful determination results and are warned that a positive preliminary view may not result in a grant of ECF if, for example, the applicant fails the means test or information given by the provider differs from that provided by the client so that the other tests fail.

A particular adverse effect of the LASPO reforms has been on family cases and the increase in litigants who should have been granted legal assistance but have to appear in person. In a recent judgment delivered on 10 March 2015 MG and JG v. JF and JFG [2015] EWHC 504 (Fam), Mostyn J expressed concerns at the effect of the failure to grant legal aid in children proceedings, which are no longer in scope. He observed on the facts of the case before him that it was impossible for the applicants to be expected to represent themselves having regard to the factual and legal issues at large. There would, he said, be a gross inequality of arms and "arguably a violation of their rights under Articles 6 and 8 of the ECHR."

"Since the reforms have taken effect there have been an appreciable number of cases which have demonstrated that the blithe assumption in the consultation paper (that the parties' emotional involvement in the case will not necessarily mean that they are unable to present it themselves and that there is no reason to believe that such cases will be routinely legally complex) is unfounded. This was entirely predictable".

He then identified nine judgments. He continued:-

"This is a formidable catalogue. Each case focussed on the gross unfairness meted out to a parent in private law proceedings by the denial of legal aid. I do not think it would be right to say that those were examples of the law of unintended consequences since, as I say, the problems were entirely predictable".

In Lindner v. Rawlins [2015] EWCA Civ 61, the Court of Appeal heard a case where an unrepresented husband had to deal with a refusal to order disclosure from the police in a defended divorce case. The wife neither appeared nor was represented and the court observed that the appeal was 'technical and unusual and that the husband could not be expected to have mastered the area of law to be able to present his appeal in a way which assisted the court'. The result, as Aikens LJ states in paragraph 34, was that the court had to spend considerable time in going through the relevant documents and researching the applicable law.

He continued:-

"All this involves an expensive use of judicial time, which is in short supply as it is. Money may have been saved from the legal aid funds, but an equal amount of expense, if not more, has been incurred in terms of the cost of judges' and court time. The result is that there is, in fact, no economy at all. Worse, this way of dealing with cases runs the risk that a correct result will not be reached because the court does not have the legal assistance of counsel that it should have and the court has no other legal assistance available to it".

In Re:D (A Child) [2014] EWFC 39, a decision on 14 November 2014 an unrepresented father who lacked capacity had applied to revoke a care order and the local authority was seeking to place his child for adoption. Sir James Munby, P eventually after what Mostyn, J describes as 'heavy pressure' persuaded the LAA to award some legal aid. Sir James observed (paragraph 31 (vi) of his judgment):-

"Thus far the State has simply washed its hands of the problem, leaving the solution to the problem which the State has itself created - for the State has brought the proceedings but declined all responsibility for ensuring that the parents are able to participate effectively in the proceedings it has brought  to the goodwill, the charity, of the legal profession. This is, it might be thought, both unprincipled and unconscionable. Why should the State leave it to private individuals to ensure that the State is not in breach of the States'  the United Kingdom's obligations under the Convention?"

"It can be said that in the field of private children law the principle of individual justice has had to be sacrificed on the altar of public debt".

"Nor has it proved necessary to consider the proposed application form to apply for exceptional funding under Section 10. Mr Eadie, on behalf of the Lord Chancellor, accepted that it was far too complicated and needs simplification and revision if it was going to be of any assistance to residents, let alone a foreigner".

It is said by Mr Chamberlain that the transcript does not show that Mr Eadie did make that concession. But whether or not he did is not material since the observations were based on the court's knowledge of the forms. Furthermore, it is accepted as is inevitable that the forms are indeed far too complicated for lay persons to complete.

".the provision of any of the following forms of civil legal services 

(a) family help (higher); or

(b) legal representation that is not Controlled Work or Special Case Work"

Special Case Work is defined by regulation 2 to mean "Civil Legal services provided under an individual case contract in the circumstances described in regulation 54(3)." Essentially, this covers cases in which costs are expected to exceed 25,000 or cases which have wide public interest or, for example, are going to the Supreme Court. Controlled Work is defined in regulation 21(2). It is likely to be a common form of work applied for since it covers "any of the following forms of legal services 

(a) legal help;

(b) help with family mediation;

(c) help at court;

(d) family help lower; or

(e) legal representation for proceedings in [four specified tribunals]."

These are first-tier Mental Health tribunals in England and Wales and both the first tier and upper tier tribunals dealing with immigration and asylum cases. Thus the legal representation applications which are for Licensed work cover representation in courts and all tribunals not mentioned in regulation 21(2)(e).

"There is general concern about how long the form is, and the practicality of practitioners being asked to take on such work for free. However, given the nature of the test the Government has set, I am not convinced there is a lot the LSC can do about that".

"? You should discuss factual, procedural and legal complexity.

? Please specify the court, tribunal or other forum in which the case will be heard (e.g. First Tier Tribunal, County Court, High Court)."

The third asks "how capable is the client of presenting their case effectively?" It continues:-

"Please consider the client's education or relevant skills/experience, any relevant disabilities, the client's capacity, including whether a litigation friend may be able to conduct proceedings on the client's behalf."

The fourth requires that any additional information that is relevant to the question of whether ECF should be made available is specified.

"In summary, our view was that legal service providers routinely made judgments about degrees of risk and accepted or rejected business accordingly. We did not consider it unreasonable to expect them to do so sensibly in respect of the relatively small cost of making an ECF application."

"In my experience solicitors in my area are not (at least in the absence of payment) willing to help people to make applications for [ECF]. Further, the LAA made no concessions at all for the fact that I was unrepresented. I was actively requested to fill in lengthy and complicated forms, refused funding for legal reasons I could not understand, discouraged from appealing and ultimately denied the positive decision to which I was entitled in time to enable me to be represented."

It is, as I said, a sorry story. But the refusal on merits grounds I shall have to deal with in relation to the claimant's second ground.

"The District Judge expressed a view that the client's family members should not be a Mackenzie friend because of the nature of the allegations.However, supporting evidence to confirm this has not been provided".

It continued:-

"The Court is a safe environment which offers your client a fair chance to present his views to the court".

The unreasonableness of this is all too obvious. There have been too many such examples.

"The purpose of Section 10(3) of the Act is to enable compliance with ECHR and EU law obligations in the context of a legal aid scheme that has refocused limited resources on the highest priority cases. Caseworkers should approach Section 10(3)(b) with this firmly in mind. It would not usually be appropriate to fund simply because a risk (however small) exists of a breach of the relevant rights. The greater the risk of a breach, the more likely it is that it will be appropriate to make a determination. However, the seriousness of the risk is only one of the factors that may be taken into account in deciding whether it is appropriate to make a determination. Regard should be had to all the circumstances of the case."

Also in paragraph 13 reference is made to the Court of Appeal's observations in R(G) that Article 6(1) does not require that funding be granted 'in most or even many cases'.

"Where an individual makes an application for Legal Help alone, caseworkers should consider particularly carefully whether the Section 10(3) criteria are met. It will not be sufficient that such assistance is merely helpful for the presentation of the case. The failure to provide Legal Help will in itself not usually amount to a breach of ECHR or enforceable EU rights to legal aid. In particular, where the source of the obligation to provide legal aid is Article 6(1), it should be recalled that the obligation can only arise where there is a 'determination of an individuals civil rights and obligations' and caseworkers should consider whether an application for Legal Help alone does in fact relate to such a determination".

The guidance does not deal with Article 8 albeit the court in R(G) made it clear that the procedural requirements inherent in Article 8 are essentially the same as those in Article 6(1). Effective access required to protect Article 8 rights is needed and that means that legal aid is required to ensure that there is such access and it is fair. Thus the approach set out in paragraph 39 would seem to be applicable where article 8 rights are concerned.

"? In relation to the complexity of the proceedings caseworkers should take into account that large number of litigants in England and Wales represent themselves in family proceedings every year.

? In relation to legal aid and factual complexity; for example, does the case involve unusually complex questions of trust law?

? What support (other than legal representation) is the applicant likely to receive? Caseworkers should take into account that judges are used to dealing with unrepresented parties in family proceedings and the court may be supported by for example CAFCASS in reaching a decision."

It is not surprising in the light of this that the concerns of family judges to which I have already referred have arisen. The reality is that there is a limit to the extent to which it is proper for a judge to assist one party to litigation and if there is either factual, legal or procedural complexity it is difficult to see how an unrepresented party who will inevitably be likely not to be able to approach the matter objectively can have a fair hearing. If there are factual issues to be determined, evidence may be needed, whether medical or expert or other evidence, and the court in adversarial proceedings has no power to obtain such evidence. No doubt some litigants who would not meet the means test for legal aid will choose to represent themselves, but that is not a relevant consideration in deciding on an application by one who cannot afford legal assistance. The belief that because courts and tribunals have to deal with litigants in person legal representation can be refused is one which must be very carefully applied. It should only be used to refuse an application if the issues are truly relatively straightforward.

In Martin v. Legal Services Commission [2007] EWHC 1786 (Admin), Ouseley J helpfully summarised the ECtHR jurisprudence. That case challenged a refusal to grant legal aid for a negligence claim on the basis that the cost-benefit test was not met. The key conclusion is that a refusal of legal aid on the grounds that a case lacked reasonable prospect of success, through a fair and non-arbitrary decision making process would not be a denial of access to the courts, even though it would mean that a claimant would have to bring proceedings himself or seek other assistance which might not be available.

"The Court further observes that the legal aid system in the UK offers individuals substantial guarantees to protect them from arbitrariness. In particular, the Court has regard to the fact that applicants who are refused legal aid or whose certificates are discharged or withdrawn can appeal to an Independent Funding Review Committee. If they are not satisfied with the Committee's decision, they can apply for judicial review."

In Aerts v. Belguim (2000) 29 EHRR 50, the Legal Aid Board of the Court of Cassation had refused to grant legal aid to the applicant, a mental patient, who sought to challenge the lawfulness of his detention on the ground that his appeal was not well-founded. Belgian law required that there be representation by counsel before the Court of Cassation. The right to liberty which was at stake was a civil right so that Article 6(1) applied. The court concluded (paragraph 60):-

"It was not for the Legal Aid Board to assess the proposed appeal's prospect of success; it was for the Court of Cassation to determine the issue. By refusing the application on the ground that the appeal did not that time (sic) appear to be well-founded, the Legal Aid Board impaired the very essence of Mr Aert's right to a tribunal. There has accordingly been a breach of Article 6(1)."

The court thus did not accept that a merits test applied by a body, albeit in the Court of Cassation, which was not judicial could properly refuse legal aid when the effect of refusal was to disable the applicant from appearing before the court.

"Furthermore, the system instituted by the French legislature provides substantial guarantees for individuals of a kind to protect them from arbitrary action. On the one hand, the Legal Aid Office established within the Cour de Cassation is presided over by a magistrate from the court and also includes its chief registrar, two members chosen by the court, two officials, and two advocates before the Council of State and the Cour de Cassation, as well as a member appointed in the name of litigants; on the other hand, rejection decisions can be the object of an application to the First President of the Cour de Cassation."

Thus there was ample protection provided by means of a judicial decision if legal aid was to be refused.

"The Court's finding that there has been no violation of Article 6 of the Convention therefore quite clearly marks a departure from its previous case law. We find it surprising that a Chamber should thus decline to follow two previous decisions; as such a major change to case law is within the sole province of the Grand Chamber."

"The question whether the provision of legal aid is necessary for a fair hearing must be determined on the basis of the particular facts and circumstances of each case. It will depend, inter alia, upon the importance of what is at stake for the applicant in the proceedings, the complexity of the relevant law and procedure, the question whether legal representation is compulsory and the applicant's capacity to represent himself effectively. The right of access to court is, however, not absolute and may be subject to restrictions, provided that those pursue a legitimate aim and are proportionate. It may notably be acceptable to impose conditions on the grant of legal aid based, inter alia, on the financial situation of the litigant or his or her prospects of success in the proceedings.provided that the legal aid system offers individuals substantial guarantees to protect them from arbitrariness (compare Gnahore , Del Sol) ."

As the court observed on p58, the German legal aid system offered individuals substantial guarantees to protect them from arbitrariness. It said:-

"It is the Court having jurisdiction to deal with the planned action itself which decides on motions for legal aid and an appeal lies against its decision refusing legal aid."

"The purpose of the duty is to require consideration of equality implications at the time the policy is drafted. The fact that it is a continuing duty does not mean that there has to be a further detailed consideration when the general framework is made concrete or whenever there are minor changes of detail. It would make administration intolerable and grossly inefficient if every aspect of policy left to an officer's discretion had automatically to be returned for further consideration of the equality implications."

In Bracking v. Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2013] EWCA (Civ) 1345 McCombe LJ helpfully set out the points which are required by s.149. All I think I need say is that provided the court is satisfied that there has been a rigorous consideration of the duty so that there is a proper appreciation of the potential impact of the policy on equality objectives and the desirability of protecting them, it is for the decision maker to decide how much weight should be given to various factors informing the policy.

"Any risk that providers might as a matter of policy decline to take on applications by people with protected characteristics as a result of perceived increased burdens potentially associated with such applications should in our view be mitigated by the existing legal duties on providers with regard to equality, for example the requirement under section 29 of the Equality Act 2010 that a service provider must not discriminate in the provision of services".
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION)

ON APPEAL FROM THE UPPER TRIBUNAL

(IMMIGRATION AND ASYLUM CHAMBER)

DA/00720/2011



Mr Abid Mahmood (instructed by Fountain Solicitors) for the Appellant Mr Jonathan Auburn (instructed by The Treasury Solictor) for the The Secretary of State for the Home Department ____________________

(Transcript of the Handed Down Judgment of WordWave International Limited A Merrill Communications Company 165 Fleet Street, London EC4A 2DY Tel No: 020 7404 1400, Fax No: 020 7831 8838 Official Shorthand Writers to the Court)

LORD JUSTICE LAWS:

INTRODUCTION

THE APPELLANT'S CASE AND THE TRIBUNAL PROCEEDINGS

"ground 4, namely that the assessment for the best interests of the child has not been properly assessed. It is arguable the Tribunal put too much weight on the obligation of the applicant to produce evidence of the impact on the child of the decision to deport his father and ought to have sought further material for itself."

The UT cited much authority, including the summary in the Strasbourg case of Uner [2006] ECHR 873 of the matters to be considered in deciding whether an expulsion measure was necessary in a democratic society and therefore proportionate to its legitimate aims. They made observations about this appellant's case against each of the ten criteria or considerations listed in Uner. In light of the ground of appeal for which Elias LJ granted permission and to understand the UT's decision, I should set out criterion (ix) at this stage:

"the best interests and well-being of any children of the appellant; and in particular the seriousness of any difficulties they would be likely to encounter in the country to which the appellant would be expelled".

Applying that criterion to this case the UT said:

"40 This is not a case in which the child will be expected to relocate to Nigeria and so will remain in the United Kingdom in any event where she [sic] will be cared for by her mother who was the primary carer when Mr S was in prison.

The best interests of the child are accepted as being a primary consideration although not always the only primary consideration and not necessarily the paramount consideration in this appeal. I accept that Mr S's son may need a family life in a greater way than he may do and that the child needs to be fed, clothed, washed, supervised, educated and loved if he is to develop and maximise his potential to be a properly functioning member of society which is preferable to a dysfunctional member or a member who believes it is acceptable to sell Class A drugs.

I accept that depriving Mr S's son of the benefits of a family unit which includes his mother and father could be more serious than depriving his mother of his father's company but it has not been proved that Mr S is his son's sole or primary carer. It has not been proved that the child will be denied his basic needs if his father is removed.

Although there is a lot of evidence about Mr S's criminality he has not chosen to produce much evidence indicating the existence of any emotional or psychological consequences/harm to his child if he is removed from the United Kingdom.

Lady Hale in the recent extradition case of HH and others [2012] UKSC 25 acknowledged in paragraph 34 of the judgment of the Supreme Court that it is not enough to dismiss those cases (extradition) in a simple way  by accepting that the children's interests will always be harmed by separation from their sole or primary carer but also accepting that the public interest in extradition is almost always strong enough to outweigh it and that there was no substitute for a careful examination of the evidence. Although this was an extradition case this principle is equally applicable to deportation cases and to this case in particular."

Earlier, The Secretary of State had made enquires of the child's mother and also Walsall Children's Services: see the decision letter.

"52. Having conducted the appropriate analysis the summary of the risk of harm presented by Mr S states that within the community he presents a low risk to children, low risk to known adults and staff but a medium risk to the public"

The UT concludes as follows:

"56. The presence of a partner and child and everything he now seeks to rely upon did not persuade him that he should not offend and there are concerns, with his previous history his offending and lack of qualifications, that in this economic climate it has not been shown that he will be able to secure employment sufficient to enable him to avoid the economic difficulties which are identified as increasing the risk of reoffending.

57. I find that Mr S has the potential to present a real risk to members of the public and to society in general due to the effect of drugs. I find this is a medium risk but one that is realistic in light of the circumstances surrounding the offence, the risk factors that have been indicated, and the evidence when considered in the round.

58. I accept, however, that it may be argued that this in isolation may not be sufficient to render the deportation necessary although I find that a great weight must be given to this element in light of the very damaging effect that drug-related offences have upon the wider society within the United Kingdom. It is also relevant that the appellant has no right to remain in this country and never has.

59. I also find that substantial weight must be given to the other element relied upon by the Secretary of State namely the deterrent element. The Lord Chancellor recently indicated openly that the United Kingdom was losing the war on drugs which was the first time a Cabinet Minister had made such a public admission. It could be argued in such circumstances, where the devastating effects of drugs are acknowledged, that the strongest deterrent element should be deployed where they are available.

60. Notwithstanding the fact that Mr S was only a 'street level dealer' it was he who chose to sell drugs to individuals within the United Kingdom and it is very often the street level dealer who is the one caught by the police and prosecutors. This does not however mean that because they are those at the end of the chain that they should escape the consequences of their actions especially as it could be argued that without such individuals those higher up will be unable to market their product which may have the effect of restricting the flow of drugs onto the streets of the United Kingdom.

61. Having considered all the evidence I find that it is the medium risk to society posed by Mr S due to the devastating effect of drugs, the lack of any lawful right to remain, the fact the relationship of both partner and child was created at a time when the appellant had no right to remain in the United Kingdom, the lack of any evidence of any real risk of emotional or psychological harm to the child if Mr S is removed, and the deterrent factor which tip the balance in this appeal in favour of the Secretary of State."

THE STATUTES

"(1) Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.

(2) There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others."

"(4) For the purpose of section 3(5)(a) of the Immigration Act 1971, the deportation of a foreign criminal is conducive to the public good.

(5) The Secretary of State must make a deportation order in respect of a foreign criminal (subject to section 33)."

S.33:

"(1) Section 32(4) and (5)

(a) do not apply where an exception in this section applies (subject to subsection (7) below)...

(2) Exception 1 is where removal of the foreign criminal in pursuance of the deportation order would breach

(a) a person's Convention rights, or

(b) the United Kingdom's obligations under the Refugee Convention.

...

(7)... [S]ection 32(4) applies despite the application of Exception 1 or 4." [Exception 4 deals with extradition cases.]

"(1) The Secretary of State must make arrangements for ensuring that

(a) the functions mentioned in subsection (2) are discharged having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children who are in the United Kingdom...

(2) The functions referred to in subsection (1) are

(a) any function of the Secretary of State in relation to immigration, asylum or nationality;

(b) any function conferred by or by virtue of the Immigration Acts on an immigration officer...

(3) A person exercising any of those functions must, in exercising the function, have regard to any guidance given to the person by the Secretary of State for the purpose of subsection (1)."

THE CASES

I will first cite the two recent leading decisions of the Supreme Court on the application of Article 8 in children cases: ZH (Tanzania) v Secretary of State [2011] 2 AC 166 and H(H) v Deputy Prosecutor of the Italian Republic [2012] 3 WLR 90. There is then a decision of the High Court which is particularly relied on by Mr Mahmood for the appellant to support the proposition that the UT owed an inquisitorial duty to investigate for itself matters affecting the interests of the appellant's child: Tinizaray [2011] EWHC Admin 1850. I shall also cite Sanade & Ors [2012] UKUT 00048, one of the principal decisions of the UT on the deportation of foreign criminals. Then there is authority, referred to in a note helpfully provided by Mr Auburn for the Secretary of State after the hearing, touching the significance of the fact that the deportation of foreign criminals is a policy given by primary legislation. This is a point to which, as will become plain, I attach great importance. Lastly I will cite Ex p. Eastside Cheese [1999] 3 CMLR 123, which illustrates, though in a EU law context, the differential impact of the proportionality doctrine depending on the nature and the source of the State policy which interferes with the Article 8 right. There is also some other authority to which it will be more convenient to refer when I come to address the issues in the case directly.

ZH (Tanzania) v Secretary of State [2011] 2 AC 166

"1. The over-arching issue in this case is the weight to be given to the best interests of children who are affected by the decision to remove or deport one or both of their parents from this country. Within this, however, is a much more specific question: in what circumstances is it permissible to remove or deport a non-citizen parent where the effect will be that a child who is a citizen of the United Kingdom will also have to leave?"

At paragraph 15 Lady Hale cited Lord Bingham's opinion in EB (Kosovo) [2009] AC 1159 at paragraph 12:

"[I]t will rarely be proportionate to uphold an order for removal of a spouse if there is a close and genuine bond with the other spouse and that spouse cannot reasonably be expected to follow the removed spouse to the country of removal, or if the effect of the order is to sever a genuine and subsisting relationship between parent and child. But cases will not ordinarily raise such stark choices, and there is in general no alternative to making a careful and informed evaluation of the facts of the particular case."

Lady Hale proceeded to discuss the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 (UNCRC), noting in particular Article 3(1):

"In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration."

At paragraph 25 Lady Hale said this:

"Further, it is clear from the recent jurisprudence that the Strasbourg Court will expect national authorities to apply article 3(1) of UNCRC and treat the best interests of a child as 'a primary consideration'. Of course, despite the looseness with which these terms are sometimes used, 'a primary consideration' is not the same as 'the primary consideration', still less as 'the paramount consideration'."

Then at paragraph 26 she cites the Federal Court of Australia's decision in Wan v Minister for Immigration and Multi-cultural Affairs [2001] FCA 568, paragraph 32:

"[The Tribunal] was required to identify what the best interests of Mr Wan's children required with respect to the exercise of its discretion and then to assess whether the strength of any other consideration, or the cumulative effect of other considerations, outweighed the consideration of the best interests of the children understood as a primary consideration."

"It is a universal theme of the various international and domestic instruments to which Lady Hale has referred that, in reaching decisions that will affect a child, a primacy of importance must be accorded to his or her best interests. This is not, it is agreed, a factor of limitless importance in the sense that it will prevail over all other considerations. It is a factor, however, that must rank higher than any other. It is not merely one consideration that weighs in the balance alongside other competing factors. Where the best interests of the child clearly favour a certain course, that course should be followed unless countervailing reasons of considerable force displace them. It is not necessary to express this in terms of a presumption but the primacy of this consideration needs to be made clear in emphatic terms. What is determined to be in a child's best interests should customarily dictate the outcome of cases such as the present, therefore, and it will require considerations of substantial moment to permit a different result."

"34. Acknowledging that the best interests of the child must be a primary consideration in these cases immediately raises the question of how these are to be discovered. An important part of this is discovering the child's own views."

Then at paragraph 35 she cited her own opinion in EM (Lebanon) [2009] 1 AC 1198, at para 49:

"Questions may have to be asked about the situation of other family members, especially children, and about their views. It cannot be assumed that the interests of all the family members are identical. In particular, a child is not to be held responsible for the moral failures of either of his parents. Sometimes, further information may be required."

H(H) v Deputy Prosecutor of the Italian Republic [2012] 3 WLR 90

"(1) There may be a closer analogy between extradition and the domestic criminal process than between extradition and deportation or expulsion, but the court has still to examine carefully the way in which it will interfere with family life.

...

(3) The question is always whether the interference with the private and family lives of the extraditee and other members of his family is outweighed by the public interest in extradition.

(4) There is a constant and weighty public interest in extradition: that people accused of crimes should be brought to trial; that people convicted of crimes should serve their sentences; that the United Kingdom should honour its treaty obligations to other countries; and that there should be no 'safe havens' to which either can flee in the belief that they will not be sent back.

(5) That public interest will always carry great weight, but the weight to be attached to it in the particular case does vary according to the nature and seriousness of the crime or crimes involved.

...

(7) Hence it is likely that the public interest in extradition will outweigh the article 8 rights of the family unless the consequences of the interference with family life will be exceptionally severe."

Lady Hale recognised (paragraph 31) that there are differences between extradition and other reasons for expulsion. However she stated (paragraph 29) that "[i]t is not correct that the approach of the court to article 8 rights has to be 'radically different' as between extradition and expulsion cases".

"[F]or the reasons explained in Norris the fulfilment of our international obligations remains an imperative. ZH (Tanzania) did not diminish that imperative. When resistance to extradition is advanced, as in effect it is in each of these appeals, on the basis of the article 8 entitlements of dependent children and the interests of society in their welfare, it should only be in very rare cases that extradition may properly be avoided if, given the same broadly similar facts, and after making proportionate allowance as we do for the interests of dependent children, the sentencing courts here would nevertheless be likely to impose an immediate custodial sentence: any other approach would be inconsistent with the principles of international comity..."

Then Lord Kerr at paragraph 141:

"It is true that the importance of protecting a system of extradition carries greater weight than will (in general terms) arrangements to expel unwanted aliens or the control of immigration. Extradition is, par excellence, a co-operative endeavour and it depends for its success on comprehensive (if not always total) compliance by those who participate in the system. As a matter of generality, therefore, it will be more difficult to overcome the imperative for extradition by recourse to article 8 rights than it will be in the field of expulsion and immigration. But that is a reflection of the greater importance of the need to promote the system of extradition rather than a diminution in the inherent value of the article 8 right. The intrinsic value of the right cannot alter according to context; it will merely be more readily defeasible in the extradition context."

"33... [A]rticle 8 has to be interpreted in such a way that [children's] best interests are a primary consideration, although not always the only primary consideration and not necessarily the paramount consideration. This gives them an importance which the family rights of other people (and in particular the extraditee) may not have... Depriving a child of her family life is altogether more serious than depriving an adult of his. Careful attention will therefore have to be paid to what will happen to the child if her sole or primary carer is extradited... [T]here is also a strong public interest in ensuring that children are properly brought up. This can of course cut both ways: sometimes a parent may do a child more harm than good and it is in the child's best interests to find an alternative home for her. But sometimes the parents' past criminality may say nothing at all about their capacity to bring up their children properly...

34. One thing is clear. It is not enough to dismiss these cases in a simple way  by accepting that the children's interests will always be harmed by separation from their sole or primary carer but also accepting that the public interest in extradition is almost always strong enough to outweigh it. There is no substitute for the careful examination envisaged by Lord Hope in Norris."

There are certain further passages on which Mr Mahmood relies to support his argument that the UT owed a duty of independent enquiry. I need, I think, only cite the following:

"82... The court will need to know whether there are dependent children, whether the parent's removal will be harmful to their interests and what steps can be taken to mitigate this. This should alert the court to whether any further information is needed. In the more usual case, where the person whose extradition is sought is not the sole or primary carer for the children, the court will have to consider whether there are any special features requiring further investigation of the children's interests, but in most cases it should be able to proceed with what it has."

Tinizaray [2011] EWHC Admin 1850

"In considering what should be taken into account when considering the welfare and best interests of a child, it is clearly relevant to have regard to the matters specified in the statutory checklist provided for by section 1 of the Children Act 1989..."

HHJ Thornton proceeded to set out the contents of the checklist, and stated at paragraph 20:

"These matters must be taken into account whenever a court is concerned with an application for a prohibited steps order, a residence order, a specific issue order -concerned with giving directions for the purpose of determining a specific question which has arisen, or which may arise, in connection with any aspect of parental responsibility for a child -or a special guardianship order. These decisions are ones which require the welfare and bests interests of a child to be taken into account. The same matters are therefore clearly ones that should be taken account of when a decision-maker is making a decision that requires the exercise of a section 55 duty."

HHJ Thornton quashed the refusal of indefinite leave to remain.

Sanade & Ors [2012] UKUT 00048

"24. We note, as an aside, that N (Kenya) was decided at a time when there was no legislative guideline or policy in place to determine which offenders ought to be deported, subject always to human rights considerations, and which need not be. Hence the weight required by the Court of Appeal to be given to the Home Secretary's view of the public interest in arriving at the adjudicator's or immigration judge's own conclusion. It is possible that this always difficult exercise  that is to say, giving weight but not primacy to the opinion of another authority in arriving at an independent judgment  has been superseded by the enactment of section 32 of the UKBA 2007. This section draws a bright line, calling for no further judgment, where its terms are met: a 'foreign criminal' faces "automatic deportation'. Other foreign offenders do not  they may be deported, but there is no legislative presumption that they will be. Both classes may resist deportation on human rights grounds; but in the case of a 'foreign criminal' the Act places in the proportionality scales a markedly greater weight than in other cases... Arguably the executive's view of policy and its immediate requirements has been superseded by the legislature's. However, we do not need to decide this point in this appeal because, although touched upon, it was not directly relevant because Mr Kofi comes within one of the exceptions in section 33 of the UKBA 2007."

The UT in Sanade observed:

"41. Nowhere in BK or MK did Sedley LJ indicate that in assessing the application of the human rights exemption to automatic deportation the court should also assume that deportation was a proportionate interference with family life by reason of such a sentence save in exceptional cases. Nor did Carnwath LJ in his concurring observations in AP (Trinidad) suggest this was the case."

Brown v Stott [2003] 1 AC 681, R v Lambert [2002] QB 1112, Poplar v Donoghue [2002] QB 48, Marcic v Thames Water Utilities Ltd [2004] 2 AC 42 and R v Lichniak [2003] 1 AC 903

"While a national court does not accord the margin of appreciation recognised by the European Court as a supranational court, it will give weight to the decisions of a representative legislature and a democratic government within the discretionary area of judgment accorded to those bodies"

This dictum gives no weight to the difference between executive and legislature. However in Lambert Lord Woolf said this at paragraph 16:

"It is also important to have in mind that legislation is passed by a democratically elected Parliament and therefore the courts under the Convention are entitled to and should, as a matter of constitutional principle, pay a degree of deference to the view of Parliament as to what is in the interest of the public generally when upholding the rights of the individual under the Convention. The courts are required to balance the competing interests involved."

In Poplar Lord Woolf stated at paragraph 69:

"However, in considering whether Poplar [a housing association] can rely on article 8(2), the court has to pay considerable attention to the fact that Parliament intended when enacting section 21(4) of the 1988 [Housing] Act to give preference to the needs of those dependent on social housing as a whole over those in the position of the defendant. The economic and other implications of any policy in this area are extremely complex and far-reaching. This is an area where, in our judgment, the courts must treat the decisions of Parliament as to what is in the public interest with particular deference. The limited role given to the court under section 21(4) is a legislative policy decision. The correctness of this decision is more appropriate for Parliament than the courts and the Human Rights Act 1998 does not require the courts to disregard the decisions of Parliament in relation to situations of this sort when deciding whether there has been a breach of the Convention."

In Marcic Lord Hoffmann stated at paragraph 71:

"That leaves only the question of whether the remedies provided under the 1991 [Water Industry] Act do not adequately safeguard Mr Marcic's Convention rights to the privacy of his home and the protection of his property... [The Convention] requires a fair balance to be struck between the interests of persons whose homes and property are affected and the interests of other people, such as customers and the general public. National institutions, and particularly the national legislature, are accorded a broad discretion in choosing the solution appropriate to their own society or creating the machinery for doing so".

"[T]he House must note that section 1(1) of the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 represents the settled will of Parliament. Criticism of the subsection has been voiced in many expert and authoritative quarters over the years, and there have been numerous occasions on which Parliament could have amended it had it wished, but there has never been a majority of both Houses in favour of amendment. The fact that section 1(1) represents the settled will of a democratic assembly is not a conclusive reason for upholding it, but a degree of deference is due to the judgment of a democratic assembly on how a particular social problem is best tackled: see Brown v Stott... at 834-835, 842; R (Mahmood) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2001] 1 WLR 840 at 854-855, paragraph 33, and 856, paragraph 38."

Ex p. Eastside Cheese [1999] 3 CMLR 123

"The margin of appreciation for a decision-maker (which includes, in this context, a national legislature) may be broad or narrow. The margin is broadest when the national court is concerned with primary legislation enacted by its own legislature in an area where a general policy of the Community must be given effect in the particular economic and social circumstances of the member state in question." (paragraph 48)

THE APPELLANT'S ARGUMENT IN THIS COURT: SECTION 55

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

(1) PROPORTIONALITY AND THE MARGIN OF DISCRETIONARY JUDGMENT

"(i) the legislative objective is sufficiently important to justify limiting a fundamental right; (ii) the measures designed to meet the legislative objective are rationally connected to it; and (iii) the means used to impair the right or freedom are no more than is necessary to accomplish the objective."

(2) TWO CHARACTERISTICS

"[T]he ultimate question for the appellate immigration authority is whether the refusal of leave to enter or remain, in circumstances where the life of the family cannot reasonably be expected to be enjoyed elsewhere, taking full account of all considerations weighing in favour of the refusal, prejudices the family life of the applicant in a manner sufficiently serious to amount to a breach of the fundamental right protected by article 8. If the answer to this question is affirmative, the refusal is unlawful and the authority must so decide. It is not necessary that the appellate immigration authority, directing itself along the lines indicated in this opinion, need ask in addition whether the case meets a test of exceptionality..." (Huang [2007] 2 AC 167, paragraph 20) (my emphasis)

In this context Lord Kerr's observations at paragraph 141 in H(H), which I have already cited, are if I may say so very much in point. I repeat this passage:

"It is true that the importance of protecting a system of extradition carries greater weight than will (in general terms) arrangements to expel unwanted aliens or the control of immigration... As a matter of generality, therefore, it will be more difficult to overcome the imperative for extradition by recourse to article 8 rights than it will be in the field of expulsion and immigration. But that is a reflection of the greater importance of the need to promote the system of extradition rather than a diminution in the inherent value of the article 8 right. The intrinsic value of the right cannot alter according to context; it will merely be more readily defeasible in the extradition context." (my emphasis)

One may compare the seventh point in the list given by Lady Hale at paragraph 8 in the same case:

"Hence it is likely that the public interest in extradition will outweigh the article 8 rights of the family unless the consequences of the interference with family life will be exceptionally severe." (my emphasis)

(3) SUMMARY

THE DEPORTATION OF FOREIGN CRIMINALS

(1) THE SOURCE OF THE POLICY: PRIMARY LEGISLATION

"Indeed, as I have said, Parliamentary endorsement is arguably a matter which should be taken into account in giving greater weight to such factors when drawing the balance of proportionality under article 8. Although Ms Patry Hoskins [for the Secretary of State] did not so argue, it seems a little surprising (if she is right) that this apparently definitive statement by Parliament has made no difference in practice, at least where any form of private or family life is involved." (original emphasis)

Carnwath LJ had stated at paragraph 36 that he preferred to leave for another occasion the question whether counsel had been right not to contend that the policy's legislative source made a difference.

"[I]n the case of a 'foreign criminal' the Act places in the proportionality scales a markedly greater weight than in other cases... Arguably the executive's view of policy and its immediate requirements has been superseded by the legislature's."

Since AP there has been MF [2012] UKUT 393 in the UT, in which however the reference to s.32 of the 2007 Act misses its significance: at paragraph 42 the UT, citing AP among other cases, states that "[i]n deportation cases involving foreign criminals s.32 of the 2007 Act gave clear parliamentary expression to the particular importance the Secretary of State attached to their deportation". But it is the importance attached by Parliament itself that matters.

Amongst other recent cases is AM [2012] EWCA Civ 1634, in which Pitchford LJ cited N (Kenya) and OH (Serbia). But their emphasis on the public interest in deporting alien criminals arose in the pre-2007 Act legal environment, when the decision was at the Secretary of State's discretion. Then at paragraph 31 Pitchford LJ said this:

"While the landscape for qualification for deportation has changed in consequence of the 2007 Act by the creation of 'automatic deportation' of 'foreign criminals', it seems to me, in agreement with Aikens LJ in RU (Bangladesh) and Sir Stephen Sedley in Gurung, inevitable that in measuring proportionality the public interest in deterrence is a material and necessary consideration. The public interest is an important component of the balancing exercise required to test proportionality (for the purpose of section 33(2)(a))..."

With great respect there is here no acknowledgement of the free-standing importance of the legislative source of the policy as a driver of the decision-maker's margin of discretion when the proportionality of its application in the particular case is being considered.

(2) THE NATURE OF THE POLICY: MORAL AND POLITICAL

(3) SUMMARY

THIS CASE

LADY JUSTICE BLACK:

MR JUSTICE MANN:

Copyright notice: Crown Copyright
Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Khan

Publisher Canada: Federal Court Publication Date 22 March 2005 Citation / Document Symbol 2005 FC 398 Cite as Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Khan, 2005 FC 398, Canada: Federal Court, 22 March 2005, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,CAN_FC,58a711f84.html [accessed 6 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.

Date: 20050322

Docket: IMM-7232-04

Citation: 2005 FC 398

Ottawa, Ontario, March 22, 2005

Present: THE HONOURABLE MADAM JUSTICE GAUTHIER

BETWEEN:

THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP

AND IMMIGRATION

Applicant

and

AZMAT ALI KHAN and

DIANA ALEXANDRO BUSYLEVA

Respondents

REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER

[1] The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration seeks judicial review of the decision of the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board (RPD) granting refugee status to Azmat Ali Khan and his wife, Diana Alexandro Busyleva.

[2] Mr. Ali Khan is a citizen of Afghanistan and a Shia Muslim. He claims that he originally feared persecution from the Taliban because he was not a "strong believer" and refused to join them. Since his departure from Afghanistan in 1994, his mother was killed in 2001 by the Taliban who also killed his cousin and his family. His parents' house was destroyed and his parents forced to flee to Pakistan where they live in a refugee camp.

[3] Mrs. Alexandro Busyleva is a citizen of Russia and she is Jewish. She claims to fear persecution because of her religion and because she was an activist.

[4] After living in Russia, both claimants sought refuge in the United States where they lived for about three years. They had a son who is an American citizen. When their refugee claims were rejected in the United States, they came to Canada to claim refugee status as a family.

[5] The RPD rejected the claim of their son but accepted the respondents' claims in a very unusual two-page decision. The analysis of these claims is as follows:

After evaluating your testimony and analyzing the documentary evidence for both the three countries, Russia, Afghanistan and United States, the panel determines that your son is not a "convention refugee" nor a "person in need of protection". Questioned at the beginning of the hearing, Madam, you admitted that he was not in danger in the United States.

Mr. Khan, although I do not necessarily believe that at the time you left Afghanistan in 1999 [sic] you were personally persecuted, however, the documentary evidence of the time does state that there were many conflicts between different factions of Muslims and that the fundamentalists were extremely busy persecuting people who did not have the same way of thinking.

However, if you were an outspoken person, you could have been seen as an enemy of the Talibans. Moreover, the fact that your brother was killed, that your parents' house was destroyed, that your parents had to leave their country and take refuge in a refugee camp are cause enough to create in your mind a subjective fear that upon your return, you may encounter problems with your western way of life.

Also, when we evaluate a claim, we have to project in the future. You are now married to a Jewish woman and if you went back to your country with your wife and child, there would be a real possibility that you could encounter serious problems in Afghanistan. For these reasons, the panel will grant you the benefit of the doubt and recognize you as a "convention refugee" and a "person in need of protection".

Mrs. Busyleva, your testimony was less than candid. You embellished your testimony, adding events that should have been included in your PIF. However, as it is today your wedding anniversary and that the panel has no intention of separating what love has united, I will also grant you the benefit of the doubt and recognize you as a "convention refugee" and a "person in need of protection".

The panel, in its very unusual decision, will also refer to the principle enounced [sic] in article 181 to 185 fo the UNHCR Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for determining refugee status. This is unusual, I am touching on humanitarian grounds, but my excuse to that is that I am saving time and money to the Canadian taxpayers.

Be happy in Canada, your new country.

[6] For the following reasons, the Court finds that this decision must be set aside.

[7] As it appears from the decision, the RPD based its conclusion at least in part, on humanitarian grounds and on paragraphs 181 to 185 of the Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for determing refugee status which deals with the principle of "family unity".

[8] As indicated in Ranganathan v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2000 CanLII 16789 (FCA), [2001] 2 F.C. 164 (C.A.), the more humanitarian grounds are allowed to enter the determination of a refugee claim, the more the refugee procedure resembles and blends into the humanitarian and compassionate procedure provided for in section 25 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). This has the effect of replacing in practice the concept of persecution by that of hardship.

[9] As submitted by the applicant, only the Minister has jurisdiction under section 25 of IRPA to waive the requirements set out in the Act when he is of the opinion that it is justified by humanitarian and compassionate considerations. This authority has not been delegated to the RPD with respect to the requirements set out in sections 96 and 97 of IRPA.

[10] Thus, even if the intent of the RPD was a good one, that is, saving taxpayers' money and avoiding the multiplication of administrative procedures, the fact remains that the RPD simply did not have the power to grant any status to the respondents without properly qualifying each of them as persons who fear persecution and are unable or unwilling to claim the protection of their own country.

[11] Family unity is not a concept that exists in Canadian refugee law. In effect, this specific issue was discussed in Casetellanos v. Canada (Solicitor General) 1994 CanLII 3546 (FC), [1995] 2 F.C. 190 (T.D.). After reviewing section 181 and following of the Handbook on Procedure and Criteria for Determination of Refugee Status, this Court held that the definition of Convention refugee to which Canada subscribes by virtue of it being a signatory of the United Nation Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (Geneva, July 28, 1951) does not incorporate the concept of family unity. This did not change when Parliament adopted the Act. As pointed out in Pour-Shariati v. Canada (Minister of Employment and Immigration), [1997] F.C.J. 810 (C.A.) (QL), Parliament did consider the issue referred to in this handbook by providing for the landing of dependants of persons to whom refugee status has been granted, in sections 175 and following of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations SOR/2002-227.

[12] More recently, in Lakatos v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2001 FCT 408 (CanLII), [2001] F.C.J. 657 (T.D.) (QL), at paragraph 12, this Court confirmed that the fact that a family member is persecuted does not automatically grant the status of refugee under the Convention to all other members of the family.

[13] The respondents relied on the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal in Cheung v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) 1993 CanLII 2946 (FCA), [1993] 2 F.C. 314 (C.A.), which according to them still stood for the proposition that family unity is an accepted principle in Canadian refugee law.

[14] This decision was specifically discussed in Casetellanos, supra, and Nadon, J. (as he then was) stated:

It is clear that the Court in the Cheung case considers that the minor applicant is eligible to refugee status primarily on the basis of discrimination as a member of the social group of second children rather than by virtue of the family unity principle. Given this and the lack of any elucidation by the Court on how it came to the conclusion that family unity existed and should be applied, the Cheung case should be distinguished from the case at bar as it cannot be stated to lay down a principle of family unity.

[15] In view of the foregoing, it was clearly an error of law[1] to rely on the concept of family unity and on sections 181 to 185 of the Handbook to support the claims of the respondents under sections 96 and 97 of the Act.

[16] The respondents argue that such an error is not material because the RPD also relied on other valid grounds to support its positive determination of their claims.

[17] In that respect, the applicant submits that there was no proper analysis of any other basis for these claims in this decision. Thus, it must be set aside.

[18] With respect to Mr. Ali Khan's claim, the RPD expressly found that it did not believe that this respondent was ever personally persecuted in Afghanistan before his departure. The fact that documentary evidence of the time indicates that the fundamentalists were indeed persecuting other people is irrelevant.

[19] This does not mean that this respondent could not face persecution in the future. The RPD does not discuss the impact of the fall of the Taliban; rather, it discusses in its next paragraph that the punishment suffered by members of this respondent's family were cause enough to create a subjective fear that Mr. Ali Khan may encounter problems with his western way of life. However, there is no link in the evidence between these punishments and the fact that any such family members lived a western way of life.

[20] The respondent could not point to any documentary evidence supporting a finding that fundamentalists today persecuted anybody for their western way of life or because they were married to a person of Jewish faith.

[21] This is why the RPD had to resort to the concept of the benefit of the doubt in order to find that there was an objective basis to this claim. The Court does not agree that it was not entitled to do so because it clearly accepted the testimony of Mr. Ali Khan as credible on those issues.

[22] However, the Court agrees that the decision does not indicate what sanctions or punishment that would amount to persecution in the future, Mr. Ali Khan may be expected to face, (Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Gao, [2001] F.C.J. No. 1794 (T.D.) (QL), paras. 20 to 23). The Court cannot accept the respondents' argument that the expression "problems" must be referring to treatment similar to those suffered by Mr. Ali Khan's cousin's family, particularly his cousin who was burned alive. There is absolutely no evidence in the record that these treatments were inflicted because of these persons' western ways. There is no evidence that they can be considered similarly-situated persons.

[23] In fact, the use of the expressions "problems with your western way of life" and "serious problems in Afghanistan" seems to confirm that the RPD may again be confusing the concept of persecution with the concept of hardship. The decision is clearly ambiguous in that respect and the Court is not satisfied that it can conclude that the error of law identified above did not influence the RPD's conclusion with respect to Mr. Ali Khan's claim.

[24] Turning now to the analysis of the objective basis of Mrs. Busyleva's fear of persecution, the Court finds that the decision is simply incomprehensible and there is no finding with respect to the subjective basis of her claim.

[25] The respondents concede that the reasons were brief and could easily have been more detailed but they submit that the adequacy of such reasons should be analysed in the particular context of this decision. In effect, in the case of a positive determination of a refugee claim, the Board is only required pursuant to paragraph 169(b) and (e) of the Act to give reasons if requested to do so, within ten days of the decision. For the respondents, this is an implicit recognition by Parliament that the duty of fairness due to the Minister in that respect is lower than the one owed to claimants. The Court should thus consider the evidenciary record as a whole to cure any deficiency in the Board's reasons.

[26] The Court agrees that the adequacy and sufficiency of reasons depends on the circumstances and that the duty of fairness is also a flexible concept that depends on the context. However, I cannot agree that this entitles the RPD to issue reasons that are so "skimpy" that the Minister's ability to properly exercise its right to seek judicial review of this decision is negatively affected.

[27] The Minister expressly requested reasons on June 8, 2004. It was entitled to clear, precise and intelligible reasons (Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Koriagin, [2003] F.C.J. No. 1534, 2003 FC 1210 (CanLII)).

[28] It is not possible to determine which part of the testimony of Mrs. Busyleva was rejected as an embellishment because the RPD does not specify it. It does not say either what events exactly were added to the personal information form (PIF). The Court carefully reviewed the transcript and the PIF. Contrary to what was argued by the respondents, it does not find that this is a "clear cut" situation.

[29] At the hearing, the parties could not agree on how many events were actually added during the testimony for they each construed the evidence differently. Neither could give a satisfactory answer to the Court's query in that respect.

[30] If the RPD considered any grounds other than humanitarian grounds it specifically refers to in the last two paragraphs, it certainly failed to give proper reasons for its conclusion in that respect. This was a breach of procedural fairness. This is a reviewable error (Ha v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2004 FCA 49 (CanLII), [2004] F.C.J. 174 (C.A.)).

[31] In the circumstances, the decision must be set aside.

[32] The parties did not propose any question for certification and the Court finds that this case turns on its own facts.

ORDER

THE COURT ORDERS that:

1. The application for judicial review is granted. Both claims shall be redetermined by a differently constituted panel.

2. No question is certified.

"Johanne Gauthier"

Judge

[1] I have applied the standard of correctness to this issue Harb v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2003 FCA 39 (CanLII), [2003] F.C.J. 108 (C.A.).
You know what you dont see a lot of on television?

Mediocrity.

Every doctor is a genius, every lawyer is brilliant, all the agents of law enforcement have special instincts, able to tell whos lying, whos guilty, whos going to confess all their sins at just the right moment.

Those average folks who arent great at their jobs are relegated to the comedies, or those dramedies that play failure for pathos and laughs.

Along comes Crashing, a new HBO comedy series premiering Sunday thats all about the struggle to be, if not great, at least good enough.

Pete Holmes stars as Pete, a nondescript suburbanite who has big dreams about being a stand-up comic but does nothing about it. Until he discovers his wife, his childhood sweetheart, is having an affair. She wants out of the going-nowhere marriage, and Pete finds himself at the precipice of a scary new life where he calls the shots, and success is not guaranteed.

Off he goes to New York City, attempting to live his dream. He quickly finds out that having a dream doesnt always lead to living that dream. He crashes on the couches of fellow struggling comedians or anyone else who has a charitable demeanor or needs some help with the rent.

Crashing, according to its star and creator, Holmes, shows an often unseen side of comedy, that of the hopeful guy just starting out. Holmes has incorporated much of his own experiences from his early days of his career, as well as stories from other comedians who will be appearing on the show, including Hannibal Buress, Artie Lang, T.J. Miller, Dave Atell, Sarah Silverman, and Jim Norton. Crashing premieres at 9:30 p.m. Sunday on HBO.

From the pages to the small screen: Big Little Lies, the 2014 best-selling novel by Liane Moriarty, comes to HBO as a limited series beginning Sunday. The story of the secrets and rumors that fuel life in Monterey, Calif., is told through three women  mothers of children who attend the same school, involved in complicated relationships with the men in their lives. On the surface, they lead admirably polished and seemingly perfect lives; in small towns such as these, nothing is ever as it seems. Conflicts between neighbors and friends, husbands and wives, and the haves and the have-nots bubble to the surfaces; murder and misdeeds add to the intrigue. Starring Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, Zoe Kravitz, Alexander Skarsgard, and Adam Scott, the seven-part series is directed by Jean-Marc Vallee, whose credits include Dallas Buyers Club and Wild. David E. Kelley, auteur of such TV notables as Picket Fences, Ally McBeal, The Practice, and Boston Legal, serves as writer and creator. Big Little Lies premieres at 8 p.m. Sunday on HBO.

The first taste is free: When The Good Wife left the air last year, its absence left a chasm in CBSs lineup. Gone were some indelible characters and seriously snappy writing. Sunday, the network throws fans of the defunct legal drama a teasing morsel in the form of The Good Fight, a spinoff featuring Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski), Lucca Quinn (Cush Jumbo), and Marissa Gold (Sarah Steele). Diane finds herself and her young mentee, Maia (Roes Leslie), the victims of a financial scam and forced out of their firm. They join with Lucca at another high-profile Chicago firm. The Good Fight, which premieres 7 p.m. Sunday on Ch. 3, will continue on CBS All Access, the networks online subscription service that offers an ad-free rate at $9.99 per month, as well as a rate that includes ads at $5.99 per month. (Of course, you get more than just episodes of The Good Fight, but full seasons of CBS current and past catalog.)

What else is new? The peacock network struts its stuff when The Paley Center Salutes NBCs 90th Anniversary Sunday. Kelsey Grammer, himself a big part of the networks success, hosts the special that will highlight moments from NBCs history of sports, news, comedy, and drama, and feature notable network faces such as Ted Danson (Cheers), Tina Fey (30 Rock, Saturday Night Live), and many others. The special airs at 7 p.m. Sunday on Ch. 15.

The second season of TBSs very funny original comedy The Detour, starring Jason Joyce and Natalie Zea, premieres Tuesday at 9 p.m.

The two-hour season finale of How to Get Away with Murder airs at 8 p.m. Thursday on Ch. 27.

And spinoff The Blacklist: Redemption provides former bad guys from Red Reddingtons infamous list a chance to do some good and right some wrongs; the show, starring Ryan Eggold and Famke Janssen, premieres at 9 p.m. Thursday on Ch. 15.
Central African Republic: UN mission reinforces presence in restive Bambari

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 17 February 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Central African Republic: UN mission reinforces presence in restive Bambari, 17 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a7442d4.html [accessed 6 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.

17 February 2017  Amid ongoing rebel activity in and around Bambari in strife-torn Central African Republic, the United Nations mission  known as MINUSCA  said today that it has reinforced its presence in the city with the arrival of additional troops, including a quick reaction unit and Special Forces.

This reinforcement makes it possible to better protect Bambari and its inhabitants, as, for the time being, the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission is the only legitimate authority mandated by the Government to control the city. As Mission chief Parfait Onanga-Anyanga recalled: "Bambari should not belong to armed groups."

In a news release, the Mission stressed that the FPRC (Front Populaire pour la Renaissance de Centrafrique)'s coalition and UPC (Mouvement pour l'Unite et la Paix en Centrafrique) represent a threat for civilian populations and that UN peacekeepers will respond in case of violence.

However, discussions are ongoing and a UN civilian-military delegation will soon meet with the leader of one of the armed groups. The MINUSCA stressed that Bambari "must be free of armed groups in the coming days."

And the UN Mission today also welcomed the nomination of Toussaint Muntazini Mukimapa as Special Prosecutor to the CAR's Special Criminal Court.

Clashes between the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel coalition and anti-Balaka militia, which are mostly Christian, plunged the country of 4.5 million people into civil conflict in 2013. According to the UN, more more than half the population is in dire need of assistance. Despite significant progress and successful elections, CAR has remained in the grip of instability and sporadic unrest.

In December 2016, the Mission supported a new dialogue between 11 of the 14 armed groups, as part of an ongoing effort to disarm the factions.
UN chief Guterres welcomes the Gambia's rescission of its withdrawal from International Criminal Court

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 16 February 2017 Cite as UN News Service, UN chief Guterres welcomes the Gambia's rescission of its withdrawal from International Criminal Court, 16 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a744864.html [accessed 6 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.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed the rescission the Gambia's withdrawal from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

According to statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Guterres "welcomes that the Gambia will remain a State Party to the International Criminal Court's founding instrument."

"[He] remains confident that States Parties will continue to further strengthen the Court through a constructive dialogue," the statement added.

The notification concerning the rescission of withdrawal was delivered to the UN chief on 10 February.

The Gambia had formally notified the UN chief, who is the depository of the Rome Statute of the ICC, of its withdrawal from the Rome Statute in November last year - a decision which the Secretary-General deeply regretted, noted the statement.

The statement further noted that over the past two decades, the world has made decisive strides towards building a truly global system of international criminal justice, with the ICC as its centrepiece.

It added that the Gambia, like so many other African countries, played a major role in the negotiations leading to the adoption of the Rome Statute and was among its first signatories.

The ICC's founding Rome Statute sets out the Court's jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and - as of an amendment in 2010 - the crime of aggression. In addition to jurisdiction, it also addresses issues such as admissibility and applicable law, the composition and administration of the Court, investigations and prosecution, trials, penalties, appeal and revision, international cooperation and judicial assistance, and enforcement.
One million Ukrainian children now need aid as number doubles over past year  UNICEF

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 17 February 2017 Cite as UN News Service, One million Ukrainian children now need aid as number doubles over past year  UNICEF, 17 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58a745364.html [accessed 6 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

As the volatile conflict in eastern Ukraine enters its fourth year, one million children are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance - nearly double the number this time last year, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported today.

"This is an invisible emergency - a crisis most of the world has forgotten," said UNICEF's Representative in Ukraine, Giovanna Barberis, in a news release.

"Children in eastern Ukraine have been living under the constant threat of unpredictable fighting and shelling for the past three years. Their schools have been destroyed, they have been forced from their homes and their access to basic commodities like heat and water has been cut off," she stated.

The release attributed the increase - an additional 420,000 girls and boys - to the continued fighting and the steady deterioration of life in eastern Ukraine, where some 1.7 million people have been internally displaced, and many families have lost their incomes, social benefits and access to healthcare, while the price of living has sharply risen.

Hundreds of daily ceasefire violations put children's physical safety and psychological well-being at risk. The situation is particularly grave for the approximately 200,000 girls and boys living within 15 kilometres on each side of the 'contact line' in eastern Ukraine, a line which divides government and non-government controlled areas where fighting is most severe.

In this zone, 19,000 children face constant danger from landmines and other unexploded ordinance and 12,000 children live in communities shelled at least once a month. Thousands of children are regularly forced to take refuge in improvised bomb shelters.

Teachers, psychologists and parents report signs of severe psychosocial distress among children including nightmares, aggression, social withdrawal and panic triggered by loud noises.

More than 740 schools - one in five in eastern Ukraine - have been damaged or destroyed.

UNICEF once again calls for all sides to immediately recommit to the ceasefire signed in Minsk in August 2015 and to respect international humanitarian law, including allowing unrestricted humanitarian access.

UNICEF is appealing for $31.3 million to provide health and nutrition support, education, clean water, hygiene and sanitation as well as protection for children and families affected by the conflict. So far, about 10 per cent of the appeal has been funded.
An apartment building on Madison's West Side was evacuated Thursday night because of a stove top fire, with nobody injured in the fire.

It happened at about 11 p.m. on Flower Lane, the Madison Fire Department said.

A resident of the building was heating a pan of oil on a stove to make French fries, then went to watch TV with his wife, forgetting about the pan.

"Moments later, the smoke detector sounded, alerting the couple to a small fire in their kitchen," said spokeswoman Cynthia Schuster.

The resident turned off the burner and threw flour on the fire but it didn't go out, so the couple gathered their children and activated the building's fire alarm system while evacuating the building.

Firefighters arrived on scene while people were evacuating. The fire was extinguished and was contained to the pan.

"Once the apartment was clear of smoke, all occupants were allowed to re-enter," Schuster said.
A look back on all of our reporting of the Delphi murders since 2017
The processing of asylum requests for the family of a Syrian man living in Dane County has not been affected by a presidential executive order barring immigration from Syria, U.S. Department of Justice lawyers said in a court filing Friday.

But a lawyer for the family warned that a future executive order from President Donald Trump, expected in a week, makes that standing uncertain.

The filing is part of a lawsuit filed anonymously on Monday by a Syrian man granted asylum in the U.S. in May 2016 after he fled war-torn Aleppo in 2014. His wife and daughter remain there and he is seeking to have them join him in Dane County.

Fridays document, written at the request of U.S. District Judge William Conley, says the petitions filed on their behalf are being processed on an expedited basis at the request of U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

That is based on the governments preliminary review of the petitions, the filing adds.

The governments filing on Friday prompted the mans lawyers to drop a request for an injunction blocking enforcement of the executive order, according to an order Conley issued later Friday, after a status conference in the case.

Conley also ruled that the mans motion for judgment in the case is now moot but can be revived if lawyers for the man find that the government has misstated the status of the asylum petitions, or if the Trump administration issues a revised executive order that could affect the mans asylum petitions for his family.

After Trump issued the executive order on Jan. 27, the filing states, efforts were made to comply with the order. But after a Seattle-based federal judge on Feb. 3 barred enforcement of the order, the government again began processing petitions for asylum made by people who are in the Syrian mans situation.

Processing of asylee relative petitions currently continue unaffected by the Jan. 27, 2017, executive order, the court filing states. An asylee is someone seeking asylum.

The mans lawsuit asks that sections of Trumps executive order be declared unconstitutional and the government be ordered to grant visas to his wife and daughter. Earlier this week, Conley agreed to allow the mans suit to proceed anonymously, finding that identifying him would endanger his wife and child.

After the lawsuit was filed, Conley requested updated information on the status of the mans asylum request for his wife and daughter, and whether the government had continued processing petitions for family members living in Syria after Jan. 27. If not, he asked, does the preliminary injunction from Feb. 3 stop enforcement of that ban?

The government replied that the applications of the wife and daughter, filed on July 7, 2016, are currently pending within a processing center in Nebraska and were expedited by Baldwins office.

What this does for the lawsuit, and how it affects the more than two dozen other lawsuits filed in federal courts around the U.S., depends on a new executive order on the issue expected soon from the White House.

The order filed Friday means that the request for immediate relief is withdrawn, said Lester Pines, a Madison lawyer who is part of a team representing the Syrian man.

They are processing the application of our client on an expedited basis, we accept that ... but there is going to be a new executive order next week, or so they say, said Pines.

So we await this incipient executive order and see what effect it has, if any, on the processing of derivative asylum applications, he said.

An asylum-related application is not the same as a refugee application, he said.

Asylum has a particular definition. Essentially if life or safety is threatened if they return to their home country, they can be granted political asylum, said Pines.

It is a fundamental aspect of international law, if a person threatened with death, already having been tortured, can get to another country and ask to let me stay in a safe haven, that is what asylum is and what our client came here, asked for and was granted.

And legally, under asylum when granted, he is entitled to apply to have his family join him, which is another form of humanitarian relief.

The Jan. 27 executive order, Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry in the United States, set up a 90-day suspension of entry to the country from seven countries, including Syria, identified as posing a heightened risk of terrorism, and a temporary 120-day suspension of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.
A Madison man was arrested in Cleveland, Ohio on Friday for allegedly trying to have sexual contact with a minor female at a Madison hotel.

Devon Webb, 26, was arrested by U.S. marshals after law enforcement officials learned he fled Madison and went to Cleveland.

The U.S. Marshals Service Badgerland Fugitive Apprehension Squad started an investigation after an arrest warrant was issued following an investigation by Madison police.

When it was learned Webb had gone to Cleveland, the Badgerland unit contacted the U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force, with marshals from the task force making the arrest.

Webb allegedly got an underaged female to go to a hotel, where he attempted to have sexual contact with her, according to a news release from the U.S. Marshals Service.

He has been tentatively charged with child enticement-sexual contact, false imprisonment, intimidating a victim and impersonating a peace officer to aid in the commission of a crime.

Webb is in the Cuyahoga County Jail in Cleveland and is awaiting extradition back to Madison, the news release said.
Cambodian political analyst Kim Sok (C) walks with his supporters as he heads to the municipal courthouse in Phnom Penh, Feb. 17, 2017.

Prominent Cambodian political analyst and social commentator Kim Sok was arrested on Friday and charged with inciting social chaos and defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen during a radio interview with RFAs Khmer Service last week.

Hundreds of supporters protested in front of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court demanding justice for Kim Sok, who is being detained temporarily in Prey Sar prison on the citys outskirts as he awaits trial.

The court ordered that he be held after he attended a morning hearing about the U.S. $500,000 defamation lawsuit brought against him by Hun Sen.

Court spokesman Ly Sophanna told reporters that the investigating judge handling the case issued a ruling that Kim Sok be held on charges of inciting social chaos and defamation because of comments made during the radio interview that Hun Sen believed implied his government was behind last years murder of popular political pundit Kem Ley.

A prison officer told RFAs Khmer Service that Kim Sok is locked up in the same building where Oeuth Ang, the man accused of shooting Kem Ley to death last July, is detained. Oeuth Angs trial is scheduled for March.

On Thursday, the same court had denied Kim Soks request to delay the hearing so he could have more time to find an attorney to represent him in the lawsuit.

Hun Sen sued Kim Sok on Monday for inciting social chaos over accusations that the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) led by the prime minister had orchestrated the July 2016 murder of Kem Ley.

Kim Sok told RFA that he couldnt find a lawyer quickly because the attorneys he contacted declined to handle the case or wanted to charge him more than he could afford.



Walk to the courthouse

Prior to his arrival at court, Kim Sok walked from the Wat Pothiyaram pagoda, also known as Wat Chas, accompanied by nearly a dozen Buddhist monks led by prominent monk Buth Buntenh, founder of the Independent Monks Network.

After they left the pagoda and reached a point east of Chroy Changvar Bridge, they were temporarily blocked by district authorities and security guards who prevented the monks from accompanying Kim Sok to court.

Authorities later allowed some of the monks to cross the bridge on foot, while others were made to hire motorized rickshaw drivers.

Several hundred human rights observers, journalists, moto-taxi drivers, and passengers joined the walk to the courthouse.

Prior to his arrest, Kim Sok told reporters that he wanted Cambodians to work toward a democratic society.

I request that our citizens participate together in practicing their rights as entrusted in a democratic society so that we achieve our common goal for the sake and interest of the nation as a whole, he said.

I would also like to reiterate that I will not change my stance and that I will never quit, provided that the goal for my countrys real change toward democracy has not yet been attained, he said.

Regardless of my situation, I request that our citizens in the whole country and the world participate in democratic activities so that we can push forward this common goal toward the end, Kim Sok said.

Hun Sen, who has been in power for 31 years, has stepped up legal attacks on government critics and members of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) as the country gears up for local elections later this year and general elections in 2018.

OHCHR weighs in

Wan-Hea Lee, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) representative in Cambodia, called for a fair trial conducted by an independent court to determine Kim Soks guilt or innocence.

As feared, he was arrested prior to a trial, which should be exceptional but is unfortunately far too common in Cambodia, she said in an email to RFA.

The lack of clear standards as to what constitutes defamation gives rise to its abuse against vocal individuals, as highlighted by the special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Cambodia during her visit last October.

Lee noted that in 2015, the U.N. Human Rights Committee recommended that Cambodia refrain from prosecuting representatives from civil society for expressing their opinions and consider decriminalizing defamation.

OHCHR concurs with all these views and recommendations, she said.



Reported by Moniroth Morm for RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Zhu Xiaoyan, the U.S.-based sister of veteran jailed democracy activist Zhu Yufu, has called on the ruling Chinese Communist Party to end the beatings and mistreatment meted out to her brother in prison.



Zhu is serving seven-year jail term for subversion in No. 4 Prison in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang after he penned a poem calling on people to vote with their feet.



Zhu Xiaoyan told RFA that her brother was severely beaten by prison guards on Feb. 11, to the point where he lost consciousness and his blood pressure rose to 230 over 120.



"My brother is 65 years old now," Zhu Xiaoyan said. "When the prison guards told him to shave, he told them very courteously that he would do it when he had received his visit."



Zhu's wife Jiang Hangli was scheduled to visit him on Feb. 11, and he said he had no sufficiently sharp razor to shave with, Zhu Xiaoyan said.



"He said that razors were under central control, and that he'd have to apply for one, but the prison guards deliberately made an issue of it, and they wouldn't allow him to meet with [Jiang]," she said.



"My brother had barely finished speaking when the prison guards grabbed him and beat him to the ground, bashing the back of his head on the ground which caused bleeding, and he lost consciousness immediately," Zhu Xiaoyan said.



"His blood pressure jumped to 230 over 120 straight away," she said.



Appalling treatment



She said political prisoners in China's penal system are usually subjected to more ill-treatment than regular criminals.



"My brother has been appallingly treated," she said. "He hasn't been given sufficiently nourishing food, he's not allowed to read books or newspapers, nor to write or receive letters."



"He's not allowed to call his family; all of his rights have been stripped away," she said. "As his family members, we fear for his life."



Zhu Xiaoyan cited the recent death in custody of democracy activist Peng Ming, who died suddenly last November while while serving jail time in the central Chinese province of Hubei.



Years before his death at the age of 58 in Hubei's Xianning Prison, he had left a letter warning that he might meet with an "accident," and asking his family demand an autopsy.



But the authorities removed vital organs and cremated Peng's remains in December without the permission of his U.S.-based family.



"Political prisoners are simply people with different opinions ... Should he get such a harsh punishment just for something he wrote?" Zhu Xiaoyan said.



"He would never hurt anyone; he's a cultivated man who wouldn't even use swear-words. How afraid must the [ruling Chinese] Communist Party be to treat him in such a despicable manner?"



"He just wrote a tiny poem, of less than 100 characters ... We would be so grateful if they could just spare his life," Zhu Xiaoyan said.



Veteran activist



Zhu is a veteran activist who first caught the attention of the authorities during the Democracy Wall movement of 1978.



He was sentenced in 1998 to a seven-year jail term for his involvement with an unprecedented attempt to register the Zhejiang provincial branch of the China Democracy Party as a civil organization with the authorities.



He was handed a seven-year jail term in February 2012 after he wrote the poem, titled It Is Time, during online calls for "Jasmine" rallies inspired by protests in the Middle East in early 2011.



"It is time, people of China! It is time," the poem read. "The square belongs to us all; our feet are our own."



"It is time to use our feet to go to the square and to make a choice...We should use our choices to decide the future of China."



Reported by C.K. for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.




Books likely to be the target of censorship by the ruling Chinese Communist Party were on sale on at a bookshop in Hong Kong, which was rocked last year by the cross-border detentions of five people accused of selling "banned" books to customers across the internal border in mainland China.



A pop-up bookstore run by the local branch of London-based rights group Amnesty International is offering for sale some 1,000 books with "censored" passages blocked out in black, in a bid to publicize dwindling freedom of expression in the former British colony.



Described as a form of performance art by the organizers, their pages have sections censored in black ink, torn out or redacted before being put on display.



"The purpose is to show that a lack of freedom of expression is the equivalent of seeing deleted passages or torn-out pages whenever we walk into a bookshop, so that the content is no longer visible," Mabel Au, director of Amnesty International Hong Kong, told RFA.



She said the detentions of the Causeway Bay Books store employees marked the first time that Hong Kong residents had felt the impact of Chinese censorship since the 1997 handover, when the city was promised that its traditional freedoms would continue unchanged for 50 years.



She said the accusations leveled at the booksellers were inapplicable under Hong Kong law.



"There is no such thing as a banned book in Hong Kong, so we don't know which books are allowed and which are not," Au said. "This whole concept of what is sensitive is very vague."



"Naturally, we are opposed to [the detention of the booksellers]," she said.



Gui Minhai still unaccounted for

More than a year after he was taken away from his holiday home in Thailand and held by Chinese police, Hong Kong bookseller and Swedish national Gui Minhai remains in detention at an unknown location.



Gui, who headed the Mighty Current publishing house based around the Causeway Bay Books store in Hong Kong, is the last of five booksellers to be unaccounted for after their cross-border detentions sparked accusations that Beijing had broken its treaty obligations to the city.



He was last seen on Oct. 17, 2015 after leaving his holiday apartment in Pattaya, Thailand, according to the Free Gui Minhai website set up by his daughter Angela to campaign for his release.



In the months that followed, Causeway Bay Books store manager and British passport-holder Lee Bo, 65, went missing from his workplace in Hong Kong, and the group's general manager Lui Bo (also spelled Lui Por) and colleagues Cheung Chi-ping and Lam Wing-kei were also all detained under opaque circumstances.



The five are all permanent Hong Kong residents, and the now-shuttered bookstore operated under the laws of that city, not Chinese law.



In recent years, the city's media and publishing industry has also been rocked by a series of violent attacks on journalists covering news stories deemed 'sensitive' by Beijing, while others have lost their jobs, or reported growing self-censorship in the industry.



Ever tightening censorship in China

Kevin Lau, the former editor of the Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao, was seriously injured in a knife attack, in what some believed was a direct retaliation for writing about Chinese leaders' offshore bank account details.



"There is much tighter control on freedom of expression [in Hong Kong] than there was before, as well as an impact on judicial independence, the separation of powers and the fourth estate, press freedom," Au told RFA.



She said the changes come alongside an ever-tightening crackdown on freedom of expression in mainland China.



"Things that you could say before now can't be said," she said. "[This includes] negative news that shows political leaders in a poor light; that isn't allowed to get out now."



Hangzhou-based writer Zan Aizong said there are different gradations of what material is considered 'sensitive' by the Chinese government.



"There's a publications import and export company ... that won't import the [pro-democracy] Apple Daily; Asiaweek newsmagazine used to be allowed, but now you can't subscribe to it," Zan said. "Everything is tighter now, and they won't let you order."



"There are also different grades of people, some of whom can subscribe," he said. "For example, anyone above the grade of county party secretary, mayor or municipal party secretary can order these publications, but ordinary people can't."



He said anything published in China has undergone some degree of censorship, with some books getting banned even after publication.



Reported by Lee Lai for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Wang Siwei for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
A suspended UW-Madison student accused of sexually assaulting and harassing nearly a dozen women has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges.

Alec Cook, 20, faces a total of 21 counts, including strangulation, sexual assault, stalking and false imprisonment involving 10 women dating back to March 2015. Five of the charges are misdemeanors. The rest are felonies.

His attorneys have argued some of the alleged assaults didn't happen, other sexual encounters were consensual and the harassment and stalking allegations are exaggerated.

Cook, of Edina, Minnesota, pleaded not guilty to each count during an arraignment in Dane County Circuit Court on Friday afternoon. The proceeding lasted only a few minutes.

Cook remains free on $100,000 bail.
A court in Hong Kong on jailed seven police officers guilty of assaulting pro-democracy politician Ken Tsang during the 2014 Occupy Central pro-democracy movement for two years apiece.



Chief Inspector Wong Cho-shing, Senior Inspector Lau Cheuk-ngai, Detective Sergeant Pak Wing-bun, police constable Lau Hing-pui, and detective constables Wong Wai-ho and Kwan Ka-ho were convicted by the city's District Court on of kicking, punching, and stepping on Tsang after he was arrested and handcuffed during clashes in October 2014.



Detective constable Chan Siu-tan was given an additional month for common assault, for slapping Tsang twice at Central Police Station.



While the seven were found guilty of common assault and causing actual bodily harm, they were acquitted of the more serious charge of causing grievous bodily harm.



Crowds of rival supporters faced off outside the court buildings as the sentences were passed, with some shouting "We support the police upholding the law!" and "Serious punishment for the organizers of Occupy Central!"



Judge David Dufton said it was appropriate that the seven should serve time in prison, as they had "not only brought dishonor to the Hong Kong Police Force, they have also damaged Hong Kongs reputation in the international community, the assault having been widely viewed around the world and reported as front-page news in a number of countries."



Tsang welcomed the sentences, telling reporters on : "I have waited more than two years for this, which is a very small victory for civil society in its struggle against police brutality."



"But I hope people will continue the struggle for universal suffrage," he said in a reference to the main goal of the Occupy Central movement.



He called for a number of other cases involving allegations of police brutality to be brought to justice.



The sentencing was rapidly criticized by police unions and a pro-Beijing lawmaker, who called Dufton a "white-skinned judge with a yellow heart," in a reference to the yellow umbrellas of the 2014 pro-democracy movement.



The defense had argued for suspended sentences, saying they had received more than a thousand letters pleading for leniency and citing the officers' previous record and the "unique circumstances" of the Occupy Central civil disobedience movement.



However, Judge Dufton said stress was still no justification for the assault on Tsang, saying the assault was vicious, and could have resulted in much more serious injuries.



"The defendants, serving police officers who in the execution of their duty took Tsang to the substation to assault him; the multiplicity of the injuries sustained by Tsang as a result of the assault; and the damage to Hong Kongs reputation make this, in my view, a very serious case," the judge said.



At least two of the officers are considering appealing their sentence, government broadcaster RTHK reported.



Wong's defense attorney Lawrence Lok told reporters his client would definitely be appealing against his conviction, however.



"I haven't had chance to discuss it yet, but we will definitely be appealing the conviction," Lok said.



The seven policemen were filmed by news media as they kicked and punched him in a dimly lit corner of Tamar Park in the early hours of, 2014.



The attack left Tsang, a social worker and former member of the pro-democracy Civic Party, with injuries to his face, neck, chest and back.



Joe Chan, who heads the Junior Police Officers' Association, said many in the union are "struggling to accept" the ruling.



He said the union would collect funds to assist the officers, and said some of his colleagues wanted to stage a protest over the sentencing.



"I feel proud to be a police officer," Chan told journalists.



Police Commissioner Stephen Lo said had "mixed feelings and a heavy heart" over the sentencing.



Meanwhile, pro-Beijing members of the city's Legislative Council (LegCo) said the sentences were too heavy.



Pro-Beijing legislator Wong Kwok-kin said the sentences were the result of a "white-skinned" judge having a "yellow heart."



A group of supporters of the seven police officers said they planned to demonstrate against their sentences on .



But Tsang supporter Lei Yuk-luen said the sentences were appropriate.



"The judge got the sentencing right, and the seven police officers will go to jail," Lei said. "Everyone is equal before the law, right?"



"If the judge hadn't done this, then that would be wrong."



Reported by Lee Lai for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Ding Wenqi for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
North Korean Ambassador Kang Chol addresses the media outside Kuala Lumpur Hospital where the body of Kim Jong-Nam is being kept, Feb 18, 2017.

North Korea lambasted Malaysia on Friday for refusing to release the body of its leader Kim Jong-Un's half-brother who was allegedly murdered there this week, giving a new twist in the already sensational case.

Pyongyang said it would not accept any result of a post-mortem conducted by Malaysian authorities on Kim Jong-Nam's body, accusing Kuala Lumpur of "colluding with the hostile forces towards us who are desperate to harm us of malice," clearly referring to rival South Korea.

In a statement outside the morgue of the main hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital, North Korean envoy Kang Chol, appearing furious, accused Malaysia of "trying to conceal something" over the case.

This was the first reaction from North Korea following the death of Kim Jong-Nam in Malaysia on Monday.

Kim died en route to a hospital after reportedly telling medical personnel that a woman had attacked him with a chemical spray at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2).

Kang Chol's statement came after Malaysian officials said Friday that they would not release the body until a family member provided a DNA sample to prove the identity of Kim Jong-Nam, who the South Korean and U.S. governments believe was murdered by North Korean government agents.

Consular Protection

Kang Chol's statement did not mention Kim Jong-Nam by name but Malaysian authorities had confirmed his identity two days after the killing.

The envoy read about half the statement and then one of his aides gave copies to the press, reporters at the scene said.

The envoy said the Malaysian side initially informed his embassy that a North Korean citizen had died from a heart attack while being taken to a hospital and had requested the embassy confirm that he was indeed a North Korean citizen.

Kang Chol said that after the embassy confirmed it, the Malaysian authorities wanted to conduct a post-mortem on Kim "that we rejected because he is a diplomatic passport holder and our citizen who is under the consular protection of the DPRK [North Korea's official name]."

He charged that the Malaysian side "forced the postmortem without our permission and witnessing" and that North Korea would "categorically reject the result of the postmortem conducted unilaterally excluding our attendance.

"This is the culmination of the violation of the human rights of and infringing upon our citizen disregarding the elementary international laws and the consular laws."

Release the body without further delay

Kang Chol said he met a senior Malaysian police officer and "strongly demanded him to release the body without further delay," but that the request was rejected.

He said the officer had raised an issue "which has nothing to do with clarification of the cause of death," apparently referring to a request for a DNA sample to prove the identity of Kim Jong-Nam.

"This strongly suggests that the Malaysian side is trying to conceal something which needs more time and deceive us and that they are colluding with the hostile forces towards us who are desperate to harm us of malice," he said.

He said the Malaysian moves might be dictated by "someone else," suggesting rival South Korea.

South Korea has pointed the finger of blame over Kim Jong-Nam's death at North Korea, citing a "standing order" from Kim Jong-Un to kill his sibling and a failed assassination bid in 2012 after he criticized the regime.

Japanese journalist Yoji Gomi, a former Tokyo Shimbun editor who got closer to Kim Jong-Nam than most reporters, told BenarNews sister entity Radio Free Asia this week that Kim Jong-Un may have given an order to assassinate his half-brother.

"Although Kim Jong-Uns approval of an assassination is possible, I think it is also possible that the regimes high-ranking officials close to Kim Jong-Un may have acted out of loyalty and internal competition," he said.

"As you know, many of them are getting purged or dismissed, and Kim Jong-Nam was still an influential person, so there is a possibility that the people who decided to get rid of Kim Jong-Nam were afraid of Kim Jong-Un."

Malaysian police have arrested two women  one holding a Vietnamese passport and the other an Indonesian document  as well as a Malaysian man as part of investigation into the death.

Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.
The one-party Communist government of Laos is committing serious human rights abuses which go largely unreported due to tight political controls, rights groups say, following a report that the country has become the most repressive state in the region.



Laos has been under sharper focus by rights groups since popular civil society leader Sombath Somphone vanished after being stopped in his vehicle at a police checkpoint in the capital Vientiane on Dec. 15, 2012.



The rights groups say there have been many abuses apart from the case of Sombath, who they suspect may have been abducted by government-linked organizations



The situation in Laos is very serious, Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division of New York-based Human Rights Watch, told RFA's Lao Service.



The Lao government uses its power as a one-party state to effectively control political expression in the country in a way that clearly violates various international human rights treaties.



It is still a very dictatorial, rights-repressing government, Robertson said.



Economic opening



Despite an accelerated economic opening following Laoss accession last year to membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Lao government still tightly controls the countrys political space, said Sarah Cook, Freedom House senior research associate for East Asia.



The examples of China and Vietnam demonstrate how once countries join the WTO, or host big international events for which they have loosened controls slightly, the authoritarian regimes actually act more aggressivelyespecially in terms of crushing dissent.



So well have to see what happens in Laos next year, Cook said.



All media in Laos are controlled by the state, Robertson said, adding,You dont hear so much about the abuses that take place in Laos. Many things are hidden.



Lao citizens are now very scared following Sombath's disappearance, Robertson said.



People we speak to in Laos feel intimidated. They feel that with the disappearance of such a prominent member of Lao civil society, that means the government could take anyone.



They could act against anyone, he added.



People cant discuss politics in Laos, a Lao citizen said, speaking recently to RFA on condition of anonymity.



For example, if the government issues regulations, we cant talk about it. If we dont like something we cant protest. If you hold a conference without permission, you will be arrested.



You cant hold a rally. If you do, you will be accused of causing civil unrest, and they will arrest you, he said.



'Most repressive'?



Laos has now replaced formerly military-ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, as the most repressive [regime] in the region, the Bangkok Post said in a Jan. 29 editorial.



The Lao government has failed to address the disappearance of Sombath Somphone, the Post said, adding, His disappearance is an obvious warning to anyone who might think of challenging the Vientiane regime.



Concerns over which regime may be worst or second-worst mean little to victims of government abuse, though, Robertson said.



A human-rights abuse is a human-rights abuse.



This government, when it is displeased with someone, when it is going after a particular human-rights defender, can be as vicious and as rights-abusing as any government in the region, though, he said.



And that certainly includes even the Burmese military government of the recent past, which was accused of blatant rights abuses during its nearly five-decade rule.



Reported by RFAs Lao Service. Translated by Bounchanh Mouangkham. Written in English with additional reporting by Richard Finney.
Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi (C) holds talks with leaders from the United Nationalities Federal Council at the National Reconciliation and Peace Center in Yangon, July 17, 2016.

Myanmars de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has invited members of an alliance of ethnic groups that have not signed the governments nationwide cease-fire pact for a meeting next week to discuss their demands before the next session of her signature peace conference, an alliance official said Friday.

Members of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), comprising nine ethnic militias that did not sign a nationwide cease-fire agreement (NCA) with the government in October 2015, have been asked to meet on Feb. 23 with Aung San Suu Kyi, who also holds the positions of state counselor and foreign affairs minister.

Aung San Suu Kyi is leading the countrys efforts to end decades of hostilities between the government armed forces and numerous ethnic armed groups via the 21st-century Panglong Conference held roughly every six months.

We received the invitation letter from the government yesterday, UNFC deputy secretary Tun Zaw told RFAs Myanmar Service. We cant reply yet, though, because our leaders are on trips.

The major item is to discuss the date and time of the meeting, he said. We have no reason not to accept the offer. We will reply to the government when our leaders return.

The government invited the Delegation for Political Negotiation (DPN) under the UNFC to hold its fourth official meeting on Feb. 23 and 24 to discuss the alliances demands, including the declaration of a bilateral cease-fire by Myanmars military and the UNFC and an agreement on the composition of representation at the three-way peace negotiations.

The UNFC has also demanded a new constitution based on the outcomes of the Panglong Conference, an agreement on military codes of conduct, and the formation of a cease-fire Joint Monitoring Committee with representatives from the government, ethnic armed groups, and international representatives.

The UNFC informed Aung San Suu Kyi that these demands have not yet been agreed to, though the Myanmar Peace Commission has held three official meetings and one unofficial meeting with the DPN.

In October 2016, the DPN reached agreement with the government on other points it had raised with the latters peace envoy Myo Win, including extractive resource issues and cooperation between the government and ethnic militias to help local populations.

Aung San Suu Kyi held the initial meeting of the 21st-Century Panglong Conference at the end of last August and beginning of September as an effort to forge peace in Myanmar so the country can move ahead with political dialogue and economic development.

The government will hold the next meeting in March, though clashes between the countrys armed forces and ethnic militias are still underway in some parts of the country, such as Shan and Kachin states.



Troop deployment in Kayin state

The deployment of more government troops in Kya-in Seikkyi township in southeastern Myanmars Kayin state this week drove about 2,000 villagers to flee to safety in neighboring Thailand, local media reports said.

The villagers feared a new clash would erupt between government troops and the Mon National Liberation Army (MNLA), the military wing of the New Mon State Party (NMSP).

Three schools in the townships Kyandaw and Japun Yedwin villages planned to close because of the threat, the reports said.

On Feb. 12, Colonel Aung Lwin, minister of security and border affairs in Kayin state, banned weapons and military parades at the 70th Mon State Day organized by the NMSP.

But the NMSP ignored the order and held a military parade at a ceremony in Japun Yedwin village near the border with Thailand.

On Wednesday, government soldiers seized two border tax collection stations on the Myanmar-Thailand border controlled by the MNLA and searched a communications office in Ye township.

NMSP leaders said they met with officials from the government armys Southeastern Command on Thursday in a bid to ease the tension between the MNLA and the national army.

The NMSP signed a cease-fire pact with the government in 1995, but the accord was invalidated when the party refused to transform itself into a border guard unit under government control.



Reported by Wai Mar Tun and Kyaw Lwin Oo for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
A Tibetan man jailed more than four years ago in Sichuan over suspected links to self-immolation protests has been freed from prison after serving his full term, sources in the region and in exile say.



Sherphel, a resident of Serthar (in Chinese, Seda) county, was released on Nov. 25, 2016, Golog Jigme, a former political prisoner living in Switzerland, told RFAs Tibetan Service.



It has been several months since his release, but the news was delayed in reaching outside media contacts because of a Chinese clampdown on communications and other restrictions in the area, Jigme said, citing contacts in Serthar.



Sherphel was taken into custody on Jan. 24, 2012, after a notice circulated in the Serthar county town warning of imminent self-immolation protests challenging Beijings rule in Tibetan areas, Jigme said, adding that local Tibetans then vowed to prevent immolators remains from falling into Chinese hands.



The self-immolations never happened, Jigme said.



But the Chinese police then took Sherphel into custody, and he was later sentenced to a prison term of four years and 10 months on unknown charges, he said.



On the day Sherphel was detained, Tibetans living in Serthar town staged a peaceful demonstration calling for Tibetan freedom and the return of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, Jigme said.



Chinese security forces fired live rounds into the crowd, killing a 25-year-old man named Dawa Drakpa and critically injuring many other Tibetans, Jigme said. They detained about 30 protesters at the same time.



Sporadic demonstrations challenging Beijings rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008.



A total of 146 Tibetans living in China have set themselves ablaze in self-immolations since the wave of fiery protests began in 2009, with most protests featuring calls for Tibetan freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from India, where he has lived since escaping Tibet during a failed national uprising in 1959.



Reported by Lobe Soktsang for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney.




Vietnamese police detained at least 10 people on Friday marking the anniversary of a 1979 border war with China, holding them briefly in custody before releasing them at the end of the day, sources say.



Most were picked up in Saigon, where dozens went in the morning to gather at a statue of Tran Hung Dao, a thirteenth-century Vietnamese military commander who had repelled Mongol invasions under Kublai Khan.



They were quickly blocked by police and security forces on their arrival, though, a participant told RFAs Vietnamese Service.



Just before 9:00 there were police everywhere, and I knew there would be a crackdown, RFAs source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.



A short distance from the statue, the poet Phan Dac Lu told me that the police were going to arrest people, but I told him that I would still go ahead, and as soon as we got there the police rushed us and took both of us away.



They dragged us to their vehicle, he said.



Meanwhile, in the capital Hanoi, about 100 people had gathered at a statue of Ly Thai To, an early Vietnamese emperor, to pay tribute to Vietnamese citizens who had died in the three-week war launched by China on Feb. 17, 1979.



The ceremony was closely watched by uniformed and plainclothes police, one source said, adding that in general, the ceremony took place as expected.



However, after the ceremony, a few people were arrested, he said. One was the blogger Nguyen Lan Thang.



All those detained were released by the end of the day, sources said.



Blocked at cemetery



Three days before, police in Vietnams border city of Lang Son blocked a group of about 10 activists who had tried to enter a cemetery to pay tribute to Vietnamese killed in the war, sources said.



As soon as we got there, a group of 30 plainclothes police approached and surrounded us. Half of them were women, an activist named To Oanh told RFA.



We showed them our IDs so that they would let us in to light incense for the martyrs, but they closed the gate, telling us we had to ask permission from local authorities before coming in.



They didnt let us take photos, either, Oanh said.



Also speaking to RFA, sources pointed to sporadic coverage in state-controlled media of the wars anniversary, usually a sensitive subject in the often tense relationship between China and Vietnam.



The Central Committee for Propaganda must have ordered this, freelance journalist Vo Van Tao said, speaking from Saigon.



For example, on this day or that day, they may say that newspapers A or B can carry some reports, but that newspapers C and D cannot.



In general, they maintain some control over this, but it is not the same every year.



It depends on the relationship between the two countries, he said.



Little information



For now, school books in Vietnam contain little information about the 1979 war, so readers dont learn much about it, textbook author Vu Duong Ninh told RFA, adding that this situation may change with the release of new books next year.



We talk about our wars against the French and the Americans, and this doesnt affect our relationships with those countries, Ninh said.



We need to let our students know about this, he said.



Vietnam and China, both opaque communist governments with media and historians tightly controlled by ruling communist parties, have never published precise official death tolls from the border war.



But estimates leaked by Chinas dissidents put Chinese soldiers killed at around 7,000, while Vietnam is estimated by some Western sources to have lost about twice as many troops. Vietnam has claimed the Chinese invasion caused some 10,000 civilian deaths.



Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Viet Ha. Written in English by Richard Finney.




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U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis warned of an "arc of instability" on Europe's periphery. In a speech to the Munich Security Conference on February 17, Mattis called on NATO allies to address "terrorist threats along NATO's southern flank." (AP Video)
Zakhar and Prokopy, ages 7 and 9, are growing up far from civilization on the Taymyr Peninsula of northern Siberia. Their family, members of the Dolgan minority, raises reindeer for a living, and the boys are learning this demanding trade as well. In the past, the children of Russia's nomadic groups were usually sent to boarding schools, and seldom returned permanently to their homes. To help some such groups preserve their traditions and family units, the government of the Krasnoyarsk region has started a program of "mobile schools," in which teachers live with their students in remote regions. Between their duties with their herds, the boys are now taking lessons from 23-year-old Nelli Andreyevna, who teaches them math and explains who Mr. Putin is. (Kseniya Yelyan, RFE/RL'S Russian Service)
U.S. Senator John McCain called for solidarity in the "moral superiority" of Western values in "dangerous times." Speaking at the annual Munich Security Conference in Germany on February 17, McCain said that adversaries were trying to undermine confidence in the shared principles of Western allies. (AP)
Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko has warned against any "appeasement" of Russia. He told the Munich Security Conference on February 17 that he is hearing some calls among Western allies to ease up on Moscow, but "to move in that direction would be naive, wrong and dangerous." The United States and Western allies have maintained sanctions against Russia after its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula in 2014, and Moscow's backing for separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine. (AP)
The Dane County Community Development Block Grant Commission voted unanimously Thursday to forgive the debt of the Mustard Museum in Middleton.

Barry Levenson, 68, the museums current owner, took out a $200,000 loan from the county in 2009, which he has not been able to repay.

Under the agreement with the commission, Levenson will sell the museum to store manager Patricia Bridges for $40,000, all of which will go toward the museums outstanding loan balance.

The rest of the debt  about $124,000  will be forgiven by the commission.

The museum also will have to pay off 25 percent of its $13,000 loan from the city of Middleton.

Other stipulations in the agreement include:

The museum must stay in Dane County for at least five years.

Neither Levenson nor his wife, Patti, can hold an investment in the museum.

The commission must approve any sale of the Mustard Museums collection.

Levenson cannot work or consult for a company that competes for the museums business.

Sup. Dave Ripp, who is on the commission, said commission members discussed prohibiting the Levensons from sitting on the museums board of directors, but that requirement was removed.

Its an unpaid position, Ripp said. If (Levenson) wants to help out, then go for it.
It landed like a bombshell: The current Serbian president, Tomislav Nikolic, has not given up on reelection despite having seemingly stepped aside for his party colleague.

The news, coming just one day after Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic announced his own presidential bid, was initially reported by Russian state-controlled media outlet Sputnik. Both men's ruling Progressive Party (SNS) was widely expected to endorse Vucic on February 17.

Incumbent Nikolic's office would neither confirm nor deny his intention to run for a second term in the voting, expected in early to mid-April.

"I am still waiting to reach an agreement with Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic," Nikolic told the Belgrade daily Kurir.

Regional TV channel N1 reported that Nikolic had written to Vucic asking to be given a leading position in the Progressive Party and in the new Serbian government in exchange for endorsing Vucic's presidential aspirations.

Nikolic has never made a secret of his desire for a second term, and he previously expected the Serbian Progressive Party -- which he co-founded and led until 2012, when he left to assume the presidency -- to back him in the presidential election. Because it came well after indications that the Progressives would back Vucic, Nikolic's sudden hint at a bid for reelection was interpreted by some as a way to put pressure on Vucic and thus raise the price of the incumbent's withdrawal.

Moscow Keeping A Close Eye

Russian newspaper Kommersant has suggested that Nikolic would have had the support of Moscow but that "Vucic has ruined his plans." Under the headline Serbia Changing Its Presidential Orientation (a play on words to conjure up thoughts of sexual orientation, even in Russian), the paper speculates that change at the top in Belgrade is inevitable -- and goes on to insist that the best choice would be Foreign Minister and Socialist Party leader Ivica Dacic. According to Kommersant, "that would represent some kind of compensation in Moscow's eyes for the departure of Nikolic, since Dacic is considered to be no less pro-Russian than Nikolic."

On December 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a letter to Nikolic, delivered by Russia's ambassador in Belgrade, Aleksandr Chepurin. Belgrade media reported that Chepurin told Nikolic that Moscow would keep a close eye on the 2017 presidential campaign in Serbia, citing its interest in stability in the strategic partnership between the two countries.

Reacting to Putin's purported letter, Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP) leader Cedomir Jovanovic said that it constituted "unacceptable interference in Serbian domestic issues."

'Stab In The Back'

The unconfirmed reports of Nikolic's candidacy provoked an avalanche of reactions in Serbia.

Pro-government analyst Vuk Stankovic declared that Nikolic's potential decision to run for a second term as Serbian president would be a "stab in the back" for Vucic. But he also indicated that he did not think Nikolic's challenge would succeed.

"There is no doubt that [Nikolic's] intention to run is a political assault on the Serbian Progressive Party and [an attack on] Aleksandar Vucic personally, but it also goes against Nikolic's own statements because, until yesterday, he had been insisting that he would do nothing in this election cycle to harm the interests of either Vucic or the SNS," Stankovic reportedly told Blic.

Vucic would not immediately comment on the reports of Nikolic's sudden about-face. Dacic did not hold back, though, calling Nikolic's move "shameful" -- if the reports of his reelection bid were true.

Unexpected Opportunity

On the other hand, the leader of Radical party, Vojislav Seselj -- a former friend and party colleague of both Vucic and Nikolic -- has welcomed Nikolic's reported decision. Seselj has been a vocal critic of Nikolic but has suggested that turmoil inside the Progressive Party means the result is no longer a foregone conclusion; many have expected Vucic to win in a landslide, but Nikolic's candidacy -- dividing the Progressive Party vote -- could make a second round more likely and thus potentially boost Seselj's chances.

In fact, a split among Progressives might help any of a number of other candidates.

Former Serbian President Boris Tadic has called on the opposition to seize this unexpected opportunity because Serbia's people will pay the price if there is no change at the top. "This is a chance to correct the mistakes of the past, mistakes that we have also made, and for Serbia to consolidate and establish a functioning democracy, a critical public, and a free media," Tadic said.

Neither Nikolic nor the opposition candidates are seen as an insurmountable obstacle for Vucic.

But, if nothing else, Nikolic's intervention has suddenly made this one-horse race interesting again.

The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL.
MINSK -- Some 2,000 demonstrators have gathered in downtown Minsk to protest a law on "parasitism," a Soviet-era offense still policed in Belarus that obliges nonworking people to pay a tax.

Opposition leaders Uladzimer Nyaklyaeu and Mikalay Statkevich are taking part in the approved gathering, which activists called the "march of indignant Belarusians."

Signs such as "The President Is The Major Parasite" and "No Taxes From Us To You!" were seen among demonstrators at Kastrychnik Square.

The crowd chanted slogans such as, "No to taxes!" "Down with Lukashenka!" "We are people, not cattle!" and, "We are not afraid!"

Statkevich then led a march toward the Tax Ministry to hand over a resolution to officials that included a demand to cancel the law on parasites and the holding of free and fair elections.

Police are present at the site observing the gathering.
Bosnia-Herzegovina says it will appeal a 2007 United Nations court ruling that cleared the government in Belgrade of genocide during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

Bakir Izetbegovic, the Muslim Bosniak member of the county's tripartite presidency, said on February 17 that the legal bid would be submitted before the 10-year deadline for an appeal expires on February 26.

The decision could ignite a political crisis in Bosnia, as Bosnian Serb legislators plan to boycott parliament to show their opposition to the action.

Izetbegovic leads Bosnia-Herzegovina as part of a three-party presidency along with his Bosnian Croat and Bosnian Serb counterparts.

The International Court of Justice in 2007 exonerated the Belgrade government of direct responsibility for killings, rapes, and "ethnic cleansing" in Bosnia during the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

It did rule, however, that Belgrade failed to prevent genocide related to the 1995 massacre in Srebrenica, where some 8,000 Muslims were killed by Bosnian Serb forces.

Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Croat leaders have opposed Izetbegovics move, saying it would violate the constitution and cause a political crisis in the country.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AP
The spring draft got under way in Georgia this week under new guidelines intended to ensure that the country's armed forces conform as closely as possible to NATO standards -- even though it has little chance of being invited to join the alliance in the foreseeable future.

Meanwhile, in line with staff cuts announced by Defense Minister Levan Izoria last fall, the ministry has dismissed a total of 2,100 personnel, most of them civilians.

One of Izoria's first moves following his appointment in August 2016 was to reverse the decision by his predecessor, Tina Khidasheli, to abolish conscription into the armed forces as of January 2017, but not other agencies, such as the Special State Protection Service and the Interior Ministry.

Under the new guidelines, the length of military service has been cut from 15 to 12 months. All conscripts, not only those assigned to the army, will undergo three months of "comprehensive" combat training. \

That combat training will continue during the following nine months, during which conscripts will "support the professional army" in its daily duties, including by participating in maneuvers.

Conscripts will be allowed weekends off and will receive "an improved social benefits package."

Financial Considerations

Izoria has admitted that the primary reason for reversing Khidasheli's abolition of conscription is financial, given that the cost of maintaining a professional force comprising only contract servicemen costs at least twice as much.

Nika Chitadze, who heads the Security and International Relations Research Institute, has predicted that the decision to bring back the draft will trigger a corresponding increase in the number of young men seeking to avoid it. That hypothesis is tenuous, however. An opinion poll conducted in late November by InterpressNews registered 69.5 percent approval.

Financial considerations were similarly behind Izoria's decision to reduce Defense Ministry personnel by some 10 percent. (According to Chief of General Staff Vladimir Chachibaia, salaries and administrative costs account for 67 percent of the ministry's budget.)

'Upside-Down Triangle'

Initially, Izoria said the downsizing would affect only civilian personnel and not the armed forces.

He noted that the firing of 10 advisers and deputy defense ministers alone would save almost 390,000 laris ($147,732) annually.

But Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili advocated a different approach, noting that "our Defense Ministry resembles an upside-down triangle, we have far more senior officers than we should have," and that Georgia's Western partners, including NATO, have for the past decade urged that the problem be addressed.

As of January 30, 2,100 Defense Ministry personnel had been dismissed, of whom 1,750 were civilians. Of the military personnel affected, 217 were officers (166 of them colonels) and 123 sergeants. Together they were paid a total of some $2 million in compensation.

The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL.
No matter how patiently and how consistently you repeat a lie, it is still a lie.

No matter how patiently and how consistently you repeat a fantasy, it is still a fantasy.

Speaking to reporters earlier this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Vladimir Putin has "been quite patient and consistent in providing accounts of the coup which took place in Ukraine and which was sponsored in large part from abroad."

Indeed he has. And I suppose I could patiently and consistently explain to all of you that I've grown a mustache and am wearing a tuxedo.

Or that I'm 2 meters tall and have a full head of hair -- hey, I kind of like that one.

But here's the thing.

Putin's patiently and consistently repeated lies and fantasies about Ukraine are not just propaganda and disinformation.

They are actually a survival tactic.

Because what actually happened in Ukraine three years ago this month -- a genuine middle class uprising that overthrew a corrupt and authoritarian regime -- is seen by Putin's corrupt and authoritarian regime as an existential threat.

An uprising in which ordinary citizens are willing to fight and die for a democratic future is an existential threat, so they have to call it a coup.

The idea that Ukrainian civil society has agency of its own is an existential threat, so they have to say its actions were sponsored and directed from abroad.

And the idea that an independent Ukraine can make independent decisions of its own is an existential threat, so it has to be discredited and destabilized.

Now I know none of this is new. I've been saying these things for years.

But these things are worth repeating as we mark the anniversary of the bloodiest days of the Euromaidan uprising.

Keep telling me what you think on The Power Vertical's Twitter feed and on our Facebook page.
Russian and Ukrainian forces exchanged heavy artillery fire in multiple locations, officials in both countries said, as Russian-appointed officials continued evacuating people from the west bank of the Dnieper River amid a mounting Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

Ukraine's national grid operator, meanwhile, said on November 5 that it would increase rolling blackouts in Kyiv and seven other regions as the countrys national grid remained severely damaged by weeks of Russian air strikes.

Electricity consumption is rising across Ukraine as the weather turns colder, and energy providers have raced to do repairs, ordering planned power cuts to avoid overloads.

Ukraines General Staff said that its troops thwarted Russian attacks a day earlier in the eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions. The military also claimed that Ukrainian air defenses shot down multiple Russian and Iranian drones and two Kalibr cruise missiles. The claim could not be immediately verified.

The head of the Vynnytsya region, Serhiy Borzov, said the central region was hit overnight by Russian kamikaze drones.

Russian troops have been actively using Iranian drones in recent weeks to attack critical civilian and infrastructure objectives.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the fiercest fighting over the last week had taken place around Bakhmut and Soledar in Donetsk and that Ukrainian forces are holding their positions there and elsewhere.

He also spoke of "good gains" in the south, praising infantry and artillery brigades for destroying enemy equipment, Russian manpower.

The claims of battlefield success could not be independently verified.

Ukrainian forces have been mounting a slow, incremental counteroffensive in the southern Kherson region for weeks now, moving closer to directly threatening the Dnieper River port of Kherson, which was captured early after Russias February invasion.

In response, Russian authorities have been evacuating civilians and military troops to the opposite bank of the Dnieper.

Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russia-installed administration in the Kherson region, announced a 24-hour curfew on November 4, saying it was necessary to defend it from an expected Ukrainian attack.

The Russian military said "more than 5,000 civilians" were being evacuated daily to the east bank of the river. And Russian President Vladimir Putin on November 4 called for civilians to be moved out from Kherson.

Those who live in Kherson must now be removed from the zone of the most dangerous hostilities, Putin said in remarks broadcast on state television. The civilian population should not suffer from shelling, from the offensive, counteroffensive, and other measures related to military operations.

Russias Defense Ministry said on November 5 that troops had repelled Ukrainian attacks in in the Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kherson regions. In the Kherson region, which the Kremlin last month declared had been annexed, authorities reported the heaviest artillery fire in days.

Ukrainian officials have likened the departures of Kherson residents to Soviet-style deportations, though its unclear to what extent the departures are forced or voluntary. Russian officials said people were being moved to safety from the path of the Ukrainian advance.

Ukraines counteroffensives in Kherson and the northern Kharkiv region have been powered in large part by powerful Western weaponry. On November 4, the U.S. Defense Department announced another $400 million shipment of weapons and other equipment, including refurbished tanks, surface-to-air missiles, new coastal defense boats, and other items.

The announcement came around the same time that the U.S. national-security adviser, Jake Sullivan, made an unannounced visit to Kyiv to meet with top Ukrainian officials.

At a news conference later, Sullivan sought again to calm Ukrainian jitters about whether U.S. weapons would continue after the upcoming midterm U.S. congressional elections.

Polls show that Republicans are poised to take control of one, or possibly both, chambers of Congress, and a small but vocal number of Republicans have voiced misgivings about the amount and duration of U.S. aid for Ukraine.

There will be no wavering, Sullivan said at a news conference. Im confident U.S. support for Ukraine will be unwavering and unflinching.

Asked about the prospect of peace talks with Russia, Sullivan repeated what U.S. officials have said in the past: "Nothing is discussed about Ukraine without Ukraine."

"For me, the main question about these negotiations is what a just peace looks like and how it can be achieved, Sullivan said. If you look at Russian accusations, Russian actions, in particular regarding the annexation of [Ukrainian] territories, it does not really encourage negotiations.

With reporting by RFE/RLs Ukrainian Service, Reuters, dpa, and AP
At least seven servicemen have been killed by an avalanche in Kazakhstan's southern region of Zhambyl.

Ruslan Imankulov, spokesman for Kazakhstan's Emergency Situations Ministry, said the avalanche hit Koksai Gorge as military maneuvers were being held on February 17.

Rescue operations conducted by a special operations group established by Kazakhstan's South military group have ended.

Imankulov said 16 soldiers were found alive and rescued from under the snow.

Based on reporting by Interfax, Kazinform, and KazTAG
A group of Montenegrin women who are protesting in Podgorica against cuts in state aid for mothers agreed on February 17 to break up their demonstration and meet with a government delegation next week.

Many of the protesters are from outside the capital and had spent the night of February 16 in the cold near government headquarters.

They are demanding that the government reverse a decision to cut aid for mothers of three or more children.

Financial assistance for an estimated 21,500 women was instituted last October.

But it was cut by 25 percent in January as the government seeks to reduce public spending.

The demonstrators say spending cuts should be made to other parts of the budget before aid to mothers is reduced, and demanded to meet with Prime Minister Dusko Markovic.

Montenegro is seeking to join NATO and is a candidate for European Union membership, but is under pressure to improve its finances.

Based on reporting by AP and AFP


Dane County will establish a fund to help county residents apply for citizenship and will create a new position to help immigrants better access services available to them, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi said Thursday.

The Immigration Assistance Fund would be privately administered by an organization to be chosen through a competitive process, and would start with $75,000 in seed money from the county, Parisi said.

The new immigrant affairs specialist, within the county Office of Equity and Inclusion, would provide support to organizations that help immigrants. Parisi called the job an ombudsman helping to direct immigrants toward helpful resources.

Parisi called the measures concrete action on the countys previously stated support for its immigrants, and a nuts and bolts approach to addressing a need.

Thousands of immigrants in Dane County are eligible for citizenship but dont have the resources to navigate the process, he said.

These steps will help our neighbors on the path to becoming citizens, and thus further strengthen our community, Parisi said.

He also cited the importance of immigrants to the countys fast-growing economy, in sectors as diverse as dairy farming and technology.

This is something that were doing because its the right thing to do on a human level and because its the right thing to do for our local economy, Parisi said.

Because the measures will require an amendment to the 2017 county budget, they have to be approved by the County Board. The amendment will be introduced at next weeks County Board meeting, Parisi said, and could take a month to be approved.

The immigration affairs specialist addition is budget-neutral, because the opening is being transferred from another county department, said Parisi spokeswoman Stephanie Miller. The cost of the positions salary and benefits is $75,169.

What weve seen in the last few weeks as a result of President Trumps orders and the uptick in (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) activity is people being overrun with phone calls, be it immigration attorneys or community-based organizations with people who are afraid, Parisi said. These are our neighbors, and theyre living in fear. They need our help, they need our assistance gaining their path to citizenship.

The Immigration Assistance Fund, Parisi said, would be sustained beyond the countys $75,000 investment through business and philanthropic donations.

Parisi said he hasnt directly solicited donations from groups yet, but said many in the community have been asking how they can help.

The money, Parisi said, would help cover expenses immigrants encounter on their path to citizenship, such as those related to the citizenship application process, and legal expenses.

While most Americans are the descendants of immigrants, todays immigrants are often the targets of hostility, Parisi said, after describing the immigrant experience of his grandparents, who arrived here from a small town in Sicily.

Hostility being directed toward our immigrants is not fair, Parisi said. It is not right, and it is not a reflection of the values of our community.
U.S. media are reporting that former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn may have lied to FBI agents in an interview last month, saying he had not discussed sanctions against Russia with Moscow's U.S. ambassador.

Flynn's lie or misstatement during a January 24 interview with the Federal Bureau of Investigation could expose him to criminal charges, since lying to the agency is a felony.

Any decision to prosecute would lie with the Justice Department.

U.S. intelligence agencies, which are investigating alleged Russian interference in the presidential election, intercepted Flynn's call with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak in December in which the two discussed sanctions before President Donald Trump took office, The Washington Post and other media reported.

CNN reported that Flynn initially told the FBI he didn't discuss sanctions with Kislyak. But when FBI agents challenged him, he said he didn't remember.

CNN said the FBI concluded that Flynn was being cooperative and truthful and decided not to pursue any charges against him.

The Post said Flynn's claim that he couldn't remember gives him a defense against perjury charges.

Flynn resigned on February 13 after news reports that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about his conversation with Kislyak.

Based on reporting by The Washington Post, CNN, and Reuters
Pakistani security forces say dozens of Islamic extremists have been killed in a nationwide crackdown following a recent series of deadly terror attacks that broke a period of relative calm in the country.

The announcement on February 17 comes a day after Islamic State (IS) extremists claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in southern Pakistan that killed at least 83 worshippers at a Sufi shrine, the largest in a wave of attacks across the country claimed by different militant extremists during the past week.

Security forces have moved quickly since the February 16 attack on the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sindh Province -- with political and military leaders vowing to go to any length to crush the extremists.

"Over 100 terrorists have been killed since last night and sizable apprehensions also made," the military said on February 17.

WATCH: Pakistan Tightens Security After Attacks

Analysts said the recent wave of violence has been a major escalation in militants' attempts to destabilize the country.

"This is a virtual declaration of war against the state of Pakistan, said Imtiaz Gul, head of the independent Center for Research and Security Studies in Islamabad.

Pakistan's military in recent months has scored a series of victories against different extremist militant groups and factions, boosting optimism about security in the country.

But hopes have been dashed this week by a renewed campaign of violence by IS and Taliban-linked groups, along with other extremists.

Border Crossing Closed

Military and foreign office officials claimed the renewed attacks had been launched from extremist hideouts in Afghanistan.

Pakistan's military said Afghan Embassy officials have been summoned to the military's General Headquarters and presented with a list of 76 "terrorists" said to be hiding in Afghanistan.

Pakistan on February 16 also closed the Torkham border crossing into Afghanistan for "security reasons."

Major General Asif Ghafoor, head of the military's ISPR media wing, said the border crossing on the highway between Peshawar, Pakistan, and Jalalabad, Afghanistan, would remain closed until "further orders."

In the attack on the Sufi shrine in the town of Sehwan, at least 30 children were among the dead. More than 100 people were wounded.

Period Of Mourning

The government of Sindh Province on February 16 announced a three-day mourning period.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and army chief of staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa on February 17 visited the town of Sehwan.

Sharif vowed to crush the extremists "with the full force of the state."

Earlier on February 16, a land-mine blast had killed an army captain and two army soldiers in the Awaran area of Balochistan Province.

On February 15, two suicide attacks took place in northern Pakistan -- both claimed by Taliban militants.

One was in the Mohmand tribal district and the other, in Peshawar, targeted court judges.

On February 13, a suicide attacker targeted protesters in Lahore, killing 13 people, including senior police officers, and wounding more than 80 others.

With reporting by By RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal, Reuters, AP, AFP, Dawn TV, and Geo TV


3 A Sufi woman dances during the annual celebrations at the shrine in 2012. The devotees describe themselves as the "Anti-Taliban" and stand for "love, tolerance and the great infinity."




Russian authorities say they have detained a Ukrainian member of a Crimean-Tatar activist group that has led a blockade of the annexed peninsula.

The Federal Security Service (FSB), Russias main security agency, said on February 17 that Seit-Ibragim Zaitullaev attempted to "illegally" cross into Crimea, which Moscow seized and annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

An FSB statement cited by Russian state news agencies claimed it found evidence that Zaitullaev belongs to a Crimean-Tatar organization called Asker, which has spearheaded a civilian-led blockade along the border with the Moscow-controlled peninsula.

There was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian government.

Lenur Islyamov, the leader of Asker, confirmed to RFE/RL Russian Service reporter Anton Naumlyuk that Zaitullaev was previously a member of the organization but said he had left the group two months ago.

Russia seized control of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 after sending in troops to secure key facilities and staging a referendum dismissed as illegitimate by Ukraine, the United States, and more than 100 countries in the United Nations General Assembly.

Russia has since made it a criminal offense to question Russia's territorial integrity within what the government claims are its borders.

Rights watchdogs and Western governments have accused Moscow of carrying out a broad crackdown on independent media and dissent in Crimea.

The FSB statement said Zaitullaev faces charges of "illegally crossing the border of the Russian Federation."

The statment claimed Zaitullaev told investigators that Asker "prepares specialists for acts of sabotage in Crimea," Russias state-run TASS news agency reported.

That language echoes allegations against at least five Ukrainian citizens arrested by Russian law-enforcement agencies in Crimea in November.

The FSB described them as suspected members of a Ukrainian "saboteur group."

Ukraine's Defense Ministry called those allegations "another fabrication of the Russian secret services aimed at justifying its own repressive measures against local residents and [discrediting] Ukraine [in] the international arena."

With reporting by RFE/RLs Russian Service, the Crimean Desk of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, TASS, and RIA Novosti
Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has formally agreed to be the presidential candidate of his center-right Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).

Vucic told a crowd of supporters in Belgrade after a meeting of the SNS main board on February 17 that he had decided to accept the party's candidacy for president "because this country needs work, stability, investment, and a future."

The SNS board decided on February 14 to nominate Vucic instead of incumbent President Tomislav Nikolic, a former party leader who wants closer ties with Russia.

The departure of Nikolic could mean quicker moves towards EU accession and improved ties between Serbia and NATO, despite Belgrade's military neutrality.

On February 15 and 16, Serbian newspapers reported that Nikolic could run for another term against Vucic.

But both have declined so far to confirm or deny the reports.

Vucic will face rivals from a fractious opposition in the elections.

The date for the vote has not yet been formally announced, but observers say a date in April is likely.

Serbia's presidency is a largely ceremonial post.

But if Vucic controls both the presidency and the comfortable majority the SNS now holds in the 250-seat parliament, he could wield formidable political power.

Based on reporting by Reuters and TASS


SESHANBE, Tajikistan -- Prosecutors are investigating the brutal rape and murder of a Tajik schoolgirl, allegedly at the hands of her teenage classmates, a crime that has left the residents of one quiet village reeling in shock.



The 16-year-old was allegedly lured out of her grandparent's house in Seshanbe, some 65 kilometers west of the capital, Dushanbe, on February 3 by two male classmates, who raped her before stabbing her to death and setting her body alight, the Prosecutor-General's Office said on February 16.



It was the fourth violent death of a teenager in Tajikistan so far this year.



The names of the latest victim and of the suspected attackers  both also 16 -- cannot be released for legal reasons, says Umarjon Emomali, a spokesman for the Prosecutor-General's Office.



"She received a phone call from her classmates at around midnight," the victim's grandparents told RFE/RL's Tajik Service on February 17. "The classmates asked her to come out just for a brief moment because they wanted to ask her something. Only five minutes after she left, we got worried and went out to look for her. But she wasn't outside."



The family says they looked for the girl all night before notifying police. Her burned body was found two days later, dumped in a remote field some 9 kilometers away.

Possible Negligence



The family says they were initially told by local authorities that the girl had taken her own life, a conclusion that didn't sit well with the family.The victim's grandfather says she was a "happy girl" who was planning to enroll in a nearby art-and-crafts school to learn dressmaking.



The family took the case to the Prosecutor-General's Office, prompting a criminal probe that began with the exhumation of her body.

Prosecutors say forensics concluded that the girl had been raped and stabbed 12 times before her body was burned. The records of the victim's mobile phone led to the arrest of the two suspects, who have since pleaded guilty to the crime, authorities say.



Prosecutors say they are probing possible negligence in the handling of the case by regional police, including a lack of proper forensics. No one has yet been charged.





The residents of Seshanbe say they are shocked and frightened that such a heinous crime could be committed in their quiet farming village on the outskirts of the southwestern city of Tursunzoda.



"I didn't believe something like this could happen in our neighborhood," says resident Hikmat Qulov. "Now we are worried about our children, especially our daughters when they leave home."



Violent Teenage Deaths

The investigation into the girl's killing comes after the violent deaths of three other teenagers and as Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon has expressed concern about what he said are increasing crime rates among youth in Dushanbe and other regions.



Scuffles among schoolchildren and other young people have recently led to a "serious disruption of public order and even the deaths of people," Rahmon said in a speech on February 15.





According to the president, "young people and teenagers" were responsible for some 75 percent of the 3,000 hooliganism crimes recorded in the Tajik capital in the past 10 years.



Two teenagers, aged 17 and 18, were killed during a gang brawl in Dushanbe late on January 2.



A similar scuffle on January 11 led to the killing of a 19-year-old man in the city.



Police say several young men have been detained in connection with those killings.



Tajikistan has adopted a so-called parents' responsibilities law that holds parents liable for crimes committed by their underage children.



The rise in crimes committed by Tajik youth has been widely blamed on widespread unemployment and poverty in the former Soviet nation of some 8 million.

Written by Farangis Najibullah based on reporting by RFE/RL Tajik Service correspondent Mumin Ahmadi


U.S. President Donald Trump says Russia appears to taking provocative steps such as sailing a spy ship near the U.S. East Coast because Moscow has concluded no improvement in relations will occur anytime soon.

In a long and rambling press conference that frequently focused on Russia on February 16, Trump said he didn't think Russia was testing him by sending the spy ship, recently deploying a new ballistic-missile system, and buzzing a U.S. destroyer in the Black Sea last week by Russian military jets.

Rather, Trump said those potential provocations are the result of Russian President Vladimir Putin's dashed hopes that ties with the United States will improve under his presidency.

"All of those things...are very recent, because probably Putin assumes that he's not going to be able to make a deal with me because it's politically not popular for me to make a deal," Trump said.

"If you were Putin right now, you would say, 'Hey, we're back to the old games with the United States; there's no way Trump can ever do a deal with us,'" Trump said.

"If I was just brutal on Russia right now, just brutal, people would say.... 'Oh, isn't that wonderful.'"
Gov. Scott Walker is proposing to increase funding for an enhanced tax auditing program that generated nearly $27 million in additional revenue last year  more than enough to cover the cost, but about $4.6 million short of its goal.

Business groups are closely monitoring the Audit 2020 initiative, which the Walker administration promoted two years ago as focusing on out-of-state companies. The auditors are keying on corporate and sales tax collections, and not individual income taxes.

The latest budget adds 46 four-year project positions with the expectation they will generate $64 million in revenue over the next two years. The goal of 102 permanent positions in the last budget was to collect $113.5 million more over two years.

The Department of Revenue reported to the Legislature last month that in the first year of the biennium the new positions and related expenses  such as expanding offices in Minnesota, Illinois, Madison and Appleton  cost $9.2 million out of a budgeted $11.8 million. The rest of the money paid for additional audit bureau staff and a bureau reorganization.

The positions generated $26.9 million in new revenue, though the goal was $31.5 million. The report noted the agencys compliance bureau, which collects delinquent taxes, exceeded its agency goal by $22 million, more than making up for the shortfall in the auditing program. Some of those extra delinquencies were generated by the additional audits.

The programs corporate auditors also billed companies $15 million that werent collected last year, but are due in the current year.

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the states largest business lobby, opposes the new program. Scott Manley, WMCs vice president of government relations, said members have reported the audit process is very long, cumbersome and expensive in terms of investment of time and employee resources to comply.

WMC does not support the additional auditor positions, nor do we believe that hiring more tax collectors will help improve our business climate or show the world that Wisconsin is open for business, Manley said.

Walker spokesman Tom Evenson said the states business climate has gone from one of the worst in the nation to one of the best under Walker, and emphasized the new program is focused on taxes owed by businesses outside Wisconsin to ensure that the tax burden does not fall unduly on Wisconsin taxpayers and businesses.

Manley noted that Walker vetoed a provision added by the Legislature that would have required the Department of Revenue to track the number of audits conducted and how much revenue came from out-of-state versus in-state businesses. At the time Walker said he vetoed the provision because it might violate taxpayer privacy.

DOR was unable to provide historic data on the number of audits it conducts each year, but the number of higher corporate tax assessments increased from 429 in 2014 to 670 in 2015 to 981 last year, according to DOR spokesman Casey Langan. The number of higher sales and use tax assessments increased from 1,195 in 2014 to 1,201 in 2015 to 1,256 last year.

Steve Baas, vice president of government relations for the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, lauded Walkers goal of recovering more money from tax cheats to help reduce taxes elsewhere.

The implementation of strategies to meet that goal, however, need to be carefully monitored to see when/if the DOR reaches a point of diminishing return where the marginal increase in collections will be outweighed by the cost of funding the additional auditors, Baas said in an email.
BISHKEK -- Police in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, have released journalist Sanrabia Satybaldieva, who is pregnant with her second child, after detaining her and a cameraman overnight on an extortion charge she says is an attempt to frame her.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement on November 4 that Satybaldieva and and cameraman Kalys Ashirbaev, who work for the MIR24.kg news website, are suspected of extorting $2,000 from lawmakers, allegedly blackmailing them with unspecified compromising audio recorded in 2016-17.

Satybaldieva, whose reporting has been critical of the government, said that she is being "framed" by the chief of the State Committee of National Security (UKMK), Kamchybek Tashiev, and his brother Shairbek.

"I cannot say everything now as the investigation is under way. They all colluded and framed me. I will reveal everything after I am released.," Satybaldieva said.

Doctors rushed to see Satybaldieva at a police station overnight after she felt unwell.

Abdirasulova added that Satybaldieva was rushed to hospital from a police station overnight after she felt unwell.

Despite the doctors warning that she should stay under their care or risk losing her child, police took her back into custody. They were later forced again to visit her after her condition worsened a second time, Abdirasulova said.

Satybaldieva said on November 4 that she had been released so she could go to a hospital for treatment. She was ordered not to leave Bishkek until the investigations against her are over. Ashirbaev's pretrial restrictions will be decided on by a court on November 5.

Kyrgyz Ombudswoman Atyr Abdrakhmatova told RFE/RL that she met with Satybaldieva earlier in the day and stressed that the journalists' rights were violated by police.

"Despite doctors' orders to take her to a hospital, Sanrabia was brought to a detention center, where she fainted. Doctors came twice and were surprised that she was not hospitalized. It is a cruel and inhumane attitude. The investigator who detained her must be held accountable," Abdrakhmatova said.

Rights groups have warned recently that Kyrgyz authorities have increased efforts to control and censor mass media amid a broader crackdown on freedom of expression and civil society.

The Kyrgyz government on October 26 blocked the website of RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, known locally as Radio Azattyk, after the broadcaster refused to take down a video, produced by Current Time, the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.

The video reported on clashes at the border with Tajikistan. Officials claimed the segment "predominantly" took the position of the Tajik side, an accusation RFE/RL rejects.

The government has since frozen Radio Azattyk's bank account without explanation.

The detainment of Satybaldieva and Ashirbaev came the same day that another Kyrgyz journalist, Semetei Talas-uulu, was placed under house arrest on an extremism charge that he and his supporters reject as politically motivated.

In September, a court in Bishkek convicted the director of the NEXT television channel, Taalaibek Duishembiev, and handed him a suspended three-year prison sentence over the airing of a report related to Russias war in Ukraine.

Duishembiev has maintained his innocence.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed a decree to prevent threats to the country's energy security amid a shortage of coal from eastern regions controlled by separatist fighters.

Volunteer Ukrainian fighting battalions have been blocking railway connections with districts in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions controlled by Russia-backed separatists, which has led to a lack of traditional anthracite coal across the country and led to power shortages.

Poroshenko's decree on February 16 said the measure -- based on a decision by the National Security and Defense Council -- was undertaken to foster protection of key infrastructure.

The decree obliges Ukrainian authorities to find ways to switch from traditional anthracite coal to other types of coal used at thermal power stations.

Other alternatives for coal will be sought and additional coal reserves will be created, as per the decree.

All exports of anthracite coal from Ukraine have been halted for the time being and all deliveries of goods from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions are now strictly controlled by law enforcement and security units.

Based on reporting by UNIAN and Interfax
MUNICH, Germany -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has urged Western nations to reject calls for the "appeasement" of Russia.

In impassioned remarks during a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference on February 17, Poroshenko suggested that U.S. and EU sanctions imposed over Moscow's interference in his country should remain in place.

Poroshenko said that Russian President Vladimir Putin "hates Ukraine" and "sees no place for Ukraine on the political map of Europe."

Russia seized the Crimean Peninsula from Kyiv's control in March 2014, after sending in troops and staging a referendum considered illegitimate by most countries.

The Kremlin also supports pro-Russia separatist forces in a war that has killed more than 9,750 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014.

WATCH: Poroshenko Warns Against 'Appeasement' Of Russia

Lamenting what he said were "increasing calls for some degree of appeasement" of Moscow, Poroshenko warned that "it would be a mistake to think that Russia's appetite" is limited to Ukraine.

He called on the West to help stop "Russian revanchism," saying: "The time is now, and the place is Ukraine."

Poroshenko said that three Ukrainian servicemen had been killed and 12 wounded in eastern Ukraine in the previous 24 hours, adding that most of the casualties were in Avdiyivka -- a government-held town where fighting has flared up in recent weeks.

Speaking on the same panel at the annual conference in Munich, U.S. Senator John McCain urged the West to step up support for Ukraine.

McCain said Russians "are killing" Ukrainians every day, and said he thinks "it's going to get worse, because...this is a time of testing" the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump by countries such as China and Russia.


Ukraine this spring will renew its search for human remains at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, Dutch Security and Justice Minister Stef Blok has said.

The passenger jet was shot down over eastern Ukraine in mid-2014 on a routine flight between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur. All 298 people on board died, the majority of them Dutch citizens.

"Contacts in the region have indicated they will renew the search for human remains and personal belongings in the spring, once the snow has disappeared," Blok told parliament on February 16.

His statement comes after journalists last month discovered a bone fragment belonging to one of the victims in Ukraine's Donbas region.

Members of the victims' families said they might push for a new official search in light of the discovery to ensure no remains are left behind,

But Blok denied claims by the journalists that "there was much more to be found."

"Many hours of filming made at the spot and shown to the investigating team failed to reveal any trace of human remains or personal belongings," he said.

Based on reporting by AFP and TASS
A preliminary hearing into the "separatism" case against journalist Mykola Semena, an RFE/RL contributor who has angered Moscow over his reporting, has been postponed.

Semena, who has been charged by the Moscow-backed authorities, was to have a preliminary hearing in Simferopol, Ukraine, on February 17 but it has been moved to February 28, RFE/RL's Crimea Realities reported.

The postponement of the hearing was reportedly due to one of Semena's lawyers not being able to prepare for the hearing because his computer had previously been confiscated and only returned to him on February 17.

Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has urged authorities in the Russian-controlled Ukrainian region of Crimea to drop all charges against Semena.

In a February 16 statement, CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said that "criticizing authorities is not a crime" and called on the Russian-backed authorities to "stop harassing journalists in Crimea."

Semena was detained in April and then released but ordered not to leave the peninsula. He may be sentenced to five years in prison if convicted of separatism based on an article he wrote on his blog that was critical of Moscow's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

After Moscow seized control of Crimea, the Russian parliament passed a law making it a criminal offense to question Russia's territorial integrity within what the government considers its borders.

Semena was given a final version of the charges in December and was served on January 20 with the closing indictment in his case, a detailed document that includes descriptions of evidence, the names of prosecution witnesses, and other information.

Semena denies the charges.

Semena's lawyer, Andrei Sabinin, had said that preliminary hearings into the case would be held by the Zaliznychnyy district court in Simferopol on February 17. The journalist's other lawyer, Emil Kurbedinov, told RFE/RL on February 8 that the actual trial for Semena will start on February 28.

The United States, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and international media watchdogs have expressed concern over Semena's case, which activists say is part of a Russian clampdown on independent media and dissent in Crimea.

Human rights advocates say Russia and the authorities Moscow has imposed in Crimea have conducted a persistent campaign of oppression targeting opponents of the annexation, including many members of the region's indigenous Crimean Tatars, as well as independent media outlets and journalists.

RFE/RL President Thomas Kent said in January that the charges against Semena were "part of a concerted effort by Russian and Russian-backed authorities to obstruct RFE/RL's journalistic mission to provide an independent press to residents of Crimea."

The Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urged Russian authorities on January 26 to drop the "absurd" charges against Semena, saying he "simply expressed his opinion on the annexation of Crimea."

"In no way should he be prosecuted for that," Johann Bihr, the head of RSF's Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, told RFE/RL. He said that Semena's case was "more proof of the suppression of freedom of expression in Crimea since the Russian annexation."

In a resolution adopted on January 24, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) called on Russia to drop its charges against Semena and two other journalists it said were being prosecuted "for their reports about the illegal occupation and annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by the Russian Federation."

Also on January 24, the OSCE's media-freedom representative, Dunja Mijatovic, expressed concern about what her office called the "persecution" of Semena, a contributor to RFE/RL's Crimea Realities website.

"The case of Semena reminds us all of the arbitrary practice of silencing critical voices in Crimea," Mijatovic said. "It is totally unacceptable to persecute the journalist for expressing his views. I call for all charges against Semena to be dropped."

Russia seized control of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 after sending in troops to secure key facilities and staging a referendum dismissed as illegitimate by Ukraine, the United States, and more than 100 countries in the UN General Assembly.
The Ukrainian military says three Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and 10 others injured in fighting against Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in the past day.

The military said in a statement on February 17 that some 66 mortar attacks by separatists against Ukrainian Army positions were recorded in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, with the heaviest fighting near Avdiyivka and Marinka.

Dozens of people have been killed in recent weeks in an escalation of fighting that has been condemned by Western countries and international organizations.

Monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) say fighting in the past week had lessened from the beginning of February.

The Ukrainian, German, French, and Russian foreign ministers are due to meet on February 18 at the Munich Security Conference to discuss the crisis.

More than 9,750 people have been killed since fighting broke out in eastern Ukraine in March 2014.

Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander and Chief of Staff Viktor Muzhenko said on February 17 that a total of 2,197 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed and more than 8,000 wounded in the fighting with separatists.

Based on reporting by dpa and Interfax


The United Nations says the number of children in urgent need of humanitarian aid in eastern Ukraine has nearly doubled during the past year to 1 million.

The UN's agency for children, UNICEF, said in a report on February 17 that the crisis is the result of the "steady deterioration" of life in eastern Ukraine, where an estimated 1.7 million people have been internally displaced by the volatile conflict in the region.

More than 9,750 people have been killed since fighting broke out in eastern Ukraine in March 2014 between Russia-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces.

UNICEF said many families have lost their sources of income, social benefits, and access to health care at a time when the cost of living has increased substantially.

"This is an invisible emergency -- a crisis most of the world has forgotten,' said Giovanna Barberis, the UNICEF representative in Ukraine.

"Children in eastern Ukraine have been living under the constant threat of unpredictable fighting and shelling for the past three years," Barberis said. "Their schools have been destroyed, they have been forced from their homes, and their access to basic commodities like heat and water has been cut off."

The UN organization said the situation is "particularly grave" for an estimated 200,000 children living within 15 kilometers from each side of the so-called "contact line" in eastern Ukraine.

The contact line divides areas controlled by the government and nongovernment forces, and it is where fighting is the fiercest.

UNICEF once again calls for all sides to immediately recommit to the cease-fire signed in Minsk in 2015 and to respect international humanitarian law, including allowing unrestricted humanitarian access.

It urged the sides to allow unrestricted access for groups that provide humanitarian assistance.

"After three horrific years, children in eastern Ukraine urgently need lasting peace so that their unnecessary suffering ends," Barberis said.


A Ukrainian hacker has been sentenced to 41 months in prison for a scheme using more than 13,000 computers to steal log-in and credit-card information, U.S. prosecutors say.

A U.S. district court in New Jersey on February 16 sentenced Serhiy Vovnenko, whose aliases included "Flycracker" and "Darklife," after he pleaded guilty last year to aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Vovnenko was also ordered to pay $83,368 in restitution.

Vovnenko's lawyer, Timothy Anderson, said he was pleased the sentence was not longer. Vovnenko could be released in a few months if he receives credit for all 32 months he has already spent in custody.

"He has committed himself to not be involved in criminal activities anymore," Anderson said.

Prosecutors said that from 2010 to 2012 Vovnenko, 31, hacked into computers, stole user names and passwords for bank accounts, and stole debit- and credit-card numbers.

Vovnenko admitted to operating a "botnet" of more than 13,000 computers infected with malware to gain unauthorized access.

Vovnenko also ran online hacking forums that trafficked in the data he stole.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters
WASHINGTON  Its a Watergate-era cliche that the cover-up is always worse than the crime. In the Mike Flynn affair, we have the first recorded instance of a cover-up in the absence of a crime.

Being covered up were the Dec. 29 phone calls between Flynn and the Russian ambassador to Washington. The presumed violation was Flynn negotiating with a foreign adversary while the Obama administration was still in office and, even worse, discussing with Sergey Kislyak the sanctions then being imposed on Russia (for meddling in the 2016 elections).

Whats wrong with that? It is risible to invoke the Logan Act, passed during the John Adams administration, under which not a single American has been prosecuted in the intervening 218 years. It prohibits private citizens from negotiating with foreign powers. Flynn was hardly a private citizen. As Donald Trumps publicly designated incoming national security adviser, it was perfectly reasonable for him to be talking to foreign actors in preparation for assuming office within the month.

Worst case: He was telling Kislyak that the Trump administration might lift sanctions and therefore, comrade, no need for a spiral of retaliations. How different is this from Barack Obama telling Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, on an inadvertently open mic, during his 2012 re-election campaign, This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility.

Flynn would have been giving the Russians useful information that might well have contributed to Russias decision not to retaliate. Im no Russophile. But again: Whats wrong with that? Turns out, the Trump administration has not lifted those sanctions. Its all a tempest in an empty teapot.

The accusations of misbehavior by Flynn carry a subliminal echo of a long-standing charge against Richard Nixon that he interfered in the Paris peace talks in October 1968 to prevent his Democratic opponent from claiming a major foreign policy success on the eve of the presidential election.

But that kind of alleged diplomatic freelancing would have prolonged a war in which Americans were dying daily. The Flynn conversation was nothing remotely of the sort. Wheres the harm?

The harm was not the calls but Flynns lying about them. And most especially lying to the vice president who then went out and told the world Flynn had never discussed sanctions. You cant leave your vice president undercut and exposed. Flynn had to go.

Up to this point, the story makes sense. Except for one thing: Why the cover-up if there is no crime? Why lie about talking about sanctions? Its inexplicable. Did Flynn want to head off lines of inquiry about other contacts with Russians that might not have been so innocent? Massive new leaks suggest many contacts during the campaign between Trump associates and Russian officials, some of whom were intelligence agents. But up until now, reports The New York Times, there is no evidence of any Trump campaign collusion or cooperation with Russian hacking and other interference in the U.S. election.

Thus far. Which is why there will be investigations. Speculation ranges from the wildly malevolent to the rather loopily innocent. At one end of the spectrum is the scenario wherein these campaign officials  including perhaps Flynn, perhaps even Trump  are compromised because of tainted business or political activities known to the Russians, to whom they are now captive. A fevered conspiracy in my view, but non-certifiable people consider it possible.

At the benign end of the spectrum is that the easily flattered Trump imagines himself the great dealmaker who overnight becomes a great statesman by charming Vladimir Putin into a Nixon-to-China grand bargain  we jointly call off the new Cold War, join forces to destroy the Islamic State and reach a new accommodation for Europe that relieves us of some of the burden of parasitic allies.

To me, the idea is nuts, a narcissistic fantasy grounded in neither strategy nor history. But that doesnt mean Trump might not imagine it  after all, he maintains that if we had only stayed in Iraq to steal its oil, we wouldnt have the Islamic State. And if this has indeed been his thinking about Russia, it would make sense to surround himself with advisers who had extensive dealings there.

I believe neither of these scenarios, but Im hard put to come up with alternatives. The puzzle remains. Why did Flynn lie? Until we answer that, the case of the cover-up in search of a crime remains unsolved.
The White House is denying a media report that it is considering the deployment of up to 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorized immigrants in 11 states, some far from the Mexican border.

The White House denial on February 17 came minutes after the Associated Press (AP) reported seeing a draft memo proposing the unprecedented deployments.

AP said the proposal was in an 11-page memo written by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general.

It said the plan would target millions of people living as far north as Portland, Oregon, and as far east as New Orleans.

AP said four of the 11 states mentioned in the memo border Mexico -- California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas

It said the seven other states were Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana.

The report said the draft memo was dated January 25 and addressed to the then acting heads of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

AP also said the draft document has been circulating among Department of Homeland Security staff during the past two weeks.

National Guard troops in the past have been used in immigration-related matters on the U.S. border with Mexico. But the proposal reported by AP would be the first time they were used as broadly or as far north.

'100 Percent Not True'

White House spokesman Sean Spicer called the AP report "100 percent not true" and "irresponsible."

Spicer said "There is no effort at all to round up, to utilize the National Guard to round up unauthorized immigrants."

The AP report comes after U.S. President Donald Trump announced on February 16 that he plans to issue a new executive order on immigration next week.

The new order would replace an earlier executive order, which was put on hold by U.S. federal courts, that called for a temporary ban on entry to the United States by citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries.

Trump said at a news conference on February 16 that his new executive order would be "tailored" to avoid the constitutional problems with his earlier travel ban that were raised in court rulings.

Details of the new order were not immediately available.

But officials in Trump's administration have said they may move to ban entry only by foreigners from the seven Muslim-majority countries who have never previously entered the United States, ensuring that legal U.S. residents from those countries would not be affected.

A U.S. appeals court late on February 16 granted the White House's request for a pause in the legal fight over its initial travel ban so that it can issue the replacement order.

Bob Ferguson, the Washington state attorney general who led the court challenge to the original Trump order, said the latest moves by the White House amount to "conceding defeat."

With reporting by AP and Reuters


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A prison inmate in New Mexico is now a millionaire, thanks to Dane County taxpayers. Why? We dont know. And thanks to a secret settlement of his lawsuit, we will never find out.

In 1980, a 19-year-old UW-Madison student named Charise Kamps was raped and murdered. Ralph Armstrong was found guilty by a jury in Dane County Circuit Court, and was sentenced to life in prison.

After his conviction, advances in technology made it possible to do DNA tests on a bathrobe belt that had been found on Kamps body. The prosecution tested the belt, and in the process they used up the DNA evidence. As a result, Armstrongs legal team was unable to perform its own DNA testing on the belt. The prosecutions DNA test also violated a court order requiring the prosecution to notify the defense prior to conducting such tests.

Armstrongs lawyers appealed, and his conviction was ultimately vacated.

After his conviction was vacated, Armstrong sued the Dane County prosecutor, a Madison police detective, and a state DNA analyst based on their alleged misconduct in allowing the DNA evidence to be destroyed. (Disclosure: I previously worked for the Dane County District Attorneys Office, though I never worked on the Armstrong case, and I know the prosecutor, though I never have discussed the case with him.)

Meanwhile, in unrelated cases in the state of New Mexico, Armstrong was convicted of sexual assault, for which he is now serving prison time.

The state of Wisconsin, the city of Madison, and Dane County agreed to settle Armstrongs claims for a total payment of $1.75 million: $1 million from the county, $600,000 from the city, and $150,000 from the state.

As a member of the Dane County Board, its my responsibility to ensure county tax dollars are spent wisely. Was it wise to settle the claims against the county for a million dollars? I have no idea. The settlement included a confidentiality provision barring any of the parties or their lawyers from discussing the case.

Whats more, according to a legal opinion sent to me by the Dane County corporation counsel, the County Board has no vote on whether to approve the $1 million settlement because the decision to settle the case was administrative.

A million dollars of county tax dollars are being spent, and as a County Board member Im not allowed to vote on this decision, nor is anyone connected with the case allowed to talk with me about it.

In addition to serving on the County Board, Im a lawyer. I have represented prisoners on wrongful incarceration and destruction of evidence. I believe our constitutional rights apply to everyone, and that the government should pay the price when those rights are violated. In Armstrongs case, its entirely possible the settlement was justified. We simply have no way of finding out.

Two changes to state law are needed.

First, the state law defining the power of county corporation counsels should be amended. The amendment should clarify that large monetary settlements against a county are subject to approval by the County Board. This will bring accountability to the process by requiring that such deals are approved by the elected members of the board, not just by an unelected corporation counsel.

Second, state law should prohibit confidentiality clauses in civil settlements against state or local government officials. When the taxpayers are writing a $1 million check, they and the news media should have the right to ask questions about why this is happening.

In the words of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants. When public officials are sued, and when taxpayer money is used to settle those lawsuits, we should have a right to question those settlements in the sunlight of publicity and accountability, not obscured in the shadows of secrecy.

When the taxpayers are writing a $1 million check, they and the news media should have the right to ask questions about why this is happening.
At least a dozen businesses in the Richmond area closed Thursday as part of a national strike dubbed A Day Without Immigrants, which aimed to highlight the contributions of immigrants in the country.

One large construction company also was affected, with many Hispanic workers staying home for the day.

I feel that Ive been well treated here in Virginia, but this new administration is looking for reasons for the countrys problems, and I believe the immigrants are paying the price, said Martin Gonzalez, the owner of La Milpa, a restaurant and grocery on Hull Street Road in Chesterfield County.

Were showing we actually contribute to the economy and not the other way around, said Gonzalez, who emigrated from Mexico and was granted citizenship in 2000.

The protest was organized primarily through social media posts, which encouraged people not born in the U.S. not to attend work, not to open their businesses, not to shop and not to eat out.

To the President: Without us and our contribution this country is paralyzed, said one widely shared post.

In the shopping center adjoining La Milpa alone, at least two other businesses were also closed as part of the strike  a salon and a tax preparation service.

William A. Bill Paulette, chairman and CEO of the Henrico County-based construction management company KBS Inc., said a number of the companys subcontractors did not show up for work Thursday.

At some of the companys construction job sites, KBS had 100 percent attendance of its subcontractors. But at others, 50 percent of its subcontractors didnt show up, and we assume it was because of immigration peg.

It was enough to affect our jobs, Paulette said. We need these guys.

In western Henrico County, El Ray Latino Market was shuttered, with a note on the door in Spanish that translated to: Closed Feb. 16; Reason: Standing up for Hispanics.

In Shockoe Bottom, the taco shop Tio Pablo posted on Facebook that it had closed.

Gonzalez believes he lost about $3,000 in revenue by shutting down for the day, but he said it was worth it.

This is not about money, he said. Its showing I care about being part of this whole, great country.
An education advocate was in court again Thursday, this time in Richmond, to face a charge that she trespassed on school property.

Kandise Lucas, who advocates on behalf of special needs students, was acquitted by Richmond General District Court Judge David Hicks of the misdemeanor charge.

On Nov. 1, Lucas was handcuffed by Richmond police and escorted off the property of J.H. Blackwell Elementary School at the request of Principal Wayne Scott when she would not stop filming her interactions with school officials. Lucas maintained that she had a legal right to be in the school advocating for a student, who was with her, along with the childs parent and a School Board member.

Twenty-five witnesses had been subpoenaed by prosecutor Colette McEachin and Lucas, who represented herself, including Police Chief Alfred Durham, Superintendent Dana Bedden and Del. Jeffrey M. Bourne, D-Richmond, who at the time was chairman of the School Board. None of those three was at the school that day.

Hicks heard from only three witnesses  Durham, Bedden and Scott  and watched footage from a police officers body camera before dismissing the charges.

The public schools are close to everyones heart, said Hicks, who said he sent his three children to Richmond schools. I did see some passion today; whether that passion was asserted toward the right goal or not is another matter.

This is at least Lucas sixth trespassing arrest in Richmond, Chesterfield County and Henrico County since September 2015. Chesterfield school officials banned her from school property in 2011, but the restriction was lifted last year after she complained to the U.S. Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights.

Lucas said Thursdays ruling was justice for advocates and parents who can get passionate about their children and not fear retaliation.
Winter? What winter?

Record-breaking high temperatures have moved into southern Wisconsin, and could last well into next week.

The official 2 p.m. Friday temperature at the Dane County Regional Airport in Madison was 57, only 4 degrees below the record high of 61 for Feb. 17, set in 1981, and the high for the day normally isn't reached until about 5 p.m., so there's plenty of room for a record to be set.

The National Weather Service is forecasting highs in the mid- to upper 50s through Wednesday, so a little nudge upward in degrees could result in a string of records, since the records Saturday through Tuesday are 57, 60, 57 and 60.

Rain is a possibility Monday night and Tuesday, but it isn't expected to drop daytime temperatures below the 50s.

The day-to-day outlook:

Friday night: Mostly clear, low around 37.

Saturday: Sunny, high near 55.

Saturday night: Partly cloudy, low around 33.

Sunday: Mostly sunny, high near 58.

Sunday night: Partly cloudy, low around 42.

Monday: A 20 percent chance of rain after 1 p.m., high near 59.

Monday night: An 80 percent chance of rain, mainly after 7 p.m., low around 48. Up to a quarter-inch of rain possible.

Tuesday: An 80 percent chance of rain, mainly before 7 a.m., high near 57.

Tuesday night: Partly cloudy, low around 43.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny, high near 57.

Wednesday night: Partly cloudy, low around 38.

Thursday: A 20 percent chance of rain, high near 50.
Three people were found shot to death Thursday morning in a Mosby-area apartment in what Richmond police called a murder-suicide.

Police said the bodies of Shaquenda Walker, 24, Deborah Walker, 55, and Walter Gaines III, 23, were found about 8:30 a.m. at the Oliver Crossing apartments in the 1300 block of Coalter Street.

Detectives believe Gaines shot his girlfriend, Shaquenda Walker, and her mother, Deborah, before turning the gun on himself.

Two children belonging to Shaquenda Walker, both younger than 5, were found in the apartment unharmed. Police said they were reunited with family members later Thursday.

The Walkers both lived in the building where they were gunned down. Police said Gaines lived in the 600 block of Jackson Avenue in Henrico County.

Family members openly wept in the arms of others as they arrived on the scene Thursday. Many congregated inside a building next to where their loved ones lay.

Others came to check on the well-being of relatives who live nearby. Jessicka James was turned away by an officer at crime scene tape that surrounded the building.

Wheres my mama? she cried. James later found her mother on a hill looking down at the crime scene that engulfed their home.

Were always afraid, James said.

Many of the onlookers were reticent to talk about the violence that persists in everyday lives.

Thursday was the third day in a row that police have investigated deaths, Police Chief Alfred Durham said, and it is starting to take a toll on officers and detectives.

This has to stop, he said. This is not the city of Richmond. We experienced this 20 years ago, and we dont want to go back to where we were then.

The deaths of Shaquenda and Deborah Walker bring the homicide total to 13 this year. At this time last year, nine homicides were being investigated, including two domestic incidents and a murder-suicide. The year ended with 61 homicides total  the most in a decade  nine of which were domestic incidents.

Mayor Levar Stoney, who also was at the crime scene Thursday, called the incident a senseless act that appeared to be an isolated one.

Its a tough day, he said.

He urged anyone with information about any of the recent deaths to come forward.

If you know something, say something, he said.

Anyone who may have information about this case should call Major Crimes Detective Rahsaan Wigfall at (804) 646-6769. You can also contact Crime Stoppers by calling (804) 780-1000, going online to www.7801000.com, or by sending a text message to 274637, using the keyword iTip followed by the tip.

You can also submit tips about people in illegal possession of a gun by texting Crime Stoppers at 274637, using the keyword GUN250 followed by the tip. Rewards of up to $250 are possible.

All Crime Stoppers methods are anonymous.
The new chief executive has begun to drain the swamp, issued a controversial directive on immigration and raised the ire of the opposition party.

But Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney, unlike the fledgling chief executive in Washington, has encountered little to no resistance  at least among Richmonders  as he embarks upon a path to fulfill his campaign promises. So far, he has managed to promote change without tumult.

He canned four holdovers from the previous administrations, including the controversial Public Works director who served under predecessor Dwight C. Jones and who was at the center of an investigation of whether the mayor was using public resources to build his new church.

Stoney has hired Virginia Commonwealth Universitys L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs to conduct a comprehensive audit of every city department in his first 100 days in office.

I think hes getting his people in place. I think they had a smooth transition except for the severance packages held over from Jones, said Bob Holsworth, a veteran commentator on Richmond politics and a former professor and dean at Virginia Commonwealth University, in reference to controversial payments Jones gave to high-level members of his staff before he left office.

Hes made a couple of decisions that I think on personnel were well-needed. And basically, hes been relatively visible and out in the community and sent the message pretty clearly that its going to be a new day in Richmond and hes going to be a partner in the region.

Indeed, Stoney has been accessible if his weekly public schedule  something we didnt see from his predecessor  is any indication. The former secretary of the commonwealth has been visiting schools, touring city departments and facilities, attending the town halls of Richmond City Council members and undergoing what appears to be an immersion in the machinations of municipal government.

It seems to me that hes been skillful and his political experience up to now has been beneficial in sort of setting expectations about the timing of the changes that need to be made, Holsworth said. Now he just has to deliver on those changes.

Julian Maxwell Hayter, assistant professor of leadership studies at the University of Richmond, echoed that.

He seems to be making good on many of the things he put forward in his campaign, first and foremost cleaning up City Hall, Hayter said. It remains to be seen if the people he put in office will make good, but I think its a good start.

But can Stoney maintain the momentum?

Its going to be an issue of stamina, Hayter said. I suppose if youre to run on a reform agenda, its probably good to have a young candidate who has energy.

If you saw the campaign ad in which he rises before dawn to run and hoist a barbell, you know Stoney has stamina.

But could the new mayor be stymied by hostile forces beyond his control at the state Capitol and in Washington?

Last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to deny federal funding to so-called sanctuary cities that choose not to cooperate with federal efforts to deport undocumented immigrants. Stoney, in response, issued a directive that the city protect and promote policies of inclusion for all of its residents and have its police department maintain its policy of not inquiring as to the place of birth or immigration status of individuals with whom it comes into contact.

The mayor managed to look progressive by restating what has essentially been city policy while consciously avoided the term sanctuary city. Two Republican candidates for governor, Corey Stewart and Denver Riggleman, issued statements attacking the directive.

Stewart accused Stoney of brazen lawlessness and putting Virginians at risk. Riggleman said if elected governor, he would deny funding to Richmond if this anarchy continues.

Richmond is hardly awash in cash. The city needs all the money it can get, from any source. Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Stoney mentor, serves as a buffer for such threats for now. But as Trumps election demonstrates, such buffers are not permanent.

Or as Hayter warned: I think these cities are pushing against some state and federal forces that are unprecedented, to say the least.

All politics is local, as the saying goes. But is that any longer the case? Stoney is a Democratic mayor in a political landscape dominated by Republicans in the statehouse, the White House and Congress.

Its not as if cities like Richmond have had it easy in Virginia, a Dillon rule state in which the powers of local jurisdictions are narrowly defined. Compounding matters, the city has been in the vice grip of an annexation ban that for decades has prevented it from expanding its tax base.

The 1990s, a bleak period in Richmond history, saw the city lose its retail core as its homicide rate rose to triple digits and its population plunged below 200,000. The past decade has seen a startling reversal of fortune for the city. Younger people, in a generational shift, are rejecting their suburban upbringing for urban living.

The problem is the politics hasnt followed suit, Hayter said.

Outside of urban areas, the Republican Party is dominant. Trump, during his campaign, had little nice to say about inner cities, which he described in dystopian terms. Hayter is curious about how Stoney will address the trend of anti-urbanism.

Stoney campaigned to make city government more efficient and customer-friendly and to improve the schools. But he couldnt have foreseen the ascension of Trump, the subsequent upheaval in Washington and its potential effect at the state and local level.

Richmond was isolated by state policy even before the ratcheting up of this polarization between the nations urban, suburban and rural regions. How Stoney navigates the divide looms as crucial.

Levar Stoney is really going to have to be creative in this climate, Hayter said.

In an era in which all politics now appears to be national, hell need all the stamina he can muster.
Tom Perriello, candidate for the Democratic nomination for Virginia governor, touted the value of community colleges as a path to the middle class during a stop in Roanoke Friday on a tour of Southwest Virginia.

One of the best pathways at this point into the middle class is through nursing and some of the other programs that are so well done here, Perriello said after being shown around the Fralin Center for Science and Health Professions at Virginia Western Community College.

As governor, Perriello said he would push to make two years of community college or career and technical training free for Virginians. He thinks the idea could draw bipartisan support because the community college system is popular across party lines and getting people into the workforce and paying taxes has appeal for conservatives.

Perriello, a one-term former congressman in the 5th District, entered the race in early January to challenge Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, who seemed to have the inside track on the Democratic nomination.

In multiple recent polls, hes already neck and neck with Northam, albeit with most voters still undecided.
Less than a week after the General Assembly fired the state inspector general over her investigation of a mentally ill mans unexplained death in a Hampton Roads jail, legislators are not much closer to finding and funding their own solution to an escalating problem in jails across Virginia.

A House Appropriations subcommittee approved a bill to redefine the Board of Corrections in the hope that including experts on mental illness and death investigations will spur the panel to take on the responsibility of investigating deaths of mentally ill inmates in local and regional jails.

But Senate Bill 1063 no longer directs the board to undertake such investigations. And the proposed House budget doesnt include any of the $200,000 that Gov. Terry McAuliffe proposed to pay for it, while the Senate budget would provide $100,000 for the job.

Heres our dilemma: If we pass it and the money is not sustained in the budget, the board will have all this great language and have no way to implement it, Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Prince William, chairman of the public safety subcommittee, told the bills sponsor, Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, chairman of the Joint Subcommittee on Mental Health Services in the 21st Century.

But Deeds said the bill would set the stage for the Board of Corrections to undertake jail death investigations that then-Inspector General June Jennings claimed she lacked the authority to carry out to determine why Jamycheal Mitchell died in Hampton Roads Regional Jail after wasting away in plain sight.

In my mind, under existing law they do have that authority, he told the subcommittee. The question is, do they have the tools?

Del. Robert B. Bell, R-Albemarle, who carried similar legislation that the House killed, succeeded in removing Jennings from a list of administration appointments last week because of his dissatisfaction with her offices investigation of Mitchells death in the Portsmouth jail in August 2015.

Mitchell, 24, died after losing 40 pounds during a 101-day stay on charges that he had stolen $5 worth of snack food from a convenience store. He had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, but a court order to transfer him to a state mental hospital in Williamsburg was lost and then stuffed in a desk drawer by an overwhelmed hospital worker.

Deeds called the inspector generals investigation of Mitchells death unsatisfactory, but he also agreed that the law that created her office in 2012 is very unclear on the authority to investigate jail deaths and could be redefined to broaden its powers.

The McAuliffe administration proposed to direct the Board of Corrections to oversee jail death investigations under its existing authority. All that remains of the legislation is the reconstitution of the nine-member board to include, among others, a public mental health expert and someone with experience in overseeing a correctional or mental institutions compliance with the law.

Deputy Secretary of Public Safety Victoria Cochran said the legislation will make a tremendous difference in the oversight of jails.

The subcommittee also agreed to work on potential amendments to two bills, Senate Bill 1442, sponsored by Deeds, and Senate Bill 940, carried by Sen. John A. Cosgrove Jr., R-Chesapeake, that would require local and regional mental health agencies to screen and assess jail inmates for mental illness within 72 hours of admission.

The problem, again, was the price tag  $4.2 million that the governor included in his budget that the committees stripped out. The financial burden would represent a large, unfunded mandate on local governments, Lingamfelter said.

Deeds and Cosgrove, who agreed to combine their bills into one, said they could reduce the legislations fiscal impact by eliminating the 72-hour deadline and the requirement of a mental health assessment, leaving only screening.

Its something thats clearly needed in every single locality, Cosgrove said. Our jails are acting now as secondary mental institutions.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe is pushing legislative budget leaders to restore funding to address mounting concerns about mentally ill jail inmates and unexplained jail deaths, as well as money he had sought to solve problems with the states election system that Republican legislators identified last fall.

McAuliffe, in a letter on Friday to budget leaders and a briefing for media at the Capitol, said hes generally happy with the budgets that the House of Delegates and Senate adopted, but he faulted them for refusing to support his proposed solutions to concerns they share  from the unexplained death of Jamycheal Mitchell in a Hampton Roads jail to funding for economic-development priorities.

The governor took particular aim at the decision to cut $4.2 million he had proposed to screen and assess jail inmates for mental illness, as well as $200,000 to enable state corrections officials to investigate deaths in regional and local jails.

Mitchells death 18 months ago in the Hampton Roads Regional Jail in Portsmouth remains a mystery. Last week, it cost state Inspector General June Jennings her job at the hands of legislators who were dissatisfied with her offices handling of the case.

We just lost our inspector general, who did not have the authority to investigate the death of Jamycheal Mitchell, he told reporters. I sent down bills to correct the problem. Those bills died.

Later on Friday, McAuliffe named Michael Westfall, internal audit manager at Virginia State Police, as acting inspector general.

Two of the bills  both carried by Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, who chairs a joint subcommittee on mental health  remain alive in diminished form in the House. They could become vehicles in the final week of the General Assembly session to address the vexing dilemma of state authority over regional and local jails.

Were either serious about it or were not, Deeds said Friday. So far, the legislative response has not been serious.

House Appropriations Vice Chairman R. Steven Landes, R-Augusta, said in an interview Friday that theres still a possibility related to funding, as well as Deeds proposal to reconstitute the Board of Corrections to take responsibility for investigating deaths in regional and local jails.

I think were going to be looking at that closely, Landes said.

An Appropriations subcommittee is working with Deeds possibly to amend his other proposal for jail screening and assessment. The goal would be to reduce its scope and fiscal impact on local and regional mental health agencies that would have to carry it out.

McAuliffe also questioned why the Senates proposed spending plan cut $4 million in funding to improve the states balky voter registration system and replace disappearing federal funding for elections.

Inadequate funding of our election system will only give rise to problems and issues that none of us want, he said in a letter to House Appropriations Chairman S. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, and Senate Finance Co-Chairmen Thomas K. Norment Jr., R-James City, and Emmett W. Hanger Jr., R-Augusta.

Im putting money in to make the improvements; they took it out, the governor told reporters.

McAuliffe also said he was mystified that the Senate removed $400,000 in incentives for Air India to establish nonstop service between New Delhi and Washington Dulles International Airport. He made an announcement two weeks ago that the airline would begin flights in July that he estimated would have a $30 million economic impact .

The elimination of these funds jeopardizes this economic-development opportunity, he told legislative leaders.

The governor also suggested several places to find money in the budget to pay for higher priorities, including a $10 million state subsidy for the 2019 commemoration of the Jamestown Settlements historic red-letter year of 1619; and the $7.5 million that legislators restored for the GO Virginia economic-development initiative.

Still, McAuliffe said he and budget leaders are very close on most budget issues, including a compensation package that would restore a 3 percent raise to state employees and other public employees instead of the one-time bonus he proposed in December.

The governor said that when he prepared his budget last fall, state revenues still had not recovered from a shortfall that forced cancellation of the pay raises he and the assembly approved last year.

Im very happy now about the pay raises, he said. When I did the budget in October, I couldnt do it.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.A man wanted on assault and firearm charges in Spotsylvania County was arrested by Atlantic City police after a chase Thursday.

At about 1 p.m. Thursday, Atlantic City police were alerted by Virginia law enforcement that Kenneth Livette Fisher, 37, was in the Atlantic City area, Deputy Chief William Mazur said.

Fisher was wanted on numerous charges in Spotsylvania: felony assault, possession of firearm by a felon, felony shooting from a vehicle, brandishing a firearm, reckless handling of a firearm and driving on the revoked list. He was considered armed and dangerous, Mazur said.

According to Spotsylvania Sheriff's Capt. Liz Scott, deputies went to a home in the 9800 block of Red Hill Road around 10 p.m. Sunday in response to a report of shots being fired. A woman there told the officers that she and Fisher had gotten into a dispute and he fired a gun, Scott said.

No one was hurt. Scott said Fisher drove away before deputies arrived, but they found shell casings at the scene.

The suspect was located at a hotel in Galloway. When Galloway police and Atlantic City detectives tried to stop him in the hotel parking lot, he abruptly fled in a gold Chevrolet Tahoe with Virginia license plates, Mazur said.

Police officers pursued the vehicle down U.S. 30 as it sped through traffic lights and drove around cars on the shoulder, he said.

After entering Atlantic City, the Tahoe was eventually stopped at the 400 block of Connecticut Avenue, Mazur said.

Officers took Fisher into custody after a short struggle, Mazur said. No one was injured.

Police said a fully loaded .40-caliber handgun with hollow-point bullets and drugs were found at the scene. Neighbors and passers-by gathered near where the man was apprehended.

"There was no risk to the community. We thank the community for their cooperation and understanding," Mazur said. "We know it can be quite upsetting when something like that abruptly comes in to a neighborhood with lights and sirens and police officers, but I can assure the community the officers did a great job."
FREDERICKSBURG  Students and alumni at the University of Mary Washington are reacting to a flier posted on campus that depicts Nazi symbols and targeted the schools LGBT community.

A student reported the incident earlier this month to the school but the larger campus community found out about the incident just Thursday after a story about it was featured on the front page of campus newspaper, the Blue & Gray Press, titled UMW student finds aggressive Nazi message on bulletin board on Campus Walk.

UMW president Troy Paino released a video statement Thursday evening condemning the flier and assuring the community that the school is doing everything in its power to investigate.

He said the note is contrary to everything UMW stands for and that the school respects everyone regardless of difference.

Paino also championed his staff, saying, Everyone who works here works tirelessly to create a supportive and safe environment.

On Feb. 4, students Ahad Shahid and Chad Mundie found a note posted outside Lee Hall with a handwritten swastika and a note that used a disparaging term for gays and said, We could live next door.

The bulletin board also faces UMWs Madison Hall, its gender neutral dorm.

Shahid posted a picture of the note on Twitter the next day, tagging the universitys Twitter handle to inform them.

Ive never before seen neo-Nazi propaganda on campus but Ive seen responses like this from the university before where they failed, he said. It happened when students were getting threatened over Yik Yak and with the rugby team scandal a few years ago. Something happens and we dont hear from the school.

Juliette Landphair, vice president for student affairs, said the school responded quickly and was not called for comment for the student newspaper story.

She released a statement Thursday, which said upon learning about the note, the UMW police launched an investigation, which involved the FBI.

The UMW Police also informed and consulted with the Fredericksburg Police Department, which has been investigating similar incidents of hate crimes in the local community.

In addition, on Feb. 6, Dean of Student Life Cedric Rucker and UMW Police 1st Sgt. Brad Sullivan met with the student who discovered the note.

But Shahid said he felt like not much came out of that meeting.

I believe the statement that came out was just a reaction to everyone finding out, he said. When we did meet, I specifically requested that the school promote togetherness on campus, but that didnt happen. There was no condemnation of the flier. ... The school should be telling students of color, who are queer, that this is going on and put safety measures into place.

He said he has heard from friends that they are scared and anxious since finding out about the flier. And he feels like there needs to be a program that allows students to discuss the hostile climate.

The UMW threat assessment team also met to discuss the posting, as well as other challenges to the universitys values of civility and inclusion.

Working collaboratively to educate the university community on behavioral expectations, and holding those accountable who violate them, university officials will continue to strongly advance steps to stem the tide of such offensive acts, Landphair said in the statement.

At the schools Board of Visitors meeting Thursday, Landphair and Paino addressed the situation.

I am very troubled by it, said Paino, who also said he is receiving calls from concerned students and alumni.

Landphair said the school, like the surrounding area, has seen challenges with hate speech in the wake of the presidential election.

Just last week, Spotsylvania County residents encountered white supremacist fliers.

Those fliers, which touted a neo-Nazi group called New Order and depicted an image of a swastika, said: Make America WHITE again  and greatness will follow.

Landphair said the school will update its plan to curb hate speech in the coming weeks.

Nico Madden, class of 2013, called the presidents office after reading the story in the Blue & Gray Press on Thursday morning.

Madden said when he called to talk about the issue, he was met with surprise and confusion and it seemed the office was not aware of the vandalism.

Evidently, it takes 11 days and a phone call from an alum for the office of the president to learn what happens concerning the campus and student body, he said.

He said he was disgusted by the note, particularly as someone with a family member who was in the Holocaust.
CHESAPEAKE  A security guard has been charged with murder in the shooting death of a 60-year-old man whose family says he was playing Pokemon Go.

Chesapeake Commonwealths Attorney Nancy Parr said Thursday that Johnathan Cromwell has been charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the Jan. 26 killing of Jiansheng Chen.

Police say Chen was sitting in his minivan in a parking lot when he was shot by the security guard after an altercation. Chens family has said the man was playing Pokemon Go.

Andrew Sacks, an attorney for the security company, said the company believes the guard acted in self-defense. Sacks said Thursday that the company continues to stand behind Cromwell. An attorney for Cromwell declined to comment.
Tribes opposed to the Dakota Access Pipeline took their case against the project to the federal courts. On Monday, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled against them. Work on the project can proceed.

Boasberg concluded that the pipeline itself does not threaten the Sioux. Oil running through it might, but the pipeline itself remains empty. He presumably could rule against the pipeline at a later date. His decision upset the opponents nevertheless.

Boasberg comes from a liberal background. President Barack Obama nominated him to the federal bench. Last year he ruled that Hillary Clinton had to release thousands of emails from her tenure as secretary of state. He agreed with a conservative watchdog group.
In case you havent heard, the Hyundai Genesis sheds its Hyundai name and morphs into one of two rebadged models sold under the Genesis brand. From grille to taillights, the Genesis G80 is virtually unchanged from 2016 and should continue to appeal to customers who cross-shop similar full-size sedans from other automakers.

As before, Hyundai hopes that loading up the G80 (and Hyundais Equus-cum-G90) with a surfeit of premium features will compensate for a lack of pedigree. The base V-6 is rated at 311 horsepower, and a 420-horsepower V-8 is optional. Both powertrains are positioned inside a rigid platform that was necessitated by the availability of all-wheel-drive, which is only available on V-6 models. The system distributes the torque 40:60 front-to-rear in normal driving conditions but sends up to 90 percent to the front or 100 percent to the rear wheels when slippage is detected. However, in Sport mode, added rear torque bias can be locked in for improved handling agility. Most of the collision-mitigating active safety gear comes standard on the G80.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Carilion Clinic plans to sell 17 acres of the former Shenandoah Life Insurance Co. property on Brambleton Avenue in Roanoke to a North Carolina apartment complex developer.

Carilion is hosting a town hall-style community forum at 7 p.m. Thursday in the cafeteria on the third floor of the Shenandoah Life building to discuss plans for the property, a Friday news release said.

The health care provider expects to move some nonclinical services into the building, and also has an agreement to sell 17 acres  about two-thirds of the 26.4-acre site  to the Greensboro-based Berkley Hall real estate company, according to the release. The sale will close once Berkley Hall completes its due diligence, probably within six months.

The property is zoned MX, for mixed use, allowing single-family homes, duplexes, multi-family dwellings and townhomes to be built on it by right, with no rezoning required.

The developer approached Carilion, the release said. Carilion will use proceeds from the sale to pay for renovation of the existing office building.

Carilion bought the former insurance company headquarters in August 2015 for $4.6 million, and Shenandoah Life relocated to an office park on U.S. 220. The 88,000-square-foot building at one time housed 280 insurance company employees, although at the time of the sale, that number was down to 90. The company struggled after ruinous losses from investments during the Great Recession.

Later in 2015, Carilion leaders acknowledged that they had been approached by several developers who were interested in the property before it sold.

Some neighbors of the site became concerned about development on the property, much of which is wooded and is adjacent to other wooded areas and near the citys 1.8-mile Murray Run Greenway.

The Carilion news release did not specify where on the site apartments might be located. Some of the property is steeply inclined, and one area is a natural drainage trough during heavy rain.

Carilion spokeswoman Hannah Cline said the developer will have renderings of the proposed apartments at the meeting on Thursday.